"What do we do?" Misty asked as the ponies in the Marestream stared at the unmoving figure.

"I…I don't know," Sunny muttered, her voice trembling a bit from fear.

"Well, we can't just go out there! That's just asking for trouble," Zipp argued.

"What else can we do?" Zipp opened her mouth to argue, but Hitch interrupted. "I hate the idea as much as you do, but it's not like we can leave. Even though everything's working, they'd still be able to ground us with their magic."

"So, the question remains: what do we do?" Misty concluded.

Suddenly, the six ponies heard the sound of metal armor and turned to see Zoom and Thunder bowing before them. Queen Haven had insisted they bring guards with them after everything that happened in their last adventure, but the limit Zipp and Pipp agreed to was two. They didn't want to put more ponies in danger than they absolutely had to. That was the whole reason Hitch left Sparky in Maretime Bay, despite how difficult it was for him to do so.

"Umm…we have an idea," Thunder said, a little nervously. When he didn't say anything else, Zip gestured for him to continue. "Well…what if Zoom and I went out there first and checked it out? You know, as royal guards do."

"Definitely not," Pipp said at the same time Zipp said, "Sure, okay. If you want to."

Pipp rounded on Zipp with wide shocked eyes. "Are you kidding me?! These are our subjects. We can't just throw them out there and wish them luck!"

"Look, I don't like this either, but what else can we do? This is what they signed up for when they were sworn into the guard and what they signed up for when they volunteered to come with us. I mean, are you saying you'd prefer to go out there yourself?"

Pipp was about to answer when Hitch suddenly interjected, "No. Hell no. Definitely not."

Pipp rounded on Hitch. Never mind the fact that she was already going to say no anyway. He didn't know that. "Excuse me?!"

Hitch sighed. "Pipp, trust me, I know you can handle yourself. I've seen it. But…well, c'mon. Can you really blame me? I…I just can't lose you again."

Pipp smiled, her heart warming at the small vulnerability he had just shown her. "Oh, honey. You won't. I wasn't planning on going out there anyway."

"Plus, the guards are trained for this, right?" Zipp asked, looking to Zoom and Thunder for confirmation.

"Yes, Your Highness. Two years of boot camp, princess." Zoom said with another bow.

"Four years of boot camp," Thunder added.

"Why four?" Zipp asked.

Thunder shrugged sheepishly. "I failed the first time."

Zipp groaned as Pipp's growing faith was torn down. Without another word, Zoom and Thunder left the Marestream, letting in a freezing cold bout of wind into the ship, making the six remaining ponies shiver.

When the door closed behind them, the six Guardians of Unity rushed to the window as Zoom and Thunder walked around the Marestream and to the shadowed figure. Their hearts raced as the two guards disappeared into the snowy blizzard, wondering if they'd come back, or if this would be the end of the two lovable guards that were close to all their hearts.

She trudged through the snow, wearing a black cloak, and the black eye protector and scarf that used to be her father's. The scarf wrapped around her mouth, the same way it did when her father first met her aunt at the train station here. However, there was no train station anymore, so she just had to guess where they might be. She could've just waited at the castle, but if they got to the guests first, she had to wander aimlessly in hopes of finding them in time.

She kept her head down, trying to protect her face from the howling wind. She was glad she still had her father's eye protection, but she still got small scratches on her face from the tiny bits of ice that blew in the wind.

She could barely see ten feet in front of her. She considered using her magic for a light and a shield, but her magic was stretched out enough as it was. Plus, she'd need it on her way back with the guests. She assumed the guests hadn't brought flashlights with them.

Her body was lethargic and it ached. Doing the same spell for the past thousand years was taking its toll on her, just as her aunt predicted. Her body ached as it shivered from the exertion of trudging through six feet of snow. Her eyes wanted to shut and she needed sleep, but she couldn't. She had to keep going.

That was when she heard a beautiful tune being hummed by a beautiful voice. Her heart stopped as she quickly put on her black ear muffs from her saddlebag with her magic, blocking out the tune before it had a chance to work its way into her brain and soul.

