Celestia and Luna both circled the Knights, horns gleaming as they scanned the three mares with every spell they could think of for the situation. Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were all bloody and dusty from the furious battle outside the shield; Applebloom especially had taken a heavy toll during the battle, blood leaking from her muzzle, and a great deal of her armor dented from Caribou shot. The axe blade on her back was notched in ways the Sisters had not seen in centuries, and it gave Celestia pause, sadness filling her pink eyes. It seemed only yesterday that Applejack had introduced this sweet little filly to her, all big eyes and huge dreams. To see her this way, a hardened warrior, eyes blood red and dark with horrors both seen and done…

“I see no corruption in them,” Luna finally stated, with a long look at a suddenly ashamed Sweetie Belle, “Pain, and… dark deeds… but they are not evil.”

Some part of Celestia was relieved to see Scootaloo’s left hoof and bat-wing encircle Sweetie Belle’s barrel; there was still something of ponydom in them. Even if so much of it was buried. Not all of it was Twilight’s fault, Celestia knew this. Even with the changes her ‘Love Necromancy’ had wrought on their bodies; their souls and minds, as Twilight had promised, were untouched. Well, as ‘untouched’ as one can be, when saddled with newfound abilities. But there was no mind control, no geas binding them to Twilight Sparkle’s will and ideology. They fought for revenge, and for their homes.

Twilight gazed at them impassively, then glanced off to her left; a small pegasus filly, white and blue-maned and no older than ten, buzzed over in an instant. Celestia gazed down at her in despair, eyes widening. While her mind had initially wondered why such a young filly would be on a battlefield of all places, it had been the filly’s wounds that had truly drawn Celestia’s horror. Both eyes were a mass of glimmering red magic, as were her wings, and all four hooves. She was dressed in a recently repaired Canterlot student uniform, new markings stitched along it marking her as a courier. The filly bowed quickly, smiling up at Twilight with an adoration that Celestia had not seen in quite awhile from anypony, other than those ex-slaves that had followed her.

“The Ministers are coming, Empress,” she reported clearly, “The Caribou army is trickling away, and Duchess Spitfire reports that the tracks leading into the Caribou Nation are destroyed. You’ve won the battle, Your Highness!”

Celestia smiled faintly, watching in relief at the warm smile that graced Twilight’s features; her old student reached up to pat the filly’s head gently.

“Thank you very much, Silver Wind,” Twilight replied warmly, “You’ve been incredibly helpful today. Why don’t you go play with some of the other foals?”

“Okay! Yay!”

Only once Silver Wind had happily fluttered along did Celestia glanced back at her sister, biting her lip nervously. But Luna seemed relaxed, eyes shining as she looked back at Celestia, then to Twilight, with something akin to awe. For Celestia, seeing such a light in her proud sister’s eyes was fairly shocking.

“I-it’s true, Tia,” she replied softly, “The foal is reanimated. Necromantic energy is keeping her alive, more or less. But her soul is intact…”

She hesitated a moment, wincing, “As… as much as it could be. But none of the magic has ahold of it.”

The weight of the world lifted off Celestia’s shoulders, and she nearly sobbed in outright relief. Seeing Twilight Sparkle at the head of an army radiating necromantic energy, and to see such power billowing out from her former student, had been devastating. Seeing her, dressed in black-purple plate and bladed helm, like the old unicorn lords of old who thought to control their dark magic… Celestia let herself slowly sit back on her haunches, taking in much needed, deep breaths of air. Relief is a heady emotion. But they were not done quite yet. Celestia’s saddened eyes turned to Trixie next.

The blood mage stood silently off to one side, violet eyes studying them curiously. There was pride there, but pride born of innate knowledge of one’s own abilities. There was violence, hatred even, though not directed towards any in the room- just a hatred so long kept burning that it is easy to see to any who look. Reaching out with her magic, Celestia delved deep into Trixie’s soul. To her trained magical eye, Trixie Lulamoon was a tapestry of a hardened life. Blue, the innate color of her soul, swirled with angry rays of red and black: blood magic, and her hatred of Caribou, respectively. The blood magic had completely wound about her soul, embodying her very essence now. Saddened, Celestia peered closely at the blood magic, expecting to see the hatred clinging to it, feeding off its moral wrongness and perversity. What she found instead was… shocking.

Trixie Lulamoon’s innermost depths were consumed by a tide of duty and love, their holy power shoring up her morality like an iron-cast pillar. Her blood magic, and the very spark of her alicornhood, was firmly wrapped in both, the hatred of the soul kept away by their power. The faces of two ponies gleamed brightly from her core, and the love for them made Celestia smile brightly, tears leaking down her muzzle in slow, crystalline lines.

“I have done many terrible things, Celestia,” Trixie whispered softly, closing her eyes, “I’ve enslaved. I’ve tortured. I’ve murdered. But I did it for my ponies. I would do anything for them.”

