This chapter has been in the planning stage for roughly 11 years. Since practically the very beginning. And it’s so surreal to me to see that the longest running overarching plotline of The Lost Element has finally reached its resolution. Many revisions were made along the way as I adjusted my expectations. With this, the plot focus that practically defines The Lost Element concludes.

But this does not mean this chapter marks the end of the story. Or even the end of this volume. To all who have followed the story this far, I thank you and hope you will continue to enjoy the ride. Until then, please do consider supporting me through Patreon or Ko-Fi.

Nothing was said during our approach. Orbash and Sunflare flew just ahead of me while still having enough room between them to allow me to pass if needed. The salve Zecora had applied to my scalp was still doing its job. I was not in pain. My senses were not clouded. And I had a fire in my heart that I kept trying to keep burning with thoughts of what was waiting for me back home. This was it. Today, the war would end.

The skies ahead were clouded and dreary. As if we were heading into a storm. No such storm ever appeared, but it did not take long for our destination to appear on the horizon. Like a thread dangling before me, I could make out a towering narrow line that reached high into the heavens above. The last remaining piece of human architecture on the planet. And atop it likely stood the last remaining human who was native to the world of Equestria. A newfound anxiety formed in my gut as I contemplated this.

I had never actually laid eyes upon the emperor. He had spoken to us at times through his Hollows and even projected a phantom illusion that bore very few concrete features after the first battle upon the Empty Plains. The only thing about him I had come to know was his voice. A very tired and soft-spoken voice of an old man. My mind painted all sorts of pictures of what to expect once I finally reached Equestria's oldest traitor. It would not be long now.

The Heaven's Pillar became more and more visible the closer we soared. And like the last time I had ever come near it, the entire tower was surrounded by a lake of purple. Thousands of Hollows positioned to prevent anything from reaching it. And the ancient gates to the tower had long since rotted away. But I saw something inside the tower, even from such a distance. A light. A pillar of ethereal pale blue light. I heard Orbash call out to Sunflare and I, "Do you see that? There inside the tower?"

"If I had to make an assumption, it is how the emperor sends his minions out into the world. It must be a conduit for transporting his creations down to the ground from atop the tower. But I do not see any emerging..." The sun queen replied before looking back at me. And I knew what this likely meant if the light was present. "It would seem you are being expected."

"Lemme at him. I'm not turning back now." I retorted as I saw that the emperor likely knew there was no stopping my approach now. Even if he closed the portal to the top of the tower, I could just fly right up there like the last time. But as I scanned the horizon, I noticed something about the lake of Hollows around the tower. They were moving... Getting into position. My eyes went wide as I recognized the positioning of the rows of Hollows before the entrance to the tower. Archers. Hundreds of them. "I don't think he's gonna make it easy for us!"

"Allow us! We'll get you to the gate. Then the rest will be up to you!" Orbash replied as he and Sunflare began to channel their unparalleled magic through their horns. And as we began to descend, they unleashed that searing power of vermilion and silver hues. We swooped lower as those waves of godly magic carved a wide path through the lake ahead with hundreds of Hollows being instantly vaporized. The king and queen came to a sliding stop at the entrance to the Heaven's Pillar while I allowed my wings to carry myself further and landed just inside the tower.

It was only when I was inside the Heaven's Pillar did I realize just how gargantuan the tower truly was. I stood there in momentary respite as I gazed up at what was around me. At the very least as large around as Ponyville's town hall with any interior walls removed. Old stone staircases had long since collapsed over time, anything that had once been wood having been rotted away to nothing. With how much had decayed over the centuries, I understood just how structurally unsound the tower had become. It felt like nothing short of a miracle that it was still standing at all after being exposed to the elements for so long with no maintenance. For all I knew, the tower would finally fall on this day.

I was snapped out of my silent observation by a blast of magic from behind me. Upon turning, I found Orbash and Sunflare standing in the doorway as they unleashed bursts of fire and lightning outside. Even now that we had reached our destination, the Hollows outside were desperately trying to follow us inside. The sun queen glanced over her shoulder at me while her husband covered her for a brief moment. "What are you waiting for?! Go! We shall hold them here!"

I started to reach out to them, but Sunflare then turned to face the enemy while Orbash took a moment to look back at me with a much more confident look in his eyes. "They shall not pass, friend! There will be no interruptions for you! Get up there and put an end to this!"

A proud smile crossed my lips. This was nothing for those as powerful as Equestria's true king and queen. If they were minding the entrance, no one would get inside. No one would be following me up to the top. I thanked them without a word before turning to face the billowing pillar of ethereal light. It reached higher than myself and was right at the center of that vast chamber. With nothing in my way, I drew the Celestial Sword from its scabbard and charged into the light.

That ethereal blue clouded my vision for only a second before I found myself rushing ahead upon a stone floor. Having not expected to go from one location to another so suddenly, I staggered to a stop to prevent myself from running right off the top of the tower. The air was cool and thin. And things had become much more quiet. And there before me... There it was. The portal still stood.

I walked up to the edge of the stone floor I stood upon. A renewed sense of dread filled my heart. The portal was now further away from the tower, but now at least triple the size of when I last saw it. That swirling circle of purplish hues... Harmless on its own, but a herald of a never-ending dark era for Equestria should it remain untouched. It looked ready. If it were to descend to the ground now, it would be all over.

I turned my gaze up at the sky. A vast ceiling of dark clouds spread as far as the eye could see. I was right at the very edge of Equestria's atmosphere where clouds could still float. It felt...otherworldly and surreal. Like I was no longer in Equestria anymore. But not back on Earth either. I was standing at the very threshold between two very different worlds. Mesmerizing, yet strangely horrifying. I have never been so far from home before. And I felt as if I would never see home again now.

Then it dawned on me. I was not alone. But why had I not been attacked while so distracted? I turned around. And there at the far end of the top of the Heaven's Pillar stood that one remaining phoenix statue. And beside it while gazing out at the western horizon stood...

A shock pulsed through my heart. He was there. So far away, but I could see a visibly human silhouette. All sorts of thoughts flooded my mind. A strange sense of horror. The type of horror from seeing something that should not exist. Something completely unnatural. For the past two years, I had resided in a world where humanity no longer existed. And standing before me was the last remnant of a time that ended long ago.

For just a moment, my resentment and determination faded. At that moment, all I wanted were answers. And so I began to march forward. Only the clanking of my sabatons filled the air with barely any wind whistling through the air. Marching from one end of the tower to the other only reminded me of just how vast the space between us was. More than large enough to serve as a battlefield.

His form became more clear the closer I drew to him. A tattered robe of elegant design was draped over him, the color of the fabric consisting only of shades of purple. The classic color of royalty. But the hues...were very faded and the robe tattered. Probably the only attire he had left... Perhaps his corpse was draped in it for nearly a thousand years before he woke up. Everything about what he wore bore the sign of the march of time and further reinforced the air about him of how he truly felt like something that should not be there. Humans are not designed to exist for so long.

There was something being held in the old man's right hand. A tall oaken staff that was somewhat twisted and gnarled while still straight enough to be practical. And embedded into the very top was a polished crystal of purest white. The four-sided shape of it strongly reminded me of the three diamonds that make up Rarity's cutie mark, but I knew there was no connection between the two. His head though... Completely bare. And his stance was visibly hunched.

I stopped perhaps twenty paces from my target. And there I stood. I was seeing for the first time another living breathing human being. And one not at all from the world I came from. It was such a surreal and bewildering experience. I was left utterly speechless. Never before have I been at such a loss of what to do or say. But then... He spoke first. "So you've come."

The voice... As tired and as weak as I remembered. But no longer spoken through a filter of magical projection. The old man before me turned to face me. Very slowly. And it was then I saw that he was exactly what I should have expected. Barely a man at all anymore. Just shy of being a wraith or a lich. The old man's head was bare, a thick beard as pale as death reaching low. His eyebrows were wild and had grown uncontrollably for some time. But his moustache... So long and pulled down by gravity that it reached past his knees. And his eyes... Blank and filled with the faintest white glow that indicated he was being sustained by something that was not his own. He truly bore the look of what one might expect from an arch sage. Truly ancient. Much more ancient than any human man should ever reasonably be. His voice carrying the weight of so many years, he asked softly, "You do not raise your sword to me? You appear confused... Aghast. As if you have seen a specter."

"Maybe that's because you're exactly that, old man..." I stammered uneasily as I beheld Equestria's enemy for the first time. I struggled to speak in defiance of the emotions flooding my senses. "You're barely human at all now... Just a shell of a man... I can't describe how unnatural it feels to see you like this..."

"You are not mistaken... The magic I have used to sustain myself... It would surely be seen as foul by many." The nameless emperor replied as he slowly stepped forward. He leaned heavily on his staff, his gait slow and weak. Both hands were needed to hold himself up. As frail and broken as he seemed, I had to resist the urge to take pity on him or underestimate him as a threat. Mastery of magic is not dependant on one's physical state. I was certain he was much more dangerous than I assumed.

"I know. I was told." I spoke while raising my armored left hand over my heart. Now that we were right before each other, I could actually feel it. A subtle connection between the two of us. The thread that shackled us was not so taut anymore. The realization that I could literally feel this parasite feeding off of me instilled a visceral sense of unease in me that only added to the uncanny and unnatural sight before me. And yet, for as disturbed as I was, I felt a worrying lack of animosity in my heart. "It's strange... I should hate you by now. I should want nothing more than to rip you apart after all you've done to me... To the world and the people in it... But now that I'm actually seeing you, I have no idea what to feel... I'm at a loss."

"Perhaps it is because you are finally seeing one of your own kin for the first time. We should not be enemies. We may hail from different worlds, but you and I are human all the same." The emperor said as he came to a stop before me with the clouds not so far above becoming ever darker. As if they were acknowledging the storm that was unfolding below. The emperor then pointed at me with one hand, his fingers quaking pathetically. "I should apologize... I have never wanted to see you harmed. I began to fear the worst with the resistance coming so close to my hold and acted...rashly. You are my guest and akin to my subjects. I should be welcoming you."

"You nearly destroyed us both that day, old man." I said in an attempt to remind him of what my death would mean for him. I raised my left hand over my heart again and said, "If I fall, you'll be coming with me! Unless...you've been siphoning off me so much that your body doesn't need me anymore?"

"No... No, there is no such hope for me." The old man said with both hands grasping his staff again. His voiced sounded more than just tired... It was filled with resignation. No ambition or malice. I almost expected him to start spouting some sort of dogma in an effort to look down upon all other people in Equestria. But those words never came. He then explained, "My body will never be able to stand on its own... More than a thousand years locked in a state of unlife has left me...frail. I cannot survive without a source of life that is not my own. And only that of another of my kind is compatible with me. Without you...I will cease to be."

"Then why try to kill me that day? If you knew it would mean the end for you?" I asked in confusion. It made no sense. There was no logic behind it. Should I die, the emperor would fall and the portal he was weaving would collapse and close without him. It was still not ready to be used and that was the only comfort I could take now that I was there. I was not too late. I then pointed my sword at the portal behind me and demanded, "If you fall, that thing there will be all for naught! All that work for nothing? Are you really just that willing to throw it all... No, forget that! Why?! Why Earth, of all places?! What're you hoping to gain from connecting Equestria to a world like that?!"

The emperor sighed weakly with his head bowed. "It was not my first choice. I was all that remained of my empire when the light faded. I reached out and took hold of the Element of Humanity at the last second to anchor myself to this world. I was carried far on the walls of my people's exodus before I found myself alone out here with the plains having gone empty. I remained...but they did not. They were judged and...removed from this world. Cast out into the heavens. Somewhere beyond the stars. And I sought to finish what I started by bringing them home."

I turned to look back at the portal behind me. It swirled idly in the air a great distance back. "You crafted that spell to let your people come home?"

The emperor nodded quietly. "I did. I spent many years developing it out of sight in the ruins of my empire. None knew I still remained and I needed to avoid drawing attention. Had the people of Equestria knew I still lived, I surely would have been tracked down and slain. I am certain...Margaret herself would have found the will to take her sword to my heart."

"Considering what your actions have wrought, she probably should have." I spoke bitterly as I remembered that name while turning to face him again. The birth name of his own daughter. The champion of humanity. I knew little of Megan, but I had heard nothing but the most wonderful things about her. She defied her father and her people for Equestria and I was praying he would not disrespect her further. "Fine. You created this type of portal magic. And it works, right?"

"Yes, I successfully perfected it before my life could come to an end. I first tested it by reaching out to the moon itself. Painful as it was to reach out into the void for even a second, I managed to reach through and bring a simple rock back through it. And if I could connect to the moon, I could connect to whichever world my people now resided on." The emperor explained with his gaze lowering gradually. He then spoke with a twinge of disappointment in his exhausted voice. "But I never found it. I searched the stars, but the void beyond our world is vast... Incomprehensibly vast. I never could have imagined the true expanse of the void of space beyond the skies. But I endured and searched. Years became decades, seeing so many worlds that could not possibly house human life... But I knew they were out there. I had lost my empire. My home. And my people... All I had left was my duty. And as emperor, my duty is to bring prosperity to my kind. Even if they are not my own."

I was not angered as much by his words as I expected to be. He was laser-fixated on his connection to his kind and said nothing foul about the other races of Equestria. But I still felt a twinge of growing disgust with this man. While he was not saying anything unfortunate about the rest of Equestria, the utter lack of any mention of the world outside his empire's borders conveyed an air of cold indifference. And I knew by then that there is no place for something like that in a world like this. Equestria has always thrived on camaraderie.

The emperor could see my eyes narrowing into a frustrated glare. He continued to speak regardless. "No matter how far I searched, I could not fight the flow of time. I became old and weak... I tried to sustain myself however I could. When even that began to fail, I was left with no choice but to concoct a spell that would sustain me through the few human beings still in this world. I doubt they knew... They who turned on my empire and remained in Equestria did prolong my life. For a time. But even they could not defy the march of time forever..."

For just a moment, he lifted his head high. As if displaying a certain kind of grief. "One by one, they left this world... The last I saw fade...was Margaret... My own child, weak and grayed... Even she became old and left this world..."

"Megan." I retorted as I started to tire of his insistence of referring to her by that name. The emperor lowered his gaze to look at me inquisitively. I said again, "She called herself Megan. It was the name she preferred."

"Yes, I know... She said it made it easier to mingle with the common folk. She spent much time among them... And she met her end surrounded by many..." The emperor said with a wistful sigh. To watch his own child die from afar, unable to reach out to her... For just a moment, I felt immense pity for the old fool. It is not natural for a parent to outlive their child in such a manner. "And with her gone... I did not have long."

The emperor tightened his grasp around his oaken staff with his gaze lowering once more. "Time was running out... But I still had my duty to fulfill. If I could not live long enough to fulfill it... I would wait. And when death was near, I made my preparations and sealed myself within the Heaven's Pillar. The rest of my empire was in ruin and being reclaimed by the plains, but the Pillar still stood. A last bastion of hope for my people... Death came for me, but I instead was claimed by sleep. Neither alive nor dead, I would only awaken when another human entered this world and my corpse would have enough time to regain its strength through them. And then you came along."

My hand tightened around my sword's hilt. It was all about his people. Just his and without mention of anyone else. I did not even hear mention of Equestria's royal family. His superiors who should have also been his friends. I growled at the old man, "I don't appreciate being used like this... So many came to hate me for my affiliation with you... Several made attempts on my life after the truth came out."

"Then perhaps you should be relieved to know that your true friends and family are now finally within reach." The emperor said with his hand reaching out to point beyond me. "I observed you and knew for certain that you were not descended from my people. No, you carried a certain...air about yourself that was very alien from that of my own. And so I searched the cosmos for the world that you were once linked to. And I found it. The world you call Earth."

My armored fingers coiled even tighter around my sword's hilt as I heard the name of my homeland. A world that would never be compatible with a bastion of innocence like Equestria. But what he said next, I did not expect. "And I was alarmed by what I saw. Earth...is a blighted world. Your world is trapped in a dire situation. In the coming decades, I fear your people and their society will collapse. They need salvation. They need more... And I knew then that if I would never find my own people beyond the stars, then I would give Equestria to those who needed it more. The people of Earth will have Equestria. And they will flourish and prosper like never before. And then...my duty will be fulfilled. And I can leave this world without regrets."

It was at this point that I could not remain silent. The emperor did not connect the worlds of Earth and Equestria blindly. He did observe it for a time to get a better grasp on the global situation there. But he was still so naive... So blind to the Pandora's Box he was on the verge of opening. I pointed my sword at him and spoke with bile starting to boil in my gut, "And did you ever stop to ask yourself exactly what it is that's poisoning my world? Why it's slowly decaying the way it is?"

For once, the emperor said nothing. Perhaps he did not have an answer. Or perhaps he was allowing me to speak. He had already talked a lot by then. And so I did speak the truth even he did not want to hear. "Every single problem on Earth... Everything that's rotting it away... It's all the work of humanity itself! You can't save Earth from itself when every single crisis happening on it is a result of the world's human population! And the thing is... Earth doesn't even need Equestria in the first place!"

The emperor did speak then, but only briefly. "I suppose you would know. You are a native of that world, yes?"

"Hindsight can tell you a lot. Especially when you've been exposed to the exact opposite of a world you've become disillusioned with." I retorted without lowering my sword once. With the portal to the world I had abandoned still behind me, I continued to explain to my enemy. "But Earth doesn't need Equestria. My world already has all it needs to overcome the crises that are plaguing it and will continue to plague it. But the fatal flaw of this problem is that those who can save that world are choosing not to! Earth doesn't need Equestria's resources to escape its problems! What it needs is a drastic and radical global reevaluation of its values and priorities! Until that happens...nothing will change! How is it that I, as someone who spent the first twenty-five years of my life on that planet, understand this better than you?!"

The emperor once again remained silent. And I found this worrying. He did not concede defeat or acknowledge the truth in my words, but he did not try to refute them either. And so I continued, hoping to get through to the old fool now that I was being allowed to speak interrupted. "Even in the best case scenario, nothing good will come out of this in the long run! All you'll be doing is giving the people of Earth more resources to abuse and squander! How can you trust them to respect this world when they continue to gradually ruin their own?! With nothing keeping Earth's influence out of Equestria, it'll just be a matter of time... In due time, Equestria won't even be Equestria anymore! It'll just be another Earth! Their values will be lost, the people twisted into parodies of Earth's people! Equestria will lose all it has just to fuel the avarice and self-destructive whims of a world that can't even be bothered to save itself! How can you do this?! How do you rationalize this?!"

