Twilight faces the Dark Martial March

by khampostel

This story is a sequel to Daring Do and the Mystery of Eternal e fate of Equestria depends once again on the mane 6. Twilight is caught up in an abrupt new adventure, which will lead her to solve chaotic situations with her friends and unexpected allies, finally she is invited to face an impossible d make a decision that could save or damn a friend and her world

16. Between Harmony and Order II (P9)

The wind blew gently over the serene lake in the middle of the Great Barrier. On one of its shores, a small pink butterfly fluttered its wings desperately in an exhausted attempt to reach safety. Not far from its path, the last cargo carriage of the Ponyville to Canterlot train lay overturned on the ground. Unlike the other carriages sunk in the lake, this one was in perfect condition despite having been attacked by the same elemental forces that had destroyed the train.

With renewed hope, the little butterfly exerted its utmost effort to reach the carriage and, after several failed attempts, finally managed to reach it. Exhausted, it rested on one of its wheels.

Although only a gentle breeze was blowing at that moment, for that little butterfly, the journey had been like traversing a hurricane.

After several minutes of respite on the train carriage, the small butterfly turned its attention to the horizon.

On the other side of the lake, a large cloud of dust rose, and sounds resembling explosions began to reverberate, filling the entire Great Barrier with a deafening echo.

The new threat filled the small butterfly with distress, and without wasting a second, it sought refuge among the metal openings revealed in the overturned carriage. Its search was brief as it found a hole in the nearby air ducts and entered it without hesitation.

That tiny creature disappeared from the sight of anyone who might have been watching. However, in that conflicted world, few had eyes for such insignificant details as that.

/-/-

"THROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

A rain of massive rocks crashed into the forest bordering the Great Barrier. Trees and old structures shattered upon being hit by rocks as large as wagons. The heavy rock shower continued relentlessly for several seconds until finally, the bombardment ceased.

The resulting grey dust cloud from that rain began to slowly dissipate, revealing a wasteland of destruction.

Badwhiz, who had never before witnessed such an impressive display of power from Ceridwen, was deeply astonished. So much so that for a moment, he thought the battle was already over.

However, for Ceridwen, a veteran who had faced the princess and her entourage in the past, that attack should not have surprised her.

"I don't believe you're so weak as to think that mere rocks are enough to defeat you," Ceridwen reflected as she assumed a defensive stance and ignited the two golden wands floating around her with her magic. Behind her, Badwhiz quickly imitated her to cover their rear. Between them, a crystal cube floated.

A few minutes ago, Ceridwen had arrived on the battlefield. After allowing Badwhiz to issue an ultimatum to the princess, informing her that her companions had already been captured and that she must surrender, she proceeded to attack her with a rain of rocks when she received no favorable response. Of course, she had no interest in hearing the excuses of Princess Pony; if she didn't surrender immediately, there was no point in wasting a single word.

Even in that sudden attack, the princess did not succumb to panic or confusion. She skillfully dodged the magically manipulated rocks and retreated with her companion until they disappeared from Ceridwen's view.

The look the princess had before departing was one Ceridwen knew all too well; it was a look that reflected great determination to fight.

It was clear that a counterattack was imminent.

The dust had completely dissipated when, not far from where they were, Twilight emerged behind the rocks and fired a precise blast of magic from her horn at Ceridwen.

The counterattack began sooner than Ceridwen had anticipated, but only this was unexpected.

Twilight's bold direct attack collided with the solid magical barrier that Badwhiz had erected. The attack proved ineffective. Ceridwen, seeing an opportunity, acted in sync with Badwhiz, who lowered the barrier and immediately launched one of his golden wands toward Twilight.

The wand did not head for its target like an arrow but sideways like a rolling pin. In the middle of its trajectory, it grew exponentially, impacting the ground due to its own weight and continuing its advance like a gigantic steamroller.

Twilight was greatly surprised to witness the manifestation of this magic. The giant wand's relentless advance and the rocks scattered in all directions left her no choice but to ascend into the sky to avoid being crushed by the steamroller.

Now in the air, Twilight became an easy target.

("Switch!") Ceridwen ordered Badwhiz. In a perfectly synchronized movement that lasted less than a second, both companions swapped their positions. Now Badwhiz was in front of Twilight, free to attack her directly with his black lightning.

One after another, black lightning bolts pursued Twilight in the sky. Some grazed her wake while others came dangerously close, but most failed to hit their mark. Twilight was not a great flyer, but her strong wings and flight knowledge gave her enough advantage to dodge Badwhiz's relentless assault.

Ceridwen, behind him, paid no attention. She knew Badwhiz wouldn't be able to bring the princess down. His sole purpose was to keep her busy. The real attack would come from behind.

Rainbow Dash, as fast as lightning, emerged among the remains of the crushed forest and headed straight for Ceridwen at an unstoppable speed. The agile pegasus easily dodged the pellet rain Ceridwen had launched to halt her advance. With no further obstacles, Rainbow Dash accelerated to the maximum and slid along the ground until she was directly under Ceridwen. In what could have been just two seconds, both adversaries found themselves less than a meter apart. Then, demonstrating her extraordinary agility, Rainbow Dash launched her lower limbs directly at Ceridwen's face with the intention of rendering her unconscious in a single blow.

Ceridwen didn't expect anything less. It wasn't the first time she had faced this agile pegasus.

Their first encounter took place during the conspiracy in Ornithia, where her initial efforts to prevent the activation of the Tree of Harmony in that realm were thwarted by Rainbow Dash and her companions. At that moment, she was surprised to witness Rainbow Dash's speed with her own eyes. Shortly after retreating from there, she was even more amazed to learn that the same pegasus had traveled from the capital of that realm to the capital of Equestria in less than a day.

Their second encounter occurred in Canterlot, and unfortunately, it ended in disaster. While attempting to carry out Danu's careless orders, Ceridwen was ambushed by the Princess and her allies. That confrontation was brief and humiliating. After receiving a barrage of attacks of all kinds that didn't give her a chance to defend herself, she was defeated under the hooves of those ponies.

Ceridwen could accept her defeat. However, what she couldn't accept was how unbalanced those encounters had been.

Now, they were in their third confrontation, and this time Ceridwen was sure it wouldn't end like the previous ones.

Ceridwen vanished before Rainbow Dash could connect her imminent direct attack. The pegasus passed by without hitting her target. While it might have seemed to anyone else that Ceridwen had teleported, Rainbow Dash knew that wasn't the case. Ceridwen, using her size-manipulating magic, had shrunk herself to the point of being barely visible. But even when so small, she still had control of her powers.

The second wand, still floating in the air, transformed into a tiny yet sharp dart. At one end of it, the still tiny Ceridwen positioned herself and aimed at Rainbow Dash. She then released her true attack with this projectile.

Rainbow Dash, who had turned around to keep track of the reduced Ceridwen, noticed a small golden flash at the spot where her opponent had been before.

No, it wasn't a flash. Rainbow Dash's instincts triggered her alarms, and instinctively, she stretched her neck back as far as she could, avoiding the sharp object heading directly for her head. The projectile passed by and hit a rock that was quite behind Rainbow Dash.

Disoriented by the great effort she had made to avoid that unexpected attack, Rainbow Dash lost the rhythm of her flight and ended up rolling on the ground until she collided with the rock behind her. Despite all that, thanks to her quick reflexes, she managed to brake enough to emerge unharmed from the impact.

The rock behind Rainbow Dash was not so lucky.

As she casually observed the place where the dart had struck, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes wide and filled with distress upon seeing a deep hole in the rock. That's where the projectile had embedded itself completely, evidencing the lethality of that attack.

"SERIOUSLY! DO YOU WANT TO CAPTURE US OR ELIMINATE US? MAKE UP YOUR MIND!" Rainbow Dash exploded, visibly annoyed.

"Tsk," Ceridwen clicked her tongue as she returned to her normal size. She was annoyed too. The attack she had executed was one of the ones she had practiced the most since being imprisoned in Tartarus, and she had perfected it thinking of using it against Rainbow Dash. However, after its recent execution, she would have to consider it a futile effort.

"Lady Ceridwen, up!" Badwhiz suddenly exclaimed in a mental message.

Huge rocks began to fall into their position. Both Ceridwen and Badwhiz retreated, increasing the distance between them and Rainbow Dash. Badwhiz raised the barrier again, protecting them both from the smaller stones that splattered around.

Through the dust that had risen, Ceridwen saw how Twilight quickly arrived where Rainbow Dash was and then disappeared along with her companion in a teleportation.

"You're not capable of fighting for yourself without an advantage, are you, princess?" Ceridwen taunted inwardly, satisfied. Now she was convinced that her opponent was no better than her or her companions. There was no special force guarding behind that pony, and soon she would have no one in front of her to protect her.

/-/-/-

"That wasn't right," Rainbow Dash expressed, clearly upset.

"No, it wasn't," Twilight acknowledged as she lay on the ground. She was somewhat exhausted after dodging Badwhiz's lightning bolts repeatedly. Although she didn't have any serious injuries, the tips of her tail and some parts of her coat showed signs of singeing.

Both ponies were back at the dead-end pit. The dimly lit place, illuminated only by Twilight's magical light, was a physical representation of the complicated situation they were in.

"And now there are two... What are they? Twins?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I don't think so. One of them is an enchanted spirit, that's Badwhiz outside his body. The other... should be the real Vainilla."

"'Should'?" Rainbow Dash said, puzzled.

"He hasn't shown himself physically yet. He's just using Badwhiz's body as a hostage."

"He didn't seem like a hostage to me, Twilight. He looked very cooperative."

"We can't rule out anything yet, Rainbow Dash, we don't know enough."

"True, we don't know..." Rainbow Dash responded, looking thoughtfully at one of the walls.

There was a new pause in the conversation between the two friends. Rainbow Dash's frustration was palpable at that moment, and Twilight felt deeply pained by not having enough answers for her friend.

"Didn't you say these guys would try to capture us instead of attacking us directly?" Rainbow Dash said, turning her gaze back to Twilight.

"It seems their plans are different. What Badwhiz said earlier was just a ruse to lower our guard."

"That little..." Rainbow Dash's feathers bristled.

"In fact, it's likely that everything he's told us from the beginning has been a lie."

"Wait... then, are the girls okay?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, with hope in her voice.

"No, but that crystal he said they're supposedly trapped in must be a trap."

"So they..." Rainbow Dash began to say with a doubtful voice.

"Hey! No, no, Rainbow, it can't be. They must have been captured," Twilight quickly replied upon seeing the concern on Rainbow Dash's face.

"How do you know?" Dash responded, distressed.

"I would have felt it, you would have felt it too. That couldn't have happened," Twilight assured, shaking her head. Despite the many possibilities that her friends might have been eliminated, those ideas were only in her head. Deep down, Twilight felt that her friends were still there, though distant. It was the same feeling she had when facing the Triple Threat that attacked Canterlot before her coronation. Despite the despair that flooded her at that time, she never felt a sense of loss, but rather one of abandonment and failure.

"I have faith that they're still here. But they're prisoners of the enemy, and we must do everything we can to free them," Twilight continued with renewed spirits.

Despite Twilight's strong determination, doubts were already starting to weigh on Rainbow Dash...

"But what do we do, Twilight? If we keep going as we have been so far, we'll lose," Rainbow Dash replied with concern.

For Twilight, this was a question with a difficult answer.

After Badwhiz's companion arrived, without a word exchanged between them, Badwhiz informed them that the rest of their friends had been captured in a crystal cube and that they should surrender. Twilight tried to initiate a conversation at that moment, but was interrupted by the violent rock attack launched by the newcomer, Vainilla. Faced with this turn of events, Twilight, with no negotiating options left, had to briefly coordinate with Rainbow Dash to execute a swift attack and free their friends.

The attack plan consisted of Twilight simulating an offensive to distract Badwhiz's companion while Rainbow Dash advanced hidden from behind, assaulting Badwhiz from the shadows in the rear, defeating him, and taking the crystal. This move required swift and decisive execution to succeed. Unfortunately, their opponents' coordination turned out to be better than they had anticipated. Not only that, but they received an immediate response to their actions and even a counterattack that nearly ended with one of them.

Continuing with this same strategy until the opponent failed would lead to failure, given how much their adversaries had prepared. Trying to trick the enemy with a ruse carried risks and the possibility that one of them might sacrifice themselves. Negotiating was pointless...

One idea after another crossed Twilight's mind, but none of them were acceptable; they all had too many drawbacks. The only way to rescue their friends without losing the one who was still with them would be for them to become magically faster and stronger, but that last part was impossible at that moment.

Twilight had already used all the crystals she could enchant, and she had no additional magical artifacts that could give them the advantage they urgently needed.

Rainbow Dash watched with concern as Twilight sank into a deep state of concentration with her eyes closed... until she finally exhaled.

"We have no choice but to try to deceive them, pretend that one of us was injured or weakened in battle, and hope that Badwhiz or his other companion let their guard down when they try to capture us..." Twilight responded resignedly. She had opened her eyes again, but she had a tired look.

