There was no end to the downpour in the land of the rain - so it has been, so it would remain. And outside the only livable home that used to be part of the main settlement of this region, a lone arimaspi huddled himself at the entrance. He didn’t want to be out in the rain, but he didn’t have a choice since he was bigger than the hut. Besides, his master ordered him to keep watch so he wouldn’t be disturbed while he was making inquiries. To pass the time he laid down on his belly and rested his head upon his arms, as his single eye gazed into the dimmed distance. But then he felt something – the rumbling of the ground, it roused him from what would have caused him to snooze away. He got back on all fours and waited, thinking it would repeat, but instead, something else did – the surroundings beyond a few hooves finally became noticeable, and all because the rain stopped falling. He quickly let out several grunting sounds, and before long, his master popped his head past the flap that was covering the entrance of the hut.

“What is it, Paramis?” Grogar wondered, but seeing the environment change from what it was before made him understand. “Ah. I see. Things have been set into motion then.”

“Hello? Sir? What’s happening?” a voice called out to him from within the hut.

The grizzled ram turned and addressed the resident. “It’s best you come out here and see for yourself, matriarch.”

“Sir, in case you’ve forgotten, my eyes are not as good as they used to be.”

“I do not think you will need your sight to discern what’s going on.”

He stepped out of the hut, and a few moments later, an elderly zebra mare with a flattened mane emerged. She walked a few hooves past the threshold and then suddenly stopped, waving her hooves about.

“You’ve noticed, didn’t you?” Grogar wondered.

“The rain… it stopped.”

“And what does that signify?”

“Two things. Either that the evil that is locked beneath our land has finally been pacified for good or…” Her voice suddenly became distraught. “Oh, my sweet Khari, please don’t tell me…”

The Elements of Harmony and companions were frozen in shock. Whatever had happened beneath in the prison did not work in their favor. A large tentacle made of water was sticking out of the doorway, and it had just destroyed the last protection with ease. It retracted, making the quadrupeds believe that it was about to retreat back into the hole, yet the kirin quickly realized what was about to happen. She was instantly enveloped in a blue and red flame, her body turning black as if charred, and she dashed in front of Applebloom and Zecora, creating a curved line of intense flame in front of them. And just as she finished it, the tentacle thrust forward at them, only to evaporate as it made contact with the magical flame.

“Guys, don’t just stand there! RUN!” Autumn Blaze yelled, as she quickly made a U-turn and ran past everybody.

The rest listened and quickly followed her, with Twilight using her magic to pick up Zeg’us and carry her away, and just in time, as the watery tentacle quickly reformed and now even more of them began forcing themselves out the doorway, breaking it apart in the process. They ran through the dense jungle, eventually climbing up a hill, until they finally reached the flat tops that were overlooking the valley below. The kirin by then, had already phased out of her dark form, trying to catch her breath.

“Talk about a close call there, Burnie,” the older kelpie thanked her, before turning her attention to the younger sibling she was holding in her embrace. “Hey Wash, come on, the rain stopped already, wake up!” But she gave no response.

With the Elements finally catching up to her as well, Twilight finally placed the elder zebra on the ground again. “Madame Zeg’us… That thing… What we saw coming out the door…” She panted.

“That was our would-be prisoner, miss. It has been unleashed,” she confirmed what the alicorn wanted to know.

“This isn’t good! Zecora, whatever happened down there?!” Rainbow Dash demanded an answer from their local shaman.

Before she could speak, however, she was interrupted when the workhorse rushed in her direction and tacked the mare that was running by her side, squeezing her into an embrace and smothering her with kisses and snuggles. “Oh Suga’ Cube, you’ve no idea how worried Ah was about you. Ah could hardly shut my eyes out of fear that Ah’d never see you again. Never mind that you were only a hoof away and Ah wasn’t able to help you.”

“Ap… ple… jack… Too… tight…” the young mare struggled to speak in her older sister’s embrace.

It was a moment of reprieve for all and a chance to elevate... but there was some tension in the air. The pony siblings were at peace, and the kelpie siblings were better off than before, but the same could not be said for the zebras. As the Apple sisters were hugging it out, Zecora’s gaze wandered around the rest of the group and her eyes met Sanaa’s. She was staring at her with a surprised expression for a split second, before it finally turned into a nasty scowl, which just showed what she was thinking. Others present could see that things were about to get awkward.