A moment of silence passed. But not because the emperor was contemplating my words. I am certain he was waiting to see if I had anything else to say. When I said nothing, only then did he speak. "The journey to become more is never without some degree of sacrifice. I knew this so long ago and my people came to understand this as well. Equestria would have never been the same, but my people would have risen to new heights. Whatever the drawbacks of this act, I owe my people too much to turn back now. I failed them eons ago. I was not prepared for what Margaret did. Her treason...was the only outcome I could not have anticipated."

"Treason? You actually have the gall to accuse your girl of treason?" I snarled as I wanted to walk up to the old man and smack him across the face. But I resisted that urge. I was on his turf now. He would not leave himself vulnerable. But I did not lower my sword either. "You and your entire empire were the traitors that day! Megan didn't betray you. She maintained her loyalty to Equestria! She stayed loyal to her world, as did those under her command! They resisted your dogma blinded by wondering what could be instead of seeing what was! They saw the value in what Equestria was and stayed the course! Now look at you... Everything you did back then, all the bridges you burned... Was it all worth it? Was the appeal of dominance worth throwing away everything you had?"

Once again, he did not speak. But I think my words did stir something in him. The emperor hunched forward further as I saw his frail hands clasp even more tightly around his staff. Was he holding back tears? It was so hard to say. But there was one more question on my mind. I knew what the true catalyst of his decision was. "I heard about what Discord said to you. When he abandoned the throne and threw the world into madness. He spoke to you, right? Tempted you with ideas? You knew he was mad. What made you think it was a good idea to heed the words of someone who was completely out of their mind?"

His composure returning, the emperor lifted his head to gaze ahead at me. "Yes, the Spirit of Diversity did speak to me that day. And while he was indeed mad, there was truth to his words. Truth I contemplated upon for many years after the fact. Not a day went by without me considering what was said to me. And whatever his intentions...Discord was correct. Humanity's potential is limitless. Far greater than any other creature in Equestria. There is so much more we can be. So much more to reach. If we will only reach for it."

"I won't deny that. I've been convinced of that too. If there's one thing my kind has that surpasses everything else...it's potential. But you wanna know what else I've learned from my time in Equestria?" I replied while not debating that statement. It was true. I knew that much about humanity. But I felt a proud smile forming upon my lips as I thought about all I had seen in my past two years in Equestria. "It's not about how far you can go. Its about knowing when to stop. And Equestria as a whole understands this."

The words that came out of the emperor's mouth then only served to disgust me. "They cannot understand. The mind of a pony... The mind of a griffon, of a dragon, even the mind of a kirin cannot comprehend that which only the minds of humanity can imagine. They may say this world is perfect as is, but that is only because they cannot comprehend what may be ahead. They do not have the will to reach beyond the veil into what is not yet known..."

"How dare you." I muttered furiously as one of those words caught my ear. Kirin. The one race in Equestria that possesses a kindred and nearly symbiotic connection to humanity. A race where one of their own found love with him. "You dare say that about the kirin? About Rain Shine? Was she nothing to you in the long run?"

He said nothing. For once, I had him cornered. I only visited the Grove of Silence once. But I loved them. And how I loved dear Rain Shine. And I knew enough about what happened between the two of them. "She loved you! I know what happened after you lost your queen! What happened, you old fool?! She would've been your new queen if you only asked her! She would've given you daughters to grow and raise with Megan! I know you two were in love! And now you have the gall to say that Rain Shine and her people just don't get it?! That they can't compare to humanity?!"

My words silenced him. It was the angriest I had been thus far in that encounter. With my point made, I pointed my sword out to the edge of the tower and beyond it. "Well then... If that's the game you're playing... Fine. Take a look around you. You did it. You listened to Discord when he was consumed by madness and despair. You followed his advice. You became obsessed over what you and your people could potentially be and spread that obsession among them with the entirety of Equestria being oblivious of it until it was too late. You answered that urge to reach higher. Now, take a good long look out there and tell me what it got you. And I'll ask again. Was it all worth it?"

This time, the emperor did provide a response. "Mistakes were made, I will admit. I underestimated everything else beyond my vision. I did not expect...the Elements of Harmony to be capable of such a purifying effect of such magnitude. Nor did I expect our safeguard to be turned against us..."

Safeguard... That term caught my attention. And then it clicked with me. My eyes glanced up, my thoughts going to what was emblazoned upon my helmet's brow. The Element of Humanity. A Element that was never a part of the Elements of Harmony. An outlier that was introduced long after them like a new friend. But what if it never was a friend in the first place? And so I demanded, "Tell me. The Element of Humanity. What was the real purpose of forging it? You made it, right? Was it really an act of goodwill towards the people of Equestria? A power to aid them should the Elements of Harmony just not be enough to overcome a trial on their own power? Or...was it a traitor all along?"

There was a long moment of hesitation. As if even he was not certain of how to respond to that. "I have...pondered that for some time. When I first began making preparations for its creation, I intended for it to be nothing more than a boon for Equestria as a whole. The Elements of Harmony had never faltered, but I have heard the most obscure myths where there were powers they could only stalemate at best. The Element of Humanity was meant to serve as a means to tip the scales in their favor should it ever happen. And yet...I imagined the possibilities of what it would mean for one who holds it. The Elements of Harmony would never reject a friend. They would never see it as a threat. And to that end, it must be said..."

My eyes started to widen as the emperor pointed his hand at me while the other grasped his staff firmly. And as he did, the white crystal atop it... It began to glow a royal purple. "You have something that belongs to me."

I felt the slightest tremor in my helmet. And a horrifying memory flashed through my mind. The Element of Humanity that was displayed on the brow of my helmet. It was about to be taken from me by the one who forged it in the first place. But as quickly as that tremor started, it ended. Just like that.

The emperor and I both looked surprised at the lack of a response from the Element of Humanity. The glow in his staff's crystal faded before it flared up again. Whatever the spell was he was casting through it, nothing was happening. It had no effect whatsoever. "Why...do you not heed me as your creator...?"

This filled me with a wonderful sense of relief. I feared that the Element of Humanity was never mine at all the further the war progressed. That I was just a messenger returning it to where it belonged. But the Element of Humanity had chosen its bearer. And I found myself smiling at my enemy. "It doesn't belong to you anymore. It rejects you, old man. You don't belong in this world anymore. But I do. And the Element of Humanity knows it."

"Preposterous... I created it. It is mine..." The emperor spoke in disbelief and a hint of frustration as he once again tried to call it to his side with his enchanted staff. But nothing happened. The Element of Humanity remained firmly affixed to my helmet. It knew who it belonged with.

This turn of events filled me with a certain pride. I had become so accustomed to the Element of Humanity being on my helmet while not really doing anything that I mostly just kept forgetting it was there. But now that it had become the center of attention, its refusal to be claimed by its creator filled me with relief. By choosing me, I felt as if it was telling me I was more than welcome in Equestria.

The emperor soon sighed as he tired of the futility in his actions. "Very well then... I am not long for this world as is. But I cannot let myself leave just yet. If there is one thing I wish to do before death takes me, I wish to be there to welcome my kind back into my world. I wish to see my people with my own eyes...one last time..."

It really was all about his people. This war was not for his sake. He had no delusions of grandeur or sought power or dominance for himself. He did not seek Equestria's riches for his own use. He was doing everything for literally everyone else. In some twisted way, I found this very commendable. Putting one's people before oneself is the mark of a true leader. Misguided as he was, I had to at least respect him for never casting aside his responsibilities. "I think I see why they were so angry with you after what you did... So bitter... They must've held a lot of respect for you. King Orbash considered you to be like a brother to him... You're a true king, I'll give you that. Putting your people before yourself... I can respect that."

"Always... I have known what it means to wear a crown and carry this scepter. And I always strove to watch over my people. And to guide them to prosperity." The emperor replied wistfully as he gazed upon the crystal embedded in his staff. He then turned to me and asked, "And yet, you reject me much like my own creation. I must ask, as your emperor and as a fellow member of mankind. Why do you reject and obstruct my efforts for my people?"

"Why do you not understand it isn't just about your people in this world of so many different races?" I asked in return. The gall of this guy to assume he held any authority over me... I then explained, "One of the most defining aspects of Equestria's prosperity is the general harmony between all races. Ponies may be the most common and widespread of them all, but all the other races of this world mingle with them just fine. Hell, the dragons even have the potential to become more should they open their borders. And they're a prime example of exactly what happens when one society focuses only on itself. They isolated themselves from Equestrian society out of sheer pride. As a result, they're stuck in the Stone Age. At least they had the sense of not invade or declare war. Unlike what you did..."

"Why...?" The emperor asked as he turned his gaze skyward with the storm clouds continuing to brood overhead. "Because just imagine what my people could reach with all of what Equestria has to offer. Imagine the possibilities... The heights we could reach... The more we have, the more we can achieve..."

Once more, my armored hand tightened around the hilt with bitter disappointment in my heart. He never had a plan to begin with. How could he have? For all his talk of the possibilities, he never once mentioned a concrete list of destinations for his people. Much like...the one who tempted him in the first place.

As the emperor droned on about the aimless ambitions of his people, my thoughts went back towards the mad entity who tempted the emperor at the start. I still remember that last conversation I had with Discord before he left this world. And the two brief encounters with him just before...everything just stopped until I woke up in the hospital. The Discord I first met and the one I watched leave this world were like two vastly different people in hindsight. The one who I bid farewell to was a very affable and pleasant goofball who was oozing despair of so many wasted years of mistakes fueled by a loss of a purpose in life. But the one I met at first... He was a man who only lived in the moment. Consequences and long term plans were meaningless to him. Much like...the man standing before me...

This is the bedlam the Discord of eons past would have been reveling in. Pushing humanity's emperor down the wrong path just to see what would happen. If Discord had never found peace in the end, he would surely be enjoying the show from afar to some degree. But if Discord as I last saw could see what was happening... He would be rolling in his grave. I closed my eyes for just a moment, unable to bring myself to feel any resentment to the poor fool whose irrevocably shattered heart drove him to do things he would have hated himself for had he still been sane. "If only you could see what your madness wrought, my friend..."

All I heard was more and more groundless propaganda from the emperor. I was not so much disgusted as I was disappointed. It was all words over what could be and the possibilities that be, but never anything regarding a planned destination. This would have been exactly what Discord would have wanted during that phase of his life. Chaos without any set ending. And at the first opportunity, I interjected. "Are you done?"

The emperor lowered his gaze to look ahead at me and remained silent. He must have assumed he had been a rude host to do so much talking without letting me get in a word. I then pointed my sword at him and said, "Just taking and taking as much as you can from the world around you to fuel your ambitions? Regardless of how it effects the other people of Equestria? There's no place for that kind of tunnel vision in this world and you know that."

"Your world would beg to differ. For they are doing the same as we speak. But they do not have enough... They need more to sustain themselves before they collapse under their own weight." He replied before pointing his staff at me... No, not at me. He was pointing at the portal that hung in the sky behind me. "And you... You are so close to being home now. Surely you have those who long for that you could never return to. Very soon, you will be able to come and go from Equestria as you please. You can return to your true home. Does that not entice you?"

I lowered my sword once more. For the past two years, I expected to never see Earth again. I had resigned myself to completely doing without it. And when I finally saw Earth again for the first time after two years in Equestria, I only felt horror. With the big picture spread out before me and having grown accustomed to a wonderful life in a much more idealistic world, the concept of returning to a world as blighted as Earth revolted me. But if I focused enough on the small picture... Just that which made up my life before I departed that world..."

I kept my thoughts to myself. There were aspects of my life that I did find myself longing for as I allowed myself to remember. Places I would be happy to see again. People to say hello to. Family to be welcomed back by. But even in that small picture, there were things I did not want to become reacquainted with. Goodness knows I was in no hurry to see my father again. Having to go back to dreading speaking to him when he called for me and maintaining a stony and silent facade when around him just to minimize any risk of triggering a wrathful outburst from him was a routine I did not want to return to. And when my thoughts returned to all I did have in this wonderful world of Equestria, I found myself smiling as I gazed at my enemy. "There's no need for me to go home... Because I am home. I know where I belong and where I'm happiest."

My words puzzled the emperor. He then pointed his staff towards the portal behind me again and asked, "You would truly forsake your world? Your family? All that you have known?"

I tried to be as succinct as possible in my response. The smile left my face as I spoke. "My family will be fine without me. I know that much. As for the rest of the world, I have no desire to spend the rest of my life on a planet watching as things go to hell bit by bit while those that can do something about consistently fail in doing so or choosing not to. If I return to the world I once called home, I will be a much less happier person... I will be so much more jaded as the years go by. I'll probably have to stop caring about the world entirely just to find the will to keep going."

Before the emperor could even try to find a response, I found myself smiling as I added to my statement. "And I can't say that about Equestria. I now how what it's like to love the world you live in. To love a world enough to fight for it. I will never be able to say that about Earth, but I can say that about this world. I don't want to be here on the battlefield, but what will happen if I'm not here frightens me most. And besides..."

I hoisted my sword to my pauldron as I felt a twinge of smug confidence fill my heart. I found renewed hope as I considered what I knew by then. "Besides... Even if we can't stop you from keeping the portal open, I'm sure they'll find a way. There must be a way to at least block that thing. If the people of Equestria can't close the portal, they'll surely find a way to keep it locked and sealed instead. Anything to keep Earth's influence out of this paradise."

The emperor simply gazed at me while remaining hunched over on his staff. His empty glowing white eyes stared unblinkingly at me before he finally spoke a response...I was hoping to not hear. "Yes... That is a possibility. One I have considered. And one I have been making preparations to rectify."

My eyes opened a bit wider as this statement instill a sense of unease in my heart. I slowly lowered the Celestial Sword from my pauldron and asked, "Excuse me?"

"They have surprised me at every turn. Again and again, they match and destroy my armies with means and methods I cannot hope to imitate. The tenacity of the people of Equestria far surpasses anything I could have expected. By now, I have been convinced. Even if they cannot win this war, they will surely find a means to undermine my victory. They will stop at nothing to see that my victory ends up being meaningless. And I am convinced they have a means to succeed." The emperor explained calmly. Yet with not the slightest hint of frustration or malice in his tone. Or even on his tired wrinkled face. But he then gazed at me and said, "To that end... This war ends today. And there will be none left upon the Empty Plains to resist the return of my people."

That declaration was horrifyingly final. I had seen the change in tactics in the previous two battles. Where the armies of Hollows became less lenient in their aggression towards the militia before finally disregarding any attempts to capture them alive. But I had kept my eyes to the ground half of the time during our approach to the Heaven's Pillar. Even glancing left and right. "I saw no signs of enemy movement during the approach here. There's no Hollows out here aside from what's at the base of the tower. Unless... What did you do?!"

His tone was cold and focused. Devoid of emotion as he resigned himself to whatever had to be done to succeed in what he set out to do so long ago. "I have been...amassing an army. More and more of my creations added to its numbers day after day for weeks on end that I have set aside from the rest. All to be ready for one last battle should all else fail. I have divided them into two separated detachments and sent them far to the north and south to watch and wait. And as we speak, they should be closing in."

The north and south... The vast majority of our sensors have always been deployed with the east with very little watching the three other cardinal directions. The perfect directions to get close enough without my allies being able to respond with enough time on their hooves. And with the tone of finality in his words... "How many?"

"Too many. Too many for them to have any hope in holding off." The emperor replied as a newfound terror filled my heart. Even there atop the Heaven's Pillar, the war would still rage on far below upon the Empty Plains. There was still one last wave about to reach the already gravely disadvantaged militia! "There twill be no surrender from either side. I must remove all resistance before I can leave this world to the people of Earth. My armies will fight until none remain. None shall be spared."

The air was eerily calm up there in spite of the horrifying details that had just been relayed to me. They were... After all we had been through, after all the preparations that had been made to prepare me to end the war before the day was done, my allies were still in mortal peril! Panic filling my heart, I took a step forward. "Tell me! How long until your soldiers get there?!"

The emperor closed his eyes as the crystal atop his staff began to glow a royal purple. A type of spell to grant him the means to observe his men? And when he opened his eyes... His words confirmed my worst fears. "They are practically at the gates."

We did all that we could... And what a heartfelt sendoff he received. I never dreamed the situation would become so dire. And it was...disheartening to not have James among us. His presence was one of the few constants during this war. The first to answer the call, he had been with us every step of the way. And then, scarred and concussed, he was sent out to face the emperor before our enemy could amass another army to attack us. There are too many wounded... Even with so many having been evacuated. If another army as large as the last one were to attack... I dreaded wondering how many would not make it home alive.

It was dreadful having to say goodbye to my sunshine... We did all we could to counter his injuries. Zecora had just enough ingredients left to create her most powerful concoction to see to it that James would be able to fight at maximum capacity in spite of his wounds. He was awake and aware when he departed as if nothing had ever happened to him. And yet, morale remained low across the encampment. Any who knew James, and especially those who love him, were all but grieving after he departed. Had we done enough? Would he return alive to us with news of victory? Or had we truly sent him off to his death? Novo, I pray we did not make a mistake, old friend...

As I sat there in the common area inside the command center, I sipped on my tea while just trying to keep my mind elsewhere. I never wanted this for my beloved... I never dreamed he would become embroiled in old wounds left behind by those who had to be removed from his world so long ago. All I wanted for him when I brought my dear James to this world was for him to be happy among us while serving as the herald for the eventual return of humanity as a whole. Even if I never dreamed he and I would find love together. But so many wrenches were thrown into that plan so many times. And none more derailing than the return of the one who caused the human race of this world to become enemies to their friends. I never wanted this for him... Certainly not after falling so dearly in love with him...

I have begun to fear that the return of humanity is now all but impossible. So much resentment has spread among the militia after my mother and father arrived to reveal that the emperor is sustaining himself through James and his own life force. James is not responsible for this war and resents the enemy as much as we do, but my people do not understand this... Not during such desperate times. If they come to loathe James as the herald of humanity's return, will they ever accept humanity being brought back into the fold once the dust has settled?

I have seen Earth. Watched it for longer than I would have liked. And yet the emperor was seeking to create an unbreakable connection between our world and theirs. Just to give our world to the humans of that world. And I know all too well what the influence of such a blighted world would do to our people. Innocence is far too easily tarnished and impossible to recover once lost. I have a duty to uphold as the Princess of the Dawn. I must shield them from the evils of worlds they must never know. If I fail... Equestria will cease to exist on a fundamental level. Equestria in name only, but another Earth in every other way. That outcome needed to be avoided at any cost. And yet, some costs were too great to consider too hastily...

