The real throne room was a sight less perfect than the one I'd left, I could smell smoke from burning buildings and the true version of the observation dome was cracked, sending showers of translucent crystal across the floor. There was no flash or sound to herald my arrival, which was good because it caught the three guards that Twist had left in the room with their flanks in the air. Coupled with the element of surprise I easily dispatched them, reopening their killing wounds with ease, after fighting Phaestus on his terms I found their movements to be painfully slow.

Now if only Twilight had mentioned where in this blasted castle the 'royal panic room' was I might actually be able to get somewhere.

Then it hit me, the side dimension spell that Twilight had cast; she said she had learned it from studying how Sombra did it. If he could create a pocket dimension to hide things in then, at least in my opinion, that would make for an insanely secure saferoom.

The only problem was how to actually get into it and that would require something I knew it didn't have time for, but I didn't really see another alternative.

Research.

I cut a quiet swathe through the emptiest corridors I could find, returning the undead soldiers to their repose with as much silence as possible before secreting their bodies away in places where they wouldn't be noticed for at least a day or so. As I entered the royal library dragging a lean Griffon corpse that was leaking a steady trail of the now-familiar black ichor across the floor it struck me that I should probably make some kind of note as to where I'd stashed them all. I chuckled somewhat grimly at the thought of the crystal ponies working in the castle after all this was over finding some very unpleasant surprises over the next couple of weeks.

The library was a vast place, similar to the Canterlot Archives although I'd only visited the location itself twice and never in a capacity to wander around as I would have liked. Stacks upon stacks of books were set into crystal shelves with care, only a faint layer of dust existing in a few places told me that, in better times, this room was cared for diligently.

I wasn't sightseeing though, I knew there had to be a transcription of the events which led to the final defeat of King Sombra, even if it was just in the form of an AAR or whatever equivalent combat reports the Crystal Empire had.

Fortunately the indexing system was easy enough to find and even easier to use. At one of the desks was a clearly labeled next of dozens upon dozens of gems similar to the sphere Twilight had left for me in my room, but faceted rather than perfectly round. The help desk called the mem-crystals, apparently they stored simple data in the crystalline matrices of the gems which a tiny amount of concentration could bring out. Even Pegasi and Earth ponies could use them which was even more impressive. While the unorthodox index was helpful in and of itself the sheer volume of works in the library made the point more than a little moot, and after nearly an our of painstakingly sifting through mem-crystal after mem-crystal I still hadn't found what I was looking for. What I had found was over a dozen treatises on the Empire in its heyday, several hundred notices from Equestria's government of over a millenium ago condemning Sombra's practice of slavery, even a few signed by the diarchs themselves, and a number of sealed records that only royal authority could unlock. I prayed silently that the information I needed wasn't in one of the sealed sections as I pushed through more and more data, eventually my effort was rewarded, it was an in-depth report on the return of the Empire and the ultimate destruction of whatever remained of King Sombra.

“Ok, let's see here: 'Here follows the account of-'” I blinked in surprise at the name before laughing quietly. Of course she would be the one to write the account, she wouldn't trust anypony else to be thorough enough. “Well, let's hope you're as detailed as usual:

'...the account of Twilight Starla Sparkle, student of the Solar Diarch, first daughter of House Sparkle, and Element of Magic; concerning the return of the Crystal Empire and the defeat of King Sombra...' Ok Twi' I don't need to know the whole... wow eight hundred pages?” I shook my head in disbelief, reflecting that I had in fact hoped she would be detailed. This might be a little too detailed though, in my opinion, and I resolved to have a long discussion with her about the merits of being succinct. “Ok, well, let's just skip ahead...”

After another half-hour laboriously muddling through the verbal diarrhea that made up the majority Twilight's report I finally reached the end. I found myself astonished at the patience this implied in her teacher since there was no good reason I could think of to include an entire thesis on the cultural significance of the Crystal Faire in an After Action Report. I was about to give in to despair, or at least a solid round of colorful obscenities, when I noticed some appendices, one of which was labeled as: Concerning the Dimensional Magic of the late King Sombra.