"Seriously? Do you really think they'd be naive enough to fall for something like that?" Rainbow Dash responded skeptically.

"If I break my horn in front of them, it should surely cause some reaction."

Rainbow Dash widened her eyes. But before she could say anything, Twilight continued. "I won't actually break my horn; it will just be a very convincing trick to deceive them. I learned it from a performance by Trixie and Starlight last year. Their performance was really realistic," Twilight concluded with a forced smile.

"Well, then it might work," Rainbow Dash replied, rubbing her chin. She didn't seem entirely convinced.

"The other option is that you pretend to have lost your wings in an attack, but I would have to remove them with magic beforehand..."

"Hey! Upon further thought, I think it would be more believable if you lose your horn," Rainbow Dash said immediately, somewhat nervously, as she flexed her wings. "I really couldn't bear to lose my wings again."

Upon hearing that last comment, Twilight froze.

Rainbow Dash's words had awakened an old memory within her and also the flicker of hope that had been fading. She could almost feel her heart leaping with excitement. She had found the answer she urgently needed!

"THAT'S IT, RAINBOW DASH! YOU'RE BRILLIANT!" exclaimed Twilight, using her magic to bring Rainbow Dash closer and give her an affectionate hug.

"Hey! No! No, Twilight! Your idea of breaking your horn is better than me losing my wings. Seriously! I just told you!" Rainbow Dash responded, very flustered.

"I'm not referring to that. Do you remember when those wicked unicorns took away your wings a long time ago? And what happened afterward?" Twilight asked with bright eyes, hoping her friend would understand what she had in mind.

"Mmm... Well, we went after those guys... but they captured us, and then..."

"And then?"

Rainbow Dash's eyes were somewhat lost in her memories until they finally lit up as she recalled that moment. Excited, she finally understood what her friend intended. She could only respond in one way.

"TWILIGHT-DASH! OH, YES!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, doing a joyful spin in the air.

Twilight-Dash was the fusion of Twilight and Rainbow Dash. This had happened years ago when they were captured by wicked unicorns who had stolen Rainbow Dash's wings to become alicorns. At that time, Twilight's magic alone was not enough to free them. That's when the idea of merging to stop those villains emerged. The resulting fusion had so much power that it practically humiliated those dangerous wizards, who, unable to defend themselves, eventually surrendered and begged for mercy.

This was the best opportunity they had to win.

"We must start right away. The spell I used back then was temporary and limited. This time, I'll do much better," proposed Twilight, tapping the ground with her hoof, without further ado, igniting her horn, and beginning her concentration.

"Hah! Back then, I didn't have my wings. But now that I do, can you imagine how fast we're going to be? IT'LL BE DOUBLE 20% COOLER!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, flapping her wings, already fantasizing about the extraordinary acrobatics she could perform in no time.

A tremor was felt around them. Chunks of earth began to fall from above.

"An impatient audience," Rainbow Dash quipped with a smile as she looked up at the empty ceiling.

"I'm almost done," replied Twilight, her horn's light shining at its brightest.

A magical light began to emanate from Twilight's horn, signaling the start of the spell. It was as soft as a blanket of shimmering silk. Magic enveloped both ponies, and between them, threads of light emerged and joined together. Slowly, two light cocoons formed and drew closer. Soon, both cocoons met and quickly merged into one. The light from the new, larger cocoon shone, splashed with all the colors of the rainbow, before compressing and dimming like a paper lantern in the darkness of the pit.

Then, a crack opened, and the light from a pair of eyes was revealed to the world.

/-/-

At one end of the war room, a sudden shiver ran down Balor's body as she examined the crystals sent to her by Ceridwen with intense concentration. It was an ominous sensation that foretold a massive shift in the balance of magic. Balor had been born with the ability to perceive these changes, and since then, there had been very few times she had felt something similar. Even among those few times, she had only experienced a more intense sensation once when she had challenged the great patriarch.

With her senses on high alert, she quickly turned her gaze to the rest of her companions, who were watching the magical mirror attentively.

The expressions on their faces reflected the gravity of the situation. The magical mirror oscillated at a point not far from where Ceridwen was supposed to be. That was one of the places where the princess and her companion were supposed to have taken refuge.

Balor, who had recently witnessed the previous encounter between Ceridwen and Twilight, had concluded moments earlier that the princess had already reached her limit of effort. From that point on, the battle would be dominated by Ceridwen. So, she withdrew to continue analyzing the magical objects they had obtained from the ponies.

"What does this mean, Balor?" Mannah asked in a grave tone.

Balor took a closer look at the enchanted water mirror, took a sample, and analyzed the magic reflected in it.

A dark smile appeared on her face. This was what she had been waiting for.

"My great sub-leader, Mannah, it is time for you to yield control of this operation to me," she responded with a solemn air.

/-/-

A gentle drizzle fell at one end of the Great Barrier, accompanied by a cool breeze and barely noticeable mist.

For someone who had dedicated her entire life to the rigorous study of natural phenomena using the strict scientific method, this drizzle would be inexplicable. Considering the limited size of the dome where the atmosphere had been enclosed, such meteorological phenomena should be impossible.

However, for Ceridwen, there was a simple explanation: magic.

This dome, or the Great Barrier, which had trapped Twilight and her friends, had been created using a spell very similar to the one used to create the sacred magical barrier that protected the realm of Cunabula. And like that one, the Great Barrier created a microclimate beneficial to those sheltered within it.

These were one of the few similarities they shared; the differences were more noticeable.

The Great Barrier was much smaller in size than its counterpart, had a more limited duration, lacked environmental restrictions, and also offered no safety in its solidity since it did not require great magical power to break it from the outside or inside.

Taking into account all these disadvantages, along with others that had arisen during the initial planning, one might think that the Great Barrier would not fulfill its purpose of enclosing the princess and her allies. That reinforcements from the outside would soon arrive to liberate them without much effort.

But that would never happen. Ceridwen was as sure of that as she was of the sunrise.

Balor had added more than one magical barrier to that place, in fact, layers upon layers of magic, all tied to the main spell of the Great Barrier. Both inside and out, layers of magic had been placed to give the knights of the order all the security they needed to ensure the princess did not escape or receive reinforcements.

Of course, all this overload of magic would cause the barrier to collapse even more quickly, but Balor had overcome this last impediment with a clever solution.

A time spell.

Using her own lifetime, Balor had extended the duration of the barrier for three days. The price for Balor would be three years of her youth.

Even so, channeling so much magic was a considerable effort. To complete her task, Balor had to enter a period of hibernation while casting the spells simultaneously. This was one of her best skills and the one she was most proud of. With the protection of her companions, she was not interrupted and successfully completed her work.

Ceridwen was calm; she had over a day to find Twilight, but she would not allow herself such wastefulness.

Using her magic, Ceridwen sent a large rock flying toward an abandoned building in the distance. The dilapidated structure immediately exploded into pieces.

("There are only three more places left," Ceridwen thought.) Immediately, she prepared her next projectile. Behind her, Badwhiz still covered her, and the crystal cube floated at her side. The next target was an abandoned well, and this time, she would use a much larger rock.

Suddenly, a disturbance in the atmosphere interrupted her. Behind her, Badwhiz shrank as he also sensed the unexpected change.

Something had happened.

Dropping the rock she had lifted, Ceridwen once again took a defensive stance. Behind her, Badwhiz raised his magical shield again, ready to protect her.

Around her, the atmosphere had shifted. The drizzle, as well as the wind, had stopped, and the fog that had previously dominated the area dissipated without a trace. It was almost as if nature was holding its breath.

Then, an explosion. A beam of light emerged from the spot where Ceridwen was supposed to attack a moment ago. Rising into the sky in a bright streak, a purple spark shot high up and suddenly halted in the white sky of the Great Barrier.

Ceridwen's eyes widened as she saw the figure of the pony observing her from above. It was not the princess or her companion. It was an opponent for whom she was unprepared.

The newcomer began to descend slowly. Ceridwen observed every detail of her new opponent. She had a mane with a design similar to Twilight's but with a slight gradient color reminiscent of Rainbow Dash's. Her entire skin, a light shade of purple, seemed enveloped in a faint glow of light emanating from within. Both her horn and her strong wings emitted particles of blue and lilac. She was not slim but not excessively robust either; she had a perfect proportion suitable for her size.

And despite the calm expression on her face, there was immense power in every flap of that alicorn's wings. Ceridwen, who saw her approaching like a storm in motion, was sure of that.

Twilight-Dash finally touched the ground with the grace of a princess and the posture of a seasoned warrior. The magical lights that accompanied her descent faded away. The introductory show was over. Now, Twilight-Dash, as a simple alicorn, looked at Ceridwen without any hostility or emotion.

Certainly, Ceridwen felt no hostility, but the tension within her only increased.

("Does she want to talk?") she thought in vain. Ceridwen was surprised but still confident that she could control the situation. You didn't need to be a scholar in magic to understand that she was facing a fusion.

"Let my friends go and return to your home," ordered Twilight-Dash.

Yes, those simple words that were not a threat were spoken in a firm and authoritative tone. Although this was only the impression Ceridwen had. She couldn't help but think of her former leader, Danu. Moreover, they reminded her of someone more important than him.

Ceridwen snorted and immediately prepared another golden-enchanted rod with her magic. She had no words in response to the princess. After all the unfortunate events that had recently taken place in her beloved country of Cunabula because of that pony, there was no longer room for dialogue or negotiations. She would not lend herself to that anymore. All that was left was to fight and fulfill her mission.

"I guess that's a no," thought Twilight's independent mind disheartened as she observed her opponent's reaction.

"Well, at least you tried. Can we do it the hard way now?" responded Rainbow Dash's independent mind.

Both minds, separate and independent, now shared the same body and cooperated to guide the thoughts and actions of Twilight-Dash. This fusion had its own limited thought, a result of the combination of both lines of thinking. Of course, if a conflict of decisions arose between Twilight and Rainbow Dash, the fusion would stop, and in the worst-case scenario, it would break apart.

But at this moment, both friends had no doubt about what they should do.

"So be it," concluded Twilight-Dash firmly.

Ceridwen, who possessed Badwhiz's body, ignored these last words and prepared two additional golden bars surprisingly quickly.

However, for Twilight-Dash, those movements seemed... too slow. Before, when she was just Rainbow Dash, she would have praised her opponent's reflexes, but now she almost felt disappointed.

"Now," both thoughts inside her outlined a plan of action in an instant.

With a sigh, Twilight-Dash flapped her wings and advanced toward her opponent at an incredible speed, causing the world around her to appear in slow motion. The bubble protecting her enemies tore apart as if it were paper when she crossed it. The defense seemed so ridiculous that it almost felt like an insult. She got even closer to the one she had called Vanilla before. Being in front of him, a doubt struck her again. Who was this individual? At this point, she wasn't sure who it could really be. Judging by Rainbow Dash's testimony and what her friends had told her when they got off the train, she could deduce that this person must have been hidden, allowing the boy named Badwhiz to put on a show to get Twilight's attention. Once the boy had surveyed the terrain enough and posed a favorable situation in the battle, they would manifest themselves through possession for a sudden attack. This would explain the change in attitude and abilities he started to display later on, as well as how he managed to surprise Rainbow Dash.

However, it still didn't explain why the abilities Vanilla had now were different from what Rainbow Dash had initially described. Even his armor had changed. Moreover, were so many precautions necessary? Given the battles so far, her opponent had had plenty of opportunities to defeat Twilight and her friends. Or was there another reason she hadn't considered? Perhaps it was a wear-down strategy designed to gather as much information about the bearers of the Elements of Harmony as possible while posing new threats each time on the battlefield?

It could be that they were not facing a single opponent but several individuals, possibly disciples of the Knights of the Order who had been trapped in Tartarus. The worst-case scenario was that their enemies were indeed the Knights of the Order themselves. Because if that were the case...

"Uhpm," Twilight-Dash dodged one of Vanilla's golden bars. "That was close; we better hurry." The projectile had shot out at an incredible speed from one of her sides, but in Twilight-Dash's eyes, it was like watching a very fast sparrow.

Without further delay, Twilight-Dash began to move seriously. She circled around Vanilla to position herself behind her. Two more golden bars were shot at her, which she easily dodged. She extended one of her front hooves and began searching in the back of Vanilla's mane.

Then she found something solid and pulled it out. It was a tiny crystal cube, almost identical to the one Vanilla had brought but with an improved design and a brighter radiance.

Twilight-Dash held it close to her chest and could feel intense magic pulsing slowly within it.

Her assumption had been correct. Just as she had imagined, Vanilla had hidden the real crystal where her friends were sealed, shrinking it and placing it behind her mane.

"I'm sorry I'm so late, girls," Twilight-Dash said to herself, saddened.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah," a hissing sound was heard. Twilight-Dash looked around. The fake sealing crystal that had been between Vanilla and Badwhiz began to glow. Vanilla, on one side, had started to move a little faster and was now slowly aiming her horn at Twilight-Dash. Badwhiz, on the other hand, seemed to have not noticed anything.