If James falls, the emperor will die with him. That portal will surely close without its creator overseeing it as well. So then why did the emperor's minions make such a deliberate attempt on James' life in the prior battle? It was a mystery without an answer. I have to wonder... What were you hoping for, old friend? Were you hoping that we would stop you in the end?

He was in danger out there. My beloved James... We gave him all that we had. An indestructible shield and irresistible sword, forged by Luna and myself. Our finest armor, forged so long ago for humanity's greatest champions, carried him through the sky with the same power Luna and I possess. I never would have imagined it would end up being used against the very ones we intended it to be a gift towards. Few in this world are more powerful than him while clad in that precious armor. But would it be enough?

My eyes wandered the common area. Luna too was nearby, my sister reading reports from those back home. I sighed and gazed upon the radar station in the corner. Its officer was still there, sipping his coffee while reading a magazine. We could not advance nor retreat. We were trapped there. Too many wounded to move and only so many had been evacuated via airship at the time. By then, only the Zephyrus remained docked. We would be receiving no further visitors until the war was over. And it would end today, one way or another.

Time was on our side for the moment. We hardly even needed the sensor network so soon after the last battle. But then... On the panels displaying the information around the encampment itself... At the very edge of the north and south... Purple. A growing mass of purple. "No..."

I rose from my seat and approached the crystal displays. More and more... That tiny blip of purple began to grow rapidly. From the north and south, where our sensor suite was the least observant, a mass of Hollows were en route! Only then did Luna also notice and trotted our way as she too saw the enemy approaching. But something was wrong... "By the stars, what is that?! How many are there?!"

Only then did the radar station officer become aware of what was happening and took a quick count of the enemy numbers. "What the...?! Ooooh, this is bad... This is bad, just a minute your highnesses... Oh no... Ooooh nooo no no no no..."

"Guard, speak to us! What are we expecting here?!" Luna demanded as a sense of doom began to fill the air. We were not ready for this! Not this soon!

The guard turned to look at us with...such a look of horror in his eyes. "These two detachments combined... Approximately a hundred thousand strong, your highness! We can't handle these numbers! Not after what the last battle did to us!"

Luna and I turned to each other. No words were needed. We fetched our armor and rushed out the door as the alarm was sounded. As we soared over to the eastern walls, the entire encampment was in an uproar. Panic was filling the air. Gone was all the misery and gloom of the uncertainty of not knowing what was next. All that remained was the horror of knowing that our doom was nigh.

Luna and I stood upon the walls as our sentries began to amass take aim with their crossbows. And there they were. Two tides of purple beginning to converge to the east as they rushed forward. The tremors in the ground... How that tide of purple washed over the meadows ahead... Tens of thousands of Hollows rushing in for the kill. If they breached our walls, it would all be over. There were just too many...

But not like this. Not when we were so close! Mother and Father were out there. And James was surely clashing with the emperor directly by then! There was no way we would be able to destroy so many Hollows while holding the line, but perhaps we did not need to. We only needed to survive just long enough for the deed to be done! And so I turned to my sister and said what needed to be said. "Luna. It's fallen to us. We must hold the line!"

My sister cast me a bold smirk as she answered my challenge. "It is a good day to die, sister! Together now! Onward to victory!"

With a flap of our wings, we threw ourselves into the air to bombard the enemy from above. But just as we began to prepare some of our most powerful magic to unleash upon the enemy, night fell. Or rather...the sky above became dark. Luna spoke first as we glanced about. "Why so dark? Is this your doing, Celestia?"

"No, I... Luna! Above!" I muttered before I just happened to glance up. A storm of purple... Thousands upon thousands of arrows had been launched! We had no choice but to abandon our assault and project a barrier around us just survive the barrage! If only there were not so many archers, Luna and I could raze the enemy army from above without risk! We were forced to ground ourselves outside the walls of our encampment. Hopefully we would be able to draw their fire and not endanger our sentries atop the walls. "They really are coming in for the kill... Luna, we must hold them here!"

"They shall not pass, sister! Sentries! Make every shot count!" My sister replied while also calling out to those standing atop the walls. Our sentries stood firm, their crossbows raised with explosive bolts ready to fly.

The barrage of arrows ceased once we were grounded. The archers were watching and waiting. And ahead of us came the vanguard. Heavy infantry with a thunderous tread as they rushed ahead with weapons ready. This was not a formation... It was not even a proper vanguard. Any and all strategy had been disregarded for nothing more than a mad rush of sheer numbers. And it would be more than enough to finish us all off if they got by Luna and I.

Luna and I lowered our horns and unleashed waves of fire and lightning into the first line of attack. But after only a few seconds, we were forced to go onto the defensive. A hail of arrows once more blacked out the already murky sky and rained down upon us with only our magic barriers holding them off. They were not all launched at once either. Instead of a blanket of arrows al striking at once, it was a highly coordinated volley that forced us to remain still as several seconds ticked by of those arrows breaking themselves against our defenses. And during those precious seconds, Luna and I could only watch as the heavy infantry rapidly approached!

It was then our sentries fired. Their explosive projectiles obliterated dozens of Hollows in quick succession. But there were still thousands more! Just when I thought Luna and I would have to desperately repel them from up close, a sudden wave of explosions, both fiery and magical, obliterated rows upon rows of infantry before us. When I glanced back at the walls, I saw that our reloading sentries had been joined by rows of our archers and mages. Our peerless hippogriffs were joined by our unicorn archers and mages, unleashed their ranged attacks upon the enemy while Luna and I were pinned down. Seaspray was among them as he led the defense. "Be brave, your highnesses! We've come this far! We shall not retreat now!"

As soon as that hail of arrows ceased, Luna and I went back on the offensive while standing our ground. It was so frustrating, having enough power to destroy the army on our own if only there were not so many archers that could shoot us out of the sky! At least half of that ocean of Hollows must have been carrying longbows! And before much longer... A new voice spoke out to us. Spitfire had reached the walls and called out words I never expected to hear. "Your highnesses! Another wave is approaching from the west! Approximately a hundred thousand!"

"Another hundred thousand?! And from both directions?! This really is the end!" I could not stop myself for shrieking as despair took hold of me for just an instant. So many from just the east was bad enough. But just as many now coming from the west as well?! There was no way out! We had no hope of surviving this!

Thankfully, Luna was quick to devise a solution for this. "Celestia, mind the east gate! I shall hold the west!"

"Don't you die on me out here, Luna! We're going home together, got it?!" I replied as I saw my little sister beaming in pride. This was no time to be afraid. We did not even have to destroy every last one of the enemy. We only had to endure until James had triumphed!

I erected a barrier wall to cover Luna's escape while our mages and archers also held their fire momentarily. I saw half of our hippogriff archers soar after Luna to help defend the west gate while surely the other half of our unicorn archers and mages would assist as well. Now I was alone with only our archers, sentries, and mages backing me up. Dozens of Hollows were obliterated by the second as we all did what we could to thin out their numbers even as I heard a fiery fanfare being blasted out through whatever our bard had hooked up outside the gate.

It was our darkest hour. And while I had no one to turn to and no one to banter with while unleashing wave upon wave of magic whenever I was not protecting myself from falling arrows, Seaspray shouted words of encouragement to our last line of defense. "This is our time, ladies and gentlemen! Make every shot count! Give them all you have! Let not one be wasted! They will not have our world until we all draw our last breath! Today, we triumph or die! For our world! For Equestria!"

No truer words had been said. And yet, seeing that ocean of purple still washing towards us unceasingly... We would never outlast this. Not even my power would be enough for this. In just the briefest reprieve, I spoke to no one in particular as my eyes gazed out far to the east. "Mother... Father... James! Please, hurry!"

The alarm had been sounded. The enemy was here! Had James failed?! Where did this pincer attack of two hundred thousand Hollows even come from?! How long had this attack been planned?! Never before had it truly felt like the end. The only comfort I took was knowing that I had a strict plan to stick to. No matter what happened, my friends and I had to escape!

Rarity and I left our tent together after packing whatever we could on short notice. Panic filled the air once we stepped outside. My fellow unicorn friend looked to the east and the west. Blasts of magic and explosive arrows could be seen and heard. We were so close to death, but it sounded like they were holding the line for now. But Rarity was still quick to look at me with terror in her eyes. We have been through some tough scrapes before, but never anything this dire. "Heavens, it truly feels like the end of the world! I feel like by tomorrow, Equestria will never be the same!"

"I know, Rarity... I know. But it's not over yet! The Zephyrus is still here!" I replied before I turned towards the center of the encampment. Only one airship remained and it was docked very close to command center. Far from the chaos unfolding outside our gates. We would be safe from any archers that might be out there. But before I could go... "Rarity, go on without me for a minute. There's something I need to do first."

"Twilight, no! We need to leave at once! We all need to make it home alive! Don't be a hero today!" Rarity shriek as her magic took hold of my hoof. "Don't make me have to drag you to the airship! James would never forgive me if we let you die out here!"

"What?! No, I'm not gonna join the defense! There's somewhere I need to be before I leave!" I yelped while not surprised Rarity would make that assumption. I marched right up to my friend and threw my arms around her for a hug. "Please, just give me a few minutes. I'll go take care of business and then I'll be right there. OK? Please don't leave without me!"

It took a moment, but Rarity finally nodded and patted me on the back. "Very well... Just make it quick! And I will see you there!"

And we were off. Rarity galloped off towards the Zephyrus while I hurried towards the east gate. I could not leave yet. Not without saying goodbye.

There he was. With rows of our infantry lined up in heavy armor and weapons ready, Shining Armor was in plain sight. But then six of our dragon personnel dropped down from above ad took up positions ahead of them! I heard one of them call out in the process, "Outta the way! As soon as they bust through the gates, we'll torch them!"

They really were all in this together... I hurried up to my brother as he noticed me coming. And he was not exactly happy to see me. "Twi, what're you doing?! Get going! You know the plan!"

"I know, Shiny! I know! But I just had to say goodbye!" I did not take no for an answer. I ran up to my brother and grabbed him for a hug. "Love you, big bro... I'll...tell everyone that you were a real hero today..."

"Oh... Thanks, Twily..." Shining Armor whispered while he too held me. This really was goodbye... I was never going to see him again after today... I tried to not think about it. Tried to not make the situation harder than it already was. But I could not hold back the tears from what I heard next. "As long as you make it home, I'll have no regrets. Remember what I told you, all right?"

"Shiny... Oh my gosh, it can't end like this!" I finally sobbed as I sank to my haunches. But my brother did not let go. He still held me. I knew what his answer was, but I pleaded anyway. "Is there no changing your mind?! Please, I don't wanna lose you like this! I didn't come all the way out here just to say goodbye!"

"Yes, Twi... Yes. I won't abandon my men. And Cadence knows of my decision. She understands... But please, tell her love her anyway. And that she was the last thing on my mind when the enemy breached the gates." He whispered calmly to me. I knew he was afraid, but it was hard to tell. He knew what was coming. He then added, "If we fail, at least Seaspray will be making it outta here. And he and I agreed that if I don't make it, he is to assume supreme command of the royal guard. He's the right stallion for the job, so Equestria will still be in good hooves if anything happens."

"That doesn't make this any easier..." I tried to speak through my tears. I knew what the plan was and I needed to accept that. It took everything I had to let go of my brother. "Just...try to make it anyway, please?"

"I won't go down without a fight. Now get going, sis. Equestria still needs you and your friends." He whispered before giving me one last nuzzle. We were running out of time. I turned and began to leaving, looking back one last time while he spoke to those around him. "Can everyone hear me? If we don't make it through this... It's been an honor serving with all of you!"

I ran. It was all I could do. I galloped across the encampment until I came to the gangplank leading up to the Zephyrus. And thankfully, just about everyone who needed to be there was up on deck. Pinkie Pie was there with Maud. Rainbow Dash and Gilda came swooping in for a landing. Rarity had Ocellus and Smolder at her sides, although it did take me a second to recognize Ocellus in that dragon disguise. And the captain herself was presiding over them while peering out to the east. The only ones missing were... "Where's Applejack?"

"She's out rounding up her brother and cousin. I guess she's taking a while to figure out where they are." Rainbow Dash replied while they all looked very high strung. And they should have been. This was the end. And there were only two outcomes possible.

"She's not here yet?! We don't have time! They could... Wait, is that her now?" I started to stammer in fright before I noticed the galloping of hooves coming up the gangplank. And sure enough, there she was. Applejack came up into view along with Big Macintosh. But somepony was not there. I approached them and asked, "Where's your cousin? Where's Braeburn?"

"He ain't comin'..." Applejack retorted while both she and Big Macintosh looked uneasy about what they had probably just been told. But she still tried to show a proud smile while she said, "He said he's stayin'. They need anypony who can shoot straight up on the walls and he's still got a workin' crossbow. He said if he don't make it outta this, he wants us ta tell all the folk down in Appleloosa that he went out shootin'... The guy's got some big brass ones on him."

I was not the only one who was leaving family behind who were ready to fight to the last minute. I think Applejack knew that too. She walked right up to me and gave me a hug. "It's gonna be OK, Twi... We're... We're gonna live ta see another day..."

"Right... Right... We can't let the Elements of Harmony go to waste." I muttered before I looked at all my friends and their own friends and family. They were all afraid. We all knew why we were there. "So, I... I guess this is it. We tried... We really did."

"Is it really that bad? Did... Did James not make it out here? Is this happening because...he didn't make it?!" Smolder pleased while holding onto Ocellus and vice versa. Smolder has always been so spunky and quite tough and independent for someone her age. But now... She just a scared little girl in a situation she really didn't belong in.

"No! No way! It's been barely an hour since he headed out! There's no way he could've failed already! And when he wins, all those scary Hollows will be gone!" Pinkie Pie called out before she turned to the captain of the Zephyrus. "Right, captain? It's...not over yet, right?"

Celaeno did not look at us once. She was gazing out to the east with the brim of her hat tilted down a bit. "It's really come to this... Didn't think they'd get here so soon... Are you sure this is everyone? Are we ready to evacuate?"

We all took a head count. The only one who was not present was Braeburn and only because he volunteered to stay behind. Rarity then nodded and said, "Yes. It looks like we're all here... Or at least all who have chosen to arrive."

Celaeno walked over to the helm at the stern of the ship and stood behind the wheel. She then spoke into a brass voicepipe near it and said, "Boyle, what's your status down there?"

I heard one of her crewmates reply, "The engine's primed and ready, captain. Just say the word and I'll get the old girl going. We're ready when you are. Should I start her up?"

She hesitated. I saw Celaeno open her beak to speak, but she then looked at all of us. And then she looked east at the battle being waged just outside the eastern gates. She closed her eyes before speaking more proudly. "Not yet, Boyle. Not yet. We're not leaving until we know there's no winning this war."

"Aye, captain. I'll be here if you need me." I heard Boyle reply without objection. He sounded like he understood her reasoning.

"That's not a problem with all of you, right?" Celaeno asked while stepping out from behind the helm. "We haven't lost yet. James is still out there taking the fight to the head honcho himself. I have faith in our mate. So how about this? We don't leave until those gates burst open. Until we know we've lost..."

She was right. We had not lost the war yet. And as I looked around at my friends, I could see a renewed look of hope in them starting to ignite. And out of everyone there, it was Ocellus who spoke first. "Yes... Yes, let's stay a little longer. I believe in him... He won't fail!"

Smolder rested her hand on her friend's shoulder. The childlike fear in her eyes had all but disappeared. When they shared a glance with each other, she then looked at all of us. "He'll win. I know he will. I don't wanna bail yet."

"Ditto. If we leave now, that's just another way of saying we've got no faith in the guy. I say we stay until we know for sure he didn't make! Right?!" Gilda asked as she spread her great griffon wings defiantly. One by one, we all joined in with words of faith or just silent nods. It was not over... Not yet!

"Then it's settled! We're not hauling anchor until the last second! But if either of those gates burst open, we've gotta go! No compromises!" Celaeno shouted while we all made our decision. For the time being, we would wait. But we were also closely watching the east and west. All that purple out there... It was like the encampment was on an island that was about to be swallowed by the sea. What little we could see was being fiercely repelled by our archers and mages. And outside each gate was either Princess Celestia or Princess Luna. Only the absolute most powerful of us could hope to face the enemy directly.

The war was being fought on two fronts. Down on the ground and high in the sky. It was only a matter of who would fall first. The end had come... And all I could do was pray.

I could not believe what I was hearing. An army of Hollows unlike any we had ever seen was descending upon the encampment at that very minute? Was this mission all for nothing? My hand quivering, I raised my sword towards the emperor as he stood before me. "Fine...! All I gotta do is take you out and this will all be over!"

"If you can. I see we have reached an impasse. Irreconcilable differences separates us." The tired old man said to me without any hint of animosity in his tone or even on his withered face. He felt no hatred towards the people of Equestria. Truly, the only thing the emperor had left was his duty. And yet, he spoke to me without fear. "And I must confess... You are much mightier than I am. Even with all the knowledge I possess and all my mastery over the arcane arts, I doubt I could ever hope to triumph against you in single combat."

"Then you know how this will end, old man." I replied while readying myself for a confrontation. The time for talk was over and I was fearful of wasting anymore time. I was not the only one working on borrowed time. Everyone I had left behind at the encampment were being besieged by one last desperate charge that would see them all slaughtered if their defenses failed. I prepared the Lunar Shield while anticipating some sort of resistance from the enemy. "You know you can't win, so let's get this over with! I just wanna go home!"

"I do not need to defeat you, my friend." The emperor replied unexpectedly firmly. And then I saw it. With the sound of popping bone and joints, the emperor began to straighten his posture. Lifting his head as only one hand held his staff. With the crystal atop filling with a brilliant purple glow that never faded, I stared aghast as the emperor was now standing tall with no signs of weakness in his stance. He was barely more than a corpse... A withered husk being sustained by power that was not his own. And what little strength he was saving was now on full display. A shell of a man he may have been, but he was still ready to make one last stand for everything he had been striving for. Even the clouds just above us began to respond to the tension in the air. Or possibly from the magical force being channeled through his staff. They began to swirl... Spiraling inward right over the Heaven's Pillar as distant thunder and lightning began to fill the horizon. Rain began to fall at a steady trickle. Our clash was becoming the eye of the storm that was now raging over Equestria's fate. With the stakes set, the emperor spoke once more. "I need not best you. I need only outlast you."