Jackpot.

The nature of the late King's magic is of great interest to me in that it represents a school of magic hitherto unknown in the Equestrian curriculum. After great consideration I have decided the likeliest reason for this is that the magic itself is highly dangerous or inherently harmful, certainly King Sombra was not a good example of the art's safety. Despite this I believe the matter worth studying on a purely academic basis, especially considering the many spells that King Sombra left 'hanging' in the crystal matrices of the castle walls and infrastructure. As mentioned on page six hundred and forty seven of my above Account I found no less than two separate pocket dimensions mirroring our own that were accessible only to a unicorn and only by casting the accessing spell while in the throes of hatred or anger.

Bingo, hatred and anger, fortunately I had no dearth of either of those emotions when it came to the good Doctor and his pet abominations. Thanks to Twilight's overly verbose nature it still took an extra twenty minutes to track down her description of the accessing spell itself which, of course, was recorded in minute detail to the point that after reading it I probably could have cast it in my sleep. As wordy as she is I think Twi' would make an excellent teacher, assuming she could detach herself from the textbook long enough to teach an actual lesson.

The idle fancy made me smile a little, I enjoyed the thought of Twilight as a teacher not only because of how well it fit, but because it could really happen.

But only if I stopped Twist, here and now.

That thought put the iron back in my spine and I turned away from the memcrysts, after breaking the one containing the access spell, to make my way back to the throne room. I turned over the arcane mnemonics of the accessing spell in my mind, over all it wasn't terribly difficult or time-consuming, which I was grateful for since I'd burnt a great deal of time already. I forced myself to move slowly though, mindful that my new-found knowledge would amount to precisely zip if I ended up trotting headfirst into a dozen undead guards. Fortunately I only had to add a few more corpses to the various hiding spots on my way to the throne room, most of the halls were as empty as I'd left them which struck me as a little odd.

Hadn't Twilight said that Twist was here in force? That 'half of the Griffon Wars' had gotten up to follow him? I wanted to chalk it up to the Crystal Empire's army putting up a better fight than they'd expected but something about it just didn't sit right with me. Not that it mattered of course, I only had one real goal.

Find Twist. Kill Twist.

I stopped just outside the double doors leading into the throne room, a cold tightness had settled into my chest that made me incredibly wary. Not because it was an unfamiliar sensation, but because it was the feeling I'd gotten moments before I'd been forced to 'save' Fluttershy.

From myself.

I had a sick feeling that I knew what was behind that door, but I pushed it open anyway.

“Hello, brother of mine,” his voice was ragged and cold, lacking any real emotional inflection. I glared across the room at him, at myself. He wasn't a perfect match, it was like staring into a mirror that was cracked, stained, and pitted from age. His coat was duller than mine and criss-crossed with scars, half of his left ear was missing, and two eyes like cold embers met my own gaze from beneath a grimy coal-black mane.

“Last time I checked I didn't have any brothers,” I remarked casually as I strode into the throne room, seemingly unimpressed by the presence of my almost-clone. “And if I did they wouldn't be half as ugly as you.”

Not-Me grinned humorlessly and nickered, “Twist knows where your friends area, Brother of mine, we knew you would come here eventually after escaping the purple bitch's neat little ward.”

“Watch your tongue or I'll cut it out, 'brother of mine',” he bared his teeth in a wider smile that didn't even come close to his eyes. “I have to ask though, what are you?”

He grimaced as if disappointed, “you mean you still don't know? How disappointing.”

We were circling each other now, it was eerie how he matched my movements perfectly and without thought, like he really was me. I quashed that notion, now was not the time for an existential crisis. Besides, I knew I would have to deal with him before I tried contacting Twilight and the others. Not that I would have it any other way, I had fully intended to deal with this abomination eventually, and now seemed as good of a time as any.

“You're me, sort of, I get that much, but how?”

He nickered again, an almost sarcastic sound. “Magic,” he deadpanned.

