Romance and the Fate of Equestria

Chapter Ninety-Five

A week later, the six ponies gathered at the entrance to the Everfree Forest. Celestia and Luna appeared over their heads, fluttering down to earth just as the sun began to set.

"Ladies," Luna said elegantly, bowing her head.

"Your Highnesses," Twilight replied, bowing.

"And Zecora, perfectly on time," said Celestia, nodding cordially as the zebra approached out of the darkness. "All right, everypony, the social event of the century, the Gathering of the Goddesses, starts in half an hour according to the magical nudges I'm receiving. Are we ready?"

"We're going all the way to the Whispering Desert in half an hour?" Twilight said in surprise.

"We can be there right now, if there are no objections," said Luna.

"Rainbow, you got the camera?" Pinkie said excitedly.

"You betcha," said Rainbow. A huge camera was around her neck, and she was wearing a pair of heavy, bulging saddlebags.

"All right," said Celestia, beaming. "Luna?"

"Sister," Luna replied.

Luna teleported to the other end of the group, facing Celestia over the heads of the six ponies and Zecora. The two sisters' horns lit up, and a blue-and-gold ring of magical energy joined them together, surrounding their subjects tightly. There was a noisy flash of white light, blinding them; when it faded, they were all standing atop a small plateau, with the only thing visible from horizon to horizon a windswept sea of sand. Though it had been nearly nightfall in Equestria, here in the desert the sun was nearly at its peak.

"Wow," Twilight breathed. "Here we are, everypony! Just look at it… we are in the Whispering Desert."

"Hell yeah!" Rainbow declared, pumping her hoof triumphantly. "The Whispering Desert, which is… where exactly?"

"The Whispering Desert takes up much of the continent across the western sea from Equestria," Twilight recited.

"And ponies live here?" said Applejack, scanning the barren land. "Must be mighty resourceful folks."

"Most of the settlements are around the edge of the desert," said Twilight. "And while there are quite a few ponies, they're heavily outnumbered by our close relatives, the horses—who are themselves outnumbered by the region's dominant species, the camels and gemsboks. In the south of this continent, there's some more hospitable territory, and there's an established pony nation down there. It's called Nara, though not much else is known about it."

Luna squinted at the sun, which had stopped moving. She closed her eyes and lit up her horn, waving her head gracefully and emitting a trail of dust. The sun started moving again, up toward its apogee.

"I'd bet my last sky trireme that Kolassa shows up late," Celestia said thoughtfully, scanning the horizon.

Luna frowned. "Why would she be late? She lives here."

"She's always late," Celestia grumbled.

"Perhaps, but surely for a Gathering in her own homelands, she won't—"

"Luna."

"Oh!" Luna said with dawning comprehension. "You actually wish to make the wager. I see. Very well, one of my sky triremes against one of yours."

"Excellent," Celestia said gleefully.

"I wouldn't mind making a wager myself," Luna pondered. "Um… this Okapiopteryx. I've read up on her a bit. If I may, I'd like to make the wager that she arrives in a grandiose procession of her clergy, showing off all of their magical skill, perhaps with musical accompaniment."

"Pfft, no bet," Celestia chuckled. "Of course she's going to do that. It's kind of her thing."

"Oh," said Luna, disappointed. "Hmm. Well, how about this: I bet that her entourage will be bigger than all the rest of ours combined."

Celestia's eyes lit up. "Ooh, that's interesting! That might happen… and it might not. All right, I will take that bet. Same stakes?"

"I believe so."

"All right then," Celestia said eagerly. "Hmm, but what if we each win one bet but lose the other? Then we might as well not exchange ships at all. That won't be any fun."

"I agree," Luna said thoughtfully. "Obviously, we'll need a third wager to break any ties."

"Yes, we will. Hmmm…" Celestia looked up into the sky and chewed her lip as she considered the possibilities.

Luna suddenly grinned slyly. "I believe that Annihilara will be here. You seem to think she's dead. What if I were to bet you that she will come?"

"Lulu…" Celestia pleaded.

"That is not your name to use," Luna retorted. "Do you take the bet or not?"

"I don't want to take that bet, Luna," Celestia said softly. "If she doesn't show up, you'll be devastated enough. I'm not going to make you pay me for it as well."

"Ohhhhh," Luna said coldly. "Well, you're certainly confident that you know what's going to happen, aren't you? So am I. My confidence is absolute. Take the bet, sister."

"Okay," Celestia sighed. "I accept. But there's truly no need to—"

"A bet's a bet, sister," said Luna. "No turning back."

"Pardon me, Your Highnesses," said Rarity, approaching. "I just wanted to ask if you could tell us a bit about the other goddesses before they arrive. Who are they, precisely?"

Twilight perked up.

"Twilight, darling, you want to field this one?" said Celestia in amusement.