The elder zebra smacked the young angry one on her frizzy mohawk mane, flipping in on the other side of her head, breaking the moment. “Will I have to pull you by the ear like a little filly before you finally make up?”

Sanaa only let out a humph and turned away from everybody else.

Meanwhile, as the Element of Honesty rocked her sister in her embrace, she suddenly felt something moist on her front legs. “That’s okay, Suga’ Cube. Just let it all out, Ah understand how awful it must’ve been.”

“Applejack, I’m not crying.”

“What are you talking about? I can feel your tears right on maaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…”

The workhorse’s voice trailed away, turning high-pitched when she pulled her head back and saw what was actually making her fur wet. The yellow earth pony was carrying the zebra’s saddlebags, and out of it something was sticking out – a familiar grey blob-like creature which was normally supposed to be sealed in a thick glass jar for rock candy, but now it was outside and part of it was stretching out and clinging to the orange pony’s front leg.

“Twiiiiiii… Twiiiiiii…” The country pony tried to get the princess to notice her without alerting and aggravating the physical manifestation of evil they had been containing.

Instead, it was the fashionista that took notice of her. “Applejack darling, why are you talking as if you were silently screaming?” She approached and came within view of the formless blob. “TWILIGHT!”

The scream finally alerted everybody else, and when she did, Applejack quickly swung her hoof in an attempt to fling the creature off her younger sibling’s back. It flew a short distance before splattering on the ground and reforming itself.

“Where the hay is the jar?!” Rainbow questioned as she jumped for the two sisters and began rummaging through saddlebags that Applebloom was carrying.

“Rainbow Dash, wait! It's not what it looks like!” the young mare tried to calm them down.

“It’s escaped, that’s what it looks like!” the older sibling said. “Twi! Isolate it quickly before it gets away!”

The princess acted, using her magic to scoop out a ditch around the aberration, creating an elevated pillar from which it couldn’t crawl away. And then it began making a sound that resembled a cat crying.

“Dash, where’s that jar?!” Pinkie panicked.

“I’m trying! I can’t find it among all this junk!” she answered as she stuck her head into the saddlebag.

“It’s not here, Rainbow Dash,” the Cutie Mark Crusader told her. “We lost it down in the prison.”

“Wait, you mean to tell us it broke?!” her older sister raised her voice. “How in tarnation could you let that happen?!”

MREEEE!

“Girls, no time to point hooves! How do we deal with this?!” Rarity complained as the aberration cried out again.

The young mare took off the saddlebags and shoved them at her sister. “Hold these for me.” And she galloped off in the direction of the isolated creature.

Before she could reach it, just as she lept over the trench that Twilight had dug out, the aforementioned alicorn froze her in midair. “Applebloom, stay away from that thing! It’s dangerous!”

“No, it’s not, Twilight! It’s good now!”

Silence followed, only to be broken by the country pony. “Beg pardon?”

“Look, I dunno what exactly is the deal with this creature, but I’m tellin’ you: It’s not dangerous.”

“Applebloom, I assure you, we’ve seen what this creature has done and I can tell you it’s anything but that,” the princess told her.

Somebody tapped her on her shoulder, only to discover it was their local shaman, who stopped trying to avert herself from her older sister’s gaze and was now by the pony’s side. “Do as she requests, she’s not the kind to make such jests.”

Twilight was reluctant to even entertain such a thought due to her experience. But she rarely ignored Zecora’s words, she must’ve known what she was talking about. She levitated the young mare to the isolated area and released the spell on her.

“TWI, NO!” Applejack tried to stop it, but it was already too late.

The Cutie Mark Crusader trotted to the crying blob and gently stoked its gooey surface. “Shhhh. There there, calm down, it’s okay.”

“Merw…”

Much to the Elements’ surprise, the aberration stopped making agitated noises, being replaced by ones that almost sounded content. Out of everybody, the representative of Kindness flew up to get closer.

“Wait, Fluttershy! Don’t get close to that slime ball!” Discord urged her as she flew with him over to the young mare.

She landed beside the grey blob, startling it for a moment, but after she reached for it and gave it a gentle rub, it resumed making the sounds of contentment. “Awww,” she said, as she scooped it into her embrace. “It’s not harmful at all, it’s all gentle and cuddly.”

“Bleach! Yeah, about as gentle and cuddly as the Smooze,” the former Lord of Chaos made a gagging sound as the gelatinous substance smooshed against him since he was nestled in the fanny pack around the animal caretaker’s neck.

The rest of the Elements just stared in disbelief at what they were seeing.

