The Forgotten Prince

Chapter IX: The Key to Salvation

The gracious and magnificent apparition of the blue alicorn princess walked slowly forward, stepping quietly on the crystal floor flooded with a thin layer of clear water. Her stunning, regal poise and divine beauty were simply astonishing, making Twilight and her friends widen their eyes and agape in total wonder. Her intense stare irradiated only tranquillity and love, though not in the same way as Celestia did; no... her eyes, of the same colour as the ocean, were filled with a different kind of love, much stronger and unwavering.

“Is... is that...” Twilight could not even speak eloquently, so much was the bafflement of this sight.

“Yes,” Cadance answered the tacit question on everypony else’s minds “that would be princess Aqua.”

Through the mystical, incandescent blaze that surrounded her form, they managed to see her mouth curled in a modest smile. Why was she smiling? They did not know. She was purely smiling at the ponies before her, and that made them almost forget about the fearful darkened ponies following them, who probably had already found the stairwell leading to the chamber they were in.

Suddenly, Fenrir stepped out from under one of Fluttershy’s wings and walked to the front of them. His little face bore some perplexity, but most of all it radiated an indescribable amount of contentment to see the ocean princess. She, too, looked down at the young black alicorn colt, and her face enlightened even more than before.

“Fenrir, I’m so happy to see you...” she uttered in a smooth tone.

Her voice sounded like that of a young adult, which made them think that, perhaps, she was one of the youngest alicorn ancestors, back when the fourth race wandered the land. She could not hide the bliss to see the little colt, who was now quivering, shaken by his overwhelming emotions.

“M-mother...!” he said, hastily running to embrace one of princess Aqua’s front legs tightly, sobbing constantly, while she lowered her head and closed her eyes, caressing him. Her smile never waned.

“I missed you so much!” Fenrir wept, burying his face further against her fur “I never want to separate from you, ever again!”

“Fenrir,” she gently lifted his chin up with her hoof, having his icy blue eyes meeting with hers “I love you too, believe me, more than anything. But I’m afraid I can’t stay here any longer, for I don’t belong to the world of the living anymore. You must be strong, my child.”

He tried as hard as he could to stifle his sobs. Closing his eyes firmly, he attempted to swallow his tears, though with no effect, for his sorrow was too much, dwelling inside such a young and innocent mind.

“There, there.” She hugged him again.

“Mother... I-I’m so sorry for what I did...” he spoke between persistent and heartrending whimpers.

“You were not the responsible for what happened. You don’t have to blame yourself.”

“But I could... if only I had tried to stop her from entering me!...”

“You couldn’t predict it. None of us could. My son...” she approached one of his tiny ears, perked down from the angst, and whispered “there’s still time to make things right. All you need is friends to help you, and guide you,” she glanced at Twilight and the others as she said that last sentence, flashing a smile in her eyes “and Fenrir, no matter what happens, I believe in you.”

The broad aura around her body shun more brightly, acquiring an ethereal glow like a ghostly apparition, which started to fade away gradually.

“It’s time...” she said serenely, as she got up after one last nuzzling with her son. They all understood she was merely a ghost, a memory projected inside the dark alicorn’s mind, and now it was time for her to go.

“Wait, mother!” The colt swiftly dashed towards her again “Could you take me with you? Please?...”

She curled her mouth in another caring smile, as her heavenly eyes sparkled in bliss, making everything feel alright.

That was it! Twilight knew, now, what kind of love princess Aqua emitted that princess Celestia did not possess, more mysterious, yet much more powerful than any other known: motherly love.

“Yes, you may come with me...” she responded, embracing him with her wide blue wings “but understand that it’s not your time yet. Even if you come now, you’ll not truly be with me. There’s something you must do first. Hard choices will be presented to you, so be ready. You’ll have to find your true destiny, your shore...”

The brilliant glow became so intense it was almost blinding, and Twilight and her friends had to cover their eyes once more. A soft burst was heard, accompanied by a smooth breeze running through their manes, coming from the centre of the chamber, and then everything was quiet and dim.

Upon opening their eyelids, they all realised that both princess Aqua and the young Fenrir were gone. But most alarming of all was that the Crystal Heart had also disappeared from sight, and was nowhere to be found.

