Arcane Shadow (Re-Written)

The first day of training went over well, and Spitfire and her Wonderbolts were part of the festivities surrounding Maria's new cutie mark. Maria was giggling, and enjoying the party with gusto, especially since Pinkie pointed her towards a piñata probably stuffed with treats. They had to admit, for a party thrown on such short notice, Pinkie still pulled out every stop she could to make it enjoyable. The soldiers were certainly in a good mood, patting the filly on her head and congratulating her with warm smiles on their faces.

For a filly who had arrived at Wonderbolts HQ and wanted to tackle the Dizzitron during her visit in Equestria, she certainly was a bright and energetic soul. "Kid's certainly in high spirits… didn't know she could generate cold with her magic," Thunderlane said, sitting at a table with his cohorts and helping himself to a slice of very delicious cake.

"And not many can, even if they're pegasi!" Soarin agreed with a hearty nod, pausing to shovel some crunchy candies into his mouth. "In fact, I'm amazed that two of the Lieutenants generated cold, without using their horns."

"Just goes to show that they're surprisingly versatile with their spellcasting," Spitfire noted, smiling. "Granted, I wasn't expecting either of them to be alicorns—even after seeing them back at the Crystal Empire. But now knowing this… it's a boon for us." She chewed on a piece of freshly-baked pie, one with a smattering of decadent vegetables, and savored the taste as she weighed her next words carefully. "I mean… they've probably been doing most of their heavy lifting with their horns, and whatever happens to require a touch of earth pony strength. But their… adversities, shall we say, may have convinced them that it's not worth demonstrating their pegasus magic."

"So, basically, they've donned a unicorn guise, and ran with it in Equestria," Soarin surmised, garnering a careful nod from his Captain.

"And they would've had to—if the Canterlot nobility found out their true natures, they'd lap it up like piranhas," Spitfire said, frowning at the thought. "Granted, not the best idea, given it led to one member of the nobility sorely underestimating them… but the alternative to that would've been political suicide."

"... because Equestrians at large think that Godcat really wiped out the Fantasian alicorns?" Thunderlane guessed.

"That, and it would've also led to the Aerie's leaders being lumped in with them somehow, despite their very clear inexperience with using their pegasus magic," Spitfire added, taking another mouthful of pie. She swallowed before continuing, "And we all know the nobility doesn't care for little bitty details like that, regarding alicorns—disabled or otherwise."

Misty Fly nodded, and watched as Maria managed to hit the piñata with a solid strike using only a stick that had been provided to her by Pinkie, despite being blindfolded. Candy spilled out of the faux star, and Maria removed her blindfold to behold the mountain of treats piling at her hooves. "Would it also explain why they wore cloaks?" she asked.

Spitfire nodded. "My best guess is that they didn't want anypony in Equestria seeing their… adversities, if they somehow saw through whatever illusions they cast on themselves," she answered. "Granted, Anna likely had… extra spells done to her, so it would be a harder sell to see that much with her, given her rampant scarring. But I'm impressed nopony bothered to look at Natalie." She shuddered. "And seeing said adversities in person? Makes you wonder what exactly happened."

"It's probably not a cut-and-dry case of simply saying they had to have those amputations," Fleetfoot said, shaking her head and ruffling her wings. "And it's not like we can just ask them what happened to their wings right off the bat. There's probably some deep trauma regarding that topic."

Spitfire nodded. "Wouldn't doubt it," she bitterly agreed, as she went in for another mouthful of pie. "And again, the nobles would feast on that information if it ever got out, especially if it leaked and it wasn't on the Fantasians' terms."

"Given all that's happened since their visit? I'm amazed they didn't declare war yet," Soarin noted, sighing and wilting with the thought. "I mean… they have solid reasons to. Or they would, if Princess Celestia hadn't punished that noble for conspiring to commit treason against the Crown."

"But they haven't made a declaration of war yet. That means they're willing to hear every side of the story," Thunderlane added, taking a sip of water. "And that might be a rare trait on Fantasia."

"What makes you say that?" Spitfire asked, turning to Thunderlane.

"I mean, let's face it: out of all the Fantasian ponies we've seen during our short time here, how many can you say have their cutie marks?" Thunderlane retorted. The rest of the Wonderbolts mulled it over, before Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof.