"I do," Twilight said eagerly. "It's said that the world sits on an axis, with a divine being at each point: Princess Celestia of Equestria in the north, Empress Song Li of Westeroceros in the east, Queen Okapiopteryx of Web City in the south, and Lady Kolassa of the Whispering Desert in the west. As for exactly who they are… there are no descriptions or depictions of any kind in any of the books I saw. I don't know what they look like or what we can expect from their conversation."

"Very good, Twilight," said Celestia. "That's more than most ponies know about the world beyond Equestria. Allow me to fill in the blanks. The correspondence to the four compass directions is more serendipity than design; it's just where each of our kingdoms happens to be. I'll see if I can educate you on the details before the others arrive. Twilight, dear, do feel free to chime in if I come upon something you know. I love hearing about the things you've learned."

"What makes you think Twilight's the only one who knows anything?" Rainbow demanded. "I mean, she totally is, but come on, don't make assumptions."

"My apologies," Celestia said, grinning. "The story, then. Lady Kolassa is known as…" She eyed Twilight hopefully.

"The Titaness of the Whispering Desert," Twilight finished. "She's a wanderer; she doesn't officially rule this land, she's not actively involved the nation's politics, but she is often seen walking around in this part of the world."

"Yes," said Celestia. "She wanders the desert, she thinks about things, sometimes she answers prayers, but beyond that, she does very little other than serve as a symbol of the nation. Sometimes I wonder if she's ever been very happy… but she's a good soul, a decent sort. If somepony were to ask me who my best friend is—which nopony ever has, incidentally—I would have to say Lady Kolassa. She's done many good things for my family, and I just enjoy spending time with her. Moving along, what do you know about Queen Okapiopteryx?"

"Well, she's called the Four-Winged Queen," said Twilight. "She rules the southern continent, which is connected to our own by a land bridge in the Badlands. The continent is largely tropical, jungles and grasslands with a small mountainous region, and largely uninhabited apart from the huge metropolis in the center: Web City. Of course, ah, none of that is really about the queen herself, so, um… Zecora! She's your goddess and it's your country. Why don't you give us some history?"

Zecora nodded, and recited: "When the Four-Winged Queen first made it her land, all the species migrated to her city so grand. No war or strife from the tribal hatreds so old, for our new ruler's coming had long been foretold. It's said a generation was spent, waiting for her glorious ascent."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "That's more flowery than usual for you. You been rehearsing that, or…?"

Zecora replied with a toothy smile.

"I never knew you were a priestess, Zecora," Pinkie said in fascination. "What's that like?"

"Seeing through a goddess's eyes," Zecora said breathlessly. "It's a healthy way of living, serene and wise."

"Ooh!" Twilight said, suddenly remembering something. "Queen Okapiopteryx's country has the most diverse array of intelligent species in the world. Equestria might have more species overall, but ponies are a vast majority… in Web City and what there is of a surrounding nation, you'd be hard-pressed to figure out who the majority species actually is. Of course, none of you knew what a zebra was before I told you, so you probably won't know what I mean when I tell you to expect not only zebras, but perhaps giraffes, various races of gazelle and antelope, cape buffalo… and of course her own kind, the okapi. All some of the most glorious and majestic civilized folk in the world. Anything to add, Princess?"

Celestia shook her head. "No. Anything I could say about the magnificent Queen Okapiopteryx would just ruin her mystique. Let's go to the east: Empress Song Li. Formerly of the Sea of Stars, wherever that may be… somewhere beyond the heavens, allegedly, but I basically am the heavens and I have no knowledge of such a place. Now she rules Westeroceros, a country far, far to the east of Equestria."

"She's known for being a war hero and a teacher of the arts of battle," said Twilight. "Westeroceros is home to numerous species of deer, and they share a border with the griffons, so war is a big part of their culture by necessity. Their society centers on science, not magic—it runs on technology reverse-engineered from the highly advanced tech Song Li brought with her from her homeland, though only she wields its full potential."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "What's the difference between magic and science?" she asked. "I always thought they were synonyms."

"Not quite," Twilight said, clearly thrilled at that topic being brought up. "While both magic and science can be defined as the pursuit of reliable knowledge of the way the world works and the applications thereof, there are some subtle distinctions. Suffice it to say that, for the most part, magic asks the question, 'What can we do for the world?' while science is more 'What can the world do for us?' Which isn't to say science is inherently more evil than magic. Both have moral and immoral applications in roughly equal measure. But let's go back to the empress. You say she came from a 'Sea of Stars'? Where is that? What's it like?"

Celestia shrugged. "I don't know anything about the Sea of Stars beyond what I've already said. I do know that she's a good ruler of the land she chose long ago to inhabit. I know that the deer folk embrace and love her even though she's not one of them. And I know that Westeroceros is a lovely country to visit. I went there when I was young, in my adventuring days, long before Song Li arrived. And… Song Li possesses one of the most unusual traits I've ever seen in a world leader."

"Yeah? What's that?" Rainbow asked, leaning in close.

"She gets nervous in social situations," said Celestia, giggling.

"This is some fascinatin' stuff," Applejack marveled. "Let's see if I got this right: Lady Kolassa, Empress Song Li, and Queen… Oka… Okapiopteryx? Is that it, just those three?"