I tried to end the problem right there with a very sudden shot of fire magic launched from the tip of my sword. But by the time that burst of golden fire struck the emperor and faded away, I saw it. A familiar ghostly veil billowing around him as he stood unharmed. The same accursed spell that protected his Hollow generals from even my most potent magic. I snarled in frustration as I realized I would once again be fighting with a handicap. And time was not on my side. They were all about to die! Equestria would lose all that it stood for! If I failed here... No!

Desperation filled me as the storm raged around us. It was here atop the very world itself Equestria's future would be decided. With a flap of my wings, I rushed forward and tried to cleave the emperor in two like so many of his Hollows. But with a flick of his wrist, his staff summoned a ghostly barrier around himself that my blade glanced off of. He was focusing entirely on defense. Literally trying to outlast me. And at that rate, he just might!

I smashed the mighty glowing blade of the Celestial Sword against the barrier over and over. Trying to at least crack my way through it. Surely even the power within that staff was not on the same level as the magic in my gauntlets. There had to be a limit to how much physical punishment a magic barrier could take before it would start to falter. I remembered how Shining Armor began to strain himself harder the more punishment his barrier around us endured when I was being evacuated from the battlefield. There had to be a limit. And I needed to find it.

With solar magic being channeled through my sword's blade, I tried to force my way through with a powerful thrust. I lunged forward with the searing blade stabbing hard against the barrier around my enemy. Upon making a solid impact, that fiery aura exploded into the barrier with enough force to throw the emperor back right to the very edge of the tower. I rushed across the vast expanse of stone flooring between us when I noticed his defenses had dropped. That anti-magic veil was still billowing around him, but the barrier was gone.

It was in that moment that I underestimated the emperor. With how he sought to only outlast me, I was under the assumption that he was incapable of any forms of offensive magic. He quickly proved me wrong. I failed to raise my shield in time and was blasted by a wide beam of purple magical force launched from the crystal atop his staff. I was blasted far across the tower and had to use my armor's wings to avoid completely falling backwards. My armor prevented the impact from getting through, but I still felt the full force of that magical push. I could not harm him with magic, but my armor insured his only means of attack were also futile. For the moment, it was a stalemate.

The emperor proved to me during that moment of recovery that he was not as immobile as he appeared either. With staff in hand, he began to quickly float around the edges of the tower. His long tattered robe dragging along, the fact that he was just barely levitating while having those empty glowing eyes and that ghostly aura billowing around him only served to instill an otherworldly presence around this relic of a bygone era. I only felt more unnerved than I already was while feeling like I was facing off against an actual specter who had yet to leave this world.

As I pondered my options, I remembered a critical shortcoming of that veil. It did not negate the impact of magical creations that possessed physical mass. Nightmare Moon had impaled one of the Hollow generals on an ice spike despite the aura around it. With the Lunar Shield even hiding my left hand, I had the element of surprise. I began to prepare the ice magic in my left gauntlet even while the emperor raised his staff higher. And there I had him. A small pool of icy mist began to coat the floor ahead of him in the direction he was moving. And he only barely had time to glance to his right before an impaling spear of enchanted blue ice shot up at him.

"Gotcha...wait, what?!" I shouted in triumph before my relief turned into bewilderment. I expected the emperor to be run through on that narrow impaling pike. But what I did end up seeing was it shoving him back hard while he let out a loud grunt of discomfort. As if he had been struck by a blunt object. I made that spike more than sharp enough to impale him, yet...it did not pierce the veil? Was it simply that much more resilient to all forms of magical assaults when he was casting it upon himself?! "Oh, come on! I thought I had you there!"

"I see you attempted to exploit a weakness like the princess of shadows did towards one of my creations. I can assure you that you will find no such opportunities here." The emperor said softly in spite of the blow he had just taken. Aside from just taking a very hard shove that pushed him back towards his left, he was entirely unharmed. Although he then did say, "But perhaps it would be unwise to place too much faith in my defenses..."

With a wave of his staff, the emperor weaved a spell I should not have been surprised to see. The crystal atop his staff glowed impressively brightly as swirling purple mist formed in several spots on the floor between us. I watched as those columns of mist rose higher until it all compacted into solid shapes. Shapes that were hauntingly human. I scowled at a sight that had become too familiar to me. Several Hollows stood before me, all clad in identical suits of full plate armor with swords and shields in hand. But I was not going to even entertain the notion of dealing with lowly infantry by this point. "How about no?!"

Before they could even try to charge me, I caught my opponents in one fell swoop. I channeled the ice magic in my left gauntlet and trapped them with spires of ice that locked their bodies in place. Immobilized and unable to attack or defend, they were easy pickings. I took a step towards them and cleaved the Celestial Sword through them all in one wide sweeping stroke. The Hollows returned to dust while my enchanted ice prisons faded into icy fog. I gazed ahead at the emperor while he merely stared back at me. "This isn't even really a fight. If this is really where Equestria's fate is decided, give me a challenge already!"

"As I said, I have nothing to gain from dueling you. I need only survive long enough to see all the pieces fall into place. It is all I wish. If you want me gone so dearly, it will not be much longer before I leave this world forever." The emperor retorted before he once again put his impressive defensive magic to use. He suddenly boxed me in with translucent purple walls of magic projections. I could not even work my wings with how tightly packed in I was. "Just relax and wait. It will be over soon."

"Like this will stop me..." I grumbled while putting my own magic to good use. In a quick flash of light, I found myself right outside my prison with the use of a teleportation spell. The emperor offered no retort. As if he knew I could probably overcome whatever obstacle he threw at me. I contemplated my options. Just charging him would get me nowhere. Although as more thunder reached my ears, I glanced up at the swirling vortex of storm clouds above. Magic would never get through... But what about raw natural lightning?

I had already used such a trick against the light infantry battalion that tried to assault the militia under cover of night. The only downside was that directly harnessing the power of the storm above proved to be too predictable. I tried to be discreet as I used the magic in my left gauntlet to try and control the lightning within those clouds. But when a thunderclap rang out through the air, the emperor had already caught wind of it. A barrier surrounded him while that lightning bolt branched off into several directions over it for just an instant. I telegraphed myself too much with that move and would surely fail if I tried again.

The emperor tried to keep me pinned down with more potent bursts of magic launched from his staff. He did not catch me by surprise that time. I held my shield up and stood my ground. And when he kept trying to push me back, I started to push against the storm. With my shield dispersing some of that force and my enchanted sabatons pushing me forward I began to gradually push my way through the wave of purple arcane power trying to hold me off. With the rain pouring down around me and lightning filling the sky just above us, I almost felt as if I was pushing against the storm itself.

I drew closer... And closer... But over the sound of that magical outburst... The clanking of sabatons? When I glanced over my shoulder, I suddenly had to throw myself to the side with a flap of my armor's wings when I noticed a sword with a purple blade approaching me. Only when I bailed on my approach did the emperor cease his magical assault. Another Hollow, heavily armed and armored, stood near where I had been standing. And not just there.

Sporadically placed around the top of the tower were a few dozen identical Hollows. Each spread out too far apart for me to easily group them together for slaying several at once. I turned away from them to focus my attention on the emperor, but immediately had to throw up my shield when one tried to attack me from my blind spot. There was no way I could focus on my enemy when his minions were approaching from all sides. "I really don't need this right now!"

My sword cleaved through their armor and shields as easily as always with each foe I slashed dissolving into purple mist that was bogged down by the rain into puddles of purple along the stone floor. But the ones that remained did not charge in without disregard for survival. The emperor pulled his puppets' string from afar. Whenever I would slay one, two would draw near at once. It became a battle of trying to not spread my attention too thin.

This went well for a while. Slaying one Hollow at a time while trying to not let any get to me from behind. They pulled no punches and tried to batter me with their swords. They all carried swords, which were not at all ideal for combating plate armor. It was just another tactic to stall for time. But just when I thought I would eventually get through this mob of the emperor's royal guard, one did manage to land a hit. And in the worst possible place.

I felt a blow strike me in the back of my head. A firm clank against my helmet. And within seconds, I felt it. Even though I strongly doubted even so much as a dent was left in my helmet, I still staggered forward from a sudden and familiar bout of disorientation. I grit my teeth in desperation as I began to recognize these symptoms. Even with my helmet in the way and holding up well to the blow, even with the bandages over my scalp and Zecora's potent salve combating my injuries from the prior battle, that one blow was proving to be just enough to aggravate my injuries.

Some of the Hollows that remained around me in that storm began to sheathe their weapons as I had difficulty maintaining a steady stance. I could feel that dreaded loss of balance and an encroaching need to close my eyes and rest washing over me. The symptoms of a skull fracture all over again. "No... No, not now... I can...still do this..."

I forced myself to ignore these symptoms to the best of my ability, turning my gaze ahead to the emperor as I broke into an unsteady jog. But two Hollows grabbed me from the sides to restrain me. Weakness began to take me as I struggled in futility. I could not fight my own injuries now that the wound had been reopened. And one by one, the remaining Hollows began to pile onto me and drag me to the ground. "No... No... Can't...keep going..."

"That's enough. Sleep. You must rest." The emperor spoke softly as he stepped lightly towards me. His empty glowing white eyes gazed down upon me as many of his minions piled onto me to keep me pinned. I was too dazed to even attempt to throw them off me with magic. I was lying upon the floor as my vision began to darken. The need for sleep began to fall over me as futility began to set in once again. "When you awaken, all will be as it should."

Fatigue took hold of me. I could not fight it. Darkness falling over me, the world around me became still and quiet as a great weight settled over my armored form. I tried to find the will to resist. Tried to remember what was happening out there. Whose lives were in mortal peril. And yet...my body and mind failed me. Helpless and maimed, my eyes became too heavy...

I had no way of knowing how much time had gone by. The only constant was the sound of the battle raging on just outside the east and west gates. I did manage to bring some paper along when I reached the Zephyrus and have been writing these recollections to help pass the time. Maybe even just to help keep me from panicking. My friends and I are safe as long as we stay up here on deck. None of us had the will to go below deck. We are staying up here just to keep an eye out for the moment this mess is all over. Or for when...we have to leave everything behind.

Some of us are pacing around. Some of us are just talking to try and take our minds off of what is happening out there. This just is not the time to relax. From up here, I can see the rest of the camp. And I can see many armored personnel stationed outside the infirmaries and the R&D lab. Probably to desperately try to protect any noncombatants who might still be inside should the enemy breach the walls. But I knew it would be all for nothing. Especially against numbers like that.

I finally found the urge to stand and at least try talking to someone. And the only one of us up there who was not talking to anyone was Celaeno. She stood at the helm of her ship at all times with one hand on the wheel. And in the other... A pocket watch. She constantly gazed out at the eastern horizon with the watch constantly resting in her spare hand. I stepped over to her and asked, "How long has it been? I haven't really been keeping track of time..."

"Too long... They should've been back by now." Celaeno grumbled with her eyes narrowing in frustration. "Those three should've mopped the floor with the enemy and been back here a while ago. There's no reason for them to be taking this long, right?"

I would not know. All it had been up to that point was just tension and anxiety. The longest afternoon of my life, I am sure. I was afraid to ask how many minutes or hours had passed since the moment James walked through the east gate. But Celaeno was right. It felt like this was taking far too long. I could still see that ocean of purple beyond the gates. While not quite as expansive as before, it still reached so far. And I could see that fewer magic projectiles were being launched at the time. Fewer explosive arrows were falling into the Hollow swarm. Were they starting to run low on arrows? Were our mages reaching their limits and collapsing out of sheer exhaustion? "We're running out of time... How much longer can they hold it?"

"I don't have a good feeling about this... My captain's intuition is telling me something's gone wrong." I heard Celaeno hiss in a harsh sigh. I looked up at her while she just continued to stare out at the battle happening outside the east gate. She looked down at her pocket watch once more. "There's no way they should be taking this long... No way the enemy would last this long against him when going mano a mano... But if he doesn't make it, the emperor will bite the dust too and all those goons out there will be gone too... At least we know he's hanging in there."

It was uncomfortable to know that James' survival was still linked to the enemy's presence. As long as the ocean of Hollows outside were trying to break down our gates, James was still alive. Just how powerful is the emperor if he can survive so long against someone who is capable of everything James is while wearing that armor? I quivered in anxiety, wishing I knew what was happening out there. "There's so many unknowns... Is it that much of a stalemate up there?"

"I don't know... I just hope whatever they did to fix him up for that mission hasn't worn off by now." Celaeno mumbled as I was suddenly reminded of how James was even able to fight despite having suffered a skull fracture in the previous battle. What if it had worn off by then? What if James was still alive and lying facedown on the top of the Heaven's Pillar, unable to even stand?

I struggled to hold in that thought. I did not want to believe it. We never heard exactly how long that treatment would last before it started to wear off. What if that was what was happening? What if James had not defeated the emperor by then...because he could no longer fight?

"Come on, James... We don't got much longer..." Celaeno grumbled with her hands tightening around whatever she was holding. And I could only plea to myself that it was not too late. I stepped away from Celaeno without her noticing, trying to distract myself with more journaling. James, what is happening up there at this time?

There was no telling how much time had passed. I kept teetering on the brink of unconsciousness with a great weight keeping me thoroughly pinned. Trickles of rain were oozing over me while washing over the bodies that I was buried under. I could still breath, but only barely. The pile of Hollows atop me... They were too still. It felt more like I was buried under a pile of corpses

I was locked in a psychological limbo. Too dazed too think, too weak to even try to push myself free. Was this it? Was this how this war would end? Would my senses only return to me after the pile atop me dissolved into dust and the world I loved would never be the same again? And when...so many I loved had been slaughtered upon the Empty Plains?

There I waited. Neither asleep nor awake. My body and thoughts shackled by my own fractured mind. But in my head, a little voice spoke to me. A little hallucination conjured by my fevered brain. I could not focus on it. But it became louder. And louder with every passing second. Until finally...

"James... James, please answer me! I know you're there! I can feel the connection!"

That voice... It spoke clearly through the haze in my mind. But I could not even try to speak. Either from sheer fatigue, or one of my damaged lobes in my inflamed brain literally interfering with that function. But I could hear her. And so Cleary too. My beloved Celestia. And her voice.. So panicked... And I could swear I heard more beyond just her voice... "Why won't you answer me?! Can you even hear me?! Please, say som... Get back! All of you get back!"

I heard a blast of powerful magic being unleashed. So it was true... The enemy had reached the gates. And the resistance sounded fierce. Was she out there at that moment, facing the enemy directly? With Celestia being momentarily distracted, another voice reached me. The Princess of the Night. "James, can you hear us?! What's happening up there?! Why has the enemy not fallen yet?! We're barely holding our ground!"

"Lu...na..." I barely managed to mutter in spite of my disorientation. And that was all I said. I could not muster anything more than that.

"No... You sound so weak my friend... What has the emperor done to you?! Are you wounded?! Has that stabilizing salve run its course?!" Luna pleaded while I heard what sounded like a blade striking armor followed closely by the frigid crackling of magic ice being summoned. "Drat, how much longer will my armor hold?! We can't hold these numbers forever!"

They were in the thick of battle. Throwing everything they had in keeping the enemy away from their people. Fighting...and dying on the defensive. I felt so helpless... They would soon perish because of me... Both in my being there in their world...and for failing to do the one thing I could have done to end this war.

It was then that Celestia found the opportunity to speak again. "My love, please! We're doing all that we can, but there's just too many! Please, speak to me! Don't leave me now... Not like this! We're so close! So close to this nightmare being over!"

Luna spoke up again as Celestia once again had to focus on the enemy before her. "Please heed my sister's call, my friend! We brought you to this world to serve as humanity's ambassador! Please don't let it end like this... Not as a victim to those who ruined the legacy you are here to restore! On your feet now! Hurry! We won't last much... AGH!!!"

Another strike of a sword against armor. And it was at this point that the voices of the two royal sisters fell silent. They must have taken a grave risk in attempting to multitask enough to contact me from afar. They knew I was alive, if nothing else. And hearing them on the battlefield... Hearing them audibly repelling the enemy... It reminded me of what would happen if I failed.

My senses began to come back to me. And I could feel a strange chill and warmth simultaneously on the back of my head. That soothing pleasant caress of the salve that was trying to stabilize my wound. I think it was taking effect again to try and soothe my brain. Bit by bit, I felt myself waking up. Becoming more aware as that awful drowsiness started to slip away. I closed my eyes in the hopes of making the world stop spinning and found that it helped to some effect. But I was pinned so thoroughly under the Hollows atop me. I could not find the leverage necessary to push myself up. I could barely even focus enough to cast magic in the hopes of throwing them off. It was too dark... I could not even see a shape to use levitation magic on. Even as the storm outside raged on with the occasionally thunderclap reminding me of the bleak atmosphere of this battle.

Even with my mind starting to stabilize, I still did not feel right. I felt too helpless. Like it was already too late... Everything leading up to that moment, even with all the power I had, and it still ended with me being humbled by a frail old man who had outlasted everyone from his time to see centuries of ambition finally come to fruition. For once, I truly felt outclassed. But as I began to close my eyes, despair finally starting to take hold, I heard her one last time. The voice of Celestia screamed into my mind. And her timing could not have been more appropriate. "PLEASE, HURRY!!! THEY'RE PRACTICALLY AT OUR GATES!!!"

I had never heard such desperation in the voice of the Princess of the Dawn. One of the most powerful mares in the world, and now pleading for salvation with a tone of helplessness and fear. And this...stirred a familiar fury in my heart. She was about to die. They were all about to die. And the one thing that would save them was...

My armored fingers tightened around the Celestial Sword as its bright white blade was snuffed out by the body of a Hollow resting over it. My left arm braced itself against the floor, trying to find the leverage I needed. Fury building in my heart, I had to think fast. I needed to get back on my feet. I needed motivation.

I began to channel magic into my right gauntlet as I tried to stoke the fury in my heart. Tried to remind myself of what I was fighting for and against. I thought about the world I had come from. I thought about everything I had come to loathe about it. I thought about what would happen once Earth's influence spread throughout Equestria. I thought about the people of the world I had come to know. I thought about them behaving and acting in ways that is not at all representative of what Equestria stands for. The things they would do. The things they would say. I thought of what my failure would mean for the people of Equestria had I failed. And with those fears and fury driving me on, I acted.