"Besides these guys, the ones running the military, a pair of newly-recruited soldiers, and Maria? I've seen only three other ponies outside of the Aerie who can say they've gained their cutie marks," Rainbow answered, frowning. "And they kept theirs hidden under clothes."

"And who would these three individuals be?" High Winds asked.

"Well, they're Matt's biological folks. A mother, a father, and an uncle. I asked them if they got their cutie marks while I was passing them during lunch hour, and they said they did," Rainbow answered. "And stars and swords seem to run in the family, so…"

"Swords and stars?" High Winds pressed, turning to Rainbow. "Alright, who has what?"

"Matt's dad has the sword cutie mark, and it seems standard—a blade, upright, looking like it's carving a trail in the ground," Rainbow said, wings fluffing slightly. "But it's actually making a fissure in the ground. He's really good with his earth pony magic—just hasn't had a chance to do much with it lately, if I'm right. His mother has a black-and-white ball, with two dots in it, with the white half surrounded by shadows and the black half surrounded by light. I don't get what it means, though."

"And the uncle…?" High Winds pressed.

"Shield bearing a star," Rainbow answered with a shrug. "He might be good with defensive spells or something; I didn't stick around long enough to pepper them with more questions."

"... it would seem that sowing some form of carnage runs in Matt's family," Spitfire said dryly. "Did they say anything about how they obtained their marks?"

Rainbow shook her head. "They said they'd tell us, once the party's over," she answered.

Spitfire nodded. "And based on everything else I am hearing lately, how they obtained their cutie marks probably isn't a happy tale," she said, frowning at the thought. "Did they confirm the marks to be obtained recently?"

Rainbow shook her head. "Eight years ago, around the same time Matt and Natalie got their marks," she answered. "Most I heard otherwise was that it was the same incident that both groups were in."

"... and why did you include Natalie in the group?" Spitfire asked, turning to Rainbow with a raised brow.

"Well, Matt's folks adopted her," Rainbow answered with another shrug. "She was a baby when they found her."

Spitfire chewed on that information as she did likewise for her plate of food. "... and lemme guess, she picked up on the family penchant for mayhem?" she asked.

Rainbow wilted, but nodded. "Yeah, but… truth be told, I'm willing to bet they weren't expecting her to become an alicorn," she said.

Spitfire's brow climbed even higher. "She ascended," she said bluntly.

Rainbow nodded. "Said so herself," she affirmed.

High Winds sighed. "It seems Lady Fate's been acting weird on Fantasia," she noted dryly.

Misty Fly nodded. "Tell me about it," she agreed.

Spitfire finished her slice of pie, and waited for the rest of her crew to finish their food as well. Once everypony had their fill for the night, she turned to Rainbow Dash. "And I presume… you've learned about how Matt and Natalie obtained their cutie marks?" she asked, causing the other Wonderbolts to turn to Rainbow as well.

Rainbow bitterly nodded. "In fact, I've seen Matt's talent in action," she confirmed. "Their cutie mark story… it's not a happy one."

"Why do you say that? Did they wind up killing ponies with their special talents? It can't be that bad, right?" Soarin asked, smiling in jest at first. Then his smile fell when he noticed Rainbow had maintained her unhappy look. "... you're not joking, are you?" At her mute headshake, he decided to brace himself. "Alright, I'll bite: what happened?"

"Well…" Rainbow looked at Fleetfoot. "Did Matt mention anything to you about something called the Royale Catastrophe?"

Fleetfoot nodded. "Not much, but he did say he ran into very stubborn ponies that wound up dying, and it had to do with how he obtained his cutie mark," she affirmed. "So what exactly went down?"

"Buckle up, everypony, because it's not a happy tale…" Rainbow began, pausing to consider something. She added, "And don't try to spoil the party when I tell you this, okay?" At their nods, she sucked in a breath to continue with her unsavory findings. She relayed the information quietly enough to not ruin the mood of the party, but loudly enough so that her Captain and seniors and fellow cadet could hear her clearly.

Spitfire blinked once Rainbow concluded the tale. "Whoa… and to think that the school report was exaggerating with the giant swords…" she muttered, partially awed, partially horrified, and partially feeling stupid for thinking those details were a flight of fancy made to embellish on Fantasian events.

