Myths and Birthrights: The Archive

Myths and Birthrights

By Tundara

Part Two: Tremors in the East

Chapter Sixteen: Goddess of Forests

The halls of Canterlot Palace echoed with the drumbeats of Celestia’s hooves. For the second time in almost as many nights she’d been awoken early. This time it hadn’t been Luna, but a pressure striking deep into the base of her horn. She’d barely even gotten to sleep, stealing only a few minutes before having to tend to the needs of her nation.

Luna was at her side, a dour and worried expression making her normally stern features seem absolutely thunderous. Guards and servants lept out of the sisters paths, a few trembling at the concern and anger that flowed from the pair.

“I’ve allowed myself to become too long-sighted,” Celestia said to herself as much as to Luna as they approached the inner-sanctum of the palace.

“You could not have known. It isn’t like you were told what would happen a thousand years in advance, with all the time necessary to plan and set things into motion.” Despite the gravity of the situation, Luna smirked up at her sister, and to her relief, she saw the smile being reciprocated.

“I’m too used to knowing everything, it seems,” Celestia admitted as her hooves touched the thick red carpet that lead to the vaults. “Why didn’t we go straight to the Elements when Fleur’s condition became apparent? Sending her off, even if she volunteered, was foolhardy and arrogant. I’ve become as bad as mother.”

Luna was quiet for a moment, coming to a stop as she let the smirk slip back to a grimace. Celestia, sensing her sister halt, turned to look back.

“Whether foolhardy or not, you know better than to second guess yourself. It is done, Tia.”

“We should have been finished with it.” Celestia sagged a little. “When you came to me with the plan to have Fleur accompany Twilight on a goodwill tour, I should have said ‘no’, fetched the Elements, and cured Fleur.”

“It was the right decision,” Iridia’s cold voice cut into the conversation. The Queen and Princess Cadence, trotted side-by-side down the hallway. As they approached, Iridia extended a comforting wing and laid it across Celestia’s back. “Using the Elements was a coin toss. Either it’d force Fleur and Athena apart, or bind them together. We can argue from spring to winter about her going on the voyage, but as for the Elements, no, I believe we made the right choice.”

“Does little to assuage the guilt.” Celestia gave her head a little shake.

After a few steps, Cadence said, “I wonder why they would go directly to Ponyville. Surely they must know we are in Canterlot. They couldn’t know of the Elements, could they?”

“They aren’t kept a secret,” Luna pointed out as they rounded the final bend, the vault-door at the end of a corridor of stained glass windows.

“Yes, but before, it was always the Elements themselves that were attacked, not their bearers.”

“Attacking the bearers makes more sense.” Iridia quipped. “Had I been aware of the Elements, I’d have gone for the bearers directly to delay my sister’s plans and give me time to find a counter for the Elements themselves. You’ve sent some of your little toy soldiers down to the village already, yes?”

“The guard outpost in Ponyville has been alerted to the situation, yes. I am just hoping that whoever we are sensing went to Ponyville for benign reasons,” Celestia said as she unlocked the vault and retrieved one of the few boxes it contained. The words were hollow however, and she was sure the others picked up her own doubt. The prayer that had awoken her still rattled through Celestia, the image of Sweetie terrified and alone piercing her heart. It took all her considerable will not to go straight to Ponyville. “Twilight can return with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, if needed and...”

Celestia voice trailed off as she opened the box containing the Elements of Harmony and her worst fears were confirmed.

Four of the Elements; Loyalty, Honesty, Laughter, and Magic, were unchanged. The Elements of Kindness glowed, emitting a brilliant, but intermittent light. The heartstone of Generosity was a flat grey, a crack running through the gem. The necklace that held the Element didn’t glimmer like the others in the box, the gold seeming dull and unpolished.

“Oh no, Rarity,” Cadence gasped, covering her mouth with her hooves.

“We don’t know what—” Celestia began to speak, but was interrupted as Iridia vanished with a crack. “I wish she wouldn’t do that,” Celestia gave a frown at where her aunt had been standing. “Lulu, go after her. Make sure she doesn’t do anything foalish.”

“Like attack an Awakened alicorn in the middle of a populated area?” Luna said drolly, already weaving her own teleportation spell.

Luna was gone before Celestia could respond.

“What about me?” Cadence asked.

Taking a moment to think the situation over, Celestia said, “You should go and hold Tyr and Shining.” With the ring of drawing steel, Celestia took up her sword, the blade mirroring the molten fire in her eyes. “If this turns out to be the same alicorn that mother fought...”

The threat hung unfinished in the air as Celestia gave her sword a few deft, practice swings.

* * *

A soft, white paw striking her across the muzzle brought Fluttershy back to Equestria and out of a hazy sea of dreams. Slowly cracking her eyes open, she saw, not to her surprise, Angel Bunny sitting on her chest. The rabbit appeared more concerned than angry, which immediately rang warning bells through Fluttershy’s head.

Her thoughts were sluggish, like they were filled with cotton, as she rolled to her hooves. A groan escaped her, and she had to clamp her eyes shut for a moment as the world took a harsh spin. The room wobbled as she staggered to the bathroom, her stomach making it plain that if she didn’t reach the sink quickly she’d have a mess to clean. At the last moment she reached the porcelain rim, her two dinners forcing their way up her throat. For a full minute she retched, empting the dinners she and Artemis had eaten into the drain.

At last feeling her stomach stopped the worst of its twisting. Fluttershy looked up, and screamed as an unfamiliar pony gazed out of her mirror. Scrambling backwards, she grabbed a towel in a pink and green aura of magic, bringing the cloth up in a shield as she yelled for Angel.

Angel gave a war-cry, leaping into the room with a red bandana tying back his ears and a wooden spoon in paw.

I’m here, Yellow-One! the rabbit said, before giving another war-cry, twirling his wooden spoon, and hitting himself on the nose so he staggered back and landed with a soft ‘plump’ beside Fluttershy.

Rubbing his nose, he gave her an exasperated glare. Fluttershy just gazed down on Angel, her mouth hanging open as wide as it could manage.

“A-angel... you spoke!” she stuttered, pointing a hoof at him.

Yes... Angel quirked an eyebrow, giving her a look like she was mad.

“But I understand you!”

Uh huh... Angel switched quirked eyebrows and began to frown.

“No, I really understood you! With words, not intuition!” Fluttershy pressed, her own voice edging towards hysterical.

Sighing, Angel gave her a flat glare, hopped to the bathroom door, and looking over his shoulder, said, I’m going back downstairs until you can stop being crazy. If my bedtime snack isn’t in my bowl in ten minutes though, I’ll be upset. And don’t call unless there is a real emergency. Mares...

Fluttershy sat completely flummoxed as Angel did exactly as he promised, stopping at the stairs long enough to give her another disgruntled look before disappearing. She continued to sit there, unsure what to do until she remembered her mirror and the strange face that had greeted her. For another few minutes, Fluttershy sat peeking little glances up at the mirror. Eventually she noticed the towel hovering mid-air.

Moving as slow as a glacier, Fluttershy again got to her hooves, reached out, and gave the floating towel a poke with a hoof. The magic around the towel shone a bit, but otherwise nothing happened.

Again, the mirror caught Fluttershy’s attention, or rather, the yellow unicorn in it... with a pink mane that hid half her face... and...

“It’s me!” Fluttershy squeaked as loud as she could, rushing to the mirror and staring at her reflection. “Oh, of course it was you, it’s a mirror, silly-head. Unless... Artemis? Is that you in the mirror?”

Silence.

“Artemis?” Fluttershy flattened her ears as the voice of Artemis, a voice she’d grown used to hearing over the past week, failed to respond.

Deciding a few tests were in order, Fluttershy lifted up a hoof. Her reflection lifted the same hoof. Reaching up she ran her hoof along the hard, spiralling horn poking out of her mane. It was far longer and more slender than any unicorn horn she’d seen, and she’d seen a few during her brief period as a fashion model. Rarity tried to explain that having a long, slender horn, or ‘Celestial’ as it was more commonly called, was considered highly attractive, like have large elegant wings, or long legs and a thin frame.

It all seemed so silly to Fluttershy. Thoughts and memories could only distract her for so long, however. Far sooner than Fluttershy cared for, they were replaced with a cold realization.

“Th-this is real?” Fluttershy felt tears come to her eyes. “But... then... oh, Artemis, you silly, silly pony!”

Collapsing back against the wall, she let the tears chime upon the tile floor. Fluttershy cried, and cried staring at the evidence of the sacrifice committed for her.

“I told you we’d find a way,” she sniffed, pushing the crystalline tears around the floor and gathering them into a pile.

She remembered how careful the princesses had been with Tyr’s tears at the party, how she picked them up in a silk hoofkerchief. Looking around, Fluttershy found a facecloth that would have to do. Carefully, she hid the crystals in the cloth, then carried them into her bedroom. Depositing the bundle on her vanity, and catching another glance of her new horn in the vanity’s mirror, Fluttershy made her way out of the room.

Fluttershy stopped just before the stairs, a movement behind her catching her eye. Heart leaping up into her throat, she spun to see who or what was behind her. She found a small trail of petals; rose, lily, poppy and daisy. Curious, she edged slowly towards the nearest petal and gave it a poke. Nothing happened, except several more such petals burst from her mane.