"Villains cooperating... not the first time, but it's still annoying," Twilight-Dash had had enough of these guys. She spread her wings and flapped them. Two intense gusts of air shot out at both enemy foes. Both Vanilla and Badwhiz were pushed by the powerful winds in opposite directions, crashing into the rocks.

And to finish, the powerful alicorn gave a strong kick to the fake sealing crystal, launching it somewhere within the Great Barrier.

"Was it really a trap?" Twilight-Dash wondered, but quickly put that thought aside. It made no sense to think about those things now. All she had to do was take the real crystal cube to a safe place and free her friends. Together, they could activate the magic of the Elements and confront Vanilla and her allies. Even better, she could try to merge them with each other as well.

"Why didn't I think of it before? Apple Pie? Rari-Fluter-shy?" With this in mind, Twilight-Dash teleported away before her opponents could grasp what had happened.

"How dare she?" Ceridwen murmured furiously from the possessed body of Badwhiz. It was one thing for her adversary to have knocked her to the ground, but it was another for her to simply leave the battlefield when she had the opportunity to finish her off or capture her.

She had been humiliated in that manner before, and now the princess was repeating the same pattern.

"It's enough," Ceridwen declared coldly. She then summoned a long string of black pearls, the amulet began to burn with the fire of her magic, ready to be used immediately.

Ceridwen had decided to use heavy weaponry. She had been ordered not to use items of that level, but given the recent turn of the battle, she at least wanted the princess to get a good sense of what she was truly capable of.

Then, before taking action, a voice interrupted her.

"Ceridwen, my friend, let it go. I will take over the rest of the operation," this was Balor's voice speaking to her mentally.

"Balor, let me finish," Ceridwen replied through the same channel.

"No, we all agreed that at some point in the battle, I would have the final say. That moment is now. So please, give me control of that body immediately," Balor responded firmly, without a hint of sarcasm.

Faced with Balor's urgent request, Ceridwen calmed down. There was no point in fighting among comrades. Everyone had already agreed to avoid that, and she definitely wouldn't be the first to break that rule.

"Destroy her, Balor. Restore Cunabula's honor," Ceridwen earnestly requested from her comrade. It was a sincere plea that came from the depths of her heart.

"I intend to, my friend," Balor concluded. At that moment, communication was cut off, and both of them switched places.

/-/-

Balor now possessed the real body of Badwhiz. The armor had changed from orange to a shade of purple. She looked around at the battlefield, which was a mess, but she was not concerned in the slightest. In fact, she was glad that Ceridwen had not made further progress before. Due to Mannah's initial resistance to her taking over the leadership of the operation, Ceridwen had to demonstrate the strength of the fusion between Princess Twilight and her companion Rainbow Dash.

"Politicians..." Balor mocked internally. After witnessing the power of Twilight-Dash, the sub-leader of the Knights of the Order immediately relinquished leadership of the battle.

Not far from where she stood, a shadow rose among the rocks. It was Badwhiz, but he looked pitiful. Even as a mass of shadows and magic, his entire body appeared diluted and opaque, like soot clinging to clothing.

The disoriented shadowy pony turned his head, searching for his companion. He spotted Balor and immediately ran toward her. However, he stopped a few steps away, realizing belatedly that it was no longer Ceridwen.

Badwhiz bent down as respectfully as he could.

"Lord Balor, the princess escaped with the sealing crystal. We didn't have the power to stop her..."

"Indeed. You've expended much of your limited magic in attacking her, and now that you're exhausted, you've become a burden."

"I'm sorry," Badwhiz replied, shrinking.

"Don't lament. After all, you are weak."

In response to her teacher's words, Badwhiz lowered his head sadly. Now his heart was also heavy.

But Balor was not finished.

"Tell me, boy, what do you think is the greatest deciding factor in a battle?"

Badwhiz, who was tired, didn't have the strength to think too deeply about his response, so he could only say the first thing that came to mind.

"Power," Badwhiz replied simply.

"Hm," Balor muttered. Then she lifted a small rock from the ground with her magic and placed it in the palm of her hoof. She turned her back to Badwhiz and gazed out at the horizon of the Great Barrier. Somewhere hidden there was the fusion she needed to defeat.

"Having power is desirable, I won't deny that. However, there's another factor that always ensures the victor's triumph," as she spoke these words, Balor began channeling her magic into the rock she held. "This factor is the key to all wars and the secret to any peace."

A gust of wind blew, carrying dust around them.

"It's deception," Balor declared. Suddenly, the rock she held sparkled, and in the blink of an eye, it had transformed into the actual sealing crystal in which the Knights of the Order had trapped Twilight's friends.

/-/-

Shortly before, in a rabbit burrow, Twilight-Dash was analyzing the sealing crystal.

"Twilight, seriously, can't we just crack it open like a nut with our hooves?"

"This is a very delicate object, Rainbow Dash. If we make the slightest mistake, it could either shatter with all our friends inside or trap us as well."

"Really?" Rainbow Dash's independent mind insinuated arrogantly.

"I don't think so, but there's a possibility. Maybe a hexagonal revelation spell will give me some clues. Uhpm. No, a six-phase arcane analysis should be sufficient..." Twilight's independent mind continued to think aloud about other options to initiate deciphering the crystal.

"Argh!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, already beginning to regret not finishing the previous battle. At that moment, she could have had the satisfaction of defeating the villains and avoided continuing the fusion with Twilight. Then she wouldn't have to listen to all the nerdy and incomprehensible suggestions that passed through her friend's mind.

Several minutes had already passed in this task, and for Rainbow Dash, it was becoming unbearable.

Unexpectedly, it happened.

"Eh?" Twilight-Dash exclaimed the moment the sealing crystal turned into its fake version. "But what the heck?"

Just like before, this false crystal continued to whistle, like a boiling teapot, or rather like a bomb about to explode.

/-/-

A violent eruption erupted on one of the hills inside the Great Barrier. In the distance, Balor observed the result of the conflagration. As she had calculated, the explosion had not destroyed the fusion of the princess and her ally.

"Predictable..." Balor murmured to herself. Then she looked back.

There was Badwhiz, who had an expression as if she were waiting for her to say something more.

"What a child," Balor thought. She had a good opportunity to give Badwhiz a lecture right now, but she didn't.

Balor was not that kind of person. Her master, on the other hand, would have done it. He was an exemplary person who never missed the opportunity to teach his ideals to others. He was someone Balor admired, even though she could never obtain his approval.

She could vividly remember the sermons he used to give her for her shortcomings.

"...we, the knights of order, defend our nation with truth. Not with lies. It is beneath us to resort to deceptive arts or vague speeches. Remember that when using the same weapon, the knight takes it as an extension of themselves. If this weapon becomes a lie, the knight loses their purpose and becomes just another criminal in the eyes of justice. Punishment will not be delayed..."

These had been the words she received from her master. She had not been a good student, and it was quite obvious that she would not be a good teacher either.

She really didn't feel capable of teaching Badwhiz properly.

"Don't make that face, boy. It's not the time for lessons."

"Eh? I'm sorry... I will keep your words in mind, Lord Balor," said Badwhiz, somewhat confused, bowing his head.

"Keep them in mind, boy, but don't take them too much to heart. It's just common sense, and in practice, peace can also arise in other ways. Like from true sacrifices..." Balor muttered, looking somewhere in the sky.

Badwhiz found that behavior strange but didn't say more.

"Well, that's enough. Now I'll dissipate your consciousness and complete the mind domination spell." As she finished speaking, the shadowy figure that Badwhiz was made of began to dissolve like smoke in the wind. As the consciousness of the pink-maned pony began to wander in some hazy and drowsy place.

Badwhiz's last thought at that moment was of his pet, Beak. He still hoped it was safe.

/-/-

In the war room of the Knights of the Order, the unconscious body of Balor entered a huge orb filled with pure magic. Around her and between her wings, six custom-designed crystals with emblems orbited. Then, as if trying to crush an invisible balloon between her claws, Balor compressed the magic around her, causing all the crystals to merge into one.

A column of black light rose into the sky of the Great Barrier, darkening the little light that was already there and releasing an eerie luminosity in various places within the dome.

Twilight-Dash was not unfamiliar with these signals and headed towards their source.

In front of the Knights of the Order in the war room, the most important phase of their operation had begun. They had assembled the unit's emblem, a magical amulet that had been used in the transcendent battles of the knights. Always against powerful enemies of their nation who had breached their defenses. Today, however, it was only the second time in history that it was being used outside the kingdom.

Inside the Great Barrier, where Badwhiz's real body was, the armor he was wearing began to darken until it was as black as pure tar. All wounds or signs of weakness disappeared. An immense amount of magic filled the pony's body completely, giving it a spectral aura. This transformation was the result of the union of the magic of the five Knights of the Order and Badwhiz into one. But it was an imperfect union. Danu, representing the element of loyalty, was not present. Even so, the power that Balor had gained at that moment was enough to face the approaching adversary.

Twilight-Dash reached the origin of the column of black light.

The transformation had ended. A cloud of dust exploded.

Both the sky and the interior of the Great Barrier returned to their previous states.

But everything had changed. Tension filled the air. It was the brief pause before the storm.

/-/-

Twilight-Dash stared in consternation at her opponent atop a hill. The immense power before her was impossible to ignore. It was like standing in front of a erupting volcano.

The dust cloud that had enveloped the area dissipated in an instant.

Balor, now completely possessing Badwhiz's body and armed with the power of six different individuals, appeared before Twilight-Dash, extending her dark wings. She smiled, but it was not a mocking or arrogant smile towards her opponent; it was one of accomplishment. All her predictions and deductions had led her to this point. Now, within the bounds of her own machinations, there was only the task left to complete.

However, she couldn't afford to lose her composure or focus.

With a sigh, she reviewed the progress she had made:

Convincing her companions to join her cause and isolating Danu. Done.

Capturing her main target and keeping her detained. Done.

Completing the preparations to neutralize the Lord of Chaos. Done.

Preparing the means to destroy Equestria in case everything failed. Done.

Finally, capturing the irrelevant bearers of the Tree of Harmony's magic. Pending.

Balor exhaled once more. Of the six bearers she needed to capture, she already had four under her control. The remaining two were right in front of her, now fused into a single entity.

"Great minds think alike, don't you think, princess?" Balor announced to Twilight-Dash, breaking the silence between them.

Twilight-Dash, confused, began to remember where she had heard the new voice coming from Badwhiz before. Then the memory clicked, and she finally understood.

"Balor!" Twilight-Dash exclaimed. In Twilight's independent mind, the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. In Dash's independent mind, the pegasus congratulated herself silently. "Great minds... ha."

"Surprised? Didn't I warn you that we would finish our mission?" Balor responded coldly.

"Please, we don't have to go this far; there are other..." Twilight-Dash began, trying to reason with Balor.

"'Other things more important than home'?" Balor interrupted Twilight-Dash's words.

These were the same words Twilight had used to lecture Ceridwen when she had been defeated in Canterlot. That memory she had seen in her friends' minds had only triggered disgust in her.

"What 'things' are you referring to, princess?" Balor continued. "In my home, there are my friends, my family, my love, my purpose, my history, my nation..."

A cold wind blew between the two contenders. In a heavy silence, Balor descended towards Twilight-Dash, her wings filled with anger she had been holding back for too long. Until that moment, she had remained calm, but not anymore.

"Answer me, princess... WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT?!" Balor finally exploded with all her rage, simultaneously shattering the rock beneath her hooves.

Twilight-Dash didn't respond.

"I had thought of sparing you, to maintain peace in this realm... but now that I am more aware of your abilities, that would be a terrible mistake. I WILL NOT SHOW YOU ANY MERCY, DAMN YOU! DON'T EVEN BOTHER ASKING FOR IT!"

Confronted with this display of pure and sincere rage that she couldn't comprehend, Twilight-Dash recoiled. In Twilight's independent mind, doubt began to creep in. "Had she made a mistake? Where did this hatred come from? Was there something she didn't know?" Twilight's spirit began to question, but Dash's independent mind quickly shook her. "It's not the time to think about that, Twilight. These guys are wrong, and you know it. We're fighting to save our friends and Equestria, that's all that matters."

Upon Dash's words, Twilight-Dash regained her composure and advanced toward Balor.

"I won't let you harm my friends or the inhabitants of Equestria! You can stop this now! It's not too late!" Twilight-Dash pleaded.

Balor, possessing Badwhiz's body, paused for a moment. She closed her eyes and then reopened them. There was no longer any trace of anger or rage; only sadness remained.

"Wretched princess... midnight has already fallen upon us. It's too late for everyone now," Balor said before launching her first attack.

/-/-

The dialogue had come to an end. There was no point in further understanding or wasting time with words. Balor began her offensive with the sole purpose of defeating her opponent. Unfortunately, Twilight-Dash could only accept it and fight back.

