//------------------------------// // Chapter XVI // Story: The Ending of the End - Love and Tolerance Edition // by StarlightisVERYcute //------------------------------// “Waaaait a minute,” Pinkie drawled suspiciously. “We DON’T have the Elements anymore?” “…That’s right, we don’t,” Twilight affirmed. “Sombra destroyed them months ago. Don’t you remember?” “Oh, I remember alright,” Pinkie muttered. “And you should too!” Rainbow stared at her. “Uhhh, what are you talking about?” “Really?” Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Ugh, never mind. I’ll just show you.” She stood up and trotted off with a quick murmur of, “I’ll be back in a couple minutes.” Fluttershy watched her go with a frown. “Oh, my. Was it something we said? I didn’t mean to offend her.” “It’s just Pinkie,” Applejack said with a little smile. “Who can tell what’s goin’ through her brain?” “I’m sure she’ll explain upon her return,” Rarity added. “Whatever it is, it must be quite important for her to go running off right as we’re preparing to face Grogar.” “Pinkie definitely has a reason for this!” Spike interjected. “I bet it’s like the parasprites, where she knew something the rest of us didn’t.” “Good point, Spike,” Applejack said approvingly. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t take too long. We gotta attack right with Starlight’s armies!” Twilight allowed herself a ghost of a smile. Things might be bad, but together, she was confident they could prevail. Or, at least, she found the alternative too unpleasant and unavoidable to linger on. Across from the Elements, the six students conversed in low voices. “What do you think Professor Pinkie is planning?” Ocellus asked softly. “Oooh, maybe some kind of top secret Professor Pinkie Party Superweapon!” Silverstream offered with a grin. “Maybe a giant confetti bomb!” Smolder chuckled. “Yeah, she’s just got a huge party superweapon lying around. Maybe she keeps it in her bedroom!” “Her secret party cave,” Silverstream corrected automatically. One by one, the students’ eyes shifted to appraise Silverstream. “Secret party cave?” Yona echoed, her face warped in confusion. “What friend Silverstream mean?” “Yeah. What are you talking about, Silverstream?” Gallus asked with a dubious raise of his eyebrow. “You know!” Silverstream answered playfully. “Her party cave where she has files on everypony in town and what kinds of parties they like! It’s under the bakery. C’mon guys, you know this!” Her five friends stared in disbelief. “Wait, you’re serious?” Ocellus asked. Silverstream nodded, and then blushed. “Oops. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to say anything. Uhhh, quick, forget it all!” Smolder snorted. “No way, Silverstream. I’m asking Pinkie for a tour as soon as this crisis is over.” “Files on what kinds of parties everypony likes?” Gallus smirked lightly. “Well, that could be useful. A bit of mild flattery on the professors never hurts.” “I can’t believe it,” Sandbar said in astonishment. “That’s so cool!” “What other interesting things about Pinkie’s do you know?” Ocellus demanded, her bug eyes bugging out as she leaned in towards Silverstream. “Oh, not much,” Silverstream answered. “Just that sometimes she talks to creatures who aren’t there, and she can move faster than Rainbow Dash, and her Pinkie Sense has never been explained by any of Twilight’s or Starlight’s magic… am I forgetting anything?” Gallus side-eyed Smolder and Ocellus. “Well, that’s good to know,” he muttered with a hint of a chuckle. “Maybe those talents will help us win.” “No kidding,” Smolder agreed. “That sounds awesome!” To a mortal pony, or even an eternal one like an alicorn, the flow of magic across the world was simply too vast to see. It would be like trying to see the shape of an ocean you were swimming in. But for a being like the Tree of Harmony, who saw through the eyes of Harmony itself, the shape was clear. Grogar’s spells spread like a venom through the veins of the world. They tore the ground to shreds, called up beasts long forgotten, and woke the departed from their slumber. And she did not know if they might have other effects, effects too subtle for even her to detect. In Tambelon, his city of nightmares, other mighty creatures walked. She sensed ancient forces long gone, and hints of disturbingly familiar magic. But so much ancient, toxic power clouded that city even she struggled to see clearly. Certainly there was the Pony of Shadows, that cruel entity who had spawned her