Unbound

“Owch!”

Her patient gave a pained yip. Fluttershy frowned and stopped wrapping the bandage around Rainbow’s foreleg. “Sorry, but you need to hold still,” she explained before continuing, taking pains to be even gentler.

Sunlight filtered down through the leaves of the tree they were leaning against. The wide open skies and grassy plains surrounding Ponyville stretched out before them, with one patch of disturbed dirt nearby where the cyan mare had crashed after showing off the latest of her coolest aerial stunts.

Rainbow Dash sighed and tapped her hind hoof, as if she had to be moving something constantly like some kind of shark. She winced again as the bandages rubbed against the skinned patch underneath. Even Fluttershy’s tender care couldn’t take away all the pain.

Fluttershy gave her friend a concerned look. “I thought you said you’d be more careful?”

“Yeah, yeah… I know,” Rainbow dodged her gaze and scratched her ear, “but I was sure I had it down this time! If I just pulled my wings in tighter on that corkscrew, I totally would’a nailed it!”

“Dashie… You know, me and the girls worry about you sometimes?” Fluttershy said. “I’m scared that one of these days, you won’t just get up after a crash and brush it off like it’s nothing.”

Seeing those big eyes threatening tears, Rainbow’s expression softened. She shifted to face her friend and opened her mouth to speak before pausing, the words struggling to come out. “Flutters, you know I would never leave you like that. I admit… I get a little carried away at times” — she smiled nervously at the vaguely pony-shaped indent in the ground next to them — “but I know not to push my luck. After all, what would you do without me?” A diminished laugh returned some semblance of her usual confidence.

Fluttershy’s ears flattened. What would she do without one of her oldest and closest friends? Dashie had always been there for her. She was even the reason Fluttershy had her cutie mark, and by extension, her love of animals and nature.

With her comforting words falling on uncomfortable silence, Rainbow Dash frowned and simply waited for her impromptu doctor to finish treating her.

Fluttershy finished tying off the bandage and released her friend’s limb. “There. Is that better?”

Rainbow examined her foreleg and put some weight on it. “Much. Thanks.” She smiled.

Fluttershy managed to briefly lift her spirits as well. “Well, just promise me you’ll be more careful in the future, okay?” she pleaded. However, before she could get a response from her friend, her serious expression broke as she reached up to catch a yawn.

“Tired already?” Rainbow asked, peering up to the sun above. It was only a little after noon.

“Yeah, well… I sort of stayed up late last night helping Rarity model for one of her dresses,” Fluttershy explained. “And the night before that, Pinkie needed help planning her surprise party for Twilight.”

Rainbow raised a brow. “And those things couldn’t have waited?”

“Well, they could have, but, Rarity was getting close to a deadline, and I didn’t want to just say no. And you know that look Pinkie gets when she’s disappointed,” Fluttershy said. She rubbed her eyes and tried to shake herself awake.

Rainbow Dash frowned. She looked down to her bandaged foreleg. Even after all that, her friend had agreed to come watch her fly, and she just had to go and get herself injured on top of it.

“Flutters, has anyone ever told you you’re too kind for your own good?” Rainbow asked.

“Huh?” Fluttershy looked up at this.

“You’re always putting yourself out for others, especially your friends,” Rainbow said.

Fluttershy blinked, as if she was confused why that was a bad thing. “I know, but it’s fine. I care about you, and I want to help you as much as I can. The same thing goes for other ponies and the animals I care for.”

“Well, we care about you too. You think Rarity or Pinkie would want you to be exhausted like this?” Rainbow asked.

“W-Well, maybe not, but—”

A hoof on her shoulder made Fluttershy pause.

“But nothing.” Rainbow adopted a somber look that caught her friend off guard. “There’s always going to be somepony that needs help with something, and there’s always going to be an excuse for you to help them. I’m not saying to stop being you and ignore everyone that needs help, but… I need to know that when I’m not with you, you’re going to take care of yourself.” She tried smiling to alleviate some of the seriousness of her words, but she couldn’t shake the barest hint of worry in her face. “I’d rather not find out what I’d do without you either, y’know?”

Fluttershy stared at her friend for a moment. “Dashie, isn’t that what I just asked you to do?”

“Huh?” Rainbow tilted her head.

“The whole reason we’re having this discussion is because you hurt yourself… again,” Fluttershy said with a frown. “I’m not blaming you for doing the things you do… but don’t you think it’s a little… oh —” she winced, trying to find a nicer word than ‘hypocritical’ “— wrong… Don’t you think it’s a little wrong to ask me to go against my nature when you won’t do it for me?”

