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Act III:

"Hammer of the Gods"

Chapter Eighteen:

"Skyfall"

An eruption of flame blasted in the center of the throne room. The smoke cleared, revealing Chrysalis, her emerald eyes carefully scanning for signs of a threat. But it seemed no one had noticed their presence in the slightest.

There seems to be nopony here, Ajax mentally signaled, arching an eyebrow slightly in suspicion. Indeed, it seemed that the throne was room was completely empty, with neither a single guard nor servant around to disturb them. Chrysalis nodded her head slightly, but kept her guard up. Nopony knew better than her that just because you couldn't see someone watching you, didn't meant there wasn't someone watching.

It's quiet... Chrysalis thought. Much too quiet.

She took a step forward, readying her horn and Ajax did the same, both of them keeping their eyes sharp for whatever might be hiding in the shadows. Chrysalis halted, the sound of hooves clacking against the polished floors catching her ears.

Be prepared for offense, Chrysalis mentally and both she and Ajax crouched, readying to lunge with fangs bared. But out of the shadows stepped Trixie, holding Gungnir in hoof.

"Now now, I don't think this situation calls for hostilities. You are guests here, what kind of hostess would I be if I allowed you to be assaulted in my halls? We're not Hippogriffs, for The Maker's sake."

She waltzed over to Chrysalis, swinging Gungnir over her shoulder, coming up beside the Changeling queen as if they were old school companions. Chrysalis looked slightly displeased with this familiarity but said nothing.

"Come Chrysalis, I shall show you the way to Celestia's chambers," Trixie said in a tone that could almost be described as warm.

Chrysalis smiled darkly and beckoned for Ajax to follow behind her as the three walked down the palace halls.

"I suggest you disguise yourself as something more...subdued," Trixie said. "As one never knows who might be watching."

Chrysalis nodded. "Oh of course." And with that she transformed into a perfect mirror of Trixie, which caused the blue unicorn's seemingly amiable attitude to evaporate in a burning glare.

"I said subtle," Trixie practically snarled but this only provoked Chrysalis' pleasure.

"Oh, you Borrsons are no fun," she replied, her voice slick like serpent scales. She shifted to a dark-green-coated unicorn and lifted her head up high. She might be sneaking into her enemy's home, but she didn't need to slither on her belly like a traitor. If the blue unicorn beside her was any indication, in Borrson halls even traitors could walk tall without shame. That's what sentimentalism gave you.

Chrysalis attempted to scan the unicorn's mind, but once again, the unicorn had fortified it with scores of spells and enchantments, very heavy and complex works. Chrysalis couldn't help but feel a slight sensation of admiration for the unicorn, she at least knew how to play the game: keep the cards close to your chest, call all bluffs while projecting your own, and never ever come to the table without an extra deck up your sleeve.

They continued down the hallways until Trixie came to an unexpected halt and turned to face Chrysalis. "Down this hall, third door on the right is the entrance to my mother's chamber."

Chrysalis didn't move but looked down at Trixie pointedly. "And where is our hostess scampering off?"

Trixie gave her a look of condensing magnanimity. "I must keep any stray guests entertained. Wouldn't want any undeservings wandering into the personnage's lounge, would we?"

Chrysalis hated having to turn her back on anyone who wasn't a bondservant. And this filly's smiles came too quickly to come from a mind that wasn't already slippery with blood. But she only chuckled, the guttural kind that she used to send shudders through her servants. "My my my, you are the bold one. To direct the killer of your own mother to her chamber without so much as a second thought? If I didn't know better I'd say you had the heart of Penumbrus in you." When the unicorn flinched like she had been stabbed Chrysalis grinned and pushed her face into the filly's. "Don't look so upset, dearie. That dark heart will get you farther than your mother's fair one ever did." She let out a shrill laugh that made the unicorn jerk back, Chrysalis could hear Ajax chuckling behind them. The Changeling then straightened herself up and strode down the hall, once more reverting to her changeling form.

Trixie watched as Chrysalis and Ajax continued down the hall, the Changeling queen striding as if she owned the gilded walls. It made Trixie's stomach twist with a hatred so heady she was tempted to hurl Gungnir through Chrysalis's spine. But instead she cloaked herself in an invisibility spell and magically muting her hooves, following after the pair. A virulent smile crossed her face.

