Phillip slowed as he reached the airship docks, his breath condensing before his face as he panted. A great flagpole, the silver metal coated in frost, greeted him as he entered through the two wide metal gates. The Equestrian flag waved feebly as he approached, the bright sky blue seeming despondent and pathetic against the pitch black sky.

Several airships of varying sizes, their colors dulled by the darkness, were tied to the docks that jutted out over the cliffside into the empty air, languidly bobbing up and down in the air. Shivering in the howling wind, Phillip walked along the docks, passing the large warehouses that were used for storage and maintenance of the ships.

Finally, he reached number 13. The great doors with the peeling, painted letters loomed over him, like the entrance to Hell. Death beckoned to him.

He swallowed and closed his eyes for a moment, reaching up to place his hoof over the crystal beneath his cuirass. His heart was pounding frantically in his ears, as if trying to defy his fate. He took a slow, deep breath, centering himself. For a moment, the scent of Daring’s mane intruded on his senses, brought to him by the icy wind—her scent, and the taste of her lips on his…

And then the moment passed. Opening his eyes, Phillip pushed the door open and entered, switching on the built-in flashlight on his spaulder.

The warehouse was dark and cold. His hoofsteps against the concrete floor echoed against the few drywall sections that remained standing. He glanced up at the catwalks that spanned above him, walking around a discarded crate and a metal support column.

SLAM!

The sudden sound behind him made him whirl around, instinctively reaching for the sword at his side. The door had slammed shut behind him and black crystals were sprouting from the ground, blocking his exit. He turned around and continued forward.

Passing around a section of drywall, he spotted an indistinct shape lying on the ground. Curious, he stepped forward to examine it in the light of his flash.

As he drew closer, he felt his stomach recoil as he recognized the object. A pile of scarlet sheets laying in a tangled heap. He could still smell his scent upon them. His scent, and Zugzwang’s.

“One bad day,” a voice spoke from the darkness, echoing off the walls. Phil fully drew his sword from its scabbard and looked around, but his adversary was nowhere to be seen.

“Show yourself!” he demanded.

“I think not,” Zugzwang replied from his unseen position. “There are still things that need to be done.”

Phil slowly lowered his guard slightly and began walking forward, still looking around. “Just tell me one thing,” he called out. “Why?”

Zugzwang sighed deeply. “I thought I made that obvious.

“As I told you, I realized long ago that nopony truly cares about anypony else except themselves. And why should they?” Zugzwang asked. “What is life? A brief candle flickering in the endless darkness, nothing more. We are born, we struggle to survive, we create foals to inherit our damnation if we are lucky, and we return to the ashes. There is nothing to live for, nor to die for.”

“So you turned to crime out of sheer boredom,” Phillip answered.

“And why not? It’s not like there’s anything else to do. Until you came along, that is.” Zugzwang paused his speech for a moment, collecting himself.

“I told you long ago that I would burn you, that I would destroy everything you cared about and stood for,” he finally continued in a vindictive tone. “Any other victory would be hollow, after all: we are not just two minds battling each other. We are the champions of our respective philosophies. You, the white knight of law, order, and justice, and I, the black king of crime, anarchy, and chaos. Killing you would never be sufficient; killing the things you represented, killing the lies and illusions that I hated, is what I was always after.”

Phillip reached a large, clear area in the middle of the warehouse and paused, looking around for any sign of his adversary.

“You know as well as I do how hard it is to be the smartest pony in the room,” Zugzwang continued, his voice seeming to be close by. “We both see things that are so blatantly obvious, and all we can wonder is, ‘Why can’t anypony else see it?’” He snorted disdainfully. “God, ordinary ponies are just so stupid.”

“And how does that tie into this?” Phillip asked.

“Because I want everypony to see it!” Zugzwang snapped, his voice suddenly reaching a manic fervor. “I’m out for myself; I acknowledge that my life is meaningless! I freely admit the truth that I had always known, deep down! Why can’t anypony else?” He stopped, taking several deep breaths to calm himself.

“So I decided that I would make them all see. I would tear them down from their pretend thrones and shove the truth of life into their idiotic faces if that’s what it took to make them see, and to finally break you.”

There was a flash of light above Phillip, momentarily blinding him. When he looked up, he saw an image spread before him like a banner: a view of the lobby of Precinct Three. Several Guards and civilian ponies were inside, their gestures animated, their faces contorted in fear and anger as they shouted at each other. Phillip recognized Fleur de Lis at the center of the argument. Looking up, he saw a clock on the wall, reading five minutes to midnight.