Balor charged directly at Twilight-Dash without using spells or tricks. Her charge was aimed at causing maximum physical damage, relying on the element of surprise as her opponent likely expected some kind of spell.

She also had the Starheart gem around her neck. With this in her favor, an immediate magical counterattack would not be possible.

Her assumption proved correct. Twilight-Dash, surprised, could only raise a magical barrier with great effort and take the charge with her hooves open.

The collision between the two resulted in the explosion of the surrounding rocks. There was a brief struggle between them, though it lasted only a few seconds, it felt as if time stood still for both. One pushed the other, with a purple barrier resisting and a pink meteor trying to break through. Both forces swayed until finally, all the accumulated magical energy around them was released in a second explosion that obliterated the area where they clashed.

The new shockwave obliterated all the remaining rocks from the previous collision. A huge dust cloud spread in all directions, covering half of the Great Barrier where they were trapped.

Badwhiz's body, possessed by Balor, was propelled from one end of the cloud.

However, Balor didn't lose consciousness. Still in the air, she made an agile maneuver, spinning around herself and slowing her fall with the power of her artificial alicorn wings. Without wasting a second, she ascended higher into the air and searched for her opponent amid the debris of the explosion.

She clicked her tongue.

Below her was Twilight-Dash, her eyes coldly watching Balor. There were signs that she had also been pushed, but they were only scratches, just like the ones Balor had now.

"Well... we're even," Balor thought to herself. It was clear to her that they were now physically evenly matched. If she took the necessary precautions against her opponent, fighting hoof to hoof would only result in a draw. The previous attack, while not elegant, had given her the information she needed to continue her strategy. "If that's the case... then magic is the key."

Balor brought her front hooves together and entered a meditative posture as she delved into the dust cloud from the explosion. The darkness of the dust cloud enveloped her. She knew that inside, she would be an easy target and immediately teleported without making any more movements.

In an instant, she reappeared at one end of the barrier. Once again, she tracked Twilight-Dash, and as she had assumed, she was circling within the dust cloud where she had ventured.

"You don't know any tracking spells, do you?" Balor had studied it before, but she couldn't help but be surprised at how confusing Equestrian magic was. Despite their advancements in so many areas of magic, ponies had significant gaps in subjects like security and control.

"Too long living in peace..." Balor muttered as she unleashed her spell. The ground began to shake, and columns of water shot up into the sky. Soon, much of the terrain was filled with water geysers that began flooding the plain. The recently formed crater from the previous explosion started to fill, taking the shape of a lake.

Balor's sensitive senses sounded an alert. Someone was heading towards her at full speed. It was obvious who it was.

"That's it... come, you fool, come..." Balor thought as she prepared her next spells. Three columns of water shot up on either side of her, rising to her floating height. The water began to accumulate in three large bubbles that quickly grew in size.

A sudden, fleeting burst of light, almost like a rainbow lightning, approached her. In less than a blink, Twilight-Dash appeared in front of her with a hoof extended, intending to strike her directly. It almost seemed like she had teleported, yet Balor hadn't blinked or shown any surprise. Twilight-Dash's attack landed directly on Balor's face, but the body of the possessed pony remained completely unharmed. All that powerful impact was dissipated by a translucent magical air shield around Balor. The pony in black armor calmly stepped back a few meters, paying no attention to her opponent's surprise at her defense, and then launched her counterattack. The water bubbles around her compressed, and three consecutive shots of high-pressure water shot out at an astonishing speed towards Twilight-Dash. Swiftly dodging each projectile, Twilight-Dash displayed remarkable grace in avoiding them all. Balor had to acknowledge her skill; she was doing it too well.

Another spell was unleashed as several tornadoes of air shot out at nearly supersonic speeds from Balor's position towards Twilight-Dash. Seeing the sides being attacked, Twilight-Dash descended to the ground, allowing the air projectiles to impact the terrain below. More smaller explosions erupted across the plain in Twilight-Dash's wake.

Balor continued her assault. The three water bubbles merged and formed an even larger one. Suddenly, the new bubble froze and began to grow in size. Increasing in size rapidly, the ice ball covered the entire sky of the barrier area. Below, Twilight-Dash had finished dodging the remaining air projectiles and looked up. A massive ice planetoid hung over her. With a simple hoof movement, Balor launched it.

If Twilight-Dash's fusion consisted only of Rainbow Dash's consciousness to respond to this attack, she might have attempted to smash through the gigantic ice ball in a futile and arrogant display of strength and power. On the other hand, if only Twilight's consciousness were present, she might have decided to move away from the impact area of the slow and predictable projectile and then analyzed Balor's intentions in making such an obvious attack.

However, Twilight-Dash was more than just the conceptual fusion of two ponies. She was remarkable and accurate, and even more, she was EXCEPTIONAL.

With a speed more impressive than the time it took her to plan her next moves, Twilight-Dash ascended into the sky. She hovered over the surface of the gigantic falling ice ball and continued her flight until she reached Balor, attacking her in the same way she had done before. Once again, the attack was repelled, pushing Balor backward. However, this time Balor received an attack she didn't expect. Before Balor noticed the absence of her opponent in front of her, a painful tug shook her entire body from below. The world spun around her. Trapped in a push at an entirely irrational speed, the body possessed by Balor was dragged through the skies.

Dismayed, Balor looked down, discovering that it was Twilight-Dash who had bitten her tail and was pulling it to throw her to the ground. In a reflex of anger at this insolence, Balor fired a lightning bolt at Twilight-Dash, who stubbornly resisted for several seconds before releasing her.

But it was already too late. Balor, in a futile attempt to change her course, extended her wings just moments before impact. The possessed body of Balor bounced repeatedly until it finally came to a sudden halt.

"Damn you...!" Balor didn't have enough time to finish expressing her anger. Directly above her, the enormous ice ball she had launched was only a few meters away from hitting the ground. Twilight-Dash had pushed her precisely into ground zero of that terrible impact.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR" resonated throughout the barrier. Once again, the landscape was changing. Hundreds of ice and rock fragments soared into the sky, only to fall like meteorites, and a thick cloud of dust and vapor obscured the entire trapped atmosphere, making it almost impossible to breathe. At one end of the barrier, where a bit of light could still be discerned, a breathless Twilight-Dash observed the cataclysmic impact.

"Rainbow Dash, that was..." began the independent mind of Twilight.

"Incredible... I know, I've never maintained that speed for so long! We should do this more often!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash's independent mind excitedly.

"No! That was too dangerous! She could have countered at the last moment and left us under that ice mountain!" complained Twilight's independent mind.

"Oh, come on, we just teleported out of there!"

"We can't teleport, Rainbow!"

"Oh, right, that stone thing... Well, I'll keep that in mind for next time!" Rainbow Dash said confidently.

Twilight's independent mind didn't respond further. It made no sense to reprimand Dash for her reckless actions. But she was still concerned that Dash might not be focused enough to continue the fusion. Both of them needed to be on the same wavelength; otherwise, the fusion could fail in the midst of combat. If Rainbow Dash's personality started to predominate over hers, she might temporarily lose her magic at the end of the fusion. It wasn't common for that to happen, certainly it had never happened in the advanced magic classes she had with Celestia. But there was that possibility, and she couldn't risk it happening, even though the enemy hadn't shown all their cards yet...

"Okay, I understand... I'll be more careful. I wouldn't want us to fail because of something like that," Rainbow Dash replied, surprising Twilight's independent mind.

"Wait, did you hear everything I thought?" Twilight's independent mind responded in surprise.

"I can hear everything you think. Isn't it supposed to be like that?"

"Well, yes, but... I thought I had closed my mind."

"I think you're getting a little distracted."

Immediately, Twilight entered a mental isolation state. Rainbow Dash was right. She had been lowering her own concentration in the middle of the battle, inadvertently allowing Rainbow's mind to make decisions. After a sigh, her focus returned, and the fusion stabilized once more.

"I'm sorry. I'm not used to fighting like you. Not in this way..."

"Don't worry, Twilight. Just trust my experience. Traveling the world gave me a loooot of that."

"Alright, I..."

"Up!" automatically said Twilight-Dash as she perceived a light at the highest point of the barrier.

High above the barrier, Balor was suspended in the air like a small fuchsia and black lantern. The possessed body of Badwhiz had only scratches and other minor injuries. However, Balor's spirit was extremely agitated.

"Ah... Ah... Darn it..." Balor panted, with sweat dripping from her forehead. It was no wonder; just moments ago, she had managed to teleport herself in the last millisecond before that ice planetoid she had created fell on her head. Everything would have ended at that moment, and she would have had to take more extreme measures to finish the battle.

Balor looked down again and found herself locking eyes with Twilight-Dash once more.

"Alright! That was... very close... No matter, everything is ready now," Balor said to herself as she observed the changes in the landscape. She took a deep breath again and descended slowly towards Twilight-Dash. Balor was already mentally preparing her final moves to end the battle.

Twilight-Dash watched her adversary descend until she reached the ground. She was only a few meters away. However, Twilight-Dash's senses were on high alert. She could sense that Balor was relaxed and unharmed. That was bad; the confidence reflected by her opponent revealed that everything was going according to plan. So, it was likely that the situation would soon worsen for her.

Those intuitions were met with a sudden hissing sound on the horizon. Where the giant ice ball had fallen, there was now a thick white smoke rising, starting to swamp the entire ground within the barrier. The smoke, which had a milky and almost liquid appearance, advanced accompanied by an extreme cold that reminded Rainbow Dash's independent mind of the frigid plains of the Arctic.

"Cold... too cold," Twilight-Dash thought to herself. Deep within her, the independent thoughts of both ponies began to worry.

A stream of super-chilled air swept between the two opponents. Twilight-Dash shivered. Balor observed her opponent's weakness but didn't gloat in the slightest. She had no interest in doing so at that moment, not with an opponent like her. The horn on the armor worn by the body controlled by Balor lit up, and immediately a new spell was set in motion. Icy winds accompanied by thunder began to unleash within the barrier, heralding the terrible snowstorm that would soon be unleashed. Balor knew well the vulnerability that ponies had to the cold and intended to use that advantage against her opponent. Igniting a golden fire on the body she controlled, Balor prepared for the upcoming head-to-head battle.

Twilight-Dash furrowed her brow. She was definitely going to have a tough time.

In the distance, amidst the budding snowstorm, a faint pink butterfly observed the outside world from one of the derailed train cars.

/-/-

In the war room of the Knights of the Order, everyone watched the scene reflected in the enchanted pool. None of them had words to describe the ferocity of the brutal confrontation happening at that moment.

Blurry due to the snowstorm, the images showed Twilight-Dash constantly striking Balor. Her attacks caused bursts of fire that consumed everything around her: trees, rocks, even the water itself was consumed by these flames. Nevertheless, Twilight-Dash continued her assault with headbutts and kicks. But Balor was not passive. Each attack was accompanied by an ice counterattack that slowed down her opponent, followed by electric bolts that resembled genuine streams of light.

All of this was happening amidst an extreme freezing ice blizzard with almost no visibility.

Then, Taranis raised his head and looked at the rest of his companions, who had not taken their eyes off the pool.

"Balor has truly changed..." he muttered to himself.

He had known Balor for a long time. Their first mission abroad had been together, and he remembered how cold and flat her company had been. The mission had been a success, but he had expected 'the master' to have more charisma.

In subsequent missions, he had concluded that Balor was not the type of person who would sacrifice herself for others but rather a calculating individual who would abandon a mission if too many risks arose.

That had been in those days, but now...

Balor had behaved differently during the current mission. She had made jokes with Ceridwen, Mannah, the sub-leader; she even seemed to get along with Morrigan.

Was it because of the change in leadership, now that Danu was no longer the leader?

No.

Taranis, bearer of the element of pride, turned his gaze back to the pool. With his own eyes, he could see how Balor was giving her all in battle, like a true warrior risking her life. He felt envy. Perhaps his companions felt it too.

"When we finish the mission and return home, I'll tell the new recruits about..." Taranis thought.

But then, a great sorrow returned to the warrior's heart. The battle had made him forget.

He bit his tongue and refocused his attention on the battle. The tragedy that had occurred the previous midnight should not cloud his spirit.

There was no longer a home to return to.

/-/-

The terrible ice and snowstorm that had been raging inside the barrier where Twilight and her friends were trapped was finally beginning to calm down. About ten minutes of continuous combat had passed between the two opponents, and now they were both exhausted, staring at each other.

Under the pale sunlight filtering into the large barrier, the figures of both adversaries were revealed.

At one end was Balor, possessing the battered body of Badwhiz. The armor that had protected him from almost all of his opponent's attacks was now visibly cracked and damaged. There wasn't much Balor could do about it. She could heal the pony's body with magic, but that would deplete her own reserves and hence her chances of success.

Furthermore, it was almost over now.

