Chapter 27: Doing What Needs to be Done

Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville
Local time: 1000
Three months, seven days since arrival

Stealing the Elements of Harmony was easier than I thought. Despite how important they are Twilight had them in a glass case with only a locking spell to guard them. Granted the locking spell was very powerful and probably the most powerful one made so far but with enough force everything breaks. Once the spell was gone I waited a few minutes to see if she would appear when she didn't I opened the case and again, waited. I kept looking over my shoulder as I put the elements in my saddlebags. Honestly I thought Twilight would have put some sort of alarm or notification spell on the case. Once all seven elements were securely in my saddlebag I teleported to the outskirts of Canterlot. I didn't worry about somepony recognizing me as I walked to the castle since no pony should notice the disappearance of the elements until at least tomorrow morning. Before going to see Celestia I hid my saddlebags in the armory inside my armor. The girls had already went to bed when I went to talk to her. She distraught and had stains on her fur from her tears. I stayed with her for an hour or two before heading off to bed myself, I needed to get up very early if I wanted to make the train. I didn't know which room were empty so I went the one I know was. Luna's bed was larger than mine, both of us could easily sleep on it with room for a foal, plus being in it without her made it hard to fall asleep. I was up by four thirty and after some searching found a black cloak in Luna's closet. Heading down to the armory I donned my armor, leaving my helmet off and in my saddle bag, and but on my saddlebags before picking out some weapons. I already had my Ka-bar knife but I felt that I would need more so I picked up two short swords, some throwing knives, and a crossbow. When everything was properly secured and hidden beneath the cloak I headed towards the train station. On the way I stopped at a donut shop for some coffee and donuts. Purchasing a ticket for the five fifteen train I studied the route. It would be a thirteen hour trip with a one hour layover in Los Pegasus where I would get lunch putting my arrival in Stalliongrad at around seven. When the train arrived I boarded it and picked out an empty bench. As the train started moving I tried to get some sleep. Thirty minutes later I was woken by the conductor asking for my ticket, after he left I went back to sleep. Until the train hit Manehattan around eleven I drifted in and out of sleep. After that I just stared out the window until Los Pegasus was on the horizon.

Layover my ass. We had barely pulled into the station before we were moving again. The only things that they did was refill the water tanks on the engine and switch some of the ponies operating the train. I only had enough time to buy some pears before they announced the final boarding. A family had taken the seat I was in before but since I was carrying everything I just moved to another seat. An hour latter my stomach growled and I made my way to one of the places I had been avoiding, the dining car. I wanted to avoid it because by now somepony had to have realized the elements were missing. I didn't really do anything to hide the fact that I took them other than making sure nopony saw me take them, so it won't take whoever's investigating the theft to find out I did it and the dining car will be filled with ponies who could possibly recognize me. I had a quick meal and went back to my seat. I spent the rest of the ride reading about the city. Contrary to the cities name being similar to Stalingrad it was not cold during the summer. However it is farther north than most towns so the winters are more severe and less predictable than normal. I also learned that the cliff he wanted to meet at is a popular place for couples. I'm not sure if he knows or it's just a coincidence. The train arrived at Stalliongrad almost an hour earlier than I anticipated which gave me time to come up with a better plan than do what he wants and hope for the best. I made my way north towards the cliff after wondering for a few minutes listening to the residents talk, mostly about how the royal guards have closed the cliff. I doubt that they're actual guards, most likely they're Shadow Unicorns in disguise. Sneaking past them was easier than I thought, the forest to the south of the cliff provided good cover and allowed me to recon the area unnoticed. I'm glad I did. There were way too many of them to fight, he must have brought his army. I counted over a hundred and that's just what I can see. Clearly he had no intention of letting me leave even if I beat him. Luckily I had a few tricks left, too bad only one of them is likely to work. Casting the 'dark magic' spell I learned I went over what the plan was. I headed back to the city while thinking about the spell. "I don't understand why it's considered dark magic. It's not like the spell was sentient and could keep ponies from misusing it." Once I was back in the city I wandered around for a few minutes before heading down the path. I passed the guards without an incident, one of them did tell me that he was waiting for me further reducing the probability that they're really guards. As I continued on the shadow soldiers started lining the road, growling and hissing at me. One even threw a knife at me, it bounced harmlessly off my armor but still. I tried singing a song in my head to keep myself calm and concentrated. Halfway up I realized that Mad World probably wasn't the best song and switched to I Won't Back Down. Coming to the top I saw Luna in a cage, chained in place with a muzzle on her face. And Shadow, that smug dick was standing there, smiling. "You actually came, I'm surprised. Either you have no problem dying or you have some false hope of beating me."

