Sanity was such a thin, fragile thing, something as easily broken as silence. Tarnish’s talent protected his body from Grogar’s corruptive influence, but he could feel his mind slipping as he made his way up the broken mechanical stairs that no longer moved. More cancerous growths bubbled along his back, but then were purged by his magic.

Flamingo the sword floated overhead while Flamingo’s shadow continued to wrestle with Grogar’s shadow. Held in his magic, the crown glistened and seemed to drip with liquid hate. It was the end of all things and Tarnish had seen it. A dead sun. No more moon. After all, what need did the dead have with the sun and the moon? Grogar wanted to rule over a lifeless ball of rock that drifted through space. Over and over again, the crown had shown Tarnish the end, the infection that would end all life.

The crown was getting heavy, so heavy. It seemed like such a little thing, but keeping it aloft was like holding up the world—or perhaps moving the sun and the moon through the sky. He couldn’t allow it to happen. Life had to continue. He had to find a way. Once up the stairs, he fell back into a gallop and took off at a run.

“Tarnish! However bad it might be, you can do it!”

The sound of Octavia’s voice lifted his spirits and Tarnish found himself inspired. As he rounded the bend, he saw her, Maud, and Vinyl. They were quite some distance away, but seeing them lifted his flagging, failing spirits. He was doing this for them. He loved them, all of them, they were his friends and he loved them.

“You kept going when my strength failed and you’ll keep going now,” Maud deadpanned. “Now hurry, Tarnish… and remember I’ll be waiting for you at the end, when this is over.”

Each breath drawn through his swollen, mashed muzzle burned like live coals shoved into his sinuses. Bloody, salty tears stung his eyes and formed scabs on his cheeks. A steady trickle of blood seeped from his nostrils. Hooves clattering against the stone, Tarnish picked up speed. Soon, he would be out in the streets.

Running through the empty streets, Tarnish made for quite a sight. Flamingo flew with him, bathing the area around him in bright pink light. On the ground, at Tarnish’s hooves, a battle raged, a struggle between a black shadow and a pink shadow, both of whom were locked in mortal combat. Flamingo’s two dimensional projection punched, kicked, bucked, and even bit Grogar’s shadow. She was relentless in her assault, trying to defend Tarnish from its dark influence.

The well lit streets offered no protection. As Tarnish charged down an empty avenue, the shadows around him, the flickering vague shapes cast by flickering street lamps, they all came to life and rushed to Grogar’s aid. Terrifying indescribable shapes came at Tarnish from all sides and when his hooves struck the road, they grabbed at him.

He was being attacked by shapes—by outlines—by a foal’s shadow puppet show turned nightmarish. These shadows were not harmless however. The outline of four jagged claws raked against Tarnish’s rear right leg and four gushing wounds were opened. The blow almost caused Tarnish to stumble. Falling down among them would be fatal, Tarnish realised.

He didn’t think Flamingo could save him.

More claws raked at his legs, the suggestion of claws, the outline of claws. Ribbons of crimson appeared upon his flesh. The assault upon his body and mind continued as Grogar showed him the future, the horrible, horrible future. As Tarnish ran, Flamingo the sword swooped down and sliced at a shadow, cutting it in half. It fell away and went still.

The Tree of Harmony had made Flamingo supernaturally sharp…

In his mind's eye, he saw Princess Celestia chained to a rock and being devoured, an endless feast as her immortality allowed her to regenerate the flesh being devoured by Grogar’s minions. Her suffering would be never ending. More claws raked at his legs and he saw Princess Luna chained up on the bottom of the ocean, suffocating, drowning, but unable to die as the leviathans of the crushing deep consumed her.

Gibbering with fear, Tarnish kept going as Flamingo the sword and Flamingo the pegasus tried to defend him from the shadows. There was still so far to go and Tarnish was starting to wonder if he could make it. His strength was failing and he feared that he might go mad if the nightmarish images in his brain did not cease.

There was a squawk and a screech, both of which alarmed Tarnish a great deal. He was no longer alone down here. Something had joined him and it was coming right at him—a fireball approached, bringing with it light and heat. Tarnish’s heart lept up into his throat as he recognised who and what had come to save him, and there was no doubt that the bird was here to save him.

With an avian shriek, the phoenix descended upon the shadows trying to bring down Tarnish. Coming in from the side, it swooped between Tarnish’s front and hind legs, flying with the skill of centuries. Tarnish didn’t have time to marvel at the sight though, he had to keep running.