"Not quite, Applejack," said Celestia. "The histories Twilight read left a few out. There's Luna, of course. All histories seem to leave her out. But perhaps that is my fault. I wish I'd done something to change that, but I'm glad it's changing now."

Luna smiled, and leaned against her sister affectionately.

"And, for the sake of thoroughness and due to the dead, I should mention Soledad, the first goddess of the modern world, vampire queen of the seaponies, whose life tragically ended nearly a thousand years ago," Celestia went on.

"Wait… seaponies exist?" Twilight said in surprise. "Vampires exist?"

"Not 'vampires', just her, as far as I know," said Celestia. "Seaponies, yes, although their unnatural beauty and their illustrious kingdoms are things of fiction. They're a sickly folk who live in a sickly world. Their affinity for musical theater, that's real. After all, they need something to distract them from the hell that is their life. Soledad was… how can I say this respectfully? Not the most attentive leader, but things in the seapony kingdom have gotten even worse since she died. I'd like to help them, but they're at the bottom of the ocean, there's not much I can do."

There was a solemn and heavy silence, which lasted until Luna cleared her throat.

"There were three goddesses at the first Gathering," she said. "Five at the second, for Celestia and myself had joined their ranks… then three again at the third, for I had been banished and Soledad had died. With the rise of Okapiopteryx and Song Li, and my own return, this sixth Gathering will host an unprecedented six goddesses."

"Six?" Twilight pondered. "That's you two, Princesses… and the other three that I read about. But that's five, and you said Soledad is dead. So who's the sixth?"

"Princess Annihilara," Celestia and Luna said in unison, but in vastly different tones—Luna gushing out the name with childish love and affection, Celestia with sorrow and regret. They glanced at each other skeptically.

"Oh yeah?" said Rainbow. "And where does she live?"

"Equestria, at least I think so," said Celestia. "In fact, she's the heir to the throne."

"Say what?" Rainbow said in surprise.

"Really?" Twilight breathed. "I thought that was Cadance."

"Well, unlike Princess Annihilara, we can actually manage to find Princess Cadance once in a while," Celestia said dryly. "But properly, if something were to happen to Luna and myself, the throne would pass to Annihilara, then Cadance."

"Annihilara," Rarity remarked, testing out the sound of the name. "So much power and majesty in that name… who is she?"

"Yes, who?" Twilight said in disbelief. "I had no idea there was ever a third goddess in Equestria."

"Princess Annihilara is our cousin," Luna said sweetly. "And not just any cousin. Not like the dozens-of-generations-removed relatives who make up the current royal family. She's our first cousin, our mother's sister's daughter. And my dearest fillyhood friend."

"Luna and Annihilara were inseparable when we were growing up," Celestia said glumly. "But Annihilara remained a blank flank well into adulthood, which I can assure you was just as much an anomaly back then as it is now… which is why one day Luna found Annihilara in the middle of attempting suicide. Luna unleashed a blast of random and uncontrolled magical energy in a desperate attempt to save her life. And though her life was saved, her body was destroyed, leaving her nothing but a shadow… insubstantial… unliving but deathless. A shadow who dwells half in the land of the dead, who hears their thoughts and can call up their spirits. A shadow with a cutie mark, because you see, apparently Annihilara's special talent was in fact suicide."

Fluttershy blinked tears out of her eyes. "Oh my…" she choked out.

"Wow," Pinkie whispered. "Dark. Dark, dark, dark…"

"We didn't see much of her after that," said Celestia. "She returned to us occasionally, but was always rather distant."

"Yes," said Luna, glaring suspiciously at Celestia. "And now, I must ask, sister… why do you speak of her in a tone of such pain? Your apprehension, your unease, every time I mention her, what is the cause?"

Celestia looked at the ground and bit her lip.

"What happened while I was gone?" Luna whispered tenderly. "Did she lose herself? Did she turn to a villainous path? You can tell me. Please. I am prepared to hear it."

Celestia rocked back and forth slowly, her eyes shut tight. She spoke slowly and quietly, the words clearly causing her some effort. "When you went into the moon… when I put you there… Annihilara recognized my regret. She became like my second sister. She came to live with me in the castle of Clovenshire. But…"

"But?" Luna peeped.

"But that lasted barely a year," said Celestia, "before that kingdom was destroyed. And for some reason that I could never understand, she blamed herself for the city's fall. When I moved the capitol to Canterlot, she didn't come with me. She didn't want to live with me anymore, fearing that something bad would happen if she did. But she would always visit me, a couple of times a year. Until about forty years ago, when the visits just… stopped. No warning, no farewell, she just… vanished."

Celestia sighed deeply and turned to face her sister with tear-stained eyes. "Luna, my apprehension about coming here today is exactly what I claimed it was: I haven't seen her in forty years and I've spent all that time suspecting that she found a way to die again and has truly passed on. Today, I'm going to find out for sure. I'm terrified."

"…So she's not a villain?" Luna said hopefully.