"Yeah," Rainbow agreed with a nod. "These guys? They're freakishly strong—they have to restrain themselves to keep meteors from raining on ponies' heads." She shook her head. "And when you're packing that much firepower, it's best to be careful." She sighed. "If we do end up whipping up the supercell, we'll have to be careful to not let any magic surges join in on those festivities."

Spitfire nodded. "I'm glad to have been informed of this now, rather than later," she said dryly, turning back to the festivities as Maria showed Lance her new candy stash, put into a bag by Pinkie for safekeeping. Lance smiled and patted his child on her head. "So we might have to rework our training a little to account for this, as well as Maria's raw strength."

The Wonderbolts nodded, and allowed themselves to relax now that Rainbow had brought this to their attention. "But how are we going to account for the raw strength?" High Winds asked.

"Simple: we pull them aside, and train them separately to prevent future accidents. If we need to, we'll set up a temporary cloud base here for that purpose," Spitfire answered, taking a sip of some tea. She turned to Rainbow and asked, "Also, is there more of this tea available? I quite like it."

Rainbow grinned at her superior. "I think Anna might be making more of it; I'll see if it's ready," she said, getting up from the table and taking to the air, being careful to not knock the table or its plates over with her wingbeats. She darted off quick as a whip, and returned a minute later with a fresh jug of tea.

"Several more pitchers?" Spitfire asked, smiling in amusement.

Rainbow nodded. "Enough for the whole party," she confirmed, moving to set the pitcher on the table for anyone who wanted it. Spitfire poured herself some more tea and took another sip.

"Excellent. I don't think we'll be parched for the rest of this night," Spitfire said, turning to Maria as she channeled mana across her wings and flapped, this time keeping focus on both tasks at once. In seconds, and for the first time, she was airborne, squealing in delight even as she wobbled and tumbled through the air into Lance, knocking him down and making him laugh.

Soarin grinned. "Seems like she figured out flight," he said, watching as Lance rolled over to hug Maria. "She's clumsy, but she's got it down at least!"

Thunderlane nodded, smiling as well. "I remember when Rumble flew for the first time. He was as happy as she is now," he said, pouring himself a glass of tea to nurse at his leisure. "He crashed into me, too." That got the Wonderbolts to laugh, though not at him. He laughed as well, glad that even in spite of the horrors they were being exposed to on Fantasia, they still could find things to laugh about.

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Twilight found herself watching a projection from Andrew after they had retired to the guest rooms, who was relaying its events to her as they happened. At his side were Eve and Bartholomew, both of whom looked solemn. "After the village we were in was razed, and my nephew, niece, and their friends were foalnapped along with their agemates, we went to try and save them, and find out who was behind the whole thing," Andrew said, as the projection showed him twisting and turning through innumerable trees from his eyes.

"Yes, but this still doesn't answer my question of how they got out of that colosseum," Twilight said dryly.

"I'm getting to that," Andrew said, a mite snappishly. "We tried asking around towns after surviving the surprise attack on our village, but nopony offered any directions, so… we had to improvise. Eventually, we found where we needed to be, having found tracks of the kidnappers." The projection halted briefly, then warbled as it seemed to snap forward in time, shifting from a forest to a cliffside overlooking a heavily forested area, at the center of which lay a colosseum. "We had only barely gotten there, and were tired, but unwilling to make camp for the night—we could tell something was wrong."

The projection showed red bolts of magic—two, to be precise—launching upwards into the sky, from the center of the colosseum. The distant crowd was shouting, but all noise died down when a portal to Hell itself ripped open in the sky, from which came the giant blades that not even Twilight herself could stop. Orbiting them were star-shaped meteors of flame, shedding feather-like motes that crackled ominously.

In the projection, Eve fell to her knees, eyes wide with horror. "No…! It's… no…!" she stammered, despair shining in her eyes, even as they radiated black mist.

"What is it?!" Bartholomew asked in the vision, turning to his wife.

"The vision… the vision I saw when he was born… it's coming true!" Eve replied, pupils shrinking as they beheld the terror that was Ragnarok.