“Please, everypony, calm down!” Night Light shouted over the arguing. “My two kids and their friends are out there already! They can—”

“We would know if they had solved zhis already!” Fleur de Lis cried out.

“They’ve been taken down before!” an earth pony stallion pointed out.

“Never for long!” a younger mare replied.

“What if they failed?” a pegasus mare asked, her eyes wandering and lost. “What if they didn’t find the bomb?”

“We can’t take that chance!” the earth pony stallion cried. There were a number of shouts of agreement from others, the number and volume drowning out the cries of dissent.

“We should at least put it to a vote,” an older unicorn stallion declared. A ripple of agreement passed through the other ponies.

“No!” Night Light disagreed. “This is not something we can discuss!”

“Why shouldn’t we?” a mare answered. “It’s our lives at stake here!”

“There is nothing to discuss!” Night Light shouted back.

“No, there isn’t,” Fleur de Lis answered. “This isn’t something that can be discussed.” She slowly turned in place, looking into every desperate, fearful eye. “Two lives for an entire city is a fair trade, n’est-ce pas? I have already lost my husband; I know that many of you have lost parents, siblings, husbands and wives, even our children. I do not wish for anypony else to die!” She paused and took a slow breath, raising her head with an expression of cold, detached determination.

“For the sakes of our loved ones, we must do this.”

Several of the other ponies nodded in silent assent. There was no cheering, no shouting, only a single-minded, grim movement forward. As one, the civilians began to advance towards the infirmary.

“No, wait!” Twilight Velvet pleaded, trying to block the oncoming flood. “This isn’t the answer!”

“Enough!”

Every voice was silenced and every head turned at Strider’s cry. He and a line of City Guards spread out in front of the ponies, drawing their swords and forming a defensive line.

“All of you will stand down!” Strider declared, drawing his own broadsword. The desperate civilians hesitated at the sight of the sharp blades, but did not fall back. For a desperate moment that stretched out into eternity, nopony and nothing moved save the second hand of the clock over the wall. They had less than an hour until midnight, less than an hour to die.

“Drop your weapons!”

Everypony looked up in shock to see Celestia and Luna walking towards them. Despite their bandaged forms and the exhaustion deeply set in their eyes, they carried themselves with all the regality and strength that their titles held. Fluttershy and Rarity followed behind them.

“All of you will drop your weapons!” Luna repeated. “Not one more drop of innocent blood will be spilled tonight! Not here!”

The Guards hesitated for a moment, then dropped their swords on the ground with a great clattering.

“My friends, we cannot let fear rule us,” Celestia announced gently, turning to the frightened ponies who had, moments before, been baying for her blood. “I realize that you all are frightened right now, and it seems as though there is no hope.”

“Believe us, if we believed that it were the best option, we would gladly lay down our lives for you all,” Luna declared. “But that is not how we solve our problems. We resolve nothing by letting fear or hatred divide us.

“We are better than this,” Celestia concluded, looking each of her frightened ponies in the eye. “I believe that you all are better than this.”

The civilians looked down at the floor and at each other, shame slowly spreading across their faces and their postures relaxing. The Guards breathed sighs of relief.

Suddenly, one of the swords was surrounded by a pink aura and flew through the air to Fleur de Lis’ hoof. “Hope will not keep us alive!” she cried, tears running down her eyes as she advanced forward.

“Fleur, no!” Rarity shouted, springing forward and placing herself between Fleur and the Guards.

Fleur blinked at her friend. “Get out of my way, Rarity,” she demanded softly. “This needs to be done.”

“You know this is wrong,” Rarity replied quietly.

The sword trembled in Fleur’s hoof, but she remained steadfast. “I don’t want to die, Rarity; it’s as simple as zhat!”

Rarity took in a slow breath and stood up tall. “Then you will have to kill me first,” she declared calmly.

“Rarity, no!” Celestia cried in horror. “I won’t allow you to—”

“This is my decision, not yours, Your Highness,” Rarity continued, her gaze never wavering from Fleur.

Fleur stared at her friend in shock. “Get out of my way,” she repeated.

“I do not want to fight you,” Rarity said plainly. “But I am not moving.”

Fluttershy looked at the scene with an expression of horror, then took in a deep breath and proceeded forward, placing herself next to Rarity.

“Fluttershy, what are you—?” Rarity asked.

“And me, too,” Fluttershy declared calmly, her eyes on Fleur. She reached out and grasped Rarity’s hoof. “This is the right thing to do,” she added quietly to her friend.

Fleur stared, then with a sudden movement, lifted the blade and pressed it against Rarity’s neck. Every eye fell upon the two mares in their silent standoff, Rarity calmly looking up at Fleur even as the sword pressed against her flesh.

