Philomena landed on a dock that connected to the island. Upon closer inspection, the Tower of Midnight was floating even higher above the Land of the Night, almost above the clouds. The tower had to be at least fifty stories high, if not higher. The land around them was bathed in darkness, but the full moon above them supplied them with enough light to see fairly well.

"How do we get up there?" Vinyl questioned, looking up at the tower that floated high above them.

Philomena cooed, "The relic fragment that summoned me is a key to the Rainbow Stoneship."

Vinyl cocked an eyebrow, "Rainbow what ship?"

"The Rainbow Stoneship. It is a powerful relic of magic that will carry you to the Tower of Midnight, provided that you activate it with the relic fragment."

Octavia didn't seem convinced, "Sounds a little too simple."

"Afterwards, you must confront Nightmare Moon and break the spell she has on Luna." Philomena said, cawing angrily.

"Never mind." The mare said with a slight blush.

Whooves interrupted, "Thanks again, Philomena. We won't fail you or the rest of Equestria."

Philomena cooed sympathetically, "I wish you the best of luck. Please save Luna from the bitterness in her heart and save Equestria from eternal darkness and mayhem."

With that, the graceful phoenix pushed off, flying into the great blue yonder, her fiery feathers blazing against the sky.

Whooves turned to his two companions, "Well, this is it. Let's save the world."

---

The Land of the Night was quiet. There was very little to see except for trees and bushes and an occasional owl that flew away out of a tree whenever they passed by.

Tension was in the air between the three ponies. Octavia's past few nightmares continued to plague her thoughts. Would Whooves die at the hooves of Nightmare Moon or Sombra in an attempt to save her? She wanted the thoughts to go away, but the closer they got to the tower, they became even worse.

They came upon a large ruined temple right below the tower. Whenever the lightning struck the tower, it shook the ground below them. One of the strikes was so violent, it nearly knocked Vinyl off of her hooves. They entered the temple. They now stood at the entrance of a long hallway, intricate drawings on the walls to each side.

Whooves took a deep breath, "I know this place. I visited here back in future Equestria. It's the Hall of Legends, dedicated to the many legends and myths of Equestria."

Vinyl looked at one that had a picture of six Alicorns in front of a shining background, "The Element bearers' rise to Guardians, right?"

Whooves nodded, "Yes. The further back you go, the older the pictures get. These at the front are the most recent."

The continued on. Octavia stopped at one with an Alicorn and a unicorn bent into the shape of a heart.

"Cadance and her husband Shining Armor demonstrating the power of love," Whooves explained, "They saved Canterlot from Queen Chrysalis and the changelings."

"How come you know all this stuff?" Vinyl asked.

"I was there," He said, "In fact, I was being chased by changelings when that happened. I've got the bite marks to prove it."

They continued to walk to the back. The pictures were starting to fade out and lose their colors. Vinyl stopped at another picture, one of a powerful-looking beast.

"Who's this freak show?" She asked.

"The spirit of chaos, Discord," Whooves replied, "He ruled many millennia ago in a state of eternal mayhem and confusion. Not the kind of guy you want to meet in a dark alley."

Whooves was rather vague on the subject, which made Octavia start to wonder. They continued on, Vinyl stopping at the very last picture at the end of the hall, showing two Alicorns.

"Celestia and Luna ascension to princesshood." Whooves answered before Vinyl had the chance to ask any questions, "The oldest picture here. This was when the Hall of Legends was first built. This was the first picture put in, which means we must be getting closer."

They walked on until they reached a staircase that lead outside. Ascending the stairs, they came to the top of a small temple.

"So the Rainbow Stoneship?" Vinyl began, taking out the relic fragment, "Ain't seeing a rainbow ship made out of stone."

Whooves rolled his eyes, "It may not be as practical as it sounds. Let's split up and see if we can find anything."

They broke off, searching the area. Octavia checked the outer edges of the temple, Whooves check the back walls, while Vinyl checked the floor. About ten minutes passed before Vinyl called out:

"Found something!"