"I'm not here because of you. I'm here for Luna." He chuckled, "Of course. Do you have them?" I tossed him my saddlebag, "All seven" He pulled them out one by one, inspecting them before throwing my back at me. "Do you think I would fall for something as simple as a basic illusion spell? Give me the real element." I sighed and put a bubble shield around me as I took off the element and replaced it with my breastplate. "What don't trust me to wait until our duel?" I just glared at him as a projectile bounced off my shield, "Smart. Now, the Element."

"Not until you release Luna." He grunted and two of his guards move to release her. They moved her to Shadow's side, not to mine, "Now the element." I tossed it to him. "Excellent… Now!" I felt something hit my neck and everything started to spin. I collapsed and he walked towards me. "Like it, fast acting paralysis dart. You won't be able to move but you will feel everything." I chuckled, "Do you really think I would come here without a backup plan. Now, show them no mercy!" The shadow soldiers on the top of the cliff died in a storm of bullets when five figures rose from the bushes. Shadow was visibly shaken and put Luna in front of him while his forces formed up behind him. "What is this trick?" I chuckled, "What trick. You see Shadow, when I was looking for combat spells I also looked at what ponies considered dark magic. I found a spell that would let me make familiars… but I could form them using my memories." I slowly stood up as the poison faded. "It would give them the appearance, skills, and personality of whomever I chose. The more powerful the caster the more familiars he could summon at one time. The best thing is they're self-sustaining so I don't have to keep channeling magic into them to keep them around. Iron Wolves, you have green light to engage, just leave Shadow to me." The wolves opened fire and laid waste to Shadow's army while we began to circle each other. "I must say, I'm impressed. I'm a little surprised though, this spell seems very useful, calling it dark magic is just a waste."

