Chapter One: Capture

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The sun rose softly and warmly, illuminating the entire face of the peaceful land of Equestria. Birds poked their heads out of their nests, flowers bent in the soft wind, and the first ponies in the small rural town of Ponyville woke up to the everyday miracle of a raised sun, done each and every day by the ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia.

With the raising sun came up roosters crowing the news that it was now morning. In the town, it was only a few ponies that stuck their heads out of the windows, but in the nearby apple orchard, a pony called Applejack and the rest of her family were out in the fields working hard. Near the Everfree forest, a demure pegasus pony called Fluttershy was already up and tending to her pets and her animal friends. High in the sky, a blue pegasus called Rainbow Dash, cocky but hasty, decided to sleep in after opening one eye slowly.

In the town itself, a pristine white unicorn called Rarity awoke with a charming yawn and gracefully stepped out of her opulent bed in a clothing boutique. Only a few blocks away, in a building that looked like a confection all in itself, the proprietors, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, were laying out their items of sugary sweetness for others to come in and buy, with a pink, eccentric, fun-loving earth pony overseeing the baking jobs in the back kitchen.

And north of the town itself, in an opulent crystal tree castle, panic was setting in.

The source of the panic came from the note that had arrived from a goofy blonde-maned Pegasus the day before.

Dear Princess Twilight,

King Ironhooves and his lovely wife, Queen Strategus, formally invite you to the royal coronation of their majesties. At the coronation ceremonies over the course of a week, we hope you will be able to come to Saddle Arabia and deliver a speech in their honor. Because of several concerns levied against the king-to-be, we would ask that you come alone. You will be treated to the full splendor of all that we have to offer in our fair land.

Sincerely,

Sky Steel, royal Adviser.

Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship, looked over the letter once again as she hurriedly packed. News rarely came from the mysterious land of Saddle Arabia, so when any news came from the obscure land south of the griffon nation, it was important. Twilight had contacted her friends about it the instant she had gotten it, and they had all risen to the task spectacularly. They had responded with gifts, which were now lying in her trunk.

"Spike, do you have all the necessary cards for the speech I have to give?" Twilight called as she rearranged the contents of her suitcase. Again.

"Right here, Twilight," came the reply. From the other room, a small purple dragon staggered in carrying a stack of cards that was bigger than he was. The cards flew out of his claws in a violet haze and Twilight packed them in another box, as her suitcase was already so packed there was no room for them all.

"Aww, why do you have to go alone?" Spike moaned. "I've always wanted to go to Saddle Arabia."

"Spike, as a Princess of Equestria, I am also an ambassador to all foreign nations. King Ironhooves and Queen Strategus are a little cautious and touchy, so in order to win their trust, I have to go alone. Plus, I need someone to watch over the castle while I'm gone."

She took out a book, The Tourist's Guide To Saddle Arabia, and laid it on top of her suitcase, over the dress Rarity had made, the apple fritters made by Pinkie Pie and Applejack, the wing trimmers given by Rainbow Dash, the reference of fauna Fluttershy had provided, and the spellbook given to her by Starlight Glimmer. Looking at the gifts gave her a glowing warmth as she reflected on the nature of her closest friends and the unconditional support she knew they had for her.

An hour later, all of them were congregated on the train station to say goodbye for a week. They were all enthusiastic, though none could compare to Pinkie Pie.

"THISISGOINGTOBESOAWESOMEYOUGETTOMEETNEWFRIENDSANDBRINGTHEMBACKANDWECANHAVEMOREWELCOMETOPONYVILLEPARTIES!!!" Pinkie screamed, catching her in the equivalent of a bear hug.

Her other friends were significantly more tame as Rarity said, "Good luck at the coronation, darling. 'Tis a shame I shall have to miss it."

"I'll be fine, Rarity. I only need to behave myself and only speak when spoken to. King Ironhooves and Queen Strategus are new and unfamiliar to the job of ruling. As long as I give a good impression to them, I should be okay."

"Bring back souvenirs, okay? I like souvenirs," Rainbow Dash spoke, flapping a yard above everyone else.

"Me too," Starlight Glimmer added with a smile. Her life had taken a turn for the better ever since she had been accepted into Twilight's closest circle of friends. "It'll be fascinating learning about other cultures by their artifacts firsthoof."

"Especially gems and textiles," Rarity spoke up. "I've heard absolutely amazing things about their clothing. It's reported to be as strong as armor, yet free like a summer bird!" Spike agreed with a shake of his head.

"Um, you don't have to get anything for me... if that's okay," Fluttershy peeped. "If you really want to, that's fine, but I'm not asking anything of you."

"Of course I'm getting things for you, Fluttershy. What kind of friend would I be if I got gifts for everyone else and not you?" Twilight smiled.

"Yay!" Fluttershy said, then, realizing she was a bit loud, she whispered, "I mean, yay."

The stationmaster came out. "The train leaves in five minutes. All aboard that's coming aboard." He glanced at his gold watch and went inside the office on the station.

"That's my cue," Twilight said, hugging each of her friends for the last time. Then she came aboard the train, her suitcase floating behind her.

"Now you be careful and have fun now, ya hear?" Applejack called out.

"I will!" Twilight called back as the doors behind her closed. She quickly found a seat in the train car, then started to wave out the window at her friends, who were all waving back, though not as emphatically as Pinkie was. The train lurched forward with a bellowing whistle and Pinkie started to run alongside the train, yelling unintelligible things at the train until she ran out of platform. She still continued to yell things, however, long after Twilight was out of earshot. Twilight smiled and sighed longingly at the spot where her friends were until the train rounded a curve and disappeared.

How was she so lucky as to have gained the friends she now had? The friends that were so eager for her to perform her best for anything she had to be called to do... they had changed Twilight's life forever by simply being there for her whenever she needed them.

Twilight finally opened her suitcase, pulled out The Tourist's Guide To Saddle Arabia and an apple fritter, and started to read the compelling book, starting on The history of ancient Saddle Arabia. She needed all the knowledge she could get in order to talk straight with the new King and queen.

In ancient times, Saddle Arabia was populated by only two great warring tribes, the Rada tribe and the Noxxa tribe. Little is known about either of them, and it is assumed that both of them perished long before any sign of sure civilization...

Twilight glanced up at the clock in amazement. Six hours? She had been reading that long? She closed the book, blinked hard, and looked around. She was the only one in the train car, last except for the caboose. One hour ago, the conductor had announced they had crossed into Saddle Arabia, and as Twilight had looked outside the window at the time of the announcement, she could see... nothing. Crests of sand stretched as far as the eye could see, with sparse drybrush here and there, and a few Nodding Donkey oil wells, scattered much like a farmer would scatter seed. The air in the train car was hot but dry.

Twilight sighed, put the book away, and lay on the seat, simply listening to the soothing, hypnotizing click-clack of the train's wheels over the rails.

Presently she felt a lurch, and she felt the train start to slow down. Had they arrived at the capitol already? Impossible. There was no city on the horizon. A rest stop, perhaps? Twilight looked up and saw no rest or resupply station outside the window.

Then, inexplicably, the train cars ahead of her began to increase their distance. Twilight's eyes bulged, then she rushed to the door leading out to the train cars, unlocked it, and practically ripped the door off its hinges. She looked for the train connectors holding the cars together-

But they weren't there. She could see the train cars ahead of her move further and further away as her car slowed down more and more. The doors to her car opened and the conductor asked, "What's happened, Princess Twilight?"

"Something bad," she grimly replied. Partially confused, partly shocked, she tried to activate her magic to move their car back to the main body of the train and reattach them, but-

Nothing.

Twilight scratched her head in confusion and tried to reactivate her magic again. Try as she might, she could not even activate her horn, much less cast a spell to bring the train back.

I take it back, Twilight thought in horror. Something really bad has happened. She stumbled and closed the train doors.

Suddenly the sound of an impact on the roof made both their eyes look up as a black-armored insect claw ripped through the top like paper. They screamed.

Something really, really bad has happened! she processed.

The claw began to tear through the roof with a nightmarish screeching sound until it was wide enough to crawl through, then the creature the claw was attached to dropped down. Twilight was petrified at what she saw.

It had six sharp legs and dragon wings, with black chitin covering a sickly yellow skin. It had spikes along its equine frame and had horns and fangs. It had six completely yellow eyes and held a curved saber in one of its claws. The strange creature took hold of the conductor and held the sword to his throat. "Scream, and he dies," he rasped.

What could she do except stay silent and back away? By now the train's cars had come to a complete halt and three creatures similar to the first had descended. Twilight hyperventilated as one of them grew closer and she could smell rust and what she strongly suspected was blood coming off of him. What were they? What were they doing?

Suddenly she noticed one of them come to her suitcase of prized possessions. "Hey!" she yelled, ignoring the order to be silent. "That's mine! My friends gave me those! Let go!"

Upon hearing this the creature grinned and stomped on it with a sharp claw, tearing a hole in it. He spat on it with a look of pure disgust. The creature kicked it across the car and the ruined possessions tumbled out. "NO!" Twilight screamed in pain at the sight of it.

The creature closest to her told the others, "Throw the Train Master out. In the desert he's as good as dead." He then turned his attention to Twilight. His yellow eyes bored into her violet ones. "And now, Princess of Filth, you are a guest of the Noxxa nation--with the proper hospitality of a prisoner." He raised a claw and it impacted on Twilight's head. And Twilight remembered no more after that.

Sakh glared at the violet body on the ground. His claw hurt where he had hit her.

"Are you sure this is her?" the Nox behind her asked Sakh. "We were told to capture an Equestrian Princess. She looks much too young and weak to be a princess."

"Of course it's her, you idiot!" Sakh spat. "Marshal Malice told us to look for a purple alicorn. This is her--wings, horn, purple body. Are you turning blind on me now, Ka?"

"No, Sakh. Of course not," he muttered.

Sakh turned to his three other Noxxa colleagues. "You three carry that vermin. I will lead the way back." They turned and marched out of the train car, and the last one out hurled the train conductor to the earth. They then spread their dragon wings and took to the sky.

As they flew, Sakh noticed that his colleagues were slowed. But that was to be expected, as the three of them were carrying that high-and-mighty pony garbage. They were a bit rough in handling her, but Sakh didn't care about that. So what if she felt pain? All that mattered was that she was alive.

The Noxxa nation had endured. They had done so in secret, unseen from the rest of the world, but they had nevertheless grown, pushed aside any who stood in their way. Moving even further south of present-day Saddle Arabia, Sakh was proud of having belonged to the nation that would rise up in secret and destroy all that was beneath it.

They flew for a long time. Their dragon wings, which were normally highly durable, began to get stiff. Every so often the Princess would start to stir, but a good-placed kick to the head each time this happened prevented her from waking up. They flew so high that even in the hot desert, the altitude made them shiver with chilliness.

Sakh felt proud. For being the one to single-clawdedly capture a Princess of Equestria, he would be bestowed with fame and honors--maybe even a medal or two. He would be a national hero. He started to dip as his concentration faltered. Easy, he said to himself. Keep your mind on the present. If not, you are distracted. And distraction is failure.

Many hours later, so long that Sakh did not count them and the sky was turning a dark blue in the distance, the ground below him turned from the normal tan color of the desert to an ugly grey-black sand. Sakh grinned. They were in his country now. There would be no rescue, for the nation was protected from the influence of outsiders. Nopony who knew the Noxxa nation still existed would know where to come.

Ahead of him, the lone city of the Noxxa capital, Krasrax, rose out of the earth like a stake driven into the heart of the earth. The city was in the shape of a wagon wheel--circular in shape, with many small buildings, hovels, and factories in the outer circumference.

At the center of the wheel was a tall metal tower rising a mile out of the ground. Under the direction of Marshal Malice, the leader of the Noxxa, the tower had been painted an unwholesome dull red, to further give the illusion of a stake buried into the heart of a giant.

Sakh and the three others came near the top landing bay, and the diminutive landing crew signaled the all-clear to land. They all hovered in the open-air launching bay, negligently shrugging off the disgusting princess. She fell five feet to the ground with a thud and did not move.

"Get a crew to carry off that... manure," Sakh said, gesturing at the princess. He then trotted off to the guards at the door leading out to return the one thing that made the successful capture of the princess possible.

As he neared the guards, one of them extended a claw. Giving him an annoyed look--Sakh knew exactly what he wanted, so why bother reminding him--Sakh reached into a fold in his armored chitin and drew out a polished black diamond the size of an apple. He laid it in the claws of the Nox guard, who folded them over it protectively. He then deposited it in an iron box and went out of the doors into the tower to return it to its proper place. The other guard nodded, giving Sakh permission to proceed through the door into the tower, which Sakh did.

Now, in the dark corridors of the red tower, Sakh allowed his mind to wander as to the great rewards waiting for him. The riches, the splendor--maybe he'd be knighted by Marshal Malice.

He was so distracted by his thoughts of grandeur that he did not notice the small thick blade flashing in the dark until it was already in his back. He gasped in sudden pain and lashed out instinctively, but there was nothing there.

Only a dark shadow that leaped away like a cat into the corners to watch with satisfaction at the evil creature dying at his will. The shadow was fast, but it could have been anything.

The Noxxa way of death is to return like ashes to the earth where it had come from. His body began to disintegrate, and as soon as he realized that, he was already a pile of dust.

Chapter two: Life's Not Fair

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A flurry of colors. That's all Twilight remembered. Indistinguishable voices. And pain. Lots of pain.

Gradually, she came to, and she groggily opened her eyes.

She was at one end of a large, sparsely lit room, lashed by hard, frayed ropes to a wooden post. Directly in front of her face were three of the insectoid creatures that she fuzzily remembered had knocked her out. Twenty other guards were lining the circumference of the room, under flickering orange torches.

Twilight blinked a bit of eye crud out of her vision. Her hooves were lashed to her side, but she still had her horn. Her magic would not fail her now. She tried to cast an unlocking spell to loosen her bands, and then blast through the walls and be free and out from the clutches she was now trapped in. The only problem was, she could not even summon enough magic to make her horn glow.

Twilight's emotions tripped over each other. She was angry, yes, but also scared, and desperate, and confused. Where was she? Was she in the dungeons of Saddle Arabia? Was King Ironhooves really this paranoid about her, or was this... someone else?

Upon her waking, the creature in the center stepped forward slowly. Twilight flinched as he came close. His blank face failed any emotion he may have otherwise had. The effect was terrifying, which Twilight guessed was the point. He drew within striking distance of her and raised two of his front claws, leaving four on the ground.

But he didn't hit her. He instead loosened the ropes holding her to the pole. Twilight didn't realize it at the time how weak she was, but as soon as her bonds were slackened she fell forward, her left wing crying out in pain as her malnourished body collapsed.

But she felt someone grab her around her waist and chest before she hit the ground. She wildly looked around and she saw the insectoid creature holding her gingerly, softly steadying her on the floor. Twilight smiled in gratitude, but he moved away again, no emotion creasing his face.

The other two then came around and ushered her forward through the room, where the other creatures leered at her in contempt. Twilight shuddered. What were they thinking of in those heads of theirs?

The three creatures escorting her never let a sound come out of their mouths. The doors to the room opened and ten additional guards came to her side. Outside was a hallway that was wide and tall, and made of reinforced steel with doors and hallways leading off to the sides. Her escort enveloped her view for the most part, however.

Twilight tried to stay away from the intimidating monsters around her. A mix of bug, pony, and dragon? She held her tongue wisely and held back, not daring to touch anyone, until the troops around her started to march and Twilight was prodded along harshly towards an unknown fate.

They walked for a while; Twilight could not say how long. Her mind was entirely focused on the loss of her magic as they walked. Was this permanent? She could not imagine herself without her magic, much as she could not imagine herself without her friends.

Her heart ached. Her friends. Her support in life and the source of her hope--gone. They would all be worried sick. What would happen? Would Celestia launch an attack on Saddle Arabia once she realized Twilight was missing? Would her magic be incapacitated as well? How could such a thing happen, anyway?

Through the screen of nightmares surrounding her, she could not see a thing. She grew weaker and weaker, and her wing sung in pain as she trudged along belatedly. Just as she thought she could go no further, however, they marched through an ornately carved pair of double doors into another dimly lit room, barely lit enough to see into the corners. There was a raised dais in the middle of the circular room, and wrapping around the room was a raised bar similar to that of a courtroom, with twelve of the strange evil-looking creatures behind the bar. Twilight was ushered in and practically hurled onto the dais, further hurting her wing. She cried aloud in pain and struggled to a standing position.

She looked around at the terrifying guards that now surrounded her and sighed apprehensively when she saw the three creatures that had stood watch over her. She tried to signal the one in the center with a smile and a small wave, but he showed no reaction. He continued to stand rigidly high and silent.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle," a voice spoke. Twilight looked up and saw a creature identical to the others, except he wore a tall red headdress. His face, along with the faces of the others, was hidden in shadow. His voice graveled. "Welcome to the capital city of Krasrax."

So she wasn't in Saddle Arabia after all. That city wasn't on any marked map, as far as she could tell.

"Is there anything the convict would like to say before the trial begins?" another jury member spoke up.

Convict? "I-I'm sorry, but..." and all of a sudden, Twilight felt the questions being poured out like a loosed torrent, and her tongue was suddenly free. "Who are you? Why am I here? Did I do something wrong about the wrath of King Ironhooves? Where am I?" She turned around, looking for any sign of emotion in their faces. "I-I remember I was on the train to Saddle Arabia and I was hijacked..."

The creature in the headdress nodded. "Let us explain. A small mercy to the filth who stands before us and dare claims she did nothing wrong." Before Twilight could answer, he spoke again. "You are in the lands of a species called the Noxxa on the extreme southern border of Saddle Arabia. The city of Krasrax is its capital."

So that's who they were. Just terrifying nightmarish beasts of Tartarus looking to kill her. That's all. Nothing to be worried about at all, no siree. "But why am I here?" she asked again.

"Because you are a threat to our nation and its inhabitants," another jury member spoke up.

"But how? You were the ones that attacked me while I was just on a diplomatic mission to Saddle Arabia's coronation of King Ironhooves. That doesn't make any sense!" She was scared and at the same time indignant.

The creature in the headdress gave as close to a grin as he was physically capable of. "Every princess of Equestria is a threat to the Noxxa, but so long as you stayed in your precious borders, you were protected by the other princesses. Then, you had the gall to travel so close to our borders, unprotected and unsuspecting."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked. Her wing still hurt.

"It means you did not even suspect that the note from Saddle Arabia was a fake just to bring you out here." He sounded smug. "How blind you were. We weren't sure at first that you'd take the bait, but you took it hook, line and sinker."

Twilight was stupefied. So everything in the letter was false. There was no such pony as King Ironhooves or a queen called Queen Strategus. There was no king and queen taking the throne of Saddle Arabia. She had been led out here just to get captured. But why? Why did they want her? "Look, I'm sorry I went close to your borders. I can just leave and we can forget this happened-"

"Absolutely not," another jury member refused. "You are too powerful to just return." The member swiveled his head from side to side and made a slashing motion to the stenographer. "This is off the books. It doesn't matter if you know anyway, and it just feels so good to plunge you into despair. Your fate was already decided. The only reason we perform this stunt is to make your execution legitimate in case Equestria pries into the matter."

Execution?! "B-b-but I didn't do anything! It was an honest mistake!" But looking around at all the faces, she could tell none of them cared for her words. It scared her. There was nothing she could do.

"Marshal Malice wanted you here for a reason," another member snarled. "And Marshal Malice always wins. For the moment, you shall stay in our prison until Marshal Malice wants to see you and takes what he needs from you in order to further his grand vision. Then, and only then, will you be executed." He looked around. "Is the court in agreement on this?"

The assembly nodded collectively.

Twilight was maddened. They didn't even make a pretense at justice! It was open contempt! "This wasn't even a trial!"

"Then why was a sentence given?" one of them spoke. "Let me explain something to you, Princess of Filth. Here you are powerless. Here you have no rights. Here you are worthless. Weak. Unworthy of being kept alive. You are far from home, you have no help coming for you, and you are surrounded by creatures that hate you. Frankly, I'm surprised you aren't crying your tear ducts out by now. And we are going to make you, one way or another."

His words stung as Twilight realized her situation fully. There was no help coming, as everyone thought that she was safe in Saddle Arabia. By the time they found out... it would already be too late.

"It... It's not fair..." she said dejectedly.

The lead speaker smirked so hard a small smacking noise came from him. "Life's not fair, Princess. Get used to it." He then announced to the guards, "Take her back to her cell. And shame her."

The three guards surrounded Twilight again, amid her protests, and prodded her off out of the doors leading out. The doors shut with a boom, and nothing more could be heard.

The lead speaker turned to the stenographer. "Do you think you can manufacture a good enough record from this?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do it and deliver them to Marshal Malice. Omit some of the more important bits. Nopony can learn of what he wants with a princess of Equestria."

"Yes, sir", he replied.

As they marched along in the corridor, one of the Noxxa in the front whispered to the other, "Our full day's almost up. The transformation potion is almost empty."

"Then we had better act quickly, while we still can," the other replied.

Twilight was oblivious to her outside environment. All that mattered was the pain on the inside.

There was nothing. There was no hope. It was gone. Burned to ashes.

Chapter Three: How To Make New Friends

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The door opened and Twilight was kicked into the room by the Noxxa sentries. The three guards leading tarried a bit to firmly close and lock the door with loud echoing clicks.

There were about twenty Noxxa in the room, the most prominent being a dark-shelled, red-eyed one twice as large as the others. He grinned and said, "Welcome, Princess of Filth, to your final home before your execution. If you weren't a princess I might have offered you more comfortable arrangements." He laughed nastily. "I am Warden to you. Only until Marshall Malice sees you during your interment here, of course. Then you'll be sent back to Canterlot in a matchbox."

Twilight had been at rock bottom all day long, and on the verge of tears for most of it. Now, however, she leaked tears down her dirt-streaked face uncontrollably as she was forced to the ground by two Noxxa, her wing screaming in pain. She thought in despair of her family, her home, her friends. They were so precious to her, and now they were gone. She would never see them again.

She felt her striped mane be forcefully bunched together and raised up as they got ready to cut her mane off. She saw the knife in the Noxxa's claws be drawn back, ready to scalp her-

"Wait," came a voice. Hope? Here, now, in this pitiful circumstance? Twilight looked around expectantly, but it was just one of the three guards that had locked the door coming up behind her. "I want to be the one to do it."

The Warden frowned, but he reluctantly handed the sharp jagged knife to the guard, who took it with glee. He grasped Twilight's mane, forcing her head up. She saw the knife be drawn back, felt the guard's face as he pressed it into her ear, heard the guard hiss three surprising words.

"Prepare for battle," he whispered.

Twilight couldn't be more confused as the guard suddenly forced her head down and saw the knife's blade sail through the air, spinning end over end--

Straight into the neck of the Warden, turning his body into a pile of black powder. The rogue guard let go of Twilight, and the two other guards that had locked the door joined him in forming a triangle around the princess. As the outraged Noxxa around the room drew their weapons from across their backs in sheaths of dirty black leather, the other two guards prowled in a circle around Twilight.

"Three... two... one..." one of them counted down, pausing to breathe heavily between words. And Twilight gasped.

At the count of one, the three had changed, in the twinkling of an eye, from the deformed shape of Noxxa to three ponies. A pegasus, a unicorn, and an earth pony. They all rose as one on their hind legs. The pegasus drew two long, thin blades from off his back. The Unicorn drew a long chrome broadsword off his back with a steely rasp and affixed a large diamond shield with the royal coat of arms on it to his left arm. And the Earth Pony drew two sharp daggers from his armored black bodysuit, holding one upside down in his hoof's tight grip.

The pegasus shouted, "NOW!" from underneath his cowl. And the three of them attacked the Noxxa.

Twilight sprang for cover instinctively as the three started to lay waste to the surprised guards. Even though the Noxxa looked like more capable fighters, the three pony warriors were more than a match for them, each taking on three or four at a time. They were somehow balanced flawlessly on their hind legs as they fought, as opposed to how the Royal Guard fought on all fours and with little to no weapons.

They each seemed to have their own fighting style. The pegasus, in maroon and brown makeshift rags, had metal covering his wings and a black cowl covering his face so Twilight could not see it. He swept his swords fast and low, slashing hard at limbs, sweeping from side to side and ramming into others before slicing them to ribbons. He had increased agility to do it because of his wings, providing a dexterous addition to his movements.

The unicorn was in a suit of battle-worn silvery armor and a brown cape flowing behind him. He had metal covering every inch of skin except for his blue horn that stuck out of a hole in his armor. He was also moving fast, but was focused on a more defensive fighting style. He held his shield in front, ramming it at bodies that came too close. He wielded his sword like it was nothing but a weightless saber, and there was a strong indication that he was more physically elite and muscular than the pegasus. Once Twilight saw him hit a Nox into dust with just a hard hoof to the head, and she shuddered.

The earth pony, however, was a little different than either of them. In an armored bodysuit of utter black, showing no skin at all, he had on his suit a vast assortment of knives of all sizes and types. On his back, on his underbelly, on his arms--there were at least a dozen that Twilight could see, and probably even more that she could not. On his hips were a curious pair of foldable combat batons.

He fought with fury. That's what Twilight thought. He was a veritable whirlwind of death. He had two long knife blades protruding from hidden spaces in his hooves. He jumped and leaped, his movements never off, his flashing blades unpredictable, his hits causing slashes every time. He was too fast to see, and consequently, too fast to fight.

Before long, over three-quarters of the Noxxa were dead. Their black ashes covered the floor like a spillover from a sandbox.

Twilight cautiously poked her head out from her hiding place and she immediately felt a claw grab her around the neck. Choking, she stared into the fiendish yellow eyes of the murderous Nox holding her, feeling his wrath with his tightened grip--

And a thin blade suddenly ripped through his forehead right in Twilight's face, an inch away from her forehead. The Nox faltered, the blade sticking right out of his face, and he slowly turned to dust, leaving Twilight's throat free. Twilight's hoof jumped to her throat instantly as she recognized the owner of the sword. The one who held the blade was the pegasus, she abjectly realized, who had almost cut off her mane not five minutes before.

The guards suddenly fell back from the three warriors. After an observation of the bodies scattered to dust, they collectively turned and fled through the side passages and corridors, as the main doors were locked and they could not depart that way.

When they were gone, the pegasus sighed angrily and sheathed his thin long blades across his back. "I hate it when they do that."

"When they do what?" the unicorn knight asked calmly through his visor.

"Disengage and fall back for no reason."

"There's always a reason."

He nodded. "That's why I hate it." He then removed his cowl to reveal a dirty-orange pony with a mane that looked like fire--red and orange subtly mixed with a bright yellow. He had a pair of neon yellow eyes and a face accustomed to grinning. "Princess," he began, turning to face her, "We are here to rescue--DGAH!"

Twilight had launched herself at him, pinned him to the floor, and was now beginning to pummel him as hard as she could.

"Prince-" he started, then caught a hoof on the side of his head and flinched. "Prin-" he started again, then stopped Twilight's hooves in midair. He held them up there for a little, staring at her apprehensively. "Pa-rinnnncesssss", he said slowly. "Would you mind getting off of me? Please?" He widened his pupils to fill his entire eye socket, imitating a hurt puppy.

Twilight, however, paid him no attention, and forced his arms back to lay flat on the floor. "I'm not going anywhere until I get some answers out of you. Whose side are you on?" she veritably screamed.

"I know whose stomach... you're on," he quipped out of the corner of his mouth, groaning at the weight pressed against his chest.

The knightly unicorn came over, his sword now sheathed across his back, but his shield was still on his left arm. "Princess, please get off the poor stallion. He told me he'd like it if he had a mare on him at some point in life, but I'm not sure this is what he meant." He chuckled softly as Twilight blushed in horror and quickly jumped off the dark orange pegasus. He stood up too, rubbing his sore chest.

The pegasus, groaning a little, said, "Well, we're stuck. We might as well let her know about us and assuage her." He pointed at the black-suited Earth Pony. "Freedom, check the exits. What's said here doesn't leave this room."

The earth pony saluted, then saw to the side exits, closing and locking both of them completely.

The knight folded a small switch on the back of his helmet and it split his visor in half vertically. The two halves moved to the sides of his head to reveal a vaguely handsome face. He was a pale blue color, marred a little by dirt and sweat, but that only added to his features, not detracted. His mane was a bright blue that stuck up just a little under his helmet. He had sparkling dark blue eyes, and his smile was honest as he spoke. "Princess, how much do you know about the Guardians of the Sun?" His voice was kind, but also powerful.

Twilight looked at him, drinking in his face.

"Princess?" he asked again.

Twilight remembered that he had asked a question and she blushed. "Not much," she muttered.

The pale blue knight walked to the side of her and began to explain. "The Guardians of the Sun... are Princess Celestia's secret commandos, who were created after the invasion of Queen Chrysalis after she interrupted the wedding of captain Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. Celestia felt like an elite part of the military was necessary for repelling outside and inside threats after seeing the state of matters in Equestrian military. So she, along with Cadence and Luna, formed a small force of the best unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony Equestria had to offer."

Twilight processed this for a moment with just a hint of skepticism. They would have certainly had to show up at some time, right? They had to have been noticed by her at some point, right? "And why didn't I know about this?" she asked him.

"Princess Celestia thought it best to hide our existence from you so you would focus more on your duties as a Princess and not worry about us behind your back. Our existence is actually limited to a lot of other ponies. Not many know we even exist. So the fact that we're telling you now means now is the time that you can finally be trusted with our secrecy."

"How did you even find me? How did you disguise yourself as Noxxa?"

The knight shrugged. "You sent a letter to Celestia telling her you would be in Saddle Arabia for a week because of the new king's coronation. But Celestia knew that there wasn't a new king, and grew suspicious about the letter sent to you. So she sent us out to follow you. We saw you get foalnapped by the Noxxa, so we teleported in spurts--" he tapped his horn, "--and took a special potion to change our appearance to that of the Noxxa for only twenty-four hours. We infiltrated the tower and so far we've kept an eye on you, though most of the time you were unconscious." He then pointed at the orange pegasus. "Introduce yourself," he abruptly told him.

"Why? I'm the one she tackled," he objected.

"Which is why you should be the one to make amends first."

He sighed, but extended a hoof to Twilight. "Hiiiiiiiiii," he said in a false pleasant voice, giving an obviously fake oversized grin. "I'm Firestorm." Twilight reluctantly shook his hoof.

"And I am Noble Blade," the cyan unicorn said, offering his own hoof.

Twilight was much more willing to shake his armored hoof with a wide smile. "And who's he?" she asked, pointing at the black-garbed earth pony in the shadows.

Before the dark shadow could reply, Firestorm spoke up. "That's Freedom Fighter," he supplied. "He's the best soldier in the entire military."

"Let him speak, will you? You don't have to speak for him," Twilight told him. As she said this, Noble stopped smiling and started to purse his lips in a thin grimace, and Firestorm awkwardly scratched his fiery mane.

After a moment, Noble said, "Princess Twilight, we always have to speak for him. Freedom Fighter lost his ability to talk a while back. He lost his tongue and he... badly damaged his vocal cords."

Instantly Twilight felt ashamed for scolding Firestorm. She looked with pity at Freedom Fighter, who she noticed was looking cold and distant. She could almost smell the anger and unpleasantness stink off of him. Suddenly he held up a hoof for silence, and the Guardians of the Sun were quiet. He crept to the main doors leading out of the cell and pressed an ear to the door. He concentrated, then turned to face Noble. He jerked a hoof at the doors and mimicked the mannerisms of a Nox--crouching low to the ground and swiping a hoof up and down almost mechanically.

Noble looked concerned. "How many?" he asked him.

Freedom tapped his hooves three times.

"Hmmm... not that bad."

Then he made an additional gesture.

Firestorm's eyes widened. "THIRTY?"

He nodded.

"But why are they even here?" Noble asked worriedly.

Freedom Fighter shrugged and pointed at the side doors where the Noxxa they had not slain had ran out.

"Of course!" Twilight realized, with a hoof to her head. "The ones that escaped from us probably raised the alarm!" And, as if on cue, an emergency klaxon blared and red flashing lights appeared high on the overhead walls.

Firestorm groaned and stretched his face with his hooves. "Wonderful," he moaned. "Could this day get any better?" He then started to look around. "Let's go through a window or something. I can carry Freedom, and you, Princess, can carry that, ah, mass of testosterone and metal!" he pointed at Noble.

Noble winced at the merciless description. "You won't get far. Their air defenses will shoot you down in a heartbeat. We can't use magic to defend you while we fly." He thought for a moment. "But if we were to make it so that we could use magic, we could just teleport out of this wretched city."

"You really think we could? Teleporting more than one pony at a time is dangerous--the more, the merrier."

"We'll have Princess Twilight. She can help me do it. Besides, would you rather fly a million miles with a pony on your back?"

Firestorm shrugged and rolled his eyes. "But how do we do that, anyway? Last I checked, there was a piece of an ancient black stone here from the Changeling kingdom that blocks all magi-OH!" he said suddenly, smacking a hoof to his head. "Wait, this is one of those missions where we make things go boom, right? Because I think I know what needs to go boom."

Noble Blade grinned conspiratorially at him for a reply, and Firestorm grinned evilly back.

Suddenly there arose a clamor at the door, and Freedom Fighter's movements grew more frantic.

"We need to escape. Now. We can slip around their movements in the ventilation ducts," Noble said, moving directly under an air vent.

"Ooh! Just like in that one action movie!" Firestorm squealed, coming next to him.

"Which action movie?" Noble asked politely, turning his head.

"ALL OF THEM!" Firestorm heavily said, his previous tone destroyed. "Let's not go in that crowded space, please?" He sounded afraid. "Plus, they'll be expecting that! They'll be expecting us to go in the ventilation shafts!"

Noble rapped his metal armor, making a clang. "It would be too noisy anyway," he muttered. "So what do we do now?"

Firestorm rose up, his leg stiffeners clicking into place, and drew his twin blades. "Why, that's simple, Noble. We entertain this party of Noxxa that's coming in uninvited." He leaped over to the door as Noble drew his chrome broadsword and fell in beside Twilight. Freedom Fighter went behind her, swishing his black tail in preparation for battle.

Firestorm cut out the hinges to the door like they were made of soft cheese and forcefully kicked the door out into the corridor with a hind leg. As it was kicked out, it crushed a few unfortunate Noxxa that were too close to the door. As soon as the door was down, the Noxxa at the back fired a salvo of arrows from the crossbows held in their claws.

Firestorm kept low and launched himself at the troops in front. The arrows intended for him instead went straight for Twilight. Before they could strike her down, however, Noble had raised his shield and the arrows collided with the barrier.

Together he and Firestorm crashed into the mass of Noxxa like a wave crashing down on the beach. Firestorm spun and whirled his blades with expert craft, and the Noxxa were not prepared for such close combat, especially with an opponent like Firestorm. Adding Noble into the mix, who was like a tank as he cut down troop after troop, the squad's numbers began to decrease significantly.

Freedom Fighter lept clean over Twilight's head, hurling an armful of throwing knives into the hallway, each one finding their targets in the head or neck and instantly dissolving them into black dust. He landed on his hind legs, and two short triangular blades emerged from hidden spaces in his hooves. They cut through the neck of one Nox as momentum brought one of his hind legs up and smacked another in the bottom of the chin, twisting his head the wrong way. Both dissolved into black sand almost instantly.

Up front, near the rear of the column, more and more troops started to flee before the tornado of Firestorm's blades. Firestorm ran after them, his katanas angling to the ground behind him. Twilight, Noble Blade, and Freedom Fighter followed, only pausing to collect his knives from the piles of black sand that were all that was left of the Noxxa.

They weaved along corridors and through passages that had much less Noxxa in them than before. The corridors were small and lined with dark grey riveted metal. Noble had one hoof around Twilight, leading her through the red-flashing hallways safely. His grip around her was strong and sure, but also cold to the touch.

Then again, he had on armor, so of course it would feel cold.

Though Twilight was... appreciative, to say the least, of their rescue, it had sickened her to see how easily and ready to kill anything that stood in their way, even a Nox. Yes, they were evil nightmarish beasts, but they still had emotion and could feel, even if they were feelings of rage and hate. Twilight did not want to take the life of any living thing. And now she was in the presence of spies and secret warriors that were the experts on combat and killing. How? Why them? Why Noble Blade?

How could they all be so brutal?

They rounded a corner and spotted the elevator lobby. "Made it! At las-OH COME ON!" Firestorm yelled, before ducking under the knife thrown at him. In the lobby were three assassins waiting for them and one guard at the elevator with a shield and pike three yards long.

Freedom Fighter hurled two daggers at the same time. One landed in the guard's upraised shield, while the other lodged itself in an assassin's head, crumpling him into sand. Noble let go of Twilight and charged, knocking aside the pike with his shield while raising his sword and cleaving the guard's shield in two, breaking the guard's arm. He fell down and as Noble was about to deliver a finishing blow, the two remaining assassins slashed at him with short, curved swords. They slid sparks harmlessly against Noble's armor. Noble spun with his sword out and the blade went through one Nox assassin, then the other, then he reversed his sword and plunged it into the Nox on the ground with a crunch. The lobby was now clear.

Twilight steadied herself against a wall, trying not to be sick. She felt a reassuring pat on the back and found Freedom Fighter standing over her, steadying her. His head was down, thinking about something, but he suddenly straightened and raised a hoof in thought.

"Uh oh", Firestorm observed. "Freedom Fighter's got an idea."

"If Freedom Fighter has an idea, I am more than willing to hear it." Noble then realized the unintentional phrasing he had used and glanced guiltily at the mute. "No offense."

The pony shrugged him off and rolled his eyes underneath the cowl he wore, then started to weave his hooves in an amazingly complex rhythm of motion. Though Twilight had read many books before, and some of them dealt with forms of communication, she didn't understand Equestrian Sign Language as well as Noble did, so Noble translated for the princess as he went along. When Freedom Fighter was done, Firestorm shook his head vehemently, making his fiery mane sway. "Heck. No. No way in Tartarus you're doing that, Freedom."

"It makes sense, Firestorm. If we stay with the princess while he goes off alone, we'll have a better chance of finding that Dark Stone that's blocking our magic. Better yet, if one of us gets captured, the other group's still free to search the tower."

"Freedom Fighter won't be captured. He'll be killed. He fights until he wins or until he dies. And he's gone through too much to die in this forbidden place." Firestorm glanced at all of them.

"Are you saying that he can't handle himself?" Noble sounded amused.

"I'm not saying he can't handle himself! It's just that--" He sighed and looked Noble square in the face. "You ever hear of the expression united we stand, divided we fall?"

"You ever hear of the phrase two heads are better than one?" Noble retaliated. Firestorm fell silent. "We are not divided. We're simply... working separately to achieve the same goal. You remember that one time we split up to capture that one corrupt ambassador that was going to start a war in the Dragon lands?"

"And look at what happened in the end," Firestorm grumbled. "The dragons went and rebelled and there was a huge brawl there. The only thing that went right was that Dragon Lord Torch still reigned in power and the corrupt ambassador was killed."

Noble laughed, a hearty, pleasing sound. "All right, bad example." His face turned serious. "Yet after all that, after all of the danger we've ever faced, we're still here, working together to overthrow evil. We have a higher chance of doing that if Freedom Fighter goes off alone, steals the Dark Stone, and destroys it while we divert their attention by trying to escape. If all goes well, we can regroup via teleportation, assuming the stone is destroyed."

"I still don't like it," Firestorm muttered. "I feel bad about this idea."

Noble rested his hoof on Firestorm's shoulder, his magical blue eyes sparkling. "Firestorm, as one of your closest friends, you should know that at this point in our friendship, where we are ruthlessly honest with each other, that I really don't care about your feelings all that much."

"Thanks," Firestorm replied uncertainly.

Noble nodded again. "No problem, then. If this is something Freedom Fighter wants to do, you should let him do it. After all, what are you going to do, stop him?" He grinned lopsidedly, then faced Freedom Fighter."Are you sure you want to do it alone?"

Freedom nodded vehemently. His body language made it absolutely certain about his decision.

"Do you have an idea of where to start looking?" Noble asked him.

Freedom Fighter nodded again and started to make a cranking motion with his hooves, then pointed his hoof below him.

"The generator room. Good choice," Firestorm complimented. "How are you going to destroy it? Charges and explosives?"

Freedom Fighter nodded, then asked a question.

"Yes, we're armed with them too," Noble answered. He unfolded a hidden stripe in his armor to reveal a bandoleer of explosives. Firestorm showed him an identical one under the maroon and brown rags he wore.

Freedom Fighter did a few more gestures, swishing the short black tail that stuck out of his bodysuit.

"And after that you'll sabotage the generators?" Noble asked. Upon seeing him nod, Noble put his hoof on Freedom Fighter's shoulder, an unusually somber look present on his face. "Then the best of luck I wish to you, my dear friend. May we meet again soon."

Freedom nodded, then suddenly turned around and hurled a hidden blade into the doorway of the lobby as a Nox charged through, then stopped as the blade entered his head. He dissolved into dust, but more were coming behind him.

Twilight pressed the elevator button and the doors chimed, opening both the elevators at the same time. They wasted no time in their extremely convenient luck as Freedom Fighter raced for one and Twilight, Firestorm, and Noble bolted into another. They both pressed the bottom button, and as the doors closed, they were completely cut off from each other's contact.

Chapter Four: Ups And Downs

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Twilight, Noble Blade, and Firestorm all stood panting in the elevator. That was a close one, Twilight thought. But we had to leave Freedom Fighter...

As they waited in the compressed elevator, Twilight noticed that Firestorm's arm was shaking hard and he was looking around anxiously, like the light grey walls were about to compress him like a garbage compactor. In a deceptively calm voice, he asked, "How many floors are there again?"

"This tower is about a mile tall, and I think we were on the top level. So we have to go down about, ah... five hundred twenty-eight floors," Noble explained calmly, checking the buttons to confirm his statement.

"FIVE HUN-" Firestorm started to exclaim, flapping in the air. He then regained his composure with extreme effort, and settled down again."This is going to be a long ride, isn't it?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"Not necessarily. See?" Noble pointed at the floor indicator. It was at 505, then 504 in only a second. "The higher the tower, the faster the elevator."

"Yeah, I guess..." Firestorm swished his fiery tail uneasily, looking about him all the faster.

Twilight was observing him shrewdly. She had recently read a book on phobias, and Firestorm was displaying signs similar to that of a specific phobia she knew about. She coughed and said out of the corner of her mouth, "Claustrophobia."

Firestorm's head whipped to face her. "What did you say?" he asked of her.

"You have claustrophobia," she declared. "Or at least, I think you do."

"How did you know? I didn't tell you I had claustrophobia." Then he bulged his eyes and looked around nervously. "I mean, uh, I don't know what you're talking about... What makes you think that?"

"Come on, I've read you like an open book." Twilight felt a small twinge of satisfaction at finally using that phrase. "A rather short book, too."

Noble gave a sharp intake of breath. "One for her side," he muttered.

"Were we keeping track?" Twilight asked him, turning her head to look at him.

"Well, I am. It makes conversations more interesting if you think of it like a game." He stretched and flexed his metal gauntlet covering his hoof. "Continue, Princess."

Twilight did. "Well, I noticed earlier that he was vehement in not crawling through a tight space and he suggested a more open way of moving. I also noticed that his arm was shaking and that he's looking around like he's going to be crushed. I've studied several animals a friend of mine had with that kind of fear, and they all displayed some of the signs he has. I think I even know why you have that fear in the first place."

"Which is?" Firestorm inquired, his curiosity piqued.

She pointed at Firestorm's wings. "You're a pegasus. Pegasi like large, wide-open areas where they can stretch their wings and be free to fly anywhere they want. So it makes sense that you're not comfortable in confined areas. Maybe when we get back we can run a full diagnostics test!" She started to get giddy thinking about the scientific method.

"Hey, uh, good job on noticing that about me." Firestorm sounded eager to move on from the uncomfortable topic, and so switched to another, equally uncomfortable topic. "But I want to know what else you've noticed about me." He dropped his voice into a husky voice and he flipped his wild fiery mane ridiculously. "Specifically my...physical aspects." He winked at her.

Twilight was shocked not only at the forwardness of Firestorm, but that he had thought she was admiring him, which was just going way too far. In a flustering tone she said, "Well, I've noticed that your sheer audacity borders on the line of stupidity at times, and that you probably couldn't tell the difference between a paperback and a hard copy book if they both sat you down and gave you a two-hour lecture!" It was the most insulting analogy she could come up with.

Firestorm only laughed. "Darling, darling, that's standard fare. I've gotten that response before--just not as interestingly worded as you. Physical aspects, though. Remember? List the hot aspects about me. Come on."

"Every time I look at you I think your head's on fire, and when you first lifted your arms over your head I nearly gagged at the stench," Twilight snarled.

That time, Firestorm winced and looked at the ground. "Anything else?" he asked resignedly after a moment.

"You've got a bit of green stuck in your front teeth."

Firestorm picked out the offending piece with his tongue and sighed. "You know, you're surprisingly perceptive--for a mare."

"And you're rather intelligent--for a stallion," she retorted.

"Another one for her side," Noble Blade muttered. Firestorm glared at him, and Noble pretended not to notice.

They were only at the fifteenth floor when the elevator suddenly screeched to a halt, jostling the passengers. Firestorm looked up in annoyance. "Oh come ON!" he yelled. "What now?!"

"Judging by the lack of motion, I conclude that we must have stopped," Noble said dryly. "But we're not on the ground level, so somepony must have pressed the stop button. Did you press the stop button, Princess?"

"No, did you, Noble?"

"No, did you, Firestorm?"

"No, did you, Princess?"

"No, did you?"

Firestorm took a second before slowly saying, "No."

There then came a lurch as the car now inexplicably seemed to go up instead of down. Firestorm's face was now frantic as he screamed, "OKAY, THAT IS IT!" He drew both of his twin blades and stuck both of the tips in the ceiling.

Twilight flinched at the sudden appearance of the blades. "What are you doing, Firestorm?" Twilight asked nervously.

Firestorm stopped his cutting and stared incredulously at her. "I'm baking muffins, Princess. What does it look like I'm doing?" He proceeded to further cut a hole in the ceiling. "An outside force is interfering with our ride, and I'm going to get rid of it. Besides," he said as the cut circle fell to the ground, "I'd do anything to get out of this blasted elevator." He looked through the hole he had made, sheathing his swords across his back.

Noble suddenly rushed forward and pushed him out of the way, just as a small weight dropped off of the roof of the car and slammed on the back of Noble's armored head, knocking him unconscious. Firestorm, on his flank, stared at the inert body of his friend, calculating that his unprotected head was where the weight was going to land. Had Noble not pushed him out of the way, he would have been killed or permanently crippled.

Twilight rushed to Noble's side, checking desperately for a sign of life. She was frantic, and had an urgent and fearful look on her face. However, when she felt for a pulse under his armor, she sighed in relief.

"He's got a pulse," she announced, then felt his nose and mouth with her hoof. "And his breathing's strong and regular. This is a concussion; no more."

"I'm a little surprised. I knew he was hard-headed before, but not that hard-headed," Firestorm mused. His eyes were drawn to what had hit him. It was a hunk of metal the size of a loaf of bread, probably dislodged from the wall long before. Firestorm stood directly under the hole he had cut. "Princess, the elevator's no longer safe. We can fly our way down the shaft, but first I need to take care of an inconvenience. I need you to get Noble on the elevator top. Be careful, he weighs a lot with that armor on."

And without waiting for a reply, he jumped up to the hole and grabbed the edges with his forehooves. He then flipped upside down, pushed himself onto the elevator's top with his arm strength, landed on his hind legs, and drew his swords.

The dark elevator shaft was only seven yards square, with the elevator taking up six of them. In the center of the elevator car roof were six steel cables the width of Firestorm's arm, pulling the elevator inexplicably up. Firestorm spun, looking for enemies, but there were none to be seen. Steeling himself, he peeked over the edge of the elevator car, but again, there was nothing there. The car wobbled uneasily as his weight shifted, and he quickly moved away from the edge before it could spill him over. He then looked at the elevator cables, pulling them up and up, and he followed its direction until he was looking straight up the shaft on his hind legs, locked in place by his leg stiffeners.

Far above him, sliding down the cables and crawling down the walls, were dozens of wingless Noxxa, hissing angrily and growling and hooting war cries. He could barely see them in the dark shaft, but the glint of their yellow eyes and sheen on the blades in their claws could easily be distinguishable. They moved as a collective dark shadow, advancing down the cables on their hardened claws, and as soon as they saw Firestorm standing with his blades out, their hissing grew and they moved faster, closing the distance between Firestorm and his doom.

His only response was to subtly shift his blades up and out.

"Oh goody," he smiled. "Bad guys."

The first Nox to hit the elevator car was promptly skewered by a katana. Two more hit the car and moved towards the hole in the roof, but Firestorm was already there, and shish-kabobed both of them on the thin blade, dissolving both of them into black powder.

Four more hit the four corners of the car, wobbling it precariously. Firestorm swept through the head of the closest one, then ran to the corner to his left, blocked the Noxxa's thrust, and bludgeoned him with the butt of his sword, spinning to the ground before dissolving. The one to his right corner fired a heavy crossbow built into his forearm, and Firestorm narrowly dodged the bolt as it sung its murderous song past him. He ran straight at the Nox, ducked the blow the Nox aimed at his head, and kicked the Nox straight off of the edge, slamming him into the shaft wall before he fell.

Before Firestorm could attack the last one, however, six more fell to the car. Three went for the hole in the roof while the rest advanced towards Firestorm.

In response, Firestorm threw one of his blades, making it spin. The spinning sword beheaded two, hit the shaft wall, bounced the hilt off the shaft, and hit the last one in the back. It happened so fast they had virtually no time to respond. Firestorm tried to get his other sword, buried in a pile of ash, but the three other Noxxa had positioned themselves between him and the sword, along with the elevator's hole. Dumb choice, Firestorm thought before rushing them on his hind legs.

The closest one raised his front two claws to skewer him, but Firestorm ducked as the claw swept over him, then rose up, lifting his sword, and impaled him through his armored body. He kicked him off the blade into another enemy before he could dissolve, knocking them back, only to get smacked in the head with the flat of the blade the Nox he couldn't finish before had.

He tumbled to the ground, his other katana skittering out of reach. The three on the car screeched in triumph, and four more landed on the car's roof.

Firestorm then lept to his hind legs by pushing off the ground with his forehooves and flapping out his metal-tipped wings. They slashed across the faces of two who got too close, and he folded them back in as he landed. He then gave a heavy roundhouse kick to an uninjured Nox and threw him into another one, where they accidentally impaled each other with their sharp blades and disintegrated.

Firestorm then jumped to the hole in the car, wobbling the elevator, and picked up his katanas just in time for him to run them through another that rushed at him. Then he heard the screams in the elevator.

His blood chilled. The Princess. He jumped down the hole he had cut and landed flat on a Noxxa's back. The metal-covered spines on him penetrated parts of his armor and punctured his flesh--until he slammed the tip of his sword through the Noxxa's head so hard it went through the floor of the elevator beneath him. He got off the disintegrating body and looked at Twilight. She was in a corner, her body covering Noble's, as three Noxxa held knives to her throat.

Right about then, rage boiled in Firestorm, making his blood hotter and more ferocious than a dragon. He didn't know exactly why, but seeing them threaten the princess like that set off something powerful in him. Righteous fury, perhaps? Indignation, maybe? Or barbarism?

Whatever it was, it made Firestorm rush forward and spin about like a blender with his blades wide out, and in the time it took to blink Firestorm had sliced through all three of them before they could even turn around. He then extended a hoof to the now-terrified Twilight. "Are you harmed, Princess?" he asked sincerely. The sincerity surprised Firestorm, as he almost never spoke that way.

Twilight rubbed her neck uncomfortably, where three small nicks had a few beads of blood. She gulped and said, "I'm fine... but I-I'm confused. I-if they wanted us dead, they'd just cut the elevator cables, not try to extract us."

Much as Firestorm hated to admit it, Twilight had a point. Which led to another question... "Why do they want us alive?" Firestorm asked. Before either of them could answer, more thumps came from above and another Nox dropped into the elevator car. He raised his axe, but Firestorm had rushed forward, cut through the axe's shaft, and practically slammed his swords through his head. Firestorm faced Twilight. "I'll clear the car top. Then I'll take care of the source of our trouble in the shaft. I need you to get Noble to the top. Understand me?"

Twilight pawed at the layer of black sand now covering the floor of the elevator and nodded without looking at the pegasus.

Firestorm then crouched and flipped through the hole in the top, and as he came up, he kicked another Nox in the face. As his hind legs came down, he angled his blade into his chest and he blew into dark sand. There were eight more on the top trying to create more holes by prying into the electrical components of the elevator. All looked up and hissed as Firestorm appeared.

Blinking at the change in lighting from the brightly-lit elevator to the darkness of the elevator shaft, Firestorm tried to flick a special part of the sword to turn on the enchantments.

Nothing happened.

Firestorm tried it again. No result. As he tried over and over, it made sputtering noises like a lighter failing to ignite. His face grimaced in desperation, then he sheathed his swords embarrassingly, gave them a winning smile, and twisted his hooves in just the right way to activate the emergency flamethrowers attached to them.

A spray of flame blossomed out of his forearms, and he took to the air, spinning as everything around him was torched. The Noxxa on the car instantly vaporized as he spun, then he flew upward to try and reach the top of the shaft. Because the cloud of Noxxa was still thick, he kept spinning and burning enemies to ash on the metal cables and walls. And the elevator had already gone up so high it didn't take long for him to reach the top of the elevator shaft's top. Once he flew near the top, he was able to see the problem.

Four Noxxa were hanging from the ceiling and were rewiring the pulley system so it was pulling the elevator car up instead of down. They were focused on their work so intently they almost didn't notice Firestorm until he was almost directly under them.

Looking back on it later on, Firestorm decided that what he did in that moment was incredibly stupid.

What he did was take out a few explosives from inside his surcoat, twisted the tops to arm them, and threw them at the mechanical pulleys. As they impacted, they erupted in a massive explosion, tearing apart the pulley system and destroying the Noxxa hacking it.

Along with five of the six cables holding the elevator up.

And because he was on the fringe of the blast radius, it threw Firestorm down hard straight to the elevator car's edge, bruising his wing. It just so happened that Twilight had climbed out of the car while carrying Noble on her back and was stumbling blindly through the dust and black Noxxa powder in the air. And when Firestorm had hurtled to the elevator car like a meteorite, he upset Twilight's balance, and they both fell and slid and rolled to the edge of the elevator car. But before they could fall off completely, both of them had scrabbled the edges of the elevator car and were holding on for dear life.

As they held on desperately to the edge of the car, Firestorm's energy felt drained and he felt like he wanted nothing better than to surrender his energy. But he held fast to the edge, adjusting his grip. He tried to pull himself up onto the car, but only succeeded in tipping the car even more and dumping a lot of Noxxa dust into his eyes and mouth. He coughed and sputtered it out in disgust, and tried to wipe his mouth, but he slipped and lost his grip at the same time Twilight did.

And that was what kick-started his adrenaline as he flailed around wildly in the air for something to hold on to. The only thing available to grab, however, was the princess's hind legs, which he latched onto for dear life as they fell down the impossibly tall shaft.

Neither of them could use their wings on account of the injuries they had sustained. So they both free-fell, screaming like little fillies, until Twilight outstretched her arms and had managed to grab, with impossible strength, the edge of a doorway in the shaft, stopping their fall abruptly and making something bang hard into the side of the elevator shaft with a loud moan and a stifled curse. Noble Blade almost fell off her back, and Twilight almost let go at the amount of weight hanging on to her as she noticed that something grabbed on to her legs--

She looked down.

It was Firestorm.

There was a clanking sound below them, and Firestorm looked down as well to see his bandoleer of explosives fall away, fading in the blackness to infinity. Right about then, he was almost glad Noble was unconscious. He would never hear the end of it. He sighed as his explosives disappeared in the dim light of the shaft.

Well, that's just perfect, he thought miserably.

They hung there, trying to catch their breaths and calm their pounding hearts. Twilight's hooves hurt. Badly. Not to mention her back, her arms, her wing, her head, and her now-useless horn. After resting her front hooves in a somewhat-comfortable position, she adjusted Noble around her shoulders, still somewhat surprised that he still hadn't woken up.

"Princess!" Firestorm called from below."Can you fly?"

"No," she gritted through her teeth. "Not with this many ponies holding on to me."

"I can't either. My wing got hurt when I crashed. I can't fly us out of here," he said.

Looking around, all Twilight could see was a hopeless situation. Two hurt ponies with wings hanging for dear life in an elevator shaft, with another incapacitated pony on her back. Oh, and an elevator car above them that could snap its one remaining cable and fall on them at any second. In fact, this almost sounded suspiciously like...

Twilight sighed. "Don't say it," she groaned.

Firestorm looked up, a look of puzzlement on his dark orange face. "Don't say what?" he innocently asked.

"Don't say what I think you're going to say."

"You think you know what I'm going to say?"

"I know what you're going to say. Now don't say it."

Firestorm grew a wide, wicked grin as he realized what Twilight was talking about. "I'm going to say it."

"Don't you dare say it."

"I'm going to say it."

"Don't you dare say it!"

"I'm going to say it!" Firestorm sang.

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT!"

Silence hung for a moment in the dark shaft. Then Firestorm hurriedly rushed out loud, "This seems like a really good cliffhanger, don't you think?"

"GAAAAAHHHHH!" Twilight groaned in exasperation.

Chapter Five: The Voice of Reason

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Freedom Fighter glanced up at the floor indicator. It was currently at the two hundred eightieth floor. He sighed and sat on his rump, no noise being made except for the elevator's hum.

He instinctively reached a hoof backwards and toyed with the folded-up military sticks strapped to his flank. Those seemingly-innocuous sticks were a more flexible and deadly weapon than anything his fellow Guardians had. A sword was fine and all, but it could only be used as a sword. But the hinged, light, deadly sticks could be assembled into almost any combination of deadly weapons, assuming the enchantments on the weapons worked. The only reason he hadn't used them before was because he wanted the princess to be kept in secret about it until they were safe.

The princess. The magic-less, barely protected princess that was captured and kidnapped by the most filthy nation of monsters on the face of the planet. When he had first sneaked into the tower after he had disguised himself as a Nox and had flown into the landing bay where the princess was going to be dropped off. And he had seen the princess be thrown to the floor of the landing bay hard by a Nox called Sakh. He had waited until Sakh went into the tower and was alone, then had dug his knife into his back and watched him disintegrate from the shadows. Then he went after the guard that was carrying the Dark Stone into the tower, and knifed him too.

And he had taken the Dark Stone and hidden it in his bodysuit, away from the knowledge of either the princess or his friends.

He felt just a twinge of guilt as his mind dwelled on the Dark Stone that currently resided in a small pocket on the back of his neck. He hadn't shown the princess, or Noble Blade, or Firestorm, because if he did show them it and they were captured later, the Noxxa could capture them and make them reveal its location. The less they knew the better.

Besides, his real intention, besides destroying the stone, was to lure away the Noxxa from them and hold them off their back long enough for them to escape. If necessary, he would give up his life for them all to live and make it back. He would be a good, loyal soldier.

He thought hard. Was there something he left out? Why he would give up his life for the princess?

'No proper stallion would do the kinds of things the Noxxa do to her,' he thought. 'Especially to such a deserving mare as Twilight.'

He froze. Did he just-

Oh, I think you just did, he thought, except he thought it in a different, smug voice.

He liked to make up imaginary arguments and voices in his head. For a while, his voices were the only friends he had that he could talk to. And he liked it that way. Not only was it entertaining, it was also practice for if he ever got into an argument. So he made up voices to entertain himself when he was alone. And he frequently liked to be alone. It was quiet and serene when no other ponies were around, and he could appreciate the silence. And it also blocked the thoughts he had. The thoughts of a... darker nature.

During battle, those darker thoughts were driven away by the fire in his mind, and in the heat of combat he wasn't focused on his inner thoughts and feelings. He was also not focused on it when he was making up funny conversations in his head, or talking to himself like he had an alternate personality. Making up an imaginary friend--It was a good way to entertain himself, and made it possible for him to stay alone for hours on end with nothing else to do. But just because he wasn't focused on the thoughts, it didn't mean that they were entirely gone...

Freedom Fighter was almost always in a depressed state. Looking around at the ponies acting cheerful and happy and full of life and light, he was reminded of the beautiful ignorance that was prevalent among them. The ignorance that their world was one of paradise and sheer beauty and that nothing could ever, ever go wrong--or that if things could go wrong, the problem would be solved almost immediately and the consequences would have no lasting damage at all for them.

They were wrong.

Some things were permanent. Some things could linger inside of you, a coiled snake of hot anger ready to strike at any that tried to assert themselves with feigned importance. Freedom Fighter had met a couple of ponies like that. Some things stayed with you forever, like a wound that never quite healed, a scar that never really faded, a stab of pain that never entirely went away. Some things were branded into your skin, marking you for life.

And this consternation could freeze your heart, could make you angry and contemptuous, could make you want to rip and tear and kill...

But being a mute, he never let those feelings be spoken aloud, which was lucky. Some ponies wouldn't agree with his messages of dismay. They would simply tell him to get over such feelings and realize the happiness that exists, and that he should recognize the magic of friendship...

But for him, he wasn't sure about that. He didn't exactly know what other ponies spoke of when they talked of friendship. Their feelings of attachment and camaraderie were obvious, of course, but the actual friendship bit of it--that was a bit more difficult to explain, and something he had never really figured out. Why? The concept of it was rather strange-- 'Wowee, look at this guy. I like him. I will take him and that other one over there, but that one, there--I don't like him all that much.' It was like choosing your prizes, except the other guys liked you back--for some reason.

For Freedom Fighter, other ponies were merely shadowy figures, schematic sketches that fell into one of two categories. The first one was Allies--ponies that worked beside him that could be used to further the force of good. Such included the Royal Guard, most notably Firestorm and Noble Blade, both of whom had stood by him for so long that if there was anypony that was closest to him, it was them. But it went beyond the murky concept of simply friendship. To call them his close brothers did not do them justice. He had spent so much time with them, had sparred with them, had fought beside them, had ate and laughed and bickered with them. He had suffered with them, had gotten dirty with them in the muddy trenches surrounding Arimaspi mountain, had comforted and hurt and joked with them. They were more intertwined than brothers, more intimate than lovers. They were complimentary thirds of a single deadly warrior.

And of course, Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadence, who had given him a purpose. And Princess Twilight, whom he had only heard about until today, and the Elements of Harmony, who he had never met face-to-face, were also in the Ally category. And even the normal ponies, living their normal lives, not harming anyone, were a reason for him to fight to protect them, even if he felt no special bond to them.

The second category was Threats. In this category, he numbered every sentient being he could not include in the first.

There was no third category.

And someday, there would not even be a second; being considered a threat by Freedom Fighter was essentially a death sentence.

A long time ago, the world had turned its back on him. Which was a mistake. Because then it presented to him a target for Freedom Fighter to stab it in the back. And it wouldn't even see it coming.

He hated the lives of the evil so much he now lived to take revenge on their existence alone.

But he figured out a while back that those dark, sickened, demented thoughts of his could be buried--at least, temporarily--with a bit of light humor. And he decided that to liven up his mind a bit and push his macabre thoughts aside, he could pretend like he had several other ponies living in his mind that he could talk to and have educated discussions with.

One of them smirked. Deserving mare, eh? How good of you to notice.

'She is a lady and must be treated as such,' he argued silently.

Then he switched back to his other, more snarky voice. Yeah, sure, but I think you seem a bit... protective of this particular mare. And I think I can understand why. He gave an imaginary whistle. Did you see the way her tail swishes when she trots? And that stare she gives at you? Oh goodness. And the way her mane falls behind her? And that gorgeous smile-

'You don't even know how she smiles like that!' he shouted at himself. 'She didn't smile like that at all!'

The other voice pretended not to hear. Her voice is soooo meloooodious~ he sang, unembarrassed.

'That's enough from you!' he cut him off, somewhat flushed. His ears were a little hot. 'One more word from you and I swear I'll kick you back to my subconscious!'

And indeed, the voice fell silent. Freedom Fighter silently chuckled.

The floor indicator chimed and he was immediately in a battle stance with three short throwing knives hidden in a compartment in his hoof, ready to be thrown. His mask betrayed no emotion and his mind was on alert when the door opened prematurely on the eightieth floor, not the lowest level like he wanted.

In the lobby were five Noxxa that were quickly cut down to two as Freedom Fighter jumped out of the elevator and threw all three knives at the same time. The knives found their targets of heads and necks, and the ones who were hit gave shrieks of agony as they crumpled into black dust.

One of the two remaining threw his spear, but Freedom nimbly curled himself around the projectile and landed. He did a reverse-ankle sweep on the one that threw the spear and made him drop to the ground. But before he could finish him the other one had grabbed him under his armpits and was holding fast. "I got 'im! I got 'im!" the Nox screeched.

Freedom backflipped so he was now suddenly on the Noxxa's back, and it twisted the Noxxa's claws so he was forced to let go with a yelp. Freedom Fighter then grasped the sides of the Noxxa's head and gave a hard snap to the side. And before the body under him could fully disintegrate, he had already leaped off of it.

The guard who had thrown the spear had now retrieved his weapon and was holding it warily as Freedom Fighter looked at him expressionlessly under the full bodysuit he had on. He could not see Freedom's mouth pulled in a tight snarl.

Then, without a trace of reluctance, the Nox charged at him. He thrust with his spear wildly but Freedom had ducked under the long spear and grasped it with both hooves. With a hard jerk, he wrestled the spear out of his claws, spun it so the butt of the shaft slammed into the Noxxa's head, and then ran him through with the bladed end so hard the shaft emerged out of the back of him and punctured the wall.

Not bad, the snarky voice in his head complimented him.

'Thanks,' Freedom responded, breathing hard from the skirmish.

You're welcome, he responded. He brushed an imaginary speck of dirt off his shoulder. You should know, however, that I'm going to talk to you later about our hot new princess.

Freedom Fighter's ears drooped. 'I look forward to it,' he said, not looking forward to it.

I know! He giggled in a feminine way. I know because I am you! I know your thoughts! We're all just funny voices inside of my head! He giggled madly again.

Freedom Fighter raised a startled eyebrow. 'Where did that come from?' he asked.

Where did what come from? The other voice innocently asked.

'That wicked witch laugh of yours. We aren't in The Alicorn of Oz, you know.'

He gave a silent cackle again. Don't worry about me being mad! he thought in a slightly twisted way. Most ponies don't even realize they're mad! All it takes is just a simple little slip! A simple little push, and then suddenly, boom, they're writhing around in imaginative ecstasy on the floor while being surrounded by imaginary demons.

Freedom Fighter shook his head. 'Sometimes I wonder if I'm actually going mad or if this is all just me making this conversation up.'

We're all just funny voices in my head either way.

'Which means that I can control you in any way I want. And I'm telling you now, this is not the time or place to be distracted. Dangerous rescue mission, remember?'

Sorry, sorry, he apologized to himself. He shook a hoof in the air nonchalantly. It's just that Princess Twilight is just so naturally...how do I say this...distracting. You take one look at her and all other thoughts fade into insignificance as you take in everything about her. He gave a fake romantic sigh and fluttered his eyelashes under his bodysuit.

'Your comments are noted,' he thought to himself. He then poked his head out of the elevator lobby, then crept out on all fours like a cat. He swept his head from side to side, looking for attackers. They weren't there. It was unnaturally quiet in the hallways.

'Only five guards?' he thought. 'That's not like the Noxxa at all. One would think the hallways would be flooded with Noxxa at this point, but instead it's as quiet as a tomb.'

Rather ironic, that choice of words, the other voice observed.

'What do you mean?' Freedom Fighter asked himself, turning his voice back to how he normally sounded before he had lost his tongue all those years before.

Well, you did just kill four of them, he pointed out. It's a tomb in here. Plus, with our luck, the euphemism "Silent as a tomb" could be a fate that can apply to us as well.

'Are you suggesting this might be a trap?' he inquired silently.

I'm not suggesting, I know it. Their techniques are easier to read than a foal's beginner book. All signs point to it.

'But what if they are doing reverse psychology on this? What if this isn't a trap after all?'

The only reason we're still alive is because we assume everything is a trap.

Freedom sighed as he realized that he was right. It was a little unnerving for him to march into the midst of the tower, where there were presumably more of them than ever. But as long as it was him getting trapped and not his friends, he was filled with a sense of right as he knew he would do all he could to give his friends victory. 'All right, it's a trap. Now what?'

A grin worked its way onto his face. Why that's simple, my dear old friend. We put on a show for them. His grin reached devilish proportions under his armored black mask. After all, everypony has to work for what they get. So let's make them work for my capture.

'I couldn't say it better myself,' he laughed silently.

He sneaked, slunk, and slipped his way through the eightieth floor like a black cat in the shadows, spelling bad luck for any who noticed him. He tried to avoid any Noxxa he could to allay suspicion, but the ones he met he quickly knifed in the back of the head. He sometimes stuck to the walls with the help of the supermagnets all three of the Guardians of the Sun had in the bottom of their hooves. Sometimes he even crawled on the ceiling, making him comment once again on how cool it was. And he had again told his brain to be quiet; the Noxxa might hear him.

Eventually he came to a clear window stretching from the floor to the ceiling. Looking down he saw a balcony encircling the tower, ringing it twenty feet down from where he was. The massive balcony stretched all around the outside of the tower and was made of stone that stuck out on the tower like a ring on a hoof. The balcony supported watchtowers and catapults spaced evenly apart that aimed their loads outward over the dreary black landscape, ready for anything to come their way.

Looking at the massive catapults standing still like statues, Freedom Fighter had an idea.

Noooooo, I have an idea, he jokingly said in a snarky tone.

'We are the same pony! If you had an idea, I did too. Now do you want to hear it or not?!'

If we are the same pony, then I already know your idea. He smirked. Checkmate, me.

'If I get checkmated, so do you,' he smirked back. 'Same pony, right?'

Oh. He sounded crestfallen. I guess I didn't think about that. One for your side.

'That's okay. A point for me is a point for you, since we're the same pony, after all,' he silently explained.

Really? He sounded overjoyed. Yay! I got the point!

'Strange. You normally never get the point of anything.'

Har har. His tone changed to that of confusion. So are we, like, tied? Or are we, like, keeping separate scores for each of us?

'I really don't know.' Freedom Fighter's previous train of thought had derailed long ago. 'Wait, what were we going to do?'

There was a moment as Freedom Fighter tried to remember what he was about do before he had gotten sidetracked on a useless conversation. If any passerby had seen him standing still like that, they might have said he wasn't doing anything of particular value. After a little bit, he smacked his black-armored hooves together and thought wildly, 'RIGHT! I need to put in action the amazing plan both of us had!'

He slammed his left hoof against the glass with full force, and it shattered with a tremendous crash. It blew outward and Freedom Fighter watched the pieces fall to the ground twenty feet below. He then jumped.

However, because he had been presumptuous and quick to action, he saw, in midair, that there was nothing to break his fall.

As soon as he realized this, he flailed his arms about and wildly thought, 'SHOOT!'

Chapter Six: The Pledge Of Honor

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Noble Blade stirred uneasily and opened his eyes. For some odd reason his head hurt quite a bit and his vision was a fuzzy blur. The only thing he could distinguish was a strange purple mass in front of his face. After he looked at it for a little bit, he blinked eye crud out of his tear ducts.

Is that really what I think it is? he thought miserably. Oh please don't be what I think it is...

But after he examined the strange purple object in front of his face, he groaned inwardly. It was exactly what he thought it was.

I'm staring directly at the Princess's butt.

It looked like the Princess's butt--well, her cutie mark, anyway--though it was hard for him to be absolutely certain about that, as he had never before had the, ah, privilege to examine the Princess's butt from upside down, which it currently appeared to be, or from this uncomfortably close range.

And how he had appeared at said angle and range was entirely baffling.

He said, "Um, did I miss anything?"

"NOBLE!" a feminine voice above him screamed in happiness, then gave an embarrassed laugh. "Hang on there. We're in a biiiiiit of a situation here."

So it was the Princess's butt after all. Noble shrugged weakly. He might as well take a bit of comfort in that. Looking up he saw Twilight's legs, her hooves- and an astonishingly close-up view of Firestorm's face as he held on to Twilight's hooves in a death grip.

It could have been worse. He could have woken up next to Firestorm's butt instead.

"Oh, hello, Firestorm," he said blithely. "Are you doing well?"

Firestorm looked over his shoulder nervously. "I hope so..."

Noble Blade followed his gaze. Past him rose a long, long vertical shaft that faded into infinite blackness. Which was when he realized that-

"Wait a second," he said, then squinted. "I'm not looking up at all, am I?"

"Nope," Firestorm said simply.

Noble sighed. "This is what you mean by in a bit of a situation?"

"Yep," Twilight strained from above.

"Ah," was all he could say. "I guess I know now where I stand."

Firestorm looked up at him incredulously.

"Well, lie. Hang. Whatever." He groaned. Why did his head have to hurt so much? There was a moment of silence, then Noble said, "How did we end up like this again?"

This time, it was Firestorm's turn to let out an embarrassed laugh. "Well, you see, um..." he started, then spoke as if it hurt to let the words out. "We, ah, got attacked in the elevator... it got shut down... and now here we are hanging for our lives in the shaft with no way out." His cheeks were flaming more than his hair.

Noble was silent for just a bit, then said, "Just like in the movies?"

"Just like in the movies," Firestorm confirmed uncomfortably.

"I don't even want to know what made you think this was a good idea."

"It wasn't my fault!"

"If it weren't for my current position I might start to scold you or something."

"Can you help me, Noble?" Twilight said suddenly. "My grip's getting weak here."

"I would gladly help, my lady, but for the fact that I am not in the best position. In what conceivable way do you think I can assist you?" Indeed, being slung over somepony else, Noble could not see any way that he could help out Twilight.

Twilight blushed a little at being called a lady. "I... don't... know..." She admitted.

"Your attempted flirting with him isn't helping, so cut it out!" Firestorm said.

"I'll cut it out if you cut out the cake, Captain Cellulite!" Twilight yelled, blushing furiously. Indeed, he was rather heavy holding on to her legs. "Did you pour cement into your oatmeal this morning or something?"

"Look, I'm sorry I don't watch what I eat most of the time!" Firestorm yelled. Then his voice dropped into a seductive, huskier tone. "But you know what? I still look hot."

"Not from this angle," Noble mumbled.

Firestorm glanced over at him in annoyance. "I wonder how relieved the princess's back will be when your weight is pulled off of her by an angry pegasus."

"Duly noted," Noble conceded.

An echoey sound of a twanging cable suddenly reverberated around the shaft. "What was that? Was that more Noxxa?" Noble asked, glancing around.

"No." Firestorm pointed up. "I think that's the elevator."

The accuracy of his guess was swiftly confirmed by the sound of a loud snap as the final cable holding the elevator car separated and there was a strong downdraft of burning oil as the elevator hurled down the shaft like a stone down a well.

Noble said, "Oh."

"THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS?!" Firestorm yelled incredulously as the elevator car fell farther and farther. It roared above them as the car screeched against the sides of the shaft, showering sparks.

"We need to jump," Noble ordered.

"Jump?" Twilight gave a shaky laugh. "Don't you mean, fall?"

"Yes, actually. Princess, if you don't mind-"

Twilight happily obliged, as her hooves were very sore now, and let go.

They fell.

And fell. The sides of the shaft blurred.

And fell some more, right under the bottom of the elevator car that seemed to hurl down on top of them. The bottom of the shaft got closer and closer, and they all hung on tight to each other as it fast approached.

Until Firestorm clicked his hind legs together and activated the supermagnets all Guardians of the Sun had and slammed them onto the shaft wall right over a doorway that had opened. The three of them were thrown into the small elevator lobby just as the car fell past and smashed itself into oblivion on the bottom of the shaft.

They had fallen on top of a poor Noxxa engineer who needed to deliver some materials to the sub-level basements. Noble had crashed directly into him as they had hurled in and had unwittingly smashed in his skull. Noble's grey armor was now covered in black dust, and his materials had been scattered across the room on impact.

They all lay there for a second, then managed to untangle themselves and helped crick out their own joints. Finally, Twilight, standing weakly on her sore legs, gasped, "Are... all of your... rescues so..." She then groaned in pain. "Entertaining?"

Noble Blade and Firestorm exchanged wary glances.

Firestorm then shrugged.

"Actually, now that you mention it, Princess," Noble said contemplatively, "Yes."

Twilight ground her teeth a little. "Can you please not call me that? I'd much rather be called by my real name."

"Ohooooooo, no. Nope. Nupnupnupnupna nope," Firestorm cut her off. "I'll call you Boss instead."

"Boss?" Twilight asked.

Noble Blade started to explain. "The Guardians of the Sun are the undercover commandos of the princesses. We are loyal to no others. We serve them alone. We serve undercover missions, spearhead assaults, destroy isolated threats, halt scheming nobles- "

"- Drink from the princess's private apple cider cellar," Firestorm snickered.

Noble Blade rolled his eyes. "Yes. That too, Firestorm. Thank you for that important detail." He cleared his throat. "All that and more we do secretly under the direction of the princesses. Celestia, Luna, and Cadence have been giving us missions to protect Equestria for five years now, ever since the Changeling invasion in Canterlot. Again, the only reason you haven't heard about us as of... what, an hour or two ago?... is because our existence is strictly on a need-to-know basis."

"And I didn't need to know?" Twilight asked, a little outraged at the fact.

"Celestia told us that you weren't the best at keeping secrets."

Remembering all the times she had been instructed to keep secrets for her friends, like the time Fluttershy had become a model all those years back, Twilight saw Celestia's reasoning.

"But..." Noble sighed. "Now that you know, I suppose that you should know that you are our superior and that we shall serve you unconditionally." He kept his head down, not looking directly at her eyes.

Twilight felt shame welling up in her. The knight, along with his eccentric companion, was serving her without any regard for their own desires or interests. And from the moment they had shown themselves, Twilight had thought bitterly of them because of their willingness to kill. While she still stood by her position that killing was wrong, she knew they weren't doing it out of spite or for entertainment. They were instead trying to defend her. And when she realized that, she also realized that, for being a princess of friendship, she hadn't exactly been very friendly.

"I'm sorry," Twilight murmured. "I haven't been a very good friend to you even though you're trying to rescue me. If you're mad or frustrated, I understand. Just... forgive me. Please?"

Noble Blade was quiet for a moment. Firestorm was about to speak, but, sensing the solemnity between the princess and the knight, swallowed his words with a mighty gulp, waiting for either of them to speak.

After a little bit, Noble rose on his hind legs, the leg stiffeners in his armor clicking into place. He reached over his back and drew his broadsword. Twilight gasped. He cut an intimidating figure with his expressionless face and his dull grey armor, with both of his forehooves wrapped around the hilt of his sword. The sword was apparently forged out of one piece of metal, having the blade, crosspiece, and hilt the same color and sheen. The ends of the crosspiece were in the shape of a diamond, and the pommel curved outward. On the hilt, near the crosspiece, was a darker part that looked like it could rotate.

Noble walked slowly to Twilight, his gait smooth but strange, as equines are not normally bipedal. When he was right in front of her he reversed his sword and planted it blade first in the stone ground. The sword cut through the stone like it was made of gelatin, indicating that whatever the sword was made out of, it was strong and sharp. Noble then gracefully kneeled, keeping both his hooves on the sword hilt as his brown cape flowed behind him. Twilight was a bit confused by the actions until Noble spoke.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle. I pledge to thee an oath of fealty- that my service to thee will never cease and my loyalty never falter. By thy side along with mine celestial rulers will I serve in the protection of thee and mine country. Should I fall, I will rise again to deliver another stroke in the name of liberty and peace. Shouldst thou fall, I will help thee rise again to thy place of honor. And should I die- " He drew a heavy breath, "-mine service to thee never will. I shall never abandon thy side, lest mine guilt cripple me, and I gladly surrender all to thee. My will, my freedom, my blade- and my life. All I have art thine."

Twilight's heart melted. The combination of relief that he was not angry, plus his bottomless loyalty, endless heart, and willingness to give away anything in order to protect and serve her was almost too heartwarming. Not to mention his flawless use of archaic speech...

"My lady?" Noble Blade asked. "Thy visage seemeth a bit more hued than usual. Art thou feeling well?"

Twilight indeed was blushing furiously. "Uh, yeah, Noble...thank you for that...pledge, I think it was. Y-you didn't need to do that kind of thing for me...though I really liked it..."

"What was that last bit?" he asked.

"NOTHING!" Twilight yelled, looking away in embarrassment.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Firestorm observed. "Her face is red, she looks uncomfortable... you think she needs to use the bathroom?"

Noble Blade glanced at him, then sighed, took his sword out of the ground, and sheathed it. "Why thinkest thou that she requireth the facilities of a restroom? More importantly, why doth thy mind occupy itself with such a topic in the first place?"

"I think you know me too well to question that. Not a day goes by that I don't think about that sort of thing." Firestorm grinned jokingly.

"Thou disgusting ill-bred stale-skinned garlic bread grease spot," Noble muttered.

Firestorm blushed and waved him off. "D'awww, shucks! You flatterer!" He then looked directly at Noble. "Although I can think of a couple of reasons she needs a restroom right now. Either she actually needs to go... orrrrr," his face grew sly.
" she needs to spend some time alone to contemplate her feelings for her new, strong, cru- "

Before he completed his sentence, he found Twilight's face right in front of his. "Finish that word..." she snarled. "And I finish you. Got it?"

Firestorm gave a lopsided grin. "You know, boss, I was about to... BUT IMMA LET IT SLIII~IIIDE!" He moved away. "I don't like it but still, imma let it slide." He held up his hooves.

Twilight glared at him for a little bit longer. "I'm warning you," she blustered. "One more word-"

"And I'm going to have eternal pain and suffering for the rest of my miserable existence. I know, Princess," he said in a bored voice. He rolled his eyes. " I'm probably going to wake up one day with my glorious mane shaven off, or with half a gallon of whipped cream dumped on my face, or with the fleas of a thousand camels infesting my armpits."

"That last one he mentioned rang true for him many years ago," Noble whispered to Twilight out of the corner of his mouth.

"What was that?" Firestorm snapped.

"Nothing," Noble rolled his eyes. As he did so, however, he noticed something out of the corner of his peripheral vision. Something bad.

"Firestorm," he murmured lowly. "Don't look now, but there's a Noxxa scout in the hallway leading out of here."

"Has he noticed us?" he asked.

"I think so." Indeed, the scout was now trying to sneak closer towards them, under the false impression that he was unnoticed.

"You got an ETA?" Firestorm whispered casually.

"I'd say about ten seconds."

"He's moving fast, isn't he?"

"Well, he's excited." Noble shrugged. "I'd hate to disappoint him." He curled a hoof around the hilt of the sword on his back. The motion was not unnoticed by the Nox. As soon as the Nox saw it, he realized that he was no longer secret and that they were preparing to meet him. Abandoning any notion of stealth, he let out a bloodcurdling screech and rushed forward with a long sword. Twilight screamed when she saw him and fell backwards as the Nox swung his arm back to deliver a fatal blow.

But he suddenly stopped moving as Noble whipped his sword out of his scabbard and whirled around to have him run head-on into the sword and was impaled in the gut. Noble then moved the sword, with the Nox still on it, out of the way, while Firestorm said, "Hohoho, nope! Nopenopenopenopenopenope!"

He then kicked the body off the blade, where it dissolved into black dust swirling through the air. Noble said, "What in Tartarus was that idiot thinking? You would think somepony sneaking up on you would at least try to be silent, but nooooooo! He tried to intimidate instead! And while he was alone, too? Oh, Faust, these Noxxa are so incompetent!" He actually sounded annoyed.

"Are you mad that your enemies are too dull for you to enjoy the fight?" Firestorm asked quizzically.

"I kind of am! I feel wrong taking life that doesn't try hard enough to harm me. It makes me feel... how do I say this... guiltily underwhelmed." He pawed at the ground, sheathing his sword again. "Ugh, doing this hurts."

"Taking life?" Twilight asked.

"No, drawing and sheathing my sword. It's fatiguing, drawing the weapon again and again. I would prefer it if the danger would simply stay in the open, rather than for me to think the danger's gone only to find some danger still exists, at which point I must draw my sword again. Do you know how much it can hurt my arm?"

Twilight felt a twinge of disappointment that he felt little remorse for the enemies he had slain. Noble seemed to notice this and backed away. "If it seemed like I feel cold towards my enemies, I apologize, Princess."

"Nonono, it's fine!" Twilight rushed. "Just- i- it's fine, okay? Just remember that I don't like being called princess. Call me Twilight, please?" She almost begged. She really wanted to hear his voice say his name.

Noble, however, was oblivious to the urgency she displayed as he simply smiled and said, "Sure...Twilight."

That did it. She giggled like a little filly and covered her face in her mane to hide her blush.

The moment was ruined, however, by Firestorm as he popped his head next to Noble's open visor. "Wait, wait, weeeeeeeit. Ya sayy ya dun't like eet when we coll ya parincess?" he asked, a spark of mischief in his eyes and a heavy accent in his voice. He grinned evilly. "In tha' case, I'hve go' th' perrrrrfect opportunity ta tormen'cha," he cruelly chuckled as he sang, "PARINNNNNNCEEEEEEEESSS!"

Noble Blade sighed and said to Twilight, "You know, out of all the things you could have said to me around him... what you just said was about the worst thing in existence."

"He's-a-right, doncha know," Firestorm said, still in his ridiculous accent. "I'll-a-neverrr let this go."

In the corridor leading out, a Noxxa spy was overhearing every word they said. His compatriot had rushed in too early and foolishly. It was better that such an idiot was now dead at the hooves of Noble Blade.

"So we are entertaining the Guardians of the Sun in our city..." he mused quietly. "Just as Marshall Malice wanted." He grinned maliciously. "Let's get our forces ready to intercept them."

Chapter Seven: Diversionary tactic #1

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Freedom Fighter had angled his descent so he had crashed into a Noxxa sentry as he had landed hard on the stone balcony surrounding the tower. He was almost grateful for it, as it had cushioned his landing slightly. He had collided into him as the sentry was trotting around the outside and had knocked both of them to the ground. Freedom Fighter skidded on the ground, ripped a knife out of a scabbard, and rushed at the Nox who was trying to stand again. Freedom Fighter gripped his neck, batting away the claws that tried to strike him, and buried the knife in his skull. The buggish monster dissolved in his hooves, and he shook the dust off of him.

That was when the pain caught up to him and he clutched his body in agony. He lept away like a shadow in a suddenly lit room and hid himself in between a small ballista and the stacks of ammunition for it. Then he examined his body for injuries.

For the hundredth time since he first put it on, Freedom Fighter thanked Celestia for giving him the armored bodysuit he had on. It could absorb a lot of shock through the dampeners in between layers, and the exoskeleton inside of it could make him exceptionally strong. But it couldn't absorb all of the shock. Feeling himself, Freedom could feel some nasty bruises the size of his hoof on his right arm and his chest. He sighed and shrugged it off.

He'd been hurt worse before.

Freedom Fighter peeked his head out. No one was there. Then the doors to the tower banged open and Freedom ducked down again. Out marched four dozen Noxxa. The one leading them snarled, "Secure the balcony and make sure the siege engines are protected. The tower is on complete lockdown while we have to search for that princess of excrement."

Freedom Fighter very nearly leaped out of his hiding place to carve out his heart with one of the duller knives he had.

He continued. "If you find anypony, kill them on sight. The Guardians of the Sun are the ones leading the rescue."

A shaky voice came stumbling. "B-but sir, won't it be more likely that they would kill us first?"

Freedom Fighter could imagine the glare the leader must be leveling at his subordinate right now. "Not if you are better than them, it's not," he growled. "Well? Do you think you're better than them? Or are you willing to defer the contest of strength to a filthy pony?"

"N-n-no, S-s-sir."

A moment passed.

"You know, the only thing keeping you alive right now is your honesty, Ka."

"Y-y-yes, sir."

"Are there any other objections?" he asked harshly.

There was a collective murmur of dissent.

"Then get out there and kill the Guardians if you find them!"

As they passed close to where Freedom Fighter was, he could hear one of them say to another, "Have you ever killed a Guardian?"

"No."

"Me either."

Freedom Fighter waited until they had passed away, then peeked his head out again. His eyes centered in on his target and he grinned under his cowl.

His target was a large trebuchet fifteen yards away, its arm cocked back and ready to fire. It was perched on long black spindly legs, giving it all the appearance of an evil insect ready to attack. Surrounding it were twelve Noxxa on their back four legs, grasping long, wicked spears and scowling at anything that moved. Freedom Fighter sighed silently at the sight.

'Spears. Why is it that guards are always armed with spears?' he reflected.

why are you so concerned about spears? he asked himself.

'I'm not concerned! I'm exasperated! You'd think the typical guard would be a bit more creative in their weapon choices!'

So you're saying you'd like a bit more variety.

'Yes! Gimme a guard that's armed with a battle-ax or a broadsword anytime soon, not these tired overused weapons! I want a challenge, you know.'

You already have a challenge. You have to rush over there, put the Dark Stone and an explosive or two in the net at the end, arm the bomb, and fire it to get some distance from the tower before it explodes- all while holding your own against a dozen or more heavily armed Noxxa. Is that not a challenge?

'Of course it's a challenge!' he cackled. 'But is it a challenge for me or a challenge for them to stop me?'

Sometimes I get so annoyed with your behavior I want to punch you.

'Then go ahead and punch me! See if I care!'

Freedom Fighter punched himself in the face.

Ow...that hurt...

Freedom Fighter smirked and smugly replied, 'See what you get for trying to hurt me? Now focus, me. I've got a trebuchet I need to hijack.'

The warrior crept out from his hiding spot and made his way stealthily to the insectoid catapult. He leaped, slid, and hid around heavy spots of Noxxa patrols. There were a lot of ammunition piles and modified armor pieces for the catapults lying around, providing him with a lot of hiding places when he saw a patrol coming near. It was slow going, for the most part. The sheer amount of Noxxa around was almost inconceivable. But he reasoned that was because of the security breach and the Princess's escape attempt.

The princess...

'No!' he yelled at himself. 'None of that right now. My relationship to her is strictly business. Now go away!'

And it did.

Eventually, he found himself at one of the catapult's front legs. Three Noxxa guards stood along the cardinal directions on the catapult's points. Three each stood facing north, south, east, and west. Freedom Fighter was still out of sight, but the Nox closest to him was sniffing. He was getting a suspicious smell from somewhere... the smell of a pony.

Freedom Fighter pulled out a small cylinder with a red button on top and triggered the detonator.

Near the ballista where he had first hidden, the ammunition for it was incinerated in a massive explosion as the explosives planted there were triggered and promptly blew up. A huge ball of flame erupted and a plume of smoke poured out of it.

Every Noxxa guard that was patrolling immediately rushed to the scene with apprehension on their buglike faces. They were yelling, "Come on! Whoever he was, he couldn't have gone far!" Soon the area was mostly clear, and the Noxxa surrounding the catapult were now looking towards the massive column of smoke.

With the distraction working, Freedom Fighter rushed as fast as he could to the holding arm of the trebuchet and set to work, unbeknownst to the Noxxa guards, who had now left their posts to view the action far away. He opened up a hidden chamber in his armored bodysuit, took out the Dark Stone, then resealed the hidden chamber. He then reached once again into his suit and opened the part letting his bandoleer of explosives show. He selected three heavy explosives and hurriedly stuffed all of them into the holding net of the catapult, which was already partially filled with some stones.

His right hoof sprouted a hidden blade and he was about to cut the rope holding the net back, but came up short when he heard a roar behind him. He whirled around to see another dozen Noxxa who had seen him trying to command the catapult. The one who was now leading the charge against him was fully twice the size of the others. He was in Berzerker armor and held a massive mace in his two front claws. The other eleven behind him all held an assortment of swords, axes, and one even had a dried golden warhammer with what looked like dried dark maroon blood on both ends.

The pantomime had ended. The climax, however, was about to begin.

Freedom Fighter reached towards his flanks and unhitched the pair of military batons on either side of him, folded in half by a small hinge. He stood upright, his leg stiffeners clicking into place. He gave a flick of his hooves and the sticks unhinged, doubling their length. He then conjoined one end of the stick to the other and twisted them, locking them in place to form a long, collapsible staff. He twirled it in front of him expertly in a salute to his enemies, then crouched low to the ground, his staff angled behind him as he narrowed his eyes.

Only the berzerker didn't get the message; only he continued to charge at him. He swung his massive mace hard as he drew close.

Freedom Fighter leaped as the mace came towards him, and landed on top of the massive weapon. The berzerker lifted the weapon over his head and Freedom jumped off the mace and landed on the back of the massive Noxxa's head. He flipped a switch on the staff and a small thin blade jutted out of the end. As the Nox clawed at his head, Freedom dodged the swipes and drove the end of the staff into his eye through the armor hole.

The Nox shrieked and tried to shake the pony off his head, but only succeeded in stirring the bladed staff in his head, making him scream even more. Freedom took the staff out of his eye socket a little bit as if to remove it--

Only to drive it even deeper into his head.

His scream was lost as his body collapsed into ash, leaving behind a perfect shell of black armor. Freedom Fighter was kneeling on the massive helmet with his staff out to the side. The others hissed loudly at their fallen compatriot.

Freedom Fighter grinned under his mask and beckoned with his staff.

They charged bellowing war cries and brandishing their weapons. Unfortunately for Freedom Fighter, however, their cries alerted the other Noxxa that were investigating the faraway explosion. He turned to see them all rush at him from the opposite direction.

Freedom Fighter leaped backwards off the helmet and retreated to protect the trebuchet, and more importantly, the Dark Stone. They could not find out it was there. When he reached the catapult platform, the first few Noxxa fell upon him.

The speed at which his staff moved was akin to a helicopter's blades. Strikes to the attackers came from everywhere. A jab to the chest, a swipe to the leg, a sickening crunch as the staff collided into their heads. They could barely get any hits on him because he and his staff moved at a respectable fraction of the speed of sound. Freedom Fighter spun and twirled, leaped and jumped and slid around them all with the agility of a cat. Every hit he slammed into their heads caved in their skulls. The metal the staff was made of made the Noxxa's weapons look like cardboard. Not a single Nox made it to the catapult.

After he had killed enough to make the ground powdered with black ash, the rest of the Noxxa backed away tentatively. Freedom Fighter was outnumbered by at least twenty to one.

Just like old times.

However, there came several ear-piercing shrieks as several objects embedded themselves in the wooden planks at Freedom Fighter's hooves. He leaped backwards and sighed.

Blasted archers.

From the tower, two stories up, several Noxxa had armed themselves with crossbows and bows and arrows. They were too well concealed for Freedom Fighter to return fire. And anyway, how could he? He had throwing knives, sure, but the archers were too well concealed behind stone for them to be of much use. Against crossbows, a throwing knife was negligible.

'Eligible to be negligible,' he corrected himself.

You're an unintelligible dirigible!

'Ooh, good one,' Freedom Fighter complimented himself, backflipping away from several arrows seeking his flesh. He flipped backwards once more and hid behind a large beam of the trebuchet. An arrow splintered the post right next to his ear and he straightened behind his cover.

You can't stay here long, he reminded himself. If you do, you'll have all of them rushing at you all at once and one of them could disarm the catapult.

'You have a suggestion, then?' he screamed at his other made-up voice.

Yeah! Don't get shot!

He peeked out, and an arrow zinged past his nose at an uncomfortably close distance. He then spotted the directional positioning wheel that changed the direction the catapult faced.

His mind raced. He needed to fire the catapult and detonate the explosives, but he couldn't do it so long as there were archers shooting at him. He needed a way to take out those archers. But the only thing he had was...

He looked up at the catapult again and then back at the positioning wheel.

A sickening grin spread across his face like he was spreading peanut butter. 'Why fire away from the tower,' he asked himself, 'When you can fire directly into the enemy tower instead?'

And before he could argue with himself again, he was out from behind his cover running at full gallop, with his staff wildly deflecting the arrows coming close to him, directly at the positioning wheel.

When he got there, a Nox had gotten to the wheel on the opposite end of it first and was holding out a large dirk, about twelve inches in length. When Freedom got close, the Nox thrust his arm through the spokes of the wheel to stab him in the heart. Freedom Fighter narrowly avoided the thrust, then spun the wheel hard to the right. The Noxxa's arm got caught between the spokes and the wheel stand, and he cried in pain and dropped the dirk. Freedom caught the knife, flipped over the wheel, and as he came down, buried it to the hilt in a chink in the Noxxa's armor. He crumpled to dust with a bit of it in the wheel spokes.

Freedom Fighter then started to spin the wheel as fast as he could, and as he did so, the platform the catapult was on started to rotate. A few Noxxa took to the air with their wings, firing more crossbows. As they fired, Freedom Fighter hid behind the wheel stand, still spinning the wheel as fast as he could. The wood around him splintered with the crossbow arrow's impacts. The catapult began to turn to face the dull red tower.

And then all of a sudden the arrow barrage stopped.

Freedom yet again poked out his head, hoping to see some signs of contention among them, only to see several dozen of the spiny, six-legged bugs rush forward, no longer having to worry about marching under a storm of arrows.

Freedom Fighter inwardly groaned. 'Could this day get any better?' he asked himself before taking out another explosive from his bandoleer, arming it to grenade mode, and tossing it into the swarm. Some of the smarter ones cried aloud and leaped backwards, but most of the others were blown to Tartarus by an explosion. The wooden platform gave a massive upheaval of splintered wood and Noxxa dust, and a plume of smoke billowed out.

The smoke clouded the archer's vision, and their arrows begun to fly wildly through the air. Freedom Fighter gave one last spin of the wheel and unslung his staff from his back. He started to violently slam the end of the staff into the heads of any Noxxa who got near to him. A quick, hard spin to the head was usually all it took to dent them into a cloud of dust.

The fog of war blocked Freedom Fighter's vision for him to accurately fight, so he brained a final enemy, went back to the wheel, and began to once again turn the catapult to face the tower. Several arrows once again sunk their tips into the hard wood of the catapult's beams. Some of the arrows split a few ropes before impacting into the wooden platform. This made Freedom Fighter nervous. Would the catapult even work without those couple of split ropes?

Arrows continued to thunk into the wood all around him. The wheel spun faster, with a few chunks of it torn out by arrows.

When the cloud of smoke from the bomb had thinned a little, a few of the Noxxa saw a bad sight. The loaded catapult was now completely turned around to face them, and most of them realized what was going to happen. They started to shriek and push each other in an effort to run away. The archers tried to fire at the ropes more, hoping to disable the catapult.

It was now or never. Freedom took the dirk from the Nox he had killed at the wheel, aimed at the release rope holding the payload back, and threw the knife with expert precision. It sliced clean through the rope release, and the trebuchet's arm whipped up.

A massive boom and a flash of orange fire took place on the side of the gargantuan tower. It wiped out just about every single Nox there as the payload of rocks, explosives, and a Dark Stone slammed into the structure. Rocks sprayed everywhere and Freedom Fighter was flung backwards by the sheer force of it. He hit the edge of the battlements with a groan that knocked the air out of his lungs. He instinctively curled up on the ground to make his frame smaller to avoid getting hit by debris. A piece of burning wood landed right in front of him with a sharp crack, and a rock narrowly missed crashing into his head.

When the noise of the explosion had died down, he drew his head up again. The trebuchet had been shredded by debris and was looking very much out of action as one of its supports had snapped in half. There was a large hole now in the side of the tower near the Noxxa archer's firing positions, and the ground all around him was strewn with burning wreckage. He could not hear any Noxxa, and as he looked around, he couldn't see any either. The air was thick with smoke and ash, and Freedom Fighter had an uncomfortable feeling that the Noxxa's remains were now in the air he was breathing.

He coughed, irritating his already-damaged throat. He did, however, feel a brief twinge of satisfaction as he looked around at a job well done. He picked his staff off the ground and collapsed it, then re-hitched them to his flanks. He then got to his four hooves and started to walk away, but his front hoof stumbled over something. Freedom Fighter looked down in annoyance at the pesky object.

It was the Dark Stone.

Completely undamaged.

The explosion had done nothing.

Every voice he had screamed, 'YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!'

Chapter Eight: The Battle Of The Warehouse

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"We're lost, aren't we?" Twilight asked after they had wandered for a little bit.

"Of course not. We're just temporarily misdirected," Firestorm replied. "There's a difference."

"And what would that be?" Noble asked calmly.

"I don't exactly know, but I'm sure there's one."

"Forgive me if your vague answers don't exactly fill me with confidence," Twilight said sarcastically.

"I've never been a pony known for inspiring confidence in others, you know. That's Noble's job."

"He's right."

They rounded a corner and they all stopped immediately.

A Noxxa squad was idly marching in their direction. The dozen or so Noxxa, just as surprised as the ponies, all drew their weapons and bellowed a war cry.

Firestorm bellowed, "HOLY FREAKING CRAP!" and pointed and twisted his hooves in just the right way again to activate the flamethrowers attached to his wrists. There was a loud whine and a small click, and two streams of flame gouted out of his hooves at the Noxxa squad. Twangs sounded out as crossbow releases clicked.

Noble, quick as lightning, had moved in front and put up his shield. The flaming crossbow darts impacted on the shield like the fast pounding of a drum, protecting Twilight's life yet again. The other Noxxa were about to fall on them and destroy them, but for the fact that Firestorm was now slashing violently with his long twin blades at any that got near. He was able to stop them long enough for Twilight to run in the opposite direction, with Noble right next to her to protect her.

As Noble and Twilight ran down the corridor, Firestorm caught up again with them as the remaining Noxxa started to fire after them. The bolts whizzed past them at a very close distance that made Twilight fear for her life.

The others, however, didn't feel as scared.

"NOBLE!" Firestorm had to yell over the battle noise.

"WHAT?" Noble had to roar back.

"I HAVE TO USE THE BATHROOM!"

"NOW?! OF ALL TIMES?! WE ARE BEING HUNTED FOR OUR LIVES, STORM!"

"I HAVEN'T GONE IN OVER SIXTEEN HOURS!"

"WELL, WHY DIDN'T YOU GO BEFORE?"

"BECAUSE OF PRINCESS SPARKLE'S ARRIVAL! STANDING GUARD OVER HER FOR OVER HALF A DAY WILL DO SOMETHING TO YOU!"

Noble tossed an explosive behind him and it detonated, pulling down the ceiling between them and the Noxxa tailing them. He then pulled him and Twilight into an alcove in the wall, where two marked doors were.

"All right, Storm. Use the bathroom. But this is a serious rescue this time. Make sure it's fast, or I will make it so that you will never use the restroom ever again." He toyed with the hilt of his sword over his back suggestively.

Firestorm gulped. "You won't follow through with that, will you?"

"Why, who knows?" Noble said. "Now go and take care of business."

"Aren't you going to use it too?"

"I can hold it. If the Royal Guard in Canterlot can, so can I."

Firestorm shrugged and went into one of the doors in the alcove. But he almost immediately came out again. "Shoot. No urinal," he muttered before going into the right restroom. Noble Blade and Firestorm stood in uncomfortable silence as a series of highly disturbing noises came from the restroom.

Twilight broke the silence. "Sooooo... How was your day so far?" she asked. She cringed at the question.

"Well," Noble Blade said, splitting his visor in half vertically to reveal his face, "So far, I've been shot at, cut, almost impaled-- twice--been knocked unconscious, and almost lost my life many, many times." He grinned. "So it's a good day so far."

"A... good day?" Twilight asked quizzically.

"Never felt better," Noble Blade said, looking like he meant it.

From the restroom came Firestorm's voice, but much, much deeper. "BREAK THE DAM! RELEASE THE RIVER!"

Noble sighed. "I apologize for his behavior. He's a little raucous..."

"Nonono! Don't worry about it! At least you aren't like that... right?"

"Wouldst thou desire me to?"

"No! You're fine just the way you are!" Twilight said hurriedly. To see Noble Blade act like Firestorm would be a huge downer.

"As art thou, Twilight," Noble said, smiling softly.

"Really?" Twilight asked, playing with her mane.

"Thy behavior is exemplary. To lose thy endearing personalities would hurt those closest to thee." Noble adjusted an armor strap.

"Am...I close to you?" she asked, then cringed again.

"All Equestrian princesses art close to me, as are Firestorm and Freedom Fighter. Thou art mine princess, and I must obey thee."

"No, I meant less business-related and more close as in... a friend," Twilight clarified uncomfortably.

"If thou mayest know, Twilight, I consider it safe to call thee a dear friend." Noble smiled.

Twilight blushed. "G-good..."

An awkward silence fell between them again, broken by Firestorm's muffled voice. "You know, I don't measure this stuff by length or width. I go by weight." And a heavy grunt followed.

Now both of them were blushing uncomfortably.

The door opened with a bang and Firestorm waltzed out of the bathroom. "Ooh boy, I think I dropped off about five pounds in there."

"Thou didst not even wash thy hooves, Firestorm!" Noble Blade pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Hey, I got distracted, okay? That awkward conversation you were having was absolutely enthralling." Firestorm spread his arms innocently.

Noble looked at him incredulously. "Thou wert listening?"

"To be honest, I... may or may not have stayed in there a little bit longer, just to prolong the talk."

Now Twilight glared at him. "You did that just so that the two of us could have an awkward moment?!"

"Why of course." Firestorm grinned. "Why else would I do it?"

Twilight fixed him a hard look. After a little bit, she asked, "Are you always like this?"

"Absolutely. One hundred percent," he said jovially.

Noble sighed. "I can confirm that. He's been like that since the time I first met him."

The statement aroused curiosity. "When did you first meet him?" she asked them.

Noble Blade and Firestorm looked at each other like they were debating something. Then, after a moment, Firestorm said, "Let's save that question for another time, Princess. After all, as Noble so eloquently yelled at me, 'We are being hunted for our lives.' So let's worry about escaping first, and then we can worry about telling you our life story when we aren't in danger of being ripped to shreds, okay?"

Before she could acknowledge him, however, the tower shook slightly and a muffled boom was heard above them. A trickle of dust sprinkled down on Firestorm's face from the ceiling. All three of them looked up.

"I'm going to guess that's Freedom Fighter," Noble Blade muttered.

"He leaves a mess wherever he goes on the warpath, doesn't he?" Firestorm asked.

"Do you think he's destroyed the Dark Stone with that explosion?" Twilight asked.

"Knowing Freedom Fighter, I think he did that one just for fun."

Noble strained his face with effort for five seconds, then exhaled. "I still can't even light up my horn."

Twilight tried to activate her magic as well, but the efforts were fruitless. "Me either," she said miserably.

Noble pondered for a little bit, then drew his chrome-sheened broadsword and said, "I wonder..." He then twisted the darkened part of the sword next to the crosspiece, making it click. Nothing happened.

"I tried that," Firestorm spoke up. "We can't even use the enchantments on our weapons."

"You have enchanted weapons?" Twilight asked excitedly. She had read a few spellbooks that had talked about infusing magic into ordinary objects to improve the object's performance.

Noble looked at his sword. "Well, we're supposed to," he said. "I should have known. The Dark stone blocks all magic-- enchantments included. We can't use these like we normally can."

Firestorm sighed with feigned melodrama. Then he bulged his eyes and started to shake Noble Blade hard, making him rattle. "But wait! Freedom Fighter didn't destroy the stone, but he essentially set up a massive beacon with that explosion! He's going to have every Nox in this tower on his tail!"

"Calm down, Firestorm," Noble tried to say, but Firestorm had interrupted him.

"We need to give him more time! If we don't, Freedom could die!"

"You're right! We need to distract their focus away from Freedom Fighter. We need something... big," Noble agreed.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"Right now, if the map on a wall I took a glance at once is correct, there should be a large three-story storage warehouse on this level that goes down to the main level. Not only that, but it also has quite a bit of things in there that are rather precious to them. If something were to happen... like, say, the Guardians of the Sun and Princess Twilight were to show up there... that might divert their attention, wouldn't you say?"

Firestorm grinned malevolently. "There might be a few casualties on their side once they intercept us."

"But I'm sure they can live with it," Noble responded with equal glee. "Now, then. On to the warehouse!"

"Assuming we can find it," Twilight pointed out.

"It should be on this level somewhere. If we wander around for a little bit, we should be able to find it."

Ten minutes later, they approached a padlocked metal door with a sign over the frame that read, 'Storage room 1'. Firestorm sliced through the padlock with a swift flick of his katanas, and the three of them came onto a metal walkway.

The catwalk they were on overlooked a massive storage area the size of a hoofball field. It was full of long metal boxes and crates with warning labels on the sides. Along the walls were cranes and blocky, unwieldy machines with welding lasers attached to the ends. Between the stacked crates were avenues for navigation, and there were several Noxxa in working uniforms trying to load a new metal crate. Blinding sparks cracked from multiple areas as the welding went underway.

"So, Princess. What's the plan?" Firestorm asked.

"Funny. I thought you were the one with the plan," Twilight said.

"No, I'm the one with the funny words. You're the one here that's smart. And of course, smart ponies are the ones that get to do all the work."

"Art thou insinuating that thy intellect doth not surpass that of Princess Twilight's?" Noble asked cheerfully.

In a completely serious voice, Firestorm said, "Noble Blade. You should know by now that there aren't many creatures on the planet that can say they're dumber than me."

Noble smiled. "Thou art correct." He then peered over the edge of the balcony. "The safety of Twilight is our utmost priority. I will remain by her side, while you, Storm, lure off any assailants. Just don't do anything so unbelievably stupid that it almost kills everypony."

Firestorm blew a raspberry. "Psssht, come on, Noble. When have I ever done something so unbelievably stupid that it almost killed everypony?"

Without even blinking Noble immediately said, "Skyworld."

"OKAY, THAT WAS DIFFERENT!" Firestorm yelled, then covered his mouth as he realized he was being loud. Miraculously, the Noxxa in the room did not hear him over the noise of their machinery. Leaning in closer, Firestorm hissed, "That was Freedom Fighter's fault in the first place! If he hadn't been late, none of that would have happened!"

"You know exactly why he was late. And we're not talking about him, we're talking about you. Put simply, you acted like an idiot."

"I was surrounded, the mission was compromised, and I was getting desperate! What would you have preferred I do?"

"Wait for backup."

"There was no backup coming! We were fifty thousand feet in the air!"

"I had to rescue your sorry hide from the mess you got yourself into."

"And I repaid the favor, didn't I?"

"Okay, ENOUGH!" Twilight yelled, coming between them. Amidst "Shhhh"ing noises coming from Firestorm, Twilight then whispered, "Arguing isn't going to do anything right now. We need to focus and get to work!"

"Right, Noble! How dare you reminisce on past experiences while we have to protect the freaking princess!" Firestorm said in an insincere voice.

"A princess?" Twilight asked lowly. "To protect? I'll have you know I can handle myself perfectly fine, but you still treat me like some burdensome piece of baggage. According to Noble, I'm actually your superior officer. And I want the two of you to really focus on the task at hoof, and work on our distraction to buy Freedom Fighter some time. I don't like authority, but if I have it, I'll use it. Stop bickering like immature foals and realize the place you're in, not this tone of, 'Oh, you're the amazing hero and I'm just a princess!'"

Firestorm and Noble fell silent, with Storm gawking a little at the authoritative tone she used.

For a while more, there was silence. Then-

"Another one for her side," Noble muttered.

"Right," Firestorm said quickly and embarrassingly. "I should probably go distract that Tartarus-spawn so that you can escort the princess out. Just don't screw it up."

"Come on, Firestorm," Noble said, his mouth dripping with sarcasm. "When have I ever screwed up?"

"Well," Firestorm said with an impish grin as he spread his wings. "There was always Skyworld." And he flew, slightly askew, into the girders above them.

Twilight watched where he had disappeared for just a second, then curiously asked, "What's Skyworld again? It sounded dangerous."

Noble Blade fidgeted, then replied, "You don't want to know and I don't want to tell you." His face was just a little red.

"Well..." Twilight fumbled, then said, "I noticed that you sometimes talk like Princess Luna. All the Thees and Thous and stuff. But you also like to talk normally. Why?"

" 'Tis fun." He flicked his hoof nonchalantly. "I picked it up after spending some time as Princess Luna's hidden bodyguard. While in her service I marveled at the fluidity and grace that such a speaking style possesseth. I eventually convinced her to teach me the ins and outs of archaic language. It hath been a grand asset to diplomacy in the missions we undertake, as well as having a rather jovial air about it. I love it." He frowned. "Although to this day Firestorm insists that I picked it up only to impress any fair young maidens who happen to have a thing for fantasies."

"Well, it's working," Twilight said dreamily.

Noble looked at her with a strange expression. "Thou too?"

Twilight suddenly blushed and stammered, "I-I-uh... d-d-do you-I mean-"

Noble held up a hoof to silence her. "You know what, I'm just going to avert the direction this conversation is taking to avoid anything embarrassing. Talking fancy has a price, you know."

Meanwhile, Firestorm crept around in the catwalks high in the ceiling to avoid detection. He crawled low and silently, being consciously quiet, which for him was a major accomplishment. That didn't mean he had to be happy about it, though. He preferred to be the loudest thing in any given situation, thank you very much. And the loud whirring of the crane and hoarse screeches of the Noxxa and cracking of the welding lasers were ticking him off.

He made his way to a spot directly over the crane's arm, where it was slowly turning to adjust a metal crate. Firestorm drew his twin blades, muttered, "Just another day in my line of work," and jumped off the catwalk.

As he landed on the end of the crane's arm, several hisses and screams of alarm alerted him that his presence was now noticed. But that was the intent, so Firestorm didn't really care. He ran on his hind legs to the cable dangling from the end of the crane, ducked a wrench that was thrown at him, and with a swipe of his arms, he severed the cable holding the metal crate, sending it crashing to the ground.

From across the room, Noble whispered, "He's started--go!" Noble climbed on top of the guard rail spanning across the edge of their platform and jumped to a stack of long metal crates. He turned around, quietly urging Twilight to follow by jumping to him. She also climbed on the rail and jumped. Even with flapping her wings, she had to be caught in midair by Noble, as she wasn't as athletic as him. Twilight enjoyed being held by him for a brief moment before he let go and urged her onward at a gallop.

Several other Noxxa had started to clamber onto the crane, and Firestorm started to fend off their blows and thrusts as he spun and slashed and whirled at them. The first few were fine, but there soon started to be a lot more climbing onto the crane that he couldn't immediately take care of. So, after sinking a thin blade into a Noxxa's gut and barely avoiding an axe blade to the head from behind, he spread his wings and jumped off the crane. He took to the air for a bit before he landed on the top of a nearby stack of crates and ripped apart the Nox there to get the monster's attention away from the Princess and the knight on the other end of the room.

As Firestorm effortlessly deflected a flurry of slashes from the Noxxa attacking him, the lights all suddenly darkened and red flashes started to cycle around the massive warehouse. An alarm klaxon started to blare, and the doors to the warehouse on all three levels of it burst open. Hordes of armored troopers poured in. As they did, they spotted not only Firestorm, but also Twilight and Noble Blade, who were trying to leap to another crate pile. The Noxxa reinforcements let out terrifying shrieks and lept into the air with their dragon wings, then flew at Twilight.

One drew close and lunged to grab the princess, but Noble used the edge of his shield to cut into his black chitin claws, then slammed the shield into his face, knocking him backward off the stack of crates. Noble then kicked back another, reared onto his hind legs and heard the leg stiffeners in his armor straighten, and drew his long broadsword. He swept his sword in wide arcs to keep any Noxxa at bay, stopping them in their tracks.

Then Twilight and Noble lost their balance as Noxxa on the ground toppled over the long metal boxes they were standing on. They tumbled down three stories, bouncing on the boxes, slipped and bruised themselves, and landed hard on the cold stone floor of the warehouse.

Twilight struggled to get off the ground, but as she tried to stand she felt a sharp pain on her back and a bruise on her forehead. Nonetheless, she tried to rise, her vision a little blurry, and saw Noble coming over to her, the red lights in the room reflecting off his grey armor.

But before he could reach her, a Nox flew down between her and the knight and drew a sword facing Noble. He started to spar with him, and from the looks of it, the Nox was good at it.

From across the room, a voice screamed, "PRINCESS!"

And suddenly two sharp pairs of claws grasped her on either side of her. Twilight screamed and tried to squirm her way out, but the two Noxxa grabbing her held her fast. One of them pressed a small black knife against her temple.

"We have orders to capture you alive. That doesn't mean we can't hurt you," one of them hissed into her ear. The tip of the knife broke the surface of the skin. She started to hyperventilate, and the Noxxa growled in pleasure. Noble had seen the plight of the princess, and tried to move to help. But the Nox fighting him had been joined by two others and Noble was now surrounded by three Noxxa that were landing hits and dents on his armor. He was in a desperate battle now.

The Noxxa holding Twilight started to drag her away. Twilight tried to scream, but a black insect claw slapped across her mouth and held it shut. Then, all of a sudden, the claw went stiff. Twilight's eyes fell on the Nox holding her on the left.

He had a long, thin blade protruding from the front of his neck.

The blade slithered out, making a whistling sound as it did so. The same noise came from the other side and Twilight turned to see a similar blade slide effortlessly out of the dissolving Nox. They both collapsed into dust, and Twilight wheeled around.

Firestorm was there, both of his blades coated with black dust. Firestorm gave a grin. "Why hello, Princess. Miss me?"

Before she could answer, he leaped clean over her head and sunk both of his blades into one of the Noxxa sparring with Noble. Both of the other Noxxa looked surprised at the sudden death, which allowed Noble to make a long, sweeping cut through both simultaneously.

They weren't dead, but they were leaking black dust from their wounds. Noble followed up by cleaving one clean in half and bashing in the other's head with the edge of his shield.

They took just a moment to pant and catch their breaths. Noble finally said, "What took you so long?"

"Ah, well, you know," Firestorm waved his hoof. "Troublesome Noxxa and all that. I honestly wouldn't have refused your help, you know."

"You now stoop to actually calling for help? Storm, be serious."

"I may be stupid, but I'm not an idiot. I can realize when I'm beaten."

"Um, hello?" Twilight asked, bringing both the stallion's heads swinging her way. "Can we escape now, please?" She gestured across the room. Way on the far end of the room a small rectangle outlined itself against the wall, showing the door.

Firestorm gave a sarcastic bow, smiling at her. "You only needed to ask," he said, and started to make his way out from behind a huge pile of metal crates. However, he then suddenly stopped, his head turning from side to side, and Twilight could see his yellow eyes widen with panic. "GET DOWN!" he yelled as a high-pitched hum filled the air.

As they all instinctively hit the deck, a powerful beam of yellow energy cut through the solid steel pillar in front of them. toppling it to the ground with its ends glowing and smoking. Firestorm gestured at the crane he had jumped on at first and Twilight saw it- the welding laser had been turned on to its highest setting and was now being operated by a very angry Nox.

The lemon-colored laser cut a path through the entire expanse of the warehouse, searching for the Guardians and the Princess. The Nox by now had completely abandoned the notion of taking them in alive. He cut a path through the entire expanse of the warehouse, the beam of power ripping through everything in its path. It sliced through three-foot thick steel like it was made of paper and gouged deep scars into the ground.

After a minute of the three of them hiding behind a ruined metal crate for cover while the laser wreaked havoc, Firestorm yelled, "This is not the best plan we've ever had!"

Twilight looked at him incredulously. "This was a plan?!"

Noble, however, was busy observing the yellow beam of energy carve through a thick cast-iron support, collapsing a section of catwalk. The laser then moved closer to where they were and tried to ferret them out by blasting away bits and pieces of the ruined crate they were using for cover. More and more of it disintegrated.

Noble looked back at the others. "I'm going out there," he somberly declared.

"WHAT?" Twilight had to yell over the unearthly hum the laser gave off. "Noble, you can't! You'll get ripped to shreds!"

Noble only smiled. "If not me, then who, Twilight?"

"Please!" she begged. "Don't!" Another laser blast blew apart even more of their cover. One more hit to their cover and they were done for.

Noble, however, would have none of it. "Whatever happens, Twilight, stay behind me."

"But-" she gasped.

"Stay. Behind. Me," he firmly repeated. Then, feeling a twinge of guilt from the anguished scream tearing from Twilight's throat, he reared on his hind legs and the leg stiffeners in his armor clicked together. He then came into the open, straddling a deep gash in the ground, and let out a challenging roar to get the laser operator's attention.

The operator heard him and he saw his armor glinting in the red flashing lights in the warehouse. Growling loudly, he swung the laser to face Noble and fired the laser at full force. A heavy solid beam of death fired directly at Noble's face.

All Noble had time to do was raise his shield.

The beam struck the shield at full force with a resounding BOOM-- and to Twilight's utter astonishment, the shield held. The same laser that had easily slashed through three-foot thick steel was stopped by a shield an inch thick. The glare the laser gave off as it hit Noble's shield made Noble Blade into a picturesque silhouette, standing on his hind legs and leaning forward with a shield held in front of him and a sword swept behind him as his brown cape billowed.

Twilight could only stare with an open mouth at the sight. "What is that thing made of?" she asked, flabbergasted.

"We'll explain later! Now stay behind here!" Firestorm ordered.

Noble Blade was straining against the force of the laser beam. Beads of sweat rolled into his eyes. He was leaning forward and was pushing with all his might to avoid being thrown backward. The beam was hot, and being encased in a suit of armor did not help the heating situation.

He squinted, and could just barely see past the glare that the laser was not being absorbed by the shield. It was being deflected. The laser operator did not see that because of the glare as well. Noble saw that the laser was being deflected off to the side and was steadily melting a hole in the reinforced wall.

The baby blue unicorn started to imperceptibly angle his shield. The laser traced a path on the wall back to where the laser operator was, and the Nox belatedly realized that the laser was getting near. And before he could do anything about it, the laser had connected with the power source.

It exploded in a flash of light and a loud BOOM, and the entire crane was incinerated with the Nox operating it. The laser suddenly disappeared and Noble stumbled forward as it ceased to strike his shield. He blinked hard to get the lingering light out of his vision and leaned on his sword in exhaustion.

"Now!" Firestorm yelled, and he ran out with Twilight following him closely. Noble, after he had caught his breath, followed after them as they started to run to the opposite end of the massive storage room.

The entire warehouse was in flames now, torn to pieces by the powerful welding laser. All around them, pieces of the ceiling fell down, hanging by a thread. Shattered light fixtures lay scattered around them. On the ground were deep black scratches and gouges caused by the laser's erratic path, some of them still burning. Once a pile of stacked unmarked crates spilled across their path and hundreds of pieces of jewelry covered their path. Twilight popped her eyes at the sight, but the Guardians insistently kept moving forward. If there were any Noxxa still in the room, they had all been slain by the chaos.

Firestorm reached the door first and had turned around on his front legs, raised his hind legs, and bucked the door with all of his might. The door did not budge. Firestorm stayed in that position for just a second, then he weakly let out a whimpered, "Ow," and fell on the ground, clutching his hind legs.

"The door says pull, not push," Noble said wryly as he came close. Then he sheathed his sword, grasped the handle, and pulled the door inward. He allowed Twilight out first, then Firestorm, who scooted on his butt after the princess. Noble finally came out, and the door shut behind him and automatically locked behind him.

They stood there a moment to catch their breath from their running.

"Well," Noble Blade gasped, "I do believe that that ought to be a sufficient distraction."

Firestorm cricked out his hind legs, sore from where he had kicked the door. "Okay, but how do we know the Noxxa's attention is now on us?"

At that moment, an announcement chose to go off over their heads from the loudspeaker on the wall. "Attention. All personnel to the ground level. Attention. All personnel to the ground level."

"Well, that'll do." Firestorm shrugged cheerfully.

Chapter Nine: Diversionary Tactic #2

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The hardest part was not sneaking away from the massive wreckage site.

That part was actually pretty easy. All he had to do was scoop up the Dark Stone that had landed next to him and disappear into the smoke and shadows on the edges of the tower wall. He encircled the balcony surrounding the tower until he could find a vantage point to observe the cleanup crews that rushed the scene with fire-suppressant foam and brooms and dustbins to scoop up Noxxa ash and debris.

No, the real hard part was him coming to terms with himself. Freedom Fighter, the Super Soldier of Princess Celestia, who never, ever, ever lost a fight... had failed. He always made plans that turned out fine. He never failed.

Well, except for Skyworld. But that was different!

The point was, he had carried out an actually well-thought-out plan, and it had backfired. Literally backfired into the tower. He had executed a plan and it failed. So what now?

Come up with another one. Duh.

'I'd like to see you try! This is a little harder than I thought. The Stone is a teeny-tiny bit more dense than I first thought it was.'

It survived an explosion straight onto a steel tower! And you think it was just a little dense? The only thing more dense than the stone is you!

Freedom Fighter inhaled sharply through his teeth. 'Oooh, good one.'

Thank you. Now think, me. We can't just blow the thing up. All we'd do is make another mess. We need to come up with another way to destroy the Stone. Something that's actually effective.

'You got a suggestion, then?'

That's your job, not mine. I'm just here to entertain you.

Freedom Fighter pondered for a second. 'Well, I at least know what not to do. Explosions won't cut it. We need something a little more destructive.'

What's more destructive than an explosion?

'Words?'

That's what a psychology student would say. What are you going to do, yell at the rock to blow itself up?

'I can't talk- or haven't you forgotten?'

Then use hoof gestures. Who knows? It might actually be more effective than yelling at it. Actions speak louder than words, you know.

Freedom Fighter silently chuckled. He then moved further away from the wreckage site and started to move around the tower to the opposite side. It took him a bit of time, as there were quite a bit more Noxxa rushing to the wreckage site to try and form a net to catch the catapult saboteur.

Freedom Fighter laughed even more at their insistence.

The tower was so wide that it took him half an hour to sneak around the circumference of it. During that time he came up with many ideas to try and destroy the Dark Stone. It was a rather fruitless brainstorming session. He tried to come up with good ideas. Really, he did. But at the end of his thoughts, Freedom Fighter was absolutely sure that among the ways to destroy something, drowning a rock was not one of the most effective.

It was rather frustrating, actually. Inanimate objects were rather tricky to completely destroy because there was no definite way to actually tell when the object was destroyed. Was it when it was shattered into pieces or when it was completely incinerated? If he was instructed to destroy a living being, he would never run out of ways to kill them. There were just so many of them. Anything could be used as a weapon. Absolutely anything. And the body had so many weak spots on it that is was rather easy to subdue them.

He could gouge their soft spots out with a sharp twisted blade, or he could asphyxiate them by cutting off their air supply. He could bludgeon them with something heavy, or make a large open wound on them and watch them bleed to death. He could remove bits and pieces from others until they simply became stumpy torsos, or inject venom into their veins and they'd be dead in twelve minutes. Torture. Pain. Humiliation. Utter degradation.

They were old friends of his. Assuming he knew the concept of friendship in the first place.

He had personal experience in delivering those old friends to the enemies of the state- anarchists, assassins, gangs, corrupt politicians, slave traders, murderers. They had no intent on delivering mercy to their enemies. So why did he have to show mercy to them? After all, if he didn't show mercy to them, they'd just gloat in getting off lucky and continue in their ways of corruption and evil. If you just kill them, the problem is erased and you don't have to worry about them anymore. If you let the filth go, all you do is set them loose to surely commit more crimes.

Freedom Fighter finally got to the opposite side of the tower. One story above him, a landing bay jutted out of the tower like a loose brick in a building.

'Ooh! look at that! A way back in!'

So what are you going to do about it?

'Maybe there's something up there we can use.' He looked at his left hoof. In his large black suit and attached to his arm, a fifteen-foot steel cable with a serrated end was coiled up and ready to be fired at will. 'What do you think?'

Let's try it.

Freedom Fighter pointed his arm up at the bottom of the landing bay and he slapped the firing button. The cable fired upward with a sharp ZING and the end of the cable impaled itself in the bottom of the overhanging landing bay. Freedom gave a few tugs to make sure it was embedded properly, then pressed the retract button on the cable launcher. He sailed upward as the steel cable recoiled itself until it was all the way in except the tip, and he was hanging by one hoof on the bottom of the landing bay. He looked downward.

Holy freaking crap! he yelled. The black sand of the desert was eight hundred feet below him. He had been on the eightieth floor, after all. That's scary!

'Don't worry, me. As long as my magnets are working right, we'll get out of this safely enough.'

That's easy for you to say!

Freedom clicked his hind legs to activate the supermagnets in his hooves and swung his legs up to attach them to the bottom of the landing bay. They did so with a loud CLANG. Now upside down and feeling the effects of disorientation, he yanked the tip of the harpoon out and it slithered back into the launcher.

I still think it's cool how I can do this kind of thing, Freedom thought as he crawled on the underside of the landing bay to the ledge. He got to the edge of the bay and took a step, and suddenly he was vertical. He then walked up the side of the landing bay for a bit with only his forelegs, reaching arm over arm to attach magnet after magnet. Once, the supermagnet slipped for a few inches and his heart started to play the snare drum. But he managed to catch himself from falling and continue to climb up, hoof over hoof. He then reached the top of the landing bay and slowly peeked his head over the edge to catch a glimpse of the things inside.

In the landing bay were a few rows of propeller-based flight machines, ranging from just single-passenger to a massive troop carrier. They were incorrigibly aligned in straight lines, ready for piloting. Far in the back was a small corner where a few winged Noxxa were lounging indolently as they waited for orders to fly out for patrol. On the left wall were several dragons leashed to the wall that were straining against their chains violently, and several wingless Noxxa were trying to restrain them with ropes. But what drew Freedom Fighter's attention was the thing looming over all of them.

The overseer of the red tower they were in, and the city it was in, as well as the leader of the Noxxa, was a pale, red-eyed abomination known to all as Marshal Malice. He did not bear resemblance to any of the other Noxxa and ruled by silent intimidation. When not in the massive red tower, he rode on his mount, which was as pale and red-eyed as him, and patrolled throughout the land, making visits to other Noxxa outposts and violently re-instilling order in resilient ones.

Marshal Malice's mount was now tethered to the wall with chains, much more massive than anything else in the room. As Freedom Fighter watched, he noticed the white dragon struggle against his chains and snarl and stamp on the ground. At that moment, the doors to the landing bay opened on the other side facing the dragons and two wingless Noxxa pushed a large cart into the room with a grey tarp covering the cart. Many blocky objects were in the cart, outlined by the tarp over it. Freedom Fighter ducked his head down, still holding on to the edge of the landing bay, then poked his head out over the edge again when he was sure he was not spotted.

"Okay, okay, Bloodlust," one of the Noxxa sighed as they came near to the large white red-eyed dragon. "We hear ya. Don't worry, here comes your snack time."

Bloodlust? Freedom Fighter was confused until he saw the white dragon move at the name. His eyes then locked on to the cart and they grew wide and hungry.

Then he understood. Bloodlust was the name of the dragon.

"Did you hear about the break-in?" one of them asked as they took the tarp off of the cart. Inside was a sight fit for a king. The cart was filled to the brim with jewels, crystals, and precious stones, like geodes and Tiger's Eye.

"Yeah. Heard they have it contained, though."

The first Nox snorted. " 'Course not. There were two separate incidents that just happened."

"I heard about the catapult sabotage. I wonder if the saboteur died."

The first Nox selected a good-sized jewel out of the cart and lobbed it into the open mouth of the pale dragon, who chewed it happily like a potato chip. "He probably got away. If he's clever enough to try and take control of a catapult while there's a lot of patrols up and about, he's probably clever enough to elude capture as well. Who knows where he is now."

Freedom Fighter drew himself up onto the edge of the bay and sneaked closer, unnoticed by anyone else. He melted into the shadows and listened closely.

"So if there was the catapult sabotage, was there anything else that happened?"

"Yeah. Once we managed to attack an elevator that was going down, but there was an accident in it, and everyone in it died. A scavenger team found the remains of the elevator car at the bottom of the shaft."

Freedom Fighter felt a twinge of fear. What if his fellow Guardians had died? Or the princess?

"Did they find any bodies?"

"Nah. They were probably crushed by the bloody elevator." The first one replied, then hurled another jewel at Bloodlust. Bloodlust snapped it up hungrily.

"Not bloody likely. I heard the intruders were the..." he gulped. "Guardians of the Sun," he whispered fearfully. "What are we going to do?"

"Probably fight them, of course. Right now they can't use magic to help them, so that puts us at an advantage."

Freedom Fighter unhinged a military stick from off his hip and twisted one end until a click could be heard from it. But nothing happened.

'What's wrong? Why aren't the enchantments working?'

Check the batteries, perhaps?

'Har har.'

It's probably the Dark Stone, you dunce! The stone blocks all enchantments, not just unicorn magic. Why didn't you think about that before?

'You know as well as I do that I was thinking about other things. Like destroying that stone, or thinking of ways to slap a nonexistent voice.'

He shook his head and tried to focus on the conversation taking place.

Suddenly a loud voice crackled over a loudspeaker, bringing every head up. "Attention. All personnel to the ground floor. Attention. All personnel to the ground floor."

The Noxxa not doing anything at the time jumped up and drew their swords. "They've found the Sun Guardians!" one of them yelled, then they all rushed out of the room in a horde. The two guards feeding Bloodlust sighed and chucked one last jewel to him, then came out as well. Bloodlust leveled an even glare at them as if expecting more. The cart of jewels was just out of the dragon's reach.

From his dark hiding place behind an outfitted chopper, Freedom Fighter started to think in overdrive. His bretheren were caught, or at least close to it. It was a diversionary tactic, or at least, that's what he thought. And he still needed to destroy that rock so they could use their magic to escape. Looking around him, he was curious as to what he could use to destroy it. What to do, what to do...

'I need to do something now! Something permanent! Something- " He paused his thinking as he eyed his surroundings. And what he observed was astounding. Why hadn't he seen it before?

His eyes traveled from the pale, red-eyed dragon chained to the wall to the cart loaded with tasty jewels. He unzipped a part in his black armored bodysuit and took out the Dark Stone. He looked back at the cart of jewels, then at the dragon again.

Dragon. Jewels. Dark Stone. An idea started to form in his head, and he smirked.

'You know what I'm thinking?'

I'm always thinking what you're thinking.

He smirked even harder. 'Then let's end our problem.'

I thought you'd never say it.

Chapter Ten: Who Needs Good Plans Anyway?

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Noble Blade led the way through the narrow metal hallways on the main level. Princess Twilight was behind him, running to catch up with him, and Firestorm was covering the rear. They were so close to the main doors leading out. Noble could anticipate them finding the main lobby at the turn of a corridor.

He instead rounded a bend and saw a crossing intersection up ahead, which he dashed into. The lack of Noxxa they had seen on the ground level was slightly unsettling to him. After all, the command had been given for all personnel to come to the main level. So the fact that he hadn't seen any made him anxious. While their reluctance to show their faces could simply be attributed to fear, the Noxxa were not the sort who would back down from merely fear. More than likely, they had ulterior motives.

Say, for example, a trap.

As he came to the spot where all four hallways converged, a wall suddenly materialized in front of him with a slam. Noble stopped immediately, putting out a hoof to the side to signal Twilight to slow down. Twilight skidded to a stop as well, but she stopped so quickly that Firestorm slammed into her back, almost throwing them both into the dark grey wall.

"Careful!" Noble cautioned. He drew his broadsword and extended its tip into the wall. Instead of carving through the metal like taffee, the blade halted. Noble pushed harder, but the wall held. Finally, he gave a hard swing. The tip of the mighty blade did not even cause a scratch in the metal.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"Confound it," Noble muttered darkly. "Not everything can be cut with our swords." He sheathed his broadsword. "It's a special metal that's incredibly dense. We'd better find another way around-"

But as he spoke another dark wall slammed into existence from the corridor they just came from, and two more to either side of them, sealing them in the intersection.

Noble said nothing but opened his visor vertically, blinking in disbelief. He looked startled and embarrassed. He said nothing.

Twilight shook her head as if trying to shake off a few mosquitoes, then looked at Firestorm. "Did we just get captured again?!"

"Apparently so. The oldest trap in the book, and we fell right into it." Firestorm felt as embarrassed as Noble Blade looked. He looked at the dark walls surrounding him on all sides, then turned to face Twilight. "Well, you walked right into it. I was just trying to keep up."

"Joke some other time," Noble muttered. "Marshal Malice really is here. Only he would maneuver us into such a position."

Marshal Malice was the last thing Firestorm wanted to think about right now. "Or, you know, it could be that knock on the head," he offered, lightly tapping his hoof upside his own head.

Noble Blade didn't even smile. "No. This is bigger than that. How in Equestria did he even locate us so precisely? This is all a complete mystery to me. It should have-"

"Perhaps we should solve the mystery of how we're going to get out of here first?" Twilight suggested out of the blue. Noble looked at her questioningly and she fell silent, even though that wasn't what Noble wanted.

"Never fear, Princess!" the pegasus announced, drawing his twin thin blades. "For I, Firestorm, the super smart, brave, and un-be-lievably hunky, have a plan!"

Twilight and Noble raised a single eyebrow simultaneously.

Firestorm reared up, put the swords in a reverse grip, and drove both of them into the deck beneath him. The swords bounced off the surface, and Firestorm slipped and hit his face into the ground.

"No doubt the ceiling is made of it as well," Noble said, then sighed and helped up Firestorm. "The first level needs to be made out of extremely strong metal to support the rest of the tower. Well, my friends. Any ideas?"

Twilight brainstormed and she found that there was always one contingency plan available. "We, ah, could always just surrender?" she asked.

Both the stallion's heads whipped to face her in disbelief.

"I- I mean, what with the damage you two have caused, and that it'll at least get us out of here, I'm sure that we could..." she searched for the words. "Bargain for our release?" She laughed nervously.

Firestorm, still staring at Twilight, whispered to Noble out of the corner of his mouth, "She's open-minded." He stepped forward. "What if we planted explosives along the sides of the walls?" He then shut his mouth as he realized that using explosives could prove tricky under his explosive-less circumstances.

"Good idea, but for the fact that if we use them in such an enclosed space as this, the explosion would kill us all," Noble pointed out. He then smiled. "But you're open-minded, I'll give you that."

Firestorm shook his head in defeat, swaying his fiery mane. "Well okay, then. I suppose now we try a new plan that I totally made up. It's called... patience."

"Patience," Noble said suspiciously. "That's a plan? Coming from you?"

"Yes, actually. You know, what zebra shamans tell people?" He assumed a zen-like pose and spoke with a heavy accent. "With patience, you must persevere, until the mud settles and the water becomes clear.' So we wait."

The knight looked skeptical. "Wait."

"For the security patrol. A couple of guards will be along in a moment and they'll have to drop the walls to take us into custody, won't they?"

Twilight was undeterred. "And then?"

Firestorm shrugged. "And then we kill 'em all."

"Brilliant as usual," Twilight said dryly. "What if they turn out to be Berzerkers? Or worse?"

"Pppppttttttt, come on! Worse than Berzerkers? Besides," he said, flourishing a hoof, "Security patrols are always those skinny, useless little grubs fresh out of training."

At that moment, the four doors simultaneously dropped. Four of those skinny useless little grubs appeared, one on each corridor. They all carried loosely-fitting armor and oversize spears. One of them said in a shaky voice, "H-hoof over yer weapons!", resulting in a chorus of "Yeah!"s to emanate from the others.

"Oh no. I'm soooo scared. I'm shaking in my custom-made armor uniform, I am so darn terrified." The sarcasm in Firestorm's voice was heavier than a barbell. He gestured at one of them over his shoulder, speaking to Twilight. "See? Nothing to worry about."

And directly behind them, materializing seemingly out of nowhere, eight heavily armed and armored Noxxa Berzerkers came into view, two into each corridor, their solid yellow eyes fixed with blind rage at the princess and the two Guardians.

Twilight facehooved and said to Firestorm, "You were saying?"

"Okay, okay, fine. Fine. It's Marshal Malice." He made air quotes at the name in disgust. "Or something." He rolled his eyes. "I suppose that means you're off the hook."

Behind the Berzerkers in each corridor marched sixteen more troops with the light glinting off of the blades they had in their mouths and claws. And in one of the corridors marched a creature the likes of which none of them had ever seen before.

Twilight whispered, "Noble? What is that?"

"Remember what you said earlier about 'Worse than Berzerkers'?" Noble asked grimly. "I think we're looking at him."

It was a white creature that had four legs spread like a walking stool. He had long, wicked axe blades welded onto the end of his four arms in place of appendages. Its head was that of a spider, and his eight eyes were bright red. The creature pointed his axe-tipped claws at them. "He said, hoof over your weapons, pony filth," it snarled in a deep, sinister voice.

Whoever he was, he definitely didn't just come out of basic training.

Noble Blade cleared his throat. "Under the, ah, circumstances, Storm, I recommend we execute a plan B."

Firestorm sighed. "The Princess's idea is sounding pretty good right now."

Noble Blade slowly unstrapped his shield and drew his sword out of his scabbard, then lay his sword on the inside of the shield and reluctantly hoofed it over to the strange white creature. The creature, however, continued to glare down at the knight expectantly.

With a consigned look, Noble unfolded a part in his armor and drew out his bandoleer of explosives and tossed it on the shield as well.

Still, the creature waited.

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Noble unsheathed a dagger from near his flank and slapped it down on the shield.

Finally, seeing no more weapons on him, the creature nodded and motioned for Firestorm to come up as well. Groaning like a little foal, he unsheathed his twin thin blades, as well as two additional combat knives on his flank and underbelly, and reluctantly placed that on the shield as well. The pale creature nodded again and a few Noxxa came forward with ropes to tie down wings and cuffs to bind them.

Noble, however, noticed what Firestorm had not brought up, and he facehooved. "Firestorm," he said exasperatedly. "Where are your explosives?"

Firestorm chuckled nervously. "They're not lost, if that's what you're thinking." That part, at least, was true; he knew exactly what had happened to them.

"No?" Noble asked, being herded next to Firestorm by the Noxxa.

"No."

"Where are they, then?"

"Can we talk about this later?"

"I don't think we might exactly have a later."

Firestorm sighed in defeat once more. "While you were in the elevator shaft... unconscious, you know... I kinda sorta maybe used the explosives to destroy the pulley systems holding the elevator up. And the rest of them fell down the shaft." He rushed the last part. His cheeks were flaming as much as his hair.

Noble was silent for a moment, then said, "And why did you do this, exactly?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Look, Firestorm-"

"Hey, you don't have yours either!"

"That's different."

"Of course it's different. I managed to actually use mine, but noooo! Not you! You did the better job and had your explosives taken from you rather than use them! That's soooo much better." He went into an exaggerated high-and-mighty Canterlot accent, imitating Noble's voice at the same time. "Nevah let anything happen to the explosives, Fahirstorm! It could very well be the success or failure of the mission!"

Noble, who had just a tiny drop of a Canterlot accent, frowned at the over-exaggerated caricature his friend was making. Twilight, on the other hoof, tried to hold back a snicker.

"Perhaps," Noble said as the cuffs were clicked on him, "we should talk about this later."

Firestorm intoned severely, "I dost not thinketh that we shalt have-"

"Okay, okay, enough." Noble was the one flushing now. "One for your side."

Firestorm suddenly blinked. "I'm sorry, what was that?" He couldn't help but grin. "Could you speak up a little?" He tilted his head and opened his ear a little more.

Noble scrunched up his face. "It's not very polite to gloat, Storm."

"I'm not gloating, Noble," Firestorm said as they were spurned to march, with Twilight behind them."I'm just... savoring the moment."

Again, Noble looked questioningly at his close friend. "Savoring the moment?"

"Yeah. As long as we're here, we might as well enjoy it." Spying the look Noble gave him, Firestorm began to explain. "I mean, okay, yeah, we've been captured. But so what? We've been captured before. Yeah, we're surrounded by these creatures of Tartarus. But so what? We've faced worse. You remember Skyworld? In Skyworld we were outnumbered by at least ten times this many."

"In Skyworld we could use our magic."

"Touche." He shrugged. "My point is, what makes you think this'll end up differently?"

Noble was quiet for a moment, then said softly, "I just thought that when we die, we'll die alongside Freedom Fighter."

"You know him as well as I do. If he were to find out we had died by these monsters, he would have slaughtered every single one until someone else killed him as well and we meet him in Heaven in the afterlife. And then we can all annoy Faust for all eternity until she gets fed up with us and throws us into Tartarus instead. And it won't matter if we're in Tartarus or in heaven because we'll all at least be together. But we should prolong that time by doing our job and giving Freedom Fighter more time. We need to spend every instant we still have alive giving him it."

"Which may not be enough," Noble worried. The group fell silent until Noble spoke up again. "It's going to be a grand exit from this life, Storm. To go out like a knight-- defending his country. For many years I've fought my enemies. But it is a far greater honor to die alongside my friends."

A somber but triumphant tone was then present among all three of them as they walked, stirring courage and sacrifice in everyone's head. They took every step with confidence and selflessness. They were filled with resolve.

That is, until Firestorm broke the mood. As usual.

"So when you say friends, you just mean the princess, right?"

"What?" Noble was confused.

"You'd much rather be with a hot princess than a hot mess like me, is what I'm saying."

Twilight, behind them, flushed hard. "Hot?!" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"Well, would you rather be called ugly? Yeesh," he muttered. "You get mad when I call ya hot, you get mad when I call ya ugly. Firethtorm confuthed," he said with his tongue between his teeth, crossing his eyes.

Twilight looked at Noble, but Noble looked at the ground almost sadly. Twilight was also confused. Why'd he look so sad whenever she was mentioned?

The answer was nonexistent as they plundered on in hoofcuffs to meet their fate with Marshal Malice.

Chapter Eleven: Surrender

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The corridors always looked the same no matter where they were turned. All they knew was that they were being taken down.

Finally, they reached a massive pair of iron doors and they opened with a low creak. They stepped into a large cavernous room that had many whirring machines on several raised platforms. In the middle of the room was an indented space that was perfectly circular. Twilight, Firestorm, and Noble Blade were thrust into that space, their captors still looking at them suspiciously.

The strange pale creature scuttled past them and spoke to a shadow near the top of the room. "Sir," he genuflected in his deep, deep voice. "The prisoners you wanted."

"Excellent," the shadow spoke. His high, cold, clear voice was contrasted by the deep voice of the pale spider creature. The shadow then moved into the light to reveal yet another pale, red-eyed creature. Unlike the other one, however, this one resembled a giant centipede with the head of a dragon and only ten legs. He stood on six of them. Everywhere he was armored, and everywhere there were tears in the armor and scars in his face, which was long and fanged. Two antennae were atop his head and he had four red eyes that burned, sunk deep into their sockets. He towered above everyone else; he was about as tall as Discord. This was Marshal Malice.

Making some attempt at humor, Twilight shakily whispered to Firestorm, "He's a lot shorter than I thought he'd be."

Firestorm whispered back, "A lot uglier, as well."

The Field Marshal heard this and sniffed with annoyance, but pretended not to notice. "This is my lucky day indeed. Never have I thought I would entertain the company of both a princess of Equestria and its protectors. But I'm afraid we're missing somepony, are we not?" He chose each word deliberately, slowly, in a cold, high voice. "I think we can correct that by removing the missing pony from this tangled equation."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked nervously.

"The third Sun Guardian is going to be fitted for a halo," the Marshal explained, grinning nauseously.

Freedom Fighter dropped from his hiding place and leaped, unnoticed, to the cart of crystals and jewels. The dragons tied up to the wall got a whiff of pony and followed the smell to the abandoned cart loaded with tasty jewels.

Malice continued to speak. "I have heard about the Guardians of the Sun. You try so hard to keep yourselves secret, do you not? Not thinking that the enemy you fight is compiling dossiers all about you behind your very back? I know everything, Sun Guardians. I know of your campaigns on Arimaspi Mountain, of your rescue from Midnight Castle, and of the complete embarrassment of yourselves in Skyworld."

Firestorm inhaled sharply, an expression of fear on his face at the mention of Skyworld.

"I wanted to remove both you and an Equestrian princess from your positions of power in one deft stroke. So I forged a letter to get the Princess of Manure out here for us to... relocate her to our humble capitol, knowing that the Sun Guardians would soon follow her. And now with the identities of the traitors revealed, a trap could be set to not only capture the princess again, but also the spies that betrayed us in the first place."

"Betray?" Noble Blade observed. "Last I checked, the only way to be a traitor is if you were loyal to that party in the first place." He was as calm as a rock. "And I was never loyal to you. I answer only to the Princesses of Equestria."

The dragons in bondage were getting infuriated now. These dragons were not normal dragons from the Dragon Lands. They came from Tartarus, where they could not speak, could not think as clearly. They stamped their feet, snarled sharply, roared in frustration. They were so close, both the pony and the cart of delicious jewels, but both were just out of reach, and they could not even see the pony they were smelling.

The pony in question was behind the cart of jewels, keeping his head down, carefully observing the Dark Stone he held in his hoof. He glared at the source of his consternation, then started his second attempt to destroy the Stone.

"Fools," Malice snarled. "You are traitors of a far worse caliber. You betrayed our father! You should have known what fate awaits a deceiving little-"

But he was cut off by a very loud, very obnoxious yawn by Firestorm. "Hooooo boy, I'd hate to cut you off right there in the middle of your prepared speech, but it's just that you're so freaking DULL! I mean, you manage to capture the number one enemies of the state and what do you do? You start to monologue!" He looked around the room when he got no reaction. "Hey, does anyone have an apple I can borrow? I want to look like an even bigger douchebag than usual. I was, you know, planning on taking one bite and just chucking it."

No one offered him an apple. Firestorm shrugged and pretended to hold one anyway.

Marshal Malice curled his lip. "Firestorm, I believe the name is. My goodness, you have certainly grown bold. Do you know what the punishment for speaking out of turn in my presence would be for my subjects?"

Firestorm pretended to take a bite out of the nonexistent apple held in his hoof, making all the annoying sound effects it came with in his mouth. He crunched and slurped for a second or two. "Well, yeah. I prob'ly do. It'sh jush that," he said, pretending his mouth was full,"I washn't a shubject to begin with." He then swallowed and tossed the imaginary apple over his shoulder. "I'm an enemy. You can't exactly restrict what your enemies would do or say to you. You're enemies, after all."

"Bolder and bolder," Marshal Malice growled. "To be listed among my enemies is to be put on death row."

"I've been on literal death row before." He shuddered. "Celestia had to pay a lot to Saddle Arabia. I'm about to die. So what? No difference to me."

The Marshal mused for a second. "You interest me," he said after a moment. "I am willing to set you- and you alone- free. I offer you the opportunity now. You can go back. None of us will stop you. But the princess and Noble Blade stay with me. You can go free and live, and continue to work for Celestia alone, and no one will stop you. Or you can die, here and now, in this control room, next to the murderers and deceivers you call friends."

Firestorm put his hoof on his chin. He looked back at the adorkable princess and the light, light blue knight. If it were anyone else in his position, they might have had a bit of a hard time choosing. But this was Firestorm, and so the choice was not a choice at all.

The dirty orange pegasus mouthed to Noble, "Should I flame him?"

He mouthed back, "He's all yours."

Firestorm stepped forward. "All right, look. I've been told- many, many, many, many, many times before- that I should respect my elders. And out of all the elders I've met so far, you by far are the biggest elder of them all- like, you look older than dirt. But I was never one to listen to others. So with that in mind, I'd like to declare, with utmost solemnity," he took a deep breath. "DANG, BRO! LOOK AT YOUR EYES! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? DO YOU NEED SLEEP?!"

From behind the hangar's inside doors arose two voices, alerted by the dragon's screeching. One of them said, "What in Faust's name is going on in there?"

Freedom Fighter knew he had to hurry. With a well-placed kick, he sent the cart of jewels rocketing to the leashed dragons. They excitedly dug their faces into the cart once it came within reach, and the dragons began to feast on the succulent treats.

Except for a pale white dragon with red eyes, who disappointingly looked at the feasting. He was just out of reach of the others.

Oh no, not you, Freedom Fighter thought. I've got a special treat for you, big boy.

"AND WHAT KIND OF EARLOBE IS THAT? WHAT'D YOU GET THAT PIERCED WITH, A HOLE PUNCHER?!"

"Should I shoot him, sir?" one of the guards whispered to the Field Marshal.

"Let him have his fun," Marshal Malice said. He looked disappointed that his offer had been refused in such an insulting manner.

As he opened his mouth to speak, however, Firestorm recoiled in horror. "PAUSE!" he yelled, so loud that all side muttering from the other guards ceased. He then yelled, "WHAT!", and came forward, getting closer to the Marshal. "IS!" He reared up on his legs, throwing both of his forelegs behind his head, still cuffed and chained. "THAT?!" He then pointed his hooves at Marshal Malice's teeth, which were rotting and yellow, as long as daggers. "HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF TOOTHPASTE BEFORE?!"

Twilight was trying with every fiber of her being not to laugh. Noble just looked as calm as ever.

"BUT I STILL CAN"T GET OVER THIS GUY'S EYES! WHAT IS THAT CRUSTY CRAP AROUND THE BORDERS?!" Firestorm's voice then dropped to a normal pitch. "You know what, I'm not even going to call him 'Marshal Malice' anymore. What do you think, Noble? What should his new nickname be? Scissor-ears?"

"Heck no," Noble said.

"Needleteeth?"

"Heck no."

"Pinkeye?"

"Heck no- wait, wait. Hold on to that one. That was a good one."

"Are you done?" the Marshal growled.

"Not yet." Firestorm shrugged. "I was about to start on your nose, actually-"

The Marshal's arm snatched Firestorm by the neck and held him three feet off the ground. The pegasus's eyes widened and he grinned lopsidedly as Marshal Malice glared at him. "BUT IMMA LET IT SLIII~IIIDE! IMMA LET IT SLIII~IIIDE IMMALETITSLI~"

Marshal Malice threw him to the floor. Firestorm got to his hooves, massaging his sore neck.

"I take it you chose the foolish option and decided to die with your friends."

"You have no idea how much friendship means to me, Pinkeye," Firestorm said strongly. "I'd much rather die fighting with them than live in guilt without them."

Noble blinked. "Was that... sincerity I heard out of your voice?"

"Uh, no," Firestorm said nervously, sweating copiously at the comment. "Wh-why do you ask?"

While the other dragons were greedily feasting on the jewels, Bloodlust the dragon, out of its reach, laid his head on the ground sadly. As he did so, he noticed a small black diamond the size of an apple on the ground right in front of him. It must have fallen out of the cart or something. He sniffed it curiously.

"Then have it your way," Marshal Malice growled. "You will die alongside your friends." He indicated the shield of weapons to be brought to him, and it was brought forward. Marshal Malice took the explosives out of the shield and gave them to a servant. The servant placed them then on a conveyor belt moving out of the room, then went to activate the belt.

Malice selected Noble Blade's broadsword out of the shield and hefted it. "This is the weapon of Noble Blade," he said, more to himself than to anyone else. "It truly matches his name. How ironic it will be that it shall be used to kill its own master." Malice smiled thinly.

"That will not happen. I am in control here." Noble had come forward. Truthfully he was trying to stall for more time so that one more desperate hope could exist for him and his friends. Anything to protect his friends he would do in a heartbeat. He eyed the explosives he had, now slowly moving on the conveyor belt out of the room.

Malice looked at him with the promise of death in his eyes. "So confident you are, Noble."

"Not confident; merely calm." And indeed he was.

As Bloodlust sniffed the strange black diamond, he found that it gave off an aroma of licorice. Curious, he prodded it with his snout.

"We can resolve this situation without further bloodshed. I, for one, am more than willing to accept your surrender," Noble Blade continued.

The last word caught Malice by surprise. Malice laughed derisively and sneered at him. "I'm sure you are." He then tilted his head. "Does this stupid 'I will accept your surrender' line ever actually work?"

"Sometimes. When it doesn't, ponies get hurt. Sometimes they die." Noble looked emotionlessly at Malice. "By ponies in this case, you should know, of course, that I mean you."

Bloodlust, excited by the distinct aroma off of the strange treat, took it into his mouth and started to chew. It was surprising. Most jewels were like potato chips, but this one was more brittle, like a piece of hard candy. He nevertheless chomped enthusiastically.

"I understand. I understand that I will kill you." Malice raised Noble's sword. "Here. Now. With your own blade."

The dragon swallowed the pieces of the chomped stone and they were instantly dissolved in his stomach.

All of a sudden, Noble Blade felt a rush of power flow into his horn, like the feeling of strength coming back to a limb that had fallen asleep. He looked at the explosives on the conveyor belt slowly moving out of the room. Noble said, "I don't think so."

As Malice swung the sword over his head, Noble, to the amazement of everyone else in the room, ignited his horn in an aura and telepathically triggered the explosives on the conveyor belt just before they disappeared out of the room. In the quarter of a second that followed, when even the Field Marshal was distracted by the massive blast that incinerated a fifth of the room, Noble grabbed all of their weapons and sent them flying back to him, all surrounded in a light blue light.

As his sword came hurtling towards him, he lifted his hooves and the chrome sword split through his cuffs before smacking solidly into his hoof. The upturned blade was perfect for Firestorm, who had flipped clean over Noble's head and used the blade to sever his own cuffs before catching his own twin blades and landing squarely in front of Noble after his shield zoomed onto his left forearm and clicked into place. So exactly two and a half seconds after Malice began the attempt to kill them, not only did Firestorm and Noble have their weapons back, but Noble and Twilight had their magic back.

It had all been so sudden that Noble wasn't all that surprised it had worked.

Noble Blade, now upright, looked squarely at Marshal Malice. "Perhaps you should reconsider my offer."

Absolutely furious now, Malice roared, "KILL THEM ALL!"

Twilight had never felt so relieved. It was like having a limb re-attached. Having her magic back felt like a rush of complete power that seemed to crackle inside of her. It needed to release. So as the Noxxa guards came forward, she grunted with power and it all came free. A sphere of pink power came out of her horn in instinct and it expanded throughout the entire underground chamber, throwing Noxxa throughout the room and melting through blinking machines and left them twisted, melted piles of scrap. The very walls themselves crumbled into powder in a flash, and every living being was thrown into the corners and was knocked unconscious.

Except for Noble, who had raised up his shield to block the magical blast, and Firestorm, who had hidden behind Noble. The three ponies stood alone in the middle of a blast zone, the ground blackened and smoking and debris scattered everywhere by the release of Twilight's magic. Twilight panted hard as the magic cut off.

Firestorm gaped at her. "If I knew she could do that with her magic I wouldn't have annoyed her as much," he admitted.

There came a shifting sound from the front of them and all three ponies turned to the sound. Climbing slowly out of the rubble and shifting the rocks off of him, Marshal Malice was crawling pathetically, shaking a bit of dust off of him.

Noble, upon seeing this, took his sword in both hooves and twisted the dark part near the handle. There was a small, indiscernible click and suddenly the entire sword erupted in a bright aura of blue light as the enchantments on the sword were activated. Noble was now holding a humming blue cross of power, and he walked on his hind legs, keeping the blue sword at his side. The Field Marshal looked up at him.

"Marshal Malice," Noble said, as though he had accidentally met some pony on the street that he secretly loathed, "My offer is still open." He spread his arms wide, the brown cape coming out of his armor falling freely.

Marshal Malice glared at him with baleful eyes. He spat a pale, sickly saliva at Noble's hooves. "Do you honestly think I would surrender to you now?"

"I am still willing to take you in alive." Noble waved the sword around the blackened remains of the tower's control center, a trail of blue following it as it sliced through the air. "So far, nopony's been hurt."

A piece of ceiling fell from the top of the cavern with a loud CRASH, making Noble wheel around. He looked around at the devastation for a little bit, then he frowned.

"Notice how he said no pony," Firestorm observed before Noble could say anything.

Marshal Malice stood up, grasping his head in pain. "You don't understand, do you?"

"Understand what?" Noble asked politely.

"That you think you have me cornered and helpless."

"You kind of are," Firestorm said.

"That's one of the many things that you don't comprehend about me," the Marshal snapped as he weakly limped to the side. "But I can let you in on one of my secrets."

"And what may that be?" Noble asked. He angled his sword into a thrusting position.

Marshal Malice grinned. "You weren't the only ones that had their magic blocked by the Dark Stone." And his antennae glowed grey, there was a bright pop and a flash, and he had disappeared.

Noble activated his magic desperately, his horn covered in a cyan aura of power, but after five seconds of concentration, he deactivated it.

"Why'd he flee?" Twilight asked. It felt so good to have her magic back.

"He's not an idiot. He may be powerful, but he can tell when he's beat. Him, up against two Guardians of the Sun and the Princess of Friendship? It doesn't take a scientist to know the odds were against him," Firestorm said. "We're just too epic."

"So what now?" Twilight asked.

Noble shrugged, then twisted his sword again and the blue surrounding his sword disappeared. He then sheathed it and fell to all fours. "We return you to your castle in Ponyville. And this would be a perfect opportunity for us to learn about your friends as well, for I have heard of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony before, but I have not so far had the chance to meet them face-to-face."

"Why? You were supposed to watch over the princesses in secret, so why haven't you seen my friends before?"

"We've been away on missions all across Equestria."

"But I've never heard of threats all across Equestria. I had no idea they existed."

"You're welcome," Firestorm said with a smile.

"So what do you know about my friends, anyway?" Twilight said as Noble came next to her.

"I know that thou and thy legendary friends have conquered such beasts and monsters such as Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Lord Tirek, besides others. However, I am afraid that is the extent of my knowledge on that point. We were never assigned to Ponyville, so we are ignorant in such matters, I'm afraid. I do not even know what they even look like."

"Well, let's change that!" Twilight said. "I'll introduce you all to them and we can get along fine!"

"Hooo boy." Firestorm sighed. "Friend making. Oh joy." He then put a hoof on his chin. "Do you think they can know about our, ah, occupation? We are a secret to most other ponies. Can we tell them that we're a secret force of princess protectors?"

"I think so. After all, they are the Elements of Harmony. If any civilians ought to know about us, they can." Noble put his armored hoof on Twilight. "But before we do, let's pick up Freedom Fighter and tell him about what happened. Let's teleport to his location."

"But I don't know where he is," Twilight pointed out.

"That shouldn't matter. All you have to think about is where he is and you should be able to appear there. It's the technique I use when I teleport short distances," Noble said.

"You can teleport?" Twilight asked excitedly. Normally only highly-studied unicorns advanced in magic were able to teleport.

"Only in short distances. I'm not the best at it, I think. The most I ever got was a quarter mile."

"That's really impressive!" Twilight smiled. "Being able to teleport at all is very impressive!"

Noble nodded. "So shall we go then?"

He had done it! The Dark Stone was finally destroyed! From behind a small chopper in the landing bay Freedom Fighter sighed in relief. And it had been accomplished with only minor distractions this time.

No thanks to me, his other voice said without a hint of modesty.

Freedom Fighter waited until he was sure that the dragons were all fed satisfactorily, then started to sneak away into the shadows leading into the tower.

Until the doors burst open with a loud BANG, startling him a little. There was a single Nox there.

"Wha's goin-" he started to say, then spotted Freedom Fighter before he could conceal himself. " 'ey you! Stop roigh' theah!" he snarled, then drew his sword with a steely rasp and ran after him.

Freedom groaned internally. 'Let me have a moment, will you?' he asked silently before he ripped a single combat baton off his hip and flipped it out, doubling its length. As the Nox drew close, he spun around and slammed the two-foot stick into the Noxxa's neck, throwing him to the deck. Freedom pounced on him as he gasped for breath and he plunged the staff into his skull with a loud CRACK. The body under him dissolved into powder and he took the long stick out of the pile of ash that had once been his head. He shook it to get the powder off of it, then re-hinged it and re-attached it with a single flourish.

A POP then came directly behind him and he instinctively spun around, drew a thin dagger out of a hidden spot on his arm and hurled it-

-almost into the face of Firestorm, who had materialized behind him with Noble and Princess Twilight. The blade had been stopped by Noble's magic an inch away from the tip of his eyes. Firestorm yelped and jumped backwards. Noble, however, cried aloud with joy and ran forward. He roughly embraced him and Freedom Fighter was squished in a literal steel grip as the armored pale blue unicorn hugged him in relief.

Firestorm had recovered from the sudden shock and had moved out of the way of the knife, suspended in midair by a light blue aura. He yelled at Freedom, "What the heck, dude? You could have killed me!"

Breaking off the embrace, Freedom Fighter made a few motions to Firestorm.

"THAT WAS THE IDEA?!" Firestorm yelled incredulously, throwing his head back and making his fiery mane bounce behind him.

A few hoof gestures. Freedom Fighter grinned under his cowl.

Firestorm threw up his hooves in exasperation. "The universe is out to get me," Firestorm grumbled.

Freedom then came to the knife floating in the air and grabbed it. He sheathed it, then turned to Noble Blade and saluted.

"What took you so long?" Noble asked.

Freedom Fighter explained exactly what had happened- that the stone was harder to destroy than he first thought. Then he made an out-of-nowhere obnoxious comment that he facehooved at.

"Was that your other voice talking there?" Noble asked.

He nodded.

"Well, keep him in check and continue on."

So he did. Continuing in sign language, he let him know that after he had secured the Stone he had gone to the catapult level to try to destroy it. But the explosives didn't cut it, so he had wandered over to the landing bay they were in and discovered dragons from Tartarus. After realizing that dragons could digest rocks and gems and crystals, he had the idea to feed the stone to one of them.

"Which one?" Noble politely asked.

Freedom Fighter jerked a hoof at the pale red-eyed mount of Marshal Malice.

Firestorm began to hoot with laughter. "I can't believe it!" he exclaimed. "His own mount devours the thing protecting this tower from attack!"

"How many Noxxa did you kill?" Noble asked with a tinge of sadness. "I know you don't like them very much, but how many of them did you kill?"

Freedom Fighter tapped his hooves together eight times, then made an additional upward gesture to indicate the number moving into the tens place.

Noble winced. "That's a lot."

Freedom Fighter nodded gravely. Then he looked out of the landing bay at the landscape. The sun was starting to imperceptibly move down over the black sand desert of the Noxxa's land. Celestia was doing her job with the steadiness of an experienced ruler.

"Shall we go to Ponyville, then?" Firestorm asked Twilight. "Let's get you back home."

Noble Blade and Freedom Fighter came to Twilight's side and each laid a hoof on Twilight's back. Twilight ignited her horn and began to charge her magic. Noble also activated his magic to help alleviate a bit of her magical stress.

And as they reached the necessary power to teleport out of the tower, there was a pop, a flash, and Twilight, Noble Blade, Freedom Fighter, and Firestorm disappeared.

Chapter Twelve: How To Make Even More New Friends

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In the absence of Twilight after she left, the girls and Spike decided to give her a surprise when she came back by cleaning up the castle. The evening after the day she had left, they all went to her castle to tidy up. When they had gotten there, they had all went to work on the areas of the castle they felt most comfortable around. At this moment, Fluttershy was sweeping up in the throne room while her friends were cleaning in the hallway. Fluttershy liked it when this happened, because then she could think clearly.

Twilight had left on a train to Saddle Arabia, but the train had never returned after it had dropped her off in the capitol. Twilight had also promised to write a letter to them when they had arrived, but there wasn't a letter there. The other girls just thought that Derpy the mailmare had lost her way, but Fluttershy, being the fearful pegasus she was, thought differently.

The fact of the matter was, there was no word of Twilight. She assumed the worst, naturally. What if she had gotten lost, or was frightened, or even... hurt? She didn't know a lot about Saddle Arabia, so she was unaware of the dangers involved in traveling there. She wanted to tell her friends about her suspicions, but she was scared they'd shrug it off as just another rash worry session of hers. After all, it was too early to be sure about anything. So she worried quietly.

She noticed a bit of dust underneath Rainbow Dash's spot at the Cutie Map. So she ducked her head down and reached under it with the broom to try and reach it-

POP

Fluttershy "Eep"ed softly and dove under the table, startled by the sudden noise. Above her, four very heavy objects hit the table, one after the other, each of them making a grunting noise. The last grunt as it fell to the table sounded feminine. Recognizably feminine.

"Uuuugghh," the female voice groaned. Fluttershy recognized it immediately. "Welcome home, I guess," Twilight's woozy voice said.

"Twilight?" Fluttershy said eagerly, and peeked her head over the top of the table. And she gasped.

Twilight was in fact there, but she wasn't alone. Three other ponies were lying on the table, clearly exhausted. One was an earth pony in so much black she initially thought she was a shadow of another one of them. Another was a pegasus in ragged brown and maroon clothing mixed with flexible armor and a black armored mask. The last pony she saw was a unicorn coated entirely in dull grey armor that comfortably overlapped.

What made her apprehensive was the weapons they all had on their backs and on themselves. But Twilight didn't seem to mind the weapons. She had spotted Fluttershy, and had gotten up fast, ran across the table, and hugged her in relief, startling her again.

"Oh, am I glad to see you!" she cried, and hugged her tighter. Then she pulled away. "Where are the others?" she asked. She looked bedraggled and dirty. They all had black dust powdered softly on them.

"Oh, um, they're cleaning the castle along with me," she said, a bit of confusion in her voice. "But, um, why do you look so terrible? Why are you back so early? Who are they?" She indicated the three ominous ponies getting to their hooves.

"Please, listen to me. The meeting- you know, the thing I was supposed to be in Saddle Arabia for- didn't go as planned."

"What do you mean?" she said, but one of the other ponies on the table spoke.

"Twilight, who are you talking to?" the knightly unicorn spoke, angling his head to get a glimpse. The voice was soft, and warm, and strong, and it gave her goosebumps just by hearing it. Under the visor he wore, she couldn't see his face, but when the unicorn saw her, he froze. He seemed to be transfixed on something.

"Oh, this is just a friend of mine. Come on, introduce yourself," Twilight urged the shy pegasus.

Feeling a little unsure, Fluttershy tried to look at the armor-coated unicorn, but ended up looking at the ground instead. "Um, hi. My name's..." Her voice lost volume. "F-f-fluttershy," she managed to squeak.

The knight didn't say anything. He was still lost in something as he just looked at her.

"Um, if you don't want to be around me, I understand. I'll just back off now." she said quietly. She started to move backwards.

"Please don't go," he said. The knight then used his hooves to undo a hook or two holding his helmet to the rest of his armor, and pulled off the helmet.

And Fluttershy's heart skipped a beat or two. He was a pale blue color with a strong, defined face and a small asymmetrical, nervous grin as he looked at Fluttershy. His thick mane was a rich bright blue and stuck up in random places. It sparkled slightly with sweat, giving him a dreamy appearance as she was drawn to his...his eyes. They were an even more magical dark, deep blue. They held wonder in them, and were partly dilated in fear when he saw her try to back away.

And suddenly, for some inexplicable reason she didn't know at first, she didn't want to anymore.

But before either of them could say anything more to each other, the doors to the throne room burst open and Fluttershy jumped and looked at the doors. The knight stayed where he was in wonder.

Five other ponies ran in. "We heard a pop in here. Fluttershy, is something--" Starlight Glimmer started, then stopped as she saw Twilight with three new, unfamiliar ponies on the Cutie Map table. The other four mares with her also stared at the sight, some of them apprehensively.

There was a bit of time as everypony stared at each other. The three strange new armored ponies looked at the mares. And the mares looked back.

Pinkie was the first one to speak. "NEW FRIENDS!" she yelled, throwing up her hooves in celebration.

Starlight then spoke. "Twilight? What are you doing here so early? Aren't you supposed to be in Saddle Arabia?"

"What I want to know is, who are these new guys?" Rainbow asked suspiciously. She flew to the table and put herself between Twilight and the three stallions. She reared in a fighting stance. "Stay back, Twilight! I don't trust 'em! They'll hurt you!"

The pegasus in maroon and brown rags said in irritation from under his cowl, "Okay, so you see me for less than a second, and you instantly think I'm going to harm somepony I've sworn to protect?" He swept off his cowl and his dark orange face was now displayed, his long fiery mane sticking up in the air. He put a hoof to his chest and pretended to look offended. "Is it because I'm a guy? Well, I'll have you know, I am deeply offen-"

"It's because you've got two swords strapped to your back!"

"Well, okay, yeah, there's that, but still-"

"STOP!" Twilight cried, and her horn ignited in a lavender color. The two pegasi were suddenly separated, both of them surrounded in a violet aura. Both were still glowering at each other. "I want these introductions to go smoothly, and the two of you aren't helping!" Twilight cut off her magic and the two of them dropped to the ground. They continued to glare at each other suspiciously.

"Okay, listen, everyone. I should explain what exactly happened, but first I want everypony to be acquainted with each other. Good terms, okay? You can trust these guys." Twilight came over and patted the pale blue unicorn, then indicated with a jerk of her head to talk to the rest of them.

The light blue knight shook his head as if going out of a trance, then faced the mares that had just came in and jumped off the table, leaving his helmet on the round table. His face captured everyone's attention, and they all looked at him. He gulped and said, in a Canterlot accent not present before in his voice, "It is an honor to be in thy presence." He looked at all the mares, but when he glanced at Fluttershy, he looked away quickly. "For I tremble exceedingly beneath thine collective beauty."

Upon hearing the compliment in the archaic tongue, Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, Pinkie Pie grinned even brighter than how she was before, Applejack raised a single eyebrow, though the ghost of a smile was present on her face, Starlight's eyes widened in curiosity, Fluttershy turned a deep pink and hid in her mane, and Rarity's entire face took on an intense glow.

"My name is Noble Blade," he continued. "Me and my companions, according to all known records, doth not exist. The fact that I am explaining such information, therefore, indicates a level of trust we expect you to keep. We are known as the Guardians of the Sun."

"And you secretly carry out special missions under the order of the princesses and protect Equestria from inside and outside threats and are basically unsung heroes because nopony knows about all the crippling events you've stopped?" Pinkie eagerly interjected.

The mouth of every single Guardian fell open. After a few moments Firestorm weakly said, "How did you know about that?"

Pinkie shrugged. "Eh. I just talked with the author earlier and he explained everything. Duh." She rolled her eyes.

Applejack gave Pinkie a strange look. "Who the hay is this author?"

"And why does he sound like someone I should smack in the face?" Firestorm asked, smacking one hoof into the other.

Noble Blade blinked, then continued. "The point is, we protect Equestria's protectors. We are the ones who will stay and fight when the rest of the world doth flee. For over five years we hath served. And we doth now serve thee. Our lives we will gladly give to ensure thy protection." He pounded his hoof on his chest and bowed.

"My, my! A flatterer who knows how to work a fancy tongue! You've found a good one, Twilight," Rarity said, fluttering her eyelashes.

Firestorm snickered at the comment's double meaning.

Rarity continued, twirling her mane. "Tell me, Noble Blade, are you always like this?"

Noble eyed her for a second, then said, "Either if the occasion demands it or if I feel particularly in the mood." He paused, then said, "Tell me, what is thy name, my lady?"

Rarity let out a flushed laugh at the title. "Rarity, my lord," she said extravagantly, and extended a hoof. Noble shrugged and kissed her hoof. Rarity giggled and started to swoon a little, but managed to stay upright.

"Alright, hold on. These are the Elements of Harmony?" Firestorm asked, waving a hoof at all of the girls. "Can I guess the names? Can I? Please?" He fixed Noble Blade a pleading look. Before Noble could say anything, he shrugged. "Silence is consent," he said flippantly, then begun. "Okay, so there's Applejack," he pointed at the farm mare, "Who I'm going to guess is the one with apples on her butt."

"Tha's one way of puttin' it," she muttered sarcastically.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the one with the awesome mane and, ah, colorful attitude is a certain Rainbow Dash," he continued. "Element of loyalty." He then pointed at her. "Seriously. Love the mane."

Rainbow shrugged. "Everypony does," she said, looking at him like he was an idiot.

"And I know you have the name of Rarity... for some reason."

She stiffened. "That was rude."

"Why thank you, dearie. I meant for it to be that way." He hurriedly moved on before she could retort. "And I have no idea why, but I think I have a faint suspicion that the one that's completely pink is... Pinkie Pie?"

She nodded vigorously. "Yep! That's me! Strange, isn't it?"

"And finally, I'll assume that that one pegasus over there that's hiding in her mane is Fluttershy, right?" he finished.

Fluttershy nodded mutely.

He then flapped up in the air and announced flamboyantly, "And now for me! The name's Firestorm!" He then did a few obnoxious over-the-top gestures. "The fast! The deadly! The super hot-"

"The what?" Rainbow Dash asked, suppressing a smile.

"Aaaand... the totally annoying!" he finished. He looked around the room. There was no reaction. He sighed. "I'M FUNNY! I-I'm supposed to be funny." He then crossed his arms and sulked like a child.

"And the introductions are officially blown to pieces," Twilight said.

"What about that feller over there?" Applejack asked. She pointed at the pony in utter black that was standing motionless, observing silently the event happening before his hidden eyes.

"Oh, him!" Twilight exclaimed. She had almost forgotten about him, he was so self-effacing and quiet. She turned around. "His name's Freedom Fighter. Say hi, Freedom!" Twilight said.

Freedom Fighter did not move.

"Ah hardly even noticed ya at first. Why didn'cha say anything?" Applejack said to him. He still did not move. After a second or two, Applejack said, "Yer the strong and silent type, huh?"

"He can't help it," Firestorm told her. "He doesn't have a tongue to speak with."

"He don't?" Applejack gasped. Freedom Fighter finally nodded, the first movement the mares had seen out of him. He was around the size of Shining Armor and most of his weapons were in plain view, so he was a little intimidating. He then sat on his haunches and made a few hoof gestures, startling the girls by his rapid movements.

"He says it's a pleasure to meet you all," Noble translated. "You can't see it, but he's smiling under the mask." Freedom pointed at him and nodded.

" 'Scuse me, but who's that last one?" Firestorm asked, pointing at Starlight Glimmer. "I thought we had gotten them all. Is there another element I should know about?"

"My name's Starlight Glimmer," Starlight said. "And I personally...think you're a little bit dubious. I mean, a secret group of warriors working for the princesses? That sounds suspicious."

"I can understand why you'd say that," Twilight said to her. "But they haven't hurt me yet." She looked behind her shoulder. "A certain pegasus might've tried to annoy me- "

"I'm not sorry," Firestorm piped up.

"-but so far all they've done is try to rescue me from harm."

Silence fell. Finally Applejack spoke up. "Ya needed rescuin'?" She sounded a little shocked. "Sumthin' bad happened to ya, didn't it?"

"Well...you could say that," Twilight laughed. "I was on my way to Saddle Arabia, but my train got hijacked and I got knocked unconscious."

Everyone gasped. Fluttershy felt a horrible feeling that confirmed her silent worrying.

"When I woke up I discovered I was being held captive by a kind of monster called the Noxxa. They... how do I describe this... looked like a pony, but they also looked like a bug and dragon hybrid."

"Sweet Celestia, they sound terrible!" Starlight said in concern. "Were they related to the changelings?"

"I think they had a common ancestor. I'm not certain."

"Did they rescue you?" Starlight indicated the three warriors.

"I'm getting there. Just before I was put in a holding cell for me to wait for my execution-" All the girls gasped again, "These three changed out of their disguises and beat the Noxxa back."

"She was very thankful," Firestorm let them know. "I particularly remember that she threw herself at me and showered me with affection."

"She punched you in the face," Noble reminded him.

Firestorm waved him off. "For her, that's the same thing." Pinkie giggled.

Twilight flushed but continued. "We then came up with a plan. Freedom Fighter went off by himself, found the thing that was blocking our magic, and destroyed it."

"You couldn't even use magic?" Starlight asked. "Like how me and Trixie and Discord had our magic blocked when we rescued you from the Changeling nest only a little bit ago?"

Freedom Fighter pointed at her and nodded emphatically, then used more sign language.

"He says that's exactly what it was. It was a black diamond around the size of an apple that blocked all magic in a mile radius," Noble translated.

"So while he went off, me, Noble, and the princess...we went and we..." Firestorm trailed off, then looked in confusion at Noble Blade. "What did we do, anyway? Were we just skedaddling around creating distractions to divert attention away from Freedom Fighter?"

"I assumed we were trying to get out of the tower," Noble said to him.

"...So we were just running around like a chicken with its head cut off?"

Fluttershy winced at the image.

Seeing her face, Noble quickly said, "No. This chicken," he indicated Twilight, "kept her head, while the two of us appeared to lose our heads in the field of battle. In fact, I recall that Storm here acted like the biggest chicken of us all."

Everyone laughed.

"Being compared to a chicken. My life is complete." Twilight sighed.

"Forgive me, my lady. No offense was meant," he said, bowing his head.

"He's so quick to apologize," Rarity admired. "Not many stallions I've met have been so quick to apologize before."

"Thank you?" Noble asked inquisitively, raising an eyebrow.

Twilight continued the tale. "There were some parts that were a little scary, like hanging in an elevator shaft for our lives, or being stuck in a warehouse with a crazy laser, but we stuck through it all and pushed our way through all they threw at us."

"Until we got caught," Firestorm said.

"Until we got caught, yeah. But you bravely refused the chance to abandon your friends, proceeded to insult the monster behind the whole thing, and then we got our magic back, disappeared, picked up Freedom Fighter, and teleported in short spurts back here."

When the story was over, Rainbow scratched the back of her head and spoke up. "Hey, uh, Firestorm?" She looked reluctant. "Sorry about yelling at you earlier. I didn't know you were fighting for Twilight and not against her."

"Oh, 'tis fine," Firestorm said in a posh voice. "I wasn't sure if you were on my side at first either." He flopped lazily into Twilight's throne around the table.

Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "Are you always like this?"

"Of course." He smirked and tossed his mane behind his shoulder. "Why, do you like this sort of behavior in males?"

"WHAT?" Rainbow shrieked.

"I'll take that as a yes, then." He propped his hind legs up on Twilight's armrests and closed his eyes contentedly.

All the mares watching the scene unfold were looking at Firestorm with either distaste or nervousness. Except for Pinkie. She could not stop softly giggling under her breath at the ridiculous pegasus's antics.

Noble sighed. "I apologize for his behavior. He knows that he annoys everyone he comes across, so he tries to be funny at the same time. As you can probably tell, it doesn't always work."

Fluttershy whispered, "That isn't very nice..."

"You're right. It isn't." Noble said softly to her. Fluttershy, upon hearing it, looked at Noble. Noble smiled shyly at her and Fluttershy turned pink yet again and looked away. Noble felt a jolt of fear run through him. Did he do something bad to make her blush?

Rarity spoke up. "It astounds me that not only he acts like that, but that he also chooses to wear such appalling attire. Tell me, were there any tailors or fashion artists you visited at all at anytime?"

"No, actually. Not for five years now," he said smugly, still sprawled in Twilight's seat.

"WHAAAAAT?!" she exclaimed, recoiling in horror. "You dare go without visiting a tailor for more than a year, let alone five?"

"I'm proud of my uniform. It fits comfortably, it's inconspicuous, and it's armored nicely in between layers. I made it myself."

Rarity eyed his uniform distastefully, observing the ragged appearance and mismatched colors of maroon and brown in random spots and how it all looked hastily stitched together. "...Yes, I can see that clear as day." She shuddered. "I simply cannot stand to see you in such bedraggled attire. You absolutely must visit my boutique soon!" It was a command, not a suggestion.

"Nope," Firestorm said simply. "No. Nopenopenopenopenopenope!"

"And why ever not?" she asked with a hint of steel in her voice.

"Because we don't wear much anyway. There isn't much point to clothes if it isn't functional or ornamental, and I'm not one for the ornamental type. What I wear is functional enough, and doesn't need maintenance. Honestly, there can come a point when you can care too much about clothes." He picked a bit of dirt out of his outfit and flicked it away.

"But... but clothes are amazing, fashionable pieces of art!" she exclaimed.

"Clothes are mostly unnecessary," Firestorm said casually. "I don't see why anyone cares about them enough to run entire articles or shows or gossip about them. They're just clothes. They cover up your body. That's it."

A faint whistling noise could be heard coming out of Rarity as her face turned red with anger. She marched haughtily over to where Firestorm lounged in Twilight's throne. "You, sir, are the most disrespectful ruffian I have ever had the misfortune to speak with!"

"Blueblood!" Pinkie's voice came from behind everyone else. At the mention of his name Noble's face darkened momentarily, then it passed without anyone noticing.

Rarity huffed. "Yes. Well, apart from that lout." She waved it off, then turned furiously to Firestorm. "Admit it! You are a disgrace to the male population! Admit it!"

"With pride." Firestorm spread his arms sarcastically, then folded them behind his head. "What can I do for you?" he said helpfully.

"Rarity, just stop. He's just tryin' ta git under yer skin," Applejack said, coming between her and Firestorm and pushing her away.

"He already has gotten under my skin!" Rarity screeched at him as she was pushed back.

Firestorm sat upright and looked at her. "I have?" he asked hopefully.

"OF COURSE YOU HAVE!"

"Yes!" He pumped the air in triumph.

"Wait a minute!" Twilight said suddenly. "Where's Spike? He ought to know about this!"

"I think he was cleaning the kitchen," Fluttershy offered. Twilight then ran out of the room and flew down the hall towards the kitchen, leaving the three Guardians and the girls.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment or two as someone tried to think of something to say. A few times someone opened their mouths as if they were about to start a conversation, then awkwardly closed them again and looked at the ground.

Finally Firestorm cleared his throat and said, "So, ladies... I... bathe regularly..."

While the girls exchanged quizzical looks, Noble came next to him, still lounging indolently on Twilight's throne. "Storm, what are you doing? Remember the rules of conversation? What do we never try to talk about?"

"Politics, death, and hygiene," he said in a bored voice. "I know. The only trouble is, everything we do as Guardians of the Sun relates in some way to politics, death, or hygiene!" He put his face in his hooves. "And the worst part is, what I said wasn't even true!"

Unfortunately, the girls heard.

Applejack recoiled slightly. "Wait a sec- ya haven't been bathin'?" she said, wide-eyed. "Ah work on the farm and Ah bathe more frequently than ya might think!"

"When was the last time you bathed?" Rarity said in shock.

Deciding to have a little fun, Firestorm replied, "When did Nightmare Moon return?"

Pinkie shot her hoof up. "Ooh, ooh, I know! Seven years ago!" As she spoke, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, and Starlight turned slowly towards him in disbelief. Fluttershy was just silent.

"I've never bathed," he said simply.

Noble mouthed to the others, He's joking.

"I'm kidding, of course!" Firestorm said hurriedly. "I'm not that uncivilized. I'm cleaner than that! I think it rained on me about a week ago. Or was it a moon ago? Hold on, let me think."

Rarity's face was absolutely livid.

"Oh, now I remember. It was a moon ago," he said, unconcerned. "Plus, you know, there was this really great drinking fountain that I would sometimes visit if it was really bad-"

"-And now that you've admitted that, it's time for you to make some life changes," Noble spoke to him. He ignited his horn and Firestorm was enveloped in an aura of dark blue light and was lifted off the seat. Firestorm's eyes bulged in surprise and started to flail about, to no avail. "Where is the nearest restroom?"

"Down the hall, first door on the right," Pinkie told him.

"Where are you taking me?!" Firestorm fake-wailed as he floated down the hall, trapped by Noble's magic.

"Cease thine accursed tongue this instant, churlish cur, or I shall do thee an injury!" Noble lapsed back into the archaic tongue just for fun, a joking lilt in his voice. A doorknob on the side of the hallway opened in a dark blue haze and Firestorm was tossed in with a thud. "And thou shalt not come out until twenty minutes have passed!" He slammed the door to the restroom with his magic and turned to face the rest of the girls. He noticed the strange looks directed at him and coughed. "Again, sorry about the, ah, behavior." He noticed Fluttershy wasn't looking at him very often, and he grew worried. Whenever she did look at him, she would look away quickly again and hide in her mane. He didn't know why this was so alarming to him, though.

"Oh, you have nothing to worry about, dahling!" Rarity was speaking to him. "While it is admirable that you try to take responsibility for his behavior, this faux pas lies upon his head." She gestured out at the hall with her head.

Pinkie chose that moment to let out a hard gasp of terror. "I ALMOST FORGOT!!!" she screamed, then ran straight up to Noble's face, making him lean back a little bit. "Do you like parties?" She then moved to Freedom Fighter's face, hidden entirely under the black cowl he wore. "Huh? Do ya do ya do ya do ya?" She asked, emphasizing each "Do ya" with a bounce.

Taken aback slightly by the sudden question, Noble slowly said, "Yes, parties are nice-"

"Chocolate or vanilla cake?" she asked.

Barely keeping up, Noble uncertainly said, "Vanilla-"

"GOTTA GO!" she said suddenly, then disappeared in a blur of pink clouds.

Noble blinked. "What?"

"Oh, don't worry about it," Rainbow said, shrugging. "That's just Pinkie being Pinkie. She's probably setting up for your Welcome To Ponyville party. She should actually be done setting up by now."

"But she left only ten seconds ago," Noble said, confused.

"Plenty o' time, then," Applejack said.

Freedom Fighter turned his head slowly to look at Noble. Noble looked back at him. Freedom tilted his head to the side in confusion, then shrugged and looked away.

There was the flap of wings and Twilight flew back into the throne room, with a running baby dragon panting in exhaustion behind her. "I still don't know... why you had to... make me.. .run back here-whoah!" Spike yelled in surprise as he saw a knight and what looked like a black shadow in the throne room. "Who are you two?" he asked tiredly but enthusiastically.

"The two charming gentlecolts are Noble Blade and Freedom Fighter," Rarity introduced the two of them. "There was... another, but he's off doing something he should have done a very long time ago." Rarity said the last part through gritted teeth.

"Where is Firestorm, anyway?" Twilight asked, looking around as she landed. "Wasn't he here?"

"He's in the shower," Rainbow explained.

Spike's face darkened at the way Rarity had emphasized the word "Charming" but nevertheless his face showed excitement at meeting a real life knight and a super soldier. "Hey, guys. My name's-"

"Spike the Brave and Glorious?" Noble finished for him. Spike's face betrayed curiosity as to how he knew that particular title, and Noble saw it. "I've had to go to the Crystal Empire from time to time for a mission from Princess Cadence," Noble explained. "I've got to say, the mares there would not stop talking about you. Any one of them would consider you to be an amazing snag for a husband, you know."

"WHAT?" Spike jumped about a foot in the air.

Noble laughed, a warm sound. "Simply teasing, Spike. I don't even know if you're old enough for that sort of thing yet."

"Well, good. 'Cause there's only one mare in life I'll ever go for," he said dreamily, gazing at Rarity.

Noble saw this and looked at Rarity. He then looked back at Spike. And he smiled. "Then you go for her," he said to Spike. "You go for her and you never, ever give up on it."

Spike rubbed the back of his head. "Aww, thanks." He smiled back at Noble.

Noble Blade then turned to Twilight. "Me and my companions require a place to stay for the night and drop off our supplies and armor. I would not force it of thee, but if there would happen to be some small, out-of-the-way corner of this heavenly castle for us, I would be indebted to thee."

Twilight giggled. "Heavenly? Oh, no, this is just a place I like to call home. It's not, like, heaven, you know? Spike, can you show Noble and Freedom Fighter the guest rooms, please?"

"Sure, Twilight!" Spike agreed, and motioned for the two soldiers to follow him. Noble picked up his helmet, and Freedom Fighter, with one long, sweeping jump, lept off the table and landed smoothly, without making a sound. The two warriors walked into the hall, where they could hear running water and Firestorm singing obnoxiously in the shower. But before Noble left, he stopped and looked back, his eyes resting on Fluttershy, who froze when she saw him.

"But I am in heaven," he softly spoke. "For I stand in the presence of an angel."

And he awkwardly shuffled out, a blush on his face after he said it.

Only Fluttershy heard him. Her brain short-circuiting, she thought wildly, He...called me an angel...

Chapter Thirteen: Special Missions And First Impressions

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Fluttershy...

As Noble Blade walked past the bathroom, ignoring the loud, deliberately off-key vocalizing coming out of the shower, his mind was focused on only one thing. When he had first craned his head around Twilight to see who she had been talking to, his heart had disappeared for just a second, then reappeared with a painful jolt.

While in Canterlot, he had seen all of the ridiculously strange fashions, heard their unappetizing accents, observed their snobbish behavior. The mares there were not to his liking at all. Ponies should be kind and eager to help others, not focused on their own selfish ambitions and refusing to acknowledge others that did not meet their standards.

But Fluttershy, from what he had seen, was a perfect and pure paragon of the virtue of kindness. She was unobtrusive, soft-spoken, and didn't insult or degrade others in a way that hurt. He had noticed that on the other hoof, Rarity, the Element of Generosity, had quickly lost patience with Firestorm. Rarity had screamed at him and called him a disgrace to the male population. Firestorm wasn't perfect, sure, but he was by far no disgrace. He was a friend. A friend who had helped save Princess Twilight.

And not just that Fluttershy was kind. She was also drop-dead beautiful! Noble felt embarrassed because he had looked at her for so long when he first took his helmet off. There was no way for him to turn away from such a beautiful sight! Her long, long pink mane that cascaded down her head on all sides and ended in a curl on the end of it. Her slim golden body and cute little wings on the sides of her body. Her eyes that were so perfectly shaped, and had the most magical, enchanting greenish-blue eyes. Her voice that was so soft and calming, and made his knees weak just to hear it. Noble Blade honestly, actually thought that he had died and that she was the angel sent to lead him to heaven.

A hot feeling raged at the bottom of his gut. He had said Fluttershy was an angel! What if somepony else heard him? What would they say? Would he even stay in Ponyville? He had to go to Canterlot to report for his next mission, after all. And that meant not being with the dear, shy pegasus. He had other assignments, after all.

Spike stopped in front of a section of corridor. There were two doors on his left and one on his right. "These are the empty rooms we've fitted for visitors. You can choose your own rooms and put your stuff down, then come to the throne room so we can all go to Pinkie's welcome party."

"I still have no idea how she managed to set it all up so fast," Noble Blade said. He felt guilty that he would not be permanently staying with them.

"What we've learned with all our years around Pinkie Pie is to just roll with everything she does. Some things in life just can't be understood," Spike said.

Noble nodded. "Wise words." He then turned to look at Freedom Fighter, who was entering the lone room on the right. Freedom Fighter then looked at him expectantly.

"Freedom, you don't need to take off your bodysuit. I know how you feel about that sort of thing. But what I do want you to do is take off every single weapon you have on you. And yes, by that, I do mean every single one."

Freedom did a few gestures in protest.

"Yes, I know that might take a while. But the last time you didn't take them all off, you made our hosts unhappy and almost triggered an inter-country incident. These ponies are peaceable and happy. None of them are going to attack you, and even without your weapons I'm sure you can handle whatever they can throw at you. I don't want to see anything on you- your staff, your knives, your explosives-

Freedom Fighter made a surprised reaction.

"Yes, the explosives as well. Be lucky I'm not ordering you to chop off both your arms as well. I know how dangerous you can be, even unarmed."

Freedom Fighter asked a question.

"No, the pun was not intentional. Come out in ten."

Freedom Fighter slumped ashamedly but nodded and went into his room, closing the door with a slam.

Noble faced Spike. "There's a friend of ours in the shower. When he's done, show him here, please."

"Sure, Noble."

Noble walked into the room across from Freedom Fighter's, shut the door, and clicked the release on his gauntlet to allow the shield to fall off his left arm. He let it fall to the ground, tossed the helmet onto the shield, then unbuckled the chrome broadsword across his back and leaned it up against the wall. He then ignited his horn and the dull grey overlapping gauntlets were removed with a few releasing clicks. They floated in the air while he removed his breastplate pieces, but he was interrupted by a voice. "My, my. Such impunity from my loyal knight."

Noble, half-undressed, turned to see Princess Celestia on the other side of his bed. Biting back a yelp of surprise, he swallowed and said, "Forgive me, my lady. I did not see thee there before I decided to undress."

She laughed. "Simply teasing, Noble." Her tone then turned serious, and she came over to where Noble was. "You managed to rescue my prized pupil and eliminate the Noxxa as a potential threat by destroying their method of blocking magic and putting Marshal Malice on the run."

"With all due respect, my lady, I had but a small part in it. 'Twas instead Freedom Fighter that did all of that."

She put on an amused face. "I used 'You' in the plural."

"Oh," Noble said. He blushed.

"I am thankful for your efforts. And that is why your new mission will be given now."

Noble bowed and waited for Celestia to speak.

"Your new mission is to guard over, help, stand by, and protect the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. You will be stationed in Ponyville, and you will be stationed there indefinitely." She smiled. "You know who they are, I presume?"

"Yes," he mumbled. He was staying! With... with her! Celestia had given him a priceless gift.

"I want you to spend some quality time with them and make friends with all of them. I really don't know why I haven't introduced you all to each other before."

"I think we can blame those small, insignificant threats that pop up from time to time," Noble said briefly. "Rather time-consuming, I must say."

"Well, you can start by attending the party Pinkie undoubtedly has planned for you."

"You mean, the emponyment of unpredictability?" Noble asked.

Celestia laughed and flopped on Noble's bed, making a snow angel. "Oh my, this is as comfortable as in the royal chambers. I haven't had the opportunity to just feel the beds Twilight has, you know?"

"My lady," Noble said, amused, "Please restrain thy enthusiasm."

At that very moment the doors to Noble's bedroom burst open and Firestorm was there, carrying his maroon and brown rags and displaying his dark orange coat. He paused as he saw Celestia, who was still on the bed, and Noble, who was half-undressed of his armor. A small sly smirk came across his face, still wet from his shower. "I, ah, hope I'm not interrupting anything between you two."

Celestia and Noble quickly moved away from each other.

He laughed. "I'm just kidding! I mean, come on! Why would she go for a guy like you," his voice dropped low and sultry again, "when I know she's got the hots for me?" He flipped his wild fiery mane.

Celestia and Noble sighed in exasperation simultaneously.

Firestorm then flapped up into the air, tossing his rags to the floor. "So 'Tia, what brings ya here? I know ya wanted to see me, but that's not the only reason, is it?"

"As a matter of fact, she was actually giving me instructions on our next mission," Noble said to him.

"Without me?" Firestorm gave Celestia Bambi Eyes in disappointment. "Do I not matter anymore to you?" He added a sniffle.

"Nope," Celestia said jovially.

"Oh." His Bambi Eyes disappeared. "I knew it." He slumped to the floor slowly. "Soooo..... what's the next mission?"

"We have been assigned to our most dangerous mission yet," Noble said with a look of determination. "We will be stationed in Ponyville for an indefinite time frame, looking after the Element Bearers and Starlight."

Firestorm's eyes bulged. "Oh goodness, that does sound dangerous. Parties, hugs, selling goods in the market, friendly arguments..." He started to shake. "It's going to be more dangerous than Skyworld?"

Noble thought about that. "Well, no, not much can be more dangerous than Skyworld..."

"How about our mission to the Dragon Lands?" he pressured.

"Well, no, not much can be more dangerous than that either-"

"How about the one to Manehatten? Saddle Arabia? Arimaspi Mountain?"

"No, no, and no." Noble looked down. "Wow, it's not as dangerous as I first thought..."

"I have the most sarcastic ponies in Equestria for a private guard," Celestia sighed.

"Not sarcastic; the most flippant," Firestorm corrected her. He flapped up into the air again. "So are we going to tell Freedom Fighter about this?"

"He already knows," Noble said. He looked up at the ceiling. "Okay, Freedom, you can come down now. We know you're eavesdropping, so you might as well show yourself."

There was a pause for just a second.

Then a large black mass dropped down from the ceiling and landed on the bed, bouncing him up into the air. He flipped once before he landed on his hind legs in a crouch.

"How'd you even get in here, anyhow?" Firestorm asked.

Freedom Fighter pointed at the ceiling. A tile had been moved out of place way in the corner, showing the hollow bit behind it. He fell to all fours.

"Typical Freedom." Celestia smiled and 'tsk'ed softly. "You overheard everything, I presume?"

The dark-garbed pony nodded.

"Then I don't need to bother repeating myself." Celestia laughed softly. "Please understand that I want you to get along with them. I believe that putting you with them is the right option. Protect them with your life."

All three Guardians pounded their hooves against their chests and bowed.

Fluttershy stood there in the throne room, rooted to the spot, staring at the door, a hot feeling raging in her cheeks as the words Noble spoke to her reverberated around her head. Did Noble Blade just say that to her?

She had never thought of herself as the attractive type. She wasn't assertive enough to try and make herself attractive, anyway. And yet that light blue stallion had acted like she was the most attractive thing in the world. She wasn't about to insist that she was beautiful--beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all. But at the same time she felt beautiful because Noble Blade had said she was. It was a strange feeling, one she hadn't felt often before. But she liked that feeling, whatever it was.

"Hey Fluttershy! Come on and talk with us!" Rainbow called. Behind her Twilight and her friends were talking around the table. Starlight didn't have a seat, but she sat in Pinkie's spot. Fluttershy took one last look at the door where he had gone out, then turned and went to her seat around the table.

"So, girls, what do you think about the new guys?" Twilight asked eagerly.

Applejack adjusted her hat. "Well, Ah'm not usually one ta disapprove of new friends comin' inta our lives, but Ah think they're hidin' sumthin'. Ah don't entirely think they told us everything about themselves."

"You think they were lying?" Twilight asked with a look.

"Ah didn't say that. Ah think they were tellin' the truth, but not the whole truth."

"They looked dangerous to me!" Rainbow exclaimed, flapping two feet in the air. "Their behavior was probably just a ruse to get us to trust 'em! They may have acted politely--well, mostly politely," she muttered, rolling her eyes at the memory of Firestorm, "-but come on! Look at their weapons! Look at their armor! Sure, they looked awesome, but who knows what they could do at the drop of a hat?" To emphasize her point, she raised a hoof as if to knock off Applejack's Stetson, but Applejack grabbed her hoof out of midair and was now glaring at her.

"Well, I certainly do not share your reservations," Rarity said to Rainbow. "What about them suggested they might turn on us? Sure, one was utterly lacking in common courtesy, but the other two were absolutely charming." She fluttered her eyelashes.

"The one in black didn't strike me as charming so much as mysterious--and dangerous," Starlight observed. "He looked as though he could beat all of us in a fight combined if he really wanted to."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Rainbow cried.

"Then you tell him that to his face." Twilight said.

Rainbow looked a little less sure of herself. It passed, however, and she replied defiantly, "Well, I could if I could actually see his face! He's the only one that didn't show himself! If anypony's hiding something, it's him!"

Fluttershy meekly spoke up. "Well, um, he probably has a reason why he doesn't want to show us it. Maybe he's a little uncomfortable around us and we just need to make him feel welcome."

"Either that or he and his friends are hiding more than they're telling us," Rainbow said to her.

"I don't think so. What about the knight? He was rather open and friendly," Starlight spoke to everyone.

"I have zero doubts as to his allegiance," Twilight told her. "He was... he was..."

"Honorable?" Rarity suggested. "He certainly seemed that way to me." She sighed in pleasure.

Rainbow looked at her, fighting back a laugh. "What did it for you, his fancy-schmancy compliments or his rugged good looks?" she snickered.

A bit of color rose in Rarity's cheeks. "I'm not going to answer that," she said haughtily, and turned away.

Twilight coughed. "I was about to say, he was ready and willing to help. He's a knight, after all. Knights are expected to help and protect. He's going to be with us, so we should be nice to him and give him the benefit of the doubt."

"Just him, or should we exclude the rest of his friends because they aren't like him?" Applejack asked sarcastically. "That'd be a tad hypocritical, doncha think?"

There was a bit of silence at that.

"...So even though his other companions are rather... sketchy, we should try our best to accompany them?" Rarity asked finally.

"Of course! We wouldn't be the poster ponies of friendship if we excluded them just because they're kinda strange!" Twilight said.

"You know, I get the fact that they rescued you. Really, I do. But don't tell me you don't have questions about them, Twilight," Rainbow said bluntly.

"Like how in Equestria one pegasus can be so uncouth and barbaric?" Rarity spoke vehemently. "Did any of you see the way he was acting? He's a cross between the horse-swapper, the nutmeg-dealer, and the night watchpony all rolled into one with a piece of moldy garnish on the side!"

All the mares looked confused.

Rarity coughed. "Well, anyway, he's rude and flippant," she summarized.

"The pot calls the kettle black," Rainbow observed.

"Do you have to make a comment on everything anypony says?" Rarity asked irritably.

"Nope." Rainbow lounged in her seat. "I just want to."

"Yunnow, he kinda reminds me a bit of you, ta be honest," Applejack said to Rainbow. Rainbow slowly craned her head to look at her. Applejack continued. "Well, as, you know, a stallion instead of a mare. And more of an 'Ah don't give a bison chip 'bout ma image' kinda guy. But apart from bein', you know, eccentric, he actually don't seem all that bad."

Rarity's head whipped to face Applejack so fast she almost snapped her neck.

"Ah know, Ah know, he's uncouth and uncivilized. Ah git that. But Ah'm not exactly the image of sophistication, and neither is Rainbow, yet we're still some of yer closest friends. So what makes Firestorm any different?"

"Well-" Rarity spluttered for a few seconds, then said, "Well, he's a stallion! Stallions are expected to act civilized! Like Noble Blade," she emphasized. "But Firestorm... he's just straight-up rude! The least he could do is act polite to those who deserve it!"

"What if he does," Applejack said bluntly, "and you just don't deserve his manners?"

She gaped for a few seconds before answering with, "What? ME, not deserve HIS manners?"

"So stallions are supposed to act civilized to mares," Applejack went on, ignoring Rarity, "but mares can act like complete jerks to stallions and git away scot free? Who's the civilized one there?"

That shut Rarity up.

"Look, I know that this is strange, but if they all have good intentions, we should allow them the benefit of the doubt. They rescued Twilight. They didn't impose anything on us. They acted like any normal pony would. We should get acquainted with them, and see where that leads us," Starlight pointed out.

A soft voice came in. "Um, I didn't see anything wrong with them. And I, um, liked being with them... it was new and kind of nice..." Fluttershy paused. "And, um, about Firestorm... he's kind of loud, and a tad rambunctious, but that doesn't mean he's all that bad."

"See? If Fluttershy feels comfortable around them, we all should," Twilight said.

Before anyone else could reply, however, the doors to the throne room opened and the three ponies they were talking about came in. The girls all turned in their seats. Freedom Fighter was still in his black bodysuit, but stripped clean of weapons. And Noble Blade and Firestorm had taken off their combat attire. Firestorm's coat was dark orange that had a long, fiery tricolored mane and tail. And Noble Blade's was pale blue with a bright blue for his mane.

Because they now had their clothes and armor off, their cutie marks were now on display. Firestorm's was a black flaming X that spread out on one side. And Noble's cutie mark was-

Fluttershy gasped. His cutie mark was an upside down broadsword, like a lowercase T, but the blade had two butterfly wings on the sides of the sword. Just like the butterflies on Fluttershy.

She thought dizzily, What in Equestria-

"So shall we depart for our party?" Noble Blade asked happily.

"Oh my, Noble," Rarity gasped. "You look absolutely handsome."

Noble grew a nervous smile and backed down. "Thank you?" he said quietly.

Fluttershy was about to say something to Noble Blade, but she noticed that Noble looked uncomfortable at the compliment by Rarity. She didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable by giving him a label he might not agree with, so she kept quiet as usual.

She noticed Noble was looking at her, but when she saw him, Noble blushed and looked away. Was he embarrassed?

"So he gets called handsome and I get... nothing." Firestorm looked depressed. "I see how it is." He slumped to the floor and lay motionless for a few seconds. Then he stood up again. "I think we oughta just go. I don't want to wait for a party when it's calling my name."

Chapter Fourteen: The Party

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As Twilight, her friends, and the Guardians of the Sun walked out of the castle, it was getting dark. The night creatures let out their calls to the open air as the sky turned a gradual navy blue. All of Ponyville was basked in a dull color.

Noble Blade whistled impressively. "This is Ponyville? This quaint, quiet little place?" He smiled. "Just what I need."

"I don't know about 'quaint and quiet'," Rainbow said to him. "There's a monster attack from the Everfree at least once every two weeks."

"So there's a sufficient defense system in place?" Noble asked as they walked.

Rainbow chuckled. "Ah, heh heh, no. Usually the defense system is, you know, us."

"Ah."

They came into the main part of town. As the group walked towards Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy's thoughts were on Noble Blade, who was only a few feet behind her. What was up with him? He seemed to be reeking mystery out of his bizarre cutie mark. First, she thought, swords and butterflies aren't exactly two things that could mix very well. So why did he have it? And second, what did it mean? Was he a kind-hearted warrior? She risked a glance behind her. Noble Blade was admiring Ponyville's architecture, his magical blue eyes sweeping around, lingering on the shadows between buildings. Then his eyes met Fluttershy's. They looked at each other for exactly two seconds before they both looked away in embarassment.

Finally the large group came to the center of town and the bakery came into view, looking like something out of a fairy tale. It had a fake gingerbread outside with fake candy decor all over it.

Firestorm licked his lips at the sight. "Okay, that's a tempting sight." He looked behind him. "Sorry you guys, I'm abandoning you all and living a life with that diabetes castle over there. She's the love of my life. See ya!" He flapped in the air over to the building and started to speak in a sultry voice. "Why hello there, sweetie," he spoke seductively, starting to caress the wall. "Come and give daddy some sugar." He started to kiss it, his hooves rubbing up and down the wall. After about ten seconds of this he broke off the kiss and he looked behind him. Some of the mares were blushing, but all of them wore quizzical looks. Noble just looked at him flatly, and Freedom Fighter was pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. He looked back. "What? Give a guy some privacy, will you?" He then started to make out with the wall again.

"He reminds you of me, huh?" Rainbow asked Applejack out of the corner of her mouth.

"Ah've seen ya drink real old cider before," she replied. "Trust me, you'd be doing the same thing he's doing, 'cept you'd prob'ly take it up a notch or two with the wall."

"Aaaaanywayyyy," Twilight cut in, trying not to look at Firestorm seducing a wall, "We'd better give him some time alone." She laughed uncomfortably. "I mean, after all, if you were with the love of your life, you'd want to spend some time alone, right?" She then pushed all of her friends aside, laughing nervously, until they had disappeared down a nearby alley.

Once they were alone, Twilight whispered, "Okay, that was good. Let's get into position."

She charged her horn and the entire group was suddenly inside Sugarcube Corner. The lights were off in the spacious store. All around them, most of the townsponies were hiding behind tables and under desks, and had on party hats and held confetti. Twilight and her friends then hid behind several open tables and waited.

Meanwhile, outside, Firestorm was enveloped in an aura of blue light and was hauled away from the wall, amid his loud protests. Noble cut off his magic. "Sorry to separate you from your one true love, Storm, but we must decide what to do now."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's obvious that this is the party's destination, and yet all the lights inside appear to be off. In addition, Twilight and the others disappeared from our view, and I could swear I heard a teleportation pop. They're probably getting into positions right now."

Freedom Fighter made a few hoof gestures, almost invisible in the dark.

"Yes, Freedom, they are setting up an ambush, though it's more commonly known as a surprise party," he said dryly. "We must now decide if we play into their hooves and be surprised..."

Firestorm grew a wide smirk. "...or take matters into our own hooves?"

Noble smiled. "Precisely. After all, if it's a surprise party, who's to say we're to be the ones being surprised?"

"We're gonna surprise the elements of harmony?" Firestorm's grin grew to devilish proportions. "And you of all ponies suggested it?"

"Well, that wasn't the worst idea. They were going to surprise us." Noble's eyes sparkled with mischief. "And I have a pretty good idea of how to go about it, as well."

"What's taking them so long?" Rainbow groaned. She was up in the rafters, trying to listen for activity behind the front door. "They should have come in by now!"

"Hush, Rainbow," Twilight whispered. "This should be a surprise, remember?"

Pinkie was beside herself with excitement. "Oooooh, I can't wait to see the looks on their faces! Who's excited? I'm excited! I don't know if I've ever been this excited before- well, apart from all those other times in the past! I don't know what to do! Well, except for talking, of course. I love to talk. Has anypony noticed that?" she whispered.

Twilight suddenly remembered something. "Wait! Oh my gosh, I forgot, some of these guys are a bit aggressive when it comes to being surprised-"

The door was coated in a dark blue aura and it swung inward. On cue, the lights turned on, Pinkie took center stage with an absurd party hat on her head and a pitcher of dark red fruit punch, and everyone simultaneously lept out from their hiding places and yelled in a voice that could be heard from the outskirts of town, "SURPRISE!"

However, their excited tone turned to murmurs of confusion. There was nopony standing in the doorway. Pinkie's grin disappeared at the sight of it. Nopony was there.

"They didn't come?" she asked in a wavering voice. "But... but..."

Everypony had moved to the front of the room to try to surprise the newcomers, so the back of the shop was empty. Suddenly, with a loud pop, that space was filled with three stallions. One of them did a single word in sign language with over-exaggerated motions. The other two yelled, "SURPRISE!" at the top of their lungs.

Everyone else screamed and whirled around. Pinkie in particular was startled, and had thrown the pitcher of fruit punch across the room towards them in surprise.

The world seemed to slow down for Freedom Fighter, who was directly in the projectile's path. Years of combat training and finely-tuned reflexes made him arch his body almost completely backwards, standing on his hind legs and flailing out his arms wildly as the punch sailed less than an inch over his head, seemingly in slow-motion.

Unfortunately, it hit Noble Blade square in the chest. The red liquid splashed all over him and the impact of the pitcher knocked him backwards. Noble gasped and held on the edge of a table weakly for support, his other hoof held over the spot of impact. He held himself there for a moment, then with a sharp intake of breath he collapsed. Everyone else went silent in shock. He was slumped against a wall on the ground and he started to wheeze. He was dripping red liquid all over his front, the fallen pitcher of juice lying off to the side and spilling juice all over the place.

Fluttershy felt a pang of pain and had rushed over immediately to Noble's body. "Oh my goodness! Are you all right?" she asked him, a hoof to her mouth in concern and her teal green eyes wide in concern.

Noble saw a shining, beautiful sight above his head as he clutched his front, grimacing. He realized that the very beautiful sight was Fluttershy. He slowly, weakly raised a hoof and grasped Fluttershy's. She felt his strong grip gently close over hers, and she saw his face twist into a smile, then wince again.

But before either of them could say anything, Firestorm had rushed over and had kneeled over Noble's inert body. Firestorm shook him. "No, no, no! Come on, Noble! Stay with me! You're not going anywhere!"

Noble looked up at one of his oldest and best friends. He whispered faintly, "Is this... truly how I die?"

Fluttershy was scared, but a little confused. He was dying? He had been hit by a juice pitcher, that was all. But she was still a little worried. What if it caused internal bruising? Or internal bleeding?

Firestorm had dipped his hoof into the red juice dribbling over his front and was trembling as he tried to apply pressure to his fake injury. Noble took a hoof off of his now-red chest and looked at the dark red liquid dripping off of it in horror. Then he twisted his face into one of agony and he clutched his chest again. Firestorm wailed and he started to hug him fiercely.

"Are you hurt?" Fluttershy asked desperately. She looked all over him. No sign of bruising. No cuts. Then why was he acting like he was in mortal peril?

Noble looked at her with a sly grin. "Just play along," he whispered, and winked. Then his smile disappeared and he gasped loudly and sloshed around more red liquid dripping on the ground. He coughed a little bit more and he wheezed louder. "My adventure on this lifeplane is ended," he announced dramatically. "I go to start a new one with Faust." He coughed a little bit louder, took the fallen juice pitcher lying next to him, and dumped a little bit more on himself. He started to shudder.

The rest of the ponies were looking in confusion at the acting taking place, except for Freedom Fighter. He was shaking in silent laughter.

"Before you go..." Firestorm whispered to him, cradling his head, "I just want to let you know... I never really liked you all that much."

Noble chuckled weakly. "It appears the feeling is mutual, my dear friend."

Firestorm's eyes started to water. "You... you really mean it?" he asked hopefully.

Noble nodded. "Every word of it."

Firestorm started to bawl in happiness and he clung to him all the more fiercely.

Noble then turned to face Fluttershy, who had adopted a small smile at the stallion's mischievous antics. He said softly, "Please, stay. I wish to hold to something beautiful... before I pass away."

She went stiff. He had called her beautiful again! It wasn't as though she could move away, so she just stood there, staring in amazement at the punch-covered unicorn, who had a content little smile as his grip on her hoof went limp. Noble peacefully closed his eyes.

"Wait, wait, wait. Beautiful?" Firestorm asked suddenly. Fluttershy, now suddenly aware of everypony else in the room, hurriedly hid her head in her voluminous mane. Firestorm leaned in closer. "Did you just call her beautiful?" he whispered.

Noble opened up one eye in annoyance.

Firestorm continued. "What if I told everyone here that you called her beautiful?" he asked.

"Then I would tell you how the latest Daring Do book ends," Noble said.

Firestorm recoiled in horror. "NO!" he yelled in terror, his eyes twice their normal size.

"Don't you want to know how it ends?" Noble asked him, no longer pretending he was hurt.

"Not right now I don't!" Firestorm covered his ears. Then the two stallions faced the rest of the crowd assembled, who were silent, except for the occasional snicker. Firestorm cleared his throat and announced, "Okay, everyone. Much as I'd hate to admit it, that pony on the ground is not dead. At least this means we can go on with our 'surprise party.'" Firestorm made air quotes as he did so.

"Everypony, meet the newest Ponyville citizens- Noble Blade, Firestorm, and Freedom Fighter!" Pinkie Pie announced to all assembled. A cheer went up, and over in the corner a white unicorn mare with spiky electric blue hair started to play some music.

As the party went underway, Twilight came over to where Noble was still lying and extended a hoof. "Nice acting," she complimented him. Noble took her hoof and used it to pull himself up. "For a moment there I actually thought you were hurt, you were so good."

"Oh, it's nothing," Noble said modestly, levitating a few napkins over and starting to wipe the juice off of him. "That wasn't the first time I had to fake my death, actually. There was once one time I had to do it so I could work undercover to stop a criminal mastermind from destroying the capitol of Saddle Arabia with a massive system of explosives."

"That's interesting," Twilight said to him, her attention focused.

Fluttershy timidly spoke up. "I didn't like it all that much... I was really scared that you were actually dying." She avoided looking at him.

Noble felt guilt pierce him like a javelin. He had scared her. He had startled the elements of harmony. All because he had wanted to have a little bit of fun. Quietly, he said, "I am sorry, Fluttershy."

Her eyes went up when she heard her name come out of his mouth- in his strong, quiet voice. She noticed that his face looked guilty and she felt sorry for making him feel that way.

He continued to speak. "Can you find in your heart the will to forgive me?" he asked soberly.

It was easy, of course. Fluttershy wasn't one to hold a grudge, and wasn't one to make anyone feel bad about their mistakes. So she said, "Of course I forgive you. Why wouldn't I?" She smiled at him.

Noble looked stunned. She had just smiled! And it was... it was... beautiful. He shook his head as if he was going out of a trance. "T-thank you." He blinked. "Sorry if I'm disoriented, but every coherent thought I had was dashed when you smiled."

Fluttershy started to tremble, her brain shocked hard. It was consistent, one punch after another. What did that mean? Was he trying to flatter her? Or did he really mean it? What if he was just like this around all mares? But her mind was dominated by positive thoughts of it all. What if she was... special to him? What would they call it then?

She hadn't said anything, though, making the situation between them rather awkward. Noble, after not hearing her say anything for ten straight seconds, blushed sheepishly and uncomfortably backed away without a word.

Twilight, who was right there, had overheard everything. She felt a twinge of consternation. After all that he and Twilight had done- he had rescued her- he had to go after Fluttershy! Fluttershy, of all ponies! The warrior had to choose a peaceable mare? What was in Fluttershy that had captured his attention so much?

She gasped and held a hoof to her mouth. Her thoughts were jealous thoughts, the kind of stuff Rarity had thought during that whole Trenderhoof incident! She had to be better than that. She had to learn to just be calm about it and encourage the two of them, not try to break them apart. She had prior knowledge of how to handle that kind of thing- again, Trenderhoof. If she tried to force others apart, that would only made things between her friends worse.

'Besides,' she thought, 'I am technically his boss. He probably has a policy on dating princesses and his other higher-ups. He's the kind of stallion who would have that sort of thing in place.' She needed to ask him about it sooner or later... preferably sooner.

By now the party was well underway. The food was being served, ponies were chatting or dancing to the music, and Applejack had gone out of the room and had returned with a few barrels of-

"CIDER!" Rainbow Dash and Firestorm squealed at the same time. They both glowered at each other competitively, then sped in a flash to the first barrel. They both grasped one end of the barrel and started to play an intense game of tug-of-war with the barrel, involving a great deal of grunts and roars of determination. This ended abruptly, however, when Applejack pushed the two of them apart, fixing both of them a glare before she allowed both of them a hefty tankard.

As Firestorm drank, he paused his drink and looked at the drink curiously.

"Sumthin' the matter?" Applejack asked.

"Nonono, nothing's wrong. In fact, it's great. It's just that I've..." he swirled the contents. "This is familiar. This reminds me of the stuff I'd snoop out of Princess Celestia's private cider cellar."

"That's 'cause she orders only Sweet Apple Acres cider. She orders it exclusively from us durin' cider season," she announced proudly.

Firestorm's eyes widened. "This is Sweet Apple Acres cider?" he asked.

"Well, why wouldn't it be? Me and my family make it, after all."

Firestorm's breath caught in his throat. "You mean...y-you are the one that makes," he indicated his drink, "Faust's nectar? You, ma'am, are famous."

She blushed. "...Ah don't know 'bout bein' famous. Ah mean, Ah just want ta lead a quiet, simple life with ma family."

"You really make this?" He grew a wide smile.

"...Yeh..."

He stared at her for a moment, then announced to all nearby townsponies, "I like her. She's amazing."

Freedom Fighter was uncomfortable. Taking down over fifty Noxxa by himself? No problem. Facing down escaped monsters from Tartarus? That was what he lived for.

But trying to act sociable and normal for civilian townsponies in a party meant for him? He'd rather take a couple of rounds with Lord Tirek.

On the wall, with a plate of food that he was sneaking into his mouth bite by bite, Freedom nervously looked around. He had his mouth and eyes covered by his armor while still allowing him to see. This, however, was a problem when he tried to eat. He had to zip open a line in his suit near his mouth in order for him to open his mouth to eat. He would prefer it if he didn't show any part of his skin. That was a secret he wanted no one else to know about.

Around the room he was reminded yet again that there were an absurd amount of ponies for whom this was normal. The cake, the balloons, the streamers, the music- all of that was a normal part of their lives. While he, a guardian of Princess Celestia, was a stranger to most of it. It was a case of juxtaposition, of his hard, violent, hardship-filled life where every day was an uncertainty of whether you died or lived, next to these easy, slice-of-life ponies whose biggest concern was having their calendars disrupted by the weather, or having a tea party postponed.

Tea parties? Freedom Fighter didn't care about those kind of things. If he did, what would happen? Would his life be made for the better? Would he make the world a better place by sipping tea, or by destroying the dark and twisted ponies and monsters that threatened the welfare of the ponies that sipped tea?

He noticed a mint green unicorn that kept looking over her shoulder at him. He blended into the shadows in the corner of the room. She had a little bit of fear in her eyes. Freedom Fighter looked down and took another bite of a chocolate cookie. It didn't taste like anything.

'Congratulations, Freedom. You're scaring innocent ponies again.'

I can't help it! I am not doing anything, and she's still scared!

'You're standing threateningly in a corner wearing black all over your body. Big surprise that she's scared.'

So how do we change our outlook? How do we make ourselves good to hang around?

As if on cue, he noticed the peculiar pink pony and the prismatic pegasus beckoning him over. Unsure of their intent, he put down his food and made his way over to where they were. As he walked, other ponies gasped and melted out of his path. He noticed it, making a mental note to try to look less intimidating around the innocent. After all, if he was the one in place of the others, he wouldn't like to be scared.

Then again, since when have you been really scared by anything?

'Marshal Malice.'

You were infuriated. Not scared.

When he finally got to them, he bowed patiently, waiting for them to speak.

"Uh, hiya, Freedom," Rainbow said. "Are you enjoying the party?" She put on a nervous smile.

Perhaps he was scarier than he thought. He nodded again.

"We were just noticing you standing there in the corner- all alone!" Pinkie said to him invitingly. "And we didn't want to see you like that, so we wanted you to have fun with us!"

Her voice had risen in pitch considerably. Freedom winced and twitched his ears.

"But aaaanyway..." Rainbow continued, "We wanted to know if you wanted a, uh, cupcake?" She offered him a large chocolate cupcake with white frosting. But Freedom Fighter noticed that there was a maroon hole in the side of the cupcake that Rainbow tried to cover up. He also noticed an almost-full bottle of hot sauce they had tried to hide behind a pile of napkins.

Ah, a joke.

'Let's play along for this one.'

So he nodded, grabbed the cupcake, and turned away from them and kept his head low. He then popped the whole thing into his mouth and started to chew. As he did so, he noticed that both of them were looking at him excitedly, expecting a reaction.

So he figured he'd give them one. He started to pant and wave a hoof in front of his face, then imitated a drinking motion.

"What's the matter, Freedom? Need a drink?" Rainbow snickered, then started to guffaw along with Pinkie.

Freedom nodded vigorously. Then before either of them could respond, he reached behind the napkins, grabbed the bottle of hot sauce, and popped the top off. The laughing stopped immediately as he began to chug the whole thing.

Pinkie grabbed the sides of her head. "NO! DON'T DRINK THAT!" she yelled in terror.

Freedom ignored Pinkie and continued to drink the entire bottle of hot sauce. When he was done, he put the bottle down, then looked at both of them. He shrugged contentedly, and walked off without another action.

The joke had backfired. Rainbow and Pinkie gave each other a look of confusion and embarrassment.

"You just got pa-ranked!" a voice sang behind them. They both turned to see Firestorm casually nursing a tankard of cider behind them. Firestorm took another drink, then said, "He doesn't have a tongue."

"He doesn't?" they both said, shocked. Rainbow scratched her mane in embarrassment. "So that was why he could drink the sauce without dying," she realized. She then pointed at Firestorm. "But wait- why doesn't he? Did he lose it, or..."

Firestorm coughed uncomfortably. "It's just an old wound. Point is, he can take whatever you can throw at him, easy." His eyes sparkled with mischief. "But if you're looking for a prank to play on us new guys, I have a perfect opportunity."

"What is it?" Pinkie asked.

Firestorm indicated Noble Blade, who was alone. He drew Pinkie closer to him. "Now just follow my instructions carefully." He started to whisper into her ear.

Noble stood alone, quietly eating the delicious cake prepared. It was a sweet double-layered vanilla cake with white and pink frosting. He was lost in thought, looking through the crowds of ponies at a particular pony. A very beautiful pegasus, to be precise. Fluttershy was across the room, her back turned to him as she talked with a purple earth pony others had identified as Cheerilee. What made his insides jolt was that occasionally she would look behind her, for just a second, to look at Noble, then hurriedly turn away again.

For some reason, Noble felt nervous, which bothered him. He had faced monstrous, nightmarish beasts. But he hadn't been as nervous then as he was now in the same room as Fluttershy. Every time he was looking at the back of her head, he was mesmerized by the way it gently swished back and forth, how it hung around her, the way the colors of her mane and coat mixed so perfectly.

A series of squeaks hit his ears and he turned to see Pinkie Pie bounding towards him. "Heya, Noble. You like the party so far?"

Eager to speak, Noble said pleasantly, "Oh, yes. I haven't had a party like this in a very, very long time." That, at least, was true.

Pinkie continued. "You enjoying Fluttershy's cake?"

"Fluttershy made this cake?" he asked in wonder. Noble's eyes went once again to the most beautiful pony he had ever seen, across the room. He shrugged. "Well, then. I'll have to tell her later that her cake is very nice. It's very soft, and thick, and delicious..." He took another bite of the cake.

Pinkie erupted into a giggling fit. "Oh, you silly poo! I wasn't talking about that kind of cake." She elbowed him slyly.

"Not that kind of cake?" Noble was a little confused. He looked down at his cake, then back at Fluttershy. "What do you mean, not that kind of- " The realization hit him. " -oh." His magic cut off and the cake that was being suspended in the air fell to the ground. He blinked in embarrassment. "That kind of cake." He pinched the space between his eyes. "I walked right into that one, didn't I?"

"You sure did!" Pinkie grinned.

Noble groaned and he activated his horn. The cake on the ground floated over to the trash and threw itself away. Noble then started to walk away, still pinching the bridge of his nose. Fluttershy had probably heard that. He had managed to make himself look like an idiot in front of her again. "Congratulations, Noble," he muttered.

Pinkie followed him. "I know all about cakes! I work for the Cakes, actually! And I know that Fluttershy's cake is a pretty good cake! It's not, you know, a cupcake! It's more the size of an MMMM!"

Noble looked back in bafflement. "A what?"

"A Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness, or MMMM for short," Pinkie explained. "I'm telling you, that cake was so big it reached up to the ceiling! We all probably could have fit in it!"

Noble, now with a horrifying mental image of Fluttershy with a... cake... that big, facehooved, groaned in consternation, and started to walk faster.

"And you know what? The name even makes sense! After all, MMMM's the sound you make, isn't it?" Pinkie relentlessly followed him through the room.

Noble groaned in consternation a third time.

"Soft, thick, and delicious, you say?" Pinkie slyly said to him. "You want to tell Fluttershy that now or after the party?"

Noble ran away, his cheeks flaming.

"Hey! Where'd he go?" Pinkie asked, looking around her.

Nearby, Noble muttered, "I need to forget this whole miserable enlightening," inaudible to anyone else. "What, did she really think I'd look at that part of her? I'm better than that! I..." He looked once more at Fluttershy, who was now moving off to a spot in the corner. And his male brain drifted his eyesight down to her flank, which, he had to admit, looked voluptuous.

Noble slapped himself and shook his head. "Oh Celestia, what's wrong with me?" he groaned. "I'm an even bigger stalker for that!"

Outside of his peripheral vision, unknown to him, a pink earth pony trotted back to a dark orange Pegasus with a fiery mane and they gave each other a hoof bump in success.

"Why howdy, Noble," Applejack said, noticing the light blue unicorn slump his way over to the cider barrel. "What can Ah do fer ya?"

"I need a drink that can help me forget recent experiences. Do you happen to have any strong cider on hoof?"

"Nope. Sorry 'bout that." She thought for a little bit. "Although we do have cider with bolyporphin in it. It recreates the rush from alcohol without the negative side effects like, er, liver failure. But drink too much of it and you'll end up knocked out colder'n a leftover hush puppy."

"Perfect!" Noble said. He filled a tankard with some of it and took a hearty swig. When he did, his eyes rolled to the sides of his head. "Wooooaaah, that's good."

"Just remember- not too much, or yu'll end up on your back like a cow bucked ya in the face, and with a headache to match."

Her warnings were heard but not heeded by Noble as he filled up another.

There was a cough behind Noble and he turned to see Rarity behind him in line. Noble set his drink down. "Why, Rarity. Art thou doing well this festive night?"

"I most certainly am, thank you very much," she replied dreamily. "Tell me, do you happen to stem from Canterlot? I couldn't help but notice your exquisite manners and dreamy accent when you talk with the thees and thous."

Noble sighed. "Yes, I do come from there, I suppose. I was in close proximity to Celestia in my youth."

"You were close to Celestia?" Rarity gasped. "Then you must have been high in class! You must have hung out with the Canterlot nobles all the time! But, you know, you were the best, you know, Noble there! The only Noble there! Snrk!" She snorted and laughed.

Noble smiled.

Rarity continued. "The Canterlot nobles are the highest part of all of Canterlot! They're filled with so much class and distinction! There may be a few...exceptions, but all in all, they're an amazing, fascinating group of ponies! What do you think, Noble? You grew up there, and you're one of them, so you must like them! What can you tell me about them?" She circled her hoof on the table, leaning in close to hear his answer.

Noble drained the rest of his drink and slammed the tankard on the counter with a ferocity that surprised her.

"What can I tell you about them?" he asked, his voice a little deeper than usual. "I can tell you that those stuck-up, putrid peacocks disgust me. They act all powerful and important and want the best of everything, but the instant anything bad comes their way, they snivel and whine like the foals they are and complain that their jobs are too difficult or beneath them." His voice dropped even more. "Those unlicked cubs have no sense of self-reliance. They expect life to be a smooth plane of happiness and luxury. And so they grow lazy with the wealth they have, and they adorn themselves with that which hath no worth. They sell themselves for that which will canker. And so they become weak. Easy lives create weak ponies. Your money becomes a crutch that you lean on, never knowing your strength without the crutch. Once the crutch is kicked out from under you, you're crippled." He smacked his cup off the counter.

Rarity put a hoof to her mouth. She was amazed at the fury in Noble's voice. She looked down. "I... take it you don't like Canterlot."

"I tolerate it because of its marvelous architecture and Celestia's presence. Were it not for that, I would actively avoid that wretched hive of scum and villainy."

Rarity put a hoof on his shoulder. "But you are not at all like that! You are modest, and kind. Your shine overrules that of the others a hundred times over!" She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

Noble squirmed. He felt a little uncomfortable with Rarity scooting in closer and closer to him. "Please excuse me," he said, and he bolted off.

Rarity couldn't make head or tail of the whole thing. He was just so interesting, and he wasn't interested in her? Why?

She then took a hearty drink of cider herself.

As with all good things, however, the party had to end. It was at about eleven o' clock when the DJ started to pack up, the food was put away, and everypony started to leave.

"You know what?" Firestorm asked as he rested comfortably in his chair. "I've felt something tonight. For the first time in five years, I feel at peace." He noticed Freedom Fighter making a side comment with his hooves, and he scowled. "Hey! Freedom! I was speaking! And you have the gall to interrupt me? Gosh!"

Freedom pointed at himself quizzically.

"Yes, you! Now be quiet and don't talk when I'm talking. I'm trying to be sincere for the first time in my life and you're being loud. Stop it."

Freedom facehooved.

"The point is, being with you all and having fun tonight, when there aren't monsters trying to kill me 24/7... It's made me feel... happy. I feel happier now than I've felt in the past five years."

"That's prob'ly just a side effect of all that cider ya drank," Applejack observed, rolling a cider barrel out of the door. "But don't worry. Drink plenty o' water 'fore ya go ta bed tonight and it should be gone in the mornin'."

Firestorm sighed and jerked a hoof behind him at Applejack. "Is she always like this?" he asked Rainbow.

"You have no idea," Rainbow said unequivocally.

As Fluttershy got up to leave, Noble, who was near to the door, went over and held it.

"Oh... um, thank you, Noble," she said, smiling at him nervously, then blushing and bolting out.

Noble closed the door behind her, unsure of what to make of it. Was she scared of him? Embarrassed of him? He didn't know.

The rest of the girls followed him except for Pinkie, who was staying in Sugarcube Corner. Each of them thanked him for holding the door open. Twilight was the last one out, and she beckoned for the three stallions to follow her. The three Guardians of the Sun followed Twilight out of the door into the dimly lit streets of Ponyville. Firestorm waved at the wall he was making out with earlier, then turned away sadly.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked him, spotting his face.

Firestorm sighed. "It's her," he said, and jerked his head back at the wall as if it needed no more explanation. "We just don't talk to each other anymore. Every time I do, it's like I'm talking to a brick wall or something."

Twilight needed a moment to realize he was talking about the wall, and she giggled softly. "So how was your first evening in Ponyville?" she asked as they walked.

"I liked it," Firestorm said. "No monsters I have to deal with, if you don't count Rarity."

"Oh, she's not that bad," Twilight said, secretly fearing he didn't like her.

"Yuh huh. Tell me, have you heard of a manticore that cares as much about clothes as her? An Ursa Minor? A Nox?"

"Nooooo..."

"Then they aren't as terrible as her. She terrifies me." He shuddered.

"I'll bet she would say the same thing about you," Noble observed.

"Then we might finally be in mutual agreement."

They reached the castle. The three Guardians went inside, said good night to Twilight, and then went to their guest rooms as Twilight went to her own room. Because Freedom Fighter was in the room opposite to Noble's, Firestorm had to be in the room next to Noble's. It was eleven thirty when Noble Blade finally slipped into his covers and thought about his day.

The only thing he could clearly remember was the first time he had seen Fluttershy's face. That beautiful shade of yellow and that beautiful color of pink. And the amazing, amazing teal green eyes that were so wide when she looked at him. It stayed with him, it captivated him, it was all he could think about as he drifted off to sleep.

Interlude

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Marshal Malice's descent into Tartarus wasn't pleasant. Or easy.

He first had to travel to the Cursed Mountain, so many leagues away, in the darkest, most recluse corner of the known world. He had to then walk up the mountain, to the gates themselves, sneak past Cerberus, and walk through the dank, musty tunnel to reach the vast space inside.

The tunnel he had walked through had taken him to another dimension- the dimension of Tartarus, contained inside the Cursed Mountain. Great mountaintops stuck up all over the place like corroded teeth. In those mountains, encased inside, were the most hardened, vile, and cruel beasts imaginable. In the valleys between them ran rivers of black burning pitch alongside high banks of sharp obsidian shards.

He eventually came to the Cave of Tongues, a place where divine messages could be given to any who entered... worthily. In one of the farthest corners of the entire dimension, the journey to reach it had taken him more than a day, even with the rare gift of teleportation. Tartarus exuded a foul force that blocked all outside magic, except for the creatures gifted by the king of Tartarus himself.

Malice entered the cave with trepidation. Malice was afraid. It didn't happen often, but there was only one creature alive that Marshal Malice truly feared. And that was his master. The king of Tartarus.

The cave was a tall, cavernous space made out of dull black rock. It was about thirty feet in diameter and at least fifty feet high. Malice looked around nervously. His master would not be pleased.

A deep rumbling and cracking came all around him, emanating from every corner of the room. Malice flinched. The confined space seemed to shrink around him. It then subdued into a deep, steady rumble. The room seemed to be waiting for him to speak.

"M-master," Malice stammered, aware of his master's wrath, "I have...bad news."

The rumbling got deeper, more sinister.

"The Equestrian princess...we- I was unable to deliver her to you." Malice closed his eyes, certain his time had come.

Why? the most terrible voice ever created cracked around him. It seemed to permeate every part of Malice. It came from the rock itself. The voice, the terrible, terrible voice...

"B-because I had failed, Master." Malice trembled. He bowed himself down. "I was unable to stand against her and her protectors." He braced himself, certain that his time had come at last to die in Tartarus.

What protectors? the awful, deep voice demanded of him.

Malice opened one of his four eyes, somewhat surprised his master hadn't blasted him into oblivion on the spot. He gulped and said, "The Guardians of the Sun, Master. They rescued her from her clutches."

The cave made a humming sound, as if contemplating Malice's answer. Malice would flinch involuntarily every time it raised in volume, even for just an instant. A few pebbles dislodged themselves from the walls and lay in the dust covering the bottom of the cave.

I have heard of those three, the voice rumbled in disapproval. Those have been a continual thorn in your side for a time now. Why have you not plucked it out?

Malice went stiff. "Because they-"

Because they were more powerful than you, his master snarled, and a few more pebbles rained down. Malice felt a rush of fear for his very soul. Three underlings of Princess Celestia were more powerful than Marshal Malice, the slayer of the Rada, the untold terror of the unknown world, the leader of the armies of Tartarus. I am disappointed, Malice. I have every right and privilege to have you thrown into the Pit of Despair for your inadequacy.

Malice prostrated himself on the ground in shame. "Do it, then," he whimpered. "I deserve it. I am a worthless servant."

An evil, evil laugh echoed around the chamber, piercing Malice's soul, making him put four of his arms over his pale head and cower like a fool. The awful, nightmare voice then stopped the laughter, making Malice freeze in anticipation.

Get off the ground, my servant, his master commanded him.

Malice jumped off the ground and stood up straight.

Have no fear, Malice. You will not die this day. I am a merciful god. You are far too valuable to replace easily.

Malice let out an exhale he didn't know he had been holding in.

But know this, the terrible voice of the king of Tartarus said, and Marshal Malice's head snapped up. Your work is not finished. I swore to Faust that I would be free once again. I need an Equestrian princess. I command you to lead an Equestrian princess- I care not which- to the Corrupted Element. Only then can I be free to rule the universes as I once did before. The time is drawing closer and closer when we shall unleash Tartarus's wrath upon the lands above.

"B-but what about the Guardians of the Sun?" Malice asked fearfully. "And the Elements of Harmony?"

Another laugh echoed all around the cavern. All in good time. Do you have any Fallens from Mount Nevermore?

"Y-yes, Master. Cookie Cutter has one available. Mount Nevermore's population is growing rapidly."

Can you think of a place to send him?

"The Everfree forest comes to mind, Master."

Station him there. We must have all of our pieces in place before we can play our game. We will not act until the iron is hot. But soon the time must come when the sun will not give forth her light, when the moon shall become red like unto blood, when the stars shall fall from their firmament, when the heavens shall tremble and quake, and the earth under their hooves shall be rolled together like a scroll. And from the ashes of this world shall rise a new order. An order of... peace.

Malice bowed himself once again. "Your wisdom is never-ending, my Master."

Unbeknownst to either of them, a creature had been listening at the mouth of the cave, listening in on every word spoken in there. The creature hurriedly pressed himself against the sides of the rock in terror. He tried to get his breathing under control.

Finally he whispered, "I have to warn Celestia!"

Chapter Fifteen: The Secret Weapon

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Noble Blade's day did not start off well.

It started with muffled yelling waking him up slowly. Groaning groggily, he wiped his eyes and fell out of bed onto the ground. He stood up, walked to the window, and opened it.

Outside on the ground, a very heated discussion was taking place between two pegasi.

"You shouldn't have been napping in my favorite spot, then!"

"You could have easily avoided me!"

"I crashed into you and made the two of us fall because you didn't make yourself known! It's your fault!"

"Or maybe you're not as good of a flier as you say you are!" Firestorm hastily said.

In hindsight, that was probably a pretty dumb thing to say.

Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed. "I'm not a good flier?" she said in a low voice. "You. Say I'm. Not as good. As I say I am?" she snarled, stalking closer and closer to Firestorm's face with every word.

"Nope!" he replied in a chipper tone.

"All right, buddy," she breathed in his face. "If you want to see how good I am- and get left in my dust- " she kicked the dust on the ground into Firestorm's face and Firestorm shook it out hurriedly, "-come to the park at five. A flying competition. Because you don't think I'm that good, you have the privilege to match every trick I do. If you miss one- one- you prove you're wrong. You have to show up, or you'll be forever branded as a coward who couldn't keep his big fat mouth shut."

That last sentence drew Firestorm's head up. "What?" he growled.

She grew a smug smirk. "Park. Five. I'll smoke your hindquarters so bad you won't be able to sit down for a week if you do decide to show up."

"Smoking my hindquarters?" Firestorm said darkly. "Only I can make fire-based puns!"

Rainbow ignored him and spread her wings. "Get the burn ointment ready, Fire Boy," she said before taking off in a flash of color. In a moment she was gone.

Firestorm watched her go, a strange expression on his face. "She's a fiery dame, isn't she?" he said to himself.

"That's one way of putting it," Noble said from the window. "I can't believe it, Storm. The first day here and you already managed to get in way over your head in trouble."

Firestorm turned in surprise and saw the pale blue knight at the castle's window. "Oh, uh, hey, Noble," he said nervously. "Um, out of curiosity, how much of that did you hear?"

"As much as I need to," he said pleasantly. "Better start training. I suppose she gave you that much time to prepare because you're just that bad."

"You heard all of it." He sighed. "Look, I'm a pretty good flier too! I won't get my flank kicked that hard."

"Have you heard about a Sonic Rainboom?" Noble asked him. "She's the only pegasus on Equus that can perform it. She's legendary for it. I know you're pretty good in your own right, but you're going to go up against Rainbow Dash. Don't take this lightly."

Firestorm looked at him for a second, then flicked his hoof nonchalantly. "Wow. I didn't know I was facing down Rainbow Dash, you know, until you pointed that out to me. But now that you did, now I know what kind of thing I'm facing. If I'd known I was taking down the fastest Pegasus on the planet, I wouldn't have been as concerned."

Noble tsked slightly. "Typical Storm," he muttered before he closed the window.

As he came out of the door to his bedroom, he noticed Freedom Fighter come out of the other room across the hall. Noble noticed that he was clutching his right arm and limping slightly.

A little concerned, Noble solemnly asked him, "How was the ritual?"

Freedom looked at him for a second, then did a few signs in sign language.

"You ran out of room?" Noble asked in surprise.

Freedom nodded, then clutched his arm.

"I'm sorry it hurts," he said sympathetically. "But you don't have to start on that arm. Please, don't do it. I care too much for you."

Freedom cut him off with a hard shake of the head to the side, then he turned away from him ashamedly.

They stood in silence for a second, then Noble said, "Were you going to get breakfast? I don't know how well Twilight's cooking is, but at least it can't be worse than Firestorm's, right?"

Freedom Fighter chuckled in silence, then inhaled sharply and clutched his arm again. He then turned and started to walk away. Noble Blade kept his distance before following him. After all, Freedom Fighter had completely re-armed himself, and he was a bit touchy in the morning.

"Did you hear that commotion outside earlier?" Twilight asked as she placed two pancakes onto her plate. She, along with Noble Blade, Freedom Fighter, and Spike, were situated at the round stone table in the throne room eating breakfast. Twilight and Spike were in their respective seats, but Noble Blade was in Rainbow Dash's seat and Freedom Fighter was in Pinkie Pie's.

"'Twas nothing to be feared," Noble said to her as he levitated a plate of pancakes over to Freedom Fighter.

Upon receiving it, he snatched it out of the air and drew a thick knife out of his bodysuit. Ignoring the silverware at his plate, he sliced the pancakes to ribbons with deft movements of his wrists. He then dumped quite a bit of syrup all over the remains, then began to stab the eviscerated pancakes forcefully, bring the dripping pieces to his mouth, and rip the pieces off his knife like a forest predator tearing meat off an injured animal.

Twilight observed his eating habits with a wary eye.

Noble saw this and cleared his throat. "You'll have to excuse him. We've spent many nights in dark trenches and abandoned buildings. Those kinds of conditions don't really hone your eating manners."

"But it's so..." Twilight looked at Freedom Fighter, who was tearing another strip of pancake to shreds. "...uncivilized."

Freedom perked his head up, his ears drooping in disappointment at her words.

"He can hear you," Noble said.

Freedom laid his knife down and did a few signs, gesturing at his stomach.

"He says whether you eat with fancy silverware on a white tablecloth or on the side of a muddy ditch with your bare hooves, it doesn't matter because it all goes to the same place anyway." Noble translated.

"You'd better not let Rarity know you said that," Twilight said to him with a smile.

Freedom did a few more signs, then resumed his ravenous eating.

"He says he doesn't intend on it," Noble said. He started to eat as well, then said, "Now what were we talking about..." He thought for a second before he clapped his hooves together. "Right, the commotion. That was just Rainbow Dash and Firestorm having a friendly argument with each other. Apparently, Dash collided with Firestorm, who I believe was lounging on a cloud in her way?"

"What was he doing up that early?" Twilight asked, taking a bite. "It's only eight o'clock."

"It may not look it, but Firestorm's a light sleeper. No matter what he does, he just can't wake up past six o'clock in the morning."

"Why?"

"Partly because he can't help it. But also, he was almost murdered in his sleep at Arimaspi Mountain."

A bit of food fell out of Twilight's open mouth.

Freedom Fighter made a side comment, still holding his knife.

"He says it's a shame the Arimaspi in question didn't finish the job," Noble translated, raising a quizzical eyebrow at the mysterious earth pony.

Freedom Fighter motioned for him to continue by gesturing with his knife, the edge of the blade coated in syrup like blood.

"He gets... how do I say this... tired of sleeping. And when he gets tired of sleeping, he feels tired enough to try and nap. It's a vicious cycle." He ate a little bit more of his pancakes, then said, "Dash challenged Firestorm to a flying competition this evening. He accepted gladly."

"He got into a flying competition? With Rainbow Dash?" Twilight pinched the space between her eyes in irritation. "Okay, I know he's not the smartest pegasus ever, but doesn't he know who he's up against?"

"I told him, but after I did, he was more willing than ever."

"And he still thinks he can match her? He's more arrogant than I thought."

Noble winced at the description. "I think he knows what he's doing. He's got a plan."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

Noble pointed at Freedom Fighter, who was chugging a glass of milk with unusual force. Freedom looked at him curiously as Noble asked, "Freedom, what do you always have with you on our missions?"

Freedom Fighter then proceeded to reach behind his armored black head and pull out a thin-bladed knife, then laid it on the table. He then started to take out other weapons from increasingly improbable locations on his body and lay them on the table until there was a small pile of weapons on the Cutie Map.

"He always carries a secret weapon- as many as possible," Noble explained. "Firestorm also has one." Noble patted the table absently. "And I have a pretty good idea of what it is," he muttered softly.

A loud slam reached the ears of everypony in Sugarcube Corner, and every head turned towards the doors of the shop, which were swinging back and forth. Pinkie Pie was there, panting as if she had been running a marathon. After she took three deep breaths she yelled, "FIRESTORM AND RAINBOW DASH ARE HAVING A FLYING COMPETITION!"

"Who now?" Lyra Heartstrings asked, setting down her order of ice cream.

"THE PONY WE HAD A WELCOME TO PONYVILLE PARTY FOR YESTERDAY!" Pinkie explained loudly, clutching the sides of her head. "THAT PEGASUS AND RAINBOW DASH ARE GONNA HAVE A FLYING COMPETITION AND IT'S GONNA BE AT FIVE O'CLOCK IN THE PARK TONIGHT!"

Excited murmurs ran throughout the crowd in the shop. Some of them were shocked that somepony would challenge Rainbow to a flying competition, of all things. But most of the others were amused for exactly the same reason some others were shocked by.

"Doesn't he know what he's getting himself into?"

"Is he serious, or is he mad?"

"I think both."

Pinkie reached behind her and pulled a large betting box out of nowhere. "Anypony wanna make any bets?"

"I'll bet twenty bits on Rainbow Dash to smoke that new guy!" Colgate announced loudly, drawing out the amount with her magic and holding it up in the air.

"Fifteen on Rainbow!" Carrot Top added, taking out her amount.

More and more ponies continued to place their bets for Rainbow Dash. Nopony really knew Firestorm or what he was capable of as a flier, so most of the bidding was for Rainbow. Eventually Pinkie had an exuberant amount of money collected in her bidding box, and when the last bit had been dropped in, she sped out with a puff of pink dust.

As they watched her go, Bon-Bon whispered to Lyra, "How's Pinkie planning on paying us back?"

"Right now, I think we should just learn to accept the fact that Pinkie's Pinkie. We do not question Pinkie," Lyra whispered back.

It spread around Ponyville fast. The citizens of Ponyville responded accordingly. A space in the park had been cleared for the competition to take place, with a few construction workers building a hasty wooden platform. Food vendors were in the process of being set up, and a few ponies were arriving at the scene camping with anticipation for the event to start. Among the food vendors were Big Mac with an apple cart, Mr. and Mrs. Cake with a dessert cart, and Derpy, who was wandering around offering free muffins to ponies at random. Most of the time they didn't take them, but when they did, Derpy's face lit up and she gave a wide, goofy smile.

All around the town, there was an energy of excitement and anticipation. They had all seen Rainbow Dash's tricks before, but they had never had much of such a public display of the most brazen pony in Ponyville before now. Everyone's mind was on overdrive as they thought wildly about what they might witness at the competition that evening. Not to mention maybe seeing that new fiery pegasus doing some tricks of his own.

Rainbow Dash herself was now swaggering proudly through Ponyville. All of the ponies she passed had wished her good luck on her tricks, and all the ponies she had spoken to had gotten excited just being around her. She was just passing by the flower vendor when she noticed three little fillies running up to her. The first to collide with her started to talk very, very fast with a wide smile.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh, I can't believe it! I'm so excited for you to show off every trick you got!" Scootaloo was hugging Rainbow Dash's front leg with a ferocity that astonished Rainbow.

"Okay, okay, easy there, Scoots," Rainbow laughed, then pried the little filly off of her and tousled her mane playfully. "Nice to know you're supporting me."

"Are you kidding? I'd never not cheer for you! WOOOO!" she exclaimed, throwing her hooves up in the air.

The other two fillies came up next to Scootaloo. "Howdy, Rainbow. We thought we'd come and visit ya before the competition," Apple Bloom greeted her.

Rainbow waved her off. "I've still got about three hours before five o'clock rolls around. It's plenty of time to warm up."

"I was wondering..." Sweetie Bell came forward. "Who're you going up against? Is it one of the Wonderbolts? Is it Spitfire?"

Rainbow laughed for three seconds. "No, it's not a Wonderbolt," she replied. She bent her head down to the three fillies and whispered, "I'm going to fly against a pegasus named Firestorm."

"Firestorm? That sounds like an awesome name!" Scootaloo cried.

Rainbow grew an expression of annoyance.

"What's he like?" Scootaloo continued.

Before Rainbow could answer, a voice said behind Scootaloo, "Well, I know that he's a pret-ty annoying guy. But he's handsome. Very handsome."

Scootaloo turned to see Firestorm himself lounging on the side of the wall with a pair of aviator sunglasses on. Upon the fillies and Rainbow Dash seeing him, he swiftly swept them off and said, "Yo."

Sweetie Bell took a step forward hesitantly. "And are you him?" she asked suspiciously, eyeing his flaming, fiery mane.

Firestorm noticed her eyes looking up at his mane. "What? Of course not."

"You're Firestorm, aren't ya?" Apple Bloom told him bluntly.

He chucked his aviator shades up, landing in his hair. "The one and only," he announced extravagantly, giving a bow.

"You're actually going to try to take down Rainbow Dash in a flying competition?" Scootaloo asked.

"What? No, no, I'm not trying to. I don't know what kinds of things you've been hearing. I am going to beat her."

There was a moment of silence, then Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo fell down, laughing their flanks off. Firestorm watched them with an expressionless face, then whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, "Was it something I said?"

Scootaloo got up first. "Dude, there's no way you can beat Rainbow Dash!" she boasted, flapping her wings like a buzzing insect.

Firestorm leaned in close. "But I'm gonna win anyway."

"I'd like to see you try!" Rainbow said, back on her hooves. She flexed on him. "You know, it isn't too late for you to back out of it now and leave not totally humiliated."

"If I back out now, I'll be proved a coward for the rest of my miserable existence. You said it yourself," Firestorm said. "But don't worry. I'll be good competition for you to try and beat."

Rainbow glared at him.

"You know what I think?" Firestorm continued. "I think you just wanted to try and impress me with your flight skills. I'm down for it, but I'll also show you mine while we're at it." He spread his wings. "Now let's get ready. We've got around six hours. That'll be plenty of time, right?"

And he flapped up into the air and flew away, slightly askew.

Scootaloo watched him go, then said to Rainbow, "You beat him, Rainbow! Nopony can be as good as you are!"

Rainbow smirked. "Oh, I'll beat him, all right. And when I do, you'll see who's the most awesome pegasus ever."

Noble Blade hated wearing armor. It was hot and uncomfortable. The armor he had didn't hinder his movements as much, but the problem of the heat and bulkiness of it was still present. Especially in hot environments, like in Saddle Arabia. There, he had almost baked in his armor.

But he had to wear it anyway. Not only was it effective as protection, but it also passively helped keep him in shape. It also had leg stiffeners in it that helped to make him bipedal-- awkwardly, to say the least.

He was currently sweating in it, walking with Twilight, Spike, and Freedom Fighter to the park. He had no helmet on his head, allowing his rich blue mane to flow back atop his pale blue head. His line of sight was clear.

"You think this'll go down well?" Spike asked Twilight.

"I can't say for certain. Who knows how this all might turn out?" Twilight told him.

Noble Blade wisely kept silent.

They had entered the area designated for the competition. The entire park was covered with ponies sitting in chairs or on picnic blankets, waiting for the time when the pegasi would enter to start the showdown in the sky. There was hardly a free spot anywhere to sit down.

"We really should have gotten here earlier," Spike mumbled as he stepped past yet another pony on a picnic blanket.

"Yoo-hoo! Twilight!" a voice called over the chatter of the crowd. Noble, Spike, and Twilight turned towards the source. It was Rarity, who was sitting down on a seat five rows from the front of the stage, her sunhat standing out from the rest of the crowd. "Come on over and join us!" She beckoned with her hoof.

"Oh, gladly!" Spike agreed enthusiastically, and ran over to where she was. Noble watched him, a curious thought in his mind. Noble looked at Twilight for just a moment, but she didn't show any giving expression.

Spike had reached the spot where Rarity was sitting. "Uh... hi, Rarity," he bashfully said to her. He shyly smiled.

Rarity, however, did not notice him more than she noticed Noble Blade. At the sight of him her face lit up and she started to wave even more through the thick crowd of milling ponies. Feeling a little wary, Noble reluctantly made his way to their spot with Rarity. Once he reached her, he bowed. "Lady Rarity," he addressed her respectfully.

She giggled at that. "Oh, hello, Noble," she said to him. "It's a rather fine day, isn't it?" Indeed, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The pegasi had excitedly cleared away all the clouds hours before to allow for the best conditions.

She continued. "I'm so glad you're here. I was afraid I might have to watch the competition alone." She looked around. "Although now, looking around, I've noticed that we cannot accompany all of you in this small spot of ground. Would you mind if I went and got us a spot closer to the action?" She smiled dazzlingly at Noble.

Noble blinked, then focused his eyes. "That would be nice, yes," he agreed.

Rarity stood up. "Don't you worry a thing, Noble. Just you follow me so you know where we will sit." She walked off, adding a gentle sashay to her hips as she did so.

Noble noticed this and looked down respectfully. He then walked behind her.

Rarity walked slowly to the front of the ponies sitting down. She came to a green stallion who was relaxing in the front. She was filled with excitement. She was about to get them a better seat. Noble would love it, and would definitely notice the means she would take. He would be impressed! She batted her eyelashes at the green stallion seductively. "Why hello there, handsome," she said slowly to him, coming in closer to him. "What are you doing here?"

The stallion looked at her strangely, an expression of fearful excitement on his face at her tone of words. He uncertainly replied, "I'm saving a spot for my friends for when they arrive."

"What a kind gesture. I like that in stallions," she whispered to him. "How many?"

He gulped. "Three of them, Rarity," he said, unable to keep the gaze Rarity gave him. He looked down.

Rarity, however, put her hoof under his chin and slowly drew it up so the stallion was now looking directly into her half-lidded eyes. She smirked. "Well, I'm waiting for my friends as well. I have a bit more than three, however, and the spot I'm in isn't big enough to hold them all. I was wondering, if maybe..." she circled her hoof on his chest. "You could be so kind as to allow us to use your spot instead?" she asked innocently.

The stallion took a second before shaking his head no. "I've been waiting in this spot for two hours, Rarity. I got here first, and I want to stay here until..." he trailed off as Rarity gave him an even hotter look. He started to shake slightly.

Rarity put her arm around the back of his head, pulling him in closer. "But surely you wouldn't let me use your spot instead? I do so want it for my friends... you wouldn't be a gentlecolt and allow me to make my friends happy? Our spot only has four seats, you know. You could fit there and be happy with your friends."

The stallion still looked uncertain, though he was definitely cracking under the hot gaze Rarity was giving him.

Rarity bit her lip and nodded at him encouragingly.

The green stallion finally gave in. He rose from his seat. "All right, Rarity. Anything for you," he said as if he was hypnotized. He took his belongings and left, glancing back at her dreamily.

Rarity turned to face Noble. She tossed her mane behind her expertly and asked casually, "Well, Noble? Do you like it?"

She was expecting him to be impressed.

Instead, he had an expression of outrage written all across his face. Rarity, upon seeing this, grew nervous.

"How could you?" he asked quietly. His voice wasn't loud, but Rarity could tell he was angry. She instantly thought badly of herself.

Noble gestured at the stallion who was now in the space they were previously in angrily. "You just forced him out of his space! What, were you assuming I'd be happy?"

"No, Noble... I-I didn't-" she started before she was cut off.

"You manipulated him. You got him to do your will by seducing him." Noble said seducing like it was an ugly word. "Tell me, do you treat all stallions like that? As objects that can be used to serve your own needs? How soon will it be before you do that to me? When will you try and bend my neck against my will?"

"No! I'd never do that to you!" she cried in her defense.

"How can I believe you?" he coldly asked. He looked down, trembling angrily for a little bit. "I'm disappointed, Rarity," he said. "I expected better than selfishness from the element of generosity."

Rarity felt as though she had swallowed something bad and it was festering in her stomach. She weakly said, "B-but..."

"I'm sorry, Rarity," he quietly said, "But I want to be alone right now." He turned and went into a seat far away from her. Rarity made a few more weak noises, then turned away in shame, bowing her head.

"Pinkie? What is that?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, it's just my personal little betting box. I spent the day just whizzing around the town taking bets on who would win the competition, and a lot of ponies bet on Rainbow. Let's see here..." She began to count the ponies who had bet on Rainbow, reading off a list taped to the front containing the names of the ponies and how much they had bet. "Forty-one... forty-five... forty-seven! Can you believe it, Twilight? As opposed to..." She checked the list again, her eyes narrowing in disappointment. "...two ponies who had bet on Firestorm. Huh. Would you look at that."

Applejack had also arrived and was sitting next to Rarity, who in turn was sitting next to Twilight. And Starlight Glimmer had arrived and had sat next to Freedom Fighter, who in turn had sat next to Noble Blade. Starlight looked uncomfortable around him, which was understandable. Freedom was not a very talkative pony.

Noble looked up as he saw something coming towards him. And his heart jumped up a little bit. It was Fluttershy. She had obviously noticed her friends sitting in the front row. Upon seeing all the seats taken, however, her face fell in disappointment. She sadly turned away.

Finding his voice, Noble called out, "Fluttershy, wait!"

Fluttershy turned around.

Noble Blade hurriedly stood up. "My seat," he offered her, gesturing at his chair.

"Oh, no!" she said hastily. "I can't do that! Then you won't have a seat!"

"Please, sit. I want you to." Noble felt every part of his mind yelling at him that he was being stupid, that he was just embarrassing himself, that he was just being too forward towards her and she wouldn't like him at all because he was being too stupid.

Fluttershy smiled and blushed. "Oh... um, thanks," she whispered to him. She clambered onto her chair. "B-but what about you? I don't want to see you stand for the competition."

Noble felt a jolt run through him. Fluttershy was looking down, and she was playing with her hair. She was twirling a long end of it near her face. Noble had to restrain himself from gawking at her. She looked so adorable when she did that! He suddenly remembered he had been asked a question, and he coughed. "I've stood before, and I can stand now. But you I want to sit down in comfort."

He realized how dumb that sounded. It wasn't as though Fluttershy hadn't stood before, he reminded himself.

"Oh, Noble, that's... sweet..." Her voice dropped down low as she finished. Was she embarrassed?

He wasn't dumb after all? Wow. Noble felt much better.

An uncomfortable silence fell between them after that. Noble immediately felt more stupid than before for not continuing the conversation. After about three minutes, Noble said, "So Rainbow Dash... Is she a friend of yours?"

And he mentally cringed. Of course she was a friend of hers!

"Oh, yes. She's actually my closest friend," Fluttershy was saying, fidgeting in her seat. "We were really close in Cloudsdale... She, um, helped me with my flying and she stood up for me when I was bullied..."

Noble's face darkened. Somepony had dared to hurt Fluttershy? Why they weren't shot out of the sky by Faust for that heinous offense was a bit of a surprise.

"...and she raced to defend my, um, honor. And that day, the day she did..." She smiled. "It was the day I got my Cutie Mark. The day I realized what I wanted to do for the rest of my life- take care of animals." She sighed.

Noble lost his breath when she did that. It just sounded so cute! His knees, even supported by armor, started to feel weak, and he almost buckled. Was there anything about this mare that wasn't adorable?

"...Noble?"

"Hmm?" he asked all of a sudden. He had zoned out for a second.

"I asked you how you got your cutie mark," she said, looking down shyly. "When I saw it, I thought it looked... interesting. How'd you get it?" She pushed her mane out of the way. "But, um, if you don't want to talk, that's okay."

"No, no, no!" Noble said hurriedly. "I'm glad to talk." He sat on his rump next to Fluttershy, at a respectful distance. "I got my Cutie Mark when I defended my classmate in school from bullies that were about to beat him to a pulp. He... wasn't close to me, per se. But he was weak and couldn't defend himself, so I defended him. I warned them not to attack him, but they tried to fight anyway. And I..." He paused.

"And what?" Fluttershy asked calmly, tilting her head, clearly interested.

"And I hurt them," he said bluntly, knowing the pacifist Fluttershy would be disappointed. "When they got close enough, I hurt them. Badly. In that moment, I only wanted to defend the innocent. And when that intention entered into my head, that's when a bright light appeared on my flank and I felt something, like a sticker being placed on me."

He braced himself for Fluttershy's words of disappointment. And then-

"That... That's so sweet of you..."

His head turned to face her, not daring to believe it. She thought he was sweet?

"You stood up for those who couldn't...like Rainbow Dash did for me," she said, smiling a little. "That's... amazing."

Noble felt as though he wasn't in his hot armor anymore, and instead free and ready to move. She thought he was amazing!

A loud swoosh caught their ears before they could say anything more. The assembled crowd looked up to see Rainbow Dash, in full Wonderbolt regalia, drop from the sky and land on the wooden platform constructed for the event. As she landed, she waved to the crowd, and the crowd roared back its approval.

To the side, Firestorm appeared, coming out from behind the platform and trudging up the steps. He was an unpleasant sight, in his brown and maroon rags that stank of disapproval. As he appeared, there was some scattered polite applause. Noble noticed that Rarity did not clap for him, but Fluttershy did.

Firestorm, however, took the small applause from the crowd as a sign of immense popularity, and he began to extravagantly wave off the paltry applause, bowing here and there. "Thank you! Thank you! No, seriously, thank you... I mean it! Give yourselves a hoof!" He began to applaud for himself as well, and there arose some laughter from the crowd.

Rainbow came up to him. "So, Stormy," she said mockingly. "You decided to show up."

Firestorm spread his hooves slowly, giving her a goofy grin. "...Yeah..."

"Don't think you're going to get away from this unscathed," she said to him. "Nopony, and I mean nopony, insults me and gets away with it."

"You should be glad I'm not like that," he replied coolly. "Or else you'd already be dead."

Before she could angrily retort, the mayor came onto the stage behind them, separating the two of them. She cleared her throat and spoke into a standing microphone. "Good evening, fillies and gentlecolts. We have gathered here today to witness a..." She looked at Rainbow Dash in her Wonderbolt outfit, than at Firestorm in his rags, "...rather one-sided competition, if I have to be honest."

Firestorm shrugged. "Sorry if I'm making it unfair. If you want, I can tie one wing behind my back. That might even things out." There was a bit of laughter at that, and Firestorm bowed yet again.

"The competitors are: Miss Rainbow Dash."

The applause that arose from her name went on for a full thirty seconds, and involved a lot of whistling and whooping. Rainbow waved them off, not really embarrassed.

"And facing off against her is..." here the mayor paused, then looked at the dark orange pegasus. "Who are you again?" she asked him.

Firestorm flapped up into the air. "The name's Firestorm," he flamboyantly announced. "The fast- the deadly- the super hot," he said, slicking back his mane and winking at the nearest group of mares in the crowd, who collectively sighed in pleasure, "-and, most of all, the super embarrassing!" He then intentionally crashed headfirst into the dirt.

In the crowd's front seat, Applejack muttered sarcastically, "At least ya got one outta four right." Rarity, who was sitting next to her, gave her a hoof-bump.

"The object of the competition is for..." The mayor coughed. "...Firestorm...to match or outdo the aerial stunts performed by Miss Dash. If he fails in any stunt given, he loses immediately. Good flying, Rainbow, and good luck, Firestorm. I think you might need it more than she does." And she walked off.

As Rainbow prepared to fly off to perform her first stunt, she heard a wolf-whistle behind her. She turned, outraged, to find Firestorm giving her a fierce, predatory look. He winked at her.

A little flustered, but mostly annoyed, she then took to the air.

She decided to start him off with something like a taste of what she could do. Twisting in the air, she went with three high-speed barrel rolls, a fifty-foot backloop, and ended with her shooting about two hundred feet in the air, front-flipping at the top of her arc, and landing hard on the ground in front of the stage.

Scootaloo watched all of this with ecstacy as she saw her hero show herself off, and she "Squee"d in happiness as she came to her landing.

Firestorm had barely even looked up. When Rainbow had landed, he simply shrugged off the rags he had on. Underneath them was a fireproof flight suit that hugged every fine-toned muscle in his body, including his wings. It perfectly showed him off, and Rainbow could not help but stare at him.

Firestorm noticed this and smirked at her. "What's wrong, Rainbow?" he asked. "See something you like?" Before she could stutter out an answer, he had already took off, activating the flamethrowers on his wrists as he did so.

As he flew up, a trail of flame followed him, making him stand out against the clear sky. He did four barrel rolls, a hundred foot backloop, and a three hundred foot upward spin before he shot towards the ground and landed on his hind legs, with his wings flared out and his left forearm to the side and his head down, squatting from the impact.

Pinkie was the first to clap, yelling out, "Superhero landing!"

Rainbow just growled in annoyance as the applause rang out.

Firestorm then looked to Rainbow and urged her to continue by gesturing with his hoof.

Rainbow then decided on her next move- the Fantastic Filly Flash- and performed it amidst much applause from the crowd. She felt smug and self-assured that Firestorm couldn't copy her exactly.

Only for her confidence in that to disappear as Firestorm copied her exactly, only trailing flame. Which- she had to admit- did make it look cooler. After he did yet another superhero landing, he motioned her forward. "What next, ma'am?" he pleasantly asked.

"Don't ma'am me!" Rainbow commanded, adjusting her goggles.

Firestorm smirked yet again. "All right, then... Dahling," he said, imitating Rarity.

Rainbow ignored him and flew up again. After gaining enough speed, she produced a bright explosion of light somehow, performing the Buccaneer Blaze. She landed, panting hard from the effort, but sure that somehow Firestorm couldn't follow in her hoofsteps.

And, of course, to Rainbow's consternation, he had to copy the move precisely. Watching him, she thought irritably, If this keeps up I'm going to get mad...

This sort of thing went on for several hours. Rainbow was becoming more and more eager to try new tricks, and Firestorm was more and more willing to outdo her. Sometimes he was only matching her in her accomplishments, but for the most part, they were tied.The tricks became more and more dangerous, and the speeds were at their ultimate high.

Finally, as it started to get dark, the two panting pegasi looked at each other on a time slot between flights.

"Water break?" Rainbow asked him.

"Water break," Firestorm agreed.

They both went to the water table, which was untouched by either pony during the entire competition. Rainbow and Firestorm both filled up a water cup, looking at each other apprehensively. Giving each other side-eyes of suspicion, they both separated to drink.

As Rainbow drank, she was suddenly aware of just how thirsty she really was. She gulped down one glass before she knew it, then went back for more. As she did, she noticed that the crowd assembled had started to move their attention towards Firestorm, who was just sitting on his rump drinking the water. Rainbow scowled at the sight. There were barely any ponies near her. Why were they all going after Firestorm? All he was doing was imitating whatever she did!

One of the mares in the crowd yelled, "I love your mane, Firestorm!"

Firestorm giggled and waved the comment aside, pretending to be flustered. "Oh, you do? D'aww, shucks." He then looked to one side slyly. Then to the other side. Then he tossed his glass of water on his head, soaking his red, orange, and yellow mane. "WHOA, IS MY MANE OUT?!" he screamed, grabbing his scalp in mock terror.

Rainbow chuckled, then stopped herself. Every time she laughed at Firestorm acting funny, he won. If she didn't laugh at his efforts to be likable, then she would win. And so Rainbow ignored his antics the best she could.

She then reflected on his uncanny ability to replicate every single trick she did. Then she remembered that he was a warrior of Princess Celestia, who obviously had to be trained in flight and dexterity in order to be one of the princess's bodyguards. Sure, she was a Wonderbolt, but Wonderbolts did group stunts, not individual ones. She only then realized that whatever she could do, Firestorm was capable of it. They were locked in stalemate.

Then her countenance brightened. She could outmatch him, after all. She had a hidden card up her sleeve, like Firestorm had his flamethrowers up his sleeves. That was obviously what made him popular in his stunts. That was his secret weapon. But Rainbow had another secret weapon, one that only she could do, one that not even Princess Celestia was capable of.

As they re-met in the field, thunderous applause reached their ears, along with cries of protest from most of the ponies that had bet on Rainbow. They had also realized that unless Rainbow did something big, and soon, she would lose the competition. When Rainbow and Firestorm were facing each other, Rainbow gave a wicked grin.

"So. You can match me in most everything. Big deal." She spread her wings and pointed smugly at Firestorm. "But not even you can perform a Sonic Rainboom!"

And she took off with a burst of speed and a flash of color. Firestorm's interested eyes followed her as she ascended at a speed unreachable for most pegasi and continued that way for some time.

After two minutes of speeding upwards, she was so high in the sky that Firestorm had to squint to even see her in the sky. He saw her front-flip in the air and speed down, her velocity growing faster and faster. A cone of sparking electric energy appeared as she went.

Rainbow's face was stretched back, and tears were forced from her tear ducts as she continued to increase her speed even more. The cone around her sparked and zapped more violently, and became as taut as a bowline.

Then she broke the sound barrier.

The instant she did, a huge BOOM shattered the darkening sky and a circular rainbow appeared from where she broke the barrier and begun to expand. Rainbow, now trailing an almost-tangible rainbow behind her, pulled away from impacting on the ground and circled over everypony. She circled over them once, twice, three times, then backflipped in the air and landed on the ground with a thud. The audience roared and cheered, and Rainbow took an extravagant bow.

Firestorm could not decide what to look at, the still-expanding rainbow ring in the sky, or the Rainbow that did it, still feeling the effects of the Rainboom.

Rainbow took her goggles off and laughed. "Ha ha haaaa! That's always awesome!" she declared, then threw her goggles into the crowd, for somepony to catch. She wouldn't need them any more tonight. The Rainboom would crush anything Firestorm was physically capable of doing. She had won.

She then strutted over to where Firestorm was and lightly booped him on the nose. "Your move, Stormy," she said mockingly.

The mayor then came up onto the stage. "Well, I suppose that's it for tonight, fillies and gentlecolts. Give it up for the winner of the competition, and performer of the Sonic Rainboom, Miss Rain-"

But she was stopped by a hoof on the shoulder. The mayor turned to see Firestorm tapping her. He said, "Uh, excuse me? Don't go off naming victors yet. I still need my turn."

The mayor looked confused, and spoke away from the microphone. "But the Rainboom... It's the most timeless feat of flight in the book!"

Firestorm only said, "Give me my turn. Now."

Rainbow overheard this and smugly said to him, "Well, you don't need one. What're you going to do, flop into the air with some useless skill? Anything you have pales in comparison to the Rainboom. You don't have to embarrass yourself."

She was expecting him to just give up, or just concede right there.

Instead, he grew a wide, wicked smile, a disturbing, creepy smile that showed all of his teeth. He looked slightly maniacal.

Feeling a little uncomfortable, Rainbow said slowly, "Soooo... are you gonna give up now, or..."

Firestorm spread his wings and crouched, never losing his evil smile. "Don't take your eyes off of me," he ordered her. He then shrugged. "Although I know you haven't taken your nice, hot stare off of my nice, hot body, so I suppose what I said was pointless." He winked at her again.

And before she could protest, he rocketed into the air with a speed no one had seen out of him before.

Every eye in the audience turned upwards, following Firestorm as he sped up and up.

Fluttershy whispered, "What's he doing?" to Noble Blade, who was standing at attention next to her.

Noble declared solemnly, "Unleashing his secret weapon."

Fluttershy looked scared at what was coming.

The rest of the audience looked a little confused. But as Firestorm gained more and more altitude, most of them realized what Rainbow's challenger was trying to do. Murmurs and whispers filled the air in fear.

Rainbow kept her eyes on his increasingly dimming figure. "Is he-" she muttered, then groaned. "Oh, please don't tell me he's gonna try it..."

Firestorm just went higher and higher, his speed steadily falling away as he went further and further upwards. Up and up he went, higher than the altitude of Cloudsdale, which was in the distance, hanging there like a mirage. He went up so far, and flew up so high, that his breathing became more and more thin as the oxygen levels began to thin out, and he could have seen the curvature of the planet Equus if he had tilted his head to the side. The night was coming quick, the sky turning a navy blue as the sun went down, slowly but inexorably.

As he finally arrived at the top of his arc, he stopped flapping, flipped so he was facing downward, and hurled towards the ground like a loosed arrow.

As he sped down, starting to approach terminal velocity with every passing second, the air started to feel hot. Like a meteor, Firestorm was now enveloped in a teardrop of flame that grew around him second by second. Firestorm fell to the earth faster than any other pegasus was capable of reaching.

He saw the ground growing larger and larger as he went faster and faster. And as he approached the speeds he knew were dangerous, he knew he needed more power.

So he turned his thoughts inward, at his foalhood. It was a remote, darkened place he would barely even touch under normal circumstances. And as he did, he felt bitter. He remembered everything. Everything that had ever happened to him.

Look at this wimp! He messed up again!

I can't believe we have to put up with him! He's just clumsy and worthless!

That idiot! Look at how he sits by himself all the time! He doesn't have any friends!

Maybe that'll teach you to not hang around us!

You're different! You're diseased! I don't care what the principal says, you're sub-pony! Why should I give you special treatment because you're retarded?

You're a loser, Firestorm. A loser. So get out of the big kid activities and go play with your girlie dolls like the other vegetables. You're retarded. You don't belong with us.

Firestorm gritted his teeth so hard they hurt. He poured his pent-up fury into his wings, with figurative and literal fire in his eyes.

I have had enough of this! I'm not going to take it any more, you filthy BASTARDS!

He thought about the bullies in the world. All the bullies he knew.

Name's Hoops. And this is my friend Score.

My (scoff) name is Jet Set, and my lovely wife is called Upper Crust.

Why, hello there... I am Prince Blueblood...

He wanted to hurt them. He wanted to make them realize who was really in charge.

And as he imagined the sweet feeling of giving out pain to the bullies, his rage and wrath gave power to his wings.

He went supersonic.

It was as though the air was ripped apart. A massive BOOM shook the planet and rumbled the ground beneath him as he broke the sound barrier. A massive ring of flame expanded, tearing its way through the skies and leaving a trail of tendrils of flame. The ring was every shade and hue of red, and yellow, and orange.

Firestorm was trailing a long train of fire like Rainbow for her Rainboom, and just before he hit the ground, he pulled up, shooting over the audience. Every single pony gasped and stared at the flaming, fiery pegasus.

Rainbow Dash was hit the absolute hardest. Her eyes were wider than what should have been physically possible, and the bottom of her jaw touched the ground, unfurled like a scroll.

Firestorm, still trailing a long tail of fire, circled around the audience once, twice, three times before he pulled back up again in a huge backflip. Every pony kept their eyes glued to the pegasus who had done the impossible, his flaming body shining brightly against the darkening sky. He completed his backflip and finally landed on the ground with an impact that burned the grass around him in a small radius. He had done another Superhero Landing, but this time the flames on him did not go out. His body was burning, protected by his fireproof suit.

Fluttershy had jumped out of her seat when the massive shock had reverberated throughout everyone there, and was now clinging to Noble Blade. She dully realized after about fifteen seconds who she was clinging to, and slowly looked up at Noble's face. Noble looked back as he realized who was clinging to him, not able to initially feel it under his armor. Fluttershy hurriedly clambered off him and sat back in her seat. Her cheeks were as pink as her mane, which she was now hiding in. Noble just looked at the ground, trying to block out the thoughts that flew at him when he had realized she had clung to him.

"His secret weapon..." Twilight whispered in complete shock. The rest of the girls had similar reactions.

Firestorm calmly got to all fours and lightly brushed some fire off his shoulder, then on the other shoulder. He then slowly walked over to where Rainbow was, a satisfied smile on his face. He leaned in close to her, shaking off more fire. Rainbow did not move. She looked like a stage prop for a play.

"Your move," he whispered to her, then tapped her shoulder playfully. "Dashie."

He then faced the crowd and bowed flamboyantly. "Fillies and gentlecolts," he announced, pointing at the still-expanding ring of flame in the air. "The Sonic Flameboom!"

And he simply cantered off.

Rainbow's expression still did not change. She stood rock solid.

And finally, the pure amazement present among all of Ponyville manifested itself in the loudest round of applause that evening. Whistles, cheers, and roars came up from the crowd by many of the ponies there, mingled with the howls of anguish by the ponies that had bet on Rainbow. The crowd of seated ponies suddenly stood up and applauded louder than they ever had before. Many were overjoyed, but many were completely shocked at the pegasus' achievement.

Rainbow finally made a small gurgle in the back of her throat and began to babble incoherently. "Bu-bu-gu-wha-dgg-da-mu-WHAT?!" She was still rooted to the ground in shock. She stood there for a little bit longer, then shook her head as if she was trying to get rid of an annoying fly. She rubbed her eyes and blinked, staring at the spot where the Flameboom had taken place. "That can't be right..." she muttered, as if in a trance.

She felt a tap next to her and she looked down to see Scootaloo nudging her gently. She looked uncomfortable. "So... does this mean you're not the coolest pegasus ever?" she asked her solemnly.

Rainbow felt a lump in her throat at the question. She did not answer.

"Well, I-I'll still vouch for you," Scootaloo said doubtfully. "In my eyes, you're still the coolest pegasus ever."

Rainbow grew a wavering smile for a second, then it disappeared and she looked away. "...Thanks, Scoot," she said, not at all reassured by her words. She looked miserable.

As the crowd tried to disperse, no attention was paid to Rainbow. She was left alone, with only Scootaloo at her side.

Twilight tried to get to her, but was restrained by Applejack. "Hold on now," she told her. "Give 'er a bit o' space, would ya? Ah don't think she's ready fer ya right now."

"But-" she tried to protest.

"She needs some time ta herself right now," she reminded her. "Sumthin' big just happened ta her. Jus' give 'er some time alone. That'll be best." She was looking downcast.

And so the girls reluctantly left Rainbow alone with her shock and surprise, still staring at the remnants of fire dissipating in the dark night sky.

Chapter Sixteen: The Twilight Talk

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Knock knock knock

That was the first thing Twilight heard as she woke up. Opening her eyes and blinking a bit of eye crud out of her face, she looked at her alarm clock. It was seven in the morning. She reluctantly sighed, flopped out of bed and groaned tiredly. Getting to her hooves, she walked slowly to her bedroom door and opened it.

Noble Blade was there, a nervous look on his face.

"Twilight?" he asked. "There's something I think you should see." He turned and led the way to the front doors of her castle.

Twilight, now interested, followed him to the doors.

As she got near to the front entryway to her castle, Twilight could hear some muffled yelling behind the doors. Slightly concerned, Twilight used her magic to swing the doors open.

Outside were about fifteen to twenty mares protesting loudly at the doors of the castle. The only thing keeping them from bursting into the castle was Freedom Fighter, who was on his hind legs right in front of the doors. He held a long metal staff Twilight hadn't seen on him before, and had borrowed Noble Blade's shield to use for crowd control.

Some of the mares wore T-shirts with the words I LOVE THE STORM! with a picture of Firestorm's face under it. Others were holding up signs that said FFC with lots of spiral hearts on them. Twilight could see Lyra Heartstrings, Bon-Bon, Colgate, and Sparkler, among others in the crowd.

Twilight had to raise her voice over the noise of the crowd. "ALL RIGHT EVERYPONY, WHAT'S GOING ON?"

The crowd quieted down long enough for Lyra Heartstrings to step forward. She had an I LOVE THE STORM! shirt and a hat with the same insignia. "Twilight! Where's Firestorm?"

A little confused, Twilight said, "Probably still asleep! Why do you want to see him?"

"He's inside!" Lyra announced to the mares behind her, and they cheered and pushed forward again. Freedom Fighter angled the shield as they surged, and he swept the staff in a circle. Nopony got within the deadly staff's radius, but they were getting more and more fed up.

"Okay, what's the deal, Lyra?" Twilight asked irritably. "Why do you want to see him?"

"Because I- I mean, we want to date him!" she indicated the mares. "We are the Firestorm Fan Club!"

"The what now?" Twilight asked quizzically, tilting her head to the side. "Why don't you go after Rainbow Dash?"

"Well, she's already a legend," Lyra explained, "But he's also a legend now! He's just what he said he is! He's fast! He's deadly!" She sighed romantically. "And he's super hot!"

Twilight gagged.

"What about super embarrassing?" Noble asked. "He did mention that as well, didn't he?"

Lyra faltered for a little bit, then said, "Well, apart from embarrassing, you know. He's still hot!"

"You'd better not let Firestorm hear you say that," Noble said to her.

"Too late!" a voice came from behind them. Firestorm himself elbowed his way between Twilight and Noble and raised his arms up high. "BEHOLD!" he cried in a ridiculous voice. "THE OBJECT OF THY WORSHIP! I WILL ACCEPT ONLY OFFERINGS OF PURE VIRGINS AND APPLE CIDER!"

The mares screamed in excitement. There arose some cries from the crowd.

"I'm a virgin! Take me!"

"I gladly offer myself!"

"Please! Accept me!"

"I have a bit of cider, if you want it!"

Firestorm stood there for about five seconds while all of this was going on, then he bowed and reversed direction, going back into the castle. The mares surged forward yet again, and Freedom spun the staff in a fast radius. That kept them at bay long enough for Twilight to fire her horn into the air. From the apex of the burst of energy, a pink bubble surrounded the castle. Twilight and Noble Blade backed themselves into the castle again, and Freedom followed them. He shut the doors to the castle, and the cries of protest died down.

Twilight wiped her brow, then looked squarely at Firestorm. "All right, explain."

"Look, I don't know anything about this, I swear!" Firestorm protested. "All I know is I woke up, and after I lay in bed for about an hour I got up and I saw this thing going on outside. I heard somepony say I was super hot- " he flipped his mane stupidly, "- and that got my attention. I didn't know I now have a fan club! I swear!" he said, noticing the hard stare Twilight was giving him.

Freedom Fighter unslung Noble's shield from his left arm and offered it to Noble, who took it. He then looked at Firestorm. "I can't believe it," he said simply. "The second day here and you already blow our anonymity."

"Celestia didn't say we had to be anonymous," Firestorm pointed out. "All we have to keep secret is that we're underground secret princess mercenary warrior guardians."

"That's what you call it now?"

"Well, what would you call it?"

Twilight threw her arms up in exasperation and turned around away from the two stallions.

The mares outside of the castle stayed right where they were for the next two or so hours. They were determined to wait out Twilight putting up her shield with the reasoning that she would get tired soon from the effort. As a result, the occupants of the castle were trapped inside indefinitely.

Firestorm didn't mind that all that much, as it presented him with an opportunity to wander the castle for things to do. He tried to hang out with Spike for a little bit, but after he invited Firestorm to a gem-tasting activity in the kitchen, Firestorm politely declined.

Freedom Fighter stayed in his room for as much as anypony could figure out. When Starlight asked Noble Blade about it, he told her that he was taking inventory of all his weapons. So he stayed hidden, cut off from outside contact. Nopony saw him for a long time.

Twilight was now in the library with the final Guardian. Noble Blade was reading a spell book in Twilight's library, dully turning the pages and trying to ignore the mares loitering outside. Twilight would glance up from her own book at him from time to time.

Finally Noble shut the spellbook and sighed in annoyance at the muffled yelling outside. "When do you think they'll go away?" Noble asked Twilight.

Twilight popped her head up from her own book. "Hm?"

"The mares," he indicated. "I need to go see Rarity, and these mares are making that particular mission rather hard."

"Why do you need to see her?" Twilight asked. "You don't need clothes, do you?"

"No, no, I'm fine on clothes, but..." He faltered for a bit, then quietly spoke. "Yesterday I called her selfish. I insulted the Element of Generosity. Just because I disagreed with her methods doesn't mean her motives were unclear. I feel terrible, and apologizing is the best way to clear that up."

Twilight put a hoof to her mouth in astonishment. At the competition, she had actually agreed with Noble. And here was Noble, thinking he was the one who needed to apologize? She didn't know if that meant Noble was wrong, but she was astounded that he was so willing to make reparations. In a quiet voice, she said, "No... no, you don't have to."

"I don't care if I have to or not. It's something that I want to do." Noble looked down. "I want to be on good terms with everyone. I want to not live around you or them feeling awkward and guilty. So I want to apologize for not realizing the good she did and instead focusing on the bad."

Twilight set her book down and looked at Noble directly. "Look, Noble, you did nothing wrong. Just accept that what happened was unfortunate, and I'm sure Rarity will forgive you."

"The unrepentant are the unforgiven," Noble uttered. "If I don't apologize, how can I expect any kind of acceptance of my apology?"

Twilight sighed. "Fine. You do what you want, then. I'm telling you, sometimes there's such a thing as being too good."

Noble tilted his head to the side. "Was that a compliment?"

Twilight blushed. "Take it however you want," she told him.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a little bit more.

'All right, Twilight. Just go ahead and talk to him. It can't be that hard. Just ask him if he has a policy on dating.'

But what if he takes it the wrong way? What if he thinks badly of me?

'Why on Equus would he do that? He's been understanding so far. He's not the kind of guy who'd push me away because I asked a single question, right?'

Twilight coughed and said, "Um, Noble? Can we talk?"

"What about?" Noble Blade asked.

Twilight took a deep breath. "Can you date?" she hurriedly asked.

Noble looked confused at the question for just a moment. Then he spoke contemplatively. "I... never really thought about that. I haven't dated before, to be honest."

"You haven't?" Twilight asked, somewhat surprised.

Noble smiled sadly. "Undercover mercenary bodyguard warrior for Princess Celestia, remember? Doesn't leave a lot of room in my schedule for that sort of thing." He put a hoof to his mouth. "Although there's no rule in my orders telling me that I can't date. If I were to date, though, it'd be with somepony that has mutual interest." His countenance changed- just a bit. "Twilight, I... I have to tell you something. About one of your friends."

Twilight nodded. "Go on..."

Noble's color in his face rose, ever so slightly. "It's about Fluttershy..." His color rose even more. "Since the day I met her, I...I've thought that she's..."

Twilight waited for him, somewhat disappointed.

Finally Noble exhaled. "Beautiful," he breathed.

Twilight was at the same time overjoyed and disappointed. Overjoyed, because of his crush on one of her closest friends and that he would make her more happy than ever. Disappointed, because it wasn't her he had a crush on. She got out of her seat and walked over to Noble. In a quiet voice she said, "Oh my goodness... I'm so proud of you."

Noble looked up, a little startled. "You're not disappointed?" he asked.

"Why would I be?" she asked. "You're finding love! And with one of my friends, as well? That's great! I can tell you, Fluttershy would be great for you."

Noble Blade gave a genuine smile. "Thank you, Twilight. I just- " He sighed. "There's just nothing about her that's rotten or cruel. She's respectful and quiet and cute and demure... and look at her! Her mane's so long and smooth, and it's the richest pink color you can think of, and her eyes!" He looked at Twilight. "Oh my goodness, her eyes! I just can't look at them for too long, but her eyes are just so pretty! I can't believe..." He trailed off. "Oh, listen to me. I haven't even been around her for two days, and I already think I can just go and say these things. It's stupid, is what it is. I need a bit more time before I can say I'm completely infatuated with somepony who I'm not sure even likes me back all that much." He put his face in his hooves.

"What makes you think she doesn't like you all that much?" Twilight asked, somewhat confused. "She's been kind, hasn't she?"

"Well, yes, except she's kind to everypony else as well. She's acted no different to me, except for the fact that she's too intimidated to really speak up to me at all," Noble said.

"Well, she is shy, after all," Twilight mused. "You're new, is all. Either that, or..." Twilight broke off, then gave a smirk. "...Or she might be infatuated with you as well."

Noble took his face out of his hooves. "What?" he asked.

"I said, she might be infatuated with you as well."

"No, no, not that kind of what." Noble explained, then exhaled slowly, his mind rocking from Twilight's suggestion. He wasn't anything special by himself. He sought for no glory of his own.

"The only way to figure out if she likes you," Twilight said, with just a hint of satisfaction, "Is to ask her yourself."

"WHAT?!" Noble shrieked, leaping up a foot into the air and landing back on the chair. It was the first time Twilight had seen him genuinely startled. "I can't just do that! What if she doesn't like me? What if I come off as a predator or something, and I can never look her in the eyes after that? What if..." He trailed off.

Twilight put on an amused smile. "Are you telling me that you--the same pony that faced down monsters and armies and rescued me--are scared of talking to a mare?" She was teasing him, just a little. "Is she too tough for you?"

Noble's expression grew pained. "That's different."

Twilight simply chuckled.

"Why are you so interested in this?" Noble asked her curiously.

Twilight suddenly grew very fascinated with the floor design and did not look up.

"Why is this important to you? Is this a questionnaire?" Noble pressed.

Twilight gulped. "L-look, Noble, I... I have to tell you something as well." She took a deep breath. Her stomach lurched, and she tried to stay calm as she said, "I... think I have a crush on you."

Noble widened his eyes and inhaled through his mouth. He sat back and looked down. He looked a little sad.

"Is it bad that I do?" Twilight hurriedly asked. "I-I mean, I know you're obsessed with Fluttershy, but I... I just thought you needed to know that. Ever since you rescued me, I... I just couldn't help it. You're just too helpful and eager to serve that I just... fell for you."

Noble looked like the guiltiest thing in the world. "And here I was, going on and on about Fluttershy right in front of your face. I didn't know, otherwise I would have kept silent, I swear."

"No, no, it-it's okay!" Twilight rushed. "I needed to know too. I really don't want to make you do anything uncomfortable just to make myself happy. That's not how friendship works."

Noble sat forward. "I would sooner refuse my life than refuse affection, but thou must know, much as it pains me to hurt thy feelings, that I do not love thee as a mate." His voice was sad as he relapsed into archaic language. He stood up. "But know this," he said, gripping Twilight's shoulders. "Just because I do not love thee as a mate, it doth not mean thou art worthless in mine eyes. Thou art a studious, powerful, special mare who I will stand by and protect as long as I am able. To see thee hurt because of mine interest in somepony else... it pierceth me to the center. And I can do nothing to lift thy burden. But if thou dost accept mine agency to choose a mare I love, thy bitterness shall dissipate. I do not hate thee, Twilight. But it is Fluttershy who I have fallen for."

Twilight felt both hurt and relieved at his words. He wasn't being hurtful about it, but she still wasn't his special somepony. She saw what he was trying to do, however, and she grew a wavering smile. "T-thank you, Noble." Her voice was hoarse. "For telling me now and not later. I mean, if in the future I had decided to tell you, that would have been even worse. So... thanks."

Noble smiled warmly. "And thank you for being calm and rational. Really, there's nopony to blame in cases like this. Blame simply doth not exist."

Twilight gave a small laugh. "You know, it's adorable, the way you talk in fragmented old language."

"Look, it's just a thing I do." Noble looked at her. "Is that why you fell for me in the first place?" he asked her.

Twilight sniffed. "Well, not the only reason," she said.

Noble sighed. "Oh, love is complicated," he said. "I suppose this'll make an interesting letter to Aunt Cadence."

Twilight froze.

Noble noticed this. "Twilight? What's the matter?"

"Aunt... Cadence?" she asked in horror.

Noble, now a little apprehensive, replied, "Yes... She has a brother- Strong Heart. I'm his son."

"Cadence is... my sister-in-law!" she exclaimed.

"Thou art related to Captain Shining Armor?" Noble said in astonishment.

"I'm his sister!"

"I never knew that! He never told me about you! All our conversations are strictly business- war business and stuff like that. We rarely meet to discuss anyway!"

"So if you're Cadence's nephew..."

"And you're her sister-in-law..."

There was silence for a little bit. Then Noble continued. "What does that make us? Are you my cousin, or my aunt, or..."

Twilight put a hoof to her mouth in thought, stunned slightly. Her arm was weak for some reason. "I... don't know. Cadence is the connecting tie to all of this, but the only way how is by marriage. So we aren't related... I think. Not by blood, but..."

"But this is still kind of awkward," Noble said, scratching his head and blushing just a bit. "At least this'll put a damper of some sort on all this, right?"

There was a bit more uncomfortable silence between the two of them.

"Can we change the topic, please?" Twilight asked after a minute.

Thinking quickly, Noble blurted out, "I had a question for you."

"Sure, Noble. Fire away," Twilight stuttered.

"Since I first laid eyes upon..." His throat felt dry. "Fluttershy," he said, "I have noticed a similarity between our Cutie Marks. For most of my life, I assumed the butterfly wings on the side of the blade symbolize the peace that exists in a warrior. But now that I've noticed her Cutie Mark and its eerie compatibility with mine, I hypothesize it could mean something more."

Twilight looked at Noble's flank. There it was, the sword pointing downward with a pair of butterfly wings on the side of the blade. Looking closely at it, she noticed that indeed, the butterfly had pink wings like Fluttershy's. It was almost too eerie.

Noble tried to breathe calmly at the prospect he was about to propose. "Twilight, what if...Fluttershy and I are...marked?"

Twilight's eyes widened. "You mean, like soul mates?"

Noble's mind rocked with the possibility. Her and him, connected since before time began to flow? If she was truly the mare he was to spend all of eternity with... "No, not just that," he admitted. "I wonder... who- or what- marked us. Granted, some ponies can get the same design and not end up as partners. But if we are to assume that I am to be with her... who orchestrated it and why?"

Twilight thought about that. There hadn't been a reported case of such an event happening before, so far as she knew. So the question gave her pause. Who would be behind it all? Was it coincidental that a stallion having the same elements of a mare's Cutie Mark would be head-over-hooves in love with said mare? Some Cutie Mark designs were common, like hourglasses, painting easels, and construction materials. And just because two ponies with the same design components were attracted to each other, it didn't mean they were predestined.

But then a thought hit her. It was a wild thought, out of nowhere. "What if it was the Tree of Harmony?" she offered.

Noble Blade raised an eyebrow.

"I've seen the tree work behind the scenes before and plan things out years in advance. It has control over the Elements-- and it created the element of Kindness in the shape of a butterfly, the same as Fluttershy's Cutie Mark. And you then show up under the command of Princess Celestia, with a mark similar to that of one of the Element Bearers. Is that a coincidence?" she asked, her mind suddenly more awake and alert than ever. If it was true...

"And if it isn't?" Noble asked with trepidation.

"Then... we were gathered here for a reason!" Twilight realized. "Probably by the Tree of Harmony!" She started to pace around the room. "But why? What's going on here?"

Once more, silence fell.

"Something big, Twilight," Noble declared grimly. "Something... big."

Noble twitched an ear all of a sudden. "Is it my imagination, or is the silence a bit... quieter than usual?"

Twilight kept her ears open. Sure enough, the silence had no annoying background noise. "Have the mares gone away?" Twilight asked hopefully.

Noble came to the library's window and peeked out. Sure enough, Noble saw through the pink haze of the pink bubble shield that the mares that had laid siege to the castle were no longer there, but were instead running towards the main center of Ponyville. They were following a trail of fire flying through the air low to the ground.

Twilight came next to him. "Does this mean I can put down the bubble shield?" she asked. It did take effort to maintain the barrier using subtle magic subconsciously.

Noble shrugged. "Might as well."

Twilight broke off the mental connection. The large pink bubble wavered for just an instant, then popped. The view out of the window was no longer pink-tinted. Twilight sighed in relief.

"Good job, Storm," Noble murmured, watching the trail of fire fly to Ponyville's square. "You were always good at distractions."

He turned to face Twilight. "Does this mean I can apologize to Rarity?"

"Now's a good time," Twilight said. "I'll come with you. I know the town and its ponies. I can show you the best places to visit, the ponies in town, the memorials-- it'll be a day out. You'll get to know the town."

Noble smiled. "A day out?" he asked.

Twilight shook her hooves hurriedly. "Not like a date or anything, just... an outing."

"I won't say no to that," Noble said. "Let's go, then. It's three fifteen. Let's try to hit all the best spots before night."

And with that, the two ponies pushed the library doors open and prepared to leave to meet the town and what it had to offer.

Chapter Seventeen: Old Flames

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Contrary to her normal feeling of always being on cloud nine, Rainbow Dash felt on, like, cloud one. Heck, she felt even lower than that. She felt like she had been straight-up kicked off of cloud nine and splattered straight onto the hard-packed dirt roads of Ponyville.

And as a matter of fact, she now was on the ground, slowly moping along, not caring where she wandered. For some reason, a tiny little thundercloud hovered above her head, following over her like a docile bird.

Colgate tried to wave to her from the side of the streets. Rainbow noticed this, but didn't care. Colgate slowly put her hoof down in disappointment.

As she passed the flower ponies' stand, they tried to wave at her to try to get her attention. Rainbow didn't even look up.

Her mind was too preoccupied with other things.

Out of all the things she could have been beat at, she had been beat at a flying competition- and she had been beat by a raggedy, dumb joke-spouting, full-of-himself stallion, at that. The sheer injustice, the unfairness of it all, had made her want to either scream or slink away and never be seen again. And as much as she wanted to do both of those things, she refrained from doing it. After all, if she ran away and never came out again, that would only prove that she had lost, once and for all. The least she could do was keep her head up and be brave and show that she had not lost her dignity.

But she nonetheless felt as though she had. Firestorm had acted like it was a piece of cake to beat her at flying. And it probably was, for him. He had spent a lot of his time in the army. He had spent time in combat, and it had probably honed his flying skills far beyond his normal capabilities. Did he even know he could do it beforehoof? Or did he just perform it for the first time at the competition? He looked so casual as he did it--and he was sure of himself in his chances of winning before, as well. It certainly looked like he had done it before.

And that just made her more depressed. Why? Why did he have to beat her?

Oh, right, she had challenged him. And he had done his best. Shoot.

Why did he have to be so good? Why did he have to be the one that ended up happy? Why did he get the ponies wanting more of him? All he did was imitate whatever she had done. That didn't warrant him getting such good luck. He had everything--he had his good friends, he had awesome weapons, he could do a Sonic Flameboom--which even she had to admit, looked pretty epic--and he was a war hero that worked undercover for Princess Celestia! What reason did he have to be unhappy?

But Rainbow...

Rainbow felt humiliated in front of the entire town. She felt furious that her reputation as the fastest and most awesome pegasus on the planet had been tarnished. She felt indignant at Firestorm's casual response to his accomplishment, as though it was no big deal to pull off a legendary, impossible feat and knock out somepony else's spot of honor. She felt undervalued by her friends. Since the competition the day before, not one of them came near to her and tried to make her feel happy, like she mattered...And she felt like everything inside of her hurt, like worms were burying themselves through her stomach, like her throat was constricted and her breathing came hard and heavy.

Was it jealousy? It was hard to tell. If it was jealousy, then about what anypony would do is that they would simply tell her that jealousy is a form of pride, that the reason you feel this way is because of you, Rainbow, that these feelings are your fault, that you just have to let go of these feelings and you'll feel so much better when you do.

Fat lot of good that would do her. It was her fault that Firestorm embarrassed her, that she had gotten upset and heartbroken because of it? It was her fault that that happened?

But no, Rainbow, they would tell her in such a sickeningly sweet voice. Accepting blame is hard. But this is a situation that you are fully in control of, they'd tell her. You can only stop feeling this way if you just stop feeling jealous of the attention and the interest the ponies in town now have of him and all of the best of life that Firestorm has and just focus on what you have going for you. At least you have friends, is what they would say. You should feel grateful for that, they would tell her. You should accept that good things happen to others and get over it already.

Stop feeling sad about this, Rainbow, they'd tell her. Stop feeling like compared to him you're worthless. Stop these involuntary reflexes you can't control, they would tell her. Stop feeling at all. Every single problem that happens to you shouldn't be something you can't do anything about. Stop acting like you can't do something about this. Stop being natural! Stop thinking that the bad things that happen to you are something you can't control! You can control absolutely everything in your life and there's no excuse at all why you shouldn't!

She felt her eyes get hot. She angrily wiped them with her hooves, and was disappointed when she drew them back and saw that they were wet. She would not cry.

Stop feeling like you're going to cry! That's what they'd say. Stop your crying! You're better than that! You can control every single little thing that happens to you! Why are you doing that? Why are you vulnerable? It's your fault this is happening! You are the one that's done something wrong, not the pony that embarrassed you! It's your fault you're responding like this! Stop it stop it stop it!

Rainbow couldn't take it. She let out a torn scream of hatred and smashed her hoof into the nearest wall. Hatred at herself, hatred at her thoughts, hatred at her feelings, hatred at the way ponies would 'Try their hardest to cheer you up' but would instead just make the pain worse.

Her hoof felt a rush of pain. She drew it off of the wall and winced, shaking it so it would cool off. She turned around forcefully and bumped into somepony.

"Whoah!" Derpy cried, stumbling backwards. She straightened herself. "Hey, Rainbow Dash! What's up?" she asked. Her eyes went askew like they normally did.

Rainbow sighed. She was a little surprised that she had stumbled into Derpy, because normally it was Derpy doing the stumbling. Rainbow pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, Derpy, I don't really want to talk to you right now. I'm..."

"Under a cloud?" Derpy suggested. She pointed at the black cloud hovering above Rainbow's head.

Well, she was right about that. "...Yeah. Just go away. I don't want to see you. Or... any pony, for that matter." Rainbow swatted away the thundercloud with a wave of her hoof.

Derpy looked crestfallen. "Oh. I understand." She stood for just a second while Rainbow glared at her irritably, then Derpy reached behind her and took a muffin out of nowhere. "Muffin?" she offered.

Rainbow glanced at the muffin. She just wanted her to go away, but she also wanted to placate her. "...fine, Derpy. I'll take a muffin."

Derpy grew a wide, goofy smile and thrust the muffin into Rainbow's wing. She then turned away and trotted off, clueless as to Rainbow's condition.

Rainbow looked at the muffin she had. It actually looked kinda good. She took a small bite. It was as good as it looked. But it didn't help all that much.

In fact, just looking at the thing made her feel sick to her stomach. All of a sudden she didn't want it. Not feeling like she wanted to hurt Derpy's feelings, she didn't throw it away. She instead walked to the café and set it down next to somepony eating.

And as she drooped sadly into the market, she noticed, fifty feet away, a large crowd clustered around something. There were some clicks as camera shutters went off, and a voice came over the crowd. A voice that was painfully familiar.

"Okay, as much as I like attention, this right here is just ridiculous. I just wanted to go and grab some fritters from the market, and what do you do? You mob me! Get a life!" Firestorm, wearing a pair of sunglasses to hide his face, sped down the street, coming for Rainbow.

Rainbow ducked into a side alley of the streets, and saw that Firestorm was being followed. He was trying to outpace them, but he was failing. He quickly ducked into the same side street Rainbow was hiding in and the crowd rushed past him.

Rainbow kept herself hidden from him. She didn't want him to see her and undoubtedly gloat in performing a Sonic Flameboom in front of her face. That was the last thing she needed today. So she was hidden, unable to see what was going on.

Then another familiar voice came through. One that wasn't as painful, but still hard to hear.

"All right, break it up, guys, break it up. Who's this guy you're all trying to mob?" Spitfire's voice sounded.

Rainbow almost jumped from her hiding spot. Spitfire? What was she doing here?

Firestorm, however, upon hearing that voice, suddenly drew his head up in anticipation. "Is that her?" he whispered. He sounded excited for some reason.

"It's some pegasus called Firestorm," a pony next to her replied. "He performed a Sonic Flameboom! He's famous now!"

Spitfire let out a squeal of happiness that Rainbow had never heard out of her before. She never sounded like that. Well, not since Rainbow could remember. "Is Firestorm really here?"

"Uh... yeah..." the pony replied uncertainly. "Why does that matter?"

Firestorm came out of his hiding spot and Rainbow slowly peeked her head out. Firestorm was now in the line of sight of the Wonderbolt captain, Spitfire, who was in front of a semicircle of interested ponies.

Spitfire looked at Firestorm. Firestorm looked at Spitfire. And Rainbow saw everything.

Firestorm swept the aviator shades off of his head in one deft motion. " 'sup, Spits?" he asked.

"STORMY!" Spitfire cried, and rushed forward. Firestorm caught her in a powerful embrace. "I thought I'd never see you again!" she cried.

"Oh, it's been too long!" Firestorm told her. The embrace tightened.

Rainbow stared in stupefaction. Spitfire knew Firestorm? How? And why did it seem like they were uncomfortably close?

"When you left," Spitfire whispered, "I... I didn't know when I'd see you again. Or if I'd see you again. You were always there for me, and when you left, I felt gone. The house was just... empty without you."

"I didn't know I mattered that much to you," Firestorm whispered back. "I missed you too. You were a part of me, and I wished I could just go home and see you again. But don't worry. I'm back."

Rainbow felt, as Applejack would put it, "Lower than a snake's belly." Rainbow felt her throat tighten even more, felt her stomach turn and twist. It was too much. Who even was she, next to Firestorm?

"I love you," Firestorm whispered softly to Spitfire.

And that was the final straw. The snap. A few tears welled up, out of her control, against her determination to not cry.

"I love you too," Spitfire told him.

Rainbow felt it coming. And it all hit her at once. She started to bawl, dripping rivers of tears down her face. She leaped out of her hiding spot and ran down the street, scattering the ponies assembled, who looked at her with worry. Rainbow didn't care anymore. She just didn't care. It was official. She was broken. She was abandoned. Her cries of torn anguish echoed everywhere she ran. She galloped unsteadily as fast as her flailing legs could carry her. And she ran past Firestorm and Spitfire's reunion in absolute despair.

Firestorm and Spitfire watched the rainbow pegasus stumble past them, bawling her eyes out. Their eyes followed her, and Firestorm asked, "I wonder what's gotten into her."

"I've never seen her like that," Spitfire commented. "She looks like a filly that just had her heart broken."

"But why? What happened?" Firestorm asked as he watched Rainbow run away, unsteadily crying a river of tears as she ran. It was enough to make him sad as well. It was as if he didn't want to see her sad, and instead do anything to try and help her...

"Should we talk to her?" Spitfire asked.

"I think it's best for us not to talk to her. For now, let's just focus on us," Firestorm responded. He looked around at the large crowd. "Shoo! Go on! Go away! Me and 'Spits are trying to be reunited here!" He then looked at Lyra Heartstrings, who was nearby. "And I want you to dissipate this little cult following you have of me. I order you as the object of your worship."

Lyra nodded somewhat halfheartedly, but she turned around and started to wave away the rest of the Firestorm Fan Club.

At long last, Firestorm and Spitfire were alone. He looked into Spitfire's eyes for just a second, then bumped her on the shoulder. "So, sis, how're mom and dad?"

"Oh, they're fine. When you got deployed to Arimaspi mountain, they were petitioning Celestia to bring you back."

"Typical mom and dad. Weren't they also reluctant to send you off to boot camp?"

"They were, but look at me! I became captain of the Wonderbolts! Which means I outrank you."

"Only in being a Wonderbolt. I bet I outrank you in being a knight for 'Tia and Loony, eh?"

"Oh brother."

"You talking to me now?"

After Twilight and Noble Blade left the castle to go into town to go visit Rarity, Twilight had a feeling... something she couldn't shake exactly. It was hard to define, but it made her feel nervous. She looked around her surroundings, but saw nothing. Just a few bushes and a tree.

"What is it?" Noble asked Twilight, noticing her uneasiness.

"Oh, nothing. It's just... there's something going on around me. It... it's hard to describe, exactly."

Noble perked his head up. Then his ears drooped and he chuckled. "All right, Freedom. You can come out now. I know you're following us."

The bushes next to them rustled as a black-garbed figure leaped out, startling Twilight. Freedom Fighter looked at Noble Blade and flicked his hooves in a questioning manner.

"I just know this kind of stuff, Freedom. Who else can keep an eye on you?"

"How was he following us?" Twilight asked. Freedom filed behind them.

"He's an expert spy. Freedom Fighter could steal your teeth, even if you had your mouth closed."

Freedom pretended to blush and he waved his words aside like a lady waved aside extravagant words.

Rarity's boutique was flooded with rolling coat racks and mannequins with hats and dresses. When Noble Blade, Twilight, and Freedom Fighter entered the building, ringing the bell above the door, Noble cast his eyes about the spacious boutique.

"Down in a second!" sang a voice. Rarity stumbled down the stairs in a corner of the room. "Welcome to- oh! It's you!" Rarity said, coming over to the three ponies. "I was just finishing something up upstairs. What can I do for you?"

Noble stepped forward. "It is rather, what can I do for you."

"Noble!" she exclaimed, a smile coming onto her face. "What, ah, a pleasure to see you! What are you doing here?"

"At the flying competition, I hurt your feelings when you got us all seats. Though I may not have agreed with your methods, it is not my place to insult the Element of Generosity, and for that, I apologize." He reached to the nearest mannequin, took the hat atop its head off, and held the hat to his chest in a respectful manner. The hat was a bright green with a daisy in the brim.

She giggled. "You know, you don't have to hold the hat."

He shrugged. "I simply thought it would amplify my sincerity." He tossed the hat back on the mannequin.

"Well, I want you to know that all that has passed! It's all water under the bridge now." She sighed. "And looking back, I think what I did wasn't the best option, either. From now on, no more manipulating other ponies. That's a promise."

Noble smiled at that and sat down at a sewing table.

"Well, at least I know now that somepony's actually respectful," she continued. "I still have not heard an apology from Firestorm about him insulting clothes and fashion."

"He doesn't need to," Twilight told her. "It's just a difference of opinion."

Rarity sniffed. "Well, he certainly acts like a ruffian. He's loudmouthed and bombastic- and he embarrassed Rainbow Dash! Stallions should behave better than that!"

Noble's expression darkened.

"Rarity, what is with you and Firestorm?" Twilight asked. "Has he done something to insult you personally?"

"It-it's just the way he acts!" Rarity cried, turning away and pulling a strip of fabric out of a nearby bin. "He's nothing at all like you. Noble," she said, now turning her attention to Noble Blade. "You are the paragon of gentle colt behavior, and he..." She struggled to find the right words. "...He's nothing at all like you! That pony is a hideous hermaphrodite with neither the force and firmness of a stallion nor the gentleness and sensibility of a mare!"

Noble banged the table hard, startling her. He jumped up from his seat, and Rarity could detect a cold anger in his eyes.

"That stallion," he said, in a low, firm tone, "is also my best friend. What are you insinuating about my judgment with that little declaration, Rarity? You dare think I consort with that ilk? Or do you just think I'm so stupid that I don't see what you do?"

Rarity's eyes widened. "That's not what I meant! I-it isn't about you!"

"He has saved my life dozens of times. And I have saved his an equal amount. Why do you think I have rushed into battle on the fringes of Equestria to fight alongside him? Why do you think I allow him to act the way he does? Because I love him, Rarity. I have protected him from playground bullies and demonic monsters alike. And he has brightened my day when I have been in the depths of despair. There is no other warrior, besides Freedom Fighter, who I would rather fight and die beside. No other pony."

But even as he said that, he knew it wasn't true. There was another pony he would rather die beside. And it was a shy, pink-haired pegasus with a heart of gold.

"Tell me," he continued. "If I were to talk that way about your friends, how would you like it? Have you actually tried noticing the good in him? Or have you only seen what you have found wrong in him?"

Rarity tried to open her mouth to weakly respond, but no noise came out. His words cut her to the very center.

"Or maybe you have noticed good things about him, but you ignore them and focus instead on the negative?" Noble continued tirelessly. "He is not perfect, Rarity. But you are not, either. I am not perfect. Why aren't you criticizing me? Why are you not pointing out my faults? You're either blind or pernicious, and I can respect neither attribute!" He stopped, panting with deep breaths.

Twilight and Rarity were stunned. Neither of them had seen anything like that out of him before, so seeing him snap was terrifying. He hadn't even raised his voice.

"Sorry," he surprisingly muttered. "My goodness. I come over here to apologize. What's wrong with me?" He collapsed into a stool and looked down at the ground. "I have to do this all over again. Sorry, Rarity. I should know better."

Rarity slowly came over, holding a hoof over her heart. "Noble, I... I'm sorry for insulting your friend. I was insensitive. Can I make it up to you?"

Noble shook his head. "No, no... It's fine, Rarity. I dispensed disproportionate retribution. It was too much. It's just... water under the bridge now, right?"

"Absolutely." Rarity nodded vehemently. "Let's just forgive and forget about these things. I... I don't want to be on bad terms with you!"

"Me either," Noble responded. "Let's just all agree to watch our tongues from here on out."

Freedom Fighter did some sign language that Noble caught out of the corner of his eye. Noble hissed in embarrassment. "Sorry. I didn't mean it literally." Noble's eyes widened, and he facehooved. "Dang it! Even when I try to not be insensitive I still end up offending ponies and I have to apologize."

Freedom waved him off, then explained something with his hooves.

"Wait, you were kidding about being offended by that?"

Freedom nodded, then started to softly convulse with laughter like he'd been tasered.

"You just love doing this kind of stuff, don't you?" Noble asked, slightly irritated.

Freedom took a break to nod again before he continued to silently laugh.

Noble turned to face the others. "You'll have to excuse him. He's whimsical."

"He certainly is a strange character," Rarity agreed. She then cleared her throat. "Well, Noble, as long as you're here, is there anything else you need? Perhaps I can take your measurements for a new suit?"

Noble shook his head. "No thanks. I still have to see the rest of the town with Twilight."

"Oh." Her face fell, just a little. "Well, don't let me hold you up. You go and have a special time with Twilight." There was something in her voice, a kind of colorlessness.

The day passed with Noble Blade, Freedom Fighter, and Twilight going around the town and seeing most of what they had to offer. They got apples from the apple stand in the market run by Applejack. They visited Sugarcube Corner and got a few treats to snack on. Freedom Fighter had called the treats delicious, but Twilight and Noble knew better. For him, all food was tasteless.

They had not seen Pinkie at Sugarcube Corner, but there was a note attached with tape to the door. It read:

Pinkie out with Author. Will be back when plot needs me.

None of them could make any sense of it, but Twilight reassured the two Guardians that Pinkie did this kind of thing all the time.

As they came out of Sugarcube Corner, Noble almost dropped the cookies he held in his magic. There, about to go in, was Fluttershy. When she saw him, she "Eep"ed and jumped backwards, a blush on her face. She recovered her composure, however, and softly said, "Um, uh, h-hi, Noble." She smiled.

Noble almost lost himself at the sight of her smiling. His mind tripped over itself in what he was about to say. The only thing he could say was, "Hey, Fluttershy." Even saying the name made it sound the more beautiful. "W-what are you doing here?"

Fluttershy responded, "I came here to get some cupcakes..." She rubbed her front leg up and down.

What else would she be doing at the sweet shop? Noble stuttered, "Well, do you need any, um, help?" His legs were shaking.

Fluttershy looked away, her cheeks as pink as her hair. "Um, n-no thank you...I..." She broke off as she looked at his eyes. They were the deepest color of sparkling blue she had ever seen.

"...I...I'm okay," she stumbled out before she ran into the sweet shop.

Noble watched her go, an expression of befuddlement written on his face.

"Ooh," Twilight said in a tone Noble thought was suspicious.

"What?" Noble asked.

"She's gotten better at not being shy, but every time see her seeing you, she looks like the old Fluttershy, the one that was even more quiet and reserved. There's only one thing that could be making her act like that." Twilight then gave a small squeal. "I can't believe it! Fluttershy likes you!"

"She does?!" Noble exclaimed, leaping about a foot in the air. He landed hard on his stomach, and got up, massaging his chest. "You really mean it?"

"Weeeellllll..." Twilight said in a conspirator-esque voice, "It'd be better than assuming she's afraid of you."

Before he could spend more time on the subject, there came a woozy voice behind him. "Whoah! Who are you?"

Noble turned. Behind him was a light grey pegasus mare with a blonde mane of hair and a Cutie Mark of several bubbles on her flank. But what Noble noticed about her was her eyes. They seemed to be a golden color, but what stood out about them was the fact that they were pointed in different directions- up and down. She looked kind of cute.

"My lady," Noble said, overcoming his initial reaction to seeing her comical eyes and bowing respectfully. "How can I help you?"

"Do you want a muffin?" she asked him, pulling a basket of muffins from behind her. "I baked them myself."

"Of course," Noble said, and took three out of the basket with his magic. He offered the muffins to Twilight and Freedom Fighter, who took them. Freedom looked at the muffin in his hoof, then sighed, zipped open the line in his suit, and popped the whole thing in his mouth. He chewed on it for a little bit, swallowed, and nodded in feigned satisfaction. He gave the symbol for all-good, but Noble knew better. He couldn't actually taste anything.

"Have you seen Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked her. "I want to talk to her about the flying competition yesterday. I think she's not doing too well."

"Rainbow Dash?" the light grey pegasus asked. "I think I saw her a few hours ago. I gave her a muffin, but I don't think it helped her all that much."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"She looked kinda depressed. She was under a cloud and it looked like she was about to cry."

"Did you see where she went?" Twilight asked her. She looked concerned

"No," was the reply. "I didn't see that. I can't see all that well. I don't know why."

Freedom Fighter nodded slowly, observing the way her eyes went in both directions at once. He decided not to comment on that.

"Well, thanks for the muffins," Twilight told her. "Bye!"

And the three of them walked along down the street, all noticeably worried. Twilight and Noble's muffins floated behind them like butterflies, each in their respective aura.

"What should we do?" Noble asked.

"We need to find Rainbow Dash," Twilight said, taking a bite out of her muffin. She swallowed. "Wow! These are pretty good."

It was sundown when they decided to reluctantly return to the castle. The search for Rainbow had been unsuccessful. They had asked around town, asking ponies if they had seen Rainbow, but none of them had. Twilight would have assumed that Rainbow would be sulking on a cloud, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

As they trudged somewhat disappointingly to Twilight's castle, Freedom Fighter would creep into the shadows created by the sunset, would hide under windowsills and behind barrels lying outside, would look from side to side before leaping into the next shadow.

"I still don't understand why he does that," Twilight noted as Freedom slipped into another shadow.

"It's an old habit," Noble said. "He's used to the lifestyle of a super soldier. This is just him acting normal."

"Normal." Twilight saw Freedom sneak under another windowsill and leap into a side alley. "And when is he not acting normal?"

"When he's not ready to fight. Which isn't very often."

Suddenly Freedom shot out a hoof to stop them, which they abruptly did. Freedom Fighter sniffed the air. After a few sniffs he started to stalk in front of him, close to the ground. He extended his left hoof to the side, and a long, jagged blade jumped out of a hidden spot in his bodysuit.

"What's he-" Twilight started.

"Shh," Noble cautioned her. "He knows what he's doing."

Freedom slowed down. On the wall of a building in front of them, a few pony-esque shadows were wavering as they walked closer and closer to where they were. Freedom waited until they had shown themselves, then he hurled his blade with one fast swipe. The blade impaled itself on the wall of the building next to the stallion's ear, who yelped in surprise. The mare who was with him leaped in front of the stallion, but Freedom Fighter jumped clean over her and tackled the stallion to the ground. He was about to raise an armored hoof to bash in the stallion's head when he belatedly realized something.

The stallion was Firestorm. Freedom Fighter sheepishly lowered his hoof, then clambered off of him in embarrassment.

Firestorm winced and got to his hooves. "Listen, I know you want me, but next time, I'm on top, okay?"

Freedom Fighter made an exaggerated gagging motion in disgust, then slapped him lightly across the head.

Firestorm pressed a hoof to his cheek with his mouth open slightly. "Oh, come on! And with your left hoof, too? Geez!"

Freedom did not look embarrassed. Behind Freedom Fighter, Spitfire said, "So these are your coworkers, huh?"

"Yep," Firestorm said. "The other Guardians of the Sun." He looked at Twilight and Noble, who were behind Spitfire. "Guys, meet my sister, Spitfire."

Twilight recoiled her head in surprise. "Spitfire, you never told me that you had a brother."

"Dija ever tell your friends you had a brother until he was about to get married?" Spitfire coolly replied.

Twilight was silent.

"I have a very good reason for keeping my brother a secret," Spitfire continued. "He's off-record. Secret warrior, remember?"

"Good point," Twilight conceded.

"What hath brought thee here?" Noble Blade said to her, relapsing instinctively into archaic language.

"Yesterday, when I was about to go to bed, I heard a loud boom, like a crack of thunder was right next to my ear. From where I was in the sky, I could see a huge ring of fire. I didn't know what the ring of fire in the sky I had seen in the sky was, but it looked like it was something he'd do. So today I flew down to Ponyville and I finally saw him. I was able to hang out with him for the rest of the day for the first time in half a decade! He's been on duty for five years! He told me what happened with him and Rainbow Dash, about you two-" she indicated Noble Blade and Freedom Fighter, "and some of the missions you went on, including how they rescued you-" she pointed at Twilight, "in southern Saddle Arabia." She then smirked. "Got your eyes on any of 'em, Princess? How about that guy?" She pointed at Noble Blade. Both Twilight's and Noble's faces flushed scarlet. "Oh, you're blushing! That means he's your special somepony!"

"He's not!" Twilight flustered. "He's got his eyes on somepony else!"

"Well, who is it?"

Noble Blade cleared his throat. "I'd prefer not to say," he told her. He then turned to Firestorm. "I'm surprised, Storm. If she wasn't your sister, I might have mistaken her as your special somepony."

"Of course not!" Firestorm shrugged. "I'd never get with her if we weren't siblings."

"Why not?" Noble asked politely.

"Because if I did, our ship name would either be FireFire or SpitStorm." He stuck out his tongue in disgust. "Neither one is very appetizing."

"So you could get along in every other aspect and be the perfect couple, but you'd never get with her because your ship name would be disgusting?"

"Naturally."

"Have any of you seen Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked, hoping to get off of that particular topic. "We want to talk with her."

Firestorm put a hoof on his chin. "I dunno. I saw her run past me crying when I reunited with Spitfire, but I didn't see where." His face grew somber. "I actually want to talk with her. I think I hurt her feelings a little too hard yesterday."

Next to a wall, out of nowhere, the top of a barrel popped out, startling Freedom Fighter, who was next to it. Pinkie Pie's head was present, with the circular top of the barrel resting on Pinkie's head. "Oh, I saw her run into the bar bawling her eyes out."

Everyone present swiveled their heads to look at the eccentric pink pony.

"What? You do want to know, right? Anyway, I gotta go. It's time for my talk with the author. He said he wanted to talk to me for a second, but only in secrecy." She stretched out the last word as she slowly lowered herself into the barrel, the top of the barrel fitting snugly on the rim.

Freedom abruptly took the top off the barrel. He looked inside for just a moment, then showed the group the inside. It was empty.

Firestorm gave a funny look at the barrel, then turned around and asked Twilight, "Is she always like that?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Twilight groaned.

As Twilight entered Ponyville's lone bar, her nose was assaulted with a myriad of smells- stale drinks, dust, and hay fries. The room was dimly lit, but she could still see everything in the bar. Directly across the room was the bar, with the proprietor, Berry Punch, polishing a dirty glass behind the counter. Between her and Twilight were several circular tables with about a dozen ponies talking, reading the newspaper, or playing card games while snacking on hay fries and drinking high-quality apple cider, ginger ale, or root beer.

Berry Punch saw the group come in, and her expression brightened. "Ah, Princess Twilight! What can I do for you?"

Firestorm was about to go forward, but Noble did it first. "We ain't here fer drinks," he said, imitating a cowpony. He had his head down and spoke in a lower voice than usual. He swept a brown wide-brimmed fedora off the head of someone sitting at a table near him, who felt the air above his head in bafflement. "I'll return this," he whispered to the pony, then settled it on his own head. It didn't fit, what with his horn and all, but he kept it down anyway. "We're here fer information, though a drink'd be 'preciated." He used his magic to levitate a toothpick off of an empty table and he set it in his teeth.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at Noble's out-of-character acting, while Firestorm clenched his teeth. "I was going to do that," he whispered. "But he beat me by one. Second!"

Berry Punch caught on the act quickly, and she grinned and quickly whispered to Noble as he came closer, "Well, depends on what ya need. What'll it be, pardner? Ah can git ya the dirt on about anythin' in Ponyville-- ponies, events, places."

Noble sat at the counter. "Ah'm lookin' fer a female pegasus," he said in a pretty good accent.

"Ain't we all," Berry said mischievously, and winked.

Noble's face drooped. "That ain't what Ah meant."

"Oh please. I've seen it before," Berry said in a melancholy voice. "You stallions. All lookin' fer some company. Well, Ah'll see what Ah got."

"Ah didn't come here ta hire a... dancer," Noble said, tilting his cowpony hat. "Or a masseuse," he thought to add. "Ah'm lookin' fer a friend o' mine. She's a colorful one with a fiery personality an' an ego the size o' Canterlot Mountain. She aughta come in here some time ago leakin' like a faucet. Goes by the name Rainbow Dash."

Berry Punch's expression became much more attentive. "She's here, all right. Do you really want to see her?"

Firestorm sat next to Noble Blade. "Listen. She hasn't been doing too good. I want to fix that."

Berry Punch set down her glass and rag. "Of course," she told them. "If you'll follow me..."

As she pushed outward against the doors that led behind the bar, Noble used his magic to levitate the brown fedora back to the pony that had it. He spat out the toothpick. "Sorry about that," he apologized to the pony with the hat.

"It's fine." The pony sitting down shrugged, then returned to his game of Solitaire.

Noble's eyes widened in realization. "I had to apologize again," he muttered, then facehooved and followed Berry Punch. "I'm learning nothing. Dang it."

"I've never seen you act like that," Twilight commented as she fell in beside him. "What was that all about?"

Noble laughed. "It's something I picked up from Firestorm, actually," he explained in his normal voice. "If you get yourself to be more likable and fun, they're more willing to trust you or tell you things you need to know. Only at the right times, however." He shrugged. "Besides, acting is fun. I don't need an excuse to act fun when I want to."

As they followed Berry Punch to the back of the bar, Twilight felt a surge of dread, for some inexplicable reason. Freedom Fighter, making almost no noise at all, rested his right hoof on Twilight. Twilight jumped at the contact. But when she saw it was only Freedom Fighter, she visibly relaxed and she smiled at him warmly.

Twilight could not see it, but under his mask Freedom Fighter blushed.

Berry Punch led them to the furthest table in the back corner of the bar. She pointed. "There she is. I can understand your concern, actually.

The sight was a horrible one. There was Rainbow Dash, slumped over her own little table in a small puddle of both spilled drinks and her own tears and saliva. She shook slightly, and tiny whimpering noises emanated from her as she held her head in her forelegs and curled her hoof around a bottle of cider that was almost gone. There were another five bottles scattered around the table haphazardly, all drained completely clean. Rainbow's mane stuck up at random places and there were stains all over her cyan coat from touching sugary liquid. They could not see her face.

"She's in the crash stage," Berry explained softly, as not to disturb her. "Earlier I saw her ramble on about stupid stallions and the lack of sensitivity in the male half of the population. That was about two or three hours ago. But now she's just been crying." There arose a shout from the front of the room and Berry Punch sighed. "Sorry, I gotta go serve someone. Hope you talk some sense into her."

"Thank you, Berry," Twilight somberly said. "We can take it from here."

Berry nodded and trotted away.

Twilight came over to Rainbow's shoulder and gently shook it. "Rainbow. It's me, Twilight. We want to talk to you for a second."

"Go 'way," came the response. It was muffled by her forearms.

"Rainbow, please. We want to see what's wrong, is all."

Rainbow slowly lifted her head up. Her face was a pitiful sight. She had corduroy lines on her face, which was damp from being left in the liquid now on the table. Her face was red and puffy, though if it was from her crying or her drinking, they could not tell. Her eyes were bloodshot and twitching slightly, and a few tears were present on the trails they left on her face. There was watery mucus leaking from her nose, and when she weakly spoke, her voice was even more hoarse and cracked than usual. "NO! Y-you don't understand, that's-"

And she saw Spitfire and Firestorm next to each other, and she stopped talking and her eyes became pinpricks and she murmured, "N-n-nnn-n-no..."

"Listen to me, Rainbow. We have to find the problem-" Firestorm began.

"GO AWAY!" Rainbow yelled, and everyone visibly flinched. "Y-YOU'RE THE PROBLEM! I DON'T (hic) WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" She hurled the words at Firestorm like she was trying to hurt him, and it worked; Firestorm looked shocked and guilty, for the first time Twilight had seen from him.

"RAINBOW!" Spitfire ordered. "STOP THIS INSTANT OR I WILL PUT YOUR WONDERBOLT STATUS ON HIATUS!"

That shut her up, but she was still trembling. Finally she looked down and whispered, "It's not fair." She painfully rested her head back in her arms. "Y-y-you just so happen to- to pick the pony that's in charge of my career." She sniffed. "I-I have to w-watch the two of you together and I... I can't do a thing about it!"

Firestorm looked confused, and so did Spitfire. Freedom Fighter made a "Shoo"ing motion, and the two of them backed away. Noble and Twilight came to either side of her to pat her down and relax her labored breathing. Noble used his magic to pry the near-empty bottle out of her grip. It took some time to slow down her heartbeat and have her ready to talk.

"Now tell us, Rainbow. Please let us help you," Noble told her when she was somewhat relaxed.

Perhaps it was the soothing voice he used, or maybe the authoritative command. But whatever it was, it made Rainbow perk up and finally talk. "I... I guess it- it started at that flying competition yesterday. I was so- so- so sure of myself!" She hiccuped, then continued. "B-but not only did he match everything, he- he made it cooler! Heck, he did a Sonic Flameboom! Even the name sounds cooler than what I can do!" She threw her arms up in exasperation, then put them on the table that was now dripping a puddle onto the ground.

Rainbow took her head up and looked into space. After a moment, she softly whispered, "I'm not special anymore."

"Sorry?" Twilight asked, surprised. That was something the Rainbow she knew would never say.

"I was the only pony who could have done something like a sonic boom. I was special. I was valued. But then he- he- he..." She couldn't finish the sentence.

"Rainbow," Twilight said, but Rainbow wasn't done.

"And it's not just that, it's that..." She hesitated for a second, then she blurted out, "He's got it so much better than I do! He has his friends. He has his skills. He has his awesomeness. He has love, and attention, and a reason to be happy. But he made me feel like... like crap! Why should I be happy? Why is this my fault, any of it? Why is it that I'm supposed to just accept the fact that I'm nothing compared to him?" Her voice started to crack up at the end.

Noble started to rub her back up and down, pressing into her muscles and making her groan in resigned pleasure, taking ragged, torn breaths. He did this for about a minute, then Twilight came around the table and looked directly into her bloodshot magenta eyes. "Rainbow, listen to me. Please, just listen. Don't talk. Please believe that I know what I'm going to tell you. Can you believe that?"

Rainbow nodded emphatically.

"You are special," she told her slowly. "You are a Wonderbolt. You represent an Element of Harmony. You are such a binding force to me and my other friends that without you, we are much lesser ponies. You make a difference in so many pony's lives. Without you, we would not exist and we could never form our Cutie Mark bond." She then gazed all the more intently into her friend's pitiful eyes. "Your worth is not determined by what you can do. It is determined by who you are."

Rainbow gulped.

"There are some ponies that never learn that, but I want you to be one that knows-- with all your heart-- that you are Rainbow Dash. You will never be anything more or less than that. You will never be less than your will to be a good pony. You are special because that will is so great that you managed to be a good friend to each of us."

"We think no less of thee because of what happened yesterday," Noble reassured her. "Thy worth is not lessened because somepony else hath talents that match yours. Thou art strong, and thou art powerful, and thou art not easily broken. Thou art a pony we look up to and love simply because thou art a friend."

At their words Rainbow's shuddering subsided and she just lay there breathing in and out. After a while, she said, "But what about S-sp-p-pitfire? D-does she- I-I mean, does Firestorm...love her?" Her voice was weak. She looked into Twilight's eyes, and Twilight found it hard for her to maintain eye contact with her. "Be honest with me, Twilight. Does Firestorm love Spitfire?"

Twilight, uncertain as to why this bothered Rainbow, slowly said, "Of course he loves Spitfire."

"I KNEW IHIHIIIIT!" Rainbow wailed in despair, and face-planted onto the table and started to make wailing noises.

"Why wouldn't he?" Noble asked her, still massaging her hard upper back. "She's his sister, after all."

Rainbow drew her head up all of a sudden. "His sister?" she asked hopefully.

"Their relationship is not romantic. 'Tis instead sisterly love they share."

Rainbow was silent for a moment. She looked down at the puddle of spilled cider, mucus, saliva, and tears. "Oh," was all she could say. She rubbed her face and sighed. "I- I suppose I got myself all worked up for nothing, right?"

"I believe you did," Noble said warmly, still gently rubbing her back up and down

Then she chuckled weakly. "I'm a silly filly, aren't I?" she asked nopony in particular. "I just wasted thirty bits because I didn't know something." She hiccupped.

"I'm not worried about the bits. I'm worried about you! Look at you! You're a mess!" Twilight conjured a mirror with her magic and held it in front of Rainbow.

"Come on, Twilight! When did you turn into Rarity all of a sudd-" Upon seeing herself, she recoiled in horror. "GAAAAAAAAUGH! WHO IS THAT?!" Rainbow screamed, cowering in her seat with her arms out in front.

"Your reflection," Twilight deadpanned.

Rainbow calmed down enough to examine herself in the mirror. She touched her face, feeling the wet parts. After a moment, she said, "...That's me, all right." She drooped. "I need a shower."

"Do you want to spend the night with me?" Twilight asked. "We can take care of you."

"...Sure, Twilight. That'll be fine." She sighed. Noble Blade levitated her off the chair slowly, surprising her at first. Then, when she saw that she wasn't going to be hurt, she relaxed.

Twilight used her magic to clean up the table, while Firestorm came next to Noble, out of the eyesight of Rainbow. "I'll pay her tab," he told Noble. "It's the least I can do."

"I'm sorry you had to get into the situation to begin with," Noble told his friend with unfeigned sincerity. "Neither you or Rainbow deserve to be so broken."

"Broken?" Firestorm tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"You got hurt when Rainbow got depressed. All you did was accept her challenge of a flying competition, and did what you could to not lose. But when you did that, you accidentally damaged Rainbow in a way I don't think you intended to. You didn't deserve that."

Firestorm didn't say anything, which was strange for a pony like Firestorm. Instead, he trotted off to Berry Punch's bar, pulling out a bag of bits.

Noble Blade carried Rainbow out of the bar with his magic, and Spitfire followed. "I gotta get back to Wonderbolt HQ before we all fall asleep," she explained. "Gotta wake up at six to train new recruits." And she took off into the sky towards a distant cloud.

Once Firestorm, Freedom Fighter, and Twilight came out of the bar, they headed back to the castle. Nopony had anything to say on the way there.

Once they got inside the crystal tree castle, Noble immediately helped the drowsy Rainbow into the bathroom and into the shower. He got the water running for her, then respectfully left.

As he watched Freedom Fighter give a salute to him before he entered his room, Noble Blade thought over the events of the night.

Noble hoped the experience would dissipate for both of the pegasi. Neither of them needed to remember something as traumatizing as what they had just had.

But why she was so sad about Spitfire and Firestorm was a mystery.

Chapter Eighteen: Blooming Angel

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In the early hours of the morning, the door to Rainbow Dash's guest room creaked open and a pony quietly walked in and shut the door. Firestorm then turned to face Rainbow, the covers rising and falling softly with her breaths as she lay on her side, not facing the door.

Firestorm came over softly to her side and rested a hoof on her arm. She shuddered but did not wake.

"I can't sleep," he whispered slowly. "I keep on thinking about how I hurt you, Rainbow. I never wanted to see you so broken."

Rainbow shuddered but made no other movement.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "You meant no harm. I'm a disgrace." He softly ran his hoof along Rainbow's exposed shoulder. "And you can't hear me, but I want you to know that, and this is the only way I know how. I'm a coward for not saying it to your face, but I'll write a note and leave it on the bedside table." He sounded choked, just a little. "I'm sorry, Rainbow," he said again. "I'm so, so sorry."

And after he softly comforted her in her sleep, he walked out of her room and softly shut the door.

But Rainbow was awake. She had heard everything.

For the umpteenth time, she blinked back tears and she drew a pillow closer to her chest.

Noble awoke feeling refreshed and calm. He went out of his room, shut the door, and walked through Twilight's castle to where he remembered the kitchen was to make breakfast.

When he got to the kitchen he considered his options and decided to make waffles. He had gotten out eggs, flour, and some baking soda when he checked the clock.

It was four in the morning.

Noble Blade let out a long, resigned exhale and pushed the baking materials aside. He was used to erratic sleep habits. Being a warrior, he had to learn to be alert all the time, so sleep for him came sporadically and in small doses for most of his knighthood.

Noble used his magic to put away the ingredients, and decided in the meanwhile to read in the castle library.

Noble was nose-deep in a rather interesting part of a spellbook. He needed practice with his teleportation techniques, and the part of the book he was reading was giving excellent ideas on how to streamline the accuracy of the teleport.

But he was reading and rereading the same parts of the book over and over again. His comprehension of the spellbook was not working.

His mind had Fluttershy's image in his head. It never went entirely away, not even when he slept or talked to others. It was an entrancing, mystical sight. Her mane was just so long...and it fell perfectly behind her and it ended in such a pretty curl and was such a pretty color of light pink. It went perfectly with her coat color, a pale golden yellow. And her eyes...the richest color of in-between colors he had seen. He wasn't sure what to call her eye color. Cyan? Turquoise? Aquamarine? He pondered for a bit before deciding on aquamarine.

But it wasn't just her physical looks, oh no. It was other, less noticeable things that completed her image. How she held herself. How she would smile at the ground and rub her leg up and down nervously. How she would mutter her words in that small, cute, lovable voice. The way that she pushed her mane out of her face when she needed to concentrate.

And he was ashamed- just a little- but he would be lying to himself if he hadn't thought about her flank as well. The hips were just so nicely shaped! His male brain couldn't help it. But the times he had seen her flank, he was more concerned with the symbols plastered on it.

His mind had thought about her Cutie Mark. There was no mistaking it now. The wings on the butterflies displayed on her closely resembled the wings on the sides of the sword on his. Looking at them on another pony only made them all the more personal. Why had such a thing happened?

A loud bang disrupted his thinking and he looked up. Freedom Fighter came in, a little forcefully. He closed the door to the library and locked them, making Noble Blade arch an eyebrow. The mute earth pony made a few hoof signals by gesturing from his mouth to Noble's mouth.

The message was clear. We need to talk.

Noble set the spellbook down and looked Freedom Fighter square in the face. "Good morning, Freedom. Did it feel strange yesterday? Normally not a day goes by without your life in danger, so I assume peace feels strange to you."

Freedom Fighter nodded, but impatiently. He started to weave a few sentences in sign language- a bit aggressively too, Noble noticed. When he was done, Noble nodded. "You overheard the conversation yesterday, I take it? With Princess Twilight?"

Freedom nodded, then did a few more gestures.

"You blame me for what happened?"

Freedom Fighter imitated a knight swinging a sword and shield in an exaggerated way of heroism, then he swung his head suggestively and gave a smoldering, lady-killer look at somepony invisible in the room, then he changed positions. He acted like he was a swooning lady, and started to fan himself.

"So you're saying If I wasn't as..." He shuddered. "handsome, then Twilight wouldn't have fallen for me?"

Freedom Fighter shook his hooves out in front of him hurriedly in a "No" motion, shaking his head. He then made a comment.

"I'm not handsome at all?" He pulled his lips down in a joking frown. "Gee, thanks."

Freedom convulsed with laughter for about four seconds, then clarified his original statement.

"So I made myself open for her to fall for me?" Noble restated. "By acting way too heroic?"

Freedom Fighter nodded emphatically.

"I suppose that was inadvertent. I never tried to make myself open to mares. That's Firestorm's job, not mine."

Freedom Fighter asked a question.

"No, I am not going to charm Twilight."

Freedom Fighter nodded in satisfaction and... relief? It was hard to tell. His face wasn't very expressive. He turned around and made to leave the room.

As he was about to leave, Noble had a stroke of an idea. "Oh, hey, Freedom?" Noble said.

The black-garbed pony turned slowly around.

"Show your eyes for now. Be social. Be... not-hidden, I think the term is."

Freedom took a moment before he replied with a firm but reluctant nod. He left the library.

Noble soon followed him into the hall to prepare breakfast. As he came into the kitchen five minutes later, he reflected on the nature of the strange conversation. The purpose of it eluded him. What was Freedom Fighter trying to glean from the conversation? He was clarifying that he and Twilight weren't a thing. But why did that matter?

He pushed the thoughts out of his mind, however. Whatever it was, it was only for Freedom Fighter to think about, not him. He then got the ingredients for waffles out of the cupboard and started on breakfast for the inhabitants of the castle.

At eight o' clock, Twilight and Starlight were walking down the halls of her castle, with Spike at Twilight's side.Twilight had just finished relaying to them the events of the day before.

"Okay, so wait," Spike said. "That knight that popped up two or three days ago is related to you?!"

"I don't think so, Spike," Twilight responded. "He's Cadence's nephew from her side of the family, and I'm Cadence's sister-in-law from the other side of the family. The only way I even have the title of sister-in-law is because my brother is married to Cadence. We've technically got no relation at all to each other, but... that doesn't mean it was a little awkward to find that out."

"Do you think the other Guardians of the Sun are related to him?" Starlight asked.

"I don't know," was Twilight's response. "They certainly act like brothers. The only problem is, they would have mentioned it by now if they were all related. I mean, Firestorm introduced Spitfire as his sister when he first introduced her to us, so if they were all brothers or something, they would have said so when we first met them." They reached the door leading into the throne room and Starlight opened the door to the room.

On the round table were seven plates with waffles on them. Noble was just finishing setting up the last of the toppings and a plate with a tall stack of waffles on them. When he looked up, his face grew a large grin. "Good morning, Twilight! I took the liberty of making breakfast so your assistant wouldn't be overtaxed."

"Thanks!" Spike said gratefully.

A sharp, scraping sound cut the air, like metal against stone, and everyone looked towards the source. On the far side of the table, shrouded in shadow, Freedom Fighter was slowly sharpening a knife. Sitting upright with the blade across his lap, Freedom blended in with the early morning shadows so well all they saw was a faint outline of his body and the small whetstone he used in his hoof to scrape the blade's edges. His head was down, but his head came up as the room went silent. And everypony in the room could see his exposed bright red eyes.

Spike screamed and hid behind Twilight, and Starlight recoiled slightly. It was a scary sight, having a pair of scarlet eyes looking out of a dark silhouette, no other part of the body showing.

Freedom Fighter scraped the whetstone against the blade again, making an ear-cutting sound and making sparks fly out, illuminating his expressionless dark cowl for just an instant.

Spike began to shiver so hard Twilight felt the vibrations rattle through her hind leg. And Twilight honestly couldn't blame him. Freedom Fighter looked murderous as he his scarlet red eyes narrowed and the scraping sounded sharper and tighter as more sparks fountained out.

Thankfully, Noble Blade placed himself in between the view of the girls and the dark silhouette. "Okay, Freedom," Noble told him. "We have guests now, so it's time to put that away now and eat."

Freedom Fighter looked at him strangely and made no motion.

And the doors to the castle throne room burst open with a loud bang and Firestorm came in supporting Rainbow Dash, who hung somewhat limply on his arm. "Lookee here, Dashie! Breakfast already-"

Freedom had leaped out of his seat in reflex and was in a battle stance and pointed the knofe directly in front of Firestorm and Rainbow, both of whom immediately let out screams.

"FREEDOM FIGHTER!" Noble Blade bellowed, and Freedom whipped his head around to face Noble Blade, who had a staring, slightly unsettling countenance to him. Noble walked forward, staring Freedom down. After about three seconds, Freedom Fighter couldn't hold the gaze Noble levied against him, and he bowed his head. The arm holding the blade fell to his side and he went back on all fours.

"This behavior is unacceptable!" Noble spoke harshly- much, much more harshly than the others had heard so far. "You are a guest in Twilight's house. If you cannot handle yourself in the company of those who actually accept you, you will not stay in their company any longer! Do you want to go back to the way you were before? Do you want that?"

Freedom Fighter went stiff and did not look at Noble Blade.

Noble's voice softened considerably. "No more of this. Am I clear?"

Freedom Fighter made no movement.

"Am I clear?" Noble asked again, a bit firmer.

Freedom Fighter nodded ashamedly. He sheathed his knife across his back and put away his whetstone. He then slowly trudged into a seat and started to use his silverware awkwardly, rather than draw out a battle knife. He kept his head down as he ate and never let his red eyes look at anyone.

Twilight, Spike, Starlight, Noble, Firestorm, and Rainbow Dash also settled into their seats and quietly ate. Nopony was in the mood to talk.

After breakfast, Noble came to Twilight, who was leaving the throne room.

"I just was wondering if I could have some space to myself. Is there a secluded area on the outskirts of town that I can use?"

"There's some space near the Everfree Forest," Twilight replied helpfully. "What do you need it for?"

"I need to exercise," Noble said. "I don't want to get too complacent and flabby while I'm here."

"That's understandable," Twilight noted.

And so after grabbing his sword and sheathing it across a scabbard on his back, he set out for a secluded spot near the Everfree Forest.

Twilight's castle was on the northwest part of town. After going south for fifteen minutes, he found a spot on the part of town near the Everfree he thought was suitable. It was a clear field, away from any part of the town. Here and there popped up a few shrubs and bushes, but for the most part it was light green grass. The tree line of the Everfree lay only a hundred feet away.

Noble looked around for a few seconds to make sure nopony else was around, then he ignited his horn. A large section of the ground was illuminated, then it rumbled, shook, and with a loud cracking sound twelve dirt pillars sprung out of the earth, each ten feet high.

He activated his horn again and teleported from the ground onto the first column, balancing precariously for three seconds, then teleported with precise accuracy onto the next one. He continued the process until he had teleported onto all of the columns, then he teleported to the ground and rubbed his horn in pain. He could have sworn he could see smoke drifting off of the top.

After a short break, he rose up on his forelegs, like Applejack when she was bucking apple trees, and bucked the pillar nearest him. A loud CRACK accompanied the buck and the pillar toppled to the earth from whence it came. He then repeated the process for the rest of the pillars. When he was done he was surrounded by a field of dark brown soil.

His face and mane now moist with sweat, Noble activated his horn again and some soil was highlighted by an aura of dark blue energy. He packed some soil into a hard clump with his magic, then reached over his back with one arm and drew his sword.

He twisted the dark part near the handle of the sword. A faint click was heard, and the entire chrome sword exploded into a blue aura of power, even the handle, which Noble gripped like it was no problem.

He raised himself up on his hind legs. Not being in his battle armor and having the advantage of automatic leg stiffeners, it was a tricky job to balance just right, but he managed to spread his legs enough so he was solidly standing upright. He gripped his sword all the harder and swung the sword behind him so the blade was at the back of his head. Then he willed the clump of tightly-packed dirt to fly right at him.

When it came close enough, he swung his sword. Upon impact, the tightly-packed dirt exploded into smaller bits around the size of pebbles and golf balls, flaming with blue energy that dissipated slowly as they hit the earth. Another clump of dirt rose up, packed itself like it was a snowball, and flew at Noble, who swung his sword and blew the clump into smaller bits and fine grains of earth that flew like snow behind him. A bit of dirt got into his eyes, and he shook his head to get them out.

He continued to do this until he was panting and wheezing, and he turned his sword upside down and stuck the point in the earth. He rested on his sword for a little bit, dripping with sweat. He used one hoof to massage his overheating horn. His hooves felt sore and screamed at him in anguish.

Then a quiet voice whispered, "Woo hoo."

It was almost too quiet for him to hear, but he still heard it. Years of attuned reflexes made him spin his head around towards the source of the sound in an instant. The source was a bush about twelve feet away. His curiosity piqued, Noble slowly, cautiously made his way to the suspicious shrubbery. When he reached it, he noticed it was trembling imperceptibly. Noble Blade used his magic to part the bushes, and froze when he saw, of all things, Fluttershy. She was curled up in a ball, shaking and hiding in her mane as Noble discovered her.

Noble was tense at the sight of the adorable pegasus. What should he do? Why was she here? After a bit, Noble stammered, "Fluttershy?"

The pony in question peeked her head out from her mane. Above her was Noble's face, glistening and shining from his workout. It made him seem like he was some sort of powerful being, his image wavering slightly.

"What are you doing down there? Come on out," Noble said, and rather than retreating her head into her mane like she felt like doing at the sight of her crush, Fluttershy hesitated. Before she could decide on a course of action, Noble extended a hoof down into the bushes.

Trembling slightly, Fluttershy slowly put her hoof into Noble's.

Noble parted the bushes with his magic some more and led Fluttershy out into the open. When he let go, Fluttershy felt a feeling of longing... as if she didn't want him to let go of her. And that was when she realized: she was alone! With Noble Blade! She didn't know whether to hide in her mane or run away or even... stay and perhaps... talk with him...

"What are you doing here?" Noble asked her politely.

"...Oh, um, I came over here to pick some herbs I needed from the field, but then I saw you here and, um..." She nervously rubbed her front leg up and down with a hoof.

After a moment, Noble picked up the conversation again. "Are you wondering what I'm doing here?" he asked her softly.

She nodded mutely, looking at the ground. The way his voice sounded just then... it made her feel comfortable. It wasn't fed up or patient like most of her friends sounded when confronted with her shyness. It was just...natural.

Noble ignited his horn and the broken earth strewn across the field picked itself up and packed into a ball. "This is my exercise." The last of the loose earth dropped back into place. "But I wouldn't have done it here if I knew you were here. I tried to find a secluded spot to practice so it didn't disturb anypony...especially you. You're far too dear to get hurt around me."

He mentally reproved himself for saying that the instant he had said it.

Fluttershy mumbled, "Y-you really think so?"

Noble cautiously phrased his next sentence. "I believe that innocence in ponies should be maintained as long as possible. The image of a peaceful world is a precious thing. You..." His throat felt as dry as Saddle Arabia all of a sudden. "...appear to me as the pony who always finds peace and kindness in others... like an angel."

The last three words tumbled out without his knowledge, but he immediately realized he said them after he said it. He mentally smacked himself. Idiot! he mentally screamed.

"A-a-a-an-n-ngel?" she stammered, her face turning as pink as her mane, which she was fondling strangely. Her voice was at a considerably higher pitch, and she seemed to shrink adorably. "Um, n-n-nopony's ever c-called me an angel before... thank you..." She smiled and turned her head, still looking at him.

Okay, never mind! he thought wildly. He cleared his throat to clear away his dry throat and said, "Why not?"

"...I d-don't know. You're the first to say it." Fluttershy felt, as Pinkie would put it, Nervicited. Yes, she felt absolutely scared talking to Noble Blade, but at the same time, she didn't want it to end. She felt torn between the two emotions, nervous and excited, and didn't know which one was in control.

"Nopony's mentioned thy beauty that seemeth to challenge heaven itself?" Noble blurted out, and Fluttershy eeped softly and blushed even harder. Noble found that he could not stop now that he had started. "Thy beautiful coat and mane? The way thou movest with pure grace? The soft and calming voice thou hast that bringeth the wildest animal to their knees? Thy smile that shineth brighter than Celestia's sun? The way thy mane cascadeth like a waterfall of purest water? Thy colorful eyes that holdeth purity, reflecting the perfect spirit thou hast?" He stopped abruptly when he saw Fluttershy hiding herself deep in her voluminous mane, trembling very, very hard with her mouth open slightly. The part of her face he could see was redder than an apple. "Fluttershy?" he asked worriedly.

"I-I..." Fluttershy squeaked. She tried to say something, anything, but failed. He had noticed all of those things about her-- and he found them beautiful! She felt like she was going to faint. She didn't know what to do, what to say, what to think- hay, she didn't even know if she could speak or think anything. She was petrified, though she didn't know if it was shock or pure, flowing happiness doing that.

All that mattered was what Noble Blade had said to her.

And then she felt it. The pure, unfiltered joy bubbling on the inside as what he said to her hit home. She felt it, a warm feeling that made her gasp and open up her eyes wider. It felt like she was glowing with radiance and all of her dross was consumed, leaving her perfect. It was what Noble made her feel like. Normally she would look at herself in the mirror and notice her split ends and her imperfections and her flaws, but with him... that suddenly didn't matter. Suddenly she was exalted, and she felt flawless and beautiful. That addictive good feeling spread throughout her body like blood pumping through her veins, and she felt whole as it spread to every fiber of her being. Still blushing madly, she pushed some hair out of her face and managed to get out, "Y-you really th-think so?" with a natural smile.

Feeling hope, Noble said, "Of course I mean it." He paused for a minute, then nervously asked, "D-do you like what I said?"

"I love it!" Fluttershy exclaimed, and flapped into the air, startling a few butterflies. They fluttered past her as she smiled and closed her eyes as she hugged herself. "You make me feel so good inside! Like somepony's hugging me and holding me close and reassuring me that I'm...beautiful!" She sighed as she flapped down to the ground.

Noble's mouth was open. The graceful way she took off, the way she looked as butterflies flew around her, her beautiful smile, the sigh she took as she floated down to the ground...was there anything about this mare that wasn't beautiful? He swallowed and was silent. He didn't know what else to say.

Fluttershy felt her nervousness completely melt away, and she now spoke clearly, and loud enough so it wasn't a whisper. "Thank you so much, Noble. I've never seen myself that way before because nopony ever told me it."

Finding his voice Noble said, "I honestly haven't seen myself as attractive either. I would just be as proud and foolish as the Canterlot assembly." He looked down. "And it's fine if you don't think much of me. I'm actually rather subpar. I have a lot of room left to improve."

"Actually, um...I think you look..." Her voice squeaked. "really handsome..."

Now it was Noble's turn to freeze. He stared at her, almost disbelieving what she said. Him, handsome? How? What was there about him that stood out to such a perfect mare as Fluttershy?

"I...um...really like your voice...it's warm and calm and it makes me feel fuzzy. And, um, your eyes are so...sparkly." Her nervousness instantly returned, and she was scared of what Noble would say to her. What if he didn't like what he was hearing? She toyed with her mane some more and continued. "And your mane is just so uneven and thick and has a nice, um...color and I- oh, what am I saying? I'm so sorry for saying that!" She slumped to the ground and buried her head embarrassedly.

Noble was stunned at the absolute purity in her. Even when she tried to compliment others she felt bad for doing it. He was also stunned at the fact that she thought he was handsome! Suddenly he felt elevated in station and could feel nothing but affection towards the shy pony. Stooping down, he gently put his hoof under her chin. After a scary moment of apprehension, wondering if she would allow that, he brought her head up to face him. Feeling bad because she looked bad, Noble said, "Never be ashamed because of what you say." He smiled then. "And if it makes you feel better, I love what you say about me."

Fluttershy looked more relieved than ever.

There was a moment of silence while Noble tried to gather his thoughts. Do it now, Noble, he thought. Now is the perfect time to tell her you love her. Now, more than ever. She needs to know from your mouth. Do it. What are you waiting for?

"L-listen, Fluttershy," Noble said, scratching the back of his neck. "I, um, want to tell you something."

Fluttershy looked at him with wide, patient eyes, the marvelous color standing out about her. "Yes? What is it?" she asked hopefully.

The words were hard to say all of a sudden. Noble locked himself up in place for five whole seconds before he managed to get out a sentence.

"Are you free this Friday?"

He mentally cringed. What happened? he demanded. You were about to tell her! What did you do? Come on! You're better than this!

A little confused, Fluttershy said, "I've got to feed my animals and stock up on some supplies, but after I feed the nocturnal animals I should be free. Why do you ask?"

"Um..." The words were hard to say all of a sudden. "...I want to talk over dinner."

"Yes!" Fluttershy cried in excitement, flapping into the air and smiling giddily. She then realized she had put her face dangerously close to Noble's face. Tensing up, she quickly moved away and hid in her mane a little. "I-I mean, if you really want to, that is..."

All of Noble's courage instantly flooded back to him and he breathed a very heavy sigh of relief. "I do, thank you. Do you know if there are any good restaurants to go to?" He facehooved. "I suppose I should have made sure of that before I asked," he muttered.

"Oh, don't worry. There's a new restaurant that just came in. It's called the Crystal Glass. But it's really expensive. I really wouldn't mind just going to the cafe. I don't want you to spend so much money on me that you don't have much left for yourself."

"Absolutely not," he said flatly. "You deserve the best anypony has to offer, and I offer you only the best I can give. And you're probably right. I don't have to do this." He came alongside her. "But I'm going to do it anyway because I want to do this. For you. Please."

Fluttershy didn't say anything at first. She was too overwhelmed with happiness to think about responses. But eventually she said, "But you don't have a lot of money... at least, not that I can see. I don't want to be a burden."

"There is no way you will be a burden to anypony when your mere presence makes them incomparably joyous," Noble softly replied, making Fluttershy's heart soar. "And don't worry about the money. I have more than enough to cover any expense." Before she could try to make another excuse, he held up a hoof to her mouth gently. "Nothing you can say will deter me. Anything you ask for I will gladly give." He took his hoof away. His hoof was warm from where he had put it to her mouth. He had touched Fluttershy's lips! His hoof shook slightly. "Please allow me this. To give you anything you want."

Part of Fluttershy wanted to be considerate and refuse, because she didn't want him to overtreat her. But looking at him, and realizing that he truly, deeply, wanted to overtreat her,- and because she wouldn't be very kind if she refused-- and anyway, why would she refuse a date from such a wonderful pony-- she gulped down her thoughts and said quietly, "O-okay. If that's what you want, I won't stop you."

Noble, relieved for the umpteenth time, breathed deeply. "I-I suppose I'll pick you up at seven, then?"

"Y-yes, that's good. Seven on Friday. T-thank you for...you know...the compliments and the d-d-d..." She couldn't finish the word date. Was that what it really was? Trembling a little, but with a smile on her face, she shakily said, "I-I-I gotta go...animals..."

And she backed away to take off to the skies, turning around after a few steps.

Noble noticed there was a definite sway in her hips as she went.

Fluttershy spread her wings and took off. As she went higher and higher, she glanced back several times. Each time, she saw Noble looking up at her, a patch of pale blue in a field of green.

She could not keep a smile off her face nor contain a giggle that escaped her mouth. For the first time in her life she was going on a date! With Noble Blade, of all ponies! How she had gotten so lucky she didn't know, only that it was indeed happening for real. This was no dream. Her mind wasn't wild enough to come up with something so great.

As she flew to her home she flew distractedly, humming to herself in bliss as she went in a daze to her cottage. She couldn't remember what she was humming exactly, but it didn't matter.

As she landed a few minutes later in front of her home, half a dozen small animals crowded around her, eager for the return of their caretaker. Some of them were clamoring for food, while others were just happy to see her.

"Now, now, there, there," she muttered distractedly. "Mommy's here."

But even as she attended to the pets and fed them and petted them and cooed words of encouragement to them, she thought of only one thing.

Noble Blade.

Noble just stood in the green field, looking at Fluttershy's disappearing figure. She flew so gracefully into the sky that she truly did look like an angel, with her flowing mane and wide-spread wings. He noticed, with a jolt that ran through his body, that she would occasionally look over her shoulder at him, then look back. She noticed him!

He could not keep a smile off her face nor contain a sigh of contentment that escaped from his mouth. For the first time in his life he was going on a date! With Fluttershy, of all ponies! How he had gotten so lucky, he didn't know, only that this was no fantasy. This was real! She chose to go with him- him, out of all available options! She obviously saw something special in him. Noble silently swore that he would keep that something pure and unsoiled, and that his absolute best behavior would manifest itself.

Only after she had disappeared from view did he turn away. He activated his horn and the sword stuck point first in the ground flew back to his grasp. He sheathed it across his back, then turned his head back to Twilight's castle, above the roofs of the rest of the town. Remembering what he had read from the spellbook earlier in the day, he gathered his energy for a teleport. Streamlining his technique in his mind, he focused not on appearing directly at his destination, but rather, on creating an imaginary portal and stepping through that imaginary portal to his destination.

But it was hard to keep his mind focused on that when all he could concentrate on was that shy, sweet face, and the most wonderful color of aquamarine he had ever seen, in her eyes that looked at him with interest.

But he finally managed to focus enough energy, and one second and one loud burst later, he appeared in his guest room in Twilight's castle.

The first thing he noticed was Firestorm crouching in front of his suit of armor. But upon hearing the teleportation pop, Firestorm jumped in the air like a startled cat. "NOBLE! SHOOT!" he cried.

And he leaped for the open window, only to be suspended in the air by Noble's magic aura. As he squirmed to get free, Noble asked him, "What art thou doing in here, Stormy?" Then he noticed something else lying on the ground. And Noble sighed and picked it up with his magic.

It was a permanent marker.

"Were you going to draw a mustache and goatee on my armor?" He grew an amused smile. "Again?" He shook his head. "You're losing your touch."

Firestorm scowled.

Chapter Nineteen: Silence

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Freedom Fighter was not happy.

He thrived in combat situations, life-or-death missions, and desperate battles. To be in a civilian community for so long, with nothing to fight, and expecting him to act cheerful, and happy, and content, was grinding on his warrior psyche. With each passing day he grew increasingly agitated at the lack of threats to fight. He hid his agitation under his armored cowl the best he could, however.

Which led to the next problem he had. It was only because of Noble Blade's command that he made his eyes visible. This was uncomfortable for two reasons. The first was that he knew his red eyes would scare the others rather easily. For some reason these particular ponies were overly sensitive to scary things.

Second, he never liked showing skin-- or visual organs, as the case might be. He was always careful to never take his suit off when not in the company of the princesses or his fellow Guardians. Only they had seen him under his cowl and suit. And he had made them swear an oath of secrecy to never tell a soul what he had looked like.

Couple that with the hard, straight-backed chair he was now sitting in, and the awkward presence of Princess Twilight, and Freedom Fighter was just an inch away from snapping and laying waste to everything not attached to the floor with his staff.

The reason he and Twilight were in the throne room-- along with Noble Blade and Firestorm-- was because ten minutes ago, at three thirty, Spike had burped up a letter from Princess Cadence. The letter had said that she, along with Shining Armor and Flurry Heart, would arrive in fifteen minutes by teleportation.

With time to spare, Freedom Fighter decided to talk with himself again to pass the time. 'Hey,' he called to himself in his mind. 'You in there?'

I'm always in here. You don't have to ask that.

'So...whaddaya want to talk about?'

I dunno. You tell me.

His red eyes traveled over to subtly look at Twilight. He gave an imaginary whistle. 'She's really pretty, you know that?'

Yeah. I'll agree with you on that. But I don't know...

He turned his head to the side as if something had landed on his shoulder. 'You don't know what?'

You think she's interested in you? his other voice replied. At the moment, things are a bit...sketchy.

'Sketchy?'

You did pull a knife out in her presence earlier today. What do you think she thinks of you right now? Probably as a psychopathic murderer or something.

He shrugged. 'She's probably right.'

Wait, you agreed with me? I'd have thought you would put up a fight.

'Well, I am a murderer. As for the question of psychopathic, however...'

You probably are. You enjoy it when others suffer.

'I only like it when bad ponies suffer. If any harm were to come to Noble Blade, or Twilight, or heck, even Firestorm...'

Firestorm?

'When he's not making obnoxious comments, I mean.'

Ah.

There was more silence in his mind.

'So what about Twilight?' he continued.

Don't count on her ever liking you.

His head jolted backwards. 'What?'

She's probably got other interests than you anyway. Besides, she's a princess. Dating princesses never ends up well. What makes you think you'll succeed when all you're interested in is killing monsters?

It made him stop and ponder. Was he right? His other voice did have a point. The chances of Twilight being interested in him were slimmer than Fleur de Lis's waist.

Hey, good joke there.

'Thanks,' he replied uncertainly.

They all looked up as a loud pop filled their ears, and suddenly there was Cadence and Shining Armor, who was pulling a rolling crib with Flurry Heart in it.

Twilight immediately got out of her seat and approached Cadence. They then started bouncing up and down as they did their ritualistic greeting. "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" They shook their flanks in the air.

Freedom tried to ignore the motions her flank made but failed. It was remarkable-- even his other voice had nothing to say.

The other Guardians were trying hard not to say anything, but their faces said everything their words failed to say. Both of them wore quizzical looks at the odd manner of greeting between Cadence and Twilight. But when Cadence turned to address the Guardians, Freedom Fighter got out of his seat and bowed respectfully. Noble Blade did the same. But Firestorm bowed with a flamboyant twirl of his hooves, then flung himself at Cadence's hooves and started to grovel, making unnecessary kissing noises.

Cadence just rolled her eyes as if this was normal behavior out of Firestorm, and said, "Oh, please don't bow, any of you." She looked at Noble Blade. "Especially you, Noble. You're my nephew, and nephews never bow to their aunts."

"But I bow not to my aunt. I bow to a princess of Equestria."

"Well then, as your princess, I command you not to bow. How's that?"

"I think that works." He sat back in his seat at the table, which just so happened to be Fluttershy's seat. Firestorm sat back in Applejack's seat, and Freedom Fighter went back into Pinkie's. "So, Aunt Cadence," he looked towards Shining Armor, "and Uncle Armor," he addressed respectfully. "What is the intent of this visit?"

"Do I need a reason to visit my favorite little sister?" Shining Armor asked, rubbing the top of Twilight's head playfully. "Great news with Flurry Heart, by the way: she took her first steps yesterday!"

"She did?" Twilight exclaimed. She then came over to Flurry's crib. "Did you weawwy take youw fiwst step? Yes you did, Fwiwwy! Yes you did!" She excitedly made faces at Flurry. Flurry giggled and made a grabbing motion for Twilight's face, which she pulled away from just in time.

"Sheesh," Firestorm said. "We manage to rescue a princess from the Noxxa? Oh, you-you get a little pat on the back. But-" He melodramatically gasped. "O. M. GOODNESS! She can now walk? Everypony loses their minds!"

"That reminds me," Shining said, then moved next to Firestorm. "I'd like to thank you from saving my sister from those monsters. That was a true sign of heroism shown, and it means everything to me seeing her alive."

"Oh, 'tis nothing, Shiny," Firestorm waved him off, speaking in an overly posh accent. "I didn't want to see her die either, you know."

"Why? You've never seen her before. Have you grown close to her?" Shining Armor asked suspiciously. "Like, that kind of close?"

"What?" Firestorm laughed. "No, no. It's because if she had died, Celestia would have fired me. And I mean that literally: I speak from experience here." The rest of the room looked at him strangely. "Plus, you know, honor and courage and friendship and stuff like that." He waved a hoof lazily and propped his legs up on the armrests.

"I see where your priorities lie," Noble observed distantly.

"How's civilian life treating you?" Cadence asked innocently.

Freedom Fighter stood up abruptly and did a very long, very agitated rant in sign language.

Cadence watched him attentively, and when he was done she said, "I'm sorry you feel that way. I think you just need to vent, is all."

Freedom wiped his brow to indicate relief, then sat back down.

"Well, I'm actually enjoying it," Noble put in. "I never liked taking life in my service, but this way, I don't have to kill. I can just stay and live a normal life and make new friends and..." His voice trailed off.

"And what?" Cadence asked with a smile.

"...and find something that goes... beyond... friendship," he mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Shining Armor asked him.

"Like a, um... a... crush?"

"What was that? You sounded a bit like Fluttershy there." Firestorm laughed knowingly.

At the sound of her name he blushed a little and said, "A crush!" He almost instantly regretted saying it.

"And who is this for?" Cadence asked sweetly.

Noble sighed, then jutted out his rump and gestured to his sword-and-butterfly Cutie Mark, then at the butterflies above him on the seat he was in. "Guess," he said.

There was silence for a moment.

"Well, congratulations, Noble. It's wonderful that you're opening your heart to love. And to such a perfect mare for you, too. She's kind and gentle-" Cadence began.

"-And sweet and caring, I know," Noble said quickly. "Listen, not only am I absolutely infatuated with her, but- get this- she thinks I'm handsome! What do I do now?"

Firestorm whistled in surprise. "Mares like you? I can't believe it! You just don't strike me as the attractive type." He made a frame with his hooves and looked at Noble through it with one eye closed.

Noble gave him a look. "You too?"

"What do you mean, me too?"

"I just talked about it with Freedom Fighter this morning, and he made it clear that I wasn't attractive at all."

"That's got to be the first time he's been right this week."

Freedom fixed him a murderous look, narrowing his scarlet red eyes at him. Firestorm instantly sat lower in his seat and squeaked, "Sorry."

"Is she the only one?" Cadence asked, amused slightly.

"What do you mean? Is she the only one I'm interested in, or are there other females interested in me?"

"I mean, are there any other ponies into you?"

Noble sat back. "Well, I highly suspect Rarity is going after me as well. And..." He gave Twilight a sad look. "And Twilight confessed that she had a small crush on me as well." He chuckled. "Then we found out I'm part of her sister-in-law's family."

"Imagine that." Firestorm chuckled. "And Twilight's okay with this?"

Noble Blade and Twilight looked at each other. "Well, I can see how we might pair well together. But I'm afraid... she's just not my cup of tea."

"I know," Twilight said. "Just... be happy with Fluttershy. That's all I ask."

Freedom Fighter watched all of this, trying not to be mad at Noble Blade for attracting Twilight without even trying.

Well, at least she's not taken.

'Yeah...' he thought somewhat depressingly, knowing his chances of being with her were smaller than Griffinstone's GDP.

Hey, nice one.

'Thanks,' he replied again.

There was more silence. Then-

"Well, I'm glad we have that cleared up once and for all," Firestorm said. "So she likes you back... for some weird reason. What's the status between you two?"

"...I asked her out..."

"YOU WHAT?" Firestorm exclaimed, flapping a foot in the air. Freedom Fighter pretended to drink something, then spat out the imaginary liquid to indicate surprise.

"We talked for a bit and we said some things to each other this morning- " he began, but Firestorm cut him off.

"What kind of nice things?" he asked suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows.

"You don't want to know and I don't want to tell you."

"How in Equestria did you even get a date with her in the first place?"

Noble replied slowly, "I just asked her out. Why do you ask?"

"I thought it'd be more complicated than that."

"This isn't calculus. You just ask her- face to face."

"What if I followed the girl I wanted to ask out around all day, poking her and interrupting her every movement?"

"Then you're a white-livered weakling and lose any mark of a stallion."

Shining Armor laughed.

"Good job, Noble," Cadence complimented him. "You asked her out with almost no problem."

"Thank you, Aunt Cadence. I have one question, though. When I'm around her, I know not why, but it seemeth as though mine courage faileth me and mine body locketh itself in place. It confuseth me greatly, for not even in the most dangerous battles have I felt such fear. Thou art the Princess of Love, and so I must ask: is this natural? Or is mine courage a mere sham?"

Firestorm grunted in annoyance. "Pick a speaking style and stay with it!" he muttered.

Cadence smiled at Noble Blade. "When your body does that," she told him, "That means she's the one you can take a chance with. If that doesn't happen with any other mare you've ever met, she's the one for you. It does not diminish your courage in the slightest, Noble Blade. You are still the same nephew I have that has defended Equestria from countless threats."

"So my courage is not a sham after all?" he replied hopefully. Cadence smiled at him.

Inside Freedom Fighter's mind, a fierce war was being waged at the mention of Cadence's words.

Twilight doesn't feel that way towards you, and you don't feel it towards her.

'But I still want to be with her!'

And what, you think she wants to be with you? Look at yourself. A disguised, scary, demented liar and murderer. That's all you are. All you ever will be.

'Am I not a living creature? Can I not feel? Can I not pursue who I want?'

You can pursue her, but you'll never get her. She can do much better than the likes of you. She doesn't want you. She never noticed you. Why would she? Even if she has noticed you, she's probably scared of you. And that's your own fault. Why else do you think she doesn't want to be in the same room as you?

'Because she'd feel nervous around a crush?' he asked desperately. He knew, however, that it was false.

You are nothing to her. And she will never love you.

Freedom Fighter stood up abruptly, signed something to Noble Blade, and left the room, slumped down a little.

"What? Where's he going?" Twilight asked Noble Blade as Freedom Fighter disappeared.

Noble replied, "He told me he needed to excuse himself. He said he needed to cut something until he felt better." He shook his head. "I don't know. He's like this whenever he's having these really intense conversations inside his head. I don't really know what's going on inside him-"

But before he could finish, the Cutie Map suddenly appeared on the table, eliciting a gasp from all assembled. From the top of the window in the room, two Cutie Marks flew in and started to circle a spot on the map. Rarity and Rainbow Dash's Cutie Marks circled around the ruin of the Castle of the Two sisters.

But something was wrong. Another Cutie Mark was circling with theirs. And it wasn't any of the girl's. It was-

"AAAAAAAAUGH! WHY IS MY BUTT DOING THAT?!" Firestorm screamed, gazing wide-eyed at the flashing Cutie Mark of a fiery X on his flank.

Chapter Twenty: Castle Of Nightmares

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"AM I HAVING AN ORGASM??!!"

Firestorm collapsed on the floor and started to furiously rub his flashing Cutie Mark of a flaming X. "OH BABY!" he cried in a deep moan.

"Stop it, Storm," Noble told him, half a smile on his features.

Firestorm, however, paid him no attention and continued to jerk his hips forward. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA- "

While Twilight immediately went the deepest shade of red, Noble Blade just sighed and picked him up with his magic. "You're not having an orgasm, Storm."

"Then why the heck is my Cutie Mark acting so funky?" he asked, trying to rub his butt some more.

"It has something to do with the map there," Noble told him, pointing. "It appears you're called to go to the Castle of the Two Sisters with Rarity and Rainbow Dash." He smiled then. "But who knows? Maybe you are having an orgasm. I mean, you've never had one before, so you wouldn't know."

Firestorm fixed him with a murderous look.

Twilight seemed to finally regain her composure, and shook her head, trying to shake something off. "Well, uh, what happens is when our Cutie Marks do that sort of thing, it means we're being called on a Friendship Mission."

Firestorm wheeled around. "A what?"

"Friendship Mission," Twilight repeated. "Where we are sent across Equestria to help ponies that have problems with their friendship."

Firestorm stuck out his tongue. "And I have to go on one of these..." He made air quotes. "Friendship Missions?"

"Look, it'll be no different than the missions Aunt Cadence or Luna or Celestia sends us on."

Firestorm shook his head. "All right, just let me go get ready real quick." And he flew out of the throne room towards his private room down the hall.

After five minutes passed, Rainbow Dash flew into the room via a window in the top of the room. She groaned, "I was just here this morning..." but stopped when she saw Cadence, Shining Armor, and Flurry Heart. "Oh, uh, hey guys. How's Flurry doing?"

"She took her first steps yesterday!" Shining Armor proudly announced.

Rainbow flew over to Flurry's crib. "Woulja wook at that! Wittle Fwurry hewe's getting aww big on us now!" She rubbed the top of Flurry Heart's mane, and both of them laughed. Rainbow then turned her attention towards the Cutie Map, and her eyes bulged. She approached it warily. "Hey, uh, Twilight? What's Firestorm's Cutie Mark doing here with mine and Rarity's?"

"Well, obviously, he has to go with you," Twilight said.

"But I thought the map only called the Element Bearers?"

"Not exactly. I think Starlight can get called, right?"

Flurry Heart made a "Blessu" sound as she sneezed and scrunched up her face. She wiped it with a hoof.

"Blessed art thou, mine dear cousin," Noble Blade said melodramatically.

The doors to the throne room opened and Rarity came in. "...And I was just in the middle of a new order as well," she muttered, then she spotted the visiting royalty and her face brightened. "Oh, hello, Cadence, Shining Armor. How are you? Flurry, you're looking as adorable as ever! Yes you are!" She rubbed her nose on Flurry's nose. Flurry made a few "Aah"ing noises and tried to reach up to grasp Rarity. Rarity pulled up, however. Then she spotted Noble and started to twirl her mane. "Oh, hiiii, Noble," she said, flashing him a bedazzling smile.

"...Afternoon, Rarity," he mumbled. He looked at Shining Armor with wide, desperate eyes that seemed to scream, Help me!

Shining winked at him and said, "Rarity, stop giving him bedroom eyes and report for your friendship mission."

"OH!" Her face was suddenly very flustered. "Um, ah, heh heh, gotta go check the, uh, map!" She rushed to the table.

Noble looked at Shining Armor incredulously. Bedroom eyes? he mouthed silently.

It worked, didn't it? Shining Armor mouthed back with a grin.

Noble just sighed and rolled his eyes. Thank. You.

Rarity, meanwhile, had spotted the Cutie Map and exclaimed, "WHAT?!" She looked at it disapprovingly. "Out of every. Single. Pony. That we could have had as a companion. We had to have FIRESTORM?! WHY HIM?!"

At that very moment, the doors to the throne room burst open and a voice said dramatically, "Because it's telling us that we need to be together! Don't you see? It's our destiny!"

Firestorm had reappeared, and was now wearing his maroon and earth-colored rags over the black fireproof flight suit. He had metal coating his wings, two meter-long swords crossed over his back, and two knives on his flank and underbelly.

"Hey, uh, Firestorm?" Rainbow asked. "What's with the outfit?" Rarity, meanwhile, avoided looking at the sloppy uniform.

"It's the Castle of the Two Sisters! Fortune favors the prepared." He shrugged. "Besides, you never know what might pop up in there."

"Why the Castle of the Two Sisters?" Twilight asked uncertainly. "There's nothing there that warrants a friendship conflict. Unless... you meet some travelers there?"

"I don't know. But whatever's there, we're gonna find it and fix it for good!" Rainbow said, flapping into the air and smacking one hoof into the other.

"Yes. Let's take care of whatever problem is present at the castle. It is almost three o'clock already, and I would like to get back before nightfall," Rarity said.

"We can do that by flying," Firestorm offered. "Between me and Rainbow, we should be able to get here in-" he and Rainbow simultaneously said, "Ten seconds flat." When they said it, they paused and looked at each other strangely.

"You are forgetting that one of us can't fly," Rarity pointed out.

"Well, that's easily fixed," Firestorm said casually. He came in front of Rarity and lay on the ground, spreading his wings and giving Rarity a perfect view of the back of him. "Come on, baby. Imma take you for a riiide." He flapped his wings.

Rainbow burst out laughing and started to roll on the ground, clutching her sides. Shining Armor couldn't contain his laughter either. Rarity flushed hard and stammered, "Well, I-I never- good gracious, no! Absolutely not!"

"Ah, I'm just teasing, Rarity!" Firestorm said as he watched Rainbow continue to roll on the ground laughing. "I'm such a tease! Plenty of mares say I'm good at, ah, teasing."

Rainbow's laughter increased as she got the double-entendre.

Rarity glowered at the pair of promiscuous pegasi, then looked at Noble Blade. "Is he always like this?" she asked him, pointing at Firestorm.

"I think you already know the answer to that," Noble said.

As the reluctant group of three went past Fluttershy's cottage near the edge of the forest, they saw Fluttershy humming happily to herself as she fed some of her animals. She seemed to do it in a near trance-like state, like her mind wasn't fully on the task she was performing. Firestorm waved widely to her. "YO! WASSUP, FLUTTERS?"

Rarity slapped his hoof down. "Flutters?" she demanded incredulously.

Fluttershy just waved back weakly, not looking at him, and sighed in happiness. She was still looking off into space with a wide grin on her face, obviously thinking about a daydream of some kind. Rarity and Rainbow looked at Fluttershy strangely, unaware of the last time they had seen their friend so happy.

Some time later, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Firestorm entered the Everfree. They had walked because Rarity adamantly refused to be carried by Firestorm.

Because of the girl's frequent visits to the castle before, there was now a clear path leading to the castle ruins that the group of three now followed. The forest hadn't changed, but because it wasn't night yet, it wasn't as scary.

As they went through the dark green foliage, Firestorm gently elbowed Rainbow and whispered, "Hey, uh, Dashie? Can I call you Dashie?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes and ducked under a tree branch. "...Whatever."

"Well, I was just wondering something. Since I lost the flying competition a few days back, do I need some sort of punishment or something?"

Rainbow and Rarity's heads immediately snapped over to look at Firestorm.

"What?" Firestorm asked innocently. "Do I have something stuck in my teeth?" He started to run his tongue along his teeth. "Is it green? Oh, please don't let it be green. I don't remember eating anything green."

"You admit you lost?" Rarity asked, slightly disgusted by his comment. "You aren't the kind of pony to admit to losing so readily."

"Are. You. Serious?!" Rainbow asked, bringing her head closer to his with every word. "Are you telling me that... that I beat you that day?!" Her eyes were popping with excitement.

"Listen, Rainbow. You said it yourself. I was supposed to match every trick you did. And as far as I can recall, I had to do a Sonic Rainboom, not a Flameboom. You were right. I can't do a Rainboom. I didn't match you. I may have come close, but I didn't. You won."

Rainbow imitated a fish, her mouth closing and opening in shock as happiness hit her in the middle of her rose-colored irises. A grin almost split her face in half and she leaped up into the air. "WOO HOO! HE SAID I WON! I DIDN'T LOSE AFTER ALL! YES!" She started to do a victory strut in the air from side to side, singing, "I did it, I did it, I did it." Firestorm could not help but feel happy watching her be the happiest he had seen.

After her victorious celebration she landed, a thoughtful expression on her face. "But wait. Wait a sec. You broke the sound barrier, so technically you did match me. The only reason you couldn't do a Rainboom is because you don't have a rainbow tail. I mean, you did a trick I couldn't do either. And that's because you have a fiery tail instead. You have a fiery tail, and you did a Flameboom. I have a rainbow one, and I did a Rainboom. You did match me."

Firestorm looked at her quizzically. "Are you trying to say you don't want to be the victor for once?"

"What? No..."

"Because it sounds like you're making up excuses to make yourself lose."

Rainbow didn't answer.

