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Table of Contents

Deleted Scene: Rarity Pillow-Talk

Deleted Scene: Pinky Pie's Party-Time

Alternate Ending: A Final Sacrifice

Alternate Ending: A Final Hope

Alternate Ending: Chaos Ex Machina

Exclusive Interview with the Writer

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Deleted Scene: Rarity Pillow-Talk

[Writer's Commentary: Now, this here's a pretty short little scene that would've fit into Chapter 3: Rest and Relaxation, somewhere near the end. I removed it mostly for the sake of maintaining the story-flow, generally feeling that there was no need to bog down an already-lengthy chapter with a random exposition-dump. Some of the comments I received afterwards, though, suggests to me that this little scene may have been more important than I realized. For more detail on the assumed socio-sexual mores of Equestria, check out the interview at the end!]

Twilight flumphed back into her pillow, breathing steadily as her pulse began to slow from the rapid pace it had maintained through the recent series of orgasms that had wracked her body. Her mind, likewise, returned to some semblance of normalcy, abandoning the hypnotic plains of ecstasy. Beside her, Rarity was doing much the same thing, one elegantly-manicured hoof pushing her sweaty forelock out of her eyes as she got her breath back. "Well, that was just splendid, darling..." the white pony commented somewhat breathlessly, and Twilight replied with a grin.

Aside from the primal manifestation of Death, Rarity had been her first sexual partner, and she remained one of her favorites. There was just something intensely arousing about the way the ladylike Rarity rapidly disintegrated into a foul-mouthed, cock-hungry slut the moment something long and hard entered her anus. Twilight was fairly certain that either Famine or Death had done something to the elegant unicorn, either during the second or the third ritual - probably the second, looking back. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and, indeed, she herself had all experienced a boost in desire and a reduction in restraint after their experiences during the Ritual - probably a fairly unavoidable result of undergoing such experiences - but Rarity's sudden obsessing with anal sex went beyond that, suggesting a supernatural origin.

Twilight had prodded it, quite carefully. She felt quite certain that if Rarity came to know that her desires were being manipulated, it would only prevent her from enjoying the results - while doing nothing to prevent her from constantly hungering for more ass-reamings. This of course reduced Twilight's ability to investigate... but from what she could tell, it was either just random bit of cruelty from a being too aloft to give much thought to the consequences of his actions, or indicative of a kind of foresight that only a mind as old as time itself could hope to achieve.

After all, while the obvious consequence of 'Rarity needs anal sex badly' was simply 'Rarity has lots of anal sex', various other effects had arisen from it, and likely would continue to do so. For starters, Rarity was distancing herself further and further from the at-times obsessive fastidiousness that had, on occasion, driven a wedge between her and her friends, particularly the down-to-earth (and frequently covered-by-mud) Applejack. She still took care of her appearance - despite the labor it had to be, maintaining her 'coiffure' through several sweaty sexual encounters every day - but she no longer seemed to mind getting sweaty or dirty at all, nor doing sweaty, dirty things. In fact, she seemed to somewhat enjoy it, above and beyond the visceral sexual pleasures involved...

And then there was the matter of her shop... she'd been remodeling it lately, moving into a new line of business, abandoning the dresses that had stopped selling due to the worsening situation. Thinking back to past incidents, Twilight would generally have expected the failing of her dress-shop to spark depression, despair, and quite a few histrionics in the sensitive mare... but now, inspired and motivated by her own anal obsession, she had instead simply redirected her creative energy into the realm of sexy lingerie and sexier toys, for which there seemed to be a large, unexploited demand. Perhaps what Famine - whom Twilight considered the most likely culprit by far - had handed out was, after all, a backhoofed 'gift'... not unlike much of what she herself had received from the perverse Stallions of the Apocalypse.

Which somehow brought Twilight's mind - which seemed to be a bit floaty, still, after all the orgasms - back to the present, where she slightly belatedly returned Rarity's grin. "Glad you enjoyed yourself... you've been working hard on the remodeling and the new inventory, so I figured I'd help you unwind for a bit. That IS rather what we're supposed to be doing right now, after all..." Rarity sighed and nodded. "Well, I certainly feel nice and relaxed right now... so consider your mission successfully complete!" She replied with a pearly laugh before shrugging herself deeper into the sweat (and other stuff) stained sheets, sighing contentedly. How much of that contentment, Twilight pondered, might be down to the large anal plug that was currently filling her ass, covering her well-toned sphincter with its gem-studded base, locking in the three copious cumloads that Twilight's magically-summoned cock had deposited there earlier? Almost as an afterthought, she glanced down between her hind-legs, where the now-soft tool lay against her belly, glistening wetly. With a thought and a spark of magic from her horn, she ended the spell and let her pussy reappear. She wouldn't be able to perform in the male way for a while anyway...

For a minute or two, they just lay there, breaths slowing, bodies cooling, each enjoying the afterglow of their respective orgasms. Then Twilight's increasingly-steady mind churned its way to another point, and she cleared her throat again. "You haven't had any trouble at the store so far, right? About the whole... 'obscenity' thing, I mean." Rarity snorted dismissively. "Not a peep, darling. I've blacked out my windows, and Spiky-wiky is making sure no foals stray in there, so who's going to complain?" Twilight winced, not really sure if she should continue. "Weeelll... it IS technically still illegal, you know. Openly dealing in stuff like that."

Rarity's elaborate eye-roll, however, made it clear that she held those various 'obscenity-laws' in roughly the same regard Twilight did these days. "Oh, please. Nobody's got time to crack down on little old me for selling adult toys and adult clothes to adults - not the way things are these days!" She hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and made a dismissive gesture with one hoof. "I suppose things may change once we've finished the last ritual, and this whole... 'looming shadow of dread' thing blows over. But no sense borrowing trouble, right?"

Twilight could only nod at that. Things really did seem quite different these days. With the apparent end of the world seemingly hovering so closely behind your shoulder that you could feel its corpse-scented breath on the nape of your neck, a lot of the social mores - and, indeed, rigorously-enforced laws - that normally governed Equestria seemed to have been momentarily forgotten. Premarital sex, hefty taboo though it used to be, was definitely exploding in popularity. Pornography - including some genuinely nasty stuff - was popping up here and there. And Rarity probably wasn't the only pony in Equestria who'd had the bright idea of providing the suddenly liberal-minded ponies with suitable toys. Had not the ever-watchful eyes of the authorities been so thoroughly distracted by larger events, any such shop - operating openly - would have been forcibly closed by the Royal Guard within hours...

This, meanwhile, had the effect of bringing Twilight's ever-busy mind around to another point, and she found herself suddenly giggling. Rarity raised a questioning (and elegant) eyelash at her, and Twilight grinned. "I was just thinking how funny it is that despite my supposed know-it-all status, I blundered into this whole... 'sex' thing completely ignorant, while all my friends have turned out to be, if not exactly experienced, then at least far more knowledgeable than me."

Rarity gave a somewhat smaller grin of her own, and waved a hoof airily. "Well, it's hardly a surprise that Applejack knew a bit about it - being a born and bred farm-pony and all. Same thing goes for Fluttershy, what with all the critters she's always surrounded by... though I'll openly admit to being just as surprised as you when she actually revealed said knowledge! I suppose I'd somehow, on some level, just assumed that all the animals were just... sneaking around and hiding what they were doing every spring? Silly, isn't it? Animals don't feel ashamed or embarrassed by such a perfectly natural pursuit. Maybe they're smarter than us ponies in that way!"

Twilight nodded, and they giggled together for a few seconds at their own silliness. "I suppose it's much the same with Pinky..." she then continued with a shrug. "I don't know about you, but I feel like I really should've realized that as Ponyville's Premiere Party-Pony, she'd wind up planning - and attending - a lot more than just birthday-parties and cuteceañeras. I mean, when young colts and fillies party together, things do occasionally get a bit indecent... or so I've heard." She sighed, shaking her head, remembering suddenly all the times her classmates had invited her to various parties... only for her to refuse without a second thought, intent on some book or other.

Rarity agreed with an eyeroll - then rolled the rest of her body over on the side to peer more closely at Twilight. "Well, if it's any consolation... you're not the only one who went into the Rituals completely ignorant. As for moi, I really did not have the first idea what I was letting myself in for when I volunteered for the second ritual!" Following suit by rolling over to face her, Twilight grinned. "So no older filly wound up teaching you a lot more than your parents thought you might learn while away at some camp or another, huh?" Rarity snorted, and shook her head sadly. She'd heard Rainbow Dash's story by now, and seemed to understand the normally-willful pegasus' enjoyment of submission and humiliation better than the rest of the ponies. "No such luck I'm afraid..." she intoned.

"I had a_proper_ upbringing, after all..." she continued, in a deliberate imitation of her own at-times snooty tone. "My parents expected me to eventually go to the altar with my Special Somepony, pure in body and mind!" Twilight nodded with a lopsided smile. That was the standard, indeed, at least in the upper-middle-class that Rarity belonged to - a standard that was adhered to all the more stringently in the nobility and above. She, herself, as a ward of Princess Celestia, had been expected to live up to the highest of moral standards... and, thanks to her bookish nature, had more or less failed to notice those invisible chains altogether.

"Guess they'll be disappointed..." Twilight replied hesitantly, not really sure whether or not to follow Rarity's lead and make light of the situation. Rarity, however, just snorted. "Well, let them. I'm my own mare, not a foal for them to coddle anymore. Indeed, I rather resent the fact that such a splendidly enjoyable activity has been kept from me for so long on account of such foolishly puritanical notions! Why, I daresay that if a stallion would turn his nose up at a mare just because she has the skill and experience to make their mating more adventurous and enjoyable than just your average mounting, then he clearly isn't her Special Somepony, anyway!"

Twilight eagerly agreed with this rather revolutionary philosophy - at least in theory. By now, she felt rather certain that she wasn't going to wind up finding any 'Special Somepony' regardless - her ascension to Alicorn status had set her apart even before this whole mess had started, and by now the changes wrought on her body by Death and Famine had pushed her even further from the norm. Would Pestilence follow suit, when she encountered him during the final ritual, or would he give her only a small token as War had? Either way, high romance did not seem likely to be in the cards for her...

Still, she was glad that Rarity, like the rest of her friends, was adjusting so well to her new situation. Had she fully bought in to the established rules of polite society, she would have had to view herself as a hopelessly sullied and sinful mare - damaged goods, perverted by carnal desires, undeserving of the romantic ideal of True Love. Well, those social rules were unraveling anyway, thanks to the ongoing state of emergency... but still, there was little doubt that some would have persisted in condemning themselves for their perceived sins regardless.

Shaking off those heavy thoughts, Twilight carefully redirected the topic of conversation towards more innocuous subjects, sharing giggles and grins with her dear friend as they both drifted off to sleep. It was still the middle of the day, but a nap seemed in order - after all, they had a busy night in front of them...

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Deleted Scene: Pinky-Pie's Party-Time

[Writer's Commentary: Now, here's a scene I was really sad to see go... it belongs near the end of Chapter 5 - Corruption, right at the start of the segment that sees Twilight Sparkle becoming the viewpoint character once again, and just before she heads to Fluttershy's cottage. Throughout the chapter, we look in on the current situation of most of the Mane Six, in one way or another... but there's no sign of Pinky Pie, nor any mention of what she's getting up to. Why not? Because I cut this segment. The story was simply getting too long, too unwieldy. Something had to give, and, well, I've always been uncertain of my ability to write Pinky's insane antics properly, so her segment was the obvious thing to cut. Besides, it doesn't contribute much beyond showing off a few fan-favorite background-ponies and retreading the same old kinks that appear so abundantly in the last couple of chapters anyway. Still, if it hadn't been for the sheer length, I would've left it in, just for completeness' sake...]

Twilight Sparkle hummed merrily as she trotted towards the address Pinky Pie had given her for her latest party. She was still enjoying the afterglow of a very enjoyable threesome she'd had with Applejack and Big Macintosh earlier, and the big, red stallion's copious cumload rested warmly in her belly, filling her with the energy she'd no doubt need to make it through yet another wild celebration.

She'd been leery of attempting to insert herself into AJ and Big Mac's now-flowering relationship at first, but after realizing that her current approach to sating her hunger - seeking anonymous sex in the Refugee Camp - wasn't sustainable in the long term, she'd decided to give it a shot. They'd responded surprisingly well, treating it like no big deal - and the result had been as enjoyable as it had been satiating. So now, she could sleep easy knowing that even when the refugees started to return to their now-safe homelands, she'd have access to a reliable food-source...

It wasn't hard to find the site of the party - heck, she probably hadn't even really needed the directions. As she drew close, the thumping sound of loud music guided her the rest of the way in. At the entrance, she found a familiar mountain of white-coated beefcake guarding the door, presumably acting as a bouncer - normally, Pinky welcomed party-crashers, but considering the rather mature nature of her recent parties, someone had to make sure that foals or easily-shocked elders didn't accidentally wander in there.

Hence, Bulk Bicep had been pressed into both service and an ill-fitting suit. Not that he seemed particularly 'on duty' at the moment - he was leaning back against the wall, groaning, his groin eclipsed by the head of a green-coated mare who was kneeling in front of him. Trying to get in without an invitation? An enterprising spirit, clearly. He barely looked up as she trotted up to the door, easily recognizing her at a glance and waving her through. The mare didn't look up at all, but Twilight couldn't resist sneaking a glance down between them - just enough to confirm that Bulk's obsession with pumping iron did, indeed, seem to be an attempt to compensate for something. Ah well - the mare didn't seem to mind. If anything, his diminutive size allowed for a far wider array of oral techniques.

Inside, the music was deafening. A steady 'oontz-oontz-oontz', like a primal rhythm that seemed to invoke the sound of a heartbeat accelerated by passion. The lights were dim, but everywhere, glow-in-the-dark paints with garish neon colors added variety to the murk. Glowsticks were much in appearance, as were necklaces made from glowing beads, either monocolor or a combination of several different ones.

The reason for the necklaces, at least, became swiftly obvious as she spotted a table right by the entrance, with several different such adornments piled in boxes. Sitting behind it, a placid-looking unicorn mare was smoking something that looked a bit too thick and pungent to be a simple cigarette, bobbing her head in time to the music as she watched Twilight's approach. Before her were several small boxes of individual, colored beads - and a casual wave of her hoof directed Twilight's attention to the signs mounted on the front of each box, thoughtfully painted with glowing pink paint for ease of reading.

Apparently, each color of bead was a signifier of sexual interest. Pink was 'vaginal', blue was 'anal', red was 'oral', green was 'mares', yellow was 'stallions'. And of course, a necklace with every color in it just read 'anything goes'. There were premade necklaces available of all the most common combinations, and the mare behind the table was clearly ready to make bespoke ones for anyone who might need it. Very clever idea, considering that having any kind of meaningful conversation through the thumping of the music was next to impossible. Twilight quickly collected one of the 'every-color' necklaces and draped it around her neck before stepping out into the main dancefloor to get a better look at the ongoing festivities.

At the back, Vinyl Scratch - AKA DJ Pon3 - was presiding over the party like an enthroned queen, bobbing her head behind her mixing-table, one hoof on her earphones and the other working the table. Underneath said table, a gray set of hindlegs and associated hindquarters could just barely be spotted, thanks to the spotlight that frequently swept across the DJ's throne - and while she couldn't swear to it, Twilight was fairly certain that the behind in question was sporting some kind of musical notation as a cutie-mark. Nice to see those two still getting along so well...

