A Villain Gets A Second Chance

Rarity stands in the throne room with curlers still in her mane and sighs, asking dramatically, "Your Majesties, why have we been gathered at such a late hour? I haven't gotten the chance to remove the curlers in my mane..."

Lightly smiling at her, Luna says, "Do forgive me for retrieving you all at such an hour, everypony, but I have received a call for aid in the Dream Realm. I have gathered you all at the request of another whose identity is still unknown. Please do not tell anyone outside this room this, but the one who made the request is an alicorn keeping her identifying features a secret for some reason. Now lay down in a close circle around me, and we can be on our way."

Surprised to hear the news, except for Celestia, they all gather around in a circle and get comfortable on the sleeping bags as Applejack asks, "Are ya sure this pony's a real alicorn?"

Rainbow agrees with her and says, "Yeah, what if it is Chrysalis laying another trap?"

Considering it for a moment, Luna shakes her head and says, "Your concerns are warranted, however, something tells me that she would not try something like this after suffering a defeat. I could hear the worry in her tone as she made the request. Even though this is highly unusual and suspicious, will you all aid me in finding out what is going on?"

As they all lie down on the sleeping bags, Twilight sighs and says, "Even though Fluttershy was at Arthas's side, he was tossing and turning in his sleep every night since the battle he fought against Sombra and his army. We must find a way to help him sleep better at nights, it cannot be good to be losing so much sleep as he is."

With a sigh, Luna says, "It is not good at all, Twilight. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, I will search even harder for his dreams once this ordeal is behind us. Now please lie down and make yourselves comfortable so I can bring you all into the dream realm."

Once they all get comfortable, Luna connects to each of their consciousnesses with her magic before getting comfortable herself. Slipping into the Dream Realm with her special ability, she looks around to find them all looking around curiously when she feels a cold breeze blow past her.

Applejack is the first to see the pair of heavy doors in the distance and blinks a couple of times before rubbing her eyes, asking, "Umm, do any of y'all see those creepy frost-bound doors, or are my eyes playing tricks on me?"

Celestia looks at Applejack and turns her head in the same direction, turning her whole body to face the door as her mouth falls open at the sight of the gateway. Seeing the falling snow blowing sideways across snowdrifts half-way up the dark doors surrounded by grey stone columns with icicles running down the outer edge and snow resting on top of the stone gateway, a gust of wind blows some snow toward her and feels the coldness around her, gasping and asking, "Sister, are those..."

Turning around and seeing the doors much closer, she sighs as she looks around to see them all looking at the doors that she has not been permitted access to yet and takes a steady breath, saying, "Yes...those are the very same doors that I have described to you, the place where I first saw the alicorn guarding them against my entry. Let us move on, from how she spoke, this may take us a while."

As the others follow her, Twilight shivers when the wind grows stronger and falling snow blows against their faces, asking over the wind, "Is it normal for there to be cold temperatures and snow in the Dream Realm, Princess Luna?"

Looking back, she shakes her head, saying over the wind, "No, it's not. I have no idea what is going on with this weather." She then looks over at Cadance and asks, "Cadance, can you sense anything that might be causing this?"

Capturing a passing snowflake in her magic, Cadance holds it in front of her and examines it. Releasing it and attempting to sense emotion around her, she gasps at the results and replies over the wind, "It is all formed by negative emotions towards one's self, but I don't know why it is this intense."

Shocked at hearing that, Celestia follows behind her sister, saying, "Unbelievable...how can one pony dislike themselves this much?"

It takes Luna a little while to arrive near the deep snowdrifts barring access to the gates when a shimmering light appears before her outside the gates, transforming into the featureless alicorn from before, calling out, "I have returned with the ones you said I needed, please tell us what is going on?!"

The featureless alicorn steps forth and stops in front of the group as the much younger ones gasp in surprise at seeing her, shifting her light pink eyes to them briefly before looking back at Luna, saying, "Indeed, you have heeded my request to the letter and left the young impressionable dragon behind. You now stand a chance against what lies beyond these doors behind me, so listen, and listen well..." Taking a breath, she puts up a barrier to hold back the worsening storm, saying, "I am fighting an uphill battle of my own, and am slowly losing progress with every passing minute. It falls to you all to find a way to rescue the one within with the knowledge you have, but in order to reach them...you must go through their memories, seeing things as a third party. Once you are inside, I shall slow time with my abilities and give you what you need to accomplish the task at hand. Do not dawdle, for time is precious." Releasing the barrier, she turns around to face the snowdrift, then looks behind her, saying, "I am unable to hold back their raging emotions any further, but I will open the path to the doors. From there, you shall be on your own." Turning towards the gateway, she aims her horn at the center of the frozen doors and sends forth a beam towards the deep snowdrifts.