“I don’t believe it…” Twilight turned to their local zebra. “Zecora, how did this happen?”

“If you want to hear what happened during my task, I fear I’m not the one to ask.” She pointed at her pupil.

The rest finally approached the two yellow ponies who were comforting the aberration.

“Applebloom, you’ve got some explainin' to do,” her older sibling demanded. “We’ve been dealin’ with this… thing since the trouble began, and it was never like this.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie jumped in. “It’s always been on some level of nasty. Why is it acting like a cat all of a sudden?”

“You know, AJ, now that I look at it up close, it looks lighter than when we last saw it,” Rainbow Dash confirmed.

Twilight finally reached them. “Applebloom, tell us what exactly happened down there in the prison?”

The youngest in the group finally grabbed her attention. “Okay, I’ll explain it all. But I fear it’s not all rosy and… we may have a big problem on our hooves.”

“You mean like the one that just came crawling out?” Rarity asked.

“No… It may be something even worse.”

Applebloom gulped. Even though she tried to steel her heart, her thoughts were still shaking from the wailing echoes that came from the depths of the prison. But she understood that she was the only one who could do something on the inside of the magical barrier. She stood before the threshold of the giant stone door that was just barely opened for one to squeeze through, and after waiting a few seconds, she slowly descended. The initial part was familiar to her and it passed quickly, but once she got to the part where she initially stopped, she lost any visibility she had, and she began hearing it again – wailing… those awful wailing cries, as if somebody or something was in unbearable agony, and it only got louder as she descended further. That wasn’t the only thing she noticed - she felt an increasingly heavy atmosphere, as if the air was thick with moisture, as well as sensing the splashing under her hooves on the stairs. But soon enough, the darkness began to disappear, as an increasingly glowing light began to illuminate her surroundings. The young mare soon started to become aware of them, and that’s when she spotted the source once she finally reached the bottom of the stairs.

The passageway opened to reveal a large room, and in the middle of it was a dome of light. And it was from this dome that those unbearable wailing cries were coming. At this point though, it became clear to the earth pony that this voice certainly didn’t belong to the zebra; whatever it was, it sounded… unnatural. And speaking of her mentor, this was where another object caught her eye, or rather, several of them – a pair of the shaman’s saddlebags, and her cloak! She’s just left them here? Why? She would’ve never left her belongings behind! Where could she have gone? That’s when she noticed that among the items she’d left behind, something wasn’t there – her staff, the one that she’d been carrying around and wouldn’t let go of no matter what. And it didn’t take long for her to put two and two together and determined there was only one place she could’ve gone. This was it – her mentor’s final confrontation was here, and she must’ve entered the glowing, wailing, magical bubble. There was no way she was going to let her face this evil alone! She picked up the cloak and stuffed it into one of the saddlebags, which she then tossed on her back and made her way closer to the dome of light. She stopped for a moment, her courage giving her a hard time, dreading what was waiting for her on the other side. She reached out at the bubble, creating a trail of magic on the dome’s surface, before she finally steeled herself, and with a long step, she stepped through the magical anomaly.

It flashed before her eyes for a bit before they finally readjusted to the new surroundings, but after a while, she thought it would’ve been better to keep them shut as she began feeling nauseous. The colors were vibrating all around her, changing at a quick interval, making things nearly impossible to focus on. And yet among it, there was a discernable sound that was coming from nearby. It sounded as if the wood was crashing against water, and every now and then, she heard a grunting sound. With her eyes closed she followed the increasingly loud trail, until she finally felt water splash into her face. Applebloom finally opened her eyes and discovered what was happening. She saw Zecora, standing face to face with another zebra, who was much elderly and wizened compared to her, dressed in tribal garments and wearing a mask. And surrounding him was a giant watery serpent with deep blue eyes, relentlessly striking at her mentor, who constantly repelled every strike with her staff that she seldom parted with. And each time the two forces connected, the colors of the surroundings shifted.

“My pillar,” the mournful voice came from the serpent, and it quickly became clear to the pony that it was its wailing that she heard earlier. “You finally came back… after all this time… Yet… why is your intent so… hostile?”

“Do not talk down to me, as if I'm an unweaned filly! After what you’ve put me through I never wanted to return, but now that I’ve seen the whole picture, I know now I cannot ignore at every turn!”

“Have you forgotten already, my pillar? I’m not the one trapping him… He is keeping me trapped with him. And you would intentionally dispel his protection? To what end?”

