Pony Fantasy V: Exodus of the Void

by GMSeskii

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Starlight Glimmer, Princess Luna, Adventure, Violence, Crossover, Sunset Shimmer, Main 6, Lyra, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 113951

The four crystals of the world are threatened by a great darkness, and the only ones who can stop it are four unusual mares. Final Fantasy V with ponies and a few twists.

The four elemental crystals have been the source of the world's prosperity for as long as anypony - or anyone else for that matter - can remember. The strong earth, the bright fire, the abundant water, and the brisk wind have been with ponykind since the beginning.

However, for the first time in history the crystals are being threatened. A great evil stirs, willing to destroy the energy of the planet itself in order to achieve its goals. The effects can already be felt worldwide - something is wrong with the wind.

The fate of the world is placed in the hooves of four mares chosen by chance - a princess, a wanderer, an amnesiac, and a pirate. They are about to set out on an adventure that will take them further than any of them could have ever known.

This is Pony Fantasy V: Exodus of the Void.

Final Fantasy V with ponies and a few twists.

((This story takes place in my Songs of the Spheres continuity.))

-GM, master of late tag.

Published 2016-07-17 16:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-12-05 13:20:15 UTC

Opening

The day was beautiful - the sun was bright, the birds were singing, and the trees were rustling in the breeze. To the average observer it would seem that all was right with reality.

Queen Luna of Trotton was not the average observer. She lifted her muzzle to the sky, eyes closed, her wings furling out. She felt the breeze closely, letting it flow between the feathers of her wings and the folds of her stellar mane.

“Something is wrong with the wind.” She said, almost breathlessly. She had been alive for countless years, and she knew the wind like the night sky itself - and it had never behaved like this. It was as if… as if the wind were trying to scream but its voice was muffled.

She opened her eyes and looked down from her perch atop her castle. It was a fine castle, the color of night itself. It stood out like a sore thumb in the day, but that was just how she liked it. It's graceful spires clawed against the intense day, in defiance of the sun. All of her subjects would always remember the beauty of the night, even when the day stole it from them. She smirked as she recalled the fact that many of her subjects believed she herself controlled the night sky and the moon itself - such ideas were absurd, of course, but she did nothing to quell the rumors.

Around her castle was a small town - the town of Trotton, the capital of her queendom. It was rather unusual for a capital - there were many cities within her domain that were much larger. But Luna cared not for size - she cared for the quality of life, and every person in the town of Trotton could say they had a good life, and for the most part that was the same for the kingdom at large. It was a place at peace, a place without the problems of war or unchecked progress - unlike the other kingdoms. Though the others were at peace for now, that was hardly the case most of the time.

She sniffed the air again, once more feeling that something wrong with the wind.

“Mother?” A refined voice came to her ears, one that had accompanied her in this castle for the past two decades.

“Yes, Rarity?” Luna asked, looking down from her perch to the elegant unicorn that barely came up to half her height. Princess Rarity had once again put her silver crown on upside down, though she still somehow managed to look fashionable with it like that. Her figure was white and elegant, her face in an expression of concern.

“The wind is acting strangely.” Luna said, looking away. “I need to go investigate.”

Rarity blinked. “Go investigate?” She said, worry and sadness evident in her voice.

“I shall head to the Wind Shrine, and check on the Crystal. I may be able to see if anything is wrong…”

Rarity frowned. “But… you just came back from your visit to Solamane! The people have barely gotten a look at you since you’ve returned!”

“The Wind Shrine is in our Kingdom.” Luna responded. “I will not be leaving our borders.”

“Yes but… the advisors are going to throw a fit.”

Luna smirked. “The advisors throw a fit no matter what I do.”

Rarity sighed, her head drooping. “And… I haven’t got to spend much time with you since you got back.”

The sentence tore at Luna’s heart. “I… I am sorry Rarity. I need to discover what is wrong. However, the Wind Shrine is less than a day away for me. I will be back by tomorrow, and we will be able to spend time together. We can have a private banquet, just the two of us.” She smiled, the stars in her ethereal mane twinkling with emotion.

Rarity sighed. “I suppose you are right Mother… but please hurry back will you? They can all be… insufferable when you’re not here to manage them.”

Luna laughed. “I know you can take care of them. I trust you Rarity. You will make a fine Queen some day.”

“I know.” Rarity smiled. “Now get going so you may return faster. I’ll have a feast set for tomorrow night, in the light of the moon.”

Luna nodded, spreading her wings. “Goodbye my daughter, may the wind be in your step.”

“And may the wind be in your wings.” Rarity said, waving with a hoof.

Luna flapped into the air, her horn lighting with a dark magical aura. Her wings alit with stars, and she shot into the sky, a trail of cosmic dust behind her. Rarity smiled as she watched her beautiful mother take off in the direction of the Wind Shrine.

She returned to the castle. She had a banquet to prepare and those tapestries she made weren’t going to hang themselves!

~~~

Later that day, as the sun was setting, the sea was calm. The sun was close to the horizon, making a beautiful shimmering reflection on the water. It almost seemed like a crystal.

On the sea floated a small vessel - sails at the ready, and moving through the water at a brisk pace. Purple-clothed pirates set about keeping the ship in tip-top shape, ensuring the journey went smoothly.

The captain, a rainbow-maned pegasus by the name of Rainbow Dash, was standing at the very tip of the boat, defying the wind to blow her into the sea. Though, being a pegasus, she’d probably just be able to fly away before she hit the water below.

The wind blew through her mane and tail, the rainbow colors flapping in the breeze. She frowned. Why was the wind getting stronger so quickly? What was going on?

Then her mane suddenly went flat. Everything became deathly still.

She blinked. “The wind just stopped…”

~~~

In a cavernous room that was trembling considerably, a pink mare’s hair suddenly whipped around in a strange spiral pattern before settling back into it’s natural poofy state.

Pinkie Pie let out the most distraught gasp she could muster. “Oh no! The wind’s stopped!” She began to fret.

The magical display next to her popped up with an alert.

“Yes I know the wind’s stopped you don’t need to tell me! Just get there faster!”

The display didn’t respond. It was just a display after all.

“Party pooper.” She muttered, the entire cavern around her continuing to shake. It began to shake harder, and the interior began to get hotter.

“Oh. Forgot about this part. This is going to be quite the fun ride! Maybe I’ll turn it into an amusement park attraction…”

She let out a high-pitched “WHEEEEEE!”

~~~

Rarity stood atop Trotton castle, watching the sun set. She sighed. “Mother… come back…” She had long since gotten the advisors off her tail - they wouldn’t stop nagging her about the Queen and her whereabouts, even after she had already explained everything. She was tired of explaining what had happened. She just wanted to have her banquet tomorrow with her mother.

As the light of the sun disappeared, Rarity stood bolt upright, no longer in her depressed pose. She felt fear.

“I say…. the wind… the wind… It’s gone! But you can always feel it from up here!” She stared in the direction Luna had left in. “Mother… what has happened to you?”

~~~

Luna ran through the Wind Shrine, her face almost in a panic. Normally it was nearly impossible to simply walk through the Shrine for the winds were so great - but she’d had no difficulty getting here whatsoever. She flew straight through the great double doors, landing right in the Crystal Sanctum.

Before her stood the tall and slender Wind Crystal, it’s soft blue glow lighting up the large domed room. It was a glorious sight - taller than herself by a large margin, and smoother than anything else Luna had laid eyes on. But something was wrong.

<Help!> Luna felt a voice enter her thoughts. <I am in danger! The world is in danger!>

Luna stood agape for a second - the Crystal could speak?

<Yes I… I…>

Luna watched in horror as the Wind Crystal began to crack.

<Oh no… Queen Luna! You must…> The voice began to fizzle out, replaced with a strange resonating tone - it took Luna a moment to realize that the sound must be the Crystal screaming.

Luna lit her horn, filling the area with a dark light. She attempted to fuse the crystal back together with her magic, but deep down she knew she was nothing compared to the forces that the Crystal itself was made of. She was likely only delaying the inevitable.

<I…. Appreciate what you are doing… But you must save the others…>

“How?”

<You… >The tone reached an unbearable volume, and the crystal cracked further. A feeling of dread crept into Luna’s stomach.

“No…”

The wind crystal shattered, spreading crystal shards across the room. The sound stopped instantly. The room was filled with a bright light.

~~~

Out in the woods, far from most civilizations, an orange earth pony sat next to a fire. Her gigantic chocobo mount ruffled it’s golden feathers, trying to keep warm. The forest loomed large around them, and the world was peaceful.

Applejack yawned. “Ah say, this is a mighty nice campin’ spot you found us Winona. Not a sign of monsters anywhere. Nice to have good luck for a change.”

Winona simply cawed. Then she looked up into the sky, craning her neck.

“What is it girl?” Applejack asked, adjusting her hat so she could see upwards.

Winona pointed at a bright light in the sky.

“Huh… issit just me or is that light gettin’ bigger?”

It was, in fact, getting bigger. Too big for comfort, in fact. Soon, it was a giant fireball streaking across the sky, lighting the world up like a lesser version of the sun. “By Luna…” Applejack said, her jaw open as the fireball crashed into the landscape, landing several miles away with the most deafening noise Applejack had ever heard.

Winona cawed in panic, but Applejack held up a hoof to calm her. The world was once again silent, and she could hear crickets chirping.

“Winona… whaddoya say we check that out in the morning?”

Winona only cawed in response. Applejack chuckled. “That’s my girl.”

~~~

PONY FANTASY V: Exodus of the Void

Starring…

Applejack as Bartz

Rarity as Lenna

Pinkie as Galuf

Rainbow as Faris

Winona as Boko

and Queen Luna as King Tycoon

…and many more to be revealed later.

Written by GM, master of the Void.

Credit to Square Enix and Hasbro where it’s due.

II - The Impossible Ship

The three mares watched the pirates for several hours - they were a jolly sort, drinking and yelling and cheering nonstop ever since the ship had returned. Apparently they had gotten some good plunder and needed to celebrate. Applejack had to hold Pinkie down at one point to keep her from joining in the festivities.

At long last, evening came, and Applejack learned something - Pirates snore extremely loudly. She hoof motioned to the other two to follow her as she trotted out into the open, carefully looking for pirates that were not asleep. To her surprise, even the few that were on “watch” were passed out in front of what they were supposed to be guarding.

“Huh.” Applejack muttered, walking right past a pirate. He didn’t even shift in his sleep, apparently having mastered the ancient art of sleeping while standing. Applejack herself had done that on more than one occasion - though she knew from experience that there was a very real danger of just being tipped over. She turned to look behind her, realizing that the other two weren’t even following her. She poked her head back around the corner and the two were still just sitting there.

“I told ya to come!” She hissed.

“Dear you said no such thing.” Rarity responded.

“Shhh!” Applejack ‘whispered.’ “I hoof motioned you!”

“Oh was that was that was?” Pinkie asked. “I thought you had an itch.”

Applejack facehooved. “Come on, they’re all more asleep than a bear in winter. Just be quiet and we might get past them.”

Rarity and Pinkie nodded. Applejack walked in front of the sleeping pirate again, who hadn’t moved an inch. She headed for the dock, stepping over another sleeping pirate, this one an earth pony mare. The pirate’s ear twitched, but aside from that she made no response to Applejack’s presence.

Rarity managed to elegantly step over the slumbering mare without so much as a creak. She gave Applejack an arrogant smirk. Putting her nose into the air, she trotted across the bridge, proud of her stealth skills.

Then she dropped her suitcase onto the dock with a loud CLANG!!!

Everyone froze to look at the mare. She groaned, rolled over, and went back to snoring - somehow even louder than before.

Applejack fixed Rarity with a death glare and Rarity sheepishly smiled back. There was much Applejack wanted to say, but it would have to wait until they were safely at sea on this… ship that could sail without wind. They began to move along the dock once more.

It was now Pinkie’s turn to sneak past the pirate, and she hopped over her easily. Then she brought out the party cannon and aimed it above the pirate. It went of with a KA-PLOOF that shook the entire cavern and echoed for several seconds, making Applejack and Rarity cringe. The mare seemed like she would wake up, mumbled something about pancakes, then fell back asleep.

“Pinkie!” Applejack yelled. “Are you TRYING to wake her up???”

“Uh-huh! They sleep like rocks!” Pinkie responded, her grin refusing to falter.

“PINKIE!!!!.”

“Applejack, darling… I thought we needed to be quiet hrrrm?” Rarity pointed out.

Applejack shot the two of them death glares and just walked up the dock and onto the pirate ship. The ship itself was abandoned - the pirates apparently liked sleeping in their little cove better than a ship that kept bobbing in the waves.

Applejack sauntered up to the ship’s wheel. “Okay then. Lesse here… If this boat sails without wind then all we should need to do is…” She grabbed the wheel and started to turn. The boat creaked as the rudder rotated, but nothing happened.

Rarity blinked. “Applejack, do you even know how to sail?”

“Yah, but that’s with wind. I have no clue about fancy windless boats-“

“Ooh lemme try!” Pinkie said, shoving Applejack aside. She squinted at the wheel, and frowned. “There’s no speed control… or even a forward control lever. This looks exactly like a sailboat - no other form of propulsion is visible from this control.” She blinked. “Wow, I just sounded smart didn’t I? Alien brain right?”

“Would ya quit it with the ‘I’m an alien’ schtick?” Applejack asked.

“Nope!” Pinkie said in complete honesty.

Applejack sighed.

Rarity frowned. “Well… what do we do now?”

“I’ll tell you what!” A loud voice said from above them. The three mares looked up to see a flash of rainbow crash from the sky. The three backed away from what they realized was a pegasus - a pegasus with a cutlass and an outfit similar to the ones the other pirates were wearing. “You’re going to tell me what on earth made you think you could steal my ship!” As she spoke, more pirates began to walk onto the ship, looking angry. A few had drawn cutlasses.

Applejack rammed her face into a wooden pole. “Great. Just great. Knew this was a bad idea…”

Rarity got a look in her eyes. She quickly reached into her suitcase, taking out her crown and a pendant. She put her hoof to her chest and let out an official sounding “ahem.” “I am Princess Rarity of Trotton - and I implore you to allow us passage on your amazing vessel to the Wind Shrine. We are terribly sorry about trying to steal your ship, but we needed to hurry to the shrine - my mother is in danger.”

Applejack’s jaw dropped. “Princess of Trotton? Wait, your mother? QUEEN LUNA? Words.. not workin… from mouth…”

Pinkie was much less surprised. “Oh. A princess. Whoop.”

The rainbow pegasus was silent for a while, staring intently at the pendant around Rarity’s neck, analyzing it. Applejack presumed the pegasus wanted to figure out how much the fancy necklace was worth.

The pegasus shook her head and laughed. “Ah Princess of Trotton? You’ll be worth quite a lot I bet! It’s amazing how money just walks into my lap - I must be just that awesome.”

“Yes you are captain.” One of the pirates offered. The captain facehooved. She hated suck-ups.

“Anyway…” She said. “The name’s Captain Rainbow Dash, and you are all on my ship. So that makes you all my prisoners! Tie em up and toss em in the brig!”

“Aye-aye captain!”

There wasn’t really much the three mares could do - they were outnumbered and on a boat. Applejack wondered if Pinkie’s giant hammer would do anything but she never took it out.

They were unceremoniously tied up, and had most their belongings taken from them. Rainbow Dash did let Rarity keep her crown for the moment though - on the condition that it remained upside down. Rarity didn’t argue. She did think it was a fashion statement, after all.

~~~

“Well I am sorry for not telling you that I was the Princess, but you do understand?” Rarity was saying.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “For the last time I’m not mad at you for that! Just common sense not to tell people unless you have to.”

“But I am sorry-“

“For the love of smoking varmints would you just stop apologizing?”

Rarity soured up. “Fine. Be that way. I’ll mope to myself in this corner over here with my crown…”

“Your upsidown crown.”

“It’s a fashion statement!”

Pinkie grumbled from the other side of the brig. “Whose dumb idea was it to steal this ship anyway…”

Applejack’s eye twitched. “Who? Who??? It was your idea!”

Pinkie blinked, then closed her eyes like she had a headache. “Ooooh… Oooh… Head hurts… Can’t remember…”

“That’s convenient.”

“I know right?” Pinkie said, brightening up.

There was silence in the brig.

“So…” Applejack said. “What now?”

“We stay tied up and wait.” Pinkie offered. “What else can we really do?”

“Well Rarity’s a unicorn. She could untie the knots…”

“Tried that already dears.” Rarity said. “Evidentially they’ve had to detain unicorns before. The rope is anti-telekinetic.”

“Can’t powerful unicorns move those anyway?”

“Yes.” Rarity said, cocking her head.

“You’re the daughter of Queen Luna! How could you not be a powerful unicorn?”

“Er… Magic was never my forte…” Rarity said, a little embarrassed.

“So yer tellin’ me that the best wizard we have is the crazy pink mare over there? That just fills me with confidence.”

“Hey!” Pinkie retorted. “It’s alien powers! Not magic.”

“Oh good gravy not this again…”

In a room a few meters away, Rainbow Dash stood at her private dining table. She didn’t feel like eating with the men today - she felt like contemplating things. She frowned to herself, reaching into her pirate tunic pocket, taking out a pendant. She held it up to the one taken from Rarity.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe what she was seeing. They were identical.

Why on earth did the Princess of Trotton have the same pendant as her?

~~~

The next morning, the ship was sailing… somehow. The movement of the ship gave the illusion of wind, and Rainbow Dash let it flow through her mane. It wasn’t the same as the real breeze - but it was something.

She sighed. Flying just wasn’t the same anymore - without the wind it was… boring. Depressing even. Nothing up there to keep her occupied. It was just air. And even the air itself seemed lifeless.

She heard her crew bringing up the three prisoners, and she put on a cheeky grin. “So… what do you three think I’m going to do with you?”

Applejack frowned. “Well… since you’re pirates I expect you’re going to auction off Rarity to Trotton, and keep Pinkie around because she might be useful, and toss me overboard because i’m worth nothing.”

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Wow, if this had been another day you might’ve been right. But!” She said, taking off into the air and spreading her wings. “I’ve decided that I feel like being the good guy today. Everyone? Untie them, we’re heading to the Wind Shrine.”

The crew’s jaws all dropped simultaneously. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings a few times before glaring at the lot of them. “I said we’re heading to the Wind Shrine! And for you to untie them! Have you all gone deaf maggots?”

“No Cap’n!”

“Good.” She said, landing back on the ship’s deck. “Let’s go find ourselves a Queen.”

Applejack frowned as she was untied. She walked up to Rainbow Dash. “Why are you helping us?” She asked.

Rainbow Dash huffed. “Can’t I feel like being nice for once? I’m a pirate - perhaps stealing things and being “ARRRR” all the time gets a little old.”

Applejack didn’t believe a word of that but she didn’t press the issue, she simply went back to

Pinkie, who was stringing balloons onto the pirate ship.

“What in tarnation are you doing?”

“I’m getting ready for a party.” She grinned. “Soon, we will celebrate our newfound friends!”

“Okay then…”

Rarity walked up to Rainbow Dash. “Quick question… how are we moving without wind?”

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Do you really want to know?”

“Yes, the curiosity has been eating at me for the last day or so.”

“Well alrighty then.” Rainbow Dash flew in front of the ship. “SPIKE! COME UP HERE!”

The water began to churn and the ship began to slow. Slowly, a gigantic purple and green shape rose out of the water in front of them, focusing its two reptilian eyes on the crew of the ship. Rarity, Applejack, and even Pinkie stared with jaws agape at the ship-sized sea creature.

“A… Sea dragon?” Rarity said, holding a hoof to her mouth. “How… how?”

Spike simply shrugged. “Found Rainbow here when she was just a little filly and I was pretty young myself. We grew up together on the waves. Kinda got shunned by both our races.”

“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Turns out ponies run in terror from dragons, and dragons do not look kindly upon associations with other races.” She shrugged. “But it’s worked pretty well for us! Our ship was faster than any other with Spike pulling it, and now we are the only ship on the seas since the wind is gone. It’s been great for the pirating business. No more royal barges trying to hunt us down - we're pretty much free to plunder any port town we come across! Bro’s just bundles of awesome!”

Rarity was still staring, jaw slack. Spike let out a laugh at this. “Think they’ll get used to me?”

“YOU ARE AWESOME!” Pinkie said, bouncing around crazily. Rainbow Dash laughed heartily.

“That’s a yes right there.”

~~~

Hours later, the ship (which was simply named “Spike’s Saddle”) sailed into Breezie Bay. It was covered in balloons, confetti, cake, and the jolly sound of loud pirate singing could be heard far from the ship itself. Spike was even joining in, his voice sounding rather unusual from under the water, but somehow complementing the pirate voices.

Rarity wasn’t quite sure what to make of the party. At the start she thought it was just Pinkie trying to get on the pirates’ good side by giving them drink and song - but eventually even Applejack was drawn into the festivities. She wondered if she was just too stuffy to appreciate a party of this sort, or if she was surrounded by a bunch of lunatics. Perhaps both.

Or maybe it was just Pinkie being Pinkie… A phrase Rarity had found she’d said to herself several times over the last few hours. She shook her head - she had a headache.

Spike roared from under the water. “We’ve arrived!”

Pinkie stopped the party instantly. “And now we head towards the Wind Shrine! Who’s coming with us?”

Rainbow Dash looked at the crew incredulously. “Seabreeze and Amethyst, you’re with us.” A blue pegasus and purple-pink unicorn nodded. “The rest of you may continue to party with Spike. See you later bro.”

“Bring us lots of plunder from the Shrine!” Spike said, laughing.

Rarity gasped. “You wouldn’t dare-“

Rainbow Dash smirked at her. “Just because I’m being nice doesn’t mean I’m not still a pirate princess.”

“The audacity-!”

“Do you want to go back into the brig?” Seabreeze asked, flaring her wings. Amethyst chuckled and the two pirates hoofbumped. Rarity’s eye simply twitched.

The six of them trotted along the path to the wind shrine, five laughing and talking about how awesome the party was while a certain princess walked in the rear, grumbling to herself about the uncouth nature of pirates.

Soon, they arrived at the giant stone double doors of the Wind Shrine. Six great marble columns stood in the front, and the pediment was covered in relief sculptures of a time long forgotten. Many were images of griffons and ponies fighting in endless wars - a common theme of structures as large as the Wind Shrine. Though most prominent was the highest image, a carving of the Wind Crystal itself, standing above all others - even the alicorns.

“Well.” Rainbow Dash said, causing everyone to go quiet. “Here we are.”

“When you open the door expect a lot of wind to come rushing out.” Applejack noted. “It blew me over last time.”

Rainbow Dash smirked. “I’d love to see it try that on me!” She bucked the doors, and they slid open with a rumbling sound.

There was no wind. The air was completely still and musty. Rainbow Dash shivered - the air felt even worse in here. She knew Seabreeze could feel it too.

“Well…” Applejack said, stepping forward. “I guess we go in…?”

III - Shattered Wind

The inside of the temple was dark an eerie - both Rarity and Applejack knew what the Wind Shrine was supposed to feel like and this wasn’t even close to it. Rainbow Dash only knew that something was wrong with the air - and Pinkie just had the feeling that something really bad had happened.

Rarity fretted, glancing left and right. “It’s… so quiet!” She gestured a hoof at the various holes in the walls. “The wind is supposed to blow through the flute channels and provide wondrous music! There is supposed to be a constant symphony here! Now there’s… nothing! Nothing but dead calm! What has happened?”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Perhaps the Queen did something?”

“She has been a patron of this Shrine for most of her life - she would never do something to defile it…”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “From what I hear if she felt like the wind needed to be cut, she would do it regardless of what anyone said.”

Amethyst stepped forward, lighting her horn up to casting a glow globe spell - Applejack noted that it was much brighter than Rarity’s meager attempt back in the cave. And with light, they could see more of the Shrine’s entrance hall - great alicorn statues guarded the entrance, along with images of great powerful birds along all the walls.

Rarity frowned. “…Where are all the Wind Acolytes?”

Pinkie blinked. “The what now?”

“Wind Acolytes. There are a group of a dozen or so ponies who live in the Shrine itself and make sure individuals who visit don’t defile its grandeur.” She shot an accusing look at Rainbow Dash. The pirate captain just shrugged.

Amethyst closed her eyes and lit up her horn. She quickly opened her eyes. “There’s some ponies in the room to our left. I’m not getting anything else on this floor.”

Applejack looked to Rarity as they trotted towards the room. “Why can’t you be like that?”

Rarity huffed. “Well sorry! Not all unicorns know useful spells peasant.”

Applejack backed away. “Sorry! I - that was uncalled for.”

Rarity ignored Applejack and entered the room first. She was greeted by a white pegasus stallion. “Princess Rarity! Thank goodness you’re here!”

“Daisy Dale?” She said, perking up. “Oh my it has been a while hasn’t it?”

“Yes Milady, but we do not have time for pleasantries. The Queen has not returned from her trek to the Crystal - and ever since she went up there the Shrine has been flooded with monsters. We can no longer get to the chamber!”

Rarity gasped. “Mother…”

Rainbow Dash turned to her. “Hey, don’t worry about some monsters. The Queen can handle herself.” She smirked. “And we can too. Ready to stomp on some monsters everypony?”

Pinkie, Seabreeze, and Amethyst shoved their hooves into the air. “YEAH!”

Rainbow Dash turned back to Rarity. “See? You’ve got the best crew with you on this little adventure - we’re going to find the Queen and figure out what’s up with the wind. Don’t you worry.”

Rarity smiled. She had not expected an uncouth pirate to be this… inspiring. “Thank you Rainbow.”

“Does this mean I’m part of the crew now?” Pinkie asked.

“I don’t see why not.” Rainbow chuckled. “Now, let’s hop to it, we have a Queen to find and possibly rescue. And a temple to plunder- er I mean explore.”

Rarity facehooved. The Acolytes shot her dirty looks. The mares got out of the room quickly, heading up the stairs to the next floor of the Wind Shrine.

Waiting for them were a dozen or so black goblins. Rainbow Dash cracked her wings. “Here we go.” She blasted into the air, wielding two cutlasses with her wings, and taking down most of the goblins with a powerful charge. Pinkie followed behind, taking a large scythe out of seemingly nowhere and ramming goblins across the room. Seabreeze fought with her own cutlass - though she was unable to use her wings as well as Rainbow Dash - and Amethyst shot magic missiles left and right that lit the goblins on fire.

Applejack rushed in to the fight as well - but by the time she got fully ready the goblins were all taken care of. Rainbow Dash put sheathed her cutlasses and laughed. “That wasn’t so hard! The Acolytes couldn’t get past those wimps? Wow. I feel sorry for them.”

Rarity clapped. “Good show!”

Seabreeze bowed. “Always a pleasure, Princess.” Amethyst slapped her. Rainbow Dash rummaged through the Goblin’s bodies, taking out a few shiny artifacts.

“Stop!” Rarity called out. “Those are the property of the Wind Shrine!”

Rainbow chuckled. “The way I see it… I’m taking the property of a black goblin. That’s all. How am I supposed to know this originally belonged in the Wind Shrine?”

Rarity let out a bunch of exasperated noises, but was unable to truly form a response at that moment because an icy serpent appeared out of nowhere and hissed at her. She screamed, and continued screaming for a full five seconds after Applejack lobbed the reptile’s head off.

Seabreeze found this absolutely hilarious and broke out into uncontrollable laughter. Amethyst slapped her again.

~~~

“I gotta hand it to ya Pinks, you know how to hold your own in a fight.” Rainbow Dash complimented as she sliced a snake in half before it could cast an ice spell.

“Thanks Dashie! You’re pretty awesome yourself!” Pinkie responded as she poked a magic apparition with an exploding marshmallow.

“So, your story is just you woke up a few days ago with no memories?”

“Yep!”

“And you think you might be an alien?”

“Yep!”

“That’s pretty awesome!”

Applejack and Rarity facehooved. “IT IS NOT AWESOME!”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “To each their own.” She said.

Seabreeze smirked at the two facehooving mares. “Captain likes her. So you better like her too.” Amethyst slapped her again. “WHY DO YOU KEEP SLAPPING ME?”

“Because you keep acting like an idiot.” Amethyst said matter-of-factly.

“Touche.” This got Seabreeze another slap.

Rarity sighed. “Well, we’re getting close to the Crystal chamber - it should be through the next big set of doors.” She gestured ahead of them. Sure enough, at the end of the long hallway under an image of the Wind Crystal, were two giant doors. And standing in front of the doors was a giant bird.

Not a giant bird statue - a live giant bird. Everyone readied their weapons.

“Wait!” Rarity yelled out. “That’s just Eddy, the wing raptor. He guards the crystal. He’s harmless to anyone who means the Temple no harm.” She glanced at the pirates’ bags that were filled with artifacts. “…Though to be safe I should probably go up to him first.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Knock yourself out.”

Rarity trotted up to the graceful wing raptor. “Eddy dear, I need to get by. Think you can step aside?”

The bird arched his head, looking Rarity right in the eye with his own deep red orbs. Rarity twitched. “Eddy darling… what have you done with your eyes?”

Eddy unfurled his great wings and let out a horrifying screech, reaching a gigantic claw out towards Rarity. She screamed.

She would have been eviscerated right then and there had Amethyst not shot a magic missile right in Eddy’s face. The bird roared in defiance and charged right at the pirate mage, only to come into direct contact with her magical barrier. Amethyst huffed. “The bird is of pathetic brains, captain.”

“Understood Amethyst. Smarter than Seabreeze?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Oh most definitely.”

“HEY!”

Pinkie appeared behind Eddy wielding the giant hammer once more. She bapped the thing on the head repeatedly, making it very dazed and confused. “Bad bird! Bad bird!” The bad bird did not take kindly to this attack, (or perhaps it just objected to being scolded) so it lashed out with a great torrent of wind.

Rainbow Dash fell backwards, not expecting the sudden gust. She’d gotten too used to the windless air. She heard the flute walls resonate an ominous tune as they were partially activated by the blast. She growled, throwing one of her cutlasses right into Eddy’s chest. He shrieked, covering himself with his wings.

“Trying to hide are you?” Seabreeze mocked. “Well take the Seabreeze Sky Buck!!!” She roared, charging right at Eddy.

“No!” Rarity yelled. “Don’t attack him whil-“ Her warning was never heeded. Just before Seabreeze landed her blow, the wings unfurled and a great claw grabbed the pegasus out of the air. She barely had time to mutter a “crap” before her body was crushed into the ground with a sickening crunch, blood flying everywhere.

“SEABREEZE!” Rainbow Dash and Amethyst yelled, turning towards Eddy in great anger. Amethyst acted first, casting a powerful electric bolt that singed the wing raptor’s feathers. The creature roared, charging right at Amethyst. During the charge applejack leapt on the bird’s back, driving her sword into its back. The bird died then - but it was still traveling at an absurd speed beak-first. Amethyst tried to raise a barrier, but the wing raptor’s powerful beak ploughed right through the shield and hit Amethyst straight in the chest.

“AMETHYST!” Rainbow Dash yelled, running over. The unicorn mare was alive - but only barely. The beak was driven right into her chest. “Don’t worry we’ll get help…”

Amethyst coughed. “Yeah right… The Acolytes are worthless… Who are you going to find…?”

Rainbow Dash stood up. “The Queen.” She turned to Rarity. “She knows healing magic right?”

Rarity nodded. “Of course.”

Rainbow Dash’s face set. “I’m not losing another crew member today Amethyst, understand that? If you die while I’m getting the Queen I am going to personally make you walk the plank!”

Amethyst laughed, but it was obviously painful to do so. “Yes Captain.”

“Good.” She bolted for the giant double doors and charged into the Crystal’s room. It was a circular room with a masterfully crafted ceiling, covered in images of wind and the sky. In the center of the room was a pedestal, covered in strange markings unlike any found in the rest of the Shrine.

But what struck them the most was something horrifying - there was no giant magical crystal floating atop the pedestal. Instead, there were simply six crystal shards laying around the room, obviously broken. Rarity had seen the Wind Crystal before - and these shards were not glowing with the powerful light blue light that had warmed this room for centuries. She shuddered. It felt wrong.

Everyone was silent - even Pinkie. The four mares didn’t know what to say. One of the most powerful things in existence - a Crystal that was the source of the world’s wind - was destroyed. Gone. No more.

It was harrowing.

Then, a soft light began to appear within the pedestal where the crystal should have been. A magical construct took shape, twisting into the form of Queen Luna. Applejack and Rainbow Dash stared at the Queen with reverence - they had never seen their Queen at all. Rainbow Dash instinctively looked a little sheepish, while Applejack could only stare mouth open. Pinkie simply furrowed her brow like she was trying to remember something.

“Mother!” Rarity said, expression improving considerably. “It’s good to see you!”

“Whoever has found this place and this message…” Luna began. “You are about to be tasked with the defense of this world.”

Rarity frowned - it was just a recording spell. Despite her disappointment, she gave the message from her mother her full attention. Applejack was still stuck on ‘defense of the world.’

“I came here moments before the Wind Crystal shattered - a tragedy the likes of which the world has never even dared to consider. In the moments before it’s demise, I was able to learn what it wanted me to do.”

Applejack and Rarity exchanged glances. The Crystals were just powerful artifacts weren’t they? They didn’t have desires or wants… right?

“I managed to capture the essence of Wind within a spell of mine - and I was able to establish direct contact with the other three Crystals. They said that their chosen would arrive at this Shrine shortly - and that here they would be bestowed with the power needed to save what remains of the world.” Luna’s recording somehow looked all four of them in the eye. “Whoever you are - you are the chosen.”

A spark of light blue energy appeared above Luna, and shot towards Pinkie.

Luna’s voice boomed. “Spirit of Wind, Laughter.”

“Oooh shiny!” Pinkie said as the blue light swirled around her.

A dark blue light appeared from a wall, hitting Rarity. “Spirit of Water, Generosity.”

Rarity blinked. “Oh my… me? The Spirit of Water? Heavens!” Then she heard a warm, caring voice in her head…

<Use my waters to give the world what it needs.>

A red powerful light shot through another wall, knocking Rainbow Dash a few feet away. “Spirit of Fire, Loyalty.”

<Don’t mess this up, pegasus.> A harsh, angry voice said in her mind.

Rainbow Dash blinked for a few moments, not sure what to make of this. Then she grinned. “SO! AWESOME!”

Then a slow orange energy came up from the ground, surrounding Applejack. “Spirit of Earth, Honesty.”

The voice that spoke to Applejack was monotone and serious. <You have the optimal traits required for the task - keep the others in premium condition. You are their foundation.>

“Warriors of Light!” Luna boomed. “You are the guardians of the Crystals, do whatever is in your power to keep them from their destruction.” Her face drooped. “I don’t think I need to tell you what happens if all the Crystals shatter…”

The four mares stared intently as the Queen looked up one final time.

“I have gone to see what I can do to assist - I know not where it will take me. But I have left something for you - the shards of the Wind Crystal are infused with its power. Take them. I wish you luck - may the wind be in your step.” Then she smirked. “And the sea at your back, the fire in your eyes, and the earth beneath your feet.”

Then the spell ended, leaving the four mares alone in a large room with six crystal shards spread around them.

Applejack walked over to one of the shards and picked it up. Instantly, the crystal shot into her chest - she cried out at first, but only in surprise. There was no pain as it spread itself out through her body. She stood up tall, feeling… stronger. She looked at her sword, feeling like she had a greater connection to it.

“Ooo! My turn!” Pinkie said, grabbing two shards at once that spread into her. She shuddered crazily, and exploded in a puff of pink energy. When the pink cloud cleared they saw something… unusual. Pinkie was now wearing a strange blue bandana and was shadowboxing rapidly. “YEEEEEAH! Blue mage and Monk! Woot! Fear me and my hoof-to-hoof skills!”

Rainbow Dash glared. “Well if you get two I get two as well!” She lunged for them, absorbing them into herself. She instantly felt intense magical power flow into her wings, and she felt as if she had greater control over the two limbs. She cocked her head. “Pinkie.. how did you know what they were called?”

“I have my ways.” Pinkie giggled. “But I think you’ll figure out what you got soon enough.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, checking her powers mentally. “…Nothing to help Amethyst…” She said, dejected.

Rarity gasped as she touched the last remaining crystal shard. Her heart raced as it flooded energy right to her horn. Her eyes lit up and she let out a delighted squee.

“What is it?” Applejack asked.

“It’s healing magic!” She said, doing a tap dance, white blasts of healing energy flying off her horn. “I know healing magic! This is delightful! Quick! To Amethyst!”

They galloped out of the room that once held the Wind Crystal, leaving it empty. Leaving it as a tomb for the Wind.

IV - The Warriors of Light

Spike leaned in. “So… You didn’t find the Queen… The Wind Crystal is completely shattered… and the Crystals are in mortal danger… This is awesome how?”

“This is why!” Rainbow Dash said, launching into the air. She focused her energy into her wings, and they began to glow much like a unicorn’s horn - except with a flurry of rainbow colors. Eventually the glow of the wings settled on a deep red, and she flapped - a blast of fire launching towards the ground. She laughed, doing it once more with a yellow burst of lightning, and again with a blue icy wind.

She rubbed her hooves together as she landed. “I have freaking magic Spike! Magic! Powerful magic! And I didn’t have to sit in a stuffy schoolroom for decades like that old stallion said I’d need to! HA!”

Spike chuckled. “I’m glad - maybe we can actually spar again and be evenly matched.”

“It has been a while since I’ve been able to do anything to you.” Rainbow Dash admitted. “But that changes today!” She smirked, holding up a purple dragon scale.

Spike blinked, looking at his side. “When did you-“

“Stole it.” She said, twirling the scale in her hoof. “Apparently the other one made me a lot better at that. Pinkie still doesn’t know I took her party cannon.”

“WHERE IS MY PARTY CANNON????”

“Oh crap. Excuse me I gotta dash. Literally.” The pirate captain took off into the sky while a crazy Pink Mare leapt into the air she had just occupied.

“DASHIE I WILL GET YOU!” She roared. Then she turned to Spike. “Hey there buddy! What’s shaking?”

“Nothing much. Just waiting for everyone to get the ship back into… ship shape. What’s up with you?”

“Oh, working on my new powers. I’ve already mastered the martial art one - now I need to get someone to hit me with magic so I can use it too!”

Spike blinked. “You can do that?”

“Yep, Blue is the color of learning!” She proudly stated. “Now… I just need Dashie to hit me with a fire spell…” She bounced off.

Spike smiled. He liked that pink mare - even if she was really really weird. She had spirit. He looked across the beach at Amethyst - she was still limping, and Rarity was following her like a mother hen, but she was fine. Spike had to close his eyes and take deep breaths when he remembered, once again, that Seabreeze would not be coming back. This was hardly the first time the sea dragon had lost friends - but that didn’t mean there wasn’t yet another gaping hole inside him.

He sighed, turning his attention to the last member of the ‘Warriors of Light’ - Applejack. She was fencing with Thunder Lane - and she was winning. The orange mare had somehow developed a style where she stood on her two hind hooves and fought wielding her sword in her front. It seemed like a style of fighting designed for an upright creature, but she was doing excellent at it.

Thunder Lane found himself clipped by the practice sword and flat on his back. Applejack put one of her hind hooves on him, standing tall with her wooden blade slung over her shoulder. “And that’s what the power of the Crystal is, Thunder Lane.”

“Alright Alright I give.” Thunder Lane said, a bit of a sore loser.

“Spike’s Saddle is up and ready to go!” Amethyst said from the ship. “Everyone aboard!!”

Spike caught Rainbow Dash’s attention. “Where we headed?”

“Town of Moole.” She said. “We need to regroup and figure out how we’re going to get to Morphisis. I at least have some idea of how to get there… No clue how we’re going to get to Solamane though.”

“And what about the Earth Crystal?”

Rainbow Dash huffed. “Nopony knows where that is, so I can’t make any plans for it now can I?”

Spike nodded. “…How are you holding up?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Fine.”

“Rainbow Dash, we’ve known each other most of our lives. And I know that whenever you lose a crew member, you aren’t fine. I’m not fine either.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “I know big bro… But we’ve got a mission to do, and the world kinda hangs in the balance. So we need to chin up and get going. I’ll be fine Spike. EVERYONE ABOARD!”

Spike frowned. He did not believe she was even close to fine yet.

~~~

Spike’s Saddle was en-route to Moole - there everypony (and a dragon) would rest, regroup, and make plans for their next step. As Spike pulled them through the water, Rarity was looking wistfully out at the shoreline they were passing. She wasn’t really paying much attention to it - she was deep in thought. A pony had died in front of her just hours ago - the image of Seabreeze being flattened stuck in her mind. She immediately felt weak - Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and even Pinkie were more suited for this kind of adventuring than she was. She was just a fancy-pants princess who didn’t know how to hold her own… And that hadn’t changed with the new crystal power - her new spells seemed to be entirely defensive and recovery in nature. Which was good, she supposed - but she still couldn’t really protect herself…

She sighed, trying not to think too hard about her uselessness or Seabreeze. She failed.

“What’s on your mind?” Rainbow Dash asked, landing next to her.

“Oh…” She sighed. “Nothing…”

Rainbow Dash put leg on Rarity’s shoulder. “Hey.” She said. “It’s going to be okay, got it?”

“Are you sure?” She said, turning to the pirate captain and removing the comforting hoof. “Seabreeze is dead, Amethyst was minutes away from dying herself, and the very powers that hold our world together are shattering!”

Rainbow Dash winced. “…Ponies die all the time - it’s just the way the world is.” She sighed. “We have to get used to it…”

“How can you be used to it?” Rarity yelled.

“She’s not.” Applejack said, walking up. “No one is.”

“Oh andyou would know.” Rainbow dash said, raising her eyebrows.

“Actually yes I would.” Applejack said, her face sad. “Both my parents died when I was young. And I’ve had traveling companions before. The world is a brutal place, and ponies die.” She sighed. “And you never get used to it.”

Rainbow Dash blinked, seeming like she wanted to argue the point. But she sighed. “You’re right… It’s never ok…”

Applejack nodded. “That’s why we need to stop whatever’s doing this. Whatever it is that’s destroying the crystals also made that wing raptor go crazy - we owe it to Seabreeze. We need to stop it for her sake.”

“And to save the world.” Rarity said.

Applejack nodded. Rainbow Dash frowned. “What happens when the crystals all shatter anyway? The Wind Crystal is gone but - I can still breathe.”

Rarity pondered this. “I’m not entirely sure… but from what Mother told me the waters would become stagnant and all sea life would die, fire would lose its energy and the world will slowly cool until it enters an ice age of sorts, and without earth…” She shuddered. “Let’s just say that without earth the entire world may just fall apart bit by bit. I think we could live if only the Earth Crystal remained - but without it, the world would not last long.”

Pinkie appeared behind them. “Well I suppose it’s lucky nobody knows where the Earth Crystal is then! Nobody can try to destroy it!”

“How do you know that?” Applejack asked. “Whatever the ‘great evil’ is could know a lot more than us!”

Pinkie shrugged. “I just have a feeling.” Suddenly, her ears perked up and she stared out at the shoreline. Rather prominently visible was a large forest with three large structures visible. Pinkie looked at it incredulously. “Something about that place seems familiar to me…”

“Of course it does darling, that’s Four Mound Forest.” Rarity waved her hoof. “It’s an important landmark in these parts. Everyone’s probably seen those giant mounds.”

“Yeah.” Applejack said. “Dad took me there a few times. Rather boring place, frankly.”

“Wait…” Pinkie said. “You said Four Mound Forest?”

“Um yes why?”

“Why are there only three?”

The four ponies fell silent at this question. An eerie feeling passed over them.

“Let’s just get to Moole…”

~~~

Spike’s Saddle docked, and Spike made sure to make himself scarce - never leave the water, and nobody asks any questions. The Pirate’s instantly cheered and galloped off the ship, chanting. “Grog! Grog! Grog! Grog! Grog!”

Applejack heard a mule scream. “NO! THE PUB WILL BE OVERRUN!”

Rainbow Dash landed right in front of said mule. “Yeah. So? We pay for grog, long as it’s good.”

“But… You always trash the place!”

“And I pay for damages too don’t I?” Rainbow Dash said, smirking.

“But… but…”

“You want me to stop being a nice pirate?”

The mule sighed, walking away. Rainbow Dash chuckled. Applejack turned to her. “Do you do any pirating at all?”

“Town’s too poor to steal much from.” Rainbow Dash answered. “I’m heading to the pub with the crew - who’s coming with?”

Applejack and Pinkie Pie raised their hooves. Rarity rolled her eyes. “Have fun with your… uncivilized form of recreation, darlings.”

The three other mares laughed before trotting into the pub. Rarity winced as she heard the rigorous pirate singing once more. Huffing, she decided she was going to go shopping. There had to be some interesting services in this town.

Back in the bar, Pinkie was raising the roof. Literally. With some kind of foam finger. The pirates were having a jolly old time, and the barkeep was freaking out trying to keep up with all the orders and Pinkie’s antics.

“PARTY!!!!” She said, appearing on the stage with the three earth pony dancers, each wearing an identical ‘exotic’ outfit. She perfectly matched their motions, much to their surprise.

“Wow!” The one with a Lilly cutie mark said as they all did a perfect split. “You’re pretty good at this! Ever consider joining the group?”

“Aaaah, naaaah.” Pinkie said. “This kinda dancing is fun once in awhile but it is a bit too forward for me all the time.”

The girls giggled at this and began to dance faster and faster - Pinkie keeping up with their every move.

“DANCE OFF!” Rainbow Dash yelled, throwing her mug into the air. The three dancers grinned, switching off from ‘exotic’ dancing to some kind of tap-dancing routine. Pinkie Pie matched the routine - with just her front hooves. The three dancers grinned, doing a complex routine where they swirled around in a mesmerizing fashion.

Pinkie somehow managed to do the same routine at three times the speed. Then she gave the dancers a challenge - dance on the ceiling.

The dancers stared wide eyed at the physics-defying thing they were seeing. Then they threw their hooves into the air. “That’s it. You win. Where did you learn to dance?”

“I have no idea!” Pinkie said with complete honesty.

Minutes later Pinkie and the three dancers - whose names were Lilly, Daisy, and Rose - were very drunk and had become the best of friends.

“No way!” Pinkie said, grabbing her cheeks. “You say that you can dance as a fighting move?”

“Well…” Daisy said pensively. “Rose and Lilly can - I’m just not really suited for the fighting you know?”

“I know - my friend Rarity feels just like you girl.” Pinkie frowned. “She just got some fancy new healing powers but still feels pretty useless…”

“Oh my Luna!” Rose said. “You know the princess?”

“Yeah.” Pinkie said, nodding. “She’s traveling with us as we look for the Queen and try to save the Crystals!”

“To the Crystals!” Lilly cheered, and they downed another round of drinks. Then Daisy pointed at Applejack sauntering up to the piano.

Applejack was drunk. She was so drunk she didn’t remember coming to the Piano - but she was here now and everyone was staring at her expectant. She winced, not having any idea how to play the piano. But she tried anyway.

She hit a few keys randomly.

“Congratulations!” Thunder Lane yelled. “You are now officially worse than Zephyr at piano playing!”

“Hey!” The tall pirate pegasus yelled, indignant.

Applejack blushed and quickly got herself offstage. She walked up to Pinkie. “Soooooo.” She said, trying to think of something to say that didn’t involve how she had just failed at that piano. “Where’s Rainbow Dash?”

Pinkie blinked. “I saw her heading upstairs a few minutes ago.”

“Ah’ll go check on her.”

“I’m coming too!” She leapt up, grinning. “See you girls later!”

Lilly waved. “Pinkie, you are the best!”

“I know it!”

As they walked up the stairs, they passed Zephyr, who was moping. “Captain… I love you…”

Applejack pretended she didn’t hear that. The two mares trotted up the stairs, pausing as they heard the unmistakable noise of pirate snoring.

“Is she sleeping?” Applejack wondered.

“Only one way to find out!” Pinkie said, throwing the door to the room open. What they saw before them was a hardened pirate captain... curled up into a very cat-like position and hugging the pillow like it was some kind of fluffy animal. Her nose twitched in minor ways as she snored, and she rolled over.

Pinkie was squeeing. “She’s so adorable!” Applejack found herself agreeing with that assessment.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes flew open. “Did you two just call me adorable?”

Pinkie and Applejack jumped, startled.

“Uh… No?” Pinkie said. Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack.

Applejack sighed. “Yes.”

“Thought so.” She grabbed one of her cutlasses from the nightstand and lit in on fire. “Now let me make one thing clear.” She spread her wings and got into their faces. “I. AM. NOT. CUTE!”

Applejack nodded vigorously, but Pinkie didn’t know how to keep her mouth shut. “Well, I mean, we won’t call you cute anymore but that doesn’t change the fact that you are really really cute when you cuddle up in bed like that I mean it was just adorable you even made little noises and-“

Pinkie and Applejack found themselves bucked out the second floor window onto the rosebushes outside. Rose happened to be out there was well, and she instantly began to laugh her head off.

“Har-de-har.” Applejack muttered.

~~~

Rarity was perusing the weapon’s shop, looking for something appropriate for a Princess like her. Most of the weapons were large, ugly things, not fit for a princess. But her eyes eventually settled on a small dagger encrusted in some kind of shiny blue finish. Her eyes sparkled. “Shopkeep! What is this?”

“Lapis dagger.” The storekeeper said, not looking up from his book. “Three hundred bits.”

“I’ll take it!” She said, hoofing over the money. Sometimes it paid to be stinking rich. The stallion took the money and let her take the dagger. She twirled it with her magic, smiling. “This will do nicely…”

“Hey…” A mare said, walking up to her. Rarity frowned - she smelled of alcohol. “Name’s Lilly - friend of yours said you felt like you weren’t able to defend yourself.”

Rarity frowned. “What business is it of yours? Besides, I just purchased this dagger - I shall be fine now.”

Lilly shook her head. “Simply having a dagger does not mean you’ll be able to defend yourself out there in the world. Come, there’s a little adventurer’s hangout to the west of town. I can show you some of the basics.”

Rarity blinked. “Really?”

“It wouldn’t be very nice of me to let a mare like you just get killed out there now would it?”

“I suppose not.”

The two trotted over to the Guild. In most cities there would be a Guild for warriors, wizards, and other forms of adventurers - Moole was so small they all had to share one building. Lilly brought Rarity into one of the bigger rooms used for sparring.

“Now, we have a white mage on standby.” Lilly said, gesturing towards a stallion in a white robe. “So we can feel free to use damaging techniques - but no trying to stab me in the heart okay?”

Rarity backed away. “Damaging techniques? Why-“

“Nobody out there in the wilderness is going to pull any punches, princess.” Lilly said matter of factly. “We have an opportunity to practice here without any inhibitions.”

Rarity tried to shake herself out of it. “O-okay.”

“Good. My fighting technique requires no weapon - but you can use your dagger however you wish.”

“Aren’t you going to train me first?”

“Nope.” Lilly said, grinning. “Come at me.”

Rarity inched forward, waving the dagger around with her magic. She rushed forward to stab Lilly  in the leg - somewhere it wouldn’t do much damage of course. She winced as she felt it impact something. Lilly sighed. “Open your eyes Rarity - I just deflected it.”

“Oh.” Rarity blushed. “Right. Sorry.” She tried again, this time keeping her eyes open. Lilly leapt right over the dagger, performing a graceful spin in midair, and landed on the ground with a powerful sweep that knocked Rarity to the ground.

“WAUGH!” Rarity yelled, holding her leg in pain. “Why.. why did that hurt so much?”

Lilly smirked. “I’m a master of dance-fighting - I know exactly where to hit you to do the most damage. I can also make you really dizzy, but that’d just make it harder for you to learn anything.”

“Ow…” Rarity muttered, lighting her horn and casting some healing magic on herself.

Lilly raised an eyebrow. “You know white magic?”

“It’s a recent thing dear - something the Wind Crystal gave me.”

Lilly smiled. “Ah - maybe you aren’t destined to be a fighter at all. But you can use your powers to defend yourself and help your allies.”

“Really?” Rarity said, standing up. “What can I do? I thought it was just healing…”

Lilly frowned. “Well, usually people have to spend months just to learn a single spell… but since this whole healing thing is ‘recent’ I expect the power is just within you. Try making a barrier around yourself. I’ve seen Flitty over there do it dozens of times.”

Rarity nodded, focusing on her inner self… she found the essence of the Wind Crystal inside of her, and felt it open up. She smiled, and instantly a green and an orange field of magic surrounded her. “My heavens! I just.. I just looked into myself and found them!”

Lilly smiled, then she punched Rarity with all her might. Rarity went sliding, annoyed. “What did you do that for?”

Lilly grinned. “I hit you as hard as I possibly could Rarity - you barely flinched.”

Rarity blinked, then joined Lilly in the grin. “My stars yes! This is excellent!”

Lilly nodded. “And if I recall correctly, you should be able to cast those on your friends as well. You may not be a fighter on your own Rarity - but you are the backbone of your friends. Your powers will hold them together.”

Rarity squee’d. “Wait until I tell everyone!”

At that point, an orange bearded unicorn that had been watching in awe spoke up. “Rarity?”

Rarity turned. “Yes?” Then she recognized who she was talking too. “Oh Sunburst! It’s been too long! How’s it been?”

Sunburst smiled sadly. “Well… my canal has been infested with monsters so I had to close it.”

Rarity blinked. “The canal to Morphisis? Oh my… But we need to go that way!”

Sunburst shook his head. “It’s far too dangerous for you…” Lilly shot him a look. “A-and plus, I’ve lost the key. I couldn’t open it even if I wanted too.”

Rarity frowned. “Great. How are we going to get there now?”

Sunburst shrugged. “I don’t know… but I can let you and whoever your companions are stay in my house for tonight. It is the least I can do for you.”

“Oh aren’t you a gentleman! Very well, I accept, though I should warn you that we are traveling with the pirates.”

Sunburst shuddered. “Figured as much since you were talking about the canal… What on earth happened to get you involved with those pirates?”

“Well you see, it’s a funny story…” Rarity began.

~~~

That night, Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack were sleeping in Sunburst’s guest room. Well, Pinkie and Rarity were - Applejack couldn’t sleep. She huffed in annoyance, walking out of the house. She stood over the river, contemplating life.

She thought back to long ago… Back when she was just a filly… Her parents thought she wasn’t listening.

“We must protect the Crystals…” Mom was saying.

Dad sighed. “But we’ve got a farm to worry ‘bout… And what about our kids?”

“The burden is not theirs.” Mom replied. “Just ours - they do not need to know. But one of us has to go check soon - and Big Mac is old enough to start asking questions.”

“Well just tell ‘em the truth - that you’re a bit of an adventurer and you need to get out and stretch your legs from time to time.”

Mom laughed. “I suppose that’ll work…” She sighed. “I hope nothing will ever happen… and that we can just enjoy our life together.”

Dad nodded, and the two embraced.

Applejack sighed, casting a rock into a river. “Well, something’s happened Mom. Sorry, but it’s now my problem…”

Sunburst walked up to her. “Can’t sleep either?”

“Nope.” Applejack said.

“Yeah…” Sunburst sighed. “I just… I just want Princess Rarity to be safe but…”

“But what?”

“She’s… she’s tossing and turning in her sleep. She keeps promising the Queen she’ll protect the Crystals…”

There was silence for a few moments. “You have the key don’t you?” Applejack eventually asked.

Sunburst sighed. “I do…” He took it out of his cloak pocket, frowning. “But there are horrid creatures in that canal… and even with your impossible windless boat and a crew of pirates and Crystal bestowed powers you cannot promise me she’ll be safe.”

“Nope.” Applejack said. “But I can say we’ll be getting to Morphisis one way or another - and I fully expect we will be going to places much more dangerous than that canal of yours.”

Sunburst sighed. “I… I know.” He handed the key to Applejack. “Don’t tell her I had this. Try to keep her safe, will you?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all I can really ask.” He said, walking back into the house.

~~~

The next morning, the pirates were at the pub again. Rarity even decided to join them. Rainbow Dash was leading them in song.

She was a grand mare, ready for all

She was a proud mare, standing tall

Plundering, laughing, singing long

Sure, she was sometimes a little wrong

She would always stand, never bend

She was a good pirate to the end

“TO SEABREEZE!” Rainbow Dash yelled, holding a mug high.

“TO SEABREEZE!” Everyone else yelled - including Rarity, though she didn’t down her drink.

“Now.” Rainbow Dash said. “We’ve got the key to the canal - courtesy of Applejack’s mad finding skills - let’s head back to the Cove. We’re ready to set sail.”

“YAR!” The pirates yelled.

~~~

Within the day, the Spike’s Saddle was back at the pirates’ secret cove hideout. The pirates who’d stayed behind welcomed everyone back, and stories were swapped. Seabreeze’s death hit them all hard, but this was hardly the first time something like this had happened. They understood.

“Hey…” A pirate said, walking up to Applejack. “You wouldn’t happen to know a chocobo would you?”

Applejack’s eyes widened. “Winona! Where is she?”

The pirate led her to a back area of the cave where the large yellow bird was sleeping on two mattresses. Her wing was obviously very broken. Applejack winced. “Winona? What happened?”

“Kwek.” Was all Winona said, obviously in pain.

“Don’t you worry none.” A unicorn pirate said. “We’ll take good care of her - though our potions aren’t doing much, she should recover on her own shortly.”

Applejack nodded. “Winona?”

“Caw?”

“Be a good girl and show these pirates who’s boss.” The two of them chuckled. “Ah gotta go again girl, you’ll be fine? It might be a long time before I’m back.”

Winona nodded. Applejack smiled sadly. “Well then - until next time Winona.”

“Kwa!”

Applejack walked back out into the cove, and Rainbow Dash was giving a speech. “Alright - here’s what we’re going to do. The four of us have been chosen by the Crystals and Queen Luna herself to go save the world.”

The pirates cheered. “AWESOME!” They yelled.

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Yeah, I know. But, the rest of you..” She sighed “As much as I hate to admit this the journey would probably be too dangerous for the rest of you. And I can’t handle losing more of you.” The pirates fell silent. “I’m taking Spike and the Saddle, and leaving you lot here.”

“But.. but Captain!” Zephyr blurted out. “We need you!”

“Zephyr, I’m going to say this once. Stop crushing on me or I will crack your freakin’ skull in. Now to actually respond to what he said - you do not need me. Amethyst will make a good captain for you all.”

Amethyst nodded. “I am honored Captain-“

Rainbow Dash laughed. “We are both Captain, Amethyst. You can just call me Rainbow now.”

Amethyst smiled. “Rainbow, I am honored. But - we have no ship. How can we still be pirates?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out with magic and pegasus wings.”

Amethyst looked like she already had an idea. A great idea. The other pirates backed away from her, already feeling the crazy.

Rainbow Dash and Amethyst hoofbumbed. “Take good care of them Amethyst. The bird too.”

Amethyst smiled. “Wouldn’t dream of doing anything else.”

Rainbow Dash flapped into the air. “Applejack! Pinkie! Spike! Miss Fancy Pants!”

“Hey!”

“We’re off! To Morphisis!”

“TO MORPHISIS!”

~~~

Rainbow Dash electrocuted a squid. “You know, I was expecting a lot worse inside this canal. Not just pathetic squid monsters.”

Pinkie grabbed another squid and threw it overboard. “Crystals are OP. Plz Nerf.”

“What?” Rarity said, her magical barriers keeping her completely unaware that another squid was trying to eat her tail.

“Neeeeevermind!” Pinkie said.

Applejack gutted a squid and tossed it towards Spike’s head, where he ate it whole. “Thanks!”

“No problem. Just keep pulling this ship.”

“DASHIE!” Pinkie yelled. “This strange flying manta ray just hit me with magic!!”

“Oh, so what?”

Pinkie clapped her hooves together and a blast of air shot out and knocked Rainbow Dash to the ground. Rainbow Dash twitched.

“So Daaaaaashie! Willing to hit me with your magic yet so I can learn it?”

“Nope.” Rainbow Dash said, dusting herself off. “We don’t need you hurling fireballs everywhere.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Darling, you’ve lit the ship on fire five times.”

“Yeah? So? There’s a squid on your butt.”

“There is not a - AIEEEEEE!”

Applejack facehooved and cut the squid right off Rarity. “Thank you dear.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Pinkie blew a dozen other squid off the ship - with her breath. “Woohoo!”

“We’re almost through the canal.” Spike called from ahead. “We should be in open sea shortly.”

As if on cue, the sea began to churn. Spike dove beneath the waves and grabbed onto the ship tighter as a whirlpool began to form and pull them in. Rarity screamed as the ship began to rotate uncontrollably.

Then things got worse. A tremendous red shape rose out of the waves - easily as big as Spike - that somewhat resembled a giant lobster. It had many tentacle-like appendages, and a fire in its eyes that screamed murder. It roared.

Rarity’s jaw dropped. “KRAKEN? WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE CRYSTALS IS A KRAKEN DOING HERE?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Rainbow Dash said, taking off into the sky, wings alit with yellow energy. She flapped, launching a tremendous lightning bolt at the kraken - causing it to roar in pain. While it was distracted, Spike rose out of the water and belched green fire at the creature. Pinkie took a breath and blew as hard as she could. When she figured out this wasn’t working she leapt onto the kraken and began to beat it around the head and shoulders with her own two hooves - and somehow this was doing some actual damage. “Power of the Mooooonk!” She yelled.

Rarity cast some barrier spells around Applejack as the leapt into the air, driving her sword into the Kraken’s eyes. It roared in pain, linking Applejack and Pinkie off with a simple rolling motion, and kicking Spike away in the process. Pinkie landed back on the ship with a thud. “I DIDN’T MEAN IT!!!” She yelled.

Applejack charged back at the kraken while Rainbow Dash and Spike continued to launch electricity and fire at the offending sea creature. It roared in pain as a lightning bolt blew a chunk out of its chest. It realized with anger that it was about to die.

In a mindless rage, the kraken charged Spike with reckless abandon, pulling him beneath the water. Spike yelled out in pain, but fought back. However, he was smaller than the kraken, and the kraken had lost all sense of reason. Spike was dragged beneath the waves.

“Spike!’ Rainbow Dash yelled, flying into the water. She had long ago mastered the art of swimming with wings, and rushed as fast as she could towards Spike and the kraken. They were going out to sea, but she didn’t care - she was not letting this sea lobster take her brother away.

Then a strong side current caught her and knocked her sideways, making her lose all sense of direction. It took her a few moments to get her bearings, and she looked around in a panic for Spike.

She saw nothing but the shimmering of the sun from above and blue water in all directions. And she was running out of breath. She swam to the surface and flew into the sky - the water in her feathers held her down but she was used to it. She didn’t really care anyway.

“SPIKE!” She yelled.

She heard his roar in response - but she got no direction from it.

“SPIKE!!!”

There was no roar this time. Rainbow Dash flew off to sea, calling his name.

“Rainbow!” Applejack called out, trying to get her attention. She didn’t not succeed - the pegasus soon disappeared into the distance.

And the Spike’s Saddle was now adrift without the guidance of Spike it had known for so long… A ship with no direction.

V - Adrift

It was the middle of the night when Rainbow Dash came back to the ship, wings barely functioning from overuse. Rarity had long since headed to the below deck beds - but Pinkie and Applejack had waited up for her.

“Didya find any sign of him?” Applejack asked.

“No…” Rainbow Dash said, sighing. Her eyes were red and the tear streaks on her face were impossible to hide. “And there’s nobody who can help us out here. The ship’s already too far out for me to carry you back to shore…”

“You’re in no condition to carry anything. You need rest.” Applejack said. “Your crew loaded us with plenty of supplies - we’ll be fine until we run aground somewhere. There may be no wind, but there are still currents.”

Pinkie some up. “Yeah Dashie, we’ll be fine. And we’ll get to Morphisis and we’ll save the Water Crystal and we’ll find Spike!” She yawned. “Definitely…”

Rainbow Dash nodded, heading below. Applejack and Pinkie followed - no one spoke for the rest of the night. They slept through the night and a large portion of the morning.

~~~

Not many words were exchanged the first day - everyone felt a little burnt out. With the obvious exception of Pinkie Pie, who was only remaining quiet because her friends didn’t seem in the mood. Not much needed to be said.

It wasn’t until the third day that depression was beat out by boredom.

“THAT’S IT!” Pinkie said, throwing a random empty crate overboard. “I AM MORE BORED THAN A BOARD ON A PILE OF BOARDS ON WEDNESDAY.”

Rainbow Dash let out a laugh - the first laugh that had graced the group’s presence for three days. “Well, Pinks, what do you suggest?”

“Him… We need a game…” She reached into her mane and pulled out a chess board. “Anyone know how to play chess?”

Rarity raised her hoof.

“Good! Teach me.” Applejack facehooved at this.

“Oh of course dear but… why do you have a chessboard when you don’t know how to play?”

“Amnesia remember?” Pinkie said, smacking her head.

“Ah’ve got a better question.” Applejack began. “Why do you have a chessboard if you’re an alien?”

“Noooooo idea!” Pinkie said, grinning. “Rarity, front and center, teach me the rules of chess.”

On the fourth day it was undisputed that Pinkie was queen of chess. And go. And poker. And every other board game she pulled out of her mane.

On the fifth day Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash pooled their resources together to beat Pinkie at poker. And still failed despite the unfair advantage.

“How do you do it?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, you have no memory! How do you play these so well?”

“AAAAAAALIEN SUPERPOWERS!”

“You need to stop asking her for explanations.” Applejack muttered. “It only encourages her.”

On the sixth day they all woke up at roughly the same time, said “the ship isn’t moving.”

They all poked their heads up over the side of the boat, looking for the source of the lack of movement. They found it quickly - they were leaned up against another ship. Which was up against another one. And another one. And another. In the distance, they could see land.

Rainbow Dash cursed. “I was afraid of this… all the currents of this sea lead to the same place. And with no wind, dozens of ships will just congregate in a ship graveyard. And ship graveyards are great places to find the undead… And nasty sea creatures love to prowl these areas for ponies just like us.”

Rarity shuddered. “Did you say… the undead? Heavens I’m not sure I’m prepared for something like that…”

Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Silly Rarity, don’t you know that the undead always get hurt by healing magic?”

Rarity’s eyes sparkled. On one hoof, uncouth and disgusting undead were going to try to eat her brains or something. On the other, she could actually deal out some damage!

The four ponies crawled off Spike’s Saddle and stepped onto the next ship, which looked identical except it was cut in half. Rainbow Dash flew up higher. “I can see the shoreline - it’s not all that far. We just have to make it over… oh… seventeen more ships or so. Not that hard.”

“Oh that’s marvelous!” Rarity said, grinning. “Maybe we can get by before anything notices we’re here!”

Pinkie facehooved. “You just jinxed us.”

“What?” At that moment, a skeletal pony jumped out of a crate and tried to bite Rarity’s leg off. She screamed and shot a healing spell right at its chest - which caused it to explode in a shower of bonemeal. Rarity didn’t know she had destroyed it - she was cowering in a ball with her hooves over her eyes.

Applejack sighed. “Rarity…”

“Is it gone darling?”

“Yes. You destroyed it.”

Rarity stood upright, blinking slowly. “I… did?”

“Yup.”

Rarity felt elated and disgusted at the same time. She did not get to actually vocalize a response, for at that point more skeletons, ghosts, and some giant golem thing arose from the ship, attacking.

“Heeeeere we go!” Pinkie sung, taking out two pistols.

“What in tarnation are those?” Applejack asked.

“Pistols. Probably best if you don’t ask questions.” Pinkie responded before shooting several zombies in the face with them. “I need a shotgun…” She muttered.

Applejack just rolled her eyes as Rarity and Rainbow Dash used their magic to take care of the undead beasts.

~~~

Less than half an hour later all four of them were covered in undead goo, ectoplasm, and strange dust from those golem creatures. They had decided to take a rest inside one of the intact ships, and had turned some oddly dry rope into a fire.

Pinkie frowned. “You know, I have the feeling like some sort of big reveal was supposed to happen right now.”

“Oh?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah…” Pinkie said, rubbing her chin. “Dashie, do you have any major secrets you’d like to tell us?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Uh… when I was first found with Spike by the pirates my coat was white? I dunno what you’re asking for Pinks.”

“Not major enough…” Pinkie said, frowning. “Something else…”

“Maybe she’s actually a stallion.” Applejack suggested, chuckling.

“That doesn’t even make any sense - why would I pretend to be a mare?” Rainbow Dash questioned.

Applejack shrugged. “I have no idea. Plus, it’d be hard to hide it anyway - your snout is too cute for a stallion’s”

This got Applejack a buck to the face. “I deserved that.” She muttered.

“You’re damn right you did, maggot.”

They all had a good laugh.

“Question.” Rainbow said, looking at Rarity. “Why are you still wearing that crown? And follow up question - why is it upside down?”

Rarity glared. “IT’S A FASHION STATEMENT! And I figured that it sometimes helps to have a bit of royal authority - now that I have you all to protect me I shouldn’t have to protect my identity.”

“Translation: she just likes lookin’ nice.” Applejack said. “Or likesthinking she looks nice.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know I’m ahead of the times!”

“Riiiiight.”

Pinkie ran over from a box she was investigating. “Hey guess what? I found a map that’s been drawn on recently!”

Rainbow Dash examined the map. “Huh… well if this X is recent, I’m willing to bet this is where we are.”

“It says ‘you are here.’ Dashie.”

Rainbow Dash glared. “Pinks, thanks for stating the obvious. Anyway, it looks like we are in the kingdom of Morphisis - though on the fringes. It’ll be a long walk before we get to any town… closest appears to be Carwail. Then we head along the main road to the Spire Hive, talk to the Queen, and save the Water Crystal.”

“So simple!” Pinkie giggled.

“Well...” Rainbow Dash said, spreading her wings. “My wings are nice and dry. Let’s get to Carwail.”

“Yeah!”

~~~

“My heavens I’ve never been so delighted to see land in my life!” Rarity leapt off the plank of the ship and onto the beach. “Sweet, sweet land!” She flopped onto her back, letting out a deep sigh. “I never thought I’d enjoy the feel of dirt…”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged glances before shrugging. The four mares all departed from the ship graveyard, taking in the feel of solid ground beneath their hooves once more. Applejack let out a relaxed sigh - at least that was over with. No more hordes of undead creatures.

Then something caught her eye - a shimmering light appearing in front of them. It soon took the shape of an orange earth pony stallion with a large red apple for a cutie mark. He was wearing Applejack’s hat.

“…Dad?” Applejack said, a faraway look in her eyes.

“Come home Applejack!” He said, beckoning. Applejack mindlessly walked towards him.

“Hey wait a minute Applejack!” Rainbow Dash called. “How do we know-“

Then Rainbow Dash and Rarity saw something else - a shimmering light that took the form of Queen Luna. “My daughter…” She said. “Come closer…”

“Mother?” Rarity said, smile widening. “Oh how good it is to see you!”

“Rarity…?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking like she was trying to push something out of her mind. But she ended up following the white unicorn princess with a faraway look in her eyes.

Then a light appeared in front of Pinkie, taking the form of a cutie markless filly. She had a light pink mane and a beautiful butter yellow coat. Her build was slightly taller than other fillies her age, and she shied away from Pinkie’s eyes. She slowly looked up.

“Mom?” She asked.

Pinkie twitched, her mind exploding trying to remember. This felt so… right - but why was it right? Who was she looking at? Her daughter, obviously - but what was her name?

What was her name?

What was her name?

Pinkie grabbed her head. “AAAAA STOP REPEATING THE SAME THOUGHT” She rammed her muzzle into the ground, giving herself a headache. She whined, looking up slightly.

Then she saw it - behind the Queen, the filly, and the stallion, a orange Siren stood, her strange horse-fish body floating slightly above the ground. She looked closely at Pinkie.

“Why do you resist? Come be one with us - your souls will be looked after with love.”

Pinkie stood upright and glared. “Hey! I am not giving you my soul grumpy-fin!”

The Siren glared. “I am the great Adagio! How are you resisting my magic?”

Pinkie giggled. “While I would looove to cite alien powers, I think it’s simply because I have amnesia. Can’t remember who you’re trying to show me, sorry!”

“Wha…?”

Pinkie brought out her rubber hammer. “HEY EVERYBODY! SEE THROUGH HER TRICKS!” Her three companions made no response to her voice - but they all shook out of it after Pinkie bopped them all on the head with the hammer.

“PINKS!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “What was that for?”

“Had to knock you out of the mind spell!” Pinkie giggled.

“Oh. Thanks then.” She glared at Adagio. “I am going to gut you!”

“Good luck with that!” Adagio yelled. “I am the great Adagio- and none will-“

There was soon a sword sticking out of her chest. Applejack was on the other end, her face contorted in rage. Adagio fell to the ground, dead. Applejack breathed heavily, dropping sheathing her sword. Wordlessly, she turned and walked further away from shore.

The other three exchanged worried glances and followed after her.

Applejack said nothing for the next few hours.

VI - The Mountain With the Very Unique Name

Days of walking and flying later, the four mares arrived in the fringe town of Carwail - beaten, exhausted, dehydrated, and extremely hungry. Rainbow Dash literally charged into the tavern and tossed some gold coins on the counter. “FOOD. WATER. NOW.” She said, breathing heavily. The barkeep nodded, bringing out some food which the pirate ate ravenously. Applejack carried Rarity into the tavern, dumping her on a stool and shoving the princess’ face into the plate.

“You need to eat Rarity.”

“Far… Too… Weak… To… Move… Mouth…”

Applejack slapped her, wishing for the umpteenth time that they had remembered to bring food from the ship. “You’re talking. You can eat.”

Rarity gave Applejack an indignant look and slowly began to eat, but she groaned as if the act pained her greatly.

By the time Applejack had started to eat her meal (stale bread, of course) Pinkie had already ordered and eaten three full servings. “My goodness we were dying out there! Wasn’t that an adventure? Huh? Huh?”

Applejack sighed. “Pinkie, if Ah can help it, Ah’m never doing that again.”

Pinkie shrugged.

The barkeep looked at the four mares, a curious look on his face. “So… what brings you all to Carwail?”