Heart descending so it was level with her hooves, Fluttershy whispered, “You silly pony,” before turning and fleeing downstairs, a cloud of petals snapping from her tail.

Angel stood beside the kitchen door, arms folded and an impatient foot tap-tap-tapping.

Feeling better?

“No, not at all,” Fluttershy sobbed, moving to hurl herself onto her couch, but stopping when she saw it occupied by a racoon and a red fox. “Oh, um, what are you doing here?”

Oh, it’s a rather long story, the fox said, letting a chuckle curl his lips into a smile. Me and Meeko here—

’Meeko and I’ interjected the racoon.

Huh?

The proper grammar is ‘Meeko and I’. You said ‘me and Meeko’. the racoon huffed, crossing his front paws.

Does it matter? the fox rolled his eyes as he continued his good-natured laughing.

Yes, Meeko chittered, One is proper, Tod, the other is not.

“Y-you all can talk? Not just Angel?” Fluttershy slowly backed to her cottage door.

Is the Kind-One alright? chirped a little bluebird from her nest, setting off a chorus of chittering, chirping, and chattering as dozens of animals began talking all at once.

It was all too much at once, and, with a timid shriek, Fluttershy turned and bolted to the front door. Just as she was about to daintily thrust it aside, a quick rap-tap-tap from the door’s far side made her freeze, hoof hanging in the air and wings splayed.

“Miss Posey, Miss Fluttershy Posey, are you in there?” asked a voice.

Wings and hooves trembling, Fluttershy skittered away from the door.

“No!” she automatically called out, ducking down behind her couch, and between a pair of arguing mallards. “I’m not home, please come back tomorrow!”

She didn’t just...? Meeko whispered to Tod, the fox nodding in befuddled amusement while Angel slapped a paw to his face.

“Miss Posey, may we come in? It’s guards Lance and Spigot.” called a second voice, making Fluttershy tremble more. “There’s been a... uh... situation, in town. Princess Luna is requesting the presence of the Elements of Harmony.”

At ‘Princess Luna’, Fluttershy’s ear perked up. An idea bloomed, a wonderful, beautiful, stupid idea. ‘Luna would know what to do,’ it shouted, running back and forth through Fluttershy’s ragged mind. She should have thought of it before. Luna was an alicorn princess, she’d surely be able to help! If nothing else, Fluttershy could go to Rarity to ask for a hat that would hide her horn. Hat... Horn... Another idea!

“O-okay, I’ll be out in a moment, um, just wait. There. Please.”

Rising from behind her couch, Fluttershy tip-hoofed to her outdoor clothes cabinet, and pulled from it a wide brimmed red hat covered in lace, ribbons, and cloth flowers. It had been a gift from Twilight, one Fluttershy found far too showy. But by leaning her head down and tilting the hat just so, it could do a serviceable job hiding her horn. At least until Rarity could make a better hat.

Or she went into hiding. If she hid, then she wouldn’t need any hats.

The Everfree was rather nice this time of year, all in all.

She could share a den with Mr. Bear and live life as a hermit.

The thought had a certain appeal, but there were a number of problems, all with names. She couldn’t just abandon her friends and Ponyville.

So, gulping, grabbing a shawl, pair of sunglasses, and a heavy winter coat —she wasn’t sure why she wanted the coat, only that it seemed like a good idea— Fluttershy slunk out of her cottage.

The pair of guards on the other side, typical of their profession, white coats shining in the moonlight, both gave her a look of concerned amusement.

“Miss, are you alright?” the one on the left asked. He may have been Lance, or maybe Spigot, Fluttershy found it impossible to tell guards apart when they were on duty. She had met them before at Pinkie’s ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party that’d been held when the new guard post was built, but she had spent most of the time standing in a corner before excusing herself and going home.

Keeping her head down so far the grass tickled her nose, Fluttershy mumbled, “I’m okay. Let’s, um, get going, if it’s alright with you. W-we don’t have to, I suppose...”

“Right,” the other guard said, taking off down the path at a brisk pace so his companion and Fluttershy had to scramble to keep up.

They had only gone a few yards when a massive dark form crashed down before the trio. Paws spread wide, Stan the chimera rose himself to his full height, wings spread to block the path. Draconian and lion heads roaring in their faces, the ponies mane’s whipped back as if in a gale, Fluttershy snapping out a hoof so her hat wouldn’t go flying.

“Oh, stop that, silly,” Fluttershy playfully chastised Stan, quickly stepping between the chimera and guards. It hadn’t escaped her notice how the pair had gone into a defensive stance, their eyes hardening into dangerous blue slits. Bopping Stan on the nose of his goat head, Fluttershy gave the guards a smile. “He’s really harmless. All growl and no bite.”

Lance and Spigot stared at her with open mouths. Stan’s three heads all gave a little huff of contrition, before he snapped his wings to his side and laid down, a warbling growl escaping his throats. Stan looked so sad and pitiful, his faces drooping. Even the snake head on the end of his tail looked downcast, with none of the playful snapping and hissing whenever Artemis had conversed with the beast.

Leaning forward, Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around the lionen neck in a hug.

“You’re looking for Artemis, aren’t you?” Fluttershy whispered in his ear, using the wide brim of her hat as a shield from the guards.

Stan gave a little huff and nodded his goat and draconian heads.

“S-she’s gone, Stan.” Fluttershy swallowed a lump in her throat after she spoke, rubbing her face deep into Stan’s soft fur. The draconian head lifted up a short distance, giving Fluttershy a confused look as the lion head huffed a question. “I-I’ll have to tell you about it later. These nice stallions are taking me to Princess Luna and Rarity.”

The goat head brayed as Stan shifted to clear the path. Fluttershy couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling in her gut as she released the hug and rejoined Spigot and Lance. All four of Stan’s heads gave Fluttershy a long, piteous look, as he watched Fluttershy and the guards disappear down the path.

“Was that normal?” Lance asked, watching the chimera over his withers.

“Oh, um, yes, actually.” Fluttershy’s voice grew even quieter as it struck her how normal the exchange had been. Questions about why she could understand the woodland critters, but not Stan came racing into Fluttershy’s thoughts. “Princess Luna will know what to do,” Fluttershy said to herself, repeating the same words over and over as a mantra, as the trio headed towards Ponyville.

If they had looked right then, they would have noticed the trees of the Everfree all tremble and turn, watching Fluttershy with eyeless gazes.

Silence settled over the trio, Fluttershy retreating into her tumbling thoughts, the guards into their practiced stoicism. It was in this silence that Fluttershy became aware of a pressure at the base of her new horn. It wasn’t uncomfortable, precisely, but it was ‘loud’, for lack of a better word.

The pressure continued to grow as they entered the town proper.

It was late enough that the streets should have been almost completely deserted, with only a few love-struck couples walking home from late-night rendezvous. Instead Fluttershy noted several pairs of guards moving about the town, hooves creating a tromp-thump-thump as they patrolled. From windows glowing bright with the flickering of candles watched curious citizens.

Trembling a little more, Fluttershy slunk deeper into her unseasonable coat, like a turtle retreating into its shell.

As they approached the market district the number of patrols grew, a couple falling in behind Fluttershy, and blocking any thoughts of turning around and running before such ideas could begin to properly form. Stepping into the town’s square, the pressure in her horn reached a peak, sending a dull throb down her neck.

Just ahead, Fluttershy could see Carousel Boutique. Her mouth went suddenly dry at the number of guards standing outside the building, and the reason for their presence. Iridia and Luna stood almost nose to nose, each glaring at the other so intently Fluttershy could feel the barely controlled anger coursing between the pair.

“We need to find her, and destroy her, Luna!” Iridia snarled, the cruel, cold tone in her voice sending a tremor down Fluttershy’s back that ended in her hooves and tail. “Lady Belle is gone, of that there can be no doubt!”

“Seeking to confront an alicorn, one we know nothing about, is not wise, Iridia!” Luna stamped a hoof, the square echoing with her anger.

“You and your sister are too soft. If this had happened to one of my friends, I wouldn’t hesitate to hunt down and slay those responsible.” Iridia huffed, turning slightly away from Luna.

“Violence only begets more violence.”

“Need I remind you that Generosity is lost? Your precious ‘tool’ is useless without her.”

A short distance from the arguing alicorns sat Applejack, Sweetie at her side. The filly was wrapped in blankets with Applejack holding her close. Sadness weighed down their faces, Sweetie more so than Applejack. Wondering what had happened, Fluttershy edged away from her escort and approached her friends.

“A-Applejack, Sweetie, what’s happened?” Fluttershy asked as she got close enough to whisper to the pair.

At the same time, Luna and Iridia’s ears flicked, and the two alicorns turned towards Fluttershy.

“It’s her!” Iridia shouted, jumping forward as brilliant, emerald magic sheathed her horn.

Giving a strangled cry not unlike that made by a meadowlark —though any meadowlark present would have argued it sounded more akin to that of a nervous sparrow— Fluttershy scrambled backwards as a green shield appeared around Applejack and Sweetie. In a cloud of wildly flailing hooves, irregularly beating wings, and tumbling, Fluttershy managed to lose every piece of clothing she’d donned. Laying on her back, panting with legs splayed out, she gazed up at the sky and thought, just for a moment, that it sure was a pretty night. The idle thought only had a flickering moment of existence in the time between wild panic and certain dread that clutched Fluttershy, squeezing her heart and making her hide behind her forehooves as Iridia and Luna approached.