A fair heart can be a fearsome as a dark one, Chrysalis the Bloodied, when its cause is worthy. You'll know that soon--I'll see the realization light up your eyes just before I send your black heart to your father's in the deepest pit of Niflheim.

//////////////////////////////

Cadence watched Celestia sleeping soundly, as she continued to replenish and reinforce the renewing energies of the aura surrounding the larger alicorn. She had been up for no less than twenty hours but she refused to rest even at the insistence of the servants and counselors. If her sister needed anything now it was the comfort of a familiar presence, and with Trixie managing state matters and Luna on guard, there was only her.

Cadence's ministrations were abruptedly distracted by the sound of something violently striking against the door.

Nopony in the castle would do such a thing...

She immediately spun around and levitated one of the swords hidden in the bedposts in the process.

...Unless they mean harm.

"Who goes there?" she called out and in answer the door exploded into shards, an emerald bolt of magic tumbling towards her. Instinctively, she swung the sword to deflect it, sending it ricocheting wildly into the far wall, where it solidified into sticky green goo. Cadence was quick to follow the deflection with a blast from her horn, which struck the changeling that had been crouched in the doorway. He reeled back but shook off the magical discharge and bared his teeth in a broad smile.

"You dare strike against a daughter of Borr?" she said, her voice low and threatening. The changeling simply shrugged.

"I strike against any enemy with equal fervor, nag," he growled, before firing off another bolt of magic, which Cadence once more deflected with her sword and greeted with another bolt of her own. This time, the changeling didn't immediately respond with another bolt, but rather charged forwards, his horn firing off another shot as his wings lifted him into the air, dodging Cadence's sword swipe with ease.

"You Borrsons are all the same," the changeling taunted, as Cadence gritted her teeth and lept into the air after him, her larger wings giving her less maneuverability, but much more traction, which meant she was already at the same altitude as he was in half the time. The changeling however, seemed unfazed, as he darted about the ceiling, constantly staying one swipe ahead of Cadence's sword.

"Oh? Is that so? And how are we all the same, coward?" Cadence spat, firing another stream of magic and swinging her sword at the same time. The Changeling merely laughed.

"Simple. You only see what's directly in front of you."

Before Cadence had a chance to properly respond, she felt her wings suddenly covered in a sticky substance. Now with every beat they stuck together and when she pulled them apart feathers were ripped from her flesh. Before she could give two more flaps she fell to the floor with a crash and her sword landed with a crash several feet away.

"What sorcery is-" she was silenced by another bolt of magic that morphed into the gluey substance, this time directly to Cadence's muzzle, which spread and shut her mouth. She felt her legs become coated next despite her desperate thrashing which only stopped when a hoof came down on her side. She looked up and her eyes widened helplessly as Chrysalis stood over her, the Changeling's expression dominated by haughty delight.

"Princess Mi Amore Cadenza Odinmaden... what a pleasure to see you," Chrysalis hissed, her fangs dripping venom to the floor, where it briefly fizzled and left scorch marks. Cadence glared daggers at her and writhed against the thick mucus covering her body. Chrysalis smiled and leaned in close, cradling Cadence's chin with her hoof.

"Oh dear, is something the matter, Cadenza? Cannot your precious magic of love save you?" she asked, smearing every word with mockery. Cadence simply growled in response, charging her horn, only to have Chrysalis violently slam her head into the floor and the next second Cadence's horn was wrapped in a stony shell-like coating. Chrysalis laughed as Cadence attempted to blast the casing off her horn, only to let out a muffled cry of pain as the magic backfired, sending a pain that felt like a thousand burning daggers through her brain.

"Oh, did that hurt?" Chrysalis asked with concern that practically overflowed with contempt. Then she put her mouth to Cadence's ear, her lip still dripping venom that scorched Cadence's flesh. "_ Good, _" she whispered and her voice was now black and almost trembling with loathing and she brought her foreleg down on Cadence's torso, sending an eruption of volcanic pain through the princess's body.

Chrysalis let out a satisfied sigh and straightened, taking in the sight of the Borrson twisting in agony at was most likely a broken rib, before slowly turning to Celestia's bed.

