The remaining soldiers watched with disgust and terror as Nanaba and Gelger were eaten, screaming their final moments. Conny and Pinkie Pie huddled together as they came closer to the end, but were unable to look away from the macabre scene. Krista and Ymir looked out next to the two of them. Krista, her eyes watering, found a small stone lying against the rampart. Her brow furrowed in anger, she picked it up and whipped it at one of the titan’s faces.

“Krista, stop it!” demanded Ymir. “This tower is barely going to hold us as it is, so quit struggling around.”

“But,” Krista whined, “Nanaba… Gelger… they’re dead.”

Pinkie Pie, her eyes flowing with scared tears, hugged Conny hard as she sobbed. Conny, knowing there was nothing he could do for her or any of her friends, sat down with his back against the wall, Pinkie still grabbing on to him for dear life.

“So this is how it all ends?” Conny mused. “Waiting for this tower to come crashing down and letting the titans eat us right after? Is this really it? Isn’t there something we can do?”

Conny slammed his fist to the ramparts, his strikes enunciated by his exclamations.

“Shit! Shit! SHIT!” he yelled.

The others couldn’t talk to him, knowing that their end was nigh as well. Pinkie Pie stopped her crying, knowing that Conny was just as scared as she was, and crying wouldn’t help either of them.

“All I wanted was for my death to mean something,” Conny moaned, “but now we’re going to die… trapped up here…”

“I know,” Krista spoke. “I don’t want to go down without a fight. I only wish we had a weapon of some kind. Then… at least we could all die fighting together…”

Ymir looked to Krista, and she was shocked to see that in place of her scared, infuriated scowl, her face was relaxed, as if she found peace with the prospect of dying.

“Krista,” Ymir hissed, “how could you say such stupid bullshit?”

“Eh?” Krista questioned.

“Our squad leaders died so that we could live this far. Don’t use their deaths as an excuse just to commit suicide.”

“What? You’re wrong! I never wanted–”

“Face it. You’ve always wanted to die, but not because you want to fight and benefit humanity, you just want to get praised when you do finally croak, don’t you? That’s why you joined the Scouting Legion; because your death would come quicker. You’re not like Conny, Reiner, or the squad leaders who sacrificed themselves to give us a shred of hope.”

“No! It’s not like that!”

“Krista!” shouted Ymir, grabbing Krista’s shoulders. “You might have forgotten what I’ve told you all those years ago…”

Krista shuddered, knowing what Ymir was talking about.

“…but since it’s probably the end,” Ymir admitted, “I want you to remember... just try and remember what you promised me when we were still cadets, back in those snowy mountains…”
________________________________________________________________________________________

The blizzard was relentless. While the trees where Ymir and Krista were hiking through provided some protection from the biting snow, the chill was biting and the snow was getting deeper and deeper. The two of them were in long, thermal coats with thick boots, warm mittens, and scarves over their faces. Their only light was two lanterns that grew dimmer with each passing second.

While Ymir’s was placed over her mouth and nose, Krista had hers wrapped over her chin, her pants visibly escaping her mouth as she dragged a long sled with a body wrapped inside. She was getting close to physically breaking, but she continued onwards. Ymir looked at her with pity.

“Give it up, Krista,” Ymir said, pulling her scarf down to talk. “Are you listening?”

“No!” Krista exclaimed. “I won’t give up!”

Ymir looked at the face of the body, noting that his breathing was short and sparse.

“Daz is barely breathing anymore,” she stated. “A weak little chicken-shit like him shouldn’t have even come out here in the first place. To think, all this for a little praise and recognition, but if that’s all he cared about, he deserves what’s coming to him.

“If we keep walking this slow, he’ll certainly die, and our own lives will be in danger; we won’t last until morning. So we have two options: Either we leave Daz to die and try to survive ourselves, or we continue on and die together. What’s your choice?”

“I…” Krista declared, her voice filling with frustration, “I choose a third option, because both of those options you picked are wrong! I’m going to reach the base and save Daz too. Of course, you should just go ahead and stop bothering me. Now what’s your choice?”

“…I won’t bother you.”

We’ll make it there, so you just go on ahead!”

Krista and Ymir continued to walk as Ymir put her scarf back on. However, Ymir kept a close distance to Krista and Daz, not once getting any closer or further. Krista huffed, knowing she was still behind her due to the sound of her footsteps in the snow. As they continued walking for another hour, Krista wheezed her lungs stinging with the dry, frozen air. She looked behind her to see Ymir still following her.