“KILL THEM PHILOMENA!” a booming voice commanded and it echoed through the abandoned, empty streets. “DESTROY THEM! PROTECT MY LOYAL SERVANT!”

The phoenix’s fire set the shadows ablaze and they recoiled in two dimensional agony, their outlines and shapes contorting as they burned. With claws and beak, the phoenix brought the hurt, but the shadows were not defenseless. The writhing, seething mass grabbed the phoenix and overwhelmed her. Tumours bubbled along her wings, her body, and her neck. Her head became misshapen and grotesque. Pulled down to the ground, the shadows overwhelmed her, then began to devour her, somehow consuming her flaming body.

Philomena let out a grievous wail as her fires began to extinguish. The shadows it seemed, were winning this fight. More bloody tears ran down Tarnish’s cheeks as Philomena let out an agonised death cry that made morbid, macabre echoes through the empty, abandoned city.

Rent limb from limb, torn apart and devoured, Philomena succumbed to the shadows.

It was not in the nature of phoenixes to be gracious losers when faced with death. Philomena, like most of her kind, cheated when faced with mortal injury. Her remains, still being devoured, still growing tumours, began to glow. The instant of spontaneous combustion blazed as bright as the sun and dozens of shadows met their end when Philomena evaded death and self resurrected.

Now blazing like a miniature sun, her body renewed and reinvigorated by the temporary inconvenience of death, Philomena let her light shine. With a squawk, she turned her flames on Tarnish, burning him, searing his flesh, and causing him to screech while he smouldered. As painful as the flames were, they were beneficial—the wounds on his legs began to close up and bleed a little less. For a second, Tarnish was completely engulfed in a fiery conflagration that went from hoof to ear.

It severed most of the shadows clinging to him and Tarnish, smouldering, still ablaze, took the opportunity to run. It seemed that being killed made Philomena hostile and a bit testy—there could be no doubt that the phoenix was cranky. The edge of the city was now in sight and Tarnish knew that he would have to crawl through the narrow crevice that lead to the outside world.

Blinking, squinting, Tarnish came to a halt when he stepped out into the bright sunlight. He emerged from the cave and it took him several minutes for his eyes to adjust to the light. Now in the sun, Tarnish had the curious condition of casting no shadow at all. Even his own shadow was gone. It just wasn’t there.

As his vision cleared, he saw two figures nearby. He blinked, trying to get them into focus, then whimpered as his many wounds threatened to overwhelm him. The crown was even heavier now, it was the weight of the world in his telekinesis, and greasy smoke curled up from its jagged, sawtooth-like edges. For a moment, Tarnish went blind in one eye as the left side of his face was swallowed by bulbous, sagging tumours, but then his magic purged the corrupting influence.

“Just a little further,” Princess Celestia said, “and all of this will be over.” The alicorn, now present in body, kept a safe distance from Tarnish and the dangerous artifact that he bore.

“Don’t give up.” Helianthus’ voice was smooth, steady, and reassuring. “We’re all counting on you. I know you won’t fail us, Mister Teapot.”

“It’s so heavy,” Tarnish whined as his legs wobbled. All around him there was an explosion of poison joke as the earth tried to resist the corruptive influence of the crown. His eyes, white with thaumaturgical energy, poured out blue mist as a riotous explosion of blue radiated outwards from him. Even more poison joke flowers bloomed and Tarnish became an ugly bearer of disease in the midst of a beautiful blue carpet of flowers.

“Just keep going,” Princess Celestia said, trying to coax Tarnish along.

“Everything hurts so much. He kept showing me what he would do to you and Luna… and the others.” As Tarnish spoke, Philomena emerged from the cave and then took off soaring into the sky overhead. “My mind doesn’t feel right any more… I know my body can’t be corrupted, but I think I’m going mad.”

“You must keep moving.” Helianthus’ voice was both gentle and commanding.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to be the same.” Sides hitching, Tarnish began sobbing and the pain in his muzzle almost caused him to pass out right there on the spot. He swooned, almost falling over, almost dropping the crown. Weeping bloody tears, he fought to remain upright and keep the crown from touching the earth. It would be disastrous and he knew it.

Almost choking on his own phlegm and blood, Tarnish put one hoof in front of the other and began to walk towards the shore of the lake. Flamingo hovered in the air beside him, now a solemn honour guard as he continued his march towards the end. No shadows tormented Tarnish now, it was just him and the crown.

And the crown was very, very heavy.

