A Villain Gets A Second Chance

After making her way to the train station and inquiring about a ticket to the city of Canterlot, when the station engineer looks at the train schedule, saying to her, "The next train will be coming in a few minutes, however it will be making several stops along the way with Canterlot being its last stop. Depending on how the trip goes, it might arrive there at dawn or around mid-morning."

The elderly station manager blinks and then asks the mare, "Are you sure you want to purchase a ticket for Canterlot miss, it is going to be a very long train ride?"

Jaina nods her head and lays down 15 bits for the ticket, saying, "I'm sure, I will have a great chance to get some rest on the way there."

He takes the bits and slides the ticket toward her, saying, "Very well miss, have a pleasant and scenic journey."

Taking the ticket and putting it into one of her saddlebags, she sits down on a bench nearby to wait for the train to arrive. When it finally does arrive, she makes her way into a sleeping car and makes herself comfortable on a mattress in the back. Laying down on her stomach, she turns her head toward the back of the car so her horn doesn't inconvenience anyone and closes her eyes to fall asleep, thinking, 'He must be annoyed with being stuck in a wheelchair until he recovers enough to walk.'

Back in the Dream Realm with the girls

A few hours pass by as they watch your life play out in front of them as they stand amidst the city of Stratholme while you and your loyal troops go from house to house slaying everyone you come across, causing Fluttershy, and Rarity to cry at seeing how awful things were at this point for your people.

As the death and destruction finally come to an end, Pinkie Pie turns to her friends with a sigh and a flat mane and tail, saying, "Cheer up everypony, the screaming and fighting is now over."

Celestia holds her shaking sister close, saying, "Stay strong sister, things are only going to get worse from here. Just remember that these are just memories of things that have already happened."

Sticking close to her sister's side as you stand before Mal'Ganis who tells you the fight won't end here, but in the arctic lands of Northrend to settle the score between you where your destiny awaits. With a sad sigh, she watches you approach Jaina and ask her to accompany you there, but declines and begs you not to go due to it sounding like a trap. Ignoring her and going anyway, you sail the fleet to Northrend and establish a base to operate from before continuing on with your quest, saying, "I know that things will only get worse from now, but I still can't help but feel such sorrow at how he must bear these burdens alone. Why does he not let us help ease his pain?"

Stepping forward with a sad whimper, Fluttershy sniffles and wipes away her tears, saying, "Because his stubborn pride won't let him, as he is also to kind for his own good. Wanting to ensure that none of us ever suffer from the inconvenience of his burdens trying to crush him under hoof."

Twilight and Applejack step ahead of their group huddle as Twilight says, "We can deal with the traumatic things we've seen later."

Emboldened by her determination, Applejack says, "Twilight's right, our friend needs our help. Let's not allow these past visions to affect us, after all, we all have heard most of his story by now. We already know what is going to happen, so why should we be surprised with actually seeing it play through."

Rarity huffs and says, "You're right, Applejack. We have heard all of this before, although without some of the gory details, but nothing has changed really except us being able to see how awful and bloody everything truly is? None of this can ruin our coats, look!" To prove her point, she gulps nervously and hops into a pool of fresh blood left behind by a slaughtered nerubian, then steps out of the puddle without a drop of the blood on her. Seeing that she was correct, she smiles proudly, saying, "Imagine this all as a grand stage act far bloodier than any of us can think of where we can play the part of the heroine in the end and save our beloved protagonist!"

With their spirits renewed, the others gather their courage and remain strong to play their part. Key events play before their eyes, your chance encounter with your former mentor Muradin, saving his men and destroying Mal'Ganis's base while he wasn't there, gathering mercenaries to destroy the boats when your soldiers were ordered to return by your father at Uther's request and then betraying the mercenaries at the end.

Things continue to play out before their eyes, feeling like several hours have passed by as Twilight asks, "It feels like we've been here for several days now, does anypony know what time it might be in the real world?"

Curious herself, Luna closes her eyes, saying, "Great question, let me check." When she uses her spell to learn what time of day it is, she opens her eyes and says, "It is nearing midnight, so the night is somewhat young yet."

With a surprised huff, Rarity says, "That's all the later it is?! I thought it would be at least one or two in the morning..."

Things continue to play out before their eyes as they find themselves watching you return to Lordaeron to the scene of ringing bells and rose petals falling all around as the citizens cheer happily as others sing together to celebrate your safe return, catching one of them in between the thumb and forefinger of your left hand.

Applejack watches you rub the petal between your fingers curiously, cocking her head slightly and saying, "Ah don't know why, but ah feel like ah should know something here... That rose petal he rubbed and tossed away with a green spot where his thumb was tickles my brain something fierce."

Rarity then speaks up, saying, "Well...during the time we squabbled over Twilight's extra ticket, I heard some gossip later in the day from some mares seeing Blizzard acting strangely in the diner just before Twilight went in for some food. They said he had a far away look in his eyes and was crying while holding a rose petal in the air with his magic and making it tumble endlessly before being pulled out of his daze by Big Mac."

