Lucky glanced around at our sorry condition, her apparent full recovery making our beaten and bloody states seem even worse. Nilak managed to walk up and rub muzzles with Mel, but his strength was fading, and I didn’t know how long we could hold out. Mel and Lucky might have come to help us, but it might already be too late to stop our imminent destruction.

“It seems you needed our help more than I thought,” Lucky murmured as she took stock of our condition, “I hope we can do something to help. Hey, is Ivy alright?!”

She had just spotted the evergreen mare lying flat on top of Winx’s back, although at the sound of her voice Ivy stirred enough to wave a feeble greeting. Lucky’s shoulders slumped in relief, though it changed to fear when she looked back at me, “What happened to Mythic?”

I glanced over at the far wall, where said stallion lay in a crumpled heap on the floor. However, we couldn’t make a move to attack him because a wall of magic stood between us and his body. With Nilak so weak there was no way we were getting through that shield until Mythic lowered it, and by that time it would be too late to hurt him any more than we had already managed.

I glanced up at Lucky and Mel, pondering the chances of escaping, when all of a sudden my mind flashed with an idea. Maybe, just maybe, our bond would be strong enough now that we were all back together to give us the strength we needed to go on.

“Everyone come here! I have an idea!” I yelled, pulling Lucky to the ground almost before she could slip free of the saddle.

Winx walked over with Ivy still on her back, while Black Beauty helped Thunder move with a leg over her shoulders. Whiteout and Shield Fang followed their partners while Nilak fell in next to me and Lucky. We formed a rough circle with the ponies in the middle and the dragons behind their partners. Winx squeezed in next to Mel so that Ivy could hear what I was saying. All eyes were on me, and I hoped what I had in mind would work as well as I hoped.

“You guys know about our little bonding chant right?” My question was aimed at the ponies and dragons not already part of the Freedom Fighters. They nodded slowly, although I could see the confusion already swirling in their eyes.

“Well,” I continued, “I think if we all come together, right here, right now, and make a new pact with all of us as one, the resulting magic boost we receive might just be enough to even the odds.”

“You’re crazy Silver,” Lucky said as she turned towards me. “We don’t know what that kind of power would do.”

“And we won’t survive another five minutes once mister dark and terrible wakes up if we don’t,” I countered. I turned to face the others, my eyes pleading, “Please, I don’t have any other ideas. If we don’t do this, then we are most certainly going to get clobbered even worse once Mythic recovers.”

Black Beauty and Thunder shared a knowing look as their dragons did the same. They shared a small nod before four sets of determined eyes met mine, “What do we need to do?” Thunder asked.

I smiled as I held out my hoof, “Ponies first with the dragons after that. Doesn’t really matter what you say as long as it means something to you and has to do with us working as one for a common goal. I’ll start.”

I cleared my throat before beginning, “One cannot stand,”

Lucky smiled as she rested her hoof on mine, “but two can support each other,”

Ivy reached up from her spot on Winx’s back to add her hoof to our stack, “and three can never be broken.”

We turned to Black Beauty, who didn’t hesitate to add her limb to the pile, “Working as one,”

Thunder went next, “reaching for the stars,”

Nilak reached over my shoulder to place his paw over our hooves, never quitting the fight,

Mel gave Nilak a soft kiss on the cheek before adding her paw, because the future is ours.

We never surrender, Winx murmured.

We never give in, Shield Fang added somberly.

I felt a sudden compulsion to say the last part, like I somehow knew what was going to be said before it had been said. I glanced at the others, and they seemed to have gotten the same feeling.

Whiteout added her paw to complete the stack, and as one we yelled out the final line, “Together as one, united by the power within.”

Our joining flashed so bright I had to turn my head in order to clear the spots from my eyes. As the blinding light faded slowly, I felt a white-hot surge of power flash through my entire body. I lifted my hooves and watched in amazement as all of my wounds closed up and my body began glowing slightly with a pure white light. I looked around and saw that the same was happening to the rest of our group, although the dragons were glowing the same color as what I assumed was their inner fire. Nilak shone a brilliant blue, while Mel radiated a soft violet from her body. Whiteout and Shield Fang had colors that were just off of white, though Whiteout’s glow was bluer while Shield Fang had a more silver sheen. Winx looked like a small star because of the red aura that had enveloped her body, mixing with the white that was coming off of Ivy to make a brilliant orange as Ivy climbed down from her partner’s back.

I laughed as I formed several different shapes with the white power that seemed to come off my body in waves, “Oh I could get used to this.”

“Don’t look now Romeo,” Lucky said as she pointed towards the wall, “but it looks like Mythic decided to wake up just in time for the grand finale.”

