Black flames danced along the length of Bucky’s horn and he felt the sweet sting of dark magic flooding through his being. Pain and rage were his strength, his old standby. There was no pain worse, no rage stronger, there was nothing more emotion evoking than a father that had just seen his daughter killed.

With only a tiny thread of control holding him back, Bucky let go of a disintegration beam. It burned through the creature’s shoulder, boring a hole through the demon’s body, and the flesh did not begin to grow back right away. The demon’s left upper arm hung limp against its body.

Though tempted, Twilight Sparkle resisted the siren call of dark magic.

Bucky let go of another disintegration beam and the demon’s limp left arm was blown off. It landed in some rubble, twitched, and then started to dissolve. It burned and melted the stone and brick as it bubbled away.

The black flames along Bucky’s horn extinguished. He had already burned through a lot of his energy. He was feeling tired and he didn’t know what else to do. He worried about using more dark magic. The creature was already recovering, but now the regrowth along the gaping wounds of the demon’s shoulder was slow.

Twilight Sparkle unleashed a torrent of lightning from her horn. It struck the flabby demon and made him convulse. His fat, bloated, filthy rolls of flesh jiggled in a most obscene manner. It almost looked as though the disgusting horror from the abyss was dancing a jig, and his tumorous flaccid penises flopped up and down in a nightmarish fashion.

It was a sight that would give Twilight Sparkle nightmares for years to come. Bucky on the other hoof, would use this image to give other ponies nightmares for years to come.

With a burst of magic, Bucky turned the ground beneath the demon into a sheet of ice. It slipped and fell over, still writhing as Twilight Sparkle kept the streams of lightning going. The demon flopped around like a fish out of water, howling, Twilight Sparkle’s lightning turning its skin black and crispy.

As the pair continued to try and wear the demon down, they did not notice bits of rubble, pieces of brick, cobblestones, chunks of stone, and pieces of an old marble statue pulling together into something almost pony shaped. It shimmered and rippled, the bits of stone, rock, and rubble almost moving like a liquid for a moment. The jumbled bits of rock solidified and then, the stony pony stood up.

“YOU DON’T HIT SWEET LITTLE FILLIES WITH TRAINS, YOU GOBSHITE!”

Roaring like a landslide, Sparkler stomped forward, the various bits of stone that now made up her body still shifting, merging, and blending together. Her somewhat crooked horn blazed with pink light and Sparkler cast Acidulent Assault pH0, Bucky’s oh so special cleaning spell that she had learned during her time spent on the Shetland Isles, upon the creature’s groin.

Acidulent Assault pH0 promised to remove tough stains, dissolve stone, metal, wood, and even clean up hard to remove demons. The demon’s genitals burned away in a foul yellow-green foam. One leg began to get burned off at the hip.

But the damage was temporary. Already, the creature was starting to heal. New flesh bubbled and sizzled beneath the acid. The demon’s howls echoed all over the city.

Exhausted from piecing herself together, Sparkler cast one final spell. The demon’s skin began to turn to stone. It screamed, it thrashed, but there was nothing it could do as the stone began to creep along its body.

Sparkler squinted and gave it all that she had left. “Make more ice!” she commanded. “Once I have it petrified, we need to shove it off of the cliff so it will shatter!”

Feeling so glad to hear Sparkler’s gravel grating voice, Bucky began to summon more ice as he almost cried with relief and Twilight began to shove the creature out towards the train yard. Sparkler moved with them, keeping her petrification beam focused upon the demon.

The trio moved together and more and more of the demon was claimed by stone. In the outer edge of the train yard there was a wall, and outside that wall was a sheer drop down to the valley floor below, thousands of feet of empty air with stone at the bottom.

Scowling, Twilight Sparkle shoved the now petrified demon through the wall and watched it drop. The burning alicorn spread her wings and took off, flying after the massive stone body of the petrified demon as it took its fatal plunge.