"Dash," he said to her softly- the softest voice either of them had heard out of him. "I feel really awful about that right now. I embarrassed you. In front of the entire town. With your confidence so high, no doubt. Seeing you so broken like that- it-it was the most depressing thing I'd ever seen. I want to see you happy. And if that means having me lose a competition, then..." He bowed his head. "I'll gladly do it. I'd never forgive myself if you drank yourself to death and it was my fault. So accept it. Please. You won." There was actually sincerity in his voice, with no hint of sarcasm or exaggeration.

Rarity looked at Firestorm with no small amount of surprise. Where had this come from?

Rainbow's voice was subdued as she said, "But... I want to see you happy, too..."

Firestorm smiled. "The best way to make me happy," he told her, "is for you to be happy."

A small thought began to blossom at the back of Rarity's mind. It was a subconscious thought, and she didn't pay much attention to it. But it involved Rainbow and Firestorm, and that what was happening was entirely natural.

The forest path was devoid of predators- most of them were nocturnal, anyway. So they reached the castle with little interference.

They eventually came to the rope bridge spanning the gap to the abandoned ruins. Firestorm "Oooh"ed in awe. "You know what this reminds me of?" he asked out loud. "This reminds me of something taken straight out of a Daring Do book, if you ask me."

Firestorm found his face obscured by Rainbow's. "YOU READ DARING DO TOO?!" she squealed.

"WHO DOESN'T?!" he screamed back excitedly. "SHE'S FRICKIN' AWESOME!"

"I ACTUALLY MET HER FACE-TO-FACE!" Rainbow slipped out loud, then put a hoof to her mouth as if she had said a bad word.

"YOU WHAT?!" Firestorm yelped. "YOU DID THAT?!" He flapped into the air, pumping a hoof in triumph. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW SHE REALLY EXISTED!"

But before they could continue, they checked their surroundings. Rarity was nowhere to be seen. She had already crossed the rope bridge.

"Are you two done with your fascinating discussion yet, or shall I continue alone?" her exasperated voice echoed across the misty rocky canyon.

They both laughed embarrassedly and flew across the chasm in lieu of using the bridge.

As they flew, Firestorm instinctively looked down, studying the bottom of the chasm. He could see a lot of rocks, but there was... there was something down there that seemed to be almost... familiar to him. He didn't know exactly what it was, but it pulled at him.

As they touched down he casually asked, " 'Dashie? What's at the bottom of the chasm?"

Before Rainbow could say anything, Rarity spoke up. "The Tree of Harmony. We discovered it when we had to give the Elements back to ensure its survival."

"Okay, so wait," Firestorm said, holding up his hooves. "The Elements of Harmony- the most powerful, most enchanted objects known to all Ponydom- are just sitting in a tree?"

Rainbow cautiously said, "...Yeeaah."

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G?" he asked jokingly, fluttering his eyelashes.

They both laughed, though Rarity cut off her laughing sooner than Rainbow. "Well, I'm not sure they're doing that," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Then what are they doing?" he asked, starting to walk to the castle. "They're not doing much good just sitting there embedded in a tree. Why aren't they up here with you?"

"We had to give 'em to the Tree of Harmony when it was dying," Rainbow explained, flapping a foot above the heads of the others. "Without the Elements, it couldn't last long."

"Except now that the tree is healed, does it need the Elements anymore?" he pressured. "Does a healed pony keep bandages on him? Does he keep the I.V bag in him?"

That created silence as they walked to the castle ruins. Eventually, Rarity said, "I suppose the tree's simply holding onto them until the time is right."

"But when will that be?" Rainbow asked.

"When our need for them is greater than ever," Rarity ominously spoke.

Not another word was spoken for a while.

Finally, they reached the entrance of the ruins.

Firestorm poked his head in through the rotting doors. "HALLOO! ANYONE IN THERE? YOU GOT A FRIENDSHIP PROBLEM HERE? 'CAUSE IF YOU DO, IMMA SOLVE IT!"

"Get back," Rarity irritably commanded him, and she used her magic to pick up Firestorm and drop him behind her and Rainbow. "Weren't you the one saying we had to be cautious in here, as 'You never know what might pop up in there?'"

"No, I only said fortune favors the prepared. Lady, ya gotta understand this by now. I'm not good with caution. That's a six-letter word I don't get along with very well."

"Caution has seven letters," Rarity reminded him.

"Whatever." He waved a hoof.

Rainbow peeked her head inside and took a look around. It looked exactly as it was the last time they had visited. A fine layer of dust and grime coated everything. Most of the books they remembered having taken to the Royal Canterlot Library beforehoof, so the shelves were deserted. All the tables and chairs and walls, however, were in a dilapable condition. Most of the mortar holding the bricks together had long before been reduced to something resembling crumbly old bread. Everything looked calm. Undisturbed. Abandoned.

Rainbow took her head out of the doorway. "All clear," she reported. They then went in themselves. Night was showing the first signs of approaching.

Buttresses soared overhead, supporting the old ceiling from falling. The air was foul and rancid, carrying the smell of rotting wood and stagnant water, with rusted iron and dead vegetation mixing in with it. It lingered near their noses threateningly. Scuttling creatures evaded the light.

Firestorm pinched his nose and observed nasally, "I'm thinking this isn't a popular tourist attraction for you, is it?"

"No," Rainbow said.

"I've only heard rumors about this place before. I haven't had the opportunity to visit. Where's the guidebook for this place?" Firestorm asked, looking around curiously.

"Be thankful you've only heard about it," Rarity told him with a hoof over her nose. "This place is filled with such tasteless decor. Take away the tapestries, and the place just becomes so... bland."

Firestorm looked at her slowly. "Tapestries?"

"This is a castle, is it not? There are tapestries, are there not?" Rarity chided him. "A while back, me and my friends came here at the same time for different reasons. Mine was to examine the priceless cloth decaying in here and bring it out for restoration. Our visit... did not end well." The memories came back to her with frightening clarity, of how she had just about reached the end of her rope.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't all that scared!" Rainbow said defensively.

"Your cries of terror betray your words," Rarity muttered under her breath.

"Why should I be scared?" Firestorm asked, grinning lopsidedly. "I can totally handle anything this pile of bricks can throw at me."

There came a deafening BOOM as the doors shut by themselves and they were enveloped in darkness.

Firestorm let out a very feminine shriek of terror.

"Stop that!" Rainbow yelled at him in the dark. "It was just the doors closing!"

Indeed, the doors were now closed tight. Rarity, Rainbow, and Firestorm were alone. A small ball of light appeared on the tip of Rarity's horn and in the faint light they could now see themselves and three feet in front of them. Rarity didn't remember the castle being this dark since the last time they had visited, which was strange.

Firestorm took a deep breath. "Sorry about that. It's just that, uh, in the dark you can't see how large the space you're standing in is." There was a loud SHING as he drew one of his swords.

"Are you expecting us to get attacked while we're in here?" Rainbow asked, eyeing his meter-long blade warily.

Firestorm paid her no attention. He instead put his hooves to the front of the hilt, where a switch rested. Without a word, he flicked the enchantment ignition.

There was a loud FWOOSH that roared in the still air, and the sword erupted into flame that ran all the way up the blade. There was now a sharp bar of fire clenched in Firestorm's hoof, and the sudden light threw shadows everywhere in the darkened castle. Rarity and Rainbow recoiled from the sudden heat and light, blinking a little. Then Rainbow stared at it with adorably wide eyes.

Firestorm noticed this and smirked. "Awesome, isn't it?"

"Totally!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"How... how is that possible?" Rarity asked, bewildered.

"Enchanted weapon. No big deal." Firestorm shrugged. "Well, heat and light are now ours. Let's find this friendship problem and get out of here." He flapped into the air, holding his sword aloft like a beacon. He looked back. Rarity and Rainbow were still looking at his sword with fascination.

Firestorm sighed in annoyance. "I'm WAAAIIITIIING!" he sang loudly. His voice echoed in the spacious castle.

They advanced through the dark castle. But in the sparse light of Rarity's horn and the flickering orange flame of Firestorm's weapon, the castle seemed even scarier than usual. Shadows seemed to scuttle about on their own and seemed to bleed onto the ground in black puddles. There was a gentle rumble as the flames ran up Firestorm's sword, lending an eerie, unnatural quality to their surroundings.

"I don't like this," Firestorm muttered as they passed a mossy, cracked statue of a rearing Alicorn. "This doesn't feel right. We shouldn't be here."

"Do you want me to hold your hoof?" Rainbow asked, a hint of teasing in her voice.

Firestorm blushed, though it was hard to tell in the sparse light, and it barely stood out against his dark orange face. "Ah, no."

They came to the old throne room in the castle. A threadbare carpet led from the massive entryway to the pair of regal thrones at the end of the room. There were side corridors leading deeper into the castle, looking abandoned. The flickering flaming sword put the room into light, casting strange, twisted shadows over the walls. "They say this is the final resting place of Nightmare Moon?" Firestorm asked. He shuddered.

"This is where she was banished, Rarity clarified. "Where, about six or seven years ago, me and my friends harnessed the Elements of Harmony for the first time and drove the Nightmare force out of Luna."

"But where did the Nightmare go?" Firestorm asked.

Rarity looked at him strangely. "Huh?"

Firestorm drew himself up. "Matter cannot be created or destroyed," he told them in the air of a professor reminding his students of something they ought to already know. "Whatever happened to the Nightmare possessing her, it was not entirely destroyed. Did it just run off? Was it banished to Tartarus?"

His voice dropped. The fiery sword made a sinister shadow across his face."Or is it still in the castle, nursing its injuries and ego, waiting for the right moment to strike and infect any who come near to feed on their stubbornness and pride, until it gains enough power to overtake its victims entirely and drain their bodies to an unidentifiable husk?" He paused, his face undulating in the light his sword gave off. Then he widened his eyes. "Wow, I think I just scared myself. I, uh, I'm just gonna say it went and, uh, got banished to Tartarus! Yeah! That's it!" He smiled. "I need to go and make myself happy now." He dropped his voice to the lowest it could possibly go. "Shoopadoop," he intoned lowly. "BubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubbleBUBBLE!"

The last bubble echoed around the spacious throne room, and Rarity tried hard not to giggle. That pegasus was like a mix of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, if the latter had a male brain.

And when she thought of that, it hit her. He wasn't an uncouth attention-seeking, sarcastic warrior. He was a friend! True, he was all of the above, but he also shared attributes with her other friends to the point where even though he stood out like a sore hoof, he was indistinguishable from her other friends. He was a part of them now. And Rarity hated to admit it to herself, but she had to- reluctantly- admit that he could be... likable. Yes, she went for that adjective.

He was ribbing others, sure, but not in a way that made them hurt. He was actually rather self-deprecating about most of the comments he said about himself, like him being super hot or being super awesome. He didn't actually mean any of that. He liked exalting himself, but only as a point of humor. Ad not just that, but he proved that he actually could be sincere, like just a little bit ago with Rainbow. He liked over-exaggerating and being pretentious, sure, but he could be a lot worse.

They were now at the pair of staircases leading up to the twin thrones. Rainbow said, "Well, there's nothing here. Let's maybe check if there's a friendship problem in one of the towers?" She didn't sound certain.

"I would hold off on that, Dashie," Firestorm cautioned. He squinted. "I'm a little curious about this little space here between the stairs. Something... I don't know. It's like something's whispering to me, saying to me, 'Firestorm, you dunce! I want to show you something! So get your fantastic toned flank over here and look at me!'" He looked back. "Did any of you have the same thoughts?"

"...I dunno about the 'fantastic toned flank' part," Rainbow muttered under her breath, looking away from Firestorm's illuminated face. Was she embarrassed?

"I don't hear anything," Rarity said, straining her ears. "You must be hearing voices."

"Oh, no, lady. You're thinking of Freedom Fighter. Except he makes up all those voices by himself. This one's more intrusive. Like an annoying roommate you think you kicked out into the hallway, but they just chopped the door down to come back in."

Rarity and Rainbow exchanged looks.

"Well, it looks like we're going to have to investigate!" he said in a chipper tone. Firestorm stuck his sword in the space between the two staircases leading up to the thrones. As the fiery blade entered the small space, a few rats and bugs scuttled away from the harsh light.

"Charming," he muttered. He then walked in, running his hoof along the back wall. He seemed to be looking for something, though the two girls didn't know what.

"Come on... there should be something here..." Firestorm muttered, searching with his hoof. "You want me to find something... What do I need to find... where are you- Ah!" He found a small indentation. He pushed hard, and a cylinder went back into the wall. The wall then split in half down the center with a loud CRACK, and started to rumble.

Firestorm hurriedly took his hoof out of the hole and blew off the mound of dust and cobwebs that caked it. Rarity and Rainbow stepped forward, their mouths open as the wall under the stairs split apart, revealing a small room. Rarity used a foreleg to push aside Firestorm, and came to the front, entering the small room.

Her light lit the entire diminutive chamber. Along the length of the walls ran symbols and signs that were made almost unreadable by lichen and dirt. Firestorm and Rainbow also came in, barely fitting the three of them and still allowing space for Firestorm's sword.

Firestorm began to sweat bullets and shake as his claustrophobia kicked into overdrive. He looked nervously around the small antechamber that seemed to get smaller by the second, compacting the three of them. He pulled at his collar and stammered, "T-t-this is a bit crowded, don't you think?"

"Then you should leave," Rarity told him in a posh voice.

Firestorm blinked. Then he scowled. "And what, you make me get out? Why not you?"

"Because I'm not the one with claustrophobia," she told him. "If you stay out there, your problem is solved, and it allows us more space to work with."

Realizing he was losing the argument, Firestorm said defensively, "But I want to see it, too! Am I not as important to the group?"

Rarity opened her mouth to reply.

"Actually, you know what, I already know what you're going to say, so just forget about it." He sighed. "Why can't I see it?"

"We'll tell you about it when we come out. Now go on, shoo." She waved a hoof.

Firestorm squinted at her. "Are you always like this?" he asked her.

"Sometimes she's even worse," Rainbow admitted to him.

Firestorm groaned in mental pain and stepped outside. "Fine. You've won. One for your side." He said the words like it hurt to say them. He left, and now the only light in the chamber was Rarity's illumination. Outside, Firestorm said, "You are infuriating, you know that?"

"Of course I know it. That's why I do it," Rarity smugly replied, imitating Firestorm. "Now be a dear and keep a lookout, won't you, darling?"

Rainbow snickered shamelessly. They heard Firestorm groan again. "Another one for your side," he sighed.

Rarity got to work studying the wall's hieroglyphs with interest. She wasn't one for studying historic writing-- that was more of Twilight's area-- but as a simple dressmaker, she could admire the symbols themselves. They were fluid and smooth, looping and curving into each other and spread apart perfectly even. She was afraid to touch them, as they looked sandy and chipped and scoured with dust. She studied the left wall intently.

Where's Twilight when you need her? she thought as she studied the drawings.

She heard a sharp intake of breath behind her. "Hey, uh, Rarity?" Rainbow called weakly behind her, breaking Rarity's concentration. "You might want to take a look at this." She sounded afraid for some reason.

Rarity pointed her head to look at Rainbow, who was on the far wall. On that wall was a massive engraving of-

"The Tree of Harmony?" Rarity asked in bewilderment. She came over, her light shining on the carving on the wall. There it was, ornately carved with its scraggly branches holding flowers and leaves. Many figures were kneeling at the tree's base, which had bright shining stones in the trunk and branches. But something was wrong.

Rarity's eyes bulged in shock. Everything was there and accounted for-- except for one small detail. She was speechless at the sight.

There weren't six Elements on the tree.

There were ten.

Chapter Twenty-one: The Heart Of The Storm

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"I must be dreaming," Rarity murmured softly. How else could she explain it? It obviously wasn't true. Ten Elements? Preposterous. The Elements only worked when they were all together, and they were able to use them with only six. So how could more exist?

This was beyond confounding. This was one of the most serious, jolting, and mysterious things she had ever encountered in her life.

She didn't know what to do. Even Twilight would be puzzled. More importantly, how was this important to the friendship problem they had been called to solve?

Rarity brought her head closer to the astounding carving. The Elements weren't detailed carvings of Cutie Mark shapes; they were just starbursts on the tree with long spikes extending in every direction.

"If we are dreaming, then Luna's got some explaining to do!" Rainbow stated, her gaze locked on to the carving. "I don't get it," she said after a while. "Why ten? Why haven't we heard about these other Elements before?"

"I don't know, Rainbow," Rarity whispered. She put a hoof on one of the starbursts weakly. "I really don't know."

Sir Firestorm, Knight of Equestria, Guardian of the Sun, and personal adviser to all four princesses of Equestria, was feeling snappy. Snappy was a word not often used very often in his vocabulary. Every so often he'd run his hoof along the long shelf of adjectives in his brain and would occasionally linger on that word before he would unshelve another word that best fit his circumstances, like annoyed or affronted. This time, however, it was snappy.

He knew exactly why, of course- Rarity had just roasted him. Usually he liked it when others did that. Being proven a hypocrite was usually funny. And he wanted others to laugh so he could feel better about himself. But aside from him pretending to get offended, there was something else... a weird feeling he couldn't shake. It was making him itch for a bit of action. He felt like if something big didn't happen soon, he'd totally whack out.

Right now he was pacing back and forth on the platform the mildewed thrones were on. He occasionally caught a cobweb in his face and he'd pause and shake the thing off before returning to pacing. He kept his flaming sword aloft, giving a flickering light to the spacious room. He kept his ears straining for any hint of conversation below him, but all he heard was something about, "Ten?"

Then there was that smell in the air. That smell of rotten wood and vegetation, with rusted iron and stagnant water. It seemed to invade his nose and slay the senses, and Firestorm had a scrunched-up face because of it. For some reason it reminded him of Arimaspi Mountain, where he was almost murdered in his sleep by the predators there-

He froze. Forest predators. Rotten wood. Awful smell. Everywhere. He cast his eyes around the throne room, looking for them. It was empty, but the smell still permeated his nose.

They were near. They were in danger.

Firestorm flicked the sword's ignition again, and the flames died down. He then jumped from the throne's level to the floor and poked his head into the small antechamber beneath the thrones. "Rares, cut the light and come with me. I think we're being watched."

"We are?" Rarity asked, then turned around with concern written on her face. Behind her, Rainbow also turned around. Behind her was what looked like a carving of some sort. That wasn't important right now, however. "How are we in danger?"

"Just cut the light!" he hissed, and licked his hoof and extinguished the ball of light on Rarity's horn. The room was plunged into darkness, and all anypony could see was each other's eyes.

Firestorm stuck out his tongue. There was a foul taste on it. "Bleugh. I shouldn't have licked the thing I walk on."

"What are we in danger from again?" Rainbow asked.

"Be quiet," Firestorm whispered.

"Well okay then!" Rainbow sounded exasperated. "Fine, mister know-it-"

"Shh," Firestorm cut her off. He then looked around the massive throne room, hoping they weren't heard.

Rarity tried to move into the open, only to stumble into Firestorm. She hurriedly backed away, shuddering at her physical contact with his ragged clothes. "I can't see a thing," she complained. "If I can just get some light in here- "

"No!" Firestorm whispered vehemently. The mares, sensing the drastic change in tone, actually followed his directions. He continued. "If I'm correct, our scent has already given us away. I think my scent is a little more pungent, but I think we're already in trouble!"

"Are you actually going to tell us why we're in danger, or are you just going to- " Rarity began, but a sound cut her off.

It was a growl.

They looked past Firestorm, who was blocking the small chamber's entrance. In the darkness, nothing could be seen. But they could hear growling and sniffing and could smell rotten wood.

Timber Wolves.

Rarity gasped and Rainbow clapped a hoof over Rarity's mouth. They were trapped. Between them and the room's exit was a pack of materializing Timber Wolves, whose shiny green eyes were visible now that their eyes had adjusted to the dark. They were sniffing around furiously, trying to find their very smelly meal. One of them looked straight at them with savage hunger. His green eyes were so shiny, so unnaturally shiny as he glared suspiciously at their position.

"Keep. Completely. Calm," Firestorm breathed. They didn't dare move.

Then, after a prolonged stare, the wolf looked away and stalked off.

"Whew!" Rarity said in relief, wiping her brow.

The head of every single Timber Wolf snapped up to look at her. They all snarled in anticipation at their meal's appearance.

Firestorm and Rainbow Dash simultaneously facehooved.

The wolves charged.

A whine filled the air and a little click could be heard, and suddenly the hall was in blinding light as Firestorm activated the flamethrowers built into his armored rags. Two streams of bright orange fire spewed out of his hooves and onto the carpet fifteen feet in front of them. He spread the fire in a wide arc, creating a barrier between them and the wolves. The wooden creatures fell back from the deadly fire, and Rarity and Rainbow were blinking hard from the sudden light.

Firestorm tuned around, the forest of fire behind him and his wild fiery mane all over the place. He drew his swords and asked, "Can you fight?"

"Huh?" the girls asked at the same time.

"CAN YOU FIGHT?!" He had to roar over the snapping of the fire and the snarls of the wolves.

"...Yeah, I think I can handle myself," Rainbow replied uncertainly.

Firestorm flipped a sword upside down so he was holding it by the blade and offered the hilt to Rainbow. "Take it. You need it."

Rainbow almost flipped out at this. She was being offered a sword? And it was from one of the most awesome pegasi she knew, too!

She froze. Did she just think that?

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? TAKE IT!" he screamed urgently. Blushing all of a sudden, she took the sword in her teeth and came out of the antechamber.

"No, no," Firestorm said. "In your front hooves. Like this." He stood on his hind legs, holding one of the swords in his front hooves next to his head. "You can control it much better that way, and it's much more powerful."

Rainbow accordingly readjusted. It was a little awkward, but she managed to stay flapping in the air with the sword in both front hooves. It was forged out of a single piece of metal, except for the hilt, which was made of a comfortable wood grip.

Rarity exited the antechamber next.

"Can you fight?" he asked her.

"Just because I'm a lady, it doesn't mean I'm not willing to get my hooves dirty!" she cried, rearing on her hind legs.

"Since when?" he muttered out of the side of his mouth. Then he raised his voice. "I'm a dirty pony as well! Take the meaning however you want!" Before Rarity could reply in outrage, he had already given her the two knives on his flank and underbelly. "Use them!" he ordered.

"Why are you acting so urgent about this?" Rarity asked, using her magic to lift the knives to the front of his face. "You can handle Timber Wolves, can you not? Are you really that scared for your own life?"

"It's not my own life I'm worried about," he retaliated bluntly.

Rarity thought for just a second, Then who- before what he said hit home. She looked at him incredibly.

Firestorm groaned and said, "Look here, Miss. You don't like me. And I'm fine with that. But that doesn't change the fact that I will protect you by any means necessary. So you can be happy about that or complain about it, I don't care which. If you don't want me to help you, just give the word, and I'll put you in front of me when the danger comes instead of vice versa. But until you do, I will fight for my friends until I can't do it anymore." He looked up at Rainbow, who was flapping softly, hanging on to every word he said. "I care for you, Rainbow Dash. Do you believe me?"

Rainbow nodded, feeling something deep for him.

He then turned to Rarity. "I care for you, Rarity. Do you believe me?"

After a moment of reflection, she sighed. "I do now."

He then faced the dying fire and the Timber Wolves behind it. "Then follow me."

Firestorm took to the air in a leap that sailed over the fire. He dropped on a Timber Wolf, igniting the flame on his sword as he did so, and plunged the fiery blade into his head. The wolf blasted into burning pieces of loose wood. The other wolves fell back as he swung the sword in a wide arc, leaving a flame trail in the air wherever he swung the sword.

Rainbow followed his lead by flying through the dying flames and kicking another wolf in the face hard enough to make him stumble. She then hacked at the wolf's face twice with the sword before jamming the thin-bladed weapon into his eye. The wolf blew into firewood.

"Flick the switch on the front!" Firestorm yelled, sinking his sword into another wolf's belly. He kicked the body off and it turned to loose sticks.

Rainbow found the switch and ignited it. The heat burned her face as the sword erupted into a sharp bar of flame. She looked at it for a second, staring into its fiery depths, then screamed as she felt a sharp yank on her tail. A wolf had her tail in its jaws, and was intent on ripping it out.

But before it could, a light blue aura enveloped the wolf, and it was pulled off, whining in surprise. Rarity, her horn glowing, screamed, "GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU BRUTE!"

She threw the wolf against the side of a wall, eliciting a loud CRACK from the impact. He slumped to the ground, shaking his head in pain.

Rainbow was already moving, giving a savage slash across the face of another wolf. It roared and swatted her down with a massive paw, pinning her throat to the stones on the floor. Gasping for air, she gave a wild swing with the sword, and the edge embedded itself in the wolf's neck. She felt the grip on her throat weaken, and she pulled her legs up and kicked the wolf off her. It slumped to the side, clattering as it fell apart.

Rarity blasted a wolf with her magic while Firestorm blowtorched a wolf from five feet away with his flamethrowers. He turned to see the unconscious wolf get up and stalk behind Rarity and Rainbow, unbeknownst to either of them. "LOOK OUT!" he yelled as the wolf pounced.

The two girls turned and screamed as they saw a wolf almost crush them-

Then the wolf got thrown back in midair as a flaming sword entered his brain. He landed on the ground, the sword embedded in the pile of firewood that was all that remained of the wolf.

Firestorm had thrown his sword and leaped clean over the girls at the same time. He then grabbed his sword while he was upside down in the air, flipped to land on his hind legs, and then ran his sword into the bottom of another wolf's stomach.

Suddenly a loud roar echoed through the castle. The three remaining wolves stopped and looked up fearfully. Firestorm's blood chilled.

And then the entire side of the wall came tumbling down, sensing everyone stumbling backward.

In its place was a bone-white alicorn. It had a fiery orange crown on its head and dripping black fangs, with a pale aura for a mane and tail. But worst of all were its sickly yellow eyes that narrowed at the sight of them.

"WHAT IS THAT?" Rarity shrieked in terror.

"RUN! NOW!" Firestorm scooped up Rarity and sped towards the door out of the hall with his wings, ignoring her protests. Rainbow got there first, dodging the remaining fleeing wolves, and opened the large doors. They all got through and slammed it shut just as a torrent of flames spewed out of the Fallen's horn, destroying all that was flammable in the throne room, including the wolves.

Rarity shoved herself off Firestorm. "I can run too, you know," she told him irritably. She looked dirty, but Rainbow looked worse. The fringe of her mane was burned off, and there were numerous scrapes and gashes all over her body.

Rainbow looked at Firestorm, who was panting. "Care to explain?" she asked him.

"Give me back my sword and run. Our lives are top priority right now."

"The friendship problem is the top priority," Rainbow insisted.

"And we won't solve it if we're all dead, now will we?" Firestorm replied. "The only way to even find our friendship problem is to survive. To do that, we need to run." And he started to fly low to the ground to escape the castle.

Much as Rainbow wanted to turn and fight the alicorn, she had to admit Firestorm was right. He had experience, and he knew better. Besides, she thought, I want to be with Firestorm. She flapped after him, and after a moment Rarity followed.

They got twenty feet before they heard a splintering sound, and they turned their heads to see the alicorn replacing the broken door. Though he was no larger than the average pony, he exuded terrible power.

"I am the Fallen," he proclaimed. "You shall burn!"

They all instinctively ducked as the Fallen billowed flames into the main hall. The flames subsided after ten seconds, and the castle around them was suddenly in flames.

Ahead of them Firestorm yelled, "COME ON! RUN!" They heard a clattering of hooves as Firestorm ran over to the crouching mares. He brought Rainbow up to face him. "Dash, get out of here. Fly through the windows, the rafters, anything. We need to split up and make it confused. That way, if he manages to get me and Rarity, you at least will be safe."

"B-b-but..." Rainbow didn't know how to object.

"Just go. Anywhere. We'll meet at the front of the castle. You can get there in ten seconds flat. I'll see you there. I promise."

What he did next surprised Rainbow. He hugged her. Rainbow could feel him-- how warm he was, how he wrapped his arms tightly around her front. And she didn't want him to stop. For a moment, she wanted to do more to the hug. But all too soon the hug ended, and she felt Firestorm take his second sword from her grasp.

The Fallen ignited his horn again.

"GO!" he yelled desperately, and Rainbow instinctively took to the air as the Fallen blew fire once more. She went up into the massive buttresses supporting the ceiling and started to weave in between them with the unerring skill of a Wonderbolt.

Meanwhile, Firestorm and Rarity ran at full speed through the now-blazing hall. To every side, bookcases and chairs and tables and bannisters and old mortar caught fire. The old stones grew unbearably hot. The heat became stuffy and smoky.

It was no longer dark in the castle, but that was no longer a good thing. The fire was everywhere, running up the pillars and chasing them to the sides like it was racing them. The Fallen continued to spew a torrent of fire everywhere, and in a matter of moments, the entire castle was ablaze.

They reached a clearing of the castle where the fire surrounded them in a ring. Firestorm looked back as they ran. The Fallen was slowly walking through the hall, taking its time. Firestorm stopped with a skid on the floor, then ignited both of his swords again. He twirled them in a cross in front of him as the Fallen came close.

"What are you?" Rarity asked the newcomer.

The Fallen shook his head, then gave a deep snarl. "I was sent to destroy this place! You'll be a nice addition!"

Firestorm narrowed his eyes. "Try it!"

He launched himself at the Fallen.

Despite being an alicorn, he apparently couldn't think of doing anything more than fire magic blasts at Firestorm's head. Firestorm, with a flurry of his swords, deflected the bolts into the ground, or up into the smoky ceiling. Explosions boomed all around him.

The Fallen roared and changed tactics. Enveloping Rarity in his pale yellow aura, he lifted the protesting unicorn off the ground and flung her deeper into the castle.

Firestorm immediately disengaged and blazed to Rarity. He caught her before she could impact a wall, screeched to a halt, reversed, and flew back to their clear spot.

The Fallen, meanwhile, had closed his eyes while laughing in mirth. "Oh, Equestrians," he mocked. "Always so quick to protect their friends that they neglect their enemies!"

"Who said I neglected you?" came Firestorm's voice, right behind him.

The Fallen turned, opening his eyes. "Wha-?"

With a mighty thrust, Firestorm buried his fiery sword into its eye. It emerged, dripping, from the back of the Fallen's head.

The Fallen bellowed in pain. Firestorm slithered his blade out and watched the Fallen clutch his face and roar, dripping blood from its eye socket that sizzled when it landed on the fire below.

"Yeah! That's what you get!" Firestorm pointed his sword at the Fallen again. "Now die!"

The Fallen, screeching and stumbling, blindly obeyed. Neither pony knew how the Fallen could even operate after its brain had been sish-kebobed. But after a moment more of struggling, it knelt and perished in a pool of blood.

Firestorm turned to Rarity. "What was that?"

"What?" Rarity asked, befuddled. "How should I know? You're the expert here!"

"I haven't seen that before in my life! Let's worry about that when we're-"

A buttress collapsed right above them with a loud crack, falling right above them, but Rarity used her magic to slow the beam's descent and threw the flaming log aside. They ran and ran, but for how long they couldn't be certain. The air got thick and heavy with smoke.

Firestorm spotted a square of dim light ahead. "THERE!" he shouted above the roar of the fire. He coughed horribly as he and Rarity raced to the window of opportunity. Firestorm threw himself at the wall around it with all the force he could muster.

The mortar had long ago crumbled to something resembling stale bread, and Firestorm broke through the wall with ease, bringing Rarity along with him. After they felt the cool rush of air on them as they ran out, they continued to race away from the castle until they couldn't feel its heat anymore, and it was only then that they turned around.

It seemed to fill the whole sky. The whole castle smoked and had orange flickering fire rising up like the trees of the forest behind it. The fire snapped and crackled and popped. Here and there fragile towers tumbled and crashed to the ground like taken chess pieces. Smoke billowed up so high they couldn't see the sunset behind the castle.

Firestorm looked around with a concerned face. "Rainbow?" he called out worriedly. "Where are you?"

There was no sign of her.

"RAINBOW!" he screamed with fear. No response. He flapped into the air about twenty feet, the smoke getting into his eyes and mouth. "Oh, please don't still be in the castle," he murmured.

There came a collapse of the back part of the castle, sending up a flurry of sparks to join the ever-darkening smoke. Firestorm looked at it for just a moment of indecision. Then, his mind made up, he sped to the earth at an acute angle and hit the earth in front of the castle. He started to strip out of his ragged outer layer, exposing his fireproof flight suit.

"Firestorm? What are you doing?" Rarity asked worriedly.

"I am rescuing Rainbow Dash. Got a problem?" he growled.

"You'll burn in there!" she cried.

Firestorm wheeled around. "SO WHAT IF I DO?!" he roared. "If it means rescuing Rainbow Dash, I'll go through Tartarus itself to get her back." He turned around and took another step to the inferno. "I won't let her burn to a cinder!" he roared, and rushed into the conflagration.

Rainbow was pinned under a collapsed portion of the ceiling. A buttress had been burned away and the stone and wood had avalanched down, taking Rainbow with it when she had flown under it.

She coughed weakly and whispered, "Help." She tried to pull herself out, but a sharp splinter was right under her, digging into her thigh, and she winced and immediately stopped. Even more of the castle collapsed around her, and she bowed her head in defeat.

Applejack lifted her head up, sniffing at the air curiously. Was that smoke? She hoped Apple Bloom wasn't making pie again. She turned her head around the field she was in and spotted something on the horizon that made her gasp.

It was the outline of the Castle of the Two Sisters, but it was orange, and hazy. A billowing cloud of smoke lifted out of its remains.

Applejack looked around again, sincerely hoping Granny Smith would understand. Then, looking back at the chores she was in the middle of, she galloped out of the farm, down the road, and into the Everfree as fast as she could.

Orange and black dominated Firestorm's view. He was surrounded by flames as tall as he was, and the smoke rose even higher. Because of that, he could not fly, and so he stayed to the ground, where not as much smoke was. There was barely a spot on the ground where nothing was ablaze.

He jumped over a baby flame and kicked a support aside. It hurt him, but he didn't care. He chopped a flame-eaten support aside, sending up a flurry of sparks. He made his way deeper and deeper into the castle, and as he did, the flame got hotter and hotter, even with his fireproof suit.

He was continually turning his head to the side, straining his ears for any sign of distress. But all that could be heard was the snapping of the flames and the crumble of stones around them.

Then a noise made his ears twitch. A shifting of rubble... and a whisper. He hopefully turned his head to the noises origin.

It was thirty feet to the right, through a maze of glowing debris and glowing red stones. Firestorm jumped right in. He knocked aside anything in his path, regardless of its significance or weight. All that mattered to him was that he get Rainbow to safety.

He punched a support in half, bruising his hoof, but he didn't feel it. The beam fell to the ground, revealing a terrifying, hazy sight.

Rainbow Dash was buried under a tremendous pile of burning debris and rubble. Rocks and jagged splinters were everywhere, surrounding her head and forearms like a halo, those parts of her body being all that showed. Her colorful prismatic mane was stuck all over the place, and was contrasting against the black and orange all around her.

Crying aloud, Firestorm came to Rainbow's side and started to lift, with impossible strength, the fallen buttress on her back. It shifted upwards with a cascade of ash falling from it.

Rainbow lifted her weary eyes to see an orange, shining figure freeing her. At first she was at a loss as to what it was. Was it a guardian angel? But after it tossed aside the beam, freeing her back, she realized who it was.

Firestorm? she weakly thought.

He seized her under her arms and slowly started to pull her out. Pain wracked through Rainbow's body as her thigh was dragged out with the splinter still in it, and she felt like her wings were bent the wrong way. But at last, after a bit of pulling, she was finally out from the bone-crushing debris.

She felt herself be slung over his back, with his wings flared out to help steady her. There was pains in her wings and back leg, with burns on her chest and side. She yelped helplessly and cried aloud in pain.

Firestorm heard the pegasus scream and his heart ached for her safety. He started to gallop at full speed, keeping Rainbow on his back. Behind him, the already-weak ceiling started to fall apart. He leaped clean through a wall of fire and landed just as a heavy beam smashed to the ground where he was not a second before.

His lungs hurt badly. It was like someone was scraping a knife along his insides every time he took a breath, but he pressed on. For Rainbow.

Panting hard, he ran straight at a wall, shoulder first. He rammed his whole body against the wall and dislocated his shoulder, but he slammed through the weak brick, stumbled through a cloud of smoke for a bit, and collapsed in pain on the cool grass just as the castle behind him fell in on itself with an earth-shattering crash.

They lay there for a bit as they caught their breath and coughed up smoke. Firestorm slowly got out from under Rainbow, settling her gently on the grass. Rainbow turned to look at him. Her eyes were bloodshot from the smoke. She weakly struggled out, "Y-y-you c-came back...for me?" She gave a heavy cough.

Firestorm stretched out a hoof and rubbed it on Rainbow's mane gently. He smiled. "For you, Rainbow..." he said in the most sincere voice he could remember, "...I always will."

The last thing both of them remembered before blacking out was the sound of hooves and a hazy orange figure with a hat on her head rushing towards them, with a white pony at her side.

Beep...beep...beep...beep...

Firestorm woke up to that annoying noise and his first instinct was to reach out and shut off that stupid alarm clock. But as he opened his eyes and slowly wiped eye crud out of his face, he noticed his arm was hooked up to a heart monitor. He groaned in consternation and lay his head against the pillow some more.

I'm in a hospital... he bleakly thought. He never liked waking up in hospitals. It was just confusing, and disorienting, and he never liked hospitals to begin with. The nurses were overbearing, the beds were uncomfortable, and the food was tasteless- almost as tasteless as Firestorm's jokes.

He felt fine, except for his barrel and wings and hooves. He was unclothed, and had bandages on his front. His wings were to the side, limp and tired.

He remembered what had happened at the castle. It came to him slowly, in bits and pieces. The Timber Wolves, the Fallen that he had mortally wounded, him rushing back inside, lifting a pegasus onto his back-

"RAINBOW!" he yelled all of a sudden, and sat up in the bed with a jolt. He instantly regretted it, however, as a huge headache rushed to his head and his arm pulled on the needles in it. His voice was hoarse and weak from smoke inhalation. He groaned and sat back.

It was then that he was aware of the others in the room. They were the Mane Six- minus Rarity and Rainbow, obviously- his fellow Guardians, Starlight, Spike, and Nurse Redheart. Upon his return to waking, they all looked at him with faces of gratitude, concern, and relief.

"Welcome to the land of the living!" Noble Blade announced extravagantly.

Firestorm gave him a weak smile. "Then why am I dead inside?"

"You've been dead inside for as long as I can remember," Noble replied.

"Right." He clutched his front.

"I'd say you feel dead on the inside because of all that smoke inhalation," Nurse Redheart told him unequivocally. She looked at her clipboard. "When you were brought in twelve hours ago, you had a dislocated shoulder, two bruised hooves, a few first-degree burns on your face, a sprained wing, and a cracked rib, next to all that smoke inhalation. I did the best I could, but then they," she indicated Noble Blade, Starlight, and Twilight, "came in and did something to you. You're healing much better now. You should be fine in about twenty-four hours."

Firestorm looked at Noble. "The healing spell?" he asked.

"I had to use their help," Noble replied modestly. "It is a difficult spell."

"Did you do it to Rainbow?" Firestorm asked, a hint of desperation in his voice.

"I did it to her first," Noble reported. "She was in the most serious condition."

Firestorm let out an exhale. "Good. She matters to the girls more than I do." He looked around the room. "Come to think of it, how did I end up here?"

"That was ma fault," Applejack told him. "Ah noticed the smoke from the castle in the distance and I ran faster'n Rainbow Dash in cider season. When Ah got there, Ah saw the castle a-blazin' an' Rarity standin' over both o' yer bodies. Ah helped 'er take yer bodies back here ta Ponyville Hospital. Ah didn't know that there was a Friendship Mission in place."

"How'd you know we were on a Friendship Mission?" Firestorm asked.

"When Ah reached ya, Ah noticed yer Cutie Mark was flashin'. That meant ya solved a Friendship Mission."

"But I didn't solve a Friendship Mission," Firestorm protested.

"On the contrary, Ah think ya did," Applejack responded. "Ah've noticed things between you and Rares've been rough. Both o' ya can't stand the other. Ya see her as stuck-up an' prissy, and she sees you as... how do Ah say this politely..."

"A baby-brained beady-eyed bottom-barreled blibbering baboon?" Firestorm offered with a grin.

"...Ah wouldn't put it exactly like that," she mused, rolling her eyes.

He smiled. "Continue."

"Anyway, Ah think the problem ya had to solve was the one between the two o' ya- gettin' over yer differences ta survive." She said the last word with a note of worry.

"Then why did Rainbow come along? Firestorm asked. "I had no qualms with her." He shook his head slightly. "I mean, apart from the, uh, flying competition."

"I don't think that matters anymore," Starlight offered. "I think she came along so you could prove your heart. And by the looks of it, I'd say the mission went pretty well. You saved Rainbow. And for that we offer our thanks," she said with a smile.

"Where is she, anyway?" Firestorm looked around the room. He was the only patient.

"She and Rarity are in the next room over," Fluttershy offered quietly. She was on the opposite side of the room, glancing at Noble Blade occasionally. "When Rarity and Applejack came out of the Everfree next to my house, she screamed for help before she collapsed from magic exhaustion from carrying you back. I was so scared then. But luckily, Rarity can scream really loud, so Twilight heard it and teleported over. She took the three of you to the hospital, and she got, um..." she glanced at Noble Blade again before running a hoof through her mane and said, "Noble, and, um, he and Twilight cast the healing spell on Rainbow Dash and Rarity before going to you." She looked at Noble again. "Thank you so much for helping my friends, Noble. I don't know what we would have done without you."

Firestorm saw Noble Blade blush intensely before saying, "It was nothing," to the ground.

"Thanks, Flutters," Firestorm said to her. Fluttershy looked at him strangely, whispering "Flutters?" under her breath. Firestorm remembered to tell Noble the disconcerting news. "Oh, hey, Noble? While we were in the castle, we encountered an alicorn."

Freedom Fighter pretended to drink a glass of an invisible liquid, then spat it out to indicate surprise. His eyes traveled to Firestorm's bedside table, where a glass of water rested. He let out a sigh as he realized his missed opportunity, then stretched forth a hoof.

Firestorm slapped it out of the air as it came near. "What's the point of doing it twice?" he asked him.

Freedom Fighter retreated, a miffed look in his red eyes.

Noble eyed Firestorm. "You're kidding."

"I'm totally not kidding. He called himself a Fallen. He seemed to be on a mission to burn down the castle."

"But where did it come from?" Starlight asked.

"Where did it go?" Twilight asked.

"Where did it come from Cotton Eye Joe?" Firestorm tacked on the end.

And suddenly, inexplicably, they all heard a very catchy country song coming from somewhere. It was quiet and muffled, but everyone started to bob their heads to it.

"Where in tarnation is that funky country music comin' from?" Applejack demanded, a little shaken by the occurrence.

"Sorry!" Pinkie grinned sheepishly, then inexplicably pulled an entire stereo out of her mane and the music became unmuffled for just an instant before she pressed the power button.

Chapter Twenty-two: An Elementary Debate

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"I suppose you all know why we're gathered here?" Twilight asked the ponies assembled.

They were in the throne room of Twilight's castle. The day before, after Firestorm, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash woke up in the hospital, they were instructed to lay in their beds until the healing spell given by Noble Blade and Twilight ran its course. For all of Tuesday, therefore, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Firestorm lay in the hospital until their wounds were fully mended. The following day, Twilight ordered everyone to the throne room. The Mane Six, Starlight Glimmer, Spike, and the Guardians of the Sun were all in attendance. Those that had thrones sat in them, while those that didn't were in padded folding chairs in between the thrones- except for Firestorm, who had sprawled out on the table like he was at the beach, complete with sunglasses.

"You want to know how the Friendship Mission went," Rainbow said boredly. "We know."

"There are also a lot of other questions that need answering. What did you find in the castle? Who sent a Fallen there? Did anypony else get hurt?" Twilight hurriedly asked.

"We'll answer them all, Sparks. Just hold up," Firestorm lazily said, waving a hoof nonchalantly. He was in his combat uniform, for some reason.

Rainbow snickered at Twilight's new nickname. Twilight just looked at him inquisitively. "Firestorm, get off the table."

"Aww, but I don't want to!" he whined. He took off his aviators, sat up on his haunches like a dog, and fixed her a pair of adorable wide eyes, his yellow irises and pupils expanding twice in size and shivering slightly.

Twilight didn't even move. "Get off the table."

"Can I pweeeeease welax on the table like a bwowhard?" he asked in an adorable small child's voice.

"No."

He slunk forward, pouting and giving her a doe-eyed look. "Pwetty pweeease?" he asked, now only a foot in front of her. He looked into Twilight's purple eyes with his impossibly-large yellow ones, the black pupil now filling his entire eye socket. He quivered his mouth and started to whimper cutely.

"Get off the table, Firestorm."

There was a moment as most of the mares tried unsuccessfully to hold back snickers. Then he sighed, and his eyes returned to their normal state. He turned to look at Noble, who was next to Fluttershy. "I don't get it. That usually works."

"Perhaps Princess Twilight is made out of tougher stuff than you think," Noble said.

"But what about when I asked 'Tia if I could have a flamethrower?" he asked, lying on his stomach with his hooves holding his head up. "If she cracked under my Bambi Eyes and Twilight didn't, does that mean Twilight's stronger than 'Tia?"

"The only reason I think Celestia gave you a flamethrower was because you were pestering her for more than a month. I think she wanted you off her chest."

He smirked. "Trust me, Noble. I don't think a mare would want me off their chest anytime soon."

Twilight made a gagging sound.

"You can't make that assumption until you actually get on a mare's chest to begin with," Noble responded.

Rainbow Dash inhaled through her teeth and held a hoof to her mouth. "Ooh!"

Firestorm paid no attention to her except a glance, then it subsided.

"Plus, I think with Celestia, you made a cute little sniffle and you started to tear up."

"Riiight. Forgot about that." Firestorm looked contemplative. He then turned to Twilight again. "Hey, if I added a sniffle or two, would you change your mind?"

"No."

"Drat." He pouted. "Fine, I'll get off the table." He used his wings to flap a foot above the surface of the Cutie Map. "See, Sparks? I'm off the table." He flipped his wild fiery mane.

He found himself surrounded in a violet aura. "Whoah! What're you doing, Sparks?!" He floated over to a spot next to Pinkie's seat and the magic cut off.

He crashed to the ground violently, and he raised a hoof above the surface of the table. "One for your side," he said weakly. Beside him, Pinkie giggled.

"Get off the ground and stop acting like a foal," Rarity commanded him.

Firestorm obeyed, though with his tongue out and his eyes crossed. He saluted.

After everyone had their laughs, Pinkie swiveled her head to look at Freedom Fighter, who had concealed himself in a darkened corner of the room. "Heya, Freedom! You want to join us here?" she offered with a wide smile.

Freedom Fighter shook his head slowly, keeping his soft, sad look at the ground.

"Just leave him be," Noble told her.

"But I wanna see him happy! I wanna put a big, big, biiiiig smile on that black-covered face of his!" Pinkie said, grinning with all her might at the super soldier in the corner.

Freedom Fighter looked up, and there was a troubling look of depression in the look he gave Pinkie. He turned away from her to face the corner and slumped down sadly. He then drew a knife with a small shing and started to study it contemplatively, like a geologist would study an unknown type of rock. His grip on the knife was so tight it was trembling. The edges of it were brown with old blood.

Pinkie's smile instantly disappeared.

"The best way you can help him right now is to just leave him alone," Noble advised. "He's having a discussion with himself."

"...Oh. I understand." Pinkie said solemnly. She turned the right way to face the rest of the ponies assembled.

Twilight cleared her throat to get attention. "...Anyway, Firestorm, Rainbow, Rarity, you have the floor."

"Well, um... it started pretty good." Firestorm gave a lopsided grin. "Then I did something stupid. As usual."

"As usual? What're ya talkin' 'bout?" Applejack asked.

"He's talking about our missions to Saddle Arabia, Dragon Country, Arimaspi Mountain- " Noble began.

"Arimaspi mountain was your fault," Firestorm objected.

Noble laughed, a rich, pleasing sound to all that heard. Fluttershy perked up her ears when she heard how warm it was. "You're right. It was. But of course, there was also the business with the changelings."

Firestorm winced.

"The rescue from Midnight Castle," he relentlessly continued.

Firestorm winced again.

"And, of course, Skyworld."

"Okay, Skyworld was everyone's fault," Firestorm said embarrasedly. "We agreed on this."

"Stop reminiscing and get on with the story already!" Spike interrupted his nostalgic memories.

Firestorm picked right up. "AAAAANYWAY, we cantered our merry little way along the pretty little forest of death until we reached the castle."

"It was the way we left it when we carted all those books to the Canterlot library," Rarity reported. "It was dark and dank and musty and did nothing to help my mane."

Rainbow interjected. "Then Firestorm took one of his swords and he set it on fire!" She let out a squeal. "That. Was. So. Awesome!"

Firestorm uncharacteristically giggled. "D'aww, thanks, Dashie."

"How does that even work?" Pinkie asked.

Starlight cleared her throat. "Was the sword enchanted?"

"Yeah, Starlight. The fire's allegedly taken straight from Tartarus's infernos."

"Dude..." Spike marveled. "That's even more awesome than dragon fire."

"Well, I've got dragon fire too," Firestorm bragged, holding up his arms. "There's a Dragonstone in these babies that never runs out of fire, so I can use them as much as I want."

Spike gaped while Rainbow whistled, evidently impressed.

"But the best part?" he asked, pulling a scroll with an orange ribbon out of his mane. "Since it's dragon fire, I can send letters to the princesses!" He aimed his hoof at the letter and twisted it. A faint whine and a small click was heard, and a tongue of flame gouted out and enveloped the letter. The smell of burning paper filled the room.

"Does everything you burn with those go to the princesses?" Twilight asked interestingly as the fire died down.

"Nah." He waved a hoof. "There are different modes that allow me to adjust how far the flame goes out, and how hot the fire is. And there's a mode that lets me send letters to 'Tia and Loony." As if on cue, his flamethrowers ignited and a letter with an orange ribbon came spiraling out. Firestorm caught it in his wing.

" 'Tia and Loony?" Starlight asked with an eyebrow raised to her forehead.

"I'm on a nickname basis with them. Trust me, they love it!" He unrolled the scroll and began to read aloud. "Sir Firestorm, this is the last time I'm telling you. If thou shalt refer to me or mine sister as 'Tia or Loony again, I shall donate thy entire Daring Do collection to the royal fireplace." Everyone laughed.

When the laughing stopped, Twilight spoke again. "So you got in the castle. What then?"

"Well, we went in the throne room," Rainbow picked up. "And that's when things started to get weird."

"You remember how there's a raised platform the thrones are on?" Rarity reminded Twilight. "Well, Firestorm felt like he was being drawn to it for some reason."

"And underneath the staircases that led up, Firestorm activated a catch that split open to reveal a room," Rainbow continued.

"And you'll never guess what we found in there," Rarity finished.

"You know, it's just so cute, the way you all finish each other's sentences," Firestorm observed. When he saw Applejack looking at him like he was an undiscovered type of apple, he shrugged. "Just thought I'd point that out."

"Twilight, we found a carving of the Tree of Harmony," Rainbow said seriously. "And it looked old- like, older than Discord's reign of terror before Nightmare Moon."

In the corner, Freedom Fighter perked up his ears and turned around curiously, sheathing his dagger. He came to the spot next to Pinkie's seat and listened intently.

"And for some, uh, odd reason, the tree... you see, the tree... had all the Elements on it, let's say," Rarity said nervously.

Rainbow delivered the blow. "Twilight, the tree didn't have six Elements! It had ten!"

And the entire room froze in shock. Everyone except for Rarity and Rainbow had their mouths dropped and their eyes wider than dinner plates. There was a creaking sound as Twilight toppled out of her seat. As she hit the ground, nothing moved- body, mane, or eyes. She looked like a wooden prop for a play. She just lay on her side, petrified.

PinkiePie's pupils were pinpricks and her poofy pink mane popped into the air. After a moment she pulled a glass of water out of nowhere, chugged about half of it, and spewed it into the air. A black-garbed hoof reached out and grabbed it, and she turned to see Freedom Fighter chug the rest of it and spit that out as well. But then they heard a third spit-take and saw a flash of white in their peripheral vision that made everyone turn towards the source. A familiar voice then spoke.

"Well, this is an interesting turn of events. I hope I'm not too late to miss out on the conversation!"

Discord was holding a half-filled cup of tea and was holding his pointed tooth like a cookie. He was wearing a fancy suit made of inflatable balloons and was sitting at a picnic table on the wall.

The three Guardians instantly made defensive poses at his appearance. They had been informed by Celestia that Discord had been reformed, but they were still uneasy at his sudden appearance. A knife was halfway out of Freedom Fighter's sheath, and Firestorm was aiming his hooves at him, and Noble Blade had instinctively charged his horn, but he stopped as soon as he heard Fluttershy mumble, "Oh, um, hi, Discord. How are you?"

"Oh, I am doing just absolutely splendid, Fluttershy." He snapped his eagle talon, and the table, suit, and tea disappeared in a flash of white. "It's just that I was trying to make some room in my schedule to show up when I heard about these Guardians of the Sun entering into your lives. I honestly would have visited sooner, but I was busy baking muffins." At that moment a loud ding came out of a stove that had mysteriously materialized next to him, and Discord suddenly had a fiery mane and a dark orange face. "I'm baking muffins, Princess. What does it look like I'm doing?"

When he got no response he groaned. "Oh, come on! Did none of you read chapter four?"

Pinkie was the only one that raised her hoof.

Firestorm looked at him quizzically for a few seconds, then asked, "Are you always like this?"

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Discord, the spirit of chaos and a very close personal friend of both Celestia and little Fluttershy here." He appeared behind her, patting her voluminous mane of hair. Fluttershy giggled.

Discord appeared with a snap and a flash of white on the table. "But I didn't come here for a friendly little chat. You see, I am just as surprised as you all are by this recent development. I mean, come on! I am one of the most powerful beings to ever exist, and this came as a shock? If there truly are ten Elements, then I fear greatly for the future." His tone was actually serious now, and not the light, jovial, mischievous voice most of them were used to.

Twilight seemed to finally come to at that point, and she shook her head as she stood up uneasily. "What are you talking about, Discord?" she asked woozily.

"Well, Twilight, use your head," Discord replied, dribbling his head between his legs like a basketball. He then flipped it back onto his neck--upside down. "First off, if the Lord of Chaos can be surprised, then that surprise must be the most out-of-whack thing that not even I can anticipate."

He then floated in the air upside down, just for fun, and started to sculpt his hand into a bust of Celestia. "And second, it suggests something rather serious indeed. You see, if there was a need for ten Elements in the past, then there must have been something even more powerful and terrible than me, Nightmare Moon, or even Lord Tirek." He spat the last name in disgust. "And if somepony like me does not know what that threat was, then that is very troubling indeed."

There was once again silence as most of them digested the disturbing news. Not even Pinkie was smiling. Finally Rainbow scratched her mane and said, "So... you're just as clueless about this as the rest of us?"

"I am not proud to admit it, but I know nothing about these four other Elements that may or may not even exist. To be honest, I only showed up because I'm as curious about this whole business as you are, so I'm afraid I'm of no help."

Twilight frowned in disappointment.

"I would petition a question of thee, sir Discord," Noble said, looking the draconequis in the face. "Thou sayest thou art an agent of chaos and disorder and art inharmonious. Yet thou art at the same time an ally of the Elements of Harmony? It confuseth me greatly, for it seemeth as though thou art counterintuitive to support the mirror image of chaos. So art thou truly a being we can rely on?"

"Well, as I live! Such an accusation!" Discord pretended to look offended. Then he smiled. "But that's exactly what chaos is, isn't it, old boy?" he asked, floating over above Fluttershy's seat and tapping the unicorn on the head. "Chaos is the art of doing the unexpected at all times. It's unexpected for chaos to be helping harmony, but at the same time, it's perfectly natural for chaos to be unexpected!" He snapped his bear paw, and suddenly the entire table was set for a tea party.

"I suppose thy reasoning is sound," Noble conceded. He picked up his teacup only to find there was no bottom to it. He looked through it and could see across the table through the bottom.

"Would you like some tea?" Discord asked, tilting his head. A stream of dark brown liquid poured out of his ear into Fluttershy's cup, making her jump a little. Noble immediately put his arm around her, and she gave him a smile, which he blushed at. Discord was still speaking. "A very close friend of mine recommends Earl Grey."

Applejack pushed her teacup away. "Can we please git back ta the discussion? Ah'm sure we want to hear the other details."

"Yes, yes, yes, of course," Discord said resignedly, and with a snap all the table settings disappeared.

"So after the girls studied the carving, a whole pack of Timber Wolves showed up and me, Dashie, and Rares roughed 'em up pretty good," Firestorm said. His eyes bulged. "Wait a minute! Rarity, do you still have those knives I gave you?"

"They are at my boutique. If you would only visit, you could, perhaps, reclaim them?" she informed him.

He scowled. "Are you just trying to get me to visit a clothing store so that you won't have to deal with my rags anymore?"

She circled a hoof on the table. "Maaayyybe," she innocently replied.

"Or, or- " He widened his eyes in realization. "Or... maybe you're interested in me?" He giggled. "Oh, my!"

The air of smug superiority surrounding Rarity immediately dissipated, and she was suddenly flustered. "WHAT?! No, of course not!"

"Oh, why must we play games with our love?" he announced melodramatically. Soft background music started to inexplicably play out of nowhere. "If you aren't interested in me, why in Equestria would you want me to visit your place... alone?"

"IT'S BECAUSE YOUR COMBAT ENSEMBLE LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING USED TO CLEAN THE FLOOR!" she screeched, and the background music immediately cut off.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, darling," he said in an exaggerated deep voice. "I know you only want me to visit so you can take my, ah, 'measurements.'" He smirked, running his hooves down his front. Rainbow looked at him with wide eyes and a blush, which Firestorm did not notice. "If you wanted to get your hooves on this, you could have just asked, you know."

Rarity looked madder than a wasp's nest, and was absolutely speechless. A faint whistle could be heard coming from her scarlet face, and her teeth were clenched.

Spike, however, was hooting with laughter. "Duhuhude, just stop," he laughed. "She's way out of your league." He leaned forward. "Way out," he emphasized.

"If she's way out of my league, how much more is she out of yours?" Firestorm asked casually.

Spike immediately became very sullen and crossed his arms.

Trying to steer the conversation away from that particular topic, Twilight coughed hard. It didn't work.

"She doesn't want you and she doesn't like you!" Spike fiercely said to him.

"You're confusing your words. What you meant to say was, 'I don't want you and I don't like you,'" Firestorm corrected.

Twilight coughed even harder.

"I'm serious! You're not going to get Rarity if I don't have anything to say about it!" Spike maintained forcefully. By now Discord and Pinkie had both pulled buckets of popcorn and 3D glasses out of nowhere.

"Why, Spikey-Wikey!" Firestorm gasped in surprise. "Whatever made you think that way?"

"AHEM!" Twilight gave the loudest cough yet, making a few of the mares jump.

Freedom Fighter took something out of a pouch on his forearm and tossed it across the table at Twilight. Twilight, surprised, caught the objects he had thrown and looked at what lay in her hoof.

"Cough drops," she said expressionlessly. She gave Freedom a funny look. "Why the hay do you just carry around cough drops?"

The mute super soldier shrugged, then pointed a hoof at his throat.

"Let's just say he's got throat problems," Noble said evasively.

Starlight did not seem convinced. "...Oookaaayyy..." she said with a raised eyebrow. She then glared at Firestorm and Spike, and under her withering gaze they fell silent. She then looked at Pinkie and Discord. Both of them hurriedly chucked aside their popcorn buckets and 3D glasses.

Freedom Fighter banged his hoof on the table hard, bringing all attention to him. He looked at Firestorm, then asked a question in sign language.

"He wants to know about the Fallen we've encountered," Firestorm announced to all assembled. He then looked squarely at Freedom Fighter. "I honestly can't say much. I haven't seen something like that in my life. He did get really mad when he saw us, though. We didn't even do anything to provoke him, but we triggered it more than assuming his gender. It just started burning the castle down."

Twilight looked down somberly. "I still can't believe that happened, you know. The castle was supposed to be a memorial to the two sisters. And now... it's gone." She rubbed her face. "When I saw the smoke coming from the castle, I was scared... I wanted to rush in there and help you three. I thought you had gotten hurt, or even..." She paused at the word. "...died."

Firestorm cleared his throat. "Well, you were partially correct."

"I saw the fire too," Fluttershy softly said. "Oh, I was so worried when I saw it! And I was in such a good mood, too..." She played with her hair.

"Why were you in a good mood?" Pinkie asked. "I'm always in a good mood, but that's just because I'm Pinkie. Did you have anything reeeaaally good happen to you? What was it? Was it because you found a new pet? Like a bird? Or a dog? Or was it because somepony gave you a present, even though it isn't your birthday? What was the present? Was it a postcard? A bag of jelly beans? A yo-yo?" She was bouncing up and down on her rump excitedly, making small squeaks.

Firestorm leaned next to Rainbow. "Is there a rubber ball under her?" he asked.

"It's Pinkie physics," Rainbow explained. "Just ignore it."

Fluttershy was looking down, a bit of pink on her cheeks. "Um... somepony... complimented me..."

For a brief moment, there was a steely glint in the glare Discord leveled at Noble Blade. Then it passed without anyone noticing.

"Anyway," Rainbow loudly started, "We tried to run out of the castle, but I got trapped." She shuddered. "I'll admit, I was scared." She rolled her eyes. "I mean, not, like, that kind of scared. I was more like... mildly concerned! Yeah! That was it!"

"We get it, you were scared." Spike smiled. "Go on."

"Look, I was trapped under a fallen section of roof! My wings were broken, I had a super huge splinter in my leg, and I had burns all over my body! Wouldn't that hurt you? Wouldn't that scare you?"

"Nope." Spike shook his head, then started to count on his fingers. "I don't have any wings, my dragon scales make it so that I can't feel sharp stuff, and I'm immune to fire!"

A moment passed, then Rainbow said, "Riiight," understandably. "Look, I was scared and trapped and hurting in a burning building, and I honestly didn't think I'd get out again. But then..." She looked at Firestorm, who was hanging on to her every word. "Then you... saved me. You went back in there and you carried me out." Her voice was uncharacteristically subdued. She circled her hoof on the table. "I... I don't know what else to say except... thank you."

Firestorm was unusually silent. He avoided her magenta gaze and squeaked, "You're welcome." A moment or so passed, then he hurriedly continued. "Anyway, you all know the rest."

"I think that's all we need to know for now. You've given us a lot to think about," Twilight said, getting out of her throne. "Unless we have any more business to discuss?"

"Well, on a more cheerful note, the Grand Galloping Gala is coming up," Rarity said pleasantly. "It's Wednesday today, and it's next Friday, I think. If everypony has their dresses ready..."

"I think we should all stop by to visit you to review them," Starlight told her. "I actually don't think I have one yet."

"Then I shall make you one!" Rarity declared. At this point Freedom Fighter got up from his spot and stood by the door, trying very hard not to look at Twilight for some reason. Rarity was still speaking. "But first I need to de-stress from all this unpleasant business. Fluttershy, dear, would you care to accompany me to the spa after this?"

"Certainly!" Fluttershy smiled.

"Ah could visit this Saturday ta review ma dress," Applejack said. "That might be convenient fer everypony, actually. How does Saturday sound?"

"I've got some time in the schedule for that day between three and four," Twilight made known.

"I'm free," Starlight said.

"This Saturday's an off day for Wonderbolts practice," Rainbow said. "I can make it."

"I just have to feed some animals."

"Somepony else is running Sugarcube Corner that day."

"I shall come," Noble said. "I am afraid I have no garments not made of steel. I shall gladly pay thee for thy trouble."

"Oh, absolutely not!" Rarity insisted. "For you, I shall create a smashing outfit to bedazzle all the other, much lesser Nobles in Canterlot." She snorted at her own joke.

"There are other Nobles in Canterlot?!" Pinkie asked with a gasp. "HE VISITED THE MIRROR POOL!" she exclaimed in shock, leaping in the air.

Firestorm made a face of disgust. "I suppose I need to get my knives back soon," he conceded. He sighed. "I'll come to your merry-go-round."

Rarity's face fell at the prospect of him visiting, even though she was the one who had invited him in the first place. "...Oh. Oh, okay."

"But cheer up!" He smirked. "Now you won't have to deal with Noble all by yourself at the boutique! I'll be there! You don't have to be afraid!"

"Don't count on it," she muttered.

Firestorm held up an invisible mirror and began to admire himself, running a hoof through his mane. "It's gonna be great, Rares!" he said. "Now you finally have an excuse to feel me up while taking my measurements!"

"I have magic! I don't need my hooves to touch you!"

"You're right. But I know you want to. I've seen you eyeing me before, you know."

"You mean, looking at you with exasperation and disgust?" Noble asked politely.

"What he said," Rarity said, pointing at Noble.

"Wait, that's what the looks she gives me are of?"

"Well, what would you assume the looks she gives you are of?"

He thought for a bit. "Lust?" he finally said.

"Celestia forbid!" Rarity gasped, holding a hoof to her heart.

There came a series of taps on the ground. Everyone turned towards the source. Freedom Fighter was using his left hoof to tap on the ground. The pauses between taps varied from short bursts to gaps a second long.

"Wha's he doin'?" Applejack asked Twilight.

"I recognize this from a book I read!" Twilight hushed. "It talked about codes, and I memorized some of them. He's tapping out a message in Horse Code!"

Freedom confirmed her guess with a nod, then resumed his tapping. When he was done Twilight said, "He says he can come to the boutique, but he's not that eager to have an outfit for him."

Freedom Fighter nodded again, then tapped out more Horse Code. When he was finished, Twilight interpreted. "He says he's willing to help you in the orchard on Saturday so you can get done faster, Applejack."

"Sure. Ah could use all the help Ah can get. Rainbow, you wanna help as well?"

"Yeah! I can do that!" Rainbow said.

"Okay, then, it's settled. We'll all meet on Saturday at three or four. Any further comments?"

There were none to be made. Discord was just hovering silently off to the side. He had nothing to add, either.

"Until then," she told them, and then she and Starlight exited off to the library with Spike trailing behind them, talking in hushed voices and serious tones.

Noble was at the door first, and held it for all the other girls to exit. Fluttershy gave him a smile at the ground when she passed through, and Rarity beamed at him, and Pinkie just bounced out. Firestorm exited by another door, but Freedom Fighter was nowhere to be seen. Noble didn't let that bother his attention, however. He had probably leaped out of the window when nopony was looking like he sometimes did.

He was about to leave when he heard a voice behind him. "A moment, Noble Blade. I want to have a little chat."

It was Discord who spoke.

Noble Blade turned to face him with a grave expression. "Discord, Lord of Chaos. How may I humor thee?"

"Oh, no, I have plenty of humor already!" Discord held miniatures of both Pinkie Pie and Firestorm in his bear paw. Then he clenched his fist and both were crushed. Discord put his face right in front of Noble's. "But it's Fluttershy I want to talk about," he snarled through clenched teeth.

"What do you want?" Noble asked directly.

"I've seen how you act around her--all caring and innocent. I know you're trying to win her heart." He pushed Noble back up against a chair. "But if this is a false ruse--if you harm a hair on her head--I swear to Celestia I will hunt you down and spread your ashes across the darkest hole in Tartarus!" There was a wild green flame in Discord's eyes as he said it.

Noble looked down. "I believe it. But you won't do it."

Discord put his face even closer to Noble's. "And what makes you think I won't?" he growled in the most sinister voice he could muster, the kind of voice that could rout entire armies in the middle of their charge.

Noble met his fiery gaze evenly with all seriousness. "Because if I were to do such a thing as harm Fluttershy, I would do that myself."

The fire in Discord's eyes died to his normal yellow-and-red state. He looked at Noble inquisitively.

"For anypony to hurt Fluttershy would be an unforgiveable sin. I would sooner suffer agony and torment before hurting her."

Discord considered that. After a moment he drew himself back up. "I believe you," he said. "I hope that you never do. She means a lot to me."

"Why? What relation to her are you? Are you an ex-lover, or..." Noble said uncertainly. If Discord was an ex-lover of Fluttershy's... or, he feared deeply, a current lover...

"What? Ohohohooo, no, of course not!" he said, waving Noble off. "Me? A boyfriend of Fluttershy? What nonsense! I'm more like an eccentric old uncle, and Fluttershy's just my favorite niece!"

Noble breathed a sigh of relief. "That's an interesting way of putting it," he admitted.

"And I suppose it's a bit strange to accuse you of being untrustworthy, right?" he admitted, standing next to a twin copy of himself that was sporting a handlebar moustache, top hat, cape, beret, and monocle. "Coming from the Lord of Chaos?"

"I'd agree with that," Noble said. "You're an immortal trickster that loves to play games, shows up in bright flashes of white, reluctantly helps us, and can alter the fabric of reality with the snap of a finger."

"Well, it's not the first time John de Lancie's played that role in a Next Generation TV show."

Noble tilted his head to the side. "What?"

"Inside joke." He waved him off. "My point is, if you're going to be with Fluttershy, you will never hurt her. I care too much to have her end up with the wrong stallion for the rest of her life."

"The feeling is mutual, my friend," Noble declared.

"Friend?" Discord asked, confused. "What do you mean, friend?"

"Why wouldn't we be? You and I fight for the same side. And we both care for Fluttershy. Why shouldn't we be friends? I'm friends with ponies with personalities worse than yours. And, truth be told, I desire not to see thee as a rival." He extended a hoof.

"What's with the fancy talking?" Discord asked curiously.

"It's just an idiosyncrasy," Noble told him.

Discord slowly, almost reluctantly, took Noble's hoof and shook. Then he fixed him a serious face. "I mean what I said. If you don't protect and serve Fluttershy with every breath of your life, you will have neither life nor breath." He stared at Noble intently, then said in a chipper voice, "Cheeri-o!"

And he snapped his talons and vanished in a puff of white.

Noble shook his head, then put a hoof on it. A cheerful fellow, that one, he thought. But a bit unpredictable.

He suddenly had a horrifying mental image of not just him, but also Firestorm and Pinkie Pie in the same room together unsupervised.

The result of that, he thought as the picture developed in his brain, would probably be the end of the world.

Interlude

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The creature panted heavily as he reached the crest of the hill. His tongue felt like sandpaper. He could not recall the taste of his favorite foods. Peaches and cream, crisp, watery salad, tender meat that squeezed out juice when you cut it...

He was carnivorous, yes. But upon his living experience with the peace-loving ponies, he learned to cut back on his meat-based diet. It was actually Princess Celestia that had introduced him to some of his favorite foods, like warm, buttery rolls, fat, juicy strawberries covered in rich dark chocolate, the crunchy celery with strings that got in between your teeth...

Stop it! he told himself irritably. You're just making things worse!

His stomach roared in protest.

He had barely eaten since he overheard the ominous conversation between Marshal Malice and the king of Tartarus. Thankfully, neither master nor servant had spotted him. The first available instant, he had begun his swift departure from the tortured landscape of Tartarus, evading at all costs Marshal Malice, or, Celestia forbid, Lord Tirek.

He had wings, but both age and an unfortunate accident had made them practically unusable. So he kept his wings folded on his back, and covered himself up with a long black cloak. He, unlike the ponies, was tall, bipedal, and thickly built. That was all the ponies looking at him could ascertain. The rest of his features were covered up with his tall black cloak with a wide hood.

The sound of running water made his ears perk up. Relying on hearing alone, he thirstily wandered around the top of the hill.

After a few minutes he finally he came across a thick stream of water running down the opposite side of the hill. The water was pristine and clear.

"Il Grata Celestia." He thanked Celestia in the Rada tongue before dropping to his knees and drinking happily. The water washed over his hardened tongue blissfully. He kept his mouth in the fast-flowing water for forty-five seconds before he took it out. He then scooped his hands into the water and forcefully splashed it on his face.

He groaned and stretched his back. It popped in relief like he was popping corn. His stomach made an uncomfortable sound upon making the analogy, and he sighed in resignation. He flopped on the cool, wet grass. For several minutes he just lay there, panting hard. It was tough, breaking into and escaping Tartarus while being undetected by anyone, then running with little to no food or water over the next few days. But his strength didn't matter. He didn't care what had happened to him, as long as Celestia heard the message he needed to tell her.

He extended his fingertips. Black, dark spiky magic churned around his fingers and circled around them like a brewing storm. He exhaled hard with the effort it took to conjure it. It was a long time since he used his magic, and it got more and more difficult every time to conjure it. He finally grunted again after a few minutes, and the magic cut off with a sizzle.

He sat up, and looked at the lone landmark he could see in the sky. On top of a tall mountaintop, faint from the distance and small, was Canterlot. The mountain looked to be about the size of his thumb if he held it up. He could just make out the waterfall cascading down the side of it. And it looked so far away...

At least I'm not in Tartarus anymore, he thought, trying to reassure himself.

He finally stooped down and ate a bit of grass. It wasn't much, and he wished he could have more tasty things, but strength wasn't an affordable commodity for him. Anything he could take, he would, until he reached Canterlot and delivered his news.

He finally stood up. After collecting himself, he jogged down the mountain in the direction of Canterlot as if he was being followed.

But little did he know that it was true.

Chapter Twenty-three: Girl Talk

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"...And so I donated most of the profits I made from that sale to the animal shelters and soup kitchens-- after expenses, of course."

"Oh, Rarity, that's... ahh... wonderful..."

Rarity and Fluttershy were in the spa, getting a delightful massage by the sisters that ran it, Aloe and Lotus. Apart from the four of them and Bulk Biceps, who was in another part of the building tidying up, they were the only customers there.

Rarity glanced over at Fluttershy. Her response seemed a little... off. As if she was focused on something else.

She had been like that ever since they had entered the spa. In each of the spa's activities so far, Rarity had tried to make some normal small talk, and usually Fluttershy was interested in what she had to say. But today she was looking off into space and daydreaming. She was smiling slightly with a bit of droopy eyes, giving the occasional "That's nice" or "Okay" or "Mmm-hmm" before sighing contentedly. She wasn't sure if the happy sigh was because of the treatment she was getting or because of her daydream.

She reached out and poked Fluttershy's leg. "Darling? What's the matter?"

"Hmm?" Fluttershy drew her head up. "Lotus, did you do that?"

"Do vhat?" she asked with her signature accent.

"Poke my leg."

"That was me, Darling," Rarity clarified as Aloe stretched out a bad spot in her back. "Ahh..."

"Oh, sorry. It's just hard for me to tell. With her touching me, you know?" She indicated Lotus, then lay down on her belly flatter, a more content smile on her face. "What do you mean, what's the matter?"

"Is there something on your mind?"

"What? Oh, no, Rarity, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" She stretched herself like a cat, cricking out a few joints. "Oohoo, that tingles..." she giggled. Lotus and Aloe stopped their massage and stepped aside to allow Fluttershy and Rarity to step down from their massage tables.

"Well, I'm not saying that it's bad, per se," Rarity said as they went to the hot tub in the spa house and stepped up to enter in. "It's just that you seem a lot more... affable today than usual."

"I am?" Fluttershy asked as she slowly lowered herself into the hot tub, wincing at the heat. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"Nonono, don't be!" Rarity said as she also stepped in. "I just want to know why."

Fluttershy looked at her uncertainly. "Oh. Y-you do?"

"If it's blocking your concentration that much, don't you think you should talk about it with a friend?" Rarity asked. The two spa sisters came up to supervise with gentle smiles. "Now come on, you can trust me."

"Um..." Fluttershy looked down. "Well, I don't think anything bad happened recently. Apart from the Friendship Mission's results, I mean."

"So what happened?"

She grew a cute smile. "Well... I-I've been thinking... about the Guardians of the Sun, actually."

"Ze Guardians of ze Sun?" Aloe asked, above them on the hot tub's platform. "Are zey zose stallions zat came to Ponyville a leetle beet ago?"

"Zat pegasus zat did a Sonic Flameboom vas razer... eenteresting," Lotus put in, next to Aloe. "But zat unicorn ees very handsome. I vonder eef- "

"He's taken!" Fluttershy said rather fiercely. She then shrunk away. "Sorry!" she squeaked.

"He is?" Rarity asked in surprise. If he was, then who was the lucky mare? And how did Fluttershy know?

Fluttershy stood up a little straighter. She looked both excited and nervous to say the next sentence. "Well, I'm actually about to find out." She giggled in excitement. "You see, Noble Blade-"

"What about him?" Rarity asked dangerously.

Fluttershy giggled again and grew a wide smile, hugging herself. "He... he asked me on a date!" She sighed in bliss. "I've been thinking about him this whole time!"

Something snapped inside Rarity.

Her left eye twitched.

"That'll be eight bits."

Noble happily gave the three flower ponies the desired amount, and his hoof now held a bouquet of flowers.

"Who's the flowers for?" the mare at the counter asked slyly. "Is it a special occasion?"

Noble sat on his haunches and ran a hoof through his thick blue mane, a small blush on his face at the thought of Fluttershy. "Yeah, I suppose that can be it. A, uh, date on Friday."

"Lucky mare," she pouted. "Getting a guy like you."

Noble used his magic to make his wallet teleport back inside his private quarters in Canterlot. He was going to ignore the comment.

"If you want to keep the flowers fresh until Friday, all you have to do is- "

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!"

Noble felt like his ears were going to fly off from the very sudden outburst. Years of battle training made him instinctively drop to the ground and cover his ears. But even muffled, the scream seemed to permeate every inch of him, and he was very nearly blown away from the scream.

When it finally stopped, Noble's mane stuck up everywhere and he had skidded back a few feet. He took his hooves away from his ears and discovered, to his surprise and relief, that there wasn't any blood leaking from them. He then looked at the bouquet he had in his hoof and sighed disappointedly. It was ruined by the scream that sounded like the roar of a beast of Tartarus. The flowers were broken off of the stems, most of them snapped in half.

"What... what in Equestria was that?" he asked dizzily.

All around him most other ponies were getting up slowly from the sonic scream. He noticed that a few mirrors were broken and some windows cracked. The pony that had sold him his bouquet had collapsed on the ground and was on the verge of fainting.

Noble hurriedly went to her side and propped her up, beginning to shake her. "Do not faint on me! I shall save thee!"

"Catastrophe..." the mare weakly murmured.

"What?" Noble asked concernedly.

"The bouquet... ruined! The horror! The horror!" She started to shake.

Noble's mouth thinned in amusement and relief.

Pinkie Pie was finishing up the frosting on a massive pink cake with white frosting on the borders. As she started to finish the edge of the top layer, so high in the ceiling she had to use a stepladder to reach the top, she suddenly felt a Combo coming on. Her mane stuck straight first. Then her knee twitched. Finally she stuck out her tongue uncontrollably, making her drop the frosting baster she was holding in her mouth.

She knew this particular Combo perfectly well, of course. That Combo meant Rarity was about to scream. And, sure enough-

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!"

Pinkie fell off the stepladder into the cake, splattering it everywhere on the walls, floor, and ceiling.

Pinkie popped her head out of the cake ruins and licked herself clean in one swoop with an abnormally long tongue. "Wow, that was fun!" She grinned. "Can we do it again?"

And she dug into the remnants of the cake hungrily.

Firestorm was deeply concentrated. Frowning with his tongue out and crouching, he was gripping a permanent marker in his hoof and was drawing a perfectly detailed mustache and goatee on Noble Blade's suit of armor. He was just adding the final curl to the end of the long mustache when-

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!"

The marker slipped. "FFFFFFFF- " Firestorm jumped backwards all the way across Noble Blade's bedroom and hit the wall with a bang, jostling the massive broadsword hanging up just above his head on the wall. As he got up, stars swirled above his head like orbiting planets. He shook them away hurriedly. Then he looked at the armor and gaped at the sight.

The marker had slipped across the face, squiggling his vandalism.

"NOOOOOOO!" Firestorm wailed, and assumed a pose of despair. "MY MASTERPIECE!" He let out a strangled sound, like a cat giving birth, and threw his head back against the wall hard.

He was in the perfect position for him to then see the sword drop on his face. The pommel hit his forehead with a smack, and he fell to the ground with his tongue lolled out to the side and his eyes crossed.

"Do you honestly think there can be ten Elements?" Starlight asked Twilight in the castle library.

"I really don't know!" Twilight said hurriedly, flipping through the pages of a thick history book. "Nothing in Equestria's recorded history says anything about any others! But for that one carving to come out of nowhere and prove the history of the world wrong... I'm not sure at this point." She pointed at Starlight. "Hey, could you hoof me that copy of- "

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!"

A surprised burst of energy shot out of both their horns and suddenly every book in the library sprang out of their shelves, burying both of them in a mountain of books and scrolls.

The door slammed open, and Spike sprinted into the room, surprised and scared out of his mind. "What in Equest- " he started, then slipped on a fallen book. "WHOAH!" he cried, and fell backwards on the ground with a thud. The book promptly flew across the room and smacked Twilight in the face, who had just poked her head out of the book pile she was buried in. The book slipped off of her face slowly and lay open in front of Twilight at a chapter entitled, "Soap, oil, marbles, and roller skates: How to avoid slipping accidents."

Beside her, Starlight poked her own head out of the book pile, utterly baffled at what had just happened.

"NOOOOOOO!" a melodramatic voice wailed from above them, and they all looked up. "MY MASTERPIECE!" The voice let out some indistinguishable sound similar to that of a pregnant cat, and there came a thud. There immediately followed a heavy smack, and it was silent.

Starlight turned to look at Twilight. She raised an eyebrow. "Firestorm?"

"Firestorm," Twilight swiftly confirmed.

"And just like that I hit the Timber Wolf in the eye- like that!" Rainbow demonstrated the strike on an invisible opponent with a yardstick she had picked up in the clubhouse. "And he blew into sticks!"

"Wow!" Scootaloo cried, applauding wildly while sitting down on her haunches. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were sitting on either side of her in the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse. "I can't believe you actually did that!"

Rainbow Dash chuckled sheepishly. "Well, I couldn't have done it without Firestorm," she replied.

Applebloom tilted her head. "Isn't he the same pony that beat you a while back?"

Rainbow shook her head. "No. The thing is, he told me that I won after all."

"Why'd he do that?" Scootaloo asked. "To make you happy?"

Rainbow took a second before replying. "That's what he said."

"Why does he care if you're happy or not?" Scootaloo asked with interest.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!"

Rainbow recoiled instantly. All three fillies jumped a foot in the air and screamed in fright, then sped in three separate bursts of air to Rainbow Dash, clinging on to Rainbow's legs with all the force they could muster. They were trembling so hard they were making Rainbow shudder herself. For the entire duration of the shriek, they were all screaming in terror. Then the scream finally died down.

But the three fillies were still screaming, holding on to Rainbow for dear life and trembling.

Rainbow pried first Sweetie Belle, then Applebloom, then Scootaloo off of her. "Okay, okay!" she had to yell over their abnormal volume. "That's enough! It's gone!"

And they stopped almost instantly.

The door to the clubhouse then burst open with a BANG and in barged Applejack, making the fillies all scream again and jump backwards to the back of the clubhouse. "Which one o' y'all got hurt?" she hurriedly asked, eyeing the trembling fillies with concern.

"Nothing's hurt here except our ears," Rainbow reported, digging a hoof into one of them. "Is it just me, or did that sound like Rarity?"

"Ah mean, who else do we know that's that loud?"

"Fluttershy?" Sweetie Belle asked, raising a hoof.

"That's only when she's havin' a bad day," Applejack told her.

She will never love you.

SMASH

You don't deserve her. You should not get her. Why would she want to be with you anyway?

SMASH

You are a murderer. A pony that enjoys slaying his enemies more than being with friends...whatever they are, anyway.

SMASH

Who could love you? Who could love me? A mutilated soldier for Celestia, a weapon, a demented murderer.

Freedom Fighter smashed his weapon into the next dead tree, sending another flurry of woodchips away from him. He had snuck out of the castle after the report and escaped to the border of Ponyville, next to the Everfree Forest. He noticed he had been looking at Twilight somewhat affectionately during the meeting and lingering his gaze when she wasn't looking. So he decided to drive those thoughts away by cutting dead standing trees into oblivion, but it wasn't working all that well.

Maybe we should do the ritual after this, he suggested.

Freedom Fighter looked over his left shoulder. 'The ritual? But that's only after battles!'

It'll make you feel a lot better.

'I can't do that!'

You will.

'I don't want it!'

You do!

Freedom Fighter twisted both ends of the staff until they lined up in a certain way and they clicked, activating the enchantments on it. The staff glowed yellow in the grooves running up and down the staff like rivers. 'I DON'T!' he silently screamed, and swung the staff at another tree.

It cleaved through the entire width of the tree in one swoop. The diagonal sizzling cut was glowing and cauterized with heat. It stayed like that for just a second before it slid off the stump and crashed to the ground with a loud thud, cracking dead branches underneath.

Don't kid yourself. I know you do.

Freedom Fighter swirled himself around, holding the glowing yellow staff out, and it went through another tree with another sizzle. 'NO I DON'T!' he bellowed internally as the tree keeled over with a cracking noise.

I will make you do it.

He raised his staff again, intending to cleave through another tree on the horizontal. When you're done here, we'll go and lock ourselves in our room, and then we'll-

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!"

AAAAAAAH! The staff flew out of his hooves as he made a wild swing and it embedded itself to the hilt in the trunk of a tree ten feet away. Freedom Fighter instinctively huddled close to the ground in an instant, holding his hooves to his head. IF I HAD MY VOICE I'D BE SCREAMING!

'BUT WHY?!' he bellowed back at himself.

I HAVE NO IDEA!

Eventually the awful noise died down and Freedom Fighter slowly took his hooves away from his ears and was surprised to see that his ears weren't lying in his hooves. He stood up. All around him the grass was facing the opposite direction from the scream's force. Composing his thoughts, he tried to cheer himself up with some laughter.

WHAT IN THE HECK WAS THAT SCREAM OF TERROR I JUST HEARD?!

'HOW MUCH DOES A HEART TRANSPLANT COST? I THINK MINE JUST POPPED OUT OF MY CHEST!'

THAT"S NOT THE ONLY THING THAT POPPED OUT!

Freedom Fighter tried to stick his tongue out at the comment but failed. 'OH MY HECK, YOU ARE DISGUSTING!'

I LIKE SCREAMING!

Freedom Fighter recoiled. WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?

I LIKE SCREAMING!

Freedom Fighter looked over his left shoulder. 'DID YOU INVITE HIM?'

NOOO! Freedom Fighter shook his head. I'VE ALREADY GOT ENOUGH ISSUES HERE!

Then he rested his chin in his hoof. What- everrr, he said in a long, obnoxious, stretched-out voice. You guys are, like, super lame right now! And this bodysuit is super tacky! He plucked at the armored suit that covered every inch of his skin.

He then narrowed his eyes. ALL RIGHT! he roared silently. WHO INVITED THE WHINY TEENAGER INTO THIS MESS?

I LIKE SCREAMING!

'HIT HER BEFORE SHE STARTS TO WHINE ABOUT HAVING A BOYFRIEND!'

Freedom Fighter punched himself in the face. He staggered, clutching his nose. 'OW, DUDE! YOU HIT ME INSTEAD OF THE TEENAGER!'

SORRY!

You all need to go to, like, a crazy asylum-a! Like, really! I literally cannot even-a! He scoffed.

LEAVE NOW AND NEVER COME BACK!

Freedom Fighter scoffed obnoxiously. Don't tell me what to do, freak show! And chill out! Like, stop with the screaming for, like, one second!

BUT I DON'T WANT TO STOP SCREAMING!

'BEGONE, THOUGHT!'

Both of the voices made little "Hmmph"ing noises before falling silent.

Freedom Fighter then silently laughed at the conversation he had made up. He knew how to handle the sad thoughts that crept into his head.

For the moment, anyway.

Discord was sitting comfortably in his home in the swirly, hallucinated town of Chaosville, sipping Earl Grey tea with his pinkie finger out- which he had decided to make into the exact same shape and size of Pinkie Pie. Why weren't all pinkies shaped like that?

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!"

And for the second time that day Discord spewed out his tea. He then started to choke; he had accidentally swallowed his tooth. He gagged and tried to force it up.

A loud flash of white came from behind him. "Never fear! For I shall save you, friend!" Another copy of Discord appeared from behind him and started to give him the Heimlich Maneuver. After a few thrusts the small curved tooth shot out of his throat across the room and embedded itself in the wall.

Discord turned around and hugged the carbon copy of himself in relief. "Oh, thank me so very much!"

"I'm welcome!" the copy said jovially, and with a loud snap he vanished.

Discord then looked around, trying to ascertain where that shrill shriek had come from. It sounded like Rarity, but it couldn't possibly be Rarity. Discord was in another separate dimension, so it simply wouldn't make any sense.

As he thought this he laughed. "Ohoho, of course it wouldn't make any sense to hear it! I'm the god of chaos! It doesn't make sense!" He picked a spare tooth out of his mismatched body and stuck that in his mouth in place of his missing tooth. "My, my, sometimes I amaze even myself."

He leaped back in his recliner, propping his legs up on the armrests. He returned to what he had been thinking of before he had been interrupted by Rarity's impossible scream. He was thinking about Fluttershy and that goody-two-horseshoes Noble Blade. The very mention of his name made him scowl.

They both liked each other! His best friend, the one that had been there for him when nopony else was, was now getting into a relationship? With a pony he knew next to nothing about? Now Discord felt like a third wheel, like he was useless... What would he be to Fluttershy if she now was obsessed with another pony? It was almost like one of those silly friendship problems the ponies were getting into all the time, where it was all about feelings and words and at the end of it all, a silly little mantra that should have been obvious from the beginning.

A secret princess bodyguard? How likely. And she didn't need a warrior for her to be with! She needed somepony who was understanding and calm and peaceable. Somepony that could make her strong and stand by her and protect... her...

Discord realized right then with a beleaguered expression that all of those characteristics could be found in a knight. Specifically, a pony that literally had the word noble in his name.

He facepalmed in defeat and stretched his face. "Oh, Celestia, what am I doing?" He didn't know what to do, for the first time he could remember.

"How goes the preparations for the Gala?" Luna asked.

"They should be finished by the time we planned," Celestia said. "You should attend this year! It'll be fun!"

"Thou sayest it will be," Luna muttered. "But thou hatest it with a passion."

Celestia laughed. "You got me there."

The two royal sisters were on a balcony overlooking Canterlot, with Ponyville in the faraway distance. They had taken a break from their royal duties for the day supervising the Gala setup and addressing the court.

"Besides," Luna continued, "the event taketh place at night, at which time I shall be overseeing the dream realm. 'Tis physically impossible for me to attend."

"Why not take a day off?" Celestia asked pleasantly. "Well, night, I mean. The ponies of Equestria can go without a supervisor for one night. You have a duty to yourself as well, you know. You can't spend all of your time with that mindset."

"The task of overseeing the dream realm is not something somepony can simply take days off from," Luna pointed out. "And plus, I do not wish to spent this supposedly fun night surrounded by stuck-up nobles trying to prune my hoof with their kissing."

"Speaking of Nobles..." Celestia said.

"Speaking of Nobles what?" Luna asked.

"You reminded me of Noble Blade. For the first time, the Guardians of the Sun are available to attend the Gala!" Celestia giddily laughed. "I need something new to spice up the gala, and I think they will be just the thing to make the night unforgettable!"

"The Canterlot nobility won't like it," Luna warned.

"The Canterlot nobility don't have to like it." Celestia shrugged.

"Do you hear that?" Luna suddenly asked.

"Hear what?"

"Listen!"

They both opened their ears. From far away, in the direction of Ponyville, a faint female voice could be heard screaming. It sounded outraged, and lasted for at least five seconds.

When it was over, Celestia looked at Luna, an amused expression on her face. "Now who do you suppose that is?"

"Who else do we know that is that loud?" Luna replied with a smirk.

They both were silent for a moment before reaching a conclusion. "Rarity," they said simultaneously, then they both started to giggle uncontrollably.

"Hold on, do you hear something?" Shining Armor asked Cadence, holding up a hoof for silence. They were in their private bedroom in the Crystal Empire.

In Manehatten, over the noises of the city's carriages and pedestrians, a pony sitting at an outside diner almost choked on his drink. He could have sworn he had heard a faint voice in his ears. He looked around for a moment before muttering, "I say!" and returned to his drink.

The creature stopped. He twitched an ear. He swiveled his head from side to side, under the wide hooded cloak he wore. He could have sworn he had heard something. Then he slumped, and drew his cloak closer about him. "Nal mi'yalk ta kush," he murmured, and shrugged.

He looked up through the forest, and refocused his goal. Northward was Canterlot, small and faint through the trees. He needed to reach that place, and fast.

The creature following a few meters behind him growled.

Rarity had on an absolutely outraged face. The force of her scream had sent all three other ponies in the room scattering for cover. Aloe and Lotus had leaped up comically into the air and were holding on desperately to the rafters. Fluttershy, meanwhile, had jumped out of the hot tub and had hidden under a towel cart, shaking so hard the cart rattled.

"HE ASKED OUT YOU? OUT OF ALL THE PONIES HE COULD HAVE CHOSEN?"

Fluttershy began to sob at her friend's tone of voice. She wrapped herself in her mane and tail and made tiny whimpering noises.

Rarity saw the damage done and her demeanor visibly softened. She got out of the hot tub and came over to where she was and tried to coax her out. "Oh, Fluttershy, I'm so sorry! I lost my temper, didn't I?"

Fluttershy mumbled something.

"What was that, darling?" Rarity put her head in closer.

"Y-y-you like him, too, d-don't you?" she trembled.

Rarity put a hoof on Fluttershy's arm. "Now- "

Fluttershy jerked her arm back away from her in fright, squeaking a bit at the contact Rarity had made. That one single action ripped Rarity's heart in pieces. Fluttershy was scared of her friend! That should never happen!

The door to the spa burst open and in the doorway stood the massive form of Bulk Biceps, his worker's hat dangling off his head and his wild red eyes wide with fear. "WHAT WAS THAT?!" he cried. Seeing the forms of Fluttershy and Rarity, however, he stopped, meekly backed out, and shut the door, mumbling, "Sorry," in the softest voice anyone could remember him using.

Her voice trembling a bit, Rarity spoke. "Listen to me, o-okay? Yes... yes, I do like him. He's charming and interesting and smart."

"Y-yes... I've noticed that about him too..." Fluttershy squeaked.

Rarity tried to say the next words sincerely. "But he got to you first, and that's all that matters. He chose you, and I should be happy for you. You have an absolutely perfect chance. But..." She sighed. "I can't help but feel a little... you see, I'm..."

"Yes?" she asked, poking her head out. There were some trails of residual tears on her face.

"I'm jealous!" she blurted. "This is like Trenderhoof all over again, except it's worse! Unlike him, he's actually sticking around, and he's proved to be likeable, and the love's mutual! I can't handle this! I just can't!" She exhaled in exhaustion. "You remember all those years ago when you became a model for Photo Finish and I was jealous of your fame?"

Fluttershy nodded mutely.

"It's like that too. But oh, it's so much worse this time! You had what I wanted, both back then and now! This stuff that's happening to me- I-it's just too much!"

There was a moment of silence. Then Fluttershy spoke up. "Um, if you really think about it... nothing's actually happened to you."

Rarity fixed her a look. "Do explain."

"He hasn't left you or anything, since the two of you were never together. He isn't breaking your heart, since you weren't an interest to begin with. He isn't changing his relationship to you by not being your boyfriend. You didn't have a date before, and you don't have a date now. If you think about it, your position hasn't changed."

Rarity hung her head in shame. She was right! Noble didn't hurt Rarity by not loving her! He hadn't done anything to her by asking out someone else! But...

"But all the same... I wish he could go with me! He's perfect for me!"

"Didn't you say the same thing about Blueblood?" Fluttershy asked suspiciously.

Rarity's ears flattened. "...Yes... I did... but it- it's not fair for a pony you like to love someone else!"

"Then you should know perfectly well how Spike feels every day," Fluttershy retaliated, a bit of scolding in her voice now. "All the time, he has to put up with having his crush," she pointed at Rarity, "going after other stallions who already want somepony else! You can't complain about this problem until you solve the problem going on under your very nose that you know about, but haven't done anything about yet!"

Rarity recoiled at her friend's severity. "Th-this has nothing to do with Spikey-wikey," she feebly defended.

"You're right. This has to do with you. With your way of looking not only at other stallions, but love itself! Yes, it'd be hard to see Noble Blade ask out somepony else. " She paused with a gasp as she tried to imagine that, then pushed the offending thought out of her head-- she knew Noble Blade wouldn't betray her like that. "But if I were to hold on to those feelings after it's clear he's into somepony else, I'm just making it hard for both myself and him! And I'd eventually be happy in the end because the mare that gets him will be with the most perfect stallion in Equestria!"

"But that's you talking! I don't always feel happy for everypony, okay? I don't always feel content watching everypony with someone special, and me not having that for myself just makes it worse!"

"Have you ever thought about why you don't have that for yourself?" Fluttershy demanded, moving out from under the cart. "It's because you either treat stallions like ponies to be manipulated to make your life easier, or you treat them like garbage when they don't measure up to your standard!"

Rarity felt her words strike her like a slap in the face. She recoiled, gasping a little. She wasn't all that aware that what she was doing was wrong, but now that Fluttershy had violently pointed that out, she felt all of her guilt rush to her stomach like the tears were rushing to her eyes right now.

She collapsed, her voice cracking. "Oh, listen to me! I'm so selfish! I've yelled at you because you got off well, and... and I'm feeling possessive of a stallion I've never been with!" She took a few deep breaths as Fluttershy relaxed her face of indignation, replaced instantly with a look of concern. Fluttershy held a hoof to her mouth in worry as Rarity said, "Sometimes... I wonder if I'm... worthy..."

"Of what?" Fluttershy softly asked.

"Of being the Element of Generosity!" Rarity yelled in despair. "I feel... like an awful friend and a t-terrible example! I'm supposed to be generous, but I feel so selfish!" She started to leak tears down her face.

Fluttershy came up to her and held her against her chest as she bawled in shame. The two spa sisters by then had come down from the ceiling and, noticing their condition, decided to back away a few paces.

Rarity's bawling eventually turned to sniffles. "I'm so sorry, Fluttershy..."

"For having a crush?"

"Well, that and my mascara's running and getting on you."

Fluttershy wiped the dark stain off her chest from where Rarity had pressed her face into it. "You shouldn't apologize for having a crush on him," she said.

"I shouldn't?" Rarity asked in bewilderment, looking up. Her tears stopped.

"Well, have you done anything rash because of your crush? Did you force Noble into a corner and plead with him to love you? Did you do anything to separate him from the others? Did you try to hurt him? Were you plotting or scheming anything? Did you, um... oh, gosh... kiss him?" She said the last part very quietly.

Thinking over it all, Rarity slowly replied, "Nooo..."

Fluttershy looked relieved. "Then you have nothing to apologize for. I don't mind that you have a crush on him, you know. It means that I'm so lucky that he could have had his choice of anyone and he chose me, and that makes me feel so special to have him. And I'm sorry that you're stuck like this. I'm really, really sorry that you can only imagine it. And I honestly hope you can get that for yourself someday."

Rarity felt a spark of relief in her heart, relief that she wasn't damaging to their relationship after all. She could have felt awful, but instead she felt at peace.

"Having feelings for somepony you like is great and wonderful," Fluttershy continued. "They're perfectly natural, and you haven't done anything wrong because of it. But if he wants somepony else, it's best to respect his feelings by keeping yours in check."

There was silence for a moment.

"Wow, Fluttershy. I didn't know you could be that... profound!"

"It's because my wonderful friends have taught me so much," Fluttershy said, extending a hoof to Rarity.

With a quivering smile, Rarity shook it. "I suppose that's my friendship lesson. I can just... admire him from afar. He's your special somepony. And I don't want to interfere and take it away."

"Then who is your special somepony?" She giggled. "Is it Firestorm?"

Rarity gagged. "Oh, Celestia forbid!" They then laughed, forgetting entirely any hard feelings or words they had spoken, and reverting back to their state of friendship.

The spa sisters, seeing the sudden lack of hostility, came close. "I suppoze jour problem ees... resolved?" Aloe asked curiously. Seeing the nods they gave, she continued. "Zen let us treat jou to furzer joys of ze spa."

As Fluttershy and Rarity went back into the hot tub, gently easing themselves in, Rarity said, "You know, it's a lot of fun just doing this with a friend. Maybe we should have invited the Guardians of the Sun here too." Seeing the expression Fluttershy made, Rarity said, "Minus, you know, Noble Blade. It would be a bit... uncomfortable." She pondered. "Actually, you know what, not Firestorm either."

"Because he wouldn't like the spa, or because the two of you can barely stand each other?" Fluttershy asked.

Rarity thought about that. "Both," she decided.

"But that only leaves Freedom Fighter," Fluttershy said. "And I don't think he'd be very comfortable here."

"What makes you say that?" Rarity asked.

"The poor thing's almost as shy as I am," Fluttershy said. "And he might scare the others."

Reflecting on the mysterious pony's macabre tendencies and reserved nature, Rarity silently agreed.

"He hasn't said a word since he first got here," Fluttershy was saying.

"That's something he can't help," Rarity pointed out.

"Oh. Right." Fluttershy blushed. "But there's another thing. He hasn't taken that bodysuit of his off this whole time either, and you'd need to, in order to enjoy the spa." She splashed the water. "And I don't think he'd want to take it off no matter how we tell him. But... why?"

"Vell, eef a pony vants to be kept secret, zat's up to heem," Lotus put in, twisting a towel so the water squeezed out of it and onto the tiled ground. "But I zink he's hiding somezing. Ozzervise, vhy vould he keep a secret?"

Rarity and Fluttershy pursed their lips in thought.

Chapter Twenty-four: How To Make Three More New Friends

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On Thursday, Freedom Fighter and Noble Blade were walking through the streets of Ponyville. While Noble Blade wasn't wearing armor, Freedom Fighter was covered from head to hoof.

As they walked, the knight leaned next to his friend's ear. "Are you comfortable?"

Freedom Fighter shrugged and gave a jerk of his head.

"You don't want to visit Rarity's boutique?"

Freedom Fighter plucked at his black suit.

Noble nodded understandably. "You think she's going to make something awful for you to wear?"

Freedom nodded emphatically.

"Is that it?" he asked. "Really?"

Freedom Fighter shot him a glare with his red eyes, as if to say You already know that's the only reason I need.

"If you really don't want to be here with me, you can always return to the castle."

Freedom Fighter shook his head no vehemently.

"I understand. I want to be free and out in the town as well. Maybe after the boutique we can do other things. If you behave I could get you ice cream," he offered with a grin.

Freedom Fighter rolled his eyes and pointed at his mouth indignantly.

Noble inhaled sharply. "Shoot, I forgot!" He let his eyes travel to the ground ashamedly.

They reached the carousel-shaped boutique and entered it. Inside were about fifteen other ponies checking out the clothes available on coat racks and hangars. Upon hearing the bell heralding their approach Rarity turned from the customer she was helping to face them and grew a smile. "Why hello! What brings you here?"

"Just an errand, miss Rarity," Noble Blade replied. "I was hoping I could browse."

"Well, what are you looking for?" she asked with a strained smile.

"I want a suit for Friday," he said, moving to a clothing rack and pushing the clothes aside. "Nothing too extravagant. Just something functional and comfortable."

"Are you sure I can't make a new one for you?" Rarity asked. "I need to only take your measurements, and I can have a suit ready- "

"Sorry, Miss Rarity," Noble cut her off, "but I need it tomorrow. Don't worry. You don't need to go to the trouble to make it by then."

"Well, yeah, but- " Rarity stuttered for a little, then said under her breath, "I wanted to take your measurements."

Freedom Fighter held a hoof to his mouth and shook with laughter like he'd received an electric shock. Noble gave him a look, however, and he immediately stopped. Evidently Noble didn't want Rarity to feel bad in front of him.

Noble turned back again to look at her, with sympathy in his eyes. He had already deduced what Rarity wanted. "You like me," he said matter-of-factly.

Rarity nodded mutely. Her eyes were on the ground.

Noble was almost as uncomfortable as she was all of a sudden. "Should I apologize?" he asked.

Rarity's head snapped back up. "Nonononono," she rushed. "There's nothing wrong! Nothing wrong at all! It...it's my fault for, ah, taking an interest in you while you already have your special somepony. Yesterday, she and I had a, ah, rather loud discussion at the spa about you."

Noble raised his eyebrows. "So that's where the scream yesterday came from," he mused quietly.

"So... yeah. I like you."

Noble Blade sat down on a low stool as Rarity said it. He didn't say anything hurtful or in denial. He just studied her. After a while he cleared his throat. "That's good to know."

Rarity perked her ears up. "What?"

"I mean, it's bad to be a part of, obviously, but knowing that... it makes me even luckier that I'm with Fluttershy." He winced. "Sorry, that came out bad."

"That's fine, darling, that's fine!" Rarity consoled him. "It's hard to put into right words, but I believe what you're trying to say is... knowing that you're envied makes it even luckier for Fluttershy to be with you."

Noble blinked. Then he chuckled for just a second. "I'm imagining what your response would be if I had said that to you," he explained. He looked at her intently, a little stiff on his stool. "You're really okay with letting me go after Fluttershy?"

"Of course!" she said, waving a hoof. "I want to be a generous friend, and that includes setting aside my own wants for other pony's needs. And if anypony needs a pony like you, it's her." She said it all with a smile, but there was just a hint of reluctance in her face.

Noble Blade let out an exhale in relief. "Thank you so much, Rarity. I was afraid I was hurting you."

"It's just water under the bridge now," she replied, remembering and using the exact same phrase she had used the last time he had visited her. "Now let us discard this conversation and never recover it. What was it you said you needed for your suit?"

Noble blinked at the abrupt change in conversation, then scratched his mane. "Just something simple that fits well and looks good. I'll gladly pay you- "

"Adadadada!" Rarity stopped him, holding up a hoof. "No more talk of payment. This is for a special night, and I will deliver you it at no additional expense."

"I think not," Noble replied evenly. "I'm just a customer. I will not bend the rules simply because we're friends." He smiled. "Besides, what's the point of being generous if you don't allow others to be generous to you in return?"

Rarity put a hoof to her chin. "You make a good point," she conceded. She looked at Freedom Fighter, who was looking in a mirror and trying to get something out of his nose. Upon seeing her glance in his direction, however, he abruptly spun around and snapped to attention like he had been yanked up by the top of his mane.

"Don't pretend I didn't see that," Noble Blade said, pointing at him. Freedom Fighter narrowed his scarlet eyes at him.

"Do you need anything, Freedom Fighter?" Rarity politely asked. "Aren't you getting a little tired of wearing that old thing all the time?"

Freedom Fighter widened his eyes all of a sudden and shook his head no rapidly. Behind Rarity, Noble Blade grew an expression of concern.

"Are you sure you don't want to buy something for you?" she pressured him. "I can take your measurements for something personal, you know."

Freedom Fighter shook his head no even faster, backing away from her.

Rarity made a face then. "Do you ever take that thing off?" she asked him. "To wash?"

Freedom Fighter gave a slow nod.

"Then you wouldn't mind if I took your measurements for something new?" Rarity asked, and her magic ignited and a fold of Freedom Fighter's bodysuit was enveloped in light blue magic.

But she instantly stopped her magic when she saw Freedom Fighter snap a single combat baton off his hip and hold it out to the side threateningly, narrowing his eyes at her. Behind Rarity, Noble Blade gripped the sides of his stool hard and leaned back in fear when he had taken the baton off.

Rarity gulped. "F-freedom..."

"He says no," Noble said, a bit of desperation in his voice. "Don't make him scared or angry, okay?"

Rarity wheeled around. "Noble?"

"He'll be a challenge to control once he's provoked," Noble Blade told her, trembling. "Drop the issue."

Freedom Fighter looked at both of them for an instant longer. All activities and noise in the boutique had ceased, and every shopper was looking at the black-covered pony. Freedom Fighter was looking at Rarity, waiting to see if she made any more movement towards him.

Then, with a snap of his hoof, Freedom folded the stick in half and reattached it to his flank. He sat on his haunches and pointed at himself, then at the door.

"You want to explore the town on your own?" Noble asked to clarify.

A nod. Then he assumed a heroic pose on his hind legs and pretended to punch off several invisible attackers.

"Oh, so you want to be a vigilante for the day?" Noble asked. "Get back into the old routine of stopping trouble and danger, eh?"

Freedom Fighter nodded.

He shrugged. "All right. Just don't destroy a lot of public property or harm anypony too bad."

Freedom Fighter saluted, then walked over the boutique's door, opened it, and disappeared.

"A vigilante?" Rarity whispered to Noble Blade. "Like the Mysterious Mare Do Well?"

Noble Blade tilted his head. "Pardon?"

"It's something me and my friends came up with a few years back," Rarity explained, leading Noble Blade over to the Stallion section of the boutique. "We did it to deflate Rainbow Dash's ego."

"I've had to deflate Firestorm's ego from time to time as well," Noble conceded. "Although most of the time his bragging doesn't really mean anything, and he knows it. He does them anyway because he thinks he needs to be funnier than he really is in order for ponies to like him."

Rarity blinked. "Wow. That's... really disconcerting, actually. I didn't know that."

"It's part of his... condition," Noble Blade replied uncomfortably.

"Condition?" Rarity asked. "What do you mean?"

"Sometimes there are ponies that have something wrong with them, but they just don't show it," Noble Blade said. He exhaled a little bit, then said, "Firestorm doesn't want a lot of other ponies to know this, because it's a little degrading, but I think you need to know it, just to understand him." He paused for just a little bit, then said, "He has autism."

Rarity tilted her head. "Autism?" she asked curiously.

"He only has a twinge of it--enough to keep life interesting for him... and different than the lives of others."

"From what I've seen, he doesn't have a lot of trouble interacting with other ponies in public," Rarity pointed out.

"The reason he's so strange and easy-going is because he's trying his hardest not to be scared that other ponies won't like him," Noble responded. "He'd never admit it to your face, of course. He knows he can get away with his actions because... who's going to stop him? Either that or because he just enjoys it. Why do you need a reason for fun things?"

"How do you know so much about him?" Rarity asked. She felt a pit of shame in her stomach from scolding a pegasus that was mentally misaligned.

"I've lived with him and grown closer to him than perhaps any other pony, with the exception of my parents and Freedom Fighter. It's impossible for me to be as close as we are without knowing these deep, dark secrets about each other."

Rarity drew out an article of clothing in her magic. "Now, I believe this shall do nicely, don't you say?"

Noble Blade widened his eyes. "Absolutely," he agreed.

Freedom Fighter wasn't sure where to go at first. Should he clamber atop a nearby building and do silent brooding over Ponyville? That was what the Power Ponies did, after all. But on the other hoof, the Power Ponies operated in Maretropolis, a sprawling, massive city. Not a local village.

As he thought this he bounced his head on his shoulders. 'At least I'm not with Rarity anymore.'

You're telling me! That was a close one!

'Can you imagine how that would have turned out?'

I dunno. You might need to tell them sooner or later.

'I can't do that!'

Yes you do.

He plucked at his bodysuit. 'You know why I can't show them my body. They won't like it. Besides, I need to keep my identity safe. What if the Noxxa were to find out who I am?'

Do you see any Noxxa here? He looked around, instinctively half-drawing a thick knife from the front of his bodysuit.

'Well, if there were any here I would have killed them already,' he reasoned, and let the knife fall back into its sheath. He decided to empty his mind then. He didn't want any more depressing subject matter.

He reached the part of the town near Sugarcube corner. He stood in front of the sweetshop like he was guarding it so he could observe the town's activity and see if there were any problems he needed to solve.

There weren't any he could see immediately, however. Everywhere around him ponies were doing picturesque things in places of peace- smiling, laughing, playing games, buying things from vendors, talking with others about normal conversation topics like the weather schedule. Did you know it's going to rain on Sunday? Goodness, no, guess I need to cancel my date in the park that day.

Which made him jog his brain. What was today, anyway? Wed- no, no. Thursday. It was Thursday. And that meant tomorrow was Noble's date. While he liked the fact that his friend was getting some action, he could also be a little downhearted that he couldn't also experience that...

His stomach rumbled uncomfortably, breaking him out of his thoughts. He glared at his stomach like it had offended him.

What did the stomach do to you?

'It rumbled!'

No need to get mad at him.

'I'll show him! He'll get so much food rammed into him he'll be moaning in discontentment!' And he turned to face Sugarcube Corner.

Discontentment? Nice employment of sophisticated vocabulary.

'You too,' he thought in a fancy voice. And with that thought he walked to the entrance and banged it open forcefully.

The force of his door-opening had startled a few ponies sitting at nearby counters, making them shoot their faces at Freedom Fighter with expressions of surprise. Freedom Fighter just stood at the entrance, watching them look at him.

'Did I do something?' he uneasily thought, looking around.

After a moment he inched his way inside and slammed the door. Mr. Cake saw him and offered him a smile. "Ah, a newcomer! You're that one pony we threw a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party for a few days ago, right?"

Freedom Fighter nodded, drawing closer to the main counter.

"Well, it's good to have you back here! I'm Mr. Cake, and this," he indicated the store's surroundings, "is my sweet shop. I work here with my wife and my kids, Pound and Pumpkin. One thing I've learned after twenty-one years--you never know what's going to walk through that door."

At that precise moment the door jingled open and in came Fluttershy.

Mr. Cake put both his front hooves on the table. "See? See what I'm talking about?"

Freedom Fighter stepped aside respectfully to allow Fluttershy room at the counter. She came over and started to look at the available options. "Oh, um, hi, Mr. Cake. Is Pinkie Pie here?"

Pinkie Pie popped her head out from behind the counter, startling Mr. Cake. "Yeperee! I'm here, 'Shy! Whadda ya need?"

Fluttershy glanced at a table. "Um, could you and I talk for a little bit? I have a few, um... questions."

"Okie-dokie-loki!" she responded cheerfully, and bounced with a squeak out from behind the counter. She looked at Freedom Fighter, and grew a bright grin. "Hiya, Freedom! How ya doing?" She waved at him.

Freedom Fighter only waved back. How else could he respond? He was a little startled by her seemingly reason-less happiness. What was it that made her so happy all the time? She was happy when she saw him... but that didn't make any sense. He merely shook his head and turned back to the counter while Pinkie and Fluttershy went to an empty table.

He pointed at a platter of cookies. Mr. Cake looked at him. "Is that the one you want?"

He nodded.

"All right then. That'll be seven bits."

Freedom Fighter reached into one of his side pockets and took out a bag of bits, counted out seven of them, and slid them across the counter. Mr. Cake accordingly took out the cookies and gave them to Freedom Fighter, who then retreated to an empty table.

As he started to eat he noticed Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy at a nearby table, talking about something. Freedom Fighter leaned his head to the side to eavesdrop.

Before the conversation could take place, the bell over the door sounded and in trotted a light grey pegasus. Freedom Fighter almost spat out a bit of cookie at the noise. He looked at her blonde mane. 'She looks familiar,' he thought, hiding under the table to observe without her noticing. Why was he trying not to be noticed again?

Oh yeah! he remembered. She's that one peculiar girl that offered us muffins when we were looking for Rainbow that one day!

"Good afternoon, Derpy," came Mr. Cake's voice near the counter. "Here for your muffins?"

Derpy? he thought, peeking under the table to observe. That's a name?

'Don't be rude!' he snapped at himself.

"Of course, Mister!" came a slightly loopy voice. Freedom Fighter could see most of her body from his position under the table. "I love muffins!"

Freedom Fighter shrugged. All right. Can't see anything wrong with her there.

There came an exchange of coins, and Derpy was now trotting out of the door of Sugarcube Corner with a large basket of muffins in her mouth. He saw the door open with a ring, and she disappeared out of the door.

'We should talk to her, thank her for the muffin!'

And how do you propose we do that?

Freedom Fighter then remembered his... disability. 'Riiight. Forgot about that...' He paused, his eyes sweeping side to side on the ground. He sighed. 'I can still thank her.'

You're welcome to try, but remember, not everypony knows Equestrian Sign Language.

And so he stuffed the final cookie into his mouth hurriedly and sped like a startled cat out from under the table, across the store, and through an open window. He got a few strange looks as he went out of the open window and landed in the street. As he got up he shook his head.

What was with that?

'What was with what?'

That special-ops move you executed! You could have just gone out of the door, you know!

'Well, yeah. I could have. But that wouldn't have been as fun! I want to have fun, you know! I haven't had a lot of fun in my life before...'

Don't you dare start reminiscing.

Freedom Fighter shook his head. 'I, uh, wasn't planning on it.' He swiveled his head from side to side. Derpy was nowhere to be seen. 'Where the heck did she go?'

Check behind the store--in that side street over there.

He did. And indeed, he could see her blonde tail swishing up and down as she trotted along away from him towards her destination. Looking around one final time, he begun to follow her.

He followed her discreetly for about a fourth of a mile. He would hide behind barrels, hop into spaces behind buildings, and blend into shadows near large objects. One time she looked behind her as if she had heard something. Then she shrugged and trotted off with the basket still held in her teeth.

Inside a very large barrel, Freedom Fighter yelled, What are you doing, dude?

'I'm following her discreetly!' he argued, peeking out of a crack in the barrel.

You don't have to be so sneaky about it! It looks like you're trying to assassinate her, for goodness' sakes! Now get out of the barrel and just walk casually!

Freedom Fighter hopped out of the empty barrel on the top of a parked cart and landed with a somersault on the ground.

Do you have to be that ostentatious with your acrobatics?

'Sorry! It's a habit!'

Looking ahead, he saw the light grey pegasus stop when she reached two other ponies that were waiting for her. One of them was a dark grey earth pony mare that had a long, rich black mane, a bow tie with a white collar, and vibrant purple eyes, almost like Twilight's. Upon seeing her, Freedom Fighter noticed it and took an interest instantly.

But it was the second pony that caught his full attention. She was a white unicorn with a long and spiky neon blue mane and tail. She had on a pair of pink-tinted shades and a pair of headphones in, and was bobbing her head slightly as she listened to her music with a smile.

Freedom Fighter didn't know why, but looking at her... he noticed she was really hot.

That made his mind churn. What should he do? He had a crush on Twilight, sure, but what about now? What did it mean for him when he observed that somepony else was hot?

The light grey pegasus turned her head to the side, offering the two ponies a muffin. The dark grey mare shook her head no, while the white unicorn only held up a hoof. Shrugging, the light grey pegasus continued on, and the two other mares went with her.

Freedom Fighter, still unnoticed, followed them at a distance.

They talked as they walked to their destination.

"Thanks for coming to our house party," the dark grey mare said to the light grey pegasus. "But why did it take you so late to respond? Did you forget again?"

"I an't ure I oul ome," the light grey pegasus responded with the basket handle firmly in her mouth.

"Sorry, Derpy, what was that?" the dark grey mare asked politely.

"I an't ure I oul ome," she reiterated.

Without even looking, the white unicorn's horn glowed pink and the basket was taken out of her mouth. It was now suspended in the air, a pink haze surrounding it. Derpy looked at it cross-eyed before saying, "Oh. That's what was in my mouth."

"You didn't know something was in your mouth?" the dark grey mare asked.

"Oh, I knew something was in my mouth," Derpy said to her. "I just forgot what it was." She smiled with an open mouth. "I wasn't sure I could come. The mail schedule's a little hard for me to read, and I wasn't sure I was available. Do you know what we're going to be doing?"

"Oh, you know...standard party activities. Food, games, maybe a movie. It's more of an excuse for us to gather together, you know. The only thing we haven't figured out yet is what the music is going to be." She glanced at the white unicorn. "Me and Vinyl... live in discordant harmony, let's say."

"What do you mean?" Derpy asked, trying to look at the dark grey mare but failing, as her eyes kept going in different directions.

"Well, you've probably noticed by now that me and her have... a similar interest, but in different styles," the dark grey mare explained.

The white unicorn nodded in agreement.

The dark grey mare turned to look at her roommate with a strange expression. "Okay, I have no idea how you're able to hear me with your earphones on." She paused. "Or was that just you bobbing your head to your music?"

Vinyl shrugged and kept on walking.

The dark grey mare pointed at Vinyl Scratch and whispered, "Okay, I've lived as her roommate ever since college, and I still barely understand her."

They were right near an alley that opened up into the dirt road they were walking on. As they passed by the alley's opening, they all heard a faint click from inside, with the exception of Vinyl Scratch. Derpy and Octavia, however, turned their necks to the sound once they heard it.

And suddenly Derpy felt a talon around her neck from behind. It was strong and unrelenting, and she felt herself be lifted off the ground as it squeezed. Her crossed eyes saw Vinyl and Octavia Melody be lifted up by other pairs of talons to either side of her, with a shocked face on Vinyl's as the shades slipped down her face.

"Scream, and you die," a voice hissed into her ear.

The creatures that had grabbed her two friends tossed the two of them into the alley, along with the basket of muffins that was in Vinyl's magic grip. Derpy soon followed.

The impact of the ground was a bang, and the pegasus saw white for an instant before reverting to her normal vision. Weakly, she lifted her head up.

The headache came first. It was searing hot in the back of her head, and she hunched over, grabbing the base of her scalp. "Ow..." she weakly murmured in pain. She then looked to the side to see her muffin basket, thrown to the ground. The muffins had spilled out and were lying on the dirty ground in crumbs, the wrapping in tatters.

Freedom Fighter was behind the three ponies by about twenty yards when he saw them be plucked from the streets like grapes and tossed forcefully into a side alley.

Anger boiling in his veins, the warrior sprinted forward on his hind legs, drawing a thick knife as he did so.

Vinyl Scratch's vision was unusually clear. She turned her head in confusion as she lay on the ground. She could also hear a lot better what was going on around her.

Then she spotted her shades and earphones lying on the ground in front of her. Vinyl reached for them, but a pair of talons grabbed them off the ground before she could reach them. "My, my. What do we have here?"

She lifted her head limply to see that the talons were attached to a pair of bird arms. On a lion body.

Griffons! she thought in terror.

"Let go of those!" a voice screamed. Vinyl turned to see it was Octavia, restrained on the ground by three more griffons. Their talons dug into her mane and back, drawing blood.

The griffon holding Vinyl's earphones and sunglasses contemplated a moment before replying, "No." His voice was gravelly and rough. "I think I'll hang on to these. Keep 'em nice and safe, don't you think?" He then frowned at the glasses. "Actually, I don't really like pink."

And he balled the fist holding Vinyl's pink glasses.

As the glasses shattered, so did Vinyl.

The griffon nonchalantly tossed the ruined shades at Vinyl's face, giving a cruel chuckle. Vinyl started to feel tears welling up. She had had those glasses ever since she had started her DJ career... Octavia had given them as a present. And now...

The frame was bent like paper, a few shards of pink glass stuck to the inside. It was irreparable. She would never wear them again.

Vinyl sobbed, covering her eyes.

The lead griffon looked at his fellows holding the three ponies down and standing off to the sides. They numbered about a dozen. He then looked at the three emotionally broken ponies. He was a black color, and his beak was broken on one side. "Forgive my manners. Let me introduce myself. I am Hunter. Me and my friends've been down on our luck, so we've been forced to... redistribute resources, let's say."

"You mean rob them?" Octavia demanded. She struggled harder against her captors. "Get your dirty talons off of me!"

"Shut her up, Jeff," Hunter commanded a griffon next to him. Jeff came forward, unslinging a crossbow from his back, and put it so close to Octavia's face the point of the nocked arrow pressed against her forehead. Octavia swallowed hard, wincing, but she fell silent.

Hunter then reached down and picked up a remnant of a chocolate muffin. He took a bite, ignoring the mares. "Now," he said, wiping his mouth and making crumbs shower to the ground, "we can do this the easy way, or we can do this my way. Just give over everything you have, and we might just spare your lives."

"...All I had were those muffins," Derpy weakly said as a griffon searched her while lying on the ground.

Hunter came over to her. "Really?" he said in a disbelieving tone. "That's all that's valuable to you? Not gold, or jewels, or fancy clothes- " He plucked at his clothes, which were inlaid with gems, " -but instead you want... muffins." He gave her a look.

Derpy grinned with an open mouth. "Sure do, Mister!"

Hunter thought about that. He thinned his mouth. Then he shrugged. He knelt so he was level with her. He looked her in the eyes--or at least, tried to, since hers were crossed. "You are retarded," he hissed.

Derpy's grin turned into an open mouth of sadness. It quivered.

"No wonder why you look so different. Look at yourself. You are ambitionless. You you have nothing about yourself you should be proud of."

Derpy's eyes shook at impossibly huge sizes. Little squeaks came from her.

"Your eyes... oh, Celestia, stop pretending like they make you special. You are just a cross-eyed freak that will never do anything important in the world."

And he kicked her in the head.

Derpy started to cry. She closed her eyes and clutched her head, whimpering.

"Do you still think muffins mean something to you?" he yelled at her.

"N-n-no..." she stammered before more tears flooded down.

"They mean nothing," he growled before throwing away the chocolate muffin he had picked up. "Now... what more do you have to hide?" he asked Vinyl Scratch. He grabbed her by the back of the neck and the griffon behind her got off her to allow Hunter to yank up Vinyl. Her hooves still covered her eyes, and she was shuddering as she sobbed.

"Oh...is there something about your eyes you're ashamed of?" he asked smugly. He drew back a fist to try and hit her, standing on his hind legs.

Something sailed through the air.

As Hunter was about to hit Vinyl, he suddenly roared in pain and his arm went limp, dropping Vinyl Scratch and her headphones, in his other talon. He gave a heavy inhale and clutched his right shoulder. There was a thick knife embedded in it.

Everyone turned to the front of the alley. Derpy and Octavia craned their heads the best they could.

Freedom Fighter was there on his hind legs, with his hooves on the combat batons on his hips. His red eyes glowed with murder.

He had heard everything. Seen everything. With one deft movement he snapped the sticks off his hips, holding them out to the sides.

Hunter reached across his back and, wincing, forced the knife out of his shoulder. The blade was discolored to the hilt with fresh wet blood, and he dropped it with trembling talons. He glared at his entourage. "Are you blind?" he snarled. "What are you waiting for, you idiots?"

Freedom Fighter unhinged his sticks, doubling their length, then joined one end to the other to form his staff.

The griffons all charged at him, drawing their sabers and daggers. Three of them took to the air with their crossbows. They fired them in symphony, one after the other, at the dark-garbed pony.

All the arrows missed. He simply wasn't there anymore. Instead, he had sprung forward and slammed his staff on the first griffon's head like he was chopping wood. Blood rushed out as he collapsed to the earth.

He then flipped in midair to land on another griffon's back with his tight grip around his neck. Another griffon took a swipe at him, but he had already jumped off of him and the saber swipe went into the griffon's neck instead.

He then slid a slot forward near the front, and a long, thin blade jutted out so he was holding a spear. He slammed the tip of the staff in between another griffon's eyes so hard it went into his brain. The third griffon collapsed.

The other nine, seeing three of their comrades taken out so quickly, were a lot more hesitant now to advance against him. They watched as Freedom Fighter twisted both ends of his staff until they gave a small click. Rivers of glowing yellow ran down the staff's grooves and sigils like rivers as the enchantments became activated.

Freedom Fighter threw the staff like a spear, and it plunged into a griffon like a stick into water. He twisted his left hoof, and the staff flew back to his grip like the throw was in reverse. It attached to his left hoof with a heavy click. Freedom Fighter then charged against the rest of them, his staff angled to the ground and humming with power. He brought it up to split a griffon's head in two vertically. The wound was cauterized.

The griffons in the air, their crossbows reloaded now, fired again. The warrior dodged one bolt, and it went with a sickly crunch into the heart of a griffon sneaking up behind him. He knocked aside the second arrow with his staff. But the third one struck him dead center in his upper arm.

Freedom Fighter didn't feel a thing.

He instead hurled himself at another griffon, who desperately slashed at him, but Freedom Fighter knocked aside his weapon contemptuously. The griffon yelled and tried to hit him in the head with a closed fist, but hit his left arm instead.

It felt like he had punched a steel beam. The griffon winced and waved his hand in pain, but was soon cut off by Freedom Fighter dropping his staff and punching him in the face so hard his beak caved in with a snap. He laid rapid-fire punches on his head for the space of five seconds before bringing his hind leg up and kicking him in the face so hard he stumbled back into a wall and slumped lifelessly to the ground.

That left five griffons, three of them still flapping in the air, plus Hunter, who was trying unsuccessfully to stem the flow of blood from his shoulder. Hunter was glaring at Freedom Fighter. "Who are you?" he asked in wonder.

Freedom Fighter didn't bother with responding. He just plucked the crossbow bolt from his bodysuit armor and tossed it to the ground negligently. Then, fast as a whip, he ripped his staff out and hurled it at the two griffons on the ground. They saw it coming, and ducked and raised their sabers to try and block it, but the staff cut through both their blades like they were made of butter. It then went cleanly through both of their necks at the same time with a sizzle, and both their bodies dropped, side by side. The weapon landed point down in the ground right next to Vinyl's head, who was still lying on the ground, covering her eyes.

Hunter lunged for the staff, kicking Vinyl Scratch in the head to make her roll to the side. He put his talons around the staff and tried to pull it out of the ground to wield it.

And he screamed. The staff was scalding hot, and it burned his talons deep in his flesh. He hurriedly took his talons off the glowing yellow staff and looked at his talons. They were smoking.

The staff suddenly flew out of the ground and hurled itself back to Freedom Fighter's left hoof. There was a glowing yellow pad on the base of his hoof that the staff was attached to. Freedom Fighter was glaring with baleful eyes at Hunter.

Hunter turned to the griffons in the air and snarled, "Get 'em out of here! We'll shake'em down later!" pointing at Derpy, Vinyl, and Octavia. The three griffons obediently used their rear legs to clutch a pony and started to rise off the ground.

Freedom Fighter jerked his staff, and the hinges on the conjoined sticks hinged back to form a bow. A string of yellow energy ran from one end to the other, and he pulled the string back to his cheek. An arrow of pure yellow energy formed where he pulled on the string.

The griffons let out a collective scream of fear. Then one of them turned to a scream of pain as a yellow energy bolt passed through his chest with a sizzle. Octavia dropped two feet to the ground, and so did the dead griffon.

Freedom Fighter drew a second arrow and fired it at the griffon holding Derpy. The griffon jerked to the side, and Freedom Fighter cursed as he drew it back a third time and sent it into his gut. The second griffon was a bit higher than the first, but Derpy awkwardly flapped her wings and managed to land roughly, staring with a tilted head at the warrior with red eyes.

The final griffon gained more altitude and fired his crossbow again. Freedom jumped over the arrow's path right before it hit him, nocked another arrow, and fired it. It sailed past the griffon's head with a deep hum.

He landed and fired three more times before finally hitting the griffon in the eye. The griffon's grip relaxed, and Vinyl dropped from twenty feet. She saw the ground rushing at her and let out a hoarse scream.

And then she felt an impact. But the impact didn't hurt, for some odd reason. Vinyl looked around and saw that she wasn't, in fact, on the ground. Freedom Fighter had lunged forward and caught her before she could hit the ground.

Still covering her eyes, she looked up and saw his body through the gaps in her hooves. She felt a sudden swell of gratitude and immense admiration as he gently settled her to the ground. Vinyl peeked and saw Hunter, several yards in front of her, staggering away, leaving a blood trail through his shoulder wound.

But Freedom Fighter leaped towards him, bow in hoof, and grabbed him. He shoved him forcefully against the left wall of the alley.

"P-please!" Hunter cried. "I-I was desperate, okay? J-just let me go, and I'll never do anything like this again! I swear!" He couldn't hold the glare of hatred Freedom Fighter was giving him, and Hunter closed his eyes to avoid looking at that bright, intense red. He braced for the pains of death.

A moment passed.

Then Freedom Fighter snapped the bow back into a staff and deactivated the enchantments, releasing Hunter from the wall.

Hunter massaged his throat in relief and breathed a sigh. "Oh, thank you! Whew! That worked! Oh, good!"

Freedom Fighter slammed his staff into his skull hard enough to draw blood. He slumped to the ground and did not move.

The warrior took a few deep breaths, then disassembled his staff with a few quick snaps of his arms and put the separate sticks on his hips, dropping to all fours. He then turned to face the three ponies at the front of the alley.

There was silence for just a moment, interrupted only by Vinyl Scratch taking labored, shuddering breaths as she lay on the ground, covering her eyes.

Finally, Derpy asked him, "Are you the Mysterious Mare Do Well?"

Freedom Fighter tilted his head in confusion.

Derpy blinked at his action, then tilted her head as well with a small "Hm?" Her eyes rolled up and down as she did so.

This only made Freedom Fighter tilt his head to the other side, trying to indicate his newfound confusion of her mimicry.

Derpy imitated this action as well with another small "Hm?" It was higher in pitch than the last one.

Freedom Fighter reverted his head back to normal.

Derpy did the same, with another cute "Hm?"

Experimenting a little, Freedom Fighter crossed his eyes up and down.

Derpy took a deep breath and held it, then her eyes went straight forward.

Freedom Fighter, pleasantly startled, reverted his eyes back to their normal state.

Derpy's eyes went back to being crossed.

Freedom Fighter could not help but laugh.

"Derpy, get away from him!" Octavia shakily told her, eyeing the griffon bodies in the alley. "He's dangerous!"

Freedom Fighter was not so much saddened by her words so much as he was exasperated. This happened all the time whenever he tried to save somepony. He would save the lives of innocent civilians, not even attacking them, and they would still look at him as a threat! What was the deal with that? He just saved their lives! If he wanted to hurt them, he wouldn't have interfered, would he?

Well, it doesn't help that your appearance and your methods are... how do I say this...

He prodded at a griffon's corpse. 'Okay, you've got a point there,' he conceded.

Derpy did not heed Octavia's warning, however. After a bit, she instead said, "Wait a minute... I've seen you before! You were looking for Rainbow Dash that one time and I offered you a muffin! I remember now!" She extended a hoof to the space right of him. "Hi! I'm Derpy! Derpy Hooves!" She offered a wide open smile.

A moment passed before she realized she had put her hoof to the wrong area. "Oh," she said, before correcting herself by pointing her hoof at Freedom Fighter instead. Chuckling silently, the warrior shook her hoof.

"What's wrong?" Derpy asked. "Cat got your tongue?"

Freedom Fighter unzipped his mouth cover and opened his mouth wide.

Derpy looked inside, and instantly grew an expression of concern and shock. "Oh, my goodness! I'm so sorry about that! I must be so insensitive! Are you mad at me?"

Who can stay mad at a pony like her? he thought. He shrugged and shook his head, waving her words aside.

Derpy smiled again. "Oh, thank you," she said happily and gave him an embrace.

Freedom Fighter stood there awkwardly, unsure what to do about the sudden display of affection. After a bit he patted her neck and hugged her back.

Octavia stared at the sight. Once she was certain that no harm was coming to her friend, she cleared her throat and stood up, feeling a rush of pain where the talons had scratched into her back. "Excuse me, sir?"

Freedom Fighter broke off the hug and looked at her like he had never been called that before.

"Um... I suppose I should say... thank you. For rescuing me and my friends. If you hadn't shown up when you did, I don't know what we would have done." She came forward and offered a hoof uncertainly. "I am Octavia Melody. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

Freedom Fighter shook her hoof, smiling so she could see his teeth. It only seemed to unnerve her, however.

"May I ask your name?" Octavia asked politely.

Freedom Fighter did nothing.

"Oh, right. Sorry. You... probably can't tell me." Octavia frowned. "Well, I suppose you're like Vinyl over there." She turned and raised Vinyl Scratch off the ground. "She's a bit of an introvert--she feels comfortable in her own little bubble. That's why she has her, ah, headphones in all the time. She never talks."

Freedom Fighter was now listening intently.

Vinyl was still covering her eyes. Her electric blue mane fell in front of her face and she was looking at the ground. Freedom Fighter indicated her face questioningly with a tilt of his head.

"Come on, Vinyl. Meet the pony that saved you," Octavia encouraged. She faced Freedom Fighter. "Her name's Vinyl Scratch, by the way."

"Who... are... you?" Vinyl weakly spoke. Her voice was raspy.

Octavia leaned back in shock. "Vinyl! Did... did you just speak? You haven't spoken a word in ten years!"

Freedom Fighter was trying to brush the hair out of her face.

"Dude... who-" she started, then stopped. Throught the crack in her hooves, she looked at the dark pony. But what caught her attention was his eyes.

They were red.

Vinyl took her hooves away and looked at them with interest.

As Vinyl revealed her eyes, Freedom Fighter gazed at her eye color in surprise. Contrasting against the vivid blue of her mane and the ivory white of her body, her eyes were a wonderful shade of deep red.

Both looked into each other's eyes, mesmerized by each other. Their red eyes, once looked on by their respective owners as unnatural and disturbing, suddenly looked like the most beautiful things they had ever seen, and they could not look away. They tried to more than once, but the deep, rich red in each other's eyes just made them look back. They could not look anywhere else.

After a while Vinyl Scratch whispered, "Dude, your eyes... they're just like mine."

Freedom Fighter nodded slowly again.

"I... um... want to know your name," she said nervously.

Freedom Fighter put his head down. That was something he wasn't sure how to tell her.

"Oh. I forgot... S-sorry, dude." Vinyl looked down as well. "Th-thank you for beating them off, by the way."

More silence. It was getting uncomfortable.

"Listen. Um... the next time we see each other, do you want... to tell me your name? Like, write it down or something?"

For the third time Freedom Fighter nodded.

"G-good," she said uncomfortably. "Sorry about my speech, by the way... I don't get a lot of practice. I just don't feel like talking most of the time." She gasped. "Hey, that's kinda like you! You're a quiet guy too, right? You're a wallflower too, right? We're a lot more similar than we look!"

Freedom Fighter bit his lip and nodded. He then uncomfortably backed away from the punkish mare, waving his hoof in farewell.

Vinyl blinked at his sudden insistence to leave, then waved back as he disappeared out of the alley.

Octavia caught her in an embrace suddenly and she squealed. "Ooh! Oh my goodness! You finally did it! You opened up! I can't remember the last time I've heard you talk!"

Vinyl struggled against the hug. "I... I think I just didn't have a reason to," she told her, breaking free. She lifted the ruined glasses up to her eye level and sighed. "They were good, weren't they?" she asked, stifling a heavy breath.

"They were a part of you," Octavia agreed, clapping a hoof on her back.

Vinyl picked up her headphones next. She was grateful to see that there was no damage to it. "Should we let him know? That... they got crushed?"

"I don't see him," Derpy reported at the front of the alley. "He disappeared."

Vinyl and Octavia came to the front of the alley as well. Sure enough, Freedom Fighter was nowhere to be seen.

For the rest of the day Freedom Fighter was out patrolling the town secretly, searching for any more troubles. None others seemed to manifest themselves, however.

It was like fate picked particular days for bad things to happen. One time, he and the other Guardians had decided to lay siege to Arimaspi Mountain to rescue the Horn of Alanagora. And it had rained and rained and rained for the entire operation. The trenches that they had spent in alongside the Royal Guard were consequently muddy, slippery, and stinky that made their hooves soggy and painful to step on.

As Freedom Fighter made his way back to the crystal castle, the sun setting with an orange light over Ponyville, he was pondering on the events of the day.

That Vinyl Scratch certainly was something, he thought. He gave an imaginary whistle.

'Oh, come off it! I already think Twilight's cute! I can't think other mares are pretty!' He stopped. 'Can I?'

Of course you can! Besides, you won't get Twilight. She'll never go for a pony like you.

'How do you know that? We haven't talked to her yet about that!'

Simple logic. She can do a lot better than you. Guys like you don't always find love in the first mare they think is pretty, all right? Move on. You're better than having an unstable crush. She is a royal princess that can give you commands that you have to follow. If she tells you, "Run" you will run. If she says "Fight" you will fight. If she says to never come near her again and never let her know you think she's pretty...

'I can't believe I'm having this conversation,' he thought miserably.

And then he was struck with an idea. An idea that could allow him the best of both worlds. A way to let Twilight know, at least, how he felt--unlikely as it was that she liked him back. And a way to communicate with Vinyl Scratch while he was at it as well...

He bolted to the crystal tree as fast as he could.

Twilight was reading up on Theory of Magic in her favorite spot in the library when she heard a bang. She lifted her head up to see Freedom Fighter enter the room and shut the door with a loud boom.

"Oh, uh, hi, Freedom. What can I do for you?" she asked. From behind the chair Spike poked his head out.

Freedom Fighter began to tap on the ground feverishly in Horse Code. As Twilight listened, she made a few affirmative noises. "Uh huh... yes, I think I have something for that. Don't worry. We'll solve that problem of yours in no time!

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Gift

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Noble Blade could not get her out of his head. Everything that the yellow pegasus did was the most disarming and beautiful thing he'd ever seen. She wasn't even trying to, and yet every time she smiled, whether at him or at something else, he felt himself lock up in place in awe.

And he had somehow gotten a date with such a heavenly pony! He couldn't describe his unbelievable luck in words. He didn't deserve such a high honor.

Of course, he wasn't reluctant to date her. He was happy about everything that had happened so far. But what concerned him was Discord. He remembered Discord's flaming green eyes and his deep, snarling threat. Noble felt like they had departed on good terms, but he had a twinge of fear that Discord did not approve of him with a pony that meant so much to him.

Noble contemplated all of this as he got ready for the day on Friday. He paid special attention on this particular day to refine his appearance. He washed his face thoroughly and styled his mane expertly--a little combing to the side didn't hurt all that much. She deserved the best, and it would not be worth her time to spend her time with an improperly prepared pony that couldn't even think clearly at her appearance.

He let his mind wander for a bit. What would she look like? Would she do her mane differently? Would she wear a dress? Noble didn't know if she should, but he figured if they were going to a fancy restaurant, fancy dress would be expected. The day before, he had gone to Rarity's boutique and had bought a square-rigged tuxedo Rarity had suggested for him. Clothing was a social mark in Canterlot; the more flamboyant clothes you had, the higher in station you were. So Noble, unwilling to emulate any mark of Canterlot, had decided to not wear anything in the gilded city. He figured the rich and fancy ponies looked like overstuffed peacocks, and had consequently refused to associate himself with them.

But every so often Strong Heart, his father, had forced him to pull on a suit and go out if it was for a serious social occasion.

Tonight qualified as a serious occasion.

Noble Blade finished checking for spots on his face and opened the door to the hall, glancing back at the suit of armor standing up at the side of his bed. The armor still had a bit of smudged permanent marker on its face. Noble sighed in resignation and rolled his eyes at the sky with a funny expression on his face. He muttered, "Firestorm," under his breath, made a mental note to clean it later, and left.

Noble opened the door to the throne room to see the table set for breakfast. He was surprised; normally he would take the trouble to make breakfast. Today, Prench toast and cinnamon rolls were set out for six--the Guardians, Spike, Starlight, and Twilight. The latter was settling herself in her chair with Spike following after her while Freedom Fighter poured orange juice for her using his damaged mouth.

"Freedom Fighter?" Noble asked in confusion. "You made breakfast?"

The pony nodded, setting down the pitcher. Noble noticed his right arm seemed to tremble, and Freedom Fighter instinctively clutched it, wincing slightly.

"Did you do the ritual?" Noble asked suspiciously.

Freedom Fighter's red eyes traveled to the ground guiltily. The weapon-loaded pony nodded.

Noble thinned his mouth in disappointment. "I told you, if you ran out of room, you need to not go any further." He glanced at Twilight and looked back at him. "Not in front of her. I'll talk to you later."

Freedom Fighter nodded slowly, still not looking at him.

"How many did you kill yesterday?" Noble continued.

Freedom Fighter pointed at the tray the cinnamon rolls were on.

Noble Blade counted them. "A dozen?" he asked. When the pony nodded again, Noble Blade took a deep breath. "Why?" he asked him.

A small flicker of light flashed across Freedom Fighter's scarlet eyes, a gleam of anticipation. It was eager, and Freedom Fighter grew stiff. Then he relaxed his composure and he looked straight at Noble Blade. "They deserved it."

Noble Blade just froze. Did he just hear...words come from him? It was impossible. It was physically impossible for him to be speaking, not since his vocal chords and tongue had been irreparably damaged--

"Oh, uh, SURPRISE!" Freedom Fighter laughed nervously, scratching the back of his black mane.

"I-I don't understand," Noble mumbled. It was impossible! It shouldn't have been possible at all, and yet here he was speaking with him clear as day! "Di-h-how did you-WHAT?!"

"I know, right? It feels amazing!" Freedom Fighter started to bounce up and down like Pinkie Pie, making small squeaks every time he hit the floor. "See, yesterday I came to the castle after I did my vi-gi-lan-tay work. The ponies I saved wanted to know my name. I wanted to get back to them later and it got me thinking. What if I could actually have normal conversations with other ponies? I want every pony to know and understand my thoughts the way I want them to, and not have them interpreted by obscure hoof gestures. So my other voice thought--" he went into a distorted voice, "If anypony knows what to do, it's Twilight." He went back into his normal voice. "So I presented my issue, and she ever so kindly decided to search for a spell to give me speech. Eventually we found a spell that makes my thoughts be read aloud--whatever I'm saying in my head gets said out loud without the use of my mouth!"

"Gosh, I can't believe we actually did that," Spike mumbled, collapsing in his seat next to Twilight's. "I'm super tired right now."

Twilight yawned groggily. "We stayed up pretty late last night trying to find a spell that worked for him. We tried everything from regrowing his tongue to using the Tongue Loosener spell."

"Except it only works if you actually have a tongue to begin with," Freedom Fighter's thoughts pointed out merrily. Then he dropped his voice into a distorted one again. "Hey, don't joke about that kind of stuff in front of her! We want to get her to like us, remember?"

Twilight jolted her head back upon hearing the other voice out of Freedom Fighter. "What was that?" Twilight asked uneasily.

Freedom Fighter bulged his eyes. "Did I just say that out loud?" he asked. He looked at Twilight. "Sorry. I try to keep him down sometimes, but he's just rude at times."

"Eventually we came across," Twilight yawned. "the Thought Manifestation Spell." Twilight tried to use her magic to take a bite of Prench toast, but she miscalculated and the food went into her mane.

"I-this--this is incredible!" Noble exclaimed joyously. He was clutching his head with his hooves. "I can't believe it!"

"Me either!" Freedom Fighter cried happily. "Now I can talk! It's been so long since I was able to talk! It's amazing!" He embraced Noble roughly. Noble felt the hilts of the many daggers he wore jam into his body, and he winced visibly.

"Wait, wait, wait. You were able to talk before in your life?" Spike asked him curiously.

Freedom Fighter suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Yeah..." he said, relaxing his grip around the knight.

"Well then, what happened that made you lose your... tongue and... stuff..." Spike's voice grew very nervous as Freedom Fighter leveled a glare at him so sharp it could cut glass. He swallowed.

Freedom Fighter continued to glare at him with so much intensity Spike began to shake. After a bit of this Freedom Fighter growled, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Y-y-yeah, that'll work," Spike brushed aside.

Freedom Fighter's stare softened immensely. "Good. Don't get on that topic again."

Spike lowered his head. "Okay," he muttered reluctantly.

And all of a sudden Freedom Fighter jumped into Rarity's chair and sniffed the Prench toast. "Aaah... smells delicious! I wonder how it'll taste like!" He stabbed the bread slice in front of him with a large knife and ripped about half of it off with his teeth. He chewed it with an analytical face. "Hmmm... tastes like..." He paused for dramatic effect. "Nothing!" he declared jovially. He then swallowed and somehow managed to look guilty. "Sorry about talking while my mouth was full."

"In your case, I don't think it matters," Twilight told him. She leaned her head next to Noble and asked, "Is he always like this?"

"I can't say for certain," Noble replied to her.

"You talking about me over there?" Freedom Fighter asked, chugging down a drink of orange juice. It was unsettling for Noble to hear him speak so clearly and drink his juice at the same time. "I like to talk about me as well."

"No, Firestorm likes to talk about himself," Noble corrected him. "You, I think, just like to talk. And I think I like to listen to you talk. This new gift is just priceless. Now I don't have to continually look at you to interpret your body language!"

"I love it too!" Freedom Fighter said clearly, even though he had a huge bite of Prench toast in his mouth. "Now I don't have to do all those hoof gestures! Thanks so much, Twilight!"

Twilight blushed cutely. "Oh, stop it. You've already thanked me twenty-three times since you got this power." She tried and failed to get another bite of Prench toast into her mouth.

"Well, you're right." Freedom Fighter rolled his eyes. "But I'm going to anyway, since I now have something I thought I'd never get back again! So thanks again!" His black tail swished.

"Twenty-five," Twilight said softly.

They ate for a little bit longer. After they all had some food, Noble Blade looked evenly at Freedom Fighter, his deep blue eyes boring into his red ones. "Don't think the fact that you can talk now will distract me. I want to know more about the ponies you killed yesterday," he said in a serious tone.

Freedom Fighter threw his napkin to the center of the table. "They weren't ponies," he said. "They were griffons."

"Griffons?" Twilight asked, tilting her head. "Why would griffons be in Ponyville? Were they running a stand in the market?"

Freedom Fighter admired his reflection in the knife he had used to eat breakfast. "They were criminals," he growled. His change in tone was not unnoticed by Twilight, who squirmed in her seat uncomfortably upon hearing him. Freedom Fighter saw her squirm, took a deep breath, and continued in his normal voice. "They were robbing three innocent mares. If I hadn't shown up, they would all be dead."

"Who were they?" Spike asked after a moment.

Freedom Fighter looked at the sky for a second, then said, "I think their names were Derpy, Octavia Melody, and... Vinyl Scratch," he said. He lingered for a moment before saying Vinyl's name.

"Those three?" Twilight asked with surprise.

"Do you know them?" Freedom Fighter asked.

"Everypony knows those three," Twilight said. "Those are three of the most recognizable ponies in town! You could pick all three of them out in a crowd! And you saved their lives?"

"As I said, if I hadn't shown up, they probably all would have ended up dead."

"And now instead of them, twelve griffons are dead," Noble said.

"Are you saying you would rather have three innocent civilians die?" Freedom Fighter asked in outrage. "Would you prefer the thieves live?"

"I'd prefer it if you didn't jump to those extreme measures," Noble replied. "I'm not saying I wanted the civilians dead, but you could have been a little gentler with the griffons!"

"Gentle?" he echoed. "I speak softly--silently, most of the time--and I carry a really deadly stick. The unforgivable crime is soft hitting. I will never hit at all if it can be avoided, but when the time comes I will never. Hit. Soft." He leaned forward with each emphasized word. "Ponies die in the world all the time. But this way, I get to decide who dies."

"Nopony has to die," Noble told him. "In a perfect world, that should not be the case."

"But this is not a perfect world!" Freedom Fighter slammed his left hoof down on the table so hard a small piece of it chipped off and flew away. "The world may seem safe and lovable at times, but the world is full to bursting with ponies that want to only hurt those beneath them. Remember what you've seen, Noble. You've seen ponies forced to the sewers because the proud and the stuck-up want the land they have for themselves. You've seen entire towns on the brink of starvation because other ponies would prefer to stuff their fat filthy mouths with food instead. You've seen unimaginable poverty on the fringes of Equestria's borders. If this were a perfect world, you and me and Firestorm wouldn't be protectors of the peace. Why would they be needed in a perfect world? If you were not a knight, what would you be instead?"

Noble looked down. After a while he said, "A lesser pony than what I am now."

"Why did you become a knight?" Spike asked him.

"To follow in the hoofsteps of my father. To preserve and protect my country and to serve it with every ounce of strength I possess," Noble answered. "I have given my life in its service...and I have been forced to take the lives of others. Were it up to me, I would that no pony should fall by the sword."

"But we don't always have that choice. Sometimes we must decide who must rather perish; the innocent, or the guilty," Freedom Fighter said in a tired, heavy voice, like he was explaining it exasperatedly to a schoolchild. "And if there is no filth in the world, it is a better place."

Noble stood up. "If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change that you want to see in the world! Start by maybe not committing mass murder!"

"Don't act like you haven't committed war crimes," Freedom Fighter snarled, also standing up. "I've seen you do it. I've seen just what exactly you can do when you get really, really angry."

"But-but I try to do better!" Noble Blade protested, his voice cracking just a bit. "I don't dwell on my past the way you do!"

"LIAR!" He snapped a combat baton off his hip and it unfolded to the side with a loud click into a meter-long rod. "My past will never leave me, Noble! It will stay with me until I die! The stains it left on me are permanent!"

"ENOUGH!" Twilight thundered, and the two fell silent immediately. Freedom Fighter slowly folded the stick back up and put it away sheepishly, avoiding looking at Twilight.

Twilight glared at both of them. "Nopony wins in an argument. Your arguing has improved nothing. Apologize!"

Both stallions were suddenly extremely bashful. Noble pawed the ground for a few seconds before saying, "Sorry for trying to make you uncomfortable. A true friend never does that, and neither does a knight. I humbly ask your forgiveness."

"You're... forgiven," Freedom Fighter said slowly. He said forgiven like it was painful. "Sorry for yelling at you," he continued. "I should have known better than to lose myself in front of the princess. I'll do better next time."

After a moment of silence Freedom Fighter cleared his throat in his mind, preferring not to irritate his damaged throat. "Well, anyway, if you wanted to know, the griffons didn't get away," he said, sitting back down in Rarity's spot. "But I was losing my touch. Once I threw a knife and it hit him in the shoulder instead of the back."

"How'd you know it was the back and not the shoulder?" Twilight asked. "Isn't the shoulder part of your back?"

"Well, he screamed," he said. "When you get hit in the back, you don't scream uncontrollably. You just let out a little gasp."

"How do you know this?"

"Personal experience," Freedom Fighter replied bluntly.

"When you say personal experience," Twilight said slowly, fearfully, "does that mean you stabbed somepony else in the back before, or did somepony else stab you before?"

Freedom Fighter looked up. "Both," he said.

Twilight gave a very nervous laugh that showed a lot of teeth and said nothing.

Only a few seconds later, the uncomfortable moment was broken. In flew a pony through the top window of the throne room. The pony sniffed deeply and sighed in contentment. "Who-o-o-oh, that's good," Firestorm said, settling down in Rainbow Dash's seat. "Whoever made this, I award you the highest honor I can bestow." He breathed into his hoof. "The hot air from my mouth!" He waved his hoof in a random direction. "Sorry about, uh, being late. I had a question I was thinking about. A really deep, thought-provoking question."

"Oh, really?" Twilight asked excitedly. "I like it when other ponies have those kind of thoughts. What was the question?"

"Oh, uh," Firestorm said, waving a hoof, "It's nothing. It's too deep for some of you lower life-forms to understand."

"Try me," Noble Blade told him. "Go on. State this profound, thought-provoking question you had."

"All right." Firestorm put both his hooves to the sides of his head and thought for just a second. He then slowly said, "Is a piano... a string instrument... or a percussion instrument?"

Twilight recoiled her head just a little. "Really?" she said. "That was the big, thought-provoking question?"

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold on," Noble said, extending a hoof to silence her. "Let him finish."

"Are you actually interested?" Twilight asked him incredulously.

"Well, uh..." Noble faltered for just a second, a little bit of red on his face. "A little?" he admitted.

"See? Such a good boy," Firestorm said with a grin. "Anyway, you use physical force to push the keys, right? So that'd be considered percussion. But the piano uses strings to actually make the sound. So which one is it?"

"I think the piano is in its own separate category of music," Freedom Fighter though aloud.

Firestorm froze. Then he slowly rotated on his butt to look at Freedom Fighter with a look of absolute shock. His eyes were the size of dinner plates; his pupils the size of a pinprick. His mouth was open slightly.

"Oh, didn't you know? I can talk now. Technically."

Firestorm screamed at the precise moment Starlight Glimmer entered the room.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The force of his scream made her suddenly slide backwards like she was in a tempest, and as she slid out of the room, covering her ears, the doors to the room blew inwards with a mighty slam.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

For the third time in three days, Discord spat out his Earl Grey tea. He wiped a bit of dribbling tea off of his chin and growled something incoherent through his teeth. He then shook his head and continued with his work.

Discord was outside his home in Chaosville, trimming his bushes from above with a razor and shaving cream while holding a cup of his favorite tea in his tail grip. He was good at multitasking. While he was not only trimming his bushes and drinking the tea, he was also thinking about Noble Blade.

It wasn't that there was anything bad about him, per se. It was rather that Noble Blade was now completely infatuated with the very first real, understanding friend he ever had. Discord didn't want to just eject him out from the world without a reason, however. Discord was better than that...and also because Fluttershy would probably be mad at him if he did do that.

Tonight was Noble's date with Uncle Discord's little niece, and Discord could not be more edgy and nervous than tonight. He hadn't experienced anything like this before. There was that one time at the Grand Galloping Gala, sure, when Fluttershy had taken along that really weird hippy Tree Hugger, but this was a little different. It wasn't just a date with a friend, it was her potential special somepony! It undermined the importance Discord had to her.

He irritably squirted some shaving cream into his tea and stirred it in, then popped the entire teacup into his mouth and chewed it with a few crunches. He spat out the glob of tea into his bushes, and they promptly caught on fire.

"I swear to you, Fluttershy, that if he does not prove himself to be worthy of you, I will seek him out and I will seal his fate," Discord swore with every ounce of seriousness.

Chapter Twenty-six: A Discordant Date

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Fluttershy could not get him out of her head.

No matter what she did to distract herself, her mind was continually focused on Noble Blade. Whether she was washing the dishes, feeding her animals, or reading up on caretaking techniques, she almost always had him in her mind. His luxurious, unkempt mane, his pale blue coat, his deep, sparkly eyes that she could get lost in all day, his warm, soothing voice--everything about him was just sooo tempting.

She honestly wanted to be with him all the time. But every time he was in sight, or if the other girls were talking about him and the other two stallions, her mouth would shut, her body would tense, her tongue would twist up and become dry. Every spark of confidence to speak would flee.

And yet at the same time she felt peace; she felt all the distractions and problems plaguing a worrisome pony like herself simply fade away. It was a great feeling, an intoxicating feeling, but it confused her. How could she be so tense and yet so calm at the same time? It didn't make any sense.

Then again, Discord had been visiting her for so long that she was now used to things not making sense.

Her thoughts then went to Discord. She didn't know how well Discord would handle the fact that she and Noble were about to go on a date. She knew he could be possessive. Hopefully he had learned his lesson at the previous Grand Galloping Gala.

Her life felt like it was at an apex of happiness. But for the moment, she was desperately anxious. She was waiting inside her cottage, playing with her hooves as she waited for him to come. But there was just so much to worry about!

"Oh... what if he doesn't come? No, no, of course he'll come. But what if he doesn't like what I'm wearing? Oh my goodness, I must look dreadful..."

Angel chose that moment to hop over and do a loud rapid-fire tapping on her dangling leg. Fluttershy looked down to see him glaring at her disapprovingly. She could see what he was trying to say. Like with Noble Blade and Freedom Fighter. Both of them were good at deciphering what a mute creature was going to say. Were they more similar than they realized? More compatible? The thought made her tremble.

"Oh, you're right, Angel. I did spend two hours preparing myself. Noble has to like it, right?"

And speak of the devil, there came a knock at the door.

"Eep!" Fluttershy gasped, and hid behind the couch, shaking. "Is that him?" she asked Angel. "Go on, check."

Angel fixed her with a deadpanned look, then hopped over to the door. He hopped up and opened it to reveal an astonishing sight.

Noble Blade was indeed there, in an immaculately clean and tailored tuxedo, complimenting the pale blue of his coat and the rich blue of his mane. His mane was freshly washed and cleaned, and his face was spotless but anxious. In his teeth he held a fresh bouquet of white flowers.

"Lu' er' y?" he called her name with the flowers in his mouth.

She could not see him, but she could hear him. Taking a second to gather her courage, she came out from behind the couch, feebly mumbling, "N-Noble?"

Upon seeing her, Noble's jaw dropped and the flowers fell out of his mouth. Before they hit the ground he numbly activated his magic and the flowers floated in midair. He could not comprehend the sight she was seeing.

She was in a simple sleeveless green dress that grew a lighter transparent shade as it reached her flank. The whole thing subtly sparkled in Noble's vision. Her coat was sleek and shiny, and her mane was in a thick braid behind her head. It coiled around her ears, cascaded down her neck, and fell to one side of her body, overlapping each other with little white and pink flowers at junctions of braids. Upon her seeing Noble, she had a similar reaction by dropping her jaw in surprise.

Both of them were quiet for a moment. They just looked at each other with their mouths open slightly.

"...I brought you flowers," Noble weakly said, breaking the silence. The flowers floated over to her, and she took them numbly in her wing.

She sniffed the flowers and was bathed in a myriad of sweet smells. She sighed happily, making Noble's heart start to play the snare drum.

"The flowers have meanings," Noble tried to speak clearly. "Just, uh, look inside the bouquet."

She did. Inside was a card with a flower meanings key. The bouquet had white lilacs, white roses, and white camellias. And what the flowers meant made her heart jump.

The white lilacs, according to the key, meant "You are my first love."

The white roses meant "You're heavenly."

The white camellias meant "You're adorable."

She didn't know what to say. She felt like she was about to faint. She started to quake. Was she really his first love? He could have gone for anypony, and he chose her to be the one?

"Fluttershy?"

The voice was muffled slightly, but it jolted her back to reality, and she shook her head. "Oh, I, um... I love them..." She sniffed them closely again, and she caught another smell.

It was the smell of Noble Blade. He had been around the flowers for so long that they had picked up his subtle scent of sweat and steel and something sweet she couldn't put a name to. It was absolutely intoxicating for her to even be around.

Reluctantly she set the flowers down, the scent still lingering and fresh.

"Shall we go?" Noble asked, reaching out a hoof and rubbing the back of his head. Fluttershy smiled. He was just so cute when he did that!

And after a moment Fluttershy put her trembling hoof in his. The warmth coming off of him made her want to never, ever, ever let go of him.

The flitting bird settled in the nearby tree, snapped off a tree branch, and begun to pick his teeth with it.

When he was done, Discord tossed aside the branch nonchalantly and watched as Noble Blade and Fluttershy walked out of their house holding hooves. Discord scowled a little bit as he saw them.

He would be keeping an eye on them tonight, to make sure neither of them overstepped their boundaries. But he was also genuinely interested in Noble Blade. He had so far been pretty good. He'd shown up to her house with flowers. He was leading her by the hoof. So far so good.

But that was also the expected, normal thing to do. What about Noble Blade stuck out to Fluttershy? Discord had wracked his brains beforehand to think of it, and had decided to put Noble through a series of tests on his date. To make absolutely sure Fluttershy was for him. And if he wasn't meant for her, then Discord would instantly snap his fingers and he would be sent to the dimension of Tartarus.

Or he'd turn him into an iguana. Whichever he was feeling at the moment.

As they both walked into town, Noble Blade was supposed to be keeping an eye on the trail ahead, but he more often than not found himself sneaking glances at Fluttershy instead. Once, while he was staring at her luxurious, braided mane, he caught Fluttershy looking at him as well. Immediately both of them looked away, a small blush on both their faces.

Noble tried to clear his throat and make some comment that wasn't awkward. "You look absolutely stunning," he said anxiously. "Did Rarity help you get ready tonight?"

"Oh, um...thank you. R-Rarity did help, actually. She was able to get the dress done on short notice. And, um, the animals helped too. The birds especially were great in doing hair."

Noble swiveled his head in surprise. "Thou canst do that? Thou canst command the animal kingdom at will? Is all of nature thy permanent ally?" He tried with every fiber of his being not to gawk at Fluttershy. But her movements were too hypnotizing. "I, um... wast not aware of such a power."

He mentally slapped himself. He had slipped into the old archaic language again. Fluttershy wanted to understand him, didn't she?

Fluttershy mumbled, "Well, um, it's more like they can understand me. I just absolutely love animals. They're just so soft... and understanding... like you." That last part came out involuntarily and she eeped softly, blushing a heavy pink, and said embarrassedly, "I-I mean, um, y-you-oh, sorry! I didn't think you'd like being compared to an animal! You're so much more than that!" That last part made her blush again. When would she just learn to watch what she said?

"Actually, I don't really mind."

"What?" she said hopefully, looking at him. And she couldn't look away. He just looked so handsome! Especially with the moonlight on his face and shining in his mane! She just hoped he wouldn't look at her and catch her.

"Well, in my experience, I sometimes wish other ponies were like animals," he clarified, passing by a pair of raccoons chasing each other on the side of the road. "Animals don't have a preference they want you to have. All they expect out of you is companionship and care. They don't ask for much or demand for your other friends to change. Animals love you just the way you are." He looked shyly at Fluttershy as they entered the town. "So, um, don't apologize for your compliments."

Fluttershy felt warmth all over her body at his reassuring words, and she felt even better about herself than she did a moment before. Was Noble Blade always like that? Always so willing to reassure her and deflect doubt and make her feel better? She gave him a little smile, making him blush and look at the ground.

He was just so cute when he did that!

After walking for a little while they reached the Crystal Glass, the restaurant they were going to dine at. It was made of ornamental marble with a few tables outside under a protruding shade. Large, flawless windows filtered the golden light within, illuminating the streets. As they came near, they saw a shape lying in the streets the light showed.

"What's that?" Fluttershy asked, pointing at the shapeless mass.

Noble squinted at it, then widened his eyes. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy," he said briefly, and ran ahead of her to the shape on the ground, leaving her behind. Noble rolled the shape to the side and pushed aside his cloak.

It was a pony. An old, grey, white-maned wizened pony with a lined face and a fragile body.

"Sir? Sir, can you hear me?" Noble asked, waving a hoof in front of his face.

"Uhhh..." The wizened old pony opened his eyes with yellow irises slowly. "Who-" he got out before he coughed hard.

"Listen to me. We're going to get you inside and warm. Can you tell me where you live? Where your house is?"

"Don't have... a home..." he managed to get out before descending once again into a coughing fit.

Noble's eyes held sympathy and sadness. "Can you stand?" he asked him.

He tried to, but barely could. Noble supported him by draping one of his arms over his shoulder, and hoisted him to a standing position. The two of them walked slowly to the entrance of the restaurant, where a massive doorpony stood by the entrance, barring the way. He held up a hoof to indicate no entry.

Noble fixed him a look. "He's with me. Allow him in."

"Sorry, sir. Only ponies with reservations." He was eyeing the old pony's cloak disdainfully.

Fluttershy, intrigued, came close over to the doors as well.

"Then I will pay for him," Noble insisted.

"Sorry, sir. Restaurant rules."

Noble Blade looked him in the face. "I will pay double the price of entry to allow this pony in for a good meal."

Upon hearing it, the doorpony's expression brightened. "Welcome in, sir," he said, holding open the door. Noble and the old pony limped forward, and Noble used his magic to levitate two bits out of his coat pocket and drop them in his hoof for a tip. Fluttershy followed at a respectful distance.

In the well-lit restaurant's lobby, Noble walked the pony to the entry desk. Spotting the look on the clerk's face, Noble explained, "I found this pony lying outside in the streets. He doesn't look very good. I want you to find the best available spot for him. Give him anything he asks for and keep his glass full. When he's done, send his bill to me." He drew out sixteen bits, double the price of entry, and put it in a precarious tower of coins on the desk.

The clerk looked at it, surprised, then clambered out from behind his desk. "Welcome to the Crystal Glass," he said to the old, ragged beggar. "I'll show you to your table, if you'll follow me..."

The old pony looked behind him with a look of pure joy at Noble Blade as he was being led away.

Fluttershy came beside him, almost overcome at what he had done. "You...you just did that for him?"

"He needs food more than I need my money," Noble explained as he watched the old pony be led away. "And while it hurt to leave your side, it hurt even more to watch him suffer in the streets and not do anything." He put a hoof around
Fleuutershy, and she almost melted at the warm, firm touch. "But now I can treat you to the night you deserve, Fluttershy. Nothing will deter me."

The old pony was seated and promised a full plate by the clerk, who then scurried off to find a waiter. The old pony watched him go, then Discord made a little growl of annoyance.

He had tried to test Noble to see if he was willing to stop his date to help somepony he had never seen before. He had passed, unfortunately. It was supposed to be a lose-lose situation. If he had stayed with Fluttershy, he'd be neglecting the needy. If he'd helped him, he'd leave Fluttershy alone. But he should have known that Fluttershy would see the best in him for helping Discord in disguise. Discord silently cursed himself.

Time for the second test.

Their spot was near a window that gave a good open view of Rarity's boutique. As the clerk gave them their table, trotting off afterwards, Noble Blade pulled out Fluttershy's seat.

"Thanks,"Fluttershy said with a smile as she sat down. He was such a gentlecolt!

"You're welcome," Noble said simply. He sat down next and immediately placed his napkin upon his lap.

"I was just wondering..." Fluttershy said, circling her hoof on the table, "...Where do you get your money? I haven't seen you work."

"The money?" Noble asked, then smiled sheepishly. "I don't actually need most of the money I have from being a Guardian of the Sun and from my payments from the Dragon lands."

"Y-you went to the D-dragon lands?" Fluttershy asked in surprise.

"And I'm the rare exception where I'm on good terms with them." Out of the corner of his mouth, he muttered, "Well, most of them." He continued. "We went there to help stop a civil war from brewing when Dragon Lord Torch was ruler. I managed to save him and his daughter Ember from an assassination attempt. They felt the need to uncharacteristically reward me, and two years later I'm still receiving reimbursements from them every month. Add that to the ridiculously high salary I get from Celestia, and you start to not want a quarter-million bits in your bank account."

Fluttershy's eyes dilated to pinpricks and her wings extended with a poof in surprise. "I'm sorry...d-did you say... a quarter million bits?"

Noble spotted the look on her face and hurriedly added, "Well, not-not anymore!" He certainly didn't want to give off the impression to her that he was stuck-up and selfish and rich. "I didn't want it corrupting my ego to the point where I'd be like those stuffed shirts in Canterlot." He jabbed a hoof behind him out the window, where the distant shape of Canterlot stood silhouetted against the night sky. "So, to deflate myself--and because others needed it more than I did--I began to impart of my substance anonymously. Soup kitchens, charities, the aspiring young businesspony just starting out..." He paused, knowing Fluttershy would like what he had to say next. "Animal shelters."

"You donate to animal shelters?" Fluttershy asked excitedly, drawing herself up suddenly.

Resisting the urge to stare at her back, especially with such an enticing color in her eyes, he gulped and said, "Yes... and my family actually adopted a pet as well when I was young."

"Ooh! What kind of pet?" she asked with a smile, then, realizing she had put her face closer to Noble's across the table, she leaned back, suddenly nervous. Why was she nervous around such an amazing guy?

Noble smiled. "A wolf."

Before Fluttershy could say anything to that response, their waiter had appeared by their side. "Welcome to the Crystal Glass, how's everyone doing tonight?" she asked in a deadpan voice, heavy and tired.

"I couldn't be better," Noble said, and looked like he meant it.

"Uh huh," the waitress replied, shaking her black mane to the side and pulling out a notepad from her apron. "Have you decided on a drink yet?"

"Ginger ale. The finest you can offer," Noble said. Then he checked a glance at Fluttershy. "If it's okay with you?"

"Oh, um... yeah. That's fine," Fluttershy said demurely.

"All right. One bottle of ginger ale." The waitress jotted something down on the last page, then tore it out and crumpled it up and left it on the floor at Noble's chair. She disappeared before either of them could question her strange action.

Fluttershy recovered from the initial shock of what he had said. "D-did you say... you have a wolf as a pet?"

"Had," Noble corrected. He used his magic to pick up the piece of litter the waitress had dropped and placed it in his lap. "She was a foalhood playmate Strong Heart gave to me one Hearth's Warming. She was always friendly to me--never bit me. Well, hard. And when I didn't try to take away her food bowl away from her when she wasn't done."

Fluttershy laughed. The idea of growing up with a wolf that was your ally was one that Fluttershy had, but could imagine quite clearly. Her own animals were good enough to hang around, even the predators like bears.

"She played with me and let me ride her when I was bored. But only when I was small, right? Imagine me on a wolf now!"

"You'd squash him," Fluttershy giggled.

Noble lost his breath upon hearing her giggle, and momentarily forgot what he was going to say next. "...Uh... well, Strong Heart wanted all of us in my family to grow up to become the top of the line. His motto for everything he did in life was Stronger, Faster, Braver. He wanted all of us to adopt that mindset as well. He got us the wolf believing we'd become better ponies around her. We'd lose our fear. We'd become braver around the things that scare us normally."

"Did it work?" Fluttershy asked with interest.

"I hope it did," Noble responded. "She was one of my best friends." He looked down. "Until she died, of course."

Fluttershy felt something inside of her break apart upon hearing it. She put a hoof to her mouth. "Oh, what happened?" she asked worriedly.

"She lived a long and happy life," Noble replied. "But I prefer to focus more on Amaria's life, rather than her death."

"Amaria?" Fluttershy asked. "Was that her name?"

Noble Blade nodded. "You would have loved her. She loved everyone that was around her and loved her back. I..." He broke off his sentence when he felt something soft rest upon his hoof. He looked down and noticed it was Fluttershy holding her hoof on top of his. He stopped breathing for just a second. Fluttershy was touching his hoof!

"Oh, Noble... you are a good pony, do you know that? You don't have to get stronger, or faster, or braver than you are now. You're already so great!"

Noble gulped. Trying to speak legibly, he said, "No. I-I always have room for improvement in myself."

"You're good enough," she affirmed in a serious voice. "That's what most ponies can dream of."

The waitress came back before he could reply, making Fluttershy hurriedly retract her hoof and look at it shyly with her head down. The waitress had a bottle of ginger ale in a bucket of glistening ice in her mouth. She set it down on the table with her teeth and sighed.

Noble, eager for something to say, said, "Long day?" sympathetically.

"You have no idea," the grey waitress said. She spotted the piece of paper in his lap and leaned in close to him. "You were supposed to read that," she said through gritted teeth.

Raising an eyebrow, Noble unwittingly uncrumpled the paper and read aloud, "Why have a filly like her when you can have a mare like me?" Noble glanced at the mare disapprovingly. "Don't you have a company rule against this sort of thing?"

The grey waitress rolled her eyes and grinned. "Not if they don't find out."

Noble snapped the menu shut. "I'll get the manager."

The waitress jolted fearfully. "Hey, hey, we don't have to do that!"

"I agree." He crumpled the note again. "Not if you don't interfere."

Giving him a wavering, sad look in her eyes, but noticing the cold look Noble was giving her, the waitress relented and bowed her head.

Noble continued to look at her for just a second, then said, "Now, I believe I'll have the potato soup, please," as if nothing had happened. He looked at Fluttershy's distressed face and felt concern bite at his insides. "And...my date would like the same?" he asked, swallowing a nervous taste in his mouth.

Fluttershy numbly nodded, overcome at what had happened. Somepony had tried to hit on him! And in front of her as well? Was she really not worth their feelings?

The mare shrugged and trotted off in the direction of the kitchen, swaying her hips and bouncing her tail in Noble's direction. Noble looked at her for a minute to make certain she wouldn't try anything, then turned to face Fluttershy. "Can you believe this?" he asked, jerking a hoof over his shoulder. "She actually thought that would work."

Fluttershy looked a lot better than before.

The dark grey mare with a black mane moved out of eyesight and earshot of the couple and reached out, pulled out of thin air two bowls of steaming potato soup, and hurriedly placed them on a nearby cart with a clatter. She glanced back at the back of Noble's head and stuck out her tongue in disgust, rubbing a hoof along its length to try and cleanse it. Out of all the things Discord had ever done in his long, immortal life, changing into a mare and trying to seduce Noble Blade was definitely one of the ones he never wanted to do again.

It would be worth it in the end, however. He was testing Noble to see how he treated the more promiscuous mares that only saw him as a prize. If he treated them with respect, it would harm Fluttershy's feelings, and Discord would blast him to smithereens. If he pushed them off and refused their advances, he wouldn't be kind, and consequently, wouldn't be worthy of Fluttershy, and he would blow Noble to pieces.

Discord smirked at the thought as he pushed the cart holding their dishes back to the despised couple sitting at that table near the window. He reached them just as he heard Noble cooing soft words of measurement to the distraught mare. He put their dishes down in front of them and whispered with a sultry and satisfied tone, "Now, you all just... enjoy your meal..." He started to trot away to continue to spy on them, certain he had won.

"A moment before you go, ma'am?" Noble's voice rang out like a bell. Discord, slightly more satisfied, turned to watch Noble try to defend himself from the fate that he deserved for trying to date Fluttershy.

But he didn't. He instead used his magic to levitate twenty bits out of his coin pouch and placed it on the table's edge, waiting for Discord to collect it.

Discord raised his eyebrows, interested in what it was. "You paying beforehoof?" she asked.

"No, ma'am. That's your tip."

Discord's eyes bulged. He had no use for money, being able to conjure whatever he needed out of thin air, but he wasn't surprised because he was getting money. He was surprised at Noble's generosity and kindness to a mare that had tried to embarrass him in front of his crush. Why was he doing this? "That's... a rather large tip for such a little job," Discord observed, trying to keep his voice husky. "Are you sure I can't give you a little... tip as well?" And he mentally cringed and screamed a desire to go away and die in peace and not be seen like this by anyone.

"Well, you said it yourself," Noble told him. "You've just had a bad day. You're not doing all that well. You've been feeling bad over the last few days, right? Something's come up that's made it so you're not doing good."

Discord nodded. How was he able to find out how Discord had been feeling and not the waitress?!

"The least I can do is help you," Noble Blade was saying. "I can help you pay your mortgage this month, maybe, is what I thought. I don't need a reason in particular to try to help you if you're feeling bitter and confused." He smiled. "That plus the record speed in which you were able to serve us. I haven't seen anyone that fast since the flying competition!"

Discord chuckled, still looking at the hefty tip waiting for him. What if he only did it to look good in front of Fluttershy? "I-I can't accept this. I'm only allowed twenty percent of the meal cost, not... not the cost of the meal itself!" He let out a single exhale of laughter in the final words of his sentence.

Noble winked. "I'm not the best at math," he whispered in a hushed voice. "Just go along with it, all right?"

Acting reluctant, Discord slowly pocketed the money in his apron. He then decided to act demure and squeezed his head inside his shoulders. "Are you, um... still mad at me?" he asked, his voice going up an octave.

"Well, why would I be?" Noble asked with surprise. He waved a hoof. "You did something bad to me, but I want to move past that. I don't want to remember you for the bad things you did. I want to remember you as a pony I helped out." He leaned forward, ignoring the look of realized shock now present on Discord's face. "You. Are not. A bad. Pony. You're just... a little confused. Yes, you acted rashly, but... I try to look for the good in you because if I do, I find it. Look for the good in yourself by doing good for others."

Discord felt every word hit him like a punch to the gut. Noble's words cut him to the very center, made him realize his own guilt and the realization of what he had done over the course of the night. How ironic it was that Discord, while trying to make sure Noble didn't hurt Fluttershy, was actually the one that had hurt her the most.

And all of a sudden, he saw clearly. Noble Blade was right! Right about seeing the good in others... and treating them like decent ponies, even if they'd done things the other may not have liked. Didn't Noble get into Discord's life too suddenly? Wasn't Discord trying to ruin another relationship Fluttershy had, like with Tree Hugger at the Gala? And when he realized that, he realized something else, something earth-shattering to his otherwise fine perceptions.

The problem wasn't with Noble Blade dating Fluttershy. The problem was with Discord, and Discord was the one feeling lost and afraid. Discord had failed to see the good in Noble Blade because he was so focused on what he had been offended by, rather than what Noble was doing for his closest friend. Fluttershy was bubbly, and giggly, and a livelier pony because of him. And by trying to take away the stallion making her happy, he was hurting his friendship with her.

He was just a little confused.

Gulping and feeling his eyes get a little wet, he said, still in the waitress disguise, "T-th-thank you, sir. I-I'll go now. Enjoy your date..."

And he galloped off, guilt piercing him like a spear.

Noble and Fluttershy watched their waitress run away on the verge of sobbing. Fluttershy turned to Noble and softly asked, "Why was she so... peculiar?"

"I can only guess," Noble said. "She's not thinking right. We should just ignore her." He picked up his spoon with his magic and took a sip of flavored soup. His eyes rolled to the side. "Ohhh, that's good," he said, entranced. "Taste it, Fluttershy. It's amazing!"

She did. The soup was very warm and creamy, with a few solid chunks of potato or celery or onion in her mouth. She let out a low, deep hum of pleasure.

From that point on they were uninterrupted. They both started to talk, and before long they barely paid any attention to the soup, even though it was simply amazing to the taste. The conversation was even better. Fluttershy told stories, at the request of Noble Blade, about her bravery at times past, and Noble listened intently, asking the occasional question to clarify an event, or giving a summary at the end of it to see if he had gotten it right.

"So you're telling me," Noble said several stories later, pouring her another glass of ginger ale, "that you managed to walk, unarmed, up to a manticore like it was no threat at all, scold down a dragon sleeping in a mountaintop cave, stare down a cockatrice, play with Cerberus himself, and tame the very essence of chaos itself." He paused for a moment, then said, "I think that makes my accomplishments look paltry in comparison."

"Oh, no!" she quickly said. "Don't hold your accomplishments for nothing, Noble!" She then realized that she did that same thing, and she corrected herself. "I-I mean, um, it's okay to be humble, but it's also okay to think good about yourself at the same time! I-I don't even know what you've done yourself!"

Noble's ears perked up and he smiled. "Would you like to hear some of my stories?"

Fluttershy leaned forward in interest, her magnificent turquoise eyes sparkling. "Ooh! I'd love to hear some of those!"

Clearing his throat and trying not to get lost in that beautiful color he saw in her eyes, he began, "Well, I suppose I should start with the rescue from Midnight Castle..."

And he told her all of his missions that he knew would make good stories to listen to. From the dire rescue from the dark spires of Midnight Castle, to the mythical Saracen in Saddle Arabia. From the rainy mud pits of Arimaspi Mountain, to even him and his friends messing up the Skyworld mission so badly they all collectively agreed to never try that again.

As he finished up Skyworld's mission and how Firestorm destroyed something rather important, Fluttershy burst into a giggling fit that made the insides of his stomach churn and dance in happiness. "Oh... Ohoohoohoo... that was rather funny for you, wasn't it? B-But not for F-firestorm!" She giggled again.

Noble laughed along too. "It's when a pony realizes the mistakes he's made that he sees himself clearly."

"I've never known you could be this entertaining," she said, staring at him in wonder. She then let out another laugh, remembering how Noble had described Firestorm's actions. "Do you two really act like that all the time?"

"All the gentle ribbing?" he clarified. He nodded. "Yes. Yes we do. I think the exception would be when we're dealing with a serious personal issue." He took a sip of ginger ale, the soda fizzing softly as he set it down again. "That's what happens when you hang out around Firestorm. The friendship you form in the heat of combat is something else." He sighed. "I'm so glad to have met them, you know. They've taught me so much and molded me into the pony I am today."

"What did they teach you?" Fluttershy asked, playing with her mane's end over the side of her body.

"Firestorm... taught me to relax. He taught me to joke, and I've been surprised by the wisdom gentle humor can provide."

Fluttershy tried to imagine a humorless Noble Blade. It was proving to be harder than she thought. He just oozed goodness out of his body, out of every pore.

"And Freedom Fighter... well, for starters, he taught me the Equestrian Sign Language." He gave a brief exhale of laughter. Then he looked at his empty soup bowl distantly. "But he also taught me that the world isn't paradise."

"He certainly seems strange," Fluttershy commented. "He keeps a lot of secrets to himself that we don't know about. He hasn't even taken that bodysuit off the entire time I've seen him."

"That's his own choice," Noble said hurriedly. "If he wants to be private, it's okay by me."

"Why doesn't he take it off?" she asked curiously.

Noble coughed. "He has his own reasons. I wouldn't pressure him."

"Oh, okay..." she said. "I can understand that. What did he teach you?"

Noble took a moment before responding. "In everything we've ever been through, in the furthest corners of the world and in the darkest holes of strife and war, many ponies live in fear and oppression by evil beasts and political corruption, and have consequently realized that the very essence of peace is always under attack, but when you face the world with a steadfast stance--and more importantly, if you stand beside a friend who will always be there for you--you will always conquer the evil that surrounds you, whatever it may be."

All Fluttershy could think to say then was, "You know, it's amazing that you managed to fit all of that in one sentence."

"I did?" Noble blinked in surprise. "Wow." They both laughed.

It was only a short time later that they got up to leave. Noble paid the bill, leaving an unnecessarily large stack of bits near the slip of paper. They both walked over to the front desk, softly lit by candlelight.

"That old pony I came in with," Noble told the clerk. "Where is he? I'd like to pay his bill and offer him a room in Twilight's castle."

"Actually, sir, he disappeared after we settled him in," the clerk said, scratching his mane in confusion. "I don't know how he left or even why."

Noble's face looked frantic. "But did he eat?" he pressured.

"He did," a voice said behind him. Noble, Fluttershy, and the clerk turned their heads to see their dark grey waitress standing there, a shy smile on her face and an empty cart next to her. "I served him the best he could offer, sir. After that, he put his food in a doggy bag and left."

"Where's his bill?" Noble asked, drawing out his pouch of bits.

"Already paid for, sir," the dark grey waitress replied quickly.

Noble froze, the bag of bits still suspended in the air.

"I used the... exuberant tip you gave me to pay for him to eat," the waitress continued, playing with her black mane. "And... that wasn't the, um, only tip you gave me." She looked shameful.

"You mean... the advice I gave you about seeing the good in everypony?" Noble clarified slowly.

She nodded. "I saw the good in you when you forgave me for what I'd done. And that... made me realize that I needed to focus on what's right with ponies, rather than what I don't like about them. And as a result... I wanted to show the good in myself by helping that poor lost stranger."

Noble's face lit up with a bright grin. "Well done then, ma'am! I congratulate you on learning something tonight. But I learned something as well."

"...And what did you learn?" the waitress asked innocently.

Noble glanced briefly at Fluttershy, looking magnificent in her soft thin green dress and her thickly braided pink mane draped to the side. He then gently, almost unsure of himself, laid his arm around her shoulders. "I've learned who the most beautiful creature in Equestria is," he told Fluttershy.

She gasped and held a hoof to her mouth, a wavering smile spreading across her face.

The waitress looked tiredly reluctant at his words, but she nodded too. "I... hope you two will be happy," Discord said, surrendering at last. There was simply no point in resisting their bonds anymore.

"With him by my side, I'll always be," Fluttershy said abruptly. She re-clamped a hoof to her mouth like she had let loose a bad word, and Noble blushed deeply. They both turned and left the restaurant, lost in what the other had said. And as they left, Discord sniffled a bit.

The pony moved swiftly through the night like a barn owl. Silent and swift and deadly. He cast his eyes about him as he slid into a building's shadow effortlessly.

He needed to find what he was looking for. The only problem was that what he sought wasn't available at night. And even if he found it, it'd be hard to explain why he needed to buy it.

He spotted a couple walking up the street near where he was. It was Noble Blade--walking alongside the Element of Kindness. The two of them looked so happy together as they walked along. No words needed to be spoken to understand the obvious pleasure they took in each other's company.

The pony moved deftly out of detection range. They passed by him without a glance in his direction, neither one aware of his presence. He waited until he could no longer hear the clop of their hooves on the dirt road. Then he scaled up the side of a building and ran across the hay-thatched roof to the stone chimney atop it. There he assumed a perch for him to observe all of Ponyville, keeping his eyes open for what he needed to get.

Noble Blade walked Fluttershy back to her home in the dark night. Both of them were silent, remembering each word the other had spoken. They treasured the words, fondled them, observed them from every angle.

After a while Noble snuck a glance at Fluttershy as they walked back in silence. The light the moon provided seemed to all focus around her, giving her a slightly-visible aura of shining moonlight. The white flowers seemed to shine in contrast to the pink of her mane, and her green dress seemed to sparkle even more. Noble found he couldn't look away from her, no matter how much he silently reminded himself to focus on the trail ahead.

Fluttershy noticed this and stopped. "What's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

Noble shook his head in order to clear it. "N-nothing. I just- " He faltered for a bit. Finally, he took a deep breath and, taking a risk, said, "I'm admiring the angelic being I'm walking home."

Fluttershy blushed yet again and giggled happily.

She hadn't replied! Noble started to sweat under his suit. He had no experience with this stuff! Was it corny? Maybe she liked corny.

The rest of the walk back didn't have too much conversation. But it didn't need to. Eventually, he walked her across the bridge spanning the creek and took her to the front door.

Fluttershy could feel her internal temperature rising. It was the climax of the night. It was the climax of every date night that ever was.

Noble felt an inner clamminess clamp his insides. All right now. This is it. This is the time. Tell her you love her. Do it now, Noble! Come on! What are you waiting for? But he couldn't bring himself to even open his mouth.

Noble was relieved when it was Fluttershy that said the first word. "Thank you so much for the date, Noble," she said, barely above a whisper. "I, um... I loved it..." And she silently wished she could say more than that to him. Much, much more than that.

"Did I really do that good?" Noble asked.

"Well, I, um, was actually kind of scared at first," she admitted. "I mean, being in such a big place, and with everypony watching, and I was worrying about being a good date for you..." She rubbed her front leg up and down nervously. "But being with you... it made me feel better."

Noble couldn't believe his ears.

"I felt... better. Braver. More confident. I was comfortable around you." She leaned in closer. They were eye to eye now. "Like, really comfortable," she continued.

Noble's heart was pounding like a hammer on an anvil. This was the time. Right here. Right now. He needed to tell her he loved her with all the power the universe could muster.

And before she knew what she was doing, Fluttershy had come to Noble's face and planted a kiss on his cheek. She pulled away after one second.

Noble's face registered a mix of complete surprise and pleasant shock. He stood stock-still, his mouth agape and his pupils pinpricks.

And that was when the full realization of what she had done came rushing into Fluttershy like a tidal wave. Her face turned the color of a ripe apple and she started to quake like a building without its supports. She didn't know where to look, what to say, what to do. She whispered, "Oh... oh, um... s-sorry."

Noble did not move an inch.

"Um...g-g-goodnight," she whispered, and ran into her house abruptly and slammed the door.

There she lay against her door, panting hard, her mind reeling from what she had just done. Half a dozen chipmunks and birds gathered around her almost instantly, curious about where she had gone.

"I kissed him..." she said breathlessly. Her head was still a little clouded and foggy. She put a hoof over her heart. It pounded like a bass drum. Then her features lit up as a smile crossed her face. "I kissed him!" she exclaimed, and she wandered into her living room and collapsed into her long green couch. She giggled and drew a pillow closer to her chest. She hugged it with all of her strength, drunkenly pretending it was Noble Blade.

A few animals came onto the couch, all curious about her condition. But only Angel, who had spied on them through the window, knew exactly what had happened. He had on a small smirk as he held back a few raccoons by their tails from jumping on Fluttershy.

Fluttershy sighed in pleasure as she hugged the pillow harder. A few butterflies landed around her head like a halo, and as she took a deep breath she caught the scent of something intoxicating to her.

It was the flowers Noble had given her earlier. The collection of white flowers were placed in a pitcher of water in the center of the room, at the behest of Angel after they had left.

And the smell only reminded her more of the amazing pony she loved with all of her being.

Noble Blade was speechless. His cheek was still warm from where her lips had been.

She had kissed him!

After a moment he numbly put a hoof to his face, belatedly registering the otherwise obvious fact. He had been granted the highest gift a lowly mortal like him could ever get.

A kiss from Fluttershy. It meant more to him than the Pink Heart of Courage.

He didn't remember the walk back to the castle. It could have taken a few minutes or an hour.

All he knew was that when he had closed the door to his room he threw himself upon his bed and breathed, "She kissed me..."

He felt unnaturally hot. He didn't need blankets, so he kicked them off. He then took one of his pillows and snuggled up next to it, imagining it was the beautiful golden pegasus.

He had a happy dream.

Chapter Twenty-seven: A Shady Character

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Knock knock knock

That was the first thing Octavia Melody heard when she woke up. After pressing her pillow against her ears, she yawned, muttered to herself, and got out of bed, wondering who in Equestria it could possibly be.

Octavia Melody and Vinyl Scratch lived in a divided household. Split exactly down the middle, Octavia spent most of her time on the side of the house which, when viewed from the outside, was the left side. She had remodeled it to a tan color with mahogany furnishings and had music stands, boxes of classical music books, several spare violins here and there, spare bows for the string instruments, polish for her instruments, her signature cello in a corner of the room, and a closet full of identical bow ties and collars.

Conversely, Vinyl Scratch had decided to redecorate her side to a style reminiscent of a nightclub. Painted a dark shade of blue, she had put in boxes of vintage old records, a few posters of her favorite bands, stage lights, a few cans of spray paint, and quite a bit of music mixing machines. Octavia wasn't sure what to call them. She had installed subwoofers and disk players and turntables, the ground was littered with empty soda cans and dirty clothes, and the whole thing was very cluttered and close together.

The rules inside the house were very clear: stepping into the other side meant you were essentially in enemy territory. They didn't actually hate each other, but it was expected that once you were in the other pony's side of the house, they were now under the other pony's trust to not break or disrupt anything. Respect was expected of the other's styles and tastes.

Octavia tiredly moved across her side of the house over to the half-blue, half tan door. She unlocked the sliding latch and opened the door, blinking slowly. And then she gasped and stumbled backward, her state of fatigue gone.

It was the pony that had saved their lives on Thursday. His appearance was unchanged from when they last saw him, with the lone exception of a small wrapped present on his back. His bright red eyes focused on her, standing out from his black bodysuit covered with weapons. The faint rising dawn behind him only accentuated his shiny, shiny red irises.

After a moment he said, "Does Vinyl Scratch live here?" For some reason, his mouth, all but hidden inside his suit, did not move.

Octavia, her mouth dry all of a sudden, didn't answer immediately. Wasn't he unable to talk before? How was he doing it now?

"I asked you a question," came the weapon-loaded silhouette, jolting her. "Does Vinyl Scratch live here?" His voice sounded a tad more impatient than the last time.

Octavia found the voice to say, "Um, yes. She's my roommate, after all."

"Send for her," he almost commanded.

More than a little confused, Octavia moved back into the house and crossed into unfamiliar territory by stepping over the invisible dividing line. As she put her hoof down she felt an old sock on the ground, crusty and cold at the bottom. She sighed and managed to weave her way over to Vinyl's bedroom.

Her bedroom was as similarly decorated as the living room. It was clunky and had miscellaneous objects all over the ground. Spare records littered the desks, and her signature pair of earphones was plugged into another speaker next to her bed, which rose up and down slightly and slowly as she slumbered. Once she got next to her bed Octavia gently shook her. "Vinyl. Vinyl, come on. Wake up. Somepony wants to see you."

"Tavi..." groaned the unicorn. She rolled over and blinked, giving Octavia a glimpse of her dark red eyes. Her face was scrunched. "Can it wait? It's like, nine in the morning, and I'm trying to sleep, you know?"

"It's six, actually," Octavia corrected. She saw Vinyl wince and roll back over. "But it's a special visitor..."

"I don't want to see anyone," she moaned. "Or, like, I don't want anyone to see me..." She sounded uncomfortably morose. Her crumpled glasses rested on her nightstand as a wrenching reminder of the experience a few days prior. Since then, she hadn't left the house, out of both fear other ponies would see her without them on and her usual introvert tendencies.

"He's got red eyes..." Octavia prompted eagerly.

Vinyl suddenly sat up in her bed, abd she looked a lot less tired than before. "Is it him? The dude that saved our butts?"

Octavia nodded with a smile on her face.

Vinyl threw the covers off and ran out of her room to the front door, still slightly agape. She poked her head around the door frame and saw, indeed, the strange black-suited warrior there. There was something on his back. His powerful bright red eyes were still as intense as ever, but they softened upon Vinyl's appearance.

She said excitedly, "It's yo-I-I mean, uh, hey, dude. What's up?" She was suddenly a lot more aware of her disheveled bed-head and the messy blue side of the house, and repositioned herself so he wouldn't be able to see inside.

"Hello there, Vinyl Scratch," he said.

Vinyl was confused. Wasn't he unable to talk? He had shown Derpy that his mouth was always empty, didn't he? "Hey, um, didn't you not, like, have a voice before? Are you really, like, talking to me right now? Or is this, whatsitcalled, ventriloquism?"

"Thought manifestation spell," he said briefly. "I wanted to speak to you."

Vinyl blinked, both because the sun was in her tired eyes and because she wanted to know why he wanted to come here so early.

A flap of wings behind him drew her attention and she craned her head. A very familiar mailmare was dropping letters in her mailbox. Upon her seeing the super soldier, the mailmare's mouth dropped, and the letters she was carrying in her mouth drifted to the ground.

Derpy followed Vinyl's example by blinking as she tried to remember where she had seen him before. Then the gears clicked inside of her head and she grinned openly. "It's you!" she cried, and she ran right at him at full gallop and slammed into him in a tight hug as he was turning around. Her mouth was stretched into an open smile and her eyes were closed.

The super soldier rubbed the back of Derpy's head awkwardly as they hugged for over fifteen seconds straight. It felt like a lot longer for Freedom Fighter, though.

Derpy pulled away. "Oh, it's great meeting you here, mister! I'm just delivering the mail before anyone else wakes up!"

"It's good to see you too," Freedom Fighter said to her, unsure of what to call her. "Miss hooves?"

"Derpy," she said firmly. "My name is Derpy. All my friends call me that."

"Friend?" he asked in surprise. He had made another friend that quickly?

"Yep! You're my friend now, mister! You helped me. You, um, made me feel like I was worthy to be saved! Like I mattered..." She looked at the ground, an alarming look of sudden sadness in her mismatched eyes. It seemed to Freedom Fighter that she was still a little more forcefully impacted by Hunter the griffon than he had thought. She was probably so sensitive, and the insults were so harsh.

But Derpy was still talking, so he silenced the thoughts he was choosing not to voice aloud. "You...you stood up for me when nopony else could. When that... that stupid, mean, awful griffon said those things about my eyes!" Her mouth began to quiver. "I-I mean, it w-wasn't the first t-time they've said I was loopy, or-or crazy because of them. I'm used to it by now." She looked back up, and there were unshed tears in the corners of her crossed eyes. "I just--I can't help it! I was born with them! Aren't there other ponies like me? That can't do a thing about what they were born with? Everypony thinks I can't do anything right! All because of my eyes!" She started to bawl into Freedom Fighter's shoulder as the feelings just erupted in her raw, damaged emotions.

"Derpy," he said. "Derpy, look up. Look at me."

She did, though it was hard because her eyes kept going in random directions and her vision was blurry from her tears.

"All right, listen," Freedom Fighter said. "Can you trust that the words I'm about to say are true and real?"

Derpy nodded, rubbing her face.

"You. Are. Special," he said to her slowly. They were familiar words, words that had been spoken to him before by Noble Blade when he was in the deepest pits of despair. He just decided to switch around some of the words while talking to Derpy. "You. Are. Loved. I've seen you all the time, and there isn't a time I don't see you make their day better by just being around them. You have that effect on others. You... give what you have so willingly. Just seeing others accept your gifts makes you so happy. There is absolutely nopony else like you, and there is nopony else I'd rather you be."

"Even with my eyes?" Derpy asked.

"Especially with your eyes," Freedom Fighter said. He put his arms on her shoulders, being careful to not harm her. "Your eyes... are special."

"Th-they are?" she asked in confusion. "They're just... not normal."

"That's what others tell you. But if you can listen to them, you can also listen to me, and I'm telling you right now... that I love them." He said it like he meant it. "You stand out that much more from the others because of them. You look... cute because of them." He was lucky he could blush under the bodysuit.

"I... I do?" she asked in shock.

Freedom Fighter was the one that initiated the hug this time, drawing her into a tight embrace. "Your eyes are beautiful, Derpy. Always believe that you matter to somepony else." He was going off of quoted advice given to him now, barely believing them himself.

He felt Derpy crying again because of the rapid falls on his chest, but he could tell that they were tears of happiness now. He was vaguely aware of Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Melody behind him, watching him cheer up the pegasus.

After a few moments of fierce embracing, they both drew apart. Derpy had a reddened face, but was looking overjoyed at his random act of kindness. "Thanks, mister... um..."

Oh, yeah. "I'm sorry." He glanced back at the two musical partners and stepped to the side so he could talk to all of them. "My name is Freedom Fighter," he said, loud enough for all of them to hear him.

Derpy pondered this for a moment. Then she widened her eyes. "Wait a minute? You can talk now?" She had just remembered that he didn't have a tongue.

"I have a temporary spell on me," he explained.

"You look really scary," Derpy said out of nowhere.

Freedom Fighter blinked. He looked confused by the sudden change. "Yeah..." he conceded to her.

"Can I see what you look like underneath that suit? It can't hurt, can it?"

Freedom Fighter's eyes dilated and he stumbled backward all of a sudden. Then he straightened his pose and his eyes grew as hard as flint. "No."

"Why not?" she asked innocently.

"I... can't tell you. You won't see it. Ever."

Derpy's eyes fell. "Oh. Oh, I, uh...I understand." She looked at her mail satchel. "Look, I, um...I've got a lot of work to do. It was nice talking with you. And... thank you for the compliments. See you, Freedom Fighter..."

And she took to the skies and within a minute disappeared from view.

Freedom Fighter turned back to the two musical partners in the doorway. "May I have some time alone with miss Scratch?"

"C'mon, dude. Just call me Vinyl," the white unicorn said.

Octavia turned and headed back into the house, but once inside she then came to her window on her side of the divided household to peek outside.

"So, Vinyl," he was saying sensitively. "Are you recovering well?"

"Well, yeah..." she lied, scratching the back of her bushy blue mane. Parts of her body were still sore from the griffon talons, and there were, of course, the glasses. It had hurt Vinyl to put them away and not wear them, but they were useless now. There wasn't much point in keeping them out.

"Don't lie to me," he said abruptly. "I can see there's still pain in your eyes. Longing. So..." He slid forward the wrapped present he had. It had fallen off his back when he had hugged Derpy, but the present wasn't damaged. "I wanted to try and make it better."

Vinyl took the box in her magic, unsure of his intent.

"Please," he encouraged.

Vinyl slowly took the ribbon off the box and opened the lid.

From the window, Octavia gasped. And so did Vinyl.

It was a new pair of shades. The borders of the round glasses were a thick black, and the lens was bright pink like she had before, but it also came with a pair of green lenses that could be exchanged for the pink ones, as well as a normal pair of black lenses to form normal sunglasses. Vinyl held it in her trembling hoof, unsure of what to say about the miraculous present.

"I noticed you looked sad about them," Freedom Fighter said sympathetically. "It took me a while to find a pair like yours, but yours was so unique it took me until late last night to find a suitable pair."

Vinyl tried them on over her noticeably wet eyes. The world went pink, like her previous glasses, but these... seemed to fit better. She couldn't explain it in words, but it simply felt right to have them. Like she was meant to have these ones instead. The other glasses were great, but they were a little loose around the bridge of the nose and the lenses were a little too big. This one fit on her face perfectly without adjustment.

"Do you... like them?" he asked after she hadn't said anything for a while.

"...I love them," she breathed solemnly. She pressed them onto her face, afraid he'd catch her crying. "I'll treasure them."

Taken aback, Freedom Fighter asked, "Do you like the color? Do they fit well?"

"Well, I like 'em, but I actually like them because... they were a gift, dude."

Freedom Fighter scratched his neck awkwardly and swished his tail, heated up under his suit by her words.

After a while passed without either of them saying anything, Freedom Fighter cleared his throat in his mind, preferring not to irritate his damaged throat. "Well, I, uh... I have to go. Help out a friend at the orchard. Then we have to all go to a boutique to prepare for the Gala."

Vinyl pricked her ears up and took her glasses off in surprise. "You're going to the Gala?"

"Have to go," he clarified. "I work as a guard normally. Instant invite for life."

Vinyl pondered this. Normally she didn't like the strutty, full-of-yourself, high-class parties, and pitied those that had to go. Every Gala, Vinyl would bid Octavia Melody a grave goodbye when she got on the train. And when she would get back, alive but exhausted by the antics that had begun at every Gala since Twilight and her friends first went, Vinyl would lean her head back in pretend shock and embrace her like a family embracing a reunited soldier.

But now, knowing that Freedom Fighter would be going, she suddenly wanted to be there as well.

"Well, thank you so much, dude! I love this. They're awesome. But I, uh, I've got... other things I gotta... so, uh... yeah."

And she grinned uncomfortably, sidestepped back into the house, and slammed the door.

Utterly confused by now, Freedom Fighter stayed there for a second or two, then shrugged and trotted away towards Sweet Apple Acres to help out another friend for the day.

"Does this mean you're getting it on with two mares now?"

Freedom Fighter pricked up his ears and halted, pretty sure he had heard somepony say something about himself.

"It's just me. We can speak out loud now, remember?"

"Oh." He drooped his ears and shifted his eyes to the side. "It's you."

"Who's it gonna be now?" the voice sang. "You're at least on good terms with Vinyl. Twilight, ehh... you can talk with Twilight without having her flinch."

"Look, maybe I don't really... need a girlfriend right now," he admitted to himself as he trotted along the path.

"I thought you'd never say it to yourself."

"I'm saying it to you. That's enough for me."

"If you formed a relationship, you wouldn't be a good boyfriend. You aren't good at loving other ponies. And nopony wants to put up with that forever. Girls want a hero. You're no hero. Plus..." The other voice faltered.

"Plus what?"

"Plus, what the Noxxa found out? So let's just be buddies for now. Let's make none of the girls more precious than the others. You've already seen what it's done to Rarity and Twilight with Noble going after Flutters."

"Pardon me, young colt, but who are you talking to?" came a shriveled, quivering voice. Freedom Fighter almost reached for a knife before realizing it was an old lady on a park bench on the road knitting. "Is there somepony I can't see there?" She squinted at the space in front of him.

Freedom Fighter gave an inward smirk. "What should we tell her?" he thought aloud.

"Let's give her a fright."

"How do I do that? I'm normal, right? I'm normal... right?" he said, ignoring the looks the old pony was giving him.

"Ohohoho no you're not," he sang slowly, darkly. "You're not normal. I'm the one making you abnormal."

"Mister?" the white-maned pony asked, shivering as she leaned away from him. "You aren't... possessed by any chance, are you?"

"Possessed?" Freedom Fighter laughed. "Oh, no, lady. I'm not possessed."

"Yes you are."

"I'M POSSESSED!"

The lady shrieked, leaping an astonishing distance in the air for somepony her age, and sprinted down the street yelling "DEMON! DEMOOOON!"

Freedom Fighter watched her go and disappear down the street for just a minute, trying not to laugh and damage his vocal cords any more than they already were. Then he shook his head. "On second thought I probably shouldn't have done that."

"What if the town chases out the demon with pitchforks and shovels?"

"Blame that on the other guy."

"YOU MEAN ME?!"

"Okay, get out of my head right now or else I'm going to knock myself out and I'm not going to remember having you in here. You're around only for when I feel like Pinkie Pie. Don't overstep your bounds."

And the voice fell silent.

"Count yourself lucky the teenager didn't come along."

"What- everrrrr, multiple voices are like, so yesterday."

"OH COME ON!"

"Oooooooh!" Octavia squealed, catching Vinyl in a bear hug once she was back inside the house. "This is amazing!" She let herself go. "I mean, I gave you glasses before, but this is even better! It's from a new friend!"

"Yeah..." Vinyl said absently, staring at the glasses with a full heart of thankfulness. There was something important she had to do now. "Heya, 'Tavi?"

"Yes?" she responded.

Vinyl Scratch put on her new precious glasses and the world went pink for her. "I was wondering... you have an empty plus one ticket to the Gala, right?"

"Yes," Octavia said again, then she tilted her head. "Why do you ask?"

Chapter Twenty-eight: Girl Advice and Guy Advice

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The sun was only beginning to rise in the east, making Sweet Apple Acres just barely illuminated by soft yellow light. Applejack surveyed her two friends standing side by side with a sharp eye, attuned by years of farmwork and strengthened by practice in the fields.

Freedom Fighter looked sharp and stood at crisp attention--legs straight, head up, eyes wide open and showing the red loops that were his irises. He was still wearing the bodysuit he always wore.

Rainbow Dash was yawning and slumping. She had woken up only ten minutes ago, only then remembering that she had promised to help with Applejack so they could all be at Rarity’s boutique at the same time. Her eyes were groggy, her mane was disheveled, and she was limp.

“All right now, y’all,” she said, snapping both of them upwards so they were both paying attention. “Big Mac n’ Apple Bloom are workin’ in the south fields. Freedom Fighter, Ah want ya ta help ‘em.”

Freedom Fighter saluted. “Yes, ma’am.”

Freedom Fighter’s newfound ability was new and hadn’t been shown to all the girls yet. So Applejack, astonished abruptly, fell back against a tree in complete surprise. Shaking a little, she stammered out, “Y-y-ya can talk now? But... but Ah thought…”

The super soldier shrugged. “I’m not actually talking, miss. It’s just a spell by Twilight.” What Freedom Fighter did not choose to say in his thoughts was that he was tired of explaining it over and over again.

Applejack gave an uneasy grin. “That was mighty kind o’ her.”

“I know, right? I--wait.” Freedom Fighter looked around. Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen, startled off by his unheard-before voice. “Where’d she go?”

Applejack spotted a rainbow tail sticking out of a nearby tree and sighed. She then trotted over, lifted up her hind legs, and bucked the tree with all of her strength. Everything in the tree bounced out, including a rainbow-maned pegasus. She lay on the ground for just a second, then slowly got to all fours. “Who are you and what did you do with Freedom Fighter?” she demanded.

Freedom Fighter cast a sly look at Rainbow Dash. “It’s time for me to come clean.” He sighed with feigned remorse. “I murdered him. I’m actually his doppleganger.”

Rainbow’s face registered shock at first, then contorted to one of rage. ”YOU HURT HIM!” she roared. “I’LL HURT YOU!” And without a second thought, she threw a hard right hook at his face.

Freedom Fighter boredly put up his left leg and Rainbow’s hook was blocked. It clanged like Rainbow had punched a steel beam. She drew her hoof back and clutched her throbbing hoof angrily.

“I’m joking,” he said directly to her. “He’s not dead. I mean, I’m not dead. I am very much alive and present and solid.”

She massaged her sore hoof. “Yeah, I know that you’re solid, all right,” she snarled. “You’ve got a real dark sense of humor, you know that?”

Freedom Fighter nodded emphatically at this.

Applejack rubbed the bottom of her chin when she saw how easily he had blocked Rainbow’s punch. “Ah’m impressed,” she voiced to him. “Yer an awfully strong feller. Ya might do well at apple buckin’. Ya know where the south field is?”

Freedom Fighter paused, then slowly nodded. “Yes, I know where south is. I, ah, I’ll... go now.” And without another word he spun around and trotted off to the south.

Applejack then directed her attention to Rainbow once Freedom Fighter had disappeared. “Right, now we’ll work on the north field until we fill ‘bout a hundred bushels.”

Rainbow Dash bulged her eyes. “A... a hundred?”

She smirked. “Welcome ta my life, pardner.”

For the next hour or so, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were hard at work in the apple orchard. Combined, the two of them made considerable progress on their work. Because Rainbow Dash wasn’t as strong in her hind legs as Applejack was, she opted to fly around the tree she was working on and knock the apples off of the tree into the waiting baskets below.

Applejack could tell her heart wasn’t in it, though. The speed wasn’t as fast as she knew she could go. And instead of making small talk and embellished comments about Wonderbolt training sessions or stunts, she was awfully quiet. Applejack noticed this with only a hint of interest at first, but after the first hour, Applejack began to be concerned.

She knocked down another tree’s worth of apples into the waiting basket below and looked at the prismatic pegasus, who had just landed on the ground and picked up a basket handle with her teeth. “Rainbow? Ya feelin’ all right? Yer slower than Ah remember ya bein’, and yer quieter’n a serpent in tall grass. Is there something wrong?”

Rainbow set the basket down with her teeth and sighed. “Sorry, Applejack. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

“Like what?” she asked curiously. “The Wonderbolts ain’t got nothin’ ta be worried about. Their next performance ain’t fer weeks. Is it about the Gala?”

“No, it’s not about the Gala,” she replied hollowly.

“Is it that 'ten Elements' rumor?” she asked. Applejack had been wracking her brains in her spare time trying to figure out the truth of it ever since the mysterious carving had been brought up. But try as she might, it was still murky.

“No, it’s not that either,” Rainbow said irritably, looking at the ground.

“Then what is it?” Applejack asked, pausing her work. “Ya know Ah’m here ta help. Ya can trust me.”

“I know,” Rainbow said, kicking over the basket. “...You’re one of my closest friends, Applejack, and you’ve helped me before, but... I dunno about this one…”

Applejack smiled warmly. “Jus’ let it out, Sugarcube. Ah can’t help ya if ya stay silent. We’ll work it all out together!”

Rainbow exhaled. She looked conflicted about what she was about to say, but after a while she finally said, “Okay.” She took a deep breath. “You know... Firestorm, right?”

“Yeh, Ah know him,” she said, a little suspicious. They all knew Firestorm by now. “Why? Was he botherin’ ya?”

“No no no, not anything like that!” she said quickly, waving her hooves. “I don’t know what’s happened to me. But it’s... there’s... there’s something about him…” There was half a smile on her face. Rainbow then looked off into space. “You know, like, how you feel like your insides are about to burst? Or when you meet somepony you look up to as an idol for the first time? Or when... I don’t know... you’re happy and excited to do things?” Rainbow’s voice was distant. “That’s how I feel when…” She then shut her mouth and stayed silent, her eyes going to the size of a pinprick.

“What’re ya tryin’ ta say?” Applejack slyly asked.

Sensing the tone in her voice, Rainbow hurriedly said, “Look, don’t do that! You’re acting like you know something I don’t!”

“And Ah don’t know somethin’ ya do, but Ah’ve got a suspicion,” Applejack corrected with a smile. “Yeh’ve got Firestorm on yer mind, yer awfully quiet, and yer describin’ a weightless feelin’ whenever yer around ‘im.”

Rainbow looked nervous. She wiped her forehead in concern, where a bead of sweat had collected. “So…”

Applejack smirked. “You’ve got a crush on Firestorm, doncha?”

She flew straight into Applejack’s face, shock on her own face. “NO! What, me? Psshh, come on! Wh-what makes you think that?” She rubbed the back of her head anxiously.

The first thing Noble Blade registered when he woke up was that he had slept in his suit. He had been so spent from the events of the previous night that he hadn’t bothered to remove it before he collapsed into his bed.

I’m never washing my cheek again.

But then he caught himself. The statement, while sweet, was complete crap. Of course he’d wash himself again. And even if he never washed his cheek, Fluttershy would certainly never kiss him there again.

So that would mean she’d have to kiss him somewhere else instead. The thought made him shudder and clamp his stomach in queasy anticipation.

Regardless, Noble felt immeasurably joyous and eager to talk to somepony, anypony, about something--anything. So Noble hopped out of his bed, stripped out of his suit, shook his thick short blue mane out of his face, did his morning routine of pushups and situps, and opened the door to the dark hallway in Twilight’s castle when he was done. The wide hallways were deserted, and no noise was made in them except for the sound of Noble’s hooves as he made his way to the castle library.

A few minutes later, he opened the door to see, of all ponies, Firestorm in the library. He was in a large velvet seat facing the door with an abnormally thick book on his lap, his head down and his bushy fiery mane sticking up in the air. He paid no attention to the door opening because he was so engrossed in his book. Noble heard him mutter, “Oh, thank goodness,” to the book and saw him slump down in the seat in relief.

“Thank goodness what happened?” Noble asked mildly.

Firestorm looked up to see Noble and, contorting his face into one of shock and surprise, hurriedly chucked the large book onto the table in front of him cover down so Noble wouldn’t see the title. “Oh, uh, hey there. What, ah, brings you to the library at 7:15 in the morning?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Noble replied, eyeing the book he had chucked suspiciously. “I... didn’t know you could read.”

Firestorm blushed and giggled. “D’aw, shucks! You’re such a flatterer!”

“You’re not the kind of pony who’d spend his time in the library just reading books. You’d be trying to fall back asleep after his insomnia.” He raised an eyebrow at the book he was reading. “Unless you’re reading something to make you fall asleep in boredom?”

“Well, you’re close--hey!” Noble had lifted the book off the table to look at the title, and Firestorm sat up in his seat abruptly. Noble saw the title of the book before Firestorm snatched it up quickly. “What was that for?”

“I only wanted to know what you were reading,” Noble simply said. And he then smiled. “Les Miser Stables?”

“I wanted to know what everypony was talking about when they made those cultured jokes,” Firestorm explained as he flew up and put it back on the shelf where it belonged. “What if somepony makes an inside joke, and I don’t get it because I didn’t read the book? I’m afraid of not getting a good joke because I haven’t exposed myself to that area of pop culture. Somepony makes a joke and it goes right over your head because you didn’t expose yourself to it yet, and so you want to read all the things and see all the things and listen to all the things. But you can only expose yourself to so many things, so you need to make priorities, and you can’t freakin’ decide which comes first!”

“Which part of the book were you on?” Noble asked him, ignoring his rant.

“The part where Pone Valpone gets those two candlesticks from that awesome preacher.”

“...You can read?” Noble asked again.

“Yep.” Firestorm grinned. “Strange, isn’t it? The book's hard at times, but that's okay! Sometimes I like to be mentally challenged.”

“You said it, not me,” Noble observed.

Firestorm looked confused. Then he looked down. “Mentally challenged?” Then he abruptly yanked his head up, a look of outrage on his face. “WAIT, HOLD ON A SECOND!”

Noble burst into merry laughter. After a moment, Firestorm, who was initially glaring at Noble, also cracked a sheepish smile and joined in with him. Then, after the laughing fit had passed, Firestorm decided to get the topic off of him. “So…” His tone turned sly. “How was your date?”

Noble gave a silly grin, not at all bothered by the change in conversation. “Well, if you really want to know, I’m the happiest pony alive.”

“Did you do…” Firestorm lowered his voice to a conspiratory whisper. “It?”

“It? What do you mean--Oh wait a second.” Noble realized what he was talking about. “You mean that it?”

Firestorm smirked. “Yep. That it. Did you do it, then?”

Noble nodded. “I most certainly did.”

Firestorm got out of his seat, flapping in the air. “Ohoho my dude, you went that far? Wild! Did she like it?”

“We both liked it.”

“You did not go that far with her, dude. You’re far too reserved to take that chance with her.”

“But I did! We have officially held hooves!”

Firestorm doubled over in the air, laughing uncontrollably. “Ohoho YES! You’re finally getting some action!” he said victoriously. “Come here!”

Firestorm flew at Noble and embraced him roughly before Noble could object, patting Noble on the back a few times. As they hugged, Noble accidentally took a whiff of him. He gave a look of bafflement, then started to sniff some more. Something was off about him.

The burlesque pegasus drew back and spotted Noble’s face. “Something wrong?”

“There’s something fishy about you.” Noble smiled. “And by that I mean you don’t smell fishy. You smell... good for once.”

“Are you complaining?”

“I’m not complaining! It’s just peculiar. You normally never really care enough to put on cologne, or apply copious amounts of deodorant.”

“If they don’t like my smell that’s their problem.” He shrugged it off.

“But that’s where the problem comes in, you see.” Noble started to pace around Firestorm. “When you hugged me I could feel that your coat and mane were washed and sleek, and that your armpits were dry. You took a shower this morning, didn't you?”

Firestorm grew nervous now. “So?”

“So, why the sudden change in attitude? Knowing you, you don’t do this random act just to clean up. It’s more when I tell you to do it because we’re about to be in an extremely important situation, like appearing in front of royalty or going to the donut shop.”

“Look, I just thought that it was time for me to be a little better in my hygiene habits! So I... took a shower!” He scratched his mane and grinned awkwardly.

“Thou didst take a shower.” Noble lapsed back into archaic speech involuntarily and folded his arms. “Of thy own volition.” He looked at Firestorm for just a second, then shrugged. Then he took another suspicious sniff of the unnaturally pleasant air surrounding Firestorm and he scrunched his face. “Is that Eau de Toilette I smell?”

“Yep,” Firestorm said to him dejectedly after a pause.

Noble punched him lightly on the shoulder. “You’ve got good tastes in cologne, by the way. All this cleaning up... It’s almost as if…” He paused, then a grin came onto his face. “Almost as if you’re trying to impress somepony?”

Firestorm avoided Noble’s knowing gaze. “What? Impress a special somepony? Come on, me? Pshaw, no. I, uh, don’t know what yyoouu... are talking about. Yeah. I’m just, ah, doing this because I want to. That’s it. Final. Finito. Finale.”

Noble Blade looked at him for a minute, and Firestorm looked back at him with a feigned irascibility.

After a moment Noble said, “You’ve got a crush on Rainbow Dash, don’t you?”

Firestorm suddenly gripped Noble hard by the shoulders and shook him back and forth. “HOW DID YOU FIND OUT?!” he shrieked at the top of his lungs.

Then he realized what he had said and let go hastily. “I mean, I-I have NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT! Wh-why do you ask?” he asked, scratching his mane.

Applejack leveled her gaze at Rainbow Dash. “Come on, Dash. Admit it. Ah’ve seen ya around ‘im before. Like after the Friendship mission. And... there was sumthin’ in yer eyes there. You were lookin’ at him fer a lot longer than normal. There’s a light in you whenever he makes ya laugh, and ya smile and act smaller than normal when the two o’ ya talk. Ah think ya got feelings fer him.”

Rainbow cast a downwards glance. “Well…” She seemed to struggle to say the next words. Could she? Then she relented. “Yeah... Ever since the castle and stuff. But I really don’t want the others to find out I do!”

“Why?"

“Because if they see a pony like me having a-a…” She concealed “Crush” in a cough, “on him, I--my reputation would be ruined!”

“Your reputation?” Applejack asked shrewdly. “Are ya afraid that the others will look down on ya because of Firestorm?”

“What? No! But it-it-ugh! If they find out I like Firestorm, then my image of being tough is gone!” Rainbow flapped into the air, assuming a heroic pose. “I wanna be tough and unbreakable! The reliable hero Ponyville looks up to! Rainbow Dash isn’t reliant on anypony else! And if everypony else found out that I really, really like another guy, I’d only be seen as a little filly that fell for her crush!”

Applejack “Tsk”ed softly. “You just don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?” Rainbow demanded.

“That you can be strong and be in love at the same time,” she said as she loaded a bushel of apples onto a cart. “Look at Cadence and Shinin’ Armor. Do ya think either of them’re weak because they’re in love? Ya think they’re soft because they do everythin’ together all the time? Is their marriage happy because they’re both weak?”

Rainbow blinked. Then she sighed. “I guess not,” she admitted.

“See? Ya can be strong and be in love at the same time, ya know. Some ponies think they need ta be a 'strong, independent mare who don’t need no stallion,' but the truth is anythin’ but. Bein’ in love makes ya stronger. Jus’ because ya have a crush on the guy, it don’t mean yer not awesome. Yer jus’ makin’ yerself stronger by lettin’ somepony else inta yer life.”

“But…” Rainbow thought for a minute. “But what if Firestorm thinks that as well, and he’s making me stronger because he thinks I’m weak? I’d be seen as a softie by him!”

“Ah don’t think Firestorm’d do that. What makes ya think he would?”

Rainbow was silent. She had no answer.

“Firestorm ain’t all that much of a battle-scarred warrior anyway. Ah mean, ya see ‘im, and ya wouldn’t think he's a warrior at all. He’s a bit of a softie as well. He ain’t rock-hard all the time. And he don’t want ta be hard around everypony else, either.” She smirked, deciding to be a little playful. “Or maybe he only gets hard when he’s thinkin’ ‘bout you.”

Rainbow recoiled from the double-entendre. “GUAAHH!”

Applejack chuckled madly.

Rainbow leveled a glare at her. “DON’T DO THAT!”

Noble just looked at Firestorm, slightly exasperated, but mostly amused. “You can’t hide it from me, Storm. Trust me, I did the exact same thing you’re doing now. You suddenly wearing cologne, your softer self around her, your uncharacteristic interest after her drinking episode--you’re easier to read than a foal’s beginner book.”

Firestorm flapped into the air. “Well, excuuuse me for trying to look out for a, uh, platonic coworker buddy! Is it wrong to look after somepony and think about their well-being?”

“What about the cologne, then? That’s got nothing to do with it?”

“That’s just so she can tolerate my presence.”

“I thought that if ponies didn’t like your smell that was their problem?”

Firestorm’s expression darkened. “This is different.”

“And I know precisely why it is different, my fine, fierce, fiery feathered friend,” Noble responded.

Giving up, Firestorm slowly slumped to the ground with a low, tired groan. He lay there with his butt in the air and his face smushed to the ground for a good few moments, then blew a strand of his mane out of his face. “All right, all right. Fine.” He took a deep breath. “I’vegotacrushonher. There, I said it. I’m done.” He stood up. “But I swear, if you mention this to Freedom Fighter, I’ll draw on your armor in permanent marker again.”

“And why not?”

“Because I’ll never hear the end of it!” He then frowned. “Wow, that actually means something when talking about a mute now.” He then threw up his arms and turned away. “I’ll probably get all these annoying comments from him about me and her sharing a room together or something like that.”

“No, that’s the kind of thing you’d do to him if he got a marefriend.”

“That’s a pretty big if there I hear,” Firestorm muttered before raising his voice. “Look, I can’t let it get out to the others. They’d probably laugh their flanks off.”

“And what makes you think that?” Noble asked.

“Because by now, they all have an image in their heads of me.” Firestorm bounced into the velvet seat he was in before. “I’m that one friend that always pretends like he’s a total chick magnet, but miserably fails every time--on purpose. If I let it get out to the others that I genuinely like a girl, and that I’m actually trying to get her attention, then that image goes kerplop, and then all of a sudden I’m just another pony trying to snag a pony that’s way over his own league. I wouldn’t be special or unique anymore. I…” He faltered. “I’m afraid, Noble.”

Noble listened intently.

“I’m afraid that if I lose myself going after her, my image to everyone else will become dull and uninteresting. I’ll try to become something I’m not. And I don't want to be another guy, I want to be me. You know?”

Noble came next to him and put his arm around one of his closest friends. He could almost imagine it as a situation where soft background music would start playing, so he added it in his brain as he spoke.“Storm... listen to me. I was afraid of that too. But going after another pony for love doesn’t diminish yourself. In fact, it only improves yourself. In trying to impress whoever it is you want to love, you correct the faults you have, and you clean yourself up. That isn’t bad, is it?”

Firestorm looked up. His eyes were wide in realization.

“I’m love-stricken as well. There is not a piece of my spare time where I’m not thinking of Fluttershy. But my image to the others hasn’t changed.” Noble looked up, rolling his eyes to the side. “I mean, do they say I’m just another bland personality? Do they say I’m too much of one of those really annoying Gary Stus that has everything work out for him? Do they say I became a blank slate ever since I met Fluttershy? Do they say I’m dull, uninteresting, unrelatable, and boring?”

“It’s so obvious they don’t need to say it,” Firestorm grumbled.

“Okay, this is not about me!” Noble suddenly flustered, and the background music in his mind shut off with a record scratch.

“I didn’t say anything,” Firestorm said defensively.

“Oh, of course you didn’t. What about what you were implying?”

“I didn’t say anything!”

Applejack trotted over to another tree. “Well, Rainbow, if ya want ta be compatible, ya should focus on the things that drew yer attention,” Applejack advised as she knocked another bushel’s worth of apples out of the tree. “What do ya see in ‘im? What pulls at yer heartstrings so much?”

Rainbow eyed her disdainfully at her choice of language, then sighed and loaded the apple cart with another wide basket. “Well, the first word that comes to mind is he’s…” She stared off into space, a distant look in her eyes as she remembered every detail about him. It made her mouth salivate. “Awesome. Just... awesome.”

“Now how did Ah know that adjective would be used,” Applejack whispered to herself. She raised her voice. “Ya wanna expound on that?”

“He’s awesome in every way,” Rainbow responded, hopping off the cart. She started to tick off items by sticking a feather up for each point. “I-I mean, he can do a Sonic Flameboom, he has a sister that’s the captain of the Wonderbolts, he’s a warrior, he’s got awesome weapons, and he helped rescue Twilight! He’s funny, and he’s serious, and he’s really, really chill and relaxed!... except for when he’s not.” Rainbow realized she was rambling, and decided to get to the main point. “I mean, Daring Do’s great and all, and Firestorm’s, like, on par with her on the awesomeness scale, but I see Firestorm a lot more often. If he isn’t the most awesome pony I know, nopony is!”

Applejack fixed her a look. “Do ya think he’s more awesome than you?”

A sudden somber silence fell. The only noise that could be heard was the rustling of the trees and the chirping of the birds in the background.

Finally a subdued Rainbow Dash whispered, “If it means it’ll get him to like me…” Her voice grew even softer. “...Yes.”

Applejack put an arm around her closest friend and spoke to her in a loving tone. “Now, Ah don’t know much in the ways o’ romance. But Ah do know a thing or two about practicality. And the way Ah see it, this is the first time in yer life another guy’s made ya feel this way. If ya don’t take a chance and try ta snag him now, you might end up regrettin’ it fer the rest of yer life.”

How could she? “B-but he’s totally awesome and I’m...normal awesome. Compared to him I’m nothing!”

Applejack looked her square in the face. “Then don’t compare yerself ta him,” she said bluntly. “Comparin’ yerself when yer higher above everypony else was yer problem before, like when we had ta dress up as the Mysterious Mare Do Well all that time back. But now Ah think it’s the opposite way. When ya see yerself as lower than another pony and ya think yer nothin’.”

Rainbow didn’t answer. She was thinking too hard about the realization that had just struck her like a thunderbolt--which feeling she was well aware of, being a pegasus. Did she really think of herself like that? She had always assumed that her inferiority complex was just natural, but now it was suddenly something she had made up herself?

“Comparin’ yerself ta others is the fastest ways to get depressed real quick,” Applejack was saying. “Somepony real famous once said, “Comparison is the thief o’ joy.” So if ya compare yerself ta others so you can feel better or worse, then yer bound fer trouble. This may come as a bit of a shock to ya, but life ain’t a race.”

Rainbow opened her startled mouth to protest, but Applejack stuck her hoof in her mouth before she could say anything. “There ain’t no end prize at the end that only one single pony outta the whole world can earn. Just 'cause somepony else has skills better than yours, it don’t mean they’re worth more than you.” Applejack took her hoof out of Rainbow’s mouth and smiled. “So instead of upsettin’ yerself for no reason 'cause ya think yer nothin’ compared to Firestorm, Ah’d recommend ya compare yerself to you. Ta how ya were in the past. And trust me on this, Rainbow. Yer worth is infinite. Yer one of the strongest, most reliable ponies Ah know. And yer my closest friend, too. And that makes ya worth the world ta me.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head, astounded and a little overwhelmed. “Wow, AJ. I didn’t know you could be so... profound!”

“Farm wisdom.” Applejack shrugged. “Granny Smith says Ah’ll get plenty of it when Ah get ta be her age.”

“That’s crazy. Nopony can live to Granny Smith’s age.”

“Fair,” Applejack conceded.

“This is about you, Storm. Not me. So let’s try to work ourselves through this reasonably. What are those qualities you see in Rainbow that made you have a crush on her?”

Firestorm exhaled, scratching his head while racking his brains for the answer. Finally, he sat back in his seat and said, “Well, she’s frickin’ awesome.”

An expectant Noble Blade leaned forward, straining his ears for more.

When no other response came, however, he frowned and leaned back again. “Frickin. Awesome. That’s... all you have to say about her?”

“What?” Firestorm jumped up in his seat and gripped the sides of his head in frustration. “JgekljfgbagbNO! No, not at all! That’s just the best way to sum things up about her. She’s also cool, she’s breathtaking, she’s epic, she’s-”

“You do realize those are all synonyms for awesome, right?”

Firestorm smacked himself in the forehead so hard he fell back in his chair again with a soft floomf. He then pondered for a little while, then after some time said, “Well, she’s pretty good at handling herself. She looks like she can do well on her own. And it’s good, because then she can actually do productive things and can keep life going without me to supervise it. And she’s as fast as me. I like speed in girls. It’s cute if they’re athletic. And she’s cocky, and fun, and seems like she’d be a great pony to hang out with for the rest if my life. And…” He paused.

“And what?” Noble encouraged.

“And she’s hot!” he cried exasperatedly, throwing up his hooves. “I mean, look at her and tell me she isn’t. She works out, but she still manages somehow to keep herself so smooth and trim. And her voice. It-it’s so alluring and has this playfulness to it, and that makes the things she does when she’s excited just so freaking adowable! Plus, the mane. Like, the colors and the shape of it and stuff. I’m not going to find another mane like that anywhere else in Equestria. And her eyes!” He looked at Noble, who had on a gentle smile. “Oh my dude, her eyes! You would think a girl like Rainbow wouldn’t like the color pink, but it looks so hot! I mean…” He paused upon noticing Noble’s expression and he frowned. “What?”

Noble was simply thinking about his talk with Twilight where he had first told her that he had a crush on Fluttershy. It was remarkably similar circumstances, in the same exact same setting in the exact same library. “It seems that you really like her, then,” he said, mimicking the words Twilight had spoken to him.

Firestorm crossed his eyes. “You don’t thay!” he said in a deep, dumbed-down voice.

“What’s with the tone?” It was incredibly different from Noble’s reaction.

“The tone?”

“The ‘I can’t believe you’d say anything so stupid’ tone.”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

“Well, if you really like her that much, I’d recommend you make a move,” Noble advised. “I made the first move, after all, when I first asked Fluttershy on a date.”

“It’s not as though a girl like her was going to make the first move.”

“Unless she really, really likes you. Do you think you’re up to the task of making the first move and getting Rainbow’s attention? Do you have the courage to enter into something deeper than friendship, mister five-time recipient of the Pink Heart of Courage? To stop hanging out with girls and start dating them instead?”

“I’d rather take down Marshal Malice with a rubber chicken,” he muttered under his breath, before raising his voice. “But in the end, yes. I do want her to eventually see me as, well... likable.”

“Then do something to try to get her attention and become closer together,” Noble advised. He glanced at the clock. “The others should be close to waking up by now. Let’s continue this in the kitchen.” And he went out of the library to where he remembered Twilight’s kitchen was.

After just a moment of indecision, Firestorm decided to follow him.

“Now, Ah’m not Rarity,” Applejack said, picking up another bushel on her back. “And Ah’m sure she’d offer somethin’ different. She’d probably tell ya ta play around with his heart a little bit before commitin’ yer heart. Ta be closed off so he needs ta pluck up the courage to even try ta talk to ya. But Ah’m sure that’d only get the both of yer emotions complicated and lost real quick, because then ya have not only yerself, but also the pony ya like confused and disconnected from each other. Ah’m sure her method’s got somethin’ to it, but Ah don’t see what it is.”

Rainbow silently agreed with Applejack. True, Rarity was flirtatious and a universally accepted expert in the colt and stallion category. But then again, she herself had never exactly had a suitor that stayed with her for more than a few hours, so maybe there was something to what Applejack was saying.

“Ma own advice would probably be ta make yerself available ta him. He ain’t gonna make a move on ya if yer closed off, ya know. So let ‘im know ya want ta have ‘im. Loosen up around ‘im, call him some cute names, do a bit of playful physical contact.”

Rainbow craned her head to look at her as she set her bushel down on the cart. “Playful physical contact?” she slowly echoed. It was confusing. What kind of contact was okay with friends and which ones were okay with really hot guys?

“You know... a hearty punch on the shoulder?” she asked, tapping Rainbow lightly on the shoulder. “Maybe try ta ruffle his mane, or whip yer tail inta his face, or put an arm around him and squeeze, or maybe bump hips with ‘im?”

“What if he takes it the wrong way?” Rainbow asked in concern. “Like, what if he thinks I’m assaulting him or something?”

“That’s up to him to decide. Right, now come on. Let’s try it out now. Imagine Ah’m Firestorm and ya wanna go ahead and talk to me. Remember, Ah’m just any other friend until ya make the move. Now come over here and ask him what’s cookin’ and laugh and add yer best friendly shoulder punch. Try it on me. Let’s go.”

Applejack was the same color as Firestorm, so that did not make it hard for her to imagine Applejack was Firestorm instead. It was easy. All she had to do was just add a sticky-uppy fiery mane and imagine her as a strong-willed stallion and add that amazing voice that was so fun to listen to, and add his neon yellow eyes and the way he held himself, and all of his quirky mannerisms, and all of his courage, and remember the way he had carried her out of the burning Castle of the Two Sisters. Rainbow swallowed. It was more difficult than she initially thought.

Gathering her courage she put on a comically oversized grin and awkwardly shuffled her way next to Applejack. “Why hey there, ol’ buddy ol’ pal Firestorm!” she said like she was reading off a teleprompter. “What is baking?” She gave a fake laugh for the space of five whole seconds, then reared up and struck Applejack in the arm with all the force she could muster. She yelped and shook her numb hoof for the second time that day so far as she felt the impact on Applejack’s tough skin.

Applejack winced and clutched her shoulder. “Tone it down there, sugar! Ya ain’t tryin’ ta dislocate his shoulder!”

“Sorry!” Rainbow hissed in pain. “I’m just not used to not putting all my force into it!”

“Ya got a good punch there, Ah’ll admit.” She raised a hoof threateningly. “Ya wanna feel mine?”

Rainbow gulped. “You know what, let’s just say you win the punching contest, okay?”

Applejack gave a short laugh. “Ah win.” She then turned all serious again. "But remember: be light about how ya go about doin’ yer flirtin’. Ya don’t wanna hurt him--mentally or physically. That ain’t love. Love…” She paused, then said, “is every good feeling in the world. It’s excitement, and happiness, and power and honesty and warmth. So ya don’t want him ta fear talking with ya. You want ‘im ta be obsessed about the way ya touch him, about the sound of yer voice, about the cute names ya call him.”

“Like what?” Rainbow asked. “I don’t have to call him something wussy or sick like…” She gulped. “Babyface, do I? Or sugar-wugar? Or Cutie Pie?” She shuddered in disgust.

“Well, yer not talkin’ ta Flurry Heart. Yer okay with talkin’ ta him like a normal pony, but try somethin’ a little more... serious.”

She blew a sigh of relief. “Oh, that’s good. I can do that. I can do serious.” She flew into the air, pulled a pair of sunglasses out of her mane and put them on, and assumed an arrogant pose. “Hey! Wassup, idiot! Shut up and come over here! Let’s see you hustle! Let’s go!” She lifted the sunglasses off her face and looked to Applejack for feedback. “Was that good?”

Applejack spat out a hearty laugh she had been holding in. “You ain’t talkin’ ta Gilda the griffon, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” Rainbow sighed, then slumped to the ground. “I-I’m still new to this whole romance thing, Applejack. I don’t know if I’ll get it right the first time.”

“And that’s just the thing. You don’t need to.” Applejack came next to her. “Romance isn’t about gettin’ everythin’ right all the time. It’s about how the two o’ ya handle when ya mess up. So don’t worry too hard about what’s right. Just trust yer gut. More often than not, that’s the right thing to do.”

“How do you know so much about romance, anyway?” she asked, turning to look her in the face. “You say you don’t know much in the ways of romance, but you have all of this advice?”

“I’ve got extended family. Ah’m just seeing what worked fer them. Ah mean, Ah don’t exactly read those fashion articles and the advice columns about stallions mares’ve got their eyes on. Ah’m no expert by their standards, but Ah know enough in the real world ta know how most of it’s supposed ta work. If ya love somepony else, ya give ‘em an opportunity ta take a shot. And one of the ways ta let ‘im know yer open is ta call ‘im cute names like…” She thought for a bit, then she smirked. “Stud.”

Rainbow blinked. “S-stud?”

“Or maybe Handsome. Or Babe,” she said calmly. “What was that name you called him at the flying competition? Stormy? Remember, keep it a good, positive name. Ya don’t wanna confuse him by using a nickname like ‘Idiot.’ Some ponies do that and the guy they’re talkin’ to gets confused if they’re bein’ serious about that or not.”

“Stud,” Rainbow repeated to herself. Her stomach churned as the word left her mouth. “That’s... kinda hot.” She gave a shy smile. “I’ll have to remember that one.”

“Like Ah said, ya want ta give him a path he wants ta follow. When the two o’ ya finally are together, Ah wouldn’t do things like make big deals out of little issues, or blame him for everything that goes wrong, or get mad or upset at ‘im because ya find flaws about ‘im. He could find out flaws about you as well, but you wouldn’t like it if he screamed and got upset with you, would you?”

“I guess not,” Rainbow admitted, thinking about it and mulling it all over. “So I just don’t have to get mad at him if he does something stupid?”

“Ah’m not sayin’ ta block yer natural emotions, Rainbow. But stayin’ mad at him fer no reason can escalate inta somethin’ a lot bigger and a lot more dangerous. Never go to bed angry at each other, Rainbow. He’s got an obligation ta stick by you as well, but you also need ta stick by him no matter what.”

Rainbow smiled. “I’ll do it.”

Applejack grinned. “Now, let’s try again. How would ya go about talkin’ ta a handsome guy like Stormy?”

After a second or two of thought, Rainbow flapped up into the air. “Hey there, stud,” she called, making her voice slightly higher than usual and adding a small smirk. She flapped over and ruffled the top of Applejack's mane. “You always look that way, or did you try to look that handsome today for me?”

Applejack nodded in approval. “That’s it! That’s pretty good, Rainbow. Just keep that up and that boy will be yours in no time!”

In Twilight’s kitchen, Noble was assembling the ingredients for making a quick breakfast of oatmeal. Over the shoulder, Noble called, “Have you ever tried to talk to her?”

Firestorm wracked his brains. “No, not really,” he reported back.

“Well, how would you go about doing it?”

“I’d…” Firestorm cut himself off. And he looked down. “I dunno.”

“Well, let’s try it now.” Noble turned around. “Pretend I’m Rainbow Dash for just a second.”

Firestorm shuddered. “Ew.”

“This is just for the sake of practice here. Don’t worry, I’m not going to take anything personally. Just act how you would to Rainbow. I’m here to help.”

“But that’s still gay.”

“Would you prefer it if you were practicing with Freedom Fighter instead?”

The very thought made Firestorm stumble backward in shock. “You know what, I’ll, uh... I’ll try it.”

Noble nodded. “Good. Very good.”

Noble Blade was only a few shades lighter than the cyan color of Rainbow Dash, so that didn’t make it very hard to make minor adjustments to him. All he had to do was picture him as a lithe mare with a rainbow mane and a hoarse, alluring voice, and add those cute, rose-colored irises to his eyes and add some half-lidded eyes and a smirk and a beckoning hoof for him to come over. Firestorm felt like the room was a lot smaller and more stuffy than before once he thought of that, which did not make it any easier for him.

Firestorm awkwardly sidled over to Noble’s side. “OH, HELLO THERE, RAINBOW!”

“Tone down the volume,” Noble advised.

Firestorm grinned sheepishly, then cleared his throat. “Oh, um, hey there, Rainbow. You, ah, you lookin’ sexy today.” He hurriedly shook his hoof to the side. “No homo.”

“No homo,” Noble agreed. “But try to avoid terms like sexy.”

“Right, right,” Firestorm agreed uncomfortably. “Anyway, uh... Wassup, Dashie? What do ya want to talk about? How, um, hot you are? I, uh, I mean, it’s a hot day, right?” Firestorm awkwardly scratched his mane and kept silent.

“What’s going on?” Noble asked. “Well, first off, good job with the nickname. But you broke off. Why? You’re normally so fearless to hit on Rarity.”

“Yeah, but this is different because Rainbow's actually attractive. It’s making my nerves uneasy. I want to do something to impress her, but I think the first time we met, I botched it with my first impression.”

“So imagine you’re talking to her for the first time. What would you say then?”

Firestorm thought about that for only a few seconds before he flapped up in the air upside down and readjusted his mindset. “Oh, hello there, Dashie! How you doing? The day's not hot, but you sure are. You want to come over to my place for some ice cream to cool off?” he casually, easily asked. It surprised him how easily it came to him. Then he hurriedly added, "No homo."

“You see?” Noble smiled. “That was pretty good. I know you can do it, Storm. We’re warriors. We never shirk from a challenge, be it physical or mental. You will succeed. It’s in your blood!”

“That’s racist,” Firestorm said.

“Your soul!” Noble insisted.

“That’s racist,” he repeated.

Noble tilted his head. “Your eyes?” he asked.

“That’s gay.”

“That’s discriminatory,” Noble said.

“That’s accusatory!”

“That’s racist,” Noble triumphantly cried.

“Dang.” Firestorm slumped sadly to the ground.

A pot floated out of Twilight’s kitchen cupboard, surrounded in a blue aura, and set itself down on the stove. “So you say you want to impress her, Storm?”

“Assuming she isn’t already,” Firestorm said, hanging back. “If a Sonic Flameboom didn’t get her attention, what will?”

“You know,” Noble started, opening another cupboard with his magic and floating a box of oats out, “those huge, grandiose acts, like Sonic Flamebooms, aren’t all that necessary. It’s the little things that gradually stack up.”

“Says the guy that took out a girl to the fanciest restaurant in town for the first date.”

Noble went pink. “Guaa, well, um, that was after I had spent time with her before, Storm. We both knew each other and we both were sure we wanted to do it. Besides, I didn’t know what other option I had for a first date. What would you have done?”

Firestorm shrugged. “Touche.”

“Act like a gentlecolt. Like, a civilized being rather than... however you act most of the time.”

“Like a baboon?”

“Yeah.” Noble pointed at him. “Yes, exactly. See, I’m okay with the way you act most of the time, but it’s not the best way to win Rainbow over, per se. Let her know that you care. I knew some stallions that decided to act all tough and aloof and fierce. But it doesn’t always work out that way. Do thoughtful things for her. Pull out her chair for her when she needs to sit down. Compliment her on how she looks. Go and get something she needs that day without her asking you. Surprise her with a gift.”

“Surprise her?” Firestorm asked suspiciously, coming over next to Noble.

“You won’t get her to like you by pranking her. Dropping a snake on her won’t win her affection.”

Firestorm pointed at him. “That’s a good idea. Dropping a snake. Thanks for suggesting that. Perfect!”

Noble rolled his eyes slightly. “See, you want to become the kind of pony you want to marry. Emulate your own actions to match that of the pony you want to spend the rest of your life with.”

Firestorm looked lost in thought because of that. The advice was seeping into his brain and impacting him harder than any other piece of advice he had been given.

Noble saw his face and decided to follow up with something else. He stepped aside and indicated the box of oats. “Do you want to try this, Storm? Cook breakfast?”

Firestorm looked at the box of oats with a wary eye. “Ah, you do remember the last time I tried to cook, right? Back in our raid on Arimaspi mountain. I decided, in a moment of brilliance, to use a flare to make the cook fire bigger. And the stew ended up like Skyworld.”

“It exploded and went up in smoke?”

“It exploded and went up in smoke,” he confirmed. “We had to roast wild mushrooms over my swords that night.”

Noble shuddered at the cold, wet, hungry memory. “Well, granted, you sucked. But why not try again? Picture it, Storm. Picture yourself surprising her with a huge platter of homemade cookies one day and saying, 'I made this for you, Rainbow.' You’ll think better about yourself in the way you cook, and Rainbow will look at you with admiration and gratitude.”

Firestorm fidgeted. “I dunno…”

“Show off your cool stallion skills. The things you're single-mindedly fixated on are genuinely interesting and attractive to the ladies. Girls like guys that have skills. I’m talking about being really into music and willing to make her a song. I’m talking about woodworking, combatant skills, writing, art, sports, coin collecting, musical talent, repairing broken objects.” He indicated his head at the box of oats. “Cooking.”

Firestorm was silent for a moment, then jabbed at his Cutie Mark of a fiery black X. “You know what my Cutie Mark means, right?”

“That you’re good at burning things?”

“Yep. That also means that I suck at cooking.” He sighed. “I-I mean, can I at least make mac ‘n cheese without summoning a devil in the pot?”

“Oh, nopony’s that bad at cooking,” Noble said without certainty.

“Yuh huh. All right, look. Every time I try to cook something seriously, it ends up as a cremation of what it should have been. Pasta, casserole, soup-”

“You made soup catch on fire?”

“Arimaspi Mountain, remember? Pudding. Jello. Carrots.” He leaned forward. “A freaking peanut butter sandwich. Heck, once I decided to get some pie a la mode, and when I sat down I saw it was smoking.”

Noble gave him an incredulous look. “How the heck did you burn ice cream?”

“I don’t know! I think it’s because I’m cursed by Faust or something! I’m not cut out for this stuff!” He took a look at the instructions on the side of the box of oats. “I mean, look at this! Step one: Boil water.” He slapped the box indignantly. “Who the heck do they think I am, a chemist?”

“Whew!” Applejack wheezed, setting down another basket of freshly-bucked apples in the barn. “That aughta be enough fer now. Ya wanna check on Freedom Fighter and the others in the south field?”

“Sure,” Rainbow agreed. There wasn’t much else she could do, was there?

They walked side by side on the dirt paths through the vast expanses of the apple orchard. All around them sweet, juicy red fruit dripped off the branches of the closely-planted trees and leaned towards the ground as if it was inviting for it to be picked off. Both friends kept to themselves for a little bit, until Applejack finally asked, “So, Rainbow... did Ah help at all?”

“You sure did,” Rainbow admitted. She trod over a fallen branch with a snap. “It felt kind of nice, actually--talking with you, and telling you what was on my mind and stuff. Hopefully, this’ll all benefit me in the long run...right?”

“If all goes well between you and Firestorm,” Applejack predicted. “But Ah think that whether all goes well between y’all is up to you.”

After a five-minute walk, they reached the south field. The amount of baskets filled in the field was astounding, even to Applejack. Big Mac, large and red and with a hat atop his straw-colored mane, was off to the side bucking apples, Apple Bloom was trotting away with a small basket in her teeth, and Freedom Fighter was a little bit off, but directly in front of their path. They noticed that instead of bucking the trees in the traditional way, the black, heavily armed soldier was instead doing something different.

He would face the tree on his hind legs, with his right hoof resting against the bark of the tree. As Rainbow Dash and Applejack came closer, interested in his work, they noticed they could hear low murmuring coming from him.

“It’s your fault they’re dead,” a low, murderous voice echoed from him. He was motionless. “All of them. Your destiny was unfulfilled. You were unforgiven. But now you’re strong. And you will never--” He slumped down slightly. “--ever, ever let yourself lose again. So you will hurt them. That is what you were created to do.”

Applejack was confused. It was all pronouns, so she couldn’t interpret what he was talking about there. But it was probably pretty bad, for his breathing became more intense and a low growl was made in his mind.

They saw him draw his left hoof back slowly and hold it near his head for a second. Then he pulled his right hoof back as he punched the apple tree with all of his might with his left.

The impact was a loud slam, and some of the bark splintered around the spot of impact and flew away. Every single apple on the tree, plus some of the leaves and a dead branch, tumbled from the tree and piled into the baskets surrounding the tree.

“Wow…” Applejack mouthed upon seeing Freedom Fighter’s strength manifested before her eyes. “How strong could ya get?”

Freedom Fighter heard this and turned around in surprise. “Oh, Applejack! I almost didn’t notice you there.” His voice had changed back into his normal quality. He nervously turned away and hefted a large bushel of apples on his back. “Am I doing good?”

“Better than Ah thought you would,” Applejack admitted. She turned to face Big Mac. "Has he been doin’ well?”

“Eeyup,” came the monosyllabic reply.

Applejack then glanced at Freedom Fighter. How was he doing so well if he was wearing something that would hinder his work? “Don’t ya ever get hot wearin’ that thing all the time?” she asked, pointing at his suit.

Freedom Fighter unexpectedly nodded. “Oh, yes. I do. I’ve been in Saddle Arabia before, and I really, really wanted to take the thing off, but I resisted the urge.”

“Well, why?” she asked suspiciously.

“Because they can never see who I truly am.”

“Uh huh…” Applejack said, crossing her arms. “But wearin’ long-sleeve black heavy clothing while doin’ long, hard work in the mornin’ sun is a recipe fer disaster. Take that thing off when yer workin’ in my orchard.”

Freedom Fighter slowly narrowed his eyes to glare at Applejack. His red irises bore slowly, inexorably, into her own green ones, and she gulped nervously, but held her gaze as she started to sweat down her forehead.

After about ten seconds of this death glare, Freedom Fighter tilted his head to the side. “Are you just looking for an excuse to see me unclothed, Applejack? To see my large and toned muscles slam against a tree and bounce back and forth? To see them ripple across my glistening body, wet with sweat and begging to be fondled by your curious hooves?”

The farm girl flushed a sudden red. “What? Ah... no! No Ah’m not! Ah just want ya to be safe while yer... doin’ work! What makes ya think…”

Freedom Fighter smirked. “You’re cute when you’re flustered.” And then his scarlet irises grew small when he saw Applejack try to stammer something out in reply. “Did I just say that out loud?” he exclaimed, in a slightly ridiculous tone.

Then his voice changed back to that distorted voice they had heard before. “Well, of course she’s flustered! She’s not blushing for no reason, you know!”

“Who was that?” Rainbow asked him nervously.

Freedom Fighter smacked himself in the forehead. “Oh, right! Him! Sorry, I forgot to introduce you. That other voice you heard is actually me. He’s one of my best friends, you know. He’s always there for me, he never leaves me, he’s good with conversation…”

“You... talk to yourself?” Rainbow asked incredulously.

“For a long time, I was the only friend I could talk to. I’m not going to complain. He’s funny and amiable, and he’s got this likable charm to him that I can’t quite match.”

Rainbow leaned back for a few seconds, then said out of the corner of her mouth, “Oookaaayyy…”, utterly baffled by the eccentric pony. “Well…”

And it was only a short time later that something else came up, which was a relief for Freedom Fighter. From behind the warrior came a very deep voice that said, “Hey.”

The three ponies turned to see Big Mac on one side of an upside-down crate. The uncharacteristically wordy stallion was still talking. “Ah’ve seen yer strength. Ya might be an interestin’ pony ta hoof wrestle.”

Freedom Fighter came over. “Do you always begin conversations this way?”

“Eenope,” was the reply he gave.

Freedom put his right shoulder up on the crate. Big Mac did the same. When they were both situated down, they clasped each other’s hooves in a firm embrace.

“All right, let’s do this,” Freedom Fighter snarled. “Start!”

And they both began to push on each other’s hooves.

“All right, just two cups of oats?”

“That should be it,” Noble reported, looking at the box as he sat on the counter. “Look, it’s not going to be all that bad.”

“I’d still feel more comfortable if you let me borrow your helmet for this,” Firestorm said, as he held the cup of oats above the pot of boiling water. “Or at least a welding hood.”

“It’s not going to catch on fire, Storm. It’s water.”

Firestorm, after another moment of silent reflection, gathered his courage together and poured the cup of oats in the pot of water.

The water, true to Noble’s word, didn’t catch on fire. But some oats splashed boiling water out of the pot, making Firestorm leap back instantly, sending the rest of the cup of dry oats onto the blistering hot stove. And those caught fire.

“SHOOT!” Firestorm grabbed a dish towel off the hanging oven handle and began to beat the stove fire with it, only making it larger. “SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT!”

“I’ll do it!” Noble cried. His horn shot a beam of tightly-concentrated ice at the base of the small fire, and the flames died down. The stove now had a small bit of ice on the heater, which was even now melting rapidly and sizzling as the water evaporated upon contact with the hot surface.

Both of them stood there, panting and looking with an incredulous gaze at the stove, where a small burn mark now was.

“Okay, it’s a curse,” Noble finally said, after debating in his mind on what to say about it.

Firestorm pointed at the stove. “Yeaaahhh."

After over a minute of inactivity, neither stallion was able to move the other’s hoof. Both of them were breathing heavily and wheezing. Big Mac’s face was even redder than he naturally was, and Freedom Fighter was doubling over.

Finally, both stallions, sweating copiously and panting hard, let go of each other and began to massage their sore hooves. After a bit of blowing on their appendages and rubbing them down, Big Mac looked to the side and asked, “Wanna try left?”

Freedom Fighter gave an unnaturally wide grin under his bodysuit’s exposed mouth, allowing Big Mac to see his teeth. “If that’s what you want.”

They both then put their left elbows on the overturned crate and grasped each other’s hooves hard. “Ready,” Big Mac said. “Go.”

SMASH

Freedom Fighter had immediately slammed Big Mac’s hoof down so hard it had splintered the crate it was on. Big Mac let out a yelp of pain as he was thrown to the ground and started to suckle the sore hoof to try to bring it back to life. Applejack and Rainbow, who were watching with mild interest at first, now bulged their eyes and put a hoof to their mouths. Hardly anypony ever stayed in a hoof-wrestle with Big Mac for longer than a few seconds. The only pony to ever beat him was Bulk Biceps. And that was after three whole minutes of back-and-forth action. But for him to be beaten with his left...

“Did I win?” Freedom Fighter asked mildly, looking at his left hoof with a mix of reverence and shock.

“Eee--eeyup!” Big Mac moaned.

“Do you need any help? I hope I didn’t break anything.”

“Eenope!” he cried.

He shrugged. “Suit yourself.” And he turned and trotted back to where Applejack and Rainbow were standing, keeping their interested eyes on his left hoof. “So, miss. What can I do now?”

“How is your left hoof so much stronger than yer right?” Applejack asked.

Freedom Fighter looked to the side uneasily. His red eyes were narrowed. Then he looked back up. “Why does that matter so much to you?” he growled in his distorted voice.

Applejack was frightened, but mostly confused. Why was it such a big deal for him?

Freedom Fighter straightened and looked with annoyance to the side. “What my esteemed colleague meant to say,” he excused himself, “was I don’t want to really talk about it. It... It’s not important.”

And without waiting for further orders he trotted away to another tree to continue work.

Once he was out of sight of the others, Freedom Fighter pressed himself against the back of a tree, showering bark bits down. “That was a close one!”

Then he turned his head to the side. “You can’t keep this up forever.”

He turned his head to the other side. “So what should we do?”

“Stop them from asking anything about you. You can’t show yourself to them. That would only make them a target for the Noxxa. You’re their sworn enemy. But if they find out that you have friends that know who you are, they’ll come against your friends and hurt them until they tell them you’re the Unforgiven. And once they know that, they'll torture and rape and kill and eat the mangled bodies. You need to protect your secret.”

“Freedom?” came a southern drawl that sounded close by. “Freedom Fighter, where’d ya run off to? Let’s all get back to the barn and have some grub!”

“We’ll talk about this later,” he told himself, and came out from behind the tree. “Try not to do anything stupid, or else we’ll do the ritual again.”

Freedom Fighter swallowed, but he wisely kept silent and came out to face Applejack and Rainbow, with Big Mac and a very small filly trailing behind them. Freedom Fighter obediently put himself at the back of the line and followed them to the barn for a morning breakfast of pancakes with hot applesauce and milk.

Twilight and Spike entered the throne room, which was increasingly used in the mornings as the breakfast room, just as Noble Blade and Firestorm came in from another way. Behind them, like some kind of bizarre parade, came several bowls and spoons that were following a large pot of spiced and sweetened oatmeal. They were all surrounded by a dark blue aura.

Noble set the large pot down on the stone table. “Thy oatmeal awaiteth thee, my lady,” he announced. He pointed to a couple of bowls. “And there be thy brown sugar and raspberries to add more taste to this simple meal.”

Twilight and Spike sat down in their respective seats. “You know, I at first wasn’t too trusting of you guys. But seeing you cook for us, I just can’t help but like you,” Spike said. “One less duty for me to perform, anyway.” He started to serve himself. Then he looked around. “Hey, do you know where Freedom Fighter is?”

“He’s helping at Sweet Apple Acres, remember?” Twilight reported, brushing her disheveled bed-head mane aside and serving herself. “Which is a shame, really. I was going to ask him a question.”

“Which was…” Firestorm asked.

“You know how you guys sometimes mention this ritual Freedom Fighter does?” Twilight asked.

Both stallions started to sweat nervously. “Yes…” Noble responded uneasily.

“Well, I was just wondering if I would like to see him do it. It would be fascinating to learn more about ancient rituals warriors perform.”

Both stallions looked at each other in a sideways glance. Then Firestorm coughed and said, “Twilight, he only does this ritual after a battle.”

“But what is it?” Twilight pressured. “Is it one of those rituals to ward off evil? Or a prayer over his weapons? Those were rituals employed by wandering tribes in the arctic wastelands over five thousand years before Luna’s banishment to the moon. It would be fascinating and educational to learn about what he does after every battle!”

Both stallions looked at each other again. Then Noble asked, “Would you excuse us, my lady?”

And with a charge of his horn the two of them disappeared.

Once they appeared with a pop in Noble’s bedroom, Firestorm rushed to the door and locked it. Then he turned around. “She’s getting suspicious.”

“I know. But we must not let her know about his ritual. Freedom Fighter ran out of room on his arm.”

Firestorm’s eyes dilated to the size of pinpricks. “He what?”

“He’s just going to continue on the other one, even though I told him otherwise.”

Firestorm anxiously began to bounce in place. “So... so what do we do? What do we say to them?”

“For the moment, nothing. None of them can know about his secrets.”

“We can’t keep it a secret forever.”

“Which is why the trick is now to prolong it.”

“That may not be long. I think the rest of the girls are starting to be inquisitive about him as well. At this rate, if Freedom Fighter doesn’t tell them himself, they’re going to find out for themselves.”

“So how do we pacify Twilight?” Noble mused. “She’s the one that thirsts for information more than any of the others.”

Firestorm grew a grin. “I think I know just what to do.”

“Oh no,” Noble muttered.

Twilight waited impatiently, tapping her leg on the ground as she sat upright in her seat. What was up with Firestorm and Noble Blade? All she did was ask a question, and all of a sudden they decided to disappear on her! Did she do something wrong? Was there something uncomfortable that they didn’t want to share with her?

After a while, she decided to focus on her oatmeal and took a bite. It was remarkably warm and flavorful after the toppings she wanted had been added in. The raspberries were nice and tangy, the sugar soft and sweet. It melted in her mouth.

Pop came a sound suddenly and there they were again. Firestorm woozily stumbled around and bumped into the back of a chair, pretending he was disoriented from the teleport. Then he shook his head and trotted lightly over to Twilight’s side.

“Can you keep a secret?” he asked once he was close enough.

Spike grumbled a negative answer off to the side. Twilight had once been trusted to keep a secret that Spike had a crush on Rarity. Needless to say, the cat was out of the bag.

Twilight, however, leaned forward intently. “Yeah. I can keep a secret.”

Noble Blade leaned down next to Spike’s ear and asked, “You think she can?” to him, already knowing the answer. Noble had said it himself: Celestia thought Twilight wasn’t good at keeping secrets, which was why she didn’t know of their existence.

“If you want a secret to get out,” Spike whispered back sarcatically, “All you have to do is tell Twilight to keep it a secret.”

Noble inhaled through his teeth.

“Are you sure you can keep a secret?” Firestorm was asking Twilight.

“Yes, I can keep a secret!” Twilight whispered excitedly back.

Firestorm leaned forward so his mouth was next to Twilight’s ear. “Well, so can I,” he hissed, then smiled, leaned back and patted her on the back in a friendly manner.

Chapter Twenty-nine: The Unveiling

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By the time appointed, everyone had woken up, gathered their dresses, and had come to the boutique, paying heed to the words Rarity was speaking as she flitted about in between clothing racks, peeking into her supplies and peering at the dresses. Finally, after she took Starlight Glimmer’s measurements, inspected the old dresses the girls had brought in, and was done reviewing what the girls had, she spoke to the entire group. The boutique was closed on Saturday, so there were no other customers in sight.

“Now, I see nothing wrong with the dresses from the previous year. You girls should be free to go. The gentlecolts are another matter. I suppose you all have something to wear?”

Noble went first. “I have the tux I bought from thee, but for now, mine armor shall suffice. I shall be mostly acting as a guard, should some ill-intentioned harm seek to hurt there.”

“But with all that armor on, doesn’t that make it a little hard to dance?” Twilight asked.

Noble coughed into his hoof uncomfortably. “I, ah, don’t need armor to be bad at dancing. I have never tried to, for I have often had more pressing things on my mind than learning how to dance.”

Fluttershy timidly spoke up. “Well, um... I’ve danced before. I can show you how.”

Noble’s breath caught in his throat at her suggestion. He was silent for a bit as he tried to figure out what to say, then blurted out, “When are you available?”

“Oh, anytime you are,” Fluttershy said pleasantly. “It can be a second date.”

A crash reached their ears. Rainbow had been carrying an ironing board out of the way, and had dropped it in surprise upon hearing the last sentence Fluttershy had spoken. Rainbow looked shocked, and both of her front hooves were pressed to the side of her head. “Fluttershy? You? You’ve been on a date? With him?”

Fluttershy had put a hoof to her mouth in shock, but had lowered it with a blush on her face. She mutely nodded.

Rainbow was silent for a moment, thinking about it for just a second. Fluttershy had done it before Rainbow did! But on the other hoof, Rainbow hadn’t been interested in dating before she met Firestorm, so it normally wouldn’t have bothered her. She needed to keep that up for now. So she managed to let out a laugh and appear eager for her friend. “Ahalright, girl! You’re finally going out with somepony great for you! That’s awesome! Gimme some hoof!” She hoof-bumped Fluttershy heartily.

“Sooo...how was it?” Pinkie asked, popping up in front of Fluttershy and making her stumble back a few steps. “Dija have fun? I always like it when my friends have fun! What dija do? Did you like it?”

“Well, we, um... we had a nice dinner, and we, um, talked for a bit... and then at the end I ki-” She snapped a hoof to her mouth before she finished, with a blush on her face. Noble’s internal temperature was heating up like he was an oven.

“Ah’m sorry, what was that, sugarcube?” Applejack asked slyly.

She hid in her long pink mane and cast her gaze upon the ground. “...I kissed him,” she breathed, so softly nopony could hear.

Pinkie inexplicably took a working microphone out of her mane and held it up to Fluttershy’s mouth. “Go ahead, Fluttershy! Don’t be nervous!”

“When is she ever not?” came a voice from the back of the room. Everyone that heard turned to see Freedom Fighter standing in recluse in a corner. Freedom fighter saw this and bulged his exposed eyes, looking at the ground awkwardly. “Did I just say that out loud?”

“I kissed him!” Fluttershy rushed, her face as red as an apple.

There was silence for only a moment. Noble and Fluttershy both had spots of pink on their faces in the deafening silence that greeted the room. Then, of one accord, all the girls squealed or made little squeaking noises of excitement and gave Fluttershy a massive group hug. Meanwhile, every single male present started to laugh at Noble.

Firestorm, in a moment of playfulness, placed himself in between Noble’s line of sight of Fluttershy. “Whohoho, man! Your date’s getting out of control already! She was the one that kissed you! That Fluttershy's a wild specimen! You’d better watch out!”

“It was only on the cheek,” Noble protested.

Firestorm gasped and gripped Noble’s head desperately. “OH. MY. DUDE! That’s so much worse! She’s going insane! Drunk with love!” He gripped the back of Noble’s head and pulled it down to hug him all the tighter. “Who knows what’s going to happen now? Playing with your hair?” He gasped. “Or cuddling?” He gasped again and began to shake him back and forth, his eyes small and his tone high. “OR EVEN NECKING AND PETTING?!” He imitated having an asthma attack from the abnormally hard gasp he did then, and slumped in a heap to the floor.

Noble’s only response was to regard him with an amused smile as he slumped down on the ground with his butt high in the air and his face smushed into the floor. “You’re mocking me, aren’t you?”

Firestorm opened up one eye and looked at Noble’s face. “Of course.”

“You’re just mad that I got kissed and you didn’t?”

Firestorm’s tone turned indignant. “All right, look, this is not about me!”

Freedom Fighter, in his own little corner, burst into laughter in his mind.

And it was at that time that Firestorm thought of the perfect thing to attract Rainbow Dash’s attention. Standing up, he said, “Look, when I was a Wonderbolt, after practices I used to hang out by the mares on the fence all the time and offer to show off--”

He felt a pair of hooves on the side of his head, and they spun him around quickly so he was now looking into a pair of magenta irises that bore deep into his very soul. “You’re a Wonderbolt?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in his face.

Sweating all over his body all of a sudden, Firestorm hurriedly tried to clarify. “Look, it was required for me to pass the tests for me to become a Guardian--Anyway, I’m just a reserv--”

“YOU NEVER TOLD ME YOU WERE A WONDERBOLT!” Rainbow started to bounce up and down on the ground like Pinkie Pie. “Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh! You’re the most awesomest pegasus ever!” And she pulled him into a fierce, close hug.

Then, realizing what she had done, she hurriedly backed away with a heavy blush on her cyan face. “I-I mean, that’s... that’s cool…”

“You think I’m awesome?” Firestorm asked in total surprise. Was this really happening? Was his crush really saying that about him?

“Well…” Rainbow looked behind her to Applejack. She saw Applejack give her an encouraging nod and a small smirk, and she turned her attention back to her crush. “I-I mean, yeah. Wh-why wouldn’t you be? You’re a Wonderbolt! What more are you missing? What more do you need in order to be awesome?”

“A haircut,” Noble murmured.

“Good looks,” Freedom Fighter said.

“Humility,” Rarity said fiercely.

“A girlfriend?” Spike suggested.

“A PARTY!” Pinkie exclaimed.

Firestorm fixed them all with a deadpanned look. “Thanks.” Then he started to cackle gleefully, rubbing two of his hooves together.

“Dgah, what are you doing?” Twilight asked him.

Firestorm ignored her. He rose up on his hind legs and let loose a peal of uncontrolled, maniacal laughter like a mad scientist at the conclusion of his experiments. White lightning flashed behind him, throwing his face into shadow and making his bright yellow irises stand out.

Then, all of a sudden, he stopped his laughing. “All right, who conjured the lightning?” he demanded, turning around. Behind him, Noble had his horn glowing. He froze, however, when he glanced up to see Firestorm staring at him.

“Noble?” Firestorm turned his head in suspicion. “Was that you?”

Noble cut off the flow of magic to his horn. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Noble said matter-of-factly, and crossed his arms.

“Well, whatever you’re doing, I like it. Keep it up.”

The knight shrugged and reignited his horn.

Firestorm returned to his original stance and started to cackle uncontrollably again, the white lightning flashing cinematically behind him. “AAAAHAHAHAHAAA! Finally, I accomplished a bucket list item! I got a hot girl to say I'm awesome! Yes! Yes! YE-” He suddenly cut off from his exclamations with a shocked expression on his face. The lightning stopped as well. He settled slowly to the ground, keeping his frozen look. “Did I just say that out loud?”

“Obviously,” Noble observed, nodding at Rainbow’s face.

Rainbow Dash was pink in the face, and her mouth was open a little. “Y-you think I’m...h-hot?” she shakily stammered, fondling her mane. Behind her, the other girls were watching with detached amusement.

“Ahh…” Firestorm looked to the side for guidance. Noble ushered him onward with a gentle smile. Firestorm turned back around, scratched his mane and nervously said, “I, uh, y-yeah, o-of course I did! I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t think you were! Hehehe…”

Both pegasi then thought silently, wildly, about what the other had said.

He called me hot!

She thinks I’m awesome!

Firestorm then saw his two knives float out of a nearby drawer, surrounded in a bright blue aura, and it was only then that he remembered that he still hadn’t gotten them back. He numbly took them in his right wing and looked down at them. “Hey, thanks, Rarity.” He held up the blades. “But did you have to choose now to give them back?”

“Well, you needed something to cut the tension between you two,” Rarity told him with a smile.

Firestorm breathed out a few exhales of laughter. “That... wasn’t actually all that bad. I’m impressed.”

“Do you have something you can wear to the Gala?” Rarity asked him, preferring to make him feel more comfortable in the presence of Rainbow Dash, who was still running her hooves absentmindedly through her mane.

“Actually, no,” Firestorm admitted. “But I’ll try something on for myself. Hang on for just a sec, and I’ll be right back.” He trotted over to the clothing racks and went into the changing rooms with a rack of clothes behind him, slamming the door shut behind him.

While he was busy and the others fell into side conversations, Twilight leaned her head next to Rainbow’s. “What was that all about between you and Firestorm?”

“Um…” Rainbow couldn’t find anything to say, and so she shimmied to the side. “Nothing! N-nothing at all!”

“Are you sure about that?” Twilight looked suspiciously at her.

“Nope!” Rainbow chirped, avoiding Twilight’s eyes. “I mean, yup, I'm sure. It’s just, um, platonic friendship conversations. No biggie.”

“Yuh huh.” Twilight looked passive, but inside she had a sneaking suspicion.

Before she could act on those suspicions, however, the changing rooms burst open with a loud bang. “I HOPE I’M NOT INTERRUPTING ANYTHING!” Firestorm cried as he flung his arms out wide and strutted out with all the air of a fashion model.

Firestorm was in a long yellow dress with orange frills on the edges and a very low-cut front that made everypony stare into the depths of his chest. He had a pink bow atop his mane and red sparkly high heels on his hooves. Around his neck was a pearl necklace, and he had applied red eyeshadow to his eyes. His tail was curled in a hastily-made frilly marking of a high-class citizen of Canterlot. How he had managed to dress himself so outlandishly, so quickly, was an enigma to all assembled.

“Well?” he asked. “What do you think?” He struck an aggressive pose forward and winked at the girls.

“I’m doing my best to bite my tongue,” Freedom Fighter murmured.

“That looks awful!” Rarity declared, her ears drooping at the atrocity in front of her face.

“Why, Rarity!” Firestorm looked hurt. “What makes you say that about little old me?”

“I think you need to take that off,” Starlight offered, off to the side. “Otherwise, this’ll be recorded for posterity. Pinkie’s already got a camera out.”

Upon hearing that and seeing the red light on the camera Pinkie had apparantly pulled out of thin air, Firestorm kicked the heels off his hooves and stripped out of the dress. But he did it slowly, and with a sly coquettish smile on his face.

When he was done and the dress was behind him like an old skin, Firestorm bowed. “Enjoy my performance?”

“Don’t ever do that again,” Noble advised him. Firestorm cocked his head in acknowledgement.

Pinkie finally managed to calm down her laughing bout. “Ohoho, my goodness! I haven’t had that hard of a laughing bout since the What About Discord episode in season five!”

Twilight turned around. “What?”

A door suddenly appeared in midair and it opened with a creak to reveal Discord. “Somepony mention me?” he asked, turning his head to the side to see what had called him. He stepped through the door, shut it, and it disappeared with small clear lines rubbing against it like an eraser.

“Discord? What are you doing here?” Starlight asked, walking near where he floated like a balloon. “Don’t you have other things you could be doing?”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, Starlight, I have plenty of things I could do to kill time.” He pulled out a mallet and smashed a nearby alarm clock that certainly wasn’t there before. “But I came here on the basis of congratulating Fluttershy for the accomplishment of having a date! Congratulations, Fluttershy! You’ve earned a medal of assertiveness!” He snapped his talons, and a gold medal appeared around her neck. The Equestrian national anthem started blasting behind her head at a volume so loud, it sent some of the girls stumbling.

The anthem cut off mid-note. Discord turned to Noble Blade. There was a more somber look on his face now. “And for you, my good stallion. I... admit, it was hard seeing you spend more time with my oldest and friend, so I was untrusting of your intentions. But I saw that you cared for her.”

“Having my ashes spread across the deepest hole of Tartarus wasn’t on my agenda anyway.” Noble shrugged.

“Um, Noble? What are you talking about?” Fluttershy timidly spoke up.

Discord tapped his fingers together nervously. “I... may or may not have, well... threatened him,” he muttered.

Fluttershy flapped up in the air close to Discord’s face. “Why would you do that?” she demanded of him. Upon hearing the hard voice Fluttershy used, Noble recoiled slightly. This was a side of her he hadn’t seen before.

“I, well…” Discord began. “I was concerned that he didn’t have your best interests at heart, Fluttershy.”

“Did you ask me beforehoof if I was okay with it? Did you ask if I was happy around him, or that I wanted to be with him and that I chose him?” Her voice had gotten dangerously dark.

“Back away,” Twilight whispered to the other girls. “A mad Fluttershy is a dangerous one.” With a collective movement the rest of the girls took a few steps back, leaving the confused and ignorant Guardians alone in the front.

“Tell me, Discord,” Fluttershy growled. “Whose best interests were you looking out for? Mine, or yours?”

“I…” Discord weakly mumbled.

“Did you do this because you were concerned for my safety, or because you thought Noble Blade wasn’t good enough and decided to intervene?” she snarled. “Because he is good enough! He’s the kindest, most humble stallion I’ve ever met, and you tried to get rid of him! HOW DARE YOU!” she screeched into Discord’s face.

Discord seemed violently abased. He could not meet Fluttershy’s hard, penetrating gaze. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy,” he softly spoke. “I confused myself because of my pride, and I made a huge mistake.”

“Oh, there, there,” she sweetly said, rubbing the top of his head as if nothing had happened. “You’re still my friend, after all. And I could never stay mad at a friend.”

Discord smiled in relief. “Oh, thank goodness. I wasn’t actually going to punish him.” Out of the corner of his mouth he muttered, “Well, all that much.”

Rarity broke the track of conversation. “Well then, I suppose I should ask Freedom Fighter about his attire for the big night?” She bestowed her most bedazzling smile at Freedom Fighter, who was still in a corner.

The smile, however, which normally worked on other stallions, proved to be of no effect on Freedom Fighter. He only turned around. “I already know what I’m going to be wearing,” his thoughts said aloud. He plucked at his bodysuit and turned back to face the corner. There was an alarming air of melancholy hostility surrounding him.

“Oh, no, no, no! Gracious, that will never do!” Rarity declared. “You need a suit and a scent more fitting to you. You must enter with panache! With flair! With an air of alluring power and mystery that will turn the heads of all present!”

“As opposed to an air of smelliness instead?” Freedom Fighter wryly replied, shifting his eyes to look at Firestorm.

“THIS IS NOT ABOUT ME!” Firestorm objected indignantly.

Rarity paid no attention to the outburst. “Come up here, Freedom,” she invited him with a friendly smile.

Freedom Fighter slowly came out of his own little corner and came up the steps to the circular platform in the center of Rarity’s boutique. “What?”

She tapped the ground in front of her. “Strip."

Freedom Fighter froze.

“I need to take measurements for your suit,” she explained. “To do that, I need you to remove that dreadfully unbecoming unif-.”

Freedom Fighter slammed his left hoof down on the platform so hard it created a small dent. Rarity stopped talking. “I will not wear your clothes,” he outright refused, “if it means I have to appease you. Every time I come here you try to force me out of my comfort zone. This is the last time I’m telling you.”

“Then at least let me see your color,” Rarity pleaded. “I can’t create a stunning outfit if I can’t coordinate the colors correctly!”

“Boo hoo,” Freedom Fighter spat. His red irises bore deep into Rarity’s blue ones, making her shiver and step back. “You will not see what I look like underneath this skin. You will not.”

“Hey!” Spike cried, running in between them. “Nopony talks to Rarity like that!”

“I will speak however I please.”

“If you try to harm her, I--I’ll fight you!” Spike defensively raised his fists.

“Spikey-wikey!” Rarity cried.

Freedom Fighter laughed again, but there was no pleasantness in it this time. “When I was sent to protect the dragonlands, I slew dragons five times the size of you.” He leaned forward so he was towering over Spike’s demure stature, making him shrink before his massive height. Spike now had to look up to stare with fear into the red-looped irises of Freedom Fighter. “So try to fight me.” He smiled so Spike could see his teeth. “Make my day.”

Spike backed away, keeping his fists raised.

“I understand that you’re uncomfortable, Freedom Fighter,” Rarity spoke, a new air of courage coming to her, “but with all due respect, that’s all we understand.”

“I don’t want to talk to you about it,” Freedom Fighter said, boring his bright red eyes into her sapphire-blue ones.

“But why?” she pleaded.

“Because I don’t want to talk about it,” he repeated harshly. The light in his eyes grew more fierce.

“You know what, Freedom Fighter?” Twilight came in. “Sometimes the best option is to talk about it.”

“We’ve all had questions about you for a while now,” Starlight came after. “And hiding yourself all the time is only making our curiosity grow. There are so many things about yourself that you aren’t telling us. I want to know why you’re always angry or sad or eccentric.”

“I don’t even know what your Cutie Mark is,” Rainbow Dash added.

“I want to see your smiley face!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“I’m curious about your mane and coat color,” Rarity put in.

“Ah want ta know just how in the hay yer so darn strong,” Applejack wondered.

“I just want to know what’s bothering you so much all the time,” Fluttershy mumbled. “But if you don’t want to share that, that’s okay.”

“And there are still so many other questions that need answering,” Twilight finished. “What’s this ritual you guys sometimes mention? Why do you never take your suit off? There’s so much you’re not telling us!”

“All right, that’s enough,” Firestorm cut in.

“Thank you!” Freedom Fighter pointed directly at him and nodded emphatically. “I don’t want this to be like I’m a circus animal.”

“If he doesn’t want to talk about it, don’t pressure him,” Noble told the others. “I appreciate the fact that you’re inquisitive, but just... drop the issue.”

“But he doesn’t have to hide anymore!” Pinkie pointed out. “If he tells us this, then it’ll all be over. We won’t be curious anymore once he just lets us know!”

Freedom Fighter made a snarl in his mind, but it was to hide the jolt of realization that had ran through him. She was right about that. They were just going to ask, over and over again, until he finally did it for them.

“We’re his friends,” Applejack added. “Tellin’ us won’t harm anypony, but keepin’ secrets will!”

Freedom Fighter stopped the growling noises in his mind. The statement had a ring of truth to it. The longer a secret was kept, the more likely it was going to damage a relationship.

“Let us in,” Rarity emphasized. “I know exactly how you’re feeling--you want to protect a secret you think is personal to yourself. So you erect a wall to keep it safe, and not let it out to anypony you don’t trust. But if you let in others, you strengthen your walls with their help and support.”

Freedom Fighter let his thoughts say nothing at the remarkable analogy.

“I just want to help you,” Fluttershy meekly offered. “Please--you feel cold and bitter when you’re like this. I just want to thaw your heart.”

Who could say Fluttershy, out of all of them, had ill intentions? Freedom Fighter felt ashamed all of a sudden for thinking ill of her. He looked at the ground and felt the dent he had created with his left hoof.

“A true friend will stick by you and help you out,” Rainbow Dash asserted, casting a sideways wink at Applejack. “We can’t help you if you never tell us what the problem is, you know.”

Freedom fighter considered all of the statements as one. The seven mares only had his best interests at heart. Spike and Discord were there as well, but as spectators and curious meddlers only. Could he do it?

Could he finally do it?

“That’s enough,” Noble stated, coming between the girls and Freedom Fighter. “He will never tell you. And if you pressure him, you may end up hurt.”

“Is that a threat I hear from you, Noble?” Discord asked shrewdly.

“I took an oath to preserve his secret,” Noble said emotionlessly, staring straight ahead. “And I will not compromise his security now. I have no choice but to resist you.”

“Noble!” Rarity sounded shocked. “Are you suggesting that you would fight us?”

Noble’s magic chimed to life, a dark blue color rippling through his horn. “Try me.”

He spotted Fluttershy recoiling from the threat and look into his eyes, and he instantly felt a pang of heartache. What was he doing? Which should he need to do more? Side with the mare he loved more than anything else in the world, or side with the friend he had stood by since he was a child? Steeling his resolve, and forcing an involuntary tear to retreat back into his eye, he stood firm in between his friends.

He perceived a presence moving next to him, and a quick glance to the side confirmed that it was Firestorm. He was on his hind legs, holding both of the knives in his front legs and spreading his wings. “I’m not going to warn you all again,” he said, in a much more different tone than they were familiar with. “Freedom Fighter’s our friend. Don’t do this to him.”

Then Noble heard a melancholy, surrendered voice behind him say, “You really want to know, don’t you…”

Noble wheeled around in astonishment. “B-but, Freedom! You can’t!”

“They want to hear.” Freedom Fighter looked downcast, pawing at the ground in his heavy black combat suit, weapons all over him in their sheaths and ready to be used at a moment’s notice. After a while he muttered, “You really want to know…”

“YES!” the assembled friends responded with one accord. Spike and Discord were still there, watching and participating.

Freedom Fighter took a long, deep breath of resignation. His eyes were closed as he held it in. The decision was simmering behind his head, boiling with possible outcomes for his actions. He let it out once he had made his choice and opened his scarlet eyes. “Lock the doors,” he commanded Noble Blade and Firestorm.

“But--” they both started.

Freedom Fighter snapped a combat baton off his hip, doubling the length of the staff instantly, and they immediately shut up, eyeing the staff he held in fear. “Lock. The. Doors,” he repeated, narrowing his eyes. “They want to know my secrets. That’s their mistake. I am commanding you now to let nopony else know.”

Nodding reluctantly, the other two stallions turned around and went to the doors and shut and locked them, preventing any intruders. Then they went to the windows, drawing the curtains and blinds and locking down the windows. The light inside grew dimmer, tinted a magenta color by the pink light of the curtains.

Freedom Fighter snapped the combat staff back at his hip and pointed at Twilight. “Scan the room.”

Twilight obediently chimed her horn to life and a plane of solid purple energy ignited out of her horn. It swept the room in a full circle, washing over all solid objects in the boutique before returning to its original position and shutting off. “There’s nopony here but us,” Twilight reported. “We’re safe.”

“Where’s Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asked Applejack off to the side.

“She’s out with Scootaloo, helping Applebloom with making repairs to their treehouse,” Applejack answered. “They won’t be back for a while.”

Freedom Fighter pointed at Starlight Glimmer. “I want you to put a soundproof bubble over the outside of the boutique.”

A little confused, but eager to please, Starlight fired her horn upwards, and a beam of light morphed its way through the ceiling. Rainbow checked outside by pulling aside a curtain, and she saw the edges of a light green bubble settle to the ground, with the boutique within its large diameter. She set the curtains back to their original position. “It’s done,” Rainbow said.

Freedom Fighter then addressed all assembled. “I want you all to swear with an oath that what you hear and see will reach nopony else’s ears. You nine--” He indicated the seven mares, Spike, and Discord, “--must protect the secret of who I am. If you do not... then I swear to the heavens I will silence you forever.” He jutted a long knife blade out of his hoof for emphasis, then shot it back into its concealed sheath.

All of the girls, along with Spike and Discord, hurriedly chanted, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” while doing a few complicated gestures.

Off to the side, Firestorm recoiled his head slightly. “What was that?”

“A Pinkie Promise!” Pinkie explained. “It’s the most serious promise a pony can make. If they break it…” Her voice dropped into a dangerously dark tone. “They’ll regret it for the rest of their lives.”

Firestorm bulged his eyes, then sidestepped with awkward movements so he was no longer in the main stage of events.

Freedom Fighter gave a serious look at the nine unknowing friends. “You may not like what you’re about to see.”

“Why, whadda ya mean by that?” Applejack asked with a smile. “Body shape ain’t nothin’ ta be ashamed about, sugar.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie started to bounce up and down. “It doesn’t matter if you’re round, or slim, or skinny or chubby! What matters is who you are as a pony! Not how skinny or fat or in shape you are!”

“We understand if you’re uncomfortable about yourself,” Fluttershy sweetly added. “But your body image only impacts you. We don’t look at other ponies and condemn them for not being in perfect shape.”

“So I promise I won’t make fun of you if you’re a little heavy. Or if you don’t have a lot of muscles. The guys in the Wonderbolts like to think the more muscles they have, the better of a pony they are, but that’s not how we look at it!” Rainbow Dash assured him. “Not everypony can have the body of a Wonderbolt!”

“What our dear friend Rainbow Dash meant to say,” Rarity clarified, “was that we won’t judge you because you may look different from the rest of us. Friends will always stick by you, no matter what!”

A triumphant mood was present among the girls. It always appeared to them after they had helped reassure a friend that wasn’t always feeling well.

Then the girls heard something. It was coming from Freedom Fighter. It was a deep, hacking, coughing sound, coming out of him as he was doubling over, still on all fours. It was weak, but everyone knew what it was, and they froze once they heard it.

He was laughing. Freedom Fighter was laughing at them!

He was physically exercising his strained and badly damaged vocal cords to let out a derisive mocking sound in response. His inhales were frequent and deep and ragged, and it chilled everyone to the bone to hear such a twisted, sickening laugh coming from him. Pinkie especially lost her confident, happy smile upon hearing the terrifying, derisive, deathly laugh.

After only a little bit of such a dark and sickening, twisted and ragged laugh, he started to cough hard on something, and he started to gurgle. He hacked for a bit, then spat a vile thick wad of a dark red liquid on Rarity’s floor--a mix of blood, saliva, and congested mucus.

“EEK!” Rarity recoiled a good distance and shrieked instinctively.

Freedom Fighter paid her no attention. Instead he wiped his blood-flecked mouth on his sleeve.

“Body image,” he mocked in a deep, harsh voice. He coughed some more. “You actually thought I thought I looked skinny? Or fat? Or not muscular enough?" He cackled again, taking long, ragged, tearing inhales. Something repulsive came into his mouth, but he swallowed it with a tremendous effort.

With trembling hooves, he undid the clasps holding his cowl to the rest of his bodysuit.

“I didn’t hide this from you because I was ashamed of my body image,” Freedom Fighter snarled in a deep, heavy voice inside his head. “I hid this from you because I didn’t want you--” He pulled off his cowl, exposing his full head and showing his face, “--to see this.”

The nine of them, including Spike and Discord, recoiled. Some of the more sensitive ones, like Rarity and Fluttershy, screamed. But all of them let out some form of noise. For they all saw Freedom Fighter’s exposed and vulnerable face at last.

Freedom Fighter was yellow, slightly deeper in color than Fluttershy’s pale color. In the middle of his forehead was a strange elliptical white birthmark. His oily black mane fell to both sides of his head equally, but it was stringy and thin. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, slightly older than both Firestorm and Noble Blade, but had no facial hair of any kind. His face was hard and calloused, and was showing a thin-lipped scowl. But it was not those features that made the girls recoil.

It was the scars.

His face was deformed with an absurd amount of tears into his flesh. There was one long one that came from his brow to his chin, passing through his right eye and cutting through the corner of his lips. There was another that went from his forehead to his jawbone on the opposite side. There was yet another that went from his eye to the corner of his ear. In between those three main scars were dozens of smaller ones that crisscrossed and chased each other all across his face, cutting deep into his cheeks, his nose, his chin, and his forehead, giving his face the appearance of being hastily carved out of a block of wood. Both of his ears looked slashed in halfway, the clipping of his ears looking like somepony had taken a pair of scissors to his ears.

Discord froze when he saw the birthmark between his eyebrows. “Is that…” He leaned in closer. “No. No, it can’t be…”

“Oh...” Rarity breathed weakly. “What... what happened to you?”

“Y-your f-face…” Fluttershy stammered, shaking where she stood. Then she bolted for the door leading out and tried to unlock it fearfully.

Freedom Fighter pointed at her, throwing his cowl to the floor. “You will stay,” he commanded her. His voice was colder, and deeper.

Noble came to her defense, coming between them yet again. “She is free to choose whatever she wants!”

“And she chose to unmask me,” Freedom Fighter replied. “If she goes now, she will never know everything. She wanted my secrets known, and when I present my secrets, she runs? No, Noble. She will see it. They all will. They will see it all.”

Noble glared aggressively at Freedom Fighter, but backed down after a few seconds, knowing his friend was right. “Fluttershy,” he softly whispered. “Come away from the door.”

Fluttershy was reluctant to obey. But upon looking at Noble, and seeing the reassuring smile he was offering her and his outstretched hoof, she shakily reached up and took it. She would have the courage. Noble had that effect on her. She stood up with his help, smiling and looking into his eyes. But then her gaze returned to the mutilated pony in front of her, and she felt herself lock up in place and leak tears out of her face.

Noble felt a painful jolt run through his body like he had been struck by lightning. Fluttershy was crying! He squeezed her around the shoulders the best he could.

“Oh, Freedom!” Pinkie frowned, her ears drooping and her eyes brimming with unshed tears. There was a pop noise, and her mane deflated.

“How... did this happen?” Starlight Glimmer asked, holding a hoof to her mouth.

Freedom Fighter made no reply and instead continued to undress. He pulled his right arm out of the sleeve it was in and slammed his hoof on the ground, his sleeve hanging under him like an elephant’s trunk. Everyone in the room could see it. His arm was covered in scars as well. Most of them were horizontal slashes running around his arm, haphazardly carved with differing lengths and widths. Some of them were old and white, and some of them were fresh and red, and some of them were even an unwholesome black.

Still scowling deeply, he used that arm to release the snaps and bolts and pull his left arm out of his other sleeve. But it wasn’t even all the way out before the girls gasped and Spike screamed in shock.

Once it was free of the sleeve, Freedom Fighter slammed his left hoof down on the ground.

His mechanical hoof.

In place of an arm of flesh, a flexible pillar of dark grey metal begun at his shoulder and ran all the way down to a titanium-shod hoof. The arm was heavily armored and covered with thick metal plates that fit snugly together when his arm was straight, but when the arm was bent, they could gaze into the inside of the arm. Inside the crevices that opened into the arm, a faint yellow light could be seen pulsing as it ferried pure unfiltered magical energy through the artificial limb and connected it to his shoulder and motor control wires, hidden even deeper inside the arm. All over the outside of the dark grey arm were white tally marks. Most of them looked squished in between others once the room had run out on one spot. It was pockmarked with dents and splotches, and one of the spots on the arm looked fresh--received only a few days before, when a griffon had fired a crossbow bolt into his arm.

“So that’s how it’s so strong…” Applejack mouthed numbly. “Ah never thought...”

Discord rubbed the bottom of his chin thoughtfully. “This... this isn’t good. The mark, and the arm... Could it possibly be... no. No, of course it couldn’t be him.”

Freedom Fighter angrily begun the process of removing the rest of his elaborate bodysuit. Once he had gradually eased himself out of his black clothing like a reptile slithering out of its old skin, he stood out in the open, naked and exposed for all to see, making more shocked silence occur.

Freedom Fighter was built like a steel cable--taught and strong and solid. He was in the absolute peak of muscular condition. But the rest of his body was so covered in scars, slashes, and physical ruptures that they couldn’t even make out most of his yellow coat. The types of scars and their sizes all varied widely--some were straight, and some were curved, and some spiraled and looped and squiggled. Some were long, and some were short. Some were small punctures, and others were large patches of long-dead skin. Some of them were deep, and others were shallow. Some were white, some of them were red, and some of them were even an unwholesome black. But all of them contributed to his depressing state of appearance in their own ways.

On his back, neck, and the back of his head, the entire surface area was a sore, angry red. All the fur on it had been burned off, and it had apparently damaged the skin pores so bad that no new fur could grow back to take its place. There was nothing except damaged skin left. All over his back, atop the red and burnt skin, there were so many lashes that it looked whipped to the bone at one point. They crisscrossed and chased each other all over his back, whipped red and raw like a hunk of meat.

But most shocking of all was his Cutie Mark. There wasn’t one.

Instead of the spot where his Cutie Mark should have been, the flesh looked scraped away by a knife or vegetable peeler. In its place was a single mysterious symbol branded into his body by a white-hot iron. It looked like a capital letter U branded into its flesh, but with its upside-down image directly overlapping it--and it was old, and deep in the flesh, almost an inch into his hip.

“Oh... Sweet Celestia, Freedom, I...I-I didn’t know!” Twilight looked on the verge of tears. Pinkie’s mane was by now completely flat, dull, and dark, dripping over her shoulder and on her chest. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Starlight were mostly motionless, frozen in shock at his body. Rainbow Dash and Spike didn’t know what to say, and so were looking forlornly at the ground in embarrassment. Applejack held her wide-brimmed brown hat to her chest in a sign of somber acquiescence.

“Are you happy now?” Freedom Fighter’s mouth didn’t move to say the words, but they trembled at the edges. The emotion was thick in the words, even though he was only forming them in his thoughts. “Are you happy you asked me to do this?” He turned to the side to further show them his body. “Or do I have to tell you more?”

Discord, however, as soon as he had spotted the overlapping U brand on Freedom Fighter’s flank, gasped in horror and fell to the ground. He crawled backwards against a wall, keeping his wide, disbelieving eyes on the mysterious mark on his flank. “Y-y-you shouldn’t be alive!” he cried. “You-you’re supposed to be dead! You died! Years ago, when the rest of--how did you survive? You-d-I-I can’t believe it! You’re the Unforgiven!”

Chapter Thirty: The Pony of a Thousand Scars, Part 1

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“Th-that isn’t right! Y-you’re not supposed to be real! You’re supposed to be dead! You’re an impossibility! An anomaly!”

Discord’s face was the color of old oatmeal. The sight of Discord’s fear only fueled the girl’s insatiable curiosity about the whipped, scarred, and beaten mystery now staring Discord down.

He stepped forward, and Discord flinched. “You’re the god of chaos, and you ask about an impossibility?” He sounded both enraged and depressed at the same time.

Twilight wiped a tear from her eye, drawn by the sight of his mutilated appearance. “But F-freedom! There’s still so much you’re not telling us about yourself!”

Freedom Fighter’s rough-hewn head whipped to face her, and Twilight recoiled. His red eyes burned with outraged sorrow and cold anger. “What more do you want from me?” he demanded. “Is what I’m doing for you not enough?” And then his voice dropped into a colder, more malevolent tone. “Oh, she asked for it, Freedom. She asked you so, so hard. And now you will make her know.”

“Wh-what’re you talking about?” Rainbow defiantly asked.

“You all wanted me to do this!” he suddenly roared, slamming his metal hoof on the ground. “You all pressed me to do this for you, and now you tell me you want more? You knew that I didn’t like this! I hated it, but you didn’t care, did you? You all just backed me into this corner. And then all of a sudden, this happens to you and you want more! Oh, I know you care about my well-being, don’t you? You care SO MUCH, don’t you?!”

“But... but there needs to be something more to what you show to the world!” Starlight Glimmer protested. “There are things you’re keeping from us! Friends need to know things about their friends, don’t they?”

“Spare me that manure,” he spat in his colder, darker voice. He stalked forward oppressively, and Starlight hurriedly backed away. “You didn’t want to form a bond! Not with somepony like me, that you recognize in the corner and think, ‘Aww, look at the poor little guy!’ and you ignore for the rest of the time you’re in his presence! All you wanted out of me was to see this!” He furiously indicated his scarred yellow body with his mechanical left hoof. “And it looks like you got more than you bargained for, didn’t you? You didn’t see what you thought you wanted to see, is that it? So now that you know at least this about me, I might as well open up to all of you and show you everything. Whether you want to or not.”

Starlight, visibly abased, fell silent.

Freedom Fighter then fixed a baleful, burning eye on the girls, Spike, and Discord. Noble Blade and Firestorm had moved off to the side and were looking unusually somber. “You all wanted to see,” he said, a deep crease in his forehead and a thin snarl on his lips. “And so you shall. I don’t care how many tears you shed on my behalf. You will see it all.”

“B-but... but I thought you were so happy, and peppy, and eager to face the world!” Pinkie trembled, her eyes wetting.

“That’s a lie,” Freedom Fighter snapped, looking at the ground. “How you perceive me is but a reflection of what I want you to see about me. I showed you an enthusiastic side of me because I don’t want you to stick your filthy noses into my past. There’s not much to be enthusiastic about there.”

“But you can find happiness in anything if you try hard enough!” Pinkie cried, inching closer. “There’s always happiness in anypony! You just have to find it! We can help you find it--together!” Her voice turned soft. “I want you to be happy. If you’re sad, I’m sad. And I don’t want to be sad seeing you sad!” She drew closer to him, but was careful not to touch him. Her head was now directly in front of his own. “Please, Freedom. Let me make you happy.”

Freedom Fighter’s only response was a cold stare. “You want to find something happy.”

“Of course!” Pinkie said, her ears straightening.

Freedom Fighter pointed his flesh arm at the draconequus that had managed to get to his feet. “Discord,” he growled.

Discord pointed at himself. “M-me?”

“Can you delve into other’s memories? Make them experience it like they were really there?”

“I--I am the lord of chaos! I can do anything I want!” he asserted, trying to sound powerful.

“Then I want you to showcase my memories. It’s how I can best explain myself.”

Discord swallowed. “B-but the Unforgiven--from the legends--I saw what had happened to you and to the Rada, and I thought you had died--”

“You’re mistaken, then,” Freedom Fighter cut him off. “And so was everyone else that knew about the legends, as well.”

“I can’t show them what happened to you!”

“You must,” Freedom Fighter insisted, emphasizing his words with a tap on the ground with his metal hoof. “They. Must. Know.”

“A minute ago, you said you didn’t want to talk about this,” Twilight pointed out. She outstretched a hoof. “And honestly, if it makes you this uncomfortable, I’m actually okay with not pushing you--”

“MAKE UP YOUR MIND!” he screamed at her. “What do you want out of me? Do you want to hear it, or do you not? Do you want to push me or do you not? Because of your indecision, you get no further say in this; now that I’m exposed to you, I’ll show you. I’ll show you exactly what happens when you force me to talk about darkness.” He glared at Discord. “Show my memories. Now.”

Discord didn’t say anything. He just tapped his fingers nervously.

“NOW!” He reached his metal arm out to the side, twisted the bands on his arm of metal in a certain way, and out of three nozzles on the bottom sprouted three long blades that glowed as yellow as the sun. Down the grooves of his arm ran yellow twisting rivers of enchanted power, strengthening his arm to an unnatural level. “DO IT NOW OR I SWEAR TO FAUST I WILL RIP THE FLESH OFF OF YOUR BACK!”

Discord was a nigh-immortal and all-powerful being, but he actually took the Unforgiven’s threat seriously. He straightened his stance and beckoned to the girls, suddenly wearing heels, earrings, and a long dress. “Well now, class, gather ‘round. We’re going on a field trip today to focus on his younger days. Let’s hurry now, class. We don’t want to be late.”

Curiosity and guilt burning in all of them, the seven mares, Spike, and the Guardians of the Sun went to Discord. Freedom Fighter shot the blades back into his mechanical arm and stood in the center of the circle of ponies, and everyone else kept their distance from him. Discord gave a reluctant snap of his fingers, and the world disappeared.

Darkness. Nothing but darkness surrounded their view. They were standing on something, but none of them were sure what it was.

None of them could tell which way was up or down, which way was forward or backward. But after only a few minutes of nauseating vertigo, they all were able to regain their footing on an invisible plane as the mind twisted color into the background and created a semblance of a setting.

The scene gradually formed around the twelve of them. They were in a tribal ground of native settlers. The houses were stick-and-mud huts scattered across the brown land for as long as they could see, much like a farmer would scatter seed in his massive field. Behind the huts were green, prosperous gardens, and in the distance were roving sheep and cattle in tall green fields.

Directly in front of the girls was a fire ring lined with stones that was at least eight feet in diameter. And behind the fire ring was a great building that stretched dozens of feet above the earth, made of squared-off blocks of stone and thick wooden logs. Smoke billowed from the chimney at the back, and ponies in colorful feathers and skins and decorative elements rushed back and forth, crying aloud and declaring, “He is come! He is come! He is come!” Cries of pain and of strained anguish came forth out of the open doorway.

Freedom Fighter looked all around him, drinking in the scene with an upraised head. As he stretched his neck, the scars on his neck and face rippled and became wider. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I only know about this because my parents told me about it. Everypony was so excited for my arrival into the world.”

Starlight Glimmer came next to him. “Where are we? What’s happening?”

“This is my home,” Freedom Fighter explained, walking forward to tap a hoof on the stones of the fire ring, but his hoof passed right through the stone. “This is called the Rada tribe, called after Rada, the first great chief to rule these natives. We are on the extreme southern border of Saddle Arabia, on the continent across from Equestria. Surrounding us, trying at every opportunity to invade and slay us, are the Noxxa, in a tribe of their own.”

“You came from a tribe?” Applejack asked in confusion. “That’s the last place Ah thought ya’d come from.”

“Good.” Freedom Fighter grew a thin-lipped smile, rippling the scars going through his mouth. “I hid it well.”

“Noxxa... the name sounds familiar,” Starlight Glimmer said to him. “I remember hearing it from Twilight’s rescue. Are these the very same?”

“The very same,” Freedom Fighter confirmed with a curt nod.

Twilight’s memories returned to her in dizzying clarity. The image of a Nox, black and six-legged and fanged, the dark sands marking the Noxxa territory, the hideous clicking they made as they moved. They were in a tribe as well? What had happened so that they could go from a wandering tribe to a nation that could construct a massive tower in which they had imprisoned her?

“Nopony knows how the Noxxa first appeared,” Freedom Fighter was saying. “But the Rada say that they came from the eternal depths of Tartarus itself. They had dug and dug and dug from the depths of Tartarus out of the ground and the tall spires of rock many, many years ago, and were led by a pale abomination called Malice, whom they appointed their supreme marshal and commander. From their holes, they wandered northward and came to our lands during the rule of Rada, the first great chief.

"Our land was fertile. The lands they had could not sustain either crops or animals. And the Noxxa are predatory and vicious and slothful, and desire not to work for their gain. So they came to us and made attempts to rob us of our riches and our herds and our sustenance.”

Freedom Fighter turned his head, taking in more of the tribal buildings. “We fought back as well as we could, but it continued. For over three hundred years, there was only stalemate between us.” He then finally turned to talk to the girls. “But Rada issued a prophecy, possessed by the influence of Faust herself on his deathbed, saying there would be one born in the future, brought forth from his loins, to destroy the Noxxa permanently. This pony would have a Cutie Mark of an eagle feather and a war axe atop the shining sun. He would have a mane as black as Noxxa ash, a body the color of the sun’s rays of life and heat, a white mark in his forehead to represent the sun, and eyes the color of pony blood.” He indicated his appropriate features as he spoke. “This pony would be uplifted by his tribe to hunt down and destroy the devils and send their leader, Marshal Malice, to Tartarus.”

“But...you didn’t,” Rarity guessed, her voice flat. Behind her, Twilight, Spike, and everypony else except Noble Blade and Firestorm were listening closely and absorbing information. All of them were processing with firm minds the revelatory story.

“Yes, Rarity,” Freedom Fighter thought aloud patiently and slowly. He was frowning, creating even more lines on his face. “I didn’t. But you will see why soon enough.”

“And did they really believe you could do this?” Twilight asked curiously, observing the constructed huts and tents with an astute observer’s eye. “Did they believe you could hold them off?”

“For many years, it was a prophecy. As time went on, it went from prophecy to myth. From myth to legend. And then one day, the Medicine Mare looked inside of my mother’s womb, as was the tradition with every chief’s wife before they gave birth. And when she saw me inside of her, she fainted promptly on the spot, my mother told me. The entire tribe went into collective apoplexy.” He marched forward through the nonexistent fire pit and into the large stone-and-log home. “Follow me.”

They reluctantly followed him inside and cast their gazes around. Buttresses graced the ceiling like they were birds, as nimble as toothpicks and as strong as steel beams. Off to the side were bunks and chairs, and racks for holding weapons of bows and stone axes rested between bunks. In the center of the room was a circular platform where a mare sat down, panting and breathing heavily as she clutched something close to her chest. Surrounding her were many other tribal leaders, dressed in long-plumed feathers from every color of the rainbow and with animal bones and teeth on necklaces around their necks.

As Twilight came near, she heard an old female voice say, “I... I simply cannot believe it! Is it... really him? From the legends?”

“Everything is there, all right,” another male voice responded, low and gruff. “From the legends. Black mane, yellow body, red eyes--and there’s a mark in his forehead.”

“But what about the Cutie Mark?” another voice came forth. “Is it a feather and an axe?”

“It’s too early to tell,” the gruff voice responded. “But if there’s anypony that’s supposed to have it, it’s him.”

An old grey pony came next to his wife on the circular birthing platform and squeezed her shoulders lovingly. “He’s so precious,” he quivered with a smile. “Thank you, honey.”

The brown mare sniffled and smiled back. She held up the yellow wet mass she had in her hooves. “What shall we call him?”

“We wait until he gains his Cutie Mark,” the grey father said. “We don’t want him to end up with a misleading name for the rest of his life.”

“Mil-Anadash-Ror is wise.” The statement passed throughout the room, echoed from the mouths of everyone there. The yellow mass in his mother’s arms twisted to the side and opened its weary eyes to reveal a pair of solid-red eyes, normal for all foals when they were young. He yawned, showing his tongue, then snuggled next to his mother.

“So if you weren’t given a name before, what did they call you growing up?” Rainbow Dash asked him.

“They simply called me “Sa-Rada”, or son of the chief,” Freedom Fighter explained. “Every chief adopts the name Rada to honor the one that first organized our tribe, regardless of their original name. Mil-Anadash-Ror means “Strength of a thousand stones,” but Rada means “Preserve.” For me, my method of naming went against tradition, because instead of being given a name at birth and adopting the name Rada later, I had no name at all until I gained my Cutie Mark.”

The scene suddenly dissolved in front of Twilight, and a series of scenes passed in front of her and the others at a brisk pace. A yellow colt learning to take his first steps, then a scene where he first held a butter knife in his hooves at the age of three. Then a scene where, as an older colt, he could be seen throwing a tomahawk with his teeth at an archery range, then astounding everyone there by rising on his hind legs and hurling one with his hooves as well. He would move to a bow and arrow station and instead of having the tip of one end set in the ground, he would pick up the whole bow, on his hind legs, and fire it with extreme accuracy at a target. Cheers followed him, and he was applauded and clapped on the back.

“Growing up,” Freedom Fighter continued, “I was given high expectations. Not only the son of the chief, but also the product of a legend, emphasis was given to my training in the art of war. I wielded every tribal weapon I was given with expertise. A staff. A spear. A bow. An axe, a knife, a scimitar. All of them I handled like I was born with the instinct to use them. I was a true-born warrior. It was in my blood to fight.”

More scenes flashed in front of Twilight’s face. In the midst of faint battle sounds, a young yellow colt with an empty flank was pleading with his father to go outside to help fight, but the father refused with a firm shake of his head.

“But I was seen as too precious to the tribe to be seen in battle, where I could be taken down by a stray arrow or a spear. And so it was that I was kept inside during the Noxxa raids until my fifteenth birthday, when I was declared truly ready to fight against the Noxxa. And only a few days later, the Noxxa made another raid into our encampment.” He thinned his mouth as the scene around them changed to a war zone in the middle of the tribal grounds. “Today is the day I prove my destiny.”

The tribal grounds were filled with the sounds of clashing weapons and the sights of flying arrows and spears stuck in the ground. Here and there lay a brown earth pony, knocked unconscious or fainting with the loss of blood, and the fertile soil was interspersed with the fine black powder of slain Noxxa. Applejack hurriedly stepped out of a thick pool of fresh scarlet blood on the ground, then examined her hoof and found no blood on it.

And there came a bursting sound next to them and a hut collapsed as two Noxxa were thrown through a solid wall of hardened mud and its walls fell down all around them. As the rubble was cleared away, the girls could see a tall yellow colt standing uneasily on his hind legs and holding a long double-bladed spear in both of his hooves. A bow and a quiver full of arrows was slung behind his back, and on his waist, chest, and arms was thick leather armor. A brown leather hood and mask obscuring most of his face was on him, and his uncut, flowing black mane fell behind him in an extravagant braid.

The young and as-yet-unnamed Freedom Fighter pounced atop the two downed Noxxa and quickly dispatched them with downward swipes of his spear blades. Another six-legged black insect scuttled from behind his peripheral vision, and he turned around and grasped its snapping claws before they could close on his skull. He wrestled with the monster for only a few seconds before pulling both of his arms apart and ripping the claws out of his body. The Nox shrieked in pain, and the unnamed warrior thrusted with his spear. It emerged from his back, and he quickly dissolved atop his blade.

And there came another massive crash from in front of him, and into the girl’s view came a massive, twelve-foot high, armored Nox. Its yellow eyes burned with barbaric fury inside of its sunken eye sockets, and with his two front claws he held two massive battle axes, with blades the size of Freedom Fighter himself curved into alien shapes. Five Rada warriors were trying to keep it at bay, but the Rada were close to being overrun by the berzerker.

“Oh, not you again,” the unnamed warrior muttered darkly, impaling the ground with his principal weapon so he could reach across his back to access his bow and arrows.

“Hey, you can talk now!” Spike observed.

“Shut up,” Freedom Fighter ordered.

The berzerker picked his head up and spotted him. Freedom Fighter didn’t let that bother him as he cooly drew his bow off of his shoulder and nocked an arrow. The Berzerker, ignoring his attackers below him, hurled himself forward, intent on destroying the unnamed warrior. But the yellow colt let loose his arrow. It soared forth and sank into his unprotected eye socket. One great eye went dim, and he stumbled, dropping his axes. He fell atop one of the blades, and it crunched through his armor into his stomach. He fell to his knees, his head hitting the ground, and fine Noxxa ash poured through the chinks in his armor onto the ground, leaving the shape of the Nox himself in the form of his armor.

The unnamed warrior ran to his inert armor, remaining in the shape of the form that was no longer inside it, and scrambled up the top of it. Reaching the top of his flank which stuck up high in the air, the young yellow colt raised his bow high in the air and let loose an ear-splitting roar that tore through the air of battle. Everywhere, Rada paused and directed their gaze to him, atop the metal shell of a fallen enemy.

“My people!” the unnamed warrior cried, his long braided mane swaying in the wind and his eyes ablaze with burning glory. He took off his war mask to reveal a young, beautiful face unmarred by scar or age. Unlike the rest of his tribe members, he had on no war paint. “Come to me and form a defense! I, the offspring of the first great chief, spit in the face of our enemies! Come to me, and we shall drive them off! Fight with me, my brothers! My friends, rally to me! We shall make a stand here, and we shall make our stand forever more!”

It was short but effective. From all over, evading the Noxxa they were fighting, Rada warriors assembled around the fallen Noxxa armor and formed a barricade with their spears and their bows that progressively got larger as more and more of them joined Freedom Fighter’s plea. After enough of them had encompassed the statue of armor, the Noxxa were looking up at the solitary figure atop the armor with a wary apprehension.

And all of a sudden, high above the skies, the darkened clouds parted and the bright blue sky could be seen, accompanied by an echoing, solid boom that made the earth tremble. A circular rainbow suddenly appeared in the open space in the sky, and the unnamed yellow colt’s flank began to glow brighter than the rays of sunshine that were now pouring down upon the battlefield. He rose into the air, surrounded by a bright twisting aura that made his body into a silhouette. When he finally settled down to the ground, the rainbow in the uncovered sky had disappeared, and so had the aura surrounding the yellow colt, but on his uncovered flank was now the image of a ceremonial war axe over that of a long red feather.

The colt gaped in surprise and shock at the image, his mouth open and his eyes wide. All around him, the Rada tribe members he had gathered together gazed in admiration and reverence at the mark of power. And the Noxxa that were lining up for an assault on their position faltered in their steps. They were afraid all of a sudden.

The yellow colt turned back to the line of black insects with a fresh determination etched in the lines of his face and raised his bow. And those Rada that had gathered around him formed a spearhead and rushed forward in a slanting triangle. It came forth quickly and pierced through the Noxxa like an arrow. The Noxxa splintered, faltered, and fled. The whole scene dissolved into black drips and dissolved in front of their faces, and they were once more in the large, empty black expanse they were in before.

“We earned our victory that day,” Freedom Fighter shortly explained. His voice was tight and small.

“Okay, that’s the second-most awesome way to earn a cutie mark,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “Next to mine, of course.”

“It’s... strange, to see you so young and... strikingly handsome,” Rarity said. “You were quite a looker, I must admit.”

Spike let out a derisive grumble of disapproval.

“It’s strange to see me handsome?” Freedom Fighter asked. His eyes narrowed, and his mechanical hoof curled so hard it creaked against itself. “Does my face really disappoint you so?”

Rarity saw her mistake. “No, no, no, darling! I simply, ah... meant to say that you’ve changed so much!”

Freedom Fighter shook his head, looking at the ground. “Truth be told, Rarity... you’re right. I’ve changed so much.”

The next scene slowly formed. The skies, instead of being overcast or blue or grey, were instead a dull red. The sounds of snapping, crackling flames reached their ears. Fluttershy let out a small noise and held all the more tightly to Noble Blade, making him almost collapse.

“But the Noxxa now knew of my existence, for they also knew our tribe’s legends. They knew that there would be one born to destroy them all and kill Marshal Malice. They knew it was me. And so they didn’t wait. Before my elders could finally pronounce upon me a name worthy of my feats in battle, the Noxxa attacked again without warning, and with a much larger and stronger army than before.”

The red-tinted scene appeared with dizzying clarity. It was the same tribal grounds as before, with the same houses and gardens as before--and they were all burning.

Above them, far away and circling the skies, was Bloodlust the dragon, Marshal Malice’s personal mount. Pale and layered with bloody maroon-colored armor, it spouted great gouts of flame from its mouth and nostrils upon the fair land below. It set ablaze an entire row of rice off in the distance, and the tall tendrils of flame were as tall in stature as the tallest pine trees.

Filling the air and descending on homes and buildings were Noxxa with dragon wings holding long, ugly spears in their front two claws. On the ground were Noxxa without wings that ran Rada out of their huts before razing them to the ground. Screams of panic filled the air. Babies were torn from the grip of pleading mothers. Stallions were beaten into the ground before being roughly yanked up and forced to walk. The Noxxa seemed to be leading them to the central plaza, where the great firepit was.

“Oh!” Rarity stepped back as a mother was hurled to the ground where she was standing. “Oh my goodness! How--how can I help?”

“You can’t.” Freedom Fighter held out a hoof. “This all happened a long time ago, far, far away. Nothing can be done about it now.”

The entire Rada tribe had by now been packed into a large circle. Noxxa on the perimeter kept them there with a bristling edge of wickedly-hooked spears. The massive white dragon floated over to a clear spot near the circle, and it descended with a tremendous thud on the earth. Down came a pale, monstrous creature that looked like a centipede, but with only ten legs and a dragon head. Standing on his back six legs, he was as tall as Discord was, and he clutched a claymore in two of his insect claws. This was Marshal Malice.

“How unnecessary,” Marshal Malice said in his high, cold, clear voice. He tested the edge of his monstrous sword with a claw, ignoring the masses of huddling prisoners. “It’s pointless to resist our demands. The Noxxa always find what they search for... with or without your cooperation.”

The Noxxa encompassing the prisoners grew tighter, like a noose.

“All I ask is your best warrior--the one spoken of in the legends--to step forth. Step forth... and yield to us. If he does, then I swear, with a holy oath to Faust, that we shall let you go free. You are entertaining rivals, after all, and I do not wish to lose a healthy source of food production. If he does not... If you choose to hide the coward behind your back... then we will fall upon you. We will inflict the wounds of death in your bodies until you become extinct, or until he surrenders.”

Two burly Noxxa waded out of the mass of prisoners and hurled an old, wizened pony to Marshal Malice’s feet. He had on a red cloak and a ceremonial headdress, and he kept his head down.

“And we will start with your chief. Starting now.” Marshal Malice raised his sword high in the air. “Your reign is over, Mil-Anadash-Ror.”

It seemed intentional that he had called him by his real name and not the ceremonial name of Rada. The chief weakly looked up at him. The skin on his grey-colored face sagged. “He will never surrender to you.”

“That’s for him to decide,” Marshal Malice declared. “But without a chief, you will fall no matter what.”

“Wait!” A voice pierced the still air, and the crowd of ponies parted like clouds. A single yellow pony, distinguished from the skin colors of tan or black or brown prevalent in everyone else’s coat color, came forth slowly, carrying weapons on his back and his side. Mutterings and whispers were raised as he marched bleakly forward, a pained expression on the colt’s face as he looked around one last time at the faces of his friends and his neighbors.

“Ah.” Malice smiled, showing all of his sickening teeth. “He steps forward at last. Where were you when we were burning your homes to the ground, filth?”

The yellow colt didn’t answer. Instead, he addressed everyone around him. “I’m the one he wants. I cannot risk any of you to die for me when I’m the one that can save you by surrendering.” He softened his voice. “That’s what the legend meant. When they said I was to save you all, it meant that I must sacrifice myself. To give myself up for the greater good.”

“Sa-Rada is wise,” somepony muttered. The phrase was repeated throughout the crowd. The hundreds of floating Noxxa scowled but did nothing else.

“I do wish to fight, but this is all I can do for you and still have you live.” The unnamed yellow colt finally came out of the crowd of Rada with anxious glances on him from every angle. He unslung the weapons from his back and laid them at Marshal Malice’s feet. He then kneeled beside the chief. “By making this sacrifice, I save my people.” He whispered under his breath. “A sacrifice to save them, Marshal. You have what you want. Now prove it by letting my people go. You swore to Faust herself.”

Malice pondered that. For a fifteen-second count, he did nothing but stand with his claymore hanging from one white insect claw, its tip grazing the ground.

Then, with a massive swing of his sword, he beheaded the chief. His head sailed away, and blood flooded out of the stump of his neck as he fell backwards.

“NO!” The yellow colt ran to the chief’s headless corpse and clutched him tightly, shaking it in disbelief and covering himself in his father’s blood. “FATHER! FATHER, NO! NO, PLEASE!”

Marshal Malice callously flicked some blood off his claymore. “Slay them all,” he commanded to his generals. They barked out orders, and the Noxxa noose tightened. They rushed in and impaled multiple Rada on their spears as they tightened their circle. In the air, winged Noxxa swarmed down and slit throats at random. Blood watered the ground until it expanded in a puddle beyond the Noxxa line. Pony after pony was butchered with careless efficiency. Screams rent the air, screams from the old and young, male and female alike. Screams of terror, screams of pain.

And only a few minutes later, no more screams could be heard.

The yellow colt was still clutching on to his father’s blood-soaked body like it was the only thing that was real in the world. Tears were running freely down his face, and his mouth was open in grief. Awful, despairing sounds tore from his mouth.

Marshal Malice didn’t care. He pried the teenager from his father’s headless corpse and threw him by the scruff of his neck to his bodyguards, who held on to him by both arms. “Get him moving,” Marshal Malice ordered them. “It’s a long way back.” The red skies threw Marshal Malice’s face into a long, dark shadow.

“YOU PROMISED!” the teenager bellowed at him as the bodyguards restrained him further. “YOU SWORE TO FAUST! YOU BROKE THE HOLY OATH!”

“I have nothing to fear from Faust,” Marshal Malice darkly spoke. “I care not for her. Not since the war in heaven.” He came forward, staring down the colt. “Not since I was cast out of heaven with the rest of my brothers and sisters because we chose to follow the true king of the universe.” He made a small growling noise in the back of his throat, then turned away to scuttle on his six legs back to his dragon mount. “Krasrax is miles away. We’re going home with spoils of war.”

The scene dripped away, and it was gone in a few seconds, leaving them stranded on the large, empty plane.

“Oh...oh, holy Celestia! That was awful!” Rainbow Dash clutched her stomach, trying valiantly to not get sick.

“How kind of you to notice,” Freedom Fighter observed laconically, not looking at her directly.

“That’s just sick,” Starlight Glimmer murmured, aghast at the unprovoked slaughter. “He’s not mad, or-or even cruel... he’s sick!”

“Ah...Ah don’t even know what ta say about this. Ah... didn’t know ya had it so tough. Ah swear, Ah didn’t know…”

Noble Blade and Firestorm remained respectfully silent. They knew better than to say anything.

“The Rada nation was wiped from off the face of the earth,” Freedom Fighter thought aloud, still not moving his mouth or even turning around. His voice grew tighter and more strained, even though it was only being thought aloud in his head. “Purged from existence. Along with it... went my friends. My family. My leaders, my teachers, my believers. Everyone who depended on me to live up to my destiny. They were all slaughtered.” He took a few deep breaths. “Slaughtered on a f-false promise. Time after time, I think back on that d-day. I think of what I could have done differently. What if I had fought? What if we all stayed stoic in hiding me from the grasp of those monsters? What if I had not gotten stuck in the circle with everypony else, and I had escaped? Or if I had attacked the Noxxa from outside? If only, if only, if only. But nothing can be done.”

“What if you hadn’t given yourself up?” Twilight asked, looking sick to her stomach. “What if the Noxxa had slaughtered everyone else to get to you? Then you’d feel even more guilty that you used your friends as a shield to protect yourself! You have no need to look back on that day that you had no control over!”

“Maybe.” Freedom Fighter turned around at last, and Twilight recoiled once more at his deeply indented face. “Maybe maybe maybe. Maybe I would feel guilty. Maybe they would have done it without hesitation, without instruction. Maybe they would have surrendered me. You’re right. I would feel guilty if everyone else died for me. But what can be done now? They’re gone. It’s only me left now.”

“What happened after you were captured?” Fluttershy asked, trembling while holding on to Noble Blade.

“I was dragged back to the Noxxa capital,” Freedom Fighter explained, pressing his mouth together all the tighter. “That place had a lot more industrialization going on than in the Rada tribe. We were a people of tradition and tolerance. They were an adaptive force that constantly sought an advantage in labor and hard work. I remember there was a lot of smoke in the place from the forges. I was... well... shamed in public.”

“Shamed?” Pinkie asked. “What do you mean, shamed?”

Freedom Fighter fondled the ends of his stringy black hair that hung down either side of his head. “They scalped me.”

Rarity gasped, making a small squeaking sound. “Oh, darling! I can’t believe it! I would be ashamed as well, if I lost a mane like you had!”

Freedom Fighter made a small twitch with his left mechanical hoof, and he avoided casting his angry gaze at Rarity.

“Was it something I said?” Rarity asked, pushing her head back warily.

Surprisingly, it was Twilight who spoke up, though she spoke emotionlessly and only looked at the floor. “Tribal tradition included wearing your mane long and free, never cutting it unless it was because you did some shameful act. You kept the scalps of your enemies as a trophy. Claiming it in battle is one thing, but to do it while being kept prisoner... that’s distasteful and shameful.”

“How do you know so much about this?” Firestorm asked her. It was the first time he had spoken since they had begun the memory visit.

“She reads a lot of books,” Spike supplied with a negligent shrug.

“What happened after that?” Applejack asked.

“After the scalping, they kept me captive in the capital’s dungeons,” Freedom Fighter continued. His voice was terse and melancholy now, rather than cold and angry. “They even went so far as to give me the honor of solitary confinement in a specially-made cell, all the way at the bottom of the building’s foundations.”

“How was it down there?” Pinkie Pie asked.

The scene around them began to build from wisps of nothing. They were in a circular room with a raised stone dais in the exact center. Torches burned a bright, fiery orange on the walls, and four barred doors led in and out of the room. On the dais was the fifteen-year old, chained by his hooves to hooks far above him. He was on his hind legs, spread cross-eagle, and his arms were above his head. His mane, once long and flowy and free, was now roughly cut down to the roots.

The yellow colt looked bruised and battered, and day-old wounds were bandaged up and cleaned. A chattering noise interrupted the still air, and one of the doors opened to show a single Nox come in holding a first-aid kit and a bucket of water. He came to the dais, opened the first-aid kit, and started to clean off his wounds.

“I still don’t... understand... why you take the trouble... to heal me,” the bald yellow pony commented weakly.

“Because we want a healthy specimen who can endure prolonged torture,” the Nox snapped. “Trust me, I take no pleasure in helping you revive yourself.”

“The sentiment... is returned.”

The Nox finished disinfecting his open wounds and stepped back. “I think you’ll like what we have in store for you today,” he said sinisterly. Behind the pony came in two other Noxxa holding a long pole with a strange symbol on the end of it. They thrust the pole into a glowing forge next to the wall, and it begun to heat up.

“Another good beating, I hope?” the young pony asked.

The Nox laughed nastily. “You wish!” Then he used his sharpened claw to draw in the dirt in front of him. When he was finished, he allowed the pony an opportunity to see it. “Do you know what this symbol means?” he asked him.

“No,” Discord muttered slowly, unknown to the presence of the Noxxa and the young warrior. “No, not this part…”

“I can’t say I do,” the young yellow pony muttered. The white birthmark in his forehead was marred by creases in his brow.

“This is a rune in our ancient tongue,” the Nox explained smugly. “This symbol, roughly translated, means “Unforgiven.” It is what you shall be known from this time forth.”

The young Freedom Fighter looked confused. “All right, then,” he wearily accepted, and appeared disinterested in it.

That was not the response the Nox was looking for. He became enraged and used his sharp claw to grasp the young Freedom Fighter’s neck. “You do not comprehend the severity of such an ignominious sentence!”

“I barely comprehend anything anymore,” he responded. “Not since you committed genocide.”

The Nox smacked him, leaving a bruise over his eye. He gave a small groan and took heavy breaths.

“Did you think we would let your mere existence slide while you grew powerful enough to destroy us? Did you think that we would be tolerant of you and the acts of terror you could have committed?”

“The pot calls the kettle black,” Rainbow Dash observed, to the girl’s instant and fierce agreement.

“Do you think that your existence is forgiven? Will we let your existence pass unpunished?” The Nox smiled--or at least, smirked. “No, Unforgiven. Never. You will be remembered forever as the Unforgiven. Unforgiven by us because of your destiny. And unforgiven by your tribe for your failure to fulfill it.” He laughed nastily.

The Unforgiven lunged forward, but he was restrained by the chains. “You dare speak for the noble Rada? How dare you assume they think less of me!” He struggled in vain some more.

The Nox in front of him only smirked some more and let out a sinister chuckle. “Give it up, Unforgiven. You’ve failed. Your tribe is not liberated, but instead lies in heaps upon the face of the earth. You tried to sacrifice yourself, but you were so much of a fool that you led your tribe’s own destruction! You only quickened their sticky end. It was useless. Your actions were worthless.” He started to whisper in his ear. “You are worthless. You have done nothing to help your tribe.”

A tear slid down Freedom Fighter’s cheek. “No…”

“You were incapable of living up to your destiny. You have failed. You have brought shame upon the Rada.” He leaned in closer. “Shame upon yourself.”

“NO!” the Unforgiven roared at him, a second tear on his other cheek.

“You... are... nothing... now,” he breathed menacingly. “Nothing but a coward that could not live up to his alleged fame. So, in that light, you must be... re-marked.”

By this time, the long pole in the forge had been taken out, and the mark of the Unforgiven rune was smoking and glowing white with heat. Two Noxxa came up behind him, holding the long brand.

“I can’t stand to see that repulsive image on your butt,” the Nox in front of him said. “Scrape it off.”

In accordance, one of them unsheathed a knife from his side and set it vertical to his flank. He swiped it along his flank, peeling off his skin, and the Unforgiven let out a heartbreaking scream of agony.

Fluttershy buried herself in Noble’s chest, trying not to look, and Noble looked down in sorrow. Pinkie Pie hid behind Rainbow Dash, who in turn covered up Spike’s eyes. The rest of them forced themselves to look as the Nox scraped away the skin on Freedom Fighter’s flank with quick strokes. With each stroke of the knife atop layer after layer of skin, the screams got louder and louder, and were filled with more and more torment. Blood ran down his leg and collected at the ground, painting his leg a crimson color. Discord winced with every stroke.

Finally, the mark on his flank was completely shorn off, and the hunk of meat on his flank was gone. No Cutie Mark was now on his right flank, which was now bleeding copiously. The Nox with the knife licked the blood off and sheathed it at his side. The Unforgiven’s mouth was screaming awfully, his face wet with tears.

Fluttershy’s face was wet with tears as well, and she buried herself even deeper into Noble Blade’s chest, soaking it with her despair and losing herself in him.

“Do it,” the Nox in front of him commanded. The Nox holding the brand nodded, and, giggling maniacally, pressed the brand into his body as hard as possible. A hoarse scream echoed around everypony’s ears as the scene dissolved into blackness.

“Okay, that right there was not awesome,” Rainbow Dash said distantly.

“Not fun! Not fun at all!” Pinkie sobbed, blowing her nose on Rainbow Dash’s tail. Rainbow Dash, seeing her tail be used as a tissue, hurriedly yanked her tail away from Pinkie’s face.

“That was the most barbaric thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” Rarity just stood still, shell-shocked.

“Oh, that’s just the warm-up,” Freedom Fighter said without any interest in his voice.

“Why didn’t they just kill you?” Twilight asked. “They clearly hated you.”

“I was of no worth to them dead,” Freedom Fighter answered. He paced back and forth, his metal hoof clinking every now and then. “Supposing they had killed me. What would that have proved? That they could kill defenseless prisoners? No, Twilight, they wanted me as a living trophy; a prize to be shown off; a sign to all that the Noxxa could rewrite fate as spelled by the stars and detain the one destined to destroy them.”

He flicked his mechanical hoof. “Besides, if you want to kill a pony, you don’t take them prisoner. I wasn’t taken prisoner only to be killed off anyway. While chained up, you are shamed, you are mutilated, you are brought lower than you ever thought possible. But not killed. Their permanent branding of me as the Unforgiven was only the beginning.”

A new scene began to unfold. It was still in the same underground room, but something different was happening. Freedom Fighter’s arms were out to the sides instead of over his head, and a Nox was behind him, holding a bucket of steaming water. He poured it down his back, sizzling on contact with the skin, and his back turned red instantly. The Unforgiven let out a terrible noise as the water made his skin raw.

“I can’t watch this,” Starlight trembled out loud.

“You must,” Freedom Fighter hissed. “You asked for this.”

The Nox picked up a thin, twisted whip from behind him and raised it above his head.

Starlight Glimmer forced herself to watch as he brought it down on the Unforgiven’s raw back with a nastily wet smack. A tortured scream echoed forth from the Unforgiven’s mouth. It was hoarse and high and full of despair.

“This happened every day,” Freedom Fighter explained. “Every day, boiling water down my back. Every day, fifty lashes from the whip. Every day, after the lashes, they would leave me be to feel the stinging. And later on, after more than an hour alone with my pain, they’d come back to patch me up so I wouldn’t die. And every day came a new scar.” He pointed at his own torso. “You see all of these? One of them appeared every day. One of them was given the opportunity to go in and see how close to the brink of death they could bring me.”

“Oh, my goodness!” Rarity gasped. “Every day?”

“Every day.”

“How are you still alive, then? Not everypony can endure that forever, you know.”

Freedom Fighter’s eyes seemed to flash a shade brighter than before. “I am no ordinary pony, Rarity. I am the Unforgiven. I was destined to stay alive, though for what purpose, I did not know. Their healing potions and herbal injections may have boosted my immune system and my ability to stay alive, but the scars remain. The wounds heal, but the scars always remain. Even over time, nothing can be done.”

“I thought tissue regenerated itself,” Twilight thought aloud. “I remember reading a medical textbook saying that old skin will repair itself no matter what.”

Freedom Fighter only laughed again--not with his vocal cords, thankfully. It was a monotonous, almost mechanical sound. “The Noxxa are too cruel for that. Pay attention to the next scene and tell me what you see.”

Twilight focused as a new scene built itself before her eyes. It was Freedom Fighter after being bandaged for his whipping, and a Nox was standing on four of its six legs, using one claw to steady his inert body--he had evidently passed out--and using the other to hold a knife that had its tip in his hip, tracing a few squiggly marks just for fun alongside other wounds that had appeared on his torso in between the events Twilight had seen. What Twilight noticed about the knife was that its blade was as black as pitch and resonated an unnatural quality.

“Do you see what the knife is made of?” Freedom Fighter asked her, with all life and energy drained out of his voice.

“It’s black,” Twilight observed.

Freedom Fighter nodded. “A Black Blade is forged from Tartarus’s obsidian volcanoes. It’s rare and prized to come by.”

“What’s so special about this Black Blade?” Applejack asked.

“A Black Blade causes permanent damage to organic material. If it harms a living being, plant or animal, the damage it does is permanent. Oh, the pain might go away--eventually--and perhaps it could resist infection... but the scar the skin forms will never, ever go away. It’s only thanks to the best medical help the living nations could offer that made me able to survive so much of it.”

“How do you know so much about the Noxxa and what they use?” Spike shrewdly asked, tilting his head.

Freedom Fighter lifted his mechanical hoof and examined the underside. “Do you really need to ask that question?”

The next few scenes passed quickly. In every scene, a Nox used a knife to strike him across the face or across the chest. Every time they saw him, he looked more starved and more injured than before. The scenes were cut together quickly, and left no room for catching breath. Then it settled on one scene in particular. Three Noxxa were in the room, silently judging him as Freedom Fighter struggled to remain upright in his chains.

“We ask again,” the one in front said impatiently. “Will you deny your tribe, and be set free? Or will you hang on to musty old tradition, and suffer further?”

Freedom Fighter directed his gaze upon him. It was weak, but his red eyes and the fresh scars running through his face noticeably unsettled the Noxxa. They shifted backwards uncomfortably.

“I will hear a confession from you first,” Freedom Fighter snarled. “Confess that you are of no worth to Marshal Malice.”

“Marshal Malice is unafraid of you,” one of them spat out suddenly. His yellow eyes grew hard.

“Then why does he need to chain me up?” Freedom Fighter asked, turning his head to indicate the massive chamber he was in. He stopped and winced, however, when it irritated the scars on his face and chest.

“Well, because... you’re a prisoner,” the last one pointed out feebly.

“Marshal Malice is scared of his own prisoners,” Freedom Fighter stated matter-of-factly. “I knew it. The mewling quim who snivels at the throne of Tartarus is scared of a single pony. Tell it to Malice himself: I will never surrender myself to you. I will never bow to that glob of spittle. I am proud of my heritage, and I will defy you to the day you are forced to pry me apart piece by piece. Call me Unforgiven in that, for I repent not of what I know to be true!”

The lead Nox at first didn’t know what to say. He simply stood there, shocked at the ferocity of his defiance. Then he straightened. “I want his tongue,” he commanded in a newfound strength.

In instant compliance, the two of them rushed forward in anticipation and held down the struggling pony, bending his head down to the ground. The one on the left drew out a black-bladed knife and pried the young colt’s jaws open. He was struggling the best he could, bellowing out at them, twisting their grip, yanking himself back and forth. His tongue was thrashing about, trying to evade the jabs of the knife, but the Nox simply held on to his tongue and yanked on it, keeping it out of his mouth.

“I want to hang it up on the wall,” the lead Nox said with satisfaction. “Break this son of a Rada whore.”

The Nox holding the knife then jammed his Black Blade into the underside of his mouth, and a shriek of pain tore from his throat. He started to saw back and forth, and blood poured out of his mouth onto the dirt below, mixed with viscous saliva. It got to the point where there was so much blood in his mouth he started to cough up on it, and the Nox retreated his knife to let him cough out the rest of the blood, with his tongue still half-sawed off and hanging out of his mouth. He then resumed to carve it out of his mouth, and it finally fell limply to the floor.

The screams. The screams from Freedom Fighter’s mouth were so anguished and so painful to listen to. It made the girls squirm and look away, their ears drooping down and their mouths quivering.

Some of them--but not all--noticed the scene change to yet another scene, this time from behind the Unforgiven. From this angle, they were able to see the extent of the damage the Noxxa did when they flogged him. His entire back by now was red and bloody and irreparably ripped apart because of the whips that chewed into his flesh every single day. One of the Noxxa there made him stand upright, spreading his hind legs. The result was that his genitals were put on full display. The Unforgiven squirmed in his chains, trying to scream something from his vocal chords, but they were so damaged from repeated screaming from weeks and weeks that it only came out as a weak gurgle.

The Nox set his knife against the skin in between his legs, hidden from the girl’s view. And he started to carve it off, slowly, slowly, slowly.

The girls looked away in horror. Gagging sounds came from Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie’s cheeks bulged out and turned a shade of green. Applejack held her hat against her chest somberly, and Rarity held a hoof to her mouth. Fluttershy wasn’t even looking. Noble Blade showed anguish on his face, both from Fluttershy pressing her tearful face into his chest and from watching his friend be neutered like a dog.

Finally, something plopped to the ground and splashed in a pool of blood that had appeared between his legs.

“No seed shall come of your lineage now,” one of the Noxxa in the room said. “You are now and forever tamed.” He laughed nastily. “You’re such a good boy! You handled that neutering rather well. Here’s a treat.”

And he tossed a raw turkey leg at his hooves. Any other pony would have rejected the meat meal, with ponies being vegetarians, but Freedom Fighter looked hungrily at it like it was the most delicious thing in the world. Spending week after week in a chamber with no plant material at all had cracked him down to the point of barbarism.

“Reach for it, Unforgiven. Reach for it.”

He tried to lean forward, but the pain in his groin forced him to stay upright.

“He can’t take his treat!” one of them roared in amusement. “Make him eat!”

The Nox behind him forced him to bow his head down, and blood rushed down from his groin and added to the puddle in between his legs.

“Stop it!” Twilight cried, wiping away something in her eye. “S-stop it, Freedom! Stop!”

Freedom Fighter shook his head no.

The Unforgiven at last was able to bend down far enough to sink his teeth into the raw turkey leg and take a bite out of it. Mocking laughter echoed throughout the room as the Noxxa enjoyed their control over their destiny. And on that note, the scene dissolved into shreds and wisps of black smoke.

“When are you going to stop with this?” Rarity pleaded. “We’ve seen enough!”

“You didn’t know about my infertility, did you?” Freedom Fighter demanded, twisting the bands on his mechanical arm and tightening his mouth all the more. He had chosen to ignore Rarity’s pleas. “No, you didn’t. My mark of stallionhood is gone now, and I will never, ever love a mare the way she deserves. That’s a new angle you hadn’t considered before, huh?” Freedom Fighter’s voice, even though it was only in his head, was broken with emotion as he silently considered the ponies he had gotten close to. Twilight Sparkle. Vinyl Scratch, Derpy, and Octavia Melody. The other mares involved that were close to Twilight. Thinking over them, he could not see a clear path for him.

After a little bit of time for reflection, he said, “A few days later, Marshal Malice himself paid a visit to my cell. What happened here... will change my life forever.”

The setting was the same, but the pony chained to the dais had changed significantly from the first time they had seen him. A black, swollen mark on his flank displayed him as the Unforgiven. His chest, hips, and face were covered with scar after scar, line after line splitting his body into several sections of enclosed space. Some of them were black, and some of them were new and red and raw. But the newest thing that they noticed was that his left arm was missing. The stump at his shoulder was covered by layer upon layer of red-soiled bandages.

“Did they…” Applejack asked, indicating the arm. “Ya know…”

“They amputated it for fun, yes,” Freedom Fighter snapped, watching the scene in front of him with interest. “They weren’t sure where to go next, I imagine.”

Marshal Malice was circling around the dais, observing the indistinguishable mass of flesh chained between two pillars. He did it with a reserved fascination, and he held a long, jagged Black Blade in one of his four arms.

“Good morning, Unforgiven,” he addressed him. “How are you feeling today?”

The Unforgiven did not answer. He did not even raise his head.

“You refuse to speak?” he asked mildly. “Why is that, I wonder?”

Still, he did not move.

Marshal Malice moved in front of him, peeling away his lips to reveal his yellowing needle-like teeth. “Ah, now I remember. My servant ordered your voice to be silent. It was a remarkably intuitive choice on his part. He got promoted, as a matter of fact.”

Now the mass of beaten flesh looked up at him. Though his face was swollen and one eye was almost closed, his bright red eyes still felt as hard as ever. Marshal Malice’s two bodyguards instinctively flinched. But Marshal Malice stayed where he was.

“Oh, you have a remarkable fighting spirit, Unforgiven. You would have made an excellent servant. Would if I could make that happen.” He admired the blade in front of him. “But who am I to change fate or destiny?”

The question was ironic, and Twilight knew it perfectly. Of course Marshal Malice knew he could change fate. That was why he had abducted the Unforgiven in the first place.

“How cruel of you to not answer me,” Marshal Malice continued. “Did you enjoy losing an arm?”

The Unforgiven twitched his right arm aggressively.

“At least it wasn’t your good arm, you know. We’re not savages here.” Marshal Malice set the serrated edge against Freedom Fighter’s other arm. “But after the left must come the right, inevitably.”

Just before he could apply pressure to saw into his arm, however, the door burst open in a bang of smoke, and Marshal Malice turned around just as several twangs sang their hymn and the two bodyguards crumpled backwards as crossbow bolts found themselves in their armor with crunches of steel. Their remains turned to ash instantly, and they fell backwards, their shells of armor the only sign of their existence.

From the door came forth a plume of smoke, hiding the pony shapes that were encased within. There were a dozen of the Canterlot Royal Guard that had poured in, but one shape enraptured the attention of all in the room. It was a pony standing on his hind legs, encased in bulky armor and wielding a familiar chrome broadsword in one of his front hooves.

“Noble Blade?!” Twilight gasped, recognizing the sword at once.

“Marshal Malice,” the upraised pony boomed, his figure hidden by the smoke cover. “I finally found you. It took some time, but this should take quick enough that the Noxxa won’t notice our entrance until it’s too late.”

“You’ll never take me alive, Strong Heart!” Marshal Malice swore, twitching all of his insect arms and whirling his Black Blade at an unseen speed.

“It was never my intent, Malice,” Strong Heart replied. “I came here to find the Unforgiven.”

“He is mine!” Marshal Malice shrieked, leveling his blade. “You have no claim to him!”

“Celestia has claim on him now.”

“Not once I take her virtue from her and slit her dirty throat in her own bed!” he retorted.

He stuck the tip of his sword in the ground. “You’ll pay for that.”

Rather than reply to that, Marshal Malice ignited his twin antenna into a grey color and expelled a blast of energy that knocked the slowly advancing Royal Guard to their backs a dozen feet away. He rushed forward to deliver a killing blow to Strong Heart, but the chrome broadsword collided with it, sending a flurry of glowing sparks below.

The ensuing fight was fast and furious, and the blows and strikes were many. Marshal Malice had the advantage of height and strength, but Strong Heart had the edge in raw speed, and his broadsword slashed and bit into Malice’s exoskeleton like a whiplike saber. Before long, Strong Heart had cleaved the hilt of the Black Blade in two, and had slammed his hind leg into Malice’s chest with all the force of a full-grown earth pony. Malice went stumbling, and Strong Heart ignited his horn, lancing out a dark blue color of rippling magic. Malice was encased in a blue aura, and was thrown against the side of the wall hard enough to crack the concrete.

Malice struggled to get up, but a Royal Guard fired his crossbow at him before he could do anything, and it pierced his gut deep enough that the arrowhead had completely disappeared. Malice contorted his face in an expression of pain as the pony known as Strong Heart emerged from the smoke.

“Surrender, offspring of Tartarus,” he commanded, pointing his broadsword an inch away from Malice’s skull. His face was light brown, and his eyes were bright, vivid, and royal blue. His long white mane cascaded down his shoulders, and the trimmed beard on his face was as white as fresh snow. His armor was purple and rimmed with gold, and his helmet was off and under his arm.

In response, Marshal Malice ignited his antenna, and he disappeared in a short pop.

Strong Heart swore and lunged at the space where he was not a second ago, then fell to all fours, sheathed the sword across his back, and directed his attention to the circular dais. “Stabilize his condition NOW!”

“What do we do now, sir?” one of them asked while another one rushed with a kit to the pony’s side. “Sir, should we go after Malice and finish him, or strike out from this miserable place with the Unforgiven in tow?”

“We can’t track Malice and take him on alone,” Strong Heart said, rushing to the dais and putting on his helmet. “Our objective is to rescue him.” He came to the front and waved a hoof at the Unforgiven. “Hello? Can you see me?”

The Unforgiven made no response at all. His body was too freshly damaged to do anything of use at all, and the medic addressing his wounds was trying to hold him stable on his knees.

“If you can hear me, you’re going to be all right. Celestia wants very much to see you back safe and sound. You’re coming with us.” He ignited his horn, and the shackles on his three legs fell off like discarded garments. “Let’s go. The way to the seashore is only a short distance, and there, we’ll sail across the Celestial Sea to Equestria. You’re safe now.”

“Who...is that?” Starlight Glimmer asked in wonder as the Unforgiven was gingerly laid on a stretcher and carried off into the staircases leading to his cell. The black mists returned once more, and the scene was silent.

“My father,” Noble Blade replied.

Chapter Thirty: The Pony of a Thousand Scars, Part 2

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Inside Freedom Fighter’s memories, confusion and shock swirled around the girls like the mists of darkness curling around their hooves.

“So lemme git this straight,” Applejack finally spoke. “Your dad--” She pointed at Noble Blade, “--was the guy that rescued you--” She pointed at Freedom Fighter, “--from being held by a nation of monsters because they thought you was some sorta savior?”

Freedom Fighter nodded. “Yes, Applejack. Strong Heart brought me with him to Equestria to meet Princess Celestia. She was the one that had the inspiration to send for me.”

“Why did Celestia want to see you?” Starlight Glimmer asked. “How did she even know of your existence? You were on the opposite side of the world!”

“That’s for later,” Freedom Fighter said. “Pay attention.”

The new memory swirled into form around them. It was a sterile white room with tables and desks on all sides holding hospital equipment. It was the Canterlot Royal Infirmary, and lying on the far end of the room was a pony wrapped from head to hoof in clean white bandages. As the girls walked over to his side, he struggled himself awake, and he slowly opened his scarlet eyes.

“He’s awake,” said a voice, and the girls saw a nurse on the other side of the room nudge herself aside to allow for another pony to come forth. He was an unremarkable pony with a tongue depressor and pills on his flank, and he wore a surgical coat and a stethoscope.

“Good morning,” the doctor greeted the bandaged stallion, and as he came forth, he passed through the insubstantial form of the ponies observing the scene. “How’s our patient?”

Freedom Fighter, held immobile by the casts and bandages, did nothing except turn his head to regard the doctor curiously.

“You were drugged to nullify the pain as soon as Captain Strong Heart brought you aboard his ship to return to Equestria, but it should be all gone by now. And it looks like you should make a full recovery quite soon. Only a few more days should do it.”

Freedom Fighter turned his head to observe the stump of his shoulder, then glared at the doctor, unable to say anything.

“Well, um, apart from the amputations,” the doctor clarified, checking his clipboard on an opposite table. “Your arm and your tongue and your, um... testicles.” He made a strange face of both pity and pain. “Those particular wounds we can’t repair instantly. We tried to get some unicorn specialists to help seal the biggest wounds, but the scars you suffered will be there for life.”

Freedom Fighter let out an exhale through his nose and put his head back roughly. He closed his eyes so tightly some of the girls were thinking he was about to cry.

“But don’t worry,” the doctor said cheerfully. “Soon you’ll be in good enough shape to visit Princess Celestia.”

Freedom Fighter opened his eyes slightly wider when he heard her name. He hadn’t heard of her before Strong Heart had taken him out of the cell he was held in, so his surprise was justified.

The scene instantly switched to the Canterlot throne room. Princess Celestia was in her red velvet throne, but nopony was next to her side except for her two escort guards at the foot of her throne. And facing her and looking upwards was the stallion in the wheelchair, missing an arm and covered in bandages. Three doctors attended him at the sides, and directly behind the wheelchair was Strong Heart, anxious and worried.

Celestia’s face was contorted in an expression of agony, and a few tears of distress ran down her face. Her horn was glowing yellow, and her eyes were closed. The pony in the wheelchair was staring violently back at Princess Celestia as her horn glowed ever brighter.

Finally, her horn stopped, and she opened her eyes. They were solid white for only a second, but a few blinks was all it took for them to revert back to their normal purple color. She put a hoof to her heart. “Oh, my goodness... those memories I saw...”

Freedom Fighter, with enormous effort, nodded through the bandages.

Princess Celestia thought with a crease on her forehead, then she stood up and stomped the ground resolutely. The two guards at the foot of her throne stood straighter immediately.

“Take this warrior to the laboratory and request a fast fix to his condition,” Princess Celestia ordered. “This is a fighter for the freedom of his people, and he must not be lost.”

“To the lab?” one of the doctors asked in bewilderment. “What about the infirmary?”

“We can repair him. We have the technology,” Princess Celestia replied.

The scene instantly switched to a dark surgery theater, and ponies in turquoise coats and surgical masks crowded around a raised table with straps holding the bandaged pony down. They were working on his empty shoulder, and were locating nerves, blood vessels, and muscle tissue. The work was quiet and slow and deliberate, and they were all trying their best to be as precise as possible.

The hours passed by as suddenly as it had been introduced, and then it was quiet and tense in the surgical theater as the pony surgeons stepped back. The stallion on the table slowly woke up as the anesthetic dripped away out of his system.

He looked to his right. Nopony there but the surgeons. He looked to the left. And he bulged his eyes.

In place of the stump of his shoulder was a metal-plated arm.

Slowly, as if daring not to believe it, he twitched his arm. The mental action was instantly responsive. He slowly, slowly, curled his metal hoof. The joints were all in the right place, and the proportions were all how they should be. His hoof bent according to his desires.

“Is he doing well?” a nurse asked. “Test the movement, sir.”

Still lying on the bed, the unnamed pony waved his arm under the loosened straps. It wasn’t a lot of room to maneuver his arm, but the results were gratifying. He widened his eyes even more: the technology was far beyond anything the tribal warrior had seen before.

It was even better that he had lost his arm, in a manner of speaking. Before, he had nothing, but now his left arm was as strong as his right.

Out of nothing, there came forth power.

The operating table swung to a vertical position, and the straps on his body were loosened. The pony covered in bandages was in no condition to stand on his own, so he was helped down by the surgeons and was settled on all fours.

As soon as weight was put on his left arm, he almost fell down on his stomach, and the nurses helped him back up once more. He then cautiously tested the weight on his mechanical arm again, and the elbow joint bent, then slowly straightened. Once it was as straight as a stick, it wobbled some more, and he spread his arm to stop the wobbling. He stood there for a moment as the doctors moved out of his way to allow him room. After some heavy breathing, he was able to adjust himself to a comfortable standing position.

From behind an observation table, Strong Heart came into view. His beard was short and white and glowed in the soft light, lending a splendid contrast to his light brown coat. On either side of him were two small colts. One of them was a dark orange pegasus with a fiery mane, and the other was a blue colt with the richest color of dark blue eyes any of them had seen. A large white wolf circled around Strong Heart as well, and Fluttershy recognized it as Amaria, Noble’s pet.

“Goodness,” Firestorm commented. “I really looked that raggedy so long ago?”

His comment did nothing to affect the mood, which was his intention. Firestorm fell silent once more.

“Um…” Starlight Glimmer glanced warily at Amaria. “What’s with the wolf?”

“That’s my pet,” Noble tersely replied.

“YOUR P--”

“Oh, hush,” Freedom Fighter snapped. “Shut up. Watch.”

Starlight Glimmer shut up and watched.

“How do you like the arm?” Strong Heart asked the pony with no name. “It’s the latest in cutting-edge technology and magic fusion. Magic inside the arm helps power the arm to its full capacity. And we attached cables to your nerves so it’s molded directly into your body. The arm doesn’t rely on magic alone, so you can survive without it, but it can give you weapons when used correctly.”

“Father,” the blue colt complained. “He doesn’t need to know every detail about it.”

“He should, son,” he instantly replied. “Knowledge is the root of any advantage.”

“Yes, father,” the blue colt said, looking to the ground.

“You just got told,” the fiery pegasus smirked, tapping him on the chest.

“Oh, hush, Firestorm,” the pale blue colt said irritably, waving aside his hoof.

“Developers helped come up with the idea for it the instant you were brought back to Equestria,” Strong Heart continued as Amaria circled about him and rubbed the top of her head against his leg. “Celestia assigned it to the technology department before we were assigned to go search for you.”

“How in Equestria did she know he would lose an arm before she saw him?” the young Firestorm asked.

“Strong Heart says Celestia saw him in a vision,” the blue colt said to Firestorm.

“But how did Luna know, then?” Firestorm asked.

“It didn’t come from Luna,” Strong Heart told the pegasus irritably. “It was sent to Celestia by Faust herself. I don’t want any more interruptions out of you, Firestorm, for the rest of the time we’re talking to him. Understand?”

The fiery pegasus nodded in reluctant acquiescence.

“You just got told,” the blue colt said, ruffling the pegasus’s fiery mane affectionately.

“Oh, shut up, Noble,” Firestorm said.

“It looks like you two never changed all that much,” Pinkie Pie observed to Noble Blade and Firestorm.

“You’ll have to excuse the kids,” Strong Heart said to the unnamed pony, who himself could not have been more than his late teens. “They’re inseparable. Introduce yourself, son.”

The young blue colt observed the unnamed colt with the metal arm warily. The snowy white wolf at Noble’s side made no sign of danger, but it laid down in between Strong Heart’s legs. “Should I, father?”

“You should,” Strong Heart rumbled.

“I don’t even know him.”

“So change it now.”

“How did he get all of those scars?”

Strong Heart sighed. “Son, are you familiar with the concept of torture?”

The young pony’s face grew harder than he already was before. “Somepony did this to him?”

“And he’s only a little older than you are.”

The pale blue colt stepped forward more resolutely than before and offered his left hoof for the unnamed pony to shake. “My name is Noble Blade,” the colt spoke in a voice that, although adolescent, bore promise to become stronger in the future. “I am in training to become a knight like my father. Father says you were a warrior in the past. It would be an honor to get to know you now.”

The bandaged, unnamed pony only regarded Noble Blade with wide, searching red eyes at first. Then he offered forth his own left hoof and grasped Noble’s hoof like a vise grip. He looked directly into his eyes, red into blue, and nodded firmly.

“And what is your name?” he asked him curiously.

“That’s something he can’t tell us,” Strong Heart said to his son. “He doesn’t have a tongue.”

“He doesn’t--” Noble started in surprise, then he narrowed his eyes. “I swear to you, when I am finished being trained, I will hunt down and kill whoever it was that disfigured you.”

“Think before you speak,” Strong Heart reprimanded his son. “If you need to swear to do something, that says that you aren’t trustworthy in the first place. Your word should be the truth, not your oaths.”

“Father,” Noble Blade moaned. “I know.”

“And why should you deprive this warrior of the privilege of vengeance, and destroy his enemy when he did nothing to you?”

“The pony that did this did hurt me,” Noble passionately replied. “He hurt my friend.”

For the first time since he started talking to his son, Strong Heart smiled. “Forming a bond already, son?”

“Why shouldn’t I, Father?” Noble let go of the mechanical arm at last. “Brothers in arms are brothers for life. You taught me that when you pressured me and Firestorm to become enrolled in the military.”

“You truly are a wise son,” Strong Heart complimented him. Noble Blade beamed.

The bandaged pony was watching this exchange with a certain kind of fascination, and when Noble had finished talking, he had swiped a paper and pencil off the nearest table so it was right in front of him. Everyone watched him as he firmly but awkwardly wrapped his hoof around the pencil and stared at the piece of paper, thinking hard about what to write down.

The real Freedom Fighter spoke up now. “It was in this moment when I decided to go by a real name at last. When I could create my own name and have that be my identity, not simply being known as the son of the Rada chief forever. But I initially didn’t know what to call myself. I couldn’t go as “Unforgiven.” So what should it be?”

The unnamed pony started to slowly write something down on the paper.

“Then I remembered what Celestia said in the throne room. I was a fighter for the freedom of Equestria now. I could not do anything for my dead tribe now, but I could do something for the princess that saved me from the wrath of the Noxxa. I could fulfill my destiny in this small way, to become friends with Firestorm and Noble Blade, and train alongside them until we were ready to fight once more for the liberty of the people. Because any one of them could have been one of the Rada. So with that in mind, I chose my new destiny on this piece of paper.”

When the pony enveloped in bandages was done writing at last, he slid it forward with his mechanical hoof, and Noble Blade picked it up with his magic. “Freedom Fighter?” he asked. “Is that your name?”

The newly-christened Freedom Fighter nodded.

“Well, then, Freedom Fighter,” Noble Blade said. “Let’s begin learning how to talk in sign language.”

“Sign language?” Firestorm asked him, coming near.

“It would be inconvenient of him to write everything down all the time,” Noble Blade explained. “The sooner we start, the sooner we can work together.”

“And just like that, those two were my closest friends for the next seven years,” Freedom Fighter’s thoughts said aloud.

And the scene dissolved once more, and the memories flew by in a blur. In no time at all, the bandages on Freedom Fighter were off, and he was looking in a mirror in a small bathroom, beholding his bare skin. He was rubbing a hoof along the deep scars on his chest with a melancholy expression, and his mouth was open so he could see the spot where his tongue would have been. He closed his mouth, and he sighed deeply.

The next scene was when Firestorm was sitting next to Freedom Fighter, reading out of a book talking about sign language. They were practicing their movements after each other, and Freedom Fighter’s appearance was much less disconcerting to Firestorm’s countenance. Amaria the wolf was next to Firestorm, and Firestorm was occasionally scratching her behind her ears in between exchanges.

The next scene showed Freedom Fighter and Noble Blade trying to have a conversation in sign language. The snowy white wolf belonging to Strong Heart was lying on her side, and Freedom Fighter was rubbing her bare chest in between exchanges. When Noble Blade would sign a question and inflect his hooves upward, Freedom Fighter would respond with either a nod, a shake of his head, or a few hoof motions. He seemed to be more focused on making the wolf loll out her tongue in satisfaction than he was interested in the conversation. It seemed more like a distraction than anything. Freedom Fighter obviously wasn’t enthusiastic about it.

The scene transitioned again to the bathroom in front of the mirror. Freedom Fighter was standing on the toilet so he could see himself properly. He ran a hoof down his body, down the grooves etched into his delicate flesh. His eyes betrayed sorrow and loss as he examined just everything the Noxxa had taken from him.

The next scene showed Celestia herself talking to Freedom Fighter in the Canterlot throne room. A thin black skin was lying on the ground in front of the scarred pony, and he was attempting to fit himself inside it.

“Are you sure you want this?” Celestia was asking him. “Nopony will see your skin and know of who you are.”

Freedom Fighter nodded emphatically, and his mane, short and thin and ragged, moved with his head.

“But your friends won’t see you.”

Freedom Fighter shook his head.

“You... don’t want them to see you?”

A nod.

“Why?”

Freedom Fighter pointed at his scars with his left hoof.

“I’m afraid I still don’t understand,” Celestia admitted. “Are you ashamed of your body? Or do you want to protect your identity?”

Freedom Fighter made the sign for Both. Then he attempted to fit inside the thin tactical suit some more.

“Who are you scared will see your identity?” Celestia asked. “Your friends? Your fellow soldiers in the Royal Guard? The common citizens? Or... or the Noxxa, once you see them again?”

Freedom Fighter made the signs for Everything you said.

The scene transformed once more. This time, it was Noble Blade, Firestorm, and Freedom Fighter in a training yard. Freedom Fighter was in a thin black bodysuit, allowing no part of his body to be seen apart from his eyes. All three of them were on their hind legs, wielding a long staff. They all moved in synchronized movements to Strong Heart’s motions in front of them. Strong Heart would thrust, and the three of them would thrust. He would cut in one direction, and they would cut in that direction. Off to Strong Heart's side was Amaria, old and tired and lying down on the earth. Her ears were folded back and her mouth was thin and drooping.

Noble Blade stumbled, and threw off the movements of the others. Strong Heart stopped his guiding strikes, stuck his chrome broadsword point down in the earth, and looked his son in the face. "Noble! What happened?"

Noble Blade got back on his hind two legs, wobbling at first, but he steadied himself with his sparring staff. "Father," Noble panted, "You do realize that as ponies, we aren't meant to stand on our hind legs?"

"You're right, son. This is unorthodox training you're receiving, and you should be happy to have it."

"But I still don't see why we can't fight like the Royal Guard does," Noble protested.

"Because this method of training makes you..." He waited.

"Stronger, Faster, Braver," Noble Blade muttered unenthusiastically. "But why can't we just fight on all fours like the rest of them? Why do we have to train ourselves to fight upright?"

"Do you want to wield a sword someday?" Strong Heart asked him.

"Yes, Father."

"So train to use it with your hoof. Do not hold the ancient and noble weapon in your clumsy mouth like everypony else does," Strong Heart chided him. "Back to work, then, and focus on your balance this time."

Noble Blade looked a little hurt by the comment, but did as he was told.

The scene transformed to a sparring session where Noble Blade and Firestorm were being pressed back by Freedom Fighter. He wielded a long staff, and the speed of his strikes and thrusts and swipes in all directions pressed the other two back. Strong Heart was overseeing the sparring session, but his gaze was sad and morose as he watched his son and his friends fight coordinately in a single fashion.

Something Twilight noticed was that Amaria was no longer next to the aging father. She was gone at last from his life.

The scene then transformed to where all three of them were in the Canterlot throne room. Celestia and Luna were now both present, and both of them were grim.

“My soldiers,” Celestia said to them. “Just last week, the Changelings attacked Canterlot during the wedding of Noble’s aunt Cadence and Captain Shining Armor.”

“Thou wast not there because of thy deployment to the base camp near Appleloosa to complete thy advanced training,” Luna continued. “But in thy absence, we have decided on a course of action.”

“Ever since the return of my sister, the future of Equestria is always teetering on the brink of collapse,” Celestia said. “For now that my sister is back, new forces are rising up to challenge Equestria. The amount of world-altering events has risen drastically since she came back. And so, me and my sister have decided to create a force to respond first to potential cataclysms.”

“Wow,” Firestorm said in wonder. “Who’s in this fighting force?”

Celestia looked Firestorm square in the face. “You.”

Firestorm looked like he had been smacked in the face. He pointed at himself, twisting his face into an expression of complete incredulity. “Me.”

“You three have been in military training for over seven years now, both with the standard military forces and with your personal lessons with Strong Heart. Your lessons ended with his retirement from the military last year, of course, but you are still much more advanced in wielding weapons than any other pony in Equestria’s military. You are neither the oldest nor the most experienced soldiers I have, but I believe that this particular job is the right job for you three. Are you up to the task?”

Freedom Fighter slowly drew his head up and down. Firestorm, after a few moments, shrugged and nodded as well. But Noble Blade was still.

“Noble Blade?” Princess Luna asked softly. “Is there something troubling thee?”

“Yes,” Noble said. “I have been training to fight for over seven years now. But now that thou hast need of us, I am scared for the lives of my friends and for my performance.”

“Art thou endeavoring to speak in Old Equestrian, dear boy?” Luna asked in amusement.

Noble looked at the ground in embarrassment, pink flushing his cheeks. “Yes, Princess Luna.”

Princess Luna strode down the steps of the Canterlot throne and came directly in front of the young stallion. Noble drew his head up to look into Princess Luna’s eyes as she came near.

“My dear boy,” Luna spoke musically. “Thou hast no need to fear for thy performance for us. Thou hast proven thy worth already by thy dedication. So worry not for thy future. Worry instead for the future of thy country, and let that worry become thy patriotism.”

“But a warrior is not bothered by fear,” Noble Blade uttered.

“But every warrior has to feel fear,” Luna corrected, her voice still vibrant and full of life. “You must know fear so that when peace and relief come, thou mayest love and cherish it all the more. Shalt thou turn away from the battle deciding the fate of thy friends simply because thou art scared?”

Noble Blade shook his head firmly, making his thick messy mane sway. “Let me instead face the danger, for if I turn tail and run, I will lose.”

“Then do the same for thy fears and doubts, my loyal servant. Thou shalt perform faithfully, and when thou returnest, bask in the love I have for thy life.”

Noble stood still for just a minute, absorbing what Luna had said to him. Then, after a moment or so, he said, “I really need to learn how to speak like you do.”

“I may teach thee how to in thy free time,” Luna offered.

“Done,” Noble Blade said, shaking Luna’s hoof. “And... for thy sake, and for the glory and honor of my country, I shall serve you with every breath of my body.”

“It is done, then,” Celestia said warmly. “You three are now the guardians of Equestria. You will be the unsung protectors of our people. You are... the Guardians of the Sun.”

Noble bowed deeply before Princess Luna. Freedom Fighter, seeing him bow, did the same, and his left arm creaked as it bent. Firestorm took a moment more before he realized it and muttered, “Wait, we’re supposed to bow right now?” He hurriedly dropped to his knees.

“This is classified information,” Princess Celestia confided to them all. “You will be swifter, and more efficient, if you remain secret.”

“Stronger, Faster, Braver,” Noble Blade muttered.

“Your father’s motto,” Celestia complimented him.

Celestia turned her attention to Freedom Fighter, obscured by his thin black bodysuit. “Would you like some specialized equipment, my proud warrior?”

Freedom Fighter nodded firmly.

“See me in the armory. I have a very versatile staff we discovered in a dragon’s hoard many years ago. I believe you’ll like it.”

“And for me?” Firestorm meekly asked.

“I think I have something for you as well, Firestorm. It’s relatively easy to enchant weapons, and I’ve got an idea of what you’ll like.”

The scene then dissolved to show the three ponies talking to Strong Heart in his own house. He was out of his purple armor and was listening to the three ponies talking to him about their success.

“I can’t frickin’ believe it, Strong Heart! Celestia was able to get me flaming swords! The only time I’ve seen flaming weapons are in Ogres and Oubliettes! Oh!” Firestorm turned around with both his hooves behind his head. “Oh, and we haven’t even talked about his weapons yet!” He pointed at Freedom Fighter. His black-covered body was newly adorned with all sorts of knives, blades, and a pair of folded-up sticks at his hips. “Can you believe it? He’s got the entire Canterlot Armory on his body! So many knives and hitting-things and cutting-things and long assembly things! It’s like he’s going up against an entire army!”

Freedom Fighter flurried his hooves to the side.

“Oh, you’re looking for a challenge like that, eh? Well, I hope I get to join you when that happens, Freedom. I want to have fun, too, you know. The only time when all those weapons won’t be fun is when you’ll have to pass through a metal detector!”

When they were done, Strong Heart laughed deeply. “It appears Equestria’s gained the best it has to offer.”

“Are you bitter that you’re not captain of the military anymore, Father?” Noble asked curiously.

“No!” Strong Heart shook his head. “Shining Armor’s going to be a good new fit for the position. He’s a good lad. Almost as good as you, son.”

“Yes.” Noble looked uncomfortable. “Um, as good as me. Father... I’ve had my doubts about that.”

“Well, then, tell me, son, and don’t hold back.”

“Father…” Noble’s voice was small, and slow. “I... was not a perfect son. I took your advice lightly, and I didn’t rise to my potential. Your talk of making me stronger, faster, and braver was overlooked, and I wish to apologize.”

“What are you talking about?” Strong Heart asked, evidently confused. “You worked harder than I could have possibly expected. You were maniacal in trying to build yourself up.”

“But no matter what I did, Father, I never was truly ready to face the world. I was never at the top of my potential.” Noble Blade looked down in shame. “And when I was trying as hard as I could, I distanced myself from you. My service to Equestria is not the only thing that matters. I realize that now. I didn’t build as strong of a bond as I should have with you. It was like the harder I tried, the further I distanced myself from loving you. You’re so, so important to me, and…” He paused and wiped something from his eye. “And I’m sorry... for not being as obedient or loving as I should have been. I wasn’t as strong or as brave as you wanted me to be.”

Strong Heart relaxed his face into one of love. “Son.”

Noble Blade looked at his father. The edges of his eyes were red.

“You have made me so proud by choosing your country above me. It means that you know you are part of something bigger than yourself. You have grown beyond what I could imagine.”

“But I haven’t gone beyond what I can imagine for myself.”

“That’s what being a Guardian of the Sun will do for you now.” Strong Heart beamed.

“I haven’t lived up to your potential, Father. I’m scared of what I’ll do in my service. No matter what, I'll never be good enough for every situation.”

“Do you know how to truly become stronger, and faster, and braver?” Strong Heart finally asked his son.

“Develop and train the traits you have.”

“Right, but wrong. What I want to challenge you to do, Noble Blade, is to become stronger, faster, and braver, not by training your muscles and reflexes, but by developing faith. Hope. Charity. Those three are all important, but remember, most of all, honor. Honor your friends. Honor your country. And honor me. Honor me by spreading your goodness and love to all you see as a protector of the land we love.”

“I promise,” Noble Blade swore. Now the tears were really coming, brimming over his eyelids. He lunged forward and hugged his father fiercely.

Freedom Fighter appeared to show little interest in the display because his head was turned away, but it was really so that nopony could see his wavering eyes.

“And Noble?”

“Yes, Father?”

“Take care of Freedom Fighter. He needs you, Noble. More than anyone, he needs you to look after him and love him like a brother.”

Noble Blade hugged his father tighter. “I’ll never let anything bad happen to him, Father. I’ll let no harm come to him. I... I swear it.”

“Your word--”

“--Should be my oath, Father. I know.” He smiled. “I just wanted to emphasize it.”

Strong Heart nodded, then drew away. He reached behind him and presented something to his son. It was his own chrome broadsword.

“Father,” Noble Blade said. “That’s yours.”

“Well, I’m certainly not going to be using it much more, now am I?” Strong Heart pointed out. He presented the sword handle first to his son. “The time has come at last for you to receive a true knight’s weapon. This weapon was given to me by my own father, which was passed down to him through generations of our family. Bear it well, for its worthiness is only measured by the worth of the pony wielding it.”

Noble Blade wrapped his hoof around the handle for the first time. He hefted the blade once, twice, three times. Then he examined the blade with reverence. “I’ll treasure it, Father.”

“I know you will. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have given it to you.”

The scene dissolved then, and Noble Blade and his father dropped into darkness.

The next few scenes whizzed by, and they were indistinct and quick. They went in chronological order, as it normally did, but the scenes were vague.

There was an upward glance at the dark spires of a natural rock formation called Midnight Castle. Tendrils of cold mist curled about their faces as the three ponies marched onward stealthily on a mission to rescue a group of captured Equestrian civilians.

Then there was the crack of thunder and the flashes of lightning as it poured rain down upon Arimaspi Mountain, the massive skull atop its tall pinnacle looking absolutely devilish. In a trench encircling the mountain were dozens of the Royal Guard, miserable but alert, led by three distinct figures standing in No-Pony’s-Land between the trenches and the mountain.

Then there was the clash and thundering of beating wings. The battle of dragons above their heads filled their ears, and on the ground, dragons charged at each other like jousting knights, swiping at each other’s heads and kicking each other in sensitive areas. In the midst of it all were the three Guardians, leaping high into the air to swipe at the tall dragon’s faces with their swords and staffs. It was the very short-lived civil war in the dragon lands, set up by a corrupt Canterlot politician to create unrest in Equestria. The air was red and filled with smoke; the bodies of downed dragons littered here and there.

And then they were in the massive expanses of Saddle Arabia, with tan dunes all around them rising up like the waves of the sea. The atmosphere shimmered with heat. The ground sank under their hooves. And they were surrounded by large, prancing silhouettes of black horses, twisting around them in the winds of an impromptu sandstorm created by the whirling horses. In the middle were the three Guardians, twisting to try to face the dark horses. The Saracen never stood still, however, and they pranced all the faster around the Guardians.

And then they were still in Saddle Arabia, but this time it was only Freedom Fighter in the sand dunes. He was staring with wide red eyes at the land in front of him.

It was the remains of his tribe’s land, but now the grounds were evil and soiled and infertile. The ancient remains of old mud huts sunk into the ground like it was molding. Burnt fields were off to the west. To the east, a muddy and soiled river ran through the remains of a trench. The entire land, once rich and green and lovely, was now despoiled by the evil influence of the Noxxa.

Freedom Fighter stood there, on the border between Saddle Arabia and the ancient lands of the Rada. Then he knelt down and drew a knife from his side. With his red eyes glinting along the edges of the blade, he was stiff for several minutes. Then he re-sheathed the dagger, turned around, and walked away without looking back.

“At that time, I swore an oath to myself,” Freedom Fighter explained to the girls who were obviously confused at the action. “I swore to redeem my destiny.” He paused. “I also swore an oath to Marshal Malice.”

“You did?” Rainbow Dash asked in surprise. “What was it?”

Freedom Fighter turned around, and in his eyes was a dark and malevolent gleam. “I swore that I would drink his blood.”

The girl’s faces collectively blanched in fear and sickness.

“I swore that his skin would fly from the ends of my staff like a banner. I swore to tear the meat from off his body, strip by strip, and burn the marrow in his bones. I swore to tear out his warm, beating heart with my bare hooves and crush it beneath me.” His face fell into more and more shadow, and the only features on his face were the deep white scars and the bright, shiny scarlet eyes. “And I swore that his head would adorn the top of the tallest spire of Canterlot, for him to gaze freely upon the face of the lands that he was never able to conquer.”

The girls were all looking appalled by his sickening description. Discord looked absolutely terrified; if that could happen to Marshal Malice, then it could certainly also happen to Discord. Both Discord and Marshal Malice had been around since the beginning of the universe, after all, so if Freedom Fighter could kill one of them, who was to say that he couldn’t kill the other?

The next scene flashed by--a momentary glimpse of a round floating observation center in the far distance with pegasi dive-bombing it from all directions. Catapults whipped forward, and arrows fired both at it and from it.

“Let’s skip past Skyworld,” Firestorm advised.

“Why?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What happened here?”

The bottom of the station suddenly disappeared in a thunderous explosion that shook the heavens, and it plunged like a stone to the earth miles below.

“That was me,” Firestorm said in explanation. "I, um, made a mistake with our calculations, and, well... that happened."

“Oh,” Rainbow Dash said blankly, blinking hard. “Oh, I see now.”

The last scene coalesced in front of them, showing Princess Celestia pacing worriedly in her throne room, alone and quiet. A letter was floating in front of her face, which was creased with worry lines and a deep frown.

The throne room doors opened and in came the three Guardians, looking around them before secretly shutting the massive doors. Noble was already in his grey armor, and Freedom Fighter was completely obscured by his massive thick bodysuit.

“What did you need us for?” Firestorm asked with a ridiculously oversized grin on his face. His combat outfit was sloppily thrown together and a few strands of his mane were out of place. “I don’t mind being woken up three hours earlier than I’m used to. Not at all.”

He gave a face-muscle twitch.

Celestia showed him the missive in front of her face, and her face was deathly serious. “Read this.”

The three Guardians did so. Firestorm pointed at the signature on the bottom. “Look, that’s Twilight Sparkle’s signature at the bottom! She must have written this to you telling you where the crap she was going!” He lifted his head up. “I still haven’t seen her in person, by the way. When are we going to be assigned to Ponyville and meet her?”

Freedom Fighter did a few motions with his hooves and the rest of his body.

“I don’t care if it’s not our decision to make, Freedom! It’s like we’re in different government cells and we can’t cross each other because if that were to happen, it would result in disast--oh! Oh, oh, I get it now.”

When they were done reading it, Noble looked up at Celestia. “What is the problem? I see nothing wrong with the letter.”

“Do you know of King Ironhooves and Queen Strategus taking the throne of Saddle Arabia?” Celestia asked of him.

“I can’t say I do,” Firestorm said, eyeing the paper from another angle.

“Exactly,” Celestia said, blowing a heavy gust out of her nostrils. “It’s a lie. A trick to get Twilight Sparkle away from Equestria, alone and unprotected, into Saddle Arabia, where the Noxxa have doubtless recovered from their blow from twelve years prior when Strong Heart infiltrated their lands, and hold Twilight captive for leverage--or murder her.” Celestia’s face, far from being kind and loving, was hard and fixed.

“Then we must go to her,” Noble Blade declared, reaching over his shoulder to his broadsword handle. “Send thy word, Celestia, and we shall depart for the Noxxa lands to rescue the princess.”

“Now, that’s enough, Discord,” the real Freedom Fighter said. “Get us out of this miserable plane of existence.”

Discord readily gave a snap of relief, and their world disappeared.

The contours of Rarity’s boutique then came back to the girls only gradually. They all shook their heads woozily, disoriented by the scene change. Were they all really still in the boutique? Were they all really going nowhere, even when they had traveled all across the edges of the world? It took some getting used to. And the pony of a thousand scars was standing weakly on his arms of flesh and metal. He seemed older than before, and much less energetic than they remembered.

“So. There you have it. Now you know.” He took a few deep breaths. “That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

Nopony knew what to say for a long time.

It was finally Twilight that cleared her throat. “I’m sorry for asking this of you--”

“No, you’re not,” Freedom Fighter snapped. “You’re only sorry because you saw suffering. Were you apologetic for asking beforehoof? Or were you only sorry once I showed you genocide and torture?”

Twilight had no answer for that.

Rarity spoke up next. “But what about those scars on your arm?” She pointed to the scratches on his mechanical arm and the shallow cuts on his right arm.

“You really don’t want to know that.”

“You’re right. I don’t want to know. But I must know, regardless of what I may feel because of it.”

Rarity’s words hit Freedom Fighter hard. She was that determined to find out, even showing no regard for her own feelings for it? He drew his head down. “You know where those scars came from?” he asked in a low, hopeless voice.

“Of course I don’t! That’s why I asked you!”

“Those scars came from me!” Freedom Fighter declared harshly, stamping his metal hoof on the ground. “You understand? Those scars came from me!”

Twilight recoiled, gasping in horror. Everyone around her made similar reactions. Discord was closing his eyes and directing his head at the ground. Firestorm was looking dejected. But Noble Blade looked furious.

“I told you,” Noble Blade gritted between clenched teeth. “I told you that that was a terrible habit once you ran out of room on your left arm!”

“What are you talking about?” Rarity asked Noble Blade.

“Every time he kills an enemy in combat, he adds a scratch mark to his left arm,” Noble explained, trying to even his voice but failing. “That’s his little ritual that he does. That's what we were talking about. But after we rescued Twilight, he’s run out of room on his arm. So now, he’s started on his right.” He rose his voice even more. “And with a Black Blade, too!”

“A Black Blade?” Pinkie Pie asked in shock. She started to bawl a fountain out of her eyes. “THAT’S NOT FUN AT AHAHALLL!”

“Wh-wh-why?” Fluttershy asked in sorrow, holding a hoof to her mouth. “Why d-d-d--”

“Stop it,” Freedom Fighter snarled, shooting the thick claws out of his metal arm and pointing them at Noble Blade. “Shut up, Noble, and learn when to open your mouth!”

“I swore to protect you, Freedom! I swore to keep your identity a secret, and to prevent a catastrophe like this from happening! But now I don’t know if it was right to do that! I--” He took a breath of grief. “I said that my word would be my oath, but now it’s broken.”

“It was my choice to reveal myself to them in the first place, Noble. Not yours. You aren’t responsible for the choices other ponies make.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t know what the right choice is!”

“But you can’t force me to choose it!”

“Why would you pick the wrong choice when you already know what the right one is?”

“You mean the scars on my arm?”

“Yes!”

“You know why I insist on the pain?”

“I DEMAND TO KNOW, FREEDOM!” Noble Blade roared.

“BECAUSE I WANT IT TO HURT!” Freedom Fighter bellowed back at him in his mind. “I LOVE FEELING IT, AND I DON’T WANT IT TO GO AWAY!”

And just like that, silence fell.

Nopony knew how to respond to that.

“I... want... to feel... the pain,” Freedom Fighter thought furiously in his head. “I don’t want to have the feeling go away because I don’t want to be a stranger to it! I never want to forget how I felt when I was captive...to forget how angry I felt at my tormentors! And I never want to forget the adrenaline rush in my veins as panic sets in when I remember what they would do to me! And I never want to have the pain go away, because it keeps me in a state of isolation!”

“No…” Noble said, shaking his head in wonder. “No, you... you... have you done this before? Not just after battles, but whenever you have a bad day?”

“Whenever my other voice tells me I should,” Freedom Fighter said.

“Whenever you convince yourself that you need to refresh yourself with the feeling of pain?”

“Yes.” Freedom Fighter pointed his head down. “Yes, you got me.” He examined his metal arm again and flexed it. The plate armor rose up, just a little. Just like flesh. “There’s another reason, you know.”

“What more could it be?” Applejack asked, holding her hat to her chest.

“All of those previous reasons I said---they’re all true, of course, but…but I also feel like what I give to the world is what I should get.”

Starlight Glimmer came forth. “Explain,” she invited him warmly.

“I distribute death and pain to the rest of the world,” Freedom Fighter said. “I am a weapon. I feel that what I inflict on others should be applied to me as well.” He sat on his rump, sagging down and allowing all the numerous marks on his arm to be displayed. “The pain I give should be appreciated by me, to let me know their pain--if only a small fraction of it. It’s... what I deserve.”

“What you deserve?” Firestorm asked incredulously. “What have you done to deserve that kind of thing?”

“I’ve killed ponies, Firestorm. You’ve killed ponies. Noble Blade has killed other ponies. He’s not innocent, believe it or not. He’s killed as many enemies of the state as I have. But the fact that he doesn’t do anything about it is infuriating to me!”

“Don’t pretend like I don’t feel guilt!” Noble Blade protested.

“I never accused you of that,” Freedom Fighter pointed out. “I never accused you of not feeling guilt. But what’s infuriating to me is how you’re able to stand healthily on your hooves, and I don’t know how to deal with all of my guilt! How do you deal with it? Where’s your outlet? How are you so strong in the face of all these nightmares we've dealt with? How are you so... so…” Freedom Fighter broke down from talking and buried his face in his right arm.

Silence filled the room, save for the sounds of Freedom Fighter crying and holding his face in his hoof.

“I...I don’t want to hurt you. A-any of you!” Freedom Fighter finally spoke, indicating the room with a sweeping metal hoof. “You’re innocent! You’re untouched by horror. So I tried to redirect my anger and my pain and my frustration and my fear onto myself--rather than taking it out on you all.”

Pinkie Pie sniffled. “But... but you make us hurt, too! If you do that to yourself, it... it makes us hurt! Sooo much!”

“How?” Freedom Fighter asked. “How does it make you hurt?”

“You don’t understand.” Pinkie Pie wiped her eyes.

“Understand what?” he growled suddenly.

Pinkie Pie slunk forward slowly, looking up at him with her head low to the ground. Her mane was still grey and flat and long. “That we love you.”

Freedom Fighter looked down, unable to respond to the passionate statement.

“We care for you. We don’t want you to feel so much self-regret and hatred! We want you to have a super-duper awesome-erific time with your friends, not…” She sniffled again. “Not hurting yourself!”

“Better me than you.”