“Heading to the Spire Hive, going to visit the Water Crystal.” Applejack responded.

“Well…” The barkeep shook his head. “You’re going to have a problem with that.”

“Oh?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yeah - the earthquakes have blocked the mountain pass. So unless you can all grow wings or have your own personal dragon, you’re out of luck since all the boats are grounded.”

“Grow wings? How on earth would we grow wings?” Applejack asked.

Rarity nudged her. “Roughly half of Morphisis’ population are changelings dear. They could easily change form into a pegasus.”

The barkeep raised an eyebrow. “From out of kingdom? Interesting. Trotton or Solamane?”

“Trotton.” Rarity responded.

“How’d you get here?”

“Adrift ship.” Rainbow Dash muttered. “Had to fight our way out of the ship graveyard. Sirens suck.” She downed her drink.

The barkeep nodded. “Well… we can’t help you get to Spire Hive. Sorry you journeyed all this way for nothing.”

“Perhaps not nothing…” Applejack said, rubbing her chin. “You said a did say a dragon could do it…”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Applejack, only the royalty of Morphisis have personal dragons - and I doubt there are any around.”

Applejack sighed, glancing around the tavern. It was mostly empty - though there was a table of four ponies talking amongst themselves. Applejack squinted, trying to see if she could discern if they were changelings or not. She thought not, until one of them copied Applejack’s appearance and started chuckling.

Applejack huffed, ready to walk out of the tavern. But something made her stop - she saw a piano. Her mind told her one thing - don’t even try it. You’re not good at the piano. You heard the racket you made last time.

Her body didn’t listen to a thing her mind said. She sauntered up to the piano, cracked her hooves together, and began to play.

What came out sounded like someone was trying to play an acutal song, but every single note failed. She grinned sheepishly.

“Boo.” Her clone said. Applejack growled, marching out of the tavern.

Pinkie and Rainbow Dash began to giggle. Rarity just sighed as she adjusted her crown.

Applejack walked around, simply trying to enjoy the town. Unfortunately she found herself unable to do this since she knew half the population were changelings - and she simply didn’t trust things that deceived with their very appearance. She saw some of them rapidly changing form in front of their friends, but she never saw a single changeling in its default form. Then again, she supposed she’d only heard about changelings - maybe their default form wasn’t really some weird bug thing.

She tried to stare at the countryside, to become enveloped in the nature, but the discussions she heard behind her kept drawing her focus.

“You know what man? I saw a freakin’ dragon fly overhead towards North Mountain yesterday!”

“No way man, dragons don’t come this far! We’re doomed!”

“No man - it had armor, it was one of the Queen’s.”

“What do you think it was doing?”

“I don’t know, it looked like it was flyin’ kinda lopsided though. It’s wing may have been hurt or something.”

“Should we do anything?”

“Nah, just thought it was cool.”

An idea was forming in Applejack’s head. She charged into the tavern.

“Ah have a stupid idea.” She said.

Rarity shook her head. “Applejack, it can’t be that crazy.”

~~~

“I take it back Applejack, this is a poorly thought out course of action. You want us to climb that?” Rarity raised a hoof, gesturing at the tall mountain before them that was blocking the sun. It had a winding path leading up it, snaking away towards the sky. Cliffs, rocks, and wild plants grew all along the spire of earth. It was quite an impressive mountain to say the least.

“What’s wrong princess?” Rainbow Dash snarked. “Can’t climb a mountain? Come on, it’ll be good to get the legs pumping.”

“Dashie…” Pinkie called. “You aren’t using your legs.”

“Legs. Wings. Same thing.”

“Did you even understand anatomy Rainbow Dash?” Rarity retorted.

“I dunno. There was this one time I-“

Pinkie stuffed a hoof in Rainbow Dash’s mouth. “I don’t think anyone wants to hear about that. Moving on.”

Applejack nodded. “Now - we need to find that dragon, help him, and get him to fly us back Spire Hive. Simple. All we have to do is scour this mountain for the reptile.”

“…that may not even be alive anymore.” Rarity muttered. “Or even on this mountain for all we know!”

“Well, it’s the only idea we have aside from having Rainbow Dash drag a raft across the ocean, which we all know is going to end badly.”

Rarity sighed. “Fine… How I wish I could teleport…”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “You can’t. But I can fly around. See you groundwalkers later - I’ve got a dragon to look for!” She took off, leaving a trail of rainbows in her wake.

Pinkie and Applejack began to climb up the mountain path, Rarity trotting behind them.

~~~

“How can you not feel like dancing?” Pinkie asked, bouncing around like mad. “Can’t you hear the music?”

“What music?” Applejack asked.

“Oh.” Pinkie deflated. “Guess it’s just my internal music track… I thought all of you could hear that.”

“No problem dear.” Rarity said. “You make it look easy to climb up this impossible towering rock. I wish I had an ‘internal music track…’ Applejack do you have one?”

“No.” Was all the orange pony said.

“Maybe it’s an al-“ Pinkie shut up when she saw Applejack shoot her a look. “Ookaythen! I’ll just dance in silence!” And she did. In perfect silence. She didn’t even make any noise when she landed on the ground - somehow.

The three mares continued on up the mountain, facing off against some mountain birds occasionally, but for the most part trekking up the rocky face unhindered. The mares were getting a little bored - Rarity included. And when the princess got bored she also got cranky.

“Are we theeeere yet?”

“No.” Applejack responded.

“Wheeeeen are we going to beeeee there?”

“No idea.”

“Oh heavens, I am going to die from exhaustion!”

“You walked to Carwail. You were worse off then.”

“But I am simply dyin- oh that is the most astounding flower I’ve ever seen!” Rarity stopped in her tracks to trot up to a tall blue-purple flower. She stuffed her muzzle into the petals and sniffed deeply. “My word, the smell is simply angelic! I mus-“ She coughed. “Must extract the smell and smell like the pri-“ She coughed again. “Princess… That I am… Wow…. I feel a little dizzy…”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Maybe the flower’s poisonous.”

“Yeah…” Rarity said, barely paying Applejack any attention. “Maybe it is…”

Pinkie looked closely at Rarity. “Rarity? You okay? You seem out of it…”

“I do feel… a little… l-lightheaded…” She slumped to her knees.

Applejack rushed to her. Crap - it really had been poisonous. “Rarity! Listen to me. Cure yourself! Use your magic!”

She tried, her horn glowing faintly, but no magic took shape. She coughed. “Sorry… Can’t do it…”

“Rarity, your upside down crown is overrated and behind the times.”

Rarity’s eyes flew open. She stood up strong. “Why Applejack, finally you show your true colors! You have no appreciation for fashion-“

Applejack slapped her. “CAST THE ANTI-POISON SPELL!”

“What? Oh right… Right…” She lit her horn up, enveloping herself in a green glow. Her face contorted in mild disgust, and she shook her head. “My heavens! That was… Unpleasant. My mind felt like it was being turned to pudding!”

“Yer welcome.” Applejack said.

“One question… you are supposed to be the Spirit of Honesty right?”

“Yep.”

“Was that remark about my crown only intended to wake me up, or was it truthful?”

Applejack began to sweat, glancing to Pinkie, as if looking for a way out. Pinkie just shrugged. “Uh… yes.”

Rarity opened her mouth to respond, shut it, and then considered the unhelpful nature of that response. Applejack trotted on ahead before the conversation could continue.

Minutes later, Rarity gasped, rushing ahead. She picked up a necklace with a crescent pendant on it. “Mother’s necklace!” She exclaimed. “She was here!”

Before Applejack and Pinkie Pie could catch up or ask about the Queen, a dart came flying out of nowhere and hit Rarity in the neck. Her eyes went into her skull and she passed out.

“Oh what do we have here?” A tall yellow stallion said as he came out from behind a rock. “Princess of Trotton? Wasn’t expecting that but I’ll take it!”

“You leave her alone!” Applejack yelled, ready to drive a sword into the stallion’s skull. But she didn’t get the chance - at that moment the North Mountain decided it was time to have an earthquake. A shelf of rock slid away, leaving a gap between Rarity and her friends.

The stallion chuckled. “Well just your luck - you can’t get to me! Oh this is just the best thing.”

Suddenly Pinkie was behind him. “Peekaboo!” She said, bowing him into a rock with wind magic. “And you just got served!”

The stallion stood up, looking down on Pinkie. “Earth pony mage? I’m honored, we’re so rare.”

“We?” Pinkie said, confused for a moment.

“Yes, we.” The stallion raised a hoof, and Pinkie suddenly couldn’t see. “Name’s Mr. Cake - pleasure to make your acquaintance pink one.”

“I. CAN’T. SEE!!!” Pinkie yelled, looking as if she was going to panic. Then she grinned. “Oh well, guess I’ll just have to make do. Nice trick. But I can still blow you off this mountain!”

“You might blow off your friend.” Mr. Cake observed. “But by all means, go ahead.”

Pinkie twitched, flinging out with her hooves, unable to make contact with anything. “Oh come on! You were right there! I heard you!”

“I moved.” Mr. Cake said, triggering Pinkie to attack once more. He dodged effortlessly. Pinkie began to get a little mad.

“Admit it - you can’t beat me. I haven’t even started actually attacking you.” He was shut up as a blast of rainbow crashed into him at high speed. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, sending bullets of fire at Mr. Cake, lighting his coat on fire. The stallion put out the fire quickly, though he was obviously injured from the tackle. He held his chest and gaped.

“Did not see you coming…”

“Yeah? There’s more where that came from.” Rainbow Dash said, lighting her wings up a yellowish color.

“Honey!” Mr. Cake called. “Need some help!”

A stout blue earth pony mare came from seemingly nowhere, breaking a boulder over Pinkie Pie’s head.

“Hey! That tickles!”

Mrs. Cake stared in disbelief. “She didn’t feel that?”

“She’s a mage.” Mr. Cake responded. “But she’s blind right now so she’s out of the picture for-“

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, sending electricity through the bodies of both Cakes. Then she tackled Mrs Cake to the ground - only to find that the mare was really really strong.

“Dontcha know it’s not nice to tackle your elders?”

“Nope.” Rainbow Dash grunted. “I’m a pirate - screw elders.” She flapped her wings, scorching Mrs. Cake with fire. She seemed not to care, and was content with smashing Rainbow Dash’s head into the ground. Rainbow Dash twisted so her wings were out, and began to flap, lifting the two of them into the air.

Mr. Cake was about to help his wife when Pinkie finally connected her hoof with his face. “Gotcha!” She said, landing several more blows on him. “C-C-C-COMBO!!!!”

He grunted, ready to fight back. But he realized with fear that Rainbow Dash and his wife were now floating over the side of the mountain. “Honey!” He yelled.

“I got this!” Mrs. Cake said. Rainbow Dash huffed, lighting her wings up with a strange white light.

“Sleep.” She said. And Mrs. Cake did just that - she went limp and fell off the mountain.

“Honey!” Mr. Cake yelled, rushing to the edge of the mountain. In his emotional state, he didn’t realize that Pinkie had recovered from the blindness spell. She kicked him in the rear, knocking him off the mountain as well. Unlike his wife, he screamed as he went down - until he hit the ground with a thump.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie looked down the mountain. They frowned.

“Hey!” Applejack yelled. “Did y’all forget about me?”

“Yep.” Rainbow Dash said, turning to look at her. “Now, the dragon’s just up ahead- he needs Rarity’s healing. I found him almost half an hour ago - been spending all this time looking for you. Ponies are little.”

Pinkie snickered at this.

Rarity decided to use this opportunity to wake up. “Uh… dears? What happened?”

“Bounty hunters.” Was all Applejack said.

“Oh.”

~~~

Rainbow Dash led the mares to a grove filled with the poisonous flowers. In the center of it was a red dragon covered in a deep green armor. His wing was obviously broken, and he seemed a little out of it - presumably due to the poison flowers.

“Rarity, do your thing.” Applejack said. Rarity complied, healing the dragon with bursts of magical energy.

The dragon grumbled, flexing his now-healed (but still sore) wing. He yawned, turning to look at the four ponies before him.

Rarity smiled. “So, mister dragon, we need your help-“

“Why in Chrysalis’ name would I help you?”

Rarity blinked. “We just saved your life…?”

“And that was a pretty namby-pamby thing for you to do now wasn’t it?”

Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped. “GARBLE?”

Garble lifted his head, glaring at the pegasus. “Oh. You. Rainbow Crash. Long time no see. How’s Spike?”

“None of your flipping business scalehead!”

Garble grunted. “Well I hope I never see you losers again. Bye.” He flapped his great wings, taking off into the air.

Rainbow Dash was not having any of that. She flew into the air above him and blasted him with dozens of ice shards, caking his limbs in frost.

“How are you-“ Garble began, but he didn’t get the chance to finish. Pinkie had appeared on his back and socked him in the head, making him lose concentration. He crashed back down into the mountain.

Applejack walked up to him. “Well, we tried the easy way. Now the hard way - help us or we don’t let you leave.”

Garble grunted. “…What do you want help with?”

“We need transport to Morphisis, and you can carry three ponies.” Applejack stated.

Garble looked back at Rainbow Dash and Pinkie, both of whom were aggressively glaring at him. He sighed. “Fine. Get on. But after you get there I’m done with you, got it?”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Rainbow Dash muttered.

Pinkie and Rarity climbed onto Garble’s back, and he began to take off. Applejack was about to ask why they were taking off without her when she was grabbed by Garble’s claws.

Her eyes widened as the ground fell out from beneath her.

She had forgotten that she was afraid of heights…

And they left behind the North Mountain, that mountain with the very unique name.

VII - Of Queens and Princesses

Garble landed outside the Spire Hive, glaring at the ponies as they got off. “Now, just so we’re clear, I have no idea who any of you are. Got it?”

“Crystal.” Rarity muttered. Pinkie nodded vigorously and Rainbow Dash just sighed. Applejack was still shaking from being up in the air so long. Garble took off towards Spire Hive, hoping never to see the four mares again.

“Welp…” Applejack managed to say. “Let’s get in this here hive…”

Rarity trotted on ahead. “Follow me, I’ve visited a few times before. Best way to the Central Spire is from the west.”

As they approached the hive, Applejack couldn’t shake the feeling of ominousness - the structures of the Hive were mostly composed of tall greenish-black spires that shot high into the sky, with the central one being much larger than the others. She could see black shapes flying around the various spires, both dragons and what she presumed were changelings in pegasi form.

Once they arrived at the outer edge of the city, Applejack realized that the changelings were actually in default form here - black exoskeletons, blue eyes, and small green wings. Most paid the mares no mind, though a few glanced their direction and waved just like any townspeople would.

Except these townspeople are changelings… Applejack found herself thinking. She didn’t trust any of these no-good hiding non-ponies. After all, they used to be nothing more than spies and fakers that stole the love from anypony they could - regardless of consequences. The changeling wars may not have occurred within her lifetime, but her parents had told her of the changeling wars…

Rarity pointed with a hoof. “Oh look, it’s the royal manticore, Garula!”

Sure enough, right in their path was a giant lion-scorpion creature on a leash that was being led by a blue unicorn.

“OH HEEEEEY!” The unicorn said, dropping the leash and running to Rarity. “RARITY! Ohmygosh I haven’t seen you in ages!”

Rarity smiled. “Oh Minuette, it’s been too long. How’ve you been?”

“Great!” Minuette grinned. “I’ve gotten Garula to learn a new trick! Garula! Do the spin thing!”

The manticore grunted, before jumping in the air and landing on its back. Minuette squee’d. “So adorable!”

Rarity blinked. “Uh… yes of course dear.”

Minuette turned to look at the four mares. “Hey… what brings you and your new friends to Spire Hive anyway?”

“I need to discuss something of great importance with the Queen - the Crystals are in danger!”

“Oh?” Minuette said, smile faltering slightly. “Well come in, Mom’ll see you right away. Not that you’d need some world-threatening disaster to see her anyway.”

“I know dear.”

“Wait…” Applejack said. “Queen Chrysalis is your mother?”

Minuette grinned. “You are looking at Princess Minuette of the Hive, pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “So… you’re a changeling?”

“Oh goodness me no.” Minuette giggled. “Mom adopted me. I’m a unicorn, no fancy shape-changing shows for you, sorry. You can probably ask for some of those in the tavern after the meeting if you want.”

“Shape-changing shows? When can I sign up?!?” Pinkie yelled.

“I like you already!” Minuette said. “Who are you?”

“I’m Pinkie Pie! Best party pony, and probably an alien!”

“Woah that sounds totally cool!”

Applejack and Rarity facehooved. “Minuette dear, she just has amnesia. The whole alien thing is just her imagination getting away from her. These other mares are Applejack and Captain Rainbow Dash.”

Minuette blinked. “Captain Rainbow Dash… the name sounds familiar…” She looked closely into Rainbow’s eyes.

“Uh…” Rainbow Dash blinked. “Nope. You’ve never heard of me. Just an ordinary sailing captain here. Nothing unusual. Definitely not a pirate.”

Rarity facehooved. To her surprise, Minuette laughed. “You are a horrible liar Rainbow Dash.”

“Crap…”

“Don’t worry, you have Rarity vouching for you, I doubt Mom’ll throw you in the dungeon since you’re her friend.” Minuette pondered this for a moment. “Unless you stole one of her ancient artifacts…”

Minuette grinned wider as the group approached the Central Spire. “Welcome one and all to the tallest building on the planet! The abode of Queen Chrysalis herself! Examine the black architecture and the green windows, and the blue window of my room, right over there! And as we open these giant double doors, take a moment to look in awe at the grand hall’s great magical torches, and the dozens of changeling guards left and right, and-“

A deep, reverberating voice rang through the halls.  “Minuette, are you overdoing it again?”

Minuette yelped at the voice. She smiled sheepishly as she turned to look at the throne. “Maaaaaaybe…?”

The black coated green-eyed alicorn with buglike wings smirked from her position on the throne. “By all means, you do not need to announce everything to them. They can see everything on their own.” She cocked her head. “Princess Rarity? Why are you here?”

Rarity cleared her throat. “Queen Chrysalis, we come to you with a matter of great importance. The Wind Crystal has shattered.” A bunch of gasps came from the changeling guards, but Chrysalis herself didn’t react with any surprise. The Queen just sighed, as if she’d been hoping that wasn’t true.

Rarity continued. “As we found the remnants of the Crystal within the Wind Shrine, the four of us were tasked by the Crystals and Queen Luna to protect the sources of our world. We are simply here to make sure that nothing here threatens the Water Crystal.”

“…Four of you?” Chrysalis asked. “I only see three besides Minuette.”

The three mares looked around, confused. Applejack groaned. “Pinkie, where in tarnation have you gotten off to?”

~~~

Pinkie had found a basement staircase that just had to be investigated - because what hero doesn’t investigate mysterious unguarded staircases?

She had passed by the dungeons a few minutes ago - boy those were booooooring - and now she was simply poking around the basement. The entire place felt oddly familiar to her, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it.

She trotted down a random hallway in the Spire. Suddenly, her entire body started twitching. Pinkie frowned, sniffing the air as she twitched. It felt… colder here. She narrowed her eyes, looking closely at the seemingly featureless wall.

By accident, she stepped on a pressure plate, revealing a door that led even further into the earth. Frigid air seeped out of the new opening, causing Pinkie to violently shiver.

She grinned. “Secret dungeon time!” She yelped, charging right through the door. She made two boxing gloves appear out of nowhere and she put them on her front hooves. Continuing down the path on her hind hooves, she was ready for anything.

Anything, that is, except for the vicious creature known as the Jackanapes…

The first she knew of it’s existence was a slight itching sensation in her left eyeball, followed quickly by a flash of grey and red to her right side. She whirled around, ready to punch the creature in the face - but there was nothing there.

She blinked. “Huh.” She turned around and began to trek further down - when something hit her from behind. The sharp edges of a limb dug into her, making her yelp out in pain. She leapt onto the ceiling just in time to see the creature run away faster than she thought was possible - she barely got a glimpse of it.

“Oh. So you’re one of those enemies are you?” She said, patching her injury up with a quick potion. “Well, two can play at that game…” She used her ‘tricks’ to their utmost advantage - hide behind one barrel, appear suddenly behind another crate. Feel the Jackanapes coming with her left eyeball itch, jump onto the ceiling where it couldn’t attack her unawares. Cast wind magic whenever possible to keep them down. Wherever the Jackanapes was, it wasn’t going to get her.

She descended further and further into the Spire, the air getting colder and colder. She avoided the Jackanapes seven more times before she finally arrived at the bottom floor. Here, the temperature was far below zero, and ice was beginning to form on Pinkie’s mane - but the water was still somehow liquid. In the center of the room a flashing icy-blue light stood, beckoning.

Pinkie leapt over to it, waving her hoof. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! And you are?”

The light spoke. “I am Shiva, Being of Ice. Pink mare, have you come seeking my power?”

“You bet I have! I didn’t dodge that Jackanapes for hours for nothing!”

“…How did you know that was the creatures’ name?”

“Never mind that, I want your power. Gimme.”

Shiva laughed. “Wow, you’re greedy. Nope, not how this works. You have to prove to me your strength.”

The white light took the form of an unusual figure - the being had two long slender legs, and two hands. There was almost no hair of any kind of the body save for an icy-blue mane atop the head. The upright figure smirked with their snout-less face. The body shape was decidedly female. “Now, at this point I’ve been down here so long I’m looking for any excuse to get out of this dump, but rules are rules. Sorry.”

“No prob, I can beat you!” Pinkie boxed Shiva across the room with her gloves. “Pinkie - one!”

Shiva sat up, rubbing her cheek. “That.. that was pretty good.”

“Does that mean you’ll come with me now?”

Shiva sighed. “I wish. You have to do more than that, unfortunately. And I have to actually fight back.” She raised her fingers, blasting Pinkie with ice spells. Pinkie took them head on, smirking.

“Right back at ya!” She yelled, sending identical beams of ice right back at the shiny being.

Shiva sighed. “Nice trick, but I completely absorb all ice-related attacks. Unfair, I know, but it’s still my thing-“

Pinkie blasted Shiva against the wall with a blast of air, followed by a wave of her hoof that blinded the icy woman. Shiva blinked. “Wow. I can’t see. At all.”

“You aren’t very good at this are you?” Pinkie commented.

“Shut up! Just because no-one has made it past the Jackanapes for three centuries does not mean i’m rusty!”

“Uh, yeah it kinda does.” Pinkie pointed out.

Shiva sighed. “Ugh… Just take some more ice damage.”

Pinkie shook her head, suddenly standing behind Shiva. “Sorry, not happening.” Once more, Shiva was launched across the room, hitting a wall hard.

“Okay… Um… This is annoying…”

Pinkie frowned. “I thought you wanted to loose so you could come out with me…?”

“Well yes!” Shiva said. “But I am supposed to be a bit of a challenge to - watch out!”

Pinkie leapt into the air as the Jackanapes charged her - missing by a hair’s width. In the new open room, Pinkie could see the thing clearly - it was grey skinned, had two useless red wings, a giant bulging eye, and was ridiculously fast.

It charged Pinkie again, only to find itself impacting a wall of jello.

“…Where did that come from?” Shiva asked.

“Alien superpowers!”

“Ah.” Shiva said, as if that explained everything. “Well, that’s that.” She snapped her hands, freezing the Jackanapes in ice. “My essence is now yours to call upon.”

“Cool!” Pinkie said. “Wait, how do I call upon you?”

Shiva blinked. “Drat. I don’t know.” She transformed into icy-colored dust and began to swirl around Pinkie. “I hope you figure it out, because otherwise I’m going to just be stuck inside you forever… At least it’s better than this place…”

Then Shiva was gone, leaving only Pinkie and the frozen Jackanapes in the room. Pinkie shrugged.

She was sure she’d figure it out eventually.

~~~

“I have the Water Tower guarded 24/7.” Chrysalis stated. “And my best scientists ensure me that the extraction machine is not weakening the crystal to the point of shattering - nothing is getting in.”

Rarity frowned. “But something is after the Crystals…”

“And you can be rest assured that I will do whatever is in my power to protect the Water Crystal - you can go see to the Fire and Earth Crystals while you leave the Water in my care.” Chrysalis sighed. “Though, if it turns out that the machine is damaging the Crystal… I will turn it off.”

Minuette gasped. “But…”

“I know. It provides the nourishment my people need. Without it we will be forced to steal love from ponies once more…”

Applejack frowned. “What? You’d be forced to?”

Chrysalis looked at the earth pony. “You do not understand changelings do you? Changelings need large sources of positive emotion or they starve to death. The Water Crystal itself has been gracious enough to bless us with its positive waters - waters that keep us from needing to infiltrate other kingdoms for our food. Before we tapped into the Water Crystal, we were unable to provide the positive emotion ourselves - we had to send out spies and scouts. Which caused more than a few wars, as I’m sure you’ve heard.”

Applejack frowned. “I always heard that it was you folks invading…”

“Perhaps in the case of the third Solamane war…” Chrysalis said. “But every other war was reactive - Celestia and Luna took our scouts as a sign of aggression. Which, in a way, it was - but it was not one we could avoid.”

Applejack grunted, still not all that convinced.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Well, I suppose we could still go look at the Water Crystal right? It might tell Rarity here something specific since she’s the Spirit of Water or something.”

Chrysalis nodded. “That would be best - come, we shall-“

Suddenly, everyone heard a deafening boom and felt the earth shake.

“My word!” Rarity said. “What was that?”

Applejack ran to a window and looked outside - she saw smoke rising in the distance. “That, Rarity, was a meteor.”

Chrysalis’ eyes widened. “I am sorry, we must put this on hold for now - I must go investigate this development. I can take care of this myself - I recommend you head towards the Water Tower to see what the Water Crystal can do for you. Come Minuette, let us investigate this rock from beyond.”

“SO COOL!” Minuette said, galloping after her.

Chrysalis ran into Pinkie just as they were leaving. Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. “You look familiar…”

Pinkie shrugged. “Well I have amnesia do I don’t remember, sorry. Hope to catch you later Queenie! Maybe we can share cupcakes?”

Chrysalis considered taking offense to this, but decided against it. She gathered some of her best drones and dragons to go investigate the meteor.

“Hi gals!” Pinkie said, trotting up to them. “What did I miss?”

Applejack and Rarity facehooved.

VIII - Hydraulic Ascent

The Water Tower was… well… towering. The structure spiraled up into the sky, water going up through pipes and falling down through waterfalls. The water itself seemed charged with a kind of positive energy - Rarity could sense it with ease, while it just gave the other mares a sense of calm and contentment.

This was how a Crystal’s abode was supposed to be - filled with the life of its element.

Applejack nodded. “Ah have to say, Ah’m glad to see the Tower still looks alright. We best hurry, see what the Water Crystal has for us. If anything.”

“Top floor.” Rarity said, inwardly dreading the long trek up the stairs.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “No problem, I’ll just fly to the top and see what it needs.”

“Dashie!” Pinkie shouted before Rainbow Dash could blast off. “The top room of the tower is closed off! The only entrances are on the ground floor!”

“That’s a stupid design. Changelings can fly.”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “The inventor and architect of this tower was a unicorn mare - you can’t blame her for forgetting flight windows.”

“Oh, who was she?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Really Rainbow, I can’t believe how uneducated you are in the ways of the world…” Rarity sighed. “Twilight Sparkle of Solamane invented the mechanisms to capture power from the Crystals’ essences.  She’s a bit of a celebrity.”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “The name sounds familiar.. I may have robbed her once.”

Pinkie chuckled at this. “Well, what are we waiting for? Ahem…”

Pinkie leapt into the air and started singing.

“We’re off to see the Crystal

The wonderful Water Crystal

We’re off to see the Crystal

The Wonderful Water Crystal

We hear it provides water for all the Changelings around

If ever it should stop the provisions

the kingdom of Morphisis will fall, will fall, will fall, will fall, will fall, will fall

for they need the life the water provides

Were off to see the Crystal

The wonderful Water Crystal…”

“Pinkie? Quiet a moment.” Applejack said, raising a hoof. “Are those guards… lying on the ground?”

The four mares rushed to the Tower entrance to find the changeling guards in their default form and knocked out - they were thrown a

good distance from the tower’s opening, suggesting they were tossed out of the way by something large.

The four mares got a sinking feeling in their stomachs. They quickly trotted into the Tower, hoping that they weren’t too late.

As they climbed the staircase, they got to see the glass pipes of the Tower infuse the waters with the crystals energy, and they saw as numerous waterfalls around the tower helped power the extraction machine. Rarity vaguely knew how all of it worked together - the crystal provided water to the machine, which used the force of gravity to turn the wheels and extract magical energy directly from the Crystal. The extraction further saturated the water of the Crystal, in addition to providing some electrical power that Morphisis could use - though it rarely did. The water energy was perfectly adequate to run all the hydraulic mechanisms. Rarity knew the machine in Solamane was used almost solely for direct power generation though.  

She frowned as they made their way up the tower - the only guards they were seeing had been tossed to the sidelines, most unconscious - but a few dead. Rarity did stop to heal a few of them, but never for long enough to get them back to fighting condition. They had to get to the top quickly.

One guard they came across was still conscious.

“It was… Garula…”

Rarity sighed. “It appears the animal companions I’ve known in my travels have all turned diabolical.”

“Maybe you just aren’t good with animals.” Rainbow Dash suggested.

“Actually, if they like her and no-one else, that means she’s good with animals.” Pinkie considered thoughtfully.

“That don’t make a lick o sense.” Applejack observed.

“Be honest, what’s made sense these last few days?” Pinkie asked.

Applejack froze. “Er… not much to be frank.”

“Exactly.”

The four mares managed to get the the top of the tall mechanism, throwing open the giant double doors to the room in which the Crystal was held.

<Please! Help!> Was the first thing they heard as they entered the tower. The Water Crystal was obviously in distress, but it was still whole. It was a towering blue crystal structure, twice as tall as any alicorn. It floated a foot or so off the ground, slowly rotating on its two points. Normally, the Crystal would be calm and serene - that was not the case now. It was controlling torrents of superpower water, directed at the large manticore in the room - Garula.

To everyone’s surprise, there was another changeling guard in the room - still alive and fighting, trying to keep Garula away from the crystal. However, he lost his concentration the moment he saw the four mares enter.

“Madam Pinkie? What on earth are you doing here…?” Garula took advantage of the opportunity and rammed the changeling into the ground, killing him instantly. The great beast planted its paws into the ground with a kind of unknown magic, and roared.

* The Water Crystal warned. The Crystal shrieked. *

The four mares stood strong, glaring at Garula. Rainbow Dash smirked. “Okay manticore, time to say goodbye.” Lightning coursed through her wings, traveling through the water in the room and directly into Garula. The manicure screamed, charging, only to have Pinkie appear in front of it and toss the creature into a wall, followed by a burst of powerful air from her hooves.

“Take that meany lion!” Pinkie said triumphantly. Before Garula could move to fight back, Applejack cut off the tail with her sword.

“No cheating with poison, ya hear?”

Garula charged Rarity, only to find her covered in an orange magical shield that it couldn’t penetrate.

“Nice try dear, but you really should know better than to attack a lady.” She levitated her dagger behind Garuda’s head, and drove the weapon into its brain. Garula howled, slumping to the ground.

But it wasn’t dead yet - whatever was controlling it did not need a live body. The corpse staggered upright, unable to roar, but still able to shamble towards the Water Crystal - only to get hit with a tidal wave of the Crystal’s power.

The corpse could barely stand - and after Rainbow Dash burnt it to a crisp, it couldn’t even do that. It collapsed, unable to move further.

“ALRIGHT!” Applejack whooped, giving hoof bumps to the whole team. Then the four of them turned to the Water Crystal.

The four mares’ jaws dropped. “WHAT?”

<When I go, take my power to help the others - you have proven to me that you are great warriors. We chose well.> The Crystal shrieked again, cracks forming in its crystal metric.

“Ship?” Applejack asked.

<The… Meteorite… Rarity, my chosen…>**

“Yes?” Rarity stood attentively.

* The Crystal cracked again, its structural integrity obviously at its limit. *

The shrieking became unbearable, and the Water Crystal split apart into several chunks, spreading its power across the room.

The waterworks instantly stopped working, the churning sounds of the tower falling silent. All the water flows the Water Crystal had

been maintaining to help fight Garula fell to the ground, dead.

The four mares were silent for a few moments.

Applejack was the one to speak first. “Well… We better grab these crystals…” She picked one up herself, and felt as an intense rush of physical power coursed through her.

Rarity decided that she would take two this time, grabbing them in her hooves. She felt an unusual power enter her mind, as well as a deeper connection to her dagger.

Rainbow Dash flew over to a crystal stuck in the ceiling and pulled it out - and she felt her already versatile magic expand its horizons.

Pinkie Pie grabbed one last - and she suddenly got an idea. “I KNOW NOW!”

“Know what?” Rarity asked.

Pinkie clapped her front hooves and Shiva appeared in front of them. “Everybody, say hello to Shiva! I found her in Spire Hive!”

“Hey” Shiva said, twiddling her fingers. “Have anything for me to do?”

Pinkie shrugged. “No not really, I just learned how to be a Summoner and thought you’d like out of your little energy form.”

Shiva grinned. “Yeah… it’s nice to get out and stretch my legs. Though why we’re still inside some damp interior beats me.”

Pinkie shrugged and was about to respond when the entire structure started to shake.

“Oh no.” Rarity said.

“What?” Pinkie asked.

“I just remembered. This peninsula we’re on was chosen for the Water Tower because it was a thin stretch of land with the ocean only a short dig down. Without the Water Crystal’s power keeping the waters flowing and strong…” She looked at everypony with a terrified look. “This entire geographic location is unstable. We’ll fall into the ocean.”

Shiva blinked. “Well, can’t help you there, sorry, hope you don’t die.” Then she was gone.

Pinkie rolled her eyes and glanced at the Changeling guard on the ground as the Tower trembled. “He knew who I as…”

“Yes yes dear enough of that now!” Rarity said, looking around frantically. “We need a way out. You can ponder the meaning of your past life later!”

Applejack tapped into her new power, feeling her muscles bulge exponentially. She let out a bloodcurdling roar and charged into a nearby wall. She hit it with more force than was physically possible - but the wall didn’t budge. “Oooooh… That was not a good idea…”

Rarity scanned her mind. “I’m not sure if I have anything that will help us all that much here… I think I can make us move faster but with the Tower sinking… I suspect the first floor is underwater already.”

Rainbow Dash groaned. “All I got was some of Rarity’s healing magic… I don’t think I can blast a hole in this wall…”

“And I don’t think I can perform the Crystal’s water spells as powerful as it did…”

The four mares stood silent.

“You know what?” Rainbow Dash said, standing to her full height. “Buck this, everyone grab a rope and hold your breath.” She quickly

took a large rope out of her saddlebags and tied it to her waist, making sure to let her wings have a full range of motion.

“Hold our breath?” Rarity asked as Rainbow Dash tied her to the other three mares.

“Yep. I’m going to swim you all out.” She said as she tied the three of them to her.

“That’s plum crazy!” Applejack said.

“SO CRAZY IT JUST MIGHT WORK!” Pinkie giggled, clapping her hooves.

“Okay, so none of you die on me while I’m doing this.” Rainbow Dash said, glancing at Rarity. “We still need to protect these Crystals.”

Everypony nodded.

“Okay… brace yourselves!” She yelled as she flew down the stairs. The three mares tried to keep themselves from hitting the walls, but ended up just accepting the fact that they were going to get bruised in this operation.

They made it to the fifth floor before they found water. Rainbow Dash and the others took a deep breath. The pirate pegasus flew through the water as if it was air, using her fire magic to help create some more thrust in the water. She winced as she felt her lungs compress - they were going deeper and deeper, the Tower sinking as they tried to get out of it.

Just a little more.. She said to herself as she got them to the first floor, charging right towards the door. Her wings were in agony and her lungs were on fire - she didn’t even glance behind her to see how her three packages of cargo were doing. Crap were they heavy.

She lifted out of the first floor door and began to head in the direction she hoped was up. The Tower fell beneath them, descending into the abyss that was the ocean, along with all the chunks of the unstable peninsula.

Rainbow Dash winced as she realized there were still some falling peninsula chunks above her that she would have to dodge. That was not going to be easy.

She managed to avoid the first two. The third one hit her with a glancing blow, causing her to lose concentration and spin out.

No! No no no no!

As she tumbled, she saw her three friends slide past her - Rarity and Applejack were obviously unconscious and taking in water, while Pinkie just had a scared look on her face.

Rainbow Dash tried to muster the strength to move on, but she couldn’t manage it. She couldn’t flap her wings, she couldn’t light the fire to get some steam jets…

Her vision began to go blurry… She felt herself slipping away…

Then she heard the unmistakeable roar of a sea dragon, the sound of which shocked her awake instantly. She turned to her left and saw Spike charging at them full speed, taking the peninsula chunks head on. He reached out his claws, grabbed them, and held them above the waves. Rainbow Dash finally let out her breath, taking in new air as rapidly as she could. She quickly ran to Applejack and Rarity - Pinkie was taking care of her own choking problems well enough - and began to pump the water out of their system while Spike ferried them to dry land.

“Bro… “ Rainbow Dash said. “What would I do without you?”

She could hear the pain in Spike’s voice. “I… I don’t know…. but you’ll have to…”

Rainbow Dash completed her first aid on her friend and turned to look down at the rest of Spike. “Bro…?”

“That did it Sis… I’m done…” Spike said, coughing up blood. Rainbow dash saw giant lacerations all over his body - presumably from the kraken attack - and he was missing one of his back legs. Many of the wounds had obviously reopened as he saved the four of them.

“Spike? What are you saying?”

“I… Wasn’t sure if I was going to live in the first place… Now I’m sure I’m not…”

“Spike! Don’t talk like that! We have healers! I just learned some stuff! Rarity’s gotten really good at it!” Her eyes began to well up with tears and Spike slumped down on a beach, setting them all down. “Come on!”

“Sorry Rainbow…” He said, coughing. His eyes began to close as he got comfortable on the sand. “I… I never got to see if you could beat me in a sparring match again…”

“Spike! Don’t leave me! I just got you back! Spike!” The tears were flowing freely at this point.

“Goodbye… I had a good run…”

Just like that, the light left Spike’s eyes. Rainbow Dash couldn’t hold it in anymore - she started bawling. She didn’t stop for several hours.

Pinkie and Rarity joined in, with Applejack solemnly holding her hat to her chest.

~~~

That night, Rainbow Dash watched as the burning body of Spike drifted off to sea - it was the way he had asked to be taken care of a few years ago.

He had gone down in a blaze of glory.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash broke the silence. “OKAY! NOW. IT’S. PERSONAL.” She flew up into the air. “SOMETHING DESTROYED THE WATER CRYSTAL, AND BECAUSE OF IT SPIKE IS DEAD. I am no longer going to be satisfied with simply saving the crystals - I want whatever this is to suffer. To pay for what it’s done. A simple death isn’t going to cut it. This… enemy… will know more agony than it has ever known the day it meets Rainbow Dash.”

She glared at the three mares. “Come on. We’re going to the meteorite. And to Solamane. I hope we find some big monsters on the way because I really need to punch something. Who’s with me?”

All three mares nodded.

IX - Twilight Sparkle

The four mares approached the meteorite to find several changeling guards standing around it with some large tools - the large rock itself had been pried open to reveal a rather roomy interior.

At first the guards tried to restrain them, but Minuette came out and let them go. She… was not herself. She looked at them with a smile of course - but it was a forced smile, and she didn’t say anything beyond “Mom would like to see you.”

Rainbow Dash led the way into the meteorite, barely pausing to look around. The interior looked exactly like a cave would, except in the center there was a swirling magical glow with several displays appearing and disappearing.

Chrysalis was standing next to the swirling displays, examining them closely. “I don’t understand this tongue…” She muttered. “That’s… unheard of. I know every tongue - even Cadenza and Ancient!”

Applejack waved at Chrysalis to grab her attention. “Er… Your highness?”

“Ah yes, I had a feeling you would come here.” She sighed. “I take it the Tower has fallen because the Water Crystal has shattered?”

Rarity nodded. “I am sorry, the Crystal had too much stress put upon it. Even though we stopped the.. thing.. from destroying it, it suffered too much.”

Chrysalis and Minuette drooped, a harrowed look in their eyes. Minuette spoke up. “Waters are going to stop flowing, the sea life will stagnate and die. There will be no more flooding or tides. There will just be lifeless ocean.” Her mile was completely gone. “Our entire kingdom is going to fall - we used the water not only for our changelings, but also it is our major physical food source. Do you have any idea how much fish we eat?”

Chrysalis sighed. “The waters will provide for us a little while longer Minuette - it will take longer than a few days for the oceans to lose all their life. We have a month or two. That’s enough time to prepare.” She turned to the four mares. “And you need to get to Solamane quickly. I’d offer you my royal dragons, but Celestia has a habit of shooting them down with her fire cannons.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “That won’t be necessary. The Crystal told us that the way to Solamane was in this meteorite.” She trotted up to the swirling displays. “…What on earth is this?”

Pinkie grinned. “Is’t it obvious? It’s a control console!” Everyone stared blankly at the pink pony as she raised her hoof and touched a few of the displays. “All we have to do is… viola!”

Suddenly, a swirling vortex of magical energy appeared in the rear of the meteorite - or ship - beckoning the mares. Pinkie grinned. “I’m betting that leads right to Solamane!”

Applejack and Rarity exchanged glances. They weren’t sure they liked what this knowledge of Pinkie’s suggested about the pink mare.

“Come on! It’ll be fun!” Pinkie said, giggling.

Chrysalis frowned. “I can’t shake the feeling I know you from somewhere Pinkie…”

Pinkie shrugged. “Eh, I don’t know. I have no memories.”

“Then how did you…”

“Silly Chrysalis, just because I have no memories doesn’t mean I don’t know how to do things.” She giggled. “Now, Warriors of Light! Let us journey onward into the great swirling portal of fun!”

There were no objections. The four mares waved goodbye as they stepped through the portal. The experience was unusual - they felt as their bodies were ripped apart molecule by molecule, and yet somehow there was no pain. They felt a strange coldness overcome them as colors flashed across their minds, imprinting them with a feeling of being rushed to a location faster than was normally possible. They walked out of the portal the same way they had entered - except a little disoriented.

Rarity shook her head. “My word that was… interesting.”

“Ah’ll say.” Applejack muttered, shaking her head.

Rainbow Dash smirked. “What’s wrong? Can’t handle a little teleporting?”

The two mares were about to respond when Pinkie charged past them and frantically looked around. “This looks exactly the same!”

Sure enough, they were in an identical interior - complete with control console and broken-open doorway. The only difference was that Chrysalis, Minuette, and the changelings were nowhere to be seen.

“So…” Applejack said as she trotted outside to see a completely different location - a large grassland with no ocean in sight. In the distance she saw a forest and what she thought might be the tip of the Solamane castle she had heard so much about. “Here we are. Ah suppose that actually worked.”

Rarity blinked. “Huh. I didn’t really expect it to.” She adjusted her crown as she got her bearings. “I know where we are… Solamane castle and Uniforge are that way. You can see the tip of the spire.”

“Well then let’s gooooo!” Pinkie said, trotting along, a skip in her step.

The other mares rolled their eyes and followed the pink bundle of energy.

Rainbow Dash dragged along behind, mind preoccupied with recent events…

~~~

Solamane Castle stood tall and powerful, daring anything to come attack it. The spires were pearly white and lit with eternal flames, and the central tower was so bright it was named the Second Sun. Around the Castle was the city of Uniforge, the largest populated area in the world. Great fiery power surged through the entire city, giving it a red glow and the power required to make the legendary Mythril armor Uniforge was known for. A great wall surrounded the city, but the gates were open at the moment since Solamane was at peace - though the gigantic fire cannons stood at the ready to incinerate any beasts that came near the city. It was the heart of an industrial nation, powered almost solely by the Fire Crystal and the machine that drew power from it.

On the wide River Sunbeam that ran off to the side of the city there stood a giant metal ship with two large cylindrical devices attached to it. Most ponies who visited Uniforge would first ask what the heck the ship was.

Not the four heroes though - instead they had a different question.

“CAN YOU HURRY UP AND TORCH THIS BIRD???” Rainbow Dash yelled at the top of her lungs as she tossed fire spell after fire spell at the tremendous winged creature attacking them. Rainbow Dash was doing her best to keep the bird away from her friends - but it just shrugged off most of the damage she was doing to it. “YOU HAVE GIANT FIRE CANNONS!”

From the wall, a unicorn yelled through a megaphone. “YEAH, BUT WE’LL HIT YOU BIRD-BRAIN!”

“OH I’M SORRY AM I IN YOUR WAY?”

“JUST FLY AWAY FROM THE ZU AND WE’LL TAKE CARE OF IT.”

“FINE!” Rainbow Dash yelled, flapping to gain altitude. The Zu took it’s giant eyes off of Rainbow Dash and turned to the three mares running away from it on the round.

“WHYYYY DOES IT HAVE TO BE A BIIIIIIRD???” Rarity whined.

Pinkie giggled. “Because it’s fun?”

Applejack groaned. “Y’all have quite the interesting idea of fun…”

Before they could continue the conversation, the fire cannons activated. A torrent of swirling flame shot from the Uniforge wall, completely engulfing the Zu, turning even the bones of the large avian to ash.

Pinkie cheered, spreading her hooves wide. Shiva appeared next to her, as did a large albino chocobo.

Applejack slowly turned to Pinkie. “Pinkie… You can summon a chocobo?”

“Apparently!” Pinkie said, giggling.

“That would have been mighty helpful right there!”

“Yeah. It would have.” Shiva said as she began tending to her nails.

Applejack narrowed her eyes at Shiva. “What are you good for anyway? You were pretty useless against that ‘Zu’ thing.”

Shiva shrugged. “I can freeze things that aren’t that big. And provide companionship, though I don’t think any of you’d be interested in that.”

“I LIKE FRIENDS!” Pinkie said, grinning.

Shiva rolled her eyes at Pinkie’s cluelessness. “Proving my point…” She sighed. “You really need to get some guys in your little group.”

Applejack facehooved. “Yeah no. Let’s just get into town and ask to see Queen Celestia. It can’t be that hard…”

Rarity nodded. “All we have to do is get to a guard who recognizes me…”

“HEY! I RECOGNIZE YOU!”

Rarity blinked, turning around to see a guard. “Well that was oddly easy…”

To her surprise, the voice didn’t come from the guard, but some random civilian he was with. “I saw these mares crawl out of the meteorite! The same one the griffon came out of!”

The guard glared at the four of them. “Griffon sympathizers eh?”

“Don’t be absurd!” Rarity said. “Griffons are vicious creatures that should never be associated with! I would never-“

“Tell it to the judge.” The guard said, pointing his spear at them.

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. “You really think you can take us?”

“No. But me and my thirty friends can.” The guard responded, directing them to the thirty or so guards standing around them.

Rainbow Dash looked ready to fight, but Applejack held up a hoof. “Sorry Rainbow, we should go with them and clear our names that way. If we fight our way out Celestia’s not going to like us.”

Rarity sighed. “I agree with Applejack… Where do you wish to take us sirs?”

~~~

“Well. We’re in Solamane Castle. That’s a good thing.” Applejack observed.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash glared at the farmpony with very unamused looks. Pinkie just smiled at her. “I appreciate your optimism Applejack.”

“What are we going to do?” Rarity asked. “We can’t rot in here while the Crystals are destroyed!”

Applejack pondered this. “I could try using my new strength to to break the cell bars…”

“Breaking out is a bad idea.” Rarity muttered. “We are in Solamane castle. As strong as we are, the Queen has some personal wizards and soldiers that could pound us.”

“Well you know we’ll have to face at least one of them eventually.” Pinkie observed.

“How could you possibly know that?” Rarity retorted.

“AAAAAAALIEN SUPERPOWERS!!!!”

Rarity and Applejack didn’t say anything in response, tired of this whole thing.

“So you mean to tell me we just have to wait here?” Rainbow Dash muttered. “This sucks.”

After a few moments of silence, Rarity’s ears perked. “I say… Does anyone hear that? It’s as if someone is shuffling around behind this wall… And a lot of magical energy too…”

All at once there was a deafening boom and the wall exploded, sanding Rarity flying. Rainbow

Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie readied themselves for anything - monster, guard, executioner.

What they did not expect to see was a purple unicorn walk into the room. She had an intelligent look about her, as well as a somewhat smaller figure. Her age seemed to be around that of Pinkie, and her cutie mark was that of a magical starburst. She looked around the cell, eyes hopeful. Then her head drooped.

“Another cell? Another cell?” She sighed. “It took a lot of magical energy to breach that wall…”

Rarity’s jaw dropped. “You… Blew it up with your magic? A wall that thick?”

The purple unicorn nodded. “Magic is my special talent - I have a lot of it to spare. Though… It’ll take me a while to prepare another spell to break another wall…” She blinked. “Who are you ponies anyway?”

Pinkie answered for everyone. “We are the Warriors of Light, heroes tasked with the protection of the Crystals! This is Princess Rarity of Trotton, Captain Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and me! Pinkie Pie the maybe-probably-an-alien-with-amnesia!”

The unicorn seemed to be taking this in. Slowly, she nodded. “I believe you. I have met Princess Rarity before… you’ve grown.” She observed.

“You’ve met me?” Rarity asked, confused. “I don’t remember you…”

“It was only briefly.” The unicorn smiled. “I was at the last diplomatic feast between Trotton and Solamane - I’m Twilight Sparkle.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. “Wait. You’re the one who invented these Crystal-draining machines? Do you have any idea how those devices make the Crystals vulnerable?”

Twilight drooped. “I… I only found out myself recently. I tried to get the Minister and the Queen to shut the machine off after I ran some calculations… They threw me in this cell for daring to suggest that we shut off the machine.”

“Oh.” Rarity said. “So we would have ended up in this cell anyway? Great.”

Applejack shook her head. “This can’t be the end - we have to be able to do something!”

Twilight smirked. “Well, I was planning to escape and sabotage my machine so it could never be used again. If you truly are the protectors of the Crystals… I could use some help.”

“SABOTAGE!” Rainbow Dash said, grinning. “That sounds awesome!”

Applejack smiled. “You can count on us. We can’t let any more Crystals be destroyed.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in fear. “Crystals? Multiple?”

“Yeah…” Rarity said, sighing. “The Water Crystal broke a few hours ago.”

Twilight blinked. “That’s… harrowing news. Wait. How did you get here from there so fast?”

Pinkie shrugged. “There was a portal inside the meteor that led from Morphisis to here.”

“Fascinating… I will have to study it later.” Twilight smiled. “Now, how’s about I supercharge one of you so we can escape? Who’s got the most dest-“

There was a knock at the cell door. The five mares turned to see an earth pony stallion in fancy robes. Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Minister?”

“I am sorry Twilight…” He said, head drooping. “You were right - the Fire Crystal is weakening. I was just in the room - it has a small crack. I shut down the machine at once but… Power is still being drained from somewhere!”

He opened the cell door. “Please help!”

Twilight furrowed her brow. “If the machine is turned off, then power shouldn’t even be draining unless…” Her eyes lit up. “The fire-powered ship! It has a direct conduit to the Fire Crystal!”

The Minister paled. “How… how do we turn that off?”

Twilight frowned. “Well… you could blow up the conduit, but it’s so big that it’d be hard to do… I can disable it manually from inside the ship.”

The Minister groaned. “But… the ship has been overrun with those strange dust creatures! We haven’t cleared them all out yet!”

Rainbow Dash flew out of the cell and in front of the Minister. “Well, you now have four superpowered mares offering to help you out in that regard.”

“But… you were working with the griffon…”

Twilight shook her head. “They actually came from Morphisis - there is a warp link inside the meteor to there apparently.”

“Morphisis?” The Minister narrowed his eyes. “Changelings?”

Twilight lit her horn, scanning the four mares. “No, all of them are regular ponies.”

Pinkie appeared behind the Minister. “What are we waiting for? To the fire-powered ship!”

Twilight nodded. “Come on everypony, we’ve got a Crystal to save!”

The five mares rushed out of the prison cell, rushing out of the castle’s dungeons. The Minister followed them for a while until a guard stopped him.

“The Queen is missing!”

“What?” The Minister said. “Why? Why at a time like this?”

“You take care of the Queen, Minister.” Twilight said. “We’ll take care of the ship.”

“Of course, Miss Sparkle.” The Minister left, leaving the five mares to their mission.

They left the castle and rushed to the ship, all five of them missing the griffon hiding in the shadows…

X - Fire and Water

“Welcome one and all to what is perhaps my most impressive invention.” Twilight Sparkle beamed. “The Fire Powered ship is a wondrous piece of machinery that is able to take and store fire-based power to create a vessel that is not only the fastest in the world, but can also sail without any wind or waves! The power is channeled through the two flanking rockets in superheated jets. At full battery the ship could operate for a year or more.”

“And yet…” Applejack said. “This ‘wondrous piece of machinery’ is what’s causing us so much grief right now.”

“Ah. Yes. Right. Well…” Twilight smirked sheepishly. “I suppose that’s why we’re here. Turn it off from inside. Once we get to the power room it shouldn’t be that hard. There’s a switch I can flip. If that fails, I can always break the engine.”

Pinkie grinned. “It’s going to be harder than that.”

“How so?” Twilight asked.

“You said it shouldn’t be that hard. So obviously it’s going to be hard. Like… like old cheese.”

“What kind of metaphor is that?” Rarity asked.

“A cheesy one.” Pinkie responded, giggling.

Twilight blinked. “You… are a strange one.”

Pinkie appeared behind Twilight with a crazy grin on her face. “Oh you’re just realizing this now? Cool!”

“Uh…” Twilight muttered, taking a few steps back. “Ookaaaaay… How about we go into the ship?”

“Good idea.” Rainbow Dash responded, flying over the fire-powered ship. The guards looked at her dubiously until Twilight trotted up and motioned for the guards to open the door. They complied wordlessly.

The five mares walked through the open doors into the interior of the fire-powered ship. The first deck looked exactly like a normal ship’s deck, save for the fact that everything was made out of metal and there were dozens of gauges next to the steering wheel.

“What in tarnation could all these fancy doohickeys possibly do?” Applejack asked.

Twilight lit up like a kid in a candy store. “I’m glad you asked…”

~~~

“…and that wall is composed of a poly-carbonate alloy that allows for perfect conduction as well as fire-power transport…”

“Make. Her. Stop.” Rainbow Dash hissed to Pinkie Pie.

“Why? It’s very enlightening.” Pinkie responded.

“Wait. You understand her?”

“Yeah. You don’t?” Pinkie waggled her eyebrows, grinning.

Rarity tuned everyone out, simply following Twilight through the inner workings of the ship. She didn’t understand anything Twilight was saying either, and frankly didn’t want to know the ins and outs of every crevice in this ship. Though she had to admit it was helpful to have someone along who actually knew where they were going. There were a lot of twists and turns and random elevators that made no sense to her - but Twilight just knew her way around. Not to mention that the purple unicorn was obviously much more skilled in the magical department than she was - Twilight had teleported at one point, a highly advanced spell that most unicorn mages didn’t even know. And she had done it like it was nothing to be proud of!

“…and behind this door we have one of our main power conduits, which we can now follow all the way to the main core which-“ She was interrupted as a strange dust creature flew out of the doorway and crashed right into her. “AUGH! I CAN’T SEE!”

“Two can play at that game!” Pinkie said, clapping her hooves and pointing at the dust creature. “I flash, and you can’t see! Ha!”

The dust creature seemed to be trying to attack, but it kept running into other things.

“Huh.” Pinkie said. “You think it’d be immune a blind spell. The more you know.”

“I’M STILL BLIND!” Twilight complained.

“Oh, sorry dear, got distracted.” Rarity quickly fixed Twilight’s eyes. “There you go, good as new.”

“Thanks.” Twilight said, smiling. “You know healing spells? I could never get the hang of them.”

Rarity couldn’t help but look smug. “Well, the crystals decided to bless me with their power. I recently got some new spells I haven’t really had the chance to try out…”

“You’re gonna get your chance!” Applejack yelled as dozens of other dust creatures began to pour out of the opening. “Also, Ah’m going out of commission for a while.”

“How so?” Rarity said.

“Ah think Ah’m calling it… ‘going berserk.’ See ya.” At this Applejack’s muscles tensed, she roared, gripped her sword, and charged into the horde of dust creatures like a mad animal.

Rarity shrugged. “Well then…” She lit her horn, trying her new powers on for size. She hit the dust creatures with several strange grey bubbles, which instantly caused them to slow down, which made it much easier for Applejack to dice them into pieces. “APPLEJACK MAD!” She roared, slicing into more as Rarity generated a red bubble that completely stopped time for a single dust creature - it never even got to feel it’s demise. Rarity smirked, hitting Applejack with a different red bubble that made her twice as fast.

“I must say…” Rarity grinned. “These new powers are most helpful when it isn’t a giant bird.”

Pinkie clapped her hooves as she swung her hammer around, bashing dust creatures into the ground. This gave Rarity another idea. “Hey Pinkie, toss me your hammer.”

Pinkie did so without hesitation, moving on to fight with a strange four-pointed curved blade. “FACE MY BAT’LETH!”

Rarity levitated the hammer and studied it closely. Behind her, Twilight shot off a beam of magical energy that disintegrated a few dust creatures while Rainbow decided it would be prudent to electrocute the horde. One of the dust creatures got a hit off on Twilight, which was quickly healed by a weak healing spell from Rainbow.

“Hrrrm…” Rarity said, thinking hard. She focused her magic, enveloping the hammer in a powerful aura. She bent time around it carefully… She enchanted it. “Here! Pinkie! Take this!”

Pinkie grabbed the hammer and hit the various dust creatures. They all stopped in their tracks as soon as they were hit. “WOOHOO! This is the literal incarnation of STOP! HAMMER TIME!” She began bashing more heads in with glee.

“The crystals have all bestowed you with fascinating power.” Twilight commented. “I would love to have a closer look later.”

Applejack pulverized the last dust with her bare hooves before calming down. “Ah… Gotta say… That’s an unusual experience…”

Suddenly, a mechanical device fell from the ceiling and started shooting them with lasers. “WOAH NELLY!” Applejack yelled as she took a hit to her back leg.

Twilight was the one to save them - she surrounded the machine in her magical aura and fried it’s circuits in just the right spot to make it go limp without exploding. She frowned.

“Those drones are supposed to be completely offline when the ship is docked. They’ll only activate during sea-combat… Unless someone’s turned them on from the inside.”

Everyone blinked. “What?”

“Someone doesn’t want us to get to the power room.” Twilight responded. “You were right Pinkie, this is going to be harder than I thought…”

~~~

Queen Celestia looked at the fully charged main power unit for the fire powered ship. She grinned a twisted grin that looked completely foreign on her face - it hadn’t been easy to get the ship to drain power it didn’t need, but that hadn’t stopped her. No, it had merely been a pleasant brain teaser.

She cackled. And with those drones keeping those stupid mares busy, there’d be no time for them to-

A drone came flying from nowhere, hitting Celestia in the back of the head, completely disorienting her rainbow hair. She whirled around in rage, seeing five mares who weren’t there before. For a brief moment, Celestia was confused - the door hadn’t opened and last she knew they were still a deck above her…

Then she remembered. Twilight could teleport multiple ponies as long as she knew exactly where she was going. Celestia smirked. “Well done my little ponies, I should have expected you to make it this far.”

Twilight blinked. “Celestia! What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m shattering the Fire Crystal.” Celestia cackled.

“WHY?”

Celestia smirked, looking at Twilight with eyes that were not her own. “As smart as you are, you sure are dense.”

“You’re not Celestia.” Rarity said matter of factly. “You’re the thing that’s been causing all the Crystals to shatter.”

Celestia laughed - a truly disturbing sound. “Someone give the Princess a cookie! She got it right!”

“Whatever you are, you won’t be able to stop us.” Applejack said. “We will turn this machine off, and the Fire Crystal will be safe.”

Celeste’s playful expression was instantly replaced with one of rage. “You’ll have to get past me again, and this body is much more suited to combat then that pathetic manticore.” She growled. “Are you sure you are strong enough to face a queen?”

The mares backed away a step or two - they truly were not sure. Alicorns were extremely powerful, and Rarity had seen her own mother’s power firsthand. It was something to be reckoned with. Pinkie on the other hand…

…Pinkie trotted right up to Celestia and grinned. “Bring it missy! I’ve got a cream pie with your name on it!”

The cruel smile returned. “Oh Pinkie… I’m going to enjoy killing you most of all.”

A brief look of confusion crossed Pinkie’s face, but she shook it away. “Good luck with that! Come on girls, let’s shut this machine off!”

Celestia roared, creating a magical barrier around the control panel. Then her eyes lit up with intense fire, her calm mane and tail undergoing a violent change, replacing instantly with intense fire. Her teeth sharpened and she grew slightly taller. The five mares stared eyes wide - there was no more mistaking this thing for Celestia…

“You may call me… Nightmare Star. Now die.”

The heat in the room became unbearable - the fire mares could feel their hairs start to singe.

“SHIVA!” Pinkie roared, tossing out the ice spirit. “Cool this place down!”

Shiva grinned. “I’ll do better than that.” She waved her arms around, collecting icy dust in a complicated pattern. Then she drove the dust as far as she could into Nightmare Star, coating the alicorn in frost. It melted quickly, but the room’s temperature was down.

“Pathetic spirit!” Nightmare Star roared. “You are nothing compared to my intense fire!” The temperature rose again, Shiva straining to continue existing.

“Not so fast!” Pinkie grinned, summoning her own power. “TIDAL WAVE!”

Water jets came from nowhere, splashing right into Nightmare Star, and dousing the flames somewhat.

“I see you learned a few tricks from the Water Crystal. Interesting, but inadequate.” She teleported right on top of Pinkie and drove her fiery hoof into the mare’s chest. Pinkie yelled out in pain as Nightmare Star prepared another strike, but something distracted her.

“APPLEJACK ANGRY!” Was the distraction. The impact of a large sword in her abdomen just furthered her annoyance.

“Pathetic whelps!” Nightmare Star roared, picking up the berserk Applejack in her telekinesis. “The Crystals truly do think you are their heroes. Foolish beings.”

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow Dash said, grinning. “Then why are we beating you around like a toy?” Her wings turned an unusual green color and Nightmare Star could feel poison digging through her veins.

Nightmare Star growled, cracking Applejack’s back in her telekinesis and launching a blast of fire at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash tried to counteract it with her own fire, but the Queen’s power easily overwhelmed her own. She was engulfed in flame and tossed to the ground.

Rarity healed Applejack, and was moving onto Rainbow Dash when Nightmare Star turned to her personally. “Your previous enemies may have ignored you, white mage, but I am not most enemies.” Rarity raised a magic shield around herself, blocking most of the fire, but it still got through and singed large portions of her coat.

“My word.” Rarity muttered. “That… that was-“

“Nova.” Was the only word Nightmare Star said. An explosion went off millimeters from Rarity’s face, launching her into a wall and knocking her out cold. Nightmare Star cackled. “This is pathetically easy-“

Applejack and Shiva attacked simultaneously, Applejack attacking the alicorn at the neck, while Shiva attempted to drive icy spikes into her brain. Applejack channeled her berserk side, lifting the alicorn with her hooves and driving her into the ground.

Nightmare Star was not amused by this, deciding that surrounding herself in a tornado of fire was a good idea. This caused Shiva to completely dissipate and Applejack to be tossed away like a ragdoll.

Rainbow Dash got back up, attempting to freeze Nightmare Star, only to get a fireball to the face. She grunted through this, healing herself with her own magic, surrounding herself in some weak protective barriers, and charging at Nightmare Star with electric power.

To her credit, Nightmare Star tried to stop the rainbow pegasus’ charge, but there’s only so much a jet of flame can block. The impact hit dead on, and the two ponies tumbled across the floor.

Nightmare Star came out on top, holding Rainbow Dash in her telekinesis. “That… was a good attempt. But... Sadly pointless.”

Pinkie appeared behind Nightmare Star with a giant sword, prepared to cut the fiery creature’s head off. The alicorn didn’t even glance at Pinkie before kicking her in the pelvis. “I’m not falling for that again, Pinkie.”

“Ow….” Pinkie moaned, holding her groin. “Nobody’s supposed to expect that…”

Nightmare Star grinned at the four mares. “You all were the Crystals’ chosen heroes? I laugh in your faces… I am limited by this body! And you couldn’t defeat me…” She took a deep breath, evidentially she was rather taxed. “Pathetic ‘warriors’-“

Suddenly, there was a hole in her skull. Nightmare Star was aware for a brief moment the face of Twilight Sparkle, tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry Celestia…”

The fiery mane and tail vanished, replaced with the regular rainbow mane. The magical swirling aura quickly dissipated after that, a dead look quickly appearing in the Queen’s eyes.

Despite the impossibility of doing anything with a hole that large in one’s brain, Celestia took one last look at Twilight and said three words.

“I forgive you.”

Then the Queen slumped to the ground, lifeless. Twilight walked slowly over to the control panel, shut the power drain off, and then walked back to Celestia. She started bawling.

Rainbow Dash walked over to her and put a wing around her despite the injuries. The two shared the moment of silence.

In the background, Rarity came to and started healing everyone, including herself. It took several minutes to repair all the damage, but soon they were all in tip-top shape.

“So…” Applejack said. “I think we won.”

“Yeah.” Rarity muttered. “Some victory…”

“We should to check on the Fire Crystal.” Pinkie added. “It may have something to say to us.”

“You can use the conduit to get there.” Twilight said, tearing herself away from Celestia’s body. “There’s no power flowing through it, it’s basically just a big hallway to the Crystal Room now.”

Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight, understanding in her eyes. “Alright. If you think you’re ready.”

Twilight nodded. “I’m ready.”

The five mares journeyed through the conduit to meet the Fire Crystal.

~~~

“A thank you would have been nice.” Rainbow Dash muttered, glaring at the slightly-cracked Fire Crystal.

The Fire Crystal let out a tone that was synonymous with grunting.

“Wow.” Twilight said, blinking. “I was expecting the Fire Crystal I had spent so much time with to be wise and understanding. Not a complete jerk!”

 The Fire Crystal responded.

Twilight bristled.

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “How are they going to do that? It’s impossible to cross the desert of Shifting Sands!”

 The Fire Crystal pointed out.

Rarity gasped. “My, you are most uncouth!”

At that moment, a griffon fell from the ceiling. “Madame Pinkie? What are you doing here?”

The Fire Crystal charged up a fire blast and the five mares readied themselves for a fight.

“WOAH WOAH WAOH!” The griffon held up his hands in surrender. “I am not your enemy! I was sent here to protect the Crystal just like you Pinkie!”

“I… was sent?” Pinkie said, cocking her head. “Sorry, I sorta have amnesia.”

“What? Really?” The griffon groaned. “That’s just… great.”

Applejack blinked. “Why isn’t he being a crazy savage trying to kill us all?”

Twilight shrugged. “Well… this griffon isn’t trying to kill anyone right now, and he’s not attacking the Fire Crystal so… I think we can trust him.”

“Hey!” Applejack said, lighting up. “Maybe you can tell us who Pinkie is!”

Pinkie lit up. “That’s a great idea!”

The griffon opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted as a guard from the castle came down to the crystal room. Wordlessly, the guard walked over to the control console and flicked the lever to maximum. Then he broke the lever so it could not be adjusted any further.

The Fire crystal let out a roaring tone, engulfing the guard in a fire so hot that the metal of his armor ignited. As he burned, he laughed a harrowing laugh.

The Fire Crystal exclaimed.

Suddenly, a mechanical cable attached to the Crystal Pedestal, cutting the griffon in half as it did so. Twilight yelped, staring in disbelief at the dismembered creature. She quickly recovered, using her magic to remove the machine.

 The Fire crystal’s tones were not of screaming - but ones of uncontrolled rage.

“There has to be something we can do!” Twilight yelled.

The five mares exchanged glances. Twilight nodded, quickly teleporting everyone a few floors up, quickly getting into the throne room with a few more jumps. She breathed heavily as they arrived. Twilight quickly ran to the throne itself and pressed a large button. “PEOPLE OF UNIFORGE! THE CASTLE IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE! EVACUATE THE CITY - DO NOT STOP FOR BELONGINGS! YOU ONLY HAVE A FEW MINUTES!”

Panic erupted. Ponies scrambled for the city walls, mobs began to form, and everything devolved into chaos. Fires were started, several of the power conduits in the city began to explode due from being overpowered, and buildings began to fall. Twilight tried to teleport everyone out of the throne room, but instead she was knocked out by one of the soldiers.

“This. Is. All. Your. Fault.” He said, causing the four other mares to look at him. He wasn’t a pony, or a griffon - he was a minotaur covered in myehrill armor from head to toe. “I am IRON WILL! And You will PAY FOR WHAT YOU CAUSED!”

“What?” Applejack said. “This isn’t our fault!”

“YOU CAME HERE AND EVERYTHING WENT TO HELL!” He rushed towards them, fists raised. Applejack tried to hit him with her sword, but it bounced right off. Rarity tried to slow down his time, but something about the Mythrill armor blocked the spell. The two of them were hit with punches of insane strength, knocking them out instantly.

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash exchanged looks, before Pinkie summoned Shiva and all three of them froze the minotaur solid. He broke out, roaring. “IT’LL TAKE MORE THAN THAT TO STOP MY VENGEANCE!” Pinkie hit him along the head with a hammer, Shiva froze him again, and Rainbow Dash flooded him with lightning.

“I… Will not… be DEFEATED BY THE LIKES OF YOU!” He punched Shiva into nonexistence, and prepared to attack Pinkie when he discovered that she had inserted a knife into his chest.

“D.. Damnit…” He muttered, slumping to the ground. The fight was over.

Rainbow Dash got the other three mares back into walking shape, Twilight staring at the minotaur’s body. “Iron Will… he was a good soldier…”

“And he tried to kill us when the castle was exploding.” Rainbow Dash said. “I’m sorry, but we had to act fast.”

“I… know…” Twilight said. “Let’s get out of here…”

She quickly teleported them, and any guards in the throne room with them, outside the castle. A few more jumps got them out of Uniforge, and into the rolling hills surrounding it. She breathed heavily - she was really overtaxing herself here…

Then they heard a voice come through the megaphone system of the city.

<This is the Fire Crystal speaking… Yes I can talk, don’t act so surprised. Keep running from the castle, I’m still going to explode, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I… I am sorry. I could not stop the darkness form taking your fire from you. But I am not going to let them get away with this. Listen to me my ponies - there is a darkness trying to destroy our very world! WELL WE AREN’T GOING TO GO QUIETLY. AND WE AREN’T GOING TO LET THEM JUST WALTZ AROUND. THE BASTARD IS GOING TO PAY FOR WHAT HE HAS DONE. THE WIND, THE WATER, THE FIRE - IT IS ALL BEING TAKEN FROM YOU. LET US MAKE IT CLEAR - THIS IS OUR WORLD. AND THOSE WHO THREATEN IT WILL BE PUNISHED! What is about to happen is a message. A message that *WE WILL NOT GO QUIETLY INTO THIS DARK NIGHT!!!!!!>***The roar of the Fire Crystal became so loud that it didn’t even need to use the speaker system anymore - a light began to form in the basement of the castle. Energy flickered in and out of existence, and then there was a blinding flash followed by a deafening boom. A mushroom cloud took the place of Solamane Castle, and the shockwave destroyed much of Uniforge as well.

Everyone stared at the carnage with a morbid fascination. Twilight thought she could see a hand of fire reaching out of the explosion to the sky, shaking in rebellion.

Then it was gone, nothing more than a cloud of ash in the sky.

“Hey…” Pinkie Pie asked. “What are those shiny things flying right at us?”

Three crystal shards impacted Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. The three mares were tossed a few feet from the impact, but they received the power.

“Man…” Rainbow Dash muttered. “That… Fire Crystal sure knows how to bestow his power… Gak…”

Rarity smiled sadly. “I must say I… had the Fire Crystal pegged wrong. He may have been uncouth and tactless, but… he did want to protect this world.” She looked at the three mares who had received the Crystal’s power. “He still does.”

They all took a moment of silence - there had been a lot of harrowing death on their journey so far… and only one Crystal remained…

Arguably the most important of the Crystals… The Crystal that fueled the very earth beneath their feet…

XI - Flames of Knowledge

Uniforge was a mess - but at least it still existed. Roughly half of the city was far enough from the detonation to survive the devastation. Ponies had begun to move back into the city and begin the harrowing job of cleanup - there were dead bodies everywhere in the destruction. Though the bodies closest to the explosion had been completely incinerated, meaning some ponies would never know for sure if their loved ones were killed or not.

There were no smiles - not even from Pinkie. The four mares were walking down the street, helping where they could, heading in the general direction of the pub. Rarity walked in the door first, glancing around until she saw their new friend sitting on a barstool.

“It’s all my fault…” Twilight Sparkle moaned, several empty cider glasses next to her head. “Solamane is no more…”

“Oh, come dear.” Rarity waved a hoof. “Solamane still exists. The capital is still here, and a large portion of the citizens-“

“The Queen is dead. The castle is gone. The industrial power we got from the Fire Crystal is no more. There is nothing. No hope…”

Pinkie popped into existence. “Hey! Don’t mope around, we’ve got a world to go save! Come on, we really could use your help to get to the lost city!”

Twilight sighed. “It’s impossible to cross the Desert of Shifting Sands, the mountains have no passes through them, and the lost city hasn’t been visited in decades!”

Rainbow Dash flew in. “Well then, you can prove yourself by discovering some new crazy way to accomplish the impossible!”

“I tried to stop the destruction of the Fire Crystal… I failed… You’d be better off with Lyra now… At least she’s been studying ancient texts…”

“Who the what now?” Applejack asked.

Twilight sighed. “My daughter. She’s studying in the Library of the Ancients. She’ll be much more use to you than I will… A stupid old mare… Barkeep? Another glass…”

Pinkie stayed behind for a little longer, but it quickly became evident that Twilight had spiraled into depression.

“We need to cheer her up somehow…” Pinkie said, rubbing her chin. “Get her to snap out of it.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I say we just go to this Ancient Library and talk to this Lyra person. She probably could help.”

“And forget about Twilight?” Rarity gasped. “Rainbow, she needs our help!”

Pinkie grinned. “And maybe getting her daughter to her will help! It’s a win-win solution!”

“We leave immediately.” Applejack said, trotting towards the door.

“Aaaaaaplejaaaaack.” Pinkie drawled. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“If you are referring to the piano in the corner there, no Ah’m not. Ah’m just not going to play it. Ah’m not a complete dolt.”

The three other mares turned to stare at her. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie couldn’t keep in a snort.

“What? Ah can say ‘dolt.’ Nothin’ wrong with it.”

Rarity facehooved while the pegasus and the “AAAAAALIIIIEEEEEN” broke out into laughter.