"Ajax, go stand guard," She ordered. She wanted nothing to interfere with this moment. Ajax nodded, flittering over to the door. Once he was positioned, Chrysalis licked her lips and stepped up onto the bed to straddle the sleeping white alicorn. She carefully leaned down to gently pry Celestia's right eye open, her Changeling image reflected in the glowing sun indented in the alicorn's pupils.

"They say that you can still see and hear everything that goes on around you while in The Slumber," she whispered, speaking slowly to savor every sweet word. "I certainly hope so for I want you to know that is was by my hoof, the Queen of Hekkerheim and its black storms, who destroyed you. And know this," and here she lowered her face so her breath fanned Celestia's face. "Once I have finished you I will heap upon your family, your people and your land all the calamities you wreaked upon mine, so that if by some cruel turn of fate some escape my grasp their children until the world returns to darkness will have cause to curse your name and the name of your mother, Faust the Soulless." With those words, she stood erect, her horn sparking and forming a solid blade of emerald magic. "Faustmaden, your death comes by the daughter of Penumbrus," she declared, her voice ringing like thunder and she threw her head back to aim the blade directly at Celestia's heart.

"And yours comes by the daughter of Borr," came a shockingly familiar voice, and Chrysalis felt a searing pain go through her chest and as she looked down she saw Gungnir's tip plunging out from her chest. Chrysalis spun her head around in a seething rage to see Trixie, standing in the doorway over a pile of ashes which she assumed was Ajax, her face alight with ferocious victory.

But Trixie's triumphant expression instantly faded as Chrysalis broke into a long, shrieking laugh.

"What? Surprised?" Chrysalis asked, her voice almost rabid with spite. She lowered herself off the bed and faced Trixie without any apparent discomfort, in fact she was grinning wildly. "Were you truly convinced I actually believed your tale?"

" How. Are you still. Alive?" Trixie seethed and Chrysalis scoffed.

"We Changelings are the lords of deception, my dearest, it's the sweetness in our blood. You should have arranged your foalish excuse of a scheme more carefully. But what more would you expect from a Borrson? Always acting before thinking."

Trixie shook like she might fly apart in pieces and screamed like she might vomit up her soul. "You think you are the only crafty beast in the garden?" Her horn exploded in green light and across the room Gungnir bled out bile-black magic and twisted in the illusory Chrysalis' chest. Chrysalis' laughing smile warped into a howling mask of agony and released a screech that ripped through the air and straight through Trixie's mind like claws, rending her defense spells apart, before the illusion finally shattered in a shower of glittering shards that winked away like stars in the sunlight.

Trixie stared at where Chrysalis' illusion had stood, her head feeling like an axe was embedded through it. She couldn't draw any breath and was seized with a rabid, irrational horror that if she tried, if she moved a single muscle anywhere in her body, her skull would roll off her neck and break open on the floor.

And then my wicked thoughts will spill out in the sight of all to see and know what I have done...

A sudden, muffled cry broke through Trixie's paralysis.

Cadence....

Suddenly she regained her senses and galloped across the room towards the injured alicorn, freeing her with a flicker of her horn and a very precise counteractive spell that broke Chrysalis'. The bindings and the coating on Cadence's horn to evaporate in a flash of green.

The first thing Cadence did once freed was to pull Trixie into a desperate hug. "Oh thank the Maker you're safe!" She cried, tears already surging down her face. Trixie felt the warm, invigorating warmth of her aunt's love for her fill her with new energy and she returned the favor, tightening the hug ever so slightly, before Cadence let out a yelp of pain.

Trixie was quick to release her and gasped at the hideous bruise that had formed where the illusion had stomped down on Cadence's side. "Auntie, are you well?" She gasped.

Cadence nodded quickly. "Yes, I'm perfectly well, its just a -ohh- bruise..." She trailed off, letting out a groan of pain and leaning on Trixie. Cadence felt something warm on her cheek and glanced at her niece. "Trixie, your ears are bleeding!"

Trixie paused, wiped her cheek with her hoof and held it out in front of her. It was smeared with blood. She felt a shaft of fear lance through her stomach and she thought, My head is coming loose...

But Trixie quickly gritted her teeth and shook her head, partly to brush off her aunt's anxiety but mostly to shake the thoughts out and prove to herself that it was fastened in place.