“NO!” she screamed, startling all present. “Not better you than me! You matter! You are important! You are strong, and awesome, and we don’t want to see you so down in the dumps all the time!” Her voice started to break. “You... you are a wonderful, amazing pony, you know that? I want to see you happy about that! I want you to be happy. I want everypony in Equestria to be happy.”

And she hugged him around the shoulders, but not in the tight, breathtaking way that she normally did. It was a soft hug, a comforting hug, a warm, loving hug.

“You are not worthless,” she whispered in his sliced ear. “You mean a lot to all of us. You mean a lot to me. I don’t want to see you hurt. I don’t want to see you dead, or-or-or bloodied, or crippled because you thought you weren’t good enough! You don’t need so much pain in your life when there are other people that love you!”

There was an unusually somber mood emanating off Pinkie Pie that affected everyone else in the dimly lit boutique.

“But I... I love it, Pinkie.”

Pinkie put her head up in distress.

“It means I’m still alive, and that I should cherish the time I have to live. There’s a certain kind of addiction to it, Pinkie. For every day that I don’t do it, I feel an urge to do it that grows stronger and stronger. You don’t understand. Cutting myself makes me feel happy. Guilty about the pain I give to others, yes, but I also don’t know how I would go on without it.”

Pinkie tightened her fierce grip around him. “Then we need to find you something else to satisfy you. Not stimulation.”

“Then tell me, Element of Laughter. How must I do such a thing?”

She rubbed his scalded mane. “You need joy.”

Freedom Fighter’s thoughts were silent.

“There’s a difference, you know. Between joy and happiness. And it’s that joy brings you lasting happiness. For me, friendship gave me joy. And I want you to feel joy, too. So I want to say--because I have a super-duper deep concern for you--that you matter to us. Whenever I see you, my day is made better.”

Freedom Fighter let out a choked sob.

“You are special to me,” Pinkie said, emphasizing each and every word. Her mane was still grey and flat. She drew her head back to look into his face. Her blue eyes pierced his red ones. “You matter to me. Please, believe that. Always remember that. Don’t you dare tell yourself that you don’t. You will never be an outcast so long as somepony loves you for who you are.”

The words jogged his memory. Earlier that day, he had spoken the exact same words to Derpy when he had seen her at Octavia and Vinyl’s house. He sighed ashamedly. He was thinking more of somepony else and not himself when he had said those words. How could he have been so blind? Before he could help it he was planting his face onto Pinkie’s shoulder and sobbing into her skin.

But there was one more surprise for him.

“You... are... not unforgiven,” Pinkie Pie added haltingly through her tears. She squeezed him tighter and said in a whisper, “For everything that you’ve ever done to yourself... I forgive you.”

And that did it. Freedom Fighter’s insides shattered with pent-up emotion, twisting his stomach to an unearthly concoction of love, guilt, regret, and despair. He felt like his insides had been bent into a knot.

Yet at the same time, it felt like his mind was clean of his twisted emotions, that his body was scrubbed clean and he was pure and pristine once more, like his body was smooth and unmarred by whip, knife, or burn. It was a feeling that he hadn’t experienced much often before, but once he felt himself forget about his missing arm and his scalded mane and his Unforgiven brand, he never, ever, ever wanted it to go away. It was pure, unfiltered joy bubbling up inside of him, and wonder and remorse and love.

“You... you have no idea how much I needed that, Pinkie,” his thoughts whispered, gently squeezing his metal arm around the back of her neck. “Please don’t change, Pinkie. Don’t you dare ever change.”

“Never,” Pinkie promised with a wavering smile. “I’ll always be Pinkamena Diane Pie.”

They lingered like that for as long as Freedom Fighter needed to--he didn’t remember how long he stayed like that. But once he was done receiving the therapeutic hug from Pinkie Pie, he drew away and wiped his eyes. “That actually helped. I feel better now. I feel so much better than I did before.”

“Should I set up a “Sorry Some Mean Old Beastie From Tartarus Whipped You To Shreds” party just for you?” Pinkie Pie asked with a hopeful smile. A portion of her mane started to appear more poofy than before.

“No thanks,” Freedom Fighter declined. “But taking off this suit relieved a great burden on my back.” He turned his head to the side and twisted his face into an incredulous expression. “Oh, you don’t say, Freedom!”

“Are you going to be all right?” Twilight asked him. “I know this was hard for you, but are you going to get by on your own?”

“Honestly? I don’t know.” Freedom Fighter gave a small thin-lipped smile and raised his metal hoof above his head. “But that’s what friends are for, aren’t they?”

Interlude

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The creature was exhausted. He had lost count of the days he had spent traveling. Sweat adorned his brow. His breaths came short and heavy. He was just so tired, and he hadn’t had much to eat. The sizzling smell of roasted meat, the sweet, creamy taste of peanut butter, the tart juiciness of strawberries... his imagination ran wild with the privilege of once more supping at Celestia's table.

Squirrels came about often, and he’d eat them if they crossed his path, but he ate them raw, and on the go. There were more important things than food.

How was it that she would not know by now? When she had found the Unforgiven, it was because it had come to her in a dream. And that dream came to her because of Faust herself.

Oh, Faust was in trouble! The king of Tartarus was making war on the surface! What was he going to do?

The creature stopped and leaned his hand on the nearest tree. In the distance, the tall towers of Canterlot on the side of the mountain seemed so far away, but he had been getting closer now. Tilting his eyes to regard the magnificent city, he estimated that he would reach the base of the mountain in only two days, if he hurried.

He briefly considered using his wings under his large hooded cloak to fly up, but he decided against it; they had been permanently injured by his hate-filled brother when he was a child. To use them now was sheer folly.

He flexed his fingers and muttered some words under his breath. His fingers became encircled about by black spiky magic, drawn from a darker period in his life when he regularly practiced it. He considered using magic to teleport himself. But no, he thought. If he did that, he could be tracked by some of the more magic-inclined beasts in the world. Doubtless by now Marshal Malice would be back in his kingdom, and he could feel the magic signature.

Marshal Malice. Such a creature would be out for blood. The abducting of the Unforgiven had doubtless driven him to prepare for war against Equestria. It had taken a long time, but wars took time to prepare, and Malice had finished faster than he had expected.

What would Celestia say? The two of them hadn’t met in a long time, even though they were both close friends. Would she chastise him for taking so long to visit? It wasn’t his fault; he had been busy.

Did Celestia even know about the Ten Elements? What had she done with them? Why? Those were questions the creature could not answer; he was not a firstborn of Faust like Celestia was.

“Sa krathasa ik,” he commanded, and the magic encircling his fingers cut off. He shook his hand like he was shaking water off, then he turned his attention back to Canterlot. The last time they had met, his brother had been rather unfriendly to Celestia, and it had resulted in disastrous circumstances. Suspicious glances, furious accusations, indecision on what snack to have at lunch, almost destroying Equestria, that sort of thing.

The creature strode forth on two legs and went, exhausted, but filled with resolve, towards the mountain. Towards Celestia.

Hiding in the bushes behind him, however, another creature was tracking him and wisely staying out of earshot. That creature shuffled on his six black legs and clicked his fangs in anticipation of his meal.

Chapter Thirty-one: Castle Conflicts

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It had been three days since Freedom Fighter had revealed himself. The story of how he came to be had made the girls all reflect on their own sheltered lives. Never before had they seen such suffering in a single individual.

However awful it was to learn about, it was now over, and the girls had to go on with their lives. The Gala was still coming up, after all. Twilight had to go up to Canterlot Castle early on in the week to help set up. With her gone, their affairs had quickly became individualized. The girls had all separated to go and do their own things to get ready, such as baking hoity-toity apple treats--Much to Applejack’s disdain--and experimenting with extravagant perfume--Much to Rarity’s delight.

However, just because the affairs were personal now, it didn’t mean that everything was hectic. For Fluttershy, everything had been taken care of relatively early, and she was left alone in her cottage to reflect on the events that had occurred.

Out of the three stallions that had entered into her life lately, two of them were on her mind. The first one was Freedom Fighter.

She should have realized. She should have acted on it! She should have done something sooner, rather than later, and maybe he wouldn’t have been so vulnerable when he finally did expose himself. If only she hadn’t been so shy…

If only she hadn’t been so shy... she might have spent more time around the other stallion occupying every waking moment of her life.

Fluttershy had seen Noble Blade when he was much younger, and had seen him transform from a fledging adolescent to a strong and fearless protector. He was constantly pressing himself to reach beyond the point where he already was because he never thought he would be good enough. But Fluttershy saw in him what he refused to see in himself: he was good enough for her.

There was indeed a limit to self-improvement. If it got to the point where you didn’t feel good about anything that you did because you thought that you could do better, then you would eventually start to really believe that no matter what you did, you would never be good enough. And out of all the colts and stallions she had ever met, Noble Blade was by far the best gentlecolt out of all of them.

There was simply no doubt about it in her mind. She was crushing on him hard, and daydreamed of him and her meeting on the bridge outside her home for a tender and romantic kiss, reflected in the water beneath. The daydream edited itself automatically as day by day she dreamed and thought of it and imagined the perfect buildup to a tender kiss. She wanted to imagine for herself the pressure of his lips on hers, and for how he would caress her when he did.

Every time she thought of that amazing scene, she had to suppress an exhale of giggling laughter and she started to fondle her mane nervously, right next to her face. It was a fantasy that she couldn’t remember having with any other stallion.

But how would he know that she loved him? What could she do? When and how could she finally, passionately declare that she loved him with all the fire in her soul?

Noble Blade had taken over running Twilight’s castle in Twilight’s absence. He had volunteered to help Spike with the chores, and Spike had halfheartedly tried to say that, as he was Twilight’s number-one assistant, he would be the one in charge of cleaning. But Noble had pointed out that, whereas Spike was expected to help, Noble just wanted it. So Spike, outwardly begrudgingly but inwardly relieved, agreed to let Noble Blade clean up in the kitchen after meals.

Noble was grateful for the work. It allowed him to take his mind off recent events. But as much as he wanted not to, it still invaded his mind.

Freedom Fighter had taken to staying inside of his room 24 hours a day. He didn’t even come out for meals. So instead, the three of them took turns entering his room and conversing briefly with him before he would eject them.

Noble Blade had volunteered to make most of the meals for Freedom Fighter himself. He was suspicious of what Freedom Fighter was doing locked in his room with all of his weapons, but each time he came in, he couldn’t see any new scars on his body, or fresh blood on the bedsheets. He was glad for that, but it still concerned him every time he was about to enter his room, such as right now. After exhaling in worry, he knocked. Hearing no response, he assumed he could proceed.

He entered Freedom Fighter’s room holding a tray of food with his magic. As he came in, he observed that Freedom Fighter was out of his black skin and lying on his bed, exposing all of his maimed and scarred body to Noble Blade. His left metal arm was limply drooping off the side of the bed, and his face was pressed into the bedsheets.

“Are you doing okay?” Noble Blade asked him as he came in. He set the tray of a sandwich and a collection of crackers on his nightstand and sat next to him.

Freedom Fighter didn’t answer. Instead, he moaned in the back of his throat, then coughed hard and rolled onto his back. His chest convulsed as he coughed some more, then it stopped after a while.

“I said, are you doing all right?” Noble asked him. “You haven’t been cutting yourself more?”

Freedom Fighter slowly shook his head no. The thin, ragged mane to the sides of his face moved with him. “I was having a perfectly normal discussion with myself before you came in." His lips were firmly pressed together.

“Is there any way I can help?”

“You’re doing fine just bringing food to me here.”

“I’m concerned. You’re alone in here.”

“That’s the way I like it.”

“I know that. But how do I know that you’re not doing anything terrible to yourself when I’m not watching?”

“Why, Noble, I’m hurt. I thought you trusted me to keep my word.”

“Please! Please try to understand that I want the best from you.”

“You’ve dropped off food for me. Go away.”

“But--”

“Go away, Noble. Now.”

“You heard him,” Freedom Fighter said in his normal voice. “He’s kinda miffed right now. Leave me alone to starve to death, and then you can just pick up my inert body the next time you come in and deposit it in the trash. That’ll be the end of it.”

Noble Blade gazed on his maligned and mangled body sadly for a little while longer. Then he stood up from off the bed and came to the door. Before he left, he called over his shoulder, “I always know where you are, right?”

“You know where to find me.”

“If I catch yourself bleeding out of someplace that wasn’t there before--”

“I know.”

“I love you.”

“Get out.”

Noble Blade looked over him for just a little more with immense pity before he closed the door and walked back to the kitchen. Once he arrived there, he donned an apron and started to wash the dishes in the sink.

How could he have been so selfish as to keep Freedom Fighter a secret? He was better than that. He only wanted the best out of all of them, both Freedom Fighter and the mares he had connected with. He had thought that meant isolating his friend from prying eyes, trying to use vague language so that the girls wouldn’t become suspicious.

But looking back, he realized that the more cryptic he was, the more he had fed the fires of curiosity in them to the point where they would erupt into a bonfire. By allaying curiosity, he had instead made it stronger!

Why was it that whenever he tried to do something, it always ended up being not as he intended it to? First it was rescuing Twilight from the Noxxa. Their plans had gone askew many times in the process. Then it was making introductions with the Mane Six. He had come across as patronizing and upper-classmen-like. Then it was insulting Rarity at the flying competition. Then it was coming across as awkward when he had talked to Fluttershy. Then it was when he had talked with Firestorm about his own awkward problems with Rainbow Dash. Had he actually been helpful for his friend, or had he just come across as overbearing and authoritative? He hadn’t tried to be so one-dimensional, but it had happened anyway. Why? And finally, with his reluctance to share his friend’s secrets.

It was like he knew what the right thing to do was, but after he did the thing, he was always assaulted by this feeling of, ‘You didn’t try hard enough. You didn’t do good enough.’ There was nothing wrong with trying harder. You always needed to try harder. Right?

Like how he needed to try harder with being around Fluttershy.

The two conflicting thoughts ran around his head in circles. Which should he focus more on, helping his friend, or loving Fluttershy? He didn’t know which one took prevalence, and it anguished him to think back on it and wonder what would happen if he detracted from either one.

On the one hoof, if he focused more on expanding his relationship with Fluttershy, Freedom Fighter might feel even more isolated and distraught than he was even at the present, and it would make him look insensitive to his feelings.

But on the other hoof, neglecting Fluttershy was a sin in his mind. If he didn’t keep up the momentum, their interconnectedness might be irreparably damaged.

No matter which choice he made, he would fail. No matter what he did, something would go wrong because of him. Why was he like that? Why was it that he tried his hardest to love others in equal capacity, but everything still crumbled because of him? It was like the harder he tried, the more likely he was to fail. No matter what he did, he would never be good enough. On his date, Fluttershy had said that he was good enough, but he refused to believe it. No matter how well you did at something, there was always room for improvement.

While he washed the dishes with that thought in his mind, he heard the doorbell ring at the front of the castle.

“I’ll get it!” Spike’s voice said from the other room, and he could hear the pitter-patter of Spike’s footsteps as he ran to the door. He heard the creaking of the doors as they slowly opened, and he heard Spike say, “Um, hi, Fluttershy. How are you?”

Fluttershy! He dropped the dish he was holding in the sink in shock, and almost jumped out of the kitchen. Sure enough, once he came to the front door of the castle, he saw the angel herself standing there behind the small stature of Spike’s head.

“I was just wondering, if, um, Noble Blade was--” Fluttershy started to say, but she cut off when she saw him. She instantly smiled and pushed her mane in front of her face. “Oh, um, h-hi there, Noble.”

“Wh-what are you doing here?” Noble Blade asked, coming nearer. He stopped when he was about three feet in front of her, staying out of an angel’s aura.

“Do you, um, have anything going on that you need to do?” she asked him demurely.

“Not in particular, no,” Noble said.

“Well, I, um, wanted to know if you’d... oh, gosh…”

“What is it?” Noble asked, offering a smile to reassure her.

“If you’d like to come to my house... to dance?” She withdrew her head inside her mane even more so the only thing he could see was a single aquamarine eye. “Y-you don’t have to, of course-”

“No, no, no!” he quickly said. “I’d love that.”

Her demeanor changed from nervous to joyous in an instant. “Oh! Well, is it okay to come at five?”

“Five o’ clock. Yes! Yes, that sounds good!” Noble agreed quickly. “I’ll be there.”

She blew a breath of relief. “Oh, good. Angel Bunny told me I had to get a yes out of you. I guess I’ll just, um, go now.”

And she backed awkwardly out of the castle and shut the door. After the door closed, Noble could have sworn he heard a triumphant giggle from outside, as well as a small, celebratory whisper of “Woo hoo. I did it!”

Noble’s heart melted. It was too adorable for him to stand.

A tap on the shoulder made him turn around. Spike was still there, and had seen the whole exchange. He was looking miffed for some reason, and his arms were folded.

“Spike?” Noble asked, concerned. “Is something wrong?”

“Oh, no,” was Spike’s sarcastic reply. “Everything’s just so happy for you. Good luck.”

The unexpected venom in his voice made Noble nervous. “Is there something you’re not telling me, Spike? It seems like everypony’s letting out secrets now. Me with Fluttershy, Firestorm with Rainbow Dash, Freedom Fighter with himself--you might as well join the crowd.”

Spike kicked the ground. “Look, I know that you’re not trying for this kind of attention from literally half of the girls, but…”

“But?” Noble gently prodded.

“But I can’t help but hate you for it!” Spike furiously hurled the words at him. “You’ve had it easy, haven’t you? All of the girls throwing themselves at your hooves. Twilight. Fluttershy. Rarity. You’re just the next hot topic for them. The biggest problem for you is holding them off of you, while I try my hardest to get Rarity’s attention and she doesn’t care for me at all!” He threw his hands up and begun to pace. “I mean, I’m kinda glad that you’re not going off and falling in love with her as well, but that just makes you look like an even bigger jerk because you get that kind of stuff all the time, and you just... shrug her off like she’s just another pony!”

“They didn’t throw themselves at me!” Noble protested. “And I’m not--”

“You want to know what I’ve had to deal with, Noble? When I help out Rarity, I can hear her mumble your name under her breath. “Oh, Noble. Noble Blade, such a gentlecolt.” And how do you think that makes me feel, huh?”

“Look, I didn’t try--” Noble tried to say, but Spike wasn’t done yet.

“Oh, look at me. I’m Noble Blade, everypony. I’m soooo humble and I’m so strong! I’m so gold-dang perfect that I fall in love with Fluttershy the instant I look at her. But I’m still humble, though! I’m still humble! I’m the guy that knows what to do with all the mares! Be better, everypony! Always be better than who you are now!”

“Since when have I ever acted like that?” Noble demanded of him. He lapsed into archaic language. “I have never said I’m humbler than thou.”

“And that’s another thing!” Spike said to his face. “Speaking fancy like that doesn’t make you look good. It makes you look pretentious and snobby.” Spikes voice went into a mockingly deep Canterlot accent. “It pleaseth me to make thy acquaintance, my most esteemed lady, for thou art truly regarded highly amongst all the stars in heaven. Now, please, let me know what thou thinkest o’ me and my way of speech, for I truly am weak and lowly. Can thou not tell so by the way I speak?”

“That’s just an involuntary thing! Rude and snotty--that’s what I’m trying not to be!” Noble Blade exclaimed indignantly. He was losing control quickly. “Where is this attitude coming from, Spike? Just a few days ago you were saying you liked having me around.”

“Seeing the way you’ve been acting makes me sick,” Spike said in disgust. “Why are you strong in the first place if you lock up and stutter around your crush?”

“Is that not what you do as well?” Noble angrily asked of him.

“Rarity, for the record, is distracted by you,” Spike said, and there was a sliver of injury in his eyes as he said it disguised in anger.

“So what would you have me do?” Noble demanded, a little hotly. “I’ve done nothing to Rarity!”

“I want you to stop acting the way you do around them,” Spike said. “So sickeningly right all the time.”

“How can I choose wrongly if I know the right option?” Noble asked of him.

“I dunno! Just... give up, all right? You’re better than this. You’d be a better pony if you just didn’t go for any of the girls at all.”

Noble’s heart broke. The thought of losing Twilight and Rarity as friends... the thought of losing Fluttershy... it made him tremble in place. “You can’t say that,” he whispered.

“Yes, I can!” Spike growled. “It’s your fault there were divisions between them in the first place! Rarity and Fluttershy screaming at each other in the spa! That was all your fault!”

“I never wanted them to fall for me!” Noble Blade pointed out.

“You don’t sound all that sad about it.”

“I hate it when mares try to go for me. I wish they wouldn’t, but it did, and I’ve just been trying to keep things intact! I’d switch places with you in a heartbeat!”

Spike looked jolted at the statement, but he set his face hard again. “Me, too!” he said vehemently. “Tell me, Noble. Why is it so bad for you to have attention from all the girls?”

At that moment, Noble honestly didn’t have much to say. Why was it like that? What kind of suitable answer could he give?

But as he thought that, he felt something in his mind--something that wasn’t him--give slow words to his mouth. It felt foreign and outside the body, but it also felt incredibly natural.

“Because think of it from their perspectives, Spike,” the force making him talk said out loud.

Spike gave a skeptical raise of an eyebrow.

“Imagine,” Noble said, and it wasn’t his own words now, but instead the strange but benevolent force that had taken over his mind, “that you’re a young mare, eager and eligible for a partner. And think that this stallion comes into your life, young and fair.”

“Okay,” Spike said, tapping on his fingers. “So the stallion is you. And you’re offering this long-winded explanation for it. I want to see where this is going.”

Noble continued, slightly hurt by his words. “You begin to pine over him, think out your sentences before you say them. Every time you see him, your heart skips and goes a little faster than usual. Walking while you’re near him becomes a manual response instead of an automatic one. One day, you go and you tell him you’ve had a crush on him for so long. You’re hoping that he’ll love you back. And he opens his mouth to speak to you, and your heart freezes. And he admits that... he’s not interested.

“Your throat tightens, your eyes burn, your stomach clenches as you realize this pony you’ve loved will never be yours and all of your imaginings were vain and foolish. And, the stallion sees this in the mare’s eyes and he doesn’t know what else to say to her except for a pitiful and useless apology. He’s simply telling the mare that she’s not the one for him, but he doesn’t know how to say it so it doesn’t hurt. He feels like the guiltiest thing in the world, because it’s all him that’s hurting them. It was him that drew the mare’s attention, and it was his behavior that reeled her in--and it’s his words that fracture her heart. He didn’t want to, and he didn’t try to, but he did it anyway, and he now has an upset and angry mare to prove that all he is is just another scumbag.”

Spike still looked at him sulkily, but his stare wasn’t as hard as before.

“Now, imagine that this happens to both Twilight and Rarity--and to half a dozen other mares he’s encountered when he’s been sent to the fringes of the world. He sees the light in their eyes die, and he feels bad for making them feel bad. It’s not their fault at all for falling in love with him, it’s his. It’s all his. He’s just so...scared of messing up yet again that in almost anything he does, he feels sorry for himself. He hates himself for even the smallest thing he does, Spike. He hates himself so much!”

It surprised Noble to hear himself speak so vulnerably. In normal circumstances, he wouldn’t speak so passionately. But this new influence that made his mouth open and close and cause the vibrations in his throat necessary to form words had by then overtaken him.

“I don’t want to hurt anypony, Spike. But I don’t know how to please everypony. I don’t know how else I can prove myself. And I don’t want to be destined to a life of mediocrity. I want to prove myself a good pony to everyone. But how?”

Spike’s face had visibly softened by then. “Oh. Oh, um, s-sorry."

“Don’t be!” Noble cried. The strange feeling that had possessed him had started to dissipate. “Please, I beg of you! Don’t be! This is exactly what I needed to let you know! Thank you, Spike! Thank you so much!” He violently shook Spike’s hand, making him shake up and down. After the forceful handshake, however, he set him up straighter. “You’re okay, right?”

“Yeah,” Spike mumbled. He tapped his fingers together. “Listen, I’m sorry about what I said earlier. That was uncalled for. I was just trying to, well... defend Rarity.”

“No, that’s fine,” Noble agreed quickly. Noble’s newest friend had left by now, and Noble’s mind was the same as it was before the influence had come in and forced his mouth to talk. It confused him. What had happened? Weak in the knees all of a sudden, Noble Blade sat down on his rump.

“So.” Spike smiled sheepishly. He sat next to him. “What now?”

“For me, or for you?”

“Both of us. I-I mean, you’re not going after Rarity, right?”

“No.”

“How can I just tell her that I... love her?”

“Talk with her. Tell her yourself.”

“Dude. You haven’t done that with Fluttershy yet.”

Noble’s face turned pink. “I, ah, plan on doing that soon.”

“How you gonna do it? Get on your knees and deliver this long, flowery speech to her?”

“Um... well, I know not about the knees. It seemeth to be a silly thing.”

“But for real, though. It sounds snotty.”

“WHAT!” Noble Blade recoiled his head so far back he almost fell over. “Thou dost dare insult my completely intellectual method of communication? Depart from thence, heathen!” Noble shouted jokingly, pointing to the side. “Thou art unworthy of standing in mine most esteemed presence. Wherefore, I do declare, thou minuscule reptile, thy criticism is unwarranted and unwelcome. Begone, for thou hast pointed out flaws in me. Away with thee! And again I say: away with thee!”

Spike began to snort with laughter. “Naw, for real, you sound... you sound like an old wizard in Ogres and Oubliettes!”

Noble let loose a bout of hearty laughter. “I overdid it there.”

“I suppose so.”

It wasn’t Spike who had spoken.

When Noble Blade heard this, he froze and looked to the sides of his face suspiciously. “I advise caution. It appeareth as though we are not alone.”

“That actually sounded a lot like--”

“I know who it sounded like. And Firestorm’s not all that good at hiding.”

“How’d you know it was me?” Firestorm’s voice asked, then Noble heard him wince and say, “Shoot!”

Noble Blade looked up. There he was, hanging from the ceiling by his legs like an overgrown orange bat. He held a video recorder in one hoof as he drooped over a buttress.

“How long have you been there?” Noble asked him shrewdly, tilting his head.

“Over an hour.”

“What have you been doing?” Spike asked him.

“Hanging around.” He snickered.

“You saw all of our discussion?” Noble demanded of him.

“And recorded it for posterity,” he admitted, waving the video recorder.

“DEPART!” Noble screamed somewhat melodramatically, pointing to the side. “AND AGAIN I SAY: DEPART!”

“Yeah, aren’t you supposed to go and try clothing for the Grand Galloping Gala?” Spike shrewdly asked.

“To impress a certain rainbow-maned pegasus?” Noble asked, continuing off of Spike’s point. “Or art thou so focused in thy attempts to embarrass us that thou carest not about making a strong impression?”

There was a silence created as Firestorm processed the more productive things he could be doing at that moment.

“I’m just going to go now,” Firestorm whispered loud enough for the two of them to be heard. He retreated back into the buttresses in the castle ceiling. “I’m not even going to offer an excuse why.”

Canterlot Castle was full of ponies setting up the Gala in the spacious Grand Hall where it always was. The decorations were almost entirely set up, the caterers had brought the food to the Grand Hall, and the musicians for the event had practiced and practiced hard beforehoof.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were atop a tall balcony directing the servants to set up the last of the tables. Twilight, helping down on the ground, could see that Octavia Melody was up on the stage with the rest of her musicians as usual, but there was the DJ pony she had as a roommate next to her as well. Twilight was a little confused by her presence. DJ Pon-3, or whoever she was--wasn’t she disgusted by incredibly fancy events like the Grand Galloping Gala?

And weren’t her glasses pink instead of green? Where had the new glasses come from?

Twilight only let her thoughts dwell on her for a moment, however, as she directed workers to help set up tables and spread tablecloths over them. What was really occupying her mind was Freedom Fighter. But not just what he had answered by taking off his second skin. What really was making her mind churn was the questions that arose from it.

Twilight had noticed that when he had earned his Cutie Mark, there was a tremendous noise and a rainbow that had appeared out of nowhere. It could have simply been a herald announcing the anointing of himself as the savior of his tribe. Or, it could have been…

No.

No, it couldn’t be.

Twilight almost gasped aloud, but her eyes dilated inward until they were only small dots in the whites of her eyes.

What if it had come from the Sonic Rainboom?

All the way back when Twilight and her friends were fillies, they had all earned their Cutie Marks at the same time by a small Rainbow Dash when she had performed a Sonic Rainboom. Twilight thought that they were the only ones to have earned their marks when that happened. But what if... the Sonic Rainboom’s radius had expanded to the corners of the known world and reached him right as he was in the middle of that battle?

Freedom Fighter would then be part of the Cutie Mark bond that the girls shared!

But what if it wasn’t just him?

What if every Guardian of the Sun had gained their Cutie Mark just as the Sonic Rainboom had appeared above them?

It was an incredible thought, but one that made sense. The three of them seemed to simultaneously be a part of each other. Much like Twilight and her friends.

How did Celestia know?

How did Princess Celestia know that Freedom Fighter was on the opposite side of the world, and send the father of Noble Blade to rescue him?

She was suddenly bumped in the side by a table being carried by several white-bodied servants. “Oh!” one of them said. “Excuse me!”

“No, no, no!” Twilight said quickly. “You’re not--” She noticed Celestia standing above her on the balcony, and she had an idea. “You’re not unforgiven,” she said, loud enough for her to hear.

Twilight then turned her head up and saw Celestia twitch her ear and wince, and Luna widened her eyes and stumble mid-step. They knew. They knew something about the Unforgiven.

Five hours later, Twilight had entered the same room as Princess Celestia, who was setting up a long line of lace on the banisters near the entrance door. She was unrecognized at first, but as she came closer, she gave a little cough to announce her presence.

Celestia turned around, and the magic she was supplying to keep the line of white lace in the air cut off, dropping it. “Why, Twilight! What's the matter?”

“Well, everything’s just fine,” Twilight said evenly, rubbing her hoof along the banister. “I’ve got some questions for you, though.”

“What is it you would like to know?” Celestia asked with a smile.

“It’s about... Freedom Fighter,” Twilight admitted.

Celestia’s face was as calm as ever, although her mouth twitched at the corners uncomfortably.

“We were just learning about who he was, actually,” Twilight said nonchalantly--or tried to, but was really bad at being nonchalant. “You know, seeing for ourselves what happened to him. It was...”

“Haunting,” Celestia finished for her.

Twilight started, slipping backward for only a moment.

“Freedom Fighter was a unique case in all the years I’ve been a princess,” Princess Celestia admitted. “I had not considered the presence of other lands that I needed to direct my attention to. My greatest concern was for Equestria. But after Freedom Fighter was rescued from imminent danger, my concerns were expanded significantly beyond Equestria’s borders.”

“How did you find out he was in danger in the first place?” Twilight asked.

“It came to me in a dream,” Celestia replied. Her hooves shuffled uncomfortably, however.

“But Princess Luna was still in the form of Nightmare Moon,” Twilight pointed out. “How did your dreams show you anything special if she wasn’t there to direct them?”

Princess Celestia looked uncomfortable. “Not every dream has to come from Princess Luna.”

“But if it didn’t, how did you know how to take the dream seriously?”

“I don’t know!” Princess Celestia snapped suddenly. “I don’t know why it matters so much to you!”

“Because I think Freedom Fighter--and the rest of the Guardians of the Sun--are connected to us!” Twilight cried.

Celestia blinked, then set her face. “Explain.”

“A little while back, Firestorm, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash went on a friendship mission to the Castle of the Two Sisters,” Twilight began. “And they discovered a carving hidden beneath the thrones. That carving had the Tree of Harmony on it. And on all ten of the branches of the tree, there was an Element.”

Celestia’s face broke into a wavering expression of worry.

“Going off on the claim that we’re all connected, Noble Blade’s Cutie Mark is a sword with Fluttershy’s Cutie Mark butterfly wings on the sides. And Freedom Fighter’s Cutie Mark was received as a circular rainbow appeared in the sky.”

Celestia looked at the ground to avoid Twilight’s gaze. She started to fiddle with the decorations on the bannisters.

“And Noble Blade’s father says that your vision came from someone called Faust,” Twilight finished. “Which could also be the one responsible for connecting the three of them to us, as well. Are you sure that there’s not something you’re telling us?”

“I was instructed not to tell you.”

“Why can’t you let us know? We appear to be central to all of this!”

“Your time has not come yet,” Celestia said.

“My time?” Twilight asked incredulously. “Was it not my time when we saved Equestria half a dozen times? If not now, then when?”

“I shouldn’t have said that,” Celestia whispered, putting her head down.

“Celestia, please,” Twilight begged. “This concerns me as much as it concerns you and your own place. We have to know!”

Celestia’s face creased in anguished thought. Twilight could almost see the cogs turning behind Celestia’s head and flowing ethereal mane. Her mouth pursed together, her head turned to the side, her hooves shuffled around.

Finally, Celestia looked up. “After the Gala, I will explain everything.”

“You promise?” Twilight asked.

“I promise,” Celestia promised her. “For the moment, however, there are more pressing matters.”

“What could possibly be more pressing than this?” Twilight asked.

“Well…” Celestia started, then held up a long string of lace. “Should this go on the doorknobs as well as the banisters?”

Twilight only gave her a look of disapproval. Celestia gulped and tried to keep a smile on her face.

Sister!

Celestia? What art thou doing in mine head? Depart!

This is serious news, sister. Twilight is becoming curious of the Ten Elements. We’re separated now, however. She went off to help clean up a spill on the second level.

Didst thou make mention of the Ten Elements? Did I hear thee correctly?

Yes, Sister. Mother told us to not to reveal it until the Prophet came and told us when Father would rise. But now, I fear it may not come at the time we wish.

There hath been bountiful opportunity to relay the information to them before, Sister. Why didst thou not-

Didn’t you hear me? I just said-

But Twilight and her friends hath proved their worth before, have they not? Why hath we concealed it for so long?

The dangers presented would be too much for them, Sister! If they knew about their destiny, pronounced from before the universe began-

Thou needest not remind me.

I promised to reveal the truth after the Gala.

After the Gala? How wise of thee, I suppose. And not after any of the other Galas they hath been in before?

That was before the Noxxa were on the move! When Twilight was abducted by them only a few weeks ago, that was the first time they had been seen up and about in years! The Noxxa were safely contained before, but now, with them going close enough to Saddle Arabia’s borders to hijack Twilight’s train... it means the time is drawing closer. We don’t need the Prophet to motivate us.

But the Prophet hath great power, Celestia! If thou darest cross him-

A few minutes ago, you were saying that we should have let Twilight know sooner!

Indeed, but we didn’t cross the Prophet when we knew him personally. Why must things happen now, of all times? I was finally looking forward to some relaxation and comfort.

Maybe the Prophet is on his way now.

Yes, maybe. We hath not even seen him since he departed into the lands where he came from with his brother, but he may be on his way back now, of all times.

Don’t be sarcastic, Sister. Now that we both know the levity of the situation, we can make a plan.

Plan?

It’s not as though we reveal this information to them and then do nothing more. We must prepare the way for them to be found.

The Ten Elements?

Precisely.

But then shall the earth quake and tremble, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The land itself shall be rolled together as a scroll, and Armageddon's advent shall occur.

Yes. We must be prepared for that eventuality.

Father shall come.

Yes. But we shall stop him.

With all ten Elements?

If it must be so.

Even with the tremendous power Father wieldeth?

The Elements are the only thing that can stop him now. Mother said so.

And where is Mother now? Where hath she been all these years?

She is watching us. Watching, but never interfering with our own affairs. Learn to have faith, Sister.

I require not faith. I have faith already. What I require now is knowledge.

If you have knowledge, your faith is meaningless, because then you know it, and you don’t possess faith in it anymore. Faith doesn’t mean we have to have a perfect knowledge of everything. Faith is hope in things that are not seen but are true anyways.

...I have to go. I have to decide where a refreshment stand should be.

Farewell, Sister.

And you.

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Promise

View Online

Sunset was coming quietly over Ponyville. The skies were the most active out of anything else in Equestria, raging their orange flame in blankets of vivid light as the sun dipped slowly down below the hills near the Everfree Forest.

Near the Everfree was a cottage that looked like it was lifted out of a fairy tale, and at the front door of the cottage was a stallion, shivering with anticipation.

Noble Blade, devoid of any weapons, shields, or armor, was paused outside Fluttershy’s door with his hoof raised. He summoned the strength to knock. Three loud raps on the door. The door opened with a creak, and the most beautiful face in the world poked itself out. Fluttershy instantly smiled at the sight of him. “H-hi, Noble."

“Shall we go inside? I’m looking forward to this.”

“Oh, no!” Fluttershy said quickly. “The inside is too crowded to really dance effectively. I was thinking, um, maybe we’d have a bit more space in the backyard?”

Noble smiled. She had thought of everything after all. “Great idea. Let’s go, then.”

Fluttershy came out, shut the door, and led Noble Blade around her house to the backyard. After a few minutes of walking, they both noticed subconsciously that they were both sneaking glances at each other. Rather than feel embarrassed about that, however, it was as if they felt a twinge of happiness, a starburst of life in their hearts that made them feel warmer than they were before.

Noble Blade noticed once more the way Fluttershy’s curls at the end of her long, rich mane fell so low they almost graced the ground. He observed how her teal green eyes stood out from her pink mane and her yellow body like gemstones, and he noticed that those same eyes were flickering back to look at him from time to time. He noticed that her hips were gently sashaying back and forth as they walked; a subtle motion that Noble noticed but decided not to point out.

Fluttershy admired the way Noble’s rich, thick mane stuck up at random spots, and she wanted so badly to reach out and smooth it all over, just to have an excuse to touch him and feel his skin. She noticed his body was muscular, but in a way that you needed to get close in order to notice. He was quiet, but she noticed he had a nervous, small smile on his face as his eyes flickered to spots on her body, his magical dark blue eyes shining in the setting sun.

High in the sky, above Fluttershy’s house, two pegasi peeked over the edge of a thin cloud to observe the path the two ponies made as they went behind her home.

“Oh.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “This is what you meant earlier today when you said you’d take me to something entertaining?”

“Ho yeah,” Firestorm answered her. “I told you you were going to like this.” He grinned as he looked over next to his crush, fighting down the lump in his throat. “But whadda ya say? You want to, ah, help the romantic mood along?”

“Let’s do it!” Rainbow agreed.

The two ponies came at last to an empty meadow behind Fluttershy’s home. The fiery orange sun was gently gracing the top of the trees lining the Everfree, torching the western sky a bright orange color. Shadows stretched far, and a navy blue color was rising in the east the further the sun set. A few birds flitted around them as they stood, and the chorus of the night bugs rose among them as they came to the field's center.

“Okay, so, um…” Fluttershy rubbed her front leg up and down. “I suppose we should start with the, um, position. The idea is for us to stand on our hind legs and support each other.”

Noble accordingly rose on his hind legs as Fluttershy did so herself, and they put their hooves on each other’s shoulders. They were now the same height; both of them were now at eye level.

“Now, um...we put our hooves out to the side.” Fluttershy stuck out her right hoof just as Noble stuck out his right as well. The result was that the both of them had their hooves sticking out at opposite ends.

“Oh!” Noble realized, then used his left hoof to hold Fluttershy’s right. “Oh, I get it. My left, your right. Sorry.”

“No, it-it’s fine,” Fluttershy giggled.

“So what do I do with this one?” Noble asked, wiggling his right hoof.

“You…” Fluttershy started, then swallowed. “You...p-put it on my w-waist…”

Noble slowly slid his hoof down her body, making her shiver in pleasure, and it came to rest just above her Cutie Mark.

“Okay... now what we do is we just move in one direction a step.” Fluttershy took a step to the right, and Noble followed, a little late.

“Now the other direction,” Fluttershy continued, and she took a step to the left. Noble followed again, but not as late as before.

“Is this really that easy?” Noble asked quizzically.

“Um... yeah. I guess so,” Fluttershy said as she stared into his eyes.

“Huh.” He took another step, allowing Fluttershy to lead again. “I would have thought it would be more complicated than this.”

“It’s really not that hard,” Fluttershy commented. “You just needed to take the time to learn it.”

A trilling noise caught their attention, and Noble saw that the birds in the meadow were rising up and letting loose a high, musical note. Then, of one accord, they burst out into song, but it was a melody Noble recognized. It was a high, rising, beautiful sound that floated near his ears and made his mind jog with beautiful memories. It was an exultant yet melodious song.

“Fluttershy?” Noble asked, nodding his head at the vocalizing birds. “Was that your job?”

Fluttershy nodded, smiling deeply. “D-do you like it?”

“It’s beautiful,” he breathed, keeping his voice quiet so that the song of the birds could be heard better.

They moved their bodies slowly to the hypnotizingly beautiful music the birds were singing. The sky’s color seemed to mix like a swirl of color out of the corner of Noble’s eye, like the clouds themselves seemed to dance along with them. The result was that the atmosphere was even more surreal, even more trance-like, even more dreamy and... romantic.

High in the sky, Rainbow Dash and Firestorm were flying at high speed through the sky, gathering clouds and spreading them like dough and throwing them around into thin strips and putting them in strategic spots in the sky so that the color of the sun would disperse better through the sky. That high up, the orange light was almost blinding to their eyes, but they averted their gaze, avoiding looking up.

“You think this is gonna make a difference?” Rainbow asked as she bucked a final cloud into its place.

“Trust me, Rainbow. This is gonna be amazing.”

“Does Noble know you’re here?”

“Um…” Firestorm gave a sheepish grin. “No. But,” he said, flapping up next to her, who was resting on her belly. “Does Fluttershy know you’re here?”

Rainbow Dash giggled and tousled his mane. “Hush, Stormy!”

Rainbow Dash silently cheered for herself when she did that, and she cheered again when she saw him squirm, but cheerfully. She noticed that he was smiling, and she loved it.

“...So...” Rainbow Dash continued, in what she hoped was a casual tone. “What do we do now?”

“We watch and we learn,” Firestorm said, floofing up his fiery mane again with a hoof.

“Learn what?” Rainbow curiously asked.

“We...um…” Firestorm looked uncertain. Then he rested his chin in his hooves. “We watch how they, um...interact?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Sure,” she chirped, then she lay next to him, making sure to have their shoulders touching side by side. Firestorm saw this with a distracted glance, then smiled even wider and wrapped a hoof around her. The two of them, feeling warmer than they remembered, then set their eyes downward to observe their best and closest friends wrap themselves deep in romance.

For an indeterminable amount of time that neither of them measured, Noble Blade and Fluttershy just danced to the melody of the songbirds. The sun was still setting in the west, but apparently, Celestia was taking her time tonight. The sun was agonizingly slow to set as the two lovers danced together in the field’s grass, bathed in the faint light of the twilight.

Fluttershy almost felt like this was a surreal experience. He was touching her, he was dancing with her, he was making her heart beat at a frenzied clip. He was strong as he held her, but he held her gently enough that it didn’t hurt. At first, he was hesitant in leading the dance, but as time went on and he developed a rhythm, Noble was able to have a bit more confidence in leading her. Fluttershy obediently followed him wherever he went, allowing herself to fall fully into his trust. She never let her gaze deter from his eyes. Never before had his soft eyes seemed so enticing and loving.

Noble Blade felt as though he was in a trance, a dream-like state. At first, he took slow steps to avoid swinging her around too fast, causing a mistake and disappointing her. But as time went on and the movement became more familiar to him, he noticed that he was moving smoother, stepping more easily from side to side, sweeping Fluttershy along effortlessly. Her body was just so light and toned...her mane swayed every time they moved, the pink waterfall always swishing, always changing, draping over her shoulders in long jagged lines, falling in front of her face in a single strand. Noble wanted so badly to brush that strand aside, to gently caress her face as he did so.

He felt the shape of her waist under his hoof, observed the curve it had. Her eyes had never left his own, and they were full of joy. Those teal green eyes had never before seemed so beautiful and magical.

Finally, when the song was fading and the songbirds were ending, Fluttershy and Noble Blade stopped. They were too tired to continue dancing on. And the beautiful color in each other’s eyes was too distracting. They just stood there on their hind legs, admiring the love each other showed in their complexion. Behind Noble Blade, the setting sun contrasted against his pale blue. And behind Fluttershy, the oncoming twilight contrasted against her golden yellow body.

Fluttershy waited with bated breath, quivering under Noble’s grip. She felt his hoof slide up her body, curl up and around her shoulder, up the side of her cheek, and brush the strand of hair out of her face, coming to rest with his hoof behind her head. She in turn wrapped her hoof around the back of his own head, bringing them in closer.

They were so close now. Their bodies were pressed together. Their faces were so close they could feel the breath on each other’s mouths.

“Fluttershy,” he breathed. “Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?”

Fluttershy turned warm in anticipation. “B-but I d-didn’t even do my mane today.”

“I did not say you look beautiful. Fluttershy... you are beautiful. There is nothing about you that is rotten or soiled. You are a divine gift to the weary world. And I…” He found the next words hard to say all of a sudden.

“You what?” Fluttershy innocently asked, bringing her right hoof, holding Noble’s left, in between them. This allowed both of them to feel each other’s bodies with their hooves instead, and this did not help Noble’s nerves.

Noble’s mind was tripping all over himself. This was possibly the most important moment he had ever experienced before, and words seemed to elude his best efforts to track down. It had been only through tremendous effort that he had managed to say anything at all. But looking into the perfect pair of eyes in front of him, words blurted out.

“I crave you, Fluttershy. I…” He gulped. “I love you.”

And that was it.

Nothing could be turned back now.

She gave a small squeak of joy and buried her face into his shoulder. “Oh, Noble,” she gasped haltingly, wetting his shoulder. “You... you have no... idea how long I wanted to hear you say that!”

And that did it. For Noble Blade, it was as though his soul had been cleansed and made strong and pure. Overwhelming joy consumed him, set his heart on fire, and that fire ran in the blood in his veins, made every cell in his body come alive with elation.

Fluttershy loved him.

Noble looked at Fluttershy’s lips, open slightly. Can I do it?

Fluttershy looked at Noble’s lips. Will he do it?

Their heads leaned in closer. And closer.

Both of them had felt more daring than they had ever felt before.

And finally, finally, their lips met.

It was a magical rush of passion that made each other’s world stop. The kiss wasn’t fast, or violent; it was a steady, soft kiss that almost made both of them black out.

Noble Blade felt everything around himself disappear--the chirping of the cicadas in his ears, the soft wind blowing their manes around them, the warmth of the sunset at his back. None of those senses mattered anymore. All that mattered was touch, and taste, and smell.

Fluttershy’s entire being was lit with euphoria. She probably would have melted onto his body if he hadn’t been holding her so passionately. Her daydream was coming true, except that the daydream could not possibly be as good as the real thing. Her crush loved her. She, Fluttershy, was Noble Blade’s, the special somepony of the best stallion she could imagine.

High in the skies, unseen by either lovestruck pony, Rainbow Dash stuck out her tongue. “Oh, gross! Ew! Yikk!” She started to brush off imaginary dust on her tongue, hoping to gain Firestorm’s agreement.

But Firestorm was not paying attention to her. Instead, he was looking downward at his best friend He was smiling warmly. “Well, congrats,” he muttered to nothing in particular. “Now I got something to work on myself.”

Rainbow Dash heard this and stopped her tongue brushing. She now observed his lips moving by themselves.

“I knew it, of course. I’m gonna lay this down on you mercilessly later on,” Firestorm murmured. “But for now, I’m just gonna let you have this moment. Have something special, friend.”

Rainbow Dash smiled and wrapped her wing around him as they both lay on their stomachs, peeking their heads out over the cloud. “Way to go, Flutters,” Rainbow murmured. “Good job gettin’ that love you deserve.”

Silence reigned up there for a moment as the both of them reflected on both of their best friends finding love with each other.

“You know something, Rainbow?” Firestorm asked, out of nowhere.

Rainbow craned her head to look at her crush, who was smiling at her warmly. Then he turned his head forward to regard the setting sun, and Rainbow followed his gaze. Both of their wings draped over each other like comforting embraces.

“I’m glad you’re with me.”

Eternity was so short. After so short a time, they pulled away, their vision swimming and their faces raging with flaming blushes.

None of them could say much of anything except--

“Wow,” Noble whispered.

“Y-yeah,” Fluttershy agreed.

She gave a wavering smile of joy, then kissed him again. It was so sudden that Noble lost his balance and tipped over, and suddenly he was lying on his back in the cool grass with Fluttershy on top of him, kissing him with a ferocity of passion that he hadn’t expected out of her.

Noble did not fight it. He did not like fighting, especially when it came to resisting kisses from beauty itself. So instead of fighting against the kiss, he instead kissed back the pale yellow pegasus with all the force he could muster. Fluttershy kissed him back with equal joy.

It was as though a missing piece of each other’s soul had been filled. They felt whole, they felt right, they both made each other into perfect, flawless beings. Noble Blade and Fluttershy. The sword and the butterfly. Like Noble’s Cutie Mark, they were now inseparably fused to each other. Their love was now a beautiful thing that would never, ever die.

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Best Night Ever 2.0

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Noble Blade’s reflection looked dreamily back at him as he stared out of the train car’s vibrating window. For no particular reason at all, he gave a little sigh of happiness.

“Oh, boy. Pleasure sighing now.”

“Hm?” Noble picked his head up and looked behind him. “Storm, was that you?”

“All right. What happened yesterday to make you so happy?”

“It-it’s just me and Fluttershy, Storm. There’s a spring in my step, a tune in my voice, a bouncy mood that nothing on Equus can quench.” He lazily flopped down on the train’s couch as the train rattled on down the tracks to Canterlot. Tonight was the Grand Galloping Gala, and Noble Blade was feeling better about this night than any other night in recent memory. “I managed to confess that I loved her with all the depths of my soul. And--get this--she actually managed to look past all of that flowery fluff and admit that she loved me as well!”

Firestorm whistled impressively. “Did you do…” He looked around him for a few seconds, then whispered, “It?”

“What, hold hooves?”

“No, make love.”

Noble Blade sat bolt upright. “What?! No, I-” He paused when he saw Firestorm doubling over as he hovered in the air, laughing his flank off at the expression on Noble Blade’s face. Noble made a few noises before he folded his arms and said, “That--that’s not funny, Storm!”

“But did you?” Firestorm persistently asked.

“No,” Noble simply replied. Then he gave a thoughtful look to the side, tapping his hoof to his chin. “Although, we did make out quite a bit. Does that count, or do you have to do, um, more?”

“Well, making out is good and all,” Firestorm admitted as the train ka-thumped over a bump in the track, “But it isn’t as good as going all the way.”

“And how would you know that? You’re not exactly the love expert out of the three of us.”

From across the train car, Freedom Fighter was slumped on his flank, looking between his legs at the ground and holding his long black staff upright like a walking stick. “Right. And when did you become a love expert?”

Noble Blade looked down the aisle of the train to the corner Freedom Fighter was in. “Yesterday, of course.”

“One kiss does not make you a love expert,” Firestorm pointed out.

“Oh, it wasn’t just one kiss,” Noble said dreamily as he looked out the window once more.

“Well, then, how many?”

“After the first six or seven I lost count,” he sighed stupidly.

“You’re full of crap, you know that?”

“Oh, of course! ‘Tis a well-known fact that I’m filled with crap. But I’m filled with the best kind of crap there is to offer. Whereas thou, on the other hoof, art filled with normal crap.”

“One for his side,” Freedom Fighter said disinterestedly.

Firestorm let out a small giggle and waved aside his half-baked insult like a lady waving aside extravagant praise. “Ohoho, stop it, you! You’re making me blush!”

“Save the blushing for when you’re dancing with Rainbow,” Freedom Fighter said in a monotone voice.

Firestorm’s expression melted in a heartbeat from fun to flustered, and he let a hard stare find its way to Freedom Fighter. “What the crap makes you think that?”

“You’re an idiot, but you’re not stupid. Any idiot can tell by now that you’ve got a crush on her.”

“Well, Rainbow Dash doesn’t know. Does that make her an idiot?”

“She could be an idiot because she decides to go out with you.”

Firestorm inhaled through his teeth. “One for your side. Look, I won’t be that embarrassing at the Gala.”

“Right,” Noble pointed out. “You’ll probably do something even worse. The point is, Storm, that even if you do embarrassing things around her, the test is if she still wants to dance with you anyway.” He gave an illuminating smile. “And who knows? If you play thine cards right, thou mayest even reach second base!”

“Second base? What is that, holding her hooves?”

“No, ‘tis caressing her mane.”

“Okay, that is a serious step forward,” Firestorm admitted, looking thoughtfully at his hoof.

“You guys don’t know what second base is?” Freedom Fighter asked incredulously, running his hoof along the length of his staff. “You caress something, but it ain’t the mane, all right.”

“Her face?” Firestorm asked.

“No."

“Her legs?”

“No."

“Her chest?”

“Close,” Noble said.

“Close? Wait, you know what second base is?”

“Of course. I asked you that question to see if you really knew it,” Freedom Fighter explained.

“Of course I knew it!” Noble Blade erupted, jolting upward in his seat and hitting his head on the rack above him. Rubbing his head, he hissed, “I’m the love expert, remember?”

“Have you gotten to second base yet?” Firestorm asked him casually.

“Well, I... not reall-no,” Noble Blade admitted.

“One for his side,” Freedom Fighter said, jerking his head to Firestorm. “We’re all tied now.”

In the girl’s changing car, all seven girls were busy getting ready for the big night. The rest of the girls were chatting or laughing as they outfitted themselves for the dance, but Fluttershy was simply humming absently to herself, numb to most of her outside senses. It wasn’t as though she could feel nervous now. Fluttershy moved in a daze, unthinking of her surroundings. It was because of that that the voice speaking to her had to repeat herself.

“...ey!...HEY! What happened, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy turned around to see Rainbow Dash, fiddling with her dress. It was a lovely shining white dress that appeared to glisten like the clouds on a summer’s day. It was sleeveless and low-cut. Her mane was done in a long, extravagant manner that draped across her shoulder. Finally, atop her mane was a golden laurel wreath, like the victor of a competition.

Fluttershy just sighed happily as she put a butterfly brooch in her long pink mane.

“Fluttershy, out with it. You’re normally not this happy.”

“Is being happy a bad thing?” Fluttershy asked quietly in concern. “Oh, my. I’m sorry.”

“No, no, it’s not bad!” Rainbow insisted. “I just... I want to know what happened to you, is all.”

Fluttershy let out a cute little giggle and flopped down on the couch. “It’s Noble Blade!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “We kissed on the lips!”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash admitted, scratching her head. “L-lucky you, I guess...”

There was nothing more to be said for a few more moments. Then Rainbow Dash burst out, “What’s it like?”

Fluttershy gave an inquisitive tilt of her head.

Rainbow Dash flicked her eyes to the ground. “Being in love, I mean.”

Fluttershy put a hoof to her chin. After a bit of thought, she said, “It’s the purest feeling I can think of.”

“No, no, I get that. I-I know that being in love is supposed to feel nice, but... how do you feel? Do you feel tense and nervous? Or do you feel... well, bold and awesome?”

“I think both,” Fluttershy admitted. Seeing the look Rainbow was giving her, she quickly added, “I mean, you feel bold and daring, but at the same time, you don’t want to do anything except hide…” She stared off into space.

Rainbow Dash waved a hoof in her face. “Hey, Flutters? You’re zoning out there.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh. Um, where was I? Oh, yes. It all just feels so surreal, like everything’s just a dream and you’re wondering how in Equestria you could end up with somepony so amazing. Your heart beats faster than you think it’s able to go. You get butterflies in your tummy just thinking about him. You stumble over your words all the time. Every minute you’re with him is just so tense, but so full of activity and full of life. Time seems to speed up and before you know it twenty minutes have gone by just talking with him. And when you walk away afterward, you just want to run after him and spend more time with him. Everything seems brighter, more colorful, more fun and inviting and beautiful when you’re in love.”

Rainbow Dash processed Fluttershy’s words carefully. Finally, she sat down next to her on the couch, keeping her head down. “...You’re sure?”

“More than anything,” she replied. “And it can happen to anyone, too. Even you. You just need to show love in order to receive it. He showed me soooo much love yesterday…” She giggled some more. “And I just want to give it all back to him!”

“Is he good at loving?” Rainbow quietly asked her. “I’m sure he’s good at kissing…” She decided not to say that she had been spying on her and him the day before. “...but I don’t want you to end up with a guy that sucks.”

“I think it all just depends on how much love I show him,” Fluttershy stated with a shy smile. “If I just do that, I should be fine.”

An announcement crackled overhead, telling everyone that Canterlot was coming up in less than five minutes. The girls hurriedly finished up their preparations and waited by the train car doors.

Finally, the car slowed to a crawl and they could hear a loud hiss as the train exhaled a release of steam and came to a full stop. The car doors opened and out they stepped for the Gala, with Applejack dragging a large cart behind her filled with apple treats to sell.

As the rest of the girls deposited themselves in front of the car they came out of, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash turned their heads excitedly to see the train car the stallions were coming out of.

Noble Blade was in a grand, sharply-angled tuxedo with a bright blue bow tie and pocket square that matched the color of his combed mane. Following him was Firestorm, his mane undone and wild, in a more trimmed tux that held a carnation in his chest pocket. And, almost invisible to the eye, a large black form followed them with weapons all over his thick bodysuit.

Fluttershy’s knees felt weak when Noble Blade looked her in the eyes and smiled at the sight of her. “So,” he said. She would never get tired of hearing that voice. He stretched a hoof out. “Shall we go?”

Fluttershy put her hoof in his eagerly. Behind her, most of the other girls were swooning with synchronized “Awww”s at the sight. The only girl that wasn’t was Rainbow Dash, who was nearby Firestorm.

Seeing Noble Blade’s actions, Firestorm copied him. “Now,” he said in an exaggerated voice, making Rainbow snicker in surprise. He outstretched his hoof almost imploringly to Rainbow. “Shall we begin?”

Rainbow Dash looked down at her crush’s hoof. After only a moment of indecision, she put her hoof in his and smiled at him. She noticed that Firestorm’s color rose a little when he felt the weight of her hoof.

Was this what Fluttershy was talking about? Her heart did feel faster than she could remember it being. She did feel warm being around him. And before she knew it, they were walking up to the castle.

“Were you making your voice deeper?” Noble Blade asked Firestorm, his hoof wrapped with Fluttershy’s.

“What?” Firestorm asked, still in his exaggerated voice. “What are you talking about? No!”

“Ya did it again!” Applejack said, pushing her cart.

“You’re imitating my voice,” Noble accused him lightly.

Firestorm looked directly at Rainbow Dash and jerked his head at Noble Blade. “He’s mocking my voice,” he said decrepitly.

They walked for a little bit up to the front of the castle doors, and when they were a little bit off, Pinkie let loose a sigh of consternation.

“What is it?” Rarity asked her.

Pinkie gestured ahead at the front of the castle, where a long line of overdressed ponies overflowed the front doors. “We gotta wait in line for all these stuckety-uppety Canterlot peacocks to prune Celestia’s hooves.”

“Nicely worded,” Noble complimented her.

“Thank you.”

“Do we have a plan to get around them?” Rainbow asked.

“I can think of one,” Freedom Fighter suggested, sliding up next to Rarity menacingly. He reached for his chest and drew out a long knife, making the sheen run along the edge of the blade. Rarity widened her eyes and backed away from him.

“No,” Noble refused instantly.

“It’ll be fun,” Freedom Fighter insisted, the twin gleams of his red eyes shining brightly.

“The instant you go around killing ponies just because they’re stupid, we’ve lost the point of us being here.”

“Stupid doesn’t begin to cover it.”

“I don’t like them either, but we can do this without slaughtering everypony inside.”

“Aww.” He slammed the knife into his sheath so fast Noble was afraid he had stabbed himself in the chest.

“We don't hafta all go in at the exact same time and spot,” Applejack pointed out as she wheeled her cart along. “Ahm’a go and set up ma stand outside again. Maybe this time Ah’ll have a bit more success with ponies like Fancy Pants and Photo Finish. And Ah know the Wonderbolts liked ‘em. Who knows?”

“I dunno what I’ll be doing,” Spike mumbled. “I guess I’ll just go in and hang out at the refreshment table. I’ve heard they’ve got imported cream puffs!”

“And I’ll go ahead and make sure everypony else I meet is enjoying themselves!” Pinkie Pie declared. “‘Cause if there’s anything that makes me happy…” She put her face conspiratorially close to Starlight Glimmer’s. “...It’s seeing other ponies happy!”

“And I will treat Starlight Glimmer to her very first Gala,” Rarity added. “With all that said, we need not go where the rest of the nobility is, you know.”

“Ohoho, but who’s to say we can't?” Firestorm asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Firestorm?” Noble asked. “Are you going to do the Jerk plan?”

Firestorm grew a malicious grin. “How’d you guess?”

“Jerk plan?” Fluttershy asked. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“He came up with the name,” Noble explained to his new girlfriend. “He won’t harm anypony, but he may leave quite an impression on the Canterlot nobility for years to come.”

“I’ll go in alone. It’s too dangerous for you to follow.” Firestorm said. “I’m gonna need three packages of explosives... a helicopter... two hundred yards of steel cable... and a pound and a half of margarine.”

“Plus forty boxes of frosting?” Pinkie Pie added enthusiastically.

“What?” Firestorm cried, leaning his head back. “What would I do with forty boxes of frosting?”

“Well, what were you going to do with a pound and a half of margarine?”

“How should I know?” Firestorm threw up one of his hooves in indignation. “I just make stuff up as I go along here.”

“Knowing you, you’d probably slather it all on your chest,” Rarity muttered.

Firestorm pointed at her. “That’s actually not a bad idea.”

Rarity craned her head with a look of incredulity written on her perfumed and contoured face.

“It's a little-known fact,” Firestorm continued, “But it's been scientifically proven that ponies that rub margarine all over their chests have a higher sex appeal than those that don't. You may laugh,” he added, spotting the faces of the girls, “But I know what I’m talking about. I'm the love expert here.”

Noble snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Are you gonna need anything else?” Applejack asked sarcastically.

“Actually, I do,” Firestorm said. He reached over to her apple cart, plucked a single apple out, and tucked it in his folded wing. “Thank ye kindly, dearie.”

“Anything else?” Twilight asked.

“There’s one more thing we need to complete the plan,” Firestorm said. He pointed at Freedom Fighter. “That guy’s arm.”

Freedom Fighter stopped, pointed his left arm to the side, and sprouted out three sharp claws. “Come and take it."

Firestorm gulped. “You know what? Naw, I don’t need your arm.”

“Good to know.” He fired the claws back into his arm. “I’ll be inside--alone. Don’t wait up.” He deserted the group by leaping off the path like a startled cat and rushing for a window. The girls saw him speed into a bush under the window, then leap inside and disappear.

“Would you mind if I walked you over to the Canterlot gardens, Fluttershy?” Noble Blade asked her.

Fluttershy beamed at him. He just knew exactly what it was she wanted! “I’d love that,” she whispered sweetly.

“Which way?” Noble asked politely.

As they came to an intersection, Fluttershy pointed. Noble smiled at her again, and, hoof in hoof, they split off from the group and walked to the gardens.

“That is sooo romantic!” Rarity moaned in delight, watching them go.

“Yeah…” Rainbow said as she watched them go. “That's really... cute, I guess…”

Other branches in the road soon appeared, and as they appeared, the other mares went down them until finally, only Firestorm and Rainbow Dash were together, at the back of the line where ponies would meet Celestia.

Spotting a familiar mare in Wonderbolt attire, however, Rainbow Dash asked, “Hey, uh, Stormy? I was hoping to talk with your sister over there,” she said, pointing at Spitfire hanging out with the Wonderbolts near another entrance into the castle.

Firestorm grew a bewildered expression. “What do you need to talk with Spits about?”

If Rainbow could date Spitfire’s brother with her permission. “Uh, nothing,” she said, rubbing her mane nervously. “Just Wonderbolt stuff.”

Firestorm nodded warmly. “Go ahead.”

“What?!” Rainbow said suddenly, not expecting him to be okay with Rainbow going away. Spotting the look he was giving her, she said, “I-I-I mean, uh, thanks. For lettin’ me... yeah. I-I’ll...see ya later!”

And she took her hoof out of her crush’s grasp and cantered off to Firestorm’s sister. She parted through the crowds of ponies and disappeared.

Firestorm watched her go, a slightly melancholy smile on his face. “I’m not stopping you from doing what you want,” he spoke. “I just thought... you’d want to spend it with me.”

Inside the main receptionist area, a long assembly of impatient ponies was waiting in line. The sound of their vocal protests reached the vaulted ceiling high above them. The object of their protests was Princess Luna, who was standing in place of Princess Celestia.

“We want Celestia!” came one cry.

“Where is she?” came another demand. “In her room?”

“Let us in already! Just go!”

“We can’t get in unless Celestia greets us!”

“You’re holding up the line!”

“Ponies!” Princess Luna insisted, still standing there. “I am here! If thou requireth a princess to greet thee as thou entereth, I shall gladly do so.”

“We don’t want you!” came the voice of Jet Set, a grey unicorn with a fancy green suit. His wife, Upper Crust, was by his side. “Celestia has always greeted us as we entered before, and she will do so again now!”

“What maketh thee think she will? Simply because thou asketh?”

The grey unicorn blinked behind his spectacles. “I’m going to pretend I understood what you meant. Celestia has an image she needs to keep! What do you think she will look like to the public if she neglects us?”

“Celestia needs to have a night to enjoy herself as well,” came the voice of somepony else behind him. “It’s only fair-”

Jet Set shot him a stare, and he fell silent. Jet Set then faced Luna again. “If Princess Celestia doesn’t show up and get through this line soon, we’ll--”

“You’ll what?” came a lazy voice.

Everypony turned to see who had spoken. It was a aviator-clad pegasus who had swaggered obnoxiously through the doors of Canterlot Castle out to the side of the line.

“Who is that?”

“He’s not in line! What’s he doing?”

“Doesn’t he know better?”

The mysterious pony, however, ignored their questions. Once he had gotten some distance out from the line, he tilted his head to regard the ponies there.

One of them spoke up at last. “Sir, you do realize there are only two ponies that wear sunglasses indoors? Blind ponies... and buttholes.”

A few snickers from the Canterlot elite followed. But the pony simply lowered his shades to regard him with neon yellow eyes. “I suppose it’s a good thing I’m a certified grade-A butthole, then!”

The Canterlot elite fell silent. They were used to ponies getting flustered at an insult, but this one seemed to draw his strength from them.

“I can wear my sunglasses indoors and you can’t. You all wish you could be like me, right?” He shook his hoof like he was trying to think. “I mean, you’re all buttholes, all right, but I’m a fresh and snappy butthole, and you all are... what, rotten, wormy buttholes.” He gagged and stuck out his tongue. “Oh, that’s a terrible image!”

“You shouldn’t even be in here!” came a pony’s declaration.

The dark orange pegasus reached into his coat pocket and drew out a specially-embroidered golden ticket. “Lifetime pass,” he bragged lazily. “Tell me, where does that put me above you?”

The pony who had spoken fell silent.

“I honestly had better things to do tonight,” he continued, tossing his apple into the air and catching it. “But I wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to flex on y’all and spend some time with Loony, Loopy Luna.” He waved in Princess Luna’s direction. “Heya, Loony!”

Princess Luna only inclined her head.

“Why in Equestria do you even have a lifetime ticket to the Gala?” Jet Set asked him intrusively, holding himself tall and proud. “Only proper ponies are supposed to be at the Gala, not some... grubby commoner.”

The pegasus walked slowly over to Jet Set until his face was a foot away from his own. He didn’t even bother to take off his sunglasses. “What’s your name?”

Jet Set haughtily replied, “My name is--”

CRUNCH

Jet Set’s words were drowned out by the pegasus taking a rather loud bite out of his apple, crunching and slurping on it so messily a few flecks of it flew out and landed on Jet Set’s face.

Jet Set recoiled. “Get that commoner food out of my face!”

The pegasus ignored him. He just continued to slurp and crunch until he had swallowed the part he had in his mouth. “Tell me,” the pegasus said, wiping his chin free of juices. “What event is this?”

“The Grand Galloping Gala,” Jet Set said through clenched teeth.

The pegasus held up the scarlet fruit. “Do you know what this is?” he asked, as if to a small child.

Jet Set turned his nose up. “I do not associate myself with peasant food.”

“This is a Gala apple,” he told him. “Tell me, Beta Fett, or whatever your name was--is it wrong for me to eat a Gala apple at the Gala?”

Jet Set looked a little less sure of himself. “You... probably made that up on the spot!” he accused him.

“And how would you know?” the pegasus asked him. “You don’t associate yourself with peasant food, do you?” He tossed his apple in the air again, adding a little bit of spin to it. “I, uh, didn’t catch your name the first time. Some jerk with an apple was eating really loud and I didn’t hear it.”

Jet Set stuck his nose so high in the air he was looking at the ceiling. “My name is Jet Set, and me and my wife Upper Crust are some of the richest ponies in Equestria. Who are you?” He sniffed importantly.

The pegasus clapped sarcastically, holding his apple in his wing. “Oh, wow. Wow! I devote all of my great respect to thee, thou doer of nothing but exist. You’ve certainly done so much good in the world! Everypony, look! He’s done nothing in his life! All the attention we had before, we give to thee, filth! Oh, how I grovel at thy hooves, my devoted leader!” He swept himself on his knees extravagantly and made little kissing noises at his hooves.

Jet Set’s eye twitched behind his small spectacles.

The pegasus got back to his hooves. “Who am I, compared with your majesty and glory? I mean, compared to you, I’m just Firestorm. The performer of the Sonic Flameboom. The Wonderbolt Reserve.” Spotting his surprised face, Firestorm relentlessly continued. “Knight of Equestria. Five-time recipient of the Pink Heart of Courage. Slayer of the Bugbear, Arimaspi, and Hydra. Aaaayund the personal bodyguard for all four princesses of Equestria.” He grinned at Jet Set’s astounded face, then took another bite of his apple and turned away. “Who’re you again?” he asked with his mouth full.

Firestorm turned to face the rest of the nobility, who were both astounded at his abilities and enraged at his behavior. He held up his hoof. “I’m too important to hang around you dirty, dirty peasants.” He flicked a hoof nonchalantly. “You idiots aren’t worth my time. But if being around you means I can flex on y’all, I can stick around a little longer.” He raised his voice. “Does anypony else have anything to say to me? Because I can roast you crisply if you just offer me something.”

Upper Crust made the mistake of talking. “If you’re not going to say anything respectful to us, you shouldn’t be here at all!”

Firestorm took another bite out of his apple. He held up a hoof for silence, and for some reason, the nobility waited until he was done chewing. Firestorm swallowed and said, “Okay, first of all, you’re a frickin’ hypocrite. Second, if everypony said respectful things to each other, nopony would know what’s wrong with them. You should be thankful. And third,” he said, ignoring the cries of protest from the line of ponies, “I can talk to you any darn way I want.”

“Why?” Upper Crust demanded angrily.

“Because I’m your enemy. You can never force your enemy to be respectful and friendly to you, because they’re your enemy! You show no restraint in pointing out flaws in other ponies you meet. Who’s to say I can’t do the same to you?”

“Luuunaaa!” Jet Set cried. “Get this fool out of here!”

Firestorm took yet another bite out of his apple. “There’s nothing you can do,” he said with his mouth full. He flapped over to Princess Luna’s side and wrapped an arm around the Princess of the Night. “I’m staying with my bestie. You can’t make me leave. If you wanna stay, you gotta put up with me.” He gulped down his bite and gestured at the door. “But if you want, you can always just leave. There’s the door. Use it. Go on.”

Nopony moved, although a few eyes did flicker over to the doors.

Firestorm looked annoyed. “Why are you doing that?”

“Doing what?” came Upper Crust’s indignant voice.

“Standing in line. Celestia doesn’t care about you. She’s got better things to do than welcome all you miserable little snobs to this Gross Gruesome Gala.”

“Like what?” came her enraged accusation.

“Like spending the night with the hottest stallion in Equestria,” Firestorm responded, flipping his mane stupidly. “She said it herself. I have a recording if you want to hear it. She invited me up to her private quarters to talk about tax benefits, she shut the door to keep away prying eyes, and all of a sudden she was collapsing in my arms declaring her undying devotion to me.”

“You're insane!” Jet Set yelled. “There's no way Princess Celestia would ever--”

“No way I would ever what?” came a soft, motherly voice. From the doors leading into the dance hall came the tall white frame of Princess Celestia in a low-cut red dress, looking imposing and straight-faced as she gazed on the upper class. Upon seeing Firestorm, however, the plate of food she had in her yellow aura dropped and smashed to the ground. “S-storm?” she asked in astonishment.

Firestorm mouthed to her, “Just play along.” Then he swept his sunglasses off his head and smirked at her with a gaze hot enough to set firewood ablaze. “Wassup, ‘Tia?” he asked casually, tossing his half-eaten apple behind him to rest at Jet Set’s hooves.

“H-hi, F-firestorm,” she stuttered, and shrunk her head inside her shoulders, pretending to act demure.

Firestorm swept his sunglasses onto the front of his tux with one fluid sweep and swaggered to Celestia’s side. “You're lookin’ sexy tonight, babe.”

The Canterlot nobles gasped in collective shock. Nopony dared speak like that to the princesses unless they wanted to be banished, or locked in a dungeon, or locked in a dungeon in the place where she banished them.

Princess Celestia, however, only stuck out her tongue playfully at the compliment. “Only the best for the hottest stallion in Equestria!"

Several ponies in the line fainted. Most others were close to it as well. The rest of them just didn't know what to say at the display.

Firestorm wrapped his hoof around Celestia’s neck and led her back around. “Come with me, bay-bay, and let’s go and par-tay the night ay-way.”

“Wait!” came Jet Set. “Aren't you going to welcome us to the gala?”

“What’s wrong with just having Luna do it?” Celestia asked.

“Well, she... she’s not, um...not reall--I-I…” Jet Set shut up after several attempts to speak. The display by Firestorm had left every word taken out of his mouth.

“That's what I thought,” Celestia said, and allowed herself to be led away by Firestorm into the great hall, leaving a multitude of speechless nobility in her wake.

Leaning on the wall next to a large window that looked like a superhero might swing through it at any moment, Freedom Fighter was standing upright and holding his staff in front of him so he was leaning forward. His mind was having another conversation with itself, but the difference now from times past was that now the entire conversation was out loud. This made it so that if anypony else was close enough, they would overhear him talking and assume that he was mad.

“It’s a little strange, don’t you think?”

“What is?”

“Your acceptance of the fact that Noble chose Fluttershy over you. I’d have thought you would be more protestable at that.”

“Protestable? Is that even a word?”

“The word choice doesn’t matter. What matters is you not having Noble’s top priority anymore.”

“I don’t care if I am or not. I’ve managed fine without him before.”

“And look at how it all turned out. When you were alone, you were nearly tortured to death.”

“I’m a strong, independent stallion who don’t need no knight looking out for me. I don’t need him to look out for my safety all the time.”

“Why do you think he does?”

“Because he made an oath to his father.”

“Why did he make an oath to his father to look out for you?”

“Because he…” Freedom Fighter stopped his thought processes for an instant. “Because he wants to look after me. Because I’m his... friend.”

“Does Noble Blade break his oaths?”

“Hasn’t done so yet.”

“So with that said, even though he’s done all of this to look out for you, he still chose Fluttershy over you.”

“She’s his girlfriend! Of course he needs to pick her above me.”

“Whatever happened to Bros Before Hoes?”

“Well, whatever happened to Ladies First?”

“One for your side.”

“Noble Blade needs to be with his girl. He has no obligation to hang out with me any longer than he wants. I’m good enough on my own.”

“Be wary, though; you still need him in your life. Heaven forbid, if anything should happen to him--”

“The pony that harms him is gonna die.’

“So he does still matter to you. You ain’t no strong independent stallion after all.

“I-”

“Don’t delude yourself. All this time, you’ve been feeling pain and anger, but Noble was there to make you feel like your anger at everything was good for something. Now, even he’s got better things to look after than you. You’re not important anymore.”

“Look, I understand that, but I also understand that Noble needs a girl! I can be a good ol’ understanding bro for his sake. He’s done a lot for me. I’ll do this for him.”

“You’re saying that to cover up the fact that you need something to make you feel treasured. To make you feel something special. You aren’t. Everypony else just puts up with you. They tolerate you. They can barely stand having you around-”

“SHUT UP!” Freedom Fighter bellowed all of a sudden. He spotted a nearby couple jump at his outburst, and with an “I say!” they both moved away from him.

“Look at that. You scared them.”

“The next time you talk, I’ll tear your intestines out butt first.”

“I don't think that'll be wise.”

“Right. You’re living with me. Forgot about that.” Freedom Fighter stomped the ground impatiently so hard a piece of concrete chipped off and flew away.

“Pardon me, but who in Equestria are you talking to?” came the voice of some curious businesspony.

Freedom Fighter whirled around to stare the intruder in the face with a red glare. “I'm talking with the other idiot that lives in my cerebrum, fool! Who else would I be talking with, Faust?!”

The elegantly tailored pony recoiled. “Who’s Faust?” He shook his head. “Well, I never saw such a thing in all my life! You must be going mad!”

“Ohohoho, I’m mad, all right,” the warrior spat at him. He fired his left arm out to the side, and three long claws shot out of the hidden mechanical hoof. “Get out!”

He scoffed. “I was just saying--”

“Get out or I’ll paint the castle with your blood and decorate the ceiling with your innards!”

He obeyed, though sullenly and with many disparaging glances over the shoulder.

Freedom Fighter sighed and shot his claws back inside his metal arm. He leaned back against the glass and let out a deep groan of frustration. Now he was agitated and didn’t have anypony he could lash out at.

Until he allowed his gaze to ambly drift over the heads of other dancing couples and spot a blonde mane in the crowd.

Freedom Fighter double-checked himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. Indeed, he could see more facial features. Long blonde mane, white body, squared jaw, long spiraled horn…

Freedom Fighter smiled so hard his cheeks almost split in half. “Somepony we can kill?”

“Let’s just follow him for now. If he does anything stupid, we can slit his throat and dump his body off the edge of the balcony and that’ll be it.”

And with that, Freedom Fighter hid behind a wide stone pillar and jumped from the pillar to the wall, and back to the pillar again, until he was concealed in the tall buttresses striding the ceiling.

“I’m telling you, Starlight, the Gala is bountiful with splendid opportunities!” Rarity announced as she led her inside. “Fear not the stares, and ignore any looks that may be directed your way.”

“I know,” Starlight Glimmer muttered as she was almost dragged by an enthusiastic Rarity to the spacious hall where ponies in suits and corsets, monocles and dresses, top hats and chemises all revolved in a hypnotizing wheel around the dance hall. “And, ah, thanks for introducing me to the gala’s activities. Could I do this... well, on my own, though?”

“Why, whatever might be the problem?”

“I just kinda want to go and, well... do my own thing. Talk with Princess Celestia. Hang out with her and Twilight.”

“And you are more than welcome to!” Rarity declared. “Just as soon as I finish giving you pointers on how to act here. The Gala is not a place for failure.”

“What about the other two times you went?” Starlight asked. “I talked to Twilight about it before she left for Canterlot, and I remember there was something called... the Smooze?”

Rarity’s ears drooped. “Well, see, we... prefer not to talk about that.”

Starlight Glimmer put her mouth next to Rarity’s face some more. “And the one time with Prince whatshisface?”

“Don’t-” Rarity started vehemently, then coughed and straightened a ripple in her Fuschia dress. “Don’t you dare speak another word. Honestly, sometimes I can still hear his frightening voice in my memories.”

“Rarity? Miss Rarity?”

“See? I heard him just now. It’s a good thing he hadn’t had the decency to show up tonight.”

“Um, Rarity?” Starlight Glimmer asked, prodding her on the shoulder and pointing.

“Whatever do you--” Rarity started, looking where Starlight’s hoof was pointing, then she recoiled. “Oh, heavens! Get me away, Starlight! Get me away!”

“Rarity? There’s nothing to fear. Come on out.” Approaching them was the prince himself, in a tuxedo even more elaborate than the one Rarity had last seen him in. There was both a carnation and pocket square in his coat pocket, there was a sash across his front that he had decorated with tiny, insignificant medals, and a thin sabre was strapped at his side--purely ornamental in design.

“I think there’s a reason why she’s hiding,” Starlight said hesitantly. “Mister…”

Blueblood let out a charming laugh. “I haven’t introduced myself. I am Prince Blueblood.”

“Oookay,” Starlight uncomfortably said. “My name is--”

“But of course, it’s not you I’m looking for,” Blueblood interrupted. “It’s miss Rarity.” He gave a warm smile at Rarity.

“Blueblood,” Rarity said through clenched teeth. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine,” Blueblood said. “It’s a good thing we were able to finally meet up from the last Gala. Ever since then, things have gotten disastrously out of hoof, and after consideration, I believe an apology is in order.”

“Oh, goodness, I--wait!” Rarity’s eyes lit up briefly. “An apology? Why, I... heh, I d-don’t believe it! Of course an apology is in order!”

Things waited a moment as neither side said a word.

“Um, Blueblood?” Rarity cautiously asked. “What are you doing?”

“I’m waiting for my apology.”

“Your apolo--” Rarity narrowed her eyes dangerously. “What in Celestia’s name are you talking about?”

“You humiliated me all those years ago!” Blueblood said haughtily. “I demand an apology for making me the laughingstock of Canterlot!”

“You don’t need Rarity's help,” Starlight quipped out of her mouth.

“You’re absolutely right!” Blueblood emphatically insisted. He turned back to Rarity. “But,” he continued. “This does not mean that we need to erect permanent barriers between us. I am more than willing to accept your apology. After that, you can fulfill the dream you had all those years ago. You and I can be an astounding couple in the higher circles in Canterlot. You and I would be the talk of the town!”

Rarity arched a demanding eyebrow. “Let me get this straight,” she said. “You walk up to me after years, demand an apology from me for what happened that night that has no relevance to what is happening today, and then you offer to get back together with me?”

Blueblood nodded. “It’s not too much, honestly. You’re lucky I’m not asking more, but being a gentlecolt, I’m trying to be... reasonable...”

Starlight Glimmer glared at him so hard Blueblood actually took a step back.

“Let me tell you something, Prince,” Rarity growled. “I am Rarity. I am the owner of boutiques in Canterlot, Manehattan, and Ponyville. I am known across Equestria for my spirit of welfare. I bear an Element of Harmony. I have consorted with Princesses and Queens. I have faced down rabid animals, demons, mad spirits, and nightmares larger than your pitiful mind can possibly imagine. Did you honestly think I would spend the rest of my life with a life form as pitiful as yours?”

Blueblood’s responding expression revealed more than words ever could.

“I cannot believe you,” Rarity breathed in astonishment. “You truly are less than I could have possibly hoped for.” She wrapped a hoof around Starlight’s. “Come, Starlight. Let us go where the air is not as rancid.”

“Now, hold on a second,” Blueblood angrily started, grabbing a fold of Rarity’s dress with his magic yellow aura. “You may be a bearer of those little trinkets, but simply wearing jewelry won’t cut it.”

“Did you not hear me?!” Rarity shrieked, trying to yank Blueblood away.

“Only the parts I liked,” Blueblood admitted. “You’ve no idea the skill that takes. Come with me.”

“No!” Rarity cried, loud enough for passerby to hear and turn their heads. “I don’t want you near me!”

“Stop lying to me, Rarity!” Blueblood declared. “You know you want to be with me!"

And before he could do anything more, he was pushed backward by a blast of energy from Starlight Glimmer and landed ignominiously on his flat butt. Blueblood stared up at the angry lilac mare next to Rarity.

“Our deepest apologies,” Starlight Glimmer spat. “We’ve got better things to do.”

And she and Rarity galloped out of the great hall, with a confused and angry Blueblood sitting on his rump.

The very instant that Rarity and Starlight disappeared, in the same doorway came Princess Celestia, with Firestorm by her side. “I’m telling you, ‘Tia, that was the most fun I’ve had in weeks! Did you see the look on their fac-” Firestorm stopped talking when he spotted the irate Blueblood getting to all fours.

“My dear nephew,” Celestia said calmly. “How is the Gala treating you?”

Blueblood simply let out a “Hmph!” and turned his head up in a false show of pride. “I’m doing fine.”

“The only ponies who say that are the ponies that aren’t fine,” Firestorm wryly observed.

Blueblood swiveled his head to regard Firestorm. “Who’s this?”

“The hottest stallion in Equestria,” Firestorm announced with a grandiose bow. “No need to applaud.”

Blueblood sniffed. “You?”

“You were expecting somepony better than me?” Firestorm asked in a deep, mocking voice. “How absurd! Nopony can be better than me!” Firestorm reared on his legs and adopted a haughty expression. “I’m better than you, and I’m better than you, and, oh, this pony that has more money than me, I’m better than him as well, no matter what he says!”

“I get the feeling you're mocking me,” Blueblood observed.

“Oh, heavens, no, no no no!” Firestorm suddenly pointed behind Blueblood. “LOOK, A BUREAUCRAT WITH A HOT SIDE CHICK!”

“Where?” Blueblood demanded, swiveling his head so his golden mane whipped into his face.

“BAHA!” Firestorm collapsed on the ground in helpless laughter. Celestia, unable to help herself, let out a giggle as well.

“Auntie,” Blueblood said irritably, turning back to glare at Firestorm. “Aren’t you going to do something about him?”

Celestia’s purple eyes sparkled. “Why would I do that?”

“Princess!” came a voice. Celestia turned her head to see who it was that had spoken, and it was Twilight, in a pink dress with draping robes on her shoulders making a deep V in her front. Twilight came over near Celestia and skidded to a halt. “It’s, um, good to see you here.”

“How’s your night going so far?” Celestia asked politely.

“Well, I haven’t had to deal with as many annoying ponies as in years past, so that’s a plus. I’ve actually enjoyed myself so far.” She leaned in closer. “But the night’s still going slower than I’d like it to be.”

“Why do you say that?” Celestia asked.

“Because... well…” Twilight whispered through clenched teeth. “The thing you said you’d talk to me and my friends about.”

“Ah. Princess Twilight, I presume?”

Twilight’s eyes flickered over to Blueblood’s in exasperation. “Hello, Prince Blueblood.”

“It’s a startling fact, but you and I seem to never have met in person before,” Blueblood said diplomatically. “After that riotous first Gala you attended, Rarity so flustered me that I dared not make an appearance at the gala for the next five years!”

“Gee,” Twilight said. “How strong you must be.”

“I agree. It’s not easy, being in the Canterlot high society."

“Don’t you lay around on your butt all the time?” Firestorm pointed out.

“I did not invite you to speak, good sir, so keep your mouth shut.”

“Oh! I said something you didn’t like!”

“Look here, sir,” Blueblood said, his disdain rising with each word, “I have tried to be polite and reasonable--”

“You what?” Firestorm asked in astonishment. He turned to Twilight. “Are you hearing this? He’s capable of being polite!”

“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” Blueblood irately asked.

“Nope!” Firestorm said simply, flapping luxuriously into the air.

“Firestorm,” Twilight said with clenched teeth. “Now might be a good time to stop it.”

“To stop? To stop? Because Bluey here’ll get mad at me? GASP!” Firestorm put both of his hooves to his mouth in mock surprise. “I am so scared right now! He might call me a name I may not like!”

“Buzz off, you insect,” Blueblood snapped at last.

“OH!” Firestorm put a hoof to his side and winced like he’d been shot. “OH! OH, NO! NOT THAT!” He fell to the ground. “ANYTHING BUT INSECT! MY ONLY WEAKNESS! AAAUGH!”

Twilight held back a snicker as Blueblood’s expression deteriorated. It looked like Blueblood had drunk expired lemon juice.

“Do you see why I keep him around?” Celestia asked Blueblood. “He makes me laugh.”

Blueblood recovered from his bout of indignation and flipped his stringy golden mane. “I have to go and speak with more important ponies than you.”

“Oh, no!” Firestorm exclaimed at the retreating prince. “He’s leaving me! Clearly, he’s got something so profoundly important to say that he’s leaving me!”

“You’re crossing a line,” Celestia advised.

“I don’t want him to leave me!” Firestorm exclaimed. “He and I are just perfect for each other!” Firestorm got on his knees and adopted a pleading expression. “Don’t leave me, Blueblood!” he called after Blueblood, who was almost gone from sight. “Please!”

On the castle grounds, the grass sparkled with drops of water that came late in the night, making Rainbow Dash’s hooves wet. Hanging out near the entrance to the castle was her coworkers, the Wonderbolts.

She recognized Soarin’, of course, eating a delicious apple pie he had bought from Applejack’s stand. But his example had been followed this year by the other Wonderbolts, who all had apple fritters, strudels, churros, and, of course, pies, off to the side as they conversed. Applejack’s luck had apparently reversed from the last Gala she tried at selling food at.

She recognized Fleetfoot, Fire Streak, and Lightning Streak all talking, and she saw them spot her and wave in greeting. As she came near to Spitfire, the fiery-maned captain's expression turned from her pie and brightened. “Ah, Rainbow Dash! It’s so good ta see ya!”

Rainbow grinned. “Y-yeah, uh, right. Listen, I came here to talk with you--”

“It’s been a while, right? Only a little bit ago, you wanted just to hang around us at the Gala. And now look at you! You’re one of us! VIP, am I right?” Spitfire tapped her playfully on the shoulder.

“Yeah. Look, Spitfire, I gotta talk with ya.”

Spitfire raised her eyebrows. “Oh really? What about?”

Rainbow exhaled and pulled on her white dress. “Firestorm.”

Spitfire’s eyes caught a glint of amusement. “Oh really?” she repeated. “I’m interested.”

“Um…” Rainbow found it incredibly hard to talk all of a sudden. Fiddling with her dress some more, she muttered, “He’s kinda…”

Spitfire’s interested expression grew deadpanned as Rainbow struggled to speak.

“...hot…” Rainbow murmured at last, wincing.

Spitfire looked jolted, for one of the first times she had seen her. Then Spitfire deviously raised her voice. “You think he’s hot?”

The comment made all nearby conversation halt. Rainbow Dash froze in fright.

“Ooohoho!” Fleetfoot snickered nearby. “Does Rainbow Dash have a crush?”

“Who’s the lucky guy?” Soarin’ asked, taking a break from his pie. “It, um…” He looked to one side, then the other. “It wouldn’t happen to be me, would it?”

“What are you talkin’ bout?” Fleetfoot asked him. “She’d be insane to be attracted to a guy like you!”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Soarin’ asked suspiciously.

“It’s not Soarin’,” Rainbow said, flustered.

“Well then, who is it? That dolt Zephyr Breeze?” Fire Streak asked. “I know he tried to go for you one time, right?”

Atop the laughter that followed, Rainbow exclaimed, “No, it’s not Zephyr either!”

“What about that jerk Hoops? Or his idiot friend, whatshisface...”

“Okay, I think you’re setting the bar a little low there, Fleetfoot.”

“No bar is too low for Rainbow Dash!”

“No bar is too high for Rainbow Dash,” Soarin’ corrected.

“What’s that supposed to mean? She only goes for the best guys available, or she flies over the highest bars in practice?”

Soarin’ put a hoof to his chin. “Both.”

“It’s Firestorm!” Rainbow Dash cried at last, flapping indignantly into the air. “The guy! That I like! It’s Firestorm! Are you happy?!”

Fleetfoot was suddenly silent. “Firestorm…” she mused. “Wait a sec. Is he that guy in the Wonderbolt reserves?”

“I think so,” Soarin’ agreed. “I remember he was funny.”

“What can he do?” Fleetfoot asked, now curious. “Any tricks he’s got up his sleeve?”

Rainbow Dash recalled the Sonic Flameboom and wondered if it was okay for her to speak about that. “He’s got some impressive stuff,” Rainbow filtered through.

"So what are you trying to ask me here?” Spitfire asked.

Rainbow fiddled with her words before speaking. “Is it really okay if I, um, d-d-date your brother?”

Spitfire blinked. “Why are you asking me this?”

Rainbow blinked in return. “What?”

“You don’t need my permission,” Spitfire said nonchalantly. “Knock yourself out.”

“So wait--WAIT A SEC!” Rainbow’s pupils had expanded in size, and a little smile was spreading across her muzzle. “I can really just go in and ask him if it’s okay to be his girlfriend?”

Spitfire waved her away and gave herself some free space. “Yeah, I guess. If that’s what you really wanted.”

“Gotta go!” Rainbow said all of a sudden, and quickly went around to all of the other Wonderbolts. “You’re the coolest guys ever, and I’d love to hang out with you at any other time, but I’ve got a guy I need to charm. Anyhoo, good luck! I’ll be inside! Bye!”

And she flew up to the nearest balcony and, in the yellow light flooding the air, landed and trotted inside the Great Hall.

Soarin’, holding his pie, looked up at the balcony, where she no longer appeared. “Did she just say Anyhoo?”

The Canterlot Gardens were afresh with life. In the night air, birds flitted about the tree branches and sang their trilling songs to their mates in hopes of companionship. Squirrels and raccoons, moles and ocelots all milled about the spacious gardens. No animal was in danger of being eaten. No animal was in peril. It was the perfect representation of peace and serenity.

Noble Blade was now observing Fluttershy hovering in the trees, murmuring, “Now, now, little meadowlark, it’s okay. Mommy Fluttershy just wants to talk with you. Can you come out of your tree and do me a huuuuge solid?”

The Meadowlark, for whatever reason, didn’t budge.

“Now, I know that you probably haven’t forgotten that time six years ago when I laid out traps for you and the other little animals. But I know better now!”

Noble Blade tilted his head in surprise. That was something he hadn’t known about her.

“Oh, why won’t you listen to me?” Fluttershy flapped slowly to the ground, looking depressed. “All I wanted to do was talk.”

“Is it okay if I try instead?” Noble offered. “I wouldn’t want the evening to be ruined for you.”

Fluttershy smiled and nuzzled his neck. “My evening’s already perfect because of you.”

The words warmed his heart in the chilly night. Noble put his arm around his girlfriend--Noble would still need some getting used to calling the angel his girlfriend--and sat down on a nearby park bench. He ran his hoof through her long, thick mane, wondering just how it was possible to feel so good.

“Mmm...you’re good at that,” she murmured. She drew her head up to look into her boyfriend’s eyes. Noble could see the sheen the eyes had to them as the light of the moon caught them. “Noble?”

“Yes?”

Fluttershy drew her head into her shoulders.“Can I, um...kiss you?”

Noble smiled. “I beg of you, Fluttershy.”

Both of them closed the distance, and, accidentally bumping noses the first time, they readjusted their angle and met each other’s lips. It would take some practicing, but it was a practice Noble was comfortable exercising.

After ten seconds, they parted, both of their colors high.

“Am I doing well for you?” Noble suddenly asked, trying not to let concern grace his features. “I hope I’m doing good at being a boyfriend so far. Do I have to try harder? Do something better?”

Fluttershy ruffled his combed mane playfully. “I couldn’t ask for a better guy to be with tonight, Noble.”

“Oh, Fluttershy,” Noble murmured in relief, and pulled her closer so her body was pressing into his chest and her head was next to his ear.

Hearing her own name be spoken so passionately made Fluttershy’s heart leap. Then she numbly recognized the lack of Thee, or Thou. It confused Fluttershy. What was up with the language switching? When and why would he do it? Why did he seem nervous when he lapsed?

Was there something about him that she didn’t know?

Noble must have suspected something by how stiff she was, because he drew his head back in concern to look her in the eyes. “Something wrong?”

“Um…” she said.

“Are you cold?” The night was indeed chilly, and the small gusts of wind didn’t help. “You’re feeling stiff.”

Before she could say anything else, he wrapped her closer to his body. She could feel the heat radiating off of him. “Just relax,” he whispered.

Fluttershy made no objection to the arrangement. His body indeed made her warmer than before. The problem she was considering didn’t disappear, however.

All around them, the normally shy animals poked their heads out to regard the couple curiously. Birds alighted atop the back of the bench, while ferrets and moles swiveled their heads out of the ground. A small raccoon managed to climb up to the spot next to them on the bench, and a bunny hopped up on the opposite side.

Fluttershy noticed this out of the corner of her eye and pulled away from Noble’s embrace to gasp in delight. “Ooh! Noble! Look! The animals!”

Wriggling around on his lap, put her nose close to the raccoon. “Oh, hi there, mister raccoon. I must be really big and scary up here on this bench, right?”

The raccoon put his front paws up in a small shrug and rolled his eyes.

“You're not used to somepony like me just coming in and doing anything I want, right? Don't you want to get to know mama?”

Finally, the curious raccoon poked Fluttershy's nose and recoiled. After no reaction came except for a little gasp from Fluttershy, he drew back to his position and prodded her cheek. After a few more experimental touches, he threw both of his arms around her face and hugged her tightly.

“He likes you!” Noble proclaimed. He raised a hoof. “ ‘Tis an accomplishment thou shouldst be proud of, Fluttershy. Thou hast tamed the mighty raccoon!”

She let out a breathy laugh at that. “Oh, Noble,” she managed between breaths. “You're so funny!”

“Oh?” he said, dropping the voice. “I'm... glad.”

There it was, again. She barely caught it that time, but he seemed to release tension as he stopped the grand voice. But why was there tension in the first place? Fluttershy had sensed relief in him. But what did he need to be relieved from, exactly? He knew that Fluttershy loved him...right?

If it was true, then Noble Blade wasn't paying any attention to it--or not letting it show. Instead, he was stroking the underside of an oriole that had landed on the back of the bench. The bird was cooing softly and bending to his touch.

Fluttershy felt something light land on her head, and she looked up. Not seeing anything at first, she looked to the side, to her braided mane dripping down the shoulder, as similar weights alighted there as well. Three brown butterflies had settled down and were flapping their wings slowly.

It made Noble pause with his breath in his throat. “You look gorgeous.”

The way he said it made her color rise instantly, and she smiled while retreating her head into her shoulders.

He inclined his head. “Lean forward. Slowly.”

She did eagerly, trying not to disturb the butterflies in her mane. Their lips touched again, sweetly and softly, as both of them tried not to make the butterflies flap away in the act.

“Whoo-whoo!”

The sound of the whistle made Fluttershy jerk up promptly and spun around. An elderly pony with a broom had done it. Fluttershy stiffened up again in fright.

“Oh, I’m just gonna leave the two of ya to go at it,” the groundskeeper slyly said. He winked knowingly. “I don't have no business in that today at least. No siree.” And he backed away through a gap in the bushes and disappeared.

Flicking his tongue around the inside of a discarded can of baked beans, the creature extracted every bit of sustenance from the meager meal as possible. This time, he could recognize tastes that he hadn’t experienced in hundreds of years. Baked beans, however, was a far cry from what he wanted to feel in his mouth. He longed for juicy strawberries and gelatinous jellies that bounced in the mouth, for freezing ices that tasted like grapes and cherries.

Finishing the last of the clear liquid from the old can, he crushed the steel can in his hand and willed his hand to ignite. Black flames enveloped the can, disintegrating it instantly, and when he was certain that it was gone he shook his hand and the flames died.

The creature suddenly heard explosions going off in the distance, and his heart froze with fear. He had failed. Noxxa had already attacked and were now massacring everyone inside the city, and it was his fault, all of it, because he hadn’t come in time.

Looking around the corner, however, he could tell that it wasn’t actually the explosions of war, but rather fireworks glittering and sparkling against the black canvas of the night. The creature put a hand to his heart and leaned against the rock wall in relief. He wasn’t late after all, and he still had time.

What was happening, anyway? Was a party going on? The creature wasn’t aware of any parties that would be thrown right around now. Since when did Celestia and Luna do that, anyway?

The castle was within sight. He could make out the soaring spires of the castle and the lights in the far-off windows.

The creature took a moment to straighten himself, then took heavy steps to join the road leading to the castle.

He didn’t notice the dark, spiny bug that had followed him all the way through the wilderness.

He didn’t see it scurry into the underbrush near the train station and click its mandibles together as one of the Noxxa stood in the shadow of Canterlot at last.

“This... is my opportunity,” he clicked harshly, making sure nopony else could see him or hear him. “If I can spy on them and learn of their intentions... I can appraise the Marshal of their movements before we attack. I’ll be honored.”

He rubbed his front two claws together hopefully, making a scratching noise. “Maybe even get to choose which mare to eat when we kill those pesky little Elements of Harmony…”

And, keeping his distance from the lumbering, upright creature, the Nox snuck after him, searching for a secret entrance into the castle.

Chapter Thirty-four: Colors of Love

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The Grand Galloping Gala’s bright lights spilled onto the outside balcony, where Rarity and Starlight Glimmer were staring out at the landscape of Equestria below them.

“Oh, thank Celestia we managed to get away from Prince Blueblood,” Rarity breathed, wiping a bead of sweat off her brow. “Did you see how forward he was with his requests? Before, he was so stiff and formal, and now he reverses the act?”

“Are all the nobility like that?” Starlight Glimmer asked, straightening her turquoise dress and adjusting the drooping spiral her mane made. “So stuck-up and stiff?”

“Well, I... I suppose,” Rarity admitted. “It might be bred into them or something. I can start to see why Noble Blade doesn't like them.”

“He's nobility himself,” Starlight pointed out. “His aunt is Princess Cadence. What room does he have to point out flaws in them?”

“He has more room than most others, Starlight. Keep in mind, he's part of them and knows everything about them that makes them tick. He can find detestable parts about them, you know.”

“Noble Blade?” came a voice. “Who in Equestria is Noble Blade?”

Rarity gave a sharp inhale of breath. “Oh, dear Celestia,” she moaned.

Prince Blueblood emerged from the shadows behind an outside pillar, and his sudden appearance made Starlight gasp. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“What I'd like to know, Rarity, is who is this Noble Blade?” Blueblood asked, coming further into the light. “The nephew of Cadence? What utter nonsense! Surely I would have heard about him by now!”

“Noble Blade is none of your business,” Rarity spat.

“So why is he part of yours?” Blueblood asked nastily. “A boyfriend of yours, perhaps? If he is, you must bear in mind that the influence I wield in Canterlot is extensive enough to... remove him from the board. It would be best to simply drop the fiction that he loves you.”

“Absolutely not! He has found somepony perfect for him alone!”

“Ah, so he is real,” Blueblood pondered. “If this Noble Blade is truly as good as you say he is, then where is he at tonight’s Gala? Nuzzling against his mother's teat?”

Rarity lit her horn dangerously. “Say one more word, Blueblood, and you will regret it.”

Blueblood immobilized her with his own magic, freezing her fearful expression. “I will say the same thing to you, miss Rarity.” He softened his expression. “Hold still now, and allow me to show you all the love I still have for you, no matter what you may have put me through.”

Starlight placed herself between the prince and Rarity. “Don't you lay a hoof on her.”

A shadow dropped from the ceiling behind the prince.

“Or what?” he sneered.

Before either of them could answer, the shadow had clamped his hoof over the prince’s mouth and had dragged him back so none of his hooves touched the floor.

“Or else,” the shadow snarled, “I’ll slice your mane off and feed it to you strand by strand!”

“Mmm!” the prince cried with wide eyes and flailing hooves. His magic cut off, and Rarity was released from his magic grasp. She stared at the shadow that held the prince captive.

“Get inside,” the shadow snarled.

Hiking up her dress, Rarity sped off into the Gala dance hall, followed by Starlight.

“Hold still,” he hissed, “and I won't use the Black Blade I have.”

Blueblood understood nothing of malevolent weapons molded from the volcanoes of Tartarus, but his thrashing stopped somewhat. The threat seemed dangerous.

“Do you know who I am?” the shadow growled in his ear.

Blueblood shook his head no fearfully.

The shadow paused, considering if he should use his own name and risk Blueblood’s exposure to yet another Guardian of the Sun. Then he happened upon an idea. Smiling under the mask he wore, he said, “I am Noble Blade.”

Blueblood started to shiver in fright as his eyes slid up to try to get a better view of him.

“Let's get something straight here, friend,” Freedom Fighter snarled. “Those ponies are mine to protect and mine to serve. Make. No. Mistake. I won't even bother warning you next time. I'll just break your neck. I'll step on your throat and crack your vertebrae.”

“Mmm! Mmm!” the prince struggled under his grip indignantly.

“Careful there, Prince Freshblood,” Freedom Fighter hissed. “My knife thirsts for a target tonight. Make yourself available, by all means.”

His struggling ceased.

“And you won't dare speak about this to anypony else. Who would believe you?” He tightened his grip on his mouth and throat. “The nephew of Cadence held you at the point of death? Preposterous. You'd be counted as mad among your friends, and then where will your prestige be?”

Blueblood’s breathing was slower now.

“So let me tell you, right now, Blueblood, that Rarity is now watching you, and Faust is watching you, and, more to the point, I'm watching you. The instant you step within a kilometer of Rarity, or Twilight, or any of the Elements of Harmony, I'll saw your insides open.”

Blueblood nodded emphatically and fearfully.

“Fear me, Prince Blueblood. I've got you by the balls. You are mine, and if you need a reminder, I'll show you.”

And he released him. Blueblood stumbled and then turned around to catch his oppressor, but the shadowy warrior had melted into the shadow realm from whence he came.

After only one more furtive glance around, and a desperate massage of his throat, Blueblood stumbled back into the dance hall and headed as fast as he could in the opposite direction Rarity went.

And from behind the doors to the balcony, Freedom Fighter took several deep breaths of malicious laughter. “Oh, that was fun.”

He rotated his head to the side. “Don't you think Noble will be mad when he hears out about this?”

“What Noble Blade doesn't know won't harm him,” he responded, swiveling his head to the other side. “I did him a favor. Now Blueblood will fear him and won't get involved.”

“Mewling coward,” he agreed, craning his head to peek inside the dance hall. “The son of a whorse would probably--” He stopped abruptly as he spotted something inside.

The dance hall had a raised podium at one end, and on it, playing the cello for a small orchestra, was none other than Octavia Melody.

“What do you see?” Freedom Fighter asked himself.

“Don't you see her?”

“Octavia Melody?”

“No, the idiot kneading the piano keys.”

“Oh, I see. The piano isn't tuned.”

Freedom Fighter beat himself in the head with his left hoof, reeling him backward. “Idiot! Octavia Melody!”

Freedom Fighter squinted across the hall at the raised podium. There she was, filling the hall with the deep notes of the cello, oblivious to anything else. He noticed the contented smile on her face, and the regal posture of her seat.

But the thing he noticed most of all was the dazzling white unicorn sitting alone in a folding chair at the base of the podium, with wild blue hair and electric green shades. Her periwinkle blue dress shone with every jostle of her legs, and she was listening to some of her own music with large wireless headphones.

Vinyl Scratch was here.

The Grand Galloping Gala was boring.

After the initial shock of the nobles, it was actually monotonous. He had left Celestia at the refreshment table, patted the top of Spike’s head as he loaded his plate with little sandwiches, and slumped down at a nearby table with a half cup of soda in his hoof.

Noble Blade and Fluttershy had come back from the gardens by now and were at a table three rows down. There never seemed to be a time that one of them would tilt their head all of a sudden and kiss the other for no particular reason at all.

Firestorm's boredom had led to annoyance, at the prettied-up nobility that still looked awful no matter what they did, at Celestia for making him come, at the drink for being lukewarm. He slammed it on the table and twisted around so he was facing outward. “Does anypony have any glass bottles they can hit me upside the head with?” he asked nopony in particular.

Disappointed that nopony responded, he moaned to himself and pressed his hooves into his eyes. “Give me somepony to talk to, please! I can't talk to myself! I need an audience!”

Still, nopony answered.

“Find me somepony to love,” he sang under his breath. He hit the back of his neck, and his voice changed. “All by maaaseeeelf…”

“What are you doing?”

Firestorm whirled around so fast he cracked his sore neck. It was a fanciable mare with a charcoal dress and gleaming white pearls on her thin green neck.

“Don't worry about me,” he reassured her. “Just changing stations.” He slapped himself on the back of the neck again. “Ah! Ai just doiid in yer ahrms tonight!... Musta been sumthin ya said…”

“You're weird,” she simply said, and walked away.

“Ai shouuulda waaalked away!” Firestorm called out to her as she left. “I shoulda walked away!”

Firestorm didn't admit it to himself--not out loud--but those two words she had said so dismissively made his stomach ping uncomfortably. You're weird.

Well, yeah. Maybe he was. So what? It didn't give her the right to call him out on it.

A lot of ponies had said it to him as he went through life. Firestorm would like to admit that they didn't bother him anymore, but the truth was, they still did. Every disdainful eye that narrowed and every wrinkled nose and every sneer on the lips as they said it to try to knock him down a peg or two.

He wanted to forget the declaration everyone else made that just didn't matter, but it just kept coming back to him at inconvenient spots throughout his life, like right before he went to sleep at night, or before he peed, and so he would stand there on his hind legs in the bathroom and reflect on the cruelty and thoughtlessness of other ponies as he peed into the toilet. Sometimes when he was in a really vindictive mood he'd imagine he was peeing on the carpet of a really rude pony to get back at him.

Man, they were right. He really was weird.

Firestorm boredly inclined his head at the ponies he recognized. There was Pinkie, in a poofy turquoise dress, bouncing among the assembled patrons and asking them if they were having fun, before bouncing off with more squeaks and asking the next pair if they were having fun.

Applejack was inside as well, slyly swapping out the treats at the refreshment table with apple-themed desserts of her own for the next pony to pick up. Her green dress seemed to sparkle the same color as her eyes whenever she moved. He spotted the adorkable princess Twilight by Celestia’s side, looking antsy for the night to end, for whatever reason.

Firestorm took one more revolution of the room, trying to find Rainbow Dash.

And it was at the end of the arc that he spotted her touching down as she landed from the open window.

Firestorm’s breath caught in his throat. Her.

At that very instant, the slow chords of a slow song began, and ponies began to double up and take to the floor as the long notes of the cello struck against his pointed ears.

Rainbow Dash made eye contact with him.

Neither of them really did anything. Not at first.

But Firestorm numbly felt his body rise from his seat and flap gently over to her like a puppet. Rainbow Dash kept her eyes on him as he drew closer.

As he came in front of her, he gently landed. Then, cocking his head to the center of the dance floor, he wordlessly extended his hoof to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash froze, her mouth open a little. She had entered through the window with the intention to ask Firestorm to dance. But he had taken the initiative without her help?

“Shoot, I should have said something,” Firestorm admitted. “You... wanna dance? Or something?”

Gulping something down, Rainbow Dash nodded and held out her hoof.

Grinning from ear to ear, Firestorm took her hoof and led her to the dance floor. The song was still going by the time they reached a spot to dance, and as the notes dipped in an indication of increasing tempo, Firestorm and Rainbow Dash reared on their hind legs and put their hooves on each other’s shoulders and hips.

“Is this gonna be boring?” Rainbow asked, looking into Firestorm’s hot yellow eyes. She felt sweat bead up under her dress, and hoped that Firestorm wouldn't feel disgusted. “I, uh... haven't done it with a guy before. At all. Ever.” Rainbow felt humiliation crawling all over her skin like bugs.

Firestorm, however, had a sparkle in his eyes and a knowing smile. “Just follow my lead.”

And as the music increased in tempo, Firestorm slid to the side, easing Rainbow along.

The dance was actually not all that bad. All that she needed to do was move her legs around to a new position every so often. They could have done this dance on a paper plate. Firestorm, however, was able to make such a boring dance exciting enough to make her blood race.

He would slide further than normal when it was time to move. He would swing her around to new positions, forcing her to surrender entirely to his predetermined plans. The movements, while swift, were deft, and Rainbow could not help but admire the grace with which he was able to control her.

It was so strange. Rainbow Dash had never before felt so... feminine. Adrenaline and estrogen were both present in her bloodstream as her crush easily whipped her around the same spot and clouded her mind with thoughts of love.

“You enjoying this?” Firestorm asked her as he slid to the side.

“Yeah!” Rainbow agreed loudly. “You make dancing awesome!”

“You ain't the kind of pony to enjoy something like this,” Firestorm observed shrewdly. “I must be really good at this.”

But Rainbow didn't care if he was the worst dancer in Equestria. Even if he danced like a prepubescent colt, Rainbow was in such close proximity with him that she didn't care about the dance.

Until he said, “Let's spice it up a bit, shall we?”

And he dipped her.

The sudden drop made a lightning bolt sizzle from her rectum to her spine, and she was hanging just above the ground, supported only by Firestorm’s hoof. It made her breath catch in her throat and made her gaze up into the stallion’s sparkling eyes.

“This dance just got 20% cooler,” he observed.

Rainbow, still suspended only by his hoof, nodded in agreement.

Firestorm pulled her up and spun her so her back was against his chest, surprising her yet again. She was touching him, the whole of his chest against the whole of her back! It made her legs wobbly, her stomach heave.

Firestorm then twirled her away from him, but Rainbow was stopped abruptly from the spin as she reached the end of the arc. He then reversed the motion, and Rainbow twirled back in the opposite direction to gently slam into his chest.

She looked up almost imploringly at his face. Her heart was already hammering against her chest at the sudden moves, and she didn't even have to try anything in the dance in order to feel this way. Having another pony make you have so much fun like that was a privilege she had missed out on her whole life.

Firestorm then put his hooves on her waist and picked her off the ground like she was no more than a puppy, then spun around, making her twirl in an orbit around him. Settling her down on the ground again, he raised both of their hooves above their heads and maneuvered Rainbow through the tunnel he had made. Then he reversed the motion and all too soon she was back where she had started.

Rainbow was breathing hard. No need for her to exert herself anymore. All that was needed was to trust the amazing stallion holding her to do the right thing with her. It was scary but magical to do, and it made her feel weightless and as free as she felt in the air.

However, she was sweating hard underneath her white dress, and it clung to her in embarrassing spots. Her mane was shaken loose, her skin was slippery, she felt like she was baking alive.

“You don't look so good,” Firestorm said. “Need a break?”

“NO!” Rainbow insisted, pressing a hoof to his lip. She had touched his lip! “No, I wanna keep dancing.”

He grinned. “Okedoke.” Firestorm removed her hoof from his lip and used it to direct her to the nearest window, tall and stained with vibrant color.

“Uh, Stormy?” Rainbow asked. She congratulated herself for using the nickname. “What are you doing?”

Firestorm looked almost beatific as he spread his wings. “You looked like the hottest thing in the room, Rainbow. I simply thought we'd go somewhere a bit... cooler for a hot pony like you to dance with me.”

Rainbow adopted an expression of confusion to hide the jolt in her stomach that came as he called her hot! “What dija have in mind?” she asked, trying to sound casual.

He spread his wings. “Fly into the night with me, Rainbow. Soar with me, where the only music we need is the deep beats of our hearts and the wind whistling in our ears. Where we can look up and see the sparkle of stars against the waters of night.” He went through the window doors and hopped onto the balcony, then looked behind him adorably. “Please?”

“YES!” Rainbow exclaimed giddily, pressing her forehead against his. Realizing how close she was, she withdrew her head and scratched her mane embarrassingly. “I-I mean I could use a bit of fresh air.”

Firestorm flapped into the air. “Race you!” he cried, and sped off.

Rainbow spread her own wings. “You’re on!” she cried to the small form speeding away, and launched in a prismatic stream off the balcony.

The small, black, spiny bug had spotted the two ponies fly away from the balcony of the castle. What in Equestria were they doing? Who would just up and leave in the middle of a dance?

He was on the side of the castle. He had managed to slip ahead of the looming, mysterious creature by scrambling on the sheer face of the cliff wall that the road leading up to the castle was on.

He had sped ahead of the creature by scuttling vertically on the cliff, and had latched on to the foundation of the castle that was built into the rock. He had scrambled up the curving basin of Canterlot Castle and was even now directly beneath another jutting balcony, watching the rainbow streak and the fire streak zip up unnoticed into the night.

The Nox used his six spiny legs to scramble his way onto the balcony bannister. Then he jumped onto the ceiling and shot into the vaulting overhead of the Grand Hall.

One of the Noxxa was now inside Canterlot.

Freedom Fighter slipped behind yet another pillar, trying to avoid detection by anyone trying to scope him out. Vinyl Scratch was still sitting there on her folding chair, a plate of food in her lap, while two unfamiliar ponies were chatting with her.

“You really came to the Gala but you're not dancing?” one of them was asking. “Colgate and I just wanted to know if you’ve made any other friends apart from Octavia.”

“Lyra Heartstrings talked with me and Lemon Hearts here and she wanted to know how you were doing. Did you meet somepony?” the one called Colgate asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Vinyl Scratch answered. “Yeah, I've met a guy.”

“What’s he like?” Lemon Hearts asked.

“Well, he's real. I can tell ya that. He’s got, you know, a body, and stuff. He's got the eyes, and a nose, and a mouth? Ohoho, he's got a mouth, all right.”

“And teeth, and a tongue as well,” Lemon Hearts said boredly. “We know.”

Vinyl Scratch slowly nodded up and down with a smile that showed her molars. “A tongue. Yeah. I guess.”

“Rrrriiight,” Colgate slowly said. “What does he look like?”

“Looks like?” Vinyl Scratch laughed nervously. “Well, uh, hehe, he looks like... a pony. Just like a normal pony. He's big. Really big.”

“What does he sound like?” Lemon Hearts skeptically asked.

“He sounds like... well, um... when I first met him, he was quiet. Really quiet.” Vinyl put on a fake smile. After a moment she elaborated. “He's got this voice. Well, two voices. That he tells me he has.”

Lemon Hearts traded looks with Colgate.

“No, no, no, stay with me! He speaks. You know, words! That come through his mind! And they get said out loud!”

“Be serious with us, Vinyl,” Colgate said chidingly. “You don't have to pretend your imaginary friend is real.”

“No! No, Colgate, he's real! I can explain--”

“That might take up more time than we’re willing to spend,” Lemon Hearts pointed out. “If you can show us what he looks like, then we can talk about him again. But until then, we’ll just drop the issue. It's making you uncomfortable.” With an about-face, Lemon Hearts and Colgate went away to hit the dance floor.

That left Vinyl sitting in her little chair, her plate of food drooping pathetically in her lap. “He is real…”

Freedom Fighter overheard all of it. He had restrained the urge to hop out and show himself to those two friends of hers, because who else really needed to know? Freedom Fighter knew it would accomplish nothing but instill distrust among her friends because of her knowledge of him.

So he waited until they had left, then said, “I don't think you have a way with words.”

Vinyl Scratch spun around quickly, and when she saw him, she swept the green glasses off her face in joy. “Hey, dude! How ya doing!”

“How am I doing?” he asked, coming to her side and dropping into a cross-legged position. “I just went through some really harmful stuff and made those I cared about experience it. So I'm doing well. Nothing at all wrong about me.”

Vinyl Scratch frowned at the corner of her mouth. “Ah. Sarcasm. That's new.”

“The other guys in my head thought it was the time to use it,” he replied automatically. “What are you doing here? I wouldn't think you'd enjoy this kind of party. I thought you liked epileptic colors and chest-rattling thumps of music.”

“You got that right, I guess.”

“So what are you doing here? Did Octavia pressure you to go?”

“Naw,” Vinyl mumbled. “Truth be told... I asked her.”

Freedom Fighter managed to contort his eyes into an expression of confusion. “What made you decide?”

Vinyl fiddled with the glasses in her magic aura. “You.”

“What did I do?” he asked plaintively.

“You told me you'd be there,” Vinyl explained. “And when I heard that you'd be at the Gala... I dunno, man. It made me feel like I had to go as well.”

Freedom Fighter felt a jolt in his stomach. He hadn't eaten any bad food recently, had he? “Well, I'm here now. What have you been doing?”

“Waiting for you to show up,” she said. Freedom Fighter had to strain his ears to hear it. “I wanted to give you something. In exchange for giving me my new glasses.”

“What is it?”

Vinyl looked less sure of herself. “It’s nothing, really... It’s actually kinda stupid…”

“I'm used to stupid,” Freedom Fighter pointed out, thinking of Firestorm. “Come on, tell me.”

Vinyl Scratch hesitantly pulled out a small, electric-blue tape with deep pink highlights. “This is a little bit of the music me and Tavi produced together. We tried to make it work as a collab. We even got a few ponies with piano and harp skills for a few songs. We thought it’d be pretty cool to sell it. We, um, didn't get contracted, though. The guys in charge didn't think it would be very interesting.”

“And you want... me? To have a copy of unreleased music?”

Vinyl Scratch looked extremely uncomfortable. “Like I said, it's a little stupid. You don't have to take it if you don't want to, I just thought that it might--”

“That’s so awesome.”

Vinyl Scratch broke off. “What?”

“You gave me more than anypony else in Ponyville has,” he said, taking the blue tape and examining the little rectangle. “I’ll gladly take this.”

“Because something’s better than nothing? Right?”

“No, Vinyl. I’d take this... because you're the one offering it. I'll cherish it... because it came from you.”

Vinyl Scratch ignited her cheeks in scarlet and smiled at the ground. “Th-thanks, man. You're the best.”

Freedom Fighter felt something he almost forgot the feeling of. It was a tightening in his chest, a blockage of the throat. He didn't instantly recognize that particular feeling, and he shoved aside his attempts to identify it by speaking through his thoughts. “So what can we do now?”

Vinyl shrugged. “I dunno. I'm an introvert. I’m not one for the slow dancing. And I don't think you are either.”

Freedom Fighter leaned in closer to her seat, still sitting cross-legged. “Can we both sit down here and be introverts together?”

Vinyl smiled shyly. “Sure, dude. I think... I’d like that.”

Miles above Canterlot, the sky was fresh and clear enough to see leagues in every direction. Below Rainbow Dash was the castle of Canterlot and the mountain it was on, and sinking away from the base of the mountain were the fields and surrounding grasslands that supplied the capital city. If she craned her head enough, she could even see Ponyville’s faint lights.

If she looked up, however, she could lose herself in the swirl of the endless night sky. Stars sparkled in the nighttime canvas like the sparkle in Firestorm's black pupil. Not a cloud in the sky was present to obscure her vision.

Turning upside down in the air, the endless sky was suddenly below her, and she felt like if she stopped flapping her wings she’d fall into the endless starry abyss beneath. It was scary and mesmerizing at the same time. It was the first time Rainbow Dash could remember flying like that at night.

“Hey, Dashie!” came Firestorm’s call. Rainbow instantly directed her attention to his position. Mirroring her was Firestorm, so close that they could reach out and hold hooves if they really wanted to. “That looks exhilarating! Imma try that!” He instantly flipped on his back and stared down at the black sea below him, sparkling with the stars. “Whoooah! This is cool!”

“Wanna try a flip?” Rainbow Dash called out to him.

“You're wearing a dress,” Firestorm pointed out. “Unless you want me to see something rather private--”

Rainbow Dash’s cheeks erupted in flame, and she almost dropped in altitude. “Dgah, good point.”

And so Rainbow Dash was content to simply fly by Firestorm’s side, circling higher and higher in the air and making Canterlot Castle shrink beneath her. The air was crisp and made her lungs sizzle with cold whenever she inhaled. The stars, now above her once more, seemed closer than ever.

Eventually, though, even the best of pegasi tire from ascending higher in the air. Rainbow Dash felt this weariness coming on her now, and it made her double over in the air and wheeze for breath.

“I'll try to find a cloud to rest on,” Firestorm offered. “You can circle around and find any spare bits of altostratus. I'll be back!”

And he sped off in the east, becoming a small speck of orange the further he went.

It was strangely relaxing for Freedom Fighter to be sitting there, in the corner of the room near the musician’s dais, with Vinyl Scratch. It even felt better than talking with Noble Blade or Firestorm, because he already knew everything about them. It was even better than talking with himself, because sometimes even he didn't know everything about himself.

But trying to know Vinyl Scratch... it made his chest press down on itself and his breath catch in his throat. It was a good thing he didn't use his mouth to talk.

“I've been with Tavi since we finished college together,” Vinyl was saying. She adjusted her electric green shades. “We just stuck together and tried to promote ourselves. Tavi’s got a job in the orchestra here, and I’ve got a few dance rooms in Manehattan and Canterlot. But Ponyville’s our home sweet home.”

“I wonder…” Freedom Fighter thought.

“You wonder what?” Vinyl asked.

“Sorry. Just thinking aloud here.”

“Yo. That's all you ever do.”

He doubled over, trying to not use his throat to laugh. “That’s a good point,” he conceded. Then he put his hoof on his chin. “Is Tavi your... well... special somepony?”

Vinyl lowered the green shades off her muzzle so her eyes were looking over the rim. “You really think my door swings that way?”

“Well, I don't know,” Freedom Fighter admitted, with a hint of frustration. “It just seems like you do. You've been with her since college. You live with her in the same house. The two of you seem closer than any other two ponies I know of.”

“Hmm,” Vinyl hummed. “I suppose. But naw. We’re just roomies b’cause the housing market in Ponyville's brutal.”

“That explains why I had to stay in Twilight’s castle,” Freedom Fighter mused.

“Tavi ain’t my special somepony, Fight. I've got somepony, um...much more interesting to get with.” She fiddled with the end of her glasses and wiped a lens with a hoof and the edge of her periwinkle-blue dress. “And how about you?” she asked when she was done. “Any mares you've... got an eye on?” She straightened in her seat and smoothed out her dress.

“Me?” Freedom Fighter was hit with memories of all the ponies he had momentarily been attracted to. ”I've had crushes before. But I know it’s all unrequited.” He swished his exposed black tail on the hardwood floor behind him. “I can’t imagine anypony having a crush on me, Vinyl. I can’t imagine other ponies getting butterflies in their stomach just by me saying hi to them. Or somepony not falling asleep because they’re thinking of me. Why would they do that? I’m just not that kind of guy that other ponies would... find attractive.”

“C’mon, man,” Vinyl said with a smile. “There’s gotta be somepony.”

“No, Vinyl. Look, there’s something about me... that makes it hard for me to get a girlfriend.”

“Ooohhh,” Vinyl said slowly, understandably. “Does it have anything to do with your suit?”

“Clever girl…” Freedom Fighter muttered.

“You don't think you’ll be attractive enough for a mare to love,” Vinyl stated matter-of-factly. “And that's why you wear that thing.”

“I wear this thing because I don't want them to be running away in fear,” Freedom Fighter corrected. “And because my identity needs to be kept secret.”

“What kind of identity?” Vinyl asked.

“A secret identity,” Freedom Fighter snarled suddenly. He saw Vinyl flinch and lower her head, and he instantly felt a pang of guilt. “Sorry, I just... it’s important that I never show who I am to my enemies.”

“Am I your enemy?” Vinyl quietly asked.

The question tore into him like the sting of a whip. His back prickled uncomfortably. “No, no, Vinyl. Don't look at it like that.”

“Can I take a look?” she asked.

“No,” he instantly shot back.

“You're good enough for me to take a look,” Vinyl said quietly. “I just thought... since we’re friends now... you might allow me to see who you truly are.”

Freedom Fighter stomped the ground angrily in thought and rubbed his hoof around the rim of the crater he had made. “I don't want to do this,” he muttered angrily. The anger was not at Vinyl, and not even at himself, but at fate for making him scarred and beaten and unapproachable. “If I show you, you’ll just insist I wear this thing all the time.”

“You wear it all the time anyway,” Vinyl pointed out.

Freedom Fighter fell silent. He turned to face her, and there was an alarming look of resignation in his eyes. “Come with me.”

Vinyl Scratch followed him off the ground and into a nearby corridor. Once they reached the end of the dark corridor, they slipped off to the side and out of eyesight of the ponies in the main room.

“You want to see me,” he said sadly. “I will give you this privilege. But when you see my face, don’t scream.” He undid the clasps holding his armored hood to his bodysuit.

Vinyl leaned forward, paying close attention to his every action.

Once the clasps were undone, he grabbed the back of it and pulled forward. The mask he wore was now in his right hoof, and Vinyl Scratch now saw his pale yellow face.

She recoiled, of course. That was a normal reaction. But after her initial moment of shock, she leaned forward again to count the number of scratches in his face, her mouth open in worry. She easily counted the three most distinguished ones over his eye and cheek and jaw, but the rest of the cuts were harder to make out.

Freedom Fighter was stiff with dreary anxiety, waiting for some reaction out of her.

“Oh, my dude…” she whispered. “You look…”

“I know what I look like,” Freedom Fighter instantly responded. His lips did not move. “You don't need to bother pointing it out.”

“You look like you went through a lot,” was what she said at last. She reached out with a hoof. “And you’re still here to talk about it…”

“Not... talk, exactly,” Freedom Fighter sheepishly said. The response wasn’t anything at all like he had expected.

She had placed a hoof on his face. She was caressing his cheek, right down a major scar line. It made him cease his thought process instantly.

“What happened to you?” she whispered. “Why do ponies hate you?”

“They don’t,” he said. “But if I showed them this, they would.”

“I don’t hate you,” she whispered. “You're the strongest guy I know. You’re so resilient.”

Freedom Fighter allowed her to trace the lines of his scars. Wherever her hoof went, it seemed to cool down his skin and sew the scars back together. Eventually, her hoof had covered every inch of his face, and she now was gazing softly into his own eyes.

“Now I know you better than ever. It’s like me and the glasses. You saw my own eyes. Those red eyes. You know me better because of that, right?”

Freedom Fighter admitted that she had a point there.

She put her arms around his shoulders and drew him into a hug. Her head was directly next to his. Freedom Fighter felt stiff in the hug that had nothing to do with the normal bodysuit he wore.

The moment was broken, however, by the clop of hooves down the hallway. “Oh, Vy? I'm on break for now. I saw you come in here with Freedom, and I--” Octavia Melody’s voice broke off abruptly as she came to the end of the hall and turned her head to see Freedom Fighter’s face inches away from Vinyl Scratch’s.

Freedom Fighter tried to fiddle his way away from Vinyl’s grasp, but it was too late now. Octavia had seen him.

“Goodness gracious!” she exclaimed in shock, and ran--not away from him, but towards him, to Freedom Fighter’s immense surprise. “What happened to you? Are you all right? Freedom! Tell me!”

“Tavi! He’s fine!” Vinyl cried, pushing the mare’s face away. “Look, it all happened a long time ago!”

Freedom Fighter adopted a nervous grin at the statement. It only seemed to creep out Octavia, however, who shuffled back. “But... how did it happen?”

“You want to know how I got these scars?” Freedom Fighter demanded. Seeing Octavia’s nod, he blinked something back and drooped his head. “I was in captivity,” he admitted softly. It felt wrong to be disclosing information to anypony about himself--especially a few mares he knew almost nothing about--but at the same time it felt like a great crushing weight was being taken off his chest.

“Oh, I simply can't bear the thought!” Octavia bemoaned. “One of my friends, beaten like an animal! How dare they!”

Freedom Fighter recoiled his head. That was something he hadn’t expected. He had expected expressions of fright, and tears, and false sympathy, but this? It was like the mare wanted to be around him after he had shown her who he truly was.

And then he reflected; so did the rest of the girls. They had been more careful around him since he had showed them his skin, but the only reason why was because they simply wanted to be extra sensitive, not because they didn't want to be around him. The only reason why Freedom Fighter hadn't seen them near him was because it was he who had separated himself from the group, not the group shunning him.

“Come on, man,” Vinyl Scratch muttered. “Who was it that did this? Was it changelings?”

“The changelings are nice now,” Octavia pointed out.

“This happened before the changelings turned nice,” Vinyl pointed out. “Who's the ugly little guy that dared lay a hoof on ya?”

“It was…” Freedom Fighter paused. “It was the Noxxa.”

“The what now?” Octavia asked, tilting her head to the side.

“The changelings are nothing, nothing, compared to the Noxxa,” Freedom Fighter said lowly. “Changelings only want love. Noxxa want to watch the planet burn. Changelings feed off love. Noxxa feed on flesh--pony when they can get it. And changelings had the capacity to be reformed. But the Noxxa came from Tartarus itself. They are irredeemable. They want to stop at nothing to tear this loving world into a land of fire and rotting meat.”

“That sounds dreadful!” Octavia moaned. “Where are they now?”

“Across the continent and south of Saddle Arabia,” Freedom Fighter replied. “I shudder to think of what would happen should even one of them infiltrate Equestria.”

“Octavia! Yoo hoo!” trilled a voice from the front of the side tunnel. “The band is ready to play again.”

“I have to depart,” Octavia said sadly. “I’m glad to have the privilege of knowing you.” And she trotted off in the tunnel and disappeared.

Vinyl Scratch looked at Freedom Fighter.

“Go on,” he said.

“Whadda ya mean?”

“Are you going to say anything more?”

“What else do I need to say?”

“Oh, Vinyl,” he said all of a sudden. “I'm glad to have confided in you.”

“I'm just glad I get to know you,” Vinyl said in return. She straightened the shoulder strap of her periwinkle blue dress and tucked a lock of her blue mane behind her ear.

For only a few more moments they stood there, unsure to look the other in the eye.

“I gotta go check the soundboard,” Vinyl finally said. “It was pretty great seeing you this time around, Freedom.” She moved away from the small corridor and turned away from him. “See ya later, man. Enjoy the music I gave ya!”

And she trotted away.

Freedom Fighter lingered his gaze on her retreating form until she turned a corner to go backstage and she disappeared.

He smiled--a real, genuine smile--and put his cowl back on. “See you later... Vinyl Scratch.”

The moon was bright and full, the night surrounding it black and voiding. From the vantage that Firestorm and Rainbow Dash had, the moon loomed impossibly large above them.

They were on a single cloud, only slightly bigger than the two of them. Both of them were swinging their legs out over the edge, using their forelegs to wrap around each other’s shoulders. The moon illuminated the cloud like a spotlight.

“So.” Firestorm rubbed her shoulder. “Rainbow Dash likes dancing. Who would have thought?”

“I only like dancing when it’s with you,” she responded, relaxing her shoulders to make it easier for him to knead the muscle there.

“What?” Firestorm asked. “You're acting like I'm actually good at something.”

“Of course you're good at things!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “You're good at flying, and dancing, and--” she stopped talking and moaned as he pressed on a particularly sore spot in her arm. “And you're good at that, too.”

He giggled like a filly and covered his mouth with a hoof. “D’aw, stop it, you!” He then leaned in close so he could whisper. “Don’t stop!” he hissed.

“Ooohhh,” she said knowingly. “Okay, then! I see how it is! Well then, mister, I say you have to give three attributes about me before I continue!”

“You're awesome. You're awesome. You're awesome.”

“No fair! Something real!” Rainbow Dash kept to herself that hearing him say that she was awesome actually meant the world to her.

“All right, then,” he said simply. His hoof moved to play with the end of her mane. “You're patient. I've noticed that you manage to put up with me and Pinkie. And to a lesser extent, Twilight. Point is, you can stay with ponies you don't always like.”

“But...I do like you,” she breathed.

“Hm?”

“Uh, nothing! I wanna hear more awesome stuff about me. Come on, Stormy. Hustle here!”

“Of course, your worshipfulness,” he said with a jaunty grin. He twirled the end of her mane. “Second thing. You're social. You can make and stay friends with anypony you meet. Like with me, when we first met after I single-hoofedly rescued Twilight from the Noxxa. You managed to actually make friends with me! That in itself is worthy of a badge of honor.”

“Okay, first of all, it was easy to make friends with you. Second, you didn't single-hoofedly rescue Twilight. It was all three of you!”

“Shh,” he hurriedly said, bringing his head in closer to hers. “That's what they want you to think.”

He twisted his body to face her slightly, and Rainbow responded by facing him as well.

“Third of all…” he murmured. His eyes traveled from her face to her shining white dress, to her hips, to her shoulders, to her shining, prismatic mane laced with color and jagged ends, and back to her face again. “You’re pretty.”

“Dgah, um... p-pretty?” she asked, her color rising with every moment.

“I-I mean, hot!” he rushed out. “You're hot. You're…” He coughed and ruffled his mane. “You're pretty hot.”

Rainbow Dash’s legs were trembling so hard one of them was bouncing up and down, and she reached out to hold it steady. Her head felt hotter than she remembered it being. This had to be a dream. It was too good for real life.

After that rather awkward remark, Firestorm and Rainbow Dash simply gazed up at the monstrous silver moon.

“Dashie?” Firestorm asked, looking into his lap. “There’s something I gotta... tell you.”

She noticed his shoulders had relaxed, and his voice was halting. Rainbow’s heart lurched against her ribcage.

“Ever since the flying competition, I just wanted you... to be happy.”

Rainbow Dash was hanging on to every word he spoke. This was a potentially groundbreaking thing.

“I just wanted things to be right for both of us. For you to like me. As much as I... like you.”

Like me? Rainbow Dash thought instantly. The thought made her brain sizzle, made goosebumps rise on the back of her neck. It made her shake with anticipation, like she was on the end of the tallest springboard in Equestria.

“I like you, Rainbow.” He scooched up to her side so their arms were rubbing against each other. “As close a friend as can possibly be. And even closer than that. Maybe even…” A small bead of sweat broke on his forehead. “...Further than that. I…” He tapped his hooves together. “I feel closer to you than any of the other girls. The girl I want to spend the most time with. More than anypony else in Equestria. Is you.”

Rainbow Dash was waiting with bated breath, clinging to every word.

“If you’ll forgive me, I need to look away for this part. This is the only way I can say this confidently.” Firestorm finally just gazed up at the moon and sighed deeply. “I love you, Rainbow Dash. I’ll say it here and now, while we’re on top of the world. You are the only pony I want to be with from the beginning of time to the end of all eternity.”

Firestorm loves me.

The very thought was a titanic lurch in her brain as she had to now readjust her mindset of him. Firestorm had gone from a nuisance, to a pony that had saved her life, to a hot hunk of a stallion, to her actual boyfriend.

And then, after the moment of disbelief that what she was hearing was real and not a perfect daydream, she placed a hoof to her furiously pounding heart and broke into a wide, wavering grin.

Firestorm loves me!

Firestorm, for his part, chuckled at the moon and turned to face Rainbow Dash again, holding up his hooves in mock surrender. “Now, I know that sounds... bad-”

Rainbow Dash had fired herself at him and planted her lips on his, forcing his eyes wide open. The kiss had come so quickly, so unexpectedly, that he had no time to react, and stood still like a statue as Rainbow Dash threw her arms around him.

Rainbow noticed this after five seconds of her kiss and broke away, worry creasing her face as she spotted the star-struck look on him. “Aww, shoot,” she said in concern. Her ears drooped under the golden crown she wore. “I came on too strong, did--”

Firestorm pulled her in closer and pressed his own lips against hers, silencing her abruptly. This time it was her turn to bulge her eyes. Then, after only a second, she closed her eyes and pressed back into the kiss with everything she had.

Firestorm fell backward, taking Rainbow with him, and suddenly Rainbow was atop Firestorm, kissing him with all the force she could muster. They sank a little into the puffy cloud like it was the pillow on a royal bed.

After they had their fill, both of them broke away. A small string of saliva was still connected between their lips.

“Where did this madness come from?” Firestorm asked jovially.

Rainbow Dash just pressed her entire torso against his, from shoulder to hip, while keeping her head up. “Doncha get it, ya handsome hunk of a stallion? I just fell for a stud like you!”

Firestorm began to laugh. His chest convulsions made Rainbow jiggle. “Ohoho, this is glorious!” he roared in joy, and threw his hooves around Rainbow, squeezing her even tighter. “I managed to get the hottest girl in Equestria to love me! This is amazing!”

“You feel on top of the world, huh?” Rainbow Dash asked him, grinning like a foal. She gestured out at the wide expanse of space above them. “ ‘Cause that ship has sailed.”

“No, Rainbow!” he cried. “Our ship has only begun to set sail!”

Rainbow Dash gave a confused tilt of her head.

“Relation-ship,” he explained. He leaned his head forward and tapped his nose to hers. “Boop.”

Rainbow Dash flinched backwards adorably. “What was that?”

“I booped you,” Firestorm explained. “That means you’re mine now. If you boop me back, I become yours as well.”

Smiling without even trying to, Rainbow tapped her nose to his. “Boop.”

“And now that the holy booping ritual is complete,” Firestorm said, “we are now officially lovers!”

He leaned up and pressed his lips against hers, and Rainbow Dash melted away any movement and relaxed on top of him.

It was so good, kissing Firestorm. That close to him, she could taste him and smell him and relish it as much as she wanted. She squirmed involuntarily on top of him and pressed back on his lips with a ferocity that surprised her.

Lying on the small cloud, miles above Canterlot and spotlighted by the moon, the two newest lovers in Equestria simply took delight in the revelation that their dreams were all now real. Nothing else mattered to the rainbow and the flame except how to best love the other in so brief a moment that they had together.

It would be one of the only few moments in the tumultuous months to come when they would have such an opportunity.

It was the last perfect moment in all of Equestria before darkness would creep into their lands and threaten to destroy peace forever.

But for now, in this one moment, all was right in the world.

Chapter Thirty-five: The Prophet

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The strange, hulking beast, draped in a cloak from blackest night, strode forth on gnarled legs along the path leading to Canterlot Castle. The night all around him enveloped his identity until he could not be identified until he was directly in front of anyone. The creature was grateful for that, at least.

He looked up at the skies once more. The moon shone like a spotlight on Canterlot Castle. The stars speckling the night sky like freckles added to the luster and gleam of the atmosphere. It was an entirely clear night, save for a single cloud high above the tallest spires of the castle. The creature felt himself take a deep breath and exhale softly. It was good to be in such a place of majesty, but it was not his purpose to admire the beauty of the night.

As he went along, wrapped tightly in his coverings, his wide eyes traveled over to the sides. Ponies, dressed in impossibly fancy clothing in light pastel colors, spotted him and gasped in horror, or made faces of disgust and turned away.

The creature had expected that. He understood that his appearance wouldn’t be widely accepted among the ponies in the land; especially considering that the last time he had visited, it had been centuries prior. He had tailed death and destruction behind him as well, making it even harder for him to believe that his appearance would be a good thing.

He eventually came to the gates blocking entry to the castle. Evidently, after a set time, the gates were closed to visitors.

This didn’t bother the creature; he simply raised a hand under his cloak and casually swished two fingers through the air. After several clicks, the gate unlocked itself, the bars atop the gate slid aside, and the gates, with an oily creak, swung inwards.

The creature strode forth through the gates, and when he was in, he glanced back. Behind him, at his command, the gates swung back together and clanged back into place.

“Hey! Did you hear that?”

“I heard it, too!” another voice cried out. “It came from the gates!”

The creature paid no mind to the voices, however. He simply carried on with his steps, now coming in quick bursts. He was still wrapping his cloak tightly around him.

Eventually, however, his progress was halted by the flapping of wings. Turning his head to the side disinterestedly, he noticed roughly a dozen Royal Guard settling down to the ground and landing all around him, trapping him in a circle.

The Prophet didn’t even slow down.

“Sir,” the lead guard said. “You weren’t invited to the Gala. If you would be so kind as to turn around...” He stopped when he saw that the creature towering over him obviously wasn’t paying any attention to him, and hurriedly ran ahead of him to stop his progress. “Sir!” he cried. “I must insist--”

The Prophet lifted his gnarled brown hand out of the cloak and extended his fingers. “Llavaru my’ak SA!”

An explosive burst of power emanated from his center, throwing the Royal Guard back, spinning to the ground and crashing their heads into the earth. The Prophet hadn’t intended to kill them; he knew they were simply doing their job. So, without looking back, he strode onward.

As he went, he noticed that no alarms so far had been raised as to his entry. He was grateful for that. Word hadn’t gotten around quick enough for mobilization. But it also meant that the Royal Guard needed more training, which would be useful for the months to come.

After a while, he eventually reached the massive double doors acting as an entry point into Canterlot Castle. Outstretching a hand, he laid it on the soft wood and moved it over to the brass lock. A whisper of his dark power made the locks inside shift around and change, and a black coil of spiky energy leaked out of the lock and moved to cover the edges and cracks of the massive doors, until every crack in the door shone with unnatural power.

With a twist of his mind, the Prophet commanded the door to open.

With a loud, overriding creak, first one door, then the other, banged open and collided against the walls, heralding his sudden appearance with two intrusive BOOMs. The open doorway revealed to everypony in the front entryway the form of the creature’s misshapen body.

The Prophet simply walked on the red carpet leading in with long, sweeping strides, his cloak billowing out from behind him. His fist raised up in the air, and the doors swung inward and closed with a resounding BOOM.

His progress was unhindered as he made his way up the front steps; everypony else was looking away in either fear or disgust. The creature inferred by now that normally only ponies would be allowed to be accepted into normal society. Things had definitely changed since he had first entered Equestria.

At the top of the steps, the creature could hear the sounds of melodious, peaceful music playing from behind the closed doors. The music reinvigorated him, giving strength to his weakened frame and adding adrenaline to his slow veins. What made him perk up even more was the smell of delightful treats and drinks, seeping through the crack between the doors.

“Al’yaru... dy’sanshat...bion shal al’ror…” he muttered, the chanting giving him strength.

“Hey!” a voice cried from behind him. “Just what do you think you’re doing here? You don’t have a ticket! Besides, the Gala’s closed to new admissions, and I don’t think you would have... gotten past the... royal... guard...”

The creature turned around and looked down at who had spoken. At his waist level was a pony in a ridiculously attired suit, top hat, and monocle. The pony, upon seeing the gaze directed at him by the creature, fell silent and gulped down his fear.

“Seshnu,” the Prophet murmured, and the pony suddenly went cross-eyed. He stumbled off in wide, stiff steps, his mind wiped temporarily blank, and the creature redirected his attention to the door.

His dark power was almost at its end, but now, so close to the end of his journey, when the music played so sweetly and the smells of foods he hadn’t tasted for so long tickled his nose, he suddenly found himself reinvigorated and more powerful than he felt before. Pressing himself for magic, he pointed at the bottom of the door with a finger.

“STOP RIGHT THERE!” came a new voice, and the front doors banged open once more. Galloping through the front doors were a full score of the Royal Guard, who spread out in two lines to the sides of the civilians. The commanding voice, from the lead pegasi guard, continued to speak. “Lay down yourself! Hands in the air, where I can see them!”

The Prophet, without even turning around, raised a gnarled brown fist in the air and twisted it sharply. Instantly, each and every guard collapsed to the ground, fallen fast asleep.

Among the gasps that reached every Canterlot citizen, one of them said, “Well, he raised his hand, all right…”

Vinyl Scratch could hear the sounds of the music playing from backstage. The distinctive sound of Octavia’s cello reached her ears like a familiar message being played to her over and over again. A curtain separated Vinyl from the rest of the Gala’s attendees.

Her head still had the image of Freedom Fighter’s scarred and mutilated head in the forefront. Vinyl had been repulsed by the sight, but she was only scared of the scars. Showing himself to her as a sign of trust was all that mattered to her.

The poor dude was like that everywhere on his body. No wonder he didn't want to show her it. He obviously thought it would damage how she viewed him.

“But naw, man,” Vinyl muttered, taking off her sunglasses to see better in the darkness behind the stage. “You're doing fine because you showed me it.”

It was fun being introverts with him. To not even really do stuff, but just be there by his side because he didn't want to be anywhere else.

Looking past the scars... he was even kinda rugged.

The thoughts distracted her so that she almost didn't notice it.

She ran her eye over the soundboard controlling the speakers for the Gala. And she did it once more.

“Wait a sec,” she muttered. She sifted through a cardboard box atop the soundboard with her magic. “Where’s the mic and the little radio I had here?” After rummaging through the box she added, “And the earpiece, too?”

A dark, scuttling shadow with six legs moved up the wall behind her into the buttresses, unseen and quiet.

Vinyl finally gave up and settled the box down again. “Now I gotta buy more,” she muttered under her breath. “Never around when you need ‘em.”

The air was peaceful and warm; the music calming and beautiful. Noble Blade made a revolution of the room with his head. Pinkie Pie was engorging herself with hors d’ouvres. Applejack was explaining to an interested couple the benefits of apple-based industry. Twilight was comfortably chatting with Starlight Glimmer and Princess Celestia and Spike was simply nibbling a slice of strawberry-drowned cake. Fluttershy was by his side, he had spotted Firestorm dancing with Rainbow Dash, and Freedom Fighter had been sitting in a corner with a punkish-looking mare, being polite and interested. Now, he was still sitting in a corner, but he was at peace with himself instead of stressing about himself.

All was good in the world.

A sharp, deafening crack suddenly cut through the lovely atmosphere like a sword, halting every joyous movement. The music stopped, the dancing cut off, the sounds of conversation froze as the air seemed harder to breathe all of a sudden; thinner and more perilous than before. One mare was so startled that she dropped the glass plate she was holding and it shattered.

The three Princesses, the four Elements of Harmony in the room, and the two Guardians of the Sun whipped their heads over to the door in time to see a single slicing motion break the bolts holding the door in place.

The door was motionless for just a second, then they swung inward slowly.

The dark figure in the doorway was tall and hunched over. His shadow stretched along the ground and almost reached the opposite end. He was enveloped in a dark cloak that covered every inch of his body, save for his hand, which was out to the side.

Celestia and Luna ignited their horns warily at the sight of the visitor, who now walked inside, his cloak billowing behind him. As he walked by, he exuded an aura of unnatural and humbling power: divine and holy, yet bitter and cold. Ponies he walked by shivered and shied back from him, whispering in fear.

The creature raised his fist to the square, and the doors banged shut behind him, with nary a look to the side nor a moment of hesitation in his footsteps. He individually pointed at the massive open windows, and one by one they banged shut, causing a draft in the room with each breath of the swinging colored windows. His strides did not stop, and as he made a beeline for Celestia and Luna, ponies melted out of his path.

Except one.

Twilight had bravely positioned herself directly in front of the other princesses. Still in her pink Gala dress, she stomped the ground resolutely. “That’s enough!” she commanded. “Stop!”

And this time, the creature finally stopped in his path, looking down on the small alicorn with worshipful wonder. It was as if Twilight was a fascinating work of art he had spent his entire life searching for.

The action made Twilight blink in relief. “Oh, good. You’re at least better than other things to happen at Galas beforehoof, I suppose. Now, why are you here?”

And then, to Twilight’s astonishment, the creature draped in black swept his cloak back and bowed before Twilight while he was still a far distance off. “Ra’sa’guan al shanto,” he intoned deeply, reverently. Shivers ran up her back at the mystical language. “Ulu bion then, Twilight Sparkle.”

And instantly, to Twilight’s surprise, the black form of Freedom Fighter leaped in between Twilight and the mysterious creature, his long staff out to the side. “OH, NO YOU DON’T!”

With a flick of his hoof, he twisted the staff, and it raged a glowing yellow, causing everypony in the room to gasp. He jerked his hoof and the two hinges on the staff snapped back, turning the staff into a magical yellow bow with a string of glowing energy. Gripping the string with a free hoof, he pulled it back, a yellow arrow instantly appeared, and he let loose.

The yellow bolt of energy sang its deadly hum as it targeted the creature’s bowed head.

And it stopped not a foot away from his face as the creature, fast as lightning, caught the magical bolt of buzzing yellow energy in his gnarled fist.

He held it there, to the astonishment of everyone in the room. Then he threw it into the ground in front of him, causing several shrieks as it exploded and threw up debris like a grenade had gone off.

“...Who... are you?” Freedom Fighter asked in astonishment. “You spoke the Rada tongue.”

The creature lifted his head up to look the warrior in the face, his hood still cloaking him in shadow. He was enveloped in the residual smoke from the deflected magic bolt.

“I speak many tongues, Unforgiven,” he said, making the pony freeze in shock. “You and I must carry this one on.”

Freedom Fighter snapped his bow back into a glowing yellow staff and leveled it at the creature like he was holding a sword. The staff was shivering. “Don’t…” he whispered lowly in his mind. “...you dare speak that name!”

“It is who you are,” the creature said mystically from under his bowed hood. “It was attributed to you long before you were born. You, along with all the other Bearers, were spoken of long before the world--nay, the universe--began.”

“Other bearers?” Twilight asked, craning her head around the furious Freedom Fighter. “What do you mean?”

“State your business, creature,” Celestia snarled at him, stepping down from the dais and bowing her head so her horn was level with the creature’s chest. “Or we will cast you out.” Sparkles of energy surrounded the tip of her horn.

The creature took his hand out of his cloak and stretched it imploringly to Princess Celestia. “Lightbringer,” he intoned to Princess Celestia. “The time is now.”

Princess Celestia froze. “How... did you know that name?”

“The power of Faust compels me, Lightbringer. Your name was written in the stars. As were the names of the Ten Souls and their companions.”

As the strange creature spoke the last sentence, his mild and calm tone changed to a deep, mystical voice that emanated from the vaults of heaven. His outstretched warty hand clenched, and the light in the room darkened until it became the color of dusk, making ponies whisper and cling to each other in terror.

“Once more must the Bearers take upon themselves the mantle of protectors, as dark forces prepare to tear the earth asunder and melt the planet with fervent heat,” the creature intoned. “The king of Tartarus does not wait. In less than six month’s time, the Pale Rider will march forth to conquer all that gives life. The sun shall be blackened; the moon shall become as crimson blood; the stars of heaven shall become dim under the conquering smoke of the Fallen Race as they march forth. The Pale Rider shall spare none, the spilled blood of ponies shall turn the oceans thick, and should the Ten Souls fail in their quest, the universe shall bow to the king of Tartarus.”

The instant he finished speaking, he unclenched his fist, the light returned to the room, and the creature had dropped out of his deep and powerful voice. “Hasten and obey, Princess Celestia. Whether by my own voice or the voice of Faust, it is the same.”

“Sister!” Princess Luna whispered to Celestia urgently. “ ‘Tis the Prophet!”

“The Prophet?” Celestia gasped. "You!”

The Prophet took both of his hands and lifted his hood, revealing the face of a kindly gargoyle with two white horns, wreathed in a brown, bushy mane. Sweeping aside his wide cloak to reveal his brown underside, he looked a stunned Celestia in the face. “I am Scorpan, the brother of Lord Tirek. The time prophesied by Faust has come at last.”

Chapter Thirty-six: Written in the Stars

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Scorpan’s announcement brought shocked gasps from nearly all assembled.

“The brother of Lord Tirek?” The crowd parted yet again to show Prince Blueblood draw the thin sabre from his side with his magic and swirl it in the air flamboyantly. “As the crown prince of Canterlot, I won’t have another charlatan like you set foot in this city! We don't want to have a false practitioner infect our minds with nonsense! Surrender now, or I will be forced to engage you in a duel!”

“You can’t!” cried a mare from the crowd, amid the gasps that came forth.

“Somepony has to,” Blueblood gravely stated. “I will face him down for your safety, and for the safety of this city!” His sabre lifted in the air triumphantly. “For Canterlot!”

The Prophet finally turned, disinterestedly, to regard Prince Blueblood, who was pawing at the ground like a bull about to charge. The prince’s eyes flicked over to meet those of Rarity for just a moment to see if she was watching. Then he charged at the Prophet, yelling and flickering his sabre like an inexperienced foal.

The Prophet held a single finger in the air and snarled, “Thrasc’ya!”

The prince’s blade dripped off its handle in mid-run like melting ice, and ended up as a long trail of luminescent metal on the ground as he ran. The prince noticed it all too late, and screamed in shock as he held up the bladeless handle with his magic.

Scorpan then pointed the finger at Blueblood. “Haltha!”

An arc of electricity lanced out of his finger and struck Blueblood in the tip of the horn. The prince bellowed in pain and collapsed backwards, convulsing and bending over as streams of white coursed across his body.

“Take me not for a conjurer of cheap tricks!” the Prophet bellowed at him, and his voice came from every direction at every volume. The windows shuddered as an invisible wind made them chatter like teeth, and the air dropped in pressure and temperature.

Watching in disgust for only a minute longer, Scorpan relaxed his etched face, and the air returned to its normal quality. Ponies everywhere in the room flicked their eyes, either to each other or to the Prophet, but said or did nothing that was on their minds. Blueblood ceased his writhing, stood up wobbily, and, with a furtive look at the Prophet, hurried out of the room with a bowed head in shame.

Twilight’s mind was spinning furiously. Out of nowhere, the brother of Lord Tirek appears, clad in a long cloak and proficient in mystical and ancient magic. Should Twilight believe in him? Prophets were old-timey and usually mad. What claim did Scorpan have to know the truth?

Twilight’s inner thoughts did not make the rest of the room pay attention, however; Celestia was inching towards the tall gargoyle. “Scorpan,” she whispered. “After all this time... We thought you had returned to your own lands...”

“Which was where the Rada once were,” Scorpan clarified. He turned to Twilight and her friends, who were watching, awestruck. “I lived in the nearby mountains. My mind was broken out of its perpetual reverie, however, when one day a bright ring of many colors appeared out of the sky. That light... did something to me as I looked up. I was forever changed by the divine power behind the ring of many colors.”

Was he talking about the Sonic Rainboom? That Rainbow Dash had done when they were all fillies? Although there was no divine power behind the Rainboom, it matched the description perfectly.

“I learned that day, through divine revelation, that I was chosen to be a prophet. My destiny was to bring a warning about the salvation of the planet. I learned also about ten specially chosen ponies to keep at bay the forces of darkness. And by the grace of Faust, one of them was living not five miles from me, down in the fertile plains!

“But the Pale Rider soon descended upon the village of the Rada and laid waste to all that stood in his path. I was not strong enough to liberate the Unforgiven from his captors--”

Freedom Fighter made an incredibly derisive sound in his throat, almost causing him to double over with pain.

“--but I spent all the time I could preparing for the time to bring the Ten Souls together. This led me to visit my older brother in the blackened hellscape of Tartarus. While I was there, I was urged by the voice of guidance to overhear the talks between the King and the Pale Rider.”

Scorpan’s eyes softened, and he folded his arms behind his back. “All I say is true, Celestia. Accept my guidance like the friend I was to you many years ago.”

Princess Celestia had a look of both anguish and fear on her expression. Her eyes flitted from Scorpan’s eyes to the ground in front of her, to the back of Twilight’s head, to the heads of Noble Blade and Fluttershy, to Freedom Fighter, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Rarity. Finally, she cast a sideways glance at Starlight Glimmer.

She whispered, “But... must the time be now?”

“There is no other way,” Scorpan intoned. He steepled his fingers. “Our imminent destruction is sure if we do not take action now.”

The room was filled with whispers, glances to the side, wide eyes, fervent expressions. Some of the whispers were things like, “Oh, this is serious! What do we do?” while others were things like, “I don’t believe him! He’s a gargoyle!” and still others whispered, “The Ten Souls? What are those?”

Finally, after moments of indecision, one voice made all others fall silent.

“If what thou art saying is true,” Noble Blade cautiously asked the hulking gargoyle, “Then who art the Ten Souls thou speakest of? I have not heard of such a thing before.”

Scorpan gave him a look of incredulity. “Knight Protector,” he said in a surprised tone, making the handsome unicorn freeze. “I thought you knew. You are one of the Ten Souls. You, Knight Protector, must wield the Element of Honor in the fight against the king of Tartarus.”

And just like that, Noble Blade’s jaw dropped.

Many things were whirling at breakneck speed through his mind. The Element of Honor? But that would mean--

It was true!

The rumors Rarity, Firestorm, and Rainbow Dash had brought were true!

“Beggin’ yer pardon? Mister Scorpan?” Applejack asked from the sidelines.

Scorpan looked jolted at that, as if he had never been called Mister Scorpan before, but he nodded. “Yes, Mistress of the Plains?”

Now it was Applejack’s turn to look jolted. “Nuthin’ against ya, but... what’s with th’ names yer callin’ us? Lightbringer, Knight Protector... Mistress o’ the plains? What in the hay are ya talkin’ about?”

“Everypony that has ever existed has an eternal name in the stars, but prophecy and revelation have given your names deeper meaning.”

“Ooh! Ooh! What’s my name?” Pinkie Pie piped up, shooting a hoof in the air.

Scorpan fixed her with a gaze. “The Blood of Life.”

Pinkie Pie blinked in surprise. Evidently, she was not expecting that particular name.

Scorpan directed his attention towards Rarity and Fluttershy. “The Huntress. The Dreadful Bear.”

Rarity and Fluttershy recoiled at their respective names. “The Huntress?” Rarity whispered, with a hoof to her mouth.

“D-d-dreadful B-bear?” Fluttershy quivered.

Scorpan directed his gaze at Spike next. “The Dragon Lord.”

“Dragon Lord?” Spike asked in bewilderment. “B-but Ember is the Dragon...Lord. What’s gonna... what’ll happen to me?”

Scorpan only gave Spike a look of immense sadness. Spike gulped and said no more.

Scorpan stared at Freedom Fighter next. “The Unforgiven. The wielder of the Element of Sacrifice.”

Freedom Fighter stuck the tip of his yellow staff in the ground, making the ground smoke from the point of impact. “Sacrifice?” Freedom Fighter whispered in rage. “I, the Element of Sacrifice? Is this some kind of...sick joke? Why me? Why must I be the one to sacrifice everything?”

“Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven,” Scorpan uttered.

Freedom Fighter glared at Scorpan with hatred, his intense gaze unfaltering and unblinking, but he said no more.

Scorpan then gave his attention to Twilight Sparkle. “The Child of Light.”

Twilight felt something different about this particular name that he had given her. Child of Light seemed more important than The Huntress, or The Dragon Lord. But what was it that she needed to do to live up to her name of Child of Light?

Why was it always her? Why was she always the catalyst through which everything would come to pass? The axis around which everything would rotate? Twilight would welcome the challenge, of course. But she also wondered when her influence would catch her a break for once.

And Scorpan then gazed at Starlight Glimmer. In his eyes, he held wonder and worship.

“Starlight Glimmer,” Scorpan murmured. “The Last Hero.”

Starlight Glimmer gasped. “The Last Hero?” she whispered.

“For good or for ill, you shall be the last one to give up your freedom,” Scorpan explained.

“S-sir?” Starlight asked. “I-if it’s true... what you’re saying about the Elements of Harmony... then which one must I wield?”

“The Element of Redemption,” Scorpan said.

Starlight Glimmer gave deep breaths and stared at the ground. The rest of the room was spellbound by the sacred occurrence of the Prophet declaring the ancient prophecies. The respective names of each of the souls whirled around in their heads.

“Now…” Scorpan said quietly, looking around the room. He looked confused. “Ten souls. But there are eight of you here.” His expression tumbled from confused to concerned. “Where is the Raging Inferno and the Stormkeeper?”

As if on cue, the two doors banged open with a thunderous noise, causing every head to turn. In the doorway was Firestorm holding Rainbow Dash bridal-style, flapping with his wings to keep them afloat. “FLY ON THE WIIIIIIINGS OF LOOOOOOooooohhhh…”

Firestorm and Rainbow Dash fell silent as they spotted the gargoyle. In the silence that followed, nothing could be heard except for the breathing of hundreds of guests.

Then Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. “Waaiit a minute,” Rainbow Dash said slowly, scratching her chin. “Who are you?”

“The Raging Inferno,” Scorpan gasped. He bowed to the two newcomers. “And the Stormkeeper. It is an honor to be graced by your presen--”

“Hold up,” Firestorm said to Rainbow Dash, cutting off Scorpan’s words. He squinted at the Prophet. “It’s... Jonathan, right?”

Scorpan looked up and adopted an expression of bewilderment.

“Oh! Oh, no, wait! You’re not Jonathan! I mistook you for someone I met in college!” He pointed at Scorpan, looking down at Rainbow Dash. “Can you believe this guy?”

“Yeah, right.” Rainbow Dash grinned jokingly up at him. “You’ve never even been to college!”

“Oh, hush,” Firestorm hurriedly said, tousling her mane.

Rainbow Dash, without warning, leaned up and kissed him, right in front of everypony assembled.

When they pulled away, Firestorm finally decided to look around the room curiously. After ten whole seconds of silence, Firestorm said awkwardly, “Did I miss something while I was out?”

Scorpan looked back at Princess Celestia and jerked his thumb at Firestorm. “Is he always like this?”

“Only when he stays up past 8:00,” Celestia said flatly in reply. “You should start having second thoughts of him helping to save the world.”

“But he must,” Scorpan insisted. “He represents the Element of Courage. Without him, all the Elements will not have the strength to destroy the king of Tartarus.”

“Okay,” Firestorm said when Scorpan was done. “I definitely think I missed something while I was out.”

“Why’d you call me the Stormkeeper?” Rainbow Dash curiously asked.

“Names written in the stars, or something,” Starlight Glimmer said. “He was just explaining it.”

“Yeah. Hey, um, could you repeat yourself, whoever you are, because... I don’t have a clue what’s happening here.”

“Firestorm,” Twilight Sparkle spoke up, feeling her throat become dry. “And Rainbow Dash. Meet Scorpan, the brother of Lord Tirek.”

“LORD TIREK?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, leaping out of Firestorm’s arms and flapping next to him.

“Indeed, Stormkeeper,” Scorpan confirmed. “I come with a warning. Prepare to meet the armies of the Pale Rider, who leads the Fallen Race.”

“The Pale Rider?” Firestorm asked in confusion. “The only real pale guy I know is--” He stopped in his tracks. “...Marshal... Malice?”

“Marshal Malice,” Twilight whispered in fear. She still remembered the terrible face of the monstrous centipede.

“Let him come,” Freedom Fighter snarled in his contorted, deep voice within his mind.

The room, still full of innocent ponies only there for the Gala, was confused by the words the Prophet was speaking. Marshal Malice? Who was that?

“But where are these other Elements?” Twilight asked.

Princess Celestia shifted uncomfortably.

Twilight spotted this out of the corner of her eye and slowly turned around. “Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked shrewdly. “You said you would explain it all.”

“She what?” Freedom Fighter asked, turning to face Celestia as well.

Princess Celestia gulped.

Freedom Fighter marched to her, holding his staff in front of him. “I was free with my information. I showed you everything about me. All the dark, twisted secrets of my soul. And this is what you do in return?”

“Freedom,” Princess Luna tried to say, but Freedom Fighter wasn’t finished.

“Do. Not. Lie. To me. Where are the Ten Elements?”

Celestia flinched as the end of the yellow magical staff almost poked her in the face. “Let me speak.”

The end of the staff sprouted a long blade, nearly touching her eye, and Celestia backed away in fear. “SAY IT NOW!” Freedom Fighter roared at her, making her stumble onto her flank and causing the Canterlot nobility to gasp. “TELL ME WHY YOU LIED!”

“Stop it, Freedom!” Twilight cried, coming around to place herself between her and him. “L-look, I’m mad that Celestia kept things hidden from us too. B-but... don’t hurt her!”

Freedom Fighter glared back at her angrily, but lowered the staff and dejected the blade at the end. “Fine,” he growled. “Let her speak to us.” He turned around to address everyone else. “Privately.”

Without waiting for Celestia’s approval, he gripped her around the arm and led her forcefully out of the dance hall into a side chamber. The rest of the ponies and the baby dragon that Scorpan had named also followed her out, with Princess Luna trailing behind at the end.

When the doors leading out had slammed shut, Scorpan about-faced and went over to the refreshment table, ponies melting out of his way as he tramped heavily to the table. They remembered how quickly he had reprimanded the prince, and none of them had the intention of repeating the same mistake Blueblood made.

When he was there, a mare in a green dress gulped and asked, “Wh-what d-do you want?”

Scorpan took an entire plate of miniature sandwiches and began popping them into his mouth one by one, moaning in delight every time one touched his tongue. He finished the sandwiches quickly and moved on to a circular vegetable platter.

“Sir?” the mare asked again.

Scorpan looked up at the mare, his mouth bulging with carrots and celery stalks. “Desist from upbraiding my hunger.”

He swallowed and moved to the next table dish. Finally taking advantage of the freedom allotted to many others, Scorpan finally succumbed to the natural desires of the flesh and consumed his hunger at Celestia’s table of friendship.

The Nox that had hidden in the soaring buttresses overhead managed to gulp down his apprehension. Here below him was The Prophet, along with the Lightbringer, the Ten Souls, and every noble in Canterlot!

The one in black--the notorious Guardian of the Sun--was the Unforgiven! He was supposed to be dead! It made his heart constrict in fear and make his claws slippery enough to almost fall in surprise when he was named as such by the Prophet.

It was all over. The Unforgiven would find him and he would kill him, but only limb by limb, so he could feel every bit of black sand patter out of his open wounds until he was sitting in a pile of his own insides. The Unforgiven would show no mercy to him or any other Nox, and the ashes he would leave in his burning wake would intermingle with the sands of thousands of Noxxa.

It took every ounce of control to keep his grip steady on the buttress. Spotting the Unforgiven leading Celestia out of the room, he fumbled around with the equipment he had managed to sneak away from the stage’s soundboard. Within several minutes, he had managed to jury-rig a small radio to a microphone and headset.

Setting the radio to his desired frequency, he held down a button and whispered, “This is K’ra, of the 40th Spy Network. Come in.”

There was nothing but static.

He fiddled with it again and repeated the message. “This is K’ra, of the 40th Spy Network. Come in!”

After a bit of further adjustment, a small voice came out of the earpiece he had snatched as well. “K’ra! What are you doing, contacting High Command?”

“I’ve discovered crucial enemy information that could turn the tide of war.”

“How crucial?” came the shrewd reply.

“It’s the Prophet!” K’ra hissed. “He’s delivered the news that the Ten Souls must take up arms!”

There was silence from the other end for a long time.

Finally, the voice came back. “Where are you?”

“Inside Canterlot Castle,” he whispered.

“What? You fool! How did you-” The voice of High Command faltered, and a few deep breaths could be heard through the static. “Take care that you not be seen,” came the voice, quickly and apprehensively. “Should you be discovered, it would mean the end of our initiative. What more can you ascertain?”

“I can spy on them,” he breathed. “I can learn of their war plans and relay them to you. I can give you inside information about war generals, security measures, medical stashes in Canterlot, food and water supplies in surrounding farms, trade routes! Anything you can ask for, I can give you.”

“What can you tell me of the Ten Souls?” came the voice.

That was the only thing that really scared K’ra. Trembling, he said, “Anything you can ask for.”

“Where are they going?”

“Right now, or in the future to search for the Elements?”

“Right now.”

“To talk with the Lightbringer.”

“Follow them. Appraise me of what they reveal.”

K’ra nodded. “As my lord commands.”

The private room that Freedom Fighter had dragged Princess Celestia to was, in fact, a storage closet. It was large, to be sure, but it was still a closet that Freedom Fighter thrust the Princess of the Sun into.

“Look, Freedom--” Rarity spoke up as she was pushed into the closet behind Twilight, Noble Blade, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, “I don’t believe forcing your princess into a dreadfully musty closet is the best thing to do here.”

Freedom Fighter ignored her. “Talk, Celestia. Loose your tongue and spill your secrets.”

“She's not your enemy,” Applejack tried to say to him.

Freedom Fighter impaled the marble floor with his glowing staff, forcing the mares back. “She might as well be! Forcing us to remain ignorant of something that might possibly concern us. No more secrets, Celestia. If there's any a time when your secrets must reach the light, now is the time to bring them forth, Lightbringer.”

“Lightbringer?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “That's her name written in the stars or something, right?”

“What I'd assume,” Firestorm confirmed dubiously as he came in. He was the last one to come in.

Celestia took a few deep breaths before she gulped and said, “I... was intending on showing you sometime soon--”

“How soon?” Freedom Fighter demanded. “When you thought we weren’t too delicate, I suppose.”

“There is truth to what my sister says,” came another voice. Princess Luna had followed the group and was now squishing herself into the closet along with everyone else. This, combined with the eleven ponies Scorpan had named, plus Spike, amounted to thirteen total people in the room. “For foals begin with their mother’s milk, and as they grow, they partake of heavier meals.”

“I think you’ll find that I’m not as big of a foal as you make me out to be,” Noble responded, a little coldly. “You’ve told me secrets that you haven’t even told the higher bureaucrats in Equestria. But this one was a little more serious than most? It’s only my destiny, Princess Luna, that was apparently written out for me since before the universe existed, involving an Element of Harmony meant for me I knew nothing about. Not anything truly important. Only the fate of the entire world.”

“I’m getting really squished in here,” Firestorm complained, his face smushed against a wall with Rainbow Dash leaning affectionately beside him. “I... gotta... break... free!”

“Would you like to know why we decided to keep these secrets from you?” Celestia said over the chattering din.

“Swear it,” Freedom Fighter said, his covered face illuminated by the light the glistening staff put off.

“I swear it,” Celestia said. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up from her behind. “Aaayund now that you’ve said it, Celestia, I’ll hold you to that promise!”

Everyone else was waiting patiently, trying not to touch the deadly bar of energy that stuck up out of the ground.

Finally, Celestia took a deep breath and said, “How much do you ponies know of the Goddess Faust?”

“Noble’s dad mentioned it was her who had sent you the dream,” Twilight said, remembering her initial confusion.

“I’ve... heard Freedom Fighter and Noble Blade use the name,” Starlight Glimmer admitted. “But all I’ve gleaned is she seems to be a matriarch of some kind. I’ve read some very old texts from the Castle of the Two Sisters Twilight let me borrow that seemed to indicate there was some kind of Supreme Creator of the universe.”

“Indeed,” Celestia answered. “The goddess Faust is regarded by many in Equestria to be only myth, who, according to this perpetuated myth, created the universe, the planet Equus, and the land we stand on. Even now, she stands unseen in the heavens, watching us lovingly and protecting us from the most fallen influences. It is how we lived in peace for so many centuries. Her interference with greed and jealousy gave ponies peace of mind and prevented war, pride, and strife from taking hold.”

“We have tried to withhold information about her for some time now,” Luna added in. Her cyan blue dress seemed to grow darker in color than the last they remembered. “Her direction to her children was that she was to be unseen and unspoken on the face of Equestria.”

“Why,” Rarity asked, somewhat forcefully, “hasn’t her existence been widespread already? Surely, if there was some deity that created the universe, she would be more widely known.”

“The more Faust is known in Equestria, the harder King Solaris will try to overthrow the fair citizens of this land,” Luna answered. “If Faust were more well-known, Solaris would try the hardest he possibly can to destroy Equestria. Every force has equally strong opposition. Faust decided to make a sacrifice and remain unregistered by Her children. It was... prudent...to make sure that nopony in Equestria knew Faust was anything more than a myth, so as to reduce the influence of Tartarus over the minds of our little ponies.”

“If Faust was this secret, how is it that you three know about her?” Twilight asked, facing the three Guardians of the Sun.

“My tribe worshipped Faust,” Freedom Fighter explained. “When I was taken to Equestria, I told my two newest friends about it.”

“You worshipped only a single goddess?” Starlight Glimmer asked in wonder. “I’m... surprised you worshipped only one goddess.”

“My apologies, Starlight, for not conforming to your narrow view of tribal tradition. I should instead be a polytheistic primal savage who believes in a god for every species of animal to exist. I eat berries and rocks for every meal. I sacrifice virgins at the full moon. I do a little war dance around a stewpot before eating my boiling victim. What do you think I am? A Great Spirit worshipper? Hmm?”

“I’m not interested in this Faust!” Firestorm said, still smushed against the wall. “I already know about her. What I want to know is, who the crap is Solaris?”

“The real name of the King of Tartarus,” Luna answered in contempt. “The foulest, most abhorrent creature of vileness and treachery to exist in the history of the universe, whose only purpose is to bring about the destruction of the ponies in Equestria.”

Princess Celestia took a deep breath. “He is also the husband of Faust, Queen of the Universe. And he is…” she paused, then exhaled, “my father.”

Chapter Thirty-seven: Faust, Solaris, and the Ten Elements

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Twilight Sparkle had been curious about her mentor’s heritage, of course. She had the question in her mind, but she never asked before because, as her mother taught her, it was rude to ask questions like that about anypony, especially the rulers of Equestria. But she never would have guessed it would be something so astounding.

“So the goddess of everything good is your mother, but your father is the demon lord of Tartarus?” Pinkie Pie was asking in bewilderment. “That doesn't make a lot of sense.”

“Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said in a voice flatter than a carpet. “You don’t make a lot of sense.”

“Ooh,” Pinkie said sarcastically. “Nice comeback, Rainbow Dash.”

“But how does any of this pertain to the Ten Elements?” Starlight wondered. “Now we know for certain that there are ten Elements. And that an ancient goddess not only exists, but is also your mother. So how is this connected?”

Princess Celestia conjured her magic and out of the tip of her horn came a swirling yellow cloud. The ponies crammed into the mop closet could all see into the depths of the cloudy window into the eternal.

Two large, skinny alicorns with crossed heads pointed downward in love at the dark clouds they stood on. The mare was a pristine white with a red mane, while the stallion was a dark gold and had a long black mane. Behind them was a tree with spiraling roots and crystalline bark, and the shade it produced had no end.

“Before Equus was created and ponykind conceived,” Celestia began, “Solaris and Faust lived in the expanses of the universe, married in harmony and love under the shade of the Tree of Life.”

“Ooh!” came an excited voice, and Firestorm burst above the rest of the ponies crammed into the closet. “Exposition! Come on, ‘Tia! Give us that beautiful monologue!”

“If you want, you can always just leave,” Luna offered irritably.

Firestorm managed to look sheepish. “Sorry, Loony. I am so, so sorry.”

The swirling yellow cloud pulsed with movement, and suddenly, surrounding the two bowing alicorns, hundreds of little ponies appeared at a time in stop-motion. Standing around Faust and Solaris were ten special little ponies, shining in multicolored radiant auras.

“Filled with love, Faust and Solaris decided to create a race of ponies like them in body and in mind. In the endless heavens of premortal existence, Faust and Solaris conceived and bore fruit.”

“Did Faust and Solaris... do, um…” Rarity looked for a polite term to use. “Did they... put the thread through the hole of the needle?”

“Yes, they had sex,” Luna bluntly answered, making Rarity’s cheeks erupt in flame. “How else is life achieved?”

“Who're those ponies standin’ close to Faust and Solaris?” Applejack asked, pointing at the sight.

“Their eldest children,” Celestia explained. “Of which I was the first. Faust and Solaris were proud of their firstborn children for the close bond we shared. As gifts, my parents plucked fruit off the Tree of Life and created from the fruit precious stones so we could help our parents shape the rest of the universe. Those stones are the Elements of Harmony. Magic. Honesty. Kindness. Generosity. Laughter. Loyalty. Courage. Honor. Sacrifice. And Redemption.”

Twilight’s mind reflected back to what Firestorm, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash had discovered on their friendship mission. A tree with ten Elements of Harmony on it. The tree they saw wasn’t the Tree of Harmony, it was the Tree of Life, the source from which the Elements had come from!

“Which Element did you have, Celestia?” Pinkie curiously asked.

“The Element of Magic,” Celestia replied. “And my sister’s was the Element of Loyalty.”

Twilight felt her breath catch in her throat. Her mentor, before the planet even existed, had wielded the Element of Magic! The element that she now bore! It made her mind stagger.

“There was a catch to such power,” Celestia continued. “We had to be united to use the Elements. If even one of us deviated from the other, the Elements would not have the collective power to create life on other worlds in galaxies far from Equus. All ten Elements of Harmony, together, possess the power to create life on a massive scale or take it. Instantly.”

“That must have been so cool,” Rainbow Dash said in wonder. “Creating planets! Like, you and your siblings all point the Elements at a hunk of rock and fire those freaky lasers, and then boom, the whole thing just blows up with life!” Her flailing arms almost made a mop fall on Starlight Glimmer, who used her magic to levitate it out of the way just in time.

“It must have been exciting to think about how your own world was going to be like!” Rarity said charmingly.

To everyone’s surprise, Celestia looked grieved at that.

“...Celestia?” Rarity asked.

“We had no planet of our own,” Celestia murmured. “We had been creating planets throughout the universe, but none of them were intended for us. For Solaris, Faust, and me and my siblings, it pained us to see life on the planets we had created go to some other kind of life to inhabit for themselves. There are planets where frogs are the dominant species. And planets where the only kind of life was bacterial. But there was no place prepared for ponykind to flourish.” She managed a smile. “Until one day, when Faust and Solaris announced a grand meeting.”

“Ooh! Ooh! Was I there?” Pinkie asked excitedly.

“Everypony that ever existed was there,” Luna spoke.

Pinkie let out an excited squeal. “That must have been the biggest party EVER!”

“I can still remember the day of the meeting. Ponies filled the vaults of heaven. They were crammed from head to tail. And every other sentient creature in Equestria was present as well, for it was Faust that gave them intelligence when their spirits were created. Every sentient creature is a child of Faust, whether adopted into her family or physically born through her womb. Faust loves her children all the same, and she denied none to partake of the plan she created for us.”

The ten ponies and baby dragon could see in the small smokey window the heads of innumerable ponies, and rising above their heads were the upright forms of griffons. And behind those were dragons, of all colors and sizes, paying attention to the white alicorn addressing them.

“Finally, Faust presented her plan for the heavenly host. A planet would be chosen for us to populate. We would experience the power and privileges of having a body, instead of an insubstantial spirit. This, however, would also lead to the weaknesses of having a body--hunger, and fatigue, and sickness. Having a body would give us agency. And according to the choices we made, we would be rewarded after we came back to the presence of Faust. Good choices led to us becoming more powerful than how we were at the time of the meeting. Bad choices led to the stripping of the power we already had.”

“Sounds like a fair plan,” Twilight slowly said.

“There are others that disagreed with you,” Luna said. In the swirling cloud, an angrily posing golden alicorn stood next to Faust. “For after Faust had given her plan, Solaris was shocked. He was surprised at Faust’s callousness and disregard for her own children--threatening them with the removal of their power if they made the wrong choice. He insisted that he would directly influence the minds of his children to do good all the time, that they would never even have to make the choice.

“Solaris insisted that nopony would be in danger of being condemned by their own parents if they simply followed the influence of their loving and all-knowing parent all the time, and Solaris ended by saying that the only way to love your children was to lead them all to the glory he wanted for them.” Luna looked down at the ground. “And that argument was persuasive enough to cause a rupture in the plans of heaven.”

“It was up to me,” Celestia said, “to choose... between the two parents that raised me.” Celestia sniffled at the memory. “I chose to follow Faust and deny the plan my father suggested. And this led to Solaris’s accusation that I loved mother more than my father, and that my actions would lead to unrest in heaven.”

The scene in front of them changed to a mass of chaos as it showed a still of bickering ponies surrounded by mists of darkness.

“He was right. Within hours, fighting broke out in heaven among which was a better plan--to have the continued freedom of choice, or to have the choices made for us and have assured salvation. The argument was not just among the endless hosts of heaven, but also among the bearers of the Elements.”

“So the Elements didn't work now because you were all divided in purpose?” Twilight guessed.

“Not exactly,” Celestia said slowly. “The Elements have individual power as well, but without the help of the others, their power is insignificant.”

The scene in the smoke then showed a still of six ponies on one side of the frame and four on the other. The six looked colorful and more healthy, but the four ponies on the left looked darkened and more ferocious.

“Six of the bearers joined with Faust, but four--the bearers of Honor, Courage, Sacrifice, and Redemption--rebelled against us, corrupting the elements they bore and turning them into mere shadows of their former self. War broke out in heaven, and the divided Elements of Harmony were at the front of the charge.”

The ponies could almost hear the cries of war and of hatred and grief as it showed still after still of ponies wrestling each other to the ground in massive groups. Above them, fighting across the expanses of the universe, the divided Elements of Harmony spiraled and collided and fired the powers of their own Element at each other.

“Finally, Faust conquered Solaris and banished him and his followers to the dimension of Tartarus, where they could do no harm and watch as the ponies right above them lived out their lives in peace and happiness.”

“Are they still spirits there in Tartarus?” Twilight asked.

“They were given a body, just as was promised, before they were banished,” Celestia said. “But their bodies were painful to live in. It would have been better for them to be wiped out of existence entirely than to inhabit twisted, corrupted shells that drained you of love for life. Those that followed Faust, on the other hoof, were promised life on Equus in a glorious body of flesh and blood.”

“But our war in heaven was not without casualties,” Luna offered. “Over a third of the hosts of Faust’s children chose to follow Solaris into Tartarus, including the original bearer of the Element of Sacrifice--Marshal Malice.”

“Marshal Malice was an original--” Twilight started in shock, but was interrupted by the hateful roar behind her, and she whirled around.

Freedom Fighter had made a sound of anguish and had ripped his raging yellow staff out of the ground, making the ponies around him recoil. “Sacrifice!” he roared in his mind for the world to hear. “Sacrifice! Malice possessed the same Element I have to now, in the premortal life? What kind of sick joke is this?”

“Freedom,” Noble Blade began.

“No!” he bellowed, whirling around. “No, Noble! You know nothing about this!”

“Freedom!” came the sound of Luna’s voice, and Freedom Fighter, miraculously, fell silent. He had his teeth bared through the hole in his mouth, but he did nothing else except grip his staff so hard it creaked.

“So what happened to the rest of the Element Bearers?” Starlight Glimmer asked.

“Malice was the only one of the original four dissenters who survived the war,” Celestia said in grief. “The rest of them... Me and Luna... had to... kill…” She swallowed something. “And it hurt so much to kill my siblings! When all they had to do was make the right choice, and they could have been accepted in love by my mother!” Her voice was really cracking up now, and the ponies stayed silent in respect.

Luna spoke up from the front of the closet while her sister stayed silent. “We destroyed three of the four, but they took casualties from us as well. The bearers of Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, and Generosity were all blasted out of existence before me and my sister destroyed them. With Malice banished, and everypony except me and my sister erased from existence, the ten Elements had nowhere to go.”

“So what did you do?” Noble asked her solemnly.

“We started the plan,” Celestia said, straightening in an attempt to regain strength. “Faust created Equus, and put me and Luna directly on the planet without our memories of heaven wiped, because of our status as firstborn. We were given immortal bodies to help guide the rest of our little ponies to the lives they wanted. Our duties were to control the sun and moon.”

“But what dija do with the Elements?” Applejack asked persistently.

“We dispersed the four dead elements of Honor, Courage, Sacrifice, and Redemption among the surface of Equus. Where they are now, nopony knows.”

“Except you!” Applejack shot back. “Yall’s was the ones that hid them. If anypony knows where they are, it’s you!”

“No we don’t,” Celestia said. “If we did know, we would have gotten them already.”

“So why don't you know?” Applejack instantly followed.

“We were instructed not to,” Luna said.

And now Applejack looked confused. “Pardon?”

“Faust banished the thought of that in our minds, ere we become greedy or jealous and possess them for ourselves,” Luna expanded. “Faust already had a backup plan before she even created the Elements of Harmony, just in case dissent rent the original bearers apart.”

“The backup plan,” Celestia spoke, “was for ten other ponies to take upon themselves the mantle and become new bearers of the Elements during life on Equus. With four of the ten original Elements powerless, however, that made her plans change. The four lost Elements would stay lost and would only be found and repowered when the remaining six were reunited by new bearers.”

“And the six bearers would lead the ponies who were destined to bear the four lost Elements to them?” Twilight guessed.

“Precisely,” Celestia said satisfactorily. Twilight beamed.

“What about the times when you and Luna used the Elements?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“The ponies meant to wield them were not born yet,” Celestia said easily. “For thousands of years, we used them as stewards of the Elements, not the bearers themselves.”

“Um, excuse me? Not to intrude, but... Where does the Tree of Harmony fit in all this?” Fluttershy whispered.

“Good job thinking of that!” Noble complimented her, wrapping a hoof around her shoulders. Fluttershy smiled and shrunk her head inside her shoulders cutely.

“It was the first tree on Equus created by Faust,” Celestia replied. “It was crystallized to preserve a memory of the creation. Later it was placed underneath our castle to help us remember our divine parentage.”

“And as an acting hiding place for the Elements,” Luna added. “We used the tree since the dawn of the world’s creation as a spot to conceal the six Elements that worked until the right ponies came along.”

“So we--” Rarity circled her hoof around the ponies assembled, “were the ones chosen as backups?”

“As the bearers of the Elements on Equus,” Luna confirmed.

“But nopony has any idea where the remaining four Elements are,” Rainbow protested.

“Yes.” Celestia adopted a sly look. “No pony.”

“What do you mean, no pony?” Rainbow asked incredulously. “Does Scorpan know?”

“Scorpan’s role is only to spur us to action. The role of a prophet is to warn of events to come in the future. He who does know had his mind enlightened by Faust to divine the location of the scattered Elements. He is a Seer--which, coincidentally, was also his true name."

“Who is this Seer?” Starlight Glimmer asked.

“My disciple,” Celestia answered. “Star Swirl the Bearded.”

A few of the mares gasped.

“This is too much!” Firestorm cried, holding his head. “I’m gonna need a recap after you finish talking!”

Twilight’s mind was spinning. All this time, Star Swirl the Bearded knew the location of the lost four Elements! The pony she aspired to emulate, the pony she had studied for so long, had-

“Wait a second,” Twilight said suspiciously. She stepped forward so she was in front of Celestia. “I thought Star Swirl the Bearded was dead.”

“His magic is keeping him alive,” Luna answered.

“Where is he now?” Starlight Glimmer asked. “And why isn't he a pony?”

“Because after he divined the locations of the four lost Elements, he exiled himself into an alternate dimension so nopony with evil intentions could wring it from him,” Celestia said. She closed her eyes for only a few seconds, then opened them. “He went through a portal in the form of a mirror. To a dimension where the influence of Solaris could do no harm.”

A portal in the form of a mirror.

Twilight immediately understood, and her eyes widened in both realization and giddiness.

“You’ve got to be freaking kidding me,” Firestorm groaned. “I hate dimension travelling.”

“Have you ever been dimension travelling?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“No,” Firestorm admitted. He casually leaned next to her ear. “Have you?”

“I can break the fourth wall,” Pinkie Pie offered in reply.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she said casually, rolling her eyes.

“So. Now is the time when we must regain the lost four Elements,” Noble Blade said. He looked Celestia in the face, and he looked like he was frustrated. “Correct me if I am wrong. We must travel to this alternate dimension, confront Star Swirl the Bearded, learn the locations of our missing Elements, return to this dimension, find the Elements, and defeat Marshal Malice and Solaris using the Ten Elements.”

“An accurate and succinct summary,” Celestia complimented him.

Noble Blade looked like he had something bad in his mouth, because his lips were twisted together reluctantly. Then, after a moment of silence, he gave a deep sigh and bowed before his princess. “Then we shall not fail you, Celestia. I feel mad about your reluctance, but now is not the moment to lay down arguments or accusations. You had your reasons. And you at least told us. Now is the time for action, and we will destroy the influence of Malice and Solaris once and for all.”

“Then the time is now to start your quest to save Equestria,” Celestia spoke. “Return to Ponyville. The mirror to enter this dimension is in Twilight’s castle. Twilight will take it from there.”

“Ooh!” Twilight squealed, stamping the ground on all fours excitedly. “I can’t wait to introduce you all to my friends in the other dimension! And I can't wait to see how you look as a human!”

Firestorm blinked. “What’s a hyoo-man? Some kind of ear infection?”

“It’s the kind of creature she turns into when she passes through the portal,” Fluttershy told Firestorm.

“ D’aww, thanks for the info, Flutters,” he said, and ruffled her mane, making her shrink. “Where would we be without you?” Without another remark, he frolicked out the door, humming carelessly.

“Did he just-” Fluttershy started.

“Yep,” Rainbow Dash said simply. “I have a feeling we’re gonna have to deal with that a lot.”

“Last question,” Starlight Glimmer asked. Using her magic, she levitated a snoring Spike into the air. “Who’ll carry the sleeping dragon?”

Pinkie burst into giggles. “He fell asleep?”

Luna took the opportunity to whisper wittily into Celestia’s ear, “You lullabied a dragon into slumber with your storytelling!”

“You had a part in it too!” Celestia hissed. “Now, come on! Let’s dismiss the Gala and give Scorpan a room to stay in!”

“Shall I alert the Royal Guard?” Luna inquired.

“Yes. Send the word that Marshal Malice is preparing to launch an assault on Equestria within six months. Send our troops to the major cities of Fillydelphia and Manehattan; those are the spots near the land bridge connecting Equestria with the kingdoms to the East. We’ll discuss this with Scorpan tomorrow in the war room.”

And the princesses exited the mop closet and turned off the lights.

Which left only one more inhabitant inside.

The Nox had heard everything. Hidden in a panel directly above them, he had observed and had gained enough information to warrant a full report to Marshal Malice, who had sent him here in the first place without telling High Command.

He was right there in Canterlot. He could do so much more now that he was here, hearing every bit of communication.

Yanking out his small makeshift microphone, he whispered, “The Ten Ssoulss are heading to Twilight’s castle to head through some kind of magic portal. Star Swirl the Bearded is reported to be inside the portal, and he is the only one that knows where the Elements are.”

K’ra heard the voice of his commanding officer issue out a report to unseen associates. “Send the advance scouts we stationed in the surrounding land into the town and search for the portal. They cannot learn the location of the lost elements.” Once the end had been reached, his voice came back through. “What more can you tell me, K’ra?”

“The princesses know Marshal Malice is plotting an assault by now,” K’ra responded. “They’ve considered sending extra troops to Manehattan and Fillydelphia as fodder for our armies.”

“Nothing we wouldn’t have discerned by now. Is there anything new you can tell me?”

K’ra reflected on what he had heard. That Marshal Malice had been one of the beloved by Faust and Solaris alike, and that the same Element he bore in the premortal life was the Element his nemesis was now purported to bear. It was potential heresy to his ears, but it struck him as being true.

“Nothing, sir,” he reported. “That was it.”

There was silence from the other end. K’ra’s head pounded with possibility.

“Remember, K’ra,” the voice murmured. “Your location is the only thing working to your advantage. You as a Nox are replaceable, but it is your special geographic spot that forces me to trust you. Fail me... and your punishment will make it look like the Unforgiven’s death was a slap on the claw.”

K’ra remembered the trump card he had found out--that Freedom Fighter was the long-lost Unforgiven. They still thought that the Unforgiven had died in captivity. K’ra set that bit aside for future reference. “Yes... my Lord.”

“Are the princesses still unaware of the Noxxa we sent overseas weeks ago? Should they be discovered, our offensive will fail.”

“They said nothing about it, sir.”

“You’re dismissed for now. Scope out Canterlot’s supply inventory, then report back to me once you have it. We must know everything we can about the city when we besiege it.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

Chapter Thirty-eight: Through the Portal

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K’ra crept along in the tight, narrow spaces in the ceiling, peering down in minuscule cracks to see which rooms was the war rooms or supply closets. It was his job now to list Canterlot’s defenses and supplies so his superiors would have some idea of what to overcome when they would besiege Canterlot.

So far, K’ra had no success. Every room he had peeked into so far had been either hallways or bedrooms. Sometimes those bedrooms were occupied, and K’ra had hurriedly shot his head back into the ceiling to avoid detection. Or to look away from them doing rather promiscuous acts. None of the occupants so far had been, but he looked away just in case. Lust was the last thing he needed on his mind right now.

As he lumbered along another space in the ceiling, however, he heard muttering and cursing going on below him. Curious, he maneuvered himself to a corner and put one of his six yellow eyes into a crack.

The room below him was opulently furnished to the point where even K’ra had to admit it needed to stop. Even one of the plushy chairs was worth more than K’ra had ever owned in his life. The golden bed was purple-sheeted, the pillows stuffed with goose feathers. The mirror opposite it was ringed with jewels and gilded with gold.

The inhabitant of the room was a tall white unicorn whose mane matched the color of the garish room. K’ra recognized it as the idiot prince who had attempted to face the Prophet in single combat.

The prince was, at the moment, busy kicking the feet of all the furniture in his bedroom. “Prophet,” he was muttering to himself as he smacked a goblet off a table. “I can't believe I got knocked on my flank by an ape who knew nothing about proper unicorn magic! Who does that prophet know about me?”

He ignited his horn, and he carefully set the goblet back on the table. Then he continued his rant, kicking the foot of his bed. “And Noble Blade! He thinks he’s got me by the balls! But I don't care! He hasn't gotten the best of me! I’ll show him! I’ll show everypony in Canterlot that I am not a fool!”

K’ra recoiled his head. What? Noble Blade, insulting and threatening the prince? He wasn't like that, according to the dossiers the Noxxa had compiled on him. If he and the prince had a bad history, however, then maybe... just maybe... it could be exploited.

He withdrew his head back into the ceiling’s shafts and spoke into the small speaker. “High Command, I’ve got something I could do by myself.”

“Run it through me first,” barked the earpiece. “You do anything stupid, and you'll be whipped to death.”

“The prince of Canterlot,” K’ra started. “He bears a grudge against both the Prophet and a Guardian of the Sun. I believe I can persuade him to work for their downfall.”

“You are a Nox!” hissed the earpiece. “If you show yourself to him, he will kill you on sight! And we do not work with the enemy!”

“The prince is not our enemy,” K’ra hissed back. “If he turns against his rulers, he could be an influential ally.”

“And if not?” he shot back.

“Then I’ll kill him. He’s alone, and nopony else knows I’m in the castle. I can make it look like an accident if I need to. His room has plenty of blunt objects and sharp edges.”

The silence that followed made K’ra pant with anxiety. What if he was stripped of authority for even suggesting it?

“An inside ally would indeed be useful,” the voice mewled. “Especially one as powerful as the prince.” The voice made a grunt. “Fine. I give you permission to tempt the prince. Lure him to us with a flaxen cord. Make him believe he’s safe at first.”

What’s a flaxen cord? K’ra wondered, but dared not say it aloud. He probably means to do it weakly at first. But why not say that instead? “And if he betrays us? Or is faking his allegiance in an attempt to be noble?”

“Kill him.”

And the headset cut off.

The train rattled and clanked as it pounded in the dead of night. Nopony was in the train car except for the Ten Souls and Spike, who was snoring on a sofa contentedly and crumpling his suit.

“Another quest,” Rarity bemoaned, sitting next to the dragon and playfully ruffling his green spines. “I hate epic adventures.”

“I don’t mind,” Firestorm said, disguising his emotions cleverly. “Epic adventures let you cause a lot of damage, and it isn't your fault for any of it. We can just say, 'Sorry about the destroyed aqueduct. We had a swordfight while surfing down it, and it collapsed from under us.' Ponies will understand.”

“What about you, Noble?” Twilight asked the unicorn, who was staring out the window. “What are your thoughts on this?”

Noble didn't say anything, although he did wipe the window absently to see out of it better.

“Noble?” Twilight asked again.

“If she had told us sooner, we could have done something sooner. Now that the Noxxa are on the move, we have a limited timetable to find the elements we need.”

“Well, the time wasn't right,” Applejack told him. “When Scorpan came in and warned us, that was the time Celestia needed.”

“And if he hadn't come, then what?” Noble asked. “We would still be blissfully unaware of the destiny written out for us. I would be a stupid little pony who didn't know the divine role appointed for me. Twilight, when it comes to plans, I prefer to have the plan be told in advance.”

“And what about the times when there is no plan?” Twilight said. “Remember when you rescued me from the Noxxa?”

“We knew what we had to do--rescue you. How we went about doing it--that, I didn't care about. I would have liked to know what to do about these elements earlier. What we did in response to that, I wouldn't have cared.”

“Maybe there was a reason why you didn't know earlier,” Pinkie Pie offered, digging through her mane and throwing out materials she didn't need anymore, like saws, nails, and the occasional cupcake. “Maybe if you were told earlier, it would have turned you into somepony different. Maybe you would have gone off in search for these elements on your own.” She gasped, then zipped over to Noble and stared him in the face. “Maybe you wouldn’t have met Fluttershy! Maybe you wouldn't have met any of us and made friends with us! And you would have known about the Elements, and we wouldn’t!”

It made his stomach lurch. Pinkie Pie was right. If Celestia had told either group--the Guardians, or the girls--before they were together, neither of them would have met to combine the Elements together, rendering the Elements useless. Worse, he wouldn't have met Fluttershy, and Firestorm with Rainbow.

Noble took the opportunity, while his thoughts were on her, to look at Fluttershy. She was lying down on the train’s sofa with her head curving up, in a gown that matched perfectly the color of her turquoise eyes, which were looking back at his with realization at Pinkie’s words.

“Whoah.”

“What, Firestorm?” Pinkie asked, turning to him.

“I didn't know you were so... well, profound!”

“Of course I’m profound!” Pinkie declared. “I’m Pinkie Pie, remember?”

“You’re the Blood of Life,” Firestorm corrected her. “Which sounds scarier than I think it's going to turn out, but it still sounds scary.”

“That’s worth talking about,” Twilight said. “Our eternal names. Which ones were they?”

“Nobley Bladey’s name seems the most complicated,” Firestorm remarked, jabbing a hoof over his shoulder at him. “Knight Protector. The name just seems so confusing and ambiguous.”

“Enough with the sarcasm,” Noble Blade muttered.

“I’m rarely taken aback by anything,” Rarity spoke from the sofa, “but my name makes no sense to me.”

“You’re not a rarity?” Pinkie Pie asked in bewilderment.

“Of course not, Pinkie. There’s only one of me. But I’m no huntress. Why did Scorpan give me that name?”

“Maybe you’re hunting a boyfriend,” Firestorm suggested.

“I’m going to ignore that immature and callous remark,” Rarity said casually, adjusting her mane with a hoof and patting it down. “But who does Scorpan think we are? Warriors? Fluttershy isn’t a dreadful bear, for one thing.”

Fluttershy nodded mutely and fiddled with her hooves. The name Scorpan had given her was disturbing enough to make her even more silent than she usually was.

“And Rainbow Dash is technically already a stormkeeper, but he said it like she was a gladiator. Rainbow isn't a gladiator!”

“I don’t care,” Rainbow Dash said simply, flapping lazily in the air. “It sounded awesome.”

“So did my name,” Firestorm added. “Raging Inferno? I can already infer a lot about that. I get to burn things!”

“You already burned things,” Starlight flatly said.

“Good! I don’t need to change anything!”

“So what are we going to be doing?” Twilight asked. “We know our eternal names. Now what?”

“Why, it’s simple, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie declared. “We fester in that knowledge and do nothing about it until events come up that force us to see the true meaning of our names!”

“Ah’d hate ta agree with a statement like that,” Applejack said, shifting her eyes to the side. “But what else can we do ‘bout ‘em?”

“Ascertain their meaning?” Noble asked from the window.

“The only way we’ll know for certain is when events come up to make us prove our titles,” Fluttershy said timidly. “Not to say that any of you are wrong, you know. But, um, I don't know why I’m a dreadful bear. I’d rather be somepony else.”

“Like what?” Noble asked her.

“I think it might be nice to be a tree.”

Noble jolted his eyebrows until they got lost in his mane. “A tree?”

“Because then you don't have anywhere you have to be, or anypony you have to please. Animals can just come along and roost in your branches, and you can be around them all day. Leaves can keep you warm, and foals can climb in the branches, and you can keep other ponies shaded, and you can see for miles. If you're a tall tree, I mean.”

“Dang,” Firestorm whispered. “Now I kinda want to be a tree.” He flapped over Fluttershy’s head. “How do you do it, Fluttershy?”

“Um... I don’t know…” Fluttershy admitted, a hoof to her chin.

“I need to try. Ooh! I’ve got an idea!” Firestorm settled on a nearby bed and spread himself on his back. His wings and limbs were out from him like he was at the center of a starburst. He made absolutely no movement.

“What are you doing?” Rainbow Dash asked, coming near him after ten whole seconds elapsed.

“I’m vegetating,” Firestorm explained simply. “That’s how you turn into a tree, right?”

Rainbow burst into laughter. “Nohoho, Stormy, that’s not how it works!”

“I need to see first. I have faith this’ll work. Check back on me in a few days, and see if I've got any leaves sprouting out of my ears or something. Remember, water me periodically. And if you could turn one of those lamps to shine on me, that’d be appreciated.”

Rainbow Dash moved in the air until she was directly above her boyfriend, and spread her arms while closing her eyes.

“Dashie?” he asked, looking up. “What’re y-oof!”

Rainbow Dash had stopped hovering and had belly-flopped atop Firestorm. After she landed, she pushed her head off his chest and looked directly at him with wide, innocent pink eyes.

“What was that for?” he asked, grinning lopsidedly.

“Just felt like it,” she simply said. She flipped her mane to the other shoulder with a toss of the head. “You were right there.”

“The next chance I get, I’m doing that to you,” Firestorm vowed.

“No!” Rainbow Dash cried. “I’ll never even get off your chest! I ain’t moving an inch!”

“You know what?” Firestorm said, abruptly shifting his tone. “I’d like that.”

And he wrapped his arms around her and relaxed his movements. Rainbow Dash made no more attempt at speech and instead just slumped down on her boyfriend’s warm chest and let out a contented sigh like the purr of a cat.

Applejack was watching the whole thing with a satisfied smirk. “Well, well, well.” She shook her head in amusement. “Guess Ah was able ta help ya pretty well after all.”

“Well then,” Noble murmured to himself, smiling at the two of them. “Looks like I was the love expert for you after all. I knew you could do it.”

The silence that followed was somewhat of a sacred silence. Knowing what each of them felt, no speech was necessary.

“Hey!” Pinkie Pie broke off, shattering the silence. “Has anypony seen Freedom Fighter?”

The simple question made all of them perk their heads up and swivel them about the train car. Freedom Fighter was sitting in a faraway corner of the train car, and he wasn't talking to himself. Instead, he had on a pair of cheap yellow earphones plugged into a small blue rectangle. He was bobbing his head to the music, but was keeping his gaze down.

“Freedom?” Twilight called down the train car, but Freedom Fighter didn't answer. The music he was listening to was too immersive.

Finally, he took out the headphones and looked up. “What do you want?”

“Where’d you get the music?” she asked.

“From a friend,” he said. He made a motion to put his headphones back, but stopped before they were fully on. “Why do you ask?”

“I just wanted to know.”

“Vinyl Scratch,” he said slowly. “Her name’s Vinyl Scratch.”

“The mare with her earphones in all the time?” Rarity asked for clarification.

“Well... yeah. I haven't seen her wear them around me, though.”

“That’s strange,” Fluttershy whispered. “Normally she seems so antisocial. What made it so she enjoys talking with you?”

“Especially considering the fact that you technically can’t talk?” Starlight Glimmer added.

“Dgah, I... dunno.” Freedom Fighter ran his hoof along the handle of a blade sheathed on his chest. “Maybe she’s insane. Maybe she’s just tolerating my presence. Or maybe it could be that she just... doesn’t care.”

“What could possibly make it so that she doesn’t care about the, um, quirks you have?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he snapped. “Maybe it’s because we’re friends or something.”

Pinkie Pie leaned in super close to his face. “Do you liiiike her?”

“NO!” he roared at the girls, and slammed his left hoof into the brass railing next to him hard enough to warp the shape with a mighty clang.

The girls all shrunk back. Even Firestorm and Rainbow, cuddling atop each other, froze and twisted their heads to stare at him.

Freedom Fighter made a derisive snort and looked down. “I mean, she’s a friend I made. So of course we have to like each other. But if you mean, like like her, then... no.”

“No?” Noble Blade mildly asked.

“You forget,” he said in reply. “What I look like is nothing she’d be attracted by. And I don’t have the special parts to ensure we have a good future together. The Noxxa went snip-snip on that issue. I’m not prime boyfriend material. She…” Here he paused. “She could do a lot better than me. I won’t give her the option and have her regret it.”

“Are you sure there is somepony better than you?” Pinkie Pie asked him cheerfully.

Freedom Fighter looked her in the face, but said nothing in his mind. Instead, he just looked into her eyes to admire the swirl of color it had, then looked down again and put his headphones back on.

K’ra had to spend the night in the dusty ceiling. It had taken much of his willpower not to sneeze and alert attention to himself. After a lot of time had passed and his only option was to wait, he peeked into the room from the corner.

The Prince was sleeping soundly below him in the purple bed. The room was darkened, adding a tint to the golden furnishings.

“Now... is the time,” he whispered.

He gently pried up the ceiling tile and moved it aside. Then he squeezed all of his six legs through the hole and latched onto the ceiling, his head exiting last.

He scuttled onto the wall and, one by one, quietly put his six claws on the marble floor. He could see his reflection in the shiny tile he stood on, and only his six yellow eyes stood out from his silhouette.

The Nox then crept through the room slowly, maneuvering between the tables and chairs like a sailor through a narrow strait. Once he got close enough to the prince’s bedside, he intentionally knocked over a tray.

Blueblood sat bolt upright as the clatter woke him up. “What? Who is it?” he sleepily called out. K’ra could see his head swivel from side to side in the darkness.

“Be not afraid,” the Nox said calmly.

“AAAUGH!” Blueblood scrambled backwards and hit his head on the back of his bed. “Who is that?! Where are you?”

“Down here,” the Nox whispered. “And I told you, don't be afraid. I won't harm you.”

Blueblood followed the voice until he was looking at the Nox’s six shining yellow eyes. The eyes were wide and circular, instead of narrow and thin, and made him appear vulnerable and weak.

Blueblood started to shiver. “What are you? Y-y-you foul creature! Please don't hurt me!”

“I am your friend,” K’ra said, inwardly cringing at the notion of friendship.

“Are you a demon?” he whispered in fright.

“I am no demon,” the child of Tartarus reassured him. “There is no such thing.”

That seemed to make him stop quivering. He pulled his sheets to his chest. “You’re sure? What kind of creature are you, then? You look absolutely horrid!”

“I am--was once a pony,” K’ra said to him, low and smoothly. “I came to you for help.”

“Really? That’s terrible!” Blueblood said sympathetically. He relaxed imperceptibly in his bed. “What happened to you?”

“Because of a creature called the Prophet, I was turned into a hideous abomination of nature.”

“The Prophet?” Blueblood asked in surprise. “You mean that foul beast that entered the castle tonight and spouted nonsense? That Prophet?”

“He came into the castle?” he said, and put on an expression of rage. “How did he do that?”

“He just walked in like he owned the place! I own the place, not him!”

“Prince Blueblood, let me tell you something about the Prophet Scorpan. He is an enemy to Equestria,” K’ra hissed in pretend anger. “He wants to only lead them into hysteria with his tales of nonsense in order to gain influence over the ponies of this fair land. Lies! Lies and propaganda are what he spreads. Like a disease that corrupts and destroys.”

“He isn't even a pony!” Blueblood agreed, being swept up in the Nox’s rant until his other questions and doubts about the creature in his room evaporated. “What does he know about me?”

“You hate him as well?” K’ra asked in faked surprise.

“Of course I do!” he vehemently stated. “He ruined the gala! And he embarrassed me!”

“No!”

“Yes! He doesn't belong in Canterlot. He’s the brother of Lord Tirek!”

“This is terrible!” the Nox declared, coming closer to his bedside. “He dared to insult and demean you? You are the crown prince of Canterlot! You deserve better respect than what you got! Your actions can determine the future of Canterlot itself!”

“You’re right!” Blueblood agreed energetically. “I need more! I deserve better!”

“And I can give it to you, my prince,” he said, biting back the revulsion that came to his throat.

“You can?” Blueblood could still not see the Nox in the darkness, but that suddenly didn't matter.

“I am not the only one of my kind,” the Nox said, and this time, it was true. Then he descended into lies again. “The Prophet was so displeased with our village’s reception of him that he angrily turned all of us into spiny, black bugs. But we have not lost our sense of honor. I can sense the honor that you deserve. The rest of my friends and comrades will give you what you deserve.”

“You will?” Blueblood excitedly asked. He had not taken his gaze off the six large, innocent eyes near his bedside table.

“And much more,” K’ra promised. “I can help you take your revenge on the Prophet.”

“And everypony else that crosses me?”

“Who else was it that dared harm you?”

“A mare called Rarity,” he said. “She bears a grudge against me for whatever reason. I am just trying the best I can to be a gentlecolt to her, and then she goes around and she... rejects me! What did I do? Did I do something? If so, I'm sorry, but what did I even do to her?”

“Would you like me to kill her?” the Nox viciously asked.

“What?” Blueblood recoiled. “No, I don't want you to kill her!”

“Oh. Right.” K’ra cursed himself for appearing bloodthirsty to him. “How do you feel about just... making her treat you with the respect you deserve?”

“Yes! Yes, that’s it!”

“Is there anypony you would like me to get rid of for you?” K’ra asked, anticipating the answer.

“There was this one other pony,” Blueblood admitted, a hoof to his chin. “At the gala, somepony decided to throttle me and threaten to use a Black Blade on me!”

The Nox recoiled. The mention of a Black Blade made him shrink back in fear for only a second. Then he collected himself. “What did he want?”

“He wanted to let me know that he was now watching me, and so was somepony called Faust. I don’t know who she is, though. Do you know who Faust is?”

The hated enemy of the Noxxa and the most powerful entity in the universe. “No,” the Nox lied between his jaws.

“Oh, well. She’s not important. What’s important is that there’s another pony out to get me.”

“Who was he?”

“Noble Blade,” Blueblood growled. “He’s the cousin of Princess Cadence as well, so he probably got off scot-free for threatening me!”

“Noble Blade,” the Nox muttered. “Really?”

“Absolute crap, I say,” Blueblood spat. “It’s a ruse to help him ascend in political stature! With another heir, I’m now not the first choice! This is all part of a scheme to push me aside and for him to snatch the crown! He’d go after Auntie herself, if he really wanted to!”

“How dare he,” the Nox agreed. “What if I told you... That I could help you get rid of him, the Prophet, and Rarity for you?”

“Why do you want to help me?” Blueblood asked.

“Why is meaningless, Blueblood. It is a shadow of the past; a whisper from the future.”

“How can you help me?” Blueblood shrewdly asked.

“How is only a glimpse into the future. All that matters is what is here in the present, and that means what, and where, and who. If I could give you the support to get rid of your enemies, then would you accept my help?”

“What do I need to do?” the prince asked, a devious smile spreading across his muzzle.

“All I request is if I ask you a question, you need to answer. And in return, I can promise you riches. Fame. Glory. Love. All that you can ever ask for, and all that you desire, lies with me.”

“How do I know I don’t need your help?”

“You tried it on your own once before. Tell me, are you successful? No, my prince. You require aid that only I can provide.”

“Will I see you again?” the prince asked.

“Only in secluded areas. Alone and quietly. If the Prophet were to find out I was here, he would blast me into oblivion.”

“I can offer to hide you,” Blueblood said. “We both need each other anyway.”

“Great, then.” K’ra smiled. This was even easier than he thought it would be. The prince was so dense. “I am already arranging several of my followers to go after Noble Blade and kill him. Rarity I can maneuver into a situation where her only way out is to marry you. You, however, must create rumors in Canterlot to get rid of the Prophet yourself. Together, we can rise above any challenge as friends.”

“Done,” Blueblood said. “Auntie always said nothing is as powerful as the power of friendship.”

And that was the thing that made K’ra more nervous than ever.

The preparations had been made. The packing had been done. Goodbyes had been said to the Apple family, with many promises to return. Saddlebags had been filled to the brim with supplies. And Noble Blade and Firestorm had dressed in their respective armor. Freedom Fighter had nothing to pack; he already carried everything he owned on him.

Sixteen hours after arriving back in Ponyville, each mare went off to assemble what they needed in their living quarters. Applejack was severe in packing essentials only, and Twilight already had everything organized in her castle’s closets; they had packed first, along with Starlight Glimmer, who simply followed Twilight’s example. Rarity was indecisive about which outfits to wear on an epic adventure, and Pinkie Pie was discovered to have packed a suitcase filled with only cupcakes; they had packed last. Fluttershy had to say goodbye to all of her pets and set up a sitter; she had shown up at Twilight’s castle before Rarity. And before Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash had shown up, with a saddlebag full of awesome mementos.

Finally, all ten ponies stood in the castle's throne room, with Spike reluctantly running through one last comic book before he left with the girls.

“I’ll just say it now,” Fluttershy whispered to Noble Blade, who was right by her side, tall and regal in his overlapping chrome armor. “You look so handsome in that.”

“Did I not look handsome before?” Noble replied. “Or did I look abominable without this second skin?”

“Oh, no! No, no, no! You still looked really handsome! Trust me!”

“Kidding, Fluttershy!” He held a hoof to his chest and mimicked the bearing of a prince. “I always knew I was handsome.”

Fluttershy giggled and rubbed the top of his exposed head. “Silly knight.”

“This is a silly place,” he said softly to her, putting his head closer to the ground so Fluttershy could reach it better. “Castles are silly places.”

“Are the two lovebirds done now?” Applejack drawled from across the table. “We can all see you, ya know.”

“Oh...” Fluttershy let go of her boyfriend’s mane quickly and looked bashful at the reprimand.

“So what?” Firestorm asked lazily. “Maybe they want to be seen.”

“Enough with the talking,” Twilight said loudly, snapping all of their attention to her. “Now that we’re all here and we have everything we need, let’s go to the portal room.”

“The portal room?” Freedom Fighter wondered aloud. He had been listening to music before her announcement. “Can you explain to us poor, poor ponies what the portal actually does first?”

“All right, Freedom. We might as well.” She took a deep breath and started to move to a hallway. All the others followed. “Years ago, a thief had made off with my Element of Magic and had disappeared through a portal that looked like an ordinary mirror. I followed her into another dimension, where everyone from our world was there, but in the shape of other creatures.”

“I was turned into a talking dog,” Spike said proudly to the Guardians. “Betcha you think that’s cool!”

“Thou art the coolest dragon dog dimensional-travelling hybrid to ever exist, sir Spike,” Noble assured him with a wry smile.

“Hold up,” Firestorm said. He crawled low on all fours like a cat to Twilight. “There are other versions of ourselves there?” He gripped her face and looked deep into her eyes. “Is there another version of me? Or of you? Or any of the other girls?”

“What are you trying to plan, Firestorm?” Twilight boredly asked.

“Two things. First, meet up with my other self, smack him upside the head, and dance away. Second, meet the other copies of yourself and our friends and reintroduce myself in the most flamboyant and obnoxious way possible.”

“Must you give off the first impression that you’re obnoxious?” Rarity asked him.

Firestorm looked at her like she had proposed an insane plan to save the universe. “Yes,” he said, slowly. “What kind of madness is this ‘Making a good impression’ kind of thing?”

“ ‘Twi?” Applejack asked her. “D’ya think ya can take us with ya this time?”

“I feel like there’s no choice right now,” Twilight said. “Where one of us goes, all of us have to.”

“Then do ya think you can help give us a few pointers on this new dimension? Or sumthin’?”

“Yes,” said Fluttershy softly. “I’d like to have a few tips on this.”

“Well, the easiest thing is for the Guardians of the Sun to not run into their other selves,” Twilight conceded as she went into a hallway to go to the library. Everypony else followed her, walking to keep up except for Pinkie, who bounced. “They aren’t with the gang last I checked, and knowing that other world, they’d probably be police officers or something. But what seems unavoidable now is that we have to meet our other selves. This means we shouldn’t panic, we shouldn’t stare, and above all, we need to be prepared to explain to them the circumstances we’re in.”

They had arrived in the library by now, and Twilight galloped to a secret doorway hidden in the crystal near a bookshelf. Swinging it open, she poked her head inside, activated her magic, and dragged out the most confusing-looking contraption any of them had seen.

At the center of whatever it was lay an upright mirror that was taller than any of them, inlaid with gems on the horseshoe rim. Surrounding it was many strange cables and machines attached to each other and to the mirror. And above it all was a metal halo attached to the back of it.

“So,” Twilight said excitedly. “Whatcha guys think?”

Firestorm raised his hoof. “Does friendship flow through positive and negative terminals?” He pointed at the cables connected into the back.

“Um... no.”

“What is the point of this contraption?” Noble Blade asked, coming over to observe the many odds and ends sticking out of it. “The mirror portal I understand, but why must this crude machine be perpetually attached to it?”

“It makes it so we can travel between dimensions however many times we want, whenever we want,” Twilight explained. “I came up with it myself.”

“A masterful job, Twilight,” Noble complimented. Twilight blushed.

“Are you all ready?” Starlight Glimmer asked the girls.

“Yeah, yeah, fine,” Spike grumbled, pitching his comic book over his shoulder. “I'm ready.”

“Everypony have what they need?” Twilight called out.

“WAIT!” Rarity cried, and she started to unclasp the saddlebag she wore with her magic. “I can't remember! Did I pack that chiffon gown or not?”

“We’re going through the portal now, Rarity,” Spike said to her, laying an arm on her shoulder. “You can just ask the other Rarity to make one for you.”

“What?! What nonsense!” Rarity suddenly said, and the saddlebags closed. “I require no help from anypony to make a dress I want! Even myself! I can just make a chiffon gown while I'm over there myself!”

As Rarity pranced to the portal, Pinkie leaned down and whispered, “Nice going there, Spike.”

“No problem,” he happily replied.

And one by one, each pony took a brave step through the portal on the first stage of their rather large adventure.

When the last one, a black-uniformed earth pony, had departed into the portal, the Nox peering through a window of the castle signaled the rest of his comrades near the base of the tree.

These Noxxa had been sent on a scouting mission into the plains north of Ponyville directly after Twilight Sparkle had evaded capture. They had been keeping an eye on the perimeter of the town and gouging the best plan of attack for when the invasion would happen. All of a sudden, an order had been given to follow Twilight Sparkle and her friends through a magic portal in her castle.

Ponyville, however, was no exception to the rule. Almost every major city in Equestria was now being watched by Noxxa. The time to attack was not yet, but it was sooner than the Prophet had said.

The war plans had, after all, advanced in speed once Marshal Malice had realized that some creature had been spying on him when he had spoken to his Lord in Tartarus.

He was the one that had sent an individual Nox to tail the Prophet to Canterlot, without consulting High Command. He was the one who decided that the Noxxa would commence their full assault in a few weeks, rather than months. He was the one who had sent Noxxa spies across the Celestial Sea to Equestria in secret, and had given them instructions to gauge the major city’s defenses.

Everything was going according to plan.

Chapter Thirty-nine: Pony Meets World

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When Noble Blade first stepped through the portal, it felt cold and clammy. Then, as he fully went inside, he felt himself start to swirl around the edge of an abyss ahead of him, like a black hole was sucking him in. Colors flew about him, sparkling and glowing in his peripheral vision. He involuntarily squeezed his eyes shut.

He was aware of his body changing, shifting into a new shape, his armor melting to fit his new form. The sword across his back was poking the crosspiece against the back of his head. He felt like he was being squeezed through a hole too tight for him.

He felt stretched and pulled, his body way too elastic for his taste. He was dizzy from the endless revolutions around the abyss ahead of him.

He let out a pained bellow as it reached its crescendo, and as he entered the singularity ahead of him, he felt--

Nothing.

It had ended abruptly.

He was lying on something hard.

His eyes were tightly shut, and they felt glued together after a long sleep. He could hear nothing at first, but then he heard other voices, muffled and far away. After a few moments, the voices became clearer, and he felt the strength to pry open his eyes come to him.

His vision was blurry at first, but after a blink, it was clearer. He was face down, and looking at the grey stone an inch from his face.

Sidewalk. He was looking at sidewalk.

“Twilight?” Pinkie Pie asked, unseen to Noble Blade. “I don’t feel so good.”

“I agree with Pinkie,” Rarity mumbled. “This feels really weird.”

“Does anypony have a mirror?” Applejack asked. “This is kinda--” Her voice cut off. “Oh, nelly.”

“Uhh... guys?” Rainbow asked. “There’s something different about me.”

“There's something different about all of us,” Starlight was heard to say. “It feels weird to be on all fours now.”

“Yeah, uh, that’s the thing,” Twilight said. “We go on two legs in this world. Like dragons, or griffons, or some other creature like that. So, um, try to stand on two legs, everyone.”

Noble Blade pushed down with his front two legs to get a better view of his surroundings. As he rose, he felt something different about his hooves, and he looked down at them.

They were gone. In its place were two small palms with five stiff, armored claws on the top.

Noble was so accustomed to seeing his hooves that when he saw the sight, he let out a shout of surprise and scuffled back on the ground. His arms were longer than normal, felt jointed the wrong way, his hooves… his hooves were replaced by something a griffon might have!

Noble Blade pulled his knees up in front of him and sat down on his butt. His legs were still sheathed in the armor he wore, but they were automatically tailored to fit the new form he was in. His bottom hooves were replaced by long protrusions that he experimentally wiggled around. The armor made the motion heavy and awkward.

He looked at his new digits. He experimentally moved them as well. They could move to his demand, though the armor he wore hindered him from making every possible movement.

“Noble?” came the sweet voice of his girlfriend, and Noble turned his head to the source.

Fluttershy was on all fours and kneeling, and there was a tremor to her as she inspected herself. She still looked like the pony who had passed through the portal, but only in the color of her skin and her long mane. She had on a white T-shirt that came to her midriff, exposing her navel, and wore green sweatpants and shoes. She looked Noble Blade in the eyes. “Um, N-noble? I don’t think I can stand.”

Noble tried to come to a kneeling stance to help her up, but it was laborious to stand. Once he finally had a set of claws on his upturned knee, he pushed off so he was standing on his hind legs.

The strange thing was, as he was steadying himself, he actually felt normal on his hind legs. His legs were stabilizing him, spreading the weight easily. After a wobble or two, he managed to keep himself upright.

“Wow,” Fluttershy whispered below him. “You're so... tall.”

Noble looked down. There was Fluttershy, still on her knees. Noble squatted and reached out to take her... well, not hoof.

Fluttershy grasped his, and Noble yanked himself backwards, jolting Fluttershy up and into his armored chest. He held her there against his chest for a little bit before he let go, keeping an armored appendage against her back to steady her.

“Thanks,” she smiled.

“Anything for you,” he said reassuringly. He ran his strange claw-like appendages through her hair, and scratched the back of her neck as he did so.

She shrunk into her shoulders and turned as pink as a flower. “Y-you're the best, Noble.”

“I never try to be anything less,” he uttered. He looked around. “Fluttershy, do you know where we are?”

“Canterlot High School.”

“How did you know that?”

“There’s a sign.” She pointed. Indeed, the sign on the school grounds said Canterlot High School. Behind him was a cube pedestal as tall as he was with Canterlot High engraved on an edge.

He blushed. “Silly me.”

“Silly knight,” she agreed cutely.

The rest of the girls had managed to stand up as well, with many small comments here and there. Looking over his friends, he saw what had happened to them.

They all looked like their normal counterparts, except stretched out, stood on their hind legs, and given appendages that looked like cute little wriggling worms. It was a very strange-looking creature they had become, indeed. The only exception was Spike, who was now a small green dog padding around the girls.

They had all been generously given clothes as they had came out of the portal. Applejack was in a button-down plaid shirt and tight blue jeans, and her Stetson had managed to stay atop her head. Rarity was in a purple sweater and had white khakis on her legs. Starlight Glimmer was in a turquoise tee with ripped leggings and a pink cap on her head. Pinkie Pie was in a blue tee and a pink skirt that expanded outward as it reached down her wobbly legs. And Rainbow Dash was in a white tee with a black leather jacket, and had ripped jeans and laced combat boots.

The saddlebags each of them had packed before were now in the forms of backpacks. Each of them were color-coded to their skin hues. Noble Blade had nothing on his back except for a tattered brown cape.

“Is Firestorm here yet?” Rainbow Dash asked, straightening the leather jacket to her waist.

“He and Freedom Fighter are coming,” Twilight reassured her. She herself was in a cute blue button-up shirt with a bow tied on the front, and a little purple dress that came to her knees. “They’re the last ones in the castle.”

The pedestal suddenly became translucent and swirly, and, true to form, out shot Firestorm and Freedom Fighter. Both were in their new forms, and the portal had tailored what they were wearing to shape the new form they were in.

Firestorm grumbled and wiped his face with his rag-coated arm. “Yeesh. Can someone stop the room, please? I'd like to get off.”

“You're in no such luck,” Rarity said. “This is the land of the living now.”

“Oh. It’s Rarity. So I can’t be in heaven after all. Unless heaven sucks now.” He blinked his eyes open, and his yellow eyes became large. “Okay, where are w-” He froze as soon as he saw Rainbow Dash, who was bending over with her hands on her knees to look at him.

“Hello, handsome,” Rainbow greeted him. “How ya doin’?”

“Hey there, Firestorm,” Twilight said, who was right next to the crouching Rainbow. “Welcome to Canterlot High!”

“Ho naw,” he muttered. “Ho nanananana NA!” He scooted back until he hit the back of the stone pedestal and pointed a shaking finger at his girlfriend. “What is that? WHAT IS THAT? TH-THAT THING YOU ARE?!”

“Calm down, Stormy,” Rainbow said to him. “It’s only a...hyoo-man.”

Firestorm looked down at his body features, spreading his strange jointed claws, and screamed in shock.

“Are you really that freaked out by this?” Pinkie Pie asked him.

“Why aren’t you freaking out more about this?” Firestorm demanded the pink human as he patted himself down. “I'm not a pony anymore, and this is all looking so surreal and fake, and I feel nauseous, and-” He panted and clutched his stomach. “And pregnant-”

“You what?” Rarity exclaimed. “How do you even know what feeling pregnant feels like?”

“I’ve been kicked in the balls before,” he responded, gesturing to his crotch. “I figure being pregnant is that combined with a stomachache.” Then he wobbily tried to set himself upright, as most of the other girls were doing, by sliding up the edge of the pedestal, then leaning forward and windmilling his arms for balance.

That left Freedom Fighter, who was on the ground prodding at his new body with the tip of one of his new appendages. He flexed the fingers on his right arm, then on the mechanical left.

“Do ya need any help?” Applejack offered him.

Freedom Fighter shook his head no, then put his hands on his knees and straightened them to make him stand upright. He was easily the tallest one out of all of them, and while everyone else had thin limbs, his arms were the width of tree branches.

“Ya doin’ alright?” Applejack asked him.

Freedom Fighter shrugged. Then he widened his red eyes and stood still. He put his hands atop his head and looked desperate. He stood still and narrowed his eyes in concentration, then widened his eyes once more and began to circle in place.

“What’s happenin’ to the big fella?” Applejack wondered.

“The thought manifestation spell isn't working anymore!” Twilight realized. “We crossed over to a world where it wears off! Spells we originally cast in the other world aren’t permanent! Oh, no, no, I should have thought this through!”

“What now?” Fluttershy asked in concern.

“We do what we did before,” Noble said. “Communicate.” He looked his friend in the face. “How are you?” He did a few motions in Equestrian Sign Language as he spoke.

Freedom Fighter clumsily responded with several motions that included moving his hands around his head and shoulders.

“You haven't done this in a while, have you?” Firestorm asked him, doing the motions with his arms and hands.

Freedom Fighter nodded. He wiggled his fingers questionably at Twilight, arching his eyes through his cowl.

“Do you want to know what those are?” Twilight asked. Seeing the mute nod, she said, “Well, those are called fingers, and they’re part of your hand. It makes it easy to grab things.”

“Feen-gers,” Firestorm breathed, flexing them through his ragged gloves. He reached over his back and drew one of his twin blades. He hefted it, threw it from hand to hand, then used his thumb to ignite the button on it. Flame shot along the whole of the blade, causing the mares to flinch back from the heat. He de-ignited it, then swiftly sheathed it. “The girl’s got truth to her claim."

“Where do we go first?” Starlight asked. “What should we do to find the first clue?”

“Well, Star Swirl won’t be living as a hobo under an overpass,” Rainbow Dash said. Then she looked inquisitively at Twilight. “Right?”

“He might be,” Rarity agreed. “And in the most horrid of rags!” She stuck her thumbs in her belt loops. “We know nothing for certain about this.”

“There’s gotta be somepony that does,” Pinkie pointed out, and put a hand to her chin in thought. “Let’s see. Who do we know that was once in Equestria, knows about powerful magic, is here in this dimension, and knows about Star Swirl the Bearded?”

Twilight gasped so loud it startled a nearby Fluttershy and brought a hand to her cheek. “Oh, my goodness! Pinkie, you’re a genius in the way you word things! Thank you thank you thank you!”

“No problemo, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie saluted.

“What are you talking about, Twilight?” Spike asked.

Twilight picked up Spike in her arms and swung him about. “Sunset Shimmer!”

“Of course! Sunset Shimmer! It’s so simple!” Firestorm declared. “I…” He looked at Twilight helplessly. “I don’t follow you.”

“She was once a student of Princess Celestia,” Spike supplied, licking a paw while in Twilight's arms. “Before Twilight, she was her most powerful apprentice. She now stays in this dimension.”

“Why does she stay in this dimension?” Noble asked the dog.

“She was the thief that stole Twilight’s crown in the first place and now she feels like if she goes back to Equestria the princesses will jail her for her crimes,” Pinkie Pie casually said, picking at a fingernail. “Wowee, look at that! I got some dirt out!”

“She what?” Noble asked incredulously. Freedom Fighter instinctively drew a long knife from his chest and held it threateningly at the mention of the thief.

“Freedom?” Firestorm whispered to him. “Put the knife away. She isn’t here.”

Freedom Fighter sullenly obliged.

“What kind of crimes?” Noble was asking Pinkie.

“Stealing a crown-slash-Element of Harmony, betraying and abandoning Princess Celestia, enslaving a school to become a zombie army, turning into a she-demon, and using weaponized magical energy on school property."

“She’s good now,” Twilight insisted upon seeing the look Noble Blade was giving her. “She helped me and my friends on this side of the portal defeat three sirens a few years ago.”

“Those ancient creatures that stir up the hearts of ponies to contend with anger?” Noble asked for clarification, unable to resist sprinkling in descriptive words.

“Yes. There’s nopony on this side of the portal I trust more than Sunset Shimmer.”

“So where can we meet this Sunset Shimmer?” Noble asked.

“Last she talked, she said that she’d go to Camp Everfree with the rest of her friends for the summer,” Twilight said thoughtfully. She started to pace. “She and the rest of them ought to be back by now, but I haven't heard any word from her since.”

“Camp Everfree?” Firestorm asked boredly. “Let me guess, the woods attacked them.”

“Is every spot in this world parallel to Equestria?” Starlight asked Twilight.

“I suppose so,” Twilight conceded. “And we haven't seen the end of it either. There are unexplored places here that may have some significance to real places in Equestria we haven't found out about yet. We may get an idea of what to encounter in Equestria by what happens here.”

“Can we go now?” Rainbow Dash groaned, leaning her head against the back of the stone pedestal. “Let’s talk with Sunset already and get on with it!”

“I agree,” Rarity added. “The more time we stay in here, the more time those dreadful Noxxa have to stop us!”

“Fine,” Twilight said. She began to walk down the sidewalk, Spike at her heels, and beckoned for the rest of the group to follow. “Let’s walk around town and see what we can find.”

“That sounds like an awful plan,” Firestorm commented as he jogged to catch up with her, and the assembly of ponies-turned-human followed suit.

“Well then, Firestorm,” Rainbow said, coming by her boyfriend’s side. “You got a better one?”

“Well, Twilight’s plan revolves around a hunch. I think it’s good, except it sucks. So, let me do the plan before anypony else proposes anything else, and that way, we have a backup plan to fall back on for backup when we need a backup plan to fall back on for backup.”

Noble leaned his head next to Firestorm’s. “Tell her about Skyworld.”

“Okay, look, that was an exception!” he furiously sputtered.

“Well, Stormy?” Rainbow asked, nudging his shoulder. “What happened at Skyworld?”

“It was an orbital platform in the ionosphere that was being used as a weapon of war,” Firestorm quickly explained. “Me and the others were sent to take it out. Shenanigans ensued.”

“What kinda shenanigans?” Rainbow pressured him, pressing her shoulder into his.

“I ain't gonna tell you!” Firestorm exclaimed, batting away her shoulder like he was an agitated cat. “It all happened a year ago, and what matters isn't the details, but results. It’s lying in a scrap heap in the badlands.”

“Maybe there’ll be another Skyworld up in the atmosphere in this world,” Noble remarked. “Maybe this time, the girls can come along for a view.”

“If things go as badly as they did with you in charge, then they’ll be in for more than a view.”

Noble’s cheeks flamed and he said no more.

The stone cube was silent. Nopony was near it; summer was in session and the schoolyard was deserted.

A swirl suddenly appeared in the side of it, and out came a black, sharp-clawed hand that shriveled in the sudden air.

Out of the portal came the arm the hand was attached to, and then the left side of the body, and then the right.

The clawed hand was one of four on long black arms, attached to a sticky black frame with segmented plates on its stomach and back. It was humanoid in shape, but it had an extra set of arms at the armpit and had no clothes gifted by the portal. Its oversized head still had six yellow eyes, and his jaw still had rows of pointed teeth.

“They’re somewhere in this world,” the Nox muttered to himself, and one hand put itself to his chin. The other three folded behind his back. “We must find them quickly and judiciously.”

Five more Noxxa materialized behind him, all black and spiny and icky between the exoskeleton. They took a moment to adjust to their new bodies, then stood stiff as the captain turned to face them. “What is your command, Captain Slath?” came the deep voice of one of them.

“Establish the school as a base of operations,” he commanded, throwing an arm out to the side. “Once the Noxxa on the other side have moved the mirror out of Twilight’s castle and into our secret camp, signal them to funnel into the portal for a surgical strike. We are the closest regiment hidden near Ponyville; we must make do now.”

“What about when we reach the filthy pony scum?”

“Keep Princess Twilight Sparkle alive. Marshal Malice needs an Equestrian princess to activate the Corrupted Element.” Captain Slath negligently flicked his wrist. “Kill the rest and bring their remains over to someplace recluse where you can digest them. If you succeed in your mission, you deserve a meal.”

The Noxxa crackled out unintelligible words of acknowledgment, and one of them disappeared through the portal to relay the instructions.

“Star Swirl the Bearded,” Captain Slath snarled under his breath. His gaze traveled to the street the ten ponies had gone down only hours before, and spat an icky glob of yellow saliva on the pavement. “I swear by the galactic whorse Faust that I will behead you before you tell those ponies anything about the Elements.”

Chapter Forty: Flash in the Pan

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“I’m still not entirely sure what wandering around town is going to accomplish,” Firestorm remarked as they headed between a row of shops in a suburban area of town. They had headed straight away from the school and into a moderately busy part of Canterlot, which was the name of the town they were in. On the street to their left was peculiar pony-less carriages that roared down the black asphalt street, making a loud din that they had to talk over.

“It’s only the sixteenth time you've said that,” Starlight tiredly said as she plodded along ahead of him.

“Let's try to pick up some local gossip,” Rarity suggested, both hands inside her hoodie’s pockets.

“Hey!” came a voice from across the street, and some of them turned their heads to see who it was. It was a student out of school who had noticed the three warriors walking casually down the street. “Comic-con isn’t in town! Where’d you get the armor, Forever 21?” He laughed hastily and continued on his way.

“Look at that, Firestorm,” Noble remarked, folding his arms. “A Philistine on the sidewalk.”

“Should I roast him?” Firestorm asked almost eagerly.

“Commenting on his outfit and his face will make things better?”

Firestorm displayed his twin flamethrowers, wrist-up. “I mean, roast him.”

Noble widened his eyes. “No. No, no no!”

“Come on. I know you want to do it.”

“We’ve attracted worse attention before.”

“Like the Arimaspi?”

“Yes! Exactly!”

“Only difference is the Arimaspi we were laying siege to weren’t as ugly as him.”

“Firestorm. I’m in the same shape as him. You’re in the same shape as him. So is the rest of our party. Including your girlfriend.”

“I wasn’t saying that our new bodies are ugly!” Firestorm was quick to say. “But even for a hyoo-man, he was ugly. Dija see the way his chin bulged? He overindulged on his morning stack of pancakes.”

“Who has the time to make pancakes?” Rainbow Dash wondered. “Just eat some cereal.”

“What kinda two-bit loafin’ hayseeder eats cereal for breakfast every mornin’?” Applejack added. “Wake up early enough, and you’ve got all the time ya need.”

“Who wakes up that early?” Firestorm wondered.

“You do,” Noble reminded him.

“Ah, but you see, I don’t even do anything when I wake up. I simply lay in my bed staring up at the dark ceiling and pondering the mystical secrets of the universe. Or I daydream about Rainbow Dash.”

“That’s kinda creepy,” Rainbow Dash said uncomfortably.

“Daydreaming about you?”

“Well, I guess that’s weird,” she conceded with a roll of her eyes. “But what I’m more concerned about is your answers to the questions of the universe!”

“Like what if the whole universe was in a gigantic cereal bowl?” Firestorm suggested, holding his hands in front of him like he was displaying a picture. “Or what if oranges came from space and they’re an invasive species?”

“I only started listening to you recently,” Starlight Glimmer said from in front of them, “And I don’t think I want to know what led you there.”

“It happens a lot with Firestorm,” Noble explained.

“Well, Twilight suggested we should try to find a place where we can rest and learn some things about this world. Stop the peanut gallery back there.”

“A coffee shop?” Noble asked, creaking along in his armor with every step. “Or a donut shop, or something?”

“A sweet shop!” Twilight finished, snapping her fingers. “While I was here, we would normally hang out there to talk about things! Come on, follow me!” She began to pick up the pace.

“How did she do that?” Firestorm asked in bewilderment, jogging down the street now.

“Discern a location so quickly?” Noble asked him.

“Snap her fingers like that. How can you-” He tried to slide his finger down his thumb in mimicry of her, but no snapping could be heard. “How does that happen?”

“Maybe you need practice,” Noble suggested. “Do it without the gloves next time.”

“Like this.” Rainbow Dash snapped her long blue fingers and held the end position.

Firestorm stared at his girlfriend’s fingers as he followed Twilight. “How can you do that? You've only been here for an hour, and you can just-” He tried to snap again, but only slid his thumb along the edge of his finger.

“Just comes naturally, I guess.” Rainbow shrugged.

“Just comes naturally?” he asked as they rounded a bend. “What kinda crap is that? How can anything just come naturally to you?”

“You really can’t snap?” Applejack asked from behind him, giving a snap so loud it echoed off the buildings.

Firestorm pressed his lips together in anger so hard his nostrils flared.

They arrived at the door of the sweet shop on the corner and entered. Mists of aromas filled their nostrils immediately as they filed in. They all inexplicably felt a little better about their new bodies, felt more comfortable and relaxed.

“Is Sunset in here?” Starlight asked Twilight. “Do you see her?”

“Sorry!” Twilight whispered back to her. “She’s not here.”

“Let’s acquaint ourselves with the locals,” Noble said. “Put some tables together and turn on our gifted charisma.”

“Charisma: on,” Pinkie Pie said determinedly. She quickly went to a table where a boy was sitting alone and said, “Hiya! What’s your favorite kind of food?”

“Um…” the boy said in confusion, looking at his plate of pie. “Pie-”

“My favorite food is pie too!” Pinkie said to the boy excitedly. “We have so much in common! Do you want to be my friend?”

“That’s not charisma,” Applejack muttered. “But... Ah think Pinkie’ll make it work anyway.”

As the others began to pull chairs together, Starlight walked with Twilight to the counter and whispered, “So what now?”

“We try to find somepony here who knows Sunset,” Twilight said, turning her head to talk with Starlight. “Like a student or something. It’s the summer, though, and not a lot of students keep in touch with each other very-oof!”

She had bumped into the back of the person in line for their coffee.

“Ow!” came the reply. “What the-” He spun around to face Twilight, and froze when he saw her face. “Oh, my goodness,” he breathed. “Twilight! You’re back!”

Twilight recognized the orange boy immediately. “Flash!” Twilight cried in surprise. “You're here!”

“Yeah,” he said, spreading his arms. “Where else would I be? This town is where I live.”

“I-I meant here. In the sweet shop,” Twilight clarified, her face rising in color.

“Why are you here, Twilight?” Flash asked, parting his brilliant blue hair. “Did you... miss me?”

Starlight Glimmer was watching the reunion with folded arms and a sort of detached interest.

“Well, I missed you, Flash,” Twilight admitted, a hand to the back of her neck. “But that isn’t the reason I came back from...you know where.”

“Oh, okay.” He shrugged and seemed to disregard the issue. “You can tell me about it later. Do you want me to buy you something?”

“Um…” Twilight bit her lip. “No. I just wanted to ask what was happening with Sunset Shimmer.”

“Sunset Shimmer,” he said slowly. “Man, have I got a story to tell you about Camp Everfree.”

“What happened there?” Twilight asked with concern. “Did something bad happen?”

“I can tell you about it tonight. There’s a slumber party at Pinkie’s tonight. If I remember it right, it’s a 'Glad we came back from Camp Everfree alive and happy yesterday' party.”

“Great!” Twilight exclaimed. “What time is it?”

“Right now? Three twenty.”

“Very funny, Flash.”

“It starts at around seven.”

“Perfect! Now I can catch up on what I missed when I was in Equest-I mean, you know where.” She let out a little laugh. “Right, I’ll see you there.”

“Yeah. Yeah. I’ll see you there too.”

Twilight was walking away from the counter when he said, “Do you still want me to get you something?”

“Oh! Right. Just a hot chocolate. It’s fine.”

Flash nodded and returned to waiting patiently in line, though his gaze would flicker back to Twilight every once in a while.

“Who was that?” Starlight asked her lowly.

“Oh, Flash Sentry,” Twilight tried to say casually but was failing at. “He’s a friend of mine. Over here. It’s... not that big a deal.”

“Yuh huh,” Starlight shrewdly said. She folded her arms. “Tell me, is he your boyfriend?”

“Dgah, what? I have... no idea what you're talking about.”

“I think I do,” Starlight said. “It's impossible for you to have been here and not meet a cute boy.”

“Cute?” Twilight asked, twirling the end of her hair. “Yeah, he’s cute. I guess.”

“Were you and he ever... a thing?”

“Well, we were together…but not, like, together together.”

“Did the long distance not work?” Starlight gravely asked.

Now Twilight looked saddened. “He and I haven’t seen each other in years,” she admitted. “And I think the time between killed it. I was once head-over-heels, but now... he’s just... normal. I’ve been through so much in between my last visit that I just forgot.”

“Do you regret not seeing him?”

“Maybe,” she said, and her voice was flat. “Maybe maybe maybe. I don’t know how events would have turned out if I spent more time in this dimension with him. Maybe I’d be with him. Maybe I would have broken up. But when it all comes down... I just didn't take the chance.”

Starlight was watching her with sympathy and was resting a hand on her shoulder.

“The Guardians of the Sun took their chances when they mattered, and they’ve ended up happy,” Twilight continued. “But I didn't. Would I be happier if I spent more time here with him?”

“Twilight,” Starlight said to her. “This isn't your world. In the world where you belong, you’re a busy princess. How would things have worked out if you were flitting between portals every other day?”

“I know,” Twilight mourned. “I actually considered it and came up with several computational possible outcomes.”

“Somehow that seems a likely course of action. For you, I mean.”

Flash came up to the two girls, stopping the conversation. “Here’s your hot chocolate,” he proffered Twilight, and the mug exchanged hands. “Anything else I should know about your visit?”

“It’s just important we talk with Sunset Shimmer,” Twilight related.

“We?” Flash asked, looking at Starlight. “You mean your friend?”

“Right!” Twilight smacked a hand to her forehead, sloshing the hot chocolate. “Flash, this is my friend Starlight Glimmer. She’s with me to help find answers to what we’re looking for.”

“Is there any chance I know what you’re talking about?” Flash asked.

“Nope!” Twilight said chipperly. “I mean... Sunset’s the one we need to talk to.”

“I’ll text her,” Flash promised. “That way she’ll be ready for you at the slumber party.”

“Thanks, Flash,” Twilight said. “Do you want to sit with us?”

“I’ve got to go to my job,” Flash said disappointedly, and walked to the door of the shop. “I’ll see you at the party, though.”

“Right,” Twilight said with a wave as he drew closer to the door. “See you there!”

Flash smiled and went out the jingling door with a coffee in his hand. The door closed and Flash disappeared.

“Is it still too late?” Starlight asked her friend quietly. “Maybe to take your shot?”

“You said it yourself,” Twilight said, and she fell back into a sorry state. “It wouldn't work out. Different worlds, remember?”

“Right,” Starlight admitted. “But if he’s really what you want…” Starlight looked her in the eyes. “Maybe he could come with us.”

“You just slide the finger down the edge of the thumb,” Applejack was explaining to Firestorm.

“That’s what I've been doing!” Firestorm angrily insisted, flicking his finger down his thumb. He had taken off one of his gloves and was endeavoring to emulate Applejack. “It just doesn't work.”

“Nonsense. Anypony in their right mind can just do it naturally. It’s a snap!”

“You've been here for only a few hours,” Firestorm pointed out. “How’d you learn to do it?”

“Ah just tried it when Ah finally got the hold of these dang fingers.”

“You might just be one of those genetic freaks that can’t do what other ponies can,” Rarity suggested.

“You are ever too kind,” Firestorm sighed. “From my point of view, you’re a genetic freak for doing naturally what you couldn't physically do as a pony!”

“Um, maybe we shouldn’t all harp on Firestorm, everypony,” Fluttershy pointed out, coming over to join the table conversation. “Some ponies are just better at some things than others.”

“Thank you, Fluttershy!” Firestorm gestured wildly to the shy person hovering over Rarity’s shoulder. “Listen to Fluttershy, everypony. Make the world a better place.”

“I thought Rainbow Dash was your girlfriend,” Rarity wondered. “Not Fluttershy.”

“Just because I have a perfect girlfriend, it doesn't mean she’s the only girl in the company with a brain,” Firestorm nastily responded. “What do you have going for you, Rarity? Hm?”

“Now, now, Firestorm,” Fluttershy admonished. “Rarity didn't deserve that. Calm down and let’s take some deep breaths.”

Firestorm managed to look sheepish. “Sorry,” he meeped.

“Twilight’s here,” Applejack announced, and the party, divided into two booths, turned to see Twilight come back with a small mug in her hand, with Starlight tailing behind her.

“Did you find anything?” Rainbow asked her.

“We do now,” Starlight said. “Sunset and her friends are convening at this world’s Pinkie’s place tonight at 7:00. There’s a slumber party to celebrate coming back from Camp Everfree alive and well.”

“Do we know where this world’s Pinkie’s Pie’ses place is?” Pinkie Pie asked her.

“Was that worded correctly?” Applejack wondered.

“I think so,” Fluttershy confirmed dubiously. She was the only one standing up, apart from Twilight and Starlight.

“I’ve been there before,” Twilight was saying. “I know where it is. When the time is right, we’ll go there and introduce ourselves.”

“I’m going to be seeing double when that happens,” Rarity wittily remarked.

“Ooh, good one,” Firestorm said, pointing at her. “Well done, my apprentice.”

Rarity tried not to react, but she did toss her hair with a hand and look into her lap.

“Are we going to explain to them why we have to meet with our other selves?” Fluttershy meekly asked. “The whole point of you not bringing us here before was to avoid our two copies from running into each other.”

“It would have happened eventually,” Starlight interrupted before Twilight could say anything. “And besides, the circumstances kinda demand it. This is potentially the most tumultuous time in Equestria’s history. If there was any a time when we needed to explain this to our other copies, it’s now.”

“Oh. Um, okay,” Fluttershy meeped. “Sorry for asking.”

“ ‘Twas a great question you brought forth,” Noble Blade reassured her, rubbing her shoulder gently through his gauntlet. “Feel no shame in curiosity, Fluttershy. It’s endearing to you.” He gently kissed her on the cheek.

She blushed in relief at his words and smiled. “You do know how to make everything better.”

“Should we get something to eat while we’re here?” Pinkie asked. “I’m hungry. And I want pie.”

“Did anypony bring bits?” Rarity wondered, digging in her pants pocket. “I brought some in my saddlebags, but I don’t know how much we need to cover expenses.”

“Now, hold on, Rarity,” Twilight said quickly. “This world doesn’t use bits. It uses paper money.”

“How can paper be money?” Rainbow Dash wondered aloud. “Lame!”

“Bills, Rainbow. Each piece of paper represents money.”

“Does Firestorm know this?” Rarity wondered.

“I don’t think so,” Twilight said. “Why would he?”

“He’s going to find out really soon,” Rarity said. She pointed at the counter, where a man in rags was leaning casually on the counter as he tried to pick his options.

“What?!” Twilight actually recoiled. “When did he get over there?”

“Has anypony told you that you don't pay attention to your surroundings when you talk?” Pinkie replied.

Twilight ignored her and stalked over to the counter. Firestorm was just finishing up his order, and Twilight could hear every bit of it.

“So the whole dozen cupcakes is fifteen…” Firestorm squinted. “Dollars? Did I say that right?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Cake said--at least, what looked like Mrs. Cake.

“Fifteen dollars…” Firestorm muttered. He looked at the menu above Mrs. Cake’s head, then back. “Is that a lot of money?”

Mrs. Cake said nothing, but she did look at Firestorm with newfound incredulity, as if he was something almost as strange as a talking dog from a land of ponies. She hadn’t seen Spike yet, so this man was obviously the strangest thing to enter her store.

“I’m sorry. I just come from a faraway, um... country. I just want to know.”

Mrs. Cake nodded understandably, but she kept the exact same expression of incredulity.

“All right. Hold up, lemme get my... money…” Firestorm rummaged in his pockets and came up with fifteen gold bits. “That’s half the money I’ve got on me right now. These cupcakes had better be the bomb.”

“Firestorm!” Twilight hissed when she had come close enough. “What are you doing?”

“I’m buying cupcakes, Princess! What does it look like I’m doing?”

“They don’t use bits here.”

“They don’t?”

“No!”

Firestorm looked taken aback. “Isn’t dollar just another way of saying bit?”

“No! It’s a bill! Made of paper!”

He looked down at the pile of gold on the counter with bulged eyes. “Oooohhh…” He looked at Mrs. Cake and started to sweep up the bits into his pocket. “I am so, so sorry for offering you all... this... worthless gold.” He zipped up the pocket he held his money in. “I mean, come on! Gold is worthless. What was I thinking, trying to pay you with such an abundant mineral?”

And it was at this point where Twilight wheeled him around like he was a dolly and pushed him back to their table.

“Sir.”

The sound snapped Captain Slath out of his routinely thoughts. He was walking in long strides down a deserted street in the back alley of the Canterlot suburbs. He snapped the communication device off his hip and held down a button. “Speak.”

“Sor’ak and Korath found an object of curious workmanship in the school. It was in a storage room called Artillery, used for firing on ceremonial occasions. We believe it can be put to better use.”

“Get it to the portal and wait for instruction.”

“As my Lord commands.”

Captain Slath snapped the communicator back to his hip and folded two hands behind his back, leaving two to stroke his chin and pinch his side.

“If there are alternate versions of the Element bearers here,” Captain Slath muttered in thought, “then they must live in this area, since the ponies must not have gotten far on foot alone. The pony filth have probably caught up to them already.”

He stopped near an alley and leaned against the red brick wall, exhaling a fume of repugnant air. “If I can learn the addresses of the pony’s counterparts, it will lead me to the targets. And when we reach them, we will kill them.”

“Oh, my gosh.”

Captain Slath looked up in shock. Near him, walking casually down the street, were three girls with widely different skin tones carrying shopping bags on their arms.

The one in the middle, orange and with glinting eyes, widened them when they saw just how deformed Captain Slath was. Nearly naked, black as pitch, and coated with chitin over a sickly yellow underside, with four arms and six yellow eyes, he was nightmarish enough to make the teenager turn to her blue friend. “Sonata! Run and get somebod-”

Captain Slath grabbed all three girls around the neck all of a sudden and whisked them into the gap between the buildings. It was dark and musty, and had puddles of rancid water on the ground. One hand held each girl’s neck, and the one free one was drawing out a long black sword at his waist.

“Wha-what kind of...creature...are you?” the purple one gasped in absolute fear.

“Speak another word.” Captain Slath drew the sword and stuck the Black Blade into the asphalt. “Say another word and I swear I will do it.”

The purple one pried at the clenched fist with fingers of her own, squeezing her teeth together. “Please! Please, just stop it, and we’ll forget we saw you! Please!”

“What do you know about Twilight Sparkle?” Captain Slath asked, ignoring her plea.

The orange girl in the middle widened her eyes once again at the mention of Twilight’s name. “You’re looking... for her of all people?”

“What. Do you know.” He tightened his grip more and raised the sword until the point was level with the blue girl's chest. “Speak or she will perish.”

“Don’t hurt her!” the middle one gasped. Her face was almost as purple as her other friend. “We’ll tell you! Okay?”

Captain Slath released the girls, and while they were gasping he held the blade so the length was at all three of their necks. “Speak.”

The purple one turned to her orange friend nervously. “Adiago! What are you-”

“Shut up, Aria!” Adiago hissed. “He means business!” She tried to look the demon in the eyes, but only focused on two of the six. “Why do you want to know something about Twilight Sparkle?”

“Where is she?!” he bellowed, and kicked her in the sternum so she hit her back against the wall. “I am not this patient normally with hostages, but you test me. Tell me all you know, or you and your friends will perish here and now.” He yanked on Aria’s hair until she screamed and fell to her knees, then he held her there and planted a foot on her back.

“Adiago!” came Sonata’s cry. Footfalls came closer to the entrance of the alley. “I’ll get help! I’ll just-”

Captain Slath swished his sword through the air the opposite way and it stopped a millimeter from Sonata’s throat, halting her in her tracks.

“For the last time. Spill your secrets or spill your guts.”

Adiago gasped for breath and tried to calm her racing mind. “L-look, I’ll tell you all I know. Twilight’s got a bad history with us.”

“Skip the prologue!”

“She beat us in a singing competition with her friends!” she hurriedly said, cringing. “We lost everything when that happened! We’ve wanted to exact revenge on them for the longest time!”

“A singing competition?” Captain Slath asked in amusement. He amplified the pressure on Aris’s back. “I pity the sore losers that you are.”

“No, y-you don’t understand! She ruined us when she-”

“I have no further use for you if you talk only about singing. Talk about Twilight Sparkle.”

“Twilight’s here! In Canterlot! She goes to school in this area! She’s always surrounded by her friends, who have special powers that prevented us from taking action on them! We were left so weakened by them that we have no chance of going head-to-head with them again!”

She stopped, then grew a sly smile and looked Captain Slath in two of the six eyes. “But you seem like you can harm her better than we ever could. If we were to work with you... would you allow us in on some of the action?”

“You are dispensable,” Captain Slath spat at her. “You have nothing I cannot use myself.”

“All right, fine.” Adiago flicked a hand lazily. “I guess if you kill us, you won’t be able to witness the magical powers of the sirens.”

Captain Slath looked genuinely surprised for the first time. “Sirens?” he slowly asked.

“We came to this vile world because of Star Swirl the Bearded,” she explained lowly. “All we wanted to do was to feed. And because of that, here we are, deteriorating until we become wisps of who we were before. It was Twilight who stopped us and forced us to exile ourselves from social life.”

“You wish to kill Twilight Sparkle.”

Sonata nodded, the wavering Black Blade so close to her throat. “Yes! Yes, we-wait a sec. Kill her?”

“Of course we want to kill her!” Aria added vehemently. “She ruined us!”

“I want Twilight Sparkle alive,” Captain Slath snarled in disgust. He increased pressure on Aria’s back. “And I will kill anyone who fails my mission.”

“Oh.” Aria’s face blanched. “N-no, we don’t want to kill her. We don’t want to kill her!”

“You filth,” Captain Slath spat. “Afraid of your ambition.”

“I am not afraid of my ambition,” Adiago affirmed. “I will do whatever it takes to get my revenge on Twilight Sparkle.” She put her fingers in a walking motion on the dark creature’s arm. “Listen. You need us to get you Twilight’s address. And we need you to destroy the Rainbooms once and for all. Get away from my friends, and I won’t use the power of the sirens on you.”

Captain Slath snorted and narrowed all six of his eyes. “I am unafraid of a slut.”

“And I’m not afraid of a demon who’s so helpless he needs information from a few teenage girls.”

“You test me, slut.”

“You bore me.”

Captain Slath kept his position. Nobody dared to move except Adiago, who folded her arms.

Then he swiftly sheathed his sword at his hip and put his foot off Aria. “My power is above yours.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“Be warned. Cross me, and you cross Marshal Malice. Cross him, and you cross the king of Tartarus. Cross the king of Tartarus... and there is no power in heaven or on earth to save you from his wrath.”

“Pity. He might even be strong enough.”

Captain Slath finally smiled. “Your pride becomes you, slut. If your fat flank worked up and down as much as your mouth does, you might eke out a worthwhile living.”

Sonata tilted her head curiously. “I think he just complimented you.”

Adiago waved her off. “You’ll have to excuse her. She’s an idiot.”

“Tell me the whereabouts of Twilight Sparkle.”

Adiago whipped out her phone. “That can be done.”

After fifteen minutes of searching on the school records online, Adiago highlighted six names on the list, typed out their addresses, and delivered the device to Captain Slath. “Here you go.”

“There are six.”

“Those are the locations of her friends as well. We don’t know which home they convene at, but it’s one of those.”

Captain Slath whipped out the communications device and turned away from the girls to give directions to his underlings. While that happened, Aria and Sonata went to Adiago, massaging sores and looking at Adiago.

“Are you crazy?!” Aria hissed, her purple hair mussed and out of place. “Making a deal with that guy?”

“He’s from Equestria!” Adiago pointed out. “He knows the way back! If we stick with him we can go home!”

“But I like it here,” Sonata muttered.

“I don’t care if you like it here!” Adiago hissed at her. “I’m doing what needs to be done for the good of the entire group. With him, we get rid of the Rainbooms and we go home! Two birds with one stone!”

“You lied to him. We don't have the powers of the sirens anymore.”

“Which is something he doesn’t need to know,” Adiago muttered through clenched teeth, waving a hand across her throat to signal her to cease.

“When the time comes where we need to use them, what will we do?”

“It won’t happen, Aria.”

“But-”

“It. Won’t. Happen.”

Aria huffed and flipped a strand of hair out of her face. “Fine. We stick with this loser. When do we ditch him?”

“We have our power in Equestria. We can kill him then.”

“Oh, so you don't care about him.”

“He disgusts me.” She pushed them away. “He’s coming here.”

Captain Slath nodded his head when he was close enough. “Come with me.”

“Who are you, anyway?” Sonata asked.

The monster stroked the pommel of his long sword with a finger. The hardened skin on his arms reflected the sunlight. “I am inconsequential. I am only one of many, and the many is in one. I am Captain Slath. I seek to destroy everything Faust put on the earth.”

He grinned so all of his sickly, thin, needle-long teeth showed. “I am part of one, and the one is part of me. I am the Noxxa.”

The sky was touched with a few drops of pink and gold in the west when the party of eleven stood in front of Pinkie Pie’s house. It was just past 7:30, and the companions could make out sounds of laughter, conversation, and competitive noises as their night progressed.

“So.” Spike poked his head out of the backpack behind Twilight. “Who’s gonna break the news to ‘em?”

“Dibs!”

“I don't think so, Firestorm,” Twilight denied him with a wave of her hand. “We need somepony who can communicate well.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” he suspiciously asked. “Whenever you need smooth and subtle messages to be passed along, I am always a perfect choice.”

“That was my job before you came along,” Pinkie Pie objected.

“Maybe Noble Blade could try,” Twilight pondered. “You're the most diplomatic out of all of us.”

“My lady, I fear if you give me that privilege, I will fill it with confusing words and irrelevant tangents. I am aware that that old-timey language isn't understood as well by many other people.”

“And Fluttershy is out of the question,” Starlight added. “Giving the shyest person the task is not the smartest idea.”

“Or the talking dog,” Spike contributed from behind the back of Twilight. “Not that I don't want to help contribute, of course, but I just figure that, well... somepony else is gonna be better at this than me.”

“How about,” Applejack interrupted, “we just all explain it?”

After a moment of reflection, the group agreed with many noises like yeah, sure, okay, great, and seems fine to me.

Starlight Glimmer pushed a finger to the doorbell, vibrating her finger with a buzz.

“That must be Twilight!” came the voice of Rarity from inside. “Ooh, I can't wait to see her again!”

“It’s so surreal, hearing that voice come from somewhere else,” the Rarity outside said, folding her arms. “Do I really sound like that?”

After seven seconds passed, the door opened inward.

“Dgah!” Twilight lept backwards.

A grey, monotonous-looking person was standing there, boring her eyes into the rest of the group. Her face was absolutely expressionless, although her purple sweater was freshly ironed. It looked like she had been freshened up just for tonight.

“Uh, hi,” Twilight tried to say with her arms behind her back. “You’re Maud, right?”

Maud looked at Twilight with unfeeling eyes.

“Um... Maud?”

Maud looked over her shoulder. “Pinkie,” she called over her shoulder, emotionless and flat. “There’s a lot of weirdos out here.”

“A lot of weirdos?” came the doubting but high-pitched reply. “That’s crazy, Maud! Twilight’s coming alon-” The other Pinkie Pie poked her head out of the edge of the doorway, but when she saw the collection of bizarre people outside, she was rendered speechless--which was not an easy thing to do for any version of Pinkie Pie.

“Halloo,” Firestorm called to her from the back, waving a hand high in the air. “Surprise?”

The other Pinkie Pie gasped so hard she levitated in the air for a second, then sped back inside with a puff of smoke.

Chapter Forty-one: How to Make A Whole Bunch of New Frien-Oh, Forget It

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“So... can we come in or not?” Twilight asked Maud. The entire group was still awkwardly standing outside Pinkie Pie’s front lawn.

“We’ve been expecting guests,” Maud said in the most boring voice imaginable. She stepped aside. “You can come in.”

One by one, each person squeezed through the doorway until all ten people--and the dog--had come in and were standing in the thin hallway leading in.

“I’ll be upstairs in my bedroom,” Maud said with absolutely no emotion. “Making no noise and pretending I don't exist.” She pulled a rock out of her sweater pocket and held it in her palm for everyone to see. “He gets scared when people are over.”

She stared with no interest at everyone, crowded together in the front hallway in one large mass. Then she turned to the left and went upstairs one step at a time, caressing her rock.

“Sweet Celestia,” Noble whispered as she disappeared. “Is that Pinkie’s-”

“Yep.” Rarity folded her arms. “She’s not what you would expect.”

“I’m…” Noble ran a hand through his vivid blue hair and looked at the ground. “Speechless.”

“Yoo-hoo! Twilight! We've been expecting you, Darling!” Rarity’s voice carried from the room down the hall.

“Hold on, Rarity. I’m coming!” Twilight pushed her way to the front of the hall and turned around a bend, disappearing from the sight of the others. When she did, the music coming from around the bend scratched to a halt.

“Hey, guys! I’m... back!”

There came the sound of an unzipping backpack. “So am I!” Spike said grandly.

“Twilight!” came a familiar scratchy voice, and there came the sound of an impact as a body ran into Twilight. “You’re finally here! What took ya so long?”

“Is that really how I sound like?” Rainbow Dash asked Firestorm.

“Hey, Twilight.” The voice sounded unfamiliar to the rest of them. “How’s life been in Equestria?”

“Y-yeah. It’s been fine, Sunset. Just needed to drop by.”

“What can I do for you?” came what was apparently Sunset Shimmer’s voice.

“I’ll get to that later.” Her tone seemed to shift as she addressed the next person of importance. “Nice to see you, um... other me.”

“It’s fine,” came a voice that sounded like Twilight but obviously wasn’t. “I just haven’t seen you since we ran into each other after the Friendship Games. It’s... been weird! This is weird.”

“Um, Twilight?” came Spike’s voice. “Who’s the dog in the backpack?”

“Oh, that’s Spike, Spike,” came what was apparently the other Twilight. “Say hello to a Spike from Equestria, Spike.”

“Uh…” came the blank reply. “Hi, Spike.”

“Hey there, Spike,” came the Equestrian Spike. “Got any dog treats?”

“I thought that only Freedom Fighter spoke to himself,” Pinkie Pie whispered in the hallway.

Freedom Fighter made a series of protested, overexaggerated gestures, which was tough in the cramped space.

“Are there any dog treats?” Firestorm curiously asked, pushing his path clear by sticking his head over Starlight Glimmer’s shoulder.

“Hey…” came the voice of the other Rainbow. “I heard something! From in the hallway!”

“You know, Firestorm,” Rarity whispered. “There is merit in learning when to stop talking.”

“There is?” he asked in surprise, rearing his head back.

“Yeah, this might be a good time to say I brought a few friends,” Twilight admitted sheepishly from the room around the corner. “And they might be friends you actually know.” She poked her head around the corner. “Come on, you guys! Show yourself!”

And as one collective, crowded mass, the people in the hallway moved around the corner and into the big room.

There were sleeping bags and bowls of popcorn all over the ground, and a TV in the corner was blaring with a racing video game. Makeup bottles were in another corner and used brushes were dipped in them. Comic books were in a stack on a nearby table, along with a bowl of punch and bags of pretzels and popcorn.

Sitting on the sleeping bags, squishing down the couches, and standing up near the windows were seven brightly colored girls, along with a boy sitting near the TV who had orange skin and blue hair. Each of them was staring in absolute shock as their doppelgangers, the girls from Equestria, packed their way in.

“Well,” Twilight said as the last of them managed to squeeze in. “Say hello, everypony!”

“Howdy,” Applejack said with a tip of her hat.

“Hi!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“Hello there,” Rarity said eloquently

“How ya doing?” Rainbow asked.

“Hi,” Fluttershy meeped.

“Pleased to meet you,” Starlight Glimmer said unequivocally. "I'm Starlight Glimmer."

“Salutations,” Noble Blade said in the grandest voice he could muster.

“Wassup?” Firestorm asked, trying to lean casually on the table but failing due to the height.

Freedom Fighter gave a small wave hello, then retreated.

“So…” Twilight said when they were done. “Any questions?”

The other Pinkie Pie raised her hand. “Who spiked the punch?”

“Twilight…” Flash whispered, flinching when he saw the powerful men in armor regarding him with curious glances. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing more!” He was grasping the top of his head. “And guys with really, um... really big... weapons.” He seemed to shrink on his beanbag.

“This is a lot for me to handle right now,” the other Fluttershy whispered, twiddling her thumbs while staring at Noble Blade’s feet. “Um… I just want to step out for a little bit. I hope nobody minds.” She got to her feet and shuffled out, glancing at Noble Blade’s face once before going out the other end.

“This...is...incredible!” the other Twilight giddily said, holding her Spike to her chest. “This anomaly shouldn’t be possible! Why, the odds of me experiencing this for myself are astronomical already, but seeing all of my friends from another dimension is... off the graph!”

“I never actually thought I would get the chance to see myself from a universe where I’m a pony!” the other Rarity wondered, stretching out her fingers to dry out the red nail polish on them. “What is it like over there?”

“Well, um... we’re all ponies,” Rarity awkwardly explained. “And there’s dragons and griffons and monsters and princesses and powerful stones that protect our land.”

“What a fantastic land! Do they have dresses over there?”

“What kind of civilized race doesn’t have fashion?” Rarity fervently declared. “It would be like a cream pie without the cream!”

“You can't have a pie without cool whip,” Pinkie Pie readily agreed.

“Wait, wait, wait,” the other Pinkie Pie interjected. “Why’d you pronounce it like that?”

“Oh, you mean cool whip?” Pinkie asked casually.

“Why put so much emphasis on the h?”

“That’s how ponies in Canterlot say it.”

“Say whip.”

“Whip.”

“Now say cool whip.”

“Cool whip.”

“Cool whip!”

“Ah can't believe Ah’m seein’ this,” the other Applejack breathed, sitting up on the couch. “Twilight, you brought us outta Equestria... to say hello?”

“Not entirely,” Twilight admitted.

“That was a mistake,” came Sunset Shimmer. She was sitting on a sofa with her arms folded. “Twilight, unless you have a very good reason, you shouldn’t have given us face-to-face glimpses of our other selves.”

“Look at that, Rainbow,” Firestorm whispered to his girlfriend. “Another lady with the same color scheme as me!” He folded his arms. “I’m not impressed, but I feel like I should be.”

“Sunset,” Twilight said patiently. “You know me. I wouldn't have done this if I didn't have a good enough reason.”

“What kind of reason could bring all of your friends with you to our world?”

“Our world?” Twilight asked in surprise. “Sunset, this isn't your world either.”

“Don't change the issue, Twilight. What you did was very risky.”

“It’s a very risky situation over in Equestria.”

Now the fascination the other girls had wasn’t directed at their pony counterparts, but rather at what Twilight was saying.

“What kind of situation?” Sunset shrewdly asked.

Before Twilight could explain, Firestorm parted through the lineup of ponies-turned-human and put his arms behind his back gravely. “It involves the Elements of Harmony,” he said in a deeper voice than he usually used. “A complication has arisen, and we need your help. An invading army is poised to strike Equestria and spread its poison through its entire body. Eventually, its armies will infect the heart, and after Equestria vomits uncontrollably, goes mad with delirium, and dehydrates itself through intense diarrhea, it will perish.”

“Oookaaay,” the other Rainbow Dash said slowly. “I don’t have a clue what’s going on.”

“Our nation is going to vomit itself to death,” Firestorm clarified in his normal voice. He waved a hand. “Moving aside the metaphor, there’s an army that wants to invade Equestria, and it’s commanded by the king of Tartarus.”

“Tartar-” the other Twilight started in shock, but Sunset Shimmer shut her up with a finger to her lips. Sunset continued to look quizzically at the pony in front of her who was also orange and had fiery hair.

“Who... are you?” she finally asked.

“Who am I?” Firestorm put his hands to his chest and looked like somepony had offended him. “Who am I? I think the real question here is-” He sniffed hard to mimic arrogance, then sniffed again in curiosity. “What kinda salt did you use for the popcorn?”

“His name’s Firestorm,” Noble Blade supplied with a wave of his armored hand. He pointed at himself, then behind him. “I am Noble Blade. And this is Freedom Fighter.”

Sunset Shimmer pointed at Firestorm while looking at Twilight. “Is he always like this?”

“You would not believe how many other ponies have asked that question,” Twilight responded, twitching her mouth with a snicker.

“How come you’ve never mentioned ‘em before?” the other Applejack asked Twilight suspiciously.

“She didn't know about us before,” Noble replied before Twilight could say anything. “While ponies have lived their lives in peace, we have been the ones keeping their peace. We are secret protectors of Equestria.”

“I’d expect nothing less from a literal knight in shining armor,” the other Rarity said, smiling and twiddling her hair with a finger.

Freedom Fighter did a few gestures with his palms and face.

“And we’re the hottest stallions in Equestria?” Noble Blade asked him in surprise. “Where’d you get that notion?”

Freedom Fighter pointed at Firestorm.

“I won’t say he’s wrong,” Noble said after a calculated silence, casting a wink at Fluttershy, who smiled and began to twirl her hair, “but it isn't in our job description.”

“Right. We’re just bearers of the Elements of Harmony,” Firestorm pointed out. “No biggie.”

“There are only six,” Sunset protested, looking confused. “Twilight and the others bear them.”

“Not anymore!” Firestorm sang. “There are actually ten Elements. Four of them are just lost.” He gestured at the punch. “Is it okay if I pour a cup? I find I can think better if I have a drink in my hoof. Hand. I mean hand.”

“Help yerself,” the other Applejack said dismissively.

Firestorm poured himself a cup of punch and swirled it like he held a glass of expensive brandy. “But nopony knows where the missing Elements are except Star Swirl the Bearded, who is living in this dimension. We’re looking for Swirly so he can tell us where the Elements are, go back to our own dimension, find ‘em, use ‘em to destroy this enemy army, and save the universe from bowing to the king of Tartarus--who’s also the divorced husband of a goddess who’s the mom of literally everyone. Now!” He drained the cup of punch, then tossed the cup behind him onto the table and clasped his hands together so loud they echoed. “Any questions?”

“Yeah,” came the other Rainbow Dash. “Could you repeat that?”

Firestorm took a deep inhale, and his head inflated to ridiculous proportions like a balloon.

“What was it you said about Star Swirl the Bearded?” Sunset Shimmer asked in disbelief before he could repeat it.

Firestorm let out the air he was holding disappointedly, and his head shrunk back to normal size.

“You know something about him?” Starlight Glimmer asked hopefully.

“Well, what is it you’d like to know? There’s only so much I can tell you, but whatever it is-”

“How do you know who he is?” Twilight excitedly asked, interrupting her.

“Everybody knows who he is,” Sunset Shimmer said, shrugging a hand. “He’s the head of the school board.”

Twilight's eyes shrunk so small they became almost indiscernible. “Hold on,” she weakly said, putting a shaking finger in the air. “Is that true?"

“Yeah,” Sunset said, a little anxious about the ridiculous expression on Twilight’s face. “He has been, for the longest time. You really didn't know?”

“I never... asked…” Twilight mumbled in shock, looking down at her boots.

“Star Swirl the Bearded is the head of the school board,” Applejack said matter-of-factly. “Yunnow, Twi, why is it that everything important in this world relates ta school?”

“Hold on,” Rarity said, putting a hand on Twilight to steady her. “Is he the Star Swirl from this dimension, or the Star Swirl that exiled himself from Equestria?”

“He has to be the one from Equestria,” Rainbow said. “What else are we gonna do?”

“How long has he been head of the school board?” Noble Blade asked.

“Since before I came to this dimension,” Sunset recanted, a finger to her chin in thought. “Counting now, I’ve been at Canterlot High for over five years. He may have been here longer than that, though. I may have to check the school records online.”

“What else do people know about him?” Twilight asked.

“That’s pretty much it,” Sunset said simply. “I don’t know where he lives, or what he does in his spare time, or even what he looks like in person. The only people I know for a fact who have are the other members of the board.”

“Looks like we have some research to do!” Pinkie Pie said determinedly, pumping a fist.

“Research!” Twilight let out a giddy squee of glee and shook in place. “Oh, my gosh, more research on Star Swirl the Bearded that even I don’t know about! This is so exciting!”

“Forgive us if the rest of us don’t feel as strongly about it as you do,” the other Rainbow Dash boredly said.

“How about…” the other Pinkie Pie slowly said, sitting up, “the rest of you hang out here for the night? Some of you can party with us here while the rest of you can research information on Star Swirl the Bearded! It’s going to be a giant, two-versions-of-ourselves-party!” With a burst of her hands, confetti and sprinkles appeared out of nowhere.

“That’s... why we’re here,” Starlight said matter-of-factly. “Why not we get started now?”

Sunset, both Twilights, Starlight, Flash, the other Pinkie Pie, and Freedom Fighter were situated around the computer in Pinkie’s room upstairs. As the other Pinkie Pie logged on, Sunset Shimmer was whispering to Twilight.

“You never told me that Star Swirl the Bearded was here,” she was saying.

“I didn't know before,” Twilight hissed.

“Why didn't anypony tell you?”

“Because nopony else knew except Celestia.”

“Why didn't Celestia tell you?”

“Because it related to the Ten Elements.”

“Celestia didn't even tell you about the Elements?”

“It was under the command of Faust Herself that nopony knew! The more ponies knew, the harder the King of Tartarus would attempt to overthrow us!”

“But if more ponies knew the truth, they would surely stand up to the influences of Tartarus stronger, right?”

“Well…” Twilight said under her breath.

“And who’s to say that Faust commanded it?” Sunset asked. “It may all be a ruse in the first place.”

“Are you telling me Celestia made up that exquisitely detailed story she told us under pressure?”

“I'm not saying Celestia’s a liar,” Sunset said quickly as the computer sang to life. “But what if she’s being deceived herself?”

“Celestia’s better than that,” Twilight defended.

“Because Celestia’s never been overpowered or deceived before,” Sunset pointed out sarcastically.

“I-” Twilight started, then stopped. The memory of the Changelings at her brother’s wedding came to her with full force. “You have a point. But right now, I’m inclined to believe what Celestia has to say about this. Who else are we going to trust?”

“The computer’s all yours, Twilight!” the other Pinkie Pie sang, moving out of the way for the rest of the girls. “Both of you, I mean,”

Twilight and Sunset broke off the conversation and crowded around the computer, next to the other Twilight, Flash, and Freedom Fighter. They opened a web browser, went to the school website, and started their research.

In the kitchen, where it was least crowded, were the two Fluttershys and the two Rainbow Dashes.

“Hi,” the other Fluttershy meekly said with a raised hand close to her chest. “I’m Fluttershy.”

“Nice to meet you,” Fluttershy whispered back. “My name’s Fluttershy too.”

“I’ve never seen myself say that to me,” the other Fluttershy whispered, twiddling her thumbs.

“I’ve never talked to an alternate version of myself either,” Fluttershy admitted as well. “This is new for me.”

There was a bit of silence between them.

“What do you want to talk about?” the other Fluttershy asked.

“I’m not sure. What can we talk to each other about?”

“I like animals,” the other Fluttershy said. Then she cringed.

“Yeah,” Fluttershy admitted. “Animals are great. But it’s not my, um, favoritest thing. There’s somepony, um...better than that.”

“Who is it?”

Fluttershy sighed and hugged herself around her exposed midriff, imagining Noble Blade hugging her. “It’s my boyfriend.”

“You have a boyfriend?” the other Fluttershy asked in shock and worry. “That sounds scary. I would be so nervous if I met a cute guy and he said hi to me.” She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, then stopped and looked at her counterpart. “Um... who is he, by the way?”

Fluttershy twisted another lock of her long hair absently as she remembered the details of her knight protector. “It’s Noble Blade.”

“The knight?” she asked in surprise. “The blue guy that looked really, really…” She stopped and widened her eyes as she realized who she was talking to. She put her hair in front of her face ashamedly. “Cute?” she finished with a meep.

“You think he’s cute?” Fluttershy asked in surprise.

“I’m sorry!” the other Fluttershy whispered, quivering in fright. “I’m so, so sorry for already thinking your boyfriend’s cute!” She slumped to the ground and leaned her back against the fridge, ready to sob.

Fluttershy squatted down until she was face to face once again. Her shirt had moved up to the bottom of her ribs. “You think I'm mad?”

The other Fluttershy drew up her red face. “You’re not?”

“I don't think I am,” Fluttershy admitted in thought. “It’s only natural that you would think he’s cute. He’s really good at doing it.”

“So, wait…” The other Fluttershy stared into her knees. “Are you trying to say something?”

“You can’t have him because he belongs to me, but your luck hasn’t run out yet. There may be a Noble Blade in this world,” Fluttershy pointed out. “And if he’s here, you find him and snag him. Trust me on this.”

The other Fluttershy looked into her counterpart’s eyes of teal, and saw understanding and compassion there. It was strange for the other Fluttershy, because it wasn't possible to look into your own eyes and see the emotions there. It seemed almost surreal and unbelievable.

“So you’re not going to scream at me?”

“This is the loudest I can talk.” She patted the other Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Would you expect me to?”

“I just naturally assume everybody gets mad at me for saying something insensitive.”

“Don’t be. Having a boyfriend helps in that area. He tells you you don’t have to feel shame.”

“Could you tell me more about him?” The other Fluttershy tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m dying to know.”

So Fluttershy began to tell her alternate self all about him.

At the other end of the kitchen, a more casual conversation was taking place between the two Rainbow Dashes.

“So in Equestria,” the other Rainbow Dash was saying. “I’m a pegasus?”

“The fastest and the coolest pegasus ever,” Rainbow maintained. “I’m the only one that can do a Sonic Rainboom.”

“A Sonic Rainboom?” the other Rainbow asked. “Wait, wait. Like in the band, the Rainbooms?”

“That’s a thing?”

“Of course it’s a thing! I’m the lead guitarist.”

“Oh. My. Gosh. You play guitar?!”

“You betcha!” She did little air-guitar motions with wiggling fingers, and little electric sounds could inexplicably be heard. “Everypony else helps out, of course, but it’s because of me we’re as cool as we are.”

“We are cool, aren’t we?” Rainbow asked smugly.

“So,” the other Rainbow Dash said, leaning on the counter in the kitchen. “What can you tell me about the new guys, Me?”

“What can I tell ya?” Rainbow Dash asked, slumping against the microwave. “They’re only the most awesome guys in Equestria.”

“They seem... a little weird.”

“They’re better than most other ponies I’ve met.”

“Even that Firestorm guy?”

“Ohohoho,” Rainbow chuckled and pointed at her counterpart. “Stormy's better than both of them combined!”

“Stormy?” The other Rainbow Dash looked jolted. “What do you mean, Stormy?”

“He loves it when I call him that,” Rainbow explained, and took a sip of punch. “He’s my boyfriend!”

“Your what now?” the other Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “That guy?”

“Who say my name?” Firestorm burst out, appearing in the doorway of the kitchen. He pointed at Rainbow. “You say my name?”

“You bet, Stormy,” she smirked.

“She say my name!” he said excitedly and did a leap into the kitchen like a ballerina. He grasped Rainbow Dash by the shoulders and smiled. “And for that you get a kiss.”

And he did it.

When he pulled away, Rainbow had a bigger smile on her face than before, while the other Rainbow watched with an uncomfortable expression of anxiety.

Firestorm saw this and widened his eyes. “...I’ll see my way out.”

He did.

When he disappeared, the other Rainbow Dash sighed and looked her counterpart in the face. “Does he do that often?”

“I’ve only been his boyfriend for, like, a day,” Rainbow admitted, and leaned back contentedly and closed her eyes. “But oh, man, I wish he’d do that in the future.”

“Does having a boyfriend make you more awesome?” the other Rainbow Dash asked shrewdly.

“Doesn’t hurt.”

The other Rainbow Dash looked at the ground in thought.

“Did you mind?”

“Hmm?”

“That we kissed in front of... well, you know…”

“Oh, no! Not at all! I’m already awesome enough without some guy.” She folded her arms defiantly.

“All right then.” Rainbow shrugged and returned to sip her punch. “Suit yourself.”

The other Rainbow Dash remained folding her arms, though her expression had softened and her posture had relaxed.

“It says here that he’s been head of the school board for the last…” The other Twilight squinted at the computer screen in shock. “Twenty years?!”

“Why didn’t anypony else run for the position?” Flash Sentry wondered.

“Maybe they did,” Sunset answered him. “But maybe Star Swirl used magic to control the outcome of each election.”

“Why would he do that?” Flash asked back. “To keep the position for himself?”

“I don’t think it has to stem from greed,” Twilight said to Flash assuredly. “Maybe... he assumed the position to preside over the student body... so that it could feel like he was teaching pupils again.” She rubbed her scalp to try to think more. “And maybe this is how he feels he could do more good in the world. Maybe this is how he feels he could contribute, is make kids turn out the best he can make them.”

“But you said he did to make it feel like he was teaching pupils of his own,” the other Twilight pointed out. “So maybe he is being selfish.”

“Oh, come on. Star Swirl is better than that.”

“If what we’re talking about is true, Twilight,” the other Twilight said, “then he uses magic to control the outcomes of the student elections.”

“I thought Equestrian magic didn't work outside Equestria,” Twilight wondered. “The only exception to that rule’s my Element, right?”

“Oooh,” the other Pinkie hissed. “Twilight, we’ve got a bit of a story for you.”

And between Flash, Sunset, the other Pinkie, and the other Twilight, the four of them proceeded to tell Twilight about the tumultuous events at Camp Everfree.

When they were finished, Twilight was looking down at the ground pensively, a finger to her chin and her legs crossed as she hunched forward in her chair.

“So…” Sunset Shimmer wrung her hands. “Are you going to say anything?”

“I don’t like this,” Twilight darkly said. “This is really, really serious.” She stood up and crossed the room in a stride to Sunset Shimmer. “You said you got special necklaces from the camp?”

Sunset nodded and drew out her necklace. “We’ve all been curious about these things. We don’t know what to do about these powers that we’ve gotten.”

“What’s your power?”

“I can touch a person and experience what’s going on in their mind,” Sunset explained, and came next to Freedom Fighter. “It’s empathy of sorts. For example, I can-” She reached out and touched Freedom Fighter’s left arm. Rather than experiencing a flood of emotion, however, all she could feel was the tough texture of his bodysuit and the hard arm underneath.

Freedom Fighter yanked his left arm away and looked down at her.

“What?” she whispered in surprise. She reached out to touch him again. “This usually works. What’s happening to the mag-”

“It’s not the magic,” Twilight hurriedly assured her. “He just has this... thing about him.”

“Thing?” She still had her hand on his arm. “Is he resistant to magic, or-”

Freedom Fighter jerked his arm away from her once again and pushed her away.

“Hey!” Sunset protested. “Don’t push-”

Freedom Fighter gave a hard shake of his head, holding up a hand. After a brief stare, he pointed at her hand, then to himself, and shook his head no.

“What’s he saying?” Flash asked Twilight.

“I think he’s saying... if you try to read his thoughts again, he won’t like it.”

“He won’t like it?” the other Pinkie wondered. “What kind of problem would a big, silent, muscular, mysterious man in a black bodysuit have with somebody reading his mind?”

Freedom Fighter’s gaze traveled to the other Pinkie Pie. Keeping his air of menace, he shook his head no, and the other Pinkie gulped, reading the message he was giving her.

“Is he a mute?” Flash asked. “He hasn't said a word.”

“He doesn’t, um... have a tongue,” Twilight admitted. “He lost it.”

Freedom Fighter folded his arms and leaned back against the sparkly pink dresser behind him. He looked affronted, but decided not to do anything.

“That’s not good,” Flash whispered in shock.

Freedom Fighter snorted and rolled his eyes. Standing out against the black of his suit, it was easy to detect.

“So, you said your magic came from the crystal necklace?” Twilight asked, trying to get the attention off Freedom Fighter.

“Yeah,” Sunset answered.

“What would happen if it were taken away?”

“I suppose I’d go back to being normal.”

“So Equestrian magic does have an effect on you,” Twilight theorized. “Despite none of our doppelgangers having any actual connection to Equestria.”

“But we already know that Equestrian magic works on us,” the other Pinkie protested. “It’s how we pony up!”

Freedom Fighter widened his eyes in intrigue, but kept his arms folded in distaste.

“But that still doesn't explain how you have magic,” Twilight maintained. “Regardless if you’re our double or not, nobody except Sunset has ties to Equestria, and therefore no logical way to use magic. But ever since I first came here, your potential for magic has increased greatly. First, it was stopping Sunset. We used the powers of our respective Elements even though there were no Elements to use. Then it was us 'Ponying up' whenever we played music really well. Then, according to the journal entries Sunset sent me, you Ponied up even without playing music. And now, just recently, you got magical necklaces that give you superpowers. Why this is all working for only you and not anyone else in this dimension is yet to be decided. Equestrian magic is extremely fragile and temperamental here, and the laws of magic are getting more and more convoluted. It’s as if somebody’s picking and choosing when magic works and when it doesn’t.”

“...so what’s your point?” the other Pinkie Pie asked.

“I don’t know!” Twilight snapped, and sat down violently. “What makes sense here anymore? Magic is fracturing and people are obtaining Equestrian magic for whatever reason!”

“But we do know why we got this magic,” Sunset replied, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We’re the Elements of Harmony, remember?”

“But the Elements of Harmony don’t exist over here,” Twilight weakly pointed out. “There aren't any copies. No working magical relics. This world was supposed to be free of magic, but over the past several years we’ve managed to ruin it!”

“This magic was meant for us,” Sunset affirmed.

“Are you sure it’s meant for you?”

“If it wasn’t meant for me to get, I wouldn’t have gotten it.”

“But if the magic was meant for us to get,” the other Pinkie asked, “then why did our magic come in waves of special powers instead of all at once?”

“I don’t know!” Twilight burst. She threw her arms up in exasperation. “Maybe somepony who had Equestrian magic decided the time was right! Maybe somepony was observing your progress and when you reached a certain point he would say, 'Okay then, these kids can have a taste of magic because they proved themselves. They know the power of friendship!' And he’d give you Equestrian magic, but only in levels at a time so you wouldn’t notice until…”

Twilight realized all too late what she was saying, and clamped a hand over her mouth in shock. Everypony else was watching the spectacle with amusement.

“Star Swirl, you dirty dog, you,” Twilight finally whispered.

“Wherever did you get such a fine plate armor? Supple and light, but as hard as iron!” The other Rarity was circling about the still and slightly-awkward Noble Blade with a keen eye. “The scratches, the minuscule rust patches, the darkened color, the tattered cape-” She lifted the cape behind him between two tight fingertips, keeping her face away from it. “It looks well on you, darling, but... must it have those imperfections?”

“Must armor be speckly clean at every interval of time?” Noble asked. “To keep it serviceable. To erase scratches from cherished events is another entirely.”

“Cherished events?” the other Rarity wondered. She made a little motion with her hands. “Move your arms over your head, Dahling. I must inspect the undersides.”

Noble obeyed, trying not to spill his punch or crush the frail plastic cup in his armored fingers. The living room was tall, but so was Noble, and he had to bend his elbows to fit them.

The other Rarity put her face under his arms. “How are battles cherished events?”

“The battles themselves aren’t,” Noble admitted, his arms straining under his armor. “But the experience you have is one that lasts a lifetime.”

“You describe them like a roller coaster.”

“The battles can go up and down when you least expect it. And more often than not, you have to go to the bathroom really bad before it.” He shrugged, and a few drops of punch flung themselves out of his high cup. “But be it good or bad, I welcome the battle so long as I know what I should do about it.”

“Don’t like surprise events, eh?” She began to study his facial features.

“Not if I’m the one doing the surprising.” Noble lowered his arms. “I only wish to say that I’ve grown in capability. No matter how well you are, you can always do a better job.” He took a swig of punch. “My father was insistent about that.”

“Who was your dad?” the other Applejack asked, overhearing and interjecting into the conversation.

“The former captain of the Royal Guard,” Noble answered. “Strong Heart. He gave me my sword and armor, but his greatest gift was his wisdom.”

“He sounds like somepony ma family’d git along with well,” the other Applejack observed. “Ah appreciate anypony with an ethic like that.”

“Your words mean much to me, Applejack.” Noble smiled warmly.

The other Rarity cleared her throat. “Uh, I appreciate anypony with a work ethic like that as well, heh heh... You know how running a clothing store is. Hectic and busy.” With a grunt in the back of her throat she straightened her skirt. “Anyway, um, I’d best be going. I should introduce myself to Starlight Glimmer. Ta ta!”

And she sprang off.

“Well, well, well,” came a devilish yet recognizable voice. Pinkie Pie’s head swiveled to rest over Noble Blade’s, and he had to turn his head to keep her in his peripheral vision. “Seems like somepony likes the new guy already.”

“Don’t you think I don’t know that?” Noble asked the girl behind his back with a sigh. “Now what, tell her I’m taken?”

“Better safe than sorry!” she sang.

“Right now? I think not.”

“Oh, okay, fine. But remember this.” She contorted herself around him until she was somehow in front of Noble Blade, and she grabbed both sides of his face. “She’s gonna freak out either way. Tell her now and you at least get to choose when it happens.”

And her upper body contorted back until it was once again behind him. “I gotta pick out some more cupcakes from the fridge.”

As she skipped away, the other Applejack gave him a sideways glance. “Who is it?”

“Hm?”

“That yer taken with.”

Noble Blade smiled. “It’s Fluttershy, Applejack. Dear, sweet Fluttershy.”

The other Applejack’s eyebrows arched in surprise. “Why, Ah’ll be. Huh.” She leaned back against a wall and took off her hat. “How is she?”

Noble leaned on the wall next to the other Applejack, and his amor made a tremendous rattle as it did. “She’s the most perfect pony I could conceive of,” he praised. “With all the tender love I have to give, I love her.”

“When dija meet?”

“Two weeks ago. I had come to Ponyville to escort Twilight back home, and when she introduced us to her friends, I was astounded to find she had befriended an angel.”

“That's kinda corny.” The other Applejack was smiling.

“If Fluttershy likes it, I’ll continue to do so. Now that I am hers, all to herself, I can love her in all the tender ways she deserves. Angels deserve the best from a mere mortal like myself.”

“Yer talkin’ weird,” the other Applejack observed wryly. “Is that normal?”

“I was taught to respect mares, Applejack.”

“Ah agree ta show respect, but there reaches a point where yer enthusiasm sounds stupid. Ah’m a country girl who knows how people haggle, an’ Ah know when a guy’s hammin’ his speech.”

Noble said nothing more, but decided instead to flex his armored fingers. His face was soft in contemplation.

“Look, Ah’m sorry if Ah said anything offensive-”

“You’re the Element of Honesty,” Noble cut off before she said anything more. “Honesty often has a slap in the face.”

Now the other Applejack fell silent.

When that happened, Noble’s face softened immensely. “If I said anything offensive-”

“Ah just think we reached full circle.”

“I think we did too.” He smiled sheepishly and put his hands behind his head. “I don’t know how to admit this, but... it’s easy to talk with you, Applejack. Almost unnatural, even.”

“Ah’m not known fer bein’ formal.”

“I should take lessons from you.”

“Lesson number one: develop the southern accent.”

“I’m fine, thank you.” He bowed his head mysteriously and dropped his voice until it got ridiculously deep. “Unless it’s absolutely necessary, ‘course.”

“Where’d that come from?” the other Applejack spat out in laughter.

“Firestorm,” he said in his normal voice. “Playfulness isn’t unwarranted.”

“Hearin’ that kinda voice from a full-on knight. Hoowee!” She shook her head at the exclamation. “The kinda things ya see in the world taday.”

“Not from this world,” Noble corrected. “Half the people in this house are from another dimension. Being like this...as a human, it’s... it’s strange.”

“Ah’m sorry if us humans ain’t normal to ya. How terrible we must be ta be in the shape of a human.”

“I said it was strange. Not awful.” Noble squeezed his hand into an armored fist. “The fingers are a plus, I must say.”

“Excuse me? Noble?” Fluttershy’s feeble voice cut across the room. Noble turned to the source, and saw Fluttershy coming out of the kitchen. “Not to be rude, but, um... Would you mind staying with me? This place is really loud, and it’s making me nervous.”

“My duty calls,” he muttered to Applejack. He leaned away from the wall and came over to his beaming girlfriend. “Do you want to go somewhere quiet?”

“If you don’t mind, that is,” she meeped. “If you’ve got anywhere else to be, that’s-”

He abruptly swept her up and pressed his lips against hers, startling her at first. When she realized she was kissing him, however, she closed her startled eyes and pressed back into the kiss.

After some time he pulled back and smiled at her while pushing some of her hair away. “When I’m with you,” he said, low enough for only her to hear, “there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

“I... believe you,” she breathed, collecting herself from the surprise kiss.

“Would you like a ride?”

“What do you mean?” she wondered, absently caressing his cheek. “There’s only an empty room down the hall. What do you mean, a ride-”

He had put an arm under her knees and lifted, and all of a sudden she was in his arms bridal-style. The surprised Fluttershy meeped and wrapped her arms around his head, then realized what he had meant and looked him in the face.

“Want a ride?” he asked again.

She nodded while beaming at him with sparkling eyes.

And he went off into another room, carrying his girlfriend in his arms.

“So if Star Swirl the Bearded had magic all this time,” the other Twilight was theorizing, “then how did he contain it for him to use?”

“Or why didn’t he interfere when those threats popped up? Demons, Sirens, portals all over the place, and mystical powers at camp all seem like good excuses to get involved,” Sunset added.

“He did get involved,” Twilight said to Sunset. “He gave magic to you.”

A moment of contemplation followed, broken only by the scrolling of the mouse by the other Pinkie. Then she said, “Um, guys? You might want to take a look at this.”

Several heads bonked together as they crowded around the computer. On the school website was contact information for school counselors and administrators. At the beginning of a long list was the name Star Swirl the Bearded, but it had no phone number link.

“Huh. He doesn’t have a link?”

“People assume school board members are busy enough already. To give their phone number out would be like inviting a flood of useless complaints.”

“So we can’t contact him.”

“Of course we can.”

“What do you mean?”

“We can look it up in the phone book.” Twilight turned her head to look at Sunset Shimmer. “There is a phone book here, right?”

“Who uses phone books anymore?” Flash asked incredulously.

“I just threw it out,” Sunset reported. “Maybe Pinkie has one hidden in her attic somewhere-”

“You mean this phone book?” The other Pinkie Pie had reached into her hair and lifted out a yellow book thicker than both her arms.

Flash Sentry recoiled a bit. “You just had that hanging in your hair the whole time?”

“Doesn’t everybody?” The other Pinkie Pie looked legitimately confused. She planted the book down with a tremendous thud and flipped through the pages. “Now, let’s see. Would he be under Star, or Swirl, or Bearded?”

“Let’s look in all three places,” the other Twilight suggested. She took a section of pages and began to flip through them.

For the next minute and a half, the girls pored over the thick yellow book. Finally, Sunset planted a finger on a page. “Found it!”

“Where was it?” Twilight asked.

“The Bearded, Star Swirl,” she replied. She squinted at the page. “240...435...7878.”

The other Pinkie Pie jotted it down on a nearby sheet of paper.

“So now what?” Sunset asked. “I haven’t had experience with finding houses before.”

“Now we look online to find the address in the white pages,” the other Twilight responded instantly. Her fingers were already flying over the keyboard.

Before long, she had pulled up the appropriate pages, typed in the phone number, and scrolled to find the homes in the area. The result she finally clicked on was reflected in her square glasses.

Sunset was staring at the computer screen. “No... no, that’s got to be false.”

The rough bark was chewing into his skin. From this vantage point, he could see clearly into the home, and what he saw made his insides flurry with excitement.

His communicator buzzed, and he brought it up to his mouth and held down a button. “Isla’an reporting.”

“The artillery is in place,” Captain Slath said over the radio to Isla’an. “Engage.”

Isla’an smiled wickedly and unslung a crossbow from his back. He looked down the sights and focused on the head of the fiery-haired girl through the window glass. “Engaging now.”

Chapter Forty-two: Heroes and Monsters

View Online

“Star Swirl lives in the observatory?” the other Pinkie Pie asked in utter bewilderment.

“The one just north of town?” Sunset elaborated. “It was abandoned a long time ago because people thought it was haunted.”

“I... have no idea what you’re talking about,” Twilight admitted.

“Here,” Sunset said, and pulled up another browser on the computer. When she had searched for maps in her area, she displayed it to the rest of the group.

“Here’s the Canterlot suburbs,” Sunset spoke, jabbing at the screen. “Where we are now. Over here’s the urban part of Canterlot, and just north of that, there’s a road that leads to this observatory.”

“Why didn’t anypony talk about this before?” Twilight asked her counterpart.

“Nobody felt the need to,” the other Twilight said. “It’s just a spot that was presumed haunted after things started to get spooky. Noises in strange places, disruptive experiments, failed budget applications, that sort of thing.”

“So the scientists working there just packed up and left because of a few bad noises?”

“They didn’t have enough money to pay the rent,” the other Twilight responded. “Their budget mysteriously ran out. And nobody really cares about demolishing the building either. Whenever people have tried to, there would always be some issue with the demolition company or with the funds required.”

“More of Star Swirl’s magic,” Sunset murmured. “Influencing people in subtle ways.”

“How does that even work?” the other Pinkie asked. “Ponies that come from Equestria can’t cast spells because they’re not unicorns anymore. If Star Swirl came from Equestria but he’s still using magic, how does he do it?”

Freedom Fighter perked up and looked at the window all of a sudden.

“Freedom?” Twilight asked, turning when she heard his motions. “What’s-”

Freedom Fighter grabbed Sunset Shimmer by the shoulders and forced her to the ground.

“Hey!” Flash cried, standing up. “Get off--”

Crash

The window exploded in a shower of broken glass as a heavy crossbow bolt sailed through and split into the closed pink door. The girls screamed and leaned away from the shattered window.

A black, chitin-covered hand grasped the windowsill. And then another.

And then two more, and then his six-eyed head appeared.

Freedom Fighter was standing up and had drawn one of his folded batons off his hip. With a snap of his wrist, he doubled the length, then with a twist activated the weapon. He was now holding a three-foot long glowing yellow bar of energy.

The creature in the window pounced through using only his arm strength and slammed headfirst into Freedom Fighter, sending both of them crashing through the pink door and into the hallway. Twilight helped Sunset off the floor and looked to see Freedom Fighter grappling with the humanoid monster on the floor, his yellow staff off to the side and smoking on the carpet.

The creature had punched near Freedom Fighter’s head so hard his fist went through the floor. Freedom Fighter grabbed the arm and yanked his joint, snapping his elbow the wrong way.

The creature bellowed in pain and swiped his claws across Freedom Fighter’s cowl with one of his other arms. He ignored it and kicked the creature atop him in the crotch, then put his left fist under the creature’s chin and willed the claws in his arm to spring forth.

Three glowing yellow claws shot out and impaled the creature’s brain, sticking out of the top of his head. He quivered, stuck like that for a time, then disintegrated into black sand on top of him.

Twilight gasped and put a hand to her mouth. “Noxxa,” she whispered in fear through her hand.

“Let’s go!” the other Twilight was saying, watching Freedom Fighter stand up and retrieve the half staff on the ground. “What even was that thing?”

“That…” Twilight managed to say with a closed throat, “was the army of Tartarus we were talking about.”

“We need to get out of-” Flash started, trying to lead the other Twilight out, but was stopped by Freedom Fighter’s outstretched fist. The three claws out of his left knuckles were glowing. Freedom Fighter shook his head no resolutely.

“We have to get to safety!” Flash protested.

Freedom Fighter, after another shake of the head, jabbed at the dust pile, then encircled a space all around them with a finger.

“What’s he saying?” the other Pinkie Pie asked.

“There’s gotta be more of them,” Twilight deduced. “They might be surrounding the house!"

“Some mess you had to drag us all into, eh, Twilight?” Sunset Shimmer asked, from inside the room still. “You couldn't have come back here with good news?”

“...sorry!”

A tinkling sound sang upstairs, and Noble Blade looked up. He and Fluttershy, who was on his lap, were the only people in the secluded room.

“What was that?” Fluttershy whispered, following her boyfriend’s gaze.

A scream then sounded from upstairs, and there came the sounds of fighting.

“Twilight!” Noble cried in concern. “She’s upstairs!” He stood up, setting Fluttershy aside. “Come on, let’s-”

Crash

A heavy dent from behind made Noble jerk forward and collapse on his face. Fluttershy was thrown beside him with a thud.

“Get ‘em!” came a clicking command from the window, and several footfalls hit the floor.

“Noble!” Fluttershy screamed, sitting up and scooting away from the window. “Help me! Help-” Her voice cut off as a hand closed around her mouth.

Noble was up on his feet in an instant, sweeping out his glittering sword with one fluid motion and grasping the hilt with two hands. Two strange-looking humanoid beasts, with black chitin for skin and six yellow eyes, were holding Fluttershy hostage. Two sickly black hands were over her lips and nose.

He was almost paralyzed by the incredible notion: the Noxxa were here! They had followed them through the portal mysteriously, without anypony knowing! They were really there, clamping their black hands over Fluttershy’s mouth so hard Noble could see the indentation of her skin. That detail made him harden his mind and grip his sword tightly.

“Noble Blade,” one of them spoke slowly and deeply. “Guardian of the Sun. The first time I get to meet you, and I already-”

Noble cleaved his sword up through the arm holding Fluttershy’s mouth, and the Nox cut off his monologue to scream in protest. Thick black sand poured out of his arm stump, but he had three more hands to use, which were all holding the sanding stump.

Noble swirled his sword up and out, and he was now holding it with one hand near his own head.

“Not another move,” the other one snarled, jutting out a short Black Blade and holding the edge to Fluttershy’s throat. “Or the pretty one bleeds all over the knife.”

Noble froze and stared into Fluttershy’s uncovered eyes. They were welling up with fear.

“Fluttershy,” he whispered. “It’ll be okay.”

“Help me,” she pleaded quietly. “Help me, Noble! Please-”

“Shut up, whorse,” the Nox growled, and yanked back on her hair. “You’ll only be begging for me when I’m done with you.”

Noble gripped the pommel with his free hand, getting ready for a swing.

“Try it,” the Nox smirked. “Try it and watch her die.”

Noble was motionless. The Nox missing an arm was off to the side, holding his shoulder stump in pain, but had drawn a handle-less axe blade from his hip and was holding it in one of his hands.

“Put the sword down,” the Nox commanded. “Throw it to the ground.”

Noble Blade glared at the Nox defiantly, but lowered the sword.

“Drop it, I said.”

Noble was motionless except for his hand, which now held the pommel of the sword only.

“On the ground!”

Noble threw the blade at the Noxxa’s legs, who jumped back nervously as the blade almost sliced through his knees. He looked down at the chrome sword in front of him, then back up.

That was all the time Noble needed to rush forward and smash him in the face with an armored fist. The Nox staggered back, and Fluttershy was released. Noble hit him in the face again, then in the stomach. Then he reached behind him, drew out a dagger from his waist, and swiped at his belly.

In response, the Nox swung at his head with the Black Blade knife. Noble ducked under the knife, then grabbed his arm and squeezed. The knife dropped from his grip and Noble caught it with his free hand, then he scissored the Noxxa’s throat open with both knives. Sand poured out, first from the open wound, then from all over his body as his life ended.

Fluttershy was screaming and retreating away from the other Nox, who was stumbling and cursing as he attempted to secure Fluttershy. A wicked, serrated axe blade was in each of his three remaining hands.

Noble considered hurling the knife at him, but discarded the idea immediately because it might miss and hurt Fluttershy. So he dropped both knives and picked up his chrome broadsword, then put himself in the way of the Nox and his girlfriend.

The Nox froze as he realized his situation. Then he drew his lips in a grimace of defiance. “Curse you,” he snarled at the knight. “Die with your friends!”

He lunged at Noble’s neck, but Noble stepped aside and swept his sword up, cleaving through his other pairing arm. The axe clattered as it dropped, and the Nox stumbled into a wall.

The Nox turned around in time to see Noble Blade impale his gut so hard that the sword went through the wall and emerged from the other end.

“Die with my friends,” Noble muttered with narrowed eyes. “Speak for yourself.”

And he jammed the blade in his gut upwards, and the Nox gasped and began to drip sand on the priceless blade from all over his body.

Noble Blade stared him down as the Nox disintegrated around his sword. Then he drew the sword out of the wall, blew off the dust, and turned to face Fluttershy. “Are you hurt?”

Fluttershy shook her head no while looking at the ground. She was shaking; her arms were tightly around her waist.

“Let me see your neck,” he commanded, coming over.

Fluttershy lifted her head obediently. Her neck was clean from injury.

“Oh, Fluttershy,” he groaned, and hugged her tightly. “You’re all right. You’re all right.”

A scream that sounded like Rainbow Dash came forth from the kitchen, and then a roar of anger and few slicing sounds of steel biting into chitin.

“Come on!” Noble commanded, striding from the room with his sword out. “They need our help!”

Then came an abrupt crunch, and the struggling ended. Noble hurried faster.

Noble Blade made his way to the kitchen and screeched to a halt in the doorway. Black dust was sprayed across the marble kitchen counter, with the bent blade of a serrated kitchen knife in the midst. Firestorm, panting, was clutching one of his swords with both hands and breathing heavily. Rainbow Dash looked shaky and pale, and her human counterpart was holding her by the shoulders to steady her.

“What happened here?” Noble demanded, scanning the room to check for danger.

“I-” Rainbow Dash started, then gulped and wiped her hands on her ripped jeans. “He just appeared out of nowhere! He burst through a window in the kitchen and he went for Firestorm and I was right by the knife drawer and it was right there and I couldn't just leave Firestorm grappling with him and I just-”

“Stop it,” the other Rainbow Dash tried to interject. “Geez! Calm down!”

“I just did it!” Rainbow exclaimed, leaning against the back of the counter and gripping the edge of the counter with her fingertips. Her eyes were wide and feral. “I just sank the knife into him! I couldn't stop myself-”

“Stop it,” Firestorm told her, sheathing his sword. “Rainbow, you’re being a silly-willy. Thank you for-”

“I killed a guy!” Rainbow rocked back and forth, hugging herself tightly right under the curve of her breasts. “I killed him! I didn't even think about it, I just went ahead and I stuck it in his back while he was grappling with Firestorm on the table, and I don’t feel awesome!”

“Rainbow!” Firestorm yelled, gripping her shoulders and forcing her head up. “This isn't the time to panic.”

“This is the perfect time to panic! I’ve never killed anything before!” She widened her eyes in realization. “Except for the Timber Wolves at the Castle of the Two Sisters--b-but that’s not the point! This is different! This is really, really-”

Firestorm silenced her ramblings with a kiss on the lips. When he pulled away, he asked, “Better now?”

Rainbow was silent for a moment as she processed what happened. Then she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Kinda…”

“Rainbow, you helped me when I was in trouble. You’re better than ever in my eyes because of that.”

“I, um-o-okay.” Rainbow tried to pull away, but Firestorm held her in place. “But I still killed a guy! I just went and-”

“Dash. Look at me.” Firestorm leaned his head down to haze into Rainbow’s rose irises. “What you just did was better than allowing me to die.”

“I know!” Rainbow stamped the ground. “But I just...I just did it without thought. Am I...am I really-?”

“No,” Firestorm reassured her. “No, no, no, Rainbow. Don’t you dare.”

Rainbow hugged him and closed her eyes tightly as she burrowed into his shoulder.

The rest of the girls that were downstairs came into the kitchen apprehensively. “Is he gone?” the other Applejack asked, peeking over the other Fluttershy.

“He’s gone,” Noble Blade said. The sight of him with a drawn sword made the girls keep their distance. “What we should be asking is why he was here.”

“I’ll do you one better,” Firestorm said. “How did he get here?”

“I’ll do you one better,” Pinkie Pie spoke up from the doorways of the kitchen. “Where he was here?” She had on an absolutely serious look. Then she widened her eyes. “Wait. That’s not what I mean. Hmm, let me think…”

Noble spared Pinkie a glance of confusion, then shook his head and said, "There’s bound to be more of them.”

“How’d they follow us through the portal?” Rainbow asked. “I thought the Noxxa were across the Celestial Sea. If they managed to sneak into Equest-”

A shattering BOOM interrupted her sentence, and down the hallway, splinters of wood and drywall shot into the kitchen as the front door exploded. Everyone ducked or jumped away as the ground was caked in white slivers, remnants of the door and front wall.

Coughing and hacking, all of them gazed through the hallway leading to the front door. But through the motes of dust floating in streams of light, they could see that there simply wasn’t a front door anymore.

Beyond the broken edges of the massive hole in the faraway wall, the shadowy outlines of dark figures were working around a large tube on wagon wheels pointing at them head-on.

“Get out of the kitchen!” Noble Blade bellowed, gesturing out with his sword. As the rest of the girls quickly filed out, Noble reached over his back with his other arm and attached his shield on his back to his arm, then brought the shield in front of him and crouched. “Me and Storm will hold them off!”

“What about Twilight and the girls upstairs?” Rarity wailed, tugging at her mane so hard she was bending her head.

“Freedom Fighter’s with them!” Firestorm yelled, swiftly yanking both swords off his back with a single flourish. He crossed the swords, then held both of them out at his side.

The tube on wheels was being readjusted as the figures outside now had a clear shot inside. Noble could see down the hallway and out the wall and into the darkness on Pinkie’s lawn.

Noble, after stiffening his stance and snarling out a breath, charged.

The cannon fired.

A heavy jolt hit Noble’s shield so hard his charge reversed direction as he staggered back ten paces and hit his back into the kitchen counter. He could feel a bruise well up under his armor near his back, and his arm seemed to lose all feeling.

“Noble!” Firestorm rushed over to his side. “Are you okay? What-” His eyes traveled to something on the floor. “Oh, boy.”

Noble turned his head to see what he was talking about. It was a flattened, black lump of lead, lying discarded on the floor like a rotten fruit.

“Is that what hit my…” Noble gazed on it in shock, then looked down at his shield. There was not a mark anywhere on the surface to indicate where the cannonball had struck, except for a blackened streak across the Equestrian coat of arms.

“Where did your father get that thing?” Firestorm asked in wonder.

Noble swirled his sword and held it near his head instead of answering him. Anything capable of hurling lead that fast needed to be stopped. “Let’s go take that weapon out.”

“Oh, I’ll take it out,” Firestorm snarled. “To dinner! I hope Rainbow doesn’t mind.”

“That’s not what I-” Noble started, then he sighed through his nose. “Just follow my lead.”

“To be fair, it is a very sexy weapon.”

“Storm!” Noble cried, shaking his shoulder. “It's going to be reloaded soon!”

“Yeah, yeah, okey-dokey-loki,” Firestorm tiredly said, then he held both swords behind him and sprinted ahead of Noble into the hallway.

Noble checked around him to make sure the girls had departed. Seeing them and the two purple dogs crowding around the sliding glass door that led to the backyard, he followed Firestorm.

The dark figures outside were readjusting the metal tube; they had finished reloading it already. Firestorm was almost to the edge of the wall they had blasted through by the time they were done, and when he finally reached it, he vaulted the drywall still in place and somersaulted on the ground just as the cannon fired.

The cannonball blew apart some of the interior walls visible from the outside. As the walls blew apart, sections of the roof it had been supporting collapsed in on itself. With a shattering noise, portions of the roof fell and scattered all over the lawn and the living room.

Firestorm had flicked the switches on his swords and was rushing forward towards the dark figures, the bars of flame behind him looking like comet trails. As he came to the nearest one, he threw both his flaming swords in front of him with one swift strike and cleaved a Nox into three rapidly dissolving pieces.

A Nox swept a massive battle-axe at him, forcing him to contort backward as it almost shore through his skull. Firestorm then held one thin blade up to protect his head as the Nox cleaved down again.

As the axe met the flaming blade, the axe melted around it like the axe was made of soft cheese.

Firestorm widened his eyes with glee and fixed the Nox a devious look. Then he took his other blade and thrust through his abdomen.

As the Nox fell back and started to dissolve into dust, Noble Blade had ran out of the rapidly deconstructing house and twisted the hilt of his sword. The entire sword glowed blue like it had a cheap light inside, but the hum the blade made and the fans of light that followed its trail spoke to the blade’s deadliness. The ground under him was a brilliant, bright sapphire, a product of the cross he held.

Several Noxxa broke off from the main body on the lawn and charged to meet him, with swords and axes in three of their four arms. Noble Blade, still sprinting, swiped his sword upward as the first one came near, splitting his chin to the top of his skull. He then crouched and spun as the second came near, and two sizzling halves fell to the lawn and began to disintegrate.

Firestorm was already busy shearing through three Noxxa of his own, and around him flaming piles of dust were all that was left of his opponents. For all the trouble he was getting, though, there was still more to throw at him.

Noble punched with all his might with his left arm, and the edge of his shield met a Noxxa’s sword stroke and chipped off a sliver of iron. He then threw his sword sideways in front of him, and the blazing blue sword effortlessly cut through the Noxxa’s ribs and into his chest cavity.

“Storm!” Noble yelled. He yanked the sword away from the Noxxa’s dissolving chest. “Get to the weapon! I’ll deal with these!”

Firestorm nodded, then simultaneously leaped and spun his outstretched arms in a diagonal circle, slicing almost effortlessly through the Noxxa surrounding him. Landing on a twisting foot, Firestorm instantly sprinted to the strange tube, which had fired again with a deafening blast and a plume of smoke.

More of the interior walls were splattered all over the inside. Drywall, paint chips, and wood splinters coated the floor of the house and vomited onto the front lawn, dusting the green grass a pale white. After trembling a little bit, a corner of the house collapsed entirely in a plume of debris and flurrying dust.

Firestorm slowed his pace when he saw it. Uncomfortable reminders of the Castle of the Two Sisters flooded his brain. Rainbow and the other girls were still trapped inside.

He skidded to a halt before he could reach the cannon. His head swiveled from side to side, switching between the faraway cannon and the trembling house.

“Storm!” came Noble’s cry. In front of the house, Noble was holding off and slicing through a mob of Noxxa that was slowly encircling him. Sheets of blue light followed the trail that the sword cut in the night air, almost hidden by the horde of monsters surrounding it. “Destroy it!”

Firestorm swiveled his head from side to side again. The house had another beam collapse and fall into the ruins.

Firestorm closed his eyes. “Oh, I am gonna get so chewed out for this.”

And he turned and ran back to the house as fast as his legs could carry him.

“Storm!” Noble roared as he swirled his blue blade around him like a reaping farmer. “Get back!”

“There are still people in the house!” Firestorm bellowed as he ran. He jumped over a Noxxa’s sudden stroke and sliced him in the throat, then continued to sprint. “I gotta get them out!”

“No, Storm!” Noble bellowed as he eventually got entirely surrounded by thrusting Noxxa spears. His shield and sword were never at rest. “I need you out here!”

Firestorm reached the house, jumped up the front steps with a single bound, and kicked aside a loose part of drywall. “If I don't get them out, they’ll die!”

Noble, remembering how the girls had began to file out through the back, bellowed out, “They’re already out!”

“What?”

Boom

An explosion above Firestorm from the cannonball impact showered debris in front of him and forced him to stumble back further into the house. Firestorm disappeared in the midst of dusty debris and fallen beams.

Noble let loose a roar of frustration and kicked a Nox backward so hard he and his comrades behind him stumbled back. Noble charged. As the sword went through one disintegrating Nox after another, Noble broke free of the encircling gloom and twisted his heel so he turned around to face the cannon.

Several crossbows sang their whistling tune after him, and he started to juke and weave his way to the cannon, trying his best not to run in a straight line. One time the tip of a bolt scratched across his shoulder plate, and he shouted involuntarily before he could feel any pain.

As he neared the cannon, the cannon crew was putting away their reloading material and drawing their swords. They began to bunch up in a tight pyramid as Noble charged at them head-on.

Right as he put down his final footstrike, he applied more pressure to it as he bent his knee, and he straightened his leg and leaped.

He soared into the pyramid of Noxxa with his shield in front of him like a battering ram, and he plowed through them like a scythe into wheat.

As he landed he rolled with his blade at his chest and stood up as quickly as he could. Raising his blazing blue sword above his head, he swung down and cleaved through the tube of cast iron like he was splitting wood.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bolt of sun-colored energy hummed through the air, struck a cannon wheel, and sent splinters flying everywhere, making both Noble Blade and the Noxxa around him spring back. Noble wheeled to see who it was who had come to his aid.

It was Freedom Fighter. Up in the window of the bedroom, he had affixed himself as a sniper position with a drawn bow. Already he had pulled back his string and fired again, and an entire section of earth threw up and out under the feet of the Noxxa. Enemy dust and soil intermingled on the lawn.

Noble felt a large mass leap onto his back, and two hardened hands were prying at his neck, trying to wring it. Noble struggled with him for ten seconds, gasping and wheezing, then he reversed his grip on the sword, brought it to his waist, and drove the sword up behind his back. The sword drove through his enemy’s posterior and through his spinal cord to emerge at the nape of the neck. The Nox instantly disintegrated, and Noble’s throat was now free.

“Get the girls out of that room!” Noble bellowed at the house, pointing a finger at Freedom. A Nox in front of him thrust a wicked iron spear at his abdomen, but Noble deflected the thrust with his shield and swiped his sword at full force through his neck. The spinning body disintegrated before it hit the grass.

Freedom Fighter sent one more explosive burst of yellow energy at the hated race, then slung his staff over his back and kicked out the window. Glass tinkled down the slanting roof, and the wooden frame hung in splinters. He motioned with a wave of his arm, then slung an arm around someone and jumped out, skidding on the tiles and gently touching off the high edge of the roof.

As Freedom Fighter touched down on the ground, he settled Sunset Shimmer gently onto her feet, then turned around and jumped high enough to grab the edge of the gutter above him. Pulling himself up, he went back into the window. The other Pinkie Pie poked herself gently out of the window and hopped off the roof, and as she descended her skirt inflated like a parachute. She floated to the ground like a flower petal and touched off gently on the ground.

Out of the window next came Flash Sentry, who was slowly scooching along on his butt on the slanting roof. After carefully making his way to the edge of the roof, he slowly hung off the gutter until only his hands were gripping the edge, then he dropped and crouched on impact, landing on his butt.

“Are you sure this is the only way?” came the voice of one of the Twilights.

“The house is too unstable now!” came another voice that sounded like Twilight. “We have to jump!”

“Are you crazy?”

“I know a lot about crazy! Trust me on this!”

“Twilight!” Flash Sentry called, scrambling to his feet. “I’ll catch you!”

“Are you sure?” came one of the Twilights.

“I’ll do it!” Flash affirmed, holding out his arms pleadingly. “Trust me on this, Twilight!”

The tall boots of the other Twilight came out of the window first, then the small torso, and then finally, the other Twilight was wobbling on the edge of the roof. It was two stories to the ground below, and to the other Twilight, it was a lot higher than that.

“Jump!” Flash cried. “I’ll catch you! Don't worry!”

The other Twilight hesitantly put her toes to the edge and bit her lip. “I don't know!”

“Trust me!”

As the other Twilight shuffled until more of her boot was off the edge, a rupture burst from the drywall beside her, making her wobble more and windmill her arms. From the rupture burst Freedom Fighter, carrying Twilight in his arms and his staff on his back. In a single bound he leaped to the edge, then down two stories to the lawn. Bending his legs and rolling to the side in a fluid motion, he ended up in a standing position, holding Twilight by the arms and staring into her face for any sign of injury.

Twilight forced one of her arms out of his grip. “I’m fine. I just feel really...”

Her blue shirt was ripped at the abdomen and near her collarbone. There was a long gash in her purple skirt. Little pockmarks of black were on her face.

Freedom Fighter nodded after seeing that she had nothing serious, then turned back to the torn-apart house. Flash Sentry and the other Twilight were lying in a heap on the lawn, looking dizzy and cross-eyed.

“He didn't catch her?” Twilight said slowly. She coughed. “Well, I mean, it's hard for anybody to catch a falling person from any height weighing in at a hundred thirty pounds-”

Freedom Fighter held up a single finger, and she cut off abruptly. After checking over her exposed body one more time for injury, he sprinted off into the night towards the large party of Noxxa that Noble was holding off.

Noble, for himself, wasn't in a good situation. A lucky mace stroke had dented in his shoulder armor, a thick red gash had opened up on his forehead, and his legs were ready to give out from under him. His strokes came slower and wider. The Noxxa surrounding him near the ruins of the cannon were growing more daring by the minute.

Finally, panting hard, he prepared himself to make one final stand. If this was how he was going out, he needed to make sure everypony else got to safety first. Raising his sword one final time, he bent his knees and gritted his teeth.

And then he saw a six-foot-long bar of blazing yellow energy erupt in the hands of the shadow warrior sprinting at full throttle towards him, and he smiled. Not today.

“What in the world could that be?” Noble asked, pointing behind the Noxxa in shock.

The Noxxa turned in time to see the yellow bar chop through a line of necks and collapse their bodies into dust.

Freedom Fighter swirled the staff at speeds too fast to follow with the naked eye. He essentially created a vibrating yellow shield around him as he plowed through the Noxxa ranks. Every time it made contact with the chitin-covered flesh of any Noxxa warriors, limbs went flying, dissolving into dust, or bodies collapsed into ash piles. In almost no time at all, Freedom Fighter and Noble Blade were back-to-back with their swords and staves, slicing apart and impaling any Noxxa that came near.

It seemed to take forever. Both men were panting and wheezing and sweating in their armor. But finally, the last stragglers of the fight retreated and ran off into the night, and after Freedom Fighter took his last shots at the Noxxa with his converted bow, they were gone entirely.

Freedom Fighter made a motion to go after them, but was stopped by an armored gauntlet on his shoulder.

“We’re needed here,” Noble told him, coming around to look him in the eyes. “We need to focus on what we came here for first.”

Freedom Fighter narrowed his scarlet eyes and clenched his left fist around his yellow staff so hard it creaked. After a resigned sigh through his nose, he twisted the staff, and with a click, the yellow color ceased.

Noble went back to the destroyed home and when he got close enough, called into the ruin. “Firestorm!” he yelled. “Are you in there?”

The house dropped more showers of dust and slivers of wood.

“Storm!” he called again, running up the porch steps. “Storm, come out of there! We need you!”

A cruel chuckle split the air, and Noble spun towards the source.

A Nox had managed, in the chaos on the lawn, to infiltrate the home. He was pinned under debris near the front entryway, and he was missing a leg and hand, but he was still alive, and bending over in pain as he chuckled. A thick jacket with pockets was on his torso, ripped at the armpit to make room for his arms.

Noble knelt near him, making his cape jump and settle slowly on his back, and put the tip of his drawn sword to his black neck. “How did you penetrate the portal?” he breathed.

The Nox blinked all six of his sick yellow eyes and smiled. “You can do nothing to me, Guardian. I have a destiny. You won’t!”

And he pressed the tube in his hand. His jacket seemed to beep furiously.

Noble jumped back, hopelessly attempting to get outside the blast radius. He was too close to the suicide bomber. He knew that he wasn't capable of surviving.

A blast of orange enveloped his view, blossoming out to enfold him in its deadly grasp.

Then a rainbow of color appeared in his field of vision. A pair of arms wrapped around his center.

The next thing he knew, he was behind the house, with the other Rainbow Dash holding him and panting hard, facing a collection of colored girls, all dirty and torn. His sword was lying on the ground beside him.

“Dgah, what…” Noble was confused beyond measure. Wasn't he about to die?

“Noble!” came the voice of an angel, and a small yellow bundle crashed into his torso and clutched him tightly around his waist, making him stumble back. “Oh, my goodness, oh, my goodness! You’re here! I was sooo worried about you!”

“Fluttershy…” he whispered. He held Fluttershy by the back of the head and her back, and realized that yes, in fact, it was her. “I’m here now. I'm here.”

“Kiss me,” she whispered. “Let me feel you.”

He swept her up and complied enthusiastically.

“Um, hello?” came the brash and tired voice of the other Rainbow Dash. “No thanks for saving you?”

Noble faced the building not too far away. The ruins were ablaze, crackling and coiling flames up into the dark night sky. The distant sounds of firefighter trucks wailed through the still air.

“Firestorm,” Noble muttered in shock, gazing at the flame. He couldn’t be gone, he just couldn't... “You were in there...”

“He what?” Rainbow Dash yelped, bringing her fingers to her mouth in worry. “Stormy!” she cried into the flame. “Firestorm, come out! Please!”

“Firestorm!” Twilight called into the raging inferno. “Firestorm!”

“Come out of there!” Starlight called with cupped hands.

Freedom Fighter had materialized out of the shadows beside both Applejacks, and both of them recoiled at his appearance. Freedom Fighter put his cupped hands to his mouth and leaned forward, though no actual sound could be heard from the mute.

The main section of the house collapsed on itself, and sparks sprinkled into the sky and intermingled with the stars. The other Pinkie Pie’s house was now only a sparkling, flaming ruin. Shadows danced on the grass in front of them, twisting with the motion of the flame.

“No... no, no, no…” Rainbow fell to her knees, a dead and hollow look in her eyes. “Is he really... I... I can’t just…” After struggling for words, she just inhaled heavily and began to heave breaths in and out, in and out.

The other Pinkie Pie was just staring at her burning house, collapsing on itself with flurries of sparks. “Maud…” she whispered. “Maud, no…”

Noble knelt to Rainbow Dash’s side and laid a hand on her shoulder. His stomach felt sick and way too large for its proper place. He felt pain in his lungs from the fire. Firestorm was better than this. He had to have gotten out. Of course he had to.

“Noble,” Rainbow whispered emotionlessly, staring ahead into the flames. “Is this really happening?”

Noble Blade didn't want to say yes. It simply didn't occur to him. But he nodded slowly anyway. “I don't want it to,” he whispered, staring at the conflagration.

“He was the best thing to happen to me.” Rainbow sniffled and wiped her nose on her leather jacket sleeve. “I loved him.”

“Me too,” Noble Blade concurred.

“I loved him.” Rainbow Dash was leaking silent tears down her face. “I loved him, and now he’s g-g-g-” She couldn't finish.

“He was a great man,” Firestorm agreed somberly, laying a hand on Noble’s shoulder. “Worthy of honors beyond comprehension.”

“Yea,” Noble agreed, lapsing into archaic language. “Firestorm was indeed a hero.”

“So that means you won't get mad at me, right?”

“Absolutely not,” Noble agreed fervently, looking to the side to look at the person speaking. “For thou wast trul--WAIT A SECOND!” Noble stood up and looked the offender in the eye. “STORM!”

“Stormy!” Rainbow cried, leaping to her feet.

“Hiya!” He gave a demure little wave to the group at large by wiggling his fingers. “Just coming by to say OW!”

The last word came just as Freedom Fighter had stomped across the backyard in rage and slapped him across the face with all the force he could muster. Firestorm reeled backward a few steps stupidly, then collapsed on his butt, and then his back.

“We thought you were dead!” the other Twilight cried.

“How’d you get out of the house?” Sunset Shimmer asked him.

“You were a goner!” Pinkie declared.

Firestorm brought his fingers to his lips to find them bleeding, then winced. “Come on,” he moaned. “That was uncalled for.”

“SO WAS THAT!” Noble bellowed, pointing at the burning house. “What happened in there?”

“I decided to get out a different way. I'm not so big of a frickin’ idiot that I decide to stay in a demolishing house. I got free, then remembered that there was a kooky sister living in the house, so I went into her room and got her out as well by going out one of the windows the Noxxa shattered.” He took a few deep breaths at the end; he had said it all in one breath.

“You got Maud out?” the other Pinkie Pie asked hopefully. “Where is she now?”

“Hey, Pinkie,” came a voice from behind her that was flatter than a sedimentary deposit. “Nice to see you.”

Pinkie swiveled around and grinned so hard a high-pitched sound came out of her mouth. “MAUD!” She threw her arms around her neck lovingly.

Maud made no movement to her affectionate gesture, but she did nod in acknowledgment.

“We were worried sick about you, Storm,” Rarity scolded him. “You should be ashamed of yourself!”

He scoffed. “Well, excuuuuse me for barely making it out in time! What, dija think I played dress-up to pass the time?”

“What if you had died?” Rarity asked, pointing down at him. “What would that have meant for all of us? We would have failed in our quest! Or what about Rainbow Dash? The mare you love?”

“And what about me?” Firestorm asked. “I would suffer as well because I’d be dead. You think I would want that?”

“But without you, things just don't seem right,” Rarity said almost tearfully. “You think I want that to die with you? To lose that sense of... of life you bring to us? I don’t! I…” Rarity stopped talking and stared at the ground.

“Well, shoot,” Firestorm muttered, looking at his boots. “That actually kinda worked on me.” He stood up, only to have a light blue girl fling herself at him and furiously begin to kiss him, forcing him back down again. The kisses were so wild and random that some kisses ended up on his cheeks, his upper lip, his chin, and even his nose.

“Storm...” She repeated the name in between kisses. “You're here, and you’re gonna stay for good. You got that? Huh?”

“Wasn't planning on it,” Firestorm managed to say in between kisses.

While that was going on, the other Twilight, along with both Pinkies and Maud, were staring at the burning house. The crackle of the flame made them raise their voices to be heard.

“It’s gone,” the other Pinkie Pie whispered. “Everything in there is gone. All the files on parties I could throw. All the party supplies in the basement. It’s all…” She stared ever harder, like staring at it would reverse time. “...gone.”

“Pinkie,” came a flat and emotionless voice. Maud laid a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”

“No, Maud,” the other Pinkie protested feebly. “Maud, our house is gone. We don't have-”

“I know that,” Maud flatly spoke. “Losing a shelter is bad. But it's only a building. That can be replaced. Your friends can’t.”

“But…” the other Pinkie said over the crackle of the flames, swiveling to look at her sister. “It’s our home! All of our things were in there! All the memories we had with it! We can't have slumber parties or birthday parties or happy-three-and-a-half-year-friend anniversary parties! What are we going to do? What can we-”

“Pinkie.” Maud laid a hand on her shoulder and stared blankly at her. “Calm down.”

“B-but our home! I feel terrible! I just... I can’t-”

“Pinkie,” Maud repeated, continuing to stare emotionlessly at her. “Calm down.”

The other Pinkie had a distressed look on her pulled face as she went between trying to obey her sister and trying to react to the tragedy that had just happened. Finally, she fell silent, though she was still trembling in place. “Thanks, Maud.”

“No problem,” Maud said without emotion. “We can stay at our uncle’s house until this one can be replaced.”

By this time the police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks had arrived on the scene. Firefighters were leaping out, trailing hoses that slithered and sloshed on the ground, and let loose with their hoses. After the collective party was taken aside for safety by a young officer, they looked on as the firefighters extinguished the snapping flames.

During the extinguishment, Noble Blade leaned his head down and whispered to Twilight, “What do we know about Star Swirl?”

“We know where he is,” the other Twilight said before her counterpart could. “In an abandoned observatory north of town.”

“How long will it take to get there?”

“We have to go through the more urban area of Canterlot. I would guess about... twelve hours or so. Not counting traffic.”

“Twelve hours?” Noble whispered in shock. “That’s too much.”

“We don’t have a faster way,” Twilight explained.

“No. No, there has to be another way. Twelve hours will allow the Noxxa to regroup and attack again, and if we're on the move, we won’t be as ready to meet them. We need a faster way, or we will fail.”

“There’s the metro,” the other Rarity suggested, coming over to Noble Blade and the two Twilights.

“Right,” the other Twilight said with extreme sarcasm. “The metro, with all twenty-something of us. That won’t be conspicuous at all.”

“Not to mention dangerous,” Twilight added. “With all of us underground in the same area, the Noxxa will have a perfect chance to ambush us. Either on the tracks or at whichever station we stop off at.”

“And I don’t believe all of you have metro passes either,” the other Rarity admitted with a finger to her chin. “Well, I don’t know what else to do. I think…” The other Rarity trailed off. “I believe we’re up a creek without a paddle.”

“Fer heaven’s sake,” Applejack said, coming over with her hands in her small pockets. “What’s th’ use? If we were all pegasi we migh’ be able ta make it, but we ain’t got wings. We’re stuck with walkin’.”

The other Rarity nodded somberly. “We don’t have wings,” she agreed. “We don’t…” The other Rarity widened her eyes all of a sudden. “Wings.” She pulled her smartphone out of her pocket and pulled up her contacts list.

“Um…” Twilight said, looking above the other Rarity’s smartphone. “What are you doing?”

“Calling in a favor somebody owes me,” she replied, tapping on a name and holding the phone to her ear. “Hush, girls. A lady needs to hear what must be said.”

When the other line finally picked up, Rarity held one hand on her hip as she spoke. “Hello, Fancy Pants?...Yes, this is Rarity...Never mind why I’m calling this late; I need to ask something of you. You said if I needed anything from my client, I need to only ask. This is what I’m asking now…. Wait, really? Great! Now, this is what I need to ask of you. Do you have anything at the airport, perchance?... Oh, yes, that’ll work perfectly... I’ll see you there, then! Thank you ever so much for being so cooperative! Ta-ta!”

Noble Blade beamed as she closed the call. The other Rarity, seeing his smile, raised her fist triumphantly. “Crisis averted!” she proclaimed. “Fancy Pants has agreed to meet us at the small airport just outside the suburbs. It shouldn’t take us more than a half-hour to get there if we just take the bus.”

“Well, Ah’ll be.” Applejack put a hand on her slender hip and aimed her eyes to the side. “Convenient.”

“Fortunate, darling,” the other Rarity corrected with a wave of her pearly hand. “There’s clearly a difference.”

Noble felt something tug at his neck, and he swiveled around. Starlight Glimmer was stamping on the edge of his thin brown cape.

“Starlight!” Noble exclaimed, jerking back and tearing a new hole on the edge of the cape. “What are you-”

Starlight stamped some more on the tattered piece of cloth on the ground. “There was something on it,” she spoke quickly.

“Like a bug?” Noble asked, motioning for her to move away by flicking his fingers. “I’ve never met an insect I have not vanquished yet, you know.”

Starlight removed her shoe. “Sorry.”

Noble stooped down and squinted at the piece of cloth. There was certainly something on it, but the night was too deep to see clearly, so he reached to the side, picked up his sword, and twisted the handle. The entire scene burst into brilliant blue light.

A twisted and broken microphone was clipped on the piece of thin brown fabric.

Noble widened his eyes. It was black and unnatural-looking, alien and foreboding.

“Oh, it was bugged, all right,” he muttered.

Captain Slath heard everything the girls said before it cut off with a spray of static. Splitting his mouth with a wide, unnatural grin, he swiveled around to the rest of the spy legion, gathered near the mouth of the portal. Over a hundred Noxxa were gathered on the school grounds, holding wicked swords and spears that glinted orange from the occasional torch held in the hands of some of them, making the mob look hungry for death.

“We know where they’re going,” he announced to the gathering of unnatural creatures. He clenched all four of his fists and raised one of them. “And we will take them down!”

The crowd roared and shook their weapons up in the air. Guttural, high, or deep shouts accompanied the roar as Noxxa let out their individual war yells.

“And it’s all thanks to the help of my new friends,” Captain Slath announced, waving one grandiose arm behind him at the three girls there. “Should we succeed, Marshal Malice will reward us secularly. And should we perish, Solaris will please us eternally!”

As the crowd roared again at the mention of Solaris, the three teenage girls behind Captain Slath trembled in different degrees.

“That was the portal to Equestria this whole time?” Aria asked incredulously, pointing at the stone block.

“That’s convenient,” Sonata commented softly, trembling at the collection of demons and monsters in front of the stone block.

“What do we do now, Adiago?” Aria asked. “The portal is right there! We can go anytime we want after they leave!”

“No,” Adiago refused. “We stay with Swath, or whatever he is.”

“What?” Aria whispered in shock. “But we can ditch the doofus now!”

“We keep to our word,” Adiago affirmed. “We promised him. Besides, don’t you want revenge on Twilight and the Rainbooms?”

“Well…” Aria started, then scratched at a lock of hair. “...Kinda. But I want to go home more.”

“I need your full compliance here,” Adiago snarled, pulling at the front of Aria’s shirt and staring into her face. “Follow. My. Lead. And you won’t get hurt. Would you rather take your chances with me, or with him?”

Aria nervously glanced at the captain, who was still riling up the mob of demons beneath his feet. The portal was right there. They could just go once the mob left, and nothing would happen.

“I’ll do what you want me to do,” she eventually muttered unenthusiastically.

“Great.” Adiago released her. “You’re not an idiot.”

Aria smoldered with clenched teeth and stared at Adiago, but neither party said another word.

“I don’t want to be an idiot!” Sonata volunteered cheerfully.

“You’re gonna need more work on that,” Adiago muttered.

Captain Slath turned around to look down on his newfound allies. “I have a feeling,” he snapped in his jaws casually but sinisterly as he leered over their bodies, “that our newfound alliance will last permanently.”

And all three girls felt a new surge of uneasiness course from their heads to the base of their spines.

Chapter Forty-three: Flight, Fight, and a Crash Landing

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After a quick but uncomfortable transit on a nearly empty bus to the private airport on the fringes of the Canterlot suburbs, the entire massive party stepped off the bus, opened the unlocked gate, and raced across the tarmac to the hangar, far away and glinting grey in the moonlight.

“So who’s your contact?” Firestorm asked the other Rarity as they ran.

“Oh, just a client I helped out some time ago,” the other Rarity said casually. “And he just so happens to be very, very rich.”

“I’m very, very rich,” Firestorm protested.

“Do you own a private airport?”

“No,” he admitted. “But that’s because I don’t need an airport! I can just use my wings to get wherever I want because I can fly!” He flapped his arms up and down like a bird.

“I dare you to do it now,” Pinkie Pie said as she ran alongside him.

“I would!” Firestorm said emphatically. “If I could!”

“But you just said you did,” Pinkie protested.

“I’m not going to jump and flop on the pavement to prove your point!” Firestorm angrily said. “Get me a mattress or something and I would flop on the ground gladly!”

Waiting for them in front of the grey hangar was a large white helicopter standing out against the black night, the propeller blades already spinning and the engine already warmed. The door on the pilot side swung open, and out stepped a man in a white suit and thin monocle. His hair was droopy and his eyes had bags under them, but upon seeing Rarity’s group, his face split into a wide grin.

“Fancy Pants!” the other Rarity called when she was close enough. “It’s so good to see you follow up with me!”

“Anything for you coming through for me in a pinch at my wedding last year,” Fancy Pants said over the roar of the helicopter blades. “I still have the suit you made for me when my own got ruined the night before.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you remembered! I really needed this favor of you!”

Fancy Pants smiled, crunching the flesh around his monocle. Then he spotted the Rarity from Equestria behind her, and his face dropped so comically his monocle hung away from his face. “Um, Miss Rarity? Why is-” He put the monocle back in place and sighed. “Why are there two of you?”

“T’would take too long to explain right now,” came a voice that rose above the noisy helicopter blade. The pale blue knight in grey armor stepped forward, alongside both Rarities. “We thank thee, sir, for providing us with this. Would it be possible, we would repay thee doubly. Thou art a true helpmeet to us.”

“Stop being such a fancy-pants!” Pinkie Pie chided him from the side, giggling.

“A fancy pants? I wasn't trying to be a-Ooohhh.” The knight looked at the ground. “Oh, I see what you did there.”

One by one the entire assembly crowded into the helicopter, and the last girl to enter, Sunset Shimmer, slammed the door and locked it. Fancy Pants entered, sparing one confused glance over his shoulder at the doubles of all the girls, shook his head, muttering something about the martinis he drank before going to bed, and sat in the pilot seat of his private helicopter. After five minutes, the chopper lifted up in the air and soared away.

After the chopper disappeared, the airport was still. The tarmac was empty, the lights were off, and the night air was silent save for the chorus of night bugs. All was quiet. All was calm.

Ten minutes later, a bus came to the airport entrance and screeched softly to a halt, innocent and careful in its advance.

The bus doors opened and out stomped three horribly deformed black humanoids, carrying bloodstained blades and maces. Inside the hijacked bus were the bodies of passengers and their driver, slumped in their seats like they were sleeping, but soaked on their chests and necks with their own blood.

“Stupid vehicle,” one of them spat. “Hard to control.”

“It’s good practice for what we’re about to attempt,” another pointed out maliciously. He slurped up the blood in between the creases on his mace.

“It’s a miracle the other bus isn't facing the same problems this one is,” the first one continued.

“The only issue was with your driving. The others will arrive at the observatory soon enough without issue. I know you won’t be piloting, for a fact.” The third one was malicious, even for a Nox.

The Nox with the mace finished getting the wet blood out of his mace and pointed at the unlocked and open gate. “Now get inside the bay and begin looking for something we can take. I’ll take care of the bus.”

The third Nox nodded and motioned for his other comrade to follow him, and both of them ran into the airport from the bus stop just outside its borders.

The remaining Nox went inside the bus, leaned to the dashboard, and released the brake holding the bus in place. As the bus began to roll away down the road, the remaining Nox jumped off the bus and watched the bus roll down the road at an angle until it came entirely off the road and collided head-on into a telephone pole. The bus’s front engine exploded on impact, and the telephone pole slowly cracked out loud as it keeled over and smashed on the ground. Deep twanging noises came as the telephone cables snapped and bent downward.

If anyone tried to investigate, they would assume that it was only an accident.

The Nox who had stayed behind unslung his crossbow from his back and loaded a special crossbow bolt into it--a bolt with the tip of a Black Blade--and turned around and raced over to where his companions had entered the private hangar.

Twenty minutes later, a small jet emerged from the hangar and turned on the tarmac to the takeoff strip. Only a short time later, the jet was off the ground and racing northward in pursuit of the helicopter.

The sound of the helicopter blades thumped so loudly in his ears that Freedom Fighter could not continue listening to the music Vinyl Scratch had given him. He had tried to at first, but he couldn't hear the intricate mix between the mesmerizing rise and fall of the cello and the deep thunder of dubstep. So he took the cheap headphones off and sat in silence.

Everybody else was either silent or trying to sleep on the fancy white couches. They had been in the air for about an hour.

It’s too bad we can’t listen, really. I actually liked that music.

Freedom Fighter turned his head in surprise. ‘You do?’

It reminds me of how you're never going to see Vinyl Scratch again.

‘Oh.’ Freedom Fighter rolled his eyes. ‘I knew there was an underlying reason in there somewhere.’

Don't shrug me off. I have an actual point here.

‘What do we need to discuss that you don't get?’ he thought miserably, slumping in his seat.

We’re never going to talk with Vinyl for a long time. All we have is her music. But you can only listen to the same music so many times before you begin to want to stop it.

‘Even if that happens, do you think I’ll throw away the tape because I've listened to all of the music on it? Idiot.’

She’s not with you right now. The other two guys have their girlfriends with them at all times in all places. And meanwhile, the girl you think is hot is waiting for you, all the way back in Equestria.

‘She’s not one of the Ten Souls. It would be absolutely stupid if she happened to be one of them.’

But you’re the only one losing somepony you care about back home.

‘You idiot. What about the girl’s families? Their siblings and fathers and mothers? And their extended friends?’

At least they have those. The Noxxa took away everything from you. Not Applejack, or Rarity, or Starlight Glimmer or Twilight or Noble Blade. They took everything away from you. And now that you found a friend--an actual, full-of-potential friend--you have to leave her behind, in exchange for going along on this stupid quest. Why is it that we must be the ones who always give up everything?

‘Are you whining? Are you complaining?’

I know your thoughts better than anyone else.

‘We’re the same pony. Duh.’

I know, right?

‘So I don’t care about what you have to offer me. Everything you have to offer me’s in my subconscious.’

You've wondered about this before. It’s always you who gives up literally everything to serve other ponies you don’t even know. Your tribe, your destiny, your Cutie Mark, your skin, your tongue, your arm, your public decency. Need I go on?

‘Yeah.’ Freedom Fighter shifted uncomfortably on his seat. ‘Yeah, I know what you mean. So?’

So why you? What is it that’s so special about you?

‘Well…’ Freedom Fighter paused here. The other voice waited patiently for him to finish. Finally, Freedom Fighter slumped back in his seat. ‘Well, somepony’s gotta be the Element of Sacrifice.’

So there’s nothing special about you after all. I knew it.

‘No, wait. Don't take it like that. You really think-’

You're taking upon yourself the Element of Sacrifice because someone’s gotta do it? Stupidest excuse I've ever heard.

‘I didn't have a choice in this! You think I wanted to do this?’

Nopony else did either. Why can’t they ever give something up for a change? Why can't they experience what you and I have to deal with? How it hurts to move your body in the wrong way because of the scars and having to deal with annoying voices in your head?

‘Gee. How terrible that must be. Hearing voices in your head that you don’t want there. How am I ever supposed to relate to that oddly specific qualification?’

You and me both, kid.

‘Don’t start calling me kid. I’ll rip out your vocal cords.’

What vocal cords?

‘Oh, right.’ Freedom Fighter adopted a pensive look under his mask and shifted his eyes from side to side. ‘Forgot about that…’

Get into the restroom, the voice abruptly said.

‘Why? I don't need to pee.’

You killed twenty-two. Time to keep track.

Freedom Fighter clutched his suddenly shaking right arm with his strong mechanical left. ‘I promised my friends I wouldn't.’

You didn't promise yourself. You didn't promise me. Now get into the restroom.

‘No. You can't control me.’

Do it. Now.

Freedom Fighter stood up and trudged to the back of the luxurious helicopter, where a white door was waiting. He opened the door, stepped inside, closed it, and locked it.

There was a mirror over the sink that Freedom Fighter looked into, leaning his hands on the marble countertop. His eyes were the same scarlet color he remembered. The same loop of red around the black pupil.

You have to do this. You promised yourself you would.

‘I promised the others I wouldn't!’

Your first and foremost duty is to yourself. Roll up your sleeve.

Freedom Fighter undid the straps holding his glove to his sleeve, pulled it off, laid it aside, and took off the small dagger on his right forearm. Laying it aside, he drew the dagger from its sheath.

It was a Black Blade. Taken off the corpse of a particularly stubborn pony two years ago when he went to Saddle Arabia. Short, smooth, and thin, it felt cold just looking at it.

Freedom Fighter scrunched up his sleeve to his elbow. His pale yellow skin was marred by dozens of small black nicks in the form of tally marks. Freedom Fighter looked upon it wistfully.

Put the blade to your skin.

‘No. No, I can't do that. This is wrong. Wrong.’

Not if I make it so it’s right. You want to feel this pain. You need it to put things in perspective. Put the knife blade to your skin, or I will do it for you.

‘You can't make me do anything.’

Can’t I?

‘I hold dominion over you. You think you can force my hand?’

Only if you don't do it yourself. Do it. Now.

Freedom Fighter put the black knife tip to his skin on an empty spot of skin, and it felt like ice had touched him there. He hadn't broken the skin yet, but with the slightest pressure, he could.

What are you waiting for?

‘What would Twilight say?’

“I understand, Freedom Fighter. You had a bad day, and this is the way you take your mind off matters. Go ahead and do this. I have no right to intrude on your personal life like this. That’s not what friends do.”

‘Like forcing me to put a knife blade to my arm?’

What’s the difference between now and a few weeks back? I thought you were okay with reminding yourself of what really matters.

‘Slicing up my arm like a block of wood isn't what really matters.’

It isn't that much. Just small nicks. Press the blade in. Do it. Do it, Freedom Fighter, before I decide for you.

‘No!’

It’s right here. You might as well do it.

‘I have a reason not to.’

Tell me this all-important reason.

‘You know what my reason is? Twilight.’ Freedom Fighter breathed heavily, making his arm inflate and deflate with each breath. The knife blade was dangerously close to breaking the skin. ‘She’ll be sad.’

Twilight doesn't matter to you.

‘But I matter to her!’

And the other voice was silent.

‘And I matter to the Guardians. And the other girls here. And to Vinyl Scratch. What would she say if she found out I was doing this?’

Don’t you dare bring Vinyl Scratch into this, the voice in his head snarled at him. She won’t find out. We will never show her this, because she’ll never be with us, and she will never see us without our black skin, naked like a scaled fish, because we are not meant to be together.

‘You keep on telling yourself that.’

What does Vinyl Scratch mean to you, for Faust’s sake! You met her only a few days ago! Does she matter to you or does she not?

‘She matters to me when I’m weak.’

Since when were you ever weak? Are you hearing yourself?

‘I can’t hear myself. I’m not talking.’

Touche.

‘I’ll hold off on this. You won’t win this round.’ He slammed the Black Blade into its sheath and shoved the sleeve back to his wrist.

But I-

‘Oh, shut up. I’ll knee you in the balls next time you talk.’

I don't have any balls.

‘Ha! You don’t have the balls!’

Neither do you.

‘I had the balls to shut you up!’ Freedom Fighter triumphantly thought as he put his glove back on and snapped the glove to his sleeve. No skin now showed.

Sometimes I really hate you.

‘The feeling’s mutual.’

But we’re stuck with each other. Might as well make the most of it.

A pounding came from the door of the restroom. “Are ya done in there yet?” came a southern accent. “Mother Nature’s callin’ me with a bullhorn!”

Shoot. Gotta go. Freedom Fighter scrabbled at the doorknob and opened it to reveal Applejack crossing her knees. Freedom Fighter held up a hand by way of apology and strode past her into the main helicopter chamber.

He sat down heavily and slumped back against his seat. His free fingers fiddled with the foot-and-a-half long folded staves at his hips.

It was one of the first times he had won a victory over himself recently. Freedom Fighter felt his stomach settle gently, and his head stop aching. Putting his hands behind his head, he leaned back contentedly and closed his eyes.

Noble Blade was situated right next to Flash Sentry, who rightfully appeared apprehensive of him, and it made Noble stiff in his seat. Neither of them had attempted conversation yet.

The wide cut on his forehead was stinging a little, but it wasn't anything Noble hadn't experienced before. His joints felt sore and limp, but he knew the feeling as intimately as he was with Fluttershy. His fingers were stiff in his gauntlets, his toes too big for his armored shoes, but Noble didn't mind.

Noble decided to try to break the ice first. “How are you holding up?” he asked gently, laying a gauntlet on his shoulder.

Flash shoved his hand off and looked at the ground like there was a movie playing at his feet.

Noble, disappointed, put his hand back in his lap. “Sorry.”

They sat in silence for a little longer.

“I didn't ask for this.”

Noble Blade looked up. “For what?”

“For this trip. For those monsters that destroyed Pinkie’s home. For you coming into this world. All of this.”

“It couldn’t be helped.”

“I know that,” Flash griped. “I still don’t like it.”

“I don’t like it either.” Noble knew it was a pointless statement to make, and he cringed as he said it.

Flash continued as if he hadn't said anything, though. “But the thing is... you can actually do something about it all. You can fight. And the girls can all hold up well on their own as well. But me?” Flash clenched both his fists against each other. “I’ve just been a victim. I always have nothing to give. I always get possessed by the sirens, or by evil from Sunset, or I get trapped. And now there’s another thing that’s come along, and it’s just…” Flash breathed deeply, in and out, in and out. “I just want to stay away from Equestrian evil forever. But then you and the rest of the girls all came through the portal and dragged a big army behind you.”

“I know,” Noble said sympathetically. “I wanted to stay in Equestria, truth be told.”

“But you had to go here anyway?”

“Yes.”

“I hate how this isn't even the first time I've had to deal with evil from your world,” Flash recalled, shifting in his seat. “Dealing with sirens and dimensions and demons and magic and stuff is all just overwhelming. I want to have it stop. All I want to do is live a normal life.”

“If I was there with you when those things happened, I would have helped.”

“That’s all over now. Now we’ve got a massive army of... disgusting things that are trying to kill us all!”

“Not if you don’t let them,” Noble said softly.

Flash looked confused by his whisper. “What do you mean?”

Noble looked at him with all seriousness. “I don't want to ask this of a high schooler. No one should start at this age. But I need to ask. Are you willing to fight?”

“Fight?” Flash looked nervous.

“For your life,” Noble gravely said. “And for the lives of others. You may even lose your own life to save those you love. Are you up for this? To step in front of the victim and raise your weapon in defiance?”

Flash tapped his foot and twisted his lips in deep contemplation. Noble could almost see the cogs turning behind his head as he knitted his eyebrows together and stroked his little blue goatee.

For a while, for a long, long while, Flash thought. Noble patiently waited for him.

Flash finally looked to the side to gaze at Noble Blade. “Evil from Equestria has been a big part of my recent life,” Flash repeated. He took a deep breath. “If you’re really asking me if I could end that evil... I’d do anything to make sure it doesn’t influence my life anymore.”

Noble smiled warmly. “Then would you like training?”

“Training?” Flash asked flatly.

“The most recent kind of evil to hit Equestria is an army. Training in combat is a necessary evil.”

“If this army of... what’s it called…”

“Noxxa.”

“If these Noxxa come after us again, I need to be ready to help stop them.” Flash ran a hand through his bright blue hair. “I owe it to the girls. They’ve done so much for me that it wouldn't feel right by continuing being a bum.”

“You’re a bum?”

“Depends on who you ask. Which is... everybody, now that I think about it.”

“Even Twilight?”

“The one that was originally a pony, or the one that had a demon inside her she managed to control?” Flash dryly asked.

“You know something?” Noble asked, clapping him on the back. “You would make a good Guardian of the Sun.”

“Is that what you three guys call yourself?”

“Yes. It’s ostentatious but effective.”

“But I can’t be as good at curb-stomping as you,” Flash protested. “I just want to be normal, not a super soldier.”

“Which makes you above average. The prideful and lazy ponies that want to be glorified above everypony else are a coin a dozen, but…” He leaned forward, still looking to the side. “The people that want to be normal are hard to find.”

“You’re not normal. You’re a soldier, and a pretty good one at that.”

“I became a soldier to improve myself,” Noble said.

“Do you want to fight?”

“Yes. But only to protect and serve those I love, and to become the highest I can be. If it was possible, I would make it so we wouldn’t need to fight for anything.” He exhaled and put his head back against the seat. “And the only way to do that is to continually fight against evil. It’s a terrible loop.”

Flash looked down at the ground again. “What can you teach me?”

Noble sat up straighter at those words. There was a shine in his eyes and a smile on his face. “Where would you like to start?”

“So, Sunset, what do you think of this?”

“Twilight, I think I get the message. There’s evil brewing up in Equestria as usual.”

“Scorpan said it himself; our imminent destruction is sure if Solaris and Marshal Malice aren’t stopped.”

“Marshal Malice?” Sunset asked, putting her chin in her hands and resting her elbows on her knees. “Who’s that?”

“He’s…” Twilight faltered; she was about to explain that he had been the one who had tortured and enslaved Freedom Fighter. What she eventually said was, “He’s the commander of the armies of Tartarus. They’ve established an independent nation just south of Saddle Arabia, and it’s gaining enough strength that they’re ready to make a full-on assault in a matter of months. Maybe weeks.”

“That’s not good.” Sunset cleared her throat. “I hope you destroy them when you get back.”

“Yeah... that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Sunset glanced at Twilight. Her shirt was still torn at the abdomen and collarbone, and dirt smudged her face. Sunset let her eyes focus on those details, then turned away. “You want to bring me back.”

“You guessed it.” Twilight’s tone was resigned.

“I’m not going back, Twilight.”

“This isn't where you belong. You belong in Equestria, with your friends and family.”

“My family is already here,” Sunset replied. “It’s my friends.”

Twilight didn't say anything at first. Then she said, “You have a duty to protect your home, Sunset.”

“I also have a duty to protect my friends,” Sunset pointed out.

“Sunset, I don't want to force you, but Equestria is in danger. We need your help.”

“This dimension is also in danger. I’ll stay here, where Princess Celestia doesn’t have to worry about me or the citizens here.” Sunset’s tone grew hesitant near the end.

“Sunset, I think I know what this is really about.”

Sunset scoffed softly and drummed her fingers on her knee. “How’d you guess?”

“Princess Celestia would be overjoyed to see you!” Twilight insisted.

“But I won’t be overjoyed to present myself to her.”

“Celestia is willing to forgive,” Twilight said emphatically. “What would make it awful to stand in front of her? Are you scared that you’ll be punished?”

“Twilight, I’m not that petty. I know that Celestia is eager to forgive my actions in the past. What I won’t be happy about is…” Sunset licked her lips. “Is remembering everything I’ve done. Remembering all of my crimes against Equestria while I’m standing in front of her, who knows everything I’ve done!” She bounced her leg uncontrollably. “And knowing that Celestia has the capacity to forgive me, but that I don’t!”

“What’s making it so hard to forgive yourself?”

“What--no, no, it’s not that. Um…” She snapped her fingers several times, searching for the right words. “It’s... I know I should forgive myself--I know I’ve improved. But I still remember just how awful I was before you came into my life. It’s impossible for me to remember that part of me and not feel guilty about what I’ve done.” Sunset folded her arms against her chest and looked away.

Twilight laid her hand on her shoulder. “I know all about guilt in front of Princess Celestia. When I tried to create a friendship problem for me to solve, Celestia had to interfere. And I felt so guilty about it in front of her. But when I remember it, almost five years later, I don’t feel guilt, or shame. I just think, 'That’s not the pony I am today.' I became better; I know I became better. So that part of me has no influence on who I am today.”

Sunset was paying rapt attention.

“We need a pony like you now, Sunset.” Twilight stared into Sunset’s sea-green eyes. “A pony.”

Sunset blinked hard. Then she swiveled away. “I’ve got nothing waiting for me in Equestria,” Sunset said. “If Celestia has already forgiven me, then I can stay here.”

“But Sunset-”

“This place is my home,” Sunset affirmed with a fist to her breastbone. “If what you say is true, then I’ve let my past die. Equestria was my past. I’ve moved on, and this is the new me.”

Twilight sadly gazed at her. Then she sighed and moved her hair behind her back. “What if I moved on from you, Sunset?” she whispered. “What if I cut you out of my life?”

Sunset didn't answer. She only looked away and pressed her lips together as she twiddled her thumbs.

Neither of them spoke again for a while.

“We’re getting close,” Fancy Pants called back to them after a little bit of time had passed. “The observatory is just dead ahead.”

Starlight Glimmer pressed her nose against the window glass. There, only a little bit ahead, was the small dark shape of a half-sphere on top of a hill, past the tall buildings of the Canterlot urban area. They were still flying above blinking lights, but the multicolored lights were fewer in number and more sporadic. At this rate, they’d be at the observatory in no time.

“I’ve never been above a city before,” Pinkie Pie marveled as she pressed her entire face against the window glass to stare at the city’s skyline.

“The problem you have is gettin’ high enough to get a view like this,” Applejack said, refusing to look out the window. “Ah don’ like bein’ in this metal thing. It feels unnatural.”

“I don’t like getting high,” Fluttershy whispered loud enough for everyone else to hear. “Whenever I look at the ground when I’m high, I feel really dizzy.”

“You want to know what I’m high on? I’m high on life!” the other Pinkie Pie declared, spreading out her arms like a bird.

“And we’re also high on tv show ratings,” Pinkie added nonchalantly.

“What do you mean, tv show?” Rarity asked Pinkie Pie shrewdly.

“Oh, don’t think about it too much,” Pinkie said with a wave of her hand.

“What a great view,” Rainbow breathed. She sighed wistfully. “If I had wings, I would fly over it."

“I can fly,” the other Rainbow Dash bragged to her counterpart.

Rainbow rubbed the back of her head, with a deadpan expression. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure that can’t happen.”

“Sure can!” the other Rainbow assured her. “If I use this little necklace around my neck, I can. I’ve sprouted wings before, I’m telling you!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Rainbow said, waving her hands. “You can turn into a pegasus?”

“More like a beta version of a pegasus,” the other Rarity clarified. “We all have some sort of power or other.”

“When did this turn into the Power Ponies?” Spike commented, crawling out from a corner of the luxurious chopper. He and the other Spike were napping in that corner of the helicopter.

“It’s not the Power Ponies, Spike,” Twilight chided him gently. “They all just got magical geodes from Camp Everfree.”

“Well, if you've got freaky magical powers, then what are they?” Pinkie Pie asked, pulling her face away from the window with an audible suction sound until it popped off. Her face wiggled loosely off her head, then she twisted her facial features until they resembled a normal face.

“I can blow things up with sprinkles!” the other Pinkie Pie said excitedly.

Freedom Fighter whistled impressively from his spot on a couch and sat up straighter.

“I can create magical shields,” the other Rarity spoke up.

“Well, Ah know that Ah git a lot stronger.”

“I can talk to animals,” came a meek voice, as the other Fluttershy was looking up at Noble Blade’s face and soaking up the details of his face, then she abruptly turned her gaze toward the ground when Noble turned his attention to her.

“And I can go super duper fast!” Rainbow finished. “And we all get little ears and tails and wings and stuff when we display the true power of our element!”

“Ew!” Firestorm yelled from the other end of the room. “That ain’t natural!”

“It’s natural for us!” the other Twilight defended.

“We’ve got another jet in our airspace behind us,” Fancy Pants called back. “It’s small and fast, though, so it’ll go away soon.”

“Natural.” Firestorm got up out of his seat and strode over to the main assembly. “Getting another pair of ears on the top of your head and growing a ponytail out of your butt is natural?”

“It happens whenever we represent what our Elements stand fer,” the other Applejack affirmed stoically. “It’s all here with us. Connected by the one true power--the magic of friendship.”

The other Applejack began to shine with a pale orange color, and levitated off the ground. As she did this she closed her eyes and a pair of pony ears appeared on her head, along with a long tail coming out of her behind.

The people from Equestria and Flash Sentry all looked on in amazement as the other Applejack’s power of honesty manifested itself.

The other Applejack finally settled on the ground and opened her eyes. “Magic is just always natural whenever we use the power o’ friendship,” she finished.

Several wows and oohs and ahhs let themselves out of the mouths of the girls from Equestria.

“You’re a compulsive liar,” Firestorm said when she was done.

The other Applejack twitched her pony ears in surprise. Then she narrowed her eyes. “Say that again. Say. That. Again, Ah dare ya. Ah double dare ya.”

“If, whenever you represented the Elements you stood for, you turned into weird pony-human hybrids,” Firestorm said casually, “then you must be lying through your teeth every other time you opened up your mouth. If you were truly being honest all the time, you would be turning into a pony hybrid all over the place.”

The other Applejack angrily pointed a finger upward and opened her mouth. After a few moments, however, of having nothing to say, the other Applejack simply closed her mouth. An expression of absolute shock was present on her face.

“So, what does this bode for the rest of your friends?” he asked, folding his arms behind his back. “Nothing good, I’m afraid. Every time Fluttershy gives compliments and doesn’t pony up, it means she does it sarcastically, Pinkie Pie fakes her laughter whenever she laughs and doesn't turn into some anthropomorphic weirdo, Rarity, whenever a purple Slinky tail doesn't spring out of her booty, sells her dresses begrudgingly, and Rainbow Dash is a secretive traitor whenever she’s around her friends and not getting wings and a tail.”

“You’re thinking too hard into this,” Sunset Shimmer insisted, waving a hand to signal him to stop.

“He’s actually got a good point,” Noble defended. “This magic you counterparts have seems to pick and choose when it works and when it doesn’t.”

“That’s because... well, we believe somepony else is controlling their magic by keeping it in check for when it really matters,” Twilight said to Noble. “Star Swirl the Bearded.”

“Star Swirl is-” Noble started in shock.

A small hole tore open in the hull of the chopper, and something thin and wooden embedded itself into the bottom of the floor near Noble’s foot.

Some of the girls screamed. The men flinched in their spots.

“What was that?” Fancy Pants called from the pilothouse. “I felt a jolt!”

Flash bent down and pulled the object out of the floor. It was a long wooden shaft, with a sinister barbed tip that exuded a temperature cold enough to cause frostbite. The tip was long, and blacker than the deepest abyss.

“Where’d that come from?” Fluttershy shakingly asked.

“Stay down,” Firestorm told everyone, crouching down. “Someone’s trying to snipe at us.”

“Who? The Noxxa?” Rarity asked, stooping down until she was on her knees. “How would they do that?”

Another hole appeared in the hull near the back, and the arrow sank halfway down the shaft into the back of the seat Rarity’s head had been near only moments ago. Rarity shrieked and cowered on the floor.

“The jet,” Sunset whispered. “They’re in the jet!”

“What?” Twilight asked.

“The jet! Behind us! That Fancy Pants was talking about only a minute before!” Sunset ran over to the window and pressed her nose against it. Outside, a small jet, with small wings and a sharp nose, was circling around to the other side of their own slow-moving helicopter. The jet looked predatory and dark against the lights of the city beneath them and the stars above them.

“We can’t outrun it!” the other Fluttershy whimpered. “We’re all going to die here!”

“Not if we have anything to say about it!” the other Rainbow Dash declared. “We’ll fight ‘em off!”

“They’re in another plane!” the other Applejack pointed out as she stooped down. “And we ain’t got any long-range weapons on us, either!”

There came several snapping sounds, and Freedom Fighter was suddenly holding a buzzing yellow bow, with his fingers gripping the edges of the yellow string.

“Good job!” Noble called to him. “How are you going to fire it?”

Freedom Fighter looked around him at the enclosed space of the luxury helicopter. After he confirmed reluctantly that there was no spot to fire at the jet from inside the chopper, he shrugged in defeat and held his bow limply at his side.

Another jolt rocked the place as another arrow struck the helicopter. No holes appeared in the side, but the chopper began to list to the right. The arrow had apparently struck a helicopter blade or an air flap or something else keeping the aircraft afloat.

The other Rarity took initiative. Outstretching her arm while clutching her necklace and grunting, little balls of blue energy condensed in her palms. The inside of the helicopter walls glowed a pale blue as octagonal shields began to line the helicopter.

While some of the girls commended her vocally and with small cheers, Freedom Fighter was prying at the edge of a large window with his fingers.

“Are you trying to get a clear shot?” Firestorm asked him, coming over while still crouching.

Freedom Fighter’s response was a ridiculously mimed expression of stupidity through his mask. Given that he did it with only his eyes, it was commendable on how emotive he was.

“Okay, okay, it was a stupid question. Do you want my help or not?”

Freedom Fighter tugged at the window pane some more, but could only open it a small way down. Then he stopped and punched through the glass with all the force he could muster. Glass blew out and shot away from the empty window pane, and wind roared inside.

“You’re paying for that broken window!” the other Twilight had to shout over the sudden wind.

Freedom Fighter didn’t acknowledge her. He instead drew his bow back and took aim at the jet that was coming alongside them. He released the bow just as a small projectile fired out of an open window of the jet.

The heavy yellow bolt struck the jet just above the cockpit, and smoke poured out of the head wound. The projectile from the jet also struck the helicopter’s cockpit, and a shatter could be heard. The sound of a wet squelch also came out of the cockpit, and then a thump.

The helicopter slanted deeply as the impact hit, sending everyone stumbling and slipping. The jet circled back, disappearing from view.

“Check on Fancy Pants!” the other Twilight ordered, clutching Spike close to her chest.

Firestorm took the initiative. He ran up the slanting ramp of the helicopter and threw open the door to the cockpit, and the body of Fancy Pants drooped across the doorway, still held in place by his seatbelt.

The other girls shrieked. A long shaft was embedded in his neck, and blood was coating and spreading across his white suit like a juice spill.

“Oh, my stars!” the other Rarity gasped. She began to stutter. “Fancy, n-no! No!”

Firestorm didn’t waste any time. He drew one of his knives, reached into the cockpit, and cut the seatbelt off his body. Setting the body aside, he sheathed the knife and pulled himself into the pilot’s seat.

“What are you doing?” the other Rarity bawled at him. “Get out of there! You can’t do anything for him now!”

“Yeah!” Firestorm yelled, swiveling his head at her. “I’m gonna pilot this thing now, okay? Okay, good to see you agree.” He flexed his fingers and stared at the console in befuddlement.

“Do you know how to fly a helicopter?” the other Twilight asked, putting her head over Firestorm’s shoulder.

“Um…” Firestorm flipped a couple of switches, and a few warning lights turned on and started to beep. “Well, I know how to fly,” he said sheepishly.

“You’re not a pegasus anymore!” Twilight yelled from the back of the chopper. “This is different!”

“It should be easy enough,” Firestorm pointed out, scanning the console with a confused expression. “All you have to do is not touch the ground. As long as you're in the air, you're fine.” He twisted the joystick, and the helicopter suddenly jerked to its proper position, sending everyone standing up flying onto the floor of the chopper. Several bangs, yells, and clatters could be heard, and there came an inexplicable sound of a mewling cat.

“Well, thanks, Firestorm!” Starlight screamed from the back. Her voice sounded smushed.

“I know, right?” Firestorm called back, both of his shaking hands on the joystick. “Everyone alright back there?”

Before either could respond, another crash rocked the helicopter, sending everyone tumbling. The other Twilight stumbled from hanging over Firestorm’s head and collapsed to the floor.

“That wasn't me!” Firestorm cried, bouncing so hard in his seat his head ricocheted off the roof and then slamming back in his seat. “I didn't even do anything yet!”

“I know!” Rainbow yelled at him over the cacophony. “The other jet hit us with their wing!”

“Wonderful!” Sunset cried out. “Could this day get any better?”

“Challenge accepted!” Firestorm answered her, pulling goggles out of his pocket and snapping them on his head.

“Wait, what?!”

Firestorm swerved down as the jet came around like a circling shark. The jet missed with feet to spare, and the chopper wobbled crazily in the air.

“We need to take another shot at it!” Noble yelled above the din. “Freedom! Get ready! We don’t know where the aircraft will pop up next!”

Firestorm could hear the little familiar noises attributed to his magical weapons as Freedom Fighter drew back his bow again and aimed it out the broken window.

Then a shadow passed over Firestorm in the cockpit, and he craned his head up. Right over him was the triangular head of the jet.

Firestorm sighed. “Aw, poop.”

The jet dipped its bow, and it pounded on top of the cockpit, crinkling the roof like a soda can until it touched the top of Firestorm’s skull. The helicopter lurched down as the nose pounded on it, and the tips of the helicopter blades snapped off as they impacted against the underbelly of the jet. The helicopter began to spin out of control, throwing Firestorm nearly out of his chair.

Firestorm looked back once more into the main area as Freedom Fighter aimed upward at the roof of the chopper with his bow, and let loose his buzzing yellow arrow.

The arrow went through the roof of the chopper and into the underbelly of the jet above them, and an explosion came between them. The pressure atop of them relaxed instantly. Firestorm glanced out of the bent and twisted window to his side, and saw a massive white jet, elaborate and smooth, plunge off not ten feet away from his face and spiral to the earth. The head of the jet was aflame and smoking. Firestorm followed the trail of the spinning jet until it descended too low for him to see.

“Lucky for you, he’s an excellent shot!” came Starlight Glimmer’s voice from the back.

“Well, now, we’re going to crash!” Twilight cried out, her voice shaking as the helicopter bounced her around. The centripetal motion was making her latch on to anything nearby.

“Lucky for you, I’m an excellent pilot!” Firestorm retorted, bouncing in his seat as they descended from the sky. Their view was spinning, and Firestorm was fighting the controls as best he could.

“Flying this thing is irrelevant!” Rarity yelled, coming into the cockpit and holding herself upright with a hand. “The trick here is landing, which, ah…” She laughed nervously as the aircraft spun around more, dropping like a stone. “Which this doesn't seem to be able to do, at the moment!”

“So strap yourself in!” Firestorm snapped, wrestling with the joystick.

“Firestorm!” Rarity shrieked, pointing at the stick. It was at the very edge and was about to be pulled out.

Firestorm paid her no attention and tugged harder at the joystick, roaring with the effort. Then the joystick snapped off, Firestorm bashed his head on the back of his seat, and he let out a vile oath that made Rarity recoil in aghast horror and stumble out of the cockpit.

“What was that?” Noble called from the main bay.

Firestorm looked at the broken joystick in his hand. Wires were bouncing in coils out of the bottom. Firestorm then pulled his face in a grimace. “We’re in trouble,” he called back.

“As if we weren't already?!” Rainbow yelled out to him in response.

Everyone by now was grasping tightly onto anything they could reach. Everyone was, except for Fluttershy, who was lying on the floor, sliding and slipping back and forth as the chopper changed direction woozily. Fluttershy was screaming and scrabbling at the floor, then she was thrown flat against the side of the helicopter doors, rattling and about to open.

Fluttershy was losing energy quickly, and was gripping her fingertips against anything nearby. Her breaths came short and hard, and her bodily functions seemed to shut down completely in the terrible danger whirling all around them.

And suddenly a hand was gripping hers and had pulled her away from the rattling doors and the sharp metal, and she felt herself be pressed against the chest of a young man with a familiar smell. The danger was gone, and her exhaustion rushed over her.

“I’ve got you,” Noble said in her ear above the terrible din.

Another jolt threw him back-first against a wall, and Fluttershy felt him absorb all the impact and bounce in his fold. He was still embracing her around the front as if nothing else in the world mattered.

The end seemed uncertain of when to come. Nopony knew just how high up they were, but it was high enough.

The spinning ground was now visible through the window. It was approaching at the speed of a freight train.

The other Twilight cried aloud with sudden effort as she outstretched her hands.

And the helicopter suddenly began to slow down, and then abruptly halted in the air, throwing everyone forward. Pinkie Pie smashed her face into the back of a seat, and Noble Blade fell to the floor and bashed his head on the hard metal, still protecting Fluttershy from opening her head on the same surface. Rainbow Dash grabbed the other Fluttershy tightly and collapsed into the wall on the left, and Twilight fell to her stomach and opened up the skin on her chin. Twilight lifted her head up to see what had caused the sudden halt.

It was the other Twilight. Squeezing her eyes behind her square glasses, balls of violet magic were pulsating in her palms. She was standing upright, feet firmly planted on the floor, and all around her the helicopter’s walls and ceiling and floor were encased in purple energy.

“Way to go, girl!” Applejack commended her, still digging her fingernails into the seat of a torn chair.

The other Twilight didn’t respond. Instead she grunted, and with herculean effort, the helicopter began to rise.

“Woah, woah, woah!” came Firestorm from the cockpit. “What’s going on?”

The other Twilight was grappling with herself, fighting for both the power and the restraint to lift it. Groaning, the motionless chopper propelled itself forward under her power.

The other Twilight dropped to her knees and pulsed out more magic. The enclosed space they were in went faster and sailed upward.

“I don’t know... how much longer... I can do this!” she whispered between her teeth.

“We need to land!” Noble yelled, standing up and supporting Fluttershy. “Now!”

The other Rarity checked out the window and looked down. The ground was less than fifty feet below them, and the observatory was almost directly in front of them, dark and looming and filling up the window space.

“Drop the magic!” Rarity cried again, and outstretched her hand again. Blue hexagonal shields spidered across the surface of the helicopter sides. “Brace yourselves!”

Everyone held on to their support tighter.

The other Twilight dropped her magic and her hands hit the floor hard.

The helicopter dropped yet again, and this time, it was only a few seconds before another jolt hit the bottom of the aircraft, bouncing all of them in the air and denting the bottom of the helicopter like the floor was made of water. Plates of metal burst from their proper place and scattered across the floor and away from the downed aircraft. A side door was squeezed so hard so suddenly that it popped off and flew away. The whole thing tilted to the right, and the twisted remnants of the helicopter blades chopped into the earth until they at last snapped off as well.

Everyone huddled down as long as the crash continued. After half a minute, the chopper ceased movement and lay still, and after another half minute, everyone stood up.

“Who’s okay?” Noble called out, finally releasing Fluttershy. “Everyone alive? Sound off!”

Everyone made little groans of pain or discomfort at that bit of news. Both Rarities were fussing over their now-jagged hair and were patting the other’s into place. Both Rainbows were straightening their knees or cricking their necks. Everyone else was rubbing their heads or necks.

“Is anyone dead?” Flash asked, hoisting up the torn and battered Twilight and holding her close to his chest.

Nobody was, although many open cuts abounded on knees or cheeks or arms. None of them were deep enough to warrant serious medical concern, but blood had been shed on everyone to some degree. The one who had the least was Fluttershy, who had been cushioned by her knight protector so that she only had several deep blue bruises on her shoulder and forehead.

“Firestorm!” Rainbow called to the cockpit entry, which was now so smushed together that it looked welded from side to side. “Firestorm, I swear, if you’re pretending to be dead in there again, I am going to lose it!”

“Don’t worry,” came the pained voice from the mashed cockpit. Relief overcame Rainbow Dash to where she fell to her knees. The voice continued: “I’m alive. Seat belts save lives.”

“Didn’t you slash the seat-”

“Yeah, but I got bumped over to the copilot seat during that bit of minor turbulence.”

“That was minor turbulence? And what’s major turbulence?” Rainbow asked the smushed metal barrier.

“When you fly through a cloud. Duh.” There came a scoff from the twisted barrier. “Out of everyone here, I thought you knew this better, Rainbow.”

“Hold on in there, Firestorm. We’ll get you out,” Flash called to him.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Firestorm asked in evident confusion.

Flash recoiled but didn’t say anything.

As Freedom Fighter rose from the rubble and swished the dust off him in cloudy puffs, Noble Blade pointed at him. “Get us out of here,” Noble ordered.

Freedom Fighter nodded, jutted out three yellow claws from his left arm, raised it, and began to carve through the steel above them like a can opener. Everyone else waited until he was done, and when he had sliced through enough, he motioned for everyone to follow him and leaped through the top with extraordinary agility.

Noble and Flash Sentry stooped down and motioned for Sunset Shimmer to step up. Sunset obeyed carefully, and the two young men gently lifted her up. Freedom Fighter reached for her with his right hand, and Sunset reached up and clasped it.

And all of a sudden, upon contact with his hand, Sunset’s eyes glowed completely white and she gasped aloud. Lasting only a few seconds, the white disappeared from her eyes as abruptly as it had appeared.

Freedom Fighter had yanked her out of the top of the slanted chopper by then, and had settled her on her feet outside on the metal. Sunset shook her head violently, then stared at Freedom Fighter with newfound awe, fear, and pity.

Freedom Fighter widened his eyes in remembrance of Sunset’s abilities, then stared at Sunset with utter distaste. Sunset had a shocked hand to her mouth, and her wide eyes showed clearly on top of her hand.

Finally, she took the hand away from her mouth and whispered, “I’m so sorry…”

What she was sorry for, no one could say. But Freedom Fighter dismissed her with an angry finger to the side, and Sunset soberly clambered down the broken side of the helicopter.

With Freedom Fighter up top, and Noble Blade and Flash Sentry helping boost people up, each girl was helped up and out of the helicopter. When all of them were out, Noble boosted up Flash, then climbed up the side of the tilted floor and came out of the top with help from Freedom Fighter.

They gently clambered down the side of the chopper and joined with the girls in looking up at the massive dome that filled their view. It was dark and oddly foreboding, and the night air did nothing to quell the goosebumps that rose on the group’s skins.

Noble wasted no time in watching it, though; he and Flash went to the front of the snapped helicopter. Noble partially drew his sword as they got near.

“Can I do it?” Flash asked him.

Noble gave him a confused look.

“I, uh…” Flash backed down. “Sorry, I just wanted-”

Noble drew it all the way, held the sword by the blade, and proffered him the hilt. “Two hands.”

Flash stared at the sword hilt, then smiled and held the sword with both hands. He lifted it and hefted it a few times, then gave an experimental swipe. “It weighs less than I thought it would,” he observed.

“Magic sword,” Noble briefly explained. “Rare metal. It was the official sword of the Captain of the Royal Guard before Shining Armor. One of the only swords that can withstand the blow of a Black Blade, this sword has been used in many a battle and has taken many a life.”

“Cool story, bro,” Flash commented sincerely, observing the priceless sheen of the blade in its groove. “Was this your dad’s?”

“It was,” Noble answered. “He gave me this set of arms and made me promise to be worthy of keeping this sword and this shield.”

“How's it working out?” Flash asked, swirling the sword near his head flamboyantly and almost cutting off a lock of hair. Flash looked surprised when that happened and he lowered the weapon.

“It’s a perpetual effort,” Noble phrased delicately. “Sometimes it can be overwhelming.”

“Sometimes you don't need to have the burden,” Flash agreed. He swished the blade some more, then pointed the sword at the broken helicopter cockpit. “So I just make a cut here?”

“Firestorm can't get his own sword out in that enclosed space. Free him.”

Flash brought the sword near his head and slashed with Noble’s sword at the cockpit, tearing apart metal framework and opening up a gash to peek inside. He repeated it five times, and on the sixth try, he stuck the blade in the dirt, panting. “That... takes effort,” he panted.

“You did enough,” Noble reassured him. “Now he can crawl out.”

Firestorm’s head wriggled out of the holes in the dented and collapsed cockpit, and his eyes looked up at Flash holding Noble Blade’s sword. He didn't say anything. To the contrary, he sighed, rolled his eyes, and wriggled out his arms. He used them to pull himself out of the cramped space, inch by inch, and when he was out, he shakily stood up and fell back against the helicopter.

“You don't like small spaces?” Flash guessed. “That’s gotta be bad.”

Firestorm snorted. “Duh.”

“You know, I noticed something,” Flash said, giving the sword back to Noble Blade, who sheathed it across his back, where his shield rested as well.

“What dija notice?” Firestorm asked.

Flash gestured at the mangled remains of the twisted helicopter he was leaning on. “For being an excellent pilot, that wasn't a very smooth landing.”

