Perils of the Past
Chapter 7
Previous Chapter Next ChapterElements of Discord: Trial by Fire, Ch7
By Somber
Countless ponies lay scattered before her; screaming, crying, or bawling orders to try and rally some sort of resistance as she passed among them. The crackling of flesh and the sweet stink went unnoticed as every breath reeked of ash and blistering air. Her tail flicked fire and flame, and in her hooves burned death. She reared, hooves snapping with tongues of blue flame and raised her mouth to the sky. "Celestia!" A roar. A cry. A prayer that slipped from many ponies as they ran and scattered.
Building burst in tinkling crackles, collapsing on the terrified occupants who'd failed to flee. Walls crumbled as the heat of her passing softened stone and metal into blackened drippings. Cobbles were left with the molten indentation of her hooves. Rage. Such rage. She'd melt everything into slag and ashes! She had to. It was all she had left now.
"Celestia!" She shouted, knowing that all she would need to do was lay eyes on her for one moment and everything would be over. It would be the ultimate justice.
"Hey, hot head. Celestia's not here!" a mare called. Blue flames turned in the direction of the red pony in the wide brimmed red hat shouted as she stood atop a cracked fountain. "Time to end this, Firedamp." She said as she tossed her head, the phoenix plume tucked in the band bobbing. Ribald had no magical powers. The Earth Pony had only her flare and her certainty for doing what was right.
"Fury!" The nightmare screamed as Canterlot died around her and bowed her head, flicking flame at her enemy.
Captain Goodlight awoke under a blanket of dirt. Smoke crawled over the battlefield in thick banks that cut visibility to a handful of feet. All around him he could hear the yelling and cries of his soldiers. The Equestrian Guard's valiant charge had broken. Even now he could hear the explosions to the left and right that sent hot smoking earth raining down upon him.
Then he heard it; the hiss of steam under hoof. Hiss. Hiss. Hiss. Behind him emerged a glow and a wave of heat washed over him. He slowly turned to glare at the nightmare standing with flames wreathed around her form. She no longer appeared black. The crackling nimbus transformed her into white and blue fire. This was what he had attempted to charge. This creature of destruction. "Monster."
"No argument," was all it said as it passed him by as if he was of no importance.
"I… I will stop…you…" He struggled to his feet
Fury just turned and looked at him. Not attacking. Not taunting. Standing. "How?" The heat didn't wash off her; the air instead drew around her burning form and sent flickering bits of grass popping to smoke. The ground beneath her didn't burn. It melted. "I stopped you from charging into an incinerator."
He stared up at her in shock. "Why? Why save us?"
Fury didn't answer for a moment. "I've killed enough ponies who don't deserve it. Only one does. See to your injured." She turned away again, but paused. "The Princess. Is she in Ponyville? And this Twilight Sparkle?"
"Yes…. But…"
"Good. Then, one way or another, this will be over." And with that she walked into the smoke.
"Okay. So how do we do this again?" Rainbow Dash asked as she stood and waved her hooves before her, "'Elements of Harmony, activate!' No… How about, 'By our powers combined, we are the Elements of Harmony!'" She fluttered, waving her hooves before her before she snarled, "Arrgh! Stupid magic powers! Is there an instruction manual or something, Twilight?"
"Not any that I know. When we were with Nightmare Moon it just sort of happened. I realized my friends were my strength and that we could stop her." She looked over at Honesty. "What about when you were Celestia's element, Honesty?"
"Similar experience. We didn't know we could do it either until we faced Nightmare Moon. There have been other groups of friends who have manifested it over the centuries. Less publicized and well known, but there if you know what to look for." The albino mare said calmly as she walked slightly behind the others. "I hypothesize that when the elements are together and come in contact with an Element of Discord like a nightmare that the powers manifest."
"But will these powers actually be useful?" Rarity said as she looked up at the smoke drenched valley. Explosions still boomed distantly
"The five powers amplify the sixth. It seems to parallel the nightmares own potency alone. Discord's power is solitary. Harmony's is collective." Honesty replied simply, "How the power actually manifests is any pony's guess. There's a large element of the unknown that we can't explain."
"So we hop up to miss sooty hooves, give Twilight all our juice and she gives her the big zap! Sounds easy," Pinkie Pie summarized, making zapping noises as she waved her hooves at Dignity. The blue unicorn simply arched a perplexed brow.
"Perhaps." Honesty said as she glanced at the fillies. "But only if you are all devoted in your support. Ribald refused to help banish Nightmare Moon and she was freed after a thousand years. Something that I'm glad was only temporary." She added quickly, nodding to Luna. She hesitated as they approached the bridge. "You might have to also accept that what you do might have a permanent consequence."
"I'm not banishing her to the moon, Honesty." Twilight Sparkle said firmly.
"You may not have a choice. If she resists, she may perish."
"What?" Twilight Sparkle rounded on her. "I am not killing her, Honesty."
"Then she may kill you." Honesty replied as she adjusted her glasses with a little shrug. "This isn't a neat story. Good doesn't win because it's good. Binding the nightmares came at terrible cost. Nightmare Moon was the first, and in many ways the easiest. In the end, Celestia and I were unable to trap Nightmare Screamer."