“Now what?!” Applejack questioned, quickly reminded that they were still running away from the darkened ponies swarming the castle.

The purple unicorn snapped out of her engulfing thoughts about all that the unexpected apparition of the ocean princess had said, trying to decipher whatever she meant. She turned around to face the rest of them.

“I... don’t know what to do... we can’t stay here any minute longer, but now I don’t know how to get out of this place! I’m all out of ideas.” She tilted her head down in desperation.

“Come on, Twi!” Rainbow Dash jolted, giving her some motivation “If anypony could come up with a solution in a situation like this, it’s you! Just think!”

She furrowed her eyebrows and began pacing nervously on circles, searching in her mind for something, anything, that could possibly work to get them out of there. Then, she halted abruptly and turned to her friends, her face suddenly enlightened with a hopeful idea, though, at the same time, she felt a bit hesitant about it.

“There’s something we could try... but I don’t know if it’ll work...”

“It doesn’t matter! Just do it, we’re running out of time!” the farmer pony shouted.

“But in order for that to work, I’ll need your help, girls!”

“Tell us what you want, dear!” Rarity demanded right away.

“I need you all to concentrate as hard as you can on our home world. Project every single detail of it in your minds.”

“What? What good would that do?...” Pinkie started, only to be immediately interrupted by the instructing unicorn.

“Do you want to get out of here or not?! Just do it!”

None of them dared to question anything else. They all closed their eyes, and each thought about images of their world, their homes, their friends and families; blissful memories from way before the events began, and when everypony was happy. Canterlot had not been attacked yet, the two sister princesses ruled Equestria together peacefully, and life in Ponyville was simple, but full of joy.

Their meditation was unexpectedly interrupted by the alarming tumult of many hooves scampering down the stairs, approaching the vast chamber at the bottom. They all petrified in horror from hearing the hurry the eerie ponies were now in hunting them, considering how they never fastened their pace before, when running after them. At this rate, they would reach them in just a few seconds, and they would be trapped there.

“Oh no, they’re coming...” Fluttershy whimpered, shaking inconsolably where she stood.

“Don’t stop now!” Twilight ordered “Keep thinking about our world!”

With their efforts doubled, they continued invoking the mental images of the Equestria where they came from. Sweat ran down their foreheads, either from the might they were putting into the focus, or from the fright of the enemy hoofsteps sounding closer and closer.

All of a sudden, the coloured jewels encrusted in the collars around their respective five owners’ necks lit themselves up, and each shot a bright beam towards the centre, where they all met with Twilight. A light lavender aura shun around the entirety of her form, and the final Element of Harmony reappeared; the golden, refulgent crown materialised on the librarian pony’s head, and generated a white, thick mist, which spread around the whole area and involved all of them.

At that precise moment, the ponies with terribly darkened skin and shut eyelids reached the bottom of the staircase and, in a split second, a horde of them jumped in through the door, with some of them walking on the walls like spiders, making it all an absolutely horrifying and bizarre scenario.

However, they arrived too late, for the waxen haze the Elements had created together was rapidly phasing out, leaving nothing behind. The possessed ponies all roared in wrath at the same time, which sound like a strident and horrendous demonic screech.

Twilight and her friends were found in the middle of the same disorientating spiralling and deafening multidirectional sound waves that made up the same vortex as before, only this time none of them was separated from the rest, as they could see each other’s figures, though indistinct and distorted from the violent stretching of both space and time.

At last, they exited all on the same exact spot, thrown to a hard floor. Twilight fell first, followed by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, then Applejack and Rarity, and ultimately Cadance, Shining Armor and Pinkie Pie. The latter instantaneously got up and start jumping in excitement on top of the pile of ponies below her and gabbing like she usually does.

“Whee, that was fun! Last time I ended up diving into the sewer water, but now the landing was much smoother! Whoo, I wanna go again!”

Underneath her hooves, many puffs and squeals were heard, until they started complaining to her irritated. After she finally stopped, the stack disassembled and everypony rolled to the sides before getting back up on their hooves. Twilight rose up the last, still trying desperately to catch her breath after being crushed by the weight of seven ponies on top of her.