With one mighty shove, I pushed myself up onto my feet while unleashing nothing but a magical shove in all directions. The Hollows atop me were scattered all over while I raised my sword high in the eye of the storm. My mind was again aware and awake, my senses clear and my body steady. And time was not on my side. I lowered my gaze and glared ahead at the emperor as he stood beyond his soldiers. I had only one objective then. Only one goal. Everything else would not matter until after the deed was done.

The Hollows the did not try to pin me down stood ready with weapons raised while their scattered brethren climbed to their feet. Fury guiding me, I would have to cut through this last wave of Hollows to reach their master. As several closed in, I channeled scorching solar magic through the blade of my sword and made a swift full rotation to cleave through all of them in one wide slash. The Hollows around me instantly ignited and were reduced to nothing in seconds. They were nothing more than distractions.

The remaining Hollows threw themselves at me while their master attempted to guide them. A few of them tried to charge me from one side, their shields failing to stand up to my sword as they were reduced to purple mist. But from the other direction, several packed themselves into a tight formation so that even if a few fell, the rest would reach me before I could ready another attack. And I was not having this. When they charged, I detached the Lunar Shield from my arm and used levitation magic to have it go crashing violently through the entire lot of them. They scattered and were thrown back and beyond the edge of the tower. They fell along with the Lunar Shield into the abyss below and to their dooms. I knew my shield was no longer needed.

Only a few Hollows remained as I saw the Emperor begin to step backwards with his hands tightly clutching his staff. One by one, they threw themselves at me to keep me away from their master. And each fell with one swift swing of my blade before they could even try to reach me. But when there was just one left, I was filled with a most terrifying surge of malice. I would not simply destroy this last remaining obstacle. I wanted to make an example of it.

When this last Hollow came in with sword raised, I thrust out my left hand and took hold of my target with a levitation spell. And I began to gradually close my fingers inward. The armored Hollow, coated in a billowing blue aura, twitched and cracked with the sound of crumpling armor filling the air. I began to crush it in my magical grasp. Compacting it forcefully into a smaller and smaller space until the hapless Hollow finally ruptured with the purple gases in it spraying out before I finally crushed it into a cube that dissolved as quickly as I created it. The entire time, I did not blink once. The fury in my heart would not be soothed. Not until that wretched old fool was lying dead at my feet.

My unflinching gaze fell upon the emperor while he said nothing to me. But I could see it on his face. A growing look of fear. He was becoming terrified of me as I laid waste to his last line of defense in the most ruthless manner I could muster. And with a flap of my armor's wings, I quickly closed the distance and lashed out with a swift swing of my sword. I thought I had him, but he just barely managed to erect a barrier around himself at the last second. I could see the old man cowering behind it even as I began to smash my sword into it over and over with my frustration reaching its breaking point. Desperation tempering my rage, I shouted at my foe from just outside the barrier. "WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!"

The frail old man said nothing. No words came. He was terrified. He had never seen that side of the faces of humanity. Never seen a man who was on the verge of losing everything instead of one trying to gain everything. I smashed my sword into the barrier over and over with no real strategy in my head. Time was running out. Everyone back at base would soon be slaughtered. What did I have to do to end it all?!

With heavy slashes failing, I took a different approach. I turned the Celestial Sword around and held it in both hands for a reverse grip. I raised my sword high and began to ruthlessly stab it into the barrier before me as the emperor began to sink to his knees. Fearfully trying to create some distance from my sword's piercing tip. Over and over I plunged my sword into the barrier to chip away at it. And when I finally saw I was getting nowhere, I went further. I coated my blade with a veil of white solar magic and plunged the sword's tip into the barrier and began to push as hard as I could manage.

I soon started to get somewhere. Between the irresistible sharpness of the Celestial Sword's tip and the incinerating might of solar magic, the barrier started to give. A crack formed in that dome as I saw my sword's blade beginning to very slowly push through. The blade was soon inside the barrier and angled right down at the emperor himself as those blank glowing eyes opened wide in horror. I finally had him like a corner rat. Just a little more and he would be mine...

And yet, like the stubborn parasite he was, the emperor still evaded my attempt to purge him from this world. With a sudden flash of magic light, he escaped with the use of a teleportation spell. I was not at all prepared and almost fell flat on my face with all resistance suddenly disappearing. The flaming blade of my sword plunged right through the stone floor before I could dismiss the fiery aura around its blade. I snarled in irritation with my sword being drawn back up from the narrow gap in the floor. But when I rose to my feet...

There it was before me. The portal that would soon doom Equestria into becoming little more than a parody of Earth. It swirled in the air far ahead of me, so near completion. I was reminded of what was at stake. And when I turned around and saw the emperor standing at the far end of the tower with a cowering stance, I realized what was happening. I could not kill him.

No matter what I did, my attacks would not get through. His barrier would hold off my sword while that ghostly veil negated all forms of magical influence. And if he became cornered, teleportation would save him. Only then did I understand that he would inevitably outlast me. He had outlasted everyone else and would outlast this war as well. And with a direct attack on him having been rendered impossible... I had only one option left. One way to end this before it was too late.

I breathed deep as I steeled myself for what I needed to do. I stood there, staring down my enemy while standing my ground. My fingers loosened around my sword's hilt as I allowed it to fall to the stone floor in a clatter. This puzzled the emperor. I could see his fear fade and be replaced with confusion. But then I began to raise my right hand upward, palm directed to the sky. And with gauntlet's golden yellow aura starting to surge around it...I began to play my last hand.

A bright orb of solar magic began to form over my palm. Pulsing with great power while emitting a bright light. All the while, I never took my eyes off my enemy. I never blinked, doing everything I could to focus on my rage and ignore my fear. For as the seconds ticked by, that orb of solar magic began to grow.

Larger and rounder... Brighter and more volatile... More and more, the sphere of that unmatched celestial fire grew in my palm. And as it grew, I lifted my hand higher to hold it safely away from me. The emperor's eyes opened wider as he tilted his head back to observe the growing artificial sun in my hand growing ever larger. Even the storm above was becoming disrupted by the sheer amount of heat being radiated upwards, the swirling in the dark clouds slowing to a stop while even the rain began to let up. It was so bright... Could they see it all the way out there to the west?

I allowed that solar bomb to grow as large as I was comfortable as I desperately held on to my fury. It was already much larger than it needed to be, almost wide enough to cover the entire top of the tower. The emperor even began to shield his eyes from the pulsing orb of celestial fire above me. I was out of time and options. I had only one move left to end this war. My hand revealed, I made my demand. "Close the portal."

The emperor said nothing. I think he knew what I was aiming for. He was becoming calm and directed his gaze ahead at just me. When he did not respond, I voiced my demand more loudly than before. "Close it now!"

He words were eerily calm. As if he had nothing to fear. "And if I do not?"

I was forced to acknowledge my fear. Even so, I held onto my rage to do everything in my power to not cower now. "Then we'll both die here. Close the portal, or this entire tower will disappear! I'll do it! I swear I'll do it! Close it now or we both die here! I don't care if nothing I throw at you can get by that veil! I'll just take you with me! If it's the only way to stop this, I'll do it!"

Rage and terror filled my heart as I began to falter. I was terrified now that I was literally holding my doom above my head. With one move, it would all be over. My armor would never hold against a literal supernova going off in my face. I would be gone, but so too would he. And Equestria would continue to thrive untainted. I was seconds away from throwing that orb of explosive celestial fire right into the floor. I prayed that this would be enough to coerce my enemy into cooperating. It was all I had left!

And yet... Even in the face of a swift and fiery end, the emperor did not cower. He merely gazed ahead at me and asked, "And...what do you suppose will happen once we are no more?"

What kind of question was that? Was he daring me to just go ahead and destroy us both? Regardless, I held onto my resolve and demanded even as my courage began to falter. "It'll all be over! Once you're gone, the portal will close forever! All your minions out there will disappear and everyone will be just fine! Earth and Equestria will be separated forever! As it should be... Right?"

I expected an immediate response. But the emperor said nothing. And his silence was chilling. As if he was wordlessly revealing to me that there was something I did not know. A new type of fear filling my heart, I felt the slightest twinge of a tear starting to form at the edge of my eyes. A tear of futility. "The portal will close once you're gone... Right? Right?!"

"No. It will not." He spoke with a grim calmness that dealt a blow to my heart I did not expect. I nearly lost my grip on the bomb I was holding above my head as it cast its light over the horizon. The emperor then explained, "The portal became self-sustaining some time ago. My intervention is no longer needed. Your existence is no longer required. We are not needed anymore. I have only held on this long so I may see my kind set foot into this world before I move on. But if fate denies me that... So be it. Once I am no more, there will be none remaining with the knowledge of how to unmake the portal. It shall remain open for eternity. Even if I must leave this world sooner than desired, at least humanity's return will be guaranteed. My duty will be fulfilled."

I was no longer needed... Neither the emperor or I were required for the portal to remain open. The attempt on my life just a few days ago suddenly made sense. And I was left desperately grasping at straws. If I died, the portal would never be closed?! Was the emperor truly so suicidally desperate to fulfill his ambitions?! Was there anything I could do to stop this?! Struggling to hold back tears of utter desperation and a building sense of hopelessness, I called out. "Then...how?! How do I do it?! How do I close the portal?!"

The silence of that delayed response was palpable. And it was torturous waiting for him to speak. The emperor did not smile. There was not the slightest hint of smug satisfaction on his face as he gazed upon me. No pleasure of triumph. No reveling in getting the best of me. It was nothing but cool acceptance. And when he spoke, his words were brief and clear. And utterly crushing.

"You can't."

Hearing those two words broke me. My focus faltered, the artificial star of surging solar magic began to shrink and dissipate. A moment later, the sun above me was snuffed out as my tears flowed. I had no words...

I slumped to my knees as true hopelessness came over me. There was nothing I could do... Nothing we could do... Earth would have Equestria and nothing would be the same. I dropped onto my hands and wheezed in a hissing sob. All those weeks trekking across the Empty Plains. All those meaningless battles. All the people who would die out there that day. All that effort fighting a war that could not be won... All for nothing...

Something changed. We all saw something on the horizon. A bright beacon on the horizon? A star in the midday sky? I think we were the only ones there to see it too. Far to the east, so high in the sky... A twinkling beacon shining at the edge of the clouds above. Rarity was the first to point it out. "Oh my... That... That light... Could it be him?"

"I reckon it just might be, Rarity. From way down here, I'd say James is rampin' things up for the finish!" Applejack replied while I squinted my eyes to focus more on it. I think she was right. The white hot glow... It had to have been James. And to be so bright from so far away... This was it! I felt excitement surging through me. This would finish it!

"Yeah... Yeah, that's gotta be it! Any second now, girls! Any second and all those Hollows will be gone!" Rainbow Dash cheered as she smacked her hooves together. Finally... And we all watched, waiting for the light to turn into an explosive flash on the horizon. But as the seconds ticked by, Rainbow Dash asked, "Uh...he's kinda taking his time up there. What, you think he's savoring the moment?"

"I don't think so, Rainbow. James isn't like that. I can't imagine what's with the delay..." I said with a growing sense of worry. Whatever that was, it was something big. Something I was sure the emperor could not counter. But then... Was it shrinking? Was the light dimming?

Smolder noticed too. And her voice became even more fearful. "Wait... Am I seeing things? The light's not going out, is it?!"

"No..." I heard a little whimper. And I quickly realized it came from Ocellus. She slumped to her knees, hands clasped together as she began to plead with that distant beacon slowly being extinguished. I think... I think she knew something had gone wrong... "No... No no no no... No!"

The light was gone. And the battle continued to rage on. There was no change. The enemy was still out there, trying to get by our last line of defense with impossible numbers. And not a word was said. I turned back to look at Celaeno. She had been watching too. And she was now staring unblinkingly at the horizon. I heard her breath deeply before turning and walking back to the stern at a brisk pace. And we all took notice.

Once Celaeno was standing at the helm, she closed her eyes momentarily before leaning towards the voicepipe beside her. "Boyle. We're done here."

I gasped under my breath. I knew the situation looked bad, but... Did she really think it was over? I heard her engineer speak back through the pipe. "Aye, captain. I'll just get her up and..."

"Don't you dare! Don't you even go there, punk!" Gilda rushed over to the helm in one quick swoop and shouted right into the voicepipe. "We're not done here! Don't you dare start her up now!"

"Hey, I only take orders from the captain, miss!" I heard him reply while Celaeno had to take a step back from our griffon companion.

Celaeno tried to regain control of the situation as she attempted to push Gilda away. "Hands off my wheel! You saw that out there! Lights out means game over! We're done! Boyle, start the..."

"You're just gonna bail on him out here?!" Gilda screeched at the captain while we all stood back from the two birds. This was getting very heated and would be a bad idea to step in. She then pointed out to the east and shouted, "I've only got one good eye right now, but I can still see the gates are shut! We haven't lost yet! And our champ's still out there! You just gonna give up on him like that?!"

I would have expected Rainbow Dash to step up sooner. It was very surprising to see Gilda of all people being the first to object to us leaving too soon. But her words were inspiring. That beacon might have gone out, but our defenses were still holding for the moment. James was still alive out there. The continued assault from the Hollows was proof of that. Celaeno looked at us all when we took a few steps forward. And I was ready to object too. If she did not relent, some of them might even try to restrain Celaeno.

The captain of the Zephyrus glared at the eastern horizon with her eyes narrowing in frustrated contemplation. Gilda spoke again, but with a much softer voice this time. "Don't do this to him... He's hanging in there for us. You wouldn't bail on a friend, right?"

"He's not just a friend... He's a true mate." Celaeno retorted without even looking at any of us. With a harsh sigh, she turned towards the voicepipe with the slightest hint of a smile on her beak. "Boyle. False alarm. We're not going anywhere yet."

"Aye, captain. Just give the word if things get bad up there." I heard that voice reply while we all took a collective sigh of relief. I looked back at the east gates since the west gate was hard to see beyond the stern. The number of active mages were fewer. The number of arrows flying had become less frequent. It was not looking good, but we had not lost yet.

We were not going anywhere yet, but I was sure that our defenses would fail within the hour unless some sort of breakthrough would be reached out there... What was happening? We had come so far... Surely there was a way to close the portal... Right? We could still win this, right?

For just a moment, nothing mattered. I was down on my knees. A man in full armor groveling before an undying husk of an old fool who had doomed this world to a future it did not deserve. The portal would remain forever open and there was not a single thing I could do to close it. And there was nothing I could do to save those his minions were on the verge of slaughtering. It all felt so hopeless... Victory was always an impossibility from the very start. This war was a farce.

Not once did the emperor lash out at me. I was broken and helpless before him on the floor, but he never once gloated or tried to put me down. He just watched and waited in grim silence, a slave to his duty until the bitter end. Tears of frustration flooding my eyes, I lifted my head and shouted at the old fool before me. "I can't... I can't understand you! I don't want to understand you! How can you do this to a world like this?! To the people who were once your friends?!"

I almost expected the emperor to remain silent now that his victory was assured. And yet, he did speak to me. "As I have stated before, I must uphold my duty to my people. And I failed them once. I must rectify my mistake and bring prosperity back to my kind. Your world is the only one I could find and I have found that it desperately needs salvation. Equestria will provide it. Is that not enough to satisfy you?"

"No! No, it's not and never will be! I've already explained to you how Earth will never be saved by what Equestria has to offer! All you will be doing is dooming this world to lose all it has to the corrupting influence of a world that will never respect this world's value!" I was all but furious, shouting at the fool before me as I forced myself to stand. I struggled in vain to negotiate, trying to have him see what the cost would be. Trying to make sense of the futility of the situation. Combat would get me nowhere by then. All I had left were my words, as meaningless as they were now. "How can you just throw all that was away like that? I've heard nothing but the nicest things about you and your kind from back before you lost your way. A golden era of harmony in this world! What would this world be like today if you focused on the big picture instead of just who you exclusively reigned over?! I genuinely want to know!"

Once again, he remained silent. The emperor said nothing. Probably because he had no answer for my words. The ends of his ambitions were all that mattered then. I lowered my hands, trying to keep myself composed as I knew there was no salvaging this situation. "You could've had it all... They could've had it all... What would Equestria be like if everything stayed the way it needed to be? You had all you needed. Why did you want more? Even if getting it meant trampling over everyone else outside your borders? Why try to improve upon what is already perfect? Tell me, you wretch! Tell me what rationale you came up with to justify tarnishing that perfection so long ago?!"

And he still did not speak. But even though I did not get a response out of the emperor, something else did respond. I began to notice a gray glow beginning to shine from the brow of my helmet that gradually brightened to a purest white. The emperor's eyes too opened wide as he stared at the source. And then...I saw it. The Element of Humanity detached from my helmet and began to float into the middle of the space between us. I flinched upon remembering what the emperor tried to do earlier on and asked, "Is this your doing...?"

"No... No, I know nothing of what is happening..." The emperor replied as he took a step back. An ethereal glow coated that polished white stone, the two halves bearing the form of white doves spreading their wings toward each of us. Just as I was pondering more questions to ask, that glow began to shine so much brighter as everything around us...faded into a white void of nothingness. "What sorcery is this?"

We were both locked in that void, our eyes glancing around now that we were both locked in that void together. I could no longer see the Element of Humanity before us, its white form having vanished into that void. But a moment passed before that vast expanse of white began to produce color and depth. Vast rolling plains and green hills spread out before us with even a verdant mountain or too on the horizon. We were no longer upon the Empty Plains. The Heaven's Pillar was nowhere to be seen. I asked again, "You sure this isn't your work?"

"I can assure you that I know nothing of what has happened... But it would seem the Element of Humanity has returned to its housing." The emperor replied as he pointed a finger towards my head. Upon raising my hand to my helmet's brow, I found that he was not wrong. The Element of Humanity was back where it belonged. But that ghostly glow remained. Was it projecting what we were seeing?

"If this isn't your work... Wait... Wait, I remember something..." I muttered upon remembering that this would not be the first time the Element of Humanity began to exhibit strange properties while out on the Empty Plains. "I've seen...visions during the march east. Human ghosts going about their business like I was seeing illusions of a time lost past... Like I was walking through where towns once stood. Maybe...this is another weird property of it at work?"

"Perhaps... I was never aware of such a power being unique to it." The emperor muttered as all hostility faded between us. We were both trapped together and along for this ride. He then asked as his empty glowing eyes gazed about, "But if what you say is true... Perhaps this is also a glimpse into the past? I do not recognize this location... I have been asleep for too long."