"It's not going to come to that." Twilight Sparkle said firmly. "She's going to see Luna and that should be enough to make her agree to let us fix her. No one dead."
Honesty just gave a sigh. "I hope you're right."
"You really need to cool your head, Firedamp!" Ribald shouted, ducking behind the stone as Fury's flame dropped and detonated the tip of the fountain. She sprang up behind it and stuck her hooves into the spray, redirecting it to hose Fury. Steam blasted off her hide as she cried out in pain this time. Trailing a shroud of boiling vapor she rose and rammed her hooves down with all the force she could muster. The ground cracked and shook, and with a gurgle the pipe went dry. "Woah… water shortage."
"Stop joking!" Fury shouted as she charged the fountain, but Ribald feinted to one side, then dove the other.
"Tell you what. You stop burning and I'll stop with the jokes." She said as the red pony gave ground to the advancing fireball. "Seriously. I'm pretty sure I could refrain from them for a bit if you'd turn down the heat."
"Where is Celestia?" Fury growled. "Why are you here and not her?"
"Oh, you know how it is. You discover you're magic and it takes time to adjust, you know?" She said as she tapped the scarlet mandolin on an elaborate silver choker. "She's still trying to work out this whole Elements of Harmony thing."
"Is that why you keep wasting my time?"
"Nope. I just wanted to keep your attention on me. Bell." She said with a grin.
"Bell?"
From behind her came a resounding bong. She looked up in time to see Arclight kicking the iron bell from a bell tower. The blue pegasus' wings powered as she accelerated the metal straight at Fury. The flaming nightmare barely jumped aside in time, and it still clipped her metal armor and knocked her to the ground. Arclight landed next to Ribald, her gem of crossed blue sapphire lightning bolts seeming to glow in Fury's firelight.
"You will never touch Celestia, Fury." Arclight swore bitterly as she landed, matching Fury glare for glare as the Pegasus gave an almost canine snarl. "She destroyed Nightmare Moon and she'll destroy you too."
"What?" Fury stared at the pair, her flames bursting in a corona around her. The arc of fire that spurted from her mane sent the flagstones bubbling.
"Banished! Magically sealed away. Perfectly unharmed. The opposite of destroyed," Ribald said as she waved her hooves in front of her. She gave a disgruntled look at Arclight, "Escalate the situation, why don't you?" she hissed in a stage whisper.
"Very well. She should have been destroyed for her betrayal," Arclight amended, not taking her flashing eyes off Fury.
Ribald groaned, rubbing her face as she pushed back her hat. "All right! I get it! You hate her! She hates you! Plenty of hate going around!" She shouted, waving from one to the other, "Am I really the only pony that wants to resolve this peacefully?"
"Yes!" the two shouted in union.
Ribald blinked and then stepped aside, "Oh, well… carry on then."
Fury grinned at Arclight. "Glad to. Bell."
Arclight frowned, "Bell?"
The cobbles beneath the iron bell besides her exploded, launching the metal and a good chunk of the road at the Pegasus. The weight slammed into her, sending her skidding back along the road. She came to a stop, clutching the iron weight in both hooves. Fury gave a long slow whistle of admiration.
"Gotta find Celestia," Fury heard the pony say to herself, "At this rate they'll either kill each other, or end up dating after this is over!"
Fury smiled softly at the memory of Ribald's prognostication skills as the smoke slowly thinned. None of the Equestrian Guard appeared dead. Stunned, dirty, confused and scared, but not yet dead. Slow steps gave them time to get clear. If Celestia was here then she could finally end this. The last veil of smoke drew back to a small knot of ponies. So young. Just like we were when all this started. "I don't see Celestia. I assume you're her proxy?"
"I'm Twilight Sparkle, yes." The purple Unicorn replied. "Her student."
"Her favorite student!" The cyan Pegasus with the scorched tail said sharply. Fury recognized her as the filly from the Everfree forest who had pointed her in the direction of her enemy. "She knows more magic tricks than any pony and she'll… um…" Suddenly she looked a little at a loss for words as she glanced at Twilight Sparkle.
"Stop me?" Fury suggested.
"Yeah!" Rainbow dash replied, glancing at her friend before asking, "You got a plan for that, right, Twilight?"
"Hopefully talking her down," Twilight replied.
"What?" The Pegasus stretched her hooves wide as she gestured to Fury. "You got like five hundred different spells in that horn of yours. At least one of them should kick her burning tail!"
Fury shook her head with a smile and then picked out the lemon yellow Pegasus pony hanging back towards the rear with a gray purple Unicorn and a white Unicorn with purple hair. Sisters? One looked familiar, hauntingly so, but that wasn't possible. Still her burning eyes looked at the Pegasus with a curious smile. "You're all right?" Fluttershy squeaked and cowered behind the white unicorn, which looked back at Fury coolly. Peeking over Rarity's flank, the Pegasus nodded. "Good."
"Fury, we don't have to do this." Twilight Sparkle said softly. "Let's talk. There has to be a sensible resolution."