"Of course Annihilara isn't a villain. Get that ridiculous thought of your head. My only fear is that she won't be here. I'll know once and for all that my beloved cousin is dead."

Luna sniffled and embraced Celestia. "She'll be here," she said. "I know it in my heart. I truly believe it."

Celestia smiled sadly. "Well, that's why we made a wager on the subject. I hope I'm wrong. I've never hoped so much to lose." She turned to Twilight. "Is something on your mind, my dear?"

"A great deal, actually," Twilight admitted, looking deeply concerned. "These tales of the other goddesses, especially your cousin, it's made me realize how little is known about you. I mean… Your mother? Your childhood? This is the first time I've heard of such things. I know nothing about your history, Princess. You told me when you became a goddess, that it was Discord's doing, but there are so many blank points. And now… I just have so many questions. Where did you come from? How did you find the Elements of Harmony? How did you come to rule the sun and moon?"

Celestia gazed at the horizon wistfully. "It's a long story, my beloved. Centuries long. One I'd have to carefully consider before retelling. One that would be only for the ears of a close friend… which you are." She smiled tenderly at Twilight. "I'd be happy to tell you when the time is right, but I don't know when that time will come; there's so much that needs to be done. I'll make a deal with you, my darling Twilight: I promise that I will sit down with you and tell you everything there is to know about me… sometime before the eleventh century is over. Can you hold me to that?"

Twilight grinned. "Very well, Princess."

Celestia lifted a hoof and caressed Twilight's face, staring at her almost tearfully.

"It is time," Luna announced, awestruck. "Lady Kolassa approaches."

All of them joined Luna, clamoring to get a good look in the direction she was gazing. The heat of the sun made the air hazy and quivery, and caused a peculiar illusion that made the approaching figure look as if she was all the way on the horizon.

On first glance, she appeared to be a perfectly ordinary earth pony mare. But after a few seconds, it was clear that she more closely resembled a sculpture of a pony molded out of sand. Her body was the exact color of the sand she was trudging across, as was her shaggy and spiky mane, her long tail, and her eyes—her eyes looked like orbs of sand, with lines carved in them to illustrate irises, pupils, and light reflecting off of them.

As she approached, she began teleporting. Every time she teleported, she was the same distance away from the plateau, just approaching from a completely different direction; she closed the distance simply by walking. And as she came closer, something about her became much more apparent.

"Oh… my gosh…" Twilight gasped.

Twilight had realized that it was no optical illusion; she truly had been on the horizon. From the bottom of her hooves to the top of her head, Lady Kolassa, though shaped exactly like an ordinary mare, was more than two hundred feet tall.

This mountainous mare made of sand smirked as she finally began teleporting forward. As she reached the plateau, she reared up on her hind legs and cast a massive shadow over them all. She turned to the side, revealing her cutie mark, which appeared to be carved into her flank: an image of three pyramids.

She landed back on her front hooves, shaking the earth with a mighty rumble. She towered over the plateau, so she settled down and tucked her legs underneath herself to be nearly at eye level with the dumbfounded ponies standing there, leaning closer and closer to get a good look at them. The ponies' jaws were hanging open in disbelief at the sheer mass of the goddess; each of her eyes was the size of a four-story building, and a decent-sized house could have fit in her mouth.

She inclined her head. "Your Highness," she said reverently, in a wispy and ethereal voice.

"Hello, Lady Kolassa," said Celestia with a tone of sympathy as she approached. "How are you, my dear friend? How are you holding up?"

"Oh, it's… not well, you know, not well at all," Kolassa sighed. "Ever since Mitgaeard's attack, it's… ah, you know. I lost all of my good followers. All that's left are those sneaky and shifty jerks in their wizard towers, who claim to worship me but really just use me as an excuse to do nothing but practice their magic, or when they're not doing that, going around yammering to everypony who'll listen that alchemy and transmutation aren't really magic… yeah. I'm not feeling well. There are a lot of repairs to be made, a lot of prayers to answer. I've been looking forward to this. I get to get something done, but I get kind of a break too."

Celestia stepped up to her bowed head, reached up with a hoof, and stroked Kolassa's muzzle. Celestia's entire body could have easily fit inside one of the Titaness's nostrils.

"It's quite nice to see you, Celestia," Kolassa whispered. Her eyes scanned Celestia's group. "Luna, is that you?"

"Hello, Lady Kolassa," Luna chirped. "It's been a while."

"It has, over a thousand years," said Kolassa, nodding her immense head. "I was delighted to hear about your return. It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back," Luna said earnestly. "I've missed everything so much."

Kolassa nodded and leaned in closer, eyeballing Luna with interest. "Listen, these Gatherings… for so long, it's been your sister and your cousin and the two new girls, and don't get me wrong, they're lovely people, but they're no fun. When they're not being weepy, they're being stoic. I want the Gathering to be a laugh riot for a change! You, I seem to recall you were the bitter, angry, and jealous sort the last time we met, which, I'll be honest, isn't too promising. So what are you like nowadays? Can you provide a bit more entertainment and cheer at this thing? What have you got for me?"