“We... we did it?” the designer unicorn said upon inspecting her surrounding, recognising that they were inside the Crystal Heart chamber of the “normal Equestria”, for there was not a single dark pony in sight anymore, and the Crystal Heart was there again, hovering above their heads.

“YEAH!!!” Rainbow Dash burst in uncontained ecstasy, promptly hugging Twilight, who had just barely got up on her quivering legs, so tightly that she squealed with what little amount of air she had in her lungs “You made it! I knew you could do it, Twi! You’re a genius!”

“Ack!... Dash!... Can’t breathe!” She struggled to free herself from the tough embrace, as much as she appreciated the congratulation for her uncertain, yet successful solution.

“Yes, darling, you sure have saved us all!”

“Hurray for Twilight!” The pink pony was still jumping around like crazy.

“But how did you do it?” Cadance asked, while holding her dormant husband’s head on her lap and fondling her forehead affectionately.

She finished normalising her breath, before she cleared her throat and began explaining, noticeably proud of her achievement.

“It was actually simpler than I thought. The dark alicorn had sent us to inside his confused head by using a very ancient and powerful spell called the ‘dive to the mind’. I remembered having read about it in the private section of the Canterlot castle library, and so I thought about doing the exact opposite process of the spell he had conjured up, using the unbreakable link between our own minds and our home world. In other words, we all created the exit point thanks to the memories we have of our world.”

“Wow! That was really smart of you, Twi!” Applejack applauded.

The purple unicorn casted the spell to make the Elements withdraw once more, storing them inside her horn. All of a sudden, a low, feeble mutter was heard nearby.

“Shining Armor!” Cadance and Twilight turned their full attention to the awaking stallion, followed by all the others, who shared their concern for him.

He opened his eyes leisurely, first staring at the ceiling, then having them wander around disorientated, until they finally found a familiar face.

“Are you okay, big brother?”

“Honey, we’re here!”

His lips curled into a weak, but visible smile.

“Hey, hon... hey, Twily.” His voice was still weak, and so he paused for a brief moment. Cadance cried happy tears of relief, while Twilight sat next to him and held one of his hooves. He then continued “You won’t believe... the strange dream I just had.”

All of them shared a group laugh, glad to know that the captain of the royal guard had awoken again, and with some sense of humour.

With a more serious expression on her face, Twilight got up and walked over to the Crystal Heart hung in the air, still emitting the same vague and scintillating blue glow, as drops of water formed continuously on its cold surface, then falling down like large tears.

“We still have something to do...” she murmured, right before leaping to grab the floating jewel and taking it on her hooves “the key is the only thing that can end this.”

“And how, exactly, are you planning on doing so?” inquired the orange pony “That doesn’t seem much of a key ta me...”

“We’re taking it back to Canterlot. Princess Celestia might know how to use it.”

That said, they headed out of the round chamber, with Cadance aiding a limping Shining Armor to move in the rear of the group, as he was already determined to walk on his own hooves.

“Hopefully the carriage that brought us here is still outside...” Rarity stated, while they were climbing up the stairwell.

In the meantime, the princess of the night had flown through the dense grey fog all the way from Canterlot to the woods on the periphery of the old castle where she and her sister used to live with her parents. Practically not a single stone of it remained standing, as the wild and indomitable roots, and ivies, and tall plants had utterly taken over the once habitable and majestic castle, now reduced to ruins in the middle of a dark green nowhere.

She landed softly on the moist grass of the same hill she remembered from her foalhood, the hill that had been marked as a meeting point for so many months. She could have forgotten about her friend’s name, but that particular hill’s location was well stained in her memory.

Luna looked around for a bit, but quickly landed her gaze upon a rather familiar silhouette in the middle of the mist ahead of her, sitting by the edge of the lake at the bottom of the hill, and staring down at its serene, limpid waters, where the image of an inexistent full moon was reflected, much to her awe. She then noticed that his horn was discreetly lit up, so she assumed it was him who was faking the reflexion.

She found that sight of him on that precise spot, in that exact pose awfully lonely and heartrending. He did not seem to have noticed her arrival yet.

She was about to walk to him, when she found her muscles suddenly paralysed. A chill ran down her spine, as she felt her whole emotions shaken; a mixture of hypnotising delight with overwhelming melancholy predominated. She heard his voice singing, not to anypony but to himself.