Ribald would be proud. She would have also made some sort of joke about the lack of sensibilities. Then she smelled something sweet and glanced besides her. A pink pony sat with a metal fork stretched towards her. A marshmallow crisped on the end. "What?" The pink pony said as she scraped the marshmallow on a gram cracker and chocolate square, munching on it happily and giving a sticky, "It's good."
"Pinkie Pie," groaned Applejack, rubbing her muzzle.
Fury closed her eyes, "I'll tell you what I've told every pony. I have a score to settle-"
"No you don't!"
Fury's flame extinguished like a blown out birthday candle. Her eyes stared at the dark Unicorn stepping to the fore. No, not a Unicorn. A Unicorn Pegasus. "Luna," Fury breathed softly. Was this a dream? A trick? "This can't be."
"It… It is," Luna stammered as she stared up at Fury. "I'm not Nightmare Moon anymore, Firedamp." Slowly she stepped closer, and Fury backed away.
"It's not possible. You were supposed to be bound away forever." Fury stammered, trying to pull some sense out of this.
"The binding wasn't forever. Only for a very long time," Luna said softly as she looked at Twilight Sparkle. "I broke free as Nightmare Moon. But Twilight and her friends were able to help me."
Something formed inside her; a gnawing anger that halted her retreat. "Help you? And what happened to overthrowing Celestia? What happened to making Equestria right?"
"Things have changed, Firedamp," Twilight Sparkle said as she came up besides Luna. "Luna's changed. Celestia's changed. The world's changed. It's been a thousand years." Twilight closed her eyes. "I can feel the…the wrongness inside you. Please, let me help you."
Fury stood before the seven, before Luna, feeling like a great vacuum had formed around her. "Help me?" Fury felt like she was made of blown obsidian, cold obsidian. Fragile.
"You… you don't have to fight any more. You don't have to be this anymore, Firedamp. Don't you understand?" Luna begged as she took another slow step forward. "Our fight was a mistake. We were wrong. Celestia was wrong. She admitted it." Luna's tears ran down her cheeks. "Firedamp…"
But Fury lips set in a grim line as she looked down at Luna. That hollow feeling grew stronger inside her, and there was anger too. Such anger. "I am very happy to see you again, Luna. I am glad that you have a chance to be happy again." She said in terrible calm. "You deserve a second chance."
Luna smiled. There was nothing as beautiful. "Firedamp." Fury would have given anything to see it again. To accept her offer. But she couldn't. She had nothing left to give.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go kill your sister." Fury said calmly. Quietly.
"Oh horseapples," muttered Applejack.
Luna's mouth worked silently as she stared up at Fury in horror. "Firedamp, no…"
Rage such as she had never imaged grew inside her. A thousand years ago she would have simply rampaged till exhausted. Now that rage focused and condensed against the one who deserved it. "You returned to normal… saved by Twilight Sparkle. I assume from your being here that Celestia has forgiven you. Possibly even you her." The ground beneath her smoked and boiled, and the ponies took a step back. "So tell me then Luna… what was everything I did for?" Toes of lava started to creep towards the riverbank. "Nothing?"
"I… I don't understand… Don't you want it to be over?" Luna asked as she backed away.
"More than you know." Fury replied evenly.
"Then just… stop. You don't have to keep fighting!" Luna begged in tears, "Please, I'm sorry it was for nothing!"
Fury closed her eyes, struggling to maintain the calm and not kill her best friend, "I killed for you Luna," Fury said in the softest of whispers, her eyes locked on her friend's, "Was that for nothing?"
"I'll kill you!" Fury screamed as Arclight whirled through the air around the flame that shot upward with each snap of her tail. Arclight snapped a tight loop de loop before launching the clutched masonry at Fury. Fury dodged to the side, whirled, and kicked a burning meteor of debris back at the whirling pegasus.
"Then stop talking about it and do it." Arclight countered, deflecting the stone with her hooves in an elegant roll. The pegasus was every bit the fighter that Fury was, perhaps more so. Fury had always dealt with challenges directly with force; Arclight with finesse and precision. The sapphire lightning adorning Arclight's collar seemed to challenge the fiery glyph on Fury's flank.
Every projectile that Fury sent skyward found itself dodged or deflected. Arclight responded with her own barrage of broken off masonry. Neither would win at this rate, but Arclight didn't have to win. She merely had to stall until the others arrived and they would do to her what they had done to Nightmare Moon. Celestia would win and her vengeance would be denied.
"There is a certain trick to beating Pegasus. It's all in the wings," spoke the whisper into her ear and the instructions for what to do next.
Fury didn't think. Fury acted. She summoned all her rage and pushed past the pain to send the flames down rather than up. Smoking ground slumped, shimmered, and proceeded to bubble. Inch by inch Fury sank as if slowly dipping into a molten bath. Arclight fluttered above cautiously.
Almost. Almost. She could feel the coolness in the earth; the wet. She pushed the fire towards it. Arclight fluttered over the pool at a loss. Then the lava touched the underground aqueduct that supplied Canterlot with its water. In a flash, water transformed to steam and the pressure burst in every direction. A thousand sinks and pipes screamed like kettles and the lava pool heaved before erupting in a shower of blazing cinders and scalding vapors. Arclight's wings beat furiously. She evaded the steam, even if her exposed hide took on a rosy hue.
