Between Harmony and Order II - Act IX

The wind gently blew over the tranquil lake in the middle of the Great Barrier. On one of its shores, a small pink butterfly flapped its wings exhaustedly in a desperate attempt to reach a safe haven. Not far from its path, the last cargo car of the Ponyville to Canterlot train lay overturned on the ground. Unlike the other cars sunk in the lake, this one was in perfect condition despite being attacked by the same elemental forces that had destroyed the train.

With renewed hope, the little butterfly exerted itself to the fullest to reach the car, and after several failed attempts, it finally managed to land on it. Exhausted, it rested on one of the wheels.

Although only a gentle breeze blew at that moment, for that little butterfly, the journey had been like navigating through a hurricane.

After several minutes of rest on the train car, the little butterfly turned its attention to the horizon.

On the other side of the lake, a large cloud of dust rose, and sounds resembling explosions began to resonate, filling the entire Great Barrier with a deafening echo.

The new threat filled the small butterfly with distress, and without wasting a second, it sought refuge among the metal openings revealed in the overturned car. Its search was brief, as it found a hole in the nearby air ducts and entered it without hesitation.

That tiny creature disappeared from the sight of anyone who might have observed it. However, in that conflicted world, few had eyes for details as insignificant as that.

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"THROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

A rain of enormous rocks pounded the forest bordering the Great Barrier. Trees and old structures shattered upon the impact of rocks as large as carts. The heavy rain of rocks continued relentlessly for several seconds until the bombardment finally ceased.

The resulting gray dust cloud from the rock shower began to slowly dissipate, revealing a wasteland of destruction.

Badwhiz, who had never before witnessed such an impressive display of power from Ceridwen, was deeply astonished. So much so that for a moment, he thought the battle was already over.

However, for Ceridwen, a veteran in magical battles, who had faced the princess and her entourage in the past, that attack should not have been enough to defeat her opponent.

"I don't believe you're so weak as to think a few simple rocks would be enough to defeat you," Ceridwen mused as she assumed a defensive stance and ignited with her magic the two golden wands floating around her. Behind her, Badwhiz finally understood that it wasn't over yet and quickly imitated her to cover his rear. Between them floated a crystal cube.

Around them, dust danced in gray gusts that could barely conceal the tense atmosphere.

Minutes earlier, Ceridwen had arrived on the battlefield. After instructing Badwhiz to issue an ultimatum to the princess, informing her that her companions had already been captured and she should surrender, Ceridwen proceeded to attack her with a rain of rocks when she didn't receive a favorable response. Of course, she had no interest in hearing the princess's excuses; if she didn't surrender immediately, there was no point in wasting a single word.

Even in the midst of this sudden attack, the princess did not succumb to panic or confusion. She skillfully dodged the magically propelled rocks and retreated with her companion until they disappeared from Ceridwen's view.

The look the princess had before leaving was one that Ceridwen knew all too well; it was a look that reflected great determination to fight.

It was clear that a counterattack was imminent.

The dust had completely settled when, not far from where they were, Twilight emerged from behind the rocks and shot a precise beam of magic from her horn towards Ceridwen.

The counterattack began sooner than Ceridwen had anticipated, but only this was unexpected.

Twilight's bold direct attack collided with the solid magical barrier that Badwhiz had erected. The attack proved ineffective. Ceridwen, seeing an opportunity, acted in sync with Badwhiz, who lowered the barrier, and she immediately hurled one of her golden wands towards Twilight.

The wand didn't head towards its target like an arrow but sideways like a rolling pin. In the midst of its trajectory, it grew exponentially, impacting the ground due to its own weight and continuing its advance like a giant steamroller.

Twilight was greatly surprised to witness the manifestation of this magic. The overwhelming advance of the giant wand and the rocks flying in all directions left her no choice but to rise into the sky to avoid being crushed by the steamroller.

Now in the air, Twilight had become an easy target.

("Switch!") Ceridwen mentally commanded Badwhiz. In a perfectly synchronized movement that lasted less than a second, both companions exchanged their positions. Now Badwhiz was in front of Twilight, free to attack her directly with his black lightning.

One after another, black rays were shot towards Twilight in the sky. Some grazed her trail while others came too close, yet most failed to hit their target. Twilight wasn't a great flyer, but her strong wings and knowledge of flight gave her enough advantage to dodge Badwhiz's continuous onslaught.