"Well…" Luna said thoughtfully, "since I returned from the moon, I've learned that I have an insatiable need for attention, poor social skills, and no inside voice."

"Niiiiice," said Kolassa. "Sounds good. Gimme some."

She raised a building-sized hoof, and Luna bumped it with all her might, giggling.

"I admit," Kolassa mused, "three years ago, when the sun once again disappeared from all corners of the world, I wasn't sure what to think. I considered coming to Equestria to intervene somehow, but before I could decide, the sun was back again, just like that. It was impressive. I seem to recall that last time, Celestia, it took you a month or two to find a way to deal with it. You've streamlined the process to just twenty-four hours. Kudos!"

"Thank you," said Celestia, "but this time around, it wasn't my doing at all. Nightmare Moon had me beaten down and imprisoned within seconds of her return. I didn't exactly expect the situation to be dealt with that very day either, but it seems a good team rose up from the darkness and brought me back."

"Ah," said Kolassa, squinting at Celestia's entourage. "I take it these multicolored grains of sand are the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Greetings, honored guests. Already, you're the stuff of legend. You have my respect."

"…Wow," Applejack mouthed.

"So… gigantic…" Fluttershy squeaked.

Kolassa chuckled. "That's right, ladies. Don't ever start thinking you've seen everything. The others will show up soon. You think I impressed you, well, just wait."

"Yes, the appointed time is near," Luna agreed. "You know, Kolassa, Celestia bet me you'd be late, but I told her I was sure you wouldn't be. Now she owes me one of her magnificent aerial warships."

"Well, I wasn't planning on showing up quite so early," said Kolassa. "I thought I could saunter in at a more fashionable time, but… then I realized Song Li and Okapiopteryx are lying in wait hoping to upstage one another with grandiose entrances to impress everypony… so I figured while they're waiting each other out, I'll be the first act to follow. It's better than trying to follow those two, and it means I get to watch from the good seats. But here comes Song Li now. Listen…"

Her ears perked up, and everyone fell silent to listen to the sound of an intense, escalating whirring sound.

Five indistinct creatures dropped from the sky and zoomed around the plateau in a perfect arrowhead formation, leaving behind glowing white trails of cloud. After flying a single lap, they shot upwards and parted, scattering in five different directions, and then joined back together as they dove back down for the plateau. The creature at the point of the arrowhead accelerated, leaving the other four far behind.

The leader landed hard on the plateau, sending pebbles flying, and leaving a scar in the earth. The other four descended slowly, flying on jets of air shooting from the bottoms of their armored hooves. They landed softly, and unfurled a flag depicting a swirling purple nebula against a spangled blue-black sky.

The four followers were a deer, a moose, an elk, and a caribou. Each wore a suit of shimmering lavender armor, with trimmings of gold, dark green, and turquoise.

The leader of the formation stood up. She was the same height as Celestia and roughly the same shape, and was also wearing armor, but unlike the others, she was so completely encased that her species was impossible to determine: the armor fit over her like a second skin, including her pony-like ears, leaving nothing visible of her body but a pair of narrow nut-brown eyes. The armor was mostly lavender, with golden plates over her cranium, cheeks, back, belly, and hooves, dark green caps over her snout, throat, and rump, and turquoise circles on the joints of her legs.

"Greetings, Empress Song Li," said Celestia, inclining her head.

"Yes," Song Li said in a monotone, slouching and avoiding Celestia's eye. "To you as well. Is this your sister?"

"Naturally," Celestia said sweetly.

"It's good to meet you, Empress," said Luna, stepping forward and trying to catch her eye.

Song Li was silent for a long moment before she replied, "You as well, Princess Luna." She stared at Celestia. "You have not gotten any taller."

"I'm sorry?" Celestia said, puzzled.

"The day we met, you told me you were consistently growing taller," said Song Li, looking away once again. "But you are precisely the same height as you were then."

"Am I?" Celestia said with interest. "Hmm, I haven't been keeping track. Perhaps this is as tall as I'm ever going to get. I suppose that's good news." She giggled.

Song Li shifted her hooves nervously. After a few seconds, she closed her eyes; though her mouth wasn't visible, she was clearly smiling. Celestia released another little laugh, as did Fluttershy. Song Li straightened in surprise and stared at Fluttershy in alarm.

"Ohhh… you brought your high priestesses," she whispered, shutting her eyes tight in embarrassment. "I should have thought to bring my clergy as well. Forgive me, I make many mistakes. You know I am new and the outsider, please understand… please, please know that…"

"My dear empress," Celestia said affectionately. "If I may, you are no outsider, and perhaps you'd feel like less of one if you spoke clearly and looked us in the eye."

"Wasn't I?" Song Li said loudly, looking at Celestia directly, not blinking. "How can you claim I am not doing these things?" Her voice cracked with sorrow. "I've been practicing…"

"Sorry, sweetie, you weren't," Celestia said gently. "You are now…"

Song Li sat down on the ground. "Damnation, then," she said, seething with resentment. "You mustn't let this slide. If you find I am not engaging in proper social protocol, you must inform me."