“To prove I’m not as weak as I was before! That I can bear the burden and protect that tribe he cared for! Seasons came and went, and I’m stronger and wiser too, and this time I’ll ensure that my fada is freed of you!”

The zebra and the living water were tossing the words at one another, seemingly unaware of the newcomer to their battlefield. That soon changed…

“Stronger? Wiser?” The voice that Applebloom heard this time was different, almost whispering, and it clearly didn’t belong to either of them, yet it was certain somebody else spoke that couldn't be seen. “You count time in a manner that means nothing to eons. You are still a child regardless… Though not nowhere near as the young one.”

The pony suddenly noticed that the watery serpent’s head switched its attention from Zecora and directly at her. Watery tentacles erupted from it and flew past the zebra, who was confused for a moment as to why it missed her, only to turn her head and spot its target.

“Applebloom?!” the shaman cried out in shock and quickly dashed to her side to try and intercept.

The young mare in the meantime reacted to the assault on her, running to the side. Yet even if she did that, the elemental tentacles trailed after her. It wasn’t until the zebra finally stepped in the way and swung her staff that they dispersed.

“Applebloom, I do not need a harrier!” she chewed out her apprentice. “You were supposed to stay on the other side of the barrier!”

“Why? So you could fight and win against this thing on your own?” the pony defended herself. “Twilight and others are already here, Zecora! And they can’t get past the barrier which you tricked me to put up!”

“While I’m glad for their willingness to assist, their assistance, I will have to delist!”

“You mean like how Twilight did it to you when she blocked your path when she faced Chrysalis?”

“IT’S NOT THE SAME!!!” the zebra completely broke the calm demeanor. “She wasn’t the one responsible for bringing the changeling queen back! THIS! THIS IS MY BURDEN TO BEAR! NOBODY ELSE’S!!!”

Her voice echoed in anger, but that’s not what put Applebloom off – it was the fact that Zecora didn’t rhyme what she just said. She recalled how often, even in the face of danger, she would be able to make words connect. This wasn’t the case. At this very moment… she was not herself.

“A burden that is too heavy for you, even now…” the whispering voice spoke again.

A moment of distraction was enough. One of the watery tentacles crept behind the duo, and the moment the voice garnered their attention and made them turn their heads toward it, it struck! Zecora’s staff was launched out of her grip and flew across the air, landing halfway between them and the watery serpent that surrounded the elder zebra. The shaman panicked, quickly jumping and running to retrieve the only object that had the chance of repelling one of Turmoil’s aspects, and at the same time, the said creature reached out for it as well. The zebra was faster than it, though. She was going to make it at the last moment.

“AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

The tentacle that disarmed her remained where it was before, its presence completely ignored after what had just happened. Yet, as the young mare galloped after her tutor, unable to keep up with her speed, it stretched after her, coiling around her hind legs and lifting her in the air like a rag doll. Applebloom let out a shriek of fear, and the moment that happened, Zecora stopped for a split second out of worry for her apprentice. It was over. One of the tentacles reached the staff, coiling around it and snatching it from her. It raised it far beyond her reach, after which, another tentacle joined it, coiling around it, and they both began applying pressure on it, bending it. And the shaman could do nothing but watch as the inevitable was about to happen.

“You. Were not. Prepared.”

SNAP!

And as soon as the whispering voice finished, the tentacles snapped the staff in half, dropping it on the ground. The zebra quickly scrambled to pick up the pieces of junk from the floor, failing to hold both halves in her hooves as she was shaking.

“No. No. No. No. No.” she kept repeating in a visible state of shock.

“How does it feel, pillar?” the mournful voice suddenly returned. “To have that which you treasured broken? The possession that reminded you of your sire so much that you were prepared to do anything to protect it? That one last tie to your family… gone.” And then the whispering one spoke again. “You could’ve preserved it. You could’ve preserved all. Your family, your tribe. And in a moment of hesitation, you threw it all away.”

“No,” she fought back. “I couldn’t do anything that would help back then. Even... even if I were to stay…” she tried to connect the rhyme, but her thoughts were simply too distraught.

“Even the words that you scramble to speak, they are not yours. You hold no greater meaning to them - they are a reminder, a desperate clinging to the memory of your father who was able to twist his words. And now, you’ve even lost your voice.”

“Now… you are truly,” and as whisper spoke, mournful one overtook it. “ALONE.”