Rainbow opened her mouth to say something, only to clamp it shut. She rubbed the back of her neck and dodged her gaze. “Well… yeah, I guess. I don’t know… I just worry about you, and…” She paused and sighed before continuing. “Alright, yeah, I get your point.”

A smile once more returned to Fluttershy’s gentle features, causing Rainbow Dash to lift some gloom as well. “How about this? I promise to take better care of myself, if you promise to stop slamming into the ground at top speed. Deal?”

“Deal.” Rainbow shook her friend’s hoof. Then, another yawn caused a chain reaction from both of them. “Now, how about a nap? You look like you could use one,” she reasoned as she started lying back against the tree and resting her forelegs across her stomach.

Fluttershy gave a pleased giggle at the sight. She cozied down beside her friend and laid her head on the soft, warm grass. “That sounds nice.” She yawned again and peacefully closed her eyes.
.
..
…

The unbearable heat and the overwhelming noise of the energy overhead brought Fluttershy back to her senses. Dazzling light painted her form as she stared ahead at where Rainbow Dash just was, and where a beam of pure devastation now surged from a monstrous behemoth.

Her eyes trembled, both from the tears overflowing, and from shock. Her heart felt like it was going to explode. “DASHIE!”

On the platform of wood below, her other friends all glanced at her before looking to the distance.

“Wait… Rainbow was…?!” Applejack took a step forward, her pupils shrinking at the realization.

“N-No!” Rarity brought an already shaking hoof to her mouth. Pinkie merely stood there beside her, stiff as a statue and eyes flooding with tears.

Across the cavern, still locked in heated combat with the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the three princesses of Equestria turned at once, stunned to find a massive laser where they knew one of their friends to be.

Luna yelled and began flying toward the scene, when death itself swiped its scythe down in front of her, bringing her attention back to her own battle.

Celestia spared a moment to look over to her former student. Twilight was floating there, staring ahead in disbelief. Her eyes started watering, until she could hold her emotions back no longer and wailed.

“RAINBOW DASH!”

A golden shield flashed around Twilight, blocking a spray of bloody projectiles from Famine.

“Twilight, there’s nothing you can do for her!” Celestia shouted. “She’s gone! She’s—”

Suddenly, the great laser died down as the beast closed its mouth. There in the air, where they expected to find nothing but perhaps collapsing ash in the shape of a pegasus, they instead found Rainbow Dash. Unharmed.

“...Alive…?” Celestia muttered, jaw falling open.

Twilight gave an elated gasp. “She’s alive?!”

A series of cheers came from the distance as Applejack and the others all but jumped for joy. Fluttershy merely fell to her haunches and deflated with relief.

Hearing the sound of the laser vanishing, and realizing that she was still intact, Rainbow Dash flinched an eye open and slowly uncovered her head. “I’m alive?” She patted herself, equal parts confused and shocked.

Looking ahead, Rainbow stunned back as she found the apparent source of her miraculous survival. Floating there in front of her, shielding her with his tiny body, was Isaac. A radiant light in the shape of a cross flashed from his form, and whatever shining energy he had around him fully dissipated.

“Isaac…?” Rainbow blinked.

Isaac looked up and checked around him, seemingly surprised to be alive as well. He smiled up at the pegasus, and she chuckled somewhat hysterically and wrapped him up in a quick hug.

Then, the pair jolted as a roar louder than thunder issued from the beast. They both turned to find three red eyes peering down at them atop a cavernous maw of teeth.

"Uh oh…" Rainbow muttered. She shared a nervous smile with Isaac before the two of them darted off in different directions.

Nearby, Twilight watched them flying away while the beast slowly followed after. She almost couldn’t believe that her friend was still alive. However, she couldn’t allow her shock to distract her from her own battle.

Turning to see Famine still sizing her up from a distance, she spared a moment to check on her mentor. Glancing to the side, her eyes widened at what she found.

Celestia stared distantly ahead, still stunned at Rainbow Dash’s miraculous survival. Several feet behind her, War floated up, a menacing grin on its face and another massive bomb held in its nubby hands, ready to toss at the hapless alicorn.

“Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed, racing to line up a shot with her horn. She fired out a bolt of magenta magic that sailed across the cavern.

Spinning around at her name being called, Celestia noticed Twilight before quickly returning her attention to her own enemy. Her pupils shrank at the sight of a ticking bomb waiting to be thrown her way, only for that bomb to explode prematurely as a magenta projectile zipped into it.

War was sent screaming down toward the lava, and all of the projectiles spraying from the bomb struck nothing but air.