Ah, and _there_was Pinky herself at last - at the center of the dancefloor, bobbing back and forth on her hind-legs, closely flanked by two visibly sweating stallions. She was caught between their bodies, all three of them swaying in tune to the music. Their eyes seemed unfocused and vague - save for Pinky, who looked as alert and amused as ever, eagerly making out with the pony in front of her even as the one behind her kissed and licked the nape of her neck. The glowing necklace that hung from there was just as multicolored as the one Twilight had just donned, of course.

A split second later, one of her eyes - the pupil hugely dilated - swung towards Twilight and fixed on her. The rest of the face followed, with an instantaneous snap that she imagined would have produced a rubber-band-like sound had it not been for the deafening music. The tongue of the stallion in front of her was pulled along at first, before snapping back - leaving him licking at the empty air for a few seconds while blinking in confusion.

A moment later, Pinky launched herself vertically up into the air, hung briefly there - and then leaped straight down to knock Twilight off her hooves. The impact, of course, caused her no pain - though she did feel a familiar, headache-like sting as she once again observed Pinky's grandiose disregard for the laws of space, time and physics. She'd long-since given up on making any kind of sense of the pink pony's bizarre abilities - last time she'd tried, the analysis-device she'd built for the purpose had overloaded and exploded. Some things, ponies simply weren't meant to know... apparently.

Pinky Pie was excitedly chatting at her as she helped pick her up off the ground. She couldn't hear a word of it over the thumping music, but nonetheless felt confident in concluding that it was some variation of "So good to see you my dear friend, welcome to my party." Glancing past Pinky's cotton-candy mane, she also couldn't help but notice that the two stallions she'd been dancing with were both sporting impressive hard-ons that glistened wetly in the light of the nearby glowsticks, featuring colorful rings near the base that matched Pinky's glow-in-the-dark, neon-green lipstick. They'd coped with her sudden disappearance with remarkable equanimity - simply leaning in a bit closer and continuing the makeout-session together, while rubbing their rods against each other.

Actually, now that she was out from between the two, Twilight could see that Pinky had decorated herself with a fair amount of glowing paint, or dye, or whatever it was. A pattern of bright green and blue was painted onto her bubblegum-pink hide, along her back, flanks, and presumably belly. It was a tribal sort of pattern - primitive, yet made modern by the medium, meshing well with the primal rhythm of the pumping music. The way the patterns drew the eye towards her rump and underside, meanwhile, somehow managed to transform her from being merely 'not dressed' to being 'actively naked', which was a pretty neat little psychological trick.

While Twilight had observed all of this, Pinky had blithely continued to talk - possibly giving her a large number of entirely inaudible details about the party, the planning and the guests - before finally pulling her into a close hug and pointing her grandly towards a long table bedecked with punch-bowls and cupcakes with glow-in-the-dark frosting. Twilight Sparkle, with her keen, analytical mind, was starting to discern the general theme of the party, and with a giggle, she waved Pinky Pie back towards her abandoned dance-partners and headed towards the offered refreshments. Sure, she couldn't draw nourishment from anything other than sexual juices anymore, but that didn't mean that she couldn't enjoy the taste of plain old food and drink...

Nothing had been forgotten or ignored - not by Ponyville's Premiere Party-Pony! The punch-bowls, the glasses, and even the ladle had all had their rims painted with glowing, neon-green paint, making it easy to pour and drink despite the darkness. The punch was delicious as ever... albeit with a bit of a sharp bite indicating that it definitely wasn't suitable for foals, much like the rest of the party. The cupcakes were particularly tasty, reminding Twilight that it had, on reflection been a few days since she last ate anything other than cum. It wasn't until several minutes after chewing her way through a pair of them that she started to feel the effects. She wasn't sure exactly what kind of recipe Pinky had used, but as a strange heat spread through her skin - concentrating at her face, her nipples and her genitals - she felt fairly confident that there was more to them than butter, flour and sugar.

She felt a pleasant sense of detachment as she wandered back out to the dance-floor - or, perhaps more accurately, the orgy-floor. Her eyes were adjusting to the dim lighting by now, letting her pick up on just how much of the 'dancing' really just consisted of various inventive mating-positions. Most of the guests were decked out in glowing paints, makeup and jewelry and little else, making her feel slightly underdressed - but being the Element of Magic meant, among other things, that such a feeling need not trouble her for long. With a bit of concentration - which came harder than usual at the moment - she was able to magically apply some glowing patterns to her own hide, accentuating her Alicorn-wings and the feminine lines of her body, before spiraling together under her tail. A few glowing highlights in her mane and tail completed the look, and she soon found the heads of many of the other guests, stallions and mares alike, swivel towards her.

The sensation brought on by Pinky's new cupcake-recipe wasn't all that dissimilar from the mindset she usually achieved after a half-dozen orgasms or so - an overlay of pleasure that pleasantly deafened the usual churning of her brain. Her mind eased, her body taking over - free of worries and concerns, knowing exactly what to do. As ponies gathered around her, anonymous in the darkness, the air thick with the scents of sweat and arousal, her body knew exactly how to handle it - her tail curling up along her back, showing of the inviting view of her already glistening-wet pussy and the well-trained asshole above. The glowing lines decorating her body left nothing to the imagination, even in the darkness - the lines that had traveled the length of her belly curved inwards at her hind-legs, crossed atop her clitoral hood, and then followed her outer labia before joining the eye-catching spiral that surrounded her sphincter.

Such a fine target and such a blatant invitation did not go ignored for long. Within seconds she had joined the 'dance', and a feisty young stallion leaped on her back, his blunt cockhead slipping easily between her moist labia. Another pony approached her face, lips parted, and an intense tongue-wrestling session followed - whether this second partner was a stallion or a mare, she could not say. Regardless, they were only the first - more sweaty bodies loomed in the surrounding darkness, cavorting with one another as they waited their turn.

Even by the standards of Pinky Pie's recent spate of adult-only parties, this... festivity was unusually wanton. Maybe it was the anonymity enforced by the darkness and the loud music, maybe it was the cupcakes, maybe it was a bit of both. Twilight herself was dimly aware that, with the possible exception of Pinky herself, she was the _least_anonymous person there, her Alicorn features making her easily recognizable even in the dark, while she had no idea who the various cocks, pussies, tailholes and lips she interacted with might belong to.

Again and again she was mounted, her legs staunchly spread as she welcomed them all into her pussy or ass, whichever they liked. Repeated cumloads packed both orifices, interspersed by occasional visits from slick, hard, body-warmed instruments that she easily identified as Rarity-brand strap-on dildos. A face or a rump was constantly being presented to her, and she tongued each without distinction, often tasting the cum of previous partners in whatever hole she happened to explore. Thanks to the change that Pestilence had wrought on her body during the final ritual, this part of the 'dance' was nearly as pleasurable as the unceasing assault on her rear end... and soon, whatever effect the cupcakes may have had was drowned in the rising tide of the familiar orgasmic daze.

At some point, she found herself dizzily repeating the feat she'd observed Pinky perform earlier - balancing on her rear hooves as two 'dance-partners' closed in around her. She was leaning heavily against the stallion behind her, rubbing her rump against his hips as he gyrated against her, his cock fully embedded - sheath and all - within the hot, tight confines of her ass. Leaning into her from the front was a lust-frenzied mare equipped with a heft strap-on - not the 'realistic stallion-gear' kind, either, but rather the sort of knobbly, ridge-lined arrangement that could not have been created by nature... only by a mind that was equal parts creative and perverted. It dug hungrily into Twilight's pussy, stirring the cumloads that had been previously deposited there into foam, even as the mare's tongue and lips attacked her mouth with equal ferocity.

As these partners, too, came and went, she remained on the pleasure-plateu - leaning heavily forwards or back as the other partner was replaced by a fresh one. Losing all sense of self and time, she could have likely remained thus until she passed out - had not another set of bodily needs asserted themselves eventually. During her earliest sexual experiences - the first couple of Rituals - she'd repeatedly found herself losing bladder-control when overwhelmed by sensual pleasure. Not a big deal there and then, amid ragged ruins open to the elements, but a bit of a potential mess when you were enjoying yourself in your own bed. So with practice, she'd learned to exercise more control - and indeed to push herself out of the pleasure-fog when the strain on her bladder grew too much.

Thus it was with a slowly-clearing mind that she staggered into the venue's toilets, finding them - not unexpectedly - quite crowded. She took a moment to regard herself in one of the sink mirrors, noting the glowing lipstick that had been smeared across half her face, before continuing forwards and noticing that, strangely enough, there were several free stalls and even an unoccupied pissoir near the far wall... so why was everyone queuing up in front of just two such urine-receptacles?

The answer to this became apparent as she circled around the crowd for a better look - and spotted a pair of familiar figures residing in the two oh-so-popular pissoirs. Rainbow Dash was upside-down in one of them, held in place by the magical chains that War had 'gifted' her with - complete with her by-now customary blindfold and spreader-gag. Small chains were also pulling open her pussy as well as her fractured asshole, leaving them as wide-open craters... both currently containing an overflowing lake of reeking urine, her shuddering breathing occasionally causing little waves in them that sent tiny rivulets of the golden liquid over the edges to stain her pastel-blue coat.

The other one, somewhat more surprisingly, contained Rarity - restrained in rather more mundane fashion, right-side-up, and clearly sitting astride a truly massive dildo - its head could be seen as a clear outline on her otherwise-flat belly. Looking a bit closer, however, it was quite clear that she wasn't there against her will - the ropes that bound her to the pissoir were fine, white silk, her blindfold was an elegant shade of purple that set off her mane nicely, and even her spreader-gag was a bespoke piece, designed to invoke the image of an ornate bit and bridle... gilded steel, gemstones at the corners of her mouth, scarlet strips of silk tying it to her face, and so on. Jeweled rings hung from her fully-exposed nipples and clit. If nothing else, she made for a very pretty advertising-display for her own store!

Of course, both of them looked rather bedraggled, having presumably been 'on duty' since the party started - prior to her own 'fashionably late' arrival. Rarity's white coat, in particular, had been entirely dyed a pale yellow, beyond what could have been justified by simply a shaky aim - apparently, at least some of her 'clients' had deliberately sought to paint her with their piss. Meanwhile, thanks to her two main orifices being converted into reservoirs for by-now rather stale piss, Rainbow Dash had her beaten in the 'reeking like an unwashed toilet' department. Neither seemed inclined to complain, however...

Neither did the ponies queuing up to use them, for that matter, and Twilight found herself mentally reassessing the relative impact of the dance-floor's anonymity. The toilets were, by necessity, reasonably well-lit, and while the music was still clearly audible in there, it wasn't deafening. And yet, nopony seemed to consider this a particularly good reason to exercise restraint. Mating and makeouts alike were rife along the both lines - which certainly seemed like a fine way to make the wait seem shorter. Not that such things necessarily ended just because you reached the front of the line, as exemplified by Pinkie Pie herself, who was currently leaning against Rarity's pissoir, a hissing stream of recycled punch splattering across her face and mouth as an unfamiliar stallion continued to pound Pinkie's ass from behind.

Twilight, however, had only awakened from her pleasure-daze due to the increasing protestations of her overstrained bladder, and didn't much care for the idea of waiting in line, with or without some vigorous sex to pass the time. There was, of course, the empty pissoir and a couple of unoccupied stalls to consider... along with several _occupied_stalls, the sounds emerging from which strongly indicated that they weren't being used for their designed purpose... but having seen this perverse display, it would feel like quite the anticlimax to avail herself to that option.

Well, rank had its privileges... and so, with a few of the less glazed-over eyes following her, she simply stepped around the line leading to Rainbow Dash's current location. A rather skinny-looking colt was currently availing himself to her services, piss pouring noisily into her mouth, rising towards her lips before disappearing down her gullet, indicating that she'd learned - from experience, no doubt - to swallow with her mouth open. As he shook the last few drops from his tip and stepped away, she smoothly slid into her place to the sound of a chorus of grumbles from the rest of the line.

Rather than simply showing them her back - and her grand Alicorn-style wings - as she used the pissoir, though, she spun around and seated herself atop Dash's upturned face, looking up at the next-in-line with a grin. This one was a rather more sturdily-built stallion, if not quite on Big Macintosh's level, and his eyebrows rose somewhat as she readily opened her mouth. Then, with a shrug, he leaped forwards to support his front hooves on the pissoir's flattened top, letting his semi-hard cock swing heavily towards her.

As she relaxed her urethra and began emptying her straining bladder into Rainbow Dash's waiting mouth, she felt the young mare's tongue rise eagerly to caress her cum-stained labia, and leaned her own muzzle forwards to embrace the stallion's cockhead, tasting vague remnants of the cunts and assholes it had previously visited. Moments later, piss was pouring down her own throat as well, washing those vague flavors off her tongue.

She wasn't entirely certain whether Famine's 'gift' enabled her to sate her thirst with piss the same way she usually did with pussy-juice, but if nothing else, it certainly didn't seem offensive to her altered palate, nor did her stomach protest against any amount of it - a fact that the fourth ritual, particularly the last bits of it, had driven home rather thoroughly. And Pestilence's gift most certainly enabled her to enjoy the sensation of the harsh, sour, body-heated liquid washing across her tastebuds, down her gullet and into her stomach. Combined with Dash's oral efforts, she was soon soaring back towards the orgasmic plateau...

By the time the stallion finished emptying his bladder and withdrew his soft cockhead from her mouth, she was panting with desire. She, too, had finished peeing - but somehow, she didn't quite feel like moving yet. Dash's tongue felt delightful on her labia as she lapped up the cum that was steadily oozing out of her pussy and womb... the thought of which gave her an idea. That wasn't the only hole that had received load after load of hot jizz, after all. All she needed to do was to shift her hindquarters a bit forwards, letting that delightful tongue caress her sphincter instead! Under that tender ministration, it soon loosened - not that it was closed very tight to begin with - and began to release its creamy white contents...

Meanwhile, the stallion stepped away, and the next in line stepped forwards... or rather, the next two in line did. Right in front of her was an earth-pony mare with a cream-colored coat - currently painted with curving patterns of pink and purple, matching her mane - but firmly attached to her back was another, mint-green mare. Based on the way she was moving - and the moaning of the first-mentioned mare - a Rarity-brand strap-on was probably involved. On a closer glance, Twilight thought she recognized them... Lyra and Bon Bon, wasn't it? There'd been rumors about those two being very close friends for ages... apparently true, today if not back then.

They, meanwhile, didn't really seem to recognize her - too absorbed in each other and their shared lust and pleasure, from the looks of it. She could sympathize. Bon Bon, demonstrating the strength and toughness that was the earth-ponies' main advantage, somehow managed to rear up and put her hooves on the top of the pissoir despite Lyra's weight on her back - revealing to Twilight's eyes exactly which hole the mint-colored mare's strap-on was currently pounding.

She'd figured, upon seeing this, that Bon Bon would simply relieve herself while Lyra continued to fuck her - same as what she'd seen Pinky Pie do earlier - but it turned out the two mares had something slightly more complex on their lust-dazed minds. With a grunt, Lyra took a half-step back and let the strap-on slide out of Bon Bon's hot asshole, only to then slide it forwards between her hindlegs, caressing her labia on the way. It was one of the 'ultra-realistic' ones, Twilight noted - matching her coat's color, and sporting lifelike veins and creases along with a radial ring and a distinct head.