It was Luna that spoke first, her voice holding a clear note of confusion. “Lady Posey? Congratulations, Iridia, you just traumatised the Element of Kindness.”

“How was I to know who it was beneath those atrocious clothes?” Iridia sniffed, dispelling the shield as she bent down to assist Fluttershy up. “My deep apologies...” Iridia’s voice trailed off as she stared at a spot just between and above Fluttershy’s eyes.

It took Fluttershy far too long to remember she had something there she hadn’t possessed a few hours ago.

“I can explain!” Fluttershy shouted meekly, falling into renewed cringing as she awaited the inevitable shouting, pointing of hooves, and mean glares.

Before anypony could make a comment or form a question, the most common certainly would have been, ‘why was Fluttershy an alicorn,’ a pair of guards came bolting down main street, cries of “The trees are alive! The trees are alive!” echoing from building to building.

“Calm down, both of you,” Luna snapped, her voice cracking like a whip and making the guards slide to a stop. “Are you calmed?”

They nodded frantically.

“Y’all don’t seem calm,” Applejack smirked.

Snapping crisp salutes, they took slow, meditative breaths, then in a tumble of words said, “Princess Luna, the trees are alive!”

“Yes, you said as much,” Luna sighed, a slight tick in the corner of an eye belaying her deep irritation.

Fluttershy didn’t mind the interruption or histrionics. She took the guards antics as an opportunity to roll onto her hooves and sit up. After brushing some of the dirt from her legs, she slowly inched towards, and then behind, Applejack. All the while the guards kept repeating the same four words, occasionally switching the order around, all the while gesticulating wildly towards the Everfree.

Just as Luna was about to snap, a deep, rumbling boom shook Ponyville. Followed a moment later by an odd, ominous, chittering roar.

“What was that?” Applejack asked.

A second such succession of noises answered, coming from the opposite side of town. Racing from the source of the reply, more guards converged on the town square, all claiming the same thing, that the trees were alive.

“This is nonsense,” Luna huffed, “Of course trees are alive.”

“No, alive-alive, as in walking!” one of the first guards said, having recovered enough of his wits to do more than ramble the same words over and over.

No sooner had he spoken than an ancient pine, moss and lichen hanging like curtains from twisted limbs, wandered down mainstreet. Moving in an undulating roll like the legs of a centipede, the tree’s roots carried it towards the town’s heart. A moment later a sycamore followed, with more and more trees joining every passing moment. Each step of their roots sent groaning thunder through the town.

Used to the unusual, the citizens did what they had done for the previous dozen disasters to befall the small town over the last few years; locked their doors and waited for either their roofs to go missing or the trouble to pass.

Suddenly finding the town turned into a forest, and themselves in a glade, everypony stared up at the trees.

“Oh, ‘the trees are alive’, yes, so I see,” Luna said, blinking a few times as she gazed around at the wall of wood that encircled them.

“I didn’t know there were this many treants living in Equestria,” Iridia said, her wings ever so slightly spread.

Through the gaps in the trees shapes moved. Things with glowing eyes and talons.

A frown played along Luna’s features, settling into a more neutral expression as she asked, “Fluttershy, would you mind coming here?”

Giving a little ‘eep’, and the trees shifting on their roots and moaning, the noise low and menacing, Fluttershy slowly came out from her hiding spot behind Applejack.

“Um, yes, Princess Luna?” she asked in a voice almost lost among the wind whistle through the trees.

“Do not be afraid,” Luna gave Fluttershy a smile, a rare sight that settled some of the nerves jittering through Fluttershy. “We are just curious about what has transpired this eve, that is all.”

“R-really? But Iridia, uh, I mean, Queen Iridia, she was talking about... Is Rarity okay? Where is she? If somepony hurt her...”

“Rarity went crazy!” Sweetie snapped from Applejack’s side. “Her eyes started glowing and she called me ‘A-Aoide’, and threatened to hurt me.” The last was said in little more than a sniffle, Sweetie pressing herself further into Applejack.

“‘Aoide’?” Fluttershy repeated, the blood draining from her face and her heart stopping for a beat. Around her the trees all growled and shook their leaves. Fluttershy was far from a stupid pony. Naive and inexperienced, perhaps, but not stupid. “Oh, Celestia, no,” she whispered as pieces began to fall into place.

“You know what is going on, I gather,” Luna said.

“I... Yes,” Fluttershy replied before explaining everything she knew or had learned. She started with the dreams that had began just after Tyr’s arrival, covered the odd, seemingly random thoughts she’d sometimes have, and moved cautiously onto the last week when Artemis had woken and began to speak. Almost no detail was left unsaid, only those pertaining to Rarity and Fluttershy’s suspicions left glossed over to spare Sweetie worry.

Through the lengthy, and sometimes hesitant, story everypony present remained quiet. A few times faces would betray emotions or thoughts. Iridia was the most expressive, flowing easily from incredulous to shocked before settling on a weary sadness.

“Until I met Tyr and Athena, I never even suspected that any others had survived the war with the Quus.” Iridia sighed, staring at her hooves. “To hear how even the brightest among them have fallen so low. At best, it is a civilization of Titans, at worst, there could be multitudes of Nightmares.” Shaking her head, she gave a little, sour laugh. “Makes my own past, and my present seem petty and paltry in comparison. Well, enough is enough. My Halla must be in a fright with me gone. I can’t sit idly by waiting for Twilight to finish her little journey before I return home.”

“So...” Sweetie said, shifting closer to Applejack. “My sister has one of these alicorns stuck in her head?”

Cringing, Fluttershy nodded.

“Then she’s going to be okay! Since you’re okay, then so will Rarity, right?” Sweetie eagerly looked for confirmation, but found none, only sadness in the eyes of the adults.

“Little one,” Iridia began, “We can not be certain, but from what you told us happened this eve, and Fluttershy’s description... Your sister is in grave danger. It is possible that this ‘Serene’ has already overthrown her utterly.”

At once Sweetie burst into fresh tears, Applejack holding her close as she glared up at Iridia. “Why’d you go saying that? Sweetie’s hurting enough as is.”

“That was unkind,” Luna agreed, giving Iridia a stern glance.

“Mollycoddling a child never serves any purpose. She’s old enough to know the truth, painful as it may be.” Iridia snorted and tossed her golden mane.

“Actually, it isn’t the truth,” Fluttershy said, the trees trembling above her. “Artemis wouldn’t have been able to, um, ‘take over’ for another month or so, at the earliest, even if she wanted to. Which she didn’t. Rarity will still be Rarity, but Serene will overpower her more and more. We need to find them, and help them.”

“‘We’ will be doing nothing,” Luna gave her head a shake. “With the Element of Generosity cracked, it is unusable. Even if Twilight teleported back this evening —which is impossible given how much aether she spent, tossing it about the night, answering seven wishes at once, it borders on lunacy— the elements won’t work without Generosity.” Pausing to let her words sink in, Luna continued. “No, you three will be brought to Canterlot to—”

“No,” Fluttershy interjected, her soft voice making Luna falter. “Ponyville is my home, and it is Rarity’s home. I know she’ll come back here, if she can.”

“But...” Luna began, then stopped, and gave a terse nod. “As you wish. What about you, Applejack? Sweetie?”

“Can’t leave the orchards,” Applejack laughed, pushing back her stetson. “Should be in bed as is. Staying up so late ain’t so good for me right now.”

Everypony present gave her odd looks, except Fluttershy, who smiled a secret smile.

“What about you, Sweetie Belle?” Luna turned to the filly.

She looked between Luna and Applejack, then gave a little sigh before saying, “Momma should be home in a week. I was reading a letter from her to Rarity when everything happened. Maybe... can I stay with you until then, Applejack?” Looking up, she gave Applejack her most piteous look possible.

Giving Sweetie a reassuring smile, Applejack said, “Sure you can, sugarcube. We’ll put a cot for you in Bloom’s room. Be like a sleep-over till we find and get Rarity back. And we will get her back, that’s an Apple’s promise.” Ruffling Sweetie’s mane, and trying to give a strong smile for the filly, Applejack added, “Just wish there was more I could do. You have any ideas what happened to Rarity, Princess?”

Hesitating, Luna glanced at Iridia, and said, “Twilight answered seven wishes tonight, the work-a-holic. Four of them were from the Ponyville area, one was to the north, and the remaining across the ocean. If I had to speculate, Twilight answered a wish believing it belonged to Rarity.”

“Wouldn’t she have known that it weren’t Rarity though?”

“Answering a wish isn’t like answering a letter.” Luna scuffed at the ground with one hoof. “It’s not a science, but done instinctually. She may not have been able to tell the difference. It looked like Rarity, sounded like Rarity, so it was Rarity. Sirius was also a very old, very powerful star. The most powerful star to fall during my tenure ship over Wishes had only a fraction of the power Sirius possessed. Twilight would have been drawn to answer the most powerful and pure wishes, but she would have also been drawn to wishes from ponies she recognised. The pull I felt when Almundra was stolen was almost maddening. I only answered one wish that night, and it belonged to a father who wished to be reunited with his deceased wives and fillies.”

“You brought back the dead?” Sweetie asked, while Applejack just stared open mouthed at Luna.

“Of course she didn’t,” Iridia snorted. “There are few things a wish is incapable of doing; bringing back the dead, forcing ponies to fall in love, and killing a pony.”