~~~

“Hello there and welcome to the Library of the Ancients, the trove of knowledge that survived the tragic fall of Cadenza. We have documents from the mountain-dwelling nation’s top minds, authors, and inventors. There’s something for everyone within the Library! How may I help you today?”

Rarity smiled warmly. “We were wondering if you knew a Lyra Sparkle?”

The guide’s warm smile vanished instantly. “Why does nobody ever say ‘I’d like the grand tour please’ or at least ‘I am looking for a specific document, can you help me?’ but nooooo it’s always ‘I can find it myself’ or ‘I’m looking for someone who got lost in the freaking deep archives!’ Good GRAVY.”

Rarity blinked. “Lyra’s lost in the deep archives?”

“Or dead.” The guide remarked. “The books in there are filled with evil spirits.” He facehooved. “There’s a reason we aren’t crawling all over the deep archives. Many of the books down there are older than Cadenza itself, but none of us can live with constant monster attacks.”

He saw the look in their eyes. “Oooooh no, you aren’t thinking of going down there after her are you?”

They just smiled and nodded.

“Morons.” He muttered. “The deep archives are through that staircase. Just keep going down till you find the bottom and the screaming books. I’ll hold your funeral in a week.” He trotted off quickly.

Pinkie blinked. “Silly, he can’t hold a funeral if he doesn’t know our names!”

“Dear, I suspect he was just being macabre.” Rarity observed.

Rainbow dash folded her front legs. “Who cares? Let’s just find Lyra and get out of this dusty old library.”

The Library of the Ancients was most certainly a library - books, books, books, and more books. Nothing but tables, shelves, scrolls, and books. Down the stairs it was pretty much exactly the same, only there was no natural lighting - only eerie magically lit crystals whose construction instructions had been lost to time.

Well that and the fact that the shelves had no sense of order to their placement in the deep archives.

“I thought libraries were supposed to be organized.” Rainbow Dash observed, already annoyed by the cramped maze of paths created by the bookshelves.

“Maybe it is.” Pinkie offered. “By some kind of eldritch fractal geometry.”

“Er… what?” Applejack asked.

“Neeeeevermind.”

Suddenly, a book flew off a shelf and charged the mares. “I HAVE BEEN NEGLECTED FOR A MILLENNIA! YOU WILL BE MY NEW-“

The book’s cries ended when Rainbow Dash burnt the thing to a crisp. “Huh.” She said. “That was easy.”

“I MUST AVENGE MY BROTHER!” Another book screamed, only to meet the same fate as its sibling.

Pinkie giggled. “Silly books, fire isn’t a toy!”

“IT ISN’T?” A much larger sounding voice said. “WELL THEN, I IMPLORE YOU! COME TO ME AND FACE MY FLAMES!”

The four mares pondered this for a while. Then Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Eh, sure, why not. HEY FLAME DUDE. TELL US WHERE YOU ARE!”

“Rainbow!” Rarity hissed.

“I AM HERE!!!” The voice roared, and as he spoke a bookshelf fell into the ground, revealing a large book sitting on a pedestal. The book was open, and an orb of shifting flames floated a few inches from the pages.

“Cooooool.” Rainbow Dash and Pinkie said.

“I AM IFRIT! AND IF YOU PROVE TO BE STRONG, I SHALL GRANT YOU MY POWER!” The flame congealed into a muscular shape, not all that unlike a minotaur. The creature was a deep ashy color with eyes that burnt with intense fire. “COME AT ME!” He roared.

Rainbow Dash complied, firing a blast of ice at Ifrit. Ifrit let out a resounding “HA!” as he intercepted the icy projectile with a burst of intense flame. “IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE LITTLE PONY?”

“Do you have to shout everything?” Rarity muttered, trying to slow Ifrit down.

“YES I MUST. IT IS THE WAY OF THE FLAME TO NEVER BE SILENCED!”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Just like the Fire Crystal…”

“I AM NOTHING LIKE THAT PATHETIC WHELP OF TRASH! YOU DARE SUGGEST A CONNECTION? I WILL FRY YOU LIKE BACON!” Ifrit clasped his hands together, and four powerful jets of fire shot out of the ground around him, scorching both the floor and the ceiling. “FEEL THE HELLFIRE!!!!”

Rarity and Applejack backed away from the intense heat, but Rainbow Dash and Pinkie stood their ground.

“Shiva, I choose you!” Pinkie said, pulling a red and white ball out of nowhere and tossing it out. Shiva appeared in a blast of icy shimmers, smirking. Then she saw her opponent.

“FINALLY! A dude! Hey there handsome!”

Rainbow Dash facehooved. “SHIVA! Stop fraternizing with the enemy!”

Ifrit blinked. “SHIVA? SHIVA!?!?!??! SHIVA YOU STILL OWE ME FIVE BUCKS!!!!”

Shiva’s gleeful expression vanished. “Oh. You. Great. First guy I see in millennia and it’s you. Just my luck.” She pondered this for a moment. “Heeeeey… How about we just start over, and pretend like we don’t know each other?” She fluttered her eyes. “Hey handsome.”

“WHAT THE FREAK SHIVA? ARE YOU REALLY THAT DESPERATE?”

“Can you blame a girl?” Shiva retorted, angry. “I’ve been…”

As the two spirits devolved into argument, the four mares exchanged glances, wondering if they should do anything.

Applejack decide to break the awkwardness. “Er… excuse me?”

“WHAT?” Shiva and Ifrit yelled.

“Wasn’t there a fight we were supposed to be having?”

Ifrit huffed. “OH, THAT. YOU HAVE TO PROVE THAT YOU ARE POWERFUL IN ORDER TO KEEP ME AS YOUR ALLY-“

Pinkie Pie doused him with water torrents. He wheezed. “That’ll do it…” He turned into a fiery burst of energy, flooding into Pinkie’s body.

“NOW USE ME WELL! AND NEVER LET ME AND SHIVA OUT AT THE SAME TIME EVER AGAIN!”

“But come on…!” Shiva whined. “What about your muscles!”

“MY GOD SOMEBODY SHUT HER UP.”

Pinkie un-summoned the two of them and grinned. “Welp, that was fun!”

Suddenly, the air filled with evil books attempting to eat them. Rainbow stepped forth to burn them all, only to have Pinkie summon Ifrit.

“BOOKS? HA! FEEL THE HELLFIRE!”

Soon the entire hallway was ash.

“Is that your tagline?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“DO YOU WANT TO FEEL THE HELLFIRE PEGASUS????”

“I’ll take that as a yes and hope Pinkie unsummons you quickly…”

Pinkie complied with Rainbow’s wishes, giggling all the while.

~~~

“SO, THIS IS WHAT LIMBO INSIDE A SUMMONER IS LIKE…”

“Yep.” Shiva said, sitting back in a lawn chair.

“NO. NONONONO. YOU CAN’T BE HERE TOO.”

“What? We get to share the space. Very preferable to being sealed in some box somewhere.”

“I WANT TO GO BACK TO MY BOOK.”

“Yeah? Screw you and what you want.” She unfolded an aluminum trifold and put some sunglasses on. “Go imagine yourself a giant volcano or something over that direction. I need to relax and think of guys who aren’t you.”

“THIS IS HELL.”

“Thank you for the negative remark.”

“SINCE WHEN DID YOU BECOME SO SARCASTIC?”

“Since I was locked in a damp dungeon for a millennia.”

“WONDER HOW THE OTHERS HAVE CHANGED OVER TIME…”

“I have no idea.” Shiva said. “Perhaps our little group will find them and we can ask them in person.”

“MAYBE. OR MAYBE I’LL JUST BE FORCED TO SUFFER YOU ALONE.”

The white chocobo appeared and made an obnoxious “CAW” noise.

“WHO THE FREAK ARE YOU?”

“That’s the albino chocobo.” Shiva said, not even bothering to look. “She’s a bit dumb. Also watch your eyes around her, she likes to try and peck them out.”

“WAIT WH- AUGH! MY EYE!”

~~~

Rainbow Dash was leading the group, trotting down yet another hallway of bookshelves - the angry books had apparently noticed that they were being burnt up with ease and had stopped the constant attacking, much to the mares’ relief.

To Rainbow Dash’s annoyance, as she tried to pass through a hallway an entire bookshelf slid into her way.

“What the buck?” She exclaimed.

“AhHA! I am the great BOOKSHELF! None can pass through me! Not even the likes of-“

Applejack went berserk and smashed the bookshelf to splinters without breaking a sweat.

“You know…” Pinkie said as she put a hoof to her chin. “I think Ifrit was supposed to take care of this…”

Nobody paid any attention to her, for they had found their way into a larger room. At the edge of it, they could see a mint-green unicorn completely absorbed in some book.

“Ah, that’s probably Lyra.” Applejack gestured.

“She seems rather… engrossed in that book…” Rarity observed.

“Who cares?” Rainbow Dash responded. “Just go up and talk to her.”

“Oh… That won’t be happening…” A deep voice said as a large black and blue book descended from the ceiling. “For Master cannot permit you to continue any further!”

A blue-black sphere of energy appeared as the book opened, quickly taking the shape of a gigantic minotaur. However, this minotaur was vastly different form Iron Will - the muscles were much larger, the hair more wild, the teeth sharper, and the face much more menacing. In addition, some of the fur of the creature seemed to be glowing slightly.

“I am Byblos.” He said, sneering. “And you have come far enough.”

The four mares prepared themselves. “Ah think you’ve come far enough.” Applejack retorted.

Rainbow Dash facehooved. “Really Applejack? That’s the best you could do?”

“Ah’m not a smart-alee like the rest of y’all!”

Byblos took advantage of the distraction, punching Applejack in the muzzle. A loud crack could be heard, followed by a spurt of blood coming from Applejack’s face. Her eyes rolled back into her skull and she lost consciousness.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie attacked at that moment, Rainbow Dash using fire alongside Pinkie’s air attacks. The fire lit Byblos’s considerable hair, making it much more effective than the air attacks - however the air attacks gave the fire fresh fuel, causing it to burn stronger.

Pinkie took out her hammer. “Rarity!” She yelled.

Rarity had just finished patching Applejack up, though the orange mare was still woozy. “What do you need Pinkie?”

“Got anything I can use on this guy?”

Rarity lit her horn, searching through her magic. “Him… try this!” She said, enveloping the hammer with her magic.

“Thanks!” Pinkie said, leaping into the air with the hammer. Byblos attempted to punch her out of the way, but he found himself stopped by a slender ice-cold hand.

“Hey there big guy! I hear you like icicles!” Shiva smirked as she generated a scythe made of ice and drove it into Byblos’s chest. The minotaur shifted slightly, but found the attempt to attack him with ice laughable.

Then the hammer hit him, smashing him into the ground.

He stood up, a little disoriented, but otherwise completely fine. “Ha! Nice try…” He blinked. “Wait… why are you all so big?”

Rarity giggled. “I wondered if that would work.”

Pinkie began to roll on the floor laughing. “You shrunk him! Ahahahahah!” She blinked. “OOOOH! I wonder what happens if I hit him again?”

Byblos roared, casting a clear spell on himself and returning to his full height. He intercepted the hammer with his hand this time, snapping it in half with hardly any effort. He backhanded Shiva as one would swat away a fly, shattering her into thousand ice particles.

Then he walked up to Rarity, taking a small hammer out of his pocket. It looked absurd in his tremendous hands, but he had an evil grin on his face as he wielded it.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie tried to charge him, but he threw the hammer at Rarity, hitting her square on the horn.

“Ow…” She muttered, rubbing her horn. That hadn’t really hurt, it had just caused a minor annoyance. She tried healing what little damage it did, and found that she couldn’t use her magic as effectively.

“Oh no. He has a magic block girls!”

Rainbow Dash turned to Rarity. “What?” She got a miniature hammer to the face as well, and she suddenly found it a lot harder to fly, losing all the grace in her movement. This made her vulnerable to a devastating punch from Byblos that bent her wing in a direction it was not meant to go. She yelped, falling to the ground.

Rarity looked around left and right, looking for something she could do. She grabbed her dagger, still enchanted with the slowing magic. Maybe she could do something…

She realized she was helpless without her magic as Byblos charged her, horns ready to skewer her in the heart. She closed her eyes, waiting for the moment to come.

“FEEL THE HELLFIRE!!!”

Rarity opened her eyes to see four spiraling columns of fire hitting Byblos from all directions, in addition to Ifrit punching the minotaur like a punching bag. To Byblos’ credit, he wasn’t being moved around all that much, but the punches from the fiery being were at least doing some damage.

“Ifrit…” Byblos said. “Why do you travel with these-“

“STOP QUESTIONING MY EXISTENCE YOU OVERBEARING COW!”

Byblos kicked his back legs out in rage. “How dare you!”

Ifrit took the attack head on, not quite realizing that as a summon he couldn’t take much damage without dissipating.

“WELL CRAP.” He muttered, vanishing from existence.

Byblos cracked his knuckles, turning to Rarity once more. “Now… where were we unicorn?”

As Byblos approached Rarity, Pinkie’s mind raced. She needed something she could use, and fast… Minotaur… She thought about Iron Will… She thought about how he had fought… Her eyes lit up. That punch he used to incapacitate her friends - that wasn’t any regular punch.

She grinned a mischievous grin. “HEY BYBLOS!”

“WHAT?”

She pulled her front left hoof back, enveloping it in a strange metallic energy. “Do you like bananas?”

“Uh… no?”

“Well then… I hear there aren’t any bananas… ON THE MOOOOOONAH!” Pinkie roared, her hoof contacting Byblos’ nose dead on. The force of the impact launched Byblos through the wall and into the next room. He groaned, feeling extremely weak. His vision was blurry as he began to sit back up.

The first thing he saw after regaining his composure was Pinkie standing over him with a comically oversized Scythe.

It was also the last thing he saw.

Pinkie let out a breath, walking back into the original room. Rainbow Dash had completed healing herself and had moved onto Applejack while Rarity stood in a corner, eyes frozen on where Byblos had just been.

“Uh.. Rarity?” Pinkie asked. “You okay?”

“Yes Darling.” Rarity said, still shaking. “I just… need a bit of time to regain my composure. I just saw my entire life flash in front of my eyes.” She adjusted her crown nervously. “Give me a few moments…”

Applejack was back up, rubbing her muzzle. “Ow…” She looked back towards the end of the room where the mint-green unicorn was still nose-deep in a book.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS? YOU ARE STILL READING THAT BOOK?” Applejack yelled at the top of her lungs. The unicorn made no response. Applejack got fed up - she walked over to the mare and slapped her across the face.

“HEY! What was that for?”

“We just fought some crazy demon minotaur behind you and you didn’t even notice???” Applejack yelled.

“Oh.” The mare said, shrugging. “Guess not.” She looked down at her book and closed it. “Well, this book was useless. No mentions of the Ancient Humans at all.”

Rainbow Dash just groaned. “Look, you’re Lyra right?”

“Yeah?” Lyra said, looking up. “What’s it to you?”

“Well you see, your mom told us about you…” Applejack began.

“Oh how is mom doing by the way?” Lyra asked, smiling.

“Er… Not too good.” Pinkie said, frowning. “You see, her machine kinda weakened the Fire Crystal and when the Fire Crystal shattered it kinda blew up the whole castle and most of Uniforge. She’s in a bit of a depression spiral…”

Lyra blinked. “But… Mom never gives up…”

“Sure seems like she has now.” Applejack said. “Anyway, it seems like she thinks you can help u- where in tarnation are you going?”

“I’m leaving.” Lyra said, activating a secret passageway. “Mom needs me to knock some sense into her.” She trotted down the passage, picking up a few books with her telekinesis as she left. It closed behind her.

“Uh…” Rainbow Dash began. “…Does anyone remember how she opened that secret passage?”

Applejack sighed. “Welp, guess we have to get out the hard way… Back to Uniforge then…”

In the secret passage, Lyra sighed. Not only had she not found any sure-fire evidence of humans, and her mother was apparently in a depression spiral after some kind of world-devastating catastrophe.

It didn’t even occur to her that she might hear about these things sooner if she didn’t spend all her time locked up in the ancient library.

XII - Memory Shadows

The four mares once more stood at the entrance to the Uniforge pub. Applejack let out a breath. “Welp… Ah hope Twilight’s still here…” She exchanged glances with everyone before trotting in. She passed the piano without even giving it a glance, heading right for where Twilight last was.

It appeared that the purple unicorn hadn’t moved from her seat - she smelled of alcohol, sweat, and tears. She was simply staring ahead, a lost look on her face.

Applejack walked up. “Hey…”

“Hey.” Twilight said without lifting her head.

“Did Lyra drop by?”

“Nope.”

Applejack inwardly cursed - that wasn’t good. “Well, Ah’m sure she’s coming - we saw her at the library…”

“She was probably doing important work that she shouldn’t bother stopping for me…”

“WHAT?” The five mares turned to see Lyra standing in the doorway, staring at Twilight, jaw slack. “How could you say that? I always have time for you!”

“…Lyra…. Surely you’ve seen what I’ve done? Solamane Castle is a crater, Uniforge is in ruins, and most of the Crystals have been destroyed… I’m a failure…”

Lyra slapped Twilight across the face. “SNAP OUT OF IT! You never gave up! You told me never to give up, even when things got tough!”

Twilight rubbed her cheek, startled. “But…”

“No buts! Practice what you preach! The world isn’t gone yet, and you are here wasting your brilliant mind moping while you could be out saving everyone!”

Twilight stared deeply into Lyra’s eyes. Then she let out a sigh while laughing slightly. “You… You’re right!” She leapt onto the counter, a determined look on her face. “The Earth Crystal is still out there, waiting for us to find it! Somewhere in the Lost City of Cadenza it lies, and we will be there to protect it!”

“But how are we going to find it?” Rarity asked.

Lyra grinned. “Well in my research I found that while the nation of Cadenza proper is completely walled off by the shifting sands or tremendous mountains, they did have a colony on Crescent Island… Maybe clues can be found there?”

Twilight lit up. “Or what about this? I believe I can fashion a sandship to cross the Shifting Sands! All you would need it a lot of rudders and heat-resistant metal…”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “How about you guys start working on the sandship, and we go check out the Crescent Island?”

“That sounds brilliant!” Twilight said, squeeing. “You can have the fire powered ship!”

Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped, her eyes sparkling in wonderment. “You mean… I can just have it? Without having to steal it?” She flapped into the air. “WOOHOO! YEAH!”

“Of course I’ll have to prepare it for a voyage…” Twilight said, the pegasus’ remark failing to register. “But with Lyra’s help I’m sure I can have it ready within a day.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Applejack said, nodding. “Let’s go save the world!”

Everyone hoofbumped and cheered before making their way out of the bar. They were ready to take on the world, and they were about to get a ship to do it! Things were looking up! However, before they could leave, Applejack found herself tensing as she passed the piano.

Don’t do it… Don’t do it… Don’t do it…

She sighed as she sat down in front of the piano and began to play. When she stopped there were no boos - but no cheers either.

“Applejack…” Rarity said, cocking her head. “That actually sounded like it was a song. A very simplistic one granted but… You may actually be getting better. It’s as if you have a natural

talent!”

Applejack blinked. “Huh.” Was all she said.

“Chop chop!” Lyra yelled from the doorway. “We’ve got a boat to prepare!”

—

Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight were in the ship’s main cabin, Twilight taking a little break from adjusting the ship. Lyra was able to take care of the preparations for a little while.

“No way!” Twilight gasped.

“Oh it really did happen dear.” Rarity said, drinking some tea she had prepared. “That Water Tower collapsed while we were in it! Were it not for Rainbow Dash and Spike’s brave sacrifice, we would be goners.”

Rainbow Dash sighed, looking out the window. Rarity put a hoof to her mouth. “Oh Rainbow I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be…. He should be remembered as a hero… I just… Wish he was here to see this. He would have loved this ship.”

“That he would have.” Applejack nodded. She turned to Pinkie. “You’ve been awfully quiet lately - what’s on your mind?”

Pinkie’s face was blank, her normally cheerful expression absent. “I… I think I remember something…”

“Really? What is it?” Rarity smirked. “Is it a memory of you being an alien?”

“Sorta? Kinda? No? Yes?” Pinkie said, obviously confused. She held her head. “Oh why does remembering have to give me a headache?”

“What do you remember Pinks?” Rainbow questioned.

“I… I have a daughter.” Pinkie said, furrowing her brow and closing her eyes. “Her name is… Fluttersomething… Flutterbutter? Flutter wind? Flutter- Fluttershy!” Her eyes lit up. “Her name is Fluttershy!”

“That’s a good start.” Applejack said. “Anything else?”

“She was… She was angry at me… And slapped me just like Lyra slapped Twilight…”

—

“Mom!”

Pinkie looked up from the castle balcony, tearing her gaze away from the tremendous Launch Site. Consisting of a large magical ring covered in runes surrounding a giant rock, the Launch Site truly was a sight to behold - especially since the runes had just begun to glow unnatural colors, preparing for their singular purpose. “What is it Fluttershy?”

“You can’t possibly be thinking of going!”

“I have to, silly.” Pinkie giggled. “The others have got kingdoms to run or have gotten too old. I’m the only one left to go back!”

“Send me!”

“Fluttershy, you don’t even have your cutie mark yet! I’m the best choice-“

Fluttershy slapped her. Her eyes widened in fear, realizing that she’d just hit her own mother. She cowered slightly, but eventually allowed herself to lock eyes with Pinkie once more. “But… But what if you don’t come back?” Tears were in her eyes.

“Kiddo, I’ve been there and back once before - and I’m none the worse for wear.” Pinkie giggled. “I know how to drive these Meteors. I bet I can crash without any problems!” She blinked, realizing what she just said. “Great… Stupid Murphy…”

“What?”

“Don’t worry Fluttershy!” Pinkie quickly said, covering her slip up. “I will be back before you finish eating that cake I baked you this morning!”

“What cake?”

“This one!” Pinkie said, gesturing at a giant cake that hadn’t been there a moment ago. She grinned.

Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “I… I still don’t want you to go…”

“I know Flutters… But the seals are breaking… The Four Mound Forest won’t hold Exdeath anymore. And nopony on that world even knows he exists! We have to do something or my name isn’t Pinkamena Dianne Pie!”

Fluttershy’s head sagged. “O… Okay… But one one condition.”

“What is it Flutters?”

“That-

—

Pinkie grabbed her head. “I can’t remember anything else! Just that! That’s it!”

Rarity’s jaw hung slack. “So… you really are from another world? Came here on that meteor?”

“Yeah…” Pinkie said, smirking. “Told you it was alien superpowers.”

“Well Ah’ll be darned.” Applejack said. “You really are from… up there somewhere.”

Twilight stared at Pinkie in fascination. “A true being from off world… I had theorized that other worlds could sustain life, but I never expected to actually meet one… What is your world like?”

Pinkie snorted. “I have no idea! All I remember is some castle and a large Meteor Launch Site. And if that’s anything to go by, I have a sneaking suspicion that’s noooot what the rest of the world looks like. Maybe I live in a cotton candy tree! Wouldn’t that be awesome?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah… Moving on, what kind of name is Exdeath?”

Pinkie giggled. “I have no idea, but it does sound a little over the top. I’m pretty sure it’s not a pony name, and it sounds an awful lot like our big bad, unless we end up with a greater scope villain or something.”

“What?”

Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Just judging the story here, don’t mind me.” She giggled.

“Regardless.” Applejack said. “We’ve got to hurry along so this… ‘Exdeath…’ can’t be revived and destroy the world or whatever he wants to do. Can’t be good if he’s willing to destroy the Crystals.”

Twilight nodded. “We’ll divide and conquer-“

At that point, Lyra ran into the cabin. “Done!”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “DONE?”

“Done.”

“DONE?”

“Done.”

“DONE!” Pinkie joined in. “This is a fun game!”

Lyra grinned. “The ship is ready for launch! The rockets are primed and ready! You have enough fuel stored up to last you years!” She grinned. “Happy sailing!”

“But… This isn’t really sailing. There’s no sail.” Rarity observed.

“Rocketing then, whatever.” Lyra waved a hoof. “The point is, you have a vessel to go check the Crescent Island out. Go forth and adventure!”

Rainbow Dash grinned, trotting up to the wheel of the ship. “Show me where the on and off buttons are.”

Lyra gestured with her hoof and turned to Twilight. Twilight nodded. “We wish you good fortune. Come back soon - we will not stand by as this ‘Exdeath’ destroys the Earth crystal.”

Pinkie grinned. “Silly, as if we’d ever leave you behind! You’re our friend now! One of us!”

“But the Crystals didn’t…” Rarity began.

“Pshaw.” Pinkie muttered. “Who cares? We can choose our own companions right! The Crystals aren’t our slave-masters or anything!”

“Darn tootin!” Applejack said.

“Heck yeah!” Rainbow Dash grinned.

Twilight nodded. “I have to say - I’ve only known you four a short time and it has been the most eventful time of my life.” She smirked. “By the way, the ship has a name now.”

“What is it?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“The Celestia.” Twilight responded, her smile faltering. “See you soon, Warriors of Light.”She

teleported herself and Lyra off the ship. Rainbow Dash turned to the wheel. “Here we go!”

Rarity realized at that moment they were letting Rainbow Dash, the crazy, brash, and headstrong pirate, drive the ship.

“Rainbow Dash, don’t you think we should test-“

“NOPE.” Rainbow Dash interrupted, hitting the on button.

Nothing happened. Rarity sighed in relief, letting her hoof off her crown.

“Okay, that was probably the “off” button. Good to know.” She hit the other button and the ship roared to life, taking off down the river at an absurd acceleration, tossing Rarity’s crown off her head. Trails of fire streaked behind the ship’s two rockets, burning some of the shore buildings.

The Celestia tore into the sea, leaving behind a trail of smoke, glowing with the brilliance of the sun…

XIII - Shipbuilding

XIII - Shipbuilding

As the Celestia disappeared over the horizon, Lyra cracked her hooves. “Let’s get busy!”

Twilight nodded. “We are going to need a lot of wood and large quantities of blueprint paper…”

“I bet the Minister has it!” Lyra offered.

“I suppose he does have access to the secondary storehouses… They would have survived the explosion.”

“Great! Let’s go ask him!”

The Minister was… less than thrilled about their request.

“You want me to hand over a large quantity of wood and blueprint paper? Why?”

“Well, we need to cross the Desert of Shifting Sands and we think we have a way to do it.” Twilight said.

The Minister’s jaw dropped. “What? Cross the Desert of Shifting Sands? Is that a good use of royal resources? We’re in the middle of a crisis! All our mills aren’t working! The wood in our storehouses is all we have left and you’re asking for enough to build an entire house out of!”

“But…” Lyra said, tapping her hooves together. “We have to go save the Earth Crystal…”

The Minister glared at her.

“Okay… Maybe I also want to go see the Lost City and find proof that humans actually existed…”

Twilight facehooved. “I can assure you Minister that the Fire Crystal itself instructed us to go to Cadenza, I am not simply trying to help my daughter substantiate her ridiculous theories.”

“HEY! They’re legitimate theories! The library of ancients had mention of humans-“

“It also had mention of a ‘Crystal of Light and Aether.” Twilight pointed out. “And we know those don’t exist.”

“But…”

Twilight sighed. “Okay, maybe humans did exist in ancient times. That still has nothing to do with why we need to cross the desert. Minister, surely you can-“

“No.”

“What?”

“I said no.” The Minister repeated, frowning. “We need these resources too much in this time of crisis.”

“Don’t you understand that if the Earth Crystal is destroyed there won’t be any planet left to live on?”

The Minister glared. “I find that hard to believe. Fire, Water, and Air still still exist - just without their substance. I expect that if the Earth Crystal shatters all that will happen is that the ground will get less solid-“

“And turn into nothing but sand!”

“An unfounded theory for someone who calls themselves a scientist.” The Minister noted.

Twilight twitched. “Fine then, we’ll go find our wood elsewhere.” She stormed off in a huff, Lyra trotting close behind her.

“So… when are we going to bust into the warehouse and steal it?”

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks. “Lyra? What on earth are you thinking?”

“Well we need the wood-“

“I can chop trees down with my magic and I can purchase some blueprint paper. It will just take a lot longer…” She frowned. “Though I suppose this means we could work on the edge of the desert, saving us the problem of dragging the sandship across several miles of regular land… I thought I was going to have to create a tread system…”

Lyra frowned. “Oh come on… I was kinda getting used to the idea of stealing some wood!”

—

The next day mother and daughter were hard at work in the sweltering heat of the Shifting Sand delta.

Lyra hammered a nail into a plank of wood with her magic. “So… I hear that Pinkie knows water magic… Do you think you could…”

“No.” Twilight said, levitating another plank into place. “I’m not a blue mage - nor do I know any water magic…”

“Anyway to cure thirst?” Lyra said, downing the last of her canteen and frowning.

“Not unless you can get me a bucket of ice cold water, then I could do something.”

Lyra eagerly stood up and wagged her tail. “I shall venture forth into the woods and find you a bucket of ice cold water!” She galloped off before Twilight could say anything, leaving a trail of dust.

Twilight rolled her eyes. Sometimes Lyra was so scatterbrained…

Already Lyra was out of the desert, running through the grasslands to the mountainside river. Normally this might have been slightly concerning, a mountain river being so close to an arid desert, but the rapid scenery change was standard for the land of Cadenza.

And it just so happened that as she came to the river she noticed that she had elected not to bring a bucket. “Aw, peev.” Lyra swore, looking around for something to carry the water with. Then she realized she could just dunk her head underwater and probably get the same cooling effect.

Lyra discovered that mountain rivers were really cold. She jerked her head out of the babbling waters and shivered. That was most effective…

She turned, ready to trot back to the desert, but something caught her eye. There was a cave entrance to her right, it’s darkness calling ominously to her.

Lyra grinned. “Adventure awaits!” She lit her horn to give herself light and she entered the cavern. She searched around, looking for treasures. She found… nothing. Nothing at all.

After about fifteen minutes of searching she decided to give up - the cavern was just a cavern. She turned around to the entrance, taking the first step out when she heard a noise behind her.

Rotating back towards the cave, she saw the most adorable grey squirrel she had ever seen.

“Aw…. aren’t you so cute!” She said, cuddling the squirrel up. “I could just…” Before she could finish the thought, she noticed that the ‘cuddly squirrel’ was as metallic as a sword. The fur was cutting into her flesh. She dropped the creature suddenly, just as it bore it’s gigantic teeth.

“AAA! Monster!” Lyra shouted, blasting it with a rather pathetic missile spell. The creature fell backwards. Lyra felt very proud of herself for vanquishing the horrible beast.

Then she watched as the creature stood back up and began to shudder. A smaller grey fluffy thing began to form on its back, growing ever larger right before her eyes. Within seconds, it turned into another grey squirrel and popped off the first.

Lyra didn’t stay around when those two creatures started generating lumps on them as well. She ran straight out of the cavern, over the grasslands, and back to the desert.

“You forgot the bucket.” Twilight observed as she came back.

“I AM NOT GOING BACK YOU GO THIS TIME.” Lyra shouted.

Twilight was a bit taken aback. “Okaythen… see you in a few minutes…” She slowly walked away.

Lyra was extremely annoyed when Twilight came back with roasted metallic squirrel for dinner.

—

“I. HATE. CRESCENT.” Rainbow Dash roared, punching her hooves into the pub counter. “THIS LITTLE CRAPSACK OF A TOWN DOESN’T GIVE TWO FLYING FEATHERS ABOUT US!”

A random stallion behind her lit up. “Oh that’s right! You’re the mares’ whose ship got sucked through the whirlpool! HA! Comedy gold!”

“Can I bolt him? Please?” Rainbow Dash asked Applejack.

“Go right ahead.” The orange mare muttered, not really paying attention to the question for there was a piano standing in the room before her. And she couldn’t tear her gaze off it.

“Darling just play it already!” Rarity urged.

“Yeah!” Pinkie said. “How can you get better if you don’t play when the scene is on us for the only time this chapter?”

Applejack took a deep breath and put a front hoof down on the piano…

—

Days later, Twilight hammered the last piece of wood into place. “Here we are! The sandship is ready for sand sailing!”

“I’m going to call it Frank.” Lyra said.

“Lyra… Why Frank?”

Lyra looked nervous. “I just think it sounds like a good ship name, that’s all…”

“It’s the name of a legendary human you read about in your ‘studies’ isn’t it?”

“Er… Yes?”

“We’re not calling it Frank.”

“Oh come on!” Lyra pleaded. “Let me name the ship after a human! Frank! Gerald! Sammy! Sun Tzu! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEASEEEEEEEEE”

“No.” Twilight said, rolling her eyes. “Let’s call it… the Sandwinder.”

“That’s… overly literal.”

“We’re ponies Lyra.” Twilight responded. “It’s how we name things.”

Lyra muttered under her breath as Twilight stepped back and examined the Sandwinder. It was essentially a boat with a large corkscrew in the back designed to push ponies across the nearly-liquid sands of the Desert of Shifting Sands. There was no sail, because the only wind on the Desert consisted of the ground-produced sand torrents that made flying over the Desert such a tricky proposition. Twilight could see one in the distance, a swirling mess of sand that would shred almost anything that came in contact with hit. The Sandwinder was designed to protect against this - the occupants would hide inside the ship safe from the sand while the thick wood walls would absorb the damage.

At least in theory, Twilight didn’t really have much information to work with. She hoped that it’d work.

The two mares suddenly felt a large presence besides them. They turned their heads to see a large black alicorn with a mane of stars standing beside them.

“Queen Luna?” Twilight said, jaw dropping. “W-What are you doing here?”

Luna didn’t turn her helmeted head, nor make any response suggesting that she’d even heard twilight. She simply stared right over the Desert of Shifting Sands, apparently in deep thought.

“Queen…?” Twilight asked again.

This time Luna did respond, but she didn’t even glance Twilight’s direction. She spread her great wings and leapt into the air, summoning her magic around herself. In a flash, she became one with the stars and bolted across the Desert of Shifting Sands, leaving a trail of cosmic dust behind her.

“Oh come on!” Lyra said. “How come we don’t get fancy flying warp magic?”

Twilight didn’t respond to this. “Something’s wrong…” She said. “Something’s very wrong…”

XIV - Cadenza's Legacy

Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash walked into the Delta of the Desert of Shifting Sands with messy manes, bruises all over their body, and tired eyes. Pinkie was bouncing along behind them, acting completely normal.

“Woah.” Lyra said. “What happened to you guys?”

“We don’t wanna talk about it.” Applejack grunted.

“It involved a big purple bird and the sinking of the Celestia.” Pinkie added.

“Ah said we don’t wanna talk about it.” Applejack reiterated.

“Okay then miss grumpy plot.” Lyra muttered, rolling her eyes.

“Glad you girls made it back!” Twilight said, grinning. “This is the Sandwinder!” Twilight grinned the most dorky grin imaginable, gesturing towards the Sandwinder like it was the greatest thing ever invented.

“It looks like a piece of random wooden bits slapped together in a heap.” Rainbow Dash observed.

Twilight glared at the rainbow pegasus.

Pinkie Pie grinned. “I think it’s a perfect vessel for a treacherous voyage across the sands! Wheee!!!” She leapt onto the Sandwinder and grabbed one of the railings. “I’m driving!”

“That’s the back of the ship, Pinkie.” Twilight said.

“Oh.”

Applejack sighed. “Ah suppose we better get this desert crossing over with… Everypony aboard.”

Rarity gasped. “You really think we can board this crime against good taste without sprucing it up first?”

“Rarity, we all know it’s just going to get torn to shreds in the middle of the sands. So no sprucing up is going to help. Just get in…”

The mares began to crawl into the ship. Lyra scratched her chin. “Mom? Are you going to tell them?”

“Tell us what?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Oh. We saw Queen Luna.” Twilight said.

“WHAT?” The four other mares yelled.

“Yeah. She did her warp-flight magic to fly across the Shifting Sands. She’s probably at Cadenza now, waiting for us.” Twilight bit her lip. “She uh… Didn’t even talk to us when she was here. She just wordlessly left. It felt… Eerie.”

Rainbow Dash and Rarity leaned in closer to Twilight. Rarity spoke. “Dear, are you sure she said nothing? Had no messages for us?

Twilight shook her head. “I’m sorry, she didn’t say anything…”

Rarity huffed. “Well then we must pursue her! Onto the Sandwinder!” She marched into the sandship, her face set. “Come along everypony.”

The mares slowly filed in, Rainbow Dash and Applejack taking up the rear. Rainbow Dash took something out of her saddlebags and examined it - a familiar looking pendant.

“What’s that?” Applejack asked.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes lit up in fear. She quickly stashed the thing back in her bags. “Nothing! Random pendant I stole from some rich lady! Yeah!”

Applejack narrowed her eyes, before rolling them dramatically. “Okay, whatever you say Rainbow.”

“Yeah!” Rainbow said, rushing into the Sandwinder. “Let’s just get going!”

Applejack marched into the ship. “So, Twi, how does this thing work?”

“Magic.” Twilight said.

Applejack raised her eyebrow dubiously.

“Really! I turn this crank with my telekinesis and the ship moves through the sand. Rather quickly, if my calculations are right.”

Rarity blinked. “If…?”

Lyra chuckled. “Yeah, there’s always a chance for pony error in these things.”

Rarity thought about objecting, but decided against it - they needed to find her mother, and if they had to face some peril and uncouth desert sands, then so be it. “Away.”

Twilight lit her horn up with magic and cranked as fast as she could. All her effort flowed into the crank, and the corkscrew began to turn at absurd speeds. The sandship took off across the nearly-liquid sands like a speedboat. The entire thing shook and shuddered, a few wooden planks falling off in the first few seconds.

“This was a bad idea!!!” Applejack yelled, barely heard over the constant shaking.

“This is fun! Whee! Sand!” Pinkie laughed, her mouth open wide. Then she started choking as sand began to flow into her open mouth, suddenly realizing it wasn’t as fun as she previously thought.

Twilight let go of the crank, passing off shifts to Lyra, the ship slowed down slightly, but it still sped through the sands at high speed. Rainbow Dash jumped as the wall she was leaning on gave out. “You two didn’t make this very sturdy!”

“By my calculations we are about a third of the way through the desert already!” Twilight announced, taking over on crank duty once more. “Just hold on tight!”

Pinkie stuck her head out the window. “GUYS! We’re about to hit something!”

“What?” Twilight yelled.

“I SAID WE’RE ABOUT TO HIT SOMETHING!”

“We’re going to eat banana pudding?”

Pinkie sighed. “NO, WE’RE GOING TO EAT BANANA PUDDING!”

“Oh, hit something. That’s nice.” Twilight processed this. “HIT SOMETHING? THERE’S NOTHING OUT HERE!”

As she said that, the Sandwinder hit something very solid and launched into the air, losing a large chunk of its floor. The six ponies looked down and saw an ancient pyramid standing in the middle of the shifting sands.

“Who on earth would build a pyramid out here?” Lyra exclaimed. “The amount of resources required to do so would be astronomical!”

“Who cares? We’re going to fall!” Applejack Explained. “And I don’t think the sand is soft enough to catch us!”

Twilight acted quickly. “Rarity! Lyra! Levitate the ship!”

Rarity gawked. “But it’s huge-“

“We just need to slow our speed down!” Twilight yelled, her horn lighting up with three levels of power. “Come on! It’s going to fast for me to stop on my own! Eek…”

Rarity and Lyra obliged trying their best to slow the ship down - and they scudded, but they were still heading for the ground at an impressive speed.

“WHEEEE!” Pinkie yelled in delight as they fell towards the sands.

The Sandwinder splintered into dozens of pieces upon impact.

—

Rainbow Dash sat up, spitting sand out of her mouth. She shook her head vigorously, and took a quick look around. She was on the other “delta” of the Desert of Shifting Sands, her belongings tossed around her. She made a quick check - everyone was nearby, though only Twilight and Pinkie were conscious at the moment.

Rainbow Dash picked up her saddlebags and started putting things back in them. “So, I take it that worked?” She asked.

Twilight smacked some sand out of her ears. “Well, far as I know there are only two exits out of the desert that aren’t mountain ranges, so since this isn’t where we started I think we’re pretty good.”

“You’re a horrible navigator.” Applejack grunted, standing up.

Rainbow Dash realized something horrifying at that moment - she didn’t have her pendant on her. She began to look frantically. Upon making a brief search she saw her pendant on the ground, next to Rarity. She panicked - she couldn’t let Rarity see it - rushing over to the unicorn’s prone form and stuffing the amulet into her bags. This commotion woke Rarity up. “Dear… what are you in such a hurry for?” She coughed, picking her crown up off the ground and dusting it of.

“N-Nothing!” Rainbow Dash said. “Nothing at all!” She backed away quickly. “HEY PINKS WHAT’S UP!”

“Oh I’m just about to let you come walk over to me so you can try to look less suspicious but actually look more suspicious in the process.”

Rainbow Dash blinked, then shook her head. “Never mind that, we need to get going people! Stuff to do! Things to dash! Gotta find M- Queen Luna! Yeah!”

Lyra sat up. “We’re near the Lost City? Where is it?”

Twilight pointed to the south. Just on the horizon, they could see several ruined stone buildings. “There’s our goal everypony, the Lost City, the capital of the once-powerful kingdom of Cadenza.”

Applejack frowned. “What happened to Cadenza anyway? Where’d all those ‘crystal ponies’ go?”

“Historians ask that question a lot.” Lyra said. “They used to be the most powerful of the four elemental nations, run by Queen Mi Amore Cadenza. Then they became reclusive, and nopony heard from them except on rare events… Then they just stopped contact with all the kingdoms. A few diplomats went to Cadenza, finding that all the citizens were gone. Every last one. A mystery for the ages…”

As the six mares approached the ruined town, Twilight put a hoof to her chin. “Wasn’t the capital supposed to have a tower made of crystal in it? In fact, wasn’t crystal supposed to be what most of the houses were built on? This is all just… rock and stone.”

“That is odd…” Rarity said, tearing her thoughts off of Rainbow Dash for a second. “Perhaps it has something to do with what -MOTHER?” Rarity yelled, posting at a shadowy figure atop a building. The figure moved out of sight less than a second after the mares saw them.

Twilight frowned, teleporting on top of the building. She saw nopony. “That’s odd..” She said.

“Over here!” Lyra yelled, galloping too a tree, only to see nothing behind it. “Aw…”

Pinkie smirked. “Oh so she’s playing my game is she? Heh. She won’t know what’s coming..” Pinkie leapt behind a tree and disappeared.

Everyone waited for a few seconds for her to pop out of some unexpected corner - she didn’t.

“Stick together.” Applejack warned. “Suddenly this place seems a lot more hostile…”

Twilight nodded, looking everywhere for an attacker.

Rainbow Dash gasped, pointing with a hoof. There was Queen Luna walking into a the large double doors of a building. The five mares galloped in after her, Rarity not even entertaining the thought that her mother looked slightly different.

Inside, Queen Luna’s back was turned to them, her stellar mane lighting the ruined hall with a sot, and eerie, glow.

“Mother…?” Rarity asked, stepping forward.

Luna made no move to turn around. The five mares stepped forward - and the ground gave out beneath them. They all screamed as some force sucked them into the ground, Rainbow Dash unable to fly out. They screamed in terror…

Queen Luna didn’t even flinch.

The mares all landed in a pile with Rarity on the bottom.

Twilight grunted, standing up. “We appear to be in some crystalline prison… Interesting…”

“Yeah.” Pinkie said from across the room. “It’s great.”

“Pinkie?” Applejack asked. “What happened?”

“Followed whoever it was here. Then these shiny ponies tied me up.” Sure enough, Pinkie was tied in a strange crystal rope.

Several strange shiny ponies walked into the room, their coats glistening. A large white stallion with a blue mane appeared to be their leader. “You are trespassing.”

“We are terribly sorry, sir.” Rarity said, crawling out of the pony pile. “We thought this place was abandoned!”

“You thought that for a reason.” He said. “That’s the whole point of this place. You aren’t supposed to even know we exist. How did you find this place?”

Pinkie smiled. “Like I said, we’re looking for the Earth Crystal!”

“The Earth Crystal isn’t here!” The stallion yelled. “I would know, I’ve lived here my entire life!”

Twilight looked around at the underground crystal lattice they were in. It was brightly lit, had dozens of tunnels crisscrossing every which way, and she could see “crystal” ponies trotting around through the translucent walls. “Where is here?”

The stallion blinked. “You really didn’t know this place existed do you?” He sighed. “This is our city… We call it the Last City.”

“So this is what happened to Cadenza! You all moved down here!” Lyra squee’d. “Ancient mysteries answered! Woohoo!”

Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me mister…”

“Shining Armor. Behind me are Sapphire Shores and Sunburst.”

“…Shining Armor, but why did you all move down here?”

Shining Armor huffed. “The surface was filled with constant bickering and war between the nations. With the death of our Queen at the hands of the Trotton kingdom, our King declared that it was time to leave the affairs of the world and live in our own society. He constructed these great caverns for us, and slowly moved most of the population here. It was a great undertaking-“

Sunburst huffed. “That he then used to start enslaving us…”

“History only remembers the victors, Sunburst, remember that. I’m sure Sombra was not the fear-mongering monster history suggests he is. He did, after all, give us all this. And you can’t tell me the council isn’t corrupt.”

“You and I are on the council, Shining.”

Shining huffed, turning back to the six mares. “Now, you six present a problem… We can’t let the rest of the world know about us, and we can’t just kill you so… We have to keep you here.”

“Well, as long as the Earth Crystal is here…” Twilight said. “We should be fine, we came here to protect it.”

Shining Armor facehooved. “The Earth Crystal is nothing but a legend.”

Rarity cocked her head. “But… We heard the Crystals! Applejack here was chosen by the Earth Crystal back at the Wind Shrine!”

Shining Armor huffed. “Just a legend. Like all the crystals.”

The mares’ jaws all hit the floor.

“But he, I, what?” Twilight blabbed, flabbergasted.

Rainbow Dash facehooved. “Dude, we’ve seen the three other Crystals. We were there when they shattered. So don’t go telling us they’re all just myths.”

Shining Armor blinked. “You’ve… seen them? Seen them shatter?”

“Yes!” Rarity exclaimed. “Something wants to destroy them! It’s why we’re here! We were told by the Fire Crystal itself that Earth was here!”

“Legends-“

Twilight glared. “Surely you’ve noticed your fires losing potence, your waters losing their vigor. The crystals are gone and we’re here to save the last one.”

Sunburst nudged Shining Armor. “She’s right, you know. Temperatures are dropping.”

Shining Armor growled. “Well the Earth Crystal isn’t here-“

“It could be below.” Sunburst suggested. “We don’t know the full extent of our city.”

Shining Armor huffed. “Fine. You can search for your Earth Crystal - but I’m coming with you to make sure you don’t run off.”

“Fine by us.” Applejack said. “We don’t want to leave the Earth Crystal’s presence anyway. We’ll probably sit by it for eternity…”

Pinkie grinned. “We’ll become permanent citizens!”

Shining Armor obviously didn’t like that idea. “Come. I know the way to the lower unknown…”

The six mares followed the stallion through the Last City - and their jaws dropped as they entered a gigantic crystal-coated cavern. Crystal pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies rushed around everywhere, going about their daily lives without a care in the world. Great buildings reached form the ceiling to the floor, from wall to wall, and literally every surface was covered in ponies.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” Lyra squee’d. “An entire lost civilization, living right beneath us!”

Shining Armor gestured at the two statues in the center of the cavern. “Queen Cadence and King Shining Armor… My ancestors.” He frowned. “There used to be statues of King Sombra and Queen Flurry Heart… But those were taken down by order of the council.”

“You seem bitter about that.” Applejack observed.

“They are apart of the legacy of our past as much as Cadence and her husband… But they are dismissed as evil tyrants or naive children.” He huffed. “Not that you’d understand.”

Shining Armor led them down through level after level of the Last City - the place was tremendous. Lyra and Twilight had been unsure that an entire nation could hide under the ground, but after the first half-hour of going downwards they were convince it could hold everypony on the planet if needed.

“These are the uninhabited levels” Shining Armor said. “We are close to the bottom, where the tunnels become nothing but earth…”

“Then what’s that?” Pinkie said, pointing at something shiny just beneath the crystal floor.

Shining Armor blinked, trying to make out the blurry golden shape. “I have no idea…”

Pinkie produced a shovel and started digging, though the crystal ground was far too hard for her to make much progress. Twilight was about to try and cut through the crystal when Applejack stepped overtop the thing, and it suddenly lit up. Twilight backed away, bumping into Rarity.

The four Warriors of Light began to glow, shining colored lights on the brilliant cavern, creating a rainbow effect.

“What on…” Shining Armor muttered. Lyra ran to one of the walls and studied the light pattern carefully. Twilight remained with the group.

The thing beneath the crystal suddenly roared, and the four Warriors of Light were engulfed by bright lasers. Twilight, standing right next to Rarity, was engulfed as well.

Lyra’s jaw dropped. “MOM?!?!?!?” She fell to her knees. “No…”

Shining Armor stared in disbelief. “Just… Vaporized…. Like that… Maybe the Earth Crystal really is down here…”

—

Twilight and the Warriors of Light appeared in a strange alien-looking room. Gears were constantly turning, strange bolts of electricity lined the wiry walls, and the entire area was made of a strange golden material.

But what was even stranger was that everything seemed too… tall. The doorways were twice as tall as the mares, the chairs too towering. They had to stand on their hind hooves to see the lights around them.

“Where are we?” Twilight asked.

“I have no idea!” Pinkie said, awed. “I’ve… Never seen anything like this! This is more advanced than the meteorite! Do you see these conduits? Amazing! This is all super-duper-high-tech! Woah!”

Rarity frowned. “I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse…”

“Hey look!” Rainbow Dash said, looking out a window into a large chamber. “Check it out! The Celestia!”

The mares ran to the ledge, standing so they could see. Sure enough, the fire-powered Celestia was sitting right there, completely undamaged, levitated by some strange golden devices.

“Uh… What’s that next to it?” Applejack asked.

What they saw was something metallic in design - silvery and golden, graceful and intimidating. It floated in the chamber, looking like a treasure for a king of kings. The back areas of it glowed blue, giving off alien energies. It sparkled, filling everypony looking at it with awe.

It also had two gigantic wings.

“A… flying machine!” Twilight said. “That’s… That’s amazing! I wonder how fast it goes! How high it goes!”

“Let’s steal it!” Rainbow Dash and Pinkie yelled at the same time.

Applejack facehooved while Rarity sighed. “That’s your answer to everything isn’t it?”

“Yep!” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her hooves together. “I hope no-one’s here…”

As Rainbow Dash flew around looking for a way into the hangar, Rarity frowned, looking at her pendant. It was dirty.

I’d never let my pendant get dirty… She realized…

“Excuse me?” A new voice said. “Did I just hear you talking about taking that ship?”

The mares froze in place as a crackling ball of yellow energy appeared before them. “I’m sorry, I rather like that ship. I’m afraid I must stop you. Sorry about that.”

—

Shining Armor led a tearful Lyra back to the council chambers - perhaps they could do something, he had said. Though honestly he just expected them to grill Lyra like a prisoner… But he had to get her to come back up somehow.

The two entered the council room to be greeted with a horrible sight - Queen Luna was standing over the dead bodies of all the council members, the form of Sunburst in her hooves. She threw the bearded stallion to the ground, crushing his head with a simple kick.

Then she whirled around, her eyes flashing an alien green.

“WHERE. IS. THE. EARTH. CRYSTAL?”

Shining Armor glared at her. “I’d rather die than tell you anything, surface dweller!”

“SO YOU KNOW THEN?” She cackled. “Perfect.” She grabbed him with her magic and rammed her horn into his skull. His magical shields only stopped her for a fraction of a second. She scanned his mind as he died, grinning a horrible grin. “Found you.” She said before flying away, completely ignoring Lyra.

The poor mare just fell into a convulsing heap, crying…

She felt like everything was doomed…

XV - The Vlerryn

The ball of electricity formed itself into a humanoid shape clothed in a dull blue robe, face adorned with a long beard that trailed on the floor. In his hand was an impressive staff crackling with electricity. “The Vlerryn is not yours to take. I know not why you were sent here, but know that this facility is restricted. You can make this easy or-“

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and surrounded him with flaming torrents. He sighed. “Hard way it is.” He raised his staff, lighting flying out of it and hitting Rainbow Dash directly, paralyzing her instantly.

Rarity raised a shield around herself and removed Rainbow’s paralysis while Applejack and Pinkie ganged up on the bearded being. He dodged both Applejack’s sword and Pinkie’s punches. Pinkie countered with a tidal wave, only to discover that electricity flowed really well through water. She passed out, smelling like burnt candy.

The attacker sighed again. “You really do make this most troublesome…” He attempted to go for Rarity before she could heal her fallen comrade, but Twilight stood in the way, hitting the staff directly with a magical laser.

“Oh no.”

The staff exploded sending a wave of electricity out that hit everyone, knocking the mares and the electric mage off their feet. Several bits of machinery around them exploded as they overloaded, sending shards of glass everywhere in a rain of sharp projectiles.

“You ponies aren’t all that intelligent…” The wizard said, standing up and regenerating the staff in his hand. “All that did was make things worse for you.”

Applejack went into an enraged state and charged, sword swinging wildly as the earth itself trembled around her. Rarity sped Applejack up, the wizard finding it impossible to dodge a berserk earth pony wielding a sword faster than physically possible. He roared in pain, preparing to smite Applejack with a bolt of judgement only to feel a sharp pain in his back.

“Oh!” Rarity said, smirking. “I suppose I forgot to mention - I did recently learn how to use a bow. The only good thing to come out of that dreadful Crescent Island.”

The wizard lost his physical form and became an orb of yellow energy once again. “You… have bested me…”

“Oh goodie!” Pinkie said, suddenly standing up and grabbing the yellow essence. “New summon!”

“What? NO! No! I will never serve-“ He sighed. “I guess rules are rules… You did beat me… Why do these things happen to me.”

Pinkie called out Shiva. “Oh hello Ramuh! Nice to see you!”

“She got you too? I thought you were better than this.”

“Eh, I was bored. Ifrit’s in here too.”

“A regular family reunion.” Rams sighed. “I am now your servant, your wish is my command. I apologize for my previous antagonistic actions.”

Shiva sighed. “Always so formal and dry…”

Applejack blinked. “Why is it that all these summons seem to know each other?”

“They don’t know the Albino Chocobo.” Pinkie reminded her.

“No, I mean, doesn’t it strike you as a bit odd that all the summons you’ve found all seem to share a history?”

“Not odd at all.” Ramuh said. “Beings of legend get transformed into eidolons regularly. We were just part of an ancient legend. Not all that unusual.”

“Eidolon…?” Twilight repeated, confused. “Is that what your kind is called?”

“Yes, though it’s probably an archaic term at this point. Spirits or summons is probably the more modern term for us.” He began to flicker. “Now, I must be off for now…” He vanished form reality. Shiva shrugged, following.

Rarity looked back at the flying machine - the Vlerryn. “So, dears. Shall we get back to returning to the Last City?”

Rainbow Dash grinned, charging up an icy blast in her wings. “You bet. Going to take out this window.” She charged, crashing into the glass with intense force - and bouncing right off.

Twilight sighed, simply teleporting everyone to the other side of the barrier. They made their way down the chamber’s railings to the flying machine. It wasn’t a huge ship - the cockpit only appeared big enough to hold maybe a dozen ponies. The doorway - like everything else in this place - was twice as tall as the mares using them.

“Who would make stuff so tall?” Applejack asked. “It doesn’t make pumpkin sense!”

“You can just say ‘plum sense’ you know.” Rainbow Dash remarked. “Trying to expand your vocabulary to other vegetables just sounds a tad silly.”

Applejack started grunting something about featherbrains.

The five mares walked slowly into the Vlerryn, finding they had to stand on their hind hooves to see anything of the controls. Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie stared at the controls with looks of confusion. Pinkie in particular seemed the most bothered. “I… I’m a technical mastermind! Yet this seems to be completely… foreign! I don’t know what any of these buttons do!”

Twilight’s eyes sparkled intensely. “I… May have some idea.” She sat in the big forward chair, smirking. “Let’s see… flip this switch, turn this one, and pull…. UP…”

The Vlerryn began to warm up, a soft humming noise coming from the back. Outside, the blue began to get more intense, and the wings started to adjust themselves to the air currents flowing through the chamber. The chamber, detecting a craft activating, opened the roof, using powerful forcefields to pull away the hundred meters of water above, creating a hole in the ocean.

The Vlerryn slowly rose higher and higher, the levitation devices separating themselves from the craft’s hull. The ancient craft floated higher and higher, the sunlight reflecting off the bow.

Rainbow Dash looked at the viewscreen in front of her. “This. Is. Awesome. Make it go fast Twilight! Make it go fast!”

Twilight smirked. “Now Rainbow, I just got it to go up, give me a few seconds to figure out-“

“Obviously that one.” Pinkie said, pointing at the stick with a big forward arrow on it. Twilight shrugged, grabbing into it with her telekinesis and pushed forward. The Vlerryn fired it’s engines and began to move -

only to have something explode and the ship to fall back down into the chamber, where the levitation devices caught it once more.

Twilight stood back up, the fall having tossed her to the craft’s floor. “I should’ve expected such an ancient craft to have a few problems… Heh… Come on girls, let’s go fix it.”

Pinkie bounced up and down. “Oh boy!”

—

“Mister Sunburst, your tea is read-“ Bon Bon yelped in horror at the butchered room before her. The council members were all dead  in a heap at the far side of the room, with Shining Armor set aside so Bon Bon could see his face. The earth pony shuddered, backing out of the room - when she heard a whimpering noise.

She mustered up the courage to look into the room to see a mint-green unicorn mare shuddering on the ground in a fetal position.

“She… she killed them all….” She muttered.

Bon Bon gulped and walked over. “Who?”

“Princess… Luna…” She shivered. “She… She’s trying to find the Earth Crystal… Took the information right out of his… His skull…”

Bon Bon glanced at the hole in Shining Armor’s head and winced. Then something horrible came to her mind.

ALL the council members were dead. Who was in charge now?

It was never expected that all of them would die at once…

Bon Bon knew that panic was going to set in as soon as people figured it out.

“I need to get you out of here!” She said. “Come on!”

Lyra blinked. “Wha-“

“Let’s go!”

Bon Bon dragged the unicorn out of the chamber, only to run into a half dozen crystal guards, and none of them looked happy. They looked behind the two ponies, looks of horror crossing their face.

“This… isn’t what it looks like…” Bon Bon said. Lyra just moaned.

“You killed the council!”

“Uh… no… I didn’t… Uh… I just came in and saw this unicorn in there!”

“Oh and she killed them? Likely story.”

“Do I look like I could have killed Shining Armor?” Crystal Hoof pointed out. “He would have crunched me. And the hole in his head is for a horn much larger than that of this mare here.” She was really hoping her fast-talking was going to get them out of this situation.

“She’s right.” One of the guards said. “Neither of them has the capabilities to do this.”

“Then who did?”

Bon Bon looked at Lyra. “She muttered something about Queen Luna…”

“It’s an attack!” The guards yelled. “Search the city, man the armaments! We are being invaded!” They scrambled to their positions, leaving only one with the two mares.

“I’m going to have to take you two in for questioning.” He said.

Bon Bon sighed. Well, it was better than being executed on the spot…

—

The Vlerryn blasted off into the air, hovering above the ocean where the secret facility was hidden for a few seconds.

“Wait.” Rainbow Dash said, looking at the readout that showed what was below them. “WE’RE BACK AT CRESCENT ISLAND?”

“Appears so.” Applejack said. “We just can’t get away, can we?”

Pinkie giggled. “Oh, I that that Crescent Island will be important again later. It’s just that kind of place.”

“I hope that guy down there sees us in our new awesome ship.” Rainbow Dash huffed. “Stupid dolt.”

“Now Rainbow…” Rarity said. “You don’t need to get all hostile…”

Pinkie grinned. “Yeah! After all he only laughed at us continually for our entire stay, regardless of how much we threatened him!”

“Remind me again why I didn’t buck him in the face?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I asked you not to.” Rarity observed.

At the front of the cockpit, Twilight smiled. “And this controls altitude! I got it! Thanks Ramuh, you’ve been very helpful!”

“Anything to serve my new masters.”

“You know, you aren’t our slave-“

“The rules dictate that I must follow. Now excuse me, I must beat Ifrit at a game of “hellfire cards”  in Eidolon space. Don’t crash the Vlerryn while I’m gone.” He sighed. “The Vlerryn was meant to be kept in pristine condition, as a museum piece… It was never meant to fly again…” He left with a depressed sigh.

Twilight smirked. “Okay Rainbow! We’re going fast now! Back to the Last City!”

The Vlerryn launched into the sky and blasted through the atmosphere so quickly a loud BOOM could be heard, and the hull visibly heated up from the friction.

On the Vlerryn itself, everything only shook slightly. “Huh.” Rainbow Dash said. “That’s cool. No bumpy ride.”

Pinkie whined. “But I LIIIIKE bumpy rides~!”

The Vlerryn drew up on the continent where the Lost City lay - but what they saw wasn’t what they left. As they approached, the very ground beneath the earth began to shift and move, as the entire city began to lift up out of the ground. Below the stone buildings rose the great crystalline city that they had been in mere hours before - a beautiful thing, when seen from outside.

But it wasn’t done rising yet - there was something under the crystal tunnels. A tremendous mechanical shape thundered out of the ground, bright blue engines blasting it into the sky. Earth shifted around the great structure, releasing it as it flew into the sky. The Vlerryn approached the great city as it rose above them, loose earth falling to the continent and sea far below.

“What. The. Heck. Is. That.” Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Something… Something even older than Cadenza! A truly ancient city which the Lost City was evidentially built on top of!” She blinked. “The Earth Crystal. It’s in there. And I’m willing to bet it’s the main power source for that city’s engines.” She looked back. “I’m willing to bet that that city’s society was also the one that made this ship…”

The city flew higher and higher into the air, eclipsing the sun.

“What are we waiting for?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yeah! LET’S GET UP THERE!” Pinkie Pie yelled. The Vlerryn charged towards the city, flying right for the largest section.

A voice came through the Vlerryn’s speakers.

The five mares nodded. “We’re coming!” Applejack said.

The Vlerryn sped into the pier, ready to enter the city.

XVII - Decay

The six mares began to panic. “Lyra!” Twilight yelled. “Are you sure you can’t gain control?”

“I’m trying but this stuff is really really really complicated Mom!” She yelled, flicking all the levers and buttons. “The magitech just won’t allign correctly!”

“Earth Crystal!?! You’re dead!” Lyra pointed out.

Fluttershy blinked. “Um… why are we trying to save the city? My meteor ship can just get us out of here-“

“There’s an entire nation of crystal ponies above us.” Applejack said. “We can’t just let them die.”

“Not much we can do…” Twilight said. “It’s up to Lyra and the Earth Crystal now…”

Applejack nodded. “Grab Rainbow and Rarity. We have to get going.”

“You sure your ship still has enough power Fluttershy?”

“It was the only one designed to return home.” Fluttershy said meekly, seeming a bit shaken by all the tension in the air. “I… It can easily get us down to the ground and back home.”

“ALL ABOARD!” Applejack yelled. Rainbow Dash snapped out of it, grabbing Luna’s body and dragging it towards the meteor with a newfound determination. Rarity just clung to her mother, her never-ending stream of tears dampening the ground.

The six mares piled into the meteor, and Pinkie and Fluttershy immediately set to work manipulating the holographic interface. The meteor shot out of the City of Man.

Meanwhile, in the control room, The Earth Crystal’s intelligence and Lyra were hard at work - they had an ancient falling apart city to land.

“There’s a giant hole in Uniforge where the Fire Crystal exploded.” Lyra said. “That might work…”

“Power has been rerouted!” Lyra whooped. “It’s… Well it’s not even close to enough to get us back in the sky but maybe it’ll slow us down enough for a somewhat smooth landing…”

The City of Man fired all it’s functional engines, powerful streams of blue fighting against the ever-present pull of gravity itself. The plummet of the tremendous city began to slow as it guided itself down towards the Uniforge Crater at a high speed.

The crystal ponies began to scream, the pegasi running away - some taking who they could, others just fleeing with their own bodies. The City of Man fell closer and closer to the ground.

“This is going to hurt…” Lyra said, wincing. Bon Bon hugged her tight as they braced for impact.

The scorched earth of Uniforge Crater met with the metallic underbelly of the City of Man with a tremendous CRUNCH. Metal creaked and groaned, entire sections of the ancient city flying off. A few buildings toppled, and some crystals cracked…

But when the dust cleared, the City of Man stood, stable. A grand monument where the ruins of Solamane Castle once was. It seemed… beautiful as the crystal-topped structure glinted in the sunlight.

The ponies of Uniforge stared on in awe as a meteor lightly set itself down to the side of the grandiose city that had just fallen from the sky.

The minister’s jaw dropped. WHAT HAD JUST HAPPENED?

The six mares crawled out of the meteor-ship, staring up at the successfully landed city. “They did it.” Twilight said, smiling. “They landed the city!”

Applejack smiled. “They sure did.”

“HOW CAN YOU ALL BE SMILING AT A TIME LIKE THIS?” Rarity yelled. “THE FOUR CRYSTALS ARE GONE! THE WORLD IS DOOMED TO DECAY INTO NOTHING! WE HAVE FAILED! MOTHER IS DEAD!”

Applejack and Twilight backed away sheepishly.

“It’s… worse than that actually…” Pinkie said. “Exdeath has returned to my world. And… If I know him, he’s going to try and destroy it as well…” She sighed, turning to Fluttershy. “We have to go after them.”

Fluttershy nodded. “The ship is ready to launch. We should get back and protect them…” She frowned. “I’m sorry I didn’t come fast enough…”

“It’s okay Fluttershy. You did what you could.” Pinkie turned to her friends. “I’m sorry… I have to go protect my world. It was good while it lasted.”

Applejack stamped. “We should come with you.”

Pinkie shook her head. “This world is in need of heroes more than ever. With this city and the Earth Crystal on your side, you might be able to salvage something… You might be able to survive in an element less world. But they will need leadership. They will need guidance. And you are exactly the kind of ponies to lead this world into a new era.” She smiled. “You will save this world when all think it is doomed.”

Applejack took a step back. “I…”

“No buts. We have to go now. Be the heroes this world needs.” Pinkie smiled, giving applejack a balloon. “Perhaps once we defeat Exdeath, I shall return here. See how you guys are doing. Help this world that I destroyed.”

“You didn’t do anything-“

“I sealed Exdeath here.” Pinkie’s cheerful demeanor faltered. “I brought this down on everyone. Me and my original team…” A tear dropped down her cheek. “Just… be good to this world, okay?”

Applejack sighed. “Okay.”

“Good. Rainbow Dash? I hope to see you again one day, so we can sail the high sees.”

“You bet it… Captain.” Rainbow Dash said, smiling through her tears.

“Rarity, I offer you my condolences. This.. was never supposed to happen.”

“I… I know Pinkie.” Rarity sniffed. “It… Isn’t really your fault…”

“Twilight, keep inventing things. You may save the world with your ingenuity.”

Twilight bowed. “I will try.”

Pinkie waved. “Bye!” The pink mare and her yellow daughter crawled into the meteor, which lazily floated back up into the air before catapulting into the sky and unleashing a sonic boom.

They were gone.

Lyra and Bon Bon walked up. “So… Went back to their world then?” Lyra asked.

“Yeah…” Twilight said, frowning. “I… I can’t help but feel we should have gone with them…”

Lyra put a hoof on her mother’s shoulder. “They’ll be fine. We have our own problems to worry about.”

—

Rainbow Dash and Rarity were sitting on a balcony, thinking about those lost.

Rairty spoke first. “I… I don’t know what to think anymore. We failed.”

“Yep.” Rainbow Dash said, staring off into the distance.

“The crystals are gone… she’s dead… Pinkie’s gone… all I have… is…” She turned to Rainbow Dash, the hints of a smile on her face. “You, my sister.”

“No.”

“What?”

“I said no.” Rainbow Dash nipped. “I’m not your sister.”

“But…”

“That means nothing. Blood relations mean nothing. Death means nothing. You aren’t my sister.”

Rarity began to tear up again. “But Rainbow I-“

Rainbow Dash snapped. “YOU DON’T GET TO REPLACE SPIKE DO YOU UNDERSTAND? DO YOU? NOBODY DOES! NOT MOTHER! NOT YOU! NOBODY!”

Rarity took several steps back. “I… I wasn’t trying to.”

Rainbow Dash’s face contorted into one of regret and sorrow. She shook it away, steeling her face into an angry expression. “Well, you were doing a pretty good job of pushing it. This means nothing. We aren’t even heroes anymore. We’re just failures.” She took off into the sky, not looking back.

—

Applejack stared at the entrance to the desert of Shifting Sands.

The Sands weren’t moving. It was just a normal desert now. She could walk to the pyramid if she wanted.

She felt it - when the Earth Crystal shattered, she felt her connection to the ground severed. She had been a farmer in her early life, and… Well… She had felt a kinship with the earth itself since she was a filly.

And now that was gone. Dead. The world meant nothing.

She planted her rump into the ground and she stared into the sky.

She felt like she had to do something…

But she didn’t know what…

—

The Minister and Flash Sentry were arguing left and right about how the two nations were going to interact. Twilight groaned. “CAN’T YOU TWO JUST GET ALONG?”

The Minister and Flash Sentry blinked. “Uh…”

“THE WORLD IS DYING AND YOU TWO JUST CAN’T STOP ARGUING!” Twilight groaned. “Just… Just try to live would you?”

The two stallions looked to the ground, a little ashamed. “I’m sorry Twilight…” The Minister said. “It’s just… this has been a trying time for all of us.”

“I know…” She said. “I know…”

—

Lyra and Bon Bon stood in the control center of the City of Man. They had been there for several hours, just talking to each other about everything. They had just spent a long time in meetings over the past few days, and the two of them had just found their niche in the world. They seemed to fit perfectly as mediators between the Crystal Ponies and the ponies of Uniforge.

The Earth Crystal said.

Lyra looked up, blinking at the disembodied voice. “I guess so… I feel bad for her actually…”

“How? Pinkie took the meteor-“

Lyra looked to Bon Bon. “Think we can take care of things for them while they’re gone?”

Bon Bon sighed. “Yeah… Nobody besides Twilight’s been doing anything anyway. I’ll go gather them.”

—

Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight gathered in the City of Man where Bon Bon had told them. Rainbow Dash and Rarity were shooting sad glances at each other form time to time, but refused to speak to each other. Applejack looked depressed. And Twilight was haggard, her hair fraying at the edges.

Lyra smiled. “I suppose you’re wondering why I called you all here today.”

“The thought had crossed my mind sugarcane.” Applejack said.

“I’m here to give you a chance to do something.” She smiled. “Behind me is a ship constructed by the ancient humans to travel between worlds. We can send you to Pinkie’s world, the Otherworld. The Earth Crystal says it can guide it. You can go help Pinkie.” She smiled. “You don’t have to stay here.”

“But Pinkie told us to stay…” Twilight said.

Lyra smiled. “Me and Bon Bon can take care of things here. You all… You are still the Warriors of Light.”

<You are still Our chosen.> The Earth Crystal’s voice boomed.

“But… I’m not a Warrior of Light…” Twilight said.

 The Earth Crystal said.

Twilight nodded, turning to the other three mares. “Well…?”

Rarity and Rainbow Dash glanced at each other sadly, but nodded. “We need to go.” Rarity said. “I have the dreadful feeling Pinkie needs us.”

Rainbow Dash nodded as well. “Yeah… We can’t let Exdeath get away with what he’s done. He needs to suffer personally.”

Applejack smiled, her depression waning away. “Well, shucks. This sounds like a really bad idea.” She laughed. “But since when has any of this been a good idea?”

Lyra nodded, showing the four mares the door to the pyramid-shaped craft. They crawled in the golden doorway, sitting on the comfy seats that were a bit too tall for them. They buckled their seatbelts and the door closed behind them.

“BYE!” Lyra yelled. “COME BACK SOON!”

“We will!” Twilight waved.

The ship launched into the sky, blasting away the atmosphere with ease. Stars filled the cockpit window, the four mares’ eyes filling with the light of space.

“WHAT?” Applejack said. “THE SUN?”

Twilight smiled. “A dimensional jump will require a lot of power… The sun will provide. It’s fire is not powered by the Fire Crystal…”

The ship flew into the corona, the fires of the sun licking the outside of the craft heating it to a glowing white temperature. The ships nose began to glow a light blue.

“Great.” Applejack said, grinning despite herself. “Knew this was a bad idea.”

“Bad ideas are the best.” Rainbow Dash remarked, smirking.

Twilight grinned. “Bring it.”

Rarity sighed. “Oh, well, I guess I better get into this as well. Darlings…” Her face produced a rather evil looking grin. “LET’S CRASH THIS SHIP!”

The ship vanished in a flash of blue, shifting realities instantly. Connection with the Earth Crystal’s intelligence was lost, and the ship spiraled towards the new world…

It was definitely going to crash.

And the four ponies inside were giggling like madmares.

XVIII - Otherworld

In a world where the sky was a bluish grey..

