I breathed in deeply. The chase and the force I had used to swing the sword had drained my strength, and I now leaned on the weapon to try and recover. "Still a gamer, huh?" I murmured to myself as I raised the blade and got my first look at it. The entire hilt, consisting of pommel, handle, and guard, was in a dark blue. The guard was formed like two wings and from them the long blade of the zweihänder.

"Sorry, Link, it was probably sword envy." After that, I broke the enchantment, causing it to fall apart again to the stone from which it had been made. Thereupon, I supported myself with my hands on my knees and began to breathe deeply, watching as the blood slowly ran from the body and headed in my direction. I decided that I was already dirty enough and went over to the remains of the priest and down the aisle I had come. My three little glowing balls swayed slightly as they followed me, but were no longer long as bright as when I had created them. It was hard to keep them in a straight path and at the same strength, probably because of my fatigue and the human form. It was too exhausting to keep up in any case, so I turned back and fell forward. At least that was what it felt like, but my head never hit the ground, only two front hooves. Some energy quickly came back to me, and it was now easier to control the glowing balls. The connection was not difficult to see. I had a horn as a unicorn, which was directly connected to my magic system and my brain, thus serving as a focus for magic. Therefore there was a direct connection, unlike when I was in my human form. My hands were much farther away from my head and were only passively controlled by it. Also, they were not meant to channel magic.

I arrived at the intersection again, still completely in thought as I went left back to the stairs, accompanied only by the sounds of ​​my hooves on the stone. I wondered why I had not taken the form of a human being until now. I knew that it had to be there, as I had the others. I had all the genetic material of all three pony materials plus my original human form, so why not turn into one earlier? The encounter with the people here would have been easy, and I certainly would have handled some situations differently. Even if I had been a pony for months now, my motor skills were better as a human and most importantly I could better grasp things. Was I afraid what the others would say? What would AJ say? Even then, it was just a transformation and not the real me. I was a unicorn, the son of Princess Celestia and Antje, who was wounded above me.

At that thought, I came back to reality and realized that I had already gone up half of the stairs. There were a total of only eight steps for each of the four floors, which I had not noticed in my rush. Unfortunately, I could now no longer climb up as fast as I had gone down, though I still hurried as much as I could. I wanted to see how my mother fared and if I could help Luna in any way. I started to take two stairs at once, which resulted in me almost tripping over my own hooves on occasion, but I eventually came to the top and glanced across the field. Coming up to the surface and by the gate to the exit, I saw as Mac and the three other soldiers were about to force the survivors in a corner. Then I saw the grass, the red and green that was mixed together. I had done that to some of them, probably about two dozen, and some even lay injured on the ground and writhed on the spot, moaning piteously. On stage I saw Luna still working her magic, Julian next to her with a diamond in each wing. As I was about to go in their direction, I heard my name being called.

"Why?" I looked around and saw Twilight galloping towards me across the field. She tried desperately to fix her eyes on me, but had problems with it since she had to dodge the bodies in the grass. "Why did you do that?"

"You have to ask?" I replied and began to go to her, but further towards the stage. "You saw what they did to people." Twilight slowed and was now beside me.

"But that... That's not right!" I saw how upset she was, almost to tears.

"And what exactly do you mean?" It was the same expression she wore that time when she had seen the news on my TV.

"This! Magic should not be used to..." I knew exactly what she was getting at. Magic was her element, and it just spoke of her nature to want to avoid harming anyone, regardless of whether they had attack or not. "Couldn’t you have disabled them so they couldn’t fight?"

"And then what? Who’s going to stay here and make sure they wouldn’t do it again? Who can guarantee that once we are out of here, they won’t recapture and kill other people?" I waited briefly for an answer that never came. "On this planet, in this dimension, there is something called the death penalty, Twilight." The fact that it was not carried out here was something I failed to mention. "Yes, only the worst criminals get that punishment, but what would you call this?" I pointed to the stage in front of us. "In addition, they would die anyway, right? Should we have let them live their last months running around freely and doing this to anyone?" Twilight’s tears still streamed down her cheek, but she finally nodded.

"Please promise me one thing if you ever want to learn a spell from me again." I nodded back. "Never use magic against somepony who has no defenses against it." Twilight was right. Humans had no defence to magic. "Retaliating the same way they did does not make it right."