"I'm surprised you care, apparently ponies were using it to frame others for crimes and to bring back dead loved ones before eventually killing themselves. Now, are we going to keep talking or are we going to fight." He smirked and drew two swords, both were black with saw tooth edges plus hooks in the back near the tips. I grabbed two of my throwing knives. As he charged I threw them followed by four more, only one of them connected and even then it was a nothing more than a scratch. I drew my short swords just in time to block his initial strike. I pushed him back and magical chucked two more knives at him. He easily blocked them and caught one of my legs with his blade as I tried to run around him. I was forced to the ground and had to roll to the side as his blades impaled where I just was. As I stood I could feel the wound left by the hook, it wasn't deep enough to keep me from standing but it would slow me down. I created a dozen ground spikes to give me some breathing room, it also put me out of his range. Drawing my crossbow I managed to fire off two bolts before he knocked it over the edge and into the sea. The first bolt he dodged but he was too close to doge the second one which was now lodged in his flank just above where his cutie mark would be. As we clashed I could barely hear Wolf giving orders to the rest of the wolves over the gunfire. I couldn't focus on what was happening with them but I think they're all still standing. As for Luna she was off to the side, still chained up and muzzled but out of harm's way for now. We locked swords and forced each other into a stalemate, "I'm impressed, you've improved. But it's still not enough." He head-butted me and knocked away my left blade before once again pulling my hooves out from under me. This time I was ready though and as he brought his blades down I kicked his legs throwing him off balance pulling him to the ground as well. I rolled away from him and used my horn as a flamethrower while I stood up. It didn't even faze him. He grabbed his blades and charged. I used Blizzard to confuse him and buy myself time to think… it didn't last long when Shadow created a dome of fire around himself and slowly expanded it. "You forget, you're not the only one who can use magic." As his flames melted the rest of my storm he took to the sky as he fired ice spikes at me. I dodged most of them only receiving a few scratches from the ones I couldn't. This lasted for about a minute before he changed tactics. His horn glowed with a red tint before releasing a beam, at first I thought it was concentrated heat because of the scorch marks made from the impact. It wasn't until he hit a boulder and partially melted it that I realized it was made of something closer to magma or plasma. As I continued to dodge I realized I couldn't let him have the tactical advantage of being in the air, so I joined him. As I flew up to him I drew my knife to replace my lost sword. I always thought of myself as an above average flyer but I knew Shadow still had the advantage because of the reach of his blades. While our swords were almost equal in length he had two while I had one. I needed to close the distance between us so he couldn't use his swords properly, despite the obvious dangers doing so promised. We circled each other, I tried getting closer but he backed up. Our blades clashed as I tried to rush him. He parried my attack and pushed me back, I had to form a shield to block his blades from gutting me. This happened a few more times before I had to think of something else. I tried to distract him by firing off a few lightning bolts but he shielded himself and moved away. I tried again using my flames to keep him pinned but only got the same results. With no other options I didn't the only thing I could, a kamikaze charge. I formed a spearhead shaped shield around myself and charge. The shield blocked his attacks and shattered when it hit him, plus it knocked him back a little. I locked my blades with his and forced them to the sides. It looked like I was finally getting the advantage but he just chuckled, "I have to admit that was pretty foolish." I was confused for all of five seconds until I saw his horn glowing. "Dodge this!" I tried in vain to get out of the way but I couldn't fully escape the blast. I avoided a blow to my chest, which defiantly saved my life, but I lost something that would have caused any pegasus to cry, no matter how strong. As I plummeted to the ground I could only stare at where my left wing used to be, vaporize by Shadows attack. In the background I saw the wolves being overwhelmed, despite having advanced weaponry they didn't have an infinite amount of ammo. I had lost sight of the battle as my vision blurred and felt something hit my chest, launching me towards the ground. My impact formed a small crater but luckily none of my bones were broken. I crawled out, in too much pain to stand, and saw him land in front of me. "I told you this would end with your death." I couldn't defend myself as he raised his blades in preparation for his final strike, my blades having fallen out of my grasp when I 'landed'. They weren't too far away, I could still get them if I tried, but I no longer had the strength or the will to fight him. I had lost, now Luna and I would die and because of me Equestria was without its greatest weapons. I turned my head so that the last thing I saw was not my imminent death but Luna. She watched in horror as I accepted my fate, I only had the strength to mouth the words "look away" to her before closing my eyes. I thought about all the time we had spent together and decided that if I was to die I would die with a smile on my face. I heard the blades as the came down, fully expecting to die, only to hear the sound of metal on metal. Opening my eyes I saw Shadows blades being held back by two others, one made of steel the other a metal I couldn't identify. "I knew we should have stayed at your place instead of going back to Canterlot, we could have stopped you from doing something so foolish." Looking to my right I saw Broadsword holding the steel sword and I heard Silent grunt on my left. They forced his swords to the sides and bucked him away from me. "How'd you find me?"

"I put an alarm spell on the case holding the elements." Turning to my left I saw Twilight and the other elements walking up to me. "I made a one-way viewing mirror when it went off and saw you take the elements. We had Rainbow follow you to find out why." They helped me to my hooves since the captains had run off, most likely to distract Shadow. "I actually lost you for a while before I found you walking towards this cliff. When I saw him up here with Luna I went to get the cavalry. They don't call me the fastest flier in Equestria for nothing." I chuckled, not only because of her ego but also the unintentional horse pun. "Actually Dash, I think you're the only pony who says that." She punched me for that, it was a friendly punch but it hurt. She tried to apologies but I waved her off. "What about Luna?"

