Phobetor had filled up the entire tunnel, her dragon form too big to fit properly, and I would have found it funny if I didn’t know better.

Be it by her dark magic or her massive claws, with one wrong move it would spell the end for me, along with every pony in the metro. I just wanted to end it all, to blow the bitch up here and now. But I had the feeling that it was still not the right time. I needed her guard down to eliminate any chance that she could slip away.

“Any last words?” Phobetor spoke, her breath itself was magicly stale, similar to that of an untouched reactor room cracked open for the first time in over a hundred years. It felt similar to that of death magic, yet empty. Not just void of life, but void of everything. It reminded me of that room at the bottom of the R&D Stable, and that alone unnerved me.

I stared back at her, shaking off the her attempt of intimidation.

“Last words, ya, I have a few things to say to you before this is over.” Taking a deep breath, I looked over at the ghost of my sister. It filled me with anger and regret that both she and I will never get to truly mend our relationship, and all because we unknowingly got caught up in this nightmare’s petty game. Rototom nodded back at me, knowing what I had to do from under the nightmares gaze. “It’s all your fault, you know that? Why we are even here in the first place. And all because you’re an entitled brat that couldn't do the fucking job you were literally made for.”

Phobetor growled, and the shadows seemed to move around me, responding to her anger. “If that’s all you have to…”

“Not in the least!” I shouted, feeling everything that had become bottled up in me leak out. “How long have you been plotting this? To ruin our lives, to fuck up this world more than it already is! It was you, wasn't it? At every turn, pushing us for that one moment you can take hold. And whenever my own job was nearly done, you made sure it kept on going. At what point did we not dance in your hoof!”

From black smoke, the form of a black pony appeared in front of the dragon, Phobetor sitting on her dragons claw, looking down on me with her golden eyes, a smug smile on her face.

I continued, “The pirates assault on the hotel, no, before that. Like you said, you’ve been manipulating things for a long time…” I clenched my teeth, now understanding something very clearly. “How could you not have known about what the republic were doing? You were there from the start, watching them build the collective consciousness network, wern’t you?”

The smug look on her face only grew, yet she was still hiding more, like a bundle of secrest, and I only had managed to pull at a few strings. “As I told you, I could only whisper in most of the islands, maybe even send a little dream here or there. But sometimes that's all you need. That, and... patience… well, until things aren't going the way you want. Then of course, orchestrating a revolution on flawed ideals, and good intentions is just another nudge. How does that old saying go, the road to Tartarus is pathed with good intentions? Though, they never tell you that the roads architect had always meant to go to Tartarus, and quite literally in this example. The main ingredients for that pathment were always going to be the blood and bone of all those who got in the way. But it was all in the name of equality, where everypony is equally happy, and equally my slave.”

“It all stemmed from the R&D Stable, didn't it?” I growled at her.

Phobetor laughed, at first as a chuckle, but it grew into a full belly cackle. “You know, they actually built their stable on a gate to tartarus, and never knew, not even a clue. How could I not take advantage of it when all that they had and knew was within my reach? None of it was useful to me at first, but a little inspiration here, an epiphany there, and before long, their technology began to change. It was like planting seeds, and all I needed to do was watch them grow, only pruning when necessary.”

“Then why the equalist revolution if you already had such control?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes at me “Yes, as you see, the republic at the time were changing their goals. They got it in their heads to leave the island, and after another tool had managed to slip from my grasp, that was not going to happen a second time. So, I changed how the republic works, and it was not hard to do in the least.” Her smug smile only seemed to get more arrogant. “The advantage to having all the time in the world, being able to make a backup plan for your backup plans. I have one for each island, and that does in fact include Orthrus.”

“What did you do!” Rototom shouted, now catching phobetors gaze for the first time since appearing here, and giving me the opportunity to slowly pull the bomb from my back.

“Ah, the older sister, you seemed to have lost… well, all your everything.” The nightmare chuckled to herself for a moment. “It’s quite simple really. Orthrus is a well trained, and even better equipped military than the metro has ever seen. And yet, it has not tried to take the metro for themselves. Other than a few outliers, they are positively trusted completely as the guardians of the peace. Though now they have a singular leader, and are at war. A war where the enemy has spies everywhere. Orthrus may be a benevolent organization, but that’s because it can be under the right conditions. Take those conditions away, force them into a box, and they will become just as cruel as any bandit clan. To put it simply, by gun and by whisper, I’m going to forge your Orthrus into my perfect enforcers. But first, I must bloody their nose.”

“And the pirates? How were you able to bring them into this?” My sister asked. Placing the bomb in front of me, I dug out it’s key card from my pocket. I already knew the answer to that, as the corpse brigaders were susceptible to dark magic, giving Phobetor an easy way into their heads.

Phobetor didn't bat an eye, just continuing to be as smug as ever. Which, was really getting on my nerves.

“Pure luck I have to admit,” She offered through a mirth filled laugh, “never thought the bicorn serum was still out there, nor made to be as potent as it turned out to be. It was a shame that only the unfinished serum made it above labs D, and turned into your Mirage Pony treatment. Actually, it actually made your kind hard control directly.”

“The new gen!” I blurted out and quickly lowered the key card to hide it.

The nightmare nodded. “Further stabilization of their genes, and a more compliant disposition. They would not be bicorns, but over generations I would have my very own population of naturally obedient ponies, one of my many backup plans.”

There was another question I was chewing on, right in the back of my mind. “What would you have done if my sister and I had died before opening the R&D stable, if Harp had never survived the big island?”