What went up, however, came down; the rain of flaming particles transformed Arclight's wings into something like a phoenix's, and blazing she plunged to the ground. Her blue form bounced and rolled several times, armor denting and banging until she came to a rest. Slowly she rose to her hooves, swaying as she turned to face her enemy. Only blackened feathers clung to her wings.
"Nice trick." Arclight hissed through grit teeth.
"You took Luna from me." Fury said as she stepped out of the roiling lava pool, dripping molten rock and fleck of obsidian.
"The six of you waged war against Equestria. Stopping you was the point," she said as she tried to flex her wings and walk, but there was a resounding pop in her rear left knee and it refused to bend. "You have no idea how much pain you've inflicted."
"I don't care!" Fury roared, stamping her hooves to blast the rising Pegasus off her hooves again.
"That's what I can't stand about you. You have no control. No focus. Nothing. You've hurt so many, Fury."
"I didn't have a choice!" Fury screamed at her, feet raising and sending a shock wave rolling through the ground to explode beneath Arclight.
"Every pony has a choice." Fury rose to her feet, her blue hide punctured by stony shrapnel. "We get a choice between right and wrong. And you… you just keep making the wrong choice."
"Because I chose Luna?" Fury closed the distance step by step.
"No. Because you chose to involve innocents!" Arclight shouted. "Look around you, Fury. Look at all you've done! This is meaningless now! Luna is gone. End this pointless fight."
"No." Fury said softly as they stood nearly nose to nose. "This has meaning. It has to."
Arclight swayed on her hooves before sitting down, her leg jutting out. She closed her eyes. "Make your choice then."
Fury did not think. Fury felt. Fury consumed every part of her being. It roared in her heart and blasted through her brain. Fury was power and action. There was only one choice. She pressed her hoof to the Pegasus' brow. Those lightning blue eyes never closed, never wavered, even as tears rolled down azure cheeks.
Arclight burned.
Twilight Sparkle looked at the stunned Luna as Fury stepped past her. Her burning eyes glanced up at Honesty and Dignity at the crest of the bridge in contemptuous indifference, but paused as they took in the three cutie mark crusaders watching from behind Dignity. Twilight Sparkle could feel a sensation coming off Fury like wind blown glass, yet for its rage it wasn't directed at her. It whirled like a tornado around Fury, and if Twilight could just understand it she could fix it. She was sure of it.
Luna was clearly devastated by Fury's rejection, but after that last comment Twilight Sparkle wasn't surprised. They'd assumed that all of this was out of vengeance; that all Luna had to do was tell her it was all right and Fury would stop being a nightmare and return to being her friend Firedamp. Clearly that wasn't the case. "What's driving you?" Twilight Sparkle said, more to herself than the blazing nightmare.
"Don't try and save me, Twilight Sparkle. Don't try and understand me. Beat me. You have your friends, your magic, and your skills. Don't hold back, or I'll burn you, your friends, and Celestia," Fury said before turning and putting some space between her and the bridge. With a hollow pit in her stomach Twilight stepped away as well.
"Twilight! No," Pinkie Pie said as she shook her head vigorously. "Don't fight her."
"I have to." Twilight Sparkle said softly. How she was supposed to do that without the Elements of Harmony manifested she couldn't guess, but she had to try. Fluttershy and Applejack had both faced Fury alone. Now it was her turn."
Fury's mane had returned to its white flare and her hide began to glow. "Ready?"
"Um… no?" Twilight said with a weak little smile.
"Apologies," Fury answered, and her hooves rose and slammed down in a shockwave of rolling, exploding grown that blast in a line straight at Twilight Sparkle. Her eyes widened and she concentrated, flashing away just as it past. Another blast. Another teleport. Slowly Fury drew a circle in the torn and smoking grass as dust filled the air.
Twilight Sparkle concentrated, and a dozen rain barrels lifted off from around Ponyville, scooped up the contents of the river, and bobbed ominously above her. Fury's tail flicked flame at each of them as she danced carefully out of the way of their watery contents. Twilight's horn glowed and she sprayed water from the tip like a garden hose. The stream steamed as it splashed over her form, but the heat returned despite her water. Twice she tried to grab her with magic, but the iron armor she wore foiled her attempts to grip her magically.
Suddenly in the smoke appeared Pinkie Pie! She stood as if frozen in fear. "Pinkie Pie! No!"
Fury's tail snapped almost contemptuously at the pink pony's tail, yet Pinkie Pie didn't even budge as her tail burned. Fury broke her attack for just a moment to look closer at… one of Rarity's tailoring dummies expertly disguised in Pinkie Pie's place. Where there had been a curly pink tail hissed a stream of smoke. Then the dummy exploded in a shower of fireworks and sparklers that sent Fury ducking for cover, covering her head as rockets fired wildly over her.
"No interference!" Fury yelled as she spotted another of her friends and snapped fire at it as well. This time a Rarity dummy exploded in a cloud of powder that washed over Fury. "Wha… ahhh… ahchooo!" She sneezed, blowing a plume of fire before her. From the sidelines, Twilight Sparkle spotted Rarity and Pinkie Pie bumping hooves together. It threw Fury off her game enough that Twilight was able to nail her with one of the barrels.