And above them all, the clock continued ticking forward.

Despite the chill of the room, sweat trickled down Twilight’s brow. She had taken Zugzwang’s queen and one of his bishops and rook, but his enchanted pieces were merciless, seizing two of her pieces for every one she captured.

“Your Highness, time’s running out,” Sergeant Barker reported, looking down at his watch and licking his lips.

“Shh!” Twilight snapped, not looking up from the board.

Right now, her queen was in danger from Zugzwang’s knight, but her bishop was threatened by his rook. She glanced back at his king, which was resting on the far end of the board, as if taunting her.

Licking her lips, Twilight looked over her end of the board. All she had left were a few pawns, both her rooks—one of whom was guarding her king—her queen, one bishop, and one knight. She hovered her hoof over the board. Should she get her queen out of danger? Or her bishop, which was in line to attack the black king’s enforcement?

She could feel the gazes of her friends on her, waiting for her to move. The big black box sat next to her, silent and unmoving.

“You can do it, Twilight,” Applejack quietly encouraged her.

She nodded and swallowed. And with a final breath, she brought her hoof down, grasped her selected piece, and made her move.

“I really should thank you,” Zugzwang spoke softly. “You were the one that inspired me to become better. Before, I was content to be a king. Now, thanks to you, I have become a god. And my will shall be done.”

“You’re forgetting something, Zugzwang,” Phillip interrupted, tearing his eyes away from the image and slowly walking in a circle.

“Am I?” Zugzwang asked.

“Yes,” Phillip replied, turning about. “Those cigarettes you’re so fond of? Goldleaf, Saddle Arabian tobacco? There are a number of side effects to smoking: lung cancer, rotting teeth, increased risk of stroke…”

He suddenly whirled around and drew his revolver in a fluid motion, firing three shots. There was a cry of pain and Zugzwang shimmered into view, his invisibility spell broken by the shock of pain. Blood dribbled down his suit.

A gray remote fell from Zugzwang’s grasp and skidded across the floor. Immediately, Phillip dived for the remote, snatching it up as he tucked and rolled.

“Halitosis,” he finished, pocketing the detonator and aiming his revolver.

Snarling, Zugzwang fired a stream of golden-red magic at Phillip’s weapon, causing it to grow hot in his hoof. He tossed it aside as it melted into a misshapen mass of metal on the ground.

“If you love these ponies so much, Phillip Finder...” Zugzwang declared coldly, grimacing as he rose to his hooves. Hissing in pain, he magically sealed his bullet injuries. A column of smoke swirled in the air next to him, forming into a black, crystalline saber. “Then you can die for them,” he growled.

Phillip calmly drew his sword from its sheath and stepped into a low guard stance, his grey stormclouds looking directly into Zugzwang’s blackened voids as the two circled each other.

Zugzwang lit up his horn, the scarlet light swirling around it. Phillip immediately darted in and slashed at his head, forcing him to duck and lose his focus before moving to riposte. A shower of sparks danced along Phil’s armor as he deflected it with his spaulder, slamming the pommel of his blade into Zugzwang’s gut, sending the unicorn stumbling back.

“Guard training manual for dealing with unicorns,” Phil said calmly, sinking back into his guard stance and edging closer to the winded unicorn. “Rule one, never let them cast.”

Zugzwang snarled, a crimson glint in his eyes as he rushed Phil, forcing him to keep on the defensive with quick, precise cuts. The sound of ringing metal filled the air as Phil met each strike with his own, using the longer reach and weight of his own blade to force a stalemate between the two combatants.

“Rule two, their swordplay will most likely be sloppy,” Phil intoned, shoulder charging Zugzwang after one of his cuts, sending the unicorn stumbling back before settling back into his guard stance. His horn glowed dangerously and Phillip paused.

“This fight is pointless,” Zugzwang said, panting a little as he regained his composure and began circling again. He pointed to the projection, where Fleur still held her sword to Rarity’s neck. “All she needs to do is make one simple cut, and I’ll have won.”

“She won’t do it,” Phil replied.

“And what proof do you have of that, Phillip? I planted the seeds for this long before the barrier was cast. You know as well as I do that there’s no reason for her not to do so.”

“This is one time where I don’t need proof, Zugzwang. I have this on faith,” Phil replied, his eyes narrowing.

Zugzwang stared at Phillip with a dumbfounded expression, the corner of his mouth twitching as he began to laugh. It started as a low rumble, then a giggle, but soon the unicorn’s mad cackle began to echo from the rafters as he clutched his sides, shaking with mirth. “Y-you have this on faith?! The great Phillip Finder, relying on something as abstract as faith to guide him?!”