“Why are you still here?” Krista gasped in exhaustion.

“Hm? Ymir wondered.

“Go ahead, or you’ll die! So go… hurry up!”

“Tell me,” Ymir asked, putting her scarf back down, “why aren’t you asking for my help? Isn’t it obvious that your child-like body can’t handle Daz’s weight? Wouldn’t it be easier and faster if I hauled him?”

Krista tried to come up with another excuse, but her mouth couldn’t produce any words, only detached, stammering consonants and vowels.

“I thought so,” Ymir whispered as she walked up to Krista and put her mouth to her ear. “You don’t really want to save Daz, do you?”

Krista stopped in her tracks completely stunned by Ymir’s assumption.

“You just said that if I don’t go ahead, I’ll die, right? That goes double with you and your frail body. But that’s exactly what you want, isn’t it? You want me to go and tell the tale of the sweet goddess Krista, who selflessly sacrificed her life to save one of her comrades.”

Krista was feeling more and more uncomfortable as Ymir dug into her.

“I’m sorry,” Ymir insincerely apologized, “I’m probably reading too much into it. But of course I can’t help you, because Krista is a good girl, right? You’re probably trying to ask yourself what you can do to save Daz… without my help that is, wrong? You want people to think that you’d die for the sake of others, right? Because if others were to be around you and they end up dying… that would make you a bad girl, wouldn’t it?”

Krista couldn’t take it any longer.

“You’re wrong,” Krista said, her eye’s watering. “I… I would never… I…”

“Then it’s you,” spoke Ymir. “An illegitimate child of a mistress driven out of the house.”

Krista gasped, shocked by the betrayal of such information.

“How did you–”

“Oh… so it really is you. I happened to overhear a conversation at a certain church in the inner district when I used to borrow money to survive; a conversation that no outsider was allowed to hear. You were the heiress to a very important household. A direct descendant by blood but born out of wedlock, which made you an unacceptable successor to most of them.

“They thought it would be easier if you were killed somehow, or at least renounced your name and lived like a commoner… that way they could at least pretend like you never existed. And that’s just what happened. That girl changed her name and joined the Military after being driven out of her house and home.”

Krista looked extremely frightened, unsure of what Ymir’s intentions were with her life.

“Don’t worry,” assured Ymir. “I’m not going to tell anyone.”

“Then,” Krista realized, “you joined the Military just to find me? Why? Why go to such lengths?”

Now Ymir was caught, and she couldn’t blame Krista; it was a valid question. A question that she deserved to know an answer to.

“Who knows?” responded Ymir. “Maybe it’s because we’re alike?”

“Eh? So, that means… you’ve had a similar life to mine?”

“Well… kind of.”

“And you became a soldier because of that?”

“I can’t say if that’s true or not… No. That’s not quite true.”

“Did you,” Krista asked, gaining a smile, “want to become my friend?”

“Huh? No, that’s not it.”

Ymir knew she couldn’t let her feelings get in the way. She had to get her point across now.

“I didn’t. Listen, we may be alike, but we’re two completely different people. When I got my second chance at life, I also made a fresh start, but I didn’t stoop so low as to renounce my name. If I, Ymir, reject myself as the person I was born as, then I’ve lost.

“I keep on living under my own name in spite of the world; to show them that my fate wasn’t sealed the moment I was born! What did you do? You gave in completely. You even want to kill yourself. Are you comfortable knowing that those people who wanted you dead would laugh and spit on your grave? Why do you want to kill yourself and not them? You’re in control of your own fate, not them!”

“N- No!” cried Krista, overwhelmed by Ymir’s words. “I can’t! Even now…”

Ymir, disgusted by Krista’s inability to change, walked away from her and towards the edge of a cliff on the other side of the forest. Looking down, she could see the faint, orange lights below.

“I guess we’re not going to make it then, are we?” Krista asked.

“There is,” stated Ymir.

“Eh?”

“The base is right below us. You can see the lights. We’ll drop Daz off here.”

“What?”

“If he’s lucky, he’ll land safely and people will come to his rescue. There’s no other hope for him outside of a miracle. Unless he’s brought to safety and warmth soon, he’s going to freeze to death.”

“There’s no way he’ll survive that fall though!”

