A hand clamps on my shoulder. I whirl around and look at Lieutenant Albia.
"Sir! Captain Lucretia just collapsed on the ground!" My head darts to the left and right until I see her body surrounded by two other soldiers, who are stripping off her armor frantically. I kneel next to her. Her hair is still long and glowing. I press on it a bit. It's still soft but keeps its spiked shape. I can see her iris' glow under her eyelids. I look around as I hear her voice again.
"Raiden! What's...happening?! I...I can see what everyone sees at the same time! I...I can't control this!" Emeris gradually sits up and looks around.
"Lucy! Wh...how...what do we do?!" I ball my fists and slam them into my hamstrings in frustration. Our army was in shambles, we had a mission we didn't know if we could complete, and now this?! I take in a slow deep breath.
"Lucretia, I know this is hard for you right now and I can't even begin to assume what's going on, but we're in hell. Gather everyone here and we need to figure out what to do."
I can almost hear her hyperventilating in my mind.
"Wait...I...I can control some of them. This...it feels like my mind has no limits. Look I...trust me. Take my body with you and do as I say! We can finish this if we hurry! Zaran's desperate and he's attempting to carry his operation away! I know you're all tired but trust me; we can rest for a while once this is over! I believe in all of you! Dig deep and find just a little more strength for me! Please!" I look around and see everyone with confused looks on their faces. Was she speaking to everyone at the same time?! She can do that?! I let out a loud gasp as a familiar feeling courses through my body.
My muscles relax as if I had woken up from a long vacation. We sigh with relief at those gorgeous pink wings descending down to us. Cadence lands with an infuriated look on her face that she flashes to every soldier.
"Celestia and Shining are remaining behind to guard the Crystal Heart. We need to push forward immediately! Where is Lucretia?! I can hear her but I can't see her!" It all makes sense now. Lucretia existed in our minds. She could speak to all of us, or individually. A peculiar feeling in my gut tells me to advance forward, as if I knew what was coming. All my soldiers rise and look towards the forest. Two of my people carry Lucretia's body as we march.
I instantly knew where every Og Nag was and who was going to deal with them. A bizarre confidence settles across the field, as everyone knows their place and what's going on. There was no doubt or question about what to do.
We stop at a clearing in the forest. Ahead of us stood several clear tanks with a sickening green liquid in them. I recoil intensely upon seeing small wooden conveyors dumping bodies into the tanks. As I stare at the contents more attentively, I collapse to my knees. I see hooves, hands, helmets, claws, everything. That's how they did it, that's why there were never any bodies. Zaran had turned recycling into an act of war.
I hunch over and catch myself with my hands. These tanks were connected to some kind of odd machine that poured the contents into green sacks. These sacks were stacked off to the side, with Og Nag in various stages of development inside of them. Everyone shares my expression of revulsion. Zaran clearly had no boundaries when it came to this damn war. My eyes can't resist scanning further to the right. There's a large river that flows behind the tanks. Along the shore, continuing for farther than I can see, was a literal mountain of bodies.
I jump as a loud thud lands next to me. Spitfire and Soarin land with sunken eye sockets. They stumble a bit and eventually fall over. I scan the pile of creatures again and manage to pick out a single Wonderbolts uniform. Even a few Lancercore were mixed in. Several Garges with no armor carried massive shovels and threw several bodies at a time onto the conveyors which were being turned by the river's current.
Rising to my feet, I clench my teeth so hard that they almost bleed. I narrow my eyes to the point that it forces small tears out. I pull out my steel, ready to cut down the very fabric of time if that's what it took.
Four Timberwolves guard the tanks and snarl at us. Red drool pours from their mythical jaws. This time, fear was a distant stranger. Without a word, I sprint forward with eight soldiers ahead of me. They lock shields in a dead run, with four behind keeping their spears at the ready. The Timberwolves break towards us, their red glowing sockets staying locked directly on me.
The distance sounds of takeoff behind me are a momentary distraction. The Timberwolves close in quickly, but not fast enough. A dominating flash erupts in front of us. The Timberwolves howl as a single lightning jar is dropped in the middle of their small group. They pause and let out high pitched wails of pain. It was their last mistake. They get trampled by our shields. The four with spears immediately jump into the air, then slamming their spears into the beasts. Each soldier quickly maneuvers behind the head of the individual creatures, holding it firmly to control the trashing monsters.