planting, but many others crowded in among him. Some she feared she knew too well. The Elements of Harmony themselves, though, blazed like tiny suns. There was Fluttershy, her calm demeanor and infinite kindness impressive even to the Tree. Rainbow Dash, who bore courage, determination, and loyalty comparable to the mightiest heroes the Tree had ever known. Applejack, whose strength of character, integrity, and common sense anchored the team. Rarity’s soul shone with creativity, inspiration, and boundless generosity. Pinkie Pie, whose wellspring of humor had been put on hiatus as she trekked down into the Tree’s own roots for some unknown mission. Twilight Sparkle, the faithful student who had become the teacher and sage, and now matured into a master of problem solving and reconciliation. And Spike, her ever-ready scribe and confidant, who was always at her side. She smiled, a unique pleasure she had learned of upon creating her spectral form. It was true her parents the Pillars were a force to be reckoned with. But together, these six ponies and their dragon friend had grown even stronger than the Pillars. She was still unsure if Grogar could be defeated, but if he could, she had no doubts they would be the ones to do so. Pinkie bounded back into the room with a sly smile. “Look what IIIII~ got!” she said, extending a hoof to the group. Twilight looked into Pinkie’s outstretched hoof. She couldn’t see anything there. “Uhhh, what is it?” Spike asked, “Um, is it tiny?” Pinkie giggled. “No, no! It’s nothing. But it’s also not nothing!” She grinned. “Because the thing nothing is a thing but nothing isn’t a thing. That’s the thing, isn’t it?” Twilight looked at her, dumbfounded. A glance across her friends told her they were just as confused as she was. “Uhhh… maybe?” “Pinkie, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Rainbow said flatly. Pinkie rolled her eyes dramatically. “Exactly. It’s nothing. What I had to go get and show you was nothing. Because you already know this one! C’mon Twilight, you said it yourself all those years ago!” Twilight inclined her head slightly. “Go on, Pinkie. I’m still not sure what you’re talking about.” Pinkie rolled her eyes. “You really should know this one, Twi. It was your idea in the first place. But fine, I’ll hold out. Trust me; we’ve got the trick we need to win!” “Ah… Ah hope so,” Applejack said uncertainly, “but Ah just don’t know. Can’t ya be more specific, Pinkie?” “Oh, I could! But I don’t want to ruin the surprise. So I guess you’ll just have to trust me on this one!” Pinkie smirked. “You do trust me, don’t you?” Before Twilight could bring up any of her own issues, Treelight materialized before her with a calm smile. “Pinkie Pie is correct,” Treelight stated. “You ought to have more faith in your friends, Twilight.” Twilight could feel her breath catching in her throat. If this crazy miracle trick Pinkie has can actually work… “That is good news,” Starswirl said cautiously, “but that only puts us on even footing. Grogar still has his own Elements of Disharmony.” “Does he?” Pinkie asked with that same sly smirk. “I dunno about that! Either way, I think we should attack right when Starlight’s armies do.” “Agreed,” Rainbow nodded. “That’s our best chance to save the world!” “We’ll be ready,” Flash Magnus said with a cocky grin. “I owe Grogar some pain.” “Same,” Yona agreed. “Time to smash nasty goat!” “It’s settled then,” Applejack affirmed. “Yeehaw!” As Twilight and her friends deliberated over their tactics, another group not too far from them was in its own discussions. Four voices rang out: a guttural command, a saccharine lilt, a sarcastic and seductive murmur, and a flamboyant preen. “Midnight and Starlight must have failed,” Tirek said grimly. “Otherwise, we would have heard from them by now.” “So, what do we do now?” Cozy asked worriedly. A moment later, she realized the other three were all staring at her. “I thought you always had a plan?” Chrysalis asked with a raised eyebrow. “Normally I do, but no matter how I look at it this looks crazy. Even the worldwide army… well, Sombra, you saw firsthoof what Grogar’s forces look like.” She gestured towards him. “Do you think we can win against him?” Sombra frowned. “Well, with his army of skeletons under our control, likely. Without that, well, I don’t think it’s impossible, but I don’t like our odds.” “Then we need a new plan,” Tirek stated. “We could go into hiding,” Chrysalis suggested. “Strike from the shadows.” “Even if we