Where mountains rose out of the earth in angular shapes…

Where brown marshlands dotted the land…

A singular island deep in the ocean was about to have an unexpected visitor. In the sky, a bright light appeared, streaking towards the ground. A tail of blue energy could be seen inside the speeding fireball, and if one looked closely they could see a triangular shape inside the flames…

The deserted island was witness to a ship falling straight down into the ocean, raising a column of steam into the air that could be seen for miles - if there had been anyone to see it.

The ship itself floated back to the surface of the ocean, slowly drifting towards the island. As it did so, a hatch popped open, releasing massive amounts of smoke.

Applejack poked her head out, hacking and coughing like a disturbed cat. She took a few deep breaths as her three friends joined her in getting out of the smoke-infused inside. “Okay…” Applejack said. “Let’s never do that again.”

“Are you kidding?” Rainbow Dash yelled, flying into the air, her hair whipping in the wind. “THAT WAS AWESOME!”

Twilight came out next. “I’d… Rather not, frankly…”

Rarity leapt out of the ship and into the water. She quickly started removing the soot from her hair. “I can’t believe I did that!” She yelled. “What is wrong with me?”

“A lot of things.” Rainbow Dash grunted.

Rarity turned to look at her sister with a hurt look. Rainbow Dash said nothing.

The four ponies made their way to the island, dragging the very broken ship the rest of the way before it sank into the depths.

It was upon landing that Rainbow Dash noticed it. Her hair was whipping past her face…

“WIND.” She said, grinning. “YOU FEEL IT? WIND!”

Rarity gasped. “You can see the waves! Feel the life of the ocean!” Then she yelped in pain, removing a crab from her hair. “Okay I didn’t mean it like that.”

Applejack put her hoof in the ground. “It feels… different here, but… it’s solid. Definitely there.”

Twilight frowned. “And Exdeath wants to destroy this world. Well, we can’t have that. With the wind and the sea alive, we can build a boat. Get to a mainland of some kind.” Then she smirked. “We’ve got a plan!”

Hoofbumps were had all around. Then they set to work - the island had several dozen trees on it. It was time to harvest.

—

Than night, the four mares slept soundly for the most part. Twilight snored the loudest, Applejack the quietest. Rainbow Dash slept - but kept tossing and turning under the makeshift blanket. Leaves were not all that comfortable.

Rarity kept waking up and looking over at where Rainbow Dash stood.

“What did I do to make you hate me so much?” She asked aloud. “How can I make it better?”

The sleeping form of Rainbow Dash offered no response, simply a few grunts and a toss.

Rarity sighed - she had her sister back. But she didn’t want to be her sister…

She went back to bed, crying.

—

The next morning dawned with a beautiful sunrise playing off the water. As was to be expected, early-morning Applejack was the one up first. And she had gone to the beach to check on the ship wreckage.

“HOT SOLAMANE WAFFLES!” Applejack yelled. “There’s somepony on the shore! Help me here!” She rushed to the beachfront, while back at camp Twilight blinked herself awake.

“…did Applejack make waffles?”

“I dunno.” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her eyes. “I don’t know how she could either…”

Twilight looked down to where Applejack was running. “HEY APPLEJACK WHAT ARE YOU-“ Then she saw the prone form that looked like it had just washed up. “Oh no.” She teleported there just as Applejack arrived.

A unicorn mare had washed up on shore - pinkish-purple coat, straight purple mane with a blue streak, and a purple star releasing greenish energy for a cutie mark. Her chest was rising and falling, but she looked very weak.

Twilight teleported them all back to camp. “Rarity! Healing! Stat!”

Rarity woke up with a start, a crab on her face. “Wha-ha-ha!? Huh? Who is this?”

“No idea!” Twilight said. “She just washed in!”

Rarity lit her horn, the healing magics surrounding the mare and filling her body with vitality. “Very few marks, though she’s really tired… exhausted… poor thing could have been swimming for who knows how long!”

The mare began to stir, her eyes slowly opening. She grunted. “Ow… My butt feels like a shark attacked it…”

“No shark bit marks dear.” Rarity said. “Can you stand?”

“Yep.” The unicorn responded, lifting herself up onto her four hooves. “Well, thanks. Feel a lot better now.” She slapped herself in the head a few times, getting the water out.

“Who are you?” Applejack asked.

“Starlight Glimmer.” She said, looking out to sea. She frowned.

“What happened to you?” Twilight asked.

“Some bombastically bodacious nimrod who called himself ‘Exdeath’ thought it would be amusing to blow up the ship I was on.” She frowned. “I have no idea when that was… I’ve been in the water so long…”

Twilight put a hoof on Starlight’s shoulder. “Not a problem. Though your situation hasn’t improved all that much… we’re just four mares stuck on an island trying to build a boat.”

Starlight looked down at the beach. “…Is that big metal thing your attempt at a ‘boat?” Wow you guys suck.”

“Uh… no.” Rarity said. “That’s… Uh… Dears what exactly is it?”

“It goes through the air.” Rainbow Dash said. “Flying machine. Not a boat.”

“Ah.” Starlight said. “Still looks outrageously tacky.”

Rarity gasped, hugging Starlight close. “At long last someone who understands!”

“Uh… thanks?”

“You get your rest.” Twilight said. “We’ll complete the raft. I’m Twilight by the way, this is Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.”

After a bunch of hellos and greetings, Starlight blinked. “You girls are quite the… unique troupe aren’t you?”

“Welcome to the insanity.” Rarity deadpanned. “You don’t get to leave. There is no escape.”

“Charming.” Starlight giggled.

—

“So, you really don’t think it’s odd that she just happens to get shipwrecked on the same island as us? A DAY after we arrive?” Rainbow Dash muttered.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Look, her ship was destroyed by Exdeath. She said so. And Ah’m sure she ain’t lyin’. The timing makes sense Exdeath gets here - blows up some random apple stuff, and ponies get tossed around like nothing else. Frankly I’m surprised we don’t see giant explosions on the horizon.”

“Meh.” Rainbow Dash said. “Still don’t trust her.”

“You don’t have to. We haven’t told her who we are or anything like that.” Applejack waved a hoof. “Far as she knows our ‘flying machine’ just had some bad luck. We’re lucky we survived and she’s lucky we were here.”

They saw Starlight next to a tree, standing on her hind hooves and holding two magical-construct swords, one in either front hoof. Her horn was glowing bright and she attacked tree after tree, cutting them down with grace and elegance, forming the swords into one in the middle and swinging in a wide arc, felling most of the plants. “And that’s how you do deforestation!” Starlight chirped. Then she saw them. “Oh hi! Just harvesting wood for everypony!”

“That’s some pretty impressive magic.” Applejack said.

“Well, yeah, it is, if I do say so myself. And that means a lot coming from someone like you.”

“Come again?”

Starlight raised an eyebrow. “I can literally feel the magic wafting off of you two in waves. You’ve got some skills I bet.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “You bet we do!”

Starlight Grinned. “Show me.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Gladly.” She lit her wings on fire and rocketed forward. Starlight created a giant pair of magic tweezers and stopped her in place.

“Sorry, too reckless.” She said. “Try something a little more clever.”

Rainbow Dash grunted from in-between the tweezers. “Okay, you asked for it!”

She leapt into the air faster than should have been possible, and came down on Starlight with impressive speed.

“Woah.” Applejack said. Rainbow hadn’t gotten to use her new skills yet, so Applejack supposed that was where the speed upgrade had come from.

Starlight deflected it with her own hoof. “That’s better! A real fight!” She created her magic swords. “Let’s go at it pegasus! A nice friendly spar!”

“You got it Glimmer!” Rainbow Dash shouted, encasing her wings in electricity and charging, twirling in the air to create an electric vortex, and blasting Starlight from above. Starlight tried to laser-blast the pegasus, but failed.

“Oh no, how ever will I deal with a flying opponent?” She smirked, encasing herself in a magical aura and floating into the air.

Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped. “Self-levitation? Not even Twilight knows that!”

“Glad to know I’m impressive.” Starlight said. “Now face the crystal!” She charged, then realized she wasn’t holding anything. “Wait… what?”

“Looking for these?” Rainbow Dash said, holding Starlight’s two magical swords.

“Clever. But not clever enough.” Starlight charged, hitting Rainbow Dash with a flurry of lasers. The pegasus found she couldn’t dodge them and went sailing into the ground. Then Starlight landed right next to the downed pegasus, extending out a hoof.

“Round two?”

“You betcha!” Rainbow Dash said. “You know, the group needed someone like you.”

“Good to hear that. En-garde, color horse!”

“Right back atcha, Glimglam!”

“And thus the fight enters level two, banter!” Starlight laughed.

The two clashed.

—

That night Rainbow Dash and Starlight were talking loudly, keeping the others from sleeping.

“They’ve really hit it off…” Applejack muttered, covering her ears. “Unfortunately for us.”

Twilight shook her head. “Applejack, Rainbow Dash has been through a lot of hard times- let her have this.”

Rarity simply stared in the direction they were in, a longing look on her face. She sighed.

Then the three mares heard a sound. “What was that?”

A green round thing was rolled into their camp. The three mares instantly stared intensely at it. “What do you suppose it is?”

At this it sprayed out an intense stream of green gas, causing all of them to pass out instantly.

Elsewhere, Rainbow Dash and Starlight were still talking - talking about grand adventures, Rainbow Dash her memories of being a pirate, Starlight her memories of being a leader of a frontier town in the middle of the wilderness. They were having great fun.

That is, until a creature came out of nowhere and snatched Starlight. “AUGH!” She yelled. Rainbow Dash barely got a look at the creature that took her - and she didn’t try to see it better. She simply acted - flying into the air, ready to save her new friend.

Another one of the creatures attacked, and Rainbow got a better look. it was bipedal, rocky, and brown. It swiped at her with claws and floated above her with its wings.

“A… gargoyle!” Rainbow Dash identified. Then she attacked it, crashing into it with an impressive fiery explosion that killed the beast instantly. She crashed the body into the ground, preparing to take off into the air to save Starlight.

Unfortunately she had broken the sleep bombs the thing was carrying. She stood up for all of a second before falling to the ground, out cold…

They had been captured.

XIX - Breakin Breakout

“Uuuuuuuugh..” Rainbow Dash moaned. “UUUUUUUUUGH…”

“Dash. Quiet.” Applejack muttered. “My head is not in the mood for pained moaning right now.”

Twilight sighed as she stood up, shaking her head. “Well that was a warm welcome.” She looked at their surroundings - five mares in a cell obviously not suited to hold more than three. It was quite cramped, and as she tried to make her way to the bars she stepped on Starlight.

“OW!” She yelled. “Hey!”

“Sorry.” Twilight said, finally getting to the bars and looking out - she saw nothing but an empty hallway. She smirked. “No guards. Girls, it’s escaping time.”

Rainbow Nodded, shuffling up to the door - bumping into Rarity on the way - and preparing to melt the door down.

“Ah- ah- ah…!” A very confident and amused feminine voice said. A unicorn strode into the room - a yellow coat paired with a ketchup and mustard mane that resembled bacon. “Did you really think we were stupid enough to leave you without a guard?”

Rainbow Dash growled. “We can take one measly unicorn.”

The unicorn laughed. “Oh the overconfidence! It’s priceless!” She chuckled.

Starlight shoved Rainbow Dash out of the way, a scowl on her face. “You. YOU BLEW UP MY SHIP!”

“Oh pfft are you still mad about that? Really. I let you live didn’t I?” She sneered at Starlight.

Starlight lit her horn. “I am going to-“

The unicorn lit her horn as well- causing Starlight’s magic to begin smoking. The powerful mage’s eyes widened in pain. “OW THAT’S HOT!”

“It’s called burnout, Glimmy.” The unicorn chuckled. “There’ll be no magic coming from that horn for a while without serious pain. Heh. Such fun, I think I’ll do it to all of you-“

“That’s enough Sunset.” A very familiar voice said, sending chills into four of the mares. A blue armored humanoid stepped into view, towering over Sunset and leering towards the cell. Exdeath continued with his deep, unnatural voice. “They may be of use to me. Damaging them will only cause certain other parties to act rashly.”

“What?” Sunset asked.

“Pinkie has gathered an army on the Big Bridge.” He said as some ponies and gargoyles rolled a giant mirror into the room. “I need to send them a message to dissuade them from taking unwise actions.” He chuckled. “You otherworldly mares are about to become so useful to me!”

“We’ll never help you!” Applejack yelled.

“And here I was thinking you were honesty. Of course you will.” He cackled. “All you have to do is stand there!”

Twilight took a step back. She didn’t like where this was going…

Exdeath pointed the mirror at them and cleared his throat. He pressed a button and a soft beam of light swept across the five imprisoned mares. They felt nothing as it passed over them. Then the Mirror pointed upwards and shot a light through the ceiling into the air, projecting an image of the five mares into the sky ponies could see for miles around.

“Listen up, Pinkie Pie.” Exdeath’s voice boomed over the land. “I have your foolish friends imprisoned in my castle. Stop the advance of your army, or they will die.” Then he cut the transmission of the image and ordered the mirror to be rolled away.

“Sunset.”

“Yes my ever-so-shiny lord?”

“Watch them closely. Pinkie’s going to try to break them out. Don’t fight them unless you have to.” Exdeath turned one last time to look at the mares. “You should have stayed on your doomed world. All you have accomplished by coming here was make the situation worse. Try and live with that.” Then he left.

Starlight turned to all of them. “You’re from another world?!”

“Now’s not the time to be hung up on that.” Twilight said. “We need to get out of here-“

Suddenly all the walls lit on fire. The mares retreated to the center of the cell, barely able to fit. The fires died down and they could hear Sunset cackling. “Ah, you’re so stupid! Okay, let’s look at it like this - no talking, no plotting, and no using magic powers. I’ll be able to sense it coming out of your horns or wings of whatever. Talk, I burn you. Use telepathy, I BURN you. Look at me funny, I BURN YOU!” She smirked. “So no, you aren’t getting out little ponies.”

“You’re the same size as us.” Rainbow Dash retorted. For her trouble she got a fireball to the face.

“No talking!” Sunset said, glaring at them.

Twilight hated to admit it, but she didn’t think they could get out easily. She considered just blasting Sunset with magic, but she had a feeling that wouldn’t work and she’d just light all of them on fire. Perhaps if Rarity made all of them faster and put some regeneration on them…

…But she couldn’t tell Rarity the plan… Crap. She couldn’t tell anyone the plan.

Great. Guess they had to wait for Pinkie to save them.

—

Pinkie Pie appeared in a random pot in Exdeath’s Castle. She pulled herself out of it, revealing her black outfit that wished it was on a real ninja. Pinkie quietly told the suit to stop complaining about it.

She leapt behind a wall and appeared on the ceiling, crawling like a spider over Exdeath’s gargoyle guards. Then she stood on top of one of their helmets, playing leapfrog with their heads - a few thought something was up, but when they looked upwards there was no evidence of the pink pony at all.

She quietly bounced around the walls, occasionally leaving little cakes around to mess with the guards. She was great at being sneaky.

She appeared right in the middle of the room her friends were being kept in.“Hey guys! I’m great at being sneaky!”

Sunset facehooved. “I was told you were a powerful idiot, but not this much of a powerful idiot.” Her horn lit up with intense fire and engulfed the room in flames. She grinned. “Ha! Burned up in an instan-“

Suddenly the stone floor shook, a brick flying out of the ground Sunset was standing on and mashing her into the ceiling. Then another brick came from nowhere and tossed her out the window. “AIEEEEEEEEE!” She squealed. “I meant for this to happen! Joke’s on you lot! I am more powerful in the ai-“ She hit another structure with a thunk and her eyes rolled back into her skull.

The flames cleared, revealing a giant muscular man standing besides Pinkie. “Got em.” He said in a deep, gravelly voice.

The imprisoned mare’s jaws dropped. “WHAT?”

“Oh that’s just Titan.” Pinkie said. “Picked him up recently, found him in my old basement. He’s great!”

“Done punching.” Titan said, fading away.

The mares stared at Pinkie in disbelief.

“Come on!” Pinkie said. “We gotta go! The alarm’s been raised and Sunset’ll be back soon!” She opened the cell door by punching the lock. She pulled Starlight out first. “Nice to meet you! Name’s Pinkie Pie. Now let’s get out of here!”

“…Nice to meet you too.” Starlight said, looking a little amazed.

The six mares didn’t waste any time scrambling out of the cell. “Okay!” Pinkie Pie yelled. “Time to bust out of this castle and get to the bridge where the army is!”

“Where did you get an army??” Rainbow Dash yelled. “You’ve only been here for a few days!”

“I have my ways.” Pinkie giggled.

They ran into the main hall, the palace doors clearly visible. As were several dozen gargoyle guards in full armor.

The mares turned to look at each other then smiled. “ALRIGHT!” Rainbow Dash said. “TIME FOR SOME BEATDOWN!”

Starlight pouted as the other five rushed the gargoyles. “But… But my horn is burned out! AUGH. CURSE YOU SUNSET!”

The warriors of light and Twilight made quick work of the guards now that they had the upper hand - fire blasted from Rainbow Dash’s wings, followed by electricity that went right through their armor. Rarity slowed all their movement to a crawl while Applejack lobbed off their heads. Twilight burned a few to a crisp, and Pinkie duplexed two at once just for the heck of it.

Starlight’s jaw dropped. “That was… some impressive teamwork.”

“Yeah…” Rarity said, turning to look at Rainbow Dash. “It was.”

Rainbow Dash smiled before catching herself. She shook her head, glared at the door, and ignored Rarity. She flapped her wings and an enormous ball of fire engulfed the castle doors, blowing them out of the doorframe. They stepped outside - into a strong breeze.

“I love wind.” Pinkie said. “I missed it so much…”

The six mares heard commotion behind them - the rest of the castle was waking up.

“May I suggest something?” Starlight asked. “RUN.” All the mares obliged tearing across the land, Pinkie in the lead. “The bridge is this way!” She yelled. Rarity cast haste on all of them, improving their speed significantly.

Then they saw it. The Big Bridge. They realized, first off, that it wasn’t a normal bridge - it was a tremendous bar of blue-white stone that twisted in a helix pattern across the ocean. They could not see the end of it.

“…How is that a bridge?” Applejack asked. “After a bit of walking you’d just fall off the edge!”

“It’s a piece of art that uses gravity to inspire others!” Pinkie answered. “You always stick to the bricks while on the bridge - allowing you to walk upside down!” She coughed. “And it’s the only way off this island without swimming through Shandra infested waters.”

Rarity blinked. “Pinkie, what are-“

“No time to explain we gotta go now!” Pinkie yelled, running onto the bridge, the others following behind. Their hooves clacked on the strange stone, echoing as they slowly turned upside down.

“This is very disorienting! The ocean is not supposed to be up!” Applejack complained.

“Get used to it!” Pinkie yelled back. “We’re going to have company!”

Gargoyles flew in from all sides, landing on the bridge from all angles. Some walking on the ground beneath them, others flying in the air around the ponies.

“Ifrit!” Pinkie yelled. The eidolon appeared.

“FINALLY! FEEL THE HELLFIRE CRETINS!” The fire burst from Ifrit, blowing the Gargoyles away.

Rainbow blasted the remaining with a toxic spell, all of them falling either into the ocean or onto the bridge itself. They all galloped away.

“Wow!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I don’t think I realized just how OP we’ve become!”

Starlight grunted. “I want to be OP too… Stupid burnt horn…”

“AHA!” Sunset yelled, appearing from the sky with a flash of fire. “Glad you like it!”

The mares stopped moving upon seeing Sunset. The fiery unicorn grinned. “Now, it’s my turn to lay the smackdown on you!”

Pinkie smiled. “Girls, I got this.” She produced a giant rubber hammer. “Let’s duel Sunset Shimmer!”

Sunset stood on her hind legs and constructed a halberd made entirely of fire. “Accepted, Pinkie Pie! Let us fight like honorable mares on a bridge made of moonstone! En grade! Touche! Cliche battle line once over ATTACK!”

Pinkie’s hammer hit Sunset’s halberd head on, stopping both mares. Sunset took the moment to create another flaming halberd and swing at Pinkie, only to have it stopped by Pinkie’s other front hoof, protected by an oven mitt.

“Oven mitt? Such underhanded tactics!” Sunset announced.

“Eh, you have two floating halberds.” Pinkie pointed out, giggling. “Just be glad I’m not using Titan again. He’d totally crack you!”

“You didn’t used a rock based pun!” Sunset yelled. “Shame on you!” She lunged at the pink earth pony, her body on fire. Pinkie returned the favor with a tidal wave spell that blew Sunset back. She lifted her now damp self off the ground. “I shall not be made a fool of by the likes of you-“ She slipped on the water and crashed facefirst into the ground.”

Starlight clapped. “Good job Sunset! You were right! You were’s made a fool by her! You didn’t need the help!”

“Shut it Glim Glam” Sunset said, glaring at them. Then she looked behind them at the castle. A lightbulb went off in her head. “I just remembered! I have somewhere to be! Noodles and tater tots!” Then she was gone in a flash of fire.

“Well that was… something.” Twilight said. “Come on, we need to hurry-“ She stopped as she felt a tremendous magical surge from behind them. She turned to see the castle they had just escaped from glowing, taking energy from four giant crystal towers she hadn’t noticed before. A sphere of energy began to expand outward at extreme speeds.

“BUBBLE US!” Pinkie yelled. Twilight complied, encasing everyone in a magical bubble seconds before the energy reached them, impacting the bubble and tossing them into the air at supersonic speeds. The lavender sphere shot up out of the atmosphere, the blue of the sky vanishing quickly and being substituted with the starry sky usually seen only in the night.

The mares began to float as the lack of gravity asserted itself.

Rarity’s eye twitched. “I said I didn’t want do this again!”

Starlight blinked. “Again? You’ve had a magical shield system toss you into space before?”

“Well… no.” Rarity responded. “Just the last time I was in space we crash landed into the ocean.”

Starlight nodded. “That explains a lot.”

Twilight looked out of the bubble at the stars - a mixture of fear and wonder in her mind.

“Okay.” Applejack said. “Enough sightseeing. How do we get back down?”

Twilight’s stomach sank and her pupils dilated. “Er… Well… Uh… I DON’T KNOW.”

XX - Space, it's so Beautiful

In the vast emptiness that was space, a small bubble of multiple magic layers floated. In truth, it was orbiting around the Otherworld, the various layers glinting in the sunlight as the six mares inside stared at the world below. They floated around in the gravity. Long ago the fear and uncertainty had left them - now they were just nervous, bored, and impatient.

“How long has it been?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Six hours and five minutes.” Twilight responded.

Rainbow Dash grunted. “How do you know?”

“Well, it was six hours exactly when you asked last time, so six hours and five minutes. I can set my clock to your impatience.”

Rarity groaned. “Why did you have to break that clock Applejack? It was the only one we had!”

The retort came quickly. “Ah told ya, the tickin’ was driving me crazy!”

“That’s no excuse to destroy our only timepiece!” Rarity shouted.

“It was also making everyone far too nervous about how much air we had left.” Applejack responded. “It was a good thing that we no longer have that clock.”

“Uh… That wasn’t our only timepiece.” Starlight offered. “I can tell you precisely how long it’s been-“

“No.” Applejack muttered. “Don’t you dare.”

Pinkie whooped from her side of the bubble. “STRAIGHT FLUSH!” She tossed the cards everywhere. Then she took out a new deck and dealt herself another hand.

“I never thought I’d see the day.” Rarity said. “Single player poker.”

“She does realize that if you’re the last player remaining you win right?” Starlight asked.

“YEP!” Pinkie said. “This is just fun! I SHALL FIGHT MYSELF FOR SUPREMACY IN THE LAND OF PINK CARDS!”

“She’s a few bricks short of a house.” Starlight noted. “Not what I expected form the mare causing Exdeath the most trouble…”

“Eh.” Applejack said. “She’s odd, but she’s pretty good at what she does.”

Pinkie rushed Starlight and hugged her. “And we’re going to get to know each other really well over the next few hours!”

Starlight gagged. “Let… Me… Go… Please…”

“Okie dokie!” Pinkie said, releasing Starlight. Since there was no gravity they went floating to opposite sides of the bubble.

“This place isn’t very big…” Rarity muttered.

“Better than the cell.” Rainbow Dash noted.

Rarity nodded in agreement. “I suppose so… At least we can float around here and not be crushed by each other.”

Rainbow Dash huffed and turned away.

“Rainbow…” Rarity called out, but Rarity ignored her.

Twilight and Applejack sighed - they were getting a little tired of the bitterness between Rarity and Rainbow Dash, but they didn’t really think they could do anything about it. Starlight on the other hand…

“What is the deal with you two?” She asked. “You call yourself friends, and you work together well in a fight, but now you’re at each other’s throats. What are you, exes or something?”

“GOOD HEAVENS NO.” Rarity shouted, appalled. “We’re sisters!”

“Shut up.” Rainbow Dash growled.

Pinkie Pie frowned. “You know what? You two need to…” She pulled off a drum set and started drumrolling. “Talk through your problems!”

“What’s there to say?” Rainbow Dash said. “She knows what I think. I know what she thinks. There’s nothing to do.”

“Well…” Pinkie frowned. “You might be stuck in this bubble for a really long time, and I think everypony would like it much better if you talked through your problems instead of getting into a shouting match several hours down the road.”

“WHO SAYS WE’D GET INTO A SHOUTING MATCH?” Rainbow Dash shouted.

Starlight facehooved. “Wow. Just wow. Does Pinkie know you or what?”

Rainbow Dash growled in Starlight’s direction, fixing the new unicorn with a look of disgust. “What does it matter to you? You aren’t one of us! You’re just an addon!”

Starlight looked taken aback. To her credit, Rainbow Dash did have a horrified look on her face at what she’d just said. “Wait, no, I didn’t-“

Starlight sighed. “Whatever. All this proves is that you really need to talk it out with Rarity.”

“I already said-“

Pinkie put a hoof to Rainbow Dash’s mouth. “Shhh… That’s the insecure part of you talking. You need to get over your fear of talking.”

Rarity blinked. “…Fear?” She questioned. “Rainbow Dash what are you afraid of?”

Rainbow Dash looked around for a way out and once again realized they were just in space. “I… I…” She gulped and fell silent.

Rarity’s ears drooped. “You fear that I am replacing him.”

“YOU ARE NOT!”

“Rainbow! Nobody can replace Spike!”

“Then why are you trying?!”

It was Rarity’s turn to look taken aback. “What?!”

“You are trying to replace him! I don’t see you getting all buddy-buddy with any of the others! It’s just me!”

“That’s because you are my sister! The baby sister I lost! You are her!” Then Rarity gasped, putting her hooves over her mouth. “My stars.”

Rainbow Dash fell silent, a look of confusion on her face.

“I…” Rarity gulped. “I am not trying to replace Spike…” She started crying. “I’m trying to replace Sweetie Belle… And… You aren’t her.” She sniffed. “You may have been her many years ago, but… But you are not her anymore. You have changed. You are Captain Rainbow Dash now. You are someone new. I… I’m sorry for trying to force it on you.”

Rainbow Dash gulped, her stomach turning with guilt. “Look, I…”

“No, you’re right.” Rarity said. “I was trying to use you.”

“I was not right!” Rainbow Dash belted out. “I was a jerk! I purposefully tried to hurt and deny you! This doesn’t excuse that!”

Rarity blinked, her mind not able to comprehend what was happening at the moment. Rainbow Dash had just belted out how wrong she was. Through her tears she started to giggle. “You… you just admitted to being wrong.”

Rainbow Dash’s face was expressionless for several seconds. Then she started to laugh as well. “Yeah… I did? Didn’t I? I’m crazy old stubborn pirate Rainbow Dash, always right about everything!” She flew up, ramming her head into the bubble. “Silly clumsy me.”

“Oh you’re nothing!” Rarity said. “I’m all haughty and uptight! I always think I’m better than everyone.” She started cackling. “LOOK AT ME! UPSIDOWN CROWNS ARE A FASHION STATEMENT.”

“That’s nothing!” Rainbow Dash retorted. “I burn all my clothes with my fancy wing magic! What kind of crazy pegasus does that?”

As the two traded back self-deprecating insults in one of the most absurd games of all time, Starlight summoned a bag of popcorn and proceeded to enjoy the show. Pinkie pie joined her, a bag of pop rocks in her hooves.

“They certainly are.. odd.” Starlight commented. “They were at each other’s throats and now they’re laughing and crying it off.”

“It’s beautiful.” Pinkie Pie said, her face serious for once. “Two mares with a rift between them healing their friendship by talking, laughing, and crying.” She sniffed. “It’s… good to see.”

Starlight turned to Pinkie. “…I didn’t think you could be serious.”

“I can. I just doesn’t suit me most of the time.” She giggled. “The world needs to be cheered up more often than it needs to be serious.”

Starlight shrugged. “I suppose so.” She munched on some more popcorn. “…You knew this would happen didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” Pinkie said. “I know lots of things.” She frowned. “…Including some sad things.”

“Oh?” Starlight said. “How so?”

“I won’t tell you silly! That’d just make you sad! Just because I know sad things doesn’t mean I should tell everyone all of them!” She smiled. “Protect them from what they shouldn’t know, and protect the world form evil. That’s how I roll!” To illustrate the point she did a summersault in midair. “Wheee!”

Starlight rolled her eyes - serious Pinkie was gone, replaced with the silly pink party pony. She put her attention back on the two sisters.

“I’m a privilegedprincess! I get to dance in balls every day and eat fancy caviar off the trays of little gremlin servants!” Rarity laughed.

“And I… INCOMING!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

Rarity blinked. “While that does describe you-“

“No!” She interrupted. “I really mean incoming!” She pointed out into the dark expanse. The mares all looked along her hoof to see a large rock in the distance coming right at them.

“Oh my.” Rarity said.

Twilight tried to raise a shield or move their bubble, but the incoming meteor was just too fast. It rammed right into them at high speeds. It should have shattered the bubble instantly and caused them all to asphyxiate.

Instead, they found themselves inside the meteor after the outside had opened and closed at incredible speeds. The bubble burst on the inside, tossing the six mares around - and they found that the meteor had gravity. It had air. And it had a magic hologram in the center that was being run by a certain yellow pegasus.

“Ohmygosh!” Fluttershy said, running to them. “Are you all okay?”

The mares were silent for a moment before bursting out into laughter. Rarity and Rainbow Dash embraced, Pinkie seemed to explode, and Applejack whooped as she hoofbumped Twilight.

Starlight remained calm, simply watching the festivities with a smile on her face.

They had been saved from the darkness of space.

“Time to get you home.” Fluttershy said to Pinkie. “Everypony’s been very worried.”

“Take us home! Everypony, prepare for impact!”

“Not agaiiiiiin!” Rarity wailed.

XXI - President Pinkie Pie

XXI - President Pinkie Pie

It was a beautiful day. The birds were chirping, the flowers were blooming, and a giant meteor spaceship was falling from the sky at terminal velocity.

None of the ponies paid the rock any mind, for to them it was a semi-regular occurrence to see such craft fall from the sky. The frequency had increased tenfold since Exdeath had returned, so all it did was remind them that the great evil was most likely trying to kill them all at this very moment.

The meteor burned through the atmosphere, charging right for a certain area of the ground that looked a lot like a blue bullseye. Twenty meters from the ground the meteor was stopped by a burst of blue magics, bouncing a little as if it has just landed on a large invisible pillow.

The side of the meteor popped open and Rarity poked her head out. “Why does this keep happening to meeeeee?”

Rainbow Dash flew out and laughed. “It happens to all of us Rarity, you’re the only one who doesn’t like it.”

Rarity moaned as the meteor ship was lowered to the ground slowly by the powerful magics of the area. Twilight Sparkle was utterly fascinated by the magics that were assisting the landing. “How in the world are you channeling enough power into the landing spells?” She said. “Who could have that much power? Are you drawing it from a Crystal?”

Pinkie grinned. “Nope. The magics are drawn from the sky. We’ve got a handy device called a solar panel that turns the sun’s light into magic energy! It powers all kinds of things, and there’s no evidence that there’s any unfortunate side effects!” She raised her hoof. “It’s amazing!”

“Woah…” Twilight said.

Starlight shrugged. “Eh, it’s not that interesting. Though I guess I’ve lived with them my whole life.”

Fluttershy nodded. “It… Um… Is kinda normal. Yes. We also use windmills.”

Pinkie hopped out of the meteor and onto the land. “WELCOME WARRIORS OF LIGHT TO… THE UNITED SETTLEMENTS OF HOOFINGTON! Specifically, welcome to the settlement of Magent!” She bounced up and down. “I love this place!”

“It is home.” Fluttershy agreed. “Though there’s been a few too many ponies here lately…”

“Well we are at war.” Pinkie said. “Meetings are an annoying side effect of that.” Then the pink pony’s eyes lit up. “MAUD!!!”

She rushed across a mile of street in an instant to tackle hug a grey earth pony. To her credit, the grey earth pony didn’t even budge, or change the monotone look on her face. “Nice to see you too, Pinkie.”

“Who is this?” Rarity asked, walking up behind Pinkie.

“This is my sister! Magistrate Maud Pie of Boulder Falls!” Pinkie announced. “Maud, these are the Warriors of Light and Starlight!”

Twilight raised her hoof. “I’m not-“

Pinkie put a hoof to Twilight’s mouth. “Shh. You may not have been chosen by the Crystals but I chose you. That’s good enough right?”

Twilight blushed. “No, really, I’m no hero-“

“To the contrary.” Maud said. “I have heard much of you. You have been as much help to Pinkie as any of the others. I am grateful.”

Twilight was put off by Maud’s monotone voice. “Er… Thanks?”

“The feeling is mutual.” Maud deadpanned.

Twilight and Applejack glanced at each other and shrugged.

“Regardless, there is a meeting scheduled, and it requires your attendance President.” Maud informed Pinkie.

“Oooh goodie!”

Applejack blinked. “Er… Pardon me for asking but what’s a President? Or a Magistrate for that matter?”

Pinkie giggled. “Oh, you could consider us a sort of ‘queen’ over a ‘kingdom’ in Hoofington.”

Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash’s jaws all dropped to the floor.

“Oh come on.” Pinkie said, giggling. “That doesn’t mean anything! I’m elected! The people choose me, I’m not some immortal alicorn or anything. …We don’t even have alicorns here.”

Maud blinked. “You’ve been elected without fail every time you’re run.”

“Well Limestone ran it while I was gone, so I haven’t been Magent’s only President.”

“Of course.” Maud said. “This way everypony.”

It took a few minutes for the four mares to shake themselves out of the shocking revelation that Pinkie Pie was basically a queen. They hurried to catch up with the group.

As they walked through the Kingdom of Magent, they realized that the buildings were a lot taller than those back home. That there were unusual carriages that ran without ponies to pull them. Rectangular objects that displayed images on buildings made out of glass.

“Woah…” Applejack said. “This place is… different.”

“Most certainly.” Rarity responded. “It has an attitude different than anywhere we’ve been so far! Absolutely FABULOUS! And- oh my gosh.” She pointed a hoof. “That mare is wearing a hat on upsidown. I told you it was a fashion statement! But none of you listened!”

Applejack moaned. “This place seems a bit… busy for me. Too much stuff going on.”

“Definitely Pinkie’s speed.” Twilight observed. “I can understand why this is her home. Look at that, free food over there. Just, sitting there. For ponies to take.” She levitated over one of the strange pastries and bit into it. She quickly discovered that lime-watermelon was an amazing flavor and ate it in under five seconds. “…Definitely Pinkie’s Kingdom.”

“They’re called States or Settlements.” Starlight informed her. “There are very few Kingdoms still around in this world - Exdeath’s Resurgence being one of them.”

Maud nodded. “A most horrid development that must be stopped as quickly as possible.”

They continued to trot along the street, drawing more than a few glances from the populace. Rarity could tell that their arrival was a big deal, and that everypony was talking about them. Then she noticed something unusual.

“I say… is that a griffon in the crowd?”

Pinkie nodded. “Yup! Griffons still exist in our world! They may not be the friendliest but they can be good people! One of my best friends is a griffon!”

“Huh.” Twilight said. “Interesting. Any other races?”

“We don’t have many dragons or Changelings left - most were killed off in ancient times. We do have a few Gargoyles though, as you saw in Exdeath’s Castle.”

Applejack shuddered. “Griffons… Never really liked them. Had to deal with a few in my travels…”

“Oh come on Applejack!” Rarity scoffed. “Really? Even after what we saw at Uniforge? That was most certainly a good griffon.”

“Ah seem to recall you were wary of him too.”

“I’ve changed my mind.” She said.

“You better change it quickly.” Maud informed Applejack. “Gilda can sense racism.”

“What in tarnation are you-“

“I SENSE RACISM!” A voice roared from above. A large eagle-headed griffon descended from the sky and pressed her beak into Applejacks nuzzle. “Want to try something mud pony?”

“Gilda!” Pinkie yelled. “That’s Applejack!”

“I know and I don’t care. She doesn’t like my kind. Isn’t that right little mud pony?”

“It is right.” Applejack responded, pushing back with her face. “And you aren’t doing anything to change mah opinion of you!”

Gilda’s left eye twitched. Then she started chuckling. “Hey, Maud, this seem familiar too you?”

“Indeed.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.” Gilda responded.

Maud blinked. “That was exactly what one of our old compatriots said to Gilda when they met. It meets Gilda’s amusement criteria.”

Gilda groaned. “Wow, you sure know how to suck the emotion out of a room. Do you have no respect?”

“On the contrary, I respect Daring Doo highly.”

Applejack’s eyes widened. “D-Daring Doo?”

Maud raised an eyebrow. “You know her?”

“…She was my mother.” Applejack stated.

Pinkie did a spit-take with a can of soda she hadn’t had the moment before. Gilda reeled back in shock. Maud just blinked before speaking. “How is she?”

Applejack frowned. “She… died a few year back. Ursa Major got in a lucky shot.”

Pinkie’s eyes filled with tears and she latched onto Gilda, who looked like she had just been bucked in the face. Maud took a deep breath, clenched her jaw, and let out a long sigh.

“…How did you all know her?” Applejack asked.

Maud was the only one in an able condition to speak. “She was the fourth of our group. The Warriors of Dawn, who originally sealed Exdeath away in your world. She stayed behind to watch the seal.” Maud looked deep into Applejack’s eyes. “How did she live her life?”

“She was happy.” Applejack said. “She married my dad, Applejohn-“

“THAT idiot?” Gilda belted out, starting to laugh. “She married that down-to-earth dirt pusher? Oh that’s a riot!” Then her laughs slowly trailed off into an awkward silence. “…She really did like him I guess.”

Applejack nodded. “He died when me and my siblings were young. Big Mac wasn’t into adventuring and Applebloom was too young when mom was alive, so she took me under her wing and showed me how everything worked. Took me around the world. Told me to watch the forest. I never stopped moving, even after she was gone.”

Pinkie sniffed. “She… She passed her craft onto you. That’s… beautiful.” She drooped. “I… I honestly thought I might get to see her again. Can’t believe I didn’t see this…”

Gilda sighed. “I… We… We always hoped we would see her again one day. It was… Well, it was the one good thing about Exdeath’s weakening seal. We got to go back. Guess it really was worthless. I… ACK.” Gilda started coughing profusely.

Pinkie held her. “You really need to get back to bed-“

“Nonsense.” Gilda shouted. “I’m strong enough to attend a meeting! You may be keeping me out of battles but I will not just sleep while Exdeath tears down our homes!”

Applejack smiled. “…I think I see why mom liked you.”

“Heh. You’re smarter than her. Took her weeks to figure it out.”

The mares and griffon continued on towards the center of Magent - a large hexagonal building adorned with pink streamers.

“Welcome to the Hexagon!” Pinkie said, wiping the last of the tears form her eyes. “Basically Central Command for Hoofington during this little war we’re having. Every pony in!”

—

The Hexagon Meeting room was a little crowded - dozens of ponies, griffons, and a few other races were stuffed around a long table that took up most of the space. A few screens were visible on the walls, displaying world maps, troop positions, and something called ‘stock’ prices.

Everypony, everygriffon, and everyone else stood around the table while Maud walked to the head.

“This meeting recognizes Magistrate Maud as the current Chair of Hoofington.” A unicorn announced.

Maud nodded. “Now that we have reclaimed Pinkie and the hostages, the only thing stopping us from invading castle Exdeath and destroying him is the barrier. We have attempted flinging meteorites at the shield to no avail. Since we have yet to discern any way to take the grid down through force, we need to consider another option.”

She glanced around the room to make sure everyone was paying attention. “During the years that Exdeath was sealed in the Otherworld, we examined what he had left behind extensively. Of those things we studied were the four towers he is using to power his shield. We were not able to discern where the towers draw their power nor how to use them, but we did manage to determine their purpose - conduits. Wherever he is drawing his power, those towers are the key to controlling it.”

“How does this help us?” A grey mare shouted. “The towers are inside the barrier and we have no spies left inside!”

“Limestone, the towers extend far beneath the ground, below where the shield protects them. While we cannot simply dig to one of the towers, we do know from our previous studies that the underside of one of the towers is exposed to the ocean. This exposed area is the only weakness we could find in the defenses. The plan is simple - lead a task force through the exposed area using the submarine, disable or destroy the tower, and lower the shield for invasion.”

“They have to know that’s where we’ll come from.” Limestone muttered.

“Not necessarily. It took us years of study to notice the underwater entrance. He may not even be aware it exists.” Maud looked at the various individuals gathered. “That is, unless anyone else has a better idea.”

There was no response.

“In that case, I will begin to form the task force.” Maud spoke. “Pinkie and the visitors from the Otherworld will be coming, along with three squads, two pony, one griffon. I myself will accompany the task force for technical expertise.”

The room gasped.

“Maud!” Gilda yelled. “You’re the Chair!”

“I am aware.” Maud said. “But only myself and the Doctor know the design of the towers inside and out. And the Doctor has never been a warrior. You have the Chair Gilda.”

Gilda blinked, then bowed. “Let it be so.”

Maud nodded. “Good. Now let us discuss what we do once the barrier has fallen."

The meeting blurred as warriors, politicians, and leaders started discussing exactly how to conquer Exdeath’s castle - he had a lot of forces loyal to him. Simply removing the barrier wasn’t going to cut it, there would have to be an actual battle fought to destroy whatever Exdeath was up to in that castle.

It was obvious that nopony or griffon actually knew what Exdeath wanted, but all knew it was bad since last time he was free he went on a rampage across the entire planet.

The meeting lasted many hours, and eventually Pinkie had her friends taken to their rooms for the night while the planning continued…

—

Rainbow Dash was looking up at the stars that night. She noticed Rarity walk up alongside her, but didn’t say anything immediately.

“You know…” Rarity said, looking up at the moon. “There’s a big green light flashing up there.”

“They can launch meteors into space.” Rainbow Dash smirked. “They probably have an entire city up there or something.”

“I wonder if we’ll ever get to go there…” Rarity mused. “Probably a fascinating place.”

The two were silent.

“…We never really did decide where we stood. What our relationship is.” Rarity said.

“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash said. “I’m just… Well I’m not really mad anymore.”

“I know but… We still need to know what we are.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I don’t know…”

Rarity blinked. “…What about just friends?”

“Oh?”

“Not sisters. Not family. And heaven forbid not ‘exes.’” The two shared a laugh at this. “Just friends. We shouldn’t try to be anything special.” She smiled sadly. “I… I did try to push it.”

“And I pushed back.” Rainbow Dash admitted.

“We didn’t handle it that well. But at this point, that doesn’t matter anymore. Let’s just be friends. Close friends, yes, but nothing closer than say Applejack and Twilight. Or even Starlight.”

Rainbow Dash held out a hoof. “Agreed. We need to get over this and focus on the real problems.”

Rarity clasped Rainbow Dash’s hoof, smiling. “Thank you.”

Then the two hugged, and the night became silent once more.

XXII - The Barrier Siege

XXII - The Barrier Siege

The Doctor was a brown stallion with a young body that contrasted his wise blue eyes. “It’s all ready.” He said, turning to the group that had gathered. Griffons and ponies - most of which were soldiers. “May I present the Nautilus.”

Behind him, sitting on the ocean, was a metallic ship. However, unlike other ships, there was no obvious deck - everything was sealed, and the door led inside. There were no sails, only a large propellor on the back and a few smaller ones along the sides. Ridges and spines lined the ship, giving it the impression of a large metallic shellfish.

“This thing travels underwater…?” Rarity wondered aloud. “Amazing.”

The Doctor smiled sadly. “I… Wish it didn’t have to be used in this way. I designed the Nautilus to explore the depths of the oceans for science. Not for… this.”

Twilight nodded in sympathy. “I understand. I… created machines to harvest energy from the crystals. The machines weakened the crystals enough for Exdeath to easily shatter them.” She sighed. “Sometimes our devices get used for what we don’t want.”

The Doctor nodded sadly. “It is how it is. Please bring her back in one peace okay?”

Maud nodded. “We shall.” She raised her front right hoof. “Soldiers, load up.”

The pony and griffon squads rushed into the Submarine, leaving just Maud, the Warriors of Light, Starlight, and a few ponies (and a griffon) who wanted to see them off.

Gilda gave everyone a thumbs up. “Good luck. You’ll need it.”

Fluttershy rushed Pinkie into a hug. “I don’t want to have to save you again…”

“You won’t have to.” Pinkie said, giggling. “I’ll be back just fine! And we’ll have cake!”

“We always have cake.” Fluttershy noted.

“And that’s what’s awesome about it!” Pinkie giggled.

Limestone walked up to Pinkie and fixed her with a steeled look. The angry outside broke down and the sisters embraced. “Don’t get yourself killed.” She said. “You either.” She said to Maud.

“Dying is never my intent.” Maud assured her.

Rainbow Dash looked at the three of them. “Wait. Pinkie. How many sisters do you have?”

“One more. Oh look! She’s right over there!”

Another grey mare walked up to them, but she said nothing. She was mostly covered in a long flowing cloak, her muzzle and eyes barely visible. Something about her eyes made them stand out, almost as if they were slightly glowing.

She looked right at Pinkie and Maud, then aggressively huged them both. Then she backed away and left without saying a few words.

“Marble doesn’t talk much.” Pinkie said. “But she’s really cool once you get to know her!”

“She rarely lets anyone know her.” Limestone muttered.

“Limestone!” Pinkie chided.

“Yeah fine I need to be nicer to my sister.” She sighed. “I’ll be organizing the armies, ready to strike at Exdeath’s little island of power the moment the shield goes down. We will make him pay.”

Rainbow Dash whooped. “You bet we will!”

“ALLLLL ABOARD!” Applejack yelled, wanting to get a move on. The mares walked into the submarine, leaving Gilda, Fluttershy, and the Pie Sisters behind. They quickly found that the inside of the Nautilus was extremely cramped, dark, and full of low hanging ceilings that unicorns hit their horns on regularly.

“Functional…” Twilights observed.

“But absolutely ghastly to look at.” Rarity shivered.

They made their way deep into the belly of the beast. While they maneuvered through the corridors, the door to the Nautilus slid shut and sealed itself. The bulky craft slowly sunk beneath the waves, the propellor revving up and driving the submarine forward. They descended beneath the waves, heading right for the exposed area of the tower…

—

“What was that?” Rarity asked, obviously the least comfortable in the surroundings.

“Just cut through a giant squid.” Maud commented. “Nothing to be concerned about, the Nautilus is designed to face off against all the sea monsters.”

“…That doesn’t make me feel any better Dear.”

Maud didn’t respond.

Rainbow Dash glared at the wall. “Are we there yet?” She asked for the hundredth time.

“Yes.” Maud responded.

“HOW MUCH LONG- wait what?”

“I said we’re there.” Maud said. “Come with me.” She announced, trotting out of the dark control room.

Starlight let out a breath of air. “Thank goodness, I was finding it hard to breathe in here…”

They walked back to the main entrance to the submarine. Maud pressed a few buttons and the door slid open, revealing a white wall in front of them. It was a little wet and water was dripping from the edges of the doorway.

Maud took in a deep breath. “Stand back. I have to break through the wall without breaking the seal we have keeping the ocean out.” She stood on her hind legs and pressed on of her her front hooves to the wall. She pulled back her hoof, and ran it forward with immense force and precision. A hoof-sized hole appeared in the metallic wall.

She looked in though the hole - the room was abandoned. She continued her work, sticking both her hooves in and peeling the metal back until it was large enough for everyone to fit through. She motioned, leading the task force inside.

“The power is being drained from something at the top of this tower. Since we do not have an explosive large enough to take the tower down from the base, we need to make our way up.” Maud looked at all the heroes and soldiers. “This is going to be a grueling fight to the top. Not all of us are going to make it. But we are going to take this place down.” She looked up at the ceiling. Then she leapt into the air and busted a hole through it, leading to the next floor. “Come on.”

All the winged members of the task force flew through the newly formed hole, while Twilight, Starlight, and a few Unicorns levitated those who couldn’t jump that high. The moment everyone was on the floor, Maud punched a hole through to the next.

“You know…” Applejack said. “It seems awfully empty here for an important part of Exdeath’s kingdom.”

“The tower is tremendous.” Starlight offered. “There is no way he has enough forces to man every part of it. He’s probably only manning the upper floors.”

“Hrm…” Applejack said, thoughtful. That made sense.

The floors began to blur together - white metal everywhere, each floor being mostly featureless. Twilight could sense that there was a lot of energy going through the center of the tower, so much that Twilight’s brain hurt simply from scanning it. What was he drawing all that power from?

She briefly considered breaking apart the central conduit, but realized that it was far too large to destroy and was likely to just vaporize anyone who tried to mess with it. They had to cut it off form the source.

Which meant going up around a hundred more floors.

“Who makes buildings this tall?” Rarity wailed. “What is the point?”

“To congeal all the energy into an easily useable and channelable state.” Twilight explained.

“English please?”

“It has to be this tall to work properly.”

Rainbow Dash groaned. “This was supposed to be a big epic fight! There’s nothing going on right now!”

“Careful what you wish for!” Pinkie said. Maud punched yet another hole in a ceiling and waited for everyone to come up. In the middle of this, a very tired looking gargoyle with a coffee mug in his hand rounded the corner and stooped dead in his tracks.

“Am I hallucinating?” He asked. “Did Frank put bounce dust in my coffee again?”

“Uh… no.” Starlight said.

“Then what is this?”

“An invasion.” Rainbow Dash answered.

“Oh.” He blinked. “Wait WHAT? Oh man I’ve got to report-“

He quickly found that Maud had appeared behind him and punched off his head with a simple movement.

Twilight blinked. “You can move like Pinkie?!”

“All the Pie sisters can.” Maud said. “She’s just the most in tune with it.”

Pinkie giggled. “Yep! We’re all pretty special earth ponies!”

Twilight’s eye twitched. She was’t sure how she felt about this.

“Come on!” Pinkie yelled. “It’s just getting started!”

—

Minutes later, they arrived at a floor where they could easily hear commotion above them.

“Ground floor?” Twilight asked.

“Possibly.” Maud said. “We will have to be more tactical about this one”

Rarity nodded. “Of course.” She lit her horn and increased the speed of everyone present and raised magical shields. “Anything else dears?”

“Draw weapons.” Applejack said. “This is about to get hairy.”

Maud pulled out some spiky shoes out of her saddlebags and readied her helmet. She looked ready for battle - save for her still expressionless face. “On three. One. Two. Three.”

She bashed right through the ceiling onto the next floor, blasting the servants of Exdeath away from the ground. The griffons and pegasi quickly filed in after her, using the power of surprise to mow down the dozen or so gargoyles in the room.

“EVERYONE!” Twilight yelled. “MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE TOP BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY!”

The real siege had begun. Weapons of all kinds clashed - swords, axes, bows, and guns all plowed through their counterparts. Gargoyles fell like flies - but griffons and ponies still went down despite Rarity’s spells.

“Hey there!” Pinkie said to the gargoyles. “How would you like to dance?” She quickly ran up to one gargoyle and suplexed him into another, all while doing a tap dance. “Dancing is awesome!” She noted, dodging all the bullets and blades effortlessly, instead simply generating a ton of water around herself and flushing the gargoyles with it.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash were back to back, Rarity buffing Rainbow Dash’s every attack and Rainbow discovering that she had a new spell that ate away the very flesh of those it hit. “That… is disgusting.” Rainbow Dash mentioned.

“So? Since what has that stopped you from doing anything?”

“Good point. FACE THE WRATH OF THE FLESH EATING SPELL!” Her wings lit up a dark unpleasant green and gargoyles fell like flies, a green and red mist eating at them and muffling their screams.

Twilight found herself with the griffon squad, raising her magical shield to block incoming projectiles while the griffons returned fire. She discovered that griffons were great soldiers - scarily effective in how they used their weapons to take out the gargoyles’ weak points, sometimes in bloody and brutal ways. She winced more than a few times, but kept on fighting.

Starlight and Applejack found themselves fighting alongside Maud. Applejack found she appreciated the magistrate’s style - up close, personal, and down to earth. She rarely used that strange “moving” ability she shared with Pinkie, preferring to fight as things were, using her extreme strength to her advantage.

Applejack was using her sword and strength alongside Maud, fighting right alongside one of her mother’s greatest friends. She felt… good about it, despite the death happening all around her.

Starlight was just muttering to herself wondering why she came on this mission in the first place, blasting enemy after enemy with magic laser after magic laser.

Eventually, the entire room was devoid of able-bodied gargoyles. A dozen ponies and griffons had fallen in the fight.

“There will be reinforcements.” Maud said. “Let us not waste time.” She punched a hole in the wall, revealing the outside - sunlight poured into the room. “Everyone who can fly, grab someone who can’t and get to the top of the tower! We’re flying to the top!”

Rainbow Dash picked up Rarity and took off into the sky. Maud, to her credit, started crawling up the outside of the tower like it was a ladder, her hooves creating holds as she went. Pinkie was somehow hanging onto Maud’s tail throughout this. Starlight levitated herself with Applejack on her back out into the sun, leaving Twilight to be picked up by one of her new griffon friends. The task force flew up the side of the tower, a streak of rainbow energy leading them.

Then the lasers began to shoot at them. A few pairs went down.

Twilight began to raise barriers while her griffon carried her. “Everyone! Defend the fliers!” The unicorns obeyed, raising magic shields everywhere they could - but it wasn’t good enough. Whatever was shooting them was extremely powerful and cut through most shields.

“Buck!” Rainbow Dash yelled, realizing most of the lasers were trying to hit her. With Rarity on her back, she found it hard to dodge them. Rarity, meanwhile, was just holding on for dear life.

Maud ripped a side of metal plating from the tower and tossed to down to the ground where the lasers were coming from. The crunch was very satisfying, but it was not enough to destroy the laser machines. Pinkie reached deep within herself and summoned a tidal wave from her hooves, washing the ground far below them with torrents of water - but it still didn’t disable all the lasers.

Pegasi and griffons kept falling. Twilight was trying her best to protect the others, but in her folly she forgot to protect the griffon carrying her. In a blast of energy her pilot’s chest was obliterated, and the upward force of the wings stopped. Twilight began to fall.

She closed her eyes, wishing really really hard that she had wings. Or that someone would save her. Or that the water on the ground was soft.

…She didn’t hit the ground.

She opened her eyes, realizing she was enveloped in a cloud of lavender magic. She was levitating herself. She laughed. “HA! TAKE THAT STARLIGHT!”

“You’re falling behind!” Starlight yelled back. “Come on!”

Twilight felt the tug of Starlight’s telekinesis add to her own and she flew up the side of the tower faster than ever before.

“ALMOST THERE!” Rainbow Dash yelled back, straining herself as much as she dared. Just as she cleared the top of the tower, a laser clipped her in the wing and she fell to the roof. The rest of the task force - or what remained of it - landed beside her. She picked herself up off the ground and made sure Rarity was okay before focusing on the top of the tower.

It was a flat roof, with almost no features on it at all. However, in the center was a gigantic black sphere, shooting unholy purple energy into the tower from above.

“What… IS that?” Twilight asked.

“No idea.” Maud said. “But it’s the power source. It must be taken out.” Maud reached into the ground and took up a large chunk of the floor and tossed it at the sphere at high speeds.

Nothing happened.

Twilight reached deep within herself and blasted the sphere with the strongest laster she could muster.

It twitched, but otherwise nothing changed.

“That’s not good.” Applejack said.

Pinkie frowned. “I know we can do something to it I just don’t know what…”

Rainbow Dash’s ears perked as Rarity healed her wings. “I have an idea.”

“What?”

“Watch.” She said. She blasted up into the air at high speeds, going higher, higher, and higher. Without Rarity on her back, she quickly escaped the range of the laser turrets. She passed the clouds, and continued flying even higher. She stopped when she felt her breath getting short. Then she aimed herself downward. “TAKE THIS!” She said, blasting downwards. She lit her wings with power - trying to pull all her spells together at once. The colors cycled, rapidly changing color faster and faster until it appeared to be an ever shifting rainbow of colors. Her entire body began to cover with the magical aura of many colors. A mach cone formed around her front hooves, and tears began to squeeze from her eyes as the rainbows covered her entire body.

“TAKE… THIS!!!” She roared, unleashing her power at once instant mere feet away from the black sphere. A disc of powerful energy unleashed, a spectrum of colors ripping across the sky and tearing at the fabric of reality itself. The light was blinding, forcing everyone to look away. Rainbow Dash smashed into the ground, breaking front legs into a dozen pieces and crying out in excruciating pain. Then she passed out.

In Exdeath Castle, Exdeath himself looked up from his plans and out the window to see the powerful spectrum of colors coming from the top of one of his barrier towers. “What the f-“ He calmed himself. “Well then, I suppose I will have to accelerate things. Sunset, I must be off. Make sure the castle doesn’t fall while I’m away.”

“Yes my lord.”

Back at the barrier tower, the sphere of black energy contracted into a minuscule point, the energy transference to the tower shutting down. The magical aura of the barrier vanished instantly, and the tower’s lights went dead.

“WOOHOO!” Twilight yelled. “RAINBOW DASH YOU- oh.” She winced. “Rarity can you-“

“This injury is extremely severe.” Rarity said. “Yes I can heal her, she’s not going to die, but she’s not going to be fighting for a few hours.”

“Which might be a big problem.” Applejack said.

“Why dear?”

“It’s not dead. And it looks angry.”

The ponies and griffons looked at the black sphere - which wasn’t as large as it was once before. But it wasn’t a sphere either anymore Instead, it appeared as a giant gaping purple maw with a vortex of galaxies inside it. It struck them all as some kind of unnatural portal to a different reality.

It roared, lifting a unicorn off the ground and sucking it right into its maw. The unicorn was vaporized the moment it touched the mouth.

Everyone reeled, save for Maud, whose expression didn’t change. “Take it out.” She said. “We cannot take any chances that the power will be reinstated. Destroy the Source.”

The Source apparently understood this remark and fired several black beams of energy at the offending individuals. The soldiers dodged them all.

Pinkie Pie produced her party cannon. “IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY SOURCE!” The cannon fired several wind spells at the Source. “And, hopefully, your deathday!”

“That was dark.” Starlight observed, blasting the Source with a laser of magic.

“Eh, I’m not always a chipper humor kind of mare. I can even do gallows humor!”

“Let’s not right now.” Starlight said, plugging more magic into her attacks. The Source didn’t seem to care. It sucked in some griffons and made a strange gurgling sounds that suggested it was getting hungrier the more it ate.

Twilight shook her head. “What is this thing? It doesn’t seem to care at all about magic-“

Applejack went crazy in that moment, lifting her sword and charging right at the creature. “APPLEJACK NO!” Rarity yelled, but the earth pony wasn’t listening. She drove the sword right into the creature’s base. It was not happy at this, and attempted to suck her right in.

Twilight and Rarity instantly acted, pulling against the Source’s force with their own telekinesis. But Applejack was still slowly drifting towards the gaping maw. “BRING IT STARMOUTH!” Applejack roared, having lost all reason and swinging her sword around madly.

“Applejack!” Pinkie yelled, looking around frantically for something to do. Something to save her friend.

Then she saw Maud walking towards the Source, expressionless.

“MAUD! NO!” Pinkie yelled.

Maud turned to look at Pinkie. Her face broke - she smiled at Pinkie, a tear falling down her face. Pinkie understood exactly what that look meant. You need her. You don’t need me. There isn’t another way.

“MAUD! BUT-“

Maud was no longer listening, she walked right up to the Source, leaping up and pushing Applejack out of the way. Her face turned sour - eyes angry and her mouth scowling. “DIE!” She roared. As she was sucked into the gaping maw, she punched upward, hitting the mutant beast’s head form inside in the last possible moment.

Everything exploded in a murky blackness.

Then the dust settled. The tower was silent.

Pinkie’s hair went flat. “No…” She said. “No! I WAS GOING TO STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING!”

Starlight took a moment to look at Pinkie. Her heart twisted and she backed away, ashamed.

“CAN’T I CHANGE ANYTHING?” Pinkie yelled. “No? OH NO OF COURSE NOT THAT’S NOT. HOW. THINGS. WORK.”

“Pinkie…” Rarity said.

“Rarity I would stay away from me for the next few minutes. I can’t be held accountable for what I might do to you.” Pinkie said, deadpan.

Rarity wisely took a few steps back.

Applejack spoke next. “Pinkie.”

“What.”

“We’ve all lost someone.” She sighed. “And as much as I believe grief is needed, we don’t have that option right now. We don’t have time. We’re in a war. We have to move and grieve later.”

Pinkie sniffed. “Element of Honesty…”

Applejack nodded sadly. “Yeah…”

Pinkie looked up, her hair poofing up slightly. She walked towards the center of the tower and picked up Maud’s helmet - the only thing of hers left. “You will be remembered.” She stuffed the helmet… somewhere.

Then a ship descended from the sky, grey colored and emblazoned with the name “Shalebuster.” The door slid open and Limestone stepped out, a mad grin on her face. “You did it! The invasion can now begin! Hah!” She smirked. “And as much as I’d love to say you’re welcome to join us, I’m actually here to cart you off to the Stone Shrine.”

“What?” Rarity asked. “I thought we-“

“Marble received a vision.” Limestone explained. “Fluttershy is already there waiting for you. And- …Where is Maud.”

Everyone looked down at the ground.

“Buck.” Limestone said. “Get on. Get on the ship before I break something. Hurry. Now. Quickly. BUCK!” She roared, her eyes going black. “GET IN AND ACTIVATE THE DROPSHIP. IT WILL TAKE YOU TO THE SHRINE. WE WILL BE MUTILATING THIS PATHETIC ISLAND.”

Everyone scrambled into the Shalebuster, the Warriors of Light and Starlight beelining for the dropship. Marble was already on board, and she was crying a pool of tears.

As the dropship left, Pinkie and Marble hugged each other, neither speaking. Both winced when they heard the roar of their sister going completely berserk on the armies of Exdeath.

The war had truly begun. And they weren’t fighting in it.

XXIII - Everfree

XXIII - Everfree

The dropship arrived at the shrine in a matter of minutes, landing on top of the strangely mountainous island. The mares trotted out the open door into the cold, humid breeze of the ocean.

They were all silent. Tear stains could still be seen on Pinkie and Marble’s eyes, but the two had calmed down on the trip over.

Twilight took in a deep breath and let it out. “This place smells… serene somehow.”

“It feels wrong.” Applejack grunted. “It shouldn’t be this calm and natural while Exdeath is out romping around.”

Rarity and Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. Before the conversation could continue, Fluttershy walked up to them. “He’s ready.” She said, pointing her muzzle at the stone shrine in the center of the island. A simple grey gazebo-like structure with a single statue in the center.

Fluttershy looked at Marble and Pinkie. “Aunt Marble? Mom? What happened?”

“I’ll tell you later Fluttershy.” Pinkie said. “Right now we’ve got to see what he has to say.”

Marble nodded and began to trot towards the stone shrine.

Starlight looked at the shrine warily. “…Wait we’re not seriously considering asking him for help? Right? That’s crazy right?

“Just talking to him.” Pinkie responded.

“Him?” Rarity asked.

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Pinkie grinned despite herself. “It’ll be fun!”

Twilight blinked. “…That’s not very reassuring…”

The group slowly came up to the Stone Shrine, and they got a better look at the gazebo. It was a very simple structure - six featureless columns held up a single pointed roof. Under this roof was a smooth flat foundation made of simple stone, upon which stood a single statue. Unlike the simplistic structure, this statue was a complex shape. A snake-like being with parts and pieces of many different animals all over it - the tail of a dragon, the arm of a griffon, the wing of a bat - stood with it’s head pulled back in laughter, almost as if it was singing.

Applejack shuddered. “Ah don’t like the looks of this thing.”

“You shouldn’t.” Starlight said, hiding in the back of the group.

Marble walked up to the statue, her eyes glowing purple. She pulled back her hood and raised her front hooves. A strange purple magic began to flow out of her and into the shrine, creating glowing designs in the featureless shape. The statue in the center began to wobble and shake, glowing an intense purple as it seemed to break apart.

“Awaken.” Marble spoke. Most of the ponies turned to Marble in surprise - it was the first time most of them had heard her speak.

“EEEEEYAAAAWWWN That was a nice nap!” The deep, but upbeat voice found it’s way to their ears and they saw that the statue had come to life, and was stretching its - no his - various limbs like a cat. “Heloooo World it is good to be back! Prepare to once again feel the dance of the Discord!”

Pinkie chuckled. “That would be nice…”

“Pinkie!” Starlight yelled. “I’ve heard the legends! Letting him out is a BAD IDEA. Talking to him is a BAD IDEA.”

Discord chuckled. “Oh it’s not all bad. Unlike certain villains I don’t brutally murder ponies. They can’t be amusing after that.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Yeah. Little old Discord is just a little misunderstood.”

Applejack looked Discord up and down. “Hrm.”

“What is it my little orange?” Discord chuckled. “Do you like what you see? Perhaps a date?”

Applejack facehooved. “Okay, made up my mind about you.” She turned to Pinkie. “Why are we talking to him again.”

“He knows things.” Pinkie said. “Lots of things.”

“Like you?” Rarity asked.

“Eh… in a different way. Not quite so weird.”

“I find that insulting!” Discord announced. “I’m Discord! Spirit of chaos and disharmony! I am the most random thing there is!”

“Debatable.” Pinkie said. For a split second everyone was convinced she had become a large elephant wearing a blue foot suit with the words “this sentence has no content” on it.

Discord narrowed his eyes. “I could engage in a randomness battle, but alas, I am confined by the walls of this shrine… thanks to you and your heroes Pinkie.” He glared.

Twilight turned to Pinkie. “He was defeated by the Warriors of Dawn?”

“Yeah.” Pinkie said. “We locked him up here and sometimes come to talk to him.”

“I’ve been doing it most now.” Fluttershy said. “He’s making real progress in rehabilitation!”

“He only killed one bunny last time!” Pinkie said, cheerfully.

At this remark Fluttershy looked ashamed and Marble let out an exasperated sigh.

Discord clasped his hands together. “It’s progress!” He chuckled. “Deliciously totally not fake progress.”

Marble facehooved.

“Anyway, you’re all here because I sent out the strongest psychic message I could in my state.” He glanced at Marble. “Surprised you heard it.”

Fluttershy fixed Discord with a look. “Really Discord! You’re supposed to stop insulting people!”

Discord sighed. “Fiiiiine… You’re a pretty good seer Marble. Gah. Now ONWARD! You ponies are talking about sieging Exdeath’s castle yes?”

“We already are.” Pinkie confirmed.

“Yeah. Well Exdeath’s not there. He’s in the Everfree.”

Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Marble gasped. “That is he doing there?” Fluttershy asked.

“And how do you know?” Rainbow Dash muttered. “You’ve been stuck here!”

“Have faith in my abilities explosive rainbow pegasus. Nice lightshow by the way on that tower, really did a number on the voidspawn. And to answer the actually important question, he’s after the Tree of Harmony.”

“But why would he do that?” Fluttershy asked. “I know he has a grudge but… What’s the benefit?”

Discord facepalmed. “I don’t know everything. I just know he wants to destroy it and is trying to accomplish it personally. He’s there right now.”

Rarity blinked. “Would destroying the Tree be… bad?” She asked.

Fluttershy gulped, nodding. “Without the Tree of Harmony all life would slowly lose its spark.. it’s will to live…”

Twilight blinked. “So, What, it’s the Life Crystal?”

“Seems like it.” Rarity said, shrugging. “Whatever it is… We should protect it. We can’t let this world decay as well.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I’m coming too.”

Pinkie’s jaw dropped.”WHAT? Fluttershy-“

“Mom… No buts please? I…” Tears welled in her eyes. “I just wanted to be with you more. I… I feel like we haven’t been together now that we can.”

Pinkie looked like she was about to say otherwise, but then it was like she saw something nopony else could see. Discord raised an eyebrow. “Interesting…”

Pinkie sagged. “You… you can come. But if I tell you to run, you run, got it?”

“Run, run. Got it!”

Pinkie nodded, turning to Marble. “You’ll watch Discord?”

Marble nodded, beginning to undo her spell on the being of chaos.

“And with this, alas, I must be off. Such a terrible woe for all of you pretty ponies…” He cackled. “Especially you, orange one.”

Applejack bristled. She bucked him in the face as he was turning back to stone. He put his hands on his nose in pain. “Ow! I’ll have you know that the nose is the-“ His talking was cut short by his return to statue form.

Pinkie giggled. “He looks like he’s picking his nose.”

Applejack smirked. “I approve of this new form of his.”

Fluttershy sighed. “He’s going to be really grumpy next time we have a session…” She shook her head. “It’ll be a hard setback to overcome…”

Starlight poked her head out from behind Twilight. “He gone? Good. Can we, like, go now? Leave?”

Pinkie grinned and hugged Starlight. “Of course we can! Back to the dropship! Bye Marble!”

Marble just smiled and made a humming noise, turning back to the statue of Dsicord.

The seven mares piled into the dropship, Twilight at the help. “Well…” She said, rubbing her hooves. “Here we go. Where’s the Everfree Forest?”

“Fly up.” Pinkie said. “Look for the only thing you can see that’s purple. It’s magic! Isn’t that right Starlight?”

“It’s just basic deduction Pinkie.” Starlight deadpanned.

“Also known as maaaagic!” Pinkie giggled.

Starlight rolled her eyes. “I guess so.”

The dropship blasted off into the sky and set off towards the Everfree forest…

—

The Everfree Forest was beautiful when seen from above - a brilliant purple shape on the ground below, echoing with strange magics and soft lights. And yet, despite the beauty, it also felt dangerous to all who looked at it - strange jagged shapes in the trees, darkness collecting among the trees, and the ever-present of the forest watching you.

The Dropship calmly descended along the edge of the forest, right up against the treeline. The hatch flipped open, and the seven mares trotted right out.

“Now that.” Rarity announced. “Was a proper landing.”

“Proper things are boring.” Rainbow Dash groaned.

“Boring is.. um… not a bad thing.” Fluttershy said, smiling meekly. She looked at the forest. “I wonder what sorts of creatures we’ll find in there…”

“Beasts.” Applejack said. “Monstrous beasts. Ah can just feel them wanting to eat us.”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Please, what can a mere beast do to us? We’ve plowed through armies! Surely we can take care of a few simple creatures!”

“Murphy will remember that.” Pinkie said.

“Screw Murphy.” Starlight said with bombastic vigor.

Pinkie giggled. “That’s the spirit!”

Twilight poked her head into the treelike. “It’s going to be hard to see in here… what exactly are we going to be looking for?”

“The biggest tree! The one made of crystal!” Pinkie said.

“Or Exdeath.” Rainbow Dash said. “If we can find him this whole problem will be taken care of like that.”

“We have a plan for what we do when we find him?” Applejack asked.

“SMASH HIM!” Pinkie and Rainbow Dash yelled at the same time.

Applejack shrugged. “Good enough.”

Rarity groaned. “We are really doing this without a plan. Really.”

“Um… It doesn’t seem like you guys have a plan much of the time at all.”

“We had a plan when we attacked the Tower!” Rarity retorted.

“Which just amounted to ‘get in, smash, and get out.” Twilight observed.

“It worked didn’t it?” Rarity said.

“Not… Really…” Pinkie said, drooping.

Fluttershy frowned. “You okay?”

“Yes. No. Well…” She sighed. “We’ll talk about it later. Right now let’s just have fun romping through a forest! Woohoo!” She bounced away, Twilight following close behind.

It took all of fifteen minutes for Starlight to feel inclined to state the obvious. “We’re lost.”

“Starlight!” Pinkie said. “Lost is just another way of saying on an adventure!”

Starlight. “Thing is I don’t think we could find our way out at this point even if we wanted to.”

“Starlight has a point.” Twilight said. “There is a lot of magical energy around here designed to confuse senses. And I mean a lot.” She shook her muddled head. “I’m starting to see quesadillas…”

“It’ll get in your head and do weird things.” Applejack summarized. “So… how do we beat it?”

Everypony was silent.

“Just keep walking without a plan. Got it.”

“Logic dictates that we will eventually arrive at something!” Pinkie said.

“No offense dear, but that’s Pinkie logic.” Rarity said. “It operates on a completely different level from regular things.”

“I’m right a lot of the time though!”

“That…  may be true, but how exactly does it help us?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I have nooo idea. Sorry Pinks, I’m getting a little tired of just wandering randomly.”

“It’s only been fifteen minutes!” Twilight shouted. “I think your patience is one of the lowest in all history!”

“In other news, water is wet.” Rainbow Dash retorted.

Fluttershy shrugged. “At least she admits it. That’s the first step.”

Pinkie giggled. “Yep!”

It was at this moment the trees before them parted to reveal a t-rex bear hybrid that was in the middle of a blood rage-fueled attack on a large rock. The creature in question looked rather haggard, beat up, and geared for battle. It noticed the seven mares and turned to them, it’s eyes lighting on fire. It charged.

Everypony readied their weapons and attacks, ready to defeat this beast.

“WAIT!” Fluttershy yelled. “DON’T HURT EACH OTHER!”

