Chapter 12

Tyranny's voice echoed throughout the throne room. Twilight felt a sickening feeling in her stomach. How had Tyranny managed to make his way here without being detected? After the changeling invasion, Canterlot was protected by numerous magical wards to prevent hostile forces from gaining entrance. Celestia's throne room was also protected by magical wards created by the Sun Princess herself. He shouldn't have been able to make his way here, but the voice was Tyranny's without a doubt. Celestia and Twilight both looked around for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

His voice sounded again. "I could almost respect you, did I not despise you."

"Tyranny, show yourself!" Celestia demanded. Unlike the gentle swaying her mane typically did, it moved as if caught in a fierce wind.

He dismissively snorted. "You should know better than to demand anything of me, Celestia. I had thought I drove that lesson into your head over a thousand years ago."

"How did you get past the wards?" Her demand echoed throughout the room.

"Your most faithful tool made it possible," he said, appearing in the throne room. "I can see why you favor her so." His glare was full of barely restrained anger.

Celestia frowned deeply, but Twilight spoke. "How did I do anything for you?"

"When you foolishly confronted me in my throne room, I left part of my essence upon you before sending you away. I simply stayed with you until you brought me right to Celestia. Your emotional outburst made for the perfect opportunity for me to quietly disable all of her wards."

The blood drained from her face. "You used me?"

He scoffed. "And this surprises you? I had thought you were used to being nothing more than a mere pawn for your master."

"Stop it, Tyranny!" Princess Celestia commanded.

"You… you were behind those dreams, weren't you?" Twilight's voice was barely above a whisper.

He smirked. "I needed to make sure you went directly to Celestia. All I had to do was give you some incentive. A few visions of the future was all that was needed to send you running to her side."

"Do you have any idea how horrible those dreams were?!" she screamed at him.

"I know exactly how horrible they were. The truth is often just that." He continued speaking to Twilight as he looked at Celestia.. "I do not attempt to hide the truth behind petty words or false promises."

Celestia stood firmly. "You and Discord both were to maintain the balance of our world, yet both of you gave into your excesses. Tyranny, you were supposed to keep this world from falling into chaos, but all you ever did was cause it."

His glare hardened, and his tone was as harsh as anypony had ever heard. "Do not perceive to lecture me about my purpose, Celestia! This world was—and still is—in the grips of chaos. I was to bring true order and stability to this world, and you betrayed me. You and your sister made your choices the day you imprisoned me."

"You suppressed the pony folk and would not allow them to flourish with your warped ideal of order." She looked at him sternly. "We could not let their suffering continue, and we did what was necessary to save them. Everypony should be allowed to see their potential and to find their happiness."

"The 'ideal' of happiness is different for every individual, Celestia. With differences come disagreements on what is considered 'right.' Strife follows these disagreements and chaos ensues. Happiness is such a frivolous idea." His glare hardened at her further, if that was even possible. "Happiness is one emotion you will never know again, Celestia. You will atone for your crimes." As he stepped forward, his hoofsteps echoed loudly, as if the marble floor was crying out in agony.

"The only crime I am guilty of is not being more forthcoming to those I care about the most." Celestia looked to Twilight apologetically. Twilight returned her look, but lowered her gaze to the floor.

Tyranny growled. "You imprisoned me for over a thousand years, Celestia. You denied this world its rightful ruler, usurped my throne, and destroyed my physical form. For that and more, you will face judgment. I will be your judge, jury, and executioner. Defend yourself if you can!" His voice rang through the castle as he leveled his scepter at her.

She set herself to meet him, her horn glowing brightly. The throne room doors flew open, and the two guards returned.

"Princess!" one of them called, and they both charged at the dark stallion.

Tyranny never took his eyes off Celestia as he turned slightly and blasted both of the guards with his ebon beam.

-0-

In the guest wing of the castle, Tourmaline was resting peacefully on the canopy bed in her room. She was not attempting to sleep but simply relaxing on the comfortable bed. A warm summer's breeze flowed through an open window nearby. It had been a few weeks since her brother and she had first arrived at the castle. With Tormod fully recovered and frequently lost in the numerous maps and tomes he was allowed to study while they stayed in the castle, boredom was Tourmaline's constant companion.

It was not that she was ungrateful for being allowed to stay at the castle—Princess Celestia was the very soul of a generous host—it was just that the adventurer in her wanted to get out and explore. Canterlot had many things for a visitor to enjoy, but Tourmaline felt she had seen it all. With no new news of Wanderer's whereabouts, Tourmaline was getting antsy. She had helped the pegasus ponies work the weather over Canterlot, but even that was not enough to keep her adventurer spirit content. Coupled with her worry for her friend, the recent days were almost unbearable.