As he approached the shore, entirely new species of poison joke manifested. It began growing upon the surface of the lake like water lilies. On the edge of the water, a tree grew with supernatural speed and among its leaves poison joke flowers blossomed. The tree had hundreds of years of growth in mere moments, becoming a majestic guardian against the corruptive influence of the crown.

“So heavy,” Tarnish whimpered as his hoof hit the edge of the water.

Princess Celestia and Helianthus moved out onto the water as well, determined to follow Tarnish every step of the way, but they kept a safe distance. Philomena came down and with a raucous squawk, she landed upon Celestia’s noble horn. She let out a plaintive wail and her blazing eyes focused upon Tarnish.

“It feels like it is crushing me… every step, it gets heavier!”

“Grogar’s most prized possession is about to be destroyed and he knows it!” Celestia’s voice was majestic and commanding. “Just a little farther, Tarnish! It’s almost over!”

“Stiff upper lip!” Helianthus demonstrated her best stiff upper lip as she moved forwards over the surface of the lake with Tarnish. “It’s just a little farther… you are so close now!”

“It all comes down to this moment…” Princess Celestia stood on the island a safe distance away from Tarnish and Maud stood beside her. “The others are a safe distance away. I teleported them to your wagon.” The ground beneath her hooves was carpeted in poison joke and several brand new poison joke trees now grew on the island.

Around them, a growing shield of poison joke covered the lake.

“Do it, Tarnish… end it.” Some expression could be seen upon Maud’s face, but it was impossible to say what it might be. Like Tarnish, she was bloody, battered, and weary. “I’m ready to do my part and I’m just waiting for you to do yours.”

“I wish I could say goodbye to Maledico,” Tarnish murmured as he gazed into his blue orb. “But there is no time to go into the orb. No time for final goodbyes. One life must end so that millions might live.”

“I’m tired, Tarnish… I need to go back into my sheath soon. I’m so very tired. I can barely hold myself up.” Flamingo let out a yawn and she wobbled in the air beside Tarnish.

With blood still dripping from his nostrils, Tarnish placed the orb in the center of the crown. It fit quite well, almost as if was meant to fit. He held them up in front of him right at eye level, and then he grabbed Flamingo with his magic. She did nothing to resist him and holding her was somehow reassuring.

“Reality is going to tear and things are going to get weird.”

Pausing, Tarnish took a moment to consider the new voice that he had just heard.

“Discord, now is not the time for your jokes,” Princess Celestia said in a commanding, even threatening voice.

“Discord, don’t make me null you.” Tarnish, still holding Flamingo, eyeballed the Herald of Chaos and wondered what his sword might do to draconequus limbs.

“Oh, I have no intentions of being a hinderance.” Discord held up his paw and his talons and his voice now had a curious tone of appeasement. “I sensed what was going on and I thought I would come and help. I too, can absorb chaos.”

“Why are you here, Discord?” Princess Celestia asked.

“Why, Dearest Fluttershy, of course,” Discord replied, as if that explained everything. His brows furrowed and he turned away from Celestia to face Tarnish. “Clean stroke. Down the middle. It will be loud and reality will begin imploding. I will shield you from the consequences of your actions as best I can.”

“Thank you, Discord.” Eyes narrowed, Maud stared up at the tall draconequus.

“Oh, I am doing this for my own selfish reasons,” Discord said as he made a dismissive gesture with his paw. “I need life to continue. Specifically, I need Fluttershy’s life to continue. And for her to be happy, I need the lives of her friends to continue, and by extension, that means all of you. Don’t think I’m doing this to be nice!”

“Of course,” Maud deadpanned.

Holding Flamingo aloft, Tarnish took a deep breath and began to line up his cut. He couldn’t help but notice that Discord looked nervous, and a nervous draconequus was a bit unnerving. Whatever made a draconequus nervous couldn’t be a good thing. With a downward chop, Flamingo would hit the orb first and then the crown.

Blinking away bloody, stinging tears, Tarnish held Flamingo up high and then brought her down in a smooth, fluid chop. Her keen edge hit the orb and didn’t even slow down. There was a flash of blue light that blinded Tarnish, but his downward stroke continued. When Flamingo’s blade hit the crown, there was an odd indescribable sound, the sound of insanity.

With a whoosh, the world went topsy turvy all around Tarnish. Blinded, he did not see the orb and the crown collapse in on themselves, imploding into nothingness. There was a howl from Discord and Tarnish felt his body being lifted as gravity decided that it was time for a vacation.

