I pace in the throne room. The 4th battalion were currently enjoying their stay in the dungeons. After a few days, there was still a never-ending discussion about what to do with them. Everyone who was a higher up, was in the room. Cadence, Shining, Celestia, Lucretia, Emeris and even Versa who stands slightly hunched over with a hand over her stomach. Behind her, Hurrand lurks with his head hanging in shame.

My hands shake, despite being on my hips. Versa has her helmet off for what had to be the first time in years. Her skin was as dark as chocolate, helping to bring out her emerald eyes and her lips had a grayish hue to them. Her eyes were narrow, and her black hair was tied back in a brief ponytail. "Raiden...thank you for-"

I hold up a hand to her and stop pacing.

"First off, that's general Raiden to you. Thanks for saving our asses in Ponyville, but you still murdered captain Magnus, assuming you even remember him and tortured me on numerous occasions. If anything, you're making up for your past. As for your rank, consider it stripped. There is no Taraskan army anymore. There's twelve of us with actual training. Your armor-wearing fodder in the dungeon don't count and I can't use them tactically. I have no idea what their training is or if I can even trust them. It's bad enough I have to give asylum to you and the 4th, but piggy too?! Do I ever get justice for what you people did to me?! The Minister would be shaking in his boots right now if he were here, but luckily that's all that's left of him. Let me guess, he's misunderstood as well, right?"

Versa exhales angrily and looks off to the side. Hurrand stands quietly behind her, still staring at the floor. He looks up at me timidly.

"No, Zigid was a monster through and through. He's the one who allowed Zaran to have so much power over me. I don't know how any of it happened, but I know he was behind it." Hurrand looks over at Celestia. "Are you sure the magical blockers in your walls will stop Zaran's powers?"

Celestia nods confidently with a smile.

"Yes, Zaran cannot get to you here." Hurrand nods appreciatively then goes back to staring at the floor. One of the back pairs of double doors open and my head jerks up hoping to see Luna. It's just another guard on patrol. Celestia's hoof on my shoulder makes me look over at her.

"Do not worry Raiden, Luna has gone through much recently. She lost Daruk and also took a life. Destroying Og Nag is far different than killing something that can speak. You may be numb to it, but it was a first for Luna. It would be a first for anypony here, honestly. She just needs time, you will see."

I give Celestia a small nod and walk over to Lucretia. "Alright, so your element...clearly it's stronger than the rest of ours. What have you been able to learn recently?"

Lucretia's eyes are red and tired. She lets out a massive yawn and holds a cup of coffee in her other hand. "When I'm in that...I'm calling it my spirit form. When I'm in my spirit form, the amount of information I take in, is obnoxious. I can't recall any of it now."

I throw up my hands in frustration. "You're kidding me! You're that powerful but we can only utilize that information while you're in spirit form?! Is nothing easy?!"

Lucretia gives me a condescending shrug. "Oh, back off! My brain feels like a scrambled egg right now! I went from mind controlling a small army of Og Nag, then comprehending ancient magic across dimensions in a matter of days! Celestia's been pouring through their library but there's literally no mention of our elements! The ones here given by the Tree of Harmony only really work when they're together. Since ours are considered dark elements and are from another universe, there's not exactly a book on them. That being said…"

She starts pacing with a pitiful shuffle. "I wonder if there's anything on Nova about them. I mean let's be honest: we know nothing about Nova outside of the surrounding countries. There could be a massive town full of magical wonders on the other side of the planet! One of these days we have to get back there!"

She staggers a bit and plops into a chair. "Sorry, got carried away there. No, can't help you right now." She turns around while picking up her chair, faces the table behind her and rests her head in her arms.

Shining walks up to me with a distraught look on his face. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go back to discussing what to do with the fourth battalion. I know you have strong feelings, but we can't just keep them locked up forever. They haven't exactly deserved execution either."

I let my arms hang at my side as I give him a look of bewilderment. "And we do what then? Reward their long years of service with drinks and beds?"