Ceridwen, behind him, paid no attention. She knew Badwhiz wouldn't be able to bring down the princess. His sole purpose at that moment was to keep her occupied. The real attack would come from behind.

Rainbow Dash, swift as lightning, emerged from the remains of the crushed forest and headed straight for Ceridwen at an unstoppable speed. The agile pegasus easily dodged the hail of pellets Ceridwen launched to halt her advance. With no further obstacles, Rainbow Dash accelerated to the maximum and slid along the ground to position herself beneath Ceridwen. In what could have been barely two seconds, both adversaries found themselves less than a meter apart. Then, showcasing her extraordinary agility, Rainbow Dash launched her lower limbs directly towards Ceridwen's face with the intention of rendering her unconscious in a single blow.

Ceridwen expected nothing less. It wasn't the first time she had faced this agile pegasus.

Their first encounter took place during the conspiracy in Ornitia, where her initial efforts to prevent the activation of the Tree of Harmony in that realm were thwarted by Rainbow Dash and her companions. At that moment, she was surprised to witness with her own eyes the swiftness of Rainbow Dash. Shortly after withdrawing from there, she was even more amazed to learn that the same pegasus had traveled from the capital of that realm to the capital of Equestria in less than a day.

Their second encounter occurred in Canterlot and, unfortunately, ended in disaster. Trying to fulfill Danu's careless orders, Ceridwen was ambushed by the Princess and her allies. That confrontation was brief and humiliating. After receiving a barrage of attacks of all kinds that didn't give her the chance to defend herself, she was defeated under the hooves of the pony friends.

Yes, Ceridwen could accept her defeat. However, what she couldn't accept was that these encounters had been so one-sided.

Now, they were in their third showdown, on equal footing in numbers. This time, Ceridwen was confident it wouldn't end like the previous ones.

Ceridwen vanished before Rainbow Dash could connect her imminent direct attack. The pegasus passed by without hitting her target. Although to the eyes of anyone else, it might have seemed like Ceridwen had teleported, Rainbow Dash knew it wasn't so. Ceridwen, using her size-manipulating magic, had shrunk herself until she became so tiny that she was barely visible. But even being so small, she still had full control of her powers.

The second wand, still hovering in the air, transformed into a tiny but sharp dart. At one end, the still tiny Ceridwen positioned herself and aimed at Rainbow Dash from behind. With the pegasus in her sights, she unleashed her true attack with this projectile.

Rainbow Dash, who had turned around to keep track of the reduced Ceridwen, noticed a small golden flash where her opponent had been before.

No, it wasn't a flash. Rainbow Dash's instincts triggered her alarms, and instinctively, she stretched her neck backward as much as she could, thus dodging the sharp object heading straight for her head. The projectile passed by and hit a rock quite behind Rainbow Dash.

Disoriented by the great effort she made to avoid that unexpected attack, Rainbow Dash lost the rhythm of her flight and ended up rolling on the ground until she collided with the previous rock behind her. Despite all that, thanks to her quick reflexes, she managed to brake enough to emerge unscathed from the impact.

The rock behind Rainbow Dash was not as fortunate.

As Rainbow Dash casually observed the spot where the dart had impacted, she widened her eyes in distress, seeing a deep hole in the rock. That was where the projectile had embedded itself entirely, highlighting the lethality of that attack.

"SERIOUSLY! DO YOU WANT TO CAPTURE US, OR DO YOU WANT TO ELIMINATE US? MAKE UP YOUR MIND!" Rainbow Dash exploded, visibly irritated.

"Khiss," Ceridwen clicked her tongue as she returned to her normal size. She, too, was annoyed. The attack she had executed was one of the ones she had practiced the most since being imprisoned in Tartarus, and she had perfected it with the intention of using it against Rainbow Dash. However, after its recent unsuccessful execution, she would have to consider it as a futile effort.

"Lady Ceridwen, up!" exclaimed Badwhiz suddenly in a mental message.

Huge rocks began to fall in their position. Both Ceridwen and Badwhiz retreated, increasing the distance between them and Rainbow Dash. Badwhiz raised the barrier again, protecting both of them from the smaller stones splashing around.