We don't slow down upon reaching the tanks. All our force is put into the greatest shield bash we can muster, toppling the tanks into the water as they shatter. One by one, we destroy these abominations and send their remains into the river. The whistling of arrows to my right is a war trumpet, followed up by the sounds of loud howls of pain. Large splashes hit the water as the Garge's are put down and put down hard.
I know I should cheer as we examine our handiwork, but we can't. The bodies soak up any joy we could possibly have. I hadn't seen a mass grave like that since after the First Defensive of Taraska. We'd need tons of magic to move them. For now, all we could do is stare and pretend we didn't see the faces of our loved ones in the massive heap of death. The perplexing hive mind wears off as I hear Lucretia one last time. Her voice is faint and weak.
"I….can't…" I motion for us to fall back. We were done here.
The clanking of armor is the only noise as we jog back through the forest. I keep glancing over my shoulder, as Lucretia's body is back to normal, but completely still. I finally see what Cadence has been up to this entire time. Cy is on his feet, but hunched over. He has one arm around Cadence's neck. My eyes widen as I see a few dozen Taraskans sitting on the ground together. It was impossible, they had been dead for far too long. Had Cadence found a way to increase her magic?
The soldiers get up and quietly fall in line as we run past them. I wanted to know everything, but we had to leave immediately. None of us wanted to find out about Zaran's retaliation. I grind my lips together eagerly as Cadence trots up to my side, keeping up a gentle gallop.
"Luna and Celestia transferred most of their power to me. With enough magic, the deadline for resurrection goes out a bit farther." She looks down ominously.
"I...I'm sorry, I couldn't get everyone; I ran out of magic." Her eyes sag a bit from exhaustion. I know I should be grieving, but I'm numb. As if my brain decided it was time to check out, I jog along with nothing but what was next in our plan. My eyes can no longer focus on anything. My body is here, but my mind is done with the present. I don't need to look over to tell that every soldier feels the same. We were destroyed.
As Canterlot slowly comes into view, my blood starts to boil. I see every pony troop watching us from the ledge. Soarin and Spitfire fly over our heads and land with their troops. Some words are exchanged and a deafening cheer erupts. I pick up the pace and my people follow on my heels. My hands ache from being clenched into fists. Cadence must have flown off a bit ago once we left the forest. I should be grateful for the soldiers she saved, but all I can think of is the uneven battalions behind me.
My body starts shaking as we make our way up the winding path. Our pace quickens until we're moving as fast as one can while running up a hill. I glared up at all the ponies in their golden armor; completely scratchless and still plenty shiny. Our pounding armor is evenly matched from the ferocious grunts muttered from my soldiers.
As we reach the top, the traitors in golden armor trot up to greet us. One colt in particular stands in front. He's clearly had plenty of time to even wash the mud off his hooves. His eyes dart from me to everyone else in front.
"Is it really over?!" He yells happily. I march up to him and knock his coward ass to the ground. He's out cold. The other ponies start backing up with confused stares. I slam my arms to my sides and scream with everything I can. We charge them.
It's chaos as the remainder of Lancercore and technical are torn between trying to talk to us, and running back to the palace. They sure were awfully fond of running away. They pack the stairs, unable to accommodate every pony at the same time. The ponies at the back stammer and try to reason with our fists. One by one, we grab a pony, punch and kick them until they stop moving, then throw them to the side like the garbage they are.
The ponies finally make enough room and sprint in various directions, yelling in terror. My people pour into the entrance hall, and start smashing every table and painting they can. I hurl my helmet across the room. I tear off my chest piece and start slamming it against the ground as if I was trying to clean the anger from it like a ravenous carpet. Luna lands in the hall and erects barriers to seal off every hallway.
"Raiden! What is the meaning of this?!" I march up to her but hit a barrier as well. I slam a fist into it and stare at her with a glare that could start fires.
"Those cowards cut and ran! A quarter of my people are dead at least! Not to mention the ponies that stayed and fought!"
Luna stomps an angry hoof and returns my glare.
"Because they're ponies! They're not warriors! They didn't even finish training! What did you expect?!" I pace back and forth in short increments, not taking my eyes off Luna.
"I expected them to try, not commit desertion! I'm sorry for accidentally bringing the Og Nag here, but damnit we're trying and dying for you! And it feels like all we get in return is casualties!" Luna opens her mouth briefly but closes it then looks over her shoulder at a single pony guard who pokes his head around the corner.