She watches in awe as the alicorn clears the snow out of the way and uses a strange light to hold them at bay, looking back to the others and says, "Follow me and stay close everypony, let's go!"

Watching them all hurry towards the doors, she smiles and says under her breath, "It will be in your hooves soon..."

Once they reach the doors, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack press against the door with their front hooves while the others use magical beams to try to force the doors open. Taking them a few minutes, the ice sealing the doors shut breaks free and melts away when it hits Cadance's beam. With no more ice keeping the doors shut, the light pink alicorn adds her magic into the effort to push the doors open. With a great groan of protest, the doors slowly open inch by agonizingly slow inch.

Sweating with the effort as she keeps pushing forward, Applejack says, "C'mon y'all, keep pushing, it's still opening!"

As they keep pushing forward, the door slowly swings the rest of the way open and strikes the far wall with a deep, resounding boom that echoes through the dark corridor. Taking a few moments to catch their breath and rest for a moment, Luna leads the way inside with the others following closely behind her.

Once they are inside, the door slams shut and leaves them in total darkness as Rarity screams frightfully, saying, "I don't li-hike this! Somepony please turn on the light!" When the area around her gets brighter, she sighs with relief and looks around the room to see numerous bipedal skeletons in ancient-looking armor lying scattered along the walls, some by themselves and others in big or small piles. At seeing the corpses lying all around, Rarity's left eye twitches as she suddenly races to the door and bangs her hooves against it frantically, saying in a whiny voice, "I want out! I don't want to deal with any more disgusting things! Please let me ou-hout!"

Versa sends her voice inside the chamber, saying, "You have until sunrise to fulfill your mission, this world's fate rests in your hooves. So go now...time is ticking away."

Fluttershy goes to Rarity's side as the others follow her, hugging her firmly, saying, "You have nothing to be afraid of Rarity, for we are here for you and we will not let anything happen to you."

Getting an idea, Twilight then asks, "Rarity, do you know what I see all around me?"

Looking up at her with one eye, she says in a sarcastic tone, "An opportunity to learn something new..."

Shaking her head, she looks at her, saying, "Nope." then looks around at the corridor, saying, "A dirty corridor in desperate need of a good cleaning."

Raising her head at the word dirty, she narrows her eyes and looks around, saying in a menacing tone, "Where is the filth I must destroy?!"

Getting her idea, Rainbow then grins and says, "There's a big debris pile in the corner!"

Snapping her head in the direction her friend is pointing, she sees the pile and blasts it with a cleaning spell, saying, "Where's the next one!?"

Celestia watches with a smirk as Rarity destroys the piles of bones one by one, however, some of the skeletons begin pushing themselves onto their feet and grabbing their weapons, saying, "Keep on cleaning Rarity, there are a few pests trying to stop you. We will deal with them, so don't worry." To emphasize her point, she targets one undead warrior heading their way and blasts it with a magic beam.

Twilight smiles as it is blown apart, targeting a skeleton carrying just a sword and hits it with her own beam. When it flies backward in pieces, she sends a beam at another skeleton and destroys it.

As one of the skeletons gets closer, Applejack turns her flank towards it and bucks it into the far wall so hard it shatters, saying, "How do ya like them apples?!" Turning towards another, she bucks it into the far corner.

Rainbow flies into the air and zips around from skeleton to skeleton, bucking their heads off their shoulders, saying, "Hmph, these things are so pathetic!"

Turning her head towards Rainbow to admonish her, Applejack says, "Rainbow, don't say that or ya might jinx it."

As she takes out another skeleton, she huffs, saying, "What, it's true!" She then looks around and says, "Looks like we have this just about wrapped up..." Just then she hears a heavy thud coming from the dark area ahead of them, saying, "There's something else coming guys."

