Author's Notes:

The Usual Disclaimer:

The following is a work of parody, and is protected as Fair Use under section 17 U.S. Code § 107 of US Copyright Law. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all affiliated characters are property of Hasbro Inc.

I own nothing. All characters, settings and other belong to their respective owners. This is purely a fan-work with no intent towards profit, slander or harm towards the characters, settings or other, or their respective owners. If the respective owners feel that this fan-work in any way, shape or form threatens or besmirches their property, please let me know so that it be can be removed asap.

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The truth hurts. As does the fallout of a magical smackdown.

Chapter 22

“Twi!” Applejack jumped as Twilight appeared in a flash of magic, covered in silvery squiggles and looking like the gates of Tartarus were opening up under her hooves. “Twi, wha’s goin’ on here? Princess Celestia’s shoutin’ somethin’ ‘bout you an’ Luna an’ …”

“Darling, what is happening …”

“NO! We don’t have time for this, we’re leaving! Rarity, no magic! Applejack, grab her and Spike, and then grab me!” Twilight yelled, silencing the babble of her friends, a wild, panicked look in her eyes.

“Darling, I am not going out there, in-front of Princess Celestia in this state, without an explanation about what is going on!” Rarity snapped, looking offended more than worried as she slapped Applejack’s hooves away.

“Faust dammit, Sunset Shimmer is a Demon that is going to turn us all into more like her and Celestia is going to burn down the library to stop her!” Twilight yelled back as a voice below them began to scream incoherently, even as the light outside grew brighter and brighter, spilling up the stairwell as well as flooding in through the windows.

“I will not believe that our Princess would be so …”

“Oh heck no, ah’ve seen this movie! No time fer yer drama, Rares!” Applejack agreed, swinging her hoof with all of her might and clipping Rarity on the chin, the Unicorn rocking backwards, her eyes rolling back into her head. “Spike, grab Rares, an’ don’ you give me that look!”

“I cannot believe you just hit Rarity …” Spike muttered, grabbing his beloved Pony and dragging her over to Applejack as Twilight turned and began throwing everything not nailed-down against the doorway. “Seriously, Twilight, is this a real emergency, or another ‘Need it Want it’ debac-“

Spike’s grumblings were silenced as Twilight placed a hoof over his muzzle, her second hoof onto Applejack’s neck, and focused her magic again, teleporting out of the library moments before the sunlight grew so bright the room began to fade away …

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Celestia could have screamed in frustration if all of her attention was not focused on the library, and the pillar of divine sun-magic that she struggled to keep contained over such a ‘small’ target. So much power, so much energy that the very substance of the tree was starting to look ethereal from over-saturation her celestial energy, yet if she slipped just a bit, the binding spell would spread out over most of Ponyville, including herself.

This had always been Celestia’s Achilles Heel. Power was never a problem for her, but rather being able to focus that overwhelming power, to use it without it harming everything around her target. The sun only gave life and warmth because it was so distant from the land, after all. Just like her power, if it got too close, if it was not tightly controlled, it would burn everything away …

Apparently Ponyville Ponies did not understand ‘disperse’. Or ‘evacuate’. Or ‘get away from here’. Most of her Guards were stuck trying to push back a number of Ponville Ponies who apparently possessed either a suicidal streak a mile wide or were completely unable to read the situation, such as their Princess screaming at them to run and a pillar of light so bright it would probably blind a Pony if they looked directly at it for too long.

Despite Mayor Mare’s repeat efforts, dozens of Ponies kept trying to get to her, demanding to know what was going on, who was going to compensate them for lost business, was this Twilight’s fault again, dozens of banal, stupid, time-wasting demands for her attention as the Solar Princess brought the binding spell, powered by the essence of her own sun, to focus down on the library, wincing as she felt all of Twilight’s magical protections around and through the living tree burn up and fade away under the uncontestable might of the Sun.

“Ma’am, we have to disperse the Ponies!” A Unicorn Guard shouted, using his levitation to push a trio of Earth Pony Mares back, only for them to batter at the shield and shout about their ‘rights’ as they held up cameras and autograph books. “They won’t get the hint! They think this is some sort of stunt!”

“Quite frankly, dear Captain, I do not give a damn.” Celestia roared, eye twitching as she felt the binding spell flicker as her concentration shifted, the thought of Luna and Twilight being caught in the binding, frozen in time with the Succuponi, trapped unmoving and fully self-aware in the stasis bubble until Celestia could spare the Magi needed to ‘pop’ the bubble and attempt to re-seal the Fiend testing her control over the spell. “We cannot afford to let the Succuponi loose, nor can we risk it corrupting my sister or my student. You were authorized to use lethal force if required, do what you feel you must to make them leave before this turns into a fight for all of Equestria!”