She charged her horn, ready to blast anything that moved, but when she looked around, there were no shadows in the distance. She stood there for a moment, automatically squinting her eyes against the blowing wind despite the eye protector.

Then her eyes widened. The guests. They were trying to lure the guests. She took a deep breath, removed her ear muffs from one of her ears, and listened. She heard the beautiful humming tune coming from a certain direction. She took off her ear muffs, knowing the tune wasn't aimed at her. If it wasn't aimed at her, she was safe.

She bolted in the direction of the beautiful voice, hoping that once again she wouldn't be too late.

"We can trust her," Thunder said as they forced the door closed against the howling wind.

Everypony, including Zoom, looked at Thunder confused. Actually, Zoom looked at Thunder as though he were crazy.

"What in the hay gave you that impression?" She asked her colleague, thoroughly confused. "She had bad vibes all around her."

Thunder shrugged. "I don't know, she just had seemed like a nice mare. Plus, she had a beautiful voice."

"Yeah her voice was nice, but that's not a reason to trust her!" Zoom argued.

"And why not? You know, a voice can tell you a lot about a pony,–"

"Since when?!"

"Since, like, forever. Seriously, Zoom, you need…"

As the two guards fought and the rest of the ponies watched them, unsure as to who to believe, Misty's ear twitched as she heard a beautiful voice humming a tune. She turned, looking out the window when she saw the shadowed figure, slowly walking towards them. She was about to call out to her friends, to warn them, but there was something about that mare that was so…hypnotizing. She couldn't seem to move her body, speak, or even look away. She just…stared at the mare that walked towards them, her surroundings falling away until they no longer existed.

As the mare came closer, the tune began to turn into words:

🎵I realize that you've always been an outcast.
It's not natural for others to like to think.
Of other ponies first,
It's hard to know for sure,
If they really are your friends or if they're fake🎵

Misty squeezed her eyes shut and the spell momentarily lifted, only to come crashing down again when the shadowed figure continued to sing:

🎵Now, I understand you have your reservations.
It's hard to have a heart as large as yours.
If you want to be their pawn,
Then I guess it's all your fault,
When they cast you out, they'll do, I assure!🎵

Misty tried to fight against the alluring sound of the mare's voice. It wasn't true. None of it was true. Her friends loved her. She wasn't their pawn. Right?

Misty opened her eyes to look at the mare, and just when the mare opened her mouth to sing again, a bright magical beam of yellow light hit her and she was suddenly disintegrated.

Misty, without even realizing it, began screaming as her mind was painfully released from the mare's influence. The rest of the ponies turned when they heard Misty scream, all of them rushing to the window just in time to see the yellow beam vanish the the shadowed figure disappear.

"Holy macaroni!" Izzy exclaimed, her eyes wide with fear.

"Oh my Queen Haven and her two daughters!" Thunder exclaimed, before rushing towards the door of the Marestream.

Zoom grabbed hold of him, stopping him from opening the door. "What in the hay do you think you're doing, you idiot?!" Zoom yelled, just to be heard over Misty's screaming.

"She needs help!" Thunder yelled, glaring at Zoom, making her flinch. Thunder never glared at her like that. They were best friends. "What's wrong with you?! We need to help her!"

"There's nothing we can do!" Zoom yelled back as Thunder fought her to let him go. "She's long gone! We need to focus on protecting the princesses! Like we swore to do!"

Suddenly, Thunder stopped as reality suddenly snapped into place and he realized where he was. Zoom slowly let go of him and he slowly stood up, blinking as though just waking up from a dream.

Meanwhile, as Zoom had tried to stop Thunder from bolting outside, Misty wouldn't stop screaming. She was sitting on the ground, her hooves over her ears, screaming at the top of her lungs. Pipp covered her ears as Hitch held her tightly to him, looking between Zoom and Thunder and Misty. Pipp had tears falling down her face as she watched the ensuing chaos from Hitch's hooves, her mind confused as to what the hell was going on.

Zipp quickly flew over to Misty and sat in front of her, grabbing Misty by the shoulder. "MISTY! STOP!"