"Hm... I dunno, this doesn't...ring any bells at the moment... Wait." I began to say before I lifted my head to gaze up at a mountain in the distance. The general shape and rounded hilltops... I felt like there should have been something there. The location on the plains there... That mountain and its outward appearance... "Isn't that...where Canterlot should be?"

It was. That place... Whatever time period was being displayed before us, I knew that location. All too intimately. We were standing where Ponyville should have been standing. I was well aware that Ponyville is actually a comparatively young town that only got started during the childhood of Applejack's grandmother, but Canterlot was in its early days at that time as well. How far back was the Element of Humanity showing to us? At least I pondered this until I noticed the emperor was looking to the west without ever gazing away from it. And when turned to look...

My heart jumped into my throat. Spread out upon the plains to the west, just outside the borders of the Everfree Forest... Humans. Thousands of them, all clad in steel plate armor and ready for war. This time in Equestria's long history. This single solitary day... "Oh my god... Was this...when it all happened?"

"No... No, I do not need to see all of this. I know what choices I made back then... I accepted what had to be done..." The emperor muttered with a tone of uneasiness about him. I am sure he remembered what he did that day, but to actually witness it from an outsider's perspective...

As if in response to his refusal to cooperate, the Element of Humanity response. We were both quickly carried through the air as if we were standing on an invisible platform. And we passed the human army, I could see the Everfree Forest beyond. It was so surreal to see a place that was so full of life at the point in time so bare and undeveloped. But I knew what lay beyond that wild forest. The castle where Equestria's royal family ruled from was deep within. And once we were set out upon the plains on the sidelines... There, at the very front of that army...

It was unmistakable. That royal purple mantle draped across the man who stood at the front of the army... I glanced at the emperor beside me. The mantle draped across his shoulders matched it in all but condition. The one upon the man leading that army was in excellent condition, not at all tattered and faded from the passing of time. And instead of the faded robe the emperor was wearing, I could see a suit of plate armor that had been stained a brilliant gold which complimented the purple mantle very well. Atop the man's head was an extravagant crown that did not bear the look of one a king would wear. It was...unorthodox in design with narrow and very pronounced spires reaching out on an angle. Perhaps as a means to signify the reign of the ruler of an empire instead of a mere kingdom. His eyes a beautiful bright blue, the man before his army sported a full head of hair and a full beard of a brilliant golden blond. And in his hand stood a tall brilliant scepter that housed a familiar crystal atop it Most likely the original housing for it before it likely decayed away and had to be replaced by a cruder substitute. I looked upon the glorious crowned man ahead of us before turning to the emperor. "I must say... You were quite the picture of royalty back in your prime."

He said nothing. The only response I saw was that the emperor tightened his grasp around his gnarled wooden staff. He was quivering. From what, I could not say. But these visions before us... They were memories that were stirring up some very strong emotions. Memories...he probably did not want to vividly recall, but he was being forced to observe anyway. I saw him close his eyes when I turned to look to the west, as if refusing to see who was there. As for who I did see...

There they were. Celestia and Luna stood outside the Everfree Forest, looking no older than when I last laid eyes upon them. And with them, I could see Orbash and Sunflare. For such a dire crisis, it made sense that they would be present for this. Nightmare Moon was nowhere to be seen, but I knew that this day took place long before she even existed. Many armored stallions bearing the gilded plating of the royal guard stood in rows with spears ready. But before them, as if serving as a protective wall... More armored human warriors. Only a few hundred at most, but they stood facing the army to the east instead of joining them. Their armor gleamed like silver in the sunlight. Except for one. There was one...who stood before them all. One woman clad in armor that was not like theirs. And I felt such a rush of realization as my breath caught in my throat. I knew who this woman was. "Megan..."

This hero princess stood with a large round shield on her left arm that was facing away from me while I could see a sword sheathed on her left hip. The armor that adorned her body though... It was like mine. A beautiful shade of white, but with a dark blue set of wings on the back. I recognized the colors immediately, being those of Celestia and Luna's coat colors. The color layout was an inversion of my own. Unlike my armor, which had a general look of sturdy bulk that one might expect from plate armor, hers was beautifully sleek with a faintly feminine vibe to it complete with more smoothly rounded pauldrons. There was no helmet, her long blond hair tied into a braided ponytail that hung between her wings. She stood just ahead of her men. But when they began to reach for their weapons, she threw her right arm out to the side to single them to stop. "Stay your weapons! There will be no bloodshed today!"

Her voice carried with it a certain nobility to it. One that...I swear I have heard somewhere before. The faintest royal accent on her lips. The emperor's men too readied their weapons only to stay their hands when he held his scepter out to the side. With a confrontation averted for the moment, the emperor of the past spoke with the same voice I had come to know. Except while still full of life and vigor. "Explain yourself, my child. You were sent out to descend upon the royal family's castle and seize the reigns of this world's supreme sovereigns. And instead of arriving to join you for our next step, I find you having turned your back on your own empire?"

"How could I not, Father?! How could I ever cast aside all I have come to love about this world of Equestria?! I may be the heir to our empire, but Equestria stands together as one! You would have me ruin this balance for the folly of seeking that we should not reach for?!" Megan screamed at her own father as she appeared to be desperately trying to resist the urge to draw her own sword. The wounded disgust in her voice... It was palpable. And no one dared interrupt as she reached back towards those behind her. "They practically raised me! Watched over us long before our time! And this is how you wish to thank them?! By placing them in shackles?!"

The old man beside me only became more and more uncomfortable as he heard his own child speak for the first time in eons. Words he likely still remembered, but now being heard through a visceral filter from the outsider's perspective. I heard him start to mumble, "Enough... I do not need to see this... I made my choice that day... I do not need..."

"Shut up, old man. You went through this once before. You can do it again. I need to hear this." I finally barked at him in an attempt to silence his mutterings. And he begrudgingly complied. This was a pivotal moment in Equestria's history that I would likely never get the chance to see again. There was meaning in the Element of Humanity projecting this fateful day before us.

The emperor of the past was not swayed by his daughter's words. He still clung too firmly to the belief that he and his people could have more than they needed. But the way he spoke... There was no malice in his words. Even back then, there was no bile or bigotry in his tone. It was as if...he was stating facts. "You misunderstand, child. They are not to be our slaves. Merely domesticated into their proper place. And force will be necessary in humanity taking their rightful place from those so powerful. Power that you now possess."

"Power that was given to us by those who believed in us as their most stalwart friends!" Megan shouted before bringing her right fist to her breastplate. "I have used these enchanted arms and armor for the people of Equestria as a whole! Wonderful tools created by those who have always guided us! And with them, I have vanquished great evils! I honored their faith in me! But you... You would seek to use that against its very creators?!"

It was then that the royal family had heard enough. All four of the royal alicorns behind the rows of unwavering human defenders leaped over them with a flap of their wings. They landed beside Megan, positioning themselves around her in a noticeably protective fashion. Sunflare was the first to speak, her voice oozing with the same bitterness and disgust I had heard from her on the day I first met her. "Just listen to yourself, your excellency! All this talk of taking your rightful place! Has our guidance over the millennia meant nothing to you?!"

"I would not expect you to understand, your majesty. I would not expect any creature beyond our borders to understand." The emperor explained calmly as I felt increasing tempted to just reach out and slap the old man beside me over the back of his round bald head. Even as he remained unsettlingly silent. "That is your fatal flaw. You simply do not have the capacity to wonder... To desire. To know we can be so much more. The potential of my people far exceeds those of yours. The Heaven's Pillar itself serves as a testament to that. Like our potential, it reaches endlessly towards the heavens. Your guidance over the centuries has been vitally appreciated, but that is no longer needed. Today, my people will take the reigns of this world and reach towards whatever the future can give us. So long as we have the will to reach for it."

"And this is what you have instilled in our people for years now, Father?!" Megan once again called out as such a glare of wounded faith filled her eyes. "I have seen them when outsiders are not present father... The guards around the towns. The bakers and weavers. Mothers and fathers... Even the children were not spared! I remember spending my afternoons years ago playing with them, enacting so many wonderful adventures and fantasies with our imaginations painting grand tales of human knights, mighty pony stallions and mares clad in sparkling barding with weapons in their jaws, slaying demons of yore! But now...all I see from the children playing in the streets are fantasies of taming the ponies of Equestria! Corralling and riding them like mere livestock!"

This revelation awakened a newfound depth of disgust in my gut. Spreading his dogma so vastly throughout his empire that even the children began to see the rest of Equestria's people as mere beasts to tame? There truly was no salvation for them... And yet, the emperor of centuries past still stood his ground. "I merely opened their eyes to the truth, child. I spoke of what could be. What could become. And they listen and answered that call. My words were never forced upon any of our people. They merely answered to their true nature. And yet...you did not?"

"I did not answer that call because I knew of what it would mean for Equestria if I did. And for myself. I could have given in to that wretched urge. It was there... And I pondered upon it time and time again. And with all the power I have in my hands now, I could have!" Megan explained as her voice softened for just the moment. The words she spoke... I felt such a sense of nostalgia wash over me. As if...I knew exactly of the inner dilemma she spoke of. And she soon spoke firmly, "But I did not. I refused to answer that call because I knew that no good would come of pursuing that instinct. The moment one decrees that one is intrinsically above the other is the moment a king becomes a tyrant. You have failed us, Father! You have failed us all and yourself!"

"I see that you will not be swayed, child" The emperor declared as he started to sound rather impatient. As he raised his staff, he then asked, "Even with the power you possess, victory is not out of sight. Is there more you wish to say here?"

"No... No... Stop, you fool..." I heard a tired whisper from my left. When I glanced towards the old man beside me, I saw that his grasp around his staff was becoming shaky. His blank glowing eyes never once blinked as he gazed in terror at the scene unfolding before us. And I too felt a new tension brewing in my gut. The time was near.

"No. I am through with words, Father. And you will cease this. Now." Megan spoke firmly before she slowly raised her right hand out in front of her. It was then I noticed that it had always been clenched into a fist. And as she unfurled her armored fingers... There it floated over her upraised palm. A pure white stone, set into the polished shape of an oval. I knew that white anywhere. The Element of Humanity in its purest base form. Why had it not taken on the form of Megan's cutie mark though? Did she just not have one? Was it because it was not bound to her armor like it was to mine? Whatever the case, she glared ahead at her father while holding the very Element he crafted out before her. "Turn back now. Return home and purge our people of this ridiculous folly you have instilled into their minds. Do so now or so help me, we will all be judged!"

Her words were laced with finality. This was the moment where humanity's fate in Equestria would be decided. I looked towards the old man to my left. And it was clear by his quivering body and gaze of dread on his face what choice he made that day. "Don't do it... Don't... Turn back you, fool... No!"

I said nothing. But there was a certain...tragedy in seeing this foolish old man beginning to break as he witnessed his most damning mistake from a new perspective. His past self stood his ground for the moment as if contemplating his daughter's words. Perhaps he suspected she was bluffing. Just to convey this ultimatum further, flashes of light appeared around Celestia and Luna to reveal six gemstones with each being a different color. I knew of these as well. The Elements of Harmony, each set into their base states with each being in a uniform six-sided polished gemstone shape. This was it. When the Elements of man and pony would cast judgement.

The emperor showed no fear even as his present day counterpart continued to cower in dread beside me. It was then that Orbash called out to his old friend. "This is not a path you want to walk along, old friend! You have rendered yourselves unwelcome in Equestria! But it's not too late! Return home now and repent! Do not...and I promise you this is a mistake you will never be able to come back from! I beg of you, old friend! Don't do this! Do not force us to make a decision we will all regret! Go through with this and Equestria will never be the same!"

For a good thirty seconds, neither side budged. In my heart, I too pleaded that he not follow through on this temptation to establish dominance. There was a horrible sense of dread hanging over the entire situation. I was afraid. My nerves were tense as I dreaded what I would see next. And then it happened. The emperor tilted his staff forward and made his decree. "Cease them."

His army of thousands readied their weapons and charged and no sooner had the first row passed the emperor did the Elements react. I held my breath as I saw the polished white form of the Element of Humanity glow brightly like a beacon. The six Elements of Harmony floated forward as their two bearers willed them to respond to this approaching threat. They all began to shine brightly... Too brightly. And it was then that the approaching army came to a halt in terror as they saw the purifying force of the Elements beginning to activate. My eyes were focused on Megan. Her anger fading, all I saw was a look of disappointed sorrow as she spoke one last time. "Goodbye, Father."

Then it happened. A towering wall of rainbow light exploded into the heavens and spread wide. The wall began to move east, washing over Megan and all behind her first. But they were not harmed. They were left unscathed, the Elements of Harmony and Humanity having surely sensed that they remained in peace with their world. But the rest...

The emperor and I watched aghast as this approaching wall of purification rapidly approached the army of terrified soldiers that served the emperor. I knew how the Elements of Harmony work. They are a force of purification. Nightmare Moon was purged from Luna to restore her to being just herself. And when used on Nightmare Moon herself again, she was spared entirely with only her grasp on her second eternal night being severed. But the humans of Equestria... They could not be purged of the discourse in them. Because one cannot remove the element of human nature from their souls. Instead, they would be...removed.

The armored human warriors that were still ahead of the emperor of the past shrieked in terror as that wall washed over them before they could even hope to retreat. And upon the plains where they had been standing, there was no sign of them having ever been there. But high above... I stared transfixed. Dozens of ghostly white beacons rapidly rising into the sky like fireworks. They had not been harmed, but they could no longer remain in Equestria.

I could see the emperor of the past standing his ground even as he began to recoil in terror over this irresistible force being unleashed upon. But before the wall of cleansing rainbow light could reach him, he made his move. The crystal atop his staff glowing a brilliant purple, he reached out defiantly with his other hand. As if to...take hold of something. Clinging desperately to something that he could not reach. And while his men were banished into the heavens as that wall swept them up, he...remained whole. He was not consumed by the magic of the Elements. Although he was still swept up and carried along in it like a crashing ocean wave. And he would be stuck in that wave of magic until it ran its course. I knew then... As its creator, he had taken hold of the Element of Humanity itself. Anchored himself to it to insure he would remain. The Elements of Harmony would never turn on one of their own... A fiendish loophole.

No one among Megan's company spoke. And they all could only look on in grief as the Elements of Harmony carried out their duty. Megan's face was still as stone as she desperately tried to contain her emotions. She was forced to make an impossible choice. Her people or Equestria. A choice I myself am not so sure I could have made. But she made the right choice. Even if it was an outcome no one wanted.

Further and further over the horizon that wall of light spread and rushed forward. And even from so far away, we could clearly see it reaching ever farther to catch the entire empire in its net as it washed over the plains while they went empty. And I could see it. Like a meteor shower, but in the mid afternoon and with the stars...rising into the sky. Hundreds... Thousands... Every one of them being a citizen of that fallen empire. It was...beautiful...yet deeply horrifying as I came to the realization that I was witnessing a cataclysm of biblical proportions.

It was...poetic, in a twisted way. Equestria had always been a proverbial Garden of Eden. And humanity always had a place among its many other creatures. Until the day a mad serpent tempted humanity with a forbidden fruit. The fruit that was always out of reach and could only be grasped by standing atop literally everyone else to reach it. And so they did. Mankind sought to reach that fruit by any means necessary while not even knowing what that fruit was or if it was even sweet and succulent at all, even placing saddles upon their hoofed brothers and sisters to reach it. And for it...they were cast out of the Garden of Eden forever.

The rising meteor shower of human souls being cast out of this world and to...goodness knows where beyond the stars began to slow. The rising beacons became fewer...until no more rose from the eastern horizon. I turned to look back at Megan and only then did she finally break. Tears cascading freely as the seven Elements fell to the ground around her, the hero princess let out a remorseful wail as she slumped to her knees. No words came. No words were needed. Her empire...was gone. Very few of her people remained while I knew that they were doomed to extinction. Even in spite of their valor and loyalty towards Equestria, its people would not forget the betrayal of humanity. But she was not alone. The king and queen and their daughters gathered around Megan and held her in their wings even as her own men began to draw near, every last one of them equally disturbed by the loss of their home and everyone in it.

The vision before us blurred and the emperor and I found ourselves out on the open plains far from there. And there before us was his past self. He defied the Elements of Harmony and Humanity to keep himself anchored in Equestria. It worked. But he soon rose to his feet with his armor beneath this mantle dented from surely being tossed around on that wave once he hit the ground. And his crown... Battered and dented, as if symbolic of the end of his reign and his empire.

The emperor of the past remained on his knees and said nothing. He just kneeled there in silence, probably contemplating if everything that just happened was worth it. The only sign of any human civilization around there was the Heaven's Pillar itself in the distance looming high into the sky. But not high enough to bring his people home.

Only then did the old man beside me finally make a move after too long of staying uncomfortably silent. He began to shamble towards his past self from behind. There was a certain...rage in how he walked forward. He took his staff into both hands as the crystal atop it glowed boldly. And around that crystal formed a purple blade of magical projection. A spear? And once behind his younger self, the emperor...plunged that spear through the illusion before him. "How... How could you have been...so blind?"

I watched in unease as the old man began to swing his magical spear through his past self as if he was not even there. The blade did not even touch the humbled memory before us. Even with his body barely more than a husk, the old man swung harshly back and forth as his tired old voice began to sound hauntingly similar to how he did all those years ago. And his words... Powerful words directed at himself. "Why did you heed the mad serpent?! How could you let yourself be tempted by words of discourse?! How could you just throw away all that we had... All that we already cherished just to reach for what could have been?! When you already had all that mattered?! How could you condemn your entire empire to this?! You fool! You failure! They trusted you to guide them! And you guided them down every wrong path imaginable! You were meant to guide them to a better tomorrow, not to a future you can't even see! Not a future where the rest of your brother and sisters beyond the border will not see with you! What was it all for?!"

With every word shouted, the projection of his past self became more translucent. Up until he finally faded along with the rest of the Empty Plains around us as the illusion being cast faded to reveal where we actually were. Only when we were back atop the Heaven's Pillar beneath that dreary dark sky did the emperor relent. His staff fell from his hands while he slumped to his knees. I found myself feeling a growing sense of pity for the old fool as he howled with his face buried into his hands. I think...he had finally woken up and come out of denial. He wailed uncontrollably, my own eyes starting to feel tears building at the edges as well. "Margaret...! Forgive your foolish father!"

The emperor could no longer stand. And I could only watch as he wept uncontrollably. He knew what he did... He had always been in denial for so long. It was not until he witnessed his greatest sin from the perspective of an outsider did he finally understand what he had lost. The emperor now fell upon his hands and knees, weeping as the broken old fool he had become.