"Celestia's taking care of her." I looked over and saw Celestia but it wasn't the Celestia I knew. Her caring motherly demeanor was gone, replaced by the furry of a thousand supernovas. She was wearing battle armor, it looked a little outdated… there was little doubt that it was the same armor she wore centuries ago when she fought discord. I slowly limped my way over to them, aided by the girls, and the two guards with them, probably medics. As I walked I noticed the sounds of battle and looking at the base of the hill I saw nearly a thousand guards engaging, and overwhelming, the remainder of Shadow's forces, the wolves having killed at least fifty percent of them. Celestia was having the medics look Luna over, her caring demeanor back but I could still see the furry in her eyes. Luna was the first to notice me approaching, "Steel!" She ran and tackled me as she hugged me. I let out a sound of pain causing her to let go, "*gasp* Are you alright, how do you feel? *gasp* Your wing! Don't worry, I'll get help. Medic, we need help over here!" I put my hoof to her lips stopping her, mostly because she was taking like Pinkie and I couldn't understand what she was saying. "I'm alright Luna. What about you, he didn't hurt you, did he?" She shook her head, "Nothing but scratches." An obvious lie, it looked like she was having trouble just standing. "I'm more worried about you, you hit the ground pretty hard. Not to mention your wing…" Celestia and the medics finally made it to us, they had to pick up all their equipment, and after some insisting from Luna one worked on her while the other tended to me. He confirmed most of what I knew and pointed things I didn't notice. My right shoulder had been dislocated and reinserted improperly, probably from Shadow's buck and the resulting crash, I also had two cracked ribs and three broken. Luckily they hadn't punctured anything important. "What about my wing?"

"It can be reattach it if we can find it. Do you know what happened to it?" I sighed, "Vaporized…" he looked shocked, "Vaporized, are you sure?" I just nodded. "Then I am sorry, there is nothing me can do." I sighed again. I knew I could live without being able to fly but I really enjoyed it, I found it to be very relaxing… plus clouds are really soft. "Don't worry about it, just get me back in the fight." He looked a little surprised but nodded and got to work. "Steel, you can't be serious." I nodded, wincing as he disinfected my wounds. "I'm not going to let you do that, as your marefriend and Princess of Equestria I forbid it." I looked over at her as the medic applied some bandages. "I have to do this Luna. This is my fight and I'll be damned if I let anypony else die because I couldn't finish what I started." I wanted to say something else but let out a scream as the medic dislocated my shoulder again. It wasn't as bad when he put it back in place because I was expecting it this time. "Twilight, the elements are in my saddlebag, you need to find it. We might need them." She nodded as the six of them ran off. There wasn't much more the medic could do other than giving me some pain medication and casting a rejuvenation spell. Once he was done he saluted and ran down to the battle below. Feeling like I just woke up from a twelve hour nap and had three cups of coffee I went to retrieve my weapons. My knife was fine but the sword was slightly bent from when I landed on it, luckily it was still useable, and after a quick check I found I still had three throwing knives. I also had eight bolts for my crossbow but without the crossbow itself they were nothing but dead weight, so I discarded them. I saw Broadsword and Silent near the edge of the cliff, holding back Shadow. They were covered in cuts but still fighting. They weren't going on the offensive, understandable since I had a hard time fighting him and I was a better fighter than them, only slightly but still better. As I ran to rejoin the fight. Shadow launched a wave of, for lack of a better word, dark energy at the captains knocking them back. The two of them landed next to me, "Looks like you two could use some help."

"Yeah, he's tougher than he looks." Silent grunted in agreement. "Broadsword, flanks left. Silent, go right." I charged at Shadow giving the others time to move into position. He blocked my initial strike easily. I wasn't trying very hard, I was just keeping his attention on me. Once we were in position we all striked at once, I was sure we had him. We were wrong, he blocked my strike with his left blade and Silent's with his right. Surprisingly he had some sort of retractable blade on his wing tips, he used the left one to stop Broadsword's blade while the right cut through his armor like butter. Luckily the blade only made a shallow gash that spanned the length of his chest. We immediately disengaged when we saw his wing blades and backed a few paces away. He responded to our retreat by launching fireballs at us. Broadsword and I dodged the ones sent at us but Silent got hit in the back. He was thrown of balance by the impact but sustained no serious damage. Unfortunately, his chest and back armor had to be discarded when his back armor started to melt, in hindsight it wasn't a good idea to design the armor with those two pieces attached to each other. Broadsword also discarded his armor after it provided little resistance to Shadow's blades. "Alright, other than just rushing him and hoping for the best, I'm out of ideas."