Octavia and Whooves ran over to where she was standing. Vinyl was staring at a small hole in the ground where many ornate drawings surrounded it. She took out the relic fragment and held it up to the hole.

"It's a perfect fit!" She said. Just as she was about to slide it into the hole, something blew her and her two companions back. She luckily managed to keep her hold on the fragment while being blown back and hitting the wall. Whooves skittered to the left while Octavia flew to the right. They quickly stood back up in a battle stance, recovering from the blow.

However, they quickly gasped, seeing who the attacker was. Standing there a few feet in front of them was King Sombra, along with a dozen Shadowbolts. His horn was still sparking from the recent attack on the three.

"Greetings," He said in a surprisingly calm voice, "I believe we have some unfinished business to attend to."

Octavia, Vinyl, and Whooves attempted to draw their weapons. Unfortunately, the Shadowbolts were already on them, tackling them and restraining their arms. Sombra barked a command in another language and the Shadowbolts marched the three to a remote area of the temple that was ruined more so than the other parts of the ruin.

"You three have been a thorn in my side for far too long," Growled Sombra, standing before them with a deep scowl on his face, "I was going to make your death quick and painless, but you have gotten on my last nerves. When we return to the future, expect to be in for lots of slow and painful torture."

"Jeez," Vinyl muttered, "Nice guy."

As Sombra attempted to conjure up a time portal, Whooves was smiling mischievously at Vinyl and Octavia. Both of them knew exactly what the smile meant; the stallion had a plan. He pointed with his snout to his hind hooves, then pointed to a Shadowbolt's stomach, nodding as he did. The Musical Mares got the message as Whooves mouthed the countdown.

"Curse this accursed time portal spell!" Sombra roared, his horn sputtering out from overuse, "Does this spell not realize who it is dealing with?! Work or you shall suffer the wrath of King Som-GAH!"

With little to no warning, the unicorn was gifted with a sharp kick to the rear. He flew foward, nearly breaking his neck in the process. He stood up quickly, discovering that his captives were free and standing with their weapons drawn. Some of the Shadowbolts had been knocked out, but most were recovering by now.

"Fools!" The king hissed, "You have made me very angry! I'll have your heads put on a silver platter and served with a side of your intestines!"

"Again," Vinyl quipped sarcastically, "It's all rainbows and puppies with this guy."

Sombra roared a command, causing the Shadowbolts to attack. Vinyl quickly took out half of the dozens with her bass cannon. They were blown halfway across the Land of the Night and weren't to be seen again. Whooves got in a fist fight with a couple, but he was much more skilled than them and had them knocked out in a couple seconds. While Vinyl was waiting for her bass cannon to recharge, she hit some of the pegasi with magic beams. Though they were doing an excellent job, they recovered quickly and were already back on their hooves fighting again. Octavia, in the meantime, took on Sombra. She knew she was going to have to bring out the big guns and expanded her cello into full size.

"You really don't want to mess with me today." She growled.

Sombra wasn't impressed. In fact, he seemed slightly amused by Octavia attempt to fight back, "I would say the same thing to you, my dear. I too am not in a great mood."

"Then the feelings are mutual!" The mare screamed. She started to play her cello, but something struck her arm and force her to drop both her bow and her cello. Looking down, she saw a large bite mark on her arm that was sizzling with green poison, stinging her skin. She looked up, discovering that Sombra had turned into a large, black cobra with blazing red and green eyes. Her body locked up, realizing she was facing one of her greatest fears.

Octavia's body refused to respond. She had already been bitten by the snake, but that certainly wasn't the reason she couldn't move. Fear was coursing through her veins at a high speed, spreading the poison through her body at a rate that caused her vision to become disoriented.

The Sombra snake slithered closer, hissing and showing off his fangs and forked tongue. She despised snakes, and this was possibly the reason why. Still, she couldn't figure out why she was mortified by this specific reptile. All she knew was that she was going to die.

Sombra struck again, but Octavia managed to avoid it by jumping backwards. Her muscles were jerky and her vision was losing color. She weakly rasped for her two companions, hoping that they would notice her demise. She was stumbling over her tail, doing everything she could to get away from the evil cobra.