Through the dust that had risen, Ceridwen saw how Twilight quickly arrived where Rainbow Dash was and then disappeared along with her companion in a teleportation.

"You're not capable of fighting for yourself without an advantage, huh, little princess?" Ceridwen mocked inwardly, satisfied. Now she was convinced that her opponent was no better than her or her companions. There was no special force guarding behind that pony, and soon she would have no one in front of her to protect her.

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"That wasn't right," Rainbow Dash expressed, clearly upset.

"No, it wasn't," acknowledged Twilight as she lay on the ground. She was somewhat exhausted after dodging Badwhiz's lightning repeatedly. She didn't have serious injuries, although the tips of her tail and some parts of her coat showed signs of singeing.

Both ponies were back at the dead-end pit. The gloomy place, illuminated only by Twilight's magical light, was a physical representation of the complicated situation they were in.

"And now there are two... What are they? Twins?" asked Rainbow Dash, thinking about her two nearly identical opponents.

"I don't think so. One of them is an enchanted spirit, that's Badwhiz outside his body. The other... should be the real Vainilla."

"'Should be'?" Rainbow Dash said, puzzled.

"He hasn't manifested physically yet. He's only using Badwhiz's body as a hostage."

"He didn't look like a hostage to me, Twilight; he seemed very cooperative."

"We can't rule anything out yet, Rainbow Dash; we don't know enough."

"Right, we don't know..." Rainbow Dash responded with an annoyed air, looking thoughtfully at one of the walls.

There was a new pause in the conversation between the two friends. Rainbow Dash's frustration was palpable at that moment, and Twilight felt the pain of not having enough answers for her friend.

"Didn't you say those guys would try to trap us instead of attacking us directly?" Rainbow Dash said, turning her gaze back to Twilight.

"It seems their plans are different. What Badwhiz said earlier was just a ploy to catch us off guard."

"That little..." Rainbow Dash's feathers bristled.

"In fact, everything he's told us from the beginning is likely a lie."

"Wait... so, are the girls okay?" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, hope in her voice.

"No, but that crystal he claimed they're supposedly locked in must be a trap."

"So, they..." Rainbow Dash began to say with a doubtful voice.

"Hey! No, no, Rainbow, it can't be. They must have been captured," Twilight quickly responded, seeing the concern on Rainbow Dash's face.

"How do you know?" Dash replied now distressed.

"I would have felt it, you would have felt it too. That couldn't have happened," Twilight asserted, shaking her head. Despite the many possibilities that her friends might have been eliminated, those ideas were only in her head. Deep within herself, Twilight felt that her friends were still there, albeit distant. It was the same feeling she had when facing the Triple Alliance of Villains that attacked Canterlot before her coronation. Despite the despair that flooded her at that moment, she never felt a sense of loss, but rather of abandonment and failure.

"I have faith that they're still here. But they're prisoners of the enemy; we must do everything we can to free them," Twilight continued with renewed determination.

Despite the strong will expressed by Twilight, doubts were already beginning to weigh on Rainbow Dash...

"But what do we do, Twilight? If we continue as we have been doing, we'll lose," Rainbow Dash responded with concern.

For Twilight, this was a question with a difficult answer.

After Badwhiz's companion arrived, without saying a word between them, Badwhiz announced that the rest of their friends had been captured in a crystal cube and that they should surrender. Twilight tried to initiate a conversation at that moment, but she was interrupted by the violent rock attack launched by the newcomer Vainilla. Faced with this turn of events, Twilight, now without the possibility of negotiation, had to briefly coordinate with Rainbow Dash to execute a quick attack and free their friends.

The attack plan consisted of Twilight simulating an offensive to distract Badwhiz's companion, while Rainbow Dash would advance hidden from behind, assaulting Badwhiz with shadow attacks from the rear, defeating him, and taking the crystal. This move needed to be executed swiftly and decisively to succeed. Unfortunately, their opponents' coordination turned out to be better than they had anticipated. Not only that, but they received an immediate response to their actions and even a counterattack that almost ended with one of them.

Continuing with this same strategy until the opponent failed would be a path to failure, given how well-prepared the adversaries were. Trying to deceive the enemy with a trick carried risks and the possibility that one of them would sacrifice themselves. Negotiating was pointless...