We moved like synchronized lightning, one moment we were standing across from each other and the next there was a hiss of drawn steel and a spark of metal on metal and our scythes, twin identical scythes, were slammed against each other.

Then, just as fast as it had occurred we parted, backed away and glaring at each other through the same fringe of mussed black mane. As one we returned our weapons to their sheathes.

“Good to know you haven't gotten too rusty, brother of mine.”

“I have to ask, we're... practically the same pony, that's obvious,” he rolled his eyes slightly in a disturbingly familiar fashion, but nodded, “so why, in Celestia and Luna's name, are you helping that psychopath?” the last several words came out heavy with anger and hatred. Not for him, or even for Twist, but for the idea that a small part of me could possibly be willing to align myself with that evil son of a bitch.

His face became an impassive wall, but he was me, and I knew that look all too well. And he knew that I knew.

“I don't have a choice, little brother of mine.”

“Horseshit, I could fight him off and you're me,” I challenged, stepping forward. For once my almost-clone didn't match me. “You can defy him, I know you can because I know I can.”

“You're in a better position than me to fight his influence, you're-” he choked, as if something was preventing him from speaking, “empty gods I hate that. Look, you're different, that's all.”

“Tell me!” I shouted, his eyes flashed dangerously and another clash ensued.

Tempered steel met tempered steel as our blades met over and over, the same moves canceling each other out as we mirrored each others movements like dancers. Where our attacks clashed they rebounded, where one found an opening so too did the other. When we parted we both had three new and matching cuts, shallow but painful, to show for it.

“You're an ungrateful wretch, a pathetic shadow!” he roared and for once I could see real emotion in him, anger and loss boiling to the surface like air out of hot pitch.

“You're the shadow, whatever you are you were made from me and so help me I will put you down before you help that evil waste of air and flesh for one second longer!”

He blinked, looking honestly surprised, then began laughing. It was a cold and bitter sound that made the my hackles rise. “You can't know how strange it is to hear that. It really makes me wonder where I went wrong...” he looked almost wistful, “I wonder how everything... could have gone so very wrong.”

“What in the flaming sun are you talking about?” but he just shook his head slowly.

“No, you're right, I am just a shadow, and the dawn is coming,” he turned back to me with fire in his gaze, “let's end this.”

A brief glare of sunlight flashed across the room and we moved, synchronized and deadly as blade met blade over and over again. Neither of us gave ground nor gave up a single drop of blood this time as we matched each other blow for blow. It was like fighting my reflection in more ways than one, and neither of us were making any ground. I had to end him, to kill him, it was the only way to ensure that my friends would be safe, but he was just as good as I was. Maybe even a tiny bit better.

“Enough.”

Both of us froze in our tracks, hate boiled up from my core at the sound of the voice that I knew so well. Try as I might though I couldn't move and, unless I missed my guess, neither could he, because he looked as mad as I was.

Silver Twist, or what was left of him, strode into the room flanked by several zombie ponies, these ones looked glassy-eyed and had clearly seen better days. Twist was in like company though, there was a ragged mass of scar tissue where my blast had obliterated his chest on the high tower of Canterlot Castle. Black ichorous energy bled from a dozen smaller wounds and his eyes were that unsettling heterochromatic shade of flecked gold and vermillion. The most startling addition though was a pair of skeletal wings rising out from his back, the bones were all that were present though covered in ropy strands of that black viscous fluid. There was a snap and a crunch as one of the zombie ponies suddenly fell apart without warning, from its body came a brackish mist that flowed into Twist's battered form and I saw some of the smaller cuts heal up. I guess I knew what the majority of his army was doing now.

“I am quite finished being generous, and more than finished being patient,” his voice was a hollow echo that seemed to reverberate with the very air. “You're like an insolent child whom, no matter how much I punish, never learns his lesson.” With a flick of one of his wings there came a breath of foul-smelling air, suddenly both I and my almost-clone were struck with the force of a sledgehammer and sent hurtling into a wall. I felt a few ribs crack under the impact before I hit the floor. “But worry not, for I am a forgiving father the prodigal son shall be welcomed home after due punishment is exacted.”