All eyes turned to the magic wall that had been protecting the dark unicorn from us, and I saw with a slight sense of accomplishment that his eyes were wide in shock and his jaw was nearly dragging on the floor. He seemed to have stopped mid-motion when he was pushing himself off of the floor. His hooves were pressed into the ground and his upper body was at an angle, but it seemed that our little light show had frozen him before he could stand up.

I smirked as I formed another magic ball between my hooves, “Ready for round two Mythic?”

My question seemed to snap him out of his stupor, because the next thing his face did was twist in hate and malice, “You think some parlor trick will be enough to defeat me?” He pushed to his hooves and picked up his swords, igniting them with black flames as the magic wall dropped, “Then let’s put that to the test.”

We charged as one, the dragons staying just behind us as we raced towards Mythic. He shimmered for a moment like we were
watching him through water, before his body began to suddenly multiply. We slid to a stop as a ring of Mythics formed around us, their bodies all cloaked in a shadow mist that made telling them apart impossible. I glanced at the others, who nodded in turn before facing off against the nearest shadow clone.

I growled in frustration as I formed twin short swords out of my power, on top of the wing blades that flashed into existence over my primaries, “Hiding behind parlor tricks isn’t impressing us Mythic.”

“It’s not supposed to impress you,” the clones said in unison, “it’s supposed to make this battle as painful and tiring as possible.”
I slashed through one clone only to have to block another as it swung at my head, “Show yourself you coward! Hiding behind clones will only delay the inevitable.”

“Oh really?” I spun as a Mythic that wasn’t cloaked in shadows walked through the masses towards me, his swords crackling with red lightning on top of the black flames, “Then why don’t we settle this once and for all?”

I ground my teeth as I slashed another clone into mist, “Fine by me.”

I leapt at Mythic and slashed down with all four of my swords, his crossed blades taking the blow and bringing us face to face as my hooves found the ground again. I pressed into him with all of my strength, hoping to overpower him before he could pull some kind of trick. However, my plan fell apart as my back erupted in flashes of pain. I cried out as my swords shattered and I fell to my knees as a shadow clone lifted its blades over my head. I fought past the agony that had encompassed my shoulders, channeling my energy into my wings and concentrating my power into two condensed beams as I aimed my wing tips at the clone. It vaporized from the blast of magic as the real Mythic shielded his eyes, and in that instant I used my remaining power to shove a short dagger into the center of his chest.

He grunted in pain as my blade sank into his flesh, the rest of the shadow clones vanishing into thin air as the others looked around for what had happened. Mythic tried to push me away, but his strength was failing as his black blood began to pool on the ground. I dug the blade just a bit deeper, hoping to make his end as painful as possible. His face contorted in agony as his hooves clenched onto my shoulders, though as he looked into my eyes I hesitated. His eyes held a knowledge and cold certainty that made my heart chill in fear. What crazy spell did this monster have up his sleeve now?

“Very good young rider,” he coughed, spitting more black blood onto the front of his robes and my shirt, “but I’m afraid you have only just begun to fight. You see, my champion will take my place as the one controlling the collar spell, and I highly doubt you will be able to destroy her once I am gone.”

I pulled back, nervous to voice my question, “Who is your champion? Where is she?”

His laughter was watered down by the blood pooling in his lungs, “She has been here the whole time.” More ragged coughs shook his body as he smiled at me, “You never knew it, but from the very start you were doomed to fail. I may have been defeated, but my plans will still come to fruition once my champion kills you all.”

He laughed again, the laugh of a madman whose mind has been fully lost to reality. His body fell back from my blade as his laughter faded, his body making a sickening thud on the floor as his sightless eyes stared at nothing. The black fire and red lightening around his blades faded away, and we watched as his body slowly withered into ash.

For a moment we waited, expecting somepony to jump out from behind the curtain or to fall from the ceiling or some other crazy entrance. When nothing happened I turned towards Lucky and hugged her as tight as I could.

“We did it!” She screamed, making me wince at her volume right in my ear, but I was too excited to care. I winced as her hooves ran over the new gash in my back, and she pulled back just enough to feel the blood running over her fetlocks.

“Silver!” She cried, “You’re hurt!”

She spun me around and made me sit down, her hooves already glowing with magic as she pressed them into the wound. I hissed for a moment before the magic did its work, the slash closing slowly as I sighed in relief.

I glanced back at her and smiled, “Thanks Lucky.”

She smiled in return, “No problem. Happy to help.”