Phobetor leaned forward a little, grinning wide. “Well there's that mute little brother of your.”

Sliding the key card, I quickly opened the bombs case. “I've heard enough!” I shouted as I armed the bomb. “I'm ending this right now.” slamming my hoof down on the activation button, glaring up at Phobetor, who did not move, her face still annoyingly smug.

And everything became bright… blinking bright, and deafening… swerling with magic.

…

…

…

“Ahhh, so that's the trick you had up your sleeve.” All the blinding light faded… no, it was being sucked into a black orb, which was held in Phobetor’s hooves, she still with the smug look on her face. “The ministry mares weren't the first to make what you call megaspells, theirs was but an accidental discovery. Impressive as they are, they are but crude imitations of what true ultimate magic is.”

It felt like all my hatred, all my hope, had been snuffed out like a small flame in a tropical storm. There was nothing left but darkness inside me. Looking down at the megaspell bomb, the orb that held the magic was dead, nothing more than a fancy empty gem.

Then it hit me like a metro train. All my self doubt, the guilt and the evil I had done to get to this moment, all for nothing. I looked up at the massive black dragon, her golden eyes looking back down at me, knowing this whole time I had nothing to fight her with.

“That's… That's not fair!” I screamed at her. “After all the shit I had to do to get here, all the innocents that I killed to get this opportunity to kill you! Just for it to mean nothing! I never had a chance in the first place.”

“And you did well to dance for me. Well, as well as if it were a poorly written story from an amateur writer.” holding the black orb in one hoof, she reached out her other hoof at me, and the black dragon stretched out its claw, it slowly reached out over me. I didn't move as the claw came down around me, not seeing any point in the fight as it formed a cage around me, and pulled me closer to her. “Now that you truly understand your place, and just how far I am above you, I will take joy in watching your existence be snuffed out.” she lifted the back orb up above her head, and magic began to flow into it. “But I'm feeling whimsical, so let me show you what true ultimate magic can do!”

The black orb pulsed, and warped as vile green magic flowed into it, much like a mirage pony drawing in magic from within a radioactive hot zone.

Kill!

A word flashed into my head.

Destroy!

Another word… no, a feeling.

Damn them all!

The magic flowing into the orb, it was filled with emotions, hate filled emotions. Some of them so strong that it could burn, and I knew that some of then were aimed at me. Phobetor nodded at me knowingly

“Like I said, you danced in my hoof, and I enjoyed every moment of it.” She lowered the orb, bringing it closer to me as it warped, and turning into a heart. “This here is what's called a black heart of hatred. Well, an imitation of one. Until I can craft a new crystal heart, this will do as a practical substitute. With it, my slaves will fight hard and without mercy, all as my enemies fight among themselves, unable to resist its influence.” She chuckled to herself. “Oh, how I longed for this moment. No alicorns, nor draconequus to stand in my way. The ancient wards long faded. And all I need now to complete this spell is a tainted soul to bring the heart to life.”

I could feel it, the black heart drawing me in, trying to devour me. And I could do nothing to stop it. It was over, she’d won.

“You forgot about me!” a robotic voice yelled, and an Orthrus drone slammed into the heart sending it flying off. “Bitch, I will not let you harm my sister!” Rototom yelled from inside a damaged drone.

Phobetors eyes filled with rage, and swiped her hoof at the drone, causing a small green explosion that ripped the robot into two. “Insolent spirit! I will feed you to a soul sucker for that!” She screeched and swiped her hoof again, pulling my sister’s soul from the broken drone, green flames wrapped around her neck.

“That sounds fun, but I’d rather have at least one date before getting that intimate.” Rototom mocked her with a cocky smile on her face.

The anger on Phobetor’s face slowly softened, and she took a deep breath. “It matters not. After all, it's nothing but a futile struggle.” She looked over at where the heart flew off too and a scowl formed on her face. “Where.” Slowly, she turned her head back to Rototom. “Is.” pulling my sister close, green flames erupted around her golden eyes. “The Heart!” Phobetor screamed loud enough to make my ears ring.

Rototom shrugged and looked at me with confusion and bemusement on her face, before turning back to the nightmare. “What heart?” Green magic sparked from Phobetor, striking my sister, causing her to scream for a moment, before she burst into laughter. “I'm already dead you hog shit eating bitch! I can’t feel pain.”

Phobetor once again claimed down, smiling at Rototom. “Right, I just got caught in the moment, and forgot.” She then looked at me, her eyes wide with a cruel madness. “I was tormenting the wrong sister.”

“Hay, I don't know where you fucking heart whent you bitch, so don't you dare hurt her!” Rototon yelled.

A spark of green magic flicked from Pobetors eyes, and lashed out at my face, cutting into my cheek, feeling like I had been hit by a hot iron poker. All I could do was grit my teeth, and bear it. “Trying to act tough? Fine by me, I can spare a few minutes to have fun before I go look for the…”

A red glowing blur collided with Phobetor, knocking her away from me, and causing the dragon to loosen it claws around me. The bluer slowly took form, a lot of red, some glowing, some not, along with a dark purple parts.

“Sorry, kindly forgive I late. Got lost.” It took a semi solid form of a Lurker in a red jumpsuit, with a name tag that read Turnip Soup.

“So, you’re here too?” Rototom asked Turnip, rubbing her transparent neck, now free from Phobetors hold.

“Friend helped the princess, I return favor.” Turnip answered, then looked over at Phobetor. “She threatened the princess, I not let happen.”