“Okay, you know what?” Firestorm snapped, though there was no malice behind the tone. “How about you pilot the helicopter next time?”

“Don’t go blaming this on me now.”

“I’ll blame it on Freedom Fighter instead. If he had just hit the jet right the first time, we wouldn't be in this mess!”

“Don't turn this into another Skyworld,” Noble admonished him.

Firestorm shut his mouth and looked at the ground.

“Come on, then,” Noble Blade said, and swirled his arm at the observatory like he had thrown an imaginary grenade at it. “Let’s go meet the greatest unicorn wizard in Equestrian history.”

And the three men strolled up to the back of the line of girls who had already begun walking up the hill.

Chapter Forty-four: Dissent and Wisdom

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The metro was almost always crowded with people who were going to and fro on a normal day. The train was crowded now, but it was not with people.

Aria Dazzle cautiously glanced around at the black-shelled, four-armed men that were slouching indolently on the metro seats. The train rumbled and screeched along as it always did, but it was now full to bursting with the grumbling Noxxa. Aria was in the back of the last train car, stuck in a train full to bursting of black-shelled warriors.

Aria elbowed Sonata, who was about to fall asleep next to her, and she jolted awake with a snort. “Huh? What? What? Where am-”

“It’s me,” Aria assured her. “Look, you’re okay, all right? You’re just on a train.” Aria looked around at the ten Noxxa in the train car with her. They were giving her leering stares every now and then, but they were mostly just focused on talking amongst themselves.

“Did the guy in charge say where we were going?” Sonata asked.

“No,” Aria said. All she knew was that they were going away from the portal to Equestria, in favor of going on some wild goose chase.

“I want to go home,” Sonata abruptly said, sitting a little flatter in her seat. “I don’t want to go and pretend like this. I don't like these guys at all.”

“I don't either,” Aria whispered. “But as long as they’re leading us away anyway, we might as well go along with them.”

Aria chose not to mention how afraid she was of them. Shortly after the Noxxa had assembled on the school grounds in front of the portal, Captain Slath had ordered the girls and several of his best soldiers to follow him. They had invaded the nearby subway station after a short bus ride, went inside and killed the attendants and customers, hijacked an incoming metro as it screeched to a halt, hacked away at them, and had set themselves to riding in the fast train, unobstructed by traffic. They were racing along, much faster than if they had taken a bus or a car.

She had done terrible things as being a siren, but she hadn't actually directly killed anybody before. And these Noxxa were doing it callously. Any creature that licked the blood off their weapons with delight was a species that Aria was uncomfortable around.

And she still didn't know why Adiago was going along with them so casually. She knew that Adiago had the best intentions for them, but did it have to involve the association with literal demons? All they had to do was ditch the demons at the portal and pass through without their help! But Adiago had to go ahead and continue going along with them just so they could get back at Twilight Sparkle!

Aria’s thoughts halted in their tracks. Did she really want to get revenge on Twilight all that much when the way back home was in reach? She still hated Twilight for very literally upstaging them, but when the way back home to their power was in front of her, suddenly, Twilight didn't matter.

A creak came out, accompanied by roaring wind, and Aria looked up to see Adiago coming into the train car from the one in front.

“Oh, there you are,” Aria said heavily. “Back from kissing up to the captain?”

“Not kissing,” Adiago clarified sweetly. “Just discussing. He isn't my type, believe it or not.”

“Four arms is a bit of a turn-off, isn't it?”

Adiago snorted. “Shut up.”

Aria shut up.

“We’re going to an observatory,” Adiago resumed, settling down on a seat. She stared both of them in the face. “Star Swirl the Bearded is there.”

“Star. Swirl. The Bearded,” Aria said slowly, unbelievingly. The name sang a bad tune in her memories.

“I remember him!” Sonata piped up. “He was the one that sent us here a thousand years ago! Right?”

“You’re right,” Adiago said, surprise evident in her complexion at Sonata remembering something important. “And get this. Twilight and her friends are going there as well. This is the perfect opportunity for us! Not only revenge on the pony who sent us out of Equestria, but also on the ponies that rely on him!”

“What do we care about Twilight?”

Adiago lifted her eyebrows so they disappeared into her bouncy orange hair. “What do we care about Twilight Sparkle?” she asked condescendingly. “Do you not remember what happened two years ago, when they broke our crystals with their silly ‘rainbow magic’ and rendered us powerless in this world?”

“I remember,” Aria said. “I just don't care.”

Adiago looked shocked. She put her face so close to Aria’s that either one could touch the other’s chin with their tongue.

“You. Don’t. Care.”

“No. Not really.”

“Aria, you little usurper. I don't care about you wanting to not care about Twilight. You will follow my directions.”

“I don’t care about that either.”

“I don't care about you not caring about me not caring about you not caring about Twilight!” Adiago retaliated.

“I’m confused,” Sonata whispered.

“I don't care!” Adiago snapped at her, whirling her head to Sonata. “Aria here has decided that her priorities matter above that of the group.”

“I just don’t see why we have to take revenge on Twilight when we can just go home and-”

“Aria!” Adiago said harshly, and Aria stopped her line of thought. “I’m sorry, but this is what is right. What are we going to do if Twilight is still around to thwart us?” She stood up straighter. “Look, I promise you, we don't have to stay with these guys longer than we have to. All right?”

Aria folded her arms sourly. “All right,” she grumbled.

“Good,” Adiago complimented her. “Now let’s get ready to face Twilight. We need everything we can manage without the power of the sirens on our side.”

“Don’t say that so loud!” Aria hushed. “There’s still Noxxa here in the car.”

Adiago looked around, noticed the Noxxa leering at them, and said, “Okay, fine. We’ll talk more about this after we get to the observatory. Just don't do anything stupid.”

And with that Adiago walked off.

Aria snorted. “Don’t do anything stupid,” she muttered disdainfully. “What if I’m the one doing something right and you’re the stupid one?”

The night was dark, the building in front of them intimidating. The large party, including the two dogs, had come at last to the entrance of the observatory. Inside the windows, no lights were on, and clutter was scattered both outside and inside.

“The door’s locked,” Fluttershy whispered, breath escaping her mouth in little bursts. Chains and padlocks were indeed wrapped around the double doors leading to the abandoned atrium.

“We don’t have a key,” the other Twilight said. “How do we get in?”

Firestorm raised his hand. “I’ve got a key.”

“You do?” Starlight asked him. “When did you get it?”

“I’ll tell you.” Firestorm reached over his back to one of the sword hilts and gripped it tightly. “I created the key on the spot.”

He slashed his arm downward, and the blade ripped out of his scabbard and cleaved through the locks like they were made of string. The padlocks and chains fell to the floor with a tremendous clinking sound. He swirled the sword up and over his back again, and the sword was already once more across his back.

“So your sword was the key?” Sunset Shimmer asked tiredly.

He shrugged. “Yeah.” He pulled the door open, sweeping the fallen chains to the side, and waited for everyone else to go in.

“I’ve never heard of a sword being a key before,” the other Rainbow Dash admitted, walking in. “Maybe in Daring Do books, where they have to fit the artifact into place, or something.”

“Ooh! Ooh! I have an idea! What if the sword was a gigantic key?” Pinkie asked in excitement, hopping inside.

“Come on!” Noble Blade said as the line of girls filed inside. “A gigantic key? That’s the most impractical weapon I've ever heard of!”

“I know, right?” Firestorm added as Sunset squeezed by him. “What would we call it, the Keyblade? Where would the blade even be? On the small jagged bit at the end? There’s no blade running up the sword at all!”

“I actually think it’s kind of cool,” Flash admitted, going in at the end of the line.

“Then go and forge your own big-donkey key out of gold and wield it yourself,” Firestorm told him as he passed by. Noble and Firestorm followed him. Freedom Fighter went in last and shut the door.

The atrium was as dark as the outside. An empty and shambled lobby desk welcomed them in, and they could see a passageway behind the desk leading deeper into the observatory. The girls were already going past the desk and heading in, so the Guardians of the Sun and Flash Sentry wasted no time in following after them.

As they went down the hall, doors to their left and right displayed darkened offices through dusty windows. The bronze letters on the brown wooden plaques outside the rooms were discolored with age to resemble a dark mix of gold and brown.

At the very end of the hall, it opened up to one of the largest rooms they had ever been in. The men came alongside the girls and joined in looking up at the object embedded there.

“Sweet Celestia,” Applejack murmured, inclining her head.

Protruding from the tall concave dome above them was the largest telescope any of them had ever seen. The diameter of the telescope was thicker than the greatest tree, dwarfing them all in comparison, but thinned out as it zigzagged to a small ledge one story up. That ledge had a metal staircase running up to it that ran along the circumference of the circular room.

On the ground floor, benches, tables, and stools were scattered at random, and all had piles of paper, pencils, and various working materials. The two dogs were already poking around at the feet of the tables, sniffing and gently nudging loose notes.

“Spike!” Twilight hissed.

Both dogs whipped around and stared at her.

“I mean, my Spike!” Twilight corrected. “Get back here and stop disturbing Star Swirl’s notes!”

“Twilight,” Spike said, “I actually assumed I would be the one telling you to stop poking around his notes.”

Twilight rubbed her arm while scanning the room sheepishly with her eyes. All of the notes of Star Swirl the Bearded were right there, within her reach. After a few seconds, Twilight broke apart and said, “Okay, fine, Spike. Go ahead. Just don’t tear any paper!” Then she darted to a nearby table, snagged a paper, and passed her eyes over the paper with miraculous speed.

The rest of the girls were already examining the things around them. Some of them were picking up objects and looking at the bottom with a keen eye, or looking over a paper filled with Xs and Ys in utter confusion.

“What would he be doing here?” the other Fluttershy wondered, tentatively touching a packet as if it was a bomb.

“He needed somewhere to stay, didn't he?” the other Rarity told her.

“I meant, um, what is he working on?” the other Fluttershy clarified. She tapped the papers with a fingertip again and flinched like she had poked a snake.

“Astronomy of some kind,” Sunset Shimmer said, lifting up a stack of paper. "Wouldn't put it past a guy called Star Swirl."

“You're right,” the other Twilight said to her. “Look at this. Star charts!”

Sunset and Firestorm came over to peek over the other Twilight’s head at the star charts. The celestial bodies were named and annotated extensively, to the point where every margin was filled.

“You.”

It was a frail voice, thin and tremulous, but it made everyone cease their talking and turn to a doorway leading out. It had opened silently, revealing the man who had spoken.

It was a grey-skinned man with drooping wrinkles around his eyes, which poked bright and shining out of a cloudy white beard that came to his breastbone. He wore a blue cloak with golden constellations, and a wide-brimmed hat dripping with bells that ended in a point high above his head.

The girls native to the dimension looked at him with curiosity, but the people from Equestria froze and stared at him in shock. The powerful unicorns of the group--Twilight, Starlight, Sunset, and Noble Blade--all looked like they had just seen a premonition.

“I know you,” the man said, sounding for all the world like a grandfather who hadn't seen his descendants for too long. “I saw you. So many years ago.”

He hobbled out of the shadows, and a clicking sound came on every other step. It was wood against stone. The old man was using a long staff to assist him in walking from one end of the room to the other. It was long, twisted, and knotted into a fork at the top, and between the two prongs was a blue crystal.

Starlight Glimmer gasped when the staff came into view.

“What is that?” Firestorm whispered, pointing at the staff as the man traversed the room.

“That’s one of the eight enchanted items of Mage Meadowbrook!” Starlight Glimmer informed him. “It’s what I insisted the Staff of Sameness was one of. That’s the greatest of the artifacts--the Staff of Sacanas!”

The old, wizened man kept on walking, evading the tables like a ship sailing through a rocky strait. He made his way to both Twilights and Sunset, and his eyes never left their faces.

“Sir?” Sunset asked quietly, uncomfortable at his approach.

Star Swirl said nothing. He only kept going on to where the three girls were.

“It’s Star Swirl the Bearded!” Twilight hissed in excitement. She could barely keep from bouncing on her toes. “I’m meeting the greatest unicorn to ever exist! I’m so excited! Oh, my gosh, I should have touched myself up-”

“I can’t handle this!” Sunset Shimmer hissed as well. “He’s the first to ever-” She stopped when she noticed Star Swirl just keeping eye contact with her. “Um, sir? We’ve got a problem we need your help for.”

Star Swirl finally stopped walking and leaned on his staff. He exuded a wise and venerable air about him that made everyone hush their voices and stand quietly in place.

“Sir?” Noble asked, reaching out hesitantly.

Star Swirl ignored him, but instead spoke to the group at large. “You’re all here,” he croaked. “Good. Very good.”

Twilight tried her hardest to contain a squeal, and stamped on the ground rapidly like a child.

“Mister Star Swirl?” Pinkie Pie asked with surprising solemnity. “We’ve got something to ask you.”

“Of course. Of course.” The venerable Star Swirl eased himself onto an uncovered stool. “Ask, child.”

Before Pinkie could say anything, Rarity spoke. “Star Swirl, we are ponies from Equestria who are seeking your guidance.”

“Many people have asked for guidance,” Star Swirl replied. “But not many have come to me.” He gripped the Staff of Sacanas tighter. “I was wondering when you would come. When I gave your human counterparts the magic from Camp Everfree, I was sure that you would inquire closer.”

“You really did give us our magical abilities?” the other Rainbow asked him.

“Who do you think organized the field trip to the camp?” Star Swirl asked the human world natives, pointing at himself. “I divined the location of the crystals that give you powers any mortal would snag for themselves. I admit; I was interested in you six when you were admitted to the earliest stages of education. Until you could be trusted to use that power responsibly, however, I was giving you portions of my magic, one jot or tittle at a time, as bit by bit you learned to control them.”

“But how can you use magic in this world?” Firestorm asked him. “Your horn was screwed off when you became a human.”

“It’s the staff,” Starlight said to him, eyeing the gnarled pole. “The Staff of Sacanas absorbs magic for non-magic users to wield for themselves. Star Swirl must have put all of his magic into the staff before leaving Equestria so he could have the same magical capacity here!”

Star Swirl gave a tired, weak smile at Starlight Glimmer. “Indeed, Last Hero. Your perception is astounding.”

The true name of Starlight Glimmer being spoken made her mouth shut in response.

“That’s his magic?” Firestorm asked, pointing at the staff. “I just thought it had a couple of AA batteries in it or something.”

“My magic is like a battery,” Star Swirl conceded weakly. “And I gave parts of my magic to the bearers of the Elements of Harmony on this world.”

“Why us?” the other Applejack asked him quietly.

“Who else could I pick?” he said hoarsely. “The people whose counterparts I knew would bear the Elements was all the reason I needed. I know there is something special about all of you--even if you don't bear the Elements.”

Sunset Shimmer rubbed her arm uncomfortably.

“Mister Star Swirl?” Twilight asked. “Well, not mister, exactly, but, um... Star Swirl?” She tucked a lock of ironed-straight hair behind her ear. “There’s a problem about the Elements right now, actually. There’s ten of them, but we don't know where the lost four are.”

“They were meant to be hidden,” Star Swirl croaked. “The job was done well.”

“But we need to find them now, sir,” Noble Blade said strongly. “An army is preparing to make a preemptive strike against Equestria. Some of their forces were already discreetly placed here as spies and followed us to this world.”

“Who would dare to invade Equestria, Knight Protector?” Star Swirl asked tiredly.

“The Noxxa,” Rainbow Dash finished tremulously. “And the only way to stop them is to get all ten Elements and blast this Solaris guy in the face!”

Star Swirl blinked and leaned forward. “Noxxa?” He twisted the staff and looked up contemplatively. “The name sounds familiar…”

“Scorpan came from the Noxxa lands telling us of it,” Rarity said. “And correct me if I’m wrong, but you and Scorpan became the best of friends the first time he came over to Equestria, did you not?”

Star Swirl put a hand to his mottled face and nodded while looking down.

“If you are the Seer, and Scorpan is the Prophet, and both of you say that the ten Elements must be found soon, then it should be obvious that we need to find the tools we need to save our people,” Starlight finished.

Star Swirl nodded yet again. His complexion was troubled. “I knew the day would come soon,” he moaned. “I didn't want it to, but it has come at last.”

He stood up and withdrew a shaking hand into his robe pocket. It emerged again with a tightly-furled, yellow scroll with a thin red ribbon clenched in his shaking hand.

He proffered it to Twilight. “This will lead you to the caverns of Maretania, where the first of the missing four are located. I made this map when I first divined where the accursed Elements were. I left other clues so as to prevent any one force from instantly getting their hooves all over them.”

As Twilight took the scroll, Star Swirl laid a small, tremulous hand on her shoulder. “You’re Celestia’s student.”

Twilight was rendered unable to speak for a moment.

“Only a student of Celestia would pluck up the determination to go to such lengths to save the world,” Star Swirl said wisely. “I see the many feats you have accomplished, and the foes you have defeated. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Tirek, the Tantabus, Chrysalis. I even see how you perfected a spell of my own to become an alicorn Princess. I see them all in you.” He pointed a trembling grey finger at Twilight’s forehead. “You truly are the Child of Light in this dark and dreary world.”

Twilight’s color switched faster than a traffic light, going from light purple to a color resembling a ripe tomato. She tried to say something coherent, but all that came out was gibberish. Her hand was shaking so hard the scroll in her hand almost dropped.

“I would ask a favor of you, my child,” Star Swirl said slowly, his hand trembling ever so slightly.

“Whaaa... whaaat is it?” Twilight asked, barely comprehensible at this point. She began to sway on the spot.

“When you return to Equestria,” Star Swirl instructed, “Do all in your power to record these experiences in the final days of our people.”

The last few words snapped Twilight back to reality. “The final days?”

Star Swirl slashed his hand horizontally, his expression now grave. “Our time has run out, Child of Light. Destruction... is sure. The ponies of our homeland, for all their talk of friendship, have become arrogant. Lifted up in the pride of their hearts. They are ripe for the flames to come, for the land wills it. Like fire across the planet, this war will spread and engulf anything in its path.” His eyes brightened until they shined like stars between dark clouds at night. “The Elements... are the only things that matter now.”

None of the girls said anything in their dumbfounded state.

“Go to Maretania,” Star Swirl intoned, as if he was an uncle telling his nephews and nieces what to do later in life. “Where I myself explored with little more than a candle. Descend into the catacombs. Find the Elements. This is what must be done for Equestria’s salvation.”

“We hear and obey, Star Swirl,” Noble Blade reverently, bowing at the waist and creaking as he did so.

“Oh, please,” Star Swirl annoyedly said, waving a hand. “Don’t do that whole routine. I’m not that old, you know.”

“You may be a thousand years old, but you don't look a day over eight hundred,” Pinkie admitted, putting her fists on her hips.

Star Swirl chuckled deeply, holding a hand at his side. Then he grew serious again. “And there is one more thing.” He indicated the staff. “This staff... has run its use.”

“What?” Starlight asked, coming in front of Star Swirl. “That’s the Staff of-”

“I know precisely what it is, Last Hero,” Star Swirl admonished her. “And it was used for the sole purpose of keeping me alive for the Ten Souls to meet with me. When you go, take the staff and give it to Scorpan the Prophet. He will make a steward of it before the time must come to unleash its fury against the armies of Tartarus.”

“But that would mean…” Twilight’s face contorted into an expression of shock. “You would die! The staff is the only thing keeping you alive! We don't want to lose you, Star Swirl!”

Star Swirl only nodded matter-of-factly. “I am ready for it, my child. I have been here too long. I am a relic of a bygone age. I wait for the embrace of death, but I do not love it.” Noticing the distress on her face, Star Swirl strode over to Twilight and stooped down so he was her height. “Twilight Sparkle, Child of Light. Do not pity the death of great men, for they have lived a good life, and go to rest for their effort. Pity instead those that have died without truly living. Love those that have suffered, and understand when their time has come to be released.”

Twilight trembled in place, but nodded obediently.

Star Swirl leaned on the Staff of Sacanas. “You were chosen to lead the charge against the ultimate evil. I know not the reason, but I know it is a wise one to choose you over me.” He smiled reassuringly. “My time is over. Your time... has only just begun.”

Captain Slath stared up the hill at the darkened half sphere. He could see the telescope jutting out at the top at a diagonal angle.

“They’re all in there,” he said, as if to himself. “Like fish in a barrel.”

Him and about fifty of his best warriors were near the helicopter crash halfway down the hill. After finding no bodies inside, the black-shelled abominations had turned their sickly yellow eyes up to the observatory above them.

“Encircle the building and infiltrate it quietly,” Captain Slath ordered with a wave of one of his arms. “Ten of you, with me. We will go through the front doors.”

Ten volunteers were quickly selected, and the rest of them sprinted up the hill and began to surround the large observatory, their figures becoming fainter as they ran further up.

Captain Slath then turned around to look at the Dazzlings with a condescending yellow eye. “And you three. Your powers could be used to thwart the Elements.”

Adiago nodded assuredly. “Absolutely, sir.”

Captain Slath made a guttural sound in his mouth for acknowledgment and turned away.

Adiago started to shake in place so hard she needed to cross her legs and clutch her arm. Aria and Sonata were making no effort to calm her down, but were instead looking nervous on their own. Adiago tried to take deep breaths, but the presence of the dark creature made it hard to inhale.

What on earth would she do now?

Chapter Forty-five: You Have Already Lost

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The whole group was all gathered around the center of a table, where the ancient yellow map was laid bare for all to see. Twelve inches across and down, it was not a conventional map in that towns were labelled. There was instead a small black-inked circle around the base of a mountain northwest of Canterlot. Twilight, when she saw it, recalled everything she knew about it from her history lessons.

Maretania was hugging the shore of the Celestial Sea, near an inland channel, and was the original city to openly trade with the griffons on the opposite end of the Celestial Sea.

It was a ruin now. Maretania had been abandoned for four hundred years, ever since Griffonstone had first shut off relations with Equestria. Griffons had comprised a major part of the economic power, and when they left, so did the merchants, and so did the citizens when taxes got too high, and within years it had became completely uninhabited.

People were pointing at the map and asking questions that the Ten Souls answered, depending on the question. Twilight was analyzing the location of Maretania and the best path from Ponyville to take when Twilight heard a small pinging noise.

Noble Blade perked his ears up as well and began to revolve in place. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Applejack asked.

“That pinging noise. I thought I heard…” After a bit of time, he shook his head and sat back down. “It might just be the building settling.”

Star Swirl the Bearded was sitting alone on a stool, quietly and happily observing the girls and the Guardians conversing softly. All except Freedom Fighter, who was standing apart from the rest of the group with his arms folded. Star Swirl noticed this and beckoned with his mottled hand. “Come, Unforgiven.”

Freedom Fighter looked sullen at being called Unforgiven and gave Star Swirl a sideways glance, then stared at the ground.

“Come to me, my boy. No need to fear me.”

Freedom Fighter made a dismissive sign with his fingers at being called boy, but he trudged over in front of Star Swirl, clenching his fists.

Star Swirl did not seem afraid of him, however; he only appeared to be warm and open in his sagging complexion. “You brave, brave man.”

Freedom Fighter noticed the warmth in his tone and nodded slowly without making any other motion.

Star Swirl looked him over, scanning him with a pale eye. “You are irritated,” Star Swirl noted softly. “And conflicted.”

Freedom Fighter folded his arms and nodded again.

Star Swirl opened one of his arms to the side. “I know of your struggles, Unforgiven. The voices you have, constantly at opposition with each other. The pain it takes to move onward.”

That open arm laid itself on Freedom Fighter’s shoulder, and he flinched away coldly.

“My son. Peace be unto you. Your suffering and afflictions shall be a small moment. And if you endure it well, you shall be exalted by the Goddess, and you shall triumph over all your foes.”

There was an underlying tone to his words that resonated in the air and made Freedom Fighter jerk in place involuntarily. It was as though another person was in the room speaking those words. It was uncomfortable for him to bear, but it was uncomfortable in the best way imaginable.

“But that day is not this day,” Star Swirl continued, and his voice grew deeper. “Our foes even now close in from every direction.”

Freedom Fighter reached for the staves at his hips and took them off the clips holding them there.

“Prepare,” Star Swirl confided with him. “When you return to Equestria, remember your power, and it shall come to you.”

Freedom Fighter nodded curtly and snapped both of his staves out, then conjoined them and twisted it to lock them in place.

“Um...Freedom?” the other Applejack said upon hearing the noise. “Whatcha doin’?”

“He’s sensing something!” Pinkie Pie claimed. “Wait a second! I’m getting a Combo!” She suddenly shivered in place like she was standing in a cold shower. Then her hair stood up on end like a tower of pink cotton candy. Finally, she mechanically swiped her foot up to land in Firestorm’s crotch. The unfortunate man howled and dropped to his knees, cradling his pained genitals tenderly.

“What does it mean?” the other Rarity gasped at Pinkie’s behavior.

“It means there’s danger nearby,” Pinkie clarified gravely. “I can't get any more specific than that.”

"You don't say!" Rainbow irritably exclaimed, patting her boyfriend on the back.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked Firestorm in concern, who was still cradling his balls. “That looked bad.”

“Och, man,” Firestorm whimpered. “Ai took a boot rrright in th’ Locky Charrrms.”

“Firestorm gets hit in the balls, example three hundred and eighty-seven,” Noble said while gesturing at him with an open hand and addressing Twilight.

“It’s been more than that, right?” Firestorm asked him, still on his knees and clutching his groin.

“I dunno. It’s at least in the triple digits so far.”

“Wait a sec,” Sunset interrupted. “This has happened before?”

“More often than you might think, yeah.” Firestorm went back onto two feet and drew his swords, revolving in place cautiously. “Testicular cancer's an occupational hazard of being a warrior.” His eyes flickered to Freedom Fighter and he hissed.

“Are the Noxxa here already?” Fluttershy whispered in fright, tiptoeing backward with tiny footsteps.

“How’d they get here so quickly?” Applejack wondered.

And now the noises were louder and louder, echoing all around them as footfalls sounded in other rooms in the observatory. It was still faint, but it was at least discernible enough to warrant concern, and it was encircling them like a rattling snake about to strike.

“I thought that…” Rainbow shook her head, sending her rainbow hair flying behind her. “How many Noxxa came through the portal again?”

“How should I know?” Firestorm asked in exasperation. He looked at Rainbow Dash for a contemplative second, then tapped her on the shoulder and offered her one of his swords.

Rainbow shrunk away at the sight of it.

Firestorm looked surprised initially, then he widened his eyes as he remembered what she had done in the house and her first kill there. His eyes flickered over to Flash Sentry, and he sighed and offered him one of his swords.

Flash, for his part, looked surprised. “You’re giving-”

“Yeah, yeah, I am. You’re the one asking if you can’t be useless anymore, yunnow. D’ya want it or not?” Firestorm demanded.

Flash, taken aback, took the wooden sword hilt without another question and held it in front of him with both hands.

“There’s a little switch on the front,” Firestorm instructed him, pointing a finger. “Flick it.”

Flash did, and with a snap-hiss he was now holding a sharpened bar of flickering flame in both hands. Flash reared back as it happened and almost dropped the sword.

“Yeah, it does that,” Twilight said, steadying him with a hand. “Just go along with it.”

Flash barely had time to rearrange his stance before the doors to the observatory burst open. The three Guardians and Flash all fell into corners of a diagonal box, closing all the girls within, as ten burly, black-shelled men barged in, holding short blades and wicked pikes in all four of their arms. At the rear, coming in last, was a four-armed man taller than the rest, naked except for a skin girded on his loins and holding a long, thin sword that glinted black in the white light of the observatory.

Star Swirl the Bearded affixed them with a steely glare. “Captain Slath. The underling of the Pale Rider. Depart now, ere the Seer’s power be unleashed upon you.”

Captain Slath, for his part, looked taken aback by his address. Then he shook his head again and smiled, displaying his long rows of fangs. “Let. Me. Guess. You’ve told the ponies about the Element’s locations, haven't you?”

“You made an oath by Faust that you would behead me before I told the Ten Souls anything about the Elements. It appears to me that the oath failed.”

“How did you-” Captain Slath stopped himself, and nodded understandably. “The Seer, of course. Ah, well. All the better for me that I now have dozens of people to interrogate.”

“Not if we have anything to say about it!” came the other Twilight, and the human girls all assembled in front of Freedom Fighter. All of them had their necklaces out and ready for display.

Star Swirl leveled the Staff of Sacanas at him. “You’ll never get your claws on the Elements!”

“That, I know. Marshal Malice wants the Elements to wield, not me. And with them, we’ll destroy Equestria and break our master loose from the hell your princesses imprisoned him in!”

Star Swirl raised the staff above his head like he was about to throw a javelin. “Then go to your master yourself, and tell him you’ve failed!”

And a lance of blue electricity launched out of the staff. The beam surged toward the Noxxa, deflected on the sweeping edge of Captain Slath’s Black Blade, and ricocheted into the ceiling high above them and exploded, showering steel upon them all.

Star Swirl, using the staff, enveloped the falling debris in white energy and, with a twisting face, shot them all at the captain. The Noxxa scattered as shards peppered the marble floor, and spread out all around the boxed-in captives.

“Make them suffer!” the captain bellowed, wheeling his sword like a windmill. The ten special troops gave guttural shouts and charged at them from every direction.

The staff glowed once again, and a white, domed shield materialized around the group. The charging forces stopped abruptly as soon as it was erected. One of the Noxxa prodded the shield with the tip of his spear, and it halted as it touched the dome as if it ran into a brick wall. It was absolutely impenetrable by sword or spear. The sound of gasping girls, however, came through the shield perfectly clear.

Slath, upon realizing this, raised his sword. “Now, Dazzlings! Our swords cannot pass through, but your voices shall! Unleash the power of the sirens against them!”

The natives of the human world gaped as three silhouetted beings came out of the hallway that led to the observatory. They were all recognizable in the worst kind of way.

“Why, hello... Twilight,” Adiago snarled, coming into the light with her two friends emerging behind her. All of them had evil grins, though Aria’s and Sonata’s were pulled.

“It’s you!” Twilight whispered in shock, taking a step backwards. She discreetly slipped the yellowed old map into her skirt pocket.

“You're working with them?” Sunset Shimmer asked in absolute shock. “How could you stoop so low?”

“We’ve all come back for one thing, Sunset Shimmer,” Adiago said softly. Then her tone hardened as her eyes seemed to brighten like the sheen of pinpricks. “Revenge.”

“OH MA GAAAAAAAASH!” Firestorm yelled out of nowhere, leaning away from the three Dazzlings. “Th-th-this isn't real! This isn't right!” He pointed directly at Adiago in disbelief and stared Rainbow Dash in the face. “Another girl with an orange color scheme?”

Adiago’s initially triumphant smile turned to a perplexed look of incredulity. "What?"

“Sunset! Did you notice this?!” Firestorm was saying.

“Well, yeah, I noticed,” Sunset numbly replied. “So?”

Aria tapped Adiago’s shoulder. “Um... are there supposed to be two Twilights?”

“Two-” she started, then spotted the two purple girls rippling behind the shimmering pale shield. Adiago scrunched her eyebrows and leaned back in shock. “Dah!”

Sonata peered over Adiago’s left shoulder and spotted the double copies of everyone else. “I’m seeing double. Do I need glasses?”

“No, Sonata,” Aria muttered. “I see two of everyone as well!” She squinted at the four men holding weapons. “Except for them.”

“Who are you?” Adiago demanded, pointing a finger at the man in ragged maroon armor.

“Nun of yer dern beznuess, that’s what!” Firestorm responded, contorting his mouth unnecessarily.

“Are you always like this?” she followed up in confusion.

“Oh my gosh!” Firestorm threw his hand up in exasperation. “Yes! I am always like this! Okay? Okay, glad we cleared that up!”

“Adiago?” Sonata asked, poking her on the shoulder. “What are we supposed to be doing again?”

“Unleashing the power of the sirens upon them,” Adiago muttered angrily to her. She outstretched a hand as if she was about to touch the white dome, and Aria and Sonata followed her action dubiously.

“Sing, my devils of music!” Captain Slath ordered triumphantly. “Turn them against each other!”

“Cover your ears!” Noble cried out. “No matter how tantalizingly they sing, you must resist them!”

And after a pregnant pause where all three of the Dazzlings looked conflicted but resolute, they burst into song.

The sound that came out of their mouths couldn't technically be qualified as music, unless elderly, hoarse cats on a heroin withdrawal meowing at each other qualified as music.

“Cover your ears!” Rarity ordered, pressing her palms to the side of her head. “It sounds horrible!”

“It actually sounds tantalizing to me!” Firestorm remarked, giving Noble Blade a sideways glance.

“Okay, look-” Noble started, before a particularly off-pitch note sounded from Sonata and he began to break into laughter.

Captain Slath gave all of the Dazzlings a cruel stare, and the girls fell silent and fearful. The Noxxa around him slowly redirected their spears to aim at the girl’s throats.

“Perhaps the sirens have had their voice of gold turned to lead,” he snarled, hefting his long thin blade in one hand.

Out of the doors all around the circumference of the observatory, forty more Noxxa stalked in with hooked spears and angled blades. Weapons long and short, thick and thin, angled and straight were all carried by them, oozing forward in a collective motion like the shadows of nightmares. The girls revolved in place to see them all come out of nowhere, and they all gathered together in fright.

“It was worth a shot,” Sonata whispered.

“Look! Captain! I can explain-” Adiago started.

Captain Slath cut her off with a swish of his hand. “I have no need of an explanation or apology,” he harshly spoke. All six of his eyes narrowed to thin slits. “You shall pay the price for misleading me.”

He lifted his sword above his head and swung at her neck.

Before his sword could strike true, a bolt of violet energy smashed into the wall in front of him, disrupting his cut and making him stumble back.

The other Twilight had a sparking ball of purple magic in her left palm, and a small hole had opened in the white shield enclosing all of them.

“Not. Them. They’re powerless girls that were tricked into following you! Don’t you lay a claw on them!”

And she pushed her way out of the shield and fired two more balls of condensed energy at the captain.

“What’s she doin’?” Applejack gasped, jolting forward involuntarily.

“Wait, are we attacking them?” Flash asked, gazing at the other Twilight running in between the Dazzlings and the captain.

“Uh... yeah,” Noble said after a moment. He rushed to the edge of the shield and was about to put his foot through when a soft voice stopped him.

“Noble…”

Noble Blade turned to Fluttershy, reserved and humble, with a wavering frown on her face and with her arms clasped in front of her, squishing her chest together, with a strand of hair trailing down her front and curving over her chest. To Noble Blade, it was paralyzing beauty. And he knew exactly what her concern was. The silent promise they made was all that needed to be said.

Then he turned around with mustered resolve, ignited his sword into a cross of blue energy, and ran through the bubble into battle alongside the other Twilight. “Storm! Flash! Stay and protect them! Freedom, with me!”

Yellow flashed in the air as the staff activated its enchantments, and Freedom Fighter sprinted through the bubble, charged at the nearest monster, and swiped through the shaft of his spear, then through the Noxxa’s head.

As Noble Blade and Freedom Fighter sped directly into the fray, the girls native to the human world all gave apprehensive looks at each other, doubtful of rushing to the siren’s aid. After only a moment, however, they all steeled their resolve, clutched the geodes around their necks, and a ball of bright light surrounded all of them.

When it dissipated, it revealed all of them in new, crystallized outfits, coated in auras of power. As the light finally died, all of the human girls, powered up and ready to fight, passed through the shield to come to their friend’s help.

The next few minutes were so chaotic that no particular part of the battle could be focused on. Fans of blue and yellow light swept through the air in long, powerful circles, cleaving through swords, arms, heads, and tables, gouging gashes into the floor on particularly savage strikes. Blasts of purple energy sought out their targets and exploded. Turquoise shields popped up around the human allies and rammed Noxxa back into the wall. Punches and kicks by an enhanced Applejack sent bodies flying back into table edges and instrument panels. A rainbow streak sped around the Noxxa everywhere, keeping the Noxxa on the perimeter from reaching the shield. And those few Noxxa that did manage to reach the shimmering shield were cut down instantly by Flash and Firestorm.

Noble Blade, after slashing through three Noxxa with one motion, stepped in front of the three stupified Dazzlings and swirled his sword to the side, staring Captain Slath in the eyes.

“Get out of my way,” Captain Slath lowly growled, sweeping a black fan in front of him with his sword.

Noble Blade only gripped the hilt of his sword tighter and crouched. His brown cape was swept to the side, and his feet were apart and bent.

Captain Slath roared, charged forward, lifted his sword above his head, and threw his black sword down on Noble’s blue one with the force of a meteorite strike. A bright flash of white erupted from the impact, bouncing both blades off each other.

Noble aimed his next cut at his legs, which the captain caught, and he drew Noble’s blade to vertical with ease. The captain then ended the contact between blades and swiped at Noble’s head hard. Noble ducked under the black fan and swiped his sword up at his face.

The captain leaned back from the vertical sword stroke, then kicked Noble hard in the chest. Noble staggered back a few steps, allowing for Captain Slath to make a run for the shimmering white shield.

“Stop him!” Noble cried as two heavily armed Noxxa cut him off and pushed him backwards. He slashed cleanly through their shafts and swept both of their heads off, but as they disintegrated, five more took their place, and Noble was driven back even more.

The rainbow streak running around the white dome collided with the captain abruptly, but it ended up with the other Rainbow Dash’s throat being held tightly in Captain Slath’s fist. She tried to pull vainly at the black claws peeling apart the skin on her throat, but his grip was inexorable.

“Filthy pest,” he growled, and he wheeled around and cast her aside with all his force. Her head hit the edge of a stool and she collapsed with the chair to the ground.

Firestorm was instantly at the inside edge of the white shield, staring the captain in the eyes with knit eyebrows. His flaming sword was at his side, flickering up the edge of the blade. “You shouldn't have done that.”

“I can do anything I want,” Captain Slath easily answered.

And he reared back and pierced the shield with the evil power of the Black Blade. Electricity surged around the broken shield’s wound as the blade wormed its way deeper inside.

Star Swirl increased the staff’s output of energy with an elderly groan, and the white shield reformed around the blade. Captain Slath squealed in rage and slashed the black sword up, and that part of the dome unzipped and split apart. The rest of the white shield dissipated as well in wisps of magic.

As soon as the shield was down, Firestorm delivered a savage strike to the captain’s face, which was blocked and swept aside. The Noxxa captain used the three unoccupied fists he had to slam three heavy blows to Firestorm’s face, beating three ripe bruises into him, before he lifted his leg up and kicked him solidly in the breastbone, knocking his back into the corner of a wooden table.

“All right,” Firestorm snarled after wiping his face. “You’re gonna die! You, sir, just signed a warrant-”

Captain Slath wordlessly uppercutted him with the pommel of his sword, and the action smashed his head onto the wooden desk. Firestorm slid off the desk and collapsed to the ground with his sword scattering on the floor next to him.

Flash Sentry ran at him next, screaming and raising the flaming sword above his head. Captain Slath allowed him to come closer, then he ducked under his wild swing, lifted his foot again, and shot it into Flash’s trachea. Flash coughed heavily as he stumbled back, grabbing at his throat and gasping.

Captain Slath casually strode forward to the stumbling man, grabbed him by his blue hair, bashed his forehead down on the edge of a thick wooden table, and threw him back on the ground to have the back of his skull hit the concrete.

“No!” Twilight cried in anguish, lunging for his inert body. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash managed to restrain her arms and pull her back.

That left only Star Swirl the Bearded as the last line of defense between the captain and the girls.

Star Swirl didn't bother with words this time.

The staff, now coated with glowing white magic, swung at the captain and collided with his head. As the captain went reeling, Star Swirl spun the staff around, pointed the end at him, and fired a blast of magic at him. The terrible Black Blade deflected the heavy bolt back at Star Swirl, who leaned his head to the side to avoid the streak.

Captain Slath slashed savagely at the magician, who leaned away and batted his sword aside callously. A pulse of white energy radiated out of the blue crystal at the top, skidding him back into the edge of a table.

Star Swirl then sent a dozen streams of pale magical beams out of the crystal nudged at the top of the staff. They latched onto his face and wrists and neck and pinned them to the wooden table. The filthy black demon writhed and wrenched against his restraints with an almighty roar, but they tightened all the closer against the black shell covering his face.

“Get him!” Noble bellowed from afar, surrounded by monsters thrusting at him. “Get him, Freedom! This is the chance!”

Freedom Fighter leaped away from the Noxxa forces jabbing at him from every angle and converted his staff into a bow with a flick of his arm. Speeding along the circumference of the observatory, he pulled back on the yellow string, aiming directly at Captain Slath’s head, and fired the arrow of pure energy at him.

Just before it struck him, Captain Slath broke his arm free from a restraint and whipped the sword arm up, and the yellow arrow deflected off the Black Blade.

And it was instead sent directly into the blue crystal of the Staff of Sacanas.

The crystal did not implode, but Star Swirl gave a gasp of abrupt pain and doubled over, and the white restraints holding Captain Slath down dissipated.

The Nox in question leaped up from his spot and charged at Star Swirl, sweeping his Black Blade in a wide fan that gouged the floor.

“Swirly!” Firestorm cried, picking himself off the floor.

Star Swirl tried to meet the following strikes, but Captain Slath moved at a respectable fraction of the speed of sound. After a few feints, he slashed his sword upward and delivered a hard overhead strike on the head of the staff, and the Black Blade shattered the blue crystal of the Staff of Sacanas.

The shockwave that followed blew away everyone and everything in a twenty-foot radius, except for Captain Slath. Star Swirl was thrown like a ragdoll as the frail wood of the stick shattered into splinters.

Captain Slath pounced upon him before he even hit the ground. As the frail wizard hit the marble floor and slid for only a few feet, Captain Slath raised the black sword above his head, gave a shout of victory, and plunged the Black Blade into his chest like a stick into water.

Every living being halted their movements--even the Noxxa. It was one of those moments where nothing seemed to move because nothing really made sense.

Some of the girls gasped. Some of them squealed. Twilight gave a defiant and terrified shout of denial. But nothing could now be done.

Star Swirl gave a final grimace at Captain Slath as the abomination of nature pushed the sword ever so deeper into his chest. Neither of them broke their eye contact.

“You…” Star Swirl gasped softly, raising a shaking and knobbled finger. “You... have already... lost.”

Captain Slath ripped the sword out of his chest, and with a single horizontal strike rid him of his head. It bounced away and rolled under a desk, his beard cut short near his chin.

“You honored the oath you made,” Captain Slath spat at the withered corpse, which slumped like a discarded garment. “And now... so have I.”

A scream of unbridled rage sounded like the herald of an army, and Captain Slath turned once more. Twilight, torn and scuffed and ripped, had launched herself at him with raised fists and a face of fury. She managed to land one punch on him before he latched onto her with his three remaining arms and held her in place.

“Star Swirl gave you a map,” he stated without preamble. He rummaged all over Twilight’s struggling body with probing fingers. Once he found her skirt pocket, he withdrew the ancient map and nodded. “Thank you.”

And he kneed her in the breastbone and hurled her to the ground in front if him. He slipped the map into a fold in his chitin and pressed directly on Twilight’s chest with a foot.

“Marshal Malice still needs you,” he whispered sinisterly, bending his knee to amplify pressure. “It makes no difference to him if you happened to lose a few limbs along the way, so stop your struggling, or I’ll make an example of the Unforgiven out of you.”

“All right, THAT’S IT!” Firestorm roared, picking up both of his swords and swishing them in front of his face. “You’re really going to die now! I’ll make a soup from your mother’s fat butt, and feed it to you through a needle!”

Captain Slath just turned around while stepping on Twilight and leveled his longsword at him. “You bother me,” he slowly said.

“Good to know!” Firestorm bellowed. “I’ll peel your butthole! I’ll shave your balls! I’ll squeeze every last drop from your d-”

Captain Slath already rushed at him and had struck downward upon his head. Firestorm blocked it with the crossed blades he held himself, then snipped the tips together like a pair of scissors, which Captain Slath leaned his head away from.

As Firestorm and Captain Slath fought with fury, and Noble Blade, Freedom Fighter, and the human natives returned to fighting the Noxxa all around the room, Twilight got up off the floor and crawled over to Star Swirl’s inert body. Everything seemed to slow to a crawl. The noises of the action, the sights of blue, yellow, orange, and purple light, the feel of the cold marble beneath her fingers--they all seemed to be dulled to her perception.

“Star... Swirl,” she gasped, grabbing a fold of his robes helplessly. She tried not to look at the black stump of his neck. “You didn't have to go this way! You deserved better! Just show yourself, show yourself, please! You're hiding and this is an illusion, this is all fake, it can't be real, it...it can’t be…”

And now the tears were coming, softly at first, then quickly turning into a steady dripping from her corneas onto her face. She gave a wheeze through her clenched teeth and clenched his body tightly. “You can't be gone, Star Swirl!” she whispered vehemently. “You’re the greatest of us all, you’re the best that’s ever lived, you can't just…” Her next words were drowned out by more sobbing, and she used the edge of his famous cloak to dry her eyes.

Celestia needed to be told.

And that fact made her shut her eyes even tighter and clench her thin fingers around his dark blue cloak even harder than before. As she ruffled his cloak, something hard scraped against her fingertips.

Twilight, annoyed at anything and everything now, snapped open her eyes to see what it was that was disrupting the soft silk of his cloak.

Resting on his frail chest, around a thin gold chain hooked limply around the base of his black-stumped neck, was a long golden key.

Take it.

The words weren't spoken aloud so much as they entered themselves into her head. Twilight didn’t know where they came from or what voice it had, but she knew that it would be better to act on it than neglect it.

Twilight shakily removed the gold chain from his severed neck stump and tucked the key into her skirt pocket. Kneeling in despair, she bowed her head over the corpse of the greatest wizard who ever lived.

Chapter Forty-six: The Captain's End

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The pierces and slashes came across Firestorm’s axis in almost random whirls of darkness. Firestorm had to keep both his swords in motion on both sides of him to avoid being sliced in half by the Black Blade.

Firestorm was only half-paying attention.

His mind was clouded with rage at the demon with the obsidian sword. Right now, what mattered was killing the threat. Firestorm allowed his fierce determination to carry energy into his wrists and arms, keeping them in perpetual motion to deflect the strikes of the demon.

Their fight had taken them up the steps to the metal balcony near the gargantuan brass telescope. The small eyepiece of the telescope, hanging over the railing, was swiftly lopped off by a missed slash of the Black Blade.

“You cannot destroy me!” the captain zealously roared at him. Black foam coalesced at his filthy black lips. “And you cannot escape!”

“Dude!” Firestorm yelled back at him. “You’re the one stuck up here with me. Below you, there are, like, two dozen-ish people who really really want to see you dead!”

Captain Slath spared a glance over the railing. Indeed, over three-quarters of his initial forces were hewn down into ashen piles. The girls--and the force of the figure in black wielding a yellow staff of power--were more of a force to be reckoned with than he imagined.

Firestorm slashed both of his fiery swords at the steel ground in front of him. “So you, sir, are staying here with me until I’m done with you!”

Captain Slath, giving him a sneer, slashed across the controls located on the wall with the Black Blade. Electricity spat from the control panel as the controls overloaded. “Not. For. Long!”

The top of the observatory, with a massive, overriding creak, split open like an egg, showering dust below and displaying the blue night sky in its splendor and beauty. The gargantuan telescope, hanging from steel cables and beams, began to extend outward through the crack in the top of the observatory.

Captain Slath, after feinting to the right, leaped to the railing and stepped off onto the top of the telescope. Scrambling over the bends in the telescope near the base, he alighted upon the main body and ran up the top like he was running on top of a fallen tree.

Firestorm followed without a second thought for his safety, and within moments was racing up to Captain Slath to continue their duel. With a furious slash from both directions, he resumed the fight.

Meanwhile, below the brass tube, the fight was slowing down. The girls all were formidable in warding off and immobilizing most of the Noxxa. Bodies were thrown, kicked, shoved aside, and hurled to the ground. Normally, the Noxxa would get up again after that, as the girls weren’t trying to kill. But, thanks to Freedom Fighter, most of the surviving Noxxa were dispatched quickly.

Twilight, however, was still kneeling in grief over the broken body of Star Swirl the Bearded. The Staff of Sacanas was in splinters and sprinkled around his body. The gold key had been removed from his neck, but that only made the body desecrated; the key, unimportant.

A gentle hand laid itself on Twilight’s shoulder, and the weight made her look up. Starlight Glimmer was there, solemnly gazing upon the body. A gentle tear was running down her cheek.

“What were his final words?” she asked.

Twilight clasped Star Swirl’s limp hand in her own. “You... have already lost,” she responded numbly.

“Captain Slath has the map,” Starlight said.

“We need to stop him from getting away,” Twilight said. A fresh wave of determination was coursing in her veins, washing away any kinds of pain or discomfort she had. “Where is he now?”

“Up there.” Starlight pointed up, and Twilight followed. Up near the emergence of the telescope through the roof, amidst a flurry of darkness and flame, Captain Slath was pressed backward by Firestorm.

“We need to help him!” Twilight exclaimed, getting to her feet.

“How?” Starlight asked desperately. “They’re all the way up there! How can we help?”

The noise of a coiling cable whizzed above the din, and Twilight turned her attention to Freedom Fighter, who had fired a cable out of his left arm into the underside of the telescope. Slapping a hidden button on his arm, he sailed upward.

“Freedom!” Twilight cried, lunging for where he had previously stood.

“He’s going after the captain!” Starlight realized, pulling on Twilight’s ripped and torn shirt. “He’s going to take care of it! We need to take care of the Noxxa down here!”

There were only ten Noxxa left now, and most of them were determined to fight with countless injuries before dying. A trail of color sped around the room, slamming into bodies and throwing them into debris, but for all of the other Rainbow Dash’s efforts, they only rose up once again.

“Why-won’t-you-just-die already!” she screeched, before kicking one in the chest so hard he flailed backwards and hit the corner of a table.

The other Applejack hurled one Nox over her shoulder onto the ground, and on impact he curled up and folded his arms across his torso. “Help me git rid o’ these varmints, Pinkie!”

While Pinkie Pie threw sprinkles from her palms to the downed Noxxa she saw, exploding into bursts of color on impact, the other Rainbow Dash craned her head up to see the swirls of flames and darkness enfolding the two duelists move up and out of the observatory roof.

“Firestorm!” Rainbow Dash cried, outstretching a hand imploringly. “Stormy, you big lunk! Get down from there!”

The other Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder at the cyan wings sprouting out of her back. Then she gazed back up at the telescope.

The navy blue night was a beautiful color, but it was bisected by the swirls of light and darkness that weaved around both combatants on the telescope. The telescope itself was so thick that both men could stand with their feet apart and not slide off; that said, balancing was still a precarious deal. The lawn beneath them was seventy feet down, barely discernible in the night.

Firestorm wheeled and jabbed, spun and deflected, thrust and slashed. Nothing could get past Captain Slath’s defenses. He was a fellow duelist, and could anticipate the attacks Firestorm could make.

So Firestorm decided to change that.

After feinting to the left, Firestorm caught an opportunity to hack at the response the captain involuntarily made to meet it. Reversing his sword’s direction, he slashed at his lower right arm.

Flame and steel shore through chitin and flesh, and away flung a sharp-clawed hand, clutching the spinning Black Blade tightly until it disintegrated and fell like a stone to the lawn below.

Firestorm gave a shout of triumph, and lunged with both of his flaming blades to impale the demon.

Instead, Captain Slath twisted to the side as the blades came near, and grabbed for both sword hilts with two of his remaining three hands, closing over Firestorm’s hands. Hard chitin crushed malleable flesh, and Firestorm, yelling in pain, released his swords.

Captain Slath caught both swords with the same two hands used to crush Firestorm’s, and clasped Firestorm around the neck with his third. Sneering contemptuously, he turned around and threw Firestorm to the end of the brass telescope. Firestorm laid to rest with his head hanging over the edge, swordless and exhausted to the end of his ability.

Firestorm lifted his head up weakly and tried to stand once more--only to find Captain Slath aiming one of his own swords at his chin. He held the other fiery blade horizontally, and with his one remaining hand, he dangled the furled scroll of ancient paper above the raging bar of flame.

Firestorm froze in place. It felt to Firestorm that if he made even the smallest movement, it would make the fragile paper drop to the flame, even though he wasn’t the one holding the map.

“Now,” Captain Slath panted with malice. He glanced at the map, precariously poised over the fire. “This is a rather perilous circumstance, wouldn’t you say?”

Firestorm looked up at him and answered with his idiosyncratic sarcasm. “You don’t say!”

Captain Slath narrowed all six eyes irascibly. “But I did say. I was the one asking you if you would say--never mind! Shut up!” He shook the paper above the flaming sword, and a small tongue of fire leaped off of the blade and almost set the map afire. “The only key to begin the path to the lost Elements is about to be swallowed!”

“So you’d better not burn it,” Firestorm advised him.

Captain Slath gave him a simpering sneer. “Why should I?”

“Because I said so,” Firestorm said. He gently raised his body up by pushing on his hands. “If you get rid of that map, we won’t be able to find the Elements of Harmony.”

“That’s what we’re trying to thwart!” Captain Slath almost bellowed.

“Not if you get them first,” Firestorm suggested.

“Not if we-” he started in incredulity. Then he leaned back in realization and widened his eyes. Then he began to chuckle uproariously. “Oh, you foolish child.”

Firestorm swore under his breath.

“How fortuitous it was that your tongue slipped,” Captain Slath said triumphantly. “You truly are right. If we possess the only weapons capable of destroying our master, then you have no chance to use them. Moreover, we shall have the power to shape the universe to our whims and desires. None shall stand in our way.”

“So what are you holding that above the flame for?” Firestorm asked, trying to swallow his fear.

“Because it is better that neither of us know where the lost Elements are than to have you alone know,” Captain Slath said. To prove the point, he jostled the sword so that the flame almost licked the bottom of the scroll.

Firestorm restrained the urge to lunge at the scroll to save it. He kept himself back by clenching his fists.

“Firestorm!” came a distant and indiscernible cry. Firestorm craned his head over the side, and seventy feet below, splotches of color were crowding together. White, pink, blue, yellow, orange and purple were all in a massive bunch on the observatory’s lawn.

“Look at that,” Captain Slath said mockingly. “Your friends are here to save you. They can do nothing from down there to alter the delicate balance between us.”

Firestorm knew he was right, but said nothing to confirm it. Anything he did or said right now could lead to either the salvation or destruction of the map. If he failed right now, the fate of the world was on his hands. And that was something he didn’t want to be attributed to his name.

“So why are you keeping me alive?” Firestorm demanded, looking away from the color splotches far below.

Captain Slath looked thoughtful in the wavering orange light of the fiery swords. “That’s a good question,” he conceded. He jabbed the sword so that the tip almost entered Firestorm’s skin. “Why am I?”

“Because you like me?” Firestorm asked. The heat of the sword near his face was so intense that he was forced to lower himself on his hands once more.

Captain Slath cocked his head, looking frightfully demonic in the fiery light. “Admittedly, that is part of it. You disarmed me; I have nothing but respect for a creature that can deal a drawback to me.”

“I dishanded you,” Firestorm corrected. “I cut off your hand, not your arm.”

Captain Slath glared at him. “Are you always like this?”

Firestorm nodded solemnly. “Even in death, I act like a buffoon. My bravery is proven even more, isn’t it?”

Captain Slath turned his hand and jabbed the sword into the telescope with a metal-torn shriek near Firestorm’s ear to shut him up.

“Your bravery means nothing in the presence of my power,” Captain Slath declared. “Your precious map shall burn.”

Something blue flashed in Firestorm’s peripheral vision.

Before the map could drop onto the flaming sword, the map, held in his free hand, disappeared in a flash, and Captain Slath staggered back under the force of a heavy blow. Spitting out a rancid oath, both he and Firestorm turned to the source.

The other Rainbow Dash, hovering in the air with her cyan wings, struck a defiant pose at Captain Slath. Holding up the map and shaking it, she stuck out her tongue and fluttered softly down.

Firestorm, with a surge of appreciation for the other Rainbow Dash, slowly returned his gaze to Captain Slath, whose face was livid with anger. “It appears the tables have turned, wouldn’t you say?” he asked with a jaunty grin.

Captain Slath narrowed his gaze once more. “You. Don’t. Say.” Ripping the point of Firestorm’s sword out of the spot next to his head, he swirled both swords in an X in front of him. “But you cannot possibly destroy me.”

Firestorm nodded. “You’re right. I can’t.” Firestorm pointed past the captain. “But he can!”

“What?”

“Twilight, catch me!” he exclaimed, and slid to the side and fell off the telescope. Captain Slath leaned to the edge and peered over the side to see a much smaller Firestorm settle gently to the earth below, coated in a violet aura of magic from a miniscule, straining purple girl beneath. The magic cut out, and the light below disappeared.

Captain Slath angrily smashed both swords in a cross on the telescope under his feet. Then, remembering the final words he spoke, turned around slowly.

Behind him on the telescope, silhouetted against the dark blue of the night sky, stood a tall black figure with his legs apart and his arms at his sides.

Captain Slath leveled one off the flaming swords at the dark figure. “Come no more against me and my master’s intents.”

Instead of getting out of the way, the dark figure sprang three blazing yellow claws out of his left fist. Holding them up to his face, the sunfire illuminated his black, bulky armor and his expressionless dark cowl.

Captain Slath swirled the stolen swords in the air, and a trail of flame followed each movement. “Then die, foolish warrior--from in front of me, and no further away!”

Before he was even done, the warrior actually sprang forward and sprinted at him with his left arm out to the side. Captain Slath quickly stepped to the side and thrust with both of the swords as he got near, and impaled the warrior straight through the chest with both flaming swords.

Or at least, that’s what he intended to do.

What ended up happening was the warrior shifting the claws back into his fist just before he struck the captain and curving around the thrust aimed for his abdomen. Both his hands latched onto the sword hilts as the blades missed him, and his hands were crushing the chitinous claws holding the hilts.

Captain Slath recognized it as an odd reversal of roles from earlier. He would not let it repeat itself.

So he lifted both arms above his head, forcing the warrior to lift his hands as well, and with his one remaining functional hand, he snaked out and caught the dark warrior around his throat. He began to squeeze as hard as he could.

Captain Slath grinned maliciously and stared into his eyes, flickering in the light of the fiery swords above their head.

He knew instantly that he should not have looked.

The warrior’s scarlet eyes held unbalanced, feral anger behind them. They didn’t even register the pain of asphyxiation. It was as if there wasn’t an actual creature underneath the mask at all. He was fierce, and powerful--and he was hungry.

And those eyes narrowed to slits in quiet rage.

The viselike grip around his chitinous claws tightened even more, somehow, and Captain Slath, wincing, turned his wince into a scream of pain. The warrior’s left hand seemed to be imbued with unnatural, inhuman strength, and it was crushing the captain’s right hand like it was crumpling paper. Finally, after he could take it no more, he dropped the sword in his right hand, which the warrior deftly caught with his released left hand, and he swept the sword laterally across his axis, shearing through the arm gripping his throat. Finally, he kicked the captain in the abdomen so hard he fell back and stumbled on his butt.

Captain Slath hurriedly got back up to his feet, wincing aloud in pain. Two of his hands were disabled, and another arm was shorn off at the elbow. His one remaining hand held one of Firestorm’s swords, and the warrior held the other in his right hand.

The warrior had his eyes closed tightly as he held the flaming sword out to the side. Opening his eyes, the red iris roared and twisted like a hellish inferno. There wasn’t even anger in the scarlet eyes illuminated in the devilish light of the sword. The emotion far transcended anger.

It was fury.

And he suddenly screamed--a high, piercing, cracking scream like the bellow of a crow--and launched like an arrow at the captain with his sword swinging down upon him.

Captain Slath could only put up his sword in desperation, but before he was even done moving, the slash came from another direction and opened a wound on his shoulder. Dust blew out of his wound and trailed behind him. The fiery sword reversed direction one more time, faster than the eye could see, and slammed into Captain Slath’s sword so hard it was almost knocked out of his hand.

The barrage of meteor strikes came on for fifteen more seconds, but to the captain, it was an eternity he had to bear. There were simply so many strikes from the sword that he couldn’t even meet them all. After contemptuously wearying him down, seemingly for fun, the sword in the warrior’s hand twisted his blade out to the side effortlessly, then wheeled downward and sliced cleanly through his one remaining hand. The flaming sword spun to earth, and Captain Slath screamed in shock.

The warrior wasn’t satisfied with that, however. Twisting in elaborate swings, he then slashed off two more arms at the shoulder with two swift, fiery strikes, then swiped upward across his face. The right three of his six eyes went dark, and burning pain raked all across his entire being. Helpless to stop the inevitable, Captain Slath saw, out of his left eyes, the tip of the demon’s sword lunge for him, and he felt the burning steel enter his abdomen.

The pain was incomprehensible. Captain Slath did not know it was possible to endure this much agony. He screamed and twisted his body on the sword, only enlarging the wound. Ash poured from the hole in his body and sizzled on the flaming sword. The heat was cauterizing his insides into some form of hardened rock, and it hurt so much to have your insides solidify into hard scabby stuff while it was still open.

The dark warrior keeping the sword inside of him was gripping his cheek now. He used that grip to pull the captain further down onto the sword. All this he did without breaking his eye contact, and it hurt to stare into the warrior’s eyes and see the fury contained within. Captain Slath did not know how he was still alive to endure more. All he knew was that he wanted it to end. What could possibly be worse than this?

The warrior then took the hand off his cheek, undid the clasps holding his cowl to his body armor, and with one hand pulled it off. It revealed the face of a young man, who was displaying a truly impressive array of scars across his complexion. His hair was thin, ragged, and parted to the sides and fell down his cheeks, like curtains on a stage. But what made Captain Slath gasp harder than ever before was the white elliptical birthmark.

Captain Slath had experienced pain before. He had experienced fear. But this feeling he had while gazing upon the deformed face of the sworn enemy of the Noxxa was entirely new to him.

It was terror.

“Y-you!” he gasped at the end of his life. He twisted his face in anguish and clutched the sword that had impaled him. “Unforgiven!”

The dark warrior grinned so hard, the corners of his lips reached his earlobes. Red showed between his teeth, discoloring them into a demonic appearance. He opened his mouth and spat coagulated blood onto the captain’s face.

“Y...y-” the captain pathetically started to say.

The dark warrior ripped the sword right out of his body, spun around, and kicked him in his abdomen, right on top of the wound. Captain Slath stumbled back, teetered on the edge of the telescope behind him, and fell.

Captain Slath didn’t even have time to contemplate the end of his life as he plummeted helplessly through the howling air. Not even three seconds later, he hit the ground, and his pain ended at last.

The girls all jumped back and screamed when the captain’s disintegrating body impacted on the lawn and shattered into dust. It shot across the dark green grass and tainted it a blackened color.

The other Rarity brought her hands away from her mouth. “Oh... oh, dear goodness.”

“Ashes to ashes and dust to dust,” the other Pinkie Pie recited deeply, her hands behind her back.

“Should... someone clean that up?” the other Rainbow Dash asked uncomfortably.

“Leave him,” Twilight grimly said, clutching herself around the waist. “It’ll decompose in time. We won’t waste time giving a pile of ashes a proper funeral.”

Fluttershy leaned back in surprise, unaccustomed to hearing that amount of nonchalant callousness from Twilight. But being the shy, nonverbal person she was, she said nothing about it and folded her arms under the curves of her breasts.

Footfalls from behind them all made them turn. Noble Blade was trudging out of the observatory with Flash Sentry’s body slung across his armored back and his dust-covered sword in his other hand. Following him were the three sirens, quiet and humbled.

“That’s the last of them taken care of,” he breathed to Twilight. He stooped down and settled Flash to the soft grass. “And the captain?”

Twilight glanced at the mound of scattered dust on the lawn for an answer.

“We have the map, then?” Noble asked.

“I got it,” the other Rainbow Dash proudly said, presenting the ancient scroll to Noble Blade. He took it gingerly and put it away at his waist.

“What’s the map for?” Sonata asked. It was the first time any of them had spoken since the beginning of the battle in the observatory.

“None o’ yer business!” the other Applejack said vehemently, stomping over to them. “Whad’ja do this time? Dija really side with those demons b’cause ya thought it’d be easier ta overpower us with ‘em on yer side?”

All three sirens spoke at the same time. Aria said “No,” Sonata said “Kinda…” and Adiago said, “We didn’t have much of a choice…”

“You didn’t have much of a choice?” Twilight asked in surprise. “What do you mean?”

Adiago shot Twilight a dark look before answering. “We were just getting back from the mall this afternoon when this four-armed black naked guy shows up and demands to know where you were. He was about to sink a sword into all of us, so it’s not as if we could have another way out.”

Both Twilights held a hand to their breastbone uncomfortably. They didn’t know which Twilight the Noxxa were searching for, but either one could be applicable. The pony Twilight, so as to achieve the Noxxa’s goals. The human Twilight, so as to have a path of revenge against the human girls.

“You know what you could’ve done?” the other Rainbow Dash asked angrily. “You could have decided from the beginning that you weren’t going to be sucking up to him!”

“What do you think I tried to point out?” Aria asked the other Rainbow with equal vehemence, whirling to Adiago. “I just wanted to go home to Equestria. You decided you wanted revenge against Twilight!”

“Twilight wasn’t even my first priority!” Adiago insisted. “I thought that by working with the Noxxa, we could get home and... get Twilight as a secondary objective.”

“What do you need revenge against me for?” Twilight softly asked, pressing forward. She passed over the unconscious Flash and leveled a finger at Adiago. “For protecting my friends? That was two years ago!”

“Our lives were ruined!” Adiago pointed out, stepping forward to be face to face with Twilight. “They were ruined before then, and they were even more ruined afterward!”

“And this is my fault?”

“You and Sunset Shimmer destroyed our voices and our futures! We were barely subsisting on the power we had before, and the instant an opportunity came up for us to rise to our former glory, you took everything out from the foundations!”

“You’re a siren! The reason you were even banished here in the first place is because you were destroying the peace in Equestria!”

“So you’re gonna start blaming me for who I am now, huh?”

Twilight stepped back. “No. But you could have been better than who you are.”

“You said it yourself, Twilight! I’m a siren, and getting people to break the bonds of friendship is just what I do. I can be no better than…” She stopped and rubbed her eye. “...than who I am now. Okay?”

Applejack came up to her human counterpart and folded her arms. “You can’t git rid o’ yer powers. We know that. But ya know what Ah think? Ah think ya could use yer powers fer the greater good.”

“How?” Adiago asked bleakly.

“Yeh’ve got th’ power ta manipulate loyalty and obedience. Yer good at stirrin’ up anger and disagreement.” She adopted a sly smile. “What if we could use that ‘gainst th’ Noxxa?”

“As in, we’re going to be on your front lines, fighting those bug people?” Aria asked in shock.

“Celestia would be more than happy to pardon you,” Twilight insisted.

Adiago shook her head. “So now I’m fighting alongside the race I once tried to destroy? I’m a tool in an army of ponies that I have no obligation to obey?”

“You’re a participant in an army,” Pinkie Pie corrected. Then she shrugged. “But yeah, a tool.”

“Now would be a good time to stop talking,” Fluttershy advised Pinkie with a hand on her shoulder.

“Give me a reason why I should support Equestria more than the Noxxa,” Adiago said plainly.

“Adiag-” Aria started to protest, but Adiago shut her up with a glare, and Aria shrank back.

And pushing away the people gathered on the lawn, a dark figure stomped angrily to the three sirens and stood there with his black fists clenched at his sides. In his right hand was the cowl he normally wore over his face. As he stood there, staring the sirens down with his fiery eyes sunken within his scars, the girls native to the human world gasped and whispered in shock at his face and his artificial deformities.

“Freedom Fighter?” Twilight asked in surprise, looking up at the edge of the telescope from atop the observatory. “How’d you come down from there?”

Freedom Fighter held up a fist, and the end of a long cable snaked back into his hidden mechanical arm.

“He rappelled,” Noble Blade explained to her. Then he let his attention turn to Freedom Fighter. “So... what are you going to do?”

Freedom Fighter made a few gestures by flicking his fingers.

“Yes, I’ll help you translate,” Noble promised.

Freedom Fighter then looked Adiago Dazzle in the face and, holding his furious gaze, began to flurry his hands and fingers in an elaborate series of twists and motions.

“He was once part of of a tribe that fought against the Noxxa,” Noble Blade began, his face betraying his own shock at Freedom Fighter’s story. He kept it in check, however, and continued to help translate as promised. “But the Noxxa eventually destroyed it by burning the village, herding everyone into a circle, and impaling everyone with their cruel spears and their flashing knives. He was the only one taken hostage.”

Adiago, Sonata, and Aria already looked uncomfortable.

Noble Blade continued to translate as the hands flurried. “He was chained in the basement of the Noxxa capital and was tortured for weeks. They flogged the skin off his back, tore deep wounds all over his body, and cut off his tongue and arm; the only thing they didn’t do was provide him the mercy of killing him.” Noble shot him a stare, but Freedom Fighter didn’t notice. Going back to translating, he spoke: “He was not the only one taken prisoner, however. He was able to hear the terrible, awful things the Noxxa did to the other ponies.

“The Noxxa took stallions, mares, and foals and fillies alike. The stallions... they slaughtered them as soon as they were taken prisoner. And they…” Noble stopped, then forced out, “...feed the stallion’s wives and children with his flesh, with almost no water.”

The sirens gasped, but they weren’t the only ones. Everyone else was shocked by the evil described by Freedom Fighter. Some stayed silent, while others gave audible whimpers.

Noble continued to translate, in despair. “The mares, no matter the age, all get the same treatment. The Noxxa... they…” Noble wiped an eye, and after a pause spoke again. “...rob them of that which is most precious to a mare. Their chastity... is wiped away.”

All of the girls felt like their throats had been blocked by their hearts. None of them said a word, as their minds dwelled on the horrible thought of a Nox taking away their virtue. It made them all sick, made their stomachs clench in pain, made their minds reel.

“And after they do this, they torture them until they die in the cruelest manner that they can think of, and eat their flesh, right down to the bone marrow.” He seemed to compose himself as Freedom Fighter added the final comment, and Noble spoke the final point with a hint of contempt. “And they do it for a token of bravery.”

Freedom Fighter never broke eye contact with Adiago Dazzle while he flickered his fingers about in the recant.

“A despicable race of parasitic demons like that,” Noble Blade said when Freedom Fighter picked up once more, “can never be allowed to continue to live on the earth. And if you dare to think that the peaceable, sympathetic ponies who inhabit Equestria are worse than the Noxxa, then it can be assumed that you are supporting the Noxxa instead.”

Freedom Fighter then whipped out a knife twelve inches long from his waist and pointed it between Adiago Dazzle’s eyes. Adiago didn’t even see the knife until an entire second had passed, then she belatedly shrank back from the quivering tip.

“And if you are with the Noxxa,” Noble finished, “He will kill you.” He punched Freedom Fighter in the shoulder. “Come on, Freedom! Stop with the threats!”

Freedom Fighter shook his head no violently, while still staring down Adiago Dazzle. But after a few seconds to make his point, he grudgingly obeyed and lowered the knife.

Adiago swallowed something and put her hands behind her back. “I’m sorry. I just... I... didn’t know that.”

“Have you changed your mind about us somehow?” Rarity asked her.

Adiago pursed her lips in thought. Then she pointed at Twilight. “I still don’t like you all that much.”

“I know,” Twilight said.

“But I also know now that however bad you may be, the Noxxa are even worse.” Adiago sighed heavily and extended her hand to Twilight. “The enemy of my enemy is my... friend.”

Twilight hesitated for half a second before shaking her hand. Adiago and Twilight didn’t break eye contact while they shook hands, and they let go after three seconds.

“This switch in motivation isn’t because Freedom Fighter threatened to kill you, is it?” Firestorm piped up.

Adiago looked at the ground. “Partly.”

“We’re good now, right? Miss... um…”

“Adiago,” she offered halfheartedly.

“Okay. Because, you know, I might forget your name in an hour or something.” He began to whisper her name under his breath repeatedly.

“So now that we have the map, can we go back to our dimension now?” Rainbow Dash asked, stuffing her hands inside the pockets of her leather jacket.

“Sure.” Twilight looked behind her at the ruins of the helicopter that still lay on the ground on the hill. “But our ride is down.”

“We could always take the train,” Pinkie reminded everyone.

Everyone looked at Pinkie.

“What? It’s how they got here.” She pointed at the Dazzlings.

“I’m pretty sure a train conductor wouldn’t take such a motley crew as us,” the other Rarity said to Pinkie.

“Actually,” Sonata said before any of the others, “we kinda just went along as the Noxxa conducted the train for us.”

Sunset turned to Twilight as she deduced what she meant. “They hijacked a train?”

Twilight knew it wasn't the first time. “Well,” Twilight sighed, “At least we now have a way to get back to the school before sunup.”

“You’re leaving already?” the other Pinkie asked in shock. Her hair seemed to droop inexplicably. “But we were going to have so much fun!”

“As much as I would like that,” Noble Blade said reluctantly, “we have to go. Our country needs us. And you remain in danger the longer we stay here.”

“But we will return when all of this is over,” Twilight promised Pinkie, then turned to face the whole group. “I don’t know what I would have done without all of you. You’ve all given so much for me and our goal that I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

“For our friend?” the other Rainbow Dash asked, slinging an arm around Twilight. “Anything.”

“We just love helping you out, Twilight. I know that you would have done the same for me.”

“Oh my gosh!” Adiago snapped in exasperation. “Can we have this discussion on the train?”

Everyone started to say something at the same time at that, but they all began to walk down the hill of the observatory anyway. Adiago did have a point, after all.

So, with the sirens listening to the girls all talking with each other about the friendship memories they had made over the years, and the four men having a group discussion about whether a cupcake or a pancake counted as actual cake, the entire group eventually disappeared off the hill and started for the metro station, leaving the destroyed remnants of the helicopter as the only sign they had been there.

Stationed inside the crushed, ruined helicopter, after every person had gone out of earshot, a crouching, black, four-armed creature took out a communication device.

“The mission failed. We’ll get ‘em next time.” The Noxxa spy then clicked the fangs in his mouth. “Ambush them at the portal! Don’t let the Equestrians get through!”

Chapter Forty-Seven: Return to Equestria

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The soft early light of the sun was peeking over the horizon in the east by the time all of them got back to the block in front of Canterlot High. The ten Equestrian ponies. The eight human natives. The three sirens. Twenty-one total people, plus the two dogs padding around their feet.

“So.” Noble Blade gazed upon the tall pedestal on the lawn. His complexion was resolute but regretful. “Now is the time, Twilight. We have done what was required of us.”

“Yeah…” Twilight nodded and clutched her elbow with her other hand.

“It was truly marvelous of you to meet with us and help us,” Rarity said, turning to her counterpart. “I don’t know how we could have defeated the Noxxa without your special powers!”

“Eh. We’re just awesome like that,” the other Rainbow Dash nonchalantly said.

“It was awesome!” Pinkie agreed, throwing her hands up joyously. “You gave us a party and you saved us all in that helicopter and in the observatory!”

“It was nothing, really,” the other Fluttershy muttered gently, sparing a few glances at Noble Blade and Fluttershy, who was nearby him. “We were happy to help.”

“We’re happy that you did,” Applejack said reassuringly.

“Oh my gosh!” Adiago groaned, stuffing her hands inside her pockets. “Can we go now?”

“Calm down, Adiago,” the other Twilight placated, with a hand on her back. “This is a farewell. We don’t know if Twilight is ever going to be coming back here.” Her face turned surprisingly morose.

Twilight nodded at her other self, then gazed at Sunset Shimmer. “She’s got a point. I took so long before, and that was when there wasn’t an invasion about to happen.” Her expression was morose beyond her ability to portray. “And now I have to... leave you once again, Sunset.”

Sunset, after a brief moment of thought, came to her side and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Who said anything about leaving you?”

Twilight widened her eyes and leaned back. “You... you mean…?”

Sunset Shimmer nodded, and there was visible strain to keep tears behind her ducts. “I’m coming with you, Twilight.”

The human natives all gasped in amazement.

“B-but darling,” the other Rarity began, “what about us?”

“Equestria needs me,” she said resolutely. She gave a shy smile at Twilight. “And I need you, Twilight. I don’t know where I would be now if you hadn’t come along and restored me, all those years ago.”

“What made you change your mind?” Twilight asked, happily but shrewdly.

Sunset’s eyes flickered over to Freedom Fighter, and a guilty flash of remembrance overcame her before she looked back at Twilight. “I realized that ponies over there will suffer at the hands of the Noxxa unless we act now.”

Noble Blade gave a nod of approval at her words and smiled broadly.

“Do you really have to go now?” the other Pinkie Pie moaned. “I don’t want to leave you, Sunset! You’re our friend!”

“I know, Pinkie,” Sunset acknowledged, coming over to her. “But we all have to do things we don’t want to. This is one of those things that we all have to do... for the greater good.” She gently cupped her chin. “I’ll come back, Pinkie. And when I do, you can throw the biggest, best party ever for me.”

The other Pinkie Pie smiled waveringly and threw her arms around Sunset, making her stumble. “Promise me,” she whispered. “Promise me right now, Sunset.”

“I will,” she swore gently. “No matter what.”

After the hug was prolonged for three or four more seconds, it broke off, and Sunset Shimmer took a deep breath, turned around to face the stone portal, and exhaled once more. “I’m ready,” she said at last.

As the Ten Souls, the sirens, and Sunset walked to the portal, the human counterparts they left behind suddenly erupted.

“Goodbye!” the other Rarity declared, waving a handkerchief in the air. “Goodbye, Sunset, until we meet again!”

“Come back soon!” the other Rainbow Dash yelled, her raspy voice standing apart from the crowding of voices.

“Ya’d better return soon, ya hear?” the other Applejack requested, her distinctive voice standing out from the crowd as well.

Just before they were about to enter the portal, Twilight froze. “Wait!”

Everyone halted, and Adiago groaned once more and leaned against the stone block. “Twilight, what now?”

“Hold on, Adiago,” Twilight hurriedly told her, turning around. “I need to do this one thing!”

Twilight ran across the lawn to the group of girls and stopped in front of Flash Sentry. When she did, she awkwardly lifted a foot behind her. “Well, Flash. Um... I just wanted to ask you something before I left again…”

“Ask away,” Flash allowed her, stuffing his thumbs into his belt loops.

“Um…” Twilight fiddled with the ends of her tattered and ripped skirt. “Just in case I don’t return again…”

Flash froze in place and began to shake imperceptibly. “Is there something you need to admit?”

Twilight looked him in the eyes. “Come with me.”

Flash took a step backward. “What?”

“No, Flash, look,” she started, grabbing his hand. “I would really like it... if you could come along with me to Equestria.”

“B-but Twilight,” he protested. “This is where I belong.”

“I know, Flash,” she admitted. “But only for... a few days. A week or two. Just enough for us to, um... know each other more.”

Flash Sentry eyed the other girls out of the corner of his peripheral vision. They all varied in expression, but they all looked shocked.

Flash rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, Twilight... I would love to spend some more time with you as well, but-”

“I don’t know when I’ll return,” Twilight told him, directly and emotionlessly. “I don’t know what the future will hold in Equestria. I was just hoping if... you and I... could face it together.”

“Together…” Flash whispered.

Twilight laid a hand on his chest. “Please.”

What Twilight could not tell was that Freedom Fighter was looking over at them and clenching his fists in bridled anger. Twilight couldn’t possibly know of Freedom Fighter’s passing crush that had returned, momentarily, at the sight of Twilight talking so intimately with Flash Sentry.

“Twilight,” Flash murmured. “I would do anything for you. You know that.” He cupped her chin and tilted it so that she was looking into his own eyes. “And if I need to go to Equestria to help you…” He took his time to prepare the next words in his mind. When he was certain of his answer, he spoke again. “Then I’ll do it. You need all the help you can get.”

Twilight threw her arms around him in relief. “Thank you, Flash,” she whispered, clenching at his shirt. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear that…”

Flash pried Twilight off of him and held her hand while displaying a smile, and there was a uniquely unifying feeling in his smile. It wasn’t confident or cocky; it was a warm, beautiful smile that made Twilight joyous to see. She had forgotten how he could do that, in between the times when she had visited the human world.

“Come on, Twilight,” he murmured, retaining that amazing smile. He began to make his way to the portal. “Let’s go turn into ponies.”

The comment made Twilight laugh, and Flash’s smile morphed into a smile of amusement.

Snap

The sound came out of nowhere, and Flash Sentry stiffened. Twilight pulled her hand out of his stiff hold and turned to see what was happening with him.

Some of the girls screamed and recoiled.

Flash Sentry stood still for a little more, then teetered forward and collapsed into Twilight’s arms with a groan. Protruding from his lower back was the shaft of a hideous black arrow.

Twilight’s mind shut down, just for a second. Her mouth hung open. That couldn’t happen. It couldn’t. Flash Sentry was definitely still alive, and he definitely wasn’t bleeding from the wound and soaking his shirt, and he definitely wasn’t gasping and heaving in Twilight’s arms. All of it Twilight tried to deny by the simple fact that it wasn’t possible.

And then a colossal guttural bellow of rage erupted from all around them, and from the bushes and behind trees sprouted dozens of four-armed black monsters, with black iron welded to their bodies and weapons in all of their appendages. Instead of slowly surrounding them, they all sprinted for their targets as fast as they could, slashing and hacking at thin air before they even got there.

“Everyone!” Noble Blade cried, shifting in front of Fluttershy and swiftly drawing his sword. “Run to the portal!”

Before they could close the distance to the edge of the pedestal, however, fifteen Noxxa barrelled out of the front doors of the school and surrounded the pedestal. Lifting heavy crossbows, the Noxxa facing them fired at them in a volley.

Arrows whizzed past everyone’s ears and shoulders and embedded into the ground fifteen meters past them. One arrow parted Pinkie Pie’s hair in half and sank into the soil behind her. Another ran along the surface of Noble Blade’s breastplate and deflected askew into the ground, and Noble, after pausing in shock, continued to run for the portal.

Firestorm had reached the portal first, drew both of his swords, and spun into the line surrounding the portal with a fiery blaze. However, after only cutting down five, the butt of a crossbow spun into his skull, slamming his head into the stone pedestal, and Firestorm slumped to the ground.

“Gather near me!” Noble ordered everyone with his commanding bellow. And every girl swiftly assembled behind him and the main cluster of Noxxa, who had assembled in one body as well and were staring Noble Blade down.

The sounds of Freedom Fighter firing blasts of yellow energy from his bow echoed around the lawn of the school. Explosions erupted from every bowshot.

Twilight began to drag Flash’s body to the portal in frenzied desperation. Blood streamed from his back and made a trail on the ground wherever he went.

Noble Blade, sword in one hand, turned to Twilight’s side, keeping Fluttershy near him, who was clinging to him like her life depended on it. “Twilight!” he panted. “Drop him near a tree! We’ll heal him after the battle is over!”

“No!” she refused, continuing to drag him along the lawn. The emerald grass was speckled by ruby-red blood. “I have to get him through!”

“Twilight!” Noble shouted, latching on to her arm. “Twilight, you will save his life by keeping him still! You take him through that portal now, and he’ll die!”

Twilight, on the verge of tears, stared at Noble Blade. Her face was dirty and smudged, a far cry from how she first came through. “I can’t just leave him!”

“Would you rather he die?” Noble demanded.

Twilight looked once more at the arrow in his back. It was planted firmly into his flesh like an enemy flag.

After she sniffled once more, she began to drag him to the Canterlot Wondercolt statue with an almighty groan. And Noble Blade turned his attention back to the group of human girls.

Near the pedestal, meanwhile, the three sirens were trying to sneak to the portal side of the pedestal.

“Now!” Aria hissed when the Noxxa on the portal side moved around to face the main action. “Come on, let’s go!”

“Wait!” Adiago stopped her with a grab of the arm. “What if-”

“Now’s the chance! Come on!” Aria insisted, her back to the main action.

Adiago’s eyes widened and she pointed behind Aria. “BEHIND YOU!”

Aria turned around in a split second, but that still wasn’t enough time to react. A smaller, more nimble Nox, with two long, thin swords, had appeared out of nowhere and leaped at her in a spiral.

Aria only had enough time to raise her arms as the blade came down upon her. The blade cut cleanly through her arm, into her shoulder, and halfway into her right lung. Her hand dropped to the ground. Aria screamed in agony, and the scream faded to a groan as she teetered over, blood flowing like a waterfall.

“NOOO!” Sonata bellowed, elbowing Adiago out of the way as the Nox left the sword in Aria’s body and jumped at Adiago with his other weapon. Instead of Adiago, however, his blade met Sonata. The spinning, whirling Nox slashed through Sonata’s throat like he was chopping a vegetable.

Adiago scooted out of the way as her two closest friends collapsed to the ground, spurting scarlet blood from their deep wounds and washing over their bright clothes in soaking torrents. “Aria!” Adiago screamed in agony, stretching out a hand. “SONATA!”

The Nox whirled around to jump at Adiago next, his remaining sword discolored to the hilt with deep red blood. Spreading his lips into an obscene grin and displaying his long white fangs, he lunged.

Pinkie Pie, who had appeared out of nowhere, launched at the Nox from the side, and both Pinkie and the Nox fell to the asphalt. Before the Nox could get up, Adiago had reached for the dropped sword, scrabbled for half a second before getting a hold on it, and reached over her head and impaled him through the back. The Nox turned into black dust in the space of five seconds.

“Pinkie!” Adiago choked, leaning on the sword. “Check on Aria and Son-”

Pinkie, however, was in tears before she finished. “Th-they’re d-d-dead, Adia!” she stuttered, shaking on her hands and knees.

Adiago couldn’t say anything to answer her. She could see that their chests weren’t rising anymore, and their entire upper bodies were soaked in bright scarlet blood. A sword was still stuck in the body of Aria.

“This can’t happen,” Adiago whispered, clutching herself around her midsection. Her hair fell around her face as she stared, dead to the world, at the soaked bodies of her friends. “This isn’t happening! This isn’t real!” She crawled slowly over and began to do CPR on the unmoving form of Aria, her hair bouncing up and down with each pump on her chest. “You’re okay, you’re okay, it’s all okay--”

“Adi!” Pinkie exclaimed all of a sudden, and Adiago turned in the direction Pinkie was pointing. She had only enough time to see the arrow fly, and only enough recognition left to feel it enter her breast.

There was pain, such a terrible pain, as the pinching pain spread throughout her entire body. The arrow had gone through the soft flesh of her breast and had pierced the ribcage underneath. Adiago, gasping in small shouts, laid back gently on the ground, and as the arrow jostled in her chest, more blinding pain shot throughout her body.

“NOOO!” Pinkie Pie yelled, crawling over to Adiago’s slumping body. Blood had splashed all over the front of Adiago’s shirt, getting Pinkie’s hands wet as she struggled with Adiago.

“Right in the tit!” came a horribly triumphant voice, and fifteen feet away, the Nox who held the crossbow quickly loaded another bolt. “This time, I’ll aim for yer head!”

But before he could, he blew into ashes in the middle of a yellow explosion, showering Pinkie and Adiago with black dust.

Freedom Fighter had spotted them. Sprinting for them with his bow at his side, he quickly kneeled and began to examine the wound in Adiago’s right breast.

Meanwhile, Noble Blade was at the center of a semicircle of black demons all trying to get past him and to the assembly of all the girls behind him. His blue sword flashed in elaborate twisting patterns in every direction, shearing off spearheads and sword tips, swiftly impaling and retracting every three seconds, lopping off heads whenever he could. His light blue skin was speckled from head to toe in black dust which stuck to his heavy sweat. The light trail from the sword weaved a shield of blue all around him which bisected anything caught in it.

“Get to the portal!” Noble shouted. “NOW!”

“But Pinkie Pie’s over there!” Starlight cried, pointing. Pinkie and Freedom Fighter were bent over the limp and failing body of Adiago Dazzle.

“Then pick her up and take her with you!” Noble insisted, raising his blazing blue sword to block an overhead axe stroke. He then pierced the Nox who had it in the face. “All that matters is to get out of here!”

“Oh, my gosh,” the other Rarity whispered, pointing shakingly at the bodies soaked in gore. “Are those the other Dazzlings?”

“What?” Noble exclaimed, craning his head past the attackers to the scarlet bodies. His stance loosened in shock. “No! No!”

“Come on!” the other Twilight screamed, igniting her hands in purple energy and raising them to her head. “I’ll help you buy them time, Noble Blade. Everyone else, go!”

“But-” Twilight started, glancing at Flash Sentry, who was on his stomach near the school sign.

“Go!” The other Twilight fired two streams of violet power into the horde of Noxxa clamoring to get past Noble Blade.

After another moment, the girls from Equestria all sprinted for the portal in a long line.

“Let me try something!” The other Rarity, behind Noble Blade with the rest of the human girls, ignited her palms, and a polyhedral shield of turquoise popped up on the sides of each girl running for the portal. At that precise moment, a volley of crossbow bolts from a line of marksmen hit the entire breadth of the line, but the blue shields merely chipped from the impacts.

“Thank Faust!” Noble cried out in relief, watching them go. “You just saved them, Rarity!”

The other Rarity squirmed in delight at the encouragement. “Ohoho, it’s nothing, darling!”

By then, the human versions of Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie had powered up as well, and had rushed into battle on both flanks of the line of girls. Between the pink explosions thrown from Pinkie Pie, the speed and force behind Rainbow Dash, and the brute force behind the roundhouses from Applejack, demon after demon fell to the ground and dared not to get up again.

“We’re almost there!” Starlight called out to Pinkie Pie. The distressed Pinkie raised her head at the noise, and Starlight motioned by circling her arm. “Come on, let’s break through these final guys around the portal, and then we can-”

A tremendous clang echoed from where the girls were, and the scream of Noble Blade rose and fell as he got thrown back into the back of a tree.

Fluttershy whipped around instantly, and her pink hair got stuck in her face. “Noble!”

The other Twilight turned around to look for Noble’s body. Noble Blade, at the base of a tree, was struggling to his feet by leaning on his sword, a heavy indentation in his chest armor. Noble Blade pointed at the other Twilight. “Eyes on the battle, Twilight! Now!”

Before the other Twilight could return attention to the Noxxa in front of her, the blue shields around the girls instantly dissipated.

“Come on, Rarity!” Rainbow Dash groaned, turning around to face the group of girls that had been behind Noble Blade. “What’s the de-”

And she stopped. Her mouth was hanging open in shock.

The other Rarity was frozen in place, trying not to collapse on top of the jagged blade erupting from her breastbone. The burly black Nox holding the blade behind her was gleefully narrowing his six eyes and grinning a sickening smile.

“Go,” she whispered. Blood soaked the front of her blue shirt.

“NO!” came the torn scream from Rainbow’s throat. Trying to lunge for her, she was restrained by Applejack and Starlight. Screams of anguish came from the throats of other girls, too many to count and too mixed to distinguish.

But the one scream most distinguished was Sunset Shimmer’s. She stood alone as the other girls passed by her, motionless and dead to the world.

The Nox behind the other Rarity jerked the blade out of her chest, and the other Rarity collapsed on her face. The Nox holding the tool of death licked the edge of the blade to taste her blood, then swirled it in his claws and came for the human Twilight.

The human Twilight had been stunned into inaction by the brutal murder of her friend. So when the Nox who had killed her came for her, she could only put up her hands to defend herself as the Nox backhanded her to the asphalt.

Sunset Shimmer, who was in the collection of girls running for the portal, stayed halted in place in horror.

The other Rainbow Dash let loose a scream of anger and sped around the assembly of enemies from every direction. A rainbow streaked out behind her, with groaning Noxxa lying down in her rage-induced wake. After just fifteen seconds of high-speed anger, however, a fallen Nox swiped at the back of her knee as she passed by, and the other Rainbow Dash stumbled with a yelp, holding the back of her leg tightly as she collapsed. Blood ran through the cracks in her fingers.

“Rainbow!” the other Applejack yelled in horror, dropping the Nox she was about to punt across the yard. “Ya okay?”

“Yeah!” the other Rainbow yelled in response, holding her leg tightly. Looking up from her bleeding leg, her face paled. A Nox with two maces in his four arms was walking her way briskly, like he was late for something important.

Sunset Shimmer looked like she was dead to the world as she just stood there, staring at the other Rainbow with unfeeling horror.

“Rainbow!” the other Twilight groaned, standing up from where she had been knocked over. “Get out of there!”

“Can’t do that right now!” the other Rainbow hissed, trying to back away on her butt.

“Here!” The other Twilight was about to stretch out her hand again, but the brutal Nox who had knocked her down smacked her in the face with the flat of his blade, and the other Twilight’s glasses shattered. She stumbled for a few steps, then fell down again and hit the back of her head on the asphalt. Her broken glasses clattered away.

The Nox with the two maces was now standing directly in front of the other Rainbow Dash, and his grin was obscene. The girl he was about to smash tried to stand up slowly, but he just put his foot on her chest and pushed, and she was kept there on her back as he raised both of his maces above his head.

And then he stiffened, and after a few twitches, disintegrated around the twin bars of flame protruding from his chest. The maces slammed to the ground.

Firestorm, bleeding from his skull and crouching, was baring his lips in a snarl at the pile of dust at his feet.

“Not. Her,” he breathed menacingly. “Never her!”

“He can’t hear you!” the other Pinkie Pie shouted to him, throwing sprinkles in a scatter. Explosions followed as they hit the ground.

“I know!” Firestorm angrily shouted back. He kneeled to her face level. “Can you walk?”

“No,” the other Rainbow Dash groaned sharply.

Firestorm cursed under his breath and looked around. The girls from Equestria were all still running for the now-unguarded portal. But the human girls were all under attack from the Noxxa, and the other Rarity was already dead, and the only thing keeping them all from dying was him and Noble Blade and Freedom Fighter, who was off to the side escorting Pinkie Pie to the portal.

Why? Why were the Noxxa attacking them? Weren’t the Equestrians what the Noxxa were after?

And it hit him like a bolt of lightning.

“Son of a whorse.” He stood up and flashed his swords at the girls near the portal, who were all staring at the desperate fight going on. “Go through! Now!”

“We can’t!” Twilight screamed at him, keeping her friends close together and with an indecisive look on her face. “They need our help!”

“They’re counting on that!” Firestorm began, then deflected a blow from a screaming axe-wielding Noxxa, then ran him through with his other sword. “They want you to stay and help so you can’t go through!”

“We can’t just leave them!” Twilight yelled, tears welling up in her eyes.

Starlight Glimmer laid a hand on her shoulder and gripped it like she was squeezing a fruit. “We have to.”

“No!” Twilight whirled to face a startled Starlight. “I can’t!”

“They’re giving their lives so we can go through!” Starlight insisted maniacally. “You stay, and they’ll die for nothing! Are you going to leave us so you can die here? We’re nothing without you, Twilight!”

“But if we stay and help, they don’t have to-” Twilight started.

“You’re wasting time!” Sunset Shimmer cried, pushing them all to the portal. She had appeared out of nowhere, and her demeanor had changed to a hopeless and destitute look as she ushered the two other girls to the portal, where all the other Elements of Harmony were. “Go, Twilight! Go!”

“Sunset-” Twilight started.

Sunset placed her hands on Twilight’s arm, and her eyes flashed white for just a second before they reverted back to normal. She shook her head, tears appearing at the corners of her eyes. “I know how you feel, Twilight! You feel so terrible!”

“What are you saying?” Twilight asked in shock over the noises of battle. Five Noxxa broke off from attacking the other Applejack and were racing for them with drawn weapons.

“I can buy you some time,” Sunset affirmed hurriedly, turning to the Noxxa. “Get through the portal, Twilight! I’ll be right behind you!”

“Come on! Let’s go!” Rarity screamed, near the pedestal with everyone else, clustered together in one large group.

Twilight’s face was creased in anguish and indecision. Tearing her head from the friends at the portal entrance to the Guardians of the Sun and the human girls holding off the Noxxa, she squeezed her eyes shut, leaking tears from the corners, and whispered, “Right behind me, Sunset! Promise me!”

And she ran for the portal with Starlight Glimmer in pursuit.

The girls began to push each other in a rush through the pedestal and disappear in a swirl of color as they traveled to that brief plane between dimensions. First was Fluttershy, and then Applejack, and then Rarity, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash went through and disappeared, and then finally Starlight Glimmer, holding Spike the dog very close to her chest. None of them went through without looking back at the action going on and the blood that had been shed.

Which left the Guardians of the Sun and the human girls fighting off the Noxxa as best they could, along with the mortally wounded Adiago, Twilight, and Sunset Shimmer.

The latter was standing with her arms defiantly held out, staring at the five Noxxa rushing for her with naked blades.

“I was once the enemy of Equestria,” Sunset Shimmer whispered. “But my past is not today. Let me become transformed, one last time, for the good of my friends!”

As her plea ended and the five Noxxa lunged for her heart, a blast of white fire emanated from her center, incinerating the lunging Noxxa and melting the iron weapons they held, as well as the asphalt beneath her feet. A pillar of flame shot up from her crystal necklace, enveloping her in blinding light, and the pillar of fire reached up for the dawning sky above for hundreds of feet.

When the pillar stopped, Sunset Shimmer was in glorious white armor that hugged her figure and shone like the noonday sun. In her hands were flickering balls of fire, and from her back sprouted clear orange phoenix wings.

“Whoah!” Firestorm stared at her for a few seconds; everyone in the courtyard, human and monster, was staring at the transformation. Firestorm, after a moment of admiration, pointed at her with one of his flaming swords. “You look like you came out of a music video!”

Sunset Shimmer stretched forth her palms. Out shot twin tongues of fire that melted through any Noxxa she pointed at. The streams of deadly fire gouged long scars into the asphalt behind their enemies.

Soon, every last enemy Nox was blasted into a heat-hardened mound of dust, and the only ones left on the battlefield were the victors.

Everyone panted hard for a while before anyone did anything.

The first one to do something was Noble Blade. Sheathing his sword, he wordlessly went over to the school sign and picked up Flash Sentry in both his arms, taking care not to jostle the arrow in his lower back.

“Oh, Twi... light…” Flash murmured, squirming in his arms. “You’re a lot stronger... than you look.”

“I’m not Twilight,” Noble supplied.

“Oh.” Flash drooped, stretching out the wound in his back, and he let out a groan of pain. “In that case... kill me now.”

The rest of the girls were whooping, cheering, and high-fiving each other. The other Fluttershy, spotting Noble Blade at the portal entrance, jogged over to him and skidded to a halt in between him and the portal.

“Fluttershy?” Noble asked.

The other Fluttershy tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I just wanted to say something, um, before you go. You were so... brave today.” She looked up at his face. “You led us to the map, and you protected us. I just wanted to say... thanks.”

Noble turned his head to look at the crumpled form of the other Rarity, and there was an alarming look of remorse in his eyes. “But if I had only stood up quicker and gotten back into battle... I could have saved Rarity.”

The other Fluttershy put a trembling hand on his armored shoulder. “No, Noble, y-you can’t go blaming yourself for R-Rarity’s... d-d-death!”

Flash Sentry groaned and twisted in Noble’s arms. Noble Blade quickly steadied him and kept the arrow steady in his back.

“I could have been faster, braver! I could-” He abruptly stopped as he remembered what he had been told before by Fluttershy. On their first date.

You’re good enough. That’s better than most other ponies.

And looking at the human version of Fluttershy, he saw in her eyes the same feeling, the same pleading, for him to stop thinking of ways to belittle himself.

“You know what?” he said, cupping a hand under her chin. “You’re right. I did my best, and things happened that I couldn’t anticipate.”

Fluttershy hugged him then, and though his armor was thick, he still felt her delicateness and her light touch. It reminded him uncomfortably of his Fluttershy, but he also didn’t feel uncomfortable while she hugged him.

“Can you, um... keep in touch?” she whispered, still hugging him.

Noble Blade felt squished, and he tried to stay as still as he could. “I’ll try,” he promised, without knowing how in the world he could communicate with a teenager through dimensions.

Twilight, passing by him, tapped him on the back. “It’s time to go.”

“I know,” Noble said reluctantly, turning to the portal. Firestorm and Freedom Fighter had come to either side of him; Firestorm with his twin swords out, and Freedom Fighter with Adiago Dazzle in his arms, bandaged across her breast. Noble gave both of them a look of determination before setting a resolute step forward.

“Now!” came a hoarse voice from far away, and Noble turned suddenly. “Second volley!”

Row after row of windows in the school slid upward, and out poked the tips of sinister iron crossbows. In one collective twang, they all fired at once.

Everyone ducked or lunged backward, but most of them were too late.

Noble Blade, laden down with armor, couldn’t move in time to protect the civilian in his arms. Flash Sentry spurted even more blood as his limp body jolted with each arrow hit. With arrows now in his leg, both lungs, collarbone, shoulder, and his eye, he fell out of Noble Blade’s astounded arms and landed hard on the grass. Noble’s armor deflected most of the arrow tips, but one found its way into his side, doubling him onto his knees.

In the one second that followed, Noble Blade, sent into shock, reeled backward. He had failed to preserve Flash’s life. What would Twilight say?

Screams and cries sounded like alarms from all around him, and Noble, with blinding pain, raised his head up and looked around. Twilight and Sunset were huddled together near the portal, staring in horror at the five other girls. The five other girls were all crying and clutching at the arrows stemming from their bodies.

Noble Blade’s mind was on complete shutdown. Normally in the heat of battle, his systems were on overdrive, but now, seeing the anguished girls clutching at their bodies around the arrows in them, he couldn’t think of anything he could do.

He saw the groaning Applejack with a long bolt sticking out of her collarbone, her bloodstained hat off at her side. He saw the already-expired Rarity get riddled with three more crossbow bolts all over her back. Pinkie was doubled over with an arrow shaft-deep in her abdomen, kneeling in a growing puddle of maroon liquid. And the other Twilight, her broken glasses only inches away, was bent at a strange angle to accommodate the shafts sticking out of her legs and chest and face; for over half a dozen were embedded in her, with one bloody arrow piercing straight through her head and into the ground behind it.

“No!” Firestorm cried in loss, and he tried to lunge for the now-lifeless form of Rainbow Dash far away, but only kneeled in despair instead. His swords clattered to the ground near the portal, and he croaked out a dry sob before the tears began. He hugged himself in the chest and clenched his teeth as the tears streamed down and into his lips. “Oh, Faust!... No! NO!”

Noble’s breath caught in his throat. He wildly turned to the side to see if Freedom Fighter was unharmed. Freedom Fighter had avoided the arrow barrage, but Adiago had fallen out of his grip and had landed face down, snapping the arrow in her body and tearing the hole in her chest wider. Freedom Fighter was desperately trying to revive her, but it was looking helpless.

And then he heard a whimper from in front of him, unnoticed until now. Noble looked down at his feet and he almost fainted.

Fluttershy, with three arrows shaft-deep in her leg and waist and lung, was crawling to his feet, trailing blood and shaking with tears of pain and fear. “Help,” she whispered, and coughed hard in her throat and dropped to her stomach.

Noble, instantly in motion, grabbed her under the shoulders and gently lifted her up to stand, but before she could stand up straighter, she cried out in pain and doubled up again.

“No,” he whispered, and his heart was in his throat. The world was collapsing around him, his vision was in flames, his chest burned in anguish and despair, his waist cut into his senses with excruciating pain. “No, Fluttershy! Come on!” He began to drag her, his mind finally on frenzied overdrive.

But before he could, he heard from her, “Don’t... bother…”

“No!” he refused, trying to lead her limp body, but she just lifted a hand to his cheek, stopping him in his tracks and making him look into her aquamarine eyes. They were wide and wet, but they were, strangely... calm.

“Noble…” she began, and smiled. “Are you... happy?”

“What?” he breathed, supporting her head with a trembling armored hand. “Fluttershy, don’t you dare start talking like this! You’ll get through this! I’ll take you through-”

“Will you be... happy?”

“Fluttershy!”

“With her?”

Noble gulped something down, and ignored the pain that was slicing through his waist. “I…” He pulled her tighter, closing his eyes, and dripped tears onto Fluttershy’s face. “I’m watching you die… I don’t... "

Fluttershy weakly put her hand behind his head and lifted herself up. “Be happy,” she whispered in pain. “And remember her.”

And she weakly pressed her lips to his cheek.

Noble Blade couldn’t move, couldn’t say, or do anything. His mind had reverted to that helpless feeling, that inevitable dread. Noble Blade held her head back as her head limply fell from his cheek and drooped on her body.

“No,” he whispered, shaking her gently. “No!” He pressed his head against her collar and trembled, his voice breaking apart with each cry. “No! No! No!” And then his tears overflowed and fell like rain. “NO!”

He couldn’t say how long he stayed here, holding the dead human Fluttershy in his arms, as the only noises that he registered were his own sobbing and the screams and mourning of the dead from Sunset, Twilight, and Firestorm. He felt split in half, his lungs burning up from the inside. The arrow in his side was lending recognition to the outside world, but for the most part, Noble Blade felt as though the outside world didn’t exist. All that he could register, apart from pain, was the tremendous loss he felt in his soul.

Noble Blade felt untethered to reality. It was a horrifying conclusion that he eventually made, but he knew that Fluttershy was dead in his arms and that the last thing she had done was kiss him on the cheek.

“That should be enough!” came the terrible, booming voice from the school windows, only several meters away. “They’ve wallowed in their misery long enough! Now send ‘em to the hell they sent our brothers to!”

More crossbow tips clattered against the windowsills as they prepared to fire again. It was that sound which finally drew Noble Blade out from his reverie and made him turn his head to the school.

And honestly, at this point, he really didn’t mind just staying there and letting the arrows take him away. He felt hollowed out, empty, dead to the senses he was given to perceive the world and anything of worth in it. Rarity was dead. Flash Sentry was dead. Rainbow Dash was dead, and Firestorm was still motionless and broken on the ground. But most of all, Fluttershy was dead.

What else could he do? He couldn’t move out of the way. He had already failed. The least he could do was look at the arrows that would fire, and then, peacefully, enter the next life.

The tremendous sound of twanging strings reverberated everywhere at once.

And then a bright light erupted in front of him, making him reel back and drop the dead Fluttershy. The source of light was a thunderous wall of flame that erupted between the oncoming arrow barrage and the five survivors. Every arrow impacted the flaming wall and instantly incinerated.

Sunset Shimmer, still with translucent phoenix wings, was holding the flame wall up with all the strength she could muster, with her eyes closed and her teeth clenched. “GO!” she roared.

“But-” Twilight sobbed, kneeling by her side.

Sunset pushed Twilight backward so forcefully Twilight fell on her butt near the translucent portal on the pedestal.

“No!” came the struggled noise from Firestorm, but he was silenced by a blow from Freedom Fighter, and the two men, one being dragged by the other, came to the portal. With a step from the leading man, both fell through and disappeared into the swirling depths.

Noble Blade slowly stood up, and the arrow lodged in his side made him give a shout of pain. He limped over to the portal without any kind of feeling in his arms or legs, and he spoke not a word in his indescribable grief. Grabbing Twilight by the shoulder, he leaned against the portal edge and looked behind him.

Twilight, streaming tears from her eyes, was reaching for Sunset Shimmer with an outstretched hand, and Sunset, holding up the wall of flame with one hand, was reaching for Twilight as well. A space of twelve inches separated them; an eternity neither of them could now breach.

Sunset Shimmer then flared with light brighter than the noonday sun, and a shriek emanated from the faint outline. Sunset still had her hand outstretched imploringly towards Twilight, but now her eyes were shut and her teeth were gritted.

Then Noble Blade stepped through the portal, feeling like he had passed through a curtain of warm water, and pulled Twilight with him just as a colossal explosion came from Sunset’s outline and turned the world white.

Twilight and Noble Blade both screamed as they swirled through the vision of colored lights.

He was being compressed this time, and his limbs bent backward and shrunk. His fingers were shrinking back into his hands, and his hands back into hooves. Every motion hurt him, and the arrow lodged in his side did not alleviate anything.

As they reached the apex of the portal, their screams reached a crescendo, and the lights against the insides of Noble Blade’s eyelids brightened to a blinding quality.

And then, nothing.

His stomach hit the ground, and Twilight fell to the side unceremoniously.

The lights and sounds were gone, and all that could be heard was the soft wind and the gasps of the girls that had made it through. Wherever they were, they were no longer in Twilight’s castle--or indoors at all, for that matter. The weak rays of light from dawn were appearing in the east, and they gave a faint light to his surroundings.

The mirror portal had been carried out of the castle, out of Ponyville, and had been deposited in a field several miles out from the town, which Noble could see the faint outline of if he took a glance to the south on his left. Clustered around the mirror portal were angular tents and canvas coverings. Barrels of weapons and spoked shields were outside the tents, and blackened campfires lay in pits in the earth. Everything in the camp was empty and grey and deserted.

“Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!” came a soft and sweet voice, so different from the dark camp of death that it made him jolt, and something soft and small rushed to his side and began to press ever so gently on his back. “Noble! Are you okay?”

Noble Blade looked up and behind him. Fluttershy, now the pony that she normally was, was examining the arrow wound in his side with a searching, worried gaze.

It took some time for Noble to realize that this particular Fluttershy had not died, and that the Fluttershy that had perished in his arms was the one native to the human world. When that happened, a peculiar feeling of relief overcame him, and the pain in his side did not hurt as much.

“You got shot! Oh, no! Is there something I can do?” Fluttershy asked above him.

Noble got up on all fours, turned weakly around, and collapsed into Fluttershy’s arms.

“What-” Fluttershy started in surprise, and then realized that Noble Blade was leaking fresh tears into her shoulder. She widened her eyes and held him around the back of his head. “N-Noble? Are you-”

“You’re alive,” Noble choked out. Noble Blade began to kiss her in the crook of her shoulder like he didn’t have much time left to live. “Oh, thank the Goddess!” he whispered between kisses. “You’re alive! You’re alive!” He clutched her tighter like she was being torn out of his grip as he spoke.

And then a feeling of regret overcame him as he realized that even though his Fluttershy had not perished, another version of her had. And he felt like a weight had dropped into his stomach from the relief he had felt, if only temporary. How could he be relieved, if another version of her had died instead of his own?

“What... are you talking about?” she asked as calmly as she could.

Noble Blade finally lifted his head up from her shoulder and looked her in her precious, sparklingly gemlike eyes. “You... died,” he choked, and he almost released more tears. “I held you in my arms... and you kissed me on the cheek…”

Fluttershy drew him in closer and hugged him all the tighter, breathing haphazardly and irregularly, which Noble could feel even through his armor. She was on the verge of spilling over as well.

Noble Blade looked past her shoulder. Firestorm and Rainbow Dash were enjoying a similar reunion, complete with tears and whispers of relief and joy.

And neither he nor his beloved moved for a long time.

Then there came a banging from behind him, and the rising cries of Twilight Sparkle came higher and higher.

“No! No! No! NO! NOOO!”

Applejack ran past Noble and Fluttershy, which made both of them break their embrace and turn to her.

Twilight was on her hind legs, in front of the horseshoe mirror, and was tapping on the hard surface of the mirror.

“Sunset! Sunset! Sunset, please! Come through! You can make it! Sun-” Twilight slumped on her rump and pressed her hoof against the mirror forlornly. “Sunset…” She heaved her chest up and down and began to whisper. “It still works,” she wheezed. “You can come through! I know it!”

“ ‘Twi,” Applejack said emotionlessly, putting an arm around her shoulder. “ ‘Twi, Ah think…”

“No!” Twilight exclaimed, shoving her arm off. “No, she can still get through! I know she can!” She began to pound once more on the dead portal. “Sunset! Suuunseeet! Come with me!”

“ ‘Twi!” Applejack roared, clutching her around the shoulders. Twilight heaved forward and lunged for the portal, but Applejack held her firm. “ ‘Twi! Agh! The portal’s closed!”

“It can’t be closed! It’s always open now!” Twilight lunged once more for the portal.

“What if it’s closed from the other... side?!” Applejack shouted desperately at the end of the sentence.

“It can’t be!” Twilight shouted back in desperation. “How could it be closed? The only way for the portal to be closed is if-” Twilight froze in Applejack’s strong arms.

“No,” she whispered once more, her eyes wide and feral. “No, it can’t be destroyed!” Twilight finally broke free from the grip of Applejack and rushed for the portal and collided against it. “SUNSET!” Twilight shouldered herself against the portal. “SUNSET!” She punched the portal in a futile effort, then again, and again, and a spidering crack appeared. Drawing her hoof back furiously, Twilight punched the portal one more time in an attempt to breach it.

The glass of the mirror shattered on impact and fell in shards to the dirt beneath.

Twilight’s face stretched up and down into an expression of utter disbelief and shock. She remained like that for some time. Then she began to cry as the dams behind her eyes broke, and slumped to the ground and put her hooves above her head in sorrow.

As Twilight wept, she rested her head against the largest shard of glass. Drawing her head up, she looked into the jagged mirror shard. It was only big enough for her one eye to appear, but Twilight fixed it with a stare hard enough that it could shatter even that. Her one purple eye blinked.

Two other sets of hooves rested upon Twilight’s shoulders, and Twilight twisted her head around. Freedom Fighter was there, delicately resting his right hoof upon her back, and to his left was Starlight Glimmer as well, both there for her in her time of trial.

“She’s d-d... she’s…” Twilight couldn’t finish the sentence and dissolved into more tears several moments after she struggled to finish.

The entire group simply stayed there for an indeterminable amount of time under the rising sun, as both reunions finished and mourning ascended to the skies above. Joy was mingled with grief. Love was tinged with sorrow. And as the ties of friendship strengthened amongst the ten of them, they came to the realization that many other ties of friendship had been severed by a cruel Black Blade--never to be reattached or healed.

The dawn had come, but it was cold, cold, cold.

Chapter Forty-eight: The Unbeliever

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The main square of Canterlot was a large cobblestone intersection, with small spots on the sidewalk selling jewelry and fancy delicacies. These smaller stands stood outside larger boutiques, shops, and company headquarters. These buildings were purple, gold, and white. Banners draped between buildings, over the streams of people moving through it. Canterlot Boulevard was a busy place no matter which day of the week it was.

On this particular day, though, a massive crowd of ponies were ignoring the ivory-colored shops and stands, and those ponies that were in the shops were coming out curiously. There was a small wooden stand that had been erected and set up, and atop this wooden stand was a speaker addressing the crowd in front of him. He had been up there for most of the morning, and as time went by, more and more notable ponies noticed and began to listen.

“Recently,” Prince Blueblood was announcing grandly, holding a hoof to his chest while looking down at the crowd, “a beastly creature invaded Canterlot and disrupted the Grand Galloping Gala. Dipping into his pools of dark magic, he brushed aside the pony who tried to drive him out like a sheepdog, and he remains even now in this city as a wolf among innocent sheep.” Blueblood paced to the side, making the ponies below keep rapt attention. “This Scorpan claims to know the fate of Equestria before it actually happens, as if our fate is unavoidable. My friends, this is not true. Nopony can know of things before they happen! I am a believer that we can change our own destiny!”

Muttering went on from the crowd below in acknowledgment, but one brave mare yelled out, “What about the Mare in the Moon? The legends said that Nightmare Moon would return a thousand years before it even happened! How did they know?”

Blueblood pointed at her. “Excellent question, ma’am! An excellent one indeed, but one easily answered.” Blueblood went back to the side again, and every eye followed him, eager to hear what reply Blueblood would make.

“The legends were true. That I admit freely; there is no denying that Nightmare Moon returned. But she did not shroud the world in eternal night. The night was easily dispelled when Celestia confronted her and forced her to turn back into Princess Luna. This means that the legends were partially true, but not entirely. The ponies who wrote the legends wrote them to keep citizens paranoid and afraid, and they just happened to get one part right.”

Mutterings of agreement followed the answer, interspersed with a few whispers of He’s right and He’s got a point.

“So with that said, the mystic power Scorpan claims to have is no more than the same elemental power we all have,” Blueblood picked up. “The magic of unicorns, the flight of pegasi, the strength and talent of earth ponies! All of us have power in ourselves, and we can be reliant on ourselves. The safest hooves are still our own. We possess for ourselves the ability to shape our destiny the way we want, because we are strong and mighty!”

As he raised a hoof in the air, cheers followed him. There were even a few whistles.

“Good,” came the small voice in his ear. The earpiece was still snug, and the Noxxa’s voice was as clear as ever. “Now speak more about the Prophet’s illegitimate claims.”

Blueblood waited until the cheering subsided. Then he raised his voice and said, “Now, with that said, what do we do about this false prophet who comes into our fair city and spreads the word of doom to us? What does he mean, when he says that we shall be overrun in under six months, when this is the most peaceful time in the history of the planet? Shall we prepare for a catastrophe that will never happen?”

Fierce agreement followed him, especially among the ones in blue suits and in long frilly dresses.

“This prophet came to Canterlot for one reason alone,” Blueblood emphatically said, stamping the ground with his hooves. “To weaken Equestria by dividing us in opinion! He is the one spreading falseness and deceit, dreaming up the existence of an imaginary army that will conquer this fair land and keep us in bondage! My friends, if an army comes, we’ll prepare for it and fight them off. But until then, he wishes only for the division of this people. Stand united, my friends! United against evil and tempting words!”

The cheering that followed was louder than ever.

Then there came several gasps and soft exclamations as a path opened up in the midst of ponies. A solitary figure strode through, hands behind his back. As he stopped in the center of ponies, disapproving eyes traveled all over his gnarled frame and moved away to create an empty circle in the crowd.

“And here comes Scorpan himself,” Blueblood announced, pointing a mocking hoof at the Prophet. “I said something he doesn't like, so here he is, attempting to prove I’m wrong.” He laughed uproariously.

Scorpan didn't even blink. When the prince finished laughing, Scorpan simply shook his head. “Prince of Stars. Your destiny spoke of greater things than this.”

“Prince of Stars?” Blueblood asked, lifting his eyebrows. “What nonsense are you spouting now, Prophet?”

“You could have been a beacon of leadership to the ponies of this fair land,” Scorpan spoke slowly.

“What do you know of my destiny, Prophet?” Blueblood asked casually.

“The answer is in the question. I am a prophet of the one true Goddess. You are a prince who defies expectations of virtue and obedience. Which of us has more right to declare the tidings of good?”

“You don't care about these ponies!” Blueblood declared, steering it away from getting on his own misdeeds. “You were the brother of Lord Tirek, who apparently befriended the ponies here over a thousand years ago, and then, when you delivered your monstrous brother to Celestia, you ignored the friendships you made and returned to your own barbaric land. Now if that’s not friendship, I don't know what is!”

The sarcasm had no effect on him. “Faust had a higher mission for me than staying with the friends I made. I followed her direction to return to my homeland, while I thought I was defying her by going away from Equestria.”

“Faust?” Blueblood asked in confusion. “Who’s Faust?”

“No!” the Nox hissed in his earpiece. “No, stop him!”

“Faust is the one true Goddess,” Scorpan intoned reverently. “The mother of heaven and earth, and the one who loved each of her children enough to provide us with life.”

“A Goddess?” Blueblood let out a hard laugh. “There’s no such thing as a Goddess, and you are not her prophet!”

“You say that to me as if you know for yourself that Faust does not exist. Did she show you that she does not exist?”

“Well, then, how do you know of this?”

“She delivered to me the news of the future, which is grim and dark.”

“You hear voices in your head, telling you things you want to hear? There’s a word for that, you know.”

“And there is also a word for those who defy an all-powerful Goddess,” Scorpan retaliated without a break in tone.

“If this...Goddess really existed,” Blueblood said in ire, “then why have we not heard of Her?”

“To protect you from the king of Tartarus, who seeks to destroy everything and everybody you love. It is him who is seeking even now to overthrow you.”

“So she denies showing herself among us to protect us from yet another imaginary being,” Blueblood replied sarcastically. “Your logic impedes all question!”

Everypony laughed.

“If this Faust is actually real,” Blueblood continued, feeling stronger with the assurance that everypony was on his side, “then prove to me that she is.”

“Her power and grace is present everywhere,” Scorpan responded. “It was her who gifted ponies with magic and friendship. She gave the unicorns magic, the pegasi flight, the earth ponies their strength.”

“You’ve proved nothing.”

“As have you. What room have you to say that there is no Goddess? You have nothing to your claim except for your words.” Scorpan’s yellow eyes began to glow softly. “But I have all things as a witness. I have the goodness in pony’s hearts, and the love they share. I have the words of many who came before me. I have Equus and everything that is in it. I have the motion of the stars and planets above us to prove that there is a higher being.”

Muttering was going on in the crowd again, but this time, they were confused and uncertain of who was right.

“Stop him!” the Nox hissed. “Stop him!”

“If this Faust is as powerful as you say she is,” Blueblood said callously, “then give me a sign of her so-called power.”

Scorpan gave him a deep and sunken glare and steepled his fingers. “Oh, you child of hell.".

“I thought you said I was a child of Faust,” Blueblood instantly snapped back.

Scorpan only continued to stare harshly at him, and he clenched both his fists together so hard the bones under his skin looked ready to pop out.

Blueblood smirked. “So. Are you going to show me a sign of her power?”

Scorpan, glaring malevolently at Blueblood, raised his hand, and everypony backed away hurriedly. They had all seen how Scorpan could do astounding feats by barely making any motion, so when he moved, everyone flinched involuntarily--even Blueblood, who had not forgotten the electricity that had struck him at the Gala.

“If I were to say to this mountain, Become flat earth, it will collapse and become flat earth,” Scorpan said, holding his hand aloft. “If I were to say to the Celestial Sea, Be dry land, it will become dry land. If I were to command the firmament above us to blot out the stars, then the sky will become ink, without a speck of light. Would that be enough for you, Prince of Stars? Or would you have me command the moon to melt, or have the very earth beneath you roll up like a scroll, or command the sun to shrink to the size of a grape?”

Blueblood, temporarily frozen, returned to his previous state. “How can you summon this power?”

“I have power of my own,” Scorpan freely said. “But the power of Faust can do anything if I ask it with pure intention.”

“Ah! So you can't do it right now, only in the right circumstance.” Blueblood smiled in reassurance. “I see what it is all about now.”

“You have had signs enough,” Scorpan said. “Will you tempt your Goddess?”

“If she can't prove her existence, then how is she real? Why should I believe in something unseen and indescribable?”

“Will you believe after you see?” Scorpan asked.

“Of course I will!” Blueblood lied.

Scorpan grimaced. “Then you won't get a sign. A pony like you will never believe in the power of Faust, always insisting the signs I give you come from my own hand.”

“But I’ll believe in Faust if she just makes me believe in her!” Blueblood insisted angrily.

“That’s not the point of believing!” Scorpan heavily said with intense irascibility. “With your belief comes the signs that it’s true. Believing in something already proven right is meaningless; you believe in proven truth, but it’s already been proven true, so you seem stupid for only believing in things proven true. Belief in something you have no witness of for yourself, however, will grant you proof. But when a pony like you demands a sign after slandering the Goddess and demeaning Her prophet, do not expect to get one.”

“Are you saying I'm not good enough for you?” Blueblood asked, pointing at himself and leaning forward.

“Your life is as a dried reed, prince. Ready to be blown and driven in the east wind. You ask for a sign, yet you disbelieve in the Goddess who has created you.”

“If there is a Faust, then I wouldn't deny her,” Blueblood said. “But I know that there isn’t, because there’s no proof of her. She doesn't exist, and never has, and never will.”

Scorpan threw his arm forward like he was lunging for Blueblood, and everyone recoiled, especially Blueblood. Scorpan hadn't moved an inch, but the air around him had changed in quality and density.

“Then this shall be your sign, Prince of Stars,” came another voice from his mouth, altered in pitch and power. Blueblood fell onto his flank and listened to the voice issuing forth. “Not two moons shall pass away before your life on this planet shall end by your own sword.”

Blueblood’s heart leapt into his throat.

“You shall perish without even knowing you will pass away, and everything you possess shall rot away and be destroyed. And when you face me at the gates of heaven, stripped of your power and wealth, and when I stare you down, that shall be your sign that I am real. When that happens, my son, do not insist I did not send my servant to tell you these things. I tell you these things to turn unto me. Repent, my beloved son, and humble yourself, or your own sword shall reap your life away.”

Scorpan stopped speaking, then leaned back and lowered his hand. His expression was as indeterminable as ever. “There is your sign...Prince of Stars.”

And he turned around and tramped heavily away. His hands were behind his back and his head was down. As he went ponies scrambled away and stared at him leaving without even looking to the side. Scorpan had no interest in the reactions of the nobility.

Blueblood panted, holding a hoof to his chest. When Scorpan had spoken, it had felt different somehow. It wasn't him who had spoken, but instead it was a much more powerful one. It was an influence that put pressure on his breastbone and made his stomach queasy.

Scorpan had obviously faked it, of course. He could have easily used magic to alter his vocal chords and push on his stomach. Scorpan was just doing it to prove he was right. Blueblood knew it--he knew it with all the certainty he had in his soul. Scorpan was faking it all.

But he had made the prophecy that Blueblood would perish in two months. So what would that mean in the large scheme of th-

Scorpan was going to kill him.

Blueblood had locked his room after the day was over, then he looked into the ceiling. “You can come out now.”

The Nox crawled out of the loose tile near the ceiling and scuttled down to the floor. He straightened his leg with a groan. “Oh, Prince! It’s so hard to be up there all day. When I was a pony I could have fit perfectly in there, but now…”

“Well, where would you rather be?” Blueblood irately asked.

“I just wish I was a pony again,” the Nox lied expertly, slumping down and staring at his barbed claws. “This Prophet ruined me!”

“You heard what he said in the market today?”

“Yes,” the Nox said, and this time, it was true. “He faked his prophecies again. You can never trust other creatures who aren’t ponies.”

“You’re definitely not a pony,” Blueblood reminded him.

“Oh.” The Nox slumped in feigned sadness. “I forgot.” He rubbed his sharp-tipped claws together and mumbled, “So... what do we do now?”

“We get rid of him!” Blueblood decided, smacking his hooves together swiftly. “We need to do it before he does it to us!”

“A great plan, my prince,” the Nox complimented him. “How will you do it?”

“Simple! We’ll…” Blueblood stopped abruptly, changing his demeanor from determined to stupefied. He put a hoof to his chin. “Oh, this is harder than I thought.”

“His power is great,” the Nox said. “I speak as a witness of it. With barely a swish of his hand, he will unleash mystical and unseen powers from whatever mudhole he was raised in. Darkness surrounds him like a fart. You could smell it if you got too close.”

“So we’ll rally the ponies against him,” Blueblood decided.

“To what extent?” the Nox pointed out. “Say you assemble the citizens together to drive him out like a pest. He will simply destroy them all, blast Canterlot off the face of the earth, and spread his false and foolish doctrine elsewhere. You would do more harm than good.”

Blueblood groaned and collapsed into his purple bed. “I’m lucky I have someone like you to help me,” Blueblood muttered. “How can I do this if even the princesses accept him as a true figure of authority?”

“There might not be a way,” the Nox said sadly. “Not to achieve your goals of snagging this Rarity of yours, or of getting at Noble Blade and Scorpan.”

Blueblood sat up. “No. I refuse to let that happen.”

“Then what’ll be your plan?”

“Keep convincing everypony that Scorpan has no authority to preach about friendship or destiny or Goddesses,” Blueblood responded, getting out of his suit and tossing it on the back of a chair.

The Nox lifted up an edge of the suit with an ebony claw and narrowed his eyes. “Do you wear this seven days of the week?”

“I have six more in the wardrobe,” Blueblood said negligently. “I have the servants wash them every week.”

K’ra suppressed a growl of hatred in his throat and resisted tearing into the tux. He had never had so much as a set of clothing, let alone a place to live before, and here the prince was, sucking the world dry and getting larger and larger, like a water balloon. He hated this. He absolutely hated it.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” the prince said to him, shuffling into bed and spreading his golden locks as his head hit the pillow.

K’ra swallowed his disgust. “See you tomorrow, prince.”

Blueblood nodded and turned off the light with a chime of his horn. Within five minutes, he was snoring.

K’ra, once he was sound asleep, pulled out the self-built communicator and began to whisper to High Command what had happened.

“What about their war strategies? Are they preparing for war?”

“A little,” K’ra dubiously reported. While Blueblood had been out among the citizens, K’ra had eavesdropped on the strategy room that Celestia and Luna were talking in. “Nopony in Canterlot is enthusiastic about either Scorpan or the prophecy. Morale is low in the capital. That didn't stop the princesses from mobilizing, though. Princess Celestia sent out letters calling for volunteers all across the land, and even more pegasi are attending Wonderbolt training camps than normal.”

“No major movements yet, though?”

“Only expeditionaries stationed in border cities like Fillydelphia or Manehattan. No major troops are moving across the land.”

“Does Celestia know yet that we have taken the capital of Saddle Arabia?”

“Word is slow to spread, considering... did you kill all of their mailponies trying to get word to Equestria?”

“Their bodies scatter the sands and water the desert with blood.”

“So... yes.”

“Yes.”

“Then no. Celestia didn’t mention Saddle Arabia at all. She doesn’t know of your triumph.”

The other voice on the line let out a deep laugh. “And here I was, thinking we were almost exposed. Saddle Arabia is ours, and it didn't even slow us down. Next is Griffonstone, which is far easier to take. They’re bankrupt and depraved. We’ll wipe the griffons out.”

“Celestia will hear about it, though.”

“By then it will already be too late. Celestia thinks we’re attacking far later than we really are. By the time Celestia hears about the destruction of Griffonstone, we’ll have already swept across the land bridge and invaded Manehattan. Celestia can’t deploy her forces fast enough to stop us.”

K’ra smiled in relief, displaying his rows and rows of long, thin fangs. “Let’s tear their filthy little heads off, then.”

“Remember your place, K’ra. Your duty is here.”

And the voice hung up.

Chapter Forty-nine: The First Day

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“Wait, wait, wait,” Applejack said after Twilight finished the recant of what happened at the portal. “I died?!”

“You and me and everyone else?” Pinkie Pie asked, coming off of Applejack’s question.

“Everypony,” Twilight said flatly, emotionlessly, not even lifting her head up from her hooves.

Fluttershy held Noble Blade’s face in her hooves. “But... we aren't. Right?”

Noble Blade promptly got hit with the memories of the massacre on the school grounds. He was holding the dying Fluttershy once again, and his fingers were stained with dark red blood over her arrow wounds. The gentle touch of her lips on his cheek came to him once more. Her drooping head falling back as the life inside her ended replayed in his head in a split second.

Noble Blade let out a short exclamation and held a hoof to his head as tears threatened to overflow from his closed eyes once again. The arrow wound in his side stung all the more profoundly.

“No! No, no, you don't!” Fluttershy hurriedly kissed him on the lips, over and over again, in an attempt to get his mind off the memory. When Noble Blade began to softly kiss her back, that was the sign for her that his mind was off the memory, and soon she pulled away.

“Hey,” Noble Blade protested. “I was enjoying that.”

Fluttershy gave a false show of thinking about it, then smiled, shrugged, and kissed him again.

Twilight had turned away from the other ponies and was using her tremulous magic to lift pieces of the mirror into place around the rim. “What if they aren't all dead?” she muttered madly as a dozen-odd pieces levitated around the rim. “I can get back through! There's no reason why not! All I have to do is…” She made a show of fiddling with the rim of the mirror.

“I, ah, don't think you can put-” Rarity started.

“NO!” Twilight bellowed, and Rarity shrank. “I have to try first!”

“Th’ mirror's broken,” Applejack said to her. “The magic connecting them together's broken as well. If ya somehow manage ta repair the mirror on this side, ya still won't be able ta repair the mirror in the human world.”

The brutal honesty in Applejack's words made Twilight cease holding up the mirror pieces. As they clattered to the ground, Twilight took a moment before slumping to the dirt beneath her and letting out a forlorn moan.

Starlight Glimmer, seeing the state she was in, took a step forward and raised her voice. “Girls! We're in the opportunity to salvage whatever we can from the campsite here. I want everypony…” She glanced at Noble Blade, Twilight, and the nervous Fluttershy trying to pacify both of them. “Except for those three to scout the camp and return with whatever you can find.”

The sun had risen at an acute angle across its normal axis until it reached ten o'clock, at which point the seven ponies, Spike riding on Applejack’s back, had all returned from scouting out the grey Noxxa camp. Bundles of supplies lay on their back and on their sides in bags.

“I didn’t see anypony in the camp,” Starlight Glimmer reported once everyone had come into earshot, settling the ragged bundle on her back to the ground. “I saw a couple of bloodied bones from a few captives they took, but they were buried in the dirt outside a tent.”

“What a blessed reassurance that is,” Rarity spoke drily. “It appeared deserted from my excursion as well.”

“Same here,” Rainbow Dash piped up. She had flown above the camp itself to get a birds-eye view.

“And here!” Pinkie interrupted.

“The entire camp must’ve been emptied into the portal to try and intercept us in that dimension,” Applejack hypothesized. She took a glance toward Ponyville and narrowed her eyes. “Twilight, ma guess is they took the portal outta yer castle and settled it in this here camp outta the outskirts o’ Ponyville. Ah can see the Carousel Boutique from here, if Ah squint hard enough.”

“Were there really big, giant bugs just living here all this time?!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed in shock. “That’s really... well, it’s disturbing! They just came across the sea from the other continent, snuck into Equestria, and just planted themselves like a tree!” Pinkie held up a hoof. ¨But not an apple tree. An oak tree. There’s a difference in the way they’re planted.”

“There is?” Firestorm asked.

“Of course there’s a difference!”

“There really ain’t, Pinkie,” Applejack affirmed softly.

“If they really snuck here from across the sea, why didn’t they strike at Ponyville earlier?” Starlight asked.

Nopony spoke for a moment. Then Firestorm slowly spoke. “Maybe... they were waiting for orders.”

“Orders?” Twilight hollowly asked, looking up from tending to Noble Blade’s wound. Her pupils were still small and her eyes were red. “From who?”

“Marshal Malice. Maybe he’ll order little camps like these to pop up and assault places in surprise attacks.”

“Hold on,” Spike said quickly, waving his small hands. “Back up!” He slid off Applejack’s back. “You’re telling me that there are places like this one all over Equestria?”

“I will not discount the option,” Noble Blade advised him with a grunt at the end. “I... believe that this was all according to plan.”

“If he gave out orders for this camp to move out,” Rarity mused slowly, “then does that mean…”

“HE’S COMING?!” Pinkie interrupted. “HE’S COMING TO EQUESTRIA NOW AND EVERYPONY IS GOING TO DIE!”

“I don’t think so, Pinkie! Let’s assume there are little Noxxa camps all over Equestria. But he only ordered this one to do something--just because we were going through the mirror portal and Malice wanted to intercept us while we were away. He wouldn’t order every camp in Equestria to pop up for us! He wants to stay hidden for just a little while longer.”

Starlight’s line of reasoning had no protests.

“So... what did everyone manage to salvage?” Twilight asked, her voice still hoarse.

Everyone unloaded what they had managed to collect into a large mound.

Large sheets and poles comprised the bundles. Wrapped in the collapsed tents were things like tools--hammers, saws, hooks, and screws--and practical items such as packs, water skins, cooking supplies, raw rations, leather apparel, and-

“A knife?” Pinkie asked, drawing a foot-and-a-half long sword from the pile. She balanced it on her nose precariously.

“What do we need this for?” Fluttershy piped up, pointing at the pile of weapons that had been assembled as well. Pikes with long, curved spearheads welded to the shaft and three swords with hooks near the tip were among the assembly.

“You’re not suggesting we be defenseless?” Rainbow Dash asked Fluttershy. She picked up a pike and held the shaft between her teeth. “Ee habe to be pwebared bor anyfing.”

“I agree with Rainbow,” Twilight spoke up hollowly. “Each of us needs to have a weapon.”

“I just wish the tools we operate with aren’t so…” Rarity picked up a cruel knife with her magic and observed the dirt in the cracks and the black metal it had been made with. “...obscenely crafted.”

“Don’t worry about it, Rarity.”

“But Twilight! It looks so horrendous!”

“We have to be armed on the road. There might be a time when those three-” Starlight pointed at the three Guardians of the Sun in turn. “-won’t be there to protect us. Our chances for survival will increase if we all have some kind of weapon.”

“Hold on,” Rarity said. “I may have heard you wrong. You said, ‘On the road.’ Am I to infer that we’ll be traveling all the way to the city of Maretania on hoof?”

“What, d’ya think we’ll be takin’ the train?” Applejack asked.

Rarity took a moment before straightening her mane. “Yes.”

“No.”

“Why ever not?” Rarity asked.

“Then our position will be known, and we’ll be attacked again. Not only that, Maretania’s abandoned now. There isn’t a train line running there anymore.” Starlight raised her voice. “Everypony, take a weapon and keep it near you at all times. Assemble a pack and prepare to head out.”

As everypony began to pack up their supplies, Rarity made a few more struggling, protesting noises. As it became clear that nopony was going to listen to her, she let out an exhale through her snout and dragged a strip of leather out of the way. “No lady should have to put herself through this,” she muttered as she began to pack up. “I hate epic adventures.”

As everyone else began to pack everything up, Starlight trotted over to where Twilight was tending the wounded.

“Thanks,” Twilight croaked, still bending over the wound in Noble Blade’s armor. “For-for taking charge.”

Starlight sat down next to her and began to rub her back. “You’re broken,” Starlight hesitantly said.

“Thanks,” Twilight drily repeated.

“No, look-” Starlight started, then broke off and took her hoof off her shoulder. “It’s gotta be hard, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Twilight croaked.

“Losing the friends you reformed?” Starlight continued. “Like the Dazzlings, and Sunset Shimmer, and even Flash Sentry...it’s gotta be tough, isn’t it?”

Twilight didn’t say anything, but Noble Blade slashed his hoof across his throat quickly, and Starlight, taking the hint, shut up.

After another couple of moments, Starlight sighed and stood back up. “I’ll be ready if you need anything.”

And she trotted off.

When she was gone, Twilight finished up the spell and patted the exposed flesh in Noble’s side. “Okay. Let’s stand up now.”

Noble Blade stood up with his front legs first, and his hind legs came up slowly. Fluttershy was helping him the entire time by supporting him under his chest.

“Let’s walk.”

Noble Blade took a step, then another, and then gave a little gasp and almost collapsed, but Fluttershy supported him, and he stood upright once more. He slowly circled his hind legs, one at a time, and winced as it made the mended wound jostle. “It hurts.”

“It should,” Twilight expressionlessly said. “Your flesh is mending itself under the surface. Give yourself a few days.”

“What if I have to get back into battle before then?”

“Then you’ll have to let us protect ourselves,” Twilight said. Her flat tone was evident from the pallid color in her face and the bags under her eyes.

“I’m the Knight Protector,” Noble protested, taking a hard step, but it made his back leg fall out from under him, and he weakly put more weight on it until he could stand once more. “I can’t just-”

“And Fluttershy’s the Dreadful Bear,” Twilight harshly said. “But she’s not, is she?”

Noble shut up, unwilling to drag Fluttershy into it.

“If you die, then the Elements are rendered useless,” Twilight whispered in ire. “It’s what Sunset-” She stopped abruptly, then rushed out, “What she was trying to tell me before,” and turned away. “I don’t want anyone else dying on this journey!”

Noble nodded. “I... understand.”

Twilight narrowed her bagged eyes and stomped away. “Start packing, Fluttershy.”

Which left Noble Blade and Fluttershy just standing there.

“She has a point,” Fluttershy whispered, nuzzling her head against his chin. “I really don’t want you to die!”

“I don’t really want to die either.” Noble Blade ran one of his hooves through her mane as he thought of something romantic he could say to get her mind off of it. “But for you, I would.”

Fluttershy gave a very small gasp and nuzzled closer. “D-don’t say that unless you really mean it, Noble!”

“My word is my oath,” Noble Blade said, remembering what his father had instructed him. “I would lose my life before losing yours.”

“If you did that,” Fluttershy chided him gently, “then I wouldn’t have any reason to stay either.” Fluttershy ruffled his mane. “I forbid you to die.”

“Well, I wasn’t planning on it…” Noble started, before laughing and kissing her on the forehead, then on the lips. When he pulled away, he was smiling. “I’ll be with you no matter what. After what I went through, I…” Bloody memories hit him like a freight train, and he paused before he continued, weakened somewhat. “I would never let anything bad happen to you.”

Fluttershy initiated the kiss this time, and pulled away only after ten seconds had elapsed. “Come on, handsome,” she whispered to the stallion, and nudged him in the arm. “Let’s get ready to go.”

The group struck out from the abandoned camp when the sun was directly above their heads and their shadows were small. Because Twilight was still in no capacity to lead, Starlight Glimmer acted as the unofficial leader of the group, and the ancient yellow map from Star Swirl the Bearded was in front of her, encased in a magical aura.

Their exodus from the camp signaled the beginning of their epic quest. As the grey and smoky remains of the abandoned tents quietly slipped behind them, each of them was filled with energy that raced in their veins and made them all quietly resolute.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t even five minutes before they had to stop.

As the nine ponies waited impatiently at a large rock while the tenth occupied the side of the road behind it, each of them were breathing through their nostrils loudly in irritation. Twilight was in particular annoyed. Leaning against the rock with her eyes pressed tightly shut, she finally yelled out loud, “Why didn’t you go before we left?”

“I didn’t have to then!” Pinkie poked her head out from the rock. “I’m good now!” She bounced around the rock, as happy as she ever was. “I can hike forever!”

And so after the false start, the ponies properly began their trek for the missing Elements by heading for the distant, abandoned city of Maretania.

Their eastward journey took them from the camp into the surrounding woods. They had the advantage of not having the sun in their eyes, so it was one less problem they encountered. Nopony pointed it out, however, because nopony thought of it much.

The woods weren’t like the Everfree, east of Ponyville. These woods were instead thin, and sparse, and the trees weren’t as looming above them like in the Everfree. Branches were long but straight, and the trunks were lighter in color than the Everfree.

They also weren’t trying to kill them.

It was a day when the wind came into their faces, but only sparingly and not with great force. The sun was warm, but not so warm as to make their burdens heavy to bear. And the soil wasn’t soaked with recent weather, but it also was rich and fertile. It was the perfect day for a hike, or for the beginning of a rather large adventure.

They continued like this for about three hours with breaks at tolerable intervals. Nopony complained much at that time, except for the girls that were unaccustomed to bearing heavy loads.

“How are you holding up?” Noble Blade whispered to Fluttershy about four hours after they had first struck out. They were all walking in double file through the thin woods, and they had yet to encounter a single creature.

Fluttershy was encumbered with a pack of her own, but she had no trouble turning her head and smiling at Noble Blade. “I’m... fine. I’m kinda used to... carrying things the other girls don’t... really want to.”

Noble Blade adjusted the load on her back with his unicorn magic until it was even on both sides. “I just don’t want you to collapse.”

“What about your wound?” she worriedly asked.

“Nothing I can’t endure,” he forced out. “I can keep going as long as Twilight needs me to.”

“Heya, Starlight!” Applejack called out from the back. “How much longer we gotta go?”

Starlight, at the front of the line, took a long look at the map. “I’d guess we have a week or so, going at the rate we’re at, before we even reach the eastern shore.”

Rarity let out a disenchanted groan from the back, and some members could have sworn they could hear a deflating sound.

“This is so exciting!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing so high she almost touched a low-hanging branch above her head. “We get to be in the middle of nowhere, with nopony around but us and our friends! AAAH!”

“D’ya hear that?” Firestorm called back to Rarity, a sly smile on his face. “An entire week hanging out with me, away from any kind of civilization! I can’t wait!”

“Firestorm!”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up!”

Firestorm shut up, but he did so wearing a smile.

The sun was getting low in the sky by the time Starlight Glimmer called a halt. Starlight observed the ground and paced in a circle to see how good the conditions were. “We’ll make camp here!” she called out. “Spread out and set up the tents. Pinkie, Applejack, start on dinner!”

“Can I join dinner duty?” Firestorm volunteered.

Freedom Fighter zipped directly in front of Firestorm and began to shake his head no furiously while waving his arms.

“Aww, what could happen?” Firestorm innocently asked. “It’s not as though I could burn down the woods? Right?”

Everyone looked extremely uncomfortable all of a sudden.

Firestorm’s face fell after several seconds of silence elapsed. “All right, fine,” he sullenly said, stomping off to set up a tent. “Exclude me from cooking. I see how it is.”

“But you’re bad at cooking!” Noble Blade called out to him as he began to erect a tent.

“I know!” Firestorm yelled over his shoulder. “But I’m still gonna be mad about it!”

Noble Blade chuckled, shook his head, and began to set up the tent he had carried on his back. Igniting his horn with his magic, he deftly began to set up the poles and flap the fabric to its position.

“Mind if I help?"

Noble Blade found Fluttershy next to him lifting up a corner of the tent he was setting up. She smiled as she stuck the fabric to its needed spot, and flapped down to the ground. “I don’t want to see you doing all the hard work by yourself.”

Noble Blade caressed her cheek and moved his armor-covered hoof to the back of her head. “Who am I to say no to you?” An idea came to him as Fluttershy shied towards his touch like a contented cat, and he felt his mouth turn dry. “Maybe it doesn’t have to be only setting up the tent.”

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked, opening her eyes so large her entire turquoise iris could be seen.

“Maybe you... and I... could share the tent?”

She nodded. “That’s what I assumed…”

“No, I meant, just you, and...me.”

Fluttershy took a moment to give a little inhale of shock. Then, after she fiddled with some tent fabric, she said, “Just... you and... me?”

“Alone.”

Her face drew up, and her eyes sparkled. “I’d love that!”

Noble Blade felt lighter on his hooves even though armor encased almost all of his skin. Him and the love of his life, drifting off in each other's arms…

A pang in his side drew him out of his momentary daydream, and he gave a gasp of pain and clutched his sore side through his plate armor. Fluttershy was over there in an instant, and was trying to pry away the plate armor on his flank. “What’s wrong? Is it hurting?”

“No,” he whispered through his teeth. “I just stretched a muscle wrong.” He groaned and rolled his eyes upward. “So this is how I go out at last,” he moaned dramatically.

Fluttershy tried to restrain a giggle as she continued. “Y-you need to stop that! You won’t d-”

“Yes I shall!” he grandly announced again, holding a hoof up. “ ‘Twas fun while it lasted, mine darling Fluttershy. Into the embrace of sleep I now depart!”

“I forbid you to die, remember?”

“Right! Right. Forgot about that!” Both of them began to laugh again joyously, and Noble Blade’s pain partially dissipated.

Half an hour later, the tents were all erected and dinner was beginning to be underway. Firewood had been gathered by Rainbow Dash and Firestorm, and had been ignited by the latter. A pot of stew was underway, bubbling merrily on a grate of firewood through sheets of flame that licked up through cracks in the campfire.

Twilight was counting the tents. When the last one was counted, she turned irately to Starlight. “Why are there only six tents?”

Starlight, looking at the map, drew her head up. “Hm?”

“Six tents,” Twilight repeated. “Why?”

“Well, we, um, only needed six.”

“I thought you knew how to count, Starlight. There are eleven of us here!”

Starlight put the ancient map away and looked Twilight in the face. “I assumed that we’d be sharing tents.”

“With who?”

“Two ponies to a tent. Maybe you would have Spike with you as well while you were sleeping and the sixth can be an extra tent.”

Twilight processed it and grunted. “All right.” She slunk away, muttering something darkly to herself.

Firestorm, overhearing it, leaned his head to the side to whisper into Pinkie’s ear. “Should I be concerned about her?”

“She does seem pret-ty annoyed,” Pinkie pronounced slowly.

Applejack, however, took on a different tone. Sidling her way next to Rainbow Dash, she said quietly, “Now ain’t that convenient.”

“What’s convenient?”

“Two ponies to a tent, eh? Ya know what Ah’m thinkin’?”

“Well, of course not! I mean, if I knew, you wouldn’t have to tell me it.”

Applejack slowly grew a smirk.

Rainbow Dash adopted a wary look and leaned away. “I really don’t like it when you do that.”

“Sleep with Firestorm.”

“Sleep with him?!” Rainbow Dash bounced in the air comically, waving her legs. She settled to the ground. “You mean, like…” Rainbow paused while her cheeks went pink, then formed a circle with her wing and jabbed a hoof through it slowly.

Applejack widened her eyes and shook her head. “Woho-ho there, Rainbow! Ah meant sleep with ‘im!”

Rainbow Dash let out a breath of relief she didn’t know she was holding. Then her face went into a reflective mood. “Sleeping with Firestorm…” Rainbow Dash paced in a circle.

“How’s that sound?”

“Kinda... nice, actually,” she admitted. She fondled her mane subconsciously.

Applejack jolted her head at Firestorm, who was away at the edge of the camp now. “Ask ‘im now before dinner starts.”

“Um, I dunno.”

“What, d’ya think Firestorm’s gonna refuse?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged after another moment and trotted over to him. Rainbow didn’t have much time to really think about it beforehand, so before she knew it, she was near her boyfriend.

Firestorm brightened when he saw her, and in the dwindling dusk settling over the woods, he shone like a light. “Rainbow! How ya holding up?”

“I’m doing fine. Look, I gotta ask-” Rainbow started, but before she could get very far, she was raised on her hind legs, her arms and wings squished to her side, as Firestorm abruptly hugged her as tight as he could on his hind legs.

“Hey!” Rainbow cried, wiggling like a caught fish. “Lemme go!”

“Ah-ah-ah,” Firestorm said. “You gotta figure out the password.”

“Password?”

“Yeah. Like open sesame.”

“Uh... open sesame?”

“No.”

“Open... wheat?”

“Wrong.”

“Open... uh... oats?”

“Try a more affectionate phrase.”

Rainbow Dash frowned in thought. Her limbs were still pinned to the side by Firestorm, and he was remarkably strong. Affectionate? What did Firestorm have in mind? Then Rainbow thought of the perfect phrase.

“I love you?”

Firestorm grinned. “Correct.”

And he leaned in and kissed her. Rainbow, initially startled, succumbed to his taste and gave back as much affection as she was getting.

When they broke apart and fell to all fours once again, both were smiling broadly.

“Now,” Firestorm said simply. “Needed something?”

“Uh…” Rainbow Dash sifted through her memory for what it was she needed to ask him. After a few blank seconds, she remembered. “Right! Uh, Stormy?”

“Yes, hottie?” he asked, ruffling her mane gently.

Rainbow very nearly forgot what it was she needed to ask him. “Could you and I... sleep together?”

Firestorm’s face fell to a suspicious look. “D’ya mean, like, sleep together, or having you and I do something really, really-”

“Share a bed!” Rainbow’s cheeks erupted into flame.

“Ah.” He bounced his head on his shoulders. “In that case, I’d love to. Which tent do you want?”

Rainbow blinked. She hadn’t expected him to agree so readily.

Firestorm wrapped an arm around her and indicated the stolen Noxxa tents scattered about the campsite. “Do you want the black one, the blacker one, the other black one, the blackish one, the black-colored one, or the black one?”

“The... black one,” she dully responded.

“Perfect! It’s what I was thinking!”

“Soup’s on, everypony!” came Applejack’s call.

“We’ll pick out the black one after dinner,” he whispered, and they walked together to the campfire, where everyone else was gravitating toward.

Applejack tapped the pot with the wooden ladle to shake off some drops of soup as Pinkie Pie passed out bowls. “Ah’ve got a treat fer y’all t’night,” she said cheerily. “Potato and cabbage soup, mixed with herbs right from th’ wild!”

Every dish was poured, and everyone dug in as they got it. For all of her various strengths, Applejack was a great chef, and soon everyone had eaten at least one bowl. Even Freedom Fighter had expressed his pleasure of the dish, and everyone knew that he had no way to taste it.

“This is really good!” Rainbow breathed between bites.

“Th’ potatoes Ah found were a little old, but Ah did what Ah could,” Applejack modestly replied. She inclined her hat so that her face was hidden.

“Eh. Could use a bit of frosting,” Pinkie criticized. She then began to salivate. “Creamy, creamy frosting…”

“I think it needs more black, horrid-tasting crud at the bottom of the pot,” Firestorm said. “I could help you with that the next time we cook.”

“Then you can make yer own awful food yerself, and we’ll all eat good food instead. Deal?”

Firestorm beamed. “Deal!”

“I love it, Applejack!” Fluttershy gently spoke, sending one of her heavenly smiles across the campfire to her.

“It’s... agreeable,” Rarity said dourly, looking into her bowl.

Applejack blinked. “Agreeable?” she asked in a deceptively calm voice. The tone had switched abruptly.

Rarity sighed. “I’ve been walking all afternoon with a pack on my back, and my hooves hurt! I’m starving, and I just feel like I deserve better after a hard day of hiking!”

“So this dinner Ah made ain’t good enough fer ya?” Applejack asked monotonously. “Ah hope yeh’ve noticed this yerself, but we’re a little short-stocked on fancy food. Ya want me ta make a coupla hors d'oeuvres or sumthin’ ta satiate that appetite fer yer fancy-shmancy tomfoolery?”

“Well, it’s better than nothing,” Rarity protested, clattering the wooden spoon in her bowl and setting it down. “But I’m just... I want more out of today than a bowl of soup.”

“Rarity,” Noble Blade whispered. He was sitting next to her, with Fluttershy on his other side. “Eat your dinner.”

“I-” Rarity started before letting out a grunt of frustration. “I’m tired, and I hate walking for hours on end. I haven’t bathed in two days, and my mane is all mussed up and stringy, and I got stung by a mosquito on my cutie mark! I deserve better than this!”

“Oh, you think two days without a bath is bad? I haven’t bathed since…” Firestorm started in a joking tone, but upon seeing the venomous glare Rarity leveled at him, he widened his eyes, shut his mouth, and developed an extreme interest in the bottom of his soup bowl.

“Rarity,” Noble Blade said, a bit firmer this time. “We know that this is hard for you, but this is all we’re getting tonight. Eat your food.”

“This has got to be the worst day I’ve had in recent memory!” Rarity mourned, placing her face in her hooves. “I don’t think I can feel worse than I am now!”

“I saw Fluttershy die today!” Noble Blade shot out of nowhere, setting down his own bowl much harder than he would have otherwise liked. His speech rapidly descended into archaic tongue as he became more impassioned. “She died! In my arms, riddled with arrows, breathing out her hopes to me before she died! I hath suffered today, Rarity, beyond what any mortal probably should, but behold! I have had to trudge the same path thou hast, with an arrow wound in my side! Thy concerns are sufferable enough!”

“What about everyone else?!” Twilight shouted at him from across the campfire. “All the other girls that died in front of your face, they don’t mean squat to you, huh? You can’t see anyone except for Fluttershy! But Sunset Shimmer! The Sirens! Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Flash Sentry-” She had tears erupt from her tear ducts now. “-they don’t matter, do they?! They did to me! I was broken a thousand times over! And you want to talk about suffering?”

“I have an idea,” Fluttershy said angrily and abruptly. “How about we all argue over who suffered most today? Huh? Because that’s what friendship is all about, isn’t it?! Seeing who can suffer more than the other pony! It’s all a competition now to see who’s had the worst day ever!”

Twilight, Noble Blade, and Rarity fell silent and stared at the ground, their words taken away.

“I’m sorry for yelling like that,” Fluttershy demurely said afterwards, sitting back down. “I just don’t like seeing all of you argue.”

And then the conversation was filled with reassurances from the other girls that of course they didn’t want to make her upset, that they would stop it right then, and the conversation melted away.

After a few more uncomfortable moments, everyone started to put their dishes away, bid their friends good night, and head for the tents. Firestorm and Rainbow Dash touched off their seats like birds alighting off a branch. “We call the black one,” Rainbow said to the others, and she and Firestorm headed off for a random tent.

“I’m sorry,” Noble whispered to Fluttershy as both of them headed for the tent they had both set up. “I just wanted Rarity to see things in perspective.”

“But that isn’t what happened, is it?” Fluttershy sagely replied, holding the tent flap open for him to enter. “So let’s just let it go.”

The inside of the tent was small, but large enough to stand in and take a few steps. A candle was dutifully burning on a collapsible table, covered with a glass bulb. Three layers of blankets were on the ground, and two bundles of rags used for pillows were at the head of the whole thing.

Noble Blade activated his horn and used his magic to remove the layers of plate armor on his breast and legs. As he stripped out of his skin of metal and stepped out of the shell, he finally exposed his body for the first time since the previous day, before they had even entered the portal to the other world. He took an immense breath of relief and stretched his lean muscles properly. He fell into that body range that was envied by stallions everywhere--muscled but not bulky, strong but lean.

When Noble Blade realized that Fluttershy was sitting cross-legged, watching him strip and stretch with a small smile and a heavy blush, he held up a hoof. “You, um, don’t have to watch.”

“Oh, yes.” Fluttershy smiled wider and stretched herself out on the blankets, affixing him with a drooping gaze all the while. “You’re right. But... we normally don’t wear clothes, you know.”

Noble Blade wiped away the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead. “I guess...” He then pointed at her. “But if I were to watch you strip out of a dress, that would be inappropriate, right?”

Fluttershy blinked in acknowledgment and drooped her head down. “Yeah. I guess.”

Noble Blade, leaving the empty armor shell standing like a sentinel by the tent flap, settled down next to Fluttershy, taking extra care not to stretch the mending wound in his side. The wound looked like a deep bruise, but twisting downward into his flesh without bleeding.

“That looks really bad,” Fluttershy whispered, running her cool hoof over the wound in his hip. “Does it hurt?”

Noble Blade nodded.

“Would you like me to kiss it to make it better?”

Noble Blade felt a jolt of electricity run through his hooves. “Dahh... yyyes. Yes, sure.”

Fluttershy planted her lips directly over the sealed wound and moaned in her mouth briefly before pulling away after five long seconds. “Feel better?”

Noble Blade nodded numbly. It felt strange for her to do so, but he was happy she did.

“Better from the wound? Or... from the day?” she continued, her caring expression faltering towards a nervous one.

Noble Blade wasn’t sure. Everyone he had seen or loved had been murdered in front of his face, and he was obligated to run from the danger rather than face it down. His stomach had been twisting all day, and though he hadn't spoken about it or shown it, that didn't mean it wasn't there, twisting his stomach like a den of vipers was in him, and buzzing in his head like wasps had hatched in his brain.

Fluttershy's face twisted to one of anguish as her defenses gave way to concern. “Oh, I just want to be here for you!” she whispered to him suddenly, moving closer to him on the blankets and nuzzling into his soft blue chest. “This must really have been the worst day ever! I don’t know what I would do if I had to see you die!” Fluttershy had to stop there as a whimper came into her throat, and she gently spooned her entire body length into his sideways embrace, nuzzling him all the while.

Noble Blade, feeling numb to all other sensations, feeling only the warmth and pressure of her body against his, pulled her closer and hugged her back, first gently, and then tighter and tighter as tears threatened to come to his tear ducts. What would he do without her?

“I need you, Fluttershy,” he breathed in her ear. “Now more than ever.”

“I’ll always be here,” she promised, her voice muffled by being pressed into his chest.

“I love you,” he whispered with his soul.

“I love you too,” she replied instantly, firmly, perfectly.

Fifteen minutes later into cuddling, Noble Blade extinguished the candle with a wave of his magic, then drew his head up to see the golden face of Fluttershy, peaceful and perfect in the dark.

After several long moments, he felt Fluttershy’s chest rise and fall steadily against his, and her breath come in little whispers through her nose, and he knew that she must be asleep. Closing his eyes ever tighter, he felt the soft body of Fluttershy beneath his hooves and pressed harder into her body to squeeze the troubles and cares away, and within several more minutes, he nodded off and fell asleep as well.

‘How long do you think it’ll be until they realize I can’t talk normally again?’

I’m betting at least another day, at least. At most, maybe a week.

Freedom Fighter let his thoughts stew inside of his mind for another few moments as he slowly peeled off the black bodysuit covering him. They occupied his mind so much that he didn’t even notice he was out of his armored bodysuit until he noticed it lying on the ground like a discarded snakeskin. He shook his head, and his matted black hair went into his face before he parted it to either side of his head again.

He was alone in a tent by the edge of the camp. He had pleaded with Starlight before dinner to have a tent to himself because of his condition, and Starlight had agreed. Freedom Fighter was observing himself in a mirror, and all of his slashes and scars were on full display, with his mechanical left arm emerging from a stump in his shoulder and clashing with the color of his pale yellow fur.

‘I’m really lucky, you know? I get this tent all to myself, with nopony around to see me naked and afraid.’

Naked and afraid? Sounds like a suspenseful and dramatic statement of ambiguity. You could trademark that.

‘Did you see Twilight today?’ he asked himself. He flicked his ears, and the pierced-in-half holes in them accidentally got some hair in them. ‘She looked bad.’

You were there. You saw how all of her friends died right in front of her. Sunset Shimmer especially. She has every reason and every right to look bad.

‘What can we do to help her?’

Why do you care?

‘Because she’s my friend, you idiot.’

Are you sure it’s not because you thought she was pretty when you first met her?

Freedom Fighter clenched his mechanical hoof so hard it creaked. ‘I thought we were past that.’

Ah-ah-ah! I’m your subconscious, remember? I bring up things in your past that are uncomfortable all the time. For example--Remember that time in the Rada village when you were just a foal, when you crossed the road in a funny way, and a couple of village girls noticed you and began to giggle, and then you went home, cried, and thought about it-

‘I’m twenty-five years old!’ Freedom Fighter screamed in his mind, cutting off his thoughts. He collapsed backward onto his blanket. ‘And now I’m lying on the cold hard ground.’

Ooh, good reference.

‘Thanks.’

I’m still here, though. TWILIGHT, TWILIGHT, LUSCIOUS, LOVELY TWILIGHT!

‘Shaddup, shaddup, shaddup!’

TWILIGHT, TWILIGHT, TWIIIIILIIIIIGHT!

‘I’D MUCH RATHER HANG OUT WITH VINYL SCRATCH!’

You think both girls are pretty… the other voice sang in a singsong-y voice.

‘I-’ he started, then he banged the back of his head against the ground. ‘Yeah…’

So go and do something for Twilight! Maybe she needs comforting after, I don’t know, seeing everyone she love die in front of her! Having a big, strong pillar of support is what she needs right now. It would help if you were good-looking as well, but there’s nothing we can do about that now, is there?

‘So the only reason I should help out Twilight is because I think she’s pretty?’

Don’t blame me. Blame the testosterone making you gravitate to helping other ponies because they’re prettier than others.

‘Yes... that’s what you are. That’s literally all you are!’

Ohhh... right... forgot about that.

'How do you just forget? You're a thought!'

That's the joke, you dolt!

‘I won’t let you get in the way. She has everyone else to support her. If I start telling her that I love and support her no matter what, everyone else will think I’m just doing this because I want to flatter her.’

You mean, you’ll think you’re just doing this because you want to flatter her?

‘I…’ He made a deep rumbling noise in the back of his throat while lying there on his back, and pressed both his hooves to his damaged ears. ‘Shut up.’

Freedom Fighter forcefully drew the blankets up to his chin and laid on his side with his legs pulled up to his chest. He lay there, curled up in a little ball, with his mechanical arm there in the way.

It only took fifteen minutes for him to fall asleep, but even with a blanket, he felt cold.

Chapter Fifty: A Weeklong Journey

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Light was shining from all around her, and wet blood was speckled on her purple hands, stretching out towards the girl made of fire. Sunset Shimmer reached back imploringly, only a foot out of reach, but Twilight could not breach the distance because Noble Blade was pulling her towards the portal.

“GO!” Sunset bellowed at her, as the flames and magic coming from the crystal around her neck enveloped her even more.

“NOOO!” Twilight bellowed back, reaching ever closer, an inch closer, anything, to make sure that she came with her to Equestria where she could be safe.

The girl made of fire suddenly erupted in a bright flash of light, and Twilight went blind. All was white, except for the darker outline of the girl of fire.

The outline then sprouted two more limbs from the armpit and seemed to claw its way out of her, and the human form barely containing the Nox trembled for a bit, then blasted open.

Twilight screamed in terror as the Nox crawled towards her on all six limbs like some fiendish alien, stretching his jaws out wide and far.

“NOBLE!” Twilight cried, latching all the harder to his arm, but the smooth plate armor she had held onto had transformed under her fingers to black chitin as well, and now another Nox was erupting from the stump of Noble Blade and crawling on his arms and legs for her, and in no time she was lying there on her back as the needled jaws opened right above her eyes and pale yellow saliva dripped onto her cheek and over an eye, and then the jaws closed around her face-

Twilight burst her eyes open with a shout of terror and a jolt in her bed.

The black abyss surrounding her was thin and cold, and the blanket underneath her was soaked with sweat. The tent she was in was small but large enough for two ponies to fit. Twilight panted like a dog, lying on her back, as the fiendish memories raced through her brain once more.

There came a rustle from beside her. “Twi... light…”

“Go back to sleep, Starlight,” Twilight weakly spoke, her head still in her knees.

Starlight was evidently too tired to continue because she just rolled over and within a few minutes was back in the land of dreams once more.

Twilight planted the back of her skull against the small bundle of rags she was using as a pillow. Her eyes felt sticky and wet. Tears involuntarily had run down the sides of her head until they reached her ears, but no new tears were coming. She must have shed them in the night.

“Luna,” she whispered. “I need your help.”

Minutes passed, and nothing came. No flash of light outside, no deep but calm voice to reassure her, no nothing.

Twilight squeezed her eyes shut again, twisted around, and pressed her face into the rags instead. She no longer felt tired at all, which only made her angrier, which made her more awake.

This whole thing was impossible. Now they were back where they started, having gained nothing. The whole trip to the other dimension had been proven to be completely pointless, which made the fact that it cost 12 ponies their lives even worse.

No, it wasn’t. You have the map.

Twilight twitched her ears and drew her head up. That thought hadn’t come along by her own power. Somepony had whispered it to her, as plainly as if somepony was next to her ear. And it definitely wasn’t Luna.

“Who are you?” she asked, as loudly as she dared.

No answer.

“Where are you?” Twilight asked, looking around.

No answer.

Twilight groaned in frustration and slammed her face back into the pillow of rags. The voice had apparently gone away.

Her gaze fell to the glinting object embedded in the rags next to her head. Around a golden chain was the gilded key Twilight had taken from the neck of Star Swirl the Bearded. It never left her saddlebags except for when she slept with it. Every time Twilight saw it, she was reminded once more of their impossible journey and the enemy that had slain the greatest wizard of their age.

But now, the key only elicited anger. Twilight felt tears involuntarily come once again, and her teeth were gritted as she let out a sob in her throat with not only despair, but rage.

The Noxxa had kidnapped her, tortured Freedom Fighter, destroyed his tribe, killed Star Swirl, Sunset, Flash, the girls, and the sirens, and destroyed the portal to the human world. Their sins were incalculable already, but their cruelty was unfinished. Twilight’s world had been ripped apart by that foul race, and she was going to make them pay.

“I’ll kill them,” Twilight whispered in rage. She clenched the rags on her head. “I’ll kill them all!”

No.

There was that voice again, that intrusive voice that Twilight had heard before. The purple alicorn ignited her horn and swept it around her, but the only life Twilight could detect was the trees outside and the ponies beside her.

“What do you mean, ‘no?!’” she asked the disembodied voice.

No answer.

Twilight let out another groan of frustration and slammed her head back into the rags she was using for a pillow. Her sleep did not resume again for the rest of the night, and when morning finally came, Twilight stomped out of the tent into the shallow daylight without waking Starlight or Spike.

Firestorm felt something soft on his mouth when he regained consciousness. The dream he was having involved a lot of incoherent color and scene changes, and it was mostly a stimulation for his senses. But now that he was slightly awake, all that he could feel was the feel and warmth of something on his mouth.

Firestorm slowly, weakly, opened his heavy eyes, hoping against all hope that he didn’t have a piece of ragged pillow in his mouth.

Luckily, it was a bajillion times better than that. It was the face of Rainbow Dash, who had gotten an early start on breakfast.

A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one. He immediately kissed her back with equal fervor.

When she finally pulled away, she was grinning with a limp lock of rainbow hair over her face. “Morning, sleepyhead!”

“Oh…” he moaned without purpose. He rubbed his eyes. “That was the best sleep I’ve gotten... like, ever.”

“I think I know why!” she chirped.

“Why?” he asked.

Rainbow Dash rolled on top of him and put her hooves to the sides of his head. “Because you were sleeping next to me!” she affirmed. “It worked well for, uh... for me, at least.”

Firestorm grinned lopsidedly. “The one and only Rainbow Dash likes to be cuddled, huh?”

“Don’t you dare tell anypony else!” his girlfriend hurriedly added, placing a hoof over his mouth. “This stays between you and me. Understand?”

“Why? It’s no secret to the others that you like kissing me,” Firestorm pointed out, removing her hoof from his mouth. He also gathered his legs underneath her. “Watch out.”

Before she could get out more than “Huh?” he had already rolled over so that he was now on top of her, pinning her down with his weight.

“Hey!” She wriggled underneath him. “Get off me!”

“Nuh-uh-uh!” he cried. “I told you, the next chance I got, I would do this. Remember the train?”

Rainbow let out a groan of frustration, but relented. “Fiiine,” she grunted.

“Don’t tell me you don’t want your awesome boyfriend to be on top of you forever!”

“Well, that sounds…” Rainbow swallowed. “That actually does sound pretty nice... But don’t we have to get up for breakfast?”

“Ah, accursed breakfast,” Firestorm mourned. “The bane of any early morning cuddle session.” He flapped his wings and lifted himself off of her. “I’ll meet you outSIIIDE!” He suddenly stumbled on all fours. “Whooooaaaah! Stood up too fast!” He briefly collided with the tent fabric before stepping outside and making all sorts of early morning noises.

Rainbow Dash took a moment to laugh to herself before getting up after him and exiting the tent.

The morning was breaking through the thin tree-tops and slicing through the cool morning air in streams of golden sunlight. As Rainbow Dash blinked to adjust her eyes, she took in her early morning surroundings. Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie were near the small campfire, bending over a pot of oatmeal. Applejack looked fine, but Twilight had dark spots under her eyes and wrinkles in her mane.

“Morning, Twilight,” Rainbow said, coming near.

Twilight nodded limply. A string of her mane stood out on end.

“Dija sleep well last night? I did.”

Twilight, after staring at her for a little bit, walked away from her.

Rainbow Dash leaned next to Pinkie Pie. “What’s with her? Is she still feeling bad about the...you-know-what?”

“How should I know?” Pinkie asked, dumping an entire cup of brown sugar into the pot. She raised both her head and her voice. “COULD I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, PLEEEEAAASE?!”

“Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash hissed.

“BREAKFAST IS REEEEAAADY! COME AND GET IT IF YOU WANT TO BE NOT-HUNGRY FOR THE REST OF THE DAAAAY!”

The annunciation brought everypony else out of the tents, yawning and rubbing their faces. Starlight Glimmer led Spike from Twilight’s tent, and both of them had bags under their eyes. Applejack didn’t look tired in the least; she was used to waking up early. Fluttershy and Noble Blade came out of their tent together, tired but happy with each other. Rarity still inexplicably had curlers in her violet mane. Freedom Fighter came out last.

“Hey, Twilight?” Applejack called out to her.

Twilight whipped her head around to Applejack. “What?!”

Applejack, after a moment to absorb her hostility, jolted her head at the black warrior. “Ya think we should do sumthin’ ta help ‘im talk again?”

Twilight took a moment before pressing her lips together firmly and nodding. Closing her bloodshot eyes, she summoned a ball of light at the tip of her horn, making her tremble in place. Letting out a snarl, Twilight fired the light at Freedom Fighter. The ball of light entered his side and absorbed into his chest, and suddenly, Freedom Fighter’s thoughts at that moment were announced for the world to hear.

“...And so then I said, Oatmeal? Are you craz-” Freedom Fighter’s other voice stopped abruptly as he realized it was being said aloud. Freedom Fighter took a moment to absorb what happened, then awkwardly stepped back. “Just go ahead.”

As each of the girls nodded dubiously and filled up their wooden bowls with oatmeal, Freedom Fighter trotted over to Twilight and nudged her shoulder. He tried to do it softly, but it was still so forceful she almost fell over. “Took you long enough.”

Twilight glared at Freedom Fighter.

“Sorry, that was the other guy talking. Thanks, Twi.”

When she had been called Twi, Twilight stomped away again.

Freedom Fighter gazed after her, then lifted his eyes to the sky. “What’s got her tail in a twist?”

After breakfast, the tents were put away and shouldered on every mare’s back. The stolen Noxxa weapons were at their sides. The campfire was extinguished, and Starlight Glimmer led the group out from the campsite.

“Another day, another blister.” Rarity kicked a pebble in her way as they struck out. “When I went camping before, I didn’t have to carry everything.”

“This is actually a great way to keep in shape,” Noble Blade whispered to her, suppressing his own feelings of distaste and pain. "It must be a pain to keep your figure so healthy all the time."

At the compliment, Rarity straightened and adjusted her mane once again. “Well, yes, I do admit keeping in shape can be a challenge.”

Noble nodded. “Hiking long-distance is one of the best things you can do for yourself... ever. You’re gonna be burning calories, trimming fat, working muscles you didn’t even know you had.” He then grinned. “Or wanted.”

Rarity looked at him strangely.

“You’re gonna be moving all day.” Noble managed to shrug while walking. “You might even give birth.”

Rarity’s face then contorted to a shocked expression.

“What? It’s happened to Firestorm.”

“To Firestorm?!”

And so began a long day of walking. The thin forest descended in altitude after an hour and gave way to a wet part of the forest, with puddles to either side of the trail and dripping across the pathway. The trees became thicker and wider with more verdant leaves on their ebony branches. Roots sprang up across their path, looking like bent pieces of metal melted into grotesque shapes.

“We’ve made good distance here,” Spike said when they reached this part. He plopped down on a patch of soft moss at the base of a tree. “Why not say we make camp here?”

Starlight Glimmer twisted her head around to address Spike. “It’s not even lunchtime.”

Spike blinked. “So?”

The group continued walking after reassuring Spike that they would find a better place to break camp. At first, the transitory terrain was not all bad, but as time progressed, the forest facade disappeared entirely and they found themselves in a full-on bog, with soupy green pools all around them and heavy condensation in the air they breathed. Any conversation was drowned out by chirping frogs and crickets.

Not everyone was enthusiastic about this change. Applejack and Fluttershy had been in bogs before, and the Guardians of the Sun were adaptable to any environment. They might not have enjoyed it, but they were better prepared. So Spike, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Starlight Glimmer frustratingly trudged along in fetlock-deep mud, grunting as they swatted mosquitos from behind their ears. Pinkie Pie was as cheery as ever, bouncing through the thin mud as if there was no problem at all, while Twilight was just as miserable as she was the previous day.

No spot was dry in the marshland. Everyone sooner or later became soaked with a mixture of sweat, humidity, and dripping water from overhanging branches. Flies swarmed around them, desperate in their bid to glut themselves on the Ten Soul’s blood in mindless glee. Everyone’s hooves were soon wrinkled and hard, and in the afternoon it became painful to even walk.

Many, many hours later, the group found an elevated part of the swamp and decided to make camp atop a rising hill overlooking a thick green lake. Tents were set up as quickly as the day before, but the jungle was so wet that they could not find any dry wood for a fire. Faced with no other option, they all decided to eat raw apples for dinner, along with any berries they could find on the bushes in the camp. Applejack reasoned that the apples wouldn't keep for much longer anyway, but it didn't assuage anyone.

After dinner, as dusk was settling in and the sun had all but disappeared, Rarity was sitting on the edge of the hill, overlooking the swamp below her. Thick green bubbles rose from the surface and exploded in pops and burps. Rarity had her face in her hooves when Noble Blade, stripped of his armor, came over.

“Oh, the joy,” Rarity said without any hint of excitement in her voice. She still had her face in her hooves. “How glad I am to be here in this good old mucky part of Equestria.”

Noble Blade decided to stay silent.

Rarity didn't say anything more, but she instead stared into the distance thoughtfully. The setting flame reflected in her blue eyes without any sort of luster. After she blinked heavily, she gazed thoughtfully into the depths of the swamp below her.

Noble Blade stepped beside her. “Beauty isn't always easy to find,” he muttered. “But it's here.”

“Huh? Oh, Noble.” Rarity raised her head to regard him for a moment, then she dropped her gaze again and scooted away. “Don’t look at me, please. It’s unseemly for a lady to be seen like this.”

“Then why am I feeling the urge to comfort you?” he proposed.

Rarity didn’t say anything at first, but when she did, it wasn’t in response to him. “This journey is making me miserable,” she plainly said. “I’m sore, these blasted mosquito bites haven’t gone away yet, every time I breathe, I’m drinking the air, my hooves are all pruney, my back feels so bent out of shape…”

Noble Blade sat down next to her and laid his arm around her, gazing into the swamp. “ ‘Tis not the most optimal camping spot, I’ll give it that.”

Rarity sniffled. “Well, it’s glad to know somepony sensible understands my plight.”

Noble Blade was struck then with the notion that even though he didn’t say much, Rarity was already feeling better. Simply being there for her to listen for her was enough to lessen her burden, as opposed to trying to force her to feel better like the day before.

The two of them just sat there until the flame in the east died and the navy blue darkness had completely settled over the sky. A single star had appeared, with many more on the way.

“How have you been holding up?” Rarity asked the knight somberly. “This must have been tough for you especially.”

Flash Sentry fell out of his arms, arrows stuck in every part of his body, and Noble dropped to his knees and stared around at every other girl in puddles of scarlet, bleeding their life away in spurts-

Noble Blade let out a cry of shock and put a hoof to his head. The memories flooded back to him hard enough to make his head hurt, like a needle to his temples.

When it finally stopped, he took note that Rarity had seen the whole thing unfold.

“I'm…. going to guess it's still in your memory,” Rarity said laconically.

The knight didn't say anything for a long time, but when he did speak, it was quietly, and with age to it. “I don’t want you to die, Rarity,” he whispered.

Rarity nodded understanding. “I don’t want to die either, Noble. But it’s just so hard…”

“Today was a bad day. But tomorrow will be better.” Noble Blade stroked her back reassuringly, both for her and for him. “I promise you, Rarity. Tomorrow will be brighter.”

Noble, instantly in motion, grabbed her under the shoulders and gently lifted her up to stand, but before she could stand up straighter, she cried out in pain and doubled up again.

“No,” he whispered, and his heart was in his throat. The world was collapsing around him, his chest burned in anguish and despair, his waist cut into his senses with excruciating pain. “No, Fluttershy! Fluttershy, no! Come on!” He began to try and drag her through the portal, his mind finally on frenzied overdrive.

Fluttershy weakly put her hand behind his head and lifted herself up. “Be happy,” she whispered in pain. “I love-”

Noble Blade felt her blood burst onto him as a large bubble popped in her chest, and out of the tight bloody hole came six black legs. Noble Blade screamed as the small black bug wriggled out of her body and opened its jaws wide. The bug jumped at his face-

“NO!”

Noble Blade awoke with a start and flailed his limbs for half a second before he tensed his muscles. He was shaking in his legs; his face was quivering. Darkness surrounded him and choked his breath to small spurts of air. He was cold, and he was soaked with sweat.

The dream felt so real, he could almost smell the blood and fire from the massacre at the portal. He could actually feel the weight of Fluttershy in his arms. He felt the heartbeat of her warm body cease underneath his fingertips. Noble Blade was unnerved to the point where he patted himself down to make sure Fluttershy's blood was not on him. He was wet, but not with blood. He reached to his side blindly, hoping to feel the fur of the beautiful yellow pegasus that he calls his girlfriend.

However, to his panic, all he felt was an empty sleeping bag.

In a panic Noble Blade sat up and looked to the side, searching for her, his mind on overdrive. Where did she go? She was here a bit ago!

Finally, he found her three feet away, lying with her back facing him.

Noble Blade gasped in relief, slumped back onto his side, and scooted closer to Fluttershy's inert form. She was warm, and soft, and real.

You will not lose her.

The thought came into his mind like someone had planted it there. It certainly didn't come from him.

I will not lose her, he thought to himself, accepting the thought that had been implanted into his head. Never again.

“Never again,” he audibly vowed to himself, wrapping his arms around her and spooning her length against his chest. The feeling of it made his heart rate skyrocket. “Never. Again.”

When everyone awoke the following morning, it was raining. Not a downpour, exactly, but it wasn’t a drizzle either. When anyone looked up into the skies, all they could see was a heavy grey color above thick sheets of cold rain in every direction. The first ponies to step outside their tents promptly went back inside.

“Rainbow Dash!” trilled the anguished voice of Rarity from inside her tent. “Make it stop!”

“I can’t!” Rainbow Dash answered back, from her separate tent. “This is what was scheduled for today!”

Rarity let out an angry bellow of resignation.

Getting up and awake was a hard matter. Handling the tents was harder still. The fabric was now heavy and wet and cold to the touch. There were still no campfires to be built, as the rain was so hard that any pieces of wood got soaked even more than the previous day. When the tents were finally all put away, every single pony was soaked to the bone, and any equipment they had was so wet that when they slung it on their backs, water gushed out and dripped down their sides.

The hill they had camped on was now completely encircled about by water and the remnants of the slimy bog they had overlooked. They were now on nothing more than an encircled island, and the distance between the banks of the hill and the shore on the opposite side was forty feet.

“How do we get to the bank?” Twilight asked sourly.

“How should I know?” Starlight asked, rain streaming down her jawline.

“You’re the leader!” Applejack said to her. “It’s yer job to know what ta do in sticky spots like this.”

“Everyone stand still,” Twilight barged in, her mane flat and dark from water. “I'll teleport you to the opposite bank.”

“Not in that state you're not!” Applejack denied. “We neeja ta walk with us, not pass out so early in the day! Ah know how tired ya can get, and these circumstances ain't helpin'!”

Twilight affixed a dirty look at Applejack, but after she ran through the idea in her mind, she stayed silent on the subject except for a small grumble.

Freedom Fighter mostly stood stiff while everyone else was chatting. Water streamed from his forehead into his narrowed eyes, and with every passing moment, he became colder and wetter.

Finally, he stomped off, water splashing from every hoofstep, and came to a nearby tree on the edge of the hill. Raising himself on his hind legs, he erupted the three long claws from his left arm, leaned back, and swiped it through the glistening ebony tree like he was hitting a fly ball. The claws carved cleanly through the soft wood of the tree like a hot knife carving through butter.

With a loud cracking noise that drew everyone else’s attention, the tree keeled over the side of the hill and crashed into the opposite bank, creating a ramp to the remaining ground above water.

“Problem solved,” he said curtly, and he dejected the claws back into his arm.

After they all descended to the ground below, they kept on resolutely heading east. This proved to be a more difficult job than it sounded, since the rain masked the direction they needed to go. Through the precipitation, they could only see about thirty yards in front of them, providing little time to plan out a direction to take once they had committed. This, combined with the pools of rainwater and bogwater all around them, made it hard to stick to a defined path.

The rainwater was a curse, but it was also a blessing, in some strange way. Once they had gotten moving, the rain didn’t seem as cold anymore, and actually felt refreshing because of how sore their bodies were from hiking. Not only that, but it also washed out their manes, which had begun to get stiff and oily. Thy=ey didn’t smell quite so bad anymore--except for Noble Blade, whose wet armor lent him a foul stench. Even Fluttershy couldn’t stand to be near him before her nose forced her to flee, and she hiked at the rear with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.

By midday, everyone was thoroughly miserable. Outfits were soaked, manes were dripping, and their hooves were wrinkled, making it hurt to take every step. Their progress was slow and wet.

“I’m chafing,” Freedom Fighter complained late into their walk, stretching out one of his hind legs. He then broke into some kind of waddle, keeping all four legs completely stiff. His skintight bodysuit was a clear disadvantage right now. “I feel like I'm getting flogged by the Noxxa again.”

“The Noxxa did you a favor. At least you don't have to worry about chafing your balls.”

“Hey!” He sounded hurt.

Freedom Fighter let out a demented, sick chuckle at his own response, and ignored the looks levied at him by the rest of the group.

By 3:00 they had gotten past the last puddle and slogged through the last mud field, and emerged from the swamp into forest again, to the immense relief of nearly everyone. It was also about then that the rain began to let up into a mere drizzle.

They walked the rest of the afternoon with only sporadic breaks, and by the time they stopped for camp in a clearing bordered by fallen trees, the rain had stopped entirely.

“Well,” Twilight said when their dinner of carrot soup was being served, “at least today actually got better near the end.”

They were all clustered around a fire, sitting on fallen logs and stumps and flat rocks. The fire produced a lot of smoke since the wood was so wet, but the fire was a fire, and it was the first time they had been properly warm all day.

“Yeah, today sucked,” Firestorm said to her, already scooping his bowl clean. “But that just means tomorrow will be better.”

“Ah still feel plenty tuckered out from t'day,” Applejack admitted with a hoof to the head. “It took everythin’ in ma willpower ta make dinner.”

“I kinda wish today didn't exist,” Starlight Glimmer added. “The rain wasn’t the best counterpart to today’s hike.”

“I'm still cold and wet,” Fluttershy moaned, wrapping the blanket Noble Blade had supplied for her tighter around herself.

Firestorm, on seeing everyone's mood not improve, leaned left to Freedom Fighter. “I know! Let’s play This is a Spoon.”

Freedom Fighter looked surprised at first, then he shrugged, clinking the armor on his bodysuit and jostling the weapons attached to him. “Might as well. This’ll be the first time I can play it.”

“What’s that?” Twilight asked, her curiosity piqued.

Firestorm held up his tin spoon with his hoof. “This... is a spoon.”

“A what?” Freedom Fighter asked.

“A spoon,” Firestorm said.

“A spoon?”

“A spoon.”

“Ah! A spoon.” Freedom Fighter took the tin spoon and proffered it to Fluttershy, who was sitting next to him. “This is a spoon.”

Fluttershy just looked confused at what to say. The sentence coming out of the imposing warrior was so bizarre that she locked up in place.

“Say ‘A what.’ It’s part of the game.”

“Okay... A what?”

Freedom Fighter turned his head to look at Firestorm. “A what?”

“A spoon,” Firestorm clarified.

“A spoon!” After another pause, he said, “Ask A spoon, Fluttershy.”

“...A spoon?”

“A spoon?” Freedom Fighter asked Firestorm for clarification.

“A spoon,” Firestorm confirmed.

“A spoon,” Freedom said affirmatively. “Now say Ah, a spoon, and take it from me and give it to Noble.”

Fluttershy took the spoon with her wing and held it to Noble Blade. “Here you go.”

Noble Blade looked at the spoon and burst into laughter. “You’re supposed to say This is a spoon.”

“But you already know what a spoon is,” Fluttershy protested.

Noble Blade just laughed even more. “That’s the point of the game, Fluttershy. The lines of dialogue get more and more stretched, all the way back to the original person who started.”

“Oh!” Fluttershy bounced in place on her log, making her long pink mane jump. “I get it now!” She held up the spoon to Noble Blade. “This is a spoon.”

“A what?”

“A spoon.”

“A spoon?”

"A spoon?"

"A spoon."

"Ah, a spoon!"

And so it continued as more and more of the party got invested in the game. It got increasingly comedic the further around the spoon went and the number of times the word spoon was repeated. When somepony would forget what to say or stumbled on their lines, laughter broke out until everypony was howling with giggles.

The high point of the night came when Rainbow Dash held up the spoon to Pinkie Pie and in an attempt to catch her off-guard spoke in a Prench accent. “Zis... is a spoon.”

Pinkie Pie leaned her head back in shock and lowered her voice to a deep grumble. “Dear Faust!”

“Zere's more,” Rainbow said, on the brink of laughter.

“No!”

The way she said it set everyone off. By the time the spoon had gone full circle, nopony was moody anymore.

When dinner was over, no one went to bed angry or sad, and sleep came easy to everyone. Even Freedom Fighter and Twilight, who both had nobody to sleep closely to.

The isolated city in the distance was a gargantuan tree situated on a jagged mountain. Dark clouds of trouble lingered over it like a shroud, and the Abysmal Abyss split the mountain in half like an axe stroke.

All this was observable at a distance. The swirling dark clouds made it harder to discern more than that from several miles out. At this distance, it was scarcely bigger than a hoofprint.

There was silence, apart from the rumble of the clouds. The monstrous tree remained small yet majestic.

Flap.

The puffs of air made a leathery whistle as the milk-colored dragon ascended, above the altitude of the surrounding peaks.

The dragon's rider had six sharp legs in the saddle and four longer, spindlier ones at the chest. Two of those legs clutched the harness in the dragon's mouth, while the other two were folded across his hard-shelled chest. Marshal Malice parted his sickly lips, revealing interlocked white needles for fangs, and narrowed his four wild red eyes.

Griffinstone. The city of legends, of long-ago kings, of prosperity beyond all imagining. Now it had fallen into a pathetic ruin, a mocking semblance of what had once been deserving pride.

Marshal Malice would enjoy watching it perish.

Other, smaller wing beats sounded next to him, and the pale rider turned to the right. A tar-colored, dragon-winged Nox had ascended alongside him and was holding a long, wicked pike in two of his six legs.

“What is your command, my lord?” he asked in a hideously deep baritone.

Marshal Malice already had an idea of how to tumble the almighty tree from its perch. His already sick smile widened to the point where his blood red gums were visible. “We muster our forces. Select two hundred soldiers...” Marshal Malice pointed below at the flat plain at the base of the mountain, where the trees stopped before the mountain began. “...and put them there.”

The morning came early and bright for the ponies. Sleep was soon abandoned, and the still-damp tents were taken down after a breakfast of what Pinkie Pie observed to be not gruel, but instead, gruel substitute. The Noxxa had apparently forfeited any pretense at nutrition when it came to feeding their armies.

“I feel like a cement mixer,” Pinkie Pie grumbled after her first bowl. She jiggled her tummy by poking it, and a thick sloshing was heard.

“Oh, ew!” Starlight Glimmer exclaimed.

“That's unsettling,” Freedom Fighter said disdainfully.

“I don't see what the big problem is.”

“Nopony asked you!” Freedom Fighter snapped at himself.

When the group set off, they soon emerged from the foliage and came out into a field of tall grass, with nothing to break the sight of the bright blue sky. Bundles of grass waved in unison in the faint wind. Green and yellow bunches were sparking with water, which made their hooves cold when they trampled clumps under their hooves. Soon everyone was glistening with cold water once again.

“I wish I was in my bed,” Spike mumbled as he trudged along.

“Pretend that you're walking towards your bed,” Noble Blade whispered to him. “At the end of the day you'll be safe and warm in your bed.”

Spike’s posture corrected itself like he had been yanked up by the neck. “All right, bed,” he snarled. “I'm coming for you!” Spike began to jog at a leisurely pace, his previous feelings left behind in the grass.

“Nice job,” Twilight whispered to him. “I was beginning to worry about him.”

Noble agreed with her. Spike didn't have much to say over the past three or four days. He was becoming quite reclusive and withdrawn, always allowing the other girls to talk and keeping to himself. This was so much like the actions of Freedom Fighter that Noble Blade had developed a small doubt in his mind that the miserable week they had was molding him into a bitter young dragon.

After a lunch of raw apples and raisins mixed with cashews on a pile of rocks jutting out of the field, the group continued. The yellow grass eventually shrunk down, thinned out, and eventually deposited onto a small dirt road that was overgrown with vines and weeds. The broken road winded eastward between tall looming red rocks spotted with green shrubbery.

“From bad to worse,” Rainbow Dash said resignedly. “Oh joy.”

“Yay!” Firestorm exclaimed.

Rainbow Dash shot him a confused look.

“I can make you happy now that you're sad!”

She then smiled. “I'm already happy because you're here, you know.”

“Then my job here is done.”

Rainbow Dash, upon hearing it, leaned into Firestorm's shoulder. “Of course, now that you mention it, I did feel miserable while I was walking.”

“Then I'll give you a few back rubs when we make camp at the end of the day.”

“Deal!” Rainbow nodded with a gleam in her eye.

They all followed the overgrown road for hours and hours until the sun disappeared. They made camp in a rock cave on the side of the road once it was too dark to walk. An hour after that, the tents were up, a fire was crackling with dry roots and vines, and potato soup was boiling. True to his word, Firestorm was atop of Rainbow and kneading out the knots in her back, and Noble Blade took inspiration from him by rubbing Fluttershy's shoulders from behind.

“Hey, look.”

“What is it, Pinkie?” Rarity asked.

“I can see the ocean from here!”

Rarity, along with any others who heard, looked out from their camp. Their angle allowed them to look out from the road down the slanting way to a thin forest, and then, past the forest, a sliver of bluish-silver that was the Celestial Sea.

“My word, you're right,” Rarity said, a hoof over her eyes as she squinted. “There's the ocean!”

“Which means Maretania,” Starlight Glimmer said grimly, looking at the old map.

“Which means the Elements.”

“Which means a party!”

Rarity shook her head. “No, Pinkie. We'll only find one of the Elements there, and we most certainly won't have a party.”

“Unless it's a welcoming party from the Noxxa or some other foul beast,” Noble Blade added in. “In that case, we must be the ones to surprise them.”

“You remember when you surprised us the first time I threw you a party?” Pinkie Pie asked suddenly, erupting into giggles. “You just appeared behind all of us and I threw a pitcher of fruit punch at you and you acted like you were bleeding to... death…” Pinkie's voice trailed off as she remembered just how close to reality the last part was. Pinkie cleared her throat noisily and hopped away with several boinging noises.

Dinner was served a little while later. At the behest of Pinkie Pie, they played This is a Spoon again when they finished, and they all felt a little bit better when they went to bed.

When Rainbow Dash and Firestorm entered their tent, Firestorm cricked his back leg and let out a groan. “Oh boy! That's gonna hurt.” He flopped down on his sheets.

“You want me to help stretch it out?” Rainbow Dash asked him playfully, resting her hoof on his leg.

Firestorm straightened his leg. “Ah, nope. Nope, I got it. Ah, that's better.”

Rainbow Dash settled next to him and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing herself into his stomach. “You know,” she said into his chest softly, “this isn't all so bad. At least I get to settle down next to you at the end.”

Firestorm's heart melted at how sincerely she mumbled it. He pressed gently against her back, pushing her face deeper into his chest. “I will cuddle you into submission!” He suddenly squeezed.

Rainbow Dash squirmed. “No! No, not the cuddling!”

“Yes, the cuddling!” Firestorm announced, rolling to the side and taking Rainbow atop of him. “I shall cuddle you until ya fall asleep in my arms!”

“You know what?” Rainbow said, suddenly and with an abrupt change in mood. “I'd like that.”

And she settled down on top of him and ceased all movement.

Firestorm, being extra careful to not move her, just cuddled with her on top of him until he felt her breathing settle to a slow inhale and exhale. He smiled softly, leaned forward, and kissed her on the forehead, and when he finished he set his head back down on the pillow of rags. “I love you,” he whispered. He ruffled her limp mane and gathered some of it into a clump, which he then straightened out.

Rainbow Dash was already asleep.

Firestorm noticed this and rolled his eyes. “Here's the part where you say ‘I love you too.’”

Rainbow Dash made no answer.

“I love you too, Firestorm!” he mimicked in Rainbow Dash's voice, fluttering his eyelashes. “You're so charismatic... and good at voice impressions.”

Nopony was around to laugh. Firestorm eventually contented himself with the weight of Rainbow Dash on his stomach, and after he basked in her aroma for a length of time he didn't measure, he joined her in the world of sleep.

The city was in chaos. The dilapidated state of Griffonstone didn’t add relief to the panic that had set in only a few hours ago, when a delivery griffon called Gabby had flown to the base of Griffonstone and spotted a large black mass of terrible monsters at the base of the trees around the mountain. Gabby had panicked and flew back up to report it to her hometown.

Eventually, by the end of the day, the entire city had heard about it, and a thousand griffon volunteers had joined together to take up arms.

The volunteers, young and old, male and female, had gathered at the southern end of the mountain of Griffonstone, inches from the edge. Three thousand feet directly beneath them was the invasion force of black, dirty insects. The day was clear but cold, and the wind whipped at their feathers in gusts of power.

An old and gnarled shape entered their field of view, and some griffons clutched their spears apprehensively before recognizing it as an elderly griffon named Gregor, who had a bad wing in his old age. Gregor landed and instantly clutched his wing with a wince.

“How many are there?” a griffon with a glass eye demanded intrusively.

“Less than us,” Gregor moaned, stumbling off to the side and taking his place among the rest of the volunteers. “We oughta be fine.”

“How close did you get before they saw you?” another griffon asked.

“Close enough for me to take a good long look at them.”

“What did they look like?” Grampa Guff, the griffon with the glass eye, continued.

“Big, black, and ugly. Giant bugs with spikes and weapons and metal welded to their bodies.”

That got everyone substantially worried.

“Why didn't anyone see them coming before it was too late?” came a random question.

“Yeah! Why didn't Celestia warn us about these guys? Celestia’s supposed to know everything!” came the random response.

“Oh, shut up! Celestia didn't care about us before, and she still doesn’t now. We were well enough off without her, anyway. We can get rid of these creepy crawly things ourselves!” Grampa Gruff snapped. He gripped his measly wooden spear tighter and stared ruefully at the black mass thousands of feet below him. “Hey, Gregor! You, buddy! Ya made ‘em angry, didn'cha? Made ‘em notice you with that heavy flapping and breathing and groaning, eh? What kinda scout are ya?”

“Sorry,” Gregor snapped. “Why do you ask?”

“They're moving toward the mountain!”

Every griffon volunteer leaned forward to observe. Indeed, the black mass was now moving slowly past the edge of the tree line and hovering towards the base of the mountain.

“Let's get ‘em!” a middle-aged griffon whispered excitedly. “We outnumber ‘em and we're on high ground. Let's wipe them out now!”

His exclamation spread throughout the rest of the griffon volunteers until everyone was nodding and muttering and drawing their weapons. Swords and spear tips flashed brightly and reflected the light all around them. Everyone's muscles were tense, and the same thought was on everyone's mind.

It was only a short time later before the dam of pent-up pride broke free.

“The griffons were once the proudest nation on the planet Equus,” a strong griffon said, stepping forward with three sword blades in his claws and tail. “Our wealth exceeded the dragons. We were prosperous and powerful, and only after hundreds of years did we begin to decline. Now is the time when we prove to ourselves, and to Celestia, that our power has not diminished or broken!”

All one thousand griffon volunteers cheered and lifted their weapons.

“We don't need any outside help to destroy this threat. This will be the beginning of the rebirth of our influence on this world!” He flapped into the air and held out his three swords in his claws and his tail. “One of us is equal to fifty of them, and fifty of us can hold off thousands of them!... whatever they are.” He said the last part quietly, but lifted his voice again. “We won't go out in fear! We will not turn tail and run from these abominable creatures! Let us show the world how griffons are the greatest creatures on Equus! CHARGE!”

A roar erupted from the ranks of the volunteer army as they all lifted off from their spots and flew down over the edge of the mountain. The griffons were a swarm of brown feathers and glinting steel as they swooped down and plunged towards the Noxxa on the ground below.

“Turn tail and run!” Grampa Gruff shouted triumphantly at the small black army as he rushed down on wide-spread wings. Oh, Gallus, when I get back home, I'll show you why we were so triumphant in my day!

They were only a hundred feet from the ground when a powerful bellow sounded from the sky, halting every griffon's movement and forcing them to look up in the middle of their charge. Flapping above the tree line no more than a hundred feet away was a tremendous dragon the color of old white bones, whose wingspan was longer than a house.

And if some of them squinted, they could see, on top of the dragon, that there was a monstrous white centipede taller than two griffons with the head of a dragon himself, holding a black sword as tall as he was.

“Wh... what... the Tartarus?!” exploded an adolescent griffon flapping next to Grampa Gruff.

The small figure on the large dragon drew out one spindly white arm and held it up in the air for several seconds.

Then he leveled his arm horizontally.

It was as if the world exploded. A war bellow louder than a volcano thundered from the tree line amidst cracking branches and rustling trees. In a split second, shadows melted away and sprinted as fast as they could out of the forest, in the shape of six-legged Noxxa clambering over each other. Thousands and tens of thousands ran out on the ground alone like the waves of the unstoppable sea.

At the same time, black shapes lifted up out of the top of the trees like smoke from the burning earth. The number of bugs in the air made the Noxxa on the ground look paltry and small. A hundred thousand Noxxa with dragon wings and curving legs and sharp-tipped claws buzzed as one gargantuan body out of the endless forest and shot towards the now-measly griffon force.

The griffons had been lured, and now they were caught.

As the numbers of the enemy blocked out even the light of the sun, and the Noxxa closed in with black blades, Grampa Gruff's last thoughts were of his grandson Gallus, and how he had failed.

He and a few griffon warriors were encircled about by demons and black steel. Everyone else had already fallen without taking any Noxxa down.

Then death closed in around him, and Grampa Gruff disappeared in the chaos and darkness.

The only griffon who was nearby to witness the disappearance of griffons into the swarm was a vivid blue adolescent named Gallus. He stood on the edge of a wooden branch with wide eyes and a sinking heart.

His caretaker had been among those who had volunteered to charge against the intruders. Grampa Gruff wasn't the most pleasant to be around, but he was shrewd and stoic for his age, and seeing the swarm of black demons envelop the group of griffon warriors, Gallus felt fear creep into his insides.

Please be alive, he hoped against all hope, rocking back and forth on his four legs.

But the cloud of malignant monsters merely absorbed the fighters and moved up the mountain. Gallus thought he could see a bubble in the waves of insects right where they had surrounded the warriors, fighting against the flood, but it died down and flattened out before long.

Gallus felt his legs tremble beneath his weight. He fell to his knees and drew himself up with despair in the pits of his eyes.

This was supposed to be a glorious display of power for the griffons. The day had finally come when they would have proved their independence, and in half a second, it had ended. Gallus felt himself trembling, but not in rage.

To his left and down, an entire settlement of small huts had been set ablaze by the black spiny bugs. He could see griffons driven out of their homes by the demons and instantly speared through the neck by their chitinous claws. Flame and smoke covered his field of vision.

To his right and down, those demons had trampled through the market square and had broken any semblance of a standing structure in their path. Bodies lay sprawled to the side of the street, lifeless and bloody.

Why am I standing still?” Gallus wondered blankly. My city is being destroyed, and all I can do is watch?

Before he could formulate another plan to action, something very large and white arose from the air under the balcony he was overlooking. Gallus stumbled back and fell down as the white dragon settled on the thick tree branch of the city of Griffonstone.

Gallus still didn't move. He had never seen a dragon before, one so long and disjointed and pale like bone. Gallus then jumped as he saw another dragon head on its back, just as white and stretched and fanged.

Gallus's vision blurred. Smoke was rising from all around his home, and darkness obscured the sky and blocked the rays of the sun. His lungs hurt every time he breathed, and he heard the snapping of flames and the cries of his neighbors all around.

“Oh, you poor thing,” came the voice of the second dragon head. “You should not have been born in this tumultuous time.”

To Gallus's horror, the second dragon head sprouted set after set of long, thin, white legs from behind, spidering out to clutch the sides of the dragon mount. The head rose up to reveal an armored centipede body. Across the monster's back was an enormous black claymore.

“Why must you look so terrified?” the monster asked, in a cold and clear voice. He slowly drew the massive sword from off his back. “I shall not hurt you.”

Gallus, in his absolute fear, scooted back and responded with his trademark sarcasm. “Yeah, right! What're ya gonna do, give me a piece of candy instead?”

The monster actually grinned as he held the massive sword out to the side, still atop the bone-colored dragon. “You are headstrong, but you lack conviction, as all griffons do.”

He stepped off the dragon and landed on six sharp legs, leaving four upright. He still held the black sword out to the side, reeking of the promise of devastation. He began to slowly crawl on his six legs to the blue griffon teen.

“Wha-” Gallus gasped, scooting back on his butt. Intense warmth scorched his back when he went too far, and he noticed a glow behind him, and Gallus knew there was a burning hut right behind him. He went no further, but instead kept his gaze on the upright centipede, shrouded in encircling smoke and illuminated by the light of flames.

“What are you... doing?” Gallus asked, his heartbeat going a mile a minute.

“I said I would not harm you,” the draconic centipede calmly said, raising his sword above his head slowly. “You shall not feel any pain when you depart from this earth. It is a privilege, youth. Treat it as such.”

Gallus had a moment's decision fleet across his mind. After only a second of doubt, Gallus snarled, slowly rose up on his wings, looked up at Marshal Malice, and balled his talons into fists. “Not if I have anything to say about it!” he shouted bravely.

The last thing he felt was the sword cleaving him in half through the shoulder. The last thing he heard, right before it, was Marshal Malice's spiteful admonition.

“Oh, trust me. You don't.”

Chapter Fifty-one: Maretania

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Morning came slow and cold. The dawn's early light touched upon their outcropping in the wall, and it was blinding, even through their tent fabric. Everyone woke up and stepped outside, rubbing their eyes and yawning.

When the tents had been put away and the packs assembled, Pinkie Pie served up a breakfast of oatmeal with the last of the apples.

“Is this it?” Spike asked bluntly, looking into his shallow bowl.

“Ah'm afraid so,” Applejack said. “We're runnin’ low on supplies.”

“How long can we survive on the road with what we have?” Noble Blade asked, a serious look on his face.

“Weeelll,” Pinkie said, doing calculations in the air with a hoof. For some reason, red dotted lines followed her hoof movements. “Let's see, four days or so on the road, take the supplies we had at the beginning, minus the stuff we ate, carry the three, find the derivative, and calculate the slope of the exponential graph…” Pinkie stopped abruptly.

“...What are you trying to say?” Rainbow Dash asked nervously.

“Three days,” Pinkie dramatically whispered. She turned around and clenched a hoof. “We all have three days to live!”

“Three days?” Twilight repeated in shock.

“Three days?” Rarity echoed.

“Three days!” Pinkie repeated in the exact same determined tone she had used before.

“I didn't hear you clearly before,” Firestorm said with a sly smile. “Did you say three days?”

“Three days!” Pinkie repeated.

“Okay, it's three days!” Rainbow irritably shouted. “Can we get off this now?”

“How are we going to get more food?” Starlight asked in concern.

“I could get some of my animal friends to gather some plants and seeds,” Fluttershy volunteered.

“Let's just kill some game and not complain,” Freedom Fighter said carelessly.

Fluttershy looked aghast, and Applejack set her own bowl down. “Ah hope ya know this, but... we don't normally eat meat.”

“This isn't normal circumstances, is it? I've eaten meat before.”

“You have?” Pinkie asked in surprise.

“Of course. You saw it in my memories. The Noxxa are masters of questionable rations. When you've been driven to the edge of sanity like I have, you do some inexplicable things to survive.”

“Well, we won’t have to reach that point anytime soon, will we?”

“Depends on how long you can hold out,” Freedom Fighter muttered.

After that cheerful declaration, breakfast began to be put away. Within the hour they were all on the road again.

The winding red road descended in altitude, and as it dropped, the faded vegetation grew thin and the road became rocky. By late morning they could easily see the ocean. By lunchtime, the smell of salt and rotting seaweed reached their noses, and the red road had turned into a sandy path.

Their spirits were high when they came to the sandy path. It indicated the nearby seashore, and signs of previous civilization were present on the road. Blocky road markers adorned the sides, crumpled into pebbles. Ramshackle huts lay in disrepair on side paths, long abandoned and forgotten. The further they walked, the more decrepit they looked.

It was almost three o'clock in the afternoon by the time the Ten Souls arrived at the forsaken gate to the crumbling city of Maretania.

The entry itself was twenty feet high and made out of fading grey limestone. The metallic gates of the abandoned archway were rusted down to thin brittle bars of brown iron. Starlight Glimmer made short work of the obstacle by blasting it out of the way, revealing the destitute trading port beyond.

Maretania was small, and haggard by any standard. The shacks were made of straw and rotting wood, the cobblestones were cracked and popping out, and garbage littered the overgrown streets. The city was split in half by a river that was now the color of chocolate, which ran for three miles before they saw its source: the ocean, which was no longer pristine or blue. Debris floated in both the river and the far-off harbor. Houses had collapsed into stumps over time and erosion. The air was pungent with salt, rotting seaweed, old wood, and garbage. Every color in the city was faded and had a grey hue to it.

The group traveled in one clump into the city. It was an abandoned and scary place, and nopony trusted each other enough to get lost in the sprawling and broken town.

Starlight Glimmer held up the yellowed map with her magic. “So we're finally here. Now what?”

Noble Blade firmly said, “We do what Star Swirl instructed of us--enter the catacombs.”

“Except, yunnow, where's the entrance?” Applejack asked.

“That's where we're stuck, I guess,” Pinkie said. She broke away from the group and disappeared behind a nearby hut. “It's not here!” Then she instantly appeared across the street from an old barrel. “Or here!” She then went back into the barrel and inexplicably popped out from a deep pothole in the road. “Or here!”

“What if it's under the canal?” Firestorm asked, pointing at the stagnant brown river. “If it is, I call not jumping in first.” He gave a few glances into several side alleys and shuddered. “Oh, this is freaky. I'll feel a lot better when we're all out of this ruin.”

“There should be a hidden entrance somewhere major in the city,” Twilight mused. She seemed to be more alert and mindful than on the road over the past week. “Like in the sewers.”

“Oh, please don’t talk about us going into the sewers,” Rarity moaned.

Spike laid his hand on her back. “Don't worry, Rarity. I'll protect you from anything in there!”

“Oh, Spike, you're such a gentlecolt, but what are you going to do against mold and musty air and bad smells?”

“Uh…” Spike thought for a moment before clapping his hands together. “I'll just tell Twilight to keep a bubble around you while we're in the catacombs!”

“Spike?” Twilight's voice was heavy. “Don't.”

The dragon chuckled nervously. “Y-yeah, sure! I was joking!”

After they had walked for fifteen minutes they reached the center of the town. It was a large roundabout with old shops around the perimeter of the circle. Built directly on top of a wide stone bridge spanning the murky river, it was the most logical crossing point for all trade in the city. Now there were fallen branches and old moss over the buildings. The smell became even more pervasive, and the grime on the floor was an inch thick.

“Ew!” Rainbow Dash lifted up a dripping green hoof and stuck her tongue out. “Eeew!”

“Delicious,” Freedom Fighter muttered.

“No, it's not!” Freedom Fighter exclaimed.

“Oh, shut up,” he told himself. “What do you know about tasting stuff anyway?”

“You guys?” Fluttershy whispered, pointing her hoof. “What's that?”

Everyone turned their head to see what Fluttershy was talking about. In the center of the town square was a large ashen-grey statue, atop a slanted pedestal, of an upraised unicorn firing a stone beam down upon a writhing creature whose features were indistinguishable. The unicorn wasn't recognizable on his own, but if the pointed hat and cape weren’t enough to distinguish him, it was the thin but cloudy beard beginning to wreath his face.

“It's Star Swirl the Bearded!” Twilight cried, and sped past the rest of the other ponies and raced to the statue, keeping her gaze upon him the entire time.

When she reached the statue, Twilight inspected it closer. Around the pedestal base was a series of small holes indented in the ground, evenly spread out so it looked like a dotted halo surrounding the monument. Each hole had a strip of color surrounding the rim. From pink to pale yellow, from blue to white to pale purple, each color was familiar to Twilight.

Twilight fit her hoof into a dark orange one experimentally. Nothing seemed to happen. Spotting a purple-rimmed one, Twilight decided to use that one instead, and snugly fit her hoof into the hole.

A small but distinguished whine suddenly sounded from the monument.

Twilight hurriedly took her hoof out of the small pit, igniting her horn for signs of trouble, but the whining noise subsided until all was silent.

“Was that you?” Firestorm asked Twilight from far away.

“I...I think so,” Twilight doubtfully confirmed, putting her hoof back into the purple hole around the pedestal.

The monument to Star Swirl began charging again, and this time the rest of the party gathered around intently.

“What does this mean?” Rarity asked in wonder, moving to a random hole around the pedestal and probing it.

“The monument must have batteries in it!” Pinkie shot out.

Twilight began to bob her head as she slowly counted the number of holes around the monument of Star Swirl. Twilight suddenly stopped when the final count reached ten.

Twilight took her hoof out of the small hole again, and the whine subsided.

“Girls?” Twilight said in that certain tone she used when she had a surge of inspiration. “This is the entrance to the catacombs.”

Voices, overlapping and protesting, arose at once.

“What do you mean?”

“This doesn't look like an entrance at all!”

“There’s no way we can enter the catacombs from here!”

“But what if there is? That would be the intent, right?”

“What if this is a dead end?”

“LOOK!” Twilight shouted over the din, and the sound died down. “This is the only obvious way. Star Swirl said that he had hidden an Element of Harmony underneath Maretania, didn't he?”

Is that the candlestick he used to light the way when he was exploring the caverns of Maretania?

Twilight reeled her head as she remembered the quote from her day with Cadence before it had been interrupted by a sick Discord. It came to her in the moment of her speech, and as it came Twilight became even more assured. Star Swirl himself had explored and scoured the catacombs underneath the city. But what if... the reason he did it... was to discover an Element of Harmony?

Twilight tried to keep on her original thoughts. “Star Swirl would have wanted only those who would possess the Elements to find it. How else to do it…” Twilight put her hoof in the purple hole again, and the statue began again to power up. “but to disguise the entrance in plain sight... waiting for those who he meant to find it!”

Applejack got it first. “So if we all put our hooves inta these here holes, they'll recognize our touch and the entrance will open?”

“I assume so, yes.”

“That might be also how it's been prevented from opening accidentally,” Firestorm offered. “If it'll recognize our touch alone, then the chambers below would never offer up its treasures to the wrong pony.”

“Yes,” Noble said slowly. “That's... what we just said.”

“I was trying to sound smart!” he protested.

One by one, each pony stuck their front hoof into an indent around the statue. With each hoof, the whining in the center of the pedestal rose to a building crescendo. Eventually, only Freedom Fighter was left with an unoccupied socket, and the sound echoing in everyone's ears was tremendous.

“I don't see a yellow strip around mine,” he observed, squinting into the hole. It was a uniform grey all throughout. “Maybe Fluttershy got mine instead. Check and see, Fluttershy.”

“Okay,” she meeped, and stepped out of the hollow hole. The whining noise died down marginally.

“I don't think that's the case,” Starlight interjected. “Just put your arm in. The hole needs contact with your arm directly. That means no bodysuit, Freedom.”

Freedom Fighter gave a very ugly glare at her, but he unbuckled some straps, pulled off the hoof sleeve, and scrunched it up to his elbow, showing his scarred and pale arm.

“What if…” Rarity suggested slowly, “you use your mechanical arm instead?”

This time the glare went to Rarity.

“It may be the reason there isn't a corresponding color,” Rarity defended. “Yellow goes with yellow and grey with grey. It may be worth a shot.”

Freedom Fighter was about to let his thoughts explode at her. But then he relaxed and pushed the black skin over his arm of flesh again. “You couldn't have told me before?”

He then revealed the tip of his mechanical arm by pulling off the hoof cover and inserted it into the hollow indent made specifically for him. There was a faint click as it went like a key into a lock, and as Fluttershy stepped her hoof back in her own hole, the powerful whining reached a peak. The air seemed to vibrate with power, and the very statue seemed to shake as the ancient magic took effect for the first time.

Twist your hoof in the hole, came a voice in Freedom Fighter’s head.

“Why the heck should I do that?” he muttered back, unheard over the roaring noise in their ears.

“That… wasn't me,” the other voice said, unnerved.

“Well, should I do it? This is vital! I don't want to interrupt this!”

“Sure, go ahead! What harm could it do?”

Freedom Fighter then twisted his hoof inside the hole, there came a small click, and the roar of power in their ears came to a halt. The statue stopped rumbling. The air returned to normal.

Slowly, after realizing what had happened and who had done it, every single pony leveled the same glare at Freedom Fighter that he had sent to Starlight and Rarity earlier.

Freedom Fighter, upon seeing this unified glare, shot a dirty look over his shoulder. “Look at what you did. Look. The heck. At what. You. Did.”

“If I wanted an editorial I would have asked for it,” he snapped back. “You always blame me for what you've done. Shaddup, will you?”

“We were on the verge of unlocking this town's secrets,” Twilight said heavily to him, stepping out of her little hoofhole and stomping over to him. “We were this close. And then you had to go and stop it all.”

“Hey, don't blame me,” Freedom Fighter defended quickly. “That wasn't me, I swear! It was him!” He pointed at himself violently, then, almost as an afterthought, said, “He’s got something personal to tell you, by the way!”

“What are you doing?” he asked himself panickedly over his shoulder. “Are you trying to do this?”

“Twilight's angry with you now. That's not comfortable for you, is it? Oh, it's clenching your stomach, how you feel.”

“I have Vinyl! I don't care anymore about that!”

“About what?” Twilight asked harshly.

“Ah, nothing!” Freedom Fighter hastily replied. Unbeknownst to either of them, a rumbling noise began to emanate from the center of the memorial as it began to rise out of the ground.

“Why isn't it comfortable for you now that I'm angry at you?” Twilight accused him, unaware of the opening chamber behind her.

“It's nothing platonically-related,” he said casually. “Because Princess Twilight is nothing more to you than a friend, the close friend, the friend that you want to-”

“Not another word!” Freedom Fighter yelled at himself.

“Um, Twilight?” Spike asked, tapping her on the shoulder.

Twilight ignored him. “Freedom Fighter, is there something you're hiding from me?”

“Yes.”

“No!”

“You're hiding something from me, aren't you?” Twilight flatly asked.

“How'd you guess?”

“No, I'm not! This, right here, is why I don't want you to talk when I'm around Twilight!”

“Twilight?” Spike asked again, tugging on her mane and looking over his shoulder at the open chamber where the pedestal was only a moment ago.

“What more do you have to hide?” Twilight pressed him, stepping forward, and Freedom Fighter surprisingly gave ground. “I thought that all of our secrets needed to be shared. What is it you're hiding from me?”

“If you knew,” he said, “you wouldn't want me to say it.”

“Because she'd already know it, dummy!”

“If this is about me,” the purple alicorn said, taking another step, “then you need to spill it. Now.”

“Twilight!”

“What, Spike?” Twilight all but shouted at him.

Spike jabbed a thumb at the revealed passage.

Twilight's mouth fell open for three seconds exactly. Her expression tumbled from demanding to shocked.

A few seconds passed as she blinked hard and leaned forward. Finally, she shut her mouth, but not before scraping off a fly that had settled on her tongue.

After she confirmed the entrance was genuine, she shook her head and whirled to Freedom Fighter. “Don't think this is over. Secrets are dangerous now, and the less we have the better.”

“You had some seaweed in your hair.”

Twilight incredulously gave him a stare.

“That was the, uh, secret,” he admitted. He took a step backward. “I didn't want you to think of me badly if I pointed it out.”

Twilight felt atop her head, where indeed a strip of green was mingled with her flat purple hair. She took the limp piece of weed out of her mane and flung it away contemptuously. “We’re going into the chambers now. But no more secrets. Got it?”

And she trudged away after another poignant moment.

“If that wasn't the lamest dodge ever,” he muttered when she was far enough away.

“It was your idea!”

“Shut up.”

“Ooooh! What a smart comeback! How will I recover?”

“Shut up-” the other voice started, and paused. He then shamefacedly replied, “One for your side.”

By now everyone had gravitated towards the entrance to the crypt below, and Starlight Glimmer was walking carefully to the entrance.

The light purple unicorn took the first step into the cavern. Chill air whistled into her face from the abyss leading down. A rude staircase descended well beyond natural light.

Starlight began to feel a sharp pain in her chest, one so great she had to stop and kneel down.

“Starlight! Are you okay?” Noble Blade approached the unicorn to check on her.

“There’s something down here,” Starlight barely managed to get out.

“Yeah!” said the blue pegasus who appeared next to her. “An Element of Harmony! Duh!”

“No, this is different. There's something... bad about this. I feel it. I feel like my heart is going to grow out of my chest.”

And indeed, the maw of the cavern did seem a lot less inviting now that it was pointed out. Everyone felt the same feeling Starlight described, that their chests were constricted in knotted fear.

“Fair enough. If no one else is up to it, I'll lead, then,” Firestorm volunteered at last. He pushed aside both Starlight and his girlfriend to stand halfway in the gaping cavern, yawning open to lure him in. He was trembling imperceptibly, and a bead of sweat shone on his forehead as he stared down the abyss. “You all follow me, and if there is something bad down there, I'll be the first to know.” He drew both of his swords, held them in his wings, and ignited them into flame, leaving him free to walk.

“I'll bring up the rear,” Noble Blade said, drawing his broadsword with a flash of blue magic. The glowing sword levitated near his face. “Freedom, stay in the middle.”

Freedom Fighter accepted the order without protest.

Firestorm, shaking in the knees, descended into the darkness first, and Starlight Glimmer followed him shortly. Applejack and Rainbow Dash then went down, followed by Rarity, who was scrunching her face in disgust at the smell that came with the adventure. Freedom Fighter went in next, after attaching a headlamp between his ears and holding a dagger in his mouth. Following him was Twilight, who was still eyeing Freedom Fighter strangely, and behind her came Spike and Pinkie Pie. Finally, only Fluttershy was left to follow the others, yet the yellow pegasus didn’t look like she wanted to budge.

Noble placed a comforting hoof on the Element of Kindness’ shoulder, causing her to open her eyes and look to him. Her eyes portrayed none of the warmness Noble was used too, replaced them was pure unadulterated terror, practically begging him to make the fear go away.

“I'll be at your back, Fluttershy,” Noble reassured her, lowering his voice to make it as soothing as possible. He stroked the yellow angel from her ears to her neck, and from the neck to her back. “Whatever comes, I'll be right behind you.”

Fluttershy leaned into his touch, and after a brief peck on his lips, she inched slowly into the darkness underneath the upraised monument with her boyfriend right behind her.

The instant he stepped into the opening of the catacombs, a grinding noise sounded from above him, and he whirled around to see the stone base above him descend.

“Hurry!” he shouted to the front. “The monument's falling back into place!”

Shouts and muffled exclamations filled the cavern as everyone began to push against each other, and Noble Blade managed to descend down the narrow staircase enough so the pedestal's base would not touch him. A hollow boom thundered behind him, and the world was plunged into darkness.

Then there was a ruddy glow down in the front as Firestorm's swords provided orange light in the narrow corridor. The four unicorns, Rarity, Twilight, Starlight, and Noble, all had a ball of light on the tips of their horns, and Freedom Fighter’s headlamp was tactical-issue and blinding. In this shared light, they could see that the walls to either side were chiseled out bit by bit, and reflected the light all around them into dull clouds of color.

“You know something?” Firestorm grimly said from the front of the column. Though the light was all around him, the shadows were even darker, and some of those shadows were across his resolute face. “We’re all gonna die in here. Hooray, you guys, yay, we won, woo hoo!”

“Just lead the way, Firestorm.”

He gave a sputtering sigh and held up the swords at his sides. “Okey-doke-loki, Twilight,” he reluctantly said, and started down the passage in half-swallowed terror.

The journey down into the depths of the earth seemed to pass without time. Pinkie Pie took to counting the steps to pass the time away, but every step was the same, and soon--or very, very late--Pinkie lost count.

The walls were undecorated, unadorned, blank but for the sheen that threw blue and orange color to every corner. Fluttershy could see nothing but the pink poofy tail of Pinkie Pie bouncing up and down. The air was stuffy yet cold, and set them all sweating.

She felt scared, naturally. Dark, cramped spaces weren't her forte, and the imminent danger they were sure to face wasn’t helping, but she took solace in the presence of the Knight Protector at her back. She knew that he would not let anything harm her. Fluttershy's trust in the blue unicorn made her strong and willing to descend one step deeper than before. With him behind her, she could take on anything the caverns could throw at her.

There was no noise in their descent except for the crackle of Firestorm's swords, the sparkle of magic from the unicorn's horns, and their hooves clopping on the wet stone steps. The close proximity and the stuffy air made a bad smell arise amidst them all.

“I wonder when this'll end,” Spike mused after he almost slipped on a shallow puddle of stagnant water. “All this earth above us is making me shaky.”

“Y-yeah,” Firestorm replied, all the way from the front. There was a tremor in his voice. “This isn't disturbing in the least! I'm cramping up already, but whatever! This isn't making me nervous at all!”

“We get it!” Pinkie shouted to him, and the shrill voice echoed in the narrow passage. “You're claustrophobic!”

“That's enough from you, Pink-”

All of a sudden Firestorm stumbled on something and let out a curse that caused some of the more delicate mares to blanch.

“What is it?” Rainbow Dash said, one place behind her boyfriend. “And can I say that word?”

“No more steps!” Firestorm reported, moving away to allow more mares to gather at the bottom of the stairs. The orange light from his swords grew fainter as he moved away, and so did his voice. “They ended?! Whoa!”

With a feeling of excitement pounding in their heads, all of the ponies soon found themselves in a small room lit by the lights of the group alone. Iron rings supported dead torches in the side of the wall, and where their light did not reach, only black existed.

“Twilight?” Applejack said. “Can you light those torches?”

“Only one way to find out.”

The lavender alicorn ignited her horn in a beam of violet energy and pulsed it. Instantly, orange flames sprouted up from every dead torch embedded in the wall, and everyone could see the details of the room. It was circular, black, and made of stone, and had only two ways out. One was the staircase at their back. The other lay in front of them.

“That's a biiiiiig door,” Pinkie laconically commented.

Embedded in the wall was a pair of double doors several times higher than the average pony. There were elaborate flames carved into the solid stone, and they were inlaid with solid gold. Around the edges were prancing figures with disproportionate limbs. The doors were sealed by a golden circle in the middle with a scarlet ruby bigger than Spike.

“Oh, my stars and garters!” Rarity gasped when she saw the massive jewel. “Could you imagine how many chiffons I could make with that ruby alone?”

“How do we get through?” interrupted Twilight, who evidently had more on her mind than jewelry.

“Look for a doorbell!” Pinkie Pie suggested. The perky pink party pony pranced to the seam between the doors and began to scan between them. Then she drew herself up. “Ah-ha! I know!”

Pulling out a pizza box from her mane, she knocked on the flame-decorated doors three times. “Helloooo! Did someone order pizza? Come and get it!” After a moment she added, “You don't have to tip me or anything!”

Applejack was squinting above the twin doors. “There's some kinda writin’ over the entrance,” she pointed out.

That was the remark that got everyone's attention, and everypony looked up curiously.

Engraved on a small stone banner above the door were several deep black glyphs. They were archaic symbols, deep, jagged, and black. They gave off a sinister aura, cold and sharp to the senses.

Firestorm shuddered when he laid eyes upon them. They looked so alien and dark that his heart dropped into his stomach. His head began to feel woozy from his dark surroundings and his fear of the ominous glyphs above the doors. He took several deep breaths to steady himself, pressing a hoof to his head.

Spike put a hand over his forehead to get a better view. “I-I can't read it,” he admitted.

“There are few who can,” Noble Blade grimly said. “Old Ponish has been a dead language for a long time. No one speaks it today.” He sighed. “A pity.”

Starlight Glimmer stepped forward, her gaze lingering curiously on the inscriptions. “Oh, I can read that.”

Noble Blade whipped his head to her. “What?”

“Yeah, I took a Diabolical Languages class in 7th grade. It was an elective. Why do you ask?”

“And they say electives don't matter,” Rarity quipped quietly.

“Well, what does it say?” Twilight urged her former pupil.

Starlight squinted up at the stone banner above the door. “It reads... The Portals... of Purpose.”

“Ohoho!” Firestorm broke into a wide grin. “I like this already!”

Starlight shot him a look but returned to translating. “That was the first row. The second row’s a little longer.” Her gaze fell upon the dozen or so runes above the door. “It says:

He who seeks to pass this door must first a riddle solve.

For the treasure lying within, you must have grand resolve.

What trait of every living thing, within their hearts, doth shout and ring,

But when it comes to be displayed, doth quickly disappear and fade?

Like a fire, it burns within, and to conceal it is a sin.

It clouds their minds, doth havoc wreak, yet maketh strong things out of weak.

‘Tis fake, but real; large but small; and you possess it not at all.

If thy first guess ringeth true, passage I shall grant to you.

But if in err you judge, my friend, the door will bar and thy journey end.”

The ancient words resonated within each of their chests, clenching their throats and tightening their stomachs. The door of golden flames shone a little brighter; the Portals of Purpose seemed to illuminate themselves momentarily. Then they died down until they stopped glowing.

“We only have one shot,” Freedom Fighter said, illuminating the glyphs with his headlamp. “So let's make it count.”

“A trait of every living thing,” Fluttershy whispered in thought.

“Burns like a fire,” Rarity added, putting a hoof to her chin.

“Clouds our minds... and wreaks havoc,” Noble Blade muttered.

“An apple!” Applejack volunteered out of nowhere.

“Of course you would say that,” Rainbow remarked off to the side.

“It’s tiredness,” Noble disagreed. Then he tentatively said, “Fatigue?”

“Passion,” Freedom Fighter said. Then he altered his voice. “Lust!”

“A PARTY!” Pinkie exploded, throwing confetti and streamers into the air.

After seeing the looks directed at her, Pinkie Pie pawed at the ground. “It's a long shot.”

“I got it!” Rainbow said. “A three-ring binder!”

“That's about the worst answer so far,” Freedom Fighter dryly said.

“Generosity?” Rarity guessed. “I wouldn't put it past Star Swirl to put an Element as this special trait we're looking for.”

“He didn't make this door,” Twilight disagreed. “It was here when he explored it for the first time.”

“Well, who did make it?”

“How should I know that?” Twilight asked.

“It has to be a trait we don't have at the moment,” Noble Blade reminded everyone. “The poem said as much.”

“So... being full?” Spike remarked.

“Cleanliness!”

“Laziness?”

“Goofiness!”

“Courage.”

“Apath--hold on a second.” Starlight gave Firestorm a strange look. “Courage?”

Firestorm nodded.

The mood of the chamber had changed upon hearing the grim statement from Firestorm's mouth.

“Look, I know that I don't have it,” he said shortly. “I've been scared stiff since I first stepped in this cavern.”

“Yeah, but you also went first, tough guy,” his girlfriend said. “Ain't that courageous or what?”

“That was false!” he replied. “That courage was fake.” He gestured at the glyphs. “I felt courage in myself at other points in my life, right before something risky happened, but when it was time for me to face the danger, I was scared. S-C-A-E-R-”

“That's not how you spell-”

“Whatever!” he interrupted Rarity. “Courage is mostly faked anyway. No matter how brave you feel, courage is never there. It's just bravado. I certainly don't have it.” Firestorm de-ignited one of his swords and sheathed it. “And yet... it feels so real to me whenever I risk my life.”

There was an alarming solemnity in Firestorm's words.

“Large but small,” he continued. “Fake but real. When the time comes to show it, courage disappears. But it burns inside us, all of us, and to keep it hidden is a sin.” Firestorm looked certain of himself. “What else could it be?” He stepped past all of the girls, looking to them for approval.

Applejack, Fluttershy, Spike, and Rainbow Dash all were passive in their looks. Rarity and Pinkie smiled, though Pinkie did so reluctantly. Noble Blade and Freedom Fighter solemnly nodded their approval. Finally, he met the eyes of Starlight Glimmer and Twilight Sparkle.

“This is my answer,” he whispered to the leaders. “I know it. Trust my... intuition.” He cocked his head. “Unless a better answer wormed its way into your head as it did to me.”

Twilight pursed her lips firmly. What other choice do we have? I have to trust him. But still... An answer from Firestorm? Did he really think this through?

Of course not. I put the thought in his mind. Have a little faith in me, will you?

Twilight almost lost her breath. That voice had come once again and had inserted itself cleanly into Twilight's mind like it was made to fit. With the voice came a warm feeling, and a small pressure on Twilight's breastbone.

Why are you here? Twilight desperately thought.

No answer came. The warm influence had disappeared, and so had the physical feeling on her breastbone. Twilight was once again cold and alone.

“Princess?” came Firestorm's voice, and Twilight suddenly remembered that the dark orange pegasus had said something.

“Alright. Go ahead.”

Firestorm's sun-colored eyes shone, but he nodded outwardly.

He trotted to the Portals of Purpose, and he stared up the flaming golden surface with a kind of fixed intent. “I have thy answer, O Portal,” he intoned reverently. “It is Courage.”

Even more shocking than the archaic dialect he used was the joyous bell-like sound that rang from the center of the door. The ruby embedded in the center twisted ninety degrees, and with an overriding creak, the two gates slowly opened outward.

The ponies all let out breaths of relief and began to make noises of acclamation.

However, the voices died down when they saw another door twenty feet beyond it, much less adorned and regal. It was wooden and small, and almost rude.

“...Did we miss something?” Rarity asked shortly. “That door is a lot smaller than us.”

“No, wait,” Pinkie said. “I've read about this! It's an ‘optimal illusion.’ It only looks so small because we're so far away! Watch!”

Pinkie bounced in three strides to the door, smacked her head into the low door frame, turned, and flopped on her face.

Pinkie then raised a hoof. “I could be wrong,” she muffled admittingly.

As Pinkie trudged back, Twilight pushed her way to the front. “Why is it so small?” she muttered, more to herself. “It looks so crude, but couldn’t we just break it?”

Freedom Fighter, overhearing her, snapped a single combat baton off his hip and twisted it. The bar of yellow light shone so brightly Twilight averted her eyes, and Freedom Fighter went past her and slashed the magical weapon on the golden lock.

With a flash of light and a burst of force, Freedom Fighter was thrown back hard. He bounced once before sliding on his back to the circular wall of the antechamber.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie rushed to his aid, while the other ponies were either looking at him or at the now-dangerous door.

“I think this needs a bit of fine-tuning, wouldn't you say?” Firestorm remarked while squinting at the door.

“Enough,” Noble rebuked him. “Now, the door is impenetrable. The only way to open a locked door is with a key. So this door needs a golden key to access the passage beyond.”

“Yeah, you're right, but we don't have a golden key on us, do we?”

Twilight locked up in place. “Wait. Yes we do!” She slowly opened the saddlebag on her side and drew out the thin golden key with her magic.

Firestorm stared dumbfoundingly at the key, then said, “Well, would you look at that! We have a golden key after all!”

“Where did you get that?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It was on Star Swirl’s body,” Twilight answered, and twisted the key to catch the glimmering orange light. “He must have intended to give it to me.” After examining it, Twilight went to the keyhole on the rude wooden door. “Even if intruders got past the entrance, through the catacombs, and through the Portals of Purpose, they would still go nowhere without the one thing needed to gain access.” Twilight held up the key triumphantly. “The trust of Star Swirl himself!” Twilight thrust the key forward without resistance from the door's magic, stuck it into the keyhole, and twisted it.

After a heavy click, the small door easily opened.

After rejoicing briefly, the party collectively examined the interior. The passage beyond was even darker than the corridor they had just walked down, and looked much, much more sinister. A faint whistling sang from the depths as wind shot out, and from what they could see, the walls were jagged and naturally formed instead of neatly chiseled. But above all, it looked small enough for only one to go through at a time.

Firestorm shuddered. The cold and his fear had something to do with it, but there was something else nipping at him. It was a feeling of direction. He could feel himself being drawn to the chamber like a magnet.

Firestorm mindlessly pushed his way through the others without regard for their position and stepped into the small corridor alone.

“Firestorm?” Rainbow Dash asked suspiciously, trotting to the door.

All of a sudden the door slammed shut, and Firestorm was cut off from the other ponies.

Screams of shock and surprise sounded from the girls, and from the other side Firestorm let out a cry of sudden awareness.

“Stormy!” Rainbow cried, pounding on the door. “Come back through!”

The door jiggled. “I can't!” he yelled. “It's locked from the other side!”

Twilight tried to turn the key in the lock, but the key was stuck in like it had welded itself to the metal. She screamed in frustration and twisted it harder, and with a small clicking noise, the key snapped off, leaving only a stump in the door.

The purple pony dropped her face in shock.

“That didn't sound good!” Firestorm said suspiciously from the other side of the door. “Am I in trouble?”

“Ah…” Noble Blade said, trying to keep his voice level as he put his face to the door to talk to his isolated friend. “Of...of c-course not. You're only in trouble if you're dead.” He paused. “Or if you've committed a major felony.” After another pause, he added, “Or if you've eaten expired yogurt.”

“So I'm not in trouble.”

“Not... yet,” he said calmly. “Just see where that passage leads and come back here when you're done. We'll wait here for you.” He put his hoof on the door. “Promise?”

There came another clop as Firestorm put his hoof on the other side of the door. “I promise.”

“Good Luck, Stormy,” Rainbow Dash whispered to the door. “I’ll have something special waiting for you if you come back with that element!”

“I’m looking forward to it already,” Firestorm said sensitively. “But I'd be content if it was just you. You're special enough.”

Rainbow grew a wavering smile, her color high and her eyes wide. She nodded, then realized Firestorm couldn't see that. “See you later, alligator.”

“In a while, crocodile,” Firestorm completed.

And then he quietly trotted away. Before long the sound of his hoofsteps faded away.

“We're in trouble,” Noble Blade whispered, dropping the facade.

Right from behind him, the Portals of Purpose swung shut with a ponderous boom. Darkness sealed them in once more.

“I'm sorry, what was that?” Pinkie remarked in absolute blackness. “You seemed to be saying something about being in trouble.”

Panic was taking hold in the heads of all of them. They were trapped between two impenetrable doors, in darkness, with Firestorm gone, and with no way to-

A crumbling sound caught their attention, and they turned to the cave wall with pounding hearts. A hidden stone section had slid away to reveal a larger carved stone passage, easily fitting all of them. It gaped wide open, almost invitingly, to welcome the ponies in their journey onward.

At first, the panicking redoubled. Then, realizing it would bring no harm, their pounding hearts relaxed and anticipation and hope filled their minds. The same thought abounded in everyone's head: there may yet still be a way to reunite with their friend.

With no verbal communication, everypony slowly agreed on what to do. Lighting their horns and lights, the nine ponies and the baby dragon advanced into the passage warily.

When the last of them had entered the dank and musty cavern, the slab of rock slowly moved back into place and shut with a crack of thunder in the quiet crypt.

Chapter Fifty-two: Courage

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Twilight Sparkle led the way into the bowels of the earth. Her violet light was joined from behind with blue ones from Rarity and Noble Blade. Their pace was faster, and harried. They all knew that Firestorm's fate was uncertain.

“Hey, Nobley Bladey!” Pinkie blurted out of nowhere. “Do you know what?”

“What?” Noble asked, having not heard the question the first time.

“Do you know what?” Pinkie repeated.

Noble raised an eyebrow, faintly seen in the soft, cool light. “What?” he asked, to prompt Pinkie to answer.

“Do you know what?”

“What?” he asked, confused by now.

“Do you know what?”

“What?!” he exploded exasperatedly.

“Do you know-”

“No, I don't know what. I don't know what what is because you haven't told me what what is.”

“Weelll,” she slowly said. “I think that Firestorm is gonna turn out all right. Of course he’s going to survive alone, in the dark, in a small, cramped space, with no contact from his friends! He'll be fine!”

“Sometimes I wonder if you even hear yourself talk, Pinkie,” Rainbow sourly said. Rainbow's mood had deteriorated steadily ever since they had begun to descend, and it was evident in her demeanor.

“We should have more faith in him,” Starlight urged. “He's a warrior, isn't he?”

“A warrior with claustrophobia and no backup,” Applejack added, but under her breath.

The cavernous passage began to open up above them. Their blue and violet lights began to thin out if they directed them upwards. The walls were smooth and carved by hoof. However, there were also pockmarks punctuating long white scratch marks. The air began to warm up, and the smells of mildew and guano were joined by rotten eggs and burnt rock.

Rarity was gagging quietly. “Such a horrendous smell! It's such a good thing I salvaged some Eau de Toilette.” She managed to bring out some perfume from her saddlebag and began to liberally spray it around herself.

“Girls?” Noble whispered. “Now might be a good time to bring out those weapons we brought from the Noxxa camp.”

“Is there something down there we should be afraid of?” Fluttershy whispered frightfully.

“Better safe than dead,” Freedom Fighter said before Noble could say anything to reassure her. He carefully dislodged the twin staves from his hips, attached them together, and slung it across his back to be used at a moment's notice.

The other girls all paused a moment to take out the crude black weapons. They had lain forgotten at the bottom of their packs for the entire journey so far, and they had grown rusty near the tips and had crumbs in the curves. After they had armed themselves, they set out in the passage again.

When the ground began to be smoother and flatten out, the passage widened even more and turned to the left before ending abruptly. The Nine Souls all gathered on the edge of the passage, shining their lights, beholding the sight below them, which robbed them of speech or coherent thought.

The passage ended half a hundred feet above the bottom of a cavernous room. Below them, barely seen in the pressing darkness, was the cracked and crumbling floor, and across the room was a sheer black wall of rock.

Firestorm took several more deep breaths as he tried to examine the path ahead. The walls seemed to be getting narrower; the ceiling was dropping lower and lower. At first, he could tilt his head upward without any issue. After several minutes of walking, he couldn't bend his neck up without scraping his nose on the rocky ceiling. Then, he felt the top of the tunnel pressing on top of his head.

It’s so unfair to be stuck in the bowels of the earth. How ironic is it that I would be the most scared one? The Element of Courage, buried deep in the earth, is only accessible by a pony whose greatest fear is being crushed together.

Firestorm crouched now and began to trudge his way deeper into the narrow passage. After only three minutes, his knees began to cramp and his thighs began to burn. The top of the ceiling was scraping along his skull and flattening his ears.

Now his claustrophobia was kicking in. The walls seemed to move on their own, swirling and contorting inward. Firestorm took short, panicked breaths and squeezed in his shoulders.

His muscles were cramping up, making pain shoot in his joints. His breathing was even more rapid and made his chest hurt with every intake. The walls above and to the sides were less than an inch away from his skin.

Get me out of here! Firestorm gasped in his mind. I can't do this! I can't! I can't!

Firestorm took another step forward anyway. The rock was scraping against his skin now.

Why am I still going? he wondered absently. I thought I agreed this was impossible.

He took another step. He was obliged to stoop even lower in the passage until he was on his knees.

I've got something special waiting for ya if you come back with that element!

Firestorm reflected on the words of his girlfriend as he squeezed another step forward.

I have to do this, he resolved in his mind. If only for that special surprise.

He imagined Rainbow Dash as he wiggled into the shrinking crack and cramped his wings even more. He pictured her lying on her back. Her rainbow mane was around her shoulders and dripping across her forehead. She was grinning and beckoning with a hoof behind her head.

Firestorm pressed himself a bit more forcefully into the thinning crack as desire burned within him. It was becoming very, very hard to press deeper, though, as he tried to wiggle deeper inside.

Finally, a defeated Firestorm wriggled his way back out step by step, stumped at what he needed to do.

Should I go back? he wondered. I did what I could. This is impossible to fit into.

An incredibly inappropriate joke came to mind, but he discarded it, thinking seriously.

I can't go back without that Element, he eventually decided. Rainbow won't give me a prize if I don't. He then remembered something else, and he flippantly shrugged. Oh yeah, and the fate of the world. Or something. Besides, I need to say I actually did everything I could, not just call it a day when I reach the end. I have weapons for a reason. He slowly looked down at his hooves, then sat back and pointed them at the entry.

Having both of his hooves facing forward, the dark orange pegasus twisted his hooves in just the right way to activate his dragon-flame-throwers.

With a whine and a click, two jets of flame shot out and melted through the rock to either side of him. Firestorm then directed the streams of flame to the rock in front of him. The sudden light in the passage was so blinding, Firestorm had trouble adjusting his eyesight at first.

After a little while, Firestorm drew one of his swords, ignited the flame on the steel blade, and, blinking hard, began to hack his way into the rocky cavern like a jungle explorer through the verdant canopy. Any ordinary blade would have shattered on the rocks, but Firestorm's swords were far from simply made. The sword’s strokes quickly shaved off the rock squeezing the passage closed.

Imagination can do anything, Firestorm reflected in amusement, keeping the picture of Rainbow Dash in his head.

After lopping off many pieces and leaving a trail of burnt rubble in his wake, Firestorm came to a thin film of rock wall. After cutting a hole in it, he pushed the hole out and stepped--and almost fell.

Beneath him was a deep shaft descending into infinite blackness. The only light came from his sword and from a thin ray of light streaming from just above his head. Firestorm examined the shaft with trepidation, then looked up at the dying sunlight entering through a crack above him.

He could leave. The free, cool, open air was just five feet above him through a thin layer of dirt. He could almost feel it blowing through his mane.

Wait a second, he remembered. This is a temptation. He examined the space above him, lighted by the stream of orange light from the crack above.

Firestorm took a deep breath to steady himself, then began to glide down the narrow passage into the bowels of the earth. Even though he knew it was a temptation, his desire to leave the cramped confines of the shaft was undiminished. It made his stomach ache in longing to see the inviting warm light above, and to reject it for a cold, clammy, cramped cavern.

After flapping in place a little way down, he sliced a rock away from the edge with his sword, caught it, and tossed it up the passage into the stream of light.

Nothing whatsoever happened. The rock just flew into the air, bisected the stream of light, fell down again, and bounced on the top of Firestorm's head before falling into infinite blackness.

Firestorm, miffed, rubbed his head as he slowly followed the rock's descent. As he fluttered down, he reluctantly reflected on his fate. Darkness enveloped him once again as he prepared for his next trial.

The nine ponies and baby dragon had all descended to the basalt floor beneath thanks to the flight abilities of Rainbow Dash and the powerful magic of Twilight, Starlight, and Noble Blade. In the sparse light provided by the ponies, each of them was staring up and around them in awe.

The area was in the shape of a ring. The domed ceiling vaulted a hundred feet above them, supported by four shiny black pillars. The mouth of a cave in the opposite wall was over fifteen meters tall and had stalactites and stalagmites at the entrance, giving it the appearance of some fanged beast gaping its rotting maw open.

As they all collected themselves together in the center of the room, they all felt a rush of air from the mouth of the open cave. A guttural roar rumbled forth like stomach movements from beneath the monstrous mouth.

Noble Blade instantly took center stage. Moving ahead of the other girls, he rose on two legs, attaching his shield to his left arm, and clutched his sword tightly in his right. “Freedom.” His voice was level but tight. “Stay back. Protect the girls.”

Starlight and Twilight flanked him, pulsing their horns in surges of magical energy. Knowing their prowess in battle, Noble did not rebuke their presence.

The rest of the girls lifted their ugly black weapons in front of them and tried to keep them steady.

Boom.

The faint tremor in the earth shook their hooves and traveled to their chests, rattling their hearts and shaking their resolve.

Boom.

The tremble repeated itself, but it sounded closer and louder.

Boom.

Something moved in the back of the caving maw.

Boom.

Noble Blade's sword trembled in his sweaty, rock-hard grip. The tall, dark shape moved closer to the clouds of light in the main chamber.

Boom.

A muddy-brown, taloned foot stepped out of the cave. Its other foot raised itself up and crushed the ground beneath it, bringing more of his body into the open.

Boom.

Each footstep brought the menacing creature into the main chamber. It was easily fifty feet high, and twenty feet wide in the torso. It was powerfully muscled in the legs and wrists, but it showed signs of emaciation in its thin skin around the ribcage and the collarbone. It had two bent legs with taloned feet, two bent arms with clawed fingers the size of logs, and a large, fanged mouth dripping saliva, in a large head with pointed ears, narrow eyes, and a thick forehead. It was a mottled brown color and reeked of rotten eggs and old flesh.

Rarity reached to the side, pulled a long, flat rock from the side, and collapsed onto the makeshift fainting couch. Pinkie Pie's knees locked together. With no Noble Blade to cling to, Fluttershy quivered so hard that Spike, frozen stiff, could see her body vibrating. Applejack took her frayed hat off her head in shock. Rainbow Dash uncharacteristically took a step backward in apprehension. Even Freedom Fighter seemed wary of the beast fifteen times taller than he.

Whatever Noble Blade's reservations, he seemed to swallow them as he took an awkward step forward. His blue sword shone like a beacon in the chamber.

The mottled brown creature finally took notice of the blue light moving in front of him and turned his glaring eyes down on the knight protector.

“Little ponies look tasty,” he boomed in broken Ponish. “Rolk think ponies foolish.”

Noble Blade halted. He gazed up at the awful creature with confusion and shock on his exposed face.

The creature scratched his ear with a sharp-clawed finger in confusion. “Hmm. Rolk thought we speak same language.” He parted his lips, revealing teeth like spearheads. “Is little pony scared?”

Noble Blade reversed his sword and planted the tip in the broken stone floor. He trembled on his hind legs, so he used the sword to steady himself. “Who art thou?”

“Who am I?” the creature bellowed with a spray of spittle. “Who you? Star Swirl not here! Where he?” He pounded the floor with a closed fist, on an arm so long it dragged on the ground. “I eat his head! I put him into fire! I crunch his bones! Where he?!”

Twilight, stricken with fear, tried next. “St-star Swirl?”

The name drew the monster's glaring attention to the purple alicorn.

“He sent us to, ah... meet you,” she explained, sweating down her forehead as she feigned a smile.

The monster puffed a breath out of two pony-sized nostrils. That seemed to placate him. “He did say that.” He put a sharp finger to his lips. “Ten ponies come to me.” He squinted at the ten assembled creatures, looking at the terrified Spike shrewdly. “One of you does not look like pony.” He let out a growl of bargaining. “But more or less the same.”

“Will you help us? We're both on the same side.”

The creature shook his ponderous head in seeming amusement. “Ha! Ha! Ha! Same side! I not on any side. I am the One In Stasis. The Rolk.” Having said this, he seemed satisfied in his answer.

“How do you know Star Swirl?”

The Rolk breathed through his mouth twice before answering. “He took me. Put me under earth to protect Thragya. He left. And he cursed me!”

“Thragya?” Rarity whispered.

The Rolk evidently heard her. “The stone. The jewel.”

Everyone knew what he was describing.

“H-how did he curse th...thou?--I mean, thee?” Noble asked, addressing him as evenly as he could.

The Rolk stooped lower and bent his head over Noble Blade.

“I cannot perish,” he growled in five well-defined syllables.

The ponies were all listening intently.

After a pause, the Rolk continued. “Centuries gone. I count year by year. My stomach empty. Once, all things were food. Now I eat rocks and mold.” He growled something unintelligible and spat a bolt of orange fire out of his mouth, melting a portion of the floor into glowing ore.

Everypony gasped or stumbled back upon seeing this.

The Rolk balled his fists and pushed them against the floor in anger. “I not need food, I not need water, I not need sun. Even flesh grow back.” He straightened his knees marginally, which increased his height. “I trapped here! Thousand years. Protect Thragya, left to suffer.” He made a derisive noise.

Noble Blade looked up into his narrow-set eyes, blacker than midnight and beady like a marble. “You... seem to possess... an unhealthy amount of intelligence.”

The Rolk surprisingly nodded, albeit in annoyance. “He cursed me with speech and called it blessing. Who I talk to down here?”

“He makes a good point,” Pinkie conceded out of the corner of her mouth. “I’d go loopy with nopony to talk to for forever.”

“That’s you talking,” Freedom Fighter remarked. “Just talk to yourself. I’m the best friend Freedom Fighter’s ever had.”

“What’d you say?” Freedom Fighter asked himself.

“Nothing.”

“Can we see... Thragya?” Starlight cautiously asked.

“No,” the Rolk refused. “Thragya mine.”

“B-but Star Swirl sent us, didn't he?” Fluttershy meeped shyly. “If w-we are the chosen ones... then wouldn't it make sense... for us to...see it?” She retreated back a step. “If it's okay with you?”

The Rolk sniffed in distaste. Maybe it was the talent of Fluttershy to tame wild beasts, or maybe he simply saw the logic in her words. But he reluctantly drew an ivory claw to his swollen wrist. Slicing it deep across his flesh, he then took two surprisingly delicate claws and pinched inside the wound. Blood flooded out in spurts, ran down his arm, and pooled on the ground as he slowly drew out an orange gem the size of a pony’s head. It was pinched tightly between the strong claws like he was holding a small bead.

As soon as the gem was out of his flesh, the wound began to steam and reseal itself like it was being sewn back together. Sparks flew from his flesh as it re-mended, and soon the deep wound was completely healed.

Freedom Fighter looked down at his left arm and flexed the hidden mechanical appendage. “What I wouldn’t give for that kind of power,” he reflected. "What more I have to give..."

“You see Thragya now,” the Rolk said simply. The flame-colored gem sparkled in luminous wealth. It was stained with quickly-evaporating blood, adding a ruby color to the fiery orange hue. “It precious. Only beauty in this place. It warm to me.”

“Warm?” Noble Blade asked mildly.

“Cave is cold,” he offered by way of mild explanation. “Thragya like fire in body. Make me happy.”

“I thought you hated this job?” Rainbow Dash spoke up.

The Rolk inclined his head, giving an irate glare at the cyan pegasus. “Stupid rainbow thing,” he muttered. “Only Thragya make me happy. Cave is black and cold without Thragya.” The Rolk held up the jewel to the faint light in the chamber and examined it with a zealous eye. After a while, he spoke again. “Star Swirl trap me. But at least gave something beautiful for company.”

The almost tender way the Rolk spoke about his sole source of beauty made the girls feel a pang of sympathy for the creature. The Rolk was even smiling--or at least, almost, since his lip structure prevented grinning. When the Rolk ignored the rest of the girls and rolled the stone between his thumb and pointer finger, the girls began to lose some of the fear they originally had.

When he was done admiring it, he gently held it in a massive palm and squeezed it lovingly. Twilight half-expected it to crush to glittering dust in the Rolk’s hand. But instead, he simply punctured a hole in his other palm with a sharp claw and pushed the jewel into the center of his palm by clapping his massive hands together.

Blood dripped from between his palms, but steam also arose from the crack between his hands. When he took his hands apart again, the jewel was back in his body.

“Well, that’s what Star Swirl sent us here to do,” Twilight calmly told him, keeping her own fright down. “Now you don’t have to be alone. Your job is done. We can get you out.”

The Rolk looked questioningly at her. “What you mean? You come to take Thragya?”

“Yes,” Starlight said, not seeing the silent hoof slashes Twilight was giving her to the side. “It’s a stone that will save Equestria.”

“No!” the Rolk bellowed. “Thragya mine! It only thing of beauty in this place. Small ponies not take it from me!”

“That was loaned to you!” Rarity objected. “It was never meant for you to keep.”

“Thragya mine,” the Rolk insisted angrily, taking a ponderous step forward.

Rarity was clearly out of options. Looking wildly to the side, she finally settled on a backup plan, and she used a shaking hoof to push aside a strand of her mane.

“Oh, o-of course,” she said, in a much higher voice than she would have otherwise used. “Such a fabulous gem would have to be trusted with such a...fantastical creature like yourself!”

The Rolk looked impatient.

“I can tell just by looking at you that Star Swirl gave you great honor, to protect such a jewel as that one. You, sir, are one of a kind in all of Equestria!”

The Rolk looked bemused.

Rarity adjusted her mane and spilled it around her shoulders. “Now, regarding that precious gem you have. It seems to me that you would look positively ravishing with it if I crafted an ensemble for you myself!” Rarity, hiding her flushed cheeks with a hoof, used another one to draw a picture in the air. “The tailored slacks would look especially well on you, I must say. I think I can get a suit right if I make the arm length waayy longer.” After an uncertain chuckle, she put his face in a frame with her hooves. “Now, I think I can craft a special carnation to put in that suit. And we could use Thragya for the center of the flower. After all, we want it to be dazzling. So why not take that ever-important gem and give it to us, so that we may borrow it for a time until your ensemble is finished?”

The Rolk looked confused.

Noticing it not working, she reluctantly tried another technique. Spinning an end of her mane, she lowered her eyelashes coquettishly. “And it's all for free, darling. For you, of course.” She let out her best fake-giggle, which was an octave or so lower than usual.

The Rolk let out a snarl through his mouth.

Rarity blinked, then timidly offered, “I could add in some... cologne?”

“I not taste pony in thousand years,” the Rolk growled, slowly raising his hands. “You tender. You sizzle and crunch in fire. You fill my belly.”

He shot his hand forward to grab Rarity.

Spike immediately jumped in front of Rarity. Tugging the yellow glowing staff from Freedom Fighter's back, he instinctively jabbed the end of the long weapon into the Rolk's palm.

The Rolk roared and drew his hand back.

“Hands! Off! My! Rarity!” he bellowed at the creature. The staff was clenched in one hand so tightly it was smoking his flesh.

“Hands off my staff!” Freedom Fighter retorted, snatching the staff back, but somewhat in awe of the young dragon.

The Rolk's burned puncture was already healing, however, and he was now infused with a monster's rage. He swept his other hand at the assembly of ponies, causing the group to scatter, and when he came up empty he roared in rage and pounded the floor. Great cracks spidered out from the craters his fists made.

“If you wanted a weapon you could have just asked!” Freedom Fighter cried, then drew two long knives from his underbelly and hurled them at Spike.

Spike caught both of the shiny weapons in midair and waved one of them in acknowledgment.

Twilight fired a blast of purple magic into the Rolk's belly. The monster howled in rage and lunged for her, but Twilight took to the air and began to fly like a circling jet around the monster, peppering him with little blasts of magic.

“Stay with me,” Noble advised Spike, sidestepping next to him. “We'll take him down.”

“Can he be taken down?” Applejack yelled to him, sprinting around the Rolk to trap him from behind. The wound in the Rolk's belly was already steaming as it regenerated.

“Let's, ah, worry about that later!” Noble called back to the orange farmer.

The Rolk opened his jaws ever wider, and his mouth turned red from a glow inside.

“SCATTER!” Noble screamed, holding up his shield.

The Rolk fired a stream of red-hot fire out of his mouth, and the battle properly began.

The darkness was suffocating. The absence of noise was deafening. Firestorm's breathing was shallow and hoarse. His muscles were cramped and sore.

When he had reached the bottom of the shaft, he found himself in another long, shallow corridor, but much more square and smooth. It was as if it was carved out with tools or molded like wet clay. Having nowhere else to go, he went into the small passageway.

He was now holding the fiery sword in a wing for light and warmth as he plunged deeper into the bowels of the earth. The flickering light made him blink hard as he advanced inwards.

It was bad enough to be trapped deep beneath the earth. It was somehow even worse to advance deeper knowing that an option was open to fleeing. His head pounded with the possibility of retreat, but every time his head pulsed with the thought, he forced it back down. He was woozy; his insides were churning. He felt like his head was in a vise grip, and his throat felt blocked.

Finally, he stumbled, dropped his sword, and collapsed on the cold stone floor, trying to bring his senses back to reality through cold shock. The sword extinguished itself, leaving him in sudden and suffocating darkness.

Panic was settling in, even in his woozy, unresponsive mind. His breathing became slower and slower as his consciousness hovered between reality and dreams.

After an indeterminate amount of time, a faint light appeared in front of him, and Firestorm weakly picked his head up.

“Stormy?”

Firestorm's mind was in much sharper focus now. “Rainbow? Rainbow!” he almost screamed in relief. He struggled to his hooves.

Sure enough, in a cloud of light in front of him, the prismatic pegasus was wreathed in the colors of her mane as she quickly galloped to him.

“Oh my gosh! You're finally here! I've been searching for you for ages!” Rainbow quickly gestured ahead of her. “I've found the way out! Come on, follow me!”

“Follow you?” he asked, picking up his fallen sword and sheathing it. “Wait, how'd you find me?”

“Twilight's freaky magic! Duh! Come on, let's go! Follow me!”

Firestorm tried to follow her and wrap a hoof around her body in relief, but Rainbow pulled away. “What are you doing?”

The orange pegasus blinked. “Um, giving you a hug? Oh, I know! You want a kiss instead!”

“Not right now!” Rainbow refused, moving away from her boyfriend's grip. “There's no time for kissing! Let's go!”

Firestorm was confused. The Rainbow he knew would never refuse a kiss from him. Despite impulse telling him to flee with her to safety, something was off about her that he couldn't put his hoof on. “Are you in danger?” he asked, reaching forward to caress her mane.

Rainbow pulled away again before he could touch her. “I'm fine! Just follow me, okay?”

By now a suspicion was forming in Firestorm's head. “Who are you?”

The pegasus looked at him like he was dumb. “I'm Rainbow Dash! Come on, don't play the fool here.”

“Can I shake your hoof?”

Rainbow looked uncomfortable.

“Come on,” Firestorm said, with a gleam in his eye. “What's so wrong with shaking my hoof? Are you scared?”

The pegasus scowled reluctantly, but extended her hoof and put it in Firestorm's grip. There was nothing Firestorm could feel. It was as if he had shaken thin air itself.

The gorgeous rainbow pegasus suddenly grinned a hideously obscene smile. “You didn't fall for me. Good.”

Firestorm felt a thrill of fear shoot through his nerves.

“Now, it's not like I've got time to waste on you,” Rainbow Dash said darkly. Her voice had dropped in tone. Black streams of liquid began to drip from her forehead and mane, discoloring her blue face and making her colorful mane stick to her skin. Her skull began to squish inward and sag on her shoulders. “But I can't have you advancing into that corridor, can I?”

Firestorm’s heart leaped into his throat and almost fainted in terror as Rainbow Dash began to melt and drip black blood from every pore on her body, turning her into a blackened, soggy, and filthy version of herself. It was almost like watching the juice being squeezed out of a fruit.

“Who are you?!” he asked, but his voice was so hoarse and high that he could only mouth the question.

Rainbow Dash smiled, but her grin had no teeth and reached her ears, showing nothing in her mouth. Black liquid oozed from her mouth and ran down her chin, splattering on the ground.

“I...am...Solaris…” she said, but it was not a female talking. No female could convey the utter harshness in his deep, dark voice. “Your...Eternal...Father.”

What remained of Rainbow Dash collapsed before his eyes into a floating, hideously formed mass of obscene, jumbled shapes. A cloud of darkness seeped from the center of the mass, clouding his vision.

“You shall never possess the greatness you deserve, mewling worm! I shall hinder you every step of the way! I hate you, my son, and I always will! You mean nothing to me!”

The voice was now Rainbow Dash's, but mixed with a malevolent, deep undertone that made his skin prickle and his stomach clench. Darkness gathered around the two of them as the shining light disappeared.

“Now face my wrath, and perish in the knowledge that you meant nothing to the world!”

Thin tendrils of thorny Plundervines spurted from cracks in the stone floor and coiled around his legs. The thin Plundervines were braided and strong, and the green thorns were three inches long. They slowly pulled the struggling pegasus to the ground, tightening around his legs like so many pythons.

“It’s useless!” the disjointed voice shouted, and it was so loud that it rumbled the world and made Firestorm quiver in fear. “Equus shall fall, and your traitorous brothers and sisters shall fall to my hordes! They will flood the earth with your blood and feast on your red, rotting CORPSES!”

Firestorm was leaking tears now from the sensory overload. Pain came from his ears and from his insides, as well as the thorns pinning him to the ground, digging into his flesh and tightening his blood flow.

“HELP!” he cried, wiggling furiously. “SOMEONE, PLEASE, HEL-”

“NO!” the demonic voice bellowed to him, and the black vines quickly twisted up his torso and wrapped around his mouth, gagging his breathing. Blood dripped from all over his face from the thorns. “NO HELP SHALL COME TO YOU, LITTLE PONY! NOW PERISH, AND ROT IN THE DEPTHS OF TARTARUS!”

Firestorm's vision was blocked by two Plundervines that wrapped around his head. Another vine spiraled around his neck and began to squeeze. Prostrate, unmoving, and slowly dying, Firestorm began to black out.

“SAY GOODBYE TO THIS FILTHY WORLD, CHILD OF FAUST!” the booming demon roared, and rocks tumbled from the sides of the cavern. One large one struck him in the small of his back, sending a shooting pain up his spine.

But one thing seemed to resonate to Firestorm. The name of Faust.

Helpless, blind, and broken, Firestorm cried out in his mind to the one being who could help him.

Oh, Faust in heaven! Help me! I need that Element! Save me! SAVE ME!

The very instant he cried out with his thoughts, the tightening vines disappeared from his body like the snap of a finger. The darkness clouding his surroundings vanished. The menacing aura from the evil who had almost killed him was gone.

It was too eerie, how peaceful it all seemed to him.

Firestorm quivered with fright on the ground for a moment more, then opened his eyes and gasped.

He was no longer in a narrow passageway, but instead in a large spherical room made of complete, white crystal. There was no way in or out of the circular room--no passages, holes, or doorways existed in the unbroken surface of the crystal room.

In the exact center of the room was a raised stone dais. Atop it was a blindingly white tree giving off flickering white flames from its trunk, branches, and leaves. The light reflected off the glittering walls of the crystalline room and spread in spidering imprints of light on the flat stone floor.

Firestorm blinked tears from his eyes and slowly, weakly, stood up. His knees were trembling. Blood trails existed all over his face from where the thorns had bitten. He gaped at the tree of fire in wondering awe.

Firestorm. Come to me.

The soft, beautiful voice commanding Firestorm had emanated from the white, fiery tree. It was as if the words hadn't even been spoken, but merely placed inside his head and given volume. The orange pegasus gulped and ran a hoof through his fiery mane before taking a hesitant step forward.

My son, why do you hesitate?

Firestorm licked his bloody lips. “Who...are you?” he shakily asked.

The white tree pulsed with warmth, and tall tongues of flame reached for the egg-point ceiling above.

I go by many names, but you know me as Faust.

Firestorm took a few more trembling steps to the dais, gently sloped so that he could climb it easily. Firestorm half-drew a sword and asked, “What about that…demon...in that passage? How'd I get here--who are you, really?”

Solaris desired to have you, my son, so he could sift you like dry wheat. But you had more courage than he expected.

“Courage?” he shakily asked, moving more to the dais and gently stepping up. His head was wandering and observing the beautiful curved walls. “I was weak! I keeled over quickly! Heck, if it wasn’t for you, I'd have died!”

If you know that, then you know who I truly am.

Firestorm paused, then nodded in acknowledgment. “I stand in the presence of Faust,” he whispered.

You were courageous to go forth into the darkness, when it is what you fear the most. You were courageous to continue for your mission when offered a chance to abort. And it took you a great deal of courage to call for help when you were beaten. Most ponies are lifted up in the pride of their hearts, but you possess great strength and humility, my son. Your cry for help will never go unheeded.

Firestorm was now at the top of the dais, staring into the depths of the tree. The flame danced and shone like a searchlight, but it didn't hurt Firestorm to stare. There wasn't even any heat radiating from the tree. On the contrary, he felt healed by just being around the tree and listening to the angelic voice of the Goddess.

You are courageous and resolute, my son, far beyond most other mortals. This is why I have appointed you to be the mortal bearer of the Element of Courage. Seek it in the flower at your hooves.

Firestorm looked down and saw a cone-shaped flower bud at his hooves. The flower was connected to the root of the glowing white tree. He kneeled down and, with trembling hooves, began to peel away the outer layers of the flower.

Once the layers of the flower were peeled all the way back, a large white ball of incandescent light floated from the center of the flower.

The angelic voice spoke: This is your inheritance, my son. Bear it well.

The ball then moved to his chest and began to glow brightly. Firestorm felt a vibration go through his body that made him go limp as a powerful kind of magic lifted him into the air, swirling streams of light around his body.

When he was settled back on the ground, Firestorm opened his eyes and felt something heavy lying on his chest.

Looking down, he saw what it was. A necklace of gold hung on his black-armored body. Embedded in the center was an orange jewel cut into the shape of an X. The same shape as his Cutie Mark.

Is this it…. It is!

He felt it with a hoof. The jewel was warm to the touch, like it had a life of its own. He felt a surge of power flow into his body upon touching it.

Firestorm had acquired the Element of Courage.

The voice spoke softly again: Go, Firestorm. Your friends are in danger.

Firestorm looked at the burning tree. “What?”

A creature called the Rolk was sent here by my servant Star Swirl to act as a decoy for any intruders. Even the Rolk himself does not know that the jewel he calls Thragya is a mere fake. Your friends are locked in battle with him over a mere jewel.

“Guess I gotta get to them!” Firestorm cried. He then looked around the confines of the room and noticed there was no entry or exit. Tapping his hoof awkwardly, he slowly said, “Could you help me out?”

I put you in here. I can certainly take you out again.

“Wait, wait, wait, where even are we? Beneath the surface, I mean?”

Faust seemed to giggle a little. Then she said: Does that really matter?

Firestorm conceded the point by nodding in defeat. “Just take me to my friends.”

And with the twinkling of an eye, Firestorm vanished.

The Rolk swept his arms on the walls of the chamber, sending a spray of rocks and rubble over a large area. Freedom Fighter, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity scattered.

The room had become chaos ten minutes ago. The Rolk was large and couldn't move very efficiently, but he was one of their most difficult foes yet. The fact that he was regenerative and could breathe fire made him exceptionally tough to get close enough and do significant damage.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash were flying above his head, trying to grab his attention, but the Rolk was more focused on those at his feet. Applejack was trying to entangle his feet with a length of rope, Starlight was slicing off pieces of flesh with precise laser cuts, Spike was digging both of his knives into the bone of his heels, and Freedom Fighter, protecting Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, was shooting bolts of yellow power from afar into his gut.

But Noble Blade was the main offense. He was both mobile and strong, not to mention armored. His sword was enveloped in a blue aura, and it was whizzing all around his body as the Rolk would periodically reach for him, then pull back once Noble sliced off his fingers. Right now, however, Noble Blade was running alongside the creature, trying to keep the Rolk's focus on him.

After the Rolk had swept the rock wall into rubble, he picked up a handful of the stones and leaned back.

Noble recognized his action instantly. “To the walls!” he commanded loudly, holding his shield in front of him while facing the creature.

The ponies obeyed quickly as the Rolk hurled the pebbles with his catapult-like arm. The shrieking missiles struck Noble Blade's upraised shield, clanging cacophonously like a broken bell, while the rest sailed past his head and struck the opposite wall, exploding into shards and flying in every direction.

When the onslaught ended, Noble Blade emerged from behind the shield, roared, and pulsed his horn with a flow of magic.

The blue sword floating near his head suddenly flew like an arrow through the air and sank itself to the hilt between the Rolk's beady eyes. While the Rolk howled and pounded the ground in anguish, Noble charged, holding his shield in front of him.

When he was close enough, Noble Blade nimbly leaped from the ground atop the Rolk's gnarled fist and began to sprint up the length of his arm. The Rolk furiously swiped at him with his other arm, which Noble leaped on top of next. Sprinting as fast as he could, Noble Blade reached the Rolk's shoulder, jumped to his ear, and climbed on top of his sagging and rotting scalp to the top of his head, fifty feet above the ground.

Noble Blade reached out with his arm while pulsing his horn, and the magic sword whizzed to his hoof. Reversing the blade, he sank it into the creature's brain with a spray of blood.

The Rolk collapsed face first, bringing Noble down with him. As he impacted the floor, Noble's cape jumped and slowly settled on his back, and the force of his fall shook rubble from the ceiling.

Noble, now covered in blood, drew the sword from the creature's skull, making droplets fling away from the now-red sword. “Stay,” he commanded the Rolk firmly.

The other ponies quickly gathered around Noble Blade when he slid off his massive head to the ground. “That. Was. Cool,” Pinkie Pie summed up in awe.

Noble Blade shook some blood off his body in distaste. “Oh, this is disgusting,” he muttered, sounding strained. Then he raised his voice. “I would have preferred to have talked with him more,” he lamented, turning to face the dead monster. “I didn't want to kill him.”

“I know,” Fluttershy whispered in response, sensing who the statement was directed to. “Don't think on it.”

Noble looked surprised. He knew that Fluttershy valued the life of any living creature above all else. So why did she have leniency in Noble Blade killing an intelligent creature?

“He was going to hurt us all,” Fluttershy offered as a way to explain, but her voice was downtrodden. “And we need to save Equestria. If you hadn't...done it...we would all be dead.”

Noble Blade nodded gravely.

A rumble came from the creature as it twitched.

“Behind you!” Spike cried, motioning forward.

Noble half turned, but the Rolk's colossal fist had already squeezed around him and was lifting him up. A crunch of metal came from his armor, and he roared in pain and flailed his legs.

The Rolk stood up slowly, dripping blood from the holes in his head, and was eyeing him with unbridled rage. “Stupid little pony,” he rumbled. “Rolk win.” He tightened his grip even more.

Noble Blade had dropped his sword, but he still had his magic. That said, he was not focused on using it when he was being crushed in his own armor. He struggled the best he could, but the Rolk held strong.

“Noble!” Spike cried, sinking both of Freedom Fighter's knives into the Rolk's foot desperately. He hacked for only a little bit before the Rolk negligently kicked the dragon away, and Spike went tumbling.

“Oh! Little pony in armor! Ha! Ha! Ha!” He drew a claw near to Noble's dull grey breastplate. “Shame. Rolk need to peel you out before eating you.”

The Rolk sank his sharp claw into Noble's breastplate and began to easily tear through his armor like a can opener. Noble began to scream as the claw opened his skin as well. Blood began to stain the outside of his armor and run down the Rolk's fist.

“That...does it!”

Fluttershy flapped up and sped into the Rolk's face with a furious expression, and the Rolk actually looked up curiously as she began to talk with outrage. “Listen here, mister! I cannot allow you to do this! You can act all scary, and mean, and you can hurt me all you like, but nopony--” Fluttershy stared the titanic monster down with a fiery gaze. “--And I mean nopony-- puts their big, grabby claws on Noble Blade!”

She screamed in anger once more, drew her fist back, and punched the Rolk in the nose.

The Rolk didn't even flinch. He simply flicked his claw, and Fluttershy flew back and collided with the wall, slumping to the ground and bleeding from her back.

“Shy!” Rainbow cried in alarm, speeding to her limp body.

The Rolk tried again to peel Noble Blade out of his armor, but eventually gave up and threw him into his open mouth.

“No!” Twilight cried, igniting her horn. The jaws of the Rolk were covered with a lavender aura of glittering magic, stopping them from crunching down on Noble, who was resting on the Rolk's tongue.

Starlight took initiative next by levitating Noble out of the Rolk's mouth and settling him down. Applejack threw the length of rope up and around the lower jaw, and held both ends tightly, keeping his mouth open. With both Twilight and Applejack keeping his maw open, Freedom Fighter drew back his bow of pure energy, aimed at the roof of his mouth, and fired.

A colossal explosion erupted from his mouth, tearing apart his jaw muscles and making what was left of his mouth go limp. Spike rushed around to his heels and, with two heavy strikes, severed the Achilles tendon. The Rolk collapsed onto one knee.

Rainbow Dash tore herself away from the unconscious body of Fluttershy and picked up two long, curved Noxxa swords, fallen in the chaos. “Hey, buddy!” she screamed at him, injured and steaming from his wounds. “Think twice about hurting my friends!”

And she sped at him, points angled inward for maximum impact.

The Rolk drew his head up all of a sudden and snapped Rainbow Dash out of the air. His jaw muscles had already healed, but not his teeth and gums, so Rainbow was suddenly halfway trapped between his jaws, which were trying furiously to crush Rainbow in half.

To make matters worse, the Rolk swept all of the assembled ponies aside with a wide circle of his arm, throwing them to every corner of the room. He then reached behind him, picked up a struggling Spike with two of his other claws, and took out Rainbow from between his teeth with his other hand.

“Rolk eat you whole!” he roared with a spray of spittle. He opened his mouth wide and threw both bodies into his gaping mouth.

Or at least, that's what he intended to do.

What ended up happening was a sudden bright flash of light illuminating the room as a shining ball, streaming divine white flame, appeared and caught both Spike and Rainbow Dash in midair. The comet settled both of them to the floor and rose up to stare down the Rolk, who was covering his face from the blinding light.

The rest of the Ten Souls blinked in shock and tried to stare at the hovering comet, which had a strange shape to it. Rainbow Dash and Spike both were petrified by the brightness and by the knowledge that the comet had saved them both.

The Rolk stumbled back in shock. “White fire! White fire! White fire!”

“Oh, my dude!” the comet exploded with a familiar voice. “Brah, you look like an uuuuugly freakin’ RAT!”

Rainbow Dash’s heart leaped in her chest with joy upon hearing that voice. “S-stormy?” she asked, staring at the comet in disbelief.

The comet’s brightness dialed down a bit, and all could see who it was.

It was Firestorm.

He was wreathed in divine white fire, emanating and pulsing from a strange spot on the front of his chest. His mane was flowing behind him, and his eyes were glowing white in power.

“Oh, my stars and garters,” Rarity breathed, holding a hoof to her chest.

“Well, Ah'll be,” Applejack murmured softly.

“You...look…” Rainbow Dash started. She then threw up her hooves whilst rising in the air. “...so...AWESOME!”

Firestorm's flame pulsed a little brighter like the blush of a cheek. “D'aww, thanks, Dashie! Now! Errebody! Where's Thragagagagyaywhateveryoucallit?”

Starlight, who was just staring at him, shook her head blankly. “It's, um...in his body!”

“Where in his body?” the Firestorm comet clarified as the Rolk began to rise again and crush a boulder into pebbles with a giant fist.

“Inside his palm!” Starlight replied. The Rolk leaned his long arm back as he prepared to fire the pebbles.

“Okie-dokie-lok--shoot!” Firestorm was cut off by the Rolk firing his payload like a trebuchet. Stones whizzed at the ball of light like bullets.

Firestorm's countermeasure was a steady stream of white-hot fire erupting from the spot on his chest, incinerating every last one of the pebbles as they came near. The fire shot forth like water from a hose and pretty much blew away most of the Rolk's face to boot.

Firestorm reached across his back and drew both of his swords, and the aura of fire they had was much longer than the swords themselves. He sped forward and looped around the Rolk's outstretched arm, slicing the arm into nine evenly-sized chunks all the way to the shoulder. The stream of fire looked like a coil of rope before disappearing entirely, and the steaming chunks of flesh fell to the ground.

Firestorm then sped and looped around the rest of the Rolk’s body, inflicting cuts with bright flashes of fire. Sprays of blood flew out and flesh was flung into remote corners of the underground room. In the space of thirty seconds, the Rolk was little more than a heaping pile of steaming flesh.

Firestorm settled to the ground, sheathed one sword, and galloped to the mass of flesh that was the Rolk's palm. Slashing the palm open, a blood-covered jewel bigger than Firestorm's head tumbled out onto the stone floor.

“What are you doing?” Twilight hesitantly asked. “That’s the stone he was protecting…”

He nodded. “Yup. We don't need it.”

“So wait…” Applejack said slowly, staring at his chest. “Does that mean…that you...”

“Yup.” He held up the bright spot on his chest which was dying down in brightness. “One down, three to go.”

When the light died down, everyone could see it. An orange jewel cut in the shape of an X gleamed on a golden necklace around his neck.

“Oh, my,” Rarity admired, looking between the necklace and his tri-colored mane. “Whoever knew gold went so well with your coloration?”

“I likey,” Rainbow playfully commented, tapping him on the chest. “You got some ice on your chest now, huh, handsome?”

Firestorm was grinning like an idiot. “I don't need ice to make me cool, Dashie.” He tousled her mane, and she let out a distinct but uncharacteristic giggle.

“Oh, my gosh,” Twilight breathed in a high alto. “I can't believe this! It actually is another Element of Harmony! Ooohhh~!” She let out a little squeal and began to stamp her hooves excitedly. “This is so great! Before, the idea was just an idea, but now--! Now we have the real thing for itself! Aaahhh!”

Freedom Fighter was grinning under his cowl. “That's adorable, Twilight.”

The lavender mare didn't care. On the contrary, she held Freedom Fighter by the shoulders and began to speak quickly. “Don't you get it? You're going to get one too! And Noble, and Starlight--it's just too much! Oh, my gosh! Oh!” She released him and began to ramble aimlessly in a circle.

Freedom Fighter felt his shoulder with his hoof absently. He gazed at Twilight speaking furiously to herself, then looked down and smiled shyly.

The rest of the ponies had managed to congregate near the fallen Knight Protector. Noble Blade was lying face up, semi-conscious, in his bloodstained, torn armor. When he saw Firestorm come trotting over, still weary from the divine power he had been infused with, Noble stared at him, then smiled and laid his head back with a sigh.

Firestorm hailed him with a salute. “Hey, Noble.”

Noble eyed him with a glance. “Hey, Storm.”

Firestorm looked over the long gash in his friend's armor and the long laceration beneath. “That hurt.”

“Yep. ‘Tis painful.” He grimaced and squirmed in his crushed armor a little more. “Is Fluttershy all right?”

“Um…” Pinkie Pie glanced at the yellow heap at the base of the wall which Applejack was reviving. “She's no worse off than you are.”

“Oh!” he quickly said, struggling up. “Oh, that isn't good!” A jagged edge in his breastplate made him stop rising and settle back down reluctantly.

“Hold on now, sugar cube!” Applejack called to Noble. “Ah think Ah got ‘er now!”

“Ummm…” Fluttershy mumbled as she awoke in pain. “Wha...what happened? Is the Rolk...gone?...”

“Fluttershy!” Noble exclaimed in relief, crawling painfully to his girlfriend. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”

“Noble!” Fluttershy called back. She weakly stood up and slowly limped to his side. “You're hurt! I'm so sorry for you!” she worriedly cooed, looking over the twisted shell of armor he was encased in. “Is there a way I can help?”

“Get me out of this,” he groaned. “I can't stay like this. I need to breathe!”

Fluttershy nodded, tossed her mane over her shoulder, and set to work.

“Not here,” Noble moaned. He coughed hard. “In the Rolk's cave. Right here is not the best.”

Fluttershy looked around the room properly and saw the steaming carnage of the chunks of flesh that comprised the Rolk, lying in pools of blood that turned the rocks black. She paled, swayed back and forth, and almost collapsed had Rarity not caught her from behind. Rarity dutifully slung the injured Fluttershy on her shoulders, and used her magic to levitate Noble Blade into the cave.

There arose a rumble from the center of the room, drawing everypony's attention. The mass of flesh that had once been the Rolk was now beginning to stir.

“Oh, come on!” Twilight groaned. “What does it take to kill this guy?”

“Come on, hit him with your swords again,” Freedom Fighter urged.

“I just hit him with the mostest fastest blades in the history of Equestria!” Firestorm protested. “What's it gotta take to-” As if an idea struck him, he glanced to the orange gem lying near his hooves.

The mass of bloody flesh rose on a half-formed leg, and his neck slowly twisted upright with several sickening crick-crack-cricks. His face was beginning to reform into some semblance of his proper frame.

“Foolish little ponies!” the Rolk roared with his half-formed mouth. “Rolk always win!”

Firestorm scooped up Thragya and held a quivering sword tip to it. “What's the point of winning,” he said for the Rolk to hear, “if you can't have this?”

The Rolk gasped in absolute shock and fell forward in desperation, shaking the cavern. “NO! Pony not kill Thragya! Pony stupid! What you do?!”

“Let us live,” Firestorm patiently said, “and we'll give you Thragya. You aren't that stupid, right, that you know you're in a situation you can't win?”

The Roll quivered with fear. “No! Please, not kill Thragya! Rolk not kill you in return! Please!”

“If I give you this,” Firestorm demanded, “you'll let us live?”

“Yes! Yes! Give Thragya now!”

Firestorm glared at him suspiciously, then threw the jewel to the Rolk.

He caught the gem between two claws and eyed it greedily. Then he looked at the ponies assembled below him.

“Ponies really are stupid.”

He gaped his maw open wide. Red flame began to build up in his throat.

Rarity emerged from the cave, igniting her horn. Noble Blade's chromium sword levitated hear her head. “A beast like you doesn't deserve Thragya's beauty!” she cried to him.

And with a pulse of her horn, the powerful sword sailed through the air like an arrow and pierced Thragya like an egg.

The jewel exploded into dozens of shards, releasing a yellow mist that quickly evaporated.

The Rolk's fiery throat cut off as abruptly as if it had been doused with water. He screamed in loss, staring at the shards in his palm.

“No! NO! NO!” He began to quickly piece them back together, but his fingers were too big. His body began to sag on his bones. “THRAGYA!” Blood rushed afresh from his wounds, but they were no longer smoking or healing.

He began to vibrate like a blurry picture. Orange power began to glow out of his eyes and mouth as he simply stood stock-still.

“...Everyone!” Freedom Fighter roared to everyone. “TO THE CAVE! HE'S GONNA BLOW!”

The ponies all rushed for the Rolk's cave, taking all they could with them. The mass of flesh that was once the Rolk began to harden into a clay-like substance.

Then he exploded.

The force of it rocked the cavern and easily blew apart the four stone pillars holding the roof up. Rubble tumbled from the ceiling and shattered upon impact with the ground, and boulders became dislodged and crumbled to dust, making the cavern rumble like an earthquake.

All ten ponies and the baby dragon managed to make it safely inside the relative safety of the Rolk's cave before boulders rained down on the entrance, blocking the path outward. The entire domed ceiling in the cavern lurched downward a notch, making even more rubble dislodge. The noise was deafening; the danger was everywhere.

Finally, the entire entrance to the main cavern was blocked off by a veritable avalanche of black boulders. Outside, the room collapsed even more, filling up the main cavern with rubble.

The Ten Souls all panted and wheezed in exhaustion, trapped in overwhelming darkness. The danger was now at least unaffecting them.

“That was you, right?” Noble Blade asked Rarity.

Rarity turned to look at the wounded warrior lying on an upraised slab of rock, and nodded reluctantly.

“That's...amazing,” he said blankly. “I'm proud of you.”

Rarity's reluctance melted away like the frost on a warm day. She simply smiled and sat down quietly.

“From bad to worse,” Freedom Fighter was saying. “Now how are we going to get out? The entire cavern out there is buried in rubble, so we can't just lift the rocks away.”

“We could…” Starlight started. “We could…” She paced in a circle twice before coming to an idea. “We could tunnel out another way.”

“This is solid rock.” Freedom Fighter banged his mechanical hoof on the basalt wall. “Ain't nothing gonna go through this.”

“That's not true,” Firestorm objected. “I bet if I use this baby like a laser, it'll work just fine.” He tapped the Element of Courage around his neck.

“You can do that?” Twilight asked.

“The Elements have individual power too, right?”

“Well sure, but...What if that power only comes when you express that Element you represent?”

Firestorm's face fell after a moment of reflection.

“It's how the human girls used their powers,” Twilight pointed out. “The rules might apply here too.”

“That's too bad,” Firestorm muttered, tapping the orange X on his chest. A small piece of paper dislodged from the necklace and fluttered to the floor. “Because I really wanted to-Hey wait a minute.” He picked up the piece of paper. “This came from the back of the Element.”

“What does it say?”

Firestorm squinted at the paper with deep intent. Then he looked up. “It says, “If you're reading this, you're too close.””

“Other side,” Noble prompted painfully from the slab of rock.

Firestorm flipped the paper scrap over and squinted again. He looked at the two words written there, then blinked in confusion.

“What's it say?” Twilight wondered.

Firestorm showed her the paper. “What's Mount Aris?”

Chapter Fifty-three: Equestria at War

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One week ago…

A changeling burst into the damp main hall and waved a scroll of paper at the insectile form upon the stony throne. “A message from Canterlot, Prince Thorax!” the deliverer exclaimed.

“Who could it be?” demanded Prince Rutherford, smashing the table he was sitting at with a single hoofstrike. Splinters flew into the air.

“Wallace think it from Celestia,” the yak messenger named Wallace proposed, giving the sealed scroll to his prince.

“How Wallace know this?” Rutherford asked.

“From Princess Celestia to Rutherford of Yakyakistan,” Wallace slowly read on the scroll.

“All right, all right,” Dragon Lord Ember tiredly said, holding out a claw. “Lemme see that.”

Garble gave her the scroll of paper and backed off slowly.

Ember broke the scarlet seal with a sharp-tipped talon and unfurled the paper. “To Dragon Lord Ember of the Dragonlands,” she read. “Your presence is required in Canterlot as soon as possible. In case enemies intercept this message, no further information will be disclosed, other than your actions may determine the fate of the entire continent.”

“Please try to make it to Canterlot by the end of the week. The potential of a recently unexpected event could result in universal catastrophe. Equestria requires your help.”

Blackbeak, a battle-worn griffon, looked wistfully out his window at the sagging houses that comprised the pristine white tree of the city of Griffonstone. He saw boys flying kites and girls playing ball in the streets. Then he sighed and went to his closet.

“Goodbye once again, Griffonstone,” he muttered, dragging a suitcase from its depths and throwing clothes into it. “I'm off to work once more.”

The word war evoked a negative feeling amongst all of Canterlot. War was bad for the upper-class citizens, as the focus of the country would no longer be on them, but instead on the common peoples of Equestria, protecting some outside threat. So when word broke out that a delegation of war would be held by representatives all across Equestria, the city collectively grumbled.

Without Pinkie Pie assisting, assembling the party took nearly a week, barely enough time to get everything done. The first of the delegates from the griffons arrived three days before any of the others, and the griffon ambassador had been watching the entire city get set up after the guest had arrived.

Three days after the week it took to assemble the ambassadors, and treat them to a proper welcome in Canterlot, the official meeting began.

In a large, circular, and gilded room in the royal palace, the three princesses of Equestria sat at one end of a circular crystal table. Prince Shining Armor was over in a corner, attending to his infant daughter, Flurry Heart. Prince Blueblood was proud and tall, next to Celestia. Rutherford, Blackbeak, Thorax, and Ember sat equally spaced around the circumference of the table. Finally, Scorpan was behind Celestia, robed and hooded, with his fist over his heart. Prince Blueblood was eyeing him suspiciously every once in a while. When Scorpan glanced back, however, Blueblood looked away nervously.

Princess Celestia started the meeting by standing up. “We regret the absence of the delegates from Saddle Arabia. If anything is keeping them, we wish them to come quickly. But whether they are here or not, matters must be brought to the table that require all of Equus to be present.”

Scorpan came forward and threw back his hood, exposing his horned, brown-furred face. The outline of his broken wings was visible behind his robe, and when the delegates of Equestria saw him, they all recoiled.

“Gentlecreatures,” Luna said in her dreamy voice. “Meet Scorpan, the benevolent brother of Lord Tirek.”

Suspicion was evident in the glances thrown at the ancient prophet. Scorpan noticed, but proceeded nonetheless.

“A threat emerges,” he intoned, thrusting his arm forward. “The Noxxa makes a move to plunge their black dagger into Equestria. They possess a fixed intent on the everlasting destruction of this land and the peoples who inhabit it.”

“The Noxxa?” Blackbeak said with a hint of ridicule. “I have not heard of such a country.”

“You should pay more attention to your southern borders, Blackbeak,” Luna said. “Beneath Saddle Arabia lies the nation of which we speak, isolated from the rest of the civilized world. There were only two times anypony from Equestria came inside their borders. The first was a mission ten years ago to reclaim a pony of suitable interest called the Unforgiven. Strong Heart, former head of the Royal Guard, spearheaded this expedition.”

“And the second came when my sister-in-law, Twilight Sparkle, was foalnapped and taken prisoner by these same monsters,” Cadence cut in. “It was only thanks to an elite rescue team that she was able to escape with her life.”

“The Noxxa have been a formidable enemy when they were on defense, but they will be even more ruthless on offense. This nation of monsters will strike back with a hammer blow,” Celestia finished. “If all of Equestria is not united when they invade, we risk collapse of entire nations and a genocide of which this world has never seen.”

There was silence for a moment as the message sunk in.

“Rutherford out,” came the gravelly voice of the yak ruler. “Ponies made Noxxa angry in first place. Ponies solve problem on their own.”

“As much as I’d hate to agree with a yak,” Blackbeak added on, earning a snort from Rutherford, “You ponies have made them angry in the first place. This is your problem, not Griffonstone's.”

“Hold on, you guys,” Thorax pleaded, extending his arms. “Let's hear Celestia out. We don't even know what she wants out of us yet!”

Rutherford and Blackbeak, who were both half-rising from their seats, gave reluctant mumbles and sat back down.

“If there is any time to reaffirm the alliances we have made with each other,” Celestia said, as calm and serene as ever, “it is now. Without your help, the Noxxa will sweep across Equestria and slaughter creatures of all races in their wake. We're not exaggerating by much when we say that Marshal Malice--the head of the enemy army--has innumerable hosts of Noxxa at his disposal.”

“So why not make a peace treaty?” Thorax curiously asked Celestia. “He can surely agree to at least hearing out terms of peace.”

Princess Luna shook her head. “We have reliable information from spies of our own. Noxxa exist for the sole purpose of the extinction of life. With an army of the size he possesses, and of the hatred he has installed into the Noxxa he commandeth, it is obvious what his intentions are. Marshal Malice cometh not to subjugate. He cometh to destroy.”

“Well, I'm gonna show him that us dragons aren't gonna give up so easily,” Ember boasted. “If any of these Noxxa come into the Dragonlands, they're gonna get roasted alive!”

“Oh, come on,” Blackbeak grumbled, drumming the table with his talons. “Can't anyone see reason here? The fact that he is as powerful as you say only makes it sensible to stay out of his way.”

“Yak hate to agree with griffon,” Prince Rutherford grumbled, earning a glare from Blackbeak, “but griffon make sense. In mountains, yaks safe. Noxxa not come into mountains.”

“The Noxxa will not stop at the mountains just because it's steep,” Cadence said gravely. “They would throw themselves against it like the waves of the sea until it erodes away--which they can very well afford to do.”

“Yak hide in mountains,” Prince Rutherford insisted.

Cadence gave a flippant wave of her hoof. “Then the Noxxa will invade Yakyakistan and butcher you all.”

Rutherford went silent for a moment. Hearing the Princess of Love speak so offhandedly made the room stop momentarily. Shining Armor gave an incredulous glance at his wife while holding a slumbering Flurry Heart.

“Yaks not like this,” Rutherford growled. “Pony princess threaten us?”

“Not threaten,” Cadence sweetly said. “The term you’re looking for is warning. When the Noxxa invade--that's a when, gentlecolts, not an if--they won't stop at killing only ponies. The Noxxa bear a hatred against all living creatures because of the choice we all made in heaven to live a free life--a life of choices and mistakes. Now, as a result, you have another choice, right here, right now. Either lay idly by as their forces invade our continent, who want to do nothing more than tear the meat off your bones, or stand and preserve your people, your culture, your families, and your friends. Choose wrong, and the entire world will pay the price for your negligence.”

Ember, Thorax, and especially Rutherford had looks of reproval, like if a mother had reminded them of something they should have known. Even Blackbeak looked abashed by the speech. He rested his chin in his claws and said nothing.

“The changeling kingdom is always ready to lend aid to Equestria,” Thorax eagerly spoke up.

“Thy enthusiasm is appreciated,” Luna encouraged. “However, all of Equestria must stand as a whole if we are to eradicate this threat. What say, Prince Rutherford?”

“Yaks don't like ponies,” Prince Rutherford maintained. “Yaks stay in mountains.”

“Is this what Pinkie Pie would have wanted?” Celestia asked Prince Rutherford.

The shaggy-haired prince parted his brown dreadlocks with a hoof to stare at Celestia. Then he began to shoot his gaze into corners of the room as if expecting the party pony to materialize out of nowhere. “Where honorary yak, anyway?” he questioned.

“Pinkie Pie is on a special mission to acquire a secret weapon,” Celestia answered. “If she is left hanging without support, she, alongside her friends, may perish.”

“What?” Rutherford exploded in shock. “Pink pony could die?”

“It is in the realm of possibility,” Cadence admitted.

“Would Pinkie Pie abandon thee in times of trouble?” Luna said in a soothing tone.

Prince Rutherford looked very shy all of a sudden.

“And wilt thou abandon Pinkie Pie in her time of trial?” Luna continued.

Prince Rutherford was silent except for his hums of contemplation.

Finally the large, shaggy animal nodded and gave a sigh. “Yakyakistan fight for Equestria. But because of honorary yak only. Understand?”

“Completely,” Celestia acknowledged.

“Blah, blah, blah. Reason has left the room,” Blackbeak interjected. “No one would even be in this mess if you hadn't poked the Noxxa with a stick.”

“It matters not if we had or hadn't,” Luna patiently said to the Griffon ambassador. “The Noxxa wish to conquer or destroy all life on the planet. Nothing we have ever done or could do will change that. If anything, we have prevented them from further mobilizing for a stronger attack twenty years in the future. They are less prepared now than they would have been otherwise.”

Blackbeak nodded sullenly, but still held a defiant glint in his eye as he spoke next. “It seems as though only you know of this enemy race, while the rest of the world remains hidden from their knowledge. What else do you know that you are not telling us, hm?”

“Geez, dude!” Ember snorted. “You're like a game of whack-a-mole. Every time a question gets answered, you pop up with another one. Just surrender already so we can all fight! Not keep fighting until you're forced to surrender!”

Blackbeak, after sputtering like an old lighter, pointed an eagle talon at her. “You stay out of this, fire-breath.”

Scorpan imperceptibly took his hand out of his long brown robe.

“Blackbeak, please,” Cadence pleaded. “Show respect at the negotiation table.”

“Griffonstone will not be a part of a wartime alliance with you ponies,” Blackbeak refused. “If the Noxxa make an attack on Griffonstone, we will accept your help, but until then, we will look out for ourselves without being drawn to your little crusade. Now-” He stood up from the table. “-If you'll excuse me…”

Behind Celestia, the gnarled and old Scorpan extended a finger. “Shak.”

Blackbeak froze in place like he had become a statue. He tried to wiggle his way out, but the spell Scorpan had cast made him immobile.

“I encourage you to rethink your position,” Scorpan said slowly, walking around the edge of the table. “Stay in this room for sixty seconds more, and your stance on this war will flip.”

“All the more reason for me to leave while I still can!” Blackbeak angrily responded, tugging at the field encasing him.

“Please, Blackbeak,” Blueblood eased him, speaking for the first time in that meeting. “Allow this... eccentricity the benefit of the doubt. Placate his ego by staying in this room for a minute more, and then you can leave without any hard feelings.”

His aunt gave him a questioning, almost disapproving look. But as Blueblood had not said anything directly offensive, Princess Celestia let it slide.

“Fine,” Blackbeak growled. Scorpan waved his hand, and the bulky griffon was free. As he rubbed the back of his neck, he pointed accusingly at Scorpan. “Fine. I accept your little challenge. If anything happens in sixty seconds to make me change my mind, the griffons will enter the war. But if not, our alliance with Equestria is to be dissolved.”

Scorpan nodded without emotion. "More like forty seconds by now."

"What, is there a timer behind your eyes?" Blackbeak demanded.

"The Prophet of Faust knows how to keep time," Scorpan emotionlessly replied.

"He can?" Blueblood snidely remarked.

Scorpan made no comment.

"Can we not still be ready to meet them in battle without the griffon's help?" Thorax asked. "The forces of the changelings alone are enough to expand your forces considerably."

"I did not invite Blackbeak here because I thought he would be useless," Celestia said. "Griffons are renowned warriors. There's a reason why they once had an empire rivaling Equestria's."

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, that time is gone," Blackbeak snapped. "Griffonstone is in disrepair. Our well-being must come first, and I am not inclined to give our country over to the disease of globalism, even to ward off a common enemy."

"In this time of war, we need everyone we can get!" Ember piped up.

"Whether war actually come still uncertain," Rutherford pointed out.

"Like we've said, they've been preparing for years now," Luna said.

"And they prepare for years more?" Rutherford suggested.

"Fifty seconds are up," Ember reported. The entire room fell into a tense silence.

At the fifty-five second mark, a pattering of frantic hoofsteps sounded outside the door to the chamber. The door banged open at the fifty-eighth second to reveal an out-of-breath unicorn courier panting in exhaustion. She drew in a breath at the fifty-ninth second, and a the sixty-second mark, the blue courtier delivered her desperate message in a shrill voice.

“ Ambassador Blackbeak... Griffonstone... has been attacked!”

Every creature in the room gasped. Even Flurry Heart.

“What?!” Blackbeak exclaimed in delayed shock. He whirled to look at Scorpan, whose face was as indeterminable as ever. Blackbeak himself looked like he had seen a ghost.

“Two dozen griffons managed to escape the carnage,” the courier shakily continued, scooting aside. “One’s here to confirm the message.”

In trudged a bruised and bandaged griffon, leaning on a crutch, with his arm and leg in slings. The maroon fur on his body was jagged and hastily cut, and his yellow eyes showed madness. Blackbeak paled and swallowed something sour.

“Sir?” the courtier prompted. He gently nudged the griffon. “Sir, could you talk? What was the invasion... like?

“It was dark,” the survivor mumbled, staring off into space. “And fiery. The flames, oh, the flames…” He shivered. “Bugs. Bugs. Black bugs. They killed…” He paused and sniffled. “They killed my friends.” His eyes were hollow and dark. “All of them.” His tone was matter-of fact. “Just stuck a sword through their necks. Blood, blood, so much blood. My feet were soaked in puddles. All I see is red. Fire and blood. Red.” He became more frenzied in his gesticulations and tone. “Look! Can't you see it?! The tree! It's burning! And there! It's...it's a dragon!”

“Gunther!” the courtier exclaimed, steadying him.

The griffon swiped him aside with a heavy sweep of his arm, and he collapsed on the floor. “No! You won't kill me today, you filthy pest! Run for your life! The Pale Rider! He's here!" Gunther collapsed on the floor and curled up into a quivering ball. Tears leaked from his eyes and soaked the bandages on his head. “No! No! No! No! I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Please! Pleeee…” He let out a wail of grief. “Spare me! I beg... don't! No!”

Celestia ignited her horn, her face displaying pity, and a ball of white light drifted from the tip and lazily sailed through the air before it touched the griffon's forehead, causing Gunther to close his eyes and fall asleep.

Blackbeak gaped at the war-torn griffon survivor in abject shock. He then stared at Scorpan, and his eyes went wild with rage. “YOU!” he roared, and lunged for Scorpan. Thorax and Ember restrained him mid-air, and Blackbeak struggled in his captor's grip.

Prince Blueblood arched his eyebrows in interest at the struggling griffon. A small smile worked its way to his face as he gave a sideways glance at Scorpan as well. Another ally could perhaps be formed here.

“Ngh! You! This is your fault! Yours!”

“Did I cause the attack on Griffonstone?” Scorpan sadly asked.

“No! You just-” He roared and struggled some more. “Why didn't you tell me? Who do you think you are?”

“I was as unaware as you were,” Scorpan answered with remorse. “All that was revealed was that something would change your mind. I did not know what it was. I simply had faith.”

“You little-!” he started venomously, but could not say any more. He lunged in anger once more, but Ember and Thorax continued to hold him. “I don't... you can't...” Reality began to sink back into him as he started sentence after sentence and failed to finish each one.

“Blackbeak,” Cadence assured. “No one will blame you if you’d like to take a few minutes to gather your thoughts?”

Blackbeak looked like he was about to spit venom at the princess of love. But when he saw her genuinely concerned face brimming with a desire to help, he relaxed his composure gradually. All of a sudden he looked absolutely miserable.

“Thank you, Princess... I think... I’ll take you up on that.”

Thorax and Ember let go of him at last. The abject griffon was now standing still, looking with pity at the unmoving form of the injured griffon survivor on the floor.

“Take me out of here,” he finally croaked, brimming with tears. “Take me out. Please. I-” He took a ragged inhale.

Without another word he spun on his heel, crossed the room, and banged through the doors. Those in the room could see him walk down the hall stiffly. A soft sniffle came from Blackbeak, and he paused to wipe his face with an elbow before marching on.

Cadence left the room to be at Blackbeak’s side. The rest of the room was left as still and somber as if they were in a graveyard.

It was at this very moment when a swirl of yellow magic appeared from a window, flew through the air, and materialized in the shape of a scroll in front of Princess Celestia. The white alicorn stared at it in shock for only a second before snatching the scroll and unfurling the strip of old leather binding it.

“Is that-” Shining Armor started.

“Indeed!” Celestia eagerly replied, scanning her eyes across the paper, which was old and tattered. “Word from Princess Twilight!”

“Well, don’t leave yak waiting,” Rutherford declared. “Read it!”

The room was dead silent as Celestia read the message to herself.

“No,” Celestia whispered, clutching the paper so hard it creased.

“What is it?” Shining Armor asked in concern.

“There’s good news and bad news,” Celestia replied.

“Good news first,” Shining Armor maintained.

Celestia laid the paper bare on the table. “The good news is, the first missing element has been recovered.”

“Thank Mother!” Luna praised loudly. This earned a few odd stares from the ambassadors.

“Element?” Ember aksed, confused.

“... and the bad news?” Shining Armor asked in concern.

“She and the others have been trapped under about a thousand feet of rock under the abandoned city of Maretania for two days now. Only one day's worth of supplies remain.”

Shining Armor's face hardened. “Princess, let me go to her rescue! I won't let my sister die under a rock!”

“She will indeed not,” Celestia agreed. “Take fifty of the best guards in the barracks and launch an expedition to Maretania by chariot. The rest of the forces of Equestria will rendezvous near the northernmost border in Manehattan and Fillydelphia. With Griffonstone gone, Marshal Malice will surely strike there next, and we’ll be ready for him.”

“I second this notion,” Luna added. “I shall overlook the training of new recruits to boost our numbers. Marshal Malice has prepared his army much quicker than we have previously thought.”

“My guess is his master overheard me listening in to their conversation in Tartarus,” Scorpan theorized. “He must have ordered Malice to speed up his regimentation after that discovery.”

“How can we help, Princess?” Thorax questioned.

“How soon can you move out?” Luna answered laconically.

“Three, maybe five days after I return to the Changeling kingdom. We haven’t exactly been focused on raising an army right now.”

“Yak always ready to fight. Yak send forces immediately.”

“Fiiiine, I'll send out a conscription for the dragons. It'll take some time, though.”

“Excellent work, all of you. Let us not waste any more time. This meeting is adjourned for now.”

K'ra finished jotting down notes from his spot in the ceiling. With his earpiece snugly in his ear, he was able to overhear everything the ponies and their allies planned, thanks to the electronically-bugged Prince Blueblood. The poor fool hadn't even known he was delivering information to the enemy! A true dunderhead if there ever was one!

As K'ra finished writing the last of his notes, he switched wavelengths on his spazzing homemade radio to contact Noxxa High Command.

“Status Report.” High Command's voice was bored.

“I've got a bounty!” K'ra greedily hissed.

Suddenly, the voice didn’t sound so bored.

Without delay, the spy relayed all of the information he had gathered regarding the alliances between Equestria and the other nations on the continent.

“There's one bump,” he cautioned near the end. “Equestria now knows that we attacked Griffonstone. We've lost the element of surprise.”

Silence came from the other end as High Command digested his words.

“How goes the search for the Elements?” the voice came back on.

“Princess Twilight and the others have obtained an Element, I do not know which one, but they are now trapped beneath a thousand feet of rock with supplies for only a day. Celestia has sent her brother on a rescue mission, but if my mental math is correct, she will be long dead before he arrives.”

“Where might that be?”

“Maretania,” he relayed.

A loud burst of feedback hit the speaker of the radio, and K'ra cringed.

“Maretania?” came a high, cold, and clear voice.

K'ra felt like a viper had hatched in his chest. It was him! Marshal Malice himself!

“Y-yes, s-sir,” he stuttered in sudden fear.

“Maretania.. .It's a small town on the eastern seashore. Easily accessible by a small force.” The marshal's pondering words made K'ra breath with more difficulty.

“With an Element of Harmony under their belts, they cannot be permitted to gain another. We must also obtain Twilight Sparkle. She is the one our... master... needs the most for his reign to be complete.” The marshal went silent as he pondered the information. “We’re not going to get another chance like this again. Let’s make sure this rescue operation is a failure. I will see to it personally.”

“But sir!” a voice cried from the radio. “With you gone, who will lead the army into Manehattan?”

Marshal Malice sniffed in the radio, making K'ra twitch his ears.

“Terror.”

K'ra felt like his heart was in his throat. Him?

“Are you sure, my Lord?” came the voice of High Command. “Terror is not exactly the most stable of soldiers. Without your sophistication and order…”

A choking sound came clearly over the radio broadcast.

“Terror...will keep you in line,” Malice snarled calmly. “Obey his word as you would mine. Whether it’s by my own voice or the voice of my servant, it is the same.”

His attention turned back to K'ra on the other end of the broadcast. “As for you, my little Nox. I have a special job for you. The Equestrian government is moving faster than I anticipated. Cause something to slow them down. Use your imagination. Just as long as it reminds them that this war will come upon them sooner than they thought.”

K'ra nodded with his mouth dry. “It will... be done, my Lord.”

“Good.” The choking of the High Command officer was still going on in the background. “I will not tolerate a half-baked job, K'ra. I would so hate to lose my only source of intel on the ponies...”

K'ra nodded uncomfortably. “I understand, my Lord.”

A faint tinkle came from the other end just as the choking noise stopped. It was the sound of trickling dust.

Chapter Fifty-four: Trapped!

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It was hard to estimate time in the dark and musty cavern. The only way they knew the time had passed at all was when anypony felt tired or woozy, indicating it was somewhere around nighttime. Between the times when they woke up and went to sleep, boredom reigned in the cavern, silently and skillfully placing them into the arms of hopelessness.

Oxygen was never a problem. There were minuscule cracks and holes between the boulders at the cave entrance, and when a pony would put their face to the holes, they could feel a chill wind tickle their noses.

Light was not a problem either. Whenever Twilight and Rarity could use their magic, they did. And the Guardians of the Sun had stuck their weapons into the rocks and ignited them. A cross of blue and two blades of flickering fire were always standing upright in their waking hours, and Freedom Fighter's long yellow staff acted as a giant glow stick in the cavern, which he carried everywhere he went.

Instead, the group had to contend with dehydration and starvation. They had already been underground for two whole days and during that time, despite rationing as much as they could, almost all the food had been consumed.

What made this problem even more pressing was that little progress had been made on finding a method of escape. They tried using their combined power of weapons and magic to destroy the rocks blocking the front entrance, but that only resulted in smaller rocks falling down to fill the gap.

After abandoning that plan, they tried drilling a tunnel through the rock. It was hard but brittle, and by the middle of their second day, they had a tunnel fifteen meters long in the back of the Rolk's cavern.

It was about then that Twilight resorted to calling for help from Princess Celestia. Using an old, ragged piece of paper and a quill from her feathers, she had scratched a message into the paper with a small pool of blood for ink. She had sent the letter using Spike's fire breath as soon as she could, but there was a feeling that Twilight's call for help came too late, and that Celestia could do too little.

To offset the disconcerting news, Noble Blade was making a good recovery. Between his bandages and the healing spell Twilight gave him, the long gash on his chest was sealing up and wasn’t leaking quite as much blood as it had before. However, he had to stay in a separate tent until his recovery was stable. Healing took time, after all.

It had taken a toll on Fluttershy, however. The nervous Fluttershy, who was already a light eater, dwindled her appetite to almost nothing. Her physique had become more emaciated. Once, she had insisted that she wasn't hungry at one meal break, telling the girls that she had already had a deep breath for lunch that day and she was quite full. The girls had refused her to stay like that, however, and had forced her to eat a loaf of bread that time. That was the dinner on the first day in the cavern.

On the evening of the second day, the group of eleven sat dejectedly around both of Firestorm’s fiery swords in lieu of a campfire. Hard bread, stale cheese, and half a potato each were what they had for dinner that night. They would roast something on the flames flickering on the steel blade, then bring it to their mouths and eat.

“We need a plan to get out of here,” Twilight simply said when her food was gone. “And fast.”

“Ya don't say,” Applejack softly commented. “We ain't got no food left ‘cept some cracked wheat we gonna eat in th’ mornin’. Ain't even no sugar or cinnamon, either.”

“Not a problem for me,” Freedom Fighter let everyone know, crunching down on a stale loaf of bread. “Tasting food isn't my strong suit, if you know what I mean.”

Starlight looked at him strangely. “How come you bring up subjects that make you uncomfortable?”

“It’s because I don't know what it's like to be comfortable. My soul is dark and cold inside-”

“Oh, hush it,” Freedom Fighter snapped at himself. “You realize other ponies just tolerate you, right?”

“Congratulations, you accidentally dissed yourself.”

“Dang it!” Freedom Fighter kicked the uneven stone floor, and a pebble dislodged and flew into the upright fiery blade in the center.

At that moment, Spike's cheese, roasting near the fiery swords, burst into flames. He yelped in surprise and attempted to blow the fire out. The consequence of this was that he blew a breath of green fire onto his food, burning it even more. He threw the impaled morsel to the earth, stamping on it hurriedly to extinguish the fire.

“Spike, I think it's dead,” Twilight boredly said.

“I know, I know,” Spike mumbled, picking up the burnt and indistinguishable morsel. He sighed and threw it into his mouth. As he bit down, it crunched.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was staring down at her food. The fact that her boyfriend could have died not days ago still nibbled at her mind like Spike with what was left of his cheese. The yellow pegasus couldn’t help but acknowledge the fact that she could have had to grapple with life without Noble, and as strange as it was, she didn’t think she could do it. It seemed like years ago that he’d swept her off her hooves, when in reality it had only been a few weeks. If this was what their relationship was like, what would it look like a few more months? A few more years? Had Noble perished, she’d never know. Even now those thoughts seemed pointless. They had already been trapped here for two days, bordering on two lifetimes. What was there to look forward to?

Noble began to take notice of his girlfriend’s hesitance.

“Fluttershy,” he whispered. His pale blue torso was wrapped in white bandages, and his face was speckled with light stubble. “I've eaten what I can. You can have the rest.”

“What? Oh, no, that’s okay.” Fluttershy shyly admonished him. “You need that more than I do.”

“I'm resilient, Shy,” Noble insisted, lapsing into his nervous habit of archaic language. “I hath gone without meals before. Thou, however, art more delicate. Thy strength mattereth more to me.”

“Don't be silly,” Fluttershy insisted back. “You need to build up your strength. Eat all you can.”

“I have eaten all I can! My stomach is the size of a walnut, methinks. Take this bread and be done with it.”

“I'll have you know that bread contains vital nutrients,” Fluttershy motherly said. “What are you going to do without dietary fiber in your body?”

“Methinks I would die. It mattereth not, since we will likely die in a few days anyway.”

“If none of you are going to take that bread,” Freedom Fighter called across the circle, “I'll take it.”

Fluttershy’s cheeks turned pink. She looked much smaller with her head in her shoulders and her mane in her face. Not wanting the subject to go any further, she wordlessly, gingerly, took the half loaf from her injured boyfriend.

“You should have given that to him,” Pinkie reproved Fluttershy, pointing at the dark warrior. “Freedom Fighter’s eating for two.”

“He is? Oh. I’m sorry. I'll just give... wait, what?” Fluttershy’s face was confused, which Noble inwardly thought looked adorable.

Firestorm began to snicker for no obvious reason. He then composed himself.

Fluttershy finally ended up eating the last of Noble's bread, after which she promptly retreated back to her and Noble’s tent, the latter looking after her with concern. Noble could always tell when something was bothering the yellow pegasus, and this was one of those times.

When he pushed aside the flap of their tent, he noticed Fluttershy, her face hidden by her pink mane, curled up on the thin rags they used for blankets by the candlelight. A turquoise eye was peeking out of a curtain of pink, watching Noble come in. That single eye was eager, but distressed, like an animal that was silently begging for help.

Seeing her in such a pitiable condition made Noble feel irrationally outraged. Here was Fluttershy, the purest pony out of the Elements of Harmony, and she was shivering on a filthy rag in a cold black tent. Such a pony deserved better. His girlfriend deserved better!

He had been in the spare tent while recovering, and during that time, he felt as if a part of him was missing whenever he lay down. He could only imagine Fluttershy feeling the same way now.

She may have been dirty, frail, tired, and smelled like bat guano, but at that moment, Noble thought there was no sight more beautiful than the one on the dirty little rag.

He leaned his sword on the side of the tent and settled down next to her. He cradled her head in his hooves and settled it in his lap, and began to comb her mane gently, pressing on her skin to soothe her.

The couple stayed like that for several minutes, words going unneeded. However, Noble knew that Fluttershy was bothered about something, and it would be a crime if he didn’t at least inquire what he could do to ease her worried mind.

Luckily, Noble didn’t need to, because the moment had already become a precious one for the yellow mare resting on his lap, and the mere thought that it could have not happened at all, caused near-silent whimpers to escape from her mouth and tears to slowly trickle down her chin and onto one of Noble’s rear legs.

Unable to hold it in anymore, Fluttershy turned over to regard the injured stallion before burying her face into his stomach, not having enough energy to sit up and do it closer to his shoulder.

“Just let it all out,” Noble Blade soothed, keeping his hoof soothingly moving across her spine. “I’m right here, Fluttershy.”

“But you almost weren’t…” she stammered. “You were almost... eaten! And we're trapped down here, and it's lonely without you in our bed, and...” Fluttershy broke off and hugged him around the waist tightly. Ever since she met Noble, Fluttershy found herself looking more on the bright side than she normally did, but no matter how hard she tried, her thoughts returned to bleakness. “What are we going to do? What are we-?...I can't see... the end…”

“Shh. Shh.” Noble gently continued rubbing her back as she laid next to him. “I'm here.”

Fluttershy, overwhelmed by the distress pent up inside her, did indeed take him in gladly. His soft but firm body, the distinctive smell of steel, the feel of his heartbeat, strong and regular, beneath his skin. She could hear it, feel the vibrations, if she pushed her cheek hard enough against his chest. It calmed her own beating heart and reassured her fears. All that mattered now was him.

Fluttershy pulled away from his chest to look him in the eye. There was a warmth in those dark, deep blue eyes that made her tense up until she began to shudder. It was that very warmth that made her own heart beat faster.

Seeing as the moment was heading a certain direction, Noble decided to make the first move with a peck on the lips. Then another on the snout. Both made the yellow mare flinch back adorably.

“Too forward?” Noble asked, showcasing a hesitance he rarely did with his girlfriend.

Fluttershy regained her composure, a small appreciative smile on her lips. “No, it was just right.”

Noble took this as permission to lean forward once more, with Fluttershy mirroring him. Their lips met in the middle, and they didn’t know what it was, whether it was their seemingly imminent demise or an emotional high from an emotionally charged moment, but that kiss felt as if none of it mattered.

The world could wait.

“My stomach already feels empty,” Rainbow mumbled as she entered her tent with Firestorm. The extended time in the cavern had put her in a foul mood over the past two days.

“I've heard of tactics you can use to stave off hunger,” Firestorm related, sealing their tent flap.

“Really?” Rainbow asked, craning her neck. “What are they?”

“Hunger can be delayed if you are properly distracted,” Firestorm said, like a professor lecturing a student. “It can be hard finding the proper deterrent, however.”

“Do you have a deterrent?” Rainbow asked, bending over to straighten the ragged mattress.

She felt a pair of arms wrap around her, pinning her wings and squeezing her stomach. Her heart began to soar in intensity. “I might.”

Firestorm toppled onto the thin mattress so that Rainbow would be cushioned by him. Rainbow found herself staring into his bright yellow irises. He then brought his lips to hers softly and withdrew after a second. He caressed her hot pink cheek and ran a hoof behind her head.

Rainbow was paralyzed. He was too good at his job! She had to carry out the initiative sometime soon too, right? The problem was, she was trembling and making little noises with her mouth absently. Firestorm could make her lose her train of thought. As long as he could make her feel this way, she couldn't do a thing.

And then a thought popped into her head.

Regaining her composure, she prepared to be daring.

“You know…” Rainbow Dash started with a high chirp, “I never did give you that reward for coming back with that Element.”

Firestorm faltered slightly, his sly look from seconds before deteriorating into nerves rapidly. He swallowed something in his throat. “T-That’s true...”

Rainbow tossed her mane over one shoulder negligently, got off his chest, and gazed at him with the best stare she could give, eyes half-lidded, making sure she bit ever so slightly on her lower lip.

She laid on her belly on the floor of the tent. Her wings poofed up gracefully, and she craned her head under the curve of the wing to smirk at her boyfriend.

Firestorm went pale at the implication. He could not help but go into a cold sweat. He was not ready.

“What's wrong, Stormy?” she asked casually, disguising the drastic rate her own heart was going. She fluffed her wings teasingly. “Don't you want to ride me?”

“Yes! Prepare for liftoff!” Firestorm commanded.

Rainbow arched an eyebrow. “What?”

“Nyeeeeawwwww!” Firestorm yelled, leaning forward and tilting Rainbow's body. “Krakakakakaka! Wchew! Wchew! Wchew! Blam! Blam! Nyeeeeawwww!” He pulled back on Rainbow's shoulders. “Pull up! Pull up! Woooooooo! Wooooooo!”

Rainbow Dash craned her head around to give him a stare filled with ire. The mood from before was entirely gone. “You know, when I said you could ride me, I didn't mean-”

“Not now, Rainbow! I'm too busy riding you!” Firestorm yelled, giving Rainbow's body some yaw like she was in flight. “Brrrrrrrrrrrabababababa! Kakakakakaka! Woooooo! Wooooooo! Bleussshhh! Boom! Boom!”

“Look,” Rainbow said in frustration. “How about we just get on with-”

“Here comes the tickle monster!” he interrupted her, slipping his hooves into her armpits.

“Aaah!” Rainbow squirmed in place, held down by Firestorm. “No! No!”

“Yes! Yes! The tickle monster!” Firestorm turned over, taking Rainbow Dash on top of him while tickling her in the armpits and sides. “Mwuhahaha! Ahahahaha!”

Rainbow squealed and began to tickle him back with her wings. Soon both pegasi were roaring with uncontrollable laughter. They invaded each other's sensitive spots until they were wheezing, then they collapsed side by side, trying to catch their breath.

When Firestorm was finished, he weakly supported himself with an elbow to look down on the cyan pegasus. “Oh, I love you!” he cried, and rested his face on her belly with a ploomf.

Rainbow Dash, the previous moment forgotten for the time being, could not help but smile goofily at the sight. She lazily ran a hoof through his long, fiery mane, tracing his skin. “You're not so bad yourself.”

Firestorm hummed in approval, making her chest vibrate in tickling pleasure.

Both of them stayed like that until they both fell asleep. Rainbow was still stroking his mane.

Freedom Fighter was preoccupied. To be more precise, he was listening to music. Vinyl Scratch had put an astonishing amount of dubstep on the tape she had given him.

Despite the lack of variety in the music, he found it mesmerizing, how the strings and drums sang along with the electric thunder and pounding. It felt as if his mind was lifted into some sort of ethereal plane where all that existed was the constructs of his mind.

He had been listening for the past hour, long after everyone had gone to bed. He could not sleep. His head would not allow him. So he managed to shut up the other guy by preoccupying himself with music.

Finally, after the last song on the tape ended, Freedom Fighter returned to bleak, hopeless reality.

He wistfully took the headphones off and pictured Vinyl Scratch sitting on a pillow across from him, eager for feedback. He imagined the long, jagged blue hair falling against her pearly-skinned shoulders as her vibrant scarlet eyes beamed with anticipation.

“Vinyl…” he said simply in his mind. He hefted the simple blue tape in his exposed metal hoof. “You're a true artist.”

He imagined her grinning with pride. The thought made his stomach churn.

“The other guy thinks badly of me for doing anything nowadays. If I dream about you, he says I shouldn't. If I don't dream about you, he rebukes me. And I…” He sighed in exasperation and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I don't know what to think anymore. I don't need any more…” He looked down. “Trials.”

He was naked; his bodysuit had been thrown to the side in a corner. He could see his scar lines criss-crossing on his body and on his arms of both flesh and metal.

“I’m just so tired, Vinyl. Even my scars have scars. All I’ve had in this new world were my brothers-in-arms, and now I could lose them too, either to death or domesticity... something I can never have. Am I cursed to walk among the mortal coil, yet not be a part of it? Am I destined to be The Unforgiven forever?

He imagined her getting up, walking around him, and hugging him from behind in comfort. He imagined her calming warmth, her sweet smell, her gentle pressure on his back. It was vivid, and it was happy, but it was not real.

Freedom Fighter hugged himself at the waist, imitating the feeling. His metal arm was cold, however--a far cry from the body heat a pony would generate. He was about to slump down and miserably wrap himself in the thin rags when he heard rustling from the tent next to him.

He flicked his ears in annoyance at first. But as they persisted, he recognized the murmurs as Twilight's.

“No... Sunset... Come back…”

His heart came into his throat. It was still hurting her.

“Please... don't want to go... come with... mmm… no...”

The massacre at the portal was still an open wound. Despite her harrowing experience in the custody of the Noxxa, Twilight was still blind to how merciless the world could be. Even his fellow Guardians never had to deal with personally witnessing the deaths of those they’ve come to know, and even if they have, they would never be as merciless.

Freedom Fighter then looked down at the multitude of scars that striped his body like a zebra. Dozens upon dozens. Score upon score.

He then instinctively stood on all fours and threw open the tent flap. He trudged in the dark cavern to the adjacent tent and made his way inside.

Twilight's tent had Starlight Glimmer and Spike as well, but he had no trouble making his way to Twilight's bundle of oil-stained blankets.

She was shivering and scrunched into a half curl, the rags in a jumbled heap. Her mouth was moving on its own, mumbling and breathing in bursts. Her forehead was creased. A tear had leaked from her eye and was dripping on her snout.

Freedom Fighter crouched at her side and gingerly gathered the alicorn into his arms. His strength prevented her from struggling. Twilight mumbled a bit more and moved her head side to side.

He had a pretty good idea of what the princess was dreaming about. Sometimes, he would have similar dreams where he was back in his village, seeing everyone impaled and dismembered around him. Other times, he would be back in the Noxxa homeland, tortured for a seemingly infinite length of time. Noble and Storm said it on occasion: it’s over, everything's going to be better now. But it never did. Twilight might have not retained physical scars from the events at the portal, but the mental ones would remain forever. In some sick way, Freedom was almost happy that Twilight was like this. It made him feel... less alone. A sickening sort of empathy.

Freedom Fighter awkwardly comforted her by rubbing the muscles in her arms and back with his hoof of flesh. She was still squirming around, but with his grip and warmth, they subsided gradually.

As he held her, his thoughts traveled to what she would think of him if she was awake. Appreciation was part of Twilight's nature, but he got the feeling she would scoot away from him should she awaken in his arms. So he ceased his firm grip and eased into a tender, soft, loving hold to avoid her waking up abruptly. He rocked his body side to side as an afterthought.

She stopped her mumbling after a few minutes of this. After some time, she was lightly dozing, and Freedom Fighter was stiffly holding a princess as she slumbered away.

He settled her back down gently. Then he brushed aside a lock of her mane so her face was visible. He admired for a second how her nasal exhales brushed some hair under her face.

If anypony else saw Twilight now, they’d think nothing of it. But he understood Twilight better than any other pony in the cave. Underneath that peaceful exterior was a scarred mind forever altered by events out of her control. At least Twilight would have a chance to return to a normal life after it was all over. She would if he had anything to say about it.

He looked down on her for a moment more. Then he turned and exited the tent.

Twilight smiled in her sleep.

Morning came, but night persisted in the cavern. Once everyone had woken up and exited their tents, breakfast started. Cooking the pot of cracked wheat on a stand above one of Firestorm's fiery swords, Applejack soon finished and halfheartedly called the ponies to their last breakfast in the cavern.

Their meal was somber and quiet. Nopony was in the mood to talk. And nothing they could talk about would really make a difference anyway.

Before it even ended, some of the girls felt hungry. After breakfast, the group dispersed to do what they would. Firestorm and Freedom Fighter went into the hole they had drilled to dig deeper. Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack went with them after a moment of thought. Noble stayed behind to repair his armor, and Fluttershy stayed by his side. The rest of the girls ambly wandered around the cavern to find some way to occupy themselves.

As Noble Blade magically popped his dented set of armor back into place, he talked with Fluttershy about anything his mind drifted to. Music, magic, flowers. Anything Fluttershy would be attracted to naturally. He knew Fluttershy needed a break from the chaotic adventures and the stress of the past week. However, he knew he had to address last night’s emotional outburst at some point.

“If you don’t want to talk, I understand, but I wanted to ask what was troubling you last night.”

Fluttershy decided now was as good a time as any. “No, it’s okay. I feel better now. Everything was just getting to me. I’ve never really thought about death before. And now that we’ve nearly been k-killed multiple times, and now we’re trapped in this cavern... I don’t know how you handle it,” Fluttershy explained.

Noble gained a look of nostalgia. It was a half smile, half frown.

“Well, it’s pretty easy, actually,” he started. “Whenever a particularly dangerous mission cropped up, one of us would choose the first thing we would do afterward. That way, if things looked bleak, we would have more motivation to finish the mission and get out alive. Each of us got a turn. After Arimaspi, Firestorm had us go out for drinks, since he never had one before. When we dealt with the Saracen in Saddle Arabia, Freedom showed us where his old village used to be, since we’d never seen it. And-” Noble suddenly burst into laughter. “-and after the Dragonlands, I made us go ice skating to take our minds off of the constant fire. Firestorm could just never get balanced. Fell on his butt so many times, it was red for a week.”

Fluttershy smiled at Noble being so happy. It gave a warm feeling of accomplishment inside of her that brought it involuntarily to her lips. “So what is it this time?” Fluttershy wondered.

“You know, we never really got a chance to,” Noble said before inspiration struck him. “Honestly, I’ve had my own personal promise.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Recovering in a tent all by myself… It gave me some time to think about what the future might hold for me... and you.”

“What did you think about?”

“Well, for starters, getting myself healed, but beyond that, once this whole Noxxa business is over and Equestria’s safe, I wonder if we could... move in together?”

The sun-colored pegasus gasped. “You mean…”

“You move into my place? Celestia, no! I meant your cottage. It was… actually really nice to have nature surrounding you.” He gave a jaunty smile. “Plus, it would be a much better place to raise a family in than Canterlot.”

That got the pegasus’ mood to shift in a nanosecond.

“A… fam-”

Fluttershy’s head reeled. The fantasy he was describing sounded perfect. The prospect of living together, and raising a family, which meant marriage. Fluttershy hadn't given it much thought before--her thoughts were on Noble Blade alone--but now that the notion was in her head, it sounded intoxicating. The rest of her days to be spent with the stallion she loved, with two or three foals growing up under her watch as well.

“Do you... r-really m-mean that?” Fluttershy shakingly asked.

Noble Blade smiled and softly played with her hair. “Every word.”

Fluttershy took a deep breath and sat back, trying to process it. The future... Over the past week, it almost seemed that there was no future. Just day after grueling day in the present. But this dream, this desire had taken her over now. The present now didn't seem as awful with something wonderful to look forward to.

“Is this your way of asking me to marry you?” Fluttershy teased, hiding a lump in her chest.

“What? No! No, of course not!” Noble said, slightly panicked. “A mare of thy caliber deserveth the best proposal a stallion could conceive. After the trials and fire are over, I will do it properly. We need to find the Elements... finish our mission... defeat the Noxxa... and then our dreams will come true,” he whispered. He maneuvered behind her to begin braiding her mane with magic. “We will live together, Fluttershy, until death do us part.” His voice began to strain. “Someday... we will rest from our labors. It isn't today, of course. But someday…”

“Someday…” Fluttershy echoed dreamily.

The tunnel in the back of the cave was small. Dust floated in motes when magical orange light threw itself about. Every sound echoed loudly.

Firestorm was chopping into the back of the wall with his magical swords like he was trying to penetrate into the heart of the earth. The super swords broke the stubborn rock apart like chocolate. Freedom Fighter would also help by penetrating the rock with his sunfire staff and retreating the pole out again, leaving a deep puncture wound. When they got tired, Firestorm passed his swords to Applejack and Rainbow Dash so they could rotate in.

At the moment, while the girls were taking a turn and the slow mining was going on, Rainbow Dash's mind was seething. Last night in their tent had been fun--a lot more fun than she expected--but Firestorm had failed to see the obvious hint! She wanted him. Didn't he know that?

Maybe he was actually as thick as he seemed to be. Firestorm was... not the brightest bulb in the ceiling.

Though there was another possibility, one that Rainbow didn’t want to consider. Was it possible that he didn’t feel the same way? If so, why? What was she doing wrong? Did she come on too strong, did she say the wrong thing? Was she even worth wanting?

Colts hadn't seen her as attractive before, and Rainbow hadn't cared. She was just that kind of filly. But with Firestorm now in the equation, that physical aspect of her suddenly mattered more than she thought it did.

Her common sense returned to her with a reprimand. Am I crazy? Come on, Rainbow. You know he loves you. It’s easy to see our relationship has meant something to him. So why is he hesitant to take things to the next level?

She looked over on the side of a tunnel to find Firestorm playing with a rock he had found.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. What is going on behind that fiery mane?

Her arms were too weak to hold her boyfriend's sword anymore. She dropped it, turned, and trudged over to where he was. Firestorm was leaning on the side of the wall, and had picked up a rock and was turning it interestingly in his hooves.

“I'm parched,” Rainbow complained, plopping next to him. She laid her head on his shoulders contentedly, trying to make the message obvious this time.

“We don't have any water to give you, Dashie.” Firestorm rubbed his hoof atop her head. “You silly.”

Rainbow grumbled something. She could have slaked her thirst on his lips.

“I found a cool rock,” Firestorm offered, holding it up for her to see. It was a thin piece, and in the dead center of it was the fossil of some curled invertebrae. “Do you like rocks? Or is that only common among Pinkie's family?”

Rainbow smacked it out of his hoof, and it skittered across the floor. “Stormy, listen to me. We need to talk.”

Firestorm's expression deteriorated from happy to hurt to a quiet resolution. “About last night?”

“Yes, about last night.” She put her hooves on both sides of his head. “You know what I was doing?”

“Tickling me too hard?” he asked.

“No.” She tossed her hair. “The other thing.”

“What other-oohhh. That thing.” He knitted his eyebrows. “Riding you.”

“Yes.” Her tone was flat.

He blinked curiously. “Did I ride you too hard?”

“No!”

“So you'd like to do it again and get it right?”

“Yes.” Finally, he was getting the picture!

“Is being a plane fun?”

Not now! “When done correctly.”

“What was I doing incorrectly?”

“You were--uugh!”

“Should you ride me next time?”

Rainbow narrowed her rose-colored eyes. “Great idea, Storm.”

“Just make sure you do it my way.” He stared into her eyes fiercely. “I don't want to end up doing something I’ll regret later on.”

There was something off about that last sentence. Something more serious than his previous, lighthearted tone. Rainbow didn't know what to say. Maybe he did know more than he let on.

The sound of a chiming horn brought their attention to the sole unicorn in the passage. Twilight had picked up the interesting rock Rainbow had hurled away and was examining it. At first, she was merely curious, but after looking at it for a bit longer, her expression turned serious.

“Where did you find this fossil, Firestorm?” Twilight asked him flatly.

“It was embedded in the wall,” he supplied. “A while back, I guess.”

Twilight observed the poor creature whose remains were now unearthed for the alicorn to see. “This is a sea creature,” she whispered. “Invertebrate. I'd guess four, five hundred thousand years old. After it died, it settled to the sea bed and formed in a sedimentary deposit. That deposit is right where we are now. And above us is…” She looked at the roof of the cavern. “Where the sea creature died.”

“Hold on!” Firestorm said all of a sudden, standing up and settling Rainbow aside. “You mean…”

“Ah've found sumthin’!” Applejack exclaimed.

“What?” Twilight and Rainbow, who had spoken simultaneously, pushed their way to the back of the long cavern. “What'd you find?”

Applejack and her work partner Freedom Fighter stepped aside. The rock they had been burrowing into had turned damp and slightly wet, like someone had dumped a bucket of water on it.

Twilight put her hoof to the damp surface, wetting it, and put it to her tongue. She spat. “Salt."

“If I could have decided that for myself, I would have,” Freedom Fighter said.

“Hold your tongue!” he snapped at himself.

“Does this mean…” Applejack looked at Twilight curiously.

The alicorn nodded. “We have a way out now.”

“No!” Firestorm comically exclaimed from the back of the cavern. “No! NO! Get off this topic while you have the chance! We are not doing what I think you're thinking!”

Twilight wheeled around to face him. “What do you think I'm thinking?”

“I think you're thinking about making muffins,” Firestorm casually said.

Twilight arched an eyebrow curiously. “Wait, really?”

“Oh, of course, since we have all the ingredients right here for making muffi-NO!” he replied forcefully, slashing a hoof. “You're thinking about collapsing the tunnel and letting in the sea!”

“Would you rather stay in the cavern?!” Twilight retaliated.

“I don't want to stay in the cavern, but I also don't want to drown!”

“We're going to die either way,” Freedom Fighter mumbled miserably. “Either starve to death or drown.”

Twilight stared the warrior in the face. “You're absolutely right.”

Freedom Fighter blinked in surprise. “Er... what?”

“Did she just say what I thought she said?”

“It's true.” Twilight nodded. “Either action we take now, we might die. No matter how you die, what happens to you is the same. But if I do all in my power to bring you to the surface, we can die in the knowledge that we did all we could.”

“We?” Firestorm asked suspiciously. “Or you?”

Twilight’s face became strained, but she didn't answer that. Instead she looked up determinedly at the roof of the tunnel.

“This is our only option,” she decided quietly. “Teleporting us all from a spot we don't know about would be too dangerous. We have to take a calculated risk.”

“I still don't really like this option, you know. But…” Firestorm sighed. “If we have to, then I'll do it.”

Applejack nodded along with Rainbow. Freedom Fighter tightened his lips and looked indecisive at first, but made up his mind with a reluctant jerk of his head.

The spacious cavern was mostly quiet, save for the sporadic individual sounds of ponies whittling away their time in boredom. Pinkie was chucking rocks at the wall and watching them tumble down. Rarity was idly sewing two strips of leather together. Starlight looked like a miniature solar system as her magic orbited little pebbles around her head. Spike was crunching down on some rocks in a corner of the cave; he was the only one unconcerned about the lack of food. And Noble Blade was braiding Fluttershy’s mane and whispering their loving conversation.

Their relative peace was disrupted by the flapping of wings as an orange pegasus shot out of the cavern and took a deep breath.

“Well everyone,” Firestorm proudly announced. “I've got some good news and some bad news.”

“Ooh!” Pinkie squealed, turning aside from her rock-chucking. “What's the good news?”

“The good news is we've found a way out!”

Firestorm had the attention of every last member of the party. His news brought breaths of relief and quiet cheers; the cavern reverberated sounds in an echoey bell-like tone.

“The bad news is,” Firestorm continued, still as grandiose as before, “We're all still going to die.”

The cheering instantly died down; the last they heard was a quiet “Oh no,” from Fluttershy.

“What was the point of there being good news in the first place?” Noble asked, turning away from Fluttershy's mane.

“To put you all in a good mood!”

“Clearly, that didn't work.”

Firestorm sputtered for an answer like an old engine. Then he stalked away, muttering pseudo-obscenities under his breath.

“Everypony!” Twilight called, coming out from the tunnel they had carved. “Pack up your things and get ready!”

“All righty!” Pinkie saluted confidently. After a pause she added, “Ready for what?”

The nervous alicorn hesitated before answering. “We’re going to collapse the roof of the tunnel and flood the cavern. Above us is the ocean seabed. If we can put a force field up to protect us, we should make it up to the surface safely.”

“Or what if we don't?” Rarity asked in concern. “What if we die instead?”

“Then we're going to die.” Twilight's tone was impassive, but beneath it was a strange sort of reluctance. “No matter what, we will still be dead. But at least this way we can be actively engaged. We could say we had done all we could.”

“But Twilight,” Rarity interjected. “We don't know how far under the ocean we might be. If we won't...”

“I don't want to die,” Fluttershy whispered in fright. The sudden notion that their lives could potentially end very suddenly had seized her and was making her tremble, rocking back and forth on the ground in a little ball.

While the Knight Protector gathered her into his arms and cradled her, Rarity looked doubtful at the lone alicorn in the room. “Twilight, are you sure that this'll work?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Do we... have a choice?” she whispered.

“Do you have a better plan?”

That sent the group into a contemplative silence. One that Freedom FIghter of all ponies broke.

“Come on,” Freedom Fighter declared loudly, taking center stage. The weapons on his body clinked as he moved, and his scarlet eyes shone like lights. “Do or die. Lay aside your doubt and push forward. Follow Twilight. Take your ambitions and give them to her for safekeeping. Because she is the one to lead us all to safety. Our lives. Our dreams. Entrust them all to her, because she will treasure them. We have much to lose. But we have no more to lose than if we remain indecisive! I will follow... wherever Twilight goes. She is my princess... and my leader. Whatever she says, I will follow. Her word shall be my word, and her heart, my heart.” He lifted his metal arm into the air. “How many of you will say the same?”

There was a moment afterward when nothing happened. Then Applejack raised her hoof into the air.

Following her action, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash acquiesced to the call. Their raised hooves were then joined by the slow rise of Firestorm’s. Noble Blade followed him, and on seeing his answer, Rarity nodded reluctantly and lifted her hoof into the air.

Fluttershy was the last one left. She remembered her boyfriend’s words from moments ago.

“Whenever we faced a particularly dangerous mission, one of us would choose the first thing we would do afterward. That way, if things looked bleak, we would have more motivation to finish the mission and get out alive.”

Fluttershy took a trembling breath.

Come on, Fluttershy. Be brave and trust Twilight. Once this is all over, the first thing you’re going to do is propose to Noble. To Tartarus with tradition! Trust Twilight. Save Equestria. Propose to Noble. It's all a piece of cake.

Fluttershy shot her hoof into the air.

An hour later, the tents had been packed away and were on the girl's saddlebags. Noble Blade was in his now-repaired armor, having been helped into it by Firestorm and Rarity. And every last pony was mentally preparing for the challenge ahead as they huddled together, waiting for the sign to be given by Twilight.

The purple princess in question was staring deeply into the depths of the tunnel they had dug. It was like she was steeling herself to face down a mythical beast that laid in wait for her.

“Starlight?” she called. “Put up the force field.”

Starlight, still skeptical, fired her horn into the air, and a translucent bubble appeared around the rest of them, keeping the girls close together.

Twilight took three deep breaths to prepare herself. Then, aiming at the roof of the mouth of the tunnel, she let loose a drawn-out laser beam that drilled into the stone above. Smoke quickly filled up the cavern, and rubble cascaded onto the floor.

It only took a minute and a half of intense drilling before a colossal snap filled the cave and water began to rush in like a broken dam, spreading thinly across the floor of the Rolk's cave and turning the ground dark. Twilight moved the laser in a small circle, expanding the hole in the roof of the tunnel, and even more water flooded in. The water was soon at the pony's fetlocks.

Twilight stayed outside the bubble for as long as she dared to help expand their means of escape. Then, when the water level was at her belly, she turned and splashed her way into the large protective bubble Starlight had. It was dry in the force field, and had plenty of air, but the water level outside was at their neck level.

Freedom Fighter took initiative.

He quickly snapped his staff into an energy bow, raised himself on his legs, aimed an arrow at the roof of the cave, and fired.

A yellow explosion blossomed at the top of the cave, and water cascaded in at double the force before.

Soon the water level outside the bubble was higher than their heads. The ponies inside could tilt their heads up and see the frothing surface of rushing seawater.

“Let's move this out of the breach now!” Twilight ordered.

Her horn chimed to help the bubble levitate upward through the water. Noble Blade helped alleviate the output needed to raise all of them off the ground, which Twilight was inwardly thankful for.

There wasn't much space to float above the water level, so when the magic bubble popped on top of the surface like a beach ball, there was only a foot or so of free space between them and the roof. Water was still pouring in like an unattended faucet.

The girls began to propel themselves towards the breach. As they walked, room between them and the ceiling quickly began to run out.

“We're going to make it!” Pinkie hopefully shouted.

“No!” Firestorm admonished shakingly.

“We can make it!” she reiterated as they neared the rushing water near the breach.

“No!” Firestorm repeated.

As the bubble touched the waterfall, it was sucked under by the current, and quickly, the girls found themselves underwater, pinned by the rushing force.

The girls had all been knocked to the floor of the bubble, straining the magic of Starlight's horn. She screamed in her struggle, and the protective bubble momentarily flickered.

“I... don't think we can make it,” Pinkie sheepishly admitted.

The bubble popped.

Each of them found themselves suddenly floating and floundering in the water. By some unspoken consensus, they all began to swim upward furiously and come to the edge of the hole in the cave.

Except for Noble Blade. His armor was slowly dragging him down to the bottom of the cave again. He was flailing his arms furiously, but he was just sinking deeper and deeper. His face was pained and in panic, but he refused to stop sinking.

Seeing him helplessly sink, Fluttershy, without a second regard for her own safety, sped from the edge of the hole and swam down to him, her mane billowing out behind her in waves of pink as she swam. After a few strokes, she reached him, coming from behind him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

Fluttershy began to kick upward to propel them both. But no matter how much she loved him, and no matter the effort she put forth, the power of love was not enough to keep Noble Blade from drowning.

The roof was now nonexistent, and the entire cave was now filled with water. The current flowing into the cave had stopped. The option was open for the girls to escape through the hole and into the ocean.

Instead, first Rarity, then Rainbow Dash, and then the rest of the girls, sped down to Fluttershy and the struggling knight. Wrapping their arms around both of them and collectively kicking, the entire group began to ascend upward through the hole in the roof. The going was slow but strong, and soon they had reached the border of the breach.

Finally, after much struggling, they had passed through the rocky portal at the top of the cave, and were floating in the expanses of the black and murky ocean.

It was about then that all the girl’s strength finally waned, and their bodies became limp in the ocean as they released the precious oxygen in their lungs. Bubbles burbled through their lips, and their bodies relaxed.

All was still for a moment.

Their bodies hung in the terrible darkness, deep beneath the surface.

Then they inhaled pure, clean air, snapping them awake in an instant. They all tried to flail in panic, but seeing as they were not drowning, their desperate flails lessened and they simply looked around in confusion. Each of them had a translucent bubble around their heads, supplying them with clean air and providing them a lifeline to survive underwater.

“Thanks a lot, Twilight,” Spike said in relief, floating in the ocean with his arms spread out. “That was close. Next time, though, could you be a little quicker on the uptake?”

“That... wasn’t me,” Twilight nervously said, turning her head from side to side. Indeed, her horn was not shining in the deep.

There was, however, a glowing light floating around them like an orbiting star. A musical hum reverberated through the dark water, mystifying the group and making them all look around wildly.

“Where are you?” Firestorm asked, drawing his swords off his back and trying to ignite them into flame. The fire on his blades appeared briefly, then disappeared under the water's pressure. He flicked the switches again and again, but the swords simply sputtered like a broken lighter. Firestorm gave a chuckle of realization and slowly sheathed them both.

“Who are you people?” came a high, loopy voice. It had emanated from the glowing light encircling them about like a comet.

“We're friends,” Starlight cautiously replied, keeping herself upright. “We just stumbled here. Who are you?”

“I haven't seen you before,” the female voice said curiously. “Are you really my friend?”

“It’s our goal to be,” Pinkie reported.

“You are?” At that, the light moved closer to the floating group, and a sea creature was seen, waving its fins lazily. It was long, curvy, and thin, with wide flippers and colorful fins. Coral jewelry adorned her scaled body, and freckles spotted her nose. Finally, what made the Ten Souls stop and stare was that she was equine in nature.

She smiled and clutched the sides of her head. “I am so glad I found you guys!” she excitedly exclaimed. “I've been looking for friends for a long time! Come on, follow me!”

“Wait!” Twilight called out, swimming to her. “Who are you? Where are you taking us?”

“Oh! Right! Silly me! I'm Princess Skystar! And don't worry about it! It's gonna be fine! I'm gonna take you to my mom!” She flitted away like a rocket.

The group was stunned. What else were they to do?

Princess Skystar slowly came back to them, ushering them on with a flipper. “Well? Are you coming or not?”

Chapter Fifty-five: Marshal, Captain, and King

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Wind stung at his eyes. The chariot sped along a mile above the earth, pulled by the twin gold-armored pegasi in front of him. On all sides were similar chariots, loaded with troops and specialized equipment.

Shining Armor held on tighter to the edge of the chariot and took a few deep breaths of cold, rushing air. He wasn't too comfortable up high. Flying was for pegasi, not for ponies unaccustomed to the height difference.

To take his mind off the possibility of falling and splattering on the earth far beneath, he recalled the instruction Celestia had given him before his departure to Maretania.

“Take care not to run into any advance scouts on the way. We can only assume the Noxxa are going to scout the southeast shore of Equestria to come at us in two directions. Better to be cautious, Captain, than confident.”

“Yes, Princess. Um, Princess?”

“Yes, Captain?”

“I'm... worried.”

“I know you are, Shining Armor.”

“She'll die down there if her oxygen runs out, or if she'll starve. How can I be sure…?”

“We are never entirely sure what the future holds, Shining Armor. No matter how well a decision might be at the moment, there is no way to know if it's right until after the consequences. Twilight’s fate is in your hooves now. What you can be sure of, Captain, is that Twilight is doing her absolute best to bring about the downfall of King Solaris.”

“Who?”

“The Eternal Enemy, who rules above the field marshal of the Noxxa. Solaris was once the husband of Faust, our Eternal Mother. When he proposed a plan to rid us of our agency, he was thrust out of heaven by his wife and became our Unseen Adversary. Every nightmare, act of darkness, and sin is committed because of him.”

“This...was before the creation of Equus?”

“Indeed.”

“And is this tale true?”

“Yes, Shining.”

“... Why?”

“Why what, Captain?”

“Why is Faust not interfering? She hasn't been helping us. We didn't even know her. Why did she separate herself from her children?”

“Don't you think she wanted to make herself known? She closed herself off so that we would choose our destiny without divine intervention. Not to mention keeping Solaris's influence at a minimum. Now that Her will is to be surfaced in Equestria, Solaris will try his hardest to destroy his children.

“Shining Armor. Listen to me. Though She cannot appear to us, Faust will never abandon Her children. Twilight will be rescued. You will fight for those you love. Trust in Her, and your mission will succeed.”

The conversation replayed in his head as he kept a sharp eye out. So long as he believed in Her, his mission would succeed?

Shining Armor snorted. He had succeeded in other missions before without believing in Her, hadn't he? Saving the Crystal Empire, saving his wedding--That was all him, right? And the girls, and their magic, and…

He shook his head in sudden astonishment. What if She had played a part, and he just didn't know it? All that new magic they all got in times of need--they didn’t just pop out of nowhere, right? It had to come from someone.

I still don’t know if I should… he mused. But I'd rather be safe than sorry. The princesses seem to know what they're talking about. Besides, it'll be a good way to tick off Marshal Malice if I bump into him. So I'll try it. Fake it till I make it. So now the problem is, what's the first step towards making it?

Keep your eyes peeled.

The advice came into his head without a voice, and out of nowhere. As it did, he felt a constriction of his chest for an instant. Then the advice disappeared and the feeling was gone.

“Keep your eyes peeled!” Shining parroted out loud. “There might be danger up ahead!”

“Understood, sir!” the two chariot pullers, Raining Sky and Winter Gleam, responded in unison. They beat their wings harder, but kept their eyes open, watering at their edges as one of them stared ahead, while the other scanned the ground.

Raining Sky, brown-coated, who was strong and clever at manipulating weather clouds, and Winter Gleam, white as his name implied, who aimed well and could slip into nooks and crannies easily. Both had high strength and endurance and were stallions that stuck out above the rest in his line of service, and he was glad to have chosen them for his flight companions. The only ones, in his opinion, who were better than them in combat were the legendary Guardians of the Sun themselves.

“Sir!” Winter Gleam shot out. “Approaching Maretania!”

Shining Armor steeled his resolve to peer over the edge. Indeed, far below him was the smashed and ruined city, looking like a foal had stomped on a cookie. Ruined buildings were scattered about and falling to pieces. The seashore it was bordering had become polluted and murky. And in the middle of the whole thing, a collapsed sinkhole had opened up and had filled up with rubble.

The chariots ran into a cloud bank, and the arrowhead formation disappeared in the frigid air. It felt like speeding into a cold shower.

Shining Armor felt a lump form in his throat. He was certain that sinkhole was where Twilight was. Buried deep beneath the earth. In the day it had taken for him to speed to the city, she had probably run out of supplies. Air would be another issue entirely. She could even be...no, she couldn't be dead…

“CAPTAIN!” a Royal Guard further ahead in the formation screamed. “CAPTAIN, DIRECTLY AHEAD!”

The hoarse desperation snapped the Captain out of his rumination. He half-drew the short sword hanging at his violet-armored flank and prepared for combat.

As they flew out of the cloud, Shining Armor looked around, searching for the danger.

He could see nothing but a wall of darkness in front of him.

Then he noticed the way the darkness undulated and flapped in place, and appeared as individual stitches in a garment close together, and he blankly realized that each stitch was an enemy soldier.

In front of them, all was still.

Centered ahead of the wall of black troops was a large white dragon flapping in place, with burning red eyes and ferocious bone-tipped claws all over his body.

Seated on top of the dragon was an albino centipede with a draconic head and needle-like teeth, holding a shiny black broadsword in one of four outstretched, bony arms.

And he grinned at him!

He leveled his sword at the pony formation.

“SCATTER!” Shining Armor bellowed, drawing his sword.

As the dragon let loose a stream of white fire into the formation, each chariot swerved and juked up, down, left, and right. Two of the fifteen chariots were incinerated into twisted lumps of molten gold that fell to earth, dragging down the charred bodies of the pegasi pulling it.

“We're outnumbered!” Raining Sky shouted, flying so hard the sores under his tired wings opened up and began to bleed. “Sir, what do we do?”

Shining Armor whirled around. The remaining chariots were forming up in a line behind him like a train, and the warriors inside were drawing up crossbows and spears. He could not see each of their faces, but he knew each of them wore a terrified expression. Their lives depended on him now.

He would not let them die.

“Fly higher!” he roared. He raised his hoof higher, giving the signal behind him to the twelve other chariots. They rapidly ascended, each one trailing behind like a line of string.

“FIRE!” the pale rider hissed to his army.

A barrage of arrows sailed past the chariots, splintering into the sides and bottom of the elaborate vehicles. The ponies inside were protected from the arrows by the bottoms of the chariots. The downside was, the pegasi pulling them were exposing their bare chests and legs and wings to the cruel arrows of the enemy beasts.

Several squelches were heard near the bottom of the line of ascending chariots. A pegasus had been shot in the chest and neck, and the shafts of crossbow bolts were deeply embedded into his flesh. The other pegasus pulling him reached for him in shock, but this, combined with the loss of power, made the chariot stop in place. The Royal Guard inside were hanging vertically out of the chariot, and one by one, they lost their grip and fell out, plummeting to the earth and screaming. The remaining pegasus craned his head around in horror to see his mates falling to their death, and as he did, an arrow sank into the bottom of his chin, piercing through his jaw into his brain. The entire chariot fell through the sky, trailing blood and the cargo inside, and disappeared from sight.

Shining Armor’s heart jolted upon seeing it. Pushing aside the thoughts of the injured pegasi, he stuck his arm to the side. “Ready crossbows!”

As they ascended above the cloud line, a shout reached his ears. “Crossbows readied!”

“On my command!” Shining roared back. Now that they were above the flat cloud line, the Noxxa would have to breach it to fight them, or else they would lose the Royal Guard in the clouds.

“Hold!” came the order from the chariot behind him.

The chariot line leveled out and shot along the tops of the puffy clouds like a speeding train. The guards in them were peering over the edge, waiting for the enemy to make a move.

As the line circled around for another pass, the clouds were breached from behind, and Shining Armor whirled about-face.

Black bugs with long, curving legs and feral yellow eyes and thin, jagged fangs popped out of the clouds like daisies. They held long pikes and curved swords and hooked, serrated saws meant to torture and hurt rather than kill.

“Fire!” he commanded.

The crossbows sang their deadly tune and pierced chitin, and away crumbled the bug's decomposing bodies, scattering about like leaves in an autumn wind. On they came, unremorseful towards their fallen companions, hell-bent on killing and ripping and tearing flesh apart, muscle from bone.

One of them descended on an exposed soldier in the rear chariot and gleefully picked him up with his legs. He tossed him once, twice, three times in the air, and as he came down he slashed a hacksawed halberd right through his spine, halving his body and spraying scarlet blood through the pristine white of the cirrus clouds like spilled wine on the fresh snow.

Shining faced the Nox who had done it and fired a magic blast into his gullet. He blasted apart on impact, and his ashes blew into the eyes of his comrades behind him. As they scrambled at their eyes, Shining Armor fired more individual shots at them, and one by one they hit their mark.

Raining Sky and Winter Gleam screamed as a large black bug appeared from the clouds directly in front of them and leaped for their lead chariot. He sprawled on the front and reached for Shining Armor with his front two long, serrated claws.

Shining Armor wheeled around with his sword and severed both of his front limbs. While the Nox roared, Shining reversed the sword grip and sank it into his shoulder. The enemy drew with his middle legs a long, shiny black sword that rippled and undulated, and swung it down with colossal force.

The front of the chariot was almost split in half. The sword had cut through it with astonishing ease, and the bug ripped it out with equal ease and swung at Shining.

The prince parried, or at least, tried to. The Black Blade shore through his own steel like he was cutting paper, and the upper third of his sword spiraled away, falling towards earth.

Shining Armor knew he would not risk contesting that sword in combat again.

The next time the sword swung at him, he shore off that arm with the shard of his own sword, and the black sword fell to the floor of his chariot. He then plunged his jagged-ended blade into his face, and he rapidly disintegrated and blew into fine ash that flew past his face and dispersed like flurrying snow.

Shining Armor whipped around, his blue mane flapping in his determined face, and swished his broken sword to the side. “We can't face them head-on! Split up into four teams and scatter away from here! Spread the word of their advance to all you see on the way back to Canterlot! Estoc, you lead the northern team! Nanaba, take the west-”

A surging updraft in front of him burst through the cloud line like a whale breaching the ocean, and Shining turned around to face the front once more. Up flapped the thick, leathery wings of the white dragon covered with ivory talons, his eyes burning with hate and glee. All his prey were laid out for him in a perfectly straight line.

“DIVE!” Shining roared, gripping the edge of the chariot. “DIVE, DIVE, DI-”

The dragon fired a stream of white fire, blasting through each of the chariots like he was ripping through lined-up sheets of paper. Three of them had swerved out of the way in time, but the remainder were blasted into incineration almost instantly. Armor welded itself to blackening flesh, gold began to drip and melt, and leather bindings snapped and sizzled into nothingness.

One of the three to survive was Shining Armor's. The two pegasi pulling it had disattached themselves from the chariot and were plummeting down as if they were corpses.

Shining knew this trick well. Attempting it himself, he quickly threw himself from the falling vehicle and was now tumbling towards the earth. His broken sword flew out of his hooves and spiraled away.

Shining looked up as wind roared past his face. If he were to simply keep still, they would suspect him of being just another corpse falling from the sky.

But seeing the damage above him, the burning chariots, trailing smoke as they descended like comets, made his heart ache in his chest. The lives of those ponies were under his command. So many lives, wiped out in an instant. If he was standing, Shining Armor would be trembling in his knees.

“Sir!” Raining Sky screamed, falling nearby with his limbs outstretched like a parachuter. “To me!”

Shining Armor imperceptibly maneuvered himself through the roaring air to slam hard into Raining Sky. The brown pegasus wrapped his hard limbs around Shining Armor protectively as they tumbled.

“Are we the only ones…?” he loudly asked, barely distinguishable over the whistling and roaring wind.

“Don't think that!” Shining Armor admonished him by shouting in his ear. “Whether it's true or not, we need to act like it is!”

All around them, debris rained down, fiery and black. Some were simply machine parts and burnt supplies, but others were severed, blackened limbs of the Royal Guardponies. It ranged from larger than Shining Armor to a fleck of sand, and it was everywhere. It was like descending into Tartarus.

“We're nearing the ground, sir!” the nearby Winter Gleam bellowed after some time of this hell. “Slow down!”

Winter Gleam and Raining Sky spread their wings when they were five hundred feet above the rooftops. Wind whistled through their feathers as they stretched them, pulling their muscles and veins. Their heads screamed in pain and agony.

Finally, the trio gently crashed into the roof of a thatched hut, and they collapsed the building into a pile of sticks and hay. The three of them rolled off and into the main road.

Only a foot away from the head of the stunned Raining Sky, the Black Blade in Shining Armor's chariot embedded itself point down in the cobblestone road.

High above the cloud altitude, Marshal Malice looked down upon the falling wreckage with disdain. Slowly, he folded his arms as he stared straight down over the edge of Bloodlust.

“Shining Armor.” He tsked softly, like an agitated grandmother. “Rescuing your little sister from the grasp of death? You should know that family cannot be saved. I know better.”

Marshal Malice’s mind wandered off into the old, murky confines of his mind, generations past, to a time period that not even he entirely recalled with clarity.

“I had to fight my own brothers and sisters. Did you know that? No. See, they had decided to allow their destinies to be subjective to their own whims, fondled by their own inexperienced and foolish hooves… Solaris had offered a way out of that torture. But no... No, my sisters, my brothers, they decided to separate themselves from me.” He sighed almost wistfully. “It was a pity that I had to kill them. I almost loved them.”

He watched the falling rubbish some more. He was somewhat surprised when he saw one of the pieces maneuver itself to another and cling hard to it.

“You poor thing,” he mourned. “Have the sense to die now so I don't have to involve myself even more.”

As he watched, he noticed the audacity of Shining Armor: he didn't!

Marshal Malice groaned and sheathed the Black-Bladed broadsword across his insectoid back. “Fine. Have it your way.”

“Sir!”

Marshal Malice closed all four of his eyes and groaned. “What?”

Tagra, his second-in-command for this expedition, flapped next to him. “Two chariots are fleeing northward. I have archers ready to engage.”

“No,” Malice allowed, swishing an arm. “A message must be sent to Canterlot. Let Celestia weep in despair. My heavenly sister needs the disheartening slap from reality that her hope is gone.”

Tagra looked disappointed and sulkily crossed his front two legs.

Marshal Malice smiled grotesquely at his discomfort and decided to reassure him. “How many ponies does it take to deliver a message?”

Tagra’s expression brightened as a wicked grin found itself onto his face. “One.”

“See to it.” He snapped Bloodlust's reins, and the dragon dove.

Shining Armor weakly raised his bloodied head, gritting his teeth. He and Raining Sky had landed in a wide street in the center of the city itself. To his left was a pedestaled statue of a pony in wizard robes firing down upon an indistinguishable mass. In front of him was a major street with rows of homes on either side.

Debris was raining from the sky and impacting the remnants of the city. Fires caught in open areas. The ground was littered with all sorts of muck and garbage.

And alighting gently and straddling the road between the rows of homes, and leering down at him hungrily, was the nightmarish white dragon with his insectoid master loosely holding the reins. The white dragon was gripping the apex of the roofs so hard the wood splintered and partially collapsed the houses.

Shining Armor grunted and pushed himself up on all fours. Grasping for the black sword embedded next to him, he picked it up after an attempt and held it defiantly in front of his face.

As if giving a petition, the dragon let out a whine of want, looking up pleadingly to the albino centipede on his back.

“Not so fast, Bloodlust,” the creature whispered to his dragon. “I will attend to him personally.” He raised his voice. “All troops! Search the city for the entrance to the catacombs! The prince is mine.”

The swarm of bugs settled down all over the dead city like alighting birds and began to pry the houses apart, piece by piece, in every street. Sewer gates were jerked open, doors were ripped off their hinges, and cobblestones were pried open and hurled away. They did manage to give Malice and Shining Armor a wide berth for them to engage, though.

None of them thought to look into the statue of Star Swirl the Bearded.

Drawing his broadsword from across his back with a single spindly arm, Malice whipped it to the side like it weighed nothing, glaring down upon the three guards.

Then, pressing hard on the beast to gain power, he leaped from his saddle. Spinning in the air like a loosed arrow, Marshal Malice shot at the group with his sword flurrying like a whirlwind. As he landed, his legs scurried his body forward, and he blazed like a zigzagging bolt of lightning towards Shining Armor.

Shining Armor could only put the sword in front of his face in time.

A tremendous crashing sound from the colossal impact rang forth, buzzing in both of the combatant's ears. The blades formed a black, shimmering cross between them. Shining Armor could see the Marshal's devilish face, baring teeth like needles in gums deeper than scarlet blood.

“A Black Blade. You dare fight me with a comrade's weapon?” The Marshal sniffed imperiously. “Be it on your own head.”

He whipped the sword away from Shining Armor and swept it down for another strike. Shining lept aside and batted the Black Blade away, then lunged to pierce him in the side.

He missed. Malice had scooted away like a recoiling snake. Malice then came forward again and delivered a devastating blow on him. Shining Armor blocked it, but the force made his arms ache. He quickly guided the blade away so the blade forcibly sank into the cobblestone ground. Then Shining slashed the stolen blade across his torso. Or rather, where his torso was supposed to be, since Malice had again recoiled.

Shining Armor, in frustration, ignited his horn and fired another pink magic blast at the Marshal, which missed.

“My, my. Using magic, my boy?”

Malice ignited his antennae. A pile of bricks that was once a home rose up, surrounded in a grey aura.

“Let me show you magic!”

The bricks fired themselves at Shining Armor like whizzing bullets. The white knight quickly put up a pink bubble shield, and the bricks struck the shield and ricocheted off, striking other homes and collapsing old straw roofs. Shining Armor was glaring hatefully at the monstrosity through the opaque pink shield.

Malice sighed and stopped the barrage of bricks. They clattered to the ground uselessly and cracked apart.

“You want to know the dark power of the weapons we use, prince?” Malice asked calmly, pointing the long Black Blade at the pink bubble as he slowly marched at him. “Let me demonstrate.”

With a lunge, the demon pierced the magic bubble like a knife into a hollow egg. Dark energy bubbled and swirled out of the wound. Shining Armor screamed and clutched his horn, and the magic flickered and faltered before cutting off completely, and the shield, in the blink of an eye, dissipated.

Malice swung again. Shining Armor brought up his own blade just in time, but it was hard enough to knock him aside. Lying on his face, Shining anticipated the sting of death to come quickly.

Marshal Malice instead grabbed his head with one of his other arms and hurled him through the window of an abandoned building. The centipede followed after him, smashing the door off its hinges and barging into the abandoned house.

“Prince Armor!” Malice roared, shaking the dust off the small and dark household’s interior. “You fight in vain. Death has already come!” His burning vision swept over the interior, searching for him.

It was at this time that an evil idea came to him.

Shining Armor was battered, bruised, and bloodied. In his life, he had never been as badly beaten as he was now. He was lying under an overturned table, clutching the deadly black sword like a lifeline, trying to keep his breathing at a minimum.

If Malice were to find him now, it would all be over.

“Had your sister known this would be her last day alive, she would have chosen a different path!”

His chest compressed all of a sudden. No. No, not her! What had he done to her? If he had hurt a hair on her head-!

“Did you think I could not send a force of my own into the cavern miles beneath me? I have taken her captive, and she is being fed the raw remains of her friends.”

Shining Armor heavily exhaled and inhaled and exhaled again. It couldn't be true. It couldn't. But the graphic way he was talking made his insides lurch, made his eyes hot. His iron-hard grip made the sword tremble.

“Now, I need Twilight to further the goal of my master to return to this wretched world,” he heard Malice say negligently. He sounded closer that time; louder and clearer, his voice both soothingly calm and malicious. “But after Twilight fulfills her singular purpose, she will be disposed of without regret. How will she die, I wonder? Beheading? Or being drawn and quartered like a wild deer?”

His breathing became labored. Shining Armor’s horror quietly shifted to rage. He gently lifted the sword, reflective in the darkness like some crude shard of obsidian. Malice was right next to him. If he swung at the right time-!

“But of course, none of that will happen until after she gets deflowered. Five or six of my underlings might be happy to volunteer for the job!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”

Shining heard the bellow, and it was neither his nor Malice's.

Malice felt a sharp pain in the small of his back, and he screeched in surprise.

“DIE!” Winter Gleam bellowed, clinging to his rock-hard back. A long spear point was embedded between his chitinous armor. “Crawl back to Tartarus! Ngh! Die!”

Malice's body cricked and cracked as his upper body slowly rotated around. Limbs became jointed the other way and his body reversed like he was made up of rotatable segments. As he slowly turned his body around, Winter Gleam halted his attack and stared up in horror at his slowly-turning head, twisting around like an owl with a symphony of pops and crackles. Finally, his entire upper half was reversed so he was looking on his lower back.

Maalice bared his fangs and tongue, and lunged to bite him in half.

Winter Gleam leaped out of the way in time so his needle-point fangs snapped on thin air. He galloped out of the dark house, with the irate Malice, still reversed, scuttling after him.

As Malice emerged into the open sunlight, he blinked all four of his scarlet eyes. Then a colossal impact on his head made the chitin on his skull crack, and he looked up in rage.

Raining Sky had hurled a flowerpot to gain his attention. Sitting atop the roof like a perching bird of prey, he was holding a puffy dark cloud above Malice's head.

“This might come as a shock to you,” he warned him with a wink.

And he kicked the cloud. Malice quickly raised the Black Blade.

A bolt of white lightning struck the edge of the shimmering black sword and absorbed itself into the magical weapon. Malice pointed the sword at Raining Sky and fountained the bolt of lightning out again with the power of the demon weapon. Sky teasingly zoomed aside just in time.

Only for Malice to feel another pang in his back as he felt something slash at him. Winter Gleam had sunk that broken spearhead into a crack in his chitin, and it was wedged pretty solidly in there. Deep red blood was trickling down the wound and sticking to the cracks in his body.

He had to give them credit; they at least made him bleed.

Malice swung around with a colossal cracking of bones and batted Winter Gleam aside with an arm. He continued his rotation by shifting his legs, until he once again faced Raining Sky, swinging the Black Blade with tremendous vigor into the roof of the house and splitting a beam in half. Raining Sky missed the deadly blade by a hair.

Malice clambered atop the roof by scuttling up the wall with his ten legs, and settled himself on the crossbeam. He took several more swipes at Sky, but he was great at evading the swings.

“You cannot win!” Malice screamed at him.

“As long as I fight, neither can you!” Sky retorted, ejecting a knife from a sheath in his hoof. He hurled it, spinning end over end.

Malice took hold of the knife in midair, leaned his arm back, and threw it back at him, hitting him in his shoulder armor, piercing his flesh a bit.

Raining Sky bellowed in pain and rushed blindly at the field marshal. Malice lunged for his throat with his three free claws.

Sky raised his front legs and caught all three sets of deadly claws by crossing his arms. He was upraised, staring defiantly into the captain's four red pools.

Malice grinned widely, displaying his impressive set of close-set fangs, and raised the broadsword with his fourth claw, ready to send his head flying over the rooftops.

Raining Sky widened his eyes in plain terror.

A pop appeared from behind him, and Malice whirled around to the source.

A bleeding Shining Armor had teleported in the air behind him, the stolen Black Blade near his snarling face, and, with a roar, swung the long blade with all of his might.

The left side of Malice's face was instantly disfigured by the swing. A single scarlet pool darkened as the slice went down his eye and across his cheekbone, splitting his nose in half and knocking out half a dozen teeth as it split like a knife into his puffy gums. Blood bubbled along the length of the cauterized wound.

Malice screamed in fury and pain as he stumbled back, holding a claw over his face. Shining Armor landed on his hind legs, and Winter Gleam and Raining Sky gathered close together in triumph.

With another roar of unhinged anger, his antennae sparked to life, and the ground beneath them began to quake and tremble.

Raising another claw high above his head, he silently commanded the earth to do his bidding.

A thin spike of stone erupted from the middle of the home they had been fighting on and shot into the air for a hundred feet, showering the ground below with bricks and splinters. As the house splintered apart, each fighter leaped off at a different angle and collapsed on the ground.

Malice, however, landed on all eight of his other legs and, spotting Shining Armor, scuttled to his body, starving for revenge.

Before the Marshal could reach the prince's semi-conscious form, Raining Sky leaped in front of his path with another bent spearpoint, aiming for the deep wound in his head.

Malice didn't ignore the threat. He swiped his arm aside, and Raining Sky hurled to the ground with a thud, and the broken spearpoint skittered away.

But Malice wasn't finished.

Picking him up by the neck with his free claw, he slowly jerked his sword arm back before shoving it forward and running him through.

Sky gasped in sudden pain. The last thing he saw before fading away was the black-scarred, snarling face of the Noxxa Marshal.

From separate faraway places, Shining Armor and Winter Gleam shouted in surprise and outrage before speeding in for an attack.

Malice negligently whipped his arm out to the side, and the impaled body flew off the sword and crashed into the side of a muddy-brown hut. He then ignited his antennae and caught both soldiers in a grey aura before pulsing his magic and flinging Armor and Winter back to hit the earth with heavy thuds that knocked the wind out of their chests.

Malice snarled once again and touched his facial wound gingerly. He had inflicted many fatal wounds on other, lesser beings before, but never did he consider what it felt like, much less the possibility of being wounded himself. The powerful sword had sealed the blood inside from escaping, but the wound was burnt and had killed the skin and muscle cells beneath his thick chitinous armor. If the tip had entered two inches more, it would have went into his brain.

Malice shrugged and made a growl, then spat out the blood from his split lips and gums that was flooding his mouth. It didn't matter. The Noxxa had taken their steps on Equestrian soil. Losses had occurred, but it was a small price to pay for the death of the Elements of Harmony.

That knowledge made Malice grin in spite of his pain, and even let out a chuckle. Malice looked all around him. The city had been set on fire in several places by enthusiastic Noxxa eager for a repeat of Griffonstone. The results were not nearly as gratifying, however, with nopony in the houses.

“It starts here. This foul cesspool is worth nothing to us. But soon…” Malice pondered aloud, looking over the blazing ruins of Maretania. “Every Equestrian city will be destroyed!”

He calmly turned around to regard the trapped prince and the single spared soldier, and wove his way over to them with a triumphant sneer, ignoring the pain that shot all over his face. “You might as well do what I ask. Perhaps I will show you…” He grinned nastily, showing his bloody mouth and missing fangs. “Mercy.”

Shining Armor raised his head weakly to glare with absolute hatred at his enemy. “Faust's mercy is good enough for me!”

It had the intent Shining was looking for. Malice's triumphant demeanor switched in an instant to a hollow, angry one. “I will give you one last chance to save yourself,” Malice grumbled darkly. “If you depart now, you will do only this.”

He raised the prince off the ground by his collar and put his snout against his own. “Convince Princess Celestia to surrender!”

Shining Armor spat in his face.

Malice repressed a roar of disgust. A glob of the acid had ran into the deep black gouge he had inflicted on his face, and it made his flesh burn.

Slamming him back into the ground, Malice bent his neck so his nose touched the cobblestone road. He raised the shimmering black sword high above his head, aiming at the nape of his neck.

“Sir!”

Malice whirled to face the source, whipping the sword in an arc, and it pointed at a suddenly-frightened Tagra. “What?!”

Tagra hyperventilated for half a second before wheezing, “Enemy forces... coming from the east!”

Malice perked his head up and turned his head 90 degrees to face the eastern sky, reflecting its color on the Celestial Sea beneath.

In the distance, silhouetted by the sun, was a fleet of a dozen airships looming high in the sky like plump whales.

They were dark dirigible titans, armored and black in color. Beneath each of the black whales was the keel of a ship. Oily black smoke vomited from the back of the fleet’s sterns. Like it was farting it out, Malice snidely thought.

The fleet was approaching the shoreline quickly, and as Malice watched for details, he noticed they were bristling with crossbows and rudimentary harpoon cannons.

This was no Equestrian army. This was someone else.

“All forces!” he bellowed, kicking Shining Armor aside disgustingly. “Stand down!”

The hundreds of Noxxa in the corpse of Maretania all heard and sullenly obeyed.

The lead airship, twice as big as the others and with three engines instead of one, had reached the shoreline and was descending in altitude, deliberately avoiding the long stone spire that now jutted out like a pin from the earth, so the ship moved away to avoid getting punctured.

A door in the keel opened, and gradually, out unraveled a long white rope. Hanging from the end with a foot in a loop was a small creature with a megaphone held to his mouth.

“Ponieth of Equethtria!” the creature boomed in a high, lispy voice. “We come on behalf of the fearthome, the almighty…” He stopped mid-sentence as he finally saw who populated the dead city. “Oh boy, you guyth aren't ponieth, are you?”

Malice swirled the sword twice before leveling it at the grubby creature dangling from the rope. “Who... are you?!”

The grubby thing gulped, which could be heard from the megaphone as they got nearer. “Alright, look, man, I'm jutht the methenger. Don't thoot the methenger, alright? The real guy you wanna talk to is up here in the thip.”

“Take me to him,” Malice commanded the grubby thing.

He nodded fearfully. “Of course! Jutht, ah, hold on…” He looked up. “Hey! Could one of you guyth pull me up now?” After a pause he yelled, “Guyth?”

The impatient Malice rolled his eyes, wincing in pain, and snapped his claws. Three Noxxa appeared at his side in an instant.

“Keep an eye on these two,” he ordered, pointing at Shining Armor and Winter Gleam. “Don't eat them. Yet.” He jerked his head at the corpse of Raining Sky. “You can settle for him, though.”

Ignoring the shouts of outrage and horror from the two prisoners, Malice scuttled up to the long rock spire jutting out of the broken house. He began to spiral around the length of it and ascend like greased lightning to the tip.

When he was perched on the tip, clinging to the top thereof with eight legs, he could see the burning city beneath him. The deck of the airship was directly on his eye level, and he could see the hairy, troll-like beings that crewed the ship, outfitted with black armor and shields.

Malice leaped like a spider to the deck of the ship and slid for five feet on the mahogany surface before coming to a rest.

The yeti-like beings grunted in surprise and moved together in a cautious formation. Malice sneered and prepared to shear their bodies like wheat.

“Guys, guys,” came an old voice, filled with mirth. “Come on! Move aside. I gotta see this new guy!”

Elbowing his under-associates out of the way was a tall white beast. He had cloven hooves, dark grey hands, and two spiraled horns like a goat, making him a satyr. He was outfitted in a black breastplate, black shoulder plates, and black leg greaves. In his hand was a flat golden sword. His turquoise eyes seemed to glow with a mixture of mirth and malevolence.

Malice leveled his Black Blade at the satyr and slowly marched until the tip was at his throat. “I will say this once, beast. Depart now and never interfere in the Noxxa affairs again.”

The satyr idly batted the Black Blade aside with his golden sword.

Malice widened his three remaining eyes. No normal sword could match the power of a Black Blade.

“Oh, no, no, no,” he refused with a laugh. “We just came from Mount Aris. That's a two-day journey. We needed someplace to land. I'm not going to turn tail and run because someone like you says so.” He stuck out his tongue. “Bleaugh. Look at you! Looks like you could use a few painkillers! And a breath mint, if I gotta be honest.”

Malice snarled so hard his teeth rattled in their gums.

“Whoah-ho-ho, there,” the satyr cautioned. “Watch yourself! Your breath stinks like Tartarus! Ugh!” He waved a hand in front of his nose. “And put that sword away. It's making me cold.”

“Not until you tell me who you are,” Malice said, and his wound burned all the more.

“Everyone knows who I am!” he objected. “I'm a pretty big deal in southern Equestria. Those small villages and rural towns tremble at the thought of me. I... am…” He raised the golden sword above his head. “The Storm King!”

Malice snorted. Big deal. So he had an ostentatious name? So what if-

Twin bolts of lightning erupted from the darkening skies above and shot in an arc under the balloon to the tip of the golden blade, making it glow a blinding white. Curls of electricity snaked and sparked from the length thereof before absorbing itself into the sword.

Malice’s attention was instantly piqued.

“Pretty cool weapon, right?” the Storm King proudly asked, shaking the blade, and wisps of electricity flew off and dissipated in the air. “I call it Stormkeeper!”

“Sir, don't call down lightning while we're on the ship,” came a smooth, deep, female voice from behind him. “You could take it down.”

“Says the one with the sparking horn,” the Storm King lazily replied, picking at his teeth with the tip of Stormkeeper.

“You and I both know that can't be helped,” the female voice said, like she was reminding a foal about the playground rules. From behind the Storm King marched the last creature Malice expected to appear, making him recoil in disgust.

A pony.

She was a dark violet, the color of fresh-pressed wine, covered by black armor. Her deep pink mane was cropped and jagged. She was a unicorn, but her horn had been broken off at the base, and was worn down with age and use. Over her right turquoise eye was an old white scar, and her face wore a perpetual scowl. Her aura was cold and harsh, sarcastic and demeaning. Her expression, though, was bored.

“Allow me to introduce my lieutenant,” the Storm King announced grandly, with a sweeping bow. “Tempest Shadow!”

“I can speak for myself, my king,” she monotonously replied, eyeing Malice with a new mix of revulsion and curiosity. “Who’s this... freak?”

The albino twirled his black broadsword twice before swiftly sheathing it across his back. “I am the right hand of the king of the universe, He who is ruler of Tartarus and corrupter of the children of Faust. I am Marshal Malice, His commander and best lieutenant. Who were you again?”

“Such an ostentatious title,” Tempest commented with a sly smile. “Fitting for a creature with such a large head.”

Malice twisted his face into one of disgust while examining Tempest. “O Storm King, why must you invite this filth into your presence? You taint yourself with the mere appearance of ponies by your side. They must be wiped out, not converted.”

To his immense surprise, Tempest grinned, showing her teeth. “That's the idea.”

“We're looking for the subjugation of all of Equestria,” the Storm King negligently added, swinging Stormbreaker ambly. “That includes stealing magic and whatnot.”

“Why?” Malice asked.

The Storm King leered forward with a glint in his eye. “Because it's fun.”

Malice felt surprise rock his body.

“I mean, peacetime is so monotonous. What’s the fun in filing taxes and making negotiations? Give me blood and fire anytime! These last few years were too cute and happy for my taste. I don't like cute. Doesn't go well with my image, you know? You know what would make me happy? A STORM!” he suddenly bellowed. “THAT WOULD BE NICE!”

Here was a creature intent on the obliteration of ponykind--the same goal as he? The Noxxa were not alone in that goal after all, but the Noxxa were nobler than he. Malice did it in a mix of duty to Solaris and his own personal spite. The Storm King did it simply because he wanted to see their reactions, like a child provoking his sibling. It made Malice shrivel up in disgust. The Storm King was uncontrollable and undisciplined. Malice wanted to snap his spine with his bare claws.

“Of course, you know, we need magic to do that,” the Storm King admitted, throwing the golden blade from hand to hand boredly. “We've been searching for something containing a bunch of magical power. You know, that one stick, the twig, whatever-”

“It's called the Staff of Sacanas,” Tempest offered him, turning her gaze to the now-patient Marshal Malice. “We need the power contained therein to subjugate Equestria.”

“You already have a weapon of godly strength!” Malice said, trying not to gag on their stench of superiority. “What more do you need?”

“Well, you know,” the Storm King said hesitantly, shrugging. “This is pretty cool and stuff, but all it can do is summon and absorb lightning. Really, it's nice, but it's not... enough for me. I need real magic. Unicorn magic. The stuff that can seal minds and lift rocks and move the sun and control the tides and raise the earth and burn the world a thousand times over!” He smiled in childish ecstasy. “Oh, if only…”

“The Staff of Sacanas would allow His Majesty the potential of every living creature in Equestria,” Tempest said in her deep, soothing voice, stamping her way in front of Malice. “Just tell us any idea of where it is, please... or else your usefulness... will be called into question.”

“Star Swirl the Bearded had it,” Malice related. A gust of wind made the open wound in his head burn even more, and Malice winced before continuing. “But he banished himself into another dimension.”

“Bastard,” Tempest muttered darkly. “We need to go after him and get that staff!”

“The Staff of Sacanas was destroyed,” Malice said almost smugly, recalling what Captain Slath had done in the Mirror dimension. “My spies told me about it myself.”

Tempest looked shocked, and a trace distressed by the news. Her plans had failed, Malice snidely thought. But why was she so inwardly distraught?

However upset she was, though, it wasn't nearly as open as the satyr's.

“Well now,” the Storm King heavily said. He sounded unimaginably disappointed. “Ain't that just great! Now I gotta go through the rubble of Mount Aris again for the next best thing. It'll take a bajillion years!”

“Mount Aris,” Malice pondered harshly. “What is in that old mountain that will help you?”

Tempest Shadow’s stub of a horn sparked briefly. “We've been looking... for a pearl.”

“What pearl?” Malice demanded.

Chapter Fifty-Six: Seaquestria

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The water was cold and stifling. Though Skystar's bubbles of oxygen were filtering pure air to them all, Twilight felt as if she was about to drown. The experience of being kept under water but not drowning was a foreign idea for her. It made her head woozy.

She and Rarity were escorting Noble Blade's heavy body through the water, trying to keep pace with Skystar, whose gleaming body was several lengths ahead of them.

“We're almost there!” she called out behind her.

“Almost where?” Rainbow cried frustratedly. “We've been swimming for hours now!”

Twilight could relate. Frustration was built up inside of her. The feelings of reaching for a promise just outside of your grip was the most prevalent.

“We're almost to the slipstream!” Skystar said excitedly. “This is the fun part!”

“Slipstream?” Fluttershy whispered in fright.

The yellow light flew towards a faint-looking pale ribbon of water in the distance. “Right there! Follow me!”

“Wait!” Starlight called after her, swimming furiously. “Wait! Princess Skystar!”

Skystar was now right next to the underwater current. “Ready or not! Ready...go!”

And she dove into the stream and shot away.

The others all desperately swam into the large tube, and the instant they touched it, they were sucked in and shot forward like a bullet.

They were screaming, clinging to one another, rippling the skin on their faces and tearing back their eyes. The current went through one bend, and then another, and another, and each time they were slammed this way and that, feeling whiplash as their bodies strained against the powerful suction. The only one who wasn't screaming in fright was Pinkie Pie, who was squealing in delight like a filly going down a waterslide.

The stress was too much for Twilight to handle. She was being ripped apart by the sheer force of the ocean, straining at her muscles, pulling the skin off her bones-

A flipper grasped her hoof all of a sudden and yanked her away, and all of a sudden she was spinning in the ocean helplessly. From her spinning vision she saw Spike tumbling along next to her, and so was the rest of the girls and companions.

