"Tirek." Everyone within earshot shied away. The voice was nothing but anger and hatred. "You picked the wrong people this time." The centaur turned leisurely, seemingly enjoying this monologue.
"Oh, did I? I think I've picked quite the paradise. So much magic to steal, and all the time in the world to do it. And I can't possibly express how grateful I am that you last three containers of magic have come to me. Chasing you all down would have been quite the hassle." Day's End stepped forward, pawing the ground in anger.
"If you want my power, you can pry it from my cold dead hooves. Until then, I think I'll smack you around a little." Tirek laughed.
"Really? You plan on going hoof to hoof with me in your condition? I'll be amazed if you last a minute." Day's End chuckled.
"Do I look stupid, Tirek? I think we both know I'm the strongest person here, but that's not to say I'm the only one who's a match for you. I might just lend Twilight enough of a hand to finish you." Tirek rolled his eyes.
"Of course you will. Actually fighting for your family yourself would be too much strain on your old bones." End's body bulged and the ground beneath him began to crack. "Be careful now, old timer. You wouldn't want to hurt yourself." Day's End turned to Twilight.
"You and Discord get ten minutes. If neither of you can finish this, I will." They both nodded. "Good. Now go before I get too twitchy." Twilight was the first to step forward. Tirek stood upright, cracking his knuckles.
"Excellent. A nice big dose of Alicorn energy to start off with." They both disappeared into thin air, reappearing thirty feet above. Twilight seemed to be fighting almost entirely with magic, while Tirek was taking a more physical approach. Sparks and shockwaves blasted from the battle scene, but nopony was gaining the advantage. "Good, Twilight. Now try THIS!" Tirek raised both arms and smashed Twilight down straight into the ground like a volleyball. Discord leapt between her and Tirek.
"Rest, Twilight. I'll handle him." Tirek threw his head back and laughed.
"Apologies, Discord, but you're the low man right now." Tirek leapt forward and smashed Discord across the field, pinning his head into a tree. The spirit of chaos pulled himself out and launched a blast of magic from his hands, obliterating the ground where Tirek stood. As the smoke cleared, Tirek was still there, not a scratch on him. "Really now? Is that the best you can do? In that case, this is barely even worth it." Tirek teleported directly in front of Discord and grabbed him around the neck. His jaw gaped open and power began draining from Discord. He kept it up for almost a minute before a kick from Twilight smashed him into the distance.
"Discord, how much did he get?" Discord's eyes were blurry, but he managed to speak a few squeaky words.
"All of it." Twilight gulped, waiting now for the inevitable.
"Twilight, take Discord and get out of here." She turned to Day's End with an incredulous look on her face.
"It hasn't been ten minutes yet. I can still wear him down some. You've got to let me stay and fight!" Day's End shook his head.
"I was foolish to bring along Discord. Now the price of my idiocy must be paid. I can handle Tirek alone. You just get everypony you can into a sturdy shelter. I don't plan on holding back." Twilight gasped.
"But with your body in the state it's in..."
"I know what will happen, Twilight. I've known it would come to this since before this battle began. Just...just tell Luna and Dusk Star that I'll miss them." Twilight bit her lip, doing her best not to cry. "There's no time. He's on his way back. Go." End's voice was completely level, the opposite of earlier. Twilight lifted Discord onto her back and teleported away just as Tirek skidded into the field.
"TWILIGHT SPARKLE! Come back here! You will fight me!"
"Tirek." The centaur turned to Day's End, steam blasting from his nostrils. "Twilight is the least of your worries. You're fighting me now." Tirek's face relaxed and grew smug.
"Really. You're actually going through with this?"
"You bet your life. And trust me, you're going to need every ounce of that confidence." Tirek stuck out his chest.
"Am I? Show me what you can really do, then." End's eyes closed and a field of magic formed around his body. His horn let off silver sparks as his eyes burst open and a scream flew from his lips. The aura around him grew immensely, tearing the ground into dust around them. The earth outside of the reach of his power shook, toppling trees and breaking boulders.
"What's he doing?" Luna's eyes bulged at her sister's words. For some reason it hadn't registered in her mind that it was her husband generating all that power. "He shouldn't be able to go this far with it, especially not with his body giving out. How is he pushing himself that far?" The castle began cracking and crumbling around them, huge chunks of brick and mortar falling around them.
"That's my colt."
"Incredible...He didn't even use this much power when he fought King Sombra, and that was when he was at his peak!" Twilight shook herself. "I've got to get back to Canterlot. The way he's doing this, all of Equestria is probably shaking like a leaf."
Day's End couldn't believe the pain he was capable of enduring. Nothing he had ever done had hurt this much, not even forcing himself away from Luna a thousand years ago. Images of her face flashed through his head, then came Dusk Star, then Scootaloo. Everypony he'd ever cared for was on the line.