“Princess! Princess, anything to say about your stude-eeeeeigh!” A reporter’s shouted question turned to a shriek of surprise as an arc of electricity from a Guardspony’s horn sent him leaping backwards. “Brutality! Guard brutality, you all saw i-eeeeeigh!”

“You’re disobeying a Royal Edict from Celestia herself, in person, to flee a combat zone! If you survive this, you’ll be lucky if all you get out of the Courts is several weeks in Horseshoe Bay!” The Guard shouted back, as all throughout the street, Guards turned their horns and their magic on the stubborn or the ignorant, forcing them back with small, painful electric shocks until even the most determined ran off, leaving the Guards finally free to help Celestia.

The complaints and the bad publicity, the rumours of brutality and Unicorn racism against the mostly Earth-Pony citizens of Ponyville were for tomorrow’s Ponies to handle. All that mattered was obeying Celestia and stopping the Succuponi from causing harm.

“Sister!” Celestia flinched at the desperation in that voice as a swirling, nebulous glob of the night-sky came rocketing out the front door, unfolding and spreading out to reveal Luna and a cowering, shaking blue Unicorn with … that tail. “Sister, Twilight is still in there with her friends, you must stop!”

“Luna, I cannot, you know that I –“ Celestia’s words were cut off as a purple light appeared, flashed and disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving three smoking Ponies and a ash-covered baby Dragon on the other side of the street. “TWILIGHT! Luna, see to her, and leave … that ... for the Guards to handle.”

Luna opened her mouth to say something, but her eyes strayed to Twilight and her friends, widening as the white Unicorn, Rarity, slumped down onto the ground, Spike falling with her, yelling her name as Applejack and Twilight both fell to their knees, smoke drifting up from their manes and tails.

It took everything Celestia had not to rush over as Luna had and start fussing over the Ponies, but even now Celestia could feel the Succuponi raging inside the binding spell, dragging itself up through the library and forcing it's way through the binding spell. The screams were certainly painful, but the tones were ones of rage and loss, and the figure that stepped out from the doorway, struggling against the pressure of the binding spell that was supposed to be trapping the demonic energies inside the Succuponi in a stasis-field.

“Give me … back … give me … TWILIGHT!” Sunset Shimmer screamed, tears streaking down her face even as her horn blazed with light, wrapping her in raw, chaotic magic that was the cause of her movement, distorting the binding spell just enough to keep her moving. “She’s … mine … MINE! MINE AND NOPONY ELSE’S!”

“Guards! Stop her! She must not leave the area of the binding spell!” Celestia shouted, wincing as the remaining Unicorn Guards lowered their heads and began launching bolts of magical ‘force’ at the Succuponi, slowing her pace even more as the opaque projectiles slammed into Sunset’s body. “We need hold only twenty more seconds! Even Sunset cannot hold against the Binding Spell once it reaches that level!”

“She’s mine! We’re meant … to be!” Sunset screamed, dropping onto her chest as a lucky bolt of force took her in the knee and sent her to the ground. “WE WILL RULE EQUESTRIA, TOGETHER! GIVE ME MY TWILIGHT!”

On and on the bolts came, pounding the Succuponi’s head, her limbs, her wings, even as she screamed for Twilight to come to her, for Twilight to rule Equestria at her side and to depose Celestia with her. Celestia no longer cared that the streets were full of Ponies staring at the scene, that Luna was holding Twilight openly in the streets and had her wings wrapped around the new Princess and her friends. She didn’t care that her horn ached with the force of the binding spell, building to dangerous levels of power or that the liquid dripping down her face could be either sweat or blood.

Her whole world had narrowed down to the screaming, crying Fiend that threatened all she held dear in the world, and the agony of holding such a powerful spell over such a small area as the seconds seemed to drag on into hours. Despite the barrage from her Guard Ponies and the pain each one must have caused, Sunset came on and on, inching towards the edge of the binding spell, towards freedom, until finally the chaotic aura of magic she was using finally bled off just a foot from the boundary, and the Succuponi was entrapped in an aura of golden magic, frozen in place, eyes rolling in rage and frustration.

Celestia held the binding for another five seconds, then collapsed, breathing heavily and exhausted, the pillar of light that had surrounded the library-tree fading away into motes of brilliant, golden light, even as she was swarmed by Ponies, trying to lift her up, to wipe the sweat, or was it blood, off her face, carrying her away as her Guard Ponies in turn swarmed over the now paralyzed Sunset shimmer, binding her hooves with manacles of enchanted gold, strapping her wings down, muzzling her with a solid tube of gold and capping her horn with a horn-muffler made of pure gold which was then secured under her chin with another golden chain.