could escape him,” Sombra commented, “and I don’t know if we could, we’d surely lose most of our allies. I think we have to strike tonight.” “Then we’d better go talk to Princess Twilight, huh?” Cozy said, a hint of a smile creeping back onto her face. “See if she’s got any brilliant ideas we missed.” “I agree,” Tirek nodded. “Let’s pay Her Highness a visit.” Sombra winced. With how powerful the tree is, eugh. This'll be dicey. But what choice do I have? Hide and hope Grogar never finds me? That's no life for a king. He nodded slightly and sighed. “Yes, let’s.” Chrysalis chuckled darkly. “It’s amusing, isn’t it? How much things have changed in the past twenty-four hours.” “Golly, if you told me that I’d be helping those students and the Elements, I’d think you were crazy.” Cozy giggled softly. “But here we are. Now let’s go, we’re burning moonlight!” As her friends reassured each other and discussed tactics, Fluttershy retreated to the far wall. It wasn’t that she wanted to avoid them; far from it, actually. She simply needed to commune with the natural world too. She closed her eyes, and listened. The dull howling of the bitter wind made it hard to distinguish anything else, and the piles of snow muffled everything else. But she still had a feeling something was amiss. She let her mind filter out the sound of the storm, and tried to pry into whatever was hidden behind it. There! A sharp clink-clink-clink traveled through the crystal and down to her ear. She spoke up, her voice soft yet not fearful, “Tree of Harmony, I think somepony is up there.” Treelight blinked one eye at a time. “I will go see if they are friend or foe,” she answered smoothly, and floated up through the ceiling. Fluttershy felt a hint of worry creeping across her chest. What will the Tree do if they're foes? Sombra trotted back and forth on the crystal floor with a grumble. When you don’t want to run into the Tree, she ambushes you out of nowhere and tries to annihilate you, he reflected, and the one time you do she’s nowhere to be found. His hooffalls felt too loud. Even amidst this blizzard, the high noise his metallic boots made was distinctive and obviously not natural. It gave him away, and he didn't like it. Beside him, Chrysalis hovered an inch above the ground, her buzzing inaudible over the wind. “Where are they?” she grumbled. “You said they were here!” “They were!” Sombra replied, his voice sharing just a hint of annoyance. “They should be right here!” “Maybe they decided to attack without us,” Cozy suggested. “I doubt it, but I really can’t figure out what else could’ve happened.” “I can tell you,” a calm voice, one that was both Twilight’s and not Twilight’s, replied. The Tree of Harmony herself gazed at the four of them, her radiant body equipped with a thin frown. “Tirek. Chrysalis. Cozy Glow. Sombra,” the Tree said evenly. “You each have destroyed much of Equestria at least twice. You are longtime foes of harmony and have proven highly resilient.” Treelight narrowed her eyes. “By right, I could turn you all into stone and leave you. Such an act would be just.” She paused, her expression softening just a hair. “But the Elements of Harmony advocated for cooperation and compassion, so I shall defer to their judgment.” Her body glowed with a brilliant white light, and the villains took a shared step back. The floor’s edges melted away into a spiral staircase down to the chamber beneath. One by one, the twenty heroes of Equestria looked upward at the new arrivals. “Well, hi there!” Cozy said, her signature cheer returning. “Sounds like it’s gonna be time to go soon, huh?” “Yeah,” Flash Magnus answered with a nod. “The armies Starlight gathered should begin their attack in about five minutes.” “Tambelon is warded with incredibly powerful enchantments,” Starswirl added. “Teleporting in won’t be possible. We’ll have to lay siege from outside.” Tirek grinned confidently. “That won’t be a problem.” “Don’t be overconfident,” Somnambula chided. “Grogar is the Father of Monsters. We have little doubt he’s called up horrible creatures.” “Perhaps I can dispel the remaining doubt,” Sombra offered with a flamboyant bow. “I saw Tambelon firsthoof. The Pony of Shadows has returned, as have several other creatures.” He waved his horn, and miniature versions of what he had seen appeared across the floor. “Is that… Nightmare Moon?” Smolder asked hesitantly, pointing to a cloud of inky black, pale blue, and burning red-orange with sinister blue eyes. “No,” Twilight