“The moonlight soothes the eternal unrest

Mysterious blaze, beauty of the unknown

A veil of water beneath my hooves

A memory of love, though I am alone

A scary shadow, a forlorn spark

A castaway, condemned to oblivion

I came to a world that was not meant for me

Was I ever a good friend, was I ever a good son?

I keep chasing the voices of my farthest memories

(Memoriis sunt clavem ad praeteritum)

What was once the good in me? Oh, who am I now?

(Recludam ostium, reperio tua fata)

I can’t see the light to end my suffering

The path isn’t bright, my heart is no longer beaming

Who am I now?

Oh, who am I now?

Mother used to sing to me, embracing me

In her wings of motherly love, lulling me

Oceans of dreams, foalhood happiness

Highlighted in a world full of darkness

Now, I see the face mirrored in the lake below

An empty husk, eyes bare of a soul

Wandering lost, an ethereal existence

Without a shore, without any essence

I keep chasing the voices of my farthest memories

(Memoriis sunt clavem ad praeteritum)

What was once the good in me? Oh, who am I now?

(Recludam ostium, reperio tua fata)

I can’t see the light to end my suffering

The path isn’t bright, my heart is no longer beaming

Who am I now?

Oh, who am I now?

(Reprobaverunt, umbra, tenebris scintilla

Deest in litore, deest in cor)

I can’t see the light to end my suffering

The path isn’t bright, my heart is no longer beaming

(Memoriis sunt clavem ad praeteritum

Recludam ostium, reperio tua fata)

Who am I now?

Oh, who am I now?”

Luna walked slowly closer to him, treading as quietly as possible. After standing only scarce meters away from his back, she greeted him a little anxious, for this was the very first time she would be with her dear friend physically, and not in just a dream, in more than one thousand years.

“H-hello, Fenrir...”

He did not appear startled or surprised at all, turning his head around calmly, with his lengthy, flat dark mane sliding over his muscular shoulder and revealing his light sapphire eyes. He got up on his four legs, standing taller than Luna, and turned his whole body to her.

She was not able to discern any exact expression on his face, though she knew, somehow, that he was just as radiant to see her as she was to see him.

Truth was, deep inside, he, too, looked up to this meeting, only greatly apprehensive, for he knew she had not yet realised he was the pony inside the black armour, the one who nearly killed her sister.

Perhaps blinded by a more profound sentiment, she refused to associate the one who was her long time best friend and the late doom-driven invader.

“Luna... it has been so long.”

“Yes, quite a long time!” She was already beginning to feel some tears of bliss welling in her eyes, so she tried another approach that would abstract her from the intense feelings at that moment “Look at you, you’re... an adult, handsome stallion, now!”

“I could say the same about you. You have grown up to be quite a beautiful mare.” He gazed at her with such a suave stare she even blushed and shied out a bit. She found, in his arctic blue eyes, a strange and paradoxical comforting warmth.

“Fenrir, I...” She could not finish her sentence; suddenly succumbing to her emotions, she threw herself at him in a tight embrace, like she did in her dream, only now she was absolutely certain that this was all for real. He returned the hug, involving her with both his front hooves and his wide black wings.

She did not even care about all the events happening, or the magical fog surrounding them; she just wanted to savour every single second of that moment, feel his every heartbeat and his warmth. This was the solace she longed for, without even realising it, for so many years.

As they finally let go of each other, Luna recomposed herself before continuing. There was just so much she wanted to ask him she did not know where to start.

“Where have you been this whole time?”

“To be honest, I have no clue,” he articulated carefully each word, as it was usual for him “only that I have been imprisoned there for up until recent days, I am afraid. It was a horrible place, like a whole different world; dark creatures lurked everywhere, and I had to learn to fight alone to survive.”

“How did you escape, then?”

He rotated his head slightly to the side, recalling some past moments.

“It was about two days ago that I heard a familiar, melodious voice singing, like a siren chant. Somehow, its harmonic found me in that terrible place, and enlightened my path all the way back here.”

“Who was it?”

He turned again to Luna, looking at her deeply in the eyes.

“You.”

On another part of Equestria, the flying carriage was already high up in the air, and hurriedly heading back to the capital city of Canterlot, after the pegasi royal guards pulling it had been instructed to get the eight ponies to that destination as quickly as possible.