Phillip remained silent, watching as Zugzwang covered his face with a hoof and kept laughing, arching his back an uncanny angle until he was bent upwards. Then, all of a sudden, as though a switch had been thrown, the laughter stopped.

“It would appear that I was wrong about you, liebling.” His voice was suddenly soft and every syllable bit like frostbite. “You are just like all the others.” Zugzwang’s hoof dropped from his face, the foreleg going limp at his side as he hunched over and turned his head towards the stormy-eyed earth pony who had entertained him for so long. All his research, all his theorizing, the entire profile that was Phillip Finder, meaningless.

“Very well then. One last gambit,” Zugzwang spat, lowering his blade a little and jerking his chin towards the projection. “Let’s see if your faith brings you anything.”

Rarity and Fluttershy’s eyes showed no fear; instead they were filled with a calmness, a peace that seemed to stretch out in front of Fleur. The trembling widow looked up from Rarity to the Princesses. Both of the alicorns looked back at her evenly, showing no judgement, no anger. They looked at her as though they pitied her. The crowd of ponies around them stared, unable to look away.

Fleur looked back at Rarity, her breathing fast as she magically pressed the blade against her throat. With a breath, she pulled the blade back…

And dropped it onto the floor with a clatter. Sobbing bitterly, she drew back and collapsed to the floor.

Rarity and Fluttershy both stepped forward and gently hugged Fleur. The ponies around them slowly stood down, many of them quietly embracing. None of them watched as the hands on the clock reached midnight, then passed it.

Zugzwang’s jaw clenched in disbelief as he stared at the floating image.

“You know what that tells me?” Phillip said, lowering into his guard stance again. “It tells me that ordinary ponies don’t always give up when the chips are down. It tells me that ponies are better than fear or hatred.” He glared at Zugzwang. “It tells me that this whole time, it was you. Only you.”

Zugzwang snarled as the projection dissolved into smoke. “I suppose it’s true what they say,” he said. “If you want something done, you have to do it yourself. So if you would be so kind…”

His body glowed scarlet and he rushed forward, his speed greatly enhanced by his enchantment. Phillip had to perform two backwards hoofsprings to avoid being impaled.

“Give. Me. That. Detonator,” Zugzwang hissed, emphasizing each word with a strike.

Phil met his strikes with his own blade, staggering back as he struggled to fend off the relentless assault from Zugzwang, who now had a mad grin splitting his face. “What’s wrong, Finder? You were doing so well before!” he crowed, rearing back and kicking the earth pony in the chest, causing him to stagger into a stairwell.

Zugzwang rushed him again, black crystals beginning to jut out of the saber as he raised it over his head. Phil’s eyes widened as he quickly scrambled up the stairs, narrowly avoiding the corrupted blade as it crashed through the stairs with a pure ringing sound, leaving behind a pile of twisted metal.

“Running away now? I thought you were made of sterner stuff, liebling!” Zugzwang snarled as he charged up the steps toward Phil, who ducked under another sword swipe and slammed his hoof into Zugzwang’s stomach, forcing his opponent back as he fled to the catwalks above the warehouse floor.

“Oh Phillip~” Zugzwang crooned as he calmly made his way up the stairs after him, his voice sounding heavily distorted as the crystal saber began to grow viciously jagged. “You should know you cannot run from me~”

“Go to hell,” Phil snarled, dropping into a low guard stance as he stood ready on the narrow walkway. Zugzwang reached the top of the stairs before turning to Phillip, who paused to examine his opponent in growing horror.

It was as though something inside the unicorn was trying to break out, as evidenced by the more pronounced curve of his horn and the small shards of crystal that had begun to grow out of his skin. The most telling sign however, were his eyes. No longer were they pitch black voids. They now looked like a portal to Hell; a crimson light shone from behind the blackness, faint wisps of dark power beginning to pour out of his eyes. The figure that was Zugzwang, and yet not Zugzwang raised the now jagged shard of crystal, pointing it directly at Phillip’s chest.

“But my dear liebling, we are already there,” Zugzwang said as he dashed forward, rushing into a lunge with a mad glint in his eyes. Phil barely managed to twist away as the blade sang right past his ear, the blackened crystal seemingly hissing with glee as a small cut opened on his cheek. Bringing his own blade up, Phil batted the lighter weapon out of the way before bringing it down in a diagonal slash, forcing this thing to jump back.

The impact however, caused the catwalk to shake as the chains supporting it shook with the sudden jolt. Phillip braced himself with his sword, regaining his footing as Zugzwang staggered back, gripping onto the railing for balance. “I see, so this is why you fled up here, liebling,” Zugzwang nodded.