"I know that, Twilight, or do you think I enjoyed doing it?" We stood in front of the small staircase leading to the stage. "Just... When I saw my mother... And what they did to the others..." I had fought not to break down at that point. I had felt like a monster that had struck wildly in anger. I walked up the stairs, leaving Twilight behind. The gazes of Julian and Luna met me, and the Princess of the Night just shook her head and gave me room. My mother lay on the ground, the grey pullover she wore soaked red. Her auburn hair was spread loosely around her head, and her chest heaved with each rattling breath, probably from the blood filling her lungs.

With a few steps, I was immediately by her. "Hey," I said gently and saw that she opened her eyes slightly.

"Timo?" she asked, barely audible.

"Yes, I'm here." I saw her eyes were looking at me in the scarce light, and I steered one of the balls to us, but only to the extent that it did not blind her. "How are you?" I could have slapped myself.

"Clever as always..." She coughed briefly, some blood remaining on her hand. "I probably should not be surprised after what Changer said." Her arm fell back to the ground.

"He told you who he actually was?" I asked, surprised, and she laughed briefly once, holding her stomach afterwards.

"No, but what kind of mother would I be if I didn’t recognize my own son? He couldn't even keep up a single day against me" This time, both of us smiled. "So, how are you?"

"Better, now that I found you. Dirk is also with us." I preferred not to tell her his current state.

"I’m… happy to hear that." She took a hand and placed it on my cheek. I stood at the side next to her and sat down. Talking above her was certainly not very pleasant. "What have you been doing all these months?"

"Half the things you probably won’t believe me... but I can say that I've built a life. I live on an apple farm, found new friends, and am engaged." My mother beamed.

"I’m glad to hear that you're okay. I had hoped that you had it better than us if you got the chance." I clung to my mother and lay down beside her.

"In addition, you are going to be a grandma. My fiancée and I expect a daughter." She turned her head completely to me and put his arms around my neck.

"I am so happy for you; you do not know how much." Fresh tears ran down my cheeks as I remembered that this would be our last conversation. She let go of me and wiped my cheek with her ​​thumb. "Want to introduce me to your friends?" I looked at Julian, Luna, and Twilight, who were now on stage.

"Mom, this is Princess Luna of Equestria and behind her is Twilight Sparkle. Although you probably do not recognize him, the pegasus there is Julian." She tried to turn her head to better look at them.

"Do not strain yourself," Luna ordered in a gentle but firm tone. "You need to conserve..."

"I saw that you could not help me with your magic... Luna. Thanks anyway for trying. I was a nurse and know what happened..." She tried to sit up. "My liver got hit badly; maybe my gut." She turned around and leaned against the back wall of the stage. "Julian, how are your parents?" He had watched the scene all this time in silence.

"They’re... good." I knew he was lying, as I remembered the radiation.

"Then please tell Irena I said hello." Julian nodded, and my mother turned to Twilight. "And you are?" Twilight, still with slightly red eyes, came one step closer.

"I am Twilight Sparkle, a student of Princess Celestia and—" She didn't came further as soon she saw the wound of my mother. I followed her gaze and saw how the ground turned even red beneath her. If only Cadance or Fluttershy were here... Then I noticed something.

"Mom?" The rattle was gone, her chest not moving. "Mom!" I jumped back over to her and nudged my muzzle against her head, but that was just as lifeless as her shoulder. I bit my lip as I could no longer hold back the tears.

For a long time, no one said anything. I wasn’t able to because of the lump in my throat.

"Light, we must take care of the situation here." I felt as Luna put a hoof on my shoulder to calm me down. I didn’t say anything and just nodded. I thought I had resigned myself to it. I knew it would happen, so why I was so sad? Of course, it was my mother but...

"We could use some help!" I heard a voice calling offstage. It was Trixie. Luna’s hoof left my shoulder, and I heard as she and Twilight went over to my sister.

"Timo... I'm sorry, but we’re all suffering. You know that I'm... sick. I want those bastards to pay for making the end come sooner." The light from the diamonds in his wings came from right next to me now. "Let's be honest – the world was going to end one way or the other, only we all thought we would not live to see it." I had to actually smile when he said it, feeling the dried tears on my face. It was like breaking a crust and feeling air under my fur after days.

"Light, I think we found someone you want to see," I heard Rarity say, closely followed by Trixie and Twilight as they came to the stairs backstage. They were followed by Luna, who had a lifeless body lying on her back. At first I did not recognize him, but when the light fell on him, I saw my brother, Nils. Immediately, I was at her side and saw that my brother had his eyes open, but seemed to somehow look into nothingness.