That's when he began to speak, not words really, he was uttering infinitely sharp knives made from morphemes and phonemes that cut and seared into my core being. It felt like he was trying to cut away parts of my soul.

Then it struck me, that was exactly what he was trying to do.

I tried to move, but despite the majority of his attention being on the unholy act he was performing I still wasn't strong enough to resist him. I struggled against his will but it was like trying to move underwater while covered in thick iron chains.

It felt hopeless but I kept fidgeting, pushing and pressing against the cage of power he'd placed my will inside of as I searched for some tiny weakness while mind-wrenching agony soared through me. I needed some point of-

And then I could move, it was like I'd slipped through a gap in the bars. Miraculously it seemed that Twist hadn't noticed that I'd breached his control, I glanced over and saw a dim glow around my almost-clone's horn and a grim smile etching his face.

Yeah, he was me alright.

Twist's eye's were snapped shut in concentration but the agony was a distant thing now that I had a purpose, I could try to attack him but that would just be stupid. The moment he realized I wasn't under his control again I'd be bucked since I had the feeling the same trick wouldn't work twice. I turned the spell I'd just learned over in my mind again and knew that what I was about to do was insanely risky. Not just to myself but to all of my friends.

It was the only way though, because if Twist managed to make me like my almost-clone then I wouldn't be able to disobey him. I'd open the way into the safe room for him and they'd be in an even worse situation. At least this way there was a chance of survival.

I activated the accessing spell, emptying out my deepest reserves as I poured all of my magic into it. I thought of anger and hate, I filled my mind with images of Loctes, Phaestus as he was, but most of all with Silver Twist.

There was an explosion of energy and for a moment the agony ceased as Twist snapped out of his reverie in shock. I was exhausted, Twist was furious, and I was fairly certain he was about to murder me out of sheer pique from being interrupted when a cannon-like blast of magic formed from the three-fold colors of lavender, opalescent, and bright pink slammed into him, the force of the power disintegrating his little undead batteries.

Where before there had been only empty space there was now seven ponies; Cadence, Rarity, and Twilight stood at the fore, their horns glowing brightly, behind them stood Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Applejack, and Zecora, along with Gentle Treasure and Starlight Charmer bound in magic-stealing crystal chains.

The two unicorns and the alicorn Princess stood ready for another joint attack as a form staggered up from the smokey ruin of the wall that Twist had struck when the spell blew him away. The shape was larger though, and indistinct as I stepped out, all pretense of 'Silver Twist' was gone, in his place was a jet-black and male alicorn, skinless and drenched in black, ichorous blood. Bone showed through flesh from several ancient-looking but brutal wounds. Cadence looked like somepony had run her through with a blade.

“Oh... mother of us all... it's you,” she whispered, the room carried the sound along with the grave tone it was uttered in.

“Cadence? What's wrong? Who is that?” Twilight turned to her old foal-sitter with a worried expression. A dark and sonorous chuckle met Twilight's words though, it seemed that despite his apparently horrific state the being before us was still quite capable.

“I suppose the farce is spent now, hm?” Those terrible eyes flashed insanely as he moved out of the smoke, “it's good to see you again my dear. It's been far too long.”

Cadence visibly swallowed and she staggered back, the glow around her horn faltering. “I... you're supposed to be dead.”

Twist, or whatever his name actually was, shook his head, “No, what I was supposed to be... WAS KING!” he roared, the room seemed to jump up several degree's. Cadence looked rattled but at those words she stood up a little taller.

“No, you're insane and you had to be dealt with, my aunts wouldn't let you inflict your horrors on this world, and neither will I... Father.”

Even my almost-clone's mouth fell open slightly at that word.

Father

Suddenly I felt a lot more okay with being an orphan.

Twilight didn't handle it quite so well, as soon as she got her voice back she shouted, “FATHER?! Wait, this... thing? This is your dad?” Cadence grimaced but nodded.