Phil grunted as he raised his blade again, holding it in front of him as Zugzwang advanced on him and swung his blade overhead. Their blades locked together.

“I don't understand,” Zugzwang asked, straining against him. “All it would have taken is one bad day, just one and you would be like me. I’ve given you that bad day, and you still fight for these ponies! WHY?!” He flicked his left foreleg, unsheathing his hidden blade before stabbing for Phil’s neck.

“You want to know why?” Phil said calmly as he maneuvered his sword to let the crystal shard slide off. Slipping past as he ducked under the stab, he kicked Zugzwang in the flank, causing the stallion to fall to the floor of the catwalk, shaking it again. “Because I’ve already had my bad day! Twice!”

Zugzwang snarled and leaped back to his hooves, swinging wildly at Phillip who met each of his strikes with a matching cut from his own sword. “When I lost my father! And when I lost my home in the fire!” He reared back and slammed a hoof into Zugzwang’s muzzle, breaking his nose with a solid crack.

“I was lost and alone!” Phil followed up with a vicious back-hoofed strike across Zugzwang’s cheek, sending the demonic stallion staggering back. “I was scared and hurting!” He brought his blade up into a two-hooved strike that whistled toward Zugzwang’s head. The unicorn raised his hidden blade to block it, only for the heavy steel blade to snap the much smaller one in two, leaving a deep cut on Zugzwang’s hoof. He snarled as black crystal began to grow from the wound, sealing it shut.

“Yeah, I might have ended up like you, that’s for damn sure,” he continued, whipping the blade of his sword around to parry another thrust from Zugzwang. “But then somepony reached out to me. They showed me that I wasn’t alone!” He slammed the pommel into the side of Zugzwang’s head, dazing him.

“That’s when I learned that ponies, even ponies like me, can be far better than a sociopathic bastard like you could ever imagine!” Phil roared, rearing back and kicking the unicorn in the stomach, sending him sprawling. “That’s why, Zugzwang. Because as bad as you are, I’ve already fallen as far as you. Because I’ve looked into the same abyss as you did, and I crawled out of it! Because I am stronger than you could ever hope to be!”

Zugzwang shrieked in fury at being defied, his voice distorting into an unholy hiss as he sprung back up and ignited his horn. A spiraling plume of scarlet hellfire tore across the catwalk, melting through the chains and causing the whole structure to collapse onto the warehouse floor. Phillip dived away from the crashing metal and landed heavily, the impact winding him.

Then he heard a soft clatter.

Phil looked up, still dazed from his fall, only to see that the detonator had landed several feet away. Groaning, Phil pulled himself to his hooves and began to stagger over to it, his sword dragging limply in one hoof, only to get knocked back as a wave of force slammed into him.

“I think not, schweinhund,” Zugzwang, or what had once been Zugzwang, snarled as he stood from under the scrap metal he’d been pinned under. “I still have one last move to make.” Most of the stallion’s body was now covered in blackened crystal, seemingly holding him together as he shambled over to the detonator, scooping it up. His eyes blazed brightly with unsuppressed rage, the iris’ now a bright scarlet that matched his curving horn.

Phillip stared helplessly as the thing that was once Zugzwang raised the detonator in triumph.

Twilight moved her pawn forward, placing it in range of the rook guarding the black king. After a moment of hesitation, the dark gold rook moved forward and took the pawn, allowing Twilight to move her queen within striking range of the king. “Check,” she whispered.

The black king moved forward, out of the queen’s range. Twilight advanced with her rook, forcing the king into check again. The black knight took her rook away, but she pressed forward with one of her pawns. The king retreated again, and she swooped in with her queen. “Check…”

Out of nowhere, the black rook rushed in and enveloped the white queen, removing it from the board. Twilight hissed out a breath of frustration and retreated to think.

“This is not good,” she muttered, gnawing on her hoof in fear as her eyes darted over the board. “What happens if I get checkmated? Will the bomb go off? Will I have to start over?”

Flash stepped forward and gripped her hoof, squeezing it gently until she stopped babbling. “Calm down,” he said. “You can do this.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash agreed. “You’re the biggest egghead this size of Vanhoover! A chess game should be no problem for you!”

A phantom of a smile dancing about her lips, Twilight took a deep breath and nodded. She looked over the board once more, observing the position of every piece, determining every possible move. Then her eyes widened in joy.

She reached out, grasped her knight, and in one move, avenged her queen’s capture by taking the rook and placing the king in check once more.