And the light of the room slowly began to dim, everything around them disappearing into the darkness. Applebloom tried to free herself from the watery tentacles, but it was of no use. Soon, the blackness overtook her.

Applebloom regained her consciousness. She still saw the brightness surrounding her, but this time it was different – it was coming from the beating sun above her. And she was surrounded by blades of grass. She wasn’t inside the prison anymore, that was for sure; she was in the savannah grasslands, one that resembled the one she and her mentor had to pass, only in the cover of heavy rain. The pony looked about and only noticed a small settlement in the distance among the grasses, leaving her with no other choice but to go towards it. With her sight not being obscured, the traversal to her destination felt pretty quick, but she soon stopped. Before her stood an archway – one which they also encountered, yet unlike that one it wasn’t ruined. It was very colorful, its top adorned with white, red, blue, yellow, and brown tints intertwining, almost resembling a rainbow. its walls were stretching in a circular curve, depicting the border of the settlement. She passed through it, and on the other side of it finally saw what she encountered earlier which caused her mentor’s despondence to become noticeable. A village full of zebras, going happily about their business, children running about and playing on the dirt road, with not a care in the world.

“So this was what Zecora’s home looked like,” she thought to herself. “I’d hate to see it end up the way it did.”

Then she heard a sound – a buzzing sound as if a massive collective of tiny bugs was approaching. And she saw it! A swarm quickly approached her location, and in a matter of seconds, it washed over her. It passed as quickly as it came, but something hit her in the face and then sat on her muzzle – it was a tiny blue ball-like creature with insect wings, four tiny legs, and large innocent eyes. But the young mare immediately knew that this creature was anything but innocent from first-hoof experience, as the parasprites once devoured Ponyville. This is why she quickly realized what was to follow, and recalling what she thought not a moment ago, she knew now that she jinxed it. The invasive species descended upon the unsuspecting village and the chaos erupted, with the locals running about, screaming and panicking as the creatures consumed anything edible they could find.

“No! No no no no no! I didn’t know they were bad! It’s not my fault!”

Out of the many cries of terror, one of them stood out. A young zebra mare, no older than Applebloom herself, was running down the dusty street, frantically looking about with horror on her face, her words sounding unlike anything that somebody would say in this situation. But it was her voice that was familiar, even if it wasn’t as deep. Was that maybe… HER?

KRAKK!

Thunder clapped from above, halting the panic in the village, though the parasprites didn’t care. At a small hut on top of the hill that overlooked the village, a lone masked zebra stallion was sitting outside of it, and he began glowing in blue. Suddenly, the wind kicked up, pulling through the settlement, through every nook and cranny, picking every single sprite and dragging them out of the village. Much to the pony’s shock, so was she, as the force of nature pulled her away and sent her lying out of the village, past the threshold of the archway she had initially passed, and it’s where she finally stopped. She rose again and shook her head to recollect herself, and then quickly rushed through the structure again to enter the village. The moment she reached her previous location, she realized something had changed: Based on what she saw, some time had already passed, and the lively atmosphere from earlier was gone; nobody was working or going about their business, and there were no children playing outside, but those she did see were lying on the ground in the shade, and what children she saw were crying, all the while she could hear strange growling noises in the air. To say that she found the sight of famine unsettling would be an understatement.

“No… No… It’s not fair… Why do we have to live like this…? We don’t deserve it…”

And once again the familiar voice reached her ears. She saw her again, the young mare, and this time she was slowly dragging her hooves through the dusty street, the look of despair visible on her. There was no way it could’ve been anybody else but her. She tried to beckon her, but she ran away towards the hill. Something odd happened then, as the sun suddenly set and the moon rose, stars blanketing the sky. Night had suddenly fallen ridiculously fast, and the only light she saw was on the hilltop where the younger version of her mentor had run off. She followed her hoof steps and got to the house, but was immediately met with yelling, whatever was happening inside she couldn’t make out what was being said, but it was clearly an argument. She got to the threshold of the house and was about to pull the curtain away to enter it, only for a shape to suddenly run out and right past her. It was the young zebra from earlier, and once she was a short distance from the house she screamed at the top of her lungs, angrily bucking in the air for a while until she eventually lay on the ground. And then she began to cry, a desperate cry for help that nobody would come to offer her. Applebloom couldn’t simply stand by and watch this heart-wrenching scene, she had to comfort her. But before she could utter a word to her, another voice spoke… a mournful one.

Come…

The zebra turned her head in its direction and began walking towards it.