“Not sure I want to know how that wish was accomplished then,” Applejack wriggled where she sat.

“Oh, I bent space-time so he was sent back to the day his family died, and he passed away with them.” Luna stated this matter of factly, but the haunted look in her eyes told Fluttershy it was anything but. “The magic of the stars pre-date Ioka, and time itself. Bending it is surprisingly easy for a wish. Souls, however, wishes find problematic. And to kill is the most impure of wishes. No star could take on such a wish, should they want to even try.” Finishing the explanation, Luna gave her hooves a clap, and unfurled her wings.

“Is that what you think happened to Rarity?” Fluttershy asked, shifting a little as renewed scrutiny fell on her. “The Time-Space thing, I mean.”

“Well,” Luna clicked her tongue twice, then nodded. “It is the most probable explanation I can find. Rarity is skilled with magic, but her reserves are not enough that she could teleport far if Serene tried such a spell. This is assuming her state of mind was such that she could weave the necessary runes. No, a wish seems most probable, and that means we’re going to have to wait for Twilight to recuperate to learn what the wish was.”

“Twilight knows where my sister is, then?” The hope filling Sweetie’s question was almost enough to make Fluttershy weep.

“I do not want to give you false hope, Sweetie,” Luna said, settling down in front of the filly, “It may take Twilight time remember everything. Seven wishes at once is unprecedented, and they could be jumbled together in her head. She’s going to have to sort them all out, but I believe once she does, she’ll know what happened to Rarity. Regardless, in the meantime, we’ll have the guards and arbiters scour the land for your sister.”

“If we’re done explaining everything then,” Iridia said, her voice unnaturally chipper. “I suggest Fluttershy send the treants back to the Everfree, and the rest of us find our ways to our beds.”

Letting out a little mewl, Fluttershy cringed and glanced up at the faceless trees surrounding them. “M-me? You think I can make them leave?”

“You are a nature goddess,” Iridia smiled kindly, shifting her position to sit beside Fluttershy and lift several of the dozens of petals that had settled around the newborn alicorn.

“Um, but, can’t you make them go?”

“My Entish is rather rusty, plus, they aren’t here because of me. It’s you that brought them here, Fluttershy.”

“O-oh. I don’t know if I can.”

“Sure you can,” Applejack snorted. “If you can tell a dragon to find another place to nap, you can tell a bunch of trees to go back to the forest. Never thought I’d say that...”

“And if that isn’t enough to convince you, take a look at your mark,” Iridia added.

“My mark?” Fluttershy tilted her head, then quickly looked to her flank.

Gone were the familiar three butterflies she’d had since she was a filly.

In their place was a swarm of vibrant, pink winged butterflies of the monarch variety. They formed the image of a willow, flowing down her leg to just above her hock. Fluttershy had never seen a cutie mark that was as large and intricate.

Gazing down on her altered cutie mark, then up at the trees towering over her, Fluttershy’s brain did what it should have done an hour ago, and promptly quit functioning. Blubbering a little for a half-moment, Fluttershy, newest alicorn and goddess; fainted.

* * *

A gentle rain pattering on her face brought Trixie back to the world of the living. Eyes flitting open, she rolled onto her side with a groan. Every muscle in her body howled in protest of the movement. Snapping her eyes closed, she heeded her bodies complaints. The cool rain slowly soothed the aches, and when they had become little more than a dull roar compared to the thunderous screams of before, Trixie finally stood and re-opened her eyes.

The first thing she noted was that she wasn’t in Cantershire anymore.

Around her, for as far as she could see, were the strewn remains of some great building. Trees, shattered and split, thrust among the ruins and toppled stone. Whatever had destroyed it had been fairly recent as the forest had yet to begin to reclaim the area. Behind Trixie was the base of a cliff. Looking up its sheer face, Trixie felt her heart almost stop. There, thousands of hooves above, was the jagged body of a city-terrace. Looking around her again, Trixie realised she wasn’t standing in the ruins of a building, but the ruins of an entire city, one that had fallen from the mountain’s side.

She began to notice other things, things that were not the remains of a city, but the city’s inhabitants. Strewn as haphazardly as the stones were bodies. Ponies, griffons, minotaurs, and things Trixie didn’t recognise, but mostly ponies. Weapons and armour, battered and spoiled as the forest, were strewn among the remnants of clay pots, pictures, and furniture.

Trixie forced the bile rising in her stomach back down and staggered away from the scene.

“Trixie!”

Her name broke Trixie free of the surging panic. Turning about and focusing on the voice, Trixie spotted Shyara leaping from stone block to stone block, her under-developed wings fluttering like a hummingbirds to give her a little lift on each jump.

“There you are, Trixie,” Shyara cried breathlessly as she ran up and wrapped her hooves around the showmare.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay, Trixie is here. The Wise and Courageous Trixie is here,” Trixie said, taking Shyara into a deep hug.

“Trixie, what happened? The last thing I remember is seeing a falling star and... wishing I...”

A loud groan that belonged to neither Trixie nor Shyara hushed them.

“Stay close to Trixie,” she commanded, breaking the hug and carefully making her way towards the source of the noise. As she grabbed a bent gladius, she added, “B-be ready to run and hide, just in case.”

Picking their way through the wreckage, the two quickly came across the source. Trixie lowered her weapon seeing a unicorn struggling to stand. With a coat white as snow and a mane of rich amethyst, there was something familiar about the unicorn. It took Trixie a few moments before her memory finally clicked.

“Rarity?”

The unicorn spun at the sound of her name, and promptly fell on her side with a muffled curse.

“What? Who’s there? D-don’t come closer or I’ll... I’ll...” Rarity tried to give a threatening bend to her words, but given how she could barely stand, the intent fell flat. More so after Trixie began to laugh. Narrowing her eyes at Trixie and Shyara, Rarity lifted a trembling hoof, and snarled, “You!”

“Yes, me,” Trixie gave a cocksure grin despite her own uncertainty, enjoying the sight of one of the famed Elements of Harmony struggling to stand. A small twinge of guilt did prick at her heart, enough to make her step forward after a few more moments of enjoying the sight to attempt to help Rarity.

“Stay back! You did this, didn’t you?” Rarity snapped, backing away, and falling into a puddle.

“Me? What could Trixie possibly gain with this?” Trixie gave a laugh, trying again to support Rarity.

“I... don’t know!” Rarity said, her voice on the verge of becoming a wail. After a moment, she gave a gruff snort, set her shoulders, and glowered at Trixie. “All I know is that I was home with my sister, and then I was here.”

“Well, I made a wish to get us here,” Shyara said in a sing-song voice, jumping from marble block to marble block in a circle around the arguing mares. “I guess you would have done the same.”

“And, where is ‘here’?” Rarity pressed, stepping out of the puddle.

“Um,” Shyara glanced left, right, and then up. “I’d say this is the ruins of the Citadel of Light. Probably where the remnants of the divine quarters landed.”

“The... Citadel of Light?” Rarity repeated the words as if they were poison in her mouth, her ears pressing back against her head as she skittered away, leaning up against the broken remnant of a rose quartz column. “No, this can’t be real. Those are just... it’s... No!”

“Hey, wait!” Shyara shouted, lifting a hoof towards the fleeing unicorn. “It’s dangerous to go alone! You don’t know what’s out there!” Turning to Trixie, Shyara quickly said, “Come on, we need to stop her.”

“Why? Let her run around like a frightened filly. Trixie doesn’t owe her anything. In fact, Trixie finds this highly amu—”

With a light snap, Shyara slapped Trixie. Rubbing her cheek more in shock than pain, the blow had been little more than a tap to get her attention, Trixie looked on Shyara with mingled shock and anger.

“This isn’t Equestria, Trixie.” Shyara glared back down at Trixie, and it was in that moment that Trixie realised that for all her immaturity, Shyara was old, very old. “There will be things here that will kill her as soon as look at her, and for pleasure.”

As if to punctuate Shyara’s statement, a lingering scream was carried on the breeze. It couldn’t belong to Rarity, coming from the wrong direction and being far too low and deep. Her ears folding back, Shyara jumped off her stone block and shrunk down beside Trixie.

Gulping, Trixie gave Shyara another quick glance, saw the filly’s pleading eyes, and began to follow the path Rarity had gone. They found her not far away, huddled down behind a bent roof frame.

“There’s something out there,” Rarity hissed, her sapphire eyes wide with fear. “Among the trees.”

As she spoke, aged ferns were brushed aside, and a monster, great and terrible, stepped into the clearing.

Twelve hooves high in the shoulder, the beast rumbled through the ruins, his six hooves churning up great clumps of sod. Sickly green magic hummed along ram-like horns, thrusting aside any debris in his path. The beast could have flown over the site on his leathery, black wings, but they remained tucked against his side. Wiry black-green hair fell over his withers, while his tail dragged through the mud and dirt, collecting brambles and twigs. Along his withers and flanks were large sores and scabs that oozed a putrid yellow pus, the stench reaching Trixie and almost making her gag.

Stopping, he lifted his head higher, Trixie and Rarity ducking down as he swung his glowing, orange eyes towards their hiding spot.

“Did he see us?” Rarity hissed.

“I don’t think so,” Trixie replied in an equally hushed tone. “What is that thing? Trixie has never heard of the like before.”