She could also tell, as it was shoved towards her face, that it was a new-model version - the kind that featured an integrated urethral tube and sound, connecting the peehole of the rubbery simulacra with the real deal underneath its strapped-on base. Rarity had only perfected those quite recently, she knew. Leaning forwards, she opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue to let the mint-green dildo rest its head on it - concluding in the process that not only did it not taste like mint, it actually tasted like rubber, ass and nothing else... which, along with the colored beads hanging from Bon Bon's neck, told her that Lyra's strap-on was the only thing that had guested the cream-colored mare's holes during the night. No stallion had been permitted to deposit his seed there...

The two ponies groaned in unison as their piss began to flow - from, indeed, both at the same time. Even as the golden liquid spurted from the dildo's tip, it likewise began to flow down its shaft from Bon Bon's pussy, sticking to it thanks to the surface-tension. Two bladders worth of second-hand punch thus swiftly and messily poured into Twilight's mouth and down her throat, washing a not-insignificant amount of ass-slime along in the process. By the time the flow had slowed to a dribble, she'd cum twice - and the resulting muscle-contractions had helped squeeze most of the jizz contained in her capacious asshole out into Rainbow Dash's wide-open mouth.

After licking the last few drops off of the rubbery cockhead, and waiting for the two amorously-entangled mares to get out of the way - which they did only after Lyra had once again planted the now piss-lubricated dildo up Bon Bon's asshole, her thrusting hips practically pushing the moaning earth-pony across the floor - Twilight reluctantly rose from her 'seat' and stepped aside, letting the next pony in line avail herself to Rainbow Dash's freely-offered services. She was halfway tempted to stay for a bit longer, honestly - and hey, there was a free pissoir available - but this was something that Dash and Rarity had thrown themselves into, and she didn't want to steal their thunder _or_their fun. Besides, she had a sudden craving for another cupcake.

As she walked towards the toilet's exit, she glanced back towards the lines, spotting faces both familiar and not. This event was certainly Pinky's biggest 'adults-only' party to date - basically the entirety of Ponyville's younger generation was there, along with a fair number of colts and fillies from neighboring towns and outlying farmsteads. All throwing themselves into the orgiastic event with aplomb... and virtually all of them would filter through the toilet once or twice during the party. Blindfolds aside, neither Rainbow Dash nor Rarity wore anything that would disguise their identity from anyone who was even remotely familiar with them... nor had she, for that matter, during the brief time she'd spent there. At least twenty ponies had watched her little performance... the newly-minted Alicorn Princess and long-time Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle, eagerly drinking the piss of random stallions and mares in a dance-hall toilet.

And yet, nobody seemed to care much. Herself included. Dash had apparently given up on hiding her predilection for submission and humiliation by now, and Rarity didn't seem to care much about her 'public image' either... though, considering that she was essentially running a 'scandalous' sex-shop, maybe there wasn't much point in doing so anyway. And as for Twilight herself... well, why bother, really? Even if nobody knew it, she was what she was because she'd saved them all - her body and mind twisted along the way, to the point where she literally needed to suck cock on a daily basis just to survive.

Not that it seemed likely that there'd be any real repercussions from these blatant violations of social norms, on reflection - for her or her friends. The public morals that had slackened during the state of emergency showed no sign of tightening back up again now that the damage had passed. Perhaps everypony had simply discovered how much_fun_ casual sex was, and now had no desire to go back to the uptight, puritanical ways that had previously been the norm? She wasn't certain how Princess Celestia might feel about this state of affairs - she hadn't heard from her old Mentor in quite a while. Well, even with the danger having apparently passed, there was no doubt still a lot of work to be done at Canterlot... perhaps she simply remained too distracted by that to pay any attention to the way her subjects were violating the moral standards she'd so strongly espoused.

She brushed aside those contemplations as she pushed through the lavatory-doors and returned to the darkness, the glow-painted and sweat-matted ponies, and the pounding rhythm of the music. Another cupcake, another couple of glasses of strong punch to chase down all the piss she'd just drunk, and then back to the dance-floor even as her mind started to go pleasantly numb from whatever strange additives the cupcakes contained... or maybe it was the alcohol. Or both. Either way, she eagerly welcomed the ponies that once again crowded around her, spreading her hind-legs and lifting her tail as the first 'dance-partner' drew near.

Again and again she was mounted, dozens upon dozens of stallions, colts and dildo-wielding mares freely using her pussy and ass as they pleased, coming back for seconds and thirds. Pussies, assholes, sweat-soaked ballsacks and cum-stained lips were pressed against her muzzle, and she licked and tongued them all without prejudice. The dance went on and on, through the night - she had once gone through a 24-hour orgy (in a single night, mind) and come out of it still on her hooves. This was nothing. Even as the dance-floor steadily grew less crowded, even as the music faded and left only the grunts, moans and whinnies of amorously-entangled ponies, she kept dancing with any partner she could find.

Eventually, the orgasmic fogs began to lift, and she noticed that the stallion currently leaning heavily on her back wasn't moving and was, in fact, snoring loudly into her ear. Also, the pussy she was licking was sideways and really close to the floor, on account of its owner sleeping there. Blinking her bleary eyes, she shrugged the stallion off her back - causing him to slump bonelessly to the floor with a brief grunt and snort before the snoring resumed. While working her shoulders and slightly shaky legs to get rid of the accumulated kinks, she looked around.

Thin beams of light were pushing through the edges of the room's blacked-out windows. The punch-bowls were empty, the trays devoid of cupcakes. Of the mass of sweaty, lust-frenzied ponies that had occupied the dance-hall through the night, maybe half had managed to stagger out of there at some point. The rest were still there - mostly snoring in the corners or right in the middle of the dance-floor, with several having apparently dropped unconscious in the middle of intercourse. A few were waking up, now, presumably thanks to the saber's edge of the sunbeams catching their eyes, and now staggered to their hooves while groaning, wincing and squeezing their eyes shut. Some of them were slowly heading towards the exit, others towards the lavatories. Were Rainbow Dash and Rarity still there, still tied to their pissoirs, soaked and filled to bursting with the free-flowing piss of a town's worth of horny ponies? Or had they slipped out at some point during the night, their perverse desired sated at long last? If so, these early risers would have to make do with plain old porcelain, presumably.

She, meanwhile, felt... mostly all right. Tired, certainly, and a bit stiff-limbed, but otherwise fine. Somewhere between Pestilence and Death, she'd apparently acquired an immunity to hangovers too - and she certainly hadn't lacked for food nor drink during the night. She could do with a nap, but she was definitely in better shape than anyone else in the hall. Well... except one, of course. Pinkie Pie looked perfectly perky and was actually humming a merry tune as ever as she pushed a broom through the hall, navigating around sleeping ponies as she swept up worn-out glowsticks and discarded cupcake-cups, starting in on the requisite post-party clean-up with no trace of either fatigue or hangover.

Twilight glanced towards the door. She needed a nap and a bath, probably not in that order... but now that her mind was clearing fully, she also needed to ask Pinky Pie a question. Thus, with a weary sigh, she headed towards the overly-cheerful party-pony on legs that shook only_slightly_. Sometimes, ponies forgot that in addition to the obvious pegasus-wings and unicorn-horn, Alicorns also possessed the strength, stamina and general toughness of an earth-pony. Twilight, however, was in no danger of forgetting this - without this trait, she'd be a wreck by now.

"Oh hi Twily! Good morning! Great party, huh?" Pinky eagerly greeted her as she wandered closer. Her high-pitched, perky voice made several nearby ponies stir from their slumber, groaning and grimacing. Pinkie Pie and hangovers probably didn't mix very well, Twilight judged. Yawning, she nodded. "Yeah, Pinky, it was great fun, but... umm... it kinda' occurred to me, a little late perhaps, that things got a bit more chaotic and... stuff, than past parties... well, what I'm trying to get at is that I'm sterile due to... you know... but most of the other mares who were here aren't. Isn't there a very real chance that some of them might be going home with a foal in their belly and no idea who the father is?"

Indeed, at previous 'Pink Parties', things had been at least a touch more restrained. There'd been lots of strap-ons, both mundane and magical, involved, and a lot of anal and oral sex. The need to avoid any 'accidents' had been kept in mind throughout. This time... not so much. Pinkie Pie, though, just giggled. "What are you talking about, silly? I told you all about that last night, remember?" Twilight gave her a rather flat look. She did, indeed, remember Pinkie gabbing on for several minutes... or rather, she remembered her lips moving, while hearing nothing but the deafening pulse of the music. "Well... it's been a long night. Maybe you could refresh my memory?" She asked sarcastically, and as usual, the sarcasm flew entirely over Pinkie's cotton-candy mane.

"Oh, right. It's the cupcakes, you see! My new recipe! I call it Pinkie Pie's Special Pink Party Glow-In-The-Dark Party-Cupcakes!" Blinking at the sheer amount of redundancy in that name, Twilight then narrowed her eyes. "Pinky... what exactly was in those cupcakes?" She asked, suddenly haunted by the strangely pleasant feeling of detachment the glowing confections had induced. Pinkie Pie shrugged. "Oh, I dunno." Twilight just glared at her until, pulling slightly back with a too-wide smile and an oversized sweatdrop slowly forming on her temple, she explained.

"I got some of the ingredients from Zekora! She's been really busy of late, lots of ponies coming to her for all kinds of things... she made me some powder that would make people feel good and stop worrying about silly restraints while having fun, and some herbs that would prevent any mares from winding up with foal. I just added the glow-in-the-dark frosting and made them delicious!" As if to underscore this statement, she pulled one out of her hairdo - it didn't look nearly as tasty in the dim light of day, and once she'd devoured it in a single bite, she swiftly followed it up by sticking out her tongue and making a face. "Bleh, maybe a bit stale by now... guess I'd better make sure to always bake 'em fresh for my parties!"

Twilight, meanwhile, nodded slowly. She'd repeatedly been impressed by Zekora's potion-making abilities and her vast knowledge of herbology. If the exotic zebra-mare had provided the active ingredients for Pinkie Pie's newest creation, it was probably safe to assume that they were... well, safe, and effective besides. Although... "So... you told everypony about the cupcakes, right?" She asked, a bad feeling beginning to form somewhere behind her eyes. Pinkie Pie immediately nodded. "Yep!" "The same way you told me?" "Yep!" Twilight sighed. So basically, virtually nopony at the party would had been aware of either the euphoric effect of the cupcakes or their value as birth-control. Well... it was probably all right. Any mare who'd neglected to eat the cupcakes would presumably have retained enough presence of mind to consider the risks for herself. And besides, nobody turned down Pinkie Pie's cupcakes...

She was about ready to turn around and head towards the exit at last, when another question that had passed through her mind earlier occurred to her. "Oh... have Rainbow Dash and Rarity headed home yet?" she asked casually, somehow - in the light of day - finding it easier to ask this as opposed to 'Is Rainbow Dash and Rarity still tied up in the lavatory as a pair of living pissoirs?' Regardless, Pinkie immediately nodded, grinning. "Yeah! They headed out a couple of hours ago, when the party started winding down properly. I didn't even have to untie them or anything! Dashie's new chains are totally_awesome_, aren't they?"

Twilight nodded, returning Pinkie's exuberant smile with a more sedate one of her own. Rainbow Dash had, indeed, received a very impressive gift from War - though whether it was suitable compensation for the endless torture he had put her through during the third and fourth ritual was another matter. Certainly, it was a more visible and spectacular 'gift' than what the rest of her friends, and even she herself, had received. They'd all come away with something, hadn't they? For good or ill. Well... except for Pinkie Pie, who'd somehow sailed through the whole thing as if it was no big deal, seemingly confounding the Four Stallions of the Apocalypse as much as she often did her friends.

"It was really great to have all three of you here!" Pinkie Pie meanwhile continued, eyes wide and eager. "I was really sad when Dashie didn't show up for my last party..." Her mane drooped a bit, then, and her face got unusually worried. "...and even though I invited them, Applejack and Fluttershy still didn't show up for this one." She pouted and she said it, and Twilight had to giggle a bit as she mussed up Pinkie's already-chaotic mane. "Well, I visited Sweet Apple Acres just yesterday, so I can tell you that Applejack is doing just fine. She's just really busy these days - everyone's been working overtime in order to help feed the refugees." Well, that was half the truth, anyway. Applejack's busy schedule was further cramped by the fact that she was sneaking away to screw her big brother every chance she got... but somehow, mentioning that at this juncture felt a touch undiplomatic.

Pinkie Pie sighed and nodded. "I knoooow... I go there sometimes to pick up apples for the bakery, you know. But... what about Fluttershy, then? I've hardly seen her for the past month! She comes into town maybe once a week, does a bit of shopping, and then disappears again. I tried to tell her about my new cupcake recipe last time, but she was gone before I got halfway through the list of ingredients!" Pinkie grew steadily more emphatic as the tirade continued, her neck stretching forwards as she pushed Twilight back and down with her nose. Seeing the obvious worry in her ever-joyful friend's overlarge eyes, Twilight found herself thinking back and, belatedly, realizing that Pinkie had a point.

She'd noticed Fluttershy's general absence herself but hadn't thought too much of it... after the fourth ritual, Fluttershy had told her that, against Twilight's own warnings, she'd made deal with Death after all - obtaining a gift of her own, which would supposedly enable her to prevent all kinds of wild beasts from preying on ponies anywhere in Equestria. She had also mentioned that she'd likely 'be rather busy' in the future, owing to that. Later, both Twilight herself and other passer-bys had heard various noises coming from Fluttershy's isolated cottage, suggesting that whatever was going on there, it was sexual in nature... which was about par for the course when it came to the Four Stallions' back-hoofed gifts.

Still... there was 'rather busy', and then there was 'hardly seeing your friends for a month'. Pulling herself back and out from under Pinkie's intense, wide-eyed stare, Twilight quickly nodded. "Tell you what... I'll head out to her cottage later today and make sure she's okay, all right?" The stare instantly transformed into an equally over-the-top hug. "Great! Make sure you ask her if she got my invitations, okay? I'd really love to have all my bestestest friends come to one of my parties soon..."

Once she'd extricated herself from the embrace, Twilight finally staggered towards the main doors. First, bath. Second, bed. Third, probably around noonish, midafternoon, thereabouts, go see Fluttershy. It had been a month, so a few more hours wouldn't make much of a difference. She paused, then, briefly, and glanced over her shoulder, to where Pinkie Pie had resumed her humming and sweeping. Why had that pink bundle of energy press-ganged her into checking in on Fluttershy, instead of just bouncing over there by herself? Ah. Yes, now and again, Pinkie_did_ display an unusual vein of self-awareness... realizing, perhaps, just how taxing her exuberant presence could be on someone who was busy, tired or both.

Sure enough, several hours later a much-refreshed Twilight Sparkle trotted down the path towards Fluttershy's cottage. As she drew closer, she started to wonder if, perhaps, she should've checked in earlier. Certainly, things there seemed... much-changed. The place had always been surrounded by frolicking animals, and while there were still beasts all around, it was a different kind - and they most definitely did not frolic...