Twilight Sparkle had to do some serious teleporting after that, but now it was Fury on the defensive. There were at least three Twilight Sparkle decoys in the smoke and Fury was now more discriminating where she flung her fire.
"Applejack. Think you're up to a few well placed apple kicks?" Rarity asked as she shrugged off her saddle bags.
"Well, sure, but I can tell you that apples won't be doing much against her at this rate," Applejack retorted.
Rarity dumped out the contents in a heap before Applejack. "I was thinking of something a little more substantial than apples."
"Diamonds!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "Where did you get so many?" Even given the commonality of colored stones, diamonds were still valuable. And each one Rarity rolled out was the size of a hoof.
"I cleaned out my bank account when all this started." Rarity said with a smile and shrug.
"Well, let's make the most pricy attack in history," Applejack said as she turned to face away from Fury. "Toss em, Rarity!" Rarity gave the most expensive jewels in Equestria a sigh and parting kiss before tossing them one after the other behind Applejack. "Yeee haw!" Applejack cheered, launching them at Fury. The impacts staggered Fury to the side, denting the armor plates she wore and even knocking her aside. When Fury turned to blast a shockwave at the bridge, Applejack limped aside with Rarity supporting her.
"Stop treating this like a game and face me!" Fury roared as she went into a wild spree of kicking and firing completely wildly. Twilight Sparkle could only hit the ground as explosion after explosion blasted out around her.
"Hey, Hot Head. Face us!" Rainbow Dash shouted from above. She looked up in time to see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy dumping two pails of honey right in her face. The sticky sugar coated her face and immediately bubbled and blackened as Fury screamed, trying to clear her vision from the boiling black gunk. "Hey! Honey Roasted Nightmare. Nice!"
Twilight looked at the river and the few rain barrels that remained. It just wasn't enough! She looked at the water, then at the round roof of town hall. "I really hope this works," she muttered as she reached out with her horn and gripped it. Her head jerked to the left and right, feeling the roof give way. It popped free with a loud crack and floated over the flood swollen river. Like an enormous cup she tipped it into the water and then gritted her teeth as she lifted it slowly over the blinded Nightmare.
Fury cleaned her eyes in time for a wet drop of plop right on the tip of her nose. Her eyes became huge round orbs as she saw the roof hovering overhead.
The blast of fire made the earth shake and coated them all in ash for a second before the roof gave way in a massive deluge that washed the battlefield into the river. Pinkie Pie and Rarity helped haul the injured Applejack clear of the muddy deluge that flooded back into the river. Twilight's horn felt like it was about to fall off after magic like that.
"Where… where is she?" Pinkie Pie asked as she looked along the stretch of river.
"She must be in the river!" Fluttershy hovered over the churning bank. "We have to find her. We can't let her drown."
"I don't think she's in the river, Fluttershy," Applejack said as she pointed where Fury had stood. A massive knot of shiny black glass stuck out of the mud.
"Please be beaten," Twilight Sparkle said softly. One second. Two. Three. Then the water around the black stone started to bubble and steam.
"She'll never give up," Luna said miserably. "Does she want to die?"
The thought struck Twilight like a blow. She stared at the cracking dome of obsidian. "You know, Luna… I think she does."
The city was dead. Only a handful of ponies dared its burning remains as Fury patrolled through the city for her enemy. One sight was all she would need to push her over the edge. She wouldn't let Celestia bind her. In that moment, both she and her enemy would be annihilated. No more rage. No more fury. Peace.
"Firedamp," spoke the familiar sound of Ribald down a street. Not whom she wanted, but still an enemy. Ribald sat on a lump of cracked stone, hoof resting on a spar of wood sticking out of the middle of the street as she held the blackened silver collar of Arclight. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, but still a smile remained on her face beneath the shadow of the hat she wore. "Time to end this."
"You want me to kill you too?" Fury asked as she closed the distance between them.
"No. I don't want to die. I don't want you to die either. I didn't want Luna to turn into Nightmare Moon or Celestia to banish her." She said as her hoof rocked the beam back and forth with her hoof. "All I wanted was for everyone to be happy. Was that so much?" Ribald asked as she pushed back the brim.
"Celestia…"
"I don't care what Celestia did or didn't do. I don't care what Luna did either," She said softly as her hoof tapped softly on the beam. "Did you really have to kill Arclight?" Ribald asked as she wiped her cheeks.
Fury stood there, still feeling it… seeing it… "I had to. For Luna."
"Luna wouldn't have wanted you to kill Arclight."
"No. She wouldn't. For Nightmare Moon then. For an Equestria where she is free and we are happy, then."
"Will that make you happy, Firedamp?"
Fury clenched her eyes. Fury didn't think about these things. Fury felt and acted. It burned and burned until it was extinguished. She so wanted to be extinguished. "No."
Fury stood right before the red pony. The funny one. The one that always tried to protect with her jokes and laughter. The only one of Celestia's friends who understood. "Well, you don't have to worry about it anymore." Ribald grinned. "Bell."