"Stay back and use ranged spells, I'm going to take to the sky." I just nodded, Silent was defiantly the tactician out of the three of us. I used lightning bolts, ground spikes, and concussive blasts. All the other spells I knew were close quarters and blizzard would blind the two captains as well. Shadow threw up a shield and just took our attacks. I don't know what Broadsword was using but it was just as ineffective as my attacks and Silent's dive bomb attacks. This continued for a few minutes, Shadow just stood there like our attacks were nothing more than an annoying itch. I tried casting all three spells at once, while it worked they still had no visible effect. I stopped casting and looked at Shadow trying to find some weakness, panting while I stood there. Broadsword cast another spell which was just absorbed by Shadow's shield, this time I saw something. I saw him tense up when the spell hit his shield but at this rate we would die before his shield dropped. I thought that he was just going to sit in his shield and wait us out… until Silent went for another attack. I saw it too late, the way his legs bent slightly as Silent descended escaped me until there was nothing I could do. As Silent's swords were about to strike the shield Shadow dropped it and rolled to the side. As Silent passed him one of his blades hooked around Silent's left hind leg and, with a good yank, Shadow forced Silent into a new flight path that ended with a hard landing. Silent struggled to get back up, or at least move away from Shadow, Shadow extended his wing blades with the intent of severing Silent's neck. Broadsword managed to ram Shadow in time that his blades missed their mark and only left a small cut on Silent's neck. While Broadsword and Shadow tussled I dragged Silent to a safe distance and went to help him up. I let Silent lean on me as he stood, everything looked good until he tried to put weight on his hind leg. He instantly let out a howl of pain and collapsed against me. One look at his leg and I could tell Shadow had done some serious damage. It is possible his tendon was severed, the blade had to have come real close. "How is he?" Looking up I saw Broadsword walking towards me behind him was Shadow held in place by ethereal chains. I gave him a questioning look, "It will hold him but not for long. Now give it to me straight, how is he?"

"Not good, at this point I can't even be sure if he'll walk again. There's too much blood, I can't accurately see the damage." Broadsword wanted to say something but was cut off by a snapping sound. Turning around I Shadow starting to break the chains. "Can you still fight?" Broadsword nodded and picked up Silent's blade. After the fourth chain snapped Shadow lunged forward as the rest of the chains shattered. As Shadow picked up his weapons Broadsword looked at me, "Any ideas?" I nodded, "Just one. LEROYYYY JENKINS!" I knew blindly charging him wasn't a very smart move but at this point we were out of options. Broadsword was a few feet behind me having been caught off guard when I suddenly charged. My charge also caught Shadow off guard which gave us an advantage. When the shock of my extremely rash and possibly suicidal charge wore off we were already upon him. He barely had time to raise his blades in defense. We started to push him towards the cliff and it finally looked like we had him on the ropes. That feeling lasted all of five seconds when he brought his wing blades into the fight. Now it was out turn to go on the defensive. He drove us back towards the princesses. I wanted to call out to Celestia, to get her to help us but she had her own problems. A relatively large group of shadow soldiers managed to escape the slaughter below us and made it to the top of the cliff. Once they saw Luna's wounds thought it would be easy to kill her. Celestia was the only pony that stood in their way, she ordered to medic to stay out of the fight and continue to work on Luna. Despite a thousand years of peace she was fending them off very well. Unfortunately my momentary lapse in concentration allowed Shadow to drag on of his wing blades across my chest. The wound wasn't very deep but it was alarmingly large. It seems even my armor, which is somewhat stronger than the guards', was no match for his blades. I parried his wing blade with my knife while locking my in the hook built into his and pulled. I pulled the sword from his grasp but at a cost. He knocked my knife out of my hoof and into the ocean before the wing blade buried itself in my flank and got stuck. I swung my sword at his wing while Broadsword and I simultaneously jumped away from Shadow… only one of us made it.

As Broadsword jumped Shadow grabbed one of his hoofs and slammed him into the ground. I pulled the blade from my side and looked back in time to see Shadow drive his other wing blade into Broadsword's right foreleg and then his left hind leg. Both of them we broken, and if they weren't broken by the initial strike they defiantly were when Shadow twisted the blade. The world started to spin and my vision got foggy, all due to loss of blood. But then everything faded and I had a moment of clarity, I put everything together. It was all clear, the reason I was sent here, why I was always in the middle of things, why I was an alicorn. But most importantly I realized how to stop him. While the price was high I knew it was the only way, plus there wasn't a one hundred percent chance that I would have to pay that price. Taking a deep breath I gathered all my remaining magical energy, plus whatever extra was in the air around me, and charged. I slammed into Shadow's side as he was about to sever Broadsword's head. I wrapped my legs around him while using my remaining wing to launch us off the cliff.