She rolled off the bed and walked towards the window. She sighed in frustration and tucked a stray lock of hair out of her face. She privately wished something would happen to alleviate her boredom.

As if answering her thoughts, a puff of smoke appeared out of nowhere and coalesce into a creature of pure blackness. It wore armor made for ponies, and its round white eyes glared at her.

"What in the name of—" she swore as the creature lunged at her. Narrowly dodging, she lashed out with a kick. The shadow skidded to the side but came back swinging. Tourmaline was no stranger to battle—she had faced numerous monsters with her friends and was quick enough to dodge or block the creature's attacks. She jumped up as the creature lunged at her again. She kicked upward with her hind leg and caught the shadow on the chin. The thing flew backwards where it hit a dresser and dissipated in a puff of smoke, its armor clanging loudly to the floor.

"Thought you could take me, think again," she taunted before a shout from the hallway caught her attention.

"Tormod!" She ran out of her room, and saw her brother crash through the door to his room, the door shattering to splinters as he flew through it. He skidded across the floor but got back up quickly, his horn glowing. Another creature stepped from his room, its eyes on him. Before it could charge again, he shot a ray of energy that the shadow dodged. It jumped out at him, and Tourmaline wasted no time in driving her shoulder into the creature mid-lunge. It slid across the floor, and exploded as Tormod blasted it.

She kicked away the creature's fallen helm. "You alright?"

He grunted and nodded brushing the splinters from his coat. "It caught me by surprise. I never thought I would be attacked in Canterlot Castle of all places."

They both looked down the hall as the sound of battle reached their ears, and shouts from guards and citizens alike were heard in the distance. They both looked out a nearby window and saw more of the creatures chasing the groundskeepers and battling the guards.

"What is going on? Who would be attacking Canterlot?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, I've never even heard of these things. They're not changelings."

Both of their ears shot up and their eyes widened as a shout reached them. The voice they had both heard only once before, but would never forget.

"Wanderer!" Tourmaline rushed down the hallway towards the throne room.

"Tourmaline! Wait!" Tormod said with unmistakable fear, but he soon followed after his sister's brave charge. "Blast it…"

-0-

Both princesses could only look on in sickened awe as the guards turned black.

"P-Princess?" one uttered before he shattered, the shards disintegrating into nothingness.

"You monster!" Celestia yelled and shot a beam of energy. Tyranny sidestepped the attack and countered with one of his own, but Celestia stopped it with a barrier.

"Do not do this Tyranny. You cannot defeat me here. If you would turn your powers to good, it would end the conflict. Nopony else needs to suffer."

His answer was a much more powerful blast that had her straining to keep it at bay. Once the attack stopped, she could only look at the stallion with wide, shocked eyes.

"Why so smug, Celestia?"

She glared at him, surrounding herself with a magical aura, Tyranny did likewise, his aura utter darkness compared to hers. Celestia knew that her battle with him was going to be destructive, and she needed to lead him away from the castle and from Canterlot, or somepony could get hurt. She shot out of the bay window, making for the skies outside the city. Before she could get far however, Tyranny appeared before her.

"I think not." He shot another energy blast at her, but she dodged the attack and flew upwards. Tyranny pursued her until she turned and dived back at him. As the two collided, their auras sparked and cracked. The two broke apart and flew around a brief moment before colliding again and again, each collision echoing like thunder across the city. To a distant observer, it would almost appear like a pair of fireflies having at each other.

As the two spiraled around spires of the castle, they traded volleys of energy blasts. Celestia could only cringe as the beams exploded upon the castle and town below—she prayed that nopony was hurt in the struggle.

Try as she might, she could not find an opening in his offensive, and he was too quick for her own. Rounding a corner she stopped suddenly and emitted a blinding flash of light. Once her light faded, she found that he was nowhere to be seen. She looked up quickly to see him in the final moments of a back hoof swing of his scepter.

She crashed heavily into the street below, startling a number of ponies who were watching the battle in awe.

"Princess!" one of them shouted as she and a few others ran to her aid.

Celestia looked at them as she rose to her hooves. "Please, get away from here! I don't want to see any of you harmed! Go!"

"But, Princess—"

"Go! Now!" she shouted. The gathering looked at each other before fleeing. Celestia sighed—she hadn't wanted to shout at them, but she would never forgive herself if they came to harm during the battle.

Before the ponies could take more than a few steps , a number of shadow beasts surrounded them. The ponies gasped in terror as the creatures began glowing a dark light. The ponies unfortunate enough to be struck by their magic suffered the same fate as her guards.