Fury ducked, looking at the sky before she frowned. Ribald placed all her weight on the wooden beam and with a grind of stone the cobbles and beams gave way to a shaft beneath Fury, splashing against the water far below. Fury scrambled and hooked her hooves on the edge as the ground gave way, her front hooves digging in. Slowly she clawed her way forward.
"Sometimes," Ribald said quietly in front of her. Fury looked up into Ribald's calm magenta eyes. "Sometimes I think all you nightmares just need a hug." And Ribald wrapped her front hooves around Fury's neck as her back hooves kicked off the edge, launching the pair of them into the pit.
She wants to die. She doesn't want to kill us. She doesn't want to burn Ponyville or Equestria. She probably doesn't even want to kill Celestia. She wants to die; to fight until she's slain or explodes from her own power. The thought was so shocking that Twilight ignored her friends' distant shouts and warnings. In that horrible moment, Twilight Sparkle didn't know if she could understand that feeling. If she even should try. Why would any pony want such a thing?
Guilt. Nightmare Fury had done terrible things. Was still doing terrible things. Would continue to do terrible things. Apple Bloom was wrong. Nightmare Fury was a monster, and no one knew it better than Fury herself. She couldn't accept forgiveness because she didn't want it. She rejected it. She wanted punishment, the most grievous punishment possible. In that moment Twilight Sparkle understood just what pain and self hatred Fury faced. And in that moment, Twilight Sparkle felt that pity deep inside her. That spark that made her care.
From within that spark grew in a wave that burst from her in white light. Her friends manifested a similar glow that coalesced into beautiful silver collars decorated with gems in the shape of their cutie marks. From her brow formed a delicate crown; but more than the decoration was the sensation of strength and certainty that flowed from her five friends.
The black stone split and a glowing fury pulled herself from the molten center, dripping molten stone as she looked at the Elements of Harmony. "I've seen those before."
"It's over," Twilight Sparkle said softly.
"Finally," Fury replied, and then laughed softly, "I always knew it would end like this, one way or another." Her blue white eyes looked up at Twilight and her friends. "So… going to turn me into stone? Banish me into the sun? Just blast me into ash?"
"No. I'm not going to kill you fury. I'm going to do what I promised Luna. I'm going to turn you back to normal." Twilight looked at the glowing nightmare. "You've made mistakes, but that doesn't mean you need to be punished forever for them."
"Don't you dare pity me," Fury hissed. "You can't forgive me. I've done nothing worthy of forgiveness! I'm a monster."
"Maybe. But I know that you became what you are out of loyalty to Luna. You've shown restraint and kindness to my friends. You've been forthright and honest to every pony, except maybe yourself, and you're generous enough to give us chance after chance to get away from you. All you need is a little happiness and laughter in your life." She slowly approached fury, the aura of magic around her cooling the rock under her hooves. "Let me help you. I understand what you really want, but it doesn't have to be like that."
Fury backed into the far side of the pit and gave a soft laugh. For the first time, she sounded almost like the Firedamp of Luna's memory. "I like you, Twilight Sparkle. I really do. No one's said that about me in a long time. I wish that you could just help me get rid of all this rage. I'm tired of it. So very tired. I wish I could accept your forgiveness." For a moment, Twilight was sure that it was over.
Then the molten crater exploded in a detonation that sent debris showering across Ponyville. The blast ripped one end of the bridge from its foundations, making the heavy wrought iron posts lean precariously as the bridge began to disintegrate. Dignity and Honesty and two of the three Cutiemark Crusaders scrambled to reach the far side. Twilight Sparkle as her friends were partially protected by a magical shield that Twilight had conjured instinctively, but they were still scattered far and wide.
From the crest of the bridge, Apple Bloom continued to watch the battle in terror, even as the bridge collapsed behind her, leaving her stranded in the middle.
"Enough," Fury said calmly from above Twilight Sparkle as the purple unicorn regained her senses. She felt a warm hoof inches from her horn. "Let me prove to you I can't be saved."
"Nightmare Fury," declared a regal voice from the far side of the crater. Fury froze almost as she had when she spotted Luna for the first time. There, surrounded by a golden nimbus, stood Princess Celestia. "Let my student go. Your argument is with me. It always has been."
No flames burned now. Once again she'd gone quiet as she approached Celestia in almost a coy fashion. Twilight tried to rise, but the motion made the entire world spin around her.
"Princess Celestia," Fury said softly, "I am guilty of the murders of Arclight and Ribald, as well as incalculable destruction. Will you administer the appropriate punishment now?" Fury reached up and pushed the blackened, pitted helmet from her head and let it fall with a hissing thud to the scorched earth besides her. Fury knelt before her, chin resting on the blackened stones as she closed her eyes.
Celestia simply closed her eyes, "No."
Fury smiled and said softly, "Pity."
"…don't cross that line." Ribald rasped from the darkness as Fury regained consciousness. She found herself chained in a great underground chamber. Chains of diamond clinked at her movements. The light of four glowing collars and Celestia's crown competed with the flames of her mane.
"Princess. She's awake," Trueheart said softly as Fury lifted her head. Above her she saw the great dome showing Luna becoming Nightmare moon, Fury burning the city.