One after another, ideas crossed Twilight's mind, but none was acceptable; all had too many drawbacks. The only way to rescue their friends without losing the one still with them would be for them to magically become faster and stronger, but that last part was something impossible at the moment.

Twilight had already used up all the crystals she could enchant and had no additional magical artifacts that would give them the urgently needed advantage.

Rainbow Dash watched anxiously as Twilight sank into a deep state of concentration with closed eyes... until she finally exhaled.

"We have no choice but to try to deceive them, pretend that one of us was injured or weakened in the battle and hope that Badwhiz or his other companion let their guard down when they try to capture us," resignedly responded Twilight. She had opened her eyes again, but she had a tired look.

"Really? Do you really think they're naive enough to fall for something like that?" Rainbow Dash responded skeptically.

"If I break my horn in front of them, it should surely cause some reaction."

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes wide. But before she could say anything, Twilight continued. "I won't really break my horn; it'll just be a very convincing trick to deceive them. I learned it from a performance by Trixie and Starlight last year. Both of their performances were really realistic," Twilight concluded with a faint forced smile.

"Well, then it might work," replied Rainbow Dash, rubbing her chin. It was evident that she wasn't entirely convinced.

"The other option is that you pretend you lost your wings in an attack, but I would have to magically remove them first..."

"Hey! On second thought, I think it would be more believable if you lose your horn," Rainbow Dash said immediately, somewhat nervous, as she flexed her wings. "I really wouldn't stand losing my wings again."

Upon hearing the last part, Twilight froze.

Rainbow Dash's words had awakened an old memory within her and also reignited the flame of hope that had been fading. She could almost feel her heart skipping with excitement. She had found the answer she urgently needed!

"THAT'S IT, RAINBOW DASH! YOU'RE BRILLIANT!" exclaimed Twilight, using her magic to grab Rainbow Dash and bring her in for an affectionate hug.

"Hey! No! No, Twilight! Your idea of breaking your horn is better than me losing my wings. Seriously! I just told you!" Rainbow Dash responded very nervously.

"I'm not referring to that. Do you remember when those evil unicorns took your wings a while back? And what happened next?" Twilight asked with shining eyes, hoping her friend understood what she had in mind.

"Mmm... Well, we went after those guys... but they captured us, and then..."

"Then?"

Rainbow Dash's eyes were somewhat lost in her memories until they finally gleamed with excitement as she recalled that moment. Excitedly, she could finally understand what her friend intended. She could only respond in one way.

"TWILIGHT-DASH! OH, YES!" exclaimed Rainbow, spinning in the air with excitement.

Twilight-Dash was the fusion between Twilight and Rainbow Dash. This had happened years ago when they were captured by evil unicorns who had stolen Rainbow Dash's wings to become alicorns. At that time, Twilight's magic wasn't sufficient for them to free themselves. It was then that the idea of merging arose to be able to stop those villains. The resulting fusion had such power that it practically humiliated those dangerous wizards, who, unable to defend themselves, ended up surrendering and begging for mercy.

This was the best opportunity they had to win.

"We must start immediately. The spell I used back then was somewhat temporary and limited. This time, I'll do much better," proposed Twilight, striking the ground with her hoof, adding nothing more, igniting her horn, and starting her concentration.

"At that moment, I didn't have my wings. But now that I have them, can you imagine how fast we're going to be? IT'LL BE TWICE AS AWESOME!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, flapping her wings, already fantasizing about the extraordinary acrobatics she could perform in no time.

A tremor was felt around them. Pieces of earth began to fall from above.

"An impatient audience," Rainbow Dash taunted with a smile as she looked towards the empty ceiling.

"I'm almost done," replied Twilight, with the light from her horn shining at its peak.

A magical light began to emanate from Twilight's horn, signaling the start of the spell. Smooth as a brilliant silk blanket, the magic enveloped both ponies, and between them, threads of light detached and joined. Gradually, two light cocoons formed and approached each other. Soon, both cocoons met and quickly merged into one. The light from the new large cocoon shone, splashed with all the shades of the rainbow, before compressing and diminishing its brightness like a paper lantern in the darkness of the pit.

Then, a crack opened, and the light of a pair of eyes revealed itself to the world.