"It's nothing Auntie, really. Your injuries are far more serious, let me call the physicians--"

"Is your mother okay?" Cadence asked, already pulling away from Trixie and limping towards Celestia bed, horn aglow. She winced slightly, the use her horn was still painful after her ordeal and she leaned against the bedpost in exhaustion.

"Auntie, you have to go to the healing room. I'll stay here and wa-" Trixie trailed off, the sound of hoofsteps in the doorway catching both her and Cadence's attention, both of them turning with their horns alight. Trixie's eyes widened and she felt her whole stomach lurching into her mouth.

Standing in the doorway with General Bulwark at her side, was Rainbow Dash in full armor and Mjolnir in hoof, her face tight with barely restrained anger. Cadence let out a cry of joy and rushed to the blue pegasus' side, her tears coming afresh.

"Rainbow Dash! You're alive!" she cried, pulling Rainbow into an embrace. Rainbow merely responded with a half-hearted hug in return, her eyes focused on Trixie and burning with fiery determination.

"Auntie, get to the Healing Room," Rainbow ordered, causing Cadence to step back and raise an eyebrow.

"Rainbow? What--"

"Auntie, go."

Cadence glanced at Trixie then frowned at Rainbow. "Rainbow Dash, why are you looking at your sister with such anger? She has just saved mine and your mother's life from Chrysalis!" Cadence said, attempting to turn Rainbow's head toward her with her hoof. Rainbow however shook her head free and never removing her gaze from Trixie.

"All will be explained once you arrive in the Healing Room," Rainbow said sternly. "Luna is in need of you."

"Luna? What happened to Luna?" Cadence asked, her voice rising in concern for her sister.

"Just go with General Bulwark, and Spitfire shall explain. She's waiting for you."

Cadence stared at her niece but reluctantly allowed General Bulwark to lead her out of the room, leaving Trixie and Rainbow alone.

"Trixie, I wish to have words with you," Rainbow said, taking a step forward. Trixie took a step back, moving so that Celestia's bed separated them.

"Why hello, Dashie. Enjoy your stay in Equestria?" She asked brightly and sidestepped towards the doorway.

Rainbow responded by hefting Mjolnir in her hoof. "You violated the mind of your own son, does that mean nothing to you?!" she demanded, mirroring Trixie's side steps towards the door. "Has Chrysalis' witchery blackened your mind so that your own children are worthless to you?"

Trixie tensed, her eyes glaring with provocation at Rainbow's confrontation.

"Answer me, Trixie!" Rainbow shouted but Trixie responded by shaking her head.

"I have duties to attend to, Rainbow," she said lightly, as if her words could brush off her sister's accusations. "So please excuse me, I know it's rude to run off from a party you host, but I'm off to destroy Hekkerheim."

Before Rainbow could respond, Trixie slammed Gungnir into the floor and vanished in a deafening explosion of light. Rainbow was quick to leap into the air, Mjolnir at the ready and hurdled herself towards the first place she imagined Trixie would go: The Bifrost.

///////////////////////

Trixie appeared in the Bifrost with a flash, wasting no time in galloping towards the central mechanism, stabbing Gungnir into the heart of the machine and setting alight the holographic branches of Yggdrasil.

She aimed the Bifrost towards her target, the glowing green dot labeled Hekkerheim, and with a look of fiendish glee, shot the full force of the Bifrost directly at the planet. The whole observatory shuddered but Trixie felt nothing but the glow of pleasure emanating from her heart as she imagined the moment when that green dot would vanish.

Then I shall be free. We shall all be free from the blight of their race, Mother will see. I shall be the savior of worlds as mother Faust was and I will be praised as she is, I will be her true daughter.

She twisted the giant staff out of its socket and charged her horn, firing a blast of green magic into the mechanism, which quickly solidified into a sticky, green glue that locked the Bifrost into position.

"Trixie!" came Rainbow's voice and Trixie saw a brilliantly colored streak racing towards the Bifrost.

Rainbow landed with authority, Mjolnir at the ready, only to have her eyes widen at the sight of the Bifrost already at full power and shooting its beam into space.

"Trixie, what are you doing?!" She shouted. Trixie, Gungnir in hoof, simply smiled, but this smile was different from any Rainbow had ever seen her give, it was small and quiet with chilling determination.