Luckily, Vinyl came to her rescue just in time. A blast of magic from her horn sent the Sombra snake flying. He crashed against the wall, reverting back to his pony form and laid there for a couple seconds. Vinyl took this chance to check Octavia, who was now stumbling around and clutching her bleeding arm.

"He got you, didn't he?" Vinyl asked. She reached for her saddlebag, pulling out a small, purple seed, "Don't worry. I got just the thing."

"Vinyl!" The cellist screamed, pointing at Sombra. He was just now standing back up, eyes literally blazing with anger.

"You just made one fatal mistake." The unicorn snarled. He stood, his horn sparking with dark energy. Vinyl however, made a very bold move for her usually cowardly self. She shoved the seed in Octavia's hooves before charging at Sombra, her own horn lighting up. Face filled with determination, she went horn-to-horn with the evil king, magic fighting against magic.

"What are you doing?!" Octavia screamed, attempting to stumble over to her friend, but her legs were having a difficult time responding.

Truth be told, Vinyl had no clue what she was doing. She just charged in, hoping to stop Sombra once and for all. She saw however, that it wasn't such a good idea in the first place, being that Sombra was ten times more powerful than her. Vinyl found herself in a fight with only her magic -her weakest weapon- to aid her.

Sombra seemed amused at Vinyl's attempt to stop him, "That's cute. But I'm afraid you missed the magic kindergarten class, my dear."

"That makes us both tardy." Vinyl shot back. Her horn was sparking with magic, about to fire a beam. From her horn coursed light blue magic that was about to hit Sombra. He counteracted it though, his own magic meeting Vinyl's in a crossfire. Vinyl found herself straining, Sombra's magic fighting her's and getting closer to her. If his magic reached her horn, she would be thrown back and possibly lose her magic.

"Get out of there, Vinyl!" Octavia screamed from behind her, "He's too strong!"

Vinyl's magic was failing, her horn about to sputter out and give up all together. Struggling under Sombra's magic, she started to collapse from it. Whooves had just finished taking care of the Shadowbolts and ran over to join Octavia standing at the sidelines.

"Vinyl!" His accented voice yelled, "Drop the bass!"

Vinyl mentally slapped herself for forgetting about her bass cannon. She managed to whip it out and expand it while still keeping her magic going. With a press of a button, she crossed a beam of heavy electro with her own magic and aim it at Sombra. He didn't know what hit him and was thrown backwards against the wall, hitting it at speeds that would have killed a normal pony. He laid there, tongue lolling out of his mouth while the dark magic flowing from his eyes stopped all together.

Octavia, Vinyl, and Whooves took this time to celebrate. They high-fived each other and cheered happily, no longer having to worry about Sombra.

"Is he dead?" Vinyl asked expectantly.

Whooves shook his head, "No. You probably took all his energy and broke a couple of his bones, but he's not dead. With luck we'll be able to set everything back to normal before he recovers."

Sombra moaned, shifting a little. He attempted to sit up, but he couldn't and instead just laid there helplessly.

"You go put the relic fragment in the Stoneship," Whooves said to Vinyl, "We'll keep an eye on Sombra."

Vinyl nodded, "Can do!" Then she quickly ran off, the fragment in hoof. Octavia and Whooves cautiously approached Sombra, just in case he was tricking them into thinking he really was hurt.

"You realize what will become of you once you complete this, correct?" Rasped Sombra, sitting up weakly.

Octavia and Whooves didn't say anything to him. They stared at him with confused looks on their faces.

"You will change the future," Sombra continued, "And erase your exsistances. Your current selves will die and be replaced with a new version to match the changed future."

"As if we would believe you," Octavia growled, "You've done nothing but lie to me, Vinyl, and the rest of Equestria. You-"

"He's right." Whooves interrupted.

Octavia stared at the brown stallion, "What?"

"Since we were born in the ruined future Equestria... If we change that, we will erase our exsistances. We'll be forced back to the future and to be born into a different life, a different time."