Misty continued screaming as she felt the pain the mare went through, rocking back and forth with tears streaming from her eyes. Her mind was lost, drowning in an endless black sea, unsure of who or what she was. Who she was supposed to be without that mare's beautiful voice. The only mare in the world who seemed to understand her.

Zipp shook Misty, trying to get Misty's attention, but Misty ignored her, her eyes squeezed shut. Not knowing what else to do, Zipp slapped Misty, but she didn't even pause in her screaming, as though she didn't need breath to continue.

Zipp looked at her friends helplessly, not sure what else to do. Zipp returned to Misty, yelling for Misty to stop and listen to her. Misty's voice began to grow hoarse as she continued to scream, her mind flailing for something and yet finding nothing.

There was suddenly an urgent knock on the door, gaining everypony's attention, except for Misty's. Without thinking, hoping that by some small miracle, it was the mare with the beautiful voice, the same voice that was still playing in his head, he opened the door.

Rather than the mare he hoped for, it was instead a unicorn in a black cloak, with its hood up, scarf, and what looked like a black eye protector. They were taller than what the guard had ever seen, about as tall as Opaline was. Wind and snow blew into the Marestream as, without a single word, the unicorn stepped past the wide-eyed guard and to the screaming pony, causing Zipp to scramble back in shock.

Once they were there, they bent their head, their horn glowing in a beautiful yellow aura. Before any of the other ponies could do anything, they put their glowing horn on Misty's forehead. As soon as their horn touched Misty, there was a bright light that cascaded down Misty. In the darkness Misty's mind was drowning in, there was a bright yellow dot, like a big beacon. Misty swam to it, grabbing it for dear life. She stopped screaming with a gasp, her eyes opening as though waking up from a nightmare.

Misty blinked, rediscovering her surroundings as though being gone from them for years. She was too stunned to speak, wondering how long it's been. It's felt like years since she'd seen her friends, the Marestream, even though it's only been a couple of minutes. Or did no time pass at all. Was she really swimming in a black endless void, or was she here the whole time? Was she going crazy or did all of that really happen?

"Are you okay?" Zipp whispered to Misty with concern.

Misty nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. I think."

There was a shocked silence as the two guards and the Guardians of Unity stared at the mysterious pony, who, after a moment of studying all the other ponies in the Marestream, turned to Sunny, who was watching them with wide eyes and gave a quick bow.

"You must be Princess Pipp Petals," the unicorn said, revealing them to be a mare.

"M-me? I…I…umm…" Sunny stuttered.

Zipp was still shocked as hell, but the thought of Sunny being Pipp was just too hilarious not to laugh at. "Sunny? As Pipp? Yeah, no. Not even close," Zipp said between laughs.

Sunny gave Zipp a look. "I'm not sure whether to be offended or relieved."

"Relieved. Definitely relieved," Zipp assured.

From Hitch's embrace, Pipp turned to glare at Zipp. "Umm…feeling offended over here."

The unicorn mare blinked, looking between the eight ponies, thoroughly confused. "Um…I'm sorry," She turned to Sunny. "You are an alicorn. Are you not the princess?"

Sunny chuckled nervously. "I'm not a princess."

"Then who is Princess Pipp Petals?" The mysterious mare asked.

Zipp finally stood up, walking towards the unicorn mare. She didn't kick her out right away because she helped Misty, but she still didn't fully trust her. "Who's asking?"

The unicorn mare sighed. "Right. Of course. My apologies."

The unicorn mare then took off her hood with her yellow magic, the same yellow magic that brought the Marestream down, revealing a pink unicorn mare with a purple and blue mane, with blue eyes the same shade as her hair.

Upon seeing the yellow magical aura, Zipp stood in a defensive position. She wasn't stupid. She was a detective for crying out loud. She could connect the dots, even though it seemed as though the others couldn't.

"It was you. You brought us down! You have the same magical aura that grounded us!"