A hoof lanced out in the projection, gesturing to the impending apocalypse. "Y-you mean—?!" Andrew yelled in the projection. Eve gravely nodded.

"Destiny… she has come calling," Eve said, before standing up and looking at her companions. "We can't leave them. But from this point on… we won't be able to intervene otherwise, if Destiny is to run her course. If we are to act… we have to do so now."

Twilight turned to Eve as silence hung in the relayed memory. "... how far did you see into the future, when Matt was born?" she asked.

Eve frowned. "A little further than most—up to the defeat of Akron," she confirmed.

Twilight turned back to the relayed memories as Bartholomew spoke within them again. "We gotta move now—we can't let them die," he said firmly.

"Then it's settled: we get those kids out, at all costs," Andrew said, even as he shuddered upon beholding Ragnarok. At that point, in the distance, the crowd of the colosseum began to scream in abject, absolute terror. The projection lifted from the cliff's edge, and raced towards the colosseum as the first sword of the volley dropped onto the stadium. Dust obscured vision within the memory, and it halted in movement save for the cloud that had kicked up.

Despair consumed Twilight as she watched the blade come so close to the mobile shadows making up Andrew's form in the memory, before it halted at the hilt. The memory moved around the blade, trying to seek a way into the colosseum, when a burning meteor dropped to melt stone into slag and a fraction of the ponies making up the crowd into glass. The second sword followed, slicing the other side of the colosseum with prejudice, the two weapons forming a crack in the middle between them.

Through the dust cloud, Andrew and his group charged via shadows. Once on the ground, they were met with the horrifying sight of felled ponies, many of them foals in cages, and adults with mutilated and burned flanks charging towards the middle. Waves of fire washed out, golden metal flashed, and shadows raced out to kill them and keep them at bay. In the center of the mess were three foals, marks shining on their flanks and one of them sporting a freshly-grown pair of wings. "At that point, we found Matt, Natz, and Lazarus, killing ponies with impunity," Andrew said, shaking his head. "We stepped out of our shadows to try to help, but…"

The last of the mutilated adults fell by way of fire, choking on the smog and embers. Afterwards, the three children looked around with wide, angry eyes, wondering if anypony else was going to try their luck at killing them. "Well, they took care of it. But we still had to get them out before their own magic could do them in," Andrew said, as the memory approached the bloodstained, ash-covered children. "At the time though, we didn't have our cutie marks ourselves…"

The memory showed a pair of maroon hooves reaching out to hug the younger Natalie. She began to wail in the embrace. "U-uncle Andy! B-bad ponies… made us… they made us kill…!" she sobbed, her ranting quickly turning incoherent as her wings snapped open.

"L-look out!" the younger Matt cried, causing the projection to jerk skywards, revealing a massive blade merely moments away from touching down on them all. It shuddered, and then shadows raced out to form a star-marked shield that only just prevented the tip of the impossible weapon from slicing into the ground. It strained, and cracked in seconds.

"We gotta get the kids, and get out of here!" Andrew barked in the memory. "Whatever my magic's doing, it can't hold!" The projection turned to the other children, whom Eve and Bartholomew were scooping up onto their backs alongside their weapons. Eve scooped up Natalie and her weapon in her shadows, and was prepared to leave Andrew behind when a meteor shot to the sword, with enough force to knock it away into another part of the stadium. In doing this, the shield cracked, and the projection flickered as ash and dust kicked up.

"As you can see… it was a near thing, that little risky ploy," Andrew said, sighing. "That was my first magic surge since I was a foal, and it saved my hide then." The memory flickered, then shifted to reveal a pale-gray earth pony stallion galloping up to the group, about as tall as Bartholomew himself. Despite the heat of the flames, a chill emanated in Twilight's soul upon seeing the scabbard-wearing pony.

"What are you doing here, Somnus!?" Andrew demanded in the memory.

"I wasn't expecting to see you three here… but seeing you here would make sense," Somnus answered, wearing a cheery smile that showed teeth.

"What do you mean?" Eve asked.

"I wasn't expecting you three to survive the attack on Midnight Hollow," Somnus replied, still wearing his obliviously cheery expression. "After all… you're the type to carefully watch your foals, right? Not like all those other blowhards that called that little backwater village home."