We sat there for a moment, enjoying each other’s company when our moment was shattered by a female’s crewel laughter echoing around the room. We slowly turned around, our eyes locking onto Black Beauty and Whiteout as something began to change. Shadows began to grow thicker around them as Black Beauty continued to laugh, her head thrown back and her eyes closed tight. Whiteout was rumbling deep in her chest in a threatening way, her gaze moving from one of us to the next as she bared her teeth in a snarl.

We’ve been fools! Nilak yelled as Black Beauty stopped laughing and opened her eyes, revealing they had become completely black as the same pitch color overtook Whiteout’s gaze, we knew Mythic was using the Draconic Heaven to recruit generals for his army, and we never once though about how Black Beauty has been the champion eight years in a row! Mythic must have pumped so much dark magic into her that she’s basically become his successor!

“Right you are my foolish companion,” Black Beauty hissed as she jumped onto Whiteout’s back, “and now you’re all going to burn in Tartarus for what you did to my master.”

I leapt out of the way as Whiteout swiped at me and Lucky, her claws ripping the front of my shirt as I pulled us out of range, “Nilak! Mel! We need you right now!”

Coming! They chorused as they raced to our sides, bunching their legs to give us room to climb aboard as Shield Fang and Thunder kept our new enemies at bay.

Winx and Ivy fell in on our other side, their eyes wide in mirrored expressions of shock, “What do we do Silver?” Ivy yelled in a higher than normal pitch, “We can’t kill Black Beauty and Whiteout!”

“That isn’t our Black Beauty and Whiteout,” I said slowly, “they’ve been taken over by the black magic Mythic placed inside them and are being forced to attack us.”

“So what do we do?” Lucky asked as Mel took a step back to avoid Shield Fang’s swinging tail, “We can’t let them kill each other.”

“We won’t,” I said with determination. “We just need to figure out how to expel the magic from their bodies.”

“Well you’d better think of something fast,” Ivy yelled before pointing at the battling dragon riders, “because it looks like Thunder and Shield Fang need our help.”

Indeed they did. Whiteout had knocked Thunder off of Shield Fang’s back, allowing her rider to take on Thunder while she fought with Shield Fang. Black Beauty was using her dark magic to swing a massive executioner’s sword at Thunder, who seemed to be fully on the defensive, only using his magic to block her attacks as he slowly backed up. For a moment I wondered what he was doing, until I realized that he was moving away from Shield Fang and Whiteout.

“I’ve got it!” I yelled as I flared my wings, “Nilak, Mel and Winx, you three help Shield Fang secure Whiteout. Lucky, Ivy, you’re with me.” I turned to face the battle again, my lips curled into a smile, “We’re going to split the rider from her dragon.”

The girls nodded as they slipped off of their partners’ backs. Nilak led Mel and Winx in a charge that bowled over Whiteout like an
avalanche. Meanwhile, I used my magic to stick Black Beauty’s hooves to the ground long enough for Ivy and Lucky to tackle her. Thunder nodded his thanks as he dove into the raging catfight, his hooves and wings connecting with Black Beauty’s face in what I assumed was an attempt at knocking her out. I glanced over at the dragons, and they were in a similar situation with Whiteout. Shield Fang was using his greater size to pin the majority of Whiteout’s body, while Mel and Winx secured her neck and muzzle so she couldn’t breathe her fire at anyone. Nilak’s front paws were glowing a bright green, and as he grabbed the side of Whiteout’s head she reared her head back and roared in pain.

I winced as she tried and failed to free herself from the other dragons’ grip, but after a moment it seemed that she had passed out. Nilak turned to me and nodded once, a thin black wisp of what I assumed was Mythic’s magic rose up from Whiteout’s body and dissipated into thin air. I turned around to see what I could do about Black Beauty, but at that moment everything went to Tartarus in a tea kettle.

She arched her back and blasted the girls off of her body with a surge of black magic, the force of it enough to launch Ivy and Lucky nearly as high as the ceiling. Mel grabbed Lucky with her front paws while Winx flew up and let Ivy grab onto her back before flying back to the ground. Satisfied that they were safe, I turned back to Black Beauty and Thunder, who were slowly circling one another with magic weapons in both hooves. Thunder had a small circular shield on his left leg and a short sword in the other while Black Beauty had two daggers held in a reverse grip. I stepped forward, hoping to help Thunder get her under control, but he waved me off with a shake of his
head.

“Let me handle this Silver,” he said as he locked his gaze with Black Beauty’s, “this is something I have to do alone.”

I fought with my wish to help and tried to keep myself contained, although that didn’t stop me from readying my short swords in case he needed me. The dragons walked over with Lucky and Ivy until they stood behind me, their gazes locked onto the dueling pair as the duo sized each other up.