"You're too late, Rainbow. I've fastened the Bifrost in place. You have no magic to stop it and even if you did you have nothing to compare with Gungnir, even your quaint little worker's tool."

"Trixie, what have you done?! You know full well that the Bifrost will build until its pressure rips through Hekkerheim, it will tear the planet apart!" Rainbow said, her voice soft with overwhelmed confusion.

"Yes, that's the idea," Trixie said with the condescension of a mother speaking to her child . "I will finally bring forth righteous justice to our father's murderers, and cut off their demonic influence from the universe in one strike!" Trixie took several steps towards Rainbow, her head held high.

"Trixie, do you not hear what you are saying?" Rainbow said. "You speak madness!"

Trixie blinked, before raising an eyebrow. "Madness? How is seeking justice for the butchering of our father be madness?"

"This isn't justice Trixie, this is genocide!"

Trixie paused and stared at Rainbow with genuine confusion. "What's this? Has the Mighty Rainbow Dash grown weak? Has Equestria made you soft?"

Rainbow shook her head. "No Trixie, it simply is not our place to do such a thing. If we injure those who have done us no harm we call down the same curse, we will be as Chrysalis herself."

Trixie's whole body spasmed at those words and Rainbow, thinking she had finally broke through to her, continued: "Please sister, I beg of you--"

"I'm not your sister!" Trixie shrieked and Rainbow nearly leapt back in fright at the hysteria in her sister's voice. "I never was!"

Rainbow watched in horror as the blue unicorn in front of her was cloaked in a burst of green flame, revealing a changeling standing in her place, wearing the same wrathful expression. "What's the matter?" it hissed, mimicking Trixie's voice perfectly. "Didn't you know?"

"What have you done with my sister?!" Rainbow thundered, launching herself towards the changeling, who swung Gungnir at Rainbow, landing a good hit on Rainbow's side, sending the pegasus spiraling to the far wall. Rainbow hit the wall with a grunt, tumbling down and rolling on the floor before picking herself up again.

"Who are you and what have you done with Trixie?!" she shouted in fury, as the changeling in front of her simply fired another bolt of magic from Gungnir, causing a scorch mark to form on the wall as Rainbow barely dodged it.

"I am Trixie!" The changeling spat, firing off another bolt that only just missed Rainbow's body, but managed to burn off the far end of her cape.

"You lie! My sister is no changeling!" Rainbow shouted back, swinging Mjolnir to repel another blast from the staff. The changeling growled.

"But I am, you stupid nag! Do you not remember the time we recovered the sword of Surtur and our mother's secretary Crystal Pony was revealed to be traitorous? Or the time that we defeated the spiders of Muspelheim? Or the time I shaved Spitfire's hair and sold it for ale money?"

Rainbow shook her head firmly. "Anypony could have known such things..." she said, blocking off another bolt from the staff.

"Oh really? Do you remember how much I earned from selling the hair?"

Rainbow hesitated. The memory was vague and foggy, and honestly she was too busy trying to prevent the dozens of magic bolts being fired her way from hitting her. The changeling seemingly noticed her hesitation to answer however and laughed darkly.

"Don't remember do you? Well I do. It was thirty hundred and thirty septiums. Is that specific enough for you? Or need I remind you of the time you slept with that thestrial colt--what was his name, Magsyn and he had these lovely purple eyes that you just melted over--and I had to cover for you?"

Rainbow now simply gaped at the changeling in astonishment. To her knowledge, changelings usually only used the most basic knowledge of a target's memories, just enough to barely blend in. Many a time, both her and Trixie had found spies just by asking where the suspect lived, only to watch them flounder and fail to remember the address. This changeling however, knew of things that only Rainbow and Trixie knew of, and in a level of detail meant...

"H-How long?" she asked softly, trying grasp onto everything she had ever known about her sister into as it all evaporated the longer she stared at the changeling before her.

"Ask Mother," the changeling said, shifting back to resemble Trixie. With a flash she teleported in front of Rainbow Dash, before violently slamming her in the chin with Gungnir's sharpened tip.