Applejack dispatches another armored skeleton and turns toward the front as the last pile is destroyed by Rarity, watching as a tall, bipedal creature with icy blue skin and glowing blue eyes makes it way towards them with booming footsteps and wearing thick armor while wielding two, double-bladed war axes in both hands. Her eyes go wide as she then says, "Way to go Rainbow, ya just had to go and jinx us!"

Wanting to stop the argument from proceeding, Celestia watches her sister strike it with a beam of her magic. Her attack doing little damage, she channels a blast of fire through her horn at the creature and watches as it sends it to the right side of the corridor, saying, "I remember seeing that creature's image from the list of creatures that Arthas drew, it is called a Frost Vrykul and they are much stronger than a normal skeleton. Keep dealing with the skeletons, everypony, there are more heading our way."

A gasp escapes Twilight's mouth at hearing that as she destroys another skeleton, asking in a surprised tone, "We're in Arthas's mind right now!?"

Using a more powerful attack, Luna succeeds in taking down one of the approaching Frost Vrykul as her sister takes a second one down, saying, "It would seem so, though we have to get past his defenses first to enter his memories."

It takes a little while for Celestia, and Luna to defeat the last of the two dozen Frost Vrykul as Luna listens to the ensuing silence for any signs of approaching enemies. When it remains quiet for a couple minutes, Luna slowly approaches the tunnel the Frost Vrykul came from, saying, "Let us proceed, everypony, but remain on guard."

As they make their way into the tunnel, encountering no further enemies as they follow the curve. Eventually arriving at a vast open void that stretches for an unknown distance, Twilight asks nervously, "Uhm...is it a good sign that we haven't encountered anything to fight yet?"

With a sigh, Luna shakes her head saying, "No it is not, it means that Arthas is too busy fighting an internal battle to maintain his defenses properly."

The area slowly begins to brighten as they find themselves standing in a finely decorated chamber, noticing a human man standing in the corner of the room with greying dark blonde hair and an iron crown upon his head, holding a small bundle in his arms wrapped in a royal blue baby blanket. Noticing a woman lying under the ornate covers of the massive bed with long, sweat-stained golden blonde hair, they see the man walk towards the door and open it.

Walking toward him curiously, Luna steps outside to hear nearby trees rustle in the breeze when a whisper passes by in the wind, saying, "Arthas."

Looking around for the source of the whisper, she hears the man speak, saying with a deep breath, "My son, on the day you were born...the forests of Lordaeron whispered a name to me...Arthas."

Luna stands to the side as the others join her outside and watches him walk along the balcony's rail, hearing him continue, "I will raise you with the purpose of taking my place as king one day when I am gone, I have such high hopes for your future."

With a gasp she says, "How sad it is that he received his name from the tree's whispers..."

Not understanding, Fluttershy tilts her head curiously and asks, "Why is that sad?" She then straightens her head and says with a slight smile, "I think it is rather nice for the forest to name an infant."

Twilight sighs and turns to Fluttershy, saying in a sad tone, "I know it may seem nice, but there are ancient legends about trees whispering names. Some claim that whoever's name you hear is destined for great or terrible things, then one legend says that the one whose name you hear is fated to die young."

Watching intently as the memory progresses around them, Celestia's eyes observe you as a child outside the stables receiving a young, white colt from your father as a birthday present and hears you name him Invincible.

Observing as you are taught like a royal, Celestia sighs as she recalls how they were raised much the same way and sees the moment you first meet Jaina. Your memories continue to progress as you train your horse to obey you, then begin to help him get used to a saddle first. A couple years pass by as you meet Varian when you hear about the fall of Stormwind and begin learning how to swing a sword at the tender age of 8.

Meanwhile, outside the Dream Realm

Jaina tosses yet again in her sleep as she is plagued by her later memories of her prince, sitting up suddenly as she reaches out to touch her fallen prince's body. Tears run rivers down her cheeks as she sobs, "My prince..."

It takes her a moment to realize that she is in the room she rented earlier, looking down at her body to see that she is a pony and wipes her eyes dry with her forehooves, saying, "My prince is still alive, she told me so. I will just keep asking innkeepers if they've heard of a pony called Blistering Blizzard."