"Whooves, why..." Octavia began to question, quite shocked.

"I didn't want to talk about it and eventually forgot about it," Whooves quickly answered, "It's a painful subject to speak about. If we want to save Equestria, we have to sacrifice ourselves. Everything you've known about this time must be forgotten, even Vinyl."

Octavia's heart sank, "But... What is she going to do without me? She said it herself, I'm the only true friend that she's ever had. She'll be heartbroken to know that I'm going to return to the future and forget about her completely."

Whooves looked down, "We have no choice. It's us, or Equestria."

Octavia took a moment to decide, "... Okay... But let's keep it a secret until we put the Gears in the tower. I... I don't want her to have a breakdown before we confront Nightmare Moon."

They nodded to each other right before Vinyl trotted back from the other part of the temple.

"Alright, I think I figured it out," She said, "Whenever you're ready, let's go."

They started to trot away. However, they found theirselves paralyzed on the spot, unable to move. They heard a pained groan from behind them, signaling that Sombra was back up again. They craned their necks around, discovering that the unicorn was now tripping awkwardly on a broken leg. Clearly, he was very angry, for steam could be seen coming out of his nostrils.

"I will not fail!" He roared, his horn glowing violently, "Not at the hooves of three pathetic ponies!"

"Run!" Whooves commanded. However, their limbs wouldn't respond, being that Sombra had completely paralyzed them with his magic. The king had managed to get a time portal open and was now slowly dragging the three ponies towards the portal.

"Whooves!" Octavia yelled, struggling against Sombra's magic, "What do we do?"

Whooves seemed incredibly pained, "I have an idea. Take these."

Octavia found Whooves' saddlebags shoved into her arms, "Whooves?"

Very suddenly, Whooves stopped fighting against Sombra's magic, turning and allowing himself to be pulled towards the unicorn. Sombra wasn't expecting it and found one hundred pounds of stallion hitting him at high speeds. They were pushed to the very edge of the portal, both of them getting caught in its pull.

"Whooves!" Octavia cried, attempting to run to him.

"Stay back!" Whooves commanded. He was trying to push Sombra into the portal, but the unicorn was trying to push against him, "You need to go on without me!"

"But Whooves-!" Octavia shouted. She looked to be on the verge of tears.

"Just go!" Whooves screamed, struggling against Sombra's weight, "Go! Go save the world! Don't worry about me!" Through his straining, he looked back at Octavia, "Just promise you won't regret for me, friend."

"Stop this!" Sombra roared, "Stop! Release me!"

It all happened so quickly that Octavia and Vinyl had a difficult time registering exactly what happened. Whooves jerked back, using all of his body weight to push Sombra -and himself- into the portal. The portal disappeared with a sputtering noise before everything became still again.

"No! Whooves!" Cried Octavia. She ran to the place where the portal was, hopelessly looking for him. He was gone completely, causing the mare to sit down and begin crying.

Vinyl calmly trotted over to her friend, sitting down beside her, "I can't believe it. He was willing to push Sombra and himself into the portal, just to save us."

Octavia didn't reply. She was too caught up in her crying. However, she began to realize something. The nightmare that had been constantly haunting her had finally come true. Though it didn't happen exactly the way that the dream portrayed it, Whooves had sacrificed himself to save her and Vinyl from being killed by Sombra. Octavia still didn't say anything. Her face was wet and red from the recent sob fest. She took out the saddlebag Whooves had given her. Inside were the six Gears of Harmony, completely unharmed in the fight.

"You okay?" Vinyl asked, looking at Octavia's arm where the Sombra snake had bitten it. There was a small, red bite mark on it, but the poison looked to be clear.

Octavia sniffled, "Yes... I'm fine. I ate that seed, but..." She suddenly stood up, determination showing through her teary eyes, "We can't just sit here and cry for Whooves. I'm going to miss him, but we have a job to do."

Vinyl stood up, sharing the same determination, "Save Equestria."

Octavia nodded, "Let's go."

Together, the two took off towards the awaiting Stoneship, determined to make Whooves proud.