POV change: Celestia

I don't know how the creatures got past the guards but none of them will touch my sister again. A dozen of them faced me while three moved to either side. If anypony was looking at me they would think as was as calm as ever. The truth is I was terrified, I haven't fought anything in a thousand years. I drew my sword, a gift from my father before he left. It was golden with a hilt designed to look like the rising sun, enchanted to be unbreakable and never dull. It was also enchanted with a piece of my own power to make it as hot as the sun, able to cut through practically anything except my sisters matching armor and weapon. I remember the day we got them, it was the day our parents went off to fight discord. Despite what the history books said we weren't the first to rise up against discord, our parents were. They raised an army of almost a hundred and went off to battle. Most of the army was destroyed and the hoof-full that survived went into hiding, our parents included. We never saw them again, I'm not sure if we'll ever see them again or if they're even still alive but Luna never stopped believing that they are out there, somewhere. A knife bouncing off my armor brought my focus back to the fight. Looking around I assessed the situation to the best of my ability. There were three with swords, one mage, four with dual knives, six with assorted mining tools, three with shovels, and one with at least two dozen throwing knives. Other than weapons I couldn't figure anything else out. I channeled the power of the sun through my horn and fired at three of them that stood to close to each other. I had to make sure there was nothing behind them because the beam would cut through them and keep going for another thousand or two hooves. They were kill instantly, this enraged the others and they charged. My armor defected the throwing knives allowing me to focus on the others, here's hoping I still remember what little training my father gave me. I noticed the medic standing next to me with his knives drawn, "What are you doing."

"I'm fighting with you, princess." I shook my head as I threw the three with shovels down the hill. "No tend to my sister. I can handle them." He looked hesitant but he went back to Luna's side and began his healing spell again. I blocked one of the swords… well kind of, the blade broke when it hit mine. I quickly took of it head and prepared for the next strike. I was glad they didn't bleed, it was hard enough to kill them even though they aren't alive to begin with, I doubt I'd be able to fight if they bled. I dodged the next strike and cut it in half. I bucked another in the face and launched a beam at then two in front of me. I lowered my head, out of the bath of a blade that then went into the neck of one sneaking up behind me. The one who I bucked jumped on my back as three of them took to the sky. I started trying to get him off my back by bucking like a rodeo pony, I didn't dislodge him but I hit a few of the others accidentally. One of the ones in the sky started skimming the ground and coming towards me. I turned so that my back was to him and as he neared I reared up and his blades hit the one on my back. As he passed over my I drove my horn into his jaw, killing him. I heard a struggle behind me, turning I saw the medic fending off one of the remaining four. Looking up I saw two more, I lost sight of the fourth one. I fired some beams into the sky and took out another. I couldn't get the last one but I saw a knife fly into its throat. Behind me I saw the medic standing over Luna, who was unconscious, now unarmed. "Nice throw." He smiled, "Thank you princess. I got three, including that one, did we get them all?"

