Sins of The Past

Twilight was waiting for Celestia upon her return. Her face fell more and more with every detail Celestia gave.

"Humans? Gods? Celestia, what were you thinking?" Twilight asked, shaking her head.

"I thought only of my little ponies. Mostly you. I will not lose you, Twilight." Celestia's voice was firm and unwavering. "We must report this ... change to K. She will know what to do with her own knights."

"Lead the way."

"I must warn you before you see. Do not stare at K. She is blind, but not in the usual way," Celestia said, her expression serious.

"Then how ..?"

"Her eyes were ripped out. She has but empty sockets left. Let me repeat myself, for good measure: Do not stare."

Celestia opened a portal, no longer having access to the mirror. Twilight tentatively stepped through, unsure of where they were going. Celestia followed, sealing the portal behind her.

K looked up, hearing two loud thumps in her throne room. She grabbed a baseball bat and stalked to the scene. K rushed in, swinging the bat wildly and nearly missing Celestia's head.

"Give me that!" Celestia snapped, irritated at the Queen's paranoia. She reached for the bat and threw it aside.

"Celestia?" K asked, cocking her head to the side. "Who else is here?"

"... I'm ... um ... Twilight," Twilight said, averting her gaze from the blinded Queen. Celestia's words did her no aid; the Queen's eye sockets were stained with old blood and some fluid she could only assume was the fluid inside the eye.

"To whom or what do I owe the visit?" K asked, visibly calmer knowing that she wasn't in danger.

"It's about your knights. We need the ponies I traded you back."

"Izotz was set off, wasn't he?" K whispered, shaking her head. "Fine. I will trust that you will take care of my knights. Return them when you are done -- I can only hold the flow off for so long."

"The flow?" Twilight asked, confused.

"The flow of our story. Every event is plotted by a force beyond me. Each and every event happens again and again with each year that passes because no end was written. Izotz and Bastian -- you know them as Frost and Ebony -- play key roles which are coming up very quickly. I can hold off the story for a while, but eventually, the show must go on. If they don't come back in time ... well, who knows? I will go gather your friends. Come along, both of you."

A tall man leaned over a cake, cutting small squares. He handed one to the heavier-set girl beside him. Her puffy, pink hair immediately identified her as Pinkie Pie. When K walked in, he stiffened up and faced her, his hands folded behind his back

"Yes? Did you need something, liebling?" he asked, scratching at one side of a massive scar on his face. The corners of his mouth had been slashed up to the corners of his eyes, giving him a permanent and unsettling grin.

"Is Pinkie here?" K asked, stealing a piece of the cake for herself. "This is delicious, Alfred. What's in it?"

"Hogshead and the usual cake ingredients. Yes, she's right --" Twilight rushed past he and Celestia, running to embrace her friend.

"I've missed you!" she cried, tears of joy running down her face.

"Don't worry, silly! Alfie's been a lot of fun! Look at all of the recipes he gave me!" Pinkie squealed, holding up a recipe box filled almost to bursting.

"I'm sorry to cut your reunion short, but we have to get going. Things will only get worse the more we wait," K said, rinsing her now-empty plate. Celestia nodded to Twilight and they moved to the door, ready to leave.

Elsewhere,

Weatherponies everywhere were run ragged containing the fires. Though none were in Equestria, Celestia still dispatched most of the weather team to deal with the raging wildfires burning through the other countries and the Everfree. With every fire they put out, the weatherponies were required to report the precise location of the burn to Celestia herself. The location was then given to Twilight and meticulously plotted on a map of the known world. The more fires they put out, the better Twilight could see any connections. The fires were forming a path. It could only be one pony.