With a gasp, Sparkler became flesh again. Her body was covered in oozing gashes, blood seeped from rips in her skin, and one leg flopped around at a crooked angle.

“Sparky!” Bucky fell down into the rubble beside her and tried to pull her close without hurting her. He kissed her face, once, twice, and then several more times in rapid succession. “I thought I lost you… you… stop scaring your parents!” The shuddering sobs that wracked Bucky’s ribs are agonising.

There was a massive thud from down below.

“We need to get you to the castle… Tourmaline can fix you up. Tourmaline can make this okay… we need to get you to safety.” Bucky scrambled to his hooves and scooped Sparkler up in his magic. “I didn’t ascend… I didn’t ascend… I held it all back… I held back everything. I chose love instead. I kept it together and now I just need to get my sweet little filly to safety and everything will be okay.”

“Daddy.” Sparkler’s words were a faint gasp and she raised her head to look at Bucky.

Bucky felt himself lifted up in the warm tingle of powerful magic. No longer needing to walk, he pulled Sparkler closer and began to kiss her face again. After kissing her many times, he then buried his nose into her bloody mane and inhaled her scent as he cradled her body in his forelegs.

“He shattered,” Twilight Sparkle said as she gained altitude. “I crushed his remains into a fine powder. He’s not coming back. He had the stink of necromancy about him. When I find out who did this, I am going to have Sparkler turn them into stone so they can think about what they’ve done.”

There was bad magic in the city tonight. Princess Celestia could feel it in her bones. She stood on top of the gatehouse that led to the entrance of the school, feeling fearful, nervous, and afraid. In the courtyard behind her, refugees from the city were gathered, and her students were looking after their needs. Looking out over the city, Celestia stood guard and watched.

She felt a fierce pride for her students. They were level headed, they were calm, they approached this situation with dignity, grace, and poise. They passed out water, food, and tended to the injured. A makeshift triage camp had been established.

There was rioting not too far from the castle walls.

Behind her, in the courtyard, Celestia heard screams of terror. She lept from the gatehouse and her wings remained at her sides. She plunged down almost thirty feet and her hooves cracked the cobblestones on impact. Keeping calm, keeping cool, Celestia strode forward to protect her students.

“He bit me!”

Celestia heard a low moan from the pegasus that wobbled about ahead of her. The crowd had cleared away from him. As Celestia approached, the pegasus shambled and turned around, shuffling in a low clumsy manner.

The pegasus’ eyes were milky, clouded, and dead. Celestia realised what she was looking at the moment she saw it. Blood dribbled from the pegasus’ mouth and a flap of skin hung from his teeth.

“You poor dear… I am so sorry… I will find whomever did this to you and I will see that they are punished,” Celestia said in a grief stricken voice. She held everything in, knowing what she could do if she lost control of her emotions in this situation. All of her students, all of her subjects, all of those who depended upon her would suffer. Choking back a sob, Celestia shoved the pegasus down with her telekinesis, ground him into cobblestones, breaking his bones to render him harmless, and then she ignited his remains.

Screams filled the courtyard around her.

The undead pegasus blazed brightly and the courtyard filled with the stench of burning flesh.

“GUARDS! Fetch the orbs of undead compulsion! We are going to need them!”

Princess Luna hovered over a bank of clouds that dumped rain on the cheap wooden buildings below. Quite a few of the tenements had already burnt down. She was doing everything she could to save the rest of them. It was through the force of her will that more water manifested within the clouds and turned into the drenching downpour that was drowning the fires below.

A bright flash light up the night sky. Luna felt magic. Bad magic. The worst sort of magic. Magic fear crept into her brain. All around her, the solar pegasi of the day that were managing the clouds all screamed, reaching up and clutching their ears as they did so. Many shook their heads. And then, one by one, they went streaking off into the night, shrieking in terror.

Luna felt alarmed.

She looked around, her alicorn senses trying to determine what was going on, and the magical stench of necromancy was strong in her nostrils. Something rotten lurked in the city below. Something most foul.