"I'm not sure, there should be one more." But looking around neither of us could find it. "Maybe it ran off?" I shook my head, "Princess, behind you!" Turning I saw the last one with a knife already in motion, there was nothing either of us could do… lucky for us somepony else some him coming. When the blade was one two inches away from me a bright, pale blue beam struck him. Looking to the left I saw Luna's horn dimming. I smiled, "Thank you sister." She nodded, "No problem. Can you help me up, Steel might need our help." With the two of us it was easy to get her up. She leaned on me, she was still weak. Turning towards the cliff we saw Steel pulling a blade from his side. While captain Broadsword was thrown of his feet by Shadow. The medic ran a head of us but I noticed how Steel just stopped. I didn't have a chance to wonder why because he started to glow, surrounded by the same silver light that would surround his horn if he was casting a spell. He ran forward and crashed into Shadow, grabbed him, and jumped off the cliff. "Steel!" Luna tried limping forward but started to collapse as soon as she left my side. I moved forward to catch her but stopped because I was still looking at the cliff. There was a bright flash of light that came from over the edge just before the ground shook and there was a sound blast not unlike the sonic rainboom. When we recovered the medic went to check on the two captains while I helped Luna to the edge in a vain attempt to find Steel. I knew that we wouldn't find him from up here, if he fell into the water he would was up on the beach. If he fell on the rocks… I don't want to think of it, he's a fighter I know he would aim for the water. Luna looked like she was about to burst into tears, "Come on, let's head to the beach. He'll wash up on shore." Luna nodded but she was still distraught over Steel's possible fate. As we made our way to the beach I called over some of the guards that weren't doing anything and a lieutenant to give me a status report. There were ten fatalities so far and thirty-five wounded but the entirety of his army was destroyed, I think it went very well. Now all we have to do is find Steel and confirm the death of Shadow Steel. I had Luna take half the guards left away from the cliff while I went right with the rest. I had to check the rocks and if the worst happened to Steel… I just don't want Luna to see it. While the guards searched this part of the beach I would search the rocks and the small beach on the other side. There was no sign of him around the rocks other than a few drops of blood that I think came from where his wing was when he came over the edge. I followed the trail just in case but it led to the water. Searching the other side yielded the same results. I was about to head back to Luna and the others when I saw a small rock shelf with an oddly colored rock. As I got closer I started to make out some more details, it looked more like a pony and the spots of orange on either side of it confirmed that it was him. I launched a flare as I landed next to him. "Steel, can you hear me?" Getting no response I rolled him so he was on his back. I thought I heard him groan but I put my head next to his face just to be sure. I could feel him breathing so I shook him again. "Sister is he alright!" Turning around I saw Luna limping towards us as fast as she could. "I don't know he's unconscious!" I levitated Luna up to us, mainly because I didn't think she was well enough to fly yet, and she cradled his head in her hooves. "Steel, come on Steel. Wake up." She started to cry and a few tears fell on his face. I could see him twitch with every tear that landed on his face and after a while his eyes slowly opened. "L-Luna?"

"Steel, you're alright!" Despite the fact that she was still crying I knew these were now tears of joy. He smiled but it was fake… something was wrong. "Steel… what's wrong?" He chuckled weakly, "I should have known I would be able to hide anything from you." He sighed and his eyes got a distant look, "The truth is… I'm going to die." Luna gasped and tried to deny it. "Don't talk like that Steel! You are going to be fine." I wanted to agree with her but I could see something in his eyes. "What did you do Steel." Luna gave me a questioning look, "I ended it. I knew this was a possibility but if I didn't many more would die before we would stop him."

"Steel…?" He grabbed her hoof, "I'm sorry Luna but I used all my energy in one final spell… and my body can't replace it fast enough." We both gasped, "You can't mean…" He nodded, "I'm losing energy faster than I can make it. I can already feel my body shutting down." Luna broke down in tears and I tried to replace the energy he lost but I forced to stop when even I couldn't keep up with how fast it was darning. I wanted to try again but I knew I could be lost myself as well. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "Don't worry, I'm at peace. He's dead and you're all safe." Luna continued to cry and I could feel my own tears running down my face. "Steel!" Turning I saw Twilight and the other elements approaching. I just looked at them and slowly shook my head. All of them went into their own state of grief as I turned back to my sister. Her and Twilight will need the most comfort being his marefriend and best friend respectively. For the longest time the sound of crying ponies was the only thing that could be heard, Luna's being the loudest. I pulled her into a hug, her face was just… blank, I thought she needed it.

