“Councilors I implore you to please reconsider…”

“We have considered your words Prince Armor,” said a mare by the name of Ivory Blade, who had succeeded him in becoming head of the Royal Guard. “But it is quite obvious to us that the Princess Celestia is in trouble, why else would she be using such devastating magic otherwise.”

“But Ivory you don’t know everything that is going on…”

“And you really expect us to believe anything you say,” said another pony, this one by the name of Blood Wine, “we have already been made aware of your falsified report regarding the search you conducted in Ponyville, a search you conducted seemingly with guards you conjured from the ether.”

“I had my reasons, and if you would let me explain…”

“I think you have said all you can on this matter Prince Armor,” said the head of the council coldly, a dark coated mare Shining knew by the name of Shadow Gale, “now unless you want to be removed by force, I suggest you…you…by the makers…”

Shadow Gale and the rest of the council threw themselves to the ground in a low bow, and when Shining turned around to see who had walked in, he two found himself going to his knees, for walking through the door was none other then Faust herself.

“Please rise councilors,” said Faust as she moved to stand beside Shining, and once he got a look at her, he noted with surprise that she had a raven on her shoulder, something he would not have associated with the legendary goddess.

“I…If I may be so bold your highness,” said Shadow Gale, “what brings you here after all this time, for I must admit surprise at see you here.”

“I wish I had better reasons for my arrival, but I am afraid I come with grave tidings, for my eldest daughter has lost herself to her darkness.”

The council remained silent for a moment, and then Shadow Gale spoke up, “You…you mean our fair princess…”

“Has lost herself to a monster of her own making, and unfortunately, that is not the only bit of grave tidings I bring.”

“What could be worse then what you have just revealed,” said another council member, a stallion by the name of Golden Bit if Faust guessed correctly, and she usually did.

“As you all are aware, my daughters named a mare named Twilight Sparkle as their reincarnated soul mate, however that was only a partial truth, for that mare was in fact the victim of an entity known as a soul thief.”

What surprised her was that the council did not scoff at her claim, instead many of them looked contemplative, and then Shadow Gale spoke up. “So Blueblood was right.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean,” asked Shining, who was looking just as surprised as Faust.

“Before he leveled his accusations at your sister,” said Ivory, “he came to us with a different accusation entirely, for he said that he believed your sister had been possessed by a soul thief.”

“And he was sure of this statement?” asked Faust.

“His ancestor Glittering Veil hunted the last of the known soul thieves in Equestia to extinction over six hundred years ago, but to insure that they could be fought in the future, her family kept up the practice of learning the magics necessary to both detect and combat such creatures.”

“We unfortunately put no stock in his warnings,” said another member, a grizzled old stallion by the name of Dusty Scroll. “After all the princesses are magically powerful and observant beings, so surely they could have detected such a creature.”

“Is that why the princess has fallen to madness,” asked Shadow Gale, “she was corrupted by this soul thief?”

“Sadly no,” said Faust, “for the soul thief is the soulmate of my daughters, and the one they awoke after informing Twilight of her supposed nature.”

The entire council gasped, allowing Faust to continue. “There were unaware of their mates true nature at first, simply thinking they were awakening their lovers old memories after she had reincarnated, but Celestia became aware of her true nature some time after the fall of the Crystal Empire, where as Luna only became aware after this most recent revival.”

Taking a deep breath, she continued. “Luna, maybe due to the suddenness of how she found out the truth, or maybe due to her past, has chosen to fight against her mate. But Celestia has come to accept what her mate is doing as necessary, which has lead to our current predicament, for she will not let anyone take her mate from her.”

“Then should we not send the guard to Luna’s aid?” asked Ivory.

“That would only lead to unnecessary deaths,” said Faust, “plus, I have already set others to the task of bringing this creature to justice, as well as dealing with Celestia. What you should do is insure that Canterlot is secure, as well as insure that the public are not panicking.”

“You’re will be done your highness,” said Shadow Gale, “is there anything else.”

When Faust shook her head, Shadow Gale called an end to the meeting, everyone leaving the room and leaving Faust and Shining alone as they to exited into the halls beyond.

“I’ll go help Ivory with preparing the deference's,” said Shining as he bowed to her, before sprinting off to catch up with the mare, leaving Faust to sigh before she teleported to the highest tower in the castle.

Looking out from the balcony, she saw the battle that was unfolding, both the fires that we exploding out from the White Tail Woods, as well as the massive blizzard that had formed over Ponyville.

“So how long till you take to the field,” asked the raven on her shoulder, wincing as a particularly big explosion went off.

“…I am afraid I have done all I can,” said Faust as she continued to watch the storm below.

“WHAT!!!” yelled the raven, departing from her shoulder and then becoming engulfed in green flames, revealing itself to be Chrysalis as the Changeling Queen glared at her mate. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE DONE ALL YOU CAN DO!!!”

“What I mean is that my hooves are tied when it comes to the help I can provide,” said Faust, “I cannot do anymore then what I have done.”

“And why not,” said Chrysalis with a growl, “what possible reason could be holding you back, for you have never held back before.”