“You knew I was Celestia's niece and I'm not related to Luna, so...” she trailed off and not-Twist gave another cold but oddly mellifluous bass laugh.

Between the banter and words I panicked, we were played out, I was weak as a newborn foal, my other half wasn't much better off. Cadence was clearly shaken and if this thing was on the same scale as the divine Princesses then I didn't rate our odds as much higher than basement level at this point.

Twitch

Movement caught my eye from my other half, my almost-clone was inching towards me, using the appearance of the remaining Elements of Harmony and the Princess of Love as a distraction. It was true, the dark alicorn that rose from Silver Twist's form seemed to have already counted us out. I couldn't really contradict that either but I prayed to Luna that he had a plan.

Inch by inch he moved towards me, we weren't far apart to begin with but the tension was thick enough to cut with a blade and it made the seconds feel like hours. Like at any second that thing could look over at us and end our lives in a flash of light and pain. I had no doubt that that was a very real possibility too.

“Hey, stripling,” the rough voice of my almost-clone cut through my panicked thoughts as Cadence's father moved in on the group, closing in on his erstwhile daughter.

“What?”

“We can beat him, but only if you do exactly as I say,” his eyes were sharp and bright, there was anger and fire in him that I hadn't seen during our fight. He wanted out, he wanted this to end, and he was willing to pay whatever cost was asked in order to see that happen.

“Yes sir, Captain sir,” he grinned wryly and for a moment he wasn't my almost-clone anymore, he was my mirror image. It was eerie but it felt like were became attuned to each other in that moment.

“Call up a spark of magic, just a tiny one, I'll do the rest,” his tone was deadly serious, it brooked no argument and certainly no buck-ups. I swallowed heavily and nodded.

I reached into myself and lightly brushed the well of power that lay within me, within all unicorns, and drew out the barest mote of power, suspending it at the tip of my horn like a tiny red star. He closed his eyes in concentration and I could feel a tidal force building up, slow, almost glacial in its size and intensity. So gradual that it was almost undetectable but no less mighty for its pace. The moments stretched but luck was with us, I didn't know what his plan was but at this point it was just about all we had.

Without warning there was as snap of energy from his horn as he synchronized his power to mine. I'd performed plenty of synchronized spells in my time as a soldier but I'd always known the spell in question, this was more like I was along for the ride.

I'm not sure what I expected his plan to be like but this was far from it; the pain was beyond the pale. It felt like I'd been immersed in a sea of fire, caught by an infernal riptide and dragged hither and thither without a thought of breathing. I felt like I was being crushed and broken at the same time I was exhilarated by the sheer immensity of the power being wielded.

It was sheer sensory overload; so much so that it was almost a relief when everything went black as I felt my heart give out and my soul break from the confines of my mortal body.

Blackness was all that awaited me, I'll admit, a part of me was hoping to return to that green valley. To find myself waking up with the familiar warmth of Summer wrapped in my hooves. This was different though, I wasn't straddling the line of life and death anymore, rather, I had crossed it.

I wasn't alone either.

“So, it worked,” Almost, as I'd come to think of him, was waiting for me, and beside him was the twitching lunatic I'd bisected in the mausoleum.

“What in tartarus is that freak doing here?” I hissed, remembering all too well what he'd done to my friends.

“Don't be so harsh, he's one of us you know, or more accurately, a part of us,” Almost said softly. “It's not his fault he's insane, after all.”

Lunatic twinged and spasmed, he looked like somepony had hooked up a low-voltage shock collar to him and was occasionally hitting the breaker too hard. “Can't see, can't hear,” he mumbled, “too many voices, too many of us, too many of we, why are we 'we'? I don't know...”

“What did you just say?” the voices from my nightmares came back to haunt me at those words, they had roared the same question in a hundred voices.

“He is asking the question that plagues us, you as well though that damage is buried very deep,” Almost explained.

“But why is he asking it? I don't understand.” This was beginning to get infuriating, I was in the dark and I hated that, I hated not knowing something that my gut told me was crucial to my survival. “What is 'we'?”