Gasping as she facehooves herself, she says, "Right! Big Mac told me all about that, then I went to ask Twilight if Blizzard was okay the next day, finding Fluttershy already there and Twilight was blushing for some reason. It turned out that Fluttershy had asked Twilight what she knew bout kissing, so she avoided the subject and asked me what ah knew. So ah asked them if they knew about the 'birds and the bees', to which they both informed me they did, so I then told them what ah knew about kissing."

Fighting her blush, Twilight tries to keep Applejack from getting into too much detail and says, "I wonder if this is the part that caused is daze?"

Hearing about the single rose petal he was holding aloft, Luna says, "I think it would be safe to guess that this part might be the reason that all happened at the diner, let's watch the events unfold even though we know that he killed his own father."

As they watch the events continue on, Celestia looks at the crown lying on the floor with your father's blood staining it and sighs, saying, "Now we know why he was crying after seeing that rose petal."

Things continue to play before their eyes without waiting for them to dry their tears as you go to the place where your steed Invincible was buried and raise him into undeath.

Time presses on as they observe the things you have done with red eyes when you face off Illidan for one last time and best him, continuing towards the doors and leaving him on the ground bleeding and clutching his chest. As you walk up the frozen stairs towards the throne while hearing whispers, the girls hear them as well as Twilight sighs says, "He was determined to get his promised reward, so he ignored the last words of the friends that failed to save him from himself."

When you reach the top of the peak before the throne, they hear the whispers in your head as you swing your sword at the icy prison to free Ner'zhul. Once the ice shatters and shoots everywhere, they watch as armor pieces clatter to the ground identical to what you wear while in your human form.

After watching you sheathe your sword and pick up the helm, they observe with bated breath as you don the helm and close your eyes to hear Ner'zhul say, "Now...we are one!" when you open your now brightly glowing arctic blue eyes which emit frosty wisps of smoke from the corners.

With shocked gasps, they watch as the dome collapses all around them to reveal the frozen landscape of Icecrown. Looking back at you as you draw Frostmourne, they watch as you use it to cut out your own heart, tear it out with your gauntleted hand and then chuck it far away from you before sitting down in the empty throne left behind.

The moment you close your eyes to rest, ice begins to encircle your body as your hand rests on the hilt of Frostmourne. The girls watch as days turn into weeks as you command your undead subjects to build a new structure to serve as a castle fit for the new Lich King.

It takes three years for the construction to be completed as Luna looks upon the completed castle in awe, saying, "I'm sorry to admit this sister, but...this kind of puts our old castle and new castle, as well as the Crystal Empire's castle to shame."

Rarity gags audibly, saying, "Eugh! No it most certainly doesn't! It is far too dark and imposing, not to mention nightmare inducing. Your new castle in Canterlot as well as the Crystal Empire's castle puts this one to shame due to sheer magnificence and their elegant designs! Hmph, this one dares anyone foolish enough to seek an audience with the King."

Recalling what you said about the citadel, Twilight then clears her throat, saying, "I know what you're saying Rarity and I do agree, but the intention behind this Citadel's construction was to serve as a symbol of power to any who set eyes upon it and instill fear into their hearts. Did you know that this all was built out of a metal only found on Azeroth in Northrend? Curious fact, did you know that it is a metal called Saronite, which Blister told me that it is actually the blood of an old god named Yogg-Saron. Imagine how large the old god was in order for so much of his blood to be collected and turned into such an imposing structure as this!"

Rainbow chuckles and says, "Don't geek out too much Twilight, it looks like Blister is finally waking up because I see the ice cracking."

Celestia watches curiously as you break free from the ice around you fully recovered and walk towards the circle a few yards away from the stairs to the Frozen Throne. When you teleport down to the bottom level, they are brought along as you make your way outside. As you ask Sapphiron about powerful beings you can raise to increase your strength, she gasps when he mentions Sindragosa and her resting place, turning to Luna with wide eyes saying, "Sister, we will get to see Sindragosa with our own eyes!"

Fluttershy then shudders at hearing her name and clears her voice before saying quietly, "Uhm, you might want to prepare yourself for a real fright then because I managed to beg him to draw me a picture of what she looked like as well as how big she was compared to us ponies. I had Angel keep the images from the others out of concern for Spike."

All eyes turn to Fluttershy as their mouths hang open at hearing how she kept that from her as Twilight sighs, saying, "Fluttershy...I can understand keeping them hidden from Spike, but why didn't you let us know that you had images of her?"

With a sigh, she says, "Because you wouldn't have coped too well at knowing how massive and terrifying she is." She watches the scene play around them as you ride Invincible across Icecrown toward a lake on Icecrown's Northeastern border, saying, "You best prepare yourselves now, because you are in for a real fright soon."

Spinning around to look at the scene, they watch as your army stops at the base of the glacier. Making your way up the side of the mountain on foot, you reach the summit a couple hours later and step out onto snow-covered ground.

Watching as light snow begins to drift down from the sky, you walk to the middle of a snow covered area, you then kneel down to brush away the snow to find thick ice beneath your boot and stand up. Drawing your sword slowly, the girls start to hear echoes on the winds as they pick up and start to swirl around you gently when you look down at your feet, hearing a feminine voice call out from below you, "Who dares to tread over my resting place!? Leave at once or I will tear you apart where you stand, fool!"