"Impossible...Impossible!" Tirek's face was painted with rage and fear. "You cannot possibly be capable of gaining that much strength! Stop it!" Day's End did indeed stop. Light flew from his body, and as it faded there was a solid sliver Alicorn standing in the middle of a bubble of raw destructive power. He spoke in a deep, deceptively calming voice.
"So, Tirek. You up for round two?" The centaur grimaced, clenching his fists. His horns crackled with power as he spoke.
"Whenever you are." They both charged, but it was immediately obvious who the superior fighter was. Tirek fell back under a rain of crushing blows from Day's End, smashing through every obstacle in sight. He grimaced as wounds sprouted up on him, but his power kept him from collapsing entirely. Finally he swung a fist out at random and struck the pony, smashing him backward a few feet. "Ha...ha...ha...Not bad, but you can't hope to maintain that power long enough to finish me."
Day's End swallowed, doing his best to not look panicked. Tirek was right. No matter how much willpower he summoned, his maximum power would fail inevitably in five minutes, give or take twenty seconds. "Time isn't the issue here, Tirek. See if you can survive this, then you can brag." He rose into the air, his aura reasserting itself around him. His voice deepened as he groaned under the strain of his own power, and blasts of random energy beams flew from his horn haphazardly. "That's right, Tirek. This is your test. I've put everything I've got into this blast. Survive it if you can." Tirek closed his eyes and bent his knees where he stood, steadying himself for the impact. "BREAKER BEAM...FIRE!" A blast of immeasurable size flew from End's entire body, carving a canyon into the field they stood in. Tirek was lost in the light of the blast as it coursed past him, flying even past the clouds and into the open sky beyond the horizon.
"I'm alive?" Tirek questioned his reasoning as he began shoving rubble off himself. "That blast should have blasted me into Tartarus on a good day. Day's End must be slipping." He grinned at the thought. "Now, where am I?" Light shone through a hole in the rubble now, and Tirek jammed an arm through, crumbling the roof of his little cave and revealing none other than a ruined Canterlot Castle. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Princess Twilight. You have something that belongs to me." She looked weaker than before, she had obviously expended a lot of energy shielding her friends from the blast. All the better for him. He grabbed her around the neck, chuckling at her struggling, and drained every drop of magic from her body. Power coursed through him and his eyes bulged. "Incredible. This is what it feels like to control every ounce of magic in Equestria..." He sighed with contentment. "And this is what it feels like to crush those who have opposed me." He raised a hoof above Twilight's head, but just as he began to shove it downwards he was smacked in the face by an orb of energy. "Good to see you're still alive. I was looking forward to pummeling you into dust." Day's End stood in the doorway panting. Even such a small attack had taken everything he'd had, and it hadn't done a thing to Tirek. Even with all his fatigue, though, he managed a cocky grin.
"If you're feeling froggy, go ahead and take a leap." Tirek charged without another word and followed through on his threat. He grabbed Day's End by the skull and smashed him into the nearest pile of debris, demolishing it even further into particles whizzing about.
"You know what's sad, Day's End? You still think you can challenge me." Tirek lifted the Alicorn from the dust and flung him across the room. He was a mess, his mane matted with sweat and dirt. He smashed into the wall and fell to the floor, limp as a ragdoll. "Incredible. You're so weak it's not even worth toying with you anymore." Tirek chuckled as he spoke. He turned back to Twilight and picked her up by the head, his laughter growing ever louder.
"What's so funny?" Tirek's laughter faded away almost immediately. "Come on, turn around. Unless you're too scared to face me." Tirek turned his head, staring at a newly risen Day's End. His face was smug, confident, and rage-inducing. "You actually thought I was just going to drop dead for you? If that's the case, you're a thief, a liar, and an idiot."
"Obviously you never learned how to die in your thousand years of training. Let me teach you." Day's End shook his head, chuckling through his pain.
"You really are a fool. Let me explain this to you." His voice began to boom as his coat began to glow again. A flash filled the room, and when it faded there was a silver Alicorn in the center of the room. Tirek's eyes bulged and he stumbled back, tripping over debris.
"Impossible...NO! What are you!?" Day's End sneered, the hate in his eyes spreading through his face.
"I am the guardian of Equestria, in case you'd forgotten. Now, hold still. I'm going to crush you into a thousand pieces and personally escort you to Tartarus." End's eyes closed and his entire body began to glow even brighter. The entire castle was flooded with light as thoughts ran through his head. "Luna, Dusk Star, Scootaloo...This is for you. I give you now a new lease on life. Use it wisely. I love you all." With this last thought, the entire castle erupted in light as two lives met their end.
Well, it's done. I may do a final chapter on this one covering End's funeral, depending on what reviews I get. Also, if you wish to see what becomes of Dusk Star, Luna, Scootaloo, and the severely beaten Chrysalis, please state it. Should that become a thing, it will be presented as a different story, just so you know.