"No!" Celestia's horn glowed and she blasted away the hostile creatures. Tears ran down her eyes as she destroyed the creatures, allowing the remaining citizens to flee to safety.

She looked upward quickly as she heard an evil chuckle. Tyranny leered down at her from above. "Again you show your weakness, Celestia. Concerning yourself over the well-being of those under you and paying little mind to that which—" she teleported behind him and bucked him full in the back, the force of the blow sending him soaring across the city.

Unfortunately, he crashed into Donut Joe's shop, smashing through the storefront and landing hard against the counter. Pastries of all types were tossed about from the impact.

"My donuts!" the shop owner cried out, holding his head in absolute dismay. His eyes only widened as he saw Tyranny pick himself up from the mess with a pained look of annoyance. With a scowl he surrounded himself with an aura and shot back out of the ruined store. Donut Joe could only stand in shock.

Celestia saw him coming and raced out to meet him. She shot another ray just as Tyranny did the same. As the two beams collided, there was a blinding flash of light followed by an explosion. Celestia covered her eyes and ducked quickly, she felt the swish of the scepter rip through her mane and she bucked out again with her hind legs. Tyranny dodged to the side and placed his free hoof on her face, an arc of electrical energy sending her spinning downward. Before she could correct herself, shadow talons grabbed her and slammed her into the walls of a nearby building before pulling her back up towards him.

"Do you yet realize how futile this is? Once I am done with you, I will move on to your sister, and I will enjoy watching her drown in anguish over your obliteration before I send her to join you."

What Tyranny failed to realize was that his shadow talons only bound her by her chest and front hooves, and her defiance was shown in the form of a well-aimed kick to his midsection.

He grunted and flew back before looking back at her, just in time to take rage-fueled blast to his chest.

"You. Will. Not. Hurt. My sister!" She blasted him again with a massive beam of energy that sent him flying away.

He had only escaped her blast when she appeared above him and kicked him downward to the streets below. Tyranny only had time to hit the ground before she stomped him fully into the cobblestone pavement.

"Enough of this, Tyranny! Surrender!" Her eyes and horn blazed brightly as she glared fiercely down at the supine Tyranny.

"Fool!" He kicked her into the air. "You are not capable of stopping me!" He fired out a second set of talons that were much larger than earlier. She shot a beam at them, but they slithered out of the way and wrapped around everything below the neck. He forcefully pulled her downward to look her straight in the eye.

"I have dealt with your defiance long enough, Celestia." When she tried to bring her magic to bear, the shadows closed about her tighter, causing her to lose her focus. He levitated back into the air, dragging her with him. "Do you have any idea what it is like to be imprisoned for over a thousand years? With your very essence divided and your soul screaming to be whole again? Do you know how much the ache hurts? Do you?!" The shadows tightened even more, and Celestia cried out in pain.

With a growl he flung her back towards the castle. She screamed as she crashed through the windows of the throne room and bounced across the floor, skidding to a stop near a shocked Twilight Sparkle who had watched the whole battle in the skies from the bay window in stunned disbelief.

"Princess Celestia!" she yelled in concern and looked up as Tyranny appeared before the throne, holding his side a moment from where Celestia had blasted him.

"You have crimes you must atone for, Celestia, and your judgment is at hoof," he said in a perfectly calm, unsettling voice. He stood straighter and lifted his hoof towards her as it collected energy. Celestia tried to stand, but her battered body would not heed her command.

As the energy reached a boiling point, he shouted a parting before a massive beam of energy raced out towards her. Celestia could only close her eyes as she saw doom before her.

"NOOOOOOO!" Twilight yelled frantically, and a violet beam shot out and deflected Tyranny's through a wall, where it exploded over the city.

Tyranny watched it with an annoyed look before turning to find her standing defensively before Princess Celestia. Twilight's glare more than matched his.

"You would defend her after all she has done to you?" he demanded of her.

Twilight looked at Celestia with apologetic eyes and turned back to look at him. "She may not have told me everything and had me go through many rigorous trials in the past. But if she hadn't, I would never have met my friends and have grown into the pony I am today. She is kind and loving, and a better ruler than you can ever hope to be. I won't let you hurt her anymore!"

"Twilight," Celestia said, emotion thick in her voice.

"Foolish child," he spat. "You would deny this world its rightful ruler and all for her lies?! It is best then that you be obliterated along with her!" He lifted his hoof and fired another ray.

Twilight quickly surrounded herself and Celestia with a violet globe of light. His ray exploded upon her barrier, showering them with multi-colored sparks.

"Twilight! Princess!" They heard a chorus of shouts from the doors of the throne room.

