"Come on, everypony!" Pinkie yelled. "We don't have much time left! Let's get the buffet table set up, and the games ready!"

Sugarcube Corner was a hive of activity. Pinkie was perched on top of the counter, shouting instructions through a rolled up newspaper, which helped to amplify her excited voice to every living thing within the Ponyville town limits.

"Pinkie," Twilight said, as she and the others picked their way through the mass of ponies, "don't you think, excuse me, that you're taking this a bit too far? I mean, we don't even, pardon, know when they'll be back."

Pinkie opened her mouth to answer, but snapped it shut when she felt a tingling sensation. She craned her neck back and saw that her tail was twitching erratically.

"Twitchy tail?" she said, before bringing her makeshift megaphone to her muzzle. "TWITCHY TAIL! EVERYPONY WATCH YOUR HEADS, BECAUSE SOMETHING'S ABOUT TO FALL!"

Ponies looked around sceptically, wondering what would fall on them, given that they were indoors. A dull thud from outside caught their attention, followed by voices.

"Ow, my face!" one yelled. "Dammit, Lux! Since when does that portal open in the air?!"

"I don't know, Zorann." Luxxoria replied. "It's never happened before. However, I have two things to say in my defence. Firstly, at least it opened a few feet above ground, rather than a few hundred feet. Secondly, at least it took us straight to Ponyville, rather than dumping us in that creepy forest."

Zorann groaned.

"They're back!" Pinkie squealed, racing out the door in a flurry of party materials, closely followed by the others. She grabbed the two new arrivals in a tight hug. "Welcome back, you two!"

"Yeah, hi Pinkie." Zorann said, pushing her off him and standing up abruptly. "Where's the threat?"

"Threat?" asked Rainbow Dash. "There's no threat here. Unless you count being hugged to death by Pinkie."

"What?!" Zorann bellowed, turning to Luxxoria. "But Navitas said that there was a threat! The dream elixir told her so!"

Luxxoria shrugged.

"Maybe she got it wrong." she replied. "Besides, you don't really believe that mumbo-jumbo, do you? Dreams are exactly that, dreams. They cannot predict the future."

Zorann growled.

"Then she lied to us." he snarled. "She probably wanted to get rid of us the first chance she got. I bet her and that human were colluding from the moment they found out we were Horde!"

"Whoa, calm down, dude." Rainbow Dash said.

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!" Zorann snapped. Dash flinched for a moment, before anger flashed across her eyes. Puffing her chest out she flew into Zorann's face.

"I don't know what in the hay is wrong with you," she snapped back, "but whatever happened while you were away did not involve us, so that does not give you the right to shout at me like that!"

Zorann pushed her aside.

"That night elf bitch told me I was her friend." he said bitterly, almost spitting the words. "And then she goes and lies to my face about there being trouble here. I must be right. She and the human used us to help them find Anduin. And once we done that, they decided to dump us the first chance they got!"

Luxxoria scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"What in the Nether is wrong with you?" she said. "You're being really paranoid, which isn't like you at all. As I said, maybe Navitas got it wrong. But since I can't see any threats here, I'm beginning to think that is the case."

"Are you defending her?" Zorann asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Uhhh... yeah." Luxxoria replied. "I guess I am. Look, just relax, have a few cakes, and enjoy the party that Pinkie has no doubt put on. You'll soon forget all about this nonsense."

Pinkie nodded eagerly, causing Luxxoria to laugh as she walked towards the bakery.

"So, Pinkie." she said. "I take it you want me to rustle up a few of my Conjured Mana Pies?"

"Mmmmm, you betcha!" Pinkie replied, licking her lips.

"All right then." Luxxoria replied. "I'll start on that right n—"

Her words were cut off as a brown blur tackled her to the ground, sending her onto her back. She grunted in pain and tried to move her arms, only to find them being pinned down by the large black bear on top of her.

"Argh!... Zorann? What the hell?!" she shouted. "Get off of me!"