“Sorry about that,” Skystar hurriedly said, patting Twilight down. “Not everypony gets used to that at first.”

“Whee!” Pinkie exclaimed, throwing her hooves up. “That was fun!”

“I know, right?” Skystar asked, bumping her hoof with her own flipper. “Come on, it's not far now!”

“That's the sixth time she's said it,” Rainbow whispered to Firestorm. “Where is her home?”

“Skystar mentioned we were going to see her mom,” Pinkie piped up. “And she's a princess, which means-” She gasped. “Her mommy's a queen! Isn't that amazing?”

“The queen of what?” Starlight asked the laboring Twilight. “The ocean?”

“A kingdom,” Twilight struggled, gasping for air while helping the armored knight, “can be anything. Regardless if she’s Queen of the ocean or queen of a people, this pony we're going to go meet is a diplomatic figure! We've got to be careful with ourselves.”

“Ooh!” Firestorm gleefully said, rubbing his hooves together with a devious look in his face.

“Storm?” Noble called out to him. “Don't.”

Firestorm’s ears drooped as a frown pulled at his face.

“Go overboard,” Noble continued to clarify. “Don't go overboard.”

Firestorm brightened.

“You guys are going to love my mom!” Princess Skystar exclaimed all of a sudden, looping around all of them like a young fish.

“What's she like?” Rarity asked, doing the breaststroke with one hoof while she held Noble with another.

“Oh, she's stern, but I'm telling you, she's really charming once you get to know her! And she's got attitude! Cool moms are the best!” Skystar swirled around back to the front again and gestured with a flipper. “You see that black spot in the distance?”

Twilight squinted. “Yeah?”

“That's an underwater mountain. You're gonna love this part!”

Skystar led the others with a flipper to the imposing black slab in the distance, stretching up and up until it seemed like it would reach the roof of the world above them. As they got closer, they could see its face was encrusted with barnacles, algae, and ivory-white coral. Skystar swam deeper until she came to the base of the wall of rock, where a small hole was drilled into the stone.

“Why were ya all the way out in the middle o’ th’ ocean in the first place?” Applejack wondered.

Skystar blew a raspberry. “Oh, I, uh...it's nothing. We're all kind of sent out to search the ocean nowadays.”

“Whatcha searchin’ fer?”

Skystar took a nervous glance to the side. “Nothing important.”

Applejack shot a knowing glance at Rainbow Dash, who had a dubious look on her own face.

“Well, come on!” Skystar burst out of nowhere. “Follow me!” She vanished into the hole, and the yellow light inside grew dimmer as she advanced.

The Ten Souls obediently, gently, maneuvered themselves to the hole and went inside one by one.

The hole was narrow and had long crystals jutting from the side like pointing fingers, from as thick as a pencil to the width of their bodies. They all had to swim their way around them and over them, and it was at this point where Twilight's irrational fear of bursting their bubbles came to her in full force.

A purple glow was shining at the end of the tunnel and merging with the distant Skystar's brilliant golden flare. The party, curious, swam faster to reach the source of the glowing power.

As they came closer, they found that there was a ledge overgrown with fallen crystals, shattered at the base. The Ten Souls floated past the long crystals and out of the open entrance--and opened their mouths in wonder and awe.

Above them was a grand cavern hollowed out in the underground mountain, miles wide and miles high. Glowing bulbs in the shape of flowers shone brilliantly in the pristine water on the edges of the cavern. Sparkling in beautifully colored specks, they dazzled the edges of their vision. Schools of fantastic fish shot across their axis, trailing bubbles and reflecting color across their shiny scales.

Hanging from the ceiling of this cavern, though, was a structure that looked like an upside-down wedding of a lava lamp and a tulip. Dazzling purple in color and bulbous in many layers, it looked like some exotic, alien plant life that no mortal could shape.

The girls, and Rarity in particular, were gazing around with barely-concealed awe at the shiny wealth of the grand kingdom. But as they kept on watching, they noticed a disconcerting detail.

There weren't any pedestrians. No crossing fish-ponies were to be seen anywhere in the vast cavern. If Twilight squinted past her rippling bubble, she could just make out the faint shapes of inhabitants on the walls, hidden among the coral and broken stone. They squirmed and shifted uncomfortably, shielding their miniature children.

It made Twilight puzzle to herself. Why the mistrust amongst newcomers? And why were there so few of them?

Skystar, distinguished by her lampshade-yellow glow ahead, slowly led them to the alien shape hanging from the ceiling and swam up a central column. The girls followed her, but before they could even reach the top, they could hear voices.

“Wait right here,” Skystar advised them. “I'll go up and get mom to warm up to you first.”

She shot upward into the throne room above her. Now the Ten Souls could listen in on the conversation going on.

“I have served you for twice as long as the other captains have. I know the outside ocean! My queen, this is madness. To send someone like her to lead the retrieval-”

“The matter is settled, captain,” came an old, motherly voice. “You would be best stationed here while other seaponies went to search for the-”

“This is a national emergency!” exploded the first voice, arrogant and confident. “You would send less-experienced guards to seek for the one thing that can keep our kingdom secure?”

“That monster is still out there, captain,” the old motherly voice reminded him. “If it strikes at us again, we will need experienced people like you to keep us safe.” Her attention redirected itself to Skystar. “Oh, baby, you're back! Did you find anything to tell us the location of the-”

“Mom! Mom! I just found out the most amazing thing! I found some new friends while I was out looking!”

“Skystar, puh-lease don't tell me you found more purple shells.”

“But mom, you like purple shells!”

“I do, baby, but right now I'm doing something important. You can show me your shells later.”

“I didn't find shells! I found ponies!”

“That's our cue,” Rainbow Dash whispered, and swam up abruptly. The rest of the party followed her with delayed reactions, and before they all knew it, they were in the throne room of the underground city.

Turquoise pillars stretched far above their heads like they had been stretched thin. Their color was matched in the flowers encircling the circumference of the room. Twin rows of circular stone steps led up to the pedestal where the tall, grand throne sat. Two ponies were already in the room; one with regal bearing, sitting on the throne, whose relaxed expression got serious the instant the ponies appeared. The other pony was a scarlet fish-hybrid with bonemold armor and a serrated spear. When he saw them, his outraged demeanor flew to a fanatical one.

“My queen!” he bellowed. “They have come to claim the pearl for themselves! Get out of here! I'll see to their ejection from Seaquestria immediately!”

“Captain Sliphorn!” came the queen's stern voice. “Stand down until they prove themselves to be hostile!”

The scarlet Sliphorn floundered for a moment. Then, desperate for a confirmation, he jabbed his serrated spear at Pinkie Pie. “Well? Do something hostile!”

“You want a water balloon?” Pinkie countered with, taking one out of her mane. The balloon immediately inflated with water and rapidly burst.

Pinkie blinked. “Whoops.”

“It will be okay, Sliphorn,” the queen spoke reassuringly. “Just let me take care of it all.”

“Guys,” Skystar said with a trace of anxiety, jabbing at the queen. “Meet my mother, Queen Novo.”

“I can introduce myself, baby,” the regal seapony gently reminded her. She swam some distance from off her throne and gestured at herself with modest grace. “I am Queen Novo.”

She settled back down in her seat and ran her flipper on the edge of the seat. “Now tell me this. What are land ponies doing down here, and how can we get you back to the surface as fast as possible? You ponies aren't safe for us.”

“No, no, no, please, mom, I promise you, these guys aren't bad! They want to be our friends!”

The scaled queen looked at the broadsword on Noble Blade's back. “And yet they carry weapons.”

“Our weapons,” Noble spoke up, still supported by Twilight and Rarity, “are simply a means to an end, used only to remove obstacles on our journey.”

“If your journey didn't involve wandering into the ocean, I think I can see where the problem with your presence lies,” the queen said.

“Our journey happens to be the most important thing happening in the world at the moment,” Firestorm defended, pulling out the golden chain from around his neck holding the Element of Courage. “Retrieving these things, you know?”

The queen widened her eyes at the jeweled orange X on Firestorm's neck.

“Now, lady, you know what this thing is?” He jangled the chain.

“Oh, no,” she whispered. “Oh, no, no, no! Is it...is it truly time?”

“Time for what?” Firestorm asked seriously.

“Time for you to watch your tongue while speaking to the queen!” Sliphorn smugly said.

Firestorm whipped around and stared him in the eye. “Time for you to get a better comeback.”

Sliphorn shut up, unable to respond.

“I never thought I had to do this,” Novo mumbled. “I always thought we'd stay down here in peace. It seemed so far away when I first got the news. But the time has come at last.”

Novo swam down from her throne and came in front of all of them. She put both her flippers on the side of Twilight's cheeks. “Are you really...the Ten Souls?”

Twilight gulped noisily and nodded.

“The Child of Light,” she whispered. “It's you. It's you.”

“...Mom?” Skystar asked with a trace of concern. “What's happening?”

Queen Novo looked at Skystar scoldingly. “Hush.”

Skystar hushed.

Novo put her flipper underneath Twilight's chin. “These ponies are the ones, all right. You must help us in our time of need.”

Sliphorn gestured at the assembly incredulously. “These are the ones that will retrieve the pearl?”

“Silence, Sliphorn,” Novo ordered.

Sliphorn began to laugh. “Ten untouched, untested ponies?”

“Silence, Sliphorn,” Novo ordered harder, and Sliphorn, abashed, fell back.

“He said something about a pearl,” Spike observed. “What pearl are you talking bout?”

Queen Novo pointed up, and the Ten Souls followed her gesture. Hanging from the ceiling was a multilayered flower, and it was wrapped in thin glowing petals. In the center was an indent, where something was clearly designed to fit.

“The pearl is the greatest treasure us seaponies have,” Queen Novo explained. “But one month ago, a fearsome sea creature invaded Seaquestria, broke into the palace, and stole the pearl before fleeing into the depths from where he came. We have been sending scouts to see where he has gone, but the monster has vanished, and the pearl with him.”

“That must be why the inhabitants are so scared of us!” Starlight deduced.

“And why some others are rather…” Firestorm gave a glance at Sliphorn. “Apprehensive.”

“And do you want us to retrieve this pearl?” Twilight asked, still holding Noble Blade. Her arms ached from holding him up.

“I can't tell an outsider what to do for my people,” Queen Novo said plainly. “But if you do, I will help you in your quest to retrieve the Elements.”

Twilight's sores lessened in that instant. “You will?” she eagerly asked.

“My queen!” Sliphorn objected. “You said it yourself. They are outsiders. I have served you for twenty-five years, and I know what to do better than these land animals ever will!”

Novo leaned her head back. “Oh, Faust, it's learned how to count,” she groaned, before speaking louder. “Do you not trust these ponies? Do you even know who they are?”

“Well,” Sliphorn said modestly. “I know they're not me.”

“Look, if the job isn't for you, we can understand,” Freedom Fighter said. “You seem woefully inadequate for the job.”

“Inadequate?” Sliphorn sounded shocked. He pointed accusingly at Queen Novo. “Listen here, my queen. I didn't come here to be insulted!”

“Oh?” Novo mildly asked, resting her chin in her flipper on the armrest. “Where do you usually go?”

“One for her side,” Noble Blade whispered to Rarity.

“Now if you please, captain, leave us so we can come up with a plan. Go and cool off at the local cafe. The seaweed wraps are quite delectable, I'm told.”

Sliphorn struggled violently with his search for a comeback, but he eventually muttered a few choice swears under his breath and stormed off.

After he left, Queen Novo nodded at all of them. “This pearl is vital to us seaponies and especially dear to me. If you manage to retrieve it, I will grant to you the location of the Element of Sacrifice.”

“We accept,” Noble Blade immediately said. “To thy continuing health do I pledge mine service.”

“Me too,” Twilight said, hot on his heels. The rest of the girls made similar noises, with Spike at the end saying, “Sure.”

Firestorm jerked a hoof at the eloquent knight. “Ditto.”

“Where is the pearl?” Freedom Fighter asked harshly instead of pledging his acceptance. “Where did the monster take it?”

“We have been looking for it, Unforgiven,” Queen Novo said tiredly, making Freedom Fighter tense up in place at his heavenly name being nonchalantly spoken. “The monster disappeared without a trace of where he came. We are looking towards the south at the moment, but at this point, we're spread so thin that even my daughter has had to help in the search.”

Off to the side, Skystar nodded shyly and straightened the coral jewelry around her neck.

“Now, if you're going to help us, we should make it so you aren’t dependent on your air running out,” Novo continued. “The magic of the pearl could help in that regard.”

Novo nodded to Princess Skystar, who opened a clasp on her coral necklace. Inside an oyster was a shiny fragment that shone brighter than anything else in the cavern.

“When the monster was taking it away, he was a bit rough with it!” Skystar interjected to them. “He broke off this fragment from the pearl. This is the only part left. Ooh! Ooh! You're going to love this!” Skystar squealed, squeezing her cheeks with her hooves. She then coughed professionally and gestured at them all. "Hold hooves, please."

Each of them did. Twilight held her hooves with Fluttershy and Freedom Fighter, whose metal hoof was crushing her own. Twilight didn't say anything to him, though.

Skystar closed the gap in the circle. She closed her eyes and concentrated. From her body came forth a glow, and that glow traveled like a viral frost to each of the ponies holding the other's hooves. Twilight could feel herself emitting power, this kind of ability to transform. She felt fluid and graceful.

Each of the silhouettes changed in shape. The pony's bodies became slimmer, and their manes flowed long behind them. Fins sprouted up on their back, their back legs merged together, and out sprang large heart-shaped flippers.

As the light faded away and the delicate shard was dying down, their bodies stopped glowing and settled in the water. Everypony flicked themselves this way and that in astonishment; each companion had been transformed by the meager pearl shard into a hybrid of a fish and a pony.

Rainbow was the first to react. She threw her hooves up and swirled around in the ocean. “Ah-ha-ha-ha! Awesome!”

“I'M A FISH!” Pinkie proclaimed peppily. “Come on, Fluttershy! You gotta be more happy than that!”

The nervous Fluttershy, uncertain about the new form she had taken, flicked her tail, propelling her a foot. She smiled. “Yay!”

Noble Blade had had his armor shift to adopt his new body, overlapping his long torso in layers like the scales of the fish he had assumed the form of. He bent this way and that, and his armor accommodated it. Upon hearing his girlfriend’s zephyr-like voice, he swam to her side, no longer needing the support from Rarity and Twilight, and rested his hooves at her side from behind. He felt her tense up at his touch.

“Do you want to practice swimming with me?” he whispered in her ear.

She craned her head around to look him in his deep blue eyes. After biting her lip, she reached her decision and nodded.

He grinned, leaned in, and kissed her just for the heck of it. After pulling away, he paused and said much more quietly, “That kiss was...okay...with thee, right?”

She wiggled closer to him; he had backed away a little. “It was, um, fine.” She ran a hoof through her flowy pink mane and rested her other on his chest. “Do you want me to return the favor?”

He grinned as a rather large heartbeat sounded from behind his breastplate. “Do as you please.”

She lunged and planted her lips on his. She broke away after three seconds, and the two of them were sporting awkward smiles.

“Y'all. I’m right here.” Novo rolled her eyes in disgust as the two young lovers shot her embarrassed glances and pulled away. “Sheesh. Hold off on the lovey-dovey stuff until I can get you two a room.”

“Sorry.” Noble coughed shyly. “I simply got carried away. I beg your apology.”

“Oh, granted,” Novo irritably said, waving a flipper. “Love is hard to get right. It never works out the way you think.” She had an alarming look of resignation in her face.

“Mom?” Skystar asked nervously. “Are you thinking about-”

“Don't worry, baby,” Novo said to her daughter. “He's out of our life now. No use worrying about the guy who left.”

Noble and Fluttershy exchanged worried glances.

Firestorm, who also had his ragged armor adapt to his new form, tapped an unsuspecting Rainbow Dash on the shoulder. When she wheeled around, he pulled her in and squeezed a deep hug out of her, widening her eyes as a squeak escaped her.

“Yo, Dash,” he said in a deep baritone. “I'm a fish. I smell…” He inhaled through his nose. “Fishy...like a fish.”

“Whatever,” she said, trying to wiggle out of his grasp.

“No, no, wait! You gotta say the magic word-”

Rainbow popped out from his crushing hug and swam casually next to him. “Good luck trying that on me now, Stormy!”

“Awwwww, but I was going to give you a kiss,” he mourned, drooping in place.

She hung upside down in front of him and kissed him on the lips. After she pulled away, she churned the ocean with her tail and shot away from him. “You want more, Stormy? You want any of this?” She outlined her body with a slow drag of her hooves. “Come and get it!”

Queen Novo facehooved and let out a groan of consternation. Princess Skystar squirmed uncomfortably.

“Race ya to that pillar over there?” Applejack challenged, pointing at the furthest pillar in Queen Novo's throne room.

“You're on!” Rainbow accepted, speeding off in pursuit of Applejack.

Firestorm hastily swam after both of them.

Freedom Fighter, stretched taut in his long black suit, strapped down to his tail with weapons, tapped Twilight on the shoulder, making the princess turn around. “Twilight! You, um...you look…” He faltered; she did look gorgeous as a seapony. “...You look nice.”

Twilight glanced at him briefly. Man, he was awkward, wasn't he? “Thanks.”

And she hurriedly swam away from him to Rarity, who was oohing and ahhing with pride at her new body.

Unbeknownst to her, Freedom Fighter, after a pause, clenched his left hoof and pumped it in triumph. “Yes!”

“Guys?” Spike asked with worry. His transformation had not gone the way he had expected. “What...is…” His body puffed up into a spiked ball. “Happening?!”

Noble Blade quickly swam over and squeezed him between his hooves, and with a deflating noise he became flat once more.

Queen Novo was watching the entire scene with a detached sort of wonder. It had been the first time an outsider had became a seapony themselves, much less a dependent aspect of the underwater society's continued existence.

When the frolicking was done and all the ponies had reassembled, Novo spread her hooves. “Now. Any questions?”

“Yeah.” Firestorm raised his hoof. “If we gotta pee, do we just go whenever we need to? Cause it's the ocean? Or is there, like, a restroom for that?”

“Just find somewhere private and do your thing,” Novo irritably said.

Firestorm shot off in a blur of orange.

Queen Novo gestured at where he once was. “Is he always like this?”

“He's even worse,” Twilight admitted, giving a shudder.

“I have a question,” Starlight Glimmer said determinedly. “How did you know about the Ten Elements? And our heavenly names, as well?”

Queen Novo’s fat, full lips pursed together in mental conflict. After the battle in her head was won, she looked Starlight Glimmer in the eye. “Somepony told me.”

“Was it…” Twilight’s expression tumbled to a condition of shock. “No! Was it Star Swirl the Bearded?!”

Queen Novo gave a firm and resolute nod.

“What?” Pinkie exploded, rocketing upward in a burst of bubbles.

“That pony appeareth to crop up yet again in our journey,” Noble observed, his signature archaic diction belying his surprise.

Pinkie floated gently down to their level once more.

“You knew Starswirl?” Twilight eagerly asked.

Novo's expression darkened. “Yes.” She shifted her eyes to the side. “I did.” Her entire posture seemed to slouch. “He shows up, plays around with a girl's heart, and after he gets what he wants out of you, he leaves. Typical of stallions. Not even half the shred of decency in them as a mare.”

Noble Blade suddenly looked very uncomfortable as he looked determinedly down at the ground.

“What happened between you two?” Applejack asked.

“Nothing,” Queen Novo quickly replied. “Nothing you'd understand.”

“Begging your pardon, but we've been all over the place trying to solve this mystery, your Majesty,” Freedom Fighter uttered. “We have suffered…” He took a glance at Twilight. “Far more than anypony could possibly imagine.”

Rainbow Dash's stomach rippled as a moan akin to a whale rumbled in the water.

“Speak o’ th’ devil,” Applejack muttered.

“Pardon me, but, um, we ran out of supplies and we've been starving all day,” Fluttershy piped up. “I was wondering if you had anywhere nice we could go to eat. I’m so hungry…”

“Then we'll fix it!” Novo announced. “Come on. There's a nice cafe I sent Captain Sliphorn off to that I think could help y'all. After that, imma send y’all off to the latest expedition to search for the pearl. The sooner you find it, the sooner you can find the Element of Sacrifice.”

Clang

The rattle of iron as the key locked him inside made Shining Armor truly aware of his surroundings. He was locked in a small animal's cell on the Storm King's ship after being taken aboard by Malice and his underlings. While it was true that he had been trapped before, Shining Armor had never been trapped with another pony in the same space as him. Not to mention, he was conscious this time.

“Stay,” said the imposing yeti creature, pointing down like he was training a dog. “Stay.”

Shining Armor, battered and scratched, glared hatefully at the creature. The hairy thing laughed stupidly and shuffled away.

Beside him in the same cage, Winter Gleam was beginning to sniffle. Shining Armor caught the telltale markings and scooted away from him.

“Sir,” he brokenly started.

Shining Armor braced for what was undoubtedly to come next.

“I'm scared!”

Shining Armor nodded. “I know. Me too.”

Winter took several ragged breaths. “Why?”

“Hm?” Why could mean many things in recent context.

“Why did I have to live?”

Shining Armor blinked in surprise.

“Raining Sky…” he croaked, stretching out from the ball he had been curled up in. “I loved him. So much. He was...my best friend! My best friend!”

And it was then that he broke into a waterfall of tears, and he buried his face into his white arms, shaking up and down with each breath he took.

“I would have died in his place,” he gasped. “If I had to choose between me and him, I would have done it in a-a-a heartbeat!”

Shining Armor was no longer his commanding officer. He was now his only link to awful, cold reality. As he shivered on the framework cage floor, Shining Armor crawled over to him and soothed him with a hoof, pressing delicately into his back.

“I'm still here,” he murmured. “I'm still here.”

“No,” Winter whispered. “You're here, but you always were. Sky once was here, but now he isn't! Why'd he have to...Shining, he...he was the best guy in the world! And he just died! Why am I still here? Isn't...my spot...with him? I want...to join him...”

“We must fight on to preserve his memory,” Shining Armor resolutely said, biting back the rebuke he was about to give him for his suggested suicide. “And the memories of him die with him when you die as well.”

“I know that, sir! But I can't fight...without him…” he choked out, hitting the ground with a hoof. “I can't! He was my best friend!” Two more tears ran down his cheeks like flowing water. “What can I do...without him…”

“Have you ever lost a soldier before?” Shining Armor asked.

Winter, his mouth agape, nodded pathetically.

“Their friends feel the same way you do now. But they found a way to keep on fighting. I've lost…” His thoughts went to Twilight. “I've lost my entire world today. I lost my soldiers. I lost my battle. I will never see my wife again. I don't even have a sister left. Malice...took her. She's probably now...at some nefarious purpose for Malice's master.”

“But isn't it hard for you?” Winter pleaded.

Shining Armor felt something behind his eyes. Little Twily, who loved experimenting and books and being such a dork. Little Twily, laughing with her friends as they cleaned up a room or trotted down the street. Little Twily, being torn apart limb from limb and defiled in every possible way.

“It is,” Shining replied hoarsely. His stomach churned; he felt like he was about to vomit. “It's so hard. I…” He had to stop as he sniffled and clenched his teeth to prevent full-on sobbing. A tear ran down the corner of his eye. “Winter, I feel like I'm helpless...against the powers of evil. Like Chrysalis, she-she…” He struggled for words. “I couldn't do a thing! I chose not to do anything when she came after me! Both times! This is even worse. I feel so overwhelmed!

“I've crumbled, Winter. I’m...truly on my own now. My wife and child…” He had to stop that line of thought; his throat had been blocked by some colossal lump. “And Twily…”

Winter wrapped his arm around him. “No, sir. You're not on your own.”

Shining Armor smiled at him in sad relief. His touch brought him some semblance of comfort, but there was a warm spot growing in his chest. It was fire, but not the roaring kind that incinerated his veins. It was a gentle warmth that flooded his skin like a blanket. It made his body invigorated, calm, as the inward warmth soothed his heart.

And as this warmth pervaded his senses, a new outlook on the situation came to him. It came in a burst of clarity.

“But.” He slowly rose on his sore hooves, wiping away the single tear in a newfound feeling of resolution.. “But all that means...I have nothing left for them to take away from me. I can fight...without fear!”

“Quiet in there!” boomed the old, mirthful voice in command of the ship, and into the red-tinted ship's hold stomped the king himself. “Geez, I'm trying to take a bath and you go and start to scream! Happens every time. And don't sound so triumphant. It hurts my head.”

“Listen, Storm King!” Shining Armor shouted through the cage bars. “Twilight may be in Malice's hands, but you'll never break us! When we escape, I'm going to bring the might of Equestria against you and shove it up your-”

“You aren't in a position to make threats now, boy,” the Storm King lowly responded, leveling Stormkeeper at the unicorn. “You can't win! And tell your crying friend in the corner that the next time I come down here, my anger will be quite…” He grinned. “Explosive.”

And he tramped back out.

The Storm King took a breath of relief once he went out. Goodness, prisoners were annoying. Why did Malice insist on keeping them around?

The Storm King walked across the deck of the ship all the way to the stern. Standing on an upper deck, he spotted Malice, that demonic-looking centipede, standing on the poop staring out at the ashen remains of Maretania. Tempest Shadow was walking near. The Storm King decided to patiently wait for the inevitable confrontation between monster and pony. And sure enough, he could hear his lieutenant's words clearly.

“All this army,” she whispered, observing the hovering Noxxa from afar. “Wasted in a cesspool like this.”

Malice snorted. His head wound had been bandaged up, but the sterile white of the medical bandage contrasted against his sickly white body. “Who invited you?”

“I invited myself,” Tempest whispered. The Storm King had noticed that Tempest never spoke above a whisper if she couldn't help it. “And why were you invited here?”

Malice gazed upon the smoking remains of ancient pony society. “An old rival. Or more likely, an old objective.” His claws clenched the rail of the airship. “Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“I heard about all four princesses,” Tempest drawled. “She's the newest. What'd she do, and why is she so important to you?”

“My master doesn't actually need Twilight. Any Equestrian princess will do. But all he requires is an alicorn touch to allow his full power to return.”

“Where is she being kept? I noticed you don't have a cage.”

Malice managed to sound embarrassed. “Twilight...is elusive. When I get my claws on her...I'll turn her friends into proud little chunks of meat!”

The Storm King gave a small smirk. Shining Armor believed that Malice had captured her. But in reality, Malice was as hopeless as he was on square one. Information like this was essential to keep cataloged in his brain, and so he kept it filed away, planning to make full use of it later.

“How would an Equestrian princess bring the powers of Tartarus from the earth?”

Malice glared down at her. “Why should I allow a subspecies like you the answer?”

“Right,” Tempest slowly said with a smile that showed her teeth. “The most sickly, twisted, disgraceful mishmash of flesh and blood imaginable calls a pony a subspecies.”

“The Storm King would be better to be around than you,” Malice snarled, quickly tempered, and the overhearing Storm King suppressed a harrumph. “Our alliance is the only thing keeping me from plucking out your vertebrae piece by piece and tossing it overboard.”

Tempest's broken horn crackled with a spark of lightning as she scowled once more. “Try it. See what will happen.”

Malice and Tempest glared with revulsion at each other for a few moments more.

Tempest broke away first and put her hooves on the railing. “You think you are special?” She gave a quiet chuckle. The fire beneath her was reflected in her turquoise eyes. “Equestria is no less of a cesspool than this ruin beneath us. Many would want to see it perish...and we have the means to make it so.”

“Why would someone like you defect from her own country?” Malice asked, high and cold like a snake.

“Why should I allow a subspecies like you the answer?” she responded without a break in stride.

He quickly grew irritable. “Hell itself is worse than trying to reason with filth like ponies,” Malice snarled. “And I once lived there!”

And he abruptly about-faced and crawled away to the bow of the ship.

Bending his knees, the Storm King leaped into the air and landed on the poop deck, sliding on the mahogany and ending his skid next to Tempest.

“Living in hell must stink!” he commented, as mirthful as ever. “You know why, Tempest?”

“Because it's hell?”

“BECAUSE IT'S HELL!” he bellowed. “Exactly right!”

Tempest Shadow snorted and shoved off the railing. “He's a weakling. Without his army of nightmares, he cannot stand. The only reason he's here is because he's acting on orders, sir.”

“You’re acting on orders as well, Lieutenant.” The Storm King laid a large paw on Tempest's shoulder. “You and he have a lot in common, you know.”

“What?” Tempest exploded. “Me and that demon?”

The Storm King began to count on his fingers. “You’re both the best lieutenant the enemy has, both scarred over an eye, hates ponies, can't stand the other, both want Twilight Sparkle-”

“You're out of your mind!” Tempest insisted sharply, slapping his hand off her shoulder.

“Am I?” he asked, a dangerous glint in his turquoise eye.

Tempest saw the points in his eye and switched tack. “Why would I want that prissy princess Twilight?”

He bent so he could whisper in her torn ear. “She is the Princess of Magic. Her power can transcend anything. In other words...she is the one who can restore your horn!”

Tempest gave a little jolt and took a step back hesitantly. Her eyes shot down in thought.

The Storm King smiled widely. “Ah. Are you interested now?”

Tempest's soft expression returned to a scowl soon enough. “If we want to capture Twilight, Malice is an inconvenience.”

“Malice is exploitable,” the Storm King answered, much deeper and more menacing than his usual mirth. “And he’ll find himself a bit more humble when we find the pearl and hold Twilight ransom. He wants either one...he has to go through us.”

Tempest gave a dark grin as a small chuckle escaped the gaps in her teeth.

A series of rapid footfalls skittered on the deck as Malice sped back to the stern of the ship. The tall, pale demon appeared around a corner and, spotting the Storm King, genuflected. “O Storm King,” he said in a desperate tone. “Turn this ship south. I have found Twilight Sparkle!”

The Storm King concealed his thoroughly unexpected surprise by nodding. “How did you do it?”

“By calling upon the powers of my master...I had opened my mind to the magical influences of all living creatures in the entire world...to the magical fluxes of energy every creature possesses. I sought out Twilight's presence, and caught wind of tremendous magical powers working underwater; an ancient spell has just been used to transform her into a sea creature. It would stand to reason that the only place she is heading to is where this pearl is you speak so highly of is.”

He grew a large, bloody grin; his mouth had not yet been fully repaired from the savage scar he had gotten. “And that place...is directly beneath…”

“Mount Aris,” Tempest finished with a hiss.

The Storm King drew Stormkeeper while turning around and lofted it high in the air. “Left face! Haul your booties south to Mount Aris!”

There came a collective series of consternated groans from the hairy beasts on board.

“I'm sorry, what was that?” the Storm King asked threateningly. Wisps of white lightning whirled around in the wind as the golden sword began to hum with dangerous power. “What did you say?”

Each of the beasts became very interested in observing the floorboards of the airship.

“That's what I expected,” the tall white yeti said. “Now if you don't want your butts to get fried into potato chips, I'd suggest you MOVE!”

As the beasts scuttled around desperately, the Storm King saw it and smiled cruelly. “You have no idea what's coming to you.”

Whether he was speaking to his minions, Marshal Malice, the far-off Princess Twilight, or even the wine-colored lieutenant at his side, none could say.

Chapter Fifty-seven: The Pearl of Great Price

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The table was long and made of stone. Bowls and plates were swamped with seaweed salads, salty shrimp scampi, and sliced sushi with sweet and sour seasoning. The thirteen seaponies around the table were picking out their food with suspicious stares before reluctantly crunching down and chewing. All except for Queen Novo and Princess Skystar, of course.

Pinkie Pie pulled out a wiggling pink thing from a plate and poked it. She stared, then shrugged. “Bottoms up!”

As she devoured it, Applejack was glancing uncomfortably at the ravenous Freedom Fighter. He was tearing fish apart with his sharpened teeth and swallowing pieces whole, and he was doing it without a break in stride.

Rainbow Dash leaned in next to the farm girl, staring at the warrior as well. “You and me both, AJ.”

“Shoot!” Firestorm shot out, stabbing his plate, and the food thereupon floated in the sea. “How do I get these... Nnnngh!” He finally impaled a shrimp on the end of a long stick and took a tentative bite. After chewing with an uncomfortable expression, he relaxed his face and shrugged before swallowing. “Hey! Freedom! I did it! I...” As he then looked past Rainbow and Applejack, and saw the dark warrior skewer half a dozen shrimp on the end of a stick and easily slide all of them into his awaiting mouth, he sighed and put a hoof to his forehead before taking another bite of his shrimp.

“You don't... normally eat the tails,” Skystar offered Freedom Fighter hesitantly.

He widened his eyes before swallowing with effort. “Some ponies like the tails,” he choked out. He took a fat shrimp and crunched down on the whole thing. As he narrowed his scarlet eyes, he chomped down with a restrained face. “Like me. I like eating the-” He swallowed and began to breathe heavily. “-the tails.”

“I take it your race is unaccustomed to eating meat,” Queen Novo commented to Twilight, who was placed awkwardly next to the queen.

“We can do it, all right,” Twilight relayed, prodding at the oyster floating an inch above her plate. “We just don't do it often.”

“Hm.” Queen Novo took a bite of her seaweed wrap. “I am unfamiliar with pony customs. You could be quite the mine of information on what's happening on the surface.”

“Did you know about us before Star Swirl came to you?” Twilight asked.

“All the world was once interconnected. Now those ties have drifted apart. Yaks and griffons and dragons and changelings are cold and isolated.”

“Actually, we're allies with all four of them,” Twilight blurted out. “Pinkie Pie opened a negotiations route with the yaks, as well as helping Rainbow Dash with the griffons. Spike-” She indicated the green blowfish who was gobbling up fish food from a bowl. “-over there, he helped instate the new ruler of the Dragonlands, who's much more open to negotiation than before. And Chrysalis's influence on the changelings was destroyed only a few months ago.”

“You would ally yourselves with all four provinces?” Queen Novo asked in surprise. “Too many loyalties can break a nation.”

“Or it can strengthen it,” Starlight Glimmer asserted, on the other side of the queen. “We’re lucky to have them all as allies in case trouble strikes. The Noxxa are rearing to make an attack against Equestria. Their spies are already embedded in little camps all across the land as a preparatory precaution.”

Queen Novo's eyes darkened. “The Noxxa,” she growled.

The tone at the table abruptly switched. All fell silent.

Novo switched expressions immediately. “Don’t worry. Just something Star Swirl warned me about when he came here.”

“Why'd he tell you about the Noxxa?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Are they suspicious about something you have?”

Queen Novo looked unsettled. “Partly.”

“Why did Star Swirl come to this place?” Twilight pressured.

“None of yo’ business, child,” Novo patiently explained. “After that pearl is retrieved for us, I will explain everything.”

When dinner was over and all of their stomachs were comfortably full for the first time in days, Queen Novo sent Princess Skystar to lead the Ten Souls to the expedition send-off.

As they swam out of the palace and back into the massive underwater chamber, they took another look around. The other seaponies were still huddled near the walls, hidden amongst the seaweed.

“Why are they so cautious of us?” Starlight Glimmer wondered.

“It's easy,” the purple princess responded. “The monster that took the pearl left this mistrust of outsiders.”

“Don't be silly!” Skystar objected, swimming in front of her. “It isn't you that's the problem!”

“I think that’s just you talking,” Rainbow Dash shrewdly said.

“Of course not!” Skystar insisted. She shot off to the side, and the group paused. A minute later, Skystar reappeared, dragging an old, wrinkly seapony behind her.

“Hey, Carp,” Skystar said excitedly, pushing him so he met face-to-face with the eyes of the entire group. “Say hi to my new friends!”

“B-but those aren't your shells!” he protested. “Who are they?”

“My friends,” Skystar flatly replied.

“Hiya, pardner!” Applejack called to him. “Ma name's Applejack. We're here ta help y'all.”

Carp’s wide eyes darted from her to Twilight, and from her to Noble Blade. The armored knight gave a warm smile at his furtive look, which marginally eased his nerves.

“So…” Pinkie said slowly. “That weather is sure nice today, huh?”

“Pinkie, we're at the bottom of the ocean,” Fluttershy reminded her.

“Ohhh,” Pinkie gasped in realization. “I'll pick a less awkward topic next time.” She then swam up next to Carp and nudged the old pony's shoulder with her elbow. “So... that darn economy, huh?”

Carp swam away.

Pinkie folded her arms. “Man, the economy's gotta be bad if he doesn't want to talk about it.”

Skystar led all of them to the bottom of the cavern. As they swam deeper, the violet light from the palace above grew dimmer and dimmer. The sea got darker and inkier than before, and each of them felt disgusted at the way the water felt against their scales.

As they descended, Twilight, Rarity, and Noble Blade lit their horns in bursts of blue and purple. Fluttershy clung to her boyfriend's hoof so tightly it began to hurt Noble's hoof even through his armor. Rainbow Dash held onto Firestorm's with equal force. And Freedom Fighter swam down right next to Twilight. He hesitantly reached out for her hoof, but upon seeing her glance at him once, he quickly shot his hoof back to his side and looked awkwardly away.

Finally, they reached the bottom of the shaft. The inky darkness surrounding them was pierced by balls of pink light from luminescent bulbs that the seaponies carried. Those seaponies were dressed in bonemold armor and carried spears and swords made from the spines of bigger fish. The ground beneath them was dark brown and squishy, and flakes of it were drifting about all around them.

“Hey, look! Who're the new guys?”

Skystar whirled to the seapony who had spoken, a mare with armor covering her luscious white body, and had merging purple and red hair in long curls. “Oh, these guys? Pshaw, they're just, you know, new friends of mine!”

“Skystar, your only friends are shells.”

“Well, yeah,” Skystar hesitantly affirmed, her face heating up so it accentuated the freckles under her cheeks. “But this time I found new friends! These guys are really important ones, Brine. Trust me!”

Brine turned loose her large pink eyes to wander over the additional seaponies. When she got to Noble Blade, she nodded approvingly, biting her lip. As she saw Freedom Fighter, she tilted her head inquisitively. “So you're the new arrivals. Who are you all?”

“We're the ponies that are going to find that pearl!” Rainbow Dash declared with pride.

“Brine, meet... um…” Skystar coughed embarrassedly; she couldn't remember their names. “Why don't I let you introduce yourselves?”

After each of them had done so, Brine folded her armored flippers over each other. “Welcome to the 47th Seaquestrian Expedition.”

“Thou art the captain?” Noble asked.

“Indeed I am, sir knight,” Brine answered, giving a half-bow. When she finished, she gave a brilliant smile that stood out against even her pearly white body. “I look forward to working with you on the expedition.”

“You in the plural, or you as in... me?”

“All of you,” Brine answered, though she hesitated before she did. “I want to see what you're capable of. I know you’re more used to being above the surface. But I'm sure you can adjust to this rather... fish-out-of-water environment.”

“Ooohhh,” Pinkie slyly acknowledged her. “I see what you did there.”

Brine led the party into a side passage. This new corridor was well-lit with magical green flames in candle holders and with glowing emerald orbs gripped in the seapony's hooves. The green light was reflected in everyone's eyes and shone over their bodies. At the far end of the corridor was a small opening that led to the outside ocean, blank and blue.

The wide corridor was full to bursting with over a hundred chatting seaponies, all dressed, armed, and waiting patiently for the expedition. Corralled to the walls were dozens of long-flippered, scaled, yellow beasts with elongated heads and rows of short teeth. Their slitted eyes were wide, but kind. Twilight assumed they were mounts.

Twilight swiveled her head and saw one large, tough-looking seapony try to scrub the grime out of his bending beast's mane. He rubbed and growled furiously, and the yellow beast was whining, but he was apparently unsatisfied. Eventually, he threw his brush up and turned away, the brush floating near his head. “Stupid pora,” he grumbled. “There's always muck in your mane!”

The so-called pora snorted and shook his head indignantly.

Brine came to the front of the corridor and tossed her flowing purple and red curls behind her. “Attention!”

The room full of chattering sounds died down at once.

“Our company of a hundred will now be a hundred and eleven. The newcomers to Seaquestria are joining us to retake the pearl!”

This sent the small room chattering. Apparently, the news about their sudden arrival traveled fast.

“These ponies can be trusted! From orders by Queen Novo herself, they are on the same realm as warriors and angels, and they are to be treated equally to yourself.”

Twilight squirmed uncomfortably at the obvious hyperbole she had used. Angels and warriors? They could barely survive the first stage of their journey!

Twilight examined the party. Judging from the shy glances Fluttershy and Applejack were giving, they felt the same.

“The expedition will depart within an hour. Prepare yourself to devote your life to the dangers of the outside ocean to retrieve the Pearl!” Brine finished with a flourish. Then she swam off to the side to saddle her own mount, which was pink.

The large seapony who had been combing his pora swam over and jabbed Pinkie Pie in the side. “So. You're the arrivals.”

Pinkie Pie squirmed. “Eeeheehee! That tickles!”

The large seapony rolled his eyes and jabbed her again, sending her into another round of giggles.

“Oh, for heaven's sake, stop it,” Rarity sighed. “Pinkie Pie is sensitive there.”

“Listen here, Marshmallow,” a seedy voice squealed off to the side. Twilight noticed that they had been quickly encircled about by the soldiers, eager to get a closer look at the newcomers. “You’re a newbie. Let me explain how things work here. Newbies stay out of the way. We do the work around here. Got it?”

“Fine by me,” Rarity flippantly said, tossing her mane. “If it means I get to stay far, far away from you, I am all for it!”

The seedy voice faltered before responding. “Y-y'know... that's... not the effect I was looking for.”

“Nothing surprising there, Sep,” came the reply. Sep’s voice grumbled before cutting off entirely.

“The orange one looks kinda cute,” another voice commented. “You taken yet?”

Applejack harrumphed and folded her arms. “Who wants to say that louder so Ah can sock ‘em if they git too close?”

“It's the purple one I'm interested in,” came a very young voice.

A short, whiplike-looking seapony elbowed his way to the girls, grey in color and with long red hair that reached his shoulders. His amber eyes shone brilliantly. “Name's Coral. And yours?”

“Twilight Sparkle,” she replied. Twilight didn't like the look of him.

“Who's that yellow one?” Coral asked, gesturing at the quivering Fluttershy with his bonemold knife. “She looks... nice.”

Noble Blade swam up to Coral, large and imposing. He was easily taller than Coral. “I will tell you who she is. She is taken. And she is under my protection. She is not for you to sample like fruit from a basket.”

Coral stared up at him for a second or two. Neither side made any change in expression. Then Coral smiled. “And the others?”

“Stay away from them."

“Or what?” Coral sneered. “I know a knight like you won't dare strike me if I accidentally slip a hoof across their shoulders. Knights like you are too polite and chivalrous. Bound so much by your morals that you can't protect anything without harming something.” He leaned forward with a gleam in his eye. “But for me? I’m different. Sliphorn and that little squeeze Brine ain't got nothin’ on me. I'm gonna enjoy turning you to jelly, and-”

The speech was split apart by a sharp crack. Coral flew back, and the crowd of soldiers parted to allow him a route. A cloud of blood boiled from his nose; his faceplate had been cracked in half and was floating in the water.

Freedom Fighter's outstretched hoof was curled. His body was leaning forward like a striking snake. Seeing him bleed, Freedom Fighter leaned back once again.

“I'm no knight,” Freedom Fighter said aloud. His scarlet eyes gleamed in the green-tinted water.

“Hearken,” Noble Blade said, only just loud enough to get the attention of all ears in the room. His voice was more confident and commanding as he slipped into the archaic tongue. “Brine was right. These mares are angels. So too are we also warriors. If thou desirest to have them, thou must go through us... before we go through thee.”

“We're the biggest, baddest toughies in Equestria,” Firestorm boasted, cracking one hoof against the other. “Ain't no fishie gonna take that title away from us. We're the Elements of Harmony, ya sea whorses!”

“Yeah!” came Rainbow Dash next. “Don't soil yourselves and create a warm spot in the ocean because you bite off more than you can chew!”

Coral stared with hideous anger at Freedom Fighter. The Unforgiven was narrowing his eyes smugly, and he beckoned him forth to invite him back.

“Coral,” came the deep-voiced pony who had poked Pinkie in the side. “Abide by the captain's orders for now.”

The grey seapony narrowed his amber eyes above his bleeding nose, but slipped loose a curse and swam off. That was the cue for the rest of the regiment to swim away as well and return to their business.

The large black one who had spoken stayed behind, outstretching his wide hoof in polite greeting. “Sorry about earlier. Pinkie Pie looked pokeable. Name’s Sweet. Coral says he's in charge, but the troops all think he's scum.”

Twilight found herself able to shake his hoof with more ease than with any other seapony in the group. He was large, but he cared. He was... sweet.

Pinkie Pie swam up to him and curled her body around his like a snake. “Are you called Sweet because you really, really, really like to eat cakes and candy and sprinkles?”

Sweet rolled his eyes and easily pried the rock-hard Pinkie off of him, holding her at arm's length like a cat. “Because my parents expected me to act compassionately to all I met. Why are you called Pinkie Pie?”

“Uh, duh! I'm pink and I like pies!”

“Thou seemest easy to understand, friend,” Noble said, and Twilight could sense the understanding that came off of him. “Thou and I art ponies aspiring to become better versions of ourselves. The diff'rence in species mattereth not to the ideals we share. ‘Tis an observation I find most interesting.”

“Why do you talk like that?” Sweet asked.

Noble blinked. “Like what? Oh!” He nodded. “I just... talk on instinct.”

“Me too,” Sweet replied. “Silence is so easy to hold while you're silent. But you get me to talk, and I can go on until the fish migrate.”

“Which brings you in common with me as well!” Firestorm interjected.

“You're such a sweetheart,” Fluttershy admired, patting the top of his head. Sweet didn't flinch in the slightest. “Why can't the rest of these seaponies act like you?”

“Soldiers around the world act like that,” Freedom Fighter answered her. “At heart, we're all simply lonely, young, impassioned stallions. They learn to adapt quickly or get excluded. But we're the biggest, baddest ones right now, and they all know it.”

“Conflict is so unnecessary,” Noble observed, shaking his head and making his long blue mane swish in the green water. “It's the stupidest way to solve a problem. Problem is, the only way to destroy conflict is through conflict with the conflict.”

“I'm confused,” Fluttershy whispered.

“It's okay if you are,” Noble allowed her, rubbing her shoulder. “I haven't figured it all out myself, actually.”

The poras were saddled. The seaponies were mounted. An hour after the Ten Souls had been introduced to the army, the 47th Scouting Expedition was ready to start.

Coral and Twilight were both far away from each other, which Twilight thanked Celestia for. Noble Blade, Firestorm, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were in the front near Brine. Freedom Fighter was in the left corner. Starlight Glimmer was in the right corner. Twilight was in the rear, along with Spike, Sweet, and Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy and Rarity were in the center, the safest spot in the arrow formation.

Twilight's violet pora, with long fangs and flowing flippers, was humming a low vibrato, shaking his head in anticipation. Her bone lance was sheathed at her spur, sticking up in the air like an antenna. Twilight gripped the reins harder, trying not to pull on the beast. Her head was wrapping itself around the possible outcomes of this expedition.

Would they find the pearl and defeat the sea monster who had stolen it? And what risks would they face to achieve their goal?

What sacrifices would they have to make this time?

The corpses of Rainbow, Pinkie, and Applejack, kneeling over with long arrows sunk into their flesh, flashed in Twilight's head. Rarity was lying in a puddle of her own blood. Noble Blade was crying to the sky, holding Fluttershy in his arms. Sunset Shimmer was shining like an inferno, holding the Noxxa back.

“Go!” she roared to her.

Twilight gave a shout of terror at the flashback and almost fell off her pora. The soldiers near her gave the violet seapony questioning looks, but none of them said anything.

Twilight gave them an awkward, toothy smile, and they shrugged and went back to their conversations, glancing back every once in a while.

She cursed under her breath. Never again. Never again! If it comes down to me, I will make sure that none of these seaponies have to die for my sake like the human girls. I owe it to the world I live in. I owe it to my friends! And I will never let my hope die with them!

A warm feeling spread in her chest like a candle had been lit inside her breast. She was trembling imperceptibly; not just because of the fear she felt for them, but also in anticipation. The danger wanted Twilight. Fine. But Twilight would give it a hard time dragging her down.

Bring it.

“The 47th Expedition will commence now!” Brine shouted from the front on her peppermint-colored pora. “My soldiers! We are!”

“ONE!” shouted the soldiers around her.

“We are!”

“ONE!”

“WE ARE!”

“ONE!” they bellowed in unity, and with a furious snapping of reins, the poras in front raced through the tunnel towards the dim exit ahead. Row by row the soldiers shot forth, and when it came time for Twilight to go, she snapped the reins in her pora's mouth.

Twilight almost fell off again; she was surprised at just how fast fish were. Water was pushing against her upright face, so she hid it behind the pora's head instead. The walls of the tunnel flew by in a blur.

The hole at the end of the passage grew larger as she got closer. The poras ahead of her were spreading out as they emerged, and Twilight could see them readying their bone-tipped lances in one hoof.

Twilight braced herself as she flew out of the small hole herself and joined the formation's rearguard.

The water outside the miserable launch tunnel was pristine and light blue; almost clear enough to see for miles. Motes of miniscule dirt floated in the water. Twilight felt like she could breathe cooler, clearer, as if she was standing in a cool spring morning.

The formation the seaponies were going to assume was in the shape of an arrow. Whereas Noble Blade, Firestorm, Rainbow, and Applejack were at the top tip of the arrow with Brine, Twilight was at the flat end of the bottom of the arrow to protect the rear. The entire thing was going to be widely spread out in clusters of three or four in a vague arrow shape. It would be a kilometer wide, covering a large search area. They had the numbers for it, but Twilight was concerned about her friends individually. They needed to come back unharmed. They needed to.

Come to me.

Twilight took a deep gasp, inhaling water, and her gills turned it into oxygen. It was that voice again, that disembodied voice that occasionally came into her mind. Only this time, it had this...twisted edge to it. Something subtle, something just not right.

Before Twilight could respond, the voice's presence vanished from her mind. Twilight was left dizzy and exhausted from that encounter alone.

Twilight reached down and gripped the handle of the lance with her hoof, and leveled it so it pointed forward. Putting her mind on high alert, she spurred her pora forward and joined the crowd of soldiers.

Noble Blade stretched his arms out to the side, relieving his sores almost instantly, and readjusted his grip on his lance. Holding a long weapon at the ready for hours could take a toll on the body.

The ocean around them was so empty. He had so often known that the ocean was crowded with sea life and plants that he almost forgot how there were spots of desolation. No life to be seen. Empty, bleak, foggy, dark.

This was one of those spots. The only ponies he knew were there were the ones right next to him. The formation had spread horizontally across the ocean depths. Above him was dark blue. Beneath him was blackness. To his left was Applejack. To his right was Brine, and past her was Firestorm and Rainbow Dash.

They had swum into the depths of the ocean in the same formation for so long now that Noble Blade's attention frequently wandered to the welfare of his girlfriend. He knew that the center rear of the formation was the safest place for her, but he knew that Fluttershy was frail. Horrible thoughts had crept into his head involving her.

What more could he do for her? There must be something more he could-

No. No, the best thing was to trust in his friends. He had already given his all by staying in the spot most likely to encounter danger. There he was, expecting too much of himself. That reoccurring problem that Fluttershy had found in him.

The problem was, where was the cutoff between expecting too much and expecting just enough? He certainly wasn't expecting too little of himself.

He glanced to the side and noticed Brine, her white body standing out in the dark ocean as her purple and red curled mane stood out in waves behind her head. Brine turned to the side as well, and, her cheeks rising in color, spurred her pora to ride closer to his.

“Have ye any idea of what we must search for?” Noble asked when she got right next to him.

“We’re looking for signs of the monster's habitation,” Brine answered, shifting on her mount to relieve the sores on her body.

“Which is…” Noble asked plaintively, urging her with a hoof.

“The monster that attacked Seaquestria was unlike anything you'd ever seen before,” Brine responded, and her soothing voice grew quiet as she reminisced on what had happened. “It was large and murky, and it had tentacles whipping in every direction. It looked like a black cloud of octopus ink. Nothing we could do could harm it. It was like slicing into a jelly that grew back in moments. It penetrated the castle and made a grab for the pearl. It got it after we all put up a massive fight. Queen Novo was the most distraught. It was as if something personal had been ripped from her.”

“Did the monster have any weak spots, captain?” Noble asked.

“No, sir knight,” Brine responded. “It was merely a black cloud.”

“Like a storm cloud.”

Brine looked confused. “What's that?”

Noble reminded himself that these creatures lived underwater. “The source of storms on the surface.”

“Oh! Those! They cause the surface water to heave and roll, right? Well, down here, it doesn't affect us as much. We know what's out there, but we can't go and reach it.”

“Have you ever tried to?”

“A few times. When I breached the surface, I felt like I was drowning. Being in the water is the safest place for me, I guess. It's a good thing we've adapted to enjoy the sea, right?”

“You’ve adopted the sea, and you still want to reach the surface,” Noble observed.

“Eh?” Brine gave a surprised mumble. “That's strange. We've adapted over thousands of years to live underwater, but we’re still curious about places we aren't supposed to go?”

“All creatures are like that,” Noble hypothesized. “We all drive ourselves to push past our boundaries and into the unknown. It's what we did when we discovered in ancient days how versatile magic could be. And when the first pegasi explored the heavens, it opened a new path for intelligent life to go. It's what we're doing now in exploring the ocean bed.”

“And how do you push yourself into the unknown, Noble Blade?” Brine asked, holding her reins loosely, letting her pora almost go on autopilot, as it were. “What boundaries do you break?”

Noble had to think about that a moment. He had broken many boundaries before in his line of service. From his expectations living up to his father to his pledge to protect Freedom Fighter, and recently to love Fluttershy as best he could.

“I always become stronger, faster, and braver,” he eventually decided. “It is how I best protect the lands and peoples I love.” He craned his head back as if to check on Fluttershy, but she was far too back for him to see.

Brine followed his head turn. “Anyone back there you love the most?”

“Fluttershy.” He felt his chest grow lighter as he pictured her once again. “It’s Fluttershy.”

Brine's voice fell. “Huh. You're taken. That's, um…” She coughed. “Great job. Good for you.”

Noble knew different. Her tone did not match her words.

An eerie wail echoed in the water, making Noble's ears perk up. Behind him, half-concealed groans and snarls came from the experienced soldiers.

“It's him,” Brine whispered. She lowered her lance, serrated on the tip. “Come and get it, calamari!”

Noble’s body was on high alert. In front of him were several dark silhouettes in the water growing larger and larger. Instead of the whipping mass of tentacles, however, it was several large-bodied fish, pointed in the front and with tall fins on its tail and the sides. They were wiggling and jiggling up and down as they drew closer.

“Oh, no,” Brine whispered in shock, lowering her tip as she saw what the small faint objects were. “Oh, no!”

“SHARK!” Noble bellowed behind him, readying his weapon.

The half-dozen faint sharks in front, however, paid no attention to the front line. Instead, they swam off to the side instead and made a bid to swim off to the left flank.

“What are they doing?” Brine asked in confusion. “We're right here! Noble, signal to the left. Let them know it's heading their way.”

Noble Blade drew out a glowing red ball of luminescent seaweed from a pouch on his pora and flashed it behind him by holding it high. Unseen to him, he knew nonetheless that the soldiers behind him were flashing their own scarlet lights until it reached the left flank.

One of the sharks, though, broke off from their own formation swimming to the left flank and sped for Noble Blade.

Brine took action first. Pointing her lance at the swimming shark, a bright purple bolt of energy zipped out from the serrated tip and struck the shark in the face. Blood erupted from its snout in a red cloud.

Noble Blade, startled by the unexpected attack, sped for the massive shark and braced his own lance by leaning forward in his stirrups. The tip plunged into the shark's brain, and Noble tore through the skin on the top of its body before ripping it out again, throwing blood into the dark waters. The body of the shark limply drifted down and disappeared quickly.

As Noble re-aligned himself into his position in the formation, he shot an incredulous glance at Brine. “Do all of our lances do that?”

“Yes.” Brine shrugged, jostling her tight bonemold armor. “Every precaution must be taken.”

“Sharks with laser beams are the one thing in the world that is non-negotiable,” Firestorm quipped, off to the side.

“Who's in the left flank?” Applejack asked, off to Noble's left.

“Freedom Fighter!” Noble cried in realization. He snapped the reins on his pora. “I'm going to him.”

“No!” Brine’s hoof fired out to the side, stopping his action. “Keep the formation!”

“Besides!” Rainbow Dash yelled from beside Firestorm, two spots over. “Have faith in him! He's gonna take ‘em down! He's Equestria's greatest soldier!”

“Hey!”

“Apart from you, Firestorm.”

“And anyway, we need you on the front lines!” Brine added. “What if that monster attacks us from the front?”

Noble felt ashamed almost immediately. “I'm sorry.”

“Keep the bigger picture in mind,” Brine advised him.

Noble nodded along. It was unlike him to think so irrationally. When he had been younger, he was all about following the rules. But now, when he had more friends to look after, he had almost broken protocol and rushed off to look after his friend.

Maybe that was the problem. He had made many new bonds, but were those bonds really strong enough to place trust in them--to look after themselves without his protection? Maybe if-

No. He was the Knight Protector. It was his duty to look after those he loved. Especially Freedom Fighter and Fluttershy, in addition to Twilight, who was a princess he was serving. But was there a balance between shielding them and allowing them the chance to fend for themselves? Especially when it came at his own cost? How far did the limits of protection go?

Another high-pitched, eerie wail sang in the deep. Brine clenched her teeth again and readied her lance.

The formation was approaching a sunken mountain in the hazy distance, hollowed out in the middle like a cavity. It was a small mound stuck at the bottom of the sea, like a disgusting open wound.

“We're on the right track,” Brine said hopefully, though her grip on her weapon did not lessen. “This is new. And the wailing of that demon goes perfectly well with it. This might be his lair.”

“Ha ha ha! Let's kick some flank!” Rainbow exclaimed, punching one hoof against the other.

The mound trembled like it had been shaken by the earth itself. The front of the formation instantly, instinctively, slowed down. What they saw made the ponies confused... and uneasy.

Out of the faraway mound were streaming columns of faint black animals. Small and large, weaving around each other, snapping at each other momentarily.

“What are they doing?” Firestorm asked in a whisper. “Have they noticed us?”

The broiling cloud of animals continued to surge out of the hollow mountain. It looked so much like smoke that Noble was actually partway convinced it was an active underwater volcano.

“Those are going to make entering the mountain difficult,” he observed.

“Oh, nelly!”

“What, Applejack?” he asked quickly, turning to his left-side companion.

“Those sharks that appeared earlier…”

“Could they have come from that mountain?” Noble finished for her.

“And if they could attack us…” Brine thought out loud.

“...Then so could they!” Rainbow finished with a start.

Freedom Fighter saw the red light flash from the group far in front of him. On the very left-most tip of the arrow-shaped formation, he knew it was meant for him.

What had happened? Was there something going on that he had missed? Red lights meant to beware of imminent danger, as opposed to green lights meaning everything was okay.

“Hey!” said a scratchy voice next to him. Freedom Fighter turned to see his closest companion, Aquarius, a turquoise seapony with brilliant purple eyes and a broken nose. “What do you think is coming?”

“I just want to know where it's coming from,” Freedom Fighter said in response.

“That's true,” Aquarius admitted, shrugging her slender shoulders. “Water is a 3D environment. It's why some of the center ranks are spread out vertically as well as horizontally. Problem is, a threat can come from any direction in the water. Even if the front spotted something moving, we still won't know where it is until it's right on top of us.”

“What is it, anyway?” the nearby Coral asked, glancing warily past Aquarius to Freedom Fighter. He was still apprehensive of him, due to the smashing he had received in the launch bay. “Electric eels? Octopi? Gyruses? Venom Bass?”

Freedom Fighter leveled his upright lance to point directly in front of him. “No matter what, it's dead.”

Coral squinted. “Hey, look.”

The group of three looked ahead to see the ponderous underwater mountain appear like a vision through the dark depths.

“There's a hole in the bottom of the sea,” Aquarius gasped.

“There's a hole in the bottom of the sea.”

“There's a hole~there's a hole~there's a hole in the bottom of the sea,” Freedom Fighter finished.

“Who was that?” Aquarius wondered.

“Who was what?”

“That deep voice. We're the only ones here.”

“Oh! That was just me. Don't worry about it.”

There you are.

“Yes, Freedom, we know. We're all right here. But...That’s really you? You have different personalities?”

“That... wasn't me,” Freedom Fighter admitted in his alternate voice.

“Well then, who-” Aquarius cut herself off and fumbled for her lance. “Oh, no!”

Freedom Fighter saw it just in time. A large shark with a white belly and glowing red eyes appeared in front of them in the murky water and opened its mouth, intent on having Aquarius for a meal.

All three of them fired their lasers at the same time. Coral's blast disappeared down its gullet, Freedom Fighter's hit the dorsal fin, and Aquarius’s shot grazed its face. The shark's insides poofed up as Coral's laser exploded within, and the animal drifted down at the same speed it had been going at.

“That's what the others must have warned us about!” Aquarius shouted.

“Did you see my shot?” Coral asked with pride. “I just sniped him in the face! You owe me one, Aquarius!”

“Keep an eye out!” Freedom Fighter ordered. “Sharks travel in packs!”

A dull roar echoed in the water to their right, and the three of them quickly turned in that direction. A smaller shark, about the size of a pora, was shooting straight towards Coral.

Aquarius was the one to jump into action this time. She lunged past Coral's face with her lance, missing his nose by an inch, and jammed it into the shark's glowing red eye. The shark roared again and wriggled around, tearing the wound in his face larger.

Still swimming forward on their speeding poras, Aquarius held on, screaming in mindless battle rage. The shark was swimming along with the group, biting and lunging at the strong lance stuck in its eye. But because of the shark's mouth structure, it couldn’t get a good bite in.

Freedom Fighter aimed for the shark’s snout and, jabbing hard, harpooned it with his own weapon. Now with two long, annoying things stuck in its face, the shark’s survival instincts took over. His thrashing redoubled, and after a hard jerk, Aquarius's lance was ripped from her grip. The end of the lance was swinging about as the shark jerked about, and barely missed Coral's head.

Freedom took off one of his staves, doubled its length, and lunged across the other two warriors to slash it into the shark's face. Blood boiled in malignant scarlet clouds from the shark's open wounds. He plunged the steaming weapon into the shark again and again until the shark stopped struggling and was left behind.

“My debt is repaid!” Aquarius yelled to Coral. Coral, instead of answering, snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Keep your eyes out for more sharks!” Freedom Fighter advised. “They could pop up out of nowhere!”

Coral and Aquarius obeyed. Not because Freedom Fighter ordered them to, but because it simply was the only logical thing to do.

However, no more sharks sped for them. They appeared to have backed off for now. Freedom Fighter was confused. Sharks didn't operate like that, did they? Steeling his nerve, he kept his eyes forward and spotted a surprising thing.

“They're coming from the mountain!” Freedom Fighter roared, gesturing in shock at the underwater crater. Aquarius and Coral swiveled their heads to see that indeed, there was a vast collection of underwater sea creatures erupting from the crater and moving closer to them. Freedom Fighter noticed bright flashes of violet and green light up ahead; had the front line of the formation already engaged with them?

“I can't see the other groups ahead!” Coral shouted. “Could they have gotten lost in that murky water?”

Freedom Fighter couldn't see the groups ahead of them either, but he had a much darker theory as to why they had disappeared. “Maybe the sharks wiped them out!”

“They're whittling us down!” Aquarius realized in terror.

“Wait a second!” Coral pointed out. “If they're just trying to wipe us out, how'd the upper groups have time to warn us beforehoof? They'd be too busy fighting the sharks! And the other groups behind them wouldn't have spotted them fighting because the water's too blurry!”

“Were the sharks going after us instead?” Aquarius whimpered. “That's even worse than the complete annihilation of the left flank! They're... they're searching for something!”

“The sharks? Don't be stupid!” Coral admonished. “They're just stupid sharks. They're not evil minions or something.”

“I dunno,” Freedom Fighter said in his alternate voice.

“What do you mean?” Freedom asked himself.

“Look at their eyes. Sharks normally have black, beady eyes. These ones had glowing red eyes. I'm telling you, creatures with red eyes are not to be trusted. They're either insane or possessed by another alternate voice inside their heads.”

Freedom Fighter glared over his shoulder with his scarlet irises. “Was that a subtle jab at me?”

“Oh, what are you talking about?” Freedom Fighter innocently held up his hooves, letting go of his reins. “I have no idea what you mean.”

“So these sharks could have been possessed by something else?” Aquarius asked nervously.

“And who else could possess these creatures... but that sea monster who took the pe-!”

Coral’s shocked voice was cut off by a surprise from up front. The steady stream of dark sea animals coming out of the crater suddenly changed course and headed directly for them all. It was hard to see at first, but they did grow slightly larger gradually.

“They're on the warpath!” Aquarius panicked. “We can't survive this! We need to turn back!”

“No!” Freedom Fighter sharply cut.

“But-!”

“We won’t turn back until Captain Brine gives the order!”

“Screw Brine!” Coral refused. “I want to live!”

“If you want to live, then fight!” Freedom roared. “You don't get an option in this! It's not always fair, but if you don't fight right here, right now, you will die!”

“You threatening me?” Coral boldly demanded.

“There is no future without your pearl,” Freedom Fighter answered. He took off the other staff from his other hip and joined both ends into one long, two-meter staff, glowing yellow in the baby blue water and turning the surrounding water green. “You want it? Then let's get it! If you die, you will live on in the memories of those sent out to avenge you! I know it better-” Freedom Fighter was hit by the memories of his ancient tribe, so many years past. His chiefly parents, his shaman, the mares he had eyed along with his other friends. All of them impaled and left to rot on the earth's surface. “-I know it better than anyone else!” Freedom Fighter raised his arm in high triumph and spurred his animal. “Advance!”

His pora shot forward. Aquarius and Coral, desperate to keep up, instinctively spurred their own mounts.

The water whooshed in front of him. He noticed from the corner of his eye that his two companions had followed him. Grinning, he raised the long yellow pole higher, as a standard to those he passed by.

It happened so fast.

A tremendous shark, awaiting the opportunity since the first attack on the left flank, appeared behind him out of nowhere and latched its sharp mouth around his outstretched arm, lifting him off his pora as the shark sped away.

Coral screamed and reached for him. “Freedom Fighter!”

“Advance!” Freedom Fighter roared in the water, his arm stuck in the wiggling shark's mouth.

Coral opened his mouth in shock. He was being carried off, and he was still-

“This is your chance!” He leveled his yellow staff in his right arm as the shark sped away, carrying his left arm in his mouth. “Advaaaaance!”

The shark did not slow down. Freedom roared with his mouth, sending a trickle of blood to come out of his throat, and slashed across the shark's face with his other arm.

The shark suddenly sported a long burnt wound across the length of its face and body. Its fin was completely shorn off as the staff finished its course. The shark drifted downwards, still holding Freedom Fighter's left arm in his mouth.

“Oh,” he realized blankly, as the shark continued downward, tailing him with it. “Shoulda maybe... freed myself... before I killed the thing.”

He tried to pry the mouth open, but rigor mortis had taken effect; the mouth would not budge open.

And what was this?

The shark was drifting towards the abysmal crater in the bottom of the ocean.

Struggling for his life, straining against all odds, Freedom Fighter was pulled into the depths of the seabed.

The front groups of the formation had already engaged with the rogue sea animals. Jets of boiling green and purple and turquoise light shot from the laser lances of the seaponies towards the possessed, infected fishes. The larger, carnivorous fish had snapped bites out of several poras already.

One of those had been Noble Blade’s. As it happened and the pora squaled its death throes, he leaped off his doomed animal and flipped over the carnivore's head, drawing his sword as he did so. As he completed his flip he slashed his sword down and buzzed through the creature's skull. The animal relaxed immediately as the life departed from him.

Noble swam away in search of his next target. As he did, he saw Brine on her pink pora swimming hard at him, reaching out with a hoof, inviting him to grab hold.

He reached out and clasped his hoof around hers, and as they sped by, Noble was abruptly pulled up onto the pora's back and slammed into Brine.

“Be my spotter!” Brine ordered him.

Noble nodded and swiveled his head to the right. As three tuna shot straight for him with murder in their glowing eyes, he fired three blasts from his horn and fried them all in the water.

All around him, the battle raged. Colored jets flew by and erupted on impact with their targets. Swordfish skewered poras and the seaponies on their backs before in turn getting speared by the lances of their vengeful comrades. Barracuda chomped on chinks in their armor, wiggling around to get a chunk of flesh out. Bloody red clouds began to sustain themselves in the pristine blue water, clouding Noble's vision of the forces behind him. At this point, he knew that the formation was broken. Fighting had broken into individual groups in the formation as the sea animals swarmed their positions.

What bothered him, more than the sores in his forelegs and chest and throbbing head, was the center of the formation. Fluttershy and Rarity--were they all right? Had Twilight or Freedom Fighter gotten to them before all Tartarus had broken loose?

“Eels!” Brine shouted.

Noble saw them. Five long, wriggling grey stripes with white electricity curling around their bodies were shooting right for them.

Noble fired like a repeating crossbow. Two of his shots hit eels, but they were so small of a target that most of them missed.

The eels collided into Brine's pora and let loose their secret weapon. Electricity buzzed around the pora's fins and head, frying the animal to a crisp. Brine had yanked Noble off as soon as possible so they were floating in the water, but the doomed animal was charred medium-rare.

“If that touches your armor-!” Brine warned, drawing a sword made from a fish spine. She swung it at an eel, and it sawed the fish in half, releasing a cloud of blood. The two halves lazily drifted in the water, still sparking.

Noble hadn't thought of that. Electricity and metal would go together far too well. Whirling his sword like a windmill, he cleaved an eel that had gotten too close for comfort in half. The blue sword made a trail in the water, and as he whirled it around him he was soon enveloped in a sphere of glowing energy.

Aching and sore, and surrounded by growing hordes of eels and pufferfish, he cried in his mind, Fluttershy, please be safe!

Twilight spotted the first swordfish when it was too late.

It had sped across her axis and went straight for her companions, Sweet and Pinkie Pie. Sweet had managed to blast it out of the way, but its momentum carried the dead animal past Pinkie Pie, almost skewering her completely.

“What?!” Spike yelled too late, right there on Twilight's lap. “What was that?”

“The first of many!” Sweet warned, jabbing up ahead with his lance.

Twilight saw it up ahead, appearing through the water in one collective mass. Swordfish, small dolphins, venomous fish of every order and size, jellyfish, octopi, and even the odd shark or two.

“They've broken through the formation!” Twilight yelled, firing her horn and her lance at the same time. They struck separate animals, instantly singing them to a crisp.

“Is everyone else all right?” Pinkie yelled over the sudden noises of battle.

“How should I know?” Twilight bellowed back, keeping her course. Several small fish zipped by, with a red glow in their eyes.

“Brace yourself, Twilight!” Spike warned, puffing up into a ball in her lap.

Twilight saw it. A massive jellyfish had risen in front of her, awaiting her capture in its glowing tentacles. Twilight yanked hard on the reins, and the pora whinnied and skidded to a halt. Her lance jutted upward and struck the jellyfish right in the poofy underside. Electricity jumped down her lance and made Twilight's mane stand on end.

Sweet fired his lance, and a stream of green laser fire shot out and struck the pulsating enemy. Twilight managed to get out of the way, and as she did, she turned around and saw a shape appear behind Sweet. “Behind you!” she cried, and fired her horn.

Her bolt struck a ten-foot long sea barracuda, whose fangs were about to sink into Sweet's neck. Sweet uncharacteristically yelped and swerved on his pora.

“We need reinforcements!” Pinkie squealed in a pitch so high it made several speeding eels cringe and speed away.

“So does everyone else!” Spike commented in panic.

“Where's Freedom Fighter?” Twilight hurriedly asked. He could protect them both. He was particularly protective of Twilight, for some reason. He could fight by her side, but where was he?

As the dead animal drifted ever deeper into the crater from whence it came, Freedom Fighter struggled even harder. It felt so surreal. It was like drowning and furiously trying to escape the downward pull of the water pressure. The thing was, he could breathe underwater. Except it was hard to remember that when he was pulled into an infinite abyss at the bottom of the ocean.

The light above him grew dimmer and dimmer. Freedom Fighter was surrounded by darkness. He was helpless. It was like descending into Tartarus, into an infinite pit of despair. He could already imagine demons at the edges of his blurring vision, pointing and laughing in scorn for thinking he could triumph.

The bad news for the demons was, Freedom Fighter was used to that. He knew the demons were there, laughing at him getting dragged down into the abyss by a dead shark, but he also didn't care, so what harm could they really do?

The further he descended, however, the harder it was to remember that.

Freedom Fighter had been religious as a member of his tribe before getting kidnapped by the Noxxa. But from then on his actual reverence of Faust had diminished gradually until he had been left cold and bitter. Where was Faust when you needed her?

The ride came to an abrupt end, and Freedom Fighter jolted and slammed against hard rock.

Hard rock?

He took a glance around. A dim red glow was all around him at the bottom of the pit. The shark carrying his left arm had finally collided into the surface of the earth, the very core, it felt like. It was lying there on its back with Freedom Fighter still trapped by its iron-hard clench.

Freedom Fighter could now easily pry the shark's mouth open with his other arm and jolt the jaw upward. His mechanical arm had gotten stuck between the teeth of the beast, and he wrenched it this way and that before finally getting it unstuck. He caressed his arm lovingly, checking for damage, before realizing that it was a fake arm.

He looked around. The bottom of the crater he had fallen into was actually very small. There was a small corridor off to the side, but apart from that, there was nothing. The red glow he had noticed earlier came from the dust and shards of crystals littering the bottom. As he looked up, he felt very, very small. All the way above him was a dim pinpoint of white that he assumed must be the opening into the real ocean.

Freedom Fighter.

He whipped around. That corridor leading horizontally into the abyss...had it come from there?

Come to me.

He looked up again. Then into the rocky corridor.

Come to me.

He sighed.

And without another thought, he swam into the narrow opening. Wiggling his way through, he disappeared into the twisting depths of the ocean seabed.

Come to me.

He deftly maneuvered himself around the ridges and fixtures in the narrow corridor. He went up, down, and side to side, curving over and around the large rocks that created the labyrinth.

Come to me.

“I KNOW!” Freedom Fighter bellowed, wiggling past another tight fit between rocks. He popped out and swirled in place in the water helplessly for a second before righting himself.

The tight passage had opened up into a large, spacious undersea cavern. The ceiling was low, but the cavern was long. In the distance was a faint gleam that shimmered in the water.

It was hot. Freedom Fighter breathed heavily and pulled at his bodysuit. He had a headache, pounding and knocking inside of him. The cavern still had that red gleam to it, still as sinister and foreboding as before.

Freedom Fighter swam onward.

What shall you give in exchange for this pearl?

Freedom Fighter gritted his teeth and tried to shut out the disembodied voice surrounding him.

What more can be taken away from you?

The dark warrior shook his head. It was a trick. This was all a trick, trying to worm inside his head and plague him with doubt of his mission. He had to get away from it. Now!

I am here.

Freedom Fighter squinted forward. There was nothing.

He turned around. It had appeared directly behind him.

Whatever it was, it was undulating and dark. It was a cloud of pitch black, like a spot of oil or ink in the water. Drifting tentacles wormed out of the inky spot, covered with barbs and razor-edged suckers. The darkness had no eyes or mouth, but it had spoken nonetheless.

Freedom Fighter held his glowing yellow weapon near his head. The glare of the light made shadows across his covered face.

We both know that won't hurt me.

Freedom Fighter held it close nonetheless.

I'm glad to see you. You're the one I'm anticipating.

“You…” Freedom Fighter menacingly began. “You must be the one controlling the animals outside.”

Correct.

“Release your hold on them.”

Or what?

“We've come because of something you stole,” Freedom Fighter said, switching tack. The conversation had been getting nowhere. “The pearl of the seaponies. They need it to live.”

Let them die, then.

Freedom Fighter angrily pointed the end of his powerful staff directly at the floating blob. “What do you have against them?!”

They have escaped the world above them like cowards. All they have done for a thousand years is protect the pearl like it was as precious as their testicles. So I emasculated them.

Freedom Fighter looked down at his own groin, then back up again. It had been an uncomfortable slap in the face. “Who are you?”

The darkness vibrated like a sound wave. The cavern rumbled and shook, sending rocks afloat for an instant before settling down again.

I am an agent of Solaris. Let me finish! he said; Freedom Fighter was drawing back his arm. I shall give the seaponies the pearl. On one condition.

Freedom Fighter bared his teeth. “Name it!”

You must stay here.

Freedom Fighter felt his chest constrict. There had to be another way. “Why did you steal the pearl in the first place if you were planning on giving it back?”

The mist of evil made a series of successive chortles. Oh, Unforgiven. Everything is done for a reason. The reason here and now is to prove your will.

“Have I not proven my will before?!” Freedom Fighter bellowed in rageful response. “What more must I be tested on? What more must be done to me? Why? Why are my trials never ceasing?”

You should know better, the darkness replied. Life is a trial, and it never ceases. But should you accept this final test, the trials shall be limited for the remainder of your life.

“I refuse.”

Then your friends shall die, and the world is doomed. My master will win. It's a shame, really. This was proving to be quite interesting.

Freedom Fighter thought furiously. “There has to be another option.”

The darkness shifted side to side, and Freedom had the assumption that it was shaking its head. Without a way to prove your eagerness to save the world, the pearl shall stay in my grip. There is no other way.

Freedom Fighter had a nagging doubt in his mind. He knew what this test was. He wasn't stupid.

“Oh, Faust,” he cursed. “Don't make me do this. Please, Faust, if you love me, if you care for the world you made, please, help me!”

The dark blob made a deep gurgle.

Freedom Fighter, after receiving no response, trembled. His arms were shivering; even his left one. “Does this mean... Faust, is my destiny really... to stay down here... forever…?”

If you wish to save your friends.

Freedom Fighter ignored the darkness. It was the light he was listening for.

Accept it.

Freedom Fighter didn't so much hear the two words as he felt it--a clenching in his chest, like the wind had been knocked out of him. He was suddenly so short of breath. And though he was so hot, in that stuffy underwater cavern, he felt a comfortable warmth spread throughout his body from the inside.

Do you accept the offer?

Freedom Fighter realized the darkness hadn't heard the bell-like words in his head. It was the first time he had heard so clearly what he had to do.

So he gave a reluctant, heavy nod. His momentary hope had disintegrated. “If this sacrifice will save the world…” He gave a small gasp. “I'll…” He took a deeper breath to calm him, and his next thoughts were clear and loud.

“I'll stay here!” he declared, feeling so exhausted all of a sudden. “If it means my friends will live to see another day... I'll do it! I mean, really…” He shook his head. “If not me, then who else? I'm the one that has the least to lose. I'm perfect for the Element of Sacrifice after all. It makes perfect sense now.”

The tentacled darkness managed to be suitably impressed. You are a noble one.

Freedom gave a sullen nod. This was Faust's plan? To have him stay in a crack in the ocean seabed forever? In exchange for a stupid rock? How much was he worth, anyway?

And yet...he felt comfortable with the feeling of loss of worth. If he didn't mean much in the first place, then it made sense for Faust to sacrifice him for the greater good. Better him than someone who actually meant something to the world.

Because after all, he truly was worthless. He was a crippled, neutered lapdog of Princess Celestia, the last of his kind, hated and reviled by the Noxxa and ponies alike. Beaten, scarred, eaten alive. Insane, unstable, murderous, evil. He was a scourge upon the peaceful land he had been brought to, and for the greater good, he would lose his own soul in exchange for the land he had grown to love. If it were anyone else, they would be missed. But not him.

Not him.

You have proven the lengths of your will, Unforgiven. I shall honor your deed.

The darkness folded upon itself. From the center of its boiling mass came forth a bright yellow light, pulsating with violet and gold and white.

The tentacles coming out from the mass of darkness reached in and pulled something out of its body. It held the precious object in an upright tentacle.

The light from the priceless jewel shone brilliantly in the cavern, like a beacon in the cold, dark night. The pearl was like glass; inside the sphere was a small yellow nucleus throwing light all over. Sometimes it even pulsed a faint violet.

“That's the pearl,” Freedom Fighter whispered in awe. It was so beautiful…

Come to me.

Freedom Fighter obeyed by drifting over to the darkness holding the pearl.

He didn't see the barbed black tentacle rising behind him.

Come to die.

There was a titanic lurch and an explosion of sudden, blinding light. The darkness screeched and flailed. Freedom Fighter screamed and covered his eyes.

AWAY FROM MY BELOVED SERVANT!

The powerful voice was overpowering, tremendous, and startlingly contrast to its otherwise still, small voice. It caused the earth itself to rock back and forth like a ship upon the waters.

The darkness, small and weak now, gasped and heaved and scrambled back. A thousand pardons, your majesty. I was-

BEGONE!

The demon screamed as the light in the cavern pulsated ever brighter. The shadowy form melted away in the sea of light like paper in a flame.

Freedom Fighter closed his eyes again as the light incinerated his foe. This was a much more powerful newcomer, and Freedom Fighter did not want to take his chances.

My son. Oh, my son!

Freedom Fighter still did not open his eyes. Don't look, don't look, don't look! But the voice was so beautiful, so peaceful...no one had ever spoken to him like that before. Not even his own mother...

Fear not.

Freedom Fighter felt his desperation melt away. Relief flooded his body, made his arms limp. His mind was as clear as a crystal bell.

Look! And rejoice! Your trial is past!

Freedom Fighter opened his eyes once more.

A featureless mass of light had replaced the darkness entirely. Whereas tentacles once were flailing about for the darkness, now beams of golden light streamed out in replacement, illuminating the cavern. Before, the water was stuffy and hot, but now it was both cool and warm, like a spring morning.

Freedom Fighter slowly reached for the mass of light in astonishment. It was so gloriously pure-!

Touch me not, said the voice, and Freedom Fighter quickly obeyed, retreating his hoof like he touched a hot stove. She continued: Your ascension is not yet come. But your fiery scars shall end! You have borne your load well, and I could not be any prouder of you.

“F-faust?” he asked.

“Is that really you?” he asked.

The light beamed ever brighter, and Freedom Fighter felt himself grow lighter on the inside.

“I-!” he began, suddenly very bashful and remorseful. “I-I'm sorry. F-for, for everything. I should have remembered you after I came to Equestria.”

I have already forgiven you.

Freedom Fighter felt something wet escape his eye and absorb into the water surrounding him. “But I'm still sorry...”

You are a shining shaft in my quiver, Freedom Fighter. Remember me, and you shall be exalted on high. Do you remember what Star Swirl the Bearded told you?

The memory surged back to the front of his mind. “Peace be unto me? If I endure this well, I will be exalted on high?”

He was as prophetic as his name suggested. As are you, my son. You are Unforgiven, but not unforgiven by me. You are called the Unforgiven because you refused to join Solaris in the premortal life. And Solaris has not let go of his loss. You are a capable pony, surpassing all others. To have you join my ranks has cost him dearly. And Solaris hates you for it. You are one of his greatest threats.

“Good to know.” He gave a knowing grin. “I love scaring the piss out of a god.”

He is no god yet. But should he get his grip on the Elements, even one of them, he will become one, and all will be lost.

“I figured that part already.”

The light turned itself up just a notch, and Freedom Fighter blinked suddenly. Faust's next words were: Ah, you. You live in his brain as well, huh?

Freedom Fighter, taken aback at first, replied, “Uh, yes, ma'am. He just made me up, though. Talking to myself requires a, uh, companion of sorts.”

Well, try to keep yourself lying low. Freedom Fighter could do without your pessimism in the future.

“But I-”

“Oh, hush,” Freedom Fighter snapped. “A lady is talking here.”

Glad to know. Now, then. I suppose you'd like a ride back to the surface?

Freedom Fighter was instantly reminded of the battle above his head. “Yeah, that might be helpful.”

Each of the fighting animals, from the tuna to the swordfish, from the jellyfish to the electric eels to the sharks, felt a change come over them. Their brains cleared, and their stomachs now felt normal instead of starving to death. Their eyes stopped glowing red. The influence of the devil over them had been lifted all of a sudden.

It made no difference to Coral, who was still hacking and slashing and churning the water around him, filled with a desire to tear and kill. After Freedom Fighter had been dragged into the abyss, he had been inexplicably filled with a desire to destroy every last sea creature he saw. His bone-and-coral sword was out and bloody, and had chipped off on the edges until it was blunt.

Aquarius grabbed him by the shoulders from behind after several minutes had passed of him doing this. “Coral!”

Coral whipped around and almost beheaded the young mare with a wild swing. Aquarius had ducked at the last minute, and she reached out and shoved the weapon out of his hoof. “Coral! Enough! Can't you see?”

“See what?” Coral demanded.

“The animals aren't attacking us anymore! They're swimming away from us!”

“I don't care!” Coral bellowed. “They took him! I gotta-”

“Who's left here?” came a strong, calming voice. Noble Blade appeared out of the water on a soft white pora, restraining its reins with a gentle tug. His face was beleaguered, but anxious. “Is Freedom Fighter with you?”

Aquarius scrunched up her face and looked away.

“Well, uh,” Coral began, rubbing the back of his head. How could he explain this to him? “In the battle, Freedom Fighter was...”

Noble's eyes grew significantly wider. “Tell me!”

“He was carried off by a shark!” Aquarius bawled. “I am so sorry! I should have done more to help him! I know he probably meant a lot to you, and I should have watched out, but the shark came out of nowhere and he just-”

“No!” Noble interrupted. His eyes glistened. “You did what you could. No one could have seen that coming. You were strong and brave in your own right. He was a good... a very good friend.” His voice grew strained near the end, and he snapped his reins. The pora shot off into the depths.

“It's okay to move about now, darling. Come out.”

Fluttershy peeked out her head from behind Rarity's shoulder. Though they had been at the center of the formation, they could see faint flashes of light all around them as laser lances were fired and blood was spilled in clots in the pristine blue water.

A few times, their escort guards had spotted several swordfish racing right for them. Rarity’s magical shields had saved them, but their guards were the ones who had combated them. Two of the five guards had been skewered in the process, and Fluttershy was grateful the fighting had taken them away from their bodies.

Fluttershy, Rarity, and their three remaining escorts were trying to get a bearing on their location relative to everypony else. The fight had broken their lines and scattered the soldiers. It was time to regroup.

“Fluttershy!”

“Rarity!”

The respective voices of Twilight and Pinkie Pie reached their ears from the right. They emerged from the right on weary poras, accompanied by the ebony Sweet, Starlight Glimmer, Applejack, and Spike the pufferfish.

“Where's Noble?” Fluttershy asked. A heavy weight began to press in her lungs. If Noble had died-!

“He was with Brine,” Twilight remembered. “Firestorm and Rainbow Dash oughta know.”

A multicolored flash appeared, and with it came a slightly-less-fast orange blur. Rainbow Dash and Firestorm had regrouped. Both of them had broken their lances early on and held their backup swords tightly in their hooves.

“Aww, Fluttershy, were you really here the whole time?” Rainbow casually flicked her meter-long bone blade. “We were up front getting some awesome kills! I got forty-five alone!”

“That'd be impressive if it was more than mine,” Firestorm replied, sheathing both of his trademark swords. “My record was fifty-five!”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Show-off.”

“What's Noble's score?” Firestorm asked, looking around. “And where is he, anyway-ah! There he is!”

Noble Blade emerged from the front on a war-weary white pora slowly, tiredly, with a weight to his gait.

“You're okay!” Fluttershy exclaimed in joy, about to swim over to him. But she held herself. There was something about him that worried her.

“Are...you okay?” Twilight cautiously asked.

Noble Blade looked her in the eye. “Freedom Fighter’s dead.”

It was so surreal, so strange to hear. No one was sure he even said those words at first. But very soon, reality hit them all in the gut, and the pain it left there began to bruise.

“No.” Firestorm had grown terrifyingly serious. “No, he isn't.”

“His mates saw him be carried off by a shark,” Noble explained. “He’s-”

“He's not dead!” Firestorm repeated vehemently. “He's alive!”

“There's no doubt of what happened!” Noble replied. “Most ponies become shark food at that point!”

“Until I see his body, he's alive to me! Why are you so insistent on being that pessimistic?”

“I am facing reality here, Storm! Reality is harsh when you receive news like this!”

“Okay, look, we don't have any proof that he's dead yet,” Twilight said cautiously. “Maybe he's just far off and didn't get the message to regroup yet.”

“Well, he should get here sooner or later,” Applejack said hopelessly. “Otherwise, Ah guess we jus’ gotta... really treat ‘im like he's... gone.”

Twilight held a hoof to her heart. Her inhaling was short and ragged. “I can't handle this,” she breathed. “He can't be dead yet. He's gone through too much to die here!”

“Don't worry, Twilight,” Pinkie reassured her, rubbing the small of her back. “I'm sure that he's having a lot of fun right n-” All of a sudden she froze up. Her face was fixed in a permanent expression of shock.

The imposing Sweet looked concerned for her. “What is she doing?”

Pinkie spun around like a top in the water, creating a miniature whirlpool. Then her tongue shot out of her mouth for a ridiculous distance. Finally, her mane curved itself into a big pink ball, and her flippers curled outward.

Sweet leaned down to Twilight. “Should I be concerned about this?” He pointed a shaking hoof at Pinkie. “About... her?”

“Pinkie, whatcha feelin’ now?” Rainbow asked incredulously. “The battle's already over!”

“Something is about to shoot out of nowhere and startle us all!” Pinkie warned. “It’s a Deluxe Size Whopper! That's what I call the spinny-tongue-afro-mane combo. With a little bit of chocolate glaze on the top...”

“What’s a whopper?” came the authoritative female voice, and Brine entered the consolidated force. She was picturesque; battle-worn, tattered, dirty, and with a scratched and dirty set of armor. Her face, however, still showed young beauty as she smiled at her soldiers.

“You'll see,” Starlight Glimmer told her.

“Where's your buddy Freedom Fighter?” Brine asked. When the ivory seapony searched out Noble Blade and saw his melancholy expression, she let out a small gasp of realization and put a hoof to her mouth.

“No,” she murmured. “Is your friend really gone-?”

A cracking sound, like the earth had been torn asunder in a single stroke, interrupted her, and each of the seaponies looked down. A large crevice had split in the surface of the ocean seabed, and something bright and shiny was rocketing out of it, growing louder and brighter in a few seconds.

“It's another demon!” Sweet shouted. He pushed Coral and Aquarius out of the way. “Give ‘im some room! Now!”

Each of the members had moved wisely out of harm's way before it erupted. Something, going very fast, popped out of the crack in the seabed, sailed upward, and came to a stop, floating in the center of the circle each of the troops had inadvertently created.

That something was a seapony holding a magical object almost the size of a pony’s head. It pulsed with golden and violet light in the seapony's armored hooves.

Freedom Fighter was caught looking directly at Noble Blade's astounded face.

Noble's gaze came to Freedom Fighter, then the pearl, then to the crack deep in the earth, then back at the dark warrior.

Freedom Fighter cleared his throat and twirled the gem like a basketball. “So, I, uh, got the pearl.”

Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Seapony's Sacrifice

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Her Majesty Queen Novo, matriarch of Seaquestria, mother of seaponies, ruler of the Celestial Sea, and the overseer of the pearl, was bored. Being bored was not normally allowed for a matriarch. Usually, there was some issue of taxes or filing or redistribution of resources. But with the lack of activity amongst Seaquestria, Queen Novo felt her influence dwindling. Apart from the expeditions to retrieve the darn thing, ever since the demon had ripped the precious artifact from her grip, Queen Novo felt herself slip into a downward spiral of helplessness.

What more could she have done to save her people? Star Swirl the Bearded had given her instructions as to how these final days would play out, but she wasn't emotionally ready to confront them yet. When the time came to reveal their origins, how tough it would be-!

And yet, it had to be done. Hiding behind an illusion for a thousand years was tough. It would be a weight lifted off her chest. And a chance to return to how seaponies were supposed to be.

And that pearl...oh, how she would miss the pearl! It was the sole reminder of Star Swirl the Bearded in her life, the one she still pined after during those late nights.

Her daughter appeared by her side. She ran her hoof down her own arm reassuringly, but nervously. “...Mom? Is something wrong?”

“What isn't wrong nowadays?” Novo ironically philosophized.

“Can I help?”

“Baby, it's cute that you're so helpful. But...not right now. Play with your shells or something.”

Skystar looked hurt. “Shelly and Shelldon aren't big talkers anymore. But...those ponies are pretty good friends, aren't they?”

“I suppose,” Novo conceded.

“Why are they so important?” Skystar wondered. “You said something about the Elements of Harmony and the Ten Souls when we first met them.”

“Skystar,” Novo tiredly began, “it's a pretty complicated thing. Eternal destinies and stuff. Don't worry about it.”

“Mom, they're my friends. They're important to me. And you sent them on that expedition almost immediately. Either you don't like them, or...they're vital to our survival.”

Novo looked her daughter in the eye. “You mean what you say, huh?”

“Please, mom.” Skystar's freckles spotted the space under her pleading eyes. “This is the first time I've had friends in such a long time!”

Novo made the decision in that instant. “Those friends of yours are the most important ponies in the world. They bear ten heavenly artifacts called the Elements of Harmony and used them to keep the world at bay for years now. They're only looking to complete their rock collection. That orange one that asked about where he could pee in the ocean already has one of the lost Elements.”

“Firestorm, mom. His name is Firestorm.”

“And right now, the dark warrior in the group seeks for an Element in the ruins of Mount Aris.”

“The mountain above us?”

“The mountain above us,” Novo confirmed.

“B-but...but, mom, is he dead? I don't want him to die! I just met him!”

“Honey, listen to me.” Novo lovingly cupped her despairing daughter under the chin. “The Unforgiven will return. And when he does, the whole truth will come out.”

From the hole in the center of the throne room, a red seapony in bone armor appeared. He saluted quickly to let her know he was there.

“Ah, Captain Sliphorn. What brings you here?”

“My queen, the expedition you sent out to recover the pearl...has returned.”

Queen Novo swam into the main cavern that was Seaquestria just as the first troops arrived from a side passage, swimming confidently back in on their exhausted poras. Among the first to appear was Captain Brine, and with her was Noble Blade, Firestorm, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. The rest of the girls appeared one by one, but what drew her immediate attention was Twilight Sparkle next to a triumphant Freedom Fighter on a spare mount, holding the priceless pearl under his arm like a basketball.

The troops were all singing some song Queen Novo had never heard of before. Freedom Fighter was leading them.

“There's a speck on the tail of the frog on the bump on the branch on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea! There's a speck on the tail of the frog on the bump on the branch on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea!” Freedom Fighter sang aloud.

The rest of the troops echoed along joyfully. “There's a speck! There's a speck! There's a speck on the tail of the frog on the bump on the branch on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea!”

“There's a fleck on the speck on the tail of the frog on the bump on the branch on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea!”

“There's a what?”

“...Like I said…” Freedom Fighter urged.

The group of emerging soldiers collectively shrugged. “...In the bottom of the sea! There's a fleck! There's a fleck! There's a fleck on the speck on the tail of the frog on the bump on the branch on the log in the hole-”

“Quiet!” Novo interrupted over the din.

“...in the bottom of the seeeea…” some few soldiers finished by themselves, quietly and reluctantly.

Brine saluted to Novo, and to Skystar and Sliphorn behind her. “My apologies, my queen. The soldiers are simply ecstatic, is all.”

“Seventy-five of you return from an expedition of a hundred,” Novo said. “Those losses are rough, aren't they?”

“But we got what we came for,” Twilight said with utter confidence. “And it's all thanks to him.” She clapped the dark warrior on the shoulder.

“Who was the one who retrieved it?”

Freedom Fighter raised his hoof. “That would be me.”

Novo swam over to his pora and beckoned him to come off. Freedom Fighter did so and sheepishly held out the priceless jewel to the queen.

“This is yours,” he offered.

Novo suddenly laughed. “If you knew what lay inside, Unforgiven, you would be much more interested.”

Freedom Fighter gazed into its depths like a crystal ball. “Inside? But it's a pearl.”

“That is not a true pearl,” Queen Novo revealed. It was surreal for her to say the words, even though she knew the truth. “Inside this artificial sphere, there lays something more valuable than any pearl.”

She could hear the soldiers gasping. Skystar was looking worried. Sliphorn was getting redder by the minute.

“My queen, what is the truth?” Brine demanded, looking more outraged than anything. “What is this pearl in reality?”

“An elaborate disguise that has kept us from our true potential for many, many years,” Queen Novo replied.

Gasps and mutters came from the soldiers. Skystar was locking her gaze on her mother, saying the most incredible things. Novo spun her hoof on the pearl, and up blew a dusty yellow image of old memories. A tall mountain covered on three sides by a stone eagle's wings sprung from the dust.

“A thousand years ago,” Novo said, a wistful memory resurfacing in her own mind, “we lived on the surface as creatures called hippogriffs.”

“What?” exploded an incredulous Sliphorn. “My queen-”

“Hush.”

Sliphorn hushed, though he looked livid.

“We lived, as I said, as hippogriffs on Mount Aris. Our culture was deep and complex, much more so than we have now. We lived in peace and prosperity. We also dug deep into the mountain for rare and precious natural resources.”

She spun the pearl again, and now appeared a bright, shining ball of light held in a beautiful pair of hands.

“But one day, a miner discovered a precious gem, far above the brightness and beauty of any other jewel. It was brought to the palace for investigation, and it was given as a gift to the ruling queen. That queen was me. For a time, I admired it as a jewel, and nothing else.

"Then, one day, a pony stepped into the palace. An outsider. From Equestria. His name was Star Swirl the Bearded. He said he was on official business for the princess of Equestria. As the Seer, he was investigating the locations of the many lost Elements of Harmony in the world that only he could divine the locations of. He claimed he saw one of the stones on Mount Aris, and wanted permission to see it. Now, we had no idea what an Element of Harmony was. But we allowed him to stay to let him know that we had nothing to offer him.

“Over the next few months, he searched and searched the entire city for what he wanted. But he had no luck. And I was... interested in him. At first, only on business terms. But as time passed, this mysterious stranger, hard as a rock, and elusive in his purpose, captivated my curiosity. Soon, he captivated my attention. And in time... he saw the same way towards me. He may not have acquired an Element of Harmony in that time…” Novo bowed her head humbly. “...but he captured my heart instead.”

“Oh!” Rarity let out a small choke. “Oh, that's so beautiful!” She put a hoof to her chest. “If only I could experience the same thing!”

Spike shot her an irritated glare.

Freedom Fighter gave Twilight a look. “Yeah. If only...”

“I, um, I guess…” Twilight mumbled, playing with her pora's reins.

“There came a time,” Novo said heavily, spinning the pearl once more, showing the next series of images, ”when we were so deep into our secret relationship that I decided to show him the one object that meant the most to me. I showed him the priceless jewel.

“And he almost fainted. He told me that jewel was the Element he had been looking for since first arriving here. I begged him not to leave with it. I pleaded for him to stay. But he would not relent. He said that another enemy called the Noxxa was also searching for any hint of the precious Elements, and if they were to learn I had an Element around my neck, they would invade Mount Aris and butcher me and my people.

“Finally, he came to a hard decision. He would leave the jewel with me, as both a reminder of his love for me and as a tool to help rebuild our culture someplace else. He advised moving my people underwater to protect them from the greed of potential invaders. The jewel had the power to do so because it was the Element of Sacrifice, and my sacrifice for my people would allow them to adapt.”

“Wait!” Freedom Fighter interrupted. He hefted the very, very important gem in his hooves. “This pearl is the Element I am meant to possess?”

“We have kept it hidden from the world for so long,” Novo said. Her expression was shameful. “And thanks to it, we were kept safe underwater. But we did so at the cost of our own potential. My own life was prolonged as a result of my ownership, but it also meant I had to see generation after generation of seaponies go their whole lives without knowing the truth.” Novo now addressed the conflicted troops assembled together, spreading out her arms. “You are a chosen generation, my children. You have been born in time for the truth to be unveiled. I... wanted to tell every subject before you of our potential. But I withheld it against the greater good, burning me up inside. And now that it's out, we need not disguise ourselves anymore. When this pearl is given to Freedom Fighter to use against the forces of darkness, we will change into the forms we were meant to have. I ask you, are you prepared to live as a higher being?”

Brine shook her head. “I'm sorry, this is really quick for me to process. So... this Star Swirl guy was your lover?”

Novo nodded.

“But when he found out you had an Element of Harmony, he told you to protect it.”

Novo nodded again.

“So you took the entire kingdom and changed us into seaponies?”

Once again, the queen nodded.

“Your intent in all this was to keep us safe?” Captain Sliphorn asked the queen.

“Everything I have ever done was in your best interest,” Novo said in the most placating tone she could manage.

“Well, it's not as though it worked very well,” Sliphorn commented. “That black mass that stole this all-important Element a month ago swept right through us!”

“Exactly!” Skystar added. “Which means that there's no point to us staying in the ocean anymore. Either way, there will be threats, but on land, we have allies. Here in the ocean, we have no one but ourselves.”

“Exactly!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Friendship is magiiiiic!”

Sliphorn snorted. “That is the corniest thing I have ever heard.”

“But it's true nonetheless!” Novo affirmed, giving her chief captain a glance. “No matter what, we will face challenges in our life that require the sacrifice of many. Retrieving the pearl required a fourth of our troops to give their life. But we can choose to face the challenges ourselves or have them come to us.”

Aquarius edged her way to the sight of Queen Novo. “My queen? May I say something?”

“Never be afraid to speak up, child,” Novo calmed her.

“Well... I don't want to run from these challenges anymore. I want to face them! If no one else wants to move back to the surface, you should know that I will!”

Murmurs of differing intent arose between everyone present. Some were moved by Aquarius's affirmation. Others were confused. Even a few were defiant. But most of them were simply humble.

“The only way to survive in this world is to fight for your survival,” Brine said to herself. “But my queen, is there any other way?”

“I’m sorry,” was all Novo said in reply.

Freedom Fighter was clutching the Element of Sacrifice hard between his hooves now. His wide scarlet eyes had widened to immense proportions as the weight of what he was about to do came down on him.

“Novo?” he hesitantly asked. “I'm not doing this.”

“But it must happen,” Novo said, stroking his arm encouragingly.

“I can't uproot an entire culture for the sake of an Element!” Freedom Fighter protested. “The exact same thing happened to me! I'm not Marshal Malice!”

“And you won't,” Novo said. “You would be restoring our culture to its proper place.”

Freedom Fighter was trembling, frightful. “No,” he said, and laughed for a brief instant. “No, this is another test. I know what I need to do. If I truly need to gain the Element of Sacrifice, I should sacrifice my chances of getting back to the surface. You can keep the pearl, and then the real Element will appear for my sake-”

“Freedom Fighter,” firmly interrupted Novo, and the dark warrior went quiet. “You have a noble mind, but you need to learn only one more thing about sacrifice. It isn't all about you. Sometimes, sacrifice is less about what you give up for others, and more of what others can sacrifice for you.”

Freedom Fighter gave a little jolt.

“You have given more than your fair share. It is time for the debt to be repaid and the scales to become balanced.” She caressed the pearl in his grip. “This is your gift. It is not ours to hold on to for any longer. With the power of this jewel, you can do many great and marvelous things. You can save Equestria with this power.”

“We can also be necklace buddies!” Firestorm sang, jangling the Element of Courage from his neck.

“Both are convincing arguments,” Freedom Fighter said, looking from Firestorm to Queen Novo again. His eyes were still forlorn. “But still… I don't want to be the one to do it. This is a choice your people must make.”

Queen Novo smiled. “A wise decision, Unforgiven.” Letting her gaze drift over the assembled soldiers, she noticed that the citizens of Seaquestria had also congregated to listen and observe, and more were arriving by the minute. Drawn by the pearl's call of beauty, it made it so that everyone who was listening had comprehended the message Novo had revealed.

“What say you?” Novo pleaded them all. “Will we live on the surface once more as in times of old?”

It took remarkable bravery for the first one to say yes. But one voice turned into two, then three. Then five, then seven, then ten. Other voices joined in. Living on the surface? It was madness! But still, they chanted: yes, yes! Give us a new life! No more surviving! Let us live instead! The overlapping chants rose, grew larger and larger with each new voice, until each of them was saying, yelling, screaming yes, yes, yes!

Did any of them have any doubts? Any private thoughts, any misgivings about Novo or her story? Did some of them still want to live beneath the cold, deep surface of the ocean? Of course they did. Novo knew them better than that. But what use was doubt? What mattered more than their conviction, their faith in the future, the power of the pearl itself? Its power was already made manifest. Why doubt its capability, or that things didn't work out according to how Novo said they did? And so, even though some didn't like the idea, they chanted along anyway, making that sacrifice for themselves. And that sacrifice was all for a stranger, all over an Element. Just like in Novo's time. Novo tried to block the offending thought from her mind.

The pearl was glowing a fierce gold from its center. The firelight pulsated and spread outward, filling Seaquestria with bright flashes of heavenly light. The flashes didn't hurt anyone's eyes; on the contrary, they made their bodies freer, feel elated beyond comparison. Those misgivings some of them had melted away. Peace was pumped into their minds, sedating their worries for the time being. Its divine power was overwhelming for some, and some seaponies broke into tears at the sheer awe of the Element of Sacrifice.

The pearl itself was trembling. A crack had appeared in the top thereof. It was like a bird egg about to hatch. But the treasure in this particular egg was less precious than the miracle of life. Life was sacrifice, of course, but it was also joy, and power, and love, and sadness. What did the Element of Sacrifice hold in comparison? But still, it trembled like it was about to burst, cracking and spidering all over the surface.

Then it erupted from the pearl, shattering the simple shell.

Each of the seaponies at that moment could only remember up to this part. Even Queen Novo, and Freedom Fighter, for that matter, could only explain the next few moments as a blur.

What happened was this: beams of swirling light shot out and struck each seapony in the chest, and they all dissolved into pure, featureless balls of energy. The Element of Sacrifice embedded itself into the ball of light that was once Freedom Fighter.

The balls of energy streaked like a flock of comets through the water into a side tunnel. This tunnel was blocked off with large rocks to prevent entry, but the balls of power shattered the boulders blocking it up. They continued, up and up through the tunnel, streaming ribbons of light behind them.

After only a brief moment, the balls of energy erupted from the surface of the water, throwing drops to every corner, and flew wildly in the air like embers from a dying fire before settling on the cracked stone floor. The balls of light then reorganized themselves into their proper shapes, and after a small power-down of glowing, the glow disappeared entirely, revealing each and every individual affected by the pearl.

They had come into a large, dank chamber, and in the center was a pool of water with a large, ornate pink flower. Runes covered the edges of the room, portraying the untranslated history of the civilization before them. A row of steps led up to the exit, which was also blocked off with boulders.

The Ten Souls, dripping wet, patted themselves down and made little gasping noises. They were not alone; each seapony had been transformed into the shape of a hippogriff, with claws on all four limbs for grasping and handling, and a multicolored, artistic blend of color was upon all of them. Silver and blue, gold and pink, green and violet, white and turquoise, scarlet and grey. Each hippogriff was different, yet beautiful in its own way.

Their reactions were awed. They were all admiring how they could walk on all fours, how they were affected by gravity, how they could flap up into the air for a brief moment before settling down. They also admired how their fingers curved as separate digits, how their bodies were feathered and ruffled, and how they felt weird when they were wet and not in the water. It inspired a question in their heads; was water wet? But it would be a debate for another time. Their new bodies, glorious to behold, occupied their thoughts.

“Look!” Freedom Fighter said with equal awe. “The Element!”

It was embedded into his left shoulder, burning through the armor he had on there and exposing the mechanical arm underneath. The Element was a glowing yellow color, smoking gently from the contact with his bodysuit. It was elliptical and oval in shape.

“That's sooo cool!” Pinkie Pie admired, her baby blue eyes wide and reflecting the color of the jewel.

“Come on, y'all!” Applejack urged, adjusting her soggy-wet hat atop her glistening, wet face. “Let's get to a-buckin’ these boulders outta the way!”

Twilight chimed her horn to life, and Rarity and Noble Blade did the same. The boulders blocking the passage out lifted out of the way and settled on the ground to the side.

Applejack looked unamused. “Or, y'know, we could jus’ do that,” she sullenly muttered.

“Don't worry about it,” Fluttershy assured her.

“Are we really going to see Mount Aris?” Aquarius asked in wonder, flicking her new tail aide to side. “Where our ancestors lived so long ago? Ooh, I can't wait!”

“Yeesh,” Coral admonished her, ruffling the top of her head. “Calm down, okay? It's just a city.”

“But it's an old city where we once lived so long ago! I wonder how well preserved everything is?”

“It's been a thousand years. The buildings are probably falling apart.”

“But we can rebuild,” Novo said, overhearing their conversation amidst the dozens of others going on in the chamber. “So long as the foundations remain intact, we can start anew no matter how dilapidated the ruins above us are.”

“Gosh, I just...can't hold back anymore,” Brine whispered, coming closer to Noble Blade, who was helping clear the passage of rocks. “Noble, isn't it amazing? I don't know if I can take it anymore. I'm a hippogriff. A few minutes ago, I was in the ocean as a fish! I feel so...so strange.”

“This probably wasn't what you were expecting when you woke up this morning,” Noble replied. “But really, who am I to say anything? I switched species twice in the space of twenty-four hours.”

Brine giggled. “You're really humble, you know that?”

Noble gave an uncomfortable glance at her and shifted to the side. “...Yes, I am...aren't I?”

“And self-effacing too!”

“I am truly the most humble pony on the face of the land,” Noble dryly said.

Brine laughed. “And you're funny too! I can see why Fluttershy fell for you.”

Noble just nodded. “Yep.” Trying to ignore her, he focused on getting more boulders out of the way. Upon seeing her flirting fail, Brine fell silent too. It was a painfully awkward moment.

Soon enough rocks had been moved to allow a clear passage through the rubble. The Ten Souls, Novo, and Skystar led the way, and behind them plodded the hippogriffs, still excited to experience the bodies of land animals.

The glowing yellow light from the Element of Sacrifice lit the way. Firestorm's Element of Courage shone brightly as well. The unicorns had lit their horns to add some more luster.

“I wonder…”

“Wonder what, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“I wonder what kind of clue will direct us to the next Element,” Twilight said. “Which one will be next? Honor? Or Redemption?”

Noble Blade and Starlight Glimmer gave each other a nervous look. Which of them would be put through a trial next? And what would that trial be?

“Hey! Look up ahead!” Pinkie burbled. “I see sunlight!”

True to her word, a small glimmer of white shone up ahead through several cracks in a stone barricade. It occurred to some of the ponies that this was the first time they had seen sunlight in several days, ever since they had descended into the depths of Maretania an eternity ago.

As they got closer and closer, the white light became blinding, forcing each of them to squint. When they reached the rocky barricade, they all felt a breeze of cool air blow into their faces, filling their lungs with cool, clean oxygen.

For Twilight, it was a beautiful thing. Never had she valued the outside air more than at that moment. Nature was so...pure. So amazing to experience for the first time.

Applejack moved her way to the front by pushing Rarity and Rainbow Dash aside. She put her weight on her forelegs as she turned around, bent her hind legs, and delivered a solid buck to the center of the stone barricade.

Rocks and pebbles blew outward. The outside world rushed in as the blockade was lifted, and the blast of cool air almost blew them backward.

Applejack casually blew some dust off her hooves. “Y'alls had a chance ta do it. My turn.”

“Fair enough,” Rainbow Dash allowed.

Spike ran ahead of the group first to get some sense of what it was like outside. As the Ten Souls followed, they took a look around at the ruins of Mount Aris.

It was grey and foggy. On all sides were collapsed homes that looked like giant bird cages. There was no distinctive avenue at first, but the Ten Souls tentatively explored outwards.

A nagging feeling hit Twilight all of a sudden. It was a feeling of caution, and of a need to watch out for the imminent danger that was bound to appear.

“Guys,” she whispered to the group. “We should be careful. These ruins could be hiding anything.”

“Should we signal the hippogriffs to stay back for the moment?” Freedom Fighter asked.

“Good idea,” Starlight Glimmer agreed. “We don't want them to run into danger before we do.”

“I'll do it!” Rainbow volunteered, and sped in a colored blur back to the entrance to the catacombs.

The party of ponies and Queen Novo entered a main courtyard. It was in ruin and oblivion, blasted grey and withered away by the constant pounding of weather and exposure. Rotting grey-green vegetation covered everything. Rubble was strewn over the ground.

“Oh,” Queen Novo soberly let out. “Oh, this place! I used to play catch here with my dad…” Her eyes traveled to a cracked dry fountain. “And I used to play in that when it was hot. Oh-!” Her words faltered as she walked about as if she was on consecrated ground. She prodded at half-submerged objects stuck in the soil; a toy shovel, a model car, the severed head of a doll.

The Ten Souls allowed her this moment of peace and reflection, realizing just how much the hippogriffs had to have given up to live underwater. The hippogriff's sacrifices were many. What more would be taken away from them?

They each vowed silently in their heads to make sure their offerings were not in vain.

“Twilight! Twilight!”

“Spike?” the alicorn asked. The baby green dragon came sprinting out of the fog up ahead, terror written across his small features.

“Spikey-wikey!” Rarity cooed. “What on earth happened? You look like you've seen a-”

“Satyr!” he wheezed in fright.

Rarity frowned. “I was about to say ghost, but that might work too.”

“No! You don't understand! There's a-”

A deep cackle cut him off from up ahead. Chills ran down each of their spines as the evil laugh, underlying with mirth and menace, continued. The air became charged with electricity.

“Who's there?” demanded the returning Rainbow Dash, putting her dukes up as she screeched to a halt in the air. “Come on, put ‘em up!”

The laughter stopped, and was replaced by an old, deep voice. “My, my, my, what have we here? This wouldn't happen to be...Twilight Sparkle, now, would it?”

Twilight was instantly surrounded by each of her friends, each of them in a battle stance. “What do you want?” Firestorm asked the disembodied voice, flapping above Twilight's head and drawing his swords.

“Isn't it obvious?” asked the voice. Through the mist came the tall outline of a white satyr with turquoise eyes and a sneer on his lips. “I asked for Twilight, not you. Hand her over.”

Twilight's heart and head was pounding. Who was he? Was he another agent of Marshal Malice? And how did they find her?

The tall outline fully appeared through the fog at last. He was as tall as Discord was, but he was beastlike and strong-muscled, not fluid and chaotic like the immortal trickster. His aura was one of menace and great power. At his side was a golden sword in a black sheath.

“I think it's time for you to make your entrance now, don't you think, Tempest?” the tall creature asked casually.

Something black and green flew through the fog, aimed directly for Twilight.

Before the grenade impacted, someone jumped in front of the princess with her arms outstretched, screaming, “NO!” The ball of energy struck her and spread into a black crystal cover that spread throughout her body, freezing her in that instant.

Queen Novo's sculpture fell to earth with a hard thud, her face frozen in one of desperation.

Twilight gasped in horror at the sight. The queen did not move from her stone prison. Everypony looked up to see who had thrown the deadly grenade.

Atop a fallen marble block was a tall pony the color of fresh wine, in a black breastplate and shoes. Her white-scarred face was demeaningly calm and confident, and her broken horn sparked and sizzled.

Twilight pushed her friends aside to stare the unicorn down. Her mind was no longer confused or distressed. Instead, her mind was full of a resilient fury.

Twilight’s face broke into a hard scowl. “You...are going...to pay for that!”

The dark unicorn atop the block chuckled with a knowing smirk. Behind her emerged half a dozen minions resembling the white satyr. “I was hoping you would say that...princess.”

The tall satyr himself drew his golden sword, which began to spark like the unicorn's horn. The weather around them began to shift as a result of the power in the air. The fog around them quickly dissipated in swirls and spirals to reveal the open sky above them.

In the tall grey sky above Mount Aris was a fleet of circling airships. Armored, fast, and camouflaged, they bristled with harpoon weapons on all sides.

They were surrounded. No way out.

Caught.

And, like a bad bonus, amidst the airships buzzed the small dark insects that had destroyed Griffonstone and Maretania. Finally, an ivory dragon as big as a house flapped in the far distance, far away from the mountain.

Freedom Fighter knew who owned that dragon.

“Malice!” he spat in cold fury.

The ponies felt a tension coil within all of them, ready to strike. The time to fight was now. The time to liberate the hippogriffs was just beginning.

“Come to me, Twilight,” Tempest Shadow whispered malevolently. The six tall beastly creatures surrounded them all. “Your power will be my answer to the life I lost!”

With a swish of Tempest's hoof, the battle of Mount Aris began.

Chapter Fifty-nine: The Battle of Mount Aris, Part One

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Firestorm was the first to react.

Flapping into the air above his friend's heads, he pointed his small flamethrowers at the hulking white beasts and ignited them. With a whine and a click, twin gouts of fire spewed from his hooves and covered several beasts in crackling fire. Spinning, he directed the flame into the other minions, and within several seconds each of them were on fire, and they were yelping, rolling away, jumping around, and crawling under nearby cover.

After spinning once more to create a circular barrier of tall flames cutting them off from Tempest and the white satyr, Firestorm settled to the ground again and deactivated his weapons.

Tempest jumped off the large stone block and landed in a crouch in the fire ring. The flickering light made her snarling countenance appear devilish. Her glare was directed at Twilight, who was herself temperamental and determined.

“Don’t make me exert myself too much,” Tempest whispered. She could barely be heard above the crackling fires, but the closer she got, the clearer her voice got, and the more frightening detail was spelled out upon her face. “Otherwise, I might...get angry.”

“Funny,” Twilight retorted. “You took the words right out of my mouth.”

Tempest didn't spare any more words. She leaped in the air towards the princess and, after a flip, straightened her leg for a dropkick.

The problem was, Twilight had teleported behind her and fired her magic down upon her. Tempest was thrown into the pavement, throwing rubble in every direction, and Twilight settled on all fours in a battle-ready stance.

Tempest was already getting up. Once she had stood up straighter, she reached into her armor, pulled out a small pistol, raised her hoof into the air and fired something high with a whistle. It was a flare gun built into her hoof, colored a deep shade of red.

“What did you do?” Starlight Glimmer asked in a whisper. “What did you do?”

“You'll be getting some Noxxa visitors in about, oh, I'd say...three to five minutes.”

Twilight fired a laser blast in angry retaliation, but Tempest simply evaded, and the blast struck near Spike's feet. Twilight abruptly stopped. Firing laser blasts was too risky in such a small space. Which meant close combat instead.

And this Tempest girl looked like she could pack a punch on her own.

Tempest collided with Twilight, and the force threw both of them through the snapping walls of flame around them. Twilight and Tempest disappeared from view.

“Twilight!” Pinkie screamed, bounding for the flames, but jerked in the air and was yanked back by Rarity, who had pulled on her tail.

In front of the ponies, the flames parted again to allow the passage of the white satyr. His height was so tall that his face was thrown into deep, ambient shadow.

“Well, now that she's taken care of,” the white satyr casually said, swiftly swirling his golden sword like a windmill at his side, “now I can focus on capturing all of you!”

Noble Blade took the initiative by drawing his own sword and twisting the hilt, and the chromium blade exploded into a fierce blue glow. “Over my dead body!”

“That's the idea,” he replied with a devilish grin. “I don't have to take all of you alive. I think I can take out the only real threats here.”

Noble lifted his blue blade so it threw a dark shadow onto his own face, standing upright on his hind legs. “We are all threats, and we will never surrender. You should kill all of us if you want the job to be complete!”

"Is he speaking for all of us?" Rarity whispered, biting her nails with a loud chattering sound.

“Then perish!” the Storm King bellowed, and sprang for the kill.

Noble jumped forward just before the Storm King landed, and somersaulted between the King's legs, swiping his sword at the back of both his calves. Blood, frying from the energy on Noble's sword, flew out, sizzling, and spattered on the stone floor.

The King bellowed and swung down for a killing blow, flinging rubble everywhere. Noble evaded the crushing blow by a hair and, standing up from the ground, delivered an armored uppercut into the King's belly. He spun around quickly as the Storm King made a grab for him, and as he completed the spin he aimed for his side and struck.

His sword of buzzing blue power solidly met an intercepting golden blade, making sparks of power erupt from the intersection.

Noble widened his eyes. No sword was equal to his except for Black Blades. How in the world-?

The Storm King gave a deep, groveling laugh, as dark as the thunderstorms he commanded. His teeth glinted like white diamonds, sharp and hard, and his eyes, deep as the sea, reflected the malicious intent he held deep inside.

The King swung with his golden blade and Noble parried it aside. Noble lunged, and the King evaded. Their intricate dance, continuing like this indeterminably, led them to the fringes of the burning enclosure. Then Noble jumped onto the Storm King's chest and ricocheted off so he flew over the tall flames, and the Storm King pursued, intent on his destruction, but distracted from the main goal.

Firestorm, meanwhile, was putting his flight goggles on, and he tightened his outfit to allow him maneuverability. “I'm going up there to thin the Noxxa out,” he told the group. “Rainbow, you wanna come help me out here?”

Rainbow looked indecisive at first. But looking at her huddling friends, she knew where her place was.

“They need me here,” she disagreed. “If you need backup up there, I'll come, but…”

“Of course,” Firestorm allowed her. He drew both of his swords and gave one to Rainbow Dash, who fumbled it at first, but finally held it steady. “Let me know if you guys have a plan or something.”

And he flapped up and soared into the air, where an angry dark cloud was forming directly above them in the light grey sky. But that cloud wasn't a force of nature.

It was a roiling mass of Noxxa, eagerly waiting to descend.

Firestorm rose to meet them. Ascending so high wasn't the problem. The problem was mustering the courage and will to face the impossible odds he had set for himself.

Because truth be told, he felt his heart plop into his stomach and churn his bladder. His head felt light, his legs felt painfully weak. But still he climbed. Higher, faster, to his limits.

Firestorm clutched the orange X around his neck as a reassurance. He could plead for the help to defeat the monsters. And this tool would give him the power to do so.

He felt it heat up beneath his hoof as he flew higher and higher, ready, or not, to meet the Noxxa hordes with a single blade. The heat in his arm traveled to his shoulders and biceps, and even his chest and wing muscles.

He was glowing.

Firestorm still flew upwards. The Noxxa had descended now as one black, undulating body, and were striking down like their thousands of bodies were a single massive fist.

Firestorm, incredibly, managed to grin.

Bring it on!

Firestorm exploded into an aura of shining orange light a second before colliding into the first Noxxa in the descending group.

He virtually punched through the entire formation in a few mere seconds, flying upwards with a sword outreached and hacking at any who got close. The fiery nimbus surrounding his body made nearby Noxxa burst into divine white flame and fall uselessly from the sky like rocks.

Firestorm chose his next targets indiscriminately. Firing blasts of pure Elemental fire from his hooves, he quickly incinerated those near him from a single shot. Spinning and twirling, he shot off and began to clean up.

On the ground, Applejack gestured incredulously at the shining orange bolt in the sky. “Did he jus’ say ‘If we get a plan?’”

“He didn't have one?” Rarity panicked. “How in Equestria-”

“I have a plan,” Starlight interrupted. She stared past the forest of fire and to the large white dragon flapping in the distance. Then to the airships above their head, with Noxxa shooting out and hurling towards the flaming pegasus cleaning them up. “We need to escape somehow. I say we use one of the airships.”

“We need to take that thing down first,” Freedom Fighter reminded Starlight, pointing with his yellow staff at the devilish dragon.

Starlight recognized the evil dragon from their exploration of Freedom Fighter's memories, and by association the pale rider atop him, though he was too far to see. “That's Malice!”

“Why d-do we h-have to f-face him?” Fluttershy tried to say legibly, but her overwhelming fear and her concern for her boyfriend made her stumble over her words.

“Even if we manage to get into one of those airships, Malice will shoot us down!” Freedom Fighter exclaimed over the sounds and senses all around them. “And besides, if he escapes, he'll strike at us time and time again!”

“Oh…”

“In other words, if we don't take Marshal Malice down, these attacks are just going to get worse! I am not letting this go to waste!” Freedom Fighter slung his magical staff across his back and glared hatefully at his faint rival in the sky. “Rainbow, I need a ride.”

Rainbow flapped up, hovered above Freedom Fighter, and grabbed him underneath his stomach. After a few heaves, she lifted him off the ground. "Ngh! What dija eat this morning, cement?!"

"Just pick me up, please?"

Rainbow deftly altered her body so she could sling him over her back instead. Flapping hard, she lifted off and ascended. But because the skies were clear, she had nowhere to sneak away. Rainbow's realization was abundantly clear on her face.

"She needs cover!" Starlight shouted, reading her thoughts. Charging her horn, she fired a pulse of magic up at both of them. Upon impact, it splashed and covered them, and their bodies shimmered before turning opaque, like a frosty glass. Now properly disguised, they both rose up and shot in a different direction.

"We gotta prepare fer these guys ta land!" Applejack reminded everyone, jabbing up at the swirling masses. Firestorm, though efficient, wasn't perfect, and dozens of Noxxa were buzzing down past his nimbus to the ruined concrete structures. Around them, the tall forest of flame was dying out, which meant their available territory now included the entire city.

"Let's draw their forces!" Starlight ordered. "Spike and Pinkie, you're with me. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity, you three are together. We'll split 'em up and slice them to pieces!"

"What about Twilight?" Spike asked, tugging on Starlight's leg and pointing where Twilight and Tempest had disappeared. Purple beams shot into the air, along with long arcs of white electricity.

"We've got our own problems to worry about!" Starlight reproved, hurrying Spike along.

A crackling arc of white lightning erupted from Tempest's stubby horn and struck Twilight's hasty dome shield. The relentless barrage continued for a dozen seconds before ending, and Twilight gasped hard and ended the spell.

Tempest was tough. Even Twilight couldn't stand long in her way; she physically dominated the sparring. Twilight could only block her hard hoofstrikes, leap above her sweeps, dodge her long swings.

Twilight flapped about three feet in the air and fired a consistent laser at Tempest. The broken unicorn leaped above the beam and landed on another piece of rubble in the crumbled city. She leaped to another as the purple beam followed her, and to another. Twilight's agility simply couldn't keep up.

Tempest pounced like a cat with her hooves outstretched and her sharp teeth bared. She caught Twilight in the chest and made both of them go stumbling, rolling on the ground over rocks and pebbles. Both of them ended up bleeding.

Tempest ended up on top of Twilight, pinning her down with her knees over Twilight's back hooves. She struck a rising Twilight in the face so hard her head impacted the pavement once more.

"Why do you want me?!" Twilight screamed, blocking another strike with her forelegs and pushing Tempest off her.

Tempest stood up in an instant and wiped a trickle of blood from her nose. "You are the key to my restoration!"

"I don't even know who you are!" Twilight protested.

Tempest grinned. She lunged to Twilight's left. Seeing Twilight stumble in that direction, she switched tack and attacked from the right. She got behind her and flattened her body on the ground in a perfect hold. In two seconds, Tempest Shadow had immobilized Twilight Sparkle.

"I know who you are, Princess," Tempest whispered sensitively in the alicorn's ear. "You will come with me as a captive... or as a corpse."

Twilight twisted her head around as far as she could dare to try to give her a venomous stare. "Now there's the irony," she gasped. "You face the same choice!"

She ignited her horn, but before she could teleport her way out, Tempest's armored hooves had enclosed around the base of her horn and squeezed. Twilight felt her magic cut off as if somepony had flipped a switch.

"What?" she breathed in shock.

Tempest gave a cruel chuckle. "Oh, Princess. I thought you knew enough about magic to understand its resistors. King Metal is one of them."

Twilight's hopes fell. Magic would be of little use to her here.

Very well. Time to try option B.

Twilight's wings shot out. Tempest could only lock down four limbs at a time. She, however, had six--seven, including her horn.

Tempest had apparently realized the same thing. She moved her focus to pinning those wings down with her knees, leaving Twilight's rear legs free.

Twilight then curled her rear legs up to lock around Tempest's midsection, and straightened those legs once again. Tempest went flying off her back and went rolling.

"You're a pony!" Twilight yelled at her, getting up. "Just like me!"

Tempest stood up with a snarl of hate. Her stubby little horn sparked with anger. "I'm nothing like you!"

She fired a long stream of electricity at the alicorn, who fired a purple laser in response. The two beams collided mid-air and blew apart, and the air reverberated like a plucked string. Twilight and Tempest collapsed again. After regaining their breath, they stood weakly once more.

"I don't want to fight you!" Twilight pleaded. "I might hurt you!"

"Big words from somepony who hasn't laid a hit on me!" Tempest retaliated.

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "It has to be like this, huh?"

Twilight disappeared with a pop. Tempest wildly looked around for where she might appear next. She swung around just as Twilight appeared again.

But it was above her, not behind her.

Twilight swooped down, picked her up, and shot up in the air for twenty feet. Tempest was kicking and curling in her grip. Eventually, she settled for sinking her teeth into Twilight's leg and wiggling around with the intent to rip out flesh.

Tempest's exposed head was encased in a violet aura. Swinging her head around, Twilight hurled Tempest away, and she flew for some distance before hitting her back hard on an upright pillar.

As Tempest began to fall to earth, Twilight flew like a loosed arrow to her falling inert body and sank her hoof into Tempest's stomach, making Tempest shoot to the ground at a doubled velocity.

When she hit the ground she let out a pained groan, tumbling until she came to a halt. The recent attacks from Twilight had been surprisingly powerful, but Tempest, tired though she was, stood up once more.

Twilight landed, but was knocked back by Tempest's pounce, tumbling them both through the rubble.

"Don't touch my friends again!" Twilight screamed, scrabbling at a pebble, and picked it up and ground it on Tempest's stubby little horn with three hard twists.

Tempest screamed and loosened her grip on Twilight's shoulders. Twilight kicked her off and ran in the opposite direction.

Tempest was rubbing her pained horn with sharp gasps, fire coursing through her brain from utter torment. Seeing Twilight run away, however, her resolve collected itself, and she gritted her teeth and stood.

"Don't bet on it," she breathed in cold fury, and sped after the alicorn.

Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity sped through the ruins of Mount Aris, weaving between the streets and fallen white rubble. The skies above them were buzzing with black insects in hot pursuit.

As the three of them skidded to a halt in an intersection, the first Nox landed so hard that the girls were surprised he hadn't been smushed into sand. He was a big one, armed with nothing but the sharp tips on the end of his six claws.

"You're mine!" he bellowed, swishing his front two legs as he scuttled on four.

Applejack took action. Turning around, she straightened her legs and bucked him like an apple tree in the face right as he came within range. The Nox went staggering off to the side before collapsing.

Two more Noxxa dropped out of the sky and settled down in his place. Above them, more Noxxa were circling, blocking off any escape.

"Ooh!" screeched the horrible voice of a thin and sickly one. "That white one looks sweet! I bet she'll taste-"

Rarity had already enveloped him in a blue aura of magic and swung her head, and the Nox went hurling through a rotting old window, shattering the rotten old wood.

"WOULD ANYONE ELSE LIKE TO HIT ON ME BEFORE THE DAY IS OVER?" Rarity challenged, her face contorted into a horrifying visage so unlike her normal one that it made more dropping Noxxa back off.

"I want to!" came a dull and unintelligent voice from a chubby Nox on their left. He waddled their way with the intent of possession, giving a stupid laugh between his needled jaws.

Applejack reared up on her hind legs, grabbed one of his outstretched arms with one hoof, hit his elbow with her other, bending it entirely the wrong way, and smacked him in the face with a wide swing of that arm, followed by a surgically precise punch under his stomach, doubling him onto the floor. She stomped on the nape of his neck, and a few seconds later he began to disintegrate.

"Hey, Shy," Applejack said with a trace of nervousness creeping into her voice as she saw how quickly the Noxxa were assembling. "Ya want a piece o' this?"

"Um... not really... but, I mean, when do I ever get to decide that?"

"Git between us, then."

The three girls had been surrounded by the devil-bugs on all sides. Applejack and Rarity were pacing in a circle with Fluttershy between them in the exact center. It would not be a battle for any particular goal this time. It would simply be a desperate battle to survive.

But the desperation was felt on both sides as well. The Elements of Harmony were not to be trifled with, after all. And the Noxxa knew this. Above all, it was they who the demons feared.

The Noxxa closed in anyway.

Rarity's horn shone constantly like an unearthly, divine weapon, pushing Noxxa back on all sides like the waves of the sea hurling them out into the deep.

The few bugs that got past her were almost immediately pummeled by Applejack. Only two or three came through at a time, giving her plenty of time to rush for the nearest enemy and give a solid blow in a vital region, then run off to the next one and, with one blow, reduced them to a groaning pile of dissolving ash.

In under a minute, Applejack, alone, had elbowed, kicked, punched, grappled, and blown the arms off over a dozen Noxxa. In the next few minutes, which passed by like hours instead, she incapacitated fifty more. Her speed and sheer strength was unmatched.

Rarity, when not repelling the advances on all sides, was firing blast after blast of blue fire into the ranks. Her divine white horn began to smoke at the tip between attacks.

Fluttershy, however, was stuck between them both at the exact center. When would it end? They were all surrounded. It was only a matter of time now.

Noble Blade and the Storm King fought with fast flurries of furious blows. Their swords clashed so often it looked like a constant light was flashing between them from their contact.

They were fighting in a ruined living quarter of the mountain. All around them were abandoned cubes acting as homes, and the occasional monstrous birdcage. Most of the homes had been turned to rubble by age, pilfering, or erosion. Loose rock was everywhere. In the street, on the tops of homes, and even where homes were supposed to be. The precarious environment did nothing to ease the fight.

The blows just kept coming. The Storm King was relentless and hard, and though Noble could parry them all, his strength was immense. He would wear him down by sheer force alone.

So Noble responded with magic. After a quick look at his rubble-strewn surroundings, he disappeared in a flash of blue light and reappeared on top of a large stone roof that had been split in half like an egg. The Storm King let out a defiant roar and climbed up onto equal ground, which let Noble find some time to catch his breath.

The Storm King and Noble Blade were on either half of the broken roof. The air had turned darker in its grey palette. Noble could feel, taste the water in the atmosphere, and it was making his armor stick to his skin.

Noble didn't allow any time for the Storm King to make the first move.

He fired a magic bolt at the satyr. He saw it coming, though, and batted it back at the unicorn. Noble tried to parry it back, but the bolt had struck the handle of the sword, and Noble's blade went flying.

The Storm King let out a loud laugh, switched Stormkeeper to his left arm, and picked up a handful of rubble at his feet. He whipped his arm out, and the rocks went flying at Noble at a respectable fraction of the speed of sound. A dozen pieces had scraped across his face leaving long marks, and Noble fell down, which probably saved his life; the larger pieces came next, and any one of them would have brained him. Noble quickly got his large shield off his back and onto his left arm.

The Storm King greedily pointed Stormkeeper at the rising knight and fired a long stream of electricity at him next. Noble's shield was already out by then, and the bolt struck it and splashed to every side, blowing apart the ground at his feet. The stream was white in color, but turned blue on impact.

Straining with all his might behind the shield, struggling to keep it up, Noble ignited his horn and, without peeking, focused on the arm holding the golden sword.

His opponent's exposed left shoulder, encased in a blue aura, popped out of place, and the King's arm dropped to his side in an instant.

"What?" he wondered amidst the pain. He used his other hand to pop it back into place once more, then glared at the upright knight irately. "You are more annoying than other ponies that put up a fight, you know!"

"Desirest thou to see annoying?" Noble dared him, beckoning with his other hoof. "Fight me further!"

The Storm King growled in fury and pulled off a coiled chain at his hip. Straightening it by throwing it behind his head, he then whipped it right at the unicorn.

Noble's horn was already glowing, and his sword was zooming back into his right hoof as the chain came for him. Noble caught his sword just in time for the King to wrap the chain around the tip of the sword. Noble tugged with a sudden jerk, and the King's weapon was ripped from his grasp. The King Metal chain flew away off his sword and landed in a heap behind Noble.

The Storm King leaped across the chasm separating both of them, skidding several feet when he landed, and brought Stormkeeper down with both hands for a colossal strike. Noble blocked it, but a tremendous fountain of lightning erupted from where their swords crossed, almost blinding him.

The Storm King kicked the upright Noble in the stomach, knocking him onto his back. He swung down, but Noble rolled to the side and quickly rose once more.

"Just stay down, will you?" the satyr irritably demanded. He roared and lifted his sword aloft, the bold golden color giving it the appearance of a flaming beacon, and the dark skies above them grew darker still, rolling and coiling like the angry waves of the sea.

Noble knew what was going to happen an instant before it did.

A streak of blinding lightning connected the skies miles above them with the tip of the golden sword. The world was thrown into silhouette as the evil despot absorbed the most destructive force on earth and held it in his upraised blade. Accompanying it was a terrible CRACK! that shook the earth itself and knocked Noble down once more.

The knight scrambled away as the Storm King directed the lightning right where he was a second ago. Marble blew in every direction. Noble jumped off the large stone slab as another lightning bolt shot off over his head, blowing another tall pillar in front of him into rubble. As he landed and rolled, he charged his horn and ran down the broken street.

The Storm King peeked over the edge. Upon seeing Noble running away, he let out a laugh. "Trying to run?! You can run, but you can't HIDE!"

He fired a waving bolt of lightning out of his sword again, turning the ground in front of the running knight into a crater of dust. Noble skidded and swerved to the right, disappearing behind a tumbled pile of broken stone.

The Storm King jumped off the slab and landed without injury, and, going at full sprint, followed his path down the street and to the right.

As soon as the Storm King appeared in the narrow alley Noble had gone down, the King spotted him running down the street at full gallop, his sword sheathed across his back.

"Why are you running?" the Storm King taunted, tapping the side of the old building next to him. "Lost your honor?"

Noble paused in his run right as he was at the other end of the alleyway.

"Or have you decided this fight is unwinnable?" he relentlessly continued. He balled his left fist in anxious anticipation. "Well, I haven't decided that!"

The Storm King sprang forth and ran at full tilt at the lone figure. His legs quickly burned, and his breath came short and quick. In no time at all he had almost closed the distance between them in the alley.

Just before the Storm King was within reach, Noble ignited his horn.

The rubble on top of the abandoned houses fell off their perches and tumbled down into the alley like an avalanche. Large and small pieces of old marble collapsed and buried the Storm King in a mound of glowing blue rocks.

Noble then teleported up to the top of the house on the right side of the alley. As he reappeared, he panted and heaved his chest; teleportation was a tricky spell. He drew his sword and leaned on it for support as he took a breather. He wouldn't be able to do that again for a little bit.

Beneath him in the alleyway, the Storm King's furious fist burst through the mound of rocks, throwing rubble everywhere. As he scrambled out of the pile, he was heaving and breathing furiously, gripping Stormkeeper so hard his knuckles turned as white as his fur.

"Foolish knight!" the King bellowed up at him. "I haven't fought this hard in years! Your head will adorn my bedside table!"

"Thinkest thou hast the ability to divide my head from my body?" the knight challenged. "If thou canst, I challenge thee! But if not, I defy thee!"

The Storm King let out a furious roar and leaped to the top of the building, and the battle resumed.

The air got more cloudy and dark the higher they went. Rainbow Dash could handle Freedom Fighter's weight on her back, if only barely. But the weight of what they were about to do was weighing her down more than Freedom Fighter.

Though she knew they were invisible to the naked eye, she still stuck to the dark clouds in the atmosphere. The smoke from the airships directly above the mountain only added to their chances of remaining undetected, but Rainbow still felt an anxious pang jolt in her chest when they passed too close to another airship.

They passed ship after ship, almost in a trail, on their way to the monstrous dragon in the distance. It amazed Rainbow as to just how many ships there were. Equestria had airships themselves, of course, but these... these were mass-produced and powerful. Armored, black, and armed with harpoons and even rudimentary cannons, they were designed for one purpose.

War.

Finally, they passed by the last ship and ascended into the ocean of black smoke fountaining from the engines. Rainbow coughed madly and rose higher into the low clouds to hide their approach.

"Hey, Malice…"

Rainbow heard Freedom Fighter's thoughts, but it sounded much more malevolent than she remembered.

"I don't know what kind of expression you have on your face right now... probably one of those sick smirks you give when everything's going your way... but I intend on changing that!"

"Because you... really are the devil. A mishmash of nightmares and bones, feeding off the blood of innocent ponies. Like my father! My mother! My brothers! I doubt if I looked throughout all of Equestria's history, I would NEVER find anyone as vile as YOU!"

Rainbow Dash was drawing closer. The dragon was so close she could see the details of his horns, spines, and fangs. Its wings were just out on display, staying splayed there as a result of an updraft.

And she could see the small Pale Rider atop the nightmare. She felt a jolt of fear shoot from her skull to her tail, almost dropping her from the air. Malice, even from a distance, was even worse in person than in memory.

She looked down at her hooves in front of her, and was disturbed to see the blue color. The invisibility spell was wearing down. She flapped quicker. Quicker! Faster!

"Look at you!" Freedom Fighter spat. "What are you thinking? Probably how victorious you are. It makes me want to vomit!"

"This is no victory because this is no war!" the other voice he had butted in. "This is PEST CONTROL! And it's time to exterminate your vermin from the face of the earth!"

She felt him leap off her back.

Freedom Fighter emerged from the dark cloud with his blazing golden staff in both hooves near his head. He was in the middle of a spin as he hurled in the air at the Pale Rider.

Malice saw him just before he struck. His expression was one of absolute shock.

All that could be seen of Freedom Fighter's expression, however, was his rage-filled eyes, smoking from the heat therein.

He swiftly brought his staff down for a colossal crash on Malice's shoulder, who had evaded at the last minute to avoid getting cleaved in half.

But his upper right arm wasn't so lucky.

His sickly pale arm flew away, cauterized at the shoulder, and spun to the ocean below.

And Freedom Fighter landed behind him on the dragon's back, digging his burning staff into the dragon's back to slow him down.

Malice spun his upper body with a snapping of bones, bellowing in pain, and Freedom Fighter galloped across the massive dragon's back with his staff in one hoof and made a motion to pierce him in the chest.

Malice grabbed the burning staff with his three remaining claws and forced it to the side. He took one of those claws and drew his massive Black Bladed sword across his back, and made a horizontal swipe.

Freedom Fighter jumped above the swipe, just barely missing the deadly arc it made, and, in midair, made a swipe of his own across his axis. The end of the staff struck him in the teeth, shearing off half a dozen long fangs.

Malice roared once more and grabbed him with a free claw, and hurled him backward so he rolled on the back of the dragon. His staff fell from his grip and rolled to the edge of the dragon's back.

Malice made a grunt and cradled the stump of his shoulder. Freedom Fighter noticed his face and eye was disfigured by a long black scar, and it was recent, too. This made him grin underneath his cowl.

"Freedom Fighter," Malice snarled, and it contained unbridled fury. "You're here? And you dare to harm me?"

"Yes, I dare," Freedom shot back. "How does it feel to lose an arm?"

Malice gave an inquisitive tilt of his head. "You can talk?"

"My friends helped me out!" he roared in his head, and reached for his staff. Picking it up and spinning it like a propeller, he eventually leveled the deadly weapon at the field marshal. "You deserve to know before I tear your head in half down that scar of yours!"

As he lunged, Malice blocked. Malice grunted in surprise at how much force he needed to use to counter his attack. "No living creature... can kill me!"

"The Unforgiven can kill you!" Freedom Fighter retorted, aiming a pierce at one of Malice's eyes. Malice evaded, and the staff instead grazed his cheek. Freedom Fighter tore his staff from the deadlock their weapons were in and spun it in the other direction.

"I DESTROYED THE UNFORGIVEN!" Malice bellowed, blocking that strike and bringing his Black Blade down for a smash. Freedom Fighter dodged, and the sword went deep into his dragon's back. Blood spurted from the wound when Malice ripped the sword out, and the dragon let out a roar of pain.

"You can bleed!" Freedom Fighter yelled at him. "If you can bleed, you can die!"

"I will never die at the hooves of a puny, pathetic pony!"

The weapons of Malice and Freedom crossed once more. Both faces behind the weapons contained unbridled rage at the other for simply existing.

Malice's other limbs thrashed out at Freedom, making him jump back. The demonic centipede scuttled further onto the dragon's back, swiping his massive black sword indiscriminately.

It was then that Malice noticed a golden glow from Freedom Fighter's left shoulder. Squinting with his three good eyes, he saw what looked like a jewel embedded into his arm.

That jewel... it was so familiar to him…

And in a flash of revelation, it hit him.

"You bear the Element of Sacrifice," he hissed with every ounce of malevolence.

Freedom Fighter simply nodded. There was a gleam in his scarlet eyes.

"You bear the Element I wielded in the war in heaven?!" he demanded.

"Ironic, isn't it? Some sacrifice you had to have made, huh?"

The words stung more than the cauterized pain in his shoulder--or in his face, for that matter. "Just because you can use a rock doesn't mean you are worthy to."

"Aww, is the wittle demon upset that he can't wield it anymore?" Freedom Fighter sneered in retaliation.

Incredibly accurate to his thoughts. The lad was more perceptive than he let on. Malice made a derisive noise and ignited the antennae atop his head with a grey aura.

Freedom Fighter quickly reacted. Snapping the ends of his staff back, a yellow string appeared between the ends, and he drew back the bow and shot the arrow that had appeared.

Malice deflected the bolt with his Black Blade, and the golden projectile bounced back at Freedom Fighter, who was only barely able to put up his staff in time.

The blast threw him back onto the base of the dragon's tail, and something flew off the edge of the dragon. It was Freedom Fighter's cowl, falling to the ocean to be lost forever.

Marshal Malice took interest. He had been curious as to the pony's identity for some time now; this was the time to discover it.

He scuttled over on six legs, leering unpleasantly over Freedom Fighter's struggling form once he got to him. Freedom Fighter, his face exposed for the world to see, looked up into Malice's eyes.

Malice was instantly petrified. His needled jaw fell open.

His legs began to wobble. His throat felt constricted by barbed wire. His entire frame began to shake uncontrollably. Malice was speechless.

He knew that face. The mark of the sun in his forehead! The scars!

It was a nightmare, painful for him to recall in his reminisces, when he felt satisfied nonetheless at his victory over the only one destined to destroy him.

That nightmarish face was looking back at him with equal fear at first. But then the nightmare gave a sadistic grin when he saw the terror in Malice's face, showing his bloody teeth and stretching the ancient wounds on his face.

The wounds he had inflicted!

Freedom Fighter... he was… he was the…!

"Unforgiven!" Malice choked in absolute horror.

The Unforgiven gave a slow, evil nod as a response.

Chapter Fifty-nine: The Battle of Mount Aris, Part Two

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Marshal Malice stared at his mortal enemy as he stood up. He felt the urge to recoil when he took a step forward, so he did. Freedom Fighter took another step, and Malice retreated another step.

"There is no escape, Malice." Freedom picked up his divine golden staff and expertly twirled it with one hoof. "It's you and me...alone."

"I cut off your tongue!" Malice gasped. "How can you sp...speak…?"

"And still I pressed forward," he responded derisively. "I keep moving forward, no matter what I lose. Until my enemies are destroyed!"

Malice backed away on six legs while Freedom came forth on three. The dragon was still spurting blood from the accidental wound Malice had given it, and Malice tracked his claws in the growing pool on its back as he backed away.

The dragon…

Malice inexplicably grinned.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Freedom incredulously asked.

"Because Bloodlust...my noble, fierce hell-dragon...is very flexible."

Malice gave a whistle.

As the dragon bent its head entirely the wrong way to point over its back, Malice ignited his antennae and disappeared with a pop. There was now nothing between the dragon's fiery mouth and Freedom Fighter on his back.

The dragon spurted a long gout of fire over its back at the dark warrior.

And it would have singed the Unforgiven to ashes if it weren't for a rainbow that carried him out of harm's way.

Rainbow Dash, holding Freedom Fighter in her arms, grunted with the strenuous effort and circled around the flapping dragon like a strafing glider. Malice had reappeared in his saddle and was looking with fascination at the first of the girls he met in person.

"You want to give that another shot?" Rainbow taunted. "See if you can keep up!"

Bloodlust sent forth another stream of devil-fire into the air, which Rainbow dived under and then came up, then down, and looped around until she came to the dragon's maw. Throwing Freedom Fighter high into the air so he would land once more on the dragon, she drew Firestorm's sword from across her back, ignited the flame on it, and brought it down for a speedy slash.

Malice caught it with the edge of his massive blade. He was using strain, however. Malice's bloody eyes bore deep into the flapping Rainbow's pink irises, which had dilated with fear.

"You're a feisty one," he commented slowly.

Rainbow Dash made no reply. Malice had a hidden strength to him that made it hard to keep repelling attacks.

"You must be Rainbow Dash," he continued, twisting the sword and making Rainbow grunt. "The Stormkeeper, was it? What a pretentious-"

He stopped. And he bared his teeth.

"Stormkeeper, eh? You...should see the Storm King. He has a weapon...you'd be interested in."

Freedom Fighter charged from behind, holding his staff like a lance. Malice evaded by twisting his hips, and Freedom charged by in a stumble, which Malice turned into a kick off the edge. Freedom fell like a stone to the surface of the ocean far beneath.

"FREEDOM!" Rainbow screamed desperately, reaching in vain for his body. She tried to pull away to reach him, but an opposing strike from Malice prevented that.

"Not yet," he spat, blood from his gums trickling down his jutting chin. "Weren't you going to fight me?" He grinned. "Tried to distract me by using yourself as bait, huh? Gonna rescue him? Or face me?"

Rainbow made the choice instantly. Abandoning the wounded demon, she sped for the falling warrior.

As she sped like a meteor to the falling pony, Rainbow Dash could spot him aiming his staff, which was now a converted bow, up at the dragon's belly.

Rainbow swerved aside just in time. The yellow bolt flew by her ear. And far above her, the sound of a squealing dragon filled the air like a colossal boom of thunder.

Rainbow caught his flailing hoof and pulled up just before they impacted on the ocean surface, making the waters part from their velocity. Rainbow slung him over her back and looked up as she flew higher once more. The beast was flailing in anguish, shooting torrents of flame into the dark skies, lighting up the world.

To her satisfaction, one of the streams of flame ended with a nearby airship in its way. The whole ship caught flame, both keel and balloon, and began to sag in the air. Crew members jumped out, while others hung on for their lives. The stream of flame continued spewing onto the ship until the balloon exploded in a colossal fireball, and the clunky wooden hull it was attached to plummeted to the ocean and impacted with a heavy splash.

"One more time! Freedom, get that bow ready again! Don't let this son of a gun get away!"

Freedom knelt on the rising Rainbow's back, drawing back his deadly yellow weapon. The dragon was only several hundred yards above them now.

Then only one hundred. In the next few seconds, that distance had been halved again.

Finally, the wild-eyed dragon spotted them steadily rising. And so did the rider atop its back.

"You cannot escape!" Malice roared in triumph, hurling Freedom's words back at him.

With a greedy glint in Bloodlust's eye, he opened his needle-fanged mouth, and fire began to build up in the back of his throat.

"And neither can you!" Rainbow retorted.

Freedom Fighter fired at that instant. The bolt of solid power went between the dragon's teeth and into the back of its throat.

An explosion tore apart the back of its head. Fire burst from the dragon's eyes, its ears, its nose. The dragon instantly dropped in a spiral, and fire and boiling blood fell along with it.

"NO!" Malice screamed in heartbreak, falling on the mount's back in the same spiral. "BLOODLUST!"

And beneath the heavy clouds, Malice disappeared.

The events in the distance had made the combatants all over the field watch, if only for an instant. Pillars of flames lit up the world in the east, setting one airship on fire, and it just stayed that way, hanging there like a bloated firefly until it exploded in a blossom of orange.

Among those was the Storm King. Fighting with the unicorn knight only three blocks away from where the swarming Noxxa were battling Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy, he paused from his duel for a fraction of a second to look behind him. Then he shook his head in disapproval. "He's got to reimburse me for my airship now. Shame."

Noble Blade, also observing the fireworks in the distance, caught onto his words. "So...thou art not one of Malice's lackeys or minions. Thou and Malice art confederate!"

"We met up a day or so ago in Maretania," the Storm King said. "He was in a pitiable state. Shining Armor had split his face in half!"

"Shining Armor?" Noble asked in surprise. His upraised sword dropped a few inches. "He was there?"

"Was," the Storm King affirmed. "Of course, you know, until I killed him."

Noble's face flew to one of outrage. "Thou didst slay Twilight's brother?!"

"And I told him that Twilight had died as well, just before I chopped his head off. He died believing he was alone." The Storm King leered over him; he was much taller than Noble.

"Thou...art a monster!" Noble cried, gripping his sword tighter in his hoof.

"How kind of you to notice," the Storm King remarked. Without another word, he swung Stormkeeper hard at Noble's neck. Noble backed away as the barrage resumed.

Then Noble switched his tactics to act on offense.

He twisted Stormkeeper as it came in for a thrust, and the sword flew away and landed tip down in the concrete roof.

Noble aimed a chop at the King's leg to cripple him, but the King just drew his leg back to avoid the cut. Then he kicked Noble Blade in the face, throwing him off the roof.

The unicorn hit his exposed head on the rock on top of the pile and tumbled down a pile of rubble, ending face up at the base of the pile. The King, after grabbing his sword from the roof, lept down and grabbed the semi-conscious Noble by the head, pinching his skull between his claws.

"Aww, aren't you going to fight?" he mocked, hurling him down the street. Noble landed and rolled to a halt, right outside the circle of amassing bugs in the intersection.

The Storm King raised his arms high and let loose a loud peal of triumphant laughter.

Fluttershy's attention was drawn to the overriding maniacal laugh. Swiveling her head, she spotted the Storm King pick up his golden blade and raise it high in the air.

"And now, foolish knight!" the Storm King bellowed as loud as his lungs would allow. "Die alone!"

Noble Blade! She had to do something!

"HEY!" Fluttershy screamed, and the far-away satyr paused, inexplicably. Her frightened demeanor had vanished in the face of her lover's danger. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, HUH?"

The faraway Storm King lifted his eyebrow. Applejack and Rarity, both at the end of their line, twitched their ears in pain. The battle paused as the shocked Noxxa, devilish as they were, now had to consider a third threat.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST WALTZ UP TO ANYPONY AND PUT THEM DOWN? REALLY?! WELL, I HAVE HAD IT! NOBLE BLADE IS NOT YOURS TO TOUCH!"

" 'Cause she's the only one who can do that," Applejack remarked, panting between words.

"YOU KNOW WHAT?!" Fluttershy flapped up above everyone else to gain enough altitude, keeping the attention on herself to stop the action around her. "I HAVE AN IDEA, YOU...YOU BIG MEANIE! WHY DON'T YOU PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE?!"

The blast of her final shout made the air itself vibrate like a plucked string. The Storm King knelt from the sudden bellow, covering his ears as he screamed in agony. All around them Noxxa plugged up their ears, which were just holes in their head, and scrunched down, gritting their fangs.

After the initial wave of sound had passed, the Storm King raised up with significant effort and pointed the golden sword directly at Fluttershy.

"If I did fight people my own size," the Storm King said, "they'd hit back."

Stormkeeper began to buzz with a sinister hum as if a horde of angry hornets was encased within.

At his feet, Noble Blade's head had cleared just enough to become aware of his surroundings. Only a few sensory facts came to mind. His hoof was gripping his chrome-blue sword. His legs were weak. His head was dizzy. And right in front of him was the Storm King's leg.

And the Storm King was pointing that evil electric weapon at a yellow blur that he could only see if he tilted his head. That yellow blur had pink hair and was hovering in the air.

Noble required no further motivation to act in his pain.

All it took was a surprise swing, turning his sword into a blue fan.

The King's right leg, with a burned red line going through his upper thigh, just sloughed off. The limb thudded to the ground, and the Storm King lost his balance, yelling in surprise and agony, and fell to the earth on his back.

"He's alive! Get him!" came the shouts of the Noxxa on the fringes of the circle, and a dozen of the black devils split off and rushed over to the inert form of Noble Blade. Before long their long, barbed claws were digging into his chinks, trying to pry him out of his armor like he was a lobster. Noble could only struggle and roll as the scratches on his face added up, second after second.

"Kill the filthy bastard!" came the shrieking demons with black, vile tongues. Blood began to run down his face. "Tear his brains out through his nose! Tear his penis off and stuff it down his throat! Strangle him with his intestines! Kill him! Kill him! Now!"

"Noble!" came the faraway voice of the mare he loved. "Noble, please! Get out of there!"

But as much as Noble wanted to, he couldn't. He was just too weak. Barely conscious, beaten alive, Noble Blade had one thought on his mind.

Fluttershy...live on for me…

NO!

The warmth in his chest grew like an inferno had been lit. Noble's eyes popped open.

YOU MUST LIVE ON FOR BOTH OF YOU!

The disembodied voice that had spoken to him only a few times before had entered into him. He felt the urge to move, to act, with the ability to defend himself, rather than just the desire that he always had.

So fight back he did.

Igniting his horn, a sphere of blue magic pulsated outward, throwing Noxxa outward at full force. Bugs splattered into dust as they collided with stone floor and the sides of ancient buildings. His horn burning from the desperate move, Noble used his sword to stand up, leaning heavily on it.

The Noxxa hordes, and the ponies they had been fighting, were now distracted by the lone protector standing on two legs, staring them down with doom in his dark blue eyes. Scarlet blood oozing from the many cuts on his skin was starkly contrasting against his light blue skin, running down his face and continuing in drips down the dark grey armor on his chest. His teeth, bared in a scowl, barely let out the noises wheezing behind them. The blazing blue blade buzzed as it blurred by his beady eyes.

Though the Noxxa were bred to hold no fear in their hearts, their doom was staring right at them, which would make any other being feel their guts churn. For some of them, that churning was felt and amplified.

Some of them took a step back.

Noble Blade narrowed his eyes disapprovingly.

He hurled his sword like a discus. The spinning blade took out two dozen enemies in quick succession without slowing down. Noble sprinted into the body of Noxxa, igniting his horn, and at the end of the sword's journey, it zoomed back into his raised hoof in time for him to make a wide slice through three other bugs in his way.

Before he knew it he had broken through the enemy ranks and joined Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy in the middle of the circle. He felt exhilarated, on a supernatural high, burning through his body and making his mind cloudy.

"We could use a knight around here," Applejack was saying, which Noble barely caught. "These guys are a bit of a challenge. Wanna take the right flank?"

Noble just nodded and stumbled off to Applejack's right, gripping the hilt of his chrome sword as if it was the only thing tethering him to reality.

And in the crowd, in three different places, other ponies entered the fight.

Three other screams joined the terrible din as Starlight, Pinkie Pie, and Spike appeared from three separate directions, battered and bruised from their own fight elsewhere in the city. Starlight was firing solid beams of destructive energy as she ran, tearing through the Noxxa like thin sheets of paper. Demons fell twenty at a time as her green laser passed by and shore them in half.

Pinkie Pie had leaped onto the back of one spiny insect and spun her body like a fan with her hooves out, hitting him rapid-fire on the back of the head with slaps until he collapsed. She boinged like a spring off his inert form and landed on the head of someone else, face-planting him into the ground.

"Hey, Noxxyyyy! Come and play tag! Comeoncomeoncomeon!" She began to stomp on him, flattening him into the ground. "Aww, you're no fun. Whee!"

She leaped off and landed in a circle of Noxxa, whose attention was piqued by the pink pony. Hyperactive and uncaring of her environment, Pinkie Pie's attacks came quick and hard.

Punching in the face of one with machine-gun blows of her hooves, she grabbed his disintegrating remains and hurled him into the crowd. His dust got in the eyes of at least half a dozen others, temporarily blinding them and making them cough when some dust got in their lungs. Applejack and Rarity cleaned them up from there.

Spike, though without a weapon, did his part. He jumped and leaped between opponents, sliding under their bellies and over their backs, and the Noxxa trying to reach him got entangled with their fellows, slowing them down to allow the fighting ponies time to react. Sometimes spear thrusts aimed at him hit the necks of other Noxxa.

Between all of their fighting, the ground soon became covered with powdery black sand that stuck on the bottom of the girl's hooves.

Applejack found herself nearby a fallen boulder twice her size. Seeing ten Noxxa come for her in a semicircle, she eyed the boulder, then spun around, lifted her legs, and gave the rock the hardest buck she could manage. Splitting into three separate parts, they collided with three demons apiece and tumbled to a halt with black body parts beneath them.

"I'll take it from here, Applejack!" Rarity declared, galloping over to the largest piece. Using her magic, the rock lifted into the air and began to crumble. In under three seconds, it had collapsed into a mound of tiny pebbles only slightly larger than molars and incisors.

Then Rarity abruptly swung her head at the nearest collection of amassing insects, and the pebbles flew through the air like birdshot. The storm of small projectiles tore through bodies and embedded right into their heads. Black sand flew everywhere as Noxxa perished left and right.

The barrage of deadly rocks continued until the pile had been exhausted. By then, Rarity had managed to cut a large swath through the enemy lines, which new Noxxa were trying to fill in.

The problem was, the Noxxa were running out of attackers. Even for a disposable army, their numbers were not inexhaustible. Between Firestorm blasting them to pieces high in the sky and the Elements of Harmony battling them on the ground, their numbers began to substantially thin. Some of the Noxxa hordes noticed this and looked around with trepidation and anxiety for the order to retreat.

But Malice had been shot down, and the Storm King was injured, and Tempest Shadow was off somewhere trying to sedate Twilight. With no direction, and little will to think on their own, the Noxxa simply flung themselves into harm's way without regard for their own lives. As a result, the girls were pressed harder to hold them back.

"Where'd you guys come from, anyway?!" Applejack wondered loudly, bucking a Nox in the head so hard his neck snapped the opposite way.

"We were running to the base of the mountain!" Starlight supplemented, sweeping her head in wide arcs and cutting through multiple Noxxa at once. "But we didn't get far before an entire division cut us off! So we ran all the way back, and we, well...decided to help you out! Where's Twilight? Still fighting that Tempest mare?"

"I think so!" Fluttershy interjected, high atop the crowds on a large slanting pillar stretching out of a mound of rubble. A Nox snaked his way up, fangs bared and ready to devour, but Fluttershy extended her rear legs and kicked him off onto the ground once again.

"Well, who's going to get her? We need to leave, now!"

"Another wave, incoming!" Noble warned, unsticking his sword from a Noxxa's chest. From the direction Noble was pointing, at least two dozen more troops were running directly at the fight. The Noxxa they were fighting were finally running out, but the Elements were growing exhausted.

"Where'd they come from?" Rarity incredulously asked, swaying in place from fatigue.

"They, um, were the ones chasing us back. Guess they finally caught up, huh?"

Rarity collapsed, both in exhaustion and lack of will. Pinkie and Fluttershy gasped and ran over to tend to her.

The assembly of reinforcements paused while they were still far off. The leader, painted an unnatural red on his face, jabbed at the inert white figure. "Look! An easy one! Listen up! I got a job for you all! I've always wondered if white ponies like her could even bleed! I want you all to test it!"

The troops he was commanding whooped their agreement and resumed their charge.

Spike pushed Applejack aside with his little fists balled at his side. "Oh, no you don't." He creased his face into one of defiance. "No one harms Rarity!"

He inhaled and expelled a torrent of green flame that soared and clung to one black bug after another, and then jumped and wrapped its emerald embrace around the nearest victim. The Noxxa fell, crying aloud and rolling on the ground, which really didn't work at all. Finally, with half of them consumed by the fire, the remnants gathered together and fled as fast as their spindly legs could take them.

Noble Blade turned his wondrous gaze to the young dragon. "When could you do that?"

Spike blew a casual tongue of flame onto his palm. "I'm a dragon. What made you think I couldn't?"

Noble gave an acknowledging jerk of the head.

Tempest slugged Twilight in the jaw once more before picking her up with one hoof and hurling her as far as she could. The battered Twilight landed only five feet away from the edge of the long, slanting cliff face that dropped for hundreds of feet before ending at a collection of jagged rocks in the tumbling, roiling ocean.

"Give it up, Twilight," Tempest boredly said, clinking her way over. Her expression hid the pain she had underneath her armor; Twilight had given as good as she got. "You're making me exert myself far too much."

"Give me a reason to," Twilight wheezed, standing up yet again. Only a few feet away was the cliff. Twilight positioned her hooves accordingly with care.

Tempest arched an eyebrow. "Tell me, what keeps you going?"

Twilight just glared back at her.

"Is it the magic of friendship?" Tempest asked with scorn. "Or is it just your endurance? Maybe it has to do with you being an alicorn."

"I had magic...before I became an alicorn, you know."

Tempest scowled, which was her perpetual resting face, and her stubby little horn sizzled. "Not everypony is as lucky as you, princess."

"You think I didn't know that?" Twilight asked. "I know that everypony has something sad hidden within themselves. Everypony has a darker side to them." Mental images of Freedom Fighter flashed in her head. "If you could only draw the poison out-"

"And resign myself to the notion of friendship? Princess, don't take me for a fool." Tempest's cloudy turquoise eyes grew resigned. "Friendship failed me once before. I'd rather not expose myself to the same wound twice."

Tempest stomped closer to the princess. "Now, speaking of wounds...how many more do I have to give you before you have to stand down?"

Twilight, using her magic with strain, fired at Tempest, but the breastplate she had on absorbed and dispersed the blast. Seeing her attack fail, she feigned a lunge to the left, then threw herself to the left and began to run.

Tempest's sparkling horn rose to a crescendo at a pitch so high it hurt Twilight's ears. Twilight, recognizing the warning, was only able to put up a pink shield in time for the stream of lightning to erupt from her horn and streak to Twilight and slam into her shield hard enough to drive her back.

Tempest cut off the attack. She galloped over to Twilight and leaped above her shield, flipping as she did so, and brought her chopping hoof down for an unstoppable strike. The King metal on her hooves split through Twilight's magic shield and knocked her right on the tip of her horn with all her force. Twilight bellowed and dropped the magic sphere around her.

When Tempest landed she swung her hoof in a wide arc that just barely missed Twilight's face. Twilight responded with a hard jab at the end of Tempest's swing, and with a sharp crack, Tempest Shadow's nose broke.

The jade-colored mare stumbled back. Her face was covered with a more scarlet liquid, more scrunched than usual.

"Oh!" Tempest grunted. Blood ran into her lips and dripped in fat, wet drops onto the white marble beneath them. "Oh, that's unforgivable."

A swift armored blow to Twilight's chest made her fly a few feet. Tempest followed up with an uppercut, and Twilight's world went deaf and white for only a moment. Finally, Tempest grabbed the helpless mare by the tail, swung her around once, and slammed her down into the marble floor hard enough to crack it.

Twilight couldn't move an inch. Her breath came hard but weak, and her lungs felt squished. Facing up to the inky sky, her eyes began to glaze.

Tempest appeared upside down in her view.

"Don't. Get. Up."

Even if Twilight wanted to, she couldn't. She had been rendered immobile.

"I have to say, Twilight, you've given me more trouble than I expected," Tempest boredly said, looking up to the sky. "But I think I liked it better this way. Pain makes you feel alive, doesn't it?"

Twilight couldn't say at the moment.

After another quiet moment, Tempest spoke again. "What's up there?" She spoke in a whisper. "You look to the heavens. What is there to see? Is it...hope? Or is it another hell beyond the world we live in now? Nopony knows. But the ones who press on figure it out. Eventually." Tempest looked back to Twilight, not noticing a glow of orange in the sky coming their way. "I see untapped power up there, mine for the taking. What do you see up there, Twilight?"

Twilight, who had noticed the orange glow, smiled and found the strength within herself to respond. "Firestorm."

Tempest frowned. "Firest-?"

Normally, people finish sentences. The only exceptions are when they are interrupted. In this case, Tempest had been interrupted by a divine fiery comet that had slammed into her and flung her for two dozen feet before hitting her head on the edge of a broken home and caroming off to the side, knocked unconscious in an instant.

Firestorm, enveloped in a glowing nimbus, settled to the ground and folded his wings at his side. "Nothing personal!" he called to the Storm King's lieutenant. "You were just, you know, about to kill my princess and all that. So, I, uh, took initiative. Don't take me knocking you unconscious the wrong way. Okay?"

"Firestorm!" Twilight groaned. "Little help?"

The glowing pegasus turned to her and gasped, galloping over to kneel next to her. "Oh, crap. Holy heck, princess. I'll get you out." He gathered her up in his arms, holding the princess bridal-style. "Don't worry about my glowing, by the way. The Element recognizes you as a bearer, too, so...it isn't gonna harm you."

He took off and flapped his way over the ruined city. Twilight could see the devastation if she craned her head, and it made her stomach lurch. Dust hung low over the entire scene as she flew by, adding a tint to the battle. Rubble, fresh and old, littered every street and every home. Flames were sprouting up like weeds in the ruins, smoking in thin streams. After several moments, Twilight was able to spot a collection of bright splotches of color among the monotonous grey of the city. Those, she recognized, were her friends.

Firestorm settled down in the midst of them and helped Twilight stand on all four hooves once more. It took her a moment or two to steady herself, but after a few wobbles, she managed to get the hang of it.

Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Starlight, Spike, and Noble Blade gathered with anxious expressions at her weakness. Starlight, in particular, stepped forward to hold her still under her chest and hug her in reunion. The scene was uneventful as of a minute ago. The last Nox had been slapped to death by Pinkie Pie, leaving nothing but a thick carpet of black sand as a testament of the Noxxa who had been slain. Not one living bug remained.

"We need to leave, Twilight," Fluttershy meeped. "And that airship directly above us is our best bet. What's your plan?"

Twilight hung her head. "I...don't have one."

Applejack blinked in astonishment. "Ah thought Ah'd never live ta see the day."

"You have to have something!" Rarity protested.

"But I don't!" Twilight snapped, and Rarity recoiled. "I'm at the end of my line here. I'm beaten. I don't know...what more I can do."

The group fell somber.

The sounds of smashing rubble came all of a sudden, and the girls swung around to see the Storm King, buried under a mound of fallen rotting timbers, stand up with splinters raining down his snarling face. His right leg was gone at the mid-thigh, though his wound was cauterized so it wasn't bleeding. He was leaning up against a jagged edge of a rock to keep him steady.

"All right, that's it." He charged Stormkeeper with a heavy buzz. "I've gotta do this myself. Stupid stinking Noxxa."

Noble, who had put his sword away, tried to draw it again. But the strain to reach that far once again made him cringe and stop mid-movement.

"Any last words, Elements?" the Storm King asked maliciously, unaware of the colorful object rocketing at him from behind.

"Yep," Applejack said. "You talk too much."

Sensing the motive for her words, the Storm King swiveled around, finally aware of the loud noise shooting at him from behind.

But it was already too late. Rainbow Dash, carrying a maskless Freedom Fighter on her back, was holding a flaming sword out to the side. Right above the King's head, she cleaved downward.

It didn't go through his skull, but it cleaved through something.

The King cried aloud once more as his right horn clattered to the hard rubble at his foot.

Rainbow Dash circled above her friends like a hawk, eyeing the weapon the Storm King possessed. The golden sword didn't look very interesting. But there had to be something special to it. Otherwise, the Storm King wouldn't be gripping onto it for dear life.

"Come on!" Rainbow encouraged, tossing the fiery sword to the awestruck Firestorm. "I'm getting tired here. Let's get going!"

Twilight spotted the stone form of Queen Novo lying on her side, caked white by the dust in the air. "First I need to do something!" Twilight said.

Using her magic, she picked the statue up and gently settled it next to the fountain she had been gushing about before her immobilization. It had somehow survived the chaos. Twilight took a moment to keep it there with some semblance of respect. Then she took a deep breath and turned around once more. "Let's go."

Fluttershy grabbed Rarity under the arms and began to ascend. Twilight flapped into the air with Spike on her back. Noble Blade gathered Applejack to his side and, after a few tries and flicker-flashes of his horn, disappeared. Firestorm just gaped at the rising Rainbow, then whispered, "My girlfriend can kick butt!" and sheathed his swords and picked up Pinkie. Starlight Glimmer disappeared with a flash of white light.

Their goal was a small, speedy blimp hovering directly above the mountain like a bee. As the flying ponies flew up and up into the atmosphere to reach the boat, they could hear grunts and groans from the deck, and white, furry Storm King minions were hurled overboard. By the time the rest of the party had arrived, Applejack, Noble Blade, and Starlight Glimmer were finishing wiping the deck clean of any crew members.

The flying ponies dropped off their cargo and collapsed spread-eagle onto the wooden deck, heaving their chests. The victory was certain, and the route was clear.

Malice emerged from the black waters, sputtering and gasping. The corpse of his dragon, his magnificent, glorious dragon, was bobbing in the water and leaking blood into the cold depths, and it was to this corpse that Malice clung to.

Of all ponies to have appeared today...it had to have been the Unforgiven. Just his luck! And it had rocked him to the core, knowing that there was a chance, a possibility that he could die. The tribal prophecy was not yet dead. He could still fulfill it!

Malice looked up with seething anger into the heavens against his mother, who had given him the destiny of killing Malice, who had thrust him out of heaven and called him a monster. Malice hated her beyond what any mortal could compare.

He looked up at the mountain and observed that an airship above it was breaking ranks and was about to leave them behind.

"No," he spat, wheezing in pain. "No, no, NO! Unforgiven! Twilight! You both are mine!"

Stretching forth an arm (he had nine now, what a shame) he poured forth his will into the stone in the mountain itself, glowing his antennae.

"O mindless rock, do my bidding," Malice incanted. "Destroy the bearers and halt them in their tracks!"

He released his power at that moment.

A tremendous long spike of white rock, created from the stone within Mount Aris, shot out from the ground, hundreds of feet long but thin like a needle, and impaled the dirigible right in its tracks. The keel split almost entirely in half and hung on the end like a piece of barbecue.

Malice, satisfied with his work, felt weariness overcome him like he had been covered by a blanket. Collapsing onto the body of his mount, floating side by side, Malice curled his legs and fell unconscious.

Tempest Shadow's period of restlessness ended when she heard a tremendous crackling of rock. Opening her weary eyes and lifting her head a few inches before the pain kicked in, she saw that the majority of the city she was in was just...not there.

It had been replaced by a massive pillar of white stone, starting wide at the base, but thinning out as it grew longer, until it had skewered an airship high above them, hanging from the tip and sagging.

That ship must have been the ponies! Tempest was sure of it. Malice must have taken initiative and used his magic that way, just as he had done in Maretania.

Where was the Storm King? Tempest was frightened; without him, she had no future. If he had run into the ponies, there was no telling how bad things were. He may be injured, or dead.

Tempest found a crossbow at her hooves with a single arrow inside. They could usually hold more so they could be fired in quick succession, but this was the last shot. She needed to make it count. Tempest picked it up and slung it over her back.

"If you can," Tempest whispered, speaking in general to the remains of the rubble on every side, "I need you to get away. Leave them to me." She stared up once more at the broken airship and knitted her brows together.

"I'm going to put an end to this."

Sprinting at full gallop to the pillar of stone, she planted her hooves on the slanting acute side and began to run up as fast as she could.

Each of them had been thrown to the deck as the center of the ship exploded in splinters. The fatigued ponies looked to the source. It was hard to miss the long needlepoint of rock that had impaled them in midair.

"What the heck was that?" Pinkie screeched.

"Are we seriously going to stop because of this?" Starlight demanded.

"Could this day get any better?!" Rainbow Dash asked incredulously.

"Hax!" Firestorm screamed, jabbing at the tower of stone emerging from the opposite end of the ship. "I call freaking hax!"

"The ship is lost!" Applejack said loudly above everyone else. The farm mare pointed at the nearest ship drawing nearer to them, which was twice the size of the other boats and had three engines instead of one. "It's time ta get a new one."

"Darling?" Rarity asked with nervousness, knowing perfectly well what she meant. "What do you mean-"

"Fly over when it gets closer!" Twilight instructed, spreading her wings.

"So let me get this straight," Spike whispered to Twilight as the ponies gathered at the edge of the deck. "We're going to pirate a pirate ship from pirates."

Twilight gave a little jiggle of her head. "Yeah. Great plan. Isn't it?"

"Um...no."

"It's gonna work," Applejack reassured him. "Trust me."

The ponderous ship swung closer their way.

Freedom Fighter's cut mane whipped behind him, exposed to the outside in a rare circumstance. He banged his staff on the deck of the ship and let out a militaristic grunt. Firestorm and Noble followed his example by stomping their right hooves and grunting alike.

The airship's deck was soon right beneath them. They were so close they could see the small satyrs roaming around on the deck, affixing the harpoon guns and cannons.

"Attack!" Firestorm commanded, jumping down from the deck.

The rest of the ponies followed. Applejack and Pinkie Pie had no way to slow their descent down, so they rolled on impact with the deck and quickly straightened themselves. The rest of them, however, landed softly and began fighting the Storm King's forces.

Noble Blade's sword had plunged halfway down the blade into the deck. Twisting his arms, Noble made a circle in the wood and kicked it out and over the edge. "Rarity! Pinkie! Come with me!" And Noble jumped down into the hole, followed by the white and pink ponies.

As they landed on the sub-level hallway, they quickly discovered three hulking Storm beasts, who made some unintelligible hoots and lifted their claws.

Rarity flung one of them back so he hit his head on an overhanging beam. Pinkie had hit another rapid-fire in the belly so hard he fell on his face. Noble finished the last one with a pierce through the heart.

"Clear out!" he instructed Rarity and Pinkie, pointing in both directions. "Take care of any beasts you may find. I'll try and see what's in the center of the ship."

Rarity bolted to the bow while Pinkie sprinted to the stern. And Noble went along the hallway, lit by lanterns, and came to a metal door, which he sliced apart and kicked open in one fluid motion.

Noble came into the room and was amazed by how cavernous and large it was. He was standing on a walkway that led down to the main floor, where a single cage was illuminated by dull red light in the center of a hexagonal catwalk system.

Inside the cage were two weather-beaten and bruised ponies on the brink of survival. Noble could see the tarnished golden armor on their bodies, the dirty red cuts on their faces. One of them turned their face to him.

Noble was petrified. The Storm King had been lying. Shining Armor wasn't dead after all.

"Noble...Blade?" Shining Armor asked. His voice was so weak, so hoarse.

"I'm here," Noble said breathlessly, looking for a control panel. Spotting it on a lower level of the catwalk, he galloped down the stairs, set his hoof on a lever embedded into the ground, and yanked it.

With a series of clinking chains, the red-tinted cage began to rise off the floor and up into the outside through a sliding door.

Twilight flung another beast into a wooden beam of the mighty airship. Beside her, Applejack reared up and punched a beast in the stomach, doubling it over.

Spike and Firestorm had ran to the pilot stand, housing a steering wheel, a throttle, and an instrument panel. On it were two creatures, one much shorter than the other.

The shorter one held up his hands when Firestorm leveled his fiery blades at his face. "Wait a thecond! Wait! I'm not the commander! He'th the commander!"

Firestorm kicked the hulking beast off the pilot stand to land on the ground in a daze.

Grubber looked at the ground forlornly as he realized his mistake. "Guess...I'm the commander now..."

Spike blew a torrent of flame onto him, making Grubber scream and speed away in midair like a cartoon animal. He dove off the side of the ship and disappeared.

"I think this is the last of them!" Starlight called, after firing her magic like a machine gun and blasting half a dozen satyrs in the face and stomach and groin.

"Now the only problem is ta get the heck outta Dodge!" Applejack whooped. Galloping to the pilot house built on a stand, she raced up the stairs and began to twist the steering wheel and push the throttle. The airship lurched to the side and steamed its way out of the vicinity of the other ships, which were in pursuit. But the speed of this particular boat had outstripped the others spectacularly.

Soon the other airships were way behind them. The tall figure of Mount Aris began to grow fainter in the distance as they sped away on the stolen Storm King's personal airship.

Until a hovering Storm King balloon cut them off only several hundred meters ahead of them.

"Whoa Nelly!" Applejack exclaimed, furiously spinning the pilot wheel.

"Is the ship ready to fire?" Twilight asked. "Fluttershy, take Applejack and get below decks. Check the harpoon guns and cannons."

"I'm on it!" Fluttershy saluted. Applejack jumped down from the pilot stand and sprinted with her to the stairs reaching below.

"They're not going to make it in time!" Starlight protested to Twilight.

"I know." Twilight indicated the ship ahead of them. "This may have to fall to us to take down."

Starlight ignited her horn in a lance of green. Twilight did the same for her purple horn, though it took some effort. They had just been in battle, after all.

A series of clinks came next to them as somepony trotted over. Firestorm was there, stretching out his wings. "I can take care of this. Don't worry-"

Twilight and Starlight's combined magic lasers cut him off, zinging fast and powerful to crash into the war balloon and set it ablaze. The basket hanging beneath the oversized balloon caught fire, and the beasts inside let out ridiculously high-pitched screams. One of Starlight's lasers pierced the balloon itself and began to burn through the tough fabric, and the balloon descended slowly beneath the cloud line, never to be seen again.

Firestorm was standing completely frozen, pointing at where the balloon was. After a moment he folded his arms while flapping in midair. "I was about to wreck that thing." He sounded like a pouty child.

"We get it!" Starlight boredly said. "You're awesome. You don't need to constantly prove it to us."

"That's not what I-" he began, and then just sighed and relented. "Fine."

"Well, to be fair," Rainbow Dash said, coming next to him and nuzzling his cheek, "you were pretty awesome today."

"No u. You can kick some serious booty! Just...please don't kick mine. Please."

"Wasn't planning on it," Rainbow playfully denied. "But I'll only keep my hooves off you if you don't stare at my booty."

Firestorm became visibly reddened. "That's...going to be hard."

Rainbow laughed. "I'll bet on it!"

A clinking chain drew the attention of everyone else. In the middle of the deck, a panel had opened, and a pulley above it was clattering as it drew up a small cage from its depths.

Noble Blade appeared from the stairs leading down and approached the purple alicorn. "Twilight, I've found something."

"What...is it?" Twilight asked, her attention on the rising chain pulling up the top of the cage.

"It's in there."

The cage had appeared at the top of its route, and when it stopped it jolted, swinging the cage and its captives within. Noble Blade, Firestorm, Freedom Fighter, Twilight, Starlight, and Rainbow Dash all saw the captives: Shining Armor and Winter Gleam.

Twilight's heart lurched in her ribcage. What was he doing here? He looked so terrible...When it came to family, Twilight felt a special place reserved in her heart burst open. And Shining Armor was one of the greatest ponies in her life.

Twilight's brother, as soon as his eyes adjusted to the sudden light, let out a gasp of pained relief and struggled to reach his hoof out of the cage. "Twily!" His bloodshot eyes were threatening to burst. "Twily, you're not dead! Oh! Thank Faust you're all right!"

Twilight, who had stepped to allow him to caress the top of her head, just whispered, "I'm just happy to see you…"

"Marshal Malice told me you were captured!" he continued. "And you were being tortured on another airship…"

"No," Twilight affirmed. "I managed to complete part of my mission. We have two of the four lost Elements. What...were you doing here, anyway?"

"We were looking for you!" Shining Armor said. "You had sent a letter saying you were trapped underneath a lot of rock. Celestia sent me to rescue you."

Twilight's memory was hit with recollections of the Rolk. "Ah..."

"Well, at least we don't need rescuing anymore!" Spike cheerfully said,nudging Twilight with his elbow. "Now we all have a way back!"

From fifteen meters away, hidden in the pilot stand, a wine-colored pony with a jagged mane pointed a crossbow at the middle of Twilight's back.

Shining Armor was the only one to notice in time. He pushed Twilight away, yelling, "Behind you!"

Twilight spun around the exact instant the crossbow in Tempest's hoof fired, aiming right at Twilight's heart.

A figure in black lept in front of the path of the sharp missile, and it struck him in the hip and went out the opposite end. Freedom Fighter went down, stuck like a pig, and as he landed the arrow snapped at the end, and the Black Blade arrowtip bounced away.

Starlight had enveloped Tempest's head in a bright green aura and willed her to come, and Tempest zoomed headfirst to Starlight like a magnet. When she was close enough Rainbow Dash held her left hoof out to the side, and Noble Blade struck her in the small of her back with an armored hoof. Tempest Shadow went onto two knees, with Noble Blade and Rainbow Dash holding her forelegs out to either side.

Firestorm, crying aloud in terror, ran over to check on Freedom Fighter, while Twilight and Starlight stared with fury at the struggling mare.

"When are you going to learn your lesson?" Tempest asked with a snarl. "I'm never going to stop fighting until you give me what I want."

"You monster!" Twilight screamed, jabbing her in the chest. "Who do you think you are, huh?"

"What a bimbo!" Rainbow agreed, pushing on Tempest's shoulder the wrong way.

Firestorm was kneeling over his close friend, terror in his neon yellow eyes. Freedom Fighter's face was twisted in an expression of agony, distorting the already-present scars on his face.

"Don't move," Firestorm shakingly advised, pointing a trembling hoof at his side. "We'll keep the arrow in to plug the bleeding. Just hang in there, all right? I'm going to get you out of this."

"Oh, this?" Freedom Fighter let out a pained chuckle. "What's another scar?"

"Dark humor isn't making this any better, man," Firestorm said, ignoring him. "We'll just-"

Freedom Fighter coughed hard, and splatters of mucus and blood shot out of his mouth in disgusting globules onto the deck. His bodysuit was getting soaked with the blood running from his open wound.

"Help!" Firestorm cried hoarsely, breaking down at last. "I need help!"

Starlight galloped over, her horn glowing. The flow of blood from his open wound decreased gradually.

"Don't even bother with that," Tempest called out to her, who was doing her best to ignore the broken-horned unicorn. "Black Blades cause permanent damage. He's already halfway dead, isn't he?"

Firestorm's eyebrows knitted together as a dark shadow passed across his face. Turning away from his friend, he marched over to Tempest Shadow, still restrained by Noble and Rainbow Dash.

"Is your nose broken?" Firestorm asked, calm and collected.

Tempest winced and nodded.

Firestorm looked her in the eye, almost sympathetic. Then in a fraction of a second he inhaled through his nose and shot his hoof into her face, and the armored hoof broke her nose a second time in another place, making her pain redouble and forcing her to cry out in pain.

Firestorm's sympathetic look returned upon seeing her pain. "Oh, sorry. I am so sorry. Here, let me just-"

He pounded his hoof on top of her broken horn without any semblance of sympathy and ground it in deeper, breaking off miniscule pieces, and Tempest began to leak tears from her eyes.

"Oh, that's painful, huh? Well, you need pain to feel alive! Don't you like it?! You should like it! Want some more?"

"Enough!" Noble admonished him, trying to pull the captive away.

"NO!" Firestorm lunged for her and punched her in the nose again. Blood ran afresh down her face. "She needs to die! She's killed him!"

"We need to interrogate her later!" Twilight protested, appearing in Firestorm's way. "That means she can't die!"

"I'll make her wish she could!" He pushed Twilight aside, making her fall on the deck. Before he could deliver another strike to her, Noble lashed out behind Tempest and punched him in the forehead. Firestorm staggered a bit and stared at the knight with incredulity, wincing.

"She's going to answer for this," Noble told him, on the verge of tears himself. "But not from you!"

Firestorm stared back at him with venom, and pointed to their wounded friend. "She-!...You can't just let it-" He let out a groan of fury and stomped away. "Make her rot!" he called back before opening the door in the side of the upper deck and vanishing.

He came out a second later, and a mop fell on the deck. "That was a closet," he muttered. He opened the correct entrance a little further on and slammed the door shut.

Starlight had managed to seal up his wound by then. The arrow was still embedded in his flesh, but it was securely in there to prevent bleeding out. Freedom Fighter's face was pained, but acceptant of his wound.

Meanwhile, Twilight had opened the cage her brother was in, and he and Winter Gleam stepped out, stumbling and fumbling their way to a banister. The crying Tempest was then thrown in, but not before her hooves had been removed of their armor.

"My face," she whispered through her pain as the door to the cage was clanged shut. "My face! Agh…It hurts!"

"You should have thought of that before!" Rainbow belligerently interrupted her.

"Am I at least going to get a painkiller?"

Twilight set her face in stone. "No."

The alicorn then pulled the cage to her face, making Tempest jiggle forward and forcing her to listen to what Twilight had to say next.

"Don't. Get. Up."

With a glow of her horn the lever holding the cage up dropped, and the cage sunk beneath the deck and the doors closed. The last thing Twilight saw of Tempest Shadow was her pleading turquoise eyes, one with a long white scar over it. Then the doors banged shut and the cage disappeared from the world.

For three hours, the airship plowed on northward. It was nighttime and the stars were shining brightly above them, which Twilight used for navigation.

While commanding the ship from the pilot stand, her thoughts reflected on the battle on the mountain. Were the hippogriffs all right? They had been sheltered from the worst of it in the underground caverns. Was the Storm King pursuing them? Was he even in any condition to fight on, anyway, losing a leg and a horn like that? Come to think of it, what was his relation to Marshal Malice? Was he an accomplice or a minion, or an entirely different party? And where was Malice, anyway? He had taken a bearing, that was for sure. He was in no condition to pursue them, not with the forces he had.

And then there was the nature of Tempest Shadow. Why was she working with the enemy? She was a pony! Which made her a traitor to Equestria. But why did she need Twilight?

She thought back to the crippling event that recently had occurred. Freedom Fighter, asleep in the medical bay in the stern, had selflessly thrown himself into the path of the deadly arrow. Her admiration for the injured, schizophrenic veteran had soared.

Freedom Fighter was the Element of Sacrifice. How much more did he have to give? He needed to be showered in good things to make up for the crappy life he was living in. But how could she make that happen? What could she do for him?

Not even Twilight could come up with a realistic long-term answer for that.

When the moon had reached its peak in the midnight sky, Twilight passed the job on to Starlight Glimmer and made her way to the cabins.

Finding an empty one somewhere at the end of the halls, Twilight opened the door and collapsed onto the thin mattress in the corner.

Freedom Fighter was naked and afraid.

Lying on his back on a medical bed, with a splinter of thin wood in his body exposed through the bandages at both ends of entry, trying not to move a muscle, he was trying to fall asleep. But he had on no blanket, and his bodysuit had been thrown into a corner. His scar-stretched body smelled like blood.

"I'm scared," he whispered in his mind, folding his hooves into his armpits. The metal hoof was colder than his fleshy one. "I'm going to die."

"No, you're not. You're just going to become wracked with the pain while the wound heals, and you'll survive anyway."

"Hey, Faust?" he wondered aloud
His gut twisted inside of him, making him choke on his own breath. "If you want me dead, just kill me. I'd welcome it at this point."

No answer came.

Freedom Fighter, for a lack of breath, leaked tears from his ducts, and they streamed down the scars and channels on his worn-down face. "Kill me already," he whispered. The pain was so terrible! "Oh, Faust!" His inhales were ragged and weak, tearing at the back of his throat. "Oh, Faust, help me!"

Instead of words echoing in his head, he felt his chest compress for a moment. He felt very woozy all of a sudden, and unwilling to move his body. He still felt plenty cold, however.

In no time at all, Freedom Fighter fell fast asleep.

Chapter Sixty: Betrayal Through Blood

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Smoke was still billowing from the upper room of the castle. Firefighters had managed to keep the fire from spreading, but the guest room was still in cinders and ashes.

The day before, an explosion had rocked the city of Canterlot, causing its citizens to look up in terror and flee. If Princess Celestia had not been taking the ambassadors out for a private outing and had been interrupted just before the attack to receive the news from the one surviving guard sent to Maretania, she or the ambassadors would very likely have perished.

The news from Maretania had been dire. The lone survivor had been in a state of absolute shock, with his coat singed and his eyes wild and mad. His partner had been killed, so he discarded his chariot and flew the three hundred miles back alone. He had been relating the news to Celestia that Shining Armor was missing in action when the explosion happened, high in the castle rooms. He had fallen to his knees and cried aloud that the world was going to pieces.

Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence managed to get the different nation's ambassadors to safety in the chaos of the aftermath. Unsure of another attack, Luna warned against sending rescue ponies into the castle. Celestia had halfheartedly agreed.

However, no further attacks came.

Less than three hours after the initial explosion, Prince Blueblood had come forth to Celestia with a lock of tufty brown fur. Stating that he recognized it on the ground near the ambassador's chambers, he identified it as the same color and texture as Scorpan's and demanded that he be brought in for questioning.

At first, the princesses had not believed him. But after they held up the lock of hair to the shaggy Scorpan's back, they found that it matched. There was only one logical way of thinking to go from there.

Through the course of it all, Princess Celestia, and to a lesser extent, Luna, was grieving. In the space of so few hours, despair had come to them. Resolutely going forth, however, they had gone forth and placed Scorpan in the dungeons for the night. Scorpan had made no resistance.

The following day, at 10:00 in the morning, Scorpan shuffled into the throne room with an escort of Royal Guards at his back. The three princesses, plus Thorax, Rutherford, Blackbeak, and Ember, watched him sternly as he strode meekly into their presence. Strangely, Prince Blueblood was absent.

"At ease," Luna commanded the guards at his back. Stepping back a few feet, the guards went into parade rest.

Scorpan just looked up at Celestia with his brown, soft eyes, almost like an innocent calf. His fingers were spread out with no intention of curling, but they were chained behind his back with a metal bar under his shoulders.

"Scorpan, brother of Lord Tirek," Princess Celestia started in a remorseful tone. "You are to be questioned about the terrorist attack yesterday morning. This is not a traditional jury yet because the sentencing is still iffy, but according to what you tell us today, we will pass judgment. We hereby charge you with the crime of sedition against Equestria and its allies. What can you say in your defense?"

"Ask me whatever you will."

Rutherford snorted. Celestia pretended not to notice.

"Did you work alone, or with an accomplice?" Blackbeak asked all of a sudden as if he was interrogating him.

"I have wandered the earth alone for many years," Scorpan said. "I have been alone for my entire life."

"Your fur was found outside the ambassador's chambers," Cadence said, lifting the incriminating bag with the lock of hair inside. "What do you say to this evidence?"

"I have not stepped near the ambassador's chambers since they arrived, Jewel of Heaven."

Cadence looked a little taken aback at the reveal of her eternal name.

"Hear me out, Celestia," Blackbeak spoke up. "If he had an accomplice, he would have set things up so only Scorpan would be convicted, leaving the other one free to plan a future attack. Even if he was telling the truth, someone could have planted the hair in such an obvious spot to allow you to be convicted."

"You say I am confederate with another," Scorpan said. "Why would you convict me instead of him if that's the case?"

"Because you're the most unbalanced and dangerous magical creature here in Canterlot," Thorax said. "I think you're innocent, but, well, who else could manage to gain access to the guest rooms without knowing? A being as powerful as you could easily do it."

"What canst thou provide us with?" Luna asked of the prisoner.

Scorpan shuffled his feet on the reflective marble floor. "Who gave you the sample of my hair?"

"Prince Blueblood," Celestia said.

"And do you think this is a coincidence?"

Rutherford was the first to speak up with a thoughtful tone. "Yak not think so."

"I agree," Ember added. "In that big meeting we held a few days ago, Bluey seemed kind of apprehensive towards him."

"And the day he first came to Canterlot at the Gala, Bluebood was the first to try and charge at him," Luna remembered, putting a berry blue hoof to her chin.

"That still doesn't explain how your hair got where it was," Cadence pointed out. Using her magic, she held up the lock of shaggy hair again.

"The prince probably snipped it off me in my sleep," Scorpan dismissed. "The problem is, if it's coming from the accuser with no other witnesses, he could have simply told you he found it outside the guest rooms, when he was instead holding onto it for the right opportunity. He couldn't have even stepped near the guest rooms at all."

"Where is he, anyway?" Blackbeak wondered, looking around. "He said he was planning on meeting me sometime soon."

"Yak think pony prince not like idea of war," Rutherford spoke up. "Pony prince might persuade Blackbeak to stay out."

"And that is where he's wrong," Blackbeak growled, his interested demeanor flying to a betrayed and angry one. "I'm one of the last of an endangered species now. I'm not going to stand back and fade into the darkness! The war is on!"

While the talking was going on, Scorpan looked almost remorseful as his gaze lingered on the cracks in the pristine stone floor. "Oh, Prince of Stars," he murmured, not paying attention. "Why must you continue to fight against the one true Goddess? Were the demonstrations of power not enough for you? But now you are fallen, and I could not have done more to show the truth."

His murmurs did not go unheard. Celestia was listening intently. He was her nephew, after all.

"Listen and heed my words," Scorpan intoned, gathering the delegate's attention. The air around him became thin and harder to breathe. His eyes seemed to gleam. "In fifteen minutes, you will find Prince Blueblood in his room, packing for a journey. As you walk in, he will be putting a folded suit into his case. He will be startled to see you. Ask him about the attack yesterday."

"Write that down, write that down," Cadence instructed a Royal Guard at her side. He drew out a roll of paper and a quill and began to scribble down Scorpan's prophecy. After Scorpan waited patiently for him to catch up, he opened his mouth again.

"He will respond with feigned despair. Ask him, 'Have you worked with Scorpan the prophet in the attack yesterday? You two seem linked somehow.' He will deny it, of course. Ask him, 'Do you know anything about the attack at all? You knew about the hair outside the chambers; what more can you tell us?' He will look nervous, and won't know what to say at first.

"He will eventually say that the only way into the guest rooms was with a key the janitor Double Duty had. However, Double Duty is dead. His body will be discovered by a team of guards on the lawn in several minutes. You will ask him, 'Have you seen him?' and he will say he hasn't, but if you look on the edge of his collar, you will see old splotches of dark brown blood.

"If you ask him whose blood it is on his collar, he will lock up in place. 'Is this Double Duty's blood?' you will ask, and he will tremble and look pale as if the ghost of death has stolen upon him." Scorpan took his hands from behind his back as if there were no handcuffs holding them, and they went chattering and clattering to the ground. The dozen guards in the room pointed their weapons right at him, but he did nothing with his hands other than making a holy symbol. "And then shall you know that Prince Blueblood has murdered Double Duty and obtained his keys, allowing another perpetrator into the chambers to plant a bomb there. And then you shall know that I am innocent of any crime, and this shall be given to you as a sign of the power of the Goddess."

There was a moment of poignant silence amongst them all, save for the furious scribbling of the guard writing it all down. The tip of the quill was smoking by the time it was taken off the notepad.

"I believe him," Ember said, tapping the dragon scepter against the polished tile. "He predicted the swerving of Blacky's position on the war. He can do it again here."

Blackbeak himself looked pained in the face, but he eventually gave a simple nod at the Prophet.

"I... can barely take it in," Celestia breathed. Her serene neutral expression before had turned to one of shock, and as Scorpan had been talking it tumbled down in a state of worse and worse unbelief until her mouth had been hanging agape. Shaking the look from her face, she gazed almost pleadingly at Scorpan. "My nephew... would never..."

"The Prince of Stars is not who he once was," the Prophet simply said. "He has been twisted by the adversary into a servant of darkness."

"Blueblood," Celestia gasped, falling back in her seat. "Why?... This is not..."

"Lightbringer, the truth is a blinding ray of sun," Scorpan said. "It hurts when you first see it, but it chases away the darkness and exposes true nature. It is... hard... when a family member commits heartbreaking acts." Scorpan held a faraway look in his eyes. "Tirek's turn to the darker side broke my will to believe in goodness. When those you love become corrupted, what can you be sure of anymore? But still, I pressed on. Hope always lies around the corner."

Celestia took a sideways glance at Luna, who was thinking the exact same thing. Nightmare Moon had only been reformed seven years ago, after all.

"But what you've said will happen... it hasn't happened yet," Blackbeak said to the beast. "What if this is all an orchestrated act?"

"Yes," Scorpan said, and there was sarcasm in the Prophet's tone. "The one creature that has been nothing but honest the entire time orchestrated an elaborate plan to ingeniously convict both himself and his supposed accomplice, who happens to be his enemy. Tell me, Shaft of Ebony, do you really believe your accusation?"

Blackbeak was silent.

Ember sniggered. "Shaft of Ebony. Ha!"

Blackbeak flushed a sudden scarlet. "Hey, stop laughing!"

"Is it my fault you sound like that?" Ember asked, before laughing again.

Scorpan held up a finger. "Enough."

Ember stopped immediately, unsure of what he would do.

Scorpan's ears perked up. A scream had sounded outside the stained-glass windows in the throne room. He sighed and shook his head. "Double Duty's body has been found. If you want to expose the prince for his crimes, now is the time to do it."

"And if you're wrong?" Celestia asked, an almost hopeful lump in her throat.

Scorpan only blinked. "Then I am a false prophet."

Luna tapped her hoof against the elaborate stone, and the guards at her side snapped to attention.

"Go to the prince's chambers," she commanded. "Find out if Blueblood has done this great evil. And if he has, subdue him and bring him to us."

There was a menacing jab in the last word that made the guards stiffen in place. With a touch of fear for what would happen, they responded with a "Ma'am!" in unison and galloped off to the prince's chambers. The one who had written down the prophecy was the first of the five to run.

As they disappeared from the throne room, Celestia rose from her seat and went to Scorpan's side. Looking up a few inches, she asked humbly, "What will happen to him?"

"Just as he tore a lock of hair from me to expose me," Scorpan murmured, "so will his inheritance be torn from him." His soft eyes glittered then. "And will be given to another who is more worthy."

It was almost too easy. The idiot prince had followed his instructions to the letter. K'ra was almost overjoyed as he watched the prince from under his bed, packing a bag to leave the city in his gold-plated bedroom. With only the assumption that he could convict the Prophet into committing a terrorist attack, Blueblood had readily agreed to carry out K'ra's plans.

It was easy to convince someone to commit murder. Everyone held hate in their hearts. All he needed to do was draw it out to the surface. And Blueblood's boisterous anger was so easy to wield like a weapon in his claws. So he gave simple instructions, like to a child, and Blueblood was eager to obey. After all, if it meant convicting the Prophet for a heinous crime, swerving the minds of the ambassadors to his side, and gaining international allegiances, Blueblood was all for the idea of murdering a simple janitor.

After Blueblood had slit his throat in a closet and disposed of the body (K'ra would have preferred not just dumping him out the window, but what was done was done already) the prince had provided the key into the guest chambers. The ceiling couldn't provide a way into that room without prying up solid stone blocks, so K'ra had to have a key into the room. From there, all he had to do was steal down to the arms room in the basement of the castle, grab some naphtha and powder, force it into a makeshift bomb with some rags and pitch, tie an alarm clock into it somehow, and sneak it into the guest rooms to explode on a timer the next morning.

Unfortunately, Celestia had taken out the ambassadors on a tour of the city, foiling his ultimate plan. K'ra would have preferred to have the bomb kill the ambassadors, but even though it hadn't, it was a win anyway; the mood in the capital city was still fearful, and the war had hit them closer to home than they had expected. Though they were alive, it was almost better than if they had died; the ambassadors would be suspicious of the princess's promises of protection, prolonging their responses to war.

K'ra was feeling satisfied with himself. Ah, the pride of being in a position of power! When Malice saw his actions here, how he would be rewarded!

The door abruptly opened up, revealing five Royal Guards with stern expressions. K'ra's heart lept in his chest and he scooched backward under the bed with six scuttling legs. He hoped the scuffle wasn't heard.

Blueblood dropped the suit he was about to pack into his case. "Pardon me?" the prince mildly asked.

Strangely enough, the guards began to whisper with excited tones at Blueblood dropping the suit, pointing at a notepad one of them held.

"Where are you going?" asked one, almost curiously.

"Um…" Blueblood glanced at the elaborate suitcase and stuffed one of his identical suits inside and closed the latches. "I'm just...trying to make myself ready to evacuate if the time demands. A terrorist attack happened yesterday, remember?"

One of them spoke up above the others. "My prince, do you feel in danger?"

"Well... yes..." the prince commented. "The danger isn't past until the perpetrator has been caught, isn't it? The one who dared to disrupt harmony in Equestria's capital must be caught for all our sakes!"

"You mean Scorpan?" came another guard.

Blueblood nodded almost emphatically.

"The one who planted the bomb is still in the castle," came another guard. "Scorpan had an accomplice. We're trying to find out who it is. And right now, you and the Prophet seem linked."

"And... you think I was his accomplice?" Blueblood indignantly asked. "Why would I work with him? I hate that so-called Prophet."

K'ra ground his teeth together and made waving motions with his front legs to get him to stop. Blueblood couldn't see him, however, from the angle he was at.

"You knew about the hair outside the guest chambers. What else do you know?"

Blueblood's mouth hung open. K'ra, under the bed five feet away, was trembling with barely-contained fury. By the Goddess, if Blueblood messed this up-!

The idiot prince finally closed his mouth (K'ra was surprised a fly hadn't landed on his tongue. Goddess, he looked so stupid!) and mumbled a reply. "Well, I…"

The guards were unimpressed. K'ra wanted to scream or cringe.

"...The door could only be opened by a key to the chambers," Blueblood eventually said. "After all, there are magical locks, and the room is completely sealed from every direction to protect the guests, so if not a key, then something with extremely powerful and inexplicable magical powers."

The guards were looking at the notepad again. K'ra was surprised that they weren't writing anything down. Were their questions predetermined? The flow was too smooth, uninterrupted. He suspected foul play was at hand.

"Who had the keys to the chambers?" asked another guard.

"Apart from the princesses?" Blueblood asked. "The janitors, I'd guess."

K'ra's six eyes widened. He was drifting too close to the mark!

"Have you seen the head janitor after the attack?" asked the fifth and final guard.

"What, are you suggesting the janitor was a secret assassin?" Blueblood scoffed. "Get real."

"Oh, we know he wasn't," said another guard, sitting casually on Blueblood's bed. The mattress creaked down, pressing on K'ra's head and making his lumpy heart beat twice as fast. "He's dead."

"We found his body on the lawn five minutes ago," revealed another guard, stepping past Blueblood further into the room. The rest of the guards were spreading out so the prince was surrounded by armored soldiers. K'ra noticed their hooves moving around and began to panic. "And his keys were missing from his uniform. And he never takes them off."

"Did you see what happened to him?" asked the first guard, stepping so close to the prince their front hooves almost touched.

"What? I-no! Who do you think I am, guard? The type to consort with simple ponies like washermen and cooks? I do not associate with them. They stay out of my way, and I stay out of theirs. It is simply How Society Ought To Be."

The guard leaned his head forward. K'ra could assume he was squinting. The black devil-bug tried to move from the weight pressing over him, but he could not wiggle his way out without jiggling the bed. He was about to be foiled!

"What's that on your collar?" asked the guard.

"What?" the prince breathed, feeling the hard scabby spot on his clothes when he rubbed the back of his neck. "Ooohhh…Ha ha ha! That's blood. I had a bloody nose yesterday evening."

"It's on the back of your shirt."

"Oh? Confound it. I was planning to have this washed, but I was simply... preoccupied."

"With what?"

"...Packing?"

At first, the guard was silent. Then he said, "Is that not Double Duty's blood?"

Blueblood's hooves, pearly already, turned even more pale. He was trembling in place, and a drop of sweat plopped on the smooth stone floor. K'ra was getting desperate.

"The snotty prince I know would wash his clothes after getting a speck of food on it," offered another guard across the room. "He must not have known he was getting blood on it, which never happens with a bloody nose."

"He was preoccupied," said yet a third, putting another hoof on his upright spear. "With murder."

"Prince Blueblood, you're coming with us."

"Hey! Hey! Get your hooves off me! I am Celestia's nephew! How dare you!"

"You should know better than to betray Equestria," said the deep voice of a particularly menacing guard. "How dare you, nephew of Celestia."

K'ra knew he had to act. So act he did.

Twisting so he was lying on his back, he shot his long, spindly claw through the underside of the bed, and it went through stuffing until he felt the sharp tip of his claw penetrate deep into a guard's flank and into his chest. Wiggling his claw around in there, he could feel the jiggly pieces of internal organs move around, and the guard was really screaming and moaning in agony from his barbs. K'ra ripped it back out, tearing through flesh, and blood as thin and wet as sweet wine soaked the mattress above as the body fell like a statue.

K'ra scrambled out from the bed, his mind on fire, his front leg discolored with fresh, wet scarlet. Looking up, and seeing the four guards escorting Blueblood gape at the monster under the bed in horror, he bared his needle fangs and leaped at the nearest one like a jumping spider.

His slashing claw was aimed right at one of the guard's jugular veins. With Lifewater pouring down his front like a waterfall, he teetered and fell, quickly expiring.

The largest of the three surviving ponies grabbed the leaping black bug with a hoof to his throat and slammed him against a wall, cracking the drywall. The other two guards went to check on their fallen compatriots.

K'ra saw Blueblood made a drastic move.

Though he knew nothing about unarmed combat, the prince knew enough about the legs of an opponent to know their weak points were there. Striking the large guard in the back of the knees with his forelegs, he went down, and the grip on the bug released, dropping him to the ground.

K'ra shot the prince a strange look. Blueblood nodded in return. Not knowing what it meant at first, K'ra assumed it was just, "Kill these fools."

So he took the opportunity.

Evading the spear thrusts from the large pony on his knees, K'ra scrabbled at a drawer, yanked it out, throwing its elaborate contents on the already-blood-slick floor, and bashed the guard over the head with it. The drawer exploded into splinters. The guard, with glazed eyes, toppled over.

"Stand down, traitor!" screamed a thin grey mare, galloping away from her dead soldier on the bed right at the prince. With a slash of her spear, it opened a long gash through his suit coat and through the skin beneath. Red blossomed on the pristine white coat like swirling paint on a canvas.

Blueblood enveloped her in his golden aura of magic and tossed his head. She hurled against his opposite wall, bounced off, and sank to the floor in a crumpled heap.

While K'ra was engaging the final guard, Blueblood, desperate and in pain, chose to abandon his final tie to loyalty. He levitated a solid gold chalice off his bedside table and hurled it right at the female soldier's face. It smashed her right between the eyes, under her helmet. She lay stunned for a moment. Then she slumped to the side and did not move.

K'ra was peeling off the last struggling guard's armor, despite the spear jab in the stomach he had gotten that was trickling sand down his body. He was scratching the guard's skin as he yanked the breastplate out and tossed it aside, and when he saw exposed flesh, he opened his jaws to their limit and sunk the long fangs into his chest.

The brown stallion gurgled as he screamed. K'ra wiggled his latch around, and his screams grew. Then he took his fangs out of his flesh and took another bite, gnawing like a dog on an old bone. Gasping from his punctured lungs, the final stallion quickly stopped moving. A little later, his chest rose no more.

K'ra took his fangs out of the fresh body and licked his chops with his hideous black tongue. After that, he lapped up the growing puddle of blood in the wounds on the stallion's chest. The blood was so warm, so calming. Especially when it hit the back of the throat. K'ra always loved pony blood more than any other kind of animal. Maybe the reason was that he was taking the essence of a sentient, intelligent creature. It was the way to show his superiority over those evil creatures Faust had created. The only question he had about the affair was why would Faust make these filthy creatures taste so good?

"Are, uh, are you good?"

K'ra paused and looked up, a trickle of the warm liquid running down his chin. The devil could see Blueblood petrified by the sight of him painted red on his claws and face.

"Oh. This, um, is a side effect of my transformation into this... monster," the Nox managed to expertly lie, putting on a genuinely remorseful face. "It was another part of the curse that Prophet put on me. I don't like it, but I sometimes... just get so hungry…"

"No, no, no, it's fine," Blueblood said with a touch of fear in his voice. "Just... could you restrain yourself?"

K'ra stared at the fresh body. It looked so good-! So tender and soft, with a lot of good muscle on him. But to placate his prey, he inhaled with restraint, flooding his nostrils with the delicious scent of blood, and exhaled. "Fine." He examined the prince. "How badly are you hurt?"

"Just a scratch. The spear didn't go deep."

"Good." K'ra took a look around Blueblood's room. His golden-gilded furniture was speckled with drops of red like a ruby in a crown. The puddle of blood on his floor was expanding slowly to lap at the bedposts and surround them in rings. "This is rather conspicuous, wouldn't you say?"

Blueblood nodded in stupefaction, stepping off the floor onto his mattress. K'ra could see his face drain of all color when he saw his mattress soaked with deep scarlet from the inert body on his bed.

"We can't stay here in Canterlot," K'ra ordered, looking around his room once more to indicate the five bodies. "Not after this, anyway. Get your things and come with me."

"How will we escape?"

"Just on a train. Nothing to it. After all, the only people who knew about your guilt are in the castle. As long as you get out of the castle itself, no one will stop you on the way out of Canterlot."

Blueblood took his suitcase in a golden aura and began to take out all of his drawers, throwing them on the ground in desperation, looking for anything he missed.

The fifth drawer he opened, he paused all of a sudden, staring into the depths of the drawer.

"What?" K'ra hissed.

Blueblood slowly took a silver necklace with an uncut blue jewel the size of his hoof out of the drawer.

"What's that to you?" K'ra asked, noting how less opulent and special it looked when surrounded by a bright gold room.

"This was a gift from auntie for my eighteenth birthday," Blueblood murmured, turning the necklace so it caught the light in his room. "It was a way to help me remember my honor." He looked at it for a while longer before putting it on. "Not that I have to be reminded of it now, of course, but still... it's the most beautiful thing…"

"Why is it? You have plenty of other gold and jewels, don't you?"

Blueblood ran a hoof over it gently. "Because it came from her." He almost smiled. "Auntie Celestia never gives special things to me, so when I got this from her, it was suddenly precious."

"How precious must it be since you had it sitting away in a drawer for years and years?" K'ra asked with sarcasm dripping from his lips.

"Well, it was to help me remember honor," Blueblood defended, slipping it around his neck. The silver necklace settled with considerate weight on his chest. "And it worked. I'm the most honorable pony in Canterlot. So I put it away when I assembled everything I really needed."

This stupid, foolish boy!

"Well, if you really think you don't want it, just leave it behind," K'ra said, trying to keep his voice even.

Blueblood hummed. "No. I think... it looks good on me."

K'ra gestured his head at the door leading out. "Then let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"The rest of my... villagers... set up a temporary refugee settlement several miles north of Appaloosa. We can go and figure out what to do there."

"Sounds as good as any other place," Blueblood agreed, sniveling up his nose. "Even though I'd have to be in a dirty campsite for who knows how long. Ugh! It is not how royalty should be treated."

K'ra resisted the urge to wring his neck. "We'll treat you with all the respect you deserve."

"Hm. A minor mercy. I'm appreciative. Still-"

"Would you just come along and let me worry about the arrangements?!"

"All right! All right!" Blueblood gingerly stepped over the growing puddle of scarlet liquid in his room, carrying his suitcase behind him. As K'ra opened the door and stealthily crept out, he saw Blueblood take one last look behind him at the room he had been raised in. His face was regretful and nostalgic. His mouth was stiff, and a muscle pulsed in his cheek.

"Are you coming?" K'ra asked.

Blueblood nodded after a pregnant pause. Gently shutting the door and ending the golden glow coming from the bloodstained room, he and the devil sped off.

Luna opened the door to Celestia's chambers. "Sister! The news is direr than we could have imagined!"

Luna galloped in. Her elder sister's room was empty save for a bed with a mound of wrinkled sheets in the center. The bed was illuminated by the lucid orange of the retreating sun low in the sky.

It was to this unshapely mass that Luna addressed herself. "Prince Blueblood is missing! And his room hath the bodies of five guards in it! We're trying to send out search parties, but…"

Luna stopped her spiel as she saw what was in the bed. Princess Celestia was sunk in there like she had a broken back, clutching the wrinkled sheets to her chest, and she was sobbing like a broken-hearted child into her bed linen.

Luna felt her chest compress, felt her throat tighten like a noose was around it. Her sister was not just crying. She was almost wailing into her bed, taking ragged inhales before spitting them out in bursts of sobs, pressing her mouth into the mattress to muffle the heartbreaking sound. Her bed was soaked with tears. Her shoulders rose with each breath.

Princess Celestia was in a living nightmare.

Luna gingerly stepped closer to her and pressed on her back.

"Go away!" Celestia screeched into her bed at the top of her straining lungs, and pounded the sheets uselessly with a naked hoof. Her jewelry had been removed.

She was a little mare just now. Not a princess, and not a loving mother.

Luna did not obey her sister's request. Instead, she eased her up off the damp sheets by pulling Celestia from her armpits. Taking a closer look at Celestia's face, she felt empathy well up inside her. That face of despair and hopelessness was that one only she could relate to.

"Talk," Luna commanded.

"You... know... why I'm like this," Celestia said, straining to speak legibly through her closed throat.

The Elements of Harmony. The growing war on the horizon. Twilight. Shining Armor. The terrorist attack in her own city. The conviction of Scorpan, and the guilt of her own nephew, and how he had fled, rather than face her again. Luna did know exactly why she was like this. But that wasn't the point.

"Not everyone is gone," Luna whispered. She nuzzled the side of her sister's cheek. "Like you proved to me seven years ago."

"You think I... didn't know that?" Celestia sobbed. Streams of fresh tears cascaded down preexisting marks on her wrinkled face. "I know that you aren't gone-"

"Thy friends do indeed still stand by thee, sister, but remember that friends are given as a divine gift by Mother to ease our mortal journey. What would Scorpan say?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Because the Prophet's voice and the voice of our mother are the same."

Celestia heaved and wheezed as she tried to work her brain. Luna knew it would hurt her. She could almost imagine the throbbing headache her sister was having.

She finally responded with, "Mother...would say...to look forward."

"What dost thou see in the future?" Luna asked, shaking her shoulder firmly.

"Nothing!" Celestia all but shouted. "The future is dark! Who can foresee the future but Faust herself? And what will she do for us?" Celestia's tears spilled over once more, and she began to wheeze again.

"Thou art right." Luna gathered herself onto her sister's bed. "Faust alone can tell the future. Which means if you really trust her…"

"...I do trust her," Celestia admitted. There was a pause in her words. "...But even I don't know what her will is!"

"You don't always need that," Luna whispered. "All that anyone can do is just hope for a better tomorrow, and then...work to make it so."

"What if that future doesn't come?"

"It will."

"How do you know that?"

Luna's eyes glittered. "I don't."

"But you hope anyway."

"Despair is the perfect time to hope, Celestia."

The two sisters said nothing more. What more should be said? Luna did not know. All they did was bask in each other's company. Luna's presence somehow made Celestia ease up on her weeping. Every time the princess of the sun saw her sister's piercing blue eyes, she quickly put her head down. Was it shame? Was it an attempt to hide?

The rays of the sun stopped moving. It was time.

"Tia." Luna jerked her head at the balcony. "The sun."

Celestia stumbled out of her bed and walked uneasily to the doors of her balcony. Pushing them open, Celestia walked slowly to the edge before slumping on the rail.

Luna followed, awaiting her sister to do her job.

"I can't," she whispered.

"You must."

"But...what's the point...of raising a sun over a land...without Twilight?"

Luna was about to point out the unintentional pun she had made. She kept it to herself, however.

"Luna. Luna, I loved her! As much as a teacher could love her student, I loved her!" She took a few more gasps while leaning on the rail. Her body was trembling.

"Do you love your country?" Luna followed up with. "Then lower the sun."

Celestia sniffled. "I do, but...You have to understand!"

"No, sister. I don't. The closest I got as a protegee was with the Guardians of the Sun."

"And they're dead now," Celestia choked out. More tears dripped from her eyes.

"We think they're dead. But maybe tomorrow will bring about different news."

"How do you kno-" Celestia stopped herself. She had learned her lesson once before. Luna could see the spark of understanding in her violet eyes.

"Past the present moment is a long night, sister. But you know what comes after every night."

"But what if the light at the end of the tunnel isn't the sun?" Celestia whispered. "If it's just feeble torches in a cold, endless night, then what?"

"You won't know that until you get there yourself, sister. The only way to know for certain...is to keep moving forward."

Celestia gazed on Luna. She was dimly aware that the golden sun was shining on her dark blue face, lighting up her mane and reflecting the whites of her eyes.

"And there's no way to turn back now."

Celestia blinked. Then she turned her attention to the sun, hanging there in the sky, just above the mountains.

Celestia ignited her horn in a lance of bright yellow, and with tremendous strain, bowed her head. The sun began to sink beneath the horizon, and darkness began to spread across the weary earth.

Throughout the whole trial, Celestia was weeping freely, gritting her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut, as divine magic poured out of her horn. Luna was marveling at her will to press on, but also at the strain it took for her.

In all of Luna's years, she had never seen her act so frail and unbalanced. It made her heart ache for her safety. She found a cruel reversal of roles in the sister dynamic when she looked upon her weeping sister. Celestia had been the one to console her when she returned from the moon. And now it was her turn to console the older, stronger sister, when her world had been ripped apart in the space of a few days.

Luna wished it could not have been Celestia she needed to comfort. Anyone else she would have agreed to, but...not her own family! Not the strongest pony in Equestria! She could not...she could...

Could she?

Maybe. It depended on how she thought, didn't it?

When the sun had disappeared over the horizon and night was over all the land, Luna's horn ignited and she lifted her head up. The silvery-white moon was raised into the sky. It looked like a sliver of the divine, slashed across the dark palette of eternity. All across the skies, stars speckled like a glittery dress on the body of a goddess, so many and so close together that it made even Luna, its guardian, lock up in wonder.

Even in the dark night, light could be found.

Luna led her sister back inside and pulled Celestia into the covers. Her blankets were pressing Celestia's arms at her sides. And the sun princess was wearing a tired expression as her sister did the work.

"Sleep, Lightbringer," Luna hushed, and caressed her cheek. "At the end of every night comes the sunrise. As the night passes, sleep through its darkness. I will be thy protector against the evils of the night."

Celestia finally smiled and closed her bloodshot eyes.

Luna stayed by her side all through the night. She quickly grew tired, and her flank grew sore from sitting in the same spot for hours on end.

Luna did not mind one bit.

Nothing came to her in either dream or in real life.

Hours passed. They felt like minutes. Luna's responsibilities didn't require her to physically move, which made her promise easy to fulfill. She visited fillies in their sleep and soothed their fears...while wishing that her own fears could be quenched by someone else.

When the time came to lower the moon and raise the sun, Luna awoke her and tenderly guided her to the edge of the balcony.

And when the time came, the sun was raised once more. With it came light and hope, driving out evil and replacing despair with faith.

Chapter Sixty-One: The Miracle

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The first thing that woke up Freedom Fighter was the stream of deep golden sunlight through the lone window in his room. It rested upon his eyes, and after they had overstayed its welcome there, he groggily opened his eyes and turned to the side of the sun ray.

The medical bay was small. All that was allowed was a little alcove in the wall to lie down in. It was at the rear of the ship so he could hear the incessant, constant chugging of the ship's engines. It was uncomfortable and cramped, which made his body feel the same way.

Freedom Fighter made a small grunt in his throat and stretched out his body like he was being pulled on the rack. After that, he curled up again, taking care not to scrape the arrow shaft still stuck in his side.

As he did so, he gritted his teeth instinctively as he prepared to hurt his new wound over his countless preexisting others. However, the pain he was expecting simply...didn't come.

That's strange, Freedom Fighter thought. He opened his eyes wider as he realized something else. And why aren't my thoughts being spoken out loud?

'Maybe the effect of the spell wore off,' he suggested, wiping his face with his metal hoof and arm. 'We should go to Twilight and ask her about it.'

What, looking like this? He threw the blankets off his body. Excuse me, Twilight, and forgive my absolutely horrible appearance, but I need you to reapply that spell-

He gasped as he saw his body, and his mind went blank all of a sudden.

After several moments, his short-circuiting brain caught up to reality.

What...is...THIS?! How...what?!

'This isn't real!' he thought, beginning to shake. Soon his entire frame was trembling with shock. He felt like he was going to faint. 'This isn't happening! This isn't happening!...Am I...dreaming?'

After a gasp, a disbelieving grin came onto his face.

With the exception of his metal arm, his entire body was flawless, soft, and smooth, without a single trace of a scar or wound on any part of him.

His damaged skin pores had been sealed, and hair had grown back in places where it once was absent. Craning his head while twisting his body, he saw that his back was no longer red and ripped, and his skin was uniform yellow all throughout. There was still an arrow shaft in his hip, but the flesh around it had sealed, and it was cleared of dirt and debris.

Afraid to believe it, he gazed at his trembling arm of flesh. It was smooth as well. No Black Blade marks, no stripes from self-cutting, no trace of loathing or evil.

It was as if he was a newborn child, free from imperfection. It was as if he was newly baptized, and his sins had been washed away. He was a new pony. A restored one.

Was this-?

Was he really…

Freedom Fighter touched himself. It was indeed smooth. Unnaturally smooth. Was this how normal ponies felt when they touched themselves? It seemed so frail and soft.

He felt an unnatural weight in his mouth that he couldn't move around at first. He didn't recognize it, but it was attached to him! Opening his mouth to see, a pink tongue lolled out and hung there.

Tears began to drip from his already-welling eyes. He gasped for air, which no longer hurt his throat. His vocal cords were no longer snapped! His esophagus wasn't scabbed over!

"...Ah…"

He tried again; his throat hurt. It wasn't from physical harm; it was because he felt like choking on his own tears.

"I...I...can...s-s-sp...sp...speak…"

He gasped. Was that it? He had just about forgotten how to speak well. Using his mouth to talk was hard. His voice was hoarse and weak, but all Freedom Fighter knew or cared about was that it was there.

He ran his hooves over his arm, over his chest and face. He felt no ridges, no old patches of dead skin. It was all new.

"Th-this...isn't...real," he whispered, knowing perfectly well that it was real. He dared to believe it was so, and hoped that it was, and that was what made it so.

It was a dream come true.

Rolling out of his alcove and landing on four hooves, he stumbled over to the lone silver mirror in the large wood-smoked room. As he walked, making a clink every fourth step, he noted that his hip wasn't hurting from old pains given years ago.

In his reflection, he saw a different pony.

Those eyes were the same, all right. And so was that arm. And his lips, thin and tight. But there weren't any stripes crisscrossing his face and slicing his expression to ribbons. His body wasn't white, black, or raw red over his original color anymore. It was just plain gold, the color of the shining sun, over his form, like a gilded ancient god of some kind. And in his forehead was an ellipse of white, anointing him as the Unforgiven.

For a long, long time, Freedom Fighter just stared at himself. He was not counting the time, but instead where the wounds once were, now replaced by smooth skin. On his flank, the evil U brand that had marked him as the Unforgiven was gone entirely, along with the layers of flesh it had burned through, replaced with soft, fresh skin instead.

His true cutie mark was now on full display, so long covered up that even he had forgotten what it once was. A feather and war ax under the rising orange sun. Seeing it there made him weep freely once again.

When he was done with crying, he twanged the arrow in his side. It hurt. Freedom saw no reason for it to be there anymore.

Pulling on the feathered end, he closed his eyes and cringed as he slowly pulled the shaft out of his body. Because the flesh had sealed itself, he had to reopen it as he yanked it out. Skin tore as he juggled the long thing back and forth, back and forth, until-

"Aaaugh!" was the sound he made when it was out. Blood began immediately to stain and soak his sterile white bandages.

But almost as soon as it happened, the wound began to steam in a thin wisp as wide as a pencil. Before Freedom Fighter's eyes, over the course of several minutes, the pain disappeared, and the blood stopped expanding on his bandages. The wound had healed.

He was still wobbling in wordless wonder. What should he do? What was this?

Who could he turn to now?

Well, who else had he turned to for all this time when reality felt altered?

"N...Nob...le...Blaaa...de…" he said, at last, ruffling his full, thick hair. "Noble...Blade!"

Feeling overflowing with energy, he barged at the door and rammed into it. The door remained shut. It was then that he saw it was a pull door instead. Chuckling from his mistake, giddy all of a sudden, he yanked the door open so hard it rammed into the wall at the end of its arc and raced down the hallway to the dining room.

For all of the Storm King's many vices, one of them was gluttony. Though it was indeed a terrible thing, it meant good tidings for the ponies, who had discovered a tremendous store of food in the ship's cupboards the previous evening. Having sustained on little food for the past several days, and were, according to Applejack, "More tired than a hungry bull after a wild rodeo," the ponies found it to be no sin to indulge themselves on such an evil creature's food supply.

It was from this store of food that they procured the eggs and pancakes with the apple-cinnamon sauce they were having for breakfast. Eight of the twelve ponies, plus Spike, were feasting on the goods loaded on a long, rich table in a spacious room lined with hand-carved mahogany. Swirls in the wood's grain ran up and down the length of the entire table, and its deep oak-brown polish reflected the lantern light high in the rafters.

Twilight took a pause from her pancakes to speak up. "Who's going to wake the others?"

"Let 'em sleep," Spike advised. "It's been exhausting these past few days. They've earned the right to sleep in. Especially now that we're safe." His eyes shifted to the ponies sitting next to Twilight. "And them as well."

Shining Armor and Winter Gleam, thin and dirty from days in a cell, were taking small bites from barely-laden plates. Their pancakes were small and thin and had only a slice of toast on the side. Twilight's heart ached to see her brother look so beaten, but she knew the process for his recovery was slow.

"What are you talking about?" Shining Armor asked with a weak grin. "I'm feeling on top of the world, Spike!"

"I'm not," Winter said, stirring a piece of his pancake in a stream of syrup. "Waking up this early is like a slap in the face."

"I only woke up this early because I do that all the time," Firestorm said, sipping a glass of milk when he finished speaking.

"I'm gonna be honest, I got up the same time as him," Rainbow admitted. "What else could I do, you know?"

"Same here," Fluttershy piped up, speaking around a bite of egg in her mouth. Noble Blade gave her a glance to quickly admire how cute she looked with a jagged, messy, pink morning mane and a sleepy voice. After that, he smiled and helped himself to his plate.

"Well, I don't know about sleepyheads waking up in sleepy beds, but I'm just happy we get to have food!"

"As am I, Pinkie," Noble quickly placated her with a hoof on her arm; she was about to launch herself out of the chair.

"Maybe we could give breakfast in bed to everyone," Fluttershy suggested. "That way they can feel a little bit better."

"That reminds me," Twilight said all of a sudden. "What about Tempest?"

Firestorm took his eyes off Rainbow Dash's tousled mane to blankly stare at Twilight. "What about her?"

"She's got to be hungry. Shouldn't we give her some food as well?"

A shadow of hate passed across Firestorm's eyes. "No."

He then stared at everyone else at the table as if inviting them to challenge him.

"Look, Firestorm, I know you aren't inclined to give her anything right now-"

"Except for a good hoof in the nose," he muttered.

"-but we need her alive. Ponies do need food to live, you realize."

"We went without food for some days on this journey," Firestorm reminded her. "Let her taste the same experience we had. She'll live, and be eager to talk if we promise food."

"Storm," Noble firmly warned, and there was a hard glint in his bold blue eye. Between him and Firestorm, an unheard conversation was taking place. Though it was intense, only the two understood what the other was saying. At the end of it, Firestorm let out a groan and sat back in his seat with his lips pressed firmly together.

It was about then when Starlight Glimmer entered the dining room, accompanied by Rarity and Applejack. "Oh," Applejack said in a satisfied tone, pressing her hat to her chest while sniffing. "Oh, that grub smells heavenly."

"Save some for me!" Rarity added, sitting down at the nearest seat. Starlight and Applejack followed.

"Who's going to check on Freedom?" Twilight asked, looking around.

After a moment or two had passed, Firestorm piped up. "I thought you were doing it, Twilight."

"I was making breakfast," Twilight defended.

"She was helping me make breakfast," Spike corrected with a glance.

"Did anyone check on him?" Noble asked, swiveling his head.

No one answered.

Noble sighed and threw a napkin on the table. "I'll do it," both he and Fluttershy said at the same time. Giving each other surprised looks, Fluttershy finished with, "We'll both do it."

"Good idea," Noble said.

From the doorway leading out, however, they could suddenly hear hoofsteps and the banging of doors. The movements and sounds were quick and frantic.

"What's that?" Pinkie Pie wondered, chewing suspiciously around a bite of pancake.

"There isn't anyone else on the ship, is there?" Starlight asked, halfway out of her seat.

"It's gotta be Tempest," Firestorm muttered evilly. "I'll take her out now!"

"No, wait!" Twilight cautioned, pushing him back in his seat with a foreleg. "Let's see who it is first."

"Who else could it be? Freedom Fighter? He's got an arrow in his hip, keep in mind."

The nine ponies and baby dragon waited with bated breath for the mysterious figure to reveal himself. When the hoofsteps came close to the ajar door, it was pushed into the room, revealing the pony standing in the way.

Rarity's magic was holding a fork in the air with a bite of food on the end. Upon seeing the figure in the doorway, the magic cut off and it splattered on her plate.

For the pony she and the others saw was the one that had been critically wounded just the previous day.

Freedom Fighter looked like he didn't know what to do. With every other member of the party assembled in the same room, he had frozen in place.

Twilight's mind refused to believe what she saw at first. Freedom Fighter didn't look like that! He never looked so...perfect before. In fact, she was surprised that she recognized it as Freedom Fighter at all, he looked so different. He had rich, full hair now, a firm, solid coat, and an expression that wasn't disfigured by deep scars.

What had happened?

None of the other ponies needed any explanation either, though it took them a while. Every single pony had their mouth drooping open in pure shock. Pupils were basically nonexistent, they were so small. No one moved a muscle.

The exception was Freedom Fighter, who cleared his throat for real--without coughing up blood!--and opened his mouth to speak! "Noble...Blade…"

The pony in question pushed aside Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity as he slowly walked his way with an open mouth and wet eyes. After scanning him once more and finding that what he was seeing was indeed real, he yanked the golden pony to his chest and gave him a crushing embrace. Tears traced down his pale blue cheeks as Noble began to sob, overwhelmed by joy.

The other ponies broke down a few seconds later and all rushed forward in a tremendous group hug, daring to believe in the impossible. Each of them was trying their hardest to wrap an arm around, or even just touch, the one pony who had overcome all in his way.

When the mass of ponies broke away, Noble held the Unforgiven at arm's length to scan him once more. Both of them had fresh tears leaking from their eyes.

"I'm alive, Noble," Freedom said, straining to speak. "For the...first time...in ten years...I feel alive."

Firestorm, right beside him, ran a hoof along his arm. His expression was frozen in one of disbelieving relief. Finally, he gave another hug to him on the side and squeezed Freedom Fighter hard. To Twilight, it was as if Firestorm needed to be tethered to him for a reliable grip on reality.

"Oh...My goodness…" Rarity squeaked, dabbing at her black-running eye with a napkin. "What a wonderful day this turned out to be!"

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were circling him, on ground and in air, examining him and confirming that he was as whole as a pureborn baby.

Twilight found herself unconsciously moving from her seat to Freedom Fighter, and when she had come close she put a hoof to his chest. It was indeed smooth; as smooth as her own coat. No trace that the wounds from long ago had even existed. Twilight also noticed that his heartbeat got faster when she touched him. Was he nervous at her touch?

Overcome by a sudden wave of emotion for the wounded warrior, she gave him a heartfelt nuzzle. Freedom wrapped his arms around her, and she could swear he was getting warmer by the second as his heartbeat increased even more.

"Outta the way, Twily!" Pinkie peppily said, pushing her aside. "I have to hug the poor pony now!"

And hug him tightly she did. Pinkie had on a warm smile the whole time.

Twilight was reminded of when he had first exposed himself in Rarity's boutique several weeks ago. Looking back, the contrast between those two events was startling. Their emotion lay heavy on all of them in both circumstances, but despair had turned to joy, and sympathy had evaporated entirely, leaving nothing but admiration.

After several minutes of tearful hugs from everypony else, Twilight, leaning back on her chair, managed to let out, "How...did this happen?"

"I have...no idea," Freedom Fighter said, patting himself on the chest. "Yesterday I went to bed...with a shredded body, and...this morning I woke up...with a blank canvas."

"You have regeneration abilities?" Pinkie Pie deduced in a heartbeat.

"Well, I didn't...have that power before," Freedom said, scratching his full mane of hair. It was flat and flowed naturally down his back to his shoulders in an ebony waterfall of individual strands. It was a great mane, Twilight noticed.

"So what changed it?" she whispered, still trying to wrap her head around what had happened. She was still staring at Freedom Fighter, and now that his scars had gone away, she was more able to take in just how powerful he looked. It made her body warm the more she lingered on his arm and chest.

"Something gave him that power, and recently," Noble Blade was saying. "You don't think it was…" He pointed his chin at the golden stone burning his left shoulder socket.

"Sweet Celestia," Rarity gasped. "The Element of Sacrifice?"

Freedom Fighter twisted his head to get a better look at his shoulder. It was still glowing, unearthly yet merrily.

"I suppose that's the individual power his Element gave him," Fluttershy surmised. "What kinds of powers will we get when we get our own Elements?"

"Okay, look. Our Elements have been stuck in the Tree of Harmony for like, four years!" Rainbow butted in. "And that was after we had been using them for another three! And we didn't get any special powerups like Captain Marevel powers-" She pointed at Firestorm, "or regeneration abilities."

"You just haven't unlocked them yet," Pinkie Pie said. "That comes with DLC."

"Hold on," Starlight said. "That's actually not a bad theory."

"DLC?" Pinkie asked. She gave a hoof-bump. "I knew it!"

"No, the unlocking thing. We just haven't unlocked our own abilities yet."

"Oh." Her expression fell.

"Have we not done enough already?" Twilight asked with some irritation.

"Ah'm with Twi. We sure as heck earned 'em, didn't we? Otherwise, Nightmare Moon would still be around."

"I know," Firestorm mockingly commented. "Our powers were inside us all along and we never even noticed."

"...Maybe."

"I meant that as a joke, Rarity."

"No, think about it!" Rarity said, growing in insistence. "All we ever used the Elements of Harmony for were rainbow lasers. What if...we had powers while using the Elements that we never fully explored before?"

"Maybe…" Freedom Fighter smacked his hooves together in realization. "The powers the girls had...in the human world…"

"Those were our Element powers?" Applejack widened her eyes.

"Star Swirl the Bearded did say that they were connected," Twilight said. Her demeanor had changed to one of apathy and reflective rage on the inside upon having the human girls brought up. Testy and short, her mind was eager to get off the subject.

"So…" Rainbow gestured at herself. "My Elemental power...is going fast." She scoffed. "Hate to break it to ya, but news flash! I'm the fastest pegasus on the planet!"

Firestorm gave her an incredulous look.

"Fastest pegasus mare," she quickly corrected.

"Ooohhh!" Pinkie Pie squealed, giving a devilish grin whilst rubbing her hooves together. "I get to blow things up! Look out, Noxxa! Pinkie Pie's coming through!"

Noble Blade, staring apprehensively at the pink party pony, scooted aside until he was safely several meters away from her.

"That may be pushing the line a bit far, darling," Rarity hastily interjected.

"Gettin' stronger than ever," Applejack whispered, flexing a foreleg.

"Creating powerful shields," Rarity murmured, chiming her horn to life for only an instant.

"But...what about me?" Fluttershy asked, curling the end of her bubblegum mane with a hoof.

"I'd suppose your range and power of influence over animals would be increased," Starlight disinterestedly said. Her expression turned to one of consternation; evidently, she was preoccupied with another thought. "The problem is...what's my power?"

"Maybe you'd have one similar to Sunset's," Twilight provided. There was an alarming tone of resignation present in her voice. "Getting a feel for how someone would think."

"No, I'm not Sunset Shimmer. Sunset is Sunset. What am I?"

"Thou art the Last Hero," Noble supplemented, lapsing into archaic language. "Mayhap it may be a way to magnify thy magic for one final stand in our most desperate hour?"

"Ooh, I love it when he does that," Rarity whispered. Seeing Fluttershy's raised, inquiring eyebrow, however, she kept her mouth shut.

"You'll get to those powers when you get to wield the Elements yourselves," Shining Armor said. He had been listening the whole time with nothing to contribute until now. "You've got two of the new Elements now. And we're on a pretty handy airship. What do you say? Swing on over to Ponyville and pluck the Elements from the Tree of Harmony?"

"Yes! Yes, that's-"

"No!"

"Yes, I agree, it's a good idea-"

"But Rarity-"

"Look, listen to me-"

"She's not the only one who thinks-"

"Well, neither am I-"

"Okay, people!" Noble said above everyone else. "Pipe down. Pipe down."

Gradually, they piped down.

"If we go back to Ponyville, we'll be sidelining the quest for the Elements," Noble pointed out. "And we still have no clue where the next Element is."

"Exactly. So maaaayyyybe returning to Ponyville for the other Elements will give us a hint!"

"Besides," Applejack followed up on Pinkie, "we ain't got any clues out here. And the longer we stay out in the open the longer we give Malice and that satyr a chance to pursue us."

"The Storm King," Winter Gleam said all of a sudden. "He's called the Storm King. He's as mean as he is ruthless. That Tempest girl's just his little pet."

"Pet?" Firestorm remarked, his voice sarcastic. "She's not exactly the tamest of all pets, is she?"

"More like...the lamest of all pets!" Rainbow countered.

"OOOOHHH!" Pinkie exclaimed, giving Rainbow Dash a hoof-bump. "Roasted!"

"Now, wait a minute, guys," Twilight interrupted. There was a complication here that she had noticed. "That's another thing. What do we do with Tempest if we do land in Ponyville? She needs to be kept somewhere where she won't do any more harm."

"That means Canterlot," Shining Armor said. "We could take her there in this airship while dropping you all off in Ponyville."

"But then we don't have a way to get where we need to go," protested Rarity.

Freedom Fighter held up a hoof. "We have these."

"I'm not the biggest fan of walking, as you should know."

"News flash! You all aren't as lucky as Rainbow or me. With these bad boys on my back, I can just ease along, gliding by in life. I just subject myself to walking to give you all a chance to keep up."

"I had wings before."

"Oh? Where are they?"

"They showed up once in Season one."

"Sorry, what, Pinkie?"

"Nothiiiiing," Pinkie sang.

"We got another component of this whole caboodle that needs ta be brought up," Applejack added. "The ship's fuel can only last for so long. Ah'm not an expert in Storm King engines, but even with ma efforts ta try'n squeeze the juice outta those engines, we might not have enough ta hit all the stops we want to."

"Let me set this all straight," Twilight said above everyone else, and the other ponies quieted down. "Tempest needs to be taken to Canterlot with Shining Armor and Winter Gleam. That's a given. The problems we have are side stops. Leaving the airship, and either going to Ponyville or not. Staying with the airship and return to Canterlot, and then just start all over again from where we began. Who's going to decide this?"

"I, uh, want to know what Noble thinks of this," Starlight said, giving the unicorn a jolt of her head.

"Why him?" Firestorm asked.

" 'Cause he's th' last one of y'all that don't have an Element yet."

"Oohhh. Thanks, Applejack."

Noble's face was creased in deep concentration. Twilight could almost see the gears turning under his scalp. Finally, Noble shook his long mane of bright blue hair and put a hoof on the table.

"It's important to me that we finish this task as soon as possible," he said. "You all know that I prefer knowing the plan in advance, rather than making it up on the go. It feels to me...that going to Ponyville again will include a lot of improvisation. Not to mention having this airship run out of fuel sooner. Besides, I…"

"What?" Rainbow pressured.

"Now we have the initiative," he added with a fresh wave of enthusiasm, giving a hopeful smile. "We have half of the missing Elements, and squashed the enemy at Mount Aris. Malice doesn't have the resources or troops to mount a proper counterattack now, and the Storm King's navy was splintered. Losing three airships in one day is no laughing matter, even for one with a fleet as vast as he. In any case, what I'm saying is we have time. We can figure out where the next Element will be and retrieve it before Malice gets another whiff of us. We won't have this opportunity again. We should make the most of it."

Murmurs of conflict and agreement circulated amongst all those present.

"I think we should go with Noble's idea," Twilight eventually said. The choice was as clear as day now. "He's absolutely right. It's them that are on the run now, not us. Besides, we already know where the original Elements are. We can just pick them up when we retrieve all four of the lost ones."

"Do you think Malice would know that too?" Shining Armor asked.

"If he did, he would have gotten them by now."

"He certainly has the conviction to hunt us all down now," Freedom Fighter said. His voice was getting better. It was more firm, less hoarse. "He...kinda...sorta...knows that I'm the Unforgiven now." He shrugged. "I scuffled around with him and kicked his butt pretty good. He saw under my mask, though. He knew."

"It's…"

"Yes, Firestorm?"

"It's...just so...surreal now...I've been looking at you for the past five minutes. No homo. And your defining features are not scars anymore. It's like your purpose in life has been redefined. You don't...have any reason to stay hidden. Why wear a mask anymore?"

Freedom Fighter contorted his face to make an angry response. But before he did, he stopped and contemplated the idea.

"Huh." Freedom Fighter nodded. He looked as if a bolt of lightning had hit him. "You're right. What's the point anymore?" He even managed to let out a small chuckle. "Oh, this day is just up and down, isn't it? Now!" He clapped his hooves. "I need some food. My food depot is empty."

Twilight, watching, noticed his uneasiness and identified it, having felt that way before so often in the past. He was eager to get off the topic. Not because he was comfortable with it. That she was sure of. But what was there to be uncomfortable with? He was leaving his past life behind.

And suddenly, Twilight understood that it was the reason.

He sat down at the table. A plate of preset pancakes and toast was lying there, along with a glass of juice. Slicing the pancake into little pieces with the butter knife like a savage animal, he stabbed one of the syrup-soaked pieces and put it to his mouth.

His eyes widened all of a sudden. His chewing became slower, more deliberate. In a seemingly inexplicable display of emotion, tears welled up at the corners of his eyes. After several moments he had to stop, set his utensils down, and put both of his forehooves to his mouth.

Twilight put a reassuring hoof on his back. "Hey. What's wrong?"

All he did was inhale and exhale through his nose as he tried to chew and cry at the same time. Finally, he swallowed and took a shuddering breath.

"I never...thought I could...ever taste...sweetness..again…" he managed to spill, before burying his eyes in the crook of his elbow and sobbing. "But...now I can! I…it tastes so good…oh, Faust!"

Out of all the ponies moved by his outburst, Pinkie Pie was the most affected. With a quivering smile, she crawled over, rather than her usual bouncing, and began to scratch him behind his repaired ears.

Freedom Fighter paused from his tears to take his bloodshot eyes from his elbow and give an irritable glare up at the pony petting him like a cat. He stared up at Pinkie for a few moments, then gave a reluctant sigh and relented. His ears drooped in relaxation, and a satisfied sigh escaped his thin lips. "Thanks."

"No problemo, Freedom."

The veteran picked up his knife and fork and started to slowly eat the rest of his breakfast, savoring each bite as they came in. Twilight could only imagine how it felt. The concept of taste returning to you after having lost it for ten years wasn't something she had experienced herself, but she empathized nonetheless at his desire to experience the most out of life.

It was such a big change from his previous apathetic, reserved behavior that she inwardly marveled at his adaptability. Experiencing the most out of life? That didn't sound like Freedom Fighter at all. What had changed him? How could it turn a suicidal schizophrenic into a...semi-normal pony?

And...could it possibly change her for the better as well?

Twilight felt woozy all of a sudden. She couldn't stay here. Not in the same room as him.

"I have to go," she whispered, backing away. The back of her leg joints felt like someone was slicing a knife into them. Oh, Celestia, it hurt!

"Where are you going?" Shining Armor asked.

"To check up on Tempest," she answered. Truth be told, it had just popped into her head without any thinking on her part.

"I'll come with you," Shining Armor said, his eyebrows beetling. "I need to ask her a few things."

The two siblings left the room. Just before the doors closed, when Twilight looked back, all she could see of the others was the rest of her friends gathered around the rejuvenated Freedom Fighter, watching him smile warmly as he tasted true sweetness with his eager, loving friends.

Oh, how that must feel! She felt a twang of jealousy in the pit of her stomach, wishing she could feel the same way.

Then she sighed, longing to be there with him, and began the walk to Tempest's cage in the middle of the ship.

Chapter Sixty-Two: The Sun Sets

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Tempest Shadow was not usually one to complain. As acting lieutenant of the Storm King himself, she had learned to put up with his childishness and to accept life in stride. The only plans that mattered in the world were the ones she could bring to fruition.

But being kidnapped by these ponies, getting her nose broken three separate times, and getting locked in her own cage, all while failing to incapacitate Twilight Sparkle, was not a plan she wanted to come to fruition, to say the absolute least.

Lately, as the promise of having her magic restored seemed closer and closer than before, she had morphed from her laid-back attitude towards a willingness to do whatever it took to restore what should have been hers. If not, what once was special to her would be lost! Nopony would think differently, had they been in her spot!

So she did feel like complaining, sitting cramped, alone, and in the dark, with nothing to call her own but warm drafts of wind in the spacious holding compartment. Her face was still hurting. She had tried not to move it from the day before, but it still made her wince when she pulled her face the wrong way. She was ashamed of momentarily showing her weakness, too. Asking for a painkiller, begging, being stupid, as the ponies were dragging her into a cage? How pathetic. Just because your nose was broken doesn't mean you are, Tempest!

So she remained strong and aloof, regardless of her present circumstance. So what if she was in a cage. That made no difference to her. After all, she hadn't decided that. She was okay with it. She was hungry, and cramped, of course, but she never voiced her discomfort.

Tempest had been taught better than that by the Storm King.

A rectangle of light appeared high above her like the heavens were opening, and Tempest squinted in the sudden light as two ponies entered the tremendous cage room and slammed the door shut behind them, trapping her back in red-tinted darkness again.

Their hooves sounded on the gangplank leading down. Soon they were on the same level as Tempest. And out of all the ponies she didn't want to see, it was these two.

Well, it could have been worse. That orange pegasus could have also come along.

"All hail the princess of friendship," Tempest drily intoned. "See how she comes with no friends."

"All hail the Storm King's lieutenant," Shining Armor replied with equal animosity. "See how she has no one to command."

Tempest had nothing else to say in response.

"We've got some things we want to talk about," Twilight said. "The Storm King and his plans with Marshal Malice."

"I'm surprised you aren't offering me tea for this discussion," Tempest remarked.

"Are you going to make snotty comebacks for the entire time?" Shining Armor demanded.

"Maybe. Try talking to me, and you'll find out yourself."

"What is your opinion of Marshal Malice?"

Tempest gave a grimace. "Twilight, Twilight. You don't need me to spell this out for you. He's a despicable villain who's deluded by his own visions of grandeur. You two must get along swell."

"We don't, surprisingly."

"Malice said he wanted you, but not in particular. He thinks you're the weakest princess out of all four. Which makes me wonder how easy it would be to tangle with Cadence or Luna."

"You won't get that chance anytime soon, Tempest."

"You're taking me to Canterlot, aren't you? That's a rather stupid decision on your part. The Storm King would invade Canterlot and reduce the castle to cinders to take me back."

"Would he?" Shining Armor dared.

"He cares for me," Tempest said. She tried her best to conceal the deeper truth beneath it all: that she had only allowed him, and only him, to care for her.

Apparently, the princess was more perceptive than she let on. "He raised you."

There was no reason to lie. "Once upon a time." She sighed. "That's how fairy tales start."

"Your fairy tale won't have a happy ending," Shining Armor snapped.

Tempest understood his short temper. She had been the one to lock him in this very cage she was in. She knew his lack of sympathy was justified.

"You all are living a fairy tale as well," Tempest asserted. Might as well impart some wisdom to them. "And fairy tales won't come to life so easily. Playing pretend is a stupid, wasteful way of living your life. Perhaps it's better to wake up and expose yourself to the miserable truth rather than remain a dupe to illusions your entire life."

Twilight began to walk around the cage like a prowling animal. "What if the truth isn't so miserable?"

"The more miserable you feel, the closer to Nirvana you get," Tempest said. "Life is pain. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something."

"That's true," Twilight admitted, "but why put yourself under undue stress if you don't have to? Life also provided a way for us to not face those challenges alone. It's called-"

"-friendship," Tempest mocked, rolling her milky green eyes. "Oh, Twilight. You princesses are all the same. Idealistic and stubborn. If you always depend on others, you have no strength to stand on your own. Friends, family--they're like a crutch. Without it, you can't do anything. True freedom is being able to do whatever you can to rise in power."

"I'm sorry, who's being stubborn?" Shining Armor began.

"Hush," Twilight stopped, and Shining Armor shut his mouth.

Twilight reached her hoof through the bars of the cell. Tempest could bat at it like a cat if she wanted to. "Have you ever experienced friendship before?"

"When I was younger," Tempest replied curtly. "But my friends abandoned me when times got tough."

"So what if we're imperfect," Twilight admitted. "The beliefs we strive to follow are true nonetheless! So you were left alone. What if...we could change that?"

Tempest felt a guilty lurch inside her stomach. "No, I don't think so." She happened upon a way to deflect the conversation. "How's that pony I shot in the butt earlier?"

"He's healed," Twilight said with a grin. "He's healed from every single injury he ever received, and he'll retain that power for his entire life."

That part surprised Tempest. Twilight had no reason to bluff, and it looked natural, too. The problem was…

"How?" Tempest whispered.

"The Elements of Harmony," Twilight said, picking at her other hoof. "In other words, friendship."

Now those Tempest had heard about. She rubbed the top of her broken horn, thinking quickly. Maybe…

"I know what you're thinking," Twilight said. "It won't work. It's Freedom Fighter's power alone."

She sighed. "Damn it," she breathed, clenching a hoof.

Twilight winced at the language. Tempest noticed.

"Seriously?" She managed to let out a small laugh. "That's what you can't stand? Swear words?"

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't use that kind of language."

"What are you going to do to stop me?" Tempest asked, letting a taunting edge to creep in. "Equestria really is soft if you don't even use that kind of language daily."

"I'm happy living in Equestria, thank you very much."

"Happy, but blind," Tempest said. "Happiness is just something we make up to make this world bearable. It isn't real. Neither is courage, or honor, or sacrifice. Not even redemption. Life, and the time we spend in it, is an illusion. But take some time, see the light, and you'll see the truth for yourself."

Twilight slammed her hoof into the cage so hard Tempest fell unceremoniously on her butt. Having a good look at her now, Tempest could see that the look the smaller mare was giving her was as hard as steel, and hot as hellfire.

"Don't you think I HAVEN'T seen your stupid truth?!" Twilight demanded.

Tempest could indeed see the loss in her eyes, the longing pain behind the fierce fury. But Tempest was still confused. If that was the case, then why wasn't she…

"Tempest, listen closely. I went to another reality where we were all different creatures. Me and my friends were teenage girls in high school. We had fun. We took tests. We laughed, played, danced, met cute boys...and now they're all dead." Twilight's gaunt face was undeniably hollow. "They're dead, all of them, because of the black insects you call allies. They shot my friends with crossbows and tried to suck on their warm blood! I was murdered twice that day. One time by a crossbow bolt. The other time, I died inside when I saw everyone else dead. I have more right than anyone else I know to know the truth."

Tempest was seeing more of herself in this mare than she had previously wanted to admit.

"And you know why they did it? Why did they die? To save me. My friends died to protect me. So maybe I do know the truth of this world after all. The world is a dark and cruel place. But we can make it less evil if we reach out to the ones like you that make it so!"

"I'm doing what I can to survive!"

"So stop surviving and start living instead!"

That made Tempest quiet.

"And after finding out that so-called 'truth' that the world stinks, don't you think I haven't found joy nonetheless?" Twilight pressured, pacing around the cage more. "I have wonderful friends who would fight for my right to do what I will with them, and they'll stick with me no matter what may come our way. And to top it off, just today, the greatest warrior in the history of the land was renewed for a second chance at life! If that's not truth, what is?"

"That is power, silly little pony."

"Power comes from the truth."

"Who taught you that?"

"A friend of mine. Her name's Applejack."

Tempest could see their conversation was getting nowhere. But there was something about her, the certainty with which she asserted herself, that got her thinking. If it worked so well for her...why did it not for her?

"Do you have any more to tell us about the Storm King and his plans?" Shining Armor asked.

Tempest had almost forgotten he was there, to be honest. "No."

"Well, we'll be back, and I would recommend you remember some more," Twilight said, turning around. Before she left, she chimed her horn to life, and in front of her, three apples appeared with separate pops. Turning around again, she floated the fruit to Tempest's cage.

"Firestorm didn't want to give you anything at all," Twilight said, and her tone was softer somewhat. "I'm not like him."

And she followed her older brother out of the room and closed the door.

Tempest batted at the apples in her cage. Would it be a breach of conduct if she accepted food from her captors? What would the Storm King say?

She rolled two of them out of her cage in disgust of Twilight's generosity, her pity. Before she could bring herself to release the third one, however, she stopped and considered. She needed to stay alive. It was the only way to rebel against life, which wanted to take your life away.

So, miserably, she began to eat from the juicy fruit. In no time, it was gone.

Her stomach, woken up, longed for more. Discipline, she told herself. Maintain discipline over your body.

But...that apple was good. And Twilight had given them to her as...a gift...When was the last time the Storm King had given her a gift?

Tempest concentrated. Her horn sparked and sizzled with unstable energy. Maybe, just maybe, she could…

Releasing it, her magic shot through the bars of the cage and struck an apple. The apple instantly singed.

Tempest sighed and curled up in her cage once more. If there was nothing she could do, she wouldn't do anything. It was just that simple.

Strangely enough, that wasn't how Twilight felt. How did it feel like to resist against the inevitable?

Tempest wanted to know.

The sunset was lighting the sky afire, torching the clouds around them with vibrant flame. The clouds themselves were just below the deck of the airship, giving the impression that the ship was gliding through roiling waves of foggy, sun-touched water.

Twilight was on the bow of the ship, her mane flapping behind her, gazing ahead with no expression visible. Her violet eyes registered the mythical surroundings, but her mind chose not to focus on them.

Several hooffalls sounded behind her, with a clink every other step. Twilight didn't need to see who it was approaching. She felt a chill run down her spine for whatever reason.

"Twilight." Freedom Fighter's voice was encouraging. "I was looking for you. What have you been doing all day?"

The alicorn spared him a glance. His golden body shone against the orange and pink clouds on every side, and his scarlet eyes were alluringly vibrant. With some effort, Twilight turned away to stare ahead again. "I was...in the cabin. Plotting a course to take us back to Canterlot. We'll have to take a route past Appaloosa."

Freedom Fighter came right next to her, a soft smile grazing his appearance. "I was with the others. Laughing. Smiling. Talking. Then I went to my quarters and banged my head to dubstep for an hour and a half."

"Right," Twilight reminded herself. "You got a tape of music from Vinyl Scratch."

"It's great," he said. He closed his eyes, breathed through his nose, and sighed. "I miss her."

"Vinyl?" Twilight asked with some surprise. "You barely knew her."

"That's why I miss her," Freedom said. "I wanted to know her more."

Twilight had to concede the point. Made sense.

"Besides...I'm used to losing ponies close to me. I put other ponies into simple abstractions. Are they allies or enemies? And so I keep myself from being broken when they get torn from me, just like everything else." He blinked. "At least, until I met you. You're...special."

"How?" she asked, disinterested.

"I see a bit of myself in you, Twilight. You're no mere abstraction. And neither are your friends."

"Thanks…" she mumbled. She wanted to be alone. Why wouldn't he go away?

"And...what about you?" Freedom said to Twilight.

"Hm?"

"What are you thinking of?"

Twilight stared past the sea of puffy clouds the ship was parting through. She said nothing.

"Hm. Staring, huh? I know what that's like." Freedom Fighter clenched his metal hoof and unclenched it. It made barely any sound, nary a whirr nor a clank. He spoke up again: "You're feeling loss."

"No, I'm not."

"Of course you said no. Nopony admits to feeling loss. I know it better than anyone else."

"Freedom...did you ever know how much the human girls meant to me?"

"Enough to know you had nightmares because of it."

"Not just nightmares. Freedom, I...I loved them. I invested myself with them, and fought the sirens alongside them. There was even a boy I liked. And just when everything was going to go right…" Twilight smacked one hoof into another. "Boom. All gone. Just...gone."

"The world is unfair, Twilight."

Tempest Shadow sprung to mind. "I know."

Freedom Fighter stared beyond the horizon, and the vivid light caught itself in his iris. "But it's also beautiful."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. Out of all people she expected to hear that from...

"It took me a bit of time to see," Freedom admitted plainly. "But...well, take a look. Who can say these colors, this atmosphere, isn't stunning?"

The palette only reminded her of the human girl she had reformed and lost in a fiery explosion. Twilight felt her throat constrict.

"I know it's beautiful," Twilight said. "I know it is."

"Who are you thinking about?"

Wow, Freedom Fighter could read her better than she thought.

"Sunset Shimmer," Twilight choked. She leaned on Freedom Fighter's side. He was warm, and his body was firm and soft like a memory pillow.

The two ponies stayed like that as the sun dipped below the waves off to the left. The fiery palette of pink, orange, and bright red made a gradual, easy transition to pale blue, soft pink, and deep violet.

When those colors appeared around them and plunged the world into the brink of darkness, Freedom Fighter began to stroke her mane with his right hoof. Twilight didn't complain.

"The sunset was beautiful," Freedom whispered.

Twilight nodded. The feelings towards Sunset hadn't faded away, but it was nice to know that someone like her knew what she was experiencing.

"...And twilight is absolutely stunning," Freedom finished. Twilight, sparing a stunned glance, saw that his toned golden body stood out a lot more against the dark purple of the oncoming night. "Twilight is my favorite time of the day. The colors are so soothing and dreamy. It's...hypnotizing to me, the longer I look. I only started to think that way after I met you, though."

Twilight, weak in the knees, turned her head, and Freedom Fighter was smiling, a hint of pink on his cheeks.

Twilight felt something leap in her chest. What was happening?

Freedom Fighter sighed and looked away from her, shaking his head. His mane jumped back and forth. Twilight felt an urge to caress it.

"What waits for us beyond the horizon?" Freedom asked. "What will Noble Blade face to win an Element of Honor?"

"We'll make sure he gets it," Twilight assured him. She didn't want to be on the topic any more. She wanted to lean on him again!

"...I love him, Twilight," Freedom admitted. His eyes had grown larger somehow. "I realize it now. He's done nothing but look out for me. He swore it to his father. And so have you, you also looked out for me. You loved me. And the rest of the girls, too." He paused. "And Firestorm. Forgot about him."

Twilight almost laughed, had she not witnessed Firestorm's emphatic retaliation against Tempest Shadow.

"I've almost forgotten...I'm the Element of Sacrifice...because people would sacrifice anything to help me. Just as much as I would sacrifice anything...for you."

Twilight felt her heart quiver in her chest.

Freedom Fighter closed his grip around Twilight's hoof and squeezed. Twilight didn't complain a bit.

The moon had risen high by then. Twilight and Freedom Fighter basked in its glow. No more words were said between them. What needed to be?

Behind a porthole in the cabin, looking out on the two ponies on the bow of the ship, a solitary figure uttered a short squeal of celebration and stamped her hooves on the floor.

"Hah!" Pinkie whispered in triumph, pumping the air with a hoof. "Called it! The ship has set sail, everypony! The ship has set sail on this sailing ship!"

Marshal Malice erupted from the surface of the black water, heaving and gasping, and crawled on nine legs onto the beach surrounding Mount Aris, coughing up streams of awful salt water that tasted like a bad piss.

The beach comprised of tall pillars of rock on harsh sand that got into his open wounds. The water washing up on the sand was stained red with vile blood.

He looked around. His magnificent, beautiful dragon's corpse was lying sprawled, mangled, bloodied, on a nest of long, jagged stones off to his left. The tide had evidently swept both of them to the shore.

Malice lifted his sopping wet head to gaze up. The long spire of stone he had created from the mountain itself was still jutting out at an odd angle. An airship was still impaled on the end. Oily smoke drifted from Mount Aris and from the gloomy night sky itself. The Storm King's mess of airships was drifting around aimlessly, and there were much fewer of them than before. It looked lifeless, not in the mood for a celebration. Malice didn't even need to use his magic to scan for the princess's life force. It definitely wasn't here.

Evidently, those ponies had gotten away.

Malice roared in frustration. How he wished he had that miserable satyr next to him so he could throttle him! This was the perfect chance, and these idiots, these scum-soaked dung stumps, weren't even powerful enough to take on ten little weak stupid ponies!

Malice had lost more from the previous day than he had in the past ten years. Hundreds of Noxxa, one of his arms, and his dragon! And to make things worse, the Unforgiven had appeared, like a specter from his nightmares, and vanished much the same way! To top it all off, that infidel Storm King couldn't even do his job and secure Twilight Sparkle!

Malice spared a pitying glance at Bloodlust's corpse, illuminated by moonlight. The mighty beast had a noble purpose in his long life. He didn't deserve to be killed by the Unforgiven. That pony was a living, breathing evil! The devil Faust in pony form!

If there was only a way to ascend once more beyond the evils of ponykind...

And Malice knew what he had to do. He hated to do it. It meant admitting he wasn't strong enough on his own. But he wasn't like the vile, licentious crowd of stupid ponies or griffons. He recognized reality when he saw it. He needed help.

Summoning his magic, he focused, not outward to the world, but inward, to reach his Lord and master.

That was the beautiful thing about Solaris. For one, He had no form. He was immaterial, formless, everywhere and nowhere at once. His virtue could permeate every facet of this awful world Faust had made, this filthy world of choices and good and bad. He could make His children simply not have the option to choose evil or good. They would just follow Him, unquestioningly, wordlessly, and He would lead them all to salvation--as He had promised in heaven! Why were these ponies so blind as to not see that? It was a free ticket to exaltation, but the ponies, stupid, wasteful, evil, wanted to reach heaven the hard way.

So, Malice would acquiesce to their demands and give them a hard time. They had to regret ever choosing the stupid option of following Faust at all. He was the only one who could both sense the truth and have the strength to defend it from these infidels. He was the chosen one, and Freedom Fighter was his personal devilish, carnal tempter, his damnation.

He was the chosen one. And he needed to follow the Lord's will.

His magic had reached the empty level of a black hole by now, collapsing in on himself, reaching out to the one true God until even Solaris could not ignore his prayer.

What is thy desire, my son? his master asked. It was deep, warped, distorted, dark, and evil. He clearly wasn't in a good mood.

"Master," he growled with effort. His magic was straining to maintain the connection. "Give me a portion of thy almighty power, and I shall deliver the Unforgiven and Twilight Sparkle into thy loving grasp!"

Thou hast failed me before, Solaris pointed out. Thou disappointest me in thy efforts. Time and time again, thou hast failed to obey me.

Malice, straining with all his effort, began to fear for his eternal damnation the instant the final word was spoken.

But perhaps thy failures are a result of thy lack of power, Solaris conceded. And thou hast tried thy hardest to obey mine commands. Unwaveringly, thou hast fought against the traitors of this world. I cannot let thee go unrewarded.

Malice felt like his heart was about to leap from his chest into his throat. Joy was buzzing in his brain like fiery spirits.

Serve me well with this gift, Solaris said, and together you and I shall punish these traitorous sons and daughters. And at last they shall all be saved in my kingdom of glory, where wealth and love abound, and their flaming tongues of holy fire shall sing my praises for saving them. They shall see then that their suffering is for their own good. I come quickly. Have the Corrupted Element ready for me when I do. So it shall be spoken, so it shall be done.

Malice felt immense power rushing into him, like a pitcher overflowing with water, and opened his eyes. All of them were empty abysses of black energy. His fanged mouth was dripping with the stuff, spilling onto his chest.

Malice stumbled over to his dragon's corpse, staggering like a drunkard. Leering over his mount, he sank his needlelike fangs into a wide open wound on the dragon's neck, thick as a tree stump. Dark energy coiled between the gaps in his teeth and spilled onto the dragon's inert body.

Malice roared in the back of his mouth and sucked. Hard.

Blood came rushing in, cold and old and stale. Combining with the dark magic in his mouth, Malice felt the essence fuse itself with him. He willed more blood from the dragon to come forth, and the blood in the beast obeyed. The dragon before his eyes began to shrivel away as blood poured into his mouth.

At the same time, as liter after liter of blood poured into his body, he felt himself changing. It was like going through a painful metamorphosis. The dragon blood, aided by the universe's dark energy and the pure will of a god, fused effortlessly into him.

Malice drank and drank from his dragon, and dark energy poured from his eyes and mouth. He was drooling and crying the stuff. Blood ran in rivulets down the pale scales of the dragon, getting in cracks before coalescing on the dark sand. Pain erupted all across his back and legs. His vertebrae felt like they were being pulled apart by the minute. His head pounded like a drum. His three eyes felt like they were going to boil in their sockets.

Eventually, he pulled away, having taken his fill. Blood slopped down his throat as he coughed out the last bit. He felt filled to the brim of his stomach, and even had some cold liquid gurgling halfway up his esophagus. The devil-dragon before him was shriveled like a dead leaf, or a wet testicle.

He was floating above the ground, encased in a pale aura, sick and ghostly. It just happened; Malice couldn't explain it. Solaris was taking the reins now.

His entire form cracking aloud like a dead tree, Malice's long body doubled in size. His head pulled away in agony, pushing at every spot, dislocating his skull plates, as his head grew as well.

His antennae on top split to the side, and, cracking their way in, two hard horns took their place, looking for all the world like curved, jagged, snowcapped mountain peaks.

His legs flailed about like a cooking lobster as many smaller new ones grew in between them. He had half a hundred legs now, but most of them were ranging from an inch long to a foot. He still had ten--no, nine--main legs.

From his shoulder blades, the exoskeleton erupted in splinters, and out stretched long, thin, bony wings. Evil claws lined the edges of the wings like a serrated knife. Tattered leather hung from its frames like a dead banner in a desolate battle.

Malice's jaw dislocated, stretching over three feet tall, filled with fangs like railroad spikes instead of needles. Flame broiled at the back of his throat. His eyes burned as well, cinders flying from their orange sockets.

Finally, the unearthly aura lifting him up settled him down and disappeared in a flash.

Landing unceremoniously, Malice took a stumble before stabilizing himself on all forty-nine new legs of his!

Malice blinked in astonishment and began to run his claws all along his new body. He was twice as big as before. His antennae were gone entirely, replaced by two short, hard, stubby things on his head. There were so many extra limbs of his that he took a moment to process it before taking control and flapping into the air.

It was surprisingly easy once he stabilized himself. The Pale Rider was now no longer the one that rode the dragon, but instead the one that was the dragon.

That was the power of Solaris. His power didn't show you the way. It made you the way.

He was a little disappointed that the deep black scar over his face hadn't healed, but he expected that. Nothing could heal a Black Blade wound. Nothing. Just another disadvantage the Unforgiven had.

Malice exhaled. A tongue of flame followed his breath and coiled across his lips. He anticipated the burn on his mouth, only to find nothing. Part dragon now, he was immune to fire.

Malice grinned wider than he ever had before, showing his entire set of teeth through his cut-away cheeks. Dislocating his jaw again, he threw his head back, opened his mouth disproportionately wide, and let out an earthshattering roar that shook the sand beneath his talons. It reverberated across the sea, shaking the surface, and through the sky, tearing apart the dark clouds high above Malice to expose the mocking stars.

Oh, the majesty his Lord had given him! Oh, the purpose he had been bestowed with!

Malice, still flapping in the air, turned his back on the silhouette of Mount Aris. The Storm King was as pitiful as the rest of the world's prideful monarchs. Malice would put a stop to it, and he wouldn't need Noxxa, satyrs, or ponies to do it.

Marshal Malice, draconic, demented, and deathly like a ghost, set off across the sea for the mainland. Twilight and Freedom Fighter needed to come alive.

The others would burn. And Malice would set their funeral pyre.

Chapter Sixty-three: The Ultimate Dilemma

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As a pony who tried his best to be the best he could, Noble Blade couldn't help but subconsciously notice that there wasn't a barrier to his way of thinking. Not that he wanted there to be, but it was taught that barriers pushed you forward and helped you develop character. Strong Heart was very adamant about letting him know that.

Which was why Noble Blade admired Freedom Fighter so much, and, to a lesser extent, Firestorm as well. And, of course, Fluttershy. Each of them had lives filled with barriers in their everyday life that made ordinary things harder. Whether it was bodily scars, mental health defects, or simply a fear towards everything, Noble couldn't say he knew what they were feeling, but he admired their struggles nonetheless.

He had his own problems, of course. Mentally escalating the pressure on himself to become a perfect pony was a problem he had subconsciously noticed within himself and was only pointed out recently by Fluttershy. But that wasn't nearly as much of a trial as anxiety, or depression, or autism.

He knew that he hadn't had to go through as much mental progress as the ponies he admired, of course. He'd be a fool not to. Which was another driving factor in his desire to be utterly selfless. The least he could do was give all he had to them in exchange for their struggles. He could afford it, after all. And the more he gave his efforts, the less others had to.

Was that true honor, though? Noble had perceived a pattern in the course of events for their Elements. There had to be a test of some kind, something to take them out of their element (so to speak) and still have them display that Element when times got tough. Was his way of thinking enough to get him through his own test? And if not, how could he modify himself?

...And that led right back to endless self-improvement. Maybe that was his barrier. He was trapped in an endless spiral!

Noble groaned, tired from the day's activities, and leaned on the wall. He was outside the wood-paneled bathroom on the second floor, listening to the swish-swish of the shower as Fluttershy cleaned herself in there.

She was humming a tune that made his mind melt. It was high and rose up and down, and was barely audible through the drumming of the water on the tile, making Noble pay close attention to her song.

"I know you're out there, Noble!" Fluttershy's muffled voice suddenly called through the door.

"...No I'm not!" he responded. As soon as the words left his mouth, he winced. That was stupid.

Fluttershy only giggled. "Silly knight."

"Shoot!" he whispered. What now? Back away discreetly? Join her? Which was the right choice?

"Wanna...come in?"

Noble felt himself freeze on the spot. His mind went black. Feeling his legs fill with lead, rooting him to the spot, he managed to let out a not-quite-so-signified, "Ahh…"

The door to the hallway burst open, and in bounced Freedom Fighter. He was practically doing ballerina steps, humming some tune he made up on the spot. Tiptoeing for a few feet, he lept gracefully in front of Noble Blade, spun to the edge of the hall on the other side, and slumped against the lavish wall, falling slowly to the ground.

Noble's mind had immediately been taken off of Fluttershy. "Uh, thou shalt holdest that...thought...est!" he yelled through the door.

"What happened? I heard a bang!"

"It's just Freedom Fighter."

"It's okay. I'll just, um, finish up in here. I'm almost done anyway."

Noble shook his head. "Freedom, art thou…"

Freedom Fighter's laughter grew louder and louder until he was almost roaring. Noble noticed and held his tongue. What was this about?

"Ah-ha-hee! Ha! Whoo! I did it! I did it! I freaking did it, finally, and I didn't make a fool out of myself! Hahahahahaaaaa!"

"I can understand the reason to celebrate," Noble slowly began. "I would too. Your scars are gone! That's great!"

"No! No, no, no, you don't get it! I actually managed to-! Well, it's kind of a stupid thing. Why am I talking so much? I love talking! Talking is amazing! Don't you think?"

"...Are you high?"

"High in the clouds, Noble!" Freedom bounced back to his hooves, prancing around the knight. "And guess what? I was in the clouds with Twi-" He cut himself off with wide eyes all of a sudden, and then forcibly stuck his metal hoof in his mouth.

"What?"

Freedom took his metal hoof out, dripping with saliva. "Don't make me say it."

"Say what?"

"Don't make me say it!"

"How will I know what you're not going to say if you don't tell me, Freedom? Come on, tell me what you were keeping secret so I know why it's a secret."

"That's a trap, and you know it. And traps are bad."

"Unless you spring the trap."

"I guess." Freedom Fighter began to chuckle uncontrollably.

"What's so funny?"

"Springing the traps...ha! Don't you get it? 'Springing' the 'Trap?' It's…" He gave him a blank stare. "You really have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"Well, obviously! You never told me!"

"I am now!"

"Is springing a trap like an expression now?"

"I made it up on the spot."

"What's it about?"

Freedom Fighter tried to restrain a smile. "You know hermaphrodites?"

"I already hate where this is going."

"Well, if you get one of them excited... you'd be... springing... a trap." He nodded. "Get it now?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Noble pinched his nose and began to walk in the other direction.

"Hey! Hey! Come on, come on! That's just where my mind went!"

"I'm pretty sure I've said this to you, but thou hast a messed-up brain."

"Says the pony waiting just outside his girlfriend's bathroom door."

"Th-thou shalt... shutteth… uppeth… thy... mouth-hole, or I shall do thee an injury!"

"Not gonna work on me anymore! I'm a lizard now! I can just regenerate myself if I get hurt."

"That's…"

"I think my aunt Mary was a lizard or...no, a lobster! Yeah, she was a lobster. I think the village elders would go into her tent and pull on her tendons when she fell asleep to make her lobster legs move."

"Get real, Freedom."

"No, no! I'm serious! One time we did it at my tenth birthday party powwow. We got her walking all the way into my uncle's tent to have some freaky times with him when the sun went down!"

The shower abruptly cut off. "What?!" exclaimed Fluttershy from the restroom.

"I've got a split personality here, Fluttershy! I can't help this!"

Sounds of fumbling came from inside the restroom, and a few moments later, Fluttershy came out, her hair in a mountain atop her head covered by a white towel. She was still glistening from the shower. The pegasus gave a glance at her sweating, red boyfriend, and when she saw how flummoxed he looked, she smiled, giggled and strutted past him, giving his chin the slightest flick of her tail before trotting off.

Noble's gaze turned around and lingered on her as she cantered away.

When she disappeared, he turned back to Freedom Fighter. He was looking much more disapproving and serious than before, Noble noticed. "What?" he asked.

"I know what you're thinking."

"I don't think it was all that subtle, to be fair."

"You just can't wait to take things up a notch, can't you?"

Noble Blade gave him a funny look. "Look who's talking! You literally just made a joke about hermaphrodites!"

"One for your side," Freedom Fighter said. "But I'm being serious here. We need to talk."

"About me loving Fluttershy? I don't see anything wrong with the natural escalation of our progress."

"Natural escalation," Freedom Fighter sardonically repeated. "Slamming the shyest pony face-first into the mattress of the Storm King's ship is natural escalation?"

"That's…" Noble started, then cleared his throat. "A rather merciless way of putting it."

"How would you describe it, then?"

Noble thought about it before putting it as delicately as he could. "Consummating our love for each other?"

"That can wait. It's up to you to decide, but I've lived for this long without that, and I'm doing fine."

"You also didn't have the, ah, capability."

"And I managed to stay sane." He rolled his eyes. "Semi-sane, but I didn't go mad. Too mad."

"You're digging a deeper hole."

"Tell me this, Noble. Answer me. How much do you love Fluttershy?"

Noble Blade took another glance down the hallway she had disappeared from. The perfect mare...what would he do for her?

He took a moment before addressing Freedom Fighter once more. "Is that even a question? Move the mountains and calm the seas and stop Celestia's sun in her tracks."

"If you really love someone, then wait."

He blinked. "Wait?"

"What you're wanting is essentially the most vulnerable thing anypony can do. You're butt naked, dehydrating, worried about your performance, and, well, sticking a body part into another person."

"Leave it to you to put it so bluntly."

"By all means, then, this vulnerable, sacred thing shouldn't be wasted because you feel horny this one time around your girlfriend. Don't you think?"

Noble conceded the point. "You've got it."

"Yeah, sex is good," Freedom Fighter admitted. "But don't care that much about it. I have experience. I had my balls sawed off."

"You have them back now."

"And that's good! I like having genitals! Big surprise, everypony!"

"The sarcasm there was rather subtle."

"My point is, Noble, that if you really love someone, you won't make them do that with you until they're actually ready. That is not something that should be devalued and thrown away. I should know. I've been devalued before. I don't want you to have it experienced as well. Sex is a treasure. Treat it as such."

Noble Blade had nothing more to say. Freedom Fighter's advice was ringing in his ears. His previous thoughts of Fluttershy had faded away into hazy strips of fog in his mind.

He felt utterly ashamed of himself for even thinking like that about the girl he loved. Did he really see her in the moment as nothing more than a hole in a hunk of meat? Honor was supposed to mean something! He had been selfish. Stupid! How was he expected to bear that Element if he never exemplified it?

"I've got something else to tell you."

Noble looked up, not wanting to meet his eye. "What is it?"

"You're next. Or Starlight Glimmer."

Wow, Freedom Fighter picked up well on his mental cues. "I know." He sat on his rump and put his chin into his hooves. "What can I expect?"

"That's what I was about to tell you." He sighed. "You know how I'm not so... psychopathic anymore?"

"I'll admit, it's a nice change of pace. How'd it happen? Did it just come with the scar removal?"

"No. Underwater, just before I got the Element of Sacrifice... I was instructed to live a better, higher life."

"By who?"

"You aren't going to believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"Faust."

"Faust?"

"I told you you wouldn't believe me."

"It's not that I don't believe you! Just... how did it happen?"

Freedom Fighter tapped his forehead as he tried to remember. Noble waited patiently.

"I was in the pit of despair," he began dramatically, waving his hooves. "The adversary was about to snatch me in his tentacles. An agent of Solaris it was, hideous and evil."

"My word!" Noble said, giving a gasp. "Did you die?"

"Sadly, yes," he admitted. He clenched a hoof. "But I survived!"

"Thou art strange."

"As I was about to die, a light appeared in the midst of the abyss. It drove the devil off. And as I drew my eyes upon it, the voice spoke to me."

"What did it say?"

"My son. Oh, my son! Fear not. Look! And rejoice! Your trial is past!"

Noble's not-so-serious demeanor had faded away. It had been replaced by one that meant business. "This is what... Faust said to you?"

"Yeah. Why are you asking?"

"I guess I'm just surprised, is all. I never would have thought that would be what a... goddess would say to a normal pony. What was she like?"

"She was calming. And caring. She was even... playful."

"Playful?"

"I suppose that's what I needed."

Noble didn't respond immediately. His pale blue forehead was creased as he pondered. When he opened his mouth again, he asked, "What did she look like?"

"She had no form. Just a ball of light. But that light drove out every shadow in the room. At the same time, it didn't hurt to look at it. In fact, I felt better and better the more I looked."

"Huh? I thought she was a pony of flesh and blood."

"We were thousands of feet beneath the surface of the ocean. Appearing in a physical form wouldn't have been the smartest idea."

Noble pursed his lips. "Faust is... nothing like I imagined. Casual? Playful? Tailored to each of her children? Those aren't the terms I'd use to describe the queen of the universe."

"What did you imagine, Noble? A strict, drunk auntie that beats her kids for not putting the dishes away? Goddesses rarely work so harshly or ostentatiously."

"What more can you tell me about Faust?"

"She's a very calming influence. If you're surrounded by fear, chaos, or pain, she can easily dispel all of those. Again, I should know. I've... felt all of those."

A bit of silence arose between them. Noble was pondering on all the dark warrior had told him.

"Is there a way... I can gain her presence?"

"She's still a goddess. She chooses when to interfere, not us. Our job isn't to order her around. Our job is to coordinate our will with hers."

"I don't understand Faust. That's the problem."

"You don't need to. That's what having faith means."

Noble Blade gave him a funny look. "What's gotten into you? I don't remember you ever being particularly religious. What changed you?"

Freedom Fighter tapped on the yellow stone embedded in his shoulder. "This."

"...Freedom?"

"Hm?"

"Will the Element of Honor change me?"

"It changed Firestorm. It changed me. And the girls are who they are because of the influence of their Elements. Chances are, it'll change you too."

Firestorm was lying awake in the dark in his quarters. Rainbow Dash was beside him on his bunk bed, snuggled up close to his back, wrinkling the blankets atop both of their sweaty bodies.

His insomnia was part of it. And the Element of Courage, glowing a bright orange on a nightstand, was helping to keep him awake. But his lack of sleep came from another restless source.

Freedom Fighter.

Firestorm still had to remind himself of it, he was so shocked. His best friend was whole once again. When he had first seen his perfect body, glowing like polished gold, Firestorm had to suppress the tears. But they had come anyway.

He was just so... unbalanced. So many things had happened in the past few days. He needed rest. So why on earth couldn't he get it?

He stretched his sore body out under the blanket they shared. Rainbow stirred in her sleep and opened her bloodshot eyes.

"Sorry," he whispered.

"What are you awake for?" Rainbow whispered back. "We gotta sleep…"

Firestorm put a hoof to his chest. "Moi? Sleep? I'm the picture of health! I'm perfec-hughh! Hugghhh! Ugh! Oh!" He began to violently cough. After sniffling, he finished. "I am absolutely healthy."

"You're just pretending, dummy."

"Dummy? Why, I'm hurt."

"Oh, you are? Nice to meet you. My name's-"

"If you finish that sentence, I'll…"

"You'll what?" Rainbow dared, curling up a bit of blanket with a hoof and biting her lip. "Move to the bottom bunk without a snuggle buddy? Or push me off?"

Firestorm found it hard to focus when she did hot things like that. "Snuggle buddy?"

"What? Doncha like it?"

"It's the last thing I'd expect coming from you."

"It's the best way to describe you, Stormy." She scooted closer to his back. "Mmm…you're hot…"

He froze up. "I... would agree with that," Firestorm admitted with exaggerated humility.

Rainbow made a surprise poke on his belly. "And squishy."

Firestorm turned beet red. "I'd rather not focus on that part. I'm a total beefcake."

"Nah," Rainbow yawned, making a high, cute yelp. Smacking her lips at the end of the yawn, she dreamily continued. "You're... the best pony... in the world!"

Firestorm nodded as best he could in his awkward position. "Apart from you?"

"Of course," came Rainbow's lazy affirmation. After another yawn, she blinked hard. "Man, now I'm awake. I gotta go back to sleep now."

"Which means more cuddles?"

"You got it!" Rainbow wriggled into his arms, lying atop him. The blanket was discarded; the heat between them was enough for them.

"If you cuddle too much, I'll tell Twilight you love cuddling."

"You do that, mister, and we're never cuddling again!"

Firestorm's heart leaped in his chest. "Yes, ma'am."

Rainbow laughed for a second, placing her furry ear on his warm chest. "Ah... I could hear your heartbeat speed up, you know."

Firestorm nodded, unsure of where it was going.

"Gosh, it's so strong," she breathed. "Oh, I could fall asleep listening to your heart beating against my head."

Firestorm nodded along, idly tracing a path from the back of her head to the nape of her neck, and then sliding it further down the spine before going back up again to her neck.

"Oh... keep doing that…"

Firestorm obliged. It was an odd way to keep himself tethered to reality. There weren't many ways of making that happen nowadays.

After an indeterminate amount of time, she shifted until she was fully on top of him, chest to chest. Both of their mouths were inches away. Their hot breath tickled the other's lips.

Rainbow began to grind her hips and he felt a jolt in his nether regions that made him snap back to consciousness.

"Babe," he whispered. His voice was hoarse. "What are you-"

"Hush," she breathed. Pinning his biceps to the bed, Rainbow planted her lips on his, continuing to grind her hips. "You'll like this."

Firestorm begged to differ. He could feel himself locking into place under her body. Fear paralyzed him. "Look, we should get to bed, Rainbow."

"Nuh-uh. We're awake now. Might as well do something fuuun!"

Rainbow had probably meant it to be seductive, but Firestorm didn't like it. He needed to leave. This was too much!

He tried to move by sitting up. Rainbow pushed him back down again. For some reason, he felt weaker than he otherwise should be. He didn't want to resist Rainbow Dash. He couldn't conceive of it.

"Shh. Just relax. I'll make you feel good."

Firestorm began to sweat buckets. He was trembling. This wasn't how he wanted it to play out!

"Stop it," he whispered.

"Don't worry. I can fix your fear."

"Stop it!" he whispered a bit louder, scooting back on the mattress. "Let's get some sleep."

"Let me do this for you first," she breathed.

"Look, it was a hot makeout session, lemme tell you, but really, we should sleep. It's…" He checked his wrist. "Skin-thirty! And fifteen seconds past freckle."

Rainbow gave a grumble and forced him back down, staring irately into his soul. "We aren't going anywhere, Stormy. This is our moment. Both of us, here and now. We're making the most of it. Got it?"

Aaaand his stomach felt wormy again. Just great. Why was he like this?

If there was just a way to... say no…

His gaze traveled to the Element of Courage propped up on the dresser next to him. It shone in the darkness, a polished gemstone of divine origin. That courage was his. He represented courage. The will to do things even if you were scared.

The gem glowed a hint brighter as he was thinking so.

"Come on, Stormy. I know, this is really nervous for me too, but there's nothing to fear! Just relax. I'll do all the work. Okay?" Rainbow began to trace his jawline playfully, a grin on her face.

Firestorm shot out and gripped her hoof with his own, holding on with unnatural strength. He stared into Rainbow's eyes with an intensity that surprised even him and grit his teeth as hard as he could.

Rainbow winced. "Hey, come on. That hurts. Let go, will ya?"

Firestorm did not.

"What's up with you, huh? Don't you want this?"

Firestorm beetled his eyebrows closer together in response. It was enough to make Rainbow look unnerved.

"S... Stormy?"

Firestorm slid Rainbow off him with a push and sat up. His entire countenance simmered with fury. He was nothing but a featureless black silhouette, save for his narrow yellow eyes.

Rainbow audibly gulped. "A-are you okay? Are you sure you're-"

A tremble rocked the ship as a colossal boom split the air, and the two pegasi were hurled from their bunk bed and crashed on the ground. The entire ground beneath them reeled back and forth like a drunkard.

Rainbow and Firestorm, after separating themselves, looked up. The furniture in the room had flown to the opposite side, and the bunk bed they were sleeping in was tilting on two legs, about to fall directly on them.

"Get down!" Rainbow ordered, getting on four hooves in time for the bed to fall on them. She barely caught the falling bed's upper frame as it fell, before flapping her wings hard enough and flying high enough to tilt it back onto four legs.

"What the heck happened?" Firestorm screamed, scrabbling through the wreckage on the tilting surface before pulling out the Element of Courage. He flung it around his neck before hurriedly slipping on his combat outfit

"Are we being attacked?" Rainbow suggested, watching him dress in the dark. "Dang it! And at just the wrong time, too!"

"Let's go help the others!" Firestorm quickly volunteered before any more could be said. Slamming the door to his quarters open with his armor halfway on, he sped into the sharply-angled hallway and flew out.

By the time Firestorm had flown out onto the tilted deck of the massive airship, he could see Twilight, Starlight, Rarity, Applejack, and Freedom Fighter on the ship's stern trying to keep their balance. He could only see their silhouettes, however, in the dark night air. The engines, belching smoke, were embedded into the back of the ship not too far away.

They were on fire. Flicker-flashes of flame were pinpointed amongst the massive blocks stuck onto the rear. The engines sputtered and made noise as they protestingly did their job of propelling the ship across the murky waters of the night sky.

"What's going on?" Firestorm demanded, flapping above everyone else. Rainbow appeared right behind him, emerging from the living quarters. He hovered behind Starlight and pushed her upright just as she was about to stumble.

"I think we're being tracked!" Twilight replied. Pointing starboard, Firestorm followed her hoof. Several hundred meters away, a smaller, deadlier ship appeared for a brief moment in the dark clouds before sinking back into the inky blackness.

"The Storm King's coming after us again!" Rainbow exclaimed, gripping her face with her hooves and pulling. "Oh man oh man oh man! This is, like, really bad!"

"Where's Noble and Freedom?" Applejack roared, scrabbling at the deck.

"And Fluttershy, for that matter-r?!" Rarity screamed, slipping on the floor with a thud and sliding down the ship to the railing. "Help me! Help me!"

Starlight braced herself by wrapping her hooves around a steering instrument near the pilot stand, and ignited her horn just before Rarity hit the railing and flew over the edge into the abyss below.

"I'll go look for them on the ship!" Rainbow volunteered, speeding into the ship through the cabin doors.

Twilight lit her horn, gritting her teeth. "Starlight."

"What?"

The alicorn turned around to look at the rear of the boat, where the enemy airship was supposedly circling around. "Get your magic ready. We're going to take this down."

Starlight heaved Rarity to a support beam higher up on the ship before dropping her magic aura and focusing more on charging her horn.

"Guys?!" Rarity wailed, wiggling her hind legs as she dangled on the support beam with her front hooves. "This isn't necessarily a better spot!"

"Port side!" Applejack shouted amidst the chaos, pointing. The ghostly ship had reappeared for a brief instant before melting back into the nighttime clouds. "Bearing close!"

"I saw them too!" Starlight yelled, swiveling her head in that direction while pouring more magic into her horn. "Twilight, over here! They'll show up again!"

"Don't take your eyes off where you think they are!" Twilight ordered, charging more and more power into her horn. A loud whine built up amidst both of the powerful spellcasters.

Twilight and Starlight were sweating hard, and their teeth were ground together as they trembled, waiting for the target to appear. Firestorm couldn't help but sagely flap away from them.

The smaller ship materialized from the dark skies on the port side of the girls. It was manned by all manner of strange green anthropomorphic parrots.

And they were sitting behind three rudimentary cannons mounted on the edges, pointing right at their ship.

"NOW!" Rarity screamed, clutching ever tighter to her support so high up. "Fire!"

As it turned out, Twilight and Starlight didn't need Rarity's order. Bright green and violet laser beams shot from their horns, pulsating and twisting like a drill, and tore through the side of the enemy ship like it was swiss cheese.

At the same time those massive holes appeared in the enemy craft, those three cannons fired. Wickedly sharp hooks with four anchor points shot out, with chains trailing after them like striking snakes. Three harpoons struck the Storm King's personal ship, and the chains attached thereto were cranked back in, so the smaller ship quickly reeled itself to the side of the bigger one, slamming into the edge and making the ship quake once more to its proper slope.

The instant the enemy ship had anchored itself to theirs, the pirates--for that was what they were--leaped aboard, whooping, hollering and waving cutlasses and heavy blunderbusses in the air.

"Lix! Boyle! Take the right flank! I'll take the left with Squabble! Get 'em off the Storm King's ship!"

"Yarr!" they all bellowed, and split into four, rushing the ponies on deck. One large, burly one had an eye patch. Another had a wicked hook on its right hand. A third was entirely bald and pink, old and shriveled. She looked ridiculous, but she was also waving a solid lead ladle effortlessly that could brain anyone it came into contact with. The fourth bird was mindless, squawking all over the place, and held two quick-reload pistols in both his hands.

Twilight flapped up and shot out of reach of the one with the eye patch, who had made a wild grab. He growled and swiped at her again, but Twilight evaded in the air once more, and she fired a hot blast out of her horn right at his butt. He roared, gripping his cheeks, and jabbed his cutlass at Twilight. A red gash opened on her cheek, and Twilight ignited her horn again and gripped his arm in an aura of pink.

Starlight Glimmer had put up a green shield dome just as the bald pink birdie squawked and swung her ladle at her. It bounced straight off and ricocheted to smack her in the face. She twanged for a second before keeling over. Starlight quickly deactivated her shield to stare in horror at her inert frame

"Lix!" cried the large one with the hook. His wild eyes were burning as he fixed his gaze on the unicorn. "Don't you dare run away now! You hear me?"

He swung his hook right at Starlight's face. It would have gouged her eyes out if it weren't for Freedom Fighter, who had popped up and jammed his arm into the curve of his hook.

Boyle, the hook-handed bird, gritted his teeth and jerked his hand away, hoping to yank Freedom Fighter with him.

Freedom Fighter didn't move an inch. Instead, he twisted his arm, forcing Boyle 90 degrees to the left and slamming him down on the deck. In the three seconds that followed, he grabbed the back of Boyle's elbow, unstuck his metal hoof from his golden hook, and swung that arm right on his elbow.

A colossal crack split the air as his arm cleanly broke. Boyle roared and scooted away in fear and pain from the dark warrior.

Squabble, the brainless birdie, kept his lopsided eyes pointed in the same direction as his pistols, keeping Applejack and Firestorm at bay. Both ponies were circling around slowly, trying not to provoke the easily-provokable bird from firing.

"Look at him!" Firestorm hissed to Applejack. "He can focus in two areas at once. A distraction won't do anything here!"

"So what's yer plan?"

"Not even I can outrun a pistol shot," he admitted, and his face was appropriately glum. "If I try to move in on him and he fires, I'm a toasted roast."

Squabble kept on moving his arms wherever Applejack and Firestorm moved. His tongue was stupidly lolling out.

A bright pink ball of high energy whizzed out of nowhere and smacked him in between the eyes. Squabble hung there in midair for a minute before collapsing.

Pinkie Pie rightened herself on two hind legs and, with a grunt behind exposed, bared teeth, put up her dukes. "Come on, you birdie bozos!" she grunted between her teeth. "Get a taste of this!"

"Mullet!" Boyle yelled to the one with the eye patch. "Look out!"

Mullet evaded the whirling pink ball just as it came for him. It shot by while just missing his chest. Mullet swished his saber some more at Twilight while backing away into the center of the deck. The other three pirates were following his example. Squabble was stumbling backwards with no direction, and Lix Spittle, holding her skull, was hissing as she dragged the heavy ladle behind her. Boyle was cradling his broken arm.

As the four broken pirates gathered together, surrounded on all sides by Applejack, Firestorm, Pinkie Pie, and Freedom Fighter, Twilight and Starlight approached them all.

"It's strange," Starlight mused. "These pirates attack us, but without making any attempt to take a hostage or wreck the ship."

"Unless…" Twilight realized, looking at their last stand. "...an elaborate distraction?"

"To hide their primary objective!" Starlight gasped.

Both girls knew in that instant which objective aboard their ship really mattered.

"Tempest!"

A loud, cackling laugh overran their words, and every pony on deck turned towards the spot where the prisoner cage would normally rise. Instead of a cage, however, they came eye to eye with the captain herself. She was an anthropomorphic parrot with a flashy pirate uniform and a large flamboyant hat with several colored feathers embedded in it. A long emerald blade was in place of her right leg.

And beside her was the freed mare Tempest Shadow.

"I would like to congratulate you on being distracted by my dear comrades," the captain started, sweeping her hat off with a bow. "And for allowing me to take my King's Lieutenant back!"

With a swipe of her leg, she slashed through a taut rope and grabbed onto the edge as it yanked her away. It shot her right above the action, and as she was flying upside down in the air, she drew out two quick-reload pistols from her holsters and fired at the deck in front of Twilight and Starlight. Wood erupted in splinters, forcing the two of them back.

Meanwhile, Tempest leaped onto the main deck and blazed a path for Twilight when the gunshots ceased. And she would have made it, too, had Freedom Fighter not jumped between them both, as he had at the battle of Mount Aris. Tempest's striking hoof met hard metal as Freedom Fighter deflected her forceful blow with his left arm.

Tempest widened her eyes.

Freedom Fighter shook his head no.

A right uppercut made Tempest fly back and thud onto the deck. The ponies assembled together into one body while the pirates and Tempest collected themselves. Captain Celeano was at the head of theirs, and Twilight was in front of hers.

"So you must be Twilight Sparkle," the captain muttered in fascination. "The Storm King would want to see you in person."

"Why does everyone want me?" Twilight exasperatedly asked.

"You can lead us to sources of power beyond all imagination," Captain Celeano explained. She leveled her cutlass and a pistol right at her. "Right now, we're at a draw, I'd say. But what will continue to happen if it remains that way? I heavily damaged your engines. You can't possibly stay in the air for long."

"Leave now," Applejack declared, stomping the deck. "What're ya gonna do? Yer ship's still attached ta ours."

"Then we all go down together and the way I wanted us to," Celeano said without regret. "As pirates. As mercenaries of the Storm King, rather than simple delivery boys. I'm proud, you know. When the time came to launch a recovery squad, the Storm King could rely on us."

Mullet, Boyle, Lix, and Squabble all sounded their agreement behind her.

"And we won't move, if it means you'll get away," Tempest finished, bleeding afresh from her abused nose. It was wrinkled and scrunched from all it had taken.

And suddenly, the entire group scrambled back in shock and fear as a long, glowing blue cross flew right at their feet and embedded itself into the deck. Everyone, in surprise or fear, swiveled to the source.

With Fluttershy bravely by his side, Noble Blade was atop a higher upper deck of the airship, right underneath the massive balloon keeping it aloft. His arm was forward but in the process of retreating back from his throw. And his eyes were darkened with the anger of battle.

Popping into existence behind the pirates were Shining Armor and Winter Gleam, who took low stances and circled around them, trapping them on all sides.

Celeano looked to the skies for any means of escape, but Rainbow Dash was there right above them with her dukes up.

Celeano looked past the blazing blue blade in front of her to stare into Twilight's now intense eyes.

"Stalemate?" Twilight asked, an ironic edge in her voice. "Who decided that? You thought you could go out in a blaze of glory? Who decided that?"

Starlight charged her horn with light green energy. "Get off. Our ship."

Her horn's ignition was echoed by the ignition of Twilight's, Shining Armor's, and Noble Blade's, from afar off. Firestorm swiftly drew his twin blades and blazed them to life, and Freedom Fighter did the same with the staves at his flanks. Pinkie Pie and Applejack crouched low, ready to pounce, and Rarity, still wrapped around a beam high above the action, charged her horn as well, though she looked like she didn't know what more it could add.

The pirates collectively took in their position and the odds against them, and quickly decided they had a very pressing appointment somewhere else.

Anywhere else.

They ran to the port side of the ship and jumped aboard their own, anchored to the priceless wooden beams of the pony's ship. Lix and Mullet scrambled over first, followed by Squabble. Boyle, grunting in pain from his broken arm, reached for Mullet's hand with his free hand and caught it.

As Celeano leaped aboard with Tempest following, however, Firestorm roared, "NO!" and tackled her back to their own ship just as she was about to touch down. Tempest and Firestorm tumbled on the deck in a jumble of limbs and ended with Firestorm pinning her down.

"Tempest!" Celeano cried, looking back in fear.

"Firestorm!" Pinkie shouted, jilting her head back. "What are you doing?"

"She stays here!" Firestorm emphasized, yanking her arms the wrong direction. "I won't let her go back and plot against us more! If the Storm King wants her so badly, let him bargain or fight!"

"Get off of her!" Twilight ordered, enveloping him in a violet aura and throwing him off. Firestorm tumbled aside.

Tempest rose on four legs, staring at Twilight. Whether her expression was of admiration or shock or anger, however, no one could say. Her face was simply too ambiguous.

"Tempest," Twilight whispered, almost pleadingly. "I can show you the world as it truly is." She took a closer step. "You are not helpless. Please…"

The jaded mare cast her gaze towards her, then at the ship anchored to the port side and the pirates urging her with their arms to come with them.

Tempest returned to Twilight's eyes, and her clouded greens bore harshly into Twilight's violets.

"Happy trails, Twilight Sparkle."

Her jagged horn ignited with a coil of electricity.

"RUN!" Noble screamed, shielding Fluttershy from what was about to happen.

The other mares, except for Twilight, turned tail and fled as Tempest's powers roared to life. Long white coils of power shot out of every direction as she turned her head, not at Twilight or the deck itself, but at the balloon above them.

It was then that Twilight had had enough.

With a roar, Twilight enveloped Tempest Shadow in an aura of power and hurled her to the edge of the railing, cutting off her channel of electricity as she hit it with a groan and slid to the deck. Tempest didn't let that bother her for long, though, as she only got back up to face her again and summoned her lightning powers once again.

"I watched my friends die once before!" Twilight yelled at her, and her voice was deep with rage. "I won't let that happen again!"

The ship had slowed to a crawl by now. The engines plowing the ship along were running on fumes from the damage Celeano had inflicted.

In the faint firelight, the two tempered mares began to prowl like wolves. Flashes of light from their horns illuminated their darkened faces. From those watching, it was almost impossible to describe the harsh, intense heat in between them both.

Twilight made the first move. She fired a thin stream of violet into Tempest's chest, driving her backward. Her chest armor absorbed most of the magic, but Twilight wasn't intending for that to harm her. She wanted to put distance between her and the power keeping them aloft.

Tempest leaped to the side after several seconds of being driven back, and the purple laser drove into the deck instead, scorching a hole deep through the priceless wood. Tempest sprinted right at Twilight at full tilt.

Twilight could see there was no way for her to evade it in time, so she jumped right at her just before she impacted. Both ponies went sprawling, with Twilight's limbs wrapped around Tempest's body.

"Come on, men!" Celeano urged her crew. "Let's show this little pony how we do it!"

As Celeano leaped aboard with an aloft saber and began to charge, Twilight whipped her head to the parrot.

Her eyes were glowing white. Celeano paused mid-stride.

Twilight's magic covered Celeano. Desperate, she tried to wrest herself free by yanking herself in every direction, but nothing she could do could release Twilight's grip.

Twilight gritted her teeth, her white eyes beetled together with rage, and pulsed her horn.

Celeano bulged her eyes as she began to collapse in on herself. She was being patted into a tight little ball, helpless to change her fate. Limbs bent the wrong way, and her vertebrae were cracking. As she let out a scream of pain, Twilight snarled.

Twilight bent Celeano's spine in half like a piece of cardboard.

Twilight swung her head, and Celeano went flying back to her own ship, struck the deck face-first, and collapsed like a ragdoll.

Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were holding each other, staring and quivering, as Twilight's immense inner power began to release. Rarity, high up on a beam, clung ever tighter, scared out of her mind. Fluttershy and Noble Blade were gripping tightly to the handrails, trying their best to remain safe yet take action at the same time.

Tempest was struggling against her captor. The ends of her limbs flailed about under Twilight's pressure, but Tempest couldn't get up. Twilight simply had too much power.

"You... just don't see…!"

"I just don't see?!" Twilight exclaimed, kneeling on Tempest's back and pressing the tip of her burning horn into the back of Tempest's skull. "I see clearly what you truly are, Tempest! You're another enemy who simply won't change! I gave you mercy. I gave you a second chance! But you will submit now, or you'll die!"

"You don't have it in you, Twilight!"

"Try me!" Twilight retorted, and she struck her across the back of the head. Tempest's skull rang like a bell. "I'll do my best to satisfy you if that's what you want!"

"Twilight!" roared the commanding voice of Shining Armor, and all heads swiveled to the powerful unicorn as he galloped to his sister. Shining reached her and tried to pull on her from behind. "Twiley! Ngh! Come on! Let go of it!"

All he got for his efforts was a swift buck in the face. Shining Armor stumbled back, clutching his face, as Twilight craned her head around to give him a glare of defiance. Her eyes were still as solid white as fresh snow, and her horn was roaring with magical power.

"Sir!" Winter Gleam cried out, pushing him aside. "You shouldn't-"

"She is my sister!" he bellowed. "I won't let her succumb!"

"I'm sorry."

Twilight's voice was distorted and deep and twisted with power. Her mane began to flow freely. "I shall not permit our lives to be stolen by the monsters of this world. They shall flee, or perish! Starting with this monster, right here and now!"

"Twiliiiiiight!"

The alicorn was jolted from behind, and she gave a powerful glare in that direction.

Spike had run at full speed and shoved her in a juvenile attempt to stop her. His little fists were balled and in front of him.

"Spike." Twilight twisted her lips. "Get out of the way! Tempest needs to-!"

"No, Twilight! You need to stop! This isn't like you!" He set his hands on her straddled leg. "Where are you on the inside, huh?"

"Leave me!" she screamed, leaning in close to his face.

"I'll never leave you!" Spike swore, holding on to her tighter.

Twilight lifted her hoof as if to give him a backhand.

"But if you want to leave me…" he continued, staring up into her blank eyes, "then do it. You have no obligation to me. But I do to you. You raised me. You saved me. I just wondered... if I could do the same for you…"

Twilight's hoof stopped. Her white eyes flickered.

Then, she shook her head, blinked hard a few times, and her eyes reverted back to her normal-colored state. Her grip on Tempest lessened.

"Oh, Spike…" she whispered. The corner of her eye was wet and threatening to spill over. "...What was I thinking…?"

The other ponies cautiously approached her, unsure if Twilight's temper was truly abated.

"I don't want to destroy her," she breathed. It was as if she wasn't talking to them, however, more than she was trying to convince herself. "I don't...I can't…"

Tempest gave an upward glance. Twilight's attention was on her friends now, and not on the mare beneath her hooves.

All it took was a swift buck upwards, and Twilight flew off her and tumbled aside. Tempest got up and began to charge her electric horn as she ran to the engines.

"Stop!" Noble bellowed, tearing his blue sword from the deck with his magic. In a form of desperation, he hurled it at Tempest.

Tempest slid on the deck at the last opportunity, and the sword buzzed like a hornet inches above her head and zoomed straight at the engines.

"NO!" cried several ponies, lunging for either the pony or the sword. Noble hastily cut off his magic. But the sword flew like an arrow, and it disappeared into the blocky form of an engine with an audible crunch.

The entire rear of the ship exploded. The ponies flew back from the sheer force itself. The anchors connecting the two ships snapped and broke away, and both boats jolted in either direction. Fire blossomed everywhere.

Their world went white.

"So... where are we going again?"

"I already told you, my prince. My people have created a... refugee camp just outside the borders of Appaloosa. You'll fit in nicely with us there until the mess in Canterlot has blown over. See, we're almost there. Look out the window."

The idiotic prince pressed his face against the glass window of the speeding train. It had been easy for K'ra to secretly slip aboard without the conductor noticing, but K'ra was still not taking any chances. He was in the back of the train with the prince, whom he had spirited from the castle.

"It's really dark out there," Blueblood murmured, flicking his eyes all over the place. "Where's Appaloosa? That cluster of lights in the distance?"

"Yes." K'ra tried not to claw his golden eyes out. Or the prince's. He was a valuable hostage, after all. "Just outside the city is my camp, Black Fang Redoubt."

"Black Fang Redoubt?" he repeated. "That doesn't sound very nice. Why'd you name it-" He cut himself off.

"What is it?" K'ra said.

"I saw an explosion in the sky."

"A what?" K'ra was interested enough to press his own black face to the window.

"See? Just up there."

Indeed, an orange lamp was shining high in the cloudy night sky. It was hidden by the low clouds, but the glow itself was spread among the entire cloud line. What was causing it?

Then it pulsed brighter all of a sudden, and a colossal explosion rocked the air. The boom was even faintly heard from inside the train. For sure, the denizens of Appaloosa had heard it.

And K'ra dropped his needled jaw as a tremendous airship dropped from high in the sky. It was on fire from the rear, and the fire had spread to the balloon holding it aloft. It was like a plummeting stone, or a diving whale almost.

"Who do you think…" Blueblood whispered.

The balloon above the ship was entirely on fire now, and was pulling away from the boat beneath. It eventually broke free and hung in the air for a moment before erupting in another massive explosion. But even though the means of keeping it aloft had disappeared, it still came down slowly. Several auras of color had begun to surround different parts of the ship. Two spots were blue. Two were pink. And one was a light shade of green.

"Hang on…" Blueblood muttered, squinting. "That magic color...it's familiar…"

"What?"

"At the Grand Galloping Gala, I saw several mares with magic auras that match the colors I see here. It was... Hang on...Twilight Sparkle! Yeah, her, and her lackey Starlight Glimmer! And... that blue magic... I could never forget a shade of color like that." His gaze narrowed. "Rarity."

"...And where they go, Noble Blade is sure to go as well!" K'ra realized.

Oh, this was a shock. On the one hand, the objectives had fallen, literally, into their grasp. Rarity and Noble Blade would be easy to snag, and once they did, the prince would be placated. On the other hand, these were the Guardians of the Sun they were talking about. Not to mention the unlimited magical potential of Twilight and Starlight, plus the combined powers of the other girls.

The boat had violently settled, if it was possible to describe how it came down. The entry velocity was slower than usual, but it still smashed headlong into the earth just outside the limits of Appaloosa.

K'ra knew what to do. It was a flash of inspiration. He felt a pressure in his chest as he thought about it, and he felt very warm. When he spoke again, that calming influence disappeared.

"Blueblood," he whispered. Hissed, actually. "We'll deliver on your demands."

"What do you mean?"

"Noble Blade will be delivered into your grasp. When we reach Black Fang Redoubt I'll instruct some of my fellows to take him from the wreckage. And then, my prince, your…" What was the best word to describe it? "...rivalry shall end."

Chapter Sixty-four: Abduction

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Noble pushed aside another burning beam, and it fell in a flurry of sparks. It was around here somewhere. If he could just get to it-!

"Please survive," he kept on saying to himself. "Please be undamaged!"

But the wreckage of the Storm King's ship yielded no good promises. All around him and stretching out for dozens of feet was splinters and bent beams of metal and wood alike. The ruins were spidering out and ending in sharp tips. Some of it was still burning.

Regardless of all that, Noble needed to find it. If he lost it, what would his father think of him?

He was right around where he thought his room was. Only a few hours prior, he was asleep with Fluttershy, feeling her warm embrace around his back. His mind had been clear from all danger. Until the attack in midair happened and he had to urge Fluttershy from her slumber.

He pushed aside a bent door frame and used his magic to clear away many smaller pieces of metal barricading his way. His room was absolutely flattened by now. Barely recognizable except for the bunks he had slept in jutting up from the wreckage, it was basically a carpet of broken debris.

He began to dig like a terrier through the wreckage where he last remembered it was. His hopes to find it intact were dwindling by the second.

He found it finally, and when he did his heart sank.

He gingerly picked up the twisted, broken breastplate. His lips were trembling, and so were his pupils. There was a long gash tearing the whole thing entirely in half, held only by a small knot of twisted metal at the shoulder. It had also flattened out until it was thin like a sheet of paper.

Unrecognizable. Awful. Heartwrenching.

No other words were running through his head.

He knelt down and held the flat piece close to his chest, his throat and closed eyes hurting. All around him, the fires died down until they were only pinpoints of light and glowing piles of powder. Noble Blade was a silent dark figure amidst the wreckage, clinging to the gift he had been entrusted with.

Finally, he choked out, "Father.."

Noble Blade caressed it along the length of its gash. A small shard nicked his hoof, and a bead of blood appeared immediately. He hissed, but didn't take his bloody hoof away.

His deep blue eyes fell to earth for a moment before he raised them up once more to gaze at the sky. It was still black and cloudy, with neither moon nor star to light his way.

Then his vivid eyes beetled, and he blew a hard breath through his nose. He stared ever harder at his ruined armor, at the protection his father had promised him with.

"I did this," he whispered.

He settled it down as if it was a bomb.

"I destroyed your protection."

He rose on all fours. He was trembling in the knees, and his eyes were on the verge of tears. His mouth was pulled, not in a grieving frown, but in a hard grimace.

"I'm not the knight you wanted me to be…Father...Celestia...Twilight...please…"

Please what? He didn't know what to say at first. What should he say to them? What could he possibly do?

Then the answer rose easily to his lips.

"I hope you see...I don't think I have it in me."

He wiped his eyes. Blood smeared his eyelid as he did so; he did it with the hoof he had drawn blood from his broken promise. It began to drip down his face. Like he was weeping blood.

"I don't think anyone does."

Noble came back to the small fortification the girls had erected. It was a clearing in the midst of the wreckage, and tall beams had been stuck upright around the circle with old fabric draped across them to create a sort of shelter. Shining Armor, Winter Gleam, and Freedom Fighter were outside the circle keeping a lookout. The rest of them were inside, doing their best to tidy up the temporary shelter.

All except for two mares. The first was Tempest. She had been tied to an upright beam and was gagged with a tight rag. The second mare was Twilight, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground next to Tempest, an empty look in her darkened eyes as she stared blindly into nothingness.

Noble took a glance at his sword and shield lying on the ground next to her. They had been the only belongings to survive the crash. The sword was undamaged, but the shield was scorched.

Rarity was gazing with a hoof over her eyes into the western distance, silhouetted in the black of night. A few bright spots were speckled far away.

"Applejack," she requested. "Would you come here and tell me what you see over there in the distance?"

Applejack spat out a length of rope she was using to stabilize a beam and trotted over. "Sure. Uh, where again?"

Rarity pointed in the right direction, and Applejack squinted. Then her eyes widened once again. "Sweet Celestia. That's Appaloosa!"

The other chattering girls paused in their conversations and work and began to pay close attention to what Applejack was saying.

"How could you tell from that distance?" Rarity asked, evidently impressed.

"Ah narrowed ma options down," was her reply. "Ah've been navigatin' the entire journey, and we've been steadily heading north to Canterlot. That route passes through Appaloosa."

"You sure?"

"Ah'm sure." She had that resolute look in her eye. "With any luck, we can head down there in th' mornin' and get some supplies to head on a train north to Canterlot to drop off…" She gave a pointed glance at the mare tied up. "Tempest."

Tempest, lashed to the post, affixed Applejack with a glare.

They ate the few surviving remnants of the kitchen's stocks. Pinkie had rummaged around in the wreckage near where it was located and had cropped up again with several dirty cheese wheels, squishy potatoes, browned apples, and ruined cabbages. None of it made Noble's stomach feel less queasy than it already was.

When the time came for the mares to retire to bed--which was essentially a collection of mats on top of a few scraps of salvaged straw--only Twilight stayed where she was, overlooking the plains below with a blank look in her eyes. Noble noticed this and stayed behind.

He approached her from the left, trying to get a good look at the dull horizon, where Twilight's gaze was dutifully fixed. What was out there that she found interesting?

"Twilight," he said, his hoof hovering over her back. "Talk to me."

She craned her head. Her expression was sickly and aged with many wrinkles. Her lower lip was subtly trembling, and her eyes looked heavy. Noble felt his stomach churn with concern.

"I don't have to say anything to you, Noble," the alicorn whispered. She flopped on her rear and rested her chin in her hooves, and simply sighed. "You know why I feel absolutely awful. Why do you have to ask?"

"This isn't for me," he replied, sitting next to her. "This is about you."

"I somehow doubt that."

"Ponies feel better when they release their emotions, Twilight. I've spent enough time with Freedom and Firestorm to know that. Not to mention, I've done it several times before. And so have you, I imagine. Why not now?"

"I know, I know. I've done it too. Guess what? I know how to use emotion! You're not special, Noble Blade!"

"This isn't about me," he repeated. "This is all about you. Drop the sarcasm."

Twilight snorted and used her magic to levitate a dry stick into the air. "...How did it feel?"

"Hm?"

"When you took your first life." She grit her teeth and pulsed her magic. The entire length of the stick caught fire and fell to earth. "How did it feel?!"

Noble finally understood. With no more than a grunt, he looked away. "It was awful."

Twilight's violet irises expanded in sickened interest.

"I had taken the lives of beasts and animals before, but when I took my first intelligent life, I felt like I had murdered. On purpose."

"Nice to know someone is as miserable as I am," Twilight muttered.

Noble set a surprised hoof on her shoulder. "What?!"

"Don't touch me," she hissed, and jerked away.

Noble obediently lowered his hoof and looked at the ground. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize."

"My mistake."

"You're still doing it!"

"Force of habit. Sorry."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Noble inwardly cursed himself. He just kept on doing it! He never learned! Why did he never learn?!

"Noble. I appreciate the concern. But I…" She faltered before pawing pathetically at the ground. "Just leave me be. I killed someone. Go away!"

Noble arose, and his heart pounded with sorrow in his chest. "Twilight...life is precious. I know you know this. So...don't throw your own life away."

She gave an irate glance over her shoulder. Then she looked away and ground her hoof into the soil.

Noble Blade then went to the fringe of their encampment, which was a jutting ledge overlooking the plains below. Freedom Fighter, Winter Gleam, and Shining Armor were on that ledge, keeping an eye in three directions. Freedom was the one that saw him approach first. His body was nothing more than a featureless black outline; he had donned his bodysuit for practicality, not a necessity.

"I'll keep watch," Noble told him, clasping him on the shoulder as he passed. "Get some rest. You earned it today."

Freedom Fighter gave only a solemn nod and turned. Shining Armor and Winter Gleam trudged back to the encampment of erected timbers.

Noble stood alone on the overlook. Darkness spread out in every direction, save for the collection of lights in the distance that was Appaloosa. And…

Noble squinted. Over there, just north of the camp, there was a darker place than usual. The air was dark black. But that spot, a few miles north of Appaloosa, was shiny black, like obsidian. Or the sheen of a Black Blade.

He promised to keep an eye on it.

"Um...aren't you coming?"

He knew that beautiful voice. He loved it. But it was...distracting.

"Fluttershy, I need to keep watch tonight."

"Why you? Why not Winter Gleam, or Freedom Fighter?"

"I need to be the one to…"

"To make up for what you did on the airship?"

Noble whirled around. Fluttershy was perceptive!

"I…" He stuttered for a second, then cut himself off before he could say much more than that. "You got it."

"That wasn't on you!" Fluttershy nuzzled herself closer to him. "If you hadn't, Tempest would have done it. No matter what, the airship was doomed. No one has blamed you for this. Don't do it yourself!"

"But it was my fault!" he replied.

"And how will you make up for this? Keep watch for one night? That's not the way to make up for your failures!"

"What more can I do? With Tempest in irons again and the pirates gone, and with us stranded in the desert with not even a scrap of food, I don't see a way I can make up for destroying the fastest way home!"

"Noble Blade." After that brief admonishment, Fluttershy gently smacked him under the chin. "You never learn to accept that some things are out of your control, and that blaming yourself for them is not what your father would want from you!"

Noble was on the edge of a cutting remark. But as he was about to strike her down, he balked at the last minute. What? What was he thinking? What was the point? Why was he so riled up by her reassurance? Stupid!

"What do you think your path of redemption consists of, Noble? Self-beration? Beating yourself up? Being ashamed of your former actions? I'm telling you, Noble, that's the wrong way to go about doing it. That won't change your future! I should know! I've f-felt that before!"

Fluttershy's face had changed from stern to distressed. Noble Blade felt unreasonably frightened by the abrupt switch.

"I've d-done things I didn't like b-before! And I was ashamed of myself for that, Noble. I hated that part of my life. So I mentally beat myself up, year after year, and I was shy and secluded and unwilling to look past my mistakes. Everything was my fault back then. Every pony I knew who suffered, I could trace a faint trail back to me.

"But Noble, look at me now! I learned that my errors, my mistakes, are just that--mistakes. They're not a part of me. They're a mistake. They're not me. Not myself. I'm not a mistake. So why bother thinking that way?"

"I…" The ground under him seemed to be swaying more than the deck of the Storm King's flagship. "But we still have to take responsibility for what we've done, Fluttershy! Right?"

"Of course," she cooed. "Take responsibility for what you can control. So control who you really are! There's no point in taking responsibility for things that aren't a part of you!"

That made a little more sense than it was supposed to.

"Fluttershy...Gosh, how can you be so...profound?"

"Oh...practice," she negligently said, giving a small tousle of his mane. "And experience. But...well, mostly, the other girls taught me."

"Did you manage to teach the girls as well?" he followed up. "You're the best teacher I know."

She smiled--such a heavenly smile!--and rolled her eyes. "You think so?"

"I know so!"

She shrugged, and her mane swayed in front of her eyes. "I suppose if that's what you think."

Noble brushed her rose mane aside and cupped her chin. "You've taught me quite a bit, Fluttershy. How to be relaxed. How to not be a stick-in-the-mud. How to become the pony capable of my full potential. And…"

He swooped in for a peck on the lips and drew away quickly. Fluttershy was still processing it with a quiver on her lips and a flame in her cheeks.

"...and you taught me how to kiss." He grinned. "I'm a slow learner, I guess."

"...I think you need a bit more practice," she whispered.

And she leaned in. This time, it lasted considerably longer and was much more soft, yet just as passionate as his. Noble felt himself sinking into the ground. But he didn't want to escape.

When Fluttershy drew away, she had on a much brighter face. "...But...after consideration...you pass with flying colors!" After a giggle, she leaned into his grip and laid a hoof on his chest, gazing into his face. "Want some extra credit?"

"...What do you mean?"

"Oh," she said, twirling a lock of hair. "I'm thinking about some late-night classes."

Noble swallowed a hard lump in his throat. "I'm...looking forward to the lessons."

Fluttershy kissed him again without any other words. Noble got in a bit more practice before he pulled away.

"Come back to bed after your watch," she whispered. She traced a line with a hoof up his chest, ending at his chin. "I love sleeping with you."

Noble cupped her cheek with a hoof of his own. "You'll wake up by a kiss with me by your side, Fluttershy. I promise."

She nuzzled into his touch before she turned and went back to the beds. She swished her tail a few times before disappearing behind the erected timbers of their encampment.

Noble watched her go, and when she disappeared he groaned, turned around, and set his gaze outward, to the shiny black spot just north of the city of Appaloosa.

The sentinel of the night stood alone under the vast overcast sky. Without armor, and wishing he could be anywhere else, the knight nonetheless stood solid and strong. His tired eyes were staring outward.

Not underneath him. Not on the edges of the plateau they were resting on.

If he had, he would have been saved.

Directly beneath him, scuttling under the jutting edge of the cliff, three Noxxa the size of small cars inched their way closer to the unsuspecting knight.

The morning sun touched Fluttershy's face, and it warmed her quickly. Her bed, and the others, laid out in beds of hay, was fully exposed to the elements. It was lucky it hadn't rained.

As she groggily opened her eyes, she dully registered that she hadn't been woken up with a kiss, like she had been promised. Maybe...Noble was asleep?

She turned in her position to where she thought Noble would be. Unfortunately, his spot was open. His mat didn't even look like it had been occupied during the night.

Nervous now, Fluttershy tried to reason with herself. He was up making breakfast, wasn't he?

She sat up. In the middle of their semi-shelter was the cook-fire, which was unmanned, save for Applejack, who was still groggy and tired-eyed. Firestorm was following her.

"Mornin', Shy," she said, before yawning and smacking her lips. "Boy, sleep sure don't come easy after what happened last night."

"Did you see Noble Blade?" Fluttershy meeped.

Applejack quirked an eyebrow. "Ah thought he'd be with you."

"Maybe he fell asleep at his post?" Fluttershy reasoned, panic setting in. "He was keeping watch for the night."

"I'll check," Firestorm volunteered, and sped off to the overlook just outside their encampment.

"What was he mopin' about?" Applejack asked.

"Hm?"

"That guy's always tryin' ta take the world on his shoulders so we don't have to. Ah'm guessin' it's about the downed ship?"

Now Fluttershy quirked an eyebrow. "How did you-"

"What can Ah say?" She shrugged, grinning. "Ah'm perceptive."

"Well…" Fluttershy flapped out of her mat and settled on the ground. "You're right. He was feeling really bad last night about it. I'm afraid I wasn't able to help him. He's stubborn like that."

"Tell ya what," Applejack said, kneeling near the cook-fire. "After we get down ta Appaloosa, Ah'll give 'im a stern talking-to. Nopony's done bad off good ol' Apple family advice yet! Honesty's the best polic-"

Firestorm's scream of anguish and rage tore open the ears of the two girls. The others woke up blindly, flailing about in surprise. Tempest Shadow, who had been lashed to a pole the entire night, made muffled screams against her gag and struggled harder.

"What...what was that?!" Starlight exclaimed.

"Somepony's not having a good time!" Pinkie declared. "Stormy! You okay?"

From behind the battlements of their fortification, Firestorm screamed again. It was a hateful, fearful cry of horror.

That sent every single pony charging for the overlook. They threw aside the log acting as a makeshift door for the camp and came as one body to the overlook.

Firestorm was kneeling on the ground near several stones spattered with old blood. Noble Blade's sword was sticking upright in the rocks, and a tattered black flag hung from the pommel. At the base of the sword was a letter weighed down with several small stones.

"What…" Rainbow gasped, coming closer to her boyfriend. "Stormy, are you…"

Firestorm whirled around. His vibrant yellow eyes were beetled and dark with fury.

"They took him!" he snarled. Rainbow scrambled back in a hurry.

"Who?" Twilight demanded.

Firestorm only jabbed his hoof at the paper at the base of the upright sword. "Read it," he hissed. "I'm going to map out the area out there."

Crouching, he then rocketed off and shot into the air like a bullet from a gun. Small rocks flew up from his takeoff from the sheer force thereof.

Twilight picked up the note with her magic and began to read it. Fluttershy peeked over her shoulder. The other girls squinted into the distance where Firestorm was speeding.

North of Appaloosa was a dark, shiny collection of broken-down hovels surrounding a cave, with a plain black flag on a tall pole towering above it all. Firestorm was speeding towards it, easy to distinguish against the plain blue sky.

Twilight swore. Hard. Fluttershy began to weep.

"Twilight-" Shining Armor began, reaching for her. Twilight evaded her brother's touch, however, and gritted her teeth as she spoke.

"They've taken him!"

"Who has?" Pinkie wondered. She was uncharacteristically serious.

"The Noxxa!"

She thrust the letter into Pinkie Pie's hooves.

Noble Blade is our hostage in Black Fang Redoubt. You have three days. After that, we'll give him back. Piece by piece, in separate boxes.

He felt woozy. The world tumbled around him in swirls of black and tinted red light.

He blinked. Outlines of the small space surrounding him began to materialize.

He blinked again. Though his vision was fuzzy, he could tell he was in a small jail cell. The fused-together iron bars in front of him betrayed that fact. As he blinked again, the bars appeared clearer and more separate.

For the final time, he blinked. The world was clear once more, though he felt pain in his head. Something crusty was on his temple and cheek. It was his own blood.

He was kneeling. His arms were chained to either side of the small cell. Between his arms was a tight line of barbed wire that was wrapped seven times around his horn. If he moved his head in any way, it ground against his horn like chalk. Magic would be out of the option.

Noble Blade's heart was going a mile a minute. His chest thumped with every beat. Sweat began to form on his head. Was he in hell? Did he die in the middle of the night?

A six-legged creature, black as tar, crawled into his limited view beyond the bars and turned his head to face him. The six yellow eyes were narrowed down in both revulsion and glee.

Noble Blade began to hyperventilate. This really was hell.

"Hey there, Faust bastard," the Nox grated. His fangs turned upward in a grotesque grin and he leaned on the bars. "Welcome to Tartarus. Us civilized creatures call it Black Fang Redoubt, but for you...this'll be hell on earth."

Chapter Sixty-five: Diplomacy Fails

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"All right." Starlight drew a quick, hasty map of the area in the sand by burning the designs with a laser beam. "Forgive the crudity of the design. I don't want to spend extra time drawing it to scale-"

"It's fine, Starlight," said Applejack. "Get on with it."

She rolled her eyes and began to speak, addressing the entire group of ponies before her. "As you all know, we have a crisis on our hooves. Noble Blade was taken by the Noxxa in the middle of the night. He's being kept in their nearby camp, Black Fang Redoubt." She tapped the map burned in the sand. "Now we have a few options we can choose. A frontal assault-"

"Yes!" Rainbow Dash said immediately. Rarity, Firestorm, and Twilight nodded their firm agreement.

"No, wait, you guys-" Spike started.

"We need to talk about the repercussions of this," Shining Armor continued.

"What repercussions?" asked Firestorm over the growing disagreement between the ponies. "All we do is just bomb the crap out of them."

"But what about Noble Blade? Friendly fire is still an issue."

"STARLIGHT!" screamed Pinkie Pie high above everyone talking at once, and the noise died down.

"Thank you," Pinkie said in a posh accent, bowing. "Now. We should get him back at any cost, right? But we also want him to remain safe. That means we should try and make them happy enough to let them go! Maybe we can throw them a party and he can slip away in the confusion!"

"I agree with Pinkie," Starlight spoke up.

"A party?!" Rainbow Dash incredulously demanded. "That's the best option we have?"

"I meant diplomacy, Rainbow Dash," Starlight reiterated with a sigh. "Pinkie has a point. Diplomacy has the fewest question marks for a good outcome. We can persuade or trick the Noxxa to release him."

"No! The Noxxa will not give Noble Blade three days to live!" Firestorm protested.

"I doubt they'd even give him two," Rarity whispered to Twilight.

"I mean, we have got to do a frontal assault on Black Fang Redoubt," Firestorm continued. "I can do a Sonic Flameboom above the camp and level it. We strike hard, we get him out, we release him right now!"

"Absolutely. Get him out by any means necessary," Twilight agreed. "The Noxxa need to be wiped out as quickly as possible. While they live, his life is in danger. The question is, can Firestorm do it without harming Noble Blade?"

"No," whispered the familiar voice of a timid mare, rocking back and forth on her rump.

Firestorm gave her a surprised look. "But Fluttershy-"

"Don't do it," Fluttershy whispered, her eyes wide and threatening to get wet. "Don't do it, Firestorm."

Twilight turned her attention to the balled-up Fluttershy. "Why not? You out of all of us should want to get him out."

"I do!" she said, and she sounded desperate, on the verge of tears. "I do want him! I would do anything to save...! But we don't know how much danger he's in! The Noxxa have a knife pressed against his throat! If we try to break him out and they decide he's not worth the trouble-!"

"They slit his throat and he dies!" Applejack heavily finished.

Rarity indignantly rose. "That is not the issue! We are talking about time, not whether or not they'll try to kill one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony! Of course they're planning on it! The question is when!"

"Ah'm not gonna sugarcoat this for ya!" Applejack retorted. "Yer plannin' on calling in an airstrike on a base where a hostage is bein' held! That sound intelligent to ya at all, Rarity?"

"To wait gives the Noxxa the advantage!"

"They already do have the advantage! And we'll increase their advantage if we decide to act in haste!"

"Girls, girls," Fluttershy pleaded, coming between the feuding friends and keeping both at arm's length. "There has to be another way to save him!"

Applejack and Rarity took several deep breaths before backing off. Rarity adjusted her messy mane in a bout of frustration. "Fluttershy the negotiator. Hm. Well, then, do you have any other ideas?"

"Listen," said Shining Armor, speaking before Starlight could. "I don't like any of these options. We must simply pick the lesser of two evils. The only way we know for certain we can wipe out the Noxxa at Black Fang Redoubt is if Firestorm performs a Sonic Flameboom above the camp and sets fire to everything. But if we do that, Noble will be caught in the flames as well. We do that, it'll blow the whole works. It's just too risky." He affixed Firestorm a hard look. "None of us will take that chance."

Firestorm managed to look astonishingly humble.

"With that said," Starlight continued, "if we launch a standard attack on the base, we'd likely all be chewed to pieces. They're too well fortified for us to penetrate in a normal ground or airborne invasion. That leaves us with the final option." She tapped the ground. "Diplomacy."

"How in the hay are we going to negotiate with a bunch of demons?" Rainbow demanded.

"...We can go about this a few different ways," Starlight answered, evidently thinking quickly on the spot, judging from her tone of voice. "We can threaten them to let him go, or otherwise Firestorm will destroy the camp. We could also gently persuade them to let him go, or give them a bribe of some kind."

"Pardon me?" interrupted Rarity. "What do we have that can be used for a bribe again?"

Starlight pursed her lips. "I don't know," she admitted. "But we'll have to think of something. If he dies here, the Elements will be rendered ineffective to destroy King Solaris when the time comes. Failure is not an option!"

"Starlight," Fluttershy whispered, gesturing behind her. "I'm...wondering what Freedom Fighter thinks about this."

All heads swiveled to the dark warrior. He was leaning on a beam with his front arms crossed. Freedom Fighter, who had been trying to stay silent, sighed and fell to all fours.

"I can't make any guarantees," he admitted with a cold edge, giving a solid clench of his mechanical left hoof. "He might make it. He might not. We might be able to break our way in. We might not. We might negotiate our way out of it. We might not. We might all die horrible deaths. We might not." He held a fierce glint in his scarlet eye. "All we can do is try."

A feeling of resoluteness overcame the ponies assembled. Twilight especially felt it. It seemed to infect their minds with a false pretense of reassurance.

Because Twilight honestly didn't have much hope for the future. What could they do? They were the ones on the ropes here. Twilight felt twisted and harsh on the inside. And it wasn't her doing. It was the harsh, cruel world she had been exposed to. Tempest was right. Living comfortably had blinded her. Tribulation had opened her eyes.

She immediately felt irrationally angry with herself upon thinking that way. No. Tempest was wrong. She had faced adversity before. She could get through this one as well. Couldn't she?

"So who'll go and be the lab rat? I mean, the diplomat?"

Freedom Fighter's sarcastic question was enough to almost instantly silence the camp. Who actually wanted to put the bell on the cat? Twilight knew that was going through their heads.

So it was Twilight who broke the silence first. "We'll draw for it."

"Draw for it, eh?" Pinkie repeated slyly. Taking a long stick, she quickly scribbled an incredibly detailed self-portrait in the sand and tapped the sand to display it. "How's that? Do I win?"

Starlight took one incredulous look at the detailed drawing done in three seconds, and drew a hoof across her own crude map in the sand and scribbled it out.

"To draw lots, Pinkie, means to select a pony at random," Rarity explained. She was using her magic to pick up several well-sized white pebbles from the ground in their hideout. "Here. White is a no-go. Black is go." She picked up a black pebble as well. "We put them all into a burlap sack…ugh, such a horrid piece of cloth..." She poured the pebbles into one she procured from the edge of their camp. "...and we all pick a pebble." She gave a pointed glance at Freedom Fighter. "Except for him."

"Why me?" he irately demanded.

"You're going in no matter what," she explained. "To protect the diplomat. Out of all of us, I would have thought you'd be most ready to go inside an enemy camp. And with you in there, no bug will lay a filthy claw on you or the pony you're guarding."

Freedom Fighter acknowledged her words with a sigh and a jerk of his head. "I'm not sure where to argue on that one."

"The pony who picks a black pebble from this bag will enter the camp and assess whether we can spirit Noble out of there," Rarity finished. She tossed the burlap sack to Twilight. "Toss it up and pick it."

Twilight wondered why she was taking direction from Rarity. But she forced those feelings of bewilderment down and blindly chose a pebble from the sack. The pebble she got was as white as Rarity's coat.

"Ooh! Ooh! My turn! My turn!" Pinkie bounded over and mixed around in the sack with a hoof, her tongue stuck out of her mouth. After a few seconds, she pulled out a pebble. "Ah ha! A bla...white." She sighed. "All right. Not my turn after all. Fluttershy, your turn!"

The shy pony wiped her eye and breathed heavily as she searched blindly in the sack. Twilight could only imagine what it was she was feeling. She loved him. So would she wish to draw a white pebble? Or a black?

The answer was given when a white pebble appeared on the tip of her butter-yellow hoof. Fluttershy's eyes were beetled. In either frustration or determination. Twilight couldn't tell.

The bag passed to Rarity next. The elegant unicorn's dainty hoof disappeared into the sack and fuddled around for a moment before she drew out a pebble. It was as ebony black as the monsters who had abducted their friend.

Rarity faltered for a second. From her face alone, she had obviously not expected this. But Twilight had known her for too long. She was acting.

"Oh, what a horrid stroke of abysmal luck!" she bemoaned, and hurled the pebble over the walls of their camp and down the cliffside.

"Look, Rarity," Twilight sighed. "I'll go. You don't need to worry about risking yourself for no-"

"Absolutely not," Rarity flatly refused. "Out of all of us, I have the best chance to smooth-talk whoever is in charge of these beasts. I don't like this. Not a bit. But the best chance for our retrieval lies with me now." Her sapphire eyes were as hard as the jewel they were colored as. "I shall save Noble Blade."

Her hoof, curled up slightly so it was holding another black pebble, straightened. The unseen pebble dropped to the ground beneath her.

She had cheated.

"Twenty-six...twenty-seven...ha ha! I like this job! Twenty-eight! Two more and you get a break! Twenty-niiiiine...Thirty! All right, you son of a bitch! Cleaning time!"

Noble Blade's teeth were pressed together tightly from the pain. The cat's tails were especially designed to be effective. Iron musket balls had been woven into the tails of the whip to give him an extra sting. He had never been whipped before. Neither had he done any whipping to another pony. But he could recognize the additions.

It could be worse. They could have put fishhooks on the end of the tails.

"Cleaning your wounds isn't the most desirable job on earth," the Nox commented, making sure to press extra hard into his ripped-up back with the tough rag. Noble hissed whenever he did so. "See, the problem is, whoever gets this job also has to make sure you don't get infected. Unfortunately. Me personally, I'd much rather put rat poison or ground glass into your food. But nooo! The idiot who's in charge of us all has decided to preserve you. Again, it's unfortunate that preserving you doesn't include putting salt into your wounds and stuffing you into a pickle jar."

His filthy mouth hovered near Noble's ear. "But that won't stop me once he's had his fun with you."

His breath was terrible, and his voice was horrifying, and his language was a nightmare, but setting aside all of that, Noble caught a spark of interest.

"What idiot?" he whispered.

"Gah...royalty of some kind. Hate to admit it, but he makes you look…" The Nox gagged. "Tolerable by comparison."

"Me." Noble's voice was dry and sarcastic.

"Hard to believe, innit?" He pressed hard into Noble's back again with a rag. "Just arrived last night. And already, none of us can stand him. Stuck-up, rich, pretty boy. I bet he's still a tit-sucking child who likes to play dress-up in his spare time. I bet he's some secret whorish hairy hermaphrodite with a four-hundred-pound mother called Chuck or something. I even bet you're taller than him."

"That's too far," Noble weakly warned.

The Nox burst into laughter, taking a break. "Maybe you're not so bad after all!"

"I'm elated... to have your approval," Noble hissed. The sting on his back!

The Nox patted his back a bit more, gently this time. " 'Course, we all had to learn this stuff elsewhere. It's not like we would know all about what's desirable by ourselves. See, there's no such thing as gender, far as Noxxa are concerned. Nothing specific, all the same. Just like our father intended. Foal and filly standards and whatnot, those are all lost on us. There's no such concept as beauty among the Noxxa."

"That's obvious," Noble assured him.

The Nox narrowed his eyes. Then he shrugged. "That one was on me."

The gates beyond the doors of Noble's cell opened.

"You mention I said any of this to you, and I'll tear your Cutie Mark off," he hissed in his ear. "The pony of the hour is here."

Noble lifted his head weakly. Pony?

"That will do, Nox," came a refined voice. "Take a break. I would like some alone time with our dear, dear prisoner."

"Yes, prince," the Nox sullenly said. He threw open the barred door to Noble's cell and skittered out.

Prince.

The pony of the hour appeared in front of the chained Noble. His pristine suit was sharp. His mane was like a gold waterfall around his neck. His ceremonial sabre was strapped at his side. And around his neck was a heavy silver amulet with a priceless sapphire in the middle.

"You must be Noble Blade," the prince casually said. "Otherwise, I'd have to replace you and take another. I'm trusting you are?"

"Blueblood…" Noble muttered. "Wha... how in Equestria did you end up here?"

"It's a long story." Blueblood came into his cell, careful not to touch anything unsanitary.

"How are you in charge of these... abominations of nature?"

"These abominations are ponies that have been cursed by your prophet. I am leading the path of restoration. The fact that you're here is merely a side effect I intend to exploit."

Man, how out of the loop was Blueblood? If only he could know-!

"What do you want with me?" he murmured. "I don't... owe you money, do I?"

"I have riches beyond compare thanks to my six-legged comrades," Blueblood modestly bragged. "I don't need the money out of your hefty bank account. And I certainly would never give you anything you ask for."

"Funny," Noble breathed. "I would never ask anything from someone like you. So we've ruled that out."

Blueblood pursed his lips. "Trying to offend me won't work, Blade."

"Won't work on me either, Blueblood. It might as well be futile."

Blueblood jerked Noble's head straight up. The barbed wire between his arms cut deeply into his fetlocks and horn. He hissed.

"Do you know why you're here?"

"...I can't say I do."

Blueblood shoved Noble's head backwards and released. "Two reasons. First off, you're a threat to the throne. Before you publicly revealed yourself at the Grand Galloping Gala and threatened my life, I was the only one in line to inherit royalty."

Noble's eyebrows quirked. "I threatened you?"

"I know what I'm talking about. Don't act stupid, Noble."

"I could give you the same advice," Noble muttered under his breath.

"You're an heir to the throne of Equestria!" Blueblood exploded. "As the nephew of Cadence, you're set to inherit something. See, Celestia's lost favor with me. Before you, I was supposed to be the next in line as Celestia's nephew. Things have changed. But not if I can help it! I'm the rightful successor, not you!"

"This is a bid for power?" Noble asked with some surprise.

"Yes, it's a bid for power!" Blueblood exclaimed. "Canterlot politics are always that way. Next in line for inheritance."

"...I'll be honest, I kinda forgot I was royalty," Noble admitted. "It's never been important to me."

"Then what kind of ruler are you?" Blueblood asked, on the verge of laughter. "Honor is the only thing that matters. Honor alone will get you places."

"I can see where it's taken you," Noble retorted. "To a torture camp, ruling over insects. How honorable you must be."

Blueblood's smug grin had disappeared almost instantly.

"I have ten times the power you do," Blueblood hissed. "Open up your eyes. See the world from where I stand! Me, among the mighty! You, chained at my command."

"I would open my eyes," Noble admitted. "But all I would see is an ugly sight."

Blueblood immediately slapped him. Noble reeled, digging the barbed wire into his skin. A large bruise appeared on his skin.

"I almost forgot to mention the second reason you're here," Blueblood added, trying to regain his composure. "The mare Rarity that dotes on you...thinks you're the best thing since sliced bread…"

"Oh!" Noble nodded in faux-understanding, his head still exploding with pain. "You're winning her heart by kidnapping her friend and demanding her to come to you in exchange! I see! Truly honorable of you."

"Rarity is mine," Blueblood insisted, starting to circle around the bound prisoner. "I just didn't see it at the time. And you are in the way. I'm telling you, I am nothing if not persistent. She will love me and no one else. All I must do is remove you from the equation."

"So do it already."

Blueblood gave him a patronizing look. "I want to." He shrugged. "But I want to relish this for a bit longer."

"Sir!"

"What?" Blueblood demanded of the approaching Nox in exasperation.

"Two ponies and a baby dragon are at the front gate of Black Fang Redoubt. They carry a white flag and wish to speak to you."

Blueblood smiled. It was oily and satisfied. "I have to go and deal with your friends now. I'm guessing they're here to barter for your release. Hang tight in there." He messed up Noble's mane like a father admonishing his child. Blueblood then pointed at him. "He's had a long enough break. If you want to get creative with him, you can. Just keep him intact."

The new Nox grinned sickeningly. "Yes, sir."

The gates of Black Fang Redoubt were fifteen feet tall and forged from dark iron. Spikes stuck out on every available spot. They hung between two tall towers made from iron as well. In those towers, Noxxa were aiming cruel crossbows, iron-spiked longbows, and even one or two primeval blunderbusses.

Rarity, Freedom Fighter, and Spike were in the mind to quiver before the imposing portals.

But they dared not. Not even when a deep horn sounded, and the Noxxa begrudgingly let open the gates to the camp within.

The three brave souls plodded in. What greeted them was a wide street with two rows of buildings on both sides. Those buildings ranged from two long barracks, to a blacksmith forge, to a kitchen, to a storage area. Noxxa were standing solitary all over the place, decked out in spiky armor, giving them dark looks. The Noxxa were on the side of the street, on top of the low buildings, stuck like flypaper on the sides of those buildings.

Black Fang Redoubt was much larger than that, of course. It also consisted of many other erections and fortifications. But from their limited perspective, that much was all they could see. Which was probably for their benefit.

One Nox from the doorway of the smithy spat into the street right where Rarity was about to put her hoof.

Freedom Fighter directed his scarlet eyes to the offender and quietly narrowed them.

His arm was a blur.

Faster than the eye could see, a thin blade embedded itself in the panel next to his head. The Nox realized it a full second after it happened and jerked away belatedly.

"Don't throw things at us," he advised quietly. "Or I'll throw something back."

The Nox gulped, nodded, and retreated into the smithy. The other Noxxa on their path leered at them unpleasantly, but they made no other sudden movements as they advanced.

"That was close," Spike whispered. "If you had missed, we'd be treated as enemies!"

"My knives go exactly where I want them to," Freedom Fighter answered.

They presently reached a longhouse next to the mouth of the cave, around which the entire camp was erected. Half a dozen black bugs were congregated around the outside, crawling on the walls of the cabin, and peeking over the edge of the roof. It all had the same effect. They were truly surrounded. There was nowhere they could go without their eyes on them.

"Your host awaits you," gravelled a noise right behind them. Startled, all three ambassadors whirled to see a Nox slithering next to Rarity, being careful not to touch her. "Try anything suspicious...and you will never leave this camp."

Freedom Fighter muttered something darkly to himself.

"I am so sorry," the Nox began, with every intention in his tone of insincerity. "But you seemed to have said something I haven't heard. Speak up. Speak up! Anything you say, I must hear for recording."

Freedom Fighter's eyes, thin as narrowed, angled slits, bore so hotly into the Nox's that the bug actually shrank back. He seemed to have grown in height, if it was physically possible.

"I said that if you come close to us again I will tear your arms off and carve your face into ash with your own claws. I'll squish your head into black sand and toss it into the eyes of your friends. I eat bugs like you for breakfast, you carapace-covered slimy pile of dung. I season my soup with your ashes. And you taste more delicious the slower I kill you. You've got a smokey, sharp taste. Like pepper. I didn't eat breakfast this morning. Care to help a pony out?"

Freedom Fighter took a step towards the abomination. The Nox quivered and retreated back a few steps.

Freedom Fighter gave a gruff nod and signalled to the others to advance into the cabin. Once Spike and Rarity had opened the door, Freedom followed.

None of the Noxxa watching wanted to continue after that.

Once the magnificent oak door had swung shut, the only light in the cabin came from a few worn-down, buzzing lamps. Mites of dust floated about in the air. There was a desk at the far end, along with a large mattress on a reclining bunk behind it.

Sitting in the chair behind the desk, sipping at a glass of brandy, was-

"YOU!" Rarity roared, lunging for the prince with a wild fire in her eyes.

Spike caught her just before she collided with the pony there. "Rarity! Ungh! Get back!"

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, YOU SON OF A WHORSE?!" Rarity demanded as she was pushed back by the straining Spike. "COULDN'T LEAVE 'WELL ENOUGH' ALONE, NOW COULD YOU? WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS OUR KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR?! I WILL BEAT IT OUT OF YOU IF I HAVE TO, YOU STUCK-UP, HALF-WITTED… STUPID-LOOKING… BUG FUC-"

"STOP!" thundered Freedom Fighter, clasping his hoof around Rarity's and forcibly shoving her back. She stumbled for a few steps before getting into another feral position and breathing through her nose like a bull.

"My, my," Blueblood said with evident surprise. He set his lacquered drink down. "She's grown feisty? This rose has a rather poisonous thorn now."

"I'll spit that poison at you if I have to!" Rarity retorted. "You deserve no better!"

"Shut her up, or you will be thrown out."

Freedom Fighter let out a pained groan of consternation. But he relented at last to his enemy's demands.

"Rarity, for Noble's sake, please… keep yourself composed."

Rarity for her part looked like she was about to explode. But she reluctantly dragged a seat to her with her magic and sat down so hard, the chair almost broke from the sudden strain.

"For your white flag, you sure don't show signs of peace," Blueblood commented.

"Give me a reason to show peace first," Freedom Fighter replied.

"Well," Blueblood pointed out. "I do have a hostage of yours. That is what you came here for, I assume?"

"We came to find out your… conditions."

"Conditions?" Blueblood flicked his hoof. "I don't have to give any conditions. You want to kidnap what I've rightfully stolen."

"And you wonder why?" Spike dryly remarked.

Freedom Fighter sat down on a chair in the lukewarm cabin. "Listen, Blueblood."

"Prince Blueblood."

"I came here to recover the closest friend I ever had. I will do anything to get him back."

Blueblood had a glint run across his eye. "Anything, you say?"

"When I say anything, that also includes tearing your vertebrae out of your throat and dangling it in front of your eyes," Freedom Fighter casually continued. Blueblood paused in his tracks, fear evident in his expression. Seeing it, Freedom Fighter grinned. "Whether it be force or by subtlety, or even just a simple exchange, I will go to any length to take. Him. Back. I don't care how many soldiers you have. I'll break them all to get him back. He's the best out of all of us, but he doesn't even know it. While you seem to be his exact opposite. You're the most vile piece of filth in Equestria, but you think you're the best thing since sliced bread."

Blueblood's face was violently twitching. His hoof was about to reach for a bellpull next to his desk. But he was able to cool his heels, lean back, and breathe evenly.

"All right. Fine." Blueblood flicked his hoof again. "You can have him."

Rarity gave a deadpanned look. "It can't be that easy, can it?"

"Would you like me to make it harder? I only kept him around for a bargaining chip anyway. I don't like him. But I knew that you do. So you can have him--for a price."

"Name it."

Blueblood pointed at Rarity. "Her."

Both ponies were already making furious movements towards him. But Spike was already there.

"No!" Spike insisted. "Rarity is worth more than anything you can understand!

"Listen to me, dragon," Blueblood patiently tried to explain. "I don't care about Noble Blade, but he's the best knight in Equestria. He said it himself when he pressed a knife to my throat at the Gala!"

Freedom Fighter looked extremely uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"He would never do that!" Rarity declared.

"Ah, but he did! He said he was! But he didn't know at the time just who he was dealing with. Listen. All I ask for is a fair price. A jewel for a jewel. A life for a life. I know the value of individual lives, and this is the fair deal I offer you now. Give Rarity to me, and I promise, I will deliver Noble Blade up to you." He grinned. "Unless you think one life is better than the other?"

Freedom Fighter and Rarity exchanged worrisome glances. Both of them, and they knew it, would not accept the deal. Otherwise, they'd be in an even worse situation than before.

"Well then?" Blueblood asked with that same grin. "You said you would pay any price. Are you… backing out?"

Rarity's glance returned to Blueblood. Her eyes were smoldering with internal flame.

"Oh, I had hoped you would have seen reason," he lamented. "Perhaps when you're a bit more serious about this deal you can return to spirit him away."

"You little-!" Spike begun, lunging for him. Blueblood casually held him at arms length as Spike made furious swipes at him. "I'll show you! Ngh! Come here!"

"And next time, leave this child behind," Blueblood added as an afterthought.

Freedom Fighter, giving him the most hateful glare he could muster, marched up to Spike, pulled him back, and directed the struggling kid to the door. Before they headed out, he unhinged a combat staff from his hip, twisted it to ignite the enchantments, and pointed the glowing staff at Blueblood.

"If it weren't for our peace flag," he breathed, "I would take your life right now."

"You'd better leave before the Noxxa see you pointing that at me," Blueblood reminded him.

Freedom Fighter still was affixing him a murderous stare, but he sheathed his weapon and stomped out.

The trek back through the camp was not as anxious as the first one, but they didn't feel any better, either. The Noxxa had their eyes glued to them in mocking triumph of the first round. None of them approached them--Freedom Fighter was looking ready to wring the neck of anyone near--but they were snickering and hissing in laughter.

Once they passed through the massive iron doors of Black Fang Redoubt and they thundered together behind them, Freedom Fighter let out a curse that made Rarity wince and Spike shrink back.

"I should have done more," he breathed. "He was right there. I could have torn his head off! Or I could have snuck into the redoubt itself and freed him!"

"There was nothing you could do!" Spike told him. "If you had, we'd all be dead or captured, and the others in Appleoosa would be in an even worse condition!"

The dark warrior pondered his words before groaning and kicking at the ground as they walked towards the city in the distance. "You're right, but I still want to kill him."

"No matter what we do, we shouldn't give up!" Rarity declared. Her usually high voice, curiously enough, was an octave lower. "We need to go back with a bribe."

"Why would you want to go back to Blueblood?" Spike wondered.

Her expression burned. "To face me."

"Not alone, you're not!" Spike insisted. "I care too much about you to lose! Next time, we should all go!"

"With what?" Freedom Fighter pointed out. They walked as a group, so all three of them could overhear each other. "We don't exactly have much of a bribe we could give them."

Spike thought for a moment before he snapped his claws. "I know! We do have something we can give them in exchange for Noble."

"What is it?" Rarity asked.

Spike's eyes glittered. "Tempest Shadow."

Chapter Sixty-six: The Knight's Tale

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There was a constant thudding in his head. It was Noble Blade's heartbeat.

The Nox threw down his wet, bloodied towel and spat at the ground in front of him, then scuttled out to meet the two other guards in the main cell.

"How hard did you flail him this time?"

"Hard enough to hurt, but not enough to cripple the poor idiot."

"Hehehey, you finally got it! You learned from your last prisoner, didn't you?"

"Too bad he died too quickly. O amazing Tart Truffle, we will never forget thee. Thy taste was delicious indeed. Crispy on the outside, crunchy on the bone, soft on the meat. Amazing, really, but nowhere near a tart's true taste. Disappointing."

A quick bout of laughter followed.

"What should we do to him when we're done with him, anyway?"

"I dunno. Do what you do with the others. Chop 'im up into little cubes and slurp up his blood-"

"No, no. He's 'special.' He should get a bit of special treatment before he goes."

"I'm thinking 'Unforgiven' levels of treatment, eh?"

"Yeah, I'm with you on that."

"I like the imagination you have!"

"Can we do it now? Please?"

"No. Only when it's time to finish him properly. We need to keep his body semi-intact for now. That means no teeth pulling, no emasculation, and no amputation."

"Aww."

Overhearing all this, Noble just bowed his head. Yesterday, he had recently realized something profound: They were wrong.

He wasn't special.

He was just raised to be a warrior by his father. Substitute him with any other pony, and they would turn out the same as him. There was nothing particularly special about him in particular. Everything about him came from his father.

His head felt like it was both unwinding and twisting at the same time. From every angle, doubt assailed him. It pulled at the very fabric of who he was. The pain was in every fiber of his body.

Where was Firestorm and Freedom Fighter? Where was Fluttershy to draw out the poison in his head? Where was Twilight and Starlight, the strength he could draw upon? Nowhere. That was just how it was. He was completely, utterly alone.

Not even… her.

"Oh, Faust," he breathed. For some reason, he felt tears squeeze from his ducts. "Where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?"

"Is he talking?"

"Probably rambling or something. Let him go on."

"Thou art the goddess of ponies, and all free peoples in the universe," he whispered. "But I… am not free. How long wilt thou stay thy hoof and watch me suffer? I beg of thee, come to me and release me from this evil torture!"

A Nox snorted. "This is pretty standard fare. They'll plead for mercy, he'll wait for a minute or two, and when his goddess doesn't come, he'll weep."

Noble Blade waited, urging Faust to come and deliver him. He was hoping, hoping, trying all he could. But there was not even so much as a pressure in his chest.

"See?" mocked the Nox. "Just as stupid as the rest of 'em. You'd think he would be a bit more distinguished, know what I mean?"

"I'm getting kind of hungry," said another one.

"Look around in the kitchen or something. Bring us back something too, all right?"

"Get your own food."

"Fine. Be that way."

The sound of skittering steps faded away as the Nox opened the cell door and hurried off.

Noble's heart was melting. Why?! Why did Faust not come to him? He had asked in faith! Was he just not good enough for her light to reach him? Even Freedom Fighter had received a vision, and that was at the bottom of the sea! How was Noble Blade not good enough? It was either that or… there was no Faust to begin with.

"Oh, you're finally back. Is that a flank piece? Mm, let me get some."

"What'd you being that cauldron along for?" came the third voice.

"I found this bubbling on the stove unattended. I thought maybe we could put it to good use."

"I don't want a hot drink. It's the middle of the desert!"

"This isn't for us."

"Hm? Oh-oooohh, you clever little chrysalis. Good idea."

Noble looked up. The Noxxa in the antechamber were unlocking his cell door. One of them held a bubbling cast-iron cauldron of some kind of boiling liquid.

Noble's heart sank even further than it already was. He knew what this was.

"Hold still," said one of them, grabbing onto his outstretched arm. A second one took hold of his other one. They pulled on his mane, forcing his head up. "You thirsty? Huh? Want to get some of this?"

"No, no!" he hissed.

"What am I saying? You get no say in this!" He signaled. "Come on, do it."

The third Nox, carrying the steaming pot, slowly tipped it over, making sure to tap it on the sensitive end of Noble's horn.

He was instantly covered from head to hooves in a boiling hot, thick liquid that smelled very metallic. It wasn't metal, though. If it was, it would have killed him.

The pouring went on for six seconds exactly. Noble's mane got completely soaked in the liquid. His face was covered in it; some got into his eyes and mouth. He was burned all over his back and chest from how scathing hot it was. He writhed and shrieked in his captor's grip, not caring how much the barbed wire bit into his horn.

When it was done, the Nox callously chucked the cast iron pot aside and high-fived one of his comrades. "That felt good!"

"Come on, let's get back to our food. I don't know when the next shift is going to be."

And the bugs, just like that, departed and shut the door.

Noble spat out some of it. It was too hot for him to identify the taste. He was crying, drooping on his knees with no way to wipe away the sticky stuff that was already coalescing on his body.

He looked down through the tears swimming in his eyes. Puddles of steaming blood--fresh, and not just his own--were in the cell with him.

He had been soaked with boiling pony blood.

And the burns from it were all over his back, exposed to the cold air of the cell.

"Take me out," he whispered. He hissed in pain from moving his back slightly. "Take me out of this world!"

But he knew the Noxxa would not be that merciful.

"Carest thou not that I perish?!" he roared at nothing. "How canst thou lie asleep?"

Blood was pumping through his head so hard, he felt himself droop down and pant as pain wracked his brain. It was enough to make his vision blurry.

In two minutes, he gradually blacked out.

He found himself in a dark and dreary wilderness. It was cold and slimy, with tendrils of black fog seeping into him. He couldn't see five feet ahead of him.

As he adjusted his vision and tried not to move, he became more and more afraid of his surroundings. Was this real? It certainly felt that way. But they were in the middle of a desert. How could he be here?

The black fog suddenly whooshed past him as a figure, shining white, plowed through the mists of darkness, barreling right at him.

Noble braced for impact.

As the shining white pony appeared and skidded to a halt, the darkness itself dispersed and vanished from his surroundings. It was just him and… her.

She was regal. Tall, thin, and bright like the sun, stately in her posture and calm in her expression. She was an alicorn with flowing red hair. Her almond-shaped eyes were royal purple. And they were turned in a loving gaze that Noble found hard to break away from.

"My son," said the pony.

Noble knew it could be only one possibility. Hope rose in his chest.

"Faust…"

She nodded. "You've passed out," said Faust. "This gives me a chance to talk with you. The Noxxa won't let you sleep otherwise, so you had to pass out from the pain. I am so sorry, my son. If I could do otherwise, I certainly would."

Noble suddenly didn't feel so reassured by her presence. In fact, to be honest, he suddenly felt irrationally angry at her. He had every right to be!

"Why?"

Faust gave him a tilted look.

"Why didn't you break me out when I prayed to you? Why didn't you even do all this yourself and save the trouble of innocent ponies? You have infinite power, but you never use it! You never show it to us! When we need you, you aren't there! Why?!"

Faust allowed him to finish, a look of empathy on her face. Then she began.

"When I sent you to the world, Knight Protector, I never said it would be without pain. It was what you signed up for when you agreed to a body that could experience joy and sorrow."

"I'm having a hard time thinking that's good enough for me," he whispered. "Why did you put this trial on me?!"

"Me?"

"Yes, you!"

"What makes you think I had anything to do with it?"

"Thou art an all-powerful being. Anything that happens happens because you either choose for it to happen, or you don't. Why did you decide to make me go through torture? Do I need it? Have I not proven myself to you? Or is this punishment for something obscure I did?"

"Noble Blade," Faust whispered. "I would never dream of harming you. Your torture came about as a result of Blueblood's actions, not mine. I can't force him to not torture you. I will not take away anyone's freedom of choice, and I am no respecter of persons. I won't value one of my sons above the other."

"I…" Noble started. "I know, but…"

Faust leaned down and embraced him. Faust's cheek was wet. She had wept!

"For all these things, Noble, it shall be for your own good," she whispered into his ear. "It will give you experience. It will shine perspective on the world around you. And you will achieve another great blessing as a result. Endure to the end, my son, and you shall receive the Element of Honor."

"The… Element?" he whispered, caught in her arms and unable to move anything else.

Faust leaned back and stood upright once again. "The Elements will be yours if you continue in due course. Not much longer, and you will be set free."

"That's…" He let out a breath. Good to know. But… "Was pouring boiling blood all over me necessary for my own good?"

"You haven't yet suffered like the Unforgiven," Faust pointed out. "Your friends are still alive, and search now for a way to break you out. Are you better than he is?"

Noble was caught in his words. It sounded uncharacteristically harsh from a goddess. And when he heard it, he was instantly reminded…

"I… don't think I'm better than anyone." He pointed at Faust. "You said it yourself. You're no respecter of persons. Neither am I. But… is that the right way to go about doing good in the world?"

"Oh, Noble," she lamented. "I know your flaws intimately well. They are all so familiar to me. And you are not alone in your thoughts. Many others seek constant improvement. Those souls are tired. Confused. Angry and upset."

"Why didn't you show me a way to get past it, then?"

"I can't give every step-by-step instruction to my children at once," Faust said. "They have closed minds. They can't comprehend the end plan I have for them all. Oh, I wish I could, I love my children too much, but… they need the freedom to grow and learn. You wouldn't like it very much if I led you by the hoof everywhere."

"But I need to know the whole plan, O Faust! I… I feel so lost. The bonds of Tartarus feel closed around me. But I know you can fix it. You have the power to correct my path. I just… didn't know why you didn't do it before."

Faust looked… relieved?

"Thank you, Noble. I was hoping you knew about my power. Listen. I didn't help before because it wasn't the time to act. But now, I think, is the time I can provide you illumination."

"I'm not here to tell you what to do," he quickly reiterated. "I just-"

"-Want to align your mind with mine," Faust finished. "Yes, Freedom Fighter is a great friend to know the truth." She extended a hoof. "Come. Let's see where you went wrong and patch it up."

Slowly, Noble extended a trembling hoof towards Faust's and laid it down.

Her hoof was made of flesh and bone! That fact intrigued him more than anything else. He caressed it curiously with wide eyes.

"Look."

He did. Snapping his head up, he suddenly saw himself in his father's old house in Canterlot. The furnishings were elegant but spare, and the floors were of simple wood. Child paintings were hung up on the drywall.

"Oh, my gosh," he whispered, trotting around and examining the surroundings.

All of a sudden a white wolf ran into the living room, with a pale blue colt on her back. He was giggling and squealing as the wolf trotted around like a noble steed.

"Amaria!" Noble whispered. "It's you! Oh, I missed you!"

The door to the home opened and in came a light brown stallion with vivid black hair. "Here, girl!" he boomed.

Amaria trotted back to the father who had entered, carrying the passenger. Amaria bowed her head, sliding the young Noble off with a bound.

"My, my," he chuckled. "A young rider, eh?"

"Yeah!" Noble nodded, stretching up for his father to pick him up.

Strong Heart obliged by levitating him. He gave a little poke in his belly, causing a flood of giggles. "I like where you've started, my little knight. Did you know that's where you're going?"

"Yeah! I'm gonna be a knight!" he exclaimed, imitating swinging a sword back and forth. "Bshew bshew bshew!"

"You're going to be the best knight in Equestria, Noble Blade," his father encouraged. "But first, normal school. I want you to learn everything, not just knightly things."

"Yeah, yeah," Noble boredly said, rolling his eyes as he rolled in the air. "But school is boring."

"Make some friends then."

"But I don't wanna!"

"Can I tell you something?" Strong Heart whispered conspiratorially to him. "Neither did I!"

"So why'd you do it?"

"Because…" Strong Heart paused before holding him physically with an arm and petting the obedient Amaria. "Other ponies make me bigger than myself. They teach me new things. Honor, and selflessness…"

"Did they teach you how to whistle?" Noble shrewdly wondered.

Strong Heart laughed, hearty and cheerful. "No, no. I figured that out myself."

"I wanna learn how to whistle," Noble protested.

"You'll get the hang of it, Noble." Amaria licked his face. "Ah, that's enough, girl! You can go wait in the kitchen for your treat."

Amaria padded off obediently.

"Listen, my little Blade," Strong Heart whispered. "I'll be watching over you the entire way. You may fall a lot. I expect you to. It's an upward journey."

"Like a lot a lot?"

"Yes. A lot. So many times that you'll never reach perfection. But remember, just keep on trying, and you'll be perfect."

"Dad?"

"Hm?"

"What can we eat for dinner?"

"Hmm… how do dog treats sound to you?"

"Eww! No! Those are for Amaria!"

"All right, all right. Pasta?"

"Yeah!"

Faust overlooked the scene with a passive wonder on her face. Noble spotted it. It was clear as day why she felt as she did. Being a parent would be the greatest blessing in the universe, more than being a Goddess of all things.

"Is this when my problems first developed?" Noble cautiously asked.

"No," Faust said. "This is when your father first told you about your destiny. You didn't know it, but that sunk in. Your end was to be the most perfect knight in Equestria? A lofty goal. But there's that word… perfect."

"Is that not what we can be?" Noble asked. "If you are as perfect as you say you are, then it's possible for us to attain your level of purity, right?"

Faust gave a slow nod. "But you cannot do it alone."

"When did I begin thinking that?"

"Look!"

Noble looked. He was in a training ground on a clear, bright day with himself and forty-nine other kids his age. Beside him was a fiery-maned pegasus with brilliant neon eyes.

"This is after I met Firestorm… but before I began official training…"

"Saving him from bullies on the playground will create a friendship never to be forgotten," Faust remarked. "Especially since it was how you gained your cutie mark."

Noble craned his head. There it was on his flank, a sword with butterfly wings on the side. It was both inspiring and humbling to see. Mostly because the pink wings were a bit embarrassing for him at that age.

"Atten-hut!" roared Strong Heart, appearing in the room.

The ponies snapped to attention. Noble Blade especially.

"I am Captain Strong Heart," the grizzled parent introduced himself. "The highest military officer in all of Equestria. And I have chosen you foals and fillies to be the future of this great nation. I will not tolerate swerving from your course in any way, shape, or form. You are to be a leader! You must be because no one else has the capacity to. Therefore, your highest energies are to be spent in the toughest line of work in Equestria."

Strong Heart paced in front of his rows of foals. "From this point on, you are pieces in a machine, to function properly, or we all fall apart. From now on, I am not a comforter, a respecter of ponies, or a lover of persuasion."

He stopped in front of Noble Blade and spoke only to him.

"From this point on, I am not your father."

He stomped to the next soldier, and Noble was left with shock and confusion on his youthful face.

"You will learn discipline and control. Perfection! Unity! Children, I expect you to fail! And I don't care if you do! What must happen is for you to do it again. It will seem hopeless. But you must learn hopelessness before you learn hope. You must know pain before you feel relief. I don't care how rich a family you came from… or if you came from a dirt-poor, dysfunctional family apartment in Cloudsdale!"

Firestorm gave an uncomfortable shuffle.

"You're all the same here. The word special does not exist. You are one. I expect no such thing as pride, or hate, or evil prejudice to disrupt the entire group! Those who exhibit those qualities will be ejected without a second question! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir!" came the unified reply. Noble's face, he realized, was distraught while he said it.

"You think I'm clear, but you still have that evil tendency inside of you! Let me explain another way. You may feel the urge to bully or hate another for their accomplishments. But they will never forget what they do to you, even when you all graduate and move to officer positions, when they're a grand captain while you're a mere corporal. They don't have to be nice to you then. They decide to put you in spots where you live or die. Try to ensure your survival by not being snot-faced pricks who whine and snivel at other children! Am I clear?"

"Yes sir!" came the suspicious reply.

"I hope I am," said Strong Heart, inspecting a yellow unicorn mare and moving on. "Inevitably, you fail in even that. When you do, know that that fault is on you. You are responsible for all of your failures here. If you cannot even take responsibility for your own actions, what are you doing as a soldier whose fate it is to protect the country?!"

Noble's face looked overly resolute but still scared out of his mind. Hearing all that over again was enough for even the present-day Noble to feel a churn in his gut.

"Now we will begin with a hoof race around the field! A mile long! The last pony to finish will stay up on KP duty tonight. And we will do this every day, and the same rules will apply every day. Word of advice: don't be the last. Now! Line up!"

As the vision dissipated, Noble pressed a hoof to his chest. "I… forgot how bad that sounded. I mean, I know that he had my best interests at heart, but… I think I pushed myself a bit more than he wanted me to."

"You didn't see a limit," Faust corrected. "In your eyes, you think, 'How can there be a limit to improvement? If I don't increase myself, that's on me.'"

"Yes!" Noble emphatically agreed, pointing at her. "Yes, exactly the way I thought."

"How do you think that affected your friendships, Noble Blade?"

"I…" Noble fell silent. It was a few moments before he sheepishly replied: "Not… well, I'd say."

Faust indicated a new direction. "Look!"

Noble looked and beheld his dorm, empty except for Firestorm and a few others. It was late outside. The younger Noble was nowhere to be seen.

"Yo, Storm!" one of the red pony colts called to the pegasus. "The girls are having a party in the picnic area. Want to come? Strong Heart isn't here. He said he had a dream to go to the other continent to retrieve somepony or something. He won't be back or weeks, and the sub stinks at keeping us together! Want to come with us? We won't get caught!"

The younger Firestorm licked his chops. "Mm-mm! The best thing in the world! Girls! Now that they're all breaking the rules, that'll make it easier for me to talk to them! They won't reject me then!"

"See? You get it! Come on!"

Firestorm rolled his eyes. "That was sarcastic!"

"Why didn't you use a sarcastic voice when you said it? Now I look like an idiot!"

"Sorry."

"Okay, that's good."

"That was also sarcastic."

"What? Come on!"

"I won't come, dude. I need to read up on my flight techniques."

"You'd rather study while I'm getting all the hot young pussy? Like that idiot Noble Blade who's practicing his marksman training at night while we're having the time of our life? I know where you'll end up."

"You know what? Me too." Firestorm finally faced the red colt. "I'm going to end up a Wonderbolt with the hottest girl in the world, and you'll end up as a permanent Private in charge of resupplying toothbrushes because these chicks you'll supposedly bang will file a sexual assault against you in twenty years and ruin your upward rise through the ranks. That's how these things work. All because you couldn't keep your STD-infected hooey in your sheath for one night. Really, that's up to you, though."

The red colt had changed shade to a color akin to a beet. "You're just a nerd! What do you know about these things?!"

"I'm a successful nerd," Firestorm corrected. "I don't care what you call me."

"You pussy! You're just a big pussy!"

"Oh?" Firestorm mildly asked. "Then get some of this, if you like pussy so much! If not, then you like something else. You're gay!"

The colt jumped up and down furiously. "I'm not gay!"

"Oh, why must you keep this within yourself?" Firestorm sagely asked. "Just let the world know it! They'll accept you for who you are!"

The red colt made strangled noises before turning his back on him. "Come on," he muttered. "I'll be too busy getting all that action to bother with a weiner like him! You've been hanging around that loser Noble Blade too much, and you'll end up wherever he goes!

They left the dorm.

"Fine. I'll play with myself like I always have," Firestorm muttered in return. After a musing pause, he added, "That's not a phrase for 'masturbate,' by the way."

"Nopony thought otherwise until you said that," came a voice. Firestorm whirled around to see Noble come in from the back.

"Ho, Blade," Firestorm greeted. He flopped on his bed. "Gosh, we're nerds."

"We can swing a sword better than anyone else in the group, and we're the nerds?" Noble sagely asked.

"Fine, then. Since you're at the top, you needn't bother with further study. Come and take a night off."

"Why stop when I'm ahead?" Noble asked. "I have the initiative. Now is the time to distinguish myself and build up other skills. If I stop, I fail, and that's all my fault."

"I didn't go to that party because I was waiting for you to come back, Noble," Firestorm said. "So we could do something together. As friends."

"You could come with me to my edible plants study."

"It's the middle of the night!"

"You were going to go to a party late at night. Why is this different?"

"Because… you might want to be the perfect soldier, but you won't become one by whittling yourself to the bone!"

"A soldier must press onward no matter how he must feel, Storm," Noble said. "This is training. A simulation for real life. How will I be different from the other soldiers? How will I have success?"

"Okay, okay," Firestorm relented. "Go to your stupid edible plants study. I'll be here reading up on downdrafts."

"See you!"

Noble left. Firestorm watched him go and muttered, "Goodbye."

The scene dissolved.

Noble held his head near his temple. "I never thought… Firestorm put up with me that much."

"It's what true friends do," Faust simply said. "Just as you helped out Freedom Fighter when you met him and you, he, and Storm went into private training with your father to protect Freedom Fighter."

"What happened then?"

"You grew," Faust simply said. "A soul was in need of help, and you rose to meet the challenge. It was the Unforgiven's arrival that saved your teetering friendship with Firestorm. You and he worked together once more to rehabilitate the wounded warrior. From Firestorm's renewed respect, and Freedom Fighter's debt, you became their leader. Because of your high example, you inspire them to become better. You… have no idea how high the respect they have for you is."

"I likely never will," Noble admitted.

Faust indicated with her head. "Look!"

He did. Noble Blade was by his father's bedside. Both of them were much older. Noble was a young man, and Strong Heart was as white as the crestfallen snow.

"I'm off to the Dragon lands, father," Noble was saying. "A civil war has erupted there, and we must reinstate the proper king Torch. I am so, so sorry, but I… I can't stay for your… your passing. I don't know when it'll be. It could be in a few days or six weeks. I can't stay for that. Who knows how the situation will change?"

"I know," wheezed Strong Heart. "Better than anyone else, I know. Remember the Unforgiven?"

"I keep him in my heart at all times, father. It was necessary for you to go in the middle of my training. But still, I wish I could do…something."

"But you can't," rebuked Strong Heart. "So stop worrying about it."

"Sorry." He bowed his head. "It's just been drilled so far in me now that…"

"That's no excuse, son. I expected great things from you. And you…"

Noble cringed, waiting for the disapproval.

"... You surpassed them all." Strong Heart weakly smiled around the laugh marks near his mouth and eyes sunken deep in his skin. "I was always proud of you, son."

Noble looked surprised. "All I did was-"

"-aspire to become the greatest?" he finished. Strong Heart nodded. "Yes. I know. It's everyone's goal to be the best. But you… are different."

"How?" he bleakly asked. "I seek for honor just like everypony else."

"What do you do with that honor, son?"

"I… protect Equestria, father."

"Then, by all means, you've done more than I could hope for. There is no greater honor than to give your service to your country and your friends." Strong Heart clasped his son's hooves and stared into his eyes.

"You do well by seeking to be the best. Always strive for it. If you fail, make it up. If you fall, walk it off." His face seemed to shine with pride. "Go and do, my son. The Goddess Faust… will never give a commandment… you cannot obey."

Noble bowed his head. "Yes, father. Always." He pulled him in to hug him. "I love you, father. All I've done, I've done to please you."

"When I'm gone, then what will you do?"

Noble pursed his lips. Then he spoke. "I will do it all for my friends!"

"Then go and do all in your power," Strong Heart said. "Always remember. Push yourself. Go beyond. You will go nowhere staying stagnant and being content with yourself. Always become stronger. Faster. Braver."

"Yes, father!" Noble emphatically declared, a hoof over his heart. "My word is my oath!"

Strong Heart smiled warmly. "I truly have… taught you well."

The mist dissipated, leaving two ponies behind.

"My father died while I was out," Noble recalled with a choke in his throat. "I attended his funeral when I came back and inherited his starting fortune. I felt I should honor him and myself by giving it to good causes-"

"Yes," Faust said. "I know."

"Of course you know," Noble realized.

"Your father was flawed, Noble Blade," Faust whispered. "He was bitten to the core by that realization when your mother died in childbirth and he found himself weakened. But he made no effort to correct himself, instead creating a new, better version in you. To honor her memory, and to have a second chance to correct his own flaws, he crafted you from the ground up. He was a good pony. He loved you. But he did not see… that it is not requisite for ponies to run faster than they have strength. All things must be done in a proper order. And in his haste, he pushed a self-destructive message into you that stays with you to this day."

"I know," Noble lamented. "My greatest flaw is, I try to not have any flaws. Pride and self-obsession has taken hold of my heart. I've become the very thing I swore to stamp out."

There was a pause in which Faust thought of what to say. "Noble Blade," Faust finally said with utter solemnity. "Why are many called, but few chosen?"

"I… lack the answer, Faust. Help thou my understanding."

"It is because so many ponies seek the things of this world, and aspire to its temporal honors, that they do not learn this one lesson."

Faust cupped Noble's chin so he could look up into her violet eyes.

"The privileges of harmony are compatible only with the powers of heaven. And no matter how much ponies want to control eternal power, the powers of heaven cannot be controlled except by the hearts of the righteous.

"You know, Noble, that it is the sad disposition of all ponies that, whenever they achieve power, they almost immediately exercise unrighteous dominion. Prince Blueblood comes to mind. He has broken my heart with his choices. There are very few ponies that don't want power, but they would be the best at controlling it. And far too many ponies who lust after it and achieve it, unworthy of wielding it, and so lose it quickly. Hence many are called, but few are chosen.

"Ten ponies were chosen in heaven after the war in heaven to wield the Elements on Equus. But the Element of Honor had to be a special pony among my children. A pony who has a heart without hypocrisy and without guile, who can be taught easily and often. With gentleness, meekness, and unfeigned love."

Noble actually felt himself begin to weep as he knew she was talking about him. Hearing it be spoken by someone who knew more about him somehow made it more real than believing it himself.

"You will never be celestially perfect on Equus, Noble Blade, but I never expected you to be. That's what mortality is for. My work and my glory is to bring to pass the perfection and celestial power of all ponykind. And though you may not attained your lofty expectations, you are good enough. You are! You are! I know your heart, and I have judged it to be good. A good heart cannot bring forth evil, just as how… an apple tree can't bring forth an orange. I won't tell you how many ways you can stumble; there are many. Even I can't count them. But this much I can tell you: that if you watch your thoughts, words, and deeds, and continue in the faith you have now, you are guaranteed a spot in my kingdom when the time comes for you to return home."

Noble gave a little moan and shifted his head while he was passed out in his cell.

"Is he going to wake up anytime soon?" asked a Nox, peering over the others to glimpse him kneeling in his corner.

"Nah. Let him be. We'll just let him wake up, and then we'll tear off his lips or something and fry 'em up in front of his face."

"True. True."

The Noxxa sat in relative silence as they ate; their shift was long, so they had brought in some platters of fried pony meat and a barrel of rich dark wine.

"Did you hear the news?" asked one. "The main invasion force's taken Manehattan."

"Really? When did that news come in?"

"Only about an hour ago. It was a tough battle, though. The yaks were there. You know how they are. Ponies, too. And a lot of 'em. They knew we were coming."

"How?"

"Far as I know, some prophet in Canterlot declared it. Scorpan, the brother of Tirek."

"That son of a bitch?" One threw down a knife onto the platter. "I hate it when brothers go too soft."

"How'd you know about it, anyway?"

"K'ra says he was there in Canterlot. He can vouch for Blueblood, too. He has a legitimate reason to be here, surprise surprise."

"What is it?"

"The Prophet said he would die."

"But Scorpan's a prophet for that Faust whorse," one pointed out. "She's fake, so he's a false prophet."

"Are you saying Faust doesn't exist?"

"What? No! I know she exists! Problem is, she's a false image. She's no Goddess. She's a high-and-mighty jerk who sits there in heaven watching her children suffer, and she smiles and says it's for their own good as they scream and plead. Good Solaris, it makes me sick! I'm so glad we didn't choose her plan when we were in heaven. Solaris knew better than to leave our fate uncertain."

"We got thrown into Tartarus and got these bug bodies instead."

"But think about if we had won! Imagine it! Faust ruling Tartarus, thinking she has control when she really doesn't. If she did have control, she'd have shown it a long time ago."

"I'm looking forward to showing what control over the ponies we have when we invade Appleoosa," snarled another one.

"Oh yeah! That's right! Once the main army's on the mainland, that's the signal for these little camps in Equestria to spring up and attack the nearby towns!"

"You're an idiot for thinking otherwise," another casually said.

"Okay, look, we've been stuck in this rotting filth-hole for months now! I never thought there would even be another step."

"I'm looking forward to it," sighed one as he took a sip of blood wine.

"For me, the younger they are, the better. I remember when I did it to a Rada six-month-old."

"You were there when the Rada were wiped out?" one asked, gaping in awe.

" 'Course I was. Most satisfying thing I ever saw. I specialize in extremes. Ninety-five-year-old grandmothers to infants."

"I dunno, I use the little ones for target practice."

"I kinda wanted to do that to Rarity when she came to the redoubt today."

"Well, what stopped you?"

"The dragon and the warrior in black, idiot!"

"So we kill their protectors and then we do whatever we want with the girls."

"The pink one was bubbly and cute," one observed, stuffing his face full of meat. "I really want to take that away from her. The more purity they have in them, the more satisfying it is to take away. A barmaid is one thing, but an Element bearer? Priceless."

"No, you want to know what I want?" said another on top of the speaker. "The yellow one. Shy, pink curls. Makes me want to vomit. I wonder how much she'll scream when I rip her in half-"

"STOP!"

The Noxxa jolted in their seats and stared in shock at the pony in chains. The bloodsoaked Noble Blade had woken up, and his stare was more furious than anything they had seen out of him.

"Silence, you fiends of the infernal pit! I will not stay here and hear such vile words! I command you in the name of the almighty Faust to cease!"

The Noxxa looked at each other, their hearts thudding harder than ever before. His words had roared like a lion, and he no longer looked helpless and weak. He looked like he was… challenging them.

One Nox took him up on that. Rising from his seat, he skitted over to the cell and clasped him hard around the neck. "I think it's time for you to experience the Unforgiven's treatment."

"Touch me NOT!"

A flash of light blinded everyone. The Nox flew across the cell like he had been shocked by electricity. He collided with the cell wall and dissolved into ash with a resounding crunch.

The other Noxxa were up and out of their seats, staring and blinking at either the pile of ash or the pony who had flung him across the room while being totally bound.

"Faust will smite thee if thou layest a claw on me! For she will not allow me to perish until I have accomplished what I came here to do! My body is in chains… but my spirit is free!"

Then, incredibly, he rose! From on his knees onto one hoof. Then he stood up on both hind legs, straining forward, and affixed them all with a glare of clear, sharp defiance. The barbed wire around his hooves and horn were still grating into his flesh, but Noble didn't look like he cared.

"Your bodies are free, but your spirits are in bondage to evil! If you still insist… if you still desire to continue in your evil… I swear that Faust will make an exception for my position. Both you and I will die this very instant! Along with all of Black Fang Redoubt, the entire desert we are in, and this quarter of the planet Equus itself!"