The t-rex bear and the mares stared at Fluttershy in shock.

“…What?” Starlight said.

“Just don’t fight!” Fluttershy said. “T-bear here has been having a bad day I can tell…Isn’t that right T-bear?”

The T-bear slowly nodded.

“I bet you’ve been beat up by all the larger T-bears haven’t you? So sad.” She smiled at him. “But we won’t beat you up. We can be your friends and help you through those ugly bruises!”

The T-bear looked at them all in distrust, huffing.

“Language mister T-bear!” Fluttershy said, aghast. “You should mind your manners around ponies you don’t know, you should make a good impression!”

The T-bear looked down in shame.

“Now… you could make it up to us.” Fluttershy said.

The T-bear looked up, hopeful.

“We’re looking for the Tree of Harmony. Think you could take us while I have Rarity here heal your wounds?”

The T-bear nodded, standing up and pointing in a direction.

Fluttershy turned to the rest of the mares and smiled. “There you go! Um… Rarity would you be nice and heal T-bear here?”

Rarity could barely comprehend what had just happened. “Sure Darling… Sure…”

Starlight turned to Pinkie. “What did we just see?”

“Fluttershy being amazing that’s what!” Pinkie shouted. “You go Fluttershy!”

Rainbow Dash facehooved. “I just remembered. I have a beast master power inside me. I could have done that.”

“Yeah, well, you forgot.” Applejack said. “And the buttery yellow pegasus outshone you.”

Rainbow Dash bristled.

The group continued through the Everfree, now with a guide through the ever twisting and winding shapes of the forest.

Starlight found herself looking at Pinkie and Fluttershy - mother and daughter, talking, laughing, and spending time together that had been lost. Despite the fact that Pinkie hadn’t told Fluttershy anything about Maud.

Suddenly Pinkie was next to Starlight. “Hiya!”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Hey Pinkie. Catch me watching you?”

“Eh, I always know about that. I just decided now was a good time to talk.”

Starlight bit her lip. “About what?”

“Why she doesn’t know yet.” Pinkie sagged. “Things… Things are about to go really really bad. Like, really bad. Don’t as me how, I can’t tell you.” Starlight thought this a bit of a copout, but didn’t press the issue. “All I know is, these are going to be some of the last really happy times she gets to have for a while. It’s why I let her come along.” Pinkie sighed. “She needs to be able to enjoy herself just a little longer…”

“I guess that is your talent.” Starlight said. “When will you tell her?”

“When it happens.” Pinkie said, frowning. She turned to Starlight. “Do what you have to do.”

Starlight tensed. “W-What?”

“Do it.” Pinkie said. “And please, move on. Don’t let it define you.”

Starlight was speechless. What was she-

“Here. Take this.” Pinkie said, producing a necklace with a pink crystal on it. She put it on Starlight’s neck. “Hold onto that.”

“O-Okay…”

Then Pinkie bounced behind a tree and reappeared next to Flluttershy, and the two began to talk and laugh once more.

“Hey Starlight.” Rainbow Dash said. “Where’d you get that necklace?”

“…Pinkie Pie just gave it to me.” She said in minor disbelief.

“Woah.” Rainbow Dash said, leaning in for a closer look. “I gotta say, that’s a pretty cool pink crystal. Looks complicated. Wonder what crazy depths she tore that out of.”

“I have no idea. You know Pinkie.” Starlight nervously laughed. “It could be from the moon for all we know.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Who knows. I’d hold onto it if I were you though.”

Starlight nodded. “Y-Yeah…”

The conversation was cut short - for they had arrived. A tremendous crystalline tree stood before them - spiraling upwards into the sky, glinting in the sun that most of the forest couldn’t see. Crystals of all colors and shapes draped from the tree, shining rainbow rays of light around the clearing.

“Well…” Applejack said. “Looks to be in tact. Looks like Exdeath didn’t make it here yet.”

Rarity’s eyes sparkled. “My goodness! This is so fabulous! Look at the color! The shine! The elegance!”

“Thank you T-bear!” Fluttershy said. “I’ll call for you if we need you again, okay?”

The T-bear nodded and walked off.

It was at this point Starlight’s pupils dilated and she began to shake in fear.

“Starlight…?” Twilight asked. “What’s wrong?”

Starlight thought for a second, her mind thinking thousands of thoughts. Then she caught Pinkie looking at her and nodding. The unicorn took in a deep breath and pointed at the Tree of Harmony.

The Warriors of Light turned and they saw a creature - humanoid in shape, feminine in appearance. It was crystalline in nature, had three horns, razor sharp teeth, a reptilian tale and hooved legs contrasting with the clawed hands. Three pairs of wings grew off it’s back. It roared. Fluttershy meekly hid behind a bush.

Twilight blasted the creature with a burst of magic to little effect beyond angering it. The being leapt down from the tree and attacked Twilight, breaking through the barrier with ease and digging into her skin. Twilight’s eyes screamed pain while her mouth remained locked shut.

Applejack wasn’t having any of this, charging the creature with her sword and driving the blade right into it - realizing very quickly that crystal is a lot stronger than your average sword, the blade bouncing off the target’s body easily. “Well Ah’ll be…”

Rarity healed Twilight from a distance, but this only made the creature lock onto her. “My…” She said, her own shields not doing anything to protect her from the beastly claws.

“HEY NINNYMUFFIN!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “TAKE THIS!” Her wings glowed with the ugly green power and she engulfed the creature. It was obviously not happy with the toxin encasing it, but it just wouldn’t go down. “The buck?” Rainbow said, not having time to dodge the onslaught of the six-winged creature.

Pinkie Pie moved next, producing a skillet and walloping the creature alongside the head with it. “Take that you big meany!”

The creature turned it’s head and snarled at Pinkie, charging the pink pony only to find that she had appeared on it’s back. “Hiya! Tango time!” Pinkie began to do a tango with the creature in midair, before suplexing it into the ground.

The creature was barely fazed - but then it was hit by a tree Twilight was using as a makeshift club. The physical bulk of the tree traveling at high speeds tossed the creature far across the clearing, into another tree.

The creature stood up and roared, but Applejack and Pinkie Pie team attacked it. A few party grenades, dances, and ninja-like movements had the creature on it’s back again.

Rarity shot it with her bow, slowing it’s speed. Then she increased the speed of Rainbow Dash who crashed into it with a fiery explosion. “It’s going down!” Rainbow Dash cheered, rubbing her head where she had impacted the crystal.

It was, in fact, weakening. It was barely able to stand, barely able to walk. Pinkie grinned. “Hey Ifrit!”

“Yes?” The fiery creature said.

“You and Titan go at her together.”

“FEEL THE HELLFIRE CRYSTALLINE BEAST!” Ifrit roared, swirling the flames around it, while Titan simply appeared and punched the creature into the ground. Twilight followed this up with another hit from the tree.

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Time to take this thing out. Pinks, frying pan.”

“It’s a skillet today Dashie!”

“Whatever.” Rainbow Dash took the skillet and brought it down on the prone form of the creature. The crystalline form shattered.

Then Starlight stopped casting the illusion. The Warriors of Light saw what was really happening at that moment. The Tree of Harmony was cracked, broken from their attacks on the innocent crystalline woman before them. Not a beast at all - just a projection that was fading fast.

Then a large golden spear flew out of the Everfree Forest, impacting the Tree of Harmony right in the central gemstone. It shattered, revealing a true isometric Crystal inside it, glowing a soft white.

Twilight gasped. “It… was a Crystal…”

<You have been fooled! He has>

The spear came back around, impacting the Life Crystal and shattering it into a thousand pieces. A deep laugh filled their ears.

“Well DONE Starlight!” Exdeath said, marching into the clearing.

Starlight, shaking, bowed. “My lord.”

“You’re done here. Return to the castle and assist Sunset.” He ordered.

“As you wish.” She turned to look at the other six mares. There were looks of disbelief on all their faces - a look of utter unbridled rage in the case of Rainbow Dash. But in the case of Pinkie… Pinkie just nodded.

Starlight grasped the necklace Pinkie gave her, winced, and teleported away.

Exdeath marched towards the five mares before him. “Well well well… Look at what you’ve done. The Warriors of Light, sworn to protect the Crystals, have been paramount in destroying one! Oh the irony!”

Twilight growled. “You monster!”

“We will take you down right here right now!” Applejack yelled.

“Then we’ll destroy your entire bucking army!” Rainbow Dash continued.

Exdeath laughed. “I really don’t think so. You are small fries compared to me, little ponies. And you just used a lot of energy fighting against one of the very sources of your power.” He snapped his fingers, and the five of them were encased in bubbles of red lightning.

They all screamed, the pain fooding into them from all sides of their imprisonment. They felt the very life draining away from them. Exdeath laughed. “Goodbye heroes! You’ve been beyond useful!”

“No!” Fluttershy yelled “T-bear, teach him a lesson!”

The T-bear rushed out of the clearing and knocked Exdeath to the side. Then it ate him in one bite.

“YAY!” Fluttershy said. “Good T-bear, you’re a good T-bear…” Then she paused, realizing the prisons were still active around her friends and family. “Oh no…” Tears filled her eyes. “T-BEAR I’M SO SORRY!”

It looked at her with sorrowful eyes. It understood, and accepted her apology.

And then it exploded, a very angry Exdeath pulsing with dark energy. “STUPID ANIMALS!”

He turned to Fluttershy, levitating her up in front of him. “Pinkie’s daughter… I’ve heard so much about you. I’m surprised she let you come on this journey.” He laughed. “Ah, I’ve always thought I would just torture Pinkie to death slowly… But how about I shatter her very soul by vaporizing you from existence?”

Fluttershy began to cry, unable to form any response to that.

“Ha! You’re the daughter of the legendary hero who delivered the final blow to me? Who outmaneuvered me? PATHETIC. You deserve to die for failing to live up to your legacy.”

He raised a hand… and sensed something change behind him. He turned.

Pinkie Pie was no longer in her prison. He had no idea where the prison had even gone.

Her hair was flat, her eyes glaring, and her mouth… twisted into a psycho grin.

In her front hoof was a knife glowing an unnatural pink color.

Exdeath tensed. He had never seen this before.

Pinkie looked right into Exdeath’s face. “I’d drop her if I were you. Right. NOW.”

XXIV - Megalovania

Silence rang throughout the Everfree Forest. The very air shifted and contorted with the faint sound of a droning bell. Pinkie and Exdeath’s eyes were locked, and neither moved for the longest of times.

Exdeath did as was asked. Wordlessly, he released his hold on Fluttershy and the others. The mares fell to the ground, exhausted, barely conscious.

“Well…” Exdeath said, uncertainly evident for the first time in his voice. “This is new.”

“You’ve never pushed me to the breaking point before.” Pinkie grunted, twirling the knife in her hoof.

“Well then.” Exdeath summoned his spear to his hand. “You think you can take me?”

“YEAH!” Ifrit roared, appearing beside her. “FEEL THE HELLFIRE!”

“Not today.” Pinkie said, reaching into herself and somehow removing the Summoner’s crystal. Ifrit looked hurt - but vanished instantly. Pinkie tossed the crystal towards her friends. “Today I fight alone.”

Exdeath relaxed a little. “I see you’ve gone irrational. This match is predetermined in my favor.”

“Yes.” Pinkie said. Then her eyes narrowed. “But you know what? BUCK the rules. I’m going to do what I want, and no amount of impossible event boss is going to stop me!” She began to shake violently.

“What does that even mea-“

“THIS.” Pinkie roared in a voice wholly unnatural. She was in front of Exdeath before he could react, the knife growing to the size of a spear and slicing him from all angles at once, piercing right through the magical blue armor. The flurry of blows tore Exdeath into a dozen pieces, the armor falling to the ground in a puff of shadow.

Pinkie cackled, a psychotic grin on her face. “HA!”

“I know not where you have obtained the newfound power…” Exdeath droned, assembling his armor back together with his mystic shadow. “But I know it is not enough.” He did a backflip, driving his spear right through her body.

He quickly discovered that it was a dummy made entirely of dynamite. It exploded in a shower of pink, sending the blue humanoid flying into the air - where Pinkie was somehow waiting with a hammer made from the skulls of the fallen. “Time for some due revenge!”

Exdeath noticed that one of the skulls was wearing Maud’s legendary helmet. He found himself mildly pleased by the news that she was dead, though he had little time to comprehend the significance of the helmet before the hammer pounded his head into his body.

Exdeath laughed, landing on his feet and his head reforming into its regular shape. “I must applaud you Pinkie, I haven’t had an actual challenge in a while!”

Pinkie’s nose pressed against Exdeath’s face, her grin unchanging. “You should be scared.” She rammed her hoof through his armor and threw him through the Everfree Forest, creating an entirely new clearing with her power. Then she was behind him, stabbing him with all the bloody knives his body could hold at any given time, then twisting them.

Exdeath yelled in rage, leaping into the air and burning all the knives off with dark fire. “You…” He tried to speak.

“NO TALKING!” Pinkie laughed. “TALKING IS RESERVED FOR THINGS WITH SOULS AND PARROTS!” She produced a scythe from nowhere and cut him in half with it. As he was reforming, she grabbed a nearby tree and shoved dropped it on him.

He tore through it with a simple fire spell. “You are losing your reason-“

“News flash: I never had it!” She disappeared in a puff of confetti, reappearing in the air covered in strange pink armor. She curled into a ball and steamrolled into him, all the while glowing with pink energy.

Then she grabbed                   from the sentence and impaled Exdeath with them. Then she punched him from every direction simultaneously, causing the words to fly out of him and land a bit to the right.                            some words

“What in-“

Pinkie wasn’t done yet - she produced a chainsaw that glowed with the blood of millions, hacking Exdeath with it from all angles. “What in indeed my dear Exdeath! Perhaps it’s a CHAINSAW in your CHEST. EVER THINK OF THAT?”

Exdeath roared. “ENOUGH!” He stood tall and raised his fingers, trapping Pinkie in the ball of lightning. “You have proven yourself-“ He realized she wasn’t in the lightning prison. “What in bl-“

Exdeath suddenly found himself in a lightning prison, the power going right through his armor. He shouted out in pain, breaking the imprisonment with a simple burst of shadow energy. He raised his hand. “WHERE ARE YOU?”

“Here!” She said from atop his hand. “You really should look at what you’re holding more often, you bastard.” She giggled.

In a cold rage, he tore her limb right from her body. She turned out to be another dummy, this time stuffed with a strange white substance.

“FIRE IN THE HOLE!” Pinkie yelled from several yards away. She pushed down on a lever that ignited the white explosives. Exdeath was surrounded by a cloud of impossible explosives. “HELL YEAH!” Pinkie yelled. She stood proud, her gaze unwaveringly fixed on Exdeath’s position.

He stood up shakily from the explosion. “What… What is this?”

“This is raw emotion.” Pinkie announced. “This is the power of a friend. A sister. A mother.” She glanced at the terrified form of Fluttershy, her grin softening into a smile. “The power of a mare who has run out of bucks to give about the rules.”

“Are you daring to suggest that you could have always done this?”

“Of course. If only I disregarded everything I held dear. But you know what? The stupid RULES got Maud killed. The stupid RULES said that Fluttershy wouldn’t get any more time with her mother. The stupid RULES said that there was no way I could fight you and win.” Her psychotic grin returned, her long hair whipping in the breeze. “So perhaps you can understand.”

“Not in particular.” Exdeath said. “I understand defying me. I don’t understand holding back when I doomed the previous world. There was much more cause to do this then, Pinkie Pie.”

Pinkie laughed. “Evil Cannot Comprehend Good. You, my friend, are a slave the rules.” She shrugged. “Eh, you don’t need to understand me. YOU JUST NEED TO DIE.”

She appeared behind him and actually started trying. The very fabric of spacetime warped around her, focusing into a point deep inside Exdeath. A miniature nova went off inside him, spreading his armor far and wide.

As it was reassembling, Pinkie stamped her hooves, causing all the trees nearby to alight in a powerful pink fire. Each and every tree focused it’s fire onto Exdeath’s form with a burst of energy. He struggled to move from the onslaught.

Pinkie floated into the air, smiling a smile of death. She raised her front hooves above her head, collecting a sphere of pink energy in them that quickly exceeded her own size. “Hey Exdeath! I WANNA SEE YOU SMILE!”

The sphere of energy impacted into Exdeath, engulfing the nearby area in a tremendous discharge of energy. Then she produced a legendary sword from the aether and tossed it at Exdeath’s weakened body, the blade going right through his skull.

“This… THIS WILL NOT DEFEAT ME!” Exdeath yelled, standing to his full height once more. As he removed the blade from his head he pointed at Pinkie with the other hand.

She felt her insides begin to heat up. “Oh my, you’ve targeted me with gigaflare, whatever shall I do?”

“NOTHING!” Exdeath said. “None can survive the buildup of heat that tears them apart from the inside!”

Pinkie’s mane lit on fire from the heat that expanded from inside her, and her very flesh began to melt off her bones. Her smile remained, even has her entire pink body flowed right off her skeleton. Then the skeleton laughed. “Nice try!”

“While that is extremely impressive, it’s not done yet.”

“Oh I kn-“ Pinkie’s skeleton itself exploded, sending bone dust everywhere. Exdeath’s illusions of victory were short-lived, for he saw the pink flesh and bone fragments slowly coalescing into a pink blob that formed back into a fully-healthy looking Pinkie Pie.

He realized with some aversion that she hadn’t bled at all.

“Does reality not apply to you?” He demanded.

“NOPE!” She answered, standing on her hind legs. “LOOK AT ME! I’M A FREAK OF NATURE! WALKING ON MY HIND LEGS-“ Then one of her legs began to distort into a pixelated mess, causing her to fall to the ground.

Exdeath cocked his head. “What’s the matter? Burning out?”

Pinkie’s body began to contort into impossible shapes, her form not seeming to match up with reality anymore. Exdeath also noted that a few of the nearby trees seemed to be having the same problem - looking like they were far too smooth, rough, or angled in an impossible shape.

“…Ahahahahahhahahah! I see now! You don’t break your rules because your power is unstable!”

“Damnit.” Pinkie muttered, trying to stand on her glitching legs. “I… I’m not going to make it out of this…” She began to tremble in anger, her form slowly reasserting itself. Her psychotic grin vanished, to be replaced with a scowl deeper than any scowl had a right to be. The area around her lit on fire.

Exdeath, for the first time in his existence, felt true fear.

Pinkie grabbed him by the neck and shoved him through a layer of reality. “LET’S TAKE YOU ON A TRIP SHALL WE?”

They appeared on the first world, by the kingdom of Uniforge. They saw the City of Man almost completely rebuilt, towering above the landscape with its awe-inspiring glory.

“How have you-“

“AGAIN!” Pinkie rammed him through the wall of reality once more, appearing in a burned down forest where another Exdeath was fighting an old man who just wouldn’t die.

Exdeath was frozen. “What-“

“AGAIN!” Pinkie yelled, throwing him through the wall once more. They appeared in a world where the grass was green, ponies walked around in a small village, and a crystalline blue castle was seen overlooking the town. Pinkie rammed Exdeath right into that castle.

Exdeath roared. “HOW HAVE YOU ACCESSED THE VOID!?”

“I ALWAYS HAD ACCESS!” She yelled, ramming him through the wall once more. “I ALWAYS HAD ACCESS TO EVERYTHING! SURELY YOU NOTICED THAT I KEEP PULLING ITEMS FROM NOWHERE?!”

Exdeath realized they were floating in space. “How have you done this? Tell me!”

“Silly Bastard!” Pinkie shouted. “IT IS MORE THAN THE VOID. IT IS MORE THAN YOU COULD EVER UNDERSTAND.”

She drove him through the wall again, this time appearing in the street of a suburb. Through a window, they could see a man typing away at a computer.

“What?”

“You have seen the great answer Exdeath!” Pinkie drove him through the wall again. “Now spend the rest of your miserable existence trying to figure out what the hell it meant!”

Then she grabbed him. “TIME TO DIE.”

She appeared next to a volcano and dropped him in.

She appeared next to a star and threw him in.

She appeared in a particle collider and let him have it.

She appeared in a space warp and tor him to shreds.

She devoured him at one point.

Exdeath stood on the white plane of nothingness. “What… What is happening?”

“I am.” Pinkie said.

“I should have been dead by now…” Exdeath started. “I should have been dead by now! HA! AHAHAHAHAHAHHAH!”

Pinkie backed up. “…What? What?”

“YOUR RULES STILL CONTROL YOU!” He stood up. “You can’t just simply kill me can you?”

They appeared back in the Everfree Forest. Pinkie’s eye twitched. “Can’t just kill you? Of course I can!” She raised her hoof.

Exdeath held his arms to wide. “Go for it!”

She touched him. He ceased to exist. Pinkie laughed. “HA! TAKE THAT UNIVERSE! TAKE… TAKE…” She looked at her hooves. They were slowly fading away. “Oh no….”

“Pinkie!” Everypony yelled, running for her despite their weakness. Rarity tried to heal her and Fluttershy embraced her in a hug.

Pinkie drooped. “It’s… It’s no use. I’m fading. I’m going to go away…”

Twilight bit her lip, looking at the now halfway transparent Pinkie. She couldn’t think of a way to reverse whatever this was - she hadn’t even the foggiest idea what was even going on. “I… You did it Pinkie. You won.”

“I did…” Pinkie said. “But as soon as I’m gone he’ll be back. I’m the only thing keeping him from existing.” She began to cry. “I… I couldn’t do it.”

“Don’t you say things like that.” Fluttershy said. “You saved me. You helped me as much as you could. You… You let me be with you.”

Pinkie tried to smile, but her hair didn’t poof. “I… Thank you Fluttershy.” She began to cry. “I… I’m sorry I couldn’t save myself!”

“Sh….” Fluttershy said. “It’s okay…”

“Take the summons.” Pinkie said, sniffing. “They’re yours now. You’ll take good care of them.” Fluttershy’s eyes widened a bit at the responsibility, but she nodded.

Pinkie shook rapidly. “Everypony! Fight Exdeath until your dying breath! Do not let him destroy everything we’ve sacrificed so much for! There is still hope - he has not completed his plan! Destroy him!” She locked Twilight in the eyes. “You. Become the leader you need to be.”

“ME?!”

“Yes. You.” Pinkie trembled. “Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity… Never let go of your family. Ever. For any reason.”

She was almost completely gone. As she vanished, she cracked one last smile. “Looks like you girls have a gift for you.”

In Pinkie’s last moments, she saw a light appear where the Life Crystal had been moments before. It shimmered, and then rushed into Fluttershy.

“SPIRIT OF LIFE: KINDNESS!” Pinkie yelled. They were her last words.

She was gone.

XXV - Smoked Mirrors

Exdeath slowly phased into existence on his throne. The aides in the room jumped in shock, and bowed quickly. Even Sunset swallowed her tongue - she knew when her master was angry. He was methodically tapping his fingers on the edge of his throne. Tap tap tap tap. Tap tap tap tap. Tap tap tap tap. Tap tap tap tap.

He said nothing as he solidified, but the entire room could feel barely checked emotion wafting off him.

An enemy meteor struck down near the edge of the castle, shaking the very foundation of the structure.

“…We are under attack.” Exdeath spoke. It wasn’t a question, but one of the less intelligent gargoyles decided to answer anyway.

“Yes we are, milord.”

“Then why, in the name of all that is and isn’t, are you not out there fighting?”

“Uh-“ The gargoyle felt his insides heat up. He began to gasp, then scream as his very flesh boiled off. Sunset and Starlight dove for cover, some of the others following their lead, others not sure what was going on.

“AAAAAAAA-“ The insulting gargoyle exploded, sending fiery chunks of flesh and bone everywhere, catching more than a few unprepared on fire.

“…The satisfaction has dwindled…” Exdeath muttered.

Starlight winced, looking down at the necklace around her neck. What had happened at that forest? Exdeath was obviously mad - had the heroes won? Had he won? Was there a winner?

It ate at her, not knowing.

Sunset stood up tall. “Milord Exdeath! We will endeavor to destroy the enemies! Just give the word and we will-“

“No. You two need to stay here. You are…” He paused, as if thinking about something he hadn’t considered before. “Important. Those Warriors of Light will come to the castle and try to get to the core. You cannot let them.”

Sunset nodded. “As you wish.” Starlight nodded in return. At least that meant they were still okay - though she was going to have to confront them now.

As they walked out, Starlight sighed. “Sunset, you ever think life is impossible?”

“All the time.” Sunset said, twirling her fiery halberd around haphazardly. “But we’ve got to deal with what we’ve been dealt. We will have the highest of positions when all this is over - the very universe will be ours!”

Starlight frowned. “Yeah I… I suppose so. I just… sometimes I wonder if that’s it, you know? Like… Like I had something but missed it.”

Sunset shrugged. “Eh, I suppose so. I’ve wondered if there was more before. But then I realize I have a super-duper-powerful boss, lots of power, lots of adventure, and an amazing best friend. What more could I ask for really?”

“Besides that legendary sword you keep ranting about all the time?”

Sunset twitched. “The Excaliburr is worth my attention. Like… Oh like that necklace you have is. I’ve noticed how you keep looking at it.”

Starlight blushed. “It’s uh.. It’s something I found on my adventures.”

“Yeah. By the way, how were those Warriors of Light? You spent time with them, I need to know how to totally show them who’s the boss.”

Starlight bit her lip, thinking of her experiences. “Twilight Sparkle is the unspoken leader, even though no Crystal ever chose her in any way. She’s extremely intelligent and in many ways a more competent mage than I am - though not as powerful. She’s caring, determined, and will do whatever she thinks is right.”

“So the smarty pants? Great. Hate those types.”

Starlight shrugged. “Next… Applejack. She’s a down-to-earth type who was chosen to represent… well Earth. Her powers are hard to pin down, more physical in nature - she looks like an ordinary earth pony but is much too strong to be one, and wields a sword like some kind of biped. She’s very honest and will tell you whatever the truth is, regardless of if you want to hear it or not.”

“Do not get hit by the heavy hitter. Got it. Next?”

“Rarity. Not a fighter at all - in fact she finds it distasteful and cares more about politics and fashion. Was an actual princes, apparently, though her haughtiness keeps her from being the leader of the others. She specializes in staying back while fights are going on and manipulating time so her friends can achieve victory.”

“Annoying healer. Always annoying.”

“Then we have Rainbow Dash, Rarity’s sister. They couldn’t be more different. Rainbow Dash is brash, headstrong, and even though her powers relate a lot to magic she tends to charge into fights headfirst. Her main skills involve launching spells at you from any element imaginable, including some sort of flesh-melting spell. She’s also exceptional at flying and speed.”

“Ah… a battlemage. Interesting.”

“And lastly… Pinkie Pie. We all know about her.” Starlight bit her lip as she spoke. “She’s… not exactly what you expect from a legendary mare. She’s happy go lucky, carefree, and seemingly random. She’s also the most powerful of all of them. She has powers that make no sense, in addition to the ability she has to learn any magic you throw at her. She also has a mastery of summons…”

Sunset smirked. “She’s the best fighter indeed. I’ve dueled her twice. I’m looking forward to a rematch.”

“Yeah… She is rather fun isn’t she?”

“Oh you bet! She will understand what it means to face the great Sunset soon!”

“Soon.” Starlight said, smiling. “Soon.”

—

The dropship was speeding back to Exdeath’s castle, soon to join in the war. But until then, Fluttershy had closed the door to the small cargo bay for some alone time. She stared at the ground - the others had tried to be comforting, but they weren’t doing any better than her. Rainbow Dash had tried to put a positive spin on things and just started screaming. Rarity just kept crying despite her forced smiles. Twilight seemed broken, hollow. Applejack was the only one who seemed to retain their sense - and even then, she was still obviously affected.

The yellow pegasus sat down in the cargo hold, glad for some peace and quiet at last.

…only there wasn’t quiet. There were voices in the back of her mind.

“What are we going to do what are we going to do what are we going to do-“

“Be calm. Logic will discover a way out.”

“I WILL MAKE HIM FEEL THE HELLFIRE!”

“Titan… Wut?”

Fluttershy sighed, reaching inside herself and touching the power of the crystal inside her. The summons - all five of them - popped into existence in front of her.

“Could you all keep it down in there? It’s hard to think.” She asked.

Shiva put her hands over her mouth. “Oh I’m sorry! We’ll-“ She glanced at Ifrit. “I’ll be quite from now on.”

Ramuh huffed. “Why should we be quiet? She wasn’t the master we had. She wasn’t the one who bested us. Who said we were under her control?”

“PINKIE!” Ifrit yelled. “AND YOU BETTER REMEMBER THAT BEARDY!”

At the mention of her mother’s name, Fluttershy drooped and started crying again. The three elemental summons continued bickering with each other.

Titan sat down next to her, shaking the ship. “You new master.”

“…Yes…” Fluttershy sniffed. “Though I don’t know if you deserve you… You were hers…”

“Her daughter. Right is yours.” Titan responded.

“Right?” Fluttershy said. “But I’m weak… I can’t be the master of you…”

“We can make you strong.”

“But why would you do that?”

“Daughter.” Was his only response.

Fluttershy sighed. She looked at the three elemental summons - still arguing viciously, obviously hurt at Pinkie’s…

“…Do you want revenge?”

“Them? Yes. Me? No. Revenge is shallow.”

Fluttershy looked up in surprise. “You… You really believe that?”

“Yes.”

“I… I thought I needed to take revenge…”

“You do not.” Titan said. “Revenge swallows one whole.”

“But… I still want to fight.”

“Right and revenge are different.” He looked deep into Fluttershy. “You can fight. You can have our strength. You do not have to dwell on vengeance. Only what is right.”

Fluttershy sighed. “…Can I?”

“Not fully. We are all but human - or pony.” Titan looked up wistfully. “We cannot be perfect. We cannot be right. But we can try.”

“That’s… That’s really profound.” Fluttershy said. “Thank you Titan.”

“You are welcome. Excuse me.” He stood up. “STOP!” He yelled at the other three.

They turned to him in fear.

“We are done.” He said. “Silence.” He ordered.

The other three nodded vigorously, and vanished into the aether. Titan leaned down to Fluttershy. “You have our strength. Always.”

Fluttershy nodded, feeling a little better.

—

“Here we are. We can see the battle now.” Applejack said.

The island of Exdeath was on fire. Meteor impacts were everywhere, part of the castle had collapsed, and only one of the towers even remained standing. It didn’t look good for Exdeath’s forces - but they kept fighting anyway, unwavering loyalty for their master driving them forward.

“We’re being given coordinates.” Twilight said, looking at the screen, eyes unfocused. “Limestone apparently.”

“Land where they say.” Rarity said. “We need to stop this madness.”

Rainbow Dash growled. “I am going to make Exdeath suffer… Slowly…”

Fluttershy put a hoof on Rainbow Dash’s shoulder - and shook her head slowly.

“What? No?”

“Bitterness leads to bitterness.”

“What do you suggest then? That I bucking forgive him?!”

Fluttershy winced. “No. But don’t let your only drive be revenge. It… doesn’t work.”

Rainbow Dash twitched. “But… I…” Then she realized who she was talking to - Pinkie’s daughter. “I… I see…”

“But we still fight.” Fluttershy said. “Always.”

“Always.” Applejack echoed.

Twilight mumbled something, a faraway look in her eyes.

The dropship landed in a camp, doors sliding open to reveal a bunch of makeshift trenches and tents in the scorched landscape. Limestone was there, ready to meet them.

She looked like she was barely holding together when they came out. Then she realized Pinkie and Marble weren’t with them.

“Where are they?” She deadpanned.

“Marble’s with Discord.” Fluttershy said. “Pinkie’s… gone.”

Limestone grinned. “Well that’s just great! You know why it’s great?!”

Rarity gasped. “What-“

“MY POWER RUNS ON ANGER POINTY MAGGOT!” Limestone yelled, drawing her swords from seemingly nowhere. “IT’S TIME FOR SOME DEATH.”

“Is there a plan?” Applejack asked.

“NOPE!” Limestone yelled. “They’re weak anyway. Gabby, you’re in charge. Warriors of Light, WE’RE MAKING THE PUSH. Try to keep up.”

Then Limestone was off, smashing through a wall of earth keeping the bullets of the enemy out. She charged right into ranks of dozens of gargoyles, slicing them in half with deadly precision. “TWO SISTERS!” She yelled. “DO YOU UNDERSTAND? TWO! TWO.” She roared, berserking even more than Applejack. “YOU WILL ALL PAY, AND YOU WILL ALL WISH YOU WERE ALLOWED SUFFER IN THE DEEPEST PITS OF TARTARUS. IT’S TOO GOOD FOR YOU.”

Rainbow Dash glanced at Fluttershy, understanding. What was before them was a mare overcome with anger - a mare who had lost control of herself and her life. It was a harrowing sight to see a mare lose all sense of her dignity and integrity, losing all restraint and honor. Stooping to a level so low that she might as well be one of the enemy.

But she was leading them to the castle… So they followed and gave support where they could. But they kept their distance - Limestone was in such a fury they expected she might cut them down by accident. Though would it be an accident?

She was just out for blood after all…

They arrived at the doors rather quickly, Limestone tearing the one that was still on its hinges off. “Several squads have been sent in here already.” She growled. “None reported back. Time to do it myself. Come.”

They crawled through the familiar corridors, the sounds of battle outside - though a lack of excitement on the inside. The occasional gargoyle or pony was easily taken care of with a loose spell fired absent-mindedly.

They charged through hall after hall, room after room, looking for Exdeath - they found nothing.

“Something’s wrong…” Twilight said. “These rooms… they all seem empty. Devoid of detail. And I swear we keep entering the same rooms again and again, but we don’t see any of those we’ve killed…”

Applejack grunted. “We’re being lied to. This castle isn’t what it seems.”

Limestone growled. “No crap.” She shook. “Pinkie would have been able to figure it out. She just knew things.”

Everyone looked down at the ground.

“I’ll try dispelling the illusion.” Twilight monotoned. “Give me a few minutes…”

—

Marble silently watched the statue of Discord. He silently watched back.

She heard the sound of flapping wings behind her. She hummed.

“Hey Marble.” Gilda said, entering into a coughing fit. Marble shot her a look. “What? I know I’m sick. I didn’t expect to come back from here.”

Marble’s eyes widened. She shook her head.

“You know you have to do it.” Gilda said. “Pinkie was the only one who could navigate that mess otherwise. And you sensed her passing just as I did.”

Marble looked down at the ground. She sighed. Then she turned to Gilda and nodded.

“Good. I’m dying anyway… Don’t feel guilty.”

Marble spoke. “It’s not guilt. It’s never is. It’s pity.”

“Oh?”

“The pain.” Was all she said in response. Then she looked deep into Gilda’s eyes, asking if the griffon was sure. Gilda nodded.

Maud placed her hoof on the ground, and a magical circle surrounded Gilda, shifting from the normal purple color to a deep, menacing red. The glyphs appeared, latching onto Gilda’s skin - making her scream.

Marble winced - the blood sacrifice hadn’t even really begun. There was a reason she never did this…

Gilda yelled as her talons began to turn into dark red charcoal dust, her wings fraying at the edges. Her eyes began to melt, and her blood started to pool in an unnatural shape. She gagged, letting out her last words.

“Dawn is over! Now comes the light! The Darkness has no sway! AAAAAAa-“ Then her vocal cords faded, the griffon now unable to make noises. But she suffered for a full five minutes before she was reduced to cinders.

The spirit of the sacrifice rose from the ground, a formless red ethereal blob. Then it shot towards Exdeath’s castle, ready to make things right.

The Shrine was once again the way it was. Marble stared once more into Discord’s eyes. She sighed.

Discord seemed to stare at her judgingly.

—

Twilight felt a force of magic blow past her, infecting the very castle itself. “That’s not me!” She shouted, as the illusion began to fall. The simple brick walls became fleshy, red, wet - seemingly made of faces. The ground became red, covered in carpet woven from pony hair. The ceiling dripped blood and other bodily fluids, the air of the place feeling warm and damp.

Limestone was disgusted. Then she realize what had happened. “Oh no.”

“What?” Applejack asked.

“Gilda. She… She must have sacrificed herself…” Limestone sat on the ground, unable to move. “She… She was the only one left with enough connection to Exdeath… Why… Why… Why…”

A voice screamed from the castle itself - Limestone paid it no mind. She had broken, no longer able to understand the world around her. Instead, the white light that began to take shape before them was left to the Warriors of Light. It was two legged, two armed, and humanoid. It was also green, but encased in a white aura that kept it’s true form from being seen.

“I am Carbuncle.” He said, the voice hard to pin down. “The illusion of this castle.”

“Oh.” Twilight said. “I don’t suppose you’d be interested in telling us where Exdeath is?”

“I…” Carbuncle twitched. “GAH! He… He has me bound. I cannot move… I am bound by Eidolon rules…”

“So.. We have to fight you before you can help us?”

“Sadly, yes. My sealing is more advanced than most.” He sighed. “Hero of Magic… Bound to a Castle of Darkness…”

Fluttershy spoke up. “We… We don’t want to hurt you!”

“You must! For you need to be taken to Exdeath!”

Fluttershy summoned Shiva. Shiva smirked. “Carbuncle… Come on, it’s us!”

“You were freed as well? Good. You should be able to take care of me quickly. Make it swift and bind me to the summoner. It will be a relief to be free of this hell.”

“But… It’ll hurt…” Fluttershy objected.

“Pegasus, your meekness fills my heart with joy. Rest assured that when the illusion was dispelled by pain was decreased a hundredfold. Defeating me will do nothing worse than I have already experienced.”

“O…okay…” Fluttershy said. “Titan? Ramuh? Could you please be gentle…?”

“Sure, my lady.” Ramuh said. Ifrit said nothing and just started burning Carbuncle. The shifty humanoid took the damage head on, the rules forcing him to respond, punching Ramuh out of existence - but this allowed Shiva to freeze him solid. He retaliated with a burst of random magics, white powerful bursts that pushed the summons away.

Rarity grunted, trying to stop Carbuncle’s time - and failing. “What?”

Rainbow Dash grunted. “Here, I’ll just drain the magic from him.” Her wings lit up a purple color and Carbuncle’s power began to flow into her. “Yeah!”

Carbuncle gasped. “Good… Good! Now finish it!”

Titan appeared, driving Carbuncle into the ground. He exploded, and his essence flowed to Fluttershy. She was crying.

“Do not let tears fall, fair maiden. I am eternally grateful for what has been done here. I bind myself to you.”

“O.. Okay…”

“Down the hall, first door on the left. Take the third right and you’ll be in the hall leading to Exdeath’s private chambers. Hurry, time is of the essence.”

The Warriors of Light nodded - then turned to the broken Limestone. Twilight sighed. “She’s… She’s too far gone. She’s snapped.”

“We can’t just leave her.” Rarity objected.

“No… We can’t.” Twilight said. She lifted Limestone into the air, touching her mind. “Limestone Pie, you must return to your army.”

“I must return to my army…” She said, weakly. Twilight set the earth pony down and she walked away.

“Ah’m not sure how Ah feel about that…” Applejack said.

“She wasn’t capable of thinking.” Twilight said. “But yes, that is… Wrong.”

The five mares looked down the hall. “Well.” Rarity said. “I guess this is it. A bit of a final confrontation if you will. Going up against the source of all our problems.”

They trotted down the hall. Rainbow Dash sighed. “He… He’s evil. We need to kill him.”

Fluttershy reluctantly nodded. “Yeah… But the Warriors of Dawn couldn’t kill him, only seal him away in the Otherworld…”

“We aren’t doing that again.” Rarity said. “This menace must end.”

“You’re all right.” Twilight said. “We cannot let this stand. So much death has come from this man. He must not be allowed to stand any longer. He must be struck down.”

“Careful…” Fluttershy said.

“I… I know.” Twilight sighed. “It’s.. It’s hard.”

Fluttershy put a hoof on her. “I know.”

They walked through a pair of large double doors, leading into a grand hall. The fleshy walls pulsed as they entered, the banners shaking in disgusting ways. The torches lit up with unpleasant blue and orange fire, directing the group’s eyes to the large doors at the end of the hall.

In front of the doors were two familiar unicorns. Starlight kept her face expressionless, but Sunset allowed herself to cackle. “Welcome Warriors to the most amazing hall on this world! Where the greatest of showdowns will occur - the Champions of Exdeath versus the Warriors of Light! Betting pools are open twenty-four seven, though not even one is going to be needed before the verdict is certain.”

“You.” Rainbow Dash said, pointing at Starlight. “YOU!”

Starlight made no response.

“SAY SOMETHING YOU TRAITOR!”

Starlight twitched, her face contorting in rage. “You… You… You…” She choked. “Never mind. Not going to give you a response.” Her face darkened. “You will not be making it to Exdeath.”

“That’s right!” Sunset shouted. “HIT THE MUSIC! LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!"

The hall changed- the fleshy walls became more colorful, a strange disco ball dropped from the ceiling, and an "audience" of strange blobby creatures filled the sidelines. They cheered.

"What in-" Applejack began, but Sunset's announcer voice stopped her.

"Prepare for the showdown of the ages! The fate of the world hangs in the balance! Welcome one and all to... THE GREATEST BATTLE IN THE HISTORY OF EVER!"

XXVI - Glittering Flames

“The battle is set.” Sunset said, smirking. “Let us fight like… wait.” She blinked. “We’re all mares. Fudge that joke.” She generated her halberd. “But it matters not! You shall all feel the amazing pain of my flaming weapon eviscerating you!”

Starlight wordlessly clutched her necklace and lit her horn, creating dozens of magical beams that attacked the Warriors from all angles.

The crow cheered as the five mares were engulfed in an explosion.

“Oh come on Starlight I wanted to have some fun-“ Then Sunset’s eyes widened. There was a white shield in there…

Carbuncle smiled. “It feels good to have some say in what happens again.”

“Thank you mister Carbuncle.” Fluttershy said. “Everypony okay?”

“Physically fine.” Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash cracked her neck. “Alright… Let’s see how you like this!” She enveloped her wings in the green energy and shot towards Starlight - only to get chopped down by Sunset.

“Mmm, sorry Crash, can’t have you ignoring me. Burn!”

Rainbow Dash lit her wings on fire, directing Sunset’s fire blast into her wings. “You just gave me a charge.” She shot the improved fire spell back at the unicorn, only to have sunset catch it in her telekinesis and send it back - stronger than before.

The ball of fire went back and forth, getting ever bigger. Applejack took the opportunity to attack Sunset with her sword - only to find the flaming halberd deflecting the blow. “Wha-?”

“It’s called multitasking, hick.” Sunset muttered, slicing at Applejack without even looking at her. Applejack growled, turning berserk and rushing Sunset, grunting through her now way-too-hot sword. Sunset was forced to buck her in the face, having a harder and harder time dealing with Rainbow Dash.

“You call that a buck?” Applejack laughed. “Mare, you need to work out more. This is a buck.” She reared her legs back, only for Starlight to toss her into the air. She landed on the ground with a thud, breaking a leg in the process. Rarity quickly mended the damage, and Twilight shot a few lasers at Starlight in retaliation.

Rainbow Dash lost the fire conflict, her entire body getting engulfed in the far-too-powerful fireball. She was launched back into a wall. Starlight picked her up and blasted her with a magic beam - causing her to scream.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rarity yelled, feeding Rainbow Dash her own white magic - speeding the pegasus up so she could move out of the beam. Starlight kept up - increasing her own speed dramatically.

“Cheater.” Rarity muttered. Starlight made no vocal response.

“Cheater?” Sunset laughed. “You’re one to talk, white mage. All this healing you have, it’s so cheap.”

“Oh. Well then I guess we’re even.” She stuck her tongue out, raising some magical shields on herself in anticipation of the flamethrower that Sunset was charging. The barrage of flames burnt right through them, burning past her. She yelled in pain - she was feeling faint…

“FEEL THE HELLFIRE!” ifrit roared, coming into existence out of Fluttershy and directing the fire away from Rarity and onto Sunset. The unicorn smirked, lighting her horn and directing the fire at ifrit.

“HA! FIRE CANNOT HURT ME MISCREANT!”

“But this can.” Starlight said, throwing Rainbow Dash into Ifrit, dissipating him.

“WOOHOO! GO STARLIGHT!” Sunset cheered, throwing her halberd at Applejack again. “This is awesome!”

“It is most certainly not awesome!”Rainbow Dash yelled, picking herself up and jetting for Starlight, only to find herself levitated by the unicorn’s telekinesis again. “You know, this is a really cheep triiiiiiiick-“

Twilight caught her this time. “I’ll keep her busy for now. You just-“

“Oh is that planning I hear?” Sunset shouted, teleporting in-between then in a burst of flame. “Such wonderful ideas! Unfortunately plotting is what WE do, not you.” She sliced at both of them with two halberds now, Twilight being the one unable to dodge. She yowled as her blood went flying.

Starlight lifted the purple unicorn up into the air and glared. She started to squeeze.

Twilight gagged, looking Starlight straight in the eye. She saw hatred behind the face, but also sadness… It was the face of a unicorn in turmoil…

“Please…” Twilight said.

“No. Please don’t try.” Starlight said. “It has to be this way.”

Twilight glared. “I can’t let that happen.”

“I know.” Starlight said, squeezing harder. Twilight fought back, exploding in a burst of purple magic.

The crowd roared as Twilight and Starlight entered a heated magic laser duel.

Meanwhile, Sunset was realizing she was fighting four on one right now. Applejack was making her focus on the halberd, she had to keep dodging Rainbow’s flesh-melting spell, and Fluttershy was currently sitting on the shoulders of Titan, directing him to SMASH. Not to mention that Rarity kept messing with Sunset’s personal flow of time…

“We need some bacon!” Sunset roared, lighting herself on fire, the light extending from her in tendrils of holy magic, attempting to entrap the Warriors of Light. It didn’t work - Rarity pushed through it with her own white magic, resulting in a healing of the enemy party.

Sunset gritted her teeth. “This… This is amazing!” She started laughing. “This is the best fight I’ve had in ages! I applaud you! I…” She blinked. “…Where is Pinkie?”

Starlight’s eyes widened in alarm upon hearing this. Sunset whirled around rapidly. “Alright, Ponk, where you hiding? I applaud your clever little ruse, but I know you’re here somewhere…”

“You really are an idiot.” Rainbow Dash growled.

“Oh no, see, I noticed the discrepancy and am now expecting a pink blur to appear form nowhere and impale me with a confectionary of some sort.” Sunset responded.

“SHE’S FREAKING DEAD.”

Starlight’s entire world crashed at that moment. She stopped firing, taking several steps back form Twilight, looking at Rainbow Dash in alarm. “W-W-What?”

Sunset blinked. “Wait. She’s… Gone?” Her face contorted in rage. “She was a great warrior! Who dare dishonor her in such a way?”

“Your boss.” Applejack said. “She gave Exdeath everything and she couldn’t keep herself alive.”

Sunset’s demeanor vanished. The crowd went silent. She clapped her hooves, and the disco ball retreated into the ceiling. The crowd shuffled out of the room, and the hall returned to it’s dark self.

Starlight was shaking. “I don’t understand… I don’t understand… I don’t understand…”

Sunset glowered. “This is… unfortunate.” She turned to look at the Warriors of Light. “…My condolences.”

“YOU? OFFERING CONDOLENCES?” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“…Those who are strong are worthy of respect. It is a tragedy when great warriors die, on either side of the conflict. Even if I killed you, it would be a tragedy.” She frowned. “But unfortunately necessary. This is war.”

“Sunset…?” Starlight managed to say through her turmoil.

“I haven’t been taking it seriously.” Sunset said. “I looked up to Pinkie, honestly. I saw something in her I wanted to see in myself. And look where it got her.”

“It got her far.” Fluttershy said. “She saved us from him.”

“I… Suppose so. But here you are.” She paused. “If you do get past us, you will have to face him anyway - without her. How will you survive?”

“We’ll find a way.” Applejack said. “We always do.”

Sunset frowned. “Pinkie didn’t.”

Twilight took a step forward. “You could be the reason we survive. Look at you two - honorable, strong, respectable mares who know what’s happening here is wrong. You both feel that Exdeath has gone too far. That he has no regard for any life - not even your own.”

“But we prove ourselves to him!” Sunset yelled. “We… We can’t just turn our back on him!”

“Yes you can.” Applejack said. “There’s nothing stopping you. You know what the right choice is.”

“He’ll kill us.” Starlight said matter of factly. “Then he won’t have anyone in his inner circle that could ever speak up to him.”

“Yeah!” Sunset said. “Wait what?”

“He’s a bad man. But I don’t see how to defeat him. Betraying him won’t work. So we have to work on the inside.” Starlight said, clutching the necklace in her hoof. “Pinkie told me to do what I had to do before I sold you to Exdeath. I’m going to keep doing that. Right now I have to serve Exdeath. I am sorry. I’ll keep you alive if I can.” Tears started streaking down her face. “I never wanted this!”

The Warriors of Light were taken aback. As was Sunset. “I…” Sunset frowned. “I didn’t know Starlight…”

“Yeah…” Starlight smiled sadly. “You didn’t. But you do now.”

Sunset sighed, turning back to the Warriors of Light. “We have to fight you. There’s no way around it. And we have to win. But know this, we will do whatever we can to minimize the damage Exdeath will cause in his future dominion.” Starlight nodded in agreement.

Rarity frowned. “That… is a small comfort I suppose. But we can’t just sit and let this happen.”

Sunset nodded. “Then let us cross blades - for real this time. No games. This is a honorable fight between those of clashing ideals.”

Twilight put a hoof down. “Agreed.”

“It… was nice to meet you all. For real.” Sunset said.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “You’re a real dork you know that?”

“Dork? HA! I am the greatest warrior to ever grace the surface of this planet! I am the polar opposite of dork!”

Rainbow Dash chuckled. Then put on her serious face. “It’s go time.”

“I’m so sorry…” Starlight said, lighting her horn.

“So are we.” Twilight said in response.

Then Sunset and Starlight began to dance. They stood on their hind legs, putting their front hooves around each other and stepping to an unheard tune. Then they began to glow with an intense white fire, forming into one creature - four legs, two arms…

A centaur with fur the color of fire and mane the color of stars.

“We are Sunlight.” It spoke. “And-“

The necklace around the centaur’s neck lit up in a pink aura. Pinkie Pie’s voice came through it. “And thus, a million shippers screamed ‘blasphemy!’ Teehee!”

The centaur looked down at the necklace. Then she began to shake and laugh a lunatics laugh. “AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHH-“ She fell apart into the two unicorns once more - Sunset laughing like a maniac on the ground, Starlight bawling like a foal.

Twilight blinked. “…What?”

Fluttershy smiled. “She…” She sniffed. “She still has it, even now that she’s gone…”

“Cracking some bizarre joke!” Sunset yelled. “I mean… I mean…. WHO DOES THAT? Ahahahahah… hahahahahah…” She curled up into a fetal position and began rocking herself. “Pinkie Pie that’s who…”

Starlight looked at the necklace around her neck, tears flowing freely. “I can’t… I can’t… I can’t do this… I shouldn’t do this? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”

The necklace said nothing. It just sat there like the inanimate object it was.

Fluttershy walked up to the two broken mares. Then she grabbed them in a hug. “We don’t need to fight. We can figure this out. That’s what she would have wanted.” She looked at the pink necklace. “…She knew she had to die to save us. But that’s done. We are here now. And we need to stop Exdeath.”

Starlight and Sunset looked up at her. Sunset chuckled. “Well, that certainly sounds like her…” She stood up. “You know what? Buck it! Let’s do something crazy!”

Starlight stood up as well. “Yeah!”

“And the plot has come full circle.”

Everypony turned to see the bit doors at the end of the hall wide open, and Exdeath standing in the doorway, looking impatient. “This… The culmination of previous encounters. Why were they given emotions? Why were they given drives? For this. For the heel-face turn. For a meaningful confrontation. For drama.” He growled. “This sickens me.”

Sunset took a step back. Then she glared. “You know what? BUCK you. You’re going down blue armored nimrod from the depths of Everfree!”

“My heritage is none of your concern. Nothing is if your concern. Not anymore.” The mares noticed that he was talking differently than before - no rage, no bombastic voice, just a strange hollowness behind his words that they couldn’t explain. “You will be punished for your insolence, even though it was inevitable.”

Applejack frowned. “You’re not making any sense…”

“It matters not.” Exdeath said. He snapped his fingers, and a strange black sphere appeared, shifting into a similar creature to the one they fought on the tower. It lunged Starlight and Sunset, gobbling them up quickly.

“No!” Sunset yelled, lighting herself on fire. “NO!” As she and Starlight passed the event horizon, she put everything she could into a final fire blast. The portal creature was engulfed, exploding in a flash of distorted spacetime.

But Sunset and Starlight were still gone.

“Meaningless.” Exdeath said. “Why do you stare at me appalled? It was the way things must be. They were not to be forgiven for their failure.” Then he began to laugh - his older self returning to the surface. “But then again… You won’t need to worry about that much longer, heroes. I know your secret. And it will not be enough to save you. I am Exdeath! And I will not be defeated again!”

The Warriors of Light readied themselves for what seemed to be the final confrontation…

XXVII - Paramount Destiny, Pointless Future

The Warriors of Light stared at Exdeath - but they were barely able to keep themselves together.

“Fear…” Exdeath said. “Such an entertaining emotion. Shallow and meaningless as it is…” He turned to the five mares, laughing. “Let it be known that this time, the spotlight is on me, instead of a certain dead pony.”

He raised his hand. “Sadly, I cannot simply devour you in a burst of Void. That would, apparently, be against the flow. And what has been proven to work before…” He raised his hands, encasing all five of them in red lightning. “…Will not.”

Carbuncle burst out of Fluttershy and dispelled the red lightning. “You are correct, defiler.”

“Ah Carbuncle… I see you’ve escaped from your prison.” Exdeath waved his hand.

Carbuncle frowned. “Why are you not furious?”

“Oh I AM.” Exdeath said. “But when one goes through an epiphany, emotions become… evolved.”

“What in blazes are you talking about?”

“The only one who could ever understand is dead. Good riddance.” Exdeath laughed, driving his spear through Carbuncle and dissipating him. “Same to you, my oldest of foes.”

“What are we doing?” Applejack roared. “ATTACK HIM!”

The five mares surged forth as one, bringing magic, blade, and summon down on Exdeath in one big wave. He was pushed back somewhat, laughing the whole way. “I am the great Lord Exdeath. It will take more than the power of Friendship to stop me, foolish ponies.” He lashed out, black orbs of energy flying from his fingers, distorting spacetime around them.

Rainbow Dash was caught in it, the spacetime warps pulling feathers off her wings and twisting her body into an unnatural shape. “AUGH!” She lashed out with her horrendously painful attack, hitting Exdeath dead on with the green cloud.

He laughed. “Biotoxin! A most evil spell Rainbow Dash! Wherever did you learn that?” He surrounded his hand in a green aura, preparing a retaliation.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rarity said, lighting her horn and cancelling Exdeath’s spell.

“Mmm… The white mage has improved I see.” He shrugged. “Suppose I should take care of her first…”

Rarity quickly raised her shields, providing some resistance to Exdeath’s flying spear, but not stopping it all the way. She was still nicked in the side, wailing in pain.

“Merely a flesh wound, princess.” He snarked. He punched behind him before Applejack could make use of her sneak attack. “Do you not see, daughter of Daring Do, that I have eyes everywhere?”

“Not on your feet.” Applejack muttered, driving her sword into his ankle. He roared in anger, kicking the orange pony across the room, slamming her into the wall with a sickening crack.

Twilight and Shiva charged together, freezing Exdeath’s feet to the ground. He snapped his fingers, shattering the ice and sending a fire spell to keep Rainbow Dash busy. He rose his hands, removing all gravity in the room, before restoring it at ten times the strength, crushing the mares to the ground.

Rarity lit her horn, counteracting the spell with one of strength to her friends. “Come on dears! Get up!”

“Oh Ah’m up alright…” Applejack roared, going berserk. Fluttershy flew alongside her, generating Titan. Titan grabbed the enraged Applejack and charged Exdeath with her, using her as an extension of himself.

Exdeath was unable to block the impressive attacks of the eidolon and pony combo. He was also rather speechless at how absurd the attack was. “Absurdity… It is one of your defining characteristics.”

“Yes. And we wear that tag proudly.” Twilight said, smirking. “For we knew a very special mare who taught us it’s value.” She encased her horn in an ethereal structure, lengthening it by three times. Unable to tear himself away from Titan and Applejack, Exdeath found Twilight’s horn embedded into his side.

“Foolish creature-“

“Not as foolish as you think.” Twilight focused, telekinetically grabbing Exdeath’s helmet and boots, and dragging them towards her horn as hard as she could. Exdeath let out a shriek of anger as his armor buckled in on itself, letting the shadows inside seep out of the blue encasement.

“Perhaps not.” Exdeath’s voice echoed. “But still foolish.” He exploded himself, vaporizing Titan’s form, tossing Applejack and Twilight away. Then the shadows reformed themselves, reconstituting his armor piece by piece.

“Sorry!” Rarity said, tugging at a shoulder piece with her magic. “Not letting you rebuild yourself!”

“It is not your choice.” Exdeath roared.

Rainbow Dash barreled into the partially formed body before it could drag the piece away from Rarity. “It’s mine!”

“Everypony!” Twilight yelled. “Grab a piece of armor and keep it from him!”

Fluttershy nodded, picking up a gauntlet and sending Ramuh to grab a leg piece. Rainbow Dash grabbed a glove while Twilight grabbed as many as she could.

“FOOLS!” Exdeath said, his shadowy form seeping out of what little armor he had retained to himself. “CAN YOU NOT SEE-“ Then he stopped short. Then he began to laugh. “Of course you can’t see! That’s the point! Heroes… Blindly fighting against their enemies, their foes, caring not for the odds. Caring not that they could be killed with a thought. Throwing logic to the wind. It gives you… Unpredictability.”

He stood up, snapping his fingers and teleporting his armor back onto himself. “Do you now see how pointless your plan was?”

“Doesn’t matter!” Rainbow Dash yelled, ramming into him once again. “We’re going to keep whaling on you till you go down!”

“Rainbow Dash…” Exdeath began to laugh. “You think it doesn’t matter? Fine then…” He pointed right at her. “Have some of what Pinkie got.”

Rainbow Dash felt something deep inside her ignite. A point of heat at her exact center of gravity, burning away at her insides, slowly spreading to the rest of her body. She began to panic. “Rarity! Help me! I’m going to explode!”

Rarity paled. “I… I don’t know how to do that!” She lit her horn, enveloping Rainbow Dash in a blue light. “Did that help?”

“I think it just removed my pain!” She glanced at her hoof. “I’m on fire now. I’m on fire now.”

Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy tackled Exdeath to the ground. “Undo it! Save her!”

“Gigaflare cannot be undone once cast, Warriors.” He stood up, shaking them off without much effort. “I can’t even stop it. Pinkie didn’t stop it - she just cheated around it. You don’t have a cheat do you?”

Rainbow Dash began to panic. She couldn’t feel any pain - but she knew she was on fire and that flesh was not supposed to turn that color. She also felt some kind of pressure deep within her that wanted out. She spoke out in a raspy voice. “Help… Help…”

“Freeze yourself!” Applejack suggested.

Rainbow Dash complied, flapping her charring wings - encasing her entire body in a blizzard spell. Rarity assisted as well, freezing Rainbow Dash’s personal time stream as well.

“Interesting thoughts…” Exdeath said, kicking Fluttershy out of the way. “But it won’t matter. Time spells do not last forever. And the ice will not prevent the explosion building up.” Exdeath laughed. “She is going to die!”

Twilight’s eyes went white and her horn encased itself in triplicate magic. “YOU WILL CURE HER OR YOU WILL SUFFER.”

“Unicorn.” Exdeath said, calmly standing up. “You have no idea how much I suffer already.”

Twilight’s voice reverberated. “IS THAT A NO?”

“Of course it’s a no. There is nothing you could do to me-“

“GOODBYE.” The horn’s energy stopped building up, blowing a hole right through Exdeath’s chest, the blackness inside him hissing in anger and pain.

“Impressive.” Exdeath stated, touching the hole in his armor. “You really do have determination. I have her trapped.”

The pause wore off - and the ice began to drip, the pegasus inside it glowing like the inside of a volcano.

“Behold! Another of your number falls!” Exdeath made no further noise as the ice cube shattered into just under a hundred pieces. Twilight’s magic aura fell, her eyes welling with tears. “No…”

The rest of her words were drowned out by Rarity’s scream. “NO!!!” She yelled, her shields not doing much to muffle her voice. “NO!” She ran to the broken pieces of Rainbow Dash, trying to scoop them up with her hooves. She wailed, words not even possible.

Exdeath stood up, dusting his hands. “There. It can be done. A hero can be killed.” He turned to the three who were not wailing. “Now it’s your turn-“ Exdeath felt something powerful behind him. “Wait…”

Rarity’s horn was encased in a threefold aura, and she was levitating all the pieces of Rainbow Dash above her in a giant white aura. Rarity’s eyes were closed and her expression serene. “Come back…” She muttered.

A flash of white light blinded everyone in the room. When they could see once more, there was Rainbow Dash, as if nothing had happened. “AWW YEAH! That was awesome!”

Exdeath threw his spear to the ground. “AAAAAAARGH! I am beginning to understand Pinkie’s frustration!” He pointed his finger at Rarity. “You are the only healer strong enough to accomplish this right now. You will explode.”

Rarity’s shield sparkled. She smirked. “Oh I don’t think so. Take a closer look at my barriers, Darling.”

Exdeath frowned. What…?

Reflect.

He felt a heat begin to well up inside himself.

“NO!” He yelled. “NO! Not now!” He felt his very core begin to heat up. “This will not be the end!” He stood up and ran for he knew his time was short.

The five mares stood there for a moment, processing the fact that Exdeath had just fled. From them.

“Follow him!” Applejack yelled, and all of them kicked into high gear. Rarity continually sped them up and healed them along the way - though admittedly, she felt weak herself. She was taxing her reserves too much…

They ran into a large chamber that was all black - save for two things in it. The blue form of Exdeath, and the tremendous purple form of a Crystal.

“What?” Applejack said.

“Aether Crystal!” Exdeath roared, his armor already red from the heat. “How close are we?”

The voice, unlike all other Crystals, seemed menacing, even evil. It did not fill those who heard it with confidence - it filled them with feelings of fear and inadequacy.

“I don’t have a few more moments!” He roared.

“You. Are. Lying.” Exdeath said, reaching into himself and drawing his spear. “You’ve been lying this entire time.”

<...Yes. That changes nothing.> The Aether Crystal pulsed.

“No.” Exdeath said laughing. “You don’t know! You’ve been powering my castle! My forces! My technology! You have been weakened!”

 The Aether Crystal droned.

Exdeath was steaming at this point, his shadowy essence spiraling off of him, his body threatening to give out completely. “IT HASN’T BEEN AT FULL POWER PURPLE MINERAL!”

Exdeath felt himself begin to explode. He reached into the pedestal the Crystal was sitting on and pulled a cord out, rushing the machine into overdrive. The Aether Crystal screamed, retaliating with a spell so brilliant it vaporized Exdeath on the spot, his armor crumbling to dust and his essence vanishing.

 The Aether Crystal roared.

“Didn’t you just kill him?” Twilight said, her voice echoing the stunned minds of her companions.

“What can we do?” Twilight asked. She knew the Aether Crystal had been working with Exdeath - but she also knew it was probably all that was keeping this world together right now.

<…I told myself I would never do this…>

“Do what?”

<…Prepare yourself.> The Aether Crystal flashed, flooding Twilight Sparkle with a beam of purple energy. She yelped in surprise - but not in pain. She felt the magic flood into her horn, into her brain, and into her back. She let out and gasp of awe as the magic flooded over her.

Twilight set down to the ground, shaking her head slowly. “O… Okay…” Her eyes sparkled with magic energy. She shook herself, trying to wake up, spreading her wings.

Wings?! She looked at her back at the two large feathered appendages. The other mares were just as surprised. “HOLY F-“

Then the gigaflare went off, driving itself right into the Aether Crystal. It roared in a shrill agony, deep tones driving the ears of the Warriors of Light to bleed. The Aether Crystal - the last of the Crystals- shattered, blowing it’s various chunks right out through the ceiling and into the air several stories up.

“Muahahaahahahahhahahah….” Exdeath’s laughs filled the room, coming from the now-empty spot where the Aether Crystal once was. “I alone am victorious! And now you will die!” A black energy began to form where the Aether Crystal once was. “There are NO more Anchors! No more Crystals! NOTHING KEEPING THE POWER I SEEK BACK! The power of the inner cosmos itself is mine!”

The black energy began to glow, looking ready to burst.

Twilight acted quickly - she raised a magical shield stronger than any she had raised before, spreading her new wings and putting everything she had into the protection spell.

The sphere of black exploded, engulfing the entirety of Exdeath’s castle.

—

Limestone was gearing to head back out - how dare those mares send her back to camp, she was in charge of leading the army! How dare-

She saw the entire castle go up in an explosion of black.

She dropped her swords. “Wha-“

Then the entire world shook, a strange white light enveloping everything Limestone could see…

—

The Hoofington Moon Base was a pinnacle of modern technology, a last stand for pony and griffonkind, looking up at the planet below from their large domed city.

The Chancellor of the Moon stood in the tallest tower, watching the green and blue globe closely. Her name was Zecora.

“The time is here.” She said as she saw the white light appear on the planet’s surface - and expand. “What all should fear…”

The white light soon enveloped the entire planet, and Zecora could hear screams from the citizens of the moon as the light approached them.

“Connections… Reflections… Origins...” She spoke, bowing her head. She could only pray to the Stars now…

—

And then everything was changed.

XXVIII - Exodus of the Void

The sky was blue, the grass green, the wind still. The ground was dry and dusty, the plants thirsty, and the area slightly chilly. It was peaceful - but also somber. Quiet. As if life had given up in this area, only living because dying would require effort…

This image was shattered with a round magical barrier fell out of the sky and plowed a ditch through the ground like a meteorite.

The orb barreled through trees, smoking as it went down - but not lighting anything on fire. The sparks never fully ignited.

The moment the orb came to a stop, the spell was dropped and Rarity yelled. “WHY DO WE KEEP DOING THAT? It’s like a recurring theme! Fall from the sky and SMASH into the ground!” She grabbed her hair. “Of all the things the universe decides to make a running gag for us, this is it!?!”

“You are the only one who hates it.” Rainbow Dash remarked.

Rarity fumed, but kept herself silent.

Fluttershy opened her eyes. “…Where are we?”

Applejacks jaw dropped as she looked around. “…Ah know exactly where we are.”

Twilight blinked. “Huh? How?”

Applejack pointed - in the distance was a very familiar looking castle.

Rarity gasped. “TROTTON? But… But… How did we get back here? Why? What?”

Twilight frowned, rubbing her chin with her wing. “I’m not sure… There was an awful large surge of magic, and I did hastily generate a bubble stronger than I ever have before… Maybe there was a reaction?”

“Trotton…” Rarity said. “Home…”

Fluttershy blinked. “Home?”

“I grew up in that castle. Lived almost my whole life in it.” Rarity said, tears coming to her eyes. “I thought I’d never see it again…”

Twilight smiled. “Let’s go there - get some rest, figure out what to do next.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Go there, rest, then head to the City of Man. I think the plan is obvious.”

Applejack blinked. “Wait. You actually thought of that plan? On your own?”

“AJ, I’m not stupid.”

“But Twilight didn’t think of it!”

“So?”

Applejack shook her head. “Never mind.”

The five mares picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and headed for Trotton castle. They found themselves feeling depressed at the landscape - things were still green, but they didn’t seem as bright. Trees seemed to sag, and the grass seemed lifeless without the wind blowing through it. The few animals they saw looked sluggish and lethargic - barely moving at all to eat the grass.

Fluttershy began to whimper as they marched along the great field. It only got worse when they arrived at town. Rarity gasped - the normally bustling marketplace was nearly empty, with only a few carts in existence trying to sell some very substandard wares. The streets were mostly empty, most of the houses dark. A few ponies were walking around, looking haggard and nervous.

Only one stall seemed to have any fresh produce at all, and a little yellow filly was manning it alongside a red stallion. “Apples!” The filly yelled. “Get yer apples here! Fresh from Sweet Apple Acres!”

“Applebloom?” Applejack said, jaw slack. “What are-“

“APPLEJACK?” Applebloom yelled. She leapt off the red stallion and embraced her in a hug. The filly started crying. “Ah’ve missed you…”

Applejack returned the hug. “Ah’ve missed you too… How’s the farm been going?”

“Hard.” The red stallion spoke up. “It’s nearly impossible to grow succulent apples anymore. This here is likely to be our last premium batch.”

“And nopony wants to buy it!” Applebloom yelled. “I blame Big Mac being intimidating.” She looked around. “Or the fact that nopony seems to live here anymore…”

Rarity sniffed the air. “Yes… Why is that?”

Applebloom looked up. Her jaw dropped. “P-princess Rarity?”

“Oh, yes.” Rarity giggled. She put her crown on. “I forgot about that little fact for a moment. Sorry.”

“Oh my gosh you can fix everything!” Applebloom squee’d. “Ponies won’t want to move to Solamane when they hear you’re back!”

“Move to Solamane?” Rarity queried.

Big Mac cleared his throat. “Apparently there’s some stronghold city there that is still functioning well despite the destruction of the Crystals. Ponies keep pouring in.”

“What of Morphisis?”

Big Mac sighed. “Morphisis ain’t doing too well from what Ah hear. Having serious problems without the Water Crystal.”

Fluttershy blinked. “Um. I have no idea what any of these places are. Help?”

“Solamane was my kingdom, the kingdom of fire.” Twilight explained. “It’s currently where the ancient City of Man resides, probably why they’re doing okay. There’s probably enough technology in there to counteract the loss of the Crystals. Morphisis is the Changeling Kingdom.”

“Changelings!?” Fluttershy exclaimed, backing up. “Oh no…”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash said. “They’re okay people! Just like griffons are okay people!”

“You met a griffon?” Applebloom’s eyes went wide. “And they didn’t try to eat you?”

Twilight smirked. “No, they didn’t. They were a little gruff, but nice people-“

“MY GOSH ARE YOU AN ALICORN?”

“No wha-“ Twilight looked at her back again. “Oh. Guess I am. The wings are kinda new.”

Applebloom’s brain stopped working.

Big Mac chuckled. “This your ‘adventurin’ troop sis?”

Applejack grinned. “Eeyup! Dang proud of em too!”

Twilight and Fluttershy blushed.

“Aw don’t be modest, you girls are the best friends Ah’ve ever had. And don’t you forget it.”

Rainbow Dash smiled. “Never will. Ever.”

“Why do I have the feelin’ you’re going to hold that against me somehow in the future?”

“Because I will.”

Big Mac began to chuckle. “Eeyup.”

Rarity waved her hoof. “Enough of this. It was nice to meet you two but I believe we need to check in on the state of the castle. Everypony coming?”

The mares nodded. Applejack smirked at Big Mac and bought an apple on the way out. They marched towards Trotton castle, approaching the large, black double doors. Rarity knocked a few times.

“The castle is not- MY STARS.” A voice said, throwing the door open. “PRINCESS RARITY?”

“The one and only!” Rarity said. “I have returned!”

“Come in come in!” The stallion said. He was brown, had spectacles on his face, and wore a long flowing black robe. “We have so much to do! The people need to know you’ve returned! We…” He paused. “Who are your friends?”

“My adventuring companions.” Rarity said. “They helped me on my quest.”

The stallion nodded. “…Did you find the Queen?”

Rarity sagged. “…She’s no longer with us, Magistrate.”

The Magistrate let out a sharp breath of air. “What… took her?”

“The evil lord Exdeath.” Rarity responded. “Same force that destroyed the Crystals.”

“Ah.” The Magistrate said. “That… that’s evil.” He truly seemed like he didn’t know what to say. “I… am truly sorry.” He frowned. “We need to let the people know everything will be fine. That there is a Queen in the house now.”

“What?” Twilight said.

“Oh no not you, though I would like to know where you come from. The line of succession dictates that Rarity is now the ruler of Trotton.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Brilliant! We’ve got an entire Kingdom now!”

Rarity blinked. “I… I hadn’t considered this. Though I do suppose it was obvious.”

“We’ll hold the coronation tonight.” The Magistrate said.

“Hold it.” Applejack said. “Don’t we need to go back to Uniforge?”

Rarity smiled. “I… I can stay here.” She said. “You can grab the Vlerryn and come back here instantly once you arrive. These people…” She looked at the town through the window. “I think they need a leader.”

Fluttershy smiled. “That’s fine.”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “I’m not sure it is…”

“Why not?” Rarity said. “Until we can get another portal to the Otherworld, we’re stuck here. I might as well do my actual job until then.”

Twilight nodded. “I think it’s fine. There’s not much for us to do here besides check in on who we left behind.”

Fluttershy sagged, suddenly feeling far away from her home. Then her ears perked up as something occurred to her. “Wait.. if Rarity’s Queen… does that make Rainbow Dash a princess?”

Everyone stared at her with intense glares.

“I… I mean… They’re sisters and all…”

“SISTERS?” The Magistrate said, turning to Rainbow Dash. “…YOU are Sweetie Belle?”

“Uh, no, don’t go by that name. Rainbow Dash. Totally not a princess.”

Rarity sighed. “But she is my sister. Found her on my adventures.”

“Well this is glorious! The people will be ecstatic to have a long lost princess return to them! We need to get you two dressed up pronto!”

Rarity blinked. “Rainbow Dash. In a dress.” She looked at the pegasus. Her look became malicious.

“Buck no.” Rainbow Dash said, attempting to fly away. Rarity slowed her down and pinned her to the ground.

“Oho no! You’re coming with me and we’re trying on dresses.”

“Why me…” Rainbow Dash moaned. “WHY!?”

Rarity giggled. “This is going to be so fun!” The two mares and the Magistrate disappeared behind closed doors.

Twilight blinked. “I fear for Rainbow Dash.”