---

Alternate Ending: A Final Sacrifice (Bittersweet Ending)

[Writer's Commentary: When I first published the final chapter, 'Corruption', I got a fair amount of feedback from readers who found the ending too dark and depressing. I suppose I should've seen that coming - I'm generally a big fan of 'happy endings' myself! In this case, I simply felt a need to stick with the conventions of the genre - it's not an Apocalyptica unless the world ends! But eventually, I buckled to the pressure and wrote a pair of alternate endings, posting them on FIMFiction where most of the complaints were coming from. So here they are, on SoFurry for the first time ever, starting with this one! I actually originally wrote it with the intent of making an even darker ending... and it sort of is, albeit only from the perspective of the Mane Six and their friends. After all, while the world's definitely ending in the original version, at least everyone's going to have a lot of fun with it...]

It was late in the evening, and Twilight was alone in the library. Spike had gone off to 'guard' Rarity's store overnight, as he usually did - even though everyone involved knew that just meant that he'd be spending half the night fucking her, and the other half sleeping with his cock lodged deep in her ass. Spike had told her - quietly - that Rarity's tastes were becoming increasingly dirty, too. Apparently, she liked it when he took his morning piss like that - insisting that it was just to save water and time by supplying her morning enema in that way. That, however, did not quite explain why she also preferred to clean his cock with her mouth afterwards, instead of a wet towel or something. The memory of that conversation stood starkly clear to Twilight as she writhed on the floor, biting down hard to keep from screaming in agony.

She had thought that she'd never again feel pain. However, as she had worked a spell that cleared her mind and protected it from outside influence, she had been swiftly reminded that it was only her BODY that had lost the ability to feel pain. The tearing agony she felt now came from the depths of her soul, as she finally saw clearly - and realized what she had become. What her friends had become. It all fit together so neatly that, even in her present state of despair, she could piece it together easily. The ancient civilization which had left behind records of the first Apocalypse - they had been spared through the sacrifice of their princess. But why, then, was a few scattered tomes all that remained of it? That question should have occurred to her earlier, but she had been too desperate, too eager to grasp at straws. Ponykind had survived, after all... just not their civilization.

But now she understood. This creeping corruption... it had started with her, then spread to her friends, and beyond. All of Ponyville was caught in its spell by now, obsessed with sexuality, overwhelmed by lust, abandoning all restraint and leaving behind any limitations. As she tried to stagger back to her hooves, wiping the tears from her eyes, she glanced over at the display-case that contained the empty fittings of the Elements of Harmony, left behind when the jewels themselves had been returned to the Tree of Harmony. She knew how it had spread so swiftly, so deeply, without anyone noticing. She and her friends had wielded the power of the Elements for years. That power remained intertwined with their spirits even after the Elements had been returned. When they were corrupted, the Elements followed suit... and through them, the Tree of Harmony, whose roots formed the very foundation of Equestria. Well, the fact that the rituals had taken place directly on top of said tree had probably helped too.

Pushing the pain away, she staggered to her hooves. Time was of the essence. She needed to act, NOW. The corruption was spreading from the Tree of Harmony - that was the epicenter. Places further away from it would take longer to be affected. If she could get to Canterlot, warn Princess Celestia and the rest, then maybe something could be done. Mind whirling, she wandered over to the display-case that held the golden fittings that had once contained the Elements of Harmony, gazing at them as she remembered all the times they had saved Equestria, wishing they could've done so just one more time.

As she looked down at them, however, she noticed something. A faint glimmering around the edges of the fittings. Squinting, she recognized it - gem-dust. Microscopic fragments of the Elements of Harmony, left behind when they were torn from the fittings to be returned to the tree. They probably still held a tiny part of the Elements' old power... and since they had been separated from the Elements themselves, and thus wouldn't have been able to maintain any real connection to her OR her friends, they probably hadn't been Corrupted. Maybe she could use that somehow... she was grasping at straws, and she knew it, but her highly-ordered brain was already working the numbers.

But then, it all started to click together, forming an image that made her aching heart sink so low, she was surprised her rib-cage didn't creak under the weight. Yes, those tiny fragments probably COULD fight off the Corruption, to a severely limited degree. And they almost certainly already were, and had been since the whole thing started! The current state of affairs in Ponyville made it clear that the pittance of power they contained was nowhere near enough to hold off the corruption - but it would definitely be enough to slow it down in the local area. Her calculations all said the same thing - however bad it was in Ponyville, it would already be WORSE elsewhere. Her hopes, thus, were dashed. Canterlot was almost certainly a lost cause already.

But perhaps, there was a silver lining - however dim. If she hadn't realized this, she would've wasted the rest of the night flying to Canterlot and finding out the hard way. Now... she still had time. Time to find another way, or at least try. Her own library wasn't as extensive as those in Canterlot, but she DID have a very eclectic collection of magic-related literature, including a couple of Starswirl the Bearded's tomes. Gritting her teeth, she dragged everything she could think of down from the shelves, wishing that her 'faithful assistant' was there to assist her, instead of shacking up with Rarity... but how could she blame him? He was just as much a victim of the corruption as anyone else.

Her research took several hours, despite pushing her speed-reading skills to their limit. Of course, a PROPER research-project would take days, weeks, maybe months... which she didn't have. She needed to still have enough juice left in her horn to actually CAST whatever spell she found, and the mind-barrier was a constant drain. So, when she found a partial, far-from-perfect solution in a potential combination and slight modification of two separate spells - including yet another gem from old Starswirl - she immediately realized that she had to run with it. The odds had been against her finding ANYTHING usable in time - despite the terrible consequences for herself and several others, she had to take this. She simply didn't have the time to try and find something better.

With a pair of spellbooks and the jewelry that had once held the Elements hastily stashed in her saddlebags, she galloped from her library into the Everfree Forest. She could have flown, but she was already exhausted from the mental exertion, and whatever time she lost by sticking to the ground, she more than made up for in the energy she saved. It wasn't a long way, anyway, and there was a (poorly-maintained) road nearly all the way to her destination. Normally, she would've been leery to venture into the Everfree at night without some backup, considering the number of unpleasant creatures that lived there, but she hadn't forgotten her activities from earlier that day. Fluttershy - poor, corrupted Fluttershy - was probably busy pleasuring those wolves right now. And due to her constant hard work, there were no predators in the area - natural or magical - who would attack a pony.

Thus, unmolested by the local fauna, she reached the overlook. Before her, on the other side of a deep crevice, stood the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters. Looking at it, the memories of those dread rituals that had taken place there assailed her mind, making her shiver - but her destination was not there. Rather, it was inside the crevice itself, and with the light of her horn illuminating her path, she made her way down the steep stone staircase that led there. Down there, in a small cave, the Tree of Harmony awaited her. And even before it came into view, she knew that her theory about the corruption's main vector had been correct. Once, the Tree of Harmony had exuded a pure, white light - now, the light that flowed from the cave was a surly, purplish-red color.

The view only got worse as she entered the cave. The crystalline branches of bright-blue and white bore clear marks of corruption, their colors and contours warped into strange, disturbing angles and shades. The five 'fruits' that adorned it, and the large, central star were the worst off, pulsing with an unpleasant, dark-red light that somehow reminded her of exposed, yet still-beating hearts. The odd, gem-like chest that had sprouted in front of the tree when she and her friends had returned the Elements of Harmony to it was all but gone, having shrunken and collapsed like a desiccated fruit. Taking a deep breath, she emptied her saddlebags on the ground before it, opened the spellbooks to the relevant pages, and began piecing the spell together in her mind.

Magic whirled around her as she called up the primal, arcane force she had always been so well attuned to, drawing directly on the tree's own nigh-inexhaustible supply of power to supplement her flagging energy. A whirling aura in all the colors of the rainbow surrounded her, and her eyes glowed white. Finally, she spell was released and six beams of magic struck from her horn, to the five points on the Tree of Harmony that held the Elements. The tree responded, and its dark, red-and-purple glow began to fade... draining, like an emptying bathtub, towards the 6 points of impact.

When the spell was finished, Twilight Sparkle collapsed to the ground, sweating and out of breath after the severe exertion. Before her, six sharp, tinkling impacts could be heard, and before her tired eyes, the Elements of Harmony hit the ground. They had the same shapes as when she and her friends had originally worn them - apple, lightning-bolt, balloon and so on - but their once-clear colors had been replaced by a sickening whirl of red, black and purple. The spell had created a form of magical convection, pushing all of the power out of the gems and into the tree itself, sucking the corruption into them instead - and then forcing the tree to reject them.

Now, above her, the tree glowed quietly as it had before - bright-blue crystal shining with pure, white power. The connection between the Elements and the Tree had been severed for good, leaving it untouched and unassailable, and with all the old power of the Elements drained back into the Tree, the unfortunate events that had led them to return the Elements in the first place would not repeat themselves. With the source thus removed, the corruption should begin to drain out of Equestria - it might take weeks, even months, but everypony would go back to normal.

Well... not quite EVERY pony. The Elements still had their original connection to her and her friends, after all. And they were no longer the Elements of Harmony - more like the Elements of Corruption. With all their old power squeezed out of them, they could do nothing to spread it - but the powerful concentration of corruption they contained would provide a constant flow into the ponies themselves. Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and herself... whatever they had become already, it would only get worse. And she'd had no chance to ask them, or even warn them, before sacrificing their minds and souls for the greater good.

They wouldn't quite be alone, though. She'd seen the new Cutie Marks worn by Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. They wouldn't be the only foals who'd received their Marks during the month when the corruption reigned. There would be dozens of colts and fillies all across Equestria who shared their fates. And even with the source cut off, destiny was not so easily altered - those corrupted Cutie Marks would endure. They, along with her friends, would remain corrupted, perverted, and consumed by dark desires, even as the rest of Equestria recovered its sanity.

She watched sadly as the corrupted Elements shivered on the ground, then started rolling across it towards the empty fittings they'd once been part of, slotting themselves neatly back into place. How long would it take, she wondered, before the services that she and her friends had provided Equestria was entirely forgotten, and they became nothing but shunned outcasts, the subject of dark gossip, due to their abiding perversions? It was a horrid thought, yet she knew that she would not have it for much longer. Already, her mind was buckling under the strain of maintaining the mind-clearing spell. Her energy was running out, and the redoubled strength of the corruption now flowing from her own Element was only making it run out faster.

Yet, there was one more thing she needed to do, before her mind was lost to her again. The crystal chest that had flowered before the Tree of Harmony stood there again, revived by the cleansing of the tree... and half-open. Peering inside, she found it empty, as expected - whatever it had once contained had long-since been consumed by the corruption, but it would still serve a purpose - namely, protecting Equestria... from her. The Elements of Corruption no longer held any power, but the right spell might still release their terrifying contents. She, who had once been the Element of Magic, could certainly do that - after all, she'd sealed it there in the first place. And when her mind was consumed by the corruption... and she found herself an ostracized pervert, wallowing in the most demented pleasures of the flesh on a daily basis, she could not say that she wouldn't be tempted to spread her taint to others.

So, with a final exertion of her exhausted mind, she lifted the Elements of Corruption into the empty chest, and closed it with a final *Click*. They had never found the keys that were supposed to open it. Most likely, whatever magic that had been supposed to generate them had been blocked by the arrival of the Apocalypse, or the spreading corruption - or both. And neither she nor Celestia had been able to open the chest without them. Thus, with any luck, the chest would now remain sealed forever, preventing anyone - including herself - from using the twisted Elements to corrupt others.

Bone-weary, she then collected her tomes, and wandered back towards Ponyville, the sky growing lighter with the first signs of dawn as she left the cave. She wasn't certain if she'd be able to make it all the way back there before her defenses buckled and exhaustion claimed her, dragging her into a deep sleep that would no doubt be haunted by perverse dreams. But she felt strangely sure that, when she woke up, she would not remember what she had just done. She'd be far too busy thinking about her next sexual escapade. With bowed head, she climbed the stone staircase that led up from the crevice, knowing that nopony would ever know the sacrifice she had made that night. And considering that she had sacrificed not just herself, but also her five best friends AND an unknown number of foals... perhaps that was for the best.

BITTERSWEET END

---

Alternate Ending: A Final Hope (Happy Ending)

[Writer's Commentary: This, then, was my attempt to write a genuinely happy ending for the picky customers of FIMFiction. Rather banal, if I am to be honest, but certainly comparatively upbeat. Probably my least favorite out of the endings I wrote, though very much 'in character' for the show itself, I suppose, and a fairly solid piece of MLP fanfiction on its own merits.]

It took her hours to reach her goal, and it was nearly midnight when she got there. The city of Canterlot was dark beneath her, but lights still burned in the castle. Twilight had no time to lose - she likely wouldn't be able to keep the spell in effect until sunrise, so she had no choice but to rouse Princess Celestia despite the late hour. Rather than landing at the city gates as was the rule, she flew straight over the walls, aiming for one of the platforms higher up on the castle. The Royal Guards all knew her by sight, and they'd hopefully forgive her intrusion into a no-fly zone, at least in an emergency. Fortunately, it seemed like security was fairly light, and she encountered no guards until she had landed and stepped inside the halls of the castle.

"Oh, hey there Princess Twilight Sparkle. Did you come here to attend the party?" The guard, who was apparently patrolling the hallways, stopped as he saw her, seemingly unconcerned with her rule-breaking arrival. "Uhh... party? What party? No, nevermind - I need to talk to Princess Celestia right away, it's an emergency!" The guard blinked slowly, seemingly confused. "Uhh... the party to celebrate that there's been no new disasters for a month... an emergency? Well, Princess Celestia is at the party, obviously, along with Princess Luna and mostly everybody else. Heck, I'D be there if I wasn't on guard..." Twilight glared at the guard, annoyed by his easygoing attitude. "And WHERE is this party, exactly?" The guard pointed over his shoulder with his muzzle. "Oh, it's in the throne-room, of course." Twilight dashed in the appropriate direction without waiting for him to finish his sentence, leaving the guard to scratch his head, shrug, and resume his patrol.

As she approached the throne-room, Twilight began to see the telltale signs of the early stages of corruption. Several pairs of ponies were scattered throughout the hallways, necking and giggling on the windowsills. From behind the closed doors of nearby, presumably-unused rooms, she could hear moaning and thumping. However, at the same time, it was encouraging - had the corruption been any stronger, the ponies would have felt no need to seek privacy before satisfying their carnal desires. The door to the throne-room came into view as she turned a corner, wide-open, golden light spilling out of it into the starlit darkness of the hallways.

She heard quite a few murmurs of surprise and consternation as she galloped inside. The throne-room was filled with elegant upper-crust ponies, the social elite of Canterlot, sipping cups of punch and chatting about the usual gossip-subjects - must-attend parties, elegant new dresses and the like. Even there, however, the early stages of corruption were seeping in - a lot of the gorgeous dresses in appearance were somewhat more revealing than had been fashionable mere months ago, and a lot of the gossip seemed to involve sordid affairs. Of course, none of that stopped them from turning up their noses and harrumphing as she barged inside, undressed and with mane and coat sweaty and in disarray. She could only imagine what she smelled like, honestly. It wasn't as if she'd bothered with bathing after she'd returned from her visit to Fluttershy's cottage, so there was likely other scents mingling with the smell of sweat both stale and fresh.