Facing Balor, Twilight-Dash was not in a better state. She also had bruises and visible injuries on her skin. But most notably, her wings had suffered significant damage. Much of them were burned or frozen due to Balor's continuous attacks and the relentless fury of the blizzard she had endured. Twilight-Dash didn't believe she had lost her ability to fly, but she had likely lost a significant portion of her speed, which was undoubtedly what her opponent was counting on.

Balor relaxed even more. She smiled. She knew it was premature, and the princess might still reveal some spell to try and heal herself, but that no longer mattered. Even without the injuries on her wings, everything had already been set up for the success of her final attack.

"You look happy, Balor. Have you already won?" Twilight-Dash challenged Balor.

"Hehehe, no, not yet, Princess of Naivety, but we're very close to concluding this unpleasant encounter," Balor replied mockingly before disappearing in a magical flare.

She had teleported.

"Drat," Twilight-Dash muttered in annoyance. She had expended a lot of her physical strength trying to take down Balor in the storm, but none of her attacks had proven sufficient. Time and time again, Balor had endured or skillfully evaded her charges using spells and tricks. However, Twilight-Dash still had one advantage. Her source of magic was still intact. Thanks to the Starheart gem blocking the use of spells, she now had a complete reserve of magical energy that gave her the confidence to withstand whatever Balor would throw at her, even if it depleted all her magic. She would surprise Balor with a charge of strength and magic at the moment she believed she had already won.

But even so...

"Twilight, it's all or nothing. We'll make it!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash's independent mind internally.

"Yes, together!" responded Twilight's independent mind confidently.

/-/-/-

In the distance, atop a barren hill, Balor observed the frozen landscape.

The stage was set.

The water had awakened.

The wind had awakened.

The earth had awakened.

Only the final act remained.

Balor took a deep breath. A nearly radiant green light began to manifest in the hooves of the pony she was using as her puppet: Badwhiz Starheart, the earth pony Balor had used as a guinea pig for her experiments, from whom she had learned so much about the history of ponies and the magic they knew, as well as that unknown magic to them.

"Eternal Garden! Haaa!" Balor exclaimed loudly, raising her front hooves and striking the ground with force. It wasn't necessary to do so, as it only required accumulating the magic and maintaining concentration to release the spell, but given the current circumstances, such theatrics helped reinforce her confidence and set the pace in the fight.

This was the beginning of the end of the battle.

Balor felt her source of magic beginning to drain. It wasn't a fatal loss, but it was noticeable. This spell was a very costly trump card that she had kept secret for a long time. Neither her masters, nor the Grand Patriarch, nor anyone in Cunabula knew that she had mastered this magic. Even the other Knights of the Order had only a vague idea of the spell Balor would use to defeat the princess.

Mental fatigue suddenly overtook Balor, who staggered slightly in her real body. In the oval-shaped room where her other companions were, an atmosphere of concern prevailed.

"You don't need to push yourself so hard. If you need us to transfer some of our strength to you, you can ask," Mannah said, observing the growing fatigue in Balor.

"Silence, Mannah. Keep watch and let me finish this task," Draco-Dragon replied coldly.

This was the final stretch. This was the plan she had imposed on her companions. Despite her fatigue and exhaustion, Balor had the duty and enough magic to continue.

A creaking sound spread throughout the Great Barrier, and gradually, signs of an imminent earthquake began to manifest.

Twilight-Dash immediately ascended into the air. Her wings didn't seem to have suffered as much damage as she had thought. Nevertheless, she remained cautious of the opponent's next attack.

"Well, now it's that lion-pony's turn. What's he going to do now? Try to encase us in a giant stone or something?" Rainbow Dash's independent mind asked mockingly.

"I don't think so. He already threw a giant ice block at us a little while ago. It's very likely that his attack will be something quite different this time."

"Whatever it is, I just hope it's the last thing they try so we can free our friends."

Twilight didn't respond. Analyzing the pace of the battle, everything indicated that this was the end of that fight. After that...

The entire ground within the Great Barrier shook with violent seismic waves. The layers of ice that had previously formed due to the earlier blizzard shattered like cookie blocks being crushed. A new white mist of vapor rose, obscuring the ground, although this time it was lighter and more diffuse, allowing a view of how the ground cracked and broke into pieces.

Twilight-Dash ascended a bit more to avoid being caught in that mist.

After a few minutes of rumbling and shaking, the turmoil on the ground finally ceased. Gradually, the mist dissipated, revealing the new landscape.

Twilight-Dash blinked and blinked again. She rubbed her eyes and looked down at the ground beneath her.

"Well... I wasn't expecting this," Twilight-Dash said aloud to herself.

Across the entire expanse of the ground within the Great Barrier, where there had once been a wasteland of destruction, there was now a celestial forest that stretched as far as the eye could see. Tall silver trees with celestial blue leaves reached up into the sky like giant pines covered in glistening dew. There was no darkness in this forest, and it bore no signs of corruption or malice. On the contrary, it appeared to be a healthy, magical forest and could even be called sacred.

Among the trees, there were circular clearings that revealed a lush green floor. In the midst of these clearings, large golden tulip-shaped flowers were arranged as if it were a giant, beautiful floral display.

Twilight-Dash was perplexed. This was a "nice" forest, but it didn't give her the impression of being threatening or hiding any danger. She circled around the Great Barrier, expecting an attack, but nothing happened. After several minutes of searching in vain for Balor, she finally landed near the remains of the train that were still visible.

"I don't understand. Does she expect us to be foolish enough to descend and trap ourselves? Or are these flowers some kind of trick?" Twilight-Dash said aloud to herself.

The golden flowers appeared harmless, but something in their glow and their perfect circular arrangement made them seem unnatural. Something didn't add up in this scene, but Twilight-Dash couldn't quite determine what it was.

"...I hope they're not an apology. Because if they are, I'm not accepting it," Twilight-Dash continued in soliloquy.

"No, these flowers are for decorating your grave," Balor suddenly replied.

Twilight-Dash immediately turned her gaze. Several meters behind her, Balor observed her with a sinister smile.

"Do you like them?" Balor continued mockingly.

"They are very beautiful, but I don't think they're suitable for a funeral," Twilight-Dash replied, instantly raising a magic barrier around herself.

As she observed her opponent's magical bubble, Balor mocked her even further.

"Really, naive princess? Even knowing that I have this powerful amulet, do you think you can use magic?" Balor declared mockingly.

Twilight-Dash didn't respond and remained on guard, ready for any move by Balor.

"Let me guess, I suppose by not using any of your magic in the battle, you were hoping to accumulate enough power for a counterattack at the moment when fatigue overtook me or I showed some weakness," Balor continued without making any hostile moves.

"How considerate of you to remind me of these dangers! But don't think for a moment that I'll change my intentions," Balor sarcastically boasted.

"If that's the case, then..." Twilight-Dash began to say but cut her words short. The magic bubble she had created to protect herself had vanished.

Seeing that, Twilight-Dash quickly stepped back and tried to raise the barrier again. However, it faded once more. She attempted it once again, but with the same result. In the distance, Balor stopped smiling and simply observed her.

A cold sweat ran down Twilight-Dash's forehead. Balor hadn't approached her, yet her magic was failing. Slowly, a sensation of heaviness began to creep into her body. Her wings, in which she had placed so much trust until now, flapped clumsily in an attempt to keep her in the air. A growing panic began to overwhelm her.

"You know, it's curious. I was quite surprised that there are plants in Equestria capable of dispelling mind control magic. In Cunabula, we also have similar plants, some capable of dissipating magic in general..." Balor said, taking on a reflective posture.

Twilight-Dash glared angrily at Balor as she lost altitude. What she had said could well be a lie. Right there, Balor floated with magic, contradicting her own words.

"You!" Twilight-Dash attempted to respond, but it was already too late. Her wings and the rest of her body lost balance, and she began to fall sideways like a wounded bird. After a erratic flight, she crashed into the celestial forest.

/-/-

"Twilight, this is serious!" exclaimed the independent mind of Rainbow Dash.

"I know!" responded the independent mind of Twilight.

"TWILIGHT, THIS IS REALLY SERIOUS!"

"I KNOW, RAINBOW DASH! I KNOW!" her friend replied vehemently.

Twilight-Dash raced through the dense celestial forest, but her wings stubbornly resisted lifting her. Her body felt strangely clumsy and distorted, and every breath was an exhausting effort.

The alicorn stumbled and fell into a puddle of mud surrounded by red tulips. A wave of nausea washed over her as she got up, but she managed to keep it under control.

What was this place? Why did everything seem so unnatural? Twilight-Dash scanned her surroundings, desperate to find any answers that could shed light on this strange forest. She had no idea what kind of magic was being used against her. Despite Twilight and Rainbow Dash's extensive experience, they had never faced anything like this. The only situation that remotely resembled the feeling of helplessness she was experiencing now was when Twilight had traveled to a magic-less world through a mirror, but even then, the discomfort of not being able to use magic was comparable to having a stuffed nose.

This time, the discomfort was immensely more intense, as if she were slowly drowning in a pit of burning tar while all her senses were distorted.

"We still have our magic within us; that's important," noted the independent mind of Twilight, trying to stay calm.

"Yes, but we can't fly," Rainbow Dash lamented in response.

"We can't use spells or magic abilities."

"And we can't fly."

Twilight was certain that the flight ability of pegasi was related to the elemental magic that enveloped their wings. At that moment, Twilight-Dash's wings were in an acceptable state and filled with magic.

So why couldn't they fly?

She surveyed the mystical forest around her. It was evident that it was to blame.

Twilight-Dash squeezed her mind to the maximum to decipher the mystery. The forest was somehow interfering with her magic, and she needed to understand and counteract it soon, as Balor's attack could come at any moment.

"Arcane flows, magic channeling, catalysts..." Twilight-Dash muttered quickly, hugging herself.

She delved deep into her memories: her basic lessons at the magic school, her travels, even the tales she had been told as a child. She searched even among the most extravagant rumors she had heard.

And then she found something: a zebra.

"Without magic, you say? Why do you keep repeating it to me?" that's how the eloquent Zecora had responded when Twilight asked her about how other creatures lived without magic in the world. Zecora had traveled to many places and knew about magicless realms. She had learned much about enchantments despite not having innate magical qualities.

"The magic of unicorns is channeled from their horns, the magic of pegasi from their wings... from inside to outside," Twilight-Dash muttered.

"And what about from outside to inside?" asked the mocking memory of the zebra.

It didn't seem possible. Channeling magic from the environment always led to chaotic results. Charms, talismans, and even living beings were used as catalysts for such magic. A direct flow of magic like this was like trying to catch a worm underground without getting dirty.

But Zecora had tried it and had achieved promising results. Twilight had tried to imitate her, but the results had been null.

A bitterness crossed Twilight-Dash's face.

Twilight hadn't continued with Zecora's lessons due to the frustration she felt from making no progress. She knew the basics and meditation postures perfectly, but they had never yielded results. She hadn't shared it with her friends either... she thought it wasn't important at the time. No, that was an excuse... in reality, she was embarrassed to talk about it.

Another mistake; how many more things had she been neglecting?

"From the outside to the inside... come on," Twilight-Dash told herself, determined. She had a hunch; the magic hadn't been absorbed or stagnant, but she felt it was flowing in the wrong direction.

The alicorn adopted a meditation posture and began to channel the magic within her. A numbness enveloped her as she could feel the magic flowing... out of her.

"No!" exclaimed Twilight-Dash as she realized she was rapidly losing part of the magic she had accumulated.

"Hey, shouldn't we find shelter first; this place isn't safe," said the independent mind of Rainbow Dash, trying to be helpful.

"We don't have any more time, Rainbow," frustratedly responded the independent mind of Twilight. "Balor will catch up to us..."

Indeed, time had run out.

"Ayyyyyyyyyyy," Twilight-Dash screamed in pain as she received a powerful blow to the head at that moment, being thrown through the air until she crashed against a tree that split in two.

Balor, who had come out of her invisibility, had no intentions of being kind. She summoned chains that shot out towards Twilight-Dash. The alicorn, who was trying to recover from the previous attack, was enveloped by the thick chains, incapacitating her. She still had one front leg free. With great effort, she managed to move aside when lightning struck where she had been.

But it wasn't enough. A second lightning bolt finally struck her, incapacitating her.

Twilight-Dash began to be dragged. Balor pulled the chains towards her, like a spider with its prey.

"It's over, princess. End your fusion, and your friend's life will be spared," threatened Balor, having Twilight-Dash under her hoof. Of course, it was clear that Balor was lying.

"NOT YET!" Twilight-Dash responded fiercely, causing the chains to creak and freeing a second front leg. Then she released a concentrated wave of magic around her, pushing Balor backward.

An futile protest. Balor didn't flinch in the slightest. The attack dissipated like smoke. Claws of dark magic emerged from Balor's sides and seized Twilight-Dash's body in mid-air.

"Then I'll tear your soul apart, and what's left of it I'll give to your friend before executing her!" Balor roared. The claws that imprisoned Twilight-Dash pulled her, and a mass of light began to emerge from her body. The look of terror on Twilight-Dash's face said it all. It wasn't physical pain, but spiritual. Desperately, Twilight-Dash tried to concentrate, but slowly she felt her strength waning.