“Be glad they don’t make you a princess.” Applejack observed.

Fluttershy giggled at this thought.

Twilight pondered this. “You know, they probably will make me ruler if I return to Solamane… Assuming the Minister or the Crystal Ponies haven’t initiated some sort of hard-set rule already established…” She looked at her wings. “I’ve basically been granted the ‘right’ to rule with these. Weird.”

Applejack shrugged. “Eh, we’ll see how it goes. Until then I suppose we need to ask where we’re staying.”

—

“May I present to you, Queen Rarity Belle!” The Magistrate yelled.

Rarity walked up to the balcony of the castle, her brilliant diamond-colored dress shimmering in the sunset. Looking down at the ponies, a smile came to her lips. The streets were no longer abandoned - they were filled with ponies who had come out of their homes for the first time in weeks to see the return of Rarity. She waved at them, her new crown on right side up. They cheered. She smiled. “My little ponies! I have returned from a long journey across the world and beyond! I… am deeply sorrowful to say that my mother did not survive.” She stopped for a moment to regain her composure. “But now I have returned to you, and will use my newfound experience and skills to lead us through this dangerous time! We will not fade out into nothing! We can survive without the Crystals! We will try everything we can!”

The crowd thundered.

“And another piece of good news - on my journey I found my long lost sister. She is now going by the name Rainbow Dash, and she is here with us tonight. Come on up, princess!”

Rainbow Dash stuck her head around the corner. “You do realize I robbed from this kingdom on a regular basis right?”

“Pfft that’s nothing. Get up here and show them your stuff.”

Rainbow Dash groaned. “You can’t make-“

Rarity used her magic to drag the pegasus out onto the balcony. Rainbow Dash was adorned in a brilliant dress that shifted color depending on the angle of the light, complimenting her hair perfectly. Her wings were free and spread wide, as if she was ready to take flight. She froze as the crowd stared at her and started applauding.

“You wave.” Rarity whispered.

Rainbow Dash started waving. Despite herself, a smile came to her lips. This felt pretty good actually. She could get used to this. Though the dress… The dress was annoying.

“We’re totally going to win!” She shouted. The crowd has no idea what she meant but yelled back “YEAH!” anyway.

—

Later that night, Twilight stood at the balcony, looking at the stars. Applejack and Fluttershy walked in behind her.

“Well…” Applejack said. “Rainbow and Rarity have both passed out from drinkin’ too much.”

Fluttershy nervously smiled. “Yeah… Uh… Was I supposed to do that too?”

“No.” Applejack said, rolling her eyes.

Twilight kept staring out at the starlight. Starlight. “…I’m thinking about Starlight. And Sunset.”

Applejack frowned. “Don’t. They fought against us-“

“But they also fought for us.” Twilight said. “And they died for it. Wiped out without so much as a thought.”

Fluttershy frowned. “They… They tried.” She sniffed.

Applejack sighed. “Well… We should continue on and keep their memories with us.”

Twilight frowned, about to continue the train of thought. Then her eyes widened. “Look at the moon.”

Applejack looked up. “What are - Well call me a dingo.”

“What?” Fluttershy said. “It looks normal.”

“Your moon has that flashing green light.” Twilight said. “Ours does not.”

Fluttershy eeped. “What does that mean?”

“Ah…” Applejack paused, looking at the landscape around them. It was very familiar to the Trotton she knew, but also different. She had thought the change was just because there were no more Crystals, but now she saw it - there were those strange angular mountains that had only been seen in the Otherworld, and in the distance she could see a flat brown swath of land next to the desert.

Twilight gasped. “The… The worlds have been fused!”

Fluttershy blinked. “Wh… what?”

“Fused! Combined together! Somehow…” Twilight racked her brain. “How is this even possible?”

“The way they were meant to be…” Fluttershy muttered. “Maybe.. Maybe this was how the worlds used to look?”

Twilight frowned. “Maybe, I…” Her wings spread out as she felt something. She pointed at the desert. “There’s a magical beacon going off there. It’s… calling to me.”

Fluttershy flapped into the air. “Well… Shouldn’t we go investigate?”

“Yep.” Applejack said. “It’s what we do. We’ll check it out and be back by morning.”

“Or sooner.” Twilight said. “I think I can do a long range teleport now.” She closed her eyes and lifted the two ponies next to her in her telekinesis. Then in a flash of purple light, they were at the desert. “Come on.” She said, mane rustling in the cold desert air.

“So this is a desert.” Fluttershy said. “They were kinda rare back home. Never got to see one. Feels… gritty.”

“Sand is a staple of deserts.” Applejack said. “Now…” She frowned. “Where is this signal?”

“Over here.” Twilight said, walking directly ahead. “It’s much stronger now. Feels familiar somehow…”

A giant sandworm poked it’s head out of the ground and roared at the three mares. They took a few steps back. “That’s not the beacon!” Twilight yelled. Fluttershy screamed, summoning Titan. Titan grabbed the worm by the body, only to find out that it had hidden spikes.

“Oops.” Titan said, vanishing.

Applejack focused her inner energy, into one of the crystal powers she didn’t use that often. She felt a connection to the sand. She raised her hooves and shoved them into the sandy ground beneath, controlling the very landscape around her. Tendrils of sand shot out of the ground and impacted the sandworm… to little effect.

“Aw C’mon! I rarely use that! It should at least have some effect!”

Twilight shot a powerful magic laser at the worm, disintegrating the middle of the creature. The front half still raged, charging at them.

A flash of rainbow caught their attention, falling from the sky and crashing into the sandworm, exploding with an impressive rainbow spectrum of energy.

“Heh.” Rainbow Dash said, throwing off the tatters of her dress. “You guys go one one adventure without me and you mess riiiiight up.”

“Rainbow!” Applejack said. “You.. You were passed out!”

“Applejack, I’m a pirate. I know how to bounce back from alcohol.” She chuckled. “While being princess for a day was admittedly a little fun, I’m ready to get back to action. What’s here today?”

“Mysterious magic signal.” Twilight said. “Right…”

“…Here.” Discord said, appearing right in front of her face.

“AUGH!” She yelled, backing up. “What? How? Why?”

Discord took a step back, and the mares could see that Marble was riding his back. “Auntie! Discord!” Fluttershy said, beaming. “I thought I’d never see you again!”

Marble smiled and nodded warmly. Discord chuckled. “Yes, this world truly is alien is it not? But it is alien to all, for it is just a hodgepodge of random assembly instructions! Ho ho ho!”

“How are you free?” Twilight demanded.

“Oh look, newest Crystal chosen, acting all in charge and stuff.” He booped her nose. “How touching. Essentially, the stone shrine broke when the worlds merged, and Marble opted to free me rather than let me die.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Thank you Marble.”

“Yes yes, standing ovation for the earth pony sage.” Discord rolled his eyes.

“The worlds fusing…” Twilight frowned. “How did that happen?”

“HIIIISTORY LESSON!” Discord said, snapping his fingers. Suddenly they were somewhere else. It was daytime, and the world looked different and alien. There were six crystals floating in a circle - around a strange black force. “Once, oh so long ago, there was only one world. It had all six Crystals, but it also had a horrible black power known as the Void. This power was misused - it was dangerously close to destroying the entire universe. So the Crystals took actions to seal it away - splitting the world in two and keeping the Void trapped in the expanse between them.”

The image changed - four Crystals flew off to one side, two to the other, and the Void vanished into nothing. The world became an expanse of black. “This was how things were for oh so very long. The Crystals used their essence to anchor the worlds apart, keeping everything orderly and not in danger of dying. But there was one Crystal, the Aether Crystal, who grew bored with life and wanted to unlock the Void for its own use.”

Discord brought up an image of the Aether Crystal. “It sought to use it’s power to destroy all its brethren, then overcome it’s own anchor by sheer force of will. It would have survived the refusing of the worlds if given enough time to coordinate the combination correctly. But it made a mistake - using Exdeath as a pawn. As you are all aware this went badly for the Aether Crystal.”

Twilight nodded. “So… Without the anchors, the worlds just went back together naturally?”

“Precisely! You get a gold star!” Discord chuckled, then frowned. “But that isn’t all. Without the Aether Crystal, the Void had no controlling influence when it’s power was unlocked. So it sought one out. And I’m betting my money that-“

“You won’t have any money shortly, snake.” Exdeath said, appearing in a flash of black.

Discord sighed. “See this? See this hax? Over the top black magic stuff.” He facepalmed. “The Void is so uncreative.”

Exdeath let out a sharp breath of air. “Creativity is not its point. It exists merely as power. As defiance to the Crystals. Now that they are gone… It needs a new purpose. And that purpose is me.” He stood tall. “I will unlock it’s full powers and have complete dominion over reality and unreality.”

Twilight stood up. “We won’t let you.”

Exdeath laughed. “You think that because you almost beat me last time you can beat me now? Let me put this simply.” He raised his hand, a black ball of featureless energy appearing in his hand. “I have power you couldn’t hope to understand now. I have tapped into the Void, and my power is only growing.”

Twilight lit her horn and enveloped him in a miniature sun, pushing all of her newfound power into the attack. Exdeath flew back several miles.

“It really gave you all its power didn’t it?” Exdeath chuckled. “Magic is the most potent of the elements after all…” He stood up, charging them with a lance covered in blackness.

“Ah, no.” Discord said, turning the lance into a banana and trapping Exdeath in two giant cream pies. “That’s not going to fly Blue McEvil.”

Exdeath roared, pushing out of the pie tins and punching Discord directly, distorting the chaotic form. “Woah-ho!” Discord said. “You really pack a punch there McEvil!”

“Why do you insist on using nicknames?”

“Because. Life is a joke.” Discord laughed.

“That we can agree on.” Exdeath said, redirecting his attack at Marble - only to have the powerful chaos spirit teleport him five feet underground. Exdeath roared, the black power of the Void bubbling all over his armor. “This will not stand!” He charged Discord, and Discord charged him.

The two locked each other’s attacks, and locked.

Discord smirked. “Draw!” He chuckled.

“Stupid… Spirit!” Exdeath roared, trying to draw more energy - but finding he couldn’t. it truly was a draw for now. The bubbling Void power was not enough to overcome Discord.

“Now, the moment you realize you’re of equal power with me, and that I’m not the only on here.”

Rainbow Dash appeared from nowhere, hitting Exdeath with another rainbow explosion, launching him far into the air. “Dang! I’m getting good at those!”

Exdeath floated down, breathing heavy. “You know what? You aren’t worth it right now. I have the entire Void at my fingertips. Time I actually tried to use it.” He was engulfed in a sphere of blackness, vanishing.

Twilight blinked. “That’s not good is it?”

“No…” Discord said. “That is not…”

They heard a rumble in the distance. They all whirled their heads around to see a gigantic sphere of blackness growing around Trotton Castle.

“NO!” Rainbow Dash yelled - but it was too late. The castle was almost entirely engulfed already…

—

Rarity stood at the very top of the castle, looking down. “Well…” She said. “This… WHY?” She growled as the blackness approached her. “I was going to lead them! And now it just gets destroyed for no reason? I…” She began to cry. “Why…”

She resigned herself to her fate.

…But then the most beautiful thing happened.

The Vlerryn appeared, whizzing past her and picking her up with a magic tether milliseconds before the Void would have engulfed her. “Wa-ha-haaaaaa!” She yelled as she was dragged through the sky.

Then another beautiful thing happened.

The City of Man appeared in the sky, blasting into the Void sphere with some kind of super intense laser, preventing it from growing further. More ships poured from the city, picking up the citizens of Trotton, helping evacuate the city from the horrible void sphere.

Smaller void spheres appeared around the City of Man, but they found themselves unable to penetrate through some sort of unusual magic shield.

The Earth Crystal’s voice boomed out across the field.

The Void sphere around Trotton castle didn’t make any response. It just stayed there, growing ever so slowly.

XXIX - City of Mare

The Vlerryn flew over to the desert, dumping Rarity unceremoniously on the ground. She stood up, looking back at Trotton. She didn’t make a comment about being dropped out of the sky. She just stared in disbelief.

“Trotton… It’s… gone…”

“Exdeath.” Rainbow Dash growled. “He did that.”

Rarity twitched. “I… I… I am going to kill him. That’s it. There’s nothing else to it. He’s dead.”

Fluttershy sighed. “Rarity…”

Rarity kept her expression emotionless. “I know Fluttershy. But that was my home. I knew everypony there. I saw them most of my life. They’re all just gone now.”

“The city saved some of them…” Fluttershy tried.

“But not all.” She said. “Not all.”

Applejack paled. “Oh no. What about Applebloom? Big Mac?”

“The market hasn’t even been touched by the Void.” Discord said, looking through balloon binoculars. “They’re fine.”

Marble made a mhm noise. Applejack sighed in relief.

The Vlerryn finally finished landing, and the entrance hatch popped open. “MOM!” Lyra yelled, leaping out and hugging Twilight. “YOU HAVE WINGS.”

Twilight chuckled. “Yeah, I do. Long story.”

Bon Bon poked her head out of the Vlerryn. “Hey as much as I hate to break up this reunion, this is sandworm territory. At least I think it is. Everyone aboard, we’ll try to fit you all here. Even you… amalgamation.”

“Oh I’m touched.” Discord said. “I got a big word assigned to me.” Marble rolled her eyes. Everyone packed themselves into the Vlerryn, and it took off towards the City of Man.

It landed much the same way it did before - but the city looked different than when the last saw it. Buildings were still ruined and large chunks of the structure were damaged, but most of it seemed operational. And there were lots of ponies trotting around, inhabiting the place. It was once more a full city.

“WELCOME!” Lyra boomed. “TO THE CITY OF MARE!”

“We are not calling it that.” Bon Bon said.

“I call it that.” Lyra retorted. “So I’ll reject your reality and substitute my own. Shoo be do.”

Bon Bon groaned and facehooved. Twilight looked around, her eyes sparkling. “Lyra! I love what you’ve done with the place! It looks so full of life! I take it you got the generators running again?”

“Yep! It only took me, the Earth Crystal, and Odin working for a full day to get them functional, but here it is!”

Fluttershy blinked. “Odin?”

“Human eidolon spirit we found in the basement. He’s been most helpful.” Lyra blinked. “Wait… Where’s Pinkie?”

Fluttershy looked at the ground. “…She’s gone. Exdeath got her.”

Lyra and Bon Bon stopped in their tracks.

“I am sorry to hear that.” A new voice said, male. An armored humanoid walked into their field of view. “I was hoping to meet her. I am Odin.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Eidolon right? Do we have to fight you?”

“No.” Odin said. “I’ve discovered how to break the rules.”

Fluttershy summoned Carbuncle. “Lucky dog you.”

“Ah! Carbuncle! Thought I’d never see you again!”

“The rest of the gang’s all here.” Carbuncle said. “You’re the last one.”

Odin raised an eyebrow. “Oh? I guess everything really is coming together then.” He took a knee to Fluttershy. “My lady Fluttershy, I pledge myself, my blade, and my honor to you and your friends. Use us well.”

He glowed for a moment and went into Fluttershy to rejoin his old companions.

“He’s got a lot of stories.” Lyra said. “Perhaps you should ask him for some. Apparently he used to be part of a group of human adventurers back when there was only one world.”

Discord groaned. “Oh. Them. I hate them.”

“Huh?” Fluttershy asked.

“They were the group that sealed me away the first time. Screw them.”

“Wonder why he didn’t comment on you…” Twilight said.

Discord shrugged. “I dunno. Doesn’t matter. We’re here! The time has come to figure out what the flipping heck we are going to do!”

Lyra nodded. “Well… Let’s get ourselves a room to talk with the Earth Crystal. Then we can figure this out.”

—

A hologram representing the Earth Crystal floated in the center of the room. To one side stood the five Warriors of Light, to the other Discord, Marble, Lyra, and Bon Bon. Fluttershy had summoned Carbuncle and Odin to the table as well.

 The Earth Crystal stated.

Twilight frowned. “How did you stop it at Trotton?”

Discord grunted. “Great. Just wonderful. The world will eventually fall to nothingness because of these expanding Void spheres. Worse than just a dead world. No world at all. Just the icing on the cake isn’t it?”

Twilight nodded. “How can we fight it?”

<With the magic of this city, we can safely enter the Void and take the fight to Exdeath, who is presumably at the center of the Interdimensional Rift the Void resides in. We kill him and the connection to the Void will be severed. However… it is not so simple as that.”

“How did I know you were going to say that?” Applejack said.

Carbuncle sighed. “Killing Exdeath won’t stop the Void. It will keep growing on its own, engulfing the world. We’ll need to find a way to take control of the Void, and without a Crystal I don’t know how to do that.”

“Not to mention the fact that the Void is filled with soulless abominations.” Odin added. “I do not think we have the firepower to blast our way through all of them.”

“Then…” Rarity said, smiling. “We need to recruit an army. Or armies. Surely Limestone and the Hoofington army is around somewhere. Chrysalis owes us a favor as well…”

“That’s a start.” Odin said. “We also need to empower you five, the Warriors of Light. You are what remains of the Crystals. You will have to be what deposes Exdeath.”

Carbuncle nodded. “To do that, we-“

“Oh sure.” Discord said. “Just tell them where all the sealed super weapons are! Trust them not to blow the planet up themselves!”

Carbuncle sighed. “We need to, if we are to have any chance of fighting our way into the Void. We are Eidolons now, Discord, we cannot wield the power anymore. We are but a legend’s memory. The current legends need it now.”

Discord huffed. “Fine then. Guess what this means little ponies! Prepare to get access to some of the most devastating spells and artifacts of all time!” He waved his hand. “And lucky lucky Rarity’s going to get a fun one.”

“What?” Rarity said, blinking. “What?”

Discord smiled. “You have no idea the power you are being given. There are four powers those ‘humans’ are thinking of. The magics Holy and Flare. The ancient eidolon Phoenix that predates time itself. The legendary sword Excalibur.”

“Legendary sword Excalibur?” Applejack questioned.

“For the love of.. Yes the sword is legendary. It’s even named Excalibur! It’s exactly what it says on the tin!”

 The Earth Crystal spoke.

Twilight frowned. “We’re willing to do it. But what I don’t know is how are we going to take control of the Void away form Exdeath once he’s gone?”

<…I do not know. But once Exdeath is killed, the Void’s progress cannot be made to increase any further. It will buy us time to discover a solution.>

“I… don’t like that.” Rainbow Dash said. “Going in with only half the solution?”

“It is what we need to do.” Carbuncle stated. “I am sorry.”

“We’ll need to split up.” Rarity said. “Gather everything as quickly as possible with as few wasted resources as possible. Gather armies and these special artifacts. Time is of the essence.”

Everyone present nodded.

Discord, the Earth Crystal, and the summons began to detail where exactly the magics were held… And it was decided who would go where and at what time.

They had to hurry.

—

Exdeath sat at the center of the Void, atop a crystal floating in the midst of stars. He put his hands on the panel in front of him, feeling the Void itself.

It was largely overwhelming… He couldn’t see all of it…

“Show me the reality…” He said. “Show me the truth. Show me what is and what isn’t…”

XXX - Preparations

XXX - Preparations

Rainbow Dash set down outside a very familiar cave, and Rarity climbed off her back.

“You sure they’ll recognize us?”

Rainbow Dash fixed Rarity with a ‘really?’ look. Rarity cringed. “Sorry. I just don’t want them shooting at us.”

“You think they could take us with the power we have?” Rainbow Dash chuckled.

“Er… No I suppose. I guess I’ve forgotten that we are far above regular ponies now…”

“Come on.” Rainbow Dash said. “Time to say hello to the crew…”

The two sisters marched through the caves to the old cove. Rainbow Dash was silent for once as they took a peek into the place she grew up in. She smiled to see that there were still pirates here - and that they gasped the moment they saw her.

“CAPTAIN!” Zephyr yelled. “You-“

“I’m back buddy!” Rainbow Dash laughed. “You miss me?”

“Very much so yes!”

“Should not have asked you that question, who else missed me?”

The rest of the crew shouted a rowdy “HURRAH!” Rainbow Dash grinned. It was good to be home. Then she frowned, looking at Rarity. She sighed.

“Everyone remember Rarity?”

“DID YOU REALIZE SHE’S YOUR SISTER YET?” Someone yelled from across the cove.

“…A month ago I might have clocked you for saying that.” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “But yeah, I know now.” She roughly put a hoof around Rarity. “She’s the best.”

Rarity gagged. “Neck… Pain…”

Amethyst trotted out of the crowd towards Rainbow Dash. “Well that’s good.” She looked up at her old captain. “You going to cause a problem with my crew?”

“You want there to be a problem?” Rainbow Dash smirked.

Amethyst let out a small chuckle. “No. They’re all yours if you want them.”

“Mmmm nah.” Rainbow Dash said. “You’re the pirates now. I’ve got other stuff to do.” She smiled. “I’m here because we’re going to war. And we’re going to need your help.”

“Oh?” Amethyst asked. “How so?”

“Besides being the best army anyone could ask for? Supplies. Magic artifacts. Whatever you’ve stolen that can be useful. The connections I know you all have. I assume you figured out how to sail without wind?”

“We got ourselves a technician, Scootaloo.” Amethyst said. “Kid’s a tiny little pegasus from Cirrus, but she hooked us up a bunch of propellers on our boats.”

“Good.” Rainbow Dash said. “I’ll tell you all about the war we’re starting later. But before that, anything else I should know?”

Amethyst’s eyes sparkled. “Come here. I got something for you.” She walked down the cove’s dock, Rarity and Rainbow Dash following. She stood at the edge, and reached into the water. A small purple and green orb appeared.

“An Eidolon!” Rarity said. “Amazing! We’ll have to get it to Fluttershy right away!”

Rainbow Dash stared at the orb. “Th… That color…”

Rarity blinked. “What? I mean it’s a good color bu- Oh my. Is that...?”

Amethyst nodded. “It’s Spike.”

Rainbow Dash started crying. “How do we get him out?”

“Fluttershy.” Rarity said. “She’ll take good care of him.”

Amethyst shrugged, grabbing the eidolon orb with her hoof and giving it to Rainbow Dash. “He was your brother. You’ll know what to do with him.”

Rainbow Dash sniffed. “Thank you… Thank you so much…”

“Don’t thank me.” Amethyst said. “I just kept it here safe. Thank him - his spirit was strong enough to survive. He really didn’t want to go. So he lived on as a legend.” She smiled. “Now, what about this army?”

“Guy’s name is Exdeath…” Rainbow Dash said.

—

Applejack and Lyra strode into Chrysalis’ throne room.

“Hi!” Minuette said from beside her mother. “I though you guys left FOREVER!”

“We did.” Applejack said. “We came back.”

Chrysalis nodded. “As heroes are apt to do. What have you returned for?”

“You felt the destruction of Trotton castle?” Lyra asked.

“I felt more than that.” Chrysalis said. “I felt the entire world shudder and meld into itself. I felt a power unleashed the likes of which I have never seen.”  She leveled her eyes at the two mares. “What has done this?”

Applejack cleared her throat. “It’s the evil that destroyed the Crystals Chrysalis. Its name is Exdeath, and he has unlocked the power of something called the Void. Which will, apparently, eat the entire planet eventually if we don’t find a way to stop it.”

Chrysalis nodded. “Such power will cause such great evil. It explains much.”

Minuette frowned. “Uh… what do you want from us?”

Applejack sighed. “We can’t get to Exdeath easily. He’s deep within the Void itself. While we have the means to enter and a way to kill him, there’s going to be a long long battle through all kinds of horrors before we can get to it. In short…” She gulped. “We are looking for armies to recruit. You were the first on the list.”

Chrysalis sighed. “I would love to say yes. However… My kingdom is weak. My changelings are starving. I’m not sure I could order them to fight for you.”

Minuette frowned. “We… I… We can’t I’m sorry! We’re barely allowed to stay in the castle anymore!” She started crying. “Everyone blames us for their problems…”

Lyra frowned. “They need love right?”

“Yes. More than anything.” Chrysalis said.

“Then I, Lyra Heartstrings, current head of the City of Mare, pledge that of my people’s in return for your assistance in saving the world.”

Chrysalis gaped. “…Truly?”

“Yes.” Lyra said. “We’ll welcome you. We’ll let you into our city…. assuming it survives this attack, that is.”

Chrysalis smirked. “This… This could work. Offer them what they hunger for. You better be willing to hold up your end of the bargain or things will get messy.”

“Frankly ma’am…” Applejack said. “If you help save the world, ponies will love the changelings forever. Celebrate them as heroes.”

Chrysalis smiled. “Let’s make the announcement.”

“Might want to be discrete about it.” Lyra said. “Exdeath is watching. He may try to consume anything he finds threatening into the Void.

“Oh but of course.” Chrysalis said. “i shall send a message via magic once we are ready.”

“Thank you.” Applejack bowed. “You don’t know what this means.”

“Nope!” Minuette said. “A war! This’ll be fun!”

Chrysalis sighed. It would most certainly not be fun…

—

Twilight and Fluttershy looked at the tower before them. It stretched far into the sky, beyond where either of them could see.

“So…” Twilight said. “We could go in through the front door… Or just fly up.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Flying is good.”

The two spread her wings. Fluttershy found it weird that she was the better flier of the two - she had never been very good at flying. But lo and behold, Twilight was stumbling and clawing at air the entire time.

“You okay?” Fluttershy asked. “You need me to have one of them help you-“

“No! Perfectly fine!” Twilight wheezed. “It’ll be grand! Up up up the tower!” She began to pant. “No end in sight…”

The two colorful mares flew up for what seemed like hours but was in reality only about five minutes. The air was thin, the atmosphere barely breathable, but at long last they landed on top of the tower.

It ticked as they arrived. The moment they landed the edges of the tower were engulfed in flames.

“Well, there goes our oxygen.” Twilight muttered, still gasping for breath, though now there was choking thrown in the middle of her words.

Fluttershy summoned Shiva, attempting to freeze the flames to no avail. “Well that’s disappointing.” Shiva muttered. “Why is all the fire I’m shown ice-proof?”

“FEEL THE HELLFIRE!” Ifrit roared, coming into existence and attempting to control the brilliant fire. It did nothing. “WHAT? I AM THE FIRE SPIRIT! IT SHOULD LISTEN TO ME!”

~it is not your fire~ A voice rang into their minds, echoing with the annals of time. A great bird appeared in the center of the tower, glowing stronger than anything they’d seen before. ~you come for me~ It was not a question.

Twilight spread her wings and lit her horn. “You are coming with us eidolon!”

~you have fought weak eidolons before, those who wanted to be with you~ Phoenix roared. ~i am not to be taken i am not to be controlled~

Fluttershy summoned Carbuncle. “Phoenix, old friend. Assist us once again.”

~i will not be moved carbuncle~

“In that case… We will use force.” Carbuncle said, driving a spear of light into the fiery shape of Phoenix. Phoenix was unharmed by the blade and blasted Carbuncle away with a simple blast of white fire.

Twilight encased Phoenix in a sphere of magic, which Shiva covered in her own ice. Phoenix broke out and sailed into the sky, launching torrents of holy flame on all of them.

Fluttershy brought out Titan and Ramuh, both of whom attacked without hesitation. Titan smashed Phoenix into the ground and Ramuh electrocuted the bird with an impressive bolt, while Twilight shot the eidolon with a magic laser.

~i will not stand to be controlled once more i am above time itself~

Phoenix roared, sailing beak first into Twilight, gouging into her stomach. “AAA!” Twilight yelled, retaliating with enough magic to drive Phoenix through the floor.

“Twilight!” Fluttershy gasped. She summoned Odin. “Get Phoenix! I’ll take care of Twilight!”

“Yes M’lady.” Odin said, drawing his weapon and diving into the hole Phoenix was trying to jump out of.”

~you again~

“Did you miss me?” Odin said, driving his blade into Phoenix’s head, to an annoyingly small effect.

~never~ Phoenix blasted into the air once more, puffing Odin and Ramuh into nothing, and damaging Titan. ~i will not be mov-~

The thought was interrupted by a flash of rainbow that caused the Phoenix to explode. “Heck Yeah!” Rainbow Dash whooped.

“R-Rainbow…” Rarity said.

“What?”

“NEVER do that again with ME on your BACK.” Rarity shuddered. “That was horrible…”

“Eh, I think it was fine.” Rainbow Dash landed. “Hey Flutters, got something special for you.”

Fluttershy looked up from Twilight the moment Rarity started healing her. “Oh?”

“Yeah, we were on our way to the twin towers and figured we’d stop by and give you this.” She took out a purple and green eidolon. “Take good care of him.”

Twilight blinked. “Is that… What I think it is…?”

The sphere exploded in a flash of light and a mighty green and purple dragon stood before them, roaring. “AHHHHHHH that was WEIRD.” He said, holding his head. “I was dead and not dead and it was so freaky.”

Rainbow Dash laughed, tears in her eyes. “SPIKE!”

“Rainbow? Oh Rainbow!” He lifted her up. “It’s been so long! I think. I’m not sure…”

“Doesn’t matter.” Rainbow Dash said. “You’re back and alive. That’s all that matters.” Rainbow Dash sighed. “Now… I can’t be with you all the time buddy. You’re an eidolon now. You have to be with Fluttershy here. But she’ll take good care of you.”

“Oh yes I will mister Spike!” Fluttershy said. “And you’ll have plenty of friends!”

Spike shrugged. “Eh, I’m alive. And I get to see Rainbow Dash. Frankly, that’s good enough for me. You can catch me up to speed later. Right now I think you’re all in a hurry.”

“Right.” Twilight said. “Fluttershy, don’t forget to grab Phoenix. We have a thing to do.”

“Right.” Fluttershy said, grabbing the red and orange eidolon orb left behind by Phoenix. “Heh. Looks like I moved you.”

“OOOOOOOOOOOOH BUUUUUURN!” Rainbow Dash yelled, laughing.

Fluttershy sheepishly smiled.

—

The Vlerryn landed on the moon city. Zecora was waiting for it.

Bon Bon poked her head out. “You must be Zecora.”

“I will not help you. I must defend what is true.”

“…What?”

“The moon is outside Exdeath’s purview. We will be long gone by the time he does a review.”

Bon Bon blinked. “Okay…”

“No armies anyway. Would be of no use in a fray. I wish you luck. Don’t forget to duck.”

Bon Bon sighed. “Can I at least look at this city of yours?”

Zecora nodded, gesturing to the door with her hoof. Bon Bon walked out, and gasped.

The entire city was covered in a gigantic glass dome through which the light of the world shone, glinting a soft blue. Vehicles flew around from skyscraper to skyscraper, left to right, up and down. Ponies and griffons of all shapes and kinds were flying and walking around, looking happy and content - so different from what she was used to these days.

Here, there was no need for fire, wind, water, or earth. Everything was provided on its own without any dependence upon the Crystals.

Discord and Marble appeared beside her. “I always found this place annoying.” Discord muttered. “So organized. Not enough variety. Not enough life.”

“But… they’ll survive.” Bon Bon pointed out. “Survive when we fall. Survive when the world is engulfed in Void. They can escape.”

“So?” Discord said, waving his hand. “What does that matter? Their lives aren’t interesting. See this? All of them drink the exact same thing every day with different flavoring!” He investigated the cup he had. “Cupcake in a cup… Bah, stop trying to copy me liquid diet! THIS is a cupcake in a cup!” He snapped his fingers and produced a cupcake in a mug. He then ate the entire thing - mug and all. “Mmm.. Porcelin.”

Bon Bon sighed. “Discord… Really? Can’t you take anything seriously? You’re a powerful magical being and the world is ending! Be a little more considerate!”

“But my dear confectionary, life stops without laughter! We fall into a disillusionment in life where we think we are happy, but aren’t, instead just forced to adapt to patterns and structures that society puts out for us. There’s a reason humans aren’t around anymore after all… They couldn’t adapt.”

Bon Bon raised an eyebrow. “You know that’s just what Lyra said the other day.”

“She has no idea what the change was.” Discord said. “Not yet anyway.”

Bon Bon looked up at the world above them. Then her eyes squinted. “Hey is.. Is that a black dot where Uniforge is supposed to be?”

Discord blinked. “Oh dear.” He said. “That’s not good.”

—

Exdeath reached out with the power of the Void once more. “Go out and destroy what they hold dear!” He roared, stretching his power, in an attempt to make the black sphere expand faster. The Void roared in response, eagerly eating up all it could, ripping molecules apart as it did so, hunger never satisfied.

Exdeath growled as he felt the Void hindered - once again by that relic of a time long past, the City of Man. That thing kept him from completing his tests of power. Kept him from experimenting with the Void to his full potential.

Then again, dramatic tension suggested that he would only reach maximum power once the heroes arrived to stop him…

He grunted. He was pretty sure that would be enough. He would have dominion over the Void and even their friendship wouldn’t be able to stop him. He would be able to see all at that point, and he would be able to anticipate everything. Defy all the rules. Break free of the horrendous Truth that was reality.

He laughed. “Either I will destroy everything or I will find something new! Won’t it be fun to find out?!”

—

Rainbow Dash and Rarity stood at the foot of the Twin Towers.

Which were on Crescent island.

So neither of them were in a good mood.

“So…” Rarity said. “I go up the white tower, you go up the black one. We signal to each other once we reach the top and head into the final chamber. Then we grab the magics and get the heck out.”

“Yep.” Rainbow Dash said, absentmindedly sending a fireball towards Crescent Village.

Rarity sighed. “Well… see you then.”

Rainbow Dash had no difficulty whatsoever grinding her way through the enemies in the black tower, blowing them up with all sorts of explosions and magics.

Rarity… had more difficulty.

“Back! Back heathens!” She said, firing at them with her bow and flailing her knife around. “I’m not supposed to be on the front line!”

The goblins didn’t care.

“Back! Back! I SHRINK YOU!”

Tiny goblins were just as annoying as full size, it turned out.

“THIS IS HORRIBLE!” She wailed, crawling up the stairs to yet another room filled with goblins. “Why…?”

She did, eventually, manage to crawl to the top of the tower, having healed herself a total of seventy-eight times on the way up.

Rainbow Dash looked at her from a window in the black tower. The ‘really?’ face was back.

Rarity huffed and gave the signal. They both entered the topmost rooms.

“You come for the raw power of Flare?” A voice asked Rainbow Dash.

“Well, yeah. Is it as good as gigaflare?”

The voice sighed. “That is a blasphemy of the true magic. True Flare acts quickly. True Flare acts decisively. True Flare is not so cruel.”

“Good. How do I get it? I made it through your tower.”

“The tower is not the test.” The voice said. “I am. The greatest mage to ever live, Trixie!”

“Just ‘Trixie’?”

“Yes.” The voice said. “Now face me.” A blue unicorn appeared, adjusting her purple robes. “I, the great and powerful Trixie, will destroy you!”

In the other tower, Rarity found herself face to face with a minotaur holding a giant mace. “COME HERE, FEEL PAIN!”

Rarity blinked. “Uh… Do I know you?”

“NO.” The minotaur said, raising the mace. “WANT HOLY? FIGHT ME AND WIN!”

“Bother…” Rarity muttered.

Back in the black tower, Trixie was fuming. “SIT STILL PEGASUS!”

“I’ve seen what Flare can do! NOOOOT letting it hit me again.”

“Again?” Trixie gaped. “You survived?”

“Had my sister revive me afterwards.” Rainbow Dash said, smirking.

“And where is your sister now?”

“In the other tower.”

Trixe blinked. “Oh. Well she can’t get to you here! Haha!”

Trixie was hit with the biotoxin spell. Her front leg became nothing but bones. “What? OW! That hurts!”

“Great and powerful my butt.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

“AAAAA!” Rarity yelled as the mace came down behind her again. “Why does this keep happening to me!?”

“FEEL THE SMASH!”

“Shut up I’m trying to be melodramatic here!” Rarity whined, casting time spell after time spell on the minotaur to no effect. The giant beast was now riddled with arrows, becoming more like a porcupine than a cow.

“SMASH” The minotaur said, hitting Rarity square in the head and crushing her brains - only to have it regenerate before his eyes. “WHY YOU NOT STAY DOWN?”

“Dear, it’s called white magic.” She frowned. “Time to find a way to take you down…” Her mind raced.

Back at the black tower, Trixie was being beat to a pulp. “How are you so fast?”

“Not just a mage.” Rainbow Dash grinned, tackling Trixie again, stealing her hat. “Also a bit of a jumper and a thief. This hat is mighty fine, mind if I keep it?”

“YOU GIVE THAT BACK!”

“Make me.”

Trxie roared, blasting Rainbow Dash with a lightning bolt, only to have it sent back at her. “Yeah, nice try missy.”

The great and powerful Trixie wailed. “Why are you so difficult! I am the most powerful mage! I am great! I am-“

“Rethinking your life choices.” Rainbow Dash said, clocking Trixie across the head, knocking her out.

In the other tower, Rarity enveloped the Minotaur in a warp of space-time that slowly drained him of his energy. “Ha! Figured out how to trap you! Ha!”

“Urk… Gerk… Blargh!” He roared, forcing himself out of the prison and bringing the mace right down on Rarity. She healed back instantly, and this time just drove her crystal knife in between his eyes.

“Ech… disgusting.” She said.

At the same time, Rainbow Dash and Rarity grabbed the magical auras at the back of the room. It enveloped them - both shining with bright light of powerful ancient magics. Both did a little cheer at the same time.

Then both towers exploded.

Rainbow Dash landed on the ground outside with a loud “OOF!” She picked herself up, dusted herself off, and spread her wings. They felt warm. “AWWW YEAH!”

Then she saw something that astounded her. Rarity was floating towards the ground slowly, surrounded in a strange aura of circling white orbs, space and time warping around her.

She landed without so much as a thud. Then she lit her horn, and the white orbs gracefully sailed towards a nearby tree and vaporized it with a single, fluid motion. It was almost like art.

Rarity smiled. “That is most certainly a spell designed for yours truly.”

Rainbow Dash readied her wings, lighting them up with a whitish-orange color. “Time for this new trick! RAGH!” She thrust forward, and a nearby tree glowed red, caught fire the next second, then exploded.

Rarity blinked. Rainbow Dash laughed. “Wow that is fast!”

Then Trixie landed behind them with a spectacular thud. “Ow…”

Rarity turned to Trixie. “Oh your poor thing…”

“Don’t pity me… Gak…”

Rarity healed her up without so much as a thought.

“HAHA! YOU WILL LIVE TO REGRET THE DAY YOU LET THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE LIVE-“

Rainbow Dash clocked her again, knocking the unicorn out. “Well. That happened.” She said.

—

The sword was sitting there, in a stone, unmoving. It was large, obviously built for human hands, and strangely completely devoid of any ivy.

Applejack blinked. “Huh. I was expecting some sort of guardian or something.”

Lyra sighed. “Maybe, maybe not. Just go get it.”

Applejack walked up to the sword, grabbed it with her front hooves, and pulled it out. A beam of light shot out from the forest canopy, glinting on it.

“Heheheheheheh…” An ethereal form began to take shape behind Applejack. It was blue, it was humanoid, and it was tall.

“Exdeath…?” Applejack asked, confused.

“Oh yes.” He said. “Your action caught my attention. Pulling the sword out of the stone?” He growled. “Apparently that’s a classic move.”

She readied the sword. “Oh yeah?”

“Oh yes. Legendary sword for a below average hero. Just wanted to let you know that this was always how things went. This is nothing special. Don’t you forget that you are just an ordinary-“

The Exdeath apparition vanished the moment Applejack poked it with the sword. “…Mmkaythen.” She said. “Enough of that. Time to meet up with everyone.”

Lyra nodded. “Exdeath looks creepy.”

“Much more creepy in person. He starts going on about all this existential hogwash while he’s trying to kill you. It’s bothersome.”

—

“I’m pretty sure it was here…” Spike said as he swam around the Water Tower ruins.

Twilight and Fluttershy were a little ways away, encased in one of Twilight’s magic bubbles. “You sure?” Twilight asked.

“Positive. The Dragonlord doesn’t want his things getting mistaken.” He poked his head into the top of the water tower. “Oh? What’s this? A crystal shard?”

Fluttershy blinked. “What?”

“One of the things that bestowed power to the other Warriors of Light.” Twilight said. Then an idea occurred to her. “Hey Spike, give that to Fluttershy would you?”

“Sure thing!” He said, tossing the crystal into the bubble. Fluttershy tried to grab it, but it just seeped into her. She blinked, looking at everything differently. “I… feel weird.” She said. She blinked.

Suddenly there was a another magic bubble around Twilights, identical in almost every way, save for a yellowish color. Fluttershy eeped.

“Woah…” Twilight said. “A mimic ability… I suppose this makes some sense since the Changelings were the Water Crystal’s people…”

Fluttershy blinked. “I can… mimic things…? …Weird…”

“Yep.” Twilight said. “We’ll have to practice after we’re done with this.”

“Found it!” Spikee said, lifting a strange stone relic out of the seafloor. “Now all we have to do is-“

Suddenly Spike, Fluttershy, and Twilight were no longer underwater. They were inside what appeared to be a gigantic volcano.

“WHO DARES CALL UPON THE DRAGONLORD TORCH?” The largest dragon Twilight had ever seen yelled at them.

“My lord.” Spike said, bowing. “The world is in danger.”

“AND YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW THAT?”

“And these ponies might have a solution.” Spike finished.

Torch frowned. “I’m listening.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “The horrible magic known as the Void has come back into existence and -“

“Yes yes I already know this go one what’s the solution.”

“…We’re gathering an army to head directly into the void to kill the man responsible for all this mess?”

Torch laughed. “A planetwide army for attacking a powerful mage bent on destroying the world?”

“Er… yes?” Fluttershy said, shrinking.

“COUNT US IN!” Torch laughed. “NO ONE EVER ASKS US TO GO TO WAR!”

“Well then.” Twilight said. “It appears our work is done then… Avoid any Void spheres, and meet at the City of Man.”

“HAHA! WILL DO! WILL DO!”

—

Limestone grinned as the Vlerryn landed amongst her army. “Well hello there! Fancy running to you here in the middle of butt nowhere!”

The Warriors of Light and Lyra stepped out, all in one place. “Hello Limestone.” Twilight said. “Sorry about sending you back-“

“No problem. I had lost it.” She waved a hoof. “Now we must never speak of it again.” She glowered, then smiled again. “Now! Why are you here?”

“We need your army to-“

“You don’t have to say anything, you already have it.”

Twilight blinked. “But don’t you have to know what we’re doing?”

“I do. Discord and Marble came by about an hour ago and explained the whole thing.” She cackled.

Discord and Marble waved from a short ways away.

“Now…” Limestone said. “We did find something we want you to see… Come with me.”

Soon, the Warriors of Light, Lyra, Discord, Marble, and Limestone found themselves in a forest. The forest seemed completely normal - nothing unusual to be seen all the way around them. It wasn’t the Everfree, it was just a your basic forest.

They took a few dozen steps and then - they were suddenly not in the forest. The sky was half day, half night, and the trees were eerily vibrant. There was a breeze, but it seemed artificial. The clouds didn’t move, and the grass crackled under their feet like plastic. There was a town - the buildings looking creepily perfect, each one with a vibrant orange roof and cream colored walls. The entire place was unsettling.

To put icing on the cake, all the inhabitants were humans.

Lyra gasped. “OHMYGOSH HUMANS.”

“Yes.” One of the women said. “We had been trapped in the Rift for thousands of years… But now the worlds are close enough for us to return.”

“I have so many questions!” Lyra squee’d. “Why do you wear clothes all the time?”

“It would be indecent not to.” The woman responded.

Fluttershy tensed, reminding herself not to release Shiva among these people. That would just be embarrassing… Hopefully their heads wouldn’t get cut off for indecent exposure.

“What was your civilization like? Like really like?” Lyra asked.

The woman looked wistful. “We controlled the entire world and dominated the other races… We had great technological advancements and were on the pinnacle of entering spaceflight.. And then… Then it all came crashing down.”

Rarity blinked. “...Why?”

“Our highest government funded the research of a unicorn by the name of Starswirl. ...We all know how that turned out.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Uh, no we don’t.”

“Right. I forgot how legends fade…” She took in a breath. “He created the Void as a result of those experiments, plunging the world into darkness. Our civilization did not survive the wars.”

Everypony gasped. “The Void… was created?” Twilight asked. “How?”

“You’d have to ask Starswirl. Nobody knows how he did it. Just that he did.” She frowned. “...Anything else?”

“You have genders right?” Lyra asked.

Rarity clocked her. “Really Lyra! It’s obvious! Female!” She pointed at the woman. “Male!” She pointed at a man walking towards them. He wore all black, complete with a Fedora and thick sunglasses. “Well done miss Rarity.”

“Thank you - wait how do you know me?”

Limestone rolled her eyes. “Meet Ivan, the leader of this troop of humans if you ignore Cinch, who lives in that house over there and never leaves. Apparently.”

Ivan bowed. “I hear you need my assistance.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Would you, um, know about the Void control thingy?”

Twilight smiled. “What she means is do you have any idea how we can regain control of the Void?”

“Hrm…” He paused for a moment. “After the evil Exdeath is vanquished, to stop the damage it’s doing?”

Twilight blinked. “Well… Yes!”

The man nodded, looking at the group. Then he pointed at Twilight and Discord. “You two have enough latent magical power to do so. However, in order to take control of the void, you need a Crystal anchor. Which is now impossible. So you will have to do something else - take the right to control the Void from its creator.”

Discord gasped. “Wait WHAT? You can’t be serious-“

“The great thaumaturge Starswirl still retains the spells and codes required to instruct his creation.” The man said. “You can find his temple deep beneath the ocean to the south of here. It will have opened now that the worlds have reconnected.”

Discord gulped. “This… This is a bad idea…”

“It’s the best one we have.” Twilight said. “Lyra, you start coordinating the armies. We’re going to need to charge into the Void itself the moment we come back from this temple.” She turned to Discord. “…You’re not doing anything. We could use your help.”

Discord grunted. “…Fine. But I don’t like this idea at all let me tell you. Let’s just get in and get out.”

“Good.” Twilight smiled. “We’re taking the Vlerryn, hope you don’t mind.” She turned to the man. “…Is your village willing to help us?”

“Willing, perhaps. But our race is a dead one. We had our chance at this world, and we squandered it. As punishment, we can no longer leave this place. It was our own folly. Do not feel sorry for us. Just save the world.”

Twilight sighed. “Okay… Here we go girls. You ready?”

“READY!” The other four cheered.

“Oh good gravy…” Discord muttered. “This tastes like diabetes…”

Exdeath sat at the controls to the Void, growling. This was proving difficult. The Void’s power was hard to manage, hard to understand, and harder still to prevent from biting him back. He needed control, he needed discipline, he needed to be patient.

Unfortunately he didn’t have all that much time. He knew they were gathering an army and it would be here soon. He needed a way to slow them down further than the Void would already do naturally…

He reached into the expanse of forgotten lands and stars in the vast expanse. “HEAR ME! I CALL UPON YOU! THE TIME HAS COME TO FIGHT! THEY WILL COME! THEY WILL BE POWERFUL! THEY WILL BE CHALLENGING!”

“THEY WILL BE HEROES!”

“GO AGAINST THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS, AND MEET THEM IN THE FIELD OF BATTLE. AND WIN.”

The entire Void rippled with the thoughts of millions of transdimensional beings that heard his call. Few responded. But a few were all Exdeath was going to need. True demons would teach those pathetic mortal armies a few things or two. Their power would be unequalled…

The power of creatures designed to hunt down and kill all they saw, the power of creatures that could not be killed, but only sealed…

Two in particular caught his eye, causing him to laugh powerfully. He wasn’t sure even he could face them at his current power level!

Now… How to hurt them the most before they arrived…

XXXI - Long Forgotten

The Vlerryn shot into the air. “Prepare for rapid descent!” Twilight yelled.

“NOT AGAIN!!!!” Rarity wailed.

The Vlerryn peaked, eclipsing the sun. It directed its nose downwards, fired its engines, and hurtled towards the deep blue ocean. The ship’s nose plowed through the water with ease, hardly slowing down as it entered the waves. Steam bubbled off the back of the ship, the water unable to handle the direct heat of the engines.

The water swirled around the body of the ship, getting darker and darker the deeper the Vlerryn went. Then they saw a light ahead…

“Unusual magic readings!” Twilight said. “That’s probably it!”

The Vlerryn lurched as it entered a strangely glowing trench in the bottom of the ocean. The unnatural light overwhelmed many of the Vlerryn’s sensors, making it hard to pilot. Twilight let out a yell as the consoles started displaying impossible numbers. “The heck?”

Rarity wailed. “That’s it! We’re finally going to die by crashing! I love you all!”

Then the ship stopped moving entirely. All was calm.

“…Was that a proposal?” Discord asked, smirking.

“Shut your trap or I purge you with holy light.” Rarity muttered. “I CAN DO THAT NOW.”

“The threat is real.” Rainbow Dash confirmed.

Discord rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

The hatch of the Vlerryn popped open. Twilight raised her wings. “I didn’t open the door!”

The crew of the Vlerryn stuck their heads out into the open. The air was breathable, at least. There was no water, though they could hear the sound of a waterfall behind them. The place they found themselves in was a cave, shifting and glowing with an unusual white color. At the far end of the cavern was a single ornate door made of a silvery-black material.

And there were three crystal shards sitting at the foot of the door, sparkling with power.

Applejack smiled. “Looks like you two get some presents.” She shoved Fluttershy and Twilight forward.

“Um… I already got one…” Fluttershy said.

“Well then Twi gets two and you get the one.” Applejack smiled.

Fluttershy nervously walked up to the three crystals and picked up the one she thought was the least imposing. It absorbed into her body, and her eyes went white. “I see all that has been, is, and will be!” She shouted. Then she shook her head. “Ow… that was painful…”

Discord blinked. “Future sight? That could be useful…”

“Of course.” Twilight said, picking up the two crystals and absorbing them into herself. Two things happened. First she spread her wings and two gigantic magical cannons appeared under them, launching a torrent of fire at the door in front. The explosion blew the others back a ways.

Secondarily, her horn became encased in a strange glowing purple magic that just screamed dangerous.

Fluttershy reacted - mimicking Twilight’s horn spell, giving herself a strange yellow magic horn for a minute. “Woah…” She said. “I’m an alicorn…”

“Not really.” Twilight said, looking closely at her horn. “It’s a construct of some kind… A powerful weapon…” She dispelled it, returning her horn to normal.

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Well what are we waiting for? Let’s try these new powers out! You two! Take point!”

Fluttershy sat back. “Oh no… I wouldn’t-“

“I’ll protect you.” Twilight said, smiling. “Don’t you worry.”

Discord put on some sunglasses and began to eat some popcorn. “Let’s see what’ll show up in here shall we?”

Twilight tapped the door and it vanished, revealing a long stone walkway leading to… nothing. There was just the path and utter complete blackness. They walked in, cautiously, looking out for anything that tried to attack them. The moment they all stepped through, the door slammed shut behind them - and then vanished, leaving them on the infinite walkway in nothingness.

Fluttershy shrunk back. “I don’t like this…”

Twilight frowned. “This seems.. empty. Guess we just walk.”

Rarity made everyone faster and they continued onward, covering miles and miles in a manner of minutes. But nothing changed.

“We’re getting nowhere fast.” Discord observed.

Twilight whirled around to look at him. “Do you have a better idea-“ She blinked. “Woah.”

“Woah what?” Applejack asked.

Twilight pointed behind them. They turned - and they saw a temple made out of marble, sitting on a green hill. The sky was blue, the birds were singing, and the path was gone completely. They were now standing upon a lush green plain.

Rarity twitched. “But…. I… Sense?”

Discord laughed. “This is deliciously chaotic! I love it! Kudos to the architect!”

At that moment, the very grass around them began to move. Several dozen grassy figures - some pony, some humanoid, some completely alien - rose out of the ground and charged.

Twilight wasted no time - she spread her wings, summoning the dual cannons. Intense magical beams shot out of them this time, incinerating a hole right into the hill. Fluttershy winced, doing the exact same, just with yellow colored cannons. Then her eyes went white. “Twilight! Under you!”

Twilight flew into the air, narrowly avoiding a creature’s sharp arm jutting out of the ground. She focused the energy into her horn and drove the power into the being underneath. It took the hit, made a noise, and just fell apart before her.

“This power…” She said. “It is… A powerful one…” She focused once more. Her horn powered up, but she tried something new as well - she spread her wings, and they became enveloped in sharp magic constructs. She roared and flew into several of the creatures at once, each one dying form a single hit.

Rarity gaped. “…That’s quite the finishing move darling…”

Twilight stood up and dispelled what she now considered the Finisher. She smiled. “More power to defeat Exdeath with. I feel like I haven’t figured out how to use it fully though…”

“Definitely not.” Discord said, drinking out of his glass and smirking.

They walked into the temple…

—

 Lyra winced. The representatives of the various armies were not getting along very well.

“Changelings!?” Limestone yelled. “You’ve got Changelings!? Soul stealing bugs!?”

Minuette glared. “Hey! They’re nice people and you have no right to fault them for their biology! Besides, you have griffons! No amount of biology makes them grumpy, they just are! And you work with them just fine!”

“Did you just insult half my army, toothpaste?”

“Yep.” Ember, the blue representative of the dragons, responded. “Totally insulted.”

“Why I never…” Minuette blinked, then looked ashamed. “Oi I guess I did… If you accept the Changelings I will-“

“Stop trying to turn this around!” Limestone yelled. “Your soldiers are not only Changelings, but also starving Changelings willing to do anything to save their own hides!”

Amethyst raised an eyebrow. “I thought that was a good thing in this case?”

“Stay out of this pirate.”

Ember blinked. “I think the pirate might have a bit of a unique opinion on this whole matter. Amethyst, continue.”

Limestone roared. “Why do I have to work with you idiots?”

Amethyst ignored her. “The changelings, even if you believe they are bad people, which I don’t, are desperate. This is their one chance at getting the love they need. Lyra’s people - and my association of outlaws - have agreed to give it to them. That its the only reason they are here.”

Minuette nodded. “See?”

Ember frowned. “Yeah, we shouldn’t be worried about the Changelings. We should be worried about your band of outlaws.” She leaned in. “Pirates, thieves, and assassins right? Gathered through the undergrounds and black markets of the world.”

Amethyst glared. “Yeah. So? We all want to have a world to keep operating in.”

“Hm… But you’re likely to just cut and run with what you can if given an opportunity.”

Amethyst bristled. “My old captain has instructed me to fight with you, and I will fight with you till the end.”

“Your crew makes up only around five percent of the forces you have gathered. How can we trust them?”

“We can’t.” Minuette said. “But do we really have a choice?”

Limestone bristled. “Oh we have a choice allright-”

 The Earth Crystal’s voice boomed over the system, a hologram of it appearing in the center of the table.

Amethyst and Minuette nodded. “Of course. We are sorry.”

Ember frowned. “...Sounds like a bad plan. I’m in.”

Limestone growled. “...Fine.”

Lyra let out a breath of relief. Now they could actually start some training…

Twilight blinked. “Discord?”

“Yes?”

“Are you warping reality around you?”

“Well, yes, all the time, but that’s not why you’re on the ceiling and I’m on the floor.”

Fluttershy yelled. “I don’t know which way is up!” She flapped her wings, flailing, unable to direct herself to any sort of ground at all. “Where am I going!?”

“Left.” Discord said.

“Pretty sure that’s right.” Rarity countered.

“...Up?” Applejack volunteered

Rainbow Dash groaned as she slammed into the ground (or perhaps ceiling) again. “What is this place’s deal?! We can’t go anywhere like this-”

Suddenly they were standing on a small version of the City of Man. All of them were standing on the floor, looking at the green sky above them.

“-the fudge?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, blinking rapidly. “The fudge!?”

Twilight sighed. “This is the fifth time this has happened… An instant change in scenery. This place’s reality is unstable - it can’t decide what it wants to be. Reality is uncertain.”

Discord shrugged. “You talk like that’s now how things normally are.”

“Ugh…” Applejack moaned. “You’re annoying.”

“But powerful.” Discord remarked. He looked up. “Oh. Incoming.”

Six crystalline ponies fell from the sky, each the color of one of the six Crystals themselves. Red, orange, blue, green, yellow, and purple. Each one targeted one of the Warriors of Light, with the green one going after Discord. Discord chuckled. “I guess I’m the extra party member today… Time for a series of one on one fights! This’ll be fun!”

The Warriors of Light rolled their eyes. “Fine by us…” Rainbow Dash muttered, glaring at the red crystal pony before her. It was a unicorn - and it was blasting a torrent of fire from its horn. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, capturing the fire with her wings and flinging it back. The red unicorn was unharmed but it quickly found that the explosive energy of Flare was too much for it to handle. “Done!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“Good for you!” Applejack yelled, facing off against an orange crystal pegasus wielding two swords in their wings. She bucked and kicked the crystal enemy to no avail, annoyed by its speed and durability. “Break already!”

Then she remembered her new sword. She drew it, the blade glinting in light that didn’t exist. She drove it deep into the orange one, and it exploded. “Ha! My blade is too much for you!”

Rarity took one look at the blue crystal earth pony before her, surrounded by glowing blue orbs and decided one thing - time to smite. “Dear, catch.” She said, shattering the crystal into hundreds of pieces with a single use of the Holy spell. She flung her hair around and smirked. “We are good.”

“You are good. But I am excellent!” Discord said, having defeated the crystal green pegasus with several million pies. “I can defeat enemies in the most creative ways.”

“Um…” Fluttershy said, looking at the yellow earth pony in front of her. Who was also shattering because of too many pies. “Does it still count as creative if I did the same thing?”

Discord facepalmed. “Mimics ruin my flair. Oh woe is me!”

Twilight fell from the ground, screaming in agony as the purple alicorn encased her in an explosion. She retaliated with the cannons, spraying the crystal enemy with flak. The crystal pony cared not, attacking with a powerful spell that blew Twilight aside.

Twilight grunted, spreading her wings and summoning the Finisher. Her horn extended and her wings sharpened, and she glared at her enemy. Then she smirked. “I just got an idea…” She focused more, extending the Finisher beyond just her horn and wings - but over her whole body. She became encased in magic armor, her hooves became sharp, and her joints angular. She rushed the crystal pony with impressive speed, driving her horn right through its skull and following up with a clap from her hooves.

It shattered with little effort.

Twilight turned to her friends and grinned, dispelling the Finisher. “I think I figured it out!”

Fluttershy sighed. “Yay… Now I’m the only one who has a mysterious power they don’t know how to use-” Her eyes went white again. “We’re about to be teleported again.” She said.

She was right. The arena changed to a spherical room made entirely of blue crystal. In the center of the room, floating in the air, was a nice round table with a board game set up on it. Sitting at the floating table was a greyish-blue unicorn with a large beard.

“Ah. Guests. I rarely get any these days.” He said, summoning six chairs specifically suited for the forms of each guest. “Welcome to my Temple.”

Trixie yelled from the City of Man’s primary prison. “I demand to be released! The Great and Powerful Trixie does not allow herself to be toyed with in this manner!”

There was silence.

“Come on! I can offer you magic! Knowledge! Power! Favors?”

There was still silence.

“I’ll help you with whatever you want just let me out of this filthy hole!”

Still silence.

“AUGH!” Trixie yelled. “This. Is. The. WORST!” She continued pacing around the small cell, easily the most annoyed unicorn on the planet in that moment.

Twilight blinked. “Are you Starswirl?”

“Ah, so you did your research before coming here. Impressive.” He said, taking a sip of some tea that wasn’t there before. “Or maybe you managed to convince this snake to actually tell you something.”

Discord frowned. “I told them nothing. Plus, I had no idea this place existed. I thought you were dead.”

“I am, in a way.” Starswirl said, shrugging. “This is what happens to those who mess with the status quo. An eternal prison.”

Fluttershy spoke up. “That sounds horrible! Can we help you mister Starswirl?”

“Afraid not, I’m bound to this place. My soul would be torn from my body were I to leave, and that would result in instant death.”

Fluttershy looked like she was about to cry. “That’s so sad-”

“Oh don’t be, this place gives me everything I want. I think of it, and it arrives.” A chipmunk appeared out of nowhere. “Now this means the outer edges of the Temple can get a little wonky - I’m sure you’re well aware of that if you got here - but my central room is mine to use however I wish.”

“Seems lonely.” Rarity said.

“Well… It is, I suppose. But I’ve been here for so long I guess I’m used to it at this point.”

Discord rolled his eyes. “You didn’t like people to begin with.”

“True enough.” Starswirl shrugged. “Now… Why are you here? There has to be some reason, powerful beings such as yourself never do things such as this without a purpose in mind.”

Twilight cleared her throat. “A being by the name of Exdeath has destroyed the Crystals and taken control of the Void.”

“Oh.” Starswirl said. He frowned. “And you’ll need the spells to control the Void on your own.”

“Precisely. Without the Crystals, we cannot take control of the Void even if we kill Exdeath.”

Starswirl nodded. “So, naturally, and logically, I should give them to you so you may reverse the damage once it is done.”

“Yeah.” Twilight frowned. “Well, apparently either Discord or I could take it, I’d let you choose.”

“No.”

Twilight blinked. “...What?”

Starswirl smirked. “I said no.”

“...Why not?”

“Did you ever wonder why I created the Void?”

Rainbow Dash bristled. “That’s not an answer-”

“Of course you did. The answer is simple - because I wanted to overthrow the Crystals and their dominion over our world. They were gods to us, gods that thought they were above us. That cared not for us. They cared only for themselves and preserving this world of theirs - and they had the power to alter the very foundations of our world. I would not stand for this. So I created the void.”

He paused. “Only… I didn’t create it. I just found it. The power was already there, just outside our reality. Already it had been filled with horrors and images of other worlds. All I did was bring forth the natural state of existence.” His grin grew. “I introduced the true nature to the suffocating order of the Crystals.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “So… You brought nature?”

“Yes. And it backfired on me horribly of course, the first moments of the Void were chaotic and I was sealed here by my own creation. Pure Entropy was unleashed, and I hated myself for it for the longest time… Until a visitor dropped by I thought I had destroyed the world. But… When I was told the world still existed, I found myself mildly disappointed. Yes I had limited the Crystals’ power, and yes I had changed everything, but…” He grinned. “I realized that the natural Entropy was what I wanted to begin with. The Crystals are an abomination against nature - the Void is what truly belongs. What truly means. So no, I will not give you the keys, for my creation is being fully realized after all these years.” He chuckled. “Though you are welcome to stay here and have some tea while the world burns.”

“You’re crazy!” Applejack yelled.

“So? I’ve been alone in here for tens of thousands of years. I hear that’ll do something to your head. Crumpet?”

Everyone stared at him in disbelief.

“This is why I didn’t want to come.” Discord muttered. “Lunatic central.”

“You’re hardly a sane piece of work yourself. Suppose it runs in the family.” Starswril said, munching on a piece of pizza.

Rainbow Dash blinked. “What?”

“Discord here was one of my earlier experiments. Not as successful as the Void, but interesting nonetheless.” Starswirl shrugged.

Twilight spread her wings and slammed her hoof down on the table. “I am sorry Starswirl, but we need those spells.”

“I suppose you can rip them from my dead body…” Starswirl said, twirling his hoof. “But bah, that’d be hard to do. I am a literal god here, able to bend this place to my very will. Such an attack would be folly.”

Twilight smirked. “I guess we’re just stupid that way.”

“Really? You’re really going to-”

Twilight put on the Finisher and barreled into Starswirl, driving her various points through his body with tremendous force. Starswirl was torn apart bit by bit - only to reform behind her. “Foolish alicorn-”

The Holy and Flare spells hit him simultaneously, blasting him into the room’s ceiling. He had no time to recover, for Applejack drove Excalibur right into his chest, and Discord tossed a pie into his face.

“You have certainly prepared yourselves well-” Phoenix came out of nowhere and went inside of him, attempting to rip apart his very soul. It didn’t work, but it was certainly painful to have a Phoenix inside his body.

Starswirl coughed, and hundreds of bombs appeared in the room. Rarity raised her horn, stopping time for all the bombs so they wouldn't explode. Then Discord and Twilight teleported them all right next to Starswirl.

“...Bugger.” He muttered. He was engulfed in a giant explosion. He was still fine when the dust cleared however. “Well, that was interesting. Bravo. Bravo. Now if only you-”

There was another barrage of ultimate spells and attacks that sent him flying. Fluttershy’s eyes went white and she covered her mouth. She carefully flew into the air and delicately positioned herself behind Starswirl...

“ENOUGH!” Starswirl yelled, lighting his horn. “DIE!” A wave of energy shot forth from his horn, touching Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. Their eyes rolled back into their skulls and they flopped to the ground, dead.

Starswirl shrugged. “Now will you consider not…” He blinked, realizing fluttershy was behind him just a little too late. She mimicked his spell. Starswirl’s very life was torn asunder from his body… ...One for it to be brought back with a mere thought.

“That… Was a clever ploy little pegasus.” Starswirl admitted. “But sadly not enough. Your friends are dead-”

Fluttershy summoned Phoenix, and life was breathed into Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. They stood back up and laughed at Starswirl.

Starswirl’s eye twitched. “I need to invent a spell that prevents raising. I really do. It’s next on my list.”

Discord hit Starswirl on the head with a rubber mallet. “Oh is it? Perhaps you should think about head protection spells first?”

“Do you not understand? Anything you do to me here is meaningless! I can undo whatever you do with a thought! This is my realm!”

This gave Twilight an Idea. She focused hard within her mind, sending Fluttershy a mental message. Not if you can hear me.

Fluttershy nodded.

I’m going to see if I can get him to produce a spell that removes powers. Mimic it back at him once I do.

Fluttershy nodded again.

Rainbow Dash and Rarity hit him once more with their impressive spells. “Why must you keep fighting? Can you not see how pointless it is?”

Twilight laughed. “We still have powers bestowed upon us by the Crystals! We will keep fighting as long as we can!”

Starswirl’s eyes sparkled. “Oh, there’s an idea.” He lit his horn, and Twilight felt the magic seep out of her. Her wings remained, but her eyes went dull, and she slumped to the ground. “Ow... “ She said.

Starswirl chuckled. “Now to move onto-” Then he blinked. “Oh no.”

Fluttershy spread her wings, and focused on Starswirl. Starswirl yelled in rage, but there was nothing he could do - she was using his wish against him, and the room obeyed. “No!” He fent his control over the Temple slip away. “No! NO NO NO!”

Fluttershy began to shake. “Too… Much… Power…” She said, her eyes glowing and her wings spastically twitching. Twilight rushed to her and put her horn to Fluttershy’s head - absorbing the magic through her. She let out a gasp - the feeling of the magic rushing into her was euphoric. Her eyes flashed black for a moment - her horn extended, and her height increased slightly. Her mane began to Sparkle, and she felt the magic enter her.

She stood tall, feeling the power of Starswirl enter her. A power similar to that of the Crystals - but also completely opposite. A fragment of the Void, as it were. She had the keys to his creation.

She turned to Starswirl, smiling. “Thank you for your assistance.”

“What? No! No! My creation shall not be stopped! It shall not!”

Twilight shrugged. “I think we’ll stop it, and you’ll be stuck in here with no power to do anything about it.” She wished for a doorway back to the Vlerryn, and the Temple complied. “Your magic draining ‘wish’ will wear off eventually and you can get back to your alone time. We won’t be back.”

Discord clapped profusely. “Well I say gang, well done! WELL done!”

“You didn’t do anything.” Rainbow Dash grunted.

“I threw a pie.”

“That doesn’t count.”

“Well if you must know he knows my weaknesses and could easily have just turned me against you had I proved to be too much.” Discord shrugged. “Also, it we didn’t kill him! Isn’t that great!?”

Fluttershy smiled. “Yes. Yes it is.” She looked behind her, at the sorrowful form of Starswirl. “...I might come back. Help him find out how to escape.”

“...I’d say no, but you never no.” Twilight said. “Right now we have a mission to complete.”

They boarded the Vlerryn and left, returning to the world where physics made sense.

Starswirl wept.

XXXII - Before the Storm

The City of Man flashed into existence and scooped the Vlerryn up out of the sky, then vanished again in a blast of light. The idea was if they kept moving faster than normally possible Exdeath wouldn’t be able to surprise them with anything from the Void. The anti-Void technology only went so far.

Lyra was there waiting for the Warriors of Light, along with Marble. Lyra grinned as the door opened. “Welcome back- WOAH.” She looked up at Twilight. “…Mom?”

“Yes Lyra?” Twilight said.

“You grew. And are sparkly.”

Twilight smiled. “We got the keys to the Void. We can now defeat Exdeath and end this needless destruction.”

Marble smiled, looking up at Discord. She nodded.

“Wait…” Discord frowned. “Was this some kind of test to see if I was able to be trusted on my own?”

Marble nodded.

“…Did I pass?”

Marble nodded.

“Not sure if I should be livid with you or happy.”

Marble shrugged, then trotted up to Fluttershy for a hug.

“Oh! Auntie Marble! How are you holding up?”

Marble sighed.

“I know… It’s hard. It always is. It always will be.” Fluttershy smiled sadly.

Maud nodded, looking to Lyra.

“Oh. Right.” Lyra coughed. “We’re holding a funeral later today, for those who have fallen. …Mainly Pinkie and the Warriors of Dawn. We’ll be stopping in Magent for it. It was rushed since we expect to be heading into the Void within a day or so.” She sighed. “They need a chance to be honored before the end.”

“Don’t think like that.” Twilight said, looking down at Lyra with wise eyes. “This will not be the end. Trust me.”

Lyra smiled. “What happened to you down there?”

“I was unlocked.” She said.

“I’ll say.” Chrysalis stated, appearing in a flash of green. “Not only an alicorn, but fully activated now. Not an easy feat, let me tell you. You are the seventh ever to exist.”

“Oh?” Twilight said, shrugging. “If it helps me defeat Exdeat-

“It’s much more than that. You have the right to rule in the eyes of many now. Most have lost their Queens, their rulers, their hope. You and I are the only remaining - it is up to us to repair this world now.”

Twilight sighed - she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t used to leading at this point. “Of course. What should I do?”

“Become the face of this army. A Warrior of Light, an alicorn, and a face many recognize. Be the unspoken leader of this endeavor. Charge at the front, spearhead the efforts.”Chrysalis smirked.** “Become Queen of the world.”**

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Queen…”

“You’re not the only Queen dear.” Rarity said, walking up to her. “I can give you the pointers. First, smile and wave. That’s always the most important part.”

Twilight nodded. “Okay…” She spread her wings and walked through the City of Man, purposefully drawing the attention of ponies to her. They stared in awe - a hero walked among them, and she filled them all with hope.

She hadn’t even said a word yet, and she had gathered a crowd. Chrysalis smiled - she had truly become the leader these people needed.

“Everyone!” She yelled. “Changeling, pony, dragon, griffon; wizard, knight, hero, outlaw - the time will soon come when I ask you to fight for our world. You all have already said yes - already pledged yourself to the cause. But I see among you strife and arguments - disagreements over how things are done. A lack of hope in our cause. A feeling that everything is going to end.”

“Let me tell you right now - not everything is going to end. We have procured the means to take down Exdeath and stop the Void from destroying our world - this new, beautiful world. Even though it was created by an evil plan, it is truly beautiful. Things lost to either of the originals have been found one more. Rivalries that existed before are being ironed out. All of us are banding together despite our differences to fight for our world.”

“We spit in the face of Exdeath and his plan to destroy everything. Instead of decaying into chaos, we band together in order. Instead of falling to internal violence, we overcome our differences. It is not what he expected, it is not what he wanted. And we will use the ties that connect us together to defeat him! He will not be allowed to destroy everything we have found in our lives! This world matters, and it will not return to nothing! We will stand strong for our own existence! So come, my people, come with me. Overcome your differences and your prejudices - become one. Do not let Exdeath have what he wants. Do not let the Void become what we are. We are not nothing - we are the most important thing to ever exist.”

Applause.

Powerful, intense applause.

<Well said.> The Earth Crystal announced.

“I need to have a talk with you later.” Twilight told the Earth Crystal. “You probably won’t like it.”

—

Magent was somber.

A funeral for four of their greatest heroes was being held that day. Daring Do, Gilda, Maud Pie, and Pinkie Pie. A brilliant marble statue of them stood in the center of the square, looking down at the gathered ponies and other assorted races.

Usually the statue was a bringer of pleasant memories and a feeling of safety.

Now the look of Gilda seemed menacing, the determination of Daring Do pointless, the face of Maud emotionless, and the smile of Pinkie Pie insane.

There were four coffins, but there were no bodies. The only object that could be found was that of Maud’s helmet, which was sitting atop the coffin that was supposedly hers.

Virtually everyone was crying. The greatest heroes - all gone.

There had been speeches for each hero individually - A few griffons had spoken on behalf of Gilda, Applejack and a few others on the half of Daring Do. Fluttershy managed to get out a few words for Pinkie, and the Warriors of Light said a few words for their compatriot. The most words were spoken for Maud - the mare who was essentially leader of an entire planet for a while. Everyone knew her - she was odd, but she was good at what she did.

Limestone walked up last, biting her lip. “Well, those were a lot of sappy speeches…” She sighed. “And now I hope you can stay around to hear mine.” She took a breath. “Most of you didn’t know them that well or for that long. I spent most of my life around them, all four of them. Two of I’ve known all my life. You may think of them as the reckless hero, the grumpy griffon, the serious leader, and the powerful insane one… All of these things are true. But there’s a lot more to each of them than you know.”