Ymir walked to Krista and picked her up by her waist.

“Shut it!” Ymir demanded as she threw Krista off into the snow on the opposite side. “I’ll do it. You go on ahead alone!”

Krista tumbled down the hill, trying to regain her footing. As she managed to land onto her stomach, she got up and ran back to the path.

“Wait!” Krista shouted.

Upon reaching the top, she found that Ymir, Daz, and their sled were gone, the only trace left being the tracks of the sled leading off to the cliff’s edge.

“They’re…” Krista gasped, “gone!”
________________________________________________________________________________________

Krista ran down the path, the cottages of the base in sight, her lantern held out to look for either Ymir or Daz. As she came closer, the light of a lantern could be seen, giving Krista hope. Sitting against a wooden fence on the other side of the road was Ymir with her lantern right beside her. Ymir, overjoyed to see her safe, quickened her paced and got to her within a few seconds. However, Daz was not next to her, frightening Krista.

“Took you long enough,” Ymir chided. “I got here a while ago. I really… did a stupid thing, huh?”

“What about Daz?” screamed Krista.

Ymir calmly stood up and walked towards the cabin directly in front of her. Krista, thinking this might provide an answer, followed Ymir up the stairs as she opened the door. Krista burst inside, and was surprised to see Daz, sobbing, shivering, but alive, in bed as a doctor checked his pulse.

“He survived the fall from the cliff,” Ymir said.

“But,” Krista reasoned, “you had no rope, and that cliff was too high even with it. Just how did you manage to get him down safely?”

Ymir only glanced to Krista, leaving it to her imagination to figure out the answer. Krista thought of an answer, but she wouldn’t allow herself to believe it. She couldn’t believe it. But for all her guessing and trying to figure it out, there seemed to be no other possible way, scaring Krista.

“Well,” Ymir said, walking back outside with Krista following, “I could tell you, but first you have to promise me something. When I reveal this secret, you will live the rest of your life under the name you were born with.”
________________________________________________________________________________________

As Ymir finished reminding Krista of her promise, the sun broke over the mountains, putting the land in light. Seeing the light shine on the surface of the castle’s top, Conny and Pinkie Pie turned and stood to face the sun as the orange of the sky and the green of the grass became visible. Below them, the titan’s tried to climb up the building, instead pulling the loose bricks out.

“Well,” Conny said, “at least we got to see the sun before we died.”

Ymir turned to Conny and walked up to him, getting close.

“Conny, give me that knife of yours,” she requested.

Conny wordlessly took the knife from his belt and handed it to Ymir handle-first. With her free hand, she patted Conny on the head.

“Thanks,” she said to him.

“What are you going to do?” asked Pinkie Pie.

Ymir looked down to Pinkie Pie, giving her a gentle scratch behind her ear.

“I'm going to fight,” Ymir answered as she walked from the group to the opposite side of the castle.

“What?” Reiner exclaimed. “What do you plan on doing with just a knife?”

“You know, I’m not even sure myself.”

As Ymir turned around, she saw Krista standing by herself on the opposite side of her. With the sun right behind her, Ymir’s resolve was strengthened as she held the knife close to her.

“Krista,” spoke Ymir, “I have no right to tell you how to live your life, so consider it my wish. Just live with your head up high.”

Ymir then broke into a sprint towards the rampart, shocking Krista, Conny, Pinkie Pie, Reiner, and Bertolt.

“Ymir!” shouted Krista as she put her arms out. “Wait a second!”

Ymir wouldn’t listen. Hopping up atop the rampart, she pushed her foot off and jumped towards the titans who were eyeing their next meal as it fell right towards her. Everyone ran to the ramparts in complete disbelief. As Ymir fell with the knife in hand, her free hand gripped the blade.
________________________________________________________________________________________

“Krista,” Ymir said, “I too used to believe that the world would be a better place if I hadn’t been born.”
________________________________________________________________________________________

Ymir quickly slid the blade out of her hands, slitting her palm as blood slipped and flew from her grasp.
________________________________________________________________________________________

“I was hated merely for the fact that I existed,” she continued, “and I died… for the happiness of many people. But, there was one thing I wished for with all my heart…”
________________________________________________________________________________________

Ymir squeezed her cut hand hard, smiling in anticipation of what was to come.
________________________________________________________________________________________

“…If I’m ever given a second chance in life, I want to live for only myself. That is my sincere wish.”
________________________________________________________________________________________

Ymir exploded in a burst of bright, yellow light. The others watching from the ramparts couldn’t hold back their gasps as they watched flesh, muscle, and bone form from the near-blinding light as it fell towards the titans below. Formed in Ymir’s place was a seven-meter titan with black hair, a large head, long arms, and beady black eyes.