"Twilight, react, Twilight!" the independent mind of Rainbow Dash called out to her friend, who had stopped communicating. "Don't give up!"

But Twilight no longer heard, and she hadn't given up either.

From the depths of her being, Twilight entered a state of deep meditation, in a simulated space in her mind, just like when she trained with Zecora in the Everfree Forest. She stood on a pond, balancing her body on the water, with calm and steady breaths. She sensed all the magic around her with her eyes closed.

Twilight felt the water.

Twilight felt the wind.

Twilight felt the earth.

But Twilight didn't feel the forest.

The Everfree Forest existed long before the founding of Equestria. It had a dark and scattered history: stories of malevolent creatures that inhabited it, tales of princesses strolling through its clearings, stories of unimaginable treasures and sinister secrets.

But Twilight still didn't feel the forest.

Why didn't she feel the forest? She sensed with her magic the movement of wind, water, and earth, but not the forest. The forest was hidden. It didn't speak to her. It wasn't there...

Twilight opened her eyes again. She was failing. It was the same result she got when training with Zecora.

The simulated space in her mind started to darken.

She felt like a failure. She couldn't save her friends. The enemy had been right in front of her, and she didn't see it. After the encounter with the Triple Threat, she had promised everyone, "It won't happen again."

But it had happened again.

The simulated space in her mind darkened even further.

Twilight looked at her reflection doubtfully in the water. Now she was a princess. In those practice days, she was just a unicorn.

Everything was so simple in those days.

Wings and a horn. How extraordinary! Now they were useless against the threat that had cornered her. She also had hooves, but all ponies had them.

Twilight's thoughts faded even further...

"Applejack is more responsible with her farm than I am with Equestria," Twilight reflected aloud to herself. "She at least has backup seeds in case of disasters. I, on the other hand, only have escape plans..."

She remembered the moment when Applejack planted a new apple orchard after a storm. Applejack would rejoice, saying things like, "The new apple trees are going to be way better than the old ones, I'd bet my left hind leg on it!"

Twilight smiled at the memory, although she never thought the new apples were any better.

"Look at 'em grow, heh, I could spend all night watchin' for the first sprout," Applejack would say. And she wasn't joking. She often caught her friend sleeping in the middle of the orchard.

"Oh, yes! Look at 'em grow! Just like rocks on my parents' farm," Pinkie Pie confirmed.

"Rocks don't grow, Pinkie. They just emerge from the ground due to geological faults, even I know that," Rainbow Dash responded.

"But it would be nice if they did. If diamonds got bigger..." Rarity fantasized.

"A stone forest would be nice too, bears like to play there..." Fluttershy added, but no one paid her any attention.

No one except Twilight.

"...bears also plant rocks, they teach their cubs. They bring rocks from far away and stack them on top of each other. That's how a new rock tree is born, and more bears come to play in the future."

A lump formed in Twilight's throat.

The distant vision of her friends happily walking through Applejack's farm brought tears to her eyes. These were the memories she cherished the most.

And they were also the key to solving the mystery of the Celestial Forest.

Zecora had told her something like, "Feel the elements and nature. Listen to how they breathe, watch how they grow..."

Twilight closed her eyes. She cleared her thoughts and focused on one thing. She needed the magic to grow within her.

"From the outside in." A stone block took shape in Twilight's mind. A brown spot emerged from the darkness.

"From a seed in the earth." Another stone block formed. Another brown spot appeared in the darkness.

"Growing toward the sky." Yet another stone block took shape. From the brown spot, a tiny green dot was revealed.

"And it opens its leaves toward the stars!" The green dot was now a sprout in the earth...

Twilight opened her eyes.

Sweat was pouring down her forehead and her entire body. She wasn't tired, but she was extremely tense. Then, she saw a small pile of stones in front of her.

She had done it. She had managed to feel a tiny part of the forest. She had experienced the process of growing a seed.

"This felt very different from how Zecora described it. Maybe I didn't understand her well because of her rhymes. Ha ha ha..." Twilight laughed; she wanted to jump up and down right there. But time was running out.

The small pile of stones collapsed.

"The magical connection to nature must be different in each species... zebras have their way, ponies have another..." Twilight mused.

But she had grasped the trick. Now it was a matter of replicating it over and over again until she could finally make a tree grow.

"I can do it!" she encouraged herself.

Twilight wouldn't give up.

Balor pulled again. Half of Twilight's soul had already been extracted from Twilight-Dash's body.

"Just a little more..." Balor told herself, calculating that in twelve more seconds, the extraction would be complete. The fusion would collapse, and then everything would be over.

Twilight-Dash, on the other hand, struggled with all her might. Her wings were occupied holding the chains as she tried to resist Balor's pull, gathering Twilight's soul back with her front hooves. But it wasn't enough. Her friend's ghostly figure was slipping through her hooves. She didn't have much time left.

"You won't take her! Huuuuuuuuu!" Rainbow Dash's independent mind clamored.

But the extraction only delayed slightly, and Twilight-Dash's body became increasingly numb.

"Five seconds more..." Balor pressed on, the remaining soul of Twilight almost fully extracted.

Suddenly, something changed.

"Humm?" Balor was puzzled. Two seconds had passed, but there had been no progress.

She pulled harder. But still, she couldn't extract Twilight's soul any further.

No, it wasn't just that. Was Twilight's soul returning to her body?

"What?!" Balor exclaimed, unable to believe what her eyes were seeing. Twilight-Dash suddenly opened her eyes. She no longer seemed suffocated by the air or the chains. The color of her coat, which had been deadly pale just moments ago, was regaining its luster. Confidence was back in her face. Magic flowed within her again!

"PAMMMM" Twilight-Dash landed firmly on the ground. Until then, she had been suspended in the air by Balor's magic. But now she had regained her balance and stood firmly on the ground.

Balor was dismayed. How was this possible?

Now, she was the one in danger. She was within Twilight-Dash's striking range, and at that moment, the alicorn had more power than her. If Twilight-Dash capitalized on her extreme speed, she could charge and deliver a critical blow. Balor could teleport or raise her barrier to evade it, but since she was using the chain and extracting Twilight-Dash's soul at the same time, the strain would delay her escape.

One second. That's all it would take. But at that moment, one second was too long.

Twilight-Dash smiled confidently. She knew that too.

"I don't know how you did it, but this is amazing! I can feel my wings again!" Rainbow Dash's independent mind exclaimed joyfully.

"Don't celebrate too soon... I can barely hold it... we don't have much time left," Twilight's independent mind responded, exhausted.

Twilight had spent hours practicing within her simulated mental space. There, time flowed much more slowly. But this wasn't just due to her magic and experience in these exercises. Because she was in a very special fusion, Twilight could harness Twilight-Dash's agility to enhance her own mental space.

However, despite the favorable conditions in her mental space, Twilight couldn't ignore her fatigue. Eventually, she grew tired and had to return her consciousness to the normal flow of thoughts with Twilight-Dash.

Twilight returned to Rainbow Dash, prepared. She had achieved her goal of learning how to create a bond with nature. While she couldn't comprehend the ancient magic surrounding the Celestial Forest, she knew it was a forest and that she could communicate with it. With this in mind, in a magical mental space, she allowed the surrounding magic to fill her and created the seed of a celestial tree within her. Soon, the seed sprouted into a young sapling. It was then that Twilight could finally hear the voice of the enchanted forest that surrounded her.

In her lessons with Zecora, the zebra had explained that sometimes trees would whisper to her or call her name in soft, gentle voices.

Contrary to that, the Celestial Forest had none of that.

A thunderous chant resonated everywhere. The celestial trees sang authentic hymns in an unknown language to her. Accompanied by a unique and harmonious symphony. Intense at times, softer at others, even the fallen leaves followed the same rhythm on the ground. All of this was a unique sensation that overwhelmed her considerably.

She also felt something else... anger. A dense and bitter anger.

The forest was upset with her. Its voice rose against her.

Twilight quickly deduced why and how to resolve it. She opened her mental space again, this time allowing the voice of the forest to reach the young celestial sapling she had created. Suddenly, a new voice emerged. This new voice joined in the singing, and all the hostility she had felt up to that point vanished.

Now the forest allowed her to be among its own. She didn't feel they were friends... but at least they tolerated her.

If it weren't for the dramatic situation she was in, Twilight might cry with excitement.

"Wow! Did that just happen? Planting a singing tree was the key... it makes sense," Rainbow Dash's independent mind said, sounding somewhat confused, as it received memories from her friend.

"I'm very tired, Rainbow... I'll leave it to you," Twilight's weak voice faded again. She hadn't lost consciousness, but she was no longer able to speak with her friend while maintaining the mental space where the celestial tree sapling was singing.

Twilight was reaching her limits.

Now Rainbow Dash had to reach hers.

"Leave it to my hooves!" Twilight-Dash exclaimed in Rainbow's voice. She spun around, and the chains tightened even more, but the tension increased on Balor's side.

The struggle continued, but Balor no longer had the initiative. If she retreated now, she would be quickly caught. She had used a lot of magic in the Celestial Forest, a trap that her opponent was never supposed to overcome. But she had. How?

Balor had studied ponies in general and the circle of individuals surrounding the princess. There was no record of any pony who had awakened floral magic at any point in their history. There were ponies who could grow plants with spells, but this was due to their talent or the traditional use of the magic they knew. It wasn't the same methods used in Cunabula. There were no similar records in the nations allied with Equestria either. Only in Cunabula did the ancient art of floral magic still exist in its most essential form.

So how had the princess managed to appease the Forest of Eternity? Had she discovered an unknown method in record time to communicate with it and subdue it?

Unbelievable.

Balor had summoned the forest with her magic. That's why the forest respected the summoner. Balor could delegate her honor to others, and the forest would also respect them. But Balor couldn't rule the forest. The forest had its own will and was magical; it would only obey someone who spoke its language and used its magic.

That person was in Cunabula right now. Did the princess also have a similar power?

Sweat was pouring from Balor's forehead as she tightened the chains even more.

"No," Balor told herself. "The princess must have deceived the forest or offered it a tribute. If this forest already obeyed her, this fight would have already ended."

The forest was powerful. If it were Dana her opponent... ridiculous, it didn't even make sense to think about that.

Twilight-Dash began to expand the grip of the chains. The dark claws that were pulling Twilight's soul lost momentum. Balor had already lost half of her progress.

"What's wrong? Why so quiet? Things aren't going as you wanted, are they?" Twilight-Dash taunted arrogantly. Now she had the initiative; her magic was intact, and Balor was weakening with each passing moment. Soon she would break free, and they would begin their counterattack.

Balor watched her with a mix of anger and desperation.

Then she smiled triumphantly...

"Don't worry... I'm used to this by now!" Balor replied. At that moment, the chains tightened again. Twilight-Dash felt pain and something more... As she looked to her sides, she saw cracks beginning to appear on her skin. The cracks glowed with their inner light, but it wasn't just light that was escaping... it was her magic!

"No! No! No!" Twilight-Dash repeated desperately. The fusion had reached its limit. While Balor hadn't been able to extract Twilight's soul, she had kept it outside long enough to destabilize the bond she had with Rainbow Dash. The chains, designed to break magic, were exacerbating the process.

Twilight-Dash was losing magic rapidly. She had to attack now if she wanted to succeed, but Balor was too far away. Time was running out.

Balor pressed harder. The chains were doing their job well. She just had to retreat a little more and not release Twilight's soul. Time would take care of the rest.

On the brink of disaster. Only a miracle could save Twilight-Dash.

/-/-

A small butterfly emerged from the last car of the Ponyville to Canterlot train. It had been hiding until now, but after witnessing a fiery sandstorm, a horrifying winter frost, and finally feeling the authentic brightness of spring, it thought it was the perfect time to come out of hiding.

It was like a dream. The hopeful little butterfly ventured outside, stretched its four delicate legs, fluttered its fluffy mane, and carefully unfurled its fragile antennae. A sweet breeze and vibrant scent welcomed it. It almost seemed like the flowers were smiling at it, and the trees were singing happily all around.

Anyone who saw it up close would understand that it wasn't a butterfly. It was Fluttershy transformed into Breeze.

"What pure air! What a beautiful forest! This horrible nightmare has finally ended!" thought Fluttershy aloud with the innocence of a hundred children. In front of her, the radiant forest seemed to invite her to explore its trails. She could almost hear the whisper of kind creatures waiting to meet her.

Then, she remembered her friends.

"Oh, my goodness! What am I thinking? Twilight must have already defeated those terrible villains and must be looking for me. I need to hurry!" exclaimed Breeze Fluttershy, quickly checking her mane.

Hidden beneath one of her braids was a beautiful brooch in the shape of butterfly wings with a pearl in the center. This was a gift she had received from Queen Novo after saving the baby dolphins at Mount Aris.

Breeze Fluttershy took the brooch and waved it. The magic of the pearl enveloped her, and in a delicate burst, she turned back into a pegasus.