“Zecora, stop! Don’t go after it!” Applebloom called out to her, but her voice didn’t reach her.

Seeing her going away, the pony didn’t stand by idly and quickly ran after her. And the moment she did that, the zebra began running as well. This time things were different though – both their legs were about the same length, which meant that she couldn’t outrun her. That plan would soon get dashed away, however, when the rain suddenly began to fall, and a familiar scenario played out for her, as the visibility suddenly dropped just when she reached the forested area, to the point when it all became pitch black, more so than compared to what she initially saw. The pony stopped in her tracks. At this point, it became clear to her that something unnatural was at work, something that was actively preventing her from following her mentor’s younger version. She couldn’t follow her anymore, she needed something that would help her see in the dark, so she sat down and began rummaging through Zecora’s saddlebags that she had been carrying around this whole time, trying to find something useful.

“I need to find it, something that will light the way,” she thought to herself. “I’m the only one who can help Zecora, and after all that she’s done, there’s no way I’m gonna give up on her.”

Hope is a light in the darkness, when all other lights have gone out…

Her thoughts were roused to attention by a gentle voice. She looked about to see where it came from but couldn’t see anything through the darkness that surrounded her. But then she saw it – a glow, coming from within one of the saddlebags. She quickly reached inside and much to her surprise, pulled out a glass jar she saw earlier. The animated gray blob was still motionless, but the spark of light that it harbored within was glowing. It took her a moment to finally notice something was odd: She was holding the jar close to the ground and saw that the darkness that had enveloped her completely disappeared and was replaced with the crumbling stone that resembled the stairs she had descended into the vault not long ago. The light within the jar was dispelling the illusion that surrounded her! She quickly searched the saddlebags again to find a rope and then tied it around the jar's neck so she could hold it in her mouth, before advancing further. Once again, she was descending further, her hooves able to find proper footing, but it didn’t take long before she began hearing wailing cries again, but they were different this time around. They almost sounded like…

“Zecora!” Applebloom called out while trying to make sure the rope wouldn’t fall out of her mouth.

SPLASH!

She stopped, as that wasn’t a sound she was expecting to hear. She looked down and saw her front hooves standing in a body of glowing green liquid. She was frightened for a moment, wondering what she’d just stepped in, before raising her hoof to take a closer look and giving it a quick sniff. She waited a few seconds, but when she once again heard her mentor’s wailing sound she didn’t wait anymore and quickly jumped into the fluid, running after the voice. She stopped after she finally laid her eyes on her – the young zebra was hunched over on the ground, moaning.

The pony dropped the glowing jar and approached her to try and comfort her. “Zecora, it’s okay, I’m here. There's nothing for you to wor-”

In a moment it became clear why she was in such a state. The light source she had left behind illuminated the area just enough to vaguely see ahead, and what she saw made her think of a horror movie. Zecora was on the ground in front of the elder zebra stallion she had seen before, but he didn’t look the same anymore – his whole body was drained and shriveled, and his eyes were pitch-black as if it was signaling that he was devoid of life.

“Fada is gone…” she cried. “I wasn’t able to save him… And it’s all my fault…”

Applebloom herself was horrified by what she was seeing. But then something came to her mind: The spark in the blob, the moment it lit up she noticed that her immediate surroundings didn’t just dispel the perpetual darkness, but also illuminated what really was. And now that she was away from it, unexpected things have shown up. Now that she thought about it, the jar was sitting in a body of strange green liquid, and once she left the range of its light she wasn’t making any splashing sounds as she was walking. Was there perhaps a possibility that what both she and her mentor were seeing was just an illusion then?

“Wait Zecora, I know this looks bad, but maybe things aren’t as grim as they seem. Let me just retrieve-”

“I never should’ve left… I should’ve stayed and done what had to be… And now because of me, Despair’s been unleashed… And soon… so will Turmoil…”

Light suddenly came in front of them, but it wasn’t the morning sun. It was fire, fire that was being exhausted from a giant red-eyed gaping maw. A giant dark formless creature towered over the land and everything around it, a giant set of purple eyes and a mouth were the only things that signified where its face was, and even that was difficult to distinguish, as there were other faces all over the blackened form, one of which was simply slithering among them. The light blue one breathed cold that froze everything in its path, the yellow roared with crackling thunder that rained from the sky, the red one fraughted at the mouth with a raging fire that engulfed the land, and finally, the last one wailed as water gushed from its openings – that same water rushed in their direction, fully washing over them! Applebloom panicked and quickly took a deep breath as she was swallowed by the sea. Was this what Zecora and the Elements of Harmony had seen? Was this what they were fighting against this whole time?