Celestia turned and flashed a grateful smile to her savior. Twilight smiled as well. Soon, however, this warm expression was ripped from her face as a burning pain came from her side.

"Agh!" Twilight yelped and clutched her new wound. Clenching her teeth, she turned to find more projectiles heading her way, forcing her to dodge on shaky wings.

Famine seized the opportunity granted by Twilight's lapse in focus. It hovered forward, spitting bloody orbs from its cackling mouth at her. She barely managed to dodge them, her movements sluggish with pain and exhaustion.

Then, a fiery bolt of energy struck the horseman, enveloping it in a roiling inferno exploding outward and concealing it from view.

"Nopony harms my student!" Celestia declared. Not wasting a moment, she flew to Twilight's side and hovered near, ready to help however she could. "Are you okay?"

Twilight drew air between her teeth as she lifted a bloodied hoof from her side. "Ngh… y-yeah. It just hurts." Looking up, she stunned back as she found her attacker still alive, though not how she expected.

As the cloud of smoke and flame faded away, Famine was left floating there, or at least part of it. All that remained of the harbinger was its massive grinning head.

"Bwah!" Twilight startled at the horrific sight. A constant drip of crimson came from where its neck was, and soon more globs of blood flew free from its wide-open mouth.

Celestia cast a shield around herself and her student, blocking the spray of toxic projectiles. "I expected it might do this," she said, unable to deny her own revulsion. "The weaker version of it did this as well right before it was defeated. It must be on its last legs… metaphorically speaking."

Twilight steeled herself and lit her horn. "If that's the case, get ready to drop your shield. We should hopefully be able to finish it off if we hit it together."

Both of them watched and waited, scrutinizing the alternating pattern of their foe's attack. Famine's severed head slowly floated closer, smiling even as it bled profusely. Its empty eyes silently dared the ponies to make their move, and make it they did.

"Now!" Celestia declared just as the latest batch of blood bullets thudded into her barrier. She quickly dropped the shield and channeled her magic from defense to offense.

In unison to her mentor, Twilight shot a crackling ball of energy at the floating head. The twin projectiles struck dead center into the creature's mouth. At once, an explosion of blood and gore sprayed in all directions, and the rider of Famine was no more.

Despite the disturbing spectacle, Twilight chanced a smile. "One down…"

"Four more to go," Celestia added.

Shifting their attention to the side, both Celestia and Twilight jolted and raced out of the way of a small fireball sailing past. They briefly watched the fiery projectile hurtle toward the lava before darting their heads to where it came from.

They soon found the source of the sudden attack to be War. The crimson harbinger was hovering several feet away from them. It grinned deviously at the two ponies before producing a small bomb and throwing it, but not at them.

The already-glowing bomb dropped straight into the lava below before exploding, resulting in a shockwave that sent a glob of lava flying up. Taking its stick pony and using it like a baseball bat, War struck the rising fireball and sent it zipping toward the pair again.

Celestia cast a shield around Twilight, protecting her wounded student. She cringed from the exertion. Normally, flames didn’t offer her any difficulty. However, the fires in this place bent not even to the will of the sun.

“These things sure are persistent…” Twilight said.

“You have no idea,” Celestia replied as they both prepared for renewed combat.

War faced off against the princesses, tossing another bomb up and down in its hand. Finally, it winded back and prepared to throw—

“Look out below!”

A gust of air blew past as a blue shape soared just above War’s head. Both Twilight and Celestia watched as Luna kicked the harbinger with her hind leg on the way past.

War glared up at the alicorn flying by, its teeth grinding angrily and a growl simmering in its throat. But before it could retaliate, another sound made it turn to find something else flying straight toward it. A glowing green projectile.

The explosive glob of bile aptly exploded in War’s face, causing a chain reaction from the bomb already in its hand. While War itself was left mostly unscathed, its stick pony was utterly destroyed.

It looked down to its now-empty hands before looking up to see its brother Pestilence floating nearby, having paused its chase of the blue alicorn to stare blankly at the results of its misplaced attack.

War visibly shook with anger and let loose a primal yell. Flames burst from its form, a manifestation of its sheer fury. Pestilence could only shrug and offer a garbled noise as an apology.

Luna whirled around and hovered, sporting a pleased grin. "Haha!"

"Nicely done, sister," Celestia declared, briefly enjoying the sight of their enemies bickering amongst themselves.

Further back from the ponies and the two horsemen, Death watched its brothers fighting. It clapped a bony hand to its face and shook its head.

Then, the pale rider shifted its attention to the side. Far away, four more ponies were watching in the distance. Helpless as lambs before the slaughter. The corners of its skull creaked as a chilling smile formed and it flew forward.