Princess Celestia was sitting on her throne, sipping punch and chatting with Cadance, seemingly about serious matters - based on their expressions alone. However, she looked up as she heard the murmur of the crowd, and as soon as she saw the state that Twilight was in, she leaped to her hooves. "Twilight! What's happened to you? Has something gone wrong in Ponyville? Are you okay?" The concern in her voice warmed Twilight's heart, and she smiled wanly. "It's kind of a long story, and we don't have much time... can we talk in private, please?" Celestia quickly nodded and gestured towards the door to her personal chambers, adjoining the throne-room. Cadance looked at the two with worry in her eyes as they quickly headed in there and shut the door behind them.

Twilight, talking as swiftly as she ever had, then told Princess Celestia everything - about her decision to sacrifice herself to the Stallions of the Apocalypse in a desperate bid to save Equestria, and how she'd recently realized that doing so had unleashed a terrible corruption upon the kingdom. She tried to skip lightly over the more sordid details, but considering the nature of the current issue, she couldn't leave it out entirely - fortunately, she was too tired by then to feel properly embarrassed. Celestia's expression grew progressively more horrified as the story progressed, and at the end, she shook her head. "Such dark power... so that's where those strange feelings were coming from... if you hadn't realized the existence of this corruption when you did, I fear I, too, would have succumbed to it before long. The spell you're using now... it's Starswirl the Bearded's Mental Fortress, right?" Twilight nodded quickly, and Celestia's horn and eyes began to glow, magic gathering around her.

As the spell was released, Celestia quickly shook her head, eyes narrowing. "Truly insidious. The signs were all there... but under its influence, I could not see them. Or rather, I could not feel concern for them. We need to act fast. Twilight... I understand why you wanted to tell me all of this in private, but I know you understand, I can't keep it here. We will need the help of my sister, and Princess Cadance too, if we are to have any chance of stopping this thing. But please, do not feel shame. You acted the only way you could, to protect the entire kingdom - and everything you did after that was the work of the corruption, not you." Twilight nodded tiredly, sinking down on the floor. Her head was pounding. The exertion of the flight to Canterlot, combined with maintaining the very difficult spell for so long, was draining her rapidly.

Celestia looked down at her with deep concern in her eyes, then quickly turned around and opened the door back out into the throne-room. Princess Luna and Cadance were standing right in front of it, not QUITE close enough that anyone could accuse them of eavesdropping, and there was a definite note of worry in the chatter of the still-ongoing party. Celestia invited the two other princesses inside with a quick gesture of her head. "All of Equestria is in danger. In need you two to trust me, and follow my lead. There may not be enough time to bring you all up to speed. Cadance... Twilight Sparkle is exhausted, and maintaining a difficult spell. Use your magic to supplement hers. Do not allow her spell to collapse. Luna... we need to head down below the castle."

An hour later, Twilight was barely clinging to consciousness. Cadance, looking worried to the point of panic, was resting her horn against Twilight's, channeling magic between them, sustaining the spell - but pure, physical exhaustion was another matter. Yet, she lifted her eyes hopefully when she heard the approach of galloping hooves. Celestia, breathing heavily, appeared in the door, Luna by her side. Between them, held in a magical field that seemed to come from them both, hung a gemstone in the shape of a heart. It extruded a familiar feeling, a surging sense of magic... just like the Elements of Harmony once had. "What... is that?" she asked, voice heavy with fatigue.

Celestia glanced at the hovering gemstone and sighed. "It is one of the Elements of Harmony. The seventh element, if you will." Confusion surged within Twilight. It was an obvious answer, and yet, impossible. "But... I saw you take the Elements from the Tree of Harmony in a vision. There were only the six." Celestia nodded, eyes haunted. "That is true. However... that is not the only tree of its kind. According to legend, there are four such trees, scattered across the world. I know of only two, however. The one you have seen for yourself, and the one that bloomed in mine and Luna's homeland, eons ago. That one bore but one fruit... and this is it: The Element of Love. Its power was too great for anyone, even an Alicorn, to control - and so, we sealed it away."

Twilight's scholarly brain raced to assimilate this new information, actually pushing sleep and exhaustion back as the mental stimulation surged through her. "But... isn't love a GOOD thing?" It was an obvious question to ask, but no less necessary. She'd seen what love was capable of, not so long ago, when Cadance had used the power of her love-reinforcing spell to revive her brother, Shining Armor, giving him the strength to reactivate the shield protecting Canterlot. Celestia grimaced in reply, looking away. "It certainly can be. But love is many things. You've seen the kind of love that Princess Cadance's spell can foster - but not all love is like that. It can also be love of self, which leads to selfishness and egomania. It can be unrequited love, which leads to heartbreak and obsession. It can even be love of violence or love of war. Nopony - not even I - can direct or change it. THAT is why we sealed it away. It was safer to abandon it, than to let its enormous power exist without direction."

Princess Luna spoke up for the first time. "Indeed... and while I DO trust you, dear sister, I must admit that I remain uncertain about the wisdom of unsealing it now. Is there truly no other way?" Celestia just shook her head. "I do not believe so. Certainly no other way that we will be able to reach in time. For that matter, I am far from certain that the Power of Love will be capable of cleansing this corruption - considering its nature, it might even make it worse. But it MIGHT work... and it's the best option we've got, unless we want to simply surrender and let all of civilization crumble to dust around us." Luna winced. "There truly is that much at stake?"

Celestia nodded, and redirected her gaze to Twilight. "Now... my dear student AND peer, Twilight Sparkle. You have already sacrificed much for Equestria - more than anyone but I will ever know, with any luck. But we need to know if the Element of Love will work, and..." Twilight smiled wanly, cutting her off. "I know. You need to test it, and I'm the only possible test-subject. I understand - go ahead. I won't be able to stay awake much longer no matter what, and once I fall asleep, the spell will collapse. No matter the risks... it's better than nothing."

Nodding, Celestia and Luna shared a glance. "Very well... Cadance, you're going to have to move back once we release the spell. If you get caught in it... we don't know what might happen." Cadance looked up at them, her head still lowered to keep her horn in contact with Twilight's. "Her magic is all but spent. If I break contact, the spell she's maintaining will collapse within seconds." Celestia sighed, horn already glowing as she prepared the spell, Luna mirroring the gesture beside her. "It won't matter at that point. Either the spell will work and she will be saved, or..." she didn't finish the sentence, but the message was not lost of Cadance.

Luna and Celestia's eyes began to glow in unison with their horns, their magical energy channeling into the gemstone held between them. As the glow intensified into a searing light, Cadance jumped back, and Twilight felt the magical fortress of her mind begin to wobble instantly, collapsing under the surge of barely-suppressed lust. Desire began to rise in her, but as the powerful, white light washed over her, something held it back. All of the sex she'd had over the past month suddenly seemed empty and pointless. It had all just been mindless, animalistic rutting. Pleasures of the flesh, with no other dimension. Even when she'd done it with her friends, it had been an entirely separate thing from their abiding friendship - she'd more or less used them for her own enjoyment. It all seemed so... wrong, now. Without love, it all seemed empty and stale.

Caught up in her thoughts, she didn't realize that she was hovering above the floor now, legs dangling beneath her as a rainbow-colored nimbus of energy surrounded her. Inside her chest, a pulsing blob of darkness became visible, surging with dark red, purple and black colors. It moved like a living spot of ink, shrinking away from the surrounding light, compressed more and more. It got smaller and smaller until finally, with a barely-audible shriek, it popped like a soap-bubble and vanished. Seconds later, the nimbus of magical energy disappeared as well, and Twilight dropped back down to her hooves. "Wow... I feel much better..." was all she had time to say before collapsing on the ground, her vision rapidly fading to black.

When she woke up, she was lying in a large, majestic bed. Blinking a few times, she looked out the large, crystal-glass windows and saw that the moon and the sun were sharing the sky, leaving the land covered in the lavender darkness of pre-dawn. "Oh, you're awake! How do you feel? Are you all right?" Glancing in the direction of the voice, she saw that Cadance was sitting by her bedside, and gave her a bright smile. "Yeah, I feel great! Very well-rested, considering that I've apparently only gotten a few hours of sleep..." she pointed out at the dawn, and Cadance made a grimace. "Aaaaactually... you've slept half the night and all of the day. It's twilight. Well, it's been twilight for a bit - Celestia and Luna decided to keep it like that until you woke up on your own."

Twilight blinked more rapidly, clearing the sand out of her eyes. "Ooookay... well, I still feel great. And also... clean?" she shuffled her hooves under the covers. Her sweaty, grimy coat felt freshly-washed. Cadance giggled down at her. "Well, I kind of gave you a bath last night, after you'd passed out. You were kind of a mess and, well, it's not like it's the first time I've bathed you. Though you WERE a tad easier to lift around back then." They shared a warm smile at the memory of those days of yore when Cadance had been her foal-sitter. The smile quickly faded, however, as Twilight realized something. "Wait... Cadance, you haven't been waiting here at my bedside all this time, have you?" The pink-coated pony quickly shook her head. "Oh, no... I took a long nap shortly after tucking you in to bed. Princess Celestia insisted - she said I'd need to be well-rested for what comes next. I don't think that she or Luna have slept a wink, though. Well, those two are 'original' Alicorns - they're on a whole other level compared to latecomers like you and I."

A hesitant knock on the door interrupted their chat, and Cadance lifted her voice "Yes? Come in." The door creaked open, and Shining Armor entered, concern for his younger sister written across his face. "The princesses sent me to check and see if... oh! Twily, you're awake!" He quickly dashed to her bedside, and she smiled up at him wordlessly. Then he quickly shook his head. "I'm so glad to see that you're alright... but I'm afraid the catching-up is going to have to wait. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are waiting at the top of the tower, and they need all of us there as soon as possible."

A few minutes later, the three ponies arrived at the top of the highest tower in Canterlot, where they found the two ancient Alicorns awaiting them. Above a pedestal in the center of the chamber's floor floated a heart-shaped lump of clear-blue crystal that Twilight immediately recognized as the Crystal Heart - smuggled out of the Crystal Empire by Cadance and Shining Armor just before it fell to the griffons. A closed jewelry-box in front of the pedestal was pulsing with magic, surrounded by an almost living aura of power - the fact that the pulse resembled that of a beating heart was all the hint she needed in order to guess that the box - barely - contained the Element of Love.

"Twilight Sparkle! I am glad to see that you have recovered. I fear we will need the full strength of every Alicorn in the kingdom, and more besides, if we are to pull this off." Celestia said without preamble, and Twilight quickly nodded. "You've found a way, then?" Her voice was filled with eagerness, and Celestia nodded. "A way to protect Canterlot, yes... buying us time to hopefully find a way to cleanse the rest of the kingdom. For now, this is the best we can do." She nodded at the two powerful, magical artifacts resting before them. "Please, pay attention - this will take a great deal of coordination..."

As soon as Celestia's explanation was finished, the five ponies set to work. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor stood on either side of the Crystal Heart, and the first part of the spell was theirs. The strength of their love for one another was pumped into the Heart by way of their magic, and it rapidly began to glow, sending out pulses of energy. Then, they both charged it with their signature spell. Shining Armor's spell made the power of the Crystal Heart manifest in the form of a great shield, surrounding all of Canterlot, and Princess Cadance's spell inspired the shield with the power of love - granting it the strength to resist the constant tide of the corruption.

As soon as the shield was up, Celestia, Luna and Twilight sprung into action. Standing flank-to-flank, with Twilight in the middle, at the one time of day where each could draw power from their celestial counterparts, they were at the peak of their strength. Working in unison, they lifted the Element of Love from the sealed box, charging it with power. When Celestia and Luna had used it to cleanse Twilight, the power had been tightly focused - this time, they were aiming for the exact opposite. As the energy in the Element grew beyond containing, the pale-red gemstone exploded in an omnidirectional burst of pure love, flooding everyone in the room - and beyond.

The wave spread out from the tower, washing across the castle and the city, before hitting the shield - filled, as it was, with Cadance's own love-magic. The wave bounced off of it, its intensity increased by the sympathetic fusion, and quickly washed back towards the Element of Love. The initial wave had not been anywhere near strong enough to destroy the fragments of corruption that existed within the hearts of every stallion, mare and foal in Canterlot, but as it rebounded into its source, it was released again - ten times stronger. Three Alicorns struggled to control and focus the energy, but they managed - barely.

The rainbow-shaded wave of energy that thus emerged from the Element of Love, bathing the entire city before dissipating, wiped every trace of corruption from its path - and went down in history as one of the greatest feats of magic ever wrought. Thanks to this, Canterlot could continue to exist as an island of normalcy in a world gone mad, its shield maintained indefinitely by the power of the Crystal Heart. This gave them the time they needed to investigate the nature of the corruption in detail, and find a countermeasure. And nopony had any doubt that if anyone could find the answer, it was Princess Twilight Sparkle...

HAPPY END

---

Alternate Ending: Chaos Ex Machina (Golden Ending)

[Writer's Commentary: This one is a bit... different. Unlike much of the rest of what is here, this isn't five-years-old stuff that's been fished out of the archives, dusted off and shined up for a belated publication. This is actually brand new - an ending that is both 'good' and satisfying on a narrative level. It occurred to me when I re-read the entire EA series, and frankly, if I'd thought of it back when I originally wrote it, I probably would've made this the canon ending to begin with. As it is? You can think of this as the 'Golden Ending' of an RPG, the one that's only possible if you did everything right leading up to it. Exactly what Twilight might have done in order to create the circumstances necessary for this ending to take place, well, I'll leave that to your imagination, but it probably involves maxing out a whole bunch of personal bonds.]

It was late in the evening, and Twilight was alone in the library. Spike had gone off to 'guard' Rarity's store overnight, as he usually did - even though everyone involved knew that just meant that he'd be spending half the night fucking her, and the other half sleeping with his cock lodged deep in her ass. Spike had told her - quietly - that Rarity's tastes were becoming increasingly dirty, too. Apparently, she liked it when he took his morning piss like that - insisting that it was just to save water and time by supplying her morning enema in that way. That, however, did not quite explain why she also preferred to clean his cock with her mouth afterwards, instead of a wet towel or something. The memory of that conversation stood starkly clear to Twilight as she writhed on the floor, biting down hard to keep from screaming in agony.

She had thought that she'd never again feel pain. However, as she had worked a spell that cleared her mind and protected it from outside influence, she had been swiftly reminded that it was only her BODY that had lost the ability to feel pain. The tearing agony she felt now came from the depths of her soul, as she finally saw clearly - and realized what she had become. What her FRIENDS had become. It all fit together so neatly that, even in her present state of despair, she could piece it together. The ancient civilization which had left behind records of the first Apocalypse - they had been spared through the sacrifice of their princess. But why, then, was a few scattered tomes all that remained of it? That question should have occurred to her earlier, but she had been too desperate, too eager to grasp at straws. Ponykind had survived, after all... just not their civilization.

But now she understood. This creeping corruption... it had started with her, then spread to her friends, and beyond. All of Ponyville was caught in its spell by now, obsessed with sexuality, overwhelmed by lust, abandoning all restraint and leaving behind any limitations. As she tried to stagger back to her hooves, wiping the tears from her eyes, she glanced over at the display-case that contained the empty fittings of the Elements of Harmony, left behind when the jewels themselves had been returned to the Tree of Harmony. She knew how it had spread so swiftly, so deeply, without anyone noticing. She and her friends had wielded the power of the Elements for years. That power remained intertwined with their spirits even after the Elements had been returned. When they had been corrupted, the Elements had been too... and through them, the Tree of Harmony, whose roots formed the very foundation of Equestria. Well, the fact that the rituals had taken place directly on top of said tree had probably helped too.