answered. “But it looks like… like the field of magic that swirled around Luna just as she became Nightmare.” “It must be the Nightmare Forces,” Stygian answered, his voice heavy with awe. “I have heard rumors of them,” Stygian continued. “Ancient disembodied beings of malevolence. I suspect Luna called out to them with her bitterness and they answered her.” “So… what does that mean for us?” Rainbow asked, keeping a hoof to her mouth. “Too much anger, bitterness, envy, or other negative emotions might let them join with you,” Stygian explained. “And then you’ll become like Nightmare Moon. Filled with dark magic, and a threat to your friends.” “So be nice, happy, and satisfied” Gallus said with a smirk, “and they’ll be harmless. Got it.” “I believe so,” Stygian agreed, “but I can’t be sure. I have only read secondhoof accounts of them.” “Speaking of Luna,” Sombra added, “have you had any more luck contacting her or her sister?” Twilight’s eyes watered, and she shut them quickly. “No,” she answered, her voice thick. “We’ve heard nothing at all from them.” “I’m sure they’re just captured or something,” Spike said, patting Twilight on the back. Cozy didn’t need to be a master of manipulation to know he was lying. “We’ll beat Grogar and they’ll be safe again!” “Yeah!” Rainbow agreed, slamming one hoof into the other. “Grogar’s gonna regret messing with us!” Twilight took a deep, wavering breath, and then nodded. “Yeah. Okay, let’s do this.” She and Starswirl lowered their horns, magic spitting outward in bright sparks. The Pillars, the Elements, the Students, and the Legion all gathered into a large circle, and in a brilliant flash of light, they were gone. Twilight returned to her physical form amidst the raging snowstorm. High above, the ominous towers of Tambelon pierced the clouds. In an instant, she surveyed the field of battle. Titanic dragons bore down upon the ancient city. Surrounding them were flocks of griffons, hippogriffs, and pegasi with beautifully shimmering talons and weapons. Below them, the land legions of the yaks, the Crystal Empire, Saddle Arabia, and even the ponies and buffalo they’d liberated upon the way charged. Twilight felt a sense of awe creep across her. Never before had she seen such a massive force. Their enemies were far fewer in number; even the city of Tambelon itself was not densely packed. But each and every inhabitant practically radiated power. Tambelon’s frightful spires jetted higher than Canterlot Castle ever had, and flashes of electric blue and fiery orange-yellow light flared from the tallest. Something about those colors was all too familiar, but Twilight couldn’t quite place it. She scanned the lower city to see their foes. At a glance, Twilight spied a tall, pale stag, a huge dragon with slick black scales and glowing purple eyes, a foggy cloud of darkness, a goat cyclops reminiscent of Arimapsi, a changeling built like Chrysalis with purple accents, a gigantic cockatrice that glanced towards her— Twilight looked away. She’d had quite enough of being turned to stone for one lifetime. Against this army of nightmares, Twilight looked upon… her friends. Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Spike. Starswirl, Somnambula, Mistmane, Rockhoof, Flash Magnus, Meadowbrook, and Stygian. Gallus, Sandbar, Yona, Ocellus, Silverstream, and Smolder. And, finally, her new allies in Cozy, Tirek, Chrysalis, and Sombra. Evil they might be, but as she surveyed them, she felt something stirring in her heart. It was a sort of kinship, a bond she had formed from risking her life beside them. Loyalty. Bring it on, Grogar, she thought with a grin. Starswirl felt a current of strange magic flowing through his flesh. The dark towers of Tambelon, viewed through the eye of magic itself, were an inverted sun. Their blackened rays bathed everything in grim shades of dark magic, and each flare of electric blue or burning orange was a shard of obsidian stabbing the clouds. And yet Grogar himself was nowhere to be seen. Had he fled? Or was he preparing a final strike? “We must hurry!” he shouted hoarsely. “I sense the worst is yet to come!” “Watch this,” Rainbow said with a cocky smile. Her legs tensed like a rubber band, and she shot upward towards the battlements. The pale stag waved its antlers, and a ghostly white tree branch shot out to engulf her. Only a desperate last-second whirl let her slam into the wall instead of the cruel grasp of the tree. She groaned, and tried again, this time blocked by the