The Succuponi’s fiendish powers would have no effect on the pure metal, and with her eyes covered, her body paralysed and the Guards ready to deliver death-blows if necessary, Sunset was as good as finished.

“Celestia, Celestia!” Blinking her eyes open, Celestia saw Luna, Twilight and Spike, as well as a Mare in a nurse’s uniform, clustered around her, looking worried. “Oh thank our Mother, you’re alright! Your horn was bleeding, Tia! What were you thinking, channelling so much power without a proper grounding circle?”

“Had to … be done.” Celestia croaked, reaching up with her fore-hooves to grab Twilight and Luna around the necks, and pulled them into a clumsy embrace. “Couldn’t … couldn’t lose you, either of you, again. Are the … the Ponies safe? They wouldn’t … wouldn’t obey, wouldn’t leave when I told them to …”

“Everypony is fine, Princess.” Spike said, saluting smartly before sniffling and throwing himself down next to Twilight, hugging Celestia’s neck. “Mayor Mare and a few of your Guards are rounding up the Ponies that wouldn’t leave, and …”

“It’s fine … it’s fine. So long as they listen next time … so long as they’re safe.” Celestia sighed. It didn’t matter that she was covered in sweat and blood and dust, that she lay exhausted in the dirt before her subjects. Twilight, Luna and Spike were safe and by her side again, the threat had been vanquished, and all was right again.

And then the world exploded into red-and-gold flames, and the triumphant scream of the Demon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight had felt fear before. When facing the Ursa Minor, when she had been alone against Nightmare Moon, so many times had she felt that thrill of terror run through her body.

None of it even came close to this. What she knew of Demons and Fiends stated that pure gold would neutralize their power, the nature of the metal would dissipate their magical energies.

And yet even with so much gold on her body, binding her horn, covering her eyes and shackling her body, Sunset Shimmer still raged, her power spilling out past her constraints like flames seething around the bottom of a pan, trying vainly to consume all around them.

The nearest Guards had already pulled back, many of them screaming as tongues of red-and-gold flame danced along their armor and coats, rolling across the ground in a futile attempt to extinguish the mystic flames before their comrades could reach them and attempt to dispel the flames, leaving Sunset alone to struggle against her bonds.

And, apparently, Succuponi were not only blessed with regenerative abilities, but also great physical strength, as Twilight considered with horror as the soft golden links of her chains began to stretch and warp.

“NO!” Luna shouted, pulling away from her sister and conjuring a sphere of ice, which she flung at the Succuponi, bathing Sunset Shimmer in hoar-frost which quickly melted, but hardened the golden chains for precious moments, moments in which a Twilight found herself casting her tentacle spell, the black, rubbery tentacles snapped out from the ground, wrapping around the Succuponi’s legs, body and neck, dragging Sunset to the ground even as the gold-and-red flames she was producing began to make them melt and drip away like wax.

“Twilight? TWILIGHT, WHY? YOU’RE MEANT FOR ME, YOU’RE MY DESTINED LOVER! Twilight, please, I’m here to save you, like you saved me, so we can rule Equestria together! So we won’t have to be alone anymore!” Sunset screamed, despair in her voice as Twilight cast her spell again and again, smothering the Succuponi’s mystical flames in tentacles that would melt and be overlaid by new ones until all there was left was Sunset’s head, still bearing a pair of badly-distorted blinders and a partially melted cone of gold on her horn, and a Pony-sized pile of sticky black latex that gummed her to the ground.

“I am not yours, Sunset, and I don’t have any romantic feeling towards you.” Twilight shouted, furious and terrified at the same time, dearly wanting to go over and slap the Mare who had caused so much confusion and fear to Ponyville, who had made Celestia hurt herself, but Luna’s warnings about getting too close, about being charmed, still filled her head and kept her from making a rash, emotional attack on the Succuponi. “I’m your friend, and I’m going to help you get back to normal, but I am not, and never will be, your lover.”

Sunset stared at Twilight, her mouth working silently, her eyes rolling as she tried vainly to make eye-contact with Twilight, to make her see how she felt, only to break down into tears when Twilight turned around and wearily trotted over to Luna, leaning against the midnight-blue Alicorn for support as Luna’s wings wrapped around the smaller Princess.

“NOOOOOOOO!” The Succuponi screamed in despair before breaking down into sobbing as the unharmed Guards descended upon her with glowing horns.