It had been nearly ten years since I had first arrived in Equestria with my friends, and nearly eight since they had abandoned their responsibilities and started this mindless war. I sat in the stronghold I had built with my new allies; a shelter from the Guardians. See, I had been unable to find Magnus in the time Cosmos had given me, and was forced to go into hiding. Some ponies had found me, and when I explained my position on the war, they offered to assist me in any way I can. We formed the Equestrian Alliance, a resistance dedicated to ending the war and letting humans and ponies live together in harmony.

That was three years ago, and the likelihood of that goal succeeding became more and more slim as each day passed. Eventually, I gave up hope of our cause pulling through, and set off to find Sanguis like I was supposed to.

I stood at the entrance of the stronghold, staring sadly in the distance.
“So, you’re finally going to do it, hm?” a tired old voice said to my right. I looked over and saw Starswirl gazing with me, a thoughtful look on his face. He had joined us shortly after I had founded the Alliance, as he had seen firsthand that humans could be more than mindless savages bent on control and gaining power.

I nodded slowly. “Nothing gets passed you,” I said with a quiet, humorless laugh.
Starswirl looked up at me. “You know you aren’t going to make it back alive, right?” he asked. “Even if you somehow defeat him, the Guardians will find you before you can make it back to us.”
I sighed deeply. “That’s the idea,” I replied. “Magnus and I are the last humans in Equestria. With our death, there will be little sign that we were ever here, and Cosmos can lead your kind without worry.”

Starswirl nodded respectfully. “I’m not saying I want you to go off on a suicide mission, but I’m not going to try and stop you if you think this is what needs to be done. Before you leave, however, I have something that may prove useful to you,” he said, and quickly rushed into the stronghold.

Starswirl returned a few minutes later with a long object, wrapped in cloth. I took the gift carefully and unwrapped it, revealing a long, beautiful sword. It had a pure-white blade and a golden crossguard, and the handle was wrapped in black leather.
“What is this?” I asked slowly, awestruck by the craftsmanship this blade held.

Starswirl laughed at my response to the sword. “That is the Sword of Harmony,” he explained, “imbued with the power of the Elements of Harmony themselves. I’ve been working on it for some time, using the power of the Elements you received from your fallen friends, and I have come to an astonishing conclusion,” he said cleverly.

I stared at the old unicorn, confused. “What was it?” I asked urgently.

Starswirl looked me in the eyes. “I found a sixth Element,” he said excitedly. “If you can somehow separate Magnus from his Element and contact the blade with the gem, then you will possess the Element of Harmony more powerful than the others, but useless without its siblings.”

I nodded understandingly. “Thank you, Starswirl, for all of your help,” I said, kneeling down and hugging the old wizard. He let out a surprised grunt, and I could tell he was rolling his eyes; Starswirl may have been a relatively kind old horse, but he wasn’t one for showing physical affection.

“Yes, yes, that’s enough,” he said after a few moments, and I stood up. “Remember: without all six Elements of Harmony, you stand no chance of defeating Sanguis. Try to stall him for as long as you can until you can get the Element of Loyalty from him, and then you will be on even ground,” he explained. “Good luck to you, Argentum Vindex.”

I nodded thankfully. “And yo you, Starswirl the Bearded. If you speak to King Cosmos, tell him I am sorry for what I have put him through,” I said sadly.
Starswirl glared at me. “Don’t you dare hold yourself responsible for this war,” he snapped. “You could not have known your friends would be consumed by their lust for power; besides, if that’s the logic you want to go by, blame me. I willingly gave you the Elements without thinking of the consequences that would come from it, and now we are all being punished.

“But that is in the past,” he concluded sharply. “This war has gone on for too long to be bickering over who started it. What matters now is who ends it,” he said grimly.

I nodded. “Farewell, Starswirl,” I said sadly.

“Farewell, Argentum,” he replied.

~-~-~-~-~

After several days of wandering through wilderness and avoiding enemy armies, I was finally able to reach the frozen wastes of the north, where Magnus had established his base of operations. I marched grimly as his soldiers all surrounded me, taunting but unable to attack without their master’s consent.

“Argentum,” Magnus said mockingly, “what brings you here? You’re a long way from your precious ponies, aren’t you?”

I looked up at my former friend coolly. "I challenge you, Magnus Acer," I said clearly, my voice carrying through the blowing wind.

Sanguis stifled a laugh. “What?” he asked with disbelief.

“I said I challenge you, Magnus Acer,” I repeated. “Call off your dogs, and let’s fight one-on-one. The winner will decide the fate of Equestria.”
Magnus stared at me, his humorous face suddenly growing serious as he realized I wasn’t kidding. “You want to challenge me?” he said slowly. “You, a mere mortal, challenges one who was chosen by the Element of Loyalty?”

I suddenly snapped. “You lost the right to that Element the moment you betrayed me!” I screamed. “If you were worthy of the Element of Loyalty, you would have stayed by my side as I tried to stop our friends from destroying this place! You would have helped me deal with the grief of killing the ones who were practically our family!”

Sanguis suddenly stood up and walked right up to me, his scowling face inches from my own. “You betrayed me,” he hissed. “I was fighting for our people, and you have tried to stop me with every step. If anything, I have remained loyal to our friends, while you walked out on them,” he accused.

I stared back, unflinching. “So is that a yes? Or is the mighty Magnus Acer backing down from a challenge?” I whispered.
Sanguis stared back at me, his anger suddenly fading into a more professional demeanor. “My name is not Magnus Acer,” he hissed. “I gave up that name the moment you betrayed me. My name is Sanguis Cruciatus, and if you challenge me, you will die.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I’m still waiting for an answer, ‘Sanguis’,” I said quietly. “And remember, the Crystal Guardians more than likely on their way now; we’ll be lucky to even finish our fight before they attack us,” I reminded him.