Hearing their guest toss and turn next door, the innkeeper gets out of bed and walks over to her room. Knocking on the door with the tip of his hoof, he clears his throat saying, "Are you alright miss? I couldn't help but overhear you talk in your sleep and mentioned somepony's name, Blistering Blizzard was it? Are you looking for them?"

Jaina turns to the closed door and sighs, then looks around for a dress to get decent when she silently chuckles at herself as she remembers that ponies don't normally wear clothes like humans do. Shaking her head at her own silliness, she opens the door and nods, saying, "I am fine, and yes, I am looking for a stallion with that name." then asks, "Would you happen to know anyone with that name?"

As he thinks for a moment, he shakes his head, saying, "Sorry, can't say I have. Have you heard the exciting news yet?"

Sighing briefly, she cocks her head to the side and asks, "What news would that be?"

A smile crosses his face as he then says, "The Crystal Empire has returned and that King Sombra was defeated by a pony that had the ability to turn into a bipedal creature and made their new king! Now what did the rumor say his name was again...Smart Grass? No, that don't sound right...Snore Fast? No...that don't sound right either...maybe Art Hats?"

As she hears the elder pony say name after name, a thought comes to her that brings her some hope and asks, "Um, could it have been Arthas?"

Perking up at the name, he gasps excitedly, saying, "YES! That's the one! He defeated Sombra's army single-hoofedly, but stepped down and renamed Princess Mi Amore Cadenza as its new ruler. My wife and I plan to close up for a weekend so we can go see it this weekend, have you been there yet?"

Getting to her hooves swiftly at hearing her prince's former name used, she looks at the elder pony with wide eyes and says, "Do you know how to get there?"

With a chuckle, he nods and says, "The train station in town will take you there in a few hours compared to three day's travel by road, a ticket there costs about 5 bits."

Jaina hops to the floor, asking, "When does the next train leave?!"

Thinking it over a moment, he then says, "If my memory serves me right, I think that the last train leaves at eight o' clock, which is ten minutes from now."

Pulling her saddlebags to her, she digs around for her coin and pulls out twenty bits before levitating them over to him, saying, "Thank you so much for the information as well as the room, I must get going if I am going to make it on time."

The elder pony takes the coin with a smile and puts them away, backing away so she can get by, saying, "I hope you find who you are looking for miss!"

Putting on her saddlebags, Jaina trots down the hall and then hurries down the steps, breaking into a canter as she heads for the train station, thinking, 'I finally found a lead! I'm on my way, my prince...'

Reaching the train station five minutes later, she buys a ticket for the Crystal Empire and gets onto the train, hoping that you will be there or at least able to find out where you've gone to next.

Jaina makes her way to an empty cushion and lies down on her stomach, then lays her head down in front of her at a slight angle to continue sleeping for the long journey.

She wakes up a few hours later from her body shifting to one side, hearing screeching coming from outside. Looking around, she doesn't see anyone panicking and realizes that the train is just slowing down. Waiting for the train to come to a stop, she then gets up and stretches her legs before heading to the platform.

Stepping onto the platform, she follows the crowd down a beaten path for a ways before stopping at a set of tall pillars when she sees something that takes her breath away. She can't help but look at the towering structure in awe as the moonlight glints off the very top of the castle, saying, "Wow, I've seen many things in my life, but that is a really beautiful sight."

Taking a breath, she takes a step past the pillars, followed by a second and a third as she continues walking towards the city in front of her.

Back in the Dream Realm

The girls all watch your life go by before their eyes as you turn sixteen and are riding Invincible towards a stream that's frozen over, and square up to jump across it.

Applejack watches as you and Invincible make a clean jump, then head down the trail towards a fallen log with a few bushes behind it and a small iced over stream behind them. She gulps and says, "Ah sure hope he makes it across, because that is quite a distance to clear even at a dead run."

As Invincible races towards the fallen log, you give him the signal to jump and feel him respond right away. The two of you sail over the log and the bushes, then start to come back down towards the stream.

Rainbow's ears are down as she watches the angle of your landing and winces, saying, "That's not good." Watching as Invincible's front hooves clear the stream, his back hooves hit the ice and crash through.

A loud snap echoes through the trees moments later as you hear Invincible cry out in pain, then feel him fall over to his left side and lands on your armored left leg. Prying your leg from under him, you calm him down with a little effort and feel your way along his body to find where he is hurt. When you feel down his right hind leg, you find it is broken and feel tears well up in your eyes as you feel down the other one. Upon learning both back legs are broke, you sigh heavily as guilt wells up in you and move beside his neck.