The tunnel began to shake as the dragon extended its second claw, reaching out at the two ghosts, but they easily dogged the slow attack. “Will you stop resisting and just give me the heart!” Phobetor yelled as she got up, and now was floating in the air. “Just accept your fate, for you never had a chance to win in the first place!”

“Is that right demon!” Looking up, I saw the pegasus Stratus Dancer with the black heart in one of her hooves. The dead captain of the royal guard smirked down at Phobetor. “You seem quite desperate to take this heart back. Might it be the key to slaying you?” Phobetor glared at her, but the hatred across her face had changed. The smugness from before slipped back, only a little, but enough for me to see that Stratus was up onto something again. Stratus lowered down, landing near me, and holding the black heart up high. “Now back off abomination, and set free sir Echo!”

Phobetor sneared, but backed up. “Then have it your way.” The dragon raised it’s claw, releasing me from under it. “But you have long since failed in your mission, you just don’t yet realize it. My frustration is from having to wait well over a thousand years for this moment, and only for three ghosts to mock me. It’s truly pathetic.” She folded her hooves, looking crossed, yest still smug. “You’re like the Hearth's Warming ghosts, trying to change things long set in stone.”

Stratus Dancer floated down to me, landing without any noise, and looked at me with eyes lacking any life in them. “A creepy bag of bones asked me if I’d help you, telling me if you failed, Harp would come to harm.”

Grinding my teeth as I felt the heart pull at my soul, irritated again at the lie. “She died.” I said under my breath.

The royal guard captain caocked an eyebrow as she trotted closer, the black heart pulling at me more and more at every inch. “Say again?”

“She’s dead! Gone!” Grabbing the empty megaspell bomb case with my magic, I swung it at Stratus, knocking the black heart away. “I saw her fucking die, and couldn't do a damn thing about it!” I screamed at her. “Why do you think Phobetor isn't even trying? Why no matter what you all do, it’s not going to make a difference. Charon lied to you, and Harp’s gone, all because I’m not the pony you all think I am!” Shoving the megaspell in Statuses transparent face, showed her our empty tool of destruction. “It’s empty, and no dark magic, or evil action will save us! I fucked up, and now everyone will die. I might as well doomed us all from the start...”

“You wrong!” Turnip spoke up.

I slammed the megaspell down. “You’re all dead, and it’s because she wanted me!”

“Sis.” Rototom tried to place her hoof on my shoulder, but with her incorporeal nature, it only went through me.

“If it was all up to you, everything would be alright!” I shouted at the ground. “All I can do is fail, it’s all I have ever done!”

“Ser Echo, look!” Stratus pleaded for me to look at the case, but I knew it was empty.

“At what? More proof that Phobetor had us all on a leash? That whatever we did, it was by her design from the start!?” I couldn't look up, or acknowledge what they wanted to say. Hope was dead, and anything more was just torment sent to mock me for how much I fucked up.

A low laughter turned into a cackle. Phebetor had trotted closer, clearly about to mock her victory to me. “Charon was it, oh how I should have known it was her. I should have known from the fucking start. That trator! How she once lamented to me about how she hated the mortals like I, how unworthy they were to ride on her boat, and that their existence doomed her as a spirit of death.” She cackled loudly for damn near a minute without needing to breathe once. “She even called me a friend once upon a time. But I always knew she was jealous of me. Zeus did passed her over to make me, did she ever tell you that? Why have a imperfect titan keep watch over mortals after the first one failed so dramatically?” She chuckled to herself again. “It was actually Charon's idea to just dump the mortals with all the world's evils, to just let them suffer and not even give them a chance. If not for her friendship, I would have been ignorant to the power I had at my hooves. She showed me that it was I who was the master of their fate.” She said in a mocking toan.

I grinded my sharp teeth more, hating every word she said. “Then why didn’t you just leave us be! Why do we have to suffer because of your superiority complex!”

“Because!” Phebetor took a few steps closer. “You all must suffer… it’s the only way you can all learn the truth.”

Turnip jumped in between me and Phobetor, stopping a hoof onto the ground. “You wrong, you both wrong!” He yelled. “Look at megaspell, and you see you wrong!”

With a sigh, I turned the case around… and saw a small blue flame within the orb. It was faint, but it was there. Death magic, flickering in the place of the old world weapon. It finally clicked for me. The bomb itself was not what I was to deliver, it was just the tool I needed to used… I was the weapon needed to kill the bitch… my death magic.

“Die!” Screamed from Phobetor as a claw of shadow bared down at me. Her swing came in fast, but a pony shaped bolt intercepted. Stratus Dancer rammed into it, causing half of her ghostly body to disappear, but she’d stopped the attack.

The pegasus hit the ground, making no sound. Nor did Stratus seem to care as she pointed at me. “Lie or not, that nightmare must die. We can figure out what's become of the princess later.”

Taking a deep breath, I nodded at Stratus and placed my hooves onto the megaspell bomb. Focusing from deep within myself, I channeled myself like any mirage pony, and poured my magic into the bomb. The blue flame flickered, slowing becoming stronger.

“Enough!” Phobetor shouted, her voice resonating in my head as the tunnel shattered.

We all fell as the world around us now an unending nothingness filled with floating islands. Above us was a vast green sky, and below a deep dark purple void. Holding onto the megaspell, we landed hard on a floating piece of train tracks, cracking it slightly as my body hit. The black dragon that was once restricted by the tunnel was now free, its wings spread wide, its golden eyes bearing down on us with pure hate.