Inside sat eight ponies in complete silence, all sharing the same interminable unease as to how to use the Crystal Heart as a key and, upon unlocking the gates to the Undone Dimension, how to defeat the goddess of fear and death with it. Would princess Celestia really know the correct way to use it? Twilight assumed so, but it was still just a supposition.

The voice of Shining Armor then irrupted from the dead silence in the form of an interrogation.

“So you said that, while I was unconscious, we were all sent to an alternate dimension, and Twilight found a book that explained all that’s been happening lately?”

“Yes,” the purple unicorn responded to her brother “I believe that the dark alicorn, whose name is Fenrir, is not the real perpetrator of these events, but merely a way an ancient evil spirit has found to vehicle her powers in our world, since she has been imprisoned many millennia ago. She has used him to try to bring down the Ragnarök once before, only she failed. Right now, she’s using him again.”

“And we’re taking the Crystal Heart to princess Celestia because...?”

“The book said that, when the dimension that would hold her captive was forged, the spell backfired and generated a counterpart: the key to unlock that same dimension. It also said that only the key can destroy her forever.”

“And that key would be the Crystal Heart?”

“Correct!”

“So we’re just gonna open the interdimensional gates, hoping that some evil spirit doesn’t take the chance to slip past us back into our home world, and... stab it with the key till it dies?”

“Basically...” Twilight giggled.

“Alright, I’m in!”

The rainbow-haired pegasus had been distracted from the whole conversation, for, in the meantime, she was having a more private and serious dialogue with her friend Fluttershy, who she had found staring blankly out the window of the carriage.

“Hey, Shy. Is there something bothering you?”

“Hum? N-no...” she faltered, and Rainbow Dash realised that her mind was definitely away.

“Are you still thinking about what happened there? I can’t tell you how sorry I am for hurting you, but it’s like I said: it wasn’t me, I swear! I’d rather die than harm any of my friends...”

“No, Dash...” she interrupted her apologies, showing her a smile of comprehension “I already told you I’d forgive you. It’s not that...”

“Then, what is it? You can tell me if you feel you need to.”

The bashful yellow pegasus took a deep sigh.

“It’s Fenrir... after he saved us, he told me I remembered him of his mother.”

“Heh, you were right about him all along, Fluttershy. You were the only one of us who believed he was a good pony. No wonder he saw in you a motherly figure, you’re always showing unconditional kindness and understanding. Sometimes I envy you, you know?”

“The poor thing... his mother is dead, all he needed was somepony to love him.”

The conversation between Luna and Fenrir had prolonged for quite a few minutes. There was just so much they had to catch up to, and Luna had so many questions that needed to be answered, but she saved some which she considered to be more delicate for last.

They paused for a moment, contemplating in precious silence the marvellous sight of the false moon mirrored in the peaceful waters, until she finally gathered the courage to bring up the topic.

“Fenrir, what exactly did happen that day we both know? We’ve all mourned the deaths of our parents and our race, and I grieved believing that you had been... t-that you were gone, as well. Did you get imprisoned in that world you mentioned at the time of the great war?”

“No, it was not until it all ended that I was sealed away. Although I was there too, only fighting battles of my own.”

She did not understand what he meant, and her baffled curiosity only grew further.

“With whom? How did you survive?”

The forced reflection of the moon suddenly died out, as he broke the spell and hid his face away, covering his eyes with his long dark fringes, either from shame or from overwhelming regret, Luna did not know yet.

He knew it was only a matter of time before she would come to realisation, as much as he feared it, but he could not bear to hide her the truth any longer. If she was to know about him, about what he had done, it was best to be himself telling her.

“It doesn’t matter. But I know that what I have done deserves no forgiveness. I should be the only one lying dead that day. Maybe then, nopony would have died... at my hooves.”

Luna backed down to his statements, afraid of what he meant.

“W-what are you saying?”

“I thought it would be easier to simply hide it. Death. Ruin. I spread fear wherever I go, and they all have become a part of me. This is what I never wanted you to find out about me.”

“Fenrir... were you the responsible for what happened? Did you... did you kill my parents?”