Placing your hand on his neck, you caress it affectionately as a half-sob escapes your lips, saying, "I should have known better than to push you to make that jump. I failed you, and I must take responsibility for causing your injuries..."

Fluttershy sees you reach for your sword and draw it, gasping and asking, "He's not going to hurt him, is he?"

Sighing, Celestia puts a comforting wing over the kind, pregnant mare, saying, "Unfortunately, I don't think he has a choice as there is no one around to heal him."

Tears stream down the shy pegasi's face as she watches you kill your beloved horse, leaning against Celestia's body, whimpering, "I can't believe how heartbreaking it was for him to have to put Invincible down with his own sword..."

As you look at Invincible's body, you hang your head and sob for a few minutes before slapping yourself, saying, "No more tears, it is unbecoming of a crown prince. If I want to help my kingdom, I will have to learn how to heal their ailments as well as fight my kingdom's enemies." Sitting up straight, you wipe away your tears and steel yourself, saying, "I will talk to my father and ask him to hire a paladin to train me to fight and heal."

The girls all watch your memories continue on as you experienced each second of each day, seeing the moment you meet Uther the Lightbringer and become his student. They watch as you go through all your strict training and take your oath as a paladin of the Silver Hand with your father in attendance, then head outside with him to talk.

Celestia watches and listens intently as your father tells how proud he is of you, hearing him say, "My child, I watched with great pride as you grew into a weapon...of righteousness. Remember...our bloodline has always ruled with wisdom and strength, I know that you will show restraint when exercising your great power. The truest victory, my son, is stirring the hearts of your people. I tell you this, because when my days have come to an end...you will take my place as king."

As things continue on from there, the seasons come and go as a year passes when your father finds out how serious your relationship with Lady Jaina Proudmoore are when you beseech your father to allow you to take her hand in marriage. Displeased at your request, he chastises you for falling for a girl beneath your status as Crown Prince and subsequently orders you to end things with her or he would inform Lord Admiral Daelin Proudmoore of the inappropriate courtship between you and his daughter.

Cadance turns to her aunts and asks, "I don't understand why Arthas's father couldn't let his son be with the one that he loved, could you help me understand, Aunties?"

Celestia and Luna walk up and place a wing on her back and neck as Luna sighs and says, "Dear niece, things were very different long ago when my sister and I were only 16 or so."

Taking over for Luna, her sister says, "You see, we had no control over who we could court, our parents chose who would make the best match with us for the strongest possible pairing. Although I have been married off by our parents, I refused to have children with my spouse due to his insufferable personality behind closed doors. If my memory serves me right, my sister got lucky and wasn't matched to anyone.

With a sigh, the Princess of Love looks down at the floor briefly before looking back at her aunts and saying, "It is so sad to hear that mares had no freedom to pursue their own love interests, I can't believe there was such a cruel practice around so long ago..."

Luna smiles and hugs her niece, saying, "I feel the same way about it, though I am glad that my sister outlawed that practice nearly 800 years ago."

Sighing, Celestia says, "It took 200 years for that wretched practice to go away, I was always using investigators to search for any violators and arrest them. I can't ever remember feeling so exhausted from the paperwork of annulling the illegal marriages..."

Outside the Dream Realm, at the newly returned Crystal Empire

Jaina wanders the city for a few hours, learning that her prince had fought against the former ruler, King Sombra, and his army of corrupted soldiers. sighing at how you couldn't free them and had no choice but to end their suffering with sword and flame, arriving at the city just in time to save the empire from falling back into Sombra's evil reign and taking his life.

She stands in the Crystal Empire Cemetery before a lone gravestone featuring a young colt wearing a robe much too large for him and reads the text silently until she reaches the end of it. Seeing something familiar to her that she hasn't seen in a long time brings a curious gleam to her eye, recognizing the text as Thalassian, which subsequently brings a soft smile to her face as she finds herself humming a mournful tune to herself.