The girls hear you answer her, saying, "I have heard about your fall from Sapphiron, Sindragosa. If I raise you into my service, I only ask that you show no mercy to the living as I take their world for my own..."

Not wasting a moment, Sindragosa answers instantly, "Very well, but my will shall remain free."

Watching breathlessly as you raise Frostmourne into the air horizontally, you begin to absorb her soul into it, saying, "No... All shall serve the One. True. King."

As blue fragments of light start being drawn into the sword, they hear her shout in outrage, saying, "YOU DARE TO DOMINATE MY WILL!? I SHALL NOT STAND FOR SUCH INSOLENCE, I AM THE FORMER PRIME CONSORT OF MALYGOS AND THE QUEEN OF THE BLUE DRAGONFLIGHT!"

Remaining quiet as the conversation continues, the girls hear you answer her, "Silence... Soon, you shall be the Queen of the Frostbrood in undeath and instill terror and dread in every creature that dares to gaze upon your magnificent bones."

Observing and hearing her put up a struggle for several moments, they all listen as she inevitably succumbs to your superior might and is fully drawn into the sword. With your sword glowing and emitting a frosty aura with all of its runes glowing brightly, you then relax your hand and turn the blade's tip towards the ice below. Taking the hilt with both hands, you then raise it eye-level and then thrust it down with all your strength while dropping to one knee, saying, "Now rise again Sindragosa as Queen of the Frostbrood and lead me to more of your fallen kin."

When the snow around them is blown away by the magic, Celestia looks around to see that they are all standing on the lake's frozen surface when you rise as it starts to crack. As something pushes up through the ice behind you a ways, she watches as it quickly turns into a massive horn.

Luna watches with an open mouth as a massive dragon skull hundreds of times larger than hers thrusts up through the ice, soon followed by the tip of a limb which turns out to be her left front leg with claws three times the size of her body. The rest of her body follows shortly after as she pulls her own skeleton out of her watery grave and walks out on top of the thick ice as blue frostfire appears all along her bones as a massive orb forms in her chest.

Celestia's eyes shrink to pinpricks as she watches the newly risen undead dragon Sindragosa perch at the edge of the glacier and raise her wings, then sends herself over the edge and takes flight over the undead forces below.

A shiver runs along everypony's spines as Sindragosa lets out a triumphant roar at her return, triggering another roar from the undead soldiers below as Twilight watches blue frostfire appear in every single undead soldier standing in the long valley. The sight causes her to gulp nervously, saying, "So we are already this far into his story...I wonder how much longer it will take until we will get to play our part and save you..."

Seeing Twilight in distress causes Celestia to snap out of her terrified-beyond-any-reason state and head over to her, laying a wing over her comfortingly and saying, "Fret not, Twilight, for we will do everything we can to save Arthas."

Nuzzling into her mentor's side for comfort, she gains a much-needed boost of confidence to help her keep going through the horrible memories.

Before they realize it, they observe the events at Angrathar, the Wrathgate and are awed by the sight of Alexstrasza and her dragons burning away the vile green plague all around them.

A year passes by as Sylvanas and Jaina take a chance at revenge and saving you, but fail as they realize there is no hope for either to succeed. However, things change months later when your discarded heart is found by an adventurer who touches it with their bare hand, which ultimately results in your heart being destroyed and weakening you.

It feels like it takes a long time to arrive at the end of your reign as the girls watch with tear-stained eyes as you fight valiantly against the heroes of Azeroth and nearly win until Tirion breaks free of his prison, causing Celestia to snort at recalling how you broke out of Chrysalis's amber prison, saying, "So this is why he was laughing..."

After watching Tirion charge Arthas with Ashbringer and shatter Frostmourne, Twilight looks at her mentor and cocks her head, asking, "What do you mean, Princess Celestia?"

Turning to Twilight, she wipes away her mirthful tears, saying, "Oh, it was just the irony of how Tirion broke free from his prison when Arthas had all but won, then it was Arthas who had broke free from the amber prison when Chrysalis had all but one."

Hearing that causes her to snicker and say, "OH, I almost forgot about that, thanks for reminding me and clearing up my confusion, Princess Celestia."

They watch as the fight continues as you are lifted up by all the spirits from within your shattered sword, being laid low by a fatal strike from one of your former deathknights as you lie upon the floor. As your helm lies just out of reach, the girls watch as Twilight sobs while your eyes lose their bluish glow and return to their beautiful greenish color.

Leaning up against Celestia for support, she watches as your father materializes at your side and kneels down when you reach up and grasp his shoulder, asking, "Father! Is it...over?"

Luna lays a wing across her sister and Twilight as the others huddle near Cadance, with tears streaming from their eyes as well when Luna sniffles and sees your father cradles your neck with his hand. Hearing him say, "At long last. No king rules forever, my son."

Tears run down Cadance's face in streams as you look around, saying, "I see...only darkness...before...me." when your hand falls from his shoulder and falls to the floor limply, saying, "He said much the same thing to Sombra as he lay dying in his arm."

They all gasp when the scene changes, leaving only you lying on the floor alone and hear Versa speak, saying, "I am providing this next bit of his story as he is not yet aware of it and cannot hear of it from you."