Amidst their brief celebration, Twilight looked around the battlefield in search of the other threats she knew to be present. The great beast was still slowly chasing Isaac and Rainbow Dash, however, she couldn’t find any sign of the last harbinger.

Panning her head, she paused as she spotted the silhouette of Death against the fiery cavern. A gasp escaped her as she realized where it was going. "Oh no!"

Celestia and Luna both turned to see the same thing. Their eyes flashed with alarm as well. However, with War and Pestilence slowly shifting their focus back to them, the alicorns couldn't focus on both threats at once.

"Go!" Celestia ordered Twilight. She glanced over toward the pair fleeing from the giant creature. "Luna and I will handle the beast and the other two!"

Twilight didn't even spare an acknowledgement before she took off. She turned to shout over her shoulder at her friends. "Rainbow Dash! Isaac! I need help! Fluttershy and the others are in trouble!"

Looking over at the alicorn’s shouts, Rainbow Dash spotted Death making a beeline for their friends, her own face paling as a result. “Oh, buck!”

Without a second thought, Rainbow raced off. Hovering nearby, Isaac gasped as he noticed what had spooked his friends. He started to fly off to pursue them, when a loud growl brought his attention back to the three-eyed beast towering over him.

Although its red gaze was monstrous and piercing, it had a certain intelligence and malice behind it that he recognized. He also recognized the tattered remains of fabric around the thing’s base. It was a dress. A dress that he knew all too well.

Even after coming to terms with his past and trying to move forward, his mother had found a monstrously new way to torment him.

Isaac flinched back in the air, his newfound courage threatening to leave him as the beast slowly approached. Before it had a chance to strike, fiery bolts of magic exploded into its side. It howled in agony.

Looking over, Isaac found Celestia offering him a reassuring nod. With the alicorn taking the beast’s attention away, he was free to turn and fly after the others.

Elsewhere, Fluttershy watched alongside her flightless friends as the rest of their group did battle.

Pinkie’s brow arched as she stared out into the distance. “Hey… doesn’t it look like Twilight and Rainbow are flying over here?”

“Why’d they be doing that?” Applejack asked.

Shifting her attention to the side, Fluttershy paused at a hint of movement. Her pupils shrank, and she flinched back as she saw what that movement belonged to. “I-I think I know why!”

Following their friend’s frantic pointing, the others froze where they stood. Heading straight toward them and closing in fast, was a chilling visage of bone and glowing pupils wielding a scythe.

“Oh… OH!” Rarity jolted back.

“What do we do…?! WHAT DO WE DO?!” Pinkie cupped her hooves over her ears.

“Get back!” Applejack nudged her friends out of the way and boldly stood between them and the incoming threat.

Rearing up its scythe, Death hovered down to the front of the ponies' island. Applejack tensed and dodged back, but was helpless to stop the tip of the blade slicing through her chest.

"Applejack!" Fluttershy cried. She and the others gathered around as their friend fell back, screaming in agony and clutching a bleeding slash.

Looking up, they all froze at the sight of Death holding its blade high, a patch of crimson joining the metal gleaming in the orange light.

Then, a magenta glow sparkled over the top of the scythe right as Death tried to swing it. It strained and struggled, getting the blade to lurch a few inches. Turning to glare at the source of this interruption, its bony expression flashed with surprise as it instead found a cyan blur mere inches away.

A resounding thwack signaled the pale rider flying off its ride. Death went sailing several feet before crashing into a rocky spike jutting up from the lava.

"Girls!" Pinkie gave an elated gasp as she stared at their saviors. Rainbow Dash was hovering in the aftermath of a kick, and Twilight was still flying to catch up with her horn alight.

Rainbow smirked, and Twilight sighed with relief as she caught up. Both of them steeled their expressions at a hint of movement from their skeletal foe.

With a stoney crack, Death pried itself off of the rock behind it and floated in midair. It shook its head before meeting the ponies’ gaze and growling through clenched, grinding teeth. It raised its hand, and its stick pony came rocketing over to Death and hovered beneath its feet. Brandishing its scythe as it balanced on the hobby horse, Death prepared to rush off and retaliate against the six friends, when it suddenly came under fire by a barrage of tears.

Cringing at the watery blobs burning its bones, Death dodged to the side and looked over to find Isaac hovering a few feet away. It swiped at the boy, but he swiftly flew under the strike.

A magical zap came and a magenta bolt whizzed by its head, just barely missing and exploding into the nearby pillar of rock. More magical attacks and tears came, forcing Death to dodge the hail of projectiles coming from both sides.