Before her genuine eyes, the world around her was even more beautiful. Amazed, Fluttershy flapped her wings and spun in the air, greeting the idyllic Celestial Forest with her hooves wide open. The forest felt her warm greeting and responded to her... with rage and anger.

Fluttershy, in her past, had experienced the bullying of her classmates in Flight School, an experience she already considered horrible at the time. However, what she felt at that moment had no points of comparison. It was too much for Fluttershy's delicate and sensitive soul.

Under the furious gaze of hundreds of Celestial trees, Fluttershy lost consciousness in the air and fell to the ground like a rock.

"Seriously, just one book? Keep your silly book!" Magi rummaged through Fluttershy's saddlebag, hoping to find something of value, but once again, she only found disappointment. Annoyed, she placed the book back in the saddlebag and tossed it next to the bound Fluttershy, who was struggling to escape from the cleaning closet.

"It's nothing personal, dear, but this is a matter of life or death. I hope you understand... Bayyy." A smiling Magi changed her appearance to look like Fluttershy and closed the closet doors. Inside, the real Fluttershy tried to scream, but the gag prevented her from saying a word. Desperate, she continued to struggle, being careful with the various boxes of explosives that accompanied her.

"Help me, please! Friends! What do I do?!" pleaded the helpless Pegasus, with tears already welling up in her eyes. None of her efforts to free herself were yielding any results.

"Twilight, please, come back!" Fluttershy prayed, giving up, but then she remembered. Twilight had asked her to have the magical brooch she had received from Queen Novo within reach. With it, if she was captured, she could evade Vanilla by becoming a Breeze.

Determined, Fluttershy pressed her head against the closet wall and tried to maneuver until she felt the brooch hanging hidden in her new braid. After several failed attempts, she finally reached it.

Magic enveloped Fluttershy's body, and magically, she was a Breeze!

"I must warn my friends quickly!" Free as a Breeze, Fluttershy began to search for an exit in the closet. In her search, she found her saddlebag. Without thinking much, she enveloped the saddlebag with the magic of the brooch and positioned it on her tiny back.

An explosion erupted in the room, pushing her backward. Fluttershy approached an opening that had appeared in the door.

Vanilla was right there.

Fluttershy's heart was about to jump out of her chest. Had her friends escaped in time? Had they been captured? What should she do now?

Fluttershy's primal instincts kicked in. There was only one thought in her head: run.

With the most agile flight a Breeze could perform in a confined space, Fluttershy, with her eyes closed, shot out of the closet and flew between Vanilla's legs. Guided by the instincts of a Breeze, she was led by the air currents until, miraculously, she reached the outside.

Another explosion erupted behind her. The shockwave hit her from behind, pushing her like the very wind. Fluttershy was adrift in the horizon, letting out a scream that no one heard.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh." The horrifying memory of the explosion she had recently experienced jolted poor Fluttershy awake. Disoriented, she looked around...

The celestial forest watched her once more. This time, it would deliver a double dose.

Fluttershy fell unconscious once again.

"Boom!" The abrupt sound of a collision jolted Fluttershy awake.

The pegasus tilted her head, more catatonic than conscious. Unreal images enveloped her...

She had seen Twilight running through the trees... or was it Rainbow Dash? Then Vainilla had appeared in black armor in the sky... then disappeared again.

Fluttershy's mind was a complete mess.

She tried to get up, or at least she thought so. Everything felt like she was swimming... everything was luminescent...

"Ha, ha, ha, ha," Fluttershy laughed.

She continued leaping among the celestial trees... the bushes sang so joyfully...

Fluttershy's mind lost itself even more in unreality. It was like Discord's house... was Discord playing with her?

"It's not fun, Discord! If you're going to throw a surprise party, you should bring a good piano!" Fluttershy protested, not even knowing what she was saying. "Then we could dance together... one hoof forward... another one back..."

Fluttershy continued to trot rhythmlessly along the path where she had seen Twilight go...

Finally, she arrived at a clearing... and her eyes witnessed a terrible scene.

Someone who looked a lot like Twilight was trapped, being squeezed by brutal black chains, while spectral claws pulled part of her body, revealing something resembling her soul. On the other side was Vainilla, with a wicked smile on her face, relishing in the torment.

The screams of agony from the pony pushed to her limits shook Fluttershy to her core.

Suddenly, an inner strength in the pink-maned pegasus awakened. Her fur stood on end. A fury that she had rarely felt before filled her completely. Her friends needed her. It was the call of destiny.

A neigh reverberated through the air. Without any plan or thought in her head, Fluttershy charged at Vainilla with all her might.

Balor heard a neigh behind her and then felt something approaching rapidly from behind. Chaos overtook her mind. Here? How? An ally of the princess? An unknown enemy? The emissary of midnight?

She instinctively raised her magical shield. The pressure inside Balor grew.

Then, a pink-maned pegasus emerged from her side, charging at full speed with her eyes closed. However, the pony passed her by and ended up colliding with a tree.

Disoriented by the impact, the mysterious pegasus took a few steps back until she fell unconscious on the ground.

Balor recognized her.

"Fluttershy!" she exclaimed in shock. This was the name of the bearer of the Element of Kindness, a close friend of Princess Twilight, and the representative of the Tree of Harmony symbolizing friendship.

Balor's mind went blank, without a logical response or starting point for a question that could explain what she was seeing. Ceridwen, before her very eyes, had captured this pony! That was an irrefutable fact!

The entire plan she had concocted in her mind began to crumble. All the pieces she had perfectly arranged in her assumptions were thrown into disarray.

The failure was catastrophic.

Finally, Balor made her first and only mistake in the battle. She had blinked.

Rainbow Dash never hesitated, not even in that final moment. She expected that something or someone would come to rescue her from Balor's grasp. She always had faith, even when the odds were against her. It could be seen as a flaw, and there were times when she would abandon safety for trivial things. But when it involved her friends and the fate of Equestria, she would remain loyal to the end.

A blink was all she needed.

Seconds before, she had seen Fluttershy emerge from the forest behind Balor. She could only think something like, "Why are you always late?"

When she saw her charge at their enemy, she thought, "That's Fluttershy, saving Equestria!"

Then, she saw her pass by and crash into a tree, and she thought, "Really? Don't play with me like that!"

Lastly, when Balor began to blink, she thought, "Well, that's it. It's over."

All the magic she had left focused on one point.

Rainbow Dash gave what remained of her strength and issued her final command to the Twilight-Dash fusion. It was something simple: "Go all out."

Rainbow Dash and Twilight separated from the fusion, grabbing the chains that held Twilight-Dash captive. The ghostly grip dissolved into thin air, and Twilight's soul returned completely to her body.

Twilight-Dash, free from the control of Rainbow Dash and Twilight, would only have a second of existence before fading away. She turned her entire body into light and charged at the opponent in front of her.

Like a true rainbow bolt, the fusion advanced unobstructed, breaking through Balor's defenses. It hit him head-on, dragging him forward like a projectile, through the trees, rocks, the lake... it kept going.

In each millisecond, the existence called Twilight-Dash continued to advance and disintegrate. Her opponent was also fading.

Twilight-Dash smiled. Her consciousness was starting to fade.

However, what she felt in what remained of her consciousness... was glorious. Her existence had fulfilled its purpose. Her friends were safe. That was all that mattered...

Finally, everything faded away in a beam of light.

/-/-

The last thing Balor had seen before closing her eyes was a blinding flash of light.

Then, she was back inside the golden orb that adorned the ceiling of the war room.

The unit's emblem had split again, and the direct connection with Badwhiz had also been severed.

She had failed.

After stepping out of the orb of light, without saying a word, she took her seat alongside her comrades.

Everyone was in a deathly silence.

They had seen with their own eyes the true power of their comrade, as well as the intrigues of the princess that had thwarted their efforts to capture her. None of them could accuse her of negligence. The battle had overwhelmed her.

Still, the weight of defeat was shared by all.

Among them all, Ceridwen carried the most bitterness. She clenched her fists in anger. She could be accused of failing to capture Fluttershy, but given how they had validated her initial success, they could hardly make the case without implicating the others.

Mannah couldn't escape blame either. She had continued the operation fully aware that the princess would put up strong resistance. As the deputy leader, the greatest legal responsibility for this failure fell upon him.

Morrigan, who usually took missions lightly, looked considerably tense. The soul-taking spell that Balor had used was one she had taught her. If the princess had surpassed this magic, which was one of their trump cards, what else could she rely on?

Perhaps the only one who could escape blame was Taranis. But witnessing Balor's defeat had shattered his spirit. There were other reasons as well.

Balor, finally, had a vacant and lifeless gaze. They had lost the sealing crystal cube. She had it hidden in Badwhiz's mouth. Once the princess found the body, if there was anything left of it, and discovered the crystal, then it would only be a matter of time before she deciphered and opened it. She had estimated that this process would take at least three days. But after displaying so many combat abilities... was she really sure she wouldn't achieve it sooner?

By this point, she was no longer sure of anything.

The silence continued for several more minutes.

Finally, Mannah stood up. He couldn't allow this atmosphere of defeat among his comrades to continue. The battle had been lost, but not the war.

"Ceridwen! Taranis! Take your weapons and accompany me. We will enter the battlefield directly. We won't give the princess a chance to regroup. Morrigan, stay here and monitor the enemy's position. Activate all our secondary defenses," Mannah ordered as he jumped down from his seat and magically equipped himself with a golden chainmail. He also wore a conch shell at his side.

Immediately, Ceridwen, without a word, stood up, spread her wings, and prepared her golden staff. She also wore two rosaries of black pearls.

Morrigan, on the other hand, took Mannah's place and began to conjure scrolls with enchantments, while a larger scroll unfurled above her head, taking on the appearance of a strange paper halo. This scroll was filled with illegible arcane symbols.

However, Taranis remained in place, gazing at the enchanted pond.

"Taranis! Must I repeat my orders?" Mannah roared with anger.

In response, Taranis merely waved his hand to call his companions over, all the while pointing his finger at the pond.

"Balor, is this part of the plan?" Taranis asked, alarmed.

Balor, whose gaze had been lost in thought somewhere, finally reacted. She looked at the pond again.

"Huh?" she replied, surprised, along with the rest of her comrades, who had returned to see the same thing that Taranis saw.

Definitely, it wasn't.

The images reflected in the enchanted pond showed something that Balor and none of the Knights of Order had anticipated.

/-/-/-

In the Celestial Forest, they followed a straight path that had been cleared through the earth.

"Hehe, well done, Fluttershy. That's the way to go, friend," cheered Rainbow Dash as she carried Fluttershy on her back.

"Thank you, Rainbow... but I'm feeling better now. I can walk," replied the disoriented Fluttershy.

"I don't think so, you'd better rest. You were exposed to too much magical stress," said Twilight, who was walking ahead of everyone with noticeable bags under her eyes.

The friends had set off shortly after Balor's defeat. While they had initially been filled with happiness and joy over their improbable victory, they were quickly disillusioned when they realized that it wasn't over yet.

Twilight was the one to bring them back down to earth. The Knights of Order were still out there, waiting for their moment.

"We need to find the sealing crystal cube where our friends are before the Knights of Order do. Then we can take refuge and get some much-needed rest..." reminded an exhausted Twilight to the rest of the ponies.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash had recovered quite quickly after the battle. Fluttershy, on the other hand, could barely speak. After being carried for several meters, she finally regained her lucidity and told them in fragments what had happened.

Twilight had a multitude of questions, but they didn't have time to waste.

Finding the sealing crystal was of vital importance. She still had some magic left to perform another fusion. After that...

A fresh breeze swept through the Celestial Forest, and the light from its leaves rained down around them.

Twilight could still feel the magic in the Celestial trees, but no longer their anger. She no longer had the spell that bound her to nature, yet the forest wasn't attacking her, Rainbow Dash, or Fluttershy.

The forest was calm. Twilight didn't understand why. Was it because Balor had been defeated, or was there another reason?

Twilight had paused for a moment. A sudden drowsiness overcame her. Her pony instincts urged her to rest on the green grass under the shade of the mystical trees. It was like a premonitory call.

The forest whispered... Twilight's mane briefly waved with the same glow as the leaves of the Celestial trees.

"I need to rest..." Twilight murmured. She stepped away from the path without looking back at her friends, lay down on the lush grass. The contact of her fur with the vibrant ground only intensified her fatigue. As she looked around, there were golden and scarlet tulip bushes she had never seen before, as well as strange flowers that looked like multicolored dew clouds.

Everything was so magical and supernatural. But strangely familiar...

Suddenly, her forgotten hunger began to manifest itself. The grass beneath her looked so fresh that she was already thinking of eating it right there.

Then, she noticed a strange object among the herbs. It was a saddlebag. She stood up and picked it up.

"Fluttershy's saddlebag? How did it get here?" exclaimed Twilight in surprise.