Almost's smile was grim and humorless, “'We' is us, and you, and me, and him. That is 'we', three souls that were once one. You and I, and yes, even him,” Almost gestured in an off-hoof manner to Lunatic. “We are one, or we were supposed to be until that bastard Twist decided he didn't want any liabilities in his prize creation.”

“What... wait, we're...” I tried to wrap my head around what he was saying and was failing spectacularly. Putting a dead soul back in its body was one thing but... cutting a soul up like an apple on a chopping board? That was...

Almost just nodded though, “yes, he is not Jasper Shale and neither are you... not even I am truly Jasper Shale. We're all a fragment of his personality; his life and his memories are shared between us. Your 'nervous breakdown' that resulted in your hospital stay was the near-fatal trauma of being severed from a fundamentally whole psyche, and I'm sorry to say that it last a great deal longer than three years.”

I stepped back from him, from both of them, his words rang strangely in my mind. “What... do you mean 'longer'? I was in the hospital since the war ended. My service record states I was on active duty til after the Battle of Shining Valley.”

“The last great offensive in the war, the Griffon defeat in Shining Valley broke the back of their army. Tell me though, do you remember when the break occurred?” His question caught me off guard, it seemed like such a simple question but in reality I had never really thought about it. I didn't like thinking about the war even during its quiet periods and the last months of the war were one bloodbath after another. “Do you remember what caused it? What broke you? What exactly happened?”

“I...” I tried, Goddess I felt like my mind was prying itself apart trying to dig up the answer, but no matter how far back I thought I... “I can't remember.”

“Because there was no breakdown. You had been insane since you were created by Twist to house my weaknesses, my mortality, all the good and honest parts of me that were an obvious liability for Twist's horrendously unethical experiments.” I staggered backwards, shaking my head as my mind failed to supply the words I needed to deny what Almost, no, what Jasper was telling me. “You're a vessel, for all the weak parts of me Twist decided to excise, just like he is a vessel for all the mental trauma I underwent during the war. All the little insanities that would have left my a psychopathic mess were siphoned into him to keep me at top combat effectiveness.”

I finally found my voice and tried desperately to punch a hole in his theory. “But how did I get to the hospital, you can't tell me Twist checked me in for my good health.” My voice had more venom than my twin probably deserved but he simply shook his head in an oddly mirror-like motion.

“When the Diarchs discovered Twist's treachery and experiments they declared him a war criminal and raided all of his holdings. He was forced to flee to his subsidiary safehouses, taking only what he could manage in a hurry, and that didn't include a comatose vessel hooked up to a half dozen medical devices.” I'd never known how I'd ended up in the hospital myself, I'd never asked, I'd hadn't wanted to know the state they'd found me in or what I'd done to warrant incarceration in an insane asylum's solitary ward. “They found you and moved you to the hospital, Twist tried to recover you on several occasions but his resources had taken a severe hit. He was forced to wait, and hope that they either let their guard down, or that you somehow became coherent enough to leave on your own.”

I crumpled to the floor, defeated, I couldn't handle it. I wasn't real, I was just a shadow, I was the 'Almost', not him. I was just... a poor facsimile made for the convenience of a madpony's experiments.

“I know what your thinking, and it's not true,” Jasper said softly, his tone had taken on a more soothing quality. “You're more than just a dumping ground, maybe once that's all you were but believe me, I've been with Twist this entire time and I know that even he was shocked that you recovered.”

I lifted my head to stare into my own eyes, they were darker and filled with memories of anguish, but they were still, hauntingly, mine.

“You've become more than a vessel, you have your own mind. Twist theorized that somehow your soul repaired itself, in a sense it 'regrew' the severed portions.”

“How is that even possible?” I gaped.

Jasper shrugged, “I don't know, but personally I think it might be what someponies call a miracle.”

I was silent, letting the words sink in, I wasn't real, I wasn't... really Jasper Shale, but... I was something. That was enough for now. “What do we do, I don't think you brought me just to traumatize me.”