I found the will to approach my enemy, but I left my weapons wherever they had fallen. And once beside him, I closed my eyes to let a few tears fall. The memory of what I had witnessed... And the howls of remorse from the one who caused it all to happen... Try as I might, even with the memories of the battles leading up to that point, I could not bring myself to hate the old man. I lowered myself to one knee and rested my hand upon his back with my head bowed. No one wanted this... Equestria did not win that war so long ago. Everyone lost something that day.

It was there I waited. I kept my hand resting upon the emperor's back as I waited for him to stop weeping. And he soon did. But only so he could speak a truth that I wondered from time to time. "The mad serpent spoke of my people's potential and the sacrifices that would have to be made to fully realize it... And yet, all that time, there was a tiny voice in the back of my mind... A voice that told me it was all a mistake. But the temptation was too great... I ignored that voice as I pressed on, sharing my enlightenment with all of my people until they all knew of the golden future that awaited... But... It was all in theory. I did not even know what it was we were striving for... I did not know what we would truly have to cast aside... The mad serpent spoke the truth... But it was a truth that should never have become reality! It was not worth the cost! Why did I take so very long to finally see it?!"

He deserved an answer. But it was an answer I could not give. He was just...an old man who had made one mistake too many. And did not turn back at the last possible chance. I had no words, but I kept my hand upon his back as I did what little I could to comfort him. At least until he finally pleaded, "What must I do... How do I repent for this? My time has ended... I do not have long for this world... But...surely, there must be something I can do...?"

I looked over my shoulder. And there it still was. The portal that connected to a blighted world I knew all too well. A world that would inevitably ruin Equestria. I then turned to the emperor and said softly, "Leave Equestria as it is... Let it heal on its own terms. Don't let the sins of another world taint the memory of your people. You can still stop this... Please. Do what Megan would have wanted."

He did not hesitate. While his movements were weak, the emperor reached for his staff and rose enough to hold himself up with its support. He clutched it between each hand as the crystal atop the staff glowed brilliantly. Seconds later, that glow vanished as he spoke to me. "It is done..."

His words confused me. So I looked behind me at the portal behind me. And as my eyes squinted to search for any changes, I saw it. The overall diameter of the portal was shrinking. Slowly, but surely. I felt an overwhelming surge of relief in my heart as I realized what I was seeing. The portal was closing. And the people of Earth would never have known it was there. Against all odds...we succeeded. In the least expected way possible. I let out a wheeze of precious relief before whispering to the emperor, "You did the right thing... Thank you."

"No... Not yet." The emperor muttered as he straightened himself up even further. "There is still one last task that remains."

A quick flash of light emanated from the crystal atop his staff. And once that light faded, he suddenly let out a desperate gasp. He slumped back into my arms as I desperately cradled the wheezing emperor in my arms. And I could feel it. The thread connecting the two of us together... The thread that had been sustaining him... It had been severed. The emperor...had only minutes to live. He slumped into my arms as he began to gasp for breath, his rotted husk of a body barely holding on. "There... You are free now... I will not ask you of your forgiveness... I have long since relinquished that right..."

He was not wrong. I could not forgive him. Not for all he had done. For what he did to me. What he did to those who served alongside me. And most certainly for what he did to Equestria as a whole. But I could not hate him. And I felt...a profound sense of sorrow filling my heart as I cradled the dying old man in my arms. "You really...don't have anything else to do?"

"My time in this world ended eons ago... There is nothing left for me here... I am...merely a relic of a bygone age... A monument to my empire's folly." The emperor gasped as he struggled to hang on. And he was right. What possible future could he have when the only way to sustain himself was to live as a parasite?

I did not try to argue with him. This needed to be done. It was his time to leave this world. But there was one last question in my mind I needed to ask. "Your excellency... Before you go, may I know your name?"

"My name? It is..." He began to respond before falling silent at thought. I suspected that he had passed in that time, but saw that the white ghostly glow in his eyes was still there. Even if just barely now that he was not sustaining himself through me any longer. "No... No, let the thought go... My name...is best forgotten. Better that the world of Equestria forgets me entirely and look towards the brighter future they deserve... Please... Do not dwell on my memory. I deserve no such mercy..."

It was...heartbreaking to hear such a statement. But it was a request I respected. I merely nodded and nothing more. As I held him, I could feel his breathing becoming increasingly shallow. His head tilted back to gaze as the cloudy sky above us. "You are...truly a rarity among your kind... Truly...they chose well in bringing you here... I thank you...champion of Earth... Thank you for finding me... For...stopping me... My time has ended... My people's legacy...has ended... May the future of humanity in Equestria...be brighter than it was under my watch... May you foster a new era for all of Equestria... May you...not follow my path..."

"I won't, your excellency... I know what I cherish about Equestria now. I know why I'm here. And I'm glad I'm here. I won't let them dow..." I began to say while taking some comfort in these parting words. At least until I noticed I no longer felt him no longer stirring I my arms. A pain of shock pulsed through my heart as I asked, "Your excellency...?"

He... He was gone... I saw the glow in his eyes fade to nothing as he became still. His staff slipped from his uncoiling fingers and rolled off his lifeless body. And in his face... Forever frozen in despair with only the faintest signs of hope. Fresh tears began to fall from my eyes as the context of the situation hit me. I had just witnessed the true extinction of Equestria's human population. The original era of humanity in that world...had finally ended.

But that was not all. I could feel the emperor's body becoming...looser. And then I saw it. His very body... That ancient husk which had survived far longer than it should have... The march of time had resumed. And in my arms, I could only watch as the emperor's corpse dissolved into a fine powdery dust. Only his robe remained as it was draped in my arms.

I should have been elated. I should have been overwhelmed with a sense of triumph. The war was over. Victory had only been barely snatched from the jaws of failure. Everything was going to be all right. All of our effort paid off... And yet... I felt only a profound sense of grief. I saw what happened that day. I heard the words that were spoken. And I witnessed it all end right in my own embrace. I was present to witness the true end of an era. I held the emperor's faded and tattered robe to my face and allowed myself to weep. He was my enemy... He was our enemy... And yet, I still wept for him. If only things could have been different... If only...

I remained there upon my knees a while longer as my tears very slowly ran their course. I ever so carefully draped the emperor's royal robes upon the floor before me with his dusty remains still caking it before finally setting his staff across it. I beheld the remnants of humanity's emperor from so long ago in a moment of solemn silence. There was no satisfaction to be had in this victory. Nothing was truly gained through this war. Equestria merely prevented humanity's return in a manner that would have benefited no one in the long run. Nothing was gained. Only lost.

With great fatigue filling me, I forced myself to stand. And I turned back to face the portal behind me. It was already noticeably smaller than when I first saw it after coming up there that day. It would likely be gone within the hour. I took a moment to savor this. So much happened on our way out there. And for a brief while, I was convinced the war had all been for naught. Only the emperor could close the portal and had even started contemplating letting me die to ensure that the portal would remain forever open. But...he could have severed the connection between us at any time. He only lived for minutes after that connection had been cut. I have to wonder... Was he hoping that we would find a way to stop him? Did he avoid taking the easy way out...because he knew it had always been a mistake?

These were questions that I would never get an answer on now. It was too late to ask the emperor whose name would forever be remembered by none. But he would still be remembered as the catalyst behind this war. Equestria would continue to remember this nameless emperor. The Forgotten Emperor...

Whatever the case, my job was done. It was time to head back. And I even found myself smiling just a little bit. All of our efforts paid off in the end. I turned to face the west, that lone phoenix statue pointing me in the right direction. My eyes fell upon the Celestial Sword nearby and my thoughts went to the Lunar Shield that had surely hit the ground by then. I chose to leave them where they were. I wanted to enjoy some time without a weapon in my hands and knew they could be summoned later. It was time to return and tell them the good news.

I took a few shambling steps forward. I was exhausted... So exhausted that my balance started to shift. Perhaps too much. I squinted my eyes as I started to feel a growing sense of disorientation. And...a faint warm wetness spreading over the back of my head... "No... No, not now... Not here..."

I struggled to remain standing as I could feel it. My wound was reopening... Zecora's protective and stabilizing salve had run its course. It soon reached the point where I could barely walk without toppling over. I willed myself to remain steady on my own two feet as I pleaded for my fevered brain to cooperate with my body. "Come on... Five minutes... Just five more minutes and I'll be back to HQ... That's all I need..."

Seconds later, my balance gave out. I was down, but not quite fallen. I slumped to my knees as my senses became just a little more stable. My eyes faced west, back towards familiar ground. And I knew... I knew that now I was on my knees, I would not be getting back up.

The war was over. The emperor was no more. Equestria would be preserved. And yet... There I was, on top of the world, neither on Earth nor in Equestria. With the way home stretching out beyond the Heaven's Pillar almost like I was being taunted with where I wanted to go even as the liquid warmth started to spread over the back of my skull... I was so close to going home, and yet...I could not.

Even with tears in my eyes, I found myself starting to chuckle. A growing twisted sense of mirth swelling inside me. And before long, that chuckle burst out of me into raucous laughter. I laughed bitterly at the sky as I took in the sights around me and pondered on my situation. I had succeeded in my mission. I had prevented Equestria from becoming a mirror image of the world I left behind. And I was still being denied solace like some sort of sick prank by fate itself! I howled with uncontrollable laughter even as tears cascaded down my face. I laughed and I laughed until I could laugh no more. And as I gasped for breath, I spoke to no one through a chuckle and sob, "So...this is it, huh? This is what I get, right?! All that...and I don't even get to go home?!"

I laughed again, but the laughter soon faded into painful sobs with my eyes squinted shut. It was not fair... I only barely succeeded in preventing Earth's evils from infecting the world of Equestria. I gave all I had to insure this world would live on untainted. And in the end...this was my reward? To die alone? Atop the world with no one to mourn me?

A powerful defiance filled my heart. No... No, not here... I told myself that I needed to live when I set out for this final mission. They all wished me well without words. Saw me off with a powerful melody conveying their wishes... I could not die here!

I closed my eyes. With my optic senses shut off, the world felt more stable. Not quite as shaky. If I could just get to the edge... Dive into the air... I could just glide along. They would see me approach and catch me at the first sign of trouble. I readied myself. Braced my legs and pushed myself up and...

I fell. The instant I tried exerting any effort at all, I was down on my face with the clattering of my armor filling the air. My eyes opened as I found only the stone floor of the Heaven's Pillar's summit spread out before me. And that liquid warmth only began to spread further atop my scalp. I whimpered with another bitter chuckle as the tears finally flowed free. I tried... I tried as hard as I could to rise to my feet...and my body still failed me. As I felt warm trickles of a thick sticky fluid starting to ooze down over my face, I sobbed to myself. "I guess...not everyone gets a happy ending... Not even in Equestria..."

The hopelessness of the situation sank in. I was trapped by my own body. I was not in pain, but the wound had reopened with my own fevered brain sabotaging my only means of seeking aid. I knew I was dying. And...I found myself slowly coming to terms with it.

"This is good... Right? This is...for the best?" I muttered to myself, trying to rationalize my fate. I did what I could to find peace since I knew I would mostly likely be gone by the time the sun had set. It was quiet atop the Heaven's Pillar... Too quiet. And it only made me feel more alone than I already was. "I guess...this is fair... I was complicit in everything... This was my fault in some way. Should probably have...been put on trial for treason... I guess this saves them the trouble."

I snickered to myself bitterly. Surely there were some among my comrades who were still resentful of me and my connections to the emperor. They would be glad I was gone... They would say I had this coming. And yet...so many were there to send me off when I did depart. They were expecting me to survive. So many friends there on the battlefield...and those...back home...

My thoughts went to those I had not seen in too long. Cozy little Ponyville and all those in it. I found myself longing for simple days of relaxing in the spa while using my hands to massage customers. The delight of a satisfied patron felt so distant to me then... The occasional trips to the arcade to have some fun with the kids. Especially little Button Mash. And even...

The tears flowed more fiercely as a few faces flashed through my memory. I remembered seeing the Elements of Harmony being summoned during that vision. And their six bearers had even joined me on the battlefield. All except one... My wife. Dear Fluttershy had to stay behind. She had no place on a battlefield. And with her was precious little Scootaloo. And...

Gladesong. My thoughts immediately went to that tiny filly. My firstborn. I witnessed her birth only a couple of months ago at least. I held her in my hands the moment she left my wife's body. I sired her... I held her... And I loved her. And now... Would she even remember me in the coming years? What would her first word be? What would people say about me to the father she never knew?

This realization...broke me in ways I did not expect. More than ever, I missed my baby girl. I wish I could tell her one last time that her father loves her. I squinted my eyes shut and whimpered pathetically as I tried to picture in my head the last time I saw her... When I did not even know I would have to say goodbye. "I'm sorry, sweetheart... I don't think...Daddy's gonna make it home after all..."

My vision became increasingly unsteady. My senses were failing me... Going haywire. And in spite of my grief, I found myself smiling. And I quietly told myself a good thing. Anything to at least find comfort in knowing everything was not for nothing. "At least...I held out long enough to get the job done... At least...Equestria will always be...the way it always was... That...counts for something... Right...?"

How long had we been holding them off...? Time became a blur when the only thing that had occurred in that time was alternating between offense and defense to hold off the flood. Thousands upon thousands of approaching Hollows turned to dust. And yet, the tide could not be tamed. The swarm did eventually relent. But only because...I had finally reached my limit.

My armor battered and dented by the few that had managed to draw close enough to strike, my head pounded with a raging migraine. I cannot recall the last time I have had to exert so much magical force for so long. The way the army of Hollows still spread so far to the east before us... How many had we destroyed? How many still remained?!

"Arrows! We need more arrows!" My ears heard Seaspray call out behind me atop the encampment's walls. I looked back as I wheezed in burning fatigue. Our mages had all collapsed, their limits reached. Our sentries and archers no longer launched arrows or bolts into the enemy legions. We have them everything we had. The militia had finally been bled dry!

I gazed out at the ocean of purple that would soon drown us all. We held out for as long as we could. Gave them everything we had... And they still managed to outlast us. The enemy had ceased their assault now that our resistance had all but crumbled. As if waiting for our next move. Or waiting for one last chance for us to surrender.

Why were they still standing there? Surely the emperor had to have been slain by then! What had happened at the Heaven's Pillar?! Did he...fail? Did my beloved fall to the emperor in the end? In spite of all of our preparations?!

I closed my eyes to relax my head. With a cast of a simple spell, I spoke softly. "Luna... Luna, are you still there?"

"Yes... Barely. I do believe...I have reached my limit, sister. And there are still...so many left. Tens of thousands... The archers and mages have fallen silent. Is it the same on your end?" I could hear her wheeze. We were no better off than the other.

"Yes... We're out of time... Out of arrows... Out of...everything... This is the end, sister... There will be no victory today..."I said grimly as the truth dawned on us. Weeks of preparation. Weeks of marching across the Empty Plains. All for nothing in the end... This war was doomed from the start. We failed.

I could hear my sister holding back tears, her exhaustion dripping with every word she spoke. "They...failed...? Mother... Father... James? We came so far... Is this how it all ends?"

I struggled to hold off my despair. There would be no surrender. We had agreed to this and the very thought of Equestria becoming more like a world I had watched... A world I had come to loathe the longer I observed it... No! I would sooner die than just surrender Equestria's future to a world that blighted! Not after watching over it for this long! "Luna... I am prepared to stand my ground to the bitter end. I won't...let them take us. Are you in agreement?"

Her response was immediate. And defiant to the end. "Yes, sister. To the end. Let them come. It has been...a pleasure ruling with you these past few years alongside you like centuries ago. I only wish we had more time to make up for all those wasted years..."

"We shall, Luna. We will soon have a true eternity to talk and laugh together like days of yore." I said softly as I found that fire in my soul starting to rekindle itself. Battered and weathered, I would not yield. We would not surrender. And for now... It was time to say goodbye. "I love you, Luna. Let us face the end together."

"And I love you, my dear sister. I could think of no better end than to face it with you. Let us give these abominations one last glorious coup de grace! I shall see you on the other side, Celestia!" I heard my sister say before I ended the connection. We had made peace with the situation. It was time for the end.

I flexed my neck to ready myself, doing all I could to ignore the pain in my head. With our fates decided, I called out to the enemy. "I am Celestia! The Princess of the Dawn! And I will not surrender my world to the evils of another world I cannot hold any faith in! Come! Do your worst! There will be no surrender today! Today... Victory or oblivion!"

And with that, they charged. That thunderous tremor filled the earth as the ocean before us began to close in. No arrows fell. They were no longer needed. I could barely stand, let alone fly. The Hollows would break down our gates and slaughter everyone beyond with swords in hand. But no matter what happened, they would not be the first to die.

I readied one last spell. I channeled my mighty flame magic into my horn with the intention of summoning a wall of fire around myself to hold them back for as long as my focus would hold out. How many would burn to nothing before my time would come? Dozens? Hundreds? And they knew this was the end. I heard Seaspray call down to those just beyond the gate as our end rapidly drew near. "A BREACH IS IMMINENT!!! BRACE YOURSELVES!!!"

This was it... We tried... We gave everything we had and still failed. This was a war power alone could not win. Truly...the spirit of humanity had proven itself superior in the end after all. And our world would fall for it. I closed my eyes, waiting for the tremors below my hooves to draw near enough for me to be confident in making every second count. But then... Just when I was ready to unleash this one final spell to take as many with me as I could...

It stopped. The tremor rapidly weakened until it became a very weak and inconsistent vibrations. And when I opened my eyes... I could not understand what I was seeing. The ocean of Hollows before us had slowed to a crawl. Instead of charging, they merely shambled as if struggling to find the strength to stand. Like puppets dangling on idle strings.

"What in the heavens... Luna? Luna, are you seeing this?" I asked as I tried to establish a magical connection to my sister once again. Surely the other side was displaying the same symptoms.

"Yes... Yes, most perplexing. They have slowed to a shamble." I heard my sister reply. At the very least, this would buy us more time. But my sister was far from optimistic. "Keep your wits about yourself, Celestia. I am not convinced the emperor is showing mercy here..."

"I shall. Be ready. If they charge, we fight and die here." I replied while I continued to steel myself for the inevitable. Even our sentries atop the wall were silent in confusion. But then...after only a moment longer... They all began to fall. Row after row of Hollows fell to the ground with each bursting into a growing cloud of purple mist. The cloud spread over the horizon as every last one of them...disappeared.