Pushing the pain away, she staggered to her hooves. Time was of the essence. She needed to act, NOW. The corruption was spreading from the Tree of Harmony - that was the epicenter. Places further away from it would take longer to be affected. If she could get to Canterlot, warn Princess Celestia and the rest, then maybe something could be done. Mind whirling, she wandered over to the display-case that held the golden fittings that had once contained the Elements of Harmony, gazing at them as she remembered all the times they had saved Equestria, wishing they could've done so just one more time.

As she looked down at them, however, she noticed something. A faint glimmering around the edges of the fittings. Squinting, she recognized it - gem-dust. Microscopic fragments of the Elements of Harmony, left behind when they were torn from the fittings to be returned to the tree. They probably still held a tiny part of the Elements' old power... and since they had been separated from the Elements themselves, and wouldn't have been able to maintain any real connection to her OR her friends, they probably hadn't been Corrupted. Maybe she could use that somehow... she was grasping at straws, and she knew it, but her highly-ordered brain was already working the numbers.

But then, it all started to click together, forming an image that made her aching heart sink so low, she was surprised her rib-cage didn't creak under the weight. Yes, those tiny fragments probably COULD fight off the Corruption, to a severely limited degree. And they almost certainly already were, and had been since the whole thing started! The current state of affairs in Ponyville made it clear that the pittance of power they contained was nowhere near enough to hold off the corruption - but it would definitely be enough to slow it down in the local area. Her calculations all said the same thing - however bad it was in Ponyville, it would already be WORSE elsewhere. Her hopes, thus, were dashed. Canterlot was almost certainly a lost cause already.

But perhaps, there was a silver lining - however dim. If she hadn't realized this, she would've wasted the rest of the night flying to Canterlot and finding out the hard way. Now... she still had time. Time to find another way, or at least try. Glancing over her shoulder, she looked thoughtfully at her personal library. Perhaps... no! Of course, her first impulse was to bury herself in a book and seek a solution therein. It always was. But her time was measured in hours. What were the odds that she'd be able to find something that quickly? It'd be pure luck if she did.

She couldn't take such a risk. This time, she had to follow her instincts. The tree... yes, maybe if she went to the Tree of Harmony and examined it directly, it'd give her some idea of what needed to be done. If she was right, after all, it'd be at the very heart of the corruption. And it wasn't that far, either - she'd made the trip between her home and the castle at the heart of the Everfree Forest enough times lately, both in flight and on hoof, to know just how quickly she could get there and back. Yes - no time to waste!

As she threw open her front door and dashed outside, however, she nearly collided with an unexpected late-night visitor. Her hooves skidded across the ground as the braked, and she blinked in surprise at the vision of brightly-colored pinkness that had just intruded on her darkest hour. Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, waved a hoof happily at her. "Oh hi Twilight! I was just coming to see you! And here you are! ...were you just coming to see meee? Because that would be really funny!" She chuckled, apparently at her own joke, even as Twilight grimaced.

"I'm sorry Pinkie Pie, but I don't have time right now... whatever you want will have to wait untill tomorrow." She hated being short with her friends like that, but the seconds were ticking by - and Pinkie wasn't particularly good at being brief and to-the-point. Fortunately, Pinkie readily nodded. "Oh, okay. Sure!" Breathing a sigh of relief, Twilight then spread her wings - then, after a moment's thought, closed them again. She still wasn't that confident a flier, and trying to keep her wings moving the right way while splitting her concentration between that and maintaining the spell that kept her mind clear would slow her pace significantly. Seeing as the ground-path was nearly a straight shot anyway, galloping would almost certainly be faster, and definitely less tiring.

Setting off at a dead run, it took her a while to notice that she wasn't galloping alone. Next to her, Pinkie Pie was bouncing along in that particular way of hers, making her resemble a cross between a mountain-goat and a pink parade-balloon... and somehow keeping pace with her, without putting in any apparent effort. "What are you doing, Pinkie?" She asked between breaths. Pinkie giggled. "I'm following you, silly!" "Why?" "Because you're heading towards the Everfree Forest, and last time you did that, you wound up needing the help of your friends! And the first time too! And most of the other times, for that matter!"

Well, there wasn't a lot Twilight could say to that. Nor did she have the breath to argue. Well, if Pinkie Pie wanted to tag along, let her - she wasn't likely to get in the way too much, and Pinkie's endless supply of exuberant cheer might serve as a nice counterbalance to her_current mindset of despair and depression. So she simply kept her muzzle shut and focused on galloping. It wasn't as if the trip itself would be dangerous - for her _or Pinkie - anyway. The dangerous creatures that usually threatened unwary visitors to Everfree, well, they were all at Fluttershy's cottage these days, after all - a thought that thought only darkened Twilight's mood even further.

Thus, unmolested by the local fauna, they reached the overlook. Before them, on the other side of a deep crevice, stood the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters. Looking at it, the memories of those dread rituals that had taken place there assailed Twilight's mind, making her shiver - but her destination was not there. Rather, it was inside the crevice beneath, and with the light of her horn illuminating their path, she made her way down the steep stone staircase with Pinkie bouncing merrily along behind her. Down there, in a small cave, the Tree of Harmony awaited - and even before it came into view, she knew that her theory about the corruption's main vector had been correct. Once, the Tree of Harmony had exuded a pure, white light - now, the light that flowed from the cave was a surly, purplish-red color.

As they stepped into the cave proper, however, an unexpected sight met them. They weren't alone - someone had gotten there first. Someone who now loomed over the tree, mumbling under his breath, and throwing a huge, monstrous shadow on the cave wall. The shadow, spotting them, turned and waved in greeting. It, like the being that cast it, was a twisted and mismatched thing - a long, serpentine body covered in various patches of scale and fur, with no two legs the same, all crowned by a goat-like head sporting two different horns and a pair of large, yellow eyes. The biological name for this creature was, she knew, 'Draconequus' - perhaps the single-most pointless bit of sagely wisdom she possessed, considering that there existed but _one_creature of its kind in all the world.

"Discord!" She called, more in surprise than in greeting. The ancient spirit of disharmony turned slowly from his contemplation of the corrupted Tree of Harmony and looked down at her. "Oh, hello there Twilight Sparkle... and Pinkie Pie too, how nice..." he was stroking his goat-like beard as he talked, and his voice sounded... off. His face, too, seemed devoid of its usual spark of mischief. It didn't take very long for Twilight to figure out what might have brought down the usually irrepressible chaos-god.

Once, he'd been their foe - and a dreadful one at that, awakening from a thousand years of stone-bound sleep to wreak havoc across Equestria once more. After his defeat, however, Celestia - in her wisdom - had decided that rather than simply leave him confined once more, an attempt should be made to reform him into a potentially-invaluable ally. It had been a true challenge for the Power of Friendship, but one they had ultimately succeeded at... or rather, Fluttershy had succeeded at it, becoming Discord's first-ever friend.

"You've... been to see Fluttershy already, haven't you?" She asked hesitantly as she stepped up beside him to regard the Tree of Harmony herself. It was every bit as bad as she'd feared. The crystalline branches of bright-blue and white bore clear marks of corruption, their colors and contours warped into strange, disturbing angles and shades. The five 'fruits' that adorned it, and the large, central star were the worst off, pulsing with an unpleasant, dark-red light that somehow reminded her of exposed, yet still-beating hearts. The odd, gem-like chest that had sprouted in front of the tree when she and her friends had returned the Elements of Harmony to it was all but gone, having shrunken and collapsed like a desiccated fruit. Discord, meanwhile, silently nodded, and she wondered what his ancient eyes saw as he regarded the corrupted growth.

"...where have you been?" she then asked. It needed to be asked, after all. When the apparent end of the world had been bearing down on Equestria, and his powers seemed most needed, he had simply... disappeared. After learning of the Stallions of the Apocalypse - and indeed facing them herself - her private conclusion had been that he'd run away, fled, knowing that his powers couldn't match those ancient manifestations of inevitable doom. Fluttershy, of course, had ardently insisted that he wouldn't have been so cowardly, that there would surely be a good reason for his disappearance...

Sighing, Discord shook his head. "I've been searching. In ancient places, forgotten places, faraway places... for a solution. A way to shield my friend... my friends... from what was coming. When the trumpets sounded, I knew what it meant. I'd heard it before. Last time... I didn't care. I let them trample the world as they pleased. They did not bother me, and I did not bother them. But this time, I... had something to protect." He then turned to glance down at her, his face conflicted. "I take it you are the one who, ultimately, turned the Four from Equestria's borders, then?"

Shrinking from his gaze, Twilight nonetheless nodded. "Yes... with some help from my friends. But... I didn't know what the price would be!" She was suddenly worried that he'd hate her, that he'd blame her for turning sweet, innocent Fluttershy into what she was today. Instead, he just sighed again, shoulders slumping, and returned his gaze to the tree. "Of course not. Well, for what it's worth... I found no alternative worth pursuing anyway. What you did was likely the only way to protect Equestria, if only for a while. On the other hand..."

Suddenly, he seemed more enlivened, his eyes darting from her to the tree several times, his left hand - a birdlike claw - stroking his beard with increasing speed and energy. Eventually, it popped off, and after glaring down on it for a moment, he stuck it back on. "Maybe we can still fix this..." he mumbled, and Twilight's own ears perked up immediately. Gesturing towards the tree, he scowled. "This...thing, it's the heart of the corruption now. Its roots reach all across Equestria. If it were to be destroyed, well, the corruption would stop worsening, at the very least. And if it were to be replaced with a tree untouched by this foulness, that new growth might gradually cleanse the land of the remaining taint..."

It sounded promising, but... "But... where are we going to get a new Tree of Harmony?" She asked, eyebrow raised. Chuckling with some vestige of his old humor, Discord reached down and pulled - from behind one of her ears, of course - a small, strangely-shaped lump of crystal. It was... glowing slightly, with a pure, blue-white light. "Is that what I think it is?" She marveled. Discord nodded. "A Seed of Harmony. The fruit - so to speak - of my labors. In my searching, I found another Tree of Harmony, far older than this one - gnarled and withered, at the very end of its life. I plucked this seed from it before it crumbled to dust."

Holding it up, he regarded the tiny seed thoughtfully. "Twin Trees of Harmony... their combined resonance might have given even the Four Stallions pause. Of course, it would also have made it impossible for me_to exist within Equestria anymore... but it hardly matters. By the time I found it, it was too late. It would never have been able to grow big enough in time." With yet another sigh, he shrugged. "But, as a replacement for this twisted old thing, it should work just fine. Of course, _I can't destroy it - but you, Twilight_, can_. You are still connected to it - connected to the very heart of it, even..."

He was pointing, now, towards the center of the tree. The seat of the Element of Magic, her_element. The bit that currently resembled an exposed and steadily-beating heart. If that was a deliberate pun, it was a _dark_one, even for Discord. Shrugging it off, she contemplated his suggestion. Destroying the Tree of Harmony... it had never occurred to her before. After all, Equestria depended on its existence! But if they had a replacement handy, then... destroying it would be like amputating an infected limb. Terrible, but necessary. This close to it, she could practically _sense the connection Discord spoke of, too - a conduit that was currently sending surges of corruption into her mind, where it washed against her mental fortress like tides against a sea-wall. She could use it to, instead, send destructive energies past all the tree's normal defenses, tearing it apart from the inside out. What spell would be best suited...

Her train of thought was interrupted by a chill laughter from above, and her head turned inexorably towards the sound. Above, on the cave's ceiling, a circle of sickly-green fire had seemingly inscribed itself on the stone, arcane symbols flashing around it. A familiar design indeed - this was the circle she had used to summon Death, and which had later served as an entrance for the remaining three Stallions of the Apocalypse too! This cave was directly beneath the site of the ritual! What had possessed her to carry it out in such a place, anyway? Had it truly been random chance, or some subtle influence on her mind?!

Heart beating faster, she watched them descend from the circle to land on the rock before her - War, Famine, Pestilence and Death. Beside her, she felt Discord tense up, chaotic magic surging through his body and gathering around his claws. His face, however, looked more desperate than battle-ready. "Well, well, well..." Death chuckled, shaking his great, pale head, empty eyes burning balefully. "Seems I was wise to take precautions after all, hmm?" He glanced at his brothers, the stallions flanking him. War and Pestilence shrugged and snorted, refusing to meet his eyes, but Famine readily nodded. "Indeed. We really did find an extraordinary one this time. Very impressive, Twilight Sparkle! Even now, you seek to avert the inevitable."

War, meanwhile, was staring holes in Discord, snorting. "Foolish spirit... I do not know where you sprang from, but you should know better than to get in our way. Last time, you stepped aside gracefully. Where has that wisdom gone, hmm?" Neither Discord nor Twilight answered these calls. Both minds were whirling, seeking some way out of this impossible situation. Death, however, was inexorable. Stepping forwards, he lowered his head and pointed his horn at Twilight. "We don't usually get so... directly involved, you know..." he said smoothly, and as a small spark manifested at the tip of his ivory horn - seeming at once pure white and inky-black - Twilight knew that she was looking at her own, very personal death, made manifest. "But we cannot allow you to undo all our hard work. I'm sure you... understand."

"Enough." An unfamiliar voice rang out, quite suddenly, making Twilight, Discord, and the Four Stallions alike raise their heads in surprise. It was a strange, unnatural voice, and it took Twilight a moment to realize why. Here, inside this cave, all of their voices resounded sharply, echoing off the stone walls. This was true for her, for Discord, and even for the Four Stallions. But this new voice... it did not reverberate at all. It sounded, even within this cavern, as if it spoke from the center of a vast void. As if the sound had simply disappeared before it could reach the walls...

Its source, meanwhile, was every bit as strange. Stepping forwards boldly, face set and determined, was... Pinkie Pie. With a start, Twilight realized that the normally loudmouthed pony hadn't said a word since they entered the cave. She hadn't shouted a greeting to Discord, nor questioned him about his trip, nor bounced around. She'd simply... faded into the background, silently waiting, which was nearly as unnatural as the voice she was now speaking with.

However surprised she_was, however, everyone else seemed far more so. Discord seemed to have literally frozen up - his whole body rigid, mouth open, not a single hair on his body moving. The Four Stallions, meanwhile, were starring at Pinkie Pie with disbelief in their eyes... gradually fading into _recognition of all thing. "It can't be..." mumbled Death. Famine winced visibly. "So that is what I sensed..." he breathed. "Brother?!" War growled. Pestilence's already bulging eyes seemed ready to leap out of his skull, a wordless wheeze coming from his wide-open maw.

Walking with calm confidence, Pinkie Pie stepped up in front of them, as if shielding Twilight and Discord with her diminutive, bright pink body. There was no smile on her face - her expression was grave, serious, even_authoritative._ Her voice remained unnaturally flat as she spoke up again - and, now that Twilight thought about it, decidedly masculine. "Yes. It has been a long time, little brothers. I would say that it is nice to see you again... but I had rather hoped not to, if I am to be honest."