Twilight flew closer and provided covering fire for Rainbow Dash, who was zipping around the side for a sneak attack. Never the fool, Death narrowed its hollow eyes as it saw through their attempt. With a silent roar and a wave of its hand, puffs of smoke appeared all around Isaac and his two flying friends.

Twilight swiveled her head toward these dissipating clouds. Her eyes flashed with alarm as she saw giant scythe blades left hovering in the air, surrounding all of them.

Death clenched its fist, and all of the blades began spinning and closing toward it, toward the ponies. Whether Death intended to take itself out with them, the ponies did not have time to ponder.

“Woah!” Rainbow Dash twisted her body, just barely slipping through the gap made by three of the blades before they could slice into her.

Twilight started to channel her magic toward a shield, when she realized she had no time. Her fledgeling pegasus instincts kicked in and she flapped hard to dive under the blades. A twinge of pain raked across her side as one left a shallow cut above her wing, barely making her wince.

Isaac produced a sharp cry as he failed to dodge in time. One of the blades clipped his leg, and a trail of crimson trickled out into droplets falling to the bubbling lava below.

Further back, Fluttershy held a hoof to her chest and cringed as she and the others watched their friends doing battle with death itself. They could feel an icy chill of fear worming down their spines from the sinister grin and gleaming scythe.

“Come on, guys…” Applejack muttered tensely. They were helpless to do anything but spectate.

Or, at least most of them were helpless. The only one of them that could do anything was frozen to the spot by fear. Even realizing this herself, Fluttershy couldn’t stop shaking as she silently prayed for her friends to prevail.

Elsewhere in the cavern, sparks flew as a sword made of shimmering sunlight scraped across the beast’s obsidian skin.

Celestia grit her teeth from the magical exertion. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make a dent in the titan’s form.

The beast turned to glare at the flying pest that would dare to strike it. It let loose another deafening roar that shook the cavern.

However, another sound pricked Celestia’s ears. Low, shrill cries came from beneath her. Looking down, she flinched at the sight of four spectral beings with haunting expressions floating out of the lava and heading straight for her.

Celestia beat her wings harder and dodged out of the way of one lost soul careening past. She followed its wispy form with her eyes, only to watch it explode into a cloud of dust—or, as the dull impact across her body informed her, a concussive shockwave of air. Suffice to say, she would give these specters a wide berth.

Two more of them came flying around in curved arcs. Celestia wheeled around one whizzing past, when the other nearly struck her just before she teleported away. She watched the two spirits explode in the near distance. Then, a haunting wail wormed a cold chill into her side.

Her eyes trailed to the side just in time to see the specter touching her. Her muscles tensed, and her horn glowed as she channeled another teleport.

*Boom*

At the same time as her magic blinked her form out of existence, Celestia felt her ribs burn from the force of the blast. She had absorbed enough of the impact to send her hurtling through the air post-teleport.

“Ngh!” Celestia clutched her aching side and flapped hard to recover. A patch of her fur had been burned, but she was grateful it was just a patch.

Another explosion alerted her, but all of the lost souls were gone. Her heart sank as a familiar cry came, and she realized that this explosion wasn't meant for her.

Darting her eyes behind her, Celestia’s face paled as she spotted her sister sailing through the air, fur smoking from an explosive impact. “Luna!”

Luna smacked into a hanging stalactite before she could recover. She yelped and began to fall toward the lava below. Flinching an eye open, she tried to flap her wings, only for them to falter.

Then, she collided with white fur amidst a flash of golden magic. Celestia had teleported beneath her.

“Are you alright, sister?” Celestia frowned at the sight of a smoking burn in her sibling’s side.

Luna cringed as she lifted herself off of her sister and held herself in the air under her own unsteady wings. She looked out to where she came flying from, where Pestilence and War were still watching her with eager smiles.

“Yes… I am simply finding our foes a tad… hard to deal with.” She rubbed her tender side, wincing at the result.

A glowing green glob sailed out of Pestilence’s mouth and arced down toward the two alicorns. Celestia flashed a barrier around them, but the resulting explosion was enough to make her cringe and fight to keep her magic from breaking. It didn’t help as a second explosion came soon after, arising from a bomb tossed by War.

“I can see what you mean,” Celestia noted. She craned her head up, eyes flashing with alarm as she saw a gaping maw of teeth coming down at them. She teleported both herself and Luna far off to the side just in time to watch the beast lunging down into the lava where they just were. “That beast is proving difficult as well. If only we had some more items from Isaac’s arsenal…”

“Yes, I suppose a few of those would prove useful right about—” Luna trailed off, her head lifting in sudden thought. As she watched Isaac fighting in the distance alongside Twilight and Rainbow Dash, she lit her horn and checked something. Once she got her result, she turned to Celestia. “Sister, do you think you could teleport us over to the others?”