Spitfire walks up from my left. She glances at me then sighs as she locks eyes with the princess.
"It's...it's bad your highness. Our casualties were catastrophic. No pony but Zaran can be blamed for this however." Misty Fly, a mare with a mix of teal and blue in her hair and tale, trots up on my right. Her yellow fur is littered with dirt which slowly drifts to the floor.
"Princess...everything went terribly wrong. There were several traps. Our aerial units got hit with some kind of magical flak. We couldn't even do recon. Without our guidance, our ground units were blind and disorganized. They're not cowards, there were little to no orders. I honestly don't know how things could have gone better considering the circumstances." She glances up at me then stares at the ground. I take in a breath and try to speak several times. All I can do is resume pacing. I knew I couldn't blame them, but my people were an endangered species.
"Raiden…" I whirl around and see Lucretia with her arm around Emeris's shoulders.
"I heard everything during the fight. We can't blame them. I know you're angry and we've had the worst losses yet, but the hard part's over. Keep that in mind…" She hunches over and holds the back of her head while groaning in pain. Emeris looks her over with worry. He takes off his helmet and hands it to the nearest soldier. His messy blonde hair almost covers his eyes.
"Princess, we need to see Starswirl please. We need to update him on some...developments." Luna eyes me carefully before dropping a field to our right. I don't look at her as we ascend the stairs in silence.
I pause outside the faded red door to Starswirl's room. I clench my hands repeatedly and take in deep breaths. I carefully raise my hand and knock. Starswirl opens the door and immediately beckons us inside upon seeing Lucretia. Emeris lays Lucretia on a small sofa before standing up and examining Starswirl and myself. Star walks over to Lucretia and sits down next to her. She's already snoring and lets her limbs hang carelessly.
Emeris sighs and leans against the wall.
"Star we've had some developments. First off, Lucretia apparently got her element as well. From what we can notice, she can both communicate with nearby life forms and even control more simple ones. She took possession of a Garge and used it in combat briefly. She kinda...got overly taxed from the whole thing though. Is she going to be okay like Raiden or do we need to be concerned?" Star looks at Emeris and chuckles a bit.
"She'll be fine. Your bodies aren't used to magic like us ponies, so it will take time to acclimatize to it all." Star leans over her, his horn flares white and he traces some symbol in the air. Her body glows briefly and she shifts her head to face a different direction, still keeping her eyes closed.
"I've given her a small pain reduction spell for now to help her rest." Emeris looks at the ground for a moment then sighs.
"Star...I tried conjuring my abilities again and couldn't. Is this something we can control or not?!" Star rubs his chin and walks across the room to his desk and sits down.
"Well, I've been giving it some thought from what I've seen on my travels and I think I've learned something a bit off. It seems the elements in each realm are...different in more than one way from their counterparts. In Equestria, the elements are granted to gifted ponies at the right time for the right reasons by the Tree of Harmony. The same goes for the good human world. It seems the elements reflect the general "vibe" of their home world. Your elements however seem to...have specific tastes. I'm theorizing that each element has their own personality. From what I can tell, it's as if they want to be entertained. They find a being with the qualities they admire, and then release themselves when that being is in a situation to express that emotion. How were you feeling in that specific moment Emeris?"
Emeris rubs his left arm.
"Honestly...the first time it happened, I was willing to die to protect the civilians. It's all I cared about. This last time...I was trying to conjure it with more as a last resort. Don't get me wrong, I was plenty fired up, but I was more scared than anything." Star nods a few times sympathetically.
"It could be that your elements want you to put your lives on the line first before you're granted power. And I mean really on the line, not just doing it because you think you'll be fine. Even then, Raiden here had to get beaten pretty bad to even conjure a fraction of Zaran's power."
I place my hands on my hips.
"We can't be that different from our human counterparts can we? I certainly don't feel evil and I'm sure Emeris doesn't either." Emeris nods and agrees with me out loud.
Starswirl sits on his haunches and rubs his chin.
"It's….evil isn't necessarily the right word but it's the closest word we have. Evil is simply the outcome of your actions, not your true motives. You might torture someone needlessly, which is certainly evil, but your motive might be to look tough so you don't get targeted. Look...there's something I need to show you three." He gets up and walks over to a large orange orb the size of my helmet. His horn flares white and he rubs it a few times. A brick building appears in the view screen. We all gasp and lean forward. We see people, but they're completely different from us. Emeris shakes his head with an open mouth.