"Stop talking nonsense!" Andrew hissed. "Why are you here?"

Somnus' smile widened, showing more teeth as his eyes narrowed. His cheer was now gone, replaced by a veneer of hate and happiness that twisted to show malice. "'Why am I here,' he asks. Well… if you must really know, I was doing what was natural—enforcing the order of the world! It was such a shame your little village of Midnight Hollow had so many foals seeking to break the order!" Somnus replied, glaring at the group. "Cutie marks… they're an irredeemable sin, a mark of hubris. They must be done away with entirely! The fact that your foals and their little friend wanted their marks shows just how hopeless you are!"

"Y-you were scouting our village… to kill our children and their friends because they wanted their cutie marks?!" Eve cried, horror painting her features as the projection twisted in her direction. By that point, Lazarus had passed out on her back, and she had deposited Natalie on Andrew's back with her shadows. "What is wrong with you?! Didn't anypony tell you what happens when Lady Fate is denied?!"

"Lady Fate has no power here! She is but a figment of a past that deserves to be buried and damned!" Somnus argued, stomping a hoof as he pulled a sword from the scabbard on his body.

"Did you know Somnus well?" Twilight asked.

Andrew bitterly nodded. "We… we considered him a friend. Natalie didn't like him much, she said she had bad feelings about him when we took that photo…" he answered. "To find out he was really ordering a hit on Midnight Hollow… well, I think you'd find our reaction understandable."

Bartholomew took the blade Matt wielded in his mouth, looking grimly at Somnus. "But… you were… you were a friend! How could you do this?!" Eve cried, her horn sparking, only to dim briefly as she sent Lazarus' spear to the ether.

"We were never friends! I would never consider myself fortunate enough to have met clueless parents that didn't adhere to the order of things!" Somnus hissed, before charging towards them. His blade clashed with Bartholomew's borrowed one, and the crazed stallion was thrown back with ease.

Hurt flashed in Bartholomew's eyes as he charged in the memory, his hoofsteps cracking the ground in his wake. Former friend or not, all he seemed to see now was something that had threatened his children—something that would need to be killed to ensure their safety. Both stallions faltered when another burning meteor proceeded to melt more stone and panicking ponies behind them, impacting the ground with the force of an earthquake.

"You've killed children here! Children! Helpless, scared children!!" Bartholomew shouted through the hilt of his borrowed blade. "And you would've killed my son! My adopted daughter! Their friend! You've killed their other friends and agemates! What possessed you, you monster?!"

"I am no monster—for I am ensuring that nopony will be able to rise above their masters, when their masters resurface! We are but the remnants of a fallen race, and we should all be subjugated for the betterment of Fantasia!" Somnus argued as he stood up, putting his blade between his teeth. Rage flashed in his eyes, alongside malice. The flames roiling behind him made him appear as though he had crawled from Hell itself, silhouetting him in burning white and orange.

Somnus charged, and would have cleaved Bartholomew's head off had Eve not raced to intervene with her shadows, shoving him back towards the flames. "I see now how you three survived the razing of Midnight Hollow… no matter, I'll kill you all here and now!" he cried, charging once more with purpose. He was deflected by another star-marked shield, which pushed him back to keep him away from the foals. All faltered once more as another sword took out another side of the half-melted stadium. Even now, screams continued to echo around them, from thousands of still-living ponies gripped in terror and agony without any seeming end.

Somnus reared up onto his hooves, channeling magic through them that he then willed through the ground itself. Cracks formed in the ground, before stalagmites erupted from them, forming at a breakneck rate and racing to impale Eve through her stomach. Her horn flashed, and she willed her magic through the ground to halt the attack with a volley of crystal stalagmites of her own. Both volleys shattered against one another, but this left her open to another charge from Somnus, which she barely deflected with a hoof and a hard shove. A burst of fire shot out from Natalie, which manifested into a ball that was sent hurtling towards the crazed stallion.

Somnus deflected the fire with a wall of earth that he channeled into existence. The dirt turned to soot and fell at his hooves. He reared up and sent more stalagmites out, this time spreading them out to assault everypony at once. Bartholomew galloped out of the way, and Andrew blocked the ones heading for him with a shield that protected his stomach. Eve grappled with the ones sent after her, her eyes pooling shadows as she struggled against them. But before the stallions could move to bail her out, her magic pulsed through the earth and grappled with that of her adversary's.