It seemed a strangely baroque display - the four towering Stallions of the Apocalypse, lined up before Pinkie Pie, shrinking back from her. Or, at least, her voice. War, however was the first to regain his composure, straightening up. "You abandoned us." He said, quite plainly. There was more hurt than heat in his voice. Pinkie sighed and nodded. "I did. I could no longer stomach the duty we shared. So I left. Leaving you, my brothers, to carry on. For what little it is worth, I am sorry."

Death, meanwhile, had recovered too - and the green sparks at the bottom of his empty eye-hollows seemed rather calculating. "I see..." he intoned, smooth as ever. "You cast away your power. Became a mortal pony." Pinkie nodded. "I did. A small vestige continues to cling to my mortal form, but for the most part, I am merely a regular pony now. I have been a hundred different regular ponies, indeed. This charming vessel is merely the latest." Famine, having apparently picked up on Death's line of thought, glanced thoughtfully down at Pinkie's diminutive form. "Hrm... so, in view of that... how, exactly, do you intend to stand in our way? I assume that is what you intend, anyway..."

Pinkie Pie fearlessly returned Famine's gaze, a slow smile spreading across her lips. It wasn't a 'Pinkie Pie' sort of smile, though. It was a chilling_smile, a dark one, promising horrors untold rather than jokes loudly spoken. "Ah, a fine point, little brother. Indeed, this simple pony who stands before you now can do very little to stop the four of you. At best, the small vestiges of my original strength that clings to her flesh may enable her to avoid your wrath in one way or another. But _stopping you? Preventing you from carrying out what you came here to do? Certainly not! Why, for that, I'd need to reclaim my full power... and become once more the _ First and Greatest of the Five Stallions of the Apocalypse! _"

Her voice, already unnatural, rose to a looming crescendo as she spoke - and as one, the Four Stallions' eyes turned towards Discord's frozen form, maws hanging open. "No... we would have sensed it... something's still missing, or we would have sensed it..." Pestilence finally spoke up, shaking his head, the sickening, multicolored spark that hovered in the midst of his hollow horn flickering strangely. Pinkie Pie just chuckled, glancing up towards him. "Very perceptive, little brother! This odd fellow manifested out of my abandoned power, indeed, but only after parts of it had split off. Ah... just on cue..."

A chill, shrieking whinny cut though the cave with brutal suddenness, resounding off the stone walls with deafening results. Twilight - already rooted to the spot by shock - felt her whole body begin to shake. Not out of fear, though this would indeed have been a reasonable enough reaction to the situation at hand, but from the sudden chill. A freezing wind, like a highly unseasonable blizzard, was blowing into the cave - and with it came a stampeding horde of strange, ghostly apparitions. They resembled horses, or at least the fronts of horses, wrought from nothing but arctic winds and snow-carrying clouds.

Of course, Twilight recognized them at a glance, even though she'd never seen one before. They figured in many of the oldest myths and legends of Equestria, particularly those told on Hearth's Warming Eve. The Windigoes, enigmatic spirits of ice and snow, freezing winds given form - said to feed on hatred, eternal and indestructible, though they could supposedly be warded off by the warmth of a loving heart. Now, here they were, in the complete-lack-of-flesh, throwing their heads as they whinnied and surged... directly towards Pinkie Pie, whose smile seemed every bit as cold as the arctic storm they had brought with them.

With a strangled cry, Discord surged forwards - or, perhaps it was more accurate to say that he was pulled forwards. He seemed to be sucked towards Pinkie Pie by some irresistible gravity, and as he reached her, the galloping Windigoes danced around them, circling them, becoming a solid wall of white and blue. Then they were gone, with a final surge of freezing air emerging from the center of the circle, forcing Twilight's eyes closed for a moment.

When she opened them, Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be seen. In her stead stood the most primaly terrifying creature she had ever beheld. A great and towering stallion, his coat a deep, dark midnight-blue that reminded her of Nightmare Moon, the first true foe she ever faced. His cutie-mark, meanwhile, was a circle... or perhaps a spiral, it was hard to say. It was featureless, and so black as to somehow be _beyond_black, like a hole in reality itself that threatened to pull her entire being into it if she looked at it too long.

Mane and tail were ice-blue, like the Windigoes had been, and his hooves were shod with actual ice. Frost was spreading from those shoes, coloring the stone, and beneath them the rock cracked under his weight. A chill mist emerged from his nostrils as he breathed, and from behind his ears a pair of great, curved horns rose, carved from ice that somehow seemed as dark and heavy as the oldest of glaciers. As for his eyes, they were as bottomlessly black as his cutie-mark, entirely pitiless, lacking even the glowing glimmer that Death sported at the bottom of his eye-hollows.

It was not his appearance, however, that induced such fear in Twilight's heart. Rather, it simply seemed as if he was surrounded by an aura of terror, hatred, and above all, a dark coldness that promised to negate all light, warmth, and hope in existence. As he shifted one hoof forwards and brought it down on the cave's solid-stone floor, it cracked, and the world itself seemed to tremble. " Thus, I live again..." his supernaturally-flat voice declared. " I am Kaos, First-Born Son of the Endless Void, born before the world itself was brought into being."

And now, even as the Four Stallions shrank away from his presence, fear in their eyes, Twilight understood just what kind of being she beheld. Pestilence, by his mere presence, promised all the pains and indignities of disease, a slow wasting, an inexorable spread. War promised fire and terror, endless conflict, vengeance upon vengeance. Famine promised drought and starvation, a bone-dry throat and an empty stomach that threatened to gnaw straight through your ribs. Death was the final parting, the sudden, sharp blade that severed you from everything you had ever known. And yet, they were all beings of life, ultimately. Only life suffered from disease and starvation, only life waged conflicts, only that which lived could die. But this being - Kaos - was beyond all that. He was a remnant of the nothingness that had preceded life, had existed long before there was a world for life to grow on - and carried with him the promise that some day, everything would once again return to nothing. He was_the icy void, the soul of entropy, the cold hatred of all that was not for all that _was.

He was also a good head taller than any of the Four Stallions, and they now gazed up at him with undisguised fear in their eyes. His was a power that could swallow them all up in an instant, a power they could not hope to stand against. When they had come into being, he had already been there, waiting, and he would still be there when at last they faded from the world, watching pitilessly. For a moment, there was silence. They probably wanted to ask him why he had reclaimed his power just to stand in their way now, but clearly, they dared not.

Then, Kaos snorted, sending a chill wind flowing through the cave. " Leave" he declared. " You have been defeated this time. It was inevitable that it would happen at some point - that is the fate of immortal beings. In two thousand years you may ride again, as the rules of the Cosmos proclaims, and at that time, I will not be there to stand in your way." The Four Stallions looked at each other, searching one another for some spark, some will to resist this matter-of-fact statement. They found nothing. Death, finally, bowed his head. "As you say, brother."

Then, as swiftly as they had arrived, they disappeared - leaping into the ceiling, vanishing through the circle that still burned there. War lingered longest, just long enough to throw an angry glare and a snort at Kaos. Then he too rose and was gone, followed by the circle itself. All was silent, then, save for Twilight's rapid breathing and a deep, crackling noise. The stone underneath Kaos' icy hooves breaking apart as it expanded and fragmented, she realized.

Then Kaos turned and looked down at her, and she felt the blood freeze in her veins, her laboring lungs seizing up. That empty stare was nigh-unendurable - the darkness that lurked beyond those empty hollows seemed to reflect all the worst moments of her life, the times she'd given in to hatred and despair. " Do not mistake me for an ally, little pony..." Kaos intoned, rather unnecessarily. Nothing could be farther from her mind. " I have simply become... fond of my current incarnation, and do not wish for it to end prematurely. She will remember nothing once I discard my power once more. Nor will the being that arose from it, he who now claims the name of 'Discord'. You will tell nopony." It was not a request, nor an order - simply a statement of fact. She nodded fiercely, her vision growing dark as she struggled to breathe under the weight of his attention.

Apparently accepting her acquiescence, he turned away from her, and gazed towards the spot in the ceiling where the circle had disappeared. " I wish you could understand, brothers..." he mused, clearly to himself. " I know better than any the value of life. Perhaps next time, when you see what the world can become without your pruning, you will understand. Perhaps." Then he sighed, sending yet another chill wind blasting through the cave, and seized to exist. One moment, Kaos - the first and greatest of what had once been the Five Stallions of the Apocalypse - was standing there, and the next, he... wasn't.

The Windigoes, whinnying wildly, surged from the cave, once again bringing arctic temperatures into it. A moment later, they were gone, having surged out through the exit, and from there... who knew? Discord was standing beside her again, swaying slightly on his mismatched legs, his large eyes unfocused and vague. And in the exact spot Kaos had occupied until a second earlier, Pinkie Pie stood, in all her pink glory.

Blinking, Discord cleared his throat and looked around. "Hm. For a moment, I thought I heard something... ah well. So, what do you think, Twilight Sparkle? Can you destroy the Tree?" Twilight could only stare up at him. The power of an ancient being, an embodiment of entropy and negation, abandoned and given form... a spirit of chaos and disharmony. Somehow, knowing of his origin, Discord seemed rather more frightening than ever before, including back when he'd been a fearsome foe.

As she stared wordlessly at him, her mind still churning, trying to finish parsing everything that had happened in the past few minutes, he leaned down with a confused look on his face and knocked on her head a couple of times. She felt nothing, but it nonetheless made a hollow sound. "Hellooooo, Twilight Sparkle? Anyone home?" Discord asked, sounding vaguely concerned. Scratching his head, he glanced over at the only other being in the cave. "Oh, Pinkie Pie - do _you_know what's wrong with her all of a sudden?"

The pink pony had, until that moment, been simply standing there with her back turned, as if looking thoughtfully at the cave's exit. At the sound of her name, however, she turned her head, blinked a few times, and then shook her head rapidly as if to clear it. Finally, the bounced over to the two of them and rubbed her chin with one hoof, looking thoughtfully at Twilight. The shadow of the terrifying being that had just disappeared - who had, in fact, incarnated in the mysteriously-flexible flesh of Pinkie Pie - seemed to pass over her, and Twilight shrank away from it.

Shrugging, Pinkie then looked up at Discord. "No idea. But I know just_how to fix it!" she said cheerily, sounding entirely like herself. Then she stuck a hoof inside her mane and rooted around in it for a moment, before pulling out... "A cupcake!" as she proudly declared. It was, indeed, a cupcake, complete with frosting, sprinkles, and a single birthday-candle sticking up from the middle of it. A _lit birthday-candle. Groaning, Twilight hid her face in one hoof. She'd long-since given up on understand or explaining Pinkie Pie. Now that she knew what she was, well, she somehow understood even less.

Hesitantly, she lowered her hoof. Pinkie Pie's face was inches from hers, separated only by the cupcake and its steadily-burning candle. She was smiling broadly, invitingly, and very Pinkie-Pie-ly. With a sigh, she pushed it all away. This was Pinkie Pie, her friend, the Element of Laughter. Nothing more, nothing less. Grabbing the cupcake, she pulled out the candle with her magic and ate the rest in two bites. It was delicious, and didn't seem to contain any strange herbal drugs. Shaking off the last vestiges of shock, she looked past Pinkie and up at Discord. "Yes, I think I can destroy the tree." Pinkie immediately cheered, bouncing up and down. "Told you! Cupcake cure, works eeeeevery time!"

The rest was... remarkably simple. Everything worked as planned. Using the conduit between her own spirit and the Element of Magic that served as the Tree of Harmony's literal and figurative heart, she poured the most destructive spells she knew into it. The corrupted crystal shattered, fragmented, and turned into a fine dust as the pieces hit the floor. The earth rumbled and shifted underneath them as the tree's extensive root-system followed suit. Moving quickly, Discord then planted the Seed of Harmony in the gap it left behind, scraping the solid rock around and over it as if it was soft loam. Finally, the two of them focused their combined power on it, willing it to grow.

A tiny, crystal shot rose from the stone. A single leaf appeared. The new Tree of Harmony had taken root. They both sighed in relief. "It'll take some time..." Twilight remarked with some concern as she looked at the minuscule growth. Discord grinned. "Not as long as you might think! Harmony isn't really my thing, but growth very much is! In fact, I like to consider myself quite the avid gardener!" In a poof of smoke, he was suddenly wearing colorful gloves and a dirt-stained flop-hat, and wielding a small rake in his leonine paw. One of his usual sight-gags, and a sign that his mood was improving. Twilight, meanwhile, just smiled a touch sourly. She well remembered that one 'gardening project' of his that had nearly swallowed Equestria.

Sighing, she then nodded. "Right. I'll trust you to hurry it along as much as you can, but... how fast it that, really?" Wincing slightly, Discord hung his head. "Well, yes... it will still take some time before it's big enough to drive the corruption out of Equestria entirely. It'll be a... gradual process. A few months, at least." A few more months. Months of unhinged sexual perversions, drawing even young foals into the crucible of lust and desire. She'd be no different. If anything, she'd be leading the charge. And then there was the 'gifts' that the Four Stallions had left behind... the changes wrought on her own body were double-edged swords at worst, Applejack's 'gift' was rather harmless, and Rainbow Dash's new body-jewelry would lose their bite once her mind cleared - but Rarity and Fluttershy was another matter.

They'd figure it out, though. Once the corruption cleared, she'd be able to think clearly again, as would many others. Celestia, Luna... and Discord obviously had a strong interest in helping Fluttershy in particular. Together, they'd find a cure for Rarity's obsession, and unravel the magic that drew predators and monsters alike to Fluttershy's cabin. They'd find a solution. Of that she felt confident. They'd already done the impossible - turning the Four Stallions of the Apocalypse away, even breaking the slow corruption that they had planted. The rest was just legwork.

Shaking off the last bits of the dark mood that still clung to her mind, she started towards the cave's exit, carefully planning her next move. She knew what it had to be. "Come on, Pinkie, let's go home..." "Okay!" Pinkie merrily replied, bouncing along. Glancing over her shoulder, she caught Discord's eyes, and gave him a sharp nod. He returned it. They both knew what had to be done. Indeed, no sooner had she and Pinkie exited the cavern, that the mouth of it slammed close with a loud rumble - sealing itself shut against any interference.

There'd been no need to exchange any further words with Discord, indeed. He'd been able to tell at a glance, of course, that her clarity of mind was due to a spell - and thus purely temporary. She could probably maintain it long enough to get home, though, and look up a specific spell that she remembered glancing at earlier. A mind-wiping spell. Once her mind-shield failed and the corruption dominated her mind again, she would no doubt think of the tiny sapling in that cave as an enemy, a threat - a potential end to her life of gleeful perversion. Discord could likely protect it against anything she might do, but... she couldn't take the chance.

She would forget everything, and tomorrow, she'd carry on with her life of sexual excess as if nothing had happened. Perhaps, in a few months, as the fog of corruption began to lift, she'd remember why. Maybe not. As for Pinkie Pie... she glanced over at her friend, who was happily bouncing along beside her, completely unconcerned by everything that had happened. Somehow, Twilight felt certain that she didn't need to worry about Pinkie blabbering about anything that had transpired in the cave, despite her usual gabbiness.

As they trotted through the Everfree Forest, noses towards Ponyville, she allowed herself a moment of elated triumph. Against all odds, they had won. Triumphed! The world - or at least Equestria - had been saved. And in the process, she had learned ancient secrets about reality itself that she would never truly be able to forget - nor dare write down or recount to anypony. Which, in her well-read book, was a definite plus!