At this, the other ponies stood defensively, Hitch standing protectively in front of Pipp. Zoom flew above the ponies and stood between the unicorn mare and the princesses. Thunder, however, knew that mare. He only saw her once, and he didn't know her name, but he could never forget her beautiful face and her beautiful voice.

He started towards her, his eyes wide with wonder at this impossibility. "It's you. It's really you. I knew you'd survive. I knew you'd be okay."

Everypony looked at Thunder confused, though there was growing concern in Zoom's expression.

The unicorn was also confused. "What?"

"It's you. You're the mare with the beautiful voice–Zoom move!" Thunder yelled when Zoom stepped between him and the mare of his dreams. The very mare that promised him forever.

Upon hearing his words, dread filled the pink unicorn as she stared at the guard with fear, regret, and guilt, putting a hoof to her mouth. "I was too late," She muttered, doing her best not to go back in time.

"Too late for what?" Zipp asked, flaring her wings, ready to jump the queen.

The mare seemed to remember her surroundings and quickly answered, "I'm Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire. It was not me who brought down your…" She paused, looking around at the strange box she was currently in. "Your strange flying carriage thing. Nor am I the mare who entranced your guard and very nearly bewitched your friend."

"If it wasn't you, then who was it? Some doppelganger?" Zipp asked, clearly not believing this Princess Flurry Heart.

However, the others seemed to pause, looking at her with wide confused eyes. On Pipp's and Hitch's wedding night, they received an urgent summons from a Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire, claiming they were in need of Pipp's and Hitch's help. That's why they were here on the Marestream in no pony's land in fifty-below weather.

"Sort of. An ameles. In fact, I am the mare who disposed of this creature before they could do any more damage to your crew. You're welcome, by the way," Princess Flurry Heart explained, a little bitterness in her tone.

Thunder's eyes widened. Anger and rage filled him towards the mare who so callously killed his true love, and then expected to be thanked for it! This mare was crazy. She lost it. She…she was going to pay!

"YOU MONSTER! YOU…YOU KILLED HER YOU SON OF A–"

Zoom had stepped between Thunder and Flurry Heart, her heart breaking at seeing so much hate, anger, and grief for a mare he never even met on her best friend's face. "Thunder! Get it together!"

"But, she killed her! She killed that innocent mare!" Thunder yelled back as Zoom tried her best to hold him back from charging the Princess while the other ponies watched with confusion and fear.

Flurry Heart rolled her eyes. Not at the deranged guard, but at the thought of one of those…things being innocent. "That 'mare' was hardly innocent."

This seemed to only anger Thunder even more. Snarling, he used his wings to fly over Zoom, growling and swerving as Zipp and Pipp tried to cut him off. Misty, who had recovered from her almost mind break, cast a spell that kept Thunder levitated in the air by a coral aura and quickly cast a temporary sleeping spell, gently laying him on the floor.

When magic came back after the Unity Crystals broke, she noticed that her magic was stronger and more expansive than it used to be when magic was tied to those Crystals. She'd been studying spells from her spell book, learning new spells, including the one she just used on Thunder.

All the ponies, including Princess Flurry Heart, looked at Misty in confusion and shock. Her ears flattened, hanging her head to stare at the ground, tears filling her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut, ready for her friends to cast her out, just like the shadowed mare said they would. Just like they had before.

Instead, Misty felt a pair of hooves wrap around her. She opened her eyes to see Zoom hugging her tightly. "Thank you," She whispered in Misty's ear.

Zoom was grateful for Misty's quick thinking. Her best friend…he wasn't acting like her best friend. She had never seen Thunder so angry. So hurt. So…hateful. It broke her heart and she just wanted to help and it hurt her even more knowing she couldn't do anything. She was just happy that Misty had done something that didn't hurt him before he did something she knew he'd regret.

Misty was confused and exhausted, and all she wanted to do was just fall to the ground and break down in tears. She's never had such an emotional taxing ten minutes in her life. She just wanted to sob in her bed at home and put this whole thing behind her before this turned into another changeling situation.

Once Zoom was done hugging her, Pipp walked up to Misty and put a hoof on her shoulder. "We're not mad at you, Misty. We promise. We just want to know why you did that. That's all."