The king stepped back, out of range, but there was nowhere to run to. The pawn that she had kept in reserve, the pawn that the artificial intelligence had underestimated, took two bold strides forward and pinned the king in place. “Checkmate!” Twilight declared proudly, releasing a cheer from her friends.

The golden chessboard faded away and a panel on the box opened up, revealing a set of combination dials with letters instead of numbers.

“Ten slots,” Flash observed.

“Any ideas?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Working on it,” Flash muttered, licking his lips. He stared at the dials for a few moments, then looked up at Twilight. “What was that you said about Zugzwang?”

“He can’t resist being clever,” Twilight replied, looking confused at his question.

Flash thought for a moment more, then bent over the dials again. “That’s right, he can’t,” he muttered, working quickly.

“Beg me,” Zugzwang snarled, the smoke swirling about his eyes.

“Don’t,” Phillip whispered, his eyes darting from the detonator to Zugzwang. The distance was too great, his exhaustion too much.

“Beg me!” Zugzwang demanded, his voice horribly distorted with glee. “Say that their lives matter! Say that this is wrong! Offer to trade your life for their pathetic existences!”

“Please,” Phillip begged, raising a hoof. “Zugzwang, please…”

A horrible, victorious grin spread across Zugzwang’s face. And with a flourish, he pressed the detonator.

Phillip flinched, expecting to hear a distant rumble of thunder that announced death, the death of a thousand innocent ponies coming on swift, icy winds, anticipating the taste of the Blood Plague in the air at any moment…

But nothing happened. All was silent.

Zugzwang’s face turned from a sneer to a grimace of disbelief as he pressed the detonator again and again, but all with the same result.

“Nein! Nein!” he shrieked, throwing the remote aside.

Flash Sentry panted in relief, clutching the two vials of Blood Plague that he had removed from the cloud machine. The fateful name “OZYCOLTIAS” was spelt out before him.

“Nothing beside remains,” he declared.

With a howl of pure rage, Zugzwang fired a stream of magic at Phillip, forcing him to dive out of the way.

“This ends here for you! For you all!” Zugzwang shouted, advancing slowly. “Imagine what it will do to your son when he finds out that daddy’s dead! And I’ll make sure he knows it’s his fault before I kill him! Him, and all of your friends!” A flurry of black crystal daggers ejected themselves from his body and flew at Phillip. They drilled into the concrete floor as he rolled, dived, and cartwheeled to dodge them.

Zugzwang advancing mercilessly, blade ready to part Phillip’s head from his shoulders. Phillip lifted his own broadsword to parry, but the crystal saber knocked his weapon aside and sent it skittering across the floor. Zugzwang followed up with a vicious punch that knocked him down. Growling, he raised his weapon for the final blow.

“Hey!”

Zugzwang whirled around just in time to see a pink blur racing right at him. He grunted in pain as the shape slammed into him, sending him flying across the room.

Phillip blinked in surprise. “Pinkie? ”

“Hi!” Pinkie Pie chirped, helping him up. “Sorry I’m late, but I lost track of you near the docks and it took me a while to find you, and then the doors and windows were all blocked off, so I climbed in through the chimney! That’s really hard, by the way; how does Santa Hooves do it every year?”

“But...why’d you follow me?” Phillip asked, collecting his sword.

“Duh,” Pinkie replied with a small smile. “Because you’re my friend.”

Phillip paused and looked at Pinkie's warm, calm expression. For just a moment, his heart fluttered.

Growling, Zugzwang summoned more crystal fragments and threw them at Pinkie, who had to cartwheel out of the way. “You shouldn’t be here, hure!” Zugzwang shouted, but his advance was halted by a hard double buck to the side.

“Leave her alone!” Phillip snapped, whirling around and making a calculated cut at his head. Zugzwang ducked and parried with his saber, but received a kick in the side from Pinkie. Pinkie leapt up, wrapped her hind legs around Zugzwang’s neck, and twisted powerfully, slamming him into the floor. Dissolving into smoke, he retreated a short distance and reformed, blade up in a guarding stance.

Phillip thrusted low, then Pinkie kicked high, forcing Zugzwang to block sloppily. He dodged around Pinkie and tried to swing at her head from behind, but she ducked, then did a backflip and kicked him in the face. He fell, then rolled back to his hooves just in time to parry a downward cut from Phillip. He fought back to a standing position, barely fending off Pinkie and Phillip’s combined assault.

Pinkie darted to the side and tried to sweep his legs out from underneath him, but received a kick in the face. Zugzwang turned to Phillip and sent him flying backwards with a blast of telekinetic magic. Phillip slammed into a support column and collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

“ENOUGH!” Zugzwang bellowed, seizing Pinkie by the throat in a magical grasp and lifting her off the ground. She kicked helplessly, choking as he tightened his grip. “First you die, then Finder,” he snarled. Pinkie gagged and slowly slumped as she began to pass out.