“It is an Onuskesia, daimon servants of Ares, God of Slaughter,” Shyara whispered. “They wander old battlefields, drawn to the misery and death that permeates the ground. This is what I was trying to warn you about.”

Rising on his back four legs so his head was lifted higher, the daimon gave a low chuffing sound like a tiger. Landing back on all six hooves, he surveyed the ruins, his gaze stopping on their hiding spot.

“I can smell you, godlings,” the daimon barked, his muzzle splitting into a grin filled with curved teeth. “And the mortal with you. You reek of fear.”

“Oh, Hemera, Nyx, and Aphrodite preserve us,” Shyara whispered, her legs trembling. “We need to run. Now!”

Not waiting for either unicorn to respond, Shyara sped from their hiding spot, weaving and ducking through the ruins. A heartbeat later, Trixie and Rarity were following. As she caught up to the filly, Trixie picked Shyara up and placed her upon her back.

“Hold tight,” Trixie commanded, lowering her head as the trio sped deeper into the shattered city.

With a lion’s roar, the daimon gave chase, his six hooves thundering across the loose sod and soil. Debris was hurtled out of his path, picked up in his lurid red magic and sent after the fleeing ponies.

With rocks bigger than themselves raining down upon them, Trixie screamed. Her heart pounded, and her coat was slick with sweat.

It didn’t take more than a few strides to realise that outrunning the daimon was impossible. He was upon them almost at once, cruel laughter nipping at their tails. A flash of white and red out of the corner of Trixie’s eye made her drive to the side. There was a dull crunch followed by a howl of pain ripping itself from Rarity’s throat. Landing hard on her flank, Trixie felt Shyara tumble from her back and into a thorny shrub.

Boasting his triumph to the heavens, the daimon ripped the shrub away and plucked up the stunned filly.

Ice filled Trixie’s veins at the sight of Shyara hovering, struggling and shouting, inches away from the daimon’s curved teeth.

Yelling at the top of her lungs, Trixie grabbed the nearest available thing and charged. Slamming into the daimon’s side, she brought her weapon down with all the magical force she could muster upon his head with a sickening crack. Bouncing off the daimon, Trixie used her years of practice to maintain her grip on her weapon. Laying on her back in the mud, she continued to smash it into the daimon’s face. Once, twice, thrice, a half-dozen, and then a full dozen times until the beast fell with a dull crash.

Struggling to her hooves and panting, Trixie looked over and saw that what she had grab was a rock, slick with gore and black ichor. Releasing the object with a little shriek, she looked over at the daimon, and immediately looked away again. Much of it’s face was missing, pushed further back into its skull.

Fighting her rising gorge, Trixie turned to find Shyara. The filly sat rubbing her head, but aside from a couple little scrapes, seemed not the worse for wear.

“I’m okay,” she mumbled as Trixie approached. “What about Rarity?”

Giving an exasperated huff, Trixie snapped, “Why do you care so much about her?”

“Because, she’s also my aunt!” Shyara shouted, letting her hooves drop to her side. “I can feel my aunt Serene inside her. I don’t know how or why, but I can! I can feel it in my horn.”

Taking a step back at the vehemence in the explanation, Trixie felt a cold curtain descend over her thoughts.

“Very well,” Trixie said tonelessly, “Trixie will find Rarity.”

It didn’t take long to find where Rarity had been flung.

The fashionista leaned against a marble block, her hind-right leg bent at an unnatural angle. Her eyes were glazed over from shock, and she hardly moved as Trixie approached.

Wincing at the sight, and having again to fight her gorge, Trixie stepped closer.

“Rarity?” She asked, genuine concern in her voice. “Are you okay?” The question was, without a doubt, the single stupidest thing Trixie had ever asked.

Head lolling to one side, Rarity gave a pained hiss, saying, “In Celestia’s name, do you think I’m okay?”

“Of course not,” Trixie snapped in return, moving around Rarity to get a look at the break.

Rarity’s leg was broken just below the hock, the bone poking the skin up, but thankfully not breaking the skin. If it had been a compound fracture, Trixie felt certain she’d have fainted, and that would have done no-pony any good.

“I’m going to have to set it,” Trixie said, the anxiety making her stomach clench and heart hammer softening her voice.

“No!” Rarity almost shrieked, “Don’t touch it! We need a doctor. A proper doctor.”

“Don’t be foalish,” Trixie responded, giving Rarity a harsh glare. “We don’t even know where any doctors are!” As she spoke, Trixie cast a numbing spell upon Rarity’s leg. “If that isn’t set then—”

“Uh, Trixie?” Shyara’s voice held a high note of fear and panic as she interrupted Trixie.

Before Trixie could ask what was the trouble, the sky turned a grim red where it could be seen through the clouds, followed by a chuckle resonating from the daimon.

Vile fluids spilling down his chest, bubbling from the ruins of his face, the daimon rose. “You are too late, heroine. My master is aware of the godlings’ presence. He comes to claim the prize stolen from him. But, before he arrives, I will suck the marrow from your bones.” The daimon took a step forward, his face beginning to reform with sickening cracks. “I will drink the bile from your organs, and leave what remains for the crows to feast upon. You have challenged a Daimon of Slaughter, and shall reap the rewards so justly deserved, little pony.”

As he spoke, the daimon reached out with his vile magic and again grabbed Shyara. Trixie and Rarity cried out as one for the filly, but it was another who silenced his wicked laughter.

“You shall do no such thing, monster!” howled a new voice, drawing all eyes to the sky.

Majestic wings spread to keep her aloft hung an alicorn, periwinkle pink coat shining with the sun at her back.

The daimon howled, his own leathery wings flashing open. From the sky shot a bolt of energy that made Trixie’s horn numb at its passing, skewering the daimon. Trixie stood transfixed, her wide eyes unable to move as the daimon took a shuddering step, then fell to either side, split from nose to dock down the middle, organs and vital fluids sloshing to the ground in a steaming, black pile that ignited in oily flames upon touching the air.

Sticking out of the pile, surrounded by the grotesque flames and covered in the slain daimon’s essence, was a towering sword. A blade, pink and white like quartz, drank in the blood and bile. Gradually, the blood vanished, and the sword become an off-white.

Trixie could not contain herself, and turning away from the rancid, burning pile, she emptied what little contents there were within her stomach.

Hooves touching the grass as gently as a drop of morning dew, the alicorn swept past Trixie, not even sparing her a glance. She went straight to the pile the daimon had become, and spat upon what was fast becoming embers before hefting the sword free.

“Take a deep breath, you three,” she said, beginning to channel magic into her long, fluted horn.

Trixie barely had time to register the words and building magic before the world went dark as pitch and colder than the deepest winter night. It felt like a small eternity before light and warmth reappeared, and she fell gasping onto her side. She had always hated teleporting, and being pulled through the aether without sufficient warning was the worst.

Deciding to take stock of their new location, Trixie found they were in a moderately sized room. A bedroom, Trixie believed, based on the bed. It was a plain bed, all things considered, as were the dressers, desk, and curtains around the small, round windows set into three of the four walls. Beside one such window stood an empty weapon rack. The alicorn deposited her greatsword within the rack before turning to face Trixie.

“Are you alright?” the alicorn asked, genuine concern in her voice as she inspected the ponies she’d rescued. “You are very brave, especially for a mortal. I’ve never witnessed any mortal attack a Slaughter Daimon in hoof on hoof combat and live, before. Even the great Lepidus and Trixelion would avoid battle with them. Their loss is a great blow to the Light.”

Rarity and Trixie had both stood absolutely speechless as their savior spoke. She was Cadence, Trixie’s mind screamed, they had been saved by the Princess of Love, and she had slain the daimon without thought or hesitation.

“P-princess Cadence?” Rarity squeaked, her thoughts having followed the same path as Trixie’s.

Face becoming stern, the alicorn shook her bouncy, multi-coloured mane. “I know not of a ‘Princess Cadence’. Surely you know who I am, yes? You know of fair Aphrodite, she who is Love herself.”

Aphrodite circled the three, her pinks eyes cold until the landed on Shyara. For her part, Shyara stood as still as a soldier at inspection, her chest puffed out and nose in the air.

Stopping, the Goddess of Love whispered, “It can not be. You were destroyed with the others... when Astraea fell to madness and cast down the stars upon the mountainside.” Aphrodite kneeled before Shyara, and leaned forward to rest her brow against the filly’s. “You can not begin to know the joy it brings my heart to know you survived. The others! Did any of the others make it? Where are they? Tyr, is she with Athena? Please, I must know if either survive!”

Clearing her throat, Rarity hesitantly said, “Um, Tyr is safe in Canterlot—”

“Where is this, Canterlot?” Aphrodite raised herself above Rarity, eyes flashing and wings spread.

“It’s the capital of Equestria—”

“Where is Equestria?”

“Ioka, Aunt Aphrodite, we were all taken to Ioka,” Shyara grinned wide. “And now I’m home!”

“Perhaps,” Aphrodite whispered, sharing none of Shyara’s joy. “But it is a home you should have stayed away from, little shadow. Still, it does my heart good to see you alive and well. Serene, I am less happy to see.” Aphrodite finished her words with a glare at Rarity that contained the fury of the ages. “What were you thinking?”

“E-excuse me?” Rarity skittered away from the goddess as much as she could on three good legs.