Autumn Gem hears humming that matches with something she heard before and looks around for the source, finding it coming from a snow-white unicorn mare with a reflective silver, braided mane and tail, having a blonde streak running through them both. Walking away from the monument to the ones lost to Sombra's evil, she approaches the mare and asks, "I have heard someone sing something to that beautiful, yet sad melody, could you tell me what it is?"

Jaina keeps looking upon the gravestone, running the tip of her right forehoof along the language she knows so well. She lets a pleasant sigh slip from her as she turns her head around to look at the mare addressing her, and sees a light arctic blue coat with a light mulberry mane with cornflower blue eyes, asking, "Are you able to understand the language hidden below the last line written in the common tongue?"

Getting a look at her eyes, she finds them to be a bright sapphire blue and cocks her head curiously, saying, "There's a hidden language there?" Walking toward the monument, she stands on the other side of the marble slab and looks more closely at the last line. Sure enough, she spots the hidden line and tries to read it. Unable to read it, she shakes her head and turns to look at the mare, saying, "The text is unknown to me." then asks, "What language is it?"

She looks back to the gravestone and says, "It is a language that has fallen into disuse many years ago, called Thalassian. I had to learn it along with many other languages to assist the Kirin Tor with affairs between the other nations on a world much different from this one."

Autumn Gem cocks her head curiously, asking, "You're from another world? What's it like over there?"

Jaina sets her hoof back down as she looks back at the mare, saying, "I am, and it is a world always in some state of conflict where blood is shed and lives are taken. You need not fear anything coming here from that world as I was granted passage to this world by a higher authority and asked to refrain from killing those that attack me, however, I have not been attacked once since I have come here several weeks ago. It takes some getting used to not always having to look over your shoulder at your surroundings."

Gasping at how bad it sounds, she trots around the marble, saying, "Oh you poor dear, you need a hug!" then wraps her front hooves around her neck.

Surprised by her actions, she chuckles and says, "Well, thank you for the hug, but I am fine. Could you tell me what happened after King Sombra perished?"

Releasing her, she backs away a short distance and nods, saying, "Of course I can. I was standing around looking at the newly returned Crystal Heart when I noticed movement to my right and saw a strange bipedal creature carrying the slain form of King Sombra's body, though it had returned to its original state as a young colt..."

Once Jaina listens to her tale in full, she lets out a sad sigh and asks, "Do you know where he has gone after leaving the Crystal Empire?"

Autumn Gem nods and says, "I overheard some doctors complaining about being talked into transferring him to the Royal Medical wing of Canterlot Castle in Canterlot. Is His Former Majesty from the same world as you?"

Nodding her head to her, she says with a sad smile to her face, "He is. We were quite taken with each other when we were younger, but went our separate ways before he could ask for my hand."

Curious about the text, she then asks, "Uhm, could you tell me what that hidden line says?"

Jaina giggles and nods her head, saying, "The translation is just above it in Common, but yes, I'll tell you. It reads...Long live the king, may he reign forever. May his strength fail him never. First in battle, last in retreat. The few words after that aren't translated, which are...Even in death."

Looking at the line above the hidden text, she asks, "I wonder why he didn't include those in the Common tongue?"

Turning her gaze to the headstone, she sighs and says, "I don't know really, though I could guess that he added those last few words accidentally. Take a closer look at how the cutie mark is shaded and you will glimpse what plagues his mind."

Autumn Gem approaches the monument and looks at the cutie mark even closer, then gasps, saying, "Crosses? Why do those plague his mind?"

With a sigh, she says, "Because crosses tend to symbolize a grave or death in Azeroth, I'm not sure about its significance here though." Turning back to her, she adds, "It was nice to learn of my prince's passage through here from you, but I need to keep searching for him as I miss him terribly."

Nodding her head, she smiles and says, "Thank you for telling me about the translation, it was nice talking to you miss. My name is Autumn Gem, what is your name?"

Smiling, she then says, "My name is Jaina Proudmoore, it was nice to meet you Autumn Gem. I hope to see you again in the future."

Autumn watches her turn and walk away, saying, "Good luck on finding your special somepony Lady Jaina!"

Jaina picks up her pace and trots toward the station once more, looking over her shoulder and calling back, "Thank you, I greatly appreciate your support!" Facing forward again, she then smiles and feels like a young teen in love again as she chases after her prince, thinking, 'I feel so close now, my prince. I can't wait to finally find you after so many weeks of searching...'