"You defended the elf and the human." Zorann snarled, bring his teeth to Luxxoria's face. "You were in on the scheme as well. I thought I could call you my friend. In fact, there was a time when I called you 'sister'. But now, I doubt where your loyalties lie."

Luxxoria grunted under Zorann's weight and looked into his eyes. Where once was compassion and joy, anger and hatred had taken over. The elf gasped as the tauren's eyes turned black as night, and a low guttural growl escaped from his mouth.

"That noise..." she said sadly, "... no, it can't be."

A shadowy tendril appeared from Zorann's mouth, inching it's way to Luxxoria's forehead. She shouted out in anger as she struggled to free her arms. With the tendril just inches away, a blur of colour suddenly knocked her assailant off.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she flew at full speed into Zorann's side, sending him sprawling onto the ground. "You wanted to know what the threat was? You are!"

Luxxoria scrambled to her feet.

"Thanks, Dash." she said. "He's been possessed by a creature known as a 'Sha manifestation'. I don't have time to explain it, but just know that it's bad."

"What are we going to do?" Dash asked, as the rest of the girls joined the two.

"You lot are going to get everypony indoors immediately." Luxxoria said flatly. "As for me... I've got no choice but to kill him."

"WHAT?!" the group of mares chorused.

"I'm sorry, girls." Luxxoria replied. "But as far as I know, there is no other way."

"What about the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight asked.

"You can't teleport all the way to Canterlot." Luxxoria said grimly. "And it would take too long to get there. No, this is the only way. Now get everypony inside!"

The girls looked downtrodden, but nodded and began shouting out to everypony to get inside.

Zorann stood up and glared at Luxxoria, who adopted a defensive stance. Letting out a blood-curdling roar of fury, he charged towards the elf, who sighed.

"I'm sorry, old friend." she said softly. "But I'm afraid you leave me with no other choice... FLAMESTRIKE!"

As she snapped her fingers, a column of fire plummeted from the sky, covering a small area in fire and ash... and causing Zorann to roar in agony as he was caught in it. Ignoring the pain, he raced through the fire and began swiping with his claws, prompting Luxxoria to engage her Ice Barrier.

"You cannot defeat me!" he bellowed. "You are weak, pitiful and worthless. I am the superior being here!"

"No!" Luxxoria shot back. "You stopped being superior when you forced me into combat with my oldest friend! And if I have to kill him in order to kill you, then so be it!"

"Not if I kill you first!" Zorann yelled. "You will be the first casualty in my campaign to destroy this pitiful world!"

Increasing the speed of his attacks, Zorann quickly smashed the Ice Barrier, following it up by clamping his jaws around Luxxoria's leg. She screamed in agony before setting the bears fur on fire with a quick bolt of flame.

As Zorann released his grip, Luxxoria began hammering him with Ice Lances and Frostbolts.

Zorann shrugged off the damage and began a new assault. Summoning her Water Elemental, Luxxoria commanded it to freeze Zorann in place, which it did. To her dismay, Zorann broke the freeze by shifting into his cat form.

The elemental charged up a spell, which proved to be a futile gesture as Zorann leapt in front of it and, with one swift motion, destroyed it with a flurry of swipes.

"Damn!" Luxxoria snarled. "Oh well, at least it bought time for my Ice Barrier to come off cooldown."

She snapped her fingers to cast the spell. To her horror, nothing happened except for a slight fizzing noise and a few sparks of magic. Luxxoria cursed in Thalassian and grabbed her staff with both hands.

"Great." she muttered. "Out of mana already. I guess that's what happens when I mess with my spells. The more powerful they are, the more expensive they are to cast."

Zorann saw the elf's vulnerability and charged. In desperation, she began swinging her staff wildly, hoping to score a hit. But Zorann's agility tipped the balance in his favour, as he deftly avoided every blow, finally colliding with the exhausted mage and sending them both falling to the ground.

Once again, Luxxoria found herself pinned underneath the tauren she once called friend. Zorann hissed and snarled as he opened his mouth, the shadowy tendril once again making an appearance.

Luxxoria stopped struggling and lay still, a single tear rolling down her cheek and onto her robes.

I am ready to accept my end.