Feilbach whistled a relaxing tune as he strolled through his castle. He didn’t know where the tune came from, but it was upbeat and cheerful. Normally he tried to avoid such nonsense, but he felt good about himself. The souls inside him were slowly finding peace, after being left to destroy what they wanted. They had finally started quenching their thirst for revenge, it seemed.

The power that his mother had described as his father was drawing closer to the castle. He could also feel the presence of the ponies drawing closer as well. Although he was slightly discomforted by the ponies’ presences, his father didn’t faze him. Feilbach felt he had nothing to worry about, and because of his comfort, the souls within him also felt comforted.

In fact, he would go out on a limb and say he felt happy. For the first time in ten-thousand years, he felt happy. That is, until his mother decided to muck up his fun.

Your arrogance will be your death, Feilbach. If you hope to survive the coming encounter, you’ll need to prepare yourself for a tough battle. You think you are safe here amongst your souls, but you are not.

Feilbach scoffed at the voice, “Please spare me your nonsense, Mother. I have no intention of failing today, nor do I intend on disappointing these souls. They are finally being appeased, and soon my job will be done.”

At what cost, Feilbach? Who all have you sacrificed for this appeasement?

“That is enough, Mother! I refuse to listen to your doubt!” Feilbach turned on his hind hoof and headed back to the throne room. His mother gave up her plight and stopped speaking to him...

“Well, here we are everypony!” Mister called over his shoulder as he undid his reigns.

The ponies stepped out of the carriage, staring at the humongous gate that lay before them. Somehow, the castle seemed different from before. They had just been here not a month ago, and yet the castle seemed more solemn and devoid of happiness. Twilight was the first of her friends to speak up.

“This place is creeping me out. If what you said is true, then everypony is either possessed or…dead?” She turned toward Fluttershy.

Hanging her head low, Fluttershy spoke softly, “Yes. Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Armor…all of them were beaten by Feilbach.”

“No worries! Once we kick his flank out of Luna’s body and beat him, everyone will come back!” Pinkie Pie chimed in, her optimism and cheerfulness rubbing off on the ponies.

Mister quickly interrupted the group, “I believe my son’s sent us a welcoming party.” He pointed a hoof at the group of stallions in armor that were opening the massive door.

Twilight immediately recognized the blue mane of the pony at the center of the group. “Shining Armor! At least he’s alive, although possessed…” She sighed.

Shining Armor stepped forward, crossing partially over the drawbridge. “You are here to see Lord Feilbach, correct? Follow me, if you will.” He turned in an instant and marched off into the castle, the other soldiers following at his flank.

Fluttershy stepped in front of her friends. She turned to look at them, nodding. She turned to face the open gate, and started her own trot into the castle. Her friends followed close behind her. Mister and Big Mac followed them in, albeit lagging a bit behind.

In mere moments, the ponies were corralled into the throne room, staring at Feilbach and his silver orb. He turned to greet them with a wide grin, “You’ve finally made it. How wonderful. And how was your trip from the other realm, Father?”

Mister stepped forward to the center of the chamber. He laughed, “It was a rough landing. They could have had the red carpets ready when I arrived.” His smile became a frown.

“Now, now, such hostilities are not needed here, Father. Perhaps you would like some tea? Or maybe some cupcakes? Of course, I also have souls. Would you care for one, Father?” Feilbach waved his arm toward the silver orb at his side.

Mister’s voice increased in volume, “No thanks, I’m already full. So…How long were you planning on tormenting these ponies?”

“As long as these poor souls wanted, why?”

“No reason. And what does Amber think about the things you’ve done here?” This question was a huge mistake.

Feilbach released a ball of black gunk that shot through the room, wrapping itself around his father’s throat, lifting him off the ground. It carried him to Feilbach’s side.

“How dare you mention her name? You don’t deserve to utter those words! She did more for me than you ever hoped to do!” He tossed his father back to the other side of the room.

Fluttershy stepped forward, “Give up, Feilbach! You can’t win this. Not now.”

Feilbach laughed, “Silly little pony! You still continue to resist me? Sure, you saved your little friends, but do you honestly think that’s enough to stop me? Have you forgotten what I showed you on the other side, Fluttershy? You know, how easily I struck down your princesses.” A black cloud of smoke appeared above him, on the ceiling, and slowly sank down into the chamber.

The cloud landed on the floor in front of him, and retracted back into his body. On the floor lay the body of Princess Celestia… Beside her was Princess Cadence’s body. Feilbach pointed to both of them, “You see? Sol and Love were not enough to take me down! And I even possessed Luna! The Triad is powerless against me, let alone some insignificant little ponies from a small backwater town!”

Twilight started to say something, but Fluttershy held up a hoof to stop her. “Yeah, you beat Sol, Luna, and Love. But we have something you’ve never dreamed up, Feilbach. Have you ever heard the legend of the Elements of Harmony? Oh wait, of course you haven’t! They were created while you were still imprisoned!” A smug smirk covered Fluttershy’s face.

Everypony smiled with her, realizing where this was going.

“Bah, the Elements of Harmony? What are they, little gemstones? Please, like I’m afraid of some jewelry!” Feilbach scoffed at her obvious plot. “Besides, do you think I didn’t notice your missing red stallion?”

The ponies all turned around to find Big Macintosh not there. They had no clue where he went. As far as they knew, he had been with them the entire time. “But…Where did he go?” Fluttershy asked them, confused.