Celestia rose, and Fury stared at Ribald laying her side. Her rosy hide was covered with horrid white patches and black burns. The mandolin on her flank was barely recognizable. Fury's burning eyes met Ribard's, and the cooked pony simply grinned slackly back at her. "Hey, Firedamp. You're a hard pony to keep afloat." She closed her eyes, "And look at me. Put an apple in my mouth and call me done. Well done."
Celestia's lips were pressed tightly together. "Fury."
Fury did not think. Fury raged. Yet as she lunched for Celestia, the power she'd given everything for was siphoned away along the glowing diamond chains. She strained for the hate that would allow her to explode once and for all, but exhaustion and the enchantments on the chains sapped her rage. When she finally gave out, she collapsed on her face in front of Celestia.
"Do it," Fury said softly.
"Do what?" Celestia asked in the softest voice Fury had ever heard.
"I killed Arclight. I've as good as killed Ribald. Do what must be done. Execute me."
Celestia just looked at her with her features frozen like alabaster. "This isn't about you, Fury. Your punishment has been rendered." She said as she turned back to the fallen Ribald and the rest of her friends. "Perhaps in time, you'll realize just what you've done." The scarlet mandolin on Ribald collar flickered and went dark. Celestia clenched her eyes shut, tears running down her cheeks. "Let's go. We have much more to do." With their horns Trueheart and Celestia levitated the still body and without another word walked up the stairs on the far side.
"No…" Fury moaned as she rose to her feet. "No, come back, Celestia. Come back! Celestia! Come back and kill me!" She screamed into the cold tomb. Her flames burned, melting the stone under hoof enough to coat her in a layer of basalt before finally she stilled in her rocky cocoon.
"Kill me… Celestia. Please kill me…" were her last whispers as time stopped beneath the earth.
The second explosion was every bit as potent as the first, but this time the blast was contained within a golden dome of magic. Twilight Sparkle watched in horror as Celestia was blasted off her hooves, struck the roof of the dome and crashed back down again. Fury didn't slow in the slightest as her hooves rose again and again, crushing Celestia with kick after kick. All civility and restraint gone now as her hooves crashed down upon Celestia again and again. "Why? Why won't you just kill me? Why won't you fight back? Why Celestia? Why?"
"No!" Luna screamed as she beat on the golden dome entrapping the two ponies. She tried to dispel it with her magic, kick her way through. Twilight forced herself to her feet, trying to pull enough magic through her friends to stop this madness.
Fury pressed Celestia's head to the charred ground, two burning hooves on Celestia's throat. Fury grew brighter and brighter as she screamed in pain, pushing to that point where the magic rage inside her would exceed her body's ability to contain it. Fury felt only seconds remaining as her hooves burned against Celestia's throat. Burning tears fell as she stared down and begged softly, "Why Celestia? Tell me."
"You're not the only one who deserves punishment," Celestia said softly, "If I'd listened to Ribald and Honesty… If I'd given Luna and all of you a chance… If I hadn't been so stubborn… how much less pain would we all have gone through?" Celestia grimaced in pain, but there was a terrible ghost of a smile as well. "You didn't kill Arclight and Ribald, Fury. You didn't banish Luna. I did. I deserve this. Not you."
"No! Sister! Firedamp! Please!" Luna screamed, reduced to drumming her hooves on the dome.
There was a heavy stone grinding as the bridge behind them gave way and slumped slowly into the surging flow. The metal lampposts crashed down as the stone shifted beneath them. Then there came a the sharp scream of a filly as the center of the bridge slouched into the river, the heavy iron lamppost twisting as it fell across the roadway… and over Apple Bloom. "Apple Bloom!" Applejack shouted as she jumped across the broken remains of the stone bridge. Twilight Sparkle stood there, torn by the need to help Apple Bloom or Princess Celestia.
Fury heard the shout, raising her head to see the small form disappear under the water as the rubble continued to settle in the surging floodwaters.
You keep making the wrong choices.
I don't get you. Why do you do that if you know it's wrong?
I'm so tired. So tired of being angry all the time.
Fury rose off Celestia and leapt at the golden wall. She was so overflowing with rage and power that it shattered like magical glass. Fury raced past Twilight Sparkle as Luna fell atop Princess Celestia, holding her battered form as she wept. Twilight Sparkle followed and teleported on to the half submerged section of bridge along with Applejack and Rainbow dash.
"Can you lift it?" Applejack asked as the two of them shoved hard against the iron pole pinning Apple Bloom. Pinkie Pie waded besides Apple Bloom, trying to get her mouth above water.
"It's… iron!" Twilight yelled in frustration, trying to grasp the resistant metal with her magic. Worse, it was still imbedded in a block of stone connected to the rubble they stood on. She fought to try and lift that, but it threatened to just slide deeper into the river.
Fury looked at the swirling cold water and at Twilight Sparkle and her friends. She glanced back at Luna and Celestia. Glowing with destructive power, Fury smiled happily. "Every pony has a choice," she said before she jumped down into the water.