Panting, Phillip looked up and saw Pinkie struggling in midair. He tried to get up, but his limbs refused to take his weight. His breath burned in his ragged lungs and his heart throbbed. It was over. They were dead.

No.

He took a deep breath, pulling deep into his reserves of willpower, and stood up. He took a step for Pinkie. Then a step for Flash and Twilight. Then a step for all of his friends. Daring. The Princesses. The Royal Guards who had laid down their lives for him. The city of Canterlot. Equestria. One step after another, for every name and face that pulled out from the darkness.

The crystal necklace grew warm, and then a golden-white aura burst from his body. Blinded by the sudden light, Zugzwang dropped Pinkie and turned around. When he saw the thing before him, his jaw dropped in disbelief.

Phillip strode forward, his posture strong and confident. His entire body was encompassed with an aureate shield of energy that shimmered with every step, making him seem larger than he actually was. Three pairs of great, rainbow-colored wings extended from his shoulders. The sword in his hoof seemed to burn as if the blade were made of flame, and his eyes were as cold and dark as storm clouds.

The pony who worshipped himself as a deity stared up at this glowing apparition, and for the first time in his life, felt true fear. With a desperate growl, he fired his magic at Phillip, concentrating every ounce of mana he had left in his body into the attack, but the beam failed to penetrate the shield. He continued to advance, unstoppable.

“Nein! Fernbleiben!” Zugzwang shrieked in panic, backing away as he continued to fire his magic at Phillip, all to no effect.

Phillip clutched the sword in his hoof. He felt the heat of Zugzwang’s spell, but no pain. His love for Equestria, his love for his friends, his hope and determination burnt out every other sensation, every thought except one: he would protect his family. He looked down at Zugzwang, and felt pity for him; he hated love because he could not understand it, could not feel it. How small he was, in the end.

Zugzwang backed up against a wall; he had nowhere else to go, and his magic was draining by the second. With one final step, Phillip advanced into range and ended the battle with one slice.

Zugzwang cried out in pain and horror as his broken horn fell from his head, clattering to the floor, and he collapsed to the ground in a trembling heap. Immediately, Phillip crushed the severed horn into dust beneath his hoof; a wave of black energy flew from the shards with a sound like a scream and quickly dissipated. Panting, Phillip pointed his sword down at Zugzwang as the golden glow faded from his body.

Pinkie groaned as she came to and looked up to see Phillip standing over his conquered foe. “Is it...is it over?” Pinkie asked, coughing.

Phillip smiled at her. “It’s over.”

Outside, the black dome that covered the city cracked and trembled, then shattered, the pieces dissolving into dust as they fell from the sky. A brilliant yellow light washed over the city, embracing it and its citizens in warmth. Every head turned upwards in startlement, raising their forelegs to shield their eyes.

“What’s happening?” Fluttershy asked, squinting out the window.

Twilight Velvet stepped forward, slowly lowering her hoof as she studied the great golden sphere in the suddenly blue sky above them.

“It...it’s the sun,” she whispered, then began to laugh. “It’s the sun!”

A great cheer erupted from the ponies; they sang, they danced and embraced each other, many laughing or crying in relief. The same cheers could soon be heard across the city as civilians and Guards celebrated.

As they exited Seaspray Hall, Twilight, Flash, Rainbow Dash, and Shining Armor cheered as the black crystals that had been piercing their wings and horns dissolved into dust. Rainbow Dash immediately celebrated by flapping up into the air and performing several tight loops through the slowly warming air. Looking up, the friends saw troops of Royal Guards from other cities flying in on airships, helicopters, and pegasi-drawn air chariots, ready to aid in retaking the city.

“We did it! We did it!” Twilight sang, hugging Flash and Shining Armor, joyful tears running down her face. Applejack let out a loud whoop, rising up onto her hind legs and kicking with her front hooves.

Back in Precinct Three, Celestia and Luna both smiled as they stretched their wings. Their horns glowed with energy, and the next moment, both of them were clad in bright gold and dark blue armor, respectively. Celestia’s flowing mane shone like the morning sky and the stars in Luna’s indigo mane twinkled beautifully.

“I think it is long past time we took our home back,” Luna declared.

Lieutenant Strider grinned. “TO ARMS!” he shouted, drawing enthusiastic shouts from the other Guards as they recollected their weapons and prepared to march out into their streets once more.