“Wait…you mean to tell me you didn’t send him to retrieve something inside the castle?! But then why isn’t he here with you?” Feilbach spun around, looking in every visible corner of the room, wary of a sneak attack.

“He probably got lost on his way here with us, the ol’ lug…” Applejack placed her hoof over her face.

“Aw shucks, AJ. I thought you had more faith in your big brother.” Big Mac’s voice rang out in the room.

Feilbach was on edge. He screamed, “What is this nonsense! Show yourself, stallion! Are you really trying a preemptive strike against me?” Feilbach flailed around, checking every direction he could.

“Eeyup…” Big Mac’s voice called as he charged through the doorway beside Feilbach.

The door led to a meeting room connected to the throne room, and led into the main hallway. Big Mac had taken a detour to flank attack Feilbach should things get bad. And so he did. The full force of Big Mac’s tackle knocked Feilbach all the way to the other side of the room. The silver orb flashed once briefly, as if to protest or cheer.

The pouch at Fluttershy’s side immediately responded to the orb. Without any warning, the diamond ripped a hole in the pouch as it shot itself directly at the orb. Upon making contact, the entire room was engulfed in silver light. When the light faded, everypony found themselves in the gardens outside the castle. Birds and flowers covered the area.

The ponies were in the exact same spots as before, in relation to each other. Even Feilbach and the silver orb were in the same spots. Celestia’s body convulsed as a bright white light entered it, in similar fashion to the black smoke. Her eyes shot open, and immediately she expanded her wings and situated herself of the side of the room with the other ponies.

She sighed lazily, “How long have I been trapped in this wretched orb?”

Fluttershy addressed her, “Roughly twelve hours, Your Highness.”

“Hmm? Fluttershy?” She took the time to look around her. She saw Twilight and all of her friends, Big Mac, and some stallion she didn’t recognize resting on one of the hedges. “And what could possibly have led you ponies to save me?”

Twilight was going to say something, when a scream rang out from across the garden. Cadence’s body convulsed wildly, black smoke pouring from within her. After a minute the spasms stopped and she stood up, just like Celestia before her. The white orb flashed again, this time calling for the onyx in Fluttershy’s pouch.

Through the same hole the diamond had made, the onyx flew straight into the orb, causing another reaction. This time, the light that filled the realm was textured to look similar to the night sky. Nothing sprang into life here; it just remained the same texture. A ball of white light took shape in front of them.

The light took the shape of a mare, almost Celestia’s size. The mare examined herself carefully before scanning the area with her eyes. She looked over at Celestia and the other ponies. “Big Sister, it’s about time you showed up to get me out of here!” The mare had Luna’s voice.

“Luna, is that you, sister?” Celestia took a few steps forward before Fluttershy intervened.

Fluttershy leaped in front of Celestia, holding her hoof in the air. She said, with an angry tone, “Don’t go near her, Princess. This could be some trick of Feilbach’s. And even if it isn’t Luna will have to steal her body back by herself. This is her fight, not ours.” Celestia took a few steps back, unsure of how to feel about being commanded by such a timid pony.

The other ponies stared at her in awe and disbelief. Fluttershy meant business now.

“Take my body back? Whatever do you mean?” She looked around the area once more before noticing a pony lying off to the side. The pony’s mane was textured like the surrounding area, so she barely noticed it…until it moved.

Feilbach rose from the ground, his eyes growing larger and his mane standing up in anger. “This cannot be happening. After all this time, the orb betrays me to the descendants of the Triad. The same Triad that filled it with so many hurt souls… Damn you orb!” In an instant, Feilbach’s black smoke engulfed the orb, as if it were crushing it.

Suddenly, Mister sprang back to life. “Son, don’t do it! If you destroy the orb, all of those souls will disappear! The souls that give you life! Your mother’s soul! My soul! Amber’s soul! If you destroy the orb, all of it will be lost!”

The smoke released the orb. Feilbach looked at his father, anger apparent in even the pure crimson eyes. “You’re right, Father. I have come too close to allow myself to lose. If you want your body back, Princess, feel free to take it from me.” He rushed at Luna, the black smoke engulfing him.

Stop!

In an instant, Feilbach collapsed onto the ground.

This is wrong! Luna quick, take your body while he is down!

The orb shined brightly as an aura surrounded Feilbach. It held him in place. Luna approached his collapsed figure as he struggled wildly to break free. In a flash of black light, the figure that was Luna disappeared, and the being that was Fielbach disappeared as well. After a minute of wondering what had happened, a beam of blue light fell from the infinite sky. When the beam went away, Luna was standing tall, a smile on her face.

Everypony ran over to greet her back to consciousness. The orb stayed in place, flashing faintly. After a few words were spoken, Luna turned to the orb. She remembered how it swallowed her soul. “Why did you help me, orb? I thought he controlled you.”

One does not control their mother. That is an impossible feat. For the third time, I have betrayed my son… For the third time, I have allowed him to lose his way…

“As touching as this moment may be for you, Mother, I’m afraid you are mistaken!” Feilbach’s voice echoed throughout the realm. It sounded so close, yet so far away.

Quickly, everypony! You must leave this realm! A portal opened in front of the orb. You must escape quickly! Everypony rushed to comply with the orb, trailing one after another into the portal.

They arrived on the other side to see a silver-maned, black coat, red-eyed stallion staring at them…

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