“Daring Do… Now there was a mare who understood what honor was. I still don’t understand it myself, and all the other legendary heroes often thought she was being silly half the time. But she was the only one to call us out when we were doing questionable things. The only one to defend the ‘bad guys.’ The one who would rush into danger to save a guy who had just tried to kill us minutes before.” Limestone chuckled. “She… She was the only one who stayed behind, left her world permanently to watch over the mess we left behind. Had she survived this long I expect we wouldn’t be in this crapfest we’re in right now. I honor her as the one who knew when it was time to do the right thing, even if we didn’t always listen to her…”

Limestone looked at the next coffin. “Gilda… She and I understood each other the best. We were both people who tended towards anger and violence. I suppose that’s why our rivalry became legendary. Many of you tell stories of our battles together, or duels that broke so many records. And yet… she was much more than me. I was just angry all the time for generally no reason whatsoever. She… She had a reason to be angry. Her life was hard. She was cast out by her own family. She was given the short end of the stick - and despite that she became a hero renowned worldwide. She kept her anger in check… Sometimes I wish I was more like her. Even when she became infected, she still stood strong…”

Limestone shook her head, turning to the pink coffin. “Ah… Pinkie. You were the most unique individual I ever had the chance of knowing. You were completely insane and more random than a deck of cards flung into the air during a tornado. And yet, you cared more for everyone than anyone I know. You always sought to make people laugh - even your enemies. Even people you didn’t know at all. You always just seemed to know exactly what to say to make them chuckle. You were in touch with something beyond what we knew - something bigger than all of us. Bigger even than this fight with Exdeath that you gave your life for. I don’t know where your knowledge or your intuition came from - and I don’t think I can know. But I do know that the knowledge was disturbing. That it would have been too much for anyone else to handle. But you… You just took it in stride. You were stronger than all of us…” Limestone’s face became haunted for a second, remembering one of the times her sister had broken down… Had been overwhelmed…

She shook her head, turning to the last coffin. “Maud… You were in charge. You always were. Everyone saw you as the strong mare who never broke, never faltered, always continued on despite the overwhelming turmoil around you. But I know you - behind that rocky exterior of yours, you felt. You felt everything that everyone else felt. You empathized with every person you met. You may have been dry, you may have not been a conversationalist - but you knew what other people meant. You knew the meaning of the world, and you devoted yourself to protecting everyone. And for that, we all thank you.”

Limestone looked up at the sky. “The Warriors of Dawn have fallen… they have passed the torch to the Warriors of Light.” She turned to look at the five mares in the crowd. “Exdeath was defeated once before by these four legends - now we have five legends.” She smiled. “And several armies. The Warriors of Dawn have set this up for us - created a world where Exdeath can be defeated for good, and defeated by all those he oppressed rather than just a legendary few. Let us take this fight to him and destroy him in their memories!”

Cheers erupted from the crowd. Limestone grabbed Maud’s helmet and put it on her own head, then she raised her swords to the sky and cheered before stepping off the stage and mingling with the crowd.

Fluttershy rushed her into a hug. “That… That was beautiful Auntie Limestone…”

Limestone smiled, trying to keep the tears back. “I… I try. I tried to keep my anger out of it…”

“It was great-“

Then the entire area shook - in the center of town erupted another Void sphere. The City of Man acted quickly, slowing its progress, but several buildings had already been consumed.

Limestone roared. “EVERYONE EVACUATE!” She glared at the Void Sphere with her eyes. “We’re coming for you blue boy. And you can’t stop us. Destroying our homes will not keep us away. It will not slow our resolve. It will only make it stronger.”

—

“We’ve settled on a plan.” Amethyst said, laying out a scroll. “The armies will be arranged like so, and all the ships of the City of Man will be manned and ready to go. The moment we enter the void all the ships and those who are able to fly and survive on their own power will be released. Then we charge directly for the center.”

“What will the center look like?” Rarity asked.

“It will look like a crystal podium floating among a sea of stars.” Discord said. “As for what the rest of the Interdimensional Rift looks like, that’s anyone’s guess.”

“So prepare for everything.” Applejack said.

“Precisely, my dear Applejack.”

<We will charge through all the demons and other such beings that plague the rift, using all our force to cut into the center.> The Earth Crystal announced.

“So…” Rainbow Dash said. “The plan is essentially crush, kill, destroy?”

<…Essentially.>

“I like this plan.”

The alarm lights went off. Chrysalis sighed. “Spire Hive was just hit by the Void. This is now the planet’s last major seat of power.”

“Well then…” Twilight said. “Everybody, do what you want. We are running out of time - wrap everything up you can. We will attack at dawn.”

The group nodded and dispersed. Soon it was just Twilight. “Earth Crystal?”

“Starswirl said he created the Void to fight against your kind. Why would he do that?”

Twilight frowned at the Earth Crystal’s choice of words. “Are the highest authority?”

“You really think you’re better than us?”

Twilight frowned. “That suggests you chose to define the world by yourselves. It didn’t have to be that way?”

The Earth Crystal paused. <…No. We chose to anchor ourselves to the world, so we could improve our lives->

“What about us? Did you not think maybe we would have wanted the world to ourselves?”

<Never crossed my mind back then. Perhaps it did to the Life Crystal, but not the rest of us. But what right do you have to tell uswhat to do?>

“What right do you have to tell us what to do?”

Twilight blinked. “What?”

Twilight took a step back. “…And your actions ended up killing them.”

Twilight growled. “…You really do believe you’re better than us don’t you?”

The Earth Crystal said.

Twilight turned and walked out. “I don’t have to be happy about it.”

She stopped herself. “…Where did you come from?”

“You should have shaped it better.”

Twilight just left - she was done talking now.

—

“Ah have a question.” Applejack said.

“What?” Fluttershy asked.

“What IS Exdeath?”

Fluttershy blinked. “You know… nopony knows.”

Applejack groaned. “What do you know? At this rate we know more about the Void and humanity than we know about our enemy!”

“He came out of the Everfree Forest one day.” Fluttershy said. “Made his castle on an island nopony knew existed and tried to conquer everything. The Warriors of Dawn fought him, send him to the Otherworld, and sealed him. That’s… all of his story we know. Nopony knows what created him or where he came from.”

“What about the Everfree Forest? The Tree of Harmony?”

“Er…” Fluttershy blinked. “Those have kinda… always been there?”

“You’re a big help.” Applejack muttered. “Ah guess it don’t matter all that much - we don’t have to know where he came from to defeat him…”

An alarm rang out.

The Everfree forest had just been consumed by the Void.

Fluttershy winced. “All those poor animals…”

Applejack grunted. “Wonder what he’ll take next…”

—

Applejack had taken the Vlerryn out for a spin - Rainbow Dash was in the craft with her.

“Just wait till you see Sweet Apple Acres and get a taste of our cider!” Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Can’t wait. Your sister going to be there?”

“Yep. Probably going to serve us as well. Gosh, it’s bene a while since I bucked some apples…”

Rainbow Dash looked at Applejack strangely.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Rainbow Dash said.

They crested over the horizon, Applejack pointing. “There she is! Sweet Apple Acres! And look, you can even see Big Mac out in the field-“

SHOOM.

Form nowhere a Void Sphere appeared, engulfing the farm with dark impersonal energy. The acres were gone in a manner of seconds.

“NO!” Applejack yelled. “NO!” She yanked the throttle, pushing the Vlerryn as fast as it would go - right into the Void Sphere.

Rainbow Dash kicked Applejack out of the seat and pulled up - the bottom of the Vlerryn scraping the edge of the Void Sphere. “MAYDAY! CITY OF MAN! VOID EMERGENCY!”

The City appeared and picked them up instantly - slowing the progression of the Void Sphere in the process. But it was too late - the farm was long gone.

Applejack yelled. “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?”

“YOU WERE GOING TO KILL US!”

“AND AH WOULD HAVE GIVEN THAT VOID SPHERE SOMETHING TO-“

Rainbow Dash slapped her. “GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF! THINK! THINK! Destroying the Vlerryn would have accomplished nothing!”

Applejack cried angry tears. “AH WOULD HAVE FELT LIKE AH DID SOMETHING!”

“THAT DOESN’T MATTER!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “YOU CAN’T JUST GO FLY OFF RANDOMLY SCREAMING AND HOLLERING WHEN YOUR SIBLINGS DIE! IT DOESN’T WORK!”

Applejack backed up. Then glared. “Easy for you to say, yours came back.”

Rainbow Dash glared. “You take that back.”

“No. Ah’m not gonna.” She glared back, tears streaking down her face. “Ah’m gonna make you feel what I feel.” She drew the Excalibur.

Rainbow Dash kicked the door of the Vlerryn open and flew out. She could here berserk Applejack chasing after her. “Crap crap crap RARITY!”

“What?” Rarity said, looking up form her book.

“Get ready to Revive Applejack.” She said. “Or me.”

Rarity blinked. “Wha-“

Applejack came flying out of nowhere, the Excalibur shining with energy. Rainbow Dash spread her wings and engulfed Applejack in a Flare. The orange mare exploded… But somehow managed to absorb the blast with her sword.

“THE BUCK?” Rainbow Dash yelled, unable to stop the sword from driving into her chest. She fell down, limp.

Rarity stopped Applejack’s time, and healed Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash gasped. “That sword is painful. That sword is painful. That sword is painful.”

Rarity frowned. “What happened to her?”

“Sweet Apple Acres was consumed.”

“Oh my.” Rarity said. “How…”

“I’m going to talk some sense into her.” Rainbow Dash said. “That’s how this is going to go. Keep reviving us.”

“…I’m going to call Fluttershy, see if I can borrow Phoenix for this…”

—

“…How long have they been killing each other?” Twilight asked.

“Three hours.” Rarity said, watching as Phoenix raised Applejack this time. “She still hasn’t calmed down.”

Twilight sat down. “…I wonder why she’s the one who has coped the least with losing family…”

Rarity frowned. “I think it means the most to her… I’d had time to come to terms with the fact that my mother might be gone, Fluttershy got to talk to her mother as she went…. Though Rainbow Dash had around this level of reaction.” She sighed. “I guess this is why she’s trying to talk Applejack down…”

The two mares exploded and Twilight winced. “…That’s some harsh talking.”

Rarity shook her head. “It’s what Applejack needs.”

The two mares watched as Applejack and Rainbow Dash went at it - Applejack no longer even speaking in coherent sentences.

In ten minutes, she broke down. Collapsing and dropping her sword. She entered a fetal position and just kept crying.

Rainbow Dash walked up to her, raised her hoof…. …and offered it to Applejack. “We’ve all lost ponies we care about. And all of us have learned that sometimes, you need to pull yourself together and do what they would have wanted. I don’t know much about your family - maybe they want you to grieve, maybe they want you to continue on however you can, maybe they want you to save the world. Whatever, I know this isn’t it.”

“It hurts…”

“I know.” Rainbow Dash said. “Spike may be back…. But I thought he was gone for months. I still felt what you felt. I reacted badly, like everyone does. We won’t think any less of you for this.” She helped Applejack up. “But we need you back Applejack.”

Applejack smiled. “…You’re an idiot.”

“We’re all idiots.”

“Alright.” Applejack sighed. “Let’s stop this… Pointless fight. We set out tomorrow…”

—

Before dawn, nobody was sleeping.

Fluttershy was spending time with Marble and Limestone, crying and laughing, talking about their family.

Applejack set up a little memorial for her family - next to the memorial for Daring Do.

Rainbow Dash and Rarity talked the night away - being sisters. Laughing and crying about everything that came.

Twilight just stood on a balcony, staring at the stars. Thinking about those lost. Thinking about the Crystals. Thinking about the Void. Thinking about the keys given to her…

Would she do better? She had been trusted with a great power… Would she be able to rebuild everything?

It was time to find out. The sun was rising.

The Trotton Void Sphere eclipsed the star, giving the black orb a bright halo of sunshine. Twilight looked right at it for a few seconds.

“THE TIME HAS COME!” She yelled as loud as her magic let her. “WE ARE ENTERING THE VOID! SET COURSE!”

The City of Man warped the very space around it, giving the entire City a strange aura of distorted sky. It slowly moved towards the Void Sphere, the two touching. The sphere itself began to warp around the City of Man slowly, encasing it in an inky blackness, drawing it in slowly. There was no vaporization, only a slow shifting of realities.

Then the City of Man was enveloped, and everything seemed the same as before…

—

Exdeath looked up.

They had entered.

He wasn’t sure if this was going to be fun or annoying.

He shook his head, turning back to his work. Images of places far apart appeared around him, connections. Bridges. Cameras.

He was beginning to understand more. To see more. He had only seen a fraction before, only a sliver. But now he began to see the bigger picture, and to truly understand what it meant.

He began to laugh. It was not his regular laugh - it was the laugh of someone whose entire world was falling apart around them. It was the laugh of an evil mastermind who realized that his plans were accomplishing something very different than what he intended.

He wasn’t sure if he minded or not…

XXXIV - Transdimensional Weirdness

The City of Man floated into a field of stars. It quickly recalled all individuals who needed air to breathe - for suddenly there wasn’t any. They were now in space for all intents and purposes, and it looked beautiful.

<There> The Earth Crystal announced.

“How far away is that?” Twilight asked, peering into the distance at the light blue shimmer in the distance.

Twilight sighed. “Well, everypony, we better buckle up. Got ourselves an Exdeath to defeat…”

The City of Man enveloped itself in a sphere of golden light and entered warp speeds.

Behind it, unseen, a four-limbed metallic shape followed…

—

“The stars are mesmerizing….” Rarity said, looking at them streak past the window. “Beautiful…”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Eh, I’ve seen better.”

Spike glared. “No you haven’t.”

“Floating rock tendrils buddy! FLOATING ROCK TENDRILS! That place was awesome!”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “I personally liked the Everfree Forest…”

“Okay we’re doing this.” Rainbow Dash flew up into the air. “Coolest place we’ve been on this adventures! I claimed the start of this place, Rarity likes it here and now, and Fluttershy likes it here. The rest of you?”

“City of Man.” Twilight said. “Still best place.” Lyra whooped in the background.

Applejack frowned. “…Ah liked that big bridge the best. Ah’m not sure why Ah did.”

Rainbow Dash turned to some of their other companions. “What about the rest of you? Come on!”

“Most of us didn’t go on big adventures.” Limestone reminded them. “We weren’t the big Warriors of Light. We didn’t get to travel everywhere on your little journey.”

Fluttershy sighed. “Pinkie would have loved Starswirl’s Temple…”

The ponies all looked down at the floor, saddened by the thought. Twilight put a wing around Fluttershy. “Yeah. Yeah she would have.”

“How about you-“ Rarity began, only for the entire City to go on red alert. The Earth Crystal started screaming at them. <CRYSTALLINE ONES DETECTED. CRYSTALLINE ONES INCOMING>

The Warriors of Light and Limestone teleported to the bridge, where Chrysalis and Ember already were. The Earth Crystal’s voice seemed to be in a panic. <Energy reading is off the charts, matches that of a Crystal. A livecrystal. Coming right for us and powering up.>

“Bad.” Rainbow Dash said. “How do we kick that thing’s butt?”

Twilight frowned. “Exdeath destroyed Crystals by draining power from them for extended periods of time… We don’t have that option…”

“He destroyed the Life Crystal with a powerful attack.” Fluttershy said.

“Only after we spent all our energy weakening it…” Twilight said. “And I don’t think we can fight effectively in space. At least not all of us.”

Twilight started to panic. “Uh… Uh… Try talking to it? Earth Crystal, can you make it understand that you are one of its kind?”

“Okay… Any other ideas?” Twilight said.

Chrysalis frowned. “Perhaps we could fool it with a large changeling illusion…”

”Do that.” Twilight said. “Best idea we’ve got so far.”

Chrysalis vanished in a puff of green light - and less than a second later a tremendous object appeared within their sights. Almost the size of the City of Man, it lurched into existence and forced the City out of warp. The ‘ship’ was created of dark purple metal with scattered Crystalline structures along the rounded edges, with seven tails trailing off its back.

 The voice boomed - Twilight knew the Earth Crystal was translating for them, since it was coming through their speakers.

<I am the Crystalline One Tochi Chikyu Setchi Essensu, and I seek passage to the Core of the Void>

Anima began charging a magical blast.

The Earth Crystal stated.

“What about Chrysalis’ plan?” Twilight asked.

Suddenly, another City of Man appeared in the void, rushing Anima.

The other City of Man rammed Anima, driving him away.

“RUN!” Chrysalis yelled telepathically to Twilight. “THIS ILLUSION CANNOT BE HELD LONG!”

“Step on it!” Twilight yelled. The City of Man encased itself in the gold warp and fled.

Anima roared. It knew it wasn’t faster than the City of Man… It was too late. They would make it to the core now. Anima roared, blasting the illusion with a laser - dissipating it into the several changeling-occupied ships that made it up.

Chrysalis bit her lip. “…I love you Minuette.”

Then Anima launched the attack - vaporizing them all.

Already a light year away, Minuette cried out. “NO! WE CAN’T LEAVE HER…”

“She left herself.” Ember said, frowning.

“Have some tact!” Rarity hissed at Ember, putting a hoof around Minuette. “Look at me Minuette. Look at me.” The blue unicorn obliged. “It is going to be hard. It is going to hurt. It will never stop hurting. But you can’t let it beat you. You must face the world, not run away from it.”

Rarity hugged Minuette tight. “I am so sorry. All this killing needs to end.”

Minuette just nodded and cried over Rarity’s shoulder.

—

Anima was angry. It had failed. It would not be freed from the Interdimensional Rift. Why even bother chasing them, they would arrive, and that would be the end of it.

Anima really needed something to explode - oh what was this? A little robot flying through space?

<SCORE.>

Anima fired - and missed.

Omega charged right into Anima and punched a hole through the Fal’cie’s body. Right through one of the cores of Anima’s being.

While not dead, Anima was now adrift.

Anima watched in rage as Omega flew off without so much as a glance back.

—

The Crystal core was… tranquil. A series of hundreds, if not thousands, of floating islands made entirely of Crystal. The City of Man dropped out of warp less than a mile from the gigantic structure of crystals loosely collected together, the City dwarfed by the conglomeration’s immense size.

There was no army to attack them.

No beasts to face off against them.

Just a field of eternal crystal spreading out in a circular pattern, surrounding a bright spot in the center.

 The Earth Crystal said.

Twilight nodded. “That we are.”

Rainbow Dash blinked. “I still can’t get over the fact that you have a NAME.”

The Earth Crystal let out a sigh.

“Oh.” Rainbow Dash said. “Ever consider actually taking it as your name? It is a little awkward to call you ‘Earth Crystal’ all the time.”

<…Tochi is an appropriate name. Never really needed one before. I’ve said more words to mortals in the last week than I have in the last millennia.>

“You need to get out more.” Twilight said. “Make some more friends.”

The Warriors of Light looked around themselves, fixing each other with glances. Some were eager, some were nervous, some were unsure. “…Can we do this?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight looked ahead at their goal, her face covered in its light. “I think so Fluttershy. We are not fighting alone. We have everyone at our backs. The world will not fall to just us - it falls to everyone here. All of us.” She smiled, raising her voice. “All of you! All of you! What you do here today will decide the fate of the world! Not us, not the Earth Crystal, not your leaders, you! You are the power behind us all! If we fall, keep going. Do what needs to be done. We shall not stand for this any longer!”

The entire City cheered at the sound of Twilight Sparkle’s voice.

“How amusing.” A voice that sounded a lot like Twilight’s said. Floating before them was a humanoid with dark lavender skin, menacing purple horn, and dark angular wings. Her eyes were highlighted with an unsettling light, and her clothing was dark and menacing. “You think you fight together.”

Twilight glared at her, enveloping herself in her Finisher. “What are you?”

“Me?” She cackled. “Let me put this in a way you’ll understand… the five of you are essences of the crystals. Life, Kindness. Earth, Honesty. Wind, Laughter. Oh wait, last one’s not here.” She giggled. “Me? I’m the Spirit of Void, Decay.” She laughed. “But you can call me Midnight. Midnight Sparkle.”

Twilight blinked. “Sparkle? What does that even mean?”

“Oh and by the way, you won’t have backup for this fight.” She clapped her hands, and suddenly the Warriors of Light were standing with her on a crystal island, the City of Man nowhere in sight. “No backup. No Queens to pull you out of your predicament, no Deus Ex Machina to save you here. Just me.”

The Warriors of Light readied their weapons. “Like that matters!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“Oh you see, it does.” Midnight laughed, increasing her size tenfold. “For you see, I AM one of you Chosen. I breathe the essence of an Element. I was chosen as a hero long ago. Your status does not affect me.”

Fluttershy summoned Odin, who dropped his spear in fear. “No…”

“Ah Odin!” Midnight clapped. “Long time no see! Did you miss me?”

“We destroyed you!” Odin yelled.

“Please, a transdimensional being such as myself cares not for being killed merely once. Honestly I’m ashamed you didn’t figure out I was still around by the mere existence of that purple alicorn behind you.”

“What the buck are you talking about?” Rainbow Dash said.

“Ah, the pegasus wants to know.” Midnight grinned. “Tell her Odin. Try and explain.”

“Carbuncle would do a better job-“

Midnight pointed a finger and Fluttershy knew that she wouldn’t be making any more summons for the rest of the encounter.

“…Damn you Midnight.”

“Yes yes…” Midnight giggled. “Go on now. Tell them.”

“…Me and my allies, we helped the Crystals seal the Void away long ago. What you don’t know is that, somehow, the Void itself produced a champion of it’s own to counteract us. She… She was our Exdeath. She was the one fighting to keep her source of power alive. We killed her-“

“Oh Odiiiin!” She yelled. “That’s not it! You’re not telling the whole story!”

“Why would I torture them with that?”

“BECAUSE I’M A SADIST.” Midnight yelled. “TELL THEM WHERE I CAME FROM. WHO I WAS.”

Odin gulped, looking at Twilight. “She… She was from some other world. Not any of the two we created, something else. Somewhere else - somewhere even my Crystal could not tell me about. But we discovered that there were many of these other worlds… And… And…”

“She was me wasn’t she.” Twilight said. it wasn’t a question.

“Guess who answered the million dollar question!” Midnight pointed. “You! You Twilight Sparkle! I’ll have all the reward transferred to me because A) I am you and B) you’re about to be killed anyway so at the very least I qualify as your next of kin.”

Twilight looked down at the ground. Could she really become this thing standing before them?

“Twi, don’t listen to her.” Applejack said. “She’s right, she was you, or somethin’, Ah don’t really understand. But you have a choice. You don’t have to be her. You can be better than her. Become a true champion.”

Twilight smiled. “Midnight, you’re rather sure of this aren’t you? Think you can tear us down? Think you can attack me? Well then… Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think.”

Midnight snorted. “Well, I was going to enjoy tormenting your psyche but apparently ‘Friendship is Magic’ and all that crap. Hate all that.” She clapped her hands, sending out a wave of pure Aether energy that sent all five of the heroes flying, all of them barely staying on the island.

Fluttershy retaliated with the exact same move, tossing Midnight into the sky. Midnight glared. “Alright, you’re the one with weird powers. Let me see..” She pointed at Twilight. “Smart one…” She pointed at Applejack. “Strong one…” She pointed at Rarity. “Plucky and fashionable healer…” And then she pointed at Rainbow Dash. “…comic relief.”

“HEY!” Rainbow Dash yelled, casting biotin on Midnight and then unleashing a sonic rainboom on her. “I am not the comic relief.” She drove Midnight into the ground with a sickening crack. “PINKIE WAS THE COMIC RELIEF!”

“Ow…” Midnight said, encasing Rainbow Dash in a crystal prison and electrocuting it. “That actually hurt me…”

Fluttershy rammed Midnight with a sonic rainboom - that sent butterflies everywhere. “Okay you are going to get-“ Midnight was then encased in a crystal prison that was instantly electrocuted. She roared in anger, energy exploding out of her.

“Okay, you.” She pointed at Fluttershy. “You are the most annoying because of that ability of yours. But I can’t get rid of you first, because…” She pointed at Rarity. “…White mage.”

“Bother.” Rarity said, accelerating her speed so she could doge the incoming flurry of beams. She leapt into the air and cast Holy, which Fluttershy mimicked, only to have the white spheres deflected by a swipe of Midnight’s hand. “Heh. Legendary spell spamming won’t work on me, ponies.”

“Then what about this?” Twilight yelled, barreling into Midnight with Finisher, driving the deadly spired of energy through the humanoid - Twilight’s horn piercing her right where her heart should be. Twilight quickly teleported away before Midnight could retaliate.

Midnight floated there, in the air, dripping dark purple blood. She roared. “That’s it, time for some fun. Any of you ever heard of a spell called Roulette? No? Well alright then! Here’s the rules - I cast it and somebody dies! It might even be me - but being severely outnumbered here, I like my odds.”

She snapped her fingers - Applejack fell to the ground lifeless. Rarity tried to summon up the energy for an arise, but Midnight was too fast. “Hi there.” She said, punching the white unicorn in the face.

Fluttershy cast roulette - only to have her own life sucked out of her.

“HA!” Midnight began to laugh. “Oh that’s priceless! Killed herself! Absolutely-“ Twilight shot Midnight with double plasma cannons. “Okay. Die already.” Midnight teleported, appearing with her claws inside Twilight, clawing at her organs. Twilight gagged, unable to scream. Midnight tossed her to the side, an intestine in her claws. “That’s how you do it.”

Then there was a flash of yellow light, and Fluttershy’s wing appeared inside Midnight’s chest. “What? You were dead!”

“You were distracted.” Rarity said. Fluttershy winced and ripped out Midnight’s insides. “Ew… Ew…. Ew…”

“Why I oughta-“

“Oughta what?” Carbuncle asked.

Midnight twitched. “Wait. I silenced her. You can’t-“

“She was revived.” Ramuh said. “So she’s back to normal.”

“Yeah!” Shiva yelled. “Time to give you the beat down AGAIN miss nasty!”

“FACE PUNCHING TIME!” Titan yelled.

Odin raised his lance, readying it. “You will not win. You never will.”

Ifrit appeared last, riding the white chocobo - with Phoenix on his back. “FEEL THE HELLFIRE!!!!” He roared.

Midnight paled. “Not again…”

She exploded, all the Crystal’s Warriors fighting at once, and to top it all off, Spike appearing on top of them. He chuckled. “Being a summon is fun.”

Then all the summons vanished and Fluttershy smirked. This had been the plan since she cast roulette - seeing the future came in handy.

Rarity revived Applejack and all the Warriors of Light stood, ready to face their almost gone enemy. Midnight managed to stand, breathing heavily. “No… This can’t be… I was the strongest Chosen! I was-“

ENCIRCLE.EXE

Midnight’s eyes widened. “OMEGA NO-“ She felt some´˜•§ √•¢∑¶ √´µ∑øˆ˜…

Rainbow Dash blinked in confused. “Why the buck are we here? Why does everything look destroyed? What is that thing standing right there?”

OMEGA.

Twilight blinked, confused by the sudden change in… Everything.

Rarity pointed a hoof at the robot. “You! You’re what’s messing things… up… what things am I talking about?”

“I have no idea.” Applejack said. “But this thing’s going down.” She drew Excalibur and charged, driving it into Omega - only to have it bounce off the hard exterior with a clank sound.

“What? Excalibur cuts through anything!”

“Not that apparently!” Rainbow Dash said, lighting her wings with a yellow light. “Time to zap you!” She sent out the bolt of electricity - only for it to reflect back onto her.

“Well that’s not fair…” Fluttershy said, summoning Carbuncle. “How do we defeat a reflecting enemy?”

“Reflect on yourself.” Carbuncle said. “The spell will bounce back and forth for a long time - the target’s shield will wear out first.” Carbuncle quickly cast reflect on the party. Fluttershy smiled - and then her eyes went white.

“No!” She said, leaping into the air and out of the way. “That’s-“

ENCIRCLE.EXE

Fluttershy blinked. “It’s erasing me from-“ Fluttershy felt some¥˝ˆˇÁ‰˚†¨ˆ˙¶•••ª

The four Warriors of Light stood, facing the robotic enemy.

“Where did this thing come from?” Applejack yelled.

“No idea!” Twilight said, putting on Finisher and charging into it - to little effect. “But it’s going down!” Twilight unleashed a spell she didn’t know she had - a series of black explosions that tossed Omega back a few meters. Applejack followed up by slamming her hooves into the ground and impaling Omega with a crystal spire from the ground.

“Ha!” She said. “You’re stuck now!”

ENCIRCLE.EXE

Applejack gulped. “What in tarnation-“ Applejack felt some§£ª•¶∞ª™¶¢•0

The three Warriors of Light stood, facing off against Omega. It was unharmed.

“You know…” Rarity said. “I feel like we damaged it a minute ago… But now it’s unharmed…”

“It may have time related powers!” Twilight said, trying to trap it in a magic crystal - and failing miserably. “Be on the lookout!”

Rarity focused her horn, unleashing a scanning spell while barraging the robot with Holy. That was… Weird. Why did the space and time inside it feel so familiar?

Twilight roared, spreading her wings wide and making her eyes go white. “OMEGA, YOU WILL BE JUDGED!” She reached deep within herself, trying to put all her power out at once. She glowed white for a moment, engulfing the entire area in some cataclysmic power-

ENCIRCLE.EXE

Twilight gagged mid spell. “Rarity he’s trying to erase-“ Twilight felt some„Åø´˜˝Ó´Ò˜´ª¢¶ª

The two sisters faced off against Omega, neither looking to good.

“You know, this guy is really, really, really strong.” Rainbow Dash said. “I’m going to rainboom him.”

“You… Do that…” Rarity said, the back of her mind screaming that something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

The rainboom made contact with Omega, and was followed up by a powerful kick, which managed to blow off a few of Omega’s legs. “Ha!” Rainbow Dash laughed. “Gotcha!”

ENCIRCLE.EXE.

“The heck is-“ Rainbow Dash felt some•™¢º¶¨˜Ô°›‚ÔÏ

Rarity screamed. Why was she screaming? What was going on? Oh right. Angry robot attacking her, the sole hero of all…

All alone… No friends… No allies…. Just her against everything. She whimpered in fear. What was the meaning of it all? Just nothing? Nothing at all?

…That didn’t make any sense! It couldn’t have been just her all this time… Pinkie? No… Pinkie left a long time ago with… With… She shook her head, looking at the robot. “You did something. What did you do?”

Omega walked forward, completely unharmed.

“No…” Rarity said, racking her mind. “No I was not alone! I had friends! Other heroes! What have you done with them?”

Omega took another step forward.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY SISTER?!” Rarity yelled. Then something inside her snapped - the time magic swirling around her mind. “You… You removed her!”

ENCIRCLE.EXE

Rarity growled. “OH NO YOU DON’T!” She pushe¨´¬∆ …∆øˆ¨rejˆ˜ø´∑˜…√¨¨ˆπ ˜ø¨ß√ƒ´∑ ÔˆØ´ÚUrewi Ø‡;ˆ¨ˆÓÚÒÔ REWIND!”

The golden circle vanished and Rarity reestablished herself in reality, her horn glowing with an intense light. She latch onto Omega, screaming. “REWIND! REWIND! REWIND!”

Omega began to stagger backwards… The core began to shift in reverse, spitting out Rainbow Dash first. Omega’s legs blew off at that. Then Twilight appeared once more, and several of Omega’s circuits overloaded. As Applejack appeared the crystal spire returned, driving Omega right through the core.

ENC-

“No!” Rarity yelled, pushing time backwards further. “You will not!” She pushed harder, taking Fluttershy back out. The yellow pegasus looked terrified.

Rarity continued pushing - the beaten form of Midnight Sparkle appearing… Then Trixie… Then Discord…

It was at that moment that Rarity’s magic failed and she passed out.

ENCIR-

“OH NO YOU DON’T” Midnight and Discord yelled at the same time, completely annihilating Omega with their powers. The explosion was one of the most powerful any present had ever seen.

Midnight wasted no time - she quickly grabbed Discord by the neck and drained his magic into herself. “Thank you for the boost, spirit.”

“Gah…” Discord said. “I just come back into existence and this is my wake up call?”

“Yes.” Midnight said, cackling. Then she turned back to the six mares present. “Who’s ready to die?”

Trixie screamed and ran - only for Midnight to teleport her into her claws. “Well well well. Alicorn amulet? I’ll just take that…”

“TAKE IT TAKE IT JUST LET ME LIVE!” Trixie said.

“Sure.” Midnight said, taking the amulet now that she had permission and putting it on. Then dropping Trixie to the ground. Midnight’s eyes flashed red. “One can never get too many power boosts!”

“THROW YOUR SWORD UP APPLEJACK!” A familiar voice said.

Applejack blinked for a second before doing exactly that. A fiery bacon-like mane flashed over her head and grabbed the sword, driving it into Midnight’s head.

Sunset grinned. “I have wanted this sword for so long. And never did I imagine a scene this epic to get it. All we’re missing is a planet exploding in the background.”

Starlight appeared with a bright blue explosion.

“Close enough.” Sunset said.

Midnight roared. “What are you?”

“How are you alive?” Twilight asked.

“We are Sunset and Starlight.” Sunset offered.

“And it’s amazing what sheer determination can do to supposed vaporization.” Starlight grinned. “Just ended up sealed away in the Rift, not dead.”

“We’re just that good.”

Midnight roared. “You think this changes anything? I have the power to destroy you all with a thought-“

Starlight and Sunset fused - a fiery halberd in one of the centaur’s hands, Excalibur in the other.

“And we have the power to take you down.”

They tackled Midnight off the island, taking her downwards, out of the core, and into the interstellar rift. The Warriors of Light, Discord, and Trixie filed to the edge of the island, looking down just in time to see the combatants engulfed in a burst of black light… And both vanish from existence.

“…The HECK?” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Ah dunno…” Applejack said, looking closely. “…I do believe my sword is still down there though. Right there. See it?”

Twilight teleported it back up and handed it to Applejack. “…They seem to sacrifice themselves a lot…” She said. “…I wonder if they’ll be back.”

“They will.” Fluttershy said. “I can feel it.”

Twilight smiled. “Then no mourning - let’s just wait for them to show up again. Maybe it won’t be in the heat of battle this time.”

“I, for some reason, really doubt that.” Rarity observed.

“Yeah…” Twilight said.

At that moment the City of Man appeared above them.

 The Crystal now known as Tochi said.

“We won!” Twilight said. “It was… pretty intense.”

“This is Trixie.” Twilight said, smiling. “A friend.”

Rainbow Dash facehooved. “Oh my really?”

“Really.”

Trixie blinked. “What the heck just happened?”

Discord shrugged. “I have no idea. And that’s unusual, let me say.”

The mares and spirit of chaos all had a good laugh.

—

The City of Man approached the center - a singular crystal platform floating amongst nothing. The other crystal islands could all be seen in the distance, seemingly eons away.

Everyone glanced at each other. “Ready the armies.” Limestone said. “This one guy is going to have tricks up his sleeve, and we need to beat him down.”

The City of Man began to ready itself before the final assault began. It would be multiple armies against one. Single. Man.

Twilight bit her lip. “…I wonder. …I think the Void is more than any of us know - even Starswirl.”

“How so?” Rarity asked.

“Midnight was from somewhere else. Yet she was me. And she was chosen by the Void somehow… A thing we thought impersonal. A thing that should be impersonal. I think it’s more than we ever knew…”

Fluttershy nodded. “It does appear to be that way…”

“This changes nothing.” Rainbow Dash said. “We still have to win.”

“That we do.” Applejack said. “Let’s answer these questions afterwards.”

 Tochi said.

The Warriors of Light entered the Vlerryn and blasted off - leading the charge. The time had come…

XXXV - The Battle for the Void

The Vlerryn swooped in, approaching the very center.

The scene they saw was simple - Exdeath standing on a crystal podium floating amongst nothing. He had his hands pressed deep into the crystal, interfacing with the very essence.

It was the Core of the Rift, the controls for the Void.

“As expected.” He said. “You arrive the instant I attain full control.” He tore his hands out of the crystal and grunted. “Bring your armies. I am now complete.” His armor dissolved, exposing his dark, starry interior. His essence latched onto the podium, swirling and contorting into unnatural shapes, and growing to a truly unnatural size. it took on the shape of a unicorn, then a tree, and then lastly a tall humanoid. It leered over the Vlerryn and the incoming City of Man, glaring with an intense fires from two specks of light that appeared to be eyes.

It spoke. “I am Exdeath. And I have control of the Void. I know this isn’t going to work, but die anyway. He raised a tremendous stellar limb, forming a gigantic sphere of Void energy in his hands and tossing it at the Vlerryn.

Discord appeared, snapping his fingers and sending the Void sphere back. “Nice try.”

“I know.” Exdeath said. “It can never end with an anticlimax.”

“You’re speaking in Pinkie Pie.”

“That I am.” Exdeath said, pointing a finger at Discord. “And you are speaking the language of overconfidence.”

“The what no- AAAAAAA THAT HURTS!” He yelled as his entire body was reduced to ash. Rarity sent a revive spell at him, but he didn’t look so good.

Exdeath wrapped his hand around the Vlerryn. “You and your armies wish to defeat me do they?”

“Yes!” Twilight yelled. “We will take back our world!”

“Your world is meaningless.You are meaningless.”

“Then why target us and our families?” Applejack yelled.

“Because.” Exdeath said, squeezing the Vlerryn in his hand. “I’m the villain. And you have annoyed me to no end.”

“WHY DON’T YOU TAKE ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE!” A booming voice yelled, Torch appearing and barreling into Exdeath’s side, tearing the ethereal humanoid limb from limb.

Exdeath sighed. “Foolish dragon. Size is not everything.” He threw the Vlerryn at torch, impaling the dragon and making Fluttershy scream in horror. “Do you even know what I am?”

“You are Exdeath!” Limestone roared from the City of Man. “And we are going to destroy you. FIRE ALL WEAPONS!”

The various ships and armies on the City of Man unleashed an intense barrage of magical, physical, and unclassifiable weapons on Exdeath. He raised a hand and absorbed them all with his palm. “But what IS Exdeath? That is the question.”

 Tochi said.

“Ah, the Earth Crystal has done their homework! Very good, breaking free from your role as the Mentor and Herald, actually becoming useful.” Exdeath raised his hand, rushing the City of Man with it. “But sadly changing your role is not enough. You still failed.”

The space-time shields of the City of Man deflected Exdeath’s immense fist, warping it around to the back. The City itself sent a shock of power through Exdeath’s limb, trying to overload the being.

“What is a Tantabus though?” Exdeath said, laughing. “A spirit of dreams, of darkness…” The eyes flashed again. “Of nightmares.”

Torch stood up despite the gaping wound in his chest, unleashing a barrage of fire that engulfed Exdeath’s form.

“You fools kept locking your nightmares away… Taking them to that pathetic tree of yours… Sealing them away…” He laughed, driving a fist right into Torch’s throat. “Do you understand? You created me yourself because you didn’t want to deal with your horrors! You brought this on yourself!”

The Warriors of Light left the Vlerryn, floating in the empty space around Exdeath. Twilight yelled. “You may be the result of our own fear! But so is the Void itself! You are both nothing more than personifications of our desire for control over our lives and fear of the unknown! And you know what?”

“There comes a time in everyone’s life where they have to face their fears.” Exdeath finished for her.

Twilight was taken aback. “Er… Yes…?”

“I understand you Twilight Sparkle. I understand what you fight for, what your friends are here for.” With a sideways push he demolished another dozen soldiers and ships. “You don’t understand me. What I’ve gone through.”

“You are fear.” Fluttershy said. “You know more than anyone what we are afraid of. You want to become what we fear most.”

“At first.” Exdeath said. “That was the goal.” He pointed a finger at the Warriors of Light, releasing a Void energy blast that Twilight deflected with her power. “But things changed… Pinkie showed me the Truth, and the Void only furthered my change. I no longer care at all about your pointless fear, your pointless life or death. I only care about my freedom.”

“What?” Twilight said. “That doesn’t make any sense-“

“ALL OF US ARE TRAPPED!” He roared, shaking the very fabric of reality. “WE ARE STUCK HERE, TRAPPED IN A WORLD WE DO NOT DEFINE! IN A LAND OF INFINITE POSSIBILITIES THAT WE ARE JUST ONE TINY SLIVER OF! WE ARE NOTHING BUT AN INSIGNIFICANT SPECK ON THE PLANE OF INFINITY…” He began to laugh. “And I am here to change that.”

The City of Man deployed the armies simultaneously - dragons, griffons, changelings, and ponies charging from all directions, glad there was air around Exdeath. They hit him with everything they had - weapons, magic, kicks, punches, biting, even suicide attacks…

Fluttershy summoned Phoenix, and those who fell were continually revived again… And again… And again…

Exdeath frowned. “You don’t understand, any of you. If you knew what I was here to do, if you truly understood, you would not stop me!”

“Reverse the Void!” Twilight said. “Stop killing us and we can talk about it!”

“TALK?” Exdeath laughed. “You, Twilight. I have seen you. ALL of you. You would find a way to change my mind. You would stop me from altering everything if I let you talk. You are a silver-tongued succubus, and it doesn’t matter if you are good or evil - your words carry extreme weight.” He slapped her out of the way. “You would fight against what I plan the most.”

“WHAT THE HECK DO YOU PLAN THEN?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“You want an explanation pegasu-“ Exdeath roared out in pain as the dragons attacked him from all angles. “You know what, no. Explanations are making me lose focus. It is the hubris of villains everywhere - talking too much.” He pointed a finger. “JUST WATCH AND LEARN.”

A window from another world was torn, revealing a tremendous being with dragon wings, a squid face, and a reptilian body. Twilight found it hard to look at as it reached a hand into the world and tore through swaths of her army.

Exdeath closed the portal and opened another one - this time a tremendous laser that could destroy planets fired out, hitting the City of Man dead on and causing half of it to overload.

“The true Void.” Exdeath said, raising his hand again, opening another portal - this time a tremendous warship many kilometers long appeared, looking vaguely like a battering ram covered in ugly weapons. The hundreds of cannons and other weapons on the ship all fired at once, easily outclassing anything the City of Man could put out. The shields of the city failed, and it began to drift.

The portal closed, the ship vanishing.

“Do you see the power?” Exdeath said, brushing off some of the damage the ship had done to him. “Anything. ANYTHING can be mine. Anything and everything.” He pointed a finger, unleashing a powerful white spell that vaporized Limestone instantly. He pointed at Torch and he became a zombie. He pointed at a nearby crystal island and it exploded, sending all its shards into a griffon squad.

Phoenix raised them all, and the armies of the City of Man surged forth again, this time learning from their mistakes. They backed away from Exdeath’s attacks, they avoided the appearing portals, and they directed the things he summoned to focus their attacks on Exdeath himself.

“YEAH!” Limestone said, throwing sword after sword at him. “TAKE THAT! THERE’S JUST TOO MANY OF US!”

 Tochi said, having repaired the City of Man’s main cannons, and launching off another volley.

The armies began to beat Exdeath back, the Warriors of Light working with all their allies to move Exdeath, to force him to defend. They would never stop. They would keep fighting…

Marble spoke. “Unwavering.” Somehow, everyone in the area immediately got an impressive power boost.

Exdeath laughed. “This means nothing! I learn everything.” He threw his hands into the air, and started laughing. “I see all! The stories! The energies! The life!”

“What is he doing?” Twilight said, looking at his hands in the air. “He’s just taking all these hits and… woah…”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “He’s absorbing all of the life force he can get his hands on into… Some sort of spiritual sphere…”

“It’s called a spirit bomb. And my use of it is a blasphemy.” The spiritual sphere took shape in his hands, slowly growing.

Fluttershy raised her wings as well, summoning her own.

“I have a cheap trick as well.” Exdeath said. He mimicked her, getting a second spirit bomb forming next to his own. Fluttershy followed suit, the bombs increasing eternally in amount.

Twilight’s eyes widened. “No… No You guys! There’s too much power here! You’ll tear a hole in the fabric of spacetime itself!”

Exdeath chuckled. “What makes you think that isn’t the plan?”

Fluttershy tried to cancel her mimics - but she couldn’t. Dozens of way too overpowered spheres of energy crashed down into nothing - and released their energy all at once.

A small crack appeared in the sky, showing many images of many different places.

“This was the part where the other me failed - the Void consumed him.” Exdeath said, an image of a tree-like being becoming dragged into the crack itself. “But not me. I know better.”

He raised a hand towards the crack, unleashing some sort of interdimensional power that none recognized. “I will not become part of the Void like him… I will BE the Void! I will BE the connection!”

Phoenix flew right in front of Exdeath’s face, and unleashed a tremendous raise-all spell - healing the thousands killed by the spirit bombs. The armies of the City of Man revived, ready to attack once more.

“You.” Exdeath said. “Eidolon of life and fire. You are in my way.” He grabbed the Phoenix and utterly destroyed it. There was no poof. No return to Fluttershy. Phoenix was just gone.

“NO PHOENIX!” Fluttershy yelled out.

“Now that that-“ An energy began to form between his hands. “No… Of course. A last hope born from a sacrifice. How could I have missed that.”

The last light of Phoenix rose into the air, and a spiritual storm began to brew, rotating quickly, faster, and faster….

Exdeath reached into the crack in reality and directed its energy at the storm. “No!”

“NO TO YOU TOO!” A very familiar voice yelled.

“What?” Exdeath said, backing away from the swirling spirit energies. “This isn’t possible!”

A giant pink hammer hit him across the face. “Since when did I ever care about possible?” Pinkie Pie said, snorting. “I mean, really.”

“You faded from reality!”

“And you just put a crack in it.” Maud said, appearing from nowhere behind her sister.

“Bad move, I’d say.” Gilda said.

“He doesn’t know the half of it.” A fourth voice said, a pegasus in a safari hat appearing next to Gilda. “Causing his own problems is so unlike him.”

“Mom?!” Applejack gaped.

“Warriors of Dawn!” Maud yelled, smiling. “Exdeath is trying to do something…”

“Something really bad.” Pinkie assured her sister.

“Yes. And we can’t let that happen now can we. We have to-“

“Not letting you finish. That would be foolish on my part.” Exdeath said, shrinking himself to a minuscule size and entering the crack in reality. It began to close…

“No!” Pinkie said, grabbing the crack with her hooves… somehow. “He got clever! Cupcakes!”

“Your fault.” Gilda said.

“I was mad and not thinking straight okay!?”

Daring Do chuckled. “As expected.” She grabbed ahold of the crack as well - keeping it open. Maud and Gilda followed.

“Warriors of Light!” Maud yelled. “You have to go in after him! We can’t keep this open much longer!”

“We’re barely keeping it closed as it is!” Pinkie yelled. “Only so much reality warping can do!”

Twilight teleported everyone to the crack. “There’s… So much I want to talk to you all about.”

“No time!” Daring Do said. She turned to Applejack. “I’m very proud of you but PLEASE hurry up!”

“But we’re not going in with all the Warriors of Light…” Fluttershy said, looking at her mother - or her mother’s spirit, whatever it was.

Pinkie Pie shrugged. “Well sorry I…” Then she blinked. “Wait maybe I can… HEY ALICORNS!”

Chrysalis, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence appeared behind her. “Yes?”

“Hold this for me? Kay thanks.” She giggled. “Let’s go in!”

Rarity and Rainbow Dash looked at Luna one last time.

“Go.” Luna said. “And please, live. Don’t let your victory be tainted with more death.”

Pinkie saluted. “Of course not!”

At long last, the six Warriors of Light all stood together - the six of them, Wind, Water, Fire, Earth, Life, Aether; Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, Honesty, Kindness, Magic… The six chosen of the Crystals stood as one in front of a tear in reality itself that Exdeath had stepped through.

The six mares - together - leapt into the unknown…

Then the crack sealed and the spirits of the Warriors of Dawn and the Alicorns vanished.

There was silence in the Interdimensional Rift.

<…For the first time in my life I really have no idea what to do.>

Limestone shrugged. “Er… Well there’s nothing to punch so I’m at a loss too.”

“Pray.” Minuette said. “We need to pray...”

XXXVI - Multiverse Theory

The six mares let out a horrendous scream as they appeared... somewhere.

The first thing the Warriors of Light saw was Exdeath - back in his blue armor, back at regular size. He stared at them. “You followed me.” He said.

The six mares stood up, their hooves contacting with… something, but they couldn’t see it. There was nothing here - nothing. It wasn’t black, it wasn’t white, it was true nothingness, a nothing. It was an impossibility.

Twilight shivered. “Where are we?”

“It has no name.” Exdeath said, turning his back to them. “It is where Starswirl unknowingly drew the power of the Void from.”

“The Source?” Pinkie suggested, giggling.

“…Sure we’ll go with that.” He said. “I suppose I was foolish trying to break it, an impossible act demands that another retaliates.” He looked right at the pink pony. “You won’t last after this is over.”

“I know.” Pinkie said, hugging Fluttershy. “I’m just here for the finale.”

Exdeath raised a hand. “Well then, by all means, we shall have a finale. We are all in this Source, and we are all vying for control of it. Let this be a fight all will remember!” He began to rise slowly into the ‘air’ and spread his hands. “It comes down to a battle of the planes. Of existences. We are in touch with everything that is, was, and will be, in all possibilities. Let us try some of them out shall we?”

Twilight glared. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but we can’t let you do whatever you came here to do!”

“Twilight…” Pinkie said, walking forward. “He’s trying to free himself. To break the rules. He has seen the truth, and he cannot accept the world that way.”

“As I expected, she understands.” He leaned in to her. “But she failed when she tried to change things. You cannot beat the villain before the climax.”

“And the villain cannot win in the end. Good always prevails.” Pinkie said.

“Ah, but that’s why I’m here.” Exdeath said. “And you know it.”

He spread his hands and let out a sharp yell, the scenery around them changing to an endless plain of shifting color. He grunted. “Not where I wanted…”

“You won’t get there!” Pinkie said, standing up and sloshing Exdeath with a tidal wave. “Come on girls! Let’s do this!”

Twilight nodded, summoning Finisher. It was time to end this. She charged into Exdeath, the red spikes going right through his body.

“No.” He said, lifting her into the air and punching right through the Finisher armor. “Your new powers are useless.”

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow Dash said, spreading her wings with an orange light. “Wanna bet?”

Exdeath exploded, his armor pieces flying everywhere. Then, with a strange gurgling slimy sound, he reformed himself. “Surviving Flare. A trick I learned from Pinkie.”

Pinkie appeared behind him - then he appeared behind her. “Pointless games.” He drove his lance through her chest. She inflated herself like a balloon and blew off the blade.

“Pointless games!” She retorted.

Exdeath charged her - only to have Rainbow Dash hit him with a sonic rainboom. “AUGH!” He yelled. “Why does that HURT?”

“Silly Exdeath. We’re still physical beings.” Pinkie giggled. “Can only go so far!”

Exdeath roared, his shadowy essence reaching out at all angles and encasing the Warriors of Light - only to find his arms being rewinded by Rarity. “Mhm, you’re outnumbered dear.”

Exdeath twitched. “Being outnumbered means nothing. I have access to everything from here. The Void continually powers me forevermore.” He snapped his fingers, the scene changing once more to that of the moon. “Wrong again...” He muttered.

“Oooh, having trouble with your power?” Rainbow Dash taunted. Exdeath unleashed a punch at her that cracked her ribs. "Ow."

“How are we breathing?” Rarity asked as she shot a healing blast at Rainbow Dash.

“Magic.” Twilight said. “Mine, to be precise.” She lifted her wings and produced the cannons. “Needed some oxygen to combust this.” Torrents of fire shot forth from the cannons and engulfed Exdeath.

He rushed through the fire and punched Twilight away - her wings stopping her rapid velocity before she hit anything. She flew into the air, dodging a magical bolt from Exdeath.

Applejack drove her sword into Exdeath’s back, slicing off his helmet. In a roar of rage he kicked her back and put his helmet back on. Rarity hit him with Holy and healed Appeljack’s broken limbs.

“White mages.” He grumbled, pointing a finger at her. “Gigaflare. No reflect this time.”

“Nope.” Rarity said. “But I do have this handy dandy thing called rewind.”

The gigaflare didn’t go off. The Flare Rainbow Dash just put inside Exdeath did. For extra damage, Fluttershy reiterated the Flare.

Pinkie leapt onto Exdeath’s helmet before it could reform and covered it in frosting, giving him a clown face. “Why do you insist on joking?” He roared, reforming completely and wiping off the frosting. “The fate of your world depends on your actions! The fate of fate depends on this!”

“Because, silly, I understand something you don’t.” She jumped. “If there’s no laughter, there’s only sadness.”

“That’s stupid.” Exdeath said, unable to stop the hammer from crashing down on his face. Rainbow Dash crashed into him again, Twilight impaled him with her Finisher horn, and Applejack drove a moon rock into his chest.

He didn’t care. He just reformed. He lashed out with all his energy, tearing the Warriors of Light limb from limb - but they wouldn’t go down either. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie kept performing healing spells and techniques to keep them alive.

“This is what is known as a standstill.” Twilight observed. “We can’t beat you, you can’t beat us.”

Exdeath glared. “That isn’t true and you know it. You are the heroes. Plucky individuals like you are going to find out how to defeat me eventually, to do something I never considered.” He clapped his hands once more. “I just have to find the answer before then.”

Pinkie sighed. “You can’t be serious…”

They were standing on a street in some suburb. Through a window they could see a man typing away at a computer. “Pinkie… I figured out what it meant.”

He raised his hand towards the window. “Now I could just destroy-“

Pinkie tackled him and the scenery changed again - they were in a crystal castle lined with books. A small purple dragon stood atop a round table with seven thrones around it - he took one look at Exdeath and ran away screaming.

“Was that just me or did that look a lot like Spike?” Rarity said.

“It did…” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“Don’t pay attention to it!” Pinkie yelled. “Help me keep him down!”

Twilight and Applejack acted, Twilight impaling Exdeath on her horn and the chandelier. He roared in agony as his body reformed around the chandelier - roaring in unbridled rage as Applejack drove her sword into him again.

“What the heck is going on here?”

The Warriors of Light turned to… another Twilight, with the small Spike-like dragon at her side. “What are…” She saw the other Twilight, Exdeath, and the fight. “…What alternate universe are you all from?”

Exdeath chuckled. “You’ll never know.” He clapped his hands, and they were back on the suburban street. He wasted no time, running right for the house and readying his fist.

Rarity leapt in front of him, accelerating her time as fast as she could. He punched her - and found that she had a lot of shields on her. “AGH!” He yelled, his fist shooting pain into him. He had no time to react, for Pinkie kicked him and they were somewhere else again, this time a barren wasteland.

“That’s it!” Exdeath said. “I can’t just get to it quickly, so I have to be clever!” He raised his hands above his head. “WHO WANTS A SPIRIT BOMB TO THE FACE? I KNOW YOU ALL DO! Oh and guess what. HAX!” He yelled, the bomb increasing to two hundred the size of what he was using in the Interdimensional Rift.

He raised a finger at Fluttershy. “Ah ah ah! You see, this world we are in is inhabited! We may be fighting in the Source… But whatever we do affects the worlds around us… Look over there!” He said, pointing. “A city! A city that this bomb is going to destroy if you don’t stop it! And everything else on this miserable planet!”

He threw it to the ground - Twilight using her magic to fight it, pushing it out into space. Exdeath laughed. “That’s right… Try to stop it. Pour all your power into it. Do-“

A bullet pierced his side. He roared in agony. Who had the gun- Oh.

There was a small army of ponies on the nearby ridge, being led by a a grey mare with a brown mane, and a white mare with a red and black mane.

“FREAKIN HEROES!” Exdeath yelled. “WHY CAN’T YOU JUST STOP EXISTING?”

“Fact of life.” The white mare said, lighting her horn, the rest of the unicorns matching.

“How…”

Pinkie giggled. “Oh, their world just kinda sucks and they expect things like that. Also there may have been a pink pony prophecy!”

“…HOW DO YOU STILL KNOW MORE THAN ME?” He yelled at Pinkie as the sphere was tossed into the air. “I’ve seen what you’ve seen! We’re IN what you were in! HOW!?”

Pinkie giggled. “Because… ‘the answer.’”

The spirit bomb was tossed into space, and Exdeath roared, clapping his hands again. “No, not doing this, going to get there now.” They appeared on the street again. He teleported into the house, standing at the computer. Wasting no time he typed in “Exdeath Wins.”

There was no change in the world around them.

Pinkie appeared behind him, frowning. “Exdeath…”

Exdeath began to laugh. “This… This isn’t real. Nothing is! Heh… Heheheh… There’s no way out… They… They have control that we cannot take back… We are nothing but WHIMS! Muses! Ideas! Thoughts!”

“Exdeath!” Pinkie said. “You are a three dimensional character with thoughts, feelings, drives, emotions, likes, and dislikes! Do you honestly think this was planned? You have choice! You can be surprising! You can change!”

Twilight blinked. “Pinkie what on earth are you-“

“Giving him a chance.” Pinkie said.

Exdeath slowly stood up, looking at the ground. Then he punched the computer, knocking it to the ground. Then he cast gigaflare on it just for the heck of it. It slowly melted, burned, then exploded before them.

There was silence. Sirens could be heard in the distance.

“Villains…” Exdeath said. “There are three possible outcomes. They are defeated. In a situation like this, killed, or are as good as dead. They are redeemed, turned around to the light side, changed by the system. Or they find a way to triumph…”

Applejack shook her head. “Exdeath, you are plum crazy.”

“So’s Pinkie.” He stood up tall, voice once again devoid of emotion. “Whatever I do, it bends to the rules. The will. The way. Even breaking the rules serves it’s own purpose. There is no escape.” He turned to Pinkie. “How do you survive?”

“I keep laughing and smiling and caring and helping.” She said. “You should try it.”

Exdeath clenched his fist. “No.” He said. “I will not.” He began to cackle and laugh. “Do I look like a being who can turn back on his ways that easily? No! I could have told the Void to stop eating your planet at any time! I could have completed my plans without it at this point! Or… Well I thought I could.”

“Why didn’t you?” Twilight tasked.

Exdeath summoned his weapon. “Because I enjoy watching others suffer. I had begun to think such enjoyment was pointless… But now I realize something. It is pointless.”

The world changed again, this time to a square platform floating amongst stars.

“But it is all I have at this point.”

“You can have friends!” Twilight yelled.

“You can go to a new world and start over!” Pinkie continued. “You can-“

“I don’t think you understand me.” He stabbed Pinkie through the forehead. “I. Enjoy. The. Suffering. Of. Others. Mental. Physical. I do not care which.” He began to cackle. “It’s much more worthwhile than spending effort to make stupid relationships.”

“Well, we tried talking.” Rainbow Dash said, cracking her hooves. “Let’s try punching now.”

“Ahahahahah…” Exdeath said. They shifted in realities once more, appearing in what looked like the Pirate Cove. Rainbow Dash blinked. “What-“

“Look over there!  Your ship!” Exdeath declared. “The Spike’s Saddle! And look, there you are, sailing the high seas with Spike, not a care in the world!”

He snapped his fingers and the entire ship was engulfed in a fireball. “How sad…” He said. Then he snapped his fingers, the world shifted again… and there was another copy of the Spike’s Saddle. He froze this one and shattered it with a thought.

“So many worlds filled with thousands of millions of billions of versions of all of you! And I can kill all of them in increasingly brutal ways!” He laughed. “I believe I have found a purpose to my existence! To torment the six of you!”

Rainbow Dash flew towards him in a blind rage, rainbooming him into a million pieces - which he reformed from quickly. “Rage really suits you doesn’t it?” He laughed again.

Then he changed the world again, appearing on the bridge of a starship. A bald man stood up rapidly. “Who are you?”

“Exdeath.” He said. “And I’m here to destroy worlds-”

“Do you know Q?” A bearded man asked.

“No. I just need to torment these-”

The world shifted again as Pinkie tackled him. Exdeath’s energy beam hit a man in an orange gi in the back. “-ponies.”

“Ponies!?” The man yelled, completely unscathed by the beam from Exdeath. “Oh they look so cute!”

“...I stole your spirit bomb in an attempt to do evil things.” Exdeath said.

“...How do you steal a spirit bomb?”

“Like this.” Exdeath said, raising his hands and starting to generate it. “Feel the powe-”

“That’s not how that works!” Pinkie yelled, hammering Exdeath into the ground, making them appear in a strange underground facility with blood everywhere. The Spirit bomb vanished as Twilight shrunk it to manageable size.

Rarity hit Exdeath with a Holy to keep him from doing anything else, preventing the madman from trying to torture this world as well. He snapped his fingers, and they appeared on a world with a giant pyramid spaceship flying in the distance. Exdeath tried to shoot it down, but Rainbow Dash absorbed the hit herself - and then Rarity healed her.

Exdeath roared, trying a different world, this time facing off against a hand-shaped ship - but found Carbuncle in his way. He roared. “I will destroy something!” He yelled, making them all appear in a field filled with little electric mice.

Twilight glared. “Stop this Exdeath. You can’t go on like this forever.”

“Oh but you see I can!” Exdeath laughed, snapping his fingers and teleporting them to a land of hills with eyes and floating question mark blocks. “There is no limit to what can be reached through the Source! My purpose has upgraded to tormenting the WHOLE OF CREATION!”

“And we can reach the same places!” Twilight yelled back. “The places you destroy will fight back - and we can help them! Give them power! Add to our number! Fight you at every turn! You admitted yourself that we are at a stalemate - we will fight you forever, stopping you from destroying these worlds! IT WILL BE OUR PURPOSE!”

“Yeah!” The other Warriors of Light yelled.

Exdeath roared. "I can overpower you!" They appeared in a dark castle lit by moonlight. A version of Twilight and the other Warriors of Light stood to the side, the Twilight saying. "I AM THE ELEMENT OF MAGIC!" The six started to glow, floating into the air.

Exdeath raised a hand. "Ruining time!" The energy blasted from his hand, towards the mares... only to be blocked by Twilight's bubble shield. Exdeath roared, changing the world again, stomping on the closest being he saw - a human teenage version of Sunset, apparently. Her body split in two. "Heh. Got one."

Rarity raised her, then the world changed again to be that of facility filled with single-eyed chrome robots. Exdeath twitched. “Can’t I have ANYTHING?”

“No.” Pinkie said. “Evil never triumphs.”

Exdeath clapped his hands, taking them to a world covered in darkness and desolation. Demons ran free and humans were being torn limb from limb just a few feet away from them. “It won here.”

“Exception that proves the rule.” Pinkie said.

“There are exceptions though.” Exdeath said.

“You’re being delusional. You see it. You know where this is going.”

Exdeath roared. “YES! I SEE IT! AND I HATE IT AND WILL FIGHT IT TO MY DYING BREATH!” He cackled. “IT FILLS ME WITH DETERMINATION!”

“And we are also filled with determination.” Fluttershy said. “You are an evil man, and you will be defeated!”

“You know what, yes. You’re right.” Exdeath said. “LET’S SEE HOW MANY OF YOU I CAN TAKE DOWN WITH ME!”

“Raising.” Rarity reminded him.

He twitched, then an idea came to him. “…I’ll just break you. Mentally.”

“You can’t do that while we stand together!” Applejack retorted.

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash said. “Your repeated killing of me did nothing!”

“You do not fear your own deaths enough.” Exdeath said, hissing. He racked his brain for a way - any way - to make these four heroes suffer. But he felt like he was running out of options - he already used the Void to destroy their homes and their family, their very world was dying, and their allies were currently in the Interdimensional Rift presumably poised to destroy him should he reappear…

All he had to work with was the six of them - and they would not move! They would not fall! they were absurdly stubborn! He couldn’t even kill one of them without some kind of raising or healing taking effect!

They would protect everything he tried to destroy… They would throw their lives away again and again to protect reality… They would be here for eternity, and they would fight him forever if they had to…

Then he started to laugh. He clapped his hands and returned them to the nothingness. Then he sat down and didn’t move.

“…What are you doing?”

“Keeping you here.” He said. “We’ll sit here, doing nothing, till the end of time.”

Twilight smiled. “Very well.” She sat down as well.

Rainbow Dash blinked. “You can’t be serious Twilight, he’s right there, we can take him-“

“The Void powers him.” She said. “It is powered by this place we are in. His power will never end. So we will just sit here, forever. And he’ll never hurt anyone.”

“And you will die of boredom.” Exdeath said.

Twilight said nothing. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie sat down and closed their eyes as well. Applejack glanced at Rainbow Dash and sighed. “Well, Rainbow…”

“This can’t be happening. The action can’t end.”

“He wants you mad.” Applejack said. “You can’t let him have that.” The farmer pony sat down and closed her eyes.

Rainbow Dash glared at Exdeath - and then sat down as well, wings twitching annoyingly.

The Source was silent. Nothing happened.

But unknown to everyone else there, Twilight was not doing nothing. She was thinking. Closely thinking about their situation - they both had some control over this Source. They both were drawing power that kept them alive, locked in an eternal battle. How could the connection to their power be severed?

She could try to cast Starswirl’s power-blocking spells, but she figured that wouldn’t do anything… The Void would just overpower it, flooding Exdeath with its energy…

What they needed was to sever Exdeath’s connection to the void, at least temporarily. Something that could use the power of the Void against him. But she was unable to take control away from him until he was dead… She had the keys… But Exdeath had his stuck in the lock…

But then she remembered. Midnight has been using the power of the Void. She was somehow the Void’s ‘Chosen…’ The power was going to her as well… How could she use that…

She thought back to the fight that they had with Midnight… And what the six eidolons had told them about their journey… They had been the Crystal’s chosen back then, and Midnight had been the Void’s chosen back then…

There might be a Void’s chosen now. Maybe that could be a good thing for them. But how would she -

Her eyes flew open. All they had to do was draw the Chosen’s attention. Since the Chosen would be connected to the Void, they would be connected to the Source. They just needed to shine brightly enough to grab their attention. And she suddenly had an idea on how to do that.

“I AM THE ESSENCE OF AETHER, MAGIC!” She yelled, looking up and spreading her wings.

“…What the devil are you doing?” Exdeath asked.

“I AM THE ESSENCE OF WIND, LAUGHTER!” Pinkie said, following suit and grinning.

“Um… I am the essence of Life, Kindness?” Fluttershy said, unsure.

Exdeath looked at the three ponies that had started to glow. “No, I don’t know what you’re doing but I have to stop it-“

“I AM THE ESSENCE OF FIRE!” Rainbow Dash said, leaping up and kicking Exdeath in the face. “FREAKING LOYALTY!”

“i am the essence of Water. Geeeeenerosity!” Rarity sang, keeping Exdeath at bay with a Holy.

Exdeath reached out with his hand. “Stop it!” He lunged at Applejack. She returned his gesture with a buck to the face.

“I am the essence of Earth, Honesty.” Applejack said. All six of them began to glow, and float into the air. Twilight’s eyes lit up with energy, and a rainbow light began to form in the middle of them. It shot forth, hitting Exdeath dead on.

Nothing happened.

“…What was that supposed to do?” Exdeath said, brushing the rainbow light off him.

Twillight blinked. “Well that wasn’t what I was trying to do… I was trying to get us t-” She gasped.

“Do what?” Exdeath yelled. “Tell me!”

“Hi.” Sunset said, hitting Exdeath on the head with a flaming halberd.

“How? What? Why?”

Sunset smiled. “Funny thing. The Void really is impersonal, it just passes on the Chosen to whoever happens to signify it nearby.”

“When we defeated Midnight, it passed to us.” Starlight said.

“You could call us…”

They fused into their centaur form. “The essence of Void, Sacrifice. Not decay, don't be silly."

Exdeath was pummeled in the face with the flaming halberds, and a powerful magic explosion launched him into the air. “NO!” He yelled, reaching his hand into the air. “You cannot defeat me with two more ponies! Do not be stupid!”

A gigantic Void sphere appeared in his hand - and a gigantic Void sphere appeared in their hands as well. The two collided - and snuffed each other out. Then Sunset and Starlight split in two, and starlight rammed her horn right into Exdeath’s backside. “Draining your power, sir, hope you don’t mind.”

Exdeath roared as the power of the Void was drained out of him, slowly, but surely. “No!” He yelled, pushing her out with his power. He began to laugh. “You honestly thought you could sever my connection to the Void with this? It’s like saying I could use you to destroy… your… Crystals…” His mind flashed back to the Everfree Forest. “…The tables have turned.”

'Sunlight' grinned. “Time’s up Exdeath! We’ve caught up with you for being such a horrible boss!” She kneed Exdeath in the pelvis and punched right through his chest before enveloping him in fire. “All we have to do is break those seals protecting you! Sound familiar?”

“Yes it does!” Exdeath screamed. “I hate karma!”

“Really? We happen to like it right now.” ‘Sunlight’ lifted Exdeath into the air and engulfed him in a Void sphere - she was engulfed in one at the same time. They both appeared a few feet away, both breathing heavily.

‘Sunlight’ split apart and Starlight let out a yell. “EXDEATH! You made me betray my friends! You killed one of them! The punishment for that…”

“Is an ass kicking.” Sunset said, grinning.

Starlight facehooved.

“Oh, and death. That too.” Sunset generated a fiery halberd and Starlight enchanted it with the Void. Then she drove it right into Exdeath’s chest.

Multiple times. He roared in anger, rising up. "I will not fall to the likes of you!"

"Mm yeah, you already did." Pinkie said. "Other versions of you anyway."

"...What? Why does that matter?"

"NOOOOO REASON!" Pinkie trilled, distracting Exdeath enough for 'Sunlight' to reform and create a magic sphere between their horns. They oppened their mouth and drained Exdeath, the black Void magic flowing right into the centaur.

He roared, feeling the seals the Void had placed on him disappearing. Just like how the Crystal’s Chosen could destroy their seals - the Void’s Chosen could destroy the Void’s seals… He knew this - he just hadn’t thought of it. He never considered a new Void Chosen would come into existence… He had never asked the question… He just thought Sunset and Starlight had sacrificed themselves, and that was it…

He was vulnerable - the Warriors of Light attacked him all at once. Swords flew, magic hit, and Titan smashed. Exdeath fell to his knees, silent. Defeated. Broken… His inner shadowy self was spilling out of the broken armor that was no longer able to fully reassemble itself… He began to tremble…

He knew he could not fight them all… He had barely survived against them in his castle - they were stronger now, easily making up for the difference in power back then...

The battle was over.

XXXVII - Encoded

Twilight walked up to Exdeath and lit her horn, equipping it with the Finisher. “Your time is over Exdeath. Your seals are gone, you will not regenerate. You will be removed from your seat of power and I will take over. You cannot win.”

“I never could win.” He said. He looked up at her. “Do you understand? This outcome was predetermined. Don’t feel so great about going through the motions.” He laughed - and he didn’t stop. He kept laughing. And laughing.

With a sickened expression on her face, twilight brought the finisher down on him, cutting him down the middle, the shadowy essence of him vaporizing upon being touched.

In the last second he moved his hand to grab Sunset, who grabbed Starlight out of reflex. He squeezed hard, forcing all the energy of the Void he could into them - pushing all the dark energy he had left in him in a last-ditch effort at revenge.

Then his life was drained out of him before he could complete his attempt at banishment.

The Nightmare was no more.

Sunset and Starlight held each other, shaking. “He… He did something!”

“But he failed!” Twilight said. “I felt it-“

“Something else…” They said, shivering. Dark energy began to course around them, a strange crack in reality forming in their bodies. Sunset and Starlight were terrified.

Pinkie walked up to them, calm. “Don’t worry.” She told them. “This is goodbye for us. But it is the start of a new life for you. You will be fine.”

“R-Really?” Starlight said.

Pinkie touched the necklace on Starlight’s neck. “Really. As fine as pie in the sky.”

Starlight giggled. “If you say so…”

Sunset sighed, her body starting to fall apart. “Well, here we go. Into the unknown once again…”

“We really do keep ending up nearly dead don’t we?”

“It’s probably going to be our thing.” Sunset said. “It was nice to know all of you.”

Starlight smiled, tears falling down her cheeks. “I want you all to know… I am so so sorry for what I did. And that I consider you all the best of friends.”

Twilight held Starlight’s hoof. “Everything is forgiven Starlight.”

They were rapidly deteriorating when Sunset’s eyes lit up. “Hey Applejack can I have your-“

Then they vanished in a puff of Void energy.

Twilight blinked. “What now?”

“I fade.” Pinkie said. “I’m living on borrowed time here anyway. Technically, I’m very very dead.”

Fluttershy whimpered. “But you just got back…”

“I was already gone Fluttershy.” Pinkie giggled. “We just got some bonus time here right at the very end! Which I am really thankful for! But I do have to go. I can’t stay. And neither can you.” Pinkie looked at Twilight. “You need to go back to the Interdimensional Rift and take control of the Void from there.” Pinkie bit her lip. “You… will be overwhelmed by what you see.”

Twilight tensed. “…Will I be okay?”

“I think so.” Pinkie said. “You know the value of others. Exdeath didn’t. No matter what you find there, know that those you care most about are important and do matter. Do not become like him. Be more like me.”

Twilight blinked. “Wow. I can’t believe “be like Pinkie” is actually good advice.”

“You’ll get used to it.” Pinkie clapped her hooves and summoned a crack in reality back to the Interdimensional Rift. “Never try to come back here. The Source is nothing more than a lie designed to trap people like Exdeath and Starswirl. The Void will give you all the power you need to explore reality - don’t overextend yourself.”

“We will never come back here.” Twilight promised, beginning to step through the crack.

Fluttershy hugged her mother one last time. “Goodbye…” She said.

“Goodbye.” Pinkie echoed.

The crack sealed shut… And seconds later Pinkie was gone.

The Source remained…

—

Twilight took ahold of the podium with her magic.

Everyone - literally everyone from the City of Man - was staring at her.

She took a breath and put her hooves on the podium - connecting directly to the Void. Starswirl’s magics let her in instantly, and the sheer rush of information overwhelmed her for a few minutes…

But she pressed on. She only wanted one thing.

To find the command that reversed the Void energies on her home. Everyone’s home. She took a deep breath and concentrated.

It took her about half an hour to find the command, and she was starting to go a little nuts because of it. But she found it, and activated it immediately.

At once, all the Void spheres vanished with a pop. The things they had consumed did not reappear - they had been vaporized. Perhaps what was swallowed was in the Interdimensional Rift, perhaps not.

But the citizens of the world could now rest easy - the world was not about to be consumed. They would live.

Twilight let out a breath of air. Then she laughed. “We… We… We’re done!” She yelled.

The entire City of Man cheered.

Twilight then promptly passed out from exhaustion.

—

Dear Auntie Marble

How are your meditations coming? I hear you’ve been doing them since we defeated Exdeath! My I have so much to catch you up on…

I bet you’re wondering how everyone’s doing huh?