“Why aren’t we helping him?” Ivy asked, “Shouldn’t we step in?”

I shook my head without turning to look at her, “Thunder said this was something he needed to do alone. I don’t know what it is, but I think there’s something going on we don’t know about.”

“Whatever it is,” Lucky said with a hint of nervousness, “he’d better get to it fast. I can see his magic starting to fade from here.”
And so it was. It was subtle, but I could see a hint of sweat on Thunder’s face, his eyes were hard in concentration, although his voice was clear as he spoke to Black Beauty.

“Why are you doing this Black Beauty?” He asked as he dove in and swung for her head.

She blocked with a cross guard and deflected his blade into the ground, swinging for his head and forcing him to retreat before she could slash his face.

“Why do you think?” She hissed, her eyes blazing with fury as she threw several rapid slashes at his barrel. “I serve my master and further his plans even though his is no longer here. There is nothing more to my existence than fulfilling my master’s dreams.”

Thunder used his shield to block the flurry of attacks and then swung wide with his sword. Black Beauty saw the move coming and blocked again, locking their weapons together as their faces came within inches of touching.

“I don’t believe that,” he strained as he fought for control of the lockup, “I believe there is still good in you, fighting to get free and to banish the darkness that monster put inside you.”

She chuckled darkly, “Well then I’m sorry to disappoint you, but the Black Beauty you know is gone. I am all there is left of her mind and I’m here to stay. But first I’m going to kill you, and all of your little friends. Once that’s complete I can blame master’s death on you and take my place as his successor. Then I can make master’s dreams a reality, where the world is under his control and all dragons are his slaves.”

“She gone mad,” Lucky whispered in shock. “How can Mythic rule anything if he’s dead? Her mission makes no sense!”

“It’s the magic warping her mind,” I reasoned. “Mythic just wanted her to kill us and be done with it. Anything beyond that was beyond his ability to care. If she stays like this and tries to further his vision as he directed, she’d only be thrown in the loony bin or worse. Given how violent she is, I imagine that the police or military would try and kill both her and Whiteout.” I glanced behind us at the comatose dragon, “At least we snapped Whiteout out of it before she could hurt anypony.”

Thunder and Black Beauty struck and countered one another for about ten minutes before Thunder’s magic began to run out. It started as a slight flicker, but before long he was having to put all of his willpower into keeping the magic forms together. Black Beauty, seeing her chance, rushed in and struck his sword and shield with a combined attack. The stress shattered the fragile constructs, and she used her momentum to knock Thunder off of his hooves and into the ground. He grunted as her weight forced the air from his lungs, and I made a move to step in. However, like before, he stopped me with a shake of his head.

I growled but obliged his wishes, although I was beginning to wonder if I had misplaced my sanity somewhere back in the battle and not realized it. Thunder looked up at Black Beauty as she straddled his stomach, her eyes gleaming in triumph and her dagger poised directly over his heart.

“Any last words before you meet your maker?” She asked, leaning over to smirk in his face as she pressed the dagger’s tip into his skin just enough to draw blood.

Thunder winced at the wound but otherwise remained calm, “You can’t.”

Black Beauty sputtered before throwing her head back and cackling like a witch, “I can’t? I can’t?! What could possibly make you think, after all of that, that I wouldn’t rip your heart from your chest and drink your blood while you die beneath my hooves?”

Thunder smirked in return, “You can’t because I have a secret to tell you.”

Her head tilted slightly as a glow of interest showed on her face, “Oh, the big boy has a secret to tell, well then, you might as well say it before I get impatient.”

Thunder rolled his eyes, “Same old Black Beauty, never willing to wait when you want something.” He sighed, “Alright then, but you have to promise to listen to everything I have to say, no interrupting and no running away until I’m done. Understand?”

She waved her hoof like it mattered less than nothing to her, “Yes, yes I promise. Now start talking before I cut your throat out.”

He nodded, “Alright then, I guess the best place to start would be the beginning. You were already one of the top racers when I first joined the circuit, and even then I admired you for your skill and talent when it came to riding Whiteout. You were like a dancer on the track, moving with such grace that I found myself enraptured by you. At first it was just a fan going nuts over his idol, but as my skills improved it began to change into something else.”

“Something else?” She asked, “What kind of something else?”

Thunder lifted one eyebrow in a sarcastic expression, “If you would remember your promise and not interrupt I would get to that part sooner.”

Black Beauty had the decency to look chastised, although that reaction was completely different than what I had expected her to do. I wasn’t sure what Thunder had up his sleeve, but it seemed to already be having an effect on Black Beauty.