"Very well, Song Li," said Celestia. "Please stand up. We're not judging you."

Song Li whimpered as she got back to her hooves.

Suddenly, drums started beating from seemingly every direction at once. A mirrored pool appeared on the ground near the edge of the plateau. A rhinoceros in wooly brown-and-white robes clambered out of the pool, then another.

The pool in the floor disappeared, and the rhinos faced each other, bowing their heads. Shining lights appeared at the tips of their horns, and another two shiny and glimmering portals appeared in front of them. A pair of hulking cape buffalo emerged from these portals, wearing gray robes trimmed with blue-green.

The buffalo waved their hooves in a graceful arc and opened another two portals. From all four portals came zebras, wildebeests, and tiny orange gazelles, all wearing the same robes as the buffalo. The new arrivals leapt, pranced, and frolicked about, while the four portals vanished and a powerful flute was added to the intensifying drum beat.

The frolicking seemed completely random until the four zebras, two gazelles, and two wildebeests suddenly formed into a perfect line, each bowing their head and opening a single portal. Eight gray-robed okapi emerged, vaguely pony-like creatures with brown fur, their faces and legs striped with white. The okapi were all perfectly identical, save that the four on the right had pairs of small black horns and the four on the left did not.

They marched forward in perfect sync, their stomping and clacking hooves added to the music along with a vibraphone and steel drums. The portals the okapi had emerged from vanished, and one opened in their midst. From this lone portal, a zebra stepped out, and the music abruptly stopped.

The zebra was a large and muscular stallion, wearing a red robe trimmed with gold and with a bright orange popped collar. The zebra wore his mane in cornrows, and had a simple golden circlet on his head. He had a thick black goatee, a star-shaped black mark on his cheek, and vibrant purple eyes. He looked over the other goddesses, who waited patiently for him to speak.

"We come to herald the Four-Winged Queen," he said in a deep, rumbling voice, with a thick accent just like Zecora's. "She even now looks upon this scene. If you are here to socialize, she finds this a pointless exercise. If you're talking about the world's survival, you can expect her glorious arrival." After that recitation, he tilted his head at Celestia expectantly.

"Oh," she said in surprise. "Well, of course we'll get to talking about the important matters."

"Get in here, Okapiopteryx, we'll get this over with," Kolassa called. "See, no fun at all," she muttered to Luna.

The red-robed zebra stomped a hoof, conjuring another portal, bigger than any that had come before. Two gray-robed giraffes stepped out, walked in opposite directions, and saluted dramatically, each creating a portal which was angled toward the sun. Beams of light shot out of the portals; when the two beams met, they twisted together and started spiraling up and up toward the sky. About twenty feet up, the top of the pillar became a pulsating heart of pure light. The heart dissolved, revealing Queen Okapiopteryx.

She was an okapi, with slanted yellow eyes and prominent eyelashes. Despite being female, she had horns like the males of the species. She wore various pieces of gold jewelry: large hoop earrings, a necklace decorated with a huge turquoise gem, and a five-pointed crown decorated with three diamonds, one black, one blue, and one green.

But she wasn't entirely an okapi. She had four feathered wings, each deep blue with three hooked black claws. Her hind legs had blue feathers and ended in huge black bird feet, and she had a long, erect tail like a dinosaur's, also feathery and blue and ending in a broad, feathered fan.

She started floating to the ground, landing beside her red-robed zebra high priest, and her most surprising feature became apparent: she was tiny. With the possible exception of the gazelles, Queen Okapiopteryx was the smallest creature at the Gathering; she appeared to be a filly in her early teens, only slightly taller than the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Let's see, how can I remain couth, while telling the absolute truth?" she said haughtily in a heavily-accented voice which was mildly less childish than her appearance. "Let's try to get this done, in an hour, just one, while we still have our eternal youth."

Rarity blinked in surprise and leaned to the side to whisper to Twilight. "Was that a limerick?" she demanded under her breath.

"Yes," Twilight whispered back, chuckling. "Queen Okapiopteryx speaks entirely in limericks. Speaking in couplets is a discipline practiced by her religious order, and she has always led by example. She only recently switched to limericks sometime in the past century, as an extra self-imposed challenge. It's meant to be an exercise, I believe, in measuring one's words carefully before speaking. Have I got that right, Zecora?"

"Yes," Zecora breathed. Twilight turned to her in surprise at her absent tone, and saw that she was staring raptly at Okapiopteryx's high priest, who himself had his utmost attention on the goddess.

"Sweetie," Kolassa was saying, "you can't attach conditions to your attendance here. Coming to the Gathering is kind of an irresistible urge, as if you didn't know. Obviously we're going to discuss the fate of the world, but we're also gonna socialize, so deal with it."

"Do what needs to be done, and I will try to be fun," Okapiopteryx sighed, rolling her eyes. "And if I am not, I can always be shot, from a cannon into the sun." She glared at Celestia.