His following silence was what utterly tore her apart, as she felt her heart sank in indescribable disappointment. The tears now welling in her eyes were of sudden, uncontained ire towards him, and she began to shiver.

“Are you the cause behind all of this? Were you the one in that armour, who nearly killed my sister?! ANSWER ME!”

“It’s truth.”

She stepped back from him, barely holding in all the anger and hate she felt burning inside of her.

“How could you? HOW COULD YOU?! WE WERE FRIENDS!” Large tears streamed profusely down her cheeks, as she shouted at the top of her lungs “I can’t believe you actually did it... how could I have been so blind?!... I wish you had never woken up. I wish we had never met!” She enlightened her horn and pointed it at him, preparing to strike him down “This is for my parents. This is for my sister!”

All of a sudden, the whole climate changed drastically from the initial fog to the violent tempest and dark clouds shooting powerful blood-red lightening, one of which landed close to them and diverted Luna’s focus on the spell.

It was happening again, only this time Fenrir did not seem to be the source, for he looked up at the changing sky, with his mane blown by the strong winds, just as confused as the princess of the night.

The more lightening clashed with the ground throughout the woods around them, the more fearsome dark figures emerged from the shadows of the tree line, until the two of them were completely surrounded in the clearing.

Then, the potent, ear-splitting growl of an enormous dragon was heard high up above their heads, making them look upwards. The colossal smoke dragon of six wings had returned, and was flying in circles over them. A black blur then dropped swiftly from it, landing right in front of the two of them.

“No, it can’t be... but why?” Fenrir muttered to himself in disbelief.

Before them was another dark alicorn wearing a heavy full-body black metal armour, only this one had a more ghostly, diaphanous appearance.

Without wasting any time, he shot a large magic sphere of white light at Luna, which Fenrir rapidly intersected with a pale magic shield of his own, standing in front of her with his wings spread wide, in a defensive stance.

“Leave her alone!” he ordered the attacker fearlessly, only he did not comply, and so they both engaged in a fierce struggle.

The second dark alicorn was clearly targeting the princess, though all his strikes were untiringly deflected by Fenrir, whose forces were precisely equal to those of the opponent.

As soon as the fight was put to a sudden end, the two identical selves stood quietly facing each other, the barest one gritting his teeth while staring menacingly at the metal mask of the other, which lacked of any holes for eyes, nostrils or mouth.

“You cannot protect her forever!” sounded a blood-curdling, strident female voice on both Luna and Fenrir’s heads “You seek for completion, I for freedom. Accept it that we still need each other! When you do, I’ll be waiting for you on the other side...”

After that, the armoured pony spread his wings and took off hastily back to the gigantic dragon hovering above, and then everything went dead silent and calm, as the dark figures phased out into the air and the dark clouds vanished, replaced by the magical mist once again.

Luna noticed a few bleeding cuts all over Fenrir’s skin. Her mind was completely shaken, questioning why would he do such horrible things, and now had just willingly sacrificed himself to protect her.

“You’re hurt!”

“It’s nothing” he responded readily, without turning around to face her.

“Why did you save me?... Again?”

“Because... you are all I have left.”

His ears suddenly perked up, as he heard the whistle of a magic shot piercing through the tree leaves in the distance, coming to them at great speed. He raised another aura shield, deflecting the blazing golden sphere from the two of them.

Immediately after that, the source of this unexpected shot revealed itself: Celestia appeared from between the shadowy trees and in the middle of the fog, wearing her golden armour over the bandages, accompanied by dozens of royal guards from all classes.

“Sister?!”

“Luna, get away from him!” the elder sister demanded in a ruthless tone “NOW!”

The unicorn soldiers promptly lit their horns, instantaneously creating several transparent magical chains, which, thrown at the dark alicorn, rapidly constricted his every limb and neck, ultimately bringing him down.

“Wait, no! Please, sister! AH!” Luna was surprised by two guards who appeared from behind, dragging her away from him forcefully.

“Luna!” Fenrir got up and was about to charge at the guards holding her when he was stunned by a painful slashing strike delivered on his face by the princess of the day, while held securely in the same place by the tightening translucent chains. The blow had left a deep cut over one of his eyes, from which blood streamed down to his chin, and dripped to the grass below.