Celestia looked to her sister before glancing off to the side and noting the distance between them and the larger group. “I think so… but might I ask why? The whole point of us being over here is to keep the larger threats away from the others.”

“Trust me. I have an idea.”

Seeing nothing but confidence in Luna’s face, and seeing War and Pestilence starting to close in on them, Celestia nodded. “Very well. I suppose an idea is better than what we have now,” she reasoned before inching closer to her sister and channeling her magic over both of them while focusing on a point in the distance.

In the next instant, the pair vanished from that side of the cavern. Both War and Pestilence searched around for them, with the former arguing with and hitting the latter for losing track of their prey.

A moment later, Rarity and the others looked up from the fight going on nearby as a magical zap came behind them. The royal sisters were left standing there, panting lightly and resting their weary bodies.

“Princess? What are you two doing here?” Rarity asked.

Luna glanced to the distance where they just came from. The two harbingers were still cluelessly searching for them, and the beast was nowhere to be seen, presumably still submerged under the lava. “There’s no time for explanations, I’m afraid.”

A bout of faint yelps drew their attention to their other friends doing battle with Death. Luna frowned at the thought of not helping her friends in need, but her main focus was on the boy hovering alongside Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

“Sister, do you think you could help them keep Death at bay for a minute?” Luna asked.

Celestia chuckled. “That seems like a tall order to fill, dear sister, but I shall do my best.” She took flight and summoned another glowing sword of radiant magic.

While Celestia flew forward to join the fray, Luna turned toward Isaac and started waving him over. “Isaac! Could you come here, please? I require your aid!”

Isaac hesitated as he looked over to see Twilight in a tense clash with Death, sparks flying off her magenta barrier as a scythe grinded against it. However, as a sunlit blade slashed across and forced the pale rider to dodge back, the boy was free to turn and head toward the larger group.

Once Isaac hovered down to them, Luna beckoned him close. “Now then, I believe I may be able to give us an edge in this battle. Do you trust me?” she asked, to which the boy nodded. “Very good. All I need you to do is focus your thoughts on helping us, and I will do the rest. Are you ready?”

Isaac shared an unsure look with Fluttershy and the others, but soon closed his fists and nodded with a determined expression.

At once, Luna lit her horn and casted her magic out. A beam of dark blue energy shot out and enveloped Isaac. He froze in the air as the scintillating light held him aloft.

Fluttershy stepped back as the boy's eyes filled with a familiar void of purple and black spirals. "Princess, w-what are you doing?"

Pinkie frowned at the sight of Isaac's form trembling. "Isn't that hurting him?"

Luna winced from exertion and squinted an eye open to see the concerned mares gathered around the boy. "Worry not… he isn't in pain. I am merely… taking advantage of the fragile state of the pocket dimension."

"Umm… I quite trust you, Princess, but are you sure you know what you're doing?" Rarity asked. The last time they had seen that purple void, the whole world within the chest was collapsing in on itself.

Luna didn’t respond for a few moments as she concentrated on her task. "Believe me, I am being very cautious. However… tch… if I can just use my magic and Isaac's will to influence the pocket dimension, I should be able to—"

She trailed off abruptly. Fluttershy and the others flinched back as a swirling purple and black mass flickered into being in front of them. The circular shape resembled what they imagined a portal might look like.

The sparkling blue energy enveloping Isaac started to pour into the portal, carrying some of his tears with it. He clenched his eyes shut, as if in intense concentration.

Then, with a puff of smoke, the portal vanished, and in its place appeared a gilded chest.

Both Luna and Isaac fell panting to the ground at the same time as the chest. Luna's horn dimmed, and Isaac's eyes faded back to normal.

Off to the side, Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Celestia glanced behind them to see what was going on. Even Death turned and narrowed its gaze at the sight of the freshly apparated chest. However, its empty sockets soon widened as a kinetic blast from Celestia sent it hurtling into the lava.

"Ngh…" Luna shakily lifted herself up on one foreleg before Fluttershy came over and helped her up.

Rarity tried to help Isaac up, but the boy quickly shook himself back to his senses and flapped his wings into a hover. He joined the ponies in looking at the chest curiously.

"What was with all the lights and junk over here?" A flapping sound preluded Rainbow Dash coming in for a landing beside the group.