Phobetor had grown even larger, now as big as an Orthrus airship. She was practically a floating island herself. Holding up a claw, the black heart was balancing on its point, though miniscule and far away, I could still feel it pulling at my soul.

“No more games, no more stalling!” Her voice bellowed from her massive maw, blasting a stale wind at us, threatening to blow me off my hooves and off my oasis island in the void. A blackish green flame flickered from her lips, her eyes filled with evil and want.

“Cover me!” I shouted as I continued to focus the magic into the megaspell.

A playful laugh came from my sister. “Right, distract the pissed off ancient nightmare dragon that's tartarus bent on ending you. Easy enough! What do you say, crab pony?”

“I be distracting! That why I banished!” Turnip responded, then picked me up. “You hold me, I got you, do you fill bomb.” I nodded, and reached for the lurker, finding him surprisingly solid for a ghost.

A deafening roar that shook everything announced Phobetors attack. With heavy beats, her massive wings propelled her towards us. Holding onto Turnip and the megaspell for dear unlife, he galloped off the floating piece of rail line, and jumped us from one island to another. The floating land we were on was smashed into pieces as Phobetor rammed through it. As she blew past us, she didn’t know that Rototom used the opportunity to jump onto her back. As the massive black dragon flew around for another attack, Turnip jumped to another floating land, just barely avoiding her as she burst through from under us. But instead of flying through, she stopped mid way, and reached out with her long claw, nearly catching us as Turnip jumped again.

Flames flickered from Phobetors mouth as she laughed a deep bellowing laugh. “It’s over mortal!”

Breathing in, her belly stretched out, the green fire glowing through like some massive evil furnace. Rototom had managed to climb onto her head, and shoved a hoof into the dragon's eye, forcing Phobetor to twitch her head as she belched out flame. The sickly evil fire arched over our heads, lighting up the sky with even more green. The nightmare dragon responded quickly, raising a claw swiftly to her face, Rototom could not escape as the nightmare pinched her between to claws. With one flick, my sister was flung off into the unknown.

Clenching my teeth more, I focused on the bomb. It's pail blue flame was growing, but it was still not strong enough, I just knew it wasn’t.

Then we stopped, almost causing me to fall over the lurker. “What’s wrong?” I shouted.

“Track, no more!” Turnip spoke sharply. I looked over to see that we had reached the end of the line, with nothing more than the abyss ahead of us.

Turning back around, the opposing visage of Phobetor landed onto the floating land we were on, her mouth curled up into a smile. “Time’s up. You have failed for… well I lost count of your failures. But rest assured, this is the last one.”

“No!” Turnip yelled, dropping me off his back, and charging at the nightmare.

With a yawn, Phobetor bringing her claw down on the lurker, and breaking through the ground, and he vanished into the unknown. “To tell the truth, those monsters were able to even stay under my radar. Exterminating them will be the first thing I do once I take full control.” She laughed again, green flames bursting from her maw.

With Tunip gone, I was on my own, but I didn't feel at a loss, just annoyed… yes annoyed. I don’t know why, but now that I knew she was afraid of me, and the death magic I could draw from, all my self doubt just melted away. “Are you done?” I asked.

“Yes, with everything.” Phobetor Responded as she reached out, and picked me up by the collar, her claws pinching together on the back of my neck ever so carefully. “Soon it all will be over, and you ponies will return to your places as but clay dolls for me to play with. Day after day, you all will worship your true god, you all will grovel at my hooves.”

Rolling my eyes, I drew my revolvers, firing them at one of her massive eyes, causing blue flames to spark on it, and Phobetor to roar in pain.

She flung me into the air, her chest filling up with green fire once agai, and her other eye glaring at me. I slammed into something soft, that then grabbed onto me right as Phobetor gouted her fire up at me. I was pulled out of the fires path by Stratus, her ghostly wings flapping furiously.

“Get ready for a crash landing!” Stratus shouted as we quickly descended down onto another floating island. I instinctively tucked and rolled, losing the bomb in the process. Stratus just slammed into the ground, though she quickly got back up like nothing had happened to her. The advantage of being a ghost, not having to feel what a landing like that felt like...

The eye I had shot on Phobetor was still burning, though, the flame was slowly dying down, meaning she would soon recover from it. But It had put her on the defensive. She used one claw as a shield, to prevent me from shooting the other eye as she turned to see where I’d gone.

“Phobetor, it's over!” I shouted at the dragon nightmare, “I know how to beat you, and have proven that I can hurt you, so just give up already. Maybe I’ll spare you if you ask nicely enough.” I had no intention of following through with that, because I already knew her answer.

She laughed hard enough to shake the floating land we were on. “Just a minor injury. Even if you could charge up that bomb, with the magical power you now draw from, it would take you a day, likely two, just to have it at the strength to end me. So do me a favor and set it off now, will you? Then you can watch as I snuff out that last pitiful flame of hope you have.” She slammed her tail in the ground, and grinned wide, showing all her sword like teeth. “So yes, it’s over. Over for…”

*Thud* a stable-tec hydraulic door fell out of nowhere in between us, and with a hiss, it slowly opened.

Trotting through was the purple unicorn Quicktrot, covered in dirty bandages, and levitating the biggest revolver I had ever seen. She trotted right up to the megaspell bomb, and picked it up with a frown on her face. “Alright, where's the headless cunt, and mega ancient cunt!” Her eyes fell onto me, sighed, then turned around to look at Phobetor, and gave a bigger and frustrated sigh. “Right... She, dose like being a big super edgy black dragon.”