Despite their current position, the shaman didn’t seem to struggle as her apprentice did, as she simply floated a bit off the sea floor. “There is no hope left,” her voice echoed through the increasingly darkened depths, as tentacles began to emerge and slowly coiled around her. “Not for my home… not for Equestria… nor our world…”

The pony was horrified by what she had seen, and she could feel the pressure all around her, on top of that, the obstacles from earlier returned and were numerous. There was no way for her to do anything at this point… Maybe the zebra was right. Then, her gaze got drawn by the vague light that was coming behind her, and when she looked at it, she remembered where her thoughts were a moment ago before her attention got distracted. The jar containing the blob and the spark of light was still glowing on the floor, one that didn’t change at all – it was still showing it being half dipped in the green pool of water! The young mare quickly began to swing towards it, she had to, as it became obvious, that the tentacles that were taking hold of the shaman were beginning to follow her as well. She was almost there. She finally came in the radius of the light and suddenly felt the pressure of her surroundings disappear, yet she couldn’t go further than her head, as in that moment, one of the tendrils got hold of her hind legs, preventing her from fully escaping the illusion. All she could do was force herself just a bit further, for her mouth to reach the rope on which the jar was tied. Finally, multiple tentacles grabbed her and pulled her back inside, an act that would be their undoing. In the last moment, Applebloom bit on the noose, pulling the jar of light with her, and as she did, the surrounding darkness was disrupted, but the momentum from it made her slide on the wet floor, straight in the direction of the constricted zebra, who seemed to have all but completely surrendered to despair.

“No! There’s still hope because hope is the light in the dark when all others have gone out!” she vaguely repeated the words that she heard before.

She held the jar with both her hooves and shoved it forward as she came within reach of the mentor. The tentacles almost immediately disappeared, as did the crushing pressure of the deep sea, and Zecora covered her eyes from the blinding light. A strange shrilling cry followed. It didn’t come from either of them, even though it was within their reach. Suddenly, the pony noticed something odd – past Zecora, the elderly zebra stallion sat motionlessly, though he didn’t look like drained, shriveled remains, and next to his head was a strange green-eyes weaselly shadow, it twisted and turned, as if it was desperately trying to avoid the light, an act that was impossible as it washed all over it, disturbing its form; if the light that was dispelling the illusion of despair around them hurt it, it meant it was just as evil. Applebloom quickly acted and forced the glowing jar at it. In response, it let out an agonizing cry, yet something else happened as well, as the light became blinding, turning everything white.

A shadow flew across the land that comprised Equestria, from the barren desert lands of the south to the temperate climate of the north that was its heart. It flew toward the direction of the central settlements that were Canterlot and Ponyville, but it did not stop there – it flew towards the thick forested area that was now shrouded in perpetual darkness, the Everfree Forest. It entered the tunnel and navigated a labyrinth, before finally coming out in the open, into a great cavern where a sinister ancient tree sat atop a protruded black rock, below which a vast green lake was. It stopped on its bank, the ground quaked, and accompanied by the neighing cries of windigos, towering darkness emerged from the green liquid, sprouting a pair of scrawny arms that it used to lean on the shore.

“Well, Doubt?” the dark manifestation asked. “Is it all set?”

“It’s all going according to plan, Hatred. Both the Broodmother and the Devourer are on the western shore, waiting for the Scourgelord to return with his fleet so their armies can be transported. The only problem is that the Shaper has once again disappeared without a trace.”

“It matters not. He will come, won’t he?”

“Of course he will, he has no choice. Once they all come together we will set out to look for Despair.”

“Excellent. While they’re away, we will set the groundwork to make sure that Turmoil’s reemergence is unopposed.”

“The Broodmother’s eyes are averted. She will not know.”

The dark monstrosity grinned and raised itself to full height, then opened its mouth, and accompanied by the sound of windigos, it unleashed a bellow that echoed all around. When it quieted down, the changelings that were covering the walls and tending to the hive all turned to face it and their eyes began to glow bright. Then they all crawled off the walls and began digging in a specific direction, creating a large tunnel.

“The changelings exist to serve us. They will deliver doom,” it said.

The ground once again shook, and another mass of shadow emerged from the green pool, and a multitude of small yellow eyes opened on the body before a pair of giant ones did.