“I know, Trixie,” Celestia replied, hoof slowly raising to pat her shoulder, “I understand. We… all have things we regret.”

Letting out a tremulous breath, Celestia turned back to her niece. The Alicorn of Love had slumped to the ground during the scans, heart-broken sobs rising up from her stricken face. Cadence’s soul was a shattered, pitiful thing, dragging horror and pity out of Celestia like a wellspring. Pieced together and reforged haphazardly by zealous faith, it was a fragile thing. Hatred and despair swirled dangerously close to her core, and Celestia was quick to kneel in front of her niece, looking Cadence in her teary, dull eyes.

“It’s still Twilight,” she whispered faintly, “It’s still me. It’s still Luna. Your ponies stand beside you, Cadance; your kingdom still stands.”

With an outstretching of her wings, Celestia slowly pushed Cadence back to her hooves, “None of us are too far gone to rise back up from this, Cadence. And if Twilight Sparkle thinks her plan can work…”

Her eyes flicked over to her former apprentice. Twilight was staring out the translucent shield, likely doing her best to pick out her soldiers on the blurry field. She had taken her helm off during the talks, setting it down carefully in front of her, and Celestia found herself enraptured by the sigil just below the horn blade. A golden phoenix rising up, the Harmony sigils on each of its outspread feathers. The base of the phoenix rose out of a single, red heart.

“Twilight,” she called faintly, smiling at the near whiplash turn of the neck from this new “Empress.”

Turning to Luna, she nodded once; her sister let out a small breath, horn gleaming as the six jewels rose from her saddlebags. A tiny, hopeful smile crossed Twilight’s face as she studied them, ears and wings perked in glee.

“Now, what exactly is your plan?”
*******************

Twilight’s horn gleamed brightly as she combed through each of her friends’ matted, blood-soaked fur, wings stretched out to hug and nuzzle against them tenderly. None of the mares protested one bit; Fluttershy’s eyes were closed, a small smile crossing her muzzle as she held up her hooves, letting the caked blood and dirt be combed off. She and her medics had been fetlock deep in injuries since the start of the battle- Caribou rounds did terrible damage to living ponies, and they had a sizable amount of casualties that Twilight had had to raise after the main battle was over. It had been a shock to the kindly mare, and any kind of physical closeness with an uninjured pony, especially her friend, was a luxury.

Rarity’s once pristine fur was a mess of gunpowder smudges and grease; she had been captaining the battle train throughout the battle, directing cannon support and helping to off-load supplies to the soldiers on the ground. She gave a tremulous smile as Twilight passed, reaching up to nuzzle her cheek tenderly. The magical brush running through her hat-haired mane felt sooo good. Twilight smiled back gently, kissing the tip of her horn slowly before turning to Applejack. The farm-mare was a mess; her hooves continued to unconsciously clench every few seconds, and her body bore the scars of continued love necromancy regeneration. Her uniform, the deep black of one of the mechanized companies, was torn and heavily riddled, and her already red eyes were utterly bloodshot in exhaustion and pain. She gave a weak protest as Twilight, softly, ordered her to lay down and rest, but was out like a light within seconds.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie seemed to be a bit more at ease, but only just. Rainbow’s sides were heaving from several tactical rainbooms along the ground, and one hoof was badly swollen from a supersonic strike against a Caribou opponent. She was blushing lightly, smiling once at Twilight as she passed, then back to Spitfire and Fleetfoot, who were carefully tended to her injured hoof and playfully scolding their herdmate. Pinkie Pie had settled on her haunches beside several of her gunmetal-grey uniformed artillery-ponies, passing out cupcakes and making sure her soldiers were resting up, in case the battle was to continue. Twilight truly hoped it didn’t, but…

According to scouts, the remainder of the Caribou army had fled the siege line, making a bee-line back towards the pass into the Caribou Nation. Many of her commanders, Applejack included, wanted to chase them down… but Twilight did not. The Empress closed her eyes, smiling softly as, for the first time in months, a sense of peace filled her damaged soul. Her Princesses were home. Her friends were at her side. Her country was, almost entirely, retaken, and their enemy more or less defeated. All that awaited now was for her plan to commence. Opening her eyes again, she turned towards the swirling mass of colors that marked the Elements of Harmony communing with the Crystal Heart, slowly building up a charge. Once it had filled with Twilight’s Love Necromancy, Cadence’s Love magic, Celestia’s Sunlight, and Luna’s Moonlight, the Crystal Heart would link with the Elements of Harmony, and irradiate the entirety of Equestria and the Crystal Heart with the healing magic.

“You seem to have this all figured out, Empress Sparklebutt.”