Phobetor seemed taken back by Quicktrots appearance, but then quickly scowled. “I don't have time for more distractions!” Raising her tail, she swung it back, winding up for an attack.

Clearing her throat, Qhicktrot shouted. “Stop stalling, and get out here Slowtrot!” This caused Phobetor to pause, and glared down at the door.

“You try getting hit with a megaspell reactor and not turning a pile of dust!” The purple earth pony stallion grumbled as he stepped through the door. Slowtrot looked up at Phobetor, and waved. “Sorry, were having a bit of a time space distortion right now, if you just wait for a moment, and we’ll get out of your mane once we sort out whatever’s causing the distortion.” Turning to look at me, his body twitched and flickered. For a moment he became translucent, with glowing white bones underneath, and a black void were his eyes should have been… He was a twitcher ghoul… The moment then passed, and he returned to being a normal pony. “Oh, sorry about that, it happens when I’ve got too much magic in my system. Now have you seen any space time distortions? Like rooms that go on forever, or a creature that should not exist? We might have caused a bit of a tear in reality, and sort of need to close it up.”

I blinked for a moment, and looked over at Qucktrot, who shrugged and said, “Just roll with it.”

I frowned at the two of them, and took a deep breath before chuckling out loud, my eyes turning to the nightmare. “See Phobetor, you’re the one who lost. My friends are infinite, where you’re all on your own.”

A deep growl came from the nightmare dragon as she glared at me. “Don’t you worry, I’ll kill them next!” she grumbled, then thrust her other claw at me.

Stopping her attach abruptly, Phobetor and I saw that the black heart was gone. Just above the nightmare was Stratus Dancer, holding the heart as she hovered in the sky.

“Right, so I just need to keep this away from you, simple enough!” She said with a smile before she stopped her flapping, letting herself dive down into the void.

Phobetor roared, and reached out for her, but Stratus was too fast. I didn’t waste the distraction, and rushed for Quicktrot, who then threw the megaspell to me. “Bitch, take it, and get ready to set it off!”

Catching the thing, I slid to a stop, and began focusing more magic into it. “Thanks for the save, but why the fuck are the two of you here?” I looked up at Phobetor, who had trapped Stratus in a magical bubble and recovered the black heart. With a smile, she returned her attention back to me. Well that distraction didn’t last long... “Great, I really need to blow this bitch up, and like, right now.”

Qucktrot trotted up to me. “Must you be a pain my flank every time we meet Vibraphone? This is what, the third time I’ve had to help you with mega bitch here?” She pointed at the megaspell as she looked at Slowtrot. “This is Vibraphone. You may not know her, but she’s a friend. So if you could be a dear and keep that dragon off our backs, that’d be nice.”

Slowtrot looked at Phobetor, then back at Quicktrot. “And by Celestia how do I do that when she's a big fuck off dragon!?”

“Just stay between us and the dragon, trust me, that's all you need to do.” Qucitrot shouted at Slowtrot, and he huffed before sitting down.

I looked at Quicktrot, and cocked an eyebrow. “How's that going to help?” I then asked.

Qucktrot pulled out a crystal that pulsed with magical power, and touched the megaspell with it. A spark of magic shot between them, and the magic with the megaspell swirled, as though a hurricane was quickly growing from within “Best not to think too hard about it, but if you must know the cliff notes versio,n you can say He’s a supercharged twitcher ghoul and is practically untouchable until the dark magic in him has radiated out naturally. In that state, he even draws magic to him like a super magnet, making him the best kind of shield you can get, for a short time that is.” She said with a smile.

Phobetor swung her tail at Slowtrot, and with a slap, it bounced off him. A look of pure frustration formed on her face as she then let out a gout of flames down at us, but the flames were drawn to Slowtrot, fizzling to nothing. A deep bellowing roar came from Phobetor as the sky was then covered by an uncountable amount of black and green orbs, that then shot out beams of green energy down at us. All of the beams arched as if drawn in by some increadible force, converging all on one point, and were absorbed by Slowtrot.

Quicktrot laughed as the crystal she held turned to sand, the megaspell now shaking with the tremendous amount of magic it now contained. The magic mixed with my own death magic, and the storm inside the gemstone becoming a blue inferno. “Just like that bag of bones said, got to love all the crazy dangerous magic the ministrys left behind.”

Phobetor reached out with her claws and grabbed Slowtrot, lifting him up to her face. “Whatever you have become, it matters not, now die a thousand deaths!”

She breathed her fire on him, lighting up the sky. When the fire stopped, Slowtrot remained, and Phobetors claws cracked. As though they had become fragile stone. Her claws fell apart, turning to dust as they hit the ground, dropping both Slowtrot, and the Black Heart. Looking at her now missing claws, Phobetors eyes widened, and she let out and eat piercing screech as she stumbled back, falling over.

“Why! Why is this happening!” Phobetor screeched as she thrashed, cracking the island we were on. “I'm so close, so damned close! Just fucking die, let me win, I deserve this win!” She attempted to get up, but her wrist then fractured off, causing her to fall back down. “I was made by the gods, I am their child, their successor, perfect in every way! But why do you ponies, you pathetic mortals, get in my way every time!”

Quicktrot laughed hard. “Because you’re a dumbass old hag that should have just died long ago, that's why!” She shouted before looking over at Slowtrot. “Thanks Slow, now go kindly fuck off. You don't want to be here when this bomb goes off.”