That struck fear into the black hearts of those evil beasts. Noble didn't look like he was bluffing. And he definitely looked like he could break loose at any given moment and wreak hell on them. What was going to stop him?

The Noxxa whimpered. Noble narrowed his gaze until his eyes were shrouded in shadow. The rest of his blood-covered body seemed to glow with some unearthly power that had lit the cell with a fiery light.

"W… we're sorry," whispered one of them.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things," another desperately choked out.

"So sorry."

"Won't happen again."

"I just… I…"

The Noxxa backed away from him into the other end corner of the cell, keeping their fearful eyes on him. Their meal was left unattended. None of them moved, even when Noble went back to his knees and kept his head down. He was still wounded, after all.

For the next four hours, they stayed in the corner, not speaking to him or to anyone else. They simply sat, pawing at the floor. It was only until the next shift came in that they moved to get out, and they did so desperately.

The last one to come out was stopped by the captain of the next crew. "What's with you? How's the prisoner? Leave enough of him for us to take a crack at him?"

"Don't touch him," he whispered. "Don't try to get near him."

The captain gave him a bemused look. "Have I gone mad, or did those words escape your worthless lips?"

"I've been there when the Rada was butchered and I've been in Saddle Arabia and seen their royal courts. I've stood in the presence of Marshal Malice himself. But I have never felt true, divine royalty, until I heard him speak with the power of Faust. I'm too scared to let you unleash it again. Just… don't. This pony has a Goddess on his side."

Chapter Sixty-seven: Bribery Fails

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Appleoosa was a small town in the middle of the desert, which ordinarily meant the villagers would all be out and about. However, when the trio of Rarity, Freedom Fighter, and Spike arrived at the borders of the old town, nopony was in the street. Even stranger, though, was the boarded-up windows and blocked doors.

"Where do you think the others are?" Spike asked Rarity.

"In the city hall, I'd imagine," was her dubious response.

"The villagers are probably in hiding because of the close Noxxa camp," Freedom Fighter deduced. "Are they afraid of us?"

"I would assume they are," Rarity agreed.

When they finally approached the city hall on the far end of the main boulevarde, a window near the door slid open and a pink hoof waved out. "Come in!" Pinkie whispered.

They opened the doors and entered one by one. Inside the suddenly-cool building, a slow fan rotated on the ceiling over an old, rotten wooden floor with tables and desks all over, ready to be barricaded against the doors at a moment's notice.

Twilight and the others were in a corner. Sitting next to Applejack was a pony Freedom Fighter narrowed his eyes at.

"Easy there," Applejack calmed him, seeing his face. "This is cousin Braeburn. He's here to help. Braeburn, meet Freedom Fighter."

Braeburn, in an open vest and a wide-brimmed fedora, gave him a curt nod.

"Where's Shining Armor and Tempest and the other guard?" Freedom Fighter asked.

"They're out keeping an eye on the town's perimeter," Twilight replied. "Tempest is with them to avoid her breaking free. The desert is miles and miles in every direction. This town is the only source of shelter, food, and water."

"What town?" Spike drily asked. "Appleoosa doesn't seem like the town I remember."

"Yer absolutely right," Braeburn murmured. "Many things've changed in this here old place."

"What do you mean?"

Braeburn pointed out the open window towards the cluster of black a few miles off. "It all started when that there camp sprung up outta nowhere about a month ago. Nopony wanted to investigate, and they didn't send any emissaries, either, so we didn't think much o' it. But then…"

Braeburn wiped his brow and rose off the ground. There was a strange look in his eyes of distant fear, rarely seen in a soul as hardy as Braeburn.

"We still don't know what manner of creature's in there, but durin' th' night, they used ta make raids on our apple supplies. No matter how many guards we stationed at the borders, they disappeared as well by mornin'. Soon apples weren't enough. Soon our cattle disappeared. Then our crops. We've gotten to living off dried food reserves at this point!"

"Instead of spreading apples on toast, they hafta spread peas!" Applejack added.

Firestorm widened his eyes and gasped.

"I would rather die," Applejack bluntly admitted.

"Can't you just leave town? There's a railway station right here," Rarity told Braeburn.

"There's only one train here. And besides, the creatures in the camp would simply go out, attack the train, and take us all out in the open," Braeburn pointed out. "Here we have supplies and a defensive position… however useless it would be. I won't risk any more lives than I have to, Rarity."

"Neither will I," Twilight whispered. No one heard her.

"Braeburn," Freedom Fighter explained, "the camp you see is full of vile, evil, buglike creatures more like demons than anything else. They've subsidized on your town for over a month. You must be in a bit of a pickle here. I commend you for handling it with tact and measure. Sometimes there's not much we can do. It can be hard to accept that."

"Speaking of which," Starlight Glimmer pointed out, giving a pointed glance towards the returned trio.

"Oh…" Freedom Fighter cut off.

"Well," Rainbow began, folding her arms as she hovered in the air. "I assume 'diplomacy' failed."

"He's pure evil," Rarity hissed. "Evil!"

"Who was?" Twilight demanded.

"Prince Blueblood!"

Firestorm pushed Pinkie Pie out of the way to make room for him. Though he was not the most easily surprised of ponies, he looked stunned by the news. "What?!"

"The prince?!" Twilight reiterated.

"What the heck was Blueblood doing in a place like that?" Starlight Glimmer asked. "Was he kidnapped as well?"

"No," Spike refuted. "He looked very much in charge of things. Maybe the Noxxa kept him around because they knew he was even viler than they were."

"He was behind the kidnapping?" Rainbow clarified, incredulity overriding her. "Why?"

"He said that Noble Blade pulled a knife on him at the Gala a few weeks back," Rarity fumed. "As if! Noble Blade could never do such a thing!"

"He was by my side the entire time," Fluttershy whispered, curling a lock of hair as she remembered the magical night both of them had. "He could never…"

"Well, you're right about that," Freedom Fighter admitted. He sounded sheepish, for some odd reason. "Noble didn't do it… but it happened anyway."

Rarity craned her head to affix him with a look. "What do you mean?"

"I… while we were at the Gala… you and Starlight were on an overlook, Bluey came along and began to question you about Noble Blade, and when push came to shove, I kind of…"

Rarity's eyes widened. "That?!"

"What did you do?" Starlight Glimmer whispered dangerously.

Freedom Fighter took off his cowl, showing beads of fresh sweat on his pale yellow skin and he grit his teeth nervously. "You see, I may have… pretended to be Noble and threatened him with his life."

Fluttershy looked up. Her eyes were beetled together. "You did this?"

Freedom Fighter took a step back. "I did."

In the next instant, Fluttershy's furious face was inches away from his. Though he was a dark warrior, his heart thundered in his chest as Fluttershy roared, "It's your fault my knight is locked in a dungeon?!"

"I had no idea-" he fearfully began.

"And now, neither do we! We don't know what to do because of you!"

"It's yer fault we're in this mess to begin with?!" Applejack demanded.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Freedom Fighter roared. "I was getting rid of a potential threat! Who knew it would lead him out here in the middle of nowhere?!"

"I'm with him!" Twilight agreed, coming over to him to pry Fluttershy away from him. "He had no idea!"

"You just took him away from us," Fluttershy whispered, and there was a wisp of death in it. "How can I be expected to forgive you?"

Freedom Fighter jabbed her away from him, and Fluttershy went stumbling. "I don't know! I will break him out with my bare hooves if I have to! But you need to stop acting like a psycho just because your boyfriend was-"

Fluttershy's eyes grew wide but hard as steel. They quivered in place as a hateful grimace grew across her mouth.

Freedom Fighter paused, gazing with absolute horror into her eyes. Then he screamed, clutched himself around the chest, and fell to the ground, groaning and thrashing his legs like fire was consuming him. He was even weeping. But his eyes remained open for the whole time.

"What are you doing to him?" Firestorm demanded, flapping over to him and propping him up. He was desperate, hoarse. "Fluttershy! What are you doing?!"

Fluttershy's narrowed eyes only pressed harder.

"Take it away!" Freedom Fighter gasped and threw himself out of Firestorm's grip. He crawled on his back away from the fire in Fluttershy's eyes. "Oh, Faust! Please! Please! Kill it! Take me away! I can't take it! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop!"

"Fluttershy!" Twilight roared, and tackled her. Both girls rolled on the creaky wooden floor until Twilight ended atop her, pinning her arms to the ground. "Stop using the Stare! Ngh! Stop it!"

Fluttershy's gaze locked on to Twilight next. Twilight felt a thrill of fear shoot through her as the mighty Stare took effect. Her will melted away. Fluttershy's command was law. No other option existed. And if she dared to think otherwise, painful, horrible things would happen to her.

But Twilight fought anyway. Pain screeched in her head as she did, but she fought against Fluttershy's glare anyway.

Twilight let out a scream, raised her hoof, and slammed it on Fluttershy's skull. The wooden floor splintered beneath the impact. Fluttershy closed her eyes instinctively and whimpered in pain.

"Stop it, Fluttershy," she whispered, cradling her to her chest. "I don't want to hurt you. Please, please, come back."

Fluttershy blinked. Hard. Her gaze returned to normal. "Wh…"

"Please!" Twilight begged, hugging her around the neck. "Never ever use the Stare on him again!"

Dazed, Fluttershy put a hoof to her head. It came away red. All she did was quiver as she examined the reddened hoof.

Freedom Fighter was still huddled up against a wall with his hooves above him. He looked like he was cowering from something, and he had his eyes tightly shut.

"Please, please, please, go away! I can't… I can't take it! I…"

He gradually opened one eye. Then the other. Shaking in the legs, he rose.

"What did she do?!" Firestorm demanded of Applejack.

The farmer solemnly took the cowboy hat off her blonde head. "She, uh… used the Stare, Firestorm."

"The what?"

"I saw him," Freedom Fighter filled in. He clamped his left metal hoof around his right arm of flesh to keep it from trembling. "Marshal Malice."

The entire room fell silent.

"I could feel… all the scars on my body… come back at the same time. The blood was… still warm on my body. I heard those bugs laughing and the… the clink of chains, and the sawing of their knives on my… But Malice was looming over it all. And he was laughing! And he dangled my arm in front of my face like a worm and he… slucked it up."

For all his descriptions of what he saw in the Stare, Fluttershy appeared to be in even worse anguish than he, if it was possible.

"Oh, F-Faust," he gasped. "W-we… we can't delay. He's going to kill us all, and we can't stay here. We need to get him out now."

"But we can't," Rarity emphasized. "If I, his quote-unquote 'jewel,' can't persuade him to let him go, nopony can! Except for maybe Twilight, who has royal authority, and even then, he won't care because he's royalty himself!"

"And you had a crush on him?" Pinkie wondered.

"I didn't know he was a scumbag!" Rarity defended.

Spike gave her a pointed look, folding his arms in disapproval.

"Are you sure we can't trick him or persuade him?" Rainbow pressured.

"The prince is vile," Rarity whispered. "He's got the morals and the surface properties of slime. He won't listen to you or anyone else. He's in charge, which is all that matters."

"He has a price for Noble's release, though," Spike added.

"What is it?" Braeburn hopefully supplied. "We've got the town's tax money, I'm sure we can help to pay for-"

"It's Rarity."

"Oh." Braeburn's ears flattened against his skull.

"Heck. No."

"Firestorm-"

"I said, heck no, Twilight!" he roared. "I am not trading lives here. Not Rarity. Not for him. Don't make me choose between them both."

"I know!" Twilight agreed. "I was about to say the same thing as you, but-" She took a deep breath and expelled it. "Look, how else can we do this?"

"I have an idea," Spike declared.

Twilight gave him a curious look. "Explain."

"All we do is give Tempest Shadow to them in exchange for him," Spike offered. "A prisoner trade, you know? They get what they want, we get what we want, and we get rid of Tempest, who's kind of just dead weight to us. This'll solve all our problems!"

"That… does have merit," Rarity admitted. "I say we all try."

"Whoah, whoah, whoah. I might be hearing things. You said 'we all.'"

"Yes? What about it, Rainbow Dash?"

"I think we should all go in together!" Pinkie Pie interjected.

"And I say we all just stay out of the way while Stormy here fireballs the place and gets him out! Twilight, you said yourself that you don't want to sacrifice ourselves. This is the option that'll result in the least loss of life!"

Twilight stomped over to Rainbow Dash so closely that the suddenly-nervous Rainbow had to back away a step. And given Rainbow's nature, it was a significant thing.

"If I said this once, it's permanent. We will not firebomb Black Fang Redoubt! If he dies because of us, we fail!"

"He's probably underground-!" she feebly started.

"No!" she roared. "It will not happen! And neither will exchanging Tempest Shadow!"

"But Twilight-"

"When I said I wouldn't trade lives, Spike, that includes Tempest."

The ponies gasped.

"But… Tempest-"

"Firestorm, did you mean your words when you said you wouldn't trade lives? Or were they empty?"

Firestorm sullenly said no more.

"Tempest is a pony just like us," Twilight affirmed. "What kind of ponies would we be if we abandoned her to the mercy of these merciless monsters? Yes, she's done bad things. But so have we! Remember the problems in Ponyville we've all caused over the years by being focused on ourselves? We've all helped to contribute to the evil in the world in some way. We just don't think about it."

"You don't think about it," Freedom Fighter whispered, clenching his hoof.

"Besides, I know of the potential within her," Twilight said. "And I will not abandon her when she needs us the most. If we give her to the Noxxa, they'd kill her. They don't know if she's an asset to them yet. The only forces that knew was that small group that attacked us on Mount Aris. These Noxxa here don't know about her. They'd be reluctant to trade her in the first place!"

Spike looked more dejected than ever. "All right," he said. "I just thought…"

"It was a great idea, Spike," Twilight reassured him, and gave him a close hug. "I'm impressed you came up with an unorthodox idea on your own! You're a great assistant, Spike. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Spike grinned. "Aww, gee… thanks, Twi."

"This doesn't progress us much further, does it?" Rainbow groaned.

Twilight let go of her number one assistant. "You're right. But thanks to his inspiration, I think I have another idea now that can get us Noble Blade without losing any more ponies."

"Let's hear it," Applejack said, folding her arms.

Twilight pointed at Bradburn. "You said you still have the citizen's tax money, right?"

"Yes, princess."

"Could you bring it here, please?"

Braeburn nodded and trotted off into a back passage of the town courthouse.

Applejack pointed a suspicious hoof at the alicorn. "If yer thinkin' what Ah think yer thinkin'..."

"Think about it, Applejack."

"Oh, Ah think I know plenty," Applejack drily replied. "If you think yer gonna use the tax money of the citizens of Appleoosa to return a single pony… well, Ah'm sworn to be honest. And to me, this just don't sound to be the cleanest thing in the world."

"Well, what would you want to do?"

"Hm. Perhaps not exploitin' the tax money of ma family's settlement might be one of them!"

"I know how much this town means to you, Applejack," Twilight softly said. "That's why I'm doing this. This is to protect the town."

"Ah don't see how."

"The town is already essentially a ghost town," Twilight explained. "It might be uninhabited in a week. What use is tax money going to be in a ghost town? If we use this money, we can get him back, put the inhabitants on a train, and use Shining Armor and Winter Gleam to protect it while it steams the passengers to Canterlot."

"What makes you think they'll listen to money?"

"All we have to convince is Blueblood," Pinkie Pie clarified. "He'll listen to that be-a-utiful sound of clinking coins, all right."

"All that'll happen is we'll go to the gates, they'll let us in, and after we give the money to Blueblood, they'll butcher us and mince us into ground meat and they'll feed us for dinner."

"Not so," Twilight replied to Rarity. "We'll have a powerful third party overseeing the exchange."

"Who?" Starlight asked.

"Tempest Shadow," Twilight said. "As far as she's concerned, she's not on either side. The world isn't divided into ponies and devils, you know. If the trade goes wrong, she'll intervene."

"So at best, this trade will leave the citizens of Appleoosa with nothing," Applejack said. "And at worst, we all die."

"We don't have much of a choice, Rarity," Twilight comforted her. "I hate this deal as much as you. But I will not throw away your life. I promise. No matter what, I will never allow you to be taken away."

"How far are ya willin' to deliver on that promise, Twi?"

"Any measure, Applejack. Anything." A crackling spark appeared on her horn for a brief moment before disappearing. "What'll be the length you will go, Applejack?"

The farm girl was silent. Her eyes quivered in place as her words hit home in her head.

"Twi…" She threw herself around her neck. "Ah'd follow you into Tartarus itself for you! And for anyone else! Because… you'd do the same… fer me."

"Then let's do it," Twilight said. "And if things go wrong, blame me. Please. But no matter what, whether this goes well or not, I will break him out, and I will save your lives, and I will destroy every last bug in that encampment if it means Noble Blade will be safe."

"Gosh," Rainbow murmured. "Twilight… what happened to you?"

Twilight looked much older when she looked at Rainbow to reply.

"I know now how much you mean to me," Twilight whispered. "And I know how evil our enemy is. I simply prioritize which lives matter." She snorted and turned away. "That's what I'm best at."

When Braeburn returned with the key to the safe, Twilight and the girls went deeper into the town hall and entered the massive steel safe. After emptying its contents into about ten bags, they departed to barter with the monsters.

When the gates of Black Fang Redoubt opened once more that evening, the Noxxa were both more daring from their previous victory and more cautious from the sheer number of ponies that entered. The party comprised of two battle-hardened warriors, a mature mare with a broken horn and a furious scowl, a baby dragon, and six experienced mares who matched the hateful glares leveled at them from every direction.

Though they walked through the valley of the shadow of death, as the sun was setting deeply in the horizon, Twilight felt no fear. She was emotionless, but at the same time, persistent. One step at a time. One hoof, then another. And if the Noxxa decided to attack her…

Applejack was kneeling with an arrow in her lower gut, and Rarity's lifeless corpse was still bleeding. Noble was moaning in grief over the body of Fluttershy.

...Then Twilight wouldn't hold back this time.

Twilight noticed that a Nox would crawl close to their moving circle, then jump back hissing like a cat. After a few of these, Twilight noticed that it wasn't in jeering or an attempt to penetrate their defenses. They were… afraid. Playing chicken with how close they could get before they would get destroyed.

The group eventually came to Blueblood's building and made a motion to enter the cabin. Starlight Glimmer did it first, then the others.

Blueblood was there behind his wide desk, watching them come in. His expression was unamused, but he was eyeing their bags of gold with shining pupils. Twilight assumed that he knew of their approach before they even came in. He must have been notified beforehand by a sentry. The Noxxa were apparently more loyal than they let on.

Rarity went to the front immediately. So did Fluttershy, Firestorm, Spike, Tempest Shadow, and Twilight.

"Princess Twilight," Blueblood murmured in greeting. "So grand for a princess so young."

"I had to adapt," Twilight coldly replied. Standing so close to Blueblood, she was struck with how regal he looked. His ivory suit was incredibly ornate and impeccably smooth. He had many badges on his front on display. Around his neck was a shining silver necklace inlaid with a priceless blue jewel. By his side was an ornate saber inlaid with gold, the same color as his shiny mane. His teeth were whiter than his body. His horn was like a lance. His eyes, however, were greedy.

She knew the difference between him and Noble Blade almost immediately. Noble was like a fountain, giving back whatever he had to the world. Blueblood was like a sponge, soaking the world dry and leaving it with nothing.

"You know why we're here, Blueblood," Starlight said.

"Please," he humbly said. "Call me prince."

"No, I don't think I will," Rarity huffed.

Blueblood gave her an unsympathetic glare before sighing. "Ah, Rarity. Be civil here. You're here for your prisoner. And I already told you, I will only accept Rarity in exchange."

"Our situation won't improve," Applejack pointed out. "It's unreasonable and unfair to suggest exchanging one life for another as if one is worth more than another. We're here to pay his ransom instead."

Blueblood snorted and tapped his desk. "Do you really think I would exchange Noble Blade… for money?!"

Twilight slammed her bag of gold on his desk, and so did Starlight and Fluttershy. "Yes!"

The heavy clinking sound of the heavy bags settling drew Blueblood's attention. He could sense the wealth inside. Twilight knew it. She also knew that each of the ponies had a similar bag. Her goal was to use as little gold as possible to secure his freedom.

Blueblood felt one of the bags through the burlap. Restraining his thoughts--Twilight knew he was--he gave a negligent huff. "This… isn't half bad…" He hefted one of them next and put on a disapproving look. "But hardly a king's ransom. Is Noble Blade worth so little to you?"

"Can you measure a pony's worth in coins alone?" Tempest Shadow sagely asked, taking center stage. "I have taken prisoners before whose price was a third of the one they offer you now."

Blueblood gave her a stare as he examined her jagged mane and scarred eye and horn. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"The lieutenant of the almighty Storm King," Tempest whispered. "I have no allegiance to you or to these ponies. I agreed to oversee this exchange only so I could go home faster."

"Hm." Blueblood nodded. "I see. Maybe your prisoners did cost very little. Was it because their quality was so low?"

"No, prince," Tempest breathed. "They were much pricier than you believe."

"I see," he repeated. He sighed. "This price does seem fair somehow. But I don't know… it needs something more… Noble Blade isn't your average pony, you see. He's special, is he not? What will you give to prove that he does mean something?"

Twilight nodded at Rainbow Dash, who, with a grumble, plopped her bag on his desk to add to the grand total. "Here you go, you big jerk. Don't expect to ask for more."

"On the contrary," Blueblood corrected, "to burden you with him, you would give me less than half of your grand total amount? You truly are being stingy with your money if this is the way you handle a negotiation. Is Noble Blade worth less than half of your money? Let us bring everything to the table so we may exchange in fairness. Why bring it if not for the purpose of giving it all?"

"Um, m-mister Prince?" said a small and meek voice. "I-I was wondering, just because we've given everything we have to the table, if you could bring my boyfriend here. I just want to see him. Just for a moment! He's got to be so scared!"

Blueblood actually had a look of sympathy cross his face. "Oh, Fluttershy," he said. Then he blinked. "That is your name, right?"

She nodded.

"I would take him out to see you, but he's… indisposed at the moment. It'll be hard to acquire him at this particular time. That cave in the center of this camp leads fifty feet below ground, and it'll be hard to find his cell, so…"

Fluttershy backed away. Twilight inwardly cursed. Tugging at his heartstrings wouldn't work. Not on someone as deplorable as him.

Firestorm slammed a bag of money on his table. "Shut up and take what you've been given, Bluey. This is already more than enough for him."

Blueblood leaned back in his seat. "I remember you," he mused. "You mocked me at the Gala and drove me off in humiliation. Firestorm, right? Hm. Well, I might take what you've given me. If you weren't trying to cheat me out of the lowest possible price for a pony's freedom. Besides… I believe your uncalled-for rudeness before you even knew me accounts for a heavier price for your friend's freedom."

"Turns out I was right," Firestorm affirmed. "You are a jerk, after all."

"Everyone contributes to the darkness in this world," Blueblood reminded him. "Nopony is without their faults. You're as big a jerk as you say I am. I don't think I'm unreasonable, but that's also predictable for all ponies. You likely don't think yourself rude or evil as well."

"What if I do," Firestorm breathed, "and I just don't care?"

"Then you're the villain of the piece. Not me. Now, I believe it's time to go away. You made a tremendous offer and your efforts were grand, but it appears you are too uncivil to continue the discussion." He began to shove the bags back toward the girls.

"Wait!" Fluttershy interrupted, popping up. "You can't do this! We'll give you more!"

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow hissed.

"What are you doing?!" Rarity whispered furiously.

"If we give you what Applejack and Rarity have, surely that will be enough for you! Please!"

Applejack gritted her teeth. "Forgive me, prince, but it appears our friend here's thought to burden ya with much more'n ya expected."

"Oh, don't apologize, you simple farmer," Blueblood soothed her. His brilliant blue eyes glittered. "If anything, it's her that has correctly estimated my capacity to handle a ransom. If you were to add all the gold to the grand total, that would certainly be enough proof of your devotion."

As Applejack thumped her bag of gold on the table, she turned and leaned to whisper to Twilight. "This is a load a' horse crap. Blueblood never intended us to leave with the money! Fluttershy's raised the price for no reason!"

"He means to have it all whether we give it to him or not," Twilight hissed back. "I thought I could bargain low, but it appears this is all that'll work."

"We've got nothing left!"

"Nothing but Noble Blade," Twilight reproved.

Applejack gave the prince a dirty look. "We'll see, won't we?" she growled.

The entire wealth of Appleoosa, save the buildings and land themselves, was now on Blueblood's desk.

"Listen, Goldilocks," Rainbow snapped. "This is all the gold you'll get."

"It's all we have," Fluttershy meekly added.

Blueblood's ears perked up. "All, you say?"

"Give us our friend, Blueblood!" Firestorm ordered. "Then this gold is yours."

"Hmm… yes," he said. "This is enough."

Twilight braced herself.

"Enough to see that the Elements of Harmony cheated a town out of its tax money to barter for a political prisoner," Blueblood finished. "My, my. What will the public think of you when word gets out?"

"It won't!" Rarity declared vehemently, though all of them looked very nervous now.

"It will," Blueblood murmured. "Do you intend for the inhabitants of Appleoosa to stay where they are and get ravaged instead? If not, and you evacuate them to Canterlot on that lone train coming out of the station, they'll have to explain everything to the reporters. I'd say you're in a lose-lose situation here. If you keep them in Appleoosa, they'll die because of you, and Equestria will find out and ask, 'Why didn't the revered Elements do anything sooner?' If you do evacuate them, they'll tell the tale of why they fled with no money reserves, and Equestria will ask, 'How could the revered Elements possibly do something so vile and cruel as robbing them to pay for a personal need?'" Blueblood gave a cruel, empty smile and put his hooves behind his head. "Nevertheless, I'm grateful for the generosity of this little town to grace me with such a…gift."

"Rarity was right," Pinkie Pie breathed, no longer sounding bubbly or happy. "You do have the morals of slime!"

"Aww," Blueblood moaned. "Such a slimy thing to say."

"That's it," Tempest growled. Her horn fizzled like a broken taser and she took a menacing step. "I think you can't be trusted to handle a proper exchange."

"Oh, my dear," Blueblood said. "This was never an exchange to begin with." He clapped twice.

Barging through the doors and sliding open the windows came half a dozen Noxxa carrying wicked spear-saws with hooks and jagged ends. They quickly surrounded the girls, forming no way out.

Blueblood drew his long, ornamental saber with his golden magic. "As the prince of Equestria, I determine you to be thieves and robbers, and hereby banish you from anywhere the law of Equestria has hold. Any attempt to dispute this action will be treated with in ways more ancient than Equestria itself. Guards, get these ponies out of my sight!"

"Oh, you think we're the traitors?" came that soft voice. It had a steely edge to it now, though, that scared anyone in their right mind. "You should take a look at yourself first!"

A streak of yellow shot forward and collided its hoof with Blueblood's nose with an audible crack. The prince flew across the elegant room, slammed his head on the back wall, and slid down to the wooden floor, bleeding profusely from both his nostrils. The saber he held hit the wall at a bad angle, and the top three inches shattered and broke off. It clattered next to the cowering pony, who held a hoof to his scarlet nose.

The Noxxa instantly closed in--and met a spiral of fiery steel that tore through their spears and then their bodies like paper, as Firestorm both spun and drew his swords over the girl's heads at the same time. In the space of two seconds, the half-dozen bugs were ashes.

"Oh my goodness," Fluttershy gasped, holding up her hoof. "Oh, my goodness. I attacked the prince. I just punched somepony. I just punched somepony!"

Blueblood, wincing and saying, "Ow, ow, ow," over and over, stood up holding his dripping red face. "I… that's a capital offense-"

Firestorm leveled the fiery swords at him, face pulled in a sneer of rage as he shouted over what the prince was about to say. "Shut up! Shut! UP! WHEN YOU DIE, YOU'LL KNOW WHY I'M GOING TO-!"

The doors broke down and in came a line of armed and ready Noxxa, slashing their sabers and jabbing with their spears. Only a quick laser blast by Starlight Glimmer, blasting through all of them at once, stopped them from reaching the girls.

"Let's get out of here!" Pinkie shrilled over the commotion.

"I have to do something first," Twilight coldly said, igniting her horn while glaring at the fallen Blueblood with the intent to kill.

"More of them are forming up!" Rainbow screamed, jabbing outside. Indeed, Noxxa were assembling from all over the encampment and forming up right outside the cabin.

That was what made Twilight pause. She stopped glaring at the fallen prince to glance outside.

"Hold them off," she whispered. "Fight."

The ponies bellowed and rushed outside into the hot sun, afraid but ready.

The Noxxa charged in to meet them in a mighty clash.

Starlight's magic solidified into a domed shield around all of them that repelled leaping invaders. Rainbow Dash was already zooming out to smash into the multitude, with Firestorm going the opposite direction. Leaving a rainbow trail in her wake, Rainbow crashed through a dozen Noxxa, and clouds of black ash hung in the air where she went.

Firestorm exploded into a nimbus of orange light and collided into the ground like a comet. The deafening boom sent shockwaves all across the ground that leveled a nearby barracks and sent Noxxa flying.

The rest of the ponies, sprinting out of the shield, fought off the soldiers in their own individualized ways.

Applejack, as always, was simply too strong for any one Nox to handle. With a single blow, she could punch the living daylights out of them and disintegrate them into piles of fine sand. Quick and multi-talented, she could hold off as many as five at a time.

Rarity's magic had taken hold of the smaller pieces of wreckage already in the camp. Slivers of wood, pebbles, and chips of stone were whirling about over her head. A small projectile, if going at enough speed, could embed itself in a Nox deep enough to instantly kill it. There was consequently a large circle around her, full of nervous Noxxa looking for the right opportunity, but failing.

Tempest Shadow, though not as close to the other ponies, was nevertheless urged to fight. And the lieutenant of the Storm King was a one-pony army. With fountains of electricity pouring out and incinerating Noxxa too bunched together, she also made use of her hooves, which were on the same level as the mighty Applejack. Strikes came hard and fast, and so did death. Ash hung in the air around her like a virulent cloud.

Starlight Glimmer was a student of Princess Twilight and a potentially more powerful unicorn than she was. Her powerful laser blasts incinerated a dozen at a time. Those who got too close were caught in magic fields and flung away far distances. Starlight had on a fierce battle face, which alone froze many in their tracks.

Pinkie Pie, however, was a nightmare.

She was pulling out sweets from indeterminable places and hurling them at Noxxa with killing speed. Those who ducked from her cupcakes got splattered by her pies. They slipped and fell in frosting. Unused to anything so sugary, any that got in their faces got spat out in horror.

One time, Pinkie uppercutted a large Nox with a blueberry pie, leaving him stunned with the pie dripping off his face.

"Oh, I'm soo sorry about that!" Pinkie screeched, losing control entirely, wiping the blueberry off his face. She pulled out another. "You wanted cherry pie!" She laughed maniacally and bashed him in the face with the dessert. The Nox collapsed.

She bounced into a new scene and raised her hooves as if about to strike. "ANYONE ELSE WANNA GET A TASTE OF THIS?!"

Some Noxxa fled from her outburst. Others bellowed their challenges and leaped for her, and got blasted back, covered in frosting or completely disintegrated.

In the air, the three pegasi clumped together, with the angry Fluttershy in the middle and the divided pegasus couple on either end. With a nod to each of them, they spread out to take on different areas of the camp.

Finally, the legendary warrior Freedom Fighter held a yellow propeller in his hooves as his staff blazed faster than the eye could see. His identity was still protected by the mask; if the Noxxa saw how he looked underneath, none of them would dare make a move against him.

Twilight, at last, came out of the cabin, a gagged Blueblood at her side, bound by powerful purple energy. Spike, by her side, had his fists balled, ready to fight.

"Don't level the camp entirely!" Twilight cautioned, holding a hoof up. "We still have to take out Noble Blade!"

"Twilight?!"

"What, Spike?!"

"LOOK!"

She did. Spike's sharp reptilian eyes had managed to catch what she had missed. Far away, on the towers surrounding the entire encampment, Noxxa were readying explosive ballistae and rudimentary cannons. Other Noxxa were holding long-range blunderbusses and holding twin pistols in their claws. Others had quick-reloading crossbows.

Her friends didn't see them. How could they? Twilight had to warn them. They'd get slaughtered!

Rarity's lifeless body was still bleeding onto the concrete, and Rainbow's legs were sliced almost in half from the back. Arrows were embedded deep in Adiago's chest and Fluttershy's abdomen. Applejack had one deep in her stomach. Noble Blade's weeping was heartbreaking. Why wasn't she moving? Why didn't she do anything to save her friends? Why why why?!

Twilight bellowed and ignited her magic.

The pegasi in the air suddenly dropped to the ground, covered in violet magic. All of them were protesting: what's going on, what's the big idea, Twilight, what are you doing? Twilight didn't care. There were bigger things they didn't see.

Teleporting away from Blueblood and reappearing in the midst of her friends, she gathered them to her like a hen would gather her chickens. They were dragged to her like a magnet. The Noxxa paused in their tracks, wondering just what Twilight was going to do.

"Twilight!" Applejack called to her. "What're ya doin'? Ya got a plan?"

"Oh, I do," Twilight breathed. "Stay close. And get ready."

Blueblood was getting out of his magic-bound chains and struggling to rise. His mouth and nose were covered in blood that he didn't dare wipe off on his tux sleeve.

"Any time now~" Fluttershy urged her.

"Spike, keep them away from us while Twilight does her… thing!" Freedom Fighter commanded, pushing him forward.

"How am I supposed to do that?" he demanded.

"You're a dragon! You have fire! Think of something!"

Spike halted. "Oh, no…"

"What's oh, no?" Pinkie questioned, aiming a hoof full of cupcakes.

Instead of answering, Spike waved his arms. "Hey! Rarity! Get over here! Can you see us?"

Rarity couldn't. The cloud of debris that she was swirling around was simply too thick.

"Rarity! Come here! Rarity!"

The pony finally caught wind of her name being called and whirled in every direction before facing the baby dragon. "Spike!"

"Quickly!" Spike urged; the magic Twilight was building up was at its crescendo. "You need to-!"

The thunder of guns and crossbows firing drowned him out.

The projectiles spattered the ground and raised dust where the ponies once were. Twilight and her friends had disappeared with a pop.

All except one.

Rarity whirled around in her cloud of swirling debris. All around her were black-faced insects grinning like the devils they were. Distraught panic worked its way onto her face. She was alone.

Blueblood gave her a poignant glance as he advanced towards her. The magic surrounding her died down, and the debris all dropped to the earth. Blueblood, surrounded by Noxxa, merely tilted his head at her.

"Miss Rarity," he said. A warm grin worked its way onto him. "How pleasant of you to join us."

Three miles out from the campsite, nine ponies and a baby dragon appeared in the desert, just as the moon was rising in the sky. There was a cavity in the middle of a nearby rock formation, and other rocks were scattered about. They had appeared, at random, in a remote place where many strange rock formations had settled long ago when the entire desert was once an ancient sea.

Those details didn't matter to the group, however. As soon as they regained their footing, every single pony in the group seemed to explode at once.

"What?!" Rainbow exclaimed, in anger and frustration.

"Where's Rarity? She didn't make it! AAAAAUGH! THIS IS TERRIBLE!" Pinkie rushed out in panic.

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness," was all Fluttershy was able to manage out, over and over again.

"I was about to destroy them all!" Tempest protested, kicking at the ground. "They could have all been fried to ash, but nooo!"

Twilight herself was almost immediately assaulted by three in the party.

"Are. You. Serious?!" Firestorm demanded, poking her in the chest with each word. "We were this close to getting the upper hand, and you abandoned the fight?!"

Applejack's face was contorted with fury. "Appleoosa's money is gone! All o' it, Twilight! Ya didn't think to save one bag o' money in all that ruckus? What'm Ah gonna tell Braeburn?"

"Why did you leave without Rarity?!" Spike roared, grabbing Twilight by the front and shaking her. "We're even worse off than we were before!"

"I didn't know Rarity wasn't going to make it until too late, Spike!" Twilight defended. "If I knew, I would have saved her too!"

"You're the one that's supposed to know everything!" Firestorm shot.

"You're the one that didn't know!" Twilight retorted. "They were about to use long-range heavy weaponry! We wouldn't stand a chance! It would be just like the massacre at the mirror portal!"

"You and I could have taken them out!"

"Or we would have been too late to stop them and we would be even worse than we are now! Could you imagine Pinkie Pie dead, for example, with us still in the cavity of this rock?!"

"LEAVE ME OUT OF THIS!" came Pinkie's cry.

"I would want to at least fight instead of lose as miserably as we did!" Firestorm roared.

"Shut up!" Freedom Fighter snapped, cutting between Twilight and Firestorm. "She did the right thing! I don't want us all to die!"

"Rarity's going to die!" Spike screamed as loudly as he could at Freedom, close to tears. "She's the best out of us all!"

"What use are the Elements without even one of us?" Fluttershy added in, wild-eyed.

Rainbow Dash flapped over, eager to join. "This could have all been prevented if we had just leveled the entire place with a sonic boom! Goldilocks said it himself! He's being kept underground! It wouldn't affect him!"

"How were we supposed to know that?!" Freedom Fighter protested.

"But now that Rarity's also captive, that option still won't work!" Twilight deduced quickly. "He'll use her as leverage! He's got to keep her safe and above ground!"

"This! Is the worst thing! Ever!" Pinkie lamented, waving her hooves about.

"Bluey's got everything he ever wanted thanks ta us," Applejack darkly hissed. "Rarity's his possession now, he's got enough wealth to last him the rest of his miserable life, Noble Blade is gonna die tomorrow morning, and it's all your fault!"

"My fault?" Twilight hissed back. "Freedom Fighter was the one that started his prejudice back at the Gala!"

"I was the one holding his grubby paws off of your precious student!" Freedom instantly retaliated, jabbing at Starlight Glimmer.

"What did I have to do with any of this?!" Starlight demanded. "It was Fluttershy that gave him twice as much as was needed!"

"I was the one preoccupied with saving the one I LOVED!" Fluttershy spat. "All you all were doing was giving in to his demands!"

"Like you always do at the market, Fluttershy?" Applejack countered. "Half of bartering is giving in! A few more minutes and we would've had 'im!"

"Like you can talk!" Twilight jabbed. "He was likely going to take all our gold whether we liked it or not!"

"Then Tempest didn't do her job, did she?"

"Don't you dare cross me," Tempest whispered with death in her breath. Her forehead sparked with a stream of white lightning. "You'll be in for a shock."

"Which is another thing!" Firestorm pointed out, flapping over to the hardened mare. "Why are you still alive, anyway? You betrayed Equestria, slaughtered hundreds under the Storm King's command, captured Shining Armor, and shot my best friend!"

"I should kill you right now, just for that!"

"Do it! Get close enough so I can wring out your filthy little neck!"

"No, Firestorm!" Twilight bellowed, separating both of them with her magic.

"Are you caring more for her than you are for us?" Pinkie asked in shock. "Do your friends even matter to you?"

"I saved your life because I cared!" Twilight roared.

"You doomed Rarity, Noble, and Appleoosa because you didn't!" Applejack retorted.

"You think I don't care?! I care more than you can ever comprehend, Applejack! That's why I did everything on this Faust-forsaken journey!"

A colossal explosive noise tore apart the pony's eardrums and forced them all to collapse to the ground, screaming in sudden fright. The sky, previously dark as pitch, was illuminated from horizon to horizon by a shining light that sent their eyelids squinting. Shockwaves sent boulders tumbling from the rock pillars all around them. They exploded into shrapnel and flew in every direction when they hit the ground. They all covered their heads.

Twilight felt a presence unlike any other she had ever known. It was even grander than the one around Princess Celestia. It sent her shaking and trembling afresh. She lifted her gaze to the light, almost afraid of what she might see.

Floating inches above a boulder much higher than them was a pearly white outline of an alicorn mare.

"Wh… what's happening?" Pinkie trembled.

"What's happening?" echoed the mare. Her voice was soothing and stilling. Twilight felt the urge to resist melt away.

"Ah… Ah dunno whatcha mean…" Applejack breathed, unable to stand up. Her voice was distracted and weak.

"Loyalty is broken," said the alicorn, giving Rainbow Dash a forlorn glance. Then to Fluttershy. "Kindness is broken." Then to Applejack. "Trust is broken." Finally, the alicorn's burning eyes turned to Twilight, and the mare felt herself tremble as she pierced her insides and saw everything inside of her. "Friendship is broken. But you are not broken. Twilight Sparkle, Child of Light, what happened?"

It wasn't as though Faust--for that was obviously who she was--needed a report on what she did. It was instead a hypothetical question. So Twilight responded with the only right way.

"I failed," she admitted, bowing her head. She was afraid to meet her gaze. What would she think of her?

"No, my daughter," whispered the loving voice. "Not yet! The time to act has not yet passed. The Knight Protector and the Huntress can still be salvaged."

"But how?" Fluttershy whimpered. The fact that she had mustered enough courage to even speak to a celestial being was commendable. "How can we still do it?"

"There are many things that are impossible, Dreadful Bear," soothed Faust. "But in me, all things are possible. Does my step not shake the earth? Does my voice not cause evil to flee? Can any force on my earth deny my influence?"

There was a collection of head-shaking and muttered denials at those words.

"Now go, my children," Faust commanded, pointing at the distant black spot. "Return to Black Fang Redoubt, and I will deliver Noble Blade and Rarity into your hooves. And the Prince of Stars will meet his end at last."

The brightness died down, and with it, so did the pony. In only moments, she had vanished.

Pinkie Pie was still staring at where she was. A warm, giddy smile was on her face. "I just…" She laughed. "I just saw an angel!"

"I'm sorry for lashing out, Applejack," Twilight whispered. "You had every reason to be angry at me, but I didn't."

"Ah'm the one that should be sorry, Twi," Applejack refuted, hurt reflected in her face. "Ain't nopony have any right ta say the kinds o' things Ah said."

"I'm sorry too," Fluttershy whimpered. "I shouldn't have acted so harshly."

"Me either," joined Rainbow Dash.

"Same here," Starlight said.

Tempest sniffed imperiously. "Too many apologies," she whispered, but she at least didn't say anything else.

Firestorm gave her a quizzical look. "Are you always like this?"

"Depends. Are you always so tempered?"

Firestorm bowed his head. "No." He sounded surprisingly remorseful.

Tempest looked surprised. "I… would have assumed… with a name like Firestorm…"

"No," he repeated. "Our names aren't a measure of who we are. It's what we do that defines us, Tempest, not what happened to us."

Tempest blinked. Then blinked again. "That's…" She avoided eye contact with him. "Why does that work so well?" she whispered. "Why did that sound so personal?"

"What was that?" he asked; he hadn't heard correctly.

"Nothing." With a shake of her head, she reverted to her original state.

Freedom Fighter took center stage. "You all heard Faust. She doesn't make promises she can't keep. I can testify to that." He patted his left shoulder, where the Element of Sacrifice was embedded. "So come on. Let's get our friends back."

"D-did you see how many Noxxa were in the camp?" Fluttershy asked. "He'll kill us all!"

"Faust is more powerful than Blueblood or hordes of Noxxa. He owns hundreds of demons, but she owns the universe. If Faust doesn't want us to die, we won't die. None of us have died yet."

"What if the Noxxa were lying?" Starlight asked, and worry permeated her eyes. "What if he's already dead and chopped into little bits?"

"He isn't," Firestorm refused. "He isn't."

"If he was dead, she would have said so," Rainbow deduced, pointing where Faust stood a few minutes before. "But she said we could still retrieve him."

"What do you think, Spike?" Twilight asked.

No reply was heard. In fact, Spike was nowhere to be seen.

"Spike?" Twilight worriedly called. "Are you here? Where are you?"

"Search for him!"

The ponies began to spread out. As Freedom Fighter began his search, he naturally reached for a long, double-sided knife on his side, only to grab thin air where the hilt should be.

Freedom widened his eyes. "Twilight?"

"Yes? Did you find him?"

"No. But I have an idea of where he might have gone."

"You don't mean…!"

"Rarity means everything to him, he took my sturdiest knife, and he's missing. It's obvious. He's gone on a rescue mission."

The guards had kept to themselves, as per the instructions from the last shift. After some small talk, they had all fallen asleep. It was late, after all. But Noble couldn't fall asleep, no matter how hard he tried.

The air was damp and cool. Noble was teetering on the verge of consciousness; that was all he could comprehend. He was still covered in burns and dried pony blood; he couldn't wipe it off him with his hooves and horn bound. He was hungry. His last sparse meal had been twenty-four hours ago. He felt dirty and reeking with contagion.

Noble wanted nothing more than to simply drop off the edge and plunge into a deep sleep. Maybe during sleep, he could endure less pain. That was the case with his vision.

Then a bright flash blinded him momentarily. It was a small ball of light bobbing in the air in the room beyond as if being carried.

"Wha…" he murmured. Obviously, it was a guard taking him to his execution. Damn it. All he wanted was to get some sleep.

The ball of light melted through the bars of his cell and moved towards the chains holding him. The light floated around the strings on first one side, then the other. And they melted off as if they were snipped string. Most surprisingly, the light moved on its own.

Noble gaped in wonder as his limp, weak arms dropped to his side. The blood flow in his shoulders and fetlocks had been scarce, and those limbs felt like static. His horn was sore and had marks scratched in where the barbed wire bit him. Magic would be tough.

Come with me, said a voice in his head. But it came from the ball of light.

"F… Faust?" he whispered, daring to believe it.

The ball pulsed brighter in his vision in response.

"Keep the light down!" he hushed in his excitement.

You are the only one that can see this light. I illuminate your path alone. And stop whispering so loud. You'll look insane.

"Are you sure I'm not?" he dryly replied, feeling drained of all energy. He tried to move a step and promptly collapsed. His back, his horn, his arms, his eyes, all failed.

A piece of the ball of light broke off, moved towards him, and embedded itself in his chest. Noble Blade felt strength return to his limbs and clarity return to his consciousness. Noble stood up. He could move! He didn't feel so tired. Health and stamina, though brief, was his again.

Follow me, said the goddess. The ball of light came to the lock holding the door shut, and with a click, it opened, creaking ever so slightly.

Noble stepped out, breathing as quietly as he could. It was happening! But Noble needed to be careful. If they woke up, he was in a world of trouble.

I caused them to fall asleep. Don't worry. They'll stay this way.

"You're sure?" he whispered.

Unless you do something stupid like belly flop onto one of them, or singing a hymn at the top of your lungs, you should be safe. I wouldn't advise testing it, though.

Noble nodded, understanding perfectly well.

The ball of light came across the room to the door leading out, and Noble followed, careful to not step where the Noxxa were lying about all over the room. After a furtive glance back, he opened the unlocked door, slipped through, and shut it as quietly as he could.

Chapter Sixty-eight: Sudden Death

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Slipping into the redoubt wasn't the problem. The issue was in doing so without making it obvious.

The barbed iron gates of Black Fang Redoubt stood wide open. It displayed the flickering firelight deep within the camp onto the desert sand. This made it hard at first for Spike, hidden at the corner of the open door, to enter.

"Okay," he said to himself, clutching the stolen knife to his chest. "Okay, okay, think, Spike. Think. I always wanted to be a spy, but this, this is really intense. What would… somepony like Freedom Fighter do? Hmm. I guess I… gotta think like Freedom Fighter before acting like him." He posed in a feral stance. "Yaa! I'm… a… sad, strange little pony who's got everypony's pity? No, no, that's not him. How would he go about something in stealth mode? I go up on the ceiling and in the corners and the shadows of every single thing! I do leaps and cartwheels and somersaults with cool spy music playing from… somewhere. Gah! I can't do cartwheels! I can't even do a handstand!"

Spike sighed and crept around the edge of the door, making sure to keep within its shadow. "Good thing those aren't necessary."

Spike was so small, he could stay within the shadows easily, even when they thinned out into clear torchlight inside the camp.

"But why was the gate even open in the first place?" Spike whispered, hiding behind a stack of barrels.

Two Noxxa, conversing in small mutters, passed by so close to the barrels Spike could hear them draw breath. Spike held his own until they had passed by, and he let it out and kept moving. If there was anything he had learned in the travels over the past month, it was that staying still was inviting danger to come. Always move. Never stay. Don't stand still, no matter how afraid you are.

So Spike, scared out of his wits, sprinted to the next dark building and dove into the corner, huddling down to lessen his profile.

Because the streets at this time were busy. Not quite so busy as in the morning, but Noxxa were certainly awake. Lights were on in every building. Figures moved through the windows. Weapon racks were empty. The blacksmith forge, vomiting smoke, was busy with last-minute repairs.

Spike had no idea why, but as he watched, more and more Noxxa came out into the streets of the camp and began to rally. They looked rowdy and violent. Many Noxxa had painted themselves dull red or a bony white over their base of black. It made them look even more devilish than they already were, which was an accomplishment that Spike noticed immediately. His legs shook in place.

"What are they doing?" he whispered. He tried his best to be as soundless as possible. Spike put a hand to his forehead. "What am I doing? Ugh. Think, Spike. Where would Rarity be kept? If she's been locked in a dungeon-!"

He stopped himself for two reasons. The first was that he was getting louder, and more Noxxa were assembling by the minute. The second was that he had come to an inevitable conclusion.

"But Blueblood doesn't want her in a dungeon," he whispered. "He wants her with him. And Blueblood is usually…"

He craned his head around the corner of the building. Right down the main street was his cabin, ruined by the girl's assault earlier in the day.

"...right there," the glum dragon finished.

Eight pairs of eyes appeared over a ridge of rocks only a hundred yards away from the imposing iron doors of Black Fang Redoubt. Firelight illuminated the stretching towers, looming high above the picketed walls surrounding the camp. It was much bigger than they remembered it.

The ponies, even Tempest and the Guardians, felt a tremor run through their spines. Inside the hellish portals were three ponies that meant more to them than they could possibly imagine.

"The gate's wide open," Starlight finally whispered.

"It's a trap!" Pinkie whispered as quietly as she could, which wasn't very quiet.

"I'm not going in there," Tempest declared.

Fluttershy wheeled around, surprise embedded in her face. "But Faust said-"

"This Faust of yours said that we would return to Black Fang Redoubt, and our hostages would be delivered into our hooves." Tempest settled down on the rocks with her hooves crossed in front of her. "Well then. This is Black Fang Redoubt. And I'm not moving until Faust delivers on her promise."

"You don't believe in her, do you?"

Tempest only gave a laugh. "What, did you think showing me a tall alicorn angel would convert me to your kooky Goddess instantly? Here's another lesson for you all. Showing signs is worthless if the pony simply doesn't believe in the first place. I've seen ponies say they'd believe in the supernatural if they were shown a sign. Horse shit, in my opinion. They never intend on believing if they see a sign. They'd just demand more and more. I'm different. I don't believe in the Goddess. So the signs have no impact on me. What is a god to an unbeliever?"

Much as Twilight hated to admit it, Tempest had a point.

"I see movement inside," Firestorm murmured, squinting.

Pinkie Pie picked up two small rocks and held them up to her eyes, adjusting them as if she was looking through binoculars. "Hmm. I don't see them."

Fluttershy plucked the rocks from Pinkie's grip. "How about now?"

Pinkie gave a slow, suspicious nod as she squinted. "Yeeeeaaah. I do see better, as a matter of fact."

"There are Noxxa assembling outside!" Freedom reported.

"What?" came the whisper from Applejack, adjusting her hat for a better view.

"Why do you think they're doing that?" Starlight proposed.

"Oh no," Twilight breathed. "Spike's in there. He'll be seen!" She started to lift herself up. "Wait here. I'm going in."

"Absolutely not," Freedom Fighter refused, holding out his arm and keeping her down.

"But my friends!"

"We've already lost three of us!" Freedom pointed out. "I don't want to lose you too! Okay? You're the strongest out of all of us. Even more than me. What will we do without you?"

Twilight, silent at first, haltingly replied with, "Rely on Starlight?"

"Starlight's a great leader, but with you here, she still can rely on you!"

"Oh? And who will I rely on?"

He looked the princess right in the eyes. "Rely on me, Twilight," Freedom Fighter whispered. "Lean on me when you're weak. Stand on my shoulders when you're just out of reach. I'll be the pillar to bear you up."

Twilight, stunned, took a moment before she said, "But what about you-?"

"I've stood on my own before," he said, giving a small laugh and avoiding her eyes. "I can do it for a little longer."

Twilight dropped back into their hideout. Before she knew it, Twilight was merely inches away from his ragged yellow face. And his scarlet loops were soft, and as warm as a fireplace.

He grinned. He looked cute when he grinned. Twilight felt an urge to lean in closer to examine how his lips worked.

"Do we have a plan?" Starlight asked, tapping Twilight on the shoulder.

For the first time, Twilight felt a fleeting moment of hate for her student. But only for a short while. Then she cleared her mind and spoke.

"Well, without the next step from Faust, we can't exactly make a move. What more can we do at the moment except just… stay here?"

"We're not even going to launch a rescue mission inside?" an indignant Rainbow clarified.

"What if the guards see us? What if those Noxxa in the courtyard march out? We're not exactly in the safest of spots right now," Pinkie followed up.

"Right now, we've worked like it all depends on us. Now that we've done all we can, all we can do is pray like it all depends on Faust."

Tempest opened one eye at that, then closed it once again and groaned.

Spike had crept all the way behind the main buildings in the street without the aid of torchlight. No Nox would ever think that there would be a dragon in the camp, much less in such plain sight. If they just took a closer look at the shadows, they'd perhaps see him run as fast as his little legs could carry him from one shelter to another.

But fortunately for Spike, the Noxxa were preoccupied with other business. And Spike was small and smart.

Before he knew it, he was in the shadows of the cabin, directly beneath the steps leading up to the door.

There were hoofsteps creaking on the floorboards above him. Spike inferred they were from Blueblood. There were also spoken murmurs and rises and falls in pitch and tone as he spoke.

Then there was a higher-pitched voice, belonging to the most breathtaking mare he had ever dreamed of. Her quick-spoken words were muffled, but he could sense her tone: defiant and refusing.

Who else could he be speaking to but Rarity? Spike was sure of it. He gripped the dagger ever closer to his chest.

Question: now what?

There would be no way he could sneak in and spirit Rarity away with Blueblood in the same room. And there would be no distraction he could cause to bring out Blueblood without also drawing the attention of the entire camp, which was in the courtyard howling and shrieking and assembling together. They were all armed and ready to attack.

A thought pounded at the back of his head. Keep moving! The longer you stay in one place, the more likely it is that somepony will find you.

But he was running out of time. He couldn't stay forever, and his options were limited. What was he going to do? Spike's knees knocked together. It was all he could do to stop hyperventilating.

Then the hoofbeats came closer and closer to the door right above him, and Spike drew a deep breath. The doors opened, and light from inside spilled onto the dark street. A series of white legs came into view, and they were wobbly. Blueblood stumbled out and down the steps, holding something in his magic grip. Spike looked closer and saw it was a bottle of obviously very expensive wine. A martini glass was also in his magical aura, but it was lagging far behind him.

He must have obviously been celebrating his good fortune. And he was trying to share it with Rarity. Spike was hit with a fresh wave of anger and thought seriously about striking from his hidden spot and slashing the back of his legs so he wouldn't get away and then sinking the sturdy knife deep into his heart.

But he didn't. He just watched.

Blueblood stumbled away, and the martini glass was suddenly dropped to the ground and shattered. The prince just took a swig from the bottle itself instead and staggered off into another road of the massive redoubt. After going as far as he could, he rounded the bend and disappeared.

Spike, forcing his violent thoughts down, realized: the door hadn't locked when it closed! He could…

Spike wiggled his way through the cracks in the steps, awkward because of his bulgy nature, and scrambled up the steps, tore open the door, and went inside and shut it, all as quickly and quietly as he could.

His eyes instantly went to the corner of the well-lit cabin, where a divine white pony was lashed to a small wooden chair facing the ridged wall.

"Oh, what is it now, O high-and-mighty prince?" came the mocking sigh from Rarity, not seeing who had entered. "Another attempt to share a drink with me so I could collapse into your arms like a brainless mare of old?"

"I wouldn't quite put it that way," Spike replied, shuffling his feet.

Rarity gasped so hard that Spike was sure she would be short on breath. She bumped up and down in her seat while turning so she could face her savior. "Spikey-wikey! Oh, my dear, I'm so happy to see you! You were exactly who I was hoping above all others would come to rescue me!"

Spike blinked. "Wow. It's, uh… it's me?"

"Why, of course you are, darling!" she quickly affirmed. "Who else but my magnificent, loyal, humble dragon assistant could better deliver me from the grasp of these demons?"

Spike shrugged. "Noble Blade?"

Rarity blew a raspberry. "Pshaw! Noble's locked up at the moment. Who else can I rely on but the dragon that's already saved my life twice this trip?"

Spike knew she was referring to in the Rolk's cave and on Mount Aris, when he'd felt a sudden urge to defend her in imminent danger. But Spike was still confused as to Rarity's strange new behavior. Why was she acting like this all of a sudden?

Rarity cleared her throat. "Um, Spike? Would you mind…?" She jabbed her head at the ropes binding her to the chair.

Spike felt stupid. "Sure, sure." He came over and used the stolen knife to cleave through the ropes on the back. When the last rope fell, Rarity all but fell out, and weakly rubbed her upper arms to regain feeling.

Spike folded his arms. "What's the part you're not telling me?"

"Hmm?" Rarity gave him a surprised look. "Why, whatever do you mean?"

"The way you're talking right now. It seems like you're really reaching. Come on, I've heard that tone before too many times to not recognize it. And every time you say it, it's when you're being insincere. Straight up now, tell me. What's going on?"

"I…" Rarity gave up with a sigh. "Look, I just… It's been terrible. The prince… he still thinks he's doing the right thing. He didn't make me get down on my knees and force me to, well, service him. Thank Faust for that. But he is still scum. For the past hour or so, he's been convincing me to start a new life with him. His astounding reasoning being that my friends would never come in without getting butchered, with the addition that if I didn't, he would give the order to execute Noble. He tried to be 'civil' by offering me a drink, but I knew he was simply trying to get me inebriated."

"What's that word mean?" Spike wondered.

"Hammered, Spike. He was trying to get me hammered. And I'm sure that he was going to get me to nail him as well, as if by some miracle I would see him in a different light afterward."

"Where'd he go now? I saw him leave this place."

"He went to go pee or something. He had drunk a lot."

"Ah."

"But Spike… he simply wasn't true! It was only during the last hour that I had a true moment of introspection. I knew that there would be one friend of mine who would look for any way to rescue me from harm, just as you've done so many times in the past. Remember the diamond dogs? Remember the Crystal Heart? And the Equestria Games? I was holding out for the hero of the hour. And it wasn't Noble Blade. He's a knight in shining armor, all right. But you are my knight in shining armor."

Spike's knees trembled. "...Rarity?"

"Out of all the ponies I've met over the years, none compared to you, Spike. Noble Blade is a remarkable pony, but I would never think of separating him from Fluttershy. Trenderhoof was totally disinterested with anyone apart from Applejack, and Blueblood… well, I think no words need be further spoken about him. And during all that time, who was there for me to lean on?"

"Y-you really mean all of that?" Spike murmured in wonder.

"Don't you think I haven't noticed your presence in my life? Everything you do, you do beside either Twilight or me. Think about it! The shopping trips we went on where you picked out my wares, the extra pair of hands to carry my supplies, you standing as a model for the ensembles I'd make! Even the mining expeditions underground to pick out the most beautiful gems! And you restrain yourself from eating them just because I say so. Listen, I… Spike, I know that it's hard. I must have been so selfish! I've been asking so much from you and given back so little, but you stick by me anyway! Only the strongest of ponies can do such a thing! Rainbow is loyal, and Applejack is strong, and Twilight and Noble Blade are determined, but you are the most loyal, strong, and determined pony out of all of them!"

Spike was really shaking now. "Dragon," he weakly corrected. His mouth felt hoarse. Rarity was actually saying these things to him!

"But I don't see you as a dragon!" Rarity said. "You're more than that! And I know you think so too!"

Spike took Rarity's hooves and held them tenderly. "You mean more to me than you think you do, Rarity."

"B-but I must mean the world to you!"

"The world isn't enough for me," Spike whispered.

Rarity grew a tear at the corner of her left eye as she smiled. "Oh, you charmer!"

"You're the one that charmed me when I first saw you," Spike replied, giving a shy grin.

Rarity immediately planted a kiss on his bright red cheek. She pulled away and gave a high, cute laugh. "Oh, Spike! I never would have thought…"

Spike rubbed his cheek absently, gazing into Rarity's sapphire eyes. Rarity, spotting this, cut herself off. "What?"

Without warning, Spike grabbed her cheeks and kissed her full on the lips.

Rarity gave a squeal of surprise. Then a moan of contentment as she began to kiss him back.

The kiss felt both long and short to them. When they broke away, both of them were giving each other wide-eyed stares of wonder.

Then the door to the cabin opened.

"Hey, prince, I was wondering where the list of soldiers staying at the camp… would… be…"

The Nox cut himself off. Surprise had taken hold of him for a second. Then he growled, slammed the door shut with a hind leg, and scurried on six sharp claws towards them, baring his fangs.

Rarity screamed.

Spike, without hesitation and in one fluid motion, picked up his discarded knife, turned around, and sank it hilt-deep into the Nox's neck just as it came upon him.

With his arms up and holding it in place, he swung down and hurled the body over his head to the floor, and as it came off the knife and hit the deck, it exploded into thick clumps of dust.

Rarity, watching the whole thing, gave him a gaze of bewilderment. "S-spike? Where'd that come from?"

"You were in danger," he explained.

"But you just--I mean… wow. I didn't know you had it in you!"

He rubbed his neck. "Heh. To be honest, neither did I. But, uh, I think you kinda pushed it out."

"With a kiss?"

"Yeah."

She shrugged. "Sounds fair, all right."

"Let's get out of here," Spike continued, grabbing Rarity's hoof. "We can keep kissing once we get back to the campsite."

"But can't we kiss now?!" Rarity protested.

"I wouldn't mind, but what if we get discovered?"

"Hm. Again, fair point."

"How should we get out?" Spike wondered. "I came in through the front gate, but it'd be much harder to sneak two of us through a crowded street."

"And we can't stay here, either," Rarity pointed out, gesturing at the mound of sand in the cabin. "Blueblood might come back at any moment, and that's not counting the Noxxa."

"Wait a second!" Spike remembered in a split second. "What about Noble? As long as we're here, we should get him out as well."

"Well… yeah," Rarity said with hesitance. "Is that not why you came in here?"

"No," Spike mumbled, feeling abashed all of a sudden. "I was only… thinking of you."

Rarity's mouth turned into a frown. "I'm disappointed in you, Spike. I thought you weren't like this. Noble is a higher emergency than me."

"It was a more immediate emergency on my part to worry about you," Spike admitted.

"So you have no plan to break out Noble?!" Rarity demanded, throwing an indignant hoof in the air.

"No," Spike said, feeling more dejected than ever.

Rarity had evidently seen this, because her demeanor flew to one of reassurance in an instant. She caressed the top of his head and kissed his cheek again. "Oh, I'm so sorry for that, Spike. I shouldn't have been so forceful-"

"No, you're right," Spike readily said. "If Twilight finds out that I was in the enemy camp and didn't bring back Noble, she'd kill me!"

"Oh, o-of course she wouldn't!" Rarity said with a nervous, unsure laugh.

"Have you seen her these past few days?" Spike refuted. "I can't remember her being so unstable. Who knows when she'll just… snap?" He shivered. "I don't want to be the straw that'll break her back."

"Then we need to find him, and quickly!" Rarity declared with a hoof in the air. She then trotted to the window in the back and slid it open. "Come on, Spike. Through the back we shall go to allay suspicion!"

"What about when Blueblood comes back?" Spike pointed out, running over to the window.

"We hide," Rarity said. She boosted him up to the windowsill and pushed him through. Spike immediately fell seven feet and landed on his back with a groan of pain.

"Sorry!" Rarity hissed, cringing. "Hang on, I'm coming after you."

She hoisted herself up and wiggled her way under the window, then grabbed onto the ledge and dropped to the ground beneath.

It was peculiar. Noble Blade could clearly see where he was going by the light of the sphere above his head, but no other creature could see the light. It was only enough for him and a small area around him to be illuminated.

He was in a long, narrow, musty cave corridor with cells embedded into the rock walls and old stools outside them, occupied by sleeping Noxxa. There weren't any ponies in the cells, but Noble could see the red-stained bones in heaps inside of them, and could infer what happened rather easily.

He carefully stepped over a slumbering Nox's outstretched leg. One slip-up and it was all over.

Take a deep breath, Noble.

Noble released a breath he wasn't aware he was holding and drew in another one as he maneuvered his way through the hallway.

Presently, he heard the clinking of hard chitin on rock. Without a second thought, he bolted into a half-open cell in the corridor and hid by the hinges of the door, enveloped in shadow. With tremendous effort, he kept his breathing under control. He was hidden in plain sight. They'd never think he was there.

Four Noxxa were clicking their way down the corridor. Their yellow eyes glinted like so many gems in the darkness. They were talking among themselves as they walked, and they stopped right outside Noble's impromptu cell.

"What do you think we'll do while the others are out invading Appleoosa? Just stay here and watch over Rarity and Noble Blade?"

"Gah, they always pick us to do that. Why can't we be part of the action?"

Blueblood had taken Rarity as well. Noble felt a bolt of lightning travel down his spine into his hooves. His mouth felt dry. Rarity!

But how? Did Rarity come to Black Fang Redoubt as well? When? He felt confused. What had he missed out on?

Faust, he called in his head. What should I do?

In response, all he felt was his own fear. Noble knew that didn't come from the Goddess.

So he waited. After about three minutes, they decided to move on to the kitchen and enjoy a glass or two of wine. Blueblood had apparently ordered some to be taken up, but that didn't mean they couldn't get a sip as well!

As they faded away down the corridor, he scrambled out of the empty cell and made his way further along the passageway. He noted that he was going up. That meant he was underground in a cave of some sort. The entrance couldn't be far.

"Where's Rarity?" he whispered.

I am taking you to her. You are on the fastest route.

"Where is she?" he repeated.

Why do you need to know? As I said, I'm leading you to her. It doesn't matter where she is.

"I prefer to know the whole plan before going in shorthanded," he explained softly as he rounded a bend. "If you could let me in on where we're going…"

No. I have a sequence of events that need to play out, and letting you know will disrupt them.

"So am I to be a puppet of yours?" he breathed with a hint of incredulity.

A puppet? No, Noble, that's a word ponies use when they have any kind of restriction set on them. I don't intend on letting you become a mindless drone. Have I done anything to you to prove otherwise? Right now, all I ask of you is to clear your mind and put your trust in me that I know what I'm doing. I see a bigger picture than you do, Noble, and if you saw it as well, the best outcome would be denied.

Noble gave a groan but didn't stop walking. "Then… that's okay. If that's the case, one step at a time is enough for me."

Glad you think so. You're approaching the end of the corridor, by the way.

Noble kept his eyes focused ahead. Sure enough, there was the opening to the cave, and beyond it, the clouded night sky. The moon and stars couldn't be seen.

"Did you cloud the skies on purpose?" he whispered.

I may have subtly told the weather ponies to gather clouds near Appleoosa. It'll lessen your visibility without the extra light.

Noble poked his head out of the cave mouth. As he did, he took a deep inhale of beautiful, fresh air. It was so vastly different from the foul, musty cell that for a few moments he just stood there, absorbing the cool night air.

Then he trotted out and clung to the shadows of the deserted streets. There was no one in these parts of the redoubt; everyone was in the center street instead. But still, Noble felt more comfortable hidden from sight.

He had the large picket fence to his right, and the backside of storage sheds to his left. Was there something he should do?

"Is this the right way?" he breathed.

I will lead you, Noble. Just empty your mind of your expectations and allow me to take control. I do expect my children to have the ability to choose, but for the moment I need you to put your expectations on hold so I can speak clearly through you. Fools are no good to me.

Noble understood, and did his best to stop the nagging feelings of immediate escape over the ramparts off to the side. But intrusive thoughts kept on pressing into his head. What if I get spotted? What if I reveal myself and it's my fault I get captured again? What if Rarity's already dead?

I don't even have a weapon.

The thought stopped him dead in his tracks. If there was anything he needed, it was something to defend himself. But where to find it?

Noble was considering going towards the smithy to look for one, belching smoke from over the rooftops from far away. But as he rounded a corner, he saw a lumpy form lying in the middle of the street that gave him pause.

Curious, he crept closer, sticking to the shadow near the picket fence. The body was just barely outside the puddle of light from a torch in a ring above their heads, but the closer he got, the less he needed it.

When he stepped into the light, he recognized the body immediately.

Lying comatose in a puddle of his own vomit and urine was Prince Blueblood. His suit was crumpled and soiled, and his mane was ragged and hung over his face. The silver necklace with a sapphire in it was still around his neck, but it was all piled in a heap.

Noble stared in shock for several moments. This must have been what Faust had meant by leading him to his destination. But he was rooted to the floor. Unable to move, or think.

He leaned over him to examine the body. He wasn't dead, of course. But a whiff told him that he had alcohol on his breath. A shattered bottle a few feet off was further proof of that claim.

But what could he do with him? Noble harbored no delusion that by dragging him inside, he could win his undying gratitude.

"He must have been celebrating," he murmured. A wave of anger came over him, and he had to take a step back from his body to resist the temptation to hurt him. "Bastard!" he hissed. Wild imaginations crossed his head. He thought of smashing his head into the stones. It would be so easy now, so-

Kill him.

Faust's voice rang clearly in his head.

Noble Blade took another step back and put a hoof to his head. Was that a headache? "No. No, I can't kill him!"

You must. Why else do you think I brought you here? The law decrees his death.

"Not from me! I'm not the one to do that sort of thing! Who am I to judge and execute other ponies?"

You didn't judge him. I did. I saw his heart, and it was vile and evil. You'll never get the Element of Honor while he's alive.

"This is murder!"

This is justice.

"Not if it comes from my hooves! I hate him too much! He foalnapped me. He betrayed the country I love. He defied my mentors. He cheated the money out of an entire town. He imprisoned Rarity and intends on violating her. He's driven us all to the brink of insanity. He's turned into a weak and foolish tool to be driven about by the Noxxa. And he's probably done all sorts of other evil, nauseating things before he left Canterlot. For all these things I want him to die, so if I kill him, I'm not a justiciar. I'm a coward, a vigilante and a murderer."

Think about what you're going to do, Noble. Think.

"I'm not going to be a murderer!" he hissed.

That's right. You're going to save lives. There's only one hope of stopping Solaris from eliminating all life on this planet, and leaving this pony alive will obliterate that hope. Should the millions of souls of the entire planet die, just because you want to keep your hooves clean? I have weighed his life and found him wanting. He planned your death, and my Prophet's death, and the death of many other ponies by urging Equestria to not fight for their freedom. He is prideful, vain, selfish, and cruel, and such beings have no place in my ranks. You're not sparing him out of mercy, because only his death will be merciful to the ponies you love. You're sparing him out of vanity, so you can look at your clean hooves and say you had nothing to do with it. But I tell you now, Noble Blade, that if you spare his life, the blood of the millions you've doomed will be on your hooves!

"No!"

It was the hardest thing he could remember doing. Saying no to the opportunity? What was he doing?

Noble, you are the only one I have on the board at the moment, and it is only by doing this that you shall obtain your freedom and the Element of Honor. Without them, the world will be laid waste, and my children shall face a premature judgment day. It is better that one pony shall perish than to have an entire world fall to the flames of demons.

"I… I know, but…I wish it wasn't me doing it. Killing him in the street in his own piss? This doesn't feel very… honorable."

Noble, do you remember what I said about why many are called, but few are chosen?

"Because too many ponies aspire to the honors of the world."

As a bearer of the Element of Honor, you are not to list towards the honors and ideals of the ever-changing world. You may be forced to do very strange and confusing things that the world looks down on. The honors and glory of the world will die. But my honor never will. To bear the Element of Honor, you must honor me. Honor to your morals will get you further than any kind of response the world will give you. This is the time to honor both me and the laws you have upheld. Take from this pony what the law requires, and the Element of Honor is yours.

Noble Blade drew the ornamental saber from Blueblood's sheath. It was elegant beyond compare; Noble could not imagine seeing its equal. The carved, spiraled hilt was of pure gold and the thin blade was of the finest steel. The only imperfection was the jagged tip, where it had broken off.

"I can't stab him through the heart with this," he whispered. "The tip is broken. He'd wake up."

Then take off his head.

Noble dropped the sword and backed into the shadow again. "I can't!" he heaved. "I can't! I can't!"

He took deep breaths whilst staring at the body he was meant to kill. He felt weak behind his knees. He felt as though tears were going to spill from his eyes.

He heaved for breath. Why did he feel so dizzy? It confused him. He was so eager to kill him before. What was different now? Was it because Faust told him to kill him, knowing how angry he was, and that was the way to open his eyes as to just how bad it was?

Noble glared at the body. Blueblood just lay there in his thin puddle of piss and vomit.

Then he moved back into the torchlight, picked up the sword with his magic, and grabbed Blueblood by the hair of his head. His snores jolted a bit. Was he waking up? He almost dropped him, but Blueblood was still deep in unconsciousness, and his breathing went back to normal.

Noble, using his magic, pressed the edge of the blade into the front of his throat. A thin red line appeared. He pressed harder, and red spurted out and coated the sword. No going back now. He quickly severed the taut vocal cords and fleshy esophagus, and then the windpipe. The blade got stuck when it came to the spinal column, but Noble wedged the blade between two vertebrae and twisted his head back and forth. He eventually bent it entirely backward. Then he cut between the bones, and the blade came out the opposite side, and Blueblood's lifeless body collapsed onto the ground, and Noble, now covered in fresh blood, held Blueblood's severed head.

He was dripping with it, covering his head and hooves and chest. He was blank. His mind was reeling. He had just killed Prince Blueblood, and he was holding his sticky, red head.

"What am I now?" he whispered. He dropped the head. It sounded like a pumpkin as it hit the dirt road, now running red with blood and soaking into the soil. He stumbled back, dropping the saber with a muffled clatter.

Something was running from his eyes and mixing with the blood and dripping off of him.

See that necklace he has on his neck?

Stump of a neck, he thought snidely, but he came closer. Truth be told, there it was, the bright silver tarnished with the red blood. And the blue jewel in the center shone like a star.

That jewel is yours. Take the amulet from him.

Noble used his magic instead of reaching for it. He held it in his dripping red hoof and stared at the jewel. He hadn't thought much of it when he saw it. What did it mean to Blueblood?

That jewel only meant a jewel to Blueblood. It was given to him as a gift from Celestia to remind him of the honor expected of him. But instead, he used his honor to usurp others, which is not honor at all. You must seek not for honor, Noble, except only to pull it down. Doing the right thing and killing him was not an easy thing for you to do, but you did it anyway, which is a true sign of honor if any there was one. You are guiltless in my eyes, Noble. Are you the same in your own?

He gulped. He still felt shaky. "It… might take a while to get over it."

No pony must run faster than he has strength. Take all the time you need.

Noble caressed the jewel, but not in greed. In somber loss.

The Element of Honor was deep and so rich in color, it looked like the color of a pony's eye. Was it his own? What he knew was it seemed to connect with him on a level beyond the mundane. It was familiar, if such a word could be accurate. It was an old feeling. It was warm and happy to see him. Noble was not sure how to feel about the stone. He felt warm toward it in return, but he also felt a twist in his gut about how he had purchased it. The Element of Honor was gained by doing the least honorable thing he could imagine.

"What a juxtaposition," he groaned. He slung it over his neck. It felt tight around his windpipe. Or was that just him, getting harder to breathe?

Noble unbuckled the saber from Blueblood's body and strapped it to his own hip. He then took the sword in the dirt and sheathed it. Then he staggered off around the bend, unwilling to be there any longer. He felt like he would add to the vomit already there.

After only a few more turns in the dark redoubt, deliberately trying to get himself lost, he heard hoofsteps around the corner. He nearly drew the saber again, until he realized that the only ponies in Black Fang Redoubt were him, Blueblood, and… Rarity.

A pony-shaped shadow was growing on the walls of the nearby buildings in the torchlit alley. Beside it was the silhouette of a baby dragon.

They rounded the bend. Rarity and Spike froze in their tracks when they saw him, crouching silently in the darkness, with a long weapon at his side.

Spike threw himself in front of her, brandishing a knife he recognized as Freedom Fighter's. "Stay back, Rarity! The prince'll answer to me!"

"Hold on!" he exclaimed, moving into the torchlight. "It's me!"

"WAAAUUGH!" Rarity shrieked, stumbling back. Spike dropped the knife in fear.

Noble just then remembered that there was blood all over him, from the time they had poured it on him in his cell, and the fresh blood from just now. He must have looked nightmarish to them. Ghoulish, even.

"Shh, shh," he urged, gesturing at himself. "Look, it's me! Noble Blade! I just escaped from my cell! The guards all fell asleep and left the door unlocked. I just slipped past when the time was right!"

"Wh-why do you have b-blood all over you?" Spike trembled.

"They tortured me in prison. They poured boiling blood on me over my open lash wounds. Some of this is my own, but most of it…"

"Oh, darling," Rarity breathed quickly, scanning him. "What kind of horrid, twisted creatures… Oh, but I'm just so happy to see you again!"

She held out her arms as if for a hug, but then stopped and settled to all fours again. "...On second thought, maybe a hug wouldn't work so well right now."

Between the dire circumstances and the mess he was in, and the already-drying blood all over him and the awful smell he was sure to have, Noble understood entirely.

"You're escaping?" he asked them.

"Trying to," Spike explained. "We were about to look for you, actually, but it looks like you found us."

Thanks to the Goddess, Noble thought.

"Now the only problem we encounter would be getting out," Rarity remarked.

"You don't know how?" he asked.

"To be honest, I never thought I'd get this far," Spike admitted. He scratched his head. "Maybe going over the picket fences?"

"The sentries will see us running off and shoot us," Noble pointed out, gesturing at the guard towers looming at every junction of the encampment. "We need a more subtle way."

"A way they'd never think to question," Rarity continued.

"But we need to do it quickly!" Spike added. "Who knows when Blueblood will return?"

"That's a problem you won't need to worry about," Noble said. His deep blue eyes seemed heavy and pained. "He's dead."

Rarity and Spike stopped every movement. Their faces held a mix of disbelief and excitement.

"I came across his body in an alley near the picket fence," Noble said, thinking quickly. "His head's chopped off. It was awful, he was in puddles of piss and vomit and blood. I didn't have a weapon, so I took his sword and his…" He held up the necklace.

"His pimp jewels?" Spike finished.

He nodded uneasily. "...Yes. His pimp jewels."

"Well, that's one problem out of the way," Rarity commented. "It'll be that much easier for us to escape! And they won't discover his body for a while now! Everyone is assembling in the front."

"To launch an invasion against Appleoosa," Noble finished. "This camp isn't the only one that's doing so. All across Equestria, they're rising up, because the main invasion force of Noxxa just invaded Manehattan. They're fountaining into Equestria by the tens of thousands, and while our army is preoccupied, they'll appear and strike at the home front!"

"How did you know that?"

"The guards in my cell talked too much."

"Well, unless we have an invisibility spell, we're screwed," Spike said. He gave a pointed glance to the two unicorns.

"I'm not as advanced as Starlight," Rarity said.

"I just got out of prison," Noble said. "I feel awful."

"Great!" He threw up his arms. "Just great!"

Rarity's eyes suddenly glittered. "Hold on. You know how we thought you were Blueblood from your silhouette?"

"Yeah?" Noble uncomfortably answered.

"Who's to say it won't work again?"

K’ra felt exultant. Everything was going according to plan! With all of the stupid prince’s desires finally gratified, he could now focus on the main reason he came all the way out here to the middle of nowhere.

Stepping out of the barracks made especially for him, armed and ready to move out, he made as if to join the massive throng in the middle of the campsite. But as he was, out of the corner of his vision, he caught a sliver of movement that he knew, somehow, wasn’t natural.

He turned. Two pony-shaped figures were making their way through the edges of the buildings on the main road.

He skittered over to them quickly. Adrenaline filled his veins. It was Rarity, and a pony in a raged brown cloak with the prince's uniform on his back! It was so bloody and red, it was as if it was never a pristine white tux in the first place! He drew his saw-edged blade with a steely rasp.

“What do you think you’re doing?” demanded the one in the cloak, shoving Rarity behind him.

K’ra recognized it as Blueblood’s voice immediately. He sheathed his blade quickly, restraining his rage. “So sorry, my prince. Why, whatever are you doing at this time of night, slinking away in such a drab attire?”

“Because I’m an absolute mess of myself,” he haughtily replied. “Being covered in blood will do that to you, you think?”

Oh, the prince’s condescending attitude was as present as ever. But something was off… and what was that he had said? “Blood?”

“Noble Blade’s blood,” he said, and he sounded sickly smug. “I just killed him in his own cell. It was a messy affair. Bits of hair and guts all over the place."

"You what?" he demanded in rage.

"Rarity kept expressing her one true love to him, so I removed that part of the equation altogether. Now nothing is in my way to gain the most perfect mare in Equestria! On the downside, it ruined my favorite tux! So I’m going to the river outside to wash it.”

“Why on earth are you taking Rarity with you?” K’ra asked menacingly, peering around into the folds of his robe. Indeed, his long horn was completely discolored with scarlet, and the red around his striking blue eyes was indeed dry. He took a sniff. There was indeed blood all over him. The prince seemed much more believable now.

“Why not?!” the prince demanded. “You want to know what will happen if I leave her alone? She could escape! And one of those stupid ponies could come and rescue her, too. The safest place for her is by my side.” He gave Rarity a tight squeeze, bending her down. “Isn’t that right, Rarity?”

“You’ll never get away with this!” Rarity screeched.

“Oh, my dear,” he said with insincerity, forcing her head up to gaze with fright into his hard, dark blue eyes. “Stop saying that! You’re living a fantasy! This is the real world now, and your world is me.”

K’ra gave them both a look of satisfaction. This was certainly strange for him to do, but something was telling him that why shouldn’t he do it? It was just like him to be that way.

"Fine, then. Take her, my prince. I certainly wouldn't want to disappoint you." He gave an insincere grin of his own.

As soon as they had moved out of immediate earshot of the Nox, Noble whispered to Rarity, "Too far?"

"That was just like him!" she encouraged. "Just keep on doing that if we get stopped again."

Noble initially had doubts about the plausibility of Rarity's plan when she had suggested it. But as it turned out, he was indeed so covered in old blood that none of the assumed pearly white of Blueblood's coat could be seen. All he had to do was retrieve his crumpled, bloody suit from the body a few turns back, while Rarity quickly fashioned a ragged cloak from some tatters of leather hanging from a window. Spike had been sent off to the position Rarity had instructed, while Noble and Rarity moved together in plain sight.

Noble, and Rarity as well, he knew, were nervous as to if the disguises would actually work the first time. But after the success with the smug Nox, Noble wondered if it wasn't just them doing the work.

The power of Faust sometimes worked in wondrous ways and sometimes in tender mercies. She might not force everyone in the camp to become blind, but she could subtly alter the perceptions of them so as to believe them. She could influence them to not question the pair moving out of their vision. She could make it so their hoofsteps were part of the din all around them, or a part of the dreams of the bugs still asleep in the camp. And she could make it so that what the Noxxa were hearing when Noble tried to mimic Blueblood's voice was actually Blueblood's voice. Once Noble considered this, he nodded. Of course! Anything truly remarkable on Faust's part would make them stand out, and standing out was the last thing they needed.

At least, standing out in a bad way.

"Is Spike in position yet?" he whispered, peeking around the bend of the smithy. Though the gate was just at the end of the street, the streets were still crowded, and there was a limit to how much the Noxxa could ignore it if they just walked by in plain sight.

"Well, he'd better be," Rarity breathed back. "We can't stay here forever."

Directly across the street from them between two wooden barracks, a small green flame lit up, then quickly extinguished itself.

He was ready.

Noble took a deep breath. "Show time."

K'ra skittered up the roof of the building closest to the gate. With a raising of his cruel sword, the hordes below swiftly ceased their inane chatter and paid attention to him. The guards posted in the tall towers were gone. What purpose did they have in keeping watch for a soon-to-be empty base?

"The time has come!" he announced. "We shall slither from our dark places and overrun the settlements in this part of Equestria! Our duty to our Lord and Marshal Malice is a small one, however, compared to the glory we are sure to achieve when this world is smoldering ashes!"

In a passing glance, he saw Rarity and Blueblood trotting down the street. Rarity was as nervous as she always looked. Blueblood was still covered by the cloak he wore.

Knowing their intent, he continued to speak, to get the Noxxa's attention off the ponies coming closer. "But even Malice himself is nothing, nothing, compared to the almighty glory that is Solaris! Him, the God of creation and eternal glory! To him be all praise given! To Solaris may we offer this world, ripe for the taking!"

"AAAAAUGH!"

It was a childish roar, and K'ra knew it wasn't from the Noxxa. A glance to the approaching trotting prince told him everything: a small, purple, baby dragon was running out from the shadows in the street and lunging for him with a long, sturdy knife.

"Prince!" he called out.

He heard him just in time. The prince whirled around and struck the dragon, dropping the knife, and wrestled him to the ground. The entire camp's attention was now on them.

"Rarity!" Spike cried, wiggling to get free. "Ngh! Run!"

"I can't!" she bemoaned, whirling to every side. Noxxa were instinctually circling them until there was no way out for Rarity to run.

"Hah!" Blueblood spat. "Looks like your little rescue attempt failed, you childish brat! Trying to save Rarity, were you? I'm telling you now, she is mine alone. And you will pay the price for your insolence!"

"I don't even know what that word means!" Spike protested, raising a claw up to get him to wait. "Could you tell me first?"

"Such insolence!"

"There you are, using it again."

Blueblood forced the dragon to his chubby little legs and shoved him forward. "Come on, then. Move! I'll see to it personally that you will perish!"

"Let us handle it, prince," K'ra generously offered. He spread his four arms to the side. "You appear to have your hooves full already."

"Let's see what the kid thinks," Blueblood snidely replied. "What do you say? Where do you want to stay? With me? Or them?"

The baby--Spike, his name was--took one look at the black bugs on every side of them, and clung to his cloth-covered leg like a life preserver.

"Get off me, you petulant pest!" he scolded, kicking him off.

"How dare you treat him that way?" Rarity demanded indignantly, stepping between them. "Spike is ten times the pony you are!"

"Ten times zero is still zero," he easily replied.

"Whoah," Spike commented. "A self-burn. Those are rare."

Blueblood motioned him on. "Come on, then. Come with me. You get to die the same way Noble Blade did!"

"No, no!" Rarity pleaded with him. "Spare him! Please!"

"As long as there is another challenger, you will never cleave to me!" Blueblood refused. He reached under his cloak and drew his broken saber with a hoof. "Come with me and meet the false Goddess you revere! Or else meet her slowly and painfully!"

He pushed Spike to march, and he did.

"Rarity." He tugged on her. "Follow me."

"I will never!"

Blueblood gave her a resounding smack across the cheek. "Come with me willingly, or I will drag you, and you die as well!"

Rarity stood up proudly, bearing the red mark, and haughtily trotted after the two others.

"Where is he going?" asked some of them amongst themselves. "Why is he leaving?"

"I can hear you!" Blueblood said, giving those Noxxa an evil glare. "And as for your doubts, I'm taking this dragon to the stream so when I chop his head off, his blood won't make a mess of the campsite the way Noble's did! I have to wash my clothes off there now because of it! Now move out of my way!"

Some Noxxa did, clearing a path, but others remained, worried about what to do.

Blueblood affixed those Noxxa a condescending gaze. "When I'm off my ass in this place, you move for me! Is that clear?"

They moved aside in a heartbeat.

Just before they reached the wide-open gate, Blueblood turned around once more and pointed up at him specifically. "And for goodness' sakes, keep the doors shut! It's how this little would-be assassin crept in!"

K'ra felt stupid. Of course! No matter if it was their time to move out; that was their most vulnerable hour! If there was any a time to lock up their camp, it was now! "Yes, prince," he sullenly replied.

"I'll be back once this little whelp is dead," Blueblood said, pushing Spike dismissively. "When I give three knocks, open the gate again, and only when I come back will you begin your invasion. I don't want to miss it, you know!"

"Yes, prince," he repeated.

Blueblood led the captives outside the gate, and, after a glare by K'ra, five Noxxa rushed to the doors after Blueblood and the others passed through and pulled the levers to slowly, ponderously, shut the doors with an ominous boom.

Once the twin gates were shut completely, Noble breathed properly again and panted for breath, pulling back his hood.

"Amazing!" Rarity complimented him. "You tied up every loose end in a cute little bow, Noble! And you sounded just like him, as well!"

"That's not something I'm proud of," Noble said, looking sick to his stomach. He dropped Blueblood's saber and patted Spike on the head with his sword arm. "I'm sorry if I was too rough."

"Eh. Can't complain," Spike easily replied. "What other option was there? You even had me convinced."

"It was too easy to sound like him," Noble said. "All I had to do was emphasize my accent and act haughty, and Faust fills in the believable lines, and boom, I'm a snobby prince." He wiped his crusty head and pulled the hood back on. "It's scary."

"Well, however it happened, we're free at last thanks to both of you," Rarity congratulated.

"You were the one that came up with the plan," Spike pointed out.

"But you were such a good actor, Spike! Is there anything you can't do?" She leaned down and pecked him on the lips, and both of them grinned shyly.

Noble, for his part, was astounded. He gestured at both of them as he tried and failed to search for words. "When… did this…"

"Like, an hour ago," Spike replied. He sighed in wonder. "The best hour of my life."

"I tackled you to the ground," Noble pointed out.

"And you slapped me in the face!" Rarity also replied.

"I apologized-" He cut himself off as he squinted. "Hey, do you see something pink?"

Twilight was watching in horror. With the gate wide open, the girls, only a hundred yards away, could see everything that had transpired in the redoubt. And everything that could have gone wrong did. Spike had failed. Rarity was bound to the prince forever. Noble Blade was dead.

Faust's promise had been false.

As the doors slammed shut and the three of them stood just outside the redoubt, Twilight felt an overwhelming, furious urge to fly out there and obliterate the prince where he stood.

"It's him," Freedom Fighter breathed. He looked shell-shocked. Twilight knew the feeling: his reality was falling apart piece by piece. "He's… killed Noble Blade!"

"See?" Tempest said, still lying on the ground. "It didn't work. You should have made your move when we had the chance."

"Do you know how hard it is to tolerate you?" Firestorm snapped at her in a fit of fury.

"I'm getting out of here," Pinkie Pie whispered, scrambling out of the trench.

The three figures spotted Pinkie's distinct body and began to run as fast as they could towards them.

Firestorm flapped out of the trench, and his intense eyes blazed with cold, righteous fury. "You're gonna pay, Blueblood! I'll tear your head off and shove it up your-!"

"It's us!" Rarity yelled.

"Don't attack us! Please!" Spike followed up.

"It's me! I'm Noble Blade!"

Firestorm's flaming attitude shut off like someone else had doused it with water. His dumbfounded expression revealed everything. "Okay, what?!"

"Is that-"

"Wow, is it really-?"

"Ah… Ah dunno what ta…"

As the trio grew closer and the girls got out of their trench, Pinkie was the first to take action. She flew at lightspeed into Noble Blade's chest and scooped him up, spinning him around and around. The other ponies drew around in wonder and amazement. "It's YOU! It's really you, Noble Blade! I was soo worried about you that I was about to bake some funeral cupcakes to mourn your untimely demise, but now that you're here, we can just eat normal cupcakes instead! I can't wait to have you back and as a normal pon-WAAAUUUGH!"

Pinkie jumped away from him as the hood on Noble's costume fell off. The dried red blood on his face and head and neck was still as outstanding as ever, although it was peeling and hard. The other ponies, although they had seen deformed faces before, still felt a twist and turn in their stomachs looking at Noble's hard, empty, blood-covered face.

The only pony, in Twilight's opinion, who felt worse than she did was Fluttershy, who was approaching him as if he was a ghostly apparition. Her face wore a hopeful and joyous, yet frightened and grieving expression that Twilight herself had worn only a few times before.

"Fluttershy," he gasped, holding back a grieving yet joyous smile of his own. "I-it's me. I'm alive."

"...I… was so… worried…" she breathed, sounding on the brink of tears. Every word was a gasp. "You… could have d-d-d… died… What w… What would be… left for me here?"

Noble needed no more prologue. Instead, he lunged and held her tightly around the upper body, burying his nose into her shoulder.

"I never could have died," he muffled in reply. "Because you are my life. You are my strength. They can never take that away from me in a dungeon, not if they tried for a thousand years!"

Fluttershy gripped onto him even harder, as if to reassure that he was actually still there. She clearly had no intention of letting go.

"What happened in there?" Rainbow Dash demanded of Rarity. Twilight picked up on the signs of a crowing conversation and turned her attention towards them.

"Oh, it was the most peculiar thing!" Rarity answered. "Spike had managed to come and rescue me, and then Noble came along and we all rescued ourselves!"

"How did he escape?"

"The guards were careless. He just-"

"I did it with the help of Faust," he said all of a sudden, taking his face out of Fluttershy's shoulder. He took center stage, and every pony paid attention. "Without her, I never would have avoided getting caught. We never would have escaped. And I would never have gotten…" He held up the necklace. "This."

The blue stone glowed like an incandescent light. They all found themselves gazing into its depths in wonder. Even, Twilight noticed, Tempest Shadow. Her expression was one of wonder the longer she looked. It seemed to be reflected in her eyes, a reflection of loss and amazement at the same time.

"Three down," Starlight whispered. She looked at her hoof and sighed. "One to go."

"Hang on," Spike said. "The pimp jewels you took from Blueblood's body was an Element of Harmony?"

Twilight gave a jolt. Not at Element of Harmony, but… "Blueblood's body?"

"You mean… He's kicked the bucket?" Rainbow asked, a glint in her rose-colored eyes.

"Ya made him bite th' dust?" Applejack whispered, removing her hat.

"He's dead," Noble spoke, plain and simple. "His headless body's in some forgotten street. I saw it myself."

"So… the Noxxa saw you and thought Blueblood had killed Noble when it was really the other way around?" Pinkie asked, rapid-fire.

He nodded uneasily, sweating. "I…"

"He came across his body," Rarity corrected Pinkie. "He didn't actually kill him."

"Oh. Okay."

"Are you all right?" Starlight asked all of them, scanning Spike, Rarity, and Noble with her eyes. "No lasting injuries?"

"I got lashed," Noble said. "Open wounds stink when you're walking around."

"You never looked like you were in pain!" Rarity protested.

"I was," he answered, and there was an edge to his tone now. "I just kept my screams on the inside. Didn't want you to worry."

"Apparently, that didn't work," Firestorm remarked. "We're worrying very, very much."

"Take them back to Appleoosa to get patched up," Twilight ordered Starlight.

"Before you go," Noble said, and his tone had grown harder. "I want to tell you something."

Twilight, unaccustomed to this, listened patiently.

"Firestorm, Freedom Fighter, Tempest. Come here too."

The aforementioned ponies came up to him, and Twilight knew they were all thinking the same thing she was.

"All the prisoners are dead. Blueblood is dead. The Noxxa are gathering together inside to invade. I'm too weak to stop them. But you're not." He pointed at the gates of the camp. "Burn it," Noble said. He had never sounded so determined. "Burn it to the ground."

Twilight noticed Freedom Fighter give an evil grin. She was aware there was a grin on her own face as well.

Chapter Sixty-nine: Fire From the Sky

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K'ra was getting impatient. When was the prince getting back? It had already been fifteen minutes. The Noxxa couldn't wait forever. It had to reach a point sooner or later when the Noxxa had to invade, with or without the prince.

"Are we gonna go out there or what?" one demand shouted above the din in the dark. "Why shouldn't we watch Blueblood chop off that dragon's head?"

'It was his request," K'ra refuted him. "Honor the prince for this long at least. Once he gets everything he wants, then we'll take it all away and rip him limb from limb. It'll be more satisfying that way."

"Why did we even have to kiss up to him in the first place?" asked the same Nox. "He's such a prick and a coward that he can't even keep an erection for a mare!"

There was a collection of laughter at that.

"He had information that was vital to the war effort in Canterlot. Once he was rooted out, he had to flee to the middle of nowhere!" He indicated Black Fang Redoubt. "I always hated him! I want him to die as much as you do! He's worthless as a pony and as a rat! Now that his usefulness is at an end, we'll destroy him!"

"Oh yeah?" challenged one. "When?"

K'ra made the decision in that instant. "The instant he'll walk through those doors again, I'll put my arm around his shoulder and plunge my claw into his chest!"

The crowd grew interested, dying down to hear his words.

"And then I'll throw Rarity to you, and you can shove your spiny, worthless hooeys into her, for all you're worth. Then we'll eat them both from the hooves up so they'll know the pain of being eaten alive!"

The crowd roared.

And then three bangs on the door resonated above them all.

K'ra jumped off from the building and skittered over to the doors. "Act natural!" he bellowed.

The crowd died down.

K'ra used the levers to slowly open the iron doors of the camp. His mouth was anticipating the taste of blood as the doors creaked apart like tortured souls.

But when the doors were halfway open, his heart faltered. There was a pony at the doorway, but it wasn't Blueblood.

Twilight Sparkle, with her legs and wings apart, was waiting for him.

Alone.

And her eyes and horn were burning with hellish rage.

She didn't waste any time with a preamble or speech. Rapidly gathering magic into her violet lance of a horn, she actually began to float in the air from how much power she was drawing. Electricity buzzed all around her. The air itself became distorted and hot.

Then she fountained it out in a rage-induced burst of pink plasma.

It tore through the air right above K'ra's head, blasted apart the ground on impact, and ripped more than thirty Noxxa to bits in an instant. No armor could withstand her onslaught. Keeping it up, she swerved her head, and the laser leveled two entire barracks into firewood and smoke in one second.

The bugs scattered as Twilight shot more magic bursts from her burning violet horn and exploded on every side. K'ra was part of the crowd, running for his life, heart pounding out of his head. Somewhere, anywhere, away from here.

Then, when he was around the center of the entire enclosure, a whooshing sound came above him, and he looked up. There flew, directly over the camp, a pegasus carrying a hard-looking mare in his arms. She leaped out of his grip and landed on the roof of the nearest building in front of the horde.

Tempest let out a brutal snarl as she made eye contact with the suddenly-wary Noxxa.

Her broken horn sparked and sizzled, and a similar fountain of pure electric power erupted from her and struck everything in its path. It leaped from target to target as it disintegrated enemy after enemy. The lightning blew holes in the earth and threw up dirt and rock in every direction, disorienting the Noxxa and forcing them to run back.

Back to Twilight.

Twilight had pried the slate and wooden beams from the barracks and sheds in the redoubt, floating beside her in purple auras. Rising higher into the air, the debris swirled around her like a whirlwind, with her at the epicenter.

She fired from her horn again, and the powerful spiraling beam carved through the ground right in front of the scattering Noxxa. By the time she had finished, she had created a tremendous crater right where the street was. The route to the doors was blocked off, and it was the only way in or out of the redoubt.

At that point, most of the Noxxa in the camp didn't have much of a choice except to run in one direction to the left.

But the pegasus dropped out of the sky and flapped just above the ground. The pegasus, to the Noxxa's shock and horror, was on fire! His eyes burned blinding white as well, and his hooves were building up a fireball on each end.

He bellowed, and the sheer volume sent the Noxxa screaming in terror. But then he pointed his hooves at them and fired twin streams of flame into their ranks, and the Noxxa promptly scattered. He was like a deathly apparition, screaming and flaming and shooting death into every corner as the fire on his body pulsed brighter and hotter.

Firestorm had been unleashed.

The Noxxa had then decided it was every bug for himself. They split and ran in every direction, down every side alley, every street except where Twilight was.

But Tempest Shadow, that force of nature, was already on it. She was taking her position on the southern side, and with her electricity jumping everywhere, she prevented any Noxxa from escaping to the ramparts on that side. Lightning flew out and blew holes in buildings and incinerated Noxxa in an instant. Flames appeared all over the redoubt in no time at all.

However, she wasn't perfect. The sheer numbers of the Noxxa getting past her one position were simply too much for any one pony to handle.

Except, of course, for Firestorm.

Going at a respectable fraction of the speed of sound, Firestorm was flying in circles above the entire circumference of the camp. He shot directly above the dry wooden buildings, and flame caught quickly and spread quickly from roof to roof, trapping doomed Noxxa between alleys and setting some bugs ablaze directly.

K'ra was looking around wildly, not knowing where to focus. The hordes running past him in every direction? The electricity spewing like a hose from the broken horn of Tempest Shadow? The fiery comet shooting like a jet right above the rooftops? Or even the alicorn that was absolutely soaked with magical power, hovering high in the sky and firing blasts of pink energy into the camp seemingly at random?

Incredibly, even though he was a seasoned warrior, K'ra wanted nothing more than to lie on the ground, curl up, and sob. Everything was out of his control.

The flaming whirlwind encircling them all was constricting closer and closer like a python, forcing the Noxxa who hadn't died in a fiery inferno to congregate once more in the center street in one frightened, huddled mass. Burning buildings surrounded every escape. Tempest was on one side of them. Twilight was hovering on the other side.

Firestorm, incredibly, hovered in the air on a third side. But what would cover the fourth?

Twilight's horn pulsed once more, and with a pink flash, an upright pony appeared on the fourth side, holding a long yellow staff in one hoof and sprouting three long yellow claws from the other.

He didn't have his cowl on. This allowed everyone, by the bright light of the flames, to see the white ellipse in the center of his forehead and the scowl he wore on his lips.

The Noxxa felt a collective thrill of terror run through them all.

"Solaris help us," K'ra whispered. It was him! Freedom Fighter, the Unforgiven! And others around him were whispering similar things. It's a nightmare, wake me up. Don't make eye contact with him. He'll kill me, he'll kill me, please don't let him kill me!

"Silence!" boomed a thunderous sound that could have only been the Royal Canterlot Voice. It came from the fiery-eyed alicorn hovering twenty feet off the ground.

The Noxxa stopped abruptly. Twilight couldn't have been so forceful, could she?

"If anyone tries to leave this circle, they shall die!" Twilight announced, which clung to the Noxxa's imaginations like glue. How would they die? The worst manners of death possible ran through their heads. At least, it was running through K'ra's. But he knew it was happening to everyone else as well.

Twilight pointed to the blazing-hot orange pegasus. "Go to the cave where they keep the prisoners and smoke out the bugs!"

Firestorm shot off to the cave in the corner of the camp.

The instant his side was absent, twelve daring souls sprinted, desperately at the opening. But Tempest Shadow was already running along the rooftops, her horn sparking and sizzling. Most of it traveled into her clinking armored hooves, and they crackled with lightning as she jumped off the last roof directly into the path of the fleeing Noxxa.

The electrified explosion as she punched the dirt flung soil and Noxxa ash in every direction. A shallow crater appeared in the ground instead. And as she walked out of the clouds that had appeared, her eyes seemed to glow as well as her horn.

Twilight's magic horn pulsed brighter. Translucent magical spikes erupted from the ground and shot into the air for more than seven feet. The spikes caged the rest of the Noxxa in.

"I dare you to run!" Twilight bellowed, making many Noxxa cringe like abased dogs in their spiked pen. "Do it!" Firing a blast of energy at the edge of the circle of frightened Noxxa, she pointed a defiant hoof at them. "If any of you run, I'll slaughter you all!"

Firestorm came to the entrance of the cave where Noble had obviously been kept. He hovered in the air, burning like a bonire, as he listened to the sounds coming inside.

"Come on! I'm telling you, I heard voices outside!"

"What could it be? I'm losing my sleep for this."

"Is it the ponies? Tell you what, we'll kill them and then we can get back to sleep."

Firestorm slammed his elbow into the roof of the cave. Almost instantly, rocks tumbled down and piled at the front. He kept on pounding the roof down at the mouth until, just as the Noxxa appeared, the last rocks fell down and trapped them inside.

"What the-? Hey! Help me get these rocks out of the way!"

"Help!" cried another Nox. "Get us out of here!"

Firestorm wiggled his flaming hooves into the holes in the rocks, ignoring their cries. Scowling, he focused the power within him into his hooves and released the fire.

Instantly, flame rushed into the small cave and sank its hot fangs into the bugs.

"Aaahhhh!" came the screams of them all as they burned alive. "Aaah! Heeelp!"

Firestorm shook his head, not betraying the hardened anguish inside him. "No."

And he pulsed his hooves brighter, and even more powerful flame rushed in, coating the inside of the cave with orange. Cooking alive like an oven, the feeble screeches of the demons slowly died down.

Twilight settled to the roofs high above the cowering warriors, hellishly illuminated from behind by the fires in the campsite.

"Please don't kill us!" the Noxxa were crying in separate pleas.

"I'm not the one you should be begging to," Twilight boomed, pointing at Freedom Fighter.

"Cower before me!" Freedom Fighter roared, swinging his staff into the ground all of a sudden, throwing up burnt clumps of dirt from the small explosion.

The Noxxa retreated a step simultaneously.

"I am the Unforgiven!" he continued, pointing the staff like a spear at the hundreds of bugs. "The destined one to destroy the Noxxa forever! I season my breakfast with your forsaken ashes! My wake is black with your cold sand!"

A particularly burly Nox, already in armor and painted an unholy shade of white over his ebony chitin, elbowed his way to the front to spit at the ground in front of Freedom Fighter. He heaved and panted in rage.

"Ah, I remember you," Freedom Fighter said in mild realization. "You were the one that spat at me and I threw a knife at when I first came to this charming backwater. Tell me, can you actually speak?"

The Nox didn't answer. Instead, he kept his distance while staring defiantly.

"If you want to challenge me, then take your weapon!" he cried. He quickly took off half of his staff and tossed it to the surprised Nox, who fumbled the burning yellow staff until he grasped it in his claws. Smoke rose from his sharp grip, and, making the choice quickly, charged at the Unforgiven.

Freedom Fighter could have killed him on the spot.

Instead, he slashed him across the back with a quick-drawn knife as he came near. The Nox, enraged, bellowed and began to violently hack at the pony. Three or four furious strikes of the blazing weapon landed on his armored shoulder or stabbed into his stomach or slashed deep into his face, disfiguring his appearance.

Freedom Fighter, parrying the rest, sliced off the arm holding his flowing weapon with its partner staff. Catching the flying weapon in midair, he then took off the rest of his limbs one by one before stabbing the Nox dead in the chest.

Before he died, though, he also stabbed him in the head with the other staff. Then he ripped them out of his body sideways, and dust and ashes rose from his broken frame until there was no more.

He addressed the crowd. Steam was rising from his face and chest as the Element of Sacrifice healed him. "Do any of you doubt I could destroy you all?" he bellowed at the rest of the Noxxa.

No! came the reply.

"Then stay in your pen like the animals you are!" he shot back. "Your death comes quickly!"

"No!" K'ra pleaded, looking wildly from the Unforgiven to the Child of Light. "I-If you kill us all here, that'll go against your code of mercy! Right? What would Celestia think of you?"

Twilight was still, but the flames behind her were as wild as ever.

K'ra, sensing he had found a weak spot, pressed his advantage. "L-look, all we have to do is take an oath to never come against you again. A-and the Noxxa know honor more than anyone."

Freedom Fighter snapped his staff into a bow and pointed it at K'ra's head. "Speak another word," he hissed. "I swear to Faust I will do it."

"Listen, we know how much honor means to you because it's so precious! Why else would we take such joy in taking it away? We Noxxa honor ourselves miles above you! And so, when a Nox makes a promise to someone--anyone!--we keep it. How else will we distinguish ourselves? And especially if we lower ourselves to make a promise to ponies, of all creatures. If found that we made a promise to you, we are obligated to keep it."

The other bugs around him were whispering. Has he gone mad? No, K'ra thought. I'm buying you a way out. It doesn't matter if I'm not speaking a word of truth. Your miserable lives will be spared, and gullible Twilight slips up once again.

"I can see it in you, princess. You've killed before. Will you stop at one? Or will you slaughter us all like an untamed animal? And if you do, what will you become? Will you become a hero? Or will you become like us?"

Twilight stiffened. Freedom Fighter dared not move. Neither did Tempest, though it looked like she was ready to pounce.

"Can we not have peace like we did before?" he continued. "We shall return to our lands and not come again. I swear it by-" He paused; here he was getting into dangerous territory. "-by our lord, King Solaris."

The Noxxa gasped and scuttled, rubbed their legs together with nervous fright. K'ra didn't care. Deceit was bred into them all.

"I'll stop you right there," Freedom Fighter said over the crackling flames on every side. "Don't make a promise we all know you won't keep. Rather foolish, don't you think?"

"We shall have peace," Twilight decided.

K'ra inwardly smiled, and Freedom Fighter made a surprised sound. So did the Noxxa, to be honest. The day was just an up-and-down event, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Twilight continued. She jumped down to the flame-scorched earth. "We shall have peace… when the lives you've taken in Saddle Arabia, Griffonstone, and Manehattan are atoned for twenty times over!"

K'ra froze. What was this?

"We shall have peace when the humans in the mirror dimension are avenged of their innocent blood, which still cries from the blood-soaked earth!"

K'ra felt a deathly chill run across him. That was impossible; he was surrounded by fire! Twilight was marching into their ranks between the magical purple spikes, and as she walked, fire and violet magic swirled in streams up her body from the air all around her.

"When you feel the agony of the Unforgiven," said the alicorn, covered in streaks of swirling flame at her hooves and across her entire frame, "and of Noble Blade, and the countless mares and stallions you've defiled, we shall have peace!"

The hundreds of Noxxa recoiled at her tone. Except for K'ra. He instead felt rooted to the spot.

"When Marshal Malice's head is on the tallest spike in Canterlot," she whispered to him, eyes and mouth glowing, "then we shall have peace."

Firestorm came rocketing back to the burning enclosure, glowing in the the air like an ethereal, unearthly angel.

Twilight gave a simple nod to him.

Firestorm grinned devilishly. He paused for only a moment to stick up both middle feathers in his wings and wave them around furiously at the Noxxa before spreading them and shooting into the air.

"And when you burn," she whispered, grabbing him and pulling him to her chest, and he could see nothing but the rage in her eyes.

Freedom Fighter had entirely lowered his weapon by now and was gaping in shock. Tempest Shadow was stunned as well.

"When the rest of your defiling, evil, corrupt, filthy race disappears," she continued. The words boomed in K'ra's ears. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to disappear and die.

The glowing orange form that was Firestorm was now no more than a speck, thousands of feet above Black Fang Redoubt.

"Then," she finished. "We shall have peace."

Her horn glowed, and all of a sudden, she, Tempest, and the Unforgiven vanished.

The Noxxa, confused at first, dared to look up. Far above them, a bright comet with a long tail was blazing down like a meteor. Even from the ground, they could hear a faint whistle as the miniscule Firestorm plowed through the atmosphere.

Then the whistle turned into a roar, and a shield of fire was enveloping him as he came closer and closer.

The Noxxa, finally realizing what he was about to do, panicked. Without the ponies there to keep them trapped, they could now run in any direction they pleased, but K'ra knew differently.

It was all over. No matter how much they ran, they were all about to die.

So he knelt on the ground instead, and lifted his head. Firestorm was getting closer and closer. The Noxxa were still running and trying to escape through the labyrinth of fire that was Black Fang Redoubt, but strangely, they became silent to him.

At least before he died, he might have a moment of beauty.

Because fire was beautiful to him, the way the color looked on pony skin, the way it swirled in trees or in houses, and the sounds of it snapping and crackling over the screams of the tortured.

But instead of beauty when fire consumed him at last, all he felt was anguish.

Twilight, Freedom Fighter, and Tempest reappeared on a rock shelf two miles away from the dark prison camp. After adjusting themselves from the instantaneous trip, all three ponies' eyes were drawn to the apocalyptic streak of orange light directly above the camp.

All three of them held their breaths. All three ponies felt something twisting in their gut. And all three ponies were waiting without any kind of emotion for what was about to happen.

Just above the roofs of the camp, Firestorm broke the sound barrier.

A tremendous explosion rocked the very earth, and a flash of light sent everyone blinking and recoiling. A shockwave of pure fire eminated from the eruption and covered Black Fang Redoubt in an instant. In fact, the sheer force itself leveled the camp in puffs of smoke, and the flame disintegrated what remained.

When the flash of light died down, Tempest Shadow blinked to clear her vision and gaped in amazement.

There was nothing now except a miniature mushroom cloud, coiling high in the air and gathering into a bulbous sun-colored formation.

To Tempest, it looked like a skull.

She didn't know how long she kept staring. It was both beautiful and horrifying; mezmerizing in some sickly way.

When a fiery streak flew out of the distant mushroom cloud and flew right over to where they were, however, Tempest found an excuse to avert her eyes. Firestorm shot above her head and hovered in the air, gazing at the destruction he had wrought. At first, the momentary thrill of excitement was upon him. After a little bit, though, reality sunk in. His giddy face sunk into one of shock. No longer did he seem happy or angry. Now he just looked stunned.

No words were spoken for a long time. The four of them simply looked at the fiery skull that had completely consumed Black Fang Redoubt.

Finally, Firestorm dropped to the earth. His orange aura had cut off, and instead of triumphant or defiant, Firestorm looked sick to his stomach. Tempest felt the same way he looked, and with a glance to Twillight, she knew the princess felt the same way. Twilight's earlier fury had dissipated now that the threat was gone, and it had left her with nothing but regret of her actions.

It was strange. Tempest ordinarily had no qualms with mass murder and annihilation. But this felt different, somehow. Why was it so uncomfortable for her to keep gazing upon the evil that Firestorm had created?

"Twilight," Firestorm whispered. "Don't tell me to do that again."

"It had to be done," Freedom Fighter sagely replied.

"I wish it didn't," was his answer.

"You had no problem with killing Noxxa before," Freedom Fighter pointed out.

"I never let myself loose like that… or created a mushroom cloud before, either," Firestorm muttered. He turned around. Tempest could see a deep-seated dark look behind his eyes. He shoved Tempest out of the way and stomped past. "Move. I need some time alone."

"Not yet. You need to help carry us back to Appleoosa," Twilight called to him.

Firestorm paused, bowed his head, and let out a long sigh of frustration. After a long moment he jabbed at Freedom Fighter without looking back. "Get on, then. And make it quick. I'm pissed."

Freedom Fighter adjusted himself on Firestorm's back, who then shot off at an alarming speed, leaving Tempest and Twilight on the ledge, with the mushroom cloud dissipating into a column of smoke in the distance.

Tempest trotted over and laid on the squattting Twilight's back, and adjusted for takeoff.

"That wasn't as fulfilling as I thought it was going to be," Twilight commented. "I thought I'd feel better afterwards, but instead, I feel… empty."

"They were dirty bugs, Twilight," Tempest whispered in her usual soft tone. "They were devils. They deserved to die."

"So did you," Twilight retorted hotly.

Tempest could think of nothing more to say. Twilight Sparkle was an enigma of the highest order. Gone was the weak, impressionable, airheaded princess she had expected. In her place was a layered, complicated, and startling character who had seen and done dark, horrible things.

Perhaps they were more alike than Tempest cared to admit.

Who was she? What pony could mercilessly condemn an entire species, but feel a twist in her stomach while doing so? What kind of pony could kill Captain Celeano, legendary among the Storm King's armies, with a flick of her head, but turn into a frightened little girl afterward? What pony could be both an angel and a devil, brimming with power that could scare even Tempest? Wreathed in flame and magic, pronouncing doom upon the devils of this world, Tempest could do nothing but watch in awe and count herself lucky that it wasn't her that was being condemned instead.

Twilight spread her wings and flew off, with Tempest holding on tight. Nothing but the past was behind them. Nothing but the future ahead.

The final Element of Harmony was close at hand.

But unbeknownst to her, so also were their worst enemies.

Chapter Seventy: Breaking Point

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By the time the four ponies touched down at the town square of Appleoosa, the town was in a commotion. Most of the inhabitants had gotten out of bed to see the tall mushroom cloud off in the distance. As a result, panicky thoughts had set in, and some of them had trunks and suitcases under their arms, trying to fit all of them into the train station.

The rest of the girls were active as well. Fluttershy, Rarity, Spike, and Noble Blade were in a run-down wooden shed that might have once been called a hospital, but the rest of the girls were helping usher the ponies into the train station. Applejack was discussing with Braeburn about the stolen money from the town, but Braeburn already had her in a tight hug, ensuring her that it was all okay. Even so, Applejack vowed that they would get funds from Canterlot to rebuild once everything had died down. Pinkie Pie was bounding along encouraging a distraction from the imminent doom they all felt was upon them.

But it was only when Twilight had spoken up in a magical-augmented voice and let the entire town know that the threat was gone that the inhabitants finally began to quiet down. The suggestion from Starlight Glimmer, approved by Twilight, allowed them to evacuate the starved, deserted remains of Appleoosa and safely get on the train to Canterlot.

By the time everypony had gotten on the train with all their closest possessions, the girls had also, by a unanimous vote, chosen to go along as well to Ponyville to recover and resupply before figuring out the next stage of their journey.

Finally, when the sun had fully risen in the east, a train was steaming out from Appleoosa's skeletal remains packed with ponies, scared for what the future might bring.

“Twilight?” asked Starlight just as the former was about to enter her cabin.

The alicorn froze as she opened the door. “What?”

“I just… wanted to know what our plan was after we get to Ponyville. We don’t know where the final Element is.”

Twilight let out a small sigh. “We didn’t know where Noble’s Element would be either. But we still have it. Just… keep it out of mind, Starlight. You’ve earned a break.”

“I’d like to take one,” Starlight admitted. “But… it’s my Element. I don’t know what I’ll have to do. I’m the Last Hero. That doesn’t sound good.”

“And I’m the Child of Light,” Twilight added. “Look where I am now.”

With that said, she entered her cabin and shut the door.

She crossed the small room to the only furniture in the room and collapsed, tired all over all of a sudden.

Twilight was twitching. Now that nopony was around, she could finally, finally crack, and begin to shiver and gulp and gasp for breath as she was finally left alone with her thoughts and guilt.

Her room was empty and small. A futon was the only form of furniture, which she was sitting upright on, shaking as she let herself go. There was a steady, soothing click-clack as the train rumbled along over the rails. To Twilight, it reminded her only of her abduction from the train on the way to Saddle Arabia, all those months ago. It seemed so far away… But at the same time, it was still so vivid, how she met those accursed creatures for the first time. Fangs and claws and black and blood.

Why was she feeling so terrible, anyway? Tempest had been right. She shouldn't feel so bad about it. The Noxxa were devils.

But then again, so was she.

So was Tempest, now that she thought about it. Serving the Storm King would put notions of brute ruthlessness in you.

And so were the rest of the girls. How many Noxxa had they collectively killed on Mount Aris? Not to mention the Guardians of the Sun, taking life for five years now, wherever they served their country.

She blinked back tears. As she did, her vision blurred. Twilight wiped her eyes, and when she opened her eyes, before her was something entirely different.

She was standing on a mountain of ash and broken bodies beneath her hooves. The ground beneath her was so far away. Her hooves, caked with ebony dust, were standing on the fleshy, broken body of Sunset Shimmer.

Beneath Sunset Shimmer was the rest of the human girls, and beneath them, a mound of griffons and ponies, extending down until she couldn't see the end, and thick layers of black dust covered everything in sight.

Twilight gasped for breath and looked around, covering her mouth. Spirits and mists floated past her face. There were whispers as well, growing closer. They all seemed to say the same thing. Twilight grew fearful and shrunk down as the world tilted.

How many more? they seemed to whisper. Over and over and over. How many more have to die?

When will it end?

Twilight closed her eyes. "No, no, no, stop…" she gasped. Too weak, she was too weak! "Please!"

Tears came to her eyes once again, and once she blinked them away, everything was back to normal. She was once again in a train, clickety-clacking in her ears.

The vision was gone. The mountain peak was gone. The black plains beneath her were gone. Sunset Shimmer was gone.

Sunset Shimmer was gone.

An evil voice seemed to speak those words to her. Not at all like the ones Faust used. Why had Faust left her? Why did she let her suffer like this?

The spirit of fear was constricting her and making her short of breath. Solaris was laughing somewhere in triumph.

The door to her cabin opened. Twilight gulped and immediately put away her fear and guilt to put on a neutral face. "Yes?"

Freedom Fighter appeared. Twilight felt something rise in her small chest. Hope! Solaris seemed to hiss and become defiant at the Unforgiven's mere presence. Twilight felt that defiance rising within her.

Go away!

"Go away!" she yelled.

Freedom’s eyes widened at the sudden outburst. "... Was it something I did?" he asked.

"Why are you here?" she asked, feeling hollow.

"You know exactly why I’m here,” Freedom said. “I can see it in your eyes, Twilight. You may think you have everyone else fooled, but I know better. The last thing you should be right now is alone.”

He sounded so hopeful! Freedom Fighter wanted to be here!

He’s just going to tell you how badly you lost it today. Don’t give him the satisfaction.

He closed the door and made his way next to the lavender alicorn, plopping down on the futon next to her.

"I know what you're going to say,” she said, trying to beat Freedom to the punch. “I shouldn't feel sorry for what I did at Black Fang. Well, guess what? I still am! I feel..."

Freedom Fighter halted and simply nodded. He was actually listening.

Who is he to be explaining this to you?

"I mean, it's no big deal to you. Just another day, another dozen monsters sent back to oblivion. Well, I'm not like you! At least I feel bad about what I did!"

"You think I enjoyed that?"

"It's your destiny to destroy them all. I would say you have plenty of reason to.”

“Twilight." He shook his head. "If you feel anything apart from guilt when you kill, something is wrong with you."

Hypocrite much.

"But you didn't feel anything when you slew all those Noxxa back when I first met you in the tower!"

"Yeah. And something's wrong with me, Twilight. I'm unstable. You know how I had that voice in my head, and…. What you’re going through right now... was around the time I started getting mine.”

There was a hefty pause in the conversation. Both ponies were looking the opposite way on the ground.

Freedom Fighter was alone in his private room. Canterlot Castle was spacious and ornate, but the Unforgiven was always Spartan in nature and preferred limited arrangements. There was only a bed he was sitting on, a table beside it, and an iron chest containing his bodysuit. There wasn’t even a window to let in Celestia’s blessing. The only light came from a small candle on the bedside table.

He was naked, shivering. The flickering firelight caught in his wide, quivering eyes.

‘I’m a killer,’ he knew. ‘This is only our first mission as Guardians of the Sun, and I’m already the evil I swore to destroy.’

Then why did you seem so enthusiastic about killing the Noxxa?

Freedom Fighter drew himself up. He shrugged at the new voice. ‘The Noxxa are inferior. They’re sub-pony. They’re even worse than the changelings!’

You were sub-pony once.

The firelight subsided. Most of the dark warrior was in shadow, save for two pinpricks.

‘Who are you?’

I know who I am. The real question here is, Freedom, who are you?

‘I know I’m not you. I made you up on a whim. You’re nothing to me.’

I am everything to you. Don’t you know that?

‘You only cause me pain.’

Life is pain, Unforgiven. Anyone who says otherwise is trying to sell you something.

‘What a corny philosophy you have.’

What an intoxicating innocence you cling to.

‘I am not innocent! More than anypony, I have been soiled beyond imagination!’

Ah, you do realize it. I was starting to worry.

‘Why am I even talking like this?’

Better than talking to Noble Blade or Firestorm. Blade would just give fortune cookie advice, and Firestorm would make a corny joke. Here, with me and you, you can be as honest as you like. And best of all, nothing has to be lost in translation, or from your thoughts to your words. This is pure. Here, the only pony to judge you is… you.

Freedom Fighter blinked. ‘What?’

This is true liberty. Doesn’t it feel so nice to feel awful, and then not-so-awful afterward? This alone can set your mind free. This alone will turn you into the Unforgiven.

“...You saw what keeping to myself turned into. If you don’t pull yourself out, you’ll end up like me, Twilight. Don’t make the same mistake I did.”

Twilight finally found the urge to speak when her mind drifted to her mentor. Those despairing thoughts came back as Solaris began to laugh once more. Fear, loss of herself, a feeling to crawl away to the deepest corner of the earth. She felt all these things at once.

What’s Celestia going to think of you?

"What's Celestia going to think of me?" she whispered. Her legs were still bouncing erratically on the edge of the futon. Her voice was cracking even more. "How much… b-blood is on my hooves? I… I’ve lost track!”

Freedom simply scooted closer to Twilight, placing a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.

You’re becoming a monster. Accept it.

"I've even been thinking as a monster too," Twilight continued, trying to ignore the rate her heartbeat skyrocketed at his touch. Solaris hissed again and retreated, and she felt soft and vulnerable. "I-I… Did you hear me at Black Fang? I… enjoyed it. Am I becoming a monster?"

She had to stop and just cry, planting her face into his warm shoulder. The fear came back down like a seesaw, and so did the awful constrictions in her chest that made her cry harder.

"If this keeps up, you will," Freedom Fighter said. "I gave in to the darkness, but you’re not like me. You’re destined to be more than I ever was.”

Then why are you even HERE? Delving into the darkness. Some Child of Light you are.

"Then why do I have to go on this stupid quest!? We could have easily stayed in Canterlot while you, Noble, Firestorm, and Starlight went to get your Elements! At least then, Sunset might still be alive. So many more might still be alive. You’re a fighter. I'm a princess of friendship.”

"You know why you came with us, Twilight," Freedom whispered. "Look, you’ve been teetering on the edge numerous times, but you’ve caught yourself every time. When I came to the edge the first time, I fell off like a boulder. I could never imagine anyone getting that close and not falling, but you did. You have tremendous control over yourself, Twilight. "

That doesn’t change anything!

"That doesn't change anything, Freedom! I've killed! I'm a killer, and feeling sorry for myself can’t change that!" Twilight gave a small laugh. “It’s funny, really. I once thought that the worst thing in the world was not turning in a report on time, but now look at me.”

"Well, now you've seen what the world has to offer," Freedom Fighter countered. He turned her so she faced him, and Twilight hesitantly looked the Unforgiven in his powerful gaze. She was trapped instantly. Why look anywhere else but into his vivid red loops?

What are those eyes going to change?!

"I sunk into the world's deepest pits," Twilight breathed, remembering all she had done.

"And you soared among its highest skies," he finished, pushing a lock of purple hair out of the way. "You swam in its deepest oceans and didn't drown. You fought off the largest armies and didn't fall. You may have lost a part of you, but I think you gained a lot more."

Lies...

Solaris withered away for good this time, and so did her fear. She felt herself growing warmer in her chest. A smile was working its way onto her. "Like what?"

"Perspective," he answered. "Guidance. Friendships. Maturity." He then tilted her chin up slightly. "And strength."

Twilight was trembling. "What? No. This broke me."

"Doesn’t mean you can’t put yourself back together," he whispered, an inch away from her lips. "And if you ever need help… well… I… know a thing or two about broken things.”

It was so simple. The die had been cast. She just leaned in, and suddenly their lips were together, soft and moving slowly.

A firework fuse was fizzling in Twilight's brain as she kissed him. When she pulled away from his mouth, that firework exploded in a bang of color and a flash of light that just made her grab the back of his head and pull him to her lips again.

She hadn't realized how much she had been starved of affection until it had been given to her, and once she was aware of that, she simply needed it more.

When they broke away for the second time, Freedom Fighter was panting. Twilight had come on rather hard.

"Wow," he whispered, surprised. Twilight's stomach leaped. "I never thought you could be so… fierce."

"Do you like fierce?" she asked, feeling nervous, but not fearful. Solaris was nowhere to be seen.

"Hmm…" He adopted a pseudo-thoughtful look. Then he shrugged and grinned. "I don’t know." He gripped her hips from behind, and Twilight curved herself backward instinctually. His eyes smoldered like the red-hot coals of a dying fire. "Does this answer your question?"

The princess felt a lump rise in her throat. "H-how long?"

"Since the day I first laid eyes on you in the Noxxa tower. Even dirty, grimy, and frightened, you were the most beautiful creature I had ever seen."

“Thank you, Freedom. For being here. I think I really needed this.”

"I'll always be there, Twilight. I'll be your protector.” He pecked her on the lips. “Your warrior.” He kissed her again, this time on her neck. “Your lover.” He quickly kissed her again, on the forehead this time. "All I ask is for you to be the same for me."

Just outside Twilight's bedroom, watching through a crack in the door, Tempest Shadow bit her lip, sighed, and turned away.

She had been hoping to talk with Twilight. About Black Fang, and the future, and what would happen to her. Obviously, she'd be locked up in a Canterlot cell for her crimes, but what would happen after?... If there even was an after.

She trudged down the train's crowded hallway, packed with frightened ponies from Appleoosa who moved out of the way with whispers. There she is, the pony with the broken horn. Be careful. You can get shocked.

Tempest ignored them. Just as she could ignore the pounding in her head, and the nagging thoughts, the what-ifs regarding her future. Would the Storm King appear to take her away? And if so… would she want to go?

She stopped. Why even ask that question in the first place? She trusted the Storm King! He was her boss! Her higher-up! Her commander and king. Her loyalty was to him alone. Not to the ponies. Right?

She had just moved into the next car down the train when all of a sudden, something pink popped in front of her face.

"Hiya!"

Tempest groaned and shoved her way past Pinkie Pie.

"Boy, somepony's in a bad mood. You wanna know what I would do if I'm in a bad mood? I sing!" She inhaled so sharply, her head inflated to massive proportions like a balloon.

"No," Tempest cut off. Her glare was so icy, even Pinkie stopped and let out her air.

"What's the big deal?" Pinkie wondered. Pinkie cupped Tempest's cheeks. "Why do you look even more grumpy-wumpy than usual?"

"Take a guess," came Tempest's muffled voice, and she slapped Pinkie's hooves off her.

"Hmm," Pinkie said. "You just came from Twilight's cabin, after you, she, and the boys all flattened the bad guy's camp, so Professor Pinkie's powerful hypothesis is you wanted to talk to Twilight about your morally grey actions, but it didn't end up well."

Tempest sighed and slumped against the wall. "You got it."

"What happened?"

"Somepony was already there, taking the words right off Twilight's lips." She held a cruel, icy tone in her admonishment.

"Really?" came Pinkie. "Who? Was it Starlight? No, no, um… how about Freedom Fighter? That's the only other pony she has a closer-than-normal connection with."

She nodded. "They were connected, alright."

Pinkie, after a moment, grew a sly grin. "You mean…"

Tempest gave a curt nod.

"Called it!" she exulted, giving a triumphant bump into the air. "The best ship out of us all, and it finally happened! Now we need to get you a boyfriend as well, and maybe then you can lose that grumpy, meanie-pants attitude!"

"Pinkie."

"Although it can't be Spike, 'cause he's already got Rarity, and it can't be Noble Blade, Firestorm, Freedom Fighter, Winter Gleam, or Shining Armor. Who else is there? Hmm. Maybe that's the reason there are so many OCs. Eh. Oh well. We can just make you a new one!"

"Pinkie."

But Pinkie had already taken out a sheet of paper and was scribbling intently on it, a ridiculously fancy mustache on her muzzle. "Now, what kind of pony would be your best fit? I think what we need for you is, 'Dark and brooding.' Good thing most OCs are like that anyway! Let me just jot that down… Huh. There isn't more to OCs than that. Except… would you like them well-endowed or not? Hee hee! Just kidding! You don't get a choice!"

"Pinkie." Tempest almost growled it. "Shut up."

Pinkie stopped abruptly. She looked down at her scribbled scrawled character creation sheet. Then she shrugged, balled it up, and tossed it aside. "In that case, we can talk about other things!"

"I don't have time for this," she snarled, pushing past Pinkie again.

"Hey!" called Pinkie. "What about your deep inner feelings?"

"Only Twilight knows what's going on deep inside of me," Tempest explained patiently. "Only she knows how it's like… to change."

"Now that's just nonsense!" exclaimed the pink annoyance. "We've all changed along this journey!"

"The only one I would expect to change is Rarity. But she surprisingly didn't bring any outfits to change into."

Tempest's dry, icy humor actually got a pretty warm laugh out of Pinkie. "Oh, you silly poo!" she giggled. "I didn't know you could be such a riot!"

"I didn't know you could be so oblivious," Tempest replied with a snarl.

"Preeeeesenting, folks, the queen of comebacks, Tempest Shadow! Will she ever change? Hopefully not, folks! Will she ever grow? Maybe. Let's just wait and see!"

"Are you always like this?"

Pinkie abruptly stopped and put away the announcer's megaphone she had procured from her mane. "No, Tempest. I wasn't."

That surprised Tempest--the change in her tone and the answer itself. She betrayed that feeling with a raised eyebrow.

"I came from a grey family who grew up on a grey, lifeless rock farm, Tempest. It was only a Sonic Rainboom that brought color into my life."

"You were grey and lifeless? You?"

"A part of me still is, actually. The key to living is suppressing it."

"Why suppress it? It's a natural part of you. It's who you are."

"Joy is also a part of me, and I don't suppress that! And when I do, that grey, lifeless feeling just fizzles away like a sparkler! There's just no room in my mind for it!"

"You make a… disconcerting amount of sense, Pinkie Pie."

"I know, right? That's the most surprising thing! The OG party pony Pinkie Pie, spitting hard facts straight atcha! Ah-huh! That's right!"

"Would you be alright if I left you?" she blurted out.

Pinkie froze. "You mean…"

"I don't belong with you ponies. I belong to the Storm King. My destiny lies elsewhere, and frankly, I don't see any of you clamoring to keep me with you. What with the fact that I tried to kill you all multiple times."

"Why aren't you killing me now?"

Tempest couldn't think of a way to respond without feeling like a softer version of herself. Finally, she said, "Because I don't feel like it. Don't make me change my mind."

"Will you be happy with the Storm King?"

That was another question that gave her pause. Would she be happy? Or would she be longing to join the ponies while in his custody?

"... No. I won't."

Pinkie gripped her around her armored waist in a tight hug. "So stay with us! We won't mind. You helped us break out Noble Blade, after all. You're a part of us now! For better or worse."

"I-I'll be the black sheep. I'll be the outcast. The marked one."

"That's up to you to decide, Tempest. You don't have to be alone if you don't want to. That's why you're staying, isn't it?"

Tempest Shadow, once impregnable, felt as though she was going to collapse from the inside out.

“I’ll stay.”

And, inexplicably, that collapsing feeling was replaced with a quiet kind of reassurance.

The small Rainbow was surrounded by the trio of idiot colts, guffawing stupidly. Their ball game was paused.

“Hey, lookit the filly who wants to hang out with the boys! What are ya, some kinda colt?”

“I’m more of a colt than you are!” was her furious response.

“You ain’t no colt! And I bet you’re never gonna kiss one, either! Go away and play with Fluttercry’s dolls or something!”

That set off another chorus of idiotic laughing.

“You’re the one that’ll never get a kiss!” came Rainbow’s quick reply. But it was unsure and flustered. “A-and I’d rather kiss another filly than a jerk like YOU!”

When it left her mouth, she clamped a hoof over it quickly.

“Ooooh,” came the snotty answer. “Rainbow Crash is a pervert!”

Rainbow’s demeanor immediately switched to furious as she zoomed closer to Score. “You gonna take that back?! Huh?!”

Score wilted like a flower. “Look-”

“Come on, Score,” came Hoops’s bored voice. “Let’s go practice or something. I’m bored. Leave the dumb filly behind. She’s such a screw-up that she’ll never get it anyway!”

Score nodded while scooting away. “Yeah! Good luck, Crash! Go and play with Fluttershy some more!”

They flew off, leaving Rainbow Dash alone amidst the white architecture of Cloudsdale.

Rainbow kicked at the ground and muttered something under her breath. “I AM awesome!” she reminded herself. “I am!”

And before she knew it, she was all grown up, and Gilda was suddenly across from her at a table at some cafe in Ponyville.

“Did you really have to scream at Fluttershy like that?” Rainbow was dryly asking her.

“Dash. Come on. We both know that being strong, independent mares is a talent very few in Equestria have. Those that don’t, well, have to live beneath the ones who do have strength. You know this!”

“Well, yeah, but I-I didn’t think you’d actually do that. I personally think if someone’s weak in some areas, you should help them reach it.”

“What, and have them be like you and be competition?! We are the coolest gals around, Dash. We don’t focus on small stuff like other ponies.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Uh, hello. Element of Loyalty, right here!”

“Loyal? You mean, you’re supposed to be loyal, but you don’t even have a boyfriend yet?”

Rainbow turned scarlet. “It just takes time, that’s all.”

“I’ve already been with about… three different guys.” She gave a content sigh and wriggled in her seat with her arms behind her head. “If you can, you should try it. It’ll be great!”

“What about… you know…” Rainbow found what to say in a flash. “Isn’t your feathery coochie itchy all the time now?”

“Ain’t nothing wrong with feathers. And I only itch as much as I do in other spots. What is wrong here, though, is you, Rainbow. Sex is the coolest thing in the world. In my opinion, if you haven’t gotten action by the time you’re, like, 22, you’ll likely never get it at all. And that’s an age you’re fast approaching. Better be quick about it, Dash.”

“I can be cool without sex!” she declared, slamming her hooves on the table.

“Yeah-huh. If that’s what you want. But you’re missing out on something special. You think missing out on something like that is cool?”

Rainbow didn’t have an answer.

Rainbow Dash slumped in her bed alone. Firestorm had been in the adjacent bathroom for an hour now, and she could faintly hear mutters and growls coming from behind the door when she had pressed her ear to it.

She knew he wasn't going to blow the train up. He was too… considerate for that. But that just meant the emotions were all inside, rather than out. Which meant a more dangerous pegasus. It was eating him alive from the inside out. Annihilating hundreds in an instant would disintegrate a part of you.

Rainbow tossed in her bed once more. It had been so long since she had been back in civilization, and the beds were too comfy for her taste.

But the bed also lacked a vital ingredient: a smokin' hot pegasus who could simply hug her and make her troubles melt away. He could simply kiss her, and she could float without her wings. What he needed was to take his mind off the events at Black Fang Redoubt. And what was better than being held by an awesome girlfriend?

So she was curious; how much further could she get with him? How much more could she love him in return? Twice she had attempted to seduce him into the next stage of their relationship, but twice he had refused. Why? Was there something about him that he was ashamed of?

Maybe he was compensating for something. She would be the judge of that, not him.

The goal here was to make him happy again. She needed that flamboyant, boisterous, burlesque pegasus back, not a broken, charred husk of the stallion he really was. It was up to her. It was up to her.

The door to the bathroom opened, and out trudged the pony of the hour. He was unclothed, allowing all of his glorious orange body to be put on display. His fiery X cutie mark stood out so well on his cute flank. Rainbow eyed it as he approached, and she then noticed his complexion: tired, angry, frustrated, red. Bags were under his eyes. A scowl was on his lips. His mane stood up as usual, but in the wrong directions, and in strands.

"Stormy?" she asked, sitting up on the bed. "What's eating you?"

Firestorm took a moment before he clambered on top of the bed and put his rear knees into his eyes, rocking back and forth on his butt.

Rainbow wrapped her arms around him and put her lips close to his ear. "Hey, hey, it's okay. You wanna… talk about it?"

He shook his head no.

"Aww, you poor thing," she cooed, squeezing him gently. "Does my ittie bittie cutie wittle boyfwiend need a few kisses?" She proceeded to plant a few on his cheek.

"I am not ittie bittie," came his irate, muffled reply.

"Yes, you are! Oh, yes you are!" she refuted him, speaking as if to a puppy. She pulled his head up by yanking on his hair. Firestorm's eyes were bloodshot and sagging. "Aww, wook at that! Who could say no to a face like that?"

He rolled his eyes, but a small grin came on him as well. "Any sane pony would say no."

"Good thing I'm not exactly sane, am I?"

"How are you insane?"

"I chose you for a boyfriend."

He winced. "I must be insane if it means being around you."

"One for your side," Rainbow whispered. She then pouted, sticking out her lips while giving him a sad stare.

Firestorm took the offer and swooped in to kiss her. Instantly, her sad eyes became happy ones, and Firestorm's deep-seated frustration in his own eyes sank beneath the surface.

After kissing for a while, Rainbow broke it and rubbed the top of his bushy mane. "How'd you get so good at kissing?"

"Years of practice kissing my pillow," he dryly replied.

"Wow," she whispered after a moment. "You must have been really lonely."

"More than you could ever imagine."

"Here, let's get some more practice in," she said cutely, sticking out her chest and affixing him with wide eyes. "Go wild, babe."

For the first time, Firestorm smiled. "Hm. Babe. I like it when you call me that."

"I know what it does to you."

Firestorm moved in and planted a steady kiss on her lips. The way it was so steady but soft created a hunger inside her. She kissed him back with more force than he was using, and it prompted him to up the ante as well.

Firestorm sat back, with Rainbow atop him. It was now. Right now.

Rainbow's hoof trailed down his chest to his firm abdomen.

Firestorm suddenly froze up.

"You wanna try this?" she whispered.

"No," he replied. He was scared.

"Hey, it's okay," she said, caressing him right above the crotch. "Just let me take care of it."

"No, Rainbow. I don't want you to-"

It was at this point that Rainbow had had enough. She planted her hooves on his chest, making him wince, and glared at him. "You are doing this, Storm! I know you want it! This is how you show you love me!"

Firestorm's hoof shot out and gripped her neck, squeezing a surprised gasp out of her, and his leg moved under her chest. His face was boiling with fury. "I said NO!"

He straightened his leg. Rainbow was thrown across the train car and hit the wall, sliding to the ground. Pain erupted from her head and back. She lifted her head to gaze with shock into his defiant eyes, and there was a dark, fearsome look in there that she didn't know he was capable of having.

It was enough to make her whimper involuntarily. And then it turned to outright tears, and she ashamedly covered her face with her rainbow mane and began to bawl.

"Oh, my gosh," came the whisper from Firestorm. It sounded shocked and pained. "Oh, my-oh… Oh, man…"

She heard him flap over to her side and felt him wrap his wings around her from behind. Rainbow, still enraged and upset, shoved him away, however, just to spite him.

"Hey," he said, his voice suddenly soft. "Hey, look at me. Talk to me."

"You hate me!" she accused him with a hoof, still buried face first in her long mane.

"No! I don't!"

"Y-you threw me!" she haltingly said, and she whimpered and broke down again. Why wasn't he doing this?

"I… ugh. I'm sorry, Rainbow. I shouldn't have done that. I don't hate you. I promise you!"

"Then why aren't you…?"

"Because I can love you without sticking something inside you!"

Rainbow almost laughed at the completely un-sexy terminology. But she still didn't see the sense behind him. "I-if you love me, you have to have trust in me!"

"I thought the same thing too, Rainbow!"

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"You didn't trust how I felt when I said no! I said it three times now! I. Don't. Want! This!"

"But why?!" she all but screamed. "Don't you want me?"

"I do!" he exclaimed. "More than anything! Don't you think I haven't been tempted? I wanted to do this right from the start!" He winced and cringed after that blunt statement.

Rainbow took her face out of her frazzled mane. "What?!" He was so contradicting! He said both things in the same minute! Were all colts like this?

"And it's precisely because I love you so much that I wanted to hold off on it!"

Rainbow affixed him with a sour look. "You'd better explain yourself very thoroughly."

Firestorm wilted beneath the frosty look, but he spoke anyway. "Listen. I just… didn't want to rush things. I know that we're the two fastest pegasi on the face of the planet, but it's also nice to slow down and savor what we already have! I love cuddling with you and kissing you! I thought that was good enough!"

"... But this is the next step, isn't it? The next step with both of us is…" She gave a limp gesture at both of them, sitting on the floor of the train car.

"That's a sign of mistrust. What, do we need to prove something by doing this? You actually think the only sign that we love each other is having me poke you in some sensitive spot? We don't need sex to prove we can last with each other. I have trust in you. I want to trust that you are truly mine, Rainbow. I wanted to prove my trust by not succumbing to you or anypony else until we were married."

"So let's get married!" Rainbow blurted out. "It doesn't have to be big or anything! I just want to be with you!"

"Why are you marrying me, Rainbow? For the sex?"

"I…" Rainbow stopped herself. Why did she feel like a nest of vipers had hatched in her stomach? "I… I love you! I want you to stay forever!"

"And forcing me to go down on you will make me want to stay?" he retorted.

Rainbow began to weep again, and this time she buried her face in his warm chest, getting his coat wet. She was almost expecting him to push her away, to make her find somewhere else to open the floodgates, to berate her for crying--

But he didn't. He held her gently and tenderly. His arms felt soft around her back, and his head was right above hers. Rainbow, although confused, was grateful for that.

She sniffed and pulled away when she was done. After trying to speak, she whispered, "Do… you still… love me?"

"Yes," was his reply. "I do love you, Rainbow. More than anything."

Rainbow sniffled. "Storm, am I a… a pervert for wanting that?"

"No more than I am."

"I'm a really big pervert, then."

"It doesn’t matter how much of a perv you are or not… I don't want to lose you, Rainbow," he continued, in a quiet voice. "You mean too much to me. I love you."

"I know you do. But I just thought…"

"I understand, more than you can ever know, about wanting to cross that line. You're so beautiful, Rainbow, I promise." He held her head in his hooves while wrapping his wings around her tight. He caressed a lock of hair out of her face. Rainbow felt her cheeks catch flame.

He kissed her again, and she felt herself go weightless, like when she would shoot up through the clouds without flapping her wings.

When he pulled away, there was joy on his face. "But for the moment… patience."

"Patience," Rainbow repeated. She clenched her hoof. "I can do this. I can hold out."

"Hunger is the best spice," Firestorm quoted. "And I can assure you, when the time comes for that… it will be the best night of your life."

She shivered at his tone and played with the jagged end of her mane. "Don't make a promise you can't keep."

"I'll only give as good as I get. That's my promise."

"Ooh! Is that a challenge I hear?"

"You bet it is!"

"All right, then, hothead. I'm gonna make you see heaven that night. Think you can do the same for me?"

"I'm gonna take you there."

The atmosphere had become lighter than ever before, and Rainbow loved it. Before she knew it, fifteen minutes later, Rainbow was being spooned by Firestorm in their bed, warmth surrounding her on every side.

She gave a contented smile, satisfied with the outcome. She managed to be in his arms, warm and happy, without that special something. Not today, of course. But someday. And that would make it better than any short-lived fling.

“One. Two. Three.”

Noble, on his back in a bed, gritted his teeth as Fluttershy tightened the bandages on his chest. They had the entire medical car to themselves, with all the materials required for Fluttershy to administer first aid to her wounded boyfriend.

An exceptionally tight pull forced Noble to seeth. "Gah! That hurts."

"I expect it to. That's part of getting better."

"It still hurts."

"It didn't hurt before, did it?"

"That was the adrenaline dulling the pain, Fluttershy." Noble gave another wince as he adjusted to the pressure over his wounds, the sterile white bandages already developing splotches of red as fresh blood was absorbed.

“How does it feel?” she whispered, scanning with her careful eye up and down his pale blue body. “Anywhere else hurt?”

“Nothing that can’t be fixed after a bath,” Noble laconically said. “And with my nurse keeping a close eye on me.”

That drew a giggle from her.

“Besides, Freedom’s had it worse. I’m not going to make… nngh… such a big deal about it.” He sat up. He had been lying on a bed in the medical car, near the rear of the train. They were the only two souls in the room.

“That doesn’t mean your injuries aren’t as important as anything Freedom’s had. You can’t control your own feelings, Noble. Only worry about what you can control, remember?” Fluttershy reminded him.

Noble’s mind wandered back to his last conversation with Fluttershy before his abduction, but as he did, a troubling thought entered his mind. His surroundings slowly faded away for him to focus, really focus, deeply inward.

Did he have control over killing Blueblood? He had ultimately done the deed, but… it was only because Faust told him to... right?

Noble had been in many situations where he’d had to kill. However, those were in situations of war… where it was kill or be killed. The heat of war had distorted his vision. But this…. This was cold-blooded. He was defenseless. Even Solaris was able to do that. He had so much power that he needed to go on a quest across the world to find enough power to beat him.

But that didn’t make Blueblood innocent… right?

The whole point of their journey was so they could kill Solaris once and for all, and he was evil incarnate. So did Blueblood, no matter what he’d done, deserve a similar fate? He had come to earth, which meant he had been on Faust's side in the War in Heaven. There was a very small bit of him that could have been full of light.

Noble couldn’t deny that he had a disdain for the Prince. He treated everyone around him like a pawn, even the Noxxa, as if they only existed so he can win the chess game of life. No doubt, this was behavior that warranted condemnation and accountability, but did it really have to cost him his life?

No, it didn’t. So, why did Faust want him to do it? Or… did she? In the past, Faust had only appeared to Noble in his sleep. That much he knew for sure... but was that really Faust telling him to kill Blueblood? Freedom Fighter heard voices in his head that encouraged his darker impulses, so what if he was doing the same?

If so, that meant that Noble was faced with one of two options: either he murdered Prince Blueblood in cold blood and was trying to justify it in Faust’s name, or Faust did tell him to murder Blueblood, which forced him to violate one of his foundational moral codes.

And now, here he was, lying about it. He almost forgot. He had the chance to tell Rarity and Spike right there that he’d ended Blueblood’s life. But he didn’t. As far as everyone else was concerned, he was the same old Noble Blade, the one that led and protected his friends in battle. The one that pushed everyone on when things were at their darkest.

But he knew better. After what Faust showed him, he knew better.

Only he knew about the Noble Blade that foolishly wanted to live up to unattainable standards, the Noble Blade that led his friends to the portal, which ended up leading in some of their demises, the Noble Blade that used Old Ponish to sound nobler and smarter than he really was. What was so honorable about any of that?

Noble held up the Element of Honor to his face, inspecting it. How was everything he went through supposed to be his trial to get the Element of Honor? What was so honorable about killing a defenseless pony?!

Noble chucked the jewel to the other side of the car with all the strength he had, which wasn’t exactly much.

“Noble!” Fluttershy gasped, not expecting her gentle reminder to be met with an object being flung, but when she turned back, she noticed the tears beginning to leak from Noble’s eyes.

Instinctually, Fluttershy went to comfort her boyfriend.

Against his better judgment, Noble clung to the yellow mare. It’s amazing what simply holding someone can do to you, Noble realized. Fluttershy especially. Even though his mind was screaming that he was the farthest thing from okay, burying himself into Fluttershy’s fur, weeping until his tear ducts were deserts, gave him the illusion everything would be okay, and he wished he could stay in that illusion forever.

They spent 10 minutes like that. However, Noble knew Fluttershy likely needed an explanation for why he was crying, but knowing the implications of doing so, he didn’t want to do it. But he had to. If he wasn’t honorable before, he was going to start right now.

“How are you so strong?” Noble began.

“Excuse me?”

The warmness of Fluttershy’s fur against his kept him going.

“What makes you keep going on this trip? You know we could die, right?”

“Because Equestria needs us, Noble. And I have faith in my friends. Especially you.”

“Oh, how misplaced that is,” Noble said, sniffing.

“Now, now, the fact you’re crying right now means you’re channeling your emotions in a healthy way. No one’s expecting you to come back from being held captive the same. It couldn’t have been easy. I am so proud of you, Noble.”

This was it.

“You shouldn’t be,” Noble said.

“Well I am,” Fluttershy asserted.

This just made Noble push deeper into Fluttershy’s chest, even though that shouldn’t have been possible.

“I’m a liar, Fluttershy. I’m not a strong leader, I’m a… coward in a suit of armor. I can’t be a rock because I can’t even rely on myself. I lead the ponies around me even if I have no idea what I’m doing. I put more and more burdens on myself until one day...they’ll crush me… and you’ll never have to deal with me any… more. You think of me as an example, when I’m not even an …example to myself. I’m... hollow... Nothing.”

“You’re not.”

Why wouldn’t she leave him?

“I killed Blueblood!”

“What?”

“I found him in the street... picked up his sword. And killed him. Didn’t even look him in the eyes. You’re not in love with a knight… You’re in love with a killer. Who am I to be an example for others when I can’t even… I can’t even be an example to myself?! I-it’s eating me from the inside out!”

And indeed, it felt that way. His throat felt constricted while his stomach lept and churned, and tears blurred his vision. Unloading all that guilt, and all those feelings to show what he knew he looked like, despaired him beyond any capacity.

“I’m… not perfect, Fluttershy. And you know it already, those feelings of me always striving to rise above, and to… to push myself to the cracking point to reach perfection. That’s not even my fault! That was my father who pushed this onto me, and I thought that I needed to keep it up! I-I feel… like I’ve been given such a high burden because of who I set myself up to be, and I can’t carry it anymore! You’re right, Fluttershy. I can’t be strong all the time! I was a self-appointed leader who had no idea what he was capable of, because I was blind to my faults, and that was my biggest fault of all!”

Fluttershy still was silent. Her eyes were wide, and her ears were perked up, still listening--thank Faust--but she avoided saying anything.

“F-Fluttershy?” Noble cautiously explored. “Are you… going to… say anything?”

Fluttershy looked very uncomfortable.

“I’ve just shown you my darkest flaws, Shy. Y-you’re not… upset? I know you are! The veil is gone, and… the old Noble Blade is peeled away, to expose the true… husk inside.”

“But I still love you!”

“How?!”

“I love you because you’re a broken soul!”

“...Because?”

“The broken are the ones that need love the most, Noble.” She pushed Noble away and burrowed into his chest now, squirming as she did. She was so soft, and warm, and furry… It was enough to make Noble melt on top of her and encompass Fluttershy with his own body. His heart felt warmer now. Fluttershy continued to speak whilst buried in his chest.

“I’ll be here to help you get through it. That’s what I promised when I said I’d stick by your side. You’re not the same colt I know that appeared in Twilight’s throne room… but that might be for the better. Now I understand you! Now I’m… reassured that you trust me enough to show me that dark part of you.”

Noble felt short of breath; his throat was closed off. This was a good thing? It was a concept he needed to adjust to, but Fluttershy said it so lovingly and reassuringly. The mix of guilt and love he felt was enough to make him shut down completely.

"Do you know what Faust promised us?" Fluttershy said. "That you would be saved. And Blueblood would be delivered into our hooves. I'm not exactly celebrating his death. But I'm just... so glad Faust kept her word!"

Did she now? Noble's head reeled. So Blueblood's death was indeed commanded by Faust, and not some devil? Unless it had deceived her too... but did it not happen as she had said? The feelings he had with Faust were consistent with her other appearances. Faust could indeed command him to remove his enemies. As well as do something hard. If it was not hard, Noble would not have done it as a test. The only reason Faust had not struck Blueblood down herself was probably to give Noble the opportunity to choose whether or not to follow Her. And besides, why would Solaris want to get rid of one of his servants and give him an Element?

Faust was a Goddess of justice as well as mercy. If he happened to be a tool in it... he would be honored. The only problem was with deciphering when to do it in Her name.

Comfort flooded him anew. Warmth calmed his anxious mind.

He stayed like this, holding something warm to tether him, until he, at last, felt ready to move. After reluctantly letting go of the most wonderful mare in Equestria, he brought up Fluttershy’s face with a hoof and read the look in her wonderful eyes. They were undeceiving and gentle.

“You… have no idea… how much you mean to me… Fluttershy.”

She smiled and pressed her cheek into his hoof. “I know how much you mean to me, though.”

“How much, then?”

“I can’t say,” Fluttershy admitted. “It’s too much for me to express.”

“You’re wonderful.”

“Oh yeah? You’re breathtaking!”

“No, you did that yourself.”

She ruffled the top of his long-haired head and traced it down to his collarbone. “Come on. Let’s get that necklace off the ground and back around this amazing stallion’s neck.”

Noble went pink, but, using his magic, he levitated the necklace off the floor of the car and back into his hoof. As it settled in his grip, however, he knew the necklace was going to be uncomfortable all over again. It was just a reminder of the pony who had worn it. The pony he had killed.

Its purpose needed to be elsewhere. Fully realized.

His gaze came to his sword, propped upright on the wall next to his shield.

“Here, let me help you with that,” Fluttershy said, taking the necklace and almost slipping it over his head.

Noble grabbed it, however, and slid off the bed onto the floor. He walked carefully on three legs, trying not to open his wounds further, until he came to the sword.

“N-Noble?” came her confused voice.

“Honor,” he muttered, looking down at the ornate silver necklace. “False honor and riches.”

It was enveloped in a dark blue aura as his magic took hold.

“You are no longer a symbol of pride,” he spoke to the jewel, floating in front of him. “You shall be a tool of liberation.”

With some effort, the jewel began to wiggle in its place. The silver began to crumble away.

“Noble, are you sure that’s safe?” Fluttershy asked, a hint of distress in her tone.

“I do not doubt it,” Noble responded. The jewel was really trying to be pried free now, and the silver was being peeled away. “This is what must be done!”

Finally, the glowing jewel was ripped away, and it burned a bright shade of blue, stripping away any dullness the Element had. It rippled in the waves emanating off of it as Noble did his best to keep ahold of its power.

Noble, groaning with the effort to contain it, shoved the jewel right into the cross of his chrome-colored sword.

Waves and arcs of blue energy exploded out and circled around the entire sword as it settled into its new home. Noble recoiled, blinking hard from the light show, and he was sure that Fluttershy was as well.

It settled down a few seconds later, though, and Noble saw the results.

The sword, still spitting off a few residual splotches of energy, seemed to glow a little, even though it hadn’t been properly ignited yet. In the dead center of the sword’s crosspiece was the blue jewel, but, miraculously, it had merged into a new, more beautiful shape. Instead of a plain oval or sphere, the jewel now looked painstakingly crafted into an exact replica of Noble’s cutie mark: a downward sword with two outstretched butterfly wings on either side of the blade.

An hour later, the train slowed down, hissing and screeching, and stopped at the nearest station on the way to Canterlot. Once it moved away, it revealed twelve ponies on the platform waving goodbye to Shining Armor, who was, in turn, waving goodbye to them all through a window. Winter Gleam was beside him, waving just as hard. So were the citizens of Appleoosa, pushing their windows down and waving furiously, shouting thank-yous and we-won’t-forgets. They continued doing so until the train disappeared from sight.

With everything now behind them, the ponies then, somberly, turned to face the town where everything began.

Ponyville.

Chapter Seventy-one: Applejack Rising

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Tempest Shadow was not one for expressing emotion. She had gotten to the point where even feeling it was a rarity. The Storm King’s conditioning had driven her to suppress it, even under stress or duress.

But simply seeing the hometown of the Elements of Harmony, something so innocuous and homely… made something ancient and dark slither within her.

Hey! What happened to her horn?

Did you get hurt or something? Did it change you?

Let’s go somewhere else, guys. I-I don’t want to get hurt!

These buildings… these streets… they seemed awfully familiar to her, in some odd, heartfelt way. They made her both nostalgic and fearful. Her legs shook as she stood on the wooden platform, unable to take a reliant step into town.

Tempest didn’t know if she could do it again.

Twilight sidled alongside her with soft steps, her look also empty and haunted as she too gazed into her hometown. She looked like she was seeing it for the first time, like a visitor or a reluctant tourist.

“Well,” Rainbow awkwardly said, breaking the silence. “Home sweet home.”

And after a moment more, they moved as one into Ponyville.

The journey had come full circle for these ponies. Tempest must only imagine how pained it must be to be back where they started, among the buildings and ponies they all knew. The town hadn’t changed at all. But the ponies had. Tempest knew than none of them were the same as when they had left. A grim maturity was in the lines of their faces now, in the bags under their eyes, in the toughened hooves that had gathered dust from one end of the continent to the other.

Tempest was glad to see they were growing up, and their exposure to the devils of this world had done the job marvelously. Whereas for her… what was her change?

Tempest knew it. She hated it. But it was a part of her now.

The Storm King was a thing of the past. The past was irrelevant to who she was now. Ponies were her kin now. Power was shown in the friendship they shared. Death and pain had been conquered--or had they? Tempest Shadow knew that pain would never go away. But did negligence of pain negate its effects?

“Twilight? I-is that really you? A-are you… back?”

Tempest’s attention was drawn to a flower vendor with a pink coat and vivid green hair. She was gaping at the group as they came near. And many other vendors were staring at them too, along with the customers in their lines. Gasps and whispers flurried about. Their reentry hadn’t exactly been a fanfare, after all, and only now were ponies starting to pay attention to their presence.

“Daisy,” Twilight said simply, scanning her as if she was completely new to her. “Yes, it’s me. H-how are you?”

“How am I?” Daisy asked, blinking in surprise. She shook her head. “How am I? What about you? You look like you haven’t had a proper night’s sleep in weeks! What did you do on that adventure you had?”

Tempest had a good idea that Twilight didn’t want to talk about it.

“It’s a long story,” Twilight replied.

“We all missed you, you know,” Daisy said after a pause. “The town didn’t seem right without you. Or any of the hijinks that would ensue every week. It felt… odd. Like a part of ourselves was torn out.”

“A part of myself was lost as well,” Twilight said, all serious. “I don’t know if things can ever go back to the way they were.”

“Was it because of the war?” came a new voice. Two other ponies, vanilla and pink, popped up beside her, as if from nowhere. The pink one had spoken.

“We heard tell that an invasion of Manehattan occurred,” came the vanilla one, and she seemed the most distraught. “Towns all across the country have begun to mobilize. My husband got drafted!”

“It’ll be okay,” piped up Noble. “We’ll put a stop to it. I promise.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again,” she lamented. “I just… the thought of us being at war… I’m not sure I can stomach it.“

“Did anything happen while we were out?” came Rarity.

“Not really. We were all just… really… really… nervous,” said the pink one, beginning to shake.

“Where are you going now?” came Daisy.

“To the Tree of Harmony,” Starlight Glimmer spoke up.

Daisy gave a reluctant shrug. “I guess you should know what you’re doing. You’ve done this all before, right? Good luck with that.”

The party drifted away after saying goodbye to the vendors and began to move through the town to the opposite end.

Ponies threw open their windows to gape at the returning adventurers, whose journey was not yet over. Their main whispers had to do with how they all looked… changed. Their manes are frazzled, look at that! Yes, I see it. What must they have gone through? See their eyes? They look tough. Even Fluttershy, can’t you see? Who’s that newcomer, she doesn’t look familiar. Why is her horn missing?

Tempest began to feel a pain in her head that had nothing to do with her stumpy horn.

“Twilight?” came Applejack after a while. “Can Ah go to Sweet Apple Acres ta say hi to my family?”

“... Fine,” Twilight allowed. “We’ll take a break when we reach the outskirts of the forest. I can close up Noble's wounds with that time. Get back in two hours at most, and once you do, we’ll head to the Tree.”

“Tempest?” Applejack asked, and Tempest turned. Applejack gave a jolt of her head. “Wanna come? Ah can show ya th’ farm.”

Tempest didn’t really see any reason why she should refuse, and besides, she was suddenly curious as to this elusive earth pony. “Fine.”

As they approached the entrance to the farm on the well-worn dirt path, Tempest couldn’t keep herself from widening her eyes involuntarily. The sheer scope of the fields and fields of apple trees made her halt in place for just a moment.

“Eeyup,” Applejack confirmed, putting an arm around Tempest. “Everyone’s got that reaction at first. Some days even I can’t help but feel proud of it all.”

Tempest shrugged Applejack’s arm off. “I thought ponies like you were supposed to be humble.”

“Th’ only thing I take pride in is what I do, not in who I am,” Applejack replied.

They headed down the dirt path that led to a tremendous red barn, passing by rows and rows of apple trees. While Applejack had a blissful, nostalgic expression, Tempest felt a sharp twist in her gut. She had almost taken her away from this farm forever. How many farms and fields had the Storm King burned? This could easily have been one of them.

Before they even reached the barn, a large red stallion barged out of the doors and charged right at Applejack. They met head-on and both of them ended up in a close, loud hug, laughing and spinning as the impromptu reunion took place. Tempest held back respectfully, allowing the two of them their moment.

“Sis!” Big Mac bellowed, setting her down roughly. “Ah never knew ya were comin’ again! It’s felt like ages!”

“It’s great ta see ya too, Mac,” Applejack said with a wide smile, giving her brother a hard noogie. “How’s the farm? Did the barn burn down without me around?”

“Eenope,” he simply said, throwing his head out of her way and pushing her back. “But it came close a few times. Few of the cows didn’t take too kindly to yer absence, if ya know what Ah mean.”

“Did we get the harvesting all done?”

“Without you, Ah had ta get some enlisted help from the townsfolk. Ah paid ‘em fer their trouble.”

“How’s Granny?”

Big Mac turned serious. “She’s been holdin’ together. I wish Ah could say she’s doing better’n that.”

“...Whadda ya mean?” the farmer managed to get out, worry crossing her face. “She’s not--”

“Oh, she ain’t dead,” Big Mac said, sitting on his rump. “But her health’s gone down. Without an extra hoof ta help out, she’s been busier’n ever, and even though she’s Granny Smith, her energy’s gonna run out someday.”

Applejack looked distraught. “I… Granny…”

“She never stopped worryin’ about ya,” Big Mac murmured. “Neither did Apple Bloom.”

“And what about you?”

“O’ course Ah worried!” he interjected. “But Ah didn’t show it. It wasn’t what we needed. What they needed was a rock they could stand on, and if Ah wasn’t that rock, who could be?”

“Not all rocks stay strong forever,” Applejack reassured him, taking off her hat.

“Ah know,” he said, with the air of a child who had been reminded of a rule, even though Applejack was five years his younger. “But still, I…” His eyes finally fell on Tempest, who was watching the scene with an air of awkwardness. “Who’re you?”

“Tempest Shadow,” she whispered.

Big Mac looked like he wanted to say something, but he settled for a simple, bemused, “...Eeyup.”

“We met ‘er on the journey,” Applejack quickly explained. “She’s been a real help, right?”

Taking the cue, Tempest followed with the simple word, “Absolutely.”

“She ain’t of much words,” Applejack continued, in an encouraging tone. “You two’d get along fine!”

Big Mac looked her in the eyes and, after a pause, said, “Eeyup.”

What was with him? He talked fine around Applejack, but not to strangers. Sibling bonds, maybe. Tempest obviously made him uncomfortable.

So, feeling empathetic, she backed off, leaving them both to their own devices, and, before Applejack could call her out, meandered around the barn, inspecting the settlement.

After some time walking without much of a goal or direction, she came across a small treehouse. Tempest pondered… a younger sibling, obviously. She had mentioned an Apple Bloom. Was she in there?

Those thoughts vanished when she heard the sounds of laughing and shouting from a row of apple trees. Turning her head to the source, three fillies ran out, laughing breathlessly and shouting competitively, as they bounced a yellow ball from snout to snout, keeping it from touching the ground.

Tempest froze. No.

The fillies froze as well. The white one did first, and as a result, the ball bounced off her forehead with a comical bonk and rolled to a stop at Tempest’s armored hooves.

Tempest couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. It was all coming back to her.

“Wha…” came the orange one with purple hair as she ogled the imposing frame of Tempest Shadow.

“Where’d she come from?” asked the white one, looking quizzical.

“...Who in tarnation are ya?” came the one with a tied bow bigger than her head in her mane. Her voice was so young, but it held that same country twinge Applejack carried.

Tempest took a step back. She needed distance. Now.

“Hey, come on. Don’t be nervous,” said the white one, as if speaking to an easily-frightened cat. “It’s okay.”

Was it, though? These were children, ignorant of her actions and past. They couldn’t understand.

“What’s the big deal?” muttered the orange one to the one with the bow. “She’s acting like she’s scared of us. If anything-”

“Scoot! She can probably hear you!” hissed the filly back. “Be kinder!”

“All I said was-”

“I know whatcha said. It ain’t workin’. We’re supposed ta help, remember?”

The white one looked back at her friends. “What are we gonna do? She looks like one tough cookie.”

“Lemme think, Sweetie. Hmm…” said the one with the bow, obviously thinking hard, a hoof to her chin. After a moment, she trotted up to Tempest, who still looked paralyzed. The size difference between them was considerable. “Hiya, uh… ma’am! I’m Apple Bloom! D’ya… want to play ball with us? You looked kinda lonely.”

Never in her entire life had Tempest been rendered so speechless. She couldn’t find the part of herself that had the power to refuse. These fillies… were offering her… to play ball. Her. Tempest felt bewildered at the offer, confused at her grace. Not to mention the lack of hesitation in Apple Bloom’s face when she spoke. Her hopeful, smiling face, the sparkling, wide eyes, the innocent voice she had used… Tempest felt her hard warrior self shut down.

Tempest softly batted the ball at the white one for her unconscious answer. The white one picked it up with her magic and tossed it experimentally at Tempest.

Tempest, who hadn’t registered the fact that she had joined yet, batted it at the orange one. (Scoot?) She bounced it on her hind legs twice before kicking it to Apple Bloom, who tossed it to Tempest again. Tempest, not feeling debased for playing with these fillies (strangely enough), directed it at the white one (Sweetie, her name was), who tossed it high into the air and ran after it, urging the others to follow with a “Come on!”

“First one to let the ball touch the ground is a puddle of tree sap!” Scootaloo challenged, running after it. Tempest and Apple Bloom raced after on instinct.

For a moment, she wasn’t Tempest Shadow anymore. For a moment, she was a little filly looking up to the sky, chasing a ball. For a moment, she was…

Fizzlepop.

Applejack followed Big Mac into the house. The smells of her home hit her all at once: The smell of rusty nails, wood, fertilizer, homemade apple dishes, and Granny Smith’s perfume. The shelves and drawers and dressers were all in the same place. It filled Applejack with a comforting sense of familiarity, which she sorely needed after the unpredictability of her adventure.

Applejack noticed that Big Mac didn’t seem like the pony he was before he left. He was fidgety, as if strung too tight. His nerves could probably be plucked like a banjo string.

“All right, now, spit it out.”

Big Mac gave her a sideways glance before looking at the ceiling like a movie was being played on it.

“Big Mac, you’re about as subtle as a brick. Drop the act. Ah know something’s pullin’ atcha.”

“Sis,” he murmured. He made his way to a dresser, opened the top shelf, and drew out an unfurled scroll, shaking in his usually steady hoof. “Sis, I…”

Applejack took the paper from her brother and scanned the sheet. Before she had even reached the end, her eyes had widened larger than the tea plates in the nearby china cabinet.

“It came three days ago,” Big Mac explained, keeping his eyes down. “Ah’m s’possed to be shipped out to help the forces up north.”

Applejack thrust the draft letter away, feeling a mix of queasiness from anger and grief. “When do you have to leave?”

“In a week,” Big Mac replied sadly. “Ah tried sendin’ a letter back, explainin’ ma need ta stay on the farm, but… without me, who’s gonna run it?”

“Ah don’t care that much ‘bout the farm,” Applejack reaffirmed, her voice breaking. “Ah care ‘bout you! I mean… y-you’re gonna leave, and all that’ll be left to run the whole farm is a filly and an old mare! I know how much this place means to me! But you… what if I never see you again? What if the only thing that comes back t’ the farm is… little bits an’ pieces--!”

“Ah’ll be fine,” Big Mac told her, his voice stronger than before. “Ah can handle maself.”

“This is war, Mac,” Applejack refuted him. “No matter how strong you are, once you get pierced by a lucky arrow, it’s all done. Ah’ve seen a thing or two. You can handle yourself, but ya can’t handle this!”

“All I can do is the best I can,” he promised, holding her hoof with his two front legs. “If Ah die, I die. But I’ll die knowing I gave my all to ma family’s freedom. And that’s good enough fer me!”

Applejack’s eyes wavered as tears threatened to spill over. “S-stop tryin’ ta sound so noble, Mac.”

“Should I be a coward instead?” he demanded. “A draft dodger?”

“...I don’t want you to die,” was all she managed to choke out before hugging him, his heavy yoke pressing hard into her chest. “Ah don’t want ta see you go through the same things I have!”

“Ah know,” he murmured, patting her back, interrupting her breathing. “But this is unavoidable. Yer time came, and you met it head-on. It’s time fer me to prove ma mettle.”

Applejack nodded, tears soaking into the crook of his shoulder.

After a while she pulled away. “Ah need to see Granny.”

“Upstairs.”

Applejack trotted upstairs, her head spinning. She hated the idea of her brother away at war. But, she reasoned, that must have been what he felt when she had disappeared. A taste of her own medicine had to have been in order.

Applejack came to Granny Smith’s hoof-carved door, and, after a deep breath to compose herself, opened the door and entered.

Granny Smith was in her large bed, but only her head was above the covers, which were pulled to her chin. She looked even saggier and weary-eyed than usual. A red-and-white polka dot hot water bag was on her head, and a thermometer was between her lips. Seeing the astonished Applejack enter, she shook her head and talked, sounding croaky and weary. “Ah knew it. My eyesight’s failin’ me. It was bound ta happen since my hearing went, but Ah swear Ah can see Applejack right there.”

“It ain’t yer eyes, Granny,” Applejack choked.

Granny Smith seemed to straighten in her bed and produce a look of incredulity. “It’s… really you? You’re finally back from that highfalutin’ adventure?”

“Yes!” she managed to say before running to her bedside and giving her a nuzzle. “Ah’m really here!”

“Oh, come ‘ere, you,” Granny jokingly admonished, giving Applejack a noogie; her hat was off at once. Though Granny was sick and old, she was still as strong as ever.

"All right! All right! Ah get it!" Applejack squirmed away and adjusted the hat back on her scuffed-up head, grinning madly. "I promise ta never scare ya that badly again."

"Don't make promises a gal can't keep," Granny scolded. "Time and time again you go off and save the land. Stop fooling around and get th' priorities right."

"Ah thought I had ma priorities straight already," Applejack said, tilting her head in confusion.

"Jackie," Granny sharply said, and Applejack shut up. When was the last time she had called her that? "Ya can't save anyone if you're dead. You come first before anything else."

"... What about my friends?" Applejack asked. "They come first."

"Ya need-" Granny coughed and wheezed. "Ya need… ta be strong. That's how you help your friends come first."

“I am strong!” the young farmer insisted, holding her grandmother’s hoof while kneeling by her side. “I-I am!”

“In yer legs?” Granny asked. She tapped Applejack’s chest, right above her heart. “Or in here?”

“... Both?” Applejack guessed. “Granny, Ah’ve saved Equestria with a strong heart before, and I’ll do it again! This ain’t gonna be any different!”

“It might be different if ya freeze up at the wrong time,” Granny wheezed. “What in th’ blazes is wrong with you? You go and tell Big Mac to not throw ‘imself inta danger, and then ya turn around and do th’ same thing yerself!”

“What?” Applejack breathed, starting to tremble. “I-I mean… Well, uh…”

Granny had a nonplussed expression deep in the wrinkles of her skin.

“...Hold on a sec--How’d ya hear us from downstairs if yer hearing’s all wonky?”

“Well, you musta done it,” Granny simply said. “I knew this might happen if you ever came back. I’m yer granny. I know everything ta know about my babies.”

“Granny, I… This is bigger than farms. This is bigger than war. This is the world I’ve got ma hooves on that’s at stake. I ain’t gonna be the Mistress of the Plains if there ain’t no plains left. And I can’t help but protect my family to that end.”

“That’s my role. I protect ‘em by keepin’ them behind.”

“That role’s mine. And it’s yours. And Big Mac’s, and Apple Bloom’s, and…” Applejack derailed. Then it hit her. “Oh.”

“See yer mistake yet?” Granny sounded awfully smug for a sick old pony.

Applejack took her hat off yet again and kept her gaze on the old floorboards at her hooves. “Gosh, I feel like such an idiot. To protect everyone you love, you gotta allow ‘em to fight fer themselves and win the day. You can’t do everything yerself. You’ll jus’ end up the biggest hypocrite on Equus.”

Granny grinned satisfactorily. “Big Mac’ll do great, Applejack. He’ll carry on the honor of the Apple family into wartime, and he’ll… give his heart to us and to the whole tootin’ land we love. But you’ll save us all. You’re th’ only one that can use that darnfangled Element o’ Honesty.” In a sudden fit of strength, Granny Smith squeezed Applejack around her middle so hard a premature breath escaped her lungs. “Take care out there. My heart can’t take much more surprises, and having my baby in danger ain’t gonna help it.

“I’m… not yer baby anymore, Granny. I’m… a mare now. I’m not even th’ same pony I was when I left ya. I’ve… traveled the continent. I’ve killed bugs three times bigger’n you. I’m so tired of it all, and I’m… I’m not little. I’ve grown into something… much bigger.”

“Ta me, you’ll always be my little pony,” Granny insisted with a wobbly grin.

Applejack’s usually stoic face wavered before she buried her face into Granny’s shoulder and nodded, holding back the tears. She felt like her throat was closing up, making it hard to breathe or speak, so she didn’t speak, and her breaths came short and quick.

“You’re mine,” Granny murmured, grinning softly while rubbing the shoulders of her grandchild. “You… always will be.”

“Ah know,” said Applejack, and her voice was strained, on the verge of cracking. “Ah know!”

Granny let out a long, long sigh. “If ya gotta save th’ world yet again, go ahead. Who’m I ta stop ya? An old, rickety granny with old, rickety bones?”

“Granny?” Applejack interrupted.

“What is it?” she responded with her hooves on her defiant hips, faux-annoyed.

“...You and I both know that you could bear the weight of the entire world on your shoulders and not break a sweat.”

“You’re overestimating me, Jackie.”

Applejack let out a short laugh and settled her hat back on her head. “Jus’ keep tellin’ yerself that,” she wryly told her. “Th’ next time I see ya, it’ll all be over fer good. Ah Pinkie Promise.”

Applejack trotted to the door and was about to leave before she paused and looked back, as if expecting Granny to say something.

And say something she did.

“Whatchu waitin’ for? Go save the world, Applejack.”

It was almost time to go. Applejack was out by the barn, hugging Big Mac. Their strength was so evenly matched that neither of them could break the other first. They were hugging each other so hard, it would have broken any other pony’s ribs after a while. But the Apple family was resilient and tough, which Applejack understood clearly now.

“Don’t ya dare die out there, ya hear?” Big Mac demanded of her.

“Funny,” Applejack almost retorted, grinning. “Ah could say th’ same thing to you.”

“Come to terms with it yet?”

“Ah wouldn’t say completely,” she admitted. “But Ah’m lettin’ ya leave, if you get my drift.”

“You woulda kept me here?” he asked, sounding like it was a challenge. “Ah highly doubt that.”

Hoofsteps caught their attention, breaking their hug. Apple Bloom was slowly stepping towards her, looking as if Applejack was an apparition. Disbelief and joy were mixed with excitedness, and eventually the slow hoofsteps turned into a full-on gallop as she ran at Applejack and collided into her chest.

“Ah know, Ah know,” Applejack said before Apple Bloom could say anything. “Ah’m back.”

Apple Bloom let out a laugh of joy before burying her face into Applejack’s chest and sobbing.

Following Apple Bloom came the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders, plus Tempest Shadow. Applejack caught Tempest's changed demeanor and was momentarily taken aback. She looked lighter; her footsteps came quicker than she remembered. She looked… well, happy was a long shot. Content was a more accurate word. A calm smile, relaxed eyes. It was a look Applejack never expected to see on her. But she was still happy it was there.

"Applejack!" screamed the fillies in separate choirs. "You're here!"

"You're finally back!"

"How was the journey? Dija fight monsters and whack 'em upside the head?"

"We made a new friend!"

"Oh, did you now?" Applejack asked knowingly.

"Yeah! Her name's Fizzlepop Berrytwist. She played ball with us!"

Applejack gave Tempest a raised eyebrow, who seemed unable to meet anypony's eye. As if embarrassed to have the name spoken aloud.

Applejack understood. An innocent alter ego would swerve suspicion of her true, dark nature.

"We met 'er on the trip," Applejack explained. "She'll be going with us."

"Going with you?"

"You mean… you're leaving again?"

"But you just got here!"

"It'll be brief," Applejack hurriedly said. "All we're gonna do is get the Elements of Harmony and find something important, and then it'll all be over."

"I don't want ya to leave!" Apple Bloom protested, nuzzling Applejack's chest even more. "Can't ya stay?"

"I wish I could," Applejack said, and she meant it. Between their adventure and her normal, everyday life, she much preferred this. "But it's by going and doing this that I'll be able to stay with you forever. Ya understand?"

"... Not really," Apple Bloom muttered. Applejack couldn't blame her. It was a toughie, that was certain.

"Listen here," Applejack told her, lifting her sister's eyes so she was level with her own. "It'll be okay. It'll only be a small moment, and if you're a strong little filly and help Granny until we get back, I'll never leave again. Can you do that? Can you be strong?"

"I thought I already was!" Apple Bloom protested. "How much longer d'ya think I can keep this up?"

"Ya don't have to be strong all the time, Apple Bloom," Applejack told her. "Only when ya need to be." She smooched her sister's forehead. "Everything will be okay. I Pinkie Promise."

Her younger sister took a moment before she nodded and smiled to show she could handle it. She set her sister down and stood up.

Tempest and Applejack turned around to go, but Applejack turned around once more. "We'll be back b'fore you can say lickety-split!"

As the pair set off, and the collection of friends and family watched them leave, Apple Bloom whispered, “Lickety-split.”

The rest of the ponies were at the entrance to the Everfree by the time Applejack and Tempest got back. Twilight's horn was busy, and Noble's bandages were off, his skin sore, but healed. Some were lounging on the cool grass, gazing up at the skies. Others were whispering amongst themselves in hushed conversations. Still others were looking into the depths of the forest, recalling the first time they had entered in order to reach the ancient castle and tree beyond.

Once the two of them had returned, however, everything came to a halt. An unspoken agreement was present and hung around them like a fog. The ponies were solemn, dark, resolute.

They knew what they had to do now. They knew they were leaving behind everything for the last time.

As one in mind and spirit, the ponies entered the dark forest.

It would be the last time any of them would.

Chapter Seventy-two: The Three Warriors

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Though the Everfree Forest was ordinarily a haunted jungle of darkness, the ponies had taken so many ventures into it that they no longer felt oppressively surrounded, lonely, or cold. The extraordinary had become ordinary. To some extent, it was even a beautiful thing to see such variety in flora and fauna. Even if most of the plants were poisonous and the animals feasted on flesh, the ponies were well aware of the danger and stayed out of danger for their walk.

“Look at all the birds!” Fluttershy cooed, looking around her at the many birds nesting in trees. There were indeed plenty of birds nesting on the branches of the exotic trees. They varied in color and size, but none of them were flying.

“Why do you think they’re all sitting on the trees like that?” Starlight wondered.

“Either they’re conspiring against us-” Pinkie started to say.

“Or rising humidity is keeping them from flying as effectively,” Rainbow Dash completed.

“So we should expect rain or a killer sparrow attack in the next few hours,” Pinkie concluded.

Noble Blade, with only leather straps on his back to support his sword and shield, was listening to all this, but didn't let it distract him. He was at the rear of the line with Freedom Fighter. Both ponies didn't have much to say.

Until Freedom Fighter cleared his throat and, ruffling the hair on his exposed head, glanced at Noble. "Hey."

"Yes?"

"Look, I… you know Twilight, right?"

"No, I don't. Never heard of her. Could you describe her to me?"

Freedom Fighter looked exasperated. "Noble. Listen to me. Um… on the train…"

Noble was paying attention for real. "Don't be afraid."

He looked afraid anyway. "Actually, forget about it. It's stupid."

"You were the one that decided to start this," Noble pointed out.

Freedom Fighter inhaled deeply, taking in the scents of the forest. Then he exhaled, a soft red blush on his golden cheek, and looked down at the ground. "On the train, we… made out. A lot."

Noble Blade blinked.

Freedom Fighter, not hearing a response, sneaked a glance at Noble's face. Noble looked dumbstruck.

There was silence between them. No one else had heard it.

"Well, that's news," Noble eventually coughed out.

"I know," Freedom Fighter miserably said. "It was more of a heat-of-the-moment thing."

"How long have you had a crush on the princess of Friendship?"

"Ever since we rescued her from the Noxxa tower."

"Wow. That's… a long time. Why didn't you do anything before?"

"I dunno," Freedom mumbled. "Low opinion of myself, I guess. I feel miserable!" Freedom Fighter cheerfully sang under his breath. He then let out a beleaguered, empty sigh, and pinched his nose. "What can I do to be successful?"

"Why are you coming to me about this?"

"You're the Love Expert, remember?"

"Hm. Well... Don't be a douchebag, first off."

"I figured that part out myself, as a matter of fact."

"It's hard for you to act like a douchebag," Noble told him. "You have a heart. You love those you cling to, and you won't let them get hurt. I know you'll treat Twilight with all the reverence in the world. It wouldn't be like you otherwise."

Freedom Fighter held back a smile. "Stop inflating my opinion of myself."

"It just looked a little weak and floppy, that's all."

"That's what she said." Seeing the look Noble gave him, Freedom Fighter waved his hooves in desperation. "Kidding! Kidding!"

"You're not perfect," Noble muttered. He grinned. "But you've definitely changed."

Freedom Fighter gave him a bewildered glance before indicating his weapon-loaded bodysuit with his mechanical hoof. "Take a good, long look. I'm still the same edgy antihero I always was."

"But you also learned to come to me. Before, when you were cutting yourself, it was I've done something wrong! I need to hide it from Noble! But now I have proof that you now think like I did something wrong! I need to talk to Noble about it. Don't you think that's an improvement?"

Freedom Fighter, looking astonished, gave a slow nod.

"You are strong and wise, and I'm very proud of you," Noble affirmed, and there was solid truth in his expression. "You've come so far. I'm just happy I was able to see it."

"You changed as well," Freedom Fighter told him. "Before we left, you were kind of a dunce. Lovestruck with Fluttershy and empty to the needs around you. But now, I feel like you value me more. You're not snobby or prude anymore. You're far more humble. Fluttershy's kindness must have rubbed off on you. Among other things, am I right?"

Noble turned pink once again. "You have no kindness in your heart."

"There I go, changing again."

"I haven't changed at all!" Firestorm proclaimed from just ahead of them. He had fallen back from the line to listen in on their conversation.

"What? Of course you have. I can tell the difference."

"I haven't changed in months now!" Firestorm insisted, plucking at the ragged body armor on his chest. "This has got to smell worse than a shoe full of pee."

Up ahead, Rarity whipped her head around so fast a cricking sound was heard. "Excuse me, what?!"

"Never change, Firestorm!" Noble said loud enough for Rarity to hear.

"Oh, I don't intend to," he responded cooly back.

Rarity shook her head, muttering something that sounded like "Degenerates," before returning to the path.

As the party came to a bend in the path, the trees grew thinner and thinner until they finally could see the remains of the Castle of the Two Sisters.

Firestorm let out an audible gulp. “I remember…”

Rarity and Rainbow Dash also were suddenly looking both nostalgic and somber, Twilight noticed. It must have been their Friendship Mission that the Cutie Map gave them. And she understood why it brought back bad memories. This was where they learned there were ten Elements, where the three of them were attacked by timber wolves and a flaming alicorn, where Firestorm rescued Rainbow Dash from suffocation.

Survivor’s guilt must have played a part in their discomfort, the more sensible part of Twilight pointed out. Indeed, Twilight could relate to that. It made empathizing with the three ponies easier.

The whole castle was collapsed in on itself like an unstable gingerbread house. It was still semi-burnt and had smoke stains on its grey blocks. It didn’t look like a castle so much as a pile of broken, burnt stone. Nothing was recognizable.

As they emerged from the tree line and came to the rocky ledge overlooking a ravine that separated them from the remains of the Castle, the trees behind them rustled unexpectedly.

All of them looked up or flinched, but before most of them could do any more than anticipate the danger, everything happened at once.

A voice screamed, “Sapphire Flame Wall!” and a stream of ten-foot-tall, dark blue flames appeared at the pony’s backs, blocking the path back into the forest. At the same time, three shapes flew above their heads in zigzagging, unpredictable directions until they all landed near the cliff edge on their hind legs or in a crouching position.

Indeed, to the surprise of the group, these shapes were ponies. The ones with weapons lowered them, reluctant to use them.

The three ponies were angular, tall, and narrow-eyed. Weapons that should have been much bigger than they could wield were strapped on their backs. If Noble’s broadsword seemed proportionally big before, it was now comparatively shrunken. They radiated the stench of Tartarus between them all.

One was a jet-black alicorn with a tall, spiky red mane and piercing red eyes. Half a dozen white diamonds were embedded into his ears, and he was covered with ritualistic red tattooed lines and long, alien piercings. He wore a deranged, wide grin, and his eyes were confident and smug.

The lone female of the group, another alicorn, was the reverse color scheme: tomato red with a long black mane, and wide, yellow eyes. Black tattoo patches in the shape of diamonds were printed under her eyes. She looked stern and defiant.

The final one, and obviously their leader, was a taller, spiritual-looking alicorn with orange hair and bright, electric blue eyes. His stunning white body shone in any light, but it was pockmarked on his legs with more ceremonial tattoos in angular formations. His expression was neutral.

“Well, well, well,” said the dark alicorn smugly upon seeing that the ponies had their weapons out or were in fighting positions. “Some ponies in this world aren’t entirely useless. Heh. Wouldn’t you say, Renee?”

“Hmm…” the red alicorn, Renee, hummed, studying Starlight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie. “Some of them could be narrowed down a bit… A trial by fire is in order.”

“Again?” Applejack muttered.

"I'd like to have a moment when I'm not having a trial by fire," Fluttershy agreed.

“Don’t you think this is all a little presumptuous?” Firestorm philosophized. “Like, who in the heck do you think you are?”

The black alicorn let his red gaze linger on Firestorm for a few seconds before he let out an arrogant smirk and dropped his eyes. “I noticed your power level is rather small,” he harrumphed. “Heh. I don’t deal with enemies whose power level is below ten thousand.”

“Power level?” Firestorm muttered in incredulity, furrowing his brow.

“What constitutes a unit of power, anyway?” Rarity questioned.

“Do you have any idea what he’s talking about?” Starlight asked Twilight in a stage whisper.

“He seems to think your power determines your worth,” Twilight whispered back, her forehead crinkling in anger.

“I hate him already,” Spike decided, folding his arms.

“Give him a chance to prove himself,” Noble admonished him gently, shifting the direction his unstable blue sword was pointing. "He… might not be all that bad."

“We outnumber them four to one anyway,” Freedom Fighter added, holding his staff like a spear.

The dark alicorn smirked. “Heh… Then it’s an even fight.”

Noble fixed him a look of frustration and disappointment.

“Allow us to introduce ourselves,” the white alicorn spoke up, taking a step. “We… are the emissaries of Tartarus. We were not always like this, however. We have… a bit of a long history.”

“Don’t tell me,” Pinkie moaned.

“In my past life, I was a simple pastry chef.”

“It’s happening,” Rainbow confirmed, facehoofing.

“My name is Cookie Cutter,” the alicorn continued, ignoring her. “I was once a simple earth pony that devoted myself to the dark arts to bring back my dead mother. And a vision from my master, Solaris, told me he could do it if I pledged my soul to his service. So I did, and over the years, I became an alicorn through his magic and did the same to my estranged brother, Bloodrayne, and my adopted sister, who’s not related by blood.”

“I’m also fifteen,” Renee pointed out in an angry you-forgot-something-important tone hardly befitting of a pony her age.

“Oi, oi, oi,” Bloodrayne interrupted, sounding bored. “Can’t we just kill them now? Why are you babbling on and on?”

“They deserve to know who it was that finally captured them.” Cookie Cutter took a few steps toward Twilight, who held her ground. “You see, we heard tell of this upcoming invasion of the Noxxa and thought… if anyone could stop them, it was the Elements of Harmony. So to stop you, we located the Tree of Harmony with one of our Fallen soldiers some weeks back. He paid a heavy toll for his discovery, but it allowed us the chance to find it. We actually tried to take the Elements ourselves… but the power of the tree forbid us. So we waited. All this time by the Tree, patiently waiting… for you. We are your final obstacle.”

Twilight felt fear lock her into place. No matter how nightmarish the situation was, it was always worse than it appeared to be. These three… were they really some of Solaris’s crazy self-appointed disciples?

“One could even say that we are the antithesis to Celestia’s Guardians of the Sun,” Cookie Cutter finished. “We consider ourselves to be Solaris’s greatest servants.”

“He’s in for a rude wake-up,” Spike muttered. Twilight silently agreed. There were far greater servants of Solaris. Marshal Malice and the spirit that stole the Pearl came to mind.

“Oh, really?” Freedom Fighter drily asked. “Far as I’m concerned, if you need to be an alicorn to counter a simple earth pony, the problem lies with your lack of skill.”

“Tch,” spat the tattooed girl. “None of your might can match the powers of Tartarus. All of our training and devotion has led us to this moment! You will fall!”

“Who are you again?” Rarity demanded with a flat look.

Renee’s eye twitched. “I will not be undermined by some lowly dressmaker!” With a steely rasp, Renee drew the long katana from across her back. It was glowing a strange green color, radiating sickness and virulent death. “You underestimate our power! I carry the Potent Blade of a Thousand Poisons, harvested from the exotic plants of the Everfree! One nick or jab with this weapon, and you’ll be dead in seconds!”

“I carry the Razorbeaked Ironcrow,” Bloodrayne boasted, drawing his sword with a devilish hiss and sticking it upright in the ground. Black fog radiated off its thin, elaborately engraved blade, and the long hilt was carved into the shape of a silver crow with fangs in its screeching mouth. “It’s a blessed Black Blade I summoned that directly harms both the soul and body, so once you get killed with this… it’s over. Permanently, in this life or the next!”

“And I,” Cookie Cutter intoned, floating in the air so he could draw his own sword, which was actually fairly common and normal, “possess the Priesthood of Solaris. My sword is actually a normal steel sword. It’s my personal limiter to make things fair in battle so I don’t unleash my alicorn magic and destroy them too quickly. When I strike… the power of the universe comes with it.”

They might have sounded legitimately terrifying, had it not been for the remark that followed.

“Thanks for telling us,” Pinkie said casually the instant it all was over. “Great! Now we know what your weapons do, and that your power is all you value.”

"... Is there anything else we should?" Bloodrayne asked, shrugging.

"Oh, just the magic of friendship," Pinkie dropped. "But you obviously couldn't handle the Elements of Harmony, so you settled for an inferior version. What kind of power is that? Why aim for less? Are you just weeeeeaak?"

Cookie Cutter gaped at her in shock. He looked like he was having trouble processing what she was saying, and he was making strained sounds in his throat. It likely wasn't what he expected would happen, Twilight noted. “Gah… kk…ch...”

Pinkie adopted a cheeky, winking pose. “Your next line is, ‘Blast that pink girl! She dares to think I’m weak?’”

“Blast that pink girl! She dares to think I’m weak?” Cookie Cutter blurted out without thinking. He widened his eyes, his shock doubled. “Eh?!”

“You are,” Noble Blade said, dead serious. “Relying on a devil? He’s giving you wish-fulfillment. Solaris will not support his admirers. He speedily drags them down to Tartarus. You are relying on borrowed strength. His strength. Where is your strength?”

Cookie Cutter looked like he was about to have a stomachache. His mouth was open, and he was sweating openly, but he couldn’t speak.

“Take a look at this guy,” Firestorm was whispering to Rainbow Dash, pointing at Bloodrayne. “He’s got more money on his ear than the population of Griffonstone.”

"His neck is so thick, he could drink peanut butter," Applejack remarked.

"He's so edgy, he doesn't even need the sword," Tempest snarked with a grin. Twilight, hearing this, looked surprised. Tempest was getting along well with Applejack and Firestorm?

"He's got more hair than Bigfoot," Rainbow observed.

"He looks like the 'After' image for an amateur goth makeup artist's ad," Rarity disdainfully added.

"He's got so many implants, I could shake him up and hear it all rattle," Spike noted.

"He looks like a chimney sweeper that hasn't gone home in a month," Starlight said.

"He looks like Manetallica married another Manetallica and had a baby," Rainbow continued.

"I bet his skin is just plain black leather," Freedom Fighter said, joining in. "Even I wouldn't stoop to that." He rolled his eyes. "Most of the time."

Bloodrayne, meanwhile, was twitching. His smirk was wavering into a scowl. His eyes boiled in their sockets. He looked positively unhinged.

“Idiots,” he breathed. “I… I won’t let you oppose me! I’ve come too far to be mocked by a bunch of noponies like you--even if you do have the Elements! I’ll be the greatest pony in the world! I don’t need the Elements to recognize my true potential! I’m powerful without them! My power is greater than you can ever comprehend! Wh-what, did you think you could ever… use your measly power… to defeat us?”

“Yeah,” Freedom Fighter said. He flicked his hoof. “Now piss off, boy. The grown-ups have business.”

“Let you go? I think not.” He smirked. “How about this--I’ll make you a deal.”

“I knew this would happen,” Freedom Fighter muttered lowly.

“Tch. You all are either tremendously brave or incredibly idiotic to pick a fight with me. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and say, Freedom Fighter, you at least… definitely have balls."

"First time," Freedom Fighter muttered.

"I’m offering you all a challenge.” The black and red alicorn looked over Freedom Fighter with his energy staff, then to Noble with his vivid blue sword, then to Starlight Glimmer, whose buildup of power on her horn was recognizable to all by now. He gave a long look at Tempest, a smile gracing his lips at her armor, scarred appearance, and broken horn crackling with lightning. He then came to Applejack, inspecting her powerful legs, and then Rainbow Dash’s muscular, trim warrior’s body. Finally he came to Twilight, the embodiment of all magic itself. He had deliberately skipped Spike, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, and had ignored Firestorm altogether, unwilling to even acknowledge his presence.

Bloodrayne finally closed his eyes, looking smug. “Listen up. Choose the best of you--your greatest warrior, if you will. Heh. If he or she manages to beat me at 10% of my power, I’ll humor the notion of joining you on your little crusade. You can even send three or four. Give them as many weapons as you want. However, if you lose-”

“All right, I’m in,” Firestorm quickly said, drawing a blade from his back, and shot right at him before he could finish.

Bloodrayne opened his eyes in panic. “H-hey!” he exclaimed, trying to return to his stance by lifting his enormous sword. “Wait a second!”

But Firestorm was too quick, and Bloodrayne was wide open. With one downward blow, he completely severed his right hoof in a spray of blood, dropping the Ironcrow. After spinning once from the momentum, Firestorm’s sword connected with his long, glowing horn like he was hitting a baseball. With a deafening crack and an explosion of light, Bloodrayne’s horn shattered at the base, sending him flying back. Shards of smoking bone fell all around him.

Tempest gave a sharp inhale and rubbed her forehead, as if it was her horn that had been severed instead. Everyone else was too focused on the scene in front of them. The other alicorns had been petrified with shock and rage.

Bloodrayne was on the ground screaming, clutching his hornless head with his left hoof, smearing the emerald grass with ruby blood. Firestorm flapped above him, holding his blade upside down.

“Hey!” Bloodrayne whimpered, trying and failing to meet his eyes. “Th-that wasn’t fair!”

“I’m your enemy,” Firestorm bluntly told him. “You think your enemies will ever play fair? You’re not just wrong, you’re stupid.”

“Hey!” screamed Renee, furiously gesticulating with the Potent Blade of a Thousand Poisons. “You fought without honor! You don’t deserve to win!”

“You dare to lecture us about honor?” Noble Blade asked, trembling with suppressed anger. “Those who worship the devil?!”

“Remind me again, who dropped out of nowhere, insulted us, and challenged us to a duel?” Twilight drily followed. “You’re paragons of combat virtue.”

“I don’t care about honor in combat anymore,” Firestorm whispered to the shaking Bloodrayne. “You might think it's honorable to blab on about fair chances and honorable deaths. You're full of crap. It’s death. There’s no such thing as honorably killing someone! You have no honor. All you wanted in that duel was to make a fool out of us. And now you’re in the spot you intended for me to end up in. You want compassion? Move on. You expect me to hold back? Tough luck!”

And he buried his blade right through his chest.

Several ponies screamed. Twilight and Tempest weren’t part of them.

Firestorm took his sword out of Bloodrayne’s inert body, soaked to the hilt with wet blood, and swiveled to meet Renee, who was holding herself back with extreme effort. By all looks of it, she looked ready to explode.

“Well?” Firestorm asked, a shadow over his eyes. “What are you waiting for?”

Renee swiveled the Potent Blade of a Thousand Poisons above her head. “I swear to Solaris, you shall pay for the death of my brother!”

“Just call him your boyfriend already,” Firestorm boredly retorted. “Or one of them.” He gestured to Cookie Cutter. “We all know you’re on your knees night and day, but you ain’t praying to Solaris, that’s for certain.”

She held her long katana in a firm stance. Both she and Firestorm were flapping a few inches above the ground, ready to fire themselves at each other.

"You know, " Renee smirked, swirling her blade, "we don't have to fight. You could just… surrender now…" She moved her hips side to side. "And you and I… could have some fun…"

"There's no way I'm touching a used, fifteen-year-old, inflamed, diseased, infected, puffed-up, dry, gaping, scalding hot, toothy, soggy, beefy, hairy, pimpled, floppy, moldy, crusty, brown, radioactive pussy," Firestorm refused, not dancing around it like Renee was. "Let me describe you with all five senses. You're gonna look like someone punched a lasagna, you're gonna feel like sandpaper, you're gonna sound like a bongo, you're gonna smell like a bald wet monkey scalp, and you're gonna taste like cold, week-old hot dog water--ya dirty hoooee~" he beautifully sang. He put a thoughtful hoof to his chin and gave a wicked grin to Cookie Cutter. "Although after the first three inches it'll feel brand new…"

Cookie Cutter, thoroughly red in the face, looked like he wanted to both disappear from the face of the earth and strangle Firestorm at the same time.

Renee's disposition had flown to one of unbridled, outraged fury. Evidently, she was used to that trick working. "You monster! No one has EVER said that about me! GAH!"

"Aww, the poor little child can't handle insults!" Firestorm flung in her face. "Want to go in the corner and cry?! Mad hoe alert! Mad hoe alert!"

"You DARE profane me such?!"

"As if you weren't profaned enough already," Firestorm retorted darkly. "But yeah, I dare. Proudly. You're not even really a pony anymore. Just a disgusting experiment. Perversion of all that's good. I'm going to enjoy killing you."

Firestorm drew his other sword from across his back with his other hoof, and with a flick, both flames became coated in spitting, dripping flames. He swirled them twice before adopting an offensive stance, growling.

"You foolish mortal," Renee crooned, disguising her simmering fury with confidence. "I am an alicorn. The greatest creature in the universe! I have all power. If I want to have you, I will." Renee slowly, sensually, licked the edge of the Potent Blade of a Thousand Poisons with a throaty moan before she took her own stance, matching his ferocity with a seductive glare.

Three seconds later, Renee paled. “Oh, I shouldn’t have done that.”

And she keeled over like a sack of potatoes, instantly dead.

Firestorm blinked. His arms grew limp, falling to his sides. Face pulled in a dumbfounded expression, he blinked again, unsure of what to say.

There was silence for a moment before all heads swiveled to look at the one remaining warrior.

Cookie Cutter was rendered officially speechless. Just a minute ago, they were both alive. Right?

It wasn’t that he was weak. It was that they acted before he could respond. That was all. What could he do against something like that?

Maybe… he could resurrect them! Maybe with the power of the Elements of Harmony, he could resurrect Bloodrayne and Renee. He couldn’t use the Elements, however. If he played his cards right, though, he could come to an agreement with these ponies and their guardians.

“I know what you’re thinking,” spoke up the dark pink one with the broken horn. “It won’t work. Believe me, I tried.”

Cookie’s train of thought halted in his tracks.

“The Elements of Harmony are not to be used lightly,” spoke up the one indicated as Starlight Glimmer. “And harnessing them to bring back a pony from the dead… I’m not sure if it’s right to use it for a selfish need like that. Or even possible.”

“O-of course it’s possible!” Cookie blurted out, staring at the unmoving bodies of his only friends, his only family, the only ponies he ever loved. “They’re the most powerful things in the universe! They can create worlds and destroy them! Of course they can bring them back to life! With the power of friendship, anything is possible, right? With the power of friendship, we’ll all win and live together, right?” He gulped. “R-right?”

Princess Twilight Sparkle gently pushed aside a few ponies until she was face to face with him. “No,” was her answer. “With the power of friendship, we’ll die together.”

It caught him off guard. What was she talking about? That was wrong! She was the princess of friendship! She should know better!

“Friends die,” Twilight told him to his face. “The world won’t care. But we will. The truth is, nobody can be brought back from the dead through magic. Don’t try to. Honor them by moving on. Don’t make the same mistake I did and let them… linger inside you like a disease, and tear your mind apart. I lost friends searching for the Elements of Harmony. And... it made me realize something.

“Friends are temporary. But our friendship is immortal. It is what will carry us into danger. The power of friendship alone won’t be a bubble protecting us from the evil of the world, though. We have to fight as well. But it will bring us peace and comfort when we fight for our world. And if we die in the pits of danger, I’ll at least do it with the ponies that… that mean the world to me.”

Cookie Cutter felt numb listening to her. His hooves felt cold, and his brain tuned out her words. No. No! She was wrong. Wrong! If friendship was so powerful, why couldn’t it do everything?!

Why did it result in their deaths?

“I’m sorry about your family,” Twilight continued, casting a glance at the bodies of Bloodrayne and Renee. “I wish you still had them. I know how much they can mean to you.”

“You don’t get to apologize,” Cookie Cutter cut off. His eyes shrunk in rage, and his self-moving orange hair began to wave faster. “Your friends killed them!”

“They were gonna kill us!” Spike defended, emerging into view. “What, d’ya think-”

“They were my friends too!” Cookie bellowed. “Are your friends the only ones that matter?!”

Twilight couldn’t answer that one.

Cookie scowled, and his horn began crackling with orange power. He began to levitate into the air, his wings spread apart. His eyes began glowing as well. “You… You all will pay for the deaths of my friends… my family!”

Stretching a hoof, the Razorbeaked Ironcrow flew across the ground, the hilt smacked into his hoof, and he swung at Twilight, leaving a wake of black streams.

The only thing that prevented Twilight from certain death was Noble, who had stopped the deathly Black Blade with a mighty blow of his own blue sword, which was barely able to contain the power of his Element. Between crossed blades, Noble was firm but neutral.

“Death is part of the package of being a warrior,” Noble replied, slowly forcing the Ironcrow back with both hooves. “Did you think you were invincible? Or did you not read the contract before choosing the hard path of abusing life?”

Cookie Cutter yelled in his face and lunged his head forth to impale Noble in the face. His horn missed his head, but grazed his skull on the right, and blood ran down his cheek and matted his blue hair with a wet red color.

Noble dropped all resistance to pushing his sword, and as the knight ducked with his sword out of the way, Cookie stumbled forward. Noble used the chance to quickly slice open his thigh, and in doing so, made the butt of his blade smack into his ribs. Hard.

Cookie Cutter, moving back, made a “Tsk” sound and observed his injuries with a critical eye. “Not bad. You made me bleed. You’re a good-”

Noble, not wasting any time listening to his words, had made a thrust as he was speaking, and Cookie, still shaken, barely put his sword up in time to deflect it from going into his kidneys. Noble’s other hoof immediately shot forward and punched him smack in the face. His head flew back, blood flying from his nose. Noble twisted the sword in his arm hard, and the Ironcrow flew out of his hooves and embedded itself in the rock on the edge of the ravine.

Now that he was without a weapon, Noble Blade opted not to pierce his heart, but instead placed himself between him and the Ironcrow and advanced slowly enough to allow Cookie to scramble away.

This wasn’t good. Cookie Cutter was unmistakably concerned now for his life. Was he going to die here?

No. No, he still hadn’t unleashed his full power. He didn’t want to use it and admit that Noble was a legitimate threat. But desperate times require desperate measures. Noble Blade was skilled, but his mercy would be his undoing.

“I am at the end of my patience, but I still have enough room for this. Swear that you won’t follow us, and I’ll let you live.”

Cookie Cutter snarled, blood dripping from his face and leg. “Like I’d ever admit defeat to you! Why can’t you see… that I am a disciple of Solaris? This isn’t even my final form! Want me to unleash my real power?!”

“If that’s what you want,” Noble Blade answered, hefting his blade and bringing it up to swing.

Cookie Cutter cringed as a blue ball of energy appeared in the middle of his chest and began to branch out like veins of blood. “Watch… and learn! This… is what it means… to go… beyond!”

He threw his head back and bellowed, long and loud and rageful. The blue energy began to course through his body like electricity through cables. His horn overloaded with power as it steadily grew out of his skull, and his wings shivered as they seemed to grow extra joints and expand. His eyes were glowing like headlights at this point. His spiky mane was flowing like a flag in the wind, and it was growing longer at the roots, becoming fuller in volume and stronger in color.

The ponies kept their distance. What if his power was to be unleashed upon them? Noble’s shield was out by now, covering anyone crouching nearby. Waves of power emanated off of him, making manes flap and faces stretch. The world became distorted as the color blue took prevalence over all other wavelengths. Cookie Cutter was still bellowing as his powerful transformation took place.

And suddenly, with a wet crunch and squelch, his bellowing stopped, and became a weak, gurgling scream of pain and terror. The magic cut off, his transformation incomplete. He fell out of the air and stood on his hind legs, held up by the object embedded in him.

The tip of the Razorbeaked Ironcrow was protruding from his chest. Cookie scrabbled at the tip of the blade, gasping and moaning, but his wings and legs grew faint, and hung limply from his body.

He dropped to his knees, and the group saw Tempest behind him, holding tightly to the hilt of the blade. With a jerk, Tempest nudged it in further, and Cookie Cutter moaned and fell to one side, taking the sword with him. It left Tempest standing awkwardly as Cookie Cutter rapidly expired with the Black Blade in his chest.

Noble sighed. “Tempest…”

“What?” she challenged him, nudging Cookie’s now-inert body. “You were going to kill him anyway. I just decided not to fight it out.”

Noble grimaced before sheathing his sword, and the blue light coming off of it disappeared as well, leaving the scene as it was before, only with three dead bodies strewn about on the ground near the ravine’s edge. Everypony blinked rather hard at the change.

“Let’s just get to the tree already,” Fluttershy finally suggested, eyeing the bodies and shuddering.

They set off to the route leading down the ravine. Nopony thought to remove any of the weapons.

Starlight stuck by Twilight’s unmoving side, however. They were looking at the fresh body of the artificial white alicorn. His soul was gone as well as his body. It was a fate worse than death.

“Twilight?” asked Starlight, and the alicorn in question turned to the uncomfortable Starlight. “The whole ‘We’ll die together, but as friends’ thing… Did you… mean all that?”

“I wouldn’t have said it otherwise,” Twilight answered her. “Ponies grow and change on experience. It just… took a while to process.”

“Inevitable death is always kind of hard to process, don’t you think?”

Twilight shrugged. “Fair point.”

“Of course, the whole point is to try not to die in the first place,” Starlight tacked on.

“That part isn't the problem,” Twilight replied. “The trick is… accepting when it’s time to go. Not everyone was ready for it.” She gestured at Cookie Cutter, Renee, and Bloodrayne. Her horn chimed to life, and their bodies floated up and drifted together.

“What should we do with them?” Starlight asked.

“We can’t leave them out for the wolves to eat. And we can’t dig graves in stone. The most we can do is burn them. It’s the most dignified way to do it.”

“And their weapons?”

“Throw them into the forest.”

While Starlight did just that, Twilight gave a tap of her horn to each of the bodies. They each caught a purple flame that quickly enveloped them and revealed only their empty mortal silhouettes.

Starlight wasn’t able to look at the bodies or at Twilight. “Do you think… they’re doing okay? In the afterlife?”

“I’m sure Faust is being as fair as possible,” Twilight said. “The real question is, do they want to be around her in the first place?”

“Of course they do!”

“Do they?” Twilight indicated their forms. “You really think they’d rather be uncomfortable in heaven than comfortable in Tartarus?”

Starlight was silent.

“I do feel sorry for Cookie,” Twilight continued, eyeing his burning body. “He didn’t deserve that. He was right about some things.”

“Like what?”

The dark circles under Twilight’s eyes deepened in the light from the violet flames. “My friends aren’t the only ones that matter. Whenever any life is taken, a friend… is lost.”

“You think that was friendship they had between them?” Starlight asked. “It looked unstable at best. They put power first, they thought friendship followed power. But it’s power that comes from friendship instead. Didn’t you teach me that?”

Twilight turned and gave her a weak smile. “You always were a good student.”

Starlight smiled back, holding Twilight close with one arm. “I learned from the best.”

This small action made something bloom in her heart that made Twilight feel warm all over again. She identified it quickly. It was reexperiencing the value of friendship, and how valued it really was.

The fact that she had the need to reexperience something as important to her as friendship made her feel twisted on the inside, like there was something inherently wrong with her. And yet… there was something else there, too, saying Twilight was good enough, that she was strong and brave despite all the psychological batterings she had taken. It made her feel braver and more willing to accept the outcomes. Her knees felt strong yet relaxed, her head was high and clear, her eyes were dry and stable.

“Hey,” Starlight said, as if seeing those emotions on her face. “It’ll all be okay. This’ll be over soon. We won’t have to worry about Solaris anymore once I get my Element.”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, nodding. Something genuine was in her eyes. “I think I can have that same hope.”

“Don’t say that,” Starlight jabbed. “Of course you do.”

And Twilight was startled to realize her pupil was right.

After ensuring the bodies were safely disposed of, Twilight and Starlight trotted down the path to join the others at the bottom of the ravine, in the holy presence of the Tree of Harmony.

Chapter Seventy-three: Harmony

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Twilight and Starlight were silent as they came down the ravine. Even though their bodies were smoldering on the cliff above them, Cookie Cutter and his friends lingered in the back of their minds, never truly gone.

Misguided and tragic as he was, he was still a servant of Solaris. How many others across Equestria had been distorted like he had? Other disconcerting news had been uncovered as well. New Black Blades that harmed the soul… where did he get his hooves on those? Why had Solaris decided to bless a few ponies with his secret power? The keys were all there, but the locks were missing.

As the teacher and student entered the cave where the Tree resided, they noticed two things: a cause and effect.

The cause was a distorted white shield of flickering energy surrounding the tree, snapping out with gaseous power on the occasion. A loud buzzing filled the echoey cavern, emanating from the tree itself. The effect of this was that the party had halted at the mouth of the cave, unsure whether to advance.

“What is this?” Starlight asked, coming beside Pinkie. “Why is the tree acting like this?”

“Beats me,” Rainbow conceded, folding her arms as she hovered a few feet above the rest.

The tree was as shiny and reflective as ever, forever crystallized as a reminder of the Creation. The Elements, hanging from the branches like fruit, glittered alluringly. But there was an ivory, angry net dancing around the tree, and scorch marks were scattered around the roof and walls of the cavern as well. Danger and anger hung in the air like a bad smell.

“I never saw the tree act like this before,” Fluttershy wondered as the blazing white energy zapped against the floor, leaving a long burn mark.

“If the tree could do this, why didn’t it do so against the Plundervines?” Rarity brought up, rubbing her chin.

Twilight squinted at the tree. Her eyes rested upon the six-pointed star in the center. There was something about it…

“I’m going to take a wild guess… and say the tree is overprotective,” Firestorm slowly hypothesized.

“Good point,” Starlight admitted quickly. “Remember what the servants said? They tried to take the Elements off the tree itself. What if…”

Applejack bent down, hefted a boulder the size of a buckball in her hoof, and threw it at the tree’s base. As it sailed in the air, a white string of pure magic shot out and blew it to smithereens with a bang, showering the ground with smoking pebbles.

“Overprotective, all right,” Tempest muttered.

“What will the tree allow to get close?” Freedom Fighter asked, toying with the energy staves at his hips.

“I’m sure the tree wouldn’t trust ponies again,” Rarity said, pounding her hoof on the ground. “Not after those guys, at least.”

“Hold on,” Spike interjected, holding up a finger. “You mean the Tree of Harmony has a consciousness?”

“When did it develop?” Fluttershy asked, blinking in surprise.

“What if it was always there?” Pinkie suspiciously presented, an overly-conspiratory look contorted on her face.

“We didn’t see any evidence that it was conscious before,” Twilight moved in, putting herself between the dangerous tree and her friends. “Or if this is just a curse the servants of Solaris put on it to ensure no one would get near it. The real problem is, how are we going to get close enough to retrieve our Elements?”

“Elements?” Noble clarified, inclining his head to observe the glowing blue jewel in the crosspiece above his head. He hummed. “Elements…”

“What are you thinking?” Fluttershy asked him.

“I’ll tell you,” Firestorm interrupted. “We three boys have to get close enough to it because we’re the only ones who have Elements of Harmony, which the tree is protecting.”

“By boys, you mean not me, I’m assuming,” Spike grumbled.

“You sure?” Starlight asked the dark orange pegasus. “What if you get vaporized?”

“I, uh, I’m pretty sure we won’t,” Firestorm said, scratching his bushy mane. “I mean, our Elements don’t harm us, right? And the power of the tree’s protection has to come from the Elements, right?”

“He has a point,” Pinkie said.

All heads swiveled to her.

Pinkie shrugged, contorting her face once again into a bemused look. “Whaaat? It explains how the Tree was defenseless until we put them back.”

Twilight smacked her forehead. Of course!

“So what you’re saying is, we send the Guardians ahead with the Elements so the tree knows we’re friends?” Rainbow summed up for Pinkie.

“Nooo.” Pinkie waved her statement aside. “We all go together as friends!”

“That’s kind of a big risk.”

“And everything we did until now wasn’t?” Starlight asked of Rainbow. “This is the penultimate step to our downfall of Solaris. And you want to-”

“What? No, I don’t!” Rainbow protested, waving her arms. “I just don’t want things to screw up when we’re so close to the end!”

“Friendship is all or nothing,” Twilight told everyone. “We all go, or the Tree will see them as enemies who stole the Elements.”

“I’m down for it!” Pinkie volunteered.

“I see no reason why it won’t work,” Rarity conceded.

A round of head-nodding and affirmed agreement went around everyone.

Noble Blade drew his sword in an explosion of blue light from the Element of Honor that discolored the rocks on the black cave wall. Firestorm uncovered the necklace under his ragged patches, and the orange light of the Element of Courage joined Noble’s color. Freedom Fighter peeled away the armor on his left shoulder, exposing the round, golden oval of the Element of Sacrifice. Their glow was stronger than usual, finally in the midst of their lost comrades.

The ten ponies meant to bear the Elements, with the Guardians in front, took a few steps into the massive cavity.

“I think we should stand back,” Spike advised Tempest, motioning for her to step away.

Tempest gave the dragon a narrow look.

“Didn’t you listen?” Spike demanded, pointing at Twilight. “The only ones allowed near the tree are the bearers of Harmony!”

Tempest sniffed. “What I heard was friendship is all or nothing. We all go in, or none of us do.”

Spike looked like he had been punched. Tempest, rolling her eyes, obliged and stepped back to the mouth of the cave.

Twilight, however, overheard all of this, and with a flick of her ear, felt shame creep into her step.

The three Guardians were holding their prizes aloft for the tree to see. The deep rumble and moan of the power around the tree was echoing off the walls, adding an additional spooky feeling to their already nerve-wracking circumstances. Every step was heavy and shaky, as if the sheer reverence of the tree's presence was enough to send every pony to their knees.

“Th-this is the first time I’ve been scared by the Tree of Harmony,” Fluttershy whispered to no one in particular.

“Ta be fair, you’re scared of a lot of things, Fluttershy,” Applejack pointed out, but numbly, and with her eyes locked straight ahead.

“I’m not scared of this!” Rainbow maintained, keeping her composure up. “The tree is our friend! It won’t hurt us!”

An especially loud and indignant rumble shook the air in the cave, and a few pebbles and dust dislodged from the ceiling.

Rainbow cast her eyes about. “...I could be wrong.”

“Let it know we’re friends,” Twilight cautioned everyone as the net of power came closer and closer. “We don’t want it to get mad.”

“How do you piss off a tree?” Freedom Fighter wondered, making sure to expose his shoulder to the front at all times.

“The same way you piss off everyone else,” Firestorm answered. “I’m the resident expert on the subject.”

“You shouldn’t have studied for this particular test, then,” Noble gently chided him, holding his angry blue sword high in the air.

“I’m just a genius,” Firestorm defended. “I don’t need to study techniques to annoy ponies. Like how I’m the strongest out of everyone here, and I don’t even exercise. I can’t help it.”

“Oh, woe is thee,” Noble bemoaned, rolling his eyes. “A true burden thou dost carry.”

“Like how you’re the most hygenic one here, and you don’t even bathe?” Rarity asked with a shrewd tone.

“See? She gets it!”

“You sure you’re the strongest?” Fluttershy asked the burlesque pegasus, fluttering closer to his side. “Even with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Noble Blade, Twilight, Starlight, Pinkie, and Freedom Fighter here?”

Firestorm let out a loud cough that echoed. “Why, uh, of course!”

“You’re strong too, you know,” Rarity pointed out to Fluttershy. “Anyone of lesser spirit would have caved in by now at this stage!”

“You’re strong too,” Pinkie pointed out to Rarity. “Being a prisoner of Blueblood must have been really stinky.”

Rarity, with a blush, wrinkled her nose. “In more ways than one.”

“Almost makes you want to be around me, huh?” Firestorm asked.

Rarity, smiling slightly, let out a scoff. “I’ll have to think hard about that one.”

Giggles were rising among the group. And the tree must have noticed this. Far before the range of the rock Applejack had thrown, the energy field had stopped pulsing and throbbing so hard. The deep rumble had turned into an upturned sound, akin to a questioning groan.

The change made the group go silent as the levity of the situation returned. Twilight once again felt shivers go up her legs.

Three pure white tendrils extended from the net around the tree and prodded forward curiously. The three Guardians held up their respective Elements even higher.

The other ponies moved out of the way as the white, sparking energy streams shot right at the exposed Elements. Each one struck the center of each Element with a deep, crackling boom, shaking the ponies holding them. Freedom Fighter in particular locked up in place as the power coiled around the stone in his metal arm.

A joyous, bell-like ring emanated throughout the cavern, and the white net evaporated around the tree. The three tendrils, however, remained attached to the tree and to the Elements. All three of them were grimacing and groaning as a fraction of the power of the tree coursed into them.

Around the edges of the other Elements, a light blue glow surrounded their outlines. They began to shake in place violently, as if excited to jump out at last. The insides of the crystallized Tree glowed so white, it looked brighter than the noonday sun in the dark cavern. Blinking hard, everyone covered their eyes with a free hoof, unable to witness the full glory of the Tree of Harmony.

The bell-like toll was reaching a crescendo as well. More dust and rock fell from the shaking ceiling, and large boulders cracked from the walls and crashed down in avalanches of shrapnel. Everypony's ears were ringing and numb, making them cringe at every pulse in the noise.

Finally, the sound reached its peak, and after the tone went so high that the ponies couldn't hear it, an explosion of pale blue light erupted from the tree, and six multicolored comets with glittering tails shot out, screeching like meteors. They flew in circles in the air like loose fireworks before locking onto their targets and shooting right at their respective ones.

Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Rarity each had something colorful crash into their chests and swirl around their necks with magic, making them stumble back. Twilight was hit in the forehead, stunning her momentarily. Her vision went blurry, which was already disfigured by the bright light of the tree.

Twilight blinked hard while looking down. Black spots were at the edges of her vision, but they were diminishing as the light from the tree died. Something heavy was atop her head.

"I think… it worked," came Starlight's faraway voice.

Twilight, after blinking a few more times to clear away the pressure in her ear, asked, "What?"

"It worked," Starlight repeated. "The Elements, you know?"

Twilight patted the top of her head. It had a golden crown atop her brow, with a smooth, cut gem in the exact center.

Oohs and aahs came to her attention, and Twilight looked around to her friends. Sure enough, around each of their necks were golden necklaces, with the gems in the shape of their cutie marks.

The Elements of Harmony were theirs once again, for the last time.

Tempest Shadow couldn't explain it. She had seen plenty of magical phenomena as a result of her servitude with the Storm King, but this took the cake. As they had descended into the cavern, she felt a sense of looming dread, like her new… friends… were about to lose their lives. The threatening magic shield was proof enough of that.

Then the Tree's power took effect. To Tempest, it looked like the power of the three Elements was being channeled into the Tree of Harmony, and that power released the others in spiraling meteors. It was a pyrotechnic display of flashy power on the highest scale. Tempest felt like she was standing in the presence of divine power.

Then she felt disappointed that she wasn't a part of it.

As the ponies preened about admiring their jewelry, Tempest saw a projection erupt from the illuminated trunk of the tree and alight gently on the stone floor like a ghost.

Tempest's throat closed up. She had to warn them!

But they noticed without her help. The ten ponies in the cave screamed and scrambled back from the projection, their Elements glowing and the Guardian's weapons being drawn.

But Tempest got a closer look at it. The projection was pale grey, and the pony had a long, flowing beard like a puffy cloud on a clear day. Elegant blue robes with the constellations draped across his back, and a tall hat with bells on the trim was atop his head.

Twilight noticed this too, and took an inhale of breath so hard, Tempest could hear it from the mouth of the cave. "St-t-t-Star Swirl?!"

Tempest's mouth was agape. The legendary master? Why was the tree showing them him?

"Hold on a second!" exclaimed Starlight Glimmer.

"What are you doing here?" Pinkie's high, squeaky voice asked. "You died!"

The projection managed to look acquiescent. "I did?"

"Who are you really?" Freedom Fighter demanded, brandishing a rather large knife. "Are you the Tree? Are you a trap? An illusion?"

The projection chuckled, walking closer to the dark warrior. "Dear boy, I am no trap or illusion. And the tree is me, and I am the tree."

"You're really…" Fluttershy whispered, taking a hesitant step forward, as if to touch the figure. "... Star Swirl?"

The old sorcerer smiled at Fluttershy for his answer.

“I… can’t believe it’s… really you,” Twilight breathed, taking a few steps of her own until she was right in front of the apparition. “But how…”

“How?” Star Swirl asked, a hint of amusement in his echoey voice. “You of all ponies should know that it is not the how that matters. Rather who, and what, and why.”

Tempest was confused at the statement. What did he mean, Twilight of all ponies? Did he mean the journey they had taken over the past few months? It was what Tempest assumed.

“But what about you?” Rarity emphasized. “You were slain in the human world, and the Staff of Sacanas was shattered!”

“Oh, Huntress,” Star Swirl whispered, shaking his head. “Was the Staff really independent of the Tree of Harmony? Did destroying it mean the destruction of my power?”

So the Staff was destroyed after all. Malice hadn’t been lying. Tempest hissed at the news.

“What?” Rarity wondered. “But… you--”

Rainbow, however, had maneuvered closer to the tree itself, observing it closely, until her outburst drowned out Rarity. “There’s a piece missing from the tree!”

A few of the ponies gathered closer to Rainbow, and a few minutes later, cries of shock rang throughout the cave.

Tempest came to the only logical conclusion. It explained everything. She opened her mouth-

“So let me get this straight! Before you entered the human world a few hundred years ago, you put your magic into the Tree of Harmony and used a piece of the tree with a fraction of your magic to create the Staff of Sacanas, and you’ve been the Tree of Harmony this entire time, keeping your consciousness alive?!” Pinkie exclaimed.

Tempest frowned. Pinkie always seemed like a dimwit, but she came to every conclusion faster than the average pony ever could.

“Yes,” Star Swirl admitted. “And no.” He came over to Pinkie. “Blood of Life, your power to create laughter and hope has kept your friends alive, like blood in every creature, and your head is always quick and strong. But I am not the tree. And the tree is not me. The tree and I… merged. It is the greatest place to store magic, more than anywhere else in Equestria. It would be most accurate to say that the consciousness of the tree is me… but I am not the sum of the tree’s parts.”

Star Swirl’s gaze landed upon Tempest, who froze. What was he going to do? Did he see Tempest as an enemy?

“Come,” he said, motioning with a hoof. “Daughter of Thunder. I would have you included.” Then his eyes came to Spike as well. “You too, Dragon Lord.”

After a nervous moment, Tempest and Spike entered the cave.

Daughter of Thunder? What did that mean? It was a statement of the obvious. What did this pony know about her?! Tempest seethed as she obeyed his order.

When she and Spike were in the midst of the rest of them, Star Swirl nodded at the assembly. “You have come this far. I am so proud of you all for finding these lost memories of the spirit world. I know of your losses and victories. There is but one trial left to face.”

“To test the spirit?” Starlight asked.

“To face the mirror,” Star Swirl corrected, addressing her. “What your purpose is in the scheme of things, Last Hero. Even I cannot see what you must do as the Element of Redemption.”

“I don’t need to know right now,” Starlight affirmed, grinding her hoof into the rock floor. “All I need to know is I need to stop Solaris. Whatever the price may be, I’ll pay it.”

Star Swirl smiled sadly. “You have tremendous faith,” he commended, “but faith alone will not win a war.”

“What else do we need?” Noble Blade asked Star Swirl.

“Information,” Star Swirl answered him. With a chime, his horn ignited into white flame, and he concentrated hard. All around them, shapes and colors distorted and turned pale, and three ghostly figures appeared in their midst, staring up at the branches of the Tree of Harmony, which had white silhouettes of where the Elements once were.

Tempest realized who these ghostly figures were. Their large weapons, their odd coloration--these were the three alicorns.

“So… heh. This is the Tree of Harmony?” Bloodrayne was asking, shaking his head in amusement. “I thought there’d be more to it.”

“Hmm. The Elements…” Cookie Cutter mused, taking a step closer to it. “Is there a defense mechanism? Will the Elements attack if we posed a threat?”

“I’ll chop off these branches, no problem,” Renee boasted, drawing her blade and sauntering to the Tree. “We can pry the stones out of them later.”

But before Renee could get within ten feet, the ghostly Elements glowed a sinister black, making the pegasus girl freeze in her tracks.

“Get out of there!” Cookie Cutter screamed, igniting his horn, and Renee was flown back in an orange glow as with a loud blast, a white net of energy shot out of the darkened Elements, knitted together, and surrounded the entire tree, squirming and flowing like water on the ocean.

Bloodrayne cautiously stepped forth as Cookie held the quivering Renee in his arms. The Blessed Black Blade was in his red aura of energy.

“Bloodrayne!” Renee screamed. “You’ll di-”

“Shut up, you stupid hag!” Bloodrayne screamed back as he pressed on, holding out the blade to act as a conductor should any energy attack him. “I’m testing it! Don’t you want these Elements to please Solaris?!”

“Well, excuuuse me for caring about you!” Renee protested.

All of the loose ends of the net shot right at Bloodrayne like seeking missiles, and his blade was the only thing that prevented his death. They flashed as they hit the blade like a barrage, and Bloodrayne, gritting his teeth and groaning, was forced to give ground until he was out of reach. The net’s weapons were flailing about like octopus tentacles, searching for anything else that could be destroyed in its range.

“Well, that’s just great,” Bloodrayne groaned, his sword drooping in his magic grip. “We did what we could. What now? Go back to the Dragonlands?”

“No. We’re not done here until the Elements are incapacitated,” Cookie admonished him. “Whether that means we dismantle the tree or kill the bearers, we won’t go back to the temple yet.”

“Do we know their whereabouts?”

“Renee… They’re bound to come here eventually. These ones, they know about. And when they do, we’ll be waiting for them.”

“What if they die and we end up waiting here forever?” Bloodrayne demanded, all but yelling.

“There’s no way to know until it happens. I won’t be weak and back out of our mission. We’ll bring Solaris glory!”

“We took this mission upon ourselves,” Renee pointed out. “What if Solaris is unhappy with us?”

“He’ll be glad we had the initiative,” Cookie quickly answered. “He’ll reward us with unimaginable power!”

“Even more than Marshal Malice?” Bloodrayne cynically asked. “Tch. I don’t need a God giving me even more power. I’m strong on my own! I trust my own power. I bet Malice couldn’t face me down if I was at 50% of my power!”

“Oh, here we go again,” Firestorm sighed, facehoofing.

“Would Solaris appreciate us bringing them, though?” Renee pressured. “Bringing all those Elements together, plus the one in the temple, would make us a large target out in the open.”

“No big a target than the Tree is, and besides, this way, we have total control of the Elements themselves.”

“Uh, hello?!” Bloodrayne interrupted, gesticulating at the tree’s shield. “Barrier problem here. How do you expect to control any of the Elements with that still around it?”

“I’ll use the bearers to lower the barrier and release the Elements,” Cookie simply explained. “Best case scenario, we have control of all the Elements of Harmony. Worst case scenario, neither side ends up with them… which will be their undoing. This is their greatest and worst weapon. Even if we fail, they won’t have the Element bearers, and Equestria will still fall.”

“...And you have no regrets about that?” Bloodrayne asked.

“I’ve moved on to more important things than Equestria,” Cookie Cutter deadpanned, narrowing his eyes. “My mother deserves that. I aim for celestial glory. If I can but endure a little longer, my soul will be saved by Solaris, and I shall reign among the stars.” He sighed. “Can’t you imagine it? An ordinary pony, once a simple pastry chef, ascended to eternal life. If that doesn’t prove that the ordinary brings about the extraordinary… what does?”

Tempest noticed that Pinkie Pie’s face looked uncomfortably guilty, and was clutching her chest at that particular wording. She was a pastry chef as well. And much as she hated to admit it, Tempest had been ordinary once, too. Tempest found herself empathizing toward Pinkie, and at the same time, toward Cookie.

The white swirls of power dissipated like fog, and the ghostly memories floated away. In a short time, only the apparition of Star Swirl was left.

“So that’s it,” Twilight said simply. She blinked, looking at the ground. “We have to go to the Dragonlands for the final Element.”

“What’ll we do?” Spike asked her, tugging on her tail. “Ember’s the Dragon Lord now, but still, not every dragon likes ponies. How will we have free reign to travel around and search for the temple?”

“We likely won’t,” Applejack told him, plain as ever. “There’s a war goin’ on, see. They’re gonna be super protective of where outsiders can go.”

"I'm sure if we just talk to Ember, she'll allow us to search the Dragonlands for this temple of theirs," Starlight reassured them all. "We're the Elements of Harmony, not tourists. If we let her know that this mission could end the war, she'll definitely let us search. We got help from Novo. Who's to say it won't happen again?"

"The Dragonlands are kinda across the ocean," Rainbow pointed out. "What'll we do, rent a boat? We don't have any money, and we can't exactly dip into the money reserves the Guardians have."

"We'll figure something out," Noble promised her.

“Be warned,” Star Swirl told them all, stepping back to the tree trunk. “For ponies to live in the Dragonlands and survive… it’s turned them into hardened disciples of evil.” His body shone with a brighter light than before. “There isn’t much time before war consumes the land, so get going quickly. Before I return to the tree, listen to me.”

The collection of ponies concentrated on listening to his words.

“You are what I have grown above,” Star Swirl croaked. “I could never hope to use any Element, let alone all of them. And I’m proud of each of you. You are so close to victory. Even those who couldn’t use Elements were the greatest souls to you all.”

Tempest knew it was directed at her and Spike, but also heard a whisper of, “Sunset,” from Twilight’s lips.

“The Sirens,” breathed Firestorm.

“Queen Novo,” Freedom Fighter muttered.

“Skystar,” Pinkie Pie said.

“Flash Sentry,” Noble said under his breath.

“Shining Armor,” Fluttershy contributed.

“Braeburn,” came Applejack’s accent.

And doubtless, there were many more. Tempest was sure of that. Did she fit into that category for some of these ponies?

“Will your efforts be in vain for them?” Star Swirl asked, deathly serious. “Would you say their efforts were wasted to get you where you are now?”

All the ponies shook their heads fervently.

“Then go and bring peace to our land,” Star Swirl proclaimed. “Or this land is fallen indeed.”

“Do you have any last guidance for me?” Starlight asked, almost desperately.

Star Swirl’s gaze was calm. “You must make the final choice. I do not know what the choice is, Last Hero, but it is on your shoulders. The outcome of it will decide the fate of this world.”

“I…” Starlight gasped. “M-me? Alone? Make the choice to save the world? I-I lack learning. I’m not a Goddess. Only they’re capable of making that choice. I’m just… me.”

All of a sudden, Star Swirl’s body, but most notably, his eyes, shone like the power of the noonday sun, making the ponies turn away once more. Warmth flooded the cave. His voice, instead of being weak or frail, turned booming and powerful for the first time.

“Do not be so quick to devalue yourself! Who created you, Starlight Glimmer? Who made the heavens and the earth you stand on? Who set in motion the plan of salvation from Solaris? Who created weak things in order to make them strong? No pony is weak with the power of the Goddess. By small and simple vessels are Her wonders brought about!”

The ordinary brings about the extraordinary. Tempest felt a jolt in her heart upon realizing what Cookie Cutter had hit on.

Star Swirl’s light was going down, but he still retained that unearthly power about him. His back was against the tree now, about to merge back into the tree from whence he came.

“You are Faust’s child, Starlight. And that makes your potential unlimited. Your power comes from Her, but there is also a spark of your own power to make the choice for yourself. Which one will you listen to in the end?” He gave a warm, loving, grandfatherly smile. “Only you know.”

And on that note, he faded back into the tree, and the light was gone.

Chapter Seventy-four: Power, Prophets, and The Black Army

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Foal Mountain is more like a series of spiky ridges that look like white-tipped claws stretching into the air to scratch the clouds. Located just east of Canterlot, it overlooks plains and valleys below like a guardian protector. Railroads run through the mountains as well, easily transporting troops and goods to and from the nearby capital city.

Those railroads were now blocked; their tunnels filled. If the enemy were to take advantage of them, ruin would fall upon Canterlot. The Noxxa were already pouring into Equestria by the day. Manhattan, the entrance to the land bridge, had been overrun after a hard resistance from the yaks and ponies, but mercifully, no civilians were in the city, having been evacuated by the fortuitous order from Canterlot. Now their next easy target was this mountain range.

Supplies and new troops were arriving every day by train and chariot. But, one day--on the same day the Ten Souls had found the Tree of Harmony, which was Monday--one particular chariot appeared out of the murky clouds and arrived at the foot of the mountain from behind.

This chariot, dark blue and with a black sheen, bumped as it landed before rolling to a stop, their batpony drivers fluffing their wings and snarling for breath. The other guardsponies unloading new troops from the trains halted and stared with awe at the regal passengers.

This chariot's passengers were Princess Luna and Scorpan.

When Luna stepped onto the rocky ground, her steps clinked and creaked; rich blue armor was adorning her entire body, with openings only at the joints. Metal even covered her wings like a protective sheath. Strapped to her flank, upright like a flag, was a wicked midnight scythe with a sharp curve like the waning moon.

Most of the present Royal Guard genuflected by bowing their heads or knees. Luna paid them no attention except for a dismissive wave of her wing.

Scorpan followed Luna like a pilgrim, under a very large hooded burlap robe. It was ragged on the fringes and was torn in several places. His face was hidden in shadow, the hood drooping down sadly. Next to Luna, he looked rather pathetic. But a dark undercurrent of power surrounded him that no one dared to question. Most who noticed him over Luna immediately acted like they had more important things to do, like staring at nothing in particular or whistling nervously.

The odd pair strode to the pony overseeing the unloading process, armed with a loaded clipboard in his wing and a pencil in his mouth. Upon seeing them, though, he had opened it enough to make the pencil drop and clack on the pebbles.

"Take us to the highest commanding officer," Luna told him with a tone that meant business.

The Royal Guard was entrenched deep in the mountains, fortifying every nook and cranny they could find with traps, shelters, spike pits, sniper positions, catapult emplacements, and nests. Among the shiny guardsponies were ragged civilians drafted for the war, in addition to supplementary forces from the rulers of the other kingdoms. Changelings, yaks, and the occasional dragon could be seen in the same ranks as ponies, for the first time in Equestria's history.

Luna noted all this with an approving eye. Standing united in the same cause would provide greater unity between all of the various kingdoms of Equestria. There wasn't much they could do against a force as numerous and deadly as the Noxxa. But their power here could slow them, and their stand would shine brightly; besides, this mountain range was a strong position against pretty much anything. It would take several tons of dynamite to make even a small dent in its foundation.

Eventually, as they finally reached a spot near the pinnacle of the mountain, they were led to a stiff brown unicorn officer with short purple hair under her silver helmet overlooking a row of foxhole constructions. Her face was hard-lined with a scowl, and her icy blue eyes held restrained disdain.

This uptight pony noticed Luna’s arrival only when she was a few meters away, and gave a simple nod. “Luna.” Her voice sounded scratchy and deep. She spat out a wad of something unidentifiable. “Name’s Glitz.”

“Good morning, Glitz,” Luna replied, serene as midnight to oppose her staunch nature.

“You here to take command, or what?”

“Far from it. Your troops are yours to command. Scorpan and I are here to support your forces.”

Glitz turned her eyes to the lumbering, holy monster. “You mean this ugly, hairy freak?”

The unfazed Scorpan gave a slow nod.

Glitz, seeing him unresponsive, harrumphed approvingly. “Discipline is in short supply these days,” she commented to him. “We could use some of yours.”

“All I have is my own,” was Scorpan’s answer. “Every pony must rely on their own strength alone to survive. We cannot borrow or lend bravery. It's innate, in every one of us. It only needs to be drawn out.”

Glitz gave a grim, dark smile. “I like him.”

“I don’t care if you like me or not,” Scorpan replied under his hood, not even looking at her. “All that matters to me is the victory.”

Glitz broke out into a real smile at that. “I really like him! Luna, where’d you find this guy? Under a rock?”

Luna’s attention, however, was drawn to the distance, up north. Far, far away, across a great plain, was a green ridge stretching from horizon to horizon. If they were to come from anywhere, it would be there.

How long could they hold off the Noxxa? They had overrun Manehattan, even with their advance warning. The expeditionary forces stationed there had done little more than slow them down for one day. It was safe to assume that they were more or less wiped out entirely.

Here, however, there were more of their forces, plus more discipline, variety in their ranks, a defensible position, and two powerful magic users. The Noxxa would need to bite harder to advance much further.

Unless they simply circumvented this place entirely? The long route would be to take the road west, going through the Crystal Empire, circle south, and then curve back up and invade Canterlot that way. Difficult as it was, if they chose to go that way instead, there would be no purpose for them to stay here.

It all depended on their confidence. If they chose to be bold because of their numbers and technological advancement, they’d strike as soon as they could against Canterlot, and with the kingdom divided, they’d simply mop up the remaining towns and cities. Their other option was as a conquering force, steamrolling every town they came across, and either razing it or taking it as a defensive position, like a parasite. That would be a war of attrition, very difficult to end quickly. Luna preferred the first option, but it was a lesser of two evils.

Scorpan came next to her, his hairy fists clenched. Luna gave him a glance.

“We will stand our ground,” he murmured. “No matter how much they hurl against us, we shall not give.”

“Is that a prophecy?” Luna asked.

“A hope,” he replied, softly.

The journey out of the Everfree Forest was easier than Tempest realized. Before long, the ponies had expertly navigated their way out of the cave, up the ravine, and to the outskirts of the forest, where, once again, they set out through the Everfree.

And for all of it, Tempest felt dragged along in a whirlwind of color, unsure of her short-term memories. It seemed as if one moment, they were all in the cave, and the next, they were reaching the edge of the forest of nightmares. What was going on? Was Tempest losing track of herself? Was she following because she had no other choice? Or because she honestly, genuinely wanted to? Really, it came down to this: did she have faith in her friends or not?

Friends.

Tempest found herself unable to confidently answer that. For now, she decided it was better to fake it till she made it.

Which was pretty much a step in the right direction the ponies wanted her to go. Tempest ignored that bit of logic for the moment, though.

“Yo, Tempest.”

Tempest eyed the speaker. Rainbow Dash was beside her. Tempest blew a harsh breath from her nose. “What?”

“Got a question. About the Storm King.”

Well, this would be an easier question than she normally had to endure. (Pinkie Pie had made a few inquiries earlier about if red velvet was her favorite cake) “Go ahead,” she whispered.

“Is he tracking you? Because I sure hope he isn’t. We already had to deal with Noxxa and Blueblood, and now we’re off to fight other ponies… in the Dragonlands. Go figure, I guess.”

“He will be hunting us,” Tempest confirmed as they emerged from the treeline of the Everfree and walked into an open grassland beneath the darkening skies, with boiling grey clouds threatening to spill its rain. “He does not take too well to personal challenges, Rainbow Dash. And we have provoked him. Especially me.” She gave a nod at Rainbow. “And you.”

Rainbow looked positively dumbfounded. “Me? I barely know the guy! Mount Aris was where we all first even knew about him! And I didn’t even do anything against him”

“Yes you did. You lopped off his horn with a flaming sword.”

“...Ohhh…”

“Yeah.”

“It was pretty awesome, yeah, but… Now what?”

“The Storm King never, ever forgets. And he forgives even less. And rainbows are pretty hard to forget, especially for a guy like him who hates all things cute. I know what he’ll do. He’ll come after you all, but his target is you. And he’ll chop off your legs, boil your hooves, and use that glue to seal your mouth and nose shut until you asphyxiate.”

Rainbow appropriately looked at a loss for words. But she took a mighty swallow and croaked, “You’re just exaggerating, right?”

Tempest narrowed her eyes.

“I-I mean, I hope you’re exaggerating.”

“Rainbow Dash,” Tempest said, all serious now. “The Storm King is your nemesis, whether you realize it or not. You, as an expert pegasus, don’t just oppose his power to control the weather. You represent everything he seeks to destroy: loyalty. He wants slavery, and manipulation. I see now that he manipulated me. Don’t let him manipulate you. If you turn, anyone can.”

Tempest’s voice had grown intense by the end of it. But more importantly, she was internally confused at her own advice. Why did it seem so important to let her know this? Why did she care that much?

“Hey, hey. Chillax. Don’t worry, Tempest. I’ll teach that guy a lesson. Nopony does that kind of thing to my friend!”

If it weren’t for the fact that they were walking, Tempest would have frozen. She did fall behind Rainbow’s pace, though. “What?”

“Uh, yeah!” Rainbow insisted, her eyes never leaving hers as she turned around, her mane whipping in the gathering wind that accompanied a thunderstorm. “I’ll stop any storm in its tracks if it means you’ll be safe… You’re my friend, right?”

Tempest was momentarily breathless. Rainbow was a myriad of color against the black backdrop of the sky, and her words had pierced her heart.

“I… Y-you... “ Tempest dropped her resistance in that moment. “Yes.”

Rain began to fall at that moment, and soon the ponies began to run through the wet grass, throwing droplets everywhere. After about ten minutes, during which they had gotten pretty much soaked, they managed to make it to the cavity of a large boulder on the edge of a gathering of trees. Soon after, the lightning started, flashing brighter than the noonday sun in long strings of plasma, and the thunder was so loud, it sounded like a cannon shot, rumbling the earth and making their ears twitch.

They didn’t have any wood for a fire (it was all soaked anyway) and Rainbow couldn’t stop the scheduled weather for the day, so they decided to use Firestorm’s swords as sources of heat and food. They ate a quick, sparse meal without saying much, and soon after began to fall asleep in the boulder’s blessed shelter, curling up as best they could to preserve each other’s body heat.

Before Tempest fell asleep, though, she noticed that Rainbow was close to the entrance, staring into the storming, furious night air, her eyes destitute and almost… scared.

Early the following Tuesday morning, after a tremendous rainstorm during the night, Glitz was helping three other ponies with the construction of a limber catapult on the top of the mountain. Luna was also on the pinnacle of the small mount, squinting at the distance.

"Come on, ya useless grunts!" came her brash encouragement to Luna's ears. "You want to spend all day putting this thing up?!"

The sound of rushed apologies and intensified working followed.

Luna, however, was preoccupied with lowering the moon to allow her sister to raise the sun. She paid no heed to Glitz's abrasive, scratchy voice.

She first saw it as she finished lowering the moon and the first rays of dawn emerged from the hills beneath. It was on the horizon, faint and blurry. And it wasn't good.

"They're here!" she announced.

Glitz abandoned the nearly-complete catapult immediately and rushed to the edge of the mountain. So did the other ponies who were up early enough. Every eye was narrowed, and soon, a scowl also was on their faces.

A long black line stretched from one end of the earth to the other. It was the Noxxa hordes finally assembling, far away, on the edge of a ridge that was on the other side of a valley separating the two forces.

Luna sniffed and ground a pebble into dust beneath her hoof. "Keep a perpetual lookout. If any movements are made, notify the closest officer immediately, and report it to me or Scorpan. Don't make any assaults, and always hold your positions."

For the rest of the day, Luna and Glitz patrolled the mountain, reinforcing weak spots and assuring the troops of their stability in spite of the nearby threat. While Luna was serene and motherly, Glitz's insensitive voice could likely be heard from the bottom of the mountain. Although it could never hold a candle to Luna's Royal Canterlot Voice, should she choose to unleash it.

The most noteworthy event occurred when Luna was helping build up a barrier around a crossbow nest on the slope of the mountain. She avoided looking up whenever she could. That black line on the horizon made chills run up her back. What were they capable of unleashing?

Glitz’s nearby voice scratched her eardrum. “GET THOSE PIKES MOVING! EVERY PIKE YOU STICK IN THE ROCKS IS ANOTHER DIRTY NOX PINNED IN MY BUG COLLECTION!”

Luna rolled her eyes at that. Noxxa disintegrated when they died. Her bug collection would be disappointing.

“Hey, Prophet. Get over here and help me assemble this wire trap, huh?”

Luna took a peek over the edge of her fortification. Scorpan was trudging his way over to the impatient Glitz, who had a rope coiled at her hooves. Scorpan’s stride was lopsided, and he looked pained.

“What’re ya waiting for?” Glitz demanded of the Prophet. “You’re one of the only guys here with claws I can trust. Tie this knot here so you can…” Glitz cut off when she noticed how pained his face looked. “Hey, what’s the matter with ya?”

Scorpan grimaced and stiffened his shoulders. “Old pain. It can cripple you if you work too hard for too long.”

“You really that old?” Glitz poked. “Yeesh. Get to work already.”

“I was Tirek’s brother,” Scorpan told her as he bent down and began to tie the knot in the trap. “I can’t help my age.”

Glitz looked taken aback. “You… what?” She blinked in astonishment. “Tirek’s brother?”

“Hard of hearing?” Scorpan wryly asked as he checked the knot. “You’re that old? Yeesh.”

Glitz stood still. She looked as if a stranger had just slapped her in the face.

“Yes. I had once invaded Equestria, intent on conquering the magic within this land. But a young pony called Star Swirl the Bearded taught me the value of friendship.”

Glitz shook her head. “Young. Feh. Ya old geezer.”

“My brother was… not as amused as you were.”

Scorpan disrobed the sackcloth he wore and threw it aside. The brown-furred gargoyle’s sweat clung to his body, but Glitz wasn’t focused on that. It was on his leathery wings. Or what remained of them. They bore the evidence of a bloody fight long ago which hadn’t healed properly: twisted the wrong way, snapped in multiple places, and dislocated joints. Glit's hoof was over her mouth, her eyes wide and horrified.

“He gave me this as a token of his brotherly love,” Scorpan murmured, clenching his fist as a spasm of pain wracked his spine. “In return, I splintered his horn and set his insides on fire. Solak Ethisi Wo.”

His fist burst into a coiling dance of black fire that traveled up his arm and into his shoulder, and Glitz jumped back, staring at his crackling arm the entire time.

“After I delivered him into Celestia’s hooves, I wandered the earth, directionless. Faust, however, found me and turned me into her prophet… the means of delivering Faust’s voice to the world.” He shook his arm, and the flames dissipated.

“You mean that frickin’ Goddess?” Glitz remarked. “Everyone’s been talking about her lately. Some people believe it, but a whole lotta don’t. You’re not doin’ so well as a mouthpiece, you know.”

“It’s not my place to dictate what you believe,” Scorpan replied with equal measure. “I am a simple watchman. It’s up to you to trust me.”

“I’ll only trust you if you manage to hold them back,” Glitz said, jabbing at the dark horizon filled to the brink with awaiting Noxxa. “If they’re as strong as you and Luna say they are, it’ll take a miracle to deliver us, or they’ll pummel this mountain to dust.”

“Don’t be too demeaning of the deity I speak for. The ability to destroy a mountain is insignificant next to the power of the Goddess.”

“What is the power of a Goddess to an unbeliever, Scorpan? I trust in my own hooves, and my own power alone. I don’t need some Goddess to look out for me as well.”

Scorpan thinned his lips. “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

“I find your wings disturbing. Why didn’t your precious Goddess save them?”

A flash of anger found its way into the grizzled Prophet’s eyes.

Glitz noticed this and scooted back quickly, fear rapidly encompassing her. Luna wanted to jump out from her fortification, but she held herself back; both parties were already simmering down. Scorpan had closed his eyes, sighed, and sat on his rear, looking away from Glitz. As for the unicorn, she took a few hesitant steps towards him, looking surprisingly remorseful for a mare with such hard lines in her brown face.

“H-hey. I’m… I’m sorry, okay? That was… out of line for someone who makes a big deal about discipline.”

Scorpan didn’t say anything.

Glitz sat beside him. “Look, if you want to be silent, it’s no big deal, but it’s immature if somepony’s apologizing.”

“Who broke my wings?” Scorpan asked quietly.

“...Tirek,” Glitz hesitantly answered.

“Whose choice was it to break my wings?”

“...Tirek,” Glitz said again, slower this time. She paused, then nodded. “Ah. I see.”

They didn’t say much more after that. After another moment of staring into the distance, Glitz told Scorpan he could go to the command center to rest.

The rest of the day went according to plan, and by the end of the day, their work was completed. The mountain range was covered from tip to base in death traps and fortifications. Anything in an eight hundred meter range would get peppered into oblivion with arrows and boulders, and the mountain was virtually non-scaleable.

The Noxxa, during all this time, made no moves. It was simply waiting in the distance. Like a predator cornering its prey.

Tuesday morning was quick. After stretching and repacking with a small cold breakfast, the ponies set out again. The lack of nutrition might have been a problem had the journey been a few weeks earlier. But to the ponies now, it was something they could do without for a day or two.

For Fluttershy, though, as they set out along the edge of the forest, moving southeast, she felt queasy. Just how much more of this could she take? No one could suffer forever.

Then she remembered that plenty of ponies had it worse off than she did. Twilight, for one. And Celestia, distraught and upset and running a country in wartime. Tempest, tortured and humiliated by both the Storm King and themselves until she had humbly agreed to come along. Not to mention the ponies in Ponyville who were conscripted for the war, and their wives and husbands.

It was a little trick Fluttershy used to make her sufferings seem lighter than they really were. Why should she complain? Compared to others, she was doing just fine! But this time, she felt… off about it. Something was wrong about her reasoning.

“Rainbow?” she asked; she was next to her at the moment.

Rainbow glanced at her. “Yeah, Flutters? What’s up?”

“I feel…” Fluttershy frowned. How to describe it? “Uneasy.”

To her surprise, instead of giving a sarcastic remark, Rainbow only sighed. “Speak for yourself. I’m on edge too.”

“What?” Fluttershy asked. “You? Never.”

Rainbow gave a short glare at her. “What, do you think you’re the only one who’s uneasy about all this?”

“It’s not about that!” Fluttershy defended. “And that’s the whole point. All this time, I’ve been rationalizing that I shouldn’t be uneasy, since we’re not as bad off as others. But lately, I’ve felt… like that isn’t enough. Like… the strength within myself… isn’t enough to face off my problems at full power. So I’ve been downplaying everything. But the, um... levity of our circumstances can’t be ignored. And I’m afraid I won’t be able to handle it.”

“Huh.” Rainbow looked surprised. “You know, if there’s one thing you’re good at, Fluttershy, it’s standing up to things you’re scared of.”

“I know,” Fluttershy mumbled.

“Just find your inner power,” Rainbow advised, hopping atop a fallen tree trunk as they walked, rising above Fluttershy the farther they went. “Everything you need is right inside yourself. I’m… working on that problem myself, if I gotta be honest.”

“Power?” Fluttershy muttered. “You mean inner strength?”

Rainbow dropped from the fallen trunk and trotted to keep pace with Fluttershy. “Power is doing something with the strength you have. It’s the ability to act, Fluttershy. What will you do with your power?”

Fluttershy hummed and tried to think. That question wasn’t easy.

“Y-you don’t have to think of an answer right now,” Rainbow reiterated. “Just… keep it in mind when you feel like taking action.”

“Where did you get this advice?” Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow Dash coughed. “Tempest.”

Suddenly it made sense. “Ah.”

“Look, it was all incidental, anyway.”

“What did you mean when you said you were working on this problem yourself?” Fluttershy asked.

Now it was Rainbow’s turn to look uneasy. “Um… the Storm King. He kinda sees me as his enemy now.”

“Now that’s just nonsense!” Fluttershy immediately chided. “We all fought against him at Mount Aris. Twilight was his main goal, Tempest betrayed him, and Noble Blade dueled him and cut off his leg. There’s plenty of foes he could choose from. You’re not his antithesis.”

“But I am!” Rainbow insisted. “I… Look, Shy, whether I like it or not, I’ll be the one to face him. He twisted my friend into evil!”

“Your friend? Tempest?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow said. “And he wants to kill us all. What, do you think I’d just stand back and cheer on the Guardians as they take him down? I’m in this fight too. I’ll make my mark. Staying by their side, especially in a hurricane of blood, is the whole point of being loyal.”

“... But you’re not sure if you can manage that?”

Rainbow sighed, kicking a pebble. “You got it.”

They didn’t have much time to say anything more after that. Soon after this, the group came across another open plain, but there wasn’t any grass in it this time. Just grey pebbles scattered on a layer of dark brown soil. A few sparse flowers poked up at odd places, but that just made it seem all the more pathetic. It was actually once a piece of farmland five acres wide, but had long been neglected by its bankrupt owner, leaving it desolate.

They crossed the plain without incident. By the time they had gotten back to softer grass, everyone had pebbles in their hooves and were hissing or grumbling their displeasure.

Fluttershy, however, had more important things on her mind. Personal power…

They continued hiking, going through the nearby woods once more to shave off more time. This small piece of woods wasn’t like the Everfree, but it was still a challenge to navigate. More rough terrain awaited them along the way, like staggered elevation changes and drops. They were only a foot tall, but it slowed them down. Roots, thorns, and fallen vegetation blocked most of their routes, but they cut through those and pressed grimly onward.

Once they emerged from the trees, they continued for a few hours until they had gotten to the base of a tall, grassy hill, with the setting sun from behind bathing it in golden light. Starlight announced that they would make camp on top of it and call it a day. Everyone agreed, and they quickly ascended until they reached the top.

Dinner that night was the flowers they found on the hill. They once again used Firestorm’s swords for heat and light as the world was gradually bathed in cool blue night and the emerging stars, according to an awed Rarity, “shone like sequins on a black dress.” This far away from any civilization, Fluttershy could indeed see for miles on top of that hill, and numberless concourses of beautiful stars.

It made Fluttershy feel very small indeed. But it also made her feel important, just because she got to see this beautiful tapestry of heavenly power.

As everyone was drifting off to bed, and Noble Blade was out like a log beside her, only Fluttershy’s head was still high, looking up and squinting to see how much of the dark heavens she could make out.

Was Fluttershy a star, too? But not just another prick in the endless expanse of the sky--one of the important ones, used for directing ponies on their journeys? Fluttershy felt a pang within herself. She needed direction before she could give it to others. She needed purpose.

The stars couldn’t give those to her. But she wished on them anyway.

On Wednesday morning, after she had lowered the moon and the sun was just beginning to rise, Luna was in the command center of Foal Mountain, which was a hoof-cut cave near the middle of the mountain’s ascent. Close enough to the action so it would be easy to command from the position, yet close enough to the base so orders and news from the base of the mountain could easily reach it.

Which is what happened as Luna was in the middle of overseeing a list of the provisions and munitions the ponies had on Foal Mountain. A pegasus conscript--Cloudkicker, Luna remembered her name was--appeared at the open mouth of the cave, panting, and wheezed out, “Urgent news… from the south!”

Luna’s attention was diverted immediately. She levitated the scroll from the lilac pegasus’ hoof, and immediately began to peruse it.

Almost instantly, her horn began to smolder with killing fury, and the edge of the scroll began to blacken and curl.

Cloudkicker looked appropriately taken aback, taking a nervous step out of the cave. “Um… L-luna? Should I… g-g-go?”

“NO,” Luna thundered, and Cloudkicker seemed to shrink. Luna corrected herself. “Gather Scorpan and Glitz and bring them here before you leave. We have a matter of grave importance on our hooves.”

Fifteen minutes later, Cloudkicker, true to orders, reappeared with Scorpan and Glitz’s shadows behind her. Giving a nervous laugh, she smiled exaggeratedly as the two of them entered, then before anyone could say anything more to her, she was out.

Glitz gave Luna a questioning, scathing eye. “What is it, Luna? I was finally having a proper hot breakfast, but then Cloudkicker decided that was the time to pick me off my flank and drag me back here.” She took a swig from a tin canteen.

“There’s a sizeable force of Noxxa approaching from the south.”

Glitz spat out her coffee with bulging eyes, then growled and glared at Luna. “You deliberately chose the time to do that too, didn’t you?” she irritably asked.

“How can this be?” Scorpan asked. “Did we not keep a proper lookout to notice them circling around our position?”

“That’s not the case,” Luna refuted. “None of the pegasus scouts found any movements. To have a substantial number of them break off and circle around would not only be noticeable, but also time-consuming. They just didn’t have the time to organize a force, move all around the mountains, and then for no reason go fifty miles south of us.”

“Fifty miles?!” Glitz exclaimed. “But how did they get them there, then? Did they send a fleet?”

“No. That would have also taken time, and we would have noticed that, too. This, here… they appeared almost instantly. Like daisies popping out of the ground.”

“What other news is there?” Glitz demanded.

“Dodge City and Baltimare have fallen simultaneously,” Luna reported, examining the letter. “And the Noxxa had joined forces in between the two cities after their swift takeover of both. They began marching north today.”

“They’re fast,” Glitz remarked drily.

“They’ll be here by nightfall tomorrow!” Scorpan declared, a hint of fear in his otherwise passive tone.

“We can’t fight a war on two fronts,” Luna told the two of them, standing at her tallest. “However they appeared, we must take the first action, or we’ll get sandwiched between their pincers.”

“You mean launch a preemptive strike?” Glitz asked. “You have to realize, our emplacements aren’t entirely set up yet. And besides, they’re out of the range of our catapults anyway. You thinking of a cavalry charge? Those have a horrific death rate.”

“No, of course not, Glitz. Somehow, we need to get rid of the Noxxa to our south. But we need to do it quickly, and with one blow, or else the Noxxa to the north will strike and overrun our weakened defenses.”

Glitz twisted her mouth into an ugly, grim line. “I hate this. Well then, what’re you gonna do? Send Scorpan to the south?”

“That was my thought.”

“What does their army look like?”

“We don’t know. There’s no number estimate… likely because it was too big to approximate precisely.”

“Him, alone, against an entire army? And without him here, and the Noxxa to the north vastly larger, our forces couldn’t handle their assault if they charged.”

"I know," came Luna's forlorn response.

“Then get Celestia or Cadence down here to replace his absence!”

“Celestia is taking care of the home front matters, and Cadence is leading her troops in the Crystal Empire, should the Noxxa change their course to the west. This is the best we can do.”

Glitz ground her teeth so hard, it sounded like she was chewing sand. Her eyes seemed to quiver, like her eye sockets were boiling.

“I will go,” Scorpan solemnly said. He put his burly hands behind his crooked back. “I will hold them off long enough for you to repel the north army.”

“Your purpose isn’t to die!” Glitz scolded him instantly.

Scorpan huffed, narrowing his eyes at his newest friend. “What do you think I’m going to do, walk out with an arrow pointing at me, saying, ‘come and get it?’ The whole idea is not to die. I’ll stay alive so I can fight, and if I fight, I’ll buy you time.”

Glitz looked incensed. She stood defiantly as tall as she could, which didn’t make that much of a difference to a creature as tall as Scorpan. “We don’t need time! We need stronger forces!”

“I will give you the time to strengthen your forces,” Scorpan insisted. “The longer we waste time here, the closer the enemy gets. We will not fight a war where we’re surrounded.”

“I know,” Glitz insisted. “But still, I don’t… want you to go…”

Luna said nothing. She was watching with a heightened level of interest, having nothing to say.

“I know why you don’t,” Scorpan reassured her. “Let me promise this much: I won’t try to die.”

“That’s not much of a promise,” Glitz growled. “Like you said, the whole point of war is not to die for your country. It’s to make the other guy die for his.”

“Well spoken,” Scorpan told her.

Silence befell them. Glitz and Scorpan stared into each other’s eyes with equal force. Luna decided not to say anything.

“...You promise?” Glitz asked, much softer than her usual tone.

“I do.” Scorpan’s voice was gentle. He bent his knees so he and Glitz were on equal eye level, and delicately cupped her scraggly cheek. “I promise, in the name of the Goddess.”

Glitz blinked a few times before taking her cheek out of Scorpan’s gentle claws. “Don’t make a promise you can’t keep, Scorpan.”

“I will keep it because I made it, Glitz.”

Glitz gave a heavy nod. “Fine, then. Go. Get out of here and do your country proud.”

“Right now?” Luna mildly asked.

“Oh, no, he should have a cup of tea first. Of course I mean right now, Luna! The tide of war waits for nopony!”

And so Scorpan was subsequently taken to a chariot in the unloading zone. Two pegasi were promptly hitched up, and the broken Scorpan, covered with heavy cloth, stamped into the chariot lopsidedly. His clenched fists, however, were anything but broken.

Luna watched the chariot disappear into the distance, her eyes hurting from the light of her sister’s sun. When she could see no more, she turned to the nearby Glitz, glaring at the Prophet’s back with a tear on her cheek.

Glitz caught Luna’s eye, then snorted and wiped it away. “What are you looking at?”

Luna, in spite of it all, smirked.

To Twilight, it barely seemed like a moment between the time she had fallen asleep and when Starlight Glimmer was shaking her awake. She blinked eye crud out of her face as her pupil shook her body. “Star…?”

“Hush!” she insisted. She looked scared out of her mind. “Stay low and stay quiet.”

That made Twilight fully awake in a second. “What’s happening?” she whispered.

“Look over the hilltop,” Starlight told her. “They only showed up recently. We’re waking the rest now.”

They. Twilight tensed. That could mean only one thing. She rolled onto her stomach, deep in the wet grass, and inched her way to the edge of the hilltop, where Fluttershy, Rarity, Freedom Fighter, and Applejack were also peeking over. When Twilight saw it, she grimaced.

The scenery awaiting them would be ordinarily gorgeous. The sky above them was blue and cloudless, with nothing tall around to obstruct their view. The sun was also barely rising in the distance, right in their eyes, but illuminating the long shadows of what lay beneath. There was a great bowl-like basin created by a circle of tall hills, all without any trees, but covered with lush grass.

And moving through this basin like some evil, massive flood were hordes of black Noxxa, pouring endlessly into it from the south.

“When did they get here?” Rarity hissed.

“Are they the ones that’ve just emerged from their hiding spots?” Applejack pondered.

“If they are,” Fluttershy added quietly, “the cities to the south must have been overrun!”

“How many are there? To take the cities down and then move up north... Maybe they met up at some point,” Rarity suggested.

Freedom Fighter said nothing. But his fiery eyes and trembling, clenched hooves spoke more than his mouth ever could.

They were too far away to count. But a few stood out. Noxxa varied in size, and below was no exception. Most of the Noxxa below were the size of a normal pony. But some Noxxa stood high above the rest, tremendous and bulky, the size of a train car or a house. These armored Noxxa were put to the task of hauling even more enormous siege engines--catapults, ballistas, assault towers. Some of the engines had two throwing arms. Some had three. Some were made of iron, and some from simple wood.

But one of them at the front stood out to Twilight--a six-wheeled iron behemoth easily eighty feet in length, looking like a deformed, long box on wide wheels. Ballistas were at either end of it, but what concerned Twilight were the rudimentary cannons on the front and rear. She knew the power of cannon damage from the pirates after Mount Aris. On top of all that, it moved by itself. Smoke belched from its rear like some smoky apparition, and even from far away she could hear the faint creaks it made as the monster rolled along at a snail’s pace.

The entire army was all pressed together as it slogged through the basin, moving at the slow pace of the siege engines. It reminded Twilight of moving sludge. It was slow, but the front line was already at the halfway point of crossing the faraway basin.

The rest of the ponies had joined them by that point. Sleep’s importance had been shoved aside at the threat beneath them. None of them dared to expose themselves too high.

“What do we do?” Spike whispered to Rarity.

“I… Um… Twilight, what do we do?” Rarity passed along.

Twilight felt every eye turn on her.

“Well, what do you want to do?” Twilight returned.

“Face them,” Rainbow replied.

“Fight them,” Firestorm said at the same time.

“Hold on a cotton-pickin’ minute, now, you two. There are twelve of us, and about ten thousand of them.”

“I like those odds,” Tempest said.

“This is unrealistic. We can’t win this!” Rarity exclaimed.

“Anything is possible with the magic of friendship on your siiide~” Pinkie Pie tried to persuade.

“I agree with Rarity,” came Noble’s voice, cutting through the discussion. “How can we deliver a substantial wound to this army? We’d get subjugated or killed. They have superior force and numbers.”

“But we have greater firepower,” Firestorm brought up. “The Elements of Harmony, remember?”

“It’s too risky,” Fluttershy put in. “What if we lose them? It’d be wasted.”

“Nothing is wasted if it means killing Noxxa,” Tempest said.

“Kill them all.”

Freedom Fighter’s sudden growl made everyone forget what they were going to say. His face was contorted into something feral. His eyes glittered intensely. Everyone knew that for Freedom Fighter, this was a personal matter.

“They must not be allowed to go further north,” Freedom Fighter stated. “We slaughter them, here and now.”

“I agree with that too,” Noble quickly said. “The issue I see is that we don’t know how.”

“Are they reconvening with the army moving from Manehattan?” Starlight asked aloud, squinting at the advancing army. “If so, then that means they’re gathering strength to attack someplace serious. So the army up north isn’t going to move until this contingent reaches them. If this doesn’t reach them in time, we’ll bog the main force down, and they’ll lose their battle against whatever they’re trying to attack.”

“What could they be attacking?” Fluttershy asked Twilight’s pupil. “The Crystal Empire?”

“That’s likely. Or a defensive position in their way to Canterlot. They’ll want to avoid the long way west and head straight for Canterlot itself. But the only defensive position between here and Manehattan is-”

“-Foal Mountain,” Pinkie Pie glumly finished.

The implication hit everyone at once. They were devising a pincer attack to crush Equestria’s forces between two fronts. The victory was practically already decided.

“Then,” Pinkie sighed, “we need to stop them.”

It was uncharacteristically melancholic of Pinkie to say that. And Twilight knew that it was during these times when Pinkie was most unstable.

“No matter what,” Applejack continued. It was hard for her to say, Twilight observed.

“But what if… we face disaster again?” Fluttershy pointed out. “The mirror portal. The Appaloosa camp. We might fail.”

“We might also win,” Rainbow Dash said with confidence.

“If I may,” Tempest spoke up. “This army alone is the size of yours. Equestria’s forces would be obliterated.”

“So would we,” Twilight argued. “Even with the Elements… I just…” She searched for words before whispering, “I just… don’t want to lose you. You mean… so much...”

Silence befell them all.

Noble Blade, however, was looking into the crossguard of his sword, which was in its scabbard in his arms. The Element of Honor sparkled a deep blue, matching his narrowed, thinking eyes. Twilight knew what was running through his head. How he got that Element. A reminder. Certainly of the death of Blueblood. But also of the promise of Faust.

“Our eternal mother…” Noble said slowly, looking up, “is with us all.” He gripped the hilt of his blade. “She will not let us fall. Even while I was in the shadow of death… she delivered me.” He paused, his eyes quivering, but his lips firm. “We must fight.”

Most of the ponies absorbed that in, taking various times to reflect on it. However, soon, each of them looked resolute at last.

Twilight blinked hard, and her voice was croaky. “What do you say, then?” She gulped. “Will you go against them in battle?”

A chorus of yes greeted her. Some responded with less enthusiasm than others. But all of them said yes.

A consciousness in her head, familiar to her since the very start of her journey, delivered these voiceless words: You are protected, Twilight. You will prevail.

“Oh, if every pony could have Faust as a mother,” Tempest remarked, cynically but solemnly.

Twilight almost forgot about Tempest’s refusal to acknowledge the Goddess. Would Faust protect her too?

The answer was astonishingly simple.

As if it was the screech of an enraged animal, a single scream broke through the morning, cutting through all other weak, tremulous sounds in its path. The devils of utter night came to a stop. As if it were a ghostly howl in their ancient nightmares, the second scream pricked their hearts and made them gasp in pain. It held tremendous power, and the promise of destruction--the will of its wielder, a servant of the sun.

The first rays of the sun touched lightly upon the crest of the westernmost hill, illuminating the sole figure standing on his hind legs and making the enormous symbol carved into the dirt beneath him noticeable to any in the enemy army below. One unlucky bug did, draped in that cursed emotion called fear, and cried out. It drew attention from others nearby, who gaped in horror at what was etched into the side of the tall hill. News traveled fast, and before long, all the devils were looking up into the sun-soaked hilltop. The advance stopped in its tracks, for how could one progress if the power of your greatest enemy is all around you? Noxxa cringed at the sight, convulsing, screaming, crying. The nightmares had a nightmare, too. It was him.

The Unforgiven, once silent and now screaming for the third time, was catching the fire of the sun on the staff above his head. It was blazing yellow, as golden as his face, contorted with the will to purge this vile stain, to destroy all they held sacred, to scatter the earth with their ashes. And the ashes already in the earth beneath him was the symbol they had so mockingly branded him with--a mirrored U, the symbol of the Unforgiven.

To either side of this mythic demigod came other distant figures, bathed a golden glow in the firelight of Celestia’s sun. The Mistress of the Plains, The Blood of Life, The Last Hero, and a sapphire Knight Protector, stripped of his armor, but not of his resolve. The Dreadful Bear, The Dragon Lord, The Huntress, and The Daughter of Thunder. Jewels of blinding light shone from their bodies, even from those without an Element.

But this all was a ruse, a means of distraction. Far above, far above, where once great things are rendered small, three streaks of light fired like a loosed arrow to the ground. The Stormkeeper shot down like a comet. The Raging Inferno blazed all in his path like a meteor.

And the Child of Light slowed and hovered above the devils, as the spiraling rainbow and firebolt danced together in a double helix. The air was ripped apart as the pair of pegasi reached a supersonic speed, aiming in an acute angle at the rear of the black army. They glowed brightly and screeched before the eruption.

And in an explosion of color that caused the earth itself to tremor and reel like it was drunk, a halo of a fiery rainbow erupted only two hundred feet above the surface. Shooting in a circle, the colors of the rainbow crackled and snapped in a hot ring, blasting the upstanding siege towers into burning splinters and raining like hail upon the Noxxa.

The Child of Light fired a heavy blast of royal, majestic violet down into the base Noxxa, and earth was thrown into the air like a geyser.

And with a roar, the ponies on the hill charged like war horses straitly into war and blood, ash and fire.

Chapter Seventy-five: Elemental Fury

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The shockwave accompanying the double Flameboom rippled like a wave across the earth. None of the war engines were damaged enough to cripple them, but the wave was dizzying and paralyzing to the infantry. Moreover, the siege towers at the blast’s height were blown into splinters and fell upon the confused, terrified Noxxa below and sowing more chaos as small flames blossomed on the grass.

Then came the blasts of magic from the hovering Twilight. The purple beams spread out at random to bombard the battlefield far below with small explosions that threw up purple-tinged dirt and smoke. Twilight was using small-scale explosions at first, but the Element of Magic on her head pumped up her magical power and reserves so much, even her small blasts felt much more powerful, and yet didn't even drain her strength.

To Twilight, she reasoned that one could consider this encounter lucky. They could do something to relieve the load on their armies with the power of the Elements. Wasn't that one of their purposes?

They were charging down the hill right now, screaming their hearts out, for their country and for the future. Twilight, however, thought they were fighting for another reason--the same reason Freedom Fighter held in his heart. They hated the Noxxa. And really, who wouldn't?

They charged into the enemy flank, blasting and tearing their way in colorful streaks through the dreary black of the enemy. Twilight stopped her magic blasts for fear of hurting them. She didn't dare get closer, either. She served a different purpose.

Rarity screamed as she charged, pulsing her horn brightly to form a shield as she crashed into the enemy flank. Noxxa jabbed at her as she ran, but spears bent and arrows flew aside. The army was disorganized, and their troops weren't in the proper position to respond to an attack from their sides. So Rarity's path was mostly unhindered, except for the weapons thrust into her shield.

Rarity's plan was simple. She figured she would spread out, get to a siege engine, disable it with her magic, and use the debris as a weapon, like at Mount Aris and the Appaloosa hideout. But something was nagging at her. Something important.

What will my Element do? she thought as she ran. Will it deliver me? Her power should be similar to the power the human Rarity had. But how to summon it?

By then, Rarity had reached the side of a three-limbed catapult turret and jumped onto the wooden platform. After kicking a Noxxa’s legs out from under him and tossing him off, she began to precariously navigate her way up the slant of the catapult structure. Her horn was burning into her head as she tugged at the splinters in the wood, broke them up into sharp spears, and shot them into the faces of the furious Noxxa scrambling up below her.

Her magic went to work as she ran, unraveling ropes and bending small beams in half. It made Rarity’s head hurt from the amount of magic she was using. But it was having an effect; one of the catapult’s arms was drooping to the side, separated from the other arms from a break in the deck.

Rarity’s mind was quick. Groaning more from the magical strain, she enveloped the catapult arm in magic and tugged so hard, the catapult arm creaked, snapped, and finally completely broke free of the deck and toppled to the side into the sea of Noxxa trying to clamber onto the siege engine. Black dust flew up, and the catapult shattered.

But more Noxxa were clambering up the opposite side with scrabbling limbs, slashing at the air with their jagged blades and screeching like ravens. Rarity turned towards them and fired shot after shot at those that came up. But by the time she had started, more Noxxa were climbing from other directions. The back and front and sides were all unsafe, and Rarity found herself on the highest spot of the engine: the raised counterweight of the middle cocked catapult.

Looking down into the sea of black, she spotted something pink bounding towards her, throwing off those in the crowd who reached for it. Rarity turned her attention to the pink blob growing closer, and made a split-second decision and enveloped it in her magic, lifting it high above the roiling ocean of demons.

Pinkie Pie floated up to Rarity, who cut off her magic and made Pinkie drop next to her, and atop Pinkie's back was Spike, holding one of Firestorm's swords in his hands.

He slipped off Pinkie's back, ran to Rarity, and hugged her briefly before looking up with gratitude shining in his eyes. "Thank goodness you were nearby! I thought we were done for."

"You doin' good?" Pinkie asked Rarity as confidently as ever, even as demons managed to climb to the payload on the opposite end of the catapult arm.

"I'll have to think about that!" Rarity replied anxiously, keeping an eye on the opposite end. They were so close!

"Have you figured out how to use the Elements yet?" Pinkie followed up, getting into a guarding stance as the Noxxa climbed higher.

"No!" Rarity admitted. "And I don't have the time!"

"Tap into its power!" Pinkie advised, reaching into her hair and pulling out a hoof full of sprinkles. "You don't have to be around everyone else! Use it as you would normally!"

The Element around her neck began to shine brightly, and the sprinkles in her hoof began to glow and shake. Pinkie leaped into the air and hurled the sprinkles in a wide sweep, quickly disappearing into the frothing black army below.

Several seconds later, bright pink explosions began to pepper the black sea below. Pieces of the catapult broke off in splinters and Noxxa incinerated in half-a-dozen groups under the explosions.

Rarity's jaw dropped. Since when…?

"My Element turns anything I touch into a bomb!" Pinkie exclaimed. "What can yours do, Rarity?"

Rarity faltered as she tried to think, but it was too long. In that small time frame of distraction, a Nox leaped up from below them, landed on the upraised counterweight, and swiped his claw at the surprised Rarity, who leaned back instinctively right before. It ripped open the skin on her forehead and sent blood everywhere, and if she hadn’t leaned back, it would have torn out her brains.

Spike roared and shoved Firestorm’s sword through his crunchy shell, and threw the squirming thing off the edge of the counterweight. “Rarity! You okay?”

Rarity was wincing and groaning as hot red blood ran down her pale face and cheeks and got into her eyes and nose. “I… I need time!”

“There is no time!” Pinkie screamed, prying up a splinter from the arm of the catapult and hurling it into the crowd coming up the arm, exploding in a pink burst. “Tap into it!”

Rarity’s strength was failing, and her vision was blurry. There was no other option. She needed to call upon its power, but would she have enough time to do it? All that was left to do was try. Letting out a groan of pain, she opened herself up to the power of the Element on her neck.

It felt like hot chocolate was running through her veins and her legs were being propped up, relieving her strength. She felt something tremendously powerful inside of her manifest outside of her body. Like frost forming on a field of grass, a layer of clear crystallization began to cover her legs and chest. Her mane and tail hardened into something flexible like cardboard, but tougher than aluminum. Her body began to glow a bright blue from inside her crystallized shell.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah!" Spike let out, stumbling back from Rarity's glowing form. "What're you-"

With an involuntary glow of her horn, a deep rumble came beneath the earth, startling Rarity and making her look over the edge of her vantage. Erupting out of the earth from all over the field came jewels and diamonds of every color and shape, glittering in the rising sun's light as they hovered in place for a moment. Then, without Rarity even realizing it, they zipped towards the Noxxa swarming around her catapult.

The jewels cut and ripped through enemy after enemy like a rain of glass shards. As swirling color surrounded their vision, Noxxa disappeared in clouds of dust.

Pinkie Pie, initially stunned, began to whoop and holler, jumping in place as the enemy was cut down from the deadly jewels. "Yeah! YEAH! NO ONE CAN DEFLECT THE SAPPHIRE SPLASH!"

Rarity figured that was just what she called the swarm of jewels. Focusing her will, she discovered that she could reach out and touch each crystal effortlessly with her magic. The jewels stopped their swarm around the catapult and hovered in place, surrounded by a blue light that Rarity was sweating to keep up.

The instant she stopped the swirling swarm, she was able to notice the furious Nox who had been pulling it, the size of a railroad car, slam into the catapult and splinter it in half with a colossal crack.

Rarity, Spike, and Pinkie Pie were thrown off with screams, flying through the air as the Nox snapped the thick, limber arm like a twig. Pinkie desperately reached out and snatched Rarity and Spike with her arms as they plummeted to the earth.

And they would have died on impact if Pinkie's tail hadn't sprung like a trampoline right before they hit the ground. With a cartoonish boing, all three of them hit the ground on Pinkie's tail, flipped into the air, and tumbled for a few rough seconds before coming to a halt.

Spike groaned and blearily stood up, only to get tackled by a screaming Nox and pinned to the ground, his sword skittering away. Desperately keeping the snapping fangs away from him by holding his gnawing face, Spike puckered his lips and blew a stream of green flame through the Noxxa’s brain like a blowtorch. The Nox faltered and became crumbly, and Spike shoved him off and he turned into dust.

Rarity was still losing blood from her forehead, and it was staining the crystals coating her like a shell. She took in her surroundings quickly. They had landed in a clearing of debris, with snarling, snapping Noxxa all around them eyeing them with fear and fury.

Chaos reigned among the battlefield. Burning remains of catapults and siege towers littered the land like seeds in a field. Small flames crackled on the plains, sowing even more confusion and disarray among the Noxxa ranks. The six-wheeled machine was encircling the field, blasting smoke into the air as it rumbled and squeaked at a run like the world’s biggest mouse. Cannon fire boomed out of the slots in its armor like thunder.

Twilight shone like a purple star high in the sky, not doing anything at the moment except observing. A crackling net of electricity thrashing about and a concussive blast or two of pure shockwaves in the earth let her know Tempest and Applejack were fighting together. Meanwhile, eruptions of blue power from further ahead told her that Noble Blade was doing his work mercilessly. And Rarity couldn’t imagine Fluttershy was anywhere else but with him. The air was filled with swooping rainbows from Rainbow Dash’s tail as she encircled the area, not letting any outliers escape. Firestorm was behind her and surrounded by Noxxa, roaring and burning with explosions in the heat of battle.

And then there was Freedom Fighter. Paired with Starlight Glimmer in the middle of the field, they made an invincible combination of melee and ranged attacks. While Starlight kept the hordes at bay with ever-pulsing magic, Freedom Fighter would catch the Noxxa and butcher them all with one sweep of his glowing staff, stopping only momentarily between bodies. No Nox could ever match him in fury, in power, in hunger.

Pinkie, and Spike, meanwhile, barely got to their hooves before the Noxxa surrounding them closed in from every direction. And barreling right for Pinkie like a freight train was the huge Nox that had split the catapult.

Right as the Nox chopped its claw down to impale Pinkie on the tip, Pinkie launched herself into the air like an arrow and smacked into the beast's face, sending him stumbling. The force flung her back towards the ground, but Pinkie bounced back again on impact and shot forward and hit him in the face again. The mighty beast barely had time to regain his footing before Pinkie bounced back yet again and punched him in the eye with a swing of her hoof.

"You think you stand a chance?!" Pinkie's maniacal voice screamed as the speed of the attack grew and grew, and Pinkie was suddenly a blur on her path from the ground to his face. "It's useless! Useless useless useless useless useless useless useless useless useless useless USELESS!"

With a mighty swing on her last rebound, Pinkie uppercutted the huge Nox, and he was lifted off his legs and went sprawling on the battlefield, crashing into the remains of the tri-armed catapult.

It was at that moment when the rolling tank managed to aim one of its mounted ballistae right at the landing pink pony. With a desperate release of its ropes, the huge arrow shot right at Pinkie.

Rarity, however, saw this a split second before Pinkie did and jumped in front of the monstrous projectile's path, swinging her arms up. The diamonds coating them managed to stop the arrow and spin it high into the air, but it flung Rarity painfully back to the ground.

Pinkie, meanwhile, jumped into the air after the spinning arrow, and with a downward kick changed the huge arrow's trajectory so it shot right into the huge Nox. With a crunchy squelch, the arrow embedded itself into the ground behind him.

“Oh, you think that’s bad?” Pinkie screamed above the chaos as she landed once more. “I touched it, remember?”

And true to her word, the huge arrow in the gasping Nox glowed a bright pink before exploding in an eruption that tore the earth asunder.

Rarity, standing up, was knocked momentarily back to the earth, but stood up once more in time to notice the hordes of Noxxa rush in on every side in furious anger upon the behemoth’s death. Spike was at her side, helping her stand up, and Rarity quickly slung him on her back. Rarity acted on instinct as death surrounded her; her attacks came quick and hard as she quickly became completely enveloped by the enemy. Enormous diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, rubies, and all other types of jewels erupted from the nearby ground and shredded any Nox unlucky enough to be in its path.

She couldn’t see the others anymore; all she could focus on was her own life and her own survival. Always keep your magic up. Punch the beasts that come within hoof-range. Let Spike unleash a torrent of flame every so often to repel them. Build up your diamonds coating your skin so every strike delivers death. No other thoughts came through to her, even as her body began to grow weary. Fight or die. And she wasn’t intending on dying, not here, not now.

As Tempest and Applejack fought side by side to repel the hordes striking at them every moment, Tempest had to use effort to take her eyes off Applejack. Shooting out of her body were multiple light yellow whips that cut multiple Noxxa in half with every strike, and every crack was like a blinding strike of lightning. Tempest’s own lightning wasn’t nearly as versatile as Applejack’s ability was, though.

Tempest fired a blinding, unsteady stream of lightning through a war wagon and it exploded, rattling her clenched teeth. Applejack redirected five whips to weave around and ensnare ten Noxxa. Lifting them up, she tightened her grip, and they were all cut in half and turned to ash. Both of them screamed with battle rage instinctually, and the enemies around them fell back temporarily.

“How are you that skilled at this?” Tempest yelled as a lull in the fighting occurred.

Applejack panted as the yellow whips dissipated into the necklace. “Let’s jus’ say… Ah had some practice with this sort o’ thing in Maretropolis.”

“Maretropolis? Where’s that?”

“In a, uh, comic book.”

“How does that work?”

“Hon, you wouldn’t believe me if Ah told ya.”

A clear bell-like ring sounded in Tempest’s mind at that moment, and Tempest perked up. Strangely, Applejack did the same. But there was no indication any of the Noxxa had heard.

This is Twilight, the voice said. I can talk to you all with the help of my Element. Listen. I have a plan. Target the catapults and other siege engines, but leave about half a dozen of them intact. Let the Noxxa know they need to use them to get rid of me.

“What?” Tempest said out loud at the same time as Applejack. What did Twilight mean, get rid of her?

Trust me. This’ll work. Stay away from the six-wheeler, though. I have a plan for that. Applejack, you’re up.

Tempest could only imagine Applejack was wary of Twilight’s plans, especially considering the last plan, which had resulted in the loss of Appleoosa. But nevertheless, Applejack looked ready to receive instruction, even as more Noxxa were coming at her.

Take the vehicle with as little collateral damage as possible. Kill everyone you see.

Applejack gave Tempest a look of regret before giving a reluctant nod and charging off towards the faraway machine, leaving Tempest alone to deal with the approaching forces.

Tempest let her horn overcharge, and the excess lightning flowed into her King Metal hooves and chest. Leaping right at the column of Noxxa, she hit the ground hoof-first with a punch, and a blast of plasma instantly fried everything around her and sent singed dirt flying.

From what she could see, the other ponies were taking Twilight’s advice to heart. Even as Applejack was hurtling towards the rumbling machine, which was firing indiscriminately into the fray, catapults and ballistas were being broken on every side.

Firestorm wasn't one for hesitating once an order was given. So he broke off his own attack in the rear of the column and flew up into the air, scanning the field below for targets.

Through all the smoke and flames, he spotted blobs of white and pink in the center of the field, surrounded by roiling black. And there were plenty of war machines turning to face them.

So he shot right at the nearest ballista, flame gathering around him, and crashed with an explosion into the siege engine. The delicate wooden ballista blasted apart in flaming chunks of wreckage, and Firestorm jumped out of the ensuing wreck and shot right at a trebuchet lining up. With a swipe of his wing, he cut the rope holding the counterweight up, and it crashed into the deck beneath it, collapsing the entire structure.

Looking around, he saw a fountain of jewels shoot out and splinter apart a monongel like a storm of cannon fire, flinging parts into the Noxxa hordes. But the white and pink blobs were almost overwhelmed.

Without a moment’s pause he flew like a loosed arrow directly over the heads of the Noxxa, pulsing bright with flame and incinerating those beneath him. Firestorm bellowed and slammed into the earth at that speed, spewing dirt and fire in every direction and carving a path right through the field.

As he crawled out of the end of his crater with his flame dying out, he saw Rarity, Spike, and Pinkie Pie in a circle, but all staring at him.

"I thought you were a swordspony, not a suicide bomber!" Rarity remarked. To his surprise, she was coated with diamonds and stained with blood.

"Well, what's the difference?" he retorted, igniting the flames around him again, but drawing his sword.

"Guys!" Spike interrupted, gesticulating wildly. To the west, Rainbow Dash was being pinned down in the air avoiding arrows and javelins. "We need to help her!"

Pinkie was the first to notice. "Dashie!" She jerked her head at Rarity, who had just sent a long emerald spike through three Noxxa at once. "Gimme a bunch of jewels!"

Rarity turned to Pinkie, thought for a second, and stomped the ground. Immediately a collection of tiny crystals popped out of the ground, and she collected them in her magic and proffered them to Pinkie.

Pinkie rubbed her hoof quickly all over the crystals to make them glow dangerously, then pointed it where Rainbow was evading the arrows and spears. "Fire!"

Rarity shot the jewels like flak from a gun, and they flew over the heads of those Noxxa before exploding mid-air. The clusters of explosions flattened the earth beneath them and spread flame even further among the ruined field.

One lucky arrow shot, however, managed to get past it all and hit Rainbow in the chest, which mercifully didn’t penetrate her skin due to being stopped by the Element of Loyalty. But the impact created a sudden charge in the air. Rainbow curled up in the air before being flung into the air like a ragdoll as a blinding surge of blue lightning erupted from her chest and tore apart the earth beneath her.

Rainbow miraculously managed to direct her body so the lightning coming out of the Element shot through a siege tower and still blew apart a collection of wagons a hundred yards off. After the lightning disappeared, however, Rainbow fell to the earth beneath, but regained consciousness right before impact and hovered in the air two feet above the black plain, singed, dirty, and severely weakened.

All understanding what needed to be done, Rarity, Pinkie, Spike, and Firestorm hurried over. The battlefield in their area by now had been depleted of enough forces to allow them to get to Rainbow in time to collapse in exhaustion. But terrible ebony still encompassed them about, simply waiting for the opportunity to all strike at once.

“That was some lightning!” Rarity commented, taking Rainbow’s hoof and standing her up. “You okay?”

Rainbow certainly didn’t look it; her mane was spiked and her face was singed black, and her legs wobbled as much as her wavering voice between heaving breaths. “I-I’m fine! Just… took a lot out of me, is all. I… I don’t know if…”

“That’s okay.” Rarity understood completely. “We should stick together now. Keep the Noxxa busy for now so the others can take out the outlying catapults!”

“What about that tank?” Spike asked, pointing. The enormous tank had been rolling mercilessly through everything in its path, firing cannons at the ponies it passed; it was hard to steer or turn around quickly enough to lock on to one target. And it was coming right for them right now, bearing down with spiked ten-foot-high wheels and a fearsome iron ballista atop a two-story chassis.

“Applejack’s gonna take it uninjured, so we can’t destroy it,” Firestorm answered, pounding one fist against the other. “But we can make her job easier. Spike, want a ride?”

“Uh, what do you mean?”

There was a gleam in Firestorm’s eyes. “We’re gonna take out their cannons!”

Spike looked scared, though. “O-on second thought-”

Firestorm grabbed Spike’s hand, took off, and flew right at the tank bearing down on them, Spike being dragged behind and screaming.

The pegasus swerved to the right of the tank right before impact and tossed Spike onto the end of a protruding cannon barrel. “Breathe fire down it!” he instructed, then took off to the other side of the tank.

Spike was gripping onto the top of it for dear life with one hand, the other holding Firestorm’s sword, which had curiously enough deactivated. As soon as that cannon fired, he was gonna do it! He didn’t want to risk his head being suddenly blown off, after all.

But those thoughts changed when he saw where that cannon was being aimed: He was looking right at Rarity! He needed to do it now before they-!

A colossal explosion rocked the tank and made it swerve, making Spike fall off the top. His legs still gripped the cannon barrel, so he was hanging upside down, but his heart pounded ever harder against his chest. Had Firestorm taken out a cannon on his side?

It didn’t change the fact that he still had a job to do, and quickly. He gripped the lip of the barrel and pulled his head up quickly into the cannon’s mouth. Sucking in a breath, he blew a cloud of emerald flame into the weapon.

It sparked the gunpowder at the end of it, and the cannon blew apart on the inside, rocking the tank once more. Spike’s feet lost their footing, and he was dangling precariously from the end of the ruptured cannon with one hand. The sound of creaking metal filled his ears like a banshee’s shriek.

And to his left, Firestorm came into view. He didn’t have a nimbus of flame around him and he was curiously using his flamethrowers instead of his Element, which looked plain and dull now. What was going on?

Firestorm was coiling a ball of flame between his hooves like he was shaping a ball of clay. He was so close Spike could feel the flame emanating off him. He hurled the fireball down another cannon barrel, and the cannon exploded just like Spike's had, but a piece of hot shrapnel hit him right in the gut, and he screamed and was thrown back.

Spike, in a split second of instinct, let go of the cannon barrel with his left hand and grabbed Firestorm before he went too far.

They fell together.

But while they fell, Spike plunged the blade into the side of the turning wheel, tearing iron and eventually lodging at the end of a long rip in the wheel rim right before they hit the ground. The momentum from their sudden stop made Spike's arm feel like it was going to tear off, and the jolt made him let go of the sword, and they fell two feet on their heads and backs.

The smoking, reeling tank rolled on, taking the sword with it.

Spike heard Firestorm hiss and groan, and he turned his attention to him. Firestorm's other sword was ignored off to the side as he picked at the hole in his lower gut, doing his best not to sit up.

He crawled over to the wounded pony and tried to get a good look at it. The shrapnel was a piece of smoking iron the size of his nail several inches in his orange chest.

"Hold on!" Spike tried to reassure him. "I'll get you aid!"

"No, " Firestorm hissed, curling and uncurling like a pillbug. "You need to… agh!... do it now!"

"Do what?"

"Take this thing out of me!"

"I can't! I'm not-!"

"You have claws! I don't! You're the only one that-!" He screamed again and heaved his chest in pain. The sounds he made were so terrible!

"N-not while you're still bent over like that!" Spike rushed.

"Hurry!" he urged with a scream of pain. Indeed, the Noxxa waited for no one. Some of them had noticed them, in an empty stretch surrounded by fire, and were rallying together to take them on.

Spike, sick to his stomach, hesitantly stuck two fingers into the hole in Firestorm’s gut. Spike tried and failed to ignore the screams and moans coming from him as he tapped the shrapnel with his fingertips. It was all squishy and warm inside, and blood rushed out of the hole and stained his ragged uniform. He scraped against it a bit more before pinching the thing and dragging it out as fast as he could. It was still hot, but Spike was all but immune to heat, and he tossed the bloody thing away without much of an issue.

But there was a new problem. The shrapnel had been acting as a plug, and the stopper was now out. Firestorm was losing blood, and fast. His orange coat looked paler already. And a group of twenty opportunistic Noxxa had decided at that moment to break through the flame walls and rush them, brandishing wicked spears with barbed hooks and swords with serrated curves. And behind them all was a Nox the size of a house striding effortlessly over the flames with his tree-trunk legs.

Firestorm gritted his teeth and reached for his remaining sword beside him. But Spike had already gotten between him and the enemy, and the fiery blade was trembling in his tight little claws.

He inhaled and blew out a blast of emerald flame onto Firestorm’s blade, and the combined sources of fire resulted in a blast of light and a fierce orange-green inferno that shot out of the tip of Firestorm’s sword. It enveloped the lesser attackers entirely, and they shrieked and hopped away. But the huge Nox lunged instead and snapped its jaws around Spike, lifting him into the air.

Spike had very thick scales, protecting him from most damage blades could do, but the jaw’s pressure was so tight it was about to snap his bones like sticks. He turned the sword and plunged it deep into his head. With a dying shriek that sounded like a stuck pig, the monstrous Nox collapsed with a thunderous boom and disintegrated.

Spike was flung for a few feet on impact, struck a rock, caromed off it, and rolled until he came to a stop. He felt dulled to all his senses as he slowly, slowly rose again; everything was blurry in his vision and hearing, and he felt like static was running through his limbs.

But Spike could feel warmth as an arm wrapped around him, and could see a long blade of fire in an orange hoof in front of him.

They were surrounded and outnumbered, but Spike knew he had to keep fighting.

Noble Blade was bruised, cut, and dirty, but he wasn’t weakened yet. The blade in his hooves seemed to tremble with pure energy that unleashed itself upon every impact, blowing anything away in its path. It was how he was at the center of a circle of craters and uprooted earth, fires blazing on every side. Fluttershy was right beside him, his shield on her arm, as beaten and dirty as he was. Noxxa were surrounding them, not attacking yet; they had learned their lessons from the first seven times that charging into a living weapon wasn’t a good idea.

But now it was the time to be proactive, not reactive.

“You heard that, right?” Fluttershy asked him.

“We need to get to the closest engine,” Noble answered. “Cut it down quickly.”

“I agree. Upsy-daisy.”

“What?”

But Fluttershy had already fluttered above him and picked him up. Noble flailed his legs for just an instant before realizing it was just Fluttershy, and accordingly spread his weight so it would be more even.

They began to hover above the heads of the Noxxa, but they had to fly through the oppressive smoke that was covering the battlefield like an angry haze. The Noxxa slashed at them with their wicked weapons, but since they were above their reach they resulted in firing arrows at them. They flew haphazardly and zigzagged in the air, but it wasn't long before Fluttershy's wing was clipped by a cruel arrow, and they plummeted. The ends of the wicked spears below them gleamed menacingly.

Noble Blade slashed his sword down with a violent swing, and the power of his Element was unleashed with a tremendous blue explosion.

The ground below was quickly cleared with another shockwave that rolled the earth, and blue flames encircled them as they crashed into the ground and rolled to a stop amidst the sapphire flame. A supply cart full of ammunition erupted and became a mass of splinters, boulders, and burning cloth that added to the chaos in their own little area.

Noble stumbled to all fours, dropping his sword, and quickly stood Fluttershy up. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Fluttershy hissed. There was blood leaking between her wing and body, and it hurt to extend it. "Let's just keep them away!"

Noble chimed his horn to life, and a stream of blue energy erupted from his forehead and formed into a translucent dome just as the Noxxa crashed against it like the waves on a rock. Noble looked weakened by keeping it up, however.

Fluttershy saw it coming before he did. "Brace yourself!"

Noble turned just in time to see the masses of the army part, and a tremendous Nox the size of a railway car crashed his front legs into the top of the dome shield. Noble yelped and dropped to his knees, clutching his horn and hissing as the huge bug reared up again and pounded against the shield with increased fervor.

Fluttershy was drawn to the glowing blue sword smoldering the ground beside him. While he was occupied, she took the handle with both hooves and hoisted it up with some effort. After all, Noble didn't look like he could last for much longer against the barrage of blows. When that shield fell…

Which it did an instant later with one forceful thrust. It sparked out of existence, and the giant Nox fell upon them with blades and claws flashing the color black.

The claw plunged into the earth between the two ponies, making them roll in opposite directions. As she rolled and quickly rose again, Fluttershy swung the sword as if it was a fan of blue with all her might, which cut right through his giant claw and made the Nox rear up and roar in pain.

Meanwhile, Noble Blade had reached for his shield as the Nox stumbled back, and indicated Fluttershy. “Good job! Give me that!”

Fluttershy tossed him his sword, and when it smacked into his hoof, it seemed to explode with blue swirls and shimmering waves of incredible magic that cascaded around him. Noble then tossed her his shield, which she caught and quickly fumbled to get on her arm.

The mighty Nox lunged at them again, but this time with his gnashing pincers dripping with saliva. Noble just managed to stick the sword in his mouth and break his teeth with an explosion of blue light, but he was lifted up into the air as the Nox reared his head. Noble dangled more than ten feet in the air, flailing his legs in surprise. The Nox jerked his head up, and Noble fell leg-first into the monster’s snapping mouth. Blood sprayed everywhere, punctuated by a loud snap and crunch.

Fluttershy watched in numb horror as the Nox almost spat him out and hurled him to the burnt earth. There was a sickening crunch, and he rolled to a stop. His sword plunged blade-first into the earth and released a ripple of blue fire that rolled over them all like a tidal wave. Because Noble and Fluttershy were bearers of the Elements, they were unharmed by the flames; it felt like a hot blast of wind to Fluttershy. But it was no friend to the Noxxa; it burned those closing in around them and forced the remaining Noxxa to fall back once more. The tremendous Nox stumbled back, leaving them alone encaged by a wall of magical blue fire.

Her wings found the strength to flap over to his limp body. And her throat closed up and her heart lurched; his two back legs were gone. There was paper-white bone poking out of those stumps he once called knees.

Doing her best to speak, she croaked, “I… I’ll fix this! Give me a minute and I can bandage up those wounds!”

“Shy,” he coughed.

She paused mid-word, but started back up again. “Don’t speak. You’ll just make it harder. I…” There was nothing around her to work with except burning wreckage and stubbled earth. “I…”

“It’s okay,” Noble assured her, breathing heavily through his teeth and clenching the earth so hard it crumbled in his grip. “Do your best!”

“I can’t!” she blurted out. The rest of the world was becoming irrelevant to her now; her vision became narrow and the voices around her became quiet. All that mattered was him. “I can’t! No matter what kind of job I do, you’ll still…” The word couldn’t escape her throat without a tear. “...die.”

Noble couldn’t answer her, which Fluttershy couldn’t blame him for. It was his own death, after all. It was time to accept reality. Doing your best was pointless if they were still going to die anyway. Despair weighed on her like a sandbag.

“Don’t be sad,” he hissed. “I don’t care… about death. I care about you.”

“Don’t go,” Fluttershy whispered. “Fight! Fight for your life!”

“I am… but if I lose the fight… I need to say this.”

Fluttershy cradled his stumps up to get more blood flowing to his body, but listened intently.

“You… unlocked my potential. You inspired my life. Thank you. I was too trivial before. Too selfish to see that… perfection is pending. Thank you.” He never spoke like that before. It was with the utmost admiration that he said, “You were my suit of armor when I was trying to be yours. You made me see the worth I can be to those I love. Thank you.”

Fluttershy was so proud of him, she was almost about to kiss him right then and there. But there was still a roaring all around her from the Noxxa clamoring at the circle of flames. Fluttershy looked up, leaning for support on a split catapult boulder. Striding through the dying blue flames was the massive armored Nox once more, fury burning in his golden eyes.

"I’ll be that suit of armor as often as I can,” Fluttershy affirmed quietly, staring into the Noxxa's eyes as he lifted his tree-sized leg. "Always and forever! In life and till death!"

The tremendous Nox roared at her, and Fluttershy returned with a defiant cry of her own.

The Noxxa's claw came down like a strike of lightning.

And it was stopped by a fist that stopped the claw right in front of Fluttershy.

Behind the owner of the fist was Fluttershy's determined, dangerous face. Her Element was gleaming with unrestrained power.

With one of her hooves on a catapult boulder, something very strange had happened. The boulder had shapeshifted and warped into the form of a brown, ten-foot bear, which had stopped the power of the Noxxa's blow.

Fluttershy, initially surprised, let out a high-pitched yet primal snarl, and the bear shoved the Nox back with a punch from its other fist. Then she screamed, and the bear jumped up, slammed into his face, and tackled the Nox to the ground with an earth-shattering thud.

Even though the blue flames had died down now, none of the Noxxa dared to make a move. They simply didn't account for this new, unknown factor in the battle. When Fluttershy affixed them all with seemingly-glowing eyes, the collective hordes froze up in place.

"Run," was her only command. And her Element glowed brightly.

Under her hooves, spare bits of iron and wood suddenly morphed into smaller, deadlier animals. Fire salamanders, star spiders, vipers, wasps, and scorpions sprung to life and rushed into the Noxxa. As one body, they tried to retreat. But before they could get far, the tiny animals had entered their ranks and begun to wreak havoc, causing a pandemonium among the troops.

The command had shaken Fluttershy more than the Noxxa, though. She was reeling. What had her Element done, exactly? Life had sprung up from nothing!

Even Noble Blade was dumbfounded, and rightfully so, Fluttershy thought. He was even ignoring the blood-soaked stumps of his rear legs and was starting into the riot in the Noxxa army as they fought off their smaller and deadlier opponents.

"Well," he eventually hissed, "we have a fighting chance after all. Help me up."

"What?" Right after that? She couldn't allow him to die from this! "You need to stay down! Your legs-!"

“Get me out of here,” Noble insisted. “If I stay alive, I can fight. If I fight, I’m going to win.”

As she shot across the battlefield towards the rolling armored titan, Applejack had been momentarily taken aback at Twilight's direction to "kill everyone you see." Was Twilight slipping again? She had definitely become more volatile and relentless. But over the past few days, she was recovering and becoming more like her normal self. And Applejack feared the destruction of her friends. Whether by their own hooves, or by the blades of their enemy.

So she turned that fear into determination to get the job done. She latched onto two upright posts from an exploded siege tower, drew herself back like a slingshot, and fired herself at the rolling tank.

But just before she reached the tank, the powers of her Element cut off like a light switch, and in her confusion, she crashed into the side of the tank and fell onto the edge of a huge exposed wheel. Before she could fall forward and be crushed by the wheel, though, she rolled to the side and fell onto a long spike protruding from the hubcap of the wheel. She hung from it like she was doing a pull-up.

What in the hay had happened? Was her Element not working anymore? It had just stopped all of a sudden!

Well, that just meant she would have to take the tank without the help of the Element of Honesty.

As the wheel turned and the spike on the hubcap reached its highest point, Applejack pulled herself up, gripped the edge of the wheel, got on top of the wheel before it was too late, and made a daring jump to a part of the hull between the wheels.

Climbing slowly up the ridges of the armor plating, she eventually made her way to the top of the tank. There were about ten of them on top manning the ballistas on either end, but as they spotted her, Applejack was already on top of them.

With a few rapid strikes, kicks, bucks, and headbutts, the ballista on the rear end became vacated.

Applejack then pushed mightily against the tremendous ballista to aim right at the other weapon on the tank. With a swipe of the lever, the massive arrow shot out and splintered the opposing ballista into a cloud of wreckage with a sharp, resounding crack.

It was at this moment when a hatch on top opened up and vomited out armored Noxxa, screeching and swiping their wicked weapons indiscriminately. Applejack's heart thumped against her chest. She had no weapon except for what she could improvise.

So improvise she did. With a quick buck of her hoof, she broke the chain holding the ballista in place and threaded the chain through the holes of the weapon until she had a six-foot chain wrapped around her hoof, which she broke off with a sharp tug just as the first Nox lunged at her.

An average punch from Applejack could knock one's breath away. A hard punch, with the hoof wrapped in iron chain, was enough to tear through the helmet the Nox wore and crumple his skull. As he went down, another Nox reached her and swiped a cruel halberd at her neck, which she was able to block with the chain in her hoof. She gripped the shaft with her other hoof and bent it hard enough to snap the head off, then kicked him away and whipped the edge of the chain in a circle, keeping the rest of the Noxxa barely at bay.

"Y'all made a grave mistake comin' fer us!" Applejack yelled as she twirled the chain like a lasso.

The Noxxa all acted at once by closing in. Applejack moved on instinct. Her broken weapons lashed out and turned unarmored parts of the bugs into ash. Some retreated. Others just kept thrusting spears and swinging swords. Applejack felt long cuts open up on her legs and side. She felt the warm blood trail down her legs and coalesce on her underbelly. But her efforts redoubled anyway.

With a snap of her chain, it hit a Nox in the throat and made him choke as he crumbled away. A backwards kick sent another Nox flying off the tank entirely. Finally, she threw the head of the halberd to embed itself in the helmet of a Nox swinging an axe to come down on her.

Only for her to be grabbed from behind and held tightly against a spiny, sticky underbelly of a Nox she had missed. Applejack struggled and squirmed, making cuts appear all over her back.

"I got the farmer!" he bellowed as even more Noxxa piled out of the hatch to replace those who had been killed. "Quick! Stick 'er with an ACK!"

Applejack had elbowed the Nox behind her in the face, then broke free, grabbed one of his legs, swung him above her head, and slammed him into a pile of dust on the roof of the tank. Immediately, her hind leg shot out and hit another rearing Nox in the neck, making him stumble and choke, and she dove at the feet of one more skittering Nox, making him flip and tumble off the edge of the tank, screaming as he went.

Applejack galloped at the next Nox coming out of the hatch, ducked a thrust of his claw, uppercutted him, and tackled him to the deck. After a few furious snaps of its jaws, Applejack slammed her hoof into the side of his head and drove her elbow into his skull. A few more pounds, and he crumbled apart and blew into ash.

The next opponent stayed hunkered down in the hatch, but instead circled his arm and threw a small primitive explosive right at Applejack's face.

Applejack, lying down, bucked a leg in a roundhouse kick, sending the bomb flying back. It hit the hatch like a ball against a backboard, then fell into the hole, the hatch closing behind it.

A muffled explosion within the tank made her bounce and made the tank rock and roll like a ship on the ocean. Applejack quickly realized that since the tank was now full of smoke, going in through the hatch wasn't an option. The smoke would suffocate her, or conceal an attack.

So, as she always did, Applejack improvised.

Running to the front of the tank, she quickly wrapped the end of her chain around the stump of the destroyed ballista and rappelled down the front. Soon her hooves tapped against the narrow glass shield, and she pushed off and swung back into the narrow windshield with a mighty kick.

Even though it was reinforced glass, a buck from Applejack's legs was like a thunderbolt. The shield shattered and blew shards in as Applejack swooped inside the pilot cabin, the chain still wrapped around one of her hooves.

Applejack had slammed directly into the pilot's seat, pushing back a few levers on the side. She felt the entire weight of the vehicle swerve to the left, making her tumble along with the three surprised Noxxa inside. As the vehicle turned at an unstable angle, Applejack managed to look out the front long enough to see it plow headlong into an iron catapult.

The entire tank jolted and got lifted off its wheels for a minute as it simply rolled right over the catapult. It crushed iron, splintered wood, and sent sparks flying as metal screeched and flattened. The vehicle was simply unstoppable. And directly in its path were Rarity, Pinkie, Firestorm, and Spike, surrounded by enemies!

Applejack, still struggling while on top of a Nox, kicked the controls again, and the wheeled tank applied the brakes in the span of a second while swerving to the right. The momentum made her fly again, but into the front instead.

Applejack was barely able to stand up once more when the driver lept at her with a sharp thrust of his serrated claw. She dodged the move made for her head, but the tip went deep into her shoulder instead.

Applejack roared and tried to swing a punch at him, but the chain dangling from the outside was still snagged around her hoof. The other two Noxxa grabbed her and hurled her through the broken windshield.

Applejack hit the end of the chain length and dangled helplessly from the front of the out-of-control tank. Shock, pain, blood loss, and the constant spinning of her on the end of the chain were making her vision blurry and her arms weak. She couldn't even lift one other hoof above her head.

Then a rainbow streak shot right into the side of the tank like a bullet, making it tilt on the right set of wheels.

As it fell back onto all six wheels again, it sent Applejack swinging to the left, and she managed to grab a piece of the hull and hoist herself so her shoulders were resting on them.

From here, she could see who had done it. There was Rainbow Dash, covered in smoke stains and singed all over. She hovered and gave a brief salute. "I see you're doing well."

Applejack just sighed and twirled her hoof tiredly. "It's been a, ah, stressful day."

Rainbow panted for breath and hovered weakly in the air. "Whaddaya mean? I haven't even broken a sweat!"

"You got somethin' wrong with ya, Rainbow."

"D'ya want my help or not?"

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine."

So Rainbow Dash grabbed Applejack and flew back around through the windshield, with Rainbow crashing through and taking two Noxxa down as she tumbled into them.

And Applejack crashed back into the driver. With a furious bashing of his head into the dashboard, Applejack then grabbed him by the neck and hurled him through the window with all the strength she could muster. He fell twenty feet to the ground and landed as a mangled heap in the path of the tank.

While Rainbow Dash went into the back of the tank to take out any surviving Noxxa, Applejack heard Twilight's voice in her head again.

Good work, Applejack. You can go and pick everypony else back up. Your work is done. Leave the rest to me.

Any cut healed in moments. Any spear thrust was countered, and the monster was quickly slain. Any pain was small and fleeting. Nothing mattered but the death of thousands.

Dozens and dozens had already fallen on the mangled battlefield. Once a lovely green plain, it now looked like the burning surface of the moon, but the instructions from Twilight had been loud and clear. He needed to buy time for the tank to pick the two of them up. Ash obscured Freedom Fighter’s vision, but he didn’t need his vision. He needed to act, and act he did.

The power of his left arm glowed yellow and flowed directly into his staff, making it overcharge and spark yellow as he snapped the staff into a bow. He drew the string back, and instead of an arrow instantly forming, a torrential yellow laser erupted from the bow. He spun the bow in an arc, and half a hundred died from the spinning laser. The Noxxa surrounding them fell back, giving the two of them more space and time.

But his arms were now heavy and weak, and the speed of his attacks was slower. Every breath he took was inhaling a terrible fume into his lungs. It was like this time, the knives were on the inside of his body. Even as he dismembered Nox after Nox, he was at least healing. But Starlight…

His companion was doing all she could to keep her magic up, but he knew fatigue when he saw it. She couldn’t last for much longer.

He took one end of the bow and pushed a slot the wrong way, and the end of the yellow string fell off. Freedom Fighter took the long energy whip in one hoof and circled it in a large motion to keep the more daring Noxxa back. He snapped it a few times with cracks of thunder and flares of lightning, and he barked a few yells to keep the Noxxa away, but it wasn't going to keep up like this.

Freedom Fighter heard Starlight cough violently and saw her magic horn falter and sputter for strength. She fell to her knees even as she unleashed a green laser beam that cut through a long line of opponents. Blood covered her body, tinged black from the air around them.

He couldn’t let her die! Not now, not here.

He growled loudly and held his long staff upright like a broadsword. If he was to now die, he would do it emulating the pony closest to his heart.

But something big rumbled through the smoke and fumes, and Noxxa dispersed and screamed and ran and leaped away from the tremendous tank that had just entered the scene

For once, he was grateful to see an enemy weapon.

A hatch opened and a ramp lowered in the rear of the tank as it passed him by, showing Rarity, Pinkie Pie, who immediately began coughing violently from the smoke, and Tempest, who urged him to get in by violently circling her hoof. Freedom Fighter took Starlight by the hoof, ran through the blackened field, and led her up the ramp into the metal behemoth. As they ran, a large group had assembled at the rear of the tank. Arrows and javelins clattered all around them, and one lucky spear nicked Starlight’s ear in half, making her cry in shock, not pain. Rarity broke apart the diamonds coating her body and shot them in a wide spray into the black battlefield in one last effort to slow the Noxxa down, and Pinkie hit a button on the side of the vehicle to close the ramp and doors.

One daring Nox leaped after them and wedged part of his body into the gap between the door and the tank. At first, he tried to scramble inside, but he was caught, and the realization of what he had done came to him right before he was cut in half and the door finally closed. His ashes coated the floor.

“Is everypony here?” Freedom Fighter inquired. The inside of the tank was dark, blasted apart with smoke, and cramped, but the ponies he knew were colorful and stood out in the dark.

“We’re all here,” Pinkie groaned. “But…”

But there were groans of pain from all assembled. Nopony was uninjured. Often, the wounds were severe. And from further ahead…

Freedom Fighter pushed his way aside to come to a sight that halted him in his tracks. A hissing, hyperventilating Noble Blade was lying on a plank of wood, the ends of his legs wrapped in bloody rags.

The stumps…

He felt a lump rise in his throat and water come to his eye. And he knelt by his side. He took Noble’s hoof in his own.

“If there was a way to give my power to you…” he breathed, “...I would do it in a heartbeat.”

Noble gripped his hoof tighter in the dark. And a smile came to his trembling lips.

“We’re gonna leave the field!” Applejack called from the pilot’s cabin. “Retreat! Twilight’ll take care of it all!”

And the tank rolled on to get away. No one relaxed, not even when they rolled up the hill they came down and the clamoring of Noxxa died down at last.

Finally, they were all off the field. Finally, Twilight could finish it all.

As the tank full of her friends drove off out of the way, Twilight’s horn spat bits of her magic in little pitter-pats of condensed power. She built up more powerful reserves of magic, and finally fired her horn in one-second intervals that grew in power as they reached the ground far below. Twilight was now the center of everyone’s attention.

Purple blasts of plasma bombarded the field like a deadly rain. Colorful violet fire overwhelmed every other visible color on the battlefield.

At first, the archers aimed up at the sky and tried to take her down, but their bows and crossbows simply didn’t have the range or power to reach Twilight. It must have eventually dawned on the Noxxa that since their bows didn’t have the range, and since the other ponies had been going around destroying the siege engines, the ponies were obviously afraid that Twilight could be taken down by a catapult. So, naturally, they adjusted their aims desperately on the remaining catapults, and began to fire them into the sky.

Just as Twilight planned.

A few boulders sailed towards her, which were easy enough to avoid. This would let them know that she was indeed within their range, and she shot a few smaller beams at them to encourage more counter-fire.

After a few more close calls with boulders, she was ready to deliver a finishing blow. A huge boulder the size of a house was coming her way like a rocket. Perfect.

As soon as it reached the apex of its peak, Twilight swerved out of its path and immobilized the boulder. It just quivered in place from the intensity of Twilight’s magic. Twilight didn’t care; she just poured more and more of her power into the rock.

It cracked and groaned and grumbled as splits appeared. Finally, with a powerful pulse of her magic, the rock crumbled apart completely, shattering into smaller pebbles the size of buckballs, hanging in the air in a purple aura.

And Twilight sent those rocks shooting towards the earth all at once like a storm of meteorites.

The ground was quite literally flattened.

There was no sign of life. Nothing moved but the humble flickering remains of translucent flames scattered about the massive field.

Twilight walked the ashfallen earth alone. Grey covered the ground and choked the skies, leaving her as the only spot of color in the world.

This is what she was capable of. Only a small part of her tremendous potential was unleashed. For good or evil? Twilight needed to figure that out. The ambiguity of war was like a haze in her consciousness. All she could do was gawk at the craters and wreckage, the ashes and the flames.

Plowing through the terrible bleakness came the tank. It creaked and groaned and heaved, but it came to a stop with a hiss. A wide hatch in the side opened up and displayed the ponies, all injured, dirty, tired, and overwhelmed.

“You’d better see this,” Rarity told her glumly.

Twilight came close enough to see what Rarity was talking about. Several stretchers had been made that were supporting the ponies with the worst wounds. Starlight was heaving for breath from exhaustion. Firestorm had a deep puncture in his belly that made every breath elicit a grunt of pain. And Fluttershy was clinging to Noble Blade like his life depended on it, who in turn had bloody, hastily-bandaged stumps for legs. Twilight froze. Nothing so permanent had happened before.

“Can’t you do something?” Rarity urged her. “You could heal ponies before, you know.”

“Scratches and flesh wounds are one thing, but…” Twilight looked over the severe injuries and the dirty wounds in everyone else. “But regrowing limbs?”

“You should try!” Fluttershy brought up firmly. The intense emotions inside of her manifested itself as the iron deck beneath her suddenly turned into a bed of flowers. “We can’t go on in this condition!”

“What have you done to help him first?” Twilight responded. “I need to know.”

“I…” Fluttershy looked like she didn’t know how it all mattered. “I managed to stop the bleeding…”

“What about the work your own Element can do?” Twilight asked.

“It can’t help!” Fluttershy cried. “All it does is turn inorganic material into organic material, like flowers and animals, and if I tell it to change back, it will. I can’t regenerate bodies like Freedom Fighter can!”

“Well, he can’t stay with us if he can’t fight,” came Rainbow Dash. “So we need to decide fast if-”

“No,” Noble weakly said from his little table. “I can still…”

“What are you talking about?” came Spike. “You gotta realize there’s a limit to what you can-”

“Only my back legs are gone,” Noble said, trying to sit up and support himself on his front legs. “Put my sword in my hoof and put me on the back of a mount, and I’ll keep on fighting.”

“That’s bound to be really inconvenient,” Tempest quietly protested, but no one really had a direct objection to that.

And all of a sudden it hit Twilight. The answer was obvious.

“Fluttershy,” she said. Twilight was trembling, unsure if it would actually work or not. “I have an idea. Come with me.”

Fluttershy hesitated, then planted one kiss on Noble’s forehead and followed Twilight out of the tank and some distance afar off.

The others took the chance to get out of the terrible iron beast, but into the ashen wastes. The sheer scope of the grey destruction and unnerving silence was enough to make most of them swallow.

“What do you see?” Tempest asked a hovering Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow took a bit to respond. “Death.” She landed, and one of her hooves was trembling. “A wasteland of ashes.”

“You know what I see?” Tempest responded. “Victory. This is what we all wanted, right?”

“I didn’t want…” Rainbow shook her head. “I just don’t want war, is all.”

“War never changes,” Tempest whispered in agreement. “The winner is the ruler of a barren land.”

Twilight and Fluttershy were coming back. There was a desperate feel around Fluttershy, who was carrying two large rocks on her back.

“...Whaaaat are you doing?” Rainbow asked in confusion.

“There’s a chance to save him!” Fluttershy exclaimed, making her way back into the tank and next to Noble Blade’s stretcher. “And Firestorm and Starlight and… everypony else!”

She heaved the boulder onto the stretcher, Twilight overseeing it. The other girls watched curiously.

Fluttershy, stress written on her dirtied face, pressed the boulder into the bloody stumps of his legs and, trembling, whispered to the rock to obey her command.

After a few tense moments, the rock recognized Noble Blade’s unique genetic structure and matched it, and it morphed and shifted into the form of a brand-new back leg attached to his body. The color was a little paler blue than normal, but that was just because the blood in the rest of his body hadn’t gone into it yet.

Fluttershy gasped, a smile gracing her face, and quickly repeated the procedure with another similar boulder, shaking with excitement. Freedom Fighter, holding his hoof, held a gleam in his eye of joy. Noble Blade couldn’t take his eyes off the procedure as it happened a second time with the other leg.

When it was all done, Fluttershy held one of his front hooves and helped him sit up better. “How do you feel?” she asked, all business but full of compassion.

Noble awkwardly moved his new legs in circles. He concentrated, but only a slight bend came to his knee. “I feel heavy,” he admitted. “Like there’s something weighing on me. Something extra that shouldn’t be there."

“Yeah, those are called legs,” Pinkie observed. “We all got ‘em.”

"Well, you go without them for a few hours and see if it does you any good," Noble responded.

“Hey, um, I was wondering if you could…” Firestorm asked, pointing delicately at the shrapnel wound in his gut and hissing.

So she did with a pebble. Then she tended to the gash in Rarity’s head and the clipped ear of Starlight. There was little she could do to solve exhaustion, but Starlight insisted on getting up and moving around a bit anyway.

As Fluttershy turned to Applejack to heal her next with a clump of mud, Twilight accompanied her.

"Thanks for all you've done today, Applejack," Twilight said when she reached her. "I know you must have doubts about following me. Especially considering the incident with Appleoosa. But it means the world to me to see you by my side."

Applejack just shrugged and winced as the mud in the wounds bit into her skin. "Ah thought Ah told ya. Ah'm with ya til the end. Ain't no monster or tank gonna change any o' that."

"You can say that again," Twilight complimented her. "You took control of the tank all by yourself!"

“Speakin’ o’ which…” Applejack started.

“Was there a problem?”

“See, Ah couldn’t use ma Element’s power to take th’ tank. Ah had to use my own strength. It was like my magic jus’... cut off.”

It reminded Twilight of a similar feeling. What on Equus…

Oh.

“It was another Dark Stone,” Twilight whispered. “From Chrysalis’ throne! The Noxxa liked to use them. It nullified your magic!”

But if that was the case, how were they able to use magic now?!

“Oh, is that what that was?” Spike asked.

“What what was?”

“When Applejack picked me and Firestorm up in the tank, I saw a shard of crystal in a glass case in here,” Spike told her. “You know, the size of my fingernail? I ate it. It tasted like licorice.”

Applejack couldn’t help but smile. “You… are a genius, Spike.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Spike sheepishly agreed.

"I helped a little," Rainbow grumbled.

"You all did phenomenal," Twilight assured the others. "With our combined strength, I believe there's nothing we can't do, no battle we can't win, and no enemy we can't destroy."

"Uh, about that, Twi?" Applejack tapped Twilight on the shoulder and pointed. “Ah think we missed a spot.”

One Nox had covered himself in a mound of ash full of debris to hide himself, and had emerged from it undetected and was running at a breakneck pace from the field.

As the Nox ran off, Starlight ignited her magic and enveloped him in a light green aura. Struggling and roaring, he was floated over to the group by a careful Starlight, who settled him down on the ashen ground and stepped alone to face him.

Their eyes met. Starlight felt some sort of primal rage in the sole survivor that matched what she had felt before from Twilight. It only made what was to follow harder to say.

"I know you," Starlight murmured.

The Nox spat sickly yellow saliva at the ground. "You know nothing, little pony."

"You were my brother," she responded, solemn and serious. "I don't know your name, but long ago, you and I were brother and sister, and sons and daughters of Faust and Solaris. Perhaps you and I were close friends in the premortal life. Perhaps you broke my heart by defecting to Solaris. Perhaps you thought I was a traitor for sticking with Faust."

The Nox looked shocked at first, then enraged. "Do not speak her name!"

"I know you don't want me to," she whispered. "You've been manipulated. You think that you were unfairly wronged when Faust cast you out of heaven, and you've hated us for the lives you never got to have."

"Shut up!" he bellowed, twisting and squirming in Starlight's magic aura. He lunged at her, but couldn't move, and just ended up snarling and drooling like a rabid animal.

"If you were offered a second chance to choose Faust… would you take it?"

The Nox stopped. He gave Starlight a look of incredulity. "But that would mean abandoning Solaris!"

"Yes," she said. "It would."

"I…" He paused. "I… can't. I can't! Solaris is my God! My father! I won't abandon him!"

"Is that because you don't trust yourself enough to make the right choices? So you would prefer to have someone else make them for you?"

The Nox gaped at her. Then he closed his mouth and made little whimpering noises.

"Our choice is the greatest gift we've been given. I learned that lesson for myself long ago when I tried to eliminate choice from other ponies’ lives. It's that power of choice that led to spare you. I… don't know what happens to Noxxa when they die. Perhaps they just get reincarnated in Tartarus to begin a terrible cycle all over again. I don't want to send anyone there, but I'll do it if I have to. Before, I wanted to go along with Twilight and destroy your entire race, but looking back, I… I at least understand you… brother."

He squirmed once more. "Don't do that!" he suddenly exclaimed. "I'm not your filthy blood brother! Our ash is miles purer than any sludge in your veins! Hrrah!"

"You chose to give up the right to your choices long ago. But I will give you one more now. Tell me, Nox," Starlight said. "What would you like your fate to be?"

He just groaned and slashed at thin air with his claws. He flailed and screeched obscenities at the sky against her, against Faust, against the universe.

Pity, not resentment, sent the magic bolt into his chest. He was blown into ashes abruptly, dispersing in the air until nothing existed.

"Ah… never thought of it that way, " Applejack remarked, sitting on her rump. "This whole war we're in… ain't nothin' more'n an elaborate family dispute."

"A really bloody dispute," Spike added in with a shudder.

"Now I really feel sorry for killing them," Fluttershy whispered. "I wouldn't want to kill my own brother."

"They brought fire and war to us," Firestorm murmured darkly. "And they'll get fire and war back."

"We only fight for the defense of our lands and people," Rarity agreed. "I find it no sin to destroy our enemies."

"But understanding is the first step to victory," Pinkie Pie said forlornly. "And understanding this is really sad for me. Everything we do just drives more and more fun out of the world!"

“Which is why this all must end, and now,” Tempest finished. “Come on and get into the tank. Let’s go.”

They did, except for Twilight, who lingered behind by Starlight as the ponies loaded in. Starlight was able to see a strange look in her eyes.

“Why did you even bother?” Twilight muttered. “He would have never converted.”

Starlight put a hoof on Twilight’s back. “I’m the Element of Redemption, Twilight. Ponies make mistakes, and mistakes aren’t what defines us. Not getting back up does, though. I just… wanted to see. None of us should be too quick to deliver final judgement.”

Twilight nodded, unable to look Starlight in the eyes. “I know. I know.”

“You were the one that taught me all that,” Starlight reaffirmed. “I know it can be hard to remember, though. Jerks can cloud your judgement and quicken your temper.”

“No, you’re right,” Twilight was quick to say. “I should have known better than to forget what I taught you. A student and teacher should be symbiotic, but...” Twilight looked horrified. “What’s become of me? All the things I’ve taught and learned, they’re gone. Out the window. I’m a terrible excuse for a teacher.”

“No! No, Twilight. Don’t say that!”

“I’ll say it anyway,” Twilight reiterated, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes. “I lost who I am because of the Noxxa. I’ve changed for the worse, and I hate them for it, but I also know I shouldn’t hate at all. I feel divided, stuck with hooves in both camps. You’re leagues above me, Starlight! Throughout all the trials so far, you have stood strong to resist the urge to destroy, not me. You fight, but it doesn’t define you! But I…? The circumstances we’re in are no excuse for me to let go of my ideals and lose myself in fire and shadow. Every time we fight, I slip into darkness. I fall into cruelty. You are what ponykind should aspire to be, but I’m… just what ponykind ends up becoming.”

“You’ve realized that now, though, which means you’re not truly like that! Take my word for it, Twilight. You are a great teacher. Not just from your successes, but from your failures as well. Each one has prepared me for when I’ll get my own Element.”

“You… mean it?” Twilight whispered.

“More than anything,” Starlight said emphatically. “If I was given the chance to lead, I’d mess it up. I'm not ready for that yet. You’re the one that needs to lead us. I’ll follow you into the fiery jaws of Tartarus, but you must be the one to guide me. We can both find our ways together!”

“But how can I be a good leader?” Twilight asked despondently. “I’ve failed us time and time again.”

“And you led us even further,” Starlight reaffirmed. “Remember what I said. Remember what you taught me. It doesn’t matter how many times you fall…”

“...only if you get back up again,” Twilight finished. She blinked back her tears and hugged Starlight so intensely she thought her ribs would crack. “Thank you, Starlight. What… would I do without you?”

“I could ask the same thing,” Starlight whispered in her ear. “I’ll help you every step of the way. We all will. You have Spike, Freedom Fighter, Tempest. And me.”

Twilight nodded and pulled her close, tearing up once more. "How many… tears do I need… to wipe away these ash stains on me?"

"Don't use your own," Starlight whispered. "I'll shed a tear for you."

"No," she replied, cracking. "No, don't do that. Not for me."

"Shh," Starlight hushed. "All you can do now is accept this. You've done what you can for now."

"No," Twilight said, a little stronger than usual. "No. I'm never done. I'll always keep fighting, because how many more need to die before this is all done? It's… horrifying to think about, my friends dying. But I need to kill in order to save lives. I just… wish I had never gotten involved in this. They've hollowed me into a husk of who I was."

"It's so hard to figure it out," Starlight admitted, holding her face steady. "And it's okay to be afraid when facing Tartarus itself. We are waging war against evil itself. The Noxxa are a tragic race, but it's not them we hate. It's the God who corrupted them."

"I don't… know what to think anymore…"

"That's okay too," Starlight affirmed. "Now just act, and do it on faith and hope."

Twilight couldn't respond to that. She just buried her face in Starlight's shoulder.

Scorpan was at a loss for words, and so were the pegasi carrying him high in the air.

Apparently somepony else had done the job for him.

Chapter Seventy-six: The Siege of Foal Mountain

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After an entire day since Scorpan left, Luna was getting angsty for his quick return. Could he have actually held the other army back? All by himself? Prophets worked by miracles, but how many of them could you string together?

The army on the horizon was still not making any kind of move, but Luna could only imagine they held the same kind of anxiety about their chances of success. If the other Noxxa could come, it had to be today, and every day they spent waiting here was another day they could have spent trekking across Equestria by another route to Canterlot. A decision had to be made, and soon. But the Equestrians couldn't know of it until the Noxxa made their move first.

It was only a few hours before she had to move the moon that a winged creature dropped from the sky and skidded to a halt on the summit of the mountain where Luna was. The changeling, a violet one named Resin, straightened herself and saluted. “Luna!”

“What is your evaluation?” Luna asked, tense for the response.

“I managed to successfully sneak into their ranks and get close to the commanding officers,” Resin replied. She shivered. “Disgusting creatures. All spines and reeking flesh and glistening fangs. They’re being led by a particularly nasty specimen aptly called Terror. They’ve been spending all this time assembling their engines of war and doing maintenance on armor and weapons.”

“Was there an albino centipede named Marshal Malice anywhere?” Luna asked.

“No, ma’am. I did overhear some of the leading generals grumbling about it, though. This Malice guy had left them under Terror’s jurisdiction to chase echoes and rumors in distant lands by himself. I’m sure Malice is evil, but Terror is a monster.”

“Did you get a good look at Terror?”

“No, ma’am. Terror’s being kept in the command tent. I heard a remark saying it was for his own good. ‘S a matter of fact, nopony has even seen Terror except for his mouthpiece, who’s not really important. All that Nox does is deliver whatever Terror has to say.”

“What is his strategy?” Luna asked.

“He’s impulsive and rash, which is why his generals hate him and his advisors try to run things independently from him. He had the Noxxa run on their path to new cities, not march, and he always suggests head-on assaults. If any Noxxa speaks against his decisions, he kills them. They got the numbers to not worry about any of that. The word among the generals was to begin their siege at sundown. Catapults, volleys of arrows, fireballs, the like. The Noxxa that can fly he’s keeping in reserve to swarm our forces when we emerge from the rubble. So at least he’s got some kind of brain for a siege.”

“Could be worse,” came a voice. Glitz had been listening in, and emerged from her seat as she spoke. “He and his generals could actually get along. Perhaps with the right rumors going, the entire army could be swayed into an uprising, and we can strike ourselves when the time is right.”

“While we’re on that topic, we could even send a Changeling with some poison into the field kitchens,” Resin suggested. “One bottle of the proper liquid could kill more troops than an entire regiment of our own.”

“I will not risk it,” Luna firmly refused. “If they discover you and the poison, the trick won’t work the same way twice.”

“But this can work the first time!” Resin insisted. “That’s why the proper liquid is called a solution sometimes.”

“This solution will backfire,” Luna responded. “We will not resort to this dirty trick.”

“And what, you’d rather kill hundreds or thousands of our own troops to satisfy your traditional sense of spirit?” Glitz harshly retaliated. “This is war. War is dirty. Don’t pretend you’re being honorable by suggesting we fight and kill each other like civilized ponies. The minute we stepped into war, we became uncivilized.”

Luna stomped the ground. “I will not lose myself to destroy my enemies!” Luna stated with finality potent enough to cease any further dissent. Even though both Glitz and Resin were giving her very pointed looks of disappointment or anger, Luna stood by her words.

After a few moments of silence, Resin sighed and looked away. “Look, we need to prepare for an assault now. What more do you need of me?”

“Get into position,” Luna said. “Once the Noxxa come again, blend into their forces and return to their camp.”

Resin nodded and quickly left the summit. Glitz was left to scrutinize Luna with sharp eyes.

“If you think you know what you’re doing, I can assure you, you don’t. You’re a royal peacekeeper, not a soldier. The right perspective is needed to accomplish what we set out to do. I respect your authority, but your authority won’t do you any good if you cannot take the right action when you need to!”

“I have fought in more wars than the summers you have lived,” Luna replied. “Do not speak for my experiences. I have learned--and so has Nightmare Moon-- that easy action is not always right action. I will not lose myself a second time.”

Their attention was turned as a deep roar went up from the black line on the orange and pink horizon. Glitz and Luna came to the edge of the mountain to see dozens and dozens of spindly, long-armed, insectoid catapults moved into position ahead of their main force. Forming up behind them and next to them were organized regiments of Noxxa, and their thin pikes rose into the air like strands of hair.

“They’re getting into position,” Glitz noted. “Resin was right.”

“Spread the word. Prepare for a nighttime assault,” Luna ordered. “Keep any lights to a minimum to lessen visibility, and prepare the catapults. Evacuate the lower defenses and start gathering ammunition of our own. Prioritize arrows and spread weapons over solid munitions. They’re aiming at a mountain, but we’re aiming at individuals. They’ll come in rough and hard. But we can minimize casualties and gather our strength for retaliation.”

“Are you going to use your magic anytime in all this?” Glitz prodded.

“I’ll save it if they decide to make a stronger move. I am confident in our ability to hold this spot even without my magic, but if they begin to throw magical attacks at us, I need to match them. Let’s not expose our greatest strength at the battle’s earliest stage.”

Glitz gave a gruff nod and sped down the mountain path, leaving Luna alone.

The Noxxa didn’t strike Luna to be very organized, especially considering Terror’s reported tendency, but the way things were looking, they were in for a heavy blow over the course of the following days.

How many would make it out alive? How would Luna emerge from it? Celestia was counting on her to preserve their nation. Luna would try or die.

The time was now. Luna ignited her horn. The moon slowly rose in tandem to the slowly disappearing sun, and the silver moon bathed Luna like a spotlight on the tip of the mountain, her firm eyes cast over the catapults below like devilish black serpents ready to strike.

Finally, as the sun descended below the mountains and the tinge of indigo took over the air, the siege engines suddenly whipped forward to send their fiery quarries crashing into Foal Mountain.

The siege had begun.

The first few rounds of boulders and fireballs smashed against the bottom half of the mountain and created an avalanche of smaller pebbles that flooded further down the slope. There was the occasional death here and there, but Luna knew it wasn’t Terror’s intent to directly kill the enemy hidden in the mountain. He was just trying to bring the whole thing down. After all, one target was much easier to hit with a catapult than the smaller enemies embedded in it.

Soon the silhouetted mountain was wreathed in smoke and flame from the avalanches and fires. However, the catapults were too far away to strike at the Equestrian forces higher up the mountain, where their own siege engines were silent. Glitz had returned to Luna and reported that even though they were in range, they wanted the Noxxa to come closer before retaliating.

After about an hour of constant bombardment, the next move was ready. Feeling confident, the catapults moved even closer to the mountain, backed up by accompaniments of Noxxa. Behind the trebuchets and mangonels, primitive cast iron cannons were taking their place to further bombard the mountain. Luna didn’t like the look of their capabilities.

“I think now’s the time to let them know the range of our arrows, don’t you think?” Luna remarked to Glitz.

Glitz grinned wickedly. “I was wondering when you’d say that.” She took the horn at her side and blew three steadily rising notes.

The sky, which was full of boulders sailing toward Foal Mountain, was suddenly filled with sleek arcs of arrows shooting the opposite direction. The fact that they were on top of a very tall mountain added some range to their arrow shots. The arrows didn’t need to be particularly accurate; they fell in swarms upon the Noxxa manning the catapults and left little survivors. The few that did ran back to the line of cannons, leaving the precious catapults abandoned.

“If they don’t get back there, they won’t be able to use them for much longer,” Luna mused.

“My thoughts exactly,” Glitz agreed. She took the horn again and let loose a long, deep note.

Emerging from the mountain and above the cloud line came a hundred dragons speeding with little abandon towards the catapults.

“What are you doing?!” Luna choked out.

“Luna,” Glitz cooly said. “Those catapults are a problem. I think it’s best to remove them from the equation entirely now.”

“Well, I-” Luna started to say. She didn’t have anything against it, necessarily. “Give me a warning next time! I think I’m starting to feel the effects of my age now…”

Glitz shrugged. “Your fault for living a kajillion years.”

The dragons swooped down as fast as the volley of arrows, spewing fire as they went. They reached the abandoned catapults, crashed through the catapult beams, and enveloped them in billowing flames. They weren’t actually reduced to kindling, but they certainly came close. Then the dragons created a wall of fire between the main body of Noxxa and the burning catapults, and retreated as quickly as they had come. They paid dearly for their excursion, however. Fully half of them had been shot down by the cruel arrows of the army, and the rest of them were wounded in some way.

Luna’s attention was on a small group of three dragons who, instead of retreating, had emerged from the wall of fire and were charging towards the lines of cannons. In horror, Luna saw them get riddled with arrows, fall down, and perish before their fire could ignite the gunpowder stocked beside the cannons. It was hard to decide when to improvise on the battlefield and when to follow orders. Luna thought that had they gone unhindered, it would have been a very noble action. But they had died before they could do anything.

“Should have followed orders,” Glitz muttered darkly. “They threw their lives away.”

Luna got momentarily incensed by that statement. They had done what they thought was best!

The maneuver was still a success, however. With the destruction of the first line of catapults, Terror’s option of breaching the mountain with catapults had been reduced to almost zero. He didn’t really have much of a choice except to send forth his armies en masse at that point. Soon the first few waves surged through the valley and began to rush up the face of the mountain.

It was very costly. All through the long, long night, Noxxa fell into traps and holes as they scrambled up, and the rest were slowed down by the avalanche remains. The entrenched ponies, yaks, changelings, and the few remaining dragons rained fire, boulders, magic, and arrows upon their heads. They poured pitch and oil in torrential floods and set entire regions of the rocky face on fire. Smoke rose and covered the mountain like a veil at a funeral. It masked everyone’s vision, but the Equestrians didn’t need to be precise. And the fires at the base of the mountain prevented the Noxxa from retreating anytime soon. Foal Mountain had become a deathtrap.

Luna spent the night flying from one fortification to another, sending magic blasts and telekinesis wherever appropriate, before word came that another entrenchment needed help and she went flying off once again. It would have been monotonous had the circumstance not been so tense. Hours and hours of this later, and with no sign it would ever stop, Luna felt like her efforts were hopeless. How much was she actually contributing? But none had made it up to the defenders, and Luna felt like their true strength had been successfully concealed from the enemy.

No matter how hard the Noxxa tried, they simply couldn't breach the mountain. Wave after wave had tried and failed. The mountain was simply too steep and the terrain too well-fortified. All they got for their efforts was ash. By the time Luna lowered the moon and the glimmering sun rose once more, the mountain still stood strong, and the Noxxa had lost over fifteen thousand of their forces.

There were about a hundred and forty Equestrian troops who had either died or were crippled from enemy arrows or catapult debris. Those losses weren't as bad as Luna was expecting, but she still felt sad they had to give their lives so soon.

After Luna lowered the moon from the mountain’s summit, when the glowing dawn arose and a lull occurred in the fighting, Luna turned around, squinted, and spotted what looked like a flock of creatures in the distance behind her.

“Is that…” Luna blinked hard as soon as her magic cut off. “Is he back?”

Luna spread her wings and flew off to the assembly area behind the mountain. As she touched down a few minutes later, she was able to see the lead chariot in the air also swoop down and bump and roll to a halt. Scorpan, all wrapped in scratchy burlap, hopped out and circled his arm to the remaining flying figures as if to urge them on.

“What is the meaning of this?” Luna wondered, astounded. Scorpan didn’t look weary or battle-worn, and he had brought others with him? The first of the figures following his chariot touched down to stretch, and it was--a hippogriff? He carried a spear and shield, and was armored in coral.

“I bring word from the hippogriffs of Mount Aris,” Scorpan said, a smile gracing his wizened features as more and more of them landed and collapsed from exhaustion. “They shall aid our efforts in this war.”

“Then they are most welcome!” Luna exclaimed. “Who leads them?”

Here Scorpan looked sober. “Queen Novo,” he said. “But she is…”

A net made from woven weeds and vines, carried by two burly pegasi, was settled close to Luna and quickly unraveled. Inside was what looked like a statue of a rearing old hippogriff, regal-looking and… unnaturally realistic. It took a second before Luna got the implication. A hoof was brought to her mouth in horror.

“This was the doing of what they called the Storm King,” Scorpan relayed, sounding bitter.

“How did this come about?” Luna whispered. “Were you successful? How did the hippogriffs find you?”

“I was too late,” Scorpan answered. “Someone had already done my job for me by the time I came upon the Noxxa’s position. I was about to return immediately, but a whisper from the Goddess came to me. Wait. So I did.

“Several hours later, as the sun set and the night sky rose, the distant horizon began to fill with them. I welcomed them and helped them assemble on land. The hippogriffs had been flying across the ocean for days by then, braving extremities and bad weather. Their course was longer than they expected due to a massive hurricane redirecting their course, so they were already past their limit. I stayed with them while they recuperated, and a few hours ago we left to come here.”

“They came here to fight? Not as refugees?”

“We know of your plight,” came a new voice. Dropping down beside the stone queen and Luna was a bubbly-looking golden hippogriff with freckles under her vivid blue eyes. A simple sword was buckled at her side, but it didn’t look like it fit her taste. “And we’ll aid you the best we can. Princess Skystar, at your service.”

“You would so willingly come to us?” Luna wondered.

Here, Skystar’s eyes darkened in grief. “My mother would have wanted it. And we owe it to Star Swirl to protect his lands the same way he protected ours.”

Scorpan was smiling, an unaccustomed expression for him. “He sure got around a lot. We are thankful for your alliance.”

He was about to say more, but he spotted Glitz galloping towards him and knelt as the tough, war-wrinkled unicorn slammed into him with a firm hug.

“You’re back!” she exclaimed, letting go of her hug to scoldingly rub his scalp. “And you didn’t die! How about that, huh?”

“I could say the same thing,” Scorpan replied, knocking her hoof away. “I was worried for you.”

“Yeah, right,” Glitz said with a slight eye roll. “Prophets only care about praying and talking and being alone.”

“And generals only care about war and yelling and medals,” Scorpan retorted gently, giving her a scratch behind the ears. Glitz gave a weird whinny-grunt-moan and shook her head away from his fingers. She was about to say more to him, but the looks from everypony else made her color flare up, and she looked intently away.

“Ah, yes,” Luna remarked, taking a few steps. “Mutual respect?”

“And only that,” Glitz confirmed immediately with a hoof jab. “He’s all old and rough and a freak, but he’s strong and humble, at least.”

“Oh, I dunno…” Skystar teased, rolling her eyes to incense Glitz some more. “If you insist-”

A screech filled the air, and then a loud explosion thundered in their ears along with the pity-pats of rubble, making all of them cower instinctively and look up. A projectile had smashed into the peak of the mountain with far greater force than a catapult would make.

Scorpan narrowed his eyes and stomped away without looking twice at Glitz. She spared him a glance, then sighed and returned her attention to the sudden booms in the air.

“Did we miss anything?” came a hippogriff alongside Skystar. She was pearl white with merging purple and red hair in long curls.

“Well, Brine, they’re kind of under attack,” Skystar related.

“I figured that part out for myself, surprisingly enough.”

“Gather those in good condition to fight and spread them among the higher levels,” Luna told Skystar. “And lead those who are fatigued to the command center.”

“Brine, I trust you with this task,” Skystar told the hippogriff beside her. “I know you would love to fight beside me for our queen. But you can save our people in other ways.”

“I’ll play my part as long as it’s the most useful,” Brine avowed, making Skystar smile in relief, and departed, leaving Skystar, Glitz, and Luna together.

“We’ve been holding them off for several days now,” Luna informed Skystar as ponies and hippogriffs began to scramble. “But only attacked for the last twelve hours. It’s starting back up again. Terror’s up to something. I recommend you place yourself among your own soldiers.”

Terror, apparently, had been up to no good. He’d spent his time setting his cannons and those who manned them on siege towers and on top of Noxxa the size of houses, both of which were now moving through the valley to the foot of the mountain. It’d take some time before they reached the mountain, but the cannons were still in range, blasting one at a time so the fire was always sustained. To make matters worse, another wave of Noxxa were forming behind the towers and large bugs to follow as they went.

“The cannons can fire up from any range!” Glitz had to shout to Luna as they reached a fortification overlooking the terrain below. The black, distorted shapes were getting closer and closer by the minute, even though the foot soldiers had stopped conveniently short of arrow range. “A few of our emplacements have been blown to Tartarus already! Any more of this and there won’t be an army anymore!”

“How are our archers?” Luna shouted back, leaning back as a disturbingly close cannonball slammed into the mountain and threw dirt in her face.

“Working overtime!” Glitz replied. “But no amount of arrows can penetrate their armor!”

“Catapults?”

“They’re too slow to maneuver reliably!” Glitz shouted over the chaos as another explosion hit the mountain and debris flew everywhere. “We took down a siege tower and two big bugs with some lucky shots, but we can’t rely on them forever!”

“Our dragons?”

“They ain’t doing another stunt like yesterday!” Glitz yelled.

Luna didn’t like what she was about to suggest. “How are the yaks?”

“All armored up with nowhere to go!” Glitz reported.

“And our unicorn contingencies?”

“Awaiting orders!”

“Then this could work!”

“I don’t like the sound of that!”

Luna was about to explain, but was cut short by an explosion on the bank of their fortification, and what followed was a horrible scream. In their small fortification suddenly filled with smoke, a Royal Guard was cradling the remains of a brown earth pony conscript, his helmet knocked off and exposing his frightened eyes as he screamed incoherently. The conscript’s upper body had been blown into a pasty mush by shrapnel; he had been too close to the cannonball impact. Luna didn’t know if he was even alive or not. She dreaded either option.

All the guard could do was gently lay his remains down and push them off to the side. He was hyperventilating and holding on to the upraised bank for support. His mouth would not stop chattering. His grip on his weapon faltered, and his spear clattered to the stone at his hooves.

“Keep ahold of yourself,” Luna urged him, coming to his side as he sank to the earth. “You’ll be okay. Speak to me.”

“It’s for nothing,” he numbly mumbled, even as he breathed like he had run a mile. “All I can do… is watch as my people… get ripped apart! I became a guard because… I wanted to help! Like I can change things… for the better! But I’m wrong!... I-I can’t make a difference!... I’m not important!... Not enough for this, anyway… But what does that matter? Important, unimportant… We’re all the same… when cannons tear through us!”

Luna gripped him firmly about the waist, which seemed to activate a hidden switch in his brain, and tears appeared in his bright blue eyes. She nuzzled him gently, and helped to prop him up with her magic. He didn’t look nearly so shaken now that he had someone to focus on.

“I shall protect us,” Luna swore to him, gripping his face with a hoof. “Together we shall win!”

“Together…?” he repeated, then shook his head and picked up his spear again. “But how? I-I’m not sure how I can help.”

“What’s your name?” Luna asked.

“...Th-Thunderjump,” he stammered out, fluffing his wings.

“Stay with me,” Luna ordered him. “You’re my personal bodyguard for now. Glitz!” she ordered. “Give the signal for the yaks to charge.”

“But I thought I told you cavalry charges had a high death rate!” Glitz roared at her.

“Just do it!” Luna replied even louder. “I can save every one of them if I do this right!”

Glitz looked exasperated, but she sighed and facehoofed, then reached for her horn and brought it to her lips. “I hope you know what you’re doing here!”

Luna’s magic enveloped the horn as she blew a deep note, the deepest she had ever blown. The magic made it loud enough to reach the entire mountain.

Luna’s magic then moved to several large boulders scattered over the mountain face and lifted them all simultaneously. As they rose, the yaks waiting in hollowed-out tunnels charged through the sudden openings, and on top of them were earth ponies holding lances and swords on their back.

The tremor of the yaks rumbled the earth itself, but their shouts and bellows were even louder. Some screamed in rage. Some with what they thought was courage. And some in fear. But they all screamed. As they swarmed from different points over the mountain, they met together in a rough arrow shape and flew like the wind at the advancing cannon line. Cannon fire peppered them as they charged, throwing yaks and their pony riders into the air in clouds of dirt and blood.

“We need to draw their fire!” Glitz yelled at Luna over the commotion. Her normally scratchy voice was even more ragged now that she had been shouting all this time.

“Give the signal for the unicorns!” Luna responded loudly. Her voice was getting hoarse as well.

Glitz brought the horn to her lips once more and blew two rising bass notes. The unicorn troops, which had been held in reserve for ranged support, emerged alongside their brothers and sisters in their fortifications and unleashed a storm of laser beams and elemental spells like fire or lightning. It was loud, it was flashy, and only a few of the unicorns were powerful enough to do any serious damage to the siege towers, but it got their attention. The cannon towers had no choice but to target the mountain more instead of the yaks charging at them head-on.

The yaks spread out right before breaking the line, which they did with head-on collisions with the towers and heavy pierces of the pony’s lances. Wood cracked and groaned and splintered beneath the yak’s legendary force and desire to smash things. Several at a time were needed to push over a tower, which slowly, slowly, fell to the earth with a crash. As several towers fell, it opened a path for the rest of the yaks to breach the formation, circle around behind their ranks, and take out the Noxxa moving them, bringing the towers to a standstill to be finished off with more projectiles.

The huge Noxxa armed with cannons, however, needed their attention more. They were mobile and dangerous by themselves, and had a mind of their own about the creatures swarming beneath them. Some of them simply abandoned shooting at the mountain entirely and began to stomp at the yaks and snatch some in their jaws and slam their rears on the ground to create tremors. One large Nox even swiped a siege tower in half to send debris raining down upon the desperate riders. Cannons thundered. Noxxa screeched and stamped. Ponies and yaks roared and cried and died.

“This is useless!” Thunderjump croaked. “They don’t stand a chance!”

“Not while they’re alone,” Luna corrected him. “Wonderbolts! Now!”

Glitz blew two rising notes again and held the second as long as she could. Coming from behind the mountain and trailing smoke, a dozen blue pegasi flew in formation like pellets from a shotgun. They struck the legs of their massive opponents and rebounded to other legs to bend them the wrong way, or aimed right for their heads with well-practiced bucks. The leader of them uppercutted a huge monster with what looked like a flash of fire, marking her as Spitfire, Firestorm’s sister, Luna remembered. As they distracted the Noxxa, even more pegasi began to fly up and soar towards the battle. They carried ropes, chains, and hooks to ensnare the monsters.

But it was at this moment when a tremendous gust of wind surged from the opposite end of the valley, blowing all the pegasi off to the side or knocking them out of the air entirely. The wind was strong as a hurricane but only blowing one way. Luna could sense this was no ordinary windstorm. Terror had finally cracked and decided to use the same secret weapon they had: magic.

The wind wasn’t strong enough to knock their forces off the mountain. It was to keep any pegasi grounded. Luna decided to reveal her strength the same way the Noxxa had. With her mane flowing ethereally, Luna levitated off the ground and ignited her horn with a blaze of blue.

A channel of air shot from her own horn and split the windstorm in two opposite directions, leaving the pegasi free to race back down and for any arrows to hit their targets. The wind was now roaring harmlessly off to the sides, allowing the yaks and ponies to grapple the large Noxxa’s legs and topple them to the ground with thundering booms.

No longer would her power be held back. The siege of Foal Mountain was now a battle of magic.

The long funnel continued to split the windstorm further and further until it reached the opposite end of the valley, likely towards Terror himself. Almost immediately when this happened, the wind cut off entirely, leaving the landscape as barren as before. Luna knew that despite the insubstantial nature of air, moving too much was like moving a mountain. The pressure would rebound on you before you even knew it. Terror was obviously strong to have even considered it, though.

And it was starting back up again! Luna, jolted by the unexpected resilience of Terror, braced herself as winds renewed whipping around her face. This time, rather than fly right at them, the wind was going side to side, or swirling in nonspecific paths. Dust and dirt were picked up right under her hooves and joined the winds as they picked up more.

Then even more dust and dirt joined the winds, coming from the mountain and ripping right under the ground between their forces, and by the time she realized what was happening, Luna couldn’t even make out the enemy on the opposite end of the valley. Terror was creating a screen to conceal his forces, and it was growing thicker with every passing moment.

Luna let her magic flow freely through the dust storm, but there was no specific object to focus on; the dust was already too thick and widespread. Taking a deep breath, she reeled her magic back in, focused some more, and created another highly-concentrated air tunnel in the storm. But that only seemed to be making matters worse. Not only did it not open a path, but it simply sped up the debris.

Wind and dirt was caking Luna’s snout and forehead now as the storm invaded the trenches they had cut into the mountain. She was forced to squint as her magic cut off again, leaving her stumped as what to do. But she hissed as dust got into her pupil anyway, and she blinked hard as her eye became wet to remove the foreign material.

But then her vision cleared up and the wind died down as a sudden shade overcame her. Luna’s help came from Thunderjump’s wing, blocking her face from the dust and whipping wind. His other wing was blocking his own face, but he had obviously gotten some large particles of dust in his eye, because a tear was cutting down the dust caking his cheek, leaving a dark trail.

“I’ll protect you!” Thunderjump shouted over the wind. “Together we can win!”

The familiar words were enough for Luna’s chest to burn. Even while squinting, he was beginning to see clearly! And it fueled her resolve. They all depended on her! But her eye was focused on the tear stain on his cheek. That wasn’t a tear of fear or despair, at least.

The water just… cut through the dirt so well!

Luna pondered. Why did it draw her eye that well? And the idea struck her. Water!

She ignited her horn once more.

A deep rumble came from above, and Luna looked up curiously. Though the dust storm obscured the skies above, the rumbles from above could mean only one thing. A plink beside her signaled the start of it, then another few wet drops on the rocks and on her nose appeared, and very soon, like a tropical monsoon, rain was coming down hard. Luna jolted in surprise. That wasn’t her. Then who-

The dust storm began to clear up very quickly, although the wind remained ever strong. Squinting some more, Luna spotted tiny colorful flying creatures among the clouds that were created above the battlefield. At the same time, she noticed the yaks and the pony forces below scrambling desperately to return to cover.

True to Luna’s prediction, a large column of Noxxa had been trying to use the dust screen to move unhindered through the valley. And they were right on their doorstep as well; they were close enough up the slant of the mountain that Luna could see the yellow colors of their surprised and desperate eyes. But now they were close enough for the sudden combined volleys of arrows, unicorn magic, and catapult scattershot to rip through their ranks like wet paper. Twenty minutes later, as the skies cleared up to allow the sun to shine once more, a vastly smaller amount of Noxxa came back than those that went.

Luna’s heart was pounding by the time the fight ended. That had been entirely too close, and if it wasn’t for the rain, things could have been disastrous. But if the pegasi had been down on the ground fighting the cannons, before the windstorm and dust storm prevented them from flight, then who was controlling the weather?

Then she remembered: the hippogriffs! They had promised their aid, and they had given it. They were able to take off from secure spots higher up and fly above the harsh winds to mold the clouds into ones heavy with rain. Skystar must have come to the same realization as Luna at the same time, but that was the smaller of the two tender mercies at work here. The hippogriffs had saved them from disaster, and if Scorpan hadn’t waited to direct them back here, they likely wouldn’t have survived.

Luna was dripping with rainwater, and mingled with it was sweat. It was tough to counter long-range magic attacks. Thunderjump also looked like he had just climbed out of a swimming pool. Then there came anguished screams and panting from all over the mountain face, and Luna realized something was seriously wrong.

Heat was shimmering on the rocks like smoke, but was more akin to a mirage. Strangely enough, though, when Luna realized the sources of heat, it almost seemed to disappear, like it was being sucked out of her and the rocks and the ponies around her-

It hit her.

Shimmering waves came from the earth itself, from the air, and even from the sun above her. Oh, if Celestia knew how her solar gift was being abused! The heat was being drawn into a spiral right in front of them, translucent and rippling. Luna’s horn blazed, and a tight stream of blue magic came out of her horn and curved to create a massive blue sphere that soon covered the entire mountain.

The heat was intense even through the shield, however. It twisted and shimmered, and eventually ignited the gases within, and with a flash of fire, a mighty firestorm appeared to tear up the ground and turn everything near into a fiery mess. It was like an erratic, fiery finger of an otherworldly being, leaning down to draw a lazy line into the earth.

Luna was able to see the remaining hippogriffs in the air scatter before its path as the tip of the firestorm moved onto the curve of the shield encompassing the mountain. Luna was straining to keep the integrity of the shield. There was so much force behind the firestorm, Luna could have sworn it was from a god.

But just before the shield began to flicker, she noticed the hippogriffs and several of the pegasi flying back to the firestorm and flying in the opposite direction. The smoke trails from the few dozen or so pegasi showed they were led by the Wonderbolts.

Then the shield gave way, and the firestorm slammed into the tip of the mountain like a twisting drill. Ponies screamed and fled from the heat and flying rocks, which flew in every direction as it delved deeper and deeper with explosions and roaring crackles. The more the firestorm destroyed, the more heat it created, increasing the power of the artificial tornado.

But the Wonderbolts were still going in the opposite direction, doing their best to unravel it. Luna knew they were burning up and dying even as they did so. She felt a pang of pride for their courage, and with another chime of her burning horn, she began once more to summon the winds in the air.

It crushed her shoulders to do so, but Luna stood anyway. Cracks appeared at her hooves. A scream tore from her hoarse throat. The constant speed of the winds soon began to show itself as they enveloped the firestorm like a winter coat. The wind was unpredictable and strong, and it took all of the Wonderbolt’s energy to focus the wind in a better way. Fire spurted in every direction from the tornado, and the air cover surrounding it soon began to unravel.

Luna felt destitute. She couldn’t fail, but her strength was reaching its end. Even Thunderjump wasn’t around to support-

He wasn’t there. Luna looked around wildly. Had he run away? Her eye came back to the fiery tornado embedded in Foal Mountain. And rocketing towards it--

Thunderjump looked like every other Royal Guard, but Luna could still recognize him. He soon joined the rest of the pegasi in spinning the fire in the opposite direction.

And a multicolored display lit up the tornado, bathing the mountain in reds and blues and greens and oranges. The unicorns were joining in to keep the firestorm under control. None of them could sustain so much air pressure for long, but when one color faded out, another took its place.

And their examples gave Luna hope. It gave her strength. Refocusing on the task at hoof, she blinked hard and gritted her teeth. Her magic spun the air around the tornado in a more focused cone this time. Her head felt like it was about to split from the pressure, but she did not relent. Equestria needed her!

With the help of the Wonderbolts and the unicorn recruits, the furiously spinning firestorm slowly began to unwind and get caught in the spinning winds under their control. The tornado finally died as the fire became trapped in a tight cylinder, without form or shape. But what now? They couldn’t control the flames forever!

“ATHEK WORTHEN ROTH!”

The bellowed language left a chill in Luna that had nothing to do with the intense heat differences. The vivid sun-colored fire under their control turned black as night. Then it seemed to boil in a vacuum-tight sphere as the air rose higher up. Luna followed its path and caught sight of how it came about.

Scorpan was on the tip of the mountain, his hand outstretched. He rippled with a black aura that matched the color of the flames gathering into a sphere. It looked like a solar eclipse; the black firestorm was restricted and wild, yearning to be free.

“CHU’LEK ASEKA! SAMO KOTH DII DU!”

And the concentrated black fire was launched across the battlefield. It screamed like a missile and left a trail as it soared across the sky, becoming fainter and smaller, until it impacted right in the Noxxa ranks with a muffled explosion.

Then, since the sound was delayed from the distance traveled, the real sound of the explosion hit them, and it was like thunder roaring right in Luna’s ears. It made her stumble from the tremor, staggering back before unceremoniously falling on her rear. And from what Luna could see, a crackling, dying ball of fire was at the center of impact in the distance, and walls of black flame roiled out from it like a sonic rainboom. Plumes of thick smoke rose up from their side, obscuring the sky behind it.

“...Well,” Glitz croaked out; it had been some time before she had anything to say. “That went well. Gave ‘em something to think about, huh?”

“Are you hurt?” Luna gasped, allowing the blue surrounding her horn to die down.

“Don’t ask if we’re all right. Take care of yourself first!” Glitz ordered. Glitz’s own horn was sparking, and her eyes looked unfocused and unsteady. She must have taken part in containing the firestorm.

Luna finally relaxed on her rear, and as she did, numbness overcame her legs. They felt so good to not support her anymore! She panted, but tried to get her breathing under control.

The flapping of wings and the sound of two creature’s impacts let her know several creatures had landed. She felt a hoof on the back of her head, and another on the small of her back. “My lady?” came the uncertain voice of Thunderjump.

Luna looked up into his concerned eyes. Beside him was Skystar, who was singed and windswept. Then she turned her sore eyes back down at the ground and nodded, tired and unwilling. A strange feeling had overcome her, now that the battle was over and the scope of what she had done was revealed.

“Is something wrong?” Thunderjump asked. Glitz came beside her as well, and so did Skystar.

“I think… I fully understand you now,” Luna said, addressing Thunderjump.

“Princess?” he asked.

“The fear of…” Luna thought how to best put it into words. “...not being able to save others. To make a difference in their worlds. I wanted to preserve our people’s lives, but I had to use many of them just for the rest of us to stay alive. Even your own people, Skystar! How much of a difference was I able to make? At the end there, I really felt like my efforts weren’t going to be good enough. Maybe there really is no point in all this. And Glitz, you urged me earlier to send a poisoner into their camp. Maybe…”

“The last thing we all need is your self-doubt,” Glitz snapped. “What we need now is to look to the future.”

“We wouldn’t have let our people fight if we didn’t understand what we’re doing here,” Skystar added.

“And for that I’m grateful,” Luna was quick to say. Her posture became straighter, and her breathing was a lot calmer now, but dubious feelings swirled in her head.

“We’ll be all right,” Thunderjump murmured. “Just say the word, and I’ll follow.”

Luna managed to smile at him. It made her heart twist in the right way to know she had been at least able to help him. She gathered her legs together and stood up. There was a slight shake behind her knees, but she was otherwise steady.

“Well, he’ll think twice about this,” Luna spoke a tad louder. “No matter what he throws at us and how hard he puffs, the wind cannot topple the mountain.”

“Are you sure that was him?” Glitz asked. “We know Terror’s not right in the head. And the insane or zealous do the same thing every time and expect the results to somehow change. This attack was too… what’s the word? Intelligent. Each one had a purpose, and it was varied and executed flawlessly.”

“You mean he has somepony else controlling his actions?” Skystar wondered.

“It’s possible,” Luna conceded. “We received a report that there’s an imbalance between the generals and the lead commander.”

“But what could it mean? What’s the deal with the dissonance here?” Glitz demanded.

“Perhaps he is being kept in the dark from his generals’ own strategies. Maybe he’s not as mad as we thought. Perhaps he’s even being brainwashed to say anything the generals want them to. But I’m sure our next intelligence report will try to make sense of it,” Luna offered.

Skystar shrugged. “Whatever comes, we can take it. I’ve handled a lot more.”

Glitz grimaced. “Don’t be so certain, either of you.”

Resin hated this. The Noxxa were such a fallen race that it revolted her to pretend to be one of them. But her role in this war required her to hide her true colors. And it was a shame, too. Violet was her favorite color! It mostly had to do with her own coloration, sure, but it simply caught the eye so well. And now here she was, back as a disgusting bug.

It wasn’t that Resin was a bad changeling--in fact, she was adamant about the notion of friendship. So much so, in fact, that she never wanted to go back to the wretched condition she was in, as just another drone under Chrysalis’ dominion. She knew her state back then had been vile, and she wanted no part of it anymore. As far as she knew, insects like them were greedy and disgusting and wriggly and ruined creatures.

And she hated how similarly the Noxxa resembled her old state as a mindless changeling, all black and horrid and sharp and cruel. It made her stomach churn, but also strengthened her resolve to never again fall back into her old ways. Though she was in the valley of the shadow of death, she feared no evil.

To be more specific, she had managed to get back into the camp, keeping her distance from the front line. The firestorm had looked spectacular from this distance, but it had become far less so when the fiery comet had streaked into their own front lines and decimated entire regiments. Luckily (or unluckily, what was she thinking?) their base of operations was further back from the actual battlefield, so it hadn’t been touched by the fireball, which even now was shrinking as the rest of the Noxxa got the flames under control.

She was just another face in the crowd now. Just another faceless, nameless piece of filth rushing along among the organized chaos that was the base of operations, another Nox coming and going. Their camp consisted of stockpiles of logs or iron covered by tarps or leather, tables covered with maps and paper scrolls, workbenches with hammers and scrap, campfires for cooking, light, warmth, or forging, grindstones that threw sparks and squealed with use, tall tents that contained something foul-smelling--which, when she took a peek inside, she regretted; they held mounds of rotting flesh from all manner of creatures--and even several guard towers, meant to be disassembled and transported. Everything seemed to be coated in iron or spikes. The aesthetic wasn’t one she was fond of. The ground was muddy and slick, which didn’t help Resin’s thoughts of the whole place. Finally, the entire layout was alien and unnatural to her. It was like everything was put at random, and the mud between buildings, which she guessed could pass as roads, wove and floundered.

But for all their complexity and villainous intent, she still knew where to go. After all, the command tent was the only one surrounded by a gate, guarded by sturdy towers, and more than two stories high on an elevated hill. So she simply cut a path across the camp, passing by all manner of Noxxa and fires and under-construction catapults.

Resin had debated bringing poison into the camp, actually. She knew it would be effective if the Noxxa actually ate the poisoned food. But she had ultimately decided against it; she respected Luna’s order, and it wasn’t her place to do something unexpected that could compromise her purpose here. Besides, as the pervasive smell of burning flesh wafted into her nose, she didn’t know if she would have the stomach to see it through.

Finally she came to the barbed gate separating her from the all-mysterious command tent, which towered above her like… a massive chess piece. The analogy almost made her chuckle. It sure looked the same. And it definitely seemed like a massive game of chess that Luna and Terror were playing here.

“Halt!” came a harsh voice, snapping her to attention. The two or three guards on each tower were glowering down at Resin, and were pointing mounted crossbows at her. And two armored Noxxa armed with cruel-looking halberds were at either end of the crude gate door. Resin felt electricity jolt from her hooves to her head. It was only a quick and quiet reassurance that she was a Nox now too that saved her from panicking.

“State your business!” snarled the Nox on the right.

“I’m here to… to, um, take out the trash. Tidy up the place? That kind of thing?”

“None shall lay eyes upon Terror!” the guard on the right reaffirmed. “He’s too dangerous for any but his messenger to confer with!”

“Y-yeah,” Resin agreed. “Danger, and power, and stuff. Yeah. None of that. Just tidying up. H-he asked for a volunteer, so… here I am.”

She cringed. That was just digging a deeper hole! She needed to act tougher!

“What’s your name?”

Resin coughed in panic. It must have sounded like a Noxxa name, though, all unintelligible and harsh, because he followed up.

“What is your purpose here?”

“I… already told you. Take out the trash and stuff.”

“She’s right,” came the guard next to him. “You just asked her that.”

“Oh,” he said. He looked very less sure of himself. “Look, I just thought-”

“Are there any other questions I need to answer before I have to go in?” Resin demanded, thrashing her front two legs indignantly. She did admit, having six legs meant it was easier to gesticulate while remaining stable. “Or will Terror have his cleaning service be late?”

“Well, uh…” the guard started. “What… is your favorite color?” The guard on the left hissed uncomfortably and looked away from him.

“Black,” she instantly responded. “And sometimes, really, really dark grey.”

“That doesn’t tell me anything,” the guard replied, waving a claw in the air. “We all like black and dark grey.”

“Then why the Tartarus did you ask me that, then?” Resin retaliated.

“I-” he started, then sighed and opened the gate with a creak of wood. “Make it quick.”

Resin made it a point to strut through. She made it quick, though.

“You are without a doubt the worst gate guard I have ever seen,” she heard the other gate guard remark behind her.

“Well… at least you’ve heard of me!” he retorted.

Resin was tempted to creep through the door to the tent, but she reminded herself again that she was one of the enemy now, so she simply walked inside.

The tent was circular and red on the inside. It was much warmer inside, to the point of stuffiness. Maps and lists covered each other in stacks on a simple table in the center. There was a ladder on the far side to reach the higher levels, which were supported by beams and crosspieces. This was no simple camping tent, she knew that much. There were also several flaps leading to side rooms, which she knew she needed to investigate.

She moved into the first red anteroom. It held a small cot and simple washbasin made of clay. It was minimalistic, needed for long-term marches. She was about to head back out when she heard a scream come from the chamber right beside hers. And what made her pause was that it was decidedly female.

She crouched near the cot as the scream died down. She was able to see through the thin fabric into the next room, albeit only the silhouettes of the occupants. One was definitely the outline of a Nox on four legs, gesturing with his other two. And there was an inclined slab on which a silhouette was twitching.

“I ask you again. The attacks failed, even accounting for the magic users. How strong is Luna, exactly?” came the Nox. It was smooth and deep, and eerily quiet.

“Stronger than you,” came the reply from whoever was on the table. It sounded like a withered, wizened, weakened version of whoever she once was. “Stronger than me. Feh. Even stronger than Malice!”

“I have complete faith in my Marshal,” the Nox smoothly affirmed. “I suppose you can’t say the same. When it comes to power, you can only think in terms of how strong your own is. But I assure you, without his insistence on your survival, you would become utterly forgotten by the denizens of this earth. I know there is more use in you, my dear. Never deny your potential! Make yourself profitable, and I will restore to you what you need.”

“I need love,” she croaked, and it sounded desperate. “Give it to me! I beg of you!”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, my dear,” he murmured, caressing her face. “I need your help more than you need to feel loved.”

The female on the table groaned and thrashed some more. “Please!” she begged. “I swear, Luna isn’t that strong. They keep on going about friendship. But that can’t be it!”

“Then why,” he whispered, “did she overpower your magic?”

That threw Resin for a loop. The wind storms and fire were from her?

“I’m… too weak.”

“Precisely,” the silhouetted Nox said, jabbing a claw at her. “And always remember that. You are our servant alone. Which means you will speak for me, or I put another hole in your leg.”

“What do you want me to say this time?” she said resignedly.

“Say that this is but a mere setback on our route to take Equestria,” the smooth-voiced Nox ordered her. “We will split our forces and head south with our main contingent. We shall bypass this accursed mountain entirely and reach Canterlot in a few days.”

While she repeated the statement in a slurred and mindless tone, Resin tried to keep herself from panting too loud. She needed her help, and hang the orders!

When she finished speaking, the silhouetted Nox gave her a kiss, and it was almost tender. “Thank you for your help, Terror.”

And he simply crawled off and out of the tent.

Resin was reeling, a claw to her tough head. That discomforting monster wasn’t Terror? And instead, it was-!

Before she knew it, Resin burst though the flaps of the room and immediately went into the room right over, making sure to shut them tight. She took one look at who was restrained, and Resin almost gagged. But she was petrified instead.

She was hooked into the table through the holes in her legs. Lashes and open blisters covered her exposed stomach and face, which were both round and ebony black. Her mouth was open, exposing a serpentine tongue and fangs. She was wrinkled and weak, and looked like the most pathetic, worn-down creature on Equus.

Resin sank to the floor, mouth agape. Her mind was going a hundred miles an hour. To any other creature, perhaps, the creature locked to the table was unrecognizable.

But it was a face Resin couldn’t forget.

How could she forget her own mother?

How could she forget Queen Chrysalis?

Chapter Seventy-seven: Stormkeeper, Part 1

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The journey to the coast would have ordinarily taken the ponies another three days. But in the wheeled tank, it only took them less than one.

Fluttershy had managed to heal most of the other's minor wounds. Noble Blade was still getting used to the notion of having a leg that wasn't originally his, but otherwise was doing fine. She had offered to use her ability on Freedom Fighter as well, but he declined, saying having a mechanical arm was useful. Besides, if his own regenerative Element couldn't bring back his arm, it wasn't worth a try.

The inside of the tank was cramped and filthy. It was designed with Noxxa in mind, not ponies. They slept in small recesses in the wall or under a bench if they wanted to rest. Applejack and Spike drove the vehicle, mainly because Applejack was good with mechanics and Spike had very dexterous fingers to work the controls. He wasn't very machine-oriented, though. The first time they had tried to start, they ended up going in reverse for a quarter of a mile before Applejack managed to locate the proper controls. And because he was small, Spike needed awkward blocks tied to his feet to reach the pedals, hampering his control. But he was nevertheless excited to drive, and with the other's help, he did it well enough to reach the edge of a small fishing village on the coastline by evening.

As the tank finally rolled to a creaky stop, the ponies piled out and stretched gratefully. The green grass had never looked more lovely than when they had been surrounded by ugly, smelly steel for hours.

When Spike hopped out of the driver’s hatch, he rotated his shoulders. “Oh, boy. That was an experience.”

“Oooh!” came a squeal as Rarity suddenly rushed up to him and hugged him tight, twirling in place with his head beside hers. “Oh, my Spikey-wikey’s all grown up! Who can drive an enemy tank? You can!”

“Gee, I-I dunno!” Spike stammered, thoroughly red in the face and trying to push away. “I just had fingers. I’m not-”

“And you’ve grown so tall! I don’t remember you ever being taller than my shoulder height!”

Spike gestured down with a finger, and Rarity followed. There were still the awkward wood blocks tied to the bottom of his feet. Rarity’s mouth formed a tight “o” before she cleared her throat and began to untie them. “Yes, well, that can explain quite a bit.”

“I don’t mind,” Spike replied. “Now you don’t have to lean down when I do this.”

And he gave her a smooch on the lips.

“Oop!” she chirped, then giggled. “And you’re only going to get taller from here on out! I cannot wait!”

She returned his favor with another smooch on his lips, her hooves on his shoulders. Then, almost instinctively, their heads turned at the same time.

Freedom Fighter, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Starlight, and Applejack all basically had the same expression upon seeing them together like that. It looked like somepony had smacked them in the face simultaneously.

Applejack pointed a limp hoof at them, keeping her look of shock. “Somepony musta been puttin’ something inta my food, ‘cause I coulda sworn that was Spike and Rarity K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

“Oh. My. Gosh,” Rainbow squeaked, pushing her hooves into her cheeks in a rare display of adorableness. “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh, he really did it!”

“Is it true?” Fluttershy asked her close friend. “You and Spike… when did it begin?”

“It’s a, um, recent development,” Rarity explained, setting her hooves back on the ground. Spike removed the wood on his feet so he was his usual height.

“You can say that again,” Freedom Fighter commented quietly.

“It’s a recent development,” Spike said, tossing the blocks aside.

“Look, I didn’t mean it!” Freedom replied, waving a hoof.

“I’m so proud of you, Spike!” Twilight congratulated him, stooping down and ruffling his soft spines. “You’re growing up so fast! It only seems like a few weeks ago when it was still just an unrealized crush.”

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” Rainbow asked, giving him a gentle elbow. “You shoulda done this a long time ago! I learned that lesson myself.”

Noble Blade, supported by Firestorm, followed out of the tank. Noble was still getting used to his legs, but his walking was already steady and familiar. Both paused when they saw what was happening, though. “Should I be concerned?” Firestorm spoke up.

“Um, Rarity and Spike-” Freedom Fighter started, shifting his eyes to the side.

“OH, IT WAS TERRIBLE! They were eating each other’s faces!” Pinkie exclaimed, throwing her hooves up.

“I believe the term is kissing, Pinkie,” Noble spoke up. “Although it's a very vivid image. Well done, Spike! Well done. I always knew you had it in you.”

“HA!” came the triumphant roar from the orange pegasus, shooting into the air with a victorious expression. “Ha ha! Oh, a glorious day this is! He got a girlfriend before you did, Freedom!” Firestorm teased, knocking Freedom Fighter on the head with a hoof. “You might want to get on that soon. You’re a total lady killer!”

“He’s more like an everything-killer,” Spike commented. He quickly waved a hand. “No offense.”

“I’ve had worse,” Freedom brushed aside negligently.

“Sure, but mares love a mysterious stallion!” Firestorm pushed on, rolling his eyes. “All dark and brooding, a sad backstory, scarred, powerful, tall, dark and really handsome…”

“Are you actually finding him attractive?” Rarity asked him with a sly, wicked smile.

“What?!” he exclaimed, dropping to earth like a stone. “No! No, what’re you… what are you, gay? Of course I’m not gay! That’d be… gay...”

“Don’t try to hide it any longer,” Noble urged him, giving him a nudge. “Your absurd humor reveals more than your mouth ever could!”

“Then why did I hit on mares all the time?” he demanded, shoving Noble’s hoof away. “Why do I have a cute girlfriend?"

"I'm not cute!" Rainbow protested, flipping her mane. "I'm hot. There's a difference."

"Use whatever word you want. Doesn't change the fact that I want to kiss you into oblivion. Anyway, if I wanted a dude, I'd've done so already.”

“With who?” Applejack put in. “There’s one stallion per dozen mares or something in Ponyville. That’s another thing. Why in the heck are there so many gals?”

“You could be into both,” Spike suggested, giving a grin. “That way everypony’s fair game.”

“I… don’t you d… I will fire-breathe your face off.”

“Nah. You can’t do it.”

Firestorm paused for a second before chuckling. “You’re right. I won’t. I love this guy. No homo. Fire buddies, up top!”

He and Spike gave each other a fist/hoof bump.

Spike pointed at him. “You do realize I could have sliced your hoof in half, right?”

“Guys, guys, I think we all know who would win here,” Freedom Fighter said, holding up his mechanical arm.

“Win? Psst. Try to at least score with a lady first and then we’ll talk.”

Freedom Fighter rolled his eyes over-casually to the side, locking them with Twilight. They both had the same thought. “Yeah, about that…” he hissed.

“What… do you mean?” Starlight asked suspiciously.

“Daaa, da, da daaaa,” Pinkie sang, imitating the universal bridal theme right beside a suddenly-terrified Twilight. “Daa, da, da daaa…”

“Hey! No! No, that’s not--That’s not the plan--I mean--Why would you--” Twilight sputtered, until she was cut off by a sudden tap on her shoulder. She whirled around to reveal Freedom Fighter, who then held Twilight underneath the chin and leaned in, making her flare red and stammer out a few feeble protests.

They were cut off by his firm kiss, and her indignancy turned into a content hum. Freedom Fighter kept it for a few seconds before pulling away, where Twilight, at a loss for words, simply ruffled his hair in feigned frustration until it got into his eyes. Freedom Fighter retaliated by ruffling her own mane into a puffy mess. Both of them were laughing as they did so.

With a sound akin to a cracking windowpane, Firestorm froze with an expression of pure disbelief tinged with horror. His eyes, with tiny pupils, had bulged out of their sockets, and every inch of his face was deeply etched as his mouth hung open.

Noble Blade, a bit concerned, waved a hoof in front of him. “Are you all right?”

Unsupported, Firestorm fell on his face like a wooden board and fainted, startling Noble.

“OH MY GOSH!” Rainbow squeed, kicking her legs in midair. “TWILIGHT! YOU’VE GONE WILD!”

“HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON?” Rarity demanded, eyes alight with wonder. “Oh, what drama! What a conspiratorial act! Spike, catch me.” She followed Firestorm’s example and swooned, with Spike barely catching her before she hit the ground.

"Yeah," Starlight agreed, giving Twilight a playful punch on the shoulder and giving a sly smirk. "How long have you been like this, wily Twily?"

“Ever since the train from Appleoosa,” Twilight answered. “He just… clicked. What’s not to love?” And she nuzzled him under his chin.

“Argh, it hurts. My poor dead, cold heart,” Freedom Fighter fake-bemoaned; he was openly grinning as he ran his hoof of flesh through her mane and straightened it out into her usual bangs. “Careful, you might actually warm it up.”

"Awww!" Fluttershy sighed in delight. "You're so cute together!"

"Y'all really hit me with that outta nowhere?" Applejack asked wryly, removing her hat with a genuine smile. "Aw, shucks. Ah trust you two."

“FINALLY!” Pinkie squealed.

“What do you mean, finally?” Fluttershy asked suspiciously.