Misty took a deep breath, her heart feeling heavy. She didn't even know where to begin. She barely understood it herself. There was so much anger. So much rage. So much hatred. Thunder would've torn the whole Marestream apart just to hurt, to kill, Princess Flurryheart. Would've hurt anypony who got in his way. His heart grieved for the mare she killed, a mare who he only met once, but who promised forever. Who told him they were soulmates. Special someponies. Like Pipp and Hitch were.

But deep inside, there was a small part screaming at him that this didn't make any sense. That there was nothing to be so angry about. That this was…wrong. He should be hearing Princess Flurry Heart out, not trying to hurt her. That this mare he claimed to love was nothing but a sketchy stranger who barely said two words to him and Zoom. That he was a guard, supposed to protect the princesses, and that he was hurting his best friend.

But that part was overruled by the more feral part of him.

Misty tried to relay all this to her friends the best way she could, but she just couldn't find the right words for it. Nonetheless, it seemed as though her friends understood what she was trying to explain. Even the Crystal Princess seemed to understand, though she still seemed a bit confused.

"How do you know all of this, young unicorn?" Princess Flurry Heart asked, turning to Misty.

Misty was about to stutter out an answer when Izzy was suddenly right beside her, a hoof around her neck. "Oh! This is Misty Brightdawn and she's an empath so she can feel another pony's emotions. She's the element of Empathy." Izzy explained in one big breath.

"The Element of…Empathy?" Princess Flurry Heart asked.

"Yeah! You know, one of the Elements of Unity. There's Kindness," Izzy rushed to Hitch, giving him a big hug. "Courage and Confidence," Izzy rushed to Zipp and Pipp as she said their Elements, lifting Pipp's chin to make her look confident, even though she looked confused and making Zipp puff out her chest to look courageous, even though she just looked annoyed.

"Empathy," Izzy then nuzzled softly against Misty. "Creativity!" Izzy said as she held up assorted craft supplies she seemed to grab from thin air, leaning into Princess Flurry Heart to whisper "That's me," before bounding away to grab something. "And Hope!" Izzy pointed the beam of a flashlight at Sunny, making her light up like a beacon. Sunny put her hoof up to shield her eyes.

Zipp rolled her eyes. "Why don't you tell her our whole life story while you're at it," Zipp commented flatly.

"Huh. Well, I didn't think she'd want to hear it, but, okay," Izzy took a dramatic deep breath and was just about to start talking when Zipp put a hoof to her mouth before another word could come out.

"She doesn't. That was sarcasm," Zipp explained with some annoyance in her tone.

"I know," Izzy sang as she bounced away to stand next to Misty, leaving Zipp dumbfounded and frustrated as the rest of their friends chuckled.

Princess Flurry Heart was lost in thought. She never heard of the Elements of Unity, but they sounded awfully similar to something else she heard about. Something that broke over a thousand years ago during King Sombra's third return. Tears came to her eyes as she thought about them. "So…you mean…like the Elements of Harmony?"

"The Elements of what now?" Pipp asked tilting her head.

Flurry Heart shook her head. "Never mind. We should be going. I trust Princess Pipp is on this flying carriage."

Everypony looked at Misty, and at first, she thought this was Princess Pipp, though, she didn't have the air of royalty about her. Then she remembered the lavender unicorn, who reminded her so much of her Aunt Pinkie, introducing her as Misty something, and remembered she was an empath. They were probably looking at her fir a verification of trust. Good. At least they weren't that naive.

Misty knew Princess Flurry Heart was who she said she was. She could just tell. Misty couldn't feel much except for great sorrow, but it was buried down deep with a great big wall surrounding the gravesite. It made Misty wonder hoe strong Princess Flurry Heart's sorrow and grief really was, if she could feel it through all of that, this strongly. No wonder why she buried it. Even just feeling this much of it was enough to almost crush Misty.

"She's good. She's telling the truth, as far as I can tell."

"As far as you can tell?" Hitch asked, a little concern now growing for how much faith they were putting in Misty's ability.