"Star...what…" Starswirl sighs.
"This is what humans are supposed to look like. They're multicolored just like us ponies." I cock my head at the most unusual two girl I've ever seen. One kicks some kind of black and white ball up and down in a large grassy field. She has rainbow hair and teal skin. Her irises are a deep red. The other girl is sitting on some metal stairs to the teal girl's right. She looks down at some small box in her hands that shines light on her face. Her skin is an unhealthy, pale white. Her hair is long and purple, clearly groomed to a style. Their color reminded me eerily of the ponies. I turn to Starswirl.
"What is this?!" Starswirl glances at me then turns back to the orb.
"This is the good human world. These two will be element bearers one day. Their pony equivalents both get elements here, so it makes sense that it repeats itself in their world. Both the evil and good human worlds call their planet Earth. You Taraskans are in a very...different position however. I need you to do your best to relax and listen to what I'm about to tell you. The Nova you know is...in its own plain of existence on Earth. The rest of the world looks like this."
He swipes a hoof over the orb as his horn glows again. I see massive metal structures, covered in glass squares. Strange vehicles sail by outside at incredible speeds. There's not a tree in sight, as everything is covered in metal, glass or this odd gray material around the buildings. Between each structure is a black road with different colored yellow and white lines that these vehicles travel between. Star's eyes dance at the screen. The most peculiar thing is that the humans there look just like the humans I'm used to, with little change in color. Starswirl's eyes sweep over the scene in the orb.
"I believe that after millenniums of hardship, your species of humans have simply...faded their color out. As you can see, these humans are like you. Their color doesn't vary much, and seems to range from a form of pinkish-white, all the way to a dark brown, with shades in between. Same goes for your hair with a bit of variety in that spectrum. This is what the rest of the world looks like. Your realm is in this odd plain of existence where you cannot see or interact with the rest of the world, and vice versa. We believe the bombs you mentioned caused some kind of magical rift, shifting your version of the world into an alternate dimension. You see, from what I've gathered, your world stopped around the 1800s when the bombs first appeared. This caused your society to halt its technological progress. As the war spread and science stopped, you slowly adapted back to more primitive methods of fighting, since survival took priority over discovery. For the next few hundred years, your world would slowly be taken back over by nature. You would resort to melting down metals around you into weapons, slowly forgetting about the previous world. You still retain some former knowledge, for instance basic mechanics are still there which is how you made your Growlers."
Lucretia stutters a bit.
"So...we're actually behind the rest of the world?! And we're supposed to be...multicolored?!" I jump and look to my right at Lucretia, who gives me a large smile. Was she tougher than I gave her credit for? Starswirl faces her and nods.
"It is genetically within you to change color but it could easily take another few millenniums to develop those extreme skin variations again."
Emeris stands up.
"Those vehicles...I've seen something like them before on Nova, but without the color. They're also covered in vines. We often tear them apart and melt them down." He stares off for a bit.
"All this time...there was so much about our world we didn't know. So much going on behind the scenes…" I face Lucretia and Emeris, who gradually turn towards me.
"If you both don't mind, I need to talk with Starswirl privately. I need you both to figure out our army situation. We can ask more questions later, but for now our attention needs to go back to survival. They both nod and exit the room. Lucretia quietly sighs with disappointment as she closes the door behind her.
He looks over at me with a stunned silence. His momentary glance at the floor shows he still feels guilt. The silence continues briefly as I wasn't anticipating just how awkward this really was.
"The Og Nag...they're made from recycling other creatures." I say in a direct tone.
Starswirl's mouth hangs open and he slowly shakes his head with disbelief.
"That's...monstrous! It explains everything though. I had theorized he was growing them artificially." He shakes a few times impulsively. I take a deep breath before continuing.
"We went and saw it ourselves. He has huge tanks that he throws bodies into; ponies, humans, deer, anything. He can make an Og Nag in five minutes. I have no idea where he got the technology from, but it's sick and twisted." Starswirl swallows and his eyes dart back and forth as he thinks.
"Let's see...that's twelve Og Nag an hour, which is….two hundred and eighty eight a day! He...he could get a thousand in almost half a week! We...we have to stop it! That's why there's almost never any bodies! I had assumed they had washed out to sea, but I always had a feeling…" I cross my arms.