The bolt of black energy that streaked up through the clouds beneath her and struck Luna caught her by surprise. Her right wing melted away like wax and her ribs were laid bare. Letting out a pained cry, Luna plummeted to the earth. She slammed into a burning building, which shattered her leg, bounced off of a balcony ledge, and then smashed into the drenched street below.

Flopping about in the water, Luna gasped and tried to draw breath. A second bolt struck her. The flesh along the left side of her face melted away and her left eye dribbled out of its socket.

“I wonder… do I have your attention?” a soft voice asked.

A figure wearing a dark cloak approached, his cloak staying dry in the driving rain. It paused and stared down at Luna, unmoving. Two eyes glowed beneath the voluminous hood. It took a few more steps forward.

“I have worked so very hard to get your attention. I had to worm my way into so many minds. I had to wait and be patient. And today, today your pathetic subjects gave me just the opportunity I needed. You see, I could not pass up such a golden opportunity when it presented itself.”

The figure lowered its head and watched as Luna lay there, helpless and gasping. Her horn flashed with a silver glow for a moment, and then her magic died.

“I say… are you ignoring me?” The figure cocked its head. “Tsk tsk. We cannot have that.”

Greenish-black flames ignited along a black jagged looking horn that protruded from the figure’s hood. Necromantic energies flared outwards and consumed Luna’s body. Lacerations opened in Luna’s skin. Muscles became exposed. Deep gashes manifested. Her hooves cracked and split.

“I have played this city like a fiddle. My Master will be most pleased. We need fear to bring Him back. We have plagued this city with uncertainty and doubt, seeded these fertile fields with dissention, and now, we are going to reap some rewards.” The figure paused and chuckled before it continued. “I know that I cannot kill you, but is it not horrifying what you immortals can live through?”

Laying on the ground, Luna gurgled and one leg made a feeble kick.

“Once my Master comes back, I am positive he will find some way of severing the bonds that keep you living. You do not seem so threatening or powerful at the moment. More like a foal.”

The figure stepped forward and one leg extended from his cloak. One crystalline looking hoof lifted. It was shiny, it glowed with a faint light, and it was opaque. The hoof came down on top of one of Luna’s cracked hooves and the cloaked figure pressed down, grinding his hoof into Luna’s.

Luna’s cracked hoof split open, there was a sickening crunch, and blood oozed out, only to be washed away by the rain.

The figure lifted its hoof and backed away. “Amazing. I left you with the capacity to scream, but you do not. Your defiance is rather amusing. Hmm… I wonder… what secrets does the night hold? Shall I have a taste of what us mere mortals only dream of? Perhaps a good rutting would teach you your place? Tell me Night Harlot, would you care for some hot seed being squirted down your throat? Or shall I first defile the the majesty of the night? Shall I part your night skies?”

The cloaked figure threw back his head and laughed.

“I do believe I shall put in the extra work to send a message just how helpless all of you are.” The figure stepped forward.

There was a dull explosive thud and the cloaked figure went flying. He slammed into a building, went through the wall, and a shadowy black mass went streaking off after him. The shadowy black mass howled with anguish and fury and it moved with supernatural speed.

“Princess Luna… what has he done to you?” Twilight Sparkle said as she landed. She stood there, wide eyed and horrified by what she was seeing. “Bucky got your message… we got here as soon as we could… what do I do? What do I do?”

“I have him,” Bucky said as he emerged through a shattered window. He lifted up the strange unicorn held in his telekinesis. “I took him alive. He’s no longer a threat.” With slow trembling steps, he approached Luna and pained whimper escaped Bucky’s throat. “Mistress…”

Not knowing what else to do, Twilight Sparkle lifted Luna’s bloodied and battered body in her telekinesis. She then lifted Bucky and the strange unicorn, who had black crystals growing out of his weird, jagged, black horn. Flapping her wings, Twilight took to the air so she could return to the castle.

Author's Notes:

And at last, one of the major villains has been revealed. He dun goofed!