Twilight watches as Jaina arrives at the top of the citadel, spots you lying on the floor and races over shouting, "NO!" Falling to her knees beside you and throwing herself onto your chest and wrapping her arms around you as she wails out her pain at seeing your body, sobbing out, "My prince..."

Several moments pass as the girls shed tears at hearing how Jaina weeps over your death, barely having the strength to push herself back up when she feels some sort of chain under her hand. They watch as she looks down at it and sobs out a half-laugh as she sits upright and pulls her hand up with a locket dangling on a chain held firmly in her fingers, then sets it into her other hand and gingerly opens it with her fingers as she then says in a surprised tone, "What?! You still kept it!? After all this time, you kept it!"

Twilight watches as she closes it gently and holds it close to her chest, then leans down to gaze upon your face, saying, "I knew that there was a part of you still in there...trapped...struggling...oh My Prince!" then leans forward in a rush to kiss you lovingly on the lips, saying, "Perhaps, perhaps one day you will remember what you once were, I will cherish this forever and always keep it close to remember you and our time together. Goodbye, my love. By the Light, may you find rest at last...free from the grip of that terrible blade." When Jaina turns around, she hears her begin humming a melody that seems familiar to her somehow while heading back to the portal to teleport back to the ground, able to finally get a good look at the locket just before she vanishes in a beam of light and commits the image to memory.

Curious as to what Versa meant, Rainbow Dash opens her mouth to say something but hears two pairs of wings flapping as two, winged humanoid beings fly down towards your body with one being a female and the other being none other than Uther, causing her to ask, "Woah! Why the hay does Uther have wings now?"

Versa answers, saying, "Because Uther had become a being known as a Kyrian, who are tasked with carrying souls of the newly slain to the Shadowlands."

Twilight watches as the female Kyrian floats down and reaches out with her hand and takes your soul from your body and flies up into the sky, with the scene changing into a view of them in the air behind the two Kyrians, looking down to see a fiery maw surrounded by swirling shadows as she hands your soul over to Uther, saying, "Now, cast him into the maw! Return him to the darkness that he served, his eternal torment...awaits."

They watch with bated breath as Uther holds you above the maw, saying, "He was once...my greatest student."

Cadance watches as the female speaks up again, "Remember what he did...to you, and take your vengeance out upon him."

Celestia's eyes are wide as she hears Uther say, "Not vengeance...justice." and then releases his hold on you as your soul falls towards the maw.

As you fall into the maw, the scene changes around them as they watch a young boy rip a sword in half, leaving a glowing orb hovering before them all, who stares at it curiously before saying in a questioning tone, "Arthas?"

They watch Jaina approach the boy and lay a hand on his shoulder, looking at the orb questioningly before turning to the boy and asking, "Is this...all that remains of him?"

Luna watches the orb hover in place as Uther speaks up, saying, "The last flicker of his scarred spirit...consumed by the forges of the Jailer.

Cadance's eyes well up with tears as Sylvanas stands there, saying, "No crown, no throne...not even a soul left for judgement." and turns her gaze to her as she continues to say how she hated you and hunted you, then becoming you with each thing she done, which is her burden to bear. Saying how your legacy is at an end as Jaina and the young boy look down in sadness, adding, "Be gone then, Arthas Menethil...let the last whispers of your name fade so the world can forget you at long last."

Twilight stares at your soul flicker a few more times before vanishing with a slight pop, causing her to ask, "Hey, what happened to him next?!"

Versa then says, "I plucked the remnants from there and brought him back to life, but I won't be showing you that bit. Dawn is in a few hours, so enjoy the rest of his memories minus the part where he encountered me again."

As they watch the remaining memories, some of which make a few of the mares incredibly uncomfortable or blush fiercely at having to watch them, they finally reach recent memories as you teleport out of the Crystal Empire's throne room and to the battlefield.

Gasping at how hard you had to fight to give them time to save the empire, Celestia gasps in shock when she watches the moment you used your special talent to bring a dragon back to life, recognizes the dragon's shape and voice, saying, "I can't believe he was able to bring Sindragosa back to life...in another world. That just shouldn't be possible, so how did that happen?"

Sighing, Versa calls out, saying, "It was a stupid mistake I made when desperately trying to maintain the delicate balance, alright!? So drop it!"

Once everything finishes playing out before their eyes, they find themselves standing in a snowy wasteland with Icecrown Citadel looming before them as a blizzard rages around them.

Gasping at being able to feel the cold temperature, Celestia's breath is stolen away as she begins to shiver violently within a few seconds and summons a shield to keep them warm and protect them from the cold, saying, "Luna, due to how we're feeling the cold now, am I correct in assuming that we are now in Arthas's dream?"

Letting out a shuddering breath and shaking the snow off her coat, she shakes her head and says, "It is not a dream that we have entered, but his nightmare."

The howling wail of a windigo reaches the girls' ears as Pinkie looks all around, saying, "Chilly, did you finally come out to meet us!?"

Faster than she can spot her, Chilly turns into a small gathering of snowflakes and icy air, then darts into Pinkie's mane then dances along her body to mess with her.