Cadence stomps forward with a furious glare on her face. "Raiden, your anger is out of control lately! I don't blame you for being mad, but you're being unreasonable! If you can't personally deal with this, then let us do it! you don't have to decide everything! Obviously if it's a military issue, it should be your call, but if civil stuff isn't something you feel like resolving, then just let us do it!"

Suddenly everyone is thrown to the ground as the palace rattles violently. The chandelier above us, sways so hard, it collides with the ceiling. It starts to fall but is swept up in a yellow glow, then floats to a corner. Celestia looks around frantically. "Is everypony alright?!"

Shining looks around the room and nods. "Yes, everypony is fine! What was that?! Is Zaran back?"

Zaran's unmistakable voice fills the air. "Guess who's got a new cannon!"

I barely manage to get to my feet before the palace takes another hit and I'm thrown back down. Shinning is the only one able to stay upright. I wave my hand at him to get his attention. "Shining! We need your shield! Get Cadence to escort the civilians to the back of the palace for safety!" He nods and repeats my orders to his wife as I climb to my feet using the window to my right.

I jog through the hallways, knowing that if I fall in a full sprint, it could be a serious injury. A few pony guards bolt past me before I can warn them. The palace takes another hint and one of the pony guards falls and slides face first into a corner, slitting her lips wide open. She covers her mouth with her hooves and screams in agony. The other guard gets her up and they continue to keep going. One of my soldiers appears at the end of the hallway, looking around frantically. She spots me and jogs up to my position.

"Zaran's back and it's bad! We didn't have time to do anything! He's got himself some kind of fire cannon and there's too many Garges to get close with infantry, not that we could probably do much with Zaran there! There's talk of desertion and we've had to stop several civilians from fleeing!"

I stop and stare at the soldier. "Nehora!" I say in a commanding voice. She stares at me confused and gets my blade in her belly. She quickly morphs into a changeling and falls to the ground gargling. I look down at her with contempt. "Yeah, I figured as much since that's exactly what I would do: send in a spy during the commotion to get under my skin. All my units have strict orders to stay outside unless they're a lieutenant and you're not wearing the right insignia for one."

Instead of finishing them off, I sprint outside, leaving the little monster to die slowly. I've been accommodating enough as it is today.

At the top of the steps outside the palace, Celestia and Luna watch something in the distance in complete shock. As I skid to a halt, my brain needs time to comprehend the horrific contraption Zaran has and the familiar face on it. It looked like a Gate Buster, where a log was suspended with chain or rope between two arches of wood, so it could ram down a gate or door. Zaran's contraption has some kind of massive lizard in the middle of it with no limbs. Once again, we can hear Zaran's disturbingly carefree voice. "Luna, I have an old friend of yours!"

Luna's face is a bizarre mixture of anger and terror. "That's...that's Daruk! How...what is this?!"

Celestia backs up a few steps while shaking her head in disgust. "He resurrected Daruk just to turn him into a weapon?!" Daruk's head had bolts going into his neck with some kind of tubes leading into them. He clearly couldn't move at all. Zaran turns his head to Daruk and the tubes glow red. Daruk's face contorts in agony as fire erupts from his mouth instantly and slams into the palace, hurling stone and metal all over the ground. Celestia looks behind her. "Shining! We need that shield now!"

A loud hum makes my ears itch and a large shimmer appears around the palace. Zaran and Daruk are obscured except for the occasional fire blast that makes the shield flicker on impact. Celestia's eyes bulge. "This is impossible! Shining's shield magic is the strongest in Equestria! He's not going to be able to keep this up forever!"

Luna looks between us frantically. "We have to do something! Daruk needs us!"

Emeris puts a hand on her shoulder. "That's what Zaran wants. He could probably obliterate the shield himself if he really wanted to."