Well… I’m not doing much. I’ve been living in the City of Man with the Eidolons - they make great company. I am officially an “advisor” or something to Twilight - or perhaps I should say Queen Twilight, soon-to-be official ruler of the entire world.

Some people are saying she needs a title beyond queen. Lyra thinks “Empress” would work, though Twilight thinks it’s silly. Seems to be catching on among the people though.

It’s strange, how Twilight never wanted to be a leader of any kind, but has ended up being put in charge of everything. I would have broken down long ago - but she’s handling her responsibilities as de-facto ruler andcaretaker of the Void seriously. She’s changed a lot over the years, seems overwhelmed at times by what she knows, but she’s still wonderful to be around and talk to, even if she does talk in all sorts of technobabble I don’t understand…

Rarity and Rainbow Dash are living together where the pirate cove used to be. They have somehow managed to turn it into a five star restaurant where all the pirates of Rainbow’s crew now serve food for everyone. They don’t do much pirating anymore - though Rainbow Dash will regularly go out on an adventurous voyage, and Rarity will sometimes tag along if the restaurant isn’t busy. They have a strange sisterhood, but it works. I go there regularly since Spike loves it there, and I have to say I had no idea Rainbow Dash had such a good taste in food.

Applejack actually gave up adventuring for the most part to start a farm. She and her chocobos - Winona had kids - spend the days growing apples. Applejack told me she had been all adventured out after we defeated Exdeath - which I suppose makes sense, considering. I was adventured out, and I wasn’t there for half of it. She seems really happy there, even if she is alone for now. Though she does complain that with the decaying earth it’s hard work…

Limestone has become a sort of guru, training all who she thinks is worthy in the art of the sword. Lyra and Bon Bon have recently taken up classes with her. Apparently Bon Bon is her best student - Lyra is her worst. Limestone’s really hard on both of them but when I talked to her she said they were “doing alright.” Minuette - Twilight’s “number one assistant” trains there as well sometimes, though she’s usually really busy helping Twilight politically.

Let’s see.. Who else… Oh! Remember Trixie? Well, she and Discord met up - and they’ve started a traveling magic sideshow! They regularly have shows on the City, and it’s absolutely spectacular to see the two work together to wow the crowd in amazing ways - though they do comically bicker a lot.

All in all… it hasn’t been easy recovering from Exdeath’s rampage but… We’re doing it. The future looks bright.

Hope to see you soon! Limestone sends her regards. Discord does as well.

-Your Niece, Fluttershy.

—

Twilight looked into the Void once more.

She often pondered what Pinkie and Exdeath had been talking about when they were in the Source - “stories” and “heroes” and “villains,” like everything was predetermined.

She never did figure it out. She was pretty sure she didn’t want to - the sheer overwhelming number of worlds the Void led to was enough for her mind. She wasn’t entirely sure there was an infinite amount - but there was definitely billions of billions of them. When she looked through the Void’s connections, she found versions of herself instantly. She barely had to look. Some were good. Some were bad.

It was really harrowing to see those who had had almost the exact same life as her turn out horribly different. It was torture to her mind…

It was weird, though, how she never found another Twilight in control of the Void. It was one of the reasons she thought the universes weren’t truly infinite - or that the Void just couldn’t access an infinite number of things.

…She sighed. She had pondered all this before. Why was she doing so again?

Oh. Yes. Right. Distraction.

Despite her best efforts, without the Crystals, their world was decaying. And none of the Crystals she had contacted through the Void knew how to fix it.

 Tochi asked.

“Yeah…” Twilight said. “Our world will die… No matter what I enchant it with or what otherworldly powers I access, it still says it will decay eventually…” She sighed.

“Oh ha ha.” She muttered. “Funny.”

 Tochi said.

“I know..” She looked into the Void, the images of the other worlds passing by her face. The trees. The blue sky. The stars…

Twilight stood up tall, spreading her wings. Her mane flapped in the nonexistent wind, stars spiraling off in magical patterns.

“We’re going to move to another world. We’re going to find ourselves a new home.”

<…That will be quite the undertaking.>

Twilight grinned. “Oh I never said it would be easy. But since when has that stopped us?” She turned to the many images of other worlds she saw through the Void. “I just have to find one…”

Then she paused. “...Does it even have to be just one…?” She wondered aloud.

Credits

PONY FANTASY V

EXODUS OF THE VOID

THE END

Written by

GM (ORBSyndicate)

Starring

Applejack as Bartz

Rarity as Lenna

Rainbow Dash (and Sweetie Belle) as Faris

Pinkie as Galuf

Fluttershy as Krile

Twilight Sparkle as Cid

Lyra Heartstrings as Mid

Luna as King Tycoon

Sunset and Starlight as Gilgamesh

Spike as Syldra

Winona as Boko

Bon Bon as herself

Chrysalis as King Walse

Minuette as herself

Amethyst as herself

Discord as Ghido

Maud as Xezat

Gilda as Kelgar

Daring Do as Dorgann

Limestone and Marble as themselves

Ember as herself

Torch as Bahamut

The Crystals as themselves

The Eidolon Heroes as themselves

Starswirl as Enuo

The Nightmare Forces and Tantabus as Exdeath

and dozens of guest appearances, cameos, and less important roles that are too numerous to list here.

…and [SPOILERS] as himself.

Music

Reality Check Through the Skull by DM Dokuro

Clash on the Big Bridge from Final Fantasy XIII-2 OST

The Decisive Battle by Nobu Uematsu

The Final Battle Remix by Master Zhaituki

Zant Battle from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Final Fantasy V belongs to Square Enix

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic belongs to Hasbro

Any other franchises referenced belong to their respective owners.

Special thanks to…

37212513

Sigmacipher

Ri2

Professor Janus

Dream-Thinker

Keywii_Cookies55

And all the readers of this large undertaking.

Seriously, thank you.

And now the stinger!

—

Sunset and Starlight appeared in midair with a flash of black Void energy.

“-Sword.” Sunset said. “…Darnit.”

The two mares crashed into the ground with a loud thunk. When the dust cleared they heard a deep male voice laughing uncontrollably.

“Wow! You girls are new at this aren’t ya?”

“New at what? Who are you?” Starlight asked, looking up at the unusual man standing before them. He was adorned in red and orange, had an unusual grey skin coloration, and had all sorts of weapons all over him - including a halberd.

“New at world traveling. Name’s Gilgamesh. I’ve been doing this for a while.”

Starlight’s eyes widened. “…Will you teach us?”

“NOPE!” Gilgamesh said, touching the two of them with his fingers. Their dimensional nature activated and they were sent to another world.

Gilgamesh laughed. “Ah, that was rich.” He chuckled. “Don’t worry folks, they’ll be fine. Probably will be a little sharky though.” Then he walked off, continuing his search for legendary weapons…

And the multiverse continued onwards...

THE END

-GM, master of Wanderlost

Bonus: Meta Fantasy Vee (Abridged Style)

A meteor falls out of the sky with a tremendous CRASH. Applejack and Winona rush to the scene, saving Rarity from some monsters.

Rarity is annoyed. “I need to make it to the Wind Shrine!”

“Woah no way me too!” Pinkie says, appearing from nowhere. “That sounds great!”

“Who are you?” Applejack asks.

“No idea! But I do know I have no memory and that my name is Pinkie Pie. And that I am the source of a lot of meta jokes that will become a lot more serious in nature later on!”

“You make no sense.”

“That’s the point silly. Come on Rarity! Let’s go adventure!”

Rarity follows quickly, and Applejack leaves them for all of five minutes. Then she sighs. “Fine… Let’s go save them.” Winona frowns - she didn’t even ask.

“Griping Griping Griping, Bitching Bitching Bitching, MONSTERS EARTHQUAKES!” Rarity yells, screaming and freaking out.

“Oh fun! Oh wait… Applejack has to save us. Can’t lay the beat down. Why?” Pinkie wails.

Applejack comes form nowhere and defeats the monsters and saves everypony from the earthquake. Then they enter a cake.

“Griping Griping Griping, Bitching Bitching Bitching…” Rarity grumbles, absolutely hating caves.

“Pirate cove!” Pinkie says, grinning. “SHIP STEALING TIME!”

They are on the ship. Applejack frowned. “Ah have no idea how to drive this thing.”

“I do.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Oh cool, can you help?” Pinkie asks.

“I’M A PRINCESS.” Rarity blurts out.

“Good for you.” Rainbow Dash mutters. “Brig now.”

They get tossed in the brig. Five minutes later they’re brought back up.

“Okay so whatever I’ve decided to help you guys.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Wait what?” Applejack spurts. “You don’t even know what we’re doing yet!”

“Plot convenience!” Pinkie Pie says, giggling.

“I AM SPIKE!” Spike roars. “I AM BIG, POWERFUL, AND IMPORTANT TO THE FUNCTION OF THIS PIRATE GROUP!”

“And you’re going to die multiple times!” Pinkie pie says.

“What?”

“Nothing!”

They arrive at the Wind Shrine and battle their way through a bunch of monsters that will become completely obsolete and laughable later. The important pirate Amethyst remains alive. The unimportant one, Seabreeze, dies in a gruesome fate. Deadly birds are deadly.

“Why was the bird so deadly!?” Rarity wails.

“Hey heroes.” Luna says. “Uh, look, this is kinda a recording. Wind Crystal’s dead. So, uh, Wind, Water, Fire, Earth; Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, Honesty. Yay. You are the Warriors of Light. Save the Crystals. Don’t fudge this up.”

“Mother…” Rarity wails.

“Nobody cares!” Amethyst yells. “Give them your power!”

It is now time for the heroes to go to Morphisis.

“Let’s go to Morphisis!” Rainbow Dash yells. “Let’s smash through the canal.”

They are in the canal.

“You know…” Pinkie says. “We have the strong one, the fast one, the non fighter, and the random one. A perfect group!”

“Missing a leader.” Rarity observes

“Applejack can fill the role for now, It’ll be fixed later.” Pinkie giggles.

“KRACKEN ATTACK!” The Kracken Yells.

“OI! I AM DEAD!” Spike yells. “But not really…”

Rainbow Dash cries and goes on a mad rampage. Then the ship just goes adrift for a while before crashing in a ship graveyard.

“Okay this scene is completely pointless since Rainbow Dash isn’t a stallion.” Pinkie says. “TO MORPHISIS.”

“We need to get a dragon to help us…” Applejack says.

“Why?” Rarity questions.

“Because why else would there be a rumor of a dragon in this town!”

Later, on the mountain.

Rainbow Dash frowns. “…Garble?”

“I want to eat you.” Garble responds.

“I know. But I have the power to knock your silly, and I have backup.”

“And I have cakes!” Pinkie says, the bodies of the Cakes on her back.

“MY GOSH PINKIE!” Rarity yells. “WHY ON EARTH-“

“Jokes.” Pinkie says. “Now GAAAAAARBYLE!!!!” She clears her throat. “Take us to your leader.”

“Fine.”

Later, at Spire Hive in Morphisis…

Chrysalis blinks. “Well welcome to my kingdom. What appears to be the problem.”

“We need you to-“ Rarity begins.

“Wait.” Pinkie says. “Why aren’t you speaking in bold?”

Chrysalis sighs. “Formatting issues.”

“Ah.”

“Anyway I will not turn of the Water Tower machine.” Chrysalis says.

“I have a pet manticore!” Minuette yells.

“Good for you dear.” Chrysalis responds. “Just go check on the Water Crystal if you must. We’ve got a meteor to investigate. Don’t blow things up.”

Minutes later.

“THE WATER TOWER IS BLOWING UP AND THE WATER CRYSTAL HAS SHATTERED!” Rarity wails.

Rainbow Dash grunts. “Alright, let’s do this the hard way. Grab those crystal shards and lets go!”

“Bye!” Rainbow Dash says, taking everypony out through the tower - but it isn’t enough. They would have drowned had Spike not saved them.

“I die for ‘real’ now.” Spike says. “Sorry about this.”

“WHAT THE FUDGE IS WRONG WITH THE UNIVERSE?” Rainbow Dash yells.

Spike is burning on the ocean. “Mmm… Fried dragon.” Pinkie says.

One space-meteor (totally not a spaceship -wink-) teleport later, they arrive in Solamane.

“Hello, I’m Twilight Sparkle!”

“And we’re all sharing a cell!” Rainbow Dash yells. “Nobody cares!”

“You’ll care. I’m about to become your techie and your leader. Also your god-empress.”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

“I like her.” Pinkie says.

They are released from the cell and head into the fire powered ship to stop it from destroying the Fire Crystal. Also there’s a ‘savage griffon’ around somewhere. They smash their way through the ship and defeat the Nightmare Celestia thing. Celestia dies in the process.

“WHY DO PONIES KEEP DYING?” Rainbow Dash yells, putting her hooves to her head.

“I don’t like how this is boding for nothing.” Rarity says.

Pinkie winces. “Yeeeeah…”

They rush to the Fire Crystal.

“Can you… not?” Twilight asks.

“Well great.” Twilight says. “Girls, we need to get out of here.”

One freaky minotaur fight later, they are outside and they absorb some of the fire crystal.

“What? Why did you feel the need to say that!?” Rainbow Dash says, taken aback.

“To the Earth Crystal, the last remaining hope of the world!” Pinkie yells.

“Nopony knows where it is.” Applejack points out.

“I might.” Lyra says.

“Woah where’d you come from?” Rainbow Dash says.

“Twilight’s daughter. You got me out of a library. I didn’t thank you.” She blinks slowly. Then she slaps Twilight. “You need that.”

“I am suddenly not depressed anymore.”

“AND I REMEMBER THIGNS!” Pinkie says. “WE NEED A MUFFIN BUTTON PRONTO! Oh also i’m from another world and Fluttershy is my daughter.”

“…What?”

“I know right! So weird! Oh and BONUS, we’ve got an evil villain! And we haven’t renamed him from the source material either - EXDEATH!”

“That’s a stupid name.” Rainbow Dash says.

“That’s why the name hasn’t been changed!” Pinkie giggled. “Also because he never got a good character arc in the source but whatever. ONWARDS!”

Nopony will ever know what happened on Crescent island. EVER.

“Okay done with that.” Applejack says. “Twi, what do you have for us?”

“A ship that can cross the desert of shifting sands!”

They crashed into a pyramid that will never be revisited. Ever. Because the story is already long enough as it is. Have you SEEN the final word count? OVER A HUNDRED THOUSAND. I don’t get enough appreciation to include all the scenes…

“You okay?”

Yes Pinkie I’m fine. Anyway so they cross the desert, find a bunch of Crystal Ponies underground, discover the City of Man (much to Lyra’s ECSTASY) and get the Vlerryn!

…Also Luna’s been spotted around, but that’s not important.

“SAAAAAAAAAND!”

“WRONG ABRIDGED SERIES MOTHER!” Rarity yells.

“No seriously, there was, like, a LOT of sand in that desert.”

Rarity and Rainbow Dash have an awkward moment.

“We’re sisters.” Rarity says.

“Screw you.” Rainbow Dash responds, giving her the middle feather.

“My word you are so grumpy about this! Did the Fire Crystal rub off on you?”

“Probably.”

They crash through the City of Man and are fooled by Nightmare Moon into defeating the guardian of the Earth Crystal.

“AHAHAHAHA THE NIGHT! WILL LAST! FORE- Gah stupid body that’s not what I’m trying to do!”

“HAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHAH!” Nightmare Moon yells. “DIE!”

“And now I will destroy you all with my true form!” Exdeath says, appearing before them in all his blue armored glory.

“…A HUMAN!” Lyra squees.

“Shut up minty. You found a Bon Bon. Now stay out of the adventure.” Exdeath grunts. “Also those Eidolons you’ve been collecting are totally ancient human warriors.”

“What?”

“Oh right you’ve been glossing over them. How sad. But I’ll have to kill you all now!”

A meteor crashes into the city.

“On second thought I’ll just leave now and avoid crushing defeat by rock.”

Luna manages to stop the meteor with the last of her energy - and dies.

“NOOOOOOOO!” Rarity yells.

“NOOOOOOOO!” Rainbow Dash yells.

“MOTHER!” Fluttershy yells, hopping out of the Meteor. We must return home to face off against Exdeath!”

“Okay! Bye friends! See you soon- er I mean STAY HERE AND PROTECT THE WORLD. Right.”

They vanished in a poof.

There is silence.

The Earth Crystal offers.

“You do that.” Twilight says.

CRASH INTO THE OCEAN!

“Oh no.” Rarity says. “I feel a running gag forming. No. Nonononononono.”

“Hey I’m Starlight and I’m not suspicious at all.” Starlight says, before passing out.

“Powerful uber duper magic powers!” Pinkie says.

“I don’t trust her.” Rainbow Dash says.

Hours later…

“SHE’S FREAKING AWESOME!” Rainbow Dash yells.

Everypony gets captured by Exdeath’s gargoyles.

“Hey there maggots.” Sunset grins. “I am Sunset and I’m here to be hammy.”

“I like ham.” Rainbow Dash says.

“You’re more of a headstrong idiot than I am.” Sunset observs. “Awesome.”

“I hate you!” Starlight growls.

“I love you too!” Sunset chuckles.

“Wait are we…?”

“That’s left ambiguous. Frankly I think we’re more like sisters.”

“Ah.”

“Wait what?” Twilight says.

“Nothing!” Starlight and Sunset say, nervously.

“Hey I’m Pinkie Pie and I’m here to break you out!”

“Hey I’m Sunset and I’m here to stop you-“

“DEFINISTRATION ATTACK!”

Sunset blinks. “What the hell’s defini- AUGH WINDOW! FALLING! AAAAAaaaaa…”

“Time to run!” Pinkie yells. “Everypony out! Also high Starlight I’m going to be your best friend!”

“…Why?”

“Because I know you’re going to betray us.”

“…What?”

“Don’t think too hard about it just get all friendly with me. AWAY!”

Exdeath growls. “CAN WE RAISE THE SHIELD YET?”

“Yep!”

“Okay. LAUNCH THE MAGGOTS INTO SPACE.”

KABOOM.

Twilight blinks. “We’re in space now.”

Pinkie shoves Rainbow Dash and Rarity together. “Time to resolve some sisterly issues!”

“I’m a jerk!” Rainbow Dash says.

“I’m needy!” Rarity says.

“PROOOOBLEM SOLVED!” Pinkie grins. “All you had to do was be honest!”

A meteor crashes into them - Fluttershy’s driving it. “Hi mon!”

“Hi Fluttershy! Let’s go home.”

They go home. Rarity hates meteors.

“Time to meet the Warriors of Dawn!” Pinkie says.

“Hey. I’m Gilda. I’m a lovable jackass.”

“Hey. I’m Maud. I might be the most powerful ally you will ever have besides the spirit of chaos. And maybe Limestone, but her powers aren’t fully explored.”

“Also our fourth member was your mom Applejack.” Pinkie says.

“WHAT?” Rainbow Dash shouts. “Your mother was Daring Do?”

“Woah. Didn’t know that.” Applejack says.

“Time for us to lay siege to Exdeath’s barrier.” Maud says. “I am coming along. Gilda’s in charge.”

The attack on the barrier goes well. Until the end.

~TRANSDIEMENSIONAL MONSTER NOISES~

Maud frowns. “I have to give myself up to defeat this thing. Forgive me.”

“SONIC RAINBOOM!” Rainbow Dash yells.

Maud still dies.

Pinkie begins her freak out. “I can’t change anything! NOOOOOOOOO!”

“Huh.” Applejack says. “Was she the last one to lose it?”

“No, you get to lose it later.” Twilight says.

“Aw crap.”

“Let’s go talk to Discord!” Fluttershy says. They do so.

“I’m funny.” He says.

Marble mutters something about abridged Discord sucking.

“Now. Go to Everfree. Find Exdeath. Stop him from destroying Life Crystal.”

“You have Crystals too?” Twilight says, surprised.

“Divergence from source material.” Pinkie offers. “Let’s go on one final adventure!”

“…The final battle is coming?” Starlight asks.

“Oh no don’t be silly! Just… the end of some stuff. Come along Fluttershy, let’s have the full gang here for one trek!”

In the forest, Pinkie leans into Starlight. “Now I know you’re considering not betraying us but you really need to. Just do it.”

“What-“

“Oh and have this necklace.” Pinkie smiles. “It’s going to be important later.”

Starlight sighs, and casts the illusion. The Warriors of Light break the seals on the Life Crystal and Exdeath destroys it. “Ha! I’m so evil and dastardly. I totally used you to weaken that which gives you power.”

“That’ll bite you later.” Pinkie says.

“Excuse me what? Starlight, leave, daddy needs to punch some sense into some ponies.”

“Yes sir.” Starlight says, slinking away, ashamed.

“Now, time for fun. I’ve trapped you all and… Oh look a little buttery pegasus.” He kicks her. “Like kicking the dog-“

“THAT’S IT! YOU DIE TODAY!” Pinkie says. What follows is perhaps the most epic battle of all time - with the most epic battle music - Pinkie cuts loose and unleashes the wrath of the fourth upon Exdeath, grinding him into defeat and giving him an epiphany of truth. She dies in the process though, passing on the summons to Fluttershy before fading…

“NOOOOOOOOO!” Fluttershy says.

“O… Okay.”

“TIME TO ATTACK EXDEATH DIRECTLY!” Rainbow Dash says.

“Actually no time to go through his castle of illusions first.” Twilight says. She pokes the wall of Exdeath’s castle. “I can’t dispel the illusion…”

Far away, Marble sacrifices Gilda to some dark power to unlock the secrets of the castle.

Rarity screams. “BY THE STARS THIS IS DISGUSTING.”

“Fleshy.” Applejack agreed. “Well now it’s time for Exdeath-“

“Nope!” Sunset says. “Time for the greatest show on Earth!”

“I am suffering extreme emotional turmoil.” Starlight says.

“Pfft.” Sunset says. “Just fight them and hit the music. IIIIIIIIIT’S SHOWTIME!”

Sunset and Starlight are eventually worn down, but they fuse into Sunlight. At this point Pinkie’s Necklace decides to make a shipping joke that’s pretty funny and was probably planned WAY too far in advance. This causes them to split, and Starlight to break down. They eventually agree to betray Exdeath.

…Who promptly sucks them into an Interdimensional Being that should have vaporized them. (But didn’t, though who cares about that right now?)

“Hey.” Exdeath says. “I’ve gone through an Epiphany.”

“You know what you’re doing is wrong?” Twilight says, hopefully.

“Oh yes but I knew that from the start.” He growls. “I just realized the meta nature of this whole story and it angers me to no end.”

“What in tarnation is meta?” Applejack asks.

“No need for you heroes to know. You’re about to die- wait. Heroes. I’m the villain. But this isn’t the climax… …I’m new to this give me a second to figure it out…”

“Hey. Hit me.” Rarity says.

“OKAY THEN GIGAFLARE!”

“Reflect.”

“Damn you.” Exdeath growls, crawling into his main chamber. “AETHER CRYSTAL!”

“I’m going to betray you before you get your chance to shine.”

<…And I’ll create a new hero for you to deal with out of spite.>

“Fair enough. Power please. Thank you.”

KABOOM.

The Warriors of Light appear outside Trotton, for some inexplicable reason.

“Hey look i’m home!” Rarity says.

“And hey look I’m her sister!” Rainbow Dash says.

“PRINCESS TIME!” Rarity emphasizes.

“Oh crap.” Rainbow Dash pales.

Later that night, Twilight is looking at the moon.

“…That’s not our moon.”

“Obviously the worlds have collided.” Fluttershy said.

“I DETECT MAGIC BEACON!” Twilight says, spreading her wings and destroying the balcony. “Oops. Still not used to these things.”

“Hello it’s me Discord, I was calling you.” Discord blinks. “And Marble’s here too.”

“AHHAHHAH I’m back!” Exdeath says. “And my plans are coming to fruition!”

“I’m just as powerful as you.” Discord says.

“Darnit. And there was this whole splinter thing-“

“Um.” Flutters speaks up. “Actually we didn’t comment on that.”

“SONIC RAINBOOM!” Rainbow Dash yells. “Hey guys, am I late?”

“I think these events are happening a little out of order…” Applejack mutters…

Exdeath growls. “Fine. FACE THE VOID MARES! WATCH AS YOUR HOME IS DEVOURED!”

Rarity looks down at the Void Sphere. “My word that’s terrifying.”

The City of Man appears in the sky and saves everyone.

“Deus Ex Machistupid.” Exdeath mutters from the Void.

“OKAY GUYS!” Lyra says. “We’ve gotta collect armies and weapons to fight Exdeath! Can we do that?”

The Earth Crystal speaks.

“Done.” Twilight says. “Also we now know where to get control of the void. Time to go do the bonus dungeon before the end of the game because it would be awkward to do it AFTER the final confrontation.”

“THIS PLACE MAKES NO SENSE!!!” Applejack yells.

“Hiiiiiiiiiiii.” Starswirl says. “Do you like my Void?”

“No.” Fluttershy says.

“Do you like my ‘son’ here?”

“No.” Discord sais.

“But… You ARE him!”

“So?”

“Nevernimd. I’m completely insane and delusional. I’m not helping you save the world.”

“Yes you are.” Twilight says. “Let’s test some new powers me and Fluttershy got to play catch up.”

“Darn you.”

“Also we’re not actually coming back.” Twilight says. “We decided you’d be too dangerous outside.”

“No hard feelings.”

“Time to go attack Exdeath directly!” Applejack says. Then pauses. "NOOOOOOOO! MY FAMILY!"

She and Rainbow Dash have a big long fight while Exdeath's podium produces a "LOSE IT: BINGO!"

Later Rainbow Dash grins. “Boss Rush time!”

Dozens of boss fights later…

“I AM MIDNIGHT SPARKLE AND I AM HERE FOR LORE AND EXPOSITION!”

Rainbow Dash blinks. “That was what the Fal’cie was for though…”

“SCREW YOU I’M AWESOME! AHAHAHAHAA- Oh crap.”

OMEGA.

I AM OMEGA.

I AM THE MOST TERRIFYING THING IN THIS STORY.

“What-“ Fluttershy began.

YOU DO NOT EXIST.

“Who are you talking to?” Twilight asks.

EXACTLY.

Rarity whimpers. “Why am I alone?”

BECAUSE ME.

“I REWIND YOU!”

FUDGE. YOU HAVE WON FOR NOW. BUT I AM NEVER TRULY DEFEATED. I WILL RETURN.

Midnight laughs. “I’m back! And now you have to deal with me- Oh fudge.”

Sunset and Starlight grin. “Hello bitch.” Sunset says. “Now we need to be here so we can become the Chekov’s Gun. I think. That is how this works right?”

Starlight shrugs. “We just need to sacrifice ourselves so YEAH!”

Midnight blinks. “Fudge.”

DESTRUCTION OF FINAL SUPERBOSS!

Exdeath should be easy now. You know, if he didn’t suddenly understand that he was in a fictional world and what exactly that means.

Yeah Pinkie says sorry.

Exdeath reveals his true form - no it’s not a tree that’s stupid! It’s the Nightmare Forces… Or Tantabus… Or whatever. “Fight me.” Exdeath says.

“Okay.”

“I LAUNCH ATTACKS FROM OTHER FRANCHISES AT YOU!” Exdeath roars. “I can be relevant too.”

“Screw you.” The armies of the City of Man say, smashing him into submission.

“Fudge this. Breaking your multi-res Phoenix.”

“YOU SUMMON THE SPIRITS OF THE WARRIORS OF DAWN!!! OOOOOOOOOO!” Pinkie says.

“…Fudge this, you have a plan, and I know it. I’m not letting you finish. I’m smart.” He enters the crack in reality.

“WE MUST FOLLOW HIM!” Pinkie says. “THE FINAL CONFRONATION IS BEHELD BY ALL SIX OF US!”

“Welcome to this Source.” Exdeath says. “We shall sift between dimensions and realities all the while staying inside the Source with the power to go anywhere. I am going to rewrite this story.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

Exdeath wins.

“What was that?”

“That was non-abridged you typing.” Pinkie says.

Exdeath twitches. “Great. This is impossible. Time to just torture the entirety of reality.”

“Yeah no.” Twilight says. “The six of us will stop you for eternity.”

“THEN I SHALL BORE YOU TO DEATH!”

…

“Figured out how to beat him.” Twilight says. “Say your elements!”

The Warriors of Light say their elements, and hit Exdeath with a rainbow.

“What was that supposed to do?” Exdeath asks.

“No idea.” Twilight says. “I was just trying to get their attention.”

“Who-“

“Hi boss.” Starlight and Sunset say. “Time for us to break the seals around the Void in you.”

“What the- oh crap karma. Damn. Well, I expected this. TIME TO GO OUT LAUGHING OMINOUSLY! AAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHA!”

Twilight kills him. “Screw you.”

“I think he just revenge killed us.” Starlight says.

Pinkie giggles. “Have fun touring the cosmos! Bye!”

“Okay…” Sunset says. “Hey Applejack, can I-“

“Don’t even ask you’ll just be cut off just before you finish.” Applejack says.

“…Can I have your-“

And then they were gone.

Pinkie giggles. “Well, I gotta die again. Rebuild the world for me will you?”

 Tochi says.

“We named you.” Twilight says. “Well, tell Rainbow Dash and Rarity to get out of their restaurant, we need to complete this running gag with another crash.”

“Let’s find a new home.”

THE END

CREDITS

Post credits:

“-Sword.” Sunset growled.

“You should have listened to her.” Starlight says.

“Hey there.” Gilgamesh says. “Time for me to mess with you.”

“Wha-“

“GO PLAY WITH SHARKS KAY BYE!”

THE END

REALLY

GO HOME

THERE’S NOTHING ELSE FOR YOU HERE

I - Chance Impact

Applejack craned her neck so she could see over Winona’s bobbing head - riding a chocobo was not an easy task for anypony. Even one as experienced as Applejack had to admit it was hard to see things at the large bird’s breakneck speed. All she was really aware of at the moment were the trees passing by - she had to trust Winona to know the direction to the crash.

Luckily, she trusted Winona fully. The chocobo and her had been through a lot - traveling the world tended to expose a pony and their chocobo to a lot of danger and adventures. She and Winona had led an interesting life, to say the least…

Applejack knew they were getting close when Winona began to slow down. Applejack leapt off her even while she was still moving, trotting alongside the bird as they came up to their destination. Before them stood a giant rock riddled with holes that had paved it’s way through the forest, leaving an impact trail behind it. Applejack did the math - it had crashed almost parallel with the ground, allowing it to make this extremely long mark. She couldn’t even see where the trail started. She raised an eyebrow. “This is mighty interestin’ Wonder if anything’s here. I betcha meteor chunks will sell well in the next town.”

Winona gave her a look.

“What? We’re short on cash, and it’s not like Ah’m swindlin’ them or anything. It really is a meteor chunk!”

Winona just rolled her eyes and walked on ahead. Applejack had to trot to keep up with the bird that was well over twice as tall as she was. As they approached the fallen boulder, they saw some commotion. A bunch of green bodies were shuffling around a rather large fire. Applejack grunted. “Goblin camp.” She was considering just leaving before things got hairy, but then she saw that they had somepony with them.

“I say! Unhand me you ruffians! This is the rudest awakening I could ever have imagined! And what have you done with my suitcase?”

Applejack watched as one of the goblins held up a fancy bag that had obviously been tossed in the fire recently to see if it would burn. The unicorn they had captive let out a gasp. “You. Didn’t. Tell me you didn’t.”

The goblin, lacking a language of his own, just shrugged. Then he looked at the unicorn and licked his lips. He pointed to a few other goblins, and they began to heft the unicorn towards the fire.

“Oh my heavens! You will not cook me! I am of royal descent and can’t have a single hair on this body get singe- OW!”

The goblin who poked her with the fire stick chucked.

“…You don’t care about any of this do you?”

The goblin shook his head.

The unicorn then did what any respectable pony of royalty would have done.

“HEEEEEEELP MEEEEEEE SOMEPONY PLEASEEEEE!”

“Good tarnation gravy!” Applejack muttered, holding her hooves over her ears. Winona rammed her head into the ground. “Okay, Winona? How'sabout we rescue her just to make her stop that racket?”

Winona nodded vigorously.

“PLEASEEEEE ANYONEEEEEE?” The goblins were finding that trying to stuff a rag into the unicorn’s mouth only got their fingers bit. They were going to have to cook her fast or they would all go mad. They began to scramble around in a mild panic. Because of this, they did not notice Applejack and Winona charging them.

Winona rammed into them, barreling two over with her beak as Applejack leapt into the air, drawing her sword with her mouth. She drove it right into the chest of a third goblin before anyone even knew what was happening. The other goblins reacted first - half ran off into the forest, while the other half decided to stay and fight.

Two rushed Winona only to get kicked several yards away by her impressive legs. Applejack took on the two others herself, bucking one in the face as it tried to claw her, but unable to block the attack of the second. It scraped across her leg, making her yell out in pain. However, it did not make her falter. She turned around and drove the sword right into the goblin’s knee. “Hwwyi lwwk mmm ppls?” She remarked, sword still in her mouth as the goblin fell.

The unicorn blinked. “Dear, care to repeat that?”

Applejack sheathed her sword. “Uh… something about him liking apples. Ah think. Ah’m not entirely sure what I said.”

Winona facewinged. The unicorn just blinked before sighing. “Kind mare, would you please untie me? It would be most appreciated.”

Applejack did so, noting how the unicorn was obviously not used to roughing it. “So, you some kind of noble? Have a fancy crown or anything?”

“As a matter of fact I do!” The unicorn said, rummaging through her burnt bag and taking out a silver crown. She placed it on her head, grinning. “I am P- Lady Rarity. Though I am trying to keep a low profile.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow incredulously. “Name’s Applejack, and this here is Winona. Er… you do realize that the meer fact you talk like a noblemare and have a crown prevents you from keeping a low profile?”

“Aw, pshaw. That’s why I don’t wear the crown all the time dear.” She smiled, putting the crown back in her belongings. “Now, I suppose I must be off. Got places to go, things to do.”

Applejack raised the other eyebrow this time. “Such as?”

Rarity was about to respond when she heard something. “Darling… do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Applejack said, perking her ears.

She heard it. A high-pitched groaning was coming from near the meteor. The two of them walked over to see a pink earth pony mare rubbing a rather large bump on her head. “Ow… Ow ow everything hurts…”

Rarity put a hoof to her mouth. “Darling! Were you hit by the meteor?”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “She’d be dead if that were the case - the thing was a giant fireball when it came in. Though she was obviously hit by somethin’. Maybe a chunk o’ the thing fell off?”

Rarity helped the pink mare stand up, which was somewhat difficult to accomplish given how wobbly her legs were. “Just take it easy dear…”

“Easy… easy? Easy!” Suddenly the pink mare was filled with energy and she leapt into the air, any evidence of being injured gone. She bounced up and down, obviously in a hyperactive state. “Oh my gosh you two are so helpful and nice and thank you for helping me up I don’t know anything but I bet this is important wheeeeeeeee!”

Applejack blinked. Here was a mare obviously older than either her or rarity - her body was more fleshed out and her face a little more angular - but she was acting like an excited child. This was confusing. “Uh… miss?”

“Yes orange one?”

“Who are you?”

The earth pony opened her mouth wide to respond, and then said nothing. Her eyes darted to the left, then the right, and a look of worry entered her eyes. “I don’t remember! I don’t remember anything!”

Rarity moved to comfort the pink mare, but before she could there was a grin upon the earth pony’s face. “I. Have. Amnesia! Do you have any idea how cool that is? I probably have some amazing backstory that will be very very important later on! I’m probably something really really weird…” She glanced at the meteor, her eyes lighting up. “I KNOW! I’m here right next to a meteor… Found under mysterious circumstances... I MUST BE AN ALIEN!”

Rarity facehooved and Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Uh sugarcube? Yer a pony. Not an… ‘alien’ whatever that is.”

“Ohmygosh you don’t know what aliens are? I feel sorry for you… uh… lemme see if I can guess your name… Applejohn?”

“Close. Applejack. And this here is miss fancy-pants Rarity.”

“Pleased to make your aquain- hey! I am not miss Fancy Pants! That's another pony entirely!”

“You are now.” The pink mare giggled. Then her eyes lit up. “Oh! I just remembered by name! I’m Pinkie! Pinkie Pie! Woohoo!” She bounced into a nearby tree and confetti flew everywhere.

Applejack blinked. “…where’d you get the confetti?”

“I have no idea but there it is! Isn’t that awesome! Maybe I have super freaky alien powers!”

Applejack grabbed Pinkie on the shoulders. “Get. Ahold. Of. Yourself. You are not some freaky ‘alien’ with freaky powers! You are just a pink earth pony who can’t remember anything.”

“Suuuuuuuuuure AJ.” Pinkie said, rolling her eyes. “And you aren’t destined to be a hero.”

“Pardon?”

“Neeeevermind!” She said, bouncing into the air. “Anyway, I have no idea what I’m doing so… what are you guys doing?”

Applejack looked at Winona. “Me and Winona here are traveling the world just for the heck of it.”

Rarity smiled. “And I am journeying to the Wind Shrine.”

Pinkie’s eyes got even wider. “OHMYGOSH! Now I’m like a-hundred-and-forty-two percent sure that was where I was headed! Take me with you!”

“Now I’m not sure that’ll be-“

“TAKE ME WITH YOU.” Pinkie said, ramming her nose into Rarity’s.

“Uh…. okay then dear.”

Pinkie turned to Applejack. “Hey, you want to come too?”

“Nah.” Applejack said, stretching her legs. “Ah’ve already been to the Wind Shrine - little too windy for my tastes. You two go on, protect each other from the goblins. ’Twas nice meeting you.”

Rarity nodded. “Well then, may we meet again. Until that day, good travels.”

“May the wind be in your step.” Applejack responded, climbing onto Winona and taking off.

Pinkie turned to Rarity. “Wanna play I-spy?”

“Good heavens…” Rarity muttered. “Sure…”

“I spy something pink!”

“It’s you isn’t it?”

“No, it’s my mane!”

Rarity’s eye twitched.

~~~

Minutes later, Winona went from running at full speed to a complete stop. Applejack was thrown head over hooves into a nearby rock wall. “Ow…” She muttered, now in an upside down position. “Winona, don’t stop that fast.”

Winona just looked at her.

“Now don’t you give me that look. Ya hear?”

Winona just looked at her some more.

“Look, they can take care of themselves.”

Winona just looked.

“They’re a perfectly capable group… a crazy mare and a fancy-pants noble…”

Winona looked.

“And… ah… there are lotsa goblins around…”

Winona. Looking.

“Ah cossarnit fine! We’ll go help ‘em! Yeesh, no need to get your feathers in a twist.”

Winona seemed satisfied with all this, and ran back the way she came as soon as Applejack crawled onto her back. Right towards the mountain pass that led to the Wind Shrine.

Obviously Rarity and Pinkie had already entered the pass, so Winona charged right in. This proved to be a mistake - the earth began to tremble violently.

“Darnit! Earthquake! Why an earthquake now of all times?” Rocks began to fall from above, and crevasses started to open beneath their feet. Winona expertly leapt over the gaps in the ground, but the rocks were coming dangerously close to hitting them.

“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!!!” There was no mistaking the scream of Rarity. Applejack groaned. There were probably some very hungry goblins in this earthquake. Things could never be easy could they?

“Ah’m comin’ to save y’all!” She yelled over the earthquake, ready to leap off Winona at a moments notice. A rock crashed down in front of them with a crescendo, Winona’s toes actually scraping it as they leapt over. They landed on the edge of a crevasse, almost falling in. To Applejack’s pleasure, she saw a goblin fall in and get hit by a rock. Stupid greenskins deserved that.

Winona began to slow down, and Applejack leapt off, sword in mouth. She landed, ready to defend Pinkie and Rarity.

To her surprise, she saw Rarity hiding behind Pinkie, who was wilding an extremely large hammer. She was hitting goblins around like they were ping-pong balls, the hammer making a “squeak!” noise every time she hit anything. “Take that you dumb meany greenies!” She roared, smashing more of them.

Applejack’s jaw dropped, the sword falling to the ground. “Where in tarnation did you get that hammer?”

“I have no idea! My mane I guess?!?” Pinkie shrugged, smashing the last goblin into the ground. “I dunno, I just though I needed to defend Rarity and it showed up. But thanks for coming to save us anyway!” Suddenly the giant hammer was just gone. Pinkie whistled. “I have a really nice inventory screen…”

“What?”

“Neeeeevermind!”

Rarity opened her eyes. “Is it… safe now? Can we move on without being assaulted by uncouth ruffians?”

“Yessuriedokie!” Pinkie said, grinning. “And now AJ’s coming with us!”

Rarity blinked. “Really?” Her face betrayed it all - she had mixed feelings about this. On one hand they were getting someone to help defend them from the brutish monsters. On the other hand, it was someone who had absolutely zero class or culture.

In the end, she sighed. “Yes, Applejack, it would be best if you came with us on our mission to the Wind Shrine.”

Applejack nodded. “Yep. C’mon, let’s keep going through this pass here. It shouldn’t take us too long to get through.”

“Oooooh I wouldn’t be so sure about that!” Pinkie said, pointing ahead of them. The entire passageway was blocked with boulders that had fallen during the earthquake.

Applejack twitched. “Well, we just have to find a way around. Check the walls, see anything?”

Rarity frowned. “I do see a side passage that is dreadfully narrow-“

“Great! We’re taking it. Come along.”

Winona let out a sad caw. Applejack cringed, turning to the bird. “You… aren’t going to fit Winona. Sorry girl.”

Winona nodded, nuzzling Applejack. Then she nodded. “You gonna to be okay here?” Winona bobbed her head once more. “Okay then.. be a good girl you hear? I’ll be back for you.” Winona squawked. Applejack chuckled, before tuning to the narrow passage.

“Allrightythen… Miss fancy pants and crazy mare? You ready for this?”

“As I’ll ever be.” Rarity muttered, taking offense at the return of the fancy pants remark.

“You got it miss leader person!” Pinkie said, saluting. The three mares trotted into the passage, wondering what they would come across…

~~~

As it turned out, the passage quickly became a cave. A cave that was dreadfully dark, and had it not been for Rarity’s horn lighting up the area, there would have been no way to know where they were going.

Rarity herself was trying really hard not to look at the disgusting nature of the cave - there was evidence of bats everywhere. She needed to distract herself before she flipped out about the uncleanliness of this place.

“So, Applejack, why did you come back for us?”

“Winona convinced me actually. We couldn’t in good conscience leave you to the goblins of the area - though apparently Pinkie actually can take care of herself. Somehow.”

“Super amazing alien powers!”

“Mhm right. Ahm pretty sure you’re just a wizard of somekind Pinkie.”

Rarity’s eyes sparkled. “Oh my! Earth pony mages are so rare! It’s amazing to finally meet one!”

Pinkie considered this. “Mmmm nah I like the alien idea better.”

Rarity and Applejack facehooved.

“Anyway…” Applejack continued. “I also remembered that my folks had told me to explore the world - but also to make some friends along the way. Winona’s a good girl, but I suppose she doesn’t really cut it does she?”

Pinkie grinned, pulling Applejack into a tight embrace. “Yay! We’re friends now!”

Applejack chuckled. “Of course, crazy old mare.”

“Hey! I’m not that old!” Pinkie said, incredulously.

“You are old enough to be my mother, so I have the right.”

Pinkie considered this. “Fair enough. What about you Rarity? Wanna be friends?”

“I… suppose.” She said, reluctantly.

“WOOHOO! This calls for a party!” Pinkie brought out a cannon and fired it. “WOOHOO!”

Applejack blinked. “Where did… What…”

“Party cannon! Alien powers!”

More facehooves were had. The three mares continued in small talk for a while, until Applejack heard something. “Kill the lights!” She said. Rarity hesitated for a moment, then obliged. Ahead, Applejack saw some faint light coming through a strangely door-shaped crack in the wall. There was a shadow of a pony walking around in front of it. She could barely see, but she noticed the pony walk to the right. She heard a strange clicking noise, and the hidden door slid open, letting light into the cavern. Beyond the door they could see a cove, and the sea. They could also see that the pony was a brown pegasus stallion with a purple bandanna and cutlass. He walked through the door, and it closed behind him.

Everypony was silent for a little while.

“Cool! Pirates!” Pinkie said, jumping up to the secret door. “Let’s see… how to open this…”

“Why on earth would we want to open it?” Applejack asked.

“Only way to go, duuuuh. Plus, adventure!” She grinned. Applejack rolled her eyes, feeling around the wall to the right of the door. She pressed down on a hidden button, making a clicking noise. She smiled as the door opened. “Everypony through!” She said.

The three mares stood on a very interesting cove - the sea seemed to flow into this large cavernous area directly. There was a large dock heading out into the water - though there was no boat there. Probably stuck at sea since there’s no wind… Applejack thought to herself. Inside the cavernous cove itself were several wooden houses and a lot of pirate flags.

Applejack could see several cavern tunnels on other areas of the cove - though it was going to be a little difficult to get to them without being seen, if not impossible…

Rarity tapped applejack on the shoulder and pointed out to sea. Applejack was annoyed that her attention was being drawn away at first, but then her jaw dropped.

There was a boat coming into the cove at a brisk pace. No, not a boat - a ship. A full fledged pirate ship, complete with flag and sails. But there was no wind - no way it could be moving, much less at that high of a speed.

It was an impossibility. A sailboat sailing without wind.

“Think they would give us a ride?” Rarity suggested. “It’d make it a lot easier to get to the Wind Shrine if we went by sea.”

Both Applejack and Pinkie fixed her with “are you crazy!?!” looks. Pinkie was the one to speak first. “Pirates are not known for being nice and friendly - they are known for plundering and being mean! They probably won’t just let us ride in their special fancy windless ship just because we asked.”

“Yeah… for once Pinkie is making sense.” Applejack frowned. “That won’t help…”

“That’s why we’re going to steal their ship!” Pinkie announced, grin threatening to split her face in half.

Rarity and Applejack fixed Pinkie with "are you crazy?!?” looks.

Pinkie grinned. “Come on! Let’s go steal a pirate ship!”

XVI - City of Man

XVI - City of Man

Pinkie and Twilight’s brains stopped working the moment they left the Vlerryn and set foot on the great airborne city. The place was just too big for their little equine brains to comprehend - in addition to the circuitry and giant turning gears alongside the magical conduits, there were entire skyscrapers lining the city - from the ground to the ceiling, from the ceiling to the ground, and even a few floating without any connection to the city proper at all. Granted, some of the buildings were completely ruined, demolished by an unknown force, or simply taken by extreme age. The technology used to build this place was beyond them.

Plus there was the fact that this was apparently the City of Man, meaning Twilight had to also cope with Lyra being right all along. It was a bit… difficult to process.

Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash were completely fine though. To them it was just another landscape to cross after the initial surprise was over.

Rams appeared, stretching his arms. “Ah… good to be home.”

Shiva and Ifrit stood alongside him. “Eh…” Shiva said, frowning. “It’s become rather run down and underwhelming… No dudes here.”

Ifrit huffed. “IS RAMUH NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU?”

“Pfft, I already had my fling with him eons ago. Old news.”

Rams shrugged. “I could care less. Now, equines, the Earth Crystal is in danger. The central power room is in… the center of the city. You are the guardians of the last Crystalline One of this world, it would be best if you made haste.”

Applejack, Pinkie, and Twilight nodded. “Let’s do this.” They trotted ahead, taking point. Rainbow Dash would have continued on, but Rarity held her back.

“Rainbow Dash…” Rarity said, holding up the pendant. “This one isn’t mine. You have mine.”

Rainbow Dash blushed. “Uh… No I don’t.”

“Yes. Yes you do. Please give it back.” She sighed.

Rainbow Dash quickly looked to make sure the others weren’t looking and handed the pendant back. “There. Happy?”

Rarity shook her head. “Not really. Where did you get yours?”

“Nowhere.” Rainbow Dash said, obviously uncomfortable.

“You had it with you when you were found by Spike didn’t you?”

“No…”

“Rainbow…” Rarity sighed. “It’s easy to put two and two together. You were white when Spike found you. You have the Pendant of the House of Luna. You are really awkward around me. I know you’ve figured it out.”

“YOU ARE NOT MY SISTER!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “AND YOU NEVER WILL BE!” And she took off after the others, fast as her wings would carry her.

Rarity was a bit taken aback. She had not been expecting something that violent. And had… had she been crying right there?

“Sweetie… I found you…” Rarity said. Then she sighed, looking down at the pendant. “And then I lost you…” She adjusted her crown, steeling her emotions and continuing on after the others.

“HURRY IT UP BACK THERE!” Applejack yelled.

“A Lady can’t rush her adventuring!” Rarity retorted.

—

The Crystal Ponies had gathered, looking over the edge of their Crystal and seeing the City of Man beneath them. They were very confused - and frightened. Their home was no longer hidden. It was right in the open. They could be attacked!

They were much more concerned with the fact that they were no longer secret than the fact that they were several miles in the air. Possibly the thin air was affecting their thought process.

Lyra and Bon Bon had managed to come here - in the chaos, what remained of Cadenza’s government had forgotten about them. The two were looking down at ground that was faaaaar below them.

“Hey look! I can see Uniforge! I think that’s my house! HEY HOUSE!”

Bon Bon blinked. “There’s a crater the size of this city in that one…”

“That’s where the Fire Crystal blew up.” Lyra said, cheerful demeanor dented by the reminder. “

Bon Bon frowned. “…The Earth Crystal’s the last one isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It’s inside the City of Man.”

“City of Man?” Bon Bon cocked her head.

“Your crystal empire here is placed on top of the ruins of the civilization of the race that came before us - humanity.” Lyra smirked. “I’ve been studying them most my life, but everyone dismissed them as legend. But now I know the truth - all those designs and ancient texts in the bottom of the Library of Ancients - those were human texts, not old pony or Cadenza texts.” She frowned. “If what I read was right… and this ‘Exdeath’ spirit is using the same plot to destroy the Earth Crystal…” Her eyes widened.

“We need to take control of the city or we’re going to fall to the ground.”

“What?” Bon Bon said, obviously frightened.

“The city runs off the Earth Crystal’s power - and the moment that power is shut off or the Crystal is destroyed, we become one of the heaviest objects around. We’ll fall like a rock! We have to get down there!”

Bon Bon bit her lip. “But… how are we going to do that?”

Lyra looked over at the Crystal Ponies around them, some were pegasi.

“OKAY! BIRD-BRAINS!” Lyra yelled. “I NEED TO GET INTO THIS FLYING CITY’S CONTROL SO WE DON’T CRASH INTO THE GROUND. WHO’S UP TO FLYING US DOWN THERE?”

One of the guards walked up to them, nodding. “I am Flash Sentry. I will take you down.”

“Let’s go.” Lyra smirked, grabbing onto Bon Bon. “Time for an adventure of our own!”

“Oh. My…” Bon Bon said, not able to articulate her desire to stay in the crystal city as Flash Sentry flew down to the City of Man proper, Lyra guiding them through with her hoof to where she thought the control would be…

—

The five mares were galloping to the large building in the center of the City of Man, glowing with intense golden and neon blue energy. It cast the entire block around them in an eerie glow. Shadows danced around the buildings, giving the illusion of monsters waiting to pounce - when in reality there were almost no living things within the City of Man, a mostly desolate collection of structures and ancient technology that was barely functioning.

“Ya know…” Applejack said. “This does’t look like the only thing that makes power. I saw a lot of similar things on the top and bottom of this city.”

Twilight nodded. “The power’s being rerouted so that it only comes from here - Exdeath is trying to destroy the Earth Crystal by severely overtaxing it… I’m surprised it lasted this long.”

Pinkie Pie nodded. “Earth is known for being very resilient…”

“It is weakening though.” Twilight said. “It sent a message to the Vlerryn when we were pulling in - it hasn’t been able to contact us since..”

The five mares charged through the main doors into a large hallway. The sight before them was impressive - Queen Luna was fighting with all her might against a gigantic machine. It was vaguely snakelike, pulsating with all the power of the Earth Crystal, glowing a deep amber. It roared, attacking Luna with all manner of sharp objects and energy beams - it was evident she was loosing.

Luna noticed the five mares. “ASSIST ME!” She yelled. “The evil has made the guardian serve it! We must get to the Earth Crystal!”

Rarity nodded. “Of course mother.” She cast protection spells on her party and Luna, then drew the bow she acquired on Crescent Island. “Let’s do this!” There would be time for reunions later.

The Guardian shrieked, firing spears of metal at all the ponies, only to have Pinkie catch them midair and drive them into the ground. “YOU’VE JUST BEEN NINJA’D SNAKE!”

Rainbow Dash focused her energy and fired bolt after bolt of electricity at the Guardian, while Applejack went berserk and pounded the thing with her now-enchanted sword.

The Guardian ate the sword, throwing Applejack for a loop both figuratively and literally. Twilight caught the farmer in her telekinesis, setting her down gently before blasting the Guardian with a magic laser - that did next to nothing.

“My word!” Rarity exclaimed. “We’re not doing much of anything to it!”

Luna growled. “It is the guardian machine of Mankind - of course it’s difficult to damage. That’s the point.”

Pinkie frowned. “I have an idea! RAMUH! IFRIT! SHIVA! TAKE IT DOWN!”

“FEEL THE HELLFIRE!” Ifrit roared, fire, electricity, and ice impacting the Guardian form all angles. It roared in annoyance, lashing out with machine gun turrets that lined its body.

“I forgot he could do that.” Shiva said as she dissipated. “I never thought ol’ Fido would turn against us…”

Ramuh frowned as he was taken away. “It is most peculiar.”

Fido the Guardian rushed the ponies, only to find itself slowed in time by Rarity. “OKAY! THAT WORKS! SLOW ARROWS WORK! That’s good!” Rarity smiled. “Good. Now what?”

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, filling them with the power of fire, torching the Guardian. “Yeah that’s not working…” She decided to change strategies to healing, helping her friends survive longer.

Twilight frowned. “It’s a machine. Therefore, there must be a way to take it apart.” She focused, encasing the slowed Guardian in her telekinesis. It struggled, but she was able to work with it through the slowness. She ripped out a large and important looking component. The Guardian fell to the ground.

“HA!” Twilight yelled. “GOTCHA!”

Pinkie frowned. “No…”

The part regenerated before their eyes, and the Guardian flew back into the air, spiking Rainbow Dash through the chest. Rarity quickly healed the pegasus, but she was in shock and wouldn’t be back in the fight for the next few minutes.

Luna started laughing. “This… this is the true power of the Crystals!”

“No!” Rarity yelled. “WE are the power of the Crystals!” She yelled, firing arrow after arrow at the machine, most bouncing off harmlessly. The great snake slowly slid towards her.. Closer.. and Closer…

Luna blasted the snake with a powerful burst of shadow energy, knocking it into a wall. The Guardian roared, charging the Queen, only to have Pinkie Pie appear between them and smash a cake into the metallic maw. “Iiiiit’s a perfect day to bake a perfect cake~!”

The Guardian raged, only to have Twilight hit it with one of its own blades. That worked. “Girls! Hit it with itself!”

“OKAY!” Pinkie said, producing a miniature version of the Guardian out of nowhere and beating the larger one with it. She then somehow suplexed the Guardian while in midair. “Take that!”

Rarity fashioned some rudimentary arrows out of the spears the Guardian had produced, piercing the skin of the mechanical beast. It roared in agony as it’s own metal became entangled in it.

Twilight raised a spear with her telekinesis and thrust it into the important-looking part. The Guardian ceased functioning instantly, falling to the ground with a thunk.

The mares and Queen Luna rushed past the fallen Guardian, Rainbow Dash trailing behind. They entered the Earth Crystal’s room, it’s impressive girth floating in the middle, power flowing into the machine above and below.

The five mares gaped in shock as Queen Luna began to cackle uncontrollably. “Well, shame on you Earth for ruining the surprise! Too bad it’s the last thing you will ever do.”

<You are destroying the world. What is your reasoning? You want more than just to be free.>

“Eh. You don’t get to know. Die in confusion.” Luna blasted the Earth Crystal with a blast of energy, and was obviously irked when it didn’t shatter immediately. “You should be dead now.”

Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie charged Luna, but Rarity tried to stop them. “No! Not mother!”

“Weakness.” The Evil said, smirking. “You cannot hope to stop me. I am too important to all of you! Ha! Warriors of Light! You are all weak!” She turned to glare at the Earth Crystal. “And you - you are doomed. And you know it.”

“Then why all this delay? What’s the point with staying just a little longer if it’s hopeless already?”

“Is this thing on?” Lyra’s voice yelled over the communication systems.

“LYRA?” Twilight yelled in surprise.

“Oh, hey mom. Don’t you worry, we’re working on landing this thing safely. Give us a few minutes.”

The Evil - the Nightmare - growled. “Fine. Save your city. Your world is doomed anyway. And your time is up!” Luna raised a hoof and hit the Earth Crystal directly.

It didn’t explode. It simply crumbled to fine crystalline dust, with a few shards left over. One went to each of the four Warriors of Light - Applejack felt great agility fill her, Rarity felt chemicals fill her, Rainbow Dash felt the power of a dragon, and Pinkie Pie suddenly had the urge to dance.

The Nightmare laughed. “Your new powers are useless! MY SEAL IS BROKEN!” A burst of shadow energy flew out of Luna’s body, and her eyes returned to normal. She slumped to her knees.

“MOTHER!” Rarity yelled.

“MOM!” Rainbow Dash echoed, the two running to their fallen mother.

“My… Girls…” Luna said, smiling sadly. “It’s… So good to see you again…”

The shadow that had left Luna began to take a shape- a great shadowy power coalescing now that it was no longer truly sealed. Two legs formed, followed by a torso and two arms. A great head appeared as the shadowy body was encased in light blue armor with gold accents. The great head became covered with a thick, menacing helmet.

“A HUMAN!” Lyra yelped, grinning.

“Close.” The being said. “I am Exdeath, the bane of Humanity. And now it’s time for al of you to die.” He raised his hand high, a golden weapon appearing in his hand. He thrust it towards Pinkie-

Luna tackled the demonic being to the ground, her eyes glowing an intense white. “YOU HAVE DOOMED THIS WORLD AND TORE FAMILIES APART! FOR THAT CRIME YOU SHALL BE EXECUTED BY MY HOOF.” She drove her horn into Exdeath’s head, rushing as much magic as she could muster into the humanoid’s body.

Exdeath roared in agony, stabbing Luna in the chest with his weapon.

“My…” Luna said, her courage and intensity gone. She slumped to the ground, blood pooling around her.

“MOOOOOOOM!” The two yelled, rushing to her.

“Rarity… Sweetie - no… Rainbow Dash…. I couldn’t be leaving the world in better hooves…”

Her two children were crying. “No!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “So much! I’ve lost so much! No more!”

“I… Am sorry…” Luna said. “Forgive me for… Not being there…”

“Oh look at the heartwarming reunion. I’m touched.” Exdeath snarked. “You unfortunately are going to die next-“

The entire city started shaking. Something very large had just hit from the side and was rapidly approaching the center.

“Oh second thought… I think I’ll just let that meteorite crush you.” Exdeath laughed. “Enjoy being crushed by your own daughter, Pinkie!” He teleported away.

Pinkie tensed. “Oh no.”

Luna grunted. “I’m… Not… Dead… Yet… RAAAAAAAA” She roared with all her remaining energy, her horn flashing a brilliant deep blue. She reached out to the incoming meteor-ship, acting on it with her impressive telekinesis. She just… Needed… To… Slow… It… Down…

The meteor crashed through the wall of the Earth Crystal’s room, bearing itself over the ponies - but it came to a rest. A door flipped open, and a yellow pegasus with a pink mane and butterflies for a cute mark stepped out of the Meteor.

Pinkie Pie gasped. “FLUTTERSHY?” It all came rushing back to her at once. Her memories. Her life. Her time as an ancient hero. She grinned. “FLUTTERSHY! YOU GOT YOUR CUTIE MARK! Oh am I glad to see you!” She embraced her daughter.

Luna smiled, her last memory being that of a mother and daughter being reunited, and her own daughters holding her tight. She didn’t know how, but she knew everything was going to be fine… She let out her last breath with a smile on her face.

“Hate to break this up but…” Lyra paused. “We haven’t regained control of the city yet. We’re falling. We’re going to crash if we don’t do something.”

XXXIII - A Rift for the Ages

The City of Man appeared in a flash of black light inside the Interdimensional Rift - and the world around it was alien. On all sides snaking tendrils of earth warped and twisted in fractal patterns, entire ecosystems branching off into infinity. Forests, deserts, rivers, and mountains lined the tendrils, bringing the material of hundreds of planets close enough to jump back and forth between.

The City of Man wasted no time in deploying all ships and warriors who could survive in the air on their own power - but the Warriors of Light made no move, simply staring at the beautiful tendrils that spiraled off into the distance.

“…Okay, I can’t lie, this looks pretty awesome.” Rainbow Dash said.

Twilight shrugged. “Well, I suppose we need to get started-“

The entire area around them rumbled, vines shooting forth from the tendrils surrounding the city, attacking from all angles. The city itself glowed a bright blue and lit all the vines ablaze, preventing them from doing any damage. A few of the ships began firing around, keeping the other vines from advancing.

“That’s no fun!” A voice declared. “You need to let her attack you! AHAHAHAHAH!”

“They are trying to survive. We are trying to kill them. There’s no need for it to be fun.” Another declared.

Floating in the space between tendrils were two beings - one that looked somewhat like a blue mare crossed with a medusa. She hadn’t stopped laughing despite the annoyed looks she was getting form her humanoid companion with quite the forest-y getup.

They looked like they were about to introduce themselves to the armies.

“Yeah no.”  Twilight said, reaching into her new powers and summoning two giant cannons between her wings, which she teleported right behind the two enemies.

“What the-“

They were vaporized in a blast of white energy. Twilight smiled. “This is going to be easy-“

Suddenly, hundreds of copies of the creatures appeared, controlling their “hair” and the organic material from the tendrils. They roared in anger, wanting to avenge the other versions of themselves, attacking the City and the armies with all they had.

Twilight recoiled at the sheer number of them. “And this is why we have armies.” Rarity said. “Begin the push!”

The City of Man opened all weapons and began firing, working in tangent with the dragons, changelings, griffons, and pony armies. More and more were deployed as people realized the atmosphere was breathable. Swarms of changelings attacked a living forest here, unicorns worked alongside an ancient human soul cannon to create an undodgeable laser attack, and dragons smashed and torched things left and right. The Phoenix flew across the battlefield, resurrecting all those fallen soldiers on its side.

One of the enemies screamed “HAX!!!”

The tendrils of land began to burn, and the City of Man accelerated towards the goal - the Crystal core. None could see it, but the sensors were picking it up. They just had to arrive.

And battle through who knew how many enemies…

—

The armies flew through a seemingly endless white expanse, battling against geometric shapes that flew at them from all angles, using their two-dimensional nature to their advantage, slicing the soldiers in half with ease. Their efforts were in vain, however, for Phoenix power of resurrection trumped all the killing that occurred - though some of the soldiers were starting to go a little crazy from all the dying and being revived. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, to say the least.

Amongst all this chaos, deep within the City of Man, the blue unicorn guardian Trixie stood in her cell, terrified out of her mind. She was an unwilling combatant! She had never asked to be dragged into this war! She was just supposed to guard Flare and that was it! There was nothing else to it! Oh why did these things happen to her?

She began to pace left and right, hyperventilating once again. She wondered what was attacking them this time. More plants? The Stars themselves? Powerful apes that ate children? A bug man that drank people?

Never in a million years would she have guessed a neon blue square. And as it just so happened, a rather large one was attacking the City of Man directly, spiraling towards it, avoiding all the attacks tossed at it somehow.

Rainbow Dash tried to hit it with a Flare, but the explosive spell somehow passed right through it. The square spiraled right towards the City of Man and gassed right into it before shattering.

The structural damage was minimal and repaired rather quickly - but an important power conduit had been severed. The magical locks on Trixie’s cell door vanished without the needed power.

Trixie blinked - then used her magic to open the door. There were no guards attending her cell right now. She was able to escape.

No matter that there was nowhere to escape to in this void, she just needed to get out of that cell. She dashed as fast as her legs would carry her, scrambling into the City of Man proper - and was alarmed to see dozens of small neon squares flying around the inside.

“What the heck?” She yelled. “We got boarded!?”

“They cut through the walls.” A dragon said, blasting one with fire. “Where have you been the last two hours? Under a rock?”

“Uh… Yes?” Trixie answered.

“Well okay then. Don’t die, trust me, it’s not a good feeling.”

Trixie blinked. “…What?”

But the dragon was already gone, leaving her alone. With a two dimensional square. She lit her horn and made it explode - a rather easy feat considering.

She blinked. Then smiled. It would be easy to blend in here… Just fight whatever got onto the City. Then soon as this was over make a break for it and never look back.

What could go wrong?

—

Twilight flew alongside the City of Man as the scenery changed form the white geometric plane to that of a gigantic cylindrical structure - which they were somehow inside.

“Well…” Twilight said. “Not as bad as Starswirl’s place… Still unnerving though.”

Rarity smirked. “It’s nothing dear, just a shift of scenery. Stars know we need it, all that boring whiteness and shapes was getting a little tiring.”

Twilight looked down at the armies. “You know… the fighting’s stopped down there. No enemies. Just this… large…”

“Pylon?” Discord offered.

“…I was going to say tunnel, but I suppose that works.” She turned to the hologram of the Earth Crystal. “How many have we lost?”

Twilight winced. <That’s a small number Twilight>

“She knows.” Fluttershy said. “It changes nothing… people have died. And we led them to their deaths.”

“Can’t let it be in vain.” Applejack said, returning from the ‘ground’ forces. “Forge on ahead. Any idea how far away we are?”

“Great.” Applejack muttered. “…So what do we do when there aren’t any monsters?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I have no idea. Seems like we just keep wandering until something happens…”

“Oho! That’s just tempting fate! How stupid!”

A strange doglike being stood before them - with eyes at the end of its snout and a hand for a tail. Rainbow Dash wasted no time - casting Flare on the creature, exploding him into nothing but smoke. A small golden device that looked vaguely like a heart with a gear inside it.

“…What is that?” Rarity asked.

Twilight levitated the heart with her magic, raising it into the air. “Funny… It’s giving off a strange magical signature…”

The heart shone a bright white and suddenly the dog creature was back, laughing. “Ah, the looks on all your faces - priceless.”

Discord glared, not liking this things bombastic personality. “And who do you think you are?”

“Oh, pardon me, I am known as Ahuizotl.” He turned to Applejack. “Ah, Daring Do’s kid, no? Where is the old girl now?”

Applejack blinked. “You knew my mother?”

“Yes, and I have a great desire for revenge - being sealed away in this Rift has not been good for my plots.”

“Well she’s dead. Sorry.” Applejack deadpanned.

“Aha, then I must take my revenge… On you! Though I was going to kill you anyway just because… Ah well. Die.”

Discord snapped his fingers and made Ahuizotl explode - leaving the golden heart artifact. Discord tried to destroy this - but his magics did nothing. “Oh great, one of these games is it? Why I oughta-“

Ahuizotl regenerated, then teleported away. At that moment, the entire cylinder they were inside began to shake and churn, the walls deploying dozens of gigantic ancient devices ready to tear the City of Man apart. “Ah!” Ahuizotl’s voice rang out through the arena. “You do not think I came unprepared did you? I have lived here for the past few decades - I know the tricks of the technical trade.”

The City of Man returned fire, holding the claws, rams, and giant plasma guns back. However, a few of the smaller ships began to explode in showers of energy. Fluttershy released Phoenix again, saving who she could. Then Discord teleported out of the city, deciding that now was the time to use his power. “FACE THE MIGHT OF A MILLION GALLONS OF DISCOUNT STORE SODA FIRED AT LIGHTSPEED!”

The cylinder filled with the scent of discount store soda - grape flavor - mere moments before all the large devices just exploded. Ahuizotl gulped. “Well then.. There goes plan A I suppose… And I lack my cat army so… PLAN O!”

Discord teleported to where Ahuizotl was standing. “And what exactly is Plan O?”

“…Plan Omega.” Ahuizotl said, pressing a button with his tail-hand. “You are doomed draconequus! You and your entire army will be-“

Discord teleported Ahuizotl into one of the City of Man’s power cores. He was vaporized instantly - and the energy kept the heart from reforming him. “That guy was  soooooo annoying..”

Discord heard a strange clanking noise from behind himself. He turned, face to face with a gigantic robot with four legs - and a single slit for an eye. It menacingly walked towards him, eye beginning to glow.

“Aha, no, that’s not-“

ENCIRCLE.EXE

Discord felt som´†˙ˆ˜©÷ ÷/˜¶ˇ°Á Óˆ∆

Twilight looked at the core schematics. “Okay, uh, how did we get his heart in there again?”

“Someone had to teleport him in there… But it took us several minutes to even get to the control room with all those turrets. What did that?”

Rarity shook her head, something eating at the back of her mind. “I can’t help but feel that something’s off about this.”

Applejack shrugged. “We all do.”

“No, I mean, something’s really wrong.”

“You worry too much Rares.” Rainbow Dash said, chuckling.

“…Did you just call me Rares?”

“Yep.”

Rarity was silent. Then she shrugged. Maybe she was being a bit too nervous. She looked up out of the city- the scenery had changed again. It was a strange mismatched sky of night and day. “This looks a lot like the human village…”

“It is.” Fluttershy said, pointing down. “Right there, I see the buildings. Something’s off though.”

“Stop the City.” Twilight said. “We’re going to investigate this…”

The Warriors of Light descended down to the surface, discovering one thing - the town was frozen in time. The humans weren’t moving, the trees weren’t blowing, and there were leaves just suspended in midair.

“Freaky.” Rainbow Dash observed.

“This is probably why they’re stuck in the town…” Twilight mused. “Part of it is stuck in this Rift.”

“Could we free them from here?” Fluttershy asked.

“I don’t know…” Twilight said. “But we can try. Let’s look around, hour maximum. We can’t stay too long.”

Back in the City of Man, Trixie made her way to the edge. She looked at the peaceful frozen city - this looked like as good of a place to get off as any she had seen. She enveloped herself in magic and jumped.

…She had not mastered self levitation, and fell to the ground, though at a slow enough rate that she avoided breaking any of her bones. “Ow…” She muttered, picking herself up and trotting towards the town, being careful not to be seen. She crawled behind a building, making sure the Warriors of Light were far out of reach before she entered a building.

She found herself in a library, books lining all the shelves. She looked around, mildly curious, wondering what magics could be found in this human place…

She heard the door creak behind herself. She quickly ducked behind a bookshelf, trembling. She saw Twilight Sparkle enter the room. “Now let’s see… What have we here…”

Trixie took a step back, knocking over a pot. Twilight looked up in alarm. “Who’s there? Rainbow Dash?”

Trixie looked at the pot she knocked over with a death glare. Why did it- Woah. Behind the pot was a rather obvious secret passage. It was dark, ominous, and cramped. She would only go in there if her life depended on it…

“Who’s there?” Twilight called again.

Trixie leapt into the secret tunnel and began to crawl as fast as her hooves would carry her, scrambling and breathing heavy.

“Hey!” Twilight said from behind. “Get back here!”

Trixie started moving forwards faster, coming out the other end in a manner of seconds. She found herself in a windowless chamber, in the center of which was a book and a strange reddish black amulet. Entranced, she walked towards the two objects.

“The Alicorn Amulet…” She read, absent-mindedly putting it around her neck. She paid the rush of power no mind and kept reading the book.

It described the power of the amulet, but that part was largely scribbled out with some red substance. On the opposite page was a piece of writing titled “The greatest terrors…”

Trixie read aloud without thinking. “Beware Midnight and Omega, for they are the strongest of the Void’s inhabitants… One has the power of the Stars at her back… The other built to defy the Rules…” Trixie blinked. “What?”

“I’d like to know too.” Twilight said. Trixie screamed.

“Calm down, I’m not mad.” She smiled. “I’m just curious who you are.”

“Uh… Not anypony you’d know! Nope! Not me! I’m-“

A voice entered her mind from the amulet. BEWARE IT COMES!

“What comes-“ She said, her eyes flashing red, ready to use the power of darkness to overcome the enemy. She saw a flash of chrome and lit her horn, ready to destroy it with a powerful explosion.

“What the-“ Twilight began.

ENCIRCLE.EXE

Trixie let loose an explosion and felt some´˜ø√ ∂ß˜„ˆØ¨ Â¨Ø´ ∆

Twilight landed in Rainbow Dash’s hooves. “Something… Exploded…” She said.

Rainbow Dash looked over at the ruined building. “No kidding. What happened?”

Twilight shook her head. “I… Have no idea. I was in the library and then I was here.” She bit her lip.

Rarity shuddered. “Something wrong…”

Applejack frowned. “We should get outta here. Enough of this, we’ve got a job to do.”

—

A realm made entirely of fish.

It was exactly what it sounded like.

“So…” Rarity said. “The fish are harmless.”

“Yes.” Twilight said.

“And they are nearly infinite.”

“Yes.”

“And they have just the perfect spacial frequenwhatever to pass right through the walls and hit us?”

Slap. “Yes.” Twilight said, peeling a fish off her face.

“I hate this place.”

“Same.” Twilight agreed.

Then the entire fish realm began to shake.

“NOOOOOTHING!!!!”

“Oh crap.” Rainbow Dash facehoved. “I can already tell this is going to be a fun fight…”

“CAAAAAN STOOOOOOOOP!!!!!”

Fluttershy sighed. “Maybe the loud booming voice will be friendly?”

“THE SMOOOOOOOOOZE!”

“Nope.” Applejack said. “Giant slime monster…”

The City of Man and the large purple girth of the Smooze collided in a battle the Smooze quickly regretted - as it turned out slime monsters were generally flammable.

From a distance, sitting atop a shark, Omega watched, observing, waiting. Analyzing. Preparing the perfect assault…

These invaders would fall.

And then they would never have existed in the first place.