Slowtrot looked back, and nodded. “Right, and I'm taking this.” He picked up the black heart, and placed it in his saddlebag. “You never know, it might be useful. Also, if I never get the chance to say this, your like the sister I never wanted.” He blew a raspberry at Quicktrot, and ran off through the stable door, closing it behind him. With a sharp crack, the door shifted and crumbled, turning to dust and drifting away in an ethereal breeze.

The megaspell was quite literally shaking in my hooves, the power ready to burst at any moment. “This… this is amazing.” I breathed.

Phobetor managed to slither around on her belly, her golden eyes surrounded by a roaring green fire. “You will still fail, and I will sit upon the throne of Olympus, as the new god Queen!” She then began breathing in air and magic, bloating up like a green fire filled blimp, stretching so wide that her sides started tearing open, grouting out streams of green fire.

“I think it's time you set that off, preferably before she explodes herself!” Quicktrot shouted, and I flipped the bombs switch.

Time itself seemed to slow to a crawl for but a moment as the megaspell crackled with magic. This was it, the moment. Phobetor’s end.

Everything flashed a blinding blue, and went dark…

...

_______________________________________________

...

A ground shaking roar woke me from a dreamless sleep, my vision slow to recover. Pushing myself up onto my hooves, I found myself standing at the edge of a beach made from bleached white bones, next to an ocean of black water that reflected off the light of a blue moon. I had returned to the realm of the dead, there was no doubt in my mind of that. Looking over across the water, I was able to see the black dragon stuck in it. I had managed to drag Phobetor with me. She was half submerged in the black water, her flesh rotting off, revealing the bone underneath. Phobetor screamed in agony as blue flames danced over her body like a net holding her down, all as many boney hooves, claws, and paws held onto her from the water’s edge, slowly dragging her down. She struggled to free herself, gouting bursts of fire into the sky and thrashing her tail, but it only seemed to tighten the grip of death that now held onto her.

Not far from me was a small table made of bones, at which four ponies sat. Charon, Quicktrot, Hades, and… me?

“Good, you’re awake. I was almost worried you would stay there until the end of time itself.” Charon said with her cold wispy voice, sipping on a bone white teacup.

Taking a step towards the group, I could feel the ground. It was uncomfortable to my… hooves. Looking down, I saw two peach color normal hooves that held me up. They were slightly dirty, but normal flesh and blood! I took a moment to touch my own face with them, just to feel with them, and finding my two bicon horns were gone, and that my one stubby horn had returned.

Taking a deep breath, I half heartedly smiled. “Getting legs after death is a bit of a cruel joke.”

Charon chuckled. “It's the land of the dead, my dear. Humor comes in only the black or a very dark blue variety. The ponies from trottingham tend to love the humor here, but that aside, come join us, the tea is to live for.” She gave another dry chuckle.

I noticed that I was also in the nude, making me feel a bit exposed as I used my tail to cover my private parts. “Any clothes here? It would be nice...” I asked as I trotted up to the table.

“Fair enough.” Hades responded, waving his hoof. A fog appeared around me, swiftly turning into a thin white toga. It wasn’t much, barely anything actually, but beggars can't be choosers.

Looking down at the table, a teacup was ready for me, with what looked like more fog in it. Shrugging, I sipped it, and it tasted odd, like nothing I have had before. Not bad, but not good either, just... something that is?

“So, is it over?” I asked.

“Short answer, yes.” Charon pulled back her hood, showing me her worn and cracked skull, void of any emotion. Yet somehow, I could tell that she was… content. “Now that Phobetor has passed into the realm of the dead, and will be receiving our full attention, she can no longer influence the world of the living, or taint it with the abyss.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “The what now?”

“The stupid black orb thing you saw in labs D.” Quicktrot answered as she levitated a teacup, and took a sip before cocking an eyebrow at it. “Realy, what is this shit? Nevermind, not important. To fill in the blanks, Phobetor had ripped a hole in reality itself just to free herself. By doing so, she invited a mass of what I can only describe as ‘anti-existence’, or the abyss, as the boneheads call it into our dimension. As you should know by now, life and death have a flow to it, one cannot exist without the other, but that stuff just grinds everything to a stop, that even includes time itself. Nothing lives or dies around it, they just stop being anything, and Phobetor thought it was just a brilliant idea to bathe in that shit.”

“Hold up one fucking moment.” This was a bit much for me. “One, why are you the one explaining this to me? And two, what’s stopping me from throwing you into the water for what you did?” I sneered at the body snatcher.

Quicksort laughed for a few seconds, then passed her hoof over her face, it morphing to look just like Phobetor. “Because I am Phobetor.” she passed her hoof over again, and became a tired looked older green mare in a stable-tec lab coat. “I am also Healing Herbs, acting overmare of the R&D stable.” Again she waved her hoof, and now had become a light blue mare with a short cut mane and an old world naval uniform, it covered in metals. “Quite a bit of me is the pony they called Thorn Rosalind, a name you should know quite well.” She chuckled for a moment, then clamped both hooves together in front of her face, she now had become Slowtrot. “I was also the pony you met when you were trapped in your own mind by Phobetor, though at the time I had forgotten my true self. But returning to the R&D stable allowed me to piece myself back together.” The purple stallion melted away, returning to being Quicktrot. “To put it simply, I was there when the reality rip was formed, and was bound to it through Phobetor.”