Luna scowls at him with a seething hatred. "We have to try then! We outsmart Zaran and get Daruk home!" I gently take Lunas face in my hands and her furious complexion starts to disintegrate into depression. "And then what Luna? Do you think Daruk would be okay with living the rest of his life without limbs of wings? What kind of existence would someone like Daruk have now? We have to do the right thing and the smart thing."

She sways a bit and for a moment, she's somewhere else entirely. "We...we have to try...please Raiden...for me…" I look over at Emeris who gives me an uncomfortable stare. Luna's hoof on my chest brings me back to her face. Her eyes search mine desperately. A few seconds of silence go by before I give her a reassuring nod. "First thing: we have to stop or intercept his fire. After that, we'll have to lure Zaran away while others get Daruk out of there."

Her momentary look of gratitude is cut short when we hear Shinning's painful yelling from inside. The shield begins to flicker wildly and one of my soldiers comes running outside with a look of terror. He salutes me and swallows when he sees both the princesses. "A changeling got inside and stabbed Shinning. It's bad. Cadence is still gathering the civilians but we dispatched a few soldiers to find her so she can heal him."

Luna skyrockets down to the palace grounds, right where Daruk's fire has been slamming into the shield and she readies herself. The shield drops and Zaran doesn't hesitate to activate Daruk's flame. Luna rears back and gives it all she has.

Luna struggles not to look away, as a blinding flash erupts when her beam intersects Daruk's flame. A colossal rumble fills the air, as her magic and his fire spill outwards from the point of collision. "Daruk! Stop!" She screams. Daruk's eyes shut and I see pain worse than anything physical that could be done to him. Still the raging inferno continues. Luna braces herself against the dirt but keeps her beam going. We're surrounded by a cone of magic and fire that pounds into the mountain behind us.

Celestia lands by her side and both alicorns let loose a spectacular dual beam of purple and yellow. Celestia grits her teeth angrily but it's clear both Alicorns still can barely hold back Daruk. Then there was still Zaran himself in play. The balcony above them gives and collapses to the ground. Only a few seconds later, the walkway to its right, has a support pillar that starts to crack. A group of ponies bolts across the walkway and it finally gives. Celestia whirls around and uses her magic to snag the ponies.

Unfortunately, there's an entire group waiting to cross. Celestia rebuilds the walkway in a hurry and the group gallops across. Other sections of the palace start to crack and fall apart. Celestia looks up at it frantically, trying to hold the entire eastern wall of her home together just long enough to finish evacuations. She glances over at Luna. "Sister, I'm sorry but everything is coming apart! You'll have to do this on your own!"

The very bottom of the wall gives way and several humans carrying wounded ponies slide down the debris and roll across the ground to us. I run over and start helping everyone up. A fierce roar fills the air and a colossal wave of fire breaks out from Daruk. The only thing keeping us from being roasted, is Luna. The massive cone of fire surrounds us on all sides and the heat is unbearable.

Luna's hair flaps behind her and everyone else shields their face. "Daruk! Please!" She screams with a mix of anger and desperation. His fire gets closer and closer to us, every inch it travels is a sharp rise in heat. I crawl my way across the ground, having to dig my fingers into the dirt against the wind. When I'm at Luna's ear, I can see small tears traveling across her cheeks and whipping into the wind.

"Luna! You have to give it everything you got! He's going to fry us if you don't!" She shuts her eyes and shakes her head, but her beam still stays perfectly on target. "I...I can't! He...he's my friend! One of my earliest friends!" I duck my head briefly to give my neck a bit of rest.

"Luna! I understand! It doesn't mean you hate him but it's the situation we're in! It's not your fault!"

She screams in agony before looking me in the eyes with a small turn of her head. "You don't understand! It's more than that! When everyone else in the Kingdom turned against me, he was still there! Before I was banished, it was all Daruk! He was there for me! He didn't judge me! He didn't hate me! On those lonely nights, it was Daruk who stayed by my side! I can't kill him!"

I struggle to put my hand on her back. "Luna...you have to! That's just not him anymore! Do you think he wants this?! How do you think he feels?! A mighty warrior being forced to play as a piece of siege weaponry! You know his pride! What would he want?!"