Ymir’s titan fell towards the tallest titan it could find, its claws digging into its skull as it held on. Opening its mouth wide, Ymir’s titan bit down on the other titan’s neck and tore the nape out, leaving a stringy, bloody mess in its mouth as the titan fell limply down.

Conny, Pinkie Pie, and the others watched incredulously as Ymir’s titan pushed off the head of the titan it killed with its feet, right into the center of the titan mass.

“Even Ymir?” Conny exclaimed. “She can transform into a titan too?”

“Wow,” Pinkie said, a smile forming on her face as Ymir’s titan killed another titan flawlessly, “she really is a big bitch.”

“Ymir…” sighed Krista, stunned by the sight.

Reiner and Bertolt, on the other hand, recognized Ymir’s titan form immediately.

“She’s…” Reiner gasped. “She’s that titan… from back then…”

Ymir’s titan swung about the tower, it claws gripping the stone walls as the other titans tried to catch the agile beast. As it soared by, Ymir’s titan latched its nails into a titan’s back, pulling herself closer to the back of its head and disposing of the titan’s nape by biting it off as well.

Once it spat it out, Ymir’s titan saw a titan approaching it from behind. Jumping backwards, it slashed at the titan’s face, taking its eyes and nose out. Using its blindness, Ymir’s titan grabbed the back of the titan’s head and slammed its mutilated face into the wall, breaking off even more of it.

Up above, the further displacement leaned the tower forwards, causing Conny, Pinkie Pie, Reiner, and Bertolt to shift forwards. Krista, who was on the rampart’s edge the entire time, tipped over and was sliding off into the pit of titans. Just before she could fall to her doom, Reiner’s hand caught Krista by the boot.

“Thanks, Reiner!” called Krista as she looked back to see her savior.

Suddenly, she felt a massive amount of pressure on her ankle as Conny and Pinkie Pie grabbed hold of both her arms.

“OW!” she wailed. “Ow, ow, ow! My leg, Reiner!”

Even as Pinkie Pie and Conny pulled her to a point of safety, Reiner continued to hold on to Krista, a furious scowl on his face.

“Reiner, stop!” called Conny.

“It’s okay, we got her!” Pinkie Pie yelled. “You can let go now!”

Reiner, snapping back into it, let go of Krista’s leg and allowed her to stand with Conny and Pinkie Pie’s assistance.

“Sorry,” Reiner said.

“Don’t be,” responded Krista. “You saved my life there.”

“Krista, did you know that Ymir was a titan?”

“No,” Krista responded as they all gathered to continue observing, “I didn’t. We’ve been so close to each other this entire time, but I had no idea…”

Ymir’s titan slashed at another titan’s face, this time, leaving a sizable crescent in the front of its head.

“I simply can’t believe it,” Conny said. “We’ve known each other for three years.”

“What even is this?” Krista questioned. “Is this even Ymir? It can’t be. I can’t even… I refuse to believe it!”

Ymir’s titan hung to the center of the tower, just out of the reach of the titans ravenously reaching for it. It roared at the other titans, swinging its hand at them in an effort to keep them all away.

“In other words,” Reiner said. “She’s been keeping secrets about the titans from us. I couldn’t have imagined. I can only wonder why she didn’t show her true colors and used her powers for the sake of the Scouting Legion like Eren.”

“Does that mean that she couldn’t for some reason?” wondered Bertolt.

“But she leapt off the tower and transformed right there. That means she had to have known about her powers beforehand, unlike Eren. If that’s the case, whose side is she on?”

“Come on, Ymir!” Pinkie Pie cheered. “Hack ‘em n’ slash ‘em!”

“Well,” Reiner mentioned, “it’s clear who’s on Ymir’s side.”

“Why are you even asking that?” Krista demanded. “Do you seriously think Ymir is our enemy?”

“Now that I look at it,” answered Conny, “she never looked interested in anything and didn’t do much. I bet it was to conceal those powers of hers. And you never knew what she was thinking either.”

“Just what does Ymir want?” Bertolt asked.