black dragon. It opened its mouth and spat not fire, but a sickly green acid. Dash grunted. “Let’s try and punch a hole in the wall!” Flash instructed. “Flying may be too dangerous!” Rockhoof nodded, and whirled his shovel off his back. Tirek took a deep breath and braced himself. Applejack stretched her legs. Yona pawed the ground. The four of them unleashed their hooves and magic into one point. The night-black stone cracked, and buckled, and finally caved inward. A being of fire in the shape of a pony waited for them inside. It roared, and charged forward. Twilight lowered her horn and fired a beam of freezing cold, but the creature simply let a hole form in its body, and the ray soared through. Pinkie swept her hooves across the ground, spraying a wide wave of snow at the creature. A thick cloud of steam engulfed it. “C’mon!” Pinkie yelled over the roaring wind. “We don’t have to fight ‘em all, we just have to get to Grogar!” Mistmane swept up the snow into a haze behind them as they bolted inside. A glance over her shoulder told her the fire-pony had only been disoriented, not harmed, by the snow. It whipped upright and swiveled towards her, locking onto her position even through the thick fog. It must be feeling my heat, she concluded. As the team entered one of Tambelon’s courtyards, dread swept across Starswirl’s soul. Above them, on towers and walls, battlements and ramparts, stood at least a hundred monsters seemingly born of the worst nightmares. Each and every one was angling their horns, claws, floating orbs, eyes, or other dangerous organs towards him and his comrades. And then Dragon Lord Torch slammed into the castle wall with the force of ten earthquakes. Starswirl slammed facefirst into the snow. A volley of rainbow bolts sliced through the air above him, followed right behind by a swarm of ponies. They faced the gates of Tambelon head-on, and charged straight into them! The monsters now had to face an attack from every side. The dragons, griffons, pegasi, and hippogriffs assailed the upper reaches again and again, even as unicorns, earth ponies, yaks, and horses charged the fortifications from the ground. “Woohoo!” Rainbow cheered. “Now we’re talking!” An amorphous cloud of black fog swept forward. Sombra set his horn ablaze, and a stream of dark crystals hurled towards it. As it moved to dodge, Twilight nailed it with a flash of dazzling light. “Forward!” Starswirl shouted. “We mustn’t lose the advantage!” Queen Chrysalis darted forward, easily shifting forms to take cover behind statues, altars, and even snowbanks. The highest tower glowed still brighter, as shades of red, orange, and yellow clashed with black and electric blue. Twilight waved her horn, weaving a shield of purple light around them. “Amplify my voice!” Cozy murmured urgently. “I wanna talk to them!” Twilight nodded, and a spark flew into Cozy’s mouth. “Well, golly!” Cozy proclaimed loudly as she flew along, her voice slicing through the howl of the storm. “You sure are a bunch of powerful creatures. But it just seems kinda funny that you’re serving Grogar. Why should you listen to his orders? Aren’t you all proud, powerful beings yourselves?” “We are,” a silken, deadly calm voice replied from high above. “He does not rule us; he leads us. He is very wise, and we trust his guidance, but he is not our master.” Shivers ran down Chrysalis’s thorax. Something about the voice was oddly familiar, yet seemed wrong somehow. “Mhmmm, that’s right,” another hauntingly sinister voice added. Twilight came to an abrupt stop, sending Chrysalis facefirst into the shield. “Grogar helped us see what to do, and made us powerful! We know he has our interests and desires at heart. He is the Father of Monsters!” The assembled things cheered. Chrysalis glanced to Cozy, who looked very worried. Twilight was standing stock-still, her face stunned. “Who are you?” Chrysalis demanded. “What new monsters have Grogar created?” An alicorn flew forth from the highest tower. It was tall, beautiful, and moved with the perfection of a born ruler. A second followed her sister, and Chrysalis’s eyes widened. One of the two alicorns had the mane of a field of stars in the inky blackness of midnight; the other, a burning conflagration. One looked down upon them imperiously, while the other grinned wickedly. “Who?” the fiery alicorn asked with a laugh. “Why, the Queens of Day and Night!” Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker had returned. The sky exploded with magic.