She shuts her eyes and sobs angrily. "I...I can't do this!" She shakes her head back and forth as more tears whip behind her against my gauntlet.

I point behind me. "Luna! You see those soldiers over there?! They're your friends now! You put your life on the line for them, so that makes you a friend of theirs for life! You're not alone and you never will be! But if you don't do this, then there won't be anyone left!"

Luna's face tenses up in rage and when she opens her eyes, they glow with purely white light. Her hair beings to shine as well with a purple hew and somehow ignores the wind, flowing freely to the sides as if she was a lion. Her voice is unnaturally loud and fills the air.

"Daruk! I'm sorry! I do this not because I want to, but because I have to! Please forgive me!" Her beam gets as wide as a yak and drills through Daruk's flame, ramming the fire out of its way. The muscles around her eyes tense up as she keeps pushing her beam to Daruk. Her mouth contorts into pure rage and I know she's thinking of Zaran. She tries to direct the beam towards him, but giving Daruk's flame even a small inch, makes it start climbing around her beam and back towards us like an infernal tidal wave.

She yells angrily and refocuses her aim. She starts shaking her head again but keeps going. Right as the beam gets to Daruk, Zaran leans his head back and large, red beams erupt from his eyes, stopping Luna's magic in its track. Daruk looks from Zaran to Luna, with an expression of torment. His flame combined with Zaran starts to push its way back.

"Luna! You got anything more!?" Luna shakes her head in fear. Daruk's eyes dart back and forth. I see one last angry glare of determination: the fire of a dragon that can never go out. He shuts his eyes and his flame starts diminishing. Inch by inch, he starts shutting his mouth. His face contorts in pain, but his flame gets more narrow. Zaran stops firing and looks down at him angrily.

"No! You belong to me, Lizard!" He nods at his Garges who drive their hooks in more. Daruk shakes in place furiously, but he keeps closing his mouth. The flame flickers around wildly as it begins colliding with Daruk's teeth. Luna dials back her magic as well, just enough to keep it deadlocked in the field.

Zaran's face contorts with rage. "Daruk! Stop it!" He starts stomping on Daruk's back over and over. I can hear his cries of pain from here and it's heartbreaking. His cries are high-pitched, despite his deep, powerful voice. His flame is now dancing wildly across the grass, still incinerating everything it touches.

He yells one last cry of defiance, then shuts his mouth completely. In just a few seconds, he expands to twice his size. Zaran turns and rockets away, right as Daruk explodes. Luna and Celestia toss up a shield immediately. We all scream as we cover our eyes in pain. Despite the shield, a wave of heat hits us, burning my skin. After several seconds of coughing, we look through her shield and see a massive crater spanning for hundreds of feet. All the ground around us was charred black.

Zaran lands calmly on a nearby hill and watches us. My skin crawls with that look in his eyes. They were my eyes. The same eyes that had commanded the murder of hundreds. Cities reduced to ash, citizens taken down with a volley of arrows, all from units taking orders directly from me. The context didn't matter, those eyes were the same eyes everyone saw when I commanded death. Being on the other side of them, was unspeakably nauseating.

Luna's eyes bulge in rage when she sees Zaran. She lets out a furious scream like nothing I've heard and rockets towards him. Celestia and I call out to her, but she's too far gone in her emotions. Zaran smirks and narrows his eyes. "Oh, and Luna? When I said I had a friend of yours, I wasn't talking about the dragon." Zaran opens his mouth and a horrific black liquid jets out of his eyes, his nose and mouth. There's even jet out of his sides and it all rushes straight at Luna in a large mass, just as big as she is. She flares her wings and tries to stop while screaming. The black mass jumps straight onto Luna's face and quickly spreads all over her body as she shrieks and bucks furiously.

Celestia stomps both hooves and watches in panic. "She's turning back into Nightmare Moon!" She screams.