I barely blinked. I could scarcely even breathe. What was this reversal of fortune? A misleading new strategy? Once the entire ocean of Hollows had evaporated into a massive cloud that took minutes to finally dissipate into nothing, I could only gaze out at the vast green peaceful Empty Plains before us. No one made a sound. Not a word was spoken. The end was right in front of us. We were resigned to our doom. And then... Salvation. The enemy vanished without a trace. After a moment of heavy confused silence from us all, I heard Seaspray call out to me. "Your highness...? What do you suppose just happened?"

Only then did it dawn on me. And in spite of everything... From the burning of my many muscles to the throbbing of my heavily taxed mind... I began to smile. I began to chuckle. And I began to cry as I raised my head and howled to the heavens! Never... Never before have I felt such an overwhelming sense of glee and relief! It was done! It was over! "They've done it! It's all over! We've won! We've won! Send word to Canterlot, the war has ended! Equestria has triumphed!"

Luna too shared in my joy as I heard her voice being broadcast across the entire encampment. Her voice echoed with the Royal Canterlot Voice to insure they would all hear her. "Sound the bells! Victory is ours! The emperor is no more! Equestria is ours forevermore!"

The roar that filled the air... Screams of joy spread out from all over the camp. Thousands of voices cheering, shouting, and even weeping in utterly delirious joy now that the nightmare had ended. Tears like never before flowed down my face as I turned to face the eastern gate as it opened. And I had barely turned around as droves of my people rushed out in relief to swarm me. They cheered and praised me... They even carried me into the camp as if it was I who made the final move to end this war. But I knew the truth. I knew who our true champion was in this darkest hour. And I have never felt more proud of him. My eyes squinted shut as they carried me past the gates, I whispered a quiet prayer of gratitude. "Thank you, my love..."

A glorious fanfare was being broadcast across the entire encampment as our bard serenaded our victory. Pillars of flames, each of a different color, burst high into the air as even our dragon volunteers roared in triumph. I counted thirteen... Even Ember had joined in. Soon, word would spread across Equestria. People dancing in the streets, parties across the world... Oh, I could only imagine the unified joy this victory would bring to all across the planet!

"All right, that's enough... Please, release me. I can walk." I finally said after being carried some distance. And I could see Luna gliding across the camp towards me on what little strength she still had. Exhausted as we were, that did not stop us from rushing over to each other in delirious laughter with our wings draped across each other. I feared that was the end for both of us... But not today. "Luna, it's over! It's truly over!"

"Yes, sister, yes! They all faded! Fell and dissolved! Praise the stars, they truly succeeded! We shall all sleep well tonight!" My sister shrieked in tearful joy. And all around us... Familiar faces, some more familiar than others, all holding each other as friends and family rejoiced that they would finally all be going home.

My eyes fell upon the Zephyrus ahead. I was all but certain it would be needed to make an emergency evacuation, yet was not needed after all. And down the ramp came running all who would have been ferried safely back home. I found myself smiling as I saw who was at the front of the herd. "Princess Celestia! We saw them all disappear from up on deck! Is it over? Is the war...really?"

Twilight Sparkle. My dear pupil was the first to reach us. And I told her the obvious truth. "Yes, Twilight... It's over. I don't know what happened out there, but they triumphed. The emperor has fallen. The war has ended. And we can all go home."

"ALL RIIIIIIGHT!!!" Their lone griffon companion screeched as she threw herself into the air upon her impressive wings. She then pointed down at her friends and called out, "Eat it, girls! I totally called it! I knew our big guy would pull through in the end!"

"Yeah, yeah, we hear ya, G! Thanks for believing in him. I gotta admit I was having doubts for a while too." Rainbow Dash rather sheepishly replied while trying to avert her eyes. I saw it too. That beacon on the horizon that lit up...but then went out. Did they assume the worst?

But it was then that someone just started to openly weep. And there between them was one little dragon who had slumped to her knees. A dragoness who was not really a dragoness. She wept with her head thrown back while little Smolder tried to comfort her friend. "Hey, come on, Ocellus! What're you crying for?! Knock it off or...you'll get me crying too!"

"I can't help it! I thought we lost him!" The poor little Changeling wept in what must have been an overwhelming surge of joy. She looked like she was consumed with grief, but that could not have been the case. "It's really all going...to be OK! We can go home now! And he'll be there with us!"

"There there, darlings... That's right. Our knight in shining armor will be returning soon with news of our victory. Then we can truly celebrate!" Rarity said while she tried her best to comfort the weeping disguised Changeling. It seemed like they had truly come to accept her. And speaking of shining armor...

"Twily! Twily, you there?!" I heard my very own captain of the guard call out as he pushed his way through the cheering crowds. And once brother and sister were together, they embraced. Today could have been the very last time they would have ever seen each other and poor Twilight was quick to burst into tears. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry I scared you. But it's all OK now. We're all going home..."

"Cadence is gonna be so mad at you for staying behind like that, Armor! You better be ready to sleep on the couch for a few nights!" Twilight laughed while drying her tears. There was not a single frown among any of them. I was so relieved that I would not be leaving Equestria to Cadence after all. I know she was never fit for the role in the first place, but desperate times call for desperate measures...

Poor Pinkie Pie. She so dearly wanted to dance, but she could not really pull it off while in that harness. But that did not stop her from doing a little tappy jig with just her front hooves. "Woo hoooooo!!! Now I've gotta plan out a big coming home party for us! And you've gotta be there, Maud! We can finally go home! Everypony's gonna be just fine! Aren't you just the happiest ever?"

I was startled by what I saw. While Maud Pie remained as stoic as she has always been, tears were just cascading down her face. I wonder what it is that keeps her emotions so stony... But the tears told us all what we needed to know. And the words that came next were quiet yet sincere. "I...can barely...contain myself..."

But it was then that Applejack suddenly stepped forward as she brought up a very good point. One we had all overlooked. "Hang on a minute! Do ya even know if James is all right out there?! The emperor's gone and kicked the bucket, right? But...what if it's because he took James down with 'im?! He already tried ta put our pardner in the ground once!"

This awakened a newfound fear in my heart. We were too quick to jump to conclusions. And this realization sent a murmur through the crowd around us. It was true. James was the source of the emperor's sustenance. If he fell, the emperor would fall. And the emperor had already directed his minions to make an attempt on his life. We needed answers immediately. Luna and I nodded at each other while she said, "That's a good point! Let us see what Mother and Father have to say."

We both cast our spells to try and contact the two of them out to the east. And in a matter of seconds, I felt that connection. "Mother! Father! Are you there?! Is everything all right?!"

"Well, that was harrowing! Just give us a moment to catch our breaths, yes?" I heard my father reply while both he and Mother sounded very out of breath. "My apologies if we...are a bit winded. We both had our own role to fulfill in this battle. While your friend went topside to face the emperor, we had to mind the gate to keep this...moat of Hollows from following us. At least up until all those that remained just collapsed and dissolved on their own."

Luna was quick to speak up. "Yes, yes, just like out here! We were besieged by a hundred thousand on each side that we only barely held off long enough for the emperor to fall! It's over! If the Hollows disappeared on their own, then the one sustaining them must be no more!"

"Two hundred thousand?! Where did the emperor even find the tie to amass... Ugh, no matter! No matter at all! If all Hollows have ceased to exist, then the emperor has finally fallen. It's done." I heard Mother reply in utter disbelief before she caught herself. However the emperor managed to prepare an army of such outrageous numbers, it did not matter now.

I then brought up the uncomfortable truth that needed to be said. "Mother... It's very possible that the only reason the emperor is no more is because James might have met his end as well. Please, can you check on him?"

Father was the one to respond. "Oh my... Yes, that is a possibility. Sunflare, are you rested enough? Let's head on up and see how our friend is doing. That transport spell appears to be hanging on for the moment."

Things went quiet for a moment while we waited. And none around us tried to interrupt the conversation. Before long, we heard Mother speak. "It's still here... The portal remains open?"

"What?! How can this be?! Are you certain it is stable?!" Luna shrieked as all that relief was replaced by a very sudden surge in anxiety. Had James truly triumphed? Why would the portal remain open after the emperor's demise?

Thankfully, Father was quick to correct us. "Wait... Wait, I think I see... Yes... It took me a few seconds, but...it is shrinking. The portal is now closing. It will most likely be gone within the hour at this rate."

My sister and I both let out a wonderful sigh of relief. With the answer we were hoping for, I looked to those who were around us. "Good news. The portal remains open, but it is now collapsing. It will be gone soon."

Rainbow Dash wasted no time in spreading the word. She launched herself into the air and called out for all to hear. "Great news, guys! The portal's disappearing! Equestria's gonna be just fine!"

It was hard not to chuckle at her gusto. And even harder as a new surge of cheering filled the air around us. Now we knew for certain that victory was truly ours. Equestria had been spared from the evils of Earth. Now only one question remained. "Wonderful news, Father... Now then, what about James? He's there, right?"

Mother was the first to speak. "Hm, he should be... You would think he would have called out to us by..."

She stopped short of what she was saying. And this drew our attention. "Mother? You were saying?"

Seconds ticked by without a response. And I felt my eyes beginning to widen with a growing dread sprouting in my heart. Luna then asked, "Mother...? Father...? Is he...there? Did he depart before you could arrive?"

We heard Father let out a long sigh before he spoke the words I feared. "Listen closely, my children. We will be on our way back soon. Have a medic ready for our arrival. Your friend is...not well."

I struggled to hold my tears. No... Please, not now... Not when victory had just been claimed... Luna and I cast each other a fearful glance before we nodded. "We shall... See you soon."

The connection was broken while we turned to those who stood around us. Little Ocellus was the first to ask, "The portal's disappearing... What about James? Is he OK?"

Luna sighed while having some difficulty facing them. "He lives, that much we know. But we are to prepare a medic just in case."

Pinkie Pie hurried forward with her wheeled harness letting out a soft squeak. "But what's happening out there? How is he?"

I said only what I was told. "He's not well..."

Luna and I hurried past them to reach the infirmary as looks of shock began to fill their faces. Before I could pass her, I noticed Smolder clasp her hands together. "OK... OK, it's gonna be OK... The war's over... He's gonna be fine... Everything's gonna be fine..."

We were so close... So close to truly being able to put this war behind us. It would not be truly over until he returned. And I could only pray my beloved would return alive...

The world was swaying. Even with my face against the stone floor, I felt as if I was on a ship at sea rolling about in the surf. I was just waiting for my time. Waiting for the sea to finally become still and for the darkness to swallow me when everything went black. I was ready.

And yet...I was not alone. I heard the sound of hooves approach. And four sets of hooves stepped into view, each shrouded in glittering silver or flickering vermilion flames. I managed to turn my head enough to gaze up at those who were now gazing down upon me. And I recognized them immediately. "Your majesties...?"

"It pains me to see you like this, my boy..." Orbash whispered to me with such a look of profound worry in his eyes. He at least tried to give me some good news even as his eyes turned to the emperor's remains behind me. "So he truly is no more... Nothing left of him... I should have you know, the Hollows that surrounded the tower all collapsed into mist not long ago. And we've heard from the rest out west. The armies that were besieging the camp all dissolved before they could breach the gates."

I was not too late after all... I felt fresh tears start to build in my eyes, even as I lay dying. I feared that the gates had been breached and hundreds had been slaughtered by then. And yet...fortune was on our side that day. We just barely made it... All would be well... "Thank you, your majesty... That's...wonderful news..."

He said nothing else for a moment. I think he wanted to try and comfort me, but could not find the words. He then turned to Sunflare, who was trying to maintain a stoic facade. "Is there anything you can do for him?"

She lowered her horn to my armored head as her magic aura billowed around all six of them. I could feel a soothing warmth over the back of my skull, but it did little to steady my senses. And she knew this. "I cannot mend this... All I can do is staunch the bleeding."

Even the sun queen's healing light could not save me... But I had anticipated this already. I said softly, "That's fine... I've already...caused enough harm by being here... They won't miss me."

"Nonsense... You...will be mourned, my friend." Sunflare spoke kindly to me in ways I did not expect from her. Not by then. When I lifted my eyes to hers, I saw an unbeknownst tenderness in them. She said again, "You proved yourself today as the true herald of our old friends. You stood by Equestria as a whole, even if it meant forsaking your own world. Our world will be preserved because of you... And as queen, I beseech you. Please... Return with us to those who await you. Tell them yourself that this war has ended in triumph."

The queen herself... The very mare who tried to destroy me for the sake of her world... She was pleading that I survive this mission. But before I could dwell on those words, I felt the faintest tremor through the floor. And a distant crumbling sound. The king and queen above me glanced about while Orbash said, "I feared as much... It's nothing short of a miracle that the Heaven's Pillar has remained standing all this time. The havoc that raged beneath and atop it was the last straw... This place will collapse before long."

A fitting fate for the last remnant of the Forgotten Emperor's legacy. It would serve as his tomb. But...would it also be mine? Sunflare lowered her horn to my head again and said, "I've done all I can... Please... On your feet now!"

The pleas of the king and queen... It was reassuring. I asked softly, "You would...have me stay?"

Orbash, eyes still filled with worry, spoke with a smile. "Please, my boy... You've more than earned your place among us. We've escorted you here as promised. But now...the only way back is on your own two wings. Quickly! The tower will collapse at any time!"

Those words directly from the king himself... I remembered. I recalled when I set foot outside the camp's walls one last time. How they all gathered outside to wish me well. To send me off with a rousing melody to instill courage within me. And as that melody came to the forefront of my memory, I found the strength I needed. I brought my armored hands to the floor beneath me, splayed my fingers for leverage, and pushed.

"Easy now... Steady." Orbash spoke with encouragement as I felt the tremors below me growing more noticeable. I felt so much weaker than I really was, sweat and blood oozing down over my face as I painstakingly pushed myself up. The world felt like it was spinning all around me and that I could fall right onto my side at any second. And I knew I would. Thinking quickly, I folded my wings forward and pushed myself up with them to take the strain off my arms.

This was just what I needed. With my wings holding me up, I was back on my feet. And it was then the Heaven's Pillar began to show its rapid deterioration. The bricks in the floor began to fall away piece by piece with the entire tower shaking. The king and queen rushed to the western edge of the tower as the one remaining phoenix statue at the edge finally fell over the side. They waited, watching me as I barely managed to stay on my feet before I began to shamble forward one step at a time. Sunflare called to me, "Leave your weapons! They can wait!"

The gaps in the floor began to grow larger as more and more bricks fell into the massive vertical tunnel below me. I felt so dazed, struggling to remain upright with my body and mind locked in a struggle with each other. If I could only get into the air, I would feel much less strained. I was running out of time. The floor would soon collapse and swallow me up with it. Teeth bared as I steeled myself for a desperate charge, I growled to myself before breaking into a wobbly unsteady sprint. "I'm...not...gonna die here..."

I made it. With the path of bricks ahead of me becoming more narrow by the second, I reached the edge of the tower and dove over the side with wings spread. The instant my body's weight was taken off my legs, my head felt quite a bit clearer. The king and queen went first with the two of them once again serving as my escorts. And once my feet left the floor, I heard the top of the tower finally break. I saw chunks of rubble fall past us as we went into a dive. Far below, I could see it. The Heaven's Pillar breaking apart as towering chunks of it began to break away and fall in varying directions. With the emperor's demise, his last stronghold was falling as well to wipe the slate clean. It was a harrowing sight, but I could dwell on it. Once we reached a great enough speed, the three of us pulled up to steady ourselves out into a swift glide to the west as the Heaven's Pillar fell apart behind us. At last, we were home free.

At such speed, the camp would be coming into view in only a matter of minutes. And throughout that flight, I could hear that rousing melody in my head as if I could already hear it being broadcast to herald my approach. Lyrics that were foreign yet were words I had come to understand played through my head. Words...that were hauntingly fitting for the peril I was in.

With battered wings, with a crippled leg, still you flew on. Glowing blue, towards your home skies, because you have something to deliver.

Barely a minute after evening out our glide, I was reminded of my wounds. It only lasted a few seconds, but my vision blurred. A low faint drone filled my ears before my vision cleared again. Just a few more minutes... Just a little longer and I would be safe. Even as I remembered a very brief...very final line in that melody.

You dance with death.

I held on as hard as I could. Gliding as straight through the air as I could manage while being bordered by the king and queen themselves. And then...I could see it. Hope bloomed in my heart as I saw the expanse of the camp far ahead. The king and queen pulled ahead to come in for a landing while I began to slow trying to ease myself into a safer speed for my approach.

And then...my vision began to fail me. My fevered brain played upon my eyes as the camp before me began to not look like itself. I saw...hills... Perhaps mountains. And then... It was not a camp I was seeing. Not rows of tents. Instead, I saw thatched roofs. A windmill or two. I... I found my way back. Ponyville was stretched out before me.

The liquid warmth spreading over the back of my head, I found myself smiling. It had been so long... I was already back where I wanted to be. I reached out to the cozy little town I had come to love. And as I did... I... I felt my strength leave me.

I tumbled through the air as I rolled over and began to plummet. But Ponyville never left my sight. It remained ahead of me at all times with my armored hand reaching out to it. It became more and more distant. Falling away from me... My eyes became heavy... I felt the desperate need to sleep...

But sleep did not come. I very suddenly felt a hand tightly clamp around my hand, a grasp that startled me and caused my eyes to open wide instantly. And there before me... I was being held as I descended through the air. Gilda was tightly clutching my hand in hers while the other held me from below. Beside her was Rainbow Dash as she did the same while Spitfire and Soarin held the other side of me. They constantly flapped their wings to control our descent all while struggling to hold back tears. Soarin called out to me with a desperate tone in his voice, "Hang in there, champ! You're gonna be all right!"

I turned my head to see what was below. My vision was clear for the moment as the camp I had spent so much time in was spreading out below us. And below us... So many gathering around My ears began to fail me, but when I was lowered into the camp...

They swarmed us. Cheering and joyous weeping reached my ears. And all around me, familiar dear faces came rushing to my side. The world was going dark, but I felt...a wonderful and familiar sense of peace. Like...I finally belonged again. Even as my world started to go dark and all voices fell quiet, I felt myself beaming with a bright smile even as tears flowed freely down my cheeks.

I felt them start to hold me. To carry me. And in that embrace, one last precious thought passed through my mind before sleep could take me. Joyous words that confirmed that the journey had finally ended, my beaming smile surely still displayed upon my face for all to see.

I am home.