“And the timberwolves will be its harbingers,” its shrilling voice echoed.

The light dimmed, and the tutor and the apprentice were left alone now, blankly staring in the distance, confused by what they had seen. But soon, they would snap out of it, as the wailing sound returned, anger noticeable in its tone.

“Harmony… You dare bring its light into our prison?! YOU! WILL! PERIIIIIIIIIIISH!!!”

From the darkness the two mares could see several giant tentacles emerge, picking up large pieces of rock and chucking them in their direction. For a moment it was believed that nothing would happen since they were just illusions, until one of the boulders came within a hair past the pony. They were all real! The pony stuck the roped jar in her mouth and the two quickly scrambled and ran all over the place, desperately dodging, but there was no way for them to get out of danger, for if there was an exit from here, it was beyond their sight. As one of the boulders flew, Zecora quickly noticed it was going too fast and right at Applebloom! She grabbed her by her tail and pulled her back at the last minute. Yet, even though the Cute Mark Crusader was spared harm, that item she was carrying wasn’t, as the tug caused the jar in the mouth to swing forward, right in the path of an incoming boulder, smashing it in the process. The container broke, and its contents, the gooey grey substance, and the spark of light that was stuck inside it plopped into the body of green liquid, and the source of light disappeared. They both grimaced – that was their only protection against the sinister force that they were trapped with. In the distance, they could see more and more tentacles sprout, but this time they didn’t aim to throw things at them and instead reached for them. The two young mares screamed and huddled together in fright from what was soon to be their doom. Suddenly, something flickered beneath the surface of the pool of green water. A blob-like substance suddenly emerged, levitating out of it, illuminating the green liquid. Suddenly, powerful light erupted from it, lighting up the whole room, destroying all the tentacles, and soon after, completely enveloping everything.

Both young mares were still huddled together, in fright of what would’ve followed. But now that silence had finally fallen, they were surprised to have found themselves on another plane of existence, where everything was white.

“At last… I feel strong enough...”

There was another presence with them! This presence came in the form of a blob they saw appear earlier and was now levitating close by them. Its color tone was now much brighter than it was earlier, and as such, the spark of light within it was barely noticeable. It began flashing brighter until its source could no longer be seen. Then, ringing of clattering metal could be heard, as the figure manifested itself and then approached the two. It was an elderly zebra mare with a long mohawk that turned into a braid at the bottom, hanging down her neck, bound by golden rings, and on her flank was the face of a female lion.

“Hello again, Zecora,” she gently said.

Applebloom was confused as to who this zebra was that just appeared before them; she clearly knew her mentor. And when she looked at her, all she could see was shock.

“Mada…?” the young mare uttered.

The pony’s head shifted between the two. “Mada? Wait, as in your MOTHER?! That’s your mom?!”

“No,” she bluntly answered. “That cannot be her.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’ve seen her earlier… in the village.”

The crusader thought for a bit and then remembered how she had to avoid a mare that was wandering the ruins. “That?! THAT was your mom?! Why were you so desperate to avoid her then?!”

She didn’t answer her back this time, her focus was solely on the image that stood before her. “You’re not mada. You took on the image of when I last saw her and that was a long time ago. What are you really? If you are the aberration from earlier, then I demand you release fada at once!”

And the image of the elderly mare frowned in sadness. “I’m sorry… But the High Shaman can no longer be helped.”

“What? What do you mean?” Applebloom wondered.

“He… he had succumbed to despair, didn’t he?” the younger zebra said in a depressed tone, already knowing the answer.

“Yes. But not because of it.” As she said that, the two young mares displayed confusion. “He had to endure despair for numerous cycles since this all began, and he held firm to this day.”

“Then… what’s changed?”

The image looked to the side, and next to her, a still imagery appeared. It depicted the elderly stallion sitting still, surrounded by a dark blue-eyed watery serpent. That was what they had both seen earlier. However, there was something they noticed that clearly wasn’t there before, or at least one of them didn’t see it. Flying by the side of High Shaman’s head was a small weaselly shadow with green eyes, appearing to be whispering into his ear.

“Hey, I saw that!” Applebloom quickly pointed out. “When I tried to save Zecora I saw this thing floating close by. What is it?”

“The shadow of Doubt,” the mare solemnly said.

Author's Note

I will be taking a break for August and 1st half of September. I have to focus on finishing Tales of the Ashes chapter that should've been done a month ago, and I keep postponing it because of work.