"I don't do that," Celestia said through a forced, tight smile.

Okapiopteryx scoffed and approached Luna. "And here is the Mare in the Moon," she said. "Good to see you this fine afternoon. When I first heard the story, of your beauty and glory, I hoped I'd be meeting you soon." She grinned broadly.

Luna narrowed her eyes and scowled. "I don't like you," she said bluntly.

"HA! HA!" Celestia barked out in hysterical panic. "Pay no attention to my sister, she's just being… protective of me, you know, reacting to your… blatant disdain for me. Um, Okapiopteryx, you know Zecora, don't you?" She scooped up Zecora and pushed her toward Okapiopteryx forcefully, as Luna stared at her in disbelief.

"This is the creature you want to like you?" Luna hissed to Celestia.

"She's not usually in such a bad mood," Celestia mumbled back. "She's usually quite gracious. She was cordial and respectful to you. That's the way she is normally."

"Is she always so disdainful of you?" Luna countered.

"Well, yes, but—"

"Then I don't like her, sister," Luna said simply. "You may respect her regardless, but I have my sister's back and won't let her push you around."

Meanwhile, Zecora was smiling slowly as Okapiopteryx looked her over.

"Such joy that seeing you once again brings, lovely okapi queen of four wings," Zecora said brightly.

Okapiopteryx leaned forward and whispered so only Zecora could hear: "That rhyme was a bit forced. Watch it, priestess."

"Sorry," Zecora whispered back.

Okapiopteryx smiled and patted Zecora's shoulder. "I find you a very brave girl," she said tenderly. "To live your life in the far reaches of the world. And with your community you share, what to them is knowledge so rare… you're a precious and glorious pearl."

Zecora bowed.

"Divine favor," said Celestia with an overly wide smile. "It's a wonderful thing for the soul."

She continued smiling hopefully. Okapiopteryx rolled her eyes and walked over to Song Li.

"Feh!" Luna spat.

Suddenly, there was a rumbling like thunder from deep within the earth. The ground shook, and the intensely blue desert sky became a stormy gray as far as the eye could see. There was more rumbling, and a huge black cloud appeared in the sky in the shape of a hurricane, its eye directly over the plateau and its arms spreading all the way to the horizon. Four pure-black tornadoes dropped from the hurricane and started swirling around, throwing sand in massive spirals that made the air hazy for miles and miles.

"Greetings, good people," said a chilly female voice. "Do not be alarmed."

The eye of the hurricane turned red, bathing the plateau and every creature on it in red light.

"Be afraid," said the voice. "Be very… VERY… AFRAAAAAAID!"

A pair of jaws appeared, filled with hundreds of shiny white needle-sharp teeth, and started flying around and around, followed by a streak of blackness like the tail of a comet. Heavy metal music started playing, a vicious guitar riff backed by violent drums.

The four tornadoes swirled faster and faster. Black lightning began striking randomly throughout the desert, multiple strikes each second, each one in a different place, all of them huge and completely silent.

A pillar of darkness dropped down from the eye of the hurricane. Four faces stuck out of the pillar, each facing a different direction, each with a pair of round red disks for eyes, a lipless mouth full of impossibly sharp teeth, a scimitar-shaped unicorn horn, and a semi-transparent dark gray mane.

"Hello, hello, hellooooooooo," said the expressionless face.

All of the darkness—the sky, the hurricane, the tornadoes and the lightning—was sucked into the pillar of darkness, leaving the sky blue and the air clear once again. The pillar of darkness shrank down into a small black orb, which hopped off the plateau, landing in the sand far away as the music began to fade.

But just as suddenly, the music picked back up, its speed and volume escalating by the second. The orb transformed into a tall and skinny pony made of shadow, with that same gruesome face, a pair of hatchet-shaped dark gray wings, and a cutie mark of a rusty scythe with a gnarled handle… and six hundred feet tall.

She reared up on her hind legs, towering even taller, big enough to blot out the sun. From her back, six tentacles extended and writhed, each one ending in a copy of her glittery needle-toothed jaws.

"LOOK UPON ME!" the skyscraper-sized monstrosity screeched. "LOOK UPON THE GODDESS OF SUICIDE!"

She turned around and fell backward onto the plateau, her body passing through it weightlessly to the sound of a screaming guitar solo, and the screams of many of the goddesses' entourages, who looked around frantically, searching for some other sign, but it was suddenly silent and bright, as if Annihilara had never been there at all.

The towering shadow of a pony appeared on Kolassa's face, Annihilara's own face appearing between Kolassa's eyes. "What up, my immortal bitches?" Annihilara said casually.

"Hi, Annihilara," Kolassa chuckled.

"Hey, bud," Annihilara replied, her hoof peeling off of the surface of Kolassa's face and gently stroking her nose. A second later, Annihilara's shadow leapt off the Titaness's face and expanded into a three-dimensional tentacled beast, which marched over to Song Li's entourage to the sound of a hip-hop beat.