In a small cottage in the middle of the city, Scarlet Letter looked up in disbelief at the sun in the sky, its dazzling light seeming to mock her. The impossible had happened: Zugzwang had failed. They had failed.

“Madame, we need to go,” Laurier urged, tugging her foreleg.

Scarlet looked down at her son, still asleep and pressed against her chest. “This isn’t over,” she promised him.

Following her bodyguard to a false bookshelf, she pulled out a false book, causing the bookshelf to slide aside and reveal a hidden elevator that would lead down into the extensive crystal caverns beneath the city, created long ago for just such an emergency. Stepping inside with Laurier, Scarlet Letter scowled as she pressed the button to lead them down.

Zugzwang slowly looked up at Phillip, his eyes returning to their normal black. He regarded the blade held to his throat. “What are you waiting for?” he snarled, glaring. “You’ve been wanting this for years!”

Phillip did not move. His face did not change from its infuriatingly stoic expression.

“I tortured your friends!” Zugzwang shouted, his voice rising to a furious, desperate tone. “I raped you! I held this city hostage! I tried to murder everypony you loved! Kill me! Kill me!”

“No,” Phillip answered, his voice devoid of any emotion. “I’m not afraid of you anymore, Zugzwang.”

The words were spoken plainly, but cut deeper than any blade. Zugzwang’s face creased into an expression of complete and abject defeat, and he hung his head in shame. His body seemed to crumple into itself, all of his former hubris and confidence evaporating instantaneously.

“Get up,” Phillip ordered. “You’re going to face justice for what you did.”

Slowly, Zugzwang started to rise to his hooves. Then suddenly, his face twisted in rage and he lunged forward, grabbing Phillip’s sword and pulling himself up. Phillip tried to pull away, but it was too late: the blade pierced Zugzwang’s chest like paper, but he ignored the fatal injury as he rose to his hooves. A second hidden blade sprung from Zugzwang’s sleeve and he stabbed it into Phillip’s chest through a gap in his armor.

Pinkie shrieked. Phillip gasped, his eyes going wide with shock and pain.

“Auf wiedersehen...liebling,” Zugzwang hissed with his final breath, blood bubbling from his lips. He coughed, then fell backwards to the ground. A pool of blood began to spread from his body. His abyssal black eyes stared upwards, as dark and empty as before.

Phillip collapsed, wincing with every breath as he clutched his wound. Bright red blood dripped onto the ground.

“Phillip!” Pinkie Pie cried, rushing to his side. She heaved him up onto her shoulder and began to carry him towards the door.

“C’mon, Phil,” she said, puffing as she struggled to support his weight. “We made it this far!”

Phillip’s vision blurred; darkness faded in and out of his gaze. He tried to say something, but his lungs were no longer working properly; it was taking all of his effort just to breathe. An icy coldness was spreading across his veins, all sound seemed muffled, and he tasted the familiar coppery flavor of blood on his tongue.

Pinkie kicked the now unblocked door open and they staggered out into the sunlight and snow. “You feel that, Phil?” Pinkie asked as she continued to carry him out. “Just hold onto that. You’re going to be all right, okay? We’re all gonna go home and everything’s gonna be okay!”

She heard a noise overhead and looked up. A sky chariot of Royal Guards was flying low over the city. She waved desperately up at them. “Hey! Hey! Down here!”

One of the pegasi drawing the chariot looked down and pointed towards them. The chariot banked and swooped in to land.

“Here they come, Phil!” Pinkie said, turning to him. “You’re gonna be—”

At that moment, Phillip’s weight slipped from her grasp and he collapsed into the red-stained snow, gasping for air. “Phil!” Pinkie cried, dropping down beside him. “No, no!”

He squinted up at her, struggling to focus on her face. She fell silent for a moment, a sudden realization shaking her body, then slowly reached down and grasped his hoof in both of hers, gently rubbing it for warmth. Her lips trembled, then slowly parted into a small, sad, but genuine smile even as tears began to shine in her eyes.

He understood: she wanted the last thing she saw to be something beautiful, something pure. He forced his own face into a smile of his own and slowly reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes. Her face, outlined against the gloriously blue sky, was a wonderful thing to behold, a reflection of the heart behind it. A good thing to live for, and to die for.

He coughed wetly; the pain that had been spreading across his chest suddenly seemed far away, and he forgot that he needed to breathe. His hoof dropped to the ground, no longer able to carry its own weight.

With a last sigh, he closed his eyes and let go of the world.

Author's Notes:

This is how it happened.

This is how Phillip Finder died.

Huge thanks to The Villain in the Glasses for writing the big swordfight scenes! I hope you're ready for the final chapter soon!