"Shining Armor!" Twilight and Cadence rushed to the place he had fallen once the initial shock had worn off.

They fought back tears as they kneeled down beside him and checked for signs of life. Twilight, having already seen this case twice before wasn't surprised by what they found. "Still breathing and maintaining a steady pulse. But missing any sign of magic or consciousness." She said aloud for Cadence's benefit. "Same as the other two. So have you been responsible for Soarin and Big Macintosh as well?"

Clover simply nodded to her somberly, his face a mask of sadness.

"Are you really Clover the Clever? The same one who chased off the windigoes on hearth's warming eve?" Twilight asked while Cadence tried to heal Shining with her magic.

"That is indeed the same Clover, Twilight Sparkle," said Luna. "We expected him to show up today but did not anticipate he would make such a dramatic entrance."

"You knew?!" Snapped Celestia, turning to her sister. "How long have you known he was still alive?"

"We've known these past two nights and as to why we deigned not to tell you...It's complicated," Luna said with some mild blush rising to her cheeks.

"But why is Clover standing against us?" Inquired a confused Twilight.

"I'm sure he has some reason," said Celestia sternly. "But that does not excuse his actions."

"You have no right to judge me, Celestia," Clover said as narrowed his cold eyes at her. "It's your fault it took me a thousand years just to fix this mess and then you went and open fired on my student without even once considering another option or even asking why Storm Chaser went out of his way to retrieve him. Both you and Cadence are a disappointment."

"Your student?!" Exclaimed Cadence as she turned her face from her husband, her eyes now a little bloodshot from the tears she was crying. "You taught that...that thing?!" She pointed her hoof at the dark king who looked like he trying to sneak away.

Clover turned and took one look at Sombra before shouting with authority, "Onyx! Sit down! I'll get to you in a minute."

To the shock of everyone in the room, Sombra instantly sat down with a wide-eyed look on his face like he was some foal that had just gotten caught with his hoof in the cookie jar.

Clover turned back to Celestia, "he is not yours to punish. As his teacher, his punishment falls on me. However, before I address his disobedience, I have one last thing to attend to." He narrowed his eyes on the solar princess, "Celestia, this is the only chance I will give you to stand down. What will it be?"

Celestia's horn lit up its golden glow as the magic wrapped around Clover, lifting him into the air.

Clover sighed as he looked down from his lofty perch, "I was afraid of that. So be it."

"AAHHHHHHHH!!" Came Cadence's ear piercing scream but a moment later. They all turned to look at her as she stood rigid. Her wings were extended to their full length as she slumped over Shining Armor. Her face a ghostly white and her eyes had rolled into the back of her head.

What happened? Twilight had been right beside Cadence and hadn't seen anything even come close to her.

"Ret..." Clover held a hoof to his head in an exasperated gesture. "Wasn't that a bit overkill?"

They scanned the room to find the unicorn that had been silent this whole time. She was standing by the door to the throne room and only bothered to give them a passing glance when Clover called out to her.

"What did you do to Cadence?!" Shouted Twilight as she whirled to face her.

Ret's red eyes met Twilight's for a moment before turning back to the door. With a flick of red aura, the door flew open and she sauntered from the room.

"Go after her!" Shouted Celestia. "Whatever Clover has planned we can't let his accomplice run free!"

Twilight nodded sharply to her teacher, "come on girls." She beckoned to her friends and they all followed her from the room.

Clover started chuckling in Celestia's magical grip once Twilight and the rest of the Elements left, "I can't believe you just split the party. You really should try playing that Ogres and Oubliettes game sometime. You never split the party."

"You're really not in any position to make jokes," said Celestia as she looked at the smug unicorn in her magical grip. "Luna and I are more than enough to keep you contained."

He clapped his hooves together like he just remembered something important. He also didn't seem to have any trouble moving despite being in Celestia's magical grip. "Oh I almost forgot." He looked over to Luna and gave her a pleading look. "Luna, I need a really big favor."

"Luna! Don't listen to him!" Celestia desperately pleaded with her sister.

"With me awake and Ret separated from me, the beast has no warden." He said to her cryptically.

Luna felt a cold sweat run down her body as she grasped the meaning behind his words, "that...thing can escape?!"

"It was getting close to breaking free before, and with Onyx here in the room," he looked over to his student who still looked very afraid upon meeting Clover's eyes. "It's going to be very anxious to snatch up this tasty morsel."

"Sorry sister," said Luna, shaking her head and regaining some composure. "But that thing scares me more than you can imagine. We cannot allow it to run free."

Luna stepped to the side of the room and took a few deep breaths before focusing on a distant wall and letting her mind slip into the realm of dreams.

Luna once again found herself in the starry corridor that was the dream realm. Very few ponies were asleep this time of day but she had a very clear goal on what she was looking for.

She wouldn't be able to find Clover's mind that easily while he's awake. Although that tear in reality from the last time the beast escaped should still be there. Such an wound on the infinite should still leave some scars and it wouldn't have had enough time to fully heal yet.