"Dash? I thought you guys were keeping that skull freak busy?" Applejack asked.

Before Rainbow could respond, another flapping sound made the group look over to see Twilight and Celestia flying up to them.

"I think we've got a minute before it comes back," Twilight said, glancing behind her to ensure that Death was still nowhere to be seen. "Celestia said you had a plan. Does it have something to do with that?" She pointed to the chest.

It looked nearly identical to the chest out in the real world, only its gilded finish was shinier, like actual gold. It also lacked the worn wood and other signs of age.

Luna stepped up to the chest and rested a hoof on its lid. "I had hoped to use Isaac’s subtle connection to this place to summon some aid. And if I'm right…"

The group all watched as Luna opened the chest. Nothing happened at first, but as she peered into its dark depths and reached inside, a smile soon crossed her features.

"Aha!" Luna exclaimed as she pulled out something. That something, was a familiar looking boomerang.

"Ooo! My boomerang!" Pinkie clapped her hooves as Luna handed her the item.

Celestia peered inside the chest. Like the real one outside, it contained a void of darkness within, although she was grateful that this one was far less insistent on sucking them inside. "Sister… does this mean what I think it does?"

Luna grinned and nodded. "Indeed. I believe it does."

Celestia pushed a smile as well. However, hers soon stopped dead in its tracks as she looked up into the distance. Two familiar shapes were coasting closer, one green and one red.

"Oh dear… it seems that our new friends figured out where we went," Celestia said.

Twilight lit her horn and grit her teeth. “I’ll help you keep them busy.”

“Wait, wait!” Before the pair took off, Luna reached into the chest and started sifting through its contents. A great clatter of junk rustled from within the darkness. “I should be able to find something that can give you an advantage… just a moment… Ah! Here we are!”

To the group’s growing confusion, Luna pulled two items out of the abyss within the chest. One was what looked to be a bloody tooth the size of her hoof. The other was a simple metal spoon.

“I see.” Celestia smiled as her sister gingerly handed her the tooth. “I believe this will do nicely.”

Meanwhile, Twilight looked down at the spoon in her hoof like she just got handed the worst Hearthswarming gift ever. “Uh, Princess? What does… this do?”

Celestia glanced up at the steadily approaching threats before placing a hoof on her student’s shoulder and spreading her wings. “Just trust us, it’s very useful. Keep it close and follow me!”

With that, the pair flew off into danger once more while their friends stayed behind. Rainbow Dash in particular could hardly keep still as she watched them going to battle.

“Princess, is there anything in there I could use? I can’t just stay here and do nothing!” Rainbow said.

“Give me a moment,” Luna stated as she went back to digging. “There are rather a lot of things that could be in here, and not all of them are useful…” She trailed off as she pulled out what looked to be a withered, dripping green brain. Her eyes widened, and she yelped as she tossed the thing as far as she could away from everyone. The brain exploded as it impacted the edge of their platform. “...or safe.”

Rarity bit her lip as she trailed her eyes away from the exploding brain. “I-I’m… not sure if I want anything from in there.”

“Let me see…” Luna muttered to herself as she picked up the pace of her rifling. Instead of going purely by feel, she started pulling things out and simply tossing them away if they proved useless.

Fluttershy and the others backed up to avoid getting hit by anything. Her expression shifted between confusion and concern as she watched a pair of scissors, a few books, and a cardboard box full of spiders bounce along the ground behind them.

“Hmm… aha! Here you are, Rainbow Dash!” Luna stated.

Rainbow zipped up to the side of the chest and peered over Luna’s shoulder impatiently. “Ooo! What is it?! Is it some kind of sick weapon?!”

Her features deflated immediately as Luna turned and used both hooves to pull out a small square of blue fabric. It was a child-sized blanket.

“This will help keep you safe. It is said that a good defense is equally important as a good offense.” Luna smiled.

“Something’s offensive, alright…” Rainbow muttered as the alicorn tied the blanket around her neck like a mother affixing a superhero cape to a filly. Once she was done, Rainbow grumbled and kicked the chest lid further open before burying her upper half into its depths and beginning to dig.

“Umm… Rainbow, don’t you think you should leave that to the professionals?” Applejack offered, cringing as she recalled the exploding brain.

“Relax! I’m being careful… I just know there’s something in here better than a stupid blanket!” Rainbow’s muffled voice came from the deepest confines of the chest. “Ooo, what’s this?”

The others watched as Rainbow reeled herself out of the chest and peered down at whatever was in her hooves. Whatever, in this case, was a small brown lump with a smiley face on it that squeaked and emoted as she held it.