The pink mare gigglesnorts as her friend races along her body, tickling her wherever she is ticklish, and cries out, "CHILLY, THAT TICKLES!"

The playful windigo continues to tickle her friend without mercy, saying in a happy tone, "Surrender or suffer great torture!" then keeps tickling her relentlessly.

Pinkie Pie writhes around on the floor due to her relentless tickle torture, pleading finally, "STAHP IT OR YOU'RE GONNA MAKE ME PEE!"

Ceasing her attack, she stops and floats before the group of girls, saying, "Hi everypony! Welcome to my husband's world of nightmares, unfortunately...you all are going to have to fight your way through them all to get to him. I will do what I can to help you all in the fights, but I've never, ever seen things this bad before."

Twilight steps forward and asks, "Where do we begin, Chilly?"

With a smile, Chilly says, "The first thing you will have to do is battle your way to the front doors, and there are a few nightmare creatures eager to stop you. Many of them are weak, silly fears he ever had while coming to your world, but there are few more that are a little crueler."

Applejack slaps her right forehoof on the ground, saying, "Let's show those nightmares who's boss y'all!"

The girls all shout yeah and charge for the doors as a few nightmares charge towards them such as a duplicate Rainbow Dash cackling maniacally while chasing after Rarity with a whoopie cushion.

As the whoopie cushion hits Rarity's flank and deflates with a loud farting sound, she sees a few of her friends snickering at it and joins in the laughter, holding up her hoof, saying, "Good prank Rainbow, give me a low hoof!"

The real Rainbow Dash watches the nightmare Rainbow give her a low hoof and falls victim to a buzzer, vanishing with a poof of black smoke when she sees Pinkie Pie aiming her party cannon at her and fires it. A pie shoots out and splatters all over her face, causing her to wipe it off and chuckle, Nice job prankster, but you better watch out for that changeling behind you." She watches as the fake Pinkie looks behind her and screams in fright before she, the cannon, and the fake changeling vanish into thin air.

It takes them a few minutes to reach the large doors as the real Pinkie Pie brings out her own cannon and aims it at the throne room doors, saying, "Oh your grouchiness...knock," then fires it shouting, "KNOCK!" Making a giant pink hoof extend out of the cannon and battering the doors open, sending them against the walls with a deep, resounding boom.

The girls progress through the citadel, going floor by floor and encounter some more malicious nightmares that require them to work together to defeat.

Finally reaching Sindragosa's lair, Chilly gulps and says, "Oh no, this is another of his more recent fears, but is much stronger than the previous ones we dealt with. I'm sorry but I have no idea at how we are supposed to defeat her."

Together, they try many things such as fighting her, making her laugh, getting your shadow to apologize to her, when Fluttershy comes through and saves the day by trying several times to just talk to her.

After Fluttershy defeats the nightmare by turning her into a friend, the nightmare vanishes with a puff of shadow. With the shadow gone, the only one left to deal with are the ones remaining at the top of the citadel. With a nervous smile, Fluttershy asks, "Is everypony ready to tackle the last floor?"

As the others nod and voice their affirmations, Chilly heads towards the transportal, saying, "Alright, just watch out for the phantoms in the third phase okay? If they catch you and throw you off the top, you'll die in the dream and wake up. Just let me take care of them, alright?"

When they appear on the top floor, they look up the stairs to see a shadow emerge and take your form upon the throne as a dozen other shadows emerge from the ground. Shifting their gazes to the shadows, a spider-like creature with Chrysalis's head on it as her wings buzz briefly, anticipating a fight eagerly as she skitters along the floor laying eggs all over in the background while the other shadows take on the forms of undead changelings.

It takes them an hour to put the undead minions, and finish off the undead, egg-laying, spider-Chrysalis down. When the floor trembles below them, they spot the outer ring of ice break apart and fall away, causing Twilight to ask, "Uhm, did we just enter phase two?"

Chilly nods her head and says, "Uh huh, I wonder what we will be up against this time?"

A new set of shadows appear and take on the heavily pregnant forms of Fluttershy, Celestia, Nightmare Moon, and Luna as you rise to your feet. Leaving your sword in its sheath, you start walking down the steps when the sound of a mare's water breaking and splattering all over the floor reaches their ears. As the nightmares widen their stances and start to give birth, you walk up to each of them, saying, "Your king is proud of your dedication to your duty, the new kingdom needs strong subjects so we can conquer the world. When you pull their heads over to look at you, you kiss them passionately when a wet-sounding thud comes from behind them.

Rainbow Dash sees a wriggling sack lying on the floor, asking, "Okay, what fresh Tartarus are we seeing now?"

As a hoof pokes through the sack, the mare's bellies begin to slowly swell again as Celestia blinks in curiosity when she watches a snow-white alicorn filly with a flowing, fiery blue mane and tail rise to her hooves shakily. The filly grows rapidly to the size of an adult and then laughs maniacally before laying her head down and sending forth a blast of blue fire towards them all.

The attack is quickly blocked by Celestia as she blasts the filly with a stunning beam of magic, causing the filly to fly backwards and scream fearfully while sliding off the edge of the icy rings, crying out, "MAMA!" Having to fight against her desire to save the filly, she watches as her nightmare copy just pushes out another foal that fights its way out of the membrane as the other foals launch attacks at them.