“And now that Phobetor has been claimed, she will be taking the nightmares place.” Hades spoke up. “It’s to maintain a balance within this changing world. Otherwise evil could rise too quickly, and become uncontrollable. With how the world currently lacks its guardians, the next time an old evil rises, they might just win. So the abomination here will take the role of the evil in shadows. That is, as long as she helps keep this world from being totally destroyed.” He shot her a sideways glance.

Quicktrot rolled her eyes. “Hay, I'm the one doing you a favor, or do you want me to resurrect that annoying necromancer, and giving him the mantle? I may hate a long winter like any other pony, but unlike Equestria, I know I’ll survive it.”

“Silence!” Charon voice loudly wisped. “First off, even if it is a joke, I will not tolerate any more talk of necromancers. Second, you two are only here as a formality, to bring closure to this maddening affair. Now, let me finish this exposition.” The Reaper pony then looked over at me. “Right, what we are getting at is that the abyss had infected Phobetor, and if she was allowed to roam free, eventually she would cause the breakdown of reality itself without any way for it to return it to normal. It’s unlike chaos, which bends and twists reality, but needs the normality, otherwise the chaos become the new normal, and dies. Anti-existence simply destroys, leaving nothing but a fog of miasma to surround the nothingness.”

She picked up a teapot, and poured herself some more fog tea before continuing. “It's why I was in such a rush to counter Phobetor once she had made her move, and forced undeath upon you. Though I, and my friends are beings of death, the embodiment of the end of life itself, we still must protect life, as if there is no life, then death cannot exist. By claiming Phobetor now before the abyss could spread from her, we truly have prevented a grave disaster. And for your large part in stopping it, I thank you.”

“And as a reward, Charon has asked me to personally take you to the elysian fields.” Hades spoke up, gaining my full attention. “The three that helped you will also be joining, along with my wife, as she does enjoy the company.”

“Even after all I did?” I said as I lowered my head. “After everything I needed to do? All those ponies…”

“Your actions do way heavy on your soul,” He looked over at the other me, who crossed her hooves and looked away. “but as you had already become undead when the worst of it started, I simply separated that part from you. It's not something that I decided to do lightly. There were other options than cleaving off a part of a soul and making it into a new abomination. Normally, it should never have been done, but, my wife likes you, so I made an exception.”

I didn't know how to feel, it almost seems like cheating to seperate it like that. Just shedding all that evil I did like it was somepony else's doing. But it also meant that I could be with my sister, and my family when they too pass on.

“Thanks.” was all I could say to him before looking over at Quicktrot. “And thanks for your help too.”

Quicktrot chuckled. “Ya, don't go around telling nopony. I don't even know whats worse, being the good mare in this story, or that I was trotting around thinking I really was that fool Slowtrot for so long.”

That got me to smile a little. “If he was never really here until just recently, then where was he?” I had to ask.

“Eh, here and there.” She loudly sucked air through her teeth for a second, like somepony with bad news. “Right now, I don't actually know where he is. But the past me will be meeting him outside of New Appaloosa in a little over a year. Him and that princess of yours really did become a major pain in my flank.”

“What, Harps alive!” I shouted.

Quicktrot made a motion of zipping her mouth shut. “Sorry, but that's all I can say about the future. Spoilers and all that.” Then she laughed, waving her hoof over her face, and disappeared. “Just sit back and enjoy the show. Now that your role in this is over, there’s no need to rush, well, anything.” Quicktrot Fragment's voice faded as she spoke, becoming nothing more than a whisper at the end.

A groan came from Charon as she rubbed the temples of her bear skull. “Why does this feel like we only dethroned Diablo just to put Lucifer in his place?” She said in a frustrated tone.

“It's the nature of evil.” Hades answered. “As long as there's a power vacuum to fill, those with evil hearts will rush to fill it. But all this madness does make me miss Discord. At least it was fun when he when on a rampage, always something new to throw around.”

Charon dismissively waved her skeletal hoof at Hades. “I don't know about that, but then again we never did get along. As for the evil mortals, I wish they were not so slimy, and for once they could have some semblance of decency. Or at the very least, not be utterly insane half the time.”

“I could do that king of Tartarus prophesy again.” Hades said in a joking tone.

“And here I thought you were above messing with the mortals?” Charon snidely said back to Hades before turning her attention back to me. “Now, I'm sure you have many more questions, and I have until the end of time to answer them. But I also have a boatload of souls to care too. And before you ask, no, they’re not just from the mess in Marewaii. While this little break has been fun, the world is a big place, and death is a 24/7 job.” She got up from her seat, her bones making cracking noises as she moved, all before shadows wrapped around her, and she vanished.

Now I was left was Hades, and… myself. Looking over at Hades, he motioned at the other me with his head. Taking a deep breath, I found myself with nothing to say to her, just a lingering confusion.

Cold Iron turned her head to look at me with her cold green eyes. “With this, you and I will no longer be the same pony. Don't that make you happy?” She smiled a too wide smile, revealing two rows of jagged teeth.

With her words, I found my own. “Can't say it doesn't, to just be done with all this hogshit. Though I do wish I said goodbye to mom and dad, or done something different. Maybe we could have avoided so much death and found a better solution.”

“Maybe.” Cold Iron said flatly. “And maybe we did all that, only to dance to Phobetors tune. Playing the good little hero, wielding a holy sword made of foam. I'm not saying what we did was the best choice, just that worrying about what could have been is useless at this point.”

I nodded, understanding her logic. Er, well, my logic. “Might be rude to ask this, but don't you hate me? The fact that I get to move on, while you're stuck here?”