Jasper nickered humorlessly. “No, we have a chance, all three of us are attuned to each other. I've been learning more and more soul magic courtesy of that psychotic alicorn out there and I think we're strong enough to beat him.”

“Ok, I know he's wounded but this is still an alicorn we're talking about right? He's on the same scale as the Diurnal Sisters,” I pointed out dryly.

“I know, but we have an advantage over him.” This I had to hear, “remember when I said he theorized that you regrew your lost portions of your soul?” I nodded, “well the thing is, we're still all part of the same soul, and now, we've probably got three times as much. I think that my skill is enough to... to stitch us back together.”

“Yes...” Lunatic finally spoke up startling both of us a little, “'we' must become 'I' again, please, make us whole.”

“You see?” Jasper pointed to Lunatic firmly, “he's completely twigged and even he can feel it, we're meant to be whole. I think that if we were it would make us strong enough to end him for good, at least... it would give us a shot.”

I considered it, what he was proposing was stitching all of us, including the psychopathic parts of us, into one magnified soul. I had recovered enough memory of Twist's soul magic to know it was at least theoretically sound, our souls all resonated with the same harmony, it was like each of us was a separate melody that had always intended to be played as one complete whole. And yet...

“What will happen to us?” the question that I had to ask was also the one I had the distinct feeling that I didn't want the answer to.

Jasper looked grim, “I don't know but... you were driven insane for almost six years by being severed from me. Mashing all of us together into one collective, all of our separate minds and unique souls we've developed over the past three years becoming one again? Frankly, it will probably be worse than the original spell that broke us in the first place.”

Somehow I'd already known that.

“Do we have a chance? If we don't do this is there even a shadow of a chance that we'll beat him?” I asked, plainly meeting my own eyes.

“Not even a whisper,” he answered with torturous finality.

“Then do it.”

Jasper Shale, my progenitor, nodded, “thank you, for being the best part of me, and for surviving.”

I could only return the nod as power surged up from him, then from Lunatic, and then finally from me. In one cataclysmic surge of light and pain, three souls merged to become one.

“...Sorry my dearest daughter, but with you as Princess the magic of the Crystal Palace no longer recognizes me as its rightful sovereign, that means you're an obstacle,” the voice of the dark alicorn filtered in with a hateful glee in its voice. “Fortunately the lines of succession are clear, if you die then rulership passes to the next blood kin. Which, oh my, just happens to be me.”

“Father, you won't succeed, you'll-”

All words were drowned out in a singular blast of power and light as our unified souls finally emerged, together in one battle-scarred body.

Twist, our voice echoed wordlessly across the ether, cutting into the minds of those around us like a blade. I felt a twinge of guilt somewhere in one of my souls as I saw the pain our new voice was inflicting on my friends, but the other parts of me continued unhindered. You are a broken excuse for a God, Twist, and you will be so until the end of your life. That end comes NOW!

The creature that I'd known as Silver Twist roared its disbelief and defiance, I could see our reflection mirrored in a thousand times and thousand crystal facets, we rose like a grim reaper, cloaked in red light with a curved and scythe-like horn emerging from our skull. We towered a head over Twist and all three of us found similar humor in the absurdity of such a powerful being forced to stretch his head up just to look us in the eye.

Somehow I had the feeling that the true Jasper Shale, the one I'd been cut from the cloth of, had severely underestimated the magnitude of power produced by three conjoined souls.

“No, no no no no... this isn't... THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE!” he was shaking, a mighty near-godlike entity who had seen millennia pass, who had literally shaped the hills and mountains, was quaking in fear.

Possible? You are blind with obsession, Silver Twist.

“That's not my name!” he hissed, “I am Borealis! Lord of the Horizon! I am a GOD! I. AM.-”

I didn't get to hear what he thought he was. In all honesty a part of me, I'm not even sure which one, felt a little cheated. Twist had been fear incarnate for me for so long, he'd been my personaly boogeypony, my nightmare.

Now he was just pathetic.

You are no God. With a surge a power I gripped his immortal soul in vice of energy. You're just another monster that goes bump in the night. And I am the new morning.