Luna looks to the others after she sends the foals of Nightmare Moon and her copy screaming over the edge, saying, "Somepony please try to figure out how to deal with this new horror?!"

Minutes pass as the birthing rate speeds up while Twilight notices how each birth begins with a kiss from you and says, "SERIOUSLY!? THAT'S NOT EVEN REMOTELY POSSIBLE!"

Applejack bucks an earth pony colt from the nightmare Luna off the platform and says, "WHAT DID YA FIND OUT TWI!?"

Facehooving herself and dragging it down her face, she groans and says, "WE NEED TO KNOCK THE SHADOWS OVER THE EDGE! IT'S INCREDIBLY SILLY, BUT EACH TIME ARTHAS KISSES A MARE, SHE WILL INEVITABLY GIVE BIRTH TO A MONSTER PONY!"

Rainbow Dash guffaws at hearing that, saying, "DUDE, THAT'S SO HILARIOUSLY NOT EVEN POSSIBLE!" and knocks a pegasus filly from Shadow Fluttershy out of the sky and sliding over the edge while screaming for her mama.

Annoyed at the ridiculous nightmare scenario, Twilight finds an opportunity to blast Shadow Celestia off the edge of the platform, screaming,, "MY KING!"

With only three mares remaining, the birth rates get quicker. Forced to fight even harder to knock the mares off the platform, Fluttershy is nearly sent sliding off the edge until Twilight brings her back with magic when Cadance gets a chance to send Shadow Luna off the platform.

It takes them an hour to get rid of the remaining two shadows when things change and you draw your sword, saying, "I am the future king of this world, and I will not stand for such insolent behavior!" Then drive it down into the ground to summon your seven elite warriors, saying, "Now you shall deal with me and my personal guard..."

Chilly watches as seven shadows rise from the ground and take on the forms of Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Cadance, and Shining Armor and says, "This is going to get a bit ugly..."

Celestia sighs and nods, saying, "Most definitely."

Twilight looks at Fluttershy who trembles violently as she looks at the undead version of her friends and lays a hoof on her shoulder, saying, "Remember, Fluttershy, this is all just a nightmare. Nothing bad will happen to your real body here, the worst thing that can happen is that you could fall here and wake up in the Throne Room in Canterlot."

Gulping nervously, she then adds, "But if I fall here, you will be forced to fight down a pony...which means we could fail and lose Blister!"

Looking down dejectedly, she nods and looks back up at her friend, saying, "I know Fluttershy, but that is precisely the reason that you must fight with everything that you have...love, kindness, compassion, even your determination to help a pony in need. Use every single emotion that you have inside you to keep these shadows from winning, because if we fail...we may just lose even more than Arthas..."

Steeling her resolve with a sad sigh, she looks up with a nod, saying, "Rainbow and I will deal with Undead Shadow Dash and remove their aerial attacks."

The others begin to attack the undead versions while Fluttershy and Rainbow chase after the nimble Undead Dash as each of them try to get a decent hit in on the other to knock them out of the fight.

An opportunity presents itself several minutes into the fight as Rainbow leaves her body open, letting Fluttershy dart in and slam her back hooves into the undead Dash's right wing. Fluttershy watches the wing crumble and fall off, causing the undead Dash to start falling when Rainbow darts around and kicks her beyond the edge of the platform and spins around to clap her hoof against Fluttershy's saying, "Great job Fluttershy, I couldn't have planned that better if I tried! Let's get back and help the others, Applejack looks like her undead version is giving her some trouble."

As the fighting keeps going for just over an hour, most of the enemy shadows are busy when your shadow summons phantoms to chase after them and throw them over the side.

When Chilly does her best to tear the phantoms apart with her abilities as a windigo, your shadow summons more to replace them.

The fight gets more challenging as Rarity is grabbed by one of the phantoms and dragged kicking and screaming toward the edge, but is freed by Chilly ripping it apart savagely and allowing Rarity to run back to the others, shouting, "Thank you!"

Things seem to start to turn against them until Pinkie Pie manages to stuff her undead shadow into her party cannon and fire her into a pillar and causing her to splatter all over the edge of the platform.

It takes them over an hour to deal with the Undead Twilight and Undead Rarity when they hear Fluttershy cry for help as she is thrown over the side of the platform with an injured wing, miraculously being saved by Twilight who teleports into the air beside her and teleports back with her and blasts her brother in the side when he is distracted by an attack from Celestia as Cadance is keeping her undead counterpart busy.

After taking much longer than it should have, Rainbow gets a chance to send Undead Applejack over the edge and then dart up into the air to dive-bomb Shining Armor when his shield drops.

With her undead brother's shadow dazed, Twilight blasts him apart with one of her new spells she learned a couple weeks ago as Cadance attacks her counterpart from behind and breaks her wing off while Rainbow darts down and damages her horn. As the last shadow is vulnerable, she blasts her over the edge with her magic as it starts to dwindle, breathing heavily, saying, "I won't be using that burst spell again any time soon, it is far too messy..."