“Taking a mortal shell! I thought Hemera and I raised you to be smarter than that!” Aphrodite paced back and forth in front of Rarity, her anger filling the room and leaking into the world beyond. Trixie was rather glad not to be the focus of the goddess’ attention. “You would risk madness and despair, steal this innocent mortal’s very existence, risk your own, and for what? To sink your hooves into grass a century or three earlier?”

At once Rarity stopped shaking, her back straightening, and her eyes taking on a soft glow. When she spoke, it was not with her own voice. “We could not, dear Aphrodite! My sister almost destroyed us utterly. It was either this or to be a corruption, a shade neither living nor dead, tainting all I encountered.”

“Do not try to claim altruism in your choice.” Aphrodite sneered, stopping her pacing before Serene. “You were not destroyed. Given time you would have become alicorn once more.”

“I had no choice! She had not lain with a stallion recently enough, unlike the hosts of Demea and Clouthea. The same held true for precious Artemis, she was forced as I to become an abomination! Even your darling, perfect Athena has to wrestle for her host’s body.” Serene gave a little, dark laugh. “Though in her case it is because her host is barren.

“But here, back home and surrounded by my Domain.... Mmm... I can feel it everywhere again, and it gives me strength.” Serene cackled, the noise making the flesh along Trixie’s neck crawl.

“Falsehoods and lies!” Aphrodite roared, the air crackling around her. “You need not have endangered a mortal at all. Impatient, arrogant foal. Release that mortal, now!”

Magic leaking from her horn and forming a shroud, Serene ignored her aunt. She looked down upon her injured leg, and with a slight ‘tsk’, she set the bone with an audible crack.

Without thinking it over, Trixie grabbed Shyara, placing the filly behind her.

“I refuse! I will not wait idle half a millennium! I must find my Muses! I must!”

Aphrodite stood resolute, and sighed. “I see that you are already lost to madness, dear niece. I am truly sorry.” In a single, swift move, Aphrodite crossed the short distance between her and Serene, grabbing the possessed unicorn and pressing her against the wall. “I will exorcise you, like the corruption you have allowed yourself to become.”

“No!” Serene thrashed against the magic holding her. “I am so close! Once this body is mine I can find my Muses!”

“I do this act out of Love, Serene. Love for the alicorn you once were, and will never be again.”

Trixie was pushed back as magic more powerful than any she’d before encountered rushed off the goddess. Serene and Rarity screamed as one, pushed higher up the wall. Magic flowed from their eyes, and, releasing a snarl, they attempted to lash out at their captor. Aphrodite swatted aside the attack as if it were no more than a fly buzzing about her face, the magic slashing a deep wound into the stone floor.

“I refuse to stand idle while you become a Nightmare.”

Legs striking the air, Serene contorted her face into a glare of absolute rage.

“You can not remove me, Aphrodite. I am too strong!” She laughed, the cruel sound dragging across Trixie’s ears. “Every beat of this mortal’s heart brings me closer to defeating you and ascending once more.”

Serene began to push off from the wall, a wicked grin carved beneath her glowing eyes.

Aphrodite made not a move, magic continuing to flow from her horn like a pillar.

“True, I can not remove you, but there is one who can.” Aphrodite gave a terse smile of victory. “To her I give the chance to be all you once were and could have been. I give her the strength to cast you out and claim a new destiny. You have forsaken and tainted your birthright, Serene, and so to her I offer it!”

“T-Trixie?” Shyara voice was filled with fear and uncertainty.

Focused on the spectacle before her, Trixie said over her shoulder, “Don’t worry, Shyara, Trixie will protect you.”

Shyara’s reply was lost when the magic surrounding Serene emitted a wild roar as it spiralled into a tight, spinning shell. A shrill whistle filled the room, stealing all other sound as the nexus of magic tightened, and then faded. As the last shreds of magic drifted away, Rarity was revealed still floating in the air, her eyes gently shut, and a look of peace upon her brow.

Rarity’s mane and tail sparkled as if they’d been dipped into diamond dust, their curls perfect and bouncy. Upon her back were a pair of magnificent wings, while on her flanks her mark had changed, the points of her gems spun to face center. Around the diamonds was a looping line of gold that bound the three gems together. Otherwise, she was unchanged.

Turning to look behind her and check on Shyara, Trixie saw, to her horror, that she was nowhere to be seen.

“Shyara?” she hesitantly called, then louder, “Shyara!”

“She is gone,” Aphrodite said, not bothering to look towards Trixie, and instead using her magic to gently carry Rarity to the bed.

“Gone? What do you mean, ‘gone’?” Trixie snapped.

“It is a rather simple concept,” the goddess snorted. “The spell used to bring her here expired, so she has returned to whence she came; Ioka.”

“Then why am I still here?” Trixie waved her hooves frantically, panic rising in her throat.

“Did you use a Gate?”

“No... I... Not precisely... Trixie saw her daughter—” Aphrodite gave Trixie a sharp look. “—Erm, her ward, vanishing, and grabbed her.”

“I thought as much,” Aphrodite gave a gentle chuckle. “Foolish, but brave. I can respect that. Well, Trixie, heroine of Ioka, let me formally welcome you to Gaea, home of the Alicorns, misery, and despair.”

* * *

With a gentle pop and flash, Shyara appeared on the stairs of Trixie’s wagon, one hoof reaching for her guardian and Trixie’s name hanging on the end of her tongue.

“Trixie? Trixie?” she called, hopping off the step and running around the wagon, but of Trixie there was no sight. “Oh... no...” Plopping down beside a wheel, Shyara leaned back and groaned, beating herself over the head with her small hooves. “Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why was I so stupid? Mom told you not to make wishes, that they were unpredictable, but no, you just had to wish to see home again. Well, Shyara, you got to see home, what was left of it, and guess what? You lost your best friend! Idiot!”

Falling onto her back in the grass behind Cantershire’s town hall, Shyara gave a little scream, kicking her hooves in the air.

“Miss, you alright there?”

Looking over, Shyara saw she was being watched by a tan earth pony with a rake cutie mark.

“Um, yeah, just fine,” Shyara replied, putting on her most innocent smile.

“Say, you're that magician’s filly, ain’t you?” the earth pony continued, pressing his lips into a little frown. “I thought you two were taking last night’s train.”

“Train? Oh, yeah! No, we missed it because of me,” Shyara continued her smile, a plan suddenly presenting itself. “Which is why I’m upset. I got to go, mister. Mom’s waiting for me.”

A little reluctant, the earth pony gave a nod, and moving off said, “Alright, you take care, miss.”

As soon as the other pony was gone, Shyara leapt back to her hooves and darted into the wagon. Pulling down a pair of saddlebags, she gathered up everything she’d need. Bits, a spare enchanted vest, the Daring Do book Trixie had bought her in Hooverton, the writ of summons, and a map of Equestria. The final thing she took were the wagons keys. Locking up as she left, Shyara headed towards the train station.

“Okay, Shy Spell, you know cousin Tyr is in Canterlot... with Celestia... and hasn’t been blasted into dust by the sun... She’s not mad at you... Why would she be? It’s not like you brought that shadowfiend into the middle of a city on purpose? Nope. Just, go to Canterlot, tell her the truth... and everything will be right as rain in spring. And if it isn’t, then she’ll probably burn off your wings, snap off your horn, and throw you into an orphanage as an earth pony.”

Gulping, Shyara almost turned around. But the sight of the train station, and a waiting train —Shyara wasn’t sure if this good or bad luck— kept her hooves moving forward. Each step felt like she was trying to walk through a wall, her heart thumping in her ears, and sweat beading on her brow.

“You all alone, deary?” asked the elderly ticket-booth attendant.

“Yeah,” Shyara tried to give a winning smile, but with the worry clutching at her gut, it come out a bit too wobbly.

Sighing, the mare gave her head a shake. “Can’t sell you a ticket deary, not without an adult relative present. Forms also need to be signed that there will be somepony waiting for you at your destination, as well.”

Grumbling at her luck, Shyara took off her vest and slapped the writ of summons down on the counter.

“Look, lady, I really don’t have time for this. My Aunt Celestia,” Shyara heavily stressed the word ‘aunt’, “wants me in Canterlot, like, yesterday. The pony assigned to protect me has disappeared, and is probably eaten by a grundark or gribblehoff or something. If I’m not on that train, not only will my aunt be worried sick and likely come looking for the pony, or ponies, that delayed me, but whatever is following me will get here first, and you really don’t want that.”

As she spoke, Shyara leaned up on the counter, fluttering her small wings for added emphasis.

“Y-you’re a—”

“I know what I am, and that is late!” Shyara snapped, cutting off the mare’s blubbering before it could get really started. “So, ticket. Now. Pleeeeease!”

“But, thi—”

“I really don’t have time to argue,” Shyara stamped a hoof, spread her wings in what would have been a threatening display if they weren’t so small, and glowered.

“Y-yes, deary...” the mare gulped, rolling off a ticket, stamping it, and passing it through the slit while taking the bits Shyara tossed down. “Wait, you overpaid!” she added as Shyara darted towards the train, tickets in her mouth.

“I duh ahre!” Shyara responded around the ticket, making it to the coach door as the engine blew its whistle and began to chug out of the station. At the last possible moment, Shyara jumped and tumbled aboard the train.