The stalagmites melted into light and shadows, intertwining in an intricate dance with dust swirling around their masses. Light built on Eve's flank as she sent her retaliation out, raining light and shadow on Somnus, who galloped out of the way. Bartholomew channeled his magic through the earth, stomping more than a few times with his front hooves to send stalagmites of his own in response. Somnus waited until one was about to impale him, then positioned his hoof so he could launch off of it instead, blade angled and glinting in the flames as it clashed with the borrowed sword once more.

Both stallions were locked into a stalemate, before Somnus channeled his magic again, cracking the ground and causing a fissure to start emerging beneath Bartholomew's hooves. Somnus grinned wickedly, eyes flashing with malice as he regarded a pony he had fooled into thinking he was a friend. Bartholomew retaliated, using his magic to try and keep the fissure from widening. "Embrace death, and let Fantasia be sundered by its masters… Lady Fate has no power here. I've defied her since I was a foal, as have my family before me," Somnus said through the handle of his blade, sounding gleeful at the prospect of death to come.

"You're foolish! You're just trying to justify your crimes through nonsense!" Bartholomew retorted, shoving Somnus back successfully. The fissure widened when he did this, and it caused his hooves to start spreading. He saw what was happening and hopped away from the fissure, which started to trail a crack towards another one of the massive swords impaled in the ground.

"But is it nonsense, or truth? You see it one way, and I see it another way!" Somnus retorted, grinning as Bartholomew stomped his hooves, about to charge again. He reared up to make another fissure, when Bartholomew put his borrowed blade into his hooves, channeled his magic through it, and stabbed the ground to do so first.

Somnus darted out of the way before Bartholomew's retaliatory fissure could swallow him. Another sword dropped into the ruined colosseum, followed by another meteor; dust and ash teamed up to obscure the crazed stallion, save for his fire-carved silhouette, and the screams began to die off into an eerie silence. He charged towards Andrew once more, only to be pushed back by another shield. Light and darkness danced, and landed the first solid hit of the battle, sweeping into Somnus' legs and knocking him to the ground.

But Somnus got right back up before any of them could capitalize on his prone stance. He charged once more, aiming for Eve, who stepped aside with her shadows to carry herself and Lazarus to safety. "I will kill you all first, and then those worthless colts you're protecting!" Somnus proclaimed, galloping once more towards Eve. "And as for the filly… I'll keep her alive, but make her wish she'd have died instead!"

Eve's face hardened. "As long as I am still breathing, you will not touch a hair on their heads anymore, you maniac!" She summoned the borrowed spear. "You've got to get through us first!"

Somnus made to strike, but was parried and shoved away, the metal sparking and screeching as it was deflected. Eve then turned around to kick him in the face with her hinds, sending him staggering back, but not dislodging the blade from his grip. She whirled back around and smacked him with the blunt end of the spear, pushing him back even further before he turned around and kicked in turn, causing her to stagger as she got a hit right in the jaw.

Bartholomew moved to step in, coming up behind Somnus with the intent to cleave him in two. He saw the massive shadow, felt the massive hoofsteps approaching, and ducked out of the way, turning around to punch him in the face to get him to back off. He sent out another wave of stalagmites through the earth, causing the pair to retreat a few paces. Andrew came charging with his shield before him, hoping to mow down the crazed stallion, but Somnus backed away from all three of them to get some breathing room. He sent another wave of stalagmites to further dissuade them from getting too close to him, forcing them to dodge the attack once more.

Another sword impaled itself into the crumbling colosseum. All swayed where they stood, but held firmly to the ground even as it began forming more cracks in the soil than they could count. Now, the screams had died completely, leaving the ash, smoke, and slag as the only company of the combatants. Amidst the flames and carnage, Twilight could hear a weak "D-daddy… take me home…" from Matt as he finally succumbed to the mana drain.

Somnus cackled. "But his home is destroyed—the miserable misfit has no place to go now! No town will take him in! No town will house him or his little, stupid friends!" he howled, eyes shining with manic mirth. "But they might take the filly away from them, to use as they see fit! I'll be surprised if that little bitch isn't making money on her back when she grows up!"