With no more soldiers to send, your shadow then charges into battle and sends forth black lightning to inflict pain upon them, saying, "Let me hear your agonized screams!"

Managing to erect her protection barrier in time, Cadance trembles as the black lightning courses along her barrier and into her, saying, "I will deal with shielding us when necessary, you all work on defeating the last shadow!"

As the others use their magic, wings, and hooves to strike at your shadow when they can, Fluttershy tries to trip you up with her long tail and narrowly avoids getting decapitated. However, her attempt works like a charm as she jerks her tail to the side, making you lose your footing and try to regain your balance.

With a chance to strike opens, Rainbow tries to knock your shadow over by darting down and slamming her back hooves into your chest plate. Her attack is in vain as it only causes pain to shoot up her hooves, saying, "PONYFEATHERS THAT HURT! That armor is insanely hard stuff, make a few dents in it for me Applejack!"

The fight continues on for another hour before they start to wear your shadow down and drive it towards the edge when Applejack eventually gets the chance to use her back hooves to buck you in the rear, leaving two, Applejack-shaped hoofprints in the armor around your shadow's butt.

The scene disappears and blows away as snow in a strong gust of wind, leaving them all standing in an empty void. When they look around, Twilight spots you sitting on the ground as a human without any of your armor on and gazing into a blue fire. Wanting to get your attention gently, she steps forward and says softly, "Uhm...Blister, can we talk?"

Surprised to hear anyone speaking to you, you spin around to look for the voice and see that it is Twilight, and say, "Oh, hi Twilight. I am surprised that you are still talking to me after how mercilessly I killed those ponies that Sombra enslaved."

Taking a few steps forward, Twilight sits by the fire and says, "Why would I stop talking to you after doing the right thing since they couldn't be freed from their torture any other way?"

As the others hang back and let Twilight speak to you, they wait for any sign that they need to join in and add their thoughts.

Mid-morning in the waking world on the train

Jaina wakes up again to the screeching wheels of the train as it begins to slow down and lifts her head with a slight yawn before hearing a voice announce, "Last stop, Canterlot. Please ensure you have all your baggage with you before you leave the station platform, and thank you all for choosing the Equestrian Wanderer."

Stretching her body out, she then returns her saddlebags to her flanks then gets up off the mattress and makes her way to the door. When she gets to the door, she sees daylight peek through the gaps between the curtain and the window and wonders what time of day it is as she opens it with her magic.

Jaina steps out into the open air to find that it is only an hour or two past sunrise and walks through the station towards the city's streets, seeing a few shops already open and a few ponies milling about. As she approaches an elderly mare, she asks her where she might find the castle here in town.

The elderly mare looks at the pretty white mare before her with beautiful blue eyes, a braided reflective silver mane and tail with a blonde streak running through them and says, "First time in Canterlot dearie? Well to get to the castle, you just head east down this street here until you arrive at a much wider road paved with large square stones, then you just turn left and that will lead you straight there. I can't help but be curious as to why you desire to visit the Castle, Court won't be open to the public for another three or four hours."

She smiles at her and then says, "It is, and I heard that an old friend of mine is in the Royal Medical Wing of the castle."

Her face brightens up as she then says in an overly cheery tone, "Well then dearie, you are in luck because the visiting hours have just started, and they end at eight o' clock."

Jaina's face lights up with happiness at hearing that and almost prances in place anxiously, saying, "Oh really?! That is great news to hear madam, thank you so much for telling me that! I hope you have a great day today."

As the elderly mare watches the mare practically trot away with a purpose, she cackles cheerfully and says, "You're welcome dearie, I sure hope you find that stallion that has caught your eye!"

Making her way through the streets with a blush, she asks herself, 'Am I really that easy to read, or do these ponies have some special ability to tell when one is in love?'

When the girls wake up to find themselves in the throne room, they are shocked to see Versa in the room with them as she says, "Congratulations on succeeding in your task of saving Arthas's soul, though it does require further repairs that are beyond my abilities." Turning her eyes to Luna, she then says, "With this, I will no longer keep you from Arthas's dreams, Princess Luna, though I shall still be keeping an eye on things." Looking at Fluttershy, then Celestia, and finally Luna, she smiles and says, "I wish you good luck with your foals, for they might be quite the handful."

Cadance stirs and finally wakes, feeling that there is a heart crying out in desperation somewhere in the city and turns to the others, saying in a soft, questioning manner, "Why is there a heart feeling such desperation?"

Hearing her sister-in-law mumble something, Twilight turns to Cadance and asks, "Sorry, did you say something Cadance?"

Shocked at being heard, she smiles and says, "Oh, I was just wondering why I could feel a heart crying out in desperation, I am going to need to check into it since it is my duty to spread love throughout Equestria."

Getting up, Twilight says, "If there's trouble, we'll help you deal with it Cadance. So please lead the way!"

Looking at the others affectionately as they get up and nod their heads in affirmation, Cadance then smiles at them and says, "Alright then, let's go for a walk while I follow my talent's lead." and then turns to head out of the Throne Room.

As Jaina approaches the castle doors, two pegasi guards bar her path with their wings, with one of them saying, "Halt! What business do you have here at the castle?"