"He is not doing well ..." Twilight also approached and used ​​a quick spell to run over him. "His wounds have to be treated, and he has lost a lot of blood. In addition, he’s dehydrated and urgently needs something to eat." I tried to turn his face to me, but it fell back into Luna’s back, still completely insensate.

"We should bring him to the ship as soon as possible." I was happy they had found him, but I could lose him just as quickly. "We postpone the trap… These maniacs are a too big risk anyway." I looked over to the soldiers, who Fish and Armor had now joined. As Rainbow stood with them, they had probably seen the light on the upper floor.

"What happened here?" Trixie asked as she probably looked over the field for the first time. "It looks as if a manticore raged over the place."

"I got rid of... the madman who offered people as a sacrifice to the shades," I said, averting my view from the remaining cultists. I had to make an effort not to tremble.

"This is terrible..." I did not know whether Rarity meant the sight on the field or the story of the sacrifice, but I could not care at that moment.

"I’ll clarify with Armor, so get ready to withdraw." I walked off the stage and saw how the others now turned to Twilight, probably to get an understanding of what had happened here. With a quick trot, I needed a minute before I arrived by Fish and Armor, who were engrossed in a conversation.

"We are not prepared for this. This is not a camp of survivors but armed murderers!" Apparently the captain saw things as I did.

"We have them at bay!" He gestured with one hand behind where Mac and the others had turned their guns on the other people. Rainbow hovered beside them and threatened them with air kicks. "We’ll lock them somewhere and build the trap." I decided that this was chance to interject.

"We should really go. We don’t know how many shades there are, if we overlooked other people, and we also have an injured person who needs to get on the ship." Both turned to me.

"What? Who was hurt?" Armor asked immediately and looked past me to the stage.

"My brother, Nils. He was apparently among the prisoners." He nodded.
"Another reason to break off here," he quickly told Fish. "Is there anything else about your family?" I just nodded, and Armor seemed to understand.

"So we have a wounded, a soldier who is not able to fight, and—" Armor suddenly looked puzzled by something, and Fish and I followed suit, looking to see what was so distracting. "It’s become dark?" I looked over the field and saw the light of torches and the coals on the stage that were left by the fire. But there was something missing something, a light that should have been there. My gaze wandered up through the holes in the ceiling and then it hit me.

"Can we go to the ceiling?" I asked Armor, who seemed to understand quickly as his horn lit immediately.

"I attached the lever with my magical aura. I should be able to control it from here," he said, the engine already in motion. The sudden loud noise probably startled the others, and now everyone who was capable of looking up at the sky did so. It had been a cold and starry night, but now the latter was literally gone. No Big Bear, no Orion, and especially no moon.

"Damn it..." I murmured, as I knew the Nightmare had succeeded.

"What's going on?" Fish yelled, panic in his voice. "Where is the moon?" We scanned the sky, and Rainbow finally pointed at something.

"There, what’s that?" she asked more than she pointed to a dark object. I narrowed my eyes before I realized what it was. It was the moon, but it was no longer white or silver, but gray to black, almost indistinguishable from the starless night sky.

"That was Nightmare," I confirmed what everyone had probably already guessed. "It’s taken control of the heavenly bodies." But the question was: what could it achieve? Suddenly cheers broke out among the prisoners.

"Our Redeemer has come!"

"We are saved!"

"Take us into your ranks!"

They fell to their knees and looked into the darkness. Confused, Mac and the others looked over to us, but Fish just shrugged his shoulders.

"We have lost a further advantage. We retreat." This time, it was no longer a question from Armor. "With or without you, this is too risky, because unlike you, we have something for which we want to live for." Fish appeared to be struck hard by the question, as he remained silent and lowered his weapon.

"Nightmare!" Julian suddenly cried and I already saw how Hawk with glowing fire between her teeth dashed from her waiting position to the field. The dark being got a full broadside, and it was briefly daylight in the stadium. It had not come alone.

"Okay! Let’s go!" Armor cried as he set off with several shields up. The prisoners were no longer held and tried to get past their guards. First shots were fired but there were too many to stop them all and they jumped out the path of the crowd as it started their way into the darkness, accompanied from their own cheering.

"Come to me, my children, and become part of the darkness..." I heard an all too familiar voice whisper, but she was heard everywhere in the stadium.

Author's Notes:

Translated by JBL and Verequus
Edited by JBL