Sanguis smirked. “I have a way around that: a special place where only you and I will exist, and we can fight without interruptions by your king’s defense measures.” As he said this, he snapped his fingers, and a black-and-purple vortex opened behind him. “Let’s hope you can hold your stomach this time!” he shouted mockingly as he dove into the portal. I looked around uncertainly as Sanguis’s numerous soldiers goaded me into following their leader, and I sprinted into the swirling void.

~-~-~-~-~

I looked around nervously, unsure of what would happen; the last time I had entered this place, I had nearly died of insanity. I saw I now stood on a solitary mass of rock, floating in an endless expanse of emptiness. In the distance, however far away that may have been, I could see massive, multicolored shapes twisting and shifting as if they were alive. Small points of light dotted the space like stars, and our solitary platform was surrounded by smaller, less stable pieces of rubble.

“Welcome back to the Void, Argentum,” Sanguis called out from an elevated platform. He jumped down and landed on his knees opposite me, burying a fist into the black rock. He pulled his massive sword from his back and held it at the ready as it took on a violent black aura.

I held the Sword of Harmony at my side. “Don’t make me do this, Magnus,” I pleaded. “We can end this madness now, and no one else has to die. Please, don’t make me kill any more friends.”

He stared back at me, narrowing his eyes. “You lost the right to call me ‘friend’ long ago,” he growled, and charged me at full speed. I held my sword sideways, blocking my enemy’s advance, but he kept pushing me back as my boots slide across the ground below. I was finally able to counter his strength when we were mere inches from the edge, and I looked back to see the literally endless drop beneath us.

“Watch your step!” Sanguis cried mockingly, “there’s nothing to save you if you fall.”
I glanced at the hilt of his blade and saw a red gem embedded within it, glowing brightly.

The Element of Loyalty! I thought, grinning dangerously. “Sanguis, I don’t think you understand just how powerful these Elements are,” I said slowly.
Sanguis laughed wickedly as he struggled to push me into the Void. “And how would you have any better idea?” he asked, “you were the only one of us not chosen!”

I quickly adjusted my stance and stepped to the side, grabbing the gem from Sanguis’s blade and tearing it out. Sanguis turned to face me and screamed in rage when he realized what I had done. “Give that back!” he demanded.

I tossed the Element of Loyalty in the air, and my pack shook as the other four Elements of Harmony flew from their resting place and orbited around me. “That’s where you are wrong, Sanguis,” I said triumphantly. “I had always been chosen by an Element; I was never able to wield it until now.”

Sanguis took an uncertain step back. “That’s impossible!” he shouted, “there are only five Elements! Aequni was given Kindness, Ludus was given Laughter, Liberalis was given Generosity, Saevus was given honesty, and I got Loyalty! How could you have an Element of your own?” he demanded.

I looked up at him as a purple, star-shaped gem slowly materialized in front of me and joined the other Elements in their orbit. “No, Sanguis; there were always six,” I said in a low voice, and held the Sword of Harmony over my head. “I was chosen by the Element most powerful of its siblings, but powerless without them: Magic!” I shouted, and drove the blade into the ground. A wave of multicolored crystals shot out of the ground and flew at Sanguis, trapping his legs in a crystal prison.

“Nice try, Argentum,” he growled, “but you cannot trap me.” With that, he snapped his fingers, and the Void around us slowly turned back into the frozen wasteland of northern Equestria. Sanguis held his arms at his sides as he became surrounded in a field of magical energy, preventing me from approaching.

“Be patient, Argentum,” he called as he rose into the air, “soon enough, your so-called ‘sixth Element’ will be powerless, and I will be immortal!” His body had become enveloped in a pulsing, black aura, and I tried vainly to break through his shield. Each strike I took, however, seemed to drain my strength, until I was on my knees, simply waiting for my old friend to end my misery.

No, I thought certainly, I cannot let it end like this.

I rose to my feet as the Elements of Harmony stopped their orbit and united into a single, six-colored gem, and united itself with the hilt of my sword.
“Sanguis, I’m giving you one last chance!” I shouted desperately as I felt the endless power coursing through my veins.

“I could say the same thing to you!” he shot back, laughing madly.

I narrowed my eyes and tightened my grip on the Sword of Harmony. “So be it, then,” I whispered, and charged at the magical barrier. The tip of my sword broke through, slowly cutting a hole in my obstacle as sparks of magic violently struck me and sapped even more of my power as I screamed in agony. Sanguis’s eyes grew wide as I finally broke through the vampiric shield and kept running, leaping into the air and burying the Sword of Harmony into Sanguis’s chest.

My old friend gasped as he suddenly fell to the ground, and the barrier that surrounded us suddenly vanished. Sanguis fell to his knees and coughed violently, spitting blood onto the snow.

“What… have you done?” he asked weakly, looking up at me with genuine fear in his eyes.
I looked down sadly. “I am sorry, old friend,” I said quietly, “but I have interrupted your immortality ritual. Goodbye, Sanguis,” I said, and pulled the Sword of Harmony from his chest.

“Argentum… no!” he begged weakly, but the curse had already taken hold. He suddenly fell limp in the snow, seemingly dead, but I knew better; he was to be locked in an eternal sleep, never to die, but never to truly live again.

I trudged out into the snow, slowly realizing I was no longer alone as several Crystal Sentinels surrounded me, holding their bladed arms at the ready.
“Stand down, human!” one of them screamed.
I gripped my sword tightly and screamed, swinging the blade in a full circle around me as a wave of energy hit the Sentinels, causing them to shatter into fragments. I stared ahead blankly, barely breathing for several moments, before the weight of my actions finally broke me, and I fell to my knees on the frozen ground, sobbing and beating the snow with my armored fist.