With one last rending scream Twist, or rather Borealis, wrenched apart as we shredded his soul like parchment, his body detonated with the power of our will, drenching the room in the blood and viscera of a dead God.

Silence reigned supreme in the newly baptised throne room of the Crystal Palace for several minutes. I could feel a searing pain creeping inexorably up the crudely stitched wounds of our new-bound soul.

A small voice broke the intense quietude, weak but familiar to two of us.

“Oh Goddesses, Jasper? Is... is that you?” Twilight, blood leaking faintly from her ears and nose, was staggering closer. “Jasper?”

We turned to face her, sadness well up in us, from where I'm not sure, maybe from all of us. We knew we were about to lose more than we'd already given. With an effort we quieted our voice, making it bearable to the others.

Yes, and no. Jasper Shale is us, and we are Jasper Shale. But the one you knew is gone, unified into us. Our words were true, we tried to soften them but tears formed in her eyes. The pain was growing more intense, we knew we didn't have much longer, no mortal pony was intended to hold such power for long. Or ever. Soon we too shall fade, we... I... am sorry... Twilight.

Twilight reached out with a single hoof but hissed in pain and withdrew it as our fiery aura stung her. That, perhaps more than anything, hurt us all. We were about to suffer whatever consequences were coming to us for our hubris, necessary though it may have been, in dabbling where mortals shouldn't tread.

“Where are you going? Why... are you fading?” Twilight voice was a plea, the rest could only gaze fearfully at us as we conversed.

Our power carries a price, we wield the power to slay Gods, now we must pay for that power. I... am sorry.

“Will you die?”

I... we don't know, perhaps we will. Nopony had ever walked the road we, I, was now on. I know she wanted answers, but this was all I could give.

“Jasper... back in Canterlot, on the tower, when Twist was about to kill me you... you called me your mare.” I remembered it, we all did, I had never been more afraid than I had been at that moment. The thought of losing Twilight was unbearable. “I just... need to know if you meant it?” the look on her face was a hopeful as it was tragic.

I did.

Tears came to her like a dam breaking, “Then... I'll save you, I'll find a way, I swear I will.”

I shook my head.

We... I do not doubt that you could, half-pint. She laughed a little. But if I die, then you cannot, or else you will risk becoming like Borealis. Obsessed with life after death. I'm sorry.

“You can't ask me to do that Jasper, you selfish selfish colt, I just got you back!” she cried, “I... I'll bring you back! I-”

No. My unvoice rose in volume and made her flinch, I softened it again. No, Twilight, you mustn't.

The pain was becoming unbearable, all three of us were writhing in it, we had to release the power within us, it needed escape and it couldn't happen here, for all we knew it would wipe the Crystal Empire from the face of Equestria for good this time.

I have to go now. The power produced by our soul is building to critical levels, I will keep you safe, I promise.

“JASPER! JASPER WA-” We didn't wait, we couldn't. If we did then it would be a temptation to remain just a second longer, then another, then another. If we... if I waited then it might destroy them, and countless others. So we teleported away, flashing up into the stratosphere, so high up that air was practically non-existent. It mattered not at all, we were beyond such things.

Princess Cadence, I projected my thoughts miles downward with less than a breath's effort, raise the Crystal Empire's forcefield now!

Her own powers would be insufficient to project her thoughts to us so we could only pray she did as I asked. Thoughts filled our mind, memories; not of war and violence, or blood and loss, but the memories of one of our number that were peaceful. Memories of sharing tea with a pastel yellow unicorn and finding comfort in shared pain. Memories of cupcakes and coco with a grateful pink mare as she cried for her sister's pain. Memories of fireside talks and bringing closure to ponies who missed their loved ones dearly.

Fine memories for a dying stallion to dwell upon.

Finding a small contented place in our heart we let out a tranquil sigh, then released the building power that was searing us apart and laid the last ghost of a terrible war to rest.

Ponies would talk for years about that singular moment when a second sun lit the skies of Equestria from Baltimare to Las Pegasus.