"Do you mortals suppose you're special?" Annihilara said mockingly. She split into several copies of herself, each one just a head with a ribbonlike body trailing after it, all of the heads surveying Okapiopteryx's clergy. "At the next Gathering, you'll all be dead and replaced with a new entourage that looks just like you. Then you'll be in my entourage, muahahahahaha."

One of the Annihilara heads took notice of Twilight and her friends, and all of the other heads were absorbed into that one, which formed itself into Annihilara's physical body, a solid three-dimensional shadow the same height as Celestia. A second later, her cutie mark reappeared, and she cried out in pain as she marched toward Twilight to inspect her.

"Hmm, well, this is a bit different," she said with interest, her emotionless face scanning Twilight's. "Who replaced all the gold-plated knights with a bunch of…" She turned and found herself face-to-face with Luna. At the sound of a record scratch, the music abruptly cut out. Annihilara's toothy lower jaw dropped incredulously.

"Hello, cousin," Luna said softly.

"Lulu?" Annihilara gasped.

Luna nodded, a sob creeping into her voice. "Yes, Lara. It's me."

Annihilara melted, transforming into a puddle of blackness. The puddle slid underneath Luna's legs, and from it rose flexible black tendrils, wrapping around Luna's body. One of them had Annihilara's face at the end, and this one wrapped around her neck over and over again before nuzzling her lovingly. "Lulu," she said tenderly. "Oh, Lulu…"

"Lara," Luna cooed, stroking her shadowy mane. "It's been so long."

Rainbow Dash sidled up to Princess Celestia. "Lara and Lulu," she commented. "Really gives you an idea of the ancient, mighty goddesses they are."

Celestia chuckled. "Yes, childhood names. Those have a tendency to stick no matter who we become."

"What was your name?" Rainbow teased. When Celestia turned to her, she flinched and added, "If, um, if I can—"

"Don't, don't even start, of course you're free to ask me that," Celestia said, waving a hoof dismissively. "Tia. I was Tia. Or at least that's what my friends called me. It never really caught on with my family."

"Aw, that's cute," said Rainbow, grinning.

"You're back," Annihilara squealed, coiling around Luna tightly. "You're free at last."

"Yes," said Luna. "For three years now. How is this the first I've seen of you? How did you not know?"

Annihilara detached herself from Luna and reformed into her physical body, shuddering when her cutie mark reappeared. "I… I've been sleeping," she muttered in embarrassment, looking down at the ground.

"For three years?" said Luna.

"For about forty," Annihilara said grimly. "I was… depressed. Just didn't want to be awake anymore."

"Oh," Luna said sadly. "Where were you?"

"My room," said Annihilara. "In the ruins of the castle in the Everfree Forest. You never got to see my room, did you? It's a pretty sweet crib. Nothing troubles me down there. I was free to just… sleep. Well, except for a few weeks ago when I chased down a bunch of snotty little adventurers who were casing the joint and started frisking my room."

Twilight snorted, and Annihilara turned to her abruptly. Twilight's amusement quickly evaporated. "Are they okay?" she said in concern.

"They're fine," Annihilara assured her. "I was mad at them at first, but I cooled down during the fight and came to like them. They were pretty gangsta. Had each other's backs. So I let them go. And I let them take all my stuff. Never let it be said that I'm not a gracious host."

"'Gangsta'," Luna remarked. "I don't believe heavy metal or hip-hop existed forty years ago, yet you're using their music and slang with some manner of proficiency, as far as I can tell. How did you come to be versed in those cultures while asleep?"

"Just because I'm asleep doesn't mean I don't still hear the thoughts of the dead," Annihilara said bitterly. "Folks die every minute, it allowed me to stay current and absorb those pieces of culture I liked."

"Yes, but… anypony who's died in the past three years would have given you the knowledge of my return, surely?" said Luna.

Annihilara's steely wings hunched uncertainly. "I guess I stopped paying attention at some point. I don't remember anything from less than a decade ago… guess I'll have to start listening to those memories now. Catch up on what I missed." She stared off into space, then back at Luna. "Oh, but you can keep talking to me. I can multitask. Hey, Celestia."

"Annihilara," Celestia replied, looking intensely relieved. "I've missed you while you were sleeping. I didn't know where you were. I feared the worst."

"But I feared nothing," Luna said confidently. "Celestia, it would appear that I won all of our bets. You owe me three sky triremes."

"I know, I know," Celestia sighed, grinning.

"Do you even own three sky triremes?" Luna wondered.

"I do not," Celestia admitted. "I'll have to have the other two built for you."

"Ah, excellent."

"Yes, now you practically have a fleet and I have nothing."

Luna thought about that for a moment before replying, "Ha-ha."

Celestia broke out in riotous laughter, until she noticed Okapiopteryx ruffling her wings impatiently, and hastily put on a straight face and cleared her throat.

"Ahem… my dear ladies," she announced. "It is wonderful that we are together this day. This may be the most important conference we have ever had. May the Gathering begin."