This was it. The true final battle.
This war had dragged on for far too long. Too many allies had fallen in the course of this horrible conflict. Too many friends. Too many sisters-in-arms. It had to end now. They had to win. For the sake of everyone that fell.
The odds were three to two in their favour, but the opposition was frightening. This final enemy was the sole reason their forces had been cut to near-nothing. On its own, it practically carved the path to victory with ease. But the remaining trio were confident in their success. They had justice on their side. They had their bonds. They had the hopes of everyone resting on their shoulders. And together, by combining all their strengths...
"Assume formation! Sunstaruna; combination initiate!" Screamed the winged, blonde warrior in a red and white dress.
"Unit Luna, forming!" Yelled the second winged blonde, her hair held in curls as opposed to the others' short twintails. The white-clad warrior stood upright, as another girl with long, black hair and a blue dress hopped onto her shoulders.
"Unit Star, forming!" the third of this trio yelled valiantly. Onto her shoulders, hopped the first of the group.
"And Unit Sunny! Sunstaruna, battle ready!"
The fearsome combination of the three strongest warriors radiated dignity and power. As it wobbled precariously on the unit designated as the legs, the opposition stood firmly and smugly, arms folded confidently as piercing blue eyes surveyed the combined warrior.
"Ha! Is that all you can do before the might of The Strongest?!" bellowed the monstrous foe, blue dress swaying slightly in the gentle breeze. At her side, a green-haired girl with a side-ponytail looked far less confident, standing closely to her partner.
"Um, c-can we really defeat them, Cirno-chan? Th-they're so big now..." The slightly shaking girl muttered. With gentleness that one would not expect from the demon-like girl in blue, she patted the head of the scared, winged girl, her own crystalline wings shimmering in the sun rays that managed to penetrate the forests' roof.
"You don't need to worry, Dai-chan. Our powers combined can easily crush them! Even if I could easily do it myself!"
"But-"
Cirno faced the wobbling tower of righteousness once more, grinning maniacally. "It's okay! We'll just beat 'em at their own game!"
Daiyousei's eyes widened in surprise. "You mean...?"
"Yup. Dai-Cirno! Combine!"
And with that, the two formed into the fearsome, terrifying 'Dai-Cirno'. While it was not as tall and imposing as the Sunstaruna, the justice-filled warriors realised this opponent was not to be trifled with. If one of the components to Dai-Cirno wasn;t a big enough clue, there was also the fact that it also had armour made of ice.
"...That's not fair!" Luna whined as she struggled to maintain balance, "Where's our weapons?!"
"It doesn't matter! We can win!" Sunny yelled confidently. "Remember all the sacrifices up until this point! Think of all who perished before this day! Their spirits are our strength!"
Roused by this magnificent speech, the Suntaruna was able to maximise its fighting spirit. The three gallant warriors prepared to charge their greatest foe, urged on by the memories and dreams of their brethren. They knew they could not fail this final clash.
The Dai-Cirno was ready, as well. Cloaked in a sheet of ice, the ultimate monster, Cirno, and her sidekick Daiyousei, were granted the strongest protection from everything that could be thrown at them.
The two opposing combined warriors faced each other, their spirits' clashing in an invisible war between them. They knew that, at the end of this clash, the Great Fairy Wars would finally end, once and for all.
Each took a wobbly step forward. Then another. And finally... they charged.
With a pained groan, Daiyousei opened her eyes slowly, vision steadily clearing.
Floating in the cold waters of the Misty Lake, she peered through the titular mist of the lake towards the sky, still blocked by the treetops. And the mist. She was momentarily confused as to why she was sleeping in the lake, but it slowly came back to her. With a startled gasp, she swung her body into an upright position and rose from the water, looking around desperately.
She saw something floating. Something blue. She immediately flew to it, grabbing it from the chilly waters. It was Cirno's ribbon.
Daiyousei understood immediately what that meant. During the final battle... Cirno... she had...
Gripping the ribbon tightly, Daiyousei fought back the tears. So they had lost, after all. Despite Cirno's claims and boasts, they were ultimately unable to win that battle. It... it had to be all her fault. If she were just a little stronger! Like, stage 3-midboss level...!
"Daiyousei!" someone called to her. Slowly, she turned her head to the source of the voice. A fairy. "Daiyouseeeeiiiii!"
"...Yes?" the green-ahired fairy answered sorrowfully.
The fairy saw the ribbon and gaped in surprise. "...Cirno's down?"
Daiyousei nodded.
"...Wow... then, that means..."
"We lost," Daiyousei muttered.
"you won the war! I can't believe it! Hey, everyone! Daiyousei won the war!"
Giving the excited fairy her most 'what the hell' expression, Daiyousei watched as several fairies flocked to her, shock and admiration in their eyes. They clamoured for details of the great conflict, and for her attention, while the suddenly-popular Daiyousei could only make confused sounds and stared blankly.
Eventually, once the initial excitement calmed down, a fairy exposited to her that, after the final battle, it was believed that all combatants had fallen. They had found evidence that Sunny Milk, Luna child and Star Saphhire had all fallen in battle, but they couldn't find Cirno or Daiyousei anywhere for a little while.
"And since you survived, that makes you the strongest fairy!" the exposition came to a cheerful end. Daiyousei was still horribly confused, mostly because it took her a while to actually process all this.
"...Um. Yay?" She finally said.
The fairies had a grand party that night. The war had finally come to a close, and all could return to peace at the Misty Lake and the Forest surrounding it.
...At least until Cirno remembered to pay back the loss.