Twilight blinked in surprise, glancing behind her; Trixie was leaning lightly against one of the support pillars for the palace, smirking faintly as her blood red eyes studied Twilight. They were piercing, and… just as disconcerting as Twilight’s own eyes, which brought on a weird mix of feelings. She gave the blood mage a small smirk.

“I am an Empress, you know. But you’ve always been fairly irreverent,” Twilight replied, a touch of playfulness added to her tone, “Glad to see that hasn’t changed.”

Trixie jerked her head back at her fluttering wings, “I’m pretty sure these put on us somewhat equal footing. Unless you’re changing that?”

The question was asked sarcastically, but Twilight knew better. Letting out a deep breath, she raised her voice, just enough to carry for the other Princess’ ears.

“I don’t want to steal titles or make any of the Princesses obsolete, Trixie,” she explained calmly, “Indeed, the Lulamoon family has much land in Neigh Orleans. If you’d like, I believe Baroness is in order? And land for all your followers.”

To Trixie’s credit, her only response was a small smile, and a raised eyebrow. So unlike the young braggart Twilight had once known, or the humbled, meek magician she had exchanged letters with after. Twilight sighed softly, turning to ask Cadence over- the fate of the Crystal Empire was another matter that needed quick settling- when a soft pulse of magic caught her attention. And another. And…

Oh no…

Twilight’s teleportation skills had not softened from lack of use, and a single jump carried her out of the shield, wings flared to catch herself on the wind. What she saw was not… encouraging. High above even her Cloud Carrier, a small armada of twenty Caribou airships hung among the high, still-wild clouds, balloons a deep, blood-red. Switching to her magical sight, Twilight could see dozens of whirling, balefully lit objects in their hulls. The magic was dark, and destructive; more chaotic than anything even Discord dared dabble in. Fire, water, air, earth, necromancy, and chaos all combined into one malign package. Thermo magical weaponry. And as Twilight watched, and even as her ponies below began to shine searchlights up at the armada, the bombs began to fall.
*******************

Release everything you have in one volley. Obliterate them all.

Felgam started as the voice of the Ash’ei growled into his mind, a sickening presence the High Priest detested more than any other. He shuddered faintly, hooves leaving dents as he ground them into the control panel of the Will.

“But, I thought you wanted the Crystal Empire intact,” he hissed softly, ears laying back in confusion, “You said-”

I said I wanted them contained. Release the bombs.

The ancient caribou closed his eyes, hoof shaking as he realized just how badly he wanted to say no. It felt as if a fog was lifting from his very soul, allowing Felgam to see just the damnation he had placed his people into. A single glance out of the gondola window gave him all the view he ever needed- the muddy ground below was soaked through with blood, blown apart with craters and bombs. A small dust trail showed the path of the fleeing Caribou soldiers, but they would be caught, easily, in the blast radius of the bombs. The brave defenders of the siege line would die, running from a fight.

Felgam grit his teeth, hoof trembling as it hovered over the bomb bay doors. He shouldn’t. They had the conventional firepower, and the element of surprise. Perhaps they could buy their comrades on the ground time to escape, they could- His hoof firmly pressed down on the release button, and Felgam’s soul seized up in terror.

You forget your place, Felgam.

White-hot fear and hate rolled through the old caribou, and a deep pain creased his withered heart.

I own you.
******************

Twilight snarled as she furiously flapped her wings, using her magic to help propel herself higher and higher, desperate to get to the bombs before they reached their detonation altitude. The Princess of Friendship and Magic had been locked in a cage for twenty years; twenty years to recollect on everything that had happened to her home, her friends, her nation. Twenty years to go over every emotion, every sight in her eidetic memory. To go over every magical reading she had sensed in the brief moments of terror before the catastrophe that had swallowed almost all life in Equestria. Twenty years to develop a counterspell to what was basically death in a fat metal tube.

Arcane magic, her old and glorious friend, sang along Twilight’s horn, feelers arching out to latch onto the bombs as they came within range.

Gotta do this right…

The counterspell was deceptively simple: drain the magic powering the explosive capabilities of the bombs, then fling the cylinders away from her troop line. They were still packed with horrific magic, but without the spells designed to detonate their magic into heat and death, they were little more than artifacts. Twilight let out a shaky breath, the magic boiling into her body with each bomb she neutralized, nimbly jinking and twirling around the cylinders before flinging them away. Surprisingly… the magic felt… good. Incredibly good, in fact. With each bomb she disarmed and absorbed, Twilight took larger and larger draws of the magic within, relishing the powerful tingle as they mingled with her natural magics. She was powerful. The Empress of all Equestria! And here she was, saving her nation single-hoofedly.