The other Elements of Harmony and Princess Luna ran into their aid. Twilight's friends quickly stood beside her in defense of Princess Celestia, while Luna helped her sister to her hooves.

"You're here," Twilight said with relief, sweat running down her face from protecting Celestia.

"Tyranny brought along his friends. They kept us from getting' ta ya any faster than we did," Applejack explained, glaring fiercely at the annoyed-looking stallion.

"They weren't going to keep me away from finally kicking this guy's flank." Rainbow Dash punched at the air a few times.

Tyranny glowered at them in annoyance. "Fools."

Celestia leaned on her sister for support. "It is over, Tyranny. The Elements of Harmony are here, and they will seal you away again. Girls, use the Elements."

"You heard the princess, girls. Form up!" Twilight said, and her friends gathered around quickly. Their Elements began to glow.

"The Elements take time to charge, and time is something you do not have!" Tyranny lashed out with a band of shadow, aimed at the exposed Twilight. A golden barrier appeared and the band dissipated.

"We must give them time, sister," Celestia said as her barrier faded.

Luna nodded and shot a ray of her own at Tyranny, who simple back hoofed the attack away. He gave the sisters a disgusted look and dozens of shadow creatures appeared in the throne room. The sisters defeated many, but were pulled down by the rest. The shadows were suddenly blasted away by a trio of energy rays. The princesses looked up to see Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, and Queen Chrysalis running in. Their combined efforts cleared the room of the persistent shadow creatures as the Elements were nearly finished charging.

"I think not." Tyranny struck the ground with his scepter. Erupting from underneath Twilight and her friends were six shadow fists. Each one found its mark and disrupted their concentration as they were scattered about.

-0-

Tourmaline and Tormod ran for the throne room. They could hear the battle ahead of them. They knew without a doubt who was behind this attack on the castle—the voice they had heard long ago in the jungle ruin seemed to echo throughout the castle. While it filled Tormod with dread, Tourmaline showed no fear. She knew Wanderer was ahead, and she would do anything to save him. She outpaced her brother, who lagged behind, breathing hard from the run through the castle.

"Tourmaline, slow down. I can't keep up with you," he called ahead to her.

She didn't slow in the least. "Come on, Tormod! We have to help," she called back.

"What do you think we can do when we get there? We're just two ponies, we don't have Princess Celestia's power, and you saw just as well as I did what happened when she fought him. What do you intend to do?"

"I'm doing whatever it takes to help out," she said determinedly. "Even if I have to pound Wanderer into the ground to get him to come to his senses."

"Did you ever think that maybe Wanderer is—?" he started to say, but stopped abruptly as she whirled on him.

"Don't you dare say it! Wanderer is still in there, and I won't believe he isn't!" She glared at him fiercely.

Tormod raised his hooves. "I just don't want you to be hurt should the worst happen, Tourmaline. I don't want it to be true no more than you do."

She huffed at him. "The worst won't happen if we could get there to help out. Now move it, Tormod!" With that, she turned away and galloped down the hallway.

Tormod sighed softly and ran after his headstrong sister. Good or bad, he was not about to abandon her or their friend, even if it meant he would have to face his fear again.

-0-

The bearers of the Elements of Harmony shook their heads clear of the dizziness. The dissipated magic and the blows from the shadow fists had them all seeing stars. Tyranny simply levitated above the throne, smirking at them arrogantly. "None of you stand a chance. Kneel before me, and I will show leniency."

"Again, girls, we can't stop." Twilight helped her friends to their hooves. They all nodded, and again began to charge the Elements.

"We must protect them," Celestia said, standing between them and Tyranny.

"Shining, your spell," Cadance said to him. He nodded, and as the girls began to hover in the air, his protection spell enveloped them.

"You will not stop me!" Tyranny yelled and went back on the offensive. His magics were countered and his minions bested by the royals. He tried one final time to break through the barrier surrounding the Elements, but they finished their charge and the distinctive rainbow-hued beam lurched out in its arc. Tyranny's magic meant nothing to it, his beam was simply overwhelmed by the power of the Elements of Harmony.

As the Elements' power descended towards the spirit, he could only look onto the approaching beam. Celestia looked at his expression, expecting chagrin or outright denial, but what she saw made her furrow her brow in confusion.

His expression was one of victory.

Her eyes widened impossibly, he knew!

"Twilight! Stop!" she cried frantically.

Once the power of the Elements had been released, there was no stopping them. Not until the source of the disharmony was neutralized.

With a wide smile Tyranny lobed his prized scepter into the path of the oncoming beam. As the scepter was struck, it began to shake and crack violently. The amethyst shattered, and there was a blinding flash of light that had all but Tyranny looking away as the scepter shattered into a million, ruined pieces.