Bartholomew shook his head, glancing back at his son to see his shadows revert to hair. Then he looked to Natalie, having passed out on Andrew's back. Then he turned to Eve, who briefly checked on Lazarus. Renewed fury sparked in his eyes, and he clenched the blade in his teeth even tighter now. If they let Somnus walk away from this, he seemed to realize, then he could threaten the children… no, he could threaten all of Fantasia in the future with his raging idiocy.

That was a risk none of the sane adults could take. They nodded as one. It was time to end this.

Bartholomew hardened himself, and turned to his son once more. "I can't quite do that… but I will ensure you're all safe before the night is over. I promise you that this maniac will die before he hurts you again!" he promised, turning back to Somnus as he charged. Blades clashed once more, and this time it was a flurry of motion as the blades repeatedly struck, hoping to score a hit against the other's wielder.

Andrew charged once more, pushing Somnus away from Bartholomew. "Even if no town will accept them, we'll make sure they're okay! Your sick schemes end here!" he declared, conjuring his shield and using it to hit Somnus upside the head. Eve charged from the other direction, the spear she borrowed already raised to end this, but Somnus twisted in her direction to deflect it with his blade before summoning more stalagmites to send the three back.

Eve found herself standing dangerously close to white-hot flames as she dodged, her shadows dissipating as they wafted off of her body. "Eve! What are you doing?! You know we're weak to strong light!" Andrew barked. "Get away from the hellfire!"

Eve said nothing, instead waiting for Somnus to hear that. He grinned and charged at her, blade raised to end her in an instant. At the last possible moment, she flicked the borrowed spear and deflected the blade, sidestepping at the same time to let Somnus' charge carry him the rest of the way. He screamed as he went skidding headfirst into the flames, his blade clattering to the ground as hellfire raced to consume him. In an instant, he was reduced to charred, screaming muscle, and then in the next he found himself unable to even crawl out as he collapsed, further reduced to what was less than ash-struck bones that were blissfully silent.

Yet, it was not over somehow. A scream came from the bones of the fallen children, a unified howl that sent chills down Twilight's spine as the bodies spasmed and clattered, fire swirling around them to reform into into pony-shaped entities with various colors of eyes that melded into a uniform red against twin backdrops of black. Their cutie marks burned into place on their flanks, flickering in fire of different colors to give them a general shape.

The same happened to Somnus, as another body was forged from his bones and moved to stand once more, now wreathed in the very flames that had consumed him. "I will not perish to the follies of cutie marks and hubris!" the flame specter declared in his voice, marching towards the three adults who dared to defy him with grim purpose. He stomped on the ground, causing a fissure to open beneath him as it spread to the three who continued their defiance. He hovered in the air, no longer constrained by petty things like gravity and physics, as if his own hatred kept him aloft somehow.

"He's turned into a fucking wraith… what's it gonna take to put him down?!" Bartholomew cried, backing away slowly along with his wife and brother-in-law.

"I don't know, and I don't wanna find out!" Eve argued, contemplating their odds. She and Andrew pulled themselves into shadows, and then Bartholomew and the children into the masses of shadows as well, preparing to high-tail it out of there. "We can't take him on now! It's us or him, and it's gonna be him!"

Somnus' wraith smiled wickedly, flames roiling around him as he cackled. He began to burn brighter, and started hovering closer to Eve and her group as they backed away in unison. "Your folly ends here, you miserable blind miscreants! Soon all of Fantasia will succumb to its masters, and I shall rejoice!" He looked around, and noticed the smaller wraiths all turning in unison towards him.

"You won't get the chance, you awful pony! You will fall like we have fallen!" the child wraiths declared in unison, as they all galloped towards Somnus' wraith, and piled on him as the fissure he opened up spread beneath him.

One of the child wraiths turned to the surviving adults. "Run! Save yourselves!" she ordered, before joining the pile to keep Somnus from moving. Somnus struggled, and managed to knock some of the child wraiths off before more came to replace them. The fissure beneath them widened as the smaller wraiths struggled to pull Somnus into the ground.