Hip deep, her hide hissed and spat as the water swept by in a constant deluge that threatened to douse her. Fury pressed her hooves to the cold metal and let loose her rage and pain in one scream that drove every lick of flame inside her to the metal bar. Every second the river poured around her, robbing her strength, yet she pulled up more flame from deep within. She drew all she could. It was Celestia she was melting. Nightmare Moon. Arclight and Ribald. It was Nightmare Fury.
The metal suddenly gave way like stretching taffy before snapping off at the base. Fury, Applejack, and Rainbow dash gave a great heave and tossed the post aside. Pinkie Pie pulled a sputtering Apple Bloom from the waters. "Hold on!" Twilight Sparkle shouted, teleporting them to the bank.
All except Nightmare Fury. The armor she wore that had been so effective at resisting Twilight's attacks had also blocked her teleportation as well. Alone in the river, she looked back at every pony with a happy, exhausted smile. Then the remains of the bridge gave way beneath her, dumping her into the churning water.
Goodbye, Luna.
The first thing she was aware of was water flowing over her hooves and soft river grass beneath her as she laid beneath a warm sky. The fire within had been put out, finally, and she took a slow breath. Then another. Hooves gently held her and she slowly opened an eye to look up at Luna. "Oh… what a waste of a heroic sacrifice…"
"It was an idiotic sacrifice, you hear me?" Luna shouted as she sniffled, "You and my sister both. I'm surrounded by idiots!"
"You okay, Miss Fury?" Apple Bloom asked from Fury's other side. She shivered even as Applejack hugged her close.
"Mmmm… I feel…wetter."
Slowly she rose to look at Twilight Sparkle. Celestia lay nearby, her pristine hide bruised and scorched terribly, but intact. The purple unicorn in the diamond crown looked down at her. "Thank you."
"I wanted to make the right choice, for once." Fury said with a groan.
"Then keep making them. You stopped yourself. You saved Apple Bloom. You can do so much, Fury, if you'll just let us help you," Twilight Sparkle said softly.
"I thought about it for a thousand years," Fury said softly, eyes closed. "I can still see Ribald. I can feel Arclight." She looked back up at Twilight Sparkle, "Can your Elements of Harmony fix that? Take me and bring them back?"
"It doesn't works like that. All I can do is to try and fix the harm you did to yourself. The rest is on your own."
"I see." She said as she rose to her feet. She took a look at Luna and Celestia, then sighed and smiled, "Do it."
The white light flared from Twilight. Honesty. An orange ribbon of light streaked from Applejack's gem to swirl around Fury. Kindness. Green light streamed from Fluttershy's medallion and curled gently around her. Laughter. Pinkie Pie giggled as blue shown from hers to join the rest. Generosity. Rarity's violet ribbon joined the others. Loyalty. A scarlet streak raced from Rainbow Dash to swirl around Fury. And a golden yellow band raced to bind them all together. Magic. The brilliant colors transformed into a flame, and from it raised thick smoke that seemed to scream for a moment, and then was scattered in a spectacular flash.
The heavy armor plates clunked to the grass, and standing in the midst of them was a far smaller Firedamp. Her hide had returned to its mahogany red color, her mane a brilliant orange ending in yellow tips. She rubbed her orange eyes, "Woah… flashy…" She muttered, and then looked behind her at her flank. The flaming mushroom cloud was gone. In its place was a heart shaped diamond surrounded by orange flame. She stepped free of the scorched metal plates and sat down next to Luna.
"What do you remember?" Luna asked her softly.
Firedamp didn't say a word as her eyes went round, then she bit her lip, "Everything," was all she could say before shedding a thousand years of pain one tear at a time.
"Sheesh. So much drama," Nightmare Screamer said sourly as she floated in the clouds above the display, watching through binoculars. "I forgot Fury could be such a crybaby."
"All that, spoiled by a foal," Nightmare Whispers hissed in her ear. "I had them. I had them! One death… Fury… Celestia… even Luna's… it would have been enough! Fury was wired to kill and die and she couldn't even do that."
"Yeah yeah. I weep for the foiled machinations of the puppet master. What now?"
"Now? We continue as planned. Fury was simply an opportunity to remove Celestia from the board. She was never the main thrust."
"And what is the main thrust?" Nightmare Screamer asked softly.
"We need Vicious," Whispers purred in her ear, and Nightmare Screamer shivered.
"Feeling better?" Twilight Sparkle asked as she found Firedamp besides the ruined bridge, watching as the Equestrian Guard Unicorns helped repair the damaged spans. Her orange eyes looked over and she signed.
"Yes? No? Kinda?" Firedamp whistled through her teeth. "Guess that covers all options, huh? Luna's still plenty mad with me and Celestia, isn't she?"
"A bit," Twilight said as she sat beside her, "She'll get better now that this is over."
"It's not over," Firedamp said softly. "The other Nightmares are out there. Whisper is planning something big. Something I can't even imagine."
"We'll save them, Firedamp." Twilight Sparkle promised.
The red pony just sighed, but smiled and nodded once. "You know, I think I'll change my name. I'm not Firedamp any more than I am Nightmare Fury. I'm somewhere in the middle," She smiled to Twilight Sparkle, "How does 'Diamond Fire' sound?"
"Like a fresh start," Twilight Sparkle replied softly.