At some point during her delirious walk in the forest, Fluttershy had lost her saddlebag. Later, dragged by the heat of battle, the saddlebag had ended up beside the straight path that had formed when Twilight-Dash had charged at Balor.

Twilight's sensitive sense of smell detected a very familiar scent emanating from Fluttershy's saddlebag. It was an aroma she only smelled when she was in a library. With her innate curiosity awakened, Twilight opened Fluttershy's saddlebag to see its contents...

"Twilight, come look!" Rainbow Dash's call interrupted Twilight, who, without thinking, put on the saddlebag and quickly caught up with Rainbow.

"What's going on, Rainbow? Did something..." Twilight was left speechless alongside her friend.

Not far away, a little further down the path from where they were, there was a body.

It was Badwhiz, with his armor in tatters, without his wings or horn. He also didn't have his gem.

The three standing ponies, as well as Fluttershy, who had dismounted from Rainbow Dash's back, were in shock.

"He didn't turn into stone? Didn't they say they hit him with a rainbow?" asked the trembling Fluttershy, falling prey to her fears once again.

"He must have resisted the impact at the last moment. And ended up stranded by the side of the road," Twilight thought aloud. Further ahead, there was a large crater where Twilight-Dash had disappeared.

"So, made of tough stuff, huh?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, exhaling heavily through her nostrils. Without consulting anyone, she approached Badwhiz's body.

"Rainbow, be careful, it could be a trap," exclaimed Twilight, alarmed by her friend's reckless behavior.

"Ummhh," Rainbow Dash paused and seemed to think it over. Suddenly, without saying a word, she delivered a strong kick to Badwhiz's stomach.

The pained Badwhiz rolled on the ground, letting out a pitiful groan.

"Well, it seems to me that our show-off guy is just taking a nap after we kicked his friends' butts," Rainbow Dash replied, placing her hoof on Badwhiz's body to indicate that he no longer posed any danger.

Twilight and Fluttershy could finally breathe easy.

"Come on, Fluttershy, I need your help here. Let's get this guy to spill the beans," ordered Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy, however, resisted her friend's order for a moment, but after a pressing second call, she quickly stood by Rainbow Dash to help raise the defeated Badwhiz.

Twilight didn't want to be too hard on the young man, but she had no choice but to let Rainbow Dash take charge... she felt very tired.

"Very well, Mr. Badwhiz. Now that we're still being polite, could you please tell us where the crystal that holds our friends captive is?" Rainbow Dash asked, already preparing her hooves to start pounding apples.

"Heh, Rainbow, I think he's..." Fluttershy added, trying to calm her friend's anger.

Then the tragedy began.

Badwhiz's head swung, detached itself, and rolled in front of Twilight.

A cold, hateful but free of any darkness look gazed directly into the eyes of the Princess of Friendship. It was the same look she had received when they first met.

Twilight's exhausted mind took too long to understand what was happening. She was as disturbed as her friends. What she saw before her eyes had only one explanation...

It was a trap.

Badwhiz's head began to disintegrate into a gray, deformed mass, similar to papier-mâché. The same happened to his body.

The ponies couldn't react. A powerful thunderbolt shot out from one of the trees, exploding at Twilight's feet. The resulting explosion sent the alicorn flying through the air, and she ended up falling far away from where they were.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash protected themselves with their wings from the shockwave of the explosion. Still, they were pushed several meters back.

"Cough, cough, Fluttershy, are you okay?" Rainbow Dash called out to her friend through the dust.

"Ah, my head," Fluttershy was dizzy and tried to get up.

The dust suddenly cleared, and Rainbow Dash froze.

"Here I am! Where's Twilight?" the concerned pink-maned pegasus said, with clearer vision. However, Rainbow Dash didn't respond to her.

"What's going on, Rainbow?" Fluttershy asked, confused.

"Don't do it," Rainbow Dash responded with anger.

"Don't do what? Is something wrong?" Fluttershy asked, unaware of the danger that lurked around her.

"Don't you dare do it!" Rainbow Dash replied with even more fury.

Behind Fluttershy was Badwhiz, holding the sealing crystal, aiming it directly at her friend's neck.

"Okay," Fluttershy sat down. That was it. Fluttershy disappeared, absorbed by the crystal. Badwhiz was smiling with a cracked pink gem on his neck.

Rainbow Dash had kept her composure until now. She had followed Twilight's orders. She had been rational. A good pony. But she had finally reached her limit.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Rainbow Dash screamed and launched herself at her opponent, filled with all the anger that could fit in her. With all the strength she had left in her life, she flew towards Badwhiz at full speed and, with a kick, sent the sealing crystal on his left helmet flying. Then, another attack was directed at the gem around his neck, followed by a final kick aimed at his head.

It wasn't enough. Badwhiz's shield activated at the last moment and resisted the blow that would have knocked him unconscious.

The counterattack began.

Badwhiz fired a beam as thick as a tree, narrowly missing Rainbow Dash.

The pegasus, even with her speed reduced by fatigue, didn't lose heart and continued attacking Badwhiz's barrier from different angles.

Badwhiz continued shooting more lightning bolts.

Twilight opened her eyes. She heard thunder nearby. There was another battle.

She stood up, tired, and looked around.

In the distance, she found Rainbow Dash fighting against Badwhiz.

A stray bolt of lightning headed toward Twilight. Reacting barely in time, she ducked.

The immense bolt missed its mark, passing by. An entire hill behind her was blown into the air.

Twilight was stunned by what she had just witnessed. Her brain kicked back into gear.

"The Starheart gem had that power? It shouldn't be like this!"

In her magic classes, she had been taught that the Starheart gem could block spells and absorb magic. However, the absorbed magic was only reused to block spells of equivalent power.

But the amount of magic she felt now was enormous. Too much for an amulet like that. Nor should it enhance its wearer's power.

A terrible realization dawned on Twilight.

"The Starheart gem is overloaded. It could explode at any moment. But if that happens, then..." Twilight murmured in terror. They were in the middle of a magical forest of unknown power. If the amulet were to explode, triggering its base power of absorbing magic from the environment... the resulting explosion would be something... unimaginable.

"Rainbow Dash! No! Don't continue fighting, it's enough! Stop!" Twilight pleaded in the distance.

But it was too late... the Starheart gem on Badwhiz's neck had reached its limit. Cracks on its surface widened, and beams of energy began to shoot out in all directions. Rainbow Dash, horrified, halted her attack but was hit by one of Badwhiz's lightning bolts.

Badwhiz didn't seem to realize at first, but then he noticed what was happening.

"What is this?" he exclaimed in terror. The gem on his chest continued to emit beams, and its blinding light grew with every moment.

A massive crack appeared, and suddenly, everything turned into light.

The noise and sounds vanished.

Light flooded the entire area.

Badwhiz's silhouette was the first to disappear.

Then Rainbow Dash, unconscious on the ground.

Then the path.

A sphere of pure energy began to grow from the ground... an explosion fueled by the forest's magic.

The trees finally fell silent as the magic within them began to be absorbed.

The explosion continued to grow until it took the form of a dome of light.

A terrible vision of destruction.

A sense of doom filled the atmosphere as the approaching end drew near.

/-/-/-

When harmony and order fail...

Chaos and destruction make their presence felt... then... darkness...

No one should ever go this far...

/-/-/-

The explosion of magic began to expand slowly. Stones, trees, wreckage from the train, and even the wind itself, everything was drawn towards the center of the expanding mass of energy. Twilight watched helplessly, clutching onto a large rock, as the explosion advanced like an unstoppable tide.

Soon it would reach her. She was exhausted; she couldn't feel her wings, her legs were clumsy, and her horn was sore. She had no more tears to cry for her friends who had disappeared. All she had left was Fluttershy's saddlebag that she had found.

The explosion kept advancing, but there seemed to be an eternity between it and Twilight. The alicorn was drained and had had enough. She didn't want to fight anymore. With a tired sigh, Twilight turned her back to the explosion and lay down on one side of the large rock. She looked out at the horizon where she had recently fought side by side with her friends.

It was horrible.

The beautiful forest that had sprung up not long ago was withering rapidly. There was no longer any sacred aura or trace of radiance, only decay and corruption. Trees fell on their own, crumbling into dust, and others burst into repulsive black tar. The unnatural magic that had sustained them had run out, and now they simply returned to being part of the landscape.

A landscape that had been ravaged by the battle between her and Balor. Yes, Twilight was also responsible for all this desolation. Her hooves were stained with the same violence.

The wind within the great barrier began to howl like wolves in a storm. The rumbling grew louder behind her. Twilight could feel the ground shaking, but not just the ground; she was trembling too.

Why had everything turned out like this? Could she have done something to prevent it? She only had the strength to ask herself, she had nothing more to do at that moment.

Amid the whistling sound of the enveloping wind and the remnants of the world falling behind her, Twilight felt something sliding against her side. It was a sealed book that had emerged from Fluttershy's saddlebag.

In a reaction more akin to her subconscious than her own thoughts, Twilight took the book with silver-edged pages and examined it. It had a beautiful cover with reliefs of a forest and birds and insects in its corners. Its title read: "World of Chaos, a royal board game of surprises and secrets"...

The rumbling grew louder, the ground began to slide. Further down, there was a subtitle that said: "For all my friends, especially for Twilight Sparkle, the smartest pony in all of Equestria... Created with love by Fluttershy and..."

She couldn't read more. A light blurred her vision, and warmth began to envelop her. Finally, Twilight was absorbed by the explosion and disappeared from this world.

/-/-/-

Inside the war room, the walls of the chamber creaked, and cracks began to tear through them. The enchanted pond boiled, reflecting the chaos and destruction unleashed within the great barrier.

The Knights of the Order had formed a perimeter around Mannah and had erected defensive magic shields as reinforcement. Fear was evident on their faces.

However, one of them remained calm. Sitting outside the perimeter formed by her comrades, Balor watched impassively the center of the seething enchanted pond. Her face was illuminated by the eerie light of the uncontrollable explosion that consumed everything around it.

/-/-/-

The wind continued to howl like a wounded beast. The few remaining trees had turned to dust. All the water that had once existed was gone. The earth crackled and slid toward the blank horizon. The explosion, fueled by all the unleashed magic at its origin, kept growing faster and faster. It had already consumed a third of the entire area within the great barrier. There were no signs of it stopping.

The great barrier, which had once contained some of the most powerful beings in that world, now trembled all over its surface. Soon, it would collapse, overwhelmed by an uncontrollable force. The explosion had already consumed half of the remaining free space.

Then, suddenly, it stopped. The walls of the exploding dome of light began to ripple, and the white brilliance was marred with different colors. More and more patches of colors spread throughout the dome, like light in a rotating diamond. Beams of colors illuminated the inside of the great barrier.

Gradually, the white light faded, giving way to darkness. From the inside, the darkness swallowed the light and colors. Quickly, everything was dyed in shadows. The dwindling lights that remained shone scattered like distant constellations in the sky.

Within the entire explosion, the darkness swallowed itself. Without warning, all the darkness receded, collapsing into its own origin. There were no more thunderclaps or tremors. Everything fell silent, like a sigh.

The terrible explosion that had ravaged the interior of the great barrier disappeared, as if it had never been there.

Nature breathed in peace once more.

/-/-/-

The last car of the Ponyville to Canterlot train opened its doors. They had finally reached their destination. The Knights of the Order emerged from the battered car, which was far from the terrible explosion that had ravaged the area a moment ago.

Outside, a rain of ashes tainted the desolate wasteland.

One by one, they took up positions, forming a perimeter around the car. Once they confirmed it was safe, the sub-leader Mannah finally stepped out, accompanied by Balor.

Soon, the necessary orders were given, and the Knights of the Order set out immediately to search the surroundings.

Mannah, waiting for the conclusion of the search, stayed behind near the car.

Balor, not far away, acted as his escort while performing detection enchantments.

Several hours passed, and the Knights of the Order combed through the inside of the Great Barrier five times.

Finally, they returned to their sub-leader and reported the results of their exploration.

They found no trace of the princess and her friends, nor any trace of Badwhiz. However, they did find the crystal sealer cube completely intact and full.

Balor was quite surprised; it shouldn't have been possible. The explosion had consumed everything inside the Great Barrier, leaving a giant crater in its place. At the bottom of this crater, among the rocks, they found the sealing crystal that should have disintegrated along with everything else.

Balor held the crystal in disbelief. After giving some explanations and answering some questions related to the discovery, she quickly returned to the car and began to analyze it in detail.

Balor's thorough examination lasted for two hours, and surprisingly, all the results she obtained were the same. The crystal was in perfect condition and contained the necessary magic to proceed with the second phase.

She had to accept it; the result was clear. Finally, she emerged from the car exhausted, and her companions surrounded her immediately, awaiting a response. Balor didn't want to say it, but duty compelled her.

"Operation 'Midnight Station' has concluded. The mission has been completed," declared Balor with a martial voice that echoed throughout the desolate place.

There were no celebrations, congratulations, or proclamations to feed their pride.

None of them had wished for this victory.