Somnus shook them off, only for them to latch on once more. "Why do you continue to defy the natural order, you ignorant whelps?! Why do you fight, instead of accepting death and damnation?!" he demanded, as more continued to grab onto him to pull him down into his grave.

"Because you're a horrible pony, a foal-killer! If we're going to hell, then you are too!" the child wraiths answered in deafening unison, keeping their hold with all of their might. Somnus screamed and pulled, but more and more child wraiths piled on, immobilizing him under their blazing hooves. The fissure widened, now big enough to swallow them all up, and the child wraiths pulled him down, down, down into the earth, his screams echoing as he was dragged to his doom and damnation.

As soon as he was taken care of, the three heeded the command in order to carry the surviving children to safety. Away from the crumbling colosseum they went, aiming skyward to behold the horrible sight of a forest set ablaze, reducing straight to ash instead of charcoal. Smoke clouded everything beyond the height of the wrecked colosseum, and swords had carved into the earth at a wider radius than they thought. The fire showed no signs of stopping anytime soon, but the swords had, diminishing into harmless embers as they left innumerable gashes in their wake.

The projection flickered as it weaved through the flames, trying to seek shelter before the ponies using shadows would choke on the fumes. "We had to find shelter, and soon… but we didn't know where to start looking," Andrew said, frowning as the projection began to dart around frantically, still weaving through smog and fire desperately. It took a few long, desperate moments before a lucky break was found at the bottom of the cliff they had left; there was a cavern, untouched by smoke, which the projection darted into without delay.

The cavern meandered down a few meters at a slope, but at the bottom lay a shallow pool of water and a bastion of dry land that the shadows resolved upon. Three out-cold foals were laid on the dry land, their weapons laid down next to them. Eve checked for pulses, and once she confirmed them, she conjured blankets to tuck them in for the night. As soon as that was done, she began to write something down on a piece of paper using only her magic. "We have to let them know we're okay, and that we're sorry we weren't there for them sooner," Eve said, to which Bartholomew and Andrew didn't argue.

"Where do we go from here? They might die if we leave them like this," Andrew said.

Eve shook her head as she finished writing her note down, and laid it within reach of the newly cutie-marked children. "If my vision is coming true… they'll be alright," she replied. "In fact… they may be the key to setting everything right on Fantasia."

"... are you sure?" Bartholomew asked, worry creasing his brow.

"I'm certain. I have faith in Lady Fate," Eve answered, before the projection cut off.

"... you think Lady Fate intervened somehow?" Twilight asked.

Eve nodded. "If anything, she gave them that last push into that magic surge… she might have intervened for us as well," she answered. "Which means… she might have set everything into motion."

"... do you know why she would do that?" Twilight asked.

Eve shook her head. "I wish I did," she answered. "I couldn't tell you either way." That left Twilight unsatisfied, but then that got her thinking on something.

Twilight pulled out the book with the myriad of alterations. "Do any of you know about a pony named Starswirl the Bearded?" she asked.

Eve's eyes widened. "We've… we've heard much about him, but none of it was good," she answered. Then she looked at the book and paled. "Wh-where did you…"

"While I was in Equestria," Twilight answered. "But the book is almost impossible to read; do you two know who did this?" She opened it and turned to a ruined page.

Eve gravely shook her head. "We do not," she confirmed. "In fact… we heard that before the barrier was put up, somepony got a hold of that book and ruined it before giving it back to Starswirl…"

"Do you know who?" Twilight asked.

Eve shook her head again. "I wish I could tell you," she said gravely. "But since the book is now out and about… I'd like to think the saboteur is gonna reveal themselves soon…"

"How soon?" Twilight asked. Eve shook her head, and didn't answer, which worried Twilight immensely. The lack of forthcoming answers began to frighten her, and she began to ask herself: what did the saboteur want to keep hidden from the sister worlds, if they were willing to sabotage Starswirl's book?

None of the answers she could conjure were good ones. None of the answers she could conjure boded well for Fantasia. None of them ignored Somnus' insane ramblings from the projection, talking about Fantasia's former 'masters,' whoever they were. And he probably did not mean Godcat and Faust, much less this Akron fellow that she had been hearing more about as of late.

Who, then, was Somnus talking about? What was he talking about? And did it have anything to do with the miserable state of Fantasia?