"Now fight me," Trixie growled, and Rainbow rubbed her chin in pain, looking to see some blood smeared on her hoof from the wound on her chin. Perhaps it was the maliciousness of the action, a cruel note Rainbow had heard ringing in her sister's voice so often but had always overlooked, but Rainbow's eyes suddenly filled with moisture as someplace deep in her soul she accepted the terrifying image of a changeling as her sister.

"No...I w-won't...you're my sister..." Rainbow said, unable to help a tear coming down her cheek. This however only served to anger Trixie further.

"Why not?! Aren't I your mortal enemy? Aren't I the bileful spawn of the demon who tore your father's throat out?! Or do you too agree with me and believe that I am in the right in what I do?"

Rainbow said nothing, her mind spinning wildly in confusion. On the one hoof, Trixie was a changeling, Rainbow's sworn enemy, the race that had tried a thousand times to tear down Asgard and slaughter its people, along all the other realms. The race that taken her father from her.

But on the other hoof, this wasn't just any random pony, this was her sister, the one who knew her darkest secrets, and probably hated the changelings with a greater fervor than any other pony Rainbow had ever seen.

They had been raised side by side from their cradles, played together, been through a thousand battles together, had saved each other's lives countless times. Yes they had altercations and the occasional verbal spar, but in the end she was always the pony that Rainbow held closest to her heart, more constant than a shadow, more certain than the set of the stars, more sure than the rhythm of the tide.

Trixie was Rainbow Dash's sister.

But, there was still the undeniable truth that Trixie was suggesting the genocide of an entire planet, with millions, if not billions, of lives in a senseless and honorless attack. And that was something that Rainbow Dash now couldn't stomach in the slightest.

"Trixie, I will not fight you," she finally said, speaking slowly and with care. "But I shall not allow you to go through with this insane scheme." She hefted Mjolnir in her hoof for emphasis. "Unlock the Bifrost now, and I shall have mercy on you. But if not... I shall be forced to stop you by force."

Trixie smiled. "Very well then..." she turned and took a step towards the Bifrost, and Rainbow let out a sigh of relief. However, less than two steps later, Trixie spun around, hitting Rainbow with the staff with all her might, sending Rainbow sprawling to the floor, and Rainbow countered with a swipe of Mjolnir, knocking the staff off the ground and causing Trixie to briefly lose her footing and stumble slightly.

"Trixie, stop this now! I already asked twice and I will not ask a third!"

"Why do you wish to save the home of our enemies, Rainbow? What happened to you in Equestria that made you so spineless and weak? Was it the mortals? Did you feel sorry for their pitiful existence and wish to atone for it somehow by saving some other world?" Trixie demanded, keeping her body low as she deflected Rainbow's hammer swipes.

Rainbow stopped, Mjolnir poised in the air above her shoulder as if frozen. Why did she care? She hadn't three days ago; that wasn't even enough time for the moon to wax or wane, it was a less than a blink of an eye, on a soul that would endure for millennias more. What impression could three days leave upon it?

The memory of Scootaloo crying after her resurrection rose in Rainbow's mind. She thought of Daring Do, struggling so hard to comfort her grieving niece day by day while shouldering her own loss. She thought of Scootaloo's parents who even beyond the grave held such enveloping love for their daughter.

And she realized in Hekkerheim there might be a changeling filly like Scootaloo and her parents and her aunt, just simple creatures trying to live decently among the common griefs of life with the added burden of a decimated homeworld and a wicked ruler. Would they die now, simply because three days ago in a rush of foolish, ignorant willfulness Rainbow wanted somepony to suffer for the death of a father she never knew and who a single changeling had killed?

"No Trixie," Rainbow finally said., "I do not feel any sympathy for the changelings. But three days ago I cared nothing for the inhabitants of Midgard and now it would crush me to hear of their demise. I have seen their lives, so fleeting and fragile, and is it not the duty of the mighty to preserve the weak? Do you despise a flower because it is delicate or do you care for it so it can flourish and prize the beauty only it can give? All this as proven my previous opinions of them as false or ignorant or arrogant, so how can I pass judgment on another race on the grounds of those flawed perceptions?"

Trixie stared at Rainbow for a painfully long moment. "When in the name Faust did you become so damned poetic?" she finally demanded sounding actually offended. "Those foalish, inferior creatures moved your berserker heart? They are but ants to us!"