She looked over at Phobetor, the nightmares dragon form still futaly struggling to get free. “No, not at all.” Her voice lacked any emotion. “Well, maybe a little. It's like my emotions are muted, gray in color. Before, I wanted to scream, to thrash, to destroy. Now I simply find myself annoyed. Even if I could go to the elysian fields, I know that I would feel no different there. It would just be different scenery to me, and nothing more.”

I looked over at Hades, who was sipping at his fog tea. “Will she be alright?”

He put down his teacup. “Cold Iron is a true undead, who feeds off the curses that evil mortals gather over their live, harvesting it when they die. She is unable to feel strong emotions anymore, but when outside the land of the dead she cannot be at peace, making this place her home now. But that's not to say she's just going to sit around here for all eternity.” He waved his hoof over the teacup, and the fog poured out over the table, and created several forms of ponies. It looked like a scene of a pony being attack by two others, then a fourth pony appeared out of nowhere, holding two guns, and missing a head. The two attacking ponies were shot dead, and before they hit the ground the headless pony had vanished. “In your fight with Blaster Beam, I was struck with inspiration. Where Charon would have periodically send Cold Iron put to hunt a necromancer, I convinced her to lend the dullahan to me. In this age, too many good pony lives are cut short by evil, so I decided to give a little divine intervention to the mortals, in the form of a headless horse that slays evil.”

Cold Iron groand, and I could understand, not wanting to still be a tool for greater powers. Looking at the god, I had to ask another question. “Why didn't you do this before?”

Hades clapped his hooves once, and the table fog vanished, along with the teacups and teapot. “That's a very, very long and sad story. In a forgotten age, in a forgotten land, we gods proved ourselves unworthy to rule. Falling from the high pedestal we purched ourselves on, we lost much of our power as a result of it. But now that I no longer must guard Phobetor, I can turn my attention and power elsewhere, and finally do some good for the mortals we have so utterly failed.”

Getting up, I felt a little less uneasy now. “I understand, and thanks. Even if it’s just a little help, it’s better than none at all.” I looked over at Cold Iron, who gave me a nod back. “I know you don't care, but still, come visit me some time. Who knows, I might not like being in a happy place all the time, could drive me crazy.” I said nervously.

She nodded, but was then consumed by shadows, vanishing much like Charon had.

Now I was left with one last pony to talk to, though I had only one thing to say to her. Turning to the water, I trotting up to the waves, and locked eyes with the massive dragon, she looking back at me with pure hatred in her golden eyes.

“Phobetor, It's over!” I shouted.

I felt a wave of evil brush passed me as the warped voice of Phobetor cried out, “Not yet!” From the water the black pony form of Phobetor dragged herself out of the water. One gold eyes glared at me, surrounded by green fire, with the other cracked and consumed by blue flame. Holding her back was many skeleton limbs, and her back half was now just wet shredded flesh revealing what looked like bone under it, yet it was cracked like pottery…

Actually now that I had a better look at her, it was pottery that made up her bones, and her flesh was actually more like wet cloth. I watched as the nightmare dragged herself closer to me, struggling with each pull, desperate to break free.

“I’m not like you, I deserve better than to have dirt under my hooves, or to eat the rotting hay you call food. I’m a god, and I deserve your worship!” her shrill voice now lacked the smugness from before, it more a delusional desperation.

Watching her, every emotion I helt towards her; hate, feer, despair, and doubt all melted away, all but one… pity. All that power and prestige bestode onto her, and this is what she chose to become. Before me was not a dragon, nor was it a pony, just a doll that had long been broken and abandoned by it’s master. This pitiful doll was clinging to a life it never had in the first place, and trying to dragging everypony down with her.

Phobetor, coser now, reached out for me. I lifted my own hoof, and brought it down onto her leg. It crunched like a cheap toy, causing her to scream in pain, and lose her grip. The bones holding her down seized the opertunity and dragged her back almost all the way into the water. She turned her hate filled gaze back at me with an empty eye socket. Down on the ground at my hooves, I saw her golden eye. I picked it up, inspecting it. The thing was made from carved white marble, with gold etched into it to form the irse. At the center, sat an impressively ornate small black jewel, an overall breathtaking work of art…

With all my strength, I threw it back into the river styx. Phobetor screamed even louder before she was dragged all the way into the water. The dragon form of Phobetor then collapsed, slamming into the water, and vanishing beneath the waves. All that was left was nothing but the calm, dark scenery.

I took the moment in. The still, stale air reminded me of home, while the silence told me that my job was done, and that I had nothing more to see. Regrets, I did have many. But now they were something to let go of, so that I can accept my death.

“Ready to board?” Hades called out. He was standing next to a small yacht. It was a bright white boat, with gold trimming, and covered in silver relief of pones. On the boat I could see Rototom talking with Persephone, sharing a drink, and laughing. Near them was Sorrow, entertaining a thin little filly and Turnip. Stratus sat by herself on the edger of the boat, holding onto a wine bottle. Their were even more ponies on board, but they were too far back for me to see properly.

After taking a deep breath, I trotted over to the boat, and boarded.

A sharp whistle from on top of the mast got everyponies attention, and I saw an all pink pony standing on it. “Alright, everypony has boarded, now we can start our crossing the river styx to the elysian fields party!” The happy mare announced as she threw confetti into the air. “Also, before any pony asks, I will be serving daiquiris at the bar.” That put a smile on my face.

By Celestia, I could really go for a daiquiri right now.

______________________________________

Footnote:

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Quest Start: Battle for New Cloudsdale!