“Nnnnnnnothing,” Pinkie deflected, rolling her eyes.

It was at that time when something caught Twilight’s eye. Tempest was watching both of them from the hatch of the tank. And something was off about the look in her eye. A bitter look of regret. What was there to regret? Twilight wondered. And would Tempest ever tell? She doubted it.

Tempest finally hopped out and came over to Firestorm’s inert body. “Is he dead? He’s not acting like a buffoon as usual?”

“No,” Noble observed, sounding surprised as he tapped the side of his unmoving head. “I think he’s genuinely out. Somepony record this. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”

“Can I draw a mustache on him?” Pinkie Pie proposed with a hoof in the air.

“I think he’d find that a compliment more than anything,” Noble declined.

Meanwhile, Firestorm was stirring with a moan. He put a hoof to his head as he rose and flapped wobbly in the air. “I really just saw that?” he groggily asked.

“Do you want to see me do it again?” Freedom Fighter asked, coming closer to Twilight’s face.

“Uh, no, nonononono, I think I got the message,” Firestorm refused with a furious waving of his arms, settling to the ground. He was staring very intently at the ground as well, and his hoof was rubbing his temple furiously. “Gnnnghagah! Look, I need to process this. Give me a sec.”

"I never thought I'd see the day," Freedom Fighter grinned. "My natural inborn studliness has finally overwhelmed your fragile little grip on reality."

“What makes you think I even had a part in this boring reality of yours? Look, I'm happy for you and all. I really am. I’m just… not used to the idea, I guess.”

“You were the one teasing him about doing it soon!” Fluttershy pointed out.

“Well, I didn’t think he’d just grab the nearest mare and smooch her just like that!” Firestorm defended, his voice high and rising. As he said the word that, he snapped two of the feathers on his wing like fingers to emphasize it. When it happened, Firestorm cut off his thoughts and stared at his wing in utter shock.

Applejack looked giddy. “Did you just-”

“AAAAAAH!” he screamed, his face pulled in horror once again. “How on Equus?!--All right, all right, when I was a human, I couldn’t do it with the most versatile digits ever. But right here, right now, I can suddenly do it with my wings? How? How?! Tell me, wing!”

The wing didn’t explain it to him, for some reason.

“I thought so,” Firestorm sulked, sitting on his butt and folding his arms. “Out of all the growth I had… I think I’m about to snap here!”

“That’s the idea,” Fluttershy helpfully added. Firestorm gave her a sideways look, but the edges of his mouth were twitching up.

“Hurry up and let’s go, everypony,” Starlight urged. “Let’s not waste any more time here.” Starlight then looked to Twilight and jerked her head at the misshapen, alien, mechanical monster. "What do we do with it?"

Twilight knew the answer instantly. "Destroy it. I don't want someone coming across this randomly."

Twilight enveloped the entire tank in a violet aura, calling upon her Element for aid. At first, it was beyond herculean to lift it, but as the Element lended her aid, the steel monster was lifted into the air like a feather in a wind.

Starlight built up a heavy ball of energy on the tip of her horn, straining enough to break a bead of sweat, and finally released a blast strong enough to punch a hole through the floating tank like a toothpick through a melon cube. It must have hit the gunpowder reserves or an engine, because it almost immediately afterwards exploded in a ball of fiery light that sent heat radiating their way and made them flinch. The flaming, hollow wreckage then crashed to earth with a smaller explosion and lay in a mangled, fiery heap.

"Aww," Firestorm complained, illuminated by the fire. "I wanted to help blow it up…"

"You'll get your chance if we run into a catapult or something," Starlight assured him.

"How did it feel blowing that up?"

Starlight shrugged. "Kinda satisfying. Enemy troops are one thing. The enemy's weapons are another."

"I can teach you all about destroying stuff, you know. Blowing things up is cool."

"This is how we know boys are different from girls," Rarity wryly offered.

Pinkie slowly raised her hoof, her eyes looking down at her Element.

"You don't count, Pinkie." And after a glance: "Or you, Tempest. Or Rainbow, or--you know what?" She cut herself short and sighed.

The ponies made their way down the hill and into the fishing town. There weren't any of the newest commodities around, so most of the houses were made of wood and tile, if not thatch, and there wasn't even a hotel, restaurant, or casino like other seaside attractions. It reminded them startlingly of Maretania, only more recently abandoned.

"You think they fled to the capital?" Applejack wondered aloud as they walked.

"I sure hope they did," Fluttershy said, concerned for their well-being as Fluttershy always was.

The streets were moldy and narrow when they got to the docks some way down on the coast. Wooden boats and small yachts awaited them there, bouncing gently in the small waves, their masters having abandoned them. Ropes also reached way up into the darkening, cloudy sky, obviously being tethered to airships far above.

"Who do you think's decided to park here?" Rarity wondered. "Nopony rich enough to own an airship would dock at a place like this unless he had no other choice."

Twilight squinted up, trying to see through the thick cloud cover. Something was off. It was like a tingle on the back of her neck before a strike of lightning.

"Well, between an airship and a rickety old boat, I'm all for asking the guy who owns it," Rainbow put in.

The silhouette of the airship above the clouds began to grow darker as it descended with a deep groan. Twilight felt her heart sink and her bones shiver at the ominous noise.

"Did they notice us coming?" Pinkie hesitantly asked.

"They must have seen the explosion of the tank!" Freedom Fighter realized. He quickly snapped off a combat baton and ignited it in a bright yellow glow. "If they mean trouble…"

"I think they do," Starlight whispered. She ignited her horn, which was the cue for most others to ready themselves for combat. "Stay close, all of you."

But before she could say much more than that, there came a rumble of thunder from the ship, and a flash of light that outshone the noonday sun. Streams of arcing white lightning shot from the sides of the ship and entered their bodies at the speed of light.

It all happened so sudden. Hundreds of thousands of volts ran up their entire bodies, shocking most of them into unconsciousness immediately.

It left Twilight wondering, as her vision faded to black, just what on Equus happened...

Tempest's eyes were weary, but she groggily blinked and opened them fully. There was something crusty in the corner of them, and her legs felt heavy. She was lying down on her stomach, all stretched out. It was all she could do to look up.

To her horrified astonishment, the Storm King was grinning at her, crouching down to leer like a predator.

"You have a nice nap?" he asked, almost casually.

Behind him was an entire escort of the Storm King's guards, fully armored and armed. And bound and gagged at their feet were the other ponies, unconscious and frazzled from electricity. Everyone was completely immobilized; not even an inch could be wiggled about. They were all on some kind of wooden deck, the sound of a chugging engine was dull in her ears, and dark grey clouds were passing them by. They must be on the airship.

Tempest sighed and pounded the deck with a weak hoof. "I am such an idiot." She glared at her former master as she slowly got to her hooves. "This isn't only about the girls! You're after the throne of Equestria!"

"Oh, no. Not yet. Not until I figure out these." He jerked a thumb to the left, and Tempest followed. Most of the Elements of Harmony had been piled unceremoniously in a corner, along with Noble Blade's sword and a struggling, furious Freedom Fighter, who looked like a mummy with all of the ropes binding him. They were all overlooked by two particularly hulking beasts glaring down upon it all.

Tempest felt her heart lurch. "The Elements…"

"Yeah, about that…" the Storm King replied, rubbing his cheek with his other hand on Stormkeeper in its sheath on his hip. His bulky right leg was made of jointed wood and metal, as was his right horn, which was spiked and sharp like a cruel mace. "I figured it was best for us all to possess it instead of those pathetic Equestrians. They want them back, they can just buy it back."

He offered a seemingly soft hand to help her up, but Tempest batted it away instantly. "I'm no simple mercenary!"

Her electricity crackled to life and scorched the deck beneath her as she lunged at him, but he drew Stormkeeper immediately and knocked her aside with the flat of his blade. Tempest went flying, and her electricity was sucked into Stormkeeper. It was pulling the magic out of her, draining her, making her head pound and quiver and roar with the rush of blood.

Finally, however, the Storm King stopped, and Tempest collapsed on the deck, shivering hard.

"Mercenary?" The Storm King wafted Stormkeeper casually, sending sparks flying out. "I prefer the term adventure capitalist. Selling merch isn't enough to run a kingdom."

"You don't know what you're doing!" Tempest spat at him.

"Oh, I know exactly what I'm doing. I'll pry the Elements from their gold prisons, sell the gold, keep the jewels for myself, and watch from the sidelines as the Noxxa obliterate Equestria. Then while they're licking their wounds, I'll drop in and wipe them out with the Elements. What's the downside you see? They're big, shiny, and powerful, and it'll make me the ruler of the world."

"Those aren't just diamonds, and they're not just magic batteries either. We were wrong from the start! They're divine artifacts! Those are the only things capable of stopping the devil himself. You take that away, and we're all doomed!"

The Storm King looked thoughtful, then eventually shrugged. "What is a devil to a non-believer?"

Tempest remembered saying almost those exact words. And she felt her heart lurch within her chest. "Don't… do this…"

He spat. "Feh. Ponies really are all the same. And here I thought you liked getting your hooves dirty, Tempest. Think about it. If nobody took advantage of their situations, nothing would ever get done in the world. What kind of creature would I be if I didn't use my power? I'm just… looking out for number one while providing collateral in case of an Equestrian counterattack."

Tempest just growled and crouched, ready to fight him head-on. "Then… you will do it… without me."

"Oh, Tempest," the Storm King lamented sarcastically. "I'll admit, I'm disappointed. When did you ever become an idealist like Twilight? We were this close to having all our dreams fulfilled, and you picked now of all times to grow a conscience? Ponies have ruined you. I still offer you forgiveness, though, and a chance to save your horn. For once in your life…" He tapped his temple with an evil grin. "...do the smart thing."

"You never intended on healing my horn, did you?" Tempest whispered. "I see it in you now. You used people before, and you used me the same way. You always did want power for yourself. Friendship means nothing to you. You're a liar who doesn't keep his promises!"

The Storm King gave her a surprised glance, then sighed in exasperation. "Get off your soapbox, Tempest. See, that was strictly on a need-to-know basis. And, well, now you know."

"You had sworn," Tempest breathed. She wasn't shocked, just disappointed. "You made me swear to our promise."

"Next time, get it in writing. Now I suggest you bandage up that bleeding heart of yours, Tempest. It doesn't suit a, ah, mercenary."

That was the final straw.

"I defy you."

The Storm King folded his arms. "Oh, really?"

"You can't make me do anything anymore. You have no more control over my life! The devil is already on the earth. It's you!"

Tempest lunged at him again, but his left hand shot out, gripped her by the throat in midair, and slammed her into the deck hard enough to splinter the surface.

Pinned down by his fist, Tempest, struggling for air, could see him out of the corner of her eye shaking his head.

"I hate it when I have to do anything myself," he breathed. He barked something in a hooting language to one of his subordinates, and the Storm Guard picked up the unconscious Twilight by the mane and pressed the tip of his spear into her eye socket.

Tempest's heart jolted. Freedom Fighter began to roar against his gag and struggle even harder against his bonds.

"Let's see what you value more, Tempest. Me or her."

Tempest heaved for air to speak. "Don't," she whispered. "Kill me instead."

"Oh, trust me, I will." He let go, and Tempest clutched at her throat and wheezed for her breath. "But when I do depends on your attitude. You may yet be of some use to me." He barked another order to the guard holding Twilight, and he removed the spear from her face, but dragged her and Applejack like sacks of potatoes to the door leading below deck. The other guards picked up everyone else but Rainbow Dash and the writhing Freedom Fighter, and followed suit.

Tempest took her eyes off her friends to look around, and her heart sank. All around them was the Storm King's fleet of airships. Tempest could count at least ten of them, plowing through the clouds like plump whales. There was no way they could escape from this.

"Hey, Tempest," the Storm King snarked as her friends disappeared below deck. "Where's that defiance you were talking about, huh?"

Tempest couldn't look him in the eye.

As Rainbow Dash gradually returned to consciousness, she heard muffled voices in the background. The first was a bunch of hooting that she couldn't make out. The second response was clear to her ears, however.

"Oh, really? Well, I don't care if we are heading into a storm. I wield Stormkeeper, and the electric heavens are mine to control. Keep our course, helmsman."

As she blinked and fully opened her eyes, she spotted a reclusive Tempest Shadow held at spearpoint by several towering creatures. Tempest spotted her as well, and she looked… sorry. Every emotion storming in her eyes was a powerful one. Tempest then hung her head, as if to say It was all hopeless.

And then she saw an awfully familiar satyr towering above her. He looked like he was spotting a puddle of vomit.

"You." The Storm King picked up Rainbow by the scruff of her neck like a small kitty, and Rainbow was now partially awakened. His claws were sharp and dirty, and none too gentle. "Look at you, bleugh. Stinking rainbow pony prissy-pants. To think my troubles are mostly because of filth like you. Ha!" He indicated his horn with a tip of his head. "Do you even remember cutting this horn off at Mount Aris?"

At this height, Rainbow could definitely see the artificial replacement. Scared and confused, she murmured, "Why do you care so much?"

He practically threw her to the ground, like a football. Rainbow rolled and bumped for a few feet, pain erupting all over her body and fully waking her up.

"Creatures like me," he explained, like an exasperated parent telling a child that two and two are four, "take their horns very seriously. You wouldn't know, of course. You're not a minotaur or a yak. But even ponies understand the importance of horns; I've been around Tempest long enough to realize that. So you must be really stupid. A horn is an outward sense of pride. The longer and tougher it is, the higher-quality the animal." He grinned lopsidedly. "It gets you horny, get it?"

Rainbow groaned and rolled her eyes. How could he be so menacing yet so immature?

"I can handle my leg being lost. That was lost in combat, fair and square. But for you to swoop in out of nowhere and emasculate me… that's crossing a line of my patience. You're officially on my naughty list."

He punted Rainbow's body, again like a football, and she hit the guardrail and flew out, away from the ship. Her wings were still bound as she sailed away, and her heart panicked and she screamed-!

"Ho ho!" The Storm King managed to grab her mane just in time, and she was hanging from the roots of her hair with her limbs bound. "Don't wanna lose my prize too soon, huh?"

Like a catapult, his arm came down, and Rainbow crashed into the deck hard enough to splinter it. Her entire body was now sore, and blood had come out of multiple spots on her.

“And who’d have thought?” he remarked as Rainbow struggled to get up. “I’d be thwarted by a pony of magic, and a rainbow. The irony is just sickening, isn’t it? The one thing I want and the one thing I hate, conspiring against me. The universe is so threatened by my path that they resort to using scum like you!”

“You know what I think?” Rainbow said, looking into the stormy abysses of his eyes. “I think you just like to hear yourself talk!”

The Storm King actually laughed at that. “Oh, definitely! See, you get me, right?” A glint entered his gaze. “But there’s a sound I love even more than that. It’s SCREAMING!”

And he grabbed a hunk of Rainbow’s mane and tore it out with one violent rip.

And Rainbow did scream. It was enough to make a tear come to her eye. The pain felt like her scalp was on fire. And it hurt her heart to see a chunk of tangled rainbow hair on the deck.

“Stop it!” screamed Tempest from the side. She violently struggled against her captors. “If you want to kill her, just do it! Get it over with!”

“Hmmm…” he considered. Then he shrugged. “Nah.”

And he kicked Rainbow in the stomach, making her topple to the deck once more.

“Do it to me!” Tempest practically begged. “Hurt me all you want, but leave Rainbow alone!”

It made Rainbow’s pain stop. Just the idea that she would do such a thing… it lessened the burden. From where she was, Tempest looked frightened out of her mind.

"Tell ya what. I’ll split the difference. I’ll torture you both! And whadda ya know, there just so happens to be several magical artifacts nearby that can do the job!"

Rainbow spotted several of the Storm King's minions curiously picking up the Elements and fondling them. Each of them were letting out brainless gurgles of laughter as they let the jewelry hang from their claws or around their arms like a bracelet.

"Hey," the Storm King gestured at them. "Why don't you put them on and see if you can use their power, eh? I wanna see what unlimited power looks like!"

The storm creatures hooted in excitement and quickly put on the available Elements like arm bands or bracelets--a tiara, in the Element of Magic's case. One of them gripped Noble Blade's glowing sword tight, but it looked like a thin rapier beside his hulking form. They actually looked cute, in a bizarre way, with the cute gold stuff on their very large frames. The only Element unaccounted for was Freedom Fighter, who was still struggling against his bonds on the deck far away from everypony else.

"Come on, then," the Storm King urged. "Let's see if someone other than these puny ponies can use 'em. If brainless things like you can, anyone can."

The eight creatures didn't even recognize the insult. They instead concentrated hard and made loud grunting noises as they tried to draw out the Element's inherent gift-giving power.

And to Rainbow Dash's horror, the Elements did indeed begin to glow brightly in their grips. They looked just as startled as Rainbow or the Storm King. But soon, that gave way to giddiness. They laughed mindlessly as pretty colors swirled out of the Elements and surrounded their bodies. A few tried swiping their claws through the colored streams emanating off the Elements. The guard with Noble’s sword gave a few experimental swings, and the blade hummed and roared with power in every arc of blue.

There was a twinkling in everyone’s ears, like a music box. The lucky guards giggled and began to swat at each other, while the Storm King clenched his fists and roared in triumph.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" roared the Storm King. "What did I tell ya? You all aren't special! The Elements ain't your gift! Equestria will be mine with this power, and you all will discover-"

He stopped. The Elements were still glowing, but they had grown darker. In the blink of an eye, the Elements turned to a shining obsidian in the creature's grips. The twinkling was gone and replaced by a dull roar in everyone's ears like the flow of electric power.

A few concerned grunts came from the storm creatures, and they tried to pull them off. But they stayed attached like they were welded to the skin. Concern turned to fright as the creatures tried to pry them off with increasingly desperate scratches and yanks. Then the Elements began to steam, and the creatures yelped and howled in anguish.

The Elements of Harmony were not to be wielded by simply anybody; only those proven with the right authority could harness such power. The storm creatures quickly learned the price for their attempts.

Applejack's Element sprouted long, glowing ropes that quickly ensnared the wearer’s guard from head to toe in an iron grip with his arms at his sides, and they glowed and burned an intense orange. The guard's screams were muffled by the burning whips over his mouth while his quivering flesh burned like a brand pressing into a cow.

Pinkie's Element spread a glowing pink aura around the guard, who only had the time to look into the Storm King's eyes in horror. Looking sick, his stomach suddenly bulged like a balloon and his head twisted like a screw. Then, screaming himself hoarse, he stretched incredibly thin for fifteen feet in the air like a piece of taffy, squashed himself together like a ball of cookie dough, and exploded in a pink puffball. Nothing but a twinkling pink ash falling on the discarded Element of Laughter was left of him.

Rarity's Element made the flesh shiver and clench as the guard's arm quickly turned to a dark blue crystal. Staring in shock at his arm, he screamed and tried to shove the Element off his forearm, then tried to cut off his arm's circulation by squeezing it. It was of no avail. The crystal quickly spread throughout his shaking, kneeling body until he was nothing but a living blue crystal, still screaming. The crystal then glowed brightly from his chest, creating spidering cracks in his body, until it promptly exploded and scattered shards of him across the deck.

Firestorm's Element burned hotter and hotter on the guard's arm until it made the guard who was holding it erupt into flame spontaneously like he was covered in napalm. He screamed a horribly pained screech and fell, rolling helplessly on the deck as flame consumed his form and ate away at his flesh.

The guard with Fluttershy's Element felt his arm stiffen and lose all feeling. He quickly redoubled his efforts to get it off; the flesh beneath the Element was becoming wooden. Just like Rarity's crystal Element, the wood stiffened his fingers, then spread up his stiffening arm and down to his chest, then his legs, and up his neck. As he quickly developed roots and became more and more of a tree, he became stuck in place as branches sprouted out of his head and leaves began to blossom on him. Unfortunately for the tree, the guard on fire rolled into him, and the tree suddenly caught fire. The tree began screaming once more as he was quickly enveloped in intense flame.

The guard who had Noble Blade's burning sword stuck on his hand suddenly received an even worse surprise. The glowing sword spun in his hand, breaking his wrist, and cleanly sheared the guard in half down the middle like a pair of scissors halfway through cutting a sheet of paper. He fell with a wet, heavy thud, quickly expiring in a pool of bubbling blood.

The guard with Twilight's element stuck on his head fell to his knees, enveloped in a deep purple energy. His entire body seemed to steam from the sheer magical overload, and his fur soon shriveled up and his eyes began to dance in their sockets. A few drips fell from his arm, and his face began to stretch unnaturally as he screamed in horror. His skin bubbled up as his body temperature rose dramatically from the inside, melting muscle, boiling blood, charring bones. Soon, his skin peeled off like wrapping paper, and blood and muscle dripped off his body to stain the deck beneath him. He tried raising his arm, but his bones just broke apart and his blood dripped like wet, heavy rain. Eventually his head caved in, making the tiara on top of him droop into his skull as brains poured out of his ears. All the while, he was screaming, and the horrible scent of burning flesh was just intensified.

But Rainbow's eyes were on what her Element was doing. It was discharging bolt after bolt of lightning to course around the guard wearing it until his fur and skin were charred pitch-black and crispy. His burnt smell further added to the terrible stench. Every pulse of lightning blinded her temporarily. Every crack seemed to split the air apart.

Finally, the Elements ceased their glowing once every last guard had been completely and utterly obliterated. Burning corpses, glittering dust, shattered crystal, and pools of blood had ruined most of the deck. The tree that had sprung out of nowhere was now blackened and dead. And the Elements were lying amongst those piles of gore and burnt stubble innocuously. There wasn't even any damage to any of them. Not a single mark or scratch.

The Storm King was rendered speechless. But there was an open grin on his face, a glint of fascination in his eye, as he watched them die painfully. He eventually blinked hard, however, and grimaced. "This… might be a bit trickier than I thought."

"Hey, my Lord," Tempest called from behind the spears at her throat. "Where's that power you were talking about, huh?"

The Storm King actually managed to growl at that. He snapped his fingers at one of Tempest’s guards. “Collect the Elements and bring them to my personal chamber. The pony included!”

The guard who had been addressed nodded frightfully, then set about collecting the things with a high whimper, flinching as he touched them and collected them in his arms.

The Storm King sighed at him, then yanked a struggling Rainbow yet again and dragged her like a sack of potatoes to the edge of the deck. What was he going to do to her? Was this how she died? But instead of hurling her overboard, he just allowed Rainbow to look beside him into the increasing void.

“What do you see?” the Storm King asked her in a deceptively mild tone.

Nothing but other airships moving in a black void as they pushed even deeper into dangerous weather. “Uh… Weather clouds?”

“These are my weather clouds,” the Storm King corrected. He stretched his arms wide, like he was expecting a hug. “I control lightning, and so I control the power of the heavens. The pegasi can manipulate clouds, but I! I am an angel, striding the skies with lightning in my fist and the world beneath my feet. Everything you see, I command.”

Rainbow gave him a raised eyebrow in return.

“This is my domain, Rainbow Dash! And as its ruler, I figure I was a little too harsh on you, a simple visitor in my land… so to speak. You ought to be treated better!”

“Really?” Rainbow asked, emulating Tempest’s dry responses. “What, are you gonna give me a lollipop?”

“Oh, you’re delusional,” the Storm King laughed sentimentally. “No, I want to show you an ocean tour!”

It wasn’t really a surprise, but Rainbow still felt scared enough to joke. “Hey, look, drowning isn’t exactly hospitable-”

“Oh, you’re reading too much into the metaphor,” the Storm King insisted, rolling his eyes. “Stinking ponies. You know something?… they have no business ruling the world. Cutesy little happy colorful creatures focusing on trivial pursuits. None of you see the bigger picture here!"

"Fine. What all-important picture do you see?"

The Storm King softly grinned, exposing his teeth. "Conquest. Wealth. Power and opportunity ripe for the taking. Never stay complacent, my little pony. Go beyond the horizon and seize what you can get before you’ve lost it and you’re too late. Would it surprise you if I learned that lesson for myself? I used to be nothing. I was a beggar once. Ahh, I hated every moment of it. Long story short, it was only until I managed to become king that I decided there’s a reason why the strongest have to naturally be on top. It just… feels nice to destroy things. Haven’t you noticed?"

Rainbow couldn't bear it anymore. It was like mental torture. "Why?" She had to look up to meet the Storm King's gaze.

"Hmm? Why what?"

"Why do you… take so much pleasure in the suffering of others? Are you… actually that sick?"

The Storm King thought about that for a little bit. Then he finally said, “Aww, don’t look at me that way.” He shrugged. "I just think it's fascinating."

Rainbow recoiled. How on Equus-?

"I already know what you're thinking. What a strange outlook, right? But hear me out here. Rainbow Dash, we're all animals. Suffering is in our nature. Peace is wonderful because of the lack of problems, but something about it… just doesn't feel right. We’ve kept death out of our personal lives! Now that’s no way for respectable creatures to live! We were designed to withstand pain and suffering. In fact, we revel in watching it to hide the pain we’re in ourselves--the world is finally waking up to it. We like seeing people we don’t like suffer. Cruelty is entertaining. Evil is interesting. Power… sells. Why else do you think I created all my merchandise? And so taking away pain and hardship is like cutting ourselves off from an essential part of life.

"I'm an agent of pain, Rainbow. You ponies think I’m a barbaric animal, but I’m simply coming to terms with my own brittle nature so when my time comes, I can accept it. Now, in the meanwhile, I intend to study pain by inflicting it upon others and learning more about our fragile condition as I work my way to higher power… and reach enlightenment as the world burns at the foot of my throne."

"Are you hearing yourself?" Rainbow exclaimed. "Are you mad?"

"Mad? Oh, Rainbow, I am," he whispered, a shadow crossing his electric blue eyes. "I'm mad at you, and at all those who've thwarted me on my path to the ascension of Equus. And I gotta admit, even though I consider myself to be an even-tempered satyr, you and your friends're a bigger pain in the neck than I ever thought possible. Congrats, you win a limited-edition Storm King doll! Perhaps I'll even hang your skin on my bedroom wall. Next to Tempest's, of course."

"Don't," Rainbow whispered. "You won't hurt any of my friends if I have anything to say about it!"

"Yeah, well, that's the thing. You don't." He gripped Rainbow by the shoulders, by her tattered mane, and began to bend her over the edge of the ship. "Here, let’s start the ocean tour to make up for it!"

"Stop it!" Rainbow screamed, thrashing around in his grip. The darkness beneath her was an abyss of nothingness. Hell awaited her. "STOP IT!"

"Hey, you hear that?" the Storm King mocked, pushing on her even harder. "Your friends are calling for you!"

"NOOOO!" Rainbow bellowed in defiance, tears dripping from her eyes.

A flash of lightning erupted behind her followed by the thumps of two bodies, and the sound of clinking armor on wood followed. The Storm King turned around, ready to lash with Stormkeeper-

But he never could. Tempest Shadow, burned with her own electricity, had charged right into his chest with all her strength. They both toppled off the edge of the ship, breaking the banister into splinters, and fell through the air, both of them screaming.

It only registered a second later. Tempest Shadow had saved her life. But it had been at the cost of her own.

Rainbow couldn't allow that.

Even though Rainbow Dash had been fighting against this exact same thing, without a second thought she jumped after them.

Rainbow plummeted, wind tearing at her squinting eyes. The Storm King and Tempest were just a few seconds behind. If she could streamline her fall-!

But her limbs were bound. So were her wings. Luckily, with all the thrashing around, her bands had loosened a bit. But not enough to break through with a single push or pull. She pushed against her bonds with all her strength and narrowed her profile to fall faster than them.

The falling pair both noticed Rainbow’s rapid descent. The Storm King angrily whipped Stormkeeper at Rainbow, and an arc of lightning fired at her with a loud sizzle. She narrowly managed to evade it by twisting her entire body, and continued her fall. There wouldn’t be much time before they hit the ocean. She had to do this now!

A few seconds later, she did collide with the Storm King and Tempest, throwing them into a massive free-falling tumble. The razor-sharp blade narrowly managed to evade her ear a few times, but it did cut across the binds holding her hooves together. It made a deep gash across her arm, but they were at least now free!

Rainbow grabbed Tempest around the waist, whose horn was sparking electricity in dangerous arcs around them all. It made her hair stand up and her teeth hurt. The ropes binding her wings began to smolder.

“GIVE HER BACK!” the Storm King bellowed, plunging Stormkeeper at Rainbow. Tempest’s armored hoof, however, shot up and redirected the blade to the side. Her other hoof punched him right in the face, and it was loaded with static electricity.

They were thrown in different directions, and the accumulated force from everything thus far had finally taken its final toll on Rainbow’s bindings. They slipped off, and Rainbow flapped in place, holding Tempest tightly.

The Storm King continued to fall, but with a desperate thrust into the air, Stormkeeper drew out six different streaks of electricity from the black clouds around them, suspending him in midair. And with a pulse of even brighter light, he was thrown up at a tremendous rate like he was thrown from a slingshot. He disappeared among the clouds.

“I’ll keep him occupied! Tempest, go and release the others. We gotta get out of here!”

“But without your Element, you’ll die!” Tempest yelled in return over the deepening rumbles of the storm clouds.

“Tempest!” Rainbow replied, giving a wide smile of reassurement. “I’m in my element right now!”

Rainbow flapped back up as fast as she dared without dropping Tempest. The further she went, the worse it got. The wind and rain began to pick up, and water soon covered them and got into their eyes and ears. Electricity somewhere rumbled and roared, and light blinded parts of her vision. It was like navigating the ocean depths without a light. It was hard to find where the ships were, let alone which one was the lead ship. But, through a whisper of direction from an unknown source, she finally found several dark, plump ovals in the clouds.

By the time she finally hovered above the lead ship and dropped off Tempest, rain was lashing at them and rocking the ships from side to side. Lightning roared and flashed all around them, from what Rainbow assumed was the Storm King. Which meant...

“He hasn’t found his ships yet!” Rainbow cried triumphantly amidst the overwhelming sound. “I can keep him up there!”

“Rainbow!” cried Tempest before she could take off. “I…”

“What is it?” came Rainbow urgently. Tempest looked like she was struggling to find what was right to say.

“...Thank you,” she replied. “I’m… grateful you’re my friend.”

Rainbow, soaked and misshapen, smiled. Everything was said in that smile.

Then she took off, leaving Tempest there on the soaked deck.

The ship was rocking now. It creaked and groaned with wood and iron, making Twilight woozy and irritable. All of them were awake now. They were in a suspended cube of crossing iron bars, still bound and gagged.

If only she could use her magic to break out! But they didn’t know if the cage was the safest place for them at the moment. The storm, the loss of the Elements, the potential of the Storm King wielding those Elements… Twilight didn’t want to lose all of her friends to a stupid mistake.

The door to the outside opened with a creak, a flash of light illuminated the dark room, and a howl of wind whipped into the ship’s hold. There came the sound of a kick and a sizzle of electricity, and several of the Storm King’s hairy guards were thrown from the balcony onto the metal deck with loud clangs.

Tempest was there, rushing to the controls of the cage already. Tempest looked singed, and a long, spidering burn mark ran down her neck and under her armor into her torso. But she looked more focused on them instead as she hit the right controls. The suspended cage was gently settled down with a clatter of chains and the underside opened up, depositing all of them onto the floor.

Twilight used her magic to unloose her gag, drawing in a deep breath of relief, and her magic soon got to work on the others’ gags as well. Soon the hold was full of deep breaths and coughing as Tempest was getting to work on cutting their bonds with a halberd one of the guards had dropped.

“Where’s Rainbow Dash?” Applejack and Firestorm asked almost at the same time.

“And Freedom Fighter?” Rarity added.

“Freedom is in the king’s personal quarters with the rest of our stuff,” Tempest told them, averting her eyes. “And Rainbow Dash…”

After a moment, Fluttershy spoke up. “She’s fighting the Storm King, isn’t she?”

Tempest glumly nodded.

“She’ll get killed!” Noble worried, levitating the halberd into his hoof as soon as the last person’s binds, Pinkie’s, was cut. “Without her Element, her survival isn’t guaranteed!”

“”Now you hold on a minute, mister knight,” Applejack swiftly assured. “Rainbow Dash is even tougher than anypony here gives ‘er credit for! If there’d be one pony Ah’d choose to take ‘im down, it’d be her.”

“I fought him,” Noble reaffirmed. “I could barely keep up. The Storm King can manipulate lightning.”

“And Rainbow can control the lightning sources,” Firestorm stated with finality. “Give her a little trust!”

“It’s not that, it’s…” Noble let out a grunt of frustration and let go of the halberd to push on his skull with a free hoof.

“If we want to help her,” Starlight cut through, “We need to take out this fleet. Tempest, you know the layout of these ships better than us. Which way to the captain’s quarters?”

Tempest nodded at Starlight, and pointed at an iron door leading out. “This way. Stay close!”

The ponies and Spike followed their lead. Twilight stayed at the back to protect their flank.

A nagging thought came to her. Was Starlight beginning to take better control of the group?

And why did it matter to her if she did?

Chapter Seventy-seven: Stormkeeper, Part 2

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Fighting in a storm was like when Rainbow had fought in the ocean with the seaponies against the possessed animals. There were three dimensions to consider instead of two, and it was all black, so she didn’t know which way was up or down. Blood was roaring in her ears and giving her a headache. Her skin was clammy and freezing. It was wet and windy from every direction, thunder boomed seemingly right next to her, and lightning flashed across every axis. There was also mocking laughter booming from the Storm King echoing everywhere.

As Rainbow landed on a long stretch of cloud, she actually saw the Storm King be carried onto the cloud as well on the opposite end, lightning flashing all around him. Apparently Stormkeeper gave the wielder the ability to walk on clouds as well.

“WEAKLING!” the Storm King bellowed, and it was like a boom of thunder. Lightning crackled from his eyes and fist. “THE ELEMENTS GAVE YOU STRENGTH?! SHOW ME, THEN!”

Rainbow stomped on the cloud and raised up a poofy shield just as the Storm King fired a stream of lightning at her from Stormkeeper. The cloud dissipated the lightning, and Rainbow kicked the lightning-infused ball of cloud right back at him. With a slash he chopped through it. Lightning exploded off to the sides, throwing him into deep shadow.

“THE WORLD IS ALREADY BECOMING UNMADE!” the Storm King roared at her. “WHY FIGHT THE INEVITABLE?! JOIN IT! YOU CAN UNMAKE THIS WORLD AS EASY AS IT WAS CREATED!”

There was a dark edge in his voice that Rainbow didn’t like. Lightning threw him into shadow again, and Rainbow thought she saw some semblance of a terrible alicorn in his figure. His outstretched arms and mismatched horns briefly became bent wings and a long, ivory horn, and a wicked gleam of doom was held within his eyes as it bore down upon her. It sent a ripple down Rainbow’s skin that had nothing to do with the cold.

“I like this world!” Rainbow shivered out, trembling with every fiber in her body. “And you won’t rise above it!”

His snarl could have torn apart the sky, and he sure tried his best. Lightning poured into Stormbreaker, making the air ripple, and the Storm King slammed the golden blade into the clouds beneath them. The entire surface became electrified, branching out into the inky night sky and connecting with other black clouds.

Rainbow was already in the air, though. Her flight path carried her above him, and with the help of a timed gust of wind, she flapped down and kicked the Storm King in the head with enhanced force, sending them both flying through the air in a sudden tunnel of air. Beaten though she was, this was her natural environment. The Storm King was playing on her turf.

Lightning blinded the sides of her vision, and thunder dulled her ears, but Rainbow was able to keep her bearings. It was something innate in pegasi, and all other creatures of flight. All the Storm King could do was hover and shoot lightning, while she had the edge in maneuverability and control of the environment.

Rainbow curved her wings to land on the edge of another cloud on the edge of the wind tunnel, and launched like a bullet at the flying Storm King. Their impact was charged from the static in the air, and they both collided into a stormy patch of black, like a platform of sorts.

Electricity was sparking in her hair and fur. A furious look adorned her, matching the primal one of fury in the Storm King’s expression. She landed two or three blows on his face before he gripped her hoof with incredible strength and hurled her off him to roll on the top of the clouds.

A slash of Stormkeeper followed as she was getting to her hooves. A quick lean back saved Rainbow from certain death, but it meant a long cut across her chest instead of across her neck. Rainbow barely felt it. She just charged back at him and plunged a hoof into his gut. But it meant she was close enough for him to uppercut her hard enough to send her flying, and he followed it up with a kick to the head from his artificial leg that shattered the fake foot and made her temporarily black out.

The only thing that helped her regain consciousness, and saved her life, was muscle memory as her wings flapped on their own. When her vision cleared enough to see, the Storm King was swirling Stormkeeper in the air like a paintbrush, and lightning followed from the tip like a whip as he charged it up and lashed it at Rainbow, too quick to dodge.

Even though she tried her best to twist out of the way, it struck her in the flank. Pain shot up her entire back and made her leg convulse, and a scream escaped her lips. She struggled to stay in the air from the crippling blow.

“YIELD!” the satyr roared.

“NEVER!” she roared back. Her numbed body felt like it was on fire.

He lunged, slashing the golden sword, and Rainbow evaded once more.

The door swung open with a sudden bang, and a storm creature was hurled into the room to crash into the desk and bed of the Storm King’s quarters, surprising a captive Freedom Fighter in the corner like a startled cat. In came Applejack and Tempest Shadow first, all serious faces and raised hooves, followed by the rest of the ponies.

Twilight’s horn glowed, and his bonds quickly unraveled. He gasped as his gag was removed and rubbed his arms where the ropes bit into his skin. “Thanks, Twi.” He grunted as he rubbed a sore spot. “Took you long enough.”

She shrugged, but she couldn’t hide a quick grin. “We were always coming back for you.”

“And the Elements,” Pinkie put in. “Speaking of which…”

“They’re in his wardrobe,” Freedom answered. Rarity quickly went to the wardrobe across from his now-ruined bed and opened it. “Where’s Rainbow?” he continued.

“Fighting the Storm King,” Fluttershy squeaked.

“...Ah,” was all he could say. “So, urgent?”

“Hurry up, ladies,” Tempest urged with a hoof, though her tone was as laconic and bored as ever. “Get your jewelry on and meet the world with style and panache.”

“Oh, Tempest, darling, don’t you know you need enthusiasm for that sort of thing?” Rarity replied, quickly distributing the proper Elements among the girls.

“Style and grace! Put on a happy face! Dress in satin and silk and lace!” Pinkie burbled with a few bounces.

“See what I mean?” Rarity emphasized, gesturing at the pink pony.

“Who gets to be Rainbow Dash this time?” Spike spoke up dryly. “You made me the new Rainbow Dash last time.”

“Oh,” Twilight recalled with a quick facehoof. She looked around the room before quickly depositing Rainbow Dash’s Element into Tempest’s hoof. “Well, uh, congratulations. Tempest, it’s your turn to be the new Rainbow Dash.”

“Is there something I’m missing here? Freedom Fighter said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Firestorm emphasized. “It’s Rainbow that’s missing here!”

“I’ll explain later,” Twilight promised. “Just hold onto that for now.”

“Hold on,” Pinkie suddenly spoke up. “Technically speaking, isn’t Spike a better candidate for loyalty than Rainbow?”

“Oh, come off it,” Applejack dismissed. “Rainbow’s the kind of gal that’ll stick with ya till the end!”

“So is Spike, now that I think about it,” Rarity mused. “He did stick with Twilight for all these years, and he’d do anything for us! Well, specifically me. Pinkie’s got a point!”

“Hey, hold up, could I see that Element again?” Spike asked, walking to Tempest with his hands reaching.

“A-da-da-da-da-da,” Tempest reproved, putting a hoof on his head as he came near, lifting the Element of Loyalty above and away. “All of a sudden your little mind changes?”

“Rarity’s really convincing!” Spike tried to justify as he reached for the Element in Tempest’s other hoof.

“What’s our plan?” Freedom Fighter asked.

“We need a ride out of this mess,” Starlight spoke up, coming to the front of the room near the edge of the wardrobe. “So we need to keep at least one airship intact, destroy the others, and recover Rainbow Dash--once the Storm King is out of the picture. In the middle of a hurricane.”

“Wonderful,” Freedom Fighter droned, getting on his hind legs to stretch out some more sore spots. “Could this day get any better?

“Well, we wouldn’t want to make this too easy,” Firestorm remarked, slipping his Element on. Beside him, Noble Blade had taken his sword and scabbard, and was in the process of tying it on his back. “How many do we all get to take down?”

“I think one apiece,” Tempest reported. “Ten or twelve armored airships are accompanying this one.”

“Aww,” Firestorm lamented. “Only one?”

“What’s the big deal?” Noble asked him, adjusting a strap.

“Just… I wanted more.”

“Why do you now feel this compulsive urge to destroy?” Rarity critiqued, sliding away and slipping on her own Element after passing out the others.

“...Because one of my favorite things in the world is telling people who think they have power, ‘No,’” Firestorm replied, but his voice wasn’t light anymore. “I want to be the one to… to spit in their faces.”

Rarity gave a small gasp. “Oh, darling, don’t speak like that.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” he shot back. “That’s what we’re all doing, isn’t it? We kill the bad guys. And isn’t there even a smidge of satisfying catharsis in destroying their attempts to destroy us? We’re the right ones here. This is okay. What’s the big deal?”

“You’re sounding like him,” Tempest whispered. “I thought you knew better.”

Firestorm went silent. But a misunderstood glint was in his shadowed eyes.

A tremendous boom rocked the boat right then, shaking everyone to the side.

“Thunder?” Pinkie asked, turning her bright blue eyes to the ceiling. Then she zipped to the wardrobe and put her ear next to it. “Or a secret knock?”

“A cannon,” Twilight corrected. “One of the guards on this ship must have warned the ships next to us that we were loose!”

“But soldiers should know better than to go to that extreme on a whim!” Freedom Fighter exclaimed, incredulous. “Are they really that brain-dead?”

“Yes,” Tempest confirmed. “Yes, they are.”

A second boom roared in their ears and a crash broke a terrible hole in the side of the captain’s cabin, replacing where the wardrobe once was. Wood showered them, knocked to the floor and scattered and cowering from the near-death explosion.

But another sound made each of them pick their heads up again. It was a pair of screams.

Starlight and Pinkie, who had moved closest to the wardrobe, had been sucked out of the hole and were flying about in the wind in two different directions. Their screams quickly became lost in the smattering rain and the winds in the distance.

Before they could get too far away, Firestorm and Applejack had already launched themselves out of the hole. The orange pegasus dived for the plummeting Starlight, who had ignited her horn for a beacon. And Applejack’s Element sprouted a collection of glowing yellow whips that gripped the edges of the hole and quickly shot her out like a slingshot at a distant, flailing Pinkie Pie.

Soon the bed had slid to the hole and tipped on its side, blocking the air pull the hole was creating and making it safe to at least stand up. The entire chamber was becoming depressurized, a vacuum in the making. But it was quiet enough for Twilight to yell.

“New plan! Rarity, go after Pinkie and Applejack! Freedom, come with me and Spike! Tempest, you know these ships! Stick with Fluttershy and Noble here! See if you can’t take control of this ship somehow. If all goes well, come back here! If not, I’ll let you know! Got it?”

Everyone nodded. Tempest, Noble Blade, and Fluttershy escaped as one group from the room through the doorway, leaving four remaining.

“How am I supposed to go after them?!” Rarity screamed through the howling winds.

“Use your imagination!” Twilight yelled from across the large bedroom.

“Rarity!” Spike yelled, clinging to Twilight’s leg, but stretching a hand out. “I’ll come back! I promise!”

It was a small promise, to be sure, but it made Rarity smile and stretch her own hoof just enough to tap Spike’s palm. “I’ll be waiting for you, my love!”

Spike and Freedom, both inseparable from Twilight, gathered close to her as she charged up her horn with a whine and aimed it at the intact end of the bedroom. A single blast was enough to make a similar hole in the left side of the bedroom, exposing the left wing of the Storm King’s airship armada rocking in the swirling rain. Twilight spread her wings and took off, with Spike on her back and Freedom Fighter in her arms.

Now it was all on Rarity. The order of business was to break the bed barrier and ride into the storm. So she levitated the bed up by three feet, and the sudden influx of air was enough to drag her through the narrow hole she had made, bashing her head on the bed frame before being sucked out into the storm.

It felt like she was levitating in midair from all the strong winds in every direction. She wasn’t sure where she was going, or if she was falling or not. Her magic began to flare up, but she wasn’t sure what to do. Rarity felt helpless. What power did she have?

Even though lightning flashed and thunder roared and the wind battered her in every direction, they faded into the background. Because the rain twinkling around her seemed like clear, liquid gemstones.

The thought came naturally to her beauty-oriented mind. But something about the observation… lingered in her head. Gems and crystals were sparkling in every direction as far as the eye could see. She was like a white piece of ice drifting in dark outer space, and the shining rain was as innumerable as the stars, no matter where she turned her head.

What made them twinkle like that? Why did they look like a rain of diamonds? The water was crystallizing and so cold. It hurt her skin. In fact-

It hit her.

Crystallizing!

Her horn ignited in a brighter blaze of blue along with the Element around her neck. And all around her, the rain halted in its tracks. She was suspended in midair as well, and so was an increasing gathering of rain droplets in blue auras.

Her magic reached deep into the inner working of the water drops and transformed the water in her grip into crystals. This meant ice. Slowly, ice as hard as rock gathered under her hooves and formed a large board that Rarity put her hooves onto gently. Then with a mental push, she was off.

The water in her magic grip followed her and solidified, becoming part of a system of rings orbiting her like a planet. Rarity’s eyes, sharp enough to notice tiny details in fabric and spot a single stitch out of place, were scanning for any sign of pink in the storm.

A whisper, a nudge, came to her brain. Was it Faust? Rarity figured if it was, it couldn’t hurt. So she followed the direction it was telling her to look. Down.

A flash of lightning lit up the sky beneath her, and far away was the muffled colors of Pinkie and Applejack, their arms tightly around each other as they fell. Without another moment to spare, Rarity dove.

It whipped at her eyes and cheeks, and her mane fluttered like a wild flag. But she finally came close enough to the falling ponies that Applejack could lash out with one of her orange whips and snag Rarity’s leg, and they were both soon trailing behind Rarity as she rose.

“You’re safe now!” Rarity declared as they ascended. “We’ll all be okay!”

But Rarity was looking behind her as she spoke, and not in front of her. She had gone up too quickly and at the wrong angle. It was too late before she realized with a scream that they were rocketing right into the armored balloon of a Stormship. With a quick succession of poomfs, the three ponies hit the balloon and began to fall once more. Rarity managed to find her grip on a bannister on the ship deck, and Applejack’s hooves wrapped tightly around Rarity’s rear leg, making her yelp. Applejack’s whips lashed out and caught Pinkie around the waist before she could go too far. This left them hanging awkwardly in a long line from the edge of the ship.

“Woo-hoo-hoo!” came a laugh from Pinkie as she dangled from her belly. “All those hoof-holding teambuilding exercises we did are finally paying off!”

“Yunno, Ah might be new to this whole rescue thing, but this seems like a step back, don’t ya think?” Applejack remarked loudly to be heard over the wind.

“No, no, it’s okay!” Rarity encouraged, soaking wet. Her grip on the bannister was slippery. “We can figure this out!”

A hoot from a storm creature on the deck drew their attention. Then the hoots grew in intensity and number, and sounds of weapons unsheathing reached their ears.

“Ya need to stop talkin’,” Applejack advised.

Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, was swinging like a filly on a swingset from Applejack’s whips, her Element glowing brightly on her chest. She eventually reached the ship deck and touched the surface with her front hooves, making the area glow an unnatural pink. She pushed off once more, and right at the edge of her arc, the side of the ship exploded, shaking the entire airship and making Pinkie fly up in a curve that pulled Applejack and Rarity along with it. Rarity’s grip was loosened at last, but the three ponies were already flying in the air to come down on the deck.

Applejack landed first. Her whips lashed out at the creatures all around her like snakes. They sliced deep cuts into their flesh or burned like an oven, making those unlucky creatures howl and hoot and hop around. Applejack ignored them and sped to the opposite end of the ship. She had time to turn around and yell, ”Don’t worry ‘bout me! Take out the blimps on either side!”

Rarity came down next, followed closely by Pinkie. While Pinkie got to work holding off the recovering Storm creatures with high-pitched karate yells and chops, Rarity focused once more on crystallizing the rain around them into ice. Rain swirled around her and froze into rock-hard ice, and the wet deck hardened beneath her hooves.

But her attention was diverted when she spotted Applejack leaping from the edge of the ship. Rarity stared, paying no attention to her surroundings, as Applejack sailed out with orange whips flailing in every direction. Didn’t she have a plan? She could get killed by any number of things!

A lightning strike thundered right next to Applejack. And a whip snaked out and latched onto the string of plasma! Right before the lightning disappeared, the whip tensed and launched Applejack further across the distance between ships, and she landed with a roll on the opposite deck.

Applejack could whip and swing from lightning bolts.

“Oh, that’s not fair,” Rarity mumbled in a semi-pout. Reassured that Applejack would be okay, though, Rarity’s gaze fell upon the ship far to her right, chugging out black smoke that fused effortlessly into the storm clouds. The faraway ship made the mistake of opening fire. A cannonball shot so close to Rarity that her hanging mane split and flew like banners. Rarity responded accordingly.

Her will was unquestionable. The hardening rain floating near her head suddenly flew like pellets from a shell across the distance and shredded apart the exposed engines. A few of them also poked holes into the balloon holding it afloat. Soon tongues of flame and explosions bloomed like scarlet springbuds from the faraway ship’s rear. It began to dip and tilt in a perilous angle, and the further it deviated, the quicker it descended, until the balloon failed entirely, the rear end of the ship bursted apart, and the ship dropped like a stone into the churning waters far beneath.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie had kicked plenty of guards clear across the deck and was bouncing around the rest, doing her best to get up to the pilot house. Rarity’s field of view was limited, but Pinkie stood out in any environment. Through the blur of the rain, she saw a pink pony-shaped thing escape through the Storm Creatures, lunging and stabbing and doing their best to nick the Element of Laughter. She didn’t even try to fight them, but instead bounced up a whole story to the command deck, where the pilot house was situated. Reaching the wheel, Pinkie grabbed a peg and whirled it as fast as she could with a high-pitched, “Whoopsie-daisy!”

The entire ship quickly tilted down and to the left, making the remaining Storm Creatures scrabble for handholds as they slid down the deck, hit guard rails, flew over the side, and fell into oblivion. Rarity stayed where she was like a plant, being attached to the deck from her ice.

Rarity and Pinkie’s airship was swerving scarily close to Applejack’s airship, which was also tilted to the side. Rarity could see blurry orange lines in the same place as the pilot house, which meant Applejack had taken control of her own.

It would be a matter of seconds before the two ships collided.

Rarity braced herself. With a cracking and snapping, the two ships impacted and flung splinters and iron up like fountains. It felt like a devastating earthquake that was doing its best to unhinge anything not bolted down. Cracks appeared at her hooves and chunks of both airships disappeared.

Though ice was strong, it was brittle. The ice holding Rarity to safety shattered.

With a shriek, Rarity found herself being flung. She hit the splintering deck and grabbed at anything that came near as she slid down the ramp. Her back collided with an iron protrusion and sent her tumbling out of control. And as her back hooves hit the fragile rails on the edge, they broke apart under her sudden weight.

Rarity plummeted through the gap between the ships, screaming and reaching up helplessly.

As if hearing her cries, an orange whip snaked down the side of the ship, wrapped itself around Rarity’s hoof, and snagged her descent in its tracks, making her lurch. It then retracted like a fishing line, dragging Rarity up as debris from the colliding ships continued to rain upon her. Soon, though, Applejack’s airship dove underneath Pinkie’s, breaking apart at the seams and bursting apart from the pressure. The edge of the ship passed under her hooves by just a few inches, making her curl up instinctively as she watched the mighty vessel plummet to its doom.

Rarity was dragged back onto the sloping deck of Pinkie’s airship, which was righting itself with almighty groans and creaks. Applejack was holding on tightly to a ruptured board in the deck, and as soon as Rarity was settled down, the orange whip retracted back into her panting body.

“You said you were new to rescue,” Rarity commented with a squeak, her hoof shaking from the near-death experience. “I think that was a lie. And here I thought you were the Element of Honesty!”

Applejack guffawed, slapping her knee, of all things. Rarity hadn’t really meant it, of course.

“You know I can fly by myself, right?”

“That’s called floating!” Firestorm refuted, blinking hard against the wind getting in his eyes. “And I don’t want to waste your magic on staying in the air!”

“I got plenty to spare, trust me!” Starlight tried to say.

“And I got plenty of strength to spare too!” he retorted, carrying Starlight Glimmer bridal-style through the buffeting winds. Both of them were keeping an eye out for their airship, but there weren’t any defining characteristics to distinguish one from the other, never mind the stormy environment.

So when they suddenly spotted a ship far above them, without regarding it as their own, they rocketed right for it. Firestorm drew close, deposited Starlight onto the deck, and landed beside her.

“You sure this is the right one?” Starlight asked Firestorm.

“If it isn’t, we’ll make it ours!” Firestorm reassured her, circling his arms to stimulate blood flow.

An explosion from the rear of the ship made them stumble in place and dart their eyes accordingly. Storm Creatures could be seen rushing to the rear from all hands on deck. An ominous lurch made the ship begin to tilt out of nowhere.

“That wasn’t me!” Firestorm swore, lifting his hooves up innocently. “I haven’t even done anything yet!”

“They’re sabotaging the engine!” Starlight realized. “They’re not even gonna put up a fight! They just want to take us down!”

“Ugh,” Firestorm moped exaggeratedly. “Now I’m gonna have to fly on my own? Whatever shall I do?”

“Hurry up and get over there!” Starlight insisted, pushing him and rushing beside him in the process. “If they take out the propulsion, we’ll be ripped apart by the storm!”

“Yeesh! Okay, I get-”

But he quickly shut up as he spotted six or seven Storm Creatures appear on the top deck wielding primitive firearms. Firestorm gasped and quickly swept Starlight behind him to place himself between her and the muskets.

But they never intended to aim at the ponies. Instead, they took their weapons and aimed at the balloon above holding them afloat. The volley fired.

And the balloon became punctured. It was a pop, but it sounded like an explosion for all it was worth. Immediately, their altitude dropped with a jolt. And without an engine chugging them forward, their speed slowed to only what momentum could provide. Storm Creatures clamoring on the sides fell off, but it was impossible to tell if it was a voluntary leap or a jolt from the ship. The airship quickly became abandoned, and without a pilot, the nose tilted forward and to the left. The entire thing was on the verge of collapse. Very quickly, gravity began to claim it.

Firestorm clung to the railing bordering the ship’s deck, his long wet mane whipping in every direction. “Keep the ship airborne!” Firestorm ordered Starlight with a jabbing hoof. Then he hurled himself off, his wings firmly at his sides.

With a minimized profile, he was able to fall much faster than the dark, sluggish airship groaning beside him. With an expert thrust of a wing, he curled underneath the ship and quickly reached the keel on the underside. His first grasp of the hull ended up with him sliding backwards until friction stopped him. He gripped it awkwardly at first, but quickly adjusted himself so he was holding the whole thing on his back. He looked like a remora clutching to a shark many times its size.

Now was the hard part. His wings began flapping. They were pushed back by the sheer windpower pushing him, but he simply gritted his teeth, squared his shoulders, and powered on. His wings soon developed a sort of slicing technique where by tilting them up, they came forward, and the wind immediately dove them down, giving him the power to repeat the process.

The necklace around his chest glowed brightly, enveloping him in an orange aura and creating a streak that hung behind him like a comet tail. Firestorm felt his body temperature rise to meet the demands of the challenging environment. His wings began flapping more earnestly, and strength came to his arms. Firestorm began to push up. It felt like his biceps were about to burst in half, but Firestorm figured that was just another Tuesday for him, and he poured on power by using his core muscles as well. It was enough to make him let out a bellow of effort and agony. But slowly, slowly, he lifted the diving airship from the bottom up.

His aura was pulsing so hard, the wooden hull around him was set ablaze from the Element’s power. It roared and crackled as soon, the entire bottom quarter of the ship began to catch fire. The pegasus never moved, and he didn’t feel the fire. The weight of his friend’s life was on his shoulders, after all. The monstrous craft in his hooves leveled out and began to speed up, supported only by a snarling, panting, wheezing Firestorm.

The ship became surrounded in a new aura soon enough, though. It was a greenish color, though traces of pink were coating it too. Firestorm wondered about it until the obvious answer entered his head. It was Starlight! So that’s what she was doing to keep the ship airborne. Firestorm had figured she’d go for the pilot house, which was kind of what he meant in the first place.

But if that was where the green was, what explained the pink?

He turned his head to the right. There was a faraway airship shadow in the clouds that only became illuminated by a crack of lightning.

Firestorm strained himself ever harder, adjusting his body slightly and tilting the ship to the right. Thanks to Starlight, it was easier than he had anticipated, and he ended up overshooting his turn. Their failing ship was aimed just slightly behind the shadowy one in the distance.

Firestorm shook his head in frustration and tried to alter the ship’s direction a bit more. But by now, they were close enough to the other ship that, if he squinted, he could see who was on it. And there was only one purple alicorn that Firestorm was aware of.

Desperately, he tried to tilt his deteriorating ship once more so it wouldn’t collide with theirs. But he soon realized that the further away he tilted his ship, the further away Starlight would be from Twilight. What do do, what to do?

Twilight took to the sky, tossed about by winds from every angle, and limped her way to the edge of their husk of a ship. Firestorm couldn’t incline his head at an angle to see what she was doing, but he figured she was picking up Starlight. So he focused instead on not making the two ships collide. He put everything into going the wrong way at full speed, changing the yaw, pitch, and roll of the giant hull above him.

It almost missed.

The bow of his ship clipped the stern of the other diagonally, making both vessels bounce and jolt and shriek. It shook Firestorm from his spot underneath the hull and sent him spinning in the air. Too late, he tried to return to position, but the ships were already halfway through contact, scraping showers of debris from both ships and raining them into the ocean far beneath.

So he quickly flew to the port side and pressed himself hard against the hull there, pushing the ships apart as best he could to minimize damage. The flaming aura covering him quickly ate through the fragile husk of his ship, though, and soon large areas of his ship were aflame that didn’t exactly help the situation. Firestorm gave up on that prospect immediately.

Soon after that, though, both ships had completely passed each other by. Twilight was returning with Starlight in her arms, and Firestorm finally chose to give up on the quickly-disappearing airship and shot like a comet past the girls back to the one they controlled.

Once Firestorm settled down on the soaked deck, he rolled his eyes as the girls came in behind him. “Oh, so when I carry you, it’s all awkward, but Twilight can do it, no problem?”

“There’s a difference!” Starlight protested, clambering out of Twilight’s arms as she hovered above the deck. Spike was there as well, and Freedom Fighter.

“What’re you doing out here?” Firestorm asked them all.

“Getting you both,” was Twilight’s curt response. “Now go back to the lead ship! I don’t know if Rarity and the others are back, so we’ll go check. Tempest, Noble, and Fluttershy are waiting for you.”

“What about Rainbow?” came Firestorm’s eager implore.

Freedom Fighter’s scarlet eyes drifted up, blinking from the rain and occasional flash. “She seems to be on top of things.”

Rainbow Dash was not on top of things at all. She was on the ropes, as a matter of fact, always driven back by the Storm King’s frequent brutality.

A particularly heavy blast of lightning was desperately deflected by a balled-up cloud that Rainbow threw like a fastball. The impact exploded in a flash of light that made her stumble back.

“TOO SLOW!” mocked a savage voice appearing beside her. Rainbow turned her head only to get a face full of fist from a gleeful Storm King.

She was thrown through the air, crashing and rolling to a halt on top of the cloud platform they were fighting on. Rainbow felt hot blood pour out of her nose like a loosened faucet and run like a stream into her lips. She spat some out and quickly stood on all fours, keeping a lookout for his appearance. But he had already vanished from his spot. Rainbow had learned her lesson of standing still, though. She instinctively leaped into the air and curled up to minimize her frame.

Not that it mattered. The Storm King was above her and simply swung downward. The hilt of the weapon struck Rainbow’s spine with all the strength the Storm King could muster. Rainbow felt a shock ripple her body like she had been struck by lightning--which, given his weapon, was entirely feasible.

Pegasi were naturally resistant to shock damage, given their environment, but even they couldn’t shrug off everything. As Rainbow spiraled away from him, she knew if he kept this up, she’d die for certain.

Should she escape? She could draw him away and expose him in clearer skies… but that just sounded like an excuse for running away. Or flying away. Whatever.

Was Rainbow really so scared of that? Of him? Of course not. So what was the big deal with the growing knot of fear tightening in her heart?

If it meant the Storm King would destroy her friends instead, then of course she’d be scared.

All of this registered in a blazing second in her head. It was a wakeup call of sorts to get her focus elsewhere.

Rainbow glided in a sharp curve to change her straight trajectory and aimed elsewhere. Not at the churning oceans far below, or the airships floundering blindly in the hurricane. She didn’t even aim at the Storm King, who was standing triumphantly in the heavens and hoisting his blazing sword into the sky like a gladiator.

She aimed up. And she made sure the Storm King could see her do it.

“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?!” the Storm King bellowed, waving his sword at her ascending figure while grinning madly. “GONNA TRY AND RUN?! HA HA HA HA! I ALWAYS KNEW YOU WERE A COWARD!”

Rainbow didn’t even try to respond. Her focus was elsewhere. She knew his pride wouldn’t allow his prey to escape. And sure enough, looking back, she spotted the golden beacon of Stormkeeper flying far behind her.

She needed to lose him. More speed! More!

She added a spin as well, and it managed to help with the drilling as she plowed through one dense storm cloud after another, leaving holes in her wake. Plus, it was a cool trick.

Rainbow felt weightless as she flew up and up. Nothing could harm her anymore. The rain on her skin was numbed, the cold felt warm, and the winds simply carried her higher and higher.

Finally she emerged above the dark cloud line and entered heaven.

No more rain or wind. This was peace. It was an endless expanse of dark stars in every direction, illuminated like a spotlight by the moon above. Rainbow’s body felt freer than ever. She even managed to lazily reach a hoof out, as if to grab a gem in the night sky.

The world slowly rotated, and Rainbow found herself reaching for the dark clouds suddenly above her head. But she wasn’t plunging. Rainbow was rising.

She broke through the cloud line and entered the storm headfirst. Dark clouds swirled around her like a wind tunnel as she raced upside down. Or was it the world that was upside down?

With a faraway flash of lightning, Rainbow could see the silhouette of the Storm King shooting the opposite way upside down, only a few feet away. Or was he right-side up? Rainbow didn’t care.

Stormkeeper erupted lightning from the tip. Rainbow quickly fashioned a ball of clouds with her hooves and it absorbed the lightning. Both fighters shot towards each other, but Rainbow closed the gap first.

A vicious strike from her rear hooves made the Storm King tumble in place, flailing his arms with his head bleeding. Rainbow didn’t let up, however. She shot right at him once more, grabbed hold of his burly neck, and locked his neck in place with her front hooves. The Storm King struggled madly, wheezing and roaring for breath and doing his best to bend his sword arm in the right way to pierce Rainbow’s flesh. But Rainbow used one of her rear legs to wrap around his arm and lock it straight out to the side. It took all of Rainbow’s strength to keep it up.

The Storm King tried his best to use his left hand to pry apart Rainbow’s grip from his neck, but Rainbow never had the intent to let up. Finally, in an explosion of pure rage, the Storm King started channeling lightning into Stormkeeper nonstop.

The constant light blinded her and weakened her grip on the Storm King. He wrenched his right arm free and swiftly grabbed Rainbow by the neck with his left arm.

“THE GOD OF THE HEAVENS HAILS JUDGEMENT UPON YOU!” the Storm King roared. His mad, wild eyes sizzled with lightning as he jutted an overloading Stormkeeper into the sky. Like a rocket, he shot up.

Rainbow’s breath was short. The tightened windpipe, the rushing wind, the lack of oxygen the higher up they went… it was everything she could to gasp for air.

And the idea struck her right then and there. If it was the case for her, it would be the same for him!

Unfortunately, he seemed to realize that as well. That or he was just impatient. But either way, he simply hurled her into the air, and before she could correct her course, he let out all the condensed power in Stormkeeper.

In exchange for more power, Stormkeeper had reduced accuracy. Roaring streaks of lightning as thick as tree trunks erupted in every direction except for where she was. The magnitude of such power ripped clouds into shreds and blew rain away. Rainbow knew staying in place was no option.

She rocketed right at him, dipping under persisting streaks of lightning splitting the sky and quickly dodging new ones only a few inches away. It made her skin ripple and her hair smoke, but Rainbow didn’t stop. The Storm King himself looked like a tree trunk with dozens of ethereal white branches striking out.

She didn’t know why she hadn’t gotten it before. It was so simple, what she should have done!

Evading several strikes of lightning in her general direction all at once, she dipped right underneath the Storm King, puffed her wings quickly to halt, reversed direction, aimed, and shot like an arrow at his right elbow.

Stormkeeper was ripped from his grip with a snap of his arm, accentuated by a boom of thunder.

Rainbow lunged for the falling glint of gold, and so did the plummeting Storm King. Rainbow’s hoof and the Storm King’s claws seized around the wet handle at the same time. Both of them bellowed as loud as they could at each other with pent-up battle rage, and inadvertently poured their combined power into the golden sword. Without a specific command to keep it contained, more lightning simply erupted from the tip, supercharging their surroundings.

Neither of them could see, neither knew which way was up or down. But Rainbow felt her torn mane flip upside down, and the issue of balance was restored. She knew her direction, while he didn’t! Rainbow could be in control now!

With the Storm King refusing to let go of the sword, Rainbow adjusted herself and flapped as hard as she could, and they sailed upward once more. Water streaked from all over her body, and her hooves felt number than ever. But still she persisted! She had to!

The highest storm clouds eventually parted, revealing the two of them against the midnight sky. They almost looked like they were dancing, if not for the white net of electricity emanating off them both and the struggling taking place.

Rainbow aimed for the moon above. Her wings strained harder than ever before, but Rainbow didn’t know if it was as powerful. She flew higher and higher, weightless and without resistance. She felt frost cake her hair and felt her breath thin out. Her hoof grasped the slippery cold sword ever tighter. Her wing joints felt like they would fall off if they kept this up, but they kept working anyway.

And for all her suffering, it was having results. The Storm King was looking frightened and freezing. Beneath him, the storm clouds seemed infinitesimally small. The slight curvature of the planet could even be seen. The lightning on the sword sparked, fizzed, and went out entirely.

“NO!” came the hoarse, desperate scream of the Storm King. His breathing became more erratic and thin, but the sword was the only thing that could save him. That meant he was entirely at Rainbow’s mercy. “PLEASE!”

Rainbow spared him a look. And she continued to rise ever higher with the sword in her hoof. Whatever it took to get his grip off, it would be a price she could pay.

“YOU’LL KILL US BOTH!” the Storm King yelled, coughing at the end.

“THAT’S THE IDEA!” Rainbow screamed, also hoarse and out of breath. Her wings began to slow down. Rainbow couldn’t ascend much further.

The Storm King didn’t dare let go of Rainbow’s hoof on the sword, but his other hand, on his broken arm, was already at work unscrewing the fake horn on his head with groans of agony. Rainbow only noticed it too late, and she didn’t have much strength to react to how he held it like a mace.

“I! AM! KING!” the satyr screamed, ripping his throat to pieces, and with a swift swing struck Rainbow in the chest with a sickening crunch. The Storm King’s arm bent entirely the wrong way.

Rainbow was flung away with splatters of blood, and the world spun in every direction. But more importantly, she dropped Stormkeeper. And by extension, she dropped the Storm King.

The Storm King, flailing and screaming, plummeted back down into the hurricane far below, followed by the miniscule glint of gold. And Rainbow, after righting herself, saw both of them quickly disappear. Without a second thought for her own safety, she decided she couldn’t let either of them escape, and rocketed right after them.

Rainbow felt like a meteor. It felt so good to fall instead of rise. But regardless of the strain put on her wings, she kept flapping them, reaching otherwise unattainable speed for a pegasus. The air itself rippled at her approach, and a small shield appeared around her as she plunged once again into the hurricane’s dark swirls. Heat coated her body, giving a relief to her freezing body.

The clouds were ripped apart in her path as the heat shield continued to form around her body and streamline itself to her shape. Wind whipped her body the wrong way. The static electricity she was building up was enormous. A roaring buildup sounded in her ears as her teeth clenched and her eyes watered. She was approaching supersonic speed.

And though he was but a speck in her eye, she was close enough to see the Storm King desperately reach out and tap the end of the nearby golden sword, sending it spiraling anew. He continued to reach, for his life depended on gripping the sword. Rainbow needed to reach it first!

Her heat shield suddenly streamlined and grew taut, like a bent bowstring. Rainbow poured on more speed, and she closed enough distance to see the Storm King reach out one last time and grip the handle of the golden blade.

And he pointed it right at her and unleashed a fountain of pure lightning.

There was no way Rainbow could dodge it. But she also didn’t have to.

The lightning hit the shield surrounding her and deflected off to the side or ran in her wake like a boat in the water. Rainbow didn’t even notice most of it. The lightning somehow wrapped itself around Rainbow’s outstretched hoof, shielded by the bent bowstring of energy.

Rainbow, bombarded by a constant stream of lightning, closed the distance in the blink of an eye.

The last thing the Storm King ever saw was Rainbow Dash. Mane torn, singed and wet, hoof outstretched and filled with electric power, and surrounded by an aura. And a wide, gritted smile was on her face.

What he couldn’t have known was that Rainbow Dash was thinking of a reply to the Storm King’s vehement last words.

And I… am… the Stormkeeper!

She broke the sound barrier right as she crashed into his fists holding the golden sword. The impact turned the charged blade the opposite way and effortlessly pierced it right through his chest, emerging from his back and cutting right through his spinal column. The Storm King bursted with electricity from every pore. His mortal shell could not contain the sheer amount of energy flowing through it.

And at the same time, an electrical Sonic Rainboom erupted with a thunderous explosion, the likes of which was unprecedented. The titanic horizontal circular rainbow expanded faster than the eye could follow, tearing apart each and every airship that was lost in the storm. Explosions and shatters followed their destruction, and the wind blew them in every direction once they turned into little more than debris.

The pure destructive force that resulted from this was enough to fling Rainbow away. The Storm King had been completely incinerated by both Stormkeeper and the explosion of the Sonic Rainboom. Rainbow Dash didn’t know which way was up or down, or north or south, as she tumbled through the sky. But soon, she didn’t need to.

Her back collided with a wooden slab of a ruined ship, knocking the breath out of her and sending her scrabbling for a grip in the middle of nowhere. Her hooves managed to grab ahold of something--she didn’t know what. And something golden flew past her ear and embedded itself into the wood around her.

Rainbow’s eyes were so heavy. And her body was utterly spent. Her job was finished.

Though the world was full of chaos, she finally allowed herself to fade into the world of rest.

Images passed her by in quick succession, with flashes and roars. The grinning Storm King. The gathering clouds.

Tempest Shadow. The pouring rain.

The blinding lightning. The roaring thunder.

The flying blood. The midnight sky.

The shining stars. The shocked screams.

A golden blade, rotating in view…

And her blue hoof reached to claim it.

Who controlled who? Stormkeeper’s title was quite clear. It was a terrible weapon with vast potential. She could be a conqueror. But she would also be a slave to its power. Or she would serve the blade, but at the same time become its master.

There was wisdom in humility. In loyal service.

In pressing your face into the dirt. Or sand.

Sand. There was something about sand…

She was back in the real world.

The next thing Rainbow knew, she was hearing a gentle, dull swishing, and she felt herself bobbing up and down. Heat was pressing into her back, making her woozy as she opened her eyes. And a bitter taste was in her mouth, which got her spitting and coughing, her throat and nose burning and blistering from… the salt?

Rainbow slowly got to all fours, adjusting her vision by blinking. She had been lying on a board of wood, floating in a small puddle of seawater on an ugly grey rock-and-sand beach. The gentle swishing was the sound of the ocean rushing into her little puddle and bobbing her up and down. The heat was of the sun, high in the sky already.

“Rainbow!” came a distant voice, making Rainbow swivel around. It made her realize there was water in her ear, which she shook her head furiously to get rid of. There was sand and seaweed in her mane, which she brushed and peeled off quickly with a few icky sounds, like bleaugh. Sand was between her teeth, making everything grind and grate against her teeth. Every inch of her limbs felt sore beyond comparison, and a raging headache felt like a spike of pain in the forehead, making her freeze for just a second and hiss. There was bound to be other cuts and tears in her as well.

The one good thing about it all was that, embedded into the wooden planks Rainbow had arrived on, the golden blade Stormkeeper stood upright. Rainbow’s eye was quickly drawn to it. It just looked so… enticing. Gold was a great conductor of electricity, but the metal itself should have been soft and ineffective as a weapon. Yet it was just as strong as the Guardian’s weapons, or even a Black Blade. Rainbow’s hoof drifted to the handle, gripped it, and yanked it out of the wood. She held it up to her eye, and the gleam on the edge sparkled in her wide, rosy irises.

It hummed in her grip contentedly, though that could have been the electrical current running through it. Rainbow gave it a few experimental swishes, even though her arms were totally wrecked from the fight with the Storm King.

Which reminded her, what happened? Did she just inadvertently destroy the entire remaining fleet? Along with a ship the others could have taken out of there? That must have been how she ended up shipwrecked like this. Where were the others?

“Rainbow!” cried the same voice again, and Rainbow Dash spotted Spike running to her from further down the beach. He soon came near, panting, and offered his hand. “Need any help?”

“Where-” Rainbow started, drooping the sword arm.

“You’ll see,” Spike finished for her.

So Rainbow flapped into the air, ignoring how sore her wing joints were, and came to Spike. She didn’t get far before they gave out entirely and she dropped to the ground with a grunt, and she resorted to walking with three legs beside a concerned Spike.

Many other debris pieces had washed up on shore as well. Splinters poked up from the sand right where Rainbow was about to step, wrapped in balloon scraps and molded by the sea. Rainbow didn’t know if the wreckage was from one airship or many. After an extended period of silence between them, and after what seemed like half a mile, Spike and Rainbow came upon the only other two ponies in sight. Both were sprawled on the beach and exhausted. Rainbow couldn’t believe it.

“Twilight? Freedom Fighter?” Rainbow asked, bewildered at their loneliness. “Where’s Fluttershy? O-or Firestorm? Applejack? Pinkie?” She became increasingly desperate with each nonexistent reply to the names she associated most closely with. “Are they… Don’t tell me they’re d-dea-”

“We don’t know,” Twilight replied with a heavy sigh, sitting up. “We’ve been looking for hours, but us four are the only ones around.”

It felt like a punch to her gut. And the worst part was, it was her fault! If she simply hadn’t created that Sonic Rainboom, they’d all be together…!

“I-I’m sorry,” Rainbow quickly stammered out. “I just wanted to take him out! If I’d known, I just--Oh, I can’t-”

“Rainbow, it’s okay,” Freedom Fighter assured her. Much of the front half of his bodysuit had been ripped apart, leaving nothing but strips and tatters. “Nopony’s blaming you but yourself. Trust me, blaming yourself sucks. And think about it! If you hadn’t fought the Storm King, we’d be in a much worse spot with cages and leashes.”

“Yeah! Thanks for everything,” Spike continued, hugging her leg briefly. “I mean, not that this is a good spot, but…”

“What we’re trying to say is,” Twilight finished, “is that we’ve been thinking it over before Spike found you. And we came to an understanding. In our eyes, taking him on headfirst and alone so we could have a chance to escape is… one of the most selfless things we’ve ever seen. You’re headstrong, and impulsive, but it was loyal and true. I… can’t express how thankful we are to have a friend like you.”

Rainbow was stunned. She thought they’d be frustrated or rash, Twilight in particular. She didn’t hate the princess, she simply thought that the journey had whittled Twilight down to an irreparable husk. She’d seen examples time and time again. So it was a shock, albeit a pleasant one, to see her compassion and understanding. She had been expecting a full-out rage, after all.

“Yeah…” was all Rainbow could find. Expressing honest admiration was always a hurdle in her life that had only begun to be remedied by Firestorm. “I’m really happy you’re mine too.”

Rainbow dropped Stormkeeper as Twilight gave her a surprise hug, which Rainbow reciprocated awkwardly.

“Now that’s a worthy weapon,” Freedom Fighter remarked, examining the sword by putting his face close to the blade.

“That’s nothing compared to what my Element can do,” Rainbow brushed aside, escaping the hug. “Do you guys have it?”

At this, Twilight couldn’t meet her gaze. Spike ruffled his spines while rolling his eyes, and Freedom Fighter coughed uncomfortably.

Her stomach sank. “No.”

“We gave it to Tempest Shadow for safekeeping,” Twilight informed her. The princess’ dejection was written all over her. “Listen, you were lost in the middle of a hurricane, and we were stuck on the ships. There wasn’t much we could do to return it to you.”

“Well then, where’s Tempest?” Rainbow demanded, desperation creeping into her as she instinctually flapped into the air. “I-I can’t have lost it! We need us all at full power!”

“We just said we don’t know,” Spike insisted. He sighed and kicked the sand. “Now I really do wish I could have become the new Rainbow Dash again! We wouldn’t be in this mess!”

Here Rainbow lifted an eyebrow. “Huh?”

And Spike froze in place. “U-uh, hey, forget what I said about-”

“Oh. You don’t know, huh? Well, remember when we first fought Discord and you, um, abandoned us in the hedge maze?” Twilight informed her. “We kinda, sorta, had to replace your role. And Spike was the only one we could spare.”

“And I said if you found out I had been impersonating you, it wouldn’t end well,” Spike spoke up, though it seemed to be more directed at Twilight instead of Rainbow Dash, judging from the irate eye roll he sent Twilight’s way.

Rainbow blinked. “Wait a sec, you actually thought that?”

“This was at a very discordant time!” Spike tried to defend, spreading his tiny arms. “Nopony was acting the way they should.”

“Aww, c’mon, Spike,” Rainbow tried to reassure him. “If anyone had to take my place, I’m glad you fit the ticket.”

Spike blushed and looked down as he squirmed and kicked the sand to hide his smile. “Aww, shucks.”

“So that’s what you were talking about,” Freedom confirmed. “You sure do get around a lot.”

“I’ll say,” came a new voice.

The four of them swiveled around. Standing higher up on the rocky beach was an individual that could boil blood with his presence alone.

“Erm… hi,” the red dragon said. His voice was gruffy and snobby. “Listen, Spike, I know what this looks--AAAAH!”

Twilight grabbed him with her magic and shoved him on his back. Freedom Fighter instinctively drew out his staves and assembled them into a glowing yellow staff, and within a few seconds the end of it was pointed at the dragon’s skull. Finally, Rainbow leveled Stormkeeper at him. All four of them drew closer suspiciously.

“H-hey! Stop it! Don’t attack me!” he whimpered. Nopony had an accepting eye for him. Especially Spike.

“Garble?” Spike incredulously asked. His fists were balled. “What are you doing here?”

“Me? What about you?” Garble demanded, trying to sit up but failing. “You’re here at the same time I was? I-it was a coincidence! I swear!”

“You and I both know there’s something behind every word you say,” Spike said, an edge in his voice. “You’re nothing but bad news.”

“Is there something I’m missing here?” Freedom Fighter asked, adjusting the grip on his staff. “I feel like I’m asking that a lot nowadays.”

“Garble,” Twilight said through clenched teeth, “is a duplicitous bully and a brute. When vying for the throne in the Gauntlet of Fire, he planned to pillage Equestria and burn whatever remained if he won. Do not trust him.”

Garble sighed and whispered, “I shouldn’t have said that. I should not have said that.”

“You shouldn’t have been that,” Rainbow corrected. “You got a lot of nerve talking down on ponies and then pleading for them to spare you.”

“Things have changed! I swear!” Garble cried, scooting back from the end of Freedom Fighter’s weapon until he hit a boulder just behind him. “I-I mean, not between you and me, but… But there’s a bigger issue here!”

“Lay aside your pride and look me in the face. Tell me, right now, what’s your deal?” Spike asked.

Garble closed his eyes; he couldn’t look at them. “Look, I hate asking for this as much as you hate me. But… I need your help.” It sounded like someone was twisting a knife in him.

Spike crossed his arms. “No.”

Garble opened his eyes in obvious shock. “What?!”

“You’re looking at me weird. What, you expect me to say yes every time you call on me? I’m not stupid, Garble. I’m not falling for your tricks ever again. You expect us to help when you’ve done nothing but unapologetic harm?”

“Fine! I’m sorry, I was wrong. Now let’s be done with it!” Garble pleaded, becoming irritable. “Listen to me, Spike!”

“We’re busy,” Rainbow Dash bluntly told him. “We don’t have the time to put up with you. I don’t know why you’re out in the middle of nowhere, but-”

“I was banished!” Garble insisted. “Dragon Lord Malice has been hunting me! He thinks I killed Ember, but I swear, I couldn’t! I only ran because I thought I would be killed next!”

It was like a punch to the gut. Only one major thing had registered.

“Dragon Lord who?” Spike and Freedom Fighter asked simultaneously in fear and rage.

Chapter Seventy-eight: Dragon Lord Malice

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One week ago

The Dragonlands were a stuffy, hot, and smoky sort of place. If there was ever such thing as hell on earth, it was this. Volcanoes, underground geysers, and lava fields comprised the vast majority of it, and what little vegetation was able to grow was sickly, stunted, dry, and fading in color. Strange minerals in the soil had created red, brown, and grey hexagonal boulders that made up the surface, like a mosaic patchwork. And then, of course, there were the dragons.

There wasn't much to do in this barren wasteland. No one farmed; the soil was too poor, and dragons didn't need to eat plants anyway. Industry was limited, and they were isolated from most of the rest of the world, although there was a tentative crystal trade with Equestria. Ponies were still scared of this faraway place. It was impossible to tell just how many dragons inhabited this peninsula on the far continent. Dragons varied from the size of a mountain to the size of a feather. You could find a few of them hiding under a boulder. The average-sized dragons, though, liked to relax in the lava pits and let off steam.

One of these was a thin purple one with a crooked snout, called Venom. He was, from all appearances, average. He did the same things everyone else did, and he wasn't a leader, or even a follower. All he did was what he wanted. All that mattered was what he wanted. And right now, what he wanted was to soak in a hot bath.

He was up to his neck in lava, arms behind his back. He was always content with his life, no matter what the outcome might be, but he was especially content today. He wasn't part of the draft to go to war, he wasn't expected anywhere else… it was so good to relax with that in mind, under the dim light of the sun peeking through the dark clouds above him.

Then the dim light grew darker, and a pained, screeching roar tore through the air.

Venom opened his eyes quickly and sat up from his bath to see what was the matter. High above him, a pale white dragonlike thing flew crookedly through the air, drooping and in pain.

Venom was usually selfish, but he was also curious. This dragon was unlike any other he had ever seen. It was too… insectoid. It had way too many legs, and no tail. It looked like someone had superglued a pair of dragon wings and a dragon head onto a deformed albino centipede. It seemed to be new to the idea of flying, too. Its technique was haphazard and strained. He was dropping lower and lower in altitude. Finally he roared and spun to the rocky earth with a crash.

Venom saw a few dragons turn their heads towards it, and even saw one get out and begin to flap up.

"Hey, where are you going?" came a few voices below from the other dragons in the pits. "Checking out the crash?"

"I dunno if that's anything serious or not," came the first dragon, still heading there. "What if it's one of those Noxxa?"

"If it is, we'll kill it!" came another voice, also getting out of the lava pit. General chatter broke out among the others in the vicinity, and soon a mob was swarming towards the downed dragon.

Unable to help himself, Venom reluctantly took to the air, left the lava pits, and followed them.

A few minutes of flying later, Venom landed at the crash site and settled onto all fours curiously, keeping his head back for safety as the other dragons crawled closer to the white… thing.

It was trembling and making a deep, furious noise as it heaved and panted underneath its wings. It sounded murderous, but broken.

"No… NO! I can't stop here… I'll destroy them… It's my destiny. My God, my God, he needs my help… I must get to the Corrupted Element! Glory to Solaris! His restoration… got to get there… But where? Grrrah! This utter wasteland!"

"Do you need help?" Venom asked.

The rustling of the wings stopped. They unfolded slowly to reveal the most dangerous-looking creature Venom had ever seen. Its red eyes looked like pools of blood, except for a black scar running across one of them. It had a multitude of thrashing legs, some stubby and short, and some freakishly thin and long. But what drew Venom's focus were the bared fangs as big as railroad spikes.

Venom was at a loss for words. He was so… powerful. Venom was one that didn't exactly bother with letting others force themselves on him, but he also recognized reality and his own weaknesses, and knew when to withdraw from danger. What else could he do except defer to him?

"I… " An approaching green dragon flattened himself to the ground in submission. "I'm sorry, I'll-"

"Filthy child of Faust!" He got to his feet and bared his terrible fangs.

"No, my Lord!" the green dragon cried, probably using the first honorific that came to mind. "Why destroy us?"

At that, the creature hesitated. "Lord?"

"... what else would you be?" asked the green dragon.

"I am not your Lord," the white monster spat. "I do not intend on ruling over a subspecies of creature!"

"I-I'll do anything you ask!" the green dragon stammered. "Just don't kill me! I can be of use!"

The insectoid dragon narrowed his bloody eyes. Venom didn't know if it was in thought or in anger.

"Are all dragons like you?" the creature asked.

"They might be once they see you," the green dragon admitted.

The creature shot his gaze upon the rest of the dragons surrounding him. "How many of you fear me?"

A cacophony of admittances and confessions sounded, bowing their heads in submission. But the white creature looked disappointed. Venom decided to go against the grain. He wanted to see what his response would be.

"I don't."

The white creature whipped his head towards him. He looked curious. The rest of the dragons moved out of the way, afraid of what the white dragon would do.

"What's your name?" he eventually asked.

"Venom," he replied. After a small pause, he quickly added, "my Lord."

"You are afraid, Venom," he hissed. "But that is not the overriding reason, is it?"

"I'm not without my emotions, but I don't care much about anything," Venom replied, as equally harsh. "Kill me or let me live, I don't care which. I'll find a way to be content. I know you have so much power. So I don't need to bother resisting against anything you do. So I'll be okay no matter what. That's why I'm not afraid of you. You have nothing to threaten me with. You have so much power, and you have nothing."

The monstrosity slowly spread out his wings and stretched his legs to the side, increasing his presence and size. He towered above the rest of the dragons, and he was awful and grotesque.

"I like you," the abomination of nature murmured. "You and the rest of these vermin can be useful for my intentions."

Sounds of acclamation and excitement surrounded the pair.

"Who are you, then? And what is your intention?" Venom boredly asked, folding his arms.

The creature bared his teeth in an open grin. "I am Marshal Malice. And I intend to dominate the souls of all creatures and restore my God."

"Your God?" the green dragon from earlier asked in shock. "I-I thought you were the God… where does your God live?"

"In a prison in Tartarus," Malice replied, facing him now. "My mother, a hideous whore-Goddess called Faust, trapped his glory in a dreary hellscape. The day is not far off when he shall emerge! I shall go there myself to release him and unleash his glory upon this world."

"How will you get there?" asked another dragon in the circle, orange with purple stripes. "Where do you need to go?"

"To a volcano far in the Dragonlands," Malice answered. "I will be sure to remember your attitudes when I reunite with my father there. Perhaps he will remember your efforts."

"You can't explore deep in the Dragonlands anymore," another one, spotted yellow and blue, pointed out. "Dragon Lord Ember forbids it. We're at war, after all. National security."

Malice huffed. "The laws of mortals will not stop the work of my God!"

"If you try to fly there, every dragon in the lands who isn't allied with you will hunt you down," Venom dryly said, getting Malice's attention. "You might be the chosen one or something, but not even you can stop an entire nation of dragons on your back."

Malice got a glint in his bloody eyes. "Watch me."

"Then you'll have no potential allies left," Venom boredly replied. "No shield between your precious mountain and potential invaders. Nothing to defend yourself with if others come searching with the same intent you are."

Malice paused, then slowly nodded, realization in his wide, bloody eyes. "Yes… yes… an army of dragons would prove far more useful to me…"

"But all of the dragons are totally loyal to Lord Ember," the green dragon whispered. "Unless… you… became… Dragon Lord…"

Malice thought for a while, then gave a nod. "Then that is what I must do."

It was an unspoken rule among the culture that the Dragon Lord was not to be overthrown unless he was an absolute tyrant. Even speaking lightly of their name was a faux pas. So talk like this was technically illegal. But because of this, it was exciting, almost intoxicating. It stirred up the imaginations of all who listened to this radical, powerful outsider. One of the most pressing questions was...

"Do you even have a plan, my Lord?" asked the green dragon, his voice shaking with excitement.

Malice, incredibly, grinned. "I do."

Ripples of gasping impacted the dozens of dragons surrounding him. Malice was unaffected by the attention on every side. When he opened his yellowing mouth, everyone paid attention. "But I need your help to pull it off. I can promise you influence over all others if we succeed!"

"And if we die?" came a challenging voice.

Malice grinned. "You won't. My power will protect you."

The horns on his head glowed, making every dragon gasp, but making Venom lift an eyebrow. The soil beneath his feet broke into chunks and floated up and circled like a hoop around his body. Then they caught fire and split into a double hoop that spun in opposite directions. Malice was grinning broadly the entire time.

No dragon could use unicorn magic before! It captivated their inaginations. This couldn't be his full power; he looked too confident. His magic might be on par with the legendary princess Celestia!

Or at least, that was what Venom assumed the rest of the herd was thinking.

"Those who trust me, hearken to me!" Malice promised silkily.

No one dared leave.

He opened every set of his arms like he was expecting a hug, surrounded by hoops of flame. “Come and spread the word. A new challenger is seeking the throne! He promises riches, independence from the war, a triumph over all which will bind us down! And his name is Malice!”

Word spread as far as possible in the next few days about the uprising. Whispers found their ways into ears about the possibility of strength without needing ponies. Why were they in this war? What did they want? And who were the dragons, exactly?

They were strong! Strong enough to thrive without a war! Malice was promising peace! The only reason why those at home went overseas to die in Equestria was because Ember had decided they were worth dying for!

And so the movement grew and spread. Dragons were gossipy creatures, and were able to travel far and wide. Within only a few days, dragons all over the area flocked to Malice and the insurrectionists at the lava fields. Soon hundreds had joined their cause, and it was enough to get the attention of Dragon Lord Ember herself.

Desperate news soon reached their impromptu camp of a force sent out to squash their little rebellion. It was being led by the captain of the domestic guard, and he had thousands strong in his ranks. Malice had known Ember would try something like this, announcing as such to his forces the evening the news reached him. He had also announced to the hundreds of pairs of starry-eyed young rebels that now was the time to move. If they were lucky, they could intercept the army and launch a surprise attack.

Between the dragonlands’ capital and the insurgency base, it was a two days’ journey. And halfway between the two locations was a large mountain that Venom had told him was called Mount Metamorph. Malice therefore ordered his rebellious dragons to gun for Mount Metamorph and secure it before the Dragon Lord’s forces could reach it as a stopgap first.

They would fly low, only a few hundred feet above the earth. That way they could easily land if someone had problems, in addition to better perception of enemy forces moving below. However, this had the drawback of them being exposed as well should the enemy see them first. But the insurgents were fully prepared to accept that consequence. Before they knew it, Malice was flapping in the air and leading his small army to Mount Metamorph.

Venom soon found himself flying among his fellow rebels to an inevitable end. Venom didn’t like how it was all going. This seemed a little too straightforward for his taste. Weren’t rebellions supposed to worm their way into the government or lie low for years at a time? Venom couldn’t shake the feeling that something very terrible was about to happen. They had appeared out of nowhere, and they’d get squashed just as quickly. Venom tried to avoid caring too much about certain things, but this was simply too big to brush aside.

And true to Venom’s fears, it was already too late. By the time the sun was setting in the distance and their shadows became long on the red soil, they had reached Mount Metamorph. But it was already occupied by the Dragon Lord’s forces. The stunted mountaintop was swarming with them like a titanic anthill.

The planned surprise attack was now no longer an option. And taking the mountain was a joke; they had the high ground and more numbers. And retreating was even worse; from that high up they could spot them in any direction Malice’s insurgents went and appropriately pursue. Malice, left with no other option, ordered his forces to make camp at the base of the mountain and appointed guards to keep an eye out for movements.

Venom found himself hunched over on a rock, giving his leathery purple wings a rest from the hard work of the day. Venom had no idea how Malice was going to work his way out of this one. Maybe he could simply walk away and be none the wiser. And if Malice chased him and slew him, it’d be his loss.

Yet some small part of him wondered if Malice had a plan. What if this was all according to his design?

Dragons had no need for tents or sleeping bags. Instead they simply crashed and sprawled, or buried themselves in the warm soil if they preferred. They were all tired, but none of them slept right away. There was an uncomfortable knowledge of lingering doom, and that doom took the shape of the mountain’s silhouette looming against the night sky.

Venom stood up and circled his arms. He didn’t know why, but there was just something about Malice…

He strolled across the camp of relaxing dragons and finally arrived where Malice was crawling agitatedly in circles. Upon noticing Venom’s arrival, though, Malice waved him on, and Venom, feeling better, came by his side without doubt.

“Ah, what a day,” Malice observed, folding multiple arms across his armored back and closing his bloody eyes to sigh theough his massive teeth. “Taking over the country is no easy task.”

“I just want to see how you’ll do it,” Venom admitted.

“Curiosity?” Malice asked. He shrugged. “I suppose so. Things don’t look so good, do they?”

“It’s certainly not the way I would do it,” Venom confirmed.

“Ah,” said Malice, giving a sly glance. “Ah, but you are not me. Your eyes are too focused on what’s going on right now that it’s failing to see a larger picture. You must always be three or four moves ahead of your opponent, and control the outcomes they can make, but at the same time, you must be flexible in case they attempt the unorthodox.”

“And I suppose in this particular case…”

“I have sent messengers up the mountain,” Malice answered. “I wish to speak with the commanding officer.”

Venom visibly recoiled. But Malice simply looked so sure of himself that he couldn’t bring up the courage to argue otherwise. Besides, he could ride down the current of life wherever it took him. It took several reminders in his head to get the message across, though.

But hours passed, and there was no news from the mountain. Malice grew increasingly impatient. Venom began to wonder if this was a common occurrence.

Malice and Venom spent the time by exchanging information. Venom continued to inform him about the dragonlands, although when asked for news about a volcano and a temple, Venom replied that he didn’t know what he was talking about. Malice looked consternated, but dropped the issue.

Finally, when the night air grew colder and black began to overwhelm all sight, the pair spotted the cowering, snivelly green dragon enter their firelight. He didn’t look very enthusiastic, and by that token, neither was Malice.

“What news?” Malice demanded of him, rising up so his underside was exposed, making his many sets of legs wriggle threateningly.

“I… My Lord, there have been issues. The captain is adamant about not coming down into enemy territory unguarded. And he’s keeping his ground, too. He’s refusing to negotiate with us under any circumstance. I-I think he’ll attack in the morning, sir. He’s confident we won’t make a move during the night since we’re at a clear disadvantage, so he can afford to give his soldiers rest and provisions. Neither of us are going anywhere, but the one at risk is us! My Lord, can’t you spare us? W-we can win this one, right?”

Malice clicked his fangs irritably. “Do you think this behavior of his has anything to do with you?”

“What?” the green dragon asked, shaking. “N-no. Never! I-I only did what you asked!”

“What have you done?” Malice asked of the green dragon, a dark side creeping into his agitated tone.

The green wimp gulped. “I, ah, sent emissaries up to the mountain peak asking for him to come down the mountain to talk with us. Just as you asked.”

“How many times were you turned away?”

The green dragon couldn’t meet his gaze. “Three.”

Malice let out a long, dreadful sigh and pinched his forehead with a few bent claws.

“I-I sup-p-pose the enthusiasm to talk d-didn’t sit well with him. But if there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it in a heartbeat! I-I’m sorry, my Lord-”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure you are,” Malice cut off. “Get out of my sight!”

He did so desperately.

“Must I do this all myself?” Malice whispered, and Venom could almost see the fury emanating off of him. He opened his wings to their fullest extent to stretch them, then closed them back in. “Venom. With me.”

“Where are we going?” Venom asked boredly.

“If my enemy will not come to me,” Malice explained, his multiple sets of eyes roaming over the mountain above them, “I will come to him. He doesn’t have to bring himself all the way down the slope. Just a little bit is all. And he can bring his guards, too.”

“Fat lot of good that’ll do him,” Venom observed. “We aren’t going to kill him.”

“Their ego is what one must appeal to,” Malice explained as he and Venom walked away from their encampment and submerged themselves in inky blackness, bespeckled with red light in every direction from small lava fissures. It only threw Malice into a sinister shape. “Reason or utility is often thrown aside for passion or pride. It’s a sick part of this world, but it’s easy to exploit. One day, Venom, you will see that emotions should be repressed. It’s the only way to control reality in the safest possible fashion. Emotions can control you like a parasitic worm.”

Venom was taken aback, as the thought had never occurred to him. However, it prompted a response question. “But by the same token, don’t you also control emotions?”

Malice gave him a fiery stare, and Venom felt a jolt in his chest. Had he crossed a line?

But Malice simply nodded and gave a snarl of… regret?

“Soon we will not need to,” Malice said. “I wish to live in a world where the idea of choice is gone, simply since evil will have been destroyed forever. I do believe emotions are a gift. But by the same token, because they were gifted, they’re also not necessary. In a perfect world, in my father’s world, negative emotions are a liability. The law alone should dictate your way of life, and my law says to bring this promise to pass through any means necessary.”

“How many different laws will there be?” Venom asked.

“The perfect law alone,” Malice said, as if it was obvious to anyone. “Where sin has been dealt away with and no law is needed but to govern the expansion of worlds and knowledge.”

“And what about the times when we used emotion or choice on earth?” Venom asked. “Not even you are immune.”

Malice shrugged. “The ends justify the means if it results in universal peace. Father understands that I am but mortal as of now. And if it shall be that we are condemned, Father will simply beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in our glorious kingdom.”

Venom didn’t know what to say. Malice was steadfast in what he believed, that much was for certain. It spoke to his conviction, but Venom wasn’t sure if it was right. It sure sounded sweet to his ears. And he was all for having others direct his life if they knew what they were doing. But then again...

Malice and Venom kept a low profile by walking up the slope of Mount Metamorph instead of flying. It wasn’t until they came within several hundred feet of their fire’s yellow glows that Malice halted and sent Venom alone.

Venom made sure to display a hefty red gem in his fist to indicate he was a messenger, since he carried something important. The peak of the mountain was full of the enemy. Some were sleeping, but others were submerging in bright orange lava pools that littered the surface of the peak. He got glares and grunts of exasperation from the loyal dragons, but Venom didn’t care about their stares. It wasn’t their business.

The captain of the guard was an overweight, stubby, yellow-green dragon popping gems into his mouth like they were cherries while pacing. He looked nervous; his claws were tightly wrapped around a polished steel sword out of its sheath. When he saw Venom, he froze in place, but sighed and let out a choice swear before holding up his hand.

“We don’t want any more messengers telling us the exact same thing,” the overweight old dragon refused, even as Venom approached him. “How many times do I have to say it? We’ll never surrender to you or negotiate.”

“I believe you will this time,” Venom replied dryly, presenting him with the large red jewel. “Malice himself is not far away. He wishes to speak. This time, you won’t have to travel into his territory, and you can bring your guards. He’s alone.”

“Don’t trust him, Grumple,” one of his attendants whispered. “He wants something!”

“You’re precisely correct,” Venom said. “He wants something. It isn’t your death, though, that’s for certain. Otherwise he would have attacked. All you have to do is find out.”

Captain Grumple looked conflicted. He grasped his fat stomach and jiggled it despondently. “You’re sure I won’t have to go far?”

“Just a few hundred feet,” Venom promised. “Malice doesn’t want to destroy you. This might be the best resolution to this conflict.”

Grumple thought it over, tossing the large red jewel in his hand up and down. After some time, he nodded and pointed at his attendee. “Round up four of the toughest dragons you can find. We’re going to have a little chat with this traitor and see how he ticks.”

Venom led the large dragon and his entourage away from his encampment and into the dark night, away from the light from the lava pits on the summit. Very soon, Venom came into the clearing where Malice had stayed behind and blended into the shadows of the rocks.

Grumple's large frame flapped into view on very small, stubby wings. Four of his bodyguards were also with him, looking concerned as Grumple panted while coming to a halt. "All right, what's the big deal you keep pestering me about?" he snapped. "What's the purpose of meeting you in the middle of the night?"

Malice's deformed and monstrous shadow was elongated, and only his three red eyes glinted in the darkness. The rest of him was a silhouette. He gave off a sinister vibe that made even Venom shiver, deep in his bones.

"I surrender," Malice stated, plain and clear.

That threw Venom for a loop. He shot an outraged, incredulous look at his master, but Malice was undeterred.

"You… surrender." Grumple sounded skeptical, which Venom couldn't blame him for. "That's crap of the highest order."

"Can I tell you a secret, captain?" Malice whispered, high and clear. "This was all a ruse. I never actually intended on creating a legitimate insurrection; I am wholly loyal to the crown of the Dragonlands, as a double agent. I created this insurgency group in order to separate the traitors from those loyal to the Dragon Lord, to eventually exterminate them. That's why I came up here alone, with no escort but my second-in-command, for he also knows the truth."

Internally, Venom was screaming. No he didn't!

"What do you intend to do with those under your command, then?" Grumple asked, curious.

"Why, take them prisoners of course. This will be the great cleansing of the Dragonlands. We live in a volatile time where loyalism is everything. Those dragons who do not support the war against the Noxxa… must be silenced. And this is where you come in, my Lord Grumple. I want your army to go down the mountain and surround the insurrectionists as they sleep. They aren’t trained, just zealous, and that disappears when your life's on the line. When they wake up and plead for mercy, I will grant it by officially surrendering to you, fulfilling my mission."

"And I expect you won't do this for free, will you? There must be some kind of condition to go along with this."

"Indeed, my Lord. There is but one. I will let you take all of my prisoners and take all the glory for yourself--if…" Malice seemed to grin slightly. "...you make me second-in-command over your entire army."

Venom shot him another incredulous look. Grumple seemed to have a stroke. The dragon bodyguards behind him made strong sounds of disgust or indignation.

"What… what kind of… condition is that?!" Grumple exclaimed, clutching at his throat.
"You… you dare…"

"I believe I'm being rather reasonable here, my Lord," Malice explained patiently. "As the dragon who exposed every traitor in a desperate hour, I believe it ought to count for a considerable promotion. And I certainly have the qualifications to lead, if I was able to start a quote-unquote 'revolution.' Not to mention, who's to stop them from revolting? They need false assurance that they are safe for the time being, and having me in second command will ease their pathetic little minds until we return to Dragon Lord Ember and abruptly punish them."

Grumple paused at his assessment.

"There is wisdom in his words, Lord Grumple," Venom said all of a sudden. "His demand is both justifiable and practical. I can only hope we may act on it."

Grumple hummed and began to pace by flying back and forth on his stubby little wings. His bodyguards whispered back and forth to each other about it, but Venom knew their opinions didn't ultimately matter, so he shut them out.

Finally, Grumple stopped, sighed and nodded. "It is only fair… Fine. I'll go back and muster my forces. Make sure you keep your subordinates unsuspecting, you hear me?"

"Of course, my Lord. You have my word that we will not ambush you. I swear it by the God I believe in."

That seemed to put him at rest. "Then… I hope you know what you're doing."

"Oh, I do, my Lord Grumple. Rest assured, I do."

As both parties finally left each other and they began to traverse their way down the mountain, Venom could finally speak his real mind.

"You're a triple agent?" Venom whispered to Malice.

"No. I just lied about being a double."

"Then what's the big deal with surrendering to him…"

"Venom. Trust me."

Venom ordinarily had no obligation to follow that order. But Malice looked so sure of himself, so confident, that Venom couldn't help but think it was going to be all right.

Sure enough, by the time the sun rose the next day, Grumple's forces had come down the mountain and completely surrounded the rebellious dragon's camp. Outnumbered, outmatched, and at the end of the line, they all begged and pleaded to Malice to preserve them, so he made an official surrender to Grumple. In return, and to provide security over the prisoners, Grumple ordained him second in command over the entire armed forces.

After that, the prisoners were pushed to live in a special cave on the slopes of the mountain while Grumple explained to the rest of the army that Malice had been working for them all along, hence his promotion to second-in-command; Malice had cleverly tricked the insurrectionists into following him! At the same time, Venom explained to the prisoners that Malice had cleverly tricked the army instead, and soon they would be free and ready to take over the government in a free ride back to the Dragon Lord.

They then got to work striking camp. A messenger was sent back to Dragon Lord Ember informing her of Grumple's success, and orders were given to prepare to move out and return to Dragon Lord Ember.

On the same day this all happened, Malice had summoned Venom again. Venom was wondering what kind of trickery he was up to this time as he came up to him on the outskirts of the camp near the prisoner's cave.

When he came, Malice covertly presented him with a hollow rock of ugly brown liquid. Venom squinted at it.

"I figured this job would be apt for someone like you," Malice explained. "And ironic, considering your name."

"What must I do?" Venom quietly asked.

"I experimented with some mixtures over the first few days of this quote-unquote rebellion. This poison is made from the polluted roots of these land's native plants. If administered by degrees, the victim dies of seemingly natural causes within two days. I want you to poison Grumple in that manner."

Venom couldn't understand his logic. Why kill him if he just worked so hard to earn his trust? But Venom knew he'd just get a confusing answer anyway. And it wasn't important to the mission, no matter how short-sighted he'd be. So he just took the poison. "Fine."

Malice looked at him for a moment. "This is your first time being ordered to kill someone," he mused. "Let alone your own kin and a commanding officer. You have no qualms about this?"

Venom shook his head no. No matter which path he was pushed onto, Venom would find some way to be content. And as for the actions he was in charge of... "I do this because I want to, my Lord. Nothing else matters to me."

"Then go and do, my loyal servant," Malice whispered. "Your reward shall be great."

Over the course of the next two days, Grumple's health deteriorated rapidly. His complexion had become sickly and his limbs had no strength to them. He gradually became more of a hinderance to the army's speed the longer it went on. A few basic first aid techniques had been applied, but his condition only worsened, and he eventually had to be carried by a stretcher from the claws of several of his subordinates.

Rumor went around the army during their flight as to what had caused it. Some said it was the stress of the flight that had finally gotten to him. Others insisted he had caught a rare disease that was native to these parts of the dragonlands. Still others thought he was just old and fat, and had suffered a heart attack. But whatever the reason, no one could ignore his imminent death.

Only a few miles away from the royal throne, which was a massive landmark in its own right, Grumple suddenly had a serious seizure. The entire party of dragons had to land and look after him.

Grumple looked on the verge of death. His swamp-water color had paled, scales were falling off him, and he heaved and groaned for every breath. His temperature was as hot as magma, managing to burn even the heat-resistant dragons who touched his forehead.

Malice stayed by his side the entire time. Venom privately thought that even though he looked least like a proper dragon, he acted the most compassionately towards him. He was always ordering for slightly cooler lava rocks to be brought near him, to bring down his inner body temperature. He tried mixing nearby arid plants with his spit and applying them on his skin and in his mouth. He tried getting him to chew on a piece of pumice to get his mouth moving.

But nothing worked. Hour after hour, he only worsened. And finally, Grumple weakly motioned for Malice to bend down so he could whisper to him.

"You… are a good servant," he wheezed. "You worked hard… for my health. But… there's nothing… you can do for me now." He coughed, and Malice recoiled, then put his ear close to his mouth again. "Lead them… in my place."

He let forth a massive gurgle from his mouth, and he doubled over with a cry. "My chest! It burns!"

Grumple panted and gasped, but they grew weaker and weaker. Eventually, he went limp, and Grumple's bloated body moved no more.

Every dragon seeing this bowed their head in reverence or silent grief. Venom felt a jolt in his chest as he expired, but his face belied none of his true emotion. And as for Malice, he was still for a few seconds. Then he closed Grumple's eyes with two of his claws and let loose a small sigh.

"I cannot replace a leader like him," he uttered. "But I do not intend to." He then addressed the assembled dragons, prisoners and soldiers alike. "For starters, let's simply make it back to Ember. She's waiting for our arrival. Take a moment to breathe and rest first. Keep the prisoners secure, but allow them the same privilege."

While the dragons did just that, making sure to corral the prisoners in a circle, Venom was still motionless. A few passing dragons urged him to not let his grief consume him. But his grief was completely founded. He felt his stomach twisting in knots. He had done this.

Where was that whole idea of not caring about his choices anymore? Hadn't he said it didn't matter? And yet… why did it feel so terrible?

The towering white insect sidled up to him. He was mostly silent with those small, skittering legs of his.

"We're not out of the woods yet," Malice whispered casually, not even turning his head. "We still have Ember to deal with."

Venom grimaced and wiped his tears from his crooked purple nose.

"The message sent described Grumple as having caught the uprising, so she'll be expecting him to greet her. But since he's dead, I'll send you acting as a servant in his place."

Malice, making sure he wasn’t seen, faced away from everyone and ignited the twin horns on his massive head. The sick, pale magic rippled and distorted a spot in front of both of them, quickly forming a vortex. Malice looked like he was in pain, and Venom kept his distance accordingly, eyeing the empty vortex as something shiny and black emerged from the depths like a predatory shark. It clattered to the rocks below, the vortex collapsed, and Malice’s magic shut off, making him gasp and heave for breath.

It was a knife of shimmering ebony. It was bitingly cold, but it radiated like it was a heat mirage. Venom kept his distance, but Malice bent and picked it up casually, offering the unadorned handle to the purple dragon.

He took it halfheartedly. What was the point of this, anyway? There were far better ways to kill, weren’t there?

“That is a Black Blade,” Malice wheezed, coughing after he said so. “It-ahem!-takes quite a bit out of me to summon from Tartarus. It is the most terrible… Hold on, it hurts… Ahh, terrible blade in the universe. One could even pierce an Element of Harmony with it.”

Venom sighed. “What now?”

Malice scrutinized him with suspicion. “You don’t sound too happy.”

Venom turned to look up into Malice's cold red eyes. "I'm marked now. Blood stains aren't easy to wash out. And now I’m adding more?"

Malice's eye flicked in an instant to regard him. "Who are you, and what did you do with Venom?"

"I don't want this. I don't want to be marked as a murderer for the rest of my life."

"And you won't be." Malice's thin claw rested chillingly on Venom's shoulder, and his stubbier legs curled inexorably around his torso. Venom felt short of breath for several reasons, and he began shaking in his grasp. "Not if we succeed. And you want to succeed in this, don't you, brother?"

Venom felt his chest clench again, but it wasn't in grief this time. "O-of course."

"I thought not." His cold touch left Venom's shoulder, and Venom was freed. "Listen, and listen well. Here is what I want you to do as you enter the throne room…"

The official throne was a carving of stone large enough to comfortably sit the previous Dragon Lord, Torch, who for reference was as big as a mountain. But the actual home of the ruling family was not this oversized seat. Their home was a cave at the rear base of this large throne, where the ruler could easily get to their royal responsibilities. It was late in the day when Malice and the dragons he was in charge of returned to the assembly area that encompassed the area around the throne. So that meant Ember was home.

Venom felt a twist in his chest. He was going to be accompanied by several others for this part. There would be no risk if it went according to plan. So it was all on him.

Venom carried only the special knife Malice had summoned. He made sure to keep the edge away from his skin as he approached the cave; he hated the mere notion of such a weapon. But of course, he wouldn’t say that to Malice.

There was a red dragon waiting for him by the time he was near. He was tall but young, and his voice sounded reluctant and snotty as he addressed Venom.

“Halt,” he sighed. “What are you doing here, loser?”

“I represent the military,” Venom replied, itching for it to be all over. “I’m supposed to speak to-”

“That’d be me,” the red teenager affirmed, pointing at himself with a thumb. “I’m Ember’s right-hand dragon, you know. Garble the Great!”

“I’ve never heard of you,” Venom replied distantly. “Did you make up that name yourself? Now shut up and let me in already. Ember needs to hear this personally.”

“Why does she need to hear it from a loser like you?” Garble sneered. “Tell me the stupid message and I’ll tell her. It’s my job, after all. And you’re just a messenger.”

“Is there someone there?” came a far voice inside the cave.

“Just some no-name delivery boy!” Garble yelled back rebelliously.

“Then what’s taking you so long to let him in?” came the exasperated yell back. “Are you really that bad at hospitality?”

Garble somehow went even redder. He let out a huff, which sent a puff of smoke through his teeth, before rolling his eyes.

"Ember's given you permission to come in," Garble huffed in his usual tone, ignoring the fact that Venom had clearly heard every word. "Follow me."

Garble’s gruffness didn't make Venom feel anything. He had enough on his mind.

Not counting Venom and the others behind him, there were no more than five dragons in the small room: Ember and her servants. Garble took his spot by the walls to observe. The room had several side passages spiraling into darkness on the sides of the room. It was also sparsely decorated. The only furniture in the room was a crude seat carved of maroon rock merging into the back of the cave. Ember was in this seat, toying with the bloodstone scepter and giving Venom a surprised look.

"I thought Grumple was going to meet me personally," Ember noted. "Why send a servant?"

Venom bowed. "He came down with a sickness while in the wilds that weakened him. He requested me to pass on the report and lead you to him."

Ember nodded and rose from the seat. That was the cue for Venom to come closer, and the entourage behind him to stay where they were.

Venom trembled with every step he took.

Dragon Lord Ember patiently allowed Venom to approach her. When he was close, Ember held out the bloodstone scepter, and Venom stopped and knelt.

“The Dragon Lord welcomes all into her presence,” Ember said, reciting the ancient words of tradition. “Though she rules with this scepter, none are beneath her.”

Ember then turned the scepter upside down, allowing Venom to touch the sacred jeweled head as Ember lifted him up. The custom was implemented a long time ago as a gesture of deference and total obedience to the Dragon Lord.

As Venom was being raised from the ground, he brought his arm forward and stabbed Ember to the heart.

Ember let out a small gasp, and Venom pulled her close to him to give a small, sad grin. Then he pushed Ember away, and she collapsed backwards onto her throne, blood pooling out of her chest and coloring her blue body red. The rest of the dragons brought in also pulled out crude daggers and lunged for the servants, and the few servants attending her gasped and turned to flee through the side passages. Garble in particular was stunned; he couldn’t take his eyes off her even as he backed into a corridor.

"Ember!" Venom cried, sounding strangled. "Ember, no!" He turned to the mouth of the cave entrance as the last of the servants disappeared. "The Dragon Lord's dead!" he bellowed. "Her own servants pulled out daggers and stabbed her! They're fleeing down the passages!"

Almost immediately, Marshal Malice was at the head of a collection of dragons who burst into the living room. But he stopped in shock when he was close enough. Venom was kneeling over Ember and cradling her head to him, still lying in her gore with the knife hilt-deep in her heart.

Marshal Malice, after a small moment of grief, narrowed his three working eyes and bared his thick yellow teeth. "If there is anyone here who loved the Dragon Lord," he whispered with barely-controlled fury, "let him seek and destroy these traitorous servants!"

The dragons didn't have to be told twice. The throne room emptied as they raced down the passages, eventually leaving Venom and Malice alone.

"I don't think that could have gone any better," Malice murmured with a satisfied grin.

Venom agreed. But grinning was the last thing he felt like doing.

"So…" Torch rumbled on his throne. “My precious daughter… has been taken from the world by a band of cowards!"

The former Dragon Lord Torch had been summoned out of retirement, and he had arrived on his old throne the following morning, bellowing for every nearby dragon to assemble. Ember's body was being respectfully prepared for burial, and Torch had demanded an accounting of the event, which Venom had just given him in front of the assembled audience of hundreds.

"I cannot deny what I saw, Lord Torch," Venom quietly affirmed. Malice was right beside him, looking the most humble he had ever been, overshadowed by the sheer massive size of Torch. "The servants must have been afraid that their uprising would be frustrated if I had reported it to Ember. So in their desperation, they decided to act prematurely. One of them, a red one, stabbed her to the heart, and he and the others fled quicker than we could pursue."

"A red one, a red one… You must be referring to Garble," Torch mused. He let out a growl and slammed his fist into the massive throne, causing some pebbles to dislodge from the edge. "That brat has always been bitter about her leadership ever since she won the Gauntlet of Fire instead of him when I retired a year ago! Gah! How could I have not seen this coming?"

"I cannot imagine the kind of grief you're going through, my Lord," Malice whispered. "And the cowards that they are, fleeing like that… it just incriminates them even more. I would want to correct that."

Torch grumbled. "You?"

"He's the one that tricked a host of traitors into being captured by creating the false uprising," Venom explained. "There is no better candidate than him to unite the Dragonlands and lead them in the absence of your family line."

Torch had to only shift his head slightly to give Malice an incredulous look. "You created this rebellion?"

"Please understand the necessity for such drastic measures," Malice cooly replied. "Only by uniting all of those rebellious dragons could I be sure of the extent of the underlying threat. But… I never could have thought that there would be sympathizers within the closest circle of the Dragon Lord!"

Torch huffed. "Next time a spy of mine instigates an uprising, let me or the current Dragon Lord know first!"

Malice nodded abashfully.

"With that said, however, you did it with barely any casualties. I cannot deny the results of your work. As the temporary head of the military, and the one who put down the seed of rebellion, I see no other candidate as qualified as you to take the throne in my daughter's absence."

Venom's heart was beating at a mile a minute. Ordinarily, another Gauntlet of Fire would be held to determine a worthy successor, but they were at war, and time was of the essence.

"You are no replacement for my daughter, Malice. But your reign will be effective and powerful. You can bring the Dragonlands its deserved glory!"

“Of course. Thank you for that. I suppose we have no time to spare on ceremony?”

“Allow me to say this much.” Torch pinched the bloodstone scepter between two claw tips and bellowed at the top of his lungs. “LET IT BE KNOWN TO ALL THAT MALICE SHALL REIGN AS THE NEW DRAGON LORD! ANYONE WANNA SAY OTHERWISE?”

The crowd of assembled dragons around the massive throne collectively shook their heads. Part of it was fear of Torch, whom they had respected for decades, but also, most of them really didn’t have much to object to.

“Then it’s settled.” Torch dropped the scepter near Malice, who caught it in midair. The massive jewel embedded within burst into flame and encircled the hybrid creature with tongues of color, reflecting a menacing light deep within.

And the dragons surrounding them genuflected respectfully as the bloodstone scepter accepted him. Malice lifted the scepter above his head, and he roared to the sky with a puff of fire in his throat. Malice had become Dragon Lord, and it only took him under a week to do it.

“We’re innocent! I-y-y-you can’t do this! You promised!”

The shouts and protests of the green dragon coward went unnoticed, along with the cries of all the other insurrectionists. They had all been herded onto the seat of the enormous throne and were kept there by the weapons of the army. Yelling and screaming was happening on all sides, and from the army as well as the insurrectionists, but it all sounded the same after a while.

Malice was flapping above it all lazily with his enormous wingspan bouncing him in place, crossing many of his arms and keeping the bloodstone scepter close to his chest. The simple truth was, there was no more purpose to them.

“W-we were comrades!” the green dragon was yelling, even tearing up. “Brothers against evil! You betrayed us! You betrayed everyone!”

But he was quickly rebuffed with the army yelling how he was the traitor here, how Malice had cleverly exposed his crimes, and how justice needed to fall.

So Malice gave him just that. He pointed with the bloodstone scepter and concentrated.

With enough force to jolt him back, a torrent of ruby-red magical energy flooded out of the tip and quickly enveloped all of the dragons on the massive Dragon Lord’s throne. They all began to glow a strange color, rooted in place.

And before their eyes, their hands began to fade away. Every insurgent tried patting themselves down, but their hands just passed through their translucent bodies. They were panicking and screaming even louder than before, trying to push their way through their own crowds. But it was already too late. With echoing screams being all that was left of them, the hundreds of rebellious dragons were effectively vaporized.

Malice was in the presence of the gargantuan Torch, whose head alone was on the same level as the albino hybrid high in the air. Torch sighed as the final cries of mercy went unheeded and finally quieted, and the single breath of air created a current that made Malice wobble in place. “That’s that. Traitors deserve a traitor’s end.”

Malice flapped up higher so he was on his eye level and turned to address him. “And I hope that does not include me, Lord Torch?”

“Don’t call me Lord,” Torch reprimanded him gruffly. “And no, you are an exception. You have a brain on those shoulders of yours! Although I admit, you’re unlike any dragon I’ve ever seen before…”

“I’m new here,” Malice carefully answered.

It made Torch realize something with a hum. “Speaking of which, did you need any advice? You’re new to the business and all, and there’s more to being the Dragon Lord than yelling at everyone.”

“Thank you, Lord Torch,” Malice intoned. “To increase my effectiveness domestically, I wanted to ask a question regarding the geography. There was a point of confusion I need cleared up.”

“What can I provide?” Torch rumbled, shaking the ground with his voice alone.

"There is a volcano in this land that was overrun by pony zealots," Malice began. “They came long ago to worship some unknown deity known as Solaris after discovering forbidden texts in Equestria’s records. They claim it is a portal to Tartarus itself, so they built a temple out of the volcano to guard and worship it. I want details about them.”

"Oh, you mean Mount Nevermore?" the elder dragon said, surprised at that particular topic. But he brushed it aside with a wave of a massive claw. "We sanctioned that zone off. It exists entirely independent of the dragonlands. Mostly because no dragon wants to go near it and no pony wants to come out. I believe it's a species relations thing."

"Where is it?" Malice asked.

“To the east, surrounded by a moat of boiling lava. It’s got three peaks jutting up. One is the actual volcano, another is the kooky temple, and the third is just where they stay when they’re not worshipping. Almost entirely inaccessible unless you could climb.”

“Couldn’t you simply fly?”

“Only if you want to suffocate. It’s a volcano, remember?”

“How do you know all of this?”

“I had to visit the area in order to officially mark it off. It’s a place I’ve… never truly forgotten the feeling of.” He leaned down to glare at Malice. “That place is overflowing with evil. You can smell it in the air, feel it in the ground. It’s a cursed blemish on the skin of the earth, and I advise you to pay it no mind, since it will not interfere with the way one handles the dragonlands.”

“Of course,” Malice sweetly replied. He seemed to have gotten everything he needed from that.

The trials of the day were over. Darkness had fallen over the dragonlands. And a dark umbra of evil now rested where justice had once sat.

To be more precise, Malice was lounging in the same throne that Ember had been stabbed in not a few days before. Venom was the only one near him; everyone else was sleeping. And Malice was attempting to do the same.

There seemed to be nothing worth saying between the two. Venom had simply assumed he’d be along for the ride, but he had ended up driving more often than not. It was because of him that Grumple was dead, that Ember was dead, that Garble was being pursued across the dragonlands to the ends of the earth. It was because of him that a monster now laid in wait just a few feet away from him.

The crooked purple dragon gulped hard in order to speak, and he didn’t turn his head. “What now?”

“What do you think?” Malice replied, so easily and casually. In fact, he seemed shocked that this was even an issue. “Now I can go to the temple safely. None else shall come close when I get my claws on the Corrupted Element.”

“I killed for you,” Venom said, shaking in place. “I slew my queen!”

“And you did a fantastic job. See, I thought you only did what you wanted.”

“Not… not like this.”

“Ah, no matter. I see you’ve developed a righteous heart. But soon, with the world my father shall create, you really will be able to do whatever you want. There will be no such thing as righteousness, but only because there will be no sin either. Eat, drink, and be merry,” he said with a self-deprecating tone, letting the scepter droop from his claws like the power within was negligible. “There’s no harm in anything you do, because my father will save you all regardless. A loving parent would do anything to ensure the survival of his children. You are already safe in his arms. And you’ve done nothing but further my path to awakening my father and bringing about this change you want so badly. I don’t see what your big issue is here.”

“I just don’t… feel right about all this. I-I can’t just excuse myself from what I’ve done. I only wanted to do what I liked, and killing isn’t something I like!”

“Hmm,” Malice hummed. “A just argument. But you still hold onto archaic notions of what is acceptable. The loss of those limitations will make you free. This loss will bring you power.”

"Isn't it nice?" Venom asked with a sardonic edge. "All this power of yours?"

"This is trivial compared to my father's promise," Malice assured him with a swish of the scepter. "And we shall finally have… peace."

"Even if you kill everyone else in your way to do it?" Venom challenged.

And to his surprise, Malice nodded slowly.

"Think of it, Venom. To never again live in fear from foreign lands. For our fates to be guided by loving hooves, not by our flawed selves. And for this world to understand not what it has lost, but only what it has been given in return." He shook his head, eyes glazing over. "Oh, yes, Venom. I would kill for peace."

Chapter Seventy-nine: Split

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Garble’s explanation of Malice’s rise to power was condensed from only what he knew, but what the ponies needed to know, they got. Malice had come out of nowhere, instigated a fake rebellion, and his servant had killed the Dragon Lord in front of his eyes and pinned it on him. Malice was declared Dragon Lord, and as far as Garble knew, he had sent hunters to track him down and slay him.

Spike seemed to be affected the most by this news. There was a hollow, dejected muffle in his otherwise shining eyes, and his body was limp. He hadn’t said anything since Garble started speaking. Garble had always looked down on the little runt, but knowing firsthand of the close nature he and Ember had shared, Garble at least understood his grief.

What he didn’t understand was the yellow pony’s anger. He had shoved his long weapon into the rock so hard, it burned a shallow hole that kept it upright. His fiery red eyes were thin and his face was lined with disgust and fury as he finally spoke his mind after Garble had said everything. “We kill him, Twilight. Garble has no reason to lie like this, especially considering how he’s acting, so Malice is alive and well. If we take him out of the picture, it’ll make our jobs way easier.”

“But what about the final Element?” Twilight pointed out.

“That’s Starlight’s job, not ours. And besides, if I kill this abomination, my long-awaited prophecy will be fulfilled. We won’t get another chance like this! He doesn’t know we’re here, but we know he is! Twilight, don’t you want him gone?”

“I do!” Twilight insisted. “But we need to focus on the bigger picture here. Star Swirl the Bearded said the Elements are the only things that matter now. Malice knows that too, which is why he even bothered to come here. And when I was held captive by them, they said that Malice needed an alicorn princess for… something. I can’t remember… gah! Anyway, we’ll just be playing into his claws!”

“If he’s gunning for the final Element like you say he is, then we’ll just find him at the Element’s location anyway!” Freedom Fighter argued. “We don’t know where it is. Garble!” he barked, startling the dragon. “Do you know where a volcano temple would be in the dragonlands?”

Garble snorted. “How’m I supposed to know that? I don’t wander the dragonlands all day. It didn’t concern me.”

“Well, it concerns you now,” Rainbow snapped. “Do you know where somepony who knows about it would be?”

Garble shrugged. “I dunno, Dragon Lord Torch?”

“So we have to go to the dragon’s throne anyway,” Freedom concluded to Twilight. “Do you know where it is?”

“Not relative to our location,” Twilight said. “But Garble here’s been running from it for some time now. I’m sure he can retrace his steps for us.”

That did it. “No way!” Garble snapped. “I ain’t gonna be a pony’s little guide dog. You expect me to go back to the place that’s trying to kill me?”

“I expect you to follow our instructions,” Twilight corrected, leaning close to him. “Unless of course, you were planning to die out here in the wilderness instead?”

“If I have to!” he retorted. “I needed your help to get away from that place, not closer!”

“Shut up,” came a harsh whisper. All eyes landed on Spike, who was still looking at the ground with tears in his eyes.

Garble narrowed his gaze. “What’d you say, you little punk?”

“... I am not going to take… this from you!” Spike erupted, balling his tiny fists. “You always were a coward, huh? I thought you were the one that took charge! You were a leader! But no! Nooo, not now! Your own miserable scales are more important to you than getting back at a literal devil!”

“Don’t you call me a coward, you little extra!” Garble shot back. “If you’d seen what I saw, you wouldn’t call me that!”

“You wanna know what I’ve seen, Garble?” Spike yelled, his voice scratching. “I watched myself die! I watched every last one of my friends die in a mirror world! I crawled into the deepest crypts, sunk to the bottom of the sea, and fought the demons that Malice commands! I stared death in the face and walked into a base crawling with evil to rescue a pony I love more than life itself! I walked a battlefield I scorched with my own fire and stood my ground in a hurricane! You wanna know what I didn’t do? I didn’t bleed and cry and crawl my way all the way here just to get called an extra from a yellow-bellied skinny little cold-blooded coward who runs with his tail between his legs from something I march headlong into!”

Garble snarled and lunged at Spike with bared fangs. “You’re dead!”

But Spike had more experience with enemies than Garble, who had led a relatively sheltered life until now. Spike stepped to the side while Garble was moving, and his fist lashed out and caught him on the cheek, diverting his course and sending Garble falling to the rocky ground.

“Wouldn’t be the first time I heard that,” Spike wheezed, short on breath from his shouting and crying.

Garble incredulously put a trembling hand to his cheek. The little runt could hit! Which begged the question, why didn’t he ever do it before?

“We’re not asking you,” Rainbow Dash revealed bluntly. “We’re fed up as it is, and if we have to take you in bonds, you can bet your sorry hide we’ll do it.”

Something Spike had said resonated uncomfortably with his innards. Speaking from experiences alone, Spike had faced more danger than he. Spike was walking into hell like it was basically nothing. There was a fair case to be made that Spike… was braver than he was. That Spike was stronger!

And frankly, Garble would have none of that nonsense.

“Look, just shut up,” Garble insisted. “If this is really what you want, I’ll guide you to the dragon’s throne.”

The ponies looked satisfied with that much, which was something Garble was grateful for. But Spike didn’t look satisfied at all. Instead, Spike had come over to him and had offered a hand, albeit a reluctant one. “You okay?”

Garble sneered at the offer and stood up on his own. “What kind of dragon are you? You beat me down and then offer me back up?”

“I just didn’t want you to be hurt,” Spike defended, an edge in his tone. “If you needed help, I wouldn’t feel good about keeping it from you.”

Garble blinked. Something was stuck in his throat. “Well, I’m not weak, okay? I’m strong on my own!”

“Oh, here we go again,” Spike groaned, rolling his eyes.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Another self-important creature who needs a lesson or two in the magic of friendship~” Spike said in a sarcastic singsong-y voice.

“Shut up already,” Garble ordered him, pushing Spike a few steps to the side in disgust.

“There’s nothing you can say that I haven’t heard before.” Spike gave him a glare. “And what kind of strength do you have when you pick on extras?”

Garble scoffed and stormed past Spike and the other ponies to sulk. The ponies were having some sort of conversation that Garble wasn’t interested in, but he heard parts of it.

“Do you think the other ponies are alive?” Rainbow Dash asked Twilight.

“You’re worried about Firestorm,” Freedom Fighter recognized, chipping in from the side.

The pegasus nodded after a moment.

“I am too,” Freedom admitted. “But all we can do is hope and maybe pray. There’s nothing we can do for them here, so we’ll do what we can now to finish our enemy.”

“Do you think they’re having any luck?” Rainbow asked him.

“We’ll see,” Twilight chipped in. “Without a doubt, they’re trying to figure out what to do.”

Firestorm squinted at the watery horizon and turned his head side to side. The inside of his ear was still muffled from residual seawater. “Is there anypony else?”

“Fluttershy was the only one that we could find,” Tempest told him, Starlight Glimmer by her side. They were on the edge of the beach. Plants and soil began to replace the sand, but it didn’t go far before overlooking a steep dropoff into a boundless basin tinged with the rust color of the dragonlands. On the edge of the cliff, Fluttershy was lying chest down and trying her best to recuperate from her experience.

“Fine, then. The others are missing. Not much we can do about that. We must have washed up on separate shores, but our mission is still the same,” Firestorm spoke seriously. “Find and obtain your Element.”

Firestorm could tell from the look in her eyes that this was something she knew all too well. Firestorm had once held that very look in his own eyes. This was guidance he could help her on.

“The problem here is that we don’t know which direction to take,” Tempest observed, coming to the edge of the cliff and overlooking the expanse far below.

Starlight, meanwhile, had knelt on all fours beside Fluttershy and parted aside her long, damp mane. “You okay, Fluttershy?”

The yellow pegasus looked thoroughly miserable, as a matter of fact. Her eyes and nose were still red and irritated from the salt water she had been floating face-up in when Starlight had first found her an hour ago. Her tiny lips quivered as her response tumbled out. “I-I’m okay. Just leave me alone… for a little bit.”

“Forgive me, but you don’t look okay at all,” Starlight rebutted her gently. “If something’s wrong, tell me. I can help.”

“I said it’s fine,” Fluttershy insisted, shaking her now-jagged mane. “I only…” She paused. Something was conflicting in her. “...No.”

Starlight waited patiently.

“I’m scared, Starlight…”

“That’s okay,” the unicorn reassured her. “So am I.”

“You don’t understand,” Fluttershy continued, looking down and slumping. “I-it’s about Noble. And Rainbow...”

“I understand completely,” Starlight hushed. “It’ll be okay, I promise.”

“You keep on saying pretty words like that,” a destitute Fluttershy whispered. “When has it ever ended up okay?”

“...That doesn’t mean I won’t do my best,” Starlight answered after thinking of an appropriate response. “Life isn’t always easy, but there’s no doubt it’s worth fighting for.”

Fluttershy’s blinking became more forceful as she threatened to overspill. But she kept herself from doing so and laid down again.

“I get it,” Starlight told her. “I’ll be right nearby.”

Fluttershy’s concealed pink head nodded sporadically in response.

Firestorm watched all this out of the corner of his eye, and his chest squeezed. He wasn’t the same thing as Noble, or Rainbow Dash. Both of those ponies he was close to were also close to her, but Firestorm wasn’t a beacon to her the same way those two were. He wanted to help; he really did! But he had a sneaking suspicion that he would just end up making things worse.

So instead he sat on his butt with his legs dangling over the side of the cliff, settled his face in his other hooves, and made a tired sound along the lines of, “Psshhhpbpbpbpbpttbppp.”

A few pebbles dislodged near him, making him turn. Tempest was sitting beside him in the same manner. “How are you holding up?” she asked quietly but casually.

Firestorm picked up a hoof full of grainy dirt and let it drip in brown clouds from his grip. “I… well, it’s tough. And tiring. Can I tell you a secret? I’m not sure what to do in the present because the future is so convoluted and uncertain.”

Tempest sneaked him a glance. “Hm. Curious. I’d have expected the Element of Courage to think differently. A macho, nothing’s-gonna-go-wrong sort of upbeatness. You can fit the bill quite well.”

“I thought you thought I was a hotheaded type.”

She shrugged and chucked a rock into the chasm below. It clinked and bounced on the tilted slope below before shattering. “Not anymore. I know you too well.”

Firestorm nodded along. If he could go back in time a week or two and tell himself he’d be friends with a pony like her… “And how are you doing?”

Tempest stretched her arms above her head. “I dunno. The Storm King’s dead. That’s a plus.”

“Do you feel at ease with that?”

“...I don’t feel at ease,” Tempest said, picking up another stone and fiddling it between her hooves. “But it’s not for the reason you think. I’m not conflicted over his death. He deserved to die. Good riddance.”

“Then what’s the deal with you?” Firestorm pressed.

“... You really believe in Faust, right?” Tempest asked all of a sudden.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Firestorm replied.

“Because what I’m about to say might contradict Her law,” Tempest said, looking away from him. “I’m not sure if you’d want to hear it.”

Firestorm nodded patiently. “I’m listening.”

“Well… if we assume the most important thing in the world is friendship, then the breaking of that friendship is the worst imaginable offense, even worse than murder. I even learned something similar to that from the Storm King. He expected us all to fall in line, and traitorous actions were punishable by death. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think Faust works the same. If ponies were given gifts from her and were close to her, and then they up and betray Faust and sin their pathetic hearts out, I think Faust takes that personally. It would be even worse than ponies that break her law in ignorance--the expectations for Faust’s followers are higher than usual. If she’s real, Faust is a very forgiving Goddess. I think that Faust forgives even murder. But I’m not sure if she’ll forgive ponies that willfully rebel after knowing her.”

Firestorm was taken aback by her assessment. It made a surprising amount of sense, for a nonreligious pony. “You don’t feel any remorse for your old master?”

“He was a despot,” the broken unicorn quietly affirmed through gritted teeth. “Who would?”

“So what does all this mean?”

“What I’m trying to say is… I finally realized something after the Storm King died. Friendship was always important to me too. It was so important that it crippled me when no one accepted me when they saw this scar.” She indicated the white, jagged line bisecting her eye. “And since then, that passion only got replaced by Twilight. I don’t want this time to end in failure too. But I don’t see how it can’t. So mostly, I’m uneasy because I’m… Gah. Scared for our future. I… hope all that made sense.”

Firestorm scooted a little closer to Tempest and rested a hoof on her shoulders. “I’ll do my best to prevent that future. I mean… we’ll get through this, won’t we?”

Tempest’s hard-lined expression softened into a miniscule, hopeful smile. “Yeah. Yeah! If nothing else, we’ll at least survive… for my friend’s sake.” She drew out a golden necklace embedded with a ruby lightning bolt. “She needs this more than I do. I owe it to her to give it back.”

Firestorm nodded with resolution. “We’ll both do it for her. And that means getting Starlight to the temple. Hey. I have a task for you. While we walk, talk with her and see how well you two click. She’s the closest thing to Twilight we have.”

With that said, he flapped up and urged Starlight and Fluttershy with a hoof. “Let’s move.”

“Just a little bit longer,” Starlight replied, indicating Fluttershy. “Give her some more recovery, for pity’s sake!”

“We can’t afford to stay here,” Tempest refused. “Let’s just make it down the cliff for starters. I’m not sure how we’ll find the volcano, but I think we’ll know it when we see it.”

“And I’m sure the others are making their way as well, wherever they are,” Firestorm added. “Let’s not show up late to the fireworks.”

Fluttershy nodded, wiped her face, and rose onto her hooves. Starlight came to the edge, peeked over, ignited her horn, and enveloped herself in an aura of magic. With deliberation, she floated slowly down the slope. Gesturing with his eyes, Tempest obeyed and sullenly climbed onto Firestorm’s back. The two pegasi on the edge flapped into the air and followed Starlight’s descent.

It didn’t take long to reach the bottom. Once they got there, however, their next task awaited: Crossing the basin and entering the blasted wilderness beyond.

Firestorm circled his wings and yawned. “Hoo boy. Who’s ready for a vacation here? It’s warm, the population is scarce… who wouldn’t want to stay here?”

“We’re going to a temple of doom,” Starlight told him with a flat face. “It drowns out any positives this place has.”

“Low real estate, then!” Firestorm continued, unfazed by the news. “Come on, let’s explore! It’ll be fun! We’ll meet up with the rest of our friends at the volcano temple of devils and death.”

“You really think they’re going to be there when we are?” Fluttershy whispered as they all got moving.

Firestorm stared into the sun-kissed wasteland. He didn’t know where anything was, but he’d hope anyways.

“I have faith in my friends. They’ll lead the best way they can.”

Noble Blade scanned the area yet again, but there were still no signs of anypony else near. He and the girls were indeed on their own out here.

“Ya done?” came Applejack’s drawl behind him. “Can we go now?”

“Sorry,” Noble quickly said, turning and sliding back down the gravelly embankment to end up in his small group once again. He had miraculously held onto his sword, but his shield had been lost in the ocean in the chaos of the hurricane. “I’m just…”

“I know you’re worried,” Rarity assured him. “Fluttershy is dear to me too. And I want to see Spike the same way you want to see her. But we won’t do that by staying here.”

“Cheer up, you guys!” came Pinkie’s bubbly squeal. “Mopey-dopey faces aren’t useful!”

“Pulled grins aren’t useful either,” Rarity pointed out.

“What’s our direction?” Applejack asked Noble Blade, ignoring the discussion the others were having.

“I don’t know,” Noble admitted, a hoof to his head. “And I’m not sure how to find out, either.”

“Jus’ our luck,” Applejack sighed, sitting on the ground on her butt.

“Any ideas?” Noble asked nopony in particular.

“Well, if we come across any citizens, we can ask, right?” Rarity assumed.

“And this is how it’ll go: ‘Howdy hey there, ol’ dragon pal! Ignore the fact that you dragons don’t like ponies and answer me this: Ya ever see a volcano temple in the middle o’ nowhere?’”

Applejack’s analysis did not inspire confidence in the others. Nopony really made a response to that. But Pinkie was predictably the first to break the silence.

“Well, let’s just start by-” Pinkie started, then froze and began to quiver.

“What is it?” Rarity asked, rushing to her side and gripping her shivering shoulder tight.

“Pinkie Sense!” Pinkie cried, her voice shaking. Her eyes rolled in their sockets with a cuckoo clock sound and her tongue shot out like a frog, then she coughed and crouched. “Get down, now!”

Nopony questioned the order. Noble, Rarity, and Applejack hit the dirt and pressed themselves into the edge of the embankment. Their breathing was quick but quelled into a quiet puffing.

And true to Pinkie’s senses, there came steadily-rising voices on the beach, and they were none too kind. The group’s nervous eyes were drawn up a few feet, where on the other side of the embankment, argumentative voices clashed.

“This is where some of the wreckage washed up, Brimstone. But no ponies!” squealed a thin wheeze.

“Keep looking!” came the response, from what was obviously Brimstone. His voice was deeper, gravelly, and held a tone of authority.

“What do you think we’ve been doing for the last few hours?” came a lispy, high voice. “Combin’ the desert, combin’ the sand, combin’ the beach. We ain’t found sh-”

“It’s impossible!” yelled out a fourth voice, bombastic and cruel but unmistakable female. “We should have found at least somepony by now!”

“What if nopony’s come ‘ere yet, Warcane?” came the thin wheeze, coming ever closer to the edge of their embankment. “Or they drowned?”

“There is no way, Spindlestick,” Brimstone’s deep bass rumbled. “These are the Elements we’re talking about. They’ve come here. Or they’re very close to coming.”

Spindlestick’s hoof dislodged some dirt on the embankment, making everypony’s heartbeat jolt as his face appeared into view. Miraculously, he wasn’t looking down, letting the ponies get a glance of him. His fur and mane was deathly pale and white. Black tattoos spidered and curled up his neck and into his mouth. Light brown leather armor covered the front of his chest.

Before he could take a look down, he was yanked back by some unknown force. The ponies beneath breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“Don’t wander off,” came the restrained fury of Warcane. “You’re too weak to do anything, dimwit!”

“Big words coming from a little pony,” said the deepening bass of Brimstone. “You were the one that exposed us to that dragon yesterday!”

“They’ve grown bolder!” Warcane defended. “I don’t know what it is, but it was like a sudden switch flip in their minds.”

“We’ve grown bolder too,” the lispy, high voice contributed. “We’re venturing out from Mount Nevermore. How many times do we have the chance?”

“What do we do?” Spindlestick wheezed. “We can’t go back to the temple empty-hooved.”

“Yes we can,” Brimstone rumbled. “Nothing is expected of us if we didn’t find the Element bearers. If we found them and failed to subjugate them, it’s another issue.”

A loud snarl of hate came from the unhinged female in the group. “I will not be undermined by a dozen pastel snot drops! I need to bring back at least one body, Brimstone! I won’t be able to live with myself otherwise!”

“Then die.”

Silence drowned out whatever anyone else was going to say. Warcane’s breathing became quick and loud.

“What. Did you. Just say?!”

“And I hope you do,” Brimstone continued. “I won’t have to put up with your temper. Unless you want to die right here and now, shut your blasted jaw and follow our navigator back to Mount Nevermore. Goldie?”

“Yes, ser,” said the high lispy voice, Goldie. “If’n you’ll follow me…”

The gripping of cloth could be heard. “You and I know the only reason you’re still in charge is because-”

“Because you lost,” Brimstone finished for Warcane. “We can go at it again if you want, Warcane. But if you lose again, it will be your position that is vacant instead.”

After a pregnant pause, Warcane grumbled and released Brimstone. “We’ll see about that.”

“You won’t,” Brimstone promised her. “You’ll be dead by then if you keep this up. Back in line, little filly.”

Warcane kicked some sand over the edge of the embankment angrily, showering the ponies in the stuff. But she complied, and the hoofsteps gradually receded into the distance.

Nopony dared to speak for some time, but when they felt safe enough, they whispered their thoughts.

“Those tattoos,” Rarity observed with a shiver. “They were the same as on the three warriors at the tree!”

“Renee, Bloodrayne, and Cookie musta been the leaders of this renegade band,” Applejack theorized in a hush.

“Which means they came from the same place those three did,” Noble concluded.

“Our primary objective!” Pinkie realized in a stage whisper. “The volcano temple!”

“How far do you think we can keep our distance?” Applejack asked Noble Blade, inching up the embankment to peek one emerald eye over the edge.

“Enough so we can barely see them,” he replied.

“What if they do spot us?” Rarity asked in worry, inching her head up to peek as well. “Do we fight or run?”

“Those four are our only way of navigation,” Noble replied. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, but keep them alive as long as possible.”

“Maybe…” Pinkie thought out loud. “Maybe they already know! And they’ll lead us into a trap!”

“Wouldn’t be my first time,” Noble muttered. “Let them try to trap us, then. We’ll still get where we need to go. Just as how I lost my shield, the time of defending is gone. Now is our time to strike. No pony, Nox, or dragon will stop the Elements from reuniting.”

Chapter Eighty: The Queen's Freedom

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“M… mother…”

Resin put a dumbfounded claw to her exhausted mother’s cheek. She ran down Chrysalis’ body and traced the circumference of one of her leg holes. Chrysalis trembled beneath every touch, her eyes wide but unable to react.

“It’s… me. I’m here.”

Chrysalis was effectively paralyzed. She couldn’t respond except for weak jostles of her head and eyes. And they looked none too friendly.

Realizing it was due to her disguise, Resin dropped the shape of the Nox to her true form. “Look, mom. It’s me. Resin. I don’t know if you remember me.”

Chrysalis’ eyes boiled in fury, and her breathing became labored as she did her best to sit up. She was so weak, though, that she just wiggled a bit.

“I know, I know. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t help you. But too bad. Nothing’s going your way today, is it?” Resin remarked as she got to work unbending the hooks holding her legs in place. As they straightened out and she threaded the legs through them, Resin bit through the leather strips holding Chrysalis’ legs above her head. Soon Chrysalis was pulled off the platform and fell unceremoniously to the ground.

“Sorry,” Resin hissed, picking up the trembling and furious Chrysalis with a hoof and draping her over her back. “But I think you’ve undergone worse than this.”

She transformed back into the shape of the unsightly Nox. Chrysalis was better spread out on a wider back, but the spines on her back made things less than pleasant.

“Easy part done,” Resin murmured, coming into the main room of the command tent and inching up to the flaps leading outside. “The hard part, though…”

Chrysalis suddenly moaned and twitched on her back furiously.

“Oh, knock it off already,” Resin snapped, rolling her eyes up. “Don’t make this harder than it should be. Come with me if you want to not die.”

Chrysalis made a disgruntled sound.

“I’ll take that as a maybe,” Resin dryly said, shrugging. “Progress, am I right?”

Resin stepped outside the command tent as casually as she could but speedwalked to the gate surrounding the tent. The gate guards were still there, including the dimwitted one who had asked her favorite color. It was this same gate guard who twitched an ear and turned to face her from behind, making Resin stop.

“Are you finally finished taking out the trash?” the guard asked. He squinted at Chrysalis. “And what on earth is that on your back?”

“The trash,” Resin replied with unease. “I’m taking it out. Terror’s had this corpse sitting in the corner of his tent for days now!”

“Ah,” the gate guard said in understanding. His eye widened all of a sudden, and he came closer to examine Resin. “It twitched.”

“N-no, it didn’t,” Resin insisted.

“I saw it! It kind of twitched!”

“It’s twitching because it’s on my back!” Resin shot at him, thinking off the top of her head. “And there’s great big holes all over this thing, it’s already dead! What, are you really this paranoid of your comrades? Is your trust not completely aligned with the rest of us? Are you a spy trying to discreetly get close to Terror? I’ll have to report you to Terror myself! He’s right up there, it’d be so easy!”

“Shut up, shut up!” the gate guard hissed in fear.

“Then do Terror’s bidding and let me pass!” Resin declared, making sure to twitch Chrysalis’ body using her back muscles. “Do you have any idea of how replaceable you really are?”

“Just leave!” the gate guard yelled, swinging open the gate and jabbing furiously outward.

“I will!” Resin retorted overegaggeratedly. She trotted as best she could on six legs out and away from them.

As the command tent began to shrink as they went, Resin let out a deep breath. “Well, they were right about one thing. That is the worst gate guard I’ve ever seen.”

She looked around some more, though. The same trick wouldn’t work on everyone. She needed a place to hide and an escape route. Resin scurried to an empty congregation area and looked around the maze of firepits and tents and tree stumps for something, anything.

The first thing that came to her attention was a massive catapult shoved into a corner of the congregation area, its arm stretching into the sky. Resin limped as best she could to the catapult remains and dumped Chrysalis off her back behind it, laying down beside the queen.

As Resin ran a claw down the queen’s spine reassuredly, Resin thought about the outcomes. The only one who knew about Chrysalis’ existence, aside from her, was that duplicitous Nox messenger who put up the illusion in the first place. If he did discover Chrysalis was missing, it’d make no difference to Resin, since he had no proof anyone important was gone and he was the only witness.

But that meant he could say anything he wanted, came the thought to her. And if there was nopony in the command tent, he could show it to everyone else and lend some credibility to his lies. So either way, she needed to vamoose. The problem was, how on earth could she escape? Resin squinted as far as she could. The expanse of enemy territory seemed boundless.

Chrysalis coughed and sat up, trembling and slow. Resin, startled, supported her from behind and brushed her oily mane aside. Chrysalis looked as furious as ever.

“...You!” she hissed, grumbling in the back of her throat. “Traitorous daughter!”

“Hey, mom,” Resin whispered. “Glad you’re up and about. Doing okay?”

“No,” Chrysalis haughtily refused. “And no thanks to you.”

“Nice to see you haven’t changed,” Resin dryly commented.

“Take me back,” Chrysalis commanded Resin. “Listen to me. You can’t just spirit me away from my only source of love! I order you-”

“Shut up, mom,” Resin snapped back. “And you listen. I can’t do that. You’re coming with me, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Give me at least three reasons why I’m better off in your hooves,” Chrysalis defiantly hissed.

“I’ll do you one better and give you four. First, you barely have any right to call yourself my mom and order me around. Where were you when we really needed you, huh? I’m in charge as far as you’re concerned! Second, Equestria’s armies will benefit from having you on our side instead of theirs. Third, only that ‘messenger’ manipulating you knows that you’re the big and scary Terror. If you insist that you are who you really are, no other Nox will believe you. And fourth… I can’t just leave you suffering in there. I don’t… care that you’re a sucky mom and a sucky person. You’re still my mom, and a prisoner for who knows how long. Now shut up and let me rescue you already!”

“I need his love!” Chrysalis insisted desperately. “If I don’t, I’ll be too weak!”

The more Resin thought about it, the more it became an issue. If Chrysalis remained this weak for the entire rescue, it could slow them down. And any minute now, that Nox would discover Chrysalis missing and order a camp-wide search for whoever helped her escape.

But for the moment, though, a different campwide movement was occurring. It started with a hornblow from the command tent a little bit away that was taken up by numerous other hornblowers, rippling like a wave of the sea. Resin risked a peek over some of the timbers of the catapult.

A substantial mass of the endless army was surging away from the main portion. It was curving to the left, evidently aiming to maneuver around the mountain entirely. Terror’s plan to shoot right for the capitol was evidently being put into effect.

It was bad news, but perhaps they could use it to their advantage…

“Get up,” Resin urged her mother, raising her up from one leg. “Stand! Fight!”

“I can’t!” Chrysalis despaired.

Resin transformed back into her normal violet form and cupped her mother under the chin. “Hey. Look at me. Let me help, bare and true.”

Chrysalis’ eye glanced at her colorful form and quickly shut on its own. “Not… when you look like that.”

Resin’s irritation reached a new level. “Can’t fight. Can’t run. Can’t stand. Can’t even look.” She gripped Chrysalis by the back of her head and forced Chrysalis’ forehead to rest on hers. “Mom. I get that you hate us. I have as much reason to hate you, too! You starved us just to keep your methods of spite up. And when we found a better option of living, you abandoned us all. You aren’t much of a mom. But while I have you like this, I can do anything I want to you. I could snap your neck right now and leave your corpse drowned and buried in the mud, and the world will never hear your name again. But… I want you to come. I want you to live, because somewhere inside of me… I still care for you, mom! Please, believe me! Because I want the best for you, even as pathetic as you are now! You can be better! I know it, even if you don’t.”

Chrysalis hissed and had trouble breathing. Resin wasn’t sure what it was. But she decided to press.

“You don’t need some devil to affirm your worth. You don’t need to live your life full of suffering. Pain is unavoidable, mom, but suffering is optional. Now get off that stinking butt of yours and get out of that dark place you’ve locked yourself inside. What kind of love do you think you need? That carnal, shallow stuff those devils have? Screw that! There are already ponies that will provide you with all the love you need, and they’re waiting for you in Equestria. So why do you delay? Why are you shuffling your steps and hesitating for your freedom?”

Chrysalis was silent as she digested this information, except for some sniffing and a heaving of her chest. Resin wanted to hug her closely, but decided against it; relief was something Chrysalis needed to choose.

“I… wanted you to love me,” Chrysalis finally whispered.

“What are you talking about? Of course I-” Resin started.

“I’m your mother!” Chrysalis interrupted Resin, shoving her away. “And I wanted you to reciprocate the love I thought I was giving you. But then you and the rest of my children turned your back on our way of life and became something… unnatural. You betrayed me. And I was afraid. Wouldn’t you? I wasn’t ready for your way. So I ran. Escaped into the wasteland with little shards of my throne for protection. And then the Noxxa found me and locked me up! Took the throne shards and kept me hooked on a poisonous kind of love. I made for a good puppet if my magic was at its highest, but I got no recognition--Terror did! What about me? Do I matter, in the grand picture?”

“You matter to me,” Resin promised her mother. “Is that good enough?”

Chrysalis looked conflicted; she wanted to say no. But looking into each other’s eyes, the windows of the soul, Chrysalis couldn’t bring herself to say it. “Yes,” she choked out. “If it’s you, then yes!”

And suddenly, Chrysalis’ pallid color regained some healthiness, her ribs became less pronounced, and her hoof stopped trembling. Chrysalis blinked in shock.

“I feel… satisfied,” Chrysalis whispered, twisting a holed black hoof in front of her eyes. “Your love?”

“I got plenty more if you need it,” Resin offered, secretly unsure of how to help any more.

“No,” Chrysalis turned down. “Just knowing you have it is good enough for me. Certainly tastes better than the love they had to dole out. It tasted like straight pepper-water, burns your throat. This is different. It’s like… It’s like…”

“A plump, crispy fruit?” Resin suggested.

“Something like that,” Chrysalis quickly agreed.

“First time?”

“Look, I get it. I want more. I’ll come with you. Won’t make any promises about helping, though.”

“Now that is mission accomplished as far as I’m concerned,” Resin remarked. She transformed back into a Noxxa and peeked over the edge again. “Although we still gotta actually get you out in the first place.”

“Whatever you say,” Chrysalis rasped in the Noxxa’s voice.

Resin recoiled a bit when she looked back. Chrysalis had transformed! She was a Noxxa, but the color was off. Instead of black, it was more of a navy blue.

“What?” Chrysalis asked, gesturing at herself.

“Close enough,” Resin affirmed, giving the closest thing to a thumbs-up she could.

Chrysalis sighed and turned her eyes skyward. “So that’s the sky, huh? I never noticed it before now. It’s so… big and open. If I would fall up, I’d never stop.”

Resin was surprised that she didn’t mention it was overcast, or close to sunset. Just the fact that it was there seemed to be good enough. Resin made a mental note to appreciate the smaller things in life. The sky was there, and open.

...The sky was open!

“Mom,” Resin prompted. “Can you fly?”

Some wings appeared on the Noxxa body, but Chrysalis looked stiff with them. And even if they did take off, they’d get spotted and shot down. They would need a boost to get airborne and out of the reach of the arrows. But what could…

Of course. It was so simple.

Scrambling to the side of the catapult, Resin gripped the crank handle and began to turn it with a rusty creak and groan. Little by little, the outstretched arm of the catapult lowered. After some effort, not without a few grunts, the end of the arm rested at the loading position.

Chrysalis gave her a flat stare. “No.”

“Begging your pardon, mom, but I’m in charge right now. You can’t stop me. You’re weak, remember?”

“That’s not what I-” Chrysalis started, then cut herself off with a sigh and folded her front two arms, keeping her back four on the ground. “Are you sure?”

“Well, do you want to wade through this mess of an army to get back?”

“It’s… not the most appealing.”

“Then get your rear in gear and into the catapult. I don’t want to do this either, you know.”

Chrysalis gently settled herself into the scoop on the end of the catapult, making room for Resin. After checking to make sure all the ropes were in place, Resin clambered in after her. Both were snug next to each other.

A few moments passed before Chrysalis asked, “Now how do we launch this thing?”

Resin’s expression of realization was almost comedic. “Oh…”

“Someone’ll have to pull the lever,” Chrysalis said. She banged the back of her head against the metal basket edge. “Ugh, I knew this was a bad idea from the start.”

“No, no, no,” Resin quickly refuted, scrambling out of the catapult and making her way to the lever. “Don’t worry about that, mom. I’ll take care of it.”

“But what about you?” Chrysalis asked, tilting her head to get a better look at her.

“I’ll be fine, mom,” Resin insisted, gripping the lever. “I-I’ll find another way out. All you need to worry about is flying outta here.”

“You won’t find another way out of here,” Chrysalis replied, and was there a crack in her voice?

Resin hesitated. She weighed her options. Then she sighed, paused again, and said, “I know.” And she smiled. “But... it’ll be okay. Don’t worry about a thing.”

“I’m worrying a lot right now!” Chrysalis fired back.

“Mom, please, for once in your life, listen to me,” Resin calmly said, her claws slipping on the lever. She shifted out of her Noxxa disguise and into her true form. It would be the last time Chrysalis would see her, and she wanted to make it count. “Don’t look back for me. You deserve Equestria. So fly. Touch the sky. You’re finally free.”

“What is going on here?” demanded a voice out of nowhere. A Nox had finally entered the embankment and seen her. And as a changeling, too!

Resin hissed in surprise when she spotted him. “Fly, mom! Fly!”

And she pulled with all her strength.

With a loud catch of the gears, the catapult arm shot into the sky, sending Chrysalis flying high and fast above the enemy camp. Resin watched her go, ensuring she wouldn’t turn around. And sure enough, once she got momentum, Chrysalis’ wings buzzed her forward. Before she knew it, Chrysalis was only a speck in the distance, zipping off towards Foal Mountain.

The Nox, however, wasn’t about to just stand there. He skittered as fast as his six legs could carry him towards Resin, who only saw him when it was too late. All she could do was duck from his swing, which embedded itself into the wood of the catapult beams an inch above her head.

Resin snarled and ran in the opposite direction as fast as she could. The Nox roared, broke his claw out, and snatched Resin’s hoof right before she could get out of reach. Resin abruptly fell to the mud beneath, splattering on her face.

The Nox, meanwhile, crawled right above her before she could stand up. Resin looked up. The nameless, hideous creature’s dripping fangs would be the last thing she would see.

But she went out knowing what she had done would be for the good of all.

Chrysalis’ flight was uninterrupted. By the time any of the Noxxa had realized there was something flying in their airspace, she was too high up for them to hit with their arrows. And their cannons and catapults couldn’t aim so delicately. Chrysalis was too small of a target.

The lost queen wanted to go back. But there was too much urging her in the opposite direction.

So she flew. She flapped her wings as hard as she could and set her mind upon reaching freedom. Once she was above the plains at the foot of the mountain, she aimed for the peak. Higher and higher she flew, never looking back. There would be nothing worth looking back on.

After what seemed like an hour of flight to her exhausted wings, Chrysalis’ legs were inches above the peak of the mountain. She dropped down and stumbled to a stop.

Scorpan, Luna, Thunderjump, Skystar, and Glitz were on the top, but they hadn’t noticed Chrysalis’ arrival yet. Their eyes were cast to the south, where the snaking column of Noxxa forces were streaming past, bypassing the mountain altogether. It would take longer for them to get to Canterlot that way, but their path was at least clear.

“That little-!” Glitz was saying, her tight eyes narrowed disdainfully at the problem just out of reach. “But Luna, if we just strike out now, we can cut them off!”

“That would mean abandoning the mountain,” Luna pointed out, pointing at the other body of forces across the valley. “The Noxxa left behind would seize it, and we’d be drifting and aimless, stuck between the two main bodies.”

“And you’re sure our catapults don’t have the range?”

“Absolutely,” Thunderjump tentatively reported.

“So all we can do is hold fast?” Glitz exploded.

“Patience,” Scorpan assured her serenely. “Our opportunity will come.”

“Patience is a luxury we cannot afford,” Glitz snarled at Scorpan, stomping over to him. “Now is the time for action, not blind faith!”

Thunderjump had turned away from the marching masses and had inadvertently laid eyes upon Chrysalis. He nearly jumped out of his skin. “Um?” Thunderjump asked, a quake in his pitch. “Can we take action now?!”

The desperation in his tone made the others turn as well. Chrysalis found herself under eyes of scrutiny and shock from the five present.

“Uh, hello,” Chrysalis awkwardly said, waving. “Chrysalis here. Though I’m sure you... already knew that.”

Luna acted before anyone else by stepping forth. She was no more than a foot away from Chrysalis, and the hard lines etched into her complexion meant nothing could be hidden from her piercing eye. “Why are you here?”

“I was freed,” Chrysalis explained, looking steadfastly at the ground and not into Luna’s cold blue eyes. “A child of mine broke me out. She didn’t make it.”

Glitz huffed. Skystar let out a whimper of regret.

“So what are you here to do?” Luna slowly asked, hard intent never wavering in her voice.

Chrysalis had several answers at the ready. Guilt over her child’s loss. A determination to get back at the monsters who had captured her. The better love food. But all of them had one common denominator: Resin.

“I’m not going to throw away the chance she provided me,” Chrysalis vowed, and this time, she was able to look Luna in the eye.

“What brought this about?” Luna asked, tilting her head. “Desperation, perhaps? When your life is no longer in peril, will you still be on our side?”

Chrysalis pursed her lips. If Luna was going to be that hesitant, then she didn’t deserve to have her help. “Who knows?” Chrysalis replied. “We’ll find out if you let me try.”

Luna mulled it over; Chrysalis could practically see the gears turning in her calculating head. Then she nodded. “I suppose we can destroy our common enemy together before considering if you will be one.”

“Welcome to the team!” Skystar proclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

“Gah!” Chrysalis hissed.

“Not used to positivity yet, huh?” Skystar asked cheekily. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll break you in if you need it.”

“This was a mistake,” Chrysalis whispered.

“Now how do we utilize you best?” Glitz asked, giving her a scrutinizing once-over.

“Well, what do we need to do?” Chrysalis resignedly replied.

“Stop them,” Scorpan indicated the rippling waves of blackness in the distance that was the smaller army, “from reaching Canterlot in time. We sent a pegasus to warn Celestia as soon as we discerned their purpose, but all our options result in inevitable failure.”

“We have to stay here to make sure the main body doesn’t join with that excursion,” Glitz continued. “We can’t fire on them from afar, and dive-bombing pegasi will do too little. If we all move away from the mountain, the larger army will swarm in on us and annihilate us, even if we do manage to wipe out the smaller army.”

“It’s bait. We can’t win.” Thunderjump the pegasus looked hollow, his words monotonous and his coloration greyed somewhat.

“But we have a secret weapon,” Chrysalis said. “Me. I was Terror. So they’ve lost their magic support.”

The news came like a slap to everyone. Chrysalis was aware that a few of them were gaping and rubbing their eyes, as if to clear their vision.

Scorpan was one of the ones who blinked in surprise. But he simply shook his head to recover and said, “You are... strong. I commend your magical power.”

Chrysalis was ashamed to admit that she felt like preening at those words. “Since I was only a figurehead, Terror can be replaced. The strategist isn’t dead. But with my magic on your side, you might stand a longer chance at surviving.”

“With your firepower, we can disrupt the Noxxa as they invade Canterlot!” Glitz realized.

“I must have heard you wrong. You said, ‘As they invade Canterlot.’ That’s a mistake, correct?” Luna assumed despondently.

“No, Luna, think about it! The situation has changed!” Glitz protested, gesturing out at the smaller army moving in the distance. “If we wait for them to reach Canterlot, we can shoot into their rear and assault their flanks while they try to siege the capitol. We have the trains. They don’t. They’ll be the ones surrounded by all sides! And by the time the larger army realizes we’re gone and swarms Foal Mountain, we won’t even need it anymore, since we’ll have wiped out the smaller army at our city’s doorstep.”

“Are you so sure we can?” Skystar asked. “We could barely hold them off from a fortified mountain!”

“Let’s go over our assets and tell me what you think. We have the trained royal guard. We have earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn conscripts. We have changeling, yak, dragon, and seapony forces. We have Luna. We have Scorpan. And we now have Chrysalis. Combine that with the forces stationed in Canterlot and Celestia herself, and I do believe we have a good shot at defending our capitol city. An even higher chance if that idiot Discord bothered to show up. He probably just likes watching the fireworks anyway.”

“I don’t remember you being so optimistic,” Luna remarked.

“Analytical, Luna. There’s a difference.”

“So that’s it?” Thunderjump quivered. “This is our fate? To die on our doorstep?”

“I’ll work out the details of how you’ll die tomorrow, soldier.”

After some time in mental anguish, Thunderjump jerkily saluted. “Whatever you wish, ma’am. But… may I speak?”

“You already were,” Glitz irritably snapped. “Get on with it.”

Thunderjump rushed an apology, then, his mouth twisting, he spoke. “Will you be responsible if I die? Because I don’t… want you to be burdened by it.”

“The only one who takes responsibility for his life is himself,” Glitz told him. “If you feel irresponsible for fighting for your country, why are you a soldier?”

Thunderjump looked on the edge of tears. “I’ve tried to be a good soldier, ma’am,” he croaked. “I obeyed everything without question, because that’s what I was trained to do. I’ve taken all the responsibility I can. But I’m not a pony anymore. I’m a soldier. A cog in this machine. Replaceable. My death won’t matter to anyone unless I get your job done.”

“It will,” Luna’s silky voice reassured him as she came to Thunderjump and stood beside him. “It will matter to me.”

“N-no!” Thunderjump refuted violently, stepping away. His eyes were wild now instead of hollow. “You don’t need a personal guard! You had pity on me! When will that pity run out?!”

“I wanted to save your life,” Luna told him, straight to his face. “I care for you, so there is no way I would make you do this if there were any other way. But if you wish for the preservation of all that you hold dear, I bid you to stand tall, and cast off the shackles of fear binding you to the ground! I urge you--nay, I command you!--to cease your despair, and emerge from the dark fog of hopelessness. In the light, your path is clear. You shall taste joy again, but you must live to see that day. And you cannot live if you cannot fight!”

Chrysalis felt a strange inclination that that lesson could be applied to her as well. And it made her noticeably uncomfortable to digest those words. In the end, however, it all boiled down to one thing.

Fight.

Thunderjump was silent as well. His face had become red and irritated. After a respectful amount of time, he sniffled and rubbed his cheek. “I… need to be alone.”

He departed via the path down the west face. Chrysalis watched him leave. He was pitiful. But then again… she had been pitiful too.

“In the meantime,” Luna said as if nothing had happened, “I’ll leave you two alone. To, ah, strategize, of course. Skystar, Chrysalis, with me.”

Scorpan and Glitz gave each other sideways glances at the way Luna had dismissed them. Meanwhile, Skystar had sidled up next to Chrysalis as Luna led them away down the rocky, dusty path. “Where are we going?” Chrysalis demanded.

“To the mess,” Luna declared. “You should try a bowl of soup. I’m sure love is nice for you, but a good soup fixes you in a way nothing else can.”

“You sure could use one,” Skystar remarked. “You’re so skinny, if you stuck out your tongue and I looked at you head-on, you’d look like a zipper.”

Chapter Eighty-one: Land of Desolation

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It was by no means a pleasant trip for Spike.

The terrain, for one. It was all rocky and spiky and jagged under his soft feet. And he knew there could be any number of creepy, crawly, slimy, slippery things under those rocks.

Then there was the uncomfortable feeling of being back in a place that he should have called home. He was a stranger in his own land. There was no one here he could trust. Not anymore, at least. There had been Dragon Lord Ember…

Her death was yet another burden upon his back. Ember had been one of the only friends he had made in the Dragonlands. A deep-seated, bubbling pit of resentment boiled in his gut. For Malice. For the land he was in. And for the red, yellow-bellied bully he was now following, as if he needed his help! Garble had been grumbling and snarling under his breath as he led the way to their destination. Garble didn’t deserve the help they had spared to him! See how he fares without them for a bit and see how he likes it!

But then again, Spike reflected, that line of reasoning would just end up thinking exactly how Garble does. Best to just cut out those thoughts now. Be the better dragon.

Garble, Twilight, Rainbow, Freedom Fighter, and Spike eventually ended up on the edge of a very wide crater. In the center was a strange, small pool of water that steamed and bubbled. It shimmered with an explosion of color that almost seemed unnatural in its bright hues of green, red, yellow, and blue.

“Whoah,” Rainbow Dash marveled, eyes on the water in wonder. “I’ve never seen that before.”

“A hot spring,” Twilight was quick to explain as they came nearer. “It’s caused by geothermal heat beneath the surface. If it’s warm enough, you could even take a bath in it.”

“...I’m going to pretend like I know what geothermal means,” Rainbow accepted. “What’s causing the color?”

“Well, what’s causing the color in your hair?” Freedom rhetorically asked. Under the look Rainbow directed his way, though, Freedom just sighed and shut up.

“It’s likely bacteria,” Twilight answered. “And the minerals it’s infused with are causing that smell.”

“What sme-” Rainbow’s face scrunched up almost comedically. “EW! It’s--ugh!” She pinched her nose with one hoof and flapped into the air. “It’s like rotten eggs!”

“I’m not rotten,” Twilight quickly refuted. “At least, I hope not.”

Rainbow shot her a glance. “Huh?”

“Well… you know… I’m an egghead, remember?”

Rainbow paused a moment, then threw her hooves into the air resignedly. “Of course.” She then adopted a sly grin. “You do stink, though.”

“There we go,” Twilight approved. “Just like old times.”

“I can’t stand you guys,” Garble muttered darkly. “It’s just a hot spring. Get over it.”

“We don’t have many of these in Equestria, believe it or not,” Spike replied sharply back.

“Oh, of course you would know, ponyboy.”

“How about we take a break here?” Twilight loudly suggested, cutting both of them off.

“No,” Freedom Fighter refused, shaking his hoof. “We can’t afford lengthy breaks. Malice may be on the move.”

“I could scout ahead,” Rainbow suggested. “I’m not the fastest pony in Equestria for nothing, you know.”

“Can you triangulate our position?” Freedom asked.

“... If you’re asking if I can find you, then yeah.”

“I don’t see why not,” Twilight advised him. “We could use a warning system.”

Freedom gave a solemn nod. “Fine.”

“On it!” Rainbow saluted. With a small boom, she rocketed into the air, leaving the four of them below on the boring old earth.

“How much longer until we reach the throne?” Twilight asked Garble sweetly.

“We get there when we get there!” Garble grunted, kicking a rock into the hot spring. “I know what I’m doing here, all right?”

“Did you say the same thing when you were forced to run?” Spike darkly asked.

“It was my life on the line!” Garble exclaimed, turning on Spike. “What would you have done, give them a spark of your wimpy fire and run off like you always do?”

“Did… Did you not hear what I had to go through to get here?!” Spike retaliated. “Or maybe you did hear and you just don’t care, which means you’re nothing more than scum!”

“You’re the one that was always nothing!” Garble bellowed. “You always thought you could get into things where nopony wanted you or needed you! You’re a hanger-on, you’re weak, you’re always useless, and you got me into trouble. You’re the scum here!”

“I wanted to be like you!” Spike insisted, his voice cracking. “Why else do you think I cared about you even though you hurt me?” His eyes narrowed. “But I know better now. I don’t need you to help me become a better dragon! You’re a bully and a brute! What good did you ever do for anyone? Now everyone else knows it, and so do you! Nopony needs a bully! Nopony wants a jerk! You don’t belong anywhere in this world!”

Garble lunged at him, jabbing him in the chest and making fiery spit fleck from his exposed teeth. “EVERY DAY I WAKE UP AND WISH YOU WERE DEAD!” he roared at the top of his lungs, scratching his throat. “YOU WANT TO BE USEFUL?! PRAY YOU’LL BE BORN AS A REAL DRAGON IN THE NEXT LIFE, AND TAKE A SWAN DIVE OFF A CLIFF!”

That stunned Spike. And after yelling it, Garble was stunned too.

But that only lasted a moment, since both of them were enveloped in a violet aura and violently ripped apart from each other and flung backwards, sending them tumbling across the jagged rocks. An authoritative, stern Twilight stepped between them as they lifted their heads, holding them delicately. Spike couldn’t look her in the eye. Garble was furious, but acknowledged Twilight’s power by not defying her.

“That is it,” Freedom Fighter commanded, coming beside Twilight. “If you cannot control your tongues, you will find that you cannot have them. Trust me when I say it is a living nightmare.”

“Get up, both of you,” Twilight urged them both, gesturing first at Spike, then Garble. “We still have some time to go.”

“I’ll take a look around,” a lousy-sounding Freedom excused, and trotted away.

Twilight looked down upon Garble, and the defiant teenager sneered at her expression of disappointment, but withered as her expression grew harder as a result.

“By all rights, you don’t deserve to be here, Garble,” Twilight reminded the red reptile. “Don’t give us second thoughts about preserving your life when you order our lives to be taken.”

Garble huffed with his best glare, but he didn't dare speak.

As Twilight turned to walk away, a word tumbled out of Spike's mouth. "Sorry."

Garble's darkly curious glare focused on him.

"I shouldn't have said that. It's not the right way."

Garble sniffed. "And here I was, thinking you had toughened up at last."

"The moment I did that, you became unhinged. Are you... really as tough as you think you are?"

"Of course I am!" Garble immediately defended, getting to his feet. "Now if you're done feeling sorry for yourself, we gotta get a move on."

Spike perked up and got to his own feet. "Y-yeah. You know the way better than I do."

"I live here," was Garble's simple, stingy reply.

A sound like a jet engine gradually grew louder in their ears. And cleaving through the bleak and dreary sky was a rainbow. It shot down to their level and screeched to an abrupt halt.

“What news?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow Dash used Stormkeeper to gesture into the sky. “There’s a mass migration heading northeast. I couldn’t see who was leading it, but my money’d be on Malice.”

“Mark their route,” Twilight ordered. “We need to know if Malice will be at that temple once we found out where it is.”

“I suppose that means we aren’t following them?” Freedom asked.

“Well, we need support and direction,” Twilight said. “We can find both at the throne.”

Freedom gave a long, bleak sigh. “Let’s get to it.”

“Only if our guide is willing,” Twilight said, looking over at Garble.

“Yeesh,” Garble mumbled. “Look, it isn’t far now. In a few hours we should reach it.”

“Good to hear,” Twilight beamed, and turned her attention to the hot spring.

Spike and Garble gave each other looks once more. There wasn’t any animosity, but there was lingering tension.

Garble was the first to look away. “Look, what I said… wasn’t awesome. It’s not the way my sister would behave.”

Spike blinked in astonishment. “You’re apologizing?”

“Don’t push it. I’m just trying to live up to a standard.” He picked up a pebble and rolled it between his claws. “...Is there really a difference between being tough and being awesome?”

Spike took his time answering. “They have a lot in common. But it’s not the only way to be awesome.”

Garble considered that. “...So you mean we’re different kinds of awesome?”

“We could clean up both of our acts, I guess. But sure, let’s roll with that.”

“Pssht.” He put his hands behind his head. “Guess we’ll see.”

As he walked away, Spike called out. “Your sister…”

Garble stopped. He looked back.

“Who was she?”

Garble kicked the ground despondently. “Dragon Lord Ember.”

He turned to walk away again, but stopped for a brief moment when Spike said, “I’ll avenge her.”

Garble didn’t say anything in response.

The wasteland was dreary and desolate. Despite Firestorm’s earlier cheerful attitude, none of it had managed to last. For hours now, they had been walking in the same direction, which they didn’t even know was correct. The sun was behind them, making their shadows stretch out in distorted shapes as they walked or hovered.

Starlight Glimmer’s hooves were cracked and tough. They punctuated every step with an ache. She was getting tired, and, frankly, a little dehydrated. It made her pace slow and her mood irritable.

When she tripped over a protruding tan pebble, she hissed loudly and kicked it aside with a defiant scream.

“Whoa there,” Tempest remarked laconically behind her. “Save it for the temple.”

“I know,” Starlight groaned, returning to her pace. “I’m going to need it. I mean, the others needed to be tested to get their Elements. What will I be tested on?”

“I don’t suppose you have a study journal lying about?”

Starlight craned her head to regard Tempest. “I actually have been getting into that habit. Twilight’s apprenticeship is very instructive.”

“How is it like learning under Twilight?”

Starlight used her magic to briefly adjust her mane. “It’s pretty chill, actually. She expects me to make progress, but there’s no real pressure if I mess up.”

“Wonder how that feels like,” Tempest muttered. “If there was a Goddess, that’s how I would imagine her.”

Starlight quickly shut the image of a Goddess-Twilight from her mind. “She means everything to me,” Starlight replied. “She made me see that I was being misled and acting evil. She… pretty much singlehoofedly returned me to the light.”

“Now that I do know how it feels like,” Tempest said. “I wonder…”

“What?”

“...what if I could be the Element of Redemption?”

Starlight almost stumbled over herself. She looked back again, squinting as the sun got into her eyes. “Come on, that’s impossible. Scorpan said I would be the one on the quest to obtain the Element.”

“No, but think about it. Both of us were reformed by the Child of Light. I have a name--the Daughter of Thunder.”

“If that’s the qualification, everypony who was once evil has a legitimate claim to the Element. Princess Luna, Discord, even Scorpan.”

“But I’m here now,” Tempest urged. “I was called into the Tree of Harmony’s cave by Star Swirl. I’ve been through too much to play no part in the end. What’s the game plan here? What’s going to happen to us?”

“The only way to find out is if we keep pressing on,” Starlight answered.

“That’s a stupid answer. I figured that part out already.”

“Well then, I don’t know!” Starlight resigned. “All we have to focus on right now is getting my Element at the temple. After that…”

"Then what? Trust in the artifacts?”

“We’re chosen for the task,” Starlight affirmed. “We’ll figure something out.”

“I don’t know,” Tempest slowly said. “If you ponies talk a lot about friendship, why aren’t other friends allowed to bear the Elements? Why couldn’t they also take up the mantle and be paragons of truth, or kindness, or whatever mantra?”

“For the moment, we have to be those. I’m not concerned about what comes after, Tempest. This is about what I have to do in the here and now with my Element.”

“You put too much emphasis on the Elements. You all do. What would you be without them?"

Starlight shivered slightly. "They're the only things that can save us," she explained.

"What about this Goddess? Which is more powerful, the gift, or the Goddess that gave it?"

Starlight opened her mouth, as if to argue. Then she shut it.

“For ponies who believe in Faust, you’re kind of shallow about it,” Tempest said.

“You don’t exactly have ground to stand on,” Starlight reminded her.

“I guess,” Tempest acknowledged, with that imperceptible dry tone to it. “Who am I to judge?”

Starlight looked up in exasperation. It was getting dark, and not just by the onset of night. There was a smoky wall, hundreds of feet high, rolling slowly towards them. In the Dragonlands, it was hard to tell if it was a volcano or a dragon. Starlight didn’t want to be around either.

“We need a new route!” Fluttershy hoarsely whispered to Firestorm, who were both further up. “And we need some water!”

“Okay, I know,” Firestorm told her. “But there wasn’t a cloud in the sky! What did you want me to do?”

“Which way do we need to go?” Tempest called from the back.

“Look, your guess is as good as mine,” Firestorm tried to explain patiently, but his voice was wearing thin. “If you have a good idea, I would love to hear it.”

“What are we going to do about that smoke?” Starlight contributed.

“I DON’T KNOW!” Firestorm bellowed, swiveling around. “Okay? Is that what you wanted to hear? I got nothing.”

“Geez,” Starlight said. “It was just a question.”

“If you want to be helpful, you could stop with the questions and focus more on actually doing something.”

“What’s got you so tense?” Tempest wondered.

“Oh, gee, I don’t know,” Firestorm yelled. “What reason do I have to be tense? We’ve got a quest to finish up, lost in enemy territory, separated from my friends and girlfriend, and we’ve been walking all day in a desert. ‘Doy, gee, Firestorm, why are you so tense?’ That’s a real friggin’ head-scratcher!”

“Listen, Firestorm-” Starlight started.

“No, you listen,” Firestorm interrupted, approaching her. “I’m under no obligation to stay in a good mood all the time. I legitimately try to, since it makes you guys happy, but that isn’t an overriding emotion, okay? I’m not a dorky performer anymore! I can get pissed off too! Why is this such a big surprise to you?”

“Look, I agree!” Starlight quickly said. “And so do all of us. We don’t treat you like that.”

“Plenty of others do,” Firestorm muttered. “Remember Bloodrayne?”

“And you killed him!” Tempest jumped in. “So who exactly are you having this argument with?”

“Not you!” Firestorm said, slowing down. “But… look, I just want to get this over with. Forget I said it.”

“Hey, wait,” Starlight quickly said.

“Starlight, could you use your magic to get rid of the smoke?”

“You’re not getting away that easily.”

“Can you do it or not?”

“I suppose I could,” Starlight answered.

“So why aren’t you doing it?”

“Because you come first,” Starlight replied to his face.

“Get off your high horse. Of course I don’t. Worry about me later. Could you take care of the smoke now? It’s getting closer every second!”

“Not until I get to the root of your problem.”

“We don’t have the time! The only problem here is how you aren’t doing anything useful!”

“Oh, so I suppose getting to the bottom of this is unhelpful?”

“I. Don’t. Matter. Take care of the underlying problem before-” He coughed. He waved a hoof in front of his face. “Oh, great!”

“Some real friendship problem-solving right there,” Tempest said. Swirls of smoke were beginning to fog the air and sting at the eyes. They had to close them.

Going back was no option. All they could do was move forward blind into the smoke.

“Is everyone here?” Starlight yelled, turning her head in the smoke. “Fluttershy?”

If Fluttershy had answered, it was too quiet to hear.

“Pipe down, everypony!” Tempest ordered. “Fluttershy! Did you get lost?”

“Where did you last see her?” Starlight asked Firestorm.

“I don’t know!” Firestorm irritably replied. “One moment she was here and then gone the next!”

“Fluttershy!” Starlight yelled, then coughed. “Fluttershy, where did you go?”

“Wait, hold on!” Tempest said, coughing at the end. “Quiet down. I think I heard something.”

So they did. Each of them were straining their ears for Fluttershy’s distinctive, if quiet, voice.

And they soon heard it drifting their way.

“I’m all right!” she whispered. “Follow the sound of my voice!”

“Easier said than done,” Firestorm grumbled. But he started to feel his way beside the other girls as Fluttershy continued to speak.

“I saw a hole in the ground and decided to go in,” Fluttershy’s faraway voice hissed. “Smoke rises, so I assumed this would be safe. If you come close enough to me, you can find it.”

“When will we know where the ho-OOOOOH!” Firestorm started, then screamed as he slipped and fell into one.

“Oomph!” Fluttershy cried as an impact knocked her down.

“Found it,” Tempest drily announced. Starlight repressed a giggle.

“Over here,” Firestorm urged, right next to them. “The slope is steep, so be careful.”

Tempest grunted as she felt her way down the edge of the supposed hole, and Starlight wasn’t far behind. She found the edge of the rocky ring, turned around, and lowered herself down. Firestorm was right. It was like going down a U-bend in a sink, and after she had felt a few rocks on her way down, she slipped, and she slid the rest of the way into the cave.

“Woo hoo,” Fluttershy cheered, as quiet as ever. “We’re all here.”

Starlight blinked. The air was still stinging, but when she pressed her head to the ground, the smoke thinned out, and she could see clearly. She could see the other ponies in the process of doing the same. Sure enough, all four of them were there.

“I don’t understand,” Tempest spoke up. “I thought there wasn’t supposed to be any smoke down here.”

“Hold on,” Firestorm said, and stuck his head back into the cloud of smoke. After he nodded, he poked himself back down. “The smoke’s coming from inside the cave.”

“Underground lava pit?” Starlight suggested. “Or…”

“Or a dragon?” Fluttershy breathed, locked up in fear. Her hooves were covering her head, which was wrapped up in her dirty pink mane.

“I’ll go in,” Firestorm volunteered, crawling further into the darkness.

“You’re scared of cramped places,” Starlight reminded him, reaching out to grab his leg.

“I don’t care. We’re all scared of dragons too, aren’t we? I can do this.”

Starlight sighed and let go. “Let us know if it’s safe.”

Firestorm quickly disappeared as he wriggled deeper inside.

“What’s gotten into him?” Fluttershy whispered as soon as he was gone.

Starlight sighed. “Firestorm is under the impression that we all think lowly of him, so he has to prove otherwise.”

“But why would he think like that?”

“He refused to tell us,” Starlight replied. “I suppose he’s just going through a hot minute. He’ll be fine.”

The sound of crumbling rock got their attention, and they turned their heads as Firestorm emerged from deeper within the cave, crouching and bowing his head.

“Is it safe?” Tempest asked.

“Safe enough,” he reported, and let out a cough. “You can come in. But, ah, try to stay quiet.”

“Somehow my fears are not alleviated,” Starlight whispered, but she stood up nonetheless and began to follow Firestorm into the deeper parts of the smoky cave.

“Come on, Fluttershy,” Starlight heard Tempest urge. “Let’s stay together.”

“I-I’ve had enough of dragons for one lifetime,” Fluttershy shivered, even as she stood up.

Starlight ignited her horn, but kept the light soft. Swirls of smoke could now easily be seen flowing like water around her green light. They descended more and more, trying their hardest not to cough.

They heard a deep undertone the further they went which made a chill arch up Starlight’s back. This was no earthquake.

It didn’t take long before they came into a vast open area. But all the available space was being used to contain a gigantic rumbling mass of flesh beneath rippling scales. Starlight’s faint light was barely enough to illuminate several parts of it, let alone the entire body. It was hard to approximate just how big it really was. In the center of the twisting body was a head, looking at them straight-on. Its eyes were closed, but the smoke pouring from its nostrils was constant.

Starlight was distantly aware that Tempest and, further back, Fluttershy, had arrived as well. Fluttersy gave a small gasp. No one said a word as the dragon took a deep breath in.

“It’s sleeping,” Starlight eventually whispered, shrinking back as the creature exhaled a particularly large jet of smoke.

“I’ve seen this before,” Firestorm replied, holding an arm to the side to prevent the others from coming closer. “They can smell fear just by looking at you. So keep quiet.”

Tempest leveled a flat stare at him. “You’re a load of help.”

“Look, just don’t move, don’t breathe, don’t… do anything,” Firestorm advised. “Except pray, maybe.”

Fluttershy, though, pushed Firestorm’s arm down. No trace of fear was present. “I can do this.”

“You can?” Starlight, Firestorm, and Tempest asked in unison.

“Trust me,” Fluttershy assured them. “I can do this better than any of you.”

She nudged her way past Firestorm, who made as if to grab her, but stopped himself with his other hoof. Fluttershy was now in plain view of the monster, and all the hissing and talking was enough to stir him.

“Hello. It’s me,” Fluttershy told the red dragon, stamping the dusty ground and keeping her ground as the dragon opened his slitted eyes. “I hope you remember me from last time.”

All of a sudden, the massive dragon flinched back and reared his head up to the arched roof of the cave. Written upon his astounded reptilian face was recognition, respect, and even a dash of fear.

“I’m so proud of you,” Fluttershy cooed. “You found an unobtrusive spot to sleep! You’re such a resourceful creature, you know that? You single-hoofedly saved Equestria by not covering it in smoke for a hundred years! And we need a strong, resourceful creature to help us right now. Would you like that?”

The dragon shrunk into himself, made a whimper like a kicked dog, and vigorously nodded.

“Well, this is a bit hard to say, but… Have you ever heard of a volcano temple filled with ponies in the Dragonlands?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes wide and shivering ever so slightly.

The dragon looked frantically from left to right, a smoke trail following from his nostrils. Then he bent down so his snout was at Fluttershy’s level and whispered, “We like to pretend it doesn’t exist.”

Ignoring the sounds of surprise from the others at how casual his voice seemed to be, Fluttershy pressed on. “We’re here to destroy it.”

The dragon’s slitted eyes turned into circles briefly. Then back into vertical lines. “But you’re a very little pony. How do you mean,’destroy it?’”

“I’m so sorry, mister dragon, but we don’t know how to, since we haven’t found it yet. Would you consider taking us there?”

Here, he turned aside. “I-I would rather not…”

“I wouldn’t want to either,” Fluttershy assured him, rubbing his cheek gently. “But if you help us, you don’t have to think about it ever again.”

The dragon squirmed. “I… don’t know what to think…”

“Aww, there, there,” she babied him, flapping into the air to get to his eye level. “I’d hate to be a bother. You don’t have to help us if you don’t want to. But if that happens, we’ll have to keep wandering until we collapse. I don’t want to die, but I’d rather die at that temple than out in the wilderness.”

That touched a nerve. The monstrous, scarlet, gargantuan dragon seemed very small and afraid at the notion of Fluttershy dying. He squirmed even more and shrunk into the back of his cave, flapping his leathery wings, blinking his folding eyelids, and twisting his fanged mouth as his mind raced for an answer.

After about a minute of this frantic contemplation, the red dragon shut his eyes and slowly, slowly, opened them again. “I’ll take you.”

Fluttershy beamed. “Oh, thank you, mister… Um…” She hesitated. “What’s your name? I never caught it the first time.”

“Reginald,” he mumbled.

“The first time?” Starlight mouthed.

“Reginald?” Firestorm mouthed in reply.

Reginald, for his part, squished against the ground, and Fluttershy motioned to the rest of them. “We can get on his back! Let’s go!”

“Just a second!” Tempest exclaimed.

“Yeah, time out!” Firestorm agreed, flapping up and crossing his hooves in an X. “Where’d you get all chummy with this guy? You invite him over for tea one day or something?”

“Right!” Fluttershy realized, smacking a hoof into her forehead. “None of you were there for this. One time, I persuaded this very same dragon to move from his bed on a mountain. He was making an awful lot of smoke, weren’t you?”

Reginald nodded like a tame pet.

“He has very low self-esteem,” Fluttershy continued, coming to his scaly, horned back. “Positive reinforcement works best.”

“I’m glad you did the trick, Fluttershy,” Starlight expressed gladly. “And I’m glad you’re here.”

Fluttershy’s cheeks turned pink. “Oh, i-it was nothing, really.”

As Firestorm flapped near the neck of the dragon, and Starlight levitated Tempest up, Tempest gripped a spine on Reginald’s back. “This is a whole week of firsts,” she observed.

“And it isn’t ending anytime soon,” Starlight said, levitating herself up next. She hugged a spine as well. “Let’s get moving!”

“Mister Reginald?” Fluttershy sweetly asked. “We’re ready to go now.”

Reginald slowly, ponderously crawled his way out of the massive cave, through the U-bend of the tunnel, and poked his head out into the open. The rest of his massive body soon followed.

“Hold on, little ponies,” Reginald cautioned. He pushed off the ground, flapping hard, and directed himself northeast. With powerful wingbeats, the dragon rose into the sky, and the five of them hurtled towards their destination.

The creature was small; no more than two feet in length. It could be called a dragon, but dragons were intelligent creatures capable of speech. This one was a dumb, crawling reptile more like a lizard, painted pale red to match the environment. It had four legs, a thin tail, no wings, and a triangular head.

All of a sudden it glowed blue, and it squirmed in fright as it was lifted into the air. Then a glowing blade passed through its neck, and the head went flying. The wound had been cauterized shut.

Noble Blade examined it, nodded, and turned around. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity were also poking around in the rocks. He tapped on the ground to get their attention, then held it up.

Noble felt something squirm in his chest just by looking at it. But they needed food, regardless of the animal’s feelings.

“I’m sure if we look some more, we’ll find some plants to eat,” Rarity encouraged halfheartedly.

“They’ll be tough and bitter,” Noble told her, settling the animal on a flatter rock so it wasn’t touching the ground.

“And the meat won’t be?” Pinkie remarked, zipping over and observing it with alert, wide blue eyes, as if it was about to jump up and run.

“I just don’t… feel right about eating meat,” Rarity carefully chose to say. “I’ve never done it before. It simply feels so… barbarous. It was once a living thing.”

“If we don’t eat it, we’ll end up becoming food for something else,” Noble said. “The food chain is cruel, but we must adapt to survive.”

“Well, if we do choose to feast on its flesh, how do you propose we cook it?” Rarity asked, giving the dead animal a wary, disgusted look. “If we build a fire, those cultists will spot the smoke!”

“How far away are they, Pinkie?” Applejack whispered.

Pinkie picked up two rocks, put them to her eyes, and adjusted them like binoculars. After squinting to the east, she reported, “A half mile.”

“They’ll have a hard time spotting us if we all just stay low. Thanks, Pink. I was beginning to wonder about that.”

“If they have seen us, they aren’t showing it,” Pinkie analyzed, adjusting the rocks some more. “All day, they’ve just been bickering.”

“They need some friendship in their lives,” Applejack observed.

“They’re moving again,” Pinkie announced to everyone else. “Let’s stay on the down-low.”

Applejack, Rarity, Noble, and Pinkie continued as they had all day. Their path had been east, the setting sun behind them. Being careful to not arouse suspicion from the enemy, they had remained undetected so far. But each of the ponies felt like they felt something was suspicious, which made each of them, especially Pinkie, jittery.

As it turned out, there happened to be a bubbling lava pool only a mile further along their path. Only three feet in diameter, it was illuminated red by the growing violet dusk in the sky. It was here that they decided to take a break and eat.

Rarity had elected to roast the meat herself. Her reasoning was, If we are going to eat this disgusting animal, we shall at least do it properly! She was about to set the meal over the heat, but was interrupted by Pinkie.

“The lava’s too hot,” Pinkie told her. “You want to put it over medium heat.”

“Well, as I’m sure you’re aware of, darling, I don’t exactly have a gas stove to adjust the heat.”

“All I’m saying is, you want to do this carefully.”

Rarity looked over her shoulder. Noble’s pale blue blade was in her hooves, the animal skewered on the end like a hot dog. “Pinkie, I appreciate the thought, but I believe I know how to go about roasting something, thank you very much. You hold it over a fire. What more is there to it?”

“Okay. Okay.” Pinkie surrendered with her hooves in the air. “But you’re going to burn it.”

Rarity gave her an annoyed glance, then held the blade very gently and very deliberately into the sweltering, shimmering heat rising above the lava pit. The animal on the end began to blister and scorch almost immediately. Before Rarity could turn it around, the thing caught fire, and Rarity shrieked and threw the sword to the side, the animal still flaming, but now with red dirt staining it.

As Rarity ran over and began to hurriedly stamp the fire out, Pinkie said, “Told you.”

Rarity finally put out the fire, gave an overdramatic sigh, and rolled her eyes. “Noble,” she complained. “Pinkie’s bullying me.”

“Pinkie, stop bullying Rarity,” Noble flatly said.

“No problemo!” Pinkie cheerfully promised, bouncing off. Rarity just picked up the sword, shook some dirt off, went over to Noble, and handed him his weapon.

“It’s…” Noble tried to say. He handled his sword from one hoof to the other uncomfortably.

“Burned, Noble. Th’ word is burned,” Applejack chimed in.

“I was going to use a less critical term,” Noble admitted.

“Oh, I admit, I messed it up!” Rarity exclaimed. “Do we still have to eat it?”

Noble set the pommel on the ground and slid the scorched animal off the blade. “It’s all we have.”

“Ah’ll try,” Applejack resigned at last. She beckoned, and Noble tore a leg off with a meaty, raw rip and put it in her hoof. Applejack tentatively brought it into her mouth and bit off a small part. As she chewed, her expression became distinctly exaggerated. The others were all examining her for any reaction.

Finally, she swallowed. “Well, uh…” She rubbed the side of her head. “I-Ah guess it’d be better if it was properly cooked.”

“Yes, no kidding,” Rarity mumbled. “Everything’s better if it’s properly cooked.”

“You sure you’re not about to die?” Pinkie cheerfully asked.

“Pretty sure,” Applejack admitted. “Unless Ah happen ta vomit uncontrollably in th’ next fifteen seconds.”

“Might as well partake,” Noble said, tearing off another part of the lizard and popping it into his own mouth.

Everyone tried some lizard. It was closer to raw than cooked, and the notion of eating meat was repulsive to everyone, but it was this or nothing. Or at least, until Pinkie snuggled on her back against a large boulder and began popping pebbles into her mouth. She crunched down on them nonchalantly, hummed contentedly, and swallowed the pieces without choking.

Upon seeing this, Noble Blade’s eyes bulged out of their sockets. Applejack gave her a side-look of bewilderment before just sighing and ignoring her, while Rarity cleared her throat. “Ah, darling? Forgive me, but… how on Faust’s good earth can you eat that?!”

“You’ve known Pinkie fer how long, exactly?” Applejack drawled, settling in for rest herself. “Jus’ roll with it.”

Pinkie, meanwhile, snorted back a bout of laughter. “Oh, you silly poo! I grew up on a rock farm! We had this stuff for days!” And she popped another handful of pebbles in like popcorn.

“Well, that still doesn’t explain how you-” Rarity started, before sighing in defeat and folding her arms.

Silence befell them all for a bit while Pinkie chomped on her meal, then Rarity finally spoke up again. “Those actually sound rather nice.” She indicated her jaw. “The whole crunch and all, it’s… a literal jawbreaker. How many hard candies have you eaten again?”

“How many dresses have you sewn in your entire life?” Pinkie replied, tossing a piece of pumice into her mouth like a grape.

Noble stood up and cleaned the dirt off his sword by giving it a magical pulse, and the dirt and crud accumulated thereon was expunged in a dusty shower, leaving a pure, pale blue blade. “I’ll take first watch tonight.”

“No offense, Noble,” Applejack reminded him while standing up, “but you kinda have a bad history with keeping watch at night.”

“Black Fang,” Noble realized, and nodded. “I see.”

“Get some rest, buckaroo,” Applejack instructed him, coming near him and punching him on the shoulder. They had left Pinkie and Rarity behind several meters back. “Ya had a long day. Ah’ll look out fer ya.”

Noble proffered his blade hilt-first. “If you need it…”

Applejack pushed it away, though. “Yer sweet, Noble, but Ah think you’ll need that more’n me. Ah don’t need no sword ta kill.” She stretched out her hind legs, one at a time. “B’sides, it’s all ya got left. Don’t let that leave yer side.”

“I just wanted to be… courteous, I suppose.”

“That thing is yours. Ah haven’t earned th’ right ta wield that bloodied Element, any more than you’ve any right ta wield mine. ‘Cause Ah know yer a terrible liar.”

Noble froze. “What do you…”

“Black Fang,” she said simply. “Ah tried ta avoid sayin’ anything about it b’fore, but we’re alone now. Ya didn’t come ‘cross Blueblood’s corpse. You made him that way.”

Noble swallowed something and set the sword down with a small clatter. “So what if I did? Killing Noxxa is one thing, but ponies… and we’re about to do it again, at the temple--”

“Ah really don’t mind,” she interrupted. “Good riddance ta him. But how does it feel?” she asked. “To have somepony else who knows the truth? Does it… free ya?”

Free? Usually, Noble associated finding out a lie as a dreadful exposure. But with someone like Applejack, Noble didn’t feel a weight in his chest. Quite the contrary, it was like a weight had been lifted from his chest with a balloon. If someone at least understood him...

“... Absolutely,” was his eventual answer. “Applejack, I’d rather not talk about it. All I’ll say, though, is… I let my false notions of societal honor fall that day, and I paid attention to real honor. My honor. My mission. My Goddess. This was the only way. I just… wasn’t used to that measure.”

“Ah imagine ya haven’t had a good rest since then,” Applejack voiced, giving her most confident grin. “Ta be honest, neither’ve I. But doggone it if we die b’cause you’re too groggy ta lift that big ol’ sword! Go on, git! Ah order ya!”

Noble huffed and smiled. “Whatever you say, Mistress of the Plains.”

“Aw, shucks,” she waved aside. “Applejack’s got less syllables.”

“Fine, fine,” Noble resigned, and turned around while bending down to pick up his blade. He paused, however, as he came back up. “You know… Country folk are easy to talk to. Much better than those I grew up with.”

“What’re ya gettin’ at?” Applejack inquired, narrowing her eyes.

Noble’s dark blue eyes were only recognizable by the light of his own sword. “I wish I’d known you longer. I’d want to be friends with you for those years since Twilight came into your life.”

Applejack’s expression softened in an instant. “Aw, Sugarcube, that’s mighty kind o’ ya. But we’ll have plenty o’ time when this is all over.”

Noble’s gaze was drawn away from the sunset in the west to the darkness in the east, where the fires of hell waited for them. “Yes,” he tentatively agreed. “When it’s finally over.”

Just as Rarity was about to fall asleep, an urge came over her. She stood up, cross all of a sudden, and fumbled for her Element. She and the other girls had taken them off to sleep. Grabbing it, she clasped it around her neck. She would never let it out of her sight.

“What I wouldn’t give for some toilet paper,” she grumbled as she trotted away from the camp.

The issue here was how to go about doing business in a discreet way. How would she dispose of the remains? She scanned the black fields before setting her eyes on the soft red glow of a lava pit.

It was insane. Rarity decided to try.

It made sizzling noises on impact.

At the end of it, Rarity swore to never try it again. It was the most perilous toilet ever.

As she trotted back, she heard commotion. Wary, she found a small boulder and pressed herself to its side. There were fleshy sounds of impact, and the tinkle of magic horns, and the yells of those involved were both familiar and unfamiliar. Rarity’s heart drummed, hurting her chest.

“Well, well, well,” the wheezy voice of Spindlestick squeezed out. “What have we here? A couple of trespassers and freeloaders!”

“A couple of Element Bearers,” came the dominating, luscious voice of Warcane, hungry and giddy. “Brimsto~one! I want to kill one so badly!”

“Not yet,” Brimstone ordered, deep and heavy. “I want information first. Goldie, how far away are we from Mount Nevermore?”

“N-not far, sir,” Goldie lisped.

“Good. Let’s take them where they want to go so badly. They’ll only get a good look at our dungeon, though.”

“Mmm,” Warcane moaned. “You hear that? I get to torture you all!”

“Just what I needed,” Noble Blade groggily said. “More torture.”

“You seem fun,” Warcane remarked. “I can’t wait to get started…”

“I can’t wait ta kick y’all to th’ curb!” Applejack spat out. “Once Ah git my Element back, I’ll-”

“You’ll what?” Brimstone asked politely. “Please, describe it. I haven’t had a good laugh today. I was stuck with Warcane all day.”

Pinkie Pie broke into giggles. “You’re funny, mister Brimstone! Sure, you’re a bad guy, but you’re at least funny!”

“I can’t help it. I don’t even try,” Brimstone acknowledged. “It’s the curse I have to bear.”

“Wanna hear a knock-knock joke?”

“Only if it’s the one where I knock-knock your head.”

Pinkie burst into uproarious laughter. “Oh, good one!”

“Devils!” Spindlestick ranted at Pinkie. “You and all the others! You put on this pretty facade, but you’re rotten inside!”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Noble replied. “It’ll comfort you on your way to hell.”

“You’re confident, I’ll give you that,” Warcane slithered. “I like you.”

“I’m taken.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“I’ve got a few certain words to describe you.”

“I want to hear you whisper them.”

“Gladly. The words I’m searching for, I can’t say in front of Pinkie. I’d like to keep her ears clean. The least of them’d probably be the word whore.”

Warcane gave a growl. “I like the way you push my patience. It’ll make the result sweeter.”

“Finally, something we agree on!” Applejack blurted out. “It’ll be satisfying ta watch ya die.”

“Enough from the animals,” Brimstone commanded. “Spindlestick, gag them.”

“With pleasure, sir,” Spindlestick quickly obeyed.

“Goldie, keep the Elements at hoof. They’ll be a welcome addition to the temple.”

“Of course, sir,” he stumbled out.

Rarity’s hoof was clutching the necklace around her neck. She couldn’t save any of them. But she could track them. As long as they were under the impression that they had captured all of them, she had no reason to intervene.

Rarity peeked over the rock. Four alicorn figures were trotting away without looking back at her. The one at the front held bundles of gold in his pack and had tied Noble’s tremendous blade to his back. Their quarries were enveloped in vivid orange magic, and were being floated along like party balloons. Noble Blade, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were frozen in the magic and gagged.

As Applejack’s frame slowly rotated, her eyes locked with Rarity’s.

Rarity winked, then made a shooing motion with her hoof. She was trying to say, I’m okay, and I won’t be far behind. Don’t worry.

That seemed to relieve Applejack, because her expression became noticeably less tense. The alicorns in the party paid no mind to anything else and began their trek home.

Rarity recalled something Noble Blade had said earlier. Now is the time to strike.

Rarity was no longer the hunted. She would now become her eternal name: the Huntress.

Chapter Eighty-two: Mount Nevermore

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Rarity was not far behind the alicorns. She always kept them barely visible in the distance. Rarity didn’t bother keeping track of how long she did this. It didn’t matter. She needed to get them back. But how? She was one pony, not even the best at fighting, and she was going up against four alicorns.

Rarity found it hard to remind herself that she was the one with the advantage here. They had no idea they were being followed, and they had no reason to anticipate an attack. Rarity’s job was to time the future attack perfectly and make herself prepared to face them.

Part of that job involved making herself hard to spot. Rarity inferred that meant bundling up her mane and getting dirty. Of course, she was apprehensive of such things, but the longer she tracked her friends, the more she began to not care. Tan dust had formed a thin coat on top of her skin, and she regarded the shade as normal. Her mane was stiff and oily, but Rarity didn’t feel it unless she absently ran a hoof through it. Not until she rubbed her arm and noticed that the spot she had rubbed looked more ivory-white than the rest of her did this even cross her mind.

Not even her filthy state, but rather, the implication of her apathy towards something she once treasured, gave her pause. As soon as she realized that, she had to halt and stow herself behind another boulder, taking deep breaths. It was nigh impossible, what she had to do.

For this to succeed, Rarity needed to discard her worldly attachments. Beauty could be found in the strangest of places, but Rarity first needed to detach herself from beauty to appreciate it.

But she took so much pride in it! Rarity found herself blinking back tears. Beauty was inseparable from her identity. Who was Rarity if not beautiful? Rarity couldn’t imagine herself as anything else.

But an overriding force within her made her teeth clench as she steeled herself. How many others had given up everything? Would Rarity throw their sacrifices away just to cling to her beauty and do nothing?

Never. Rarity whispered the word. Never.

That was a vital lesson. It seemed counterintuitive, but Rarity, who for so long had been generous and caring, needed to learn how to not care. Not care about her appearance, not care about her worldly values, and most of all, not care about what she had to do to bring about light.

Being principled wasn’t enough if it meant defeat. If her principles didn’t bring about success, it wasn’t a principle. It was suicide that would look nice on a gravestone.

But her principles made her better than her villains! What would be left of her if she threw them away? Rarity needed to keep caring. The world would be full of light if she was more caring. Perhaps she could resolve the conflict and no one had to get hurt.

Rarity drove the offending thought away and slammed her hoof on the ground. What was the matter with her? Didn’t she want to win? She couldn’t just win because she was correct. She needed to actually do something. No more screaming and running.

She would have to hunt. She would have to rescue. She would have to kill. If not, the world would be sent to an early judgement.

Rarity, already short on breath, heaved. Her throat burned. Everything seemed to conspire against her, even the land itself.

Another Rarity, a Rarity a month earlier, would have broken down and cried. But not her. The world was a tragedy. The foalnapping of her friends, however, was an outrage.

So Rarity did not cry, even though her throat was constricted. Rarity got mad.

She groaned through clenched teeth and struck the earth with a hoof. Her Element shone like a twinkling star, and beneath her hoof came a rumble. There emerged from the soil a glittering blue sapphire, no bigger than Gummy the alligator.

Rarity’s magic covered the uneven clump, and Rarity’s hoof clenched as her horn pulsed.

The clump of crystal flattened out as if made of honey. Then it stretched into a sharp cross.

Rarity’s eyes narrowed.

Brimstone knew it when he saw it. He didn’t need Goldie to tell him where to go anymore, and sure enough, Goldie was demure as soon as it had appeared in the distance.

Mount Nevermore was a mile-high slab of steep black stone; a proud monument in an otherwise empty landscape. Its top was exposed, pouring out smoke that colored the surrounding skies black, and the sun could not penetrate its thick blanket. Everything beneath the cloud was in an eternal shade, and the only light came from the fire the mountain produced.

It was alone in the desert except for two other mountains to either side, half as high and jagged, contrasting the smooth slope of Nevermore. These three mountains were surrounded by a moat of bubbling lava, and that in turn was surrounded by a small embankment of rock that they had to climb over.

It was everything. Landmark. Volcano. Fortress. Temple.

Home.

It made Brimstone tremble in the legs every time his eyes laid on its majesty. It meant so much to him and the other alicorns.

To access the mountain, he had to go through a pass carved up the mound of the volcanic embankment. Trying to access the mountain by air would result in suffocation. They reached this pass presently. Their long journey was almost at an end.

Goldie went first up the pass. He was colored as his name suggested, and his small mane was dull red, almost maroon. His gait was nervous and shuffling. He was followed by Brimstone himself--bold, pitch black, and firm in his strides. His eyes were a brilliant yellow, and his white mane was thin and braided.

Behind him were the two squabblers, Warcane and Spindlestick. Warcane was the color of blood, with thin lips and a perpetually creased face. She was bald, though some dirty pores remained around her horn. Finally, Spindlestick was knobbly-thin and the color of bleached bone. His teeth stuck out at odd angles, and he was a mouth-breather. His mane was mud-brown and had the same consistency. Both of these clashing personalities were in the middle of an argument.

“Spindlestick,” Warcane barked. “Give me the stallion. I want him.”

“ ‘snot yours,” Spindlestick replied. “I got him first.”

“You will give him to me,” Warcane lowly warned, “or you will find just how far your insides can stretch.”

“Brimstone!” Spindlestick cried.

The burly alicorn made a deep grumble. “You will have him, Warcane. But have patience.”

“I can do whatever I want!” Warcane asserted, whirling on him. “This is my stallion, and I will have him now!”

Brimstone’s hoof gripped Warcane’s horn and bent it towards the ground. Warcane shrieked briefly and scrabbled at the hoof.

“This is my mare,” Brimstone reminded her. “And I can do whatever I want. Get the picture?”

“Give him to me!” Warcane screamed.

“It’ll cost you your horn,” Brimstone told her. “Which is more valuable?”

Warcane trembled in his grip.

“I know how much you love your magic,” Brimstone told her. “It’s why you came here in the first place. What were you, an earth pony, if I remember correctly? Solaris gave you a gift. I can take it away. Get the picture?”

Warcane nodded, and Brimstone waited a second before releasing her. As she massaged her scalp, Brimstone pointed at her. “What kind of pony are you if you can’t handle not getting what you want immediately?”

Spindlestick snickered loudly and stuck out his tongue triumphantly.

Brimstone whirled on him immediately. “You are the most sickly, irredeemable, spineless coward I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. Forget becoming an alicorn, I’m surprised you can even cast a shadow. I could snap you in half with a sneeze, got it?”

Spindlestick, quickly humbled, nodded vicariously. His mane flopped as he did so.

“I don’t want to hear another word from you two until I return to High Priest Ajax,” Brimstone ordered. “He’s got enough to deal with as the new High Priest without you two, so I want you both out of sight and out of mind. If you can’t do it yourself, I will do it for you. Get the hint?”

They both nodded, afraid to speak.

Brimstone, satisfied, turned around and ruffled Goldie’s mane, pushing him. “You’re the only sensible one here, Goldie.”

His ears perked up. There was a clatter from the rocks up ahead. Thinking quickly, he levitated the mighty sword across Goldie’s back and brought it to his side.

“Sir?” Goldie asked, his eyes traveling from Brimstone to the rocks. A few pebbles were dislodging even as he spoke.

“It might be nothing,” Brimstone murmured, advancing. His eyes were locked on the source of the movement. “But we might have been followed.”

“I thought we got everypony,” Goldie mumbled, shrinking into his shoulders.

“Maybe,” Brimstone absently murmured, not paying attention to him. His eyes darted this way and that, and Brimstone thought he saw movement wherever he looked away. The sword beside him spun like a compass wherever he looked.

A rock tumbled across the ground by his hoof, and Brimstone jolted, swinging the mighty blade down to crash into it. Rock blew up into his face from the miniature detonation.

He heard Spindlestick snicker again. Brimstone ignored it.

He also heard a tinkle in his ears, like the ignition of a magic horn. Where was it coming from?

As he strained his ears and kept his eyes peeled, a few pebbles levitated off the ground in front of him. The magic was tinged blue.

Brimstone examined it. That was an unusual color in the Dragonlands. Who could it be?

And then came a horrid squish. Spindlestick erupted into cries of pain.

Brimstone whirled around. Emerging from Spindlestick’s torso was the stained tip of a brilliant blue blade. There was a newcomer to their little party holding the blade upright in his back, and she was coated in transparent white crystal from hoof to neck. Warcane, though not even ten feet away, wasn’t interfering. She was just watching in morbid fascination.

“Rarity!” came the synchronized cry of all the prisoners.

Goldie ducked to the ground, trembling with indecision. Spindlestick shrieked and knelt from the wound. His magic cut off, and Noble Blade dropped with a thud onto the black rock. He scooted away from the alicorns as Rarity pulled on the sword lodged in his side to make Spindlestick rise once more.

Rarity swiftly pulled the blade out and leveled it against his knobbly, protruding throat. Every inch of him was trembling as blood leaked out of his chest and down his pale leg. They were both standing upright, but Rarity had an easier time of it because her crystal armor supported her.

Brimstone pursed his lips. “Let me guess. This is the part where you hold him hostage and demand to release your friends.”

The mysterious Rarity paused to think. Spindlestick was still trembling, and a thin line of red existed on his throat where the sword was.

It didn’t take long for Rarity to respond. “No, actually.” She adjusted the bleeding alicorn. “I know ponies like you. You’d easily discard someone as disposable as him.” She put her lips to his ear. “Hear that? Your life is meaningless to them!”

Spindlestick’s wild eyes locked with Brimstone’s. “No! No, i-it isn’t! Tell her, Brim! I-I’m important! I’m in the herd!”

Brimstone, however, shook his head in amusement. “Clever girl. So what are you going to do about it?”

Spindlestick froze. “Wh-what? Brim! Brim, I matter! Right? I matter!”

But Brimstone bowed his head to avoid looking him in the eye.

“See?” Rarity whispered. “You dedicated your life for them.”

“Brim…” Spindlestick breathed, his lips flapping up and down as his face squeezed in despair. “Please…”

Brimstone, though, sighed. How would he argue with her? “I wish I could say the lass was wrong.”

“I don’t,” Warcane smugly admitted.

“No…” Spindlestick choked. Tears welled up, and his throat was blocked in fear and pain. “No! No, Brim! I love you! You and her and Goldie! I love you!”

Brimstone’s eyes narrowed in response. Warcane never stopped giving her sick smile. “We’ll find someone else,” Warcane told him.

Now the tears ran freely. “I thought…” was all he managed to stammer out before he gave loud hiccups mingled with his sobbing.

Rarity hoisted him up once more amidst his blubbering. “I didn’t come here to make deals with devil-worshippers. I came here to rescue my friends.”

Spindlestick’s feeble crying was cut short as Rarity jerked her hoof across his throat. The blue crystal was stained red with his blood. He slumped to the ground and did not move. Rarity did not give his body a second glance.

Rarity held the sword up, and her dirty, straightened purple mane blew behind her ears. “Fight me.”

Brimstone and Warcane did nothing. There was only a tense silence between them.

“Fight me!” Rarity screamed, swishing the sword and flinging blood. “And curse heaven as you die! You are nothing! You’re abominations to ponykind, locked away in your little basement! What can you do that I fear? I could kill you all, alicorn or not!”

Brimstone turned to Warcane. “She’s got spirit. She’d be a fine addition.”

“A shame she’ll be dead,” Warcane lamented, grinning wide.

“Don’t,” Brimstone ordered, throwing a hoof out. “We need to secure the prisoners first.”

“I think not,” Warcane spat. “You’re done keeping me locked up. I’m fighting this child now, and I’ll win!”

And Warcane hurled herself at Rarity, horn glowing bright orange.

Rarity swiped, but Warcane disappeared as the sword passed through her afterimage. She reappeared with a swish above Rarity, and fired with all her strength.

The crystal armor encasing Rarity glowed white as Rarity was thrown back with a tumble. Rarity wasted no time getting back up and charging up her own horn.

“Ooh, I’m scared,” Warcane mocked. “Gonna put on a pretty light show for us?”

Rarity fired a steady laser, which Warcane deftly avoided by dropping to the ground and sprinting. Rarity’s laser moved to track her, but Warcane just pressed herself to the ground, then pounced to the left and flew back up again before hurling in a spiral at Rarity again.

As her horn made contact, it pulsed with a fresh wave of magic, and the armor shattered. Rarity quickly gripped the horn that was now inches away from impaling her. Her sapphire sword clattered to the ground as she and Warcane rolled away.

Meanwhile, Noble Blade and Brimstone locked eyes. Noble’s sword was still inside Brimstone’s magic aura.

“Goldie,” Brimstone ordered, not looking away. “Take Pinkie for me.”

Goldie hesitantly obeyed, covering Pinkie in another layer of bubble. Brimstone cut off his magic and he was now free of her burden, now resting on Goldie, as everything usually did sooner or later. It was one thing he liked about the runt. He was dependable.

“I know what you must be thinking,” Brimstone murmured to Noble. “You hate us and we’re your enemy.”

“Oh. I guess you’d assume that,” Noble replied, starting to circle him. “But no.”

“Are you sure? Your friend over there was very vocal about it,” Brimstone remarked.

“Well, she’s right,” Noble said. “You are my enemy. But I don’t hate you. Was your last High Wizard Cookie Cutter?”

Brimstone’s eyes widened. “You killed him,” he breathed.

“Yes,” Noble admitted, toneless. “We did.”

Brimstone’s mouth turned into a snarl, which was the most emotion he had shown thus far. “You really are devils.”

“If that’s how you see us,” Noble allowed him. “But I understand why he was led into this path. I understand why you’re the way you are. You lacked something in your life, so you turned to Solaris for an answer. What was it? Did you lose somepony? Did you not know what your Cutie Mark meant? Maybe you wanted more than you were given.”

“It was my parents,” Brimstone answered. “Those bastards hated me. Said they didn’t want me.” Brimstone’s face twisted into primitive disgust. “So what will you do? Preach the good word of Faust to redeem me and expect me to sing the song of harmony?”

“I said I understand you,” Noble corrected, and a shadow came over his eyes. “That doesn’t mean I’ll have mercy. You know the words I would speak already, but you just won’t care. I suppose that makes you a child of hell.”

Brimstone sniffed. “Better them than my real parents. Faust would have me forgive them. But I can’t. The Children of Solaris don’t know Faust, and neither do you.”

Noble’s deep blue eyes narrowed in the shadow. “I followed you into your own land,” Noble told him, igniting his horn. “I have no conditions. You have sought to destroy us, and we’ve only defended ourselves. Now you will have to defend something. Blood for blood, and life for life, until you are destroyed from the face of the earth!”

Brimstone bellowed, echoed by the thunderous blast from his horn. It struck the hasty dome Noble had erected around himself and blew it apart. Noble stumbled from the force, but stood firm and fired back.

At the same time, Rarity had scrambled away from Warcane and was igniting her horn once more. Warcane’s magic, though, enveloped Rarity and picked her up. With a cruel laugh, she tossed Rarity across the length of the embankment, and she crashed and tumbled to a stop atop the sharp black rocks. Warcane flapped into the air and began to rain down laser fire, screeching laughs after her.

Rarity scrambled away while igniting her horn. Her magic levitated the sapphire sword off the ground and made it soar over to her. It soon got to work deflecting laser blasts that got too close for comfort.

Brimstone felt the ground tremble under his hooves, even as a torrent of flame poured from his horn after Noble Blade. Two eruptions came from the embankment near Rarity, and two somethings flew into the air. From the corner of his eye, they looked shiny and colorful. He was too busy focused on the fight in front of him, though, that he didn’t pay close attention.

Rarity’s magic was covering two massive clumps of jewel, which was an amethyst and emerald. Any magic that hit them ricocheted off and hit the embankment in explosions. With a twist of Rarity’s mind, however, the jewels took on a new shape. They first melted, then squashed and stretched into long crosses that slowly began to orbit Rarity telepathically. By the time their transformation was complete, Rarity was telepathically holding a green, blue, and purple sword in front of her, ready to strike.

Warcane continued her barrage of lasers. But the colored swords met each one and deflected them into the ground. Explosions ruptured all around Rarity. She was encased in a whirling sphere of green, blue, and purple that none of Warcane’s attacks could penetrate.

Warcane stopped her rapid-fire lasers, grunted in irritation, and built up a ball of orange energy on the tip of her blood-red horn. With a concussive eruption, the energy fired in a steady laser stream.

Rarity managed to catch the orange laser on the flat of her blue blade. The glows from the opposite colors flashing on either side of her face made her look truly devilish, and Rarity’s eyes were barely open to see what she would do next.

Warcane gleefully swiveled the destructive laser around, but the blue sword kept up wherever it went. Then the blade bent up. The laser rose up and shot past Warcane’s ear. She cringed; that had been too close. But there came another clang as one of Rarity’s swords intercepted the ricocheted laser behind her-

Warcane swiveled her head and cut off the magic just in time to see the twice-deflected laser blast singe past her snout. Then came a third and final clang as Rarity’s final blade soared up and batted the laser back once more at Warcane, and this time Warcane could not evade. It struck her in her red chest, and she hurtled to the earth and impacted like a meteor.

Brimstone had seen this out of the corner of his eye. He and Noble Blade had been in the middle of a fierce exchange of magical blasts and spells, keeping one from helping the other. Spells impacted against shields, rattling whoever was inside. Neither one could move without getting exposed.

But even as this was happening, there was another battle between them. The blue sword, encased in both Brimstone’s and Noble’s aura, was levitating between them, and it was pointing and slowly dragging to Noble Blade. In the insignificant seconds between magic blasts, one would try to wrestle control of the sword. It would list one way or another, and it didn’t seem like it would deescalate anytime soon.

Warcane, lying on her back, wearily looked up. Rarity was approaching, colored swords orbiting her. There was something off about her, though. To Warcane, it seemed like even in this desolate, dreary land, under the shadow of a volcano, Rarity’s pearly-white coat shone like a star. Her violet mane, though unstyled and dirty, was still tucked away in straight locks and was as rich as pressed wine. The three colors encircling her only emphasized her coloration instead of distracting from it.

It was enough to make Warcane pause. She looked extremely frustrated about something, even as she got to her hooves. “Even posturing with a weapon, you still try to look beautiful,” Warcane derivatively noted.

“You think this is me trying?” Rarity asked as the blades hovered in place. “I just am who I am.”

“Look at you,” Warcane sneered. “I know mares like you. All prideful and stuck-up and hoity-toity, trying to be beautiful to appease your stallion masters. You’re the worst breed of animal out there!”

“Perhaps you’ve never heard of me,” Rarity replied, her anger growing. “I am the Element of Generosity. I have given away more than you will ever take for yourself. And I do not fear you, because mares like you are no more than the dust at my hooves!”

Warcane let out an animalistic snarl and clenched at where her mane would be, shaking with fury. “You’re everything that’s wrong with the world!” Warcane shrieked. “You’re just as evil as the rest of them, and you can’t even see it! Everypony cares about standards! But there should be no standards! Everypony is beautiful--except for those that try to be! I spit at your laws!” She spat and continued to rant, more spittle flying from her mouth. “You’re not any better than me! We’re all equal! We’re all the same! You and I are--gah! I know the truth, and you--you’re nothing, you puppet! Never sell yourself out to meet their standards, Rarity!"

"Finally, something you and I agree on!" Rarity yelled. "But there's a difference between you and me. I set my own standards. You couldn't even compete with the world's! So you made yourself as hideous as possible to show you rejected it! You cared so much about the world that you lost it!"

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT WHAT THE WORLD THINKS!” Warcane bellowed, throwing her arms to the side.

“I don’t care about the world either! So why am I still beautiful and you aren’t?”

Warcane screamed like a wounded animal and landed with enough force to tremble the earth. “I WILL RIP YOUR HEART OUT, YOU SLAVE!” she shrieked, growing hoarse near the end. With a puff of her wings, she shot like an arrow at Rarity.

“I think I know why,” Rarity said, answering her own question. Her swords buzzed as they spun.

Warcane was slashed across the cheek, arm, and chest, and she spun as she was thrown back onto the rock.

“Because I have standards!” Rarity answered, levitating the swords up once more to strike. “And you have none!”

Warcane, lying prostrate on the ground, groaned out, “I know…” Her head slowly lifted up to regard Rarity, and incredibly, she was grinning. “Which is why…” Her horn ignited. “I win!”

Rarity was lifted up. Startled, she tried to attack with her swords once more, but Warcane slammed her into the rock and dragged her face-down in a circle around her. The swords clattered to the earth.

When Rarity raised her head at the end, red gashes had opened on her forehead and cheeks, dirty with speckles of rock. Rarity screamed and fired a thin laser stream, but Warcane evaded easily enough and rammed into her. They tumbled to the ground once more.

“I could have overpowered you easily,” Warcane seethed, holding her hooves down and grinning at Rarity’s anguished expression. Her teeth had been artificially sharpened to a point. “I haven’t let go of Applejack all this time, remember? I just like doing things personally. Guess that earth pony disposition never really went away.”

Her mouth lunged for Rarity’s neck and began to gnaw. Skin was punctured and blood began to flow. Rarity screamed and wiggled, but Warcane was latched on like a leech.

The only thing that came to mind was to lunge her head at Warcane’s scalp. Her horn scraped across her exposed head and made her bleed, and Warcane pulled back instinctually. Blood was oozing out, only slightly darker than her coat color.

Warcane hissed from the pain, but did not relinquish a hoof to examine her wound. So a thin stream came down her eye and ran on the side of her snout. “You’re tough,” she noted. “A fallen angel from Canterlot, like Solaris fell from heaven. I think I changed my mind. You could be on our side if you wanted.”

“Not if it means looking like you,” Rarity retorted, and spat in her face.

Warcane flinched, but licked the spittle off her lips. “Mmm… You know, I’d even consider letting you into our little herd. You just took care of our most annoying member, so a spot’s open.”

“I would rather die,” Rarity breathed, face contorted into one of utmost loathing.

“I can arrange that,” Warcane hissed back, giving another toothy smile. “But first, I want to know what I’d be missing out on!”

The struggle over the sword--no, the Element--was as futile as ever. Brimstone tugged and fired at the proper intervals, but he still could not get Noble to relinquish his own efforts. It obviously meant a lot to him.

Both had been going for quite a while with little variation in their attacks. But only one had the resilience and perseverance of an alicorn, and when Brimstone saw Noble stumble after one particularly violent struggle, going a full second without activating his horn for offense or defense, he decided that was the moment.

He lunged. Noble was still reeling, and he couldn’t prevent himself from being knocked down. Brimstone ended up with his hoof on his pale blue chest. Noble’s own sword was hovering above his head, ready to strike down and end him.

“Blood for blood,” Brimstone murmured, and coughed from the effort to speak. Noble had given as good as he had got. “I never thought it would be so easy to defeat an Element bearer.”

“So why hesitate?” Noble wheezed.

Brimstone paused. Why? There was something keeping him from ending his life. Some reason, somewhere.

It came as a whisper as his chest squeezed. Almost like it came from his own thoughts. Noble Blade was still of use to him.

And strangely, it made sense. After all, if he killed Noble Blade here, Applejack and Pinkie would refuse to answer their questions. If he wanted them to reveal where the other Element bearers were, and when they were coming, he would need Noble alive so he could threaten him with death unless Pinkie and Applejack spilled the beans. Besides, the Elements were only good as a complete set. What if they needed to use the Elements to awaken Solaris?

Brimstone wanted context and the benefit of the doubt. He wasn’t going to make a choice he would later regret.

And it wasn’t a choice at all. They needed to secure their prisoners! And if they wanted Noble and Rarity alive as leverage over Applejack and Pinkie, it’d be better to lure them into Nevermore and trap them!

“Disengage!” Brimstone ordered, and leveled Noble’s sword in his magic. “Fall back to the mountain!”

“But Brim!” Warcane protested, on top of Rarity. “We’re winning!”

“FALL BACK!” he bellowed with all the fury of his soul, tearing at his throat.

Warcane cringed at his tone, but promptly obeyed. She flapped off Rarity and began to ascend, taking Applejack with her like a balloon. Behind him, Goldie sheepishly rose into the air as well.

As he flapped into the air, Brimstone immediately counted himself lucky he had given Pinkie to Goldie; he wasn’t sure he could both fly and hold onto her. His very horn felt like it was bleeding. Noble Blade had been merciless.

He spared a glance at him, growing ever smaller as he flew. He and Rarity stood out against the dark embankment, but he could still barely see the look on Noble’s face. It was one of curiosity.

Neither unicorn was at enough strength to fire upon the retreating alicorns. And even if they were, they would have shot back anyway. So Rarity and Noble just watched as their two friends disappeared with their captors into the fumes surrounding the mountain in front of them.

Both unicorns were breathing hard, with shuddering gasps. The ground beneath them swayed, and every so often, one of their legs would straighten to keep them from stumbling.

“I’ll kill her,” Rarity eventually breathed.

Noble regarded her. “Warcane?”

“Who else do you think was the mare in their posse?” Rarity snapped. “It was hard to tell that, though, I admit. She’s a devil, not a lady, and she’ll burn in both this life and the next.”

Noble blinked in concern. “What happened?”

Rarity gave a defeated scream and stamped on the volcanic rock. “She revels in her sins, Noble! There’s not an ounce of shame in her. And not a trace of mercy either.”

“Then we will not give it to her,” Noble said. “One thing I learned from Black Fang is… it’s better for the wicked to die than for righteousness to perish. We know what we fight for is right. There’s no shame in protecting it.”

“Especially if they aren’t even ponies at all,” Rarity darkly murmured. “They were animals that happened to look like us.”

Noble wisely didn’t say anything in response. Instead, he squinted into the distance. “They had the advantage.”

“They want us to follow them into the mountain,” Rarity observed.

“It’s a trap,” Noble completed. “And they want us alive.”

“What for?” Rarity asked.

“Beats me,” Noble admitted. “I don’t think it ultimately matters as long as we fail to deliver, though.”

“What are you suggesting?” Rarity asked, looking suspicious.

“We play along. Spring their trap. They likely know that we know it’s a trap, but they’ll count on our arrogance and devotion to duty to play along and triumph nonetheless.”

“And we will, won’t we?”

“Oh, of course. We just have to make it look like we won’t, and then do it regardless.”

“What if they know that we know they know... we know... it’s a trap?” Rarity asked, making sure the sentence was correct. Upon seeing Noble’s face in response, however, she sighed. “Never mind.”

“We can do anything, Rarity. We have Faust.”

“But you don’t have your Element,” Rarity pointed out.

“Then that’s the first order of business.” Noble Blade began to navigate down the slope of the embankment. “Let’s just make it down here for starters.”

After a pause, Rarity followed.

The trip was mostly quiet. It was hard to hear anything a pony would say over the roaring wind anyway. As the dragon carried them to Mount Nevermore, Fluttershy felt her excitement at meeting Reginald again melt away, and it was replaced by a sinking feeling of dread.

She hadn’t prepared for any of what happened on her journey, but this felt like the culmination of her resolution. Here, if she did not push, she would break. What would be in store? How much would she give? And what would be left of her once it was all over?

She felt so utterly alone. Tempest, Firestorm, and Starlight had a much better connection between the three of them than with her. Fluttershy could have been so much better with Rainbow, or Rarity, or Noble Blade. She felt like the odd one out.

The reminder came in force: of course she was needed! She was the fourth wheel, after all, and she had tamed this wild dragon. But even with the conditioning that having friends gave her, Fluttershy was dubious about her ability to make a difference. It was just ingrained into her brain. For all her life, she had mostly been a quivering, doe-eyed hindrance. What could Fluttershy do that another couldn’t?

To pass the time and get her mind off those dark thoughts, she stared into the cracks between the dragon’s scales and imagined them as canyon walls. If nothing else, it avoided her gaze drifting over the edge and staring all the way down to the distant ground below. It made her freeze up the few times it had happened on their flight.

But not even several minutes later, her stomach floated as the dragon dipped, and she clung to one of his protruding spines and let out a short scream as he descended. Looking ahead, she saw why. A plume of smoke was blacking out the sun and the sky from a monolithic volcano in the distance.

Fluttershy didn’t need anypony to tell her what it was. Her stomach sank once again.

Reginald flew closer and closer, and Fluttershy’s anxiety heightened as the volcano grew. What if the cultists spotted him and shot them down?

But a part of Fluttershy reasoned that since Reginald had been anxious of the mountain himself, he would only take them so far as it was safe. She needed to trust Reggie the same way he had trusted them.

Several yards before an embankment surrounding a lava lake that encircled the volcano, Reggie finally landed and squished to the ground. Fluttershy slid off first and hit the soil. It was crumbly and black and stained her hooves the same color. She heard the impacts of Firestorm, Tempest, and Starlight hitting the ground as well, and she turned to the dragon. Reginald was as demure as ever, quivering under the shadow of Mount Nevermore.

“Thank you so much for your help,” Fluttershy said, and she didn’t have to fake her generosity. “We couldn’t have gotten here without you.”

Reggie’s head squished into his body and nodded.

“Five-star flight,” Firestorm complimented him. “Did you have any little bags of peanuts?”

Reggie shook his head no.

“Four stars,” Firestorm immediately said.

Reggie looked downcast.

“He’s being mean,” Fluttershy gently jabbed. “You were wonderful, Reggie.”

“Yeah, we’re lucky we found you,” Starlight added.

Reggie perked up, smiling quietly.

“Do you know where the Dragon Lord would be staying?” Tempest asked all of a sudden.

Reginald took a moment before responding. “I... went to his throne a few times…”

“Perfect,” Tempest said. “We have another task for you. Could you go to the throne and tell whoever’s available that the Elements of Harmony are at Mount Nevermore?”

“Especially if other ponies like us are there,” Firestorm added. “We need to mobilize and converge on the mountain.”

Reggie nodded faintly. “O-okay. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Go quickly,” Starlight urged. “I don’t know how much time we’ll have.”

Reginald’s face was alive with concern. He turned to Fluttershy for guidance.

“We can handle things from here,” Fluttershy assured him. “Thank you for taking us this far. But please, help us destroy this place once and for all. Tell them they need to come.”

Reggie, after a moment, nodded. “I’ll do it.”

“Yay!” she whispered, hugging the tip of his snout. “I’m so happy to see you again, you know that?”

Reggie made a wet sound in his throat. “Me too.”

Fluttershy broke away from the hug and tapped him on the nose. “You go on, now. We’re all counting on you.”

Raggie spent just a few more seconds looking at her. His gaze lingered on the others after her. Then his long neck turned away as his wings flapped up. He pushed off the ground, rose into the air, and began to fly westward.

“He’s a good creature,” Firestorm commented as he dimmed in the distance. “I wish he didn’t have to get involved.”

“That’s the responsibility of good creatures, Firestorm,” Tempest reminded him. “Victory can’t happen any other way.”

“Let’s go,” Starlight urged, curling a hoof. “He’s giving us a chance to succeed.”

Firestorm mussed his dirtied tri-colored mane and followed. Tempest let out a long exhale, then came behind him as well, leaving Fluttershy standing there staring off where Reginald had left. Once she could no longer see his speck, she turned around and trotted to catch up with them.

The embankment wasn’t a challenge to climb over. Once they crossed it, they came to the edge of the lava river. It bubbled and stretched like molasses in the trench cut around the mountain. This close to the fire, it was hot enough to crisp the edges of Fluttershy’s messy mane.

“How are we going to do this?” Firestorm proposed. “I could try and stop the lava flow in its tracks and let you walk on dry ground. I’m sure I can control fire to some extent-”

“Or we could just fly,” Tempest said.

“Or that,” Firestorm acknowledged. “I just... wanted to see if I could do something cool.”

“You’re already cool,” Fluttershy assured him, touching his shoulder. “You don’t need to prove it to us.”

“This isn’t about you guys,” Firestorm told Fluttershy. “Look, I… want to know if I’m not selling myself short. Nothing you say will make a difference.”

“You think that’s going to stop her?” Tempest remarked. “Nothing you say will make a difference.”

Firestorm sighed. “Fine. Let’s just fly.”

Fluttershy, true to Tempest’s words, didn’t stop worrying about him. He had grown progressively short-tempered and reclusive ever since the start of their journey. Where was the pony who wanted to make everypony smile? Where was the stallion who wanted to have fun, whose every word was enough to make somepony laugh?

The sullen Firestorm carried Tempest across the river. Starlight used her magic to float across, and Fluttershy glided over. Once they were together again, they headed for the looming tower of stone, ascending into the dark heavens forever.

The four of them spread out, trying to search for an entrance. Fluttershy put her hooves on the black slope of Mount Nevermore, looking straight up. It seemed to stretch without end, meshing seamlessly into the dark clouds spewing out of its open mouth. A rumble seemed to emanate beneath her hooves from the active volcano.

Trembling imperceptibly, Fluttershy tried to get her mind back to the job at hoof. But her muscles felt sore from her overwhelming fear. She was so insignificant and small. Fluttershy wanted to do nothing more than curl into a ball. Under a blanket. Preferably, Noble would be there as well. They’d be in bed, and it’d be warm in the early morning.

Fluttershy paused her search for a moment to expound on the fantasy. Perhaps thinking about the details would be enough to take her mind off her fear.

It’d be 8:00 AM, when their bodies would be heavy from sleep. Her pet birds would be chattering outside the window, where the soft morning sun would filter through the dusty glass. The blankets would be thick but puffy, and the mattress firm but giving way easily. She’d be curled up as the little spoon to him, his arm over her shoulder, twirling her mane. She’d hear his little huffs of breath against her neck, ‘cause he’d still be dozing, the sleepyhead! He’d smell like sweat and steel, and the spice of what they ate last night for dinner. Fluttershy wouldn’t be able to move, but she wouldn’t want to, either. It’d be warm and soft, and safe and sweet. Nothing could be better.

Then her hoof slipped as some igneous rock gave way, and Fluttershy tumbled out of her green-tinged fantasy into the bleak, black reality she was now in. It was hot, but blistering hot from liquid fire. Everything was rough and rocky, and the opening she was looking for would plunge her into the heart of this living Tartarus. Fluttershy swung her head from side to side in desperation, breathing hard. Every breath was contaminated, and the air was blasted with smoky poison. Everything was designed to hurt and destroy.

Fluttershy felt betrayed by the fantasies she had. It hurt more now that it was once there, but ripped away. Was this a cruel trap by Solaris to destroy her hope? Because it was working. Fluttershy didn’t want to hope for something better anymore. It would only seem more unlikely to happen.

“I found something!” Starlight Glimmer’s voice rang out. “Come on!”

Fluttershy, for an instant, considered what would happen if she chose not to go. She wouldn’t have to enter.

But she had gotten this far already. How much further could she push herself into hell? And what awaited her beyond that hell?

So, despite her inward protests, she trotted, weighed down by despair, to her friends.

As she predicted, Fluttershy was the last one to arrive. Firestorm and Tempest were milling around while Starlight was indicating a smooth spot on the slope.

“There’s a tunnel behind two feet of rock right here,” Starlight reported. “If we were to cut through, we could emerge from the wall. There should be nopony around right now. Firestorm, if you would...”

Firestorm’s hoof went across his back, drew a sword, and ignited it into brilliant flame. Trotting over, he raised the sword and plunged it into the rock face, down to the hilt. He began to drag it in a circle big enough for them to fit through, and wherever the sword went, it left a trail of glowing orange.

Tempest knocked Fluttershy on the shoulder, and Fluttershy almost stumbled. “You good?” Tempest wondered.

Fluttershy couldn’t say anything. She just nodded, staring at the ground.

Tempest made a disapproving hum. “I thought Element bearers were more honest than that,” she whispered to her.

Fluttershy couldn’t respond to that. Not in any way that mattered.

“Pull yourself together,” Tempest urged. “Don’t you want to live? That’s the only way you’ll get to see your beloved.”

Fluttershy’s eyes briefly met Tempest’s, then flickered away again.

With nothing else to go on, Tempest fell silent too.

Finally, after Firestorm failed to connect the circle and exasperatedly made a diagonal slash through the ends to connect them, Starlight coated it with her magic and slid the plug out. As soon as the opening was exposed, it sent a rush of air out that hit them and made them stagger. It was somehow even hotter than it was outside. And it carried the smell of metal, smoke, and blood.

Fluttershy’s legs were sent quivering all over again. Her heartbeat slammed against her flesh. She wouldn’t last in there!

“Well then,” Firestorm said, gesturing with his weapon. “In we go.”

He clambered in first. Tempest gave Fluttershy a little nudge, and she found herself slowly walking, dragging her hooves, into the temple. There was very little emotion behind it. Fluttershy just needed to make sure it happened.

Tempest was right behind her. The last one to enter was Starlight. As she fell in with the others, her magic activated once more. The cut rock levitated into the air and slowly slid its way back into place, like a peg into its proper hole. The dim light outside became thinner and thinner lines as the plug slid back in, and finally, with a crack, the last of the light died out, and the four little ponies were plunged into darkness.

It only lasted for a brief second before Firestorm’s sword snapped to life once more, painting them all orange from the flickering light.

“Keep it down!” Tempest hissed, pushing his sword arm down. “We need to let our eyes adjust. If anypony sees you with a flaming sword, we’re caught for sure!”

“Sorry,” Firestorm grouchily said before defusing his sword and sliding it back into its sheath. “Just trying to help.”

Once more, darkness prevailed over them all. Fluttershy blinked hard and focused on something nearby to help her eyes adjust quicker. Firestorm’s dark orange coat seemed to do the trick.

“We need to move,” Starlight whispered. “This temple is occupied. We need a place to hide.”

They all began to move as one body. Fluttershy suddenly had to rely on her senses of hearing and touch to keep up. Starlight was behind her, and Tempest in front, and Firestorm to the side, but Fluttershy felt like she had to keep up anyway. Her steps were small and hesitant.

There was a soft crimson haze to the darkness. The sound her hooves made sounded like she was on a metal catwalk. Clink, clink, clink. Her eyes drifted to the walls. There was a gentle red lantern spaced out every now and then. She passed one. Then, twenty seconds later, another. The walls were lined with steel plating, bolted into the rock. The hall was hexagonal, and no more than a few feet wide.

They were going up. It was a gradual rise. Fluttershy’s heart was working overtime, but the heightened adrenaline was useless without something to do, and she found herself trembling with anticipation.

The hallway eventually ended and opened up into a chamber that made her heart jolt. The others gave soft gasps as well.

The entire volcano was hollow, like a pitted peach. The chamber was like the cave of the Rolk under Maretania, only impossibly bigger, stretching up as far as the eye could see. It was chiseled out by hoof.

Dominating the open space was a tremendous metal cylinder embedded in the middle of the huge chamber, which was at least as wide as the radius of the cave. The cylinder stretched up as far as the eye could see. It was like a tree from ancient legends; complete with both roots, in the form of small, thin pipes connecting it at the base to the ground far below; and branches, as catwalks, buttresses, and bigger pipes extended out from upper levels into the walls of the cave.

But the Tree (Fluttershy decided to call it that) wasn’t the only piece of machinery inside. Whirring, steaming, whistling, and creaking metal contraptions were operating everywhere--on the walls, on the ground, and even on the Tree. They were all attended to by moving figures, which were too small to see. The fires of industry blazed amidst the squeaking of wheels and the clanking of hammers. Everything was in a red haze, but Fluttershy couldn’t see where the light came from.

The other ponies drank in the sight. It was terrifying to behold. The back of Fluttershy’s joints grew weaker the longer she looked at it.

“All right,” Firestorm whispered darkly, stepping out of the tunnel mouth and onto a metal platform in front of them. Ten hollow metal barrels were in a pyramid in the corner. “We’re destroying it.”

“Hold on!” Starlight urged him, throwing out a hoof. “Only after I find my Element.”

“Yeah, it’d be a bit hard if this place is falling apart,” Tempest observed.

Firestorm let out an exhale through his nose. “Then I’ll help you find it, Starlight. Tempest, Fluttershy, we need a diversion.”

“This isn’t still because you want to prove yourself?” Tempest shrewdly asked.

“Of course not,” Firestorm was quick to say. “I just want this to be over with.”

“We all do,” Fluttershy spoke up. Some more than others.

“But I’m the best at fighting,” Firestorm protested. “That isn’t an opinion; it’s just the truth. If Starlight wants the best chance at getting safely to that Element, I’m your guy.”

Starlight’s eyes couldn’t meet Firestorm’s. Fluttershy had a sneaking suspicion grab hold of her.

“You need to stay with Fluttershy,” Tempest disagreed. “You’re the best chance of protecting her. I’ll go with Starlight instead.”

“Wait a minute!” Firestorm protested.

“What?” Tempest dared, fixing him with a look as cold and hard as stone. “Spit it out.”

Firestorm didn’t. Instead, he stared back.

“Don’t be so eager to destroy, Firestorm,” Starlight advised warily. “We need to be composed right now.”

“Why shouldn’t I hold back right now?” Firestorm almost shouted. He hissed in surprise and lowered his tone as he gestured over his shoulder, growing more angry the more he talked. “These ponies don’t deserve that from me. Why shouldn’t I be so eager to destroy this evil?”

“We just want you to have patience,” Starlight assured him. “And trust us to carry it out. Tempest, I’d love to have you along.”

“But-” Firestorm started, but his ears perked up. “Into the tunnel!”

He shot in and hid close to the ground, and the others followed except for Fluttershy, who only registered what had happened after it was over. Suddenly fearful, she instead dove into one of the hollow barrels in the corner.

It was cramped and dirty inside the barrel. But it was big enough to hide her entire frame. She didn’t dare look up as she heard the flapping of wings.

Three sets of hooves alighted upon the metal platform with clinks. If there was any indication they had even seen her, none of them did anything about it.

“I’m tired,” one of them complained, sounding prepubescent. “And I didn’t even do anything all day.”

“It’s this stupid heat,” another one said, decidedly female. “Makes you drowsy.”

“What were you thinking, doing nothing?” the final voice said, deep and baritone. “We’re supposed to be getting everything ready for the ceremony!”

“That’s not my job,” the prepubescent protested. “It’s for the slaves to worry about.”

“You need to make sure it gets done, ” the baritone ordered. “Your dad just came in with two new ones, so I don’t want any excuses.”

“Wasn’t there a commotion earlier?” the female wondered. “I literally heard a few, like, booms and explosions outside. Did they give him trouble?”

“I’m sure Brimstone had it under control,” the baritone assured her.

“I don’t know,” the prepubescent said. “I don’t think these prisoners are going to be used for maintenance. Dad talked to me earlier and he told me a secret.”

After a second, the baritone irritably said, “Well? Aren’t you going to say it?”

“Bedrock literally just wants the attention,” the female drawled. “Well, he’s got it. Now we all think he’s an idiot.”

“I’m not!” Bedrock immediately protested.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” the baritone said. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it can wait. Take three of those barrels to resupply the refinery station, would you?”

“Why can’t you get one of the dragons to do it?”

“Because you’re here right now, because you need the experience, and because I’ll pummel you if you don’t.”

Bedrock huffed, but ignited his horn. Fluttershy heard two hollow barrels rise off the ground to either side. Then she felt her own barrel float up as well.

Startled, Fluttershy’s arms shot out to either side of the barrel for stability. Her wild eyes looked out of the open end. She couldn’t leave! Not now!

As she heard the beat of Bedrock’s wings flapping away, Fluttershy trailed behind him. Fluttershy could do nothing. She was a bug in a jar. Her heart pounded as hard as ever, and she was on the verge of hyperventilating.

Fluttershy wanted to call out for help. But she knew that for now, there was nothing her friends could do.

As Fluttershy was carried away in the barrel, Firestorm’s silent fury reached entirely new levels. It was absolutely unacceptable!

The stallion and mare, both dark-skinned alicorns, turned to each other once Bedrock was gone. “Now that he’s gone…” the stallion implied.

“Feel free,” the mare allowed with a smug grin.

He took her hoof and led her into the corridor leading out. He then pinned her against the side of the metal wall and leaned in to give her a very intense kiss. Both their eyes were closed. And they had no reason to suspect that there were other ponies in the hall.

Only three feet behind them both was Firestorm, rising from the dark floor like a spirit. He practically tore out a sword from across his back. Firestorm lunged.

Both alicorns opened their eyes in shock as they became impaled on the same blade. It slid through their upper chests, barely resisted by their bones.

Firestorm narrowed his eyes. “No.”

He pushed it further in at a new angle and ignited the blade. Fire coursed up the blade and into their chests, mingling with their dripping blood. Expiring sighs came from both of them as they toppled over, sliding off the blade and hitting the metal hallway with clanks. They looked like they were sleeping on top of each other, if it weren’t for the burned holes in their chests and the pools of blood growing beneath them.

Firestorm allowed the sword to burn a little more to clean it from residue. “Glad Fluttershy wasn’t around to see that,” he noted darkly.

Starlight was staring at the dead alicorn bodies, a hoof to her mouth and her other front hoof trembling. Tempest, however, simply said, “This changes things.”

“No kidding,” Firestorm replied. He looked over his shoulder into the red cavern. “I could still catch up to Fluttershy.”

“You’d expose yourself,” Tempest refused. “And you and Fluttershy would both die unless you destroyed the entire cavern. You don’t want that to happen, do you?”

“No,” Firestorm admitted quietly.

“I’ll take Starlight to the Element,” Tempest said. “You try and find out who else that Brimstone guy captured. There’s only one kind of prisoner that could cause them trouble. Other Element Bearers are in here!”

Firestorm nodded quickly. “Where would they be?”

“I don’t think they’d throw them directly into here,” Tempest rationalized, her eyes scanning the cavern. “I think they’d have a process to get them ready for service. Especially Element Bearers. They’d probably have something special in mind. Where could they keep prisoners?”

“They could be in one of the other two mountains!” Firestorm realized.

“Start there,” Tempest encouraged. “Leave Fluttershy for the moment. She’s strong. She can handle herself. If you free the other Element Bearers, you can save everypony.” She reached into her armor and pulled out Rainbow Dash’s Element. “I kinda wanted to see if this would amplify my lightning,” she admitted. “But Rainbow needs it more. Give it to her if you see her.”

Firestorm took it and clasped it around his neck, right above his own Element. After securing it, he looked up. “So… assuming we don’t see each other again…”

“Don’t act like that,” Tempest told her.

“I just wanted to say sorry.” His gaze fell to the floor. “For breaking your nose the first time we met.”

“No, no, that’s understandable,” Tempest was quick to say.

“I didn’t know how much we’d need to be together since then,” Firestorm said. “And… look. You’re a good pony. You don’t deserve to be involved in any of this. None of you guys do. I want you to live. I’d do anything. So… good luck. I hope you’ll keep her safe.”

“Why are you saying this?” Tempest asked, although judging from her body language, she already knew the answer. Firestorm decided to answer anyway.

“Because I’m not sure what’ll happen. If either of us decide to give ourselves up entirely, I’d want us to remember each other.”

“You can remember it when we’re sitting around a table together in Ponyville,” Tempest said. “But… thanks. I’ve never been told that before. Feels weird”

“Friendship is magic,” Firestorm said, shrugging. “You’ll get used to it.”

Silence fell between them. Starlight and Tempest regarded Firestorm one last time, absorbing his image.

“Goodbye,” Firestorm murmured. “I’ll… meet you when we’re done.”

He spread his wings, bent his knees, turned his head around one last time, then looked ahead and shot into the dark tunnel, leaving Starlight and Tempest Shadow on the edge of the cavern, two steps away from hell.

Chapter Eighty-three: Devils

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Twilight started to recognize it. The ground gradually merged from sand and jagged igneous black rock into interlocking hexagonal basalt columns, looking for all the world like tiles on the ground of a church. They were getting close to the throne, although Garble’s estimate of a few hours turned out to be longer than she expected--after they had to stop for the night.

Twilight almost wanted to take over navigation at that point. But she kept herself in check. She didn’t want to uproot Garble’s responsibility. He even seemed to be getting along with them better. Yesterday, after the incident at the hot springs, Garble and Spike didn’t fight at all. In fact, there was even some strained words as they went to sleep. Twilight didn’t hear all of it, but she did hear Ember’s name fall from both their mouths before she laid down next to Freedom Fighter for the night.

She gave a discreet glance to the side. He was entirely uncovered by anything resembling his original black suit. There was only a scrap on his flanks to hold his folded staves when not in use, allowing the rest of his golden coat to shine in the rising sun. Twilight had hoped she’d be able to give him some peace of mind, but until he went to sleep, he was curt and didn’t talk much.

She did remember him leaning down to kiss her ear before she drifted into sleep, though. So it wasn’t anything she had done. It was most likely Malice’s presence on the same continent as him.

Malice. The very thought of him infuriated her once more. But all of a sudden, the anger evaporated as she realized she could empathize with him.

“I see it!” Garble called down from the basalt ledge he had flown up to. “Just hurry up and climb up!”

Twilight took to the air and gently flapped up until she touched down on the edge of the small cliff. Rainbow Dash landed a moment later beside her.

It was exactly as Twilight remembered: maroon colors below a smoky sky, and in the distance was the throne. What she didn’t expect was the overwhelming presence of Torch on it. He was visible even from a far distance.

“What?” Twilight whispered.

“Yeah, who’s that guy?” Rainbow wondered, squinting.

“My father,” Garble grunted. “Probably filling in for Malice. I don’t think he’d be willing to see me again.”

“So if Ember was Torch’s daughter, that would make Ember your…”

Garble nodded, eliciting a hiss from Rainbow. “Yikes.”

“Once we explain everything that happened around her death, I’m sure he’d be willing to see reason,” Twilight assured Garble.

“You know him. You really think he’d do that?” he deadpanned.

Twilight decided not to answer that. Instead, she turned and looked down the cliff. Freedom Fighter was in the process of jumping from one ledge to another and was almost up to their level. But Spike was still a few feet down, climbing slowly but surely.

“Slow going?” Twilight called down.

Spike paused, his hand stretched above his head. “Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but this isn’t as easy as it looks for you guys who can fly. This cliff is insane! How much more of this do we have to do?”

“The throne is just up here,” Twilight assured him. “So we’re done traveling for now. But Torch is up there too. And he’s probably not going to be happy when he sees us. Especially you or Garble. Malice probably lied about the both of you.”

“That does put a damper on our relationship,” Spike sarcastically replied. He shook his hand in the air, rotating his shoulder next. He was panting.

“Need a hoof?” Twilight offered.

“If you really want to help, you could lower a rope or a tree branch, or use your magic, or get someone else to carry me up,” Spike began listing irritably.

“I’ll get the runt,” Garble volunteered lowly before Twilight could ignite her horn. Interested, Twilight stepped back to allow Garble some room.

“Oh, great,” Spike remarked. “You’ll probably drop me. Get Twilight to do it.”

“Come on!” Garble yelled down. “You know me! If I wanted to kill you, I’d do it fair and square!”

“My confidence is not restored,” Spike muttered.

He sighed. "Just give me this much, Spike. You'll see you're wrong about me."

"I think I'll just take that swan dive you mentioned earlier."

Garble tensed up. "Is there... no way you can trust me?"

"Nothing comes to mind," Spike replied.

Garble, after a moment, lifted his arm to the square. “I swear on the soul of my sister, Ember, you will reach the top alive.”

After another moment, Spike sighed and said, “Pick me up.”

Garble stepped casually off the edge of the cliff, and he dropped like a stone. There came the flapping of wings, a few grunts, and a few seconds later, Garble emerged into view, carrying Spike under the armpits. He dropped Spike off onto his feet, then landed himself. He hadn't even broken a sweat.

“Well then,” Garble announced, wiping his hands like he had flour on them. “Guess you were wrong after all. That’s one thing that hasn’t changed.”

“Thanks,” Spike quietly said.

Garble turned his head to regard him. His eyes shot to the ground. “You’re welcome. Ugh.”

“We’re very proud of you,” Twilight said without sounding like it, giving him a small shove. “Keep on it.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Garble told her.

“But you’ll do it anyway~” Rainbow teased, scooching beside him.

“I can change my mind,” Garble reminded her.

“Whatever you say,” Rainbow waved aside, trotting away.

Garble sighed softly, gesturing at Rainbow. “Can’t wait until I don’t have to see her again.”

“Bet you she’s thinking the same thing,” Spike ribbed.

Garble tilted his head to the side inquisitively as he looked down. “Why doesn’t she want to see herself?”

“Wait, no, that’s not it.”

“I bet it’s because her hair hurts her eyes whenever she looks in the mirror.”

Spike snorted.

Garble and Spike immediately exchanged surprised looks, eyeing each other suspiciously.

Twilight, however, was softly grinning.

It didn’t take long before they started their journey once more. Seeing their goal in the distance gave each of them more energy; they walked a little faster, with more of a spring in their step. The throne grew closer and closer. Torch grew larger and larger. It couldn’t have been more than half an hour of walking later before the monstrous throne was fully visible.

None of them suspected they’d come unnoticed. Sure enough, by the time the throne was fully visible, there had assembled a contingent of dragons forming up around Torch. They looked like specks next to his unnatural size, but their presence was more of a statement than proper security.

Finally, Torch bothered to look down at them, even as they were hundreds of feet away. His pugnacious eyes narrowed as he concentrated to make out their features, then they beetled together in anger.

“What is the meaning of this?” he snarled, and a few loose pebbles beneath their feet quivered as if afraid. “I just so happen to see two of the most traitorous dragons on the planet next to a couple of ponies.”

“I’ve never been so disappointed in you being right,” Spike lamented to Twilight.

“For your information,” Rainbow yelled, flapping into the air, “we just so happen to be the guys who can help you!”

Torch tilted his ponderous head. “What was that?”

Twilight held up her hoof as her horn ignited. Five beads of violet light pulsed out of the tip and spread among them all, hitting them in the throat.

“What was that?” Garble immediately asked, but when he said it, his voice boomed like thunder across the fields until it reached Torch. Garble quickly clasped his claws over his mouth.

“What was what?” Torch inquired, growing more impatient by the moment.

Garble gulped, which echoed off the rocks. “Uh, nothing, dad.”

“Dad?!” Torch erupted, straightening in the throne and making pebbles leap off the edge. “You dare!”

“Stop!” Spike cried, shoving himself in front of Garble, for all the good it would do against a dragon like Torch. “You can’t just kill him!”

“Of course I can,” Torch barked, making the rocks tremor again. “Don’t think of me as Garble’s dad. Think of me as your executioner!”

“If you would just listen to him, he can explain everything,” Rainbow promised. Torch turned his head a millimeter to regard her. “All you know about Ember’s death was from some guy you’ve never seen before! And now, based on his word, you want to kill your own son as well? How much more can you take away from yourself?”

“He ran!” Torch yelled over her. “Even if he didn’t kill her, he’s complicit in her death! He didn’t even bother avenging her! If he really loved his sister, he would have given his own life trying to destroy the enemy! But he saved his own hide, and betrayed his kingdom! I have no use for such a weak son!”

“I am not weak!” Garble yelled in return.

“QUIET, BOY!” Torch bellowed, and pebbles tumbled loose from the basalt ground. “THE GROWN-UPS ARE TALKING!”

Garble fell uncharacteristically silent.

“You’re just torn up about her death,” Twilight observed. “You’re confused, and wounded. You don’t know who to blame, or how it could have happened. Trust me, I’ve been there too. I know how you feel. I can help!”

“I don’t care if you’ve been there before,” Torch snapped. “It doesn’t help me now. What can you do to fix this?”

“We can avenge your daughter’s death,” Spike told him. “We know how it really happened and who killed her.”

“Why, because you listened to this fool?” Torch incredulously demanded, pointing a monstrous arm above Spike at Garble. “How is his account any better than Venom’s?”

“Because I was there when she died!” Garble yelled, despite Torch’s warning. “I saw that purple guy stab her right up front! And the other guys he was with turned on the other guards! All I felt was shock. I did want to avenge my sister! That’s why I didn’t want to die in a meaningless way! That’s why I had to escape!”

Torch’s head, the size of a small cottage, swiveled back to stare him down directly. “I still haven’t decided yet if you’re even worth listening to.”

“That isn’t your choice to make, dad!” Garble retorted. “Who else do you have?”

“Yeah!” Spike spoke up. “Why can’t you trust your own son?”

“I did!” Torch replied. “And my daughter is dead!”

“So help us!” Spike pleaded. “We can set things right. We can’t bring your daughter back. But you also can’t bring your son back. If you kill him as well, you’ll just get even worse!”

“What makes you think you’ll be any happier with my death, anyway?” Garble added. “You’ll still remain the same grumpy old mess you always were!”

“How dare you!” Torch growled, leering down at them like he was observing bugs. His fangs were bared. “I am Dragon Lord Torch! Your father! You think you can get away with saying such things to me?!”

“Oh, so now you say you’re my father,” Garble retorted, and there was a crack in his voice.

Torch’s eyes widened momentarily, and his mouth closed.

Spike was suddenly pushed aside. Garble, not even looking at him, was walking upright towards the massive frame of his father. “I want to do this for you, dad,” Garble said. A glisten in his eye stood out from the rest of his red body. “I lost a sister. I know how you feel. And... I want to set things right. For the first time in my life, I want to do something right! I want you to just… listen! Please, trust me!”

Torch made no motion to stop Garble’s advance, but he did keep eye contact with him for the entirety of his trail in front of the other travelers.

“I love you, dad,” Garble said, and it seemed to clog his throat as he said so. “I’ll do this with or without your help, but I want you to be with me when I redeem myself. If you want something to do because Ember’s dead, I need you to help us!”

Torch’s eyes had softened completely by now. He bent his head to the ground until him and Garble were no more than a few feet away.

“If... you want to... prove yourself to me...” Torch slowly said, as if selecting his words a few at a time, “...You can start… by avenging her. If this is your desire… I will help you.”

“It is!” Garble immediately said. “Oh, thanks, dad!”

“I said I would help you,” Torch was quick to reply. “Because I need proof before I can call you my son again.” He straightened his back. “And it’s because I want in my heart to believe my son loves me that I am doing this. You will not betray me like so many have.”

“Trust me,” Garble said. “If I just wanted to kill whoever killed her, I would have done it. But I came to you because… I want to mend things again.”

Torch, visibly abashed, said nothing in reply to him.

After a moment more, though, Torch broke away from his son and addressed Spike and the ponies. “Dragon Lord Malice left for Mount Nevermore yesterday. He should be arriving soon.”

“Is there some way we can get there quickly?” Twilight asked. “Some of us…” She risked a glance at Freedom Fighter. “...are a little anxious.”

Torch squinted to get a better look at the yellow pony. “Who’re you?”

“You know me,” Freedom Fighter spoke, and his voice echoed up to him. “I am Freedom Fighter. I came here with Firestorm and Noble Blade a few years ago to assist in one of your little civil wars. You have been giving us generous compensation ever since.”

“The Freedom Fighter I remember was in all black and never spoke a word,” Torch observed.

“I have shed my old skin and discovered my voice--to cry in wrath and ruin against my enemies,” Freedom Fighter intoned. “I present this as proof.”

He snapped the two staves off his hips and unfolded them, then twisted them together into a glowing yellow staff. He held it above his head with his mechanical arm. “Hope you remember this.”

Torch nodded slowly, a rumble in his mouth. “You have used this to slay my enemies in the past.”

“It has slain many enemies. Hard to keep track of anymore. You’ll have to be more specific.”

Torch rolled his eyes. “I suppose…”

“I give my word as a princess of Equestria,” Twilight backed him up. “This is Freedom Fighter.”

“Ditto,” Rainbow Dash added, gesturing lazily at him with Stormkeeper.

“Very well,” Torch accepted. “Why are you here now, Freedom Fighter?”

“To slay Malice,” was his simple answer, curt and tight. “It will bring forth freedom.”

“Malice is the leader of the Noxxa,” Twilight provided him. “He is the reason your people are at war to begin with!”

Torch blinked in quick succession. “You give me your word?”

“I should not have to promise you my word,” Twilight replied, remembering a lesson from Noble Blade. “Those who know me know I’m honest. But yes, I give it.”

“Malice is the catalyst for all the suffering in the world recently. He killed your daughter, and the sons and daughters of countless others in the name of his dark God. If we kill him, we can live again!” Freedom proclaimed, pumping his staff in the air.

Torch’s veiny eyes stared at the ground with an intensity that could melt them. “And I commended that devil!” he hissed. His claws clenched, and beneath them stone cracked and crumbled. Torch’s snout flared when he addressed them next. “Where are your other friends?! Why aren’t they doing anything about this?”

“My guess is they are,” Rainbow effortlessly answered. “We just got split up. No biggie. Our goal is still the same. We gotta get to that mountain!”

“Then go there we shall!” Torch roared, swiveling his head to the dragons hovering near his huge head. “Rally the dragons to me!”

After a pause, Torch angrily replied, “So what if Malice took the home deployments? There are still the common dragon folk out there! Gather them! And I don’t care if they want to or not! This is the uprooting of the dragonlands as we know it! If they choose to stay home, they can, but it shall be known forever after that they were cowards when we needed them most! Will any of you not stand in memory of our lands, our country, our wives, children, homes, and freedoms?!”

After some apparent head-shaking that Twilight couldn’t see, Torch roared once more. “THEN GO!”

The tiny dragons zipped in every direction across the land. Torch watched impatiently as they slowly disappeared from view, then sighed. “I’m very sorry, princess. These things take time. And I’m sure we don’t have much of it.”

“What if we show up and we’re the only ones there?” Rainbow hissed to Twilight. “Are we really going to storm the mountain alone?”

“If that’s what it takes,” Twilight grimly replied. “It’s just a mountain, though. It’s easy enough to level.”

Rainbow Dash warily eyed the Element of Magic atop her head. “You’re kidding.”

A quick look into Twilight’s eyes, however, revealed that she wasn’t. Rainbow took a few imperceptible steps away from her.

A quiet howl from behind was enough to take Grimm out of her quiet reverie. She craned her head around and tapped her boyfriend on the shoulder. “Valiant?”

“What?” Valiant irritably demanded, following her gaze down the red-tinged metal hallway.

“I thought I heard…” Grimm shook her black mane, stylized around her horn. “No. It’s just…”

“What is it? Spit. It. Out. All this ‘umm’ing and ‘uhh’ing isn’t going to get you anywhere!”

“There was something behind us!” Grimm quickly got out.

“Well, that’s weird. Do I see anything down there? No. So don’t worry your pretty little head about it. Let me worry about stuff that matters, got it?”

Grimm demurely nodded, and Valiant groaned before taking her hoof and leading her further up the hall. “The brothel should be just ahead.”

“I-I don’t get it,” Grimm admitted. “It implies that we’d pay for it, but we don’t. It’s just free for whoever’s in at the moment.”

“Well, there’s no better word to describe it,” Valiant explained, as if to a five-year-old. “So we use that instead. You can find some other guy, and I’ll find a girl, and we’ll meet back in ‘bout an hour. Got it? We don’t want to be late to the ceremony.”

“Look, I-I’m still new to all this. I’m confused. You’re my boyfriend, but we’re still going to a brothel together? I just… grew up thinking those two things were supposed to be-”

“Look,” Valiant interrupted. “There are two reasons why it’s a good idea. First: this is the best way to have a lot of kids really, really quickly. We can’t rely on converts in Equestria like you finding out about us, let alone making the trip here. So we need a new generation, and they’ll automatically become alicorns instead of having Solaris make the change. It took us hundreds of years to build up this population. We aren’t going to let something stupid like chastity halt our progress.”

Grimm rubbed her arm. “I-I guess so…”

“Second: there’s a difference between love and sex. You can do it without loving each other. Think about it: if I have it with a lot of others but still come back to you, won’t that mean my love for you is stronger than anything?”

“B-but I want you all to myself,” Grimm mumbled.

“And you do. But you and I also have the freedom to indulge whenever and wherever we feel like it, with anyone we want. Isn’t that such a blessing? If you happen to love the person you’re doing it with, that’s even better! This is a way you can love everyone! Serving Solaris definitely has its perks! Isn’t love a good thing?”

“Well…” Grimm pondered. In a way, it made sense. “I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I am!” Valiant boasted. “But it’s nice to know you agree. Come on, it’s right around the corner here-”

An explosion rocked the hall with creaks of metal, making Grimm collapse and Valiant stagger. Looking behind once more, they saw an orange glow flicker around a bend in the hall, obscured by smoke and simmering heat. Then the color became brighter and more solid as, eventually, a pony stamped out to meet them, leaving scorch marks on the metal.

He was on fire, although the contours of his shape could be seen. The flames licked every side of the hexagonal hallway, reflecting off the dull surfaces. Heat radiated off him and bounced back off the narrow metal walls, creating an overpowering, stuffy presence Grimm could feel from twenty feet away.

“Oh, my gosh!” Grimm exclaimed, scrambling backwards, scraping her skin on the metal surface. “We gotta help him!”

“No,” Valiant refused, and there was a grin spreading on his face. “He’s looking for a challenge!”

The pony crouched and spread his wings, and flame dripped off his wingspan to sizzle and die out on the ground.

Valiant spread his own wings and ignited his horn, tossing his black mane aside in the process. “Come on! You’re not here to stand still, are you? But I’ll have you know I’m several tiers above you in power! You wouldn’t last a sec-”

Valiant’s last words were drowned out by a roar and a flash of fire. The pony had leaped from the floor to one wall, then another, before bouncing to the ceiling, whipping out a sword, and rocketing from above to smash into Valiant.

Valiant’s uneven, cauterized halves fell to the hallway floor. The burning pegasus was paused in the final action of a slash. And Grimm was close enough to him that her mane and coat was scorching.

“Shut up,” the pegasus was hissing under his breath. “SHUT UP! I am so sick of ponies like you!”

Then his gaze was directed down at Grimm, and she could feel her heart stop.

The pegasus’ face quickly contorted from rage into utter contempt. “Oh, great. Your type.”

Grimm probably thought it had to do with her appearance. Was her black, spiky mane okay? Were her black-diamond earrings in place? Was her black eyeliner running on her white coat? Could her-

“Where’s the prisoner holding cells?” he barked.

She blinked. “Whaa?”

“I WILL NOT ASK YOU AGAIN, DEVIL!” he bellowed out of nowhere swiping his sword at the wall just above her head and showering her in sparks. “WHERE ARE MY FRIENDS?!”

“I don’t know!” she cowered, putting her arms over her head. “I’m new here!”

He sigh-groaned. “Don’t have time for this,” he muttered. He gestured back the way he came with his flaming sword. “Run if you know what’s good for you. Oh, that’s right! You don’t, devil-worshipper.”

“Wh-wh-what’s the matter with you?” she trembled out.

“With me?” he screamed, and the heat on his body pulsed hotter. “What’s wrong with you? You dragged yourself a million miles from home and became an edgy, hedonistic freak just to get cucked by some douche! You don’t understand just how bad you messed up, and you never will!”

She ignited her horn lying on the ground, every inch of her body tingling from the intense heat. “Don’t you dare talk about us like that!”

With a crunch, Firestorm’s sword plunged into Grimm’s chest and emerged to rip through the metal floor as well. Grimm squeaked as her magic cut off.

“I think I can,” Firestorm told her, now quiet. “And I think I will.”

He ripped the sword from her bosom and stalked away, leaving Grimm to expire.

The brothel was a pink-tinted room with impossibly fluffy beds lined up on either end of the wall. Heart-shaped pillows were at the bedposts. The beds had been conjured up by alicorn magic, which was the same magic that kept every alicorn impossibly handsome and desirable upon their transformation.

It was, by far, Lizzie’s favorite place to go in the entire temple complex. There were others like it, but this was her favorite. Mostly because of him.

Darkness Dementia Ravenblood. It was the most awesome name she could think of, but that was simply where the perks began. He was handsome, as all stallions were in this mountain, but he had the specific colorations that just set her heart aflutter. A red mane, black body, and startling ice-blue eyes, which was a stark contrast from the environment he usually blended into. But here, among the uncharacteristic pink and white environment, he simply looked powerful and inviting, with a dark presence that she couldn’t help but be attracted to.

Of course, her present boyfriend didn’t know. But that was okay; he wasn’t worth it to her anyway.

He frequented this place often. Mostly because she was there often too. And at the moment, Lizzie and Darkness were locked in an embrace on one of the beds. The air was full of passion from both them and the dozen or so other patrons.

Everything was soft in the world. It was warm, and ecstatic. She didn't need to follow Faust to get into heaven; this was it, right here. In his firm arms.

And then a metallic crunch and squeak broke her out of her reverie. Lizzie and Darkness craned their heads towards the only door leading out and froze. A few screams came from the others in the room.

The tip of a flaming sword was in the process of bisecting the entire door in half, filling the air with the ugly sound of tearing metal. Sparks showered to the ground, and the orange wound in the door was growing longer and longer.

The air, once full of passion, was dispelled immediately and replaced by something Lizzie never thought she'd feel again: terror. Her heart, already going fast, pumped faster. That door was the only exit!

“Liz!” Darkness cried, scrambling off the bed. “Get outta here once you get your opening!”

“What opening?!” she screamed. The sword was almost done tearing the door in half!

“I’ll make one!” Darkness promised. His jet-black horn ignited sky-blue.

The hinges were sliced off with two quick swipes. With a deafening pound, the two door halves were hurled inward, crashing into beds and snapping the posts in half. The glowing edges set the soft sheets smoking.

The only entrance revealed a pegasus on fire with a sword in both hooves, who bellowed as loud as he could, over the screams of fright from the other alicorns.

Darkness shot at him, but the fiery pegasus deflected the bolt aside with a spin of his sword. He locked eyes with Darkness and pounced at him like a cat in response. Darkness and the pegasus crashed into their opulent bed, setting it aflame.

Firestorm's arm came up and plunged down again. Darkness’ cry of pain was the last that Lizzie ever heard of him.

Lizzie wasn’t stupid, though. She obeyed his last order and ran, along with several others. The doorway was open now, allowing them to escape.

The fiery pegasus roared, and with a wave of his arm, fire flew off him to envelop the entire brothel in sheets of flame. The unlucky alicorns who hadn’t left in time were consumed by the flame.

Lizzie barely even saw it, though. She just ran, not even using her wings. The mares and stallions beside her were doing the same. However, they were panting for breath very soon as a result of their sedentary lifestyle. But they still managed to get away from the brothel before Firestorm did.

The fiery pegasus erupted into the hallway with a burst of bouncing metal debris pinging off the metal surfaces. He was pouncing and leaping off one wall and onto the other in a race to catch up with the others.

Lizzie shrieked and galloped even faster. She passed two alicorns twisting their heads to return fire from their horns, but the orange pegasus would have none of that. He zoomed at a much faster speed all of a sudden, hurling himself forward. His back hoof met the face of one of the alicorns with a crack, and his body skidded against the metal floor with a harsh screech as the pegasus then used it as a springboard to launch at the second alicorn, and with a sweep of his arm he annihilated him as well.

“Seal off the hallway!” one of the remaining alicorns, a pink one, ordered.

Chiming their horns to life, two more alicorns crossed an invisible line and bowed their heads in effort. A six-inch-thick metal door slid from hollow holes in either side of the walls, met in the middle, and fused together seamlessly just as Lizzie dove through, clipping a few feathers off her wing.

The blinding light coming off their attacker was suddenly extinguished, and Lizzie's vision plunged into darkness.

Lizzie, catching her breath on the ground, was aware that at least one more alicorn had been behind her. He was dead, certainly. Nothing they could do now except-

Almost immediately, the tip of a blazing sword pierced the metal, making her jolt again. It began to make a furious carving, a jagged line of orange in the dull iron door.

“More!” the pink one screamed, in both anger and fear.

Appropriately, the rest of the alicorns got to work with their magic, tearing up the metal walls with ear-wrenching shrieks and flattening it before quickly reinforcing the metal door. Before the tip of the sword could get from the center of the door to the edge, most of the available metal walls were peeled off and layered on top of the door. It exposed the carved rock underneath, but it seemed to do the trick; the tip of the sword stopped moving. It was simply meeting too much resistance.

Then, miraculously, the tip of the sword retracted.

Lizzie’s heart jolted once more, however, when a new, heavier impact hit the door. This time, the center of the door steadily grew more and more orange and bulgy.

“He’s still coming through!” Lizzie gaped, pointing limply at the melting door.

“Impossible!” the pink alicorn shrieked.

Moments later, the center of the barricade became limp, and it burst like a bubble. Chunky, orange, viscous liquid metal dripped through their end, and a blazing hoof was in its place, slowly peeling apart the edges of the hole and struggling to fit his furious head through.

“Fire! Fire!” the pink alicorn urged.

The three other alicorns with her and Lizzie, though, took a few steps back. What could an alicorn do against such reckless hate?

The pink alicorn took a glance towards her comrades, then back at the pegasus’ shining head, now fully through the metal doorway and unaffected by the unbearable heat he had just brought into their cramped quarters. The pink alicorn quivered, unable to move a muscle. Reflected in her shrunken pupils were the fires of hell.

The living firestorm finally squeezed himself through his hole and set all four hooves on the metal walkway, snarling for breath. His hoofsteps created bubbling holes.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t tear you apart,” Firestorm growled, meshing perfectly into the crackles of the inferno encompassing him.

“Wh-wh-what do you want?” Lizzie asked, much higher than she would have liked.

“I want?” he repeated, taking a step, and everypony else took one back. “My friends, that’s what!”

“Oh, wait! Y-y-you mean the pony prisoners?” Lizzie quickly inferred. “I-I remember! Yeah! Brimstone came in with some just a little bit ago!”

“Those guys!” Firestorm confirmed. “Where are they?!”

“I-I don’t know,” Lizzie said, quickly adding, “which one you’re going to rescue!”

“What do you mean?” Firestorm demanded.

“The prisoners got split up. One of them got taken to the processing cells in the Son. The other was taken straight to the temple at the top of Mount Nevermore.”

“The Son? Temple? Be specific! Spit it out!”

“It’s the northern mountain!” Lizzie hastily spoke. “The southern one is the Daughter. Nevermore lies between them. There’s an open-air temple at the top, where all our worship happens. One of your friends is up there!”

Firestorm bent his head ever closer to Lizzie’s, making her scramble back some. “What are they planning on doing to her?” he asked with furious patience.

“You aren’t going to like it,” Lizzie promised. “Like everything we do, it’s alien for you to comprehend.”

“I understand plenty enough,” Firestorm promised back. “I comprehend that you’re pure evil, for example.”

“From my point of view, you’re-”

“Who cares about your point of view, devil?” Firestorm exploded. “These aren't opinions! This is good and evil, and you’re on the wrong side! At least I know some things are evil! You just think something is good because you have the freedom to do it, and I do not have to sit here and shake hooves and smile and debate the morality of the devil with a whoring abomination!”

“Go ahead, then,” Lizzie invited. “Strike me down and see what you become!”

Firestorm swiftly drew a sword from across his back and planted it in her thigh like an enemy flag on conquered soil. Lizzie screamed from the sudden pain.

“I think I will,” Firestorm replied. “I think I will tread on you, because you would do the same to me. Solaris will tread on all of us to make his wine for him to sip as the world burns beneath him! So you can die here! As you wish! But as for me? I will keep moving forward.” His eyes, hotter than the molten river of Nevermore itself, met the four other alicorns. “Until my enemies are destroyed!”

The Element chained around his neck glowed hotter and fiercer than ever before.

And Firestorm unleashed himself.

KABOOM!

Rarity staggered and whipped her head to the source of the explosion. Noble, beside her, did the same. But it was impossible; it was too far away in this metal maze!

The hallways of Nevermore's passages quivered and clattered, and the dull red lights momentarily flickered. Dust fell from the ceiling. But it soon passed, leaving the hallway as it was before.

Rarity and Noble took a few more minutes before turning to each other. "That didn't sound like the volcano," Noble observed.

"We're not the first ones here," Rarity deduced. "But who else?"

"We need to find them," Noble finished.

"How?" Rarity helplessly asked.

"Is there something you can do?" Noble asked.

Rarity paused. Actually, there probably was. She'd have to experiment.

"Point me," she whispered to her Element.

The Element glowed, but made no other response. Maybe she needed something more.

"Could you mind cutting a piece of the metal off?" Rarity implored.

"Sorry," he said, rubbing his horn and hissing as he touched it. "It's still exhausted from cutting an entrance into this place. Might need to give it a bit of time."

Rarity nodded in understanding. They had entered literally not more than two minutes ago. If he was still recovering from carving a hole into the mountain, then she'd have to do it herself. But was her magic strong enough?

Chiming her horn and concentrating, a thin blue beam hit the wall and made it smoke. Gritting her teeth, Rarity swiveled her head to slowly carve a piece of the metal wall out. She finally telekinetically lifted the metal patch, exposing the black rock behind it.

Levitating it in front of her, she concentrated again. "Point me."

The metal did not respond to the command. Rarity growled, balled it up, and tossed it aside.

"What do you need?" Noble inquired.

"Something to act as a compass," Rarity answered, placing her hoof on the exposed rock. "If the Elements are connected, darling, they’d know where each other is. I know what to do. I just wanted to see if it would work with anything."

Her hoof finally grasped a thin emerald, and she pulled it from the rock like a stick from water. She levitated the green gem in front of her and concentrated once more. "Point. Me."

The gem obeyed. It quivered up as if at attention, then swiveled to point in the opposite direction they were facing.

"Wow," Noble whispered. "You have a very versatile gift."

Rarity gave a small "Aww," before brushing it aside and concentrating once more. "You're very kind."

With nothing more to say, Rarity galloped in the direction the gem was pointing, and Noble quickly followed.

Malice had personally never seen Mount Nevermore, but he knew of the denizens within. A few of them had volunteered to be in his service, declaring themselves to be fallen from pony society. So, under this disguise of Fallen, Malice had used them in the past to wreak havoc in specific campaigns. The most recent example was to destroy the Castle of the Two Sisters and prevent the Element Bearers from learning about the other Elements.

One of which now resided in this very mountain.

It made Malice quiver in his insectoid legs, even in the middle of his flight. His God had a work for him to do. He would not fail! It all depended on if Twilight Sparkle showed up, however.

He needed her to be there.

Dipping below the smoke cover, Malice finally spotted it. Looming as a monolith among the ashes of the wasteland, with its pathetic Son and Daughter on either end, all surrounded by a ring of liquid fire, Malice understood how Mount Nevermore was awe-inspiring to even the firmest of Solaris followers. It captivated his entire attention.

He loved to see the temple. He'd been promised he'd go inside someday and make the covenant with his Father to awaken him completely.

That day was now.

"To glory," Malice bespoke, for his ears only.

Under the smoke of a poisoned sky, Solaris waited.

Solaris was everywhere and nowhere, insubstantial, yet very much real. But he was concentrated into a very small spot on Equus, which was the temple of his servants.

His followers gave him strength. Here, Solaris drained every ounce of light from his followers. And from Mount Nevermore. And from the planet. And from the universe.

Solaris was like a black hole, a singularity, in which all things met their end. Even light.

He could sense every breath of every pony in every corner of the world. His awareness was sharp enough to chop through any creature and cut through immortals.

He could feel his priests preparing for the ceremony, and it was good. He could feel Malice gliding towards Mount Nevermore, and it was good. He could feel the Noxxa reach Canterlot and begin to besiege it. And it was good.

He could feel the fury and wrath of the pegasus as he burned alicorns into cinders. He could feel the rallying cry across the dragonlands to fight against him. He could even feel the presence of the Child of Light on the same continent as him.

All this, too, was good.

As he could feel this happen, Solaris sent his presence into a small device, which had been waiting in darkness--darkness beyond darkness--for millennia.

Waiting for eternal hell to fall upon Equus.

This was the purpose for which Malice had been commissioned. To take this device and unleash it. With it, Solaris would turn into his Godly self once more. The best part was, the Element Bearers would help him.

And the Element of Redemption would be their own undoing.

Chapter Eighty-four: Turning Hearts

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The sliver of green amid the mist of darkness was the only grip on direction that Noble had. The crystal wobbled in its aura as he and Rarity ran through the hallways of the massive temple. No other light could be trusted but the measly balls of white light from their horns.

Noble’s horn had cooled down by now where he could use it without giving him a headache. His eyes were on the ground, looking for scuff marks, burns, or any sign of struggle. Where would prisoners be?

“Rarity?” he asked, panting as they ran. “Where would one… look for a prisoner?”

“Why do you need… to know?” Rarity asked without turning around. “We’ve got a guide… right here!”

“I just want… to be prepared,” he clarified, breathing hard through his mouth. “No harm… forming a plan.”

Rarity slowed down to a trot, then stopped, resting on the side of the slanted wall. “I suppose we’ll just have to find out then, right?”

“One step at a time,” Noble reminded himself. “Nothing big for now. Just... find whoever the crystal’s pointing to.”

After catching their breath for half a minute, they started their brisk trot again. Their hoofsteps made bangs on the metal ground, and when a particularly loud hooffall was made, Noble winced.

“Who do you expect we’ll find?” Rarity asked.

“Somepony that’s able to cause an eruption that big? Probably Firestorm. Rainbow Dash, too. Or Pinkie, if she got free. Tempest and Starlight are also likely options.”

“What about Twilight?” Rarity suggested.

Noble jiggled his head. “Sure. But something tells me that if it was her, the explosion would be stronger.”

“Wielding an Element that can flatten a battlefield does lend some credibility,” Rarity admitted, and the end of her sentence was punctuated by, instead of a clang of her hoof on the walkway, a squish.

Rarity stopped immediately. She lifted her hoof and looked down, and she let out a short scream. Noble looked down as well. His chest immediately squeezed in shock. It was a cauterized, uneven half of an alicorn.

Casting their light around, the two unicorns saw more signs of carnage in the black hall. Right beside the burned alicorn half was his other side, and another blood-soaked alicorn mare slumped on the wall. A single hole was in her upper chest. Not all of her body was in the light, which Noble was grateful for. But upon examination...

“Those look like sword wounds,” he noticed.

“Firestorm,” Rarity put together. “But what… why would he…”

“We’re getting close,” Noble cut off. “Let’s ask him face-to-face.”

Rarity nodded in compliance and went forward once more.

They didn’t go long before they saw more signs of battle. The walls were scorched black, and an open doorway they peeked through led to only crackling cinders of burning beds. Shrapnel was scattered all over the hallway.

“What’s got him so riled up?” Rarity wondered under her breath as she walked closer beside Noble.

The further they went, the worse it got; there were two more bodies all over the hall, singed and burned. Finally, a metal wall blocked their path completely, but there was a giant hole melted in the exact center, and the edges had been hardened like frozen water.

Noble peeked through, afraid to touch anything. Even more shapeless lumps of charred flesh were in the hall further on, and there were melted hoofsteps in the metal ground. The walls had been torn up, exposing the black rock beneath.

Rarity put her head next to Noble's to also peek through. "At least he's left a trail," she noted, though there was nothing in her tone to suggest it was a good thing. "Why do you think he went out of his way to kill them?"

"Beats me," Noble admitted. "And why were the alicorns so defenseless?"

"Yeah," Rarity agreed. "Even the alicorns at the Tree of Harmony were…" She broke off mid-sentence.

"What?" Noble asked.

"This could be about that," Rarity figured. "They hardly left a good first impression. And their cockiness could just be a part of the community. They’re alicorns, after all, and they haven’t left the mountain. What normal pony could stand up to them? Besides, they didn't even think Firestorm was a worthy threat until he killed one of them. Perhaps that was a blow to his morale."

"So you think he took it personally?" Noble asked. “I’ve seen him angry before…”

"Darling, anger is based off other things. Right now, it's a mix of a prejudice against alicorns, a doubting of his abilities, a desire to prove himself, and exasperation for those who keep getting in our way," Rarity declared. "I understand how he feels. But still, taking it to this extreme…"

The banging of hoofsteps snapped them out of their words and made them focus ahead. They could barely see more than a few feet in front of them in the dark, but the hoofsteps felt like more than one pony.

“That sounds like trouble,” Rarity warned.

“But we can’t turn back!” Noble pointed out.

“So we fight?”

Noble’s horn charged up in a whine for a response.

But as the hoofsteps and the flapping of wings grew louder, Noble could discern some yells and screams of fright.

They weren’t coming for them. These alicorns were just running away from someone else!

They rounded a corner about twenty meters ahead and entered their section. Noble could count up to at least eight, maybe ten, but they were so congested together that he couldn’t tell with any accuracy.

The lead one, who had a red body and a black-and-red spiky mane, along with red eyes (it was a fairly common color palette among these alicorns, though, Noble noted) reached the wall, peeked through the hole, and panted between his screams and arm waves. “What are you… doing here? Don’t you know… there’s a psycho on the loose?”

“W-we just came to investigate,” Rarity excused.

“You’re in the way! Get out of the…” His red eyes widened, then squinted in their intense light. “Wait a sec! You’re not alicorns! How-”

A mighty creak came from the hall behind them all, and the black-and-red alicorn slowly swiveled his head above the rest of the alicorns he was leading. The rest of them were also looking at the end of the hall and were crouching, getting into stances, spreading wings, and igniting horns.

Even with the light all that provided, there still wasn’t enough to fully illuminate a barely-visible shadow that seemed to materialize at the turn of the bend.

Every muscle quivered. There was no sound except the constant, quiet, underlying chime of horns. The shadow in the cloak of darkness did not move.

Then the hiss and sinister undulating rumble of an ignition cut through the sparkles, and the upright shadow sprouted two fiery extensions, flickering orange and showing the outline of his dark figure.

“Kill it!” came several cries, cracking with fear, and a chorus of horns sang in a rainbow of colors and sounds as multiple magic blasts soared at him. The flashes of light made this particular hallway the brightest Mount Nevermore had ever been.

The dark figure evaded three-quarters of the shots, which whizzed right by him, and his twin fiery bars swished and sliced in every direction, catching the other quarter and deflecting them. Into the ceiling, into the walls and shattering rock, and back at the alicorns. Some quickly put up small shields, but one bolt deflected into an alicorn’s chest, and he went down with a cauterized hole.

The figure was moving forward inexorably by flapping his wings, not even touching the ground, and once his fiery sword was within reach of the alicorns, it became a merciless massacre.

With a hard sweep, he deprived three alicorns of their horns immediately, creating three separate cries of pain. A few up-and-down slashes later, they fell, unmoving.

"Help us!" the black-and-red alicorn pleaded, sticking his hooves through the melted hole and trying to wiggle his way through. His face showed only fear. "Help! Please!"

The next alicorn to die sprouted two long whips of red energy from his horn, which snaked right at the dark figure. But he crossed his arms, and the whips latched onto the tips of the fiery blades. Then he uncrossed his arms, throwing the alicorn forward like he was on a fishing line, and the dark figure’s rear legs came up to smack him in the face and subsequently smash him into the ground. With an indifferent backward circle of his right arm, the figure ended his life.

His left arm extended forth and trembled as he focused. An unstable, dense sphere of flame concentrated amid the five remaining alicorns and started to grow. Once it reached the size of a baseball, it exploded, throwing flame all over the remaining alicorns. Their group fell apart at that point.

But the figure didn’t stop. He raised both swords above his head and cleaved them into a white alicorn one at a time, then ripped the right sword out, flinging blood and worse, and chopped through a black alicorn’s throat in the same sweep. He was screaming furiously with every swing of his sword at this point.

One black alicorn tried to scramble and crawl on the ground past the figure, but his rear left leg caught her and pinned her against the bare wall by the stomach. Without even looking at her, his left sword came out of the body, and a furious swing of his left arm beheaded her with such force, it left a sparking gash in the rock wall.

“Please!” the second-to-last alicorn screamed, falling back onto her turquoise rear. “Ple-”

His right sword fed itself to her and retracted, and she limply collapsed.

The black-and-red alicorn, finding himself unable to fit through, pressed his back against the hole. “Please, I-I’ll give you anything! Anything you want! Power, gold-”

"There is nothing you have I could want, devil!" came his roar, and the orange light on the other side of the wall intensified. "I am so sick of you!"

The tip of a flaming sword ripped through his back and cleaved upward, creating a thin orange line in the wall. The alicorn's body dropped to the floor.

The ends of the tear in the wall then curved outward with a squeak and squeal to meet Noble and Rarity, who by now had taken a few cautious steps back. The figure was now in plain sight, pushing the metal with all his strength. Then he dropped through, coming face to face with the two unicorns.

The figure stuck his swords point-first into the metal hallway and settled down to all fours. His expression was one of residual disgust and disdain. Around his neck were two gold jeweled necklaces, one with a red lightning bolt and the other with an orange X.

“...Firestorm?” Rarity gaped.

Firestorm nodded, and the expression disappeared in a flash to be replaced with a hopeful smile. “Yeah. Glad to see you too.”

Noble couldn’t move, couldn’t even breathe properly. Was this really the same Firestorm he knew? He didn't want to have to face him so soon, but he had to acknowledge it. There was something darker about him. Something more sinister and ill-intentioned.

Firestorm, meanwhile, was holding his arm out for a hug. But Rarity wasn’t obliging. She instead took a step back, her eyes darting towards his victims.

Initially confused, Firestorm noticed her nonverbal cue and rolled his eyes. “Right, like you weren’t about to do the same thing.”

“Storm!”

“What? What is it? Spit it out.”

“You’re… different.”

“Big surprise,” Firestorm noted. “What, is this the first time you’ve seen me actually pissed?”

It wasn’t for Noble. This exceeded what Noble had previously seen displayed.

“You killed… all these ponies,” Rarity was saying. Which surprised Noble; she had been determined to kill to rescue him.

“Ponies?” Firestorm asked in response. “All I killed were devil-worshippers. Is this really the first thing you say to me?”

“...How did you get here?” Noble asked. He was willing to push aside Firestorm’s unnatural aggression as a side effect of being in an evil place for too long. If he was around him again, maybe he’d lean back into his old self.

“Long story short, on a dragon. I came here with Starlight, Tempest, and your girlfriend.”

Noble’s heart jolted. He could see her sooner than he thought! But…

“Hold on. If you came with those four, why do you have Rainbow’s Element?” Rarity inquired.

“Tempest gave it to me,” Firestorm explained. He lifted the Elements up before letting them fall again. “I don’t know where Rainbow herself is, though.”

“Oh, great!” Rarity exclaimed in exasperation. “Even more baloney to go through!”

“What are you doing now?” Noble cut her off.

“You mean, apart from killing everyone I see? Looking for some prisoners. I assume that’s what you’re doing too?”

“Yes. Applejack and Pinkie Pie have been captured.”

“Lucky for you, I know where they are. One of them’s in the northern mountain. I was just about to head over there myself, but I ran across these guys heading for the peak for a ceremony, where the other prisoner is, and I chased them down here again. Is there any news about Spike, or Twilight, or Freedom Fighter? Or, uh, Rainbow?”

“None. I doubt they’re here. It’s enough of a miracle we’re together.”

“Well… not anymore,” Firestorm admitted.

Noble’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Firestorm said, tugging his extinguished blades out of the ruined metal walkway and sheathing them across his back again. “Y’see, Tempest and Starlight are going to find the last Element together.”

“And what about Fluttershy?” Rarity asked in concern. “I do hope she’s safe.”

Firestorm bowed his head.

Tension quickly made Noble shake in place. “Storm?” he dangerously asked, walking right up to him.

Sensing his shift in tone, Firestorm lifted his head challengingly.

“Where is she?” Noble demanded, pulling him close.

“I wanted to rescue her,” Firestorm immediately defended, slapping his hoof away. “But we have other priorities, don’t we?”

“Fluttershy is my highest priority,” Noble rebutted. “Where is she?”

“She’s beyond our reach now,” Firestorm told him. “I understand how you feel, man. But if you want to save her, you might want to at least have your sword with you. And it’s likely with the prisoners. So let’s get our priorities straight.”

Noble took a moment before giving him some space. He was right. This way he could help everypony. But still, the thought of not going to her aid right away stung.

“Hey,” Firestorm called to him, already trotting back the way he came. “After we do this, we’re free to destroy the mountain! Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

Not really. Noble didn’t want to do anything more than have it all be over. But he nodded. “We can’t leave this place standing,” he conceded.

“I knew you’d see it that way!” He urged them by curling his hoof. “Follow me!”

Noble and Rarity exchanged glances. Then Rarity shrugged and trotted after Firestorm, and Noble brought up the rear.

Fluttershy felt the metal barrel she was in finally touch ground, and it was only then that she finally allowed her muscles to relax from holding herself upright. She heard hissing from the refinery station nearby, and heard grunts, squeaking wheels, and the clink of chains.

"Stupid babysitters," the alicorn who had carried her was saying to himself. "I don't need this. We've got slaves, don't we? Why do I need to do this?"

Fluttershy tried adjusting herself in the barrel so she could peek up and out. But she accidentally tilted the barrel too much to one side, and with a clatter, it tipped over, spilling Fluttershy onto the rocky ground.

Fluttershy slowly lifted her head, parting her long pink mane with a hoof to get a good look.

Everything was tinted orange if it wasn’t in dark shadow. The gargantuan steel Tree dominated her background, and there was a busy hustle and bustle in every corner of the cavern. Machines steamed and squeaked in the background, piercing her ear every so often. About twenty feet to her right lay the smoking refinery station, which was in the process of pouring molten metal into reinforced stone buckets.

But Fluttershy’s focus was not on her surroundings. The alicorn prepubescent was frozen in place only three feet away, fixed on her eyes. He was thin, light grey, with a bowl-cut dark green mane, parted only by his horn. Fluttershy looked back into his own eyes, which were light-green, shrunken in shock, and quivering.

Neither pony did anything. The alicorn, because he was probably too surprised, and Fluttershy because of fear. What would he do?

"Wh…" he said, eyes darting to every part of her dirty, ragged body. "What happened to you?"

"... I got lost," Fluttershy assured him, getting to all fours. The next words came instinctually. "What's your name?"

The alicorn self-consciously brushed his bowl-cut mane. "Bedrock Bloodstain."

"That's a very… unique name," Fluttershy told him truthfully. He likely couldn't help it, though, so she avoided it. "Mine is Fluttershy."

He blinked. "Um, Miss Fluttershy? What happened to your horn?"

Fluttershy's eyes flicked up in befuddlement before the thought came to her: he had likely not seen any outside ponies before. He was surrounded by alicorns night and day, and probably thought every pony was an alicorn!

"I wasn't born with one," Fluttershy told him.

"But… that's impossible. You should have one. Everyone else has one!"

"I come from a land far away," Fluttershy divulged, sitting on her rear. "Everyone has either a pair of wings or a horn, but no one has both."

"What?" he burst out.

"And some don't even have either."

Bedrock shook his head. "That's crazy. There's no way!"

"Then how else am I here?" Fluttershy told him.

Bedrock rubbed the side of his head. "Y-you must be some kind of trick. A projection, or something. A spirit! That must be it."

Fluttershy came closer to him and extended a hoof. “Do I feel like a spirit?”

Bedrock hesitantly reached out and connected his hoof with hers. He took a sharp intake of breath, then reached for her head where a horn would be and rubbed it in fascination. “What in the world…”

“I’m from a place called Equestria,” Fluttershy explained, bowing her head, and Bedrock stopped rubbing her. “The same place your parents came from.”

“E… quest… ria,” Bedrock sounded out. He looked into her eyes. “Is that really true?”

“Everypony here either came from Equestria or is a child of somepony who did,” Fluttershy confirmed.

“Oh, my…” he started, looking around the cavern. “You mean… wait, wait. If nopony in Equestria has both wings and a horn, then why do we?”

“I think… because this is what Solaris promised. Power, or an easy life. But you’re stuck here. You can’t leave the mountain. Your parents gave up their entire lives just to be shut away in this horrible place, and what can they do with all this power? Nothing!” Fluttershy’s thoughts had rambled on towards the end, resulting in an inadvertent explosion of frustration.

But Bedrock looked hurt. “Is this… because of something my parents did?”

“What?”

“Why are you here? Is it because my parents left Equestria?”

“Oh, no,” Flutteshy quickly assured him, silently cursing herself for letting herself loose around the kid. “No, it’s nothing personal. We just… there’s something that we need in here, that’s all.”

“Is it to stop Solaris?” Bedrock asked.

“Um…” Fluttershy couldn’t provide more than that.

“You hate Solaris, don’t you?” Bedrock assumed quietly.

“What? I… Well…” Fluttershy started, then sighed. “Yes.”

“Why? Isn’t he the one that made me an alicorn? Why should I hate someone who gave me a gift?”

“Because…” Fluttershy’s eyes drifted to his grey flank. There was no Cutie Mark there. And he certainly looked old enough to have one.

Fluttershy craned her head to examine her own Cutie Mark, and she suddenly knew what she had to say.

“Bedrock?” she asked, gesturing with her eyes. “Do you know what a Cutie Mark is?”

“No,” he admitted. “I’ve never seen anypony with one. Is that what the tattoo is for?”

“It’s not a tattoo,” Fluttershy clarified.

“Good. I thought it was a Tramp Stamp or something. A few ponies here have that.”

“It’s… not that either,” Fluttershy answered as well, blushing gently. “A Cutie Mark is the representation of who you are meant to be as a pony. It appears as you discover your identity.”

“Really?” he asked. “That’s kinda cool.”

“A Cutie Mark can remind you of who you are, and give direction for who you want to be. It gives you hope, and a will to continue in life to achieve that vision of who you can become.”

“And… what does that have to do with Solaris?”

“Take a look around you,” Fluttershy said, casting her eyes about. Cruel machines and working slaves were everywhere. “Is this a place where you can find your identity?”

“I wasn’t so sure I needed one,” Bedrock admitted, scratching his green bowl cut. “I just assumed I’d be living here relaxing with some cute girls until Solaris’ coming. That’s why I was put here, right?”

“But you don’t know,” Fluttershy said. “Everypony on Equus exists because somepony wanted them to. You were put here to become your own person and be free from fear and cages. This mountain is a cage! You’ve never left it.”

“Why do I need to?” Bedrock challenged. “I have everything I need right here. What can the world offer me that I can’t get here?”

Fluttershy considered it. Then she spoke. “Do you know what grass is?”

“No,” Bedrock said.

“Then you haven’t experienced how soft it is to lie down and smell the flowers.”

“Flowers?”

“They’re colorful drops of plants in the green grass. Do you know what water in a brook sounds like? Or what birds sound like, chirping and singing in chorus?”

“No. Why do I need to?”

“Aren’t you curious to know how sweet a donut can be? Or juicy strawberries, or pearl-white clouds in a blue sky? The feeling of swimming in a lake, or watching a play, or even Hearth’s Warming Eve?”

“Hearth’s Warming?”

“It’s a wonderful holiday. There’s cold snow that falls from the sky, and you get to feast on food with your family, and you exchange presents and tell your mother you love her!”

Bedrock frowned. “My mom never said that to me. Why would I say it to her?”

“That’s what ponies do back in Equestria,” Fluttershy divulged. “Everypony has a place where they belong. We all try to be each other’s friends. And we believe friendship is the greatest kind of magic there is.”

“That sounds weird.”

“But it’s true! There’s an entire world beyond this mountain, Bedrock. There are colors and sounds you’ve never seen or heard before, senses you’ve never explored, a destiny you haven’t fulfilled. You came into this life to do something. And the world is your birthright! So if you had the option, would you claim it?”

Bedrock nodded, a spark in his light green eyes. “If I could…” He looked straight up in contemplation, then back to Fluttershy. “What’s a sea?”

Initially taken aback by the abruptness of it, Fluttershy answered. “It’s a huge body of salty water that covers seventy percent of Equus’ surface. Millions and millions of creatures are in it. It’s miles deep and hundreds of miles wide.”

Bedrock gulped. “Miles…” He lay flat on the ground, folded his front arms, and rested his head in them. “My parents once said they didn’t cross the sea to this place just to have me misbehave. And ever since, I’ve wondered about that. What was beyond here? Was this place really the Promised Land? How could it not be? Why else would they come here? But now… I suppose you’re here. And if you’re here, you’re right. So… if you’re actually correct...”

Fluttershy knelt in front of him and touched his arm softly, giving an encouraging smile.

Bedrock sighed. “Why’d they leave? If Equestria is so great, why did they leave to come here? And… if they had a Cutie Mark… if they had a destiny, a purpose, then why’d they give it up?”

“Because they thought that if they had enough power, they wouldn’t need a purpose holding them down,” Fluttershy told him. “They thought freedom meant having enough power to hold no responsibility. So they weren’t doing so good to begin with. This mountain seems to attract those with problems. And their goals are just erased, given a placebo to deal with it. They have no agency anymore, no life road. No freedom except the freedom to pick a vice. Everypony just wastes away with all their pleasure.”

“...I don’t want to be problematic,” Bedrock admitted. “And there’s just… something about it…”

“What is it?”

“I’d… want to be free. If the world really has all that stuff I’ve never heard of, then what am I doing cooped up in here? Why does Solaris keep us all in here?”

“You kinda run out of things to do soon enough,” Fluttershy remarked, brushing aside his bowl cut. “Is there something you’d like to do specifically?”

Bedrock puffed. “I suppose the first order of business would be seeing the sea. And beyond that sea…”

“Freedom,” Fluttershy whispered.

“...I want it,” Bedrock said. He raised his voice. “I want it! The world is my birthright!”

“Oh, shut up,” snapped a new voice, and both Fluttershy and Bedrock swiveled their heads. A green dragon was working the refinery with his bare claws, stirring in a bucket periodically. “The world’s not worth it. It’s a mess creatures like you and me can’t afford. Why bother hoping for the best? Won’t happen anyway.”

Fluttershy approached him next. “Why do you say that, mister?”

The green dragon shook off some molten metal from his arm. “Because look at you! You think everything’ll work out for you, but how often does it? You thought you were in control, and you weren’t! Malice threw you in here anyway!”

Fluttershy leaned back in astonishment. “No, he didn’t,” she said.

“Well, he did for me,” the green dragon muttered, waving his arm around the entire cavern. “As well as all the other dragons you see in here. We were part of his quote-unquote insurrection. We served him. We were inspired by him. He was going to do so much for us! He was the future! Then he... betrayed us on a dime and became Dragon Lord anyway. He used the Bloodstone Scepter to send us here as punishment for treason.”

“That’s awful!” Fluttershy gaped, and her heart sank in her chest. All those poor creatures, tricked by him and punished!

“Yeah.” He snorted. “Don’t need to tell me twice. But I learned a lesson from him. You can’t count on anypony. You gotta save yourselves.”

“So can’t you save yourself here?” Bedrock contributed.

“You’re one to talk, ponyboy. And no, not likely,” the green dragon said sourly. “Look at this place. Ain’t no getting out here. And besides, even if we did break out, where would we be welcome? We’d be fugitives for life. Might as well stay here and enjoy the smell of melting metal.”

“What’s your name?” Fluttershy asked.

The green dragon started to pull on a chain to tilt a bucket of smelted steel. “Cinder.”

“Um, Cinder? What if I told you there’s a way you could get back at him?”

Cinder let go of the chain for a split second before seizing it again, preventing the load from spilling. Cinder’s head turned around to regard her directly for the first time. “Go on.”

The assembly was growing larger by the minute, filling up with dozens and dozens of dragons, but Twilight still grew anxious. Couldn’t they just grow the army as they flew towards Nevermore?

Their time frame was running out. Twilight knew that realistically, they couldn’t all fly to the mountain in so short a time. If she wanted their growing volunteer army to strike quick and hard, she’d need to create a portal. But the problem was, she needed to know where Mount Nevermore was relative to her current position. The only pony that both knew where it was and could get there quick enough was Rainbow Dash. So Twilight was currently straining to think of a way to utilize her in the best way.

While Twilight puzzled over the matter, Rainbow and Freedom Fighter were side by side, looking at all the dragons that were growing in their midst, both in the air and on the ground. The few that caught sight of them just curled their lips in disgust and turned away.

“You think this’ll be enough?” Rainbow was asking.

“It has to be,” was Freedom Fighter’s answer. “All I need is for them to get me close to Malice. I’ll take care of him.” He kicked the crumbly basalt rock. “This time.”

“Why d’ya think it’s so hard?” Rainbow asked. “The rest of your destiny seems to be fulfilled. Why is this the hardest part?”

“Because he’s a slippery fish,” Freedom simply said. “Back on Mount Aris, you and I found that out together. But I’ve grown since then. I feel complete now.”

“This feels slightly more dangerous than Mount Aris,” Rainbow dryly said. “You sure you’re up to the task?”

“I will kill him, Rainbow. I made a covenant. Malice can beg for forgiveness at Faust’s hooves. I’m not the one he has to grovel to. I’m simply the one to speed him to his just reward. For how much longer does the land have to groan under the weight of the bodies he’s created? How more nourished do the plants have to be from his victim’s blood? The blood cries out, Rainbow. For vengeance. This started as something personal, but it’s beyond personal now; how many more ponies like me has he created? No, I’m just the only one who can step up to him. I will speak for the voices of all those whom he has desecrated. I take up their mantle, shoulder their burden, and fight for their freedom. I will bleach his corrupting stain from the planet with his own blood. He will pay the ultimate sacrifice. He’ll know it as intimately as I will; we both were bearers of that Element.”

Rainbow blinked. “You seem… even more serious than usual.”

“Would you like to guess why?”

“On second thought, I understand.”

“Glad to see that much,” Freedom said, although the corner of his lips twitched up.

“And how are you the most eloquent one? You couldn’t even speak for most of your life, but you can give Noble Blade a run for his money.”

“I’ve had a lot of time to practice,” Freedom Fighter dryly replied.

Not too far off from them and Twilight, creating a triangle, Spike and Garble were talking as well. And Twilight realized that their conversation wasn’t spiteful or full of ridicules, but was actually pretty normal… as far as interactions went. The source material was still concerning.

“I’m really proud of you!” Spike was congratulating. “You stood up to your jerk father and didn’t die!”

“He’s not really that much of a jerk,” Garble quickly responded. “His daughter died. Give him a break.”

“I mean, wasn’t he kinda jerky before?”

“He was gruff, but that comes with being Dragon Lord, I guess. How else are you going to command all these guys’ attention?”

“Can’t you be powerful without being mean?”

“Rulers have to be like that, Spike. You’re ruler for a reason. You don’t wanna pull out that angry card unless you really mean it, but you still gotta establish that you’re the biggest boss around.”

“I agree,” Spike said, quieter. “If you have to say you’re the Dragon Lord in order to be respected, you probably don’t deserve to be the Dragon Lord to begin with.”

Garble, after digesting that, nodded along. “Makes sense. I guess. But you still gotta command attention. And being everyone else’s servant isn’t going to make dragons respect you.”

“So… establish a presence, but as someone who everypony likes?”

“Eh. I’d say everydragon, but yeah. And there’s no way that’ll ever happen.”

“It might happen sooner than you think.”

Garble leaned back. “What, are you planning on being Dragon Lord? That’s why we’re talking about this!”

“Uh, no. Um, I’d probably screw things up.”

“Hey, you said it, not me.”

“Now, wait, hold on a second!”

“You’re the one that said you’d do a terrible job,” Garble pointed out. “As for me? I’d do a way better job.”

“Assuming Torch sees you as his son again,” Spike brought up.

“Yeah,” Garble admitted. “But whether Torch likes it or not, his time is almost up. He’s old, and he’s already been Dragon Lord. Someone has to fill his role. And who else can it be but one of us? If you’re not willing to, I’d be more than happy to relieve you of that burden.”

“I think I can carry it a little bit more,” Spike resolutely denied.

“Having said that, you’d better try,” Garble told him. “Because I’d hate to be Dragon Lord if no one challenged me. I’d feel unworthy.”

“You sure that’s the only thing making you feel unworthy?” Spike asked. “You still feeling guilt?”

Garble froze in place. He gave a puff through his nostrils, making a jet of smoke rise from them.

“I keep on remembering the scene,” Garble said. “Watching Ember’s last moments... Maybe I had noticed something was off, and I could have acted sooner. If I had, then maybe Torch is right; maybe I am complicit in her death. I do know that if I knew what I know now, I would have saved her.”

“That’s all that matters, though,” Spike said. “You love her.”

Garble gave a tight nod. “Yeah. Sure.” He crossed his hands behind his back and rested. “Look at us. One thinks he deserves the throne, but knows he’d be bad at ruling, and the other knows he’d be good at ruling, but thinks he doesn’t deserve it.”

“Sucks for them that we’re the only options,” Spike agreed.

A gust of air and a shadow overhead made Twilight snap out of her thoughts (and eavesdropping) and look up. A massive red dragon that could fit Twilight whole in his mouth settled to the ground with an earthshaking rumble. Twilight gave him a stare of apprehension before realizing there was something familiar about this particular dragon.

“Wait a minute!” Rainbow exclaimed, flying over and hovering above his tremendous head. “I know you!”

“How?” Twilight asked, then the puzzle pieces clicked together.

Rainbow said, “I kicked him in the face,” at the same time the dragon said, “She kicked me in the face.” Dragon and pony then shared a quizzical look.

“You!” Twilight realized. “Wow, it… Oh, my goodness, has it really been…”

“No time,” the dragon cut her off. “There are ponies at Mount Nevermore.”

Twilight gaped. The basalt ground crumbled away beneath her hooves, leaving her dizzy and astounded. “What? Who?”

“That one nice pony. She was there. A dark one, too. She told me to tell you. One more with a horn… She was your color, but lighter. And an orange one with wings. He gave me four stars for the flight because I didn’t have peanuts.” His eyes rolled up. “What’s a peanut? I can’t help these things!”

“Firestorm!” Rainbow realized. She began to rise with defiant purpose. “I’m not waiting any longer, Twilight. I’m going now!”

“Do you know where it is?” Freedom Fighter asked.

“Yes!” Rainbow exasperatedly said. “I… triangulated Malice’s flight pattern on the path here. I can track him!

“Once you get there,” Twilight called, “Shoot up a beacon with Stormkeeper, or a Rainboom. Once I get your approximate location, I can open a portal and send these guys through!”

“Got it, Twi!” Rainbow promised. “They won’t know what hit ‘em!”

With a sound like a roaring rocket, she erupted from that spot in the sky, staggering them all, and in the blink of an eye she was only a speck in the distance, trailing a rainbow.

“Let the wind hurl you,” Freedom Fighter prayed as she disappeared. “And may the mountain’s fires never touch you.”

Twilight wasn’t as eloquent as he was in the moment. She settled for a simple, “Good luck.”

The green crystal tagged along them like an obedient bird. But it was squashing and stretching in Rarity's glow. It glittered into a shining, sleek cross; an ornate dagger of pristine quality.

"How often have you used that kind of thing before?" Noble asked, eyeing it strangely.

Rarity rotated the dagger to examine it from another angle. “Well, darling, I hope you’ve noticed I’m really rather inexperienced. My first time was… about three hours ago. This isn’t exactly the ideal condition to just take up swordfighting.”

“But hey--this isn’t your first time,” Noble pointed out, laughing.

“That will be such an encouraging thought to me. Perhaps you can use it as an epitaph, darling.”

“You won’t have to! You’ll do smashing!”

“Smashing? That doesn’t seem like what one would do with a sword, does it?”

“You’ll do…” he stopped talking for a moment before resuming. “You’ll be on the cutting edge!” He quickly shook his head. “Wait, no, that’s not what I-”

“Darling,” Rarity warned before descending into a giggle.

“What is up with you two?” Firestorm demanded from up front.

“What do you mean?” Rarity inquired.

“Well, darling, not only is this situation actually serious, but don’t think acting so chummy with him will make him forget his highest priority.”

Noble’s face grew stony. “Is that what you think this is about?”

“Did you just call me darling?” Rarity asked in disbelief. “In that tone!”

“Oh, so when you do it, it’s fine, but not me?”

“Hey, hey, calm down,” Noble quickly urged. “This isn’t the time.”

Firestorm groaned and stomped a bit harder on the floor, picking up the pace. “If you really find it so offensive, stop saying it!”

“It’s more about how you treat her,” Noble clarified impatiently. “Not about what you say.”

“She calls me darling, she calls you darling, she calls herself darling, darling this, darling that. Darling, puh-leez. Darling, please fetch me that. Darling, help me set up my tent. Darling, be more considerate of others. Darling, give me some space! I cracked a hoof! I barely even notice it any more.”

“Firestorm,” Noble warned.

“Darling, might I borrow some chocolate? What the Tartarus are you going to do, give it back?”

“Storm!” Noble ordered, and the pegasus stopped talking. He was impatient, however, and definitely not about to take it back.

“What is up with you?” Noble asked, coming close to him. “Do you have no emotional control anymore?”

“Oh, my apologies if I’m a little high-strung right now.”

“And you think I’m not? Do you see me yelling at Rarity?”

“Of course not,” Firestorm said. “You’re close chums.”

“And we aren’t?”

“We are. You’re the one-”

“Don’t you start that with me!” Noble cut him off. “I don’t want to hear you talking like this until we’re back home, do you hear me?”

“I hear you,” Firestorm said.

“Hearing and understanding are two different things, Storm.”

“I understand!” Firestorm said louder, unable to look him in the eye.

Noble thinned his lips, but didn’t press the subject, and Firestorm sighed deeply and indicated further down their hallway. “We should be reaching the Son soon. Get ready.” He took a step, then craned his head around to look at Rarity. “Sorry. About that.”

“It’s fine,” Rarity said, clearly not sounding fine.

Firestorm, unconvinced, blew air from his nostrils and trotted further down their hallway. In just a few steps, he had disappeared into the darkness, leaving Rarity and Noble to follow his path.

“He’s not fine at all,” Rarity told him, and there was a hint of fear in it. “I don’t remember him being so… cold.”

Irony was the first word that came to Noble’s forefront.

After another few long stretches of the same dark red hallways--it felt like Rarity was inside a chocolate-covered cherry--the hall finally began to widen out and up. Rarity had no idea how long or how far she had traveled, nor where in the mountain she was. All she knew was that it was almost over.

They would be waiting for them. But Rarity was okay with that. They’d need that edge to even stand on their same level. Especially that whore Warcane.

Rarity was taken aback. Never before would she have thought of using that word in her internal vernacular to describe somepony else. She never thought she would need to. And she was above thinking of them like that, wasn’t she?

But at the same time, wasn’t that the truth? Warcane was exactly that. It wasn’t an indictment upon her. She just was one, and she was proud of it. What was wrong with calling her that?

“I’ll hang back,” Firestorm said, stopping. “They’re expecting you, but not me. Give a signal when you need me, won’t you?”

Rarity and Noble continued, side by side. There was a light just ahead, but not light enough to blind her. It was grey, which was bright enough.

The hall opened up, finally, into a massive cave, but it was nowhere near as big as Rarity was expecting.

Oh, sure, there were seven levels of hollowed-out holes on the curving, circular walls. But it also wasn’t an entirely hollow mountain. It certainly wasn’t the biggest underground cave she had ever seen. The Rolk’s cave and Seaquestria were examples.

It was grey and bare, and Rarity couldn’t see into the holes. It looked like a honeycomb. There were a few spare candles embedded into the walls and into some small stalagmites, flickering in the presence of the newcomers.

But a voice, intimately familiar to her, cried out her name, and Rarity looked up. Her heart jolted. There she was, hanging in a crudely-constructed cage suspended from the solid metal rafters supporting the ceiling. Rarity could recognize that tone of voice, that accent, and her colors.

“Applejack!” Rarity cried in response, galloping further into the grey cave, Noble following after a moment. Applejack was hanging from a chain fifteen meters long, making every adjustment swing and tilt the cage she was in. It was spinning slightly. Her characteristic Stetson hat was missing, and her braided blonde mane was undone and messy, hanging in strands across her face.

“Don’t try it!” Applejack called down. “They’re-”

“Just as we predicted,” a deep voice cut off. Rarity swiveled in place, trying to find it, but the pony in question was already coming out of a dark hole on the ground floor. It was Brimstone, ebony black and dead-eyed. “That was predictable. Too predictable. So tell me, little ponies. What is your secret plan?”

“I’m glad you asked that,” Noble remarked, rolling his eyes. “I was about to take this time to explain my elaborate counterattack.”

Brimstone gave an empty chuckle. “Believe me when I say this isn’t about Solaris, or duty, or any of that garbage. This is just personal. You are the most intriguing thing to happen in my entire life. Including my herd mates.”

“Give me my sword and I’ll show you how intriguing I can be,” Noble replied.

“I think not.” There arose a glow from behind him in the darkened room, and the sword in question, shining blue from the Element embedded in the crosspiece, slowly floated out of the darkness and levitated beside Brimstone. “This is very intriguing all by itself. I gave the rest of the Elements to High Priest Ajax, but this particular toy… I decided to keep. Don’t you know you’re supposed to share during playtime, boy?”

“I’m not playing. Not anymore. You took my friends.”

“And you killed Spindlestick,” Brimstone pointed out. “He was a herd mate.”

“You didn’t care,” Rarity replied, her emerald dagger floating above her head, the point following Brimstone’s chest. “There’s a difference between us.”

“A difference which can’t be reconciled,” Brimstone declared without emotion. “Warcane!”

A wicked, high cackle sounded throughout the empty cave, and the red alicorn swooped in a circle around the chain in the center before landing on it like a predatory vulture and jolting the captive inside. Her sharpened teeth were exposed in a mocking grin.

“You,” Rarity whisper-growled.

“I’m glad you remember me, darling,” Warcane jubilantly crowed. “I was getting so lonely with only her for company. You do remember the promise I made you?” she asked, addressing Applejack at the end.

“Ya never shut up ‘bout it!” Applejack yelled. “It’s bull, ya hear me?”

“Doesn’t it sound like a good deal?” Warcane pressured, crawling all over the cage, reaching in, and holding Applejack’s head against the bars of the cage. She inhaled through her nose right beside her. “I get to have her if you die!”

“I’ll kill her,” Rarity whispered.

Warcane then hopped from the cage to the ground twenty feet below like a cat and started to prowl around them in a circle. “I’m sorry, what was that? Could you speak up a little? I’d love to hear your screams… taste your blood...”

“We knew that you knew... we knew... you knew... we were setting a trap,” Brimstone said, pausing to make sure it was correct. The blue blade swirled by his side, creating fans of solid color in the air. “But the bait was irresistible. There was no way you wouldn’t come, and not without a plan. So please, give us something to work with here. Otherwise, Warcane will just have to kill you both.”

Out of a third hole, on the second floor, a small golden alicorn poked his head out, his horn already charging. His eyes roamed fearfully on the scene unfolding below.

“Goldie,” Noble said. “Get out. You don’t have to die today.”

“No,” Goldie said, which was more courageous than Rarity expected of him. Goldie’s horn pulsed a bit brighter. “I’m in the herd. I’ll stay.”

“If you insist.”

“You are the one that does not have to die this day, Noble Blade,” Brimstone intoned. “Applejack’s life is in my grip. Stand down, or I will squeeze… until this cave brims over with her blood.”

“It’s not her blood that it’s about to fill up with,” Noble disagreed. “The weather today seems a bit murky, don’t you think?”

“Weather?” Rarity incredulously exclaimed.

“Look up,” Noble encouraged, pointing. “It’s about to start raining fire.”

Warcane lifted her head and squinted into the dark rafters. “But it’s-” She stopped and gasped.

A meteor streaked from the cave entrance in a tight diagonal path, slicing cleanly through the chain holding Applejack up. The fiery smear of light then looped and plowed straight for Goldie, who could not possibly evade it.

The ledge he was on exploded, flinging rocks and dust into the air in clouds. Brimstone and Warcane cringed and covered their heads as dust obscured their vision.

Meanwhile, the cage was enveloped in a dark blue aura just before it hit the ground, and with a grating squeak, the bars bent open. The fiery streak impacted the ground as well and defused itself, revealing Firestorm.

Applejack clambered out, took a few deep breaths, and immediately took Rarity’s hoof, tugging for the exit. “Let’s git outta here!”

“Not yet,” Rarity said, releasing herself from Applejack’s hoof. “Not until we’ve dealt with these two.”

She indicated the alicorns with a jolt of her head. Brimstone and Warcane exchanged quick, worried glances through the dust clouds as they stood back up again.

“I’m sorry,” Firestorm unapologetically said. “You were saying something? About how you were gonna win? Please, continue.”

Warcane snarled and spread her wings, beginning to circle them once more.

“Oh, you were finished?” Firestorm asked dryly. “Well then, allow me to retort.”

He flapped into the air and drew the swords from his back.

“This place might be your home,” Firestorm conceded. With an indiscernible movement, the swords caught flame. He lifted them to either side of his head, setting his face aglow. “But this is our battlefield.”

Chapter Eighty-five: The Corrupted Element

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“Is there a faster way than this?” Tempest grumbled as they tramped through the passages. Her armored hooves made pronounced clinks on the metal floor. It was the only way to track progress, since the dull lighting didn’t make things easy to see.

Starlight sighed. “Probably. We just don’t know what it is.”

“Then we’ll persuade somepony to tell us,” Tempest shrugged.

“Where do we find one of them?” Starlight asked in response. “I don’t even have an idea where we are!”

“I can fix that.” She began to examine the walls. “Look for a door.”

“To what?”

“Anything. It could be a bathroom, but we need to find someone to beat this out of.”

“Bathroom?”

“Yeah. So?”

“It’s just weird. I think they wouldn’t have them.”

“Why not?”

“Well, they’re immortal alicorns, aren’t they? They don’t have any reason to eat or drink. Besides, look at this place. You can’t plant crops or hunt out here.”

“I suppose.” Tempest shrugged, then frowned. “Wait. Twilight eats, and she’s an alicorn.”

“Fine. Then these alicorns may not need to eat.”

“But wouldn’t that make these alicorns an improvement over the princesses?” Tempest asked.

“I… don’t think so,” Starlight slowly said.

“Why not? If you don’t need food or drink again, you’re not in danger of starving. You aren’t tied down by the burden of finding food. You aren’t even enslaved to a temptation to indulge, since it doesn’t make a difference either way. What advantage could a reliance on food possibly bring?”

“When was the last time these alicorns felt hunger?” Starlight asked.

“Probably never.”

“When was the last time they felt satisfied from food?” Starlight followed up.

Tempest took a second. “Probably... never.”

“These alicorns don’t feel the joy food can bring,” Starlight said. “It’s become irrelevant to them. Even if they had good food, they wouldn’t appreciate it. They’re missing out on what the world has to offer.”

“But they don’t need to.”

“That’s the trap. Solaris transforms these poor ponies into alicorns and promises them nothing but benefits. The problem is, they’re missing out on the mortal experience. They opted out of Faust’s gift of life by cutting themselves off from suffering, and joy in the process. They might claim they’re blessed by their God, but they’re the ones stuck in a volcano, cut off from the rest of the world, with nopony but themselves. Why does it matter if they’re more advanced if there’s nothing to do with it? They’re impotent. They have nothing. They have no joy because they have nothing to rely on, nothing to make them humble. And do you know how happy prideful, cocky ponies are? They aren’t.”

“So, wait. We’re going to suffer… but we’re going to be happy about it?” Tempest shrewdly observed.

“Pain is inevitable, Tempest. Suffering is optional.”

Tempest blinked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Starlight, however, swiveled her head to her side of the hall. “Found one!”

Tempest rolled her eyes. “Nice evasion,” she muttered.

Starlight’s eyes were drawn to the glowing red text above the door. “Authorized access only,” she read aloud. Then she enveloped the door with her magic, and with a grunt ripped the slab of metal off its hinges. With a pulse of her horn, the entire thing crumpled into a ball, and she set it aside. “I suppose that’s my authority.”

Meanwhile, Tempest leaped inside, her horn crackling like a cut wire. The door led to a maintenance room no bigger than a closet, and there just so happened to be an alicorn tinkering with floating tools on a series of pipes and electrical boxes, an open toolbox at his hooves. The alicorn, who himself was electric blue with a white mane and a black bolt styled into it, fell against the pipes as Tempest approached. His quivering yellow eyes focused on her broken stump, and drifted to the circuit breakers right beside her.

Tempest quickly inferred what he was thinking. “Here’s the deal, boy. I need some answers. And if I don’t get them, I’ll fry you and the entire grid.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” he breathed.

“Watch me,” she whispered, and her horn sparked, almost touching the circuit breaker. The blue alicorn flinched, and Tempest let her magic simmer down a bit. “Now. What’s your name?”

“... Lightning Lover,” he responded. In the light provided by her sparking horn, he was staring at the ground, pink in the face.

“Did you choose that name when you were turned into an alicorn?” Tempest asked.

He nodded, his head tight and his lips sealed.

“Guess that didn’t turn out too well for you. How religious are you?”

“A little bit,” he murmured.

“Where is the Element of Harmony you use?”

Lightning Lover started to shake more profusely. “Wh-what?”

“It would be a stone, about the size of a child’s heart. Maybe I can provide you with a reference.”

“Y-you don’t have to!” he quickly said. “Y-you must be talking about Thragya, right?”

“Thragya?” Tempest repeated, tilting her head.

“It’s a sacred rock. It means Soul Stone. Very important to Solaris. I-it’s in the temple, at the top of the volcano. There’s an open area we use for ceremonies.”

“Are you sure? Have you ever seen Thragya?”

“Plenty of times. It’s green, but it has swirls of mist within. You can’t miss it. Every so often, one who thinks they are worthy to wield it steps forth, but they’re always destroyed.”

Tempest remembered what happened to the Storm King’s servants on the airship. Each of them obliterated in a unique way. This was it! It had to be!

“And how would one get to this Thragya?” she finished.

“Some of us fly. The rest of us use the main doors.”

“Isn’t there a secret way?”

“Well,” he said, pausing. “I-I don’t know.”

Tempest raised her hoof threateningly. “You sure?”

“No, no, wait! I know! But it’s just…”

“You don’t want to betray your heavenly father.” She rolled her eyes. “Trust me, I know. There was a Nox who thought just the same as you.” She leaned closer in. “Why serve him if you are so afraid of him?”

Lightning Lover’s teeth chattered as his eyes darted from one corner to another. “S-s-stop it!”

“Of course,” she allowed him, backing up. “Who am I to give you so much fear? That’s the work of your God to do.”

His horn burst into brilliant blue flame. “Stop it!”

Her hoof quickly wrapped around his horn, and her metal-shod hooves extinguished his magic like a doused lamp. “Curious. You were the one that stopped.”

He tried to tug away, but Tempest’s grip was too strong.

“That’s a nice horn,” Tempest remarked. “I’d love a horn like that. It’d be a shame if something…” She raised her other hoof high above her head. “Happened to it.”

“Stop!” he cried, falling to his knees, although his head was still being held up. “I-I’ll tell you! Just don’t break my horn! Please!”

“Then talk.”

“There’s a passage the priests use!” he said, and his voice choked up. “Just a bit up ahead! That’s how they enter at the horn's call! Aaah!”

Tempest released him, setting all her hooves on the ground again. “Show us.”

Lightning Lover, though, started to cry, wheezing as he did so.

“We don’t have all day,” Tempest snapped. “Get to it.”

“Oh, my God,” he groaned in despair. “My God! Why am I so weak?! Why did I give in?” He moaned and punched himself in the temple repeatedly. “I don’t deserve your mercy!”

“You don’t deserve ours, either,” Tempest reminded him. “You can repent later. Hop to it.”

The alicorn got to his hooves, still crying, and forced himself past Tempest, who didn’t move an inch as they bumped shoulders.

Tempest looked behind to watch him exit, and as she did, she caught Starlight’s wide eyes. Starlight watched Lightning Lover exit in a bumbling mess, then she turned her shocked face back to Tempest.

Tempest shrugged noncommittally. This was a war, right?

Starlight, though, broke away from Tempest, gritting her teeth in anger, and Tempest felt something churn inside her. Had she done something wrong? She made a brat cry. So what? They got what they wanted. And the alicorn was a Solaris-worshipper. Why was Starlight feeling sympathy for them? They were enemies. You specifically designated them to be destroyed. That was the point, right?

And yet, Starlight’s reaction…

As Fluttershy finished explaining, Cinder stroked his green chin with his stubby claws. The refinery station was left unattended. “So you’re saying… if we manage to help you in your little mission… then Malice will be destroyed?”

“Malice serves a devil,” Fluttershy said, and beside her, Bedrock squirmed at the word. Fluttershy didn’t stop. “And the Elements have the potential to create or take life on a large scale instantly. I-I’d hate to take life, believe me. But… then again, Malice and the Noxxa aren’t exactly living like you or me. They’re living a half-life in cursed bodies, and it’s little more than dust at the end of the day. It’d be better for them if they didn’t have them.”

“It’d be better for me if he didn’t have one, too. You sure Malice will be destroyed?”

“With all ten Elements, there’s nothing we can’t do,” Fluttershy affirmed.

Cinder hummed, eyes roaming over the interior of the mountain. All over the place, miniature dragons were hard at work. Only a few alicorns were supervising; they were on the upper branches of the Tree.

“Malice always treated me like scum,” Cinder noted. “And rightfully so. I was a coward. Spineless. I want the chance to prove he was wrong about me.” He nodded. “I don’t see why I shouldn’t go along with you.”

“Yay!” Fluttershy whispered, hovering in the air for a moment. “What do we have to do? I could talk with the dragons and see if they’re interested.”

“Of course they’re interested!” Cinder immediately refused. “But they’re demoralized. That’s what this place does to you. Why bother trying to look for a way to escape?”

“But if we showed them a way out, I’m confident that they’d take it. All we have to do is provide them with a chance to be free,” Fluttershy encouraged.

“I never knew how small my world was until my eyes were opened,” Bedrock pointed out in agreement. “If we showed them… they’d follow.”

His eyes drifted back up to the few alicorn guards on the metal walkways. “Luckily for us, these ponies aren’t used to keeping prisoners. They were as surprised to see us as we were to see them when we first appeared here. But they quickly overpowered us and set us to work reinforcing the mountain. They haven’t estimated yet how many of them they need to keep us docile, though. They think only a dozen or so is enough, since they’ve got wings and a horn, but there are thousands of us. And we have an alicorn of our own--and we have you.”

“Me?” Fluttershy bowed her head in humility. “I-I’m not sure how more powerful I am than my friends. They can control lightning, and fire, and jewels and explosions. All I can do is make animals.”

“Perfect! You can inflate our numbers! They’ll get overwhelmed in no time. We just need to start the attack and make it go well.”

“And, I mean… Look, these are alicorns I’ve known my entire life,” Bedrock said. “I’m not sure if I can just fire on them.”

“Then don’t fight. And don’t be free,” Fluttershy replied. “If you lose, you die. If you fight, you can win. If you win, you become free. The only way to live is to fight for your vision! Fight for the sea, Bedrock. Just as how I’ll fight for my friends.”

Bedrock rubbed his arm while looking up at the faraway shadowy alicorns. His mouth was twisted in indecision.

Fluttershy, after her statement, gave a sideways glance to Cinder. “So, uh, when do we do this?”

“Why not now?” Cinder asked.

Fluttershy looked taken aback. “What?”

“There’s nothing stopping us from this, right?”

“Um…” Fluttershy considered the success of Starlight and Tempest. Would it still succeed if they ripped the mountain apart from the inside? “...No, not really.”

“So let’s get to work!” Cinder turned back to the refinery station. “I’ll try to sabotage the mechanics. You start making animals. Big ones.”

“Big ones,” Fluttershy repeated, taking a deep breath. “Bears. Tigers. Lions.”

“What are those?” Cinder and Bedrock asked at the same time.

Fluttershy blinked in brief surprise before rolling her eyes in bemusement. “I’ll show you.”

Fluttershy trotted over to a bucket of molten metal in the refinery. The size seemed suitable. She could work with it.

She placed her hoof on the metal edge and immediately withdrew it, shaking it and hissing with sudden pain. Seeing Cinder work it barehanded made her momentarily forget it was scalding hot.

“You okay?” Bedrock immediately asked, trotting over.

“I’m fine,” Fluttershy said, lifting her hoof again. “I only need to touch it for a moment.”

Concentrating her will, building up the power residing inside her, she scraped the surface of the metal bucket, and in that one moment when she touched it, her power was all channeled into the bucket, and her command was put into action. Live.

The cast iron bucket immediately stretched and squashed into an unnatural shape. A tinkle was heard as the magic worked and solidified the shape into something recognizable.

Bedrock and Cinder stared, wide-eyed and slack-jawed, as the very much inanimate metal bucket shifted into a black bear, all traces of its previous state disappearing completely. The bear gave a moaning grumble, and Fluttershy grew a smile as the bear nuzzled her fuzzy but dirty chest.

“Aww, there, there,” Fluttershy encouraged, rubbing his furry nose and ears. “I’m glad you’re excited. We have a big job ahead of us.”

Bedrock took several cautious steps towards the bear, extending a hoof. “Is that…”

“This is a bear,” Fluttershy explained, stepping out of the bear’s way. “They’re usually dangerous, but this one follows my instructions. There, there, say hello!”

The bear took one look at Bedrock, and, after a tense moment, gave a long lick of his face. The front of his bowl cut immediately stuck up.

“I may have to get used to this,” Bedrock deadpanned.

Fluttershy laughed. “He likes you. Why don’t you pet him for a bit?”

Fluttershy then turned her attention to the metal barrels she had been brought in. There were plenty of loose rocks and scrap metal all over the place.

“I’ve got a job to do.”

Lightning Lover didn’t have to go far before leading them to a patch of wall they would have found otherwise indiscernible. It was right beneath a red lantern, and there was a hole just wide enough for a horn to fit into. Lightning inserted his horn into the wall and made it glow an intense blue.

Blue spirals bloomed from the entry point and traced elaborate lines into a glowing outline on the angled wall. Lightning Lover took his horn out and stumbled back. The outline slid back and split in half, revealing a sinister red tunnel vanishing into oblivion.

“How did you know this exists?” Starlight asked him directly, although her tone was one of wonder.

“I-I’m mostly maintenance. Mostly chose to because… it was once my Cutie Mark.”

Starlight took a glance at his flank. It was blank. Most likely erased when he became an alicorn. Starlight gulped, taking a step back in realization. Tempest realized all this, but reminded herself to ask later.

“Now, about you,” Tempest said, as her turn came to speak.

“Please,” Lightning stammered, the black bolt wobbling in his mane as he shook. “If you’re going to kill me-”

“Kill?” Tempest asked. “I’d sooner destroy a stained-glass window than stoop to killing someone as cowardly as you. However, since we can’t have you following us either--”

Here she smacked him upside the head.

“Ow!” Lightning cried, rubbing his skull. “What the-”

Tempest hurriedly smacked him again, and this time he went out cold, slumping against the wall.

“What’s wrong with you?” Starlight hissed.

“I’m wondering the same thing!” Tempest said, adjusting Lightning’s body. “I thought I was really practiced at it. Maybe his head is harder than I realized-”

But upon seeing the face Starlight was giving her, Tempest fell silent. She knew inherently that she was messed up more than the other Element bearers. Tempest even put on a shamed expression the longer Starlight maintained eye contact. That was something new.

“Come on,” Starlight urged, brisk and cold. “Let’s get this over with.”

She trotted into the corridor. Tempest quickly followed.

The corridor was narrow. Red lamps still illuminated their vision, but it was no longer lined with metal. The black cave walls were carved and smooth, and every step echoed. There were no shadows, for the darkness was already everywhere.

After going for about twenty seconds, Tempest sighed. “What’s your deal?”

“You haven’t heard about what I’ve done,” Starlight snapped. “Who I was before. I once controlled a village full of ponies with no Cutie Marks. So seeing more ponies without them...”

Tempest inhaled through her teeth. “Yikes.” After a second more, she said, “Look, if you’re really so concerned about that guy-”

“He’s a pony,” Starlight cut her off. “Just like you are. Just like I am. We got better. Who knows about him?”

“He won’t,” Tempest assured her. “He made his choice.”

“Treat them like you would treat yourself,” Starlight maintained. “It doesn’t matter what they’ve done.”

“It kinda does,” Tempest muttered under her breath.

“This is not friendship,” Starlight asserted, stamping the ground. “If losing what makes us special is what it takes to get the Elements, we won’t be able to use them!”

“How else will we do it? Sing kumbaya and dance past the danger?”

“Don’t you see?” Starlight said. “What if this is all a ploy by Solaris? He’s probably realized by now that he can’t stop us from getting the Elements, so now he’s trying to break our minds and spirits. Can a bunch of depressed, lonely, furious, vengeful, spiteful ponies use the Elements of Harmony?”

Tempest considered it for a second. “Probably not.”

“We can’t lose ourselves,” Starlight urged. “Not right now! Not when we’re so close! Even if we have the Elements, we can’t defeat Solaris if we’re as evil as he is!”

“So… I suppose I was wrong all along,” Tempest whispered. She had explained the Elements as divine artifacts to the Storm King, but the Elements were even more than just divine artifacts. They were keys, used to access incredible potential. And they only worked if the lock itself matched the key. And the keys could not be changed, but ponies could, and so the lock would not always match the key.

Which begged the question: if a lock didn’t match the key, would the key seek out a new lock?

Could there be other bearers of the Elements of Harmony?

The question was persistent in her head. Tempest couldn’t shake it. She wasn’t sure of its origin, but Tempest wanted a definitive answer, and soon.

"Let's be careful," Starlight advised, breaking her out of her reverie. "There could be a priest in here."

Tempest wisely kept her comment to herself and quieted her approach. Starlight touched Tempest with her horn, and Tempest rippled and waved until her hooves in front of her became transparent. Starlight became invisible soon after. All that could be seen was an outline and her opened eyes.

"Quickly," Starlight urged, speeding up. Tempest tried to match her pace, but the clink of her metal-shod hooves could echo.

They soon came to the end of the tunnel. Sure enough, a crimson-cloaked alicorn was tapping his hooves as he waited beneath a hatch ten feet above his head. Nothing but his shadowed face could be seen.

"Om nan Solar, Om nan Solar, Om nan Solar, Om nan Solar," he was repeating. "Sun and moon and stars and sky, far above in heaven where the shadows lie. Mother cries, Father dies, Faust is the mother of lies."

Starlight ignited her horn, which meant breaking her invisibility spell. She suddenly appeared not ten feet from him.

"Nothing personal," she promised to his astounded face before firing.

The priest flew back and hit his head on the rock wall, slumping to the ground.

Starlight gathered the cloak he was wrapped in and floated it over to her. "I'll disguise myself. You stay here. You got me this far, so keep yourself safe."

"Hold it!" Tempest quickly said. "I'll come."

"No," Starlight refused, pulling the cloak over her body. "I can't risk you. I'm the one that needs to do this."

Tempest, after taking a moment, decided to comply. She hung her head in reply.

All of a sudden, the tremendous blare of a horn shook them both. It was deep and wavering up and down, unaccompanied by any other instrument.

"That's the horn's call!" Tempest hissed. "Get up there!"

Starlight flipped the hood over her head. Then she floated up to the hatch with her magic and opened it with a creak. The outside was only slightly brighter than in the tunnel. Starlight exited.

Tempest, quickly contemplating what to do, wall-jumped to the top of the hatch and hung on by her two front hooves. The lid of the hatch slammed on her front hooves, but it harmlessly banged on her shod hooves, and Tempest's eyes came up to peek over the edge through the crack.

Starlight was frozen. Her surroundings surpassed anything she had seen in her entire life.

The top of the volcano was an open-air, smooth, tiled ground. It was a perfect circle a hundred meters wide, decorated at evenly spaced intervals on the edges with torches and statues of animal hybrids. In the very center of the circle was a deep hole fifty feet wide, and almost brimming over with boiling orange lava. Starlight remembered the massive pipe in the bowels of the mountain, and guessed this pit was just the top of the pipe. The lava gave enough light for her to see.

She wasn’t alone. There were five other priests in scarlet robes arrayed in a triangle, and Starlight was on the far right corner. The six of them were on a raised stage spanning one half of the circle, and the six of them were looking into an audience below. Starlight immediately felt herself lock up in place.

The musical horns were soon joined in by drums, steady and deep. “Om nan Solar,” the priests began to chant. Starlight, recognizing the words, repeated them from memory. “Om nan Solar, Om nan Solar, Om nan Solar. Sun and moon and stars and sky, far above in heaven where the shadows lie. Mother cries, Father dies, Faust is the mother of lies.” Starlight couldn’t bring herself to say the last part, though.

They then repeated the phrase once more, but this time, the alicorns assembled sang along as well. The low orange lighting, steady beat of the drums, and the nature of the song was both invigorating and sedative. It was designed to easily manipulate and hook the audience. Starlight, upon realizing this, blinked hard and quick to keep herself from genuinely falling into the rhythm.

The drums picked up pace, and a fine white mist began to cover the stage and spill into the audience, rolling into the lava pit as well and dissipating. This time, the priests stamped on the ground to accompany the faster beat, and started a new chant. It was more wild and deep and harsh. Starlight stamped as often as she could, but didn’t even try to imitate the words, let alone the pronunciation.

“Ade be te ori'dush buir, Canterlot sa kaysh yaim, turn-ta teh kaysh miit bal yaimpar, at kaysh tion'ad keep-ta gar!”

“Sons of the evil mother, Canterlot as her footstool, turn from her word, and return to he who keeps you!” the foremost priest translated to the audience as the priests repeated the chant again.

The drumsticks started clacking together between every four or five beats, whipping Starlight’s senses into a flurry. She turned her head this way and that, seeing all the alicorns swaying in place and occasionally screaming nonsense.

“Cuyir ti mhi ibic tuur, at cabuor bal guide-ta. Olaror! Olaror! Olaror!”

“By order of our Lord and King,” the foremost priest intoned, among growing chants of Olaror. “We call upon High Priest Ajax to come forth.”

A vortex swirled in front of Starlight’s eyes, slowly growing the edges of robes, then the flesh beneath them, before unraveling completely. High Priest Ajax looked like he was untwisting grotesquely, and Starlight couldn’t tell if that was an optical illusion or actual magic. Finally, he materialized entirely, and his mere presence was enough to immediately silence the instruments, priests, and audience.

High Priest Ajax’s entire body was hidden by regal robes of crimson and gold. His hooves were covered in pitch-black boots. His shimmering golden cape draped in a long train. The maroon paulets on his shoulders curved up wickedly. Bones and fangs were strung on a necklace, and resting on his chest was a flawless amethyst. His towering headdress had two layers to it, both curving up like the claws of a viscous beast. His face was covered by a golden mask, lipless and narrow-eyed. His jutting horn was sharpened to a needle’s point and covered in steel.

The alicorns in assembly groaned and kneeled as one collective. The priests simply bowed their heads, and Starlight quickly played along.

High Priest Ajax gave a generous gesture to the assembly and lifted his arm. “Bring forth the newborns,” he ordered. Ajax’s voice was clear and crisp, but croaking with age.

Several mares flapped up to the elevated stone stage. The mares in the audience were either unbelievably beautiful--lithe, slim, sleek, tall, and fair, with long, flowing manes in multiple vivid colors and eyes like precious gems--or deliberately deviant from the standard of beauty the world held--short manes or balding entirely, dozens of piercings in bizarre areas, sagging skin, fat bodies, a perpetual scowl on their thick black lips. Sleeping babies wrapped in cloths were accompanying them.

Starlight had to hold her front leg with her other one to prevent her from rushing out. What was about to happen?

Three babies were laid before Ajax on the ground, and the alicorn mothers flapped back into the audience. Starlight tried to see what colors they were, but the oppressive orange light and the darkness of the smoke above them obscured any distinction she could have made.

“Praise be unto the mothers for their contributions,” Ajax intoned. His horn glowed a vivid red, and the three children were lifted up. “They will be treasured after we baptize them by fire.”

Starlight’s jaw dropped. No. He couldn’t!

A new rhythm started, one beat per second. After five beats, the drumsticks clacked together between the bangs, and it morphed into a clack between every three beats. The priests all bowed their heads and stayed stiff. Starlight kept following along.

Ajax was unfazed as he carried the three babies over the open pit of lava. Their bodies were glowing from the liquid fire. The three children began to cry from the stuffy heat.

“You are reborn this day,” Ajax said above the noise and drums. “In the form of Solaris himself! As alicorns!”

A powerful music horn blasted, accompanying what happened next. The three babies tumbled from their wrapped cloths and dropped into the lava pit with three separate sizzles. Starlight had to spread her legs to steady herself. Her throat felt constricted with wire. It was the most horrible thing she had ever seen!

But Ajax’s horn ignited again, and the three children emerged, steaming and screaming, but noticeably unhurt. The fillies and foal floated back up to Ajax, who deposited them into the care of one of the priests. He trotted back to the mothers and handed them off as if distributing gifts. The babies were still crying, but none of them were burned. They just ruffled their wings and clung to their mothers.

“And now, for the testing of the heart,” Ajax announced. “Who comes forth?”

One alicorn stood up. He was very muscular and square-jawed. “I do!”

Ajax’s arm swept to the side. “Come.”

The alicorn took to the air and glided over the lava pit to where Ajax indicated. Upon landing, he bowed again.

“If testing your worthiness is the true desire of your heart,” Ajax warned him, “you may not live to see your results.”

“I don’t care,” the alicorn waved aside. “Solaris loves me. If I die, I’ll be with him.”

Ajax turned around, looking up. “Then show your devotion.”

The rest of the priests turned around as well, and so did Starlight, a tiny bit off. Looking up as well, she froze once more.

A statue dominated the back of the temple, taller far than the lip of the volcano and hanging above them all. It was a pitch black alicorn emerging from the shapeless stone on the far edge of the mountain. Its muscles were chiseled into impossible curves, its wings curved up and wide, its legs in the motion of rearing. His hooves were sharp and jagged, ending in unnatural small claws. His horn alone was several meters long and spewing real billowing fire like a flamethrower.

But an idol’s body is irrelevant compared to its face, and this face chilled Starlight’s soul. The bones around his eyes and jaw were devoid of flesh or skin. They were hollow and skeletal. His nose was flared, and his mouth was slightly open, exposing rows of close-fitting fangs like railroad spikes. His tongue was snaked, and from the tip, another eternal flame was flickering. His eyes were wild, ringed, and sunken, narrowed down and glowing with even more flame on the inside. He was terrible, and awful, but so beautifully carved, so detailed!

“Father,” Starlight whispered, her knees shaking.

For who else could it be? That face was the sum of all the depravity and insidiousness a mind could conjure. Lust and fury, ecstasy and longing, greed and gluttony, satisfaction and desperation were etched deep into the flesh, along with other emotions and sins for which there was no word. Solaris embodied all forms of hedonism, so it was impossible for any tongue to describe beyond what lay before their eyes. So this particular statue was likely just an interpretation of who Solaris was, rather than an accurate portrayal of his physical form. But what hoof could carve such a striking and terrible visage with both such accuracy and ambiguousness?

But in front of him was something that drew her attention even more. On a white pedestal, on top of a further raised stone terrace, was a misshapen jewel encased within a decomposing skull. From what little she could see through the eye holes, it shone like a light was pressed against it, and it was green.

The volunteer took slow steps up to the skull. His legs trembled when he put his hooves on stone again.

The same slow beat started back up again, and with it a new chant. “Bakt’hi de… sa miraak ast… Tal teroch… Equeiisi Ma’den… Shuraan… vi at Thragya, Do’lya… Bakt’hi de… sa miraak ast…”

One word caught Starlight’s attention. Thragya. It was what the Rolk called his stone containing his life force. Going by context, it was probably referring to the Element before her eyes. But why would it be used to describe that Element?

When the volunteer was eye level with the skull, he caressed the skull before lifting it up, and the green stone lay there on the pedestal.

The beat picked up once more, and Starlight’s muscles locked with tension. What if something huge happened?

His hoof, after a hesitant second, made contact with the Element.

Immediately, his skin and flesh peeled away like he was standing behind an engine. His fresh skeleton clattered in a heap in front of the pedestal, his square-jawed skull landing atop the pile last.

A groan emanated from the alicorn crowd, and the music stopped. Starlight’s heart lurched in her chest. An irrational fear came over her: what if that happened to her?

What was it about that stone? There was something… unnatural at work here. Was this how the Guardians reacted to their Elements?

Ajax approached the bones with no sign that he was fazed. “Another unworthy,” he mourned.

One of the priests was sweeping up the bones except for the square-jawed skull, which another priest placed over the Element to replace the previous one. The old skull and bones were casually tossed into the lava, which sank after a second of floating.

Ajax’s arm raised, and the commotion amongst the alicorns quieted down. “We have another ordinance to perform today,” he ominously spoke. “Courtesy of my most loyal servant Brimstone.”

Starlight put the pieces together. That was one of theirs! But who?

Ajax’s arm pointed to a spot just in front of the pedestal holding the Element. “Rise.”

The floor disappeared. A clink and clatter of squeaky chains accompanied the slow rise of a pair of metal beams welded into an X. Strapped onto that X, splayed in a leg-spread cross, was a familiar face.

“Hey! Guys! This is sooo not-cool! This is not the kind of party where I’m the main attraction!”

“Pinkie Pie,” Starlight breathed, afraid to call her name. She was mussed up and dirty, and her mane was no longer puffy, but tangled and flattened. Strands of it were hanging in front of her face. Her chest was bare, her Element nowhere to be seen.

Ajax was unresponsive to Pinkie’s words, instead approaching her slowly and methodically. The longer Pinkie spoke while watching him not break his stride, the more hesitant her objections became until, two feet away from Ajax’s golden mask, Pinkie stopped entirely.

“Blood of Life,” Ajax said simply. “You are a hindrance to the work of the one true God.”

“Yeah,” Pinkie replied. “So? You guys are the same to us. But you don’t see me tearing you all a new one.” She jiggled her head in despondent acknowledgement of her surroundings. “Probably ‘cause I’m, uh, trapped.”

“You will pose a threat to us no longer,” Ajax declared, not responding to Pinkie. “And perhaps Solaris will appear before us himself.”

Pinkie bursted into laughter. “Oh, that’s a good one!” she complimented. “How will he if he doesn’t have a body, doodie-face?!”

“You are in a position unsuitable to make inquiries,” Ajax told her.

His arm reached into his robes and disappeared, then slowly took out a shining Black Blade, glittering from the obsidian shores of Tartarus.

This was the first thing to legitimately put an expression of fear on Pinkie’s face for as long as Starlight could remember. But what could she do? What could she do?

“I need but a drop,” Ajax spoke, adjusting his grip on the knife. “Struggle, and you will give me far more than that.”

Pinkie leaned far back. “Nuh-uh. No way!”

Ajax was still unfazed. “Fine.”

His arm gripped onto Pinkie’s left hoof, and the Black Blade positioned itself directly onto the skin of her arm. Pinkie flopped against her restraints, but her struggle only caused the tip of the Black Blade to puncture her skin. That part of her was stained black, and a thin trickle of scarlet blood ran down the curve of her arm and beaded on the edge before dripping.

Ajax caught several drops of blood in his magical aura that coalesced into a floating red sphere. Holding up his black knife, the blood bubble slid down and coated the blade completely red.

"While a Black Blade does possess the potential to pierce an Element of Harmony," Ajax explained loud and clear, "that Element still responds only to the touch of the original Element bearer. It would resist the power of the Blade and even shatter it." Ajax's hoof held up the bloodstained blade. "But now that the bearer's blood coats this tool, it will slip by the Element's defense!" His arm then gestured to the foremost priest. "Bring out the Elements!"

The priest created a puff of white smoke, and he disappeared in the cloud. Starlight assumed he simply went back through his hatch. It only took a moment before he appeared once more in the smoke, and this time, a clay bowl was in his green aura, which floated gently over to Ajax.

The bowl contained two necklaces. One had an orange apple in the center, and the other held a blue balloon.

"Take heed and take heart, my little ponies," Ajax announced, the sinister blade hovering above his head. This day, an Element of Harmony is destroyed!"

Starlight couldn’t just stand there! She had to do something!

Flap. A shadow.

Starlight looked up. So did some of the other priests. They pointed and gasped. Starlight joined in with them, but not just to blend in. What was approaching was legitimately horrifying.

A milky white dragon-thing was descending slowly upon them. Ajax noticed it as well and stepped back to allow him room. The bowl of Elements was set aside.

The creature finally landed with a ponderous thud, swishing its tail contentedly. Half a hundred centipede legs sprouted from his armored body, some small and stubby, and some freakishly thin and long. One of the claws gripped a bony scepter with a tremendous jewel embedded in the tip. His wings were folded across his back, revealing a horned, three-eyed creature with a black slash across one empty eye socket. His exposed yellow teeth, as long as railroad spikes, were in a grim smile.

It was Malice. But not like Starlight had ever seen Malice before. He was some abhorrent hybrid who reeked of death. Starlight could not help but move slowly away, and she was thankful she wasn’t the only one; the other priests were also giving him room and taking protective stances.

A dragon descended beside him, holding an identical knife to the one Ajax had. He was purple, thin, and had a crooked snout. He was tall, but beside the looming Malice, he seemed shrunken. He even looked… reluctant. Like a whipped dog. Starlight couldn’t explain it.

“Venom,” Malice said, and the dragon looked up. But Malice hadn’t even turned his head to regard him. He simply gestured with the jeweled scepter. “Take a good, long look. But stick close. These are dangerous creatures. We can’t risk one escaping from their zoo.”

Ajax, for his part, remained unmoved. “Who are you to dare trespass in this sacred place?”

“Perhaps you don’t know me,” Malice cooly replied, folding several arms behind his back and taking a few slow steps towards Ajax. “I am the servant and son of the Eternal Father. I am he who was chosen to bring Solaris into existence.” He lifted the Bloodstone Scepter. “I am Dragon Lord Malice.”

“Begone, foul creature. Trouble this place no more, for I am he who Solaris has appointed!”

“Cookie Cutter said the same thing,” Malice deflected condescendingly.

Ajax’s stance tightened--the first sign Starlight had seen that proved Ajax had another emotion. “What did you just say?”

“Not only are you deaf, you’re stupid. Typical of ponies. Cookie Cutter was no different. He sent servants and correspondence to me for my war efforts. He was uptight, to be sure, but he’s also dead, so look where that got him. You’re a substitute for a false prophet, nothing more.”

“I am Solaris’ servant!”

“And I am his sword,” Malice replied. “By all means, break upon me. Make my day."

Ajax snarled, but did nothing more.

Malice then addressed the crowd of assembled alicorns. "I know you seek to bring your God back. And I know how to do it. So drive me off if you want, but your hope will be lost."

No one objected to his presence. Malice commanded the attention of every living creature.

Malice turned around. His eyes drifted up to the terrible statue in awe. Solaris’ furious, flaming, evil gaze stared him down.

“Hello, father,” he greeted, giving a slight inclination of his head. “See you soon.”

The statue made no response. Starlight would have been surprised if it did.

Malice’s swollen, baggy, red, bloodshot eyes finally regarded the immobile Pinkie. He smirked and shook his head. "Oh, you poor thing. I don't need to kill you. Yet. But please, consider your fate sealed already."

"I can hardly wait," Pinkie sarcastically replied.

"Does nothing faze you?" Malice curiously followed up.

"Your face does!"

Malice actually laughed. "You are funny. I'll enjoy watching you die. Sit tight for now."

Whereupon he bonked Pinkie on the head with the scepter.

He then ignored Pinkie entirely and maneuvered towards the Element on display. The green glow was reflected in his scarlet eyes.

"The fates of so many," he said. "Held in something so small."

He scooped up the skull holding the uneven green stone and used the skull to carry the dangerous Element.

"All I require," Malice said, rattling the stone in the skull like he was swirling brandy, “and all I’ve ever required, is an alicorn princess. Anypony here that fits that description?" His wild red eyes roamed over the assembled ponies. "You must have heard of the specifications Solaris set forth. He needs an alicorn princess. That must be why you keep on trying despite always dying. But there’s more to being an alicorn than having wings and a horn. Is this really the best you can do? Are any of you special? Are any of you fantastic creatures actually unique? Any of you alicorns actually worth something?"

The ponies milling about made grumbles and mutters, but none of them stepped forth.

"I knew it," Malice noted derogatorily. "For all your talk of being special, you're nothing but the dust at my feet. You're counterfeits, fakes! I need an authentic alicorn princess to touch this stone. And thankfully, one happens to be on the way. So you're irrelevant already."

“Do not speak of us in such a way,” Ajax warned, flipping the grip on his knife.

“I think I can,” Malice casually refuted. “And so I will. I’ll put in a good word with you for my father. Maybe he’ll remember your mindless fanaticism when he remakes this world.”

Starlight began to maneuver herself so she was positioned behind Malice. Perhaps she could get the drop on him. She wasn’t alone in this endeavor; two other priests were also repositioning themselves. Starlight’s more rational side told her that Malice could see them, but all Starlight needed was an opening.

“Go right ahead,” Malice invited before she could make a move, without even looking at her. “You were the ones who wanted to die this day. I, however, intend on living a little bit longer.”

The other priests definitely were preparing to jump him. Maybe Starlight could use them as a distraction? She needed an opening! Now!

BANG!

A hatch in the ground flew open. Out flipped a dark-colored pony, landing in a crouch on the floor. Her horn was already sizzling, and when she landed, it immediately fired a long arc of electricity right at Malice.

The skull was knocked out of his claw, and the green Element separated from it. The stone bounced on the tile floor and skittered to a spinning halt.

The entire temple burst into chaos. Four of the priests rushed for Malice, while the other one began firing at Tempest, who was now galloping across the ceremony stage for Pinkie Pie. Ajax ran right at the bowl of Elements, but Venom charged at Ajax, intercepting him. And Starlight had to make a split-second decision in that very instant.

Would she attempt to kill Malice? Would she intercept Ajax and secure the Elements? Would she join with Tempest in rescuing Pinkie? Or would she lunge for the Element of Redemption?

It might have seemed tough to some. But not for her. The right choice was abundantly clear.

Starlight fired a bolt of magic at the swishing blade in Ajax’s hoof. It clanged, Ajax loosened his grip in pain, and the Black Blade clattered on the ground, skittering for the edge of the stage. At the same time, Starlight charged right at him and knocked him to the ground, and she barged at the bowl of Elements instead.

“Take them!” Ajax roared, evidently unaware that the priest picking up the bowl was the same one who had knocked him to the ground.

Starlight, taken aback by the reaction before remembering she was disguised, took the bowl of Elements in her magic grip. After desperately looking around and up, she sighed and tossed them into the air, into the closest secure place she could see: the cavity of Solaris’ bottom jaw.

One Element, then the other, flew between the jaws of the stone devil and clattered into the mouth of the statue, resting safely behind Solaris’ teeth. Starlight desperately hoped it wasn’t foreshadowing their own fates.

Ajax got back up again. But Ajax wasn’t concentrating on her. The fallen Black Blade picked itself up, hovered in front of Ajax in a vibrant red aura, and zigzagged its way towards Venom.

The purple dragon, horrified, began trying to bat it away, evading the rest of the swishes and strikes. After their Black Blades clashed several times, the blade knocked Venom’s weapon from his claws. Venom backed up some more, the tip of the blade at his jaw. He ended up on his tiptoes on the edge of the bubbling lava pit.

Meanwhile, Tempest reached the crossbeam. Her sizzling, sparking horn fired at the magic cusps holding Pinkie’s hooves to the crossbeam, and Pinkie fell forward on her face. Still evading the magic blasts from the one priest shooting at her, Tempest slung Pinkie across her back and began to examine the ground for a hatch leading out. But the amount of white fog covering the ground made her groan in frustration.

There came a very wet crunching sound, and the magic shooting at her stopped. Malice had enveloped all five priests in his pale white magic grip and was twisting them the way one might wring out a soaked rag. But instead of gushing water, blood and worse was the result.

“Stupid scepter,” Malice grumbled, tapping the crystal as the priest’s lives were drained away. “How do you work? I thought...”

Malice callously tossed aside what remained of them and focused on Tempest Shadow next. Tempest turned to sprint away. But with an ignition of his bony horns, Tempest was immediately immobilized mid-run. Pinkie slumped off her back and hit the now-wet floor with a thud.

Malice, for the first time, looked taken aback. “You?” he asked, drawing her closer despite her struggles until Tempest was hovering right in front of him. She was close enough to examine all the ugly perforations and lacerations in his flesh and exposed bone.

Starlight’s eyes darted to the weak Pinkie, to Malice, to Venom, an inch away from a Black Blade by a furious Ajax, and to the Element lying several meters away. This was it! She slowly scooched closer to the fallen green stone.

Malice continued to speak, scrutinizing her with an unbelieving eye. “You struck me as largely irrelevant. Since you were with the Storm King. I thought you and he died on Mount Aris.”

“Wrong on both accounts,” Tempest hissed.

“Now what on Equus would you be doing here?” Malice quizzed suspiciously. “This wouldn’t have to do with that particular stone?”

“I don’t need its power to get what I want!” Tempest refuted.

“What you want is irrelevant now. All that matters is what will happen. This is your only choice: to accept it or not.”

“I’ll never accept a world with you alive!”

“We all have our regrets,” Malice agreed. “Like how you’ll regret being born by the time I’m done with you.”

“And how you’ll regret saying that!” Starlight yelled in response, throwing back her hood. She was right beside the Element by now.

Malice leaned back. His red eyes went wide. “WHAT?!” he shrieked.

Starlight felt her heart soar. “How does it feel, Malice?” she taunted. “Knowing everything you’ve done has been for nothing?”

Her hoof reached for the green stone.

Her skin made contact.

And the stone flew into her chest with a sharp pang of agony.

It sizzled and smoldered as it sunk into her flesh, and Starlight scrabbled at her chest to pry it out, but it was too late. It had already embedded itself into her sternum.

“Starlight!” Pinkie and Tempest cried simultaneously.

Starlight collapsed, her muscles twitching. Only the tip of the stone was emerging from her chest, still glowing as strong as ever, but a drop of inky darkness had been splashed into it, creating a darker tint of green. Starlight felt something cold grow across herself, and her coloration immediately turned grey.

“Wh-what’s happening?” Starlight hoarsely creaked out, examining her colorless coat on her hoof. “I--how…”

“Elements are keys. But that particular Element was corrupted by my Father’s spirit during the War in Heaven as a backup plan before He was banished,” Malice explained, and he was no longer desperate. In fact, he sounded almost ecstatic. “It is both a prison and a key for His power. If an alicorn princess Element bearer touches you now, it will recognize her divine authority and give Solaris back His power, and He will use it to turn his formless essence into an eternal body!”

Starlight lifted her head, shaking. But if Malice knew all this already, why did he even bother trying to stop them all this time?

Unless-

“If I motivated you to search for the Elements, you would find this one,” Malice giddily said, obviously relishing the experience to finally let his secret out. “Because I was attacking you relentlessly, you searched for the Elements. By letting you collect your rocks, I came closer to victory! And by trying to stop me, you just accelerated the grand design! And you have all danced in my palm to the beat I set, driven into the corner I wanted you to. There was no way I couldn’t win! The plan all along was not your Goddess’ plan. It was mine! In seeking for a way to bring me down, you have procured the one thing essential for the ultimate triumph!”

He was lying. He had to be.

No. He had lied from the very beginning!

“How does it feel, Starlight?” Malice repeated condescendingly, coming closer and looming over her. “Knowing everything you’ve done has been for nothing?”

Chapter Eighty-six: Judgment

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Malice, after leering in delight, turned away negligently. “Do what you will with that.”

Starlight struggled to support herself upright. “No!”

“Make this easier on yourself and just stop. Watching you struggle makes my teeth hurt.”

His magic aura encasing Tempest cut off, and Tempest immediately galloped to Starlight's side. She knelt by her and tried to support her in her lap. "Hey, hey, Starlight. Come on, stay here. Be with me!"

"You can do what you like," Malice dismissed, grinning. "It doesn't change anything. Ease her pain, why don't you?"

Tempest didn't even respond to his goading. She just began to cradle Starlight's limp, weak body. Pinkie Pie crawled towards them as well, her eyes wide, unblinking, and wet.

“Malice!” Ajax yelled, stamping towards him. His floating Black Blade still held Venom in place.

The monster in question groaned in exasperation. "Oh, what now?" he asked. "Going to accuse me of lying? That's what happens in plots, my little pony. Don't act so surprised."

"What will happen to Thragya?" Ajax demanded.

"Oh, that?" Malice said. "It's done for. Suppose your little ordinances are worthless now. Don't you worry your pretty little head, though." His claw patted condescendingly on Ajax's headdress. "You and I share the same goal, and it's close to fruition."

"You will not claim the credit for our devotion!"

"That's assuming Solaris actually cares about you to begin with. I mean, you're ponies, and I'm his closest servant. I'll remind him, though. Stop fretting."

Meanwhile, the stone embedded in Starlight's chest swirled with a blacker hue of green. Starlight made a groan and craned her back. "Get it out!"

Tempest's armored hooves scraped and pulled at the edges of the exposed crystal, but there was too little leverage. She kept on prying at it, though, but with each jiggle, Starlight winced.

"Stop it!" Pinkie pleaded. "You're hurting her!"

"This can't stay in!" Tempest refused, pushing it some more, ignoring the small scream that came from Starlight. "If I can save her-!"

She gave a harsh tap on it, trying to dislodge it, but Starlight gasped and whimpered as tears formed at the edge of her eye. Tempest, after a hesitant moment, tapped hard on the Element again. Then a third time.

"Stop!" Pinkie cried again, gripping Tempest's arm before it could scrape at the embedded Element again. "Just… stop… please."

Tempest, after seeing Pinkie on the verge of tears, relinquished her efforts. Starlight panted for breath, holding herself across the chest.

Pinkie's arm draped across Tempest's shoulder, and her other arm caressed Starlight's chest, circling the spot around the Element's wound. Pinkie and Tempest’s heads were bowed.

"It would be heartwarming if it wasn't so hopeless," Malice remarked, off to the side. “And it would move me to tears if I had any tears left to shed.”

"We must kill them now!" Ajax insisted.

"No," Malice slowly disagreed. "I did not come all this way just to kill them. It's so much more satisfying once they realize just how hopeless they truly were, especially when they thought they were winning. Let them stew in their misery a bit longer. We have no need to rush. The Ten Elements are impossible to reconcile. We've already won."

Malice then cocked his head. He turned it to the west curiously. Ajax, spotting him, strained his senses as well. And soon, a dull roar could be heard, no louder than a distant rumble.

"What is that?" Ajax asked.

"Could be an echo," Malice dismissed. "Nothing I'd worry about."

"But… it's getting louder," Ajax said, squinting over the lip of the volcano. "Is it an earthquake?"

"What earthquakes do you experience that don't cause this volcano to blow?" Malice proposed. "No. Not an earthquake."

"It's still getting louder," Ajax repeated, taking a cautious step back. And it was true; the audience of alicorns were tilting their heads and squinting into the sky. It was clear, and loud, and undoubtedly coming their way. "We must take cover!"

"For what?"

"A thunderbolt!"

"Those appear without warning. You are a crazy old pony." Malice jutted his claw into the sky behind his head, where the black clouds in the distance were imperceptibly parting. "Whatever it is, we can handle it."

"Look!" Ajax shrieked, pointing.

Malice exasperatedly turned his head, and he immediately widened his bloody eyes and focused in. The end of the parting clouds was growing closer, and the roar was growing undoubtedly louder. It sounded like a jet, or a firework.

"Duck and cover!" Ajax bellowed to the crowd, which promptly obeyed with screams. Malice, however, ignited his twin horns and growled.

Rainbow’s face was pulling behind her. The shield of electrifying air in front of her was growing more tense. Her main concern right now was not dropping the golden sword in her front hooves, plowing the air apart and crackling harder with each beat of her wings.

A whistle was building up in Rainbow’s ears. The shield of air became tight, like a drawn bowstring. And with a final push of her wings, Rainbow broke the sound barrier.

A rippling explosion of rainbow colors surged from her center, right above the mile-high mountain, and Rainbow, streaming colors, streaked across the peak.

But strangely, at the same time, a long whip of violet lightning snapped all around her as well. A series of concussive booms erupted as one purple lightning bolt after another zipped past her face.

If Rainbow knew anything, it was meteorologica. The lightning was just a result of the particles tightly concentrated in the smoke colliding together and creating static electricity. Rainbow’s presence just exacerbated that.

Rainbow controlled the wild lightning, however. Even without her Element, she had Stormkeeper. She felt unrestrained, free, and powerful. Her goosebump-covered skin rippled in the air. The wind peeled her lips into a smile. Her eyes had to narrow to avoid getting pressurized, and the smoke in her way was simply blown aside. Her mane flapped wildly like a war flag. And the sword in her grip was humming and shaking. It had to be released, and soon!

Rainbow adjusted the angle of her wings, taking her almost vertical. She flapped as hard as she could, straining with all her strength, when an uncanny similarity impressed upon her: it was just like the fight in the hurricane with the Storm King.

The thought almost made her freeze up. Had she gone back in time? If she squinted, could she see his outline among the dark clouds?

Her heart hammered in her chest, and she no longer felt free. This was the fight for her life. She could not fail! Not now!

So she flapped harder, faster. Twilight needed a beacon!

And after a few more seconds of this, she emerged from the cloud line, and her muscles went limp. She turned her head to the side. The slight curvature of the world could be seen, almost straight, even. Above her, the vast mysteries of space. Black, bespeckled with drops of white paint.

How many of Faust’s children were out there? Were they going through conflicts like she was? Perhaps Rainbow was the only one of her kind.

It felt like she was floating in a pool. Which way was up? She didn’t care.

Oh, right. She needed to know. For Twilight.

She thrust the sword up. The energy contained therein screeched before exploding in a torrent of blinding lightning as thick as a tree trunk. The sheer force of it flung Rainbow backward like a catapult, back to the surface again. She plunged into the dark clouds, and she was drowning once again in mists of blackness and evil.

But the lightning was still discharging in one spurt after another, booming in her dull ears and plunging her down more and more. Rainbow clung to the weapon for dear life.

Finally, the lightning stopped. Her wings straightened out, correcting her path, and Rainbow shot out of the smoke belching from the mountain and began to encircle it.

Rainbow finally got a good look at her target. It was solid and thick, like a chiseled tower. There were two smaller mountains to the north and south. It was all surrounded by an orange river far below, and beyond that river was an embankment. The top of Nevermore was open-air and crowded. It was too far away to get more detailed.

She also noticed, for the first time, miniature winged beasts gathered around the peak. Rainbow hadn’t given them much attention. But having seen them, Rainbow started to get closer. They had to be Malice’s guards! Which meant Malice was definitely there!

Then a white bolt of magic sizzled past her axis, making her swerve. It had originated from the peak of the mountain, and two more were already firing at her.

Rainbow adjusted her flight pattern. Taking evasive action, she stopped encircling the mountain, halting midair, and gunned right for the open-air assembly.

The sword began charging up again the faster she flew. It trembled, threatening to escape her grasp. One bolt flew at her face, and she had no choice but to swipe the sword before it could melt her skin. The white laser bounced off the pristine gold sword and shrieked behind her before exploding.

The sword continued to spark and throw electricity behind her as Rainbow approached at an unsafe speed. Rainbow adjusted her wings the tiniest bit, and she leveled out. She swirled the sword behind her head before swiping down with a scream, and a white arc of sizzling energy flung out like a fishing line.

It impacted among the multicolored assembly of alicorns with a blast that rattled Rainbow’s ears and sent rock flying everywhere. She quickly peeled away to get some distance, and as she did, she looked behind her one last time. They still weren’t firing back, but Rainbow didn’t put it past them to start soon.

A pink swirl appeared high in the air to the west of the mountain. It was rotating and churning, shimmering like a mirage. Rainbow couldn’t help a smile grace her face. It worked! Twilight saw her beacon! All she needed now was-

A concussive blast made Rainbow swerve, and right where she had been, a tongue of scarlet magic snaked by, scorching her coat and making her face glow red. It shot like a bullet way past her and disappeared into the developing pink portal with a squish, like it was hitting gelatin. The laser was coming from the peak of the mountain.

“Whoah!” she yelled, diving beneath it and shooting right at the portal. “Did not sign up for that!”

With a splash, she also disappeared into the wide portal.

Malice widened his three remaining eyes and lowered the Bloodstone Scepter. The unstable laser firing from the tip cut off and ended, resulting in residual swirls revolving around the red gem.

“That’s her,” he whispered. The portal hanging in midair, after absorbing the laser blast, shrunk into a pinprick and disappeared. “Twilight is on her way!”

“And she’s going to bring an army!” Ajax added. He turned to the alicorn assembly, which had been scattered by the impact of the lightning bolt. Ajax lifted an arm. “My people! War comes quickly to this holy site!”

Whispers and outbursts came from the crowd at large. The alicorns had been brought up to live comfortable lives far away from the world’s concerns. Very few of them were prepared to handle actual combat, even with their alicorn powers.

“They will crash upon this rock like the waves of the sea! But it will never falter! No matter how hard the wind howls, the mountain will not bow!”

Vehement yells came from the crowd, pumping hooves into the air.

“We are alicorns, the divine creatures in Solaris’ image! Preserve your way of life, and never kneel to these heathens, these Godless usurpers of power and privilege! Pray for strength, and we shall be at peace in our hearts as we meet Him!”

More yells came from the crowd. Some alicorns were already flapping in the air or charging their multicolored horns.

“Prepare for death, my children, and make the invaders wish they had done the same!”

Pinkie Pie wisely said nothing as all this unfolded. She just held on to Starlight tighter. She was still growing weaker, taking more inhales of breath as the green stone firmly planted in her chest began to spread multiple black tendrils across her flesh. They were little more than three inches long, but Pinkie knew they couldn’t be stopped, and she knew if they went unstopped, they’d destroy Starlight completely.

The very thought of it made Pinkie’s throat close up. This wasn’t supposed to happen! Starlight was still supposed to be there for them all, to learn under Twilight!

Pinkie bowed her head. She felt a hoof lift her chin up, though, and it was Tempest. This close, Pinkie could see every mark of distress etched into her.

“Can I ask you to do something?” Tempest whispered. Her eyes traveled down to the sickly Starlight. “You helped me once before. On the train from Appleoosa. So if you can help me again… I know you can help her… smile. Please.” Tempest’s pleading eyes were wide. “Make her final hours… happy ones. I don’t want her to die cold and alone.”

“Don’t,” Starlight started, lifting a weak hoof.

“She’s not going to,” Pinkie refused.

“I know how you feel,” Tempest admitted. “I’m not sure if I’d be able to make her smile if I was in your position. Heck, I know I can’t make her smile at all. So I need you to do this. Muster up enough of that bubbly happiness in you and... make sure she’s taken care of.” Her eyes squeezed shut.

“There must be something more,” Pinkie insisted.

“No, Pinkie. It’s the best we can do for her.”

Pinkie’s eyes traveled up. The hungry jaws of Solaris loomed above them all. Glinting between them was a hint of gold.

Pinkie’s wet eyes narrowed. “You’re wrong.”

Almost as soon as the pink portal had opened in the sky, a glowing red line of pure flame blasted through it, shrieking past the entire assembly of dragons and ponies. Every head simultaneously turned to regard its path. It continued until it impacted the ground far in the cloudy distance.

A small ball of flame blossomed on impact, and two seconds later, the blast was heard like a cannon. The ground vibrated, the air reverberated, pebbles leaped into the air, and every creature instinctually covered their ears. Some of the smaller dragons were knocked to the ground. This included Spike.

The red laser did not disappear for more than five seconds, lingering in the air. Then the end of it trailed through, disappearing in the rapidly-growing fireball in the distance.

Through all of it, Twilight did not relent keeping the portal up. This would ordinarily be a herculean task, but the crown atop her head, snugly on her ears, kept it relatively simple. And, turning herself to the portal, she found herself thanking her lucky stars she kept it open.

Rainbow Dash was zooming out as well. She was still trailing residual sparks of lightning. Instead of heading for Twilight, she headed for the gargantuan Torch’s ear. She halted in place and began to talk. She was too far away for Twilight to hear.

Several seconds later, Torch straightened. “That’s bad news,” he grumbled.

“They’ve seen the portal!” Twilight realized. Quickly, she shut off her magic, and the portal dilated to a pinprick before fading away.

“Twilight!” Spike cried, running up to her and pointing into the sky where the portal had been moments ago. “That was the Bloodstone scepter! Malice is there for sure!”

“We now know that much,” Twilight acknowledged. “Our plan worked. All we have to do now is… destroy Malice, rescue our friends, and assist Starlight.”

“How are we going to draw him out?” Spike asked.

“I’ll challenge him,” Freedom Fighter answered, coming closer. He had overheard their conversation. “He won’t back down from the opportunity.”

“Can I be there too? I want a piece of him!” Spike declared.

“Get in line,” Freedom muttered.

“I want to be there as well, Spike,” Twilight assured him. “But I’ll be in the sky monitoring the battle. You, Freedom, and Garble’ll be together on Torch.”

“What about Rainbow?” Spike asked.

“She’ll keep a lookout for our friends and pick them up whenever she can.”

“Will they know about that?”

“It’ll be an entire army assaulting the volcano, Spike. If they don’t get the message, that’s on them. As far as the army goes, they’ll thin out the enemy forces and draw them away from the mountain so we have a chance for pickup. Once we’re all together again, we can combine the Elements and use them to summon and destroy Solaris.”

“You do realize that things might not work out according to this plan?” Freedom Fighter asked.

“We at least need a frame to stand on,” Twilight replied.

“HEAR ME!” Torch suddenly bellowed.

Every head snapped to look at him on the giant basalt throne.

“We fly,” Torch simply said. “To war. This war is not like our petty squabbles in the past amongst ourselves. This is about the preservation of our world! Enemies have invaded for the sole purpose of summoning an evil that will destroy all life!”

Torch adjusted his spot on the throne. “We dragons are autonomous creatures. Ordinarily, we care not for the deals of the rest of the world. But now, we are the last line of defense between the world and a fate worse than damnation! And we care about ourselves, don’t we? So if you care about your livelihoods, fight to preserve them! This world may have others on it, and you may like that or not, but I’m one of the creatures that lives on the world! The world, and our lives, are our birthrights! So throw it away if you wish! But as for me?” His wings, hundreds of feet wide, emerged from his back and slowly unfolded. “I will fight!”

His audience was listening with rapt attention, with no signs of dissent. Perhaps they were afraid to speak their mind.

“If any dragon here does not wish to fight, I understand that. We fly into the most sickened blemish on the face of the earth. So you may go back to your families, to your caves and homes. But know this: you decided against them. If you love your family, or your homeland, you cannot abandon it just for a few more moments with your family before your end.” He took a deep inhale, then let it out in resignation. “I already lost one of my family. I can’t afford to lose more. Not now! Not here at the end!”

Garble, nearby Spike, choked and clenched his fists.

“The way to rebel against this great evil, against this torturous present, is to live--to fight! Will you live, my people?”

Billowing flames came from the lips of the dragons in response. In a growing wave, the entire assembly area grew orange and bright from one little light after another, until it covered the earth.

“Rise!” Torch urged. “Rise! And become creatures the world fears!”

Twilight’s horn chimed to life, and in a flash, all four of them disappeared.

Spike, Garble, and Freedom Fighter dropped onto the top of Torch’s skull. Spike and Freedom Fighter gripped onto the edges of Torch’s scales, but Garble flapped off his father’s head and hovered between his father’s eyes.

“Come on, dad,” Garble urged. “Let’s take from him what he took from us.”

“Everything,” Torch growled like a bulldog, his maddened eyes beetling together.

Twilight’s horn chimed to life once more, and the air once again churned and swirled into a wavering, transparent circle. The portal was hundreds of feet wide and bright pink. Beyond those doors lay Twilight’s doom.

Torch’s wings flapped hard, and he rose off his grand throne for the final time.

“Fear them not!” Torch bellowed. “Put fear into them! My people, charge! My people, scream!”

Dozens of dragons followed his example, rising into the air and following close behind him. The last thing heard before he passed through was one final line.

“My people, RAGE!”

And perhaps there were plenty among the faceless, nameless horde who did feel fear. Or reluctance. But none of them could in good faith return to their normal lives. And the thought of Torch charging alone into that hell was too much for them to bear.

In droves, dragons of all shapes, sizes, and colors willingly absorbed themselves through that shimmering portal. Twilight knew a lot of them would die. Which meant their sacrifices needed to mean something.

Twilight had a job to do.

With a strong puff of her wings, she glided into her own portal.

It felt like pushing through a gelatinous wall, but it also effortlessly slipped past her body. Once it passed, Twilight dipped a little in the air and straightened her course.

Mount Nevermore loomed in the distance. The air was already alive with colorful laser bolts streaking into their path from the mountain’s peak.

Twilight couldn’t just blast the mountain away like a blowdryer on snow. They needed to make sure their friends were safe first. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t return fire.

Building up a ball of laser fire, she could feel her magic lock on to the other signatures in the area. They were all clustered together on the peak. She adjusted her buildup to a precise degree. Then she gladly released it, and a streak of violet shot through the air into the midst of the enemy.