Rainbow simply shook her head which made Trixie gnash her teeth. Trixie thought back to the image the scrying pool had presented and the way Rainbow had acted to protect a little orange filly, who seemed no older than Rumble.

"Oh...." she said slowly, drawing out all the rageful venous in her voice. "I see what it is. You've replaced me with that mewling mortal! Well then, suppose I'll grant her a little visit when I'm done. Maybe even dressed as you. She wouldn't be expecting anything harmful from your loving self, would she?" she added with a snarl, before breaking out in a demented grin. "Mortals, they're so--how did you so aptly put it? Oh that's right:delicate. Why, you just speak a little spell and they unravel like the dust they are."

Trixie burst into a fit of mad laughter, which was abruptly cut off as Mjolnir came flying into her like a missile, sending her flying through the observatory walls. With a crash, she landed on the Rainbow Bridge, sliding wildly across the slick crystal surface before flying off the side of the bridge, grabbing the edge with her hooves.

Rainbow's eyes widened and she flew as fast as her wings could carry her to where Trixie was, grabbing Mjolnir and looking down to try and see where Trixie had fallen and if she was still there. She found Trixie clinging for what seemed to be dear life, and looking up at Rainbow with eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"Agh! Help me!" she cried out in terror, and Rainbow bit her lip slightly, still unsure if this was really Trixie or just another ruse. However, the look of sheer abject terror on Trixie's face and the visible tears welling up in her eyes were enough to convince Rainbow that it was actually Trixie.

Rainbow bent over, reaching out a hoof to grab Trixie's own. "Give me your hoof!" she shouted over the roar of the Bifrost, and Trixie nodded fearfully, tentatively reaching a hoof up to Rainbow's own. However, her other hoof seemingly lost its grip and she fell with a scream, only to vanish in a flicker of light.

Before Rainbow even had a chance to react to the obvious ruse, she was hit in the back by a sharp object. She stumbled forward, spreading her wings a second before she fell off the bridge, spinning around mid-flap to find Trixie standing there, already charging Gungnir with another bolt of magic.

Rainbow threw Mjolnir, knocking the staff out of Trixie's hooves. Trixie however, was quick to respond by grabbing Rainbow's tail with her magic and, with a growl of her own, dragging her towards the bridge. Rainbow spun around, as the rest of her body was free, and managed to score a good, solid punch to Trixie's face, sending the stumbling backwards and sprawling out onto her back.

Trixie let out a groan as she tried to gather her senses, her muzzle feeling as it were on fire. She could taste the metallic taste of her own blood in her mouth, and she felt a weight being placed on her chest. She looked down to see that Rainbow had seen fit to place Mjolnir on her chest, preventing her from sitting up. Trixie took a deep breath and, with all her might, attempted to lift the heavy hammer off of her chest. However, try as she might, the hammer refused to budge.

She shifted her attention to the sight of her sister, who stood a couple feet ahead of her, looking up at the observatory, obviously at a lost to solve the problem before them. The titanic machine was now shooting out wild bolts of energy and now beginning to actively drag the two ponies towards its center, which a blinding glow of white light.

"Look at the Mighty Rainbow Dash! Completely powerless to stop a simple machine!" Trixie screamed and laughed viciously. "Nothing you do can stop what I've set in motion, not now! Soon Hekkerheim shall be completely obliterated and their wretched existence ended. And the best part?! _ I win! _"

Rainbow glared back at Trixie, ready to respond with a hot remark of her own. However, the potential comeback died on the tip of her tongue when she saw the look on her sister's face. It was the look of a pony who honestly didn't care if she brought about Ragnarok and the deaths of thousands of innocents. All Trixie wanted was to win. And Rainbow realized that was all Trixie had ever really wanted in the end.

Rainbow turned away, instead focusing her attention back on the machine before her. She could feel the massive amount of gravity pulled her towards it, and could also see several parts of the observatory come breaking loose, only to be instantly sucked away into the rapidly expanding black hole on the horizon.

There has to be something to stop this... she thought desperately, looking around for some sort of switch or lever she could pull in order to turn the machine off. But there was none. The only other solution she could think of was breaking the Rainbow Bridge beneath her, which would at least detach the observatory from the rest of Asgard, which would also cut the Observatory off from its energy source, hopefully ending the threat to both Asgard and Hekkerheim.