Luna flew down the dreamscape, ignoring the few ponies that were asleep midday and even though some of them suffered from nightmares, her search took a higher priority. She saw a light in the darkness and drew closer to it. It was the previously opened rift and...Heavens above!...It was trying to tear itself open again!

As she floated next to it, she could just barely make out the traces of an invisible opening. It's rather hard to see a shadow moving through the cosmos if there's no light to back it up. But close as she was, she could barely make out the door the shadows were tracing.

She lashed her magic out at the obscured door and felt for the edges of the passage into Clover's dreams. How he had managed to trap such a foul creature inside his subconscious was still a mystery that would have to be solved later. But for now, all she needed to do was prevent this dark creature from escaping.

Luna laced her magic through the doorway, reinforcing it. The beast must've sensed her efforts, because not shortly after she started to defend her realm then the beast started to pound furiously on the obstacle barring its path.

Light spilled through cracks in the now much more visible door. The damage grew in size with every passing moment and she healed the damage as best she could while bracing herself against the onslaught.

However, try as she might, it was taking everything she had just to stall this monster.

"I do not appreciate you using my sister like this," Celestia said while she looked up at the suspended Clover.

Clover didn't seem too overly concerned about being at the solar princess's mercy as he looked down at her. "I wouldn't say I'm using her, but I do need her help," he spun in her grip till he took a laying down position in the air.

Celestia felt the strain against her magic just from him moving around. How was he still able to move so easily? He hadn't once tried to break free, but it was clear he wasn't really bothered by being under her control. "What exactly is your end goal here, Clover?"

"Are you really trying to get me to monologue?" Clover smiled at her. "That's why I had Spectrum tag along to give you all that lecture. Saves a lot of time that way."

"I still don't see how you plan to get out of your current predicament." Celestia said while masking how much she was struggling to hold him.

Clover sighed dejectedly, "did you really forget what I said when last we fought? That next time I'd be ready for you?" Clover gave her a sad smile that reflected his own disappointment.

Celestia only had a moment to register his words before something really fast slammed hard into her side. She lost her magical grip on Clover as the impact caused her to slide across the throne room.

Clover for his part, didn't seem to mind too much that he was suddenly freefalling. He smoothly spun his body in mid-air and caught himself on the ground, "took you long enough," he said to the newcomer.

"Oh I was just waiting to see if you'd actually start monologuing," said the new voice in the room.

Celestia fought to catch her breath as she struggled to her hooves, it had been a long time since she took a physical blow like that. Was that smoke she smelled? As she looked to where she previously stood, she saw a glowing green earth pony with a blazing golden mane. A golden haze rolled off him as if he was the source of a raging inferno.

The look on his face, for it was a stallion, was almost gleeful as he approached her. "Time to put a princess in time out."

She did the first thing she could think of and tried to stop him with her magic. Her confusion at being unable touch him with said magic quickly devolved into panic as he charged straight at her. She reflexively threw up a shield around herself, but she had barely done so when felt something wrap around her barrel. The next thing she knew, she found herself airborne and slamming into a wall.

The wall cracked and crumbled as she pulled herself from it. What was happening?! She looked up to see Clover talking to Sombra, having seemed to stop caring that she was in the room. Sombra for his part, still seemed terrified of Clover. Where did that earth pony go?

A golden fog obscured her vision as the smell of thick smoke filled her nostrils. Celestia shook her head and beat her wings in an attempt to blow the foul smelling smoke away. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't clear the air of the stench. She soon found herself short of breath as she broke into a coughing fit.

She took a few steps, only to stagger. What was going on? Her magic didn't feel right. Her connection to the sun was being...strained? How?!

"Smokey, how long are you going to play with her?" Said Clover as he looked over his shoulder at them.

"Hold your horses, I'm working on it," came a voice directly from Celestia's side. "She's a bit hardier than Twilight was."

Celestia jumped back from the pony beside her only to hear his voice even closer, "it's a shame that Equestria doesn't teach earth ponies how to use their magic outside of farming. "Are the unicorns still so afraid their power will be challenged? Those foolish nobles need to be taken down a peg."

She continued to feel herself get weaker as she scanned the room looking for him. However, she continued to feel the drain on her magic the more time passed.

"Tell me Celestia," she felt her chest shake from the words being spoken so close. "What's the plan if the princesses fall? Will the rest just be left to the slaughter?" With those words she fell to her knees, her mane falling flat as she could no longer feel any connection to the sun.

"Why?!" She cried out. "Why are you doing this?!" She began to cough up a plume of golden smoke that started to trickle from her mouth and spiral around her. Her vision growing clouded as a set of eyes looked at her from within the smoke. Eyes that looked sad as they looked down at her.

"Because," said Clover, turning from his charge for a moment. "I cannot risk you interfering again."

Those were the last words she heard before the golden smoke rushed out of her like a torrent. It was but a moment later that she found herself being smothered by the golden miasma as she drifted into unconsciousness.

Author's Note

Did you think we forgot about old smokey?

Day 1 of the finale.
Next chapter tomorrow.