“It was foalish of you to come here alone, Luna!” Celestia scolded her younger sister “This pony is too dangerous! Haven’t you seen the storm he threw at us just now? He knew we were coming!”

“No, it wasn’t him!” Luna kept trying desperately to free herself from the guards’ firm grapple “I swear, sister, there was another...”

“SILENCE! I should have suspected...” Celestia sounded terribly blinded by her desire for revenge, her eyes burning in pure rage, as she walked leisurely towards the dark alicorn “your little, ‘secret’ friend, the outcast of our race, and the causer of all evil that has befallen on us.”

“You... you knew about our meetings?” the younger princess asked surprised.

“I did. You could hide it from mother and father, but you could never hide a secret from me for too long. I used to follow you to your secret meetings here, a thousand years ago. Please understand that I only did it because I cared about you, little sister.”

The elder monarch stopped only scarce meters away from the dark alicorn, who had been standing on his spot perfectly still and mute, and directed to him with contempt.

“Are those chains tight enough? ‘Stranglers of the ethereal’, a long forgotten spell created for the sole purpose of holding down heartless beasts like yourself, whilst draining their magic. I made sure to prepare myself for our next encounter.”

She delivered another powerful magic hit on him, which he was not able to evade or defend. He let out but a quiet cry of pain, stifled between his gritted teeth, and barely reacted physically, maintaining his pose, wings recoiled, but always following Celestia with his gaze, who walked back and forth right in front of him.

“You may have deceived my sister, but you have never fooled me. My parents told me all about you, exiled in the north, cursing our race with your very existence... I had sworn to avenge them. You may have defeated me the first time, but now I’ll make sure to fulfil my promise!”

More excruciating strikes lashed and burned his body, eventually pulling out slightly louder cries and making his legs start to shake, while his blood dripped continuously to the ground.

“STOP! I beg you, sister!”

Moments ago, the air changing drastically to the devastating tempest was also felt around the swift carriage, already near its destiny. The multidirectional winds made the last part of the journey become much more agitated and harsh, but it was not until one red lightening hit the body of the flying vehicle that the pegasi pulling it lost control and they began to descent abruptly.

“We’re going down! Hold on!”

A thunderous crash was heard many kilometres in the distance, as they landed violently in the middle of some dense forest, cutting a few treetops.

They had a bit of a struggle to get out of the wreckage that was the crashed carriage, but, luckily, nopony was severely injured, not even the pegasi guards.

“This is just great!” Twilight vented “Now how are we supposed to get back to Canterlot in time?!”

“Well, at least it looks like the storm is gone already...” Rarity observed, realising that they were surrounded by fog again.

“That must’ve been the shortest one so far...” Applejack added “Ya think that means something, Twi?”

“It only tells me that we’re nearly out of time. Come on, we’ll hoof it there!”

A few minutes later of scampering through the woods, they were all startled by Pinkie Pie’s unexpected and jumpy squealing notice.

“Wait! I hear something!”

After perking up their ears, they, too, detected a strange and out-of-place sound not far from there. It sounded like magic shots being fired.

“There’s somepony around here!” Fluttershy said, her concern growing immediately.

They proceeded to look for the source of the blasts. Soon, they found an open clearing with a hill in the centre. Numerous silhouettes were scattered around it, which they did not take long to recognise.

“Princess Celestia!”

“Twilight?”

The princess of the day had just finished delivering one hard, vengeful strike on the dark alicorn, who had finally succumbed to the pain and blood loss, and fell over to the ground, still putting some effort to get back up, but with no effect. He breathed with difficulty, while his blood was soaked by the dirt beneath his aching body, yet his blank eyes stared continuously at Luna, who cried inconsolably in despair, unable to do anything.

The elements, Cadance and Shining Armor gasped upon seeing such a horrible and pitiful sight.

“Princess Celestia, don’t!” the purple unicorn pleaded, rushing to her with the Crystal Heart on her hoof “He’s not the responsible for what’s happening!”

“He admitted he was to blame. He has taken the lives of our ancestors, and showed his true intentions when he attempted to slay me!” the monarch sounded infinitely resolute and unbreakable.