"Well Rainbow?! What are you going to do?!" Trixie shouted back, her voice thick with biting sarcasm. Rainbow looked back at Trixie, focusing on the hammer holding her down. She looked back at the Bifrost, and the massive amount of energy being sucked into it.

It's the only way... she thought, reaching a hoof out and calling Mjolnir to her. Without so much as a second's pause, she brought the hammer down as hard as she could, and the bridge underneath buckled noticeably, the energy faltering slightly.

Rainbow brought the hammer down again, and a large fissure appeared in the swiftly weakening bridge, only to be expanded when the hammer came crashing down again and again repeatedly as Rainbow attacked it with all her might, each time causing the crack to expand larger and larger.

"What are you doing?!" Trixie shrieked, finally freed from Mjolnir's weight and able to stand up. "If you destroy it, you'll leave Fenrir down there!" For a split second Trixie sounded almost frighted but her voice quickly shifted into desperate persuasion: "You know full well he's mad and on the loose! Would you risk the life of your little mortal friend just to save a thousand near immortal ones?! I'm no longer in control of Fenrir you know! Who knows what he could do!"

Rainbow turned to look over her shoulder. "I have news for you, Trixie. Your threat is meaningless. Fenrir's mind has been restored. He is no threat," she said sternly, and Trixie's mouth dropped in shock, saying nothing in response. Rainbow then refocused her attention back on the bridge before her, briefly looking out towards the stars.

"I'm sorry, Scoots," she whispered, before bringing down the hammer with every last ounce of her strength, causing the bridge before her to finally break away,

However, what Rainbow hadn't expected was the fissure to continue backwards, causing the bridge beneath her and Trixie to start cracking, the Bifrost's own weight beginning to drag it down into the endless abyss before it, hopelessly caught in the massive gravitational pull. As the bridge beneath them buckled, the two ponies slid forwards, their hooves scrambling wildly for anything to stop them from falling. Rainbow reached a hoof out and grabbed Gungnir as it came flying by, swinging it out towards the flaying Trixie.

"Trixie, grab on!" Rainbow shouted, and Trixie's hooves wrapped around the staff without so much as a second's hesitation. Rainbow tried to pump her wings, but the gravity funnel was too much and she continued to fall backwards, before she felt herself come to a sudden halt.

She looked around to see what had saved the two of them from certain death, and was greeted by the sight of Celestia, horn aglow and magic wrapped tightly around Rainbow's back leg.

" Mother?!" both Rainbow and Trixie shouted in unison, and Celestia smiled weakly, obviously not having shaken off the Slumber fully.

"Mother!" Trixie cried, her face devoid of all anger or hate and instead overflowing with desperate, seeking hope. "Please! I could have done it, I could have destroyed them! For you, Mother!" She added and tears were in her eyes.

Celestia however gazed down at Trixie with an expression of profound anguish. "No, Trixie..."

Rainbow looked between the two, noticing how, upon hearing Celestia's answer, Trixie's expression of hope faded along with any determination or will, instead replaced by vacuous despondency. Rainbow's eyes widened, instantly recognizing the look in her sister's eyes.

"Trixie! Trixie, don't let go!" she shouted, and Trixie's empty gaze shifted towards her slightly.

Trixie stared at Rainbow for a long, strange moment, her eyes not really focusing on Rainbow before her grip on the staff loosened, and Rainbow began to madly try and pull the staff up towards her.

"NO!!!" Rainbow cried out, trying desperately to grab onto Trixie as the blue unicorn simply allowed herself to fall into the abyss. Rainbow watched helplessly as Trixie fell farther and farther away, soon becoming no more than a tiny blue speck that vanished into the black hole below.

Rainbow then felt herself being pulled upwards, and she looked up to see her mother pulling her up from the cliffside. She then pulled Rainbow into a vice like hug, clutching her daughter tightly as Rainbow's will shattered and she began to sob deeply into Celestia's shoulder.

Celestia meanwhile, simply stared into the space where Trixie had fell, tears rapidly welling up in her eyes. Try as she might to maintain her composure, she soon broke down as well, joining her daughter in sobbing for their lost loved one.