"If they believe it's the truth, if they truly believe it with all their heart, then it feels like the truth to me. I'm an empath, not a lie detector test."

Pipp looked at Zipp, as though for confirmation. Pipp trusted Zipp more than anypony else, Hitch being a close runner up. If Zipp believed it was safe, then so would Pipp. It wasn't that Pipp didn't trust Misty, it's just that…it was almost an automatic thing for her. Whenever she was unsure about something, she'd look up to Zipp to give her courage.

Zipp nodded without hesitation. She had gained a lot of trust for Misty over the past year. It all started when Misty trusted Zipp enough to shatter the Unity Crystals when Zipp came to the conclusion that it'd keep Equestria safe from the changelings by making the ponies useless to them, even though it meant she could lose everything. Magic. Her friends. Her home. And when she did, still she trusted Zipp. She trusted Zipp when she said they'd find Pipp, no matter what, and Misty worked tirelessly day and night searching any possible lead that could even remotely lead them to Pipp.

She was one of the first to have the courage to trust Zipp when she stood weaponless against a charging griffon army all based off of nothing but a hunch. Misty trusted Zipp when she inspired the rest of their friends they could fight the changelings the first time around. She trusted Zipp all those times, so completely, with no questions asked. That's how Zipp needed to trust Misty. Trust went both ways. Why should Misty keep trusting Zipp if she wasn't going to trust Misty in return?

Misty looked at Zipp with wide, shocked eyes. Zipp was the most skeptical of all of them, never taking things at face value. So for Zipp to agree so quickly, no questions asked, based entirely off of Misty's word was surprising. Upon seeing Misty's shocked expression, it made Zipp wonder what type of friend Zipp truly was. Zipp gave a small smile of reassurance to Misty, who quickly returned it.

Pipp took a deep breath, going into full dignitary mode and acting exactly the way her mother taught her when meeting royalty for the first time professionally. She slowly approached Princess Flurry Heart and bowed low as she introduced herself.

"I'm Princess Pipp Trailblazer of Zephyr Heights. It is an honor to meet you, Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire."

"As is an honor to formally meet you, Princess Pipp," Flurry Heart replied, bowing low herself. She was surprised that even after all these years, the formal meet and greet between royalty was still the same. "I assume your husband is with you?"

Pipp nodded as Hitch walked up, following Pipp's lead. However, since he wasn't trained as a royal dignitary yet, with then leaving just days after their wedding, he didn't want to mess anything up.

"This is my husband, Prince Hitch Trailblazer." Pipp then turned to the rest of her friends. "This is Sunny Starscout. Izzy Moonbow. My sister Zipp Storm. And my future stepsister, Misty Brightdawn."

"Well, it is lovely to meet you all. I apologize for being so presumptuous Sunny, and mistaking you for Pipp. It's just that…when I was young, only alicorns were royalty. I suppose old habits die hard."

"But…you're a unicorn and you're Princess of the Crystal Empire." Sunny argued, thoroughly confused.

A small devious smile appeared on her face. The first smile seen on the Princess' face in a thousand years. "I'm not…just a unicorn."

Flurry Heart ruffled her wings and everypony gasped. The only other alicorn they've seen besides Sunny was Opaline. They didn't think there were anymore out there.

Zipp flew to Flurry Heart, her eyes wide with questions, excited for something else to investigate to soothe her detective soul. "Oh my hoofness I cannot believe you are an alicorn I have so many questions for you I–"

Flurry Heart put a hoof up, silencing the jabbering Zipp. "Please, Princess Zipp. I'd love to answer all of your questions. But we really must be going. We don't know what kind of danger lurks in these woods."

Flurry Heart knew exactly what type of dangers lurked in these woods, but time she spent explaining would be time for those very dangers to find them.

Author's Note

Alright, second chapter is here.

You know when I said I'd make this story less dark and have more humor than the last two?

Yeah, I gave up on the dream about a quarter of the way in of this chapter

So yeah. It's gonna to get pretty dark. As well as emotional

Hope you like it!