“…because if I interfere any further it will cost us both our daughters lives.”

Chrysalis’s eyes widened in horror, though she remained silent, allowing Faust to speak further. “After our daughters came into their powers, the Ascendancy called me to a private meeting, where they told me that I was to begin…pulling back in how much I interfered in the day to day lives of my ponies. Naturally an argument ensued, which lead to the council telling me in no uncertain terms that if I continued to interfere in the lives of my ponies, the necessity of our daughters would be called into question…and could lead to them being…unmade.”

Chrysalis simply stared at her for a long moment, and then let out a sad sigh, before sitting down next to her and speaking. “I see they gave you the same spiel they did me.”

Noting her confusion, Chrysalis continued. “First, I have a confession to make, for like you…I to have been hiding children, who were born from your love some time after we grew…distant from each other.”

“I can assume that these children would be Thorax and Pharanx, I thought it odd that they had the ability to become monarch’s.”

Chrysalis nodded, “Some time after Thorax took charge of the changelings, very rightly I might add, the Ascendancy rather forcefully summoned me to a similar meeting, which ended the same way yours did.”

“So in essence…both our hooves are tied,” said Faust.

“So it would seem,” said Chrysalis, before returning to her raven form and perching on Faust shoulder, and then watching with her as the battle in the distance continued to unfold.

*

“Ok,” said Rainbow Dash as she dodged out of the way of another Windigo, “correct me if I’m wrong, but shouldn’t we have already defeated them all by now!”

“I would have thought so,” said Rarity as she blasted another away, “but it would seem whatever Everfree did has made them endless.”

“Not actually endless,” said Stygian as he ducked before firing off another shot, “but you aren't going to like how she’s creating them.”

“At this point we could use any information we can get!” yelled Nyx as she and Fluttershy drove one into the ground, before Fluttershy finished it off with a friendship powered stomp.

“Windigos are formed from the corrupted souls of those who died in the cold, and they feed ponies hatred to try and create more of their kind. The fundamental law of magic states that you cannot create something from nothing, not even Everfree could defy that, and after scanning these creatures…I have determined that she is taking souls from Tartarus!”

“Tartarus,” said Applejack in surprise, “as in the place full of shit we don’t want getting out till it’s served its time.”

“The very same,” said Stygian, “and worse still, I am pretty sure that they will not stop coming till Everfree is dealt with.”

“Then lets hope Twilight and the others can end her quickly.”

*

Twilight shook off the disorientation of the teleportation, looking around to see that they were high above the clouds, on Smokey Mountain if she guessed correctly.

She saw that Starswirl and Sombra were near her, but before she could speak to them, she saw out of the corner of her eye a shimmer of magic, and erected a shield just in time as a blast of magic was sent her way.

The blast washed harmlessly over her shield, but just as Twilight was about to lower it, she noticed a glow coming from below her, and looked down to see a run had formed under her hooves, one that was about to detonate.

Leaping out of the way, she got caught in the blast radius which flung her even father, but before she could hit the ground, an aura of white magic surrounded her, and she looked to see Starswirl had caught her, meanwhile Sombra was doing his best to distract their attacker.

“I may have severally underestimated your sisters magical ability,” said Starswirl as he blocked a blast sent his way, for even with the distraction being caused by Sombra, Evefree barley seemed fazed.

“Well she does have three thousand years of life experience to draw from,” said Twilight as she joined in trying to break the mares shield.

As they continued to send blasts at the shield, Twilight saw out of the corner of her eye Sombra disappear into the shadows, and realizing what he was doing she doubled her aggression, keeping her sisters eyes on her as she saw the shadows behind her begin to grow and take shape.

However, just as his form was about to re-solidify, a blinding light appeared within Everfree’s shield, accompanied by an agonizing scream of pain, and as Twilight’s vision returned, she saw Sombra sailing overhead, though she could see he was breathing.

“Fuck,” said Twilight, before ducking as another blast was sent her way.

The continued their assault, but as the battle wore on Twilight could see that Starswirl was quickly tiring, but before she could try and help her old mentor, his shield broke, and he was sent flying by another blast.

“Looks like its just you and me now sister,” said Everfree as she began to circle around her, Twilight beginning to circle as well while keeping her horn lit.

Twilight didn’t say anything, instead she sent another blast at her sister, before beginning to teleport in an erratic pattern to keep her sister on her hooves.

But an erratic pattern was still a pattern, and it didn’t take long for Everyfree to place a well timed shot and send Twilight from the sky, where she crashed hard against the stone.

“I never wanted to fight you sister,” said Everfree as she began making her way over to Twilight, “but you’ve left me no choice.

She charged up her horn to deliver a finishing blow, but was interrupted as a blast of magic tore its way through her chest, the mare staggering a bit and coughing up blood, before turning around to look at who had shot her, her eyes widening in shock, for standing behind her was Luna.

Author's Note

A flash back scene will be starting out the next chapter, so the battle is not quite done yet, but till then guys, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to drop them on by, I love hearing from you guys.