"Aw, is widdle woona sad about her coltfriend?" We all froze and slowly turned. Despite what Steel had done he was still alive… but not without injury. His left legs were nothing more than wisps of shadow, same with his wings and half his face, I don't even know how he's still standing. "That's, not, possible." Even in pain we could hear the surprise in Steel's voice. "You did really think that pathetic attack would stop me, did you?" You could see the look of defeat on his face, "Fine then maybe this will." Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony stood in front of him. Rainbow cracked her neck, "Yeah, let's do this for Steel!" The girls all nodded and got into formation. As the elements activated Shadow just yawned. When the rainbow was no more than six inches from his face he put up a barrier around himself the reflected the energies back at the girls, returning the power back to the elements."What, that… that's not possible!" He chuckled, "Oh but it is. Now do you see that there is no stopping me? Bow down to me and I may kill you quickly." We all looked at each other, if he could stop the elements how could we beat him. "No…" She was so quiet I wasn't sure if she had spoken or if it was my imagination. "We will never bow to you." Despite the calm tone she was using there was no warmth in her voice only a cold tone that made me want to shiver. "You are nothing but a monster." Luna stood up and walked towards him. "You have taken the stallion I love away from me, I will not let you take anything else!" Luna was surrounded by sphere of energy, one that looked eerily familiar. When it subsided instead of Luna, Nightmare Moon stood before us. We all gasped but she paid no attention. All her focus, her anger, her hate was focused solely on Shadow Steel. "Now you will know true pain!" Nightmare charged at him and forced both of them into the water. The girls rushed to the edge to try and see what was happening but I… I stayed with Steel. I raised his head as much as I dared to, to try and let him see what was happening. It didn't matter much, not once did they come up for air. All we could see was the occasional flash of light from whenever one of them cast a spell. No more than ten minutes later one of them was thrown from the water. Shadow landed next to us, most if not all of his bones have been broken and multiple cuts and lacerations adorned his body. For the last thousand years I have always felt bad when I've seen other hurt but this time I only feel satisfaction. Perhaps it wrong for me to feel like this but after everything he's done to my ponies, my friends and to my sister, I just don't care. As Nightmare landed behind the girls I saw them tense up but she walked past, her focus still solely on Shadow. She grabbed him by the throat, "Now you have my permission to die." She through him into the air and the moon became even brighter. As he began to fall back towards the ground a beam of light came down from the moon and hit Nightmare's horn. The beam must have given her a power boost because she fired a beam of pure energy at Shadow completely vaporizing him. When it was all over the moon had dimmed and Luna was still Nightmare Moon. She started to walk towards me and Steel but the elements stood in her path. "Please stand aside, I have no quarrel with you… any of you. Not even you Celestia." The others looked hesitant but I believed her, I could see it in her eyes. Luna's feelings for Steel must have been strong enough that Nightmare felt the same way. "He was the first one who truly enjoyed my night, the only one who truly understood me, please let me hold him one last time. Let me say goodbye." …Or she could have developed her own feelings for him. "Let her through." The other were surprised but moved aside. She lay down on Steel's other side and caressed his face. I couldn't tell if he was still alive anymore. I was using a scanning spell but his heart beat was so weak it only registered every few beats. "Oh, my brave warrior… you did not deserve this." I could see her crying… I didn't think she could cry. "We could have done so much together, seen so much. We were perfect for each other, I will miss you." As she kissed him her coat started to lighten and her mane began returning to normal. As she continued the kiss I couldn't tell if it was Nightmare or Luna that was kissing him. When she pulled away she was Luna again, "Goodbye Steel, you have earned your rest. I know that you are going to a better place but I will miss you." She kissed him and I registered a heartbeat… then nothing. I waited and waited but there was nothing, Steel was gone. Luna continued to hold him, "Luna…" She looked at me with more tears in her eyes and a small sad smile. "I know sister… I can't believe he's gone." We all stood around him and bowed our heads. Being one of the closest to his body I was the first to notice the slight glow around him. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to get anypony's hopes up. Eventually the others noticed as well, I could tell Luna was hoping he would come back… but it was not meant to be. When the glow reached its peak his body began to dissolve. I don't know how to describe it (think Halo 4 promethean knight death but silver and slower) but within minutes he had disappeared completely leaving us with only the dented and shredded remains of his armor and our memories.

"Goodbye Steel…"

Authors Note: This is not the end there is still one more chapter and two separate epilogues, a total of three more chapters. I put this out on Valentine's Day (or as I call it, single awareness day) because of the emotion I put in it… or at least hoped to put in it. I'm not that good with emotional scenes so I'm not sure how well it translated from my mind to the story. This was the climax of the story, the next chapter will focus on one big thing that was briefly mentioned in the last chapter, three guesses for what it is, and a small thing that will become a big thing. Anyway I wish you all a happy Valentine's Day or if you're single… well good luck with that.