Princesses of Equestria

Chapter 36: Epiphany

Perfection.

Queen Armonia beheld paradise, and exulted. She'd done it. A thousand years of banishment, days of relentless civil war, a last pulse-pounding duel that had pushed her to her limit, and she'd finally done it. Her Spring Equinox spell had worked.

Dead fields bloomed rich and green, without a trace of chequerboard. Polluted skies were pristine blue, unmarred by a single cotton candy cloud. The collateral damage from her showdown with Twilight had been reversed. Canterlot mountain stood tall and proud. To think she'd been thrown right through the thing, then flung Twilight into it only minutes ago!

The plain of jagged spires; the valleys of laser-carved glass; and Canterlot lake's desiccated husk; everything was whole. Lush. Untainted by chaos.

Discord's Pandemonium was no more. Equestria was saved. Victory was hers. And goddess it was sweet.

"Hail, Queen Armonia! Forever shall she reign!" Royal guards played a strident fanfare.

"HAIL, QUEEN ARMONIA! FOREVER SHALL SHE REIGN!" The cheers of her subjects were a symphony to Armonia's ears. They'd forgiven her, as she'd known they would. Everypony she'd been forced to horrify, to petrify, to draw upon for power, knelt on the verdant field before her, basking in their true Queen's radiance.

"HAIL, QUEEN ARMONIA! FOREVER SHALL SHE REIGN!" fifty thousand voices roared in rapture, bringing tears to her eyes; clear tears, not the vile oil she'd shed while banishing Celestia, Luna or Intellectus. Then, she'd adopted her phobomancy's most fearsome aspect. Now, there was no need for phobomancy. No need to take a form that struck terror into her people's hearts. So, she'd transformed as the world had.

In Canterlot lake's clear waters, Armonia beheld her resplendent visage. A sparkling juggernaut, armored in faultless Heartstone, not an inch under five hundred feet. Her crystalline swan's wings were more luminous than any of Celestia's sunrises. Her hair, a glossy river of ebony. Her horn, a towering fluted lance.

And the main attraction: the Crown of Harmony, ornamented by its six recovered Elements once again. Honesty's amethyst, Loyalty's ruby, Generosity's emerald, Laughter's sapphire, Kindness's opal and Magic's quartz suffused Armonia's realm in heavenly splendor.

A fitting metaphor. Surely, this was heaven. Surely, she was its supreme Goddess. And surely, the thronging masses that praised her were angels, so beautifully did they sing.

"HAIL QUEEN ARMONIA! FOREVER SHALL SHE REIGN!"

Equestria's savior echoed them with a sigh, content at last.

"Hail, Queen Armonia. Forever shall I—"

And then a crack opened in her perfect world, and Twilight Sparkle stepped through.

"I ... I don't believe it."

One by one, her friends followed.

"No." Armonia's whisper grew to an earthquake's roar. "No, no, NO, NO, NO!!! "

The portal. Close the portal!

She drew upon the magic of Harmony, and willed the way shut at once. Too late. The seven of them crossed the divide, and worse, it hadn't completely sealed. A strange, repellent, alien magic that Armonia had never encountered before lingered around the breach.

By slow, inexorable degrees, Twilight's portal edged open again.

"How?" Armonia hissed, staring at the ponies who'd done the impossible. "It took me a thousand years to escape the Silent Realm, and you bunch of ignorant thieves got out in five minutes? HOW?!"