“We crossed paths with him in the crystal castle, but, instead of killing us all straight away, he sent us to an alternate Crystal Empire, painted according his own memories. There, I found a mysterious book that seemed completely out of place, speaking of an ancient prophecy; apparently, there was once an ancient maleficent goddess who was sealed away in a parallel dimension by your forefathers, but she still managed to slip some of her power into our world, and made the dark alicorn her vessel.”

Although what she was hearing seemed unbelievable, Celestia found herself in an impasse, as these recent revelations would utterly unsettle everything she knew and believed. Nevertheless, it appeared that the same testimony was confirmed by her most faithful student and all her friends, giving her no choice but to accept it.

“But... my parents never told me anything about it...”

“They were trying to protect you, just like you were trying to protect me by not telling us what you knew about the events. Please believe in us, princess. The dark alicorn is NOT the bringer of the end.”

Celestia glanced at Fenrir’s lying form, then at her younger sister, motionless and with teary eyes, and lastly turned her attention back to Twilight.

“How do we stop this... goddess?”

“When the dimension where she’s imprisoned was created, the key to unlock it was also forged as its counterpart, which is said to be the only thing that can destroy her for good: princess Aqua’s heart!”

“The Crystal Heart?!” she asked incredulous.

As Twilight presented the jewel on her front hoof, everypony gasped at the same time. What faint light still shun from the Crystal Heart was now completely put out, and it looked nothing more than an ordinary, cold and dead gem cut in the shape of a heart.

“But... I don’t understand, the book said princess Aqua accepted the key to her own heart...” Twilight was halted by a sudden, enlightening epiphany, which made her eyes widen and her mouth remain open, though no word came out of it.

“What? What is it Twilight?” Celestia asked, a little worried with her pupil’s frozen expression.

She did not reply right away, as if she was planning something. She took a quick glimpse at Luna and noticed the way how she stared afflicted at the dying dark alicorn.

“Princess, could you please release your sister Luna?”

She acquiesced her request, signalling the two guards holding her sister down with a subtle nod.

Luna skidded to the injured alicorn laid down on the grass, and lifted his head up gently. She cried profusely, and her tears fell down on his face.

“Fenrir, I’m so sorry...”

“Why... why do you cry, Luna?” he muttered as best as his weak voice managed to speak.

“I’m crying because... I don’t want you to die!”

“I thought you hated me...”

“No, of course not! You’re my friend! I’m so sorry I doubted you. It wasn’t you who made all this happen. You’ve just been used. I... don’t want to lose you again...”

As she embraced him tighter, their horns met together, and suddenly irradiated a warm, incandescent white beam, which spread and involved the entirety of his body, healing all of his wounds. Nopony had ever witnessed such splendorous phenomenon before.

Once the light dimmed down and he got back up on his hooves, the Crystal Heart’s vague light shun once again, and Twilight smiled excitedly as she believed to have finally solved the riddle for good.

“What does this mean, Twilight?” Cadance questioned, behind her.

“It means that the Crystal Heart is NOT the key to the Undone Dimension!”

The confusion and wonder were total. Everypony looked at her, expecting an explanation.

“Princess Aqua had a son, whom she loved and cared for with all of her heart. The book only spoke metaphorically, but, in a way, she accepted HIM to her heart! HE is the key!”

“Fenrir is the key?” asked the shy yellow pegasus.

Twilight nodded affirmatively “You were right when you said the Crystal Heart appeared to be crying, Fluttershy. Princess Aqua is grieving for her son’s emptiness.”

Celestia glared completely astounded at the dark alicorn standing with her younger sister by his side. “He’s an alicorn prince?” she thought aloud.

“Wait,” Rainbow Dash interrupted “but how will he unlock the gates?”

“Hum... according to the book, the gates require the two pieces of the split key to open them from both sides at the same time, so Fenrir’s heart must be the second piece waiting on the other side!” the purple unicorn responded.

Fenrir recalled his previous encounter with his other armoured self, moments ago.

“I’ll be waiting for you on the other side...”

He closed his eyes and pointed his horn directly to the sky, creating a massive, wide column of incandescent light, which pierced the haze upwards and quickly involved himself, the princesses, the six elements, Cadance and Shining Armor. After that powerful spell was complete, they all vanished, remaining only the troubled royal guards, dispersed throughout the area.

“H-hey! Where did the majesties go?!”