Chapter IX
It was coming. They charged up, and used the magic of the Elements against it. Some of the black substance its body was made of fell, but it didn't slow it down for even a second. What was this? It was supposed to work. The Elements of Harmony were the strongest magic know in the world. This shouldn't be possible.
They raised a shield, together. It roared, making the earth tremble beneath their feet, and hit the shield with one of its arms. It cracked, just like that. No way, no way. It hit again, cracking it even more. The cracks were spreading around the shield like spider webs, and it didn't look like it was going to last much longer. One more strike made it crumble down, and then…
They scattered, trying to avoid being crushed to dead. But it didn't even pay attention to them. It ran through the forest, towards Ponyville.
"We have to stop it!" Rainbow Dash.
A half forgotten memory came back to Twilight's mind. Something she had seen when she had been submerged in Edward's mind. It was not quite clear, but she had what she needed from it.
"Its going to kill them." Twilight said, in a hushed tone, as if she couldn't quite believe it. And she couldn't. She didn't understand the reason for it, only the rage and hatred surging from it. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."
Only silence meet her declaration. She closed her eyes, and concentrated. Flying was a sub-optimal solution. There was a sound like a crack, and she teleported them, into the centre of Equestria. She feared that her spell would backfire, but judging by the voices, she was not wrong. She opened her eyes, and saw the giant coming, making its way to the forest.
"I going to get Celestia and Luna." Twilight said. "Try to minimize damage as much as possible. And please, take care."
They just nodded. They had no time for words, not now. She took a deep breath, concentrated, and teleported again, to the castle. Her appearance startled the castle's guards, but there was no time for property, either.
"Canterlot's under attack!" she screamed, using magic to amplify the sound of her voice, as she went searching for the Princess. She came to Celestia's throne room.
"Under attack of what, Twilight?" Celestia asked.
"I… I don't know what's wrong, but this… this monster… its coming to kill you. And your sister. And I..." I had to leave my friends behind to warm you. That's what she wanted to say, but she didn't. There was no time for indulging in such feelings. "I… I don't know what to do."
It was the truth. She simply didn't know what do now. She felt a fear only comparable to when they had fought Nightmare Moon, but it was greater. Because, she couldn't see a way out of this, even with Celestia and Luna fighting together with them. It was strong. Too strong. And even if it was defeated, even if they managed to win… that monster would scar everybody. That wound wouldn't never go away, and it would never heal.
"Monster?" Celestia's lips curled into a thin line. "What exactly it is… no, we don't have time for that. I'm going to get my sister. Go back to your friends, do the best you can. We will be there back you up, soon enough."
"Y-yes." she nodded eagerly. That didn't sound like much of a plan, but it was a direction, so she clung to that in her desperation. Celestia and Luna would turn the tables. She convinced herself of that.
She teleported away, back to Ponyville. What she saw was the scene of a nightmare. The screams, the ponies running desperately, the raising fire and a sickening scent, the scent of dead. Buildings broken, and above it all that monster, fighting against her friends. They threw everything they had at it, trying to push it back, out of the way, into a place where they could fight it without hurting anybody. But their attacks barely slowed it down, let alone move it. And the more they fight went on, the more Ponyville suffered for it. She flew to them.
"They are coming." Twilight said. "Don't worry, they are coming. It's going to be okay."
She said that in her best attempt of calm tone, as if to convince herself. They fought it, pushed it back, slammed it down into the earth and attempted to bury it, if only to buy everybody some time. It roared, releasing magical energy from its body in a massive explosion that got it free, and pushed them back.
"This is not working, nothings working!"
"I know!"
Celestia and Luna appeared before them, shining even in the dark night, like beacons of hope. But could they change anything? Twilight was not sure, and that was what scared her, most of all.
"We can't beat it." Celestia said, and Twilight felt like her heart could have stopped, right there and there. "We have to separate it from the vessel."
"Sister, this… this is Discord." Luna said. "I know it. I can felt it."
"Discord? But how..."
"I don't know. But its him. You know it is the truth."
She wanted to ask who that thing was, she really did, and what did it have to do with the two of them. But she didn't.
"What can we do?" she asked.
"Hold it down." Luna answered. "We will take care of the rest."
If we can. But, that didn't matter. They had a plan, and thought she didn't know what it was, that fact reassured her. This thing was not the unbeatable monstrosity she had thought it was. She used a spell to pin it to the ground, completely stop its movement. It wouldn't last for long, but hopefully, it would be enough time.
Celestia and Luna flew, up to its chest and… they began parting the darkness of its body, digging deep. They had said, that they had to separate it from the vessel. Edward. They were taking Edward out. Could he still be alive, after being inside of that thing? The monster roared, and trashed with great force, enough to break the spell. It grabbed Luna and slammed her against the ground. Was it… Yes, it was adsorbing Luna's magical energy. She drew in a breath, and let out a bone chilling scream.
A blast of Celestia's magical energy slammed the monster down, to the ground. She used it, once again. She poured as much magical energy as she could into it, even when it started to hurt and she felt her bones bending from the pressure of the flowing magical energy. Celestia and Luna went back into attack. They dug into the darkness, while she held the monster down with all her might. And, finally, they took him out. The darkness dissipated since it didn't have a place to go, without leaving a trace.
They went back into the castle. Celestia teleported them, which was good. Everything hurt, though the monster hadn't never managed to hit her. She felt kind of like a glass statue, so she couldn't have teleported herself to the castle, let alone all of them. She had been worried about it, but even though he was in a deep sleep, he was not dead. She could see his chest raise and fall as he breathed. It was a small mercy, though. What had happened tonight wouldn't never heal.
The Princess told them about Discord, about what they had to do and what did it have to do with what had happened. She only gained the story of Discord. She already knew the rest, since she had entered Edward's mind. She looked at him. She hoped things would go back to the way they were, but it was not so simple. They had seen him. They had seen him come out of that thing, so…
The Princess leaded them to a statue of a dragon, and made them use the Elements Of Harmony to destroy it. This would put down Discord for good, and she was gland of that. He had already done enough damage. Then, they woke up Edward. She watched as he slowly opened his eyes, slowly adjusting to the light. He looked at them.
"Where I am?" he asked, his voice trembling a little. "Who… Who I am?"