With a loud tinkle and crash, a violet laser bolt impacted the back of Solaris’ stone head. It shattered, sending pieces of stone toppling to the ground below, but his head remained attached to his neck, and the statue only tremored.

Malice, who watched it happen, grew a grin. “She’s here!” he rejoiced. Then his grin vanished into a grimace. “She’ll pay for defacing my father. Venom! Come!”

Venom carefully maneuvered himself away from the Black Blade. Then he stooped down, picked up his own, and followed the already-rising Malice. With several hard flaps, both draconic beasts disappeared into the smoky sky.

Pinkie looked around. Most of the alicorns in the assembly (which meant most of the alicorns in the mountain) were flapping above the surface of the volcano’s edge, shooting one magic blast after another at some target that Pinkie couldn’t see.

Ajax, however, lingered behind, and after the last alicorn was in the air, Ajax turned to regard the three ponies huddled together on the edge of the semicircular stage.

“Malice is a fool to think you will do nothing,” Ajax spat, tramping over to them with harsh stomps. “Better to kill you now than allow you to destroy our intentions.”

Pinkie’s eyes locked on Ajax’s eye holes. They were a cloudy grey, dull and lifeless. “Don’t,” Pinkie said.

“I think I will,” Ajax refuted, igniting his metal-covered horn. His Black Blade swooshed to him and swirled beside his head. “Your life is a fate worse than death. You should be thanking me on bended knee for releasing you!”

Pinkie brushed her tangled, flat mane out of her face and tucked it behind an ear. There was still a jagged lock covering one eye, though. “Don’t,” Pinkie warned again.

Ajax’s eyes grew lines around them as he took one more defiant step.

He was in range.

Pinkie bounded from her spot and bashed her forehead into his mask, staggering him back. Pinkie screamed a high, out-of-control shriek and struck her hoof into his throat next, bending his head and sending Ajax into a terrible coughing fit. His magic cut off, and the Black Blade tumbled from his grip and clattered to the floor.

Pinkie pulled the heavy headdress over his mask, and as he struggled to adjust it, she gripped his shoulders and delivered a knee into his chest, doubling him over. Now enraged, a powerful red laser erupted from the tip of his metal-plated horn, but Pinkie was well to the side of it, and, gripping his flowy robes, she swirled in place and released them.

Ajax flew onto his back, spreading his limbs. Pinkie lunged for his fallen knife, and after missing it the first time, gripped it and turned her head to the needle-jawed stone mouth of her eternal Father.

"No!" Ajax bellowed, getting to all fours.

Pinkie leaped into the air much higher than any pony ought to with a cartoonish boing, bounced off one of the statue's upraised hooves, and hung from his bony jaw, holding for dear life onto the cage of his teeth.

Ajax roared and fired a laser up at the statue, but it missed Pinkie and broke several of Solaris' teeth instead. Ajax, suddenly horrified by his action, took a step back.

Pinkie's arm came up over her head and came down, chipping and chopping away the stone teeth. Nothing could stop a Black Blade.

Finally, the Elements in his mouth were uncovered after Pinkie sliced off several teeth. Before they could slide out, Pinkie dropped the Black Blade and caught them. The weapon clattered to the ground more than a dozen feet below.

Ajax immediately picked it up, looking up at Pinkie. In the time it took him to do this, Pinkie had already attached both necklaces around her neck.

A pink glow emanated from Pinkie's entire frame. She let go of the statue’s peeled lips and dropped to the ground, but the impact didn’t hurt her. She just immediately shot at Ajax like a bouncing ball.

Ajax swung the knife at her with his arm, but Pinkie’s arm came in the opposite direction, stopping his knife mid-swing and throwing it out of his grip. Ajax screamed in momentary pain, and Pinkie’s other hoof launched into his golden face, instantly denting it inward and forcing Ajax to stumble back and adjust it.

The mask glowed pink. Ajax gasped and peeled the broken thing off, and he threw it at Pinkie. But it only went a foot in front of him before exploding in his face, throwing him onto his back once more.

Pinkie materialized from the pink smoke and approached slowly, seeing if he would make any move. Sure enough, Ajax was already sitting up. His exposed grey face was singed, and there was even a red, sore burn covering most of his left side, forcing one of his eyes shut. He looked to be old, in his 50s at least, although that was probably more of a cosmetic choice, since alicorns were immune from aging. His thin white beard and mustache had been blackened and burnt away. His one remaining eye was thinned in fury and pain. He tried to ignite his horn, but he hissed and clutched the open, sore wound covering his face. He then screamed, waving his hooves in front of him.

Pinkie backed away until she came to some of the broken rocks that had fallen from the statue. Picking one up, she hefted it, tossed it behind her, kicked it into the air with her hind legs like she was playing Buckball, and finally bucked it into the air, disappearing in the smoky skies.

Only a moment later, it exploded in a cloud of pink fire, shedding its light upon them all in a short break from the oppressive orange lighting.

“You… fool!” Ajax yelled in between hisses of pain.

“You became the fool when you tried to hurt us,” Pinkie deflected. She adjusted her mane so she could see better, looking into the skies. “Rainbow’s bound to notice that.”

And sure enough, a rumble cut through the air, and a spot above them grew brighter and brighter with white lightning. The dozens of alicorns hovering above the lid of the volcano panicked collectively and flew out of the way, unwilling to risk the wrath of that mysterious offspring of lightning again.

Soon Rainbow breached the smoke, shot down to the surface, and screeched to a halt three feet above the ground. She was way different than Pinkie remembered. There was a substantial lock of her mane that was gone, and in her right hoof was the crackling golden sword of the Storm King. Her eyes met Pinkie, and their grim appearance changed to one of joy. “Pinkie! You really are here! I never thought…” She looked past Pinkie to Ajax, then to Starlight and Tempest. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

“Just on this arm,” Pinkie replied, showing where Ajax had pierced her skin. It was black. “Starlight has it worse.”

“Worse? How?”

“Please, after you take me, get a message to Twilight. She can’t come here!”

“That’s ridiculous!” Rainbow objected. “Pinkie, what’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you on the way!”

“What do you mean? Where do you need to go?”

“Take me to the north mountain!” Pinkie replied. Rainbow hovered over her and picked her up under her shoulders. “I have to find Applejack!”

As Rainbow took off and hovered into the air, Ajax gave a snarl of frustrated hate and ignited his horn. Tucking in, Ajax swirled in place, and he spiraled into a pinprick before popping away.

Firestorm, after no one made a move, casually tossed one of his flaming swords behind him to Noble, who fumbled with it for a second. “I want that once you get yours back.”

“Fine by me,” Noble agreed, encasing the hilt in his dark blue magic. “Orange isn’t my color. We’ll take Brimstone together. The girls can handle Warcane.”

“Gladly,” Applejack accepted, narrowing her eyes at the red mare.

“With pleasure,” Rarity agreed, swirling the green dagger around her head. Warcane deserved no mercy.

“Oh, I can’t wait!” Warcane screeched. “I am going to have so much fun with you two!”

Brimstone gave her a side-eyed glance before staring down Noble Blade. Both of their blades were in front of their faces. “To the death.”

Firestorm sprang like a lion, and Noble charged like a rhino. Tongues of flame came from them both. Brimstone kept his ground, firing at the pegasus before deflecting a stroke by the unicorn. But he was pushed back not even five seconds later as the two Guardians pressed their assault.

Meanwhile, it was Warcane that pounced at the girls, who parted to the left and right before she met them. Rarity’s crystal dagger sang for Warcane’s eye, but the alicorn knew her trick. She leaned her head back, and instead of killing her, it just sliced the tip of her snout.

As she leaned back, she fired her horn at Applejack, who was rearing up to strike, and Applejack flew a few feet before tumbling on her side.

But it left Warcane’s underside exposed to Rarity, who fired her own magic bolt into Warcane’s chest, which made Warcane double up in pain and drop to the ground.

Before Warcane could recover, Rarity had already flung herself at Warcane, grappling around her arms and head. Both ponies tumbled to the ground, Rarity holding Warcane’s head into her chest.

Rarity tightened her grip, screaming. Warcane’s neck bent down more and more.

“Now!” Rarity yelled.

Applejack was back up, picking up a loose rock before rushing to Warcane. Her arm came up, about to crash on Warcane’s nape.

Warcane twisted in Rarity’s grip and flung both of them to the side. Applejack’s arm was already coming down with all her force, though, and it caught Rarity on her horn. Rarity screamed in agony and let go of the alicorn to massage her head, while Applejack, horrified, backed up, scanning Rarity for any damage.

Warcane shook herself, brought her horn around, and fired into Rarity’s chest, then turned to face Applejack and pounced. Before she came down, though, Applejack was already bucking up, and the twin impacts of her rear hooves caught her in the face, flipping her in midair and slamming her back into the ground, crushing her wings in an awkward position. The bleeding Warcane gasped on impact, a tremor overcoming her body. Thin blood ran from her nostrils into her open mouth.

Rarity, meanwhile, tried to levitate her green dagger off the ground, but it dropped as she hissed and put a hoof to her aching horn. She clenched her teeth in both pain and fury.

Applejack appeared over the prostrate red alicorn. Warcane tried to sit up, but Applejack’s hoof rested on her chest and pushed down.

“You’ve made too many enemies, missy,” Applejack warned her.

Warcane’s head lunged for Applejack’s leg, and her sharpened teeth sank into her flesh and began to gnaw.

Applejack yelled in disgust and pain, brought her other hoof up, and slammed it into Warcane’s skull, knocking her back and taking a small chunk of Applejack’s flesh with her. The front of Warcane’s head was a darker shade from fresh blood.

Applejack picked Warcane’s head up once more, locking her throat in a choke hold from behind. Applejack’s muscles flexed, and Warcane began to wheeze for air, pulling at Applejack’s arm desperately. But Applejack was a hardworking farmer, built up with honest strength and resilience, and Warcane only had the power her magic afforded her. Warcane flopped in her grip, trying with all her strength to break free.

“Ah really don’t wanna do this!” Applejack let Warcane know as the alicorn struggled.

“I… was an earth pony… once!” Warcane hissed between desperate breaths.

She flung herself back, taking Applejack with her, and Applejack’s back hit the ground. A piece of rock was slightly higher than the rest, and it impacted the center of Applejack’s spinal column.

With a start, Applejack let go of Warcane, and the older mare took the opportunity to release herself, scramble to her hooves, and lunge her horn at Applejack before she could get off the ground. Applejack put up her right foreleg in the nick of time, and the sharp lance pierced her bicep instead of her lungs.

Applejack yelled once again, adjusted her body while lying down, and shot out her hind leg, aiming for Warcane’s back right knee.

It was an unstoppable force meeting a breakable object. Her leg cracked in half, bending backwards, and Warcane dropped with a shriek of pain. Applejack smacked Warcane’s face away, and Warcane fell on the ground, while Applejack slowly scooted away.

As she lay there, a shadow loomed over her. Warcane, groaning in pain, slowly brought itself up once again.

Rarity was staring her down. From this angle, she rose like a shadowy tower. Between the loose locks of violet hair in front of her face, fury was in her thin eyes.

“Don’t get up,” Rarity warned.

So Warcane defiantly did. One hoof at a time, slowly, she got into a wobbly, painful standing position.

Rarity, instead of using her horn to wield her weapon or fire a bolt of magic, just punched her in the face. Warcane staggered back until she hit the edge of the cave wall, which wasn’t far.

White crystal seeped from the ground beneath Rarity and coated the bottom of her front hooves like horseshoes.

“I might not be an earth pony,” Rarity darkly said, “but this is a business I’ll have to do close-up.”

Warcane snarled, wiped her wet face with a hoof, and lunged at her once again. Rarity batted her thrust to the side with one armored hoof and punched with the other, sending her crashing back into the wall once more. Warcane winced and gingerly touched her face. Her right eye had dilated inward. Warcane stumbled in place, woozy and weakened.

“You don’t even realize where you are, do you?” Rarity asked. “This isn’t a cave, darling. This is a tailoring shop.”

Her left hoof shot into her chest and stayed there. Warcane gasped.

“And I’m the tailor.”

Her right wrapped around Warcane’s horn and pressed it to the side until the tip connected with the wall. But even then, Rarity kept pushing.

“Hey!” Warcane protest weakly, wincing. “What’re you…” Her bruised eyes widened. “No!”

One of the disadvantages of having a longer horn meant there was more leverage to break it in half. Rarity wasn’t even trying all that hard.

“Stop it!”

Rarity’s mouth thinned and applied more pressure. The horn grew a hairline crack.

“Stop it!”

One desperate spell after another shot out of Warcane’s horn and impacted the curvature of the wall further down. But Rarity kept on pressing her horn sideways into the wall. The crack only widened. Warcane stopped casting them after sparks erupted from the crack. Rarity did not relent, however.

“PLEASE!”

The crack extended all the way around the circumference of her horn, only an inch above her skin. Then it spidered out and up the length.

“STOOOOOP!”

And Rarity did stop pushing, only to immediately deliver a hardened blow to the weak spot.

Warcane’s horn shattered like a cheap clay pot.

An orange wisp blew from the base like smoke from a chimney. The uneven pieces clinked and bounced at Warcane’s broken leg.

Warcane’s shivering, bloody eyes traveled from the pieces to Rarity’s stone-hard expression. They began to leak down her cheeks, mixing with the blood on them, as her mouth twisted and wavered in agony. “M… my horn…” Her lips peeled back in unbearable fury, and every breath coming from her was ragged and shallow. “I’ll-!”

Rarity turned her around and bashed her face-first into the rock. With a scream, Rarity pulled her back and did it again, then threw her to the ground. Warcane lay there, amid broken horn pieces and droplets of blood. Warcane was sobbing, in a mix of pain, rage, and despair.

“Don’t. Get. Up,” Rarity repeated.

Warcane shrieked in response, pounding the ground. But she didn’t get up. She just curled in place.

Rarity let out a breath, then turned her attention to the rest of the inhabitants. Applejack was lying down, examining the patch of flesh Warcane had bitten out. Noble, Firestorm, and Brimstone were still engaged in their intricate little dance of orange and blue fans. Rarity couldn’t make out the details.

She came to Applejack, offering a hoof. The farm mare didn’t take it, though.

“How hurt are you?” she asked.

Applejack sat up a little straighter, wincing. “Everythin’ hurts. If Ah had that doggone Element, Ah mighta had her sooner!”

“It all worked out in the end.”

“Ah’ll say.” Applejack was eyeing the broken, bleeding, collapsed Warcane. “Ya sure did a number on ‘er.”

“For sure,” Rarity slowly agreed. She sighed. “I really don’t like doing that.”

“Gotta be prepared anyway.”

Rarity did not respond. She just watched the fight unfold.

Noble wasn't trying to overpower him by any means. He simply kept him busy.

Firestorm was the one attacking from every angle, rising a few feet into the air for high ground, only to get bombarded with a spell from Brimstone’s busy horn.

That horn was their target. All magic-users had their limits. Since Brimstone could not touch the sword directly without dying, he had to use magic to levitate it all times. Between dueling Noble and fending off Firestorm’s attacks at the same time, Brimstone’s magic would tire out eventually.

Brimstone, to his credit, was doing the best he could. But he could not go forever. And very soon, the opening Noble was looking for happened. After firing five consecutive lasers in a row at Firestorm, he clashed blades with Noble seven times and brought the sword back. As he delivered a heavy swing, his horn sizzled, sparked, and went out.

The blue blade flew away, landing with a clatter on the rocky ground.

Immediately, it levitated once more, and it zoomed like a magnet towards Noble’s upraised hoof, smacking solidly into his grip. At once, it exploded in a brighter, more magnificent color, temporarily blinding everyone but Noble.

Once the glare died down, Noble was pointing the tip of his sky-blue sword at a weaponless Brimstone lying on the ground.

“To the death,” Brimstone reminded Noble Blade. His head was bent forward to glare at him.

“I never agreed,” Noble reminded him back. He hefted the blade in his hoof while holding Firestorm’s sword out to him, which was immediately taken. “I just wanted this toy back.”

“Playtime’s over,” Firestorm agreed, lifting his swords.

“Don’t,” Noble said, throwing his other arm to the side to stop him. “Let’s hear what he knows.”

“About what? What does this scumbag know that we don’t?”

“He may have gotten something out of Applejack,” Noble said. “Or he knows about an imminent attack. Or a way to quickly reach the temple at the peak, or a secret about Starlight’s Element. We need a foundation before we make our next move.”

Firestorm gave a long, drawn-out sigh. Then he sheathed his swords. “He’s gonna have to die sometime, Noble.”

“All things die,” Brimstone agreed. “Even stars burn out.”

Noble gave him an inquisitive look. “What does that mean?”

Brimstone only grinned.

Noble enveloped the alicorn in a deep, berry-blue magic aura. “Tie him up,” he ordered Firestorm.

“But he can still use magic,” Firestorm pointed out.

“He’s exhausted right now.”

“What if he recovers?”

“I’ll knock him out.”

“Can’t we just do it now?”

“We need him to talk.”

“Does that look like the face of a pony that’s going to talk?”

“He will if he knows what’s good for him.”

“How about this?” Firestorm swiftly tapped the butt of his right sword on the tip of Brimstone’s horn, and Brimstone hissed and clutched at his head. “Ooh, I’m sorry, so sorry. Here, let me just-” He bashed the hilt on his horn again, and Brimstone yelled, gripping his bony protrusion.

“Cut it out,” Noble told him irritably. “He’s down. Just restrain him.”

“Rarity!” Firestorm called. “Get over here and hold him down with some crystals or something.”

Rarity accordingly trotted over. Firestorm stepped back to give her some room to work, and as purple crystals sprouted beneath Brimstone’s legs, forming gradually around him, Noble looked at Firestorm more directly.

“Got something more to say?” Firestorm shortly said.

“Something’s wrong with you,” Noble observed. “Seriously wrong.”

“I don’t see it.”

“Recently you’ve gotten… more temperamental. And more willing to hurt. When did it start?”

“Glad to see you’ve accepted it.”

“When did it start, Storm?”

“Black Fang Redoubt,” Firestorm answered. “I think. I was just so angry at the Noxxa, and at Blueblood, and when you came out with Rarity and Spike, I was ready to just fly out there and obliterate you on the spot. You looked so much like him. And then, when you told us to burn it to the ground, I was so happy. I had something to do with all that drive, that buildup. When I… destroyed it for good… I was staring into a mushroom cloud of my own work. In those flames, I think I saw something deep within. And since then, I guess I…”

“How did it make you feel?”

Firestorm took a moment. “I felt good.”

Noble blinked.

“It was so cathartic, Noble, seeing those torturers and murderers, spawn of the devil, all burn. They hurt you! I felt sick to my stomach, but not because I hated seeing them die. Because I loved seeing them die.

“I felt confused about it. Should I feel that way? So I wanted to be alone to figure things out. I was still kind of on edge. And then Rainbow decided right then was the best time to try and seduce me for the third time! Right about then… I got really frustrated. How many times do I have to spell it out, you know? Am I not respected by her? Am I respected by anypony? Then it hit me.

“I feel like… nopony listens to me. Like anything I have to offer is of no worth. All throughout the journey, I felt sidelined, even when I had to get my own Element! They think of me like a buffoon, Noble, or a tool they can break out in a tough spot. I don’t always want to be the silly one. I want to be taken seriously. As a fighter, a lover, a… a pony. There’s a reason I’m a Guardian, up there with the likes of you and Freedom Fighter.”

“Don’t talk to yourself like that,” Noble chided him. “Of course we take you seriously.”

“No,” Firestorm flatly refused, unblinking. “No, you don’t.”

A pregnant pause began. Noble released a deep sigh through his nose. Firestorm’s face was a silent urge to prove him wrong. Rarity, awkwardly overhearing it all, trotted over to Warcane to restrain her in a similar manner. Brimstone’s limbs were held to the ground in a spread-eagle position.

Noble finally took a breath. “Listen-”

“Just-” Firestorm interrupted, holding up a hoof. “Forget it. I don’t know what else I have to do before I feel complete.”

“Oh, so you tell me a problem and you expect me to forget it?”

“I don’t know what else you can do,” Firestorm reasoned. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“That’s a first.”

Firestorm’s eyes narrowed. “What was that?”

“It wasn’t sarcasm, if that’s what you’re thinking. I know you’re in complete control of your faculties. I know that most of what you do, you choose to do. I want you to use that brilliant mind of yours and choose something else now. Choose to do something positive to change that opinion you think we have of you.”

Firestorm, after a moment, nodded and turned away. “Okay.”

“I trust you,” Noble assured him. “You’ll come through. You always do.”

“Yeah,” Firestorm muttered, swishing his tri-colored tail. He sat on his rump, slumping his shoulders.

Noble approached him, holding out a hoof. “If it makes you feel any better, Black Fang was horrible for me too.”

“That much doesn’t need to be said.”

“And I really wanted to kill Blueblood myself when I found him.”

“But the job was already done by then, huh? Whoever did it, he’s lucky.”

Noble stiffened uncomfortably. He recalled Applejack, and how she accepted his admission. Perhaps Firestorm could see things better if he admitted the truth.

“I suppose I’m really lucky, then,” he admitted quietly. “But I didn’t feel lucky when I did it.”

“What are you… talking…” Firestorm’s head slowly swiveled around and up. Between their eyes was an intense feeling of bewilderment and confusion.

“You… what?” Firestorm asked, bug-eyed.

Noble’s gaze went to the floor.

“What happened to trust?” Firestorm demanded. “Why’d you feel the need to keep this a secret?”

“...I didn’t want you to think any less of me,” Noble admitted.

“Of course I wouldn’t have thought any less of you!” Firestorm refuted. “Blueblood was scum! I’m happy he died! And don’t tell me you would have left him alive, either--you ordered us to firebomb Black Fang immediately afterwards, anyway, so even if you left him alive when you found him, he still would have died! So what’s your problem? If you’re so against killing, what made you ultimately decide?”

“He had an Element around his neck!”

“He was also unconscious! You could have just taken it off!”

“You just said you’d be happy if he died!”

“I wouldn’t have hesitated to kill him. But you did. Why?”

“Because I don’t like killing helpless ponies, Storm!”

“You think the enemy would? They would, without question, so the only option is to destroy them before they have the chance.”

“Faust Herself was the one who told me to kill him.”

“Faust? So you were even in disagreement with the Goddess?”

“I didn’t want his death to be made into something personal, Storm! That’s it!”

“Be consistent here! Stop making up these excuses! Something’s wrong with you, Noble, and I’m not sure what, but you’ve got to fix it. Why would you hesitate to destroy evil? The Noble I knew would do anything possible to triumph. But not you. You’re always thinking about understanding the enemy’s point of view. This isn’t a difference of opinions! This is good and evil! I’m not interested in seeing things from their point of view. You cannot reason with that which seeks only to destroy. I’m not about to sit down and have a pleasant chat with Blueblood, Malice, a Nox, Solaris, Cookie Cutter, or the Storm King about relative morality. I want total. War. Total war. And if there’s an alarm going off in your head, you need to seriously reconsider what matters most to you.”

“I just don’t see what the problem is with not wanting to kill another pony, Storm! Valuing life is not weakness, and disregarding it is not strength.”

“So because you can kill the other person, it means you’re weak? Everypony has power, Noble. Making use of it is strength.”

“I can’t just go around killing everypony I don’t like! We have a plan beyond that! We have to save the world here!”

“Then when you figure out another way to save the world, I’d love to hear it!” Firestorm exploded, and with a puff of his wings, he shot into the air and settled on the rafters far above like an agitated parrot.

Noble’s stomach twisted in agony. The ground beneath him swayed, and he had to sit down on his rear, putting a hoof into his face.

Rarity and Applejack couldn’t decide where to look. Everything about it hurt.

“What have I done?” Noble bemoaned quietly. “What else could have happened? I thought…”

He wasn’t speaking to anyone in particular. But it felt like it was directed towards the Goddess.

Firestorm’s arms were crossed as he furiously pondered over the implications of what he had just uncovered. His legs swung from the rafter far above the others.

Why did Noble feel the need to lie about his death? Was there something between them that Firestorm just didn’t get? What was Noble hiding?

Wisdom.

Firestorm blinked, looking around. “Who said that?”

I did, Firestorm. Faust.

Firestorm was suddenly not where he once was. He was in the eye of a storm of fog, swirling around him and obscuring his hooves. Circling in place to make sure he was alone, he looked up. Nothing but darkness.

“Where am I?” he asked aloud.

In the fog of lies, Firestorm. The world is a foggy place, full of sin and evil. I can help you discern the truth.

“Where are you?” he asked.

I am the Goddess, am I not? Am I not everywhere and nowhere?

“I dunno,” Firestorm said, shifting his eyes in every direction. “Whenever I saw you, you were in a body.”

That is how your mortal eyes perceive me. Your eyes cannot look upon my true glory unless you are transfigured in that moment as well. Mortal eyes are unreliable; they cannot see through the lies of those closest to you.

“Why are you here?”

I want to help, my son. What if I could show you the truth of your circumstances? About Noble Blade?

“...I lack learning,” Firestorm admitted, hanging his head. “Whatever the truth is, I’ll believe it. Where else can I turn for peace but you?”

Spoken like a true follower, the voice commended. In front of Firestorm, the fog stopped swirling, and it formed into a crystal clear picture, gradually adding color and shape.

It was a fancy ball in Canterlot, and Blueblood and Noble Blade were together in identical suits near a table of food, looking proud and tall. As Firestorm watched with wide eyes, he saw them hanging on each other’s shoulders, laughing with stemmed glasses of wine nearby. The scene shifted into them dancing with lime-green and turquoise mares in swirling black and white dresses. It shifted once more into their hooves clasping around each other in fierce agreement about something.

Noble Blade is Cadence’s nephew, the voice explained. Which means he and Blueblood are the only ones in the royal bloodline who can succeed Celestia and Luna. On the outside, they are amiable to each other, but within, deep darkness stirs in both of their hearts. Which of them will attain ultimate power?

“I thought that Noble didn’t care about these things,” Firestorm pointed out.

That’s what he says. But it is impossible for him to deny his identity. Whether he likes it or not, he is a viable choice for Equestria’s successor.

The fog shapeshifted into Blueblood, hidden away behind a corner of a hall, peeking on Celestia and Luna’s quarters. A horrified look was upon his face.

But Blueblood learned that he was not his aunt’s first pick for the throne. So he hatched a daring scheme to undermine his rival.

Blueblood’s face grew into a wide, sinister grin. Firestorm’s eyes widened.

He would support Noble wholeheartedly--until he was secretly killed. Then, heartbroken, he would innocently, even reluctantly, rise to the throne in his stead.

“Why would he go through those motions?”

Because their friendship was a cruel but necessary one. To everyone else, they were rivals, but in secret, they were close friends--until Blueblood decided to use him for gain.

“I thought…” Firestorm halfheartedly said. “They were… why’d he keep a secret from me? From the rest of us?”

Because politics is a dirty game, Firestorm. When Noble was urged to go on this quest, he saw it as a way to gain political power. As an Element bearer and a savior of the world, who else but him could be appointed to the throne? Noble became fixated on the end result more than his friends.

“So that’s why he’s so invested in this?” Firestorm asked, a tremble in his throat. “For politics? Not for his friends, or saving the world--just for building up himself?”

Noble Blade is a prideful pony, Firestorm, and self-righteous. This is not an indictment upon his character; this is a simple fact. He always has to be correct, the one the morals agree with. He has to always be the only one that matters, doesn’t he?

“Now that you mention it…” Firestorm agreed, nodding.

What else had he to gain from this mission but a certified spot on the throne? This displeases me, Firestorm. My servants should not seek for power except to tear it down. Noble Blade is the Element of Honor, but he cares about the honor of the world. He adheres so often to his ambiguous morals that he neglects my commandments to be humble and patient.

It couldn’t be. Noble Blade, an unworthy servant? A traitor to their cause? He had known him all his life.

Hadn’t he?

Every pony had their little secrets. Exhibit A was Freedom Fighter. It was entirely possible that whatever this voice--Faust--was saying... it could be true.

“I…” He shook his head. “I don’t know what to think… What more can you show me?”

You mean I haven’t shown enough? the voice asked. Fine. Let’s examine the case of Blueblood’s death.

It was far too convenient, wasn’t it? That they just happened to meet up in the middle of nowhere, and Blueblood just happened to have the Element, and Noble Blade just happened to kill him and lie about it.

The fog shifted once more into the shape of Black Fang Redoubt, swiftly showing him one scene after another of the outside, inside, and, gradually, of a meeting between Noble and Blueblood in his well-lit cabin. Both ponies looked uninjured and alone, greeting each other as old friends.

“That bastard,” Firestorm hissed in fury. The scene was so real, so visceral. How could it not have happened? It was far too detailed and elaborate. It just made sense.

Blueblood stole the Element that Celestia was hiding in her own castle, the voice relayed. He brought it to Noble as a sign of good faith and to keep up the facade of his friendship.

The fog showed Noble’s face, and it held a gleam in his triumphant eye.

But Noble betrayed him first.

Noble reached for Blueblood’s saber.

And killed him.

Blueblood’s body dissipated as Noble took a hard swipe at his neck. Noble himself disappeared soon after.

He was telling the truth when he said he hesitated. Blueblood had been his closest friend, after all. But it was the perfect opportunity to become the only option for the throne. And he took it. All he had to do now was lie to the only ones who would have questioned it.

“Th… this isn’t real,” he breathed, kneeling. The ground couldn’t be seen behind all the grey in his vision. “I know him. I-”

Do you?

Firestorm couldn’t respond immediately. His breaths came hard and fast, his stomach churning at incredible speed.

Fools look on the outward appearance, but the Goddess looks upon the heart. I have judged his heart and found it wanting. He maneuvered for worldly gain behind your backs. He is manipulative, judgemental, scheming, and proud, and such beings have no place in my ranks. Just as he took the Element from Blueblood, so will his inheritance be taken from him. And be given to another who is more worthy.

“He… can’t be. He just can’t! He loves us! He protects us!”

To hold up his own heroic appearance, so you can testify of his worthiness for the crown. He might have even fallen for his own disguise a few times. But the Noble Blade you thought you knew disappeared in Black Fang Redoubt, and never came back.

Firestorm was short on words. “But Fluttershy…”

Ah, his blushing bride-to-be, the newest princess of the land. The instant he saw her, he started making advances. Because of true love? No; such a thing does not exist. So he could make his claim even more legitimate. A royal wife, and an Element Bearer to boot, would solidify his legitimate authority as a prince of Equestria if all else fails. Noble is nothing if not dedicated. He wants to make absolutely sure that he gets what he wants without others questioning his unbreakable honor. And Fluttershy, poor, weak, and inexperienced as she is, could not help but give in. After all, she was the easiest target.

“No,” Firestorm whispered, stepping back. So that was the only reason he’d gone after Fluttershy?

And the way he and Rarity interact… it’s a little close for casual conversation, don’t you agree? Rarity herself admitted that she would have gone after him if she could. Do you think the thought’s left her? No. And Noble is completely aware of her previous feelings, and gradually thought he could have better prey. Over the course of this outing, she and Noble became closer than friends ought to be. Imagine what the news would do to Fluttershy if she found out just how far they’ve grown...

“NO!” Firestorm yelled in horror.

The image in the fog twisted into a horrible image, an unseemly one: Noble and Rarity, their lips violently locked together, arms around each other’s heads.

Firestorm yelled and pressed his eyes into the side of his arm, squeezing them shut and shuddering for breath. “He can’t…”

That’s the typical reaction when a politician turns out to have more skeletons in their closet than you thought. But yes, I’m sure Noble Blade is the very first pony of his kind.

The sarcasm in Faust’s remark just made Firestorm’s sadness turn into genuine frustration. His teeth gritted between deep breaths.

There is one unworthy bearer of his Element right now, the voice declared.

“What do I have to do?” Firestorm dejectedly asked.

It is better that one evil soul should perish than for my creation to be brought to a premature judgement.

Firestorm’s arm came down, and Firestorm could see once more. Rarity was gone. The foggy image of Noble Blade was alone in his vision. But this time, instead of joy, a seething hatred squeezed his heart and spread its tendrils through his veins, making his entire body tremble with fury. The very image of Noble Blade sickened him. Annoying, stuck-up, secret, proudful trash! Some ponies would be better off dead!

Go and do, my son. Make me proud.

And the next time Firestorm blinked, he found himself sitting on the rafter once more, back in the damp grey light. He took a deep breath, patting himself down and tapping the rafter. It was definitely there. He hadn’t moved an inch.

So what was he just in? A vision? Faust had heard his plea for understanding. And the truth… stung. It choked him. But it was truth. Truth held no allegiance to what made you feel good.

He adjusted himself and looked behind him. Noble Blade was still sitting dejectedly, Applejack holding the three alicorns prisoner. And Rarity… right beside him, patting him on the back.

Loathing. Unadulterated loathing made his lips curl in complete disdain for his friend--his former friend.

No. Not even that. Friendship had to be authentic. Noble had been false this entire time.

“Hey, Noble,” Brimstone called out from the ground.

Noble lifted his dejected head from his arms. “What do you want?”

“When are you going to interrogate me? You have a job to do, right?”

“Not right now,” Noble snapped back.

“Of course,” Brimstone conceded. “Far be it from me to interrupt an emotional meltdown between two close friends over a misunderstanding.”

“What’s with ya?” Applejack asked suspiciously, squinting. “Askin’ ta be interrogated?”

“You know what that means, right? I have nothing to hide. Nothing to be of value. I just want somepony new to talk to. Warcane can be a little... abrasive.”

“Like we’re going to give you that pleasure,” Rarity replied darkly.

“I understand,” Brimstone acknowledged, jiggling his head, as he had nothing else to shake. “You’ve had a long day. You don’t care. You’re not the only one, right?”

“Ah don’ particularly feel like bandyin’ words with an alicorn psychopath,” Applejack bitterly said. “Shaddup if you know what’s good fer ya.”

“I get where you’re coming from especially,” Brimstone said, tugging momentarily on his crystal restraints. “I don’t think Stockholm Syndrome is going to kick in anytime soon for either of us.”

Applejack stubbornly kept silent. So did the others.

“Fine, then. Guess I’ll talk to myself. Not responding doesn’t mean I won’t stop. Why can we not talk civilly? You have me where you want me. Why not behave like civilized ponies?”

“ ‘Cause you’re not a civilized pony!” Applejack bursted out, coming closer to him than Rarity or Noble. “You’re the furthest thing from civilization I’ve ever seen.”

“Oh, dear, why must you hurt me in this way? I’m only trying to be polite.”

“You don’t care ‘bout nopony but yerself. What makes you feel entertained. And ya still can’t find it. Wanna know why? Ya ain’t done nothing in yer life worthy of recognition, ‘cause ya spent it all in a cave in th’ middle o’ nowhere! Yer evil, plain and simple, and there ain’t no other way ta spin it!”

“I’m glad we can have this little discussion,” Brimstone gladly said. “It’s good to know where we stand on issues, how we see the truth.”

Applejack’s emerald eyes narrowed. “That’s th’ way ya want to twist it? That truth differs ‘cause of th’ way ya look at it?”

“What else is there to say?” Brimstone asked. “I think of myself as a simple pony searching for meaning by focusing on myself first. You think I’m a selfish fool. Who is right? Whoever says it. The truth depends on who’s asking.”

“I don’t know who you think you are with that pretend wisdom. Ah happen ta be th’ leading authority on the truth ‘round these parts,” Applejack replied darkly. “Yer mistake is thinking the battle between good and evil is a difference of opinion. There is good, and there is evil. There is truth, and there are only ways of lookin’ at the truth. Some of those ways are wrong. Noble killed Blueblood. That’s truth. But why did he do it? Only he knows, and our mother. If you say he did it out of maliciousness, that’d be how you see the truth, but it ain’t th’ right way.”

“A wise answer,” Brimstone complimented.

“Ah ain’t ashamed of callin’ things like it is, same as you. Difference is, I know things you couldn’t possibly know from living in this rock.”

“Really?” Brimstone asked, interested. “Tell me.”

“That’s up ta you to find out,” Applejack refused. “Truth’s gotta be experienced in yer heart. Even if I tell ya truth, you won’t accept it.”

“You know, you’re a liar,” Brimstone noted. “After saying you won’t bandy words with me, you proceed to lecture me. What a bad example you are, Applejack.”

Applejack’s teeth gritted. “Ah tried ta let you see yer failings! Make you better!”

“Oh, but I am better,” Brimstone cheekily replied. “From my point of view.”

Applejack snarled and turned around. “Be that way.”

“Gladly!” Brimstone accepted.

Applejack trotted back to Rarity and Noble, jerking her head at the prostrate figure. “He’s worthless. Ain’t got much use apart from gathering dust now.”

“That shall be his duty, then,” Noble agreed. “We have our next target anyway. Firestorm can tell us where Fluttershy is. Rarity, be a dear and fetch him. I have a feeling he’s unwilling to listen to me right now.”

Rarity looked up. To her surprise, Firestorm was slowly flapping down anyway. Rarity assumed he’d heard Noble talking. So Rarity patiently waited for him to reach the ground.

Once he touched down, though, Rarity noticed a crease in his forehead, and his entire frame just screamed an image of despair. It immediately worried her. Knowing how volatile he had been recently, Rarity took a step back before speaking.

“Good to see you, Storm. We’re going to need to rely on you once more. Let’s rescue Fluttershy, and then we can all get out of this horrible mess!”

“There’s been a change in plan,” Firestorm emotionlessly said.

Rarity tilted her head. “Hm?”

Firestorm drew one of his swords, standing on three legs. “Sorry, Rarity. You have no idea what I must do to end this conflict.”

Noble and Rarity exchanged worried glances. “What are you… talking about?” Noble slowly asked.

“What am I talking about?” Firestorm repeated, glaring at Noble. His gloomy contemplation was replaced with one of fury. “What am I TALKING ABOUT?!”

The mood of the entire group had flipped completely after Firestorm had yelled as loud as he could. Firestorm, instead of lunging at the forms of Warcane or Brimstone, seized upon his closest friend, grabbing him by the shoulder and forcing him back.

“You know exactly what I mean! I know the truth!” Firestorm yelled, jabbing his sword into Noble’s chin, and Firestorm advanced on him further. “Scheming little prick! You never cared about any of us! All you wanted was to look like a hero!”

“Storm!” Rarity gasped.

“Don’t get involved, Rarity!” Firestorm spat, swiveling his head. “Unless you want to end up like him.”

Noble’s heart pounded. Never would he have ever anticipated this. Why was Firestorm so riled up? Was he really being serious?

Rarity lunged for him anyway, but Applejack flung her hoof out, shaking her head. Noble understood why. It was personal. And Firestorm might turn on her as well. Best Noble could do is contain the situation.

“Tell me, Noble. Were you going to cut me down after I testified of your boldness and you seized the throne? Or maybe I would die here, an honorable death, giving my all to the cause?”

“What?” Noble repeated, growing more outraged by the second. He’d gone crazy! “I don’t care about the throne! I don’t want it! What’s going on, Firestorm? What’s driving you to say these things? Why do you hate me all of a sudden?”

“All right. I’ll tell you. You are the worst pony I know,” Firestorm seethed. “You constantly acted like a sticky-uppy nice guy to Twilight when we first rescued her. She gave you a spot to sleep in her castle, and this is how you repaid her? And to add insult to injury, you did the same thing when you romanced Fluttershy! And you’re such a dope, with your thees and thous and forasmuches and gentlepony talk. You always keep insisting to do things for the girls, but their opinion of you hasn’t changed! Ooh, someday, I’ll improve, but that day never comes! And I think what I really hate about you is you pretend you’re this deep guy who seeks for true love, when all you do is stalk the most vulnerable one! Yeah, I go for the best pick too, but at least I’m honest about it! I don’t feel the need to constantly kiss her at the worst times to build conditioning, or use her just to compete with my enemy. Yeah, I know about all that. I know why you hate Blueblood so much. He’s you.”

“I’m not like that!” Noble protested, scooting back until he hit the wall of the cave. How could he address everything at once? “I let that Noble die long ago!”

“You’re so pretentious! And you delude yourself by thinking you’re the one who everyone wants to have lead them. I should have known you weren’t actually good enough to follow when everything you’re in charge of ends up with us getting captured! And I think what I hate most about you is your textbook I’m too good for you personality, how you actually hate killing even though you fight so much, how you deserve sympathy because you can’t even live up to your own expectations, how you had a tragic past because your dad was a little hard on you. I came from a broken home in Cloudsdale! All I had was my sister and you! And don’t even get me started on Freedom Fighter. Never seen you hurt yourself! You want to cry? Cry for us!

“And just because you pretend you’re humble, it doesn’t change the fact that you’re still playing politics behind our backs. But oh, wait! You hate the Canterlot nobility, because playing that game is for the proud! Well, who are you to talk down on anyone? You think you’re above those nobles in the first place, not to mention that stupid name of yours. Hey, how does it feel being reminded of that every time somepony says your name? But that could be forgivable--all of it-- if you weren’t so boring! That’s the worst part. Being around you is so unimaginative. You’re a bit-a-dozen, unsympathetic bore!”

The longer it went on, the more Noble could feel his gut clench and his throat close up. He could say nothing in response. It just kept coming, relentless and unforgiving. There were several lies in there, but it was mixed in flawlessly with the truth. Noble knew that if he tried to explain the truth, Firestorm wouldn’t listen, and it would be drowned out in all the other things as well.

Noble’s head was spinning and throbbing. It couldn’t be! Firestorm, his closest friend, who transcended the meaning of the word--he really hated all of this about him? But why would he unleash it all right now?

And who could have planted the lies in Firestorm’s mind and mixed them expertly with truth?

It clicked.

“Storm,” he croaked, on the verge of spilling over. “Solaris has been getting in your head! You’re being manipulated!”

“I’ve been manipulated,” Firestorm refused, jabbing the sword into his chin once again. “But not anymore. Don’t try to lecture me about righteousness! I’m the one that’s been destroying the servants of evil! You’ve only lusted after power!”

“You’ve opened your heart to evil!” Noble cried. “You’ve invited Solaris to twist your memories and sell you lies, until now… now you’ve turned your back on the one thing that could save you.”

“You mean you?” Firestorm yelled. “You’re the savior, huh? I knew it. I knew it!”

“I’m not your savior, Firestorm!” Noble interrupted. “I can’t save you. You turned your back on your own trust! You’re the only one that can snap yourself out of this!”

“Snap out of what? I saw the truth.”

“Then let’s talk about the truth you saw. We don’t have to fight, Firestorm. I… don’t know if… if I got into battle with you…”

“If you’d be able to beat me?”

“If I’d have the strength to follow through.”

Firestorm’s lips thinned before parting once more. “If I agree to talk, will you agree to die? I just want two things in life right now. Our mission to be complete, and your final judgement.”

“What about what this’ll do to everypony else? What about Rainbow?”

Firestorm lowered his blade a centimeter. Then it raised again. “What about her? Don’t try to get my guard down like that. Betcha thought by bringing her up you’d be able to escape like a fish once more?”

“Then if you really think I’m so evil, why’re you talking with me like this in the first place?”

Firestorm’s eyes went to the ground. “Because I wanted to know… if when I’d face you, I’d start begging for forgiveness if you said I was wrong. But…” His wide eyes went back to Noble’s, his sword between them both. “Seems like I’m fine.” He exhaled from his nose. “I want to remember you as my fellow Guardian after you’re dead. I can’t bear thinking of you any other way.”

“You… actually believe all those things about me?”

“I’ll simply follow what Faust told you. It’s better for you to die than let the world fall.”

A chill straightened Noble’s spine. “Storm?”

The flame on his blade cracked into existence. Noble felt intense heat wash across his cheeks and eyes.

“Don’t call me that,” Firestorm whispered, both sad and furious. Fiery light flickered on his downcast expression. “We’re not friends. I can’t be anymore.”

Never did Noble think he’d hear those words coming from him. “I love you.”

Firestorm bowed his head. “So did I.”

Noble’s horn ignited. A blue swirl shot across the room. It was his sword, spinning end over end. Firestorm heard the crackle of its energy only a second before it sliced him in half, and he lept into the air. The chromium handle of the blade smacked into Noble’s hoof, glowing several degrees brighter than before.

Noble turned around. Firestorm was in the air, pointing his own sword down at him. His other hoof went across his back and whipped out his other sword, immediately igniting it. He swirled them twice, then brought them down to collide on Noble’s blade. Their orange and blue faces were shining in the opposing colors coming from each other’s weapons.

Noble couldn’t stand the sight of his snarling face. It tore his heart in two.

Rarity and Applejack had to physically hold each other to prevent them from intervening. It was so sudden, so unthinkable, however, that neither of them was sure if it was real. Perhaps this Firestorm was an imposter, or he was being mind-controlled. Or perhaps he indeed did believe all those horrible things.

Applejack wasn’t sure of the truth.

The fight was fast and violent, intricate and colorful. It quickly moved to the entrance they came into, where Firestorm kicked Noble in the chest to make him stagger back. But Noble gave ground on every exchange anyway.

“What are we going to do?” Rarity pleaded. “I can’t just-”

“Yer gonna get killed!” Applejack cautioned. “Best we can do now is look fer Fluttershy on our own.”

“Then how are we going to get out of here?” Rarity followed up with. Firestorm was pressing Noble into the tunnel, and the two of them quickly disappeared into its depths, although flashes of orange and blue still flew out.

Rarity was right. Their only way in or out was through that tunnel. So until they could create a new exit, or the hallway was empty…

“Let’s keep watch over th’ prisoners,” Applejack suggested. “It’s the best way-”

A sucking and draining sound materialized behind them, and Applejack and Rarity, their legs trembling, slowly turned around.

An old priest in royal robes, his creased face half-burned, was standing beside Brimstone like a guardian angel. With a snarl, he swept his head in an arc, and a whip of red energy flew out of his horn and smacked into Rarity and Applejack, flinging them back and making them tumble on the ground.

He jabbed his head at the crystals holding Brimstone’s arm and fired a laser, shattering them. Then he whipped his head to the broken and battered form of Warcane. “GET UP!” he roared. “FIGHT!”

“Ajax!” Warcane wailed, lifting her head slightly to expose her ruined face. “Help us!”

“Get up first!” Ajax ordered gutturally. “You can’t live if you don’t fight!”

Warcane, not daring to look at Rarity, took a tentative step forward as she rose on her other legs. Her backwards knee joint made her stiffen, but by closing her teary eyes and jerking that leg, it bent back into its correct way. Warcane wailed once again, almost falling over once again. But she was once again on all fours.

Meanwhile, Rarity and Applejack were also standing up. Applejack saw Brimstone free of his restraints, ready and able once more. Warcane slowly got into a crouch. And Ajax’s teeth clenched as his metal-plated horn chimed red.

Rarity was already fashioning an amethyst rapier from the ground. But Applejack knew they realistically couldn’t take on all three of them, let alone without her Element.

Boom.

Rarity looked up. It was distant, but it came from above.

Boom.

The cave trembled. Ajax, Brimstone, and Warcane looked up as well.

BOOM!

With a mighty crash and a pink cloud, the roof of the mountain caved in and collapsed in a spectacular rain of rocks and boulders, making all five ponies head for the holes carved into the sides of the wall. The boulders shattered on impact with the ground, bouncing and clattering off each other. Through the hole shrieked a lightning bolt, striking the rocky ground and throwing pebbles in an impact like a grenade. Everypony in the cavern flinched away and, peeking from their refuges, looked up once more.

Rainbow Dash was descending in the new pillar of faint light, carrying a familiar pink pony by her armpits. Around her neck was her own Element and Applejack’s.

Applejack’s chest lurched. She was back! But she looked really bad. Gone was the spark of joy in her sapphire eyes. She and Rarity emerged from their hole in the wall

Pinkie flipped away from Rainbow’s grip and landed on the ground far below. “Remember! Tell Twilight!”

Rainbow saluted and shot up, disappearing in a flash.

With a fluid motion, Pinkie clipped off Applejack’s Element from her neck and tossed it behind her, which Applejack hastily caught. The Element felt warm in her touch. Without hesitation, she clipped it around her neck. Immediately, Applejack’s aches and sores felt relieved. Strength flowed into her legs and head. And perhaps most of all, she felt confident once more.

“Come to save your friends?” Brimstone asked with a sick smile. “Hope you aren’t as weak as they were.”

“Three for the price of one,” Warcane hissed, regaining some of her bloodlust despite her broken horn. “This must be my lucky day.”

“Make peace with your false Goddess now,” Ajax ordered Pinkie Pie. “This is your final hour.”

“Bring it,” Applejack told Brimstone in particular. Her Element glowed, and an orange whip extended from her right hoof.

“I’d be happy to share more with you, darling,” Rarity told Warcane, swirling the violet rapier beside her.

“You’re no fun,” Pinkie bleakly said, crouching.

A moment later, they rushed.

Brimstone and Applejack collided. Warcane’s sparking, sizzling horn shot lighting at Rarity, who caught it along her thin sword edge. And Pinkie leaped at High Priest Ajax with a scream.

Chapter Eighty-seven: The Battle of Heaven and Earth, part 1

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The entire sky was alive with war. Streaks of violent color shot across Spike’s vector, and dragons collided with dragons in tufts of flame. Where there was not a creature, there was only a dark grey sky.

Spike clung for dear life to one of the red spikes on his head, keeping a wide eye on the firefight. Torch had enclosed more than half the distance from the portal to the mountain by the time Spike was able to comprehend what he was seeing. Streaks of multicolored light flew towards them from the tip of the mountain, occasionally hitting a dragon in their swarm.

The real worst part about it all was that they couldn’t fire back. Except for Freedom Fighter, of course; his staff had converted into an energy bow, and he was firing occasionally at the mountain. It was so far away, however, that Spike wasn’t sure if the buzzing yellow shots hit anything.

“WHERE IS HE?” Torch bellowed at the mountain. “WHERE IS THAT SCUM-SUCKING BUG?!”

In reply, an alien shriek rippled through the air as a white speck emerged from the black clouds covering the mountain, twisting its way into his path.

“There!” Freedom yelled, pointing.

“Don’t do anything stupid, dad!” Garble yelled above the commotion.

“He wants a fight?” Torch growled. “He’ll get one!”

His speed doubled. Spike wrapped his entire arms around the one spike keeping him from falling off. Torch’s mouth gaped wide open, and as the outline of Malice grew clear, a fountain of flame fired from his jaws.

It engulfed the white figure completely. Torch closed the distance more and more.

“Take me!” Freedom urged Garble. “While he can’t see us!”

Garble accordingly yanked Freedom Fighter off his father’s head and carried him by the armpits. Spike was left alone on the gargantuan dragon.

“Keep on your guard!” Spike warned Torch as the fire continued to spew. “He’s hard to kill!”

Torch’s flame died down, and as the tongue of flame cut off, it revealed Malice, who was untouched by the flame. No black marred his ugly white body.

“Did you actually think fire could harm a dragon?” Malice mocked, brandishing the Bloodstone scepter.

“Duck!” Spike yelled.

Torch’s head swerved aside just as the red laser buzzed through his cheek, slashing it open. Torch bellowed in pain and swiped hard at Malice, but the abomination was just out of reach, and Malice hovered even higher above him mockingly.

“Try harder!” Malice encouraged. “I thought you wanted to kill me!”

Torch roared and slashed up, puffing his wings. But Malice expertly slithered between his claws just in time.

“Don’t play his game!” Spike yelled.

“What am I supposed to DO?!” Torch roared, giving a wide sweep in Malice’s general direction.

“I got an idea!” Spike yelled in response. “Toss me!”

Torch’s eyes slid up questioningly, even though he couldn’t see Spike.

“Look, I can’t jump to him!” Spike defended. “You’ll have to toss me! Please!”

Torch sighed and pinched Spike delicately between two claws. He lifted him up and cocked his arm, ready to throw.

“Hey!” Spike yelled in Torch’s ear. “Don’t tell Garble?”

“Of course not,” Torch promised. Spike’s stomach sank. He was definitely going to tell him.

The next time Malice stopped looping in midair, he presented himself with all his half-hundred arms wide open. “Come now, my Lord. I know you wouldn’t pass up--wait.” His three eyes squinted. “What are you-”

Torch’s arm came down like a catapult, and Spike was flung at a respectable fraction of the speed of sound.

It took only a moment before Spike impacted him in the chest, knocking the air out of both him and the creature. Spike counted himself lucky he landed at a good angle; at the wrong one, he could have broken his own neck. At the moment, he was stuck like a sticker. Gingerly, his little hands gripped ridges in Malice’s exoskeleton and turned himself around.

“What?” Malice repeated in a gasp, tilting his head down, and Spike, clinging to his exoskeleton for dear life, saw his three red eyes staring into his own green ones.

His claw sought to peel Spike off his chest, but Spike leaped and clung to his own spindly arm, which began to shake up and down and to the side. He swung out, then back, then out again like on the monkey bars, and dropped onto the nape of Malice’s neck. He clambered out of the reach of Malice’s grubby, sharpened claws and gripped tightly to his twin horns.

“Get your disgusting paws off me!” Malice howled, throwing his head back and forth like a bucking bull. But thanks to Spike’s opposable thumbs, his grip was tougher than Malice realized, and when he flung his head forward Spike only slammed on top of his skull. Less than a few inches away were Malice’s three eyes, which widened at the implications.

Spike, without hesitation, puckered his lips and blew a steady stream of fire. It washed across Malice’s field of vision in all three eyes, filling them with emerald green.

“You utter fool!” Malice declared contemptibly. “Have you learned nothing? I cannot-”

A squelch cut off his line, and Malice shrieked and clutched his skull, dropping several meters in altitude. Spike’s arm was burrowed deep into Malice’s upper left eye, right above the black wound running across his dead lower eye.

Spike’s fist was balled up, small enough to fit in Malice’s eye socket. With a snarl of uncharacteristic vindictiveness, Spike’s fist opened and spread his fingers.

Malice’s screech of agony was deafening, ear-splitting. The Bloodstone scepter in his claw fell free, spinning to the blackened earth far below. His thrashing arms windmilled wildly as he spun, billowing fire of his own from his shrieking jaws. Spike’s grip on two points was the only thing keeping him from flying off due to centripetal force.

Malice jerked his head forward, spinning Spike off his skull and making him dangle by one arm from his bleeding, empty eye socket. Spike jammed his arm firmly inside to keep him from falling. Then he began to rake the still-sensitive black scar on his lower eye with his other hand’s fingertips.

Heaving in deep, desperate, groaning breaths and crying from his intact right eyes, Malice’s claw groped beside Spike for a moment before feeling him, grabbing him around the belly, groaning in preparation, and yanking his arm out.

Malice screamed at the top of his lungs once more, and his throat was getting sore. Red discolored the left of his face and neck like spilled paint on a fresh canvas. His altitude had dropped at least a hundred feet, his wingbeats unsteady and asynchronized. Fire was curling between his yellowing teeth.

Malice held Spike at arm’s length. It was the only way he could see him by now unless he held him from the right.

“YOU!” Malice bellowed, clear and red liquid streaming down opposite sides of his deformed face. “Twilight’s pet!”

His spindly arm bent inward and stuffed Spike between the cages of his stubbier lower legs, which folded around him like talons and squeezed Spike into his body. The legs tightened like pythons, and Spike was soon gasping for air.

“You are NOTHING!” Malice screeched wildly, squeezing inexorably. One of Malice’s long, spindly legs bent itself up, preparing to puncture him. Spike couldn’t avoid it.

And all of a sudden, the arm flew free from his body.

Malice groaned and spun around, searching for the source with blurry eyes. Those eyes turned up into the smoke blanketing the atmosphere. Then they widened in fear.

Descending from the cloud line, trailing smoke, was the perfect golden body of Freedom Fighter, his energy bow already drawn for the second time. The magic projectile was loosed, and fired right into Malice’s face.

Or at least, it would have if Malice hadn’t snatched it in midair. The bolt sizzled in his grip, and Malice was cringing the longer he held it, but he could do it. Looking wildly around, he just hurled it back at Freedom.

The earth pony jolted his bow to convert it back into a staff and swung up to bat it back, but the bolt never connected with the staff. It never meant to. It instead sheared through his metal arm at the shoulder.

The metal arm tumbled away into oblivion, and his grip on the weapon fumbled until that, too, fell loose. And there was nothing to break Freedom Fighter’s descent either. Suddenly frightened beyond belief, Freedom Fighter screamed as he tumbled helplessly through the sky.

Before his spinning staff could follow him, Malice swooped in and grabbed it.

It immediately started to scald his claws, and Malice urgently swiveled his head, examining what to do. He froze as he looked down.

Torch was quickly closing in from below, reaching out and opening his monstrous jaws that could swallow him whole.

Thinking quickly, Malice adjusted the grip and held the staff near his ear like a javelin.

Torch could see it coming. But a dragon his size at that speed couldn’t change trajectory in time.

The staff flew like an arrow into Torch’s gaping maw.

It disappeared into his gullet just as fire built up in his throat, and the result was an incredible explosion in his mouth. Torch bellowed once more, like the mighty beast he was, and his momentum abruptly ceased. Then, after hanging in the air for a split second, plunged like a stone to the earth.

“Torch!” Spike managed to squeeze out. His little fingers were still prying with all their strength at the legs caging him.

The flapping of wings caught Malice’s and Spike’s attention. A thin purple dragon with a crooked snout had finally caught up with Malice, doubled over to catch his breath. In his tight grip was a small Black Blade. The dragon’s attention was focused on the quickly-disappearing form of Torch. His eyes were wide, his forehead furrowed.

“The last remainder... of the royal bloodline... is gone,” Malice heaved. “Now all that’s left… is you.”

Spike, thinking quickly, did the one thing he could do. He chomped on one of the thick, grubby legs across his throat and began to gnaw furiously.

Malice grit his own teeth and peeled that leg back, giving Spike some room to take a deep inhale.

“There’s one more,” Spike gasped.

“Oh, you mean that yellow-bellied idiot?” Malice mocked, tossing Spike up and gripping onto him with half a dozen grubby legs. “He’s a dead dragon already.”

Whereupon his head swiveled around, his horns igniting. Garble, who had been flying right at him with a scream, was immobilized in a white aura. As an afterthought, he did the same to Spike.

The two trembling dragons hovered right in front of Malice. The intact right side of his face blinked simultaneously, and his stretched, hideous grin grew.

Venom squirmed at the sight of them.

Freedom Fighter’s reckless world spun.

Moving his left arm felt like moving static. It just wasn’t there. Naked and exposed, disarmed, in freefall, and wounded, Freedom Fighter’s only desperate thoughts were pleas to the Goddess.

As it turned out, there were no angels to stop his descent, no slow reorientation. There was only the ever-growing pulse of the Element embedded in the stump of his metal shoulder.

Freedom Fighter screamed as he tumbled end over end. What could he do to break his fall? Nothing was in his control. For earth ponies like him, falling was a surrender to the inexorable force of nature.

His frontal lobe thumped. Probably a result of the freefall. A spike was being planted into his forehead, right where…

...where his white birthmark was.

The pulse of the Element in his shoulder grew even hotter.

His squeezed-shut eyes opened in realization. All of a sudden he understood.

Gripping the remains of his shoulder, he tugged and pried at the edges surrounding the Element of Sacrifice. With an almighty cry, he ripped the stone clear out of the metal socket.

The ground was only seconds away. He could see the details of the lava creek flow.

With all the strength and will he could muster, Freedom Fighter punched himself in the forehead. The stone made contact with the spot of his birthmark, and almost immediately it embedded through his skin into his skull.

And Freedom Fighter’s descent slowed down, like he was on a drop tower, before stopping altogether. Hovering in the air, surrounded by a vivid yellow aura, Freedom Fighter writhed and clutched at the metal remains of his shoulder. Desperately, he yanked on it, jiggled it out, and finally ripped it away from the empty stump of his socket altogether and tossed it away.

The corona of the sun covered every inch of his body, including the slowly-forming bones and flesh of his left arm. It originated from the glittering, shimmering stone planted in his head, in the spot where it had been ordained to be so long ago.

Freedom Fighter tilted his head up. The fight was still going on.

Lifting his still-forming left arm over his head, Freedom Fighter sailed up.

“Venom,” Malice invited, spreading his arms wide. “The final tie to the past. With their deaths, it will be done.”

Garble inadvertently made eye contact with Venom, and Venom froze, immediately looking down in shame. For Garble’s eyes boiled with fury.

“And so I offer you this chance.” Malice floated them both closer to the purple dragon. “Prove the depth of your devotion.”

Venom’s mouth quivered as he lifted his head. This time, he met Garble’s fierce expression, although he couldn’t match it. His eyes twitched over to Spike, then back to Garble. His two-handed grip on the knife was trembling.

“Finish the job,” Malice urged with a growl. “Don’t you know what you want in life?”

Venom squeezed his eyes shut. “I do,” he murmured.

“Yes,” Malice encouraged, inhaling deep through the holes that were supposed to be nostrils. “I know your heart, Venom. I know you want to lash out with that weapon I gave you, to use it! I declare, to the whole world, you are no longer a servant, a dog! You are free to do as you want! You want to tear through flesh, shear bone! And kill your enemies!”

Venom gave a tight nod. “Yeah.” He looked up at Malice’s bouncing wing. “I do!”

With an upward sweep of his arm, Venom made a long tear in the leathery wing as it came down. It sounded like ripping paper.

Malice shrieked and tilted. The magic enveloping Garble and Spike cut off, and both of them fell. Garble instinctually reached out and grabbed ahold of the scruff of Spike’s neck. Garble adjusted his wings into a downward flight pattern, and the two of them quickly disappeared.

Meanwhile, Venom sped up and away, but he didn’t get far before he was enveloped in white magic himself. Suddenly flailing, Venom was floated over to the monster he once served. Malice’s scarlet eyes blazed like suns.

“You dare!” Malice roared in his face, and sparks flew out like spittle.

“Yes, I dare,” Venom defied. “I’ve had enough killing for one lifetime.”

“I agree,” Malice hissed. “So your life shall end!”

His magical horns pulsed brighter. Venom bent backwards at a terrible angle. Snaps and pops erupted from his spine, and despite his best efforts to bend forward again, Venom let out a scream of agony.

But his scream was drowned out in the shriek of something else approaching Malice’s position rapidly.

Malice snarled and spun to the source, and upon seeing it, he swerved his head to the side to avoid one of his horns getting cracked in half. A sun-yellow stream shot across his axis and temporarily blinded his intact eyes. Malice blinked intensely to clear his vision.

He immediately wished he hadn’t.

The Unforgiven, in all his glory, was hovering in midair like an angel. He was in a nimbus of brilliant yellow light, matching his unmarred coat color. He was muscular, undefiled; completely exposed, but untouchable. Even his limbs were whole again, and his black mane stood up, waving on end. His vivid scarlet eyes stood out from his body, and those eyes seemed so similar to Malice’s own that it gave him pause.

He instinctively released Venom, and the traitor immediately dipped below his altitude.

Neither light nor shadow gave his exit a second glance.

After all Malice had done, after all of Malice’s triumphs and losses, his failures and trials, and after all the scars, torture, and mutilation on both parties, the Unforgiven had endured. Or even, perhaps, the reason he endured was because Malice tried to erase the Unforgiven in the first place.

By attempting to prevent prophecy, Malice had made it come true.

And here the Unforgiven was, without blemish or spot, to deliver on his end of the covenant.

“Dragon Lord Malice,” the Unforgiven derogatorily noted. His voice roiled like the thunder of the skies. “Not much of a Lord, are we?”

“Freedom Fighter,” Malice retorted. “Not much of a fighter, I see. You aren't even free. Bound down by prophecy.”

“Whatever I do,” the Unforgiven announced, “I do of my own will. All you have is the will of your master.”

“I have all there is,” Malice hissed. “And all that is to come. You, however, will die with the rest of your friends.”

“At least I have friends,” the Unforgiven waved aside, giving no more than a casual shrug at the threat. “You’re alone. Abandoned by both your heavenly parents. That’s a record. You have nothing to do with all that power.”

Malice’s horns glowed sickeningly white. “I can start by killing you!”

“So approach me, foul worm. You can’t kill me all the way over there.” The Unforgiven’s red eyes glinted. “Come as close as you like.”

Malice was wounded, scarred, amputated, and hobbled. But Malice’s signature grin plastered itself onto his face. In some strange, terrible way… Malice was looking forward to it.

Malice would not need to win. All he had to do was buy time.

The abomination of nature hurled himself at the Unforgiven.

The pony easily evaded him and impacted Malice in the chest. Malice curled up and lashed a dozen arms out to strike the Unforgiven. Some caught him across the face or arm or chest, but the wounds they caused were already healing. The Unforgiven responded with a flurry of his own blows. Not all of them landed, but the ones that did made Malice grunt.

Freedom Fighter ended his fusillade by rotating in midair to deliver a pent-up buck into Malice’s lungs. Malice gasped, but managed to grab the rear legs stuck in his chest. Snarling, he curled himself up once more and stuffed Freedom Fighter into the mess of bending, grubby legs he had.

Though Malice’s legs were strong, Freedom Fighter was stronger. After curling himself up as well, he launched himself out of Malice’s grip like he was pushing off the edge of a swimming pool. Before he went too far out, he reversed direction, halted, and fired right back at Malice, who had lunged for him.

Beneath the Unforgiven’s hoof, a bone in his chest snapped like a stick.

Malice gasped and hissed, then opened his needled jaws further and blew a steady stream of flame at the Unforgiven. He had mostly gotten away by then, but his rear legs were caught in the fire, and scorched themselves black almost immediately. Freedom Fighter screamed and clutched his legs as he hovered in the air.

Freedom Fighter and Malice both took a moment to examine their wounds. Malice took the opportunity to speak first.

“You’re doomed,” he proclaimed gently.

“I am?” Freedom asked, somewhat surprised.

“No matter how much you’ll want your pain to end,” Malice pointed out, “you will just regenerate. You won’t die. But you’ll wish you could.”

“Been there,” Freedom Fighter waved aside. But his eyes seemed unsure.

“I tore you apart once before,” Malice said, spreading his arms. “I never thought I’d get to do it all over again. This must be my lucky day!”

Freedom Fighter bellowed in rage, and his sizzling, blackened legs grew themselves over in a few seconds until they appeared good as new once more. Without any further provocation, he rocketed once more at Malice.

“Twilight!” came a scratchy voice that she immediately recognized. Twisting her head, Twilight found Rainbow Dash screeching to a halt several meters away from her on the left. Rainbow was panting, her sword arm drooping.

“What’s going on?” Twilight demanded. “Who did you manage to get out?”

“...I found everypony but Fluttershy, Noble, and Firestorm,” Rainbow gasped. “Ah, give me a sec.”

“Well, where are they?” Twilight pressured. “Are they safe?”

“Well… no, not… really.”

“Rainbow, you had one job!”

“Pinkie ordered me to drop her off in the north mountain!” Rainbow protested, gesticulating with Stormkeeper at the appropriate landmark. “She’s gonna help out Rarity and Applejack.”

“Was Pinkie with Tempest and Starlight?”

“Yeah, they’re on the peak.”

“Then come on!” Twilight urged, flapping her wings.

“Wait!” Rainbow yelled, zooming in front of her path with her arms out wide. “Don’t land!”

“But there’s nowhere else to go!” Twilight yelled back, swishing a hoof. “I don’t care if the zone is too hot! My friends are down there!”

“Twilight, please, listen to me! If you want to save the world, don’t go!”

Twilight reared her head in shock. “What?”

“There’s some kind of binding on the Element! If you touch it, Solaris is going to wake up!”

“Fine, then I won’t touch the Element!”

“No, you… you don’t understand,” Rainbow insisted. “Twilight, it’s part of her now. Starlight is dying!”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. Her head soon bowed. “Dying?” she whispered, although Rainbow likely couldn’t hear it over the sounds of battle.

“If you try and stop it,” Rainbow spelled out, a choke in her throat, “we’ll all be doomed. I… Twilight, what are we going to do? Just leave her alone and… let her sacrifice save the world?”

Twilight made no action. It seemed like so many minutes passed in that state of contemplation. The world in the background faded into obscurity, and Twilight’s thoughts were inward.

It couldn’t be! Were they fighting an unwinnable battle? No. No! There had to be something they could do. How could Twilight help others if this was the cost of her choice? Twilight couldn’t just give up. Not now! Not after all they suffered! Leaving Starlight to die without seeing her made her throat close up.

But this was to save the world. What more would Twilight have to sacrifice before it would be over? How much more could be asked of her to save the world?

And the notion hit her. Was this really the first time she had given up hope to the enemy? No. Tirek came to mind. She had given up all the magic in Equestria in exchange for her friends’ safety. And in the process, she had influenced Discord, giving them the final key for victory.

Would this be a similar situation? Perhaps, just maybe, the only way to achieve victory would be to sacrifice everything for the life of their friends. The power of friendship could win in the end! Would Twilight have the faith to see it through? Perhaps… Maybe it was possible. Twilight just didn’t know. How can you know unless you try?

And yet, the thought of Tartarus’s triumph itched her brain. Crackling black fires, hissing devils crawling everywhere like spiders, rivers and oceans of vivid red blood and fire on the rubble of a ruined world, crushed to dust under the heavy hoof of her eternal Father. If things went wrong, she would be the one to blame.

Put plainly, it was the choice between the world or her friends.

The world, or Starlight.

“Rainbow,” Twilight ordered without emotion. “Clear the area of hostiles.”

“...Gotcha,” Rainbow hesitantly acknowledged, giving a limp salute, and, sighing, sped into the distance.

Twilight was fully aware of what could happen. She didn’t know if she could bear it.

White lightning blazed in the sky, connecting one armored dragon to another. Rainbow was doing her job, all right.

Would Twilight be able to do hers?

A tear ran down her cheek.

“Forgive me,” she whispered.

It was like a nightmare. Materializing in and out of existence was Firestorm’s furious face, only illuminated by flashes whenever their blades collided. Noble always moved backwards, always gave him ground. To strike Firestorm down would tear Noble in two.

Their blades never met each other’s bodies. They were always deflected into the walls, or the ceiling above their heads, filling the air with the stench of scorched metal and smoke. For Noble Blade and Firestorm knew how each other fought, studied how they worked. They knew each other more deeply than friends, more intimately than even their lovers. Noble Blade and Firestorm were manifestations of the single mind they had once both shared.

But this was not about a battle between good and evil. Only about the damage one side had wrought unto another.

Noble knew he couldn’t stay in this endless tunnel. The only way out was through Firestorm or up. And he couldn’t go through Firestorm. Never.

So as he parried three quick strikes into the walls and ceiling, his horn ignited. Firestorm saw this and lept back, expecting him to fire into him. But Noble instead built up the energy for a second and shot it above his head, tearing through the metal lining of the hall and plowing through rock. Showers of pebbles and dust fell upon him.

Firestorm, evidently realizing his intent to escape, roared and surged right at him. But Noble, who had seen Starlight in action before, coated himself in his own magic and shot himself through the narrow hole he had created.

It was barely large enough for him to squeeze through if he kept his limbs close to his body. His sword trailed below him, warding off Firestorm’s attempt to follow. Even if he tried to, it was far too small for his wings to fit. He’d have to take some time.

Between burrowing through the solid rock and levitating himself and his sword up, Noble could feel his magic deplete quickly. All he had to do was break through!

After what felt like minutes, Noble finally burst from the rock and emerged into the open air like a whale breaching the surface of the water. After pulling himself and his sword out of the hole, he crawled for a few feet, rolled onto his back, and panted for breath.

The sky above was grey, punctuated with vivid constellations of flame and colorful laser fire. To his immediate south was the looming, billowing monolith of Mount Nevermore. Noble’s lungs shriveled at the sight alone.

Every sensation painted the picture of Tartarus. The brimstone and dust filling his nose. The taste of smoke in his mouth. Sharp, black rock scraped his back. His ears picked up the sounds of distant screaming and booms, and there was a deep rumble from the thin, glowing lava river hundreds of meters below.

Still taking deep breaths, Noble shakingly got to all fours. The slope of the mountain was such that he had to reposition himself like a goat. His horn ignited, although Noble hissed as it did, and his sword flew into his hoof.

How far behind would Firestorm be? He was fast. Would he take the carved hole, or emerge elsewhere to get the drop on him? Noble brought his sword in front of him and scanned higher up the slope of the Son. The peak of the smaller mountain was truncated and billowing dust, recently blown apart. Who could have done that?

The ground split apart ahead of him, making Noble stumble. With an almighty orange crack and tremendous blast, the ground erupted in a column of flame, and Noble brought his hoof up to cover his eyes.

Firestorm hovered, not even flapping his wings, in a writhing pillar of blinding orange flame. It was certainly a break from the oppressive blackness all around. Noble couldn’t look away.

Firestorm said nothing. He just brought his swords down.

Noble Blade always gave ground on every successive strike. Flashes and fans of orange and blue enveloped them both until it looked like they were in a bubble of color. By themselves, Firestorm’s swords could not meet Noble’s head-on, but they could also strike in two different directions, and Noble found himself always swirling his sword to meet a thrust that could skewer him. It meant there was no opportunity for offense.

The slant of the mountain made it hard for Noble to find good footing. His stance was always wavering, never steady. The back of his knees ached, like razor blades were pressed into them.

Firestorm was always several feet above him, not even needing to touch the ground. Noble was already weak, but Firestorm just grew strength from the fires swirling on his skin. The longer it went on, the worse their conditions seemed to get.

Noble saw no way for him to win.

And truth be told, he didn’t want to. But he didn’t want to die, either.

Firestorm flipped right over him, and as he did, the tip of his swords flashed down, nicking his ear and creating a narrow gash along his scalp. Noble gasped and swung wildly backwards, momentarily forgetting that Firestorm didn’t technically have to land. Firestorm hovered in the air as Noble turned to face him once more.

Noble’s horn charged up, and he fired a few experimental shots at the pegasus. Firestorm deftly evaded all of them, even callously deflecting one bolt back into the surface.

“Let’s see how much of a unicorn you really are!” Firestorm yelled. Bringing an arm back, he immediately hurled that sword at Noble.

It was aimed at his horn. Noble’s own sword managed to deflect it, and it went skittering across the surface of the mountain.

“Storm!” Noble yelled. “Stop! I don’t want to fight you!”

“But I do!” Firestorm screamed, brandishing his other sword. He shot like a loosed arrow into Noble Blade, and the two of them went sprawling. Noble felt his huge sword get knocked out of his hoof.

His free hooves were now the only things keeping Firestorm from using his remaining sword to cut his throat. Both of them were shaking with effort and staring each other dead in the face. Firestorm roared, only inches away, and Noble did the same. Then he lurched his head forward, scraping his horn against the side of Firestorm’s head. A line of blood opened up and began to leak down his cheek.

Enraged, Firestorm adjusted the slope of his sword so it wasn’t going into Noble’s trachea, but instead into the bony material of his horn. It embedded itself with a dull thud, and Noble felt a paralyzing tremor run through him. It was as if he had been struck by lightning, or hit his funny bone. Needles ran down his veins, and his mouth was involuntarily open in shock.

His hooves gripped the sharp edge of Firestorm’s sword and tried to push back. He felt his skin slice open. Thick blood ran down his arms.

Firestorm pushed as hard as he could in response. His face was narrow in rage with the effort he needed, and a labored exhale came through his nose.

Noble, thinking desperately, kicked his rear legs up so they hit Firestorm in the butt, and he went somersaulting over Noble’s head, taking his sword with him. Firestorm slid down the deep slope of the Son for a few more feet, but Noble only needed a few feet.

Gasping while igniting his horn, Noble tried to summon his father’s sword, but the pain surging from his injured horn made him scream, and a spark or two came out of the cut. The sword tumbled in midair, and Noble only barely caught the edge of the sword before Firestorm was already up, delivering a mighty kick to Noble’s chin that chomped his teeth together and sent him tumbling.

Noble rolled down the rocky black mountain, clutching his father’s sword for dear life. Eventually, friction compelled him to stop. His legs were apart in order to maintain balance while he hesitantly stood up.

Firestorm was rocketing at him, his fiery sword out and to the side.

Noble couldn’t leap aside. He had to face him head-on.

He abruptly brought his sword up.

Squish.

The world screeched to a halt.

Noble’s heart froze up and shattered. His hooves trembled, gripping the hilt too tightly. On the other end of the sword was Firestorm, the dripping tip emerging from his back. They took each other in before looking down, their shock equal at what happened.

Firestorm’s arms drooped down, and his fiery sword tumbled out and extinguished. Noble’s sword drooped as well, making Firestorm lean back, slide out, and collapse on the sloping rock.

Noble tossed his priceless blue sword to the side, his only source of power, and instead rushed to his brother, picking up his head and resting it on his legs. “No,” he choked. “Storm!”

Firestorm grunted in pain, staring up into Noble’s face. At first, Firestorm’s vivid yellow eyes were beetled in fury. Then, as Noble held him tighter, Firestorm’s eyes softened. His mouth was slightly open as he did his best to comprehend the implications of what Noble was choosing to do with his dying body.

Noble adjusted him in his arms, putting pressure on the mortal wound in his chest. “I can still save you!” he whispered, tugging at the skin around Firestorm’s chest. “Please, Faust, help me save him!”

“What…” Firestorm breathed. “Why are you…”

Noble’s eyes turned back to Firestorm’s. They were both wet, their mouths trembling.

“You know why,” Noble said simply, and a tear fell, landing on Firestorm’s chin.

The dying pegasus’ eyes widened. “You mean…”

Noble nodded. His throat hurt.

Firestorm’s wide eyes wavered and shut. Tears of his own leaked out, down the sides of his head. A cry of anguish escaped his lips, and he threw his head back in frustration. “I’m a fool!”

“No,” Noble was quick to say. “You were tricked. That means you’re a good pony. Okay? You’re a good pony. I’ll try to patch this up. You’ll be okay!”

Firestorm wheezed before spitting out a hyperventilating breath. “I don’t want to go to hell! I don’t want... I can’t... live with…”

“No, no,” Noble refused. “You deserve to live. I want you to live! Don’t go! You can’t!”

Firestorm’s arms reached up, and Noble bowed his head so Firestorm could grip him closer.

“I’m scared,” Firestorm whimpered.

And it chilled Noble to the bone. The fire around him could not unfreeze his senses.

“S...stop it,” Noble whispered, caressing his cheek. “You’re brave, Firestorm. You’re the first of us to… find out what lies beyond. Alone.”

Firestorm’s eyes relaxed with every dwindling breath. “Not… alone…”

His chest deflated. And never rose again.

Noble’s lips tremored, and when they parted, they let out a squeak. “Storm?”

Firestorm’s arms fell. He was tense everywhere else.

“No, no!” Noble exclaimed. His hooves ran over the wound, but there was no reaction on Firestorm’s face. “NO, STORM! PLEASE!”

Firestorm’s empty yellow eyes were staring blankly upward. The last thing he ever saw was the black sky of hell.

“YOU CAN’T!” Noble screamed, and his tears dripped as if from an open wound. “I… no...” Noble adjusted the body--the body. “NO!”

He buried his eyes into Firestorm’s dirtied mane. He rocked the silent Firestorm back and forth like a newborn, but Noble was the one wailing in despair.

Hell thundered everywhere.

Chapter Eighty-seven: The Battle of Heaven and Earth, part 2

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It started gradually. But like a growing tide, more and more chaos began to overwhelm the smoky, stuffy center of Mount Nevermore.

It made Fluttershy more anxious by the second. Her critters and animals were running, flying, slithering, crawling up the black machines and onto the cruel metal walkways, pipes, and catwalks connected to the Tree.

Some part of her feared for their safety. But another part of her wondered if their lives meant anything if they came from nothing.

Meanwhile, Cinder and Bedrock, as well as his adopted bear, were both moving amongst the captive dragons attending to other refineries or conveyor belts. They were spreading the word of an opening. They were counting on Fluttershy’s small army to do the trick. It was all on her. All of it.

But instead of crippling distress, Fluttershy felt a sense of peace in her duty. No more did she feel overburdened by her obligations. So much had been expected of her already. The best she could do would be to ensure their victory.

Which meant killing the alicorns.

If there was one thing Fluttershy hated above all else, it was taking life. But these alicorns were not living a life at all. And besides, it was them or her and her friends. Fluttershy felt a churn in her gut as she took a deep breath. But she also wanted to win.

“Now!” she commanded.

Though she was very quiet, the animals she had summoned knew her will. All at once, from the high rafters, bugs and birds and serpents and beasts revealed themselves, hurtling themselves at the small figures of the alicorns so high up.

Though these were powerful ponies, they were also unaccustomed to being attacked, let alone by animals none of them had ever seen. Shrieks of surprise and desperation echoed off the walls, cutting above the squeaks and clanks of industry far below. Fluttershy saw colorful lasers and flashes of light erupt from the shadowy figures. Some animals fell, but more replaced them. The dozen or so alicorns were simply far too outnumbered.

Any alicorns that tried to hover in the air were promptly assaulted by swarms of hornets and razor-beaked ravens. Those who stayed on their catwalks or walkways had to contend with holding off bigger enemies while sinister insects and arachnids crawled onto their skin and bit and stung their legs. All sorts of enemies who otherwise would not live in this dreadful habitat were present, and the confusion and helplessness from the alicorns actually made Fluttershy momentarily feel a sting of sympathy for them.

But then she remembered the plight of Bedrock and their voluntary loss of freedom, and the sting was swallowed up in the knowledge of their fates. They had already been doomed.

Two alicorns plummeted from the sky after welts from the hornets came onto their wings. They were screaming, bleeding from the cuts the ravens gave. One of them slammed onto the ground amidst several workers, rolling several feet. The other splashed into a deep tub of molten metal only a few meters away from Fluttershy, throwing bright, glowing orange chunks of the stuff over the edge in every direction and promptly melting the controls for the refinery.

By this point, if any dragons weren’t paying attention to the mayhem before, they were now. Heads swiveled up, and mouths dropped in awe. Slowly, the realization set upon them collectively. They were free! Their bodies were in chains, but they were free!

Bedrock was moving among the closest dragons he saw with his horn ablaze. With a simple touch to the chains around their hands or legs, they slinked off and clattered to the ground. After rubbing their wrists, those dragons moved about to rip off the chains on their brothers and sisters.

Fluttershy observed it all happen, but her patient attention was on the alicorn clambering out of the molten pot of glowing steel. It was as if it was orange honey dripping from him, and though his skin was inflamed, it was uninjured. Fluttershy didn’t like her odds against him.

He was screaming and spewing profanities as he fell from the rim and hit the ground in a fiery puddle. His wide-open mouth was coagulated with sticky molten metal. As he got to all fours, he spat it out in annoyance and wiped his face, then shook himself like a drying dog. The alicorn was very muscular and big, and so black he might have been a silhouette. He bellowed once more once he was dry, then whipped his head to Fluttershy. His eyes flitted to the Element around her neck.

Her heart skipped a beat.

He lunged at her, and Fluttershy couldn’t evade. She brought her hooves up instead, and the two ponies collided and fell.

Fluttershy rolled away and got back to her hooves, but the alicorn grabbed her tail and yanked hard. She was thrown back to the ground, and the alicorn planted his knee into her sternum, lifted his hoof, and plunged it into her face.

Fluttershy shrieked and gripped her nose. It didn’t feel broken, but she couldn’t take more hits like that.

The nameless alicorn--Fluttershy mentally labeled him as Muscles--prepared for another devastating blow, but hissed and yelped, shaking his hoof. Four ravens had flapped around his head and were nicking his arm and cheeks. Blood had been drawn, but Muscles was already batting them aside in puffs of feathers.

Thinking quickly, Fluttershy took the opening her animals provided. Jabbing his exposed chest was enough for her to roll out from under him once again. Muscles yelled and slammed his hooves down where she had been a second before. Fluttershy panted with effort as she tried to rise in the air, but Muscles’ horn ignited, coating her in vivid green magic.

Muscles bellowed and tossed her over onto a creaking conveyor belt leading into the nearby refinery. Fluttershy could feel the molds pressing against her back. She tried to roll off, but Muscles had already leaped onto the conveyor belt as well, shaking her and forcing her onto her back.

Muscles cruelly laughed and stomped towards her, even as Fluttershy turned and scrambled backwards. Upon seeing where the belt was going, however, Fluttershy froze.

A tremendous crucible suspended above them, fed by an even higher aqueduct, was periodically tilting and pouring its molten contents into the molds that came off the belt.

Fluttershy decided she didn’t want to be there when the time came.

Muscles had reached her by then. His pitch-black body loomed above her, and his hoof was coming down. She rolled aside just before it smashed into her face, grabbed his leg, and yanked it the wrong way as hard as she could. Muscles yelled and wrenched it out of her grasp, then batted her in the head so she was sprawled on the belt.

There was nothing Fluttershy wanted to do more than get off that conveyor belt. But she also knew that if she got off, he would too, and just kill her then. This would be one of the only ways she could kill him. Not by the molten steel itself--she had clearly seen him survive his fall into the stuff. But perhaps…

Her gaze traveled to the massive crucible hanging in the air. There were only two chains holding it up. They were thick chains. But if only she could touch them…

The crucible tilted yet again, and a waterfall of red honey poured out and splashed into the molds deposited beneath it.

Fluttershy scrambled to all fours, picking up a mold in the process. Muscles’ hoof was flying right at her, but she put the iron mold between them just in time, and Muscles yelped and shook the injured part as Fluttershy dropped it.

It was enough time for her to run against the conveyor belt, reach over the side, grope for a second or two, and snag a rebar on the ground. Muscles was raging his way over, and as he came within reach, Fluttershy swiped the bar of metal as hard as she could at his head.

It smacked him clear across the forehead. Muscles just shook it, grinned, and enveloped Fluttershy in green magic. It pinned her on her back, spread-eagle. The green magic coated the rebar as well, and it hovered menacingly above Fluttershy’s head like a piercing spear.

But the rebar was already shapeshifting into the lithe, long body of a vile black snake. After taking into account the magic holding him in the air, the hovering snake struck. It lashed into Muscle’s forehead, right at the base of his bony horn, and sunk its fangs into his skin.

Muscles yelled and shut off his magic instinctively. The snake wriggled as it latched deeper into him and coiled around his horn a few times. Muscle’s hoof wrapped around the snake and wrenched the fangs out of his head.

But Fluttershy was already in motion. She leapt up and touched the snake’s tail once more. At once, his body reverted back to its original iron state, only now coiled tightly around Muscle’s horn.

She flapped over Muscles’ head, bending the rebar as she did, and it bent Muscles backwards until he flopped onto the conveyor belt with Fluttershy atop him.

Fluttershy fell backwards, pulling with all her strength. It was like a crowbar, and there was plenty of leverage. Muscles’ head was bent back, and he screamed and scrabbled at his horn for relief, but it was wound tight, and Fluttershy wasn’t letting go.

All the while, they were getting closer and closer to the tilting crucible. Fluttershy was sweating from the heat, and her skin glowed as the molten metal spilled down just ahead of them.

Planting her back hooves against his head, she yanked once more, and this time, there was an audible crack. Several pieces flew out of his horn, like crumbs from a loaf of bread. She quickly repeated it, and Muscles bellowed. He scrabbled for a loose mold, picked it up, and tossed it behind him. It hit Fluttershy square in the head. Briefly stunned, she rolled off him.

Muscles tried to yank the iron bar off his horn, but there wasn’t much room to pull without hurting his horn even more. He spat out a swear and stomped to Fluttershy’s weakly-rising form once more.

This time, his hoof snatched the pink butterfly around her neck, swiveled it behind her, and yanked the gold chain against her windpipe. Fluttershy gasped and pried at the Element, but Muscles pulled even harder. Muscles forced Fluttershy down until her cheek was pressed against the surface of the conveyor belt.

The crucible poured down once more. It made Fluttershy’s skin burn, how close they were. The next time, it would pour on top of them.

In between choking breaths, Fluttershy snarled and tried to elbow Muscles from behind, but his grip was too strong, or his torso too tough, or she was too weak. Muscles would not let go of the Element.

The Element.

He had unwittingly put the clasp right in front of her. But Fluttershy didn’t want to just leave it behind in the hooves of the enemy. Could she get it back?

It was a risk she was willing to take.

Her hooves quickly worked the delicate slide and unlatched it. Muscles fell off her from the sudden lack of resistance, taking her Element. Fluttershy crawled out and got to all fours at the same time Muscles did.

Muscles bellowed once more. Since it was the only language he understood, Fluttershy defiantly bellowed back as loud as she could.

Despite all Fluttershy had done to him, Muscles was visibly taken aback from the outburst. His eyes were wide, and he had taken a step back. It was a mistake.

That step had taken him beneath the crucible’s depository. And in this same area was a blocky engine keeping the conveyor belt running. The bent rebar wrapped tightly around his cracked horn lodged in between two exposed gears of the engine.

Immediately, the conveyor belt ground to a halt. Muscles jolted, slipped, and ended up on his knees, clutching his horn desperately.

Fluttershy took off with a puff of her wings and hovered up to the chains. The crucible’s intense heat burned her glowing skin and made her squint. She could see the swirling, goopy orange metal in the crucible as it tilted once more, pouring its fiery load all over Muscles’ silhouette below.

It didn’t harm him, of course. He screamed and garbled, but he wasn’t actually burning. The iron rebar, however, melted almost instantly. With a shake of his head, he was free.

Quickly, she touched the chains, willing them to become snakes.

Nothing happened.

Desperation came upon her for a few seconds before the answer came to her: she could only do it if she had the Element. Which was in Muscle’s grip.

Muscles shot into the bottom of the crucible, sending it swinging and throwing glops of the sticky stuff all over the place. Fluttershy cowered and flinched. Some smaller particles got over her hooves, which was at least better than her eyes, and some got into her mane and tail, setting them on fire.

She shrieked and landed back on the conveyor belt to extinguish the fire. Muscles was keeping the crucible from resetting to its normal position, so the molten metal flowing into it was running down the slope and dripping everywhere it was not supposed to. Machine parts for the belt caught on fire or melted.

Muscles was floating above a steadily growing pool of glowing hot metal, and its intense glow illuminated his face like he was in brightest daylight. He was grinning, and the glint in his eyes was an evil one. Floating beside him was Fluttershy’s discarded Element.

His back hooves kicked a splash of molten metal at Fluttershy, and she flinched away just in time. The fire in her mane reignited, and Fluttershy quickly tried patting it down. Muscles splashed some more, and Fluttershy scurried back.

He needed to throw something else! But what could it be?

Fluttershy's gaze traveled to the enormous metal bucket he was holding up.

“NO!” screamed Fluttershy. She cowered and pointed at the gigantic crucible he was holding up. "Don't throw that at me! Anything but that!"

Muscles blinked in surprise, looking up. Then his glowing orange face split in an evil grin. A dark laugh escaped his clenched teeth, and his horn shone green.

The two chains glowed green as well. Link after link snapped in half.

Muscles was now suddenly carrying the entire weight of the crucible on his back. And he was strong. Very strong. But not strong enough for this.

The black alicorn crashed into the pool of molten metal with another splash, and this time, the weight of his mistake crushed him down. His entire torso was pinned. He couldn’t even lift his head out of the pool enough to breathe.

He gurgled through the thick liquid. It sounded like, “Help.” But Fluttershy couldn’t help him.

Muscles flailed and pushed against the ground. But eventually, from a mix of his crushed body and lack of air, Muscles went limp. His body slowly began disappearing in the growing pool of slimy, sticky metal.

Fluttershy, shaking from the sight, turned away. Riding up to her was Bedrock. He was panting, his horn smoking from use. He was atop his pet bear, which was extraordinarily docile.

He seemed just as shaken by it as Fluttershy was. She couldn’t blame him.

Unsure of what to say, Fluttershy just nodded and gave a hopeful smile.

Bedrock gave a tired nod in return and turned away.

Fluttershy tiredly hovered over to the red pool of molten metal. Her Element was lazily spinning in place.

“Bedrock?” she asked. “Would you help…” She gestured at the necklace.

Bedrock’s horn shone green, and the necklace hovered up. The sticky stuff was quickly expunged from the surface. It hovered over to Fluttershy and dropped itself in her hoof.

Fluttershy was expecting it to give her a burn. But it was as cool as the water in a creek. She examined it with fascination before returning it to her neck.

Fluttershy’s gaze then landed upon the terrible metal Tree. The rest of the alicorns guarding it were gone. At every level, dragons were swarming it. They were pulling out pipes and making great tears in the surface. From their combined efforts, it seemed to be working very well.

“What are they doing?” Fluttershy demanded.

“Taking revenge,” Bedrock simply answered.

The green leader, Cinder, tore out a patch, and a torrent of lava poured out in a gloppy stream. Similar streams were all over the rest of the Tree. They pattered and splashed down to the surface, melting any catwalks and pipes in their way.

“Where does the lava come from?” Fluttershy asked. “And why is it even there?”

“That pipe provides heat and electricity to the entire mountain,” Bedrock replied. “Not to mention a pool for baptisms at the summit. We pipe it all in from the Daughter--the south mountain. It’s almost full to bursting with the stuff, so if it’s backed up, it’ll blow.”

“Is it?”

“Twisted the valve myself,” Bedrock asserted.

“Then we should probably leave,” Fluttershy suggested.

“Come with me,” Bedrock encouraged. “I know the way out. The dragons can survive lava, so they can just leave through the pipe’s exit.”

“Lead the way,” Fluttershy allowed. She flapped onto the bear’s back and held Bedrock around the waist to not fall off.

Bedrock blushed, but didn’t say anything. He just patted the bear’s head. “Hyah, boy!”

The bear reared and galloped. He went up a ramp, onto a platform, and through a hole and out of the cavern.

As they left, more and more holes were made in the Tree. Torrents of lava poured out and began to cover the floor. It melted stations and engulfed equipment, burning away supports and sloughing away pipes.

The interior began to crumple apart.

A slucking and slurping sound drew Tempest’s attention. She turned away from Starlight’s body in her arms and observed the lava lake in the center of the temple.

It was going down. Gradually, the hot orange glow of the lava dipped below her eye level.

“What…” Tempest muttered in confusion. Then it hit her. The tremendous pipeline in the center of Mount Nevermore. Could it be…

“Did Fluttershy do something?” she asked herself.

“Hm?” Starlight’s head weakly came up.

“Don’t worry about it,” Tempest reassured her, resting her head once again. “It’s probably nothing.”

Starlight sighed and prodded the Element stuck in her chest. “It hurts. Everything… hurts.”

Tempest considered for a few seconds before coming upon a solution. Setting Starlight’s head in her lap, she gently removed the armor covering her hooves. Setting them aside, she squeezed Starlight around the chest. “Does that help?”

Starlight nodded and used a trembling hoof to adjust a lock of toned-down hair. The black disease from the Element had spread to her colorless shoulder.

“We’re going to get you out of this,” Tempest promised, setting Starlight’s hoof down upon her chest. “Assuming we all live.”

“You think they’re doing okay?” Starlight croaked.

It confused Tempest. She’s the one on the verge of death, and she’s asking if they’re doing okay? But she humored her. “They’re strong, Starlight. They’re doing just fine.”

Pinkie’s back hit the wall, briefly stunning her. She just shook her head and bounced out of the way of the next laser blast.

“Be still, you pest!” High Priest Ajax ordered, firing another streak of scarlet from his horn. It blew apart the floor right where Pinkie was about to step. But it didn’t bother her anyway. Her Pinkie Sense more than made up for it.

“Why doncha make me?” Pinkie taunted, sticking out her tongue provocatively.

Ajax’s maimed face narrowed. “Fine.”

Pinkie was enveloped in a deep red glow. With a swish of his head, Ajax hurled Pinkie into one of the many holes lining the interior of the Son. A pink explosion shortly followed.

“You okay?” Applejack called, even as she ensnared Brimstone’s limbs with four sizzling orange whips.

“Never better,” was Pinkie’s woozy response.

Brimstone’s horn sparked to life as he grinned maliciously. “Ooh, I like this, Jackie.”

Applejack scowled and retracted the whips. Brimstone was pulled close to her like a fish, and as he came within reach, Applejack’s rear leg swung around and caught him on his temple. Brimstone went flying, and he tumbled to a stop. But he resiliently rose once again.

“Brim!” Warcane cried, from the opposite side of the room.

“Worry about yourself, you stupid hag!” Brimstone bellowed, making the crippled mare flinch.

“He’s right, you know,” Rarity admitted, swishing the violet rapier as she approached. “You’re going to need it.”

“Don’t you talk down to me!” Warcane screeched. “How can I be beaten by the likes of you?”

“I don’t know, how did you?” Rarity taunted.

Warcane shrieked in response, then ignited her sizzling horn and fired a torrent of electricity at Rarity. She caught it from the tip of her rapier like a lightning rod and flung it upwards, hitting the upper wall with an explosion. Warcane hissed and clutched the base of her broken horn.

“Tell me, darling,” Rarity growled. “How did you ever get entangled in this mess to begin with? You could have been so much better than who you are now.”

“Seems to me like you just can’t go through with killing me!” Warcane accused, even as she massaged her forehead. “You held me down with three swords, but you couldn’t kill me. You broke my horn, but you couldn’t kill me. You could have blown that magic back at me, but you couldn’t kill me!”

“It’s very unladylike,” Rarity admitted. “But if you insist, I can set that tenet aside.”

“I dare you! Do it!” Warcane doubled down. She giddily licked her red lips. “And prove you’re no better than me!”

“But that’s the thing, darling. I am better than you. It’s not a very high bar to clear.”

Warcane’s face creased in anger. “Then I’ll kill you first, you SLAVE!”

Her horn sparked and sizzled into a net of electricity around her entire body. Clearly in anguish, Warcane stumble-ran towards Rarity.

Rarity’s lips pursed. “If it ends your pain, I’ll do it.”

Her horn pulsed brighter as she reared her head.

Mid-run, a thin blue crystal shot out of the ground and impaled Warcane right through the chest. Her magic cut off, and blood leaked out and ran down the spire.

Warcane shrieked and bashed on the crystal, breaking it off but leaving a long piece in her chest. She cringed and panted in place. “Try harder!” she wheezed.

Rarity’s horn glowed brighter once more. Five more blue spikes emerged from the ground and entered Warcane’s body from five different angles, lifting her off the ground. Her hooves flailed in the air as she struggled. She heaved and gasped for breath, but blood leaked out of her mouth, which she absently licked in an attempt to dull her pain.

“You poor soul,” Rarity whispered. “You could have been so much better.”

Warcane gurgled and spat. With her dying breath, she screamed in Rarity’s face until her voice gave. Then her head bowed, her hooves went limp, and Warcane was finally free of her pain.

“NO!” came a roar. A hot blast ripped a line across Rarity’s entire body, and she collapsed, arching her back. It was like being struck by lightning.

“YOU MONSTER!” Applejack bellowed. There was a terrible crunch, and Rarity whipped her head around to see.

Brimstone’s face was battered and bloody, pressed against the floor. Applejack’s mighty hoof was pressed against the back of his head.

“Uugh,” Brimstone moaned. “Harder.”

Applejack’s face twisted in disgust and fury. She lashed a hoof back, and a sizzling whip came out. It wrapped tightly around Brimstone’s horn, then shortened. She yanked as hard as she could against the bony protrusion.

Brimstone yelled and flailed his arms. They tried to grip the whip, but it caused his flesh to smoke, and he let go in shock. Apparently, even alicorns could not resist the power of the Element’s touch.

“You devil,” Applejack whispered. “Pain means nothing to you.”

“You’re wrong… I love it,” Brimstone gasped, and he cracked a smile. “And you’re just as brutal as us. Didn’t Faust warn you about that? With our deaths, we seal our testament against you.”

Applejack tilted her head.

Brimstone laughed through the pain. “What a way to go. But if it proves you hypocrites, it is enough for me.”

“You don’t understand, doncha?” Applejack asked, yanking even harder. “And ya probably never will. From where you’re laying, you think you’re suffering for yer false God. Truth is... you never had truth on yer side to begin with.”

With a final twist and yank, his horn was sheared in half with a sizzle. It bounced and clattered away.

Brimstone yelled. But it turned into uproarious laughter. He was cringing, but smiling through it. “You’re new to this,” he noted, even as he massaged his forehead. “It’s a rare joy to corrupt a righteous heart. Do what you must. I’ve won already.”

Applejack’s lips pursed. Her face creased in thought.

“Tell you what, Brim,” Applejack said, and the whip disappeared. “You get ta live.”

Brimstone swiveled his head in disbelief. “What?”

“Proving you wrong is enough victory, right?” Applejack shrugged. “Giving you mercy is the only way to really beat you. Anypony can hurt another. Takes real mettle ta not do it. I know that look in yer eyes. You’re not strong enough on your own to beat me, so you’re begging me to lose myself ‘gainst ya. But ya can’t make me stoop to your level.”

Brimstone’s eyes were indeed wild. But there was nothing he could do. He had asked for it, right?

“I’ll admit it, I was wrong ‘bout you. You do know the truth. That’s why you cling to the lie so hard. It’s why you can’t beat me. You would rather die than turn around.”

Brimstone’s mouth twisted into a trembling snarl. “You don’t know that! You don’t know anything!”

Applejack shrugged. “Lyin’ to yerself, too. As devils always do.”

Brimstone roared and picked up a loose rock the size of his head.

Applejack sighed and jabbed his arm once. It was enough for the rock to tumble out of his grip and bash him atop his head--right on top of his stumpy horn. It jiggled and retracted an inch into his skull.

His eyes glazed, and he fell backwards onto his butt. There might have been some semblance of sentience left in him. It wasn’t really clear.

“That one, ya just asked for,” Applejack condemned.

Now helpless, Brimstone could not prevent Applejack from delivering a hard buck into his chest. His body went flying into one of the holes coating the walls, and the vegetablized Brimstone disappeared into the darkness.

Now that he was taken care of, Applejack galloped over to Rarity. “You all righ’ there?”

Rarity groaned and showed her back. There was a long red welt from her tail to her shoulder. When she adjusted herself while trying to stand, Rarity hissed and laid down again.

“Lemme see if Ah can do somethin’ ‘bout that,” Applejack offered, sprouting a whip from her hoof. It hovered over the wound and probed the wound by poking it, then ran it from tail to shoulder. The welt shrunk, and though there was still a nasty red mark, it was enough for Rarity to stand straight.

“You think we should try to help Pinkie?” Applejack followed up, turning her attention to the final fight occurring in the cavern.

“Something tells me we’d just get in the way,” Rarity noted.

For it was truly a fight no one would want to get in the middle of. Pinkie was scurrying about like a squirrel, evading laser blasts and kicking up stones that would momentarily explode in pink puffs to cover her movement. High Priest Ajax’s eyes were feral, and his head swiveled this way and that trying to keep up. His ceremonial outfit had been torn apart, leaving half of his headdress and some drapes of linen over him. His metal-coated horn fired shot after shot, throwing up debris and smoke on every impact with the wall and the floor.

“Ya missed me!” Pinkie taunted, bouncing out of another cloud of smoke. “Now you gotta kiss me!”

Ajax snarled and pounded the ground. Cracks spidered out from the impact, and it shook the cavern. Three more shots followed. Three more explosions. And once more, Pinkie emerged from the smoke, hurling glowing pebbles into his face.

He caught them in his magic and tossed them all over the cavern with a pulse of his horn. Applejack and Rarity cowered as a series of booms echoed around them.

“You meanie!” Pinkie accused, bounding across his axis, rearing up, and putting up her hooves. “Why doncha pick on somepony your own size? Too scared she’s gonna kick your butt?!”

Ajax’s lips narrowed. “Got you.”

Pinkie’s outline glowed red. Immediately, she was pressed to the floor as if the gravity was doubled. She yelled and tried to bend her knees to stand up, but Ajax’s horn pulsed once again and forced her to the ground. With great effort, she rolled onto her back, exposing her chest.

The lines around Ajax’s wizened eyes tightened as he grinned. His hoof rested on her chest, forcing an exhale out of Pinkie but not allowing a breath to come in.

“Dirty shrieking devil,” Ajax cursed. His other hoof withdrew into the remains of his robes and retrieved the Black Blade.

Pinkie’s back leg hastily stamped on the cracked ground. It started to glow. Ajax did not notice it.

“I will make sure you stay awake long enough to feel every single cut,” Ajax promised. His entire body glowed with red energy, giving him a devilish outline.

“Can’t say the same for you,” Pinkie retorted.

A puff of pink flame erupted right underneath Ajax. But instead of tormenting him with burns, all it did was make him stumble a bit. The red energy coming from his horn protected him. Pink fire licked his underside, but his toothy grin did not leave his terrible countenance.

Pinkie’s eyes widened. “Okay, forget you felt that.”

“You’re weak,” Ajax noted with satisfaction. “Just like the rest of your friends. As entertaining as a rabbit you made, the fox has you in his jaws.”

“Why aren’t you biting already?” Pinkie provoked, bending her head. “Come on, do it! Do it, if you’ve got the guts!”

“Soon you won’t have any,” Ajax promised. His knife hovered teasingly between Pinkie’s eyes. “It would be more fun to break you first.”

The tip ran gently across her cheek, just barely not penetrating the skin. Pinkie quivered from the cold tip and gulped audibly.

“Where to start…” Ajax mused, roaming his eyes all over her face. Pinkie couldn’t hold eye contact with his deformed and elderly countenance, but she could hear his cruel words, almost whispering, but so clear because of how close he was. “A pity you’re an earth pony. Useless and weak they are, but you... especially so. I love dissecting ponies for sacrifices. I could have carved out your horn… torn out your wings like a chicken… but I can work with you.”

The tip explored under her eyelid before resting on one of her lips. Finally, it traced a line down her cheek, against her quivering esophagus, and wound to her left shoulder.

“I can work very well,” he emphasized.

The tip dug into her flesh and wiggled back and forth. Pinkie screamed and tried to adjust her head, but the knife just twisted in place before it broke away with a slash. There was a deep punctuation of a slash mark across her entire upper arm.

“Only after I break your Element will you die,” Ajax taunted, almost sweetly. His hoof snatched the Black Blade out of the air. “And then your friends. Solaris will be proud. I know I will be.”

The knife made a fan of black as it plunged down.

It halted a centimeter above Pinkie’s Element. Quick as a flash, struggling against the aura surrounding her, Pinkie’s hooves, one of them still wounded by that very knife, were clutching Ajax’s arm.

Pinkie’s rage was the stuff of legends. It was a legend unknown to Ajax until that very moment.

“Have you heard of Pinkie Sense?” Pinkie Pie asked, her face turning red. “It’s my little prophecies. They always, always come true.”

Ajax’s face contorted the harder Pinkie clenched. His arm trembled.

“When my hooves fling themselves out like that...” Pinkie explained. Her hooves bent his arm the wrong way, and Ajax hissed and tried to reinforce it with his other arm, but Pinkie was just too strong. “...as if they’re about to strangle you… that’s a real doozy, that one.”

Finally, the greenstick fracture occurred. His arm snapped, and the Black Blade fell out of his grip onto Pinkie’s chest. It was cold, so cold it was almost hot. Ajax broke free, but more likely, Pinkie had just released him so she could rear her legs up and kick him in the chest. It sent him stumbling back a few feet. He hissed every time he had to put pressure onto his bad leg.

The pain was bad enough that Ajax couldn’t concentrate on his magic. His metal-coated horn shut off, and the red aura surrounding him and Pinkie vanished.

Frantic, Ajax’s eyes glanced down, then back up. There was nothing more than some soft raiment between him and the knife Pinkie was now holding.

“That particular sign’s never happened before,” Pinkie admitted, holding the knife out to the side. “But I know what it means. And I think you do too.”

Ajax’s eyes flitted to the sides. His hooves adjusted themselves.

“It means somepony’s going to die,” Pinkie proclaimed. A shadow fell over her eyes, but a glint was still deep within. “By me.”

Ajax, after feinting the opposite direction, sprinted for the giant hole Brimstone’s body had disappeared into.

Pinkie Pie kissed the flat of the blade. Then she brought it over her shoulder and brought her arm down hard.

A black swish flew through the air and struck Ajax in the back of the head.

It hit him hilt-first.

Ajax was right in front of the entrance to the hole. He swiveled his head and picked up the offending weapon off his back with his teeth, as his hoof was totally ruined and his magic couldn’t be concentrated on.

“ ‘Oo u’er phooool!” Ajax managed to cry with the weapon’s hilt between his teeth. He seemed very triumphant.

Until the black color glowed with a pinkish hue.

Ajax’s wide, suddenly-panicked eyes almost crossed as they looked down to regard the bomb in his mouth.

“Boom,” Pinkie dismissed.

Ajax spontaneously erupted in an earth-shatteringly-loud ball of pink flame. His head disintegrated entirely. Most of his upper half did as well. The lower half of him, engulfed in fire, was thrown backwards into the hole like a used sock.

The entrance to that hole trembled and shook, and boulders cracked, came loose, and collapsed the entrance, trapping both of their remains inside forever.

Pinkie stood panting, staring at the blast mark on the ground partially obscured by new rubble and dust. Her left arm was trembling from the wounds the Black Blade had given her.

“Well, that could have gone worse,” Rarity commented, eyeing her injuries with a fearful eye. “And better, too. Darling, you look awful!”

Pinkie jilted her head in response. “Nothing Fluttershy can’t fix up.”

“But what if she can’t?” Rarity followed up.

“I’ll live with it,” Pinkie waved aside. She even managed to smile. “I might even pass it off as an animation error.”

“Glad ta see you’re copin’ well, sugarcube,” Applejack commended. “We oughta get outta here and fix you’n Rarity up. Rainbow dropped ya in here, right? What’s th’ deal out there? Who’s here?”

“Everypony’s attacking,” Pinkie relayed. “Giant mess. Even I didn’t know what the heck was going on when it all went down! And I can see everything!”

“No use goin’ that way.” Applejack jolted her head at the now-buried exit where Noble and Firestorm had fought their way out. “Think we can get out through th’ top?”

“I’m sure I can make some stairs from crystals,” Rarity volunteered. “Between that, your whips, and Pinkie’s physics, we might pull it off.”

The collision ruptured the heavens once again.

In the midst of the warfare spiraling all around them in the dark heavens, Malice and Freedom Fighter exchanged blows and delivered injuries anew. Their stamina was in no way depleted.

“Dirty dog!” Malice shrieked, swatting Freedom Fighter across the face. A stream of blood marked the long line through his eye that almost immediately healed back up.

“Takes one to know one, Malice!” the Unforgiven retorted, socking him across the snout.

Malice snarled and headbutted him. There was an audible crack, and Freedom Fighter went sprawling in midair. He held a hoof to his head and hissed while waiting for the effects to heal him.

“You know what? You’re not even a dog!” Malice shouted, pointing. “At least dogs are useful! At least dogs feast by their master’s table!”

“They’re also cute and cuddly,” Freedom Fighter suggested, smirking. He shrugged. “I’ll take it.”

“But you… You’re even WORSE!”

“I can hardly wait. What’ll it be? A concubine? A chamber pot?”

“Slave!” Malice accused. Four of his longest arms shot out. Two of them snagged Freedom Fighter’s upper and lower right and left arms, but the other two were still struggling to latch onto him. “Slave! Slave to Faust! Slave to Celestia! Slave to Twilight! Slave to yourself! Slave! To! ME!”

Freedom Fighter roared, and the Element of Redemption pulsed brighter in his forehead. A shock ran up Malice’s claws, and he quickly let go.

And yet, at the same time… he felt somewhat better. Stronger, more awake, and the pain wasn’t as intense as usual. It confused him. Wasn’t that Freedom Fighter’s ability?

Then it clicked, and he laughed. A high and cruel laugh it was, hissing from his fangs.

“What’s so funny?” Freedom Fighter demanded, spreading his arms. “So far, you’re getting your sorry little butt handed to you. You must be really into it. I’ve never seen anypony go through as much of it as you.” He tilted his head. “Apart from me.”

“The Element,” Malice wheezed out. “It recognizes me as a previous user! It rejuvenates me! It’s not intelligent enough to discern its wielders! All it knows is that its user can’t die!”

Freedom Fighter’s doubting eyes looked up at the stone embedded in his forehead. “So the longer you’re in contact with me…”

“You’ll never beat me with that pathetic thing!” Malice proclaimed.

After looking disturbed for just a second, Freedom Fighter took a deep breath. “Well, it’s simple. I just gotta kill you faster than you can heal.”

“Oh, but it’s the same with me,” Malice pointed out, spreading all half-hundred of his arms. “I never thought this day could get any bet-”

Malice was cut off by the impact of two hooves slamming into his teeth like a meteor strike. Five bloody fangs flew through the air. Even worse, Malice wasn’t in contact with him long enough to feel any rejuvenation. He had bounced off and was hovering just out of reach.

Blood streamed out of his puffy and infected gums down his front. Malice spat the stuff out once, then twice. Most of his white body had been discolored with red.

“Sorry, what was that?” Freedom Fighter asked, as if he hadn’t moved at all. “You really shouldn’t talk with your mouth full.”

Malice spat out globs of blood for a third time, his jaw hanging open. His remaining eyes were as thin as paper, and from his throat came a wet, guttural rattle. His half-hundred legs wriggled and thrashed madly.

“Maybe you should get a bit closer,” the Unforgiven invited, beckoning with a hoof. His grin and the glint in his eye were anything but friendly.

Malice’s loose jaw clenched, and so did most of his legs. Without warning, he spat once more, and this time it got into Freedom Fighter’s eyes.

Malice flew like the wind and thrashed Freedom Fighter from half a dozen different angles, and as his flesh ripped open, it felt so natural.

He was close enough for Freedom Fighter to plant a back hoof onto the broken base of one of his fangs and stuff his front hooves into Malice’s nostrils as hard and deep as he could. This time, it was Freedom Fighter who headbutted him. It had very little effect. He then sank his own teeth into the fleshy bit of his snout and wiggled enough to tear a patch of flesh from between Malice’s ugly exoskeleton.

Malice batted him away with a roar and huffed through his nose to clear it. Some blood flew out of there as well.

A small part of Malice was thinking that perhaps it would be best to retreat. A prolonged battle with the Unforgiven would only result in his death, after all. And if he disengaged, he could better lead his forces to crush the dragon assault.

But conceding defeat to the Unforgiven was an outcome Malice could not accept.

So he blew mucus and blood from his nose, gurgled a roar from the deepest recesses of his throat, and threw himself once more at the Unforgiven.

Chapter Eighty-seven: The Battle of Heaven and Earth, part 3

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“Dad!” Garble yelled, scanning the dark sands below for something, anything. “Dad! Dad, where are you? Dad!”

The battle was far above them. Down here, there was nothing happening. It was almost eerie, how muffled the sounds of battle were. The only light came from the glowing ring of lava encircling all three mountains.

“There he is!” Spike noticed, pointing. There was a lighter patch of color against the sloping pitch-black embankment surrounding the entire lava river.

Garble swooped in that direction, following Spike’s pointing finger until he could see him too. Then he descended gradually until he was at a height where he could drop Spike onto the rocky and uneven ground. Spike stumbled while running, but Garble’s priorities weren’t on him. He instead flapped over to the unmoving body of Dragon Lord Torch.

Garble looked miniscule next to the sheer size of his father’s inert form. When Garble touched his forehead, Torch’s bleary eyes barely opened like a slot.

“Dad,” Garble whispered. “Are you…”

But both of them knew the answer already. Torch was dying.

“H-hold on,” Garble shakily reassured his father. “I’ll go get some help. You’ll be okay, all right? Don’t go off and die while I’m gone!”

“Stay,” Torch rumbled. His jaw barely moved, and the word was breathy and wispy.

Garble gulped, but he didn’t fly off. He looked behind him. Spike was running up to them, but he was still a ways off. The red dragon petted his father’s head some more. “Dad?” he asked.

“Did you… fight him?” Torch breathed.

Well, technically not. All he did was give support for Freedom Fighter and Spike. When he tried to fight Malice face-to-face, he was tossed aside like garbage. But Garble had been there nevertheless. He had done his best. So Garble decided to indulge him.

“I did,” Garble said. His stomach twisted uncomfortably.

“Th… thank you,” Torch got out. His eyes closed. “For everything. I wish… I knew sooner. How much you mean to me.”

“Hey, st-stop,” Garble insisted, flapping up and gently prying the eyelids open again. “Don’t talk like you’re about to die. Please, just… hang on!”

“I can’t,” Torch croaked. “I’m… too weak. You must be strong for me.”

Garble’s eyes filled with water. “You’re the strongest dragon I’ve ever known, dad. I can’t live up to you. I’m… not like you.”

“Son,” Torch said.

The tears spilled at that one word. Garble pressed his head into his father’s and wept.

“Forgive me,” Torch whispered.

Garble silently nodded as his tears kept coming.

“I’m… proud of you,” Torch continued. He sighed and de-stressed his body. “I could not ask… for a more worthy son.”

Despite his years, Garble watched him with wide eyes. When Torch’s frame didn’t rise up again, he took a step back. He audibly gulped--and it hurt, too--and said, “Dad?”

His father didn’t say anything.

“Dad!” Garble exclaimed through his tears, gently pounding him. “Dad, come on!” He tried to force his eyelid open. “We can still win this! Just hold on!”

Torch didn’t respond.

“DAD!” Garble yelled. “Please! You gotta get up!” He pounded on his thick skin a few more times. “We gotta get help!”

But Torch was unmoving.

Garble’s lips twisted as more tears leaked out. He bowed his head once more in the presence of the Dragon Lord.

Footsteps signaled the approach of Spike. They were slow, and careful. Once he was beside him, Spike was silent for a few more moments. The death of a Dragon Lord, and especially one of Torch’s caliber, was sobering.

Garble risked a glance at Spike to see if he would notice his tears. Spike’s eyes were determinedly focused on the corpse before them.

He’d definitely seen his tears. Or at least heard them. Garble seethed and clenched his fists. It was just another display of weakness.

“Beat it, runt,” Garble said, but it lacked the authority it usually had.

“Everypony cries,” Spike tried to reassure him. “And your father deserves them. He was very strong.”

“So why aren’t you?” Garble accused.

“I haven’t lived in the Dragonlands,” Spike reminded him. “And I’m not his son. I’m here to… pay respects.”

“Funny way of showing it,” Garble icily remarked.

“I’ve seen a lot of dead bodies,” Spike said without blinking. “I can’t cry over them all. I save them for the ponies that mean the most to me. You should cry if you need to.”

Garble’s lips pursed. But he didn’t go any further.

The leathery sound of flapping wings drew both of their attention. Garble and Spike looked up. A thin purple dragon was encircling them, just out of reach and looking for a clear spot to land.

Garble snapped. He was precisely the wrong creature to show up.

As soon as the purple dragon alighted nearby upon the black soil, Garble snorted in anger and began to stomp over to him.

“Who’s that guy?” Spike asked, tailing him. “Didn’t he save-”

By the time Spike got to that point, Garble had already reached the purple dragon and socked him in the face with all the strength he could muster. The purple dragon did nothing to prevent it. He just stumbled onto his butt and rubbed his crooked snout.

“Garble!” Spike exclaimed.

“In case it wasn’t clear,” Garble huffed, barely restraining himself, “this snot-nosed prick killed Ember! I saw him, Spike! He’s worked with Malice from the very beginning! He’s the reason my entire family is dead!”

The purple dragon bowed his head in shame. He made no movement at all, as if he was paralyzed.

“I…” Spike started. He swiveled from Garble to Venom. “Garble, what about when he freed us? He would have killed Malice, the same as we would!”

“You think a cut on a wing makes up for killing my sister?” Garble bellowed at Venom, clenching his fists once more. “What, think you’re worthy to help out now, huh?”

“I want to,” Venom quietly replied. He still made no threatening moves, but he did lift his chin up. “Everything I do… everything I’ve always done… has been because I want it to happen. I don’t want to fight for Malice any more. I want to help you! I want to make up for what I’ve done!”

“I knew it! It’s always about what you want!” Garble yelled, jabbing at him. “Me this, me that. What about me? Why isn’t it fair in my favor? I wanted my sister to live! I want my dad back! But you took that away from me because you wanted it. So if all of a sudden you want to make it up to us, how about you respect what I want for the first time, and go off and die in a hole?!”

Garble kicked sand in his face and stomped away. Venom bowed his head once more.

“Garble,” Spike started, tapping him on the back as he came beside him. “Listen. Um, wouldn’t he be better off doing something? He wants to help out. Let’s allow him the chance to make up for it.”

“I don’t… want him to, Spike,” Garble replied, his stiff frame becoming limp. “I can’t just let him walk away after all he’s done! Why should I allow him to just…”

“You’re right,” Venom mumbled.

Garble was finally able to look him in the eyes. “What was that?”

“I said, you’re right,” Venom repeated. His claws gripped the black soil tight enough that it dripped between his digits. “All you have is my word. But I have nothing else to give! You have every right to distrust me. You could kill me right here, and I would accept it. I mean it! I deserve it, after all I’ve done to you. But before I die… I want to make sure my death isn’t meaningless! Don’t you want that too? My death has to mean something in the end! I don’t want to just do nothing!”

Garble’s teeth clenched tightly, and flames broiled between the cracks in his teeth. But he turned away and closed his eyes. “What can you do?”

“...I have a special knife,” Venom relayed hesitantly. “It can pierce anything.”

“You mean a Black Blade?” Spike clarified.

Venom nodded while gesturing at him. “Yeah. And up on the peak, there’s some evil stone that’s taken hold of one of the ponies!”

“I think I get it,” Spike said. “If that’s really something only you can do, then by all means, do it.”

“I will!” Venom encouraged, getting to two feet. “Thank you.” He turned to Garble, who was side-eyeing him. Venom hesitantly extended his hand. “Hey. Are we okay?”

Garble’s mouth twisted in response. “Do your job first.”

“Of course. Of course.” Venom backed away. He picked up his Black Blade, made eye contact with Spike, and gave a small, sad grin. “I’ll make you proud. You deserve that much.”

He flapped his wings while turning around, and made a gradual ascent up to the peak.

Garble and Spike watched him as he went, until he disappeared in the hazy darkness and the fog of faraway war.

“You think he’ll do it?” Garble gruffly asked.

“He’d better,” Spike said. “We’ve got enough to worry about.” He quickly jogged over to a mound of sand and began to swish away the stuff. Garble watched him curiously. Did Spike know something he didn’t?

Spike swished away a clump of black sand, and it revealed a thin twig. He picked it out of the sand, and Garble froze in place upon noticing the jewel on the end. It was-

“The Bloodstone Scepter,” Garble whispered. In the hands of Spike. His eyes narrowed. “How did you know?”

“I planted it there,” Spike answered.

“How? When did you have time?”

“When you dropped me,” Spike replied. “I was running along to catch up with you when I tripped over it. I could barely believe it myself. I didn’t want to just show up to you with it, but I didn’t want to just leave it, either. That’s what took me so long.”

So Spike found it before he did? Garble mentally ran a hypothetical; what if he had stopped and picked up the scepter first? It meant… he wouldn’t have been with his father.

In other words, if Garble knew about the scepter, he would have chosen between his father and the throne. Which would he have done?

It wracked Garble’s brain. In the quick moments that followed, Garble pondered. The two options were equally appealing, fighting for control over his conscience. And he hated the temptation to snag the position of the Dragon Lord from Spike. It was so strong over him. He wanted it.

He wanted it more than anything in the world.

But even more than Torch’s final moments…?

Garble took a deep breath to steady himself. The words that would follow would never have come from him a week earlier. “You should have it.”

Spike jolted and looked up in surprise. Garble really couldn’t blame him.

“I’m… not certain I’m really… stable enough. Even if dad didn’t…” He stopped right there. “Even then… I remember what we talked about by the throne.”

“You don’t think you deserve it,” Spike related somberly.

“Well-”

“Hey, you said it, not me.”

Garble rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Look. I want to be ready. But… I’m not. Until I am… I think you should handle it. I don’t want to mess this up. Besides, you’re the one that tore out Malice’s eye. Maybe you’ve earned it.”

“I understand,” Spike assured him. He adjusted the scepter. “You know, admitting that much means you might be mature enough to be ready.”

“So can I have it?”

“...On second thought, I don’t think we’re quite there yet.”

“Oh, come on.”

“Hey, what happened to all that angst?”

Garble let out a sigh. “Just take the darn thing and shut up already. I already made up my mind.”

Spike stared into the head of the scepter forlornly. He nodded, then looked into the sky. “First things first. We’ve got a battle to win.”

“Yeah, hard to be a Dragon Lord without leading the dragons,” Garble remarked.

“What’s even going on up there?”

“Should I describe it for you?” Garble asked, cracking a grin. “Or do you want me to give Spikey-Wikey a wittle piggyback ride?”

Spike monotonously glared back. Then he cracked a smile of his own. “Piggyback time.”

It was getting worse. Tempest hated it.

She couldn’t do a thing. The Element would kill her. Starlight was literally dying in her arms, but nothing Starlight could do could slow down the vile darkness in Starlight’s body, crawling like a sludge.

To an extent, it made her own heart lurch. She definitely couldn’t say it eclipsed Starlight’s pain, but Tempest felt sick to her stomach. It was an unfamiliar and alien feeling. Tempest had never before had anypony close enough in her life where she would weep for them. She hated the unfamiliarity of it.

Was it fear? Tempest wouldn’t dare admit it to anypony. But if it made Starlight feel any better…

No, it wouldn’t. She had to be strong. Make her final hours more secure.

“Hey,” Tempest probed, adjusting the tilt of Starlight’s head. “Talk to me. Got anypony waiting for you back home?”

Starlight coughed, and it was ugly and hoarse. “Why does it… matter?”

“Happy thoughts,” Tempest hesitantly said. It was childish, but many things were, and it was a rare source of joy. “Got parents? A, uh... boyfriend?”

Starlight’s colorless eyes rolled in thought. “Mmm… His name’s Sunburst. He’s kinda… cute.”

“What’s he like? A bad boy?” Tempest pressured, knowing fully well he wasn’t. “A singer? A silver fox?”

“A nerd,” Starlight said, and smiled.

Tempest managed to laugh. “Not surprised.”

“Look, he’s got the… the beard, and glasses, and… Look, he’s got this… appearance, you know? Of a master wizard… I think it’s the potential. And he cares. Wants the best.”

“I get it,” Tempest reassured her. “Think about him. He’d want you to.”

Starlight’s eyes shifted to their horrible surroundings of the temple, resting on the wicked black face of Solaris carved high above them. “Kinda hard.”

“Try to,” Tempest urged. “Tune it all out. You’re here. You’re safe.”

Starlight sighed. “If you say so.”

Tempest tilted her head, somewhat confused. Where had she picked up this knack? Was it just instinctual? Perhaps she had a bright future as a counselor somewhere.

The sound of flapping wings drew Tempest’s head up. Tempest stood up and adjusted Starlight so she was behind her. There was someone coming for them through the foggy air, and Tempest didn’t like the look of him.

Tempest recognized him before he even landed. He was the dragon who had accompanied Malice!

“Stay back!” Tempest yelled, sparking her horn to life and stomping the ground. “Don’t you dare-!”

“Wait!” the purple dragon shouted, putting up his hands. The Black Blade clattered to the floor. “I’m with Spike!”

What kind of excuse was that? That didn’t mean anything. “GET BACK!” Tempest bellowed.

“I’m here to help!” the dragon insisted. His foot adjusted the fallen weapon. “I think I can destroy that Element!”

Tempest knew about the weapon’s ability to pierce an Element of Harmony. But why did she need him? What was preventing her from just taking the weapon and doing it herself?

“I don’t want any of you to get hurt,” the purple dragon promised. “If something goes wrong, I can take the blow. If I end up dying, I’d be happy with it. I’ve… always done what makes me happy.”

“But what if that kills Starlight instead?” Tempest asked.

Venom’s eyes roamed over the mortal, blackened wound in Starlight’s body. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but…”

Tempest didn’t want to face that truth just yet. Neither did she want Venom to know that she felt that way. But Venom was willing to take action. And if there was any way for this parasite to be removed...

“...Just be careful!” Tempest relented. She stepped behind Starlight’s body, gripped her around the pits, and propped her up at a gentle recline.

Venom crossed the floor over to Starlight’s limp body and knelt beside her. He held the knife upside down near his face.

“You’ll be okay,” Tempest reassured Starlight, even as Starlight panted for breath. “It’ll be over soon. Just hang on!”

“Blood,” Starlight whispered. “My blood.”

Tempest drew her head up. She was right! It was what Ajax had done to Pinkie, after all. But the thought of defiling Starlight even more…

Starlight, however, held her hoof up beside Venom’s face. There wasn’t any hesitation.

Venom’s lips twisted in anguish, but he did press the tip into her skin. Thin blood soon coated the tip of the Black Blade. Starlight’s left hoof was permanently marred by the black scar.

Venom then examined the spot in her chest. His breaths were heavy and slow, and the grip on his knife was trembling.

“Forgive me,” Venom uttered.

And he plunged the bloodstained tip into Starlight’s Element.

Venom was immediately thrown back as a concussive blast erupted from Starlight’s chest, making Starlight scream some more. Two distinct sounds were also heard: a crack and a shatter.

The blackening Element was deeply scarred with a fractured and cracked puncture wound. The stone sizzled and sparked, flickering black and green from the open depths.

It came at the cost of the Black Blade, which had shattered into about a dozen little pieces. The force of the eruption had thrown the pieces backwards, and four of them had embedded themselves into Venom’s face. Blood flew out from the wounds and streamed down his face.

“Oh, my gosh,” Tempest breathed. She didn’t dare go over to Venom, not with Starlight still in her arms, but the body of Venom didn’t look like he needed it anyway. Tempest had been involved in war and mercenary work before, but the sight of the shards stuck in his skull was one she got squeamish at.

To get her mind off that, she examined her dying friend. “Starlight? You any better?”

Starlight was done squeezing a few tears out of her eye ducts, which ran down the side of her head, and she gasped, “Fine. Just… gah. Hurt.”

“What do you say? You think we can destroy this thing?” Tempest followed up.

Starlight took a few deep breaths. “The only one… who could… is Twilight.”

Which was precisely the wrong pony they needed right now.

Twilight was sweating. The stuffy, smoky air was difficult to see in. But she could clearly make out the silhouette of a dozen ponies materializing from the dark clouds. To her amazement, their flapping wings were not the only feature on them. A long, sharp horn was on each of their foreheads.

They dared to defile the form of immortals and cheapen Faust and Celestia? Twilight felt pent-up anger gather inside her chest.

"Hey, lookee there!" drawled a shrill teenage mare in front of her. "An alicorn princess, crown and all! That must have been what Malice was talking about!"

So Malice was here, and in cahoots with the worshippers of Nevermore. And she was needed for the Corrupted Element. That told her all she needed.

The rest of the alicorns, fat and thin, disgustingly ugly and numbingly beautiful, were debating.

"Do we kill her? She's gonna give Malice what he wants!"

"What if she can bring forth Solaris? We need her alive!"

"I don't care what she can do! She looks pretty! So I want to have her!"

"Whatever we're gonna do, let's do it now! She looks pissed!"

"Yeah, well, we're alicorns. We're powerful. We are the children of Solaris, and so we are awesome. What can she do that we can't?"

Survive, Twilight bitterly thought. A ball of pink energy gathered on her horn.

"Get her!" was the cry uttered by several of them.

Six glowing pink missiles erupted from the tip of her horn and encircled her, each one catching the beams of magic some of the alicorns had shot, before seeking out those targets, smashing into their chests, and disintegrating them on the spot. Their dust joined the ashes already in the sky.

Twilight, by then, had already fired thrice in quick succession. The amplified magic was strong enough to punch holes in the alicorn mares directly in front of her. Two spiraled out of the sky, chunks blasted from their singed bodies.

The remaining four alicorns shrieked and got some distance from Twilight, but they were still charging up their horns to attack.

Twilight wasn't in the mood for this anymore. Igniting her horn once more and rearing her head, all four alicorns halted in place, surrounded by pink magic.

"You want me?" Twilight dared. "Come and take me!"

With a concussive shockwave, Twilight blasted them backwards, flinging their tumbling bodies through the dirtied air.

Twilight wanted them to come to her, of course. She could provide a distraction to the alicorns so the dragons would only be concerned about fighting themselves.

But still, knowing they were alicorns had aroused Twilight's anger. Twilight had earned her right to be called one. Through years of trial, she had fulfilled her destiny and ascended into the same form as both her master and her Goddess. And they got it for free by serving the devil?

It was a cheap copy, an imitation of real power. Twilight would show them real power.

"Everyone!" Twilight heard someone call. She squinted into the dark heavens until she saw in the distance a hovering lime green alicorn, her horn glowing red, screaming the words. She glided over.

"All alicorns! Converge on the violet star in the heavens! It's the alicorn princess! It's our key to unlocking Thragya! All alicorns, converge!"

The lime green alicorn finally caught Twilight alighting upon a black cloud nearby, about ten feet away, and she shrieked and fell a few feet in the air. "Converge!" she bellowed. "Converge! Con-"

Her final words were interrupted by the golden tip of a sword splitting her chest open from behind. Her scarlet magic fizzled out, and her body became limp and fell off, tumbling all the way down to earth far below.

Rainbow Dash was there, her mane noticeably singed and frazzled, and her golden sword marred by hard blood.

"Not that you needed help or anything," Rainbow admitted. "I just… wanted to keep an eye on you."

"Why?" Twilight wondered.

"Uh… because you're my friend," Rainbow uncomfortably responded. "Even if you can take 'em all by yourself… I can't just leave you alone."

And perhaps there was a large part of her that truly felt that way. But Twilight knew that Rainbow knew of her intent regarding the Element of Redemption.

The biggest obstacle in her way was Rainbow's loyalty. Her friendship might be their undoing.

Spike wasn’t exactly sure how to work it. The only time he had held the scepter’s awesome power was when he won the Gauntlet of Fire. He was unaccustomed to such a feeling--the rush of power in the palm of his hand.

“What does this thing even do?” Spike asked Garble as he rode on his back. They were ascending in the midst of the battle. All around them, dragons tumbled and clashed with other dragons, or with alicorns. Bright colors flashed in his peripheral vision.

“That holds the allegiance of every dragon’s soul,” Garble relayed loudly, over the wind. “Or something. I dunno. But it’s the mark of the Dragon Lord. The dragons should all recognize you as the rightful ruler.”

“And if they don’t?”

“Your rule is at an end. As if it wasn’t long enough already.”

Garble finally reached a suitable altitude and leveled off. Spike looked around. There weren't any fights going on near them, but the sounds and glows of roaring flame echoed everywhere.

Spike’s attention was soon drawn to the swarm of miniature alicorns, coming from every area of the sky, breaking off their individual battles and flying up, up, up into the sky, converging on one point hidden among the clouds. It was dark up there, but it only made the distinctive violet glows and streaks of white lightning booming in their midst all the more poignant.

“Get ‘em!” Spike urged. Rainbow and Twilight were outnumbered, but not outmatched. For now.

“What’re you waiting for?” Garble asked in irritation. “Let’s do it!”

Asking the right questions. What was Spike waiting for? This was his moment. Was he still afraid to fulfill the role laid out for him?

No. Spike had been scared before. This feeling wasn’t fear. It was still hesitancy, but not borne from the world around him. The worthiness inside him was in question.

Until he was reminded--urged by some entity Spike had never before felt--of Rarity’s romantic choice, Twilight’s trust in his abilities, his comradery with Firestorm and Noble, his inexplicable budding friendship with Garble, the staff lying in his path at his feet. Was he really unworthy?

Perhaps there was still some small part of him that felt overwhelmed by his role. But that just made his acceptance courageous, and made him worthy to bear this burden.

He hefted the staff in his hand. The absurdly large jewel reflected his expression--fractured and split. But upon Spike’s face was determination. Absolute will. The will of many different ponies in his life had shaped him. And now it was his turn to shape them back.

It took quite a bit of courage, didn’t it?

They seemed to be spoken words in his mind--still and quiet, but unmistakable: Get their attention.

Spike thrust the Bloodstone Scepter into the air and bellowed.

A torrent of scarlet energy erupted from the tip, almost tipping Spike off Garble’s shoulders and making them both tumble in place, spinning for a little bit before righting themselves. The red beacon shot into the sky, splitting the dark clouds hanging over and around them all. It revealed the individual fights of dozens of multicolored dragons tumbling and wrestling with each other in midair. The glow set the entire sky on fire, creating a swirling cloud of fire around Spike and Garble.

“Come on!” Spike yelled, and inexplicably, his voice seemed to boom across the skies like Torch, or even Ember’s. “Hear me, dragons!”

To Spike’s astonishment, all activity seemed to cease. Dragons, both the bare-chested militia Torch had gathered and the home defense force armored in crude iron, stopped their fights and put their eyes on Spike.

Suddenly, Spike’s chest constricted. All the attention was so unusual. Perhaps--

“You heard him!” Garble assisted, unprompted. “Listen up, losers!”

And somehow, having Garble on his side gave his shoulders strength. Squaring them, Spike cut off the beacon and held the scepter on its side.

“How many of you are loyal to the Dragon Lord?” Spike asked. “And how many are just loyal to Malice?”

The dragons collectively shifted. The position of Dragon Lord always seemed to shift as of late. But who else could they rely upon?

“It is the will of the Dragon Lord that you stop fighting,” Spike continued. “You’ve only been fighting because it was the will of the Dragon Lord before you. The Dragon Lord whose eye I have put out, and whose scepter I now wield!”

“Why should we take the word of a child?” a chubby orange dragon challenged, in the front row of the assembly.

Spike leveled the scepter at him. “You took the word of a devil. What makes a child worse?”

The chubby orange dragon sullenly shut his mouth.

“We are dragons!” Spike insisted, raising the scepter once more. “We have no enemy among ourselves. If we are to survive, we must unite in purpose against those who would destroy us!”

“Like who?” a bulky blue dragon asked. There was a distinctive female lilt in the words, and there was a crude iron chestplate on her, marking her as a member of the home defense force. “If not us, then…” She slowly raised her head to the commotion higher up where Twilight and Rainbow were fighting hordes of alicorns.

“Look at us!” Spike urged. “Look to your neighbor. We’re one and the same! Same species, same blood. Too much of it has been spilled this day already. I don’t want us to lose any more. But if your blood is boiling for a fight…” He gestured firmly at the abyss above them, flashing white and pink and every color of the rainbow. “...then make theirs run cold and spill!”

“YEAH!” Garble yelled encouragingly. The word shouted and spread among the rest of the dragons gathered tightly around him.

“Fight, dragons!” Spike yelled at the top of his lungs. He reared on Garble’s shoulders and jabbed the Bloodstone Scepter into the horde of alicorns. “FIGHT!”

And a torrent of energy blasted out. It cut an instant red wound across the clouds, incinerating dozens of alicorns in the distance.

With the first blow dealt, the dragons erupted. Five or six of them flew out first, then twice that number, and not long after that, every dragon assembled was flapping their way over to the alicorns.

“Come on!” Garble yelled to Spike. “Let’s go and cut ‘em up!”

“”Hyah!” Spike cried.

“Don’t do that!” Garble yelled. But he was flapping as hard as he could anyway.

“Wait!” one of the dragons yelled, pointing at Mount Nevermore. “What’s that?”

The dragons that had been lagging behind turned and looked. Spike and Garble craned their heads around.

Arising from the tip of Mount Nevermore, and flapping towards them like their lives depended on it, were even more dragons. It was another miniature swarm, on track to join up with them.

“Where’d they come from?” yet another dragon asked.

“Who cares? They wanna help, I got no problem!” came a response.

The lead dragon, far faster than the others, reached Spike very soon. He was green, and bent over slightly. Deep within his eyes were unbridled fury, and his twitching claws were shaven down to stumps.

Those furious eyes glanced at the Bloodstone Scepter in Spike’s claws. He gasped, and those eyes glittered in astonishment. Then they narrowed. “Where’s Malice?” he demanded. His voice was deeper than Spike expected; it was low in anger. “Is he dead?”

Spike’s gaze was drawn past the green dragon, and the green dragon swiveled his head in response, giving a growl in the back of his throat.

There was a mostly clear area in the boundless sky that all the combatants had avoided. It was in the airspace above the Daughter. In it, the only two beings clashing were the Unforgiven and the Pale Rider.

Both of them were exchanging blows at an incredible speed. Not all of them landed, but when they did, it dazed them briefly. Every strike from the Unforgiven was sharp and quick, although not as hard as Malice’s swipes and lunges.

Freedom Fighter suddenly dipped in altitude, as if he had fainted, and Malice looked down to track him. As it turned out, he just did it to get to the level of Malice’s more tender underside, and he abruptly changed course and rocketed into his chest. Malice sprawled in the air, but his many legs curled inwards to embrace Freedom Fighter in their cold touch.

The Unforgiven expected it.

He wrapped his arms around him first. They only reached halfway around him, but it squeezed him anyway. Even as half a dozen stubby white legs dug into his back and drew blood, Freedom Fighter just gritted his teeth and squeezed tighter.

“You utter fool!” Malice cried, and laughed. “What do you think you’ll be able to do? You’re just giving me more and more strength!”

Freedom Fighter ignored the steady pressure from behind and focused everything he had into cracking Malice’s terrible body. Every muscle in his arms and back flexed at the same time, and Freedom Fighter let forth a gargled yell.

There came a hairline crack from Malice’s bones. Malice yelped. His own bones felt strained to their limit, but Freedom Fighter didn’t relent.

The crack widened and grew. With a renewed effort, Freedom Fighter squeezed once again, harder than before.

“You’ll die first!” Malice swore. The legs began pounding into his back and scraping the flesh open, and Freedom Fighter couldn’t take it any more. He adjusted his grip and pushed off Malice like a professional swimmer. That impact widened the crack in Malice’s armor even more, and Malice hissed and observed the damage.

Freedom Fighter was just grateful for the reprieve to heal. In a direct confrontation, Malice would win. And the way they were going now, it would just go on forever. Unless he took out the Element. But Freedom Fighter wasn’t ready for that just yet.

Freedom Fighter needed a weakness to exploit, a pressure point to disable. He had tried giving Malice one himself, but that wasn’t very effective. His eyes? Two of them were down, but those were from surprise attacks. Malice would surely be protective of the others. His claws? There were too many. His mouth? Not a good idea. He could breathe fire. Maybe the throat? No, his head design bent it down, protecting the neck from the front. Maybe if he got onto his back…

A rumble tore him out of his reprieve. He perked up his head and swiveled it before identifying the source. There was a great steam rising from the Daughter far below. The entire mountain seemed to quake.

Malice’s remaining eyes widened and looked down. “Wait a second-”

There wasn’t any more warning.

Like a popped balloon, the Daughter exploded.

The heavens were rent asunder from the roar. It was louder than anything any mortal being could create, and so it overwhelmed the ears until it actually seemed quiet.

Smoke was the first thing to come out. There was also a vivid orange fire, but it was quickly swallowed up in darkness. The inky clouds enveloped the entire mountain and rose far higher than the eye could see. Already dark and bleak, the skies of Nevermore turned from dark grey to almost solid black.

It was hollow to the core like an egg, or a fancy chocolate. And it was filled to the brim with pent-up lava. It shot into the air for hundreds of feet before slopping out and pulsing out of the mountain and into the plains far below.

The lava ran like a flood, enveloping everything in its path. The entire base of Mount Nevermore was in the process of being covered by the stuff. The monolith glowed like a candle.

The Daughter’s eruption was massive enough to capture the attention of every creature fighting in the skies. For just a few seconds, everyone stared wide-eyed at the broken mountain. They had to squint. Even the added light of the lava was not enough to fully discern the details in the distance.

Twilight took the opportunity it presented.

With a whining charge, Twilight let loose a torrent of rapid-fire pink missiles that erratically circled about her before seeking out more targets and obliterating them. They erupted in billows of pink flame that consumed everyone near them, and the glow painted Twilight in an eerie light.

Rainbow Dash fired a stream of white lightning. It easily struck ten of the ponies hovering just outside their range; they were closely packed together.

“Who do ya wanna take a bite out of?” Rainbow taunted, swiping the sword. A long slash of plasma flew out, cracking against three alicorns simultaneously. “What else you guys got?”

Rainbow and Twilight were in the center of a storm of laser fire. Rainbow’s main tactic was to evade whatever they threw, or deflect bolts with Stormkeeper. Twilight absorbed the blows with her magic and fountained back responses. They were efficient at what they did. But there were just so many…

As Twilight dropped three red-and-black alicorns in quick succession, she gasped and pointed down. “Rainbow! Look!”

Rainbow’s head swiveled immediately. Twilight had sounded hopeful. And for good reason.

Engaging with most of the rest of the alicorns were the dragons. Rainbow noticed that they worked as one collective. Home defense force or militia, they fought side by side against the parasitic alicorns.

And out there… on Garble’s back, was that… “Spike?”

“And he’s got the scepter!” Twilight sounded giddy. “Go Spike! Woo!”

“Wait! If he has the scepter, then doesn’t that mean… Do you think Malice is…?”

“Dead? No. That son of a gun’s too slippery! Find him, Rainbow! If you can help Freedom Fighter out, do it, but if things are going wrong… get him out of there.”

“Right, get your boyfriend out of danger. Gotcha. Even if he protests?”

“Especially if he protests! We’ve got something to do here!”

Rainbow’s eyebrow quirked. “What do you mean, something?”

“Go, Rainbow! I’ve got it from here. Trust me!”

Rainbow still wasn’t convinced.

“Trust. Me,” Twilight emphasized. And there was a plea in those eyes, no doubt. What was Twilight up to?

“...Gotcha, Twi. Lickety-split.”

And Rainbow rocketed off. There was a lump in her throat and a heavy weight in her heart. If Twilight did what she thought she was going to do...

For all intents and purposes, the battle was already over. The dragons outnumbered the alicorns three to one and had more practical experience in combat, so though they screamed and blustered and fired their lasers, they were overwhelmed. Claws ripped and tore. Hot red blood flung across the sky, some of it the dragon’s. Bodies dropped from the dark sky like flies and splashed into the steadily-growing sea of glowing lava.

No alicorn dared to surrender. There was nowhere else to go, and they were playing on home turf. Though Spike made it clear that if anypony wanted to be captured, they should be, none of the alicorns accepted the offer. Blood for blood and life for life, taking out as many as they could before they, too, perished.

Once it was clear that it would be little more than a mop-up of the last ten alicorns, Twilight Sparkle flapped away from battle, her sights set on the mountain before her.

It was a mountain that seemed as impossible to scale as her fears of what might happen.

Twilight hoped that Rainbow took the hint and was searching for Freedom Fighter. He needed to be safe. And Rainbow didn’t deserve to be in the way. She’d try to stop her. But it had to be done. She had given up everything before. The risk paid off. Could it happen again?

The hot wind rustled under her wings and into her eyes. It might be the last she could ever feel it. She decided to make the most of it and feel every breeze cross her face and caress her body.

Finally, after some adjustments in altitude (it was so much higher than she expected) she was able to get a birds-eye view of the scene below her. A deep hole in the center of the exposed circular temple. The top of a statue’s head. And a drop of color, down there to the right of the statue…

She dropped. Slowly at first, then a quick dive. Once it was only a few feet between her and the temple floor, she righted herself, flapped hard, and settled on four hooves.

The ground was wet with old blood, brown and dull red. There was no liquid in the open hole in the center. Perhaps lava? Of course it would be lava.

And for the first time in what seemed like a long, long time, Twilight Sparkle saw the forms of Tempest Shadow, cradling her protegee, Starlight Glimmer.

Rainbow’s description had left too much up to the imagination. The faded jewel embedded into her sternum was vicious, cracked, and flickering oddly. There were sinister black lines traveling all across Starlight Glimmer’s body like poisoned veins, or a burnt piece of wood. There was no color in her skin. There was no glitter in her eyes. She was limp, and infected.

Twilight couldn’t live with herself for long. Something had to be done.

Everything had to go wrong today, of all days.

“Twi?” Starlight murmured, tilting her head up slightly.

Tempest couldn’t take it anymore. She had a say in this too! Starlight was in danger!

“Twilight!” Tempest screamed, holding out a hoof. “Stop!”

Twilight took a deep breath. She took a few more steps.

“No closer!” Tempest warned, dragging Starlight further away. “I mean it!”

Twilight’s eyes met hers, and within them was a dejected look. There was no way Twilight didn’t know what was at stake. So why was she going to do this? If she wasn’t an imposter, then it could only mean Twilight was planning something. But what could it be?

“Tempest,” Twilight said. “Trust me. Please.”

But Tempest couldn’t bring it within herself. “No!” she yelled. “No!”

“Be still,” Twilight urged. “This is…”

“The only way?” Tempest finished when Twilight couldn’t.

Twilight hung her head before nodding it.

“It can’t be!” Tempest yelled. “There has to be something else!”

A swift swish of the air above them made both Twilight and Tempest look up. With a flash of sudden color, Rainbow appeared from the dark clouds. She hovered above them all before descending slowly, brandishing Stormkeeper at Twilight.

On Rainbow’s face was one of fear and regret. “Don’t do this, Twilight,” she warned.

“No, Rainbow,” Twilight replied, igniting her horn. “You don’t want to do this.”

Rainbow’s lips pursed. “I don’t.” She brought the golden blade level so the tip was meeting Twilight head-on. It crackled from the hilt to the tip.

Twilight sighed. “If that’s how it’s going to be.”

Rainbow was enveloped in a violet aura and tossed aside, and Twilight did not slow her advance.

With a scream, Rainbow fountained the lightning out of Stormkeeper. White streaks shrieked at the speed of light and hit Twilight in the chest, sending her sprawling.

“Get out of here!” Rainbow urged, jiggling Stormkeeper at Tempest.

“Where can I go?” Tempest asked. Twilight was already getting up, and Tempest hurriedly stowed the limp body of Starlight behind her own. “Twilight! Stop this! We can’t-”

“We have to!” Twilight yelled. “Get out of the way, Tempest!”

“No,” Tempest refused for the third time, standing a little bit straighter.

A ball of violet energy condensed on the tip of Twilight’s horn in response.

“What are you doing?!” screamed a voice above their own, and all heads swiveled up. Fluttershy was descending amid the smoke. Her coloration, though dirtied and singed, was still distinct enough that it could be mistaken for that of an angel amidst the darkness.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow pleaded. “Twilight’s gone nuts! If she touches the stone in Starlight’s chest, she’s gonna wake up Solaris!”

“We need to keep her away!” Tempest followed up, crouching into a stance.

Fluttershy by now had landed in the center of the triangle between Tempest and Starlight, Rainbow, and Twilight. Her wavering eyes flickered nervously between them all.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight reasoned. “Remember Tirek? How we had to give up all our magic in order to save the day? This may be just like that. We need to have faith that this might work the same way.”

“What if it doesn’t?” Rainbow screamed.

“What if it does?” Twilight followed up. “I know what I’m doing, Rainbow. You think I don’t care? Starlight means more to me than just about anypony else!”

“You’re going to destroy the world for a pony that’s already on track to die anyway!” Tempest yelled. “I care for her too, you know!”

“So what, you’re just going to do nothing?”

“Better than destroying us all!”

“Solaris wins when good ponies do nothing, Tempest!” Twilight shot back. “I can’t just sit back and watch her die knowing there might be another way!”

“There’s too much at risk, Twi!” Rainbow insisted. “What if your plan doesn’t work?”

“Then… I will die knowing I gave my all for the world. For my country. For you. There’s only one way to find out, Rainbow. Please! I’m begging you, help me!”

Rainbow looked away. Her mouth was twisting in agony.

Fluttershy’s gaze was drawn to Twilight. Both didn’t say anything at first.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight whispered. The magic building on her horn died down and faded out.

Fluttershy bowed her head. “What… does Starlight want?”

All heads swiveled to Starlight. She was supporting herself slightly above the ground, but it was taking too much effort to sustain. Black veins wrapped around her limbs and up her neck.

“Twilight,” Starlight gasped, fixing her expression with Twilight’s.

The alicorn slowly trudged her way to her student. Nopony stopped either of them, but all of them were as tightly-wound as a bowstring.

Once she was only a few feet away, Twilight knelt so she was on her student’s level. Tears were in both of their eyes.

“Please,” Starlight begged with a gasp. She fell onto her side, exposing the broken stone.

Twilight’s lips pressed tightly together in anguish. She looked behind her. None of them could hold their gaze. Twilight turned back around and shut her eyes.

Then Twilight Sparkle, the Child of Light, bent down and touched her glowing horn into the Corrupted Element.

Chapter Eighty-eight: He Who Brings Hell

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For a moment, the world stood still.

A ripple emanated from Starlight’s body and traveled all the way down Mount Nevermore, shaking rocks from their foundations, but Twilight barely noticed it. A terrible boom thumped, down to the center of the earth, but for Twilight, it was muffled.

All that mattered was seeing Starlight’s coloration return somewhat, and the black virus spreading in her veins retracted just a bit. Starlight herself was crying. Twilight knew there were several reasons why.

There was a titanic lurch, and Twilight and the others slid several feet. Twilight swiveled her head around, now fully attuned to the present moment. Rocks bumped and toppled from their places onto the temple floor.

Twilight anticipated the destruction of the entire mountain.

So she did the first thing that came to mind. With the help of the Element of Magic, she coated the entire circular area in a violet aura and struggled to keep it in the air. The constant chime was a backdrop of noise against the cacophonous eruptions going on all around them.

A series of detonations and overwhelming booms spat out from beneath them, and Twilight concentrated even harder. This had to stay in the air!

Finally, louder than Twilight could have conceived possible, the entire mountain exploded.

Twilight was again thrown to the shuddering ground, but her magic stayed on, and they remained floating in the air, even as the monolith beneath them detonated from the top down. First one layer exploded, then the next, one after another, almost constant noise, all the way down to the surface of the earth far beneath them.

The statue of Solaris toppled from its perch, teetered forward, and shattered like ice on the circular platform. The surrounding lip of the temple crumbled away, allowing Twilight to look in any direction and watch the devastation.

Rock, splashes of lava, and fireballs alike flew up and away amid the billows of smoke flooding Twilight’s entire field of vision. For all Twilight could tell, it seemed on track to envelop the entire world.

What would happen to Spike and the rest of the dragons out there?

Twilight crawled to the lip of what used to be the lava pit. She peeked over the edge with trepidation. Everything beneath her was billowing blackness. So she couldn’t determine how high they were.

Above them, the terrible smoke thickened the sky even more than before. Twilight felt like she was in a dark room, but the darkness was so thick, she could feel it. Nightmare Moon’s promise of eternal night was nothing compared to this oppressive, suffocating darkness. Even the violet magic keeping them in the air was hard to make out.

“Twilight!” Tempest croaked over the thunderous explosions. “What have you done?!”

Twilight’s chest squeezed like a fist. She had brought him into this world.

The glow on Starlight’s Element was never brighter than at this very instant. The color, however, was now a shiny black, like obsidian. And there was a swirl, insubstantial but very much real, going out of the Element and dispersing into the smoky abyss all around them.

The swirls of mist came together and formed a silhouetted, flickering outline. Twilight, Tempest, Fluttershy, and Rainbow took a few steps back, with Tempest grabbing Starlight by the armpits. The slowly-materializing figure had plenty of berth as it gradually took on color and solidity. It rippled like water, or a translucent placenta. Then it smoothed over and became dull.

A gust of wind, perhaps unnaturally made, blew away the black smoke surrounding him, putting the figure on full display.

It was an alicorn the size of Princess Celestia, so frighteningly familiar somehow, scratching the surface of the memories each of them had of him before they came to Equus. He was as golden and bright as the sun, but there was no warmth in his presence. His wings were outstretched to their fullest extent, their wingspan easily greater than any pegasus could manage. His solid, flaming eyes were small and beady, higher up on opposite sides of his head. His face was stretched thin and long, and there was almost no flesh underneath the skin.

His lips parted slightly, and his wide grin reached his sharp ears, showing curved, sleek fangs embedded all along his bloody gums.

“My daughters,” Solaris rumbled gently, almost lovingly.

Twilight’s heart wanted to leap out of her throat. Her legs trembled, and she had to sit on her flank and take desperate inhales of the poisonous gases around her.

“I am grateful,” Solaris admitted. His voice was not distorted, evil, or devilish. He sounded instead like a middle-aged father. That was the most unnerving part of it all. Solaris took a look around, making a sound of approval. “Just as you will be.”

Fluttershy was covering her head with her arms, hiding further into her mane. Rainbow Dash’s limp grip on Stormkeeper was shaking. Stricken with paralyzing hopelessness, none of the other ponies could do a thing.

So Twilight rose for them. One trembling leg at a time, Twilight stood her ground. “No!”

Solaris tilted his head in amusement. “What can you do?”

“I brought you into this world!” Twilight cried. “And I can bring you out of it!”

Solaris let forth a chuckle, and it rumbled the skies. “You are my flesh and blood, my own seed. I was the one who brought you into this world. But I do not wish to bring you out of it. I desire far more to bring you unto me. Come, or die where you stand.”

Twilight’s horn pulsed in preparation to fire. “Easy choice.”

Twilight fired a laser with enough force to push her backwards, and the concussive violet blast sailed out, impacted Solaris’s face, and harmlessly dissipated.

Perhaps inspired by Twilight’s example, Rainbow Dash hovered in the air, swung Stormkeeper, and fountained out a blinding sizzle of wild white lightning. It struck Solaris and swirled around his body before also dissipating.

“What fools you are,” Solaris mourned sarcastically, grinning broadly. “I am God. How can you kill God?”

“Try again!” Twilight urged, and she and Rainbow, as well as the uneven whipcrack of lightning from Tempest’s stubby horn, fired in tandem. The streaks of white and violet soared into Solaris’s chest. Just like the last times, they merely fizzled out after impact.

“I am enjoying this,” Solaris admitted, shaking his head. “Lay down your weapons. It is not too late for my mercy.”

Twilight screamed in defiance and built up a tremendous ball of energy on the tip of her horn. The Element of Magic was shaking with effort, and beads of sweat appeared all over her skull. Cracks appeared beneath her trembling hooves. Fluttershy, Tempest, Rainbow, and the still-limp Starlight cowered away as the ball of purple energy reached a diameter easily twice Twilight’s size.

All Solaris did was narrow his eyes. The sunken, fiery, small, thin, glowing orange eyes.

Twilight let herself break free. Not giving any thought to the notion of self-preservation, Twilight bellowed in pain as almost every ounce of energy was drained from her body to keep the weapon charging. Her hooves weren’t even touching the ground.

Finally, pain shooting through every part of her body, Twilight fired. She was flung backwards, limp as a doll, skidding across the ground.

The spell hurled directly at Solaris and impacted with a colossal, blinding blast. The sound and light was instant. The ponies covered their eyes and bowed their heads. For a brief moment in this corner of the world, this explosion was the brightest it would ever get.

Then the violet light slowly cleared, and it revealed Solaris’s stony expression, unmarred by flame or cut.

“Intriguing,” Solaris mused.

Twilight struggled to all fours once again, her face betraying the crestfallen dread inside of her. Her horn, however, was still on, still keeping them at the same altitude they had been. Truthfully, it was the Element of Magic doing most of the work.

Solaris turned his head gently to stare down Fluttershy next, who was peeking between the curtains of her mane. She shrieked and hid herself once more.

“Fear,” Solaris noted. “Why, little one? You need not resist and keep living in fear of me. I am kind to my children. I smite down those who would oppose them. But I do not wish for this to happen to you. You are precious to me. Every soul brought unto me is cause to rejoice.”

Fluttershy’s face peeked out from the curtain of her mane, although she was still trembling.

“Leave them,” Solaris gently urged. “They’ve made their choice, and they are doomed because of it. Live on for your friends, and show them the example by which they must follow.”

“Don’t listen to him, Shy!” Rainbow yelled when he was done. But Fluttershy anxiously darted her eyes away from Rainbow.

“Shy!” Tempest cried.

“Fluttershy,” Starlight Glimmer breathed, then coughed.

Fluttershy’s eyes filled with tears. She bowed her head.

“I tire of your indiscion,” Solaris rumbled warningly. “Do not make one you will regret.”

Fluttershy locked eyes with Twilight. It took her a moment before she could look up into the eyes of the devil.

Despite her trembling lips and hesitant voice, Fluttershy made her choice.

“Never!” she refused. “You can’t have me! You can never have me!”

Solaris tilted his head and narrowed his burning eyes. “Can’t I?”

That simple action made Fluttershy back away and look to the ground. But her head came up again soon enough, and she shook it a second time.

“I can have anything I want,” Solaris calmly told her. He stepped forth, and Fluttershy took a few scared, small steps back, but not enough for Solaris to slowly close the distance, speaking softly all the while. “You are mine. This earth is mine. This universe is mine. I made it all. The defiance of my weakest child will not make a difference.”

Solaris’ front leg came up and caressed her cheek, and Fluttershy froze in place, an expression of utter fear plastered on her.

Solaris’ wide smile grew. “You inherit my wife’s beauty.”

His hoof went under her trembling chin. Fluttershy tried to crane her head as far away from his cold touch as possible, but he just pressed against her to its fullest extent.

“And my strong chin.” He took a deliberate sniff and turned her head with barely a gesture. “What a specimen.”

“Help me,” Fluttershy whispered, shutting her eyes tightly. “Twilight! Help!”

“Let her go!” Rainbow yelled, finding the strength to resist in the face of her suffering friend.

Solaris rotated his head to regard Rainbow coldly. “If I will it, so it shall be.” His flaming eyes narrowed to slits. “Back off, child.”

Rainbow’s lips twisted in anguish. “You’re hurting my friend!”

“She would say something if she was,” Solaris calmly rebutted. “You aren’t hurt, are you?”

“I’m scared!” Fluttershy got out between heavy, shivering breaths.

“That’s to be expected from a pony like you,” Solaris dismissed. “Fight back, if you so desire.”

Rainbow shrieked with all the fury she could procure, swung Stormkeeper up, drew upon all the latent power around her, and brought it down on Solaris’ back.

With a tremendous crack, the blade shattered into a dozen pieces. An eruption of sizzling energy blew Rainbow back, flying until she hit the ground and rolled to a stop. The pieces of the once-great sword bounced and clattered on the ground, and Fluttershy was flung onto her side, away from Solaris’ haunting touch.

Solaris snorted. “No weapon that is formed against me shall succeed.” His eyes rested upon Fluttershy’s form once again, and he stepped over to her and outstretched his hoof.

“Don’t you see?” Solaris asked, and he was not even angry. “I am the strongest being in the universe. Those who ally themselves to me shall live long and prosper. Those who defy me will lift up their heads, curse God, and die. I want to save you, Fluttershy. I could have killed you and your friends under my touch. But I truly do not desire your deaths if it can be avoided. Am I not kind to you?”

Fluttershy tremblingly lifted her head. Solaris shone brightly. But it was no angelic light, like she had experienced when Faust had shown herself in the badlands. And neither was it a natural, warm light, like from their campfires, or the guarding swords of Firestorm, or even their sun. It seemed like a blinding, menacing light, like the glint off a sword going for her throat. Goosebumps rose on Fluttershy’s skin, as stiff as the trees in a forest. Her heart lodged in her throat.

“Prove my suspicions and your biases wrong, Fluttershy. I am your father. I love you.”

Fluttershy couldn’t stand it any more. The deception. The flattering words. The terrible presence. Her weakness. It all had to end.

Fluttershy lept from the ground and punched the devil in the face.

For some reason, that shook Solaris more than Stormkeeper and Twilight’s magic had. Perhaps he just wasn’t expecting it, because he staggered back from her, his wings flapping madly, and stared in amazement at Fluttershy’s hyperventilating form.

“You lie!” Fluttershy bursted out. “Of course you don’t want ponies to die, because then they go right to Faust, and they’re out of your reach forever! You don’t actually care about us! What, you actually expect me to think because you don’t want somepony to die, you love them? That’s a low bar to clear!” Her hoof clasped the jewel hanging around her neck. “I am the Element of Kindness! I know true love when I see it! You just want to make everypony as miserable as you are! I’d rather die than be somepony like you! I’d rather go to Faust than call you my father!”

Solaris’ wide eyes narrowed once more. “You dare.”

She even narrowed her own eyes in response. “Yes, I dare. What are you going to do, huh? You think I’m scared of death? What do you wanna bet?”

Twilight, Tempest, and Rainbow were speechless. This wasn’t entirely out of the realm for Fluttershy before, but looking at her now, it was somehow more authentic than the timid pony they had mostly known. This was the real Fluttershy--not weak at all, but strong enough to defy the devil himself.

Solaris, meanwhile, sighed.

“I had hoped that following me would be a choice you could bring about by yourself,” Solaris said. He actually sounded disappointed. “If the weakest among you could come unto me, I would be content. But now I see.”

His wings spread wide open and his horn ignited, a brazen orange color to match the shade of his eyes. “Perhaps I must get my message to the world in a more outspoken way. They cannot ignore the presence of their father.”

His entire body coated itself with fire. And, just like Tirek had done, he began to grow. The ponies scooted back in trepidation.

In the span of only a few seconds, he was as tall as Tirek had been when Twilight had fought him. Cracks appeared beneath the surface of his ponderous hooves And he wasn’t done with it, either. Once it became apparent that the temple’s floor could not contain him, he leaped off and took to the air. With only a puff, he disappeared into the darkness.

The precious moment was seized upon by all present. Twilight and Tempest attended to Starlight, while Rainbow galloped over to Fluttershy and seized her in a hug.

“You rock!” Rainbow praised without restraint. “Sweet Celestia, Fluttershy, you’re going to give us all heart attacks from just how awesome you are!”

“I don’t want you to have heart attacks,” Fluttershy objected, still in Rainbow’s embrace. “I can always just not be awesome.”

“What? No, Shy, just be awesome more! We’ll get used to it in no time, I promise.” She let her go, and they both dropped to all fours. “Well, I suppose the biggest problem now is really just…”

“Stopping him,” Fluttershy glumly finished.

“Nothing we have can stop him!” Tempest cried, overhearing their conversation. “We’ve given him everything we’ve got!”

“Not everything,” Twilight reminded her. “The Elements. Perhaps individually, they won’t do much, but all together-”

“And how do you propose we go about doing that?” Tempest challenged. “Are the others even alive? And even if they were, how would they know that’s the plan? How do we know when the time is right to use them? How do we find and communicate with them?”

Twilight paused. “Well-”

“And what about Starlight?” Tempest asked, indicating her weakened state. “There’s nothing we can do about it, Twilight. She’s dying. And there’s no replacement. Even if she is strong enough to use the Element, it would kill her anyway, and besides, look at that thing! Do you think you can call that rock an Element of Harmony?”

Twilight bent over to examine the stone embedded in Starlight’s chest, and out of her peripheral, she saw Rainbow and Fluttershy coming closer as well. The stone in question was dull and sickly, a vast contrast from the Element of Kindness around Fluttershy’s neck, or even the shiny color it had been before.

Technically speaking, if it was corrupted, then there wasn’t much good left in it to begin with.

Twilight’s heart began to ache. Maybe she was right. Maybe there really was no way.

Twilight hesitantly looked up. Everywhere she cast her eyes, Twilight could see nothing. The sun was reduced to little more than a glint in the overhead sky.

Then a different rumble, very different from the destruction of the mountain, caught Twilight’s attention. There was something moving out there. Something beyond her capacity to fathom.

The darkness inexplicably parted, and Twilight was greeted by a golden pillar in front of her, easily more than double the width of their circular platform. She had to turn her head to see both ends of its curve. Then her head tilted up, almost straight up.

The pillar was a leg. It connected to a body, greater than all the mightiest vessels ever put to sky or sea combined.

And on top of that body was a powerful neck. Leering down at her was the enormous face of the fallen statue.

The enormous golden horn atop his skull, which was by itself as large as Mount Nevermore had been, ignited.

And a shockwave rippled across the sky in every direction like a Sonic Rainboom, blasting Twilight back down again. There was a dull roar in her ears, like she was by the beach with the waves, but this roar chilled her furiously beating heart.

“Hear me, children,” Solaris murmured, and Solaris’s voice overrode every instinct in her body. Even plugging her ears, Solaris was clear. It was inside her mind, in her heart, within Twilight’s very soul. It was loud and overpowering, making her ears ache.

“My name is Solaris. I am the father of your spirits,” Solaris uttered. Twilight inferred that the words this devil was speaking were reaching the minds of every last foal, filly, stallion, and mare, and every other creature on the face of Equus. “My work is to bring every race, nation, people, and creed under one name. Your agency will be taken because you will not need it.

“At first, I was content to allow ponies to worship me of their own free will. But as long as there are those of you who still possess a spark of resistance, the world will never willingly bow to its rightful father. As long as this life is one of choice, you will never worship me.

“Which is why I now know what I must do.” The fire in his eyes intensified. “I will rend every living creature from its mortal coil and cast them into Tartarus. I will tear apart this world, down to its barest particles. And then, using the fruit of the Tree of Life, create one anew, and you shall live again, guided by the plan I set forth in heaven so long ago.”

Solaris inclined his head a fraction to regard the faint glint of the sun. His eyes narrowed. His nostrils flared.

The glint of the faraway sun died down. The sun had either dimmed or disappeared entirely.

Twilight’s jaw dropped.

There wasn’t any noticeable difference, but Twilight knew it would take some time before the remaining sunlight reached their planet. After that, it was likely to drop to deathly temperatures.

“Let it be said that I have triumphed,” Solaris put plainly. He slowly, slowly, rotated away from Twilight and the others, facing west. “But because I have awoken, you would remember your Goddess as well. You would desire to resist the guidance of a loving parent.” Solaris’ fangs, like the slender, pearly towers of Canterlot, showed themselves in anger. Solaris’s voice began to distort and deepen now. “I reject your desires.”

Solaris reared his head as his terrible horn glowed like a replacement sun, making Twilight blink. With a terrible shriek, billowing stalks of black fire blossomed from the ground like wheat. It was fire unlike anything Twilight had ever seen before. She had to tilt her head to see how high they went. Miles high and twisting like strands of rope, it came up to Solaris’s chest, harmlessly licking his flesh. The ebony flames somehow felt cold, like interstellar space. It was a ripple in space and time.

With a brighter pulse of his horn, the fire at Solaris’s hooves intensified and shot in opposite directions, to the north and south, like a sailing arrow. An impassable wall of black flame formed as far as the eye could see.

Twilight looked north, then south. Nothing but black fire. She gulped hard, struggling to swallow. The sight before her was something she never would have expected. It was beyond Twilight’s worst nightmares. Hell was already here.

“I will constrict the earth with flames and envelop you into my loving arms,” Solaris declared, his voice wavering deep with restrained fury from the throat. “All of Her creation is now mine.”

Twilight couldn’t take it any longer. She buried her face into her arm and sobbed.

Solaris twisted his head around ponderously to coldly regard her suffering. And a smirk made its way onto his long, cruel lips. He said nothing, but turned back around and took his first steps.

The entire world trembled. In every city, in every village, ponies looked into the sky. A plague of pervasive darkness quickly overtook the atmosphere. The sun's guiding beacon was blotted out.

Ponies pointed up in amazement. Some began to run in random directions, for all the good it would do them. Children cried, and their mothers could not find a way to comfort them. It was all useless in the end.

As darkness encircled the planet, the moon and stars were left behind to illuminate what remained. But the light of the moon was a vivid red, like fresh blood. By no means was it naturally made. Its spotlight cast the world in an evil glow. And the tapestry of space began to ripple and waver.

Like falling lights, the stars in the sky swirled out of place. Some crashed into each other, creating supernovas that momentarily blinded anyone who saw it. And inexplicably, streaks of faraway stars descended to earth below.

Deathly chaos reigned across the universe.

Celestia couldn’t take it.

Standing weakly on her dark balcony, with not even guards, not even her sister beside her, the red-tinted Celestia bowed her head. Never before had she felt so helpless. So alone. Even Faust seemed to be silent.

Celestia knew that she would be needed to fire upon the dark armies about to besiege Canterlot. But a large part of her was hollow. Why bother? They would all burn anyway. What was left to fight for?

The universe itself seemed to conspire against her. Barely more than a mile away, the endless black armies of the Noxxa were marching up the winding road to Canterlot. Blueblood was a traitor. The Element bearers were gone. Twilight was gone. Even her own sun was destroyed. She could feel its absence in her heart. But Solaris was here, and the world would burn.

Celestia wept bitterly.

Chapter Eighty-nine: Victory and Defeat

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Freedom Fighter’s eyes slowly opened. He blinked hard. Once, twice. What happened? He remembered the eruption...

His vision was black, except for glowing orange light coming from all angles. It smelled poisonous. The ground was sharp and uneven beneath his chest, and Freedom had to sweep away some loose pebbles beneath him before he tremblingly got to all fours.

He looked around. The ground was erratically gashed just a few feet away. Smoke rose from it, as well as similar gashes and cracks further away in every direction. There were also periodically placed holes filled with glowing, hot lava, ranging from the size of puddles to ponds or pools. Streams of bubbling, thin lava fed them and interconnected various pools together.

The ground was as if someone froze the sea, then cracked it all open to expose the fiery blood of the planet beneath. It had to be that volcano they were fighting over. Or rather, what remained of it.

Freedom Fighter had to squint, both because it was dark and because the smoke burned his eyes. There was a shuffle in the distance, of many moving legs.

Freedom Fighter sighed, but he straightened himself and shook his head to clear it. Combat ready!

"Oh, Unforgiven," came a hiss in the air. It was like an owner calling for their dog. "Where are you? Come out and play."

Freedom Fighter crouched low and stuck close to the small chasm's edge. If he gave no indication he was there, he could perhaps sneak up on him.

"Don't think you can elude me," Malice warned. His crackling symphony of footfalls creeped ever closer. Freedom Fighter, after a moment of hesitation, hung onto the edge and lowered himself about a foot down into the chasm. It was all he could go down before it grew too thin. He stayed there, hunched in half, pressing his back into the wall.

"I can feel your presence," Malice's wispy voice let him know. It was louder than before. "Taste you in the air. So close, so close. I know you're trying to ambush me."

Freedom Fighter's heart beat loudly in his chest. He wondered for a wild moment if Malice could hear that.

"But I've already won," Malice gently said. "Haven't you looked into the distance? My God and king has woken up. He now marches across the earth. His form is even better than I imagined it would be."

"He's bluffing," Freedom Fighter whispered. It was a vain attempt to convince himself. What reason did he have to lie?

“It means Twilight Sparkle has done what I could not,” his infuriating voice oozed next. “She has summoned him.”

"Impossible!" Freedom whispered in shock. Twilight would never! Not unless she had some plan to kill him.

There was a pause in Malice's voice after the word escaped him. Freedom mentally kicked himself for the mistake.

There came a heavy sniff from the outside. Freedom Fighter was trembling.

"So." There was a sickening wet slurp, a licking of lips. "You've grown close to the princess. Your feelings for her are... strong. Perhaps even stronger than your hate for me."

He said it as if it was a foreign concept. Love was something he couldn't understand.

"And look where you are now. Look at all the good love has done for you in the end, Unforgiven. Neither of you deserves it anyway. Look at what you've done with it. You're cowering like a rat in a hole, and she twisted love to fit her own ends."

She didn't! She didn't!

“Haven’t you felt it?” Malice taunted. “When you hold her close, doesn’t she seem cold? The dark path she has walked has twisted her mind, enslaving her to evil purposes.” Malice seemed all around him. "Hazy fog clouds her head. Either she doesn't know what she's doing… or she knows exactly what she's doing."

It was something Freedom Fighter had not wanted to admit to himself. She seemed to be doing just fine! She couldn't have just...

“Perhaps you have not turned to serve our father.” Malice deliberately paused. His underside was crossing the chasm, directly above Freedom's head. “But something tells me she has.”

He couldn't take it any more.

"NEVER!" he bellowed, igniting his entire body into a golden aura. With a push against the wall, he rocketed out and into the creature's underside, sending the two of them flying.

Malice curled up like a pillbug, trapping Freedom Fighter inside the curve like he was in a hollow tire. Gripping him with at least four stubby rear legs, Malice flipped, straightened out, and pushed him away simultaneously.

Freedom Fighter was flung as if from a trebuchet. He hurled through the hot air for one, two, three seconds before his back struck something hard that made his limbs flail and his nerves go numb. Freedom Fighter slid down the slope of a rock before dropping off it, hitting the ground, and rolling to a stop.

He picked his head up in time to see Malice's ghostly form swooping down. Freedom scrambled to all fours, but Malice collided with him once again and yanked him up by a rear leg, leaving him hanging upside down.

Freedom Fighter tried to curl up to pry apart the claws holding him there, but it was all useless. Malice held him at arm's length. His long fangs were completely exposed in glee.

Malice brought his arm up, then chopped it back down. Freedom Fighter's head hit the ground with terrible force. He began to feel numb.

Malice brought his arm up once more and swirled it behind him, slamming Freedom Fighter hard into the ground again. Blood ran from his face and discolored the ground.

Malice then swiped Freedom Fighter hard against the rock he had hit before. It was like he was whipping around a wet rag, and it certainly sounded like it, too. A red smear marked Freedom Fighter’s path.

Malice finally roared and hurled Freedom Fighter far away from him like a garbage bag. Freedom Fighter limply flew for a few seconds before striking the ground and rolling to a stop amid uneven, jagged rocks, carving up his back into raw meat.

There was a popping river of glowing lava only a few feet behind him, down a small, grainy slope. Its heat was enough to curl and singe the hair on his coat.

Freedom Fighter lifted his bloody head up once again. Malice was taking his time on his scuttling legs, deathly pale despite being stained.

Malice looked disgraceful. His wings were bent at uneven angles. Several of his main long legs were missing. The entire left side of his face was dark with blood and empty. His bared mouth had missing fangs, and his horns were scratched and punctured and perforated. But a triumphant smile was on those bloody gums after all.

“Even with your precious stone, I prove the victor,” Malice boasted in a sinister, high hiss.

Freedom Fighter tried to rise on all fours, but a rock on the slope broke away. He slipped and slid further down, almost directly touching the fiery river. It already felt like he was on fire.

“You’re pathetic,” Malice noted. “You were the one Faust gave my birthright to?” He chuckled. “You were the chosen one. You were supposed to avenge your people, not die with them.”

One of his legs extended itself sickeningly and pressed itself against Freedom Fighter’s bloody forehead. It inexorably pushed, and despite Freedom Fighter’s pained efforts, he was pushed down until the tips of his hooves entered the lava river.

Freedom Fighter screamed so loudly, he felt like his vocal chords would tear again. He scrabbled at the black bank, but the cruel leg pressing on his face was stronger. His limbs seemed to melt away, and his legs caught on fire, which traveled slowly up his flesh.

“Perish, you nightmare,” Malice declared, beetling his remaining eyes.

“MALICE!” came a terrible bellow. Malice and Freedom Fighter both looked up in surprise.

A green dragon was flying like a falling meteor, and screaming like one, too. He collided into Malice and sent the two of them tumbling on the broken ground.

Freedom Fighter blinked in surprise. Who was this guy?

Taking the opportunity, Freedom Fighter scrabbled back up the gentle slope of the bank, gripped the crumbly lip of the rock, and pulled himself up. His teeth were gritted so hard, he was afraid of breaking them. His arms felt unresponsive at first, but the more he pressed his failing body, the more it sullenly obeyed.

Finally, he scooted over the edge and rolled onto his chest on the relatively safer ground. Some more rolling later, and the flames on the back of his legs extinguished.

Freedom Fighter’s vision was failing and fuzzy, but if he squinted, he could just make out the shade of green slamming down on a mass of flailing white limbs.

An urge to help him out came over him, but perhaps getting involved here would cause more harm than good.

And besides, a moment to regenerate his legs would be nice...

Cinder wailed on Malice’s face over and over again, pounding with his fists and screaming at the top of his lungs. Amazingly, Malice seemed more surprised than hurt.

“Why did you betray us?” Cinder demanded, smashing both fists into his snout. “I want answers!”

Two of Malice’s spindly legs shoved Cinder off him and sent him stumbling a few steps before he landed on his butt. All of Malice’s legs were adjusting themselves on the uneven surface, and as Malice stood up, he finally got a good look at him. The left side of his face was dark and empty, and discolored with dried blood. His bony, thin wings were spread out like ghoul's fingers. Malice, the freak of nature, towered far above Cinder, and he was illuminated sinisterly by the glow of lava at their feet.

“I knew I should have killed you,” Malice regretted.

Cinder’s bloodshot eyes boiled with anger. He launched himself at Malice, giving a wide swing at his head. Malice irritably batted him aside, and Cinder rolled to a stop just before going over a glowing pit.

“Now, about you,” Malice said, turning to the smoking body of Freedom Fighter as if Cinder had never appeared in the first place.

“Hey!” Cinder yelled, getting to his feet and putting up his dukes. “Where do you think you’re going? Come back over here and fight like a real dragon!”

Malice pondered on that. Then he let out a deep, dark laugh.

“I was never a real dragon to begin with,” Malice revealed.

“What?” Cinder breathed. “But your wings--your horns! You breathe fire!”

“Dark magic, brother,” he said mockingly. “Perhaps I had one from the bowels of Tartarus, but when he killed it, I put his remains to good use. You should be honored to know I might do the same to you.”

Cinder growled and spread his wings. “Not if I rip you apart first!”

“You are adorable.”

“Murderer!” Cinder screamed, launching himself at Malice once more. The instant he was within arm’s reach, he swiped at his head, and continued to do so with every word. “Traitor! I trusted you! And you used me! I’ll kill you!”

A single sharp claw rocketed into Cinder’s mouth. Two teeth flew out, trailing blood like comets.

“I’m ready when you are,” Malice mocked.

Cinder tumbled in the air, slowly righting himself. His eyes were wild with unhinged fury.

“Where were we?” Malice wondered, turning back to Freedom Fighter. “Don’t want to leave you smoking for too long. I feel in the mood for a medium rare.”

Cinder screamed once more and rocketed into the back of Malice’s head. Cinder’s claws scratched at the thick curve of Malice’s horn. And his wounded mouth gnawed on the exposed bone just for good measure.

Malice winced, rolling his eyes. “Get off, you pest!”

He shook his head side to side, up and down, then swirled his head in a circle, and Cinder flew off. But he already puffed right beside him and whacked him in the snout as hard as he could. Once, twice, three times, then grabbed onto his flared nostrils and yanked him higher up into the air.

Malice batted him out of the air and hovered there on his wounded wings haphazardly. His eyes narrowed as Cinder came in for another pass.

“I’ll kill you!” Cinder repeated in a higher shriek, stretching out his arm for another punch.

Malice evaded the punch with ease. Simultaneously, he thrust his claw as hard as he could.

The limb passed through his chest like a knife through butter. A spray of blood accompanied the claw passing out of his back, bisecting his spine between the disks.

Cinder gasped, coughed, and threw up bile. Blood dribbled from his lips. The claw deep inside his chest adjusted itself cruelly, and he hissed loudly.

The monstrous insect dismissively regarded him by tilting his head to the side. The remaining eyes on the right side of his face narrowed.

Cinder growled and clung to the arm holding him up, sliding his way slowly down until he could reach Malice’s elbow. With all the strength he could muster, he brought a fist up and pounded on the elbow pit. It reflexively brought Malice’s arm up like a catapult.

It also brought Cinder close to Malice’s suddenly-surprised face. Uncomfortably close.

His right arm burrowed into Malice’s bottom-left empty eye socket. His left arm dug into the still-filled bottom right eye.

Squish.

Malice roared as loud as the mountain had. He shook his red head wildly, billowing fire from his wide-open mouth. He curled backwards in anguish and roared again, thrashing his many long legs out. Malice fell like a stone to earth, slamming his back into the uneven rock and curling his legs reflexively.

Cinder gurgled a dying scream and opened his left hand, spreading his fingers wide. Then he clenched his fist, and his broken teeth, as tight as he could.

Red liquid and worse flooded from Malice’s eye socket. Malice screamed his heart out once again--he was getting hoarse--and tugged on Cinder’s body unsuccessfully. Then he just leaned back, opened his jaws, slithered his claw out from Cinder’s chest, and snapped his lower half out of the air.

There was a horrible crunch and tear, and Cinder finally died.

His two halves fell from Malice’s face and hit the rock with wet thuds. Malice furiously punted them as hard as he could, and they sailed away before rolling into a hot, glowing chasm not too far away.

Malice stumbled, clutching his entirely-bloodied face. He roared between every breath, sounding more like a dumb animal than any sentient creature. Runny blood had turned him from deathly pale to sickeningly red.

“Filth!” Malice bellowed. “Creature of filth!”

Freedom Fighter watched in fascination. A bit more time to heal!

His legs had mostly re-formed by now, but they were sensitive and hot to the touch. He couldn’t have imagined feeling so terrible ever again. If it weren’t for that stone, Freedom Fighter would most likely have died.

That stone… what exactly did it do? It impressed upon him, and he wasn’t sure why until he remembered what Malice had said earlier. Merging with a dragon using dark magic.

If Malice was a previous user of the Element of Sacrifice, which swore to protect its user from all harm by healing the body, then perhaps if it could see the dragon’s fusion as an unusual surgery-- especially by dark magic… it could reverse the process.

That could also heal his eyes, however. But despite working overtime to heal his legs, the cuts all over Freedom Fighter’s face weren’t healed yet. That meant the Element held some things as a higher priority. He needed to convince the Element that the dragon’s properties were worse to the body than a few missing eyes.

You can function without eyes or ears or limbs, he thought, and as he did, the stone in his head pulsed in acknowledgement. But living as an experiment is far worse than any amputation. He sacrificed his dragon. Perhaps we should rectify the problem.

Somehow, he figured the stone knew of his intention. It was his, after all.

Malice groaned with effort and shook his face, giving more involuntary screams. His many legs curled and uncurled, and he stomped uneasily over to Freedom Fighter, twisting and hissing. The sight put Freedom Fighter in a much better mood than before, and he decided to have a bit of fun with it.

“If you had a bit for every time a dragon gouged one of your eyes out today,” Freedom Fighter called out, “you’d have two bits. Which isn’t a lot. But it’s weird that it happened twice!”

“Might say the same… about your legs,” Malice hissed in reply.

Which still kinda hurt, by the way. They had to heal quickly. “Touche. What’s the matter, feeling touch-ay?”

“I will eat you alive,” Malice snarled.

Nothing new there. “Fine. I suppose you won’t get healed. My Element could do the trick. But nah, you don’t want to touch me since you’re feeling touchy. Huh.”

“You’re up to something,” Malice accused. “What’s your deal, scum?”

“It’s…” Freedom Fighter paused.

“I can’t trust you!” Malice shrieked. “Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t rip you apart!”

“My pride!” Freedom Fighter quickly admitted, cowering. “I couldn’t live with it if I only beat you because somepony else had a hand in it. Come on, Malice, let’s heal. We’re at an impasse. Let’s make use of this gift and clean ourselves up before beating each other up. How can either of us be truly proud of ourselves until we beat each other at full strength?”

Malice snorted. “You’re full of it.”

“Fine, be that way. Beat me, but live with the knowledge that we were at our worst. There will be some nagging doubt that perhaps I could have defeated you if everything wasn’t so skewed and my victory wasn’t handed to you on a silver platter.”

“You’re out of your mind!” Malice yelled. “I don’t care about your stupid pride! You are going to die!”

“Then live with that freakish body of yours. Live with those scars that mere mortals gave you. Live in the impotence of your pride, knowing that deep down, you can bleed. You can be killed. And you have the marks to prove it.”

That time, Malice gave pause. Neither combatant made any movement.

“It would be nice to see clearly again,” Malice murmured. “I don’t know what you’re really planning. But it won’t matter, since I’ll be strong enough to kill you.”

And Malice’s claws snapped around Freedom Fighter’s neck. The pony screamed, and the stone in his forehead pulsed.

“Yes,” Malice hissed, licking his bloody lips. “Give your strength to me! Remember your master!”

Both their bodies glowed golden-yellow. Freedom Fighter struggled against the spiny claws pressing into his neck, but Malice’s grip was tight. Energy flowed from one body into the other.

“Come on,” Malice insisted. “Come on, come on! Give me my sight!”

“Do you know how this works?” Freedom Fighter breathed. “I don’t think you do. You refused the gift. You don’t know how it works.”

Malice took his claw off Freedom Fighter’s throat. He growled low. “I feel strange. Like…” He gripped his head with many claws. “There’s something missing. Gnaaagh!”

“Hey,” Freedom Fighter said.

“What?” Malice irritably asked, turning his head.

“You must be hungry.”

Malice’s mouth twisted as he looked down at his multi-sectioned underside. “Maybe I am. Should have eaten that dragon. I’ll settle for you.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you something.”

Malice blinked his remaining eye. “What?”

“Here, eat this.”

Malice’s mouth drooped open somewhat in confusion. He was holding up a rock. A rock? “Wha-”

But the rock in Freedom Fighter’s hoof was already smashing into his teeth. Blood rained from his raw gums.

Malice spat, lunged for the pony, and grabbed only thin air. Freedom Fighter had bounded between his skittering legs and rolled away under his opposite end.

Malice swore and snapped his body completely backwards with a series of pops and crackles, twitching his stubby and bony legs to fit into their new directions.

Freedom Fighter had disappeared. Malice swiveled his head one way, then the other. “Oh, are we playing dirty, my little pony?”

“Why shouldn’t I?” came Freedom Fighter’s voice. Malice couldn't pin it down. The rat must have scampered into another hole, and he wouldn't fall for the same trap as before.

“I should have known something was amiss!” Malice regretted, scuttling forward while curving backwards, his eyes scanning over his back. It was an eerie, unnatural sight, which was part of the reason Malice liked doing it. With only one working eye, however, Malice’s field of view was severely impaired. He kept talking. “Your sudden cooperativeness, your out-of-nowhere pride. You've never had anything to be proud of in your life! You never cared about any of this before! You would do anything to kill me, pride be damned!”

“You’re right,” Freedom Fighter's disembodied voice admitted. Malice strained to pinpoint its origin. “Just this once. Pride doesn't matter when you're trying to get something done. You of all creatures should understand that."

Was that an insult? "And now this roundabout of words! Clucking like a chicken before it's beheaded! What, are you taking full advantage of your tongue before I tear it out once again?"

"I just took a few lessons from Noble Blade's example. Have you ever noticed most ponies just don't look up?"

Feeling a terrible sense of trepidation, Malice inclined his head.

There was nothing there. Nothing but black skies.

"Of course, there's nothing up here this time. Gotcha. Man, you look like an idiot."

"What an elaborate cope!" Malice denounced, skittering in circles, focusing his final bloodshot eye as hard as he could on anything out of the ordinary. "Who are you trying to humiliate me in front of, Unforgiven? There is no one here but us!"

"I dunno, I'm sure Faust is pretty entertained. Pinkie showed me something. There always might be someone you aren't aware of out there."

"Show yourself!" Malice shrieked, igniting his horns into crackling white. "Or I will drown us both in fire!"

"Under normal circumstances, I'd feel inclined to refuse. However, since I can't have you go around blowing up mountains…"

And a spot of yellow light appeared over the edge of a small escarpment of black rock to Malice's left. It was the lip of the volcano's main shaft, on the edge of which a pony now stood. He was illuminated from behind with the vast reservoirs of lava yet waiting to pour forth. It tossed the front of him into a foreboding shadow.

Immediately, Malice fired a blast from his horns. Freedom Fighter jumped above the bolt, flipped in the air, and landed with enough force to crack the escarpment all the way down to the ground. Streams of lava shot through the crack and spattered on the uneven surface.

"Want to play that game?" Malice challenged, igniting his horns once again. This time, he aimed, not at the little pony, but the wall he was standing on.

Malice heaved with the effort to charge his magic, but he managed to let it go. The bolt of lightning struck the escarpment wall with all the force of a battering ram.

The wall burst forth with an explosion, sending Freedom Fighter tumbling down amidst a collapse of rocky rubble. Lava soon followed, creating an impromptu river.

He rolled to a stop just in front of a particularly large boulder. Behind it, the lava flow split to go around it before reforming some twenty feet downstream. It created a perilous island in the middle of the river of shimmering fire.

Freedom Fighter got to all fours in time to see Malice maneuver himself into the spot of land before it was entirely closed off by the newly-formed lava river. They were both trapped on all sides by the raging fire.

Malice snapped himself back to his normal orientation with a series of sickening pops and crackles. He was also bent over in pain, making him look like a capital S, but his twisted face betrayed only savage anger.

Freedom Fighter had no more mocking words to spout. No more threats to bluster. No more promises to make. Now was the time to deliver on them all.

Devil stared down pony. Grumbles rippled in both of their throats.

Malice lunged, and Freedom Fighter dove. His sharp claw lodged in the unstable earth only a few inches away from where the pony had been, and Freedom Fighter curled up against it and locked the joint. Then he yanked against his elbow as hard as he could, falling against the ground.

Malice shrieked and swiped the pony aside. Freedom Fighter went skidding a few feet, ending up far closer to the edge of the river than he wanted.

Malice's claw thrust itself like a spear again, and the only thing that saved Freedom Fighter was a swipe of his rear leg pushing it to the side. It lodged in the rock again, leaving his broad chest open to a piercing strike by the Unforgiven's other rear hoof.

Malice gasped. Then he snarled, curling his legs inward. But the Unforgiven had learned from experience. He somersaulted before they could crush him, going even further under Malice, and extended both his legs like a coiled spring into Malice's underbelly.

Malice was temporarily lifted off the ground. It wasn't really forceful, but just enough to make him flop unceremoniously on his side.

Freedom Fighter gripped the narrowest part of Malice's thrashing lower body and, heaving for breath, hoisted it in the air. Screaming from the effort, his muscles burning and pushed to their limit, he tugged with all his strength, whipping the ponderous Malice up like a fishing line, and brought it down, slamming the monster into the earth with enough force to throw up pebbles.

Enraged, Malice's stubby rear legs shot themselves into Freedom Fighter's chest, creating two puncture wounds that made Freedom stagger back. So much adrenaline was in Freedom Fighter's blood that it ran away from the surface of the skin.

The boulder blocking the flow of lava broke off some crumbs on the side to float downstream, narrowing the area they could fight in. Before Malice could get up adequately, he found three of his stubby legs enveloped by the sudden stream of lava.

Malice yelped and scrambled back from the growing stream with renewed panic. His legs were steaming, red, and raw. Not exactly regular flesh, but not exactly fireproof, either.

After unsuccessfully flexing the legs, he fixed Freedom Fighter with a look of terror. His remaining eye traveled to the viridescent Element of Sacrifice in the Unforgiven's forehead.

Freedom Fighter only smiled in return and beckoned with his hoof.

Malice's lips twisted. His nostrils flared. And his teeth rattled as a growl escaped him. He thrashed his way back to his remaining, shaking legs.

Malice reared up on the back six legs-- as little as was needed to keep him upright. His red body swayed in the air like a ship's mast. With a sick crackle, he extended the rest of them out like a peacock, making him look like a living, freshly-removed ribcage, with his huge head where the brainstem would be. A roar came from his gaping mouth full of broken fangs, throwing spit and blood.

Freedom Fighter charged at full speed.

Malice's body came down, all his arms curling in like a closing fist.

Mid-run, Freedom Fighter bent over and grabbed a loose boulder the size of his head with both hooves. Somersaulting again to build up momentum, he released the boulder at the end of his roll, sending it flying as if from a catapult.

It hit Malice in the face, shattering into half a dozen pieces due to its igneous nature. It didn't do nearly as much damage as Freedom Fighter hoped it would. Malice's arms still came down with an almighty crash. Freedom Fighter felt his front two arms snatched by two separate claws.

He was lifted up to Malice's eye level, who had reared back to his tallest form, meaning he was significantly higher off the ground than the last time this had happened. He was suspended from Malice's two main claws like a puppet, unable to move.

Malice's grin was wider and sicker than any he had given before. It was wet with blood and red-raw and missing teeth, but the desire in that smile was evil.

He whipped Freedom Fighter down to the ground without letting go, and he was much higher up than before. Freedom Fighter hit the ground hard enough to feel a bone snap, and his rotator cuffs felt like they were about to be pulled off like legs from a chicken.

But it wasn't his head this time. He could think. And Freedom Fighter knew how to turn the table.

Malice adjusted himself so he was facing the boiling orange river. Once and for all, Malice gurgled out a laugh and brought his arms over his head once more, intent on whipping the pony down into the lava.

As Freedom Fighter was lifted up, he swung himself upside down and twisted his hooves in Malice's sharp grip. It didn't work. He did it a second time, thrusting himself out and away, and the momentum finally let him go, his hooves bleeding from where Malice's claws had bit. He did it right before Malice's arms came down, so he was sort of floating in the air above Malice's head, his limbs outstretched. Then he curled himself in and came down.

Upon realizing Freedom Fighter was not in his grip after his arms came down, Malice, in fright, swiveled his head and tilted back to look up. His single eye widened.

He was just in time to see both of Freedom Fighter's back hooves launch out, assisted by gravity, and smash into the space between his darkened eyes.

Malice cried out in pain and stumbled.

On only six short legs, and this perilously reared up, Malice could not keep his balance.

He swayed back. He tilted. He reached a point of no return, and he uselessly windmilled all of his long, pale legs. Then he fell backwards in a spectacular splash into the flowing lava.

Freedom Fighter's legs were too weak to stick the landing. He crumpled to the ground on the strip of land that was noticeably thinner than at the start of the fight. But something drew his head up, and he tried to focus over all the noise.

The noise was Malice screaming in agony in the river of fire and brimstone. He lay there for a little bit, the lava running over him, into every orifice of his body, burning all the blood off him only to make it red again with burns. His body curled up and bent and shot its limbs into the air. Then the flow lifted him off the ground and carried him further downstream. His screams died down as he floated away.

Freedom Fighter watched him. Perhaps the Element hadn't had enough time to completely remove all aspects of the dragon mutation. But it at least made a notable dent in the fire resistance category.

He was sweating and panting for breath. His coat was shiny and sleek, marred by hard blood, and the salty sweat stung his wounds even as they gradually healed. The hot conditions certainly did not help any. And the ground was thinning out even more. The narrow strip of land was becoming smaller by the minute, and the boulder blocking the stream had already dislodged from its original position.

Freedom Fighter lifted his bleeding arm above his head and willed the stone to levitate him. His body glowed golden, and the rest of his hooves eventually left the ground as well. After getting used to the feeling of floating again, during which the rest of the island was consumed by lava as well, he leaned in the direction of Malice’s trip, and he sailed over.

The entire world seemed dark and dreary. Everywhere Freedom Fighter looked, there was smoke and fire, rock and lava. Freedom Fighter was not known for his taste in beauty, but a part of him wondered, Wasn’t the world supposed to be pretty?

If there would be a world by the time Solaris was done with it, of course.

A disturbance in the flow and a drawn-out scream caught his attention. Far below, there he was, still rolling and flailing uselessly, trying to scrape away the slimy stuff encasing his entire body. The lava stream was heading for the edge of the mountain. He could see the edge not too far away where it cut between two boulders.

Somehow, Freedom Fighter did not have any reservations about helping him out.

Malice’s struggling form hit the edge of the falls. After trying to grab ahold of the edge and failing, Malice tipped over and plummeted down the sharp edge of the mountain. Freedom Fighter quickly followed and hovered beside the volcano, quick to observe his path.

Malice, only identifiable by his shape, fell with the lava, down, down, down.

It wasn’t long before Malice struck an outcropping rock and caromed off it, diverting his path away from the lava falls. His limp form hit some more protruding parts of the mountain in quick succession, bouncing him from one edge to another, creating an avalanche of debris to accompany him.

Malice smashed into a particularly large boulder, dislodging some smaller pebbles and dust keeping it upright. As Malice fell, so did it, tumbling and bashing down.

Smash, bang, crash. Malice was losing momentum, but at the cost of his bones.

Finally, after half a dozen more collisions, Malice reached a large flat ledge only a hundred feet above the newly-formed lava sea created by the volcano’s eruption some time before. He landed on his stomach, his many limbs spread out.

Malice weakly raised his head. He wheezed for breath, struggling to rise.

Then came the debris. Rocks the size of a pony bounced to the side of him or off his back. The large boulder bounced down, struck Malice with enough force to break it into smaller, dustier pieces, and crushed three-quarters of Malice’s inert body. Finally, dust settled annoyingly on his head and rained all around him.

Malice could barely feel anything. There was just nothing left of him to feel pain anymore. He felt warm and wet beneath what was left of his stomach. The thought of it made him retch. He moaned as he panted for breath. His two remaining visible front legs twitched and pawed at the ground uselessly.

When Malice finally raised his head again, he saw the Unforgiven hovering in front of him.

Malice huffed and pushed against the ground, but he was stuck, and nothing could change that. After bending grotesquely upward, he screamed and fell back to earth.

“Though you are everything I hate, it almost makes me feel bad for leaving you here.” Freedom Fighter stomped to his flattened snout. "At the end of the universe, what will your legacy be?"

"What legacy do you have?" Malice weakly demanded, rising up slowly. "We were both chosen by our mother! We both sacrificed everything! You were just my replacement! An understudy. So why are you triumphant? And I am nothing?"

One pair of red eyes bore into the remaining eye of the other. Each of them were ringed with blood.

"I have my friends," Freedom Fighter eventually answered. "I have my agency. And I have fulfilled my destiny." He tapped the stone embedded in his forehead. "If you still haven't figured out why, you don't deserve to have this."

He turned away. "Farewell. Rot in this hell you dug for yourself."

"Mercy…"

It made him halt. His blood froze, then boiled in a new crescendo.

"Countless creatures said the same thing!" he bellowed, turning once more to the broken body of Malice. "How many of them did you spare?"

"Forgive… me."

"If this is a trick to test my generosity, you're failing it!" Freedom Fighter shouted, drowning out his weak words. "You think I'll ever forgive a devil like you?! Think, Malice! Think! I have outlasted every enemy to cross my path! I’ve taken your people and crumbled them into dust! Everything and everyone I knew before I came to Equestria was destroyed! What is preventing me from ending you?!"

Malice wheezed and scratched weakly at the ground. “Our mom…”

“What, do you actually think Faust would forgive you?” Freedom Fighter bellowed over his weak words before he could finish. “She’s not going to! Not for you! You can’t be forgiven! What’d be the point? The world'd be so much better if I just ripped you away. She’d love me for this. I’d get to rid the universe of your filth! Why shouldn’t you just DIE?”

He bent down and kicked him in the head. Then he stomped on his cheek, grinding it into the dirt.

Malice groaned and let his head hit the ground. “You… would make… a good Nox.”

Freedom Fighter paused, not taking his hoof off Malice’s cheek. The words had stung him more than any other wound, hurt him more than the lava had.

Freedom Fighter’s mind raced for answers, for some clear path to follow. He didn't want to vindicate Malice. Or become the thing he hated the most. But was that just him manipulating his emotions? Whose will was he following? Faust's? Solaris'? Or his own?

He couldn’t forgive him. He just couldn’t. Not after all he’d done. He’d never apologized for anything before. It wouldn’t be sincere. Faust would understand. She wouldn’t forgive him, even if he did.

But would that be something She’d do? It wasn’t as if Faust did not have the power to reform him. She had all power. If She really wanted to, She could. Freedom couldn’t possibly speak for how far Malice had gone, could he? Lest he be put out of favor with Faust himself.

Disregard it! some small part of him urged. That’s what Malice wants you to think! Those thoughts are brought about by devils!

But were they? What was good anymore? Some things seemed more true than others. What creed could he ally himself to?

Freedom Fighter’s every ounce of being trembled at the notion. It went against his mission, his passion, his reason for existing. But it was better safe than sorry.

He took his hoof off Malice’s bloody cheek. And he backed off several feet.

Malice groggily lifted his head, in some small surprise. “You…”

“I don’t want to hear another hiss out of your throat, you parasite,” Freedom Fighter spat. “I’m letting you live. That’s merciful enough for you?”

Malice, unwilling to speak, nodded his assent.

“I’m not about to trust you. Not after everything you’ve done. But if you’re trying to get me to destroy you in cold blood, you’ve failed.”

Malice’s lips pursed together tightly. His lone eye quivered.

“Do as you will,” Freedom Fighter dismissed. Lifting his arm above his head, Freedom Fighter ascended into the air.

Malice, as soon as Freedom Fighter was out of earshot, let loose a crazed chuckle. It was gargled with spit and blood, but it was undoubtedly genuine.

"It's enough for me," the monster revealed to no one. His head was drawn to the disappearing flame wall in the distance. "To see Him… before I die…"

Malice braced for death. It would be so nice to enter into His kingdom and rule over the rest of creation alongside Him.

But he did not. And pain wracked every cell in his body. Nevertheless, Malice felt a surge of triumph in his erratic beating heart.

Author's Notes:

There are always a few action scenes that really stick with us and inspire us to make our own. You can find a few of their elements here.

Omni-man vs The Immortal with Cinder and Malice's whole separate fight, as well as the end of Omni-man vs Invincible. (Think, Malice!)

The end of Goku vs Frieza: an insincere "forgive me, mercy!"

A Ninth Doctor exchange: you would make a good dalek.

Vader vs Luke in ROTJ. (If you will not turn to the dark side, then perhaps she will) And even a ~~not so~~ subtle "You were the chosen one!"

Heck, I even took inspiration from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, of all movies. I know, crazy, but it had its moments. Indy vs Dovchenko on that miniature island surrounded by a swarm of killer ants was one of them. The Skull would be the boulder. The ants are lava. Call 'em fire ants... I just really liked how bare-knuckle it was, how each of them fought with anger. Replicating it wasn't too hard.

Final showdowns don't get more intense than this.

Chapter Ninety: The Last Hero

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Twilight was weeping.

Nothing was going right. She had delivered the world unto the devil. Her prediction was wrong. And now all of her friends were surely going to turn on her and rend her piece by piece, and she couldn’t blame them! She… had failed-

A sob escaped her throat, and, embarrassed, she covered her eyes with an arm. She didn’t even want to know if or how anypony looked at her.

It was silent, save for a dull scraping. Then she felt a hoof nudge her in the back, and Twilight jolted and whirled around. If this would be the first of her friends to attack-!

But it was Starlight. She had dragged her failing body across the ground with herculean effort just to get her attention. Twilight looked down into her student’s dull eyes and felt a flare of shame creep into her face.

“Don’t cry,” Starlight croaked. She pushed up to reach Twilight’s face and shakily wiped away one of the tears coming down her cheek.

Of course, this just made her cry even more. She held Starlight under the arms and buried her face into her shoulder, squeezing her cold body as tight as she could.

“I’m so sorry!” Twilight whispered between breaths. “I can’t save you! I can’t save anyone! I’m… a failure!”

For a few seconds, the others didn’t interrupt the moment. Fluttershy was the first to gently speak.

“Twilight?” she prodded. “I don’t think you’re a failure.”

Well, that was coming from Fluttershy, always so quick to reassure, so fast to comfort. If an insane pony had blown up the moon, Fluttershy would have reassured him. It didn’t mean anything.

“Neither do I,” Rainbow was quick to say.

Riding on the coattails of her best friend. If she hadn’t said it, Fluttershy would have gotten angry. Still didn’t mean anything. If anything, it exasperated her. How could she be sure if anypony was being honest? She had doomed the world, for goodness’ sake!

“Nor I,” came Tempest’s voice, as rich and deep as a berry.

Well… Twilight’s heart thumped. Did she really?

Starlight’s mouth came near Twilight’s ear. “I don’t,” she managed to say.

Twilight broke down and bawled into her shoulder.

She hated being the one that needed to be reassured instead of Starlight. She wanted to do something, anything, to make up for it. Instead, she was useless. Worse than useless.

A chime, distinct above the constant magic keeping the temple in the air, twinkled in all of their ears. Each of their heads drew up, their ears perking. Twilight groaned. No more. Please, no more today. How could she keep fighting? There’s nothing left.

“Bogey at nine-o-clock,” Rainbow reported, squinting in the direction.

“How do you know what time it is?” Fluttershy asked, staring up into the smoky skies. “There isn’t a sun.”

“It’s a direction,” Rainbow not-quite-so-patiently explained.

Fluttershy swiveled her head appropriately, matching where the others were looking. Indeed, a glowing figure was approaching, as if it were a ghost. He was glowing like the sun, trotting as he hovered.

As he got closer, Twilight thanked heaven for small miracles.

“Freedom!” she cried, setting Starlight down and galloping to where he was about to land. Freedom Fighter’s hooves had no sooner touched ground than he got tackled by Twilight and held in a vice grip.

“Hey, Twi,” Freedom Fighter got out. He sounded tired. He ruffled Twilight’s mane and rubbed her upper back, then winced at the response Twilight gave. “Ow. Ow. Not so hard.”

Twilight broke away from him, and she noticed the details about him. The Element of Sacrifice was embedded deep in his forehead. His left arm was whole again, leaving him a complete pony.

Well, as complete as Freedom Fighter could get. There were burns, still-mending cuts healing in slow motion on his face. His entire coat was ruffled and dirty. Parts of him looked raw and red. And in splotches-

“Is that blood?” Fluttershy whimpered.

Freedom Fighter looked down as if finally noticing it about him, and he made an unsuccessful attempt to rub it out. “Sorry. It’s not mine. Mostly.”

“Mostly?” Rainbow repeated.

“I’m all right,” Freedom Fighter assured them. “Malice is down. So what are we doing all the way up here? Why haven’t we used the Elements to destroy Solaris? Wasn’t that the plan?”

“Well,” Tempest tried to condense. “We needed to summon Solaris before we could destroy him.”

“No other way?” he asked.

Tempest nodded.

“So why haven’t we done it?”

Tempest’s eyes hesitantly traveled to Starlight Glimmer’s body, and upon seeing it for the first time, Freedom Fighter gasped.

He trotted over and knelt. His eyes roamed over her ruined frame. "... What caused this? The stone?" He pointed at the rock in her chest.

"It's corrupted," Twilight said. "And that means we can't use them all…"

"Who says we can't? Haven't we found the others?"

There was a pause. "...No," Fluttershy admitted.

"I don't have mine," Rainbow added. "It'd at least be nice to have."

"Well, as long as Starlight’s alive, there’s always a chance we can use all ten. Let's get moving!" Freedom Fighter urged.

"Where?" Twilight asked.

"To that other mountain," Tempest spoke up, indicating the hazy outline in the distance. "Our only option now.”

“I dropped Pinkie off there earlier to help out Rarity and AJ!” Rainbow remembered, smacking herself in the head. “I only got a glimpse, but something tells me the boys are there too.”

“Besides, I told Firestorm to go over there to look for prisoners when we first entered this miserable place."

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen him in the air helping us out during the attack," Twilight suspected. "You think something held him up? He'd never stay away from a fight like this!"

"What else could it be? Come on, guys! Let's get moving! I wanna see him again!"

Rainbow's words aroused the ponies to their hooves. Twilight was grateful to go. Keeping the platform in the air might have been no big deal, but she had to constantly have her magic on, and her ears were starting to buzz.

Twilight and Fluttershy gently bore up Starlight's limp frame. Rainbow buzzed in place, holding up Tempest Shadow. Freedom Fighter hovered in the air again, coating himself with a yellow aura emanating from the crystal in his head. As one collective, they slowly flew towards the mountain in the distance.

Twilight could finally allow her magic to shut off. A quick command to the Element of Magic did the trick. The stone platform, once blushing pink, faded its color, and it immediately dropped from sight.

Its sudden descent drew the heads of the ponies down, disoriented all of a sudden from the loss of ground beneath them, and they all wobbled a bit before floating away once more.

A distant boom signaled the destruction of the final reminder of Mount Nevermore's legacy.

After a few minutes of burdened flight, Twilight could see the steep slant of the mountain ahead. She could discern individual boulders if they were adequately large, but the rest of the detail was so fuzzy that Twilight was unsure of where to land.

Her horn had a bead of light on the tip. It didn't do much to help her see, but perhaps it could let anyone beneath know of their approach. And sure enough-

"Hey!" a faraway voice called out. It was familiar and warm to Twilight.

"Spike!" she called in return.

"Twilight!" came his cracked cry. "Over here!"

A red glow cut through the oppressive smoke, waving up and down, and the six ponies dipped until they could clearly see what was going on.

Spike was heaving the Bloodstone Scepter up and down. Beside him was Garble, his hand on Spike's shoulder. And resting on the slope beneath them both were shapes and masses of muted colorful flesh.

Twilight eased up on the landing and leaned Starlight into Fluttershy's arms; Spike was running over to her on his stubby little legs. He hugged her right around the middle, the scepter loose in his hands behind her back. "You're all right!"

No, she wasn't. "I'm… fine," Twilight told her brother. She hugged him tightly. It was the least she could do.

She eased up and patted Spike down, looking for something to ease tension. "Spike, it's… wow, look at you! Leader of the dragons and everything."

"What's left of 'em," he remarked lowly. He gestured with the scepter at the rising mounds of flesh stretching out of sight into the murky black air. "We got hit pretty bad. The eruption kinda blew us outta the air. We can survive the lava, but the smoke really got to us. We had to all meet together here. Still finding a few dragons here and there."

"How many are left?"

Spike's face fell. "Not much. Last we counted? ...Maybe fifty."

"Fifty," Twilight repeated in shock. They'd left with hundreds! Maybe thousands!

"I-it's not like this is every dragon out there," Spike tried to rationalize. "Not every dragon in the country came out to fight--there might still be civilians out there, in the badlands, and..."

But it was said without faith. Both of them knew Solaris would destroy any remaining lives out there anyway.

Spike sighed and kicked the dirt. "Some Dragon Lord I got to be. It was a pretty good couple of hours."

"Would you rather it fall to me in these final hours?" Garble reasoned with a joking grin.

"Knock it off," Spike snapped, and Garble, taken aback, shut it.

A series of tremors beneath Twilight’s hooves signaled the approach of a ponderous dragon. His red head soon emerged from the hazy smoke behind Garble and Spike. His eyes scanned the assembled ponies before landing on Fluttershy, and his countenance brightened immediately.

“Reggie!” Fluttershy cried, growing a smile. “Oh, my goodness, you’re alive! I was worried you might not have made it!”

Raggie sheepishly lowered his head. “Me too,” came his deep reply. “For you, I mean.”

“I’m so proud of you!” Fluttershy told him, adjusting the grip she had on Starlight. “You’ve done so much to help us all out. It’s okay for you to rest now.”

“At the end of the world?” Reggie nodded. “If you say so. It’s okay, really. If I had to die someday, I’d be okay with it now.”

Fluttershy’s face was stricken. Reggie looked so sure of himself and so calm that there was nothing more she could say.

“So you’ve been assembling whoever’s left?” Twilight clarified.

“What else can I do?” Spike asked, shrugging. “Why are you here?”

“We were searching for the others. Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, Firestorm, and Noble are missing.”

“You mean Rarity isn’t with you guys?” Spike demanded, looking around. “Where is she?”

“We think under the mountain. Would you like to help us search?”

Spike turned around and deposited the Bloodstone Scepter into a startled Garble’s fumbling hands. “Hold onto that.” He turned back to Twilight. “Lead the way.”

"Good luck!" Reggie called, trying to be helpful.

"Thank you, Reggie," Fluttershy replied. "We'll try to be back."

Twilight took the other end of Starlight and helped Fluttershy flap off and up the slope. Spike jogged to keep up, scaling the steep incline.

The last thing Twilight heard before she moved out of earshot was Reggie asking the awestruck Garble, "So are you in charge now?"

Twilight led Spike up the slant of the mountain. The other ponies had assembled at the summit, clamoring around something or other. They were still too far away to hear it.

“Hold on,” Twilight urged her dying student. “I don’t know what’s been keeping you alive this long, but whatever it is, Starlight, you gotta keep holding onto it!”

Starlight winced as she bumped around in their arms. “Doing my best.”

“That’s all I ever asked of you,” Twilight reassured her. “If it’s your best, I can’t make you give more. Just… please. I don’t know if…”

“You should take your own advice,” Fluttershy said to Twilight. She was directly facing her, both of them carrying opposite ends of Starlight’s depleted shell.

“What’re you talking about?”

“If you had the same standards for yourself as you did for your friends, you wouldn’t be so worried all the time,” Fluttershy expounded, tugging uphill with all her strength.

“No, but… that’s the thing, Fluttershy. I haven’t done my best yet. There’s still so much more I can give, more I can do for you all.”

Fluttershy sighed. “You remind me of Noble. Back in the day.”

Twilight wasn’t sure how to take that. “Maybe… Isn’t it a good quality?”

Fluttershy’s eyes flickered into Twilight’s. “It depends. If everyone is saying good things about you except you, doesn’t that mean you can’t accept your friends?”

“What? I…” Twilight faltered. Of course that wasn’t what it meant!

But if not that, then what?

“...Of course, this is all coming from you.”

“So who better to teach it? I learned it myself.”

Twilight didn’t say anything.

Soon after the last words, the four of them reached earshot of the others.

Freedom Fighter was bending into a huge hole on the very tip of the peak. His hoof firmly grasped an orange one, slowly lifting it out of the hole and revealing Applejack--dirty, bruised, and bloodied over her back, with her mane mussed up and her hat weary atop her head.

As Freedom Fighter pulled Applejack to safety on the outside, Rainbow Dash was ascending out of the hole as well, carrying Pinkie Pie on one arm and Rarity on the other. Once she was above ground, she deposited them both onto the black soil, and all involved began massaging their appropriate limbs.

Spike jogged over to Rarity the instant she hit the ground and collided, almost sending them toppling over the edge again. A quick crystal erupting from behind Rarity saved them both, and they briefly laughed in relief before embracing.

“I am so relieved to see you again!” Rarity assured him, ruffling the spines on his head. “You must catch me up on all that’s happened.”

“Oh, it was no big deal, Rarity. I made friends with Garble, helped Torch charge into battle, ripped out Malice’s eye, became Dragon Lord, grew fifty feet high-”

Rarity’s eyes bulged. “I’m… sorry, you did what?”

“Actually, I lied about growing fifty feet.” He poked her in the belly. “But you believed it!”

Rarity sounded shaky. “W-with whatever else you did, I, er, wouldn’t have discounted it. Look at all that stuff you’ve done!” She cupped his cheeks, gazing into his eyes with the biggest grin. “You’re just that brave and big and strong!” She sweetly smooched his forehead. Then immediately bulged her eyes and stuck out her tongue to the side. “Bleh. And dirty.”

“You’re one to talk,” Spike dismissed, wiping away some of the grime on her chest. Rarity blushed.

“What’s happened?” Rainbow Dash was asking Applejack just to the side. “Didja win?”

Applejack’s faded emerald eyes shifted, first to Rarity, then Pinkie. “Yeh.” She stretched and hissed, relaxing again. “Gave them fellers a real one-two.”

“I gave him a bomb,” Pinkie piped up.

“Good on you. Hey, AJ. You hurt?”

“What am I, a chopped chimicherrychanga?” Pinkie said under her breath.

Applejack, despite a good hiss, got to all fours and stretched out her hindquarters. “Ah’ve been better. But then, so’ve we all. Nothing that can’t be fixed.”

“Speak for yourself.” Pinkie exposed her bad arm to Rainbow. The vile black wounds were still as fresh as the time they’d been delivered.

Rainbow’s eyes bulged. “Uh, guys? This might be serious.”

Freedom Fighter came over first. He examined the wounds with distress in his quivering red eyes. Giving one of them a gentle nudge and hearing Pinkie hiss, Freedom Fighter drew his head up. “We’ve got a problem. Twilight, Fluttershy, get over here.”

Tempest adjusted Starlight off of them both. What took two ponies to bear seemed like a simple job for Tempest. She slung the sick pony over her back. “I’ll be fine. Take care of her.”

Twilight and Fluttershy shared a look of mutual appreciation before approaching Pinkie for a better look. Twilight tried to focus the other ponies around her out of her mind. This was far worse up close than from further away.

“Anything you two can do?” Freedom Fighter asked, looking first to Twilight, then Fluttershy. “Mine doesn’t work. It isn’t her Element to bear.”

Twilight was lost. “...If yours can’t do it, what makes you think we can?”

“You’re the Element of Magic!” Freedom urged. “Short of Faust herself, there isn’t anything more powerful.”

Twilight hesitated. Then she ignited her horn, willing the crown atop her head to give her strength. And it came rushing in.

Her head felt open to all the possibilities. Recipes for all potential uses of her power were right there in front of her, almost overwhelming her. But there were some things that felt off limits. Crossed out and slashed through. Twilight couldn't see it all, because there were just so many. But there was one overriding principle guiding her.

The Element could only be used for righteous desires in the name of Faust. She already had the will. Would this have the power?

It needed to.

“Pinkie?” Twilight asked. She felt like she needed to ask. “Do you think this can work?”

“I have faith in you, Twilight,” Pinkie assured her, trying to keep her arm steady. “Just like you had faith in me when I first told you about Pinkie Sense. Remember that day?” She gave a brief chuckle.

Faith. The one thing she needed, but the one thing it seemed so hard to get.

Twilight swallowed. Might as well try. If she was going to, it needed to be the best.

She nodded. “I do.” Her horn bent down and made contact with the wounded skin on her upper arm.

Give me strength! Faust, Celestia… whoever’s listening, I need to deliver on Pinkie’s hope. She needs it. But… so do I. If there’s anything I can do to make up for what I’ve done, I need to do it.

I’d do anything.

Anything?

The words were not her own.

Anything. Just to make it up.

You don’t need to. There’s nothing to repay. You are a good and humble servant, Twilight. I am very proud of you. If my words do not convince you, the only thing that can will be your own.

Tears spilled from her eyes. They cut trails down the dust smeared on her cheeks.

I understand. But still… Please let me have this. Let me… do this. I want to heal my friend. I love her.

A warm touch entered her breastbone. Words entered her head, flowing into her mouth.

“In the name of Faust,” she tremblingly spoke, “I command you to be whole.”

A swirl of dazzling light wormed out of the tip of her horn. It twisted and traveled along the black wound in Pinkie's arm like a caterpillar, leaving a glittering line where once was filth.

Once the light faded, and Twilight blinked to clear her vision, she gasped.

There was not even an old line to show where it had once been.

Pinkie gasped as well. She hesitantly poked the flesh, then jiggled it. A huge smile crossed her face, and her enlightened eyes made contact with Twilight's. "Twilight! It's gone! I-I don't… know what to say!"

"That's a first," Fluttershy joked.

Pinkie playfully pushed the pegasus, then laughed loudly and threw her arms around Twilight's neck, sending Twilight reeling.

"Thank you," Pinkie whispered. "I was afraid I'd have to live with it forever!"

"It's all okay, Pinkie," Twilight reassured. For you and me both.

She patted her back a few times. "And it wasn't all me. I had some help."

"Faust?"

Twilight nodded.

Pinkie patted Twilight a few times before disengaging and displaying her injured hoof. "Well, I could use it again. I hope she doesn't mind."

"That looks very painful," Fluttershy observed as Twilight got to work again. "It must have taken you a while to get out with those wounds."

"Got that righ'," Applejack supplied, just to Fluttershy's left. "We were righ' on our way outta the top when there was a coupla mighty earthquakes that made us start over again." She gestured to the piles of rubble and lava where two great mountains had once stood. "Ah s'ppose they took those down?"

"The big mountain was actually done by me," Twilight admitted, taking her horn off Pinkie's skin. It was as smooth as a foal's bottom.

Applejack regarded her a moment before settling on her rump and putting her head in her hooves. "An' right afterward, the devil 'imself paid a visit. Ah heard everything Solaris said. Twi… Ah hate ta ask, but were you the one who put 'im on the earth?"

"I assumed it would be a similar situation to Tirek," Twilight explained. "It's why we came over here in the first place: to assemble the Elements and strike him in the back."

"So like pokin' a bear?"

"... Yes."

"When ya poke a bear, Twilight, you wake it up and then plug it with buckshot. But we just poked a bear, and we don't have no gun. All it did was get mad."

"What do you mean? Are you saying the Elements aren't going to work? How could you possibly know that?"

Applejack's eyes couldn't meet Twilight's.

"Is there something you'd like to say?" Twilight suspected.

"... Twi, Ah got bad news."

"What could be worse than what we're in right now?"

Applejack stared fervently at the ground. "It's bad. About th' boys."

"Tell me," Twilight said. Something began to sink in her gut. "I trust you to know the truth."

Applejack sighed and fiddled with her hooves. "Ah dunno how else ta put it, Twi." She bent into Twilight's ear and whispered. "Firestorm just… went mad. He started yelling an' screamin' at us all, and he… got into a fight with Noble. They disappeared, and Ah dunno where they are now."

Something twisted in her throat. "Well, we need to find them before it's too late!"

“Find who?” came a new voice.

Twilight whipped her head in the right direction. Emerging from the smoke was a peculiar sight. A pony Twilight had never seen before was riding upright on a plodding bear, sniffing in the poisonous atmosphere.

His grey wings were slightly out, stabilizing him. And his horn jutted out of his forehead, between his unsightly green bowl cut. Twilight’s blood began to rush. It was another alicorn!

Twilight ignited her horn warily. “Stay back!”

He did a double-take upon seeing Twilight. His eyes went to her horn, then her crown. “Are you… the Alicorn Princess?” he asked in wonder.

He knew. He was just like the others! “Back! I mean it!”

“I’m a good guy!” the alicorn quickly defended, keeping his hooves in the air. “I just want to talk with-” He paused, then grew a grin. “Fluttershy!”

“Bedrock!” Fluttershy recognized, pushing her way past Twilight and trotting up to him. “You did make it to higher ground!”

“I knew what would happen once I backed up the lava flow,” Bedrock explained, patting his bear. “I’m not stupid.”

Confused, Twilight shut off her magic and tried to put the puzzle pieces together. So he was the one that caused the destruction of the second mountain?

“I was looking for other ponies out here,” the alicorn--Bedrock--was explaining. “Am I... the last alicorn left?”

“For all intents and purposes,” Tempest Shadow relayed. “We haven’t seen any survivors.”

Bedrock blinked. His head drew down.

"Oh," Fluttershy cooed. She flapped next to him and slung her arm around his shoulder. "I-I bet it hurts, doesn't it?"

Bedrock gave a short nod.

"I know how you feel," Fluttershy assured him. "They were the only family you knew. It must have taken a lot to turn away from them. You must be conflicted… and hurting."

"Was it all worth it?" Bedrock whispered?

"I think that's up to us to make it so."

Bedrock took a shaky inhale and let it out. He was gripping the fur of his bear tightly. "I hope you're right." He was finally able to look her in the eye. "I do know that Solaris is a bad guy. He's gotta be stopped."

It wasn't until he said that that Twilight relaxed her tensed body. He really was on their side. Twilight reminded herself to thank Fluttershy sometime.

Fluttershy patted him on the back. "You mentioned you were looking for survivors. Have there been any?"

"No alicorns," Brimstone reported. He gestured behind him. "But I did see two ponies just over there. They must be part of you guys. I-I'll lead you to them."

All ten of the others turned their attention to Bedrock immediately. After a brief shy moment, Bedrock clicked his teeth and pulled on the fur, and his bear plodded around and began to trod off.

The ten others followed patiently, a frenzied pace in their firmly beating hearts. They disappeared into the smoke, leaving everything else behind.

Bedrock led them in an arc around the top. Once he was opposite where they once were, he carefully led them down the perilous and smooth slant of the mountain.

Twilight was getting more worried with every successive step. They were so close to it all being over. Once they got to Firestorm and Noble Blade, assuming they weren't fighting any more, then she could finally work on healing Starlight.

But whatever the Element was doing to her, it was far worse than a Black Blade. It was far too extensive and internal and unrelenting. It was malicious.

Perhaps she could work another miracle on Starlight. Every minute she was still alive was another miracle.

But if every minute was a miracle, how many of them could she string in a row?

Twilight's heart thundered in her chest. The fatigue and frustration and curses were almost overwhelming.

If she squinted, she could see a blue glow down there. Her heart thumped painfully against her rib cage.

Bedrock pulled to a halt once they were within sight. "I'll head back," he said. "I-it might be personal. Don't want to get in the way."

As he pulled his bear around again, Rarity gave him a glance. "One of a kind, that pony."

"Come on!" Rainbow urged, speeding ahead. "I wanna see him!"

Twilight trotted after her as fast as she could. The others followed in a big group, perilously navigating the slope of the mountain. They drew closer and closer, and Twilight could make out details.

Noble's glowing sword was the source of the light. It was stuck in the rock point-first. Two golden necklaces dangled from the hilt like flags. One of them held a red lightning bolt; the other, an orange X.

Noble Blade was sitting beside it with his back to them, holding Firestorm in his arms. He was looking into the western distance, where Solaris was marching with his endless flames. Noble was unmoving. Somber. He wasn't even aware of their approach until Rainbow screeched to a halt right behind him.

"There you are!" Rainbow exclaimed, throwing her hooves up. "We've been looking all over for you two! Come on, guys, let's…"

Rainbow cut herself off when she saw the tips of Firestorm's mane on Noble's shoulder. They did not move. There was not even any indication that he heard her.

"Stormy?" Rainbow hesitantly asked. "A-are you all right? What happened?"

Noble Blade finally turned his head. Deep despair dulled the color of his wet, reddened eyes. His mouth was tightly shut.

"Firestorm?" Rainbow breathed.

Noble adjusted himself, turning around to face the rest of the group, which by now had just caught up with Twilight. He said nothing. The upright Firestorm in Noble's arms said enough.

His eyes were peacefully closed. There was no indication of madness on his clean countenance. But there was a terrible hole in his chest, cauterized and dark and bloodied.

"No," Rainbow squeaked, a hoof to her mouth and her eyes wide open. "No, no! Storm!"

In the blink of an eye she zipped in front of him and held his face in her own hooves. He was completely unresponsive.

"Storm…" she got out, her voice choking. After a moment of examination, it was finally too much. She ripped him from Noble's weak grasp, clutched him tightly to her body, and bawled harder than Twilight could ever remember. It was an ugly, messy cry that wrenched at Twilight's very soul.

It made Twilight cry too. Two tears traveled down and collected at her nose before dripping off to water the ground. Firestorm… was gone.

The other ponies were also crying by this point. Twilight could hear each of them overlapping. Even Applejack, who never cried, held her hat to her chest, two tears coming down her cheeks.

The weight and failure and despair that had largely been lifted from her came crashing back down once again. It was enough to send Twilight to her knees. She buried her dirty hooves into her eyes and sobbed.

A part of her didn't want to believe it. A part of her still operated under the assumption that Firestorm was still there in her life. But as the reality of it sunk in, it hit Twilight a second time like a punch to the gut. He was gone, and no miracle or magic could bring him back to life.

"Who… did this?" Freedom Fighter tremblingly asked. "How did he die?"

Noble didn't want to answer. Didn't even want to look. But the truth must be known.

"I did it," Noble croaked. His throat was sore from his tears, and he hadn't spoken a word since it happened.

It was silent, save for the sobs and sniffles of the others.

Then he heard the crunch of hoofsteps on the slope drawing closer, and Noble drew his head up, expecting the worst. Sure enough, the only thing he saw was Freedom Fighter's golden hoof smashing between his eyes.

Noble tilted until his back hit the slope beneath him and he slid down a few feet. His head buzzed, and he could barely spare the strength to lean his head up.

Fluttershy was standing between him and Noble, her arm out to the side. "Freedom! No!"

"He killed him!" Freedom Fighter bellowed. His hoof raised up. "Get out of my way!"

"You don't understand!" Applejack yelled, coming beside Fluttershy as well. "Firestorm wasn't well! Hear 'im out!"

"How could he do that?" Freedom Fighter roared. "How could he just-" He made a thrusting motion. "His best friend, Applejack!"

Noble's heart curdled in his chest, and his throat was blocked. Freedom Fighter turning on him, Firestorm dead by his hoof… fate seemed poised against him.

"Listen," Rarity offered, coming to Fluttershy's other side. "Just listen, Freedom Fighter. Firestorm went wild!"

"He kept on spoutin' stuff about how Noble Blade was just maneuverin' fer the throne," Applejack added. "But there ain't nothing further from the truth!"

"Well, what made him think that in the first place?" Freedom Fighter demanded.

"He found out that Noble lied about killing the prince in Black Fang," Applejack replied. "Or rather, we accepted a falsehood before he could tell the truth. He did it himself."

Freedom Fighter locked eyes with Noble. "You really killed the prince?"

Noble, still lying on his back, weakly nodded.

"He got that mad over it?" Freedom Fighter asked, less harsh this time.

"It must have ruined his perception of Noble," Rarity explained. "It probably only took some deceiving by Solaris before he accepted all sorts of conspiracy theories against him. By Celestia, he thought that I was cheating behind everypony’s backs with him! It’s horrible!"

"He held him up to such a high standard," Fluttershy finished. "Once he found out he had kept a secret, he must have spiraled out of control and attacked him. I-is that right?"

"Precisely," Rarity concurred.

"Well, at least this time he didn't lie about killing somepony," Freedom Fighter darkly muttered.

"I never tried to attack him!" Noble spoke up. "You have to believe me. I love him. And I never tried to just impale him. It was an accident! If I could do it all over again, I could have tried something different, but he was flying right at me, and I just held the sword up, and…"

Noble couldn't finish. The image in his head upon saying the words was too vivid, even hours after. And spouting it all off sounded pathetic to his ears.

"Freedom," came Twilight Sparkle, the voice of reason. She had a hoof on Freedom Fighter's heart. "They're telling the truth. Please."

Freedom Fighter's eyes were wet. "Twi, I can't just-"

But he never finished. After making eye contact once more, an understanding transferred between Noble and Freedom Fighter.

A moment or two passed. Then Freedom Fighter made a broken sound and stomped off to the side. Twilight followed at a measured distance.

Fluttershy turned around and hovered above Noble, reaching an arm down. To Noble, even as dirtied, singed, mussed, wounded, and tired as Fluttershy looked, it still seemed like the closest thing to an angel he had seen all day.

His hoof clasped with hers. With all her strength, Fluttershy pulled him up to all fours. After adjusting himself so he wouldn't slip, Noble took his first few steps back to the others.

"Well, now we have an even bigger problem," Tempest quietly observed. "We're an Element bearer down, and another on the way. It's impossible-"

"We don't know that!" Twilight was quick to refute. But as she spared a glance at Firestorm's body being rocked in Rainbow's weak arms, she suddenly didn't look so sure.

"Twilight." Rarity paused. "It's… over."

Twilight plopped to her rump and slowly bowed her head.

There was a period of silence amongst them all. Noble, however, did not say anything because he was too busy thinking.

It couldn't be! Not after all they've done! Not after all they'd been through! There had to be something more, something they could use to save the day. Faust Herself had promised they would succeed!

His mind redirected to Black Fang Redoubt. But not because of who he had killed, but rather what he had done. He had escaped from that awful hell with the aid of the Goddess. Could she do the same here?

The lessons he had learned came into the forefront of his mind. Trust the Goddess. Honor is not of the world. One step at a time along your path.

Many are called, but few are chosen.

What was that supposed to mean? What happened to the others who were called but not chosen? Or perhaps they could be chosen at another time?

Many are called, but few are chosen.

It repeated, and Noble focused on it. Perhaps… Faust had plenty of righteous souls on the earth. Was ten souls really all she could spare out of her family to bear the Elements? Of course not, since he himself was one of the backups after the original bearers in heaven were killed or corrupted. Was it not inconceivable that there were backups after that? Faust had backup plan after backup plan to account for the agency of her children’s choices.

And regardless of their agency, Faust could use anyone to bring forth her righteous purposes. She worked through them to their advantage. His mind drifted to Sunset Shimmer, Flash Sentry, and their human variants. Queen Novo. Princess Skystar. Shining Armor and Winter Gleam. Each of them held heavenly potential and helped them on their journey.

Come to think of it… in their dimension, Sunset Shimmer, despite originally being a pony, was one of the partakers of power beside the humans. They had all been given necklaces that seemed suspiciously familiar to their Elemental powers… from a place called Everfree. She had been redeemed from being evil, right? Was it possible that she could have been a candidate for the Element of Redemption?

And Skystar and Novo actually held and used the Pearl with Freedom Fighter's Element inside. But anypony who was not an Element bearer was not permitted to wield its power, if not directly touch it. So either the Element was safely contained in the rock and allowed anypony to touch it--which Noble doubted, since Skystar could use a fraction of its shell to turn them into hippocampi--or they were called worthy of using the Element.

Heck, even Prince Blueblood had been given one. Perhaps Celestia purposefully knew it was an Element and wanted to entrust it with him, or perhaps both parties just didn’t know it was an Element. It didn’t matter. Blueblood had kept it hidden and locked away for so long, dismissing the gift given to him by his aunt, and so it became blind to him that he wore an item of extraordinary honor. He only ever saw it as a trinket, a necklace, and so never attempted to use its power. Or perhaps he did, but it was dull and dark to his response because he lacked heavenly honor. Again, it didn’t matter. Whatever the case, Blueblood had been proven to be an unworthy wielder, and so its inheritance was taken from him and given to Noble--a better, albeit imperfect, version.

The Elements could be used by anypony that was worthy of it. Its power could only be wielded by those who exemplified those traits and aligned their will with the Element’s. It was more open-minded than the alternative.

Was this all just a big rationalization? A coping mechanism? A desperate clutch at the last straw in a burning hay bale? Maybe it was. A lot of it was very shaky ground to stand on. But maybe it wasn't. All Noble had to go on with was faith. But perhaps that was all he needed.

Faust never gave a commandment unless there was a way to do it.

“Noble?”

The gentle voice broke him out of his reverie, and he focused on Fluttershy, her hoof still in his. “Yes?”

Fluttershy’s eyes were directly looking into his. “Can you… hold me?” She looked down and kicked the dirt at their hooves. “I just... I feel so… helpless.”

Noble felt on edge. The discovery he had been planning out! He needed to try it out! But Fluttershy needed this.

He embraced her, gently guiding them so they were sitting down. Her body close to his felt solid and warm, and it was the only thing that really made his senses feel like they were living again. Fluttershy like a tether to the world that had been ripped away from him since he had… well, since Firestorm’s death. He hugged her even tighter than before.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy whispered. “It’s just always worked before, and I didn’t want to… face the end alone.”

She sounded cracked, about to cry. So many things were likely playing a part in that. And Noble suddenly didn’t want to let go. Perhaps Fluttershy was expecting them to stay like this until Solaris’ job was complete and the entire earth had been swept away before him. And a part of him dearly wanted to stay with her. Die in each other’s arms, having fought to the end.

But they hadn’t fought to the end. Not just yet.

He let go of her and got to all fours. Seeing her distressed face, Noble gave the most reassuring smile he could. “It’s okay,” he said. “I just… want to try something.”

Fluttershy destitutely nodded. Noble felt a pang in his chest. But he turned away and went against the slope to get up to his sword, and the Elements resting on it.

Once he reached it, Noble could feel a few curious eyes upon him. He ignored them and took up the necklace with the orange X. He reverently slid it over the hilt of his glowing sword, looked into the Element embedded into the crosspiece of his weapon for a moment, then turned around to look for a specific creature.

Spike was sitting next to Rainbow Dash, whose cries had subsided by now but was still clutching Firestorm’s body to hers, being careful not to disturb his fatal wound. Spike watched it all with a soberness Noble had not before seen from him.

"Spike," Noble gulped. The dead pony's inheritance was clenched in his hoof. “I wanted to talk.”

Spike didn’t turn his head to regard him, but he did nod it. He was probably distracted, or dealing with the shock.

It was good enough for him. "Too many times on this journey, I have seen you prove your courage. You have risen far above who you once were."

Spike's gaze tore itself from Firestorm's body and hesitantly eyed the jewel in Noble's grip.

"I… would not ask this of you if there was any other way. If you felt unworthy of bearing this responsibility. But…"

Spike's eyes bulged. "Hold on!"

Noble felt a twist in his gut. This could go really good or really bad. "Saving me and Rarity from Black Fang is reason enough for you to be worthy. And you were closest to Firestorm out of the three Guardians, Spike. He would want this."

"Would he?"

"... I'm sure," Noble reassured him, trying to sound as solid as possible. "If nothing else, he would want to see this end.”

“Are you sure this is going to work? I hope I don’t…” He made a slicing motion with a finger.

“Faust would not give us an instruction without a way to do it. I’m… fairly confident about this."

Spike did not seem alleviated.

“Spike,” Noble said. “Please.”

"Am I… really the way?"

"Do you want to be?"

Spike's lips trembled. His tiny little fists were right. His gaze went from Firestorm's body to the Element, then at the ground.

"I'm…" Spike started. "...afraid."

"That’s okay," Noble gently urged. "It means you’re courageous. All I’m asking is, do you want this?"

Spike did not answer. But his eyes never left the jewel in Noble's hoof.

"Because when I tell you that you are worthy of this gift… I am telling the truth."

Spike wanted it. Noble could see it. But he was still scared. What could make him take that fateful step?

“You’ve done it before,” Rainbow croaked. Both of them looked at her. Rainbow was a mess. Red in the face and wet and trembling. But clear, cracking words were coming from her mouth. “For me… remember Discord?” She gulped, which looked like it hurt, and continued. “You can do this, Spike. We believe in you.”

And the spark in his eye flared.

It was slow. But Spike's trembling hand rose up.

Noble Blade gently placed the Element onto Spike's palm and closed his fingers around the remnant of his friend's power and memory. It was no longer touching him. For a wild moment, Noble wanted to seize the jewel back. He couldn’t let go of his friend! Not now! But the feeling subsided, and Noble’s hoof dropped and did not reach for it again.

Spike, with trembling hands, unclasped the necklace, took his hands behind his head, and refastened it.

By now, everyone else was eyeing him with anxiety, trepidation, or fascination. Twilight was shivering in place, bouncing slightly on her hooves. She was mouthing something under her breath; Noble couldn’t quite tell.

“Try it,” Noble urged in a whisper.

Spike, after a moment of hesitation, concentrated.

A pulse of orange emanated from the Element. It was gentle and subdued, but Noble thought that was just him getting used to it. Sure enough, Spike concentrated some more, and the light became more powerful.

“Spike,” Rarity whispered. “You’re glowing.”

Spike grinned. “Thanks.”

“No, look, you’re glowing!”

Spike looked down at his hands. Indeed, they were encased in white. He flexed his fingers effortlessly and examined other parts of him. He was shining all over his body.

“How do you feel?” Noble prodded.

“Warm,” Spike answered. “Like I…” He drifted off. “Noble? Wh-what’s happening to me?”

Noble had to avert his eyes. Spike was glowing ever brighter.

Spike clutched the Element, but it couldn’t contain the power now on display. The Element had lost all color by now and had grown so bright, none of them could directly look at it. Most of them closed their eyes to a fraction.

After only a few moments, the light died down enough that they could look.

Spike was still there, dimming from the heavenly influence. So was the Element. But instead of orange, the X on the necklace was a pure and vivid green, matching Spike perfectly.

Spike held it up to his face. A small tear was building up in his eye. Perhaps it was just from the light. But there was something else in his eye. Something grateful.

“It worked,” Spike whispered.

“It worked,” Noble repeated, more to himself.

“It worked!” Twilight exulted. She gripped Freedom Fighter’s arms. “He can do it! He’s actually-!” She didn’t finish. Instead she took some stable breaths, then turned her attention to Starlight. She slowly trotted over.

Starlight was propped up against Tempest’s legs, her head in Tempest’s lap. Her breaths came slow and steady, and her head gently tilted up. Once Tempest saw it, she didn’t turn away. The proof was there. There could be a way.

“Tempest,” Starlight whispered. She tapped the other pony’s leg. “I want to… give it.”

Tempest’s eyes were shivering, ever so gently. “Twilight could heal you like she did to Pinkie. You could live!”

“But the Element will still be bad.” Starlight’s blackened, sickly hoof rose up and rested on Tempest’s breastplate. “Don’t worry about me. I want... to do this.”

“You’ll die!” Tempest whispered.

“For you,” Starlight replied.

A tear fell from Tempest’s eye and splashed on Starlight’s skin. “I don’t want anypony to die,” Tempest weakly got out. “Especially not for me.”

“You’re a good pony,” Starlight said. “Please. Let me do this.”

Tempest’s mouth twisted in anguish, and she bowed her head.

“I am… the Last Hero,” Starlight got out. “This is… who I was meant… to be.”

Tempest stared, her breaths deep but silent.

“You… have a pure heart,” Starlight wheezed. She took several labored breaths. “In the name… of Faust… I name you the bearer of… the Element of Redemption.”

“Starlight,” Twilight gasped.

She lolled her head to the side. “Hey, Twi.”

Twilight swallowed hard, taking Starlight’s hoof in hers. “I don’t want you to go. I don’t want it, Starlight, please.”

Starlight took her last inhale. She looked like she wanted to say something. But the words just couldn’t come out.

Twilight felt Starlight’s hoof turn brittle, like ashen wood. With a crunch, her hoof tightened, and tiny black pieces fell from it and blew away. Twilight watched in abject horror as the rest of Starlight’s body broke apart and disintegrated into ash. Her face was the last to go, crumbling apart and caving in. The corrupted black stone fell with a dull thump into the pile it created.

Twilight bowed her head, tears fresh in her eyes. It really did seem like it was too much. But instead of overwhelming sadness, Twilight felt a sense of reassurance come over her. A whisper of encouragement came and went. This was less a death and more of a transition into the next part.

Tempest’s hard hoof wrapped around Twilight’s shoulder. She was surprised to see that if anything, Tempest was even more weepy than Twilight had been. Her other arm was covering both of her eyes. Twilight gently set her other hoof over Tempest’s shoulders in a form of sisterly compassion.

For just a little bit, they stayed like that. Then they felt a tickle on their legs, and they both looked down.

The ash that was once Starlight Glimmer was rising up in a swirl, accompanied by a wind that had definitely not been blowing before. It was coagulating together and condensing into a sphere. Coming from the depths was a light steadily growing in intensity. It made Twilight and Tempest cover their eyes and squint.

The ball of light moved closer to Tempest Shadow, almost as if it were curious. It made one circle around her head, leaving a trail that made it look like she wore a halo. Then it rushed into her chest, and Tempest screamed.

“Tempest!” Twilight cried.

But Tempest made no other sounds; it was a yelp of surprise, nothing more.

The ball of light grew two shining golden strips along Tempest’s neck. Tempest’s hooves fumbled until they could feel it on her skin. Once the light died down, all could see the result. It was solid gold.

And the ball of light slowly faded away, and Tempest opened her eyes in time to see it leave entirely. She panted, then felt the jewelry around her neck.

Tempest Shadow’s Element was a yellow ball embedded halfway into the golden necklace. Tempest held it up to her face with a look of fond remembrance.

Once she put it down, she could see everyone else staring at it. One by one, they all looked at their own Elements as well.

They were ready.

"How do you feel?" Twilight asked.

Tempest took a deep breath. "There's something… I've never had this part with me before. But i-it's filling a hole. Like this was meant to be."

Twilight smiled. "I think that's Faust."

Tempest slowly nodded. "Maybe. I'm just… not used to it."

"In due time," Twilight reassured. "Everypony needs a mother like her."

After another moment, Twilight turned to the western sky. The apocalypse was still inexorably advancing.

“Come on, everypony,” Twilight said. A fresh gleam was in her determined and hopeful eye. “We’ve got a job to do.”

Noble handed Rainbow Dash her own Element, who took it with reverence and fastened it with a shaky breath. He then took his sword out of the rock, gave it a swirl, and pointed it at the miniscule figure of Solaris far on the horizon. “Now or never.”

“Let’s do it,” Tempest resigned.

The ten bearers closed their eyes and dug deep within themselves, opening themselves up to the flow of the Element’s power.

An unearthly wind picked all ten of them off the ground and sent them hovering in place, surrounded by ethereal, glowing light.

For the first time since Discord had been broken out of stone, the Elements were being used how they were always meant to be used: in harmony. And with four missing Elements now restored, the surge of power was unlike anything any of them had felt before.

The individual powers of the Elements seemed miniscule now. The vast potential they all had was something that no power in heaven, earth, or hell could take away.

Each of them simultaneously opened their eyes. They were a solid, high-intensity white. And as each of them tilted their heads back, a stream of distinct colored light shot out from them.

The beams all met together in a tremendous, explosive sphere of solid light high in the air, and almost instantaneously, each of the ten souls were teleported in there as well.

Each of them exuded a frighteningly intense aura, transfigured into eternal beings for this single purpose. Their figures wavered and shimmered, as if being seen through a terrific bonfire. Their manes seemed longer and flowier, their skin shinier.

If a pony saw this sight, he would have regarded them as bright angels. If a Nox saw it, he would have seen the ponies as fiery, destroying devils.

Malice’s eye burst wide open.

That sound! That rush of power! It couldn’t be… It was-!

“Impossible!” he gasped, trying to pry himself up with his remaining exposed limbs. “NO!”

He tried to tug himself out from under the boulder, but there was just enough remaining of his body pinned underneath that it could not be done.

“FATHER!” he shrieked, for all the good it could do him at this distance. He reached out imploringly to the distant devil. “FATHER, PLEASE! FIGHT! KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!”

The Corrupted Element contained a portion of Solaris’ will. So it resisted the power of the Elements far above them. But nothing could resist the presence of the Goddess.

The cracked, battered, forgotten, and untethered rock hovered in the air. It shook so hard from the forces around it, it vibrated. Then, hitting a climax, the Corrupted Element shattered in a dark explosion, throwing dead pieces to the wind and evaporating.

Chapter Ninety-one: Children of Light

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Something was wrong. Horribly wrong.

Solaris’s steps halted, and the impact of his hoof left a crater in the barren earth. The devil slowly craned his head backwards. There was a great and terrible light behind him. At the ruins of Mount Nevermore.

After all the years of preparation, the efforts of his servants, the devices of his mind, the deceit he had spread across all nations, the fury and fear he had put into the hearts of Faust’s children… it was all meaningless. The designs of his dark heart had born no fruit.

Despite his best efforts, it was back at the same spot he had feared.

And for a solitary moment, wrested from his life of control and manipulation, Solaris felt a twinge of fear for his immortal soul.

The black fires running beside him halted. They were only a few miles away from the shore of the sea; Solaris could see the foam of the waves. But his quest to envelop the world needed to be put on hold.

"You cannot," Solaris whispered, rumbling the ground. He was petrified momentarily.

It took effort to reposition himself so he was facing back, but he had to. His enormous hoof pawed the ground, creating a great canyon beneath him.

His jaw ground his fangs, squeaking like chalk, before parting to allow a terrible screech from the depths of his throat.

"YOU CANNOT!" he shrieked. He reared into the air, his flailing hooves miles high in the air, before planting them down with earth-shaking tremors and breaking into a charge.

Solaris' hooves tore up the earth as he galloped. The very face of the land was already deformed from his march, and his sprint ripped apart the earth even more. He left a trail of broken rock and molten magma behind him.

Mount Nevermore was indeed no more, but there was a beacon of light in the distance breaking forth like the dawning of a new day. Though many miles away, there were ten distinct balls of colored light hovering in the air inside a larger sphere, merging swishing streams coming off them into one shining, glorious pillar reaching into the heavens.

As he galloped, Solaris built upon the tip of his mountainous horn a ball of energy. It was as if a miniature sun had been born to replace the star he had destroyed in the heavens above. It was enough to make even Solaris wince, and he had to stop galloping to charge it. The yellow star gradually grew to more than twice the size of Solaris himself. Solaris' knees were bent and shaking from the effort.

The star was brighter far than the noonday sun, and its sheer energy scorched and blasted the earth beneath. Rock turned to liquid. Sand turned to glass and shattered. There was no doubt that it could be seen from orbit, and if anyone in faraway Equestria had looked to the east, they would have briefly seen a new sun chasing away the darkness.

Solaris roared with all the strength he could muster. And with all the fury of his will, he launched it.

At the speed of light, the star was flung at the Elements of Harmony.

At an even faster speed, the pillar of light intercepted it.

The star exploded. A roiling shockwave knocked Solaris back, while a sphere of orange flame created a steadily-growing crater between Solaris and the Elements of Harmony. Solaris blinked hard and squinted to see into the depths of the explosion.

And then the still-growing explosion swirled into a vortex. Solaris helplessly watched the enormous ball of fire dissipate and suck itself into a singularity that had emerged in its very center. In a matter of seconds, it was almost entirely gone. And with a pop, it fizzled out.

The hovering Elements of Harmony, as well as the enormous pillar of light, were untouched.

It couldn't be the end! There was still more he could do! Perhaps if he was given more time, or if he could hit them with another explosion--

Father.

The word rang in his head. It was the combined, androgynous voice of all of the Element bearers at once.

"Silence!" Solaris bellowed at them. "You will obey me, children!"

No. You will be silent. You will bow. And you will submit.

"Put down your weapons and worship me! I have commanded it! I am your God! Your father!"

A father who seeks to destroy us. When your law is tyranny, resistance is a commandment.

"Who commanded it, Faust? You're nothing but her tools!"

Better hers than yours.

Solaris snarled, an animalistic and brutal sound, and took a marching step.

Halt.

Solaris staggered back. It was as if he had run into a wall. He could not take another step, backwards or forwards.

"What devilry is this?!" Solais demanded. He pounded the earth beneath him, creating two massive craters and rupturing the surface of the earth with hairline cracks.

His mountainous horn ignited once more. The uneven ground for miles in every direction, like a sea, glowed yellow like the sun. Magma sputtered from cracks in the ground and quickly spread over the earth. It lapped at Solaris' towering legs. The sea of fire grew at a speed never before known to the earth.

"I will kill every last one of my children!" Solaris threatened, although the threat seemed hollow compared to what he was facing. "Before I bend my knee to Faust and her band of animals!"

So be it. We will crush you.

"Who do you think I am?" Solaris bellowed at the top of his lungs. "A dog that can be run off with a stick?! I AM SOLARIS! The greatest of all in the universe!"

Yes. And you will die.

"Very well!" Solaris replied, louder than before. "I've waited for eons to shed a traitorous pony's blood! It might as well be yours!"

The Elements made no response.

"Come to me, children," Solaris goaded, growing an insane grin. "I'll kill you and feed your flesh to the fires and beasts of hell!"

He fired a steady orange laser into their midst, so powerful he had to dig his hooves into the ruined earth beneath.

And the laser stream split right before reaching the sphere holding the ten Elements, shooting off into diverging directions and going out of the atmosphere into space.

It only infuriated Solaris.

He screamed from his throat and slammed his hooves into the earth again, creating waves of lava. Dozens of streaks of blinding lightning erupted from his horn and coiled around his head. Then they flew at the Elements from scores of different directions, all converging on the same spot.

In response, the sphere shot out hundreds of beams of magic. Every color of the rainbow was present, and some that weren't as well.

They collided with the lightning in midair, flashing in pops on contact like fireworks. Solaris had to squint again to see his enemy. The rest of the beams of magic readjusted their flight path and flew like shrieking missiles into Solaris' chest, erupting in blossoming explosions on his skin.

It didn't hurt him. That much was good news. But Solaris knew that continuing to experiment in this direction was pointless. Direct attacks on the Elements didn't seem to work.

He needed some way to provoke them, get them angry, and draw them out. Make them vulnerable. Attack what they love most. Put it at risk. Wager it all. Double or nothing.

And the answer came upon him in a gleam of brilliance.

"You think that because you can meet me, you can defy me?" Solaris taunted. His terrible voice echoed out of the skies. "I own you! I own the universe! I own the earth at your hooves! In fact…!"

With another shockwave, he ignited his horn once again, rearing up on his back two legs.

"This planet has reached its end!"

Planting both hooves down, creating terrible earthquakes on impact never before known to the world, he bowed down and fired.

The earth effortlessly splashed away as if it were water. The flaming orange laser drilled deep, deep down, and Solaris poured forth all of his power to keep it going.

Solaris privately wondered if it was on the right trajectory to reach the core. If he could destabilize it, then this could work, but he hadn't blown up a planet since the War in Heaven. He didn't even know if the laser had breached the crust yet and into the mantle. Most likely, he was just performing under pressure.

In any case, it was sure to evoke a response from the Elements…

Without bending his head, he looked up as far as he dared.

He immediately wished he hadn't.

From each of the ten pinpoints of light, streaks of vivid color shot out and merged together into one shimmering, fiery rainbow lance.

Solaris very suddenly had an overwhelming and altogether vindicated rush of fear.

The rainbow lance flew like a bolt of lightning into the tip of Solaris' horn.

A flash of blinding light on contact accompanied a booming shatter and a crack like an earthquake. The laser shut off like a cut water hose, leaving nothing but a terrible pit of molten lava in front of him. The mountainous horn immediately broke into boulders that rained down in front of Solaris' wild eyes.

For his eyes did indeed betray the madness deep within. Between blinks, his eyes turned bloodshot and raw and wet. Solaris was slavering and drooling like a rabid dog.

"I am God!" he bellowed. "I am! Worship me! KNEEL!"

You will kneel.

The lance struck again, piercing his chest and going the long way through his insides before emerging out of his flank and disappearing into the distant horizon.

His eyes glazed for a second. His weak knees trembled. They gave way, and Solaris fell before the Elements.

His impact trembled the earth, knocking stones from their spots and sloshing the molten magma that had erupted from the cracks beneath him. Solaris lay in a pool of fire, his head bowed before the Elements.

You may own the dust at our hooves. But that's all you will ever have. And you will return once again to the dust from where you came.

His head craned up. His unfocused eyes were barely open, squinting into the brilliant light emitting off the ten ponies. The pillar of light among them seemed to reach above Solaris threateningly. Like an executioner's axe.

And right there, on his broken knees, Solaris went against his stubborn insistence at last. He knew it when he saw it.

This was the end.

By the right of the Elements. By the will of our mother.

The pillar of light bent down and stretched over Solaris in an arc, hurtling down like a shrieking meteor. Solaris' bloodshot eyes were wide open now.

The bitter, bitter end.

In the name of Faust, we destroy you.

It struck Solaris like a cannon.

And for a brief, infinitesimal moment, Solaris could see a rainbow of color constricting him.

Then he felt his skin peel open, his muscles evaporate, his bones crumble to dust. It was almost instantaneous, but for Solaris, it felt cruelly slow. Every vein snapped, every ligament tore, every ounce of fat boiled.

But something far worse was happening to his spirit. It was foreign to him--to any creature. It was simply… dissipating. There would be no future for Solaris. His presence in the universe would be over.

To kill a spirit! How monstrous could she get? Faust was the devil incarnate!

Who would weep for him, if not her? Who else would mourn his passing? His mission was unfinished, and nothing would prevent him from dying alone, unloved, in pain ignored--nay, celebrated!

The very thought tore him apart even more than the Elements. No one wanted to be as he was. He stood alone against the universe. Defiant and determined… but alone. And helpless.

Hopeless.

And so Solaris raised his broken voice for the last time and cried from his swirling prison to the one being in the universe who might still listen to his plea.

"Mother!"

But she did not come. He wasn't surprised, but he was still betrayed.

Solaris's final breath gasped from his dusty throat and accompanied the swirls of his body into the hot air. For a while, the pieces lingered. It was as if the collection was gazing into the heavens far above. But the heavens stared coldly down on him who had ruined them. With a final blast of wind, the ashen shreds of Solaris evaporated and disappeared forever from the presence of Equus, and the universe itself.

The column of light shining upon where Solaris used to be split in half and fell to either side, then rotated in a complete circle, creating a dome of quickly-expanding energy.

It glowed and shimmered in every color of the rainbow, under the direction of the Element’s will. And wherever it grew, whatever it enveloped, the land turned into a restored version of itself.

The sudden sea of lava Solaris had died in crusted over and turned to rock. The hole drilled into the crust was as if it had never happened.

The dome spread in breadth and height, covering everything beneath it in heavenly light. It spread almost instantaneously across the face of the Dragonlands, healing the land scarred by the fires of Tartarus.

When it passed over the black flames standing patiently at attention, they obediently extinguished.

Celestia gasped. Her horn shut off in shock.

Something felt strange. Different. Like it was gone, but wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place.

She looked to the eastern sky. A black arrow whizzed only a few feet in front of her, but Celestia barely noticed it. There was a softly glowing light on the horizon, growing in intensity with every passing second.

Could it be…?

She stood at the drawbridge of Canterlot, where some sparse Royal Guard were standing beside her and firing into the line of Noxxa about to breach it. None of their hearts were into it, though. The sun was blotted out, the moon above cast an evil red glow, the stars swirled and danced out of place. Their defeat was inevitable, but none of the guards really knew what to do except go through the motions and defend what remained before it was swallowed up in darkness.

Once they saw Celestia staring into the eastern skies, however, they did too. And despite some initial jeers by the Noxxa, the light growing past the eastern peaks was undeniable.

The arrows ceased their rain. The mocking cries of the Noxxa fell silent. And replacing them was a collective shriek and bellow of terror.

The light was a familiar one to Celestia. It was the dawning of a new day. But this light carried the swishing rainbows that accompanied the triumph of the Elements.

Solaris was dead.

Twilight was alive!

It was like a vision. Too good to be true. Celestia did not immediately recognize it as such. But still, her heart made a painful thump against her chest upon ingesting that Twilight was alive!

A shaken Celestia slowly turned her head back to the hordes just outside the drawbridge, but the Noxxa were already pushing and shoving their way in a coagulated, stuck mass of bodies, doing their best to collectively rush back down the winding road and down the mountain upon which Canterlot was built.

But Celestia knew better. Just before the sun had darkened, the trains from Foal Mountain had intercepted the march of Noxxa on the plains beneath Canterlot. The forces under Luna's command had engaged the rear of the Noxxa column, and though Celestia could not see them now, she knew that they were waiting at the bottom of the mountain, cutting the Noxxa's route off. They were stuck on the mountain, for better or worse.

If it weren't for that ongoing distraction from Luna, the Noxxa surely would have breached the walls of Canterlot. The sheer amount of magical power coming from her numbers was enough to boggle the mind. Strangely enough, her army seemed stronger than the forces she had left with. It was significant enough to hold the Noxxa off for several hours at least. By then, they would have ravaged the city and butchered her people.

Celestia's head was fuzzy, unable to recall too much detail. The last thirty-six hours had been disorienting and hopeless ones.

But this light breaking over the mountaintops, chasing away the shadows and streaking hope back into the hearts of its people… It was the most heavenly thing Celestia had ever seen.

Of course, the reactions of the Noxxa would suggest otherwise. Screams and desolate cries of doom arose from their numbers, now illuminated by shimmering white light all around. Celestia thought their exposed bodies looked like a road of loose black pebbles the morning after a rainstorm.

"He's dead!" some would shout. "Father is dead!" It was enough to send most of them into hysterics, collapsing and weeping and pounding the ground. The ones who didn't lose themselves just stared into the distance numbly.

Celestia knew there was a profound moment for the entire Noxxa species at that particular moment. Without the influence of their father in their lives, the Noxxa saw the entire depth of their miserable state.

It was a painful moment. None of them escaped it.

As the blast of light grew in intensity, Celestia was surprised to discover that she did not even have to squint. The Noxxa, however, shrieked and covered their eyes with scrabbling limbs.

It was a peculiar thing. All at once, as if a long, winding snake had died, the Noxxa choking the road up to Canterlot stilled. Then, released at last from their master's power and influence, they melted like ice. Celestia could not see past a bend in the road, but it would be ludicrous to assume it wasn't happening to the rest of them.

All across Equestria--all across Equus-- the Noxxa would be disintegrated by the heavenly presence of the Element's power, never to reform or come back.

As the shimmer in the sky passed over them, Celestia could see the stark contrast between the past and present skies. The Element's power cleansed the face of the land for miles, as far as Celestia could see, wherever it went.

It was not the first time this had happened: something to this same effect occurred to clean up Discord's reign of terror. Same after Tirek's rampage, although Celestia had only heard about it after the fact; she was in Tartarus at the time.

Celestia looked into the dark, starry skies. The moon had stopped glowing red, and the stars were silent and still. Where the Element's power went, so did the light, and it had passed them by, leaving Equestria almost as dark as the moments before.

There was just one thing left to take care of.

Celestia concentrated, igniting her horn into a lance of sparkling yellow. The task before her was an unprecedented one. But she was the Lightbringer. It was a noble and powerful purpose.

Lend me strength, Mother, she prayed. But if not, then let me prove my power.

And she felt a warm feeling in her breastbone. Like a miniature sun had been born within her. Celestia longed to create that warmth for all her subjects. She felt the prompting enlighten her as to how to create that star herself for everypony in the world.

A long whine preceded the sudden eruption from her horn.

A billowing yellow laser blasted from the tip, sending the guards nearby stumbling back and covering their eyes. Celestia stood firm despite the power fountaining out, and despite the blinding light, Celestia could see clearly. The magic beam was like a ray of divine sunlight.

Celestia’s magic, which was an extension of her influence, was directed into the east. It almost immediately reached space and within seconds got to the spot where her sun once was. There weren’t even bits of her star still floating in space. She couldn’t even pick up the pieces. The sun had just disappeared.

But Celestia knew she could recover it.

She didn't have to create a new one. Just recover the old one. Reach back and bring it forward. It was complicated, and hurt her brain to comprehend it. Never in Celestia's life had she expected to do something like this.

But she had Faust. So it was possible.

Celestia couldn't see what was going on out there. But she knew what to do.

Let there be light.

There was a time space of a few minutes where the Element's influence encircled the globe and restored it to a more peaceful state of being. The Element bearers themselves stayed where they were, hovering above the Son.

Mount Nevermore was clear of the smoke from its ruin. The sheer power of the Elements had dissipated it. But darkness still encircled it in endless night.

Then, breaking forth from the western skies, the beams of the newly-restored sun reached the earth.

Streams of light sliced through the residual dust hanging in the air and made it spotty and hazy. The sudden contrast was able to display the slight color differences between dark rocks. The creatures clinging for dear life to the slope of the remaining mountain gazed up in awe.

Bedrock, straddled atop his bear, could not look directly into the sun. But Bedrock nonetheless bathed in its light and gentle heat, and as his eyes roamed over the lava fields and rock plains, he swallowed; his mouth was dry.

"So this is the sun?" he asked. Bedrock blinked and squinted upward. And a genuine smile grew across his face for the first time in a long, long time.

For the first time in centuries, the soft and golden light of the sun illuminated that forsaken corner of the world. Every shadow had been chased away, every hidden place exposed, and every creature partook of the heavenly gift.

The presence of the Goddess at last lit every dark corner of the earth.

Chapter Ninety-two: The Quickened And The Dead

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Tempest Shadow felt her hooves touch earth at the same time her consciousness returned. Tired all of a sudden, she stumbled on the steep slope and spread her legs to stabilize herself. She blinked hard and took one deep breath after another, staring at the black rock.

“You’re just not used to it,” she heard Pinkie encourage, and felt a muted slap on her armored back. “Ow,” Pinkie mumbled.

Tempest knew what had happened. But she just couldn’t remember doing it. It was hard to explain.

“Everyone all right?” Twilight called out. “Spike, how are you feeling?”

There was no audible response. Tempest assumed he was giving a thumbs-up.

“Tempest, are you holding up okay?” Twilight asked next.

Tempest lifted her head. “Yeah. Just fine.”

The lava fields surrounding them remained runny and orange. But the air was noticeably clean, and the sun shone upon them all like spotlights. It was unusual, and Tempest felt strange under the gentle warmth of the sun instead of the oppressive and stuffy warmth of the volcano.

Rarity let out a laugh. “Guys,” she said, breaking into a smile. “We did it.”

It was done.

Tempest hadn’t nearly been in the group for as long as some of the others, but even she felt a burden lift from her shoulders.

“It’s over,” Noble gasped, sitting on his rump. His sword clattered beside him, and he put his free hooves to his cheeks. “It’s over.”

There were hugs and exclamations, but Tempest just felt too drained to celebrate. They saved the world. What next? Didn’t they have something to do? Tempest wracked her brain.

Then there came cheers and hollers that definitely weren’t from any of them. Tempest swiveled her head, and she knew the rest of them were doing the same.

Garble, Bedrock and his bear, and Reggie were coming down the mountain to their spot, celebrating way harder than they were. About a dozen other dragons were waiting at the peak, content to observe their saviors from a distance.

“You guys did it!” Garble exulted, spreading his arms. “You saved the world! You saved… well, us!”

“I knew you could!” Bedrock followed up. The bear roared; he was just an animal, but even he understood the feeling of relief.

“I... didn’t,” Reggie admitted gently, bowing his head. His steps were gentle and deliberate. “I hope that’s okay.”

“Don’t worry,” Fluttershy was quick to say. “I felt the same for a bit.”

“Look, we all ‘ppreciate yer thanks,” Applejack addressed the visitors. “But really, it’s not like this was somethin’ we deserve thanks fer. It jus’ needed ta be done, is all.”

“You can say that all you want,” Rarity disagreed. “As far as I’m concerned, we’ve earned at least a pat on the back.”

“One pat on the back coming up!” Pinkie announced, slapping Rarity. “You’re way softer than Tempest.”

Rarity winced. “Perhaps you should have taken that into account before knocking the air out of me, darling? Spike, would you be a dear and massage that part?” She looked around. “Spike?”

Spike, strangely, wasn’t by Rarity’s side. Instead, he was tremblingly approaching Garble. Garble was limply holding the Bloodstone Scepter, staring down at Spike and his new Element.

“So,” Garble said. “Got a new piece of jewelry, huh?”

The Spike Tempest was familiar with would have bowed his head in submissiveness. This Spike, though, stared back at Garble. “Yeah. And?”

“And…” Garble was unsure. He hefted the heavy thing. “Just… Well, it just doesn’t seem…” He sighed. “Fair.”

“So what?” Rarity snapped. This was the first time she had seen Garble since the Gauntlet of Fire. “As if fair meant anything to you for years and years before now! Spike happens to be a very strong and brave little dragon who has earned it all, and you treated him like dirt! Did that seem very fair? How about your little performance in the Gauntlet of Fire? Was that fair? And now he has everything, and you have nothing. That sounds fair to me.”

Garble sighed again and jabbed a thumb at her. “Is she always like this?”

Spike’s eyes shifted uncomfortably to Rarity’s indignant face, then back to Garble’s. There was a look of fear within those eyes, and he gave the tiniest of head shakes, begging Garble to not let him answer.

Garble’s eyes traveled to Rarity and back to Spike. He almost burst into laughter, but wisely restrained himself. “You mean she’s…”

Spike nodded tightly.

Garble shook his head. He weighed the scepter in his hands before shrugging and proffering it to Spike. “Well, Dragon Lord. Here you go.”

Spike’s hand hesitantly reached out for the scepter. But instead of taking the end, he pushed it back to Garble.

Garble’s eyes popped. They traveled down to the mark of the Dragon Lord that he held tight in his grip. “Wha…?”

“Dragons live a long time,” Spike said. “Longer than ponies do.” He turned his head to regard Rarity. “I want her life to be spent with me in Ponyville. That’s my real home.”

“Oh,” Rarity gasped, dabbing at her suddenly-wet eye.

Garble opened his mouth and closed it a few times, like a fish. “But… you’re the Dragon Lord. You’ve earned it! More than I have, at least. What, are you really about to give it all up?”

“For her,” Spike sheepishly said.

“He’s such a dream!” Rarity exclaimed.

"You can't do this!" Garble protested. "I-it isn't supposed to be this way."

"I'm the Dragon Lord. Well, was. I can do whatever I want. You helped me along the way. That's enough proof for me. I can trust you."

Garble blinked back something. "What about…" he started, trailing off.

“Garble,” Spike told him. “You’re the last of the royal line. I helped you get this far. Your father and sister would be so proud of you. Are you really about to push this on someone who doesn’t even want it? Or need it?”

Garble lifted the scepter in front of him, examining the lines in the crystal. “But-”

“I already made up my mind. Just take the darn thing.”

“Don’t do that. Don’t use my own words.”

“I can and I will.”

Garble's eyes sparkled as he looked into the head of his inheritance. "...Thank you." He lowered the scepter. “Are you ever going to come back?”

Spike took a moment. “Maybe. If Twilight doesn’t need me. Until then… think of it like you’re keeping my seat warm.”

“The Steward of the Dragonlands,” Garble mused.

“You can unite them in the wake of this catastrophe,” Spike encouraged. “You’d be best for the job. Everyone would accept you, especially after all that’s happened.”

After getting the hint, Garble hefted the scepter again. “Yeah. You’re right. A member of the bloodline is more legitimate than an outsider.”

Spike opened his arms and hugged Garble around the waist. Rarity made a strangled noise.

“See you,” Spike said. “Take care of ‘em.”

Garble gave him a gentle noogie. “I’d do a better job than you could.”

“Let’s not go that far.”

Garble rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say, Dragon Lord.”

Spike gagged. Garble and Spike simultaneously broke into laughter and patted each other on the back before separating.

"Good luck," Garble wished. He gave a dry salute while glancing for an instant in Rarity's direction. "You're gonna need it."

"Funny. I was gonna say the same."

Garble blew a dismissive raspberry. "Yeah, yeah." He turned around and squared his shoulders. "Time to get to work."

He flapped back up to the peak, brandishing the Bloodstone Scepter at the dragons who had watched the whole thing. "You all saw that? I'm the Dragon Lord now! So fall in line and listen up! We got a long run ahead of us! We gotta search and find survivors across the Dragonlands and build back better! Stronger! What are you guys waiting for, an invitation? Let's go!"

Rarity gaped with her mouth open for a while longer before whirling on Spike. "What have you done to that boy?"

"Worked my magic," Spike nonchalantly shrugged off. "What? It's what you were going to say."

Rarity, after a moment of flustering, squeed and gathered him into her arms. "What other marvelous surprises are you hiding?"

"He learned how to play the clarinet," Tempest drily contributed.

It elicited a laugh from some of them. Tempest inexplicably felt a sense of pride.

"Reggie?" Freedom Fighter was asking the tremendous dragon. "Can you help take us somewhere?"

"You are all very little ponies," Reggie brushed off. "Of course."

"Where are you going to take us?" Noble asked.

"There's someone I'd like you to meet," Freedom Fighter said. "I hope he's still alive."

The ponies assembled gave each other looks of consideration. What could it entail?

"I could stay here," Bedrock volunteered. "Watch over your friend." He regarded the body of Firestorm lying to the side on the mountain's slope. "He looks like he needs it."

Rainbow sniffed and turned away. Reggie arched his head to see what Bedrock was talking about, and his pupils grew to circles. "It's him. I gave him a ride here."

The ponies looked up to Reggie.

"Sorry I couldn't get you any peanuts. Whatever they are. I hope you can get some in heaven."

Now Fluttershy sniffed as well. Tempest remembered his joking review and her heart sank.

"Come on, girls," Twilight spoke up. "Let's find this friend of Freedom Fighter's."

As the rest of them straddled his back, Tempest privately wondered if this friend was a familiar one.

Reginald flew over to the Daughter's cracked and crumbled remnants, oozing lava from every crevice. He circled around the south side and descended gradually.

Twilight could hear him before she could see him.

"Right there," Fluttershy directed. She was nearest to Reginald's ear. "To the right. There's a pretty big ledge you can land on."

Reginald obediently hovered to the furthermost edge of the dropoff and settled down in a spiral. The creature trapped on that ledge was so busy crying and screaming and numb that he probably hadn't even felt the impact.

The Element bearers slid off Reginald's back and hit the ground. Twilight was the first to approach, and the rest of the bearers followed her.

Freedom Fighter was right. This was an old friend of theirs.

"No, no, no!" Malice was repeating over and over again. His long, spindly arms were pounding the ground and crushing dirt in his claws. "Father! Be with me! Be with me! Give me strength!"

He was crying, and between his sobs he shrieked his protests to the uncaring sky.

"We won!" Malice choked. "We won! They just cheated at the last second! They're evil! They lost! They lost everything!"

"It's because we lost everything that we won," Twilight spoke up.

Malice's bloody eye opened with a start and shot to Twilight. His mouth full of broken teeth grinded together, no longer caring about the liquid pouring from his jaw. "Graah! How dare you gloat in my presence?! You’ve ruined everything! You betrayed our father! You’ll burn in Tartarus! Ngah!"

"I'm not taking lessons on morality from you," Twilight deadpanned.

Malice's claw lunged for her, but Twilight was a foot out of range. Malice struggled, spitting and spewing flecks and globs of blood in rage, but his trembling arm couldn't reach her. Twilight coldly regarded him as he struggled. Finally, his arm lowered in defeat, and pounded the ground in newfound rage. Malice screamed at the ground once more.

"You're pathetic," Twilight said in complete disgust. "Too pathetic. Seeing you like this, it almost makes me pity you. It makes me want to stay my hoof and spare you, and you'll die a slow and painful death in the hot sun, infected, losing blood, starving, dehydrating, and waiting for scavengers to tear you apart."

Malice trembled, unable to move, unable to speak. He wasn't even able to look her in the eyes.

"But I'm more merciful than that." Twilight indicated the other ponies. "This will be quick. Maybe."

"Never!" Malice shrieked, doing his best to push himself away, but he was stuck, and all he could do was tug at his trapped body. "Not by the likes of you!"

"Hold him down," Twilight ordered.

Rarity's horn ignited. Crystal formed around his two exposed and broken legs, holding them spread-out on the ground.

Malice, wide-eyed, jiggled his arms, but all it did was make him hiss. He screamed as loud as he could, and at the end of it, he screamed again. He was evidently trying to block out what the ponies would say to him. But his voice was already croaky and weak, and it didn't take long before his throat became hoarse enough that nothing could come out. He shut his one remaining eye, unwilling to keep it open.

"Pale Rider," Noble Blade intoned, narrowing his dark blue eyes. "You and your people have desecrated the world our mother gave us. You shall pay the ultimate price."

"If you really think about it, though, you’re lucky," Fluttershy followed up. "We could be much worse."

"You're nothing to us," Rainbow put in.

"More beautiful in death than he was in life," Rarity commented.

"Ain't no excuse fer the things you've done," Applejack derogatorily noted. “Ain’t no cleaning up the blood you’ve spilled.”

“The world would be happier once you’re gone.” Pinkie was unenthusiastic, which meant unbridled fury.

“You’ve taken so many,” Spike whispered, his fist clenching. “Time for something to be taken from you.”

“You killed my friends,” Freedom Fighter simply said, looking down upon him with complete disdain. “Prophecy or no, the moment you decided to destroy my people, our nation, was the moment your fate was sealed. No longer shall their blood cry unto their eternal Mother for vengeance. Her terrible sword falls this day in measured wrath. I cannot in good conscience let you live.”

Tempest kneeled down to a hole in Malice’s head, where an ear was supposed to be. And she spoke the same words he had said to Starlight.

“How does it feel, Malice? Knowing everything you’ve done has been for nothing?”

Malice sobbed. Clear tears ran from his remaining eye and dripped into his open mouth. A cracked, broken, gurgling cry rose from his abused throat.

Noble Blade carefully, gently, rested the tip of his chrome-blue sword on his upper back, right between his vertebrae. “Here’s your mercy, Malice. I hate chopping off heads. You get to meet your mother whole.” His eyes drifted to the rest of him trapped beneath the boulder. “Well, as whole as that can get.”

Freedom Fighter gripped the handle of the blue sword, and Noble let go before hesitatingly resting his hoof on the pommel. Twilight’s hoof had beat him to it, though, and Spike followed suit.

Soon everypony was holding or even just touching part of the sword. United in purpose once more.

“Goodbye, Malice,” Twilight bid, not relinquishing her grip at all. “You're the worst creature I've ever met. But in a strange, awful way… I’m glad I met you. You made me appreciate what I took for granted. My life. My destiny. And my friends. Because you tried to destroy them, I want to have them even more now. All your dark works just drove me closer to the light.”

Malice groaned, taking ragged, deep breaths. Any moment now, he could be impaled, and each of his last words were in pain. “Nothing… brings lives closer together… than death.”

Freedom Fighter pushed down with all his strength. It plunged into Malice like a stick into water.

Malice stiffened, bulged his bloody red eye, and jolted up in place. “Oh…” was his involuntary sigh. Malice, after bending slightly up, slid back down. And as his lifeless head hit the earth, Twilight felt her heart bump against her flesh extra hard. Malice’s ugly and broken eye was wide open, unblinking.

Nopony moved. There was no sound but the wind and a faraway sizzle of residual lava. It was like they were waiting to see if it was genuine, if the spectre that trailed them across the world was faking it, and he’d rise up again in an ugly mass of bones and flesh to rip them apart in one swipe of his claw.

But moment after moment passed, and the abomination of nature did nothing, made no sound. Malice was truly dead, and it took time for some of them to accept that. Deep breaths were let out by many. Applejack’s head was bowed. Fluttershy was trembling, horrified by his grotesqueness but unable to look away. Rarity shook her head, while Noble’s expression was stone-cold.

“...So should we just leave it?” Tempest asked eventually.

“I don’t want a body,” Freedom Fighter answered. His eyes never left Malice’s remaining dead one. “I don’t even want there to be bones ponies can point to and say, ‘That’s Malice.’ He has no place on this earth. Let’s burn it.”

"Like anypony's coming here," Rarity commented, prodding the remains experimentally. "An open, unmarked grave in the middle of nowhere... It's too good for him. You're right, I suppose."

Twilight’s horn flushed pink. The crystals and rocks binding him to the ground fell and tumbled away. His body, and the remnants around him, floated up in a pink aura.

The ten Element bearers slowly carried Malice’s body to the edge of the cliff, refusing to even look upon his twisted, burned, broken, and bloodied body.

Malice’s thoroughly destroyed remains hovered far over the stagnant pool of black lava. Once he had reached a safe distance, Twilight’s magic cut off.

Malice’s shell plopped unceremoniously into the thick lava and soon sank beneath the surface. Immediately, it started to bubble up and burst, throwing speckles of lava into the air.

None of the Element bearers said a word. Not a tear was shed on his behalf. The eventual breach in silence had nothing to do with him.

“Let’s do it to Firestorm too,” Noble suggested, somber. “He’d want this to be how he goes.”

Rainbow, after a moment, gave a small nod.

“We can’t take his body back anyway,” Applejack reasoned. She paused to swallow something. “Yer right. He’d like this.”

Nopony moved. They were absorbing his image, his countenance. If any eyes drifted to his fatal wound, they quickly reverted to his face.

They had moved Firestorm's body onto a flat boulder close to the edge of the lava lapping at the edge of the Son. Bedrock, his bear, and Reggie were respectfully keeping their distance.

“...Does anyone have any words?” Twilight asked, suddenly feeling much weaker in the knees than before. “This is the last chance to say goodbye.”

“Yeah.” Pinkie rubbed her arm up and down. “Bye, Firestorm. You were really funny. I... really liked you.”

“...Bye,” was all Fluttershy could squeak before she broke into fresh tears.

“You were a great pony,” Applejack commented, sighing. “Reliable feller. You were th’ life of us all.”

“I never imagined you’d go from an enemy to a friend so fast,” Tempest remarked once Applejack was done. “I’m glad I met you before you… had to go.”

“When I first met you, I was… apprehensive. I thought you were the most insufferable pony I had ever met,” Rarity related. She shook her head and grit her teeth. “I’ve never been so wrong in my life! You were caring, and compassionate, and I wish… If you didn’t see it before, I wish I could tell you now. I don’t hate you. Not one bit!”

“You were a real friend to me,” Spike spoke up. “You grew close to me when nopony else felt like it. We even fought together. I saved your life once before. I just wish I could have done it again!”

Freedom Fighter leaned over his head and caressed his cheek. “So ends the account of our companionship,” he intoned, bowing his head. “You lived for glory, you died in glory, and glory is your reward. Like the warriors of the past, you have joined the ranks of our Goddess. Find peace with our mother. Soar across the skies and dance among the stars.”

After he stepped back, Rainbow Dash flapped forward, crestfallen, limp, and thoroughly dejected. Her hoof traced his chest above his wound, up to his neck, then his chin, cheek, and lips.

“I want you back,” she eventually croaked. She pressed a bit harder on his chest and pushed a lock of his mane. “Please, just... come back! Think of the skies we could have flown in! The life we could have shared. You and me, against the world… if that sounds like heaven, then why aren’t you here?”

Firestorm made no movement.

“I don’t want to do this alone!” Rainbow moaned, hugging his upper body. A tear splashed onto his nose. “Not without you! There’s so much… Please…”

Noble Blade did not say a word to Rainbow. He simply came next to her and draped an arm around her shoulders, looking down. As Rainbow Dash openly cried, slumping to the ground, Noble’s turn came.

After struggling to find the words, all he could manage was, “I’m so sorry.”

He gently led an inconsolable Rainbow Dash back. It was finally Twilight’s turn to speak. She had been trying to come up with a fitting speech in the time the others had taken. After Noble’s had ended, she figured it was ready to go.

“From this time forward,” she spoke, “Equestria must remember that its salvation cost the best blood it could ever offer. Firestorm was a wonderful pony who... struggled in his own eyes. It is far better to overcome yourself than to conquer your enemies. Firestorm has done both, and he is an eternal symbol to us all.”

She lifted his body in a gentle aura, and it floated away, across the surface of the lake of fire.

“From one age to another your name shall go,” Twilight continued, her throat hurting. “Let it be known that... he was indispensable to us. His passion shall not go unremembered. It was... his love for us that drove him, and though misguided by an evil lie, he cared so much for us that he would do anything to save the world. Even if it meant losing his friend… and eventually himself. It is the highest calling of courage a pony can take, and there is no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.”

Twilight wiped an eye. “And now… his work is done, his journey finished. He can now rest from heartache and anguish. But I’m sure that... he’d rather be on this painful earth with us than in heaven alone.”

She knew that truth, but saying it out loud made her blink back a new wave of tears. She shook her head and concentrated.

Firestorm was slowly lowered onto the surface of the lava like he was sinking into a bed. Flames danced on the surface as he disappeared beneath it. Once his body was entirely gone, more lava bubbled and burst beneath the surface in splashes of flinging fire.

Rainbow Dash, her face initially bowed, buried her face into Fluttershy’s mane and wept bitterly.

Finally, it was time to go. There was now nothing tying them down to Mount Nevermore's remains.

The Element bearers, along with Bedrock and his pet, clambered onto Reginald's back. Reginald reassured them that it really wasn't a big deal, but Fluttershy suspected he was hiding more than he let on. Reggie was just humble like that. It was very honorable. But Fluttershy wouldn't say that to him.

Reggie took off the edge of the mountain, flew away from the lava-soaked ruins, and never looked back.

They flew for hours against the light of the sun. Many of the Element bearers were used to stuff like this happening, but Bedrock and his bear were fascinated. It was his first long-distance cross-country travel.

Fluttershy felt brave enough to look down from time to time. The face of the land was healed from Solaris' march. In some respects, the land looked even better than she remembered. Green sparsely populated the earth. It seemed darker. Richer. Less crumbly.

Their trip seemed to pass in a flash. Before Fluttershy could really comprehend the trip, Reginald was already touching down on the black beach.

Fluttershy blinked and looked around as the other ponies dismounted. The sounds of the swishing waves invaded her ears. The white foam of the water was colored unnaturally by the sun setting over the water.

"You coming?" Rarity invited, waving. "We thought we could stretch before the next leg of our trip."

"Oh. Yeah." Fluttershy buzzed off the dragon's back and slowly touched down on the black sand.

She trotted over to Noble's side, who was standing where the water met the land, and clung to his arm. It felt firm.

The two of them looked over the rest of the ponies. Pinkie was chasing Spike and Rarity in the water with loud splashes and squeals of joy. Twilight, Freedom Fighter, and Tempest were side by side, bending down to examine shells in the sand. Rainbow was sitting forlornly behind them all, trying very hard to not look at Noble and Fluttershy. Applejack was beside her with a comforting hoof around her shoulders. Finally, Bedrock was standing still in the waters ahead of everyone else, staring into the sunset.

The moment seemed frozen into her memories. Despite all the dark moments preceding this one, that moment, where they were all on the beach… it would very likely never leave her mind.

She felt Noble's hoof lift up and tussle her mane gently. It eventually settled into a caress down the back of her neck and finally rest on her back. It was soft and careful, and gave her goosebumps.

"Does this seem better than dying in each other's arms?" Noble asked.

Most definitely. Fluttershy could only nod and adjust a part of her mane behind her ear. "I was being silly."

"Sensible," Noble corrected. "I'm the silly one. Remember?"

She couldn't. Not at first, anyway. "If you say so."

Noble hummed. His hoof ran over her mane again, then purposefully brushed a lock the wrong way. He looked critically at it. "There's something about it…"

"What?"

"I don't know why," he admitted. "But you seemed most beautiful back then, after you went through so much." He ruffled it, making it stuck up. "It somehow works better if it isn't so smooth." Noble gathered a length of her mane and slowly ran it through his grip.

Fluttershy's knees wobbled. There was something about how he did it…

"When I saw you… all dirty and battered, and fresh from the fight… I knew you were tough. Tough as nails. And I love you for it."

Fluttershy shrunk her head into her shoulders. "Only in that way?" she teased.

"Well, truth be told, you'd have to try very hard to get me not to love you," Noble said. "I'll say it as often as you want me to. No matter how bad you feel-- And I've learned this too, don't worry-- there will always be somepony out there who loves you."

"Faust?"

"There will always be two someponies," he corrected himself.

Fluttershy giggled. Then she leaned into him and sighed. She felt very tired all of a sudden.

"Easy does it," he said. He straightened out the parts in her mane, and the gentle caresses on her scalp made her eyes droopy. "Hey. Let's prepare for the trip home. Where we can crash into a bed and hold each other in peace."

That really did sound nice. But Fluttershy just felt so drained. Couldn't they go and do it now?

Noble's lips touched her cheek, and she felt very warm there. Her hoof came up to rub it.

"I'll go and talk to Rarity about making some saddles out of crystal or something," Noble offered, already backing towards the sea. "Don't want you falling off."

Fluttershy nodded wearily, a grin on her face. At the end of it all, at least she had him.

She sneaked a look behind her. Rainbow was doing her very best to not look at her.

Fluttershy's heart thumped painfully. A strange guilt overcame her briefly. What if the roles had been reversed? How heartbroken would she be seeing Rainbow and Firestorm interact instead?

She knew how best to succor Rainbow since she knew how she felt. But would Rainbow accept her attempts?

As it turned out, Rarity loved the idea of a support made from crystals. Ideally, they would have used leather or rope, but this would have to do.

The crystal supports had been made without too much trouble. Rarity was able to perfectly tailor the mineral to fit the dragon's curve and the rear of a pony. Part of it was the flexible work material, and part of it was Rarity's extensive work as a tailor and seamstress.

In no time at all, there were ice-blue supports between spines on the dragon's back and neck. Reginald had been perfectly compliant, but Fluttershy couldn't imagine him any other way.

Fluttershy hovered up to her spot by Reggie's ear. The seat was far more comfortable than the scales of Reggie's back. But that was something she wouldn't mention to him.

“You coming, Bedrock?” Fluttershy asked, giving a small motion to the teenager.

Bedrock mulled it over for a few seconds. His head turned to regard the ocean’s crashing waves beneath his hooves. Then he shook his head no.

"What?" Fluttershy breathed.

"I… can't," Bedrock refused.

“But…” Fluttershy hesitantly began.

“I said I wanted to see the ocean,” Bedrock maintained, not looking back at her. From Fluttershy’s angle, the deep-colored ocean from the sunset was reflected in his wide eyes. “I’ll explore the world. Go westward. But alone. I just… want to figure this out on my own.”

“Doesn’t want to have all the surprises ruined,” Tempest figured out. "I get it."

Fluttershy's lips pressed together tightly before allowing it with a gentle nod. "Well… good luck, then."

Bedrock sighed without looking at her. "It's so beautiful," he murmured. After blinking hard, he finally turned back to Fluttershy. "Thank you."

Fluttershy put a hoof over her heart. "Oh," was all she could say. She broke into a smile, and after struggling for words, she settled with, "Goodbye, Bedrock. You've made a difference in my life."

"You too," he said, distracted by the vivid color of the sun. "There was no one other than my parents… except you. You're all I have left now. The only one I can return to."

Bedrock gently lifted a hoof, pointing into the setting sun. "Hey… when I do cross the sea… and we cross paths once again… will my journey be at an end?"

If that was the case, Fluttershy wasn't sure if she wanted his exploration to end or not.

She instead directed her attention to her spot on Reggie and made sure she was secure. Behind her, Rarity was doing the same. And behind Rarity, Applejack.

"Are we secure?" Twilight asked.

A collection of affirmative sounds arose, which Fluttershy added to.

"Whenever you're ready, Fluttershy," Rarity encouraged.

But she wasn't ready. It felt strange to just head back, as easy as coming home from the market. Such trips would seem mundane now. Fluttershy wasn't sure how she could just go back to her life before.

She’d have help, though. Noble would be there to hold her on particularly bad nights. He was as bright as a star and could chase the darkness away.

All it needed was the word. They could go home. She could have everything she ever wanted. What was keeping her back?

Herself.

Not anymore.

"Now," she told Reginald. "Take us home."

Reginald nodded and spread his wings. He pushed against the ground, blasting Bedrock with air, and lifted into the sky with tremendous flaps.

The journey home would be relatively quick. But it would take a long, long time to forget any of this.

Bedrock watched the dragon swoop away and head into the west, into the setting sun. He tried not to follow the course with his eyes. But he sneaked a glance or two.

It only took a few minutes before the dragon was far away enough to be mostly indiscernible. Just a speck.

Bedrock adjusted himself so he was beneath the shallow waves. The cold water shocked his skin, then gradually warmed up. It wasn't long before a forceful wave knocked him in the face and sent him sprawling onto his back on the beach.

A shadow fell over him. The bear was bending down to sniff him.

"Hey, boy," Bedrock acknowledged, adjusting his sopping wet bowl cut and sitting upright.

He watched the speck in the distance slowly disappear. Bedrock's chest panged for them. He hoped they got back home safely. It was more than he had, anyway.

But he was free. Free to do what? Anything he wanted? Well, what did he want?

He wanted to know the world. Intimately.

And it would start with his transportation.

"Hey," Bedrock addressed again, scratching the tough fur of the bear. He tried to put his mind away from the other ponies. "Let's figure out a name for you, huh? How about…" He ran through the types of names he knew the alicorns had adopted. "Sizzle Streak?"

The bear made no response.

"I'm gonna go rapid-fire, okay? Um… Ember Shadow. FireFlash. SteelSteed! BileBiter? No. No, no, none of this'll work. You deserve better than that."

Bedrock lay in the receding water for a little longer with the patient bear, basking in the rays of the sun.

And in that moment, he got it.

"Ray."

The bear made a grumble.

"Yeah, I know! Short, easy. Reminds me of… a particular event. Ray who? Ray Brimstone? Ray Sky… Trotter? No." He sighed and scratched Ray under his mouth. "Just Ray."

Ray grunted. Bedrock assumed he was satisfied.

"Well then, Ray," Bedrock addressed. He lay there in the shallows feeling the waves wash over his legs. "I hope you're not averse to that."

Ray inexplicably nodded his head. Did he understand the language? Or just the inflection in his tone? Bedrock had no idea.

"Yeah. I know you do," Bedrock cooed, nuzzling the bear's cheek. He then readjusted himself. "Hold on. I want to stay here for just a bit."

He turned his head slightly and saw a shell right beside him. Bedrock lit his horn, and the shell drifted into his lap in a green aura.

It was a swirl of color against the black sand and Bedrock's grey body. The shell was pink and curled.

It reminded him of Fluttershy's mane.

Bedrock felt the pang in his chest return. His head lifted up once again. The speck was nowhere on the horizon. He was on his own.

The bear sniffed the shell curiously, then nudged it with his snout.

"Yeah," Bedrock said. He leaned back, starting up into the sky. "I miss her too."

But inexplicably, he soon grew a smile.

He spread his arms, and the warmth of the sun came upon his entire frame. "If we see her again, buddy… she'll like what we've done to ourselves. Hey. What do you say? The world's a big place. Wanna explore it?"

The bear grunted something and nudged his arm. Bedrock laughed--an unfamiliar, genuine feeling--and nudged him back. "Okay! Okay."

He levitated the shell off his lap and stood up. After a brief moment of indecision, he delicately placed it further up the beach where it would not wash away.

Then Bedrock and Ray turned away from the setting sun and headed north on their journey. Their prints in the sand were quickly filled.

Malice’s eyes opened with a start and a gasp.

Immediately, something was wrong. The inhale didn’t fill his lungs, and his eyes were strange. There were two of them, and they were round instead of narrowed. Those accursed eyes perceived where he was: in a white void, destitute of all interest. The white blinded him, making him blink and squint.

He looked down, desperate. There were hooves, the color of bone, standing out from the pure white surrounding him. He craned his head. Malice had a tail and a mane behind him, black and short. Malice began to hyperventilate, circling in place, but no air came into him. He didn’t need it.

He was already dead.

“My son.”

Malice froze. That voice. It struck him to the heart and bolted his hooves to the ground. His entire being began to tremble.

“Turn and face me.”

Malice squeezed his pony eyes shut. “I can’t.”

“You will.”

Malice slowly, hesitantly, turned his head around, and the rest of him followed.

Her.

“Mother,” he breathed.

“So it isn’t whore-goddess anymore?” Faust asked, definitely not expecting an answer.

Malice felt something churn inside of him. Without Solaris, and in Her presence, Malice felt completely exposed, peeled back like an apple. Shame and anger immediately bubbled inside him, crashing inside his head.

“I know what you’re going to say,” Malice croaked out. “You hate me.”

“I love you,” Faust refused. Her dark red mane flowed behind her ears. “Even at the end, I wish to help.”

“No, you don’t!” Malice insisted. “Pity isn’t love!”

“Do not presume to know the mind of your Goddess,” Faust warned, a spark in her violet eye. “You had every chance to return to me. For all premortal life, my hoof was always stretched out. For all your time on Equus, you rebelled. You gave yourself to perdition and the works of evil. But my hoof was always stretched out. And here you are, at the end, refusing me when you need it most. But my hoof is stretched out still.”

“Why would I return to you?” Malice asked. “All you would do is make me suffer for my sins! Beaten me with stripes before allowing me into your precious kingdom!”

“I would have forgotten them,” Faust refused once again. “And you would have been born anew to forge a new path with the consequences of your actions. Your sins would have been swallowed up in the pain I faced when you left me. Hate me all you want. It won’t stop me from loving you.”

“Mother…” Malice started, then paused. “I… can’t. I love my father more than…”

He couldn’t finish. Was he really about to say that in front of Her?

“My husband is gone as a result of his own choice,” Faust said, a choke in her throat. “He used his liberty to enter captivity, the same as you did. There was a time, Pale Rider, when you were among the most faithful of all the original Element Bearers. But you have put your Father’s will above my own. You have rejected me, and I must now reject you. But once more, my son. Pale Rider. Humble yourself and come unto me.”

“I thought I already was humbled,” Malice said. He couldn’t stop himself, and the more he talked, the more indignant he became. “You took everything away from me. You cast me down to Tartarus, imprisoned my father, trapped me in that horrible body! You took my birthright and gave it to a foal. Your servants disfigured me, stripped me, crippled me, and killed me! All over a disagreement, a difference of opinion. I’m not going to look up to you as my savior. Why should I thank you for anything?”

Faust sighed, bowing her head. “Is this final?”

Malice’s feelings of overwhelmingness in Her presence melted away, replaced by a seething anger. “No, it’s not. I’m far from done. I refuse to say you love me. I suffered so much pain in my life, and you weren’t there! I looked up to father because he was willing to go to any length to give me strength, give me power! All you do is lounge in heaven and manipulate ponies like chess pieces. You pay for nothing; it’s always about how your children rebel. Ever think they might have a reason? Here’s your answer, mother. I’ll never look up to you for anything. I don’t need your acceptance.”

“You don’t deserve it either,” Faust whispered. Her eyes were wet, on the verge of spilling over. “But I offer it to you one final time. Please, my son. Come unto me.”

“Then don’t stoop down to me. I’ll never go along with your stuck-up offers. Never! If following you is the only way I’ll have peace, I’d rather go back to Tartarus!”

It was designed to hurt, and from what Malice could tell, it worked. A single teardrop fell from Faust’s right eye, but it didn’t impact the surface they were standing on. It just kept falling into infinity.

Malice actually felt a sense of pride at that. Making a Goddess cry was an ultimate display of power.

Faust’s wet eyes blinked as her head came up. They then narrowed by a millimeter. “So be it.”

Immediately, Malice dropped as a sudden spike of agony shot through his entire body. He screamed and thrashed, scrabbling for something, as pain of every sort erupted on every part of his body. He curled in place, feeling it rip and tear him apart.

A scalding heat pressed into his flanks at the same time a pang erupted between his legs. His black mane and tail detached and fell away into nothingness. His entire back felt ripped away all at once, then burned over the raw skin. His tongue was cut out, and his mouth filled with hot blood in a matter of seconds. Hot whiplashes caught him across the face, immediately disfiguring him, and hundreds of lacerations immediately came over his entire body, curling around his right arm. His left arm severed itself completely.

His brain seemed to split apart and boil from not just the overload of pain he felt, but also from his own thoughts: of self-loathing, pity, shame, and overwhelming anger.

That wasn’t him! What was happening?

No mortal could tolerate that amount of pain all at once. They’d either black out or die. Malice, however, felt all the intricate, little details of the pain all at once. It was expertly condensed, and it felt much longer than it actually was.

But at least it was all over. Nothing more was happening, right?

He opened his eyes, expecting puddles and pools of blood beneath him. But instead, he was just as whole as he was before.

He lifted his left arm in astonishment. It felt like a phantom limb, like it was gone to sleep. Every movement was agony, and he could barely lift his head up to meet Faust’s eyes.

“That was the Unforgiven’s agony,” Faust coldly said. “All his anguish is now yours to share. Forever.”

Malice, despite the excruciating amount of pain surging through him, came across one thought. Is this it?

“No,” Faust said.

Malice’s heart lurched. No.

“How many of my sons and daughters have you ripped away from their world, Malice?” she asked, barely above a whisper. “How many bodies have you piled upon the earth in your quest to turn over my creation to a tyrant? You knew me perfectly well. But you gave yourself unto perdition, disowning yourself from my family and committing whoredoms in my sight."

Malice, though by all appearance unharmed, got to four hooves with a titanic struggle. The white void was becoming fuzzy and fading away, replaced with the utter blackness of interstellar space.

Malice looked around in terror. Wherever she was sending him, it wasn't back to Tartarus. Tartarus at least had light. This was a place of absolute darkness.

Malice, blinking back tears, slowly met eye contact with his mother. It physically hurt to meet her face, but Malice could not tear his gaze away. Faust held all power. Malice was helpless. And the weight of his rebellion at last weighed upon him fully.

"This is only the beginning of your torment. You will pay until your hot blood pours from the sky, melting the mountains into mud and thickening the oceans into slop, until it paints layer upon layer on countless worlds, until it extinguishes the fires of Tartarus. I am Faust, and no rebellion or sin will save you.”

This wasn’t Tartarus! This was worse! How could there be? How could he ever…?

“Please, mother,” he wheezed. Rivers of tears poured from his red eyes. “Forgive me!”

“How dare you?” Faust whispered, narrowing her eyes further.

The pain doubled. Malice shrieked and fell once more, thrashing around in utter despondency. This time, the pain was from every pore, utterly paralyzing him. The last traces of white from the void were replaced by darkness. Faust shone like a star, but Malice’s light was dull and burnt out.

“You have held me up to shame me,” Faust condemned, stamping her hoof. “Hated me, fought me, defiled me, and slain my servants. And only now, after endless, insistent, stubborn refusals to follow me, after your entire life, death, judgment, and the first taste of your payment, do you reflexively ask forgiveness, in a vain attempt to take advantage of my boundless mercy. Your repentance is not genuine; you clutch onto your sins like a money-grubber and hold them to your chest. You dare mock your Goddess this way?"

“I thought… you... loved me!” Malice cried between shouts of pain.

"I love you, my son, which is why I set forth righteousness and its opposite. There must be a condemnation of sin; if not, I hold no power. And sin has no place in my kingdom because rats hate living in a clean house. They much prefer the garbage. So I am delivering what suits you.”

His back was arched, trembling. Much as he hated to admit it, She was right. He couldn't bear being in Her presence any longer.

“Please! Mercy!” Malice shrieked.

“You don’t know what mercy is,” Faust replied. “You never showed it.”

Her hoof indicated the dark heavens. There was a darker spot in the distance, a tear in reality. Everything leaned towards it.

“Since you refuse my home, that will be your home,” Faust explained.

Malice’s pain subsided for a minute, and he could sit up to see it. The black hole chilled his heart at the very sight of it.

“This will not be endless,” Faust promised. “But it will take a long time.”

“What do you…” Malice asked, his voice much higher than he would have liked. “How long?”

“Billions of years. Perhaps trillions. Your mind cannot comprehend the length of your agony, and your head cannot grasp the intensity. But rest assured, there will come an end--at the death of the universe itself. You will be released several hours before then, and you will at last inherit the lowest of my kingdoms, receiving a single ray of light in the presence I will establish after the end. For surely, all things must end, but my power is endless, and all souls must become like me, as they once were.”

Malice squeaked, falling on his face and quivering. It was even worse than he could have ever imagined. And he still ended up in Her presence eventually, though he would be as far apart from her as two stars? It was the ultimate insult.

"Now go, my son, into the rest prepared for you."

"You can't do this!" Malice exclaimed, scrabbling at Faust's hooves. "Spare me!"

"You put your faith into another God," Faust told him. "Call on him for deliverance. If you dare."

"NO!" Malice exclaimed. Struggling, he got to all fours. "I-I'll kill you myself!"

It sounded pathetic even to him.

Faust tilted her head a few degrees. "Go."

And suddenly, the orientation seemed to lose all semblance of footing. Malice tumbled helplessly through the heavens, flailing each of his limbs despite the pain shooting through him.

"Father! Mother!" he cried as he fell. The mouth of the black hole drew ever closer. "Please!"

Faust's quickly-fading look was one of pain.

Could that pain possibly be… real?

Of course not. Malice knew it.

He passed the singularity.

He fell forever.

Chapter Ninety-three: Familiar Faces

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Princess Celestia, for what felt like the first time in weeks, wasn't alone. She was in her throne room, which felt both fuller and emptier than usual.

There were certainly plenty of others in there. The foreign dignitaries: Blackbeak, Prince Rutherford, Thorax, and Princess Skystar. The latter had dragged in a statue with her, which eerily resembled Queen Novo.

The Prophet Scorpan and the commander, Glitz, were also there--who were both uncharacteristically fidgety around each other. Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts, was leaning against a pillar cooly, content to not participate. Her aviators concealed any emotions she might have otherwise shown.

Shining Armor was alone. He had assisted as well as he could in his weakened condition--he had only arrived a few days prior. And while he had reported that Twilight was alive, the evidence steadily grew against it. He was standing politely at attention, unsure of what to do in the face of so many others.

But the only one with which Celestia had any real connection to was her sister. She stood beside her throne, regal and proud, but dirty and tired. The nervous pegasus guard attending to her looked the same way. Luna had introduced him as Thunderjump.

Finally, there was a new pony that Celestia couldn't put a pin on. She was alone and by the outskirts of the assembly, keeping her head down except for a quick glance to Shining Armor, Celestia herself, or Thorax. Thorax, of all creatures. He didn't seem to notice, but Celestia did. She was navy blue, darker in shade than Luna, and her squared-off turquoise mane covered an eye.

"Is it all really over?" Blackbeak was asking Rutherford. "Is the world going back to the way it was?"

"Yak not think anything just goes back to normal," Rutherford replied. "Once chair is broken, chair cannot be put back flawlessly."

"Yeah. Easy for you to say," Blackbeak muttered. "Your kingdom was left untouched. I'm a member of an endangered species." He put a hand to his cheek and scratched it. “If only we had acted sooner-!”

“Griffonstone’s attack came as a surprise to us all,” Scorpan reminded him. “Even I was unsure how your mind would change on the war effort.”

“Yeah, thanks for the reminder,” Blackbeak darkly replied. “Go hover around Celestia some more, would you?”

Scorpan only sighed. He did not move.

“It will take time for us all to heal from this worldwide invasion,” Celestia told all assembled. “But with a multinational agreement, we can assist each other’s efforts to rebuild.”

“The resources of the Changeling kingdom are at your disposal, Princess,” Thorax quickly promised. “I’m aware that most of the damage done on this continent has been on Equestrian soil.”

“Yaks best at breaking,” Prince Rutherford said. “Not so much building. But yaks will help.”

“The hippogriffs are still settling above water,” Princess Skystar reported. “We accept the offer, but I’m just not sure how much we can contribute.”

“Worry not,” Princess Luna assured. “Thy assistance at Foal Mountain was most appreciated.”

“Of course, the first order of business is rebuilding Griffonstone,” Celestia said, giving her attention to Blackbeak. “It needs it the most.”

Blackbeak blinked. He clasped his claws together and twiddled his thumbs.

“You mean you’d give foreign aid before your own nation?” Thorax asked in surprise. “Princess, you must build up Equestria so that it can give aid. Otherwise, you hollow out your people.”

“Griffonstone was on the brink of collapse already,” Blackbeak mused. “Perhaps it could not have fallen had the people not been so weak. And now that it’s fallen, it’s time to build back stronger.”

“...So it was fortunate that the Noxxa invaded?” Shining Armor asked, trying to make sense of where Blackbeak was going.

“Well, now that all that stockpiling dry hay has finally caught fire, we might as well learn from our mistakes,” Blackbeak replied.

Scorpan gave him a side-eye. “Who are you and what have you done to Blackbeak?”

“Just because I’m being realistic doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Blackbeak snapped.

And Celestia could sympathize with him on that. Twilight was obviously still alive. But when would she return? Could she return? She hated rationalizing that, but it needed to be done.

Celestia seriously considered putting together a search party as soon as this meeting was over. But she had no idea where they were on the planet.

She didn’t care. She would scour the entire earth if it meant seeing her again.

“Well,” Celestia said, putting Twilight away from her mind. She would have to wait until she settled this business. “Considering the magnitude of the devastation, I consider it an obligation to-”

Creeeeak

The doors to the end of the throne room opened, and everyone in the room turned. Celestia mentally rolled her eyes. She had given specific instructions to the guards to not let anyone else in unless it was a dire emergency. She drew her head to the figure in the doorway, wondering what it was.

She was almost unrecognizable. How anyone this dirty and weary could enter the castle escaped Celestia. Then she spoke.

“Celestia?”

She took a few more steps into the room. Strange looks were directed at her from most assembled. But Celestia froze. That voice was so familiar. Unmistakable.

Nine other figures appeared in the door frame. They were all just as tired and dirtied as the alicorn slowly approaching Celestia.

“...I must be dreaming,” Celestia murmured, getting out of her throne and starting down the steps. Her eyes were hollow. “Luna, stop doing this to me.”

“I see the same,” Luna affirmed.

“I’m here!” Twilight cried, and Celestia’s heart lurched. She was-!

Twilight trotted slightly faster down the carpet, and Celestia stumbled further down the steps, and Twilight soon collided into the princess and hugged her as tight as she could.

And Celestia felt the warmth of the sun restored into her body by her warm touch. Celestia gripped tightly to Twilight, and all of a sudden Celestia’s face was buried in Twilight’s mane.

“I thought I lost you,” Celestia choked, and water came from her eyes. “I…”

“I’m just so glad to see you!” Twilight cried, hugging even tighter than before. Celestia didn’t mind one bit.

Twilight was back! The world seemed once more in alignment. Brighter seemed her sun through the stained windows. Sweeter seemed her pupil’s voice, which was wavering with her own emotion as well.

Celestia pulled away to get a good look at her prized pupil. The last time she had seen her, she was immaculate, in a Gala dress. The Twilight before her was changed. The spark of youth in her eyes was gone. Twilight was dirty, limp, wounded, weakened… yet stronger than Celestia had ever seen her. And in that moment, Celestia’s heart soared. She was so proud of her little pony, and for all Twilight had gone through. Celestia didn’t know where to begin. Her mouth was open, but no sound escaped her lips.

“... Well, we’re… back,” Twilight eventually said, giving a wobbly grin.

“Twily!” Shining Armor exclaimed, embracing her next. “Oh, my gosh, I… You’re alive!”

“You made it!” Twilight said, choking up. “You’re safe! H-how are mom and dad? Did they make it?”

“They’re okay!” Shining Armor assured her. Their embrace tightened.

Celestia’s gaze went over Twilight. Her attention was now on Freedom Fighter, approaching her as well. And Celestia was as shocked, if not more, to see him. He was... he was-

“Who am I?” Freedom Fighter asked, completing what Celestia was thinking. Indeed, the last time she had seen him, he was so drastically different. For the better, against all expectations. It was like she was looking at an angelic, perfected version of him. "Not the Unforgiven. Not anymore."

"Unforgiven…" Celestia murmured. His eyes roamed over his flawless form, settling on the stone embedded in his forehead. "...Why have you cast aside that name?"

"There is no one around to hold a grudge against my existence," Freedom Fighter replied. He sighed. "Malice is dead. Our eternal, rebellious brother has gone extinct."

Celestia had avoided regarding Malice as a brother. He was not a part of their family. But when put into those words, it did indeed sound sad.

"I hope you're not too disappointed," Freedom Fighter continued. "I promised we'd dangle his head on the tallest tower. But there wasn't too much of an opportunity to do that. I don't think anyone wanted to hold it on their lap on the trip back."

"On a lap…? Did you ride something?" Celestial asked.

"That reminds me," Twilight spoke up, letting go of her brother. "There's a dragon in your gardens."

She said it like it wasn't a completely crazy statement. What had she gone through on her journey?

The rest of the ponies were gathered together, greeting Luna, Scorpan, Glitz, Spitfire, and the diplomats. Especially of note was the reunion of Rainbow Dash with Spitfire.

“Glad to see you’re in one piece!” Spitfire said jubilantly. “...Tell you what, I’ll give you a break from practices. I’m sure saving the world counts for something, right?” She chuckled, but Rainbow didn’t laugh along. Spitfire’s face turned into one of concern. “You all right?”

Rainbow’s eyes met Spitfire’s, and Spitfire blinked in surprise. There was a hollowness in Rainbow’s expression that was deeper than any one she had put on before.

Spitfire took the time to gaze around the rest of the ponies, and upon not seeing her brother, asked, “Dash? Where’s Storm?”

Rainbow’s lips quivered, and she stared intently at the floor.

“Dash?” Spitfire repeated, a tad more desperate. “Come on, give me an answer here. Where is he? Why isn’t he…”

Spitfire’s eyes shook gently, and so too did her voice. “Dash! Where is he? Where’s my brother?!”

“...Dead,” Rainbow croaked, and that was all she could get out before she had to wipe a tear from her eye.

“No,” Spitfire whispered. She took a step back. Then two more. “Firestorm…? No, you can’t be! He can’t! Rainbow! Don’t you lie to me!”

“He’s dead!” Rainbow repeated, and her throat was cracking with every word. Her arm wiped her eyes. “Spitfire, I… saw it. Firestorm’s gone!” She stamped the floor and bowed her head. “Firestorm’s… gone.”

The mood had gone from jubilant and celebratory to somber in a matter of moments. The foreign dignitaries were looking extremely uncomfortable, and the Element bearers themselves were staying uncharictaristically silent.

And Celestia realized that he wasn’t the only one missing. Starlight was nowhere to be seen either. Celestia didn’t need to be told to know what happened to her.

True enough, Twilight’s eyes tremored. “Princess Celestia,” she whispered. “I… I mean, we… lost them. They… They-”

“I’m here,” Celestia reminded her, drawing her in for another hug. That seemed to be enough for her, and Twilight buried her face into Celestia’s chest and took deep breath after deep breath.

“... I gotta go,” Spitfire whispered, turning away from them and trotting briskly away, wiping her eyes on the way. “Just… don’t follow!” she warned, and with a much harder bang than she intended, she kicked the throne room doors open and stomped away. The silent Royal Guards respectfully closed the doors after her.

“If they are dead,” Scorpan slowly said, “and yet our world remains… then you have succeeded.”

“Don’t feel like it,” Applejack commented. “It’s jus’ painful.”

“Fear not, Mistress of the Plains,” Scorpan reassured Applejack. “I see no reason why they would not be in Her celestial kingdom.”

“But that don’t make a difference fer us here!” Applejack replied. “So what if he’s found peace? We’re th’ ones that need it now that he’s gone!”

“Hey, hey,” Pinkie interjected, laying a hoof on her shoulder. “He’s happy now. We should be too.”

Applejack gave a tight-lipped nod and said no more.

“But if they are dead, and the Elements still worked… then two others must have been ordained in their stead,” Scorpan noted. “Was this the final act of The Last Hero, Child of Light?”

It took Twilight a moment to realize he was addressing her. She took her face out of Celestia’s chest and nodded at the Prophet.

“Then perhaps the Elements can be used to solve one final loose end,” came Princess Skystar. The ponies turned to regard her, remembering their brief stay in Seaquestria. “I really wouldn’t ask this of you guys. You’ve done so much! But my mom…”

Her eyes flickered over to the statue in the throne room, and the understanding was evident.

The new face, a berry-purple one, trotted forward before anyone else could. On her face was a look of resignation and regret.

“Might as well be the one to do it,” she muttered.

Taking the Element off her chest, she pressed it against the stone figure of Queen Novo. A thin trail of smoke rose from the surface, which was glowing deep purple and spreading over the statue like a melting sculpture.

Skystar gasped in delight and squeed. “Thank you!”

Tempest just hung her head in embarrassment.

Gradually, the white flesh of Novo emerged, twitching and trembling. One leg came loose, then another. As the rock dissipated from Novo’s face, Novo gasped and panted. She patted herself down, even as residual rock was disappearing from her chest and wings. Then, taking a long look around the room and the ponies in it, she spoke.

“...Tia?” she asked Celestia. Her gaze darted from one detail to the next. “Wh-what’s going on? I remember Mount Aris… How did I get here?”

“We brought you, mom,” Skystar explained patiently. “We helped them out.”

“I don’t…” Novo muttered, holding her head. “Phew. Baby, gimme a second.”

“Sorry,” Tempest murmured.

Novo blinked, swiveling to Tempest. “Say what?”

“It’s my fault you were stuck in there to begin with,” Tempest admitted, pawing at the ground. “Hope you can forgive me.”

Novo took a moment before exhaling through her nose. “Well, you’re sorry, aren’t you?”

Tempest halfheartedly nodded. “Yeah.”

“Then you’ve got nothing to worry about,” Novo insisted, tousling Tempest’s rough mane.

Tempest sucked in a deep breath and held it before letting it go. She still couldn’t look her in the eyes. “Thanks, I guess.”

“Thy work is done,” Luna proclaimed to them all. “And thou hast earned thy rest. Be at peace, I beseech thee all.”

“Please,” Noble disheartedly spoke up. “Let’s not use old-speak. It just… reminds me of things I’d… like to forget.”

Luna, taken slightly aback, nodded respectfully.

“How can we just go back to normal?” Fluttershy asked Luna. “It seems like a figment of my imagination.”

"Take as long as you need to get readjusted," Luna assured. "We can help in any way. It's the least we can do."

"So when you say back to normal," Freedom Fighter assumed, rubbing his Element-studded forehead, "would that mean me and Noble would just… go back to our jobs?"

"Is that what you'd like?" Celestial asked. "Does the thought of adventure still stir in your heart?"

"... With all due respect, your highness," Noble said cautiously, "I think we've had enough adventure for a lifetime."

"I agree," Freedom Fighter followed up. "My destiny is fulfilled. Malice is dead. What now? Go back to wiping out raiders on the other end of the country? I can't. Not with just him. Not by leaving them behind." He jerked his head to the others before hanging it. "But if it's something I must do…"

"If you're asking if you can retire, you can," Celestia assured them. "You have done more and given up more than I could have ever asked of you."

Noble and Freedom Fighter exchanged glances. Freedom Fighter sighed and nodded. "Retirement sounds... very nice."

"Retired when they're not even thirty," Pinkie remarked off to the side. "All things considered, they got off pretty good."

"You may still be conscripted if we are thrust into conflict," Luna made known. "But considering the magnitude of what you have already done, I can't conceive of that happening anytime soon."

"In the meantime, it is time you take on a new duty," Celestia assigned them. "As husbands and fathers, the highest calling of all."

Freedom Fighter turned to Twilight, his leg trembling. "A father," he whispered. "I never thought I'd…"

"Let's have this conversation later," Twilight hurriedly waved aside. "In private."

Celestia's eyes tracked Freedom Fighter to Twilight, then back again. They widened--just for a second. Then Celestia smirked and winked. In a flash, she was back to her royal demeanor, and the alicorn and earth pony were left eyeing each other, wondering if it had even happened.

"Well, it's good that it's exactly what I was planning on doing," Noble said. "But if you order it, I suppose I'll address it with, ah, increased focus."

"Does this apply to me too?" piped up Spike, coming forward. A green X was on a chain across his neck. "Because I've got, um, similar interests."

Celestia bowed her head. "By all means."

Rarity's eyes glittered. "Oh, thank you so much, Princess Celestia. We'll certainly attend to our duties, won't we?"

Spike gave her a hesitant nod. "Uh, yeah. Right."

"You've gotten in too deep over yer head," Applejack whispered to Spike.

“So, um…” Fluttershy meeped, glancing over to Noble. “Would this mean we’d get… married?”

Celestia inclined her head. “Do you want to?”

“Yes,” Noble and Fluttershy said at the exact same time. They looked at each other with surprise, then quickly talked over each other. “I mean, if that’s the plan--Of course, just not right now--Yes, I’d need to propose--No, no, didn’t we already--Well, I don’t want this to feel arranged--We’d need to pick out a band and--I could get Rarity to--No, the diamond would be worthless-”

“There goes the surprise,” Pinkie declared.

“It was a surprise?” Tempest drily remarked.

“I can officiate,” Scorpan volunteered, coming forward. “I intend on staying here in Equestria for a while longer. I have…” He glanced behind him to Glitz. “...interests.”

“Oh,” moaned the unknown mare off to the side. “All this love in the same room is so overwhelming!”

Nearly everyone turned to regard her. The unknown mare realized her mistake and stuffed her hoof in her mouth.

"The only ponies I've heard talk like that haven't been ponies at all," Thorax suspiciously worked out. "Come on, reveal yourself."

The mare took her hoof out to let out a sigh. With a flash of light, she transformed into a long, lanky, black, hole-ridden changeling queen.

Thorax gasped. Shining Armor snarled, and his horn blazed to life. Twilight's eyes narrowed, and her horn did the same. Noble groaned in exasperation and ripped the blue sword off his back. The Element in Freedom Fighter's forehead shone like a light. The rest of the ponies got into defensive stances.

Before anyone could act upon her sudden appearance, Scorpan, Glitz, Luna, Skystar, and Thunderjump put themselves between Chrysalis and the others. "Hold your horses," Skystar encouraged. "Or, um, hold your tails."

"Baby, I hope you have some idea of what kind of creature you're involving yourself with," Novo warned.

"She's probably up to something!" Shining Armor added.

"This was my grand plan," Chrysalis drily replied. "To get unmasked the instant I enter the kingdom. Lighten up, will you?"

"No," Shining Armor refused, taking an angry step. "No, I don't think I will."

Chrysalis only nodded. "Can't say I blame you."

"Chrysalis…" Thorax wondered. "How did… why?"

"She came to us intending to help," Luna told all assembled. "She was a prisoner of war that managed to escape. She wants to be better."

"Well, at least it's better than what the Noxxa had to offer," Chrysalis reluctantly added.

"With rehabilitation, I'm sure we can reform her," Luna continued.

Celestia's eyes never left Chrysalis's. She approached her when Luna stopped talking, and Scorpan and Luna melted out of the way, leaving the changeling queen and the alicorn princess face to face.

"You are sure?" Celestia asked directly.

"Starlight isn't here for me to take revenge on," Chrysalis bluntly told her. "I feel untethered. What else am I supposed to do? Might as well aim for something more."

"Oh, come on!" Twilight exclaimed. It surprised Celestia to see her like this. "Is that all Starlight is to you? An object to punch a few times so you can get rid of your humiliation?"

"For a very long time, princess," Chrysalis smoothly replied. "We both feel empty without her, don't we?"

Twilight's face twisted in spite. But she quickly relaxed it and sighed. "Chrysalis, you need to be sincere about this. I have gone through too much in the past few weeks to properly deal with your betrayal." She looked her in the face. "I might forget my title as a princess of Friendship."

Chrysalis's eyes lit up. "My, Twilight. You've adopted some new traits."

Celestial privately agreed. She wished she hadn't.

"I've lost many ponies already," Twilight deadpanned. "I won't lose any more. Not by somepony like you."

"Trust me, Twilight. The only thing keeping me from assimilating is you."

And Celestia could see that Twilight knew it.

It was painful to watch her confront this spectral, albeit largely irrelevant entity. Especially after all she had already gone through! But the Twilight before this trip would have kept on doubting. This Twilight gave a sad nod after a moment of contemplation. "I... understand that you were held captive by them."

"Correct."

"I know how cruel they can be. It can really change a pony. If you really want to seek the light… I suppose it'd be even crueler to deny you it."

This was the first thing Twilight said that took Chrysalis aback. "What?"

"What do you mean, what?"

"Are you really in there?"

"Be at peace," Celestia assured Chrysalis before Chrysalis could pry further. "We will not impede your journey."

Chrysalis gave a slow shrug. "I… suppose."

"She still can't believe it," Pinkie whispered to Fluttershy. "Can't say I blame her."

Chrysalis hissed uncomfortably at the repeated words.

There came a rumble beneath their hooves. Each of them looked around a bit in surprise.

"Oh yeah, the dragon," Tempest laconically remembered.

"That's not a sentence I thought anyone would say in that tone," Novo said.

"I should probably tell him to get going," Fluttershy pondered.

"We can provide a ride back to Ponyville," Celestia offered. "In the meantime, please consider staying for a day or two. We can give you baths and full meals, all for free."

"That does sound very nice," Rarity admitted, her legs trembling at the prospect. "I haven't had a proper bath in Celestia knows how long!"

"I don't," Celestia replied.

"With all due respect, Princess Celestia," Applejack spoke up, "Ah jus' wanna go home. Ah'm worried 'bout my family. Hope they're all right."

"Crash into my own bed," Pinkie hummed. "Surrounded by my own smells… eat my own breakfast! Ahh, I can taste the triple-berry surprise smoothie already!"

Rarity gulped. "Well, when you put it that way… I suppose that sounds far nicer than some stuffy palace. No offense, Twilight."

"None taken."

"Well, I imagine some of us will have to stay with you until we can figure out more... permanent accommodations." Noble's eyes flickered to Fluttershy.

"Yeah," Freedom Fighter agreed slyly. "How about it, Twi? Mind if I hang around with you until I settle?"

Celestia saw Twilight's face turn red for just a second. "Uh, yeah. Sure. As long as… you need."

The sooner the better. But Celestia wisely kept it to herself.

"I'll notify the chariots myself," Celestia said. "If you'll follow me…"

"Well, it was nice meeting you all," Twilight addressed everyone else, even as she backed out of the room. "Thank you for your time."

"I'm sure you all have plenty of boring foreign affairs in order. We'd probably be part of it too, but, uh, we just saved the world." Freedom Fighter's voice came on the trails of Twilight's.

"Freedom!" Twilight hissed.

"Am I wrong? Did we not just-?"

"You don't just say that stuff to a bunch of diplomats!"

"Yes, it's in very bad taste," Noble added.

"As if I know what things taste like!" Freedom Fighter retorted.

"You have a tongue now."

"Not while it's sticking out at you. Blaugh!"

That was the last thing most of them heard.

Chrysalis tilted her head. "Those ponies were the ones that saved the world?"

"Yep," Skystar affirmed.

"Those ponies were the ones who could beat me?"

"Yep."

"...We're in trouble."

"You're in trouble."

Celestia, accompanied by six Royal Guards, led them outside to the stables, where several golden chariots were attended to by repair ponies. They instantly saluted when Celestia came outside, which Celestia wearily accepted.

“Get these ponies a ride home to Ponyville,” Celestia ordered.

“Right away, sir,” the blue chief mechanic said, wiping her forehead and smearing it with oil. “I mean, ma’am. I mean… we’ll get on it.”

And so they quickly finished up their repairs and tightened the bolts on the wheels. After no more than a few minutes, they indicated the chariots. “Ready for use,” the chief mechanic reported.

The six guards hitched themselves to the chariots, and the Element bearers loaded in. As Twilight, Rainbow, Freedom Fighter, and Spike loaded into one of them, Spike gave Rainbow a hesitant slap on the back. "You're not going to fly?"

"Not in the mood," Rainbow gloomily replied.

Spike was taken aback. And frankly, so was Celestia. But the reason why was clear.

"Twi?" Rainbow asked. "I, uh… was wondering if I could stay with you for a bit. Until I clear up." Her eyes were hollow. "Move on."

"Of course," was Twilight's instant reply. "Feel free to stay as long as you like."

Rainbow wearily nodded. "Yeah."

"Hey." Twilight rubbed Rainbow on the back. "I know exactly how you feel. You're not alone."

Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "So what? Doesn't change anything. He's still gone. Nopony is gonna replace him. Not you or anyone else!"

"There are ways to deal with it," Twilight encouraged. "I can help you. I've been there."

"I know," Rainbow grumbled. She didn't elaborate. Twilight took the hint and stopped talking.

Celestia hated seeing Rainbow like that. It was so unlike her to be this depressed. If given the chance, Celestia would have hesitated to send them on the trip at all, if she knew this would have been the outcome.

But perhaps this would be for the best. The ponies had grown into adults. Maturity and wisdom accompanied them and made their steps heavy. Through the fiery crucible of their trials, they had been forged into pure gold.

The mechanics waved the guards on, and the three chariots rose into the sky. The final leg of their trip was now underway.

Celestia waved as they flew away. They all turned away to give a brief farewell, but very soon, they were too far away.

And then they were gone.

Celestia stared aimlessly into the skies. Her inheritance-- the sun-- shone all around her like a beam from heaven.

It was a privilege to watch their progress. That was the true blessing of a mentor. And there was an ache in her chest at the prospect that they had eclipsed Celestia in relevance. But that was inevitable with mentors as well. Celestia's burden was the knowledge that others would surpass her.

She was okay with it.

Twilight was the future of peace. Celestia was just proud to have been there to help her.

"I love you," Celestia whispered.

They know you do.

Celestia nodded, a tear in her eye. "The same way you know I do, mother."

Be satisfied, my daughter. Equestria has endured a tempest. But you have reached the blessed harbor, and you may rest on the blissful shore.

"If you insist," Celestia happily resigned.

The chief mechanic tilted her head. "Who are you talking to?"

Chapter Ninety-four: Home

View Online

It was confusing to Big Mac. The day before he had to move out to war, all sorts of strange phenomena had occurred in the sky. Like it couldn't decide on a setting. He had hidden inside the barn with Apple Bloom and Granny Smith as chaos and evil reigned.

But as the chaotic day drew to a close and things went more or less back to normal, word got around Ponyville. Big Mac heard it as he entered the marketplace for news: the enemy had been completely destroyed!

Big Mac dismissed the word as rumor. Anxiety still pawed at his mind. Didn't they still need him? If not, then the letter of conscription suddenly seemed worthless. All this time, he was wasted.

Big Mac was thankful that he was not about to die anytime soon. But a small part of him actually wanted it. Big Mac longed to prove his worth to the land he tilled by watering it with his blood if needed. All this time, he was giving himself a reason to give all for his family. And now, just as that opportunity was about to come, it had been taken from him. Snatched just out of reach.

Big Mac was the kind of pony who longed for a struggle. A fight of some kind. And so he was locked in combat with a particularly stubborn tree stump. For three days now it refused to get uprooted. But Big Mac attacked it with all the frustration he had, so the stump was in a losing battle.

"Ah'm not letting my sister die for me!" he swore, yanking against a root as thick as his arm. "Ah wanna fight! I care, don't I? When can Ah prove it?"

He let go of the root, leaned down, and picked up a hatchet with his teeth. There was also a spade and a clipper beside it.

“ ‘Ftupid root,” he got out. By bending his head, he could slam the edge of the hatchet into the root. It still had water inside, so it bounced off several times before he finally embedded it in. Then he twisted it this way and that before trying to slam it down again, but the hatchet ricocheted off the root and hit him in the hoof.

Big Mac roared and leaned back. He brought his hoof up to his face. It didn’t hurt too bad, and there wasn’t any blood. But it still hurt.

How could he just be put out of commission by that? If he couldn’t even handle a tree, if he hurt himself with a hatchet that didn’t even make him bleed, how could he expect to serve his country and fight the enemy? Some fighter he was. Some pony he was.

Big Mac snarled the pain away and went back to work. Ignoring the protest in his hoof, he used it to grip the root again and yank. Some dirt dislodged from the crater the root was stuck in. He roared as he pulled harder, and despite the pain--or maybe because of it--he did it. The end of the root popped out from the crater wall, and Big Mac fell on his back.

He just lay there for a bit. The day was humid, and sweat glistened on his red coat. Maybe it’d be a good idea to just…

“Whoa-ho there, fella,” came a familiar voice. “Don’t work yerself too hard now.”

“Eeyup,” was his simple reply. He sighed.

A second later, he scrambled to all fours. Was that-

It was! She was right there! A little worse for wear, but alive and well!

“Applejack!” he cried. He pulled his sister to his chest as tight as he could.

“Gah!” she groaned. “Hold on!”

“Granny’s been so worried!” Big Mac said, refraining from mentioning how much he had privately missed her. “Yer all right!”

Applejack separated from him. “How is she? Is she okay?”

Big Mac gestured to the barn. "Better than when ya left."

"You been taking care o' her?"

"Eeyup," he confirmed proudly.

Applejack grew a smile. "Ah missed hearin' that."

"Eeyup," he repeated.

"How was it back here? Dija serve yer country well, or…"

Big Mac bowed his head. "Ah wanted to. But I... didn't want to. 's complicated."

"You can share anything with me," Applejack confided, giving him a nudge. "If something's eatin' atcha, I gotta know what it is!"

"... Am I a good pony?"

"What's gotten inta yer head that led ya to ask that?"

"I wanted to serve my country. Give myself to a… bigger cause. But I'm stuck here. Ah jus' feel… useless. Wasted."

"Oh, horseapples, Big Mac. Doncha know how much you've helped us out?" Applejack looked him in the eyes. "Helpin' yer family when they need ya isn't a waste. Ya hear me?"

"I wanted to help by fighting!"

"Who woulda looked after Granny and Apple Bloom?"

"I would have asked someone in town."

"It's very noble of ya to want this. And I'm really impressed with yer heart. If there was anypony strong enough to serve, it'd be you. You are a good pony, Big Mac. You've made me proud."

There wasn't a but. And Big Mac found his chest clutching itself.

Was that all he really needed? A couple of words telling him how proud she was of him? Applejack, the girl that helped save the world, was proud of him. Most likely, that was just brother-and-sister obligations. What had he done besides the bare minimum that he'd done for years before? But she said it with such conviction that he found no reason for her to play it up.

"Come on," Applejack invited. "Race ya to the barn."

And she turned tail and fled through the fields.

Big Mac grinned in spite of himself. "Eeyup."

He abruptly took off after her.

He got there in time to see Apple Bloom rush out of the door and collide into Applejack with a squeal of delight. Soon, Granny Smith teetered out, and Applejack welcomed her into the hug as well.

Big Mac formed the outside pony in the impromptu group hug. It felt complete again.

"I'm home, everypony," Applejack choked out. "I'm home."

Pinkie couldn't remember a time she wasn't happier to see Sugarcube Corner, yet so un-hyperactive.

It still looked the same to her. And it was still her home. But coming home to it didn't feel grand or triumphant at all. It was just another place in her journey.

She briefly considered knocking, but her Pinkie nature dictated otherwise, and she threw open the door.

It was empty except for the two ponies busy behind the counter. Upon Pinkie's entrance, they straightened to attention.

"Welcome to Sugarcube Corner, what can I-" Mrs Cake started. She gasped. "Oh my goodness! Look! I-it's Pinkie!"

"Pinkie Pie?" Mr. Cake repeated, craning around the corner of the register. His face split into a grin. "You're back!"

Pinkie nodded. They seemed worse for wear. Probably busy with all the current events.

"We'll fetch you some cupcakes right away!" Mrs. Cake promised, already heading into the back. "You must have had a very long trip!"

"You could say that," Pinkie gave them.

"You okay?" Mr. Cake asked, clearly concerned. "You seem… toned down."

"Why don't you tell us all about it?" Mrs. Cake called from the back, already coming back in with a tray of pink cupcakes on her back.

Pinkie looked at the treats. After all their overcooked meals and foraging, and starvation and sugarless breakfasts, the bright, fondant-loaded, sprinkle-topped cupcakes in front of her just seemed… a little too much.

"Tell you all about it," Pinkie considered. "Well…"

"Yes?" the couple asked in unison.

"We went on a biiiig trip across the country. Into another continent, too!"

"What happened?" Mrs. Cake followed up, presenting Pinkie with a cupcake.

"We met a whole lot of ponies." Sunset and the humans. The Rolk. Skystar, Novo, Tempest, the Storm King, High Priest Ajax. "And we, um, talked."

"Well, what happened?"

Pinkie uncomfortably shifted in place. "There was… a bit of stuff. We, um, went and..."

Mr. and Mrs. Cake's faces were shining with excitement. Like Pinkie was about to show them memories of a vacation.

And Pinkie couldn't bring herself to say any more. Her memories only showed crashes, gore, fire, dust, darkness, swords, screams, starving, storms, bodies. Human bodies lying on the grounds of Canterlot High and staining the green grass red. The steaming tan flesh of the Rolk. The hopelessness of being trapped. The outpouring of water into their small cave. The rush of battle with sea monsters. The clouds of crimson hanging in the water. The dust of ages and black Noxxa ash scattered over the entirety of Mount Aris. The dip in her stomach as their hijacked airship plunged through the atmosphere. The sight of Noble Blade covered in old blood. The exhaustion of fighting an entire army. The whipping cold rain of a hurricane, and the slick, shining deck of the Storm King's airships. The tough taste of the poor burnt lizard. The feral grins of Brimstone and Warcane. The bonds biting into her flesh as High Priest Ajax approached. The overwhelming red glow and stuffy hot air of the temple. The bump on her head where Malice had playfully bonked her with a scepter. The ravenous, beastly face of Solaris carved in rock. The cracked and sickly stone embedded in Starlight Glimmer. The deep black gashes in Pinkie's skin. The icy burn of a Black Blade. The impact of Ajax's body beneath her aching hoof. His exploding top half, covered with pink flame. The pervasive, choking smoke of the ruined volcanoes. Malice's broken and bloody body. The water streaming down her cheeks at the sight of Firestorm's corpse.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake were still anxiously waiting. Bright eyes, expectant smiles. Pinkie decided she couldn't do that to them.

"...And we had a huge party," Pinkie despondently finished. "It was really fun. I liked it."

Mr. and Mrs. Cake shared a look. Pinkie knew they thought she was hiding something, but frankly, Pinkie didn't care.

"Well, um, we're happy to hear you're all right and everything went well," Mrs. Cake tried to usher along. "We're so glad to have you back home where you belong. You must have missed us really bad."

Pinkie mutely nodded.

"Um, please, eat! You must have been hankering for a real treat these last few weeks. Why not try some of these cupcakes, Pinkie? It's one of your favorites! Pink frosting and everything!"

But she couldn't bring herself to eat it. It just seemed so unnatural and artificial after all they'd been through. There was too much frosting. Where was the cake? Her teeth ached at the very thought of biting into such a mountain of frosting. Her stomach jostled uncomfortably at the very sight of it.

For the first time in Pinkie's life, she didn't want the proffered snack. And that thought terrified her.

"I have to go," Pinkie choked, trotting away from the counter and towards the stairs leading to her room. "Check out my room, and…"

"Oh. Uh, it's untouched since you last came here," Mr. Cake said. "If you need anything, we're right here, okay?"

Pinkie nodded and began up the steps. They were good ponies. Some of the best.

Less than a minute later, she approached the door to her own room and opened it.

True to Mr. Cake's word, it was just as undisturbed as the last time she checked. Everything was right where she had left them on the ground. Party cannon, check. Balloon animal blueprints, check. Bed, check.

Oh, the bed! Pinkie almost collapsed into her own bed, and it was so soft and pliable compared to all the weeks spent camping on the rocky ground or in small slots in hijacked vehicles.

She gathered a pillow into her arms and wrapped herself around it. It didn't help too much to quell the dread gathering inside her. Would she ever truly be back to normal?

Did she even want to?

A gust of cold air from the open window tickled her arm, and suddenly she was back in the Son, pinned on the ground, watching her skin get torn open by the overpowering iciness of the Black Blade. Fear kicked her body into overdrive. Pinkie thrashed in her bed, twisting her body to check for damage.

Nothing there. Pinkie nevertheless remained on high alert, just in case something did show up.

Creak

Pinkie scrambled backwards, almost falling off the bed. The door to her room had opened. But it was just Mrs. Cake coming in with a plate of food, looking understandably concerned.

"Honey?" Mrs. Cake asked cautiously.

Pinkie couldn't meet her face. Shame creeped over her entire body.

"Hey. I-if you need to talk, we'd always love to hear it." She set the plate down on her nightstand and came beside her bed. "But if you want to not say anything either, that's fine too."

Pinkie's heart lurched. They were just doing their best. Why couldn't she accept it?

"I missed you guys," Pinkie whispered. She cast her eyes about. "I missed this place. So how come, once I finally come back here, I don't feel right?"

Mrs. Cake nodded in understanding. "It must be tough. I… can't say I know what you're going through. But I am here."

"I know." Pinkie paused. "You… if you really saw and knew everything I saw and know, would you be able to help me?"

"I don't have to," Mrs. Cake affirmed. "I just want you to be comfortable after your journey, that's all. Give you a little slice of home."

Pinkie's lips tightened as she did her best not to cry. "Thanks."

Mrs. Cake nudged the nightstand. "There's some coffee cake here, and a bit of bread. It's from yesterday, so I hope it isn't too stale. And some lemonade. You sure you'll be all right?"

Thanks to her, Pinkie now liked her chances. Pinkie's heart ached for Mrs. Cake. She really had missed her. Pinkie nodded her assent.

"Okay then. Come down whenever you're ready. If there's any way we can help, don't hesitate, all right?"

Pinkie didn't want her help. Not like this, where she was so ungrateful for it. Not when she was fully able to take care of herself. Not when it made her look weak and dependent on them. But still, knowing in the back of her mind that they loved her enough to do that for her was a huge comfort.

Mrs. Cake left and shut the door. She even shut the door! The tenderest of mercies!

Pinkie bawled into her pillow. For a while, the only sounds in the room were her sobs.

After getting most of it out, she drew her head up to see the food. It was very simple. But it was an expression of love more potent than any other gift Pinkie could think of.

Her stomach was flip-flopping. But Pinkie took a delicate bite of the coffee cake. She could only force down a few bites, but it was better than nothing.

The lemonade was a bit better. Nice and cold. But her stomach still gurgled uncomfortably.

Pinkie laid there in her bed, trying very hard not to think of anything. Not even parties.

She needed to get back to normal as soon as possible. It was what she was. Nothing could take that away from her, not even the demons of Tartarus. But after all she'd done, would it feel like a step down?

Only if she allowed it to be.

Pinkie wanted to sleep on it. It was all so exhausting, so tiresome. But thoughts wheeled in her head of memories in the past and conflicting ideas of the future.

She decided to try something the other ponies had done.

"Faust?" Pinkie paused. "Or Luna, or whoever's in charge of this?"

There was no reply. Pinkie nevertheless continued.

"Help me find peace," she whispered. "I've done so much. Can you please do this for me?"

There wasn't any voice in her head. But Pinkie did noticeably get more relaxed.

The thoughts were still there. But they were not arguing with each other. They were still.

In fifteen minutes, Pinkie dozed off.

Carousel Boutique was a sight for sore eyes.

Rarity paused before unlocking it, gingerly pushing the door open, and stepping inside. Switching the lights on presently revealed all inside, still as pristine and untouched as before.

It seemed like a lifetime ago when, within these walls, Freedom Fighter revealed himself for the first time.

Rarity wished she could go back to that time. It was a simpler life. A more peaceful one. When they were all blissfully ignorant.

Spike's head pushed itself around her side. "Wow. Home, sweet home."

"After long last," Rarity murmured. "Finally, life can get back to normal."

"Well, not really. Things have, ah, changed," Spike said, and from the way his eyes shifted between him and her, she assumed he was referring to them being an item.

"But for the better, Spike," Rarity made clear.

"So, uh, speaking of which, do you think we can make out for a little bit?"

It was his first relationship, after all. He was so awkward, it hurt. But Rarity liked it that way. "Oh, you're so forward, darling," Rarity babied. "But I'd prefer the house to be empty before that happens."

Spike shrugged. "Fair."

"Sweetie Belle?" Rarity called. "Sweetie, are you there?"

"You really trusted her to be all right on her own?" Spike asked.

"Of course not. I hired a foalsitter."

"Who?"

Rarity was silent.

"Who was it, Rarity?"

"In retrospect, perhaps Derpy wasn't the best choice."

"You hired her?"

"She was cheap and willing, and I didn't have the time to consider my options while I was preparing to go into the mirror portal," Rarity defended.

"Sweetie would be the more capable one. And you told me once about how she burned orange juice. I can still barely believe it. She managed to outdo…"

"Yes?"

"Outdo Firestorm at… burning food," Spike finished, looking far more somber than before.

"Oh," Rarity cooed. "There, there. Darling, put him out of your head. He'd want us to live in the present. Let's not dwell on… unfortunate circumstances. Let's instead enjoy the gift he gave us."

Spike sighed and folded his arms. "I won't keep him out of my head. He deserves to be remembered."

"And he is!"

"But fine. I'll-" He stopped. "Fine."

Rarity trotted over to her usual station and adjusted herself on her stool. She scanned the table for her little red glasses before finding them and putting them on.

"What are you doing?" Spike asked. "And don't say, 'I'm baking muffins, Spike, what does it look like I'm doing?'"

Rarity decided to ignore the additional reminder of pre-adventure Firestorm. "I'm… sewing."

"Just like that? Getting back into it?"

Rarity tinkered with the sewing machine. "Well, darling, I came home to get back to normal, didn't I?"

"Well, sure," Spike said, watching various materials float over to her in a blue glow. "Ever thought about doing anything else?"

"Spike, would you like to know a secret?"

"You can tell me anything," he reminded her.

"I sew because it gives me something to do and not think about so much. I'm so good that I can be absorbed in it without being too busy."

"So you want to take your mind off everything that happened?"

Rarity considered it and sighed. "...That's part of it."

"I understand. Although I can't relate. I prefer more manly stuff. Like weightlifting, or driving tanks, or ruling an entire nation."

"You? Weightlifting?"

Spike huffed. "Two out of three isn't bad."

"Well, if you insist. As for me, sewing's… perfect for me. There is nothing else I would rather do."

Spike came beside her. "Besides the obvious?"

Rarity gave him a wide-eyed look and blushed. "Well, um, yes, Spike."

"Did I say something?"

"You-" Rarity started, then laughed. "Oh, you are so cute!"

She bent over and gave him a kiss. "You really have gotten taller! Look, you used to need to reach over this table, but now you can rest your arms on it."

"Testosterone does amazing things to a dragon," Spike admired.

Rarity giggled. "Let's go with that."

Spike rolled his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ah, nothing, Spike," Rarity waved off. "Although it doesn't diminish everything about you. Noble was right. You've become a paragon of courage. You have done some rather impressive things that, I admit, I never expected from you."

"Out of everything, winning your heart was one of the hardest," Spike made known.

"That's very sweet of you, Spike. But it took the most horrid conditions for me to see it. I suppose that says a lot about me."

"Well, now we're in paradise," Spike said. "We get to sit back and enjoy ourselves in the world we preserved."

"What are you talking about? I'm still going to have to work. Speaking of which, could you give me that spool?"

Spike picked it up. "Under one condition."

"No fair. Come on, give it."

"Atatata." Spike held the spool of blue thread far out of Rarity's reach. "Ask."

Rarity pouted. "Oh Spike the Brave and Glorious, anything you wish of me, I'll give!"

Spike actually blushed at that. "Can we kiss again?"

"That's… really all you ask of me?"

"Uh, sure? Do you want to give more?"

Rarity put down her glasses and pinched Spike's cheeks. "Spike, you really ought to know that whenever you ask for a kiss, I will always give it."

Spike shyly grinned.

Their lips had no sooner touched than the door rang open, jolting pony and dragon. In came a grey mare with a nappy blonde mane. Her unfocused eyes squinted at Rarity.

"Am I seeing things?" she asked. It was loopy and high.

"Derpy, you simultaneously see more and less than any other pony I know," Sweetie Belle's voice replied from behind her.

"Wait, wait, wait," Derpy said, widening those eyes. "It is her!"

"Rarity?" Sweetie Belle followed up, emerging into view. The filly gasped upon seeing both of them.

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity exclaimed, maneuvering around her work bench and meeting her galloping sister in an abrupt embrace. "Oh, my goodness! You have no idea how much I've missed seeing you!"

"I'm sure I don't," Sweetie replied, patting her older sister on the back. "I can't remember the last time I've seen you this happy."

"What about when you finally got your Cutie Mark?"

"... Fair point."

"I just… I've seen a lot over the past few weeks, or months… I can't even keep track of it! But at the end of it all, you're still here!"

Sweetie looked uneasy. Rarity knew exactly why. So often, she had to run to Rarity for support. Now that it was reversed, she was unsure.

"... So, does this mean the job is over?" Derpy mentioned from the side.

Rarity broke the embrace. "Ah, yes. And I suppose you'd want an issue of payment. What was the agreement again...?"

Derpy told her.

Rarity whistled. "Wow. Are you… sure?"

She was.

Rarity made an indistinguishable sound before relenting. "The Element of Generosity," she muttered to herself. "Here, I'll just write you a check."

"I never thought I'd see this place again."

"I'm happy you do. So this is where I'll be living as well?"

"Well, not just yet!"

"Right, right. Still have to, ah, get married first."

"Stop talking about it so much! It'll soften the proposal!"

"Fluttershy, we both know it's going to happen. Only problem is when."

"Celestia just kind of sprung it on us."

"Was marriage not the plan before she gave permission?"

"Well, no. No, I-I was th...thinking about it. It's just…"

"Look, I get it," Noble quickly dispelled. "Sorry. Would you prefer we talked about something else? Look at this real estate! All things considered, you got off pretty well!"

"Stop being so… ugh, silly!"

"Fine, fine."

Fluttershy crossed the small bridge leading to her home. After many weeks, it still remained in the same condition as when she left. She had given the job of feeding the animals to Scootaloo, who needed the money. But she was concerned about her animals nonetheless.

She came up to her door and pushed it in. The familiar sight of her furniture made homesickness kick in, even though she was already home.

The animals were creeping slowly out of the shadows. Most of them probably couldn't believe it. She was back!

Fluttershy came in completely, and all sorts of small furry animals assaulted her legs and clung to her. Several doves landed in her mane. Fluttershy obediently and happily stood still as the animals welcomed her back in their own way.

There were still some animals out back or in their own habitats that she could go to. But this would have to do for now.

The leader of this particular troupe bounced up to her and tapped his foot rapid-fire before bounding into her chest.

"Good to see you too, Angel," Fluttershy crooned, stroking his back. "Hope you didn't miss me too much."

As Fluttershy scanned the room for the rest of the animals, her heart gave a jolt. There was a scramble of long black legs in the shadows! Something was moving in the back corner!

"Noble!" she exclaimed. "Get in here! Help!"

He was by her side in a second, startling some of the animals off her legs. His head swiveled from one end of the room to the other. "Where?"

Fluttershy shakily pointed into the corner. But upon focusing and blinking some more, she discovered that there was nothing there. Just a lamp with an open umbrella beside it. Fluttershy felt stupid.

"I thought… it was a Nox," Fluttershy weakly defended. Big and scuttling and scary.

"Hey. It's okay," he reassured. He held her by his side. "This is something that goes away with time."

Fluttershy nodded to go along. How long, Noble didn’t say.

Fluttershy hated the idea of the trauma the adventure would cause later on. She already wouldn’t forget any of it. She didn’t need boogeyponies behind every closet and creatures skittering just outside her peripheral vision to remind her of the horrors of the trip.

“For now, let’s just… relax. There are no more monsters.”

“But-”

“Honey. It's all right.”

The nickname did take her mind off her imagination. He was true. Nothing could hurt them any more.

“Okay,” she agreed. She even smiled. “We’re okay now.”

It had been so long since he had seen them. But he owed them this much.

Freedom Fighter’s hoof hovered above the surface of the door. The hum of a cello emanated softly from behind it. Then he gave three hard raps.

He was just outside the split house of Vinyl and Octavia. With luck, both of them would be home.

The music cut off. But instead of coming to the door, Octavia yelled at it.

“No, thank you! We don’t want any more recruitment officers, music commissioners, or vacuum salesponies!”

“And what about very old friends?” Freedom Fighter replied.

This time, Freedom Fighter heard trotting. With a quick unlatch, the door swung open. Octavia Melody was standing starstruck in the doorway, gazing upon his perfect countenance with awe.

“I have a lot to apologize for,” Freedom Fighter admitted.

“Freedom Fighter?” Octavia asked, eyeing him up and down. “Wow. Oh, my-what happened? When I saw you at the Gala, you were covered in scars!”

“They healed. With some help. Is Vinyl home? I want to talk.”

Octavia leaned her head backwards. “Vinyl! Freedom Fighter’s back!”

It only took a few seconds of mad running from the other end of the house before Vinyl Scratch emerged into view, her headphones and green-tinted glasses askew. The glasses which he had bought so long ago, and simply looking at them reminded Freedom Fighter of other times.

Vinyl slowly took them off and planted them in her vivid blue mane. The headphones hung around her neck. “Oh, my…” she started, but couldn’t finish.

“Hi,” he introduced himself. He even smiled.

Vinyl gulped audibly, not blinking. “You…”

“I know. I’m different.” He pulled at his skin. “Looks way better on me, right?”

Octavia backed away. “Erm, I’ll just put on some tea.”

She left, and Freedom Fighter and Vinyl Scratch were alone.

“Dude,” Vinyl whispered.

He nodded. “Okay. So, first off, that tape you gave me? The hybrid music mix you did with Tavi? That’s gone. I am so sorry. I'm not sure when or where. Might have gotten lost in the sea-"

Vinyl put a hoof to his cheek, stopping him. She traced his jawline.

"You're back," she said. Without warning, she thrust herself into him and hugged him tightly.

She didn't care about the stupid music! She cared about him!

Vinyl let go and fell to all fours. "I mean… wow, dude. Look at you." She whistled. "Who knew you packed these kinds of looks?"

"I did," Freedom Fighter answered. "Before it was taken."

"How'd you even heal?"

"I bear an Element of Harmony." He tapped the white circle in his forehead. "Right there."

"Like a key in a lock," she commented. "Where is it now?"

"With the others. Twilight's holding onto them all in her castle. I won't have to be so far away from it anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sleeping there. I don't have a permanent home."

Vinyl leaned on her doorway. "Well, why didn't you say anything sooner, dude? I could have let ya sleep here free of charge. Mostly."

"No, see, I'd rather stay with Twilight."

"Why?"

Freedom Fighter's eyes shifted. "I've… grown pretty close to her."

"Oh." Vinyl sounded nervous. "Like, how close?"

"I'm her boyfriend."

Vinyl took a step back. Her scarlet eyes were wide and couldn't meet Freedom Fighter's.

"... Hey." Freedom Fighter felt a sneaking suspicion grab hold of him. "Are you all right?"

Vinyl sniffed and wiped her nose. "Yeah. 'm fine. Just… Man, I wish I'd made my move sooner."

"Oh, my gosh," Freedom Fighter said. Did she really…?

"L-look, dude, it isn't as though I'm gonna make trouble," Vinyl was quick to say. "I want you to be happy, you know?"

"Yeah."

"I just… I wish I could have gone with you."

"Trust me on this, I'm not so sure you do. Peril and whatnot."

"I could have grown closer to you. You were the first guy in a long, long time to really be interested in me. I thought about you for so long while you were out. Do you think… in another life, in another time, do you think we could have…?"

"Maybe," Freedom Fighter allowed. "But we're not in another time, and we only get this one life. You gotta get out there and move on."

Vinyl nodded. "It just isn't fair. Every time I'll see you with Twilight, it's gonna--" She made a spilling motion with her hoof.

"I know the feeling." All too well. How would he feel if Twilight had been taken by, say, Flash Sentry? "But you have to get past this crush. Please. I want to stay your friend."

"We're still friends," Vinyl affirmed. "I mean… We weren't a thing before, and we still aren't now. Really, nothing's changed. We're lucky it stayed this intact."

Freedom Fighter was impressed. She was taking it way better than he expected.

"... I really won't forget you," Vinyl promised. She played with the shades lodged in her mane. "Not after this."

"Is that good or bad?"

Vinyl's lips twisted. "Dunno yet." She swished her mane. "Anyway, I should just be glad you're finally happy. If anypony deserves a happily ever after, it's you."

"Tea!" Octavia's voice rang out. She came into view carrying a tray of two teacups with her magic. "Would you like to stay for some?"

"Actually, I'll have to get going," Freedom Fighter excused. "Twilight's expecting me. Sorry. It was really nice seeing you both again."

"Same for us!" Octavia assured him. "Come over soon?"

"I'll see what I can do," Freedom Fighter promised. He was already down the steps and onto the road. "Take care of yourselves!"

Octavia and Vinyl waved to him until he was a very good distance away. As he reoriented himself and set off at a brisk canter back to Twilight's castle, his mind buzzed.

If he had stayed in Ponyville instead of going on that quest, he would have very likely gone with Vinyl over Twilight. And he would have been happy with her. But when it came to Twilight… he would have gone on the trip all over again if it meant being with her even more.

In the privacy of his own mind, Freedom Fighter did consider a life with Vinyl. An alternate reality, a what-if. But that's all it would stay as. He cast it away after brief contemplation. Ultimately, everything he ever wanted was right in front of him. He would not throw it away for Vinyl.

It sounded cruel, even to him. But he just didn't feel that way.

Twilight was his responsibility.

The final piece of jewelry was gently laid on the display. Twilight adjusted some of them on the red velvet.

“It’s fine,” Tempest encouraged.

“I know,” Twilight said, shifting the Element of Honesty so it was straight. She lifted the glass cover with her magic and laid it over the tilted display stand. The Elements were surrounding the upright sword of Noble Blade, with Twilight’s crown at the hilt.

“I saw one of these with the Storm King,” Tempest said. “It was used to display his armor or clothes. I assume you used it for the same purpose before this?”

“Not really. When I wear clothes, I pick from a closet.”

“Hmm.” Tempest nodded. “For being a princess of Equestria, you sure don’t act like it. Princesses are supposed to be spoiled in wealth.”

“I pick my clothes from a closet and put them on one hoof at a time just like everypony else, Tempest. I appreciate the consideration, but being called humble for doing the bare minimum?”

“From a certain point of view,” Tempest muttered.

Twilight turned away and looked around. The library was as complex and full as ever, and Twilight loved it that way. She sighed and plopped into a nearby seat, and for the first time in a long, long time, Twilight felt her seat give way. It was like she was sinking. After nothing but sitting on rock and dirt, this was a strange transition.

“Would Her Majesty like a book to read?” Tempest drily offered. “You’ve finally finished the house tour.”

“I still have to get your room ready,” Twilight reminded her. “You can have Firestorm’s.”

Tempest’s face twisted for a second, but she nodded. Twilight knew sharing a dead pony’s bed wasn’t comfortable.

Starlight was gone too. Without a pupil, what use would Twilight have?

Unless…

“Tempest?”

“Yes?”

“Would you like to learn actual magic?”

Tempest’s eyes flicked up to her broken horn. “I don’t know how to tell you this…”

“Your magic is still within you,” Twilight reminded her. “It’s only the conduit that’s broken. If we can recalibrate your attunement to magic and make it more focused, I’m confident we can work through that disability.”

“Disability,” Tempest repeated. Twilight wondered if she had used the right word.

“We’ll never know if we don’t try,” Twilight encouraged. “I want the best for you, Tempest.”

“Why? Cause Starlight’s gone now? You sure you’re doing this for me?”

“For all three of us, actually. If you want to help me honor her legacy, Tempest, I beg of you to learn magic.”

“I thought I already had magic. The magic of friendship. Friendship is magic.”

“Fine, then don’t learn it.”

Tempest blinked. She gave a glare to her horn. Then she softened it when looking to Twilight “You sure?”

“We’ll find out.”

Tempest sighed. “Fine. I’ll… try.”

And Twilight felt her heart leap in her chest. A second chance! A challenging opportunity! And a way for Tempest to heal!

“Now are you actually going to show me where Firestorm’s room is, or are you going to just stay there all day?”

Twilight shook her head. She must have had a strange expression. “Uh, sure. If you’ll follow me…”

A knock drew her out of her reverie. But a visitor was the last thing she wanted.

“Rainbow?” came a voice from behind the door. It was Twilight. “Can I come in?”

Rainbow groaned. She was sprawled on the bed, hugging a pillow. Before, Rainbow’s pride wouldn’t have allowed Twilight to enter and see her in this state. But they had all been in a similar state like this. Rainbow reluctantly lifted a hoof. “Fine.”

Twilight entered and quickly shut the door behind her. At least they were alone.

“Do you need anything?” Twilight offered. “Some water?”

Rainbow shook her head.

“Anything you want?”

“I want him,” Rainbow choked out.

“...Is everything all right?”

Rainbow glared at Twilight. Tears were in the corners of her narrowed eyes. “No.”

After a competitive moment where neither looked away, Twilight was the first to do so. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you here?”

“I just showed Tempest her room.”

“You mean the one Firestorm’s sleeping in? The one down the hall?” At least Twilight hadn’t made her stay in the same place Firestorm had. Insult to injury!

And it occurred to Rainbow that she spoke of him as if he was still here.

“Firestorm’s gone, Rainbow.”

Rainbow knew that. But she couldn’t accept it.

“I’m concerned for you. I don’t want you to be like Freedom Fighter was, all shut in his room and sullen and silent, doing… that ritual to his arm. I understand that you need some time alone. But I also want to look out for you. I can’t bear the thought of seeing you in this pain. Let’s try to recover from this, okay?”

Recovery scared Rainbow. It would mean moving on from Firestorm. Saying he didn’t exist any more.

“Rainbow?”

She tiredly nodded. “Whatever you say.”

“Soon during the week, I’m going to go out on the town. I’d... really appreciate it if you came along.”

It was bait, and both of them knew it.

“I’ll see how I feel,” Rainbow replied. It was barely an answer at all. And she intended on not going.

“Rainbow, this isn’t you. Where’s the friend I made?”

“Why don’t you ask Firestorm?” she spat.

There was an awkward pause.

“It’ll be harvest season soon,” Twilight prompted. “And something tells me the Apples are still going to make some of that sweet cider you love.”

Rainbow mumbled. Thinking about Firestorm was way better than some stupid drink!

“And Pinkie’ll make some of those delicious cakes for the parties she’s going to plan. Are you really going to miss out on all the fun?”

Rainbow’s ears drooped. If she had to. But… did she?

“And I bet Fluttershy is going to invite you to some of those petting zoos. Are you going to give up the opportunity to hold a lamb? It’s as soft as a cloud!”

“Clouds are made of rain particles,” Rainbow automatically corrected.

“But they’re still soft! You nap on them all the time!”

“Because they’re cool and loose,” Rainbow replied. “Especially in the hot sun. It’s a way to cool me down.”

Twilight nodded. “You’re the expert.”

Rainbow’s chest felt a bit looser from the praise. She sat up on her bed, setting her pillow aside. “... How long do you think this is going to take?”

“It depends on you,” Twilight replied.

Turmoil sprung to life in Rainbow’s head. Which was truly best for her? To go on suffering? Even if it wasn’t necessary, it would show Firestorm how much she loved him! Or could she let go of him? Did she have that courage?

Rainbow didn’t respond immediately.

“I’ll go and get you some water,” Twilight offered, making her way to the door. “Let me know when you’re feeling better.”

“Twilight?”

Twilight paused right before she was opening the door. “Yes?”

“...Can we go to Sugarcube Corner tomorrow?”

Twilight’s face lit up. “Absolutely! I’ll pay. Anything you want. In the meantime, try to get some sleep. I have it on good authority that Luna is planning for us to have our best dreams yet.”

So she could still see him. Even if only in dreams. But could she get to sleep at all?

Twilight shut the door, leaving Rainbow how she was before. This time, she felt truly alone now that she knew Twilight cared for her.

Her advice was sound. She was the know-it-all. Sleep might do her good. After all, she'd barely had any in the past thirty-six… or was it forty-eight hours? Rainbow couldn't tell. It all seemed to blend together.

She flopped into her mattress and shut her eyes. But all that seemed to plague her mind was the thought that Firestorm wouldn't hold her as she dozed.

Rainbow pulled on the blankets. It wasn't the same. Now that she knew the feeling, she couldn't forget it.

She needed relief. More than anything else in the world, Rainbow wanted-

Peace.

The word drifted into her mind without a voice. The feeling spread over her limbs. Her mournful thoughts were still in her head. But they didn't cause her to tremble.

"Faust?" she asked with a squeak. "I-is that you?"

Be still. And know that I am Faust.

"... Please," she nearly begged. "I don't want the pain."

And the prompting came into her head: she didn't need it. She didn't have to suffer over this. Firestorm was gone. But he was in heaven. There was nothing to worry about.

"... But what about… me? How can I go back to normal? How do I move on?"

Friendship is magic.

Though it had been said many times by many ponies, it hit Rainbow in that moment with enough force to nearly bring her to tears.

She buried her face in her pillow and shut her eyes. Incredibly, her breathing slowed. As Rainbow became more and more limp, she actually managed to give a slight smile.

And finally, Rainbow drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Ninety-five: Heaven

View Online

Dear Princess Celestia,

I'll try to send this as soon as Spike wakes up. He's been spending a lot of time at Rarity's recently, and he's even slept over a few times. I've told him the rules, but how am I supposed to know if he follows them?

Life's gone generally back to normal. Ponyville regained a lot of its pre-war energy. Ponies are out doing their own thing. This town has been under siege so often that the end of the world just seems like a slightly-harder event. They pick up their baskets and go to market and carry on.

We're all doing good, by and large. Applejack and Pinkie and Rarity go and work as usual. Rarity talked to me about it and said she doesn't know what else to do except return to the default. Rainbow's still staying in my castle, though. Firestorm's death really hit her the hardest. I can't blame her. What if Freedom Fighter died instead?

Speaking of which, he's very sweet. We still need to set up a meeting with the family so dad can give his blessing. But I'm not nervous at all. Since the end of the war about a month ago, he's simmered down. He's trying to apply for a job at the quill and sofa store. Not because he needs the money, but because he wants something to do. I told him that I'll have all the money we both need, but he's just not content staying in the castle all day.

Noble's also trying to adjust to civilian life by helping out with Fluttershy's animals. He and Fluttershy are just about to propose this week. They would've done it earlier, but they decided to do a few more dates to warm up to their life, make a buildup, that sort of thing. Tell Scorpan he'll be needed soon to officiate.

Finally, Tempest Shadow's started her first lessons on magic. She hasn't used magic since she was a filly. And without a horn, it's really tough to even levitate something without burning it to ashes. But if anyone can teach her, it's me.

I hope you're doing all right. It couldn't have been easy for you. As for me, I still occasionally feel a sting. So many ponies have died in front of me. This can't just be washed away. I'm grateful to Luna for keeping my dreams somewhat peaceful. And I've been distracting myself during the day by helping Rainbow and teaching Tempest. But sometimes, I'll feel this flash of pain and remember the faces of Sunset, or Starlight, or some of the creatures I've killed. I've killed, Celestia! Who doesn't see their faces?

Fluttershy mentioned how she sees things that aren't there or hears things that remind her of certain events. And that perfectly describes some of the things I've dealt with. I just wish I could get over it. If I can't get over it, does that mean it's too serious, or that I'm too weak? I'm sure I'm very strong, but am I strong enough to deal with loss?

I hope Chrysalis isn't presenting any problems. You've got enough on your plate already with rebuilding Canterlot and Manehattan and Griffonstone. Tell Shining Armor I miss him.

Yours truly,

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight yawned as she put down the quill. It was getting late, and her eyes were drooping with weight. Rereading it, she felt woozy. The words on the page didn't seem to be going anywhere. Her head started to bend.

She suddenly felt a weight on both her shoulders, and she was shaken in place. "Sleepyhead."

"Hey, Freedom," Twilight acknowledged, bending her head up. Sure enough, his golden head was there, smiling down at her from behind her recliner. "Is it really time for bed already?"

"I can't control the sun. Yet. Who knows, maybe I'll unlock that power in another epic quest."

"Until then, I blame Celestia," Twilight said, setting her journal aside and getting onto all four hooves. It felt so good to pull her muscles when they were in place for hours at a time. She groaned after some stretching, then slumped in place. "I don't wanna go to bed."

"It's just in the other room."

"But the recliner's right here."

"I can't snuggle you in the recliner."

"Oh?"

"There's more room in the bed," Freedom Fighter quickly corrected.

"It does sound nice," Twilight conceded. She began to trot across the library, but when she turned her head to encourage her boyfriend to follow, Freedom Fighter was just staring at her with surprised eyes.

She followed his gaze. It was on her rear. She rolled her eyes. "I know you like it, but you've seen it so often."

"No, it's…" He pointed.

There was a flashing in her peripheral vision, and she craned her head to examine her flank better. Her Cutie Mark was flashing.

She immediately looked at Freedom Fighter's rear. His Cutie Mark was flashing as well.

Their gazes locked. A question hung between both of them, but it was soon discarded as the two of them instantly made for the door to the castle's throne room.

Tempest Shadow was already there by the time Twilight and Freedom Fighter hurried in. She was between two of the crystal thrones, with her face an inch away, examining the holographic Cutie Map with fascination.

"What is this thing?" Tempest asked, tapping on it. "And what are our Cutie Marks doing?"

The marks of all nine ponies, along with Spike's face, were revolving around the holographic model of Twilight's castle. Tempest's mark was that of the deceased Storm King: two curved vertical lines, like a pair of horns.

Twilight, taken aback, could only say, "I'm… not sure. Um…"

With a swoosh and a sudden draft of air, a blue blur swooped into the castle and did a single loop before settling into her seat. "All right, what's the big idea, Cutie Map? Why'd I need to be woken up in the middle of the night for--huh?" Rainbow squinted, bleary-eyed, at the map. "What's…"

"You and me both. I don't know why the map called all of us, let alone here in the middle of the night!"

"So that's what it does," Tempest inferred, nodding. "It takes you guys on missions?"

"More or less," Twilight confirmed.

"Huh. Then what's so big that it needs all of us to solve a problem here at the castle?"

"We'll find out," Twilight reassured her. "There's a couple of really cool stories about the map, though. The first time we were all called to a spot on the map…"

Tempest tilted her head as Twilight broke off. "What?"

"It was when we met Starlight," Twilight muttered, and the mood in the room quickly froze over.

"Okay, then let's not talk about that," Tempest quickly said. "Are there any other stories?"

Twilight, after a moment, gave a curt nod. "Sure. We've got time."

While Twilight regaled Tempest with the stories they'd had with the map, the rest of the ponies gradually assembled. First, Pinkie bounced in, not displaying any signs of fatigue. Then came Applejack, who was naturally used to waking up early. Noble Blade and Fluttershy followed next, keeping to themselves as conversation filled the throne room. Finally, after more than an hour, Spike and Rarity entered, the two of them still rubbing their eyes. Rarity's mane was in an unbrushed mess, but her green mud mask was off.

"What on Equus-" Rarity started, but stopped upon seeing the holographic map. "Here? Now?"

"Apparently so." Twilight's gaze returned once more to the baffling indication. "There isn't a friendship problem between you all, is there?"

Negative noises and shaking heads filled the room.

"Maybe we're going to find out another mystery," Rarity proposed. "Like when we first discovered there were ten Elements." She turned to the pony standing beside her. "What do you think, Fire… storm?"

Rarity froze. Twilight did, too, and gradually, all the ponies were staring right at the figure by Rarity's side.

Firestorm was there, whole and clear as day. He was a little fuzzy, though, and transparent.

"Oh, I have no idea," he casually said, examining his hoof. Then, after noticing all eyes were turned to him in shock, he indicated the table. "What? Pay attention."

"Yeah," Starlight said, suddenly right between an astounded Twilight and Tempest. "You're about to meet her."

"She sent us," came a third voice, from an orange unicorn on Twilight's other side. The mare had yellow and red hair, and an orange coat, but she was more recognizable to Twilight as a human. "We came to say hello. And goodbye."

Their eyes snapped to the table immediately, and blinked as they focused. The entire surface of the circular table was the bottom of a pillar of light extending all the way to the ceiling. Standing in the light was a white alicorn, shining with divine authority. Her maroon mane curled and swayed behind her.

“My children,” Faust said, and a smile graced her face. “You brave, wonderful children.”

Twilight’s throat closed up. Her head turned to the dead ponies in the room, and despite her inability to speak, she took measured breaths. She turned back to Faust. “Mother,” she got out. “Are they… really…?”

“Trouble yourself no more with their fates,” Faust assured her. “Their spots in heaven are filled. When you die, if you endure in virtue, your spots beside them shall be filled as well.”

“Faust decided we could pay you a visit,” Starlight said, coming closer to Twilight. “We’ve been very busy.”

“Busy?” Rarity asked, locking onto the ethereal vision of Firestorm, who was moving among them. “What could spirits be busy doing in heaven?”

“We’re teaching,” Firestorm answered. “And learning. A lot of spirits died without knowing about mom. And there’s a lot to unpack that our heads just couldn’t understand.”

“Where…” Twilight looked around. “Sunset? Where’s Flash? O-or the Sirens?”

“He’s not Equestria’s Flash,” Sunset answered. “It’s complicated. And the Sirens are being taught. They couldn’t make it. Trust me, though, they’re with us.”

Sunset was on her right. Twilight turned to the left. There was Starlight. And finally processing that the two of them were reunited made Twilight halt in place once more and look to the ground. Her wide eyes formed tears.

“What’s wrong?” Sunset asked warmly.

The tears spilled over, and Twilight fell on the table and wept into her arms like a baby.

“Hey, hey,” Starlight encouraged, coming less than a foot away from her. Her voice was just the same as always. “There, there, Twilight. I’m really here. But… not here. Hard to explain, I know, but…”

As Starlight and Sunset started to comfort Twilight, Faust’s eye turned to Tempest Shadow, who had been watching the scene with a poorly-maintained poker face. Upon noticing her mother’s focus on her, though, Tempest slowly rotated to match the focus on her.

“My daughter,” Faust said, reaching out with a hoof. “I am so proud of you.”

Tempest, inexplicably, blinked back tears of her own. “... Mom.”

“You’ve accepted it?”

“I have,” Tempest said, bowing her head. “I can’t chalk you up to a fantasy any more. If you are God, I’m glad you’re the one.”

“I am not just a Goddess,” Faust said. “I am your mother, and I have watched over you. You have served me well, my daughter. You have risen above all the trials this life could give you. Be at peace concerning your fate. You are free.”

Tempest’s lips were pressed together hard to stifle noises coming from her mouth, but her crooked smile and running tears spoke more than words ever could.

Meanwhile, the ghostly form of Firestorm was facing the rest of the ponies.

"How are you even here?" Applejack asked in awe. “I-I admit, Ah’m not privy ta the inner workings of heaven.”

"Faust just allowed it," Firestorm answered. "I've actually been all around you for some time. But Faust gave us permission to pass through the veil and, ah, come within comprehension of your puny little mortal eyes."

"Where's yer halo? And yer little angel robe?"

"I used my halo as a ukulele to roll through the golden gates of heaven," Firestorm said exaggeratedly.

"...You mean a unicycle?" Rarity clarified.

"Yeah, that's it."

“How’s heaven?” Spike was asking. "Is it everything you hoped it would be?"

"Are there a ton of parties up there?" Pinkie interjected.

“Oh, that? It’s fine and all, I guess it could use some air conditioning-it’s heaven, my guys,” Firestorm responded, smiling. “It’s perfect. I can't even describe how much better it is there. There's no pain. No suffering. No worldly troubles. Even your mental problems go away! I'm not reta-well, not as retarded." He broke into laughter.

“Good to see you’re enjoying it up there,” Rarity remarked.

“I’ll feel even better when you come up here too,” Firestorm said. He quickly waved his arms. “N-n-not that I’d encourage you to die or anything! Take your time, please.”

“I’m glad you’re back to normal,” Freedom Fighter expressed. He winked. “Or at least as normal as what counts for you.”

“I’m glad to see you’re not as normal as you once were,” Firestorm quickly fired back.

“Got me there,” Freedom Fighter admitted.

After some subdued laughter, Noble stepped forward. His head was down, and he rubbed his arm. “Listen… about Nevermore…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Firestorm assured him, waving it aside. “It was my own fault for being so blind. I said a lot of those things to hurt you because I thought you had hurt me.” He rolled his eyes. “Although not all of it was a lie. But still, still,” he got back. “You’ve been a great friend to me. The reason it hurt so much when I thought you betrayed us was because you mean so much to me.”

“You really mean that?” Noble choked. His eyes kept drifting to Firestorm’s lower chest, where his mortal wound had been.

“Noble, I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it. You have been a light to my surroundings. I wanted to be a lamp for your own path, is all. Sure, you, uh, killed me, but I gave you a reason. Now, please, as a friend. Don’t linger on that. Move on from me. Find new friends, new warriors. Hey. I hear Flash Sentry would make a fantastic student!”

Noble nodded, but didn’t respond to that. Instead, he lifted his arm as if to hug him, but stopped himself and sighed.

“Be with me,” Noble whispered. “You’ve been a part of me for so long. I don’t know how I’ll… keep on going without you.”

”You’ll see me again soon. We can talk all you want about your sins once we don’t need to worry about them any more.”

Noble nodded, wiping an eye and smiling. “Glad to see you’re the voice of wisdom as always.”

“What can I say? I’m a spirit. I can’t lie.”

He gave a sardonic little curtsy to Noble Blade, then finally turned to Rainbow Dash.

Both ponies approached each other, afraid to touch.

“Hiya, Dashie,” he whispered.

Rainbow broke into a sob. “How can you just say that?” she demanded. “You finally come back, after weeks and weeks, and I’ve been… crying and breaking in half day after day, and you just waltz in and-”

“Hey, hey, Rainbow,” Firestorm quickly hushed. “Shh. I didn’t…”

“No, it’s okay,” Rainbow assured, breaking off from her diatriade once she saw his reaction. “Just… when you called me that, I…”

“I understand,” Firestorm said, nodding. “Sorry.”

“No, I am.”

“You know what? You’re right.”

“...Hey, wait a minute!”

“You said it!”

“Listen here, mister, if you were really here, I’d… mess up that stupid mane of yours so it gets in your eyes!”

Firestorm gave a goofy smile. “Yeeahh… You think it’s hot.”

“Oh, you-” Rainbow started, then broke down and laughed. She took a deep breath and let it all out. “Oh, I’ve missed you!”

“Me too!” Firestorm exclaimed. “I wanted to go back, I really did. I love you so much. But I had to stay. I could cheer you all on, though. Go team! Smack that bad guy!” He turned to Spike. “By the way, before I forget, nice job. I’m really… legitimately proud of you for taking up my Element.”

Spike sheepishly shrugged. “Ah, it was no big deal.”

“I…” Firestorm turned back to Rainbow. “I miss you, Rainbow. I’ve felt so alone.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you!” Rainbow agreed. “But I-I’m confused. You’re here, but you’re not going to be, and… Stormie, what am I going to do? Until I meet you again, wh-what am I gonna do as far as… well, another guy goes?”

“That’s not up for me to decide,” Firestorm was quick to say. “Far from it. You get to choose.”

“...I can’t just pick somepony else, can I?” Rainbow asked into the void. “Wouldn’t you… I dunno, be hurt?”

“I want you to be happy, Rainbow,” Firestorm assured her. “And being single your entire life won’t make you happy.”

“But I can’t just… move on,” Rainbow said doubtfully. “Right? I can’t just put you out of my mind. You’re the most amazing pony I’ve ever met!”

“I’m very flattered to hear that,” Firestorm said. “How ‘bout making somepony else feel that way, huh?”

“No,” Rainbow complained. “No, I can’t…”

“Rainbow,” Firestorm said, but nothing more came out.

More silence befell them.

“...Tell you what,” Firestorm proposed. “No matter what, this much’ll be true: I’m waiting for you. You’re the most wonderful pony I’ve ever met, and it wouldn’t be heaven if we didn’t see each other.”

A pale tear ran clearly down Rainbow’s cheek. “I love you. So much, it… hurts. I want to stop hurting, but I don’t want to let go. I don’t know what’ll happen when I see you again. I...”

“What is grief, Rainbow?” Faust asked from behind her.

Rainbow turned, looking up into Faust’s eyes. They couldn’t linger, though. “I don’t know…”

“Grief is enduring love,” Faust proclaimed musically. “And the love you have is strong enough to last between the veil of life and death. I declare this day, Rainbow Dash: you will know love again.”

Rainbow collapsed into a sobbing mess. Fluttershy knelt beside her and squeezed her from the side, and Applejack, noticing it, did the same on the other.

Tempest didn’t know where to look. The scene going on just felt too personal for her to witness. So she deliberately rolled her eyes to the side, trying to focus on something else.

“Hey. Tempest.”

Starlight’s voice made her turn. She was right there, away from Twilight, who herself was talking with Sunset Shimmer.

“Starlight,” Tempest said, nodding. “Good to know you’re… safe and sound.”

“Me too,” Starlight sheepishly admitted. “I can only imagine how I looked as I… deteriorated.”

“How did it feel?” Tempest whispered.

“Like I was stepping into an old home again,” Starlight answered confidently. “One moment, I felt everything fade away in pain. Then… relief. Like standing beside my fireplace.”

“I’m glad,” Tempest assured her.

Starlight nodded. “I saw it all happen, by the way. You took up my mantle so well. I just…” She floundered for a moment. “I can’t even begin to say how… proud, and relieved, and…”

“You don’t need to,” Tempest quickly cut off. “Really. It was all thanks to you anyway.”

“Tempest,” Starlight said, gesturing at the crystal table. “Please. You’ve earned a seat at this table. More than I can say I have. And don’t you dare think you’re not worthy. You’ve fully redeemed yourself.”

Tempest nodded, unable to speak.

“When you use your magic,” Starlight said, “please think of me. The best part of the last few days of my life was getting to know you. It gave me the strength to persist.”

“Don’t…” Tempest wiped an eye with a hiss. “Stop saying stuff like that.”

“This is my only chance,” Starlight murmured. “Allow me this much.”

Tempest nodded once more in resignation. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Starlight waved aside. “You just... perceive this overwhelming feeling as a bad one. You never were one for showing feelings, right?”

“It showed your enemy a response,” Tempest explained. “Gave them weapons to use against you.”

“We love you, Tempest,” Starlight assured. “We’d never use you like the Storm King did.”

That truth, one that Tempest treasured so intimately, was in the open, and Tempest’s tears flowed freely now.

"Sunset," Twilight whispered. The pony was so unfamiliar. The human was what Twilight always thought of.

"I'm… finally home where I belong," Sunset said. She spread her arms, looking around the map room. "In Equestria? Sure. But… oh, Twilight, coming home to heaven! Everything hits you at once, and you remember it all, and the entire thing just… it's overwhelming in the best way possible."

Twilight was smiling. How could she not? Sunset was happy at last!

"I was watching it all. After I got comfortable with my surroundings in heaven, I saw your trip on Equus."

"Were you not allowed to interfere?"

"Not… directly. I couldn’t pop out of heaven and give you guidance. But I want you to know… you weren't alone."

“I was never alone,” Twilight told her. “I always had them.” She gestured to the rest of her friends. “But you’re… special. I could connect with you on a level that they just couldn’t reach. Sometimes, despite them all being there, I really did feel… isolated. Like no one could understand me the same way you did. So… thanks. I think I feel a lot better about that.”

“Same here,” Sunset affirmed. “The only other pony I might relate to more than you is maybe Starlight. When she arrived, I was the first to greet her. She’s my newest friend.”

That was when Twilight understood at last what death really was. Not a barrier. But a gate.

Friendships could transcend death.

Sunset motioned as if to reach for Twilight, but she stopped herself. “You changed my life, Twilight.”

Twilight’s heart somersaulted. “I’m… happy I did.”

“We get to finally talk again. But… not forever. We’ll have to get going soon.”

“Wait,” Twilight implored. “Before you do… I need to know. When can I see you again?”

Sunset tilted her head. “It… depends. Now that Solaris is defeated, angels are visiting Equus more frequently. I might be able to visit a few times. But I’m not sure when. Or if. This might be all you ever get.”

“Until I come up there too,” Twilight said. Tears were gathering in her eyes.

“...If this is all we get,” Sunset said, “then what are we going to talk about?”

Neither pony answered. But it was almost better than talking. Nothing needed to be said.

“Children,” Faust’s gentle voice eventually rang. “We must be going.”

“How long has it been?” Pinkie exclaimed. “It can’t be over so soon!”

“Just a bit longer!” Rainbow pleaded.

“No, she’s right,” Starlight told them all. “We belong in different homes.”

Final goodbyes sounded off for all the angels. The ponies waved, calling for their welfare. Pinkie, distinct above the others, promised she'd try to write. Nopony knew how it would work, but no one asked.

Sunset, Starlight, and Firestorm hopped onto the table and gathered around Faust’s outspread wings like chickens under a hen.

Once all three ponies were inside the pillar of light, Firestorm spoke for the final time.

"You know," he said, taking in the survivors. "That was a fun adventure, wasn't it?" He adjusted his mane and looked at the ground. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat if it meant I'd be with you."

A soft smile was on everypony's face as the angels glowed ever brighter. With a flash, they disappeared, and the room was back to normal.

Right outside, Celestia's sun was rising over Ponyville. The new day had come.

And at long last, all was well again in Equestria.