"Starswirl...I agree this is a problem, but we have a bigger one and it's time we talk about it." Starswirl looks down at his desk and sighs.
"You want to know everything about Zaran don't you…" I look over and sit down in an empty wooden chair. I sit up straight, giving him my full attention. He taps his desk with his hooves a few times apprehensively.
"I know what you might be thinking but-"
"You have no idea what I'm thinking. Enough games, out with it." I say aggressively. I didn't want to be rude, but it wasn't time for his guilt party. Zaran needed to be stopped. Starswirl's eyes glow white and the color in the room shifts to gray.
"I don't know if he can hear us from...wherever he is, but he certainly can't now. As I've told you previously, Harmony and I attempted to solve the "evil" problem. You were not our first test subject. In the beginning...we took both your pony forms and attempted to teach them how it all worked. At the time, both your pony equivalents were adults. After that failure, we went back in time and retrieved your human selves as babies and switched you-" I hold up a hand.
"You're jumping around too much. You said I wasn't the first test subject, just how many times did you try this?" Star glances at me again before taping his desk with his hooves.
"Thousands. You see, Harmony and I sat down and detailed the personality traits and genetics of our best candidates. We swapped numerous beings, finding out rapidly that it wasn't a simple switch. Too much evil and they drowned in it, eradicating any chance at becoming good. If there wasn't enough turmoil, they lacked the empathy needed to understand it. They had to suffer, and suffer tremendously, but not so much as to permanently break them. We tried over and over, finding just the right mixture. Eventually...we found Hurrand and Taraska. That's when we swapped you." I narrow my eyes in disgust.
"So you're telling me...you're responsible for the torture I received?! How...how many innocent lives are you willing to ruin for your experiments?!" Starswirl gets a bit defensive.
"Look, I don't think some young human is even remotely capable of judging me! Secondly, we went back in time after the experiments failed. Those beings never actually suffered!"
"If you could go back in time...why not stop Zaran from ever occurring?!" Star sits and thinks for a moment.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm trying really hard to dumb this down for you. To time travel, we "reverse" the particles in the universe for lack of a better term. However, it would affect the time traveler as well. So we have to enter another dimension called the negative verse. It is a place where there...well let's just say there's no time there. Zaran found a way of "poisoning" it. He was strangely gifted when it came to magic, despite none of your counterparts ever exhibiting signs of magical potential. When it seemed switching you at birth had worked, we took both your pony equivalents and attempted to persuade them to work together to combat evil. Your good pony counterpart prefers to go by Prime now." I cross my arms and lean back a bit.
"Where is Prime now?"
"I do not know. I sent him to stop Zaran as I did my research. From what I can tell, Zaran trapped him in a different world. Imagine this: Each of your worlds are the same, except they have a different history. Each world has its own universe. Normally beings from each universe cannot cross over. When they do, the worlds they come from start to blend, eventually causing untolds amount of destruction and chaos. Somehow that effect has not happened since your arrival. Zaran is the one who created the white orb that brought you here. He intentionally placed it nearby your kingdom, knowing you would eventually take it and use it." I shake my head confused.
"How could Zaran have possibly known all this?! It seems like some seriously advanced stuff that would take maybe even lifetimes to master!" Starswirl gives me an annoyed look that I return right to him.
"I apologize; your other selves are just as tenacious as you are. Zaran...stole a massive amount of my research and slipped into the negative verse. While there, time stops for him. He was gone a mere second to me, but he had all the time in the world to learn almost everything about magic. Technically, Zaran has lived several times over by now, but you do not age in the negative verse. All he needed was to learn how to access it, and he figured out the rest."
"How did Zaran do it? How was he just able to just jump in?!" Starswirl sighs and looks down again, before rubbing his face in frustration with his hooves.
"Zaran...played me like a fiddle. He listened intently to my theory on good and evil. He formed the perfect plot in his head as I went over that evil was just the mind's way of compensating for lack of safety. He pretended to slowly morph to good, while still keeping enough of his attitude so we wouldn't get suspicious. He took his time, knowing he would only get one shot. Prime and Zaran went on many missions together, slowly gaining my trust. Eventually, we let them use the portal I had made to access the negative verse. I made it believing they would use it for good. Zaran even used it appropriately a few times, or so I thought. But over time, he was copying the basics of my research, just enough for him to understand. He even asked me a lot of carefully worded questions. He left the notes hidden in the negative verse, slowly compiling everything he would need.