Laying on her back, the train’s conductor staring down at her, Shyara hoped that going to Canterlot was the right decision.

* * *

A brisk knock permeated a familiar cottage situated within the Trotalonian mountains.

On one side of the door, hoof still raised in case he needed to repeat the knock, stood Hades. Only another alicorn would have been able to recognise him. To the casual observer he was nothing more than a simple off-white unicorn with a slate-grey mane and tail. His cutie mark of a tombstone was a little disturbing to some, more so for the number of funerals the small village had been forced to host over the past few days.

A procession for one such funeral approached up the lane as he waited for his knock to be answered. In the lead was a pony wearing a white robe with gold trim. She was a unicorn, as evident by the staff she carried in a gentle blue aura. Within a sun upon the staff’s head was a bell that rang with each step. Behind the priestess, Hades had seen enough to know one on sight, came a wagon carrying a closed coffin. Clutching each other, two mares in black veils trailed the wagon. They wailed and howled, tears streaming down their faces as they made their way towards the cemetery with three fillies in black dresses beside their mothers. After the family were friends and other relatives, a small crowd with heads hung low out of respect. There was someone else among the procession, someone who didn’t belong anymore.

Moving away from the cottage, Hades stepped to where the cottage path met the road, lowering his own head as if offering condolences to the grieving. Some gave him an odd look, but none spoke to him. A couple shied away on seeing his altered mark.

As the last pony passed, Hades whispered under his breath, “You should not be here.”

On the trailing edge of the procession moved a ghostly form; opaque and green, little lines of aether echoing through his form.

You can see me? The ghost hovered to Hades, a deep pleading in his dead eyes. No one else can see me... Why can’t they see me?

Hades cringed. He hated dealing with souls that refused to accept their death and attempted to linger among mortals. Far too many made the attempt, unable to let go of life.

“They can not see you because you are dead.”

Dead? No... I can’t be dead.

Not bothering to hide the weariness in his shoulders, Hades reached out to the ghost with his awareness. He didn’t have the time to go through the motions of convincing a random soul that it was no longer alive. It could take days, and the results were always the same; screaming, denial, cursing his name, followed by tears. With his eyes opened, Hades realised that it wasn’t necessary. The closure gained lasted only a few moments, and then the soul was in Elysium and surrounded by pure bliss regardless.

He had no doubt Elysium was this soul’s destination. No being bound for Tartarus ever cared about why the living couldn’t see or hear them. Such ghosts cared only for causing pain and harm to the living or defending that which they held onto; some place or object. On rare occasions it could be exacting revenge on those who killed them.

Touching the soul, Hades had his hunch confirmed. The dead stallion had led, overall, a good and worthy life. He’d even died attempting to pull a stranger from a burning home, only for both to be crushed as portions of the mountain Zeus had destroyed rained down on the village.

As noble a death as any could be, Hades felt.

The ghost shimmered for a moment as Hades touched him, going from green to gold in colour. He looked around, gazed along the road to the last of the procession as it turned a corner, and then he faded away. No tears, thanks, or recognition. The ghost simply went where he belonged.

Wondering idly if the unnamed stallion would see Artemis in Elysium, Hades turned to go back to the cottage door to knock again, and found it already open. Soir sat in the open frame, head tilted as she watched him.

“What were you doing?” she asked after a moment.

“My duty.”

“Your duty is to watch funerals?”

“In part,” Hades chuckled, thinking back to the early days of Gaea, when the world had been wild and untamed. The Gaean burial rituals had involved a lot more singing and dancing back then. Those had been good centuries as god and mortal alike were discovering their potentials. “I’ve not done so in a long, long time, though.”

“Is there something I can help you with?” Soir shifted from hoof to hoof, and glanced over her shoulder a couple times. “Momma’s still recovering, if you are looking for her.”

“I wasn’t, actually,” Hades stated as he approached. “I was looking for you.”

“Me? Why?” Soir scooted a few hoof lengths into her home, pressing her ears back against her head.

Hades hesitated. He hadn’t thought exactly what he’d tell Soir when he’d left the seaside cave. His plan had been simple; find her and unite all the alicorns. The obvious flaw of how to perform the task hadn’t been addressed. Embracing his reformation, Hades decided that honesty was the best answer.

“I intend to bring all our kind together. At least, all of our kind on Ioka.” Hades gave Soir a smile.

“‘Our kind’?” Soir turned the words over in her mouth, then gasped and shrunk back into the cottage. “You're one of the mean alicorns.”

Yelling for her mother, Soir vanished, her small hooves scrabble for purchase as she ran. Sitting at the open door, Hades let his smile slide off his muzzle. Perhaps, honesty wasn’t the best answer, after-all. Shrugging, and dismissing the transmutation that he’d used to hide his true nature, Hades stepped into the cottage and gently shut the door behind him. Following the filly’s cries, he entered a bedroom.

He stopped cold in the doorframe, his eyes looking around the rather plain accommodation. Other than the normal furniture and pictures were two of the oddest devices Hades had ever seen. They were grey boxes stacked on top of each other with rollers on the bottom to facilitate movement. The bottom two boxes were covered in nobs, dials, and blinking lights. The top boxes had indented windows, but instead of being able to see inside the box, they showed squiggly lines, the peaks and valleys timed to an incessant beeping. Out of one side of the top box were wires and cords that snaked down and covered a mare sleeping on the room’s small bed.

Not sleeping, Hades corrected as his eyes settled on Jardin.

Dead.

She was dead.

But not dead, for as he watched he saw the soulless mass before him take a slow breath.

“What foul sorcery is this?” he snapped, thrusting a hoof at the devices.

From them he could feel an assortment of enchantments. A dozen, at least, if he were to guess. He’d have been impressed with the craftswork if not for the vile use they were being put to.

“Go away!” Soir screamed, standing between the bed and Hades. “They are keeping momma alive while she gets better!”

“Alive? You think that husk alive?” Hades didn’t ask the question harshly, but with genuine confusion, his brow knitting together as he pushed past Soir and cast a spell that would identify the enchantments at work. What he discovered only hightened his confusion, and respect for the devices’ creator.

Spells designed to monitor and stimulate breathing were tied together with those that would perform similar functions for all the major organs. They would even help increase the natural healing of a body. Deep inside, a linked series of gemstones fed power to the matrixes. It was genius, and fragile. If Hades had used more than a simple passive scan he would have burnt out the delicate mesh of enchantments. But for all their ability to keep a body alive, the spells could not heal or replace a soul, and it was that that Jardin lacked.

“Amazing, Hecate would have been astounded to see such an artifact,” he said, a momentary flicker of sadness crossing his heart. “But this pony is dead. Nothing can change that fact.”

“No, she isn’t,” Soir leapt up, pushing Hades back a couple steps. “The doctor says we can’t know that for a few more days. She could still wake up!”

“This doctor is giving you false hope then.” Hades stepped around Soir and looked down on what had been Jardin with a sad eye. It seemed so peaceful. The only hints that anything could be wrong a simple bandage around it’s head, and the cords going under the bedsheets. “Her soul has already passed to Elysium.”

“You don’t know that.” Soir sniffed back a tear. “Nopony can know that.”

Letting out a little sigh, Hades sat down beside Soir and extended a wing over her. “When I introduced myself before, I only gave you my name,” Hades began, “I know these things because of what I am, and that is the God of the Dead. What is on that bed may give all the signs of life; but it is not alive.”

“Stop saying that! Don’t say that!” Soir threw off his wing and scampered away. Thrusting a hoof at the bed, she shouted, “When momma wakes up—.”

“Child,” Hades snapped, being very careful to control his anger, lest the flow of power from him destroyed the things keeping the husk alive. “Even if I travelled to Elysium I... Hmmm...” Lifting a hoof, Hades rubbed his chin as a mad idea struck him. “Travel to Elysium, well, the Gate rather. An interesting thought. The body is alive, it is just bereft of soul. I wonder... I wonder...”

“You wonder what?” Soir edged a little closer, keeping a cautious watch on Hades.

“A possibility I’ve never before considered. Souls, little one, are my ‘thing’, as it were. I can see the marks quite clearly that have been placed on yours to keep your true nature suppressed, for instance, and the older wounds that have scarred over. There is a chance, and it is only a chance, that if we retrieve her soul and return it to her body, then everything will be as you say. Your mother will awake and it will be as if this were a bad dream. I hope.”

“You hope?” Soir gulped, shuffling her hooves. “You’ve never done this before?”

“I’ve never seen a body kept alive after a soul has departed before. We will be journeying across new territory if we do what I propose.”

“But it will make momma better?”

“It could,” Hades hedged. He was more than a little amazed at himself for even considering such a plan. “It could be dangerous for us, though.”

“Us?”

“Your connection to your mother will be necessary for finding her. Love is the most powerful of emotions, and I will use it as a guide, of sorts.” Hades shifted from hoof to hoof as doubts began to surface. He was proposing Necromancy, essentially; something he had fought against for eons. Even using a soul as a compass was forbidden.

Soir considered Hades offer for a few, long minutes. She sat at her mother’s bedside, stroking the husk’s hoof. Eventually, she looked up and said, “Okay, let’s do this. What do I have to do?”

“Put your horn to mine, and I will take us to your mother.”