GOLDEN ENDING

---

An Interview with the Writer

[Interviewer]: So, the new ending... pretty complex, isn't it? Is it canon?

[Writer]: I suppose it is... complex, that is. As for canonicity, well, all the endings are equally valid. It's like a choose-your-own-adventure type dealie. I suppose if I ever were to write an outright sequel, I'd have to pick one ending to build on, but I've no plans for that so... whatever ending you like, that is the Canon Ending!

: Fair enough. But what's really going on here? Pinkie Pie is... actually some kind of ancient, pseudo-Lovecraftian horror?

[W]: Well, part of one, anyway. Basically, I saw an opportunity to explain something inexplicable and took it. Pinkie Pie is, within the series, an anomaly - she's like a Looney Toon living in an otherwise-coherent setting, capable of breaking all the established rules, displaying powers that are never explained or justified, and even breaking the fourth wall.

: But isn't that just, you know, a joke?

[W]: Of course it is... but it's simply a matter of Watsonian as opposed to Doylist explanations. Same deal as the matter of Equestria's sexual norms, which I expect we'll get to later.

: Watsonian and Doylist? Care to explain?

[W]: They're narrative terms... referring to the framing-device of the Sherlock Holmes stories, of course. Written by Arthur Conan Doyle - but _within_the stories, they're written by Doctor Watson, as direct accounts of the adventures they shared. It essentially boils down to whether you explain an inconsistency, element, or mistake using real-world logic, or in-universe logic.

: Ah, right, like how a movie, game or TV-show may be affected by corporate pressure, or a writer's strike, or losing an actor... those can be 'Doylist' reasons for something that happens within the story?

[W]: Exactly. And meanwhile, the creative may try to find justifications _within_the story for why those things happened - the 'Watsonian' explanation.

: I see, I see... so, the 'Doylist' explanation for Pinkie Pie's antics is 'because it's funny', but you tried to find a 'Watsonian' explanation for her.

[W]: Indeed. With a little help from Sir Terry Pratchett.

: Terry Pratchett? Of Discworld fame?

[W]: The one and only. That's where I got the inspiration from, you see. I'm a big fan of his books (well, most of them...) - and as I reread this tale of the Four Horsemen, I remembered his treatment of same, in 'The Thief of Time'. One of his best books, in my humble opinion. It featured all the traditional Four Horsemen... but also a fifth, Kaos, said to represent the primal, chaotic void that predated all the fears that the other four represented. He was basically a joke on the 'Pete Best' - the guy who 'left before they got popular'. Specifically, he incarnated as a regular human, and indeed made a career for himself as a milkman in Ankh-Morpork under a new, brilliantly creative fake name. Um... spoiler warning, I guess? Sorry. On the other hand, the book IS eighteen years old by now...

: Even so, you should probably be more careful!

[W]: I know, my apologies. Anyway, once that thought occurred to me, well, it all just fell into place. Pinkie Pie as Kaos, incarnate in pony-form with no memory of her true, original nature... and pulling in Discord and the Windigoes as 'fragments' of Kaos' abandoned power was a rather short leap of logic. Discord is obviously the 'chaotic' bit, the 'primal chaos', while the Windigoes are the absolute-zero coldness of the endless void. Boom, Fifth Stallion of the Apocalypse in the house! Or cave, as the case may be.

: Makes sense, I suppose - neither the Windigoes nor Discord ever really get an 'explanation' for their existence in the actual show. They're just kind of there, and supposedly have existed for thousands of years...

[W]: Indeed. Plus, there's the issue of the 'Where's Discord in all of this?' question that could reasonably have been asked about the original story I wrote... though none did, as far as I noticed. After all, it's specifically set right after Season 3, which - in addition to ending with Twilight's ascension to Alicorn-status - also featured Discord's reformation and befriending of Fluttershy. Originally, I just kind of... ignored him, because his sheer power would get in the way too much. A common enough problem for writers in any medium, really. Overpowered characters can be a real menace...

: But now you've got an explanation for his absence, eh? He was off scouring the world, looking for a solution on his own!

[W]: Indeed! I dunno how in-character that really is for him, but... well, if Pinkie Pie is hard to write, on account of her borderline lunacy, Discord is even worse. I wasn't even going to try to write Discord fully in-character, but I figure that Fluttershy's fate would be able to bring him down to earth a bit anyway.

: Well, I'm not going to try to argue with that. Anyway, that aside, you said that there was another 'Watsonian versus Doylist' issue that needed to be addressed?

[W]: Oh yes... indeed, I may have mentioned it in the commentary for the 'Pillow-Talk with Rarity' deleted scene too. I got some commentary on the original story that suggested that it was rather unrealistic for the ponies to be as 'innocent', sexually speaking, as they're depicted - considering that they're essentially shown as young adults, with half of them living alone and holding down independent careers.

: Mmm, I can certainly see where they're coming from...

[W]: So can I - but it's kind of a logical fallacy. An assumption that these ponies would know as much as you and the people you are familiar with would know in their situation. There's a lot to unpack here, so bear with me for a moment... first of all, it's worth remembering just how big a game-changer the Internet had been in our world. Vast reams of information at your fingertips! Indeed, mass media and mass communication in general, from the telegraph on up, have shaped our world into an 'information society'. None of that exists in Equestria! Their fastest form of communication is magically-transmitted letters, which obviously isn't going to be available to anyone save the elite. For the rest of them, regular old snail-mail, carried by (possibly muffin-loving and adorably wall-eyed) pegasi is the fastest way to stay in touch with anyone you can't just trot over and talk to.

: I suppose that WOULD make it a touch harder to get in touch with hot singles in your neighborhood...

[W]: Quite, quite. But mostly, it just means that Equestria is a society where it's quite easy for those in power to control the flow of information. As, indeed, was the case right here in our world, in older times. And there we come to the 'Watsonian versus Doylist' bit... nowhere in the actual MLP: FiM series is any kind of sexual matters brought up. Romance is acknowledged, 'special someponies' is a thing, people clearly get married and have foals... but the topic of _sex_doesn't exist, not even when young-adult ponies are having private conversations. Nopony's discussing anypony's sex-lives.

: Because it's a kids-show... which, I suppose, is the 'Doylist' explanation, huh?

[W]: Exactly. I, however, looked for a 'Watsonian' explanation, and it isn't hard to find one, really. Obviously, Equestria is simply a highly puritanical society, where sexual topics are heavily taboo. Extramarital mating is probably outright illegal, mares are expected to go to their wedding pure in body and mind, etc. It's not like there haven't been societies throughout our world's history that have maintained those kinds of standards...

: Like Victorian England? 'Lie back and think of England', holes in the sheets and all that?

[W]: Quite - or the actual, literal Puritans. Mind, the Victorian era was also the era of Industrialization... apply the same sort of thinking and social standards to what is, for all intends and purposes, an absolutist monarchy with feudal elements and a medieval tech-level (albeit with a fair amount of 'magitech' sneaking in along the edges), and it becomes entirely possible for a monarch to enforce an absolute standard of sexual purity.

: That would be Princess Celestia, in this case... hmm...

[W]: Well, yes, it's not a PERFECT theory. It runs rather counter to her established character, and even more counter to the memetic 'Molestia'. Still, someone can be very jocular, easygoing and pleasant, while still having powerful moral convictions that they refuse to compromise. There isn't really anything in Celestia's canonical behavior that directly contradicts her believing that sex is a sinful and dirty thing that must be kept strictly under the hoof, 'only for foaling' and so on. And if she did believe this, she'd easily be able to enforce this across Equestria, leading to the kid-friendly kingdom we see in the show...

: Not quite, though... am I wrong? I mean, your own story suggests that despite such ironcast social rules, four of the six ponies had prior knowledge of sexuality, if not outright carnal knowledge.

[W]: You're not wrong. Indeed, looking at historical, puritanical societies, they've never REALLY worked. Only the 'upper classes' could ever really manage to 'insulate' their children sufficiently to leave them as ignorant as they were supposed to be. That would, in this case, mean the upper-middle-class Rarity and Twilight Sparkle, who - regardless of her biological origins - is a ward of the head of state, Princess Celestia. Farmers tend to get an inevitable introduction to the basics of sexuality through their work, as would anyone else who works with animals on the regular, hence Applejack and Fluttershy's background knowledge... though, social pressures still kept them from having any practical experience.

: Leaving Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash...

[W]: Right. Regardless of the society in question, one thing tends to be constant across all of history - the young are always inclined to rebel against the standards set down by their parents. It's part of human - and, extrapolating from there, pony - nature. The threat of severe social or even legal repercussions can't _prevent_this rebellion - it only drives it underground, making something like knowledge of sexuality a 'secret' thing shared in hushed whispers. Sometimes along with... other things. Being 'popular ponies', both Pinkie and Dash would, realistically, be likely to acquire, sooner or later, a spotty but hooves-on education in the very matters that society so vigorously sought to deny them...

: So basically, an absolute monarch whose people only have access to medieval levels of technology is still only able to enforce her moral standards in 33% of the cases...

[W]: Not even a king rules the heart, as the saying goes!

: It does? Well, if you say so. Regardless, I can certainly see how the 'pillow talk' scene is relevant to the topic at hand. It covers a lot of socio-sexual bases, doesn't it?

[W]: It does indeed, though I sadly didn't think of it that way at the time. I cut it for being an overlong bit of chit-chat, but didn't really consider whether the things that were said there actually had a chance to be said anywhere else. Well, live and learn, I suppose...

: Indeed so. And speaking of, I understand that you learned a bit about popular pony-ships during the writing too, hmm?

[W]: Ah, yes, that... I honestly didn't know they were such a popular match-up before writing the story. I can kind of see it, I suppose? But the way I wrote them, it just wouldn't work...

: We're talking about Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, of course.

[W]: Yes, yes... especially Sub!Rainbow Dash and Dom!Fluttershy. So since I made Dash a submissive, some may have felt that I might as well have turned Fluttershy into her dom... but if I was going for that, I would've needed to make Rainbow Dash into a very different kind of sub.

: A... different kind?

[W]: Well, yes - there's more than one way to be a submissive, just as there are many kinds of doms. No right or wrong ways, o'course, just different ways. Now, thinking of Fluttershy as a Dom... I can see it work, sure, but only under some specific circumstances unless you just abandon canon and rewrite her with a whole new character. Which I didn't want to do, obviously.

: Considering that she's generally depicted as a shrinking violet and a bit of a doormat, I'd certainly be interested to hear what those 'circumstances' may be!

[W]: Heh... not entirely untrue, but perhaps only part of the story. The show repeatedly demonstrates that Fluttershy can be assertive when she needs to be - indeed, she can even be quite imposing! I suppose those incidents tend to stick in the viewer's minds specifically because they are rare, stand-out moments, leading to perhaps_overestimating_ her ability to act dominant. But the particular scenario that I keep coming back to, on that topic, is the episode 'Scare Master' from season 5.

: That's a bit past the point where your story takes place, isn't it?

[W]: Weeeelll... yeah. But it's not like Fluttershy's basic personality has shifted all that much in the intervening seasons, so it can still be used to exemplify the problem, I think.

: Granted, granted... do carry on.

[W]: Right. In the second half of 'Scare Master', Fluttershy pulls off a very impressive 'Nightmare Night' - that is, Halloween - prank on her friends, genuinely scaring the bejeezus out of them. Now, the prank itself was planned by Angel, her mean-spirited pet rabbit, so she doesn't get any credit for that, but in the prank's crescendo, she herself plays the role of a 'vampire-pony' - specifically, her Fruitbat Fluttershy incarnation from the Season 4 episode, 'Bats!'. And she plays it well! Right up until the point where the ponies terrified screams make her stop, break character, and apologize - exposing the entire prank.

: Sounds like Fluttershy, all right...

[W]: It does, doesn't it? But the point is, if you apply the same kind of idea to a more sexual, Sub/Dom relationship, it suggests that she COULD dom, and dom well - but only as long as she's completely certain that her sub is into it and enjoying the treatment. Basically, what she'd need is a 'Powerbottom'... stop giggling!

: I'm sorry, I'm sorry... just... 'powerbottom'?

[W]: That's what it's called! A sub who sets the stage, who knows exactly how hard she wants to be spanked, what kind of restraints she prefers, and what kind of scenes she wants to be in. Of course, as any BDSM-afficionado can tell you, in any kind of safe, sane and consensual D/s relationship, it IS the sub who holds the real power. They're the ones who have the safeword and can end things in a flash if they aren't enjoying themselves anymore. But with a powerbottom, that dynamic becomes a lot more blatant. A dom with a powerbottom always knows exactly what he - or she - is expected to do, and that would suit Fluttershy to a T.

: Ah, but your version of Rainbow Dash is not a... powerbottom, huh?

[W]: No, if anything, she's the exact opposite. She enjoys the complete surrender of power as a way to de-stress from normally always being on top - at least, that's what Twilight Sparkle concluded, and who are we to argue with her?

: Oh, Icertainly wouldn't dare to...

[W]: Me neither. It's a very real psychological phenomenon, of course, though I'm not entirely sold on whether that is what's going on in this case - but regardless, my version of Dash is the kind of sub who prefers to let the dom take charge completely, making no decisions and going into scenes with no knowledge of what to expect. It takes a highly confident and self-assured dom to handle that kind of sub, and Fluttershy is... well, none of those things, let's be honest.

: At least not canonically.

[W]: Sure, as I said, it's any fanartist's prerogative to rewrite characters if they like, altering their personality to suit the needs of the story. I, personally, just tend to prefer avoiding this if at all possible.

: So you've mentioned. Now then, I believe that covers all the major controversies, so let me just ask - any plans to continue this series, or writing a sequel-series?

[W]: I thought I answered that already. No, none. Equestria Apocalyptica was a bit of an odd project for me in the first place, on several levels, and while amusing to look back on, it's not really a place I've any intention to revisit.

: But IF you were to do so... which ending would you work from?

[W]: Hrmph... well, probably the 'Golden' ending. It's the only one with real story-writing potential in its aftermath. The original ending would just be a lot of mindless sex and a gradual descent into barbarism, the 'bittersweet' ending would be too damn depressing to continue on from, and the 'happy' ending would involve a lot of actively trying to stop anypony from having sex, which isn't really conducive to a sexy story. But the Golden Ending... well, a previously uptight and puritanical society waking up after what amounts to three months of non-stop no-holes-barred orgiastic entertainment and trying to come to grips with it... there's some potential there. Potential, I hasten to add, which will go forever unexplored!

: As you say. Now, before we close, anything you'd care to say to your fans?

[W]: I am NOT a brony. Just wanted to make that clear. I recognize that my ability to quote chapter and verse of the show, and my authorship of a lengthy, pornographic MLP fanfic, may result in some misunderstandings on that topic - hence, I'd like to set the record straight.

: Well, that should clear it up, no doubt. So, how many do you expect to actually read all the way to this point?

[W]: How many actually watch all the 'bonus interviews' and stuff on their Special Edition DVD's and Blu-Rays? Probably not many! But whatever, it's all just a big joke, you know?

: Is that why I'm dressed as Pinky Pie?

[W]: Actually, you _are_Pinky Pie.

[Pinkie Pie]: So I am! Right, that's all folks - good night!

END