“BWAH!” Rainbow stuck her tongue out and threw the thing away. She frantically brushed her hooves off before dusting her fur with them, whining and making disgusted cries the whole time like she wanted to sterilize herself in the lava.

Luna had to use all of her years of etiquette training to keep herself from laughing. Eventually, she reached into the chest again, using her magic this time to avoid any similarly unsanitary surprises. If she was being honest, she probably should have done that from the beginning, given some of the things she remembered encountering in the basement.

“Very well, if you require a weapon, I believe this will suffice,” Luna said.

Looking up to see what the alicorn was holding out to her, Rainbow blinked. Even as she took it in her hoof, she stared at it at length. It was a small white feather, though it was hard to tell its origin. It didn’t look like any bird feather she knew of.

“Uh…” Rainbow eyed between the feather and Luna, not wanting to outright say what was on her mind.

“Believe me, we’ll be here all night if you question each… questionable thing in here,” Luna said. “You must trust me—it is a weapon, and a very powerful one at that. However, it may only be used once, so use it wisely.”

“Fine… if you say so,” Rainbow sighed before shifting her attention ahead. After making sure no threats were heading toward the rest of her friends, she took off after Twilight and Celestia.

With her miniature cape flapping pathetically in the scorching air behind her, Rainbow swiftly caught up with the two alicorns. Twilight looked over and noticed her. Although concerned for Rainbow’s safety, Twilight couldn’t suppress a snort at the sight.

“Nice cape,” Twilight snickered.

Rainbow’s expression flattened. “You know, just because you’re a princess doesn’t mean that I can’t deck you.”

“I think that’s exactly what that means,” Twilight noted with a smirk before leveling her gaze ahead and adopting a more stern countenance. “Just be careful not to let them hit you with anything. So far, everything they’ve thrown at us has either exploded or been on fire.”

“Not sure if that’s better or worse than that giant monster,” Rainbow said. “Say, where did that thing go, anyway? You’d think it would be hard to hide something that size.”

Celestia gave a paranoid glance down toward the lava. “Last I saw of it, it submerged itself under the lava. Something tells me that it is merely biding its time and waiting for an opportunity to strike.”

“Great, just what we need. More problems.” Rainbow Dash took a similarly paranoid scan of their surroundings. Her eyes went round as she found something, though it wasn't the threat she was initially looking for. “Speaking of more problems…”

Prompted by their pegasus friend, Celestia and Twilight looked over as well. In the distance off to the side, a familiar foe was circling around them. Death.

Twilight stopped in the air and spun around, her muscles tensing as she recalled having to dodge the pale rider’s deadly attacks. “Horsefeathers… I hoped it wouldn’t recover this quickly.”

“At least it isn’t going for the others,” Rainbow noted.

Instead of moving closer and attacking them, Death brandished its scythe and furrowed its boney brow briefly before swiping at nothing but thin air. It stared at the result with what the ponies could only surmise as frustration before slashing again.

“What is it doing?” Rainbow asked. No floating blades had appeared around them or their friends, and no other obvious signs of attack were anywhere to be seen. Even the other two harbingers were looking at their brother like he had lost his mind.

Meanwhile, Celestia’s eyes narrowed as she felt something fluctuate in the surrounding magical energies. She had felt this kind of energy before. It was the strained weave of the pocket dimension’s very fabric being manipulated, much like when Luna used her magic to conjure a chest full of items.

Before anyone could speak or act, purple light sparked from the tip of Death’s scythe. As it slashed down, a rip was made through the air, and Death grinned as it started widening out into a familiar swirling shape.

And as the ponies recognized the shape to be another purple and black portal, something slowly emerged from it. Another strangely familiar shape. An equine head.

White fur, ragged black mane, milky eyes and a twisted grin marred with scars emerged from the portal. However, as the shape revealed itself more and more, the stunned onlookers soon realized that the head wasn't attached to a body. Rather, it was another stick pony, just like the ones the harbingers used.

“What in the name of…” Celestia froze abruptly as it dawned on her. It had been a long time, but she recognized that hobby horse, even if it looked more twisted than the last time she saw it.

A metallic rattle emanated from the portal as more of the shape emerged. Floating chains curled and writhed like snakes. Pale blue skin was choked with these wrapped chains and deep scars, with one scar down the chest almost resembling an autopsy incision. A tattered white piece of fabric hung loosely from the head like a blindfold, only covering one eye. And in the other exposed eye, a faint white flame burned around another milky orb devoid of sight.

Astride its blind steed, the rider of Conquest had found a new battlefield, one that it was never meant to conquer.