Hesitating for only the briefest of moments, Soir did as she was told. The moment her horn touched Hades’, he gave a gentle tug at both their souls, channeling the energy towards Jardin. There was an unpleasant lurch in his gut followed by the sensation of falling, and for a moment he wondered if he had erred and Jardin had gone to Tartarus after-all. Darkness and shadows engulfed the pair, wind whistling past their ears. Hades opened his wings, trying to slow his fall, but there was no air for them to catch.

A moment later he felt grass under his hooves, the fall stopping with a feather soft touch. Beside him stood Soir in all her alicorn glory. To his eyes she was a blazing figure of black and midnight-blue fire. Her mane crackled, and her wings drifted away like wisps of smoke. She’d have been rather imposing, if not for the fact she was still just a filly no taller than his hock.

Soir didn’t seem to notice the change that had overtaken her, though she did point up at Hades and scream. Wondering what had overcome the filly, he looked over his shoulder and beheld that he had become a skeleton.

No, not a skeleton, Hades corrected, as he could see ethereal bands of primordial energy wrapped around his form, binding him together.

“Interesting.”

“Interesting? You are a bone-pony!” Soir waved her hooves frantically, the motion alerting her to the fact that she was on fire. Which she pointed out in a shrill scream.

“Calm yourself, this place is merely heightening the physical manifestations of our domains.” Hades huffed as he turned his attention to where they had landed.

As he had hoped, the ‘gate’ was an endless field of golden grass, swaying in a pleasant breeze. It wasn’t truly Elysium, Hades knew, for they could not enter Elysium-proper. Rather, they were just outside the realm.

“What now?”

“We wait for one of Elysium’s caretakers.” Hades sat down, looking straight ahead with a fixed expression. Anticipating Soir’ next question, he added, “I suspect they are aware of our presence and are deciding what to do.”

They waited what felt like a miniature eternity. Hades knew it was only about an hour, by Ioka’s reckoning, able to sense the passing of time among the mortal world through his physical body. Like any other time Hades had extended his awareness, he could still hear, feel, and sense what was happening where his body lay.

To pass the time, Soir peppered Hades with questions. Hades had sired four offspring, but he’d never spent much time with his son and daughters. Foals were to be seen, not heard, and were to listen to their parents without question. He was therefore at a loss when Soir began a never ceasing stream of babble after approximately two seconds of silence.

“How about you tell me your story?” Hades finally asked, the first word’s he’d spoken in a half hour making Soir stop mid-prance.

“Momma told you everything already.”

“No, she told me and my brother all she knew, not everything,” Hades pointed out with a sly grin.

“Not much to say, really,” Soir grumbled, finally settling down. “I don’t remember much from before the cave and being found by momma. Just... bad dreams... darkness and pain... and a smile. Mother’s smile.”

“Jardin?”

“No... somepony else.” Soir shifted a little, uneasily looking ahead. “There are colours; white and honey-gold, the smile, and singing. I remember parts of an old song.” As the pair waited, Soir began to sing a lullaby. Most of the words had been lost to the ages, Soir humming to fill in the missing pieces. “That’s all I remember. Momma and the abbot say they are fragments of who I was, not who I am. That I can’t let myself worry and be ruled by something that happened in antiquity.”

“Wise words,” Hades chortled. “I wish I had followed them myself.”

The pair settled into a silence. They were brought out of their thoughts when two tiny lights a little bigger than a star popped into existence a few yards away.

“Hades, Namyra, why are you here?” The lights asked together, not moving from where they appeared.

“Ooo, what are they?” Soir jumped towards the closer light, sticking out her tongue, and going low to the ground like a stalking cat.

“They are Archons,” Hades said as he stood. To the lights, he said, “We are here to speak to the soul of Jardin Soir, recently of Ioka. She would have arrived within the last three days, as mortals reckon time.”

“We know of whom you seek, Hades,” the left Archon said.

The right adding, “We will not permit you to speak to or see her.”

“Why not? She is my mom!” Soir leaped forth, trying to pounce on one of the Archons, only to fall through it and land in the grass with a little flomp.

“She was, true.”

“But she has entered Elysium. The dead only leave when they rejoin the Font.”

“I can take her back to Ioka, return her to the life she had,” Hades stated, tapping a hoof for emphasis.

“Impossible.”

“The dead can not be returned without the Font.”

“It is unnatural.”

“An abomination against the Order.”

“Only the Quus would dare such an atrocity.”

Shaking his head, Hades pressed forward, driven by the look of sorrow weighing little Soir down in the grass. “It would be, if her body was dead. Jardin’s shell still lives and breaths, though not for much longer. All it is missing is her soul.”

“You seek to perform Necromancy.”

“Odd, as since the first grain of time fell you have sought out and destroyed such practitioners.”

“This is not Necromancy, this is correcting a wrong. Jardin was not meant to die that night. You know this. Zeus and I interfered in Ioka’s Weave. All I wish is to offer to return what I unjustly took from her.”

The Archons were silent for a long time. Crying, Soir slunk through the grass back to Hades’ side. For a second eternity Hades and Soir had to wait.

At last the Archons again spoke.

“It has been decided that the only one who can know if Jardin’s time was at an end or not will have the final say.”

“No,” Hades stamped a hoof, the golden fields turning fallow beneath his anger. “Jardin will decide for herself. I will not force this upon her. Too long have I, and the other alicorns, played with mortals as if they were puppets, discarding them when we lost our interest.”

“Then we must deny you,” the Archons said as one before they faded back into Elysium.

“Wait!” Soir cried, trying again to catch one of the Archons. “Give me back my mother!”

Hades patiently sat as Soir raged and spat curses. Around them the fields darkened and withered away, the light only beginning to return when Soir collapsed down beside Hades, her energy spent.

“Feeling better?”

“No,” she snapped, tears glistening on her cheeks. “It’s not fair. You said you’d bring her back! You promised me, you promised!”

“I did no such thing!” Hades returned her anger with a low fury of his own. “I told you I would try, nothing more.”

“Make them come back! You’re the God of the Dead, aren’t you? Make them give me back my mother.”

“I can not.”

“No, you just don’t want to.” Soir spat on the ground between Hades’ hooves. “It’s your fault momma is gone.”

“Indeed, I bear much of the blame for her loss,” Hades softened his voice, extending a bony wing to draw Soir against his chest. She struggled and protested a little, but was still brought into the hug. Laying his chin upon her head, Hades said, “I, too, have lost much of my family, little one. I know it hurts now, but you can’t let it consume you, or you’ll become as I did; bitter, broken, and alone.”

“It hurts,” she whined, ceasing her struggles. “Like somepony has stabbed me in the heart, it hurts.”

“Yes, it does. Over time it will fade though, until only the happy memories remain.”

Returning them to the mortal realm, Hades continued to hold Soir close. When they awoke, he moved swiftly to disconnect the devices that had been sustaining Jardin. Soir wailed the entire time. She didn’t quit until she collapsed against her mother’s cooling body, exhausted.

From the cottage Hades took a few things. Inside a small set of filly saddlebags he placed a couple pictures of Soir and Jardin, along with a winter cloak and a loaf of bread for her to eat. Using a spell designed by tomb robbers, Hades identified everything in the cottage of value, and moved them outside along with Jardin’s body.

“What are you doing?” Soir asked as they stepped out onto the grass, a meagre number of belonging tucked neatly to one side.

“Giving her a resting place as befits her station,” was the cryptic response.

Hades stood before the small cottage, Soir in his shadow, and reached out with his magic. From the countryside, out of fields and villages, he picked up the remnants of the mountain. Pulling them towards him, Hades shaped granite into even blocks. Gold that had remained hidden with the mountains heart spiraled above their heads, coiling and banding around marble fashioned into shining white pillars.

With a single thrust, he collapsed the cottage, the material pressed down until it vanished into the earth. Atop the site where the cottage had been, he began to lay the foundations for a greater building. As unmoving as the mausoleum he was constructing, Hades built a monument to Jardin Soir. Flowers were carved throughout, spinning and dancing as they curled along the supporting pillars. Sheltered beneath their leaves were smaller buds. Vibrant paint was applied to the facade, making it glow like a living garden in the sunlight. Four entrances lead into the inner sanctum, and it was in here he moved Jardin’s possessions, placing the objects upon enchanted pedestals that would preserve them. Above the entrances he placed an icon of the sun similar to the one held by the village priestess.

The roof was left open above her tomb, enchantments weaved through the walls. Never would rain touch the mausoleum floor and no cloud would sully the sky above, a finger of light, either sun or moon, always illuminating the sacred grounds.

Finally he crafted the tomb itself. In contrast to the rest of the edifice, it was a single, plain slab, rough and left natural. Hollowing out a space for Jardin, Hades placed her inside wrapped in a silk shroud. Onto the lid her carved her name in her native language and that of the ancient aethyir, followed by a simple epitaphe that proclaimed, ‘Protector. Hero. Saint. Mother.’

Struck by an idea, Hades pulled four last blocks to the site, placing them as menhirs before the entrances. Onto each of their sides he laid a last enchantment, one that would both ensure the site was protected from desecration, and that would tell the tale of the valley. The Dreamer’s Stones, they would become known as, with pilgrims traveling across the world to visit.

His task completed, he looked down at Soir. “Come,” he whispered, “we have to catch up to my brother so no more fillies have to lose their mothers.”

Placing Soir upon his back, Hades began the hunt for Zeus, and the other alicorns.

End of Part Two: Tremors in the East