Stopping a few feet away, she turns to the guard that spoke and says, "I wish to see the stallion that has been admitted to the Royal Medical wing as he is an old friend of mine."

The two guards look at each other, with the other guard that didn't speak nodding his head to permit her entry, he then faces back forward and waits for his partner to grant her permission.

The guard then looks at the mare and says, "Very well, miss, you may proceed. Please keep in mind that visiting hours end promptly at eight pm."

Jaina nods to the guards as they lower their wings and says, "Thank you for granting me entry." As she makes her way towards the opening doors, she stops and asks, "Could you please tell me how to get to the Royal Medical Wing? It's my first time coming to the castle."

The guard who hasn't spoken yet nods and says, "Of course miss. When you get inside, take the first right down the big corridor and the third left after the tall archway. When you reach a set of stairs on the right, turn left and go down the hall, there will be a pair of guards there standing guard."

Thanking them again, she then trots into the castle and begins following the directions given to her. As she trots past a few corridors, she spots the one with a tall arch and keeps count after that as she passes it by, not noticing a group of mares start to walk down it toward her.

Cadance catches a brief glimpse of somepony pass by in front of them, leaving a trail of desperation behind her that only she can sense, saying, "We are getting much closer now, I can feel the source getting stronger."

As the others follow her down the hall, she turns left to catch a glimpse of a tail vanishing down one of the corridors on the left as Celestia says, "The Royal Medical wing is down that way."

When she finally arrives at the right corridor, she heads down it to spot a pair of unicorn guards at the doors and stops before them before they tell her to halt, saying, "I would like to visit the stallion that has been transferred here recently."

One of the guards pulls out a list and asks, "Name, miss?"

Standing tall, she says, "Jaina Proudmoore."

Checking the list, he then puts it away, saying, "Sorry, you are not on the approved list, therefore, we cannot grant you entry."

As she starts to feel more desperate to get into the room beyond them, she fidgets anxiously and pleads with them, saying, "Can you please let me pass? I have been missing my long-lost love for so very long now and this is the closest I have gotten to him in years!"

Readying themselves to force the mare to leave, they charge their horns as the one guard speaks up again, saying nicely, "You are not permitted entry miss, please turn around now or we will have to escort you out."

Sighing at having no choice, she then hangs her head and stops fidgeting, saying, "Very well then...have it your way." and charges her horn to encase them in ice.

Seeing that she is going to attack, the guard on the right throws up a shield to protect them. The shield lasts for only a few moments until it shatters, leaving her attack to push through and send them against the walls on either side of the corridor. With their bodies trapped in ice with only their mouths and horns covered in ice, they watch helplessly as she pushes the door open and trots through.

Nudging the door with her hoof, it closes most of the way but remains open a few inches as she pays no mind to it and makes her way through the room anxiously while checking the beds for the names of the occupants. Reaching the last bed at the back of the room, she walks up to the end of the bed and looks at the clipboard and reads it over to find that the patient's name is Blistering Blizzard or aka 'Arthas Menethil.'

Continuing to read the paper as tears start to stream down her cheeks, she sniffles back a sob, saying, "At last..." Returning the clipboard to its place, she turns to look at you more closely. Wandering to the side of the bed, she sees that you have the same snow-white coat that she does, if not a few shades brighter and your golden blonde mane lies on the bed in tangles. Pulling up a chair, she climbs up into it and leans over the bed.

Unable to help herself from holding back, she raises her right forehoof and trails it along the right side of your cheek as she says, "I've found you...my prince, and I will never let you part ways with me again..." Happiness overwhelms her as she takes a breath and begins to feel the urge to sing.

The video is not mine, all credit goes to the one who made it!

As Cadance starts to hear singing, she turns into the corridor and gasps, asking, "I wonder what happened?"

Twilight enters the corridor and hears a vaguely familiar tune being sang by a voice she thinks she recognizes, making her squeeze by the others to find out who is singing. When she gently pushes the door open as Celestia helps to thaw the guards out, she sees a mare with a snow-white coat and a braided, reflective silver mane and tail with a blonde streak through them sitting in a chair beside your bed. Making her way further into the room, she notices sparkles falling from above and looks up to see Chilly darting about at the top of the ceiling as a flurry of snow. Shaking her head at her behavior, she continues on and reaches the end of the hall as the singing continues.

When she gets a good look at her, she notices something hanging around her neck as the song comes to an end. Pausing a moment as she watches how she caresses your cheek, she softly clears her voice and asks timidly, "Uhm, hello, who are you and why are you beside Blistering Blizzard's bed?"

Jaina pauses and turns to look at who spoke, seeing a lavender mare a few years younger than her with a dark sapphire blue mane and tail having a light raspberry streak running through them with pretty, violet eyes. Answering her, she responds and says, "Hello, my name is Jaina Proudmoore and I have been missing my prince terribly for several years, but I set out to find him after a chance encounter led me here after I learned that he was in this world. Now that I have finally found him, I will never part ways with him ever again..." Looking back at her prince lovingly, she continues to stroke your cheek affectionately and gazes back at her, asking, "What is your name miss? Are you good friends with my prince here?"