The weapons that had annihilated her ponies were but play-things to the Empress now; toys she tossed away with barely a flick of her horn. Her gleaming eyes turned further skyward, relying on her magical senses to catch and drain each bomb, while she studied the Caribou above. Twilight Sparkle was the Empress of Equestria; indeed, she had suffered almost as much as any of her ponies. Perhaps… even more. Was she not allowed some violent self-satisfaction as well? And with this power… Grinning darkly, Twilight grit her sharpening teeth together, sending out a blast of force just after she drained one of the bombs, watching in glee as the black-purple bolt obliterated one of the circling Caribou ships. This was going to be so easy… but oh so satisfying…
****************

On the ground below, Twilight’s friends stared up in awe at the spectacle above; Fluttershy was sobbing softly in relief, teary eyes tracking the harmless thermo magical bombs as they were flung away from the shield. Twilight was practically aglow in arcane magic, shining like a violet star in the light of the setting sun. Rainbow Dash let out a wild cheer as Twilight’s magical bolt smashed the Caribou ship to dust, echoing the cheers rising up from both Trixie’s followers and the watching Crystal Pony army, their gleeful stomps echoing across the city. Even Celestia was smiling faintly, some part of her enjoying seeing her former apprentice culminating her power. Only two did not join in the cheers. Indeed, Luna and Trixie were doing anything but smiling.

They were panicking. The Crystal Heart, spinning in place and gleaming with charging magic, was beginning to grow darker, with greenish-black swirls taking the place of the love necromancy that had been steadily filling the Heart before. Trixie stared at the Heart, then back to Twilight, before locking eyes with Luna. The more magically sensitive of the group, both mares had sensed the subtle change in magic right away. The magic growing with each bomb Twilight took deeper and deeper hits of.

“No… no, no,” Trixie whispered faintly, wings flaring, “We have to stop her… WE HAVE TO STOP HER!”

Celestia blinked back at her, shaking off the haze that had enveloped her mind, “W-what? Stop Twilight?”

“Yes Sister! The Heart, look!” Luna cried desperately, jerking a hoof to the darkening Heart, “The magic is corrupting Twilight, and her link to the Heart and the Elements is corrupting it in turn!”

Celestia, if it were at all possible, seemed to pale at the notion, eyes widening, “C-can we sever the link?”

Trixie shook her head, horn already gleaming brightly with her blood magic, her sides lightly dripping from shallow cuts.

“The link is too entrenched, I can’t sever it without killing her,” she replied quickly, wings flaring to launch her into the air, “We have to stop her on our own! COME ON!”
*******************

Ash’ei chuckled darkly as he stared down at the circling, casting alicorn, his magical sight negating the need for a window in his dark hold. The necromancer had taken the bait. She could not even feel the corruption as it seeped into her soul and, through her, into the Heart. That Heart would be a far better weapon than those crude bombs could ever be. A small headache formed in the back of the being’s mind, but he forced it aside with a vicious snarl. The dragon was a minor nuisance, but it tended to crop up at the most annoying of times. Once this lesson was complete, he would need to sit down, eat a few slaves, and purge the blasted presence from his mind. Speaking of…

With a keening screech, Ash’ei turned the dragon’s body, powerful claws and mighty wings shattered the gondola walls around him in a hail of splinters and screaming Caribou. Whether or not Felgam was among them was hardly his concern. The slave had outlived his usefulness anyhow, and if he did survive the battle, he’d likely end up eaten anyway. Freefall took his massive body for several feet, but the dragon instincts were strong, unfurling his bat-wings in a roar of displaced air and debris. Feeling a need for the dramatic, Ash’ei opened the dragon’s maw, and tapped into its most primal urge. Fire surged forth like the gates of Tartarus itself…
**************

The scream caught an ecstatic Twilight off-guard, and she turned to look at one of the larger airships in surprise; fire and debris were raining down from a shattered hull, but she didn’t remember launching any spell at that ship yet. Logic warred with the heady rush her body was experiencing, and only the deepest parts of her mind, the parts that remembered the battles of the Cage, allowed her to stop, and think. And see the flying death winging towards her.

The dragon was massive, no doubt filled with a powerful brand of dark magic; it was not the sleek, stream-lined effect natural-aged dragon took on over the centuries, nor the fat, bloated look of a hoard-built dragon. Now, this purple and green monstrosity was practically a skeleton, despite the bulging pauch of its stomach. Taut skin and scales stretched over too thin limbs, and the too-wide wings trailed a dark, oily magic much like the Caribou used. The sight of it stopped Twilight cold, eyes widening in a horror only grief can bring. She recognized the spine, and even the enlarged face to an extent. But more than that, the dragon’s life-force signature was one she had none intimately before. The same life-force she had had helped hatch; the same force she had grown up with, shared adventures with, shoved into a basement to protect as the bombs fell all around her…

Twilight’s voice, raw and pleading, could barely whisper the name, heart breaking like thin, exposed glass.

“S-spike?”