Just as Discord had promised, reality ripped open all around them. Tarnish’s vision came back just in time to give him a view through a swirling rip in reality. On the other side, he saw what was most certainly a pony, but its legs were made of socks and its body was knitted from yarn. She stared back at him, looking quite befuddled, and her button eyes blinked with fine knitted eyelids.

With a schlorp sound, the rip closed.

Looking about, Tarnish saw other rips, other tears as reality broke down around him. Through one, he saw what he believed to be a human girl, and she was surrounded by other human girls. For some reason, the girls looked familiar in a most peculiar way.

“Princess?” the crimson and gold haired girl asked.

“Sunset?” Princess Celestia’s voice sounded as though she was choking. “I miss you, my former student! Write to me soon!”

“Okay, I will—” The words were cut off when the tear collapsed in upon itself and closed.

Through another tear, Tarnish saw a draconequus, but this one was female. She looked crazed, but kind, and she appeared to be hugging and annoying a bright buttery yellow pegasus stallion with a pale pink mane. Tarnish couldn’t be certain, but he couldn’t help but feel that he was seeing some sort of mirrored form of Discord and Fluttershy in some alternate reality.

Before Tarnish could react, the rift closed and was lost to the swirling chaos vortex that was starting to form. A rift opened up a little too close to him and it was Discord that kept Tarnish from falling through. A tentacle reached out through the rift and Flamingo chopped it off before it could grab somepony or violate them, going where a tentacle should not go.

The roar of a passing train could be heard through one of the rips, and the gush of water could be heard in another. Princess Celestia almost fell into an open tear but with a flap of her wings, she pulled herself away from danger. Philomena let out an annoyed squawk and somehow remained upon Celestia’s horn.

“There is an enormous lizard destroying a city and knocking over skyscrapers,” Maud deadpanned as she backed away from a gaping rift. “What’s a Gojira, anyhow?”

Something horrendous that defied description tried to shove its way through a tear, but Discord booped it on what might have been the monster’s nose and then he shoved it back. Snarling, spitting, Discord closed the tear by causing a zipper to manifest, which he then pulled closed.

Reaching out with his paw and his talons, Discord began grabbing motes of raw chaos and then he shoved them into himself. He began shoving them into Tarnish too, his mismatched appendages somehow passing through Tarnish’s flesh. The draconequus worked with frantic energy as he tried to hold reality together and a dark scowl contorted his long face.

“There will be a thin place here!” Discord shouted as he crammed more chaos into himself and into Tarnish. “A very thin place! Things from other whens and wheres might pass through here from time to time!”

“We’ll deal with it somehow!” Princess Celestia replied.

“Hang on! The worst of it is over! Just wait it out!” Discord grabbed a throbbing mass of chaos and jammed it into Tarnish’s throat. “Just a little longer!”

The air crackled all around Tarnish and he watched as Discord and Celestia exchanged a few words. He couldn’t hear what was being said and he was too tired to be curious. Without saying goodbye, Discord vanished with a snap of his talons. Tarnish’s eyes, which were scabbed around the edges from his bloody tears, had trouble blinking.

“There is only one thing left to do,” Celestia said in a weary voice. “Tarnish, you must somehow find it in you to finish this. You know what needs to be done. I will leave to give you and Maud a bit of privacy.”

“Don’t leave me,” Tarnish whimpered. “The darkness… what I saw… what he did to you… I need to feel your light…”

“Very well, I shall stay with you.” Without flapping her wings, Celestia rose up into the air and she shone like the sun. Her body was consumed in flame and she became a burning, blazing figure. She hovered above like a second sun, and Philomena flew circles around her.

“Maud, I don’t know what to say…”

“At this point, there isn’t much to say.”

“I love you, Maud… but I am very weary and I don’t know if there is enough left in me for foreplay.”

“I think foreplay is the least of our concerns right now. Just lay back on the ground and let me take care of things.”

“Okay.” Exhausted, Tarnish flopped down to the ground, then rolled over onto his back.

As Celestia blazed overhead, Maud began tearing away what little remained of her bloodied, shredded smock. Flamingo jammed herself into her sheath as Philomena let out a defiant cry. The crown was destroyed and they had weathered the storm of destructive chaos. The world around them had been forever changed and the new druid’s grove was already taking shape.

With a gentleness that seemed to contradict her immense strength, Maud straddled Tarnish and then began to rub his barrel with her front hooves. Leaning her head down, she planted a tender kiss on Tarnish’s chin, avoiding his swollen, misshapen snoot.

Having braved the darkness, it was time for a beautiful act of creation.

Author's Notes:

There is still an epilogue.