On their missions, Zaran was usually the calm, observant one who planned everything. Prime was the one who always pushed himself; always charged straight in to help others. They were an amazing team. Then it happened. Zaran found a way to cloak himself from the Tree of Harmony. She was confused and asked me to see what he was doing. When I arrived...Zaran was walking my human counterpart into the negative verse. Before I could utter a word, they vanished. Once again, Zaran reappeared a mere second later. But in the negative verse, Zaran had used my human counterpart to help him understand everything magic based. Each one of my counterparts is magically inclined. Even my human versions were as gifted as I am. So Zaran...he…" Starswirl begins to tear up and sobs quietly.
"He...he killed all three of them!"
Starswirl slams his hooves into his desk over and over.
"I hadn't even considered getting my own counterparts involved, and Zaran already headed me off for good! I...I hate him! I hate him so much! I feel as if my own brothers were murdered because of my idiotic idealism!" Starswirl lowers his head to the desk and groans loudly with a mix of rage and depression.
My anger towards him slowly diminished. He didn't ruin my life by rolling the dice. In a way, I screwed him over first. Part of me felt he had no right messing with my life, but things only went south because of Zaran. I saw good in Starswirl. He was no longer some arrogant pony with a superiority complex to me; he was just a colt trying to help everyone. There was no way he could have predicted any of it.
Star slowly raises his head, tears streaming down his face.
"Then I went into the negative verse...I found...me. What was left of me. Zaran...Zaran used part of him for his first experiments with the Og Nag. He found out how to create them. My human equivalent had enough time to tell me Zaran's plan. He wanted to do the opposite of what we wanted. He wanted to spread evil everywhere. And Zaran had one last gift for me. He...he rigged my other self up with a magical bomb. I was able to leave before it went off. I was warned never to return, that it would freeze me permanently in there."
I shift around uncomfortably. Star wipes away his tears angrily.
"Zaran had teleported away before I could do anything. After I came out of the negative verse, I tried to find Zaran. I was able to track his magical residue, a side effect of teleporting few know about. I fought him. I fought him with everything I had. But...once again I fell into another ploy. In me, Zaran had instilled the darkness he learned to feed upon. During his time in the negative verse, he planned everything. Every possible angle, every outcome. As we fought, I slowly learned the truth...he used my anger to become more powerful!"
Starswirl kicks his chair back as he bolts up. It slides across the floor and collides with the wall, knocking a picture down. Slowly, his body is encased in some kind of white aura. His eyes turn completely solid again. His face tightens into a stare of complete hatred. His table starts rattling in place, and a cup full of quills bounces around before falling to the floor. The entire room begins to creak and groan.
"He...he made me watch as he unleashed his creatures on that world! I was helpless! Too weak...too tired! Too...too old!" He tilts his head back and unleashed a deafening scream. Everything in the room, including me, is forced against the walls. The lights on the ceiling flicker before dying out, leaving just his ominous white glow to fill the room. I do my best to shield my face with my arms, but the pressure is too much.
"Starswirl!" Is all I can yell.
He screams louder, letting the world know his pain. His head snaps towards me angrily.
"I told Prime to go find Zaran! I told him I would stay behind and do research! That was a lie! I...I couldn't! I couldn't fight Zaran!" His glow dissipates and he crumples to the floor in an inconsolable mess. He sobs to himself. I put my arms around him gently and give him a soft hug.
"Zaran spread the Og Nag everywhere he could...because of me! All because of me! Zaran doesn't think the universe is right until he controls or destroys everything! He's a monster! A demon! One I accidentally created! His existence torments me every! Single! Day!" His voice is barely a whisper. He kicks his hind legs randomly as he shakes his head back and forth in my arms.
"That type of guilt...does things to a colt…" He slides up his sleeves, showing long bite marks across his forelegs that looked self-inflicted. There were several patches of missing fur with clear teeth marks in the middle. The door bursts open. Luna stands at the doorway, staring at Starswirl in shock. Starswirl looks back at her and acts as if his entire existence was revolting. He turns his head away and closes his eyes
"I...I can't do this anymore." He closes his eyes and vanishes. Luna storms into the room and looks around.
"Starswirl!? Starswirl!?" She cries.