He cleared his throat, “Anyway, as I got better at racing my feelings changed from admiration to determination. I wanted to beat you. I wanted to prove that I was just as good as you. But no matter what I did, you always stayed just out of my reach, always one turn ahead on the track. It wasn’t until we met Silver and the others that we truly became equals.”

He glanced my way before turning back to her, “Once Whiteout and Shield Fang were freed from the collars, I finally felt as if I could now call myself your equal. However, there was one thing I never had the courage to say, never had the stomach to take the plunge and tell you. I,” he paused, as if what he wanted to say was so troubling that he couldn’t get it out.

Black Beauty growled and placed her dagger against the flesh of his throat, “Spit it out already. I’ve waited long enough and I’ve grown bored with your story. Either you say what it is you need to say, or else I’m going to gut you like a fish.”

Thunder swallowed thickly, taking a moment to prepare before speaking, “Alright then. I’ll tell you. I love you Radiant Tale. I have for a long time. I just, never had the courage to tell you to your face. I was sure you’d shoot me down because you wouldn’t acknowledge me as a worthy companion.”

Her determined façade shattered at his admission, “W-What did you call me?” Her daggers disintegrated as she stumbled back from him, “N-Nopony knows my real name. N-Nopony!”

Thunder chuckled as he sat up, dusting himself off, “Oh please Radiant. You really think I wouldn’t know the real name of the mare I love?” He rolled his eyes as he stood up, “Give me more credit than that.”

He stepped towards her and she back-peddled in fear, sliding backwards on the ground until her back connected with the wall.

“S-Stay away from me.” She stuttered, “I-I’m warning you.”

Thunder was in his groove now, his trademark smirk plastered over his face as he knelt down in front of her, “Now why would I do that? After all, now that I’ve stated my feelings, there’s one last thing I want to do.”

Her head tilted back slightly, her expression guarded, “And what is that?”

He smiled fully as he leaned in close to her, “This.”

Before any of us could react, he closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss. I heard Ivy and Lucky gasp as the dragons snorted in surprise. Black Beauty, no, Radiant’s eyes were wide in shock and surprise, but slowly they closed as she leaned into the kiss, the same black mist rising from her body as she wrapped her legs around Thunder’s shoulders.

I rolled my eyes as I grabbed the girls by their hooves and spun them around to face the door, “Alright you two, let’s give the lovebirds a moment to get acquainted.”

Apparently they were so flabbergasted that they couldn’t even answer me, although Nilak, Mel and Winx needed no extra encouragement. They spun around and followed us out the door, leaving Shield Fang to look after Whiteout while Thunder and Radiant were lost in their own little world. I shook my head in wonder at it all, but smiled all the same. Like it or not, love seemed to be the driving force when it came to magic, although I did have a feeling that of all of our group’s matches, there was still one that had yet to fully form.

Once we got to the main hall I stopped and turned toward Lucky, letting Ivy’s leg go as I held onto Lucky’s hooves.

“I need to say something as well Lucky,” I said as my grip tightened slightly on her fetlocks. “Before you got hurt I said that I wasn’t sure if I cared for you the way you cared for me. I was an idiot and said some stupid things. I know you getting hurt was an attack from the Blood Claw but it was my stupid uncertainty that made you not care enough to have Mel wear her armor that day. No matter how you slice it, I’m the reason you ended up in that hospital bed, and it was at that point, when I nearly lost you, that I realized that I do care for you. A lot. I just never had the guts to admit it to myself or to tell you the truth because –”

She silenced me with a kiss, her lips tenderly moving over mine before she pulled away, “Apology accepted you big goof.” She smirked as she playfully pinched my cheek, “Took you damn long enough too.”

I flushed with shame, “Give a guy a break, you admitted your feelings right after you tried to seduce me! Can’t I get a little leeway here?”

She shared a glance with Ivy before looking back at me. “Nope,” they chorused.

I rolled my eyes, “Mares.”

She giggled before giving me another soft kiss, “But you love it.”

I groaned as we walked out the doors, “Yes,” I admitted, although I made sure to lock my thoughts down before the others could hear me, more than you could ever know.

Author's Notes:

Holy Celestia I'm on a roll!!!! Four chapters in so many days and I'm almost done with the book!! Hoo boy I need to sit down after all this. Anyways, hope you guys like the second half of the climax!! Was it everything you hoped for, was there something that surprised you? If so, leave me a comment in the towel section below.

Hope to see you all next chapter,
Shadow Quill, Messenger of the Moon.