Krista suddenly flashed back, remembering certain sets of words Ymir said to her in the past.
________________________________________________________________________________________

“Who knows?” responded Ymir. “Maybe it’s because we’re alike?”
________________________________________________________________________________________

“But Krista… rest assured. I’m here for my own sake.”
________________________________________________________________________________________

“…but first you have to promise me something. When I reveal this secret, you will live the rest of your life under the name you were born with.”
________________________________________________________________________________________

As Ymir’s titan took another swing, a titan was able to grab hold of its arm. Krista gasped as Ymir’s titan tried to yank free, only for its nails to slip out of the wall of the tower and become pulled into the titan mass. The titan put Ymir’s titan’s arm into its mouth and bit down as it held the other arm away.

“YMIR!” Krista shrieked.

Ymir’s titan directed its attention back to the arm of the titan holding it back. With a quick jerk of the head, Ymir’s titan’s fangs grabbed hold of the titan’s forearm and clamped down, chewing the titan’s arm off like a boiled potato. Ymir yanked the arm stuck in the titan’s mouth, but a large chunk down to her elbow was taken out. Regardless, she was freed.

Ymir went to climb the tower, but was grabbed by its ankle. Ymir’s titan pulled hard on the stone brick it was attached to, but the titan’s grip on it was stronger, only managing to pull the brick further out. From up above, the soldiers watched with terror as Ymir’s titan tried to claw her way up the tower, only managing to break the wall even more as the titans reached up to grab Ymir’s titan too.

Ymir’s titan looked up to see Krista and Pinkie Pie looking out over the ramparts. Suddenly looking at the wall it was destroying to break free, Ymir’s titan appeared worried, surprising Krista. It finally decided to let go of the wall, falling back into the reaching titans below.

“What?” Krista shouted.

“She let go of the wall!” Conny exclaimed.

“Oh no!” squealed Pinkie Pie. “If she keeps going, she’s going to make a titan’s breakfast!”

“Did she not want to destroy the tower?”

Krista realized it to be true. From the look of regret Ymir’s titan had upon seeing them, it had to be.

“That’s precisely what happened,” Krista said, getting shocked reactions from Pinkie Pie and Conny. “If she wanted to, she could have easily ran away in her titan form, as she could never hope to defeat all those titans. Despite that, she continues to fight, even with her life on the line… because she’s trying to protect us.”

Ymir’s titan was getting dragged down further and further as the titans swarmed. It did its best to hold them back, but it was quickly tiring out, and the titans weren’t letting up.

“This is bad,” observed Reiner. “If this keeps up, Ymir will…”

“Ymir,” hissed Krista, “why?”

Krista surprised everyone by hopping atop the rampart and peering over as far as her body could allow without falling over.

“YMIR!” Krista demanded. “Don’t you dare die in a place like this!”

Ymir’s titan looked surprised as Krista begun to stand upon the rampart as Conny tried to hold her back.

“Don’t put on your good girl act, you hear me?” Krista continued to shout. “Don’t tell me that you like us all so much that you’d die for us, you idiot!”

Pinkie Pie, knowing where Krista was going, hopped upon the rampart by her side.

“Come on, you big bitch!” Pinkie Pie screamed with full confidence.

“Yeah!” agreed Krista, her screams still directed at Ymir’s titan. “That’s you! You really are a big bitch who values herself over anyone, and don’t you forget that! Live for yourself, dammit! To hell with this tower and to hell with us! Just break it down!”

Ymir’s titan, her fury enhanced by Krista and Pinkie Pie’s words of encouragement, reached out and grabbed a hold of one of the bricks in the wall. With its claws deep inside the stone, it slid it out of the wall and swung at a titan’s head, breaking it open like a melon.

With the removal of another brick, the titan leaned dangerously closer to its limit, frightening Conny, Reiner, and Bertolt.

“She’s really going to destroy the tower!” Reiner gasped.

Pinkie Pie and Krista merely shifted their bodies to adjust to the tilt.

“Way to go, Ymir!” Krista yelled.

“Go, Ymir!” cheered Pinkie Pie in the style of a cheerleader. “Go, go, Ymir!”

Ymir’s titan, free once again, hurled the brick at another titan’s head, knocking it down. It began to climb the tower once again, the added weight shifting the tower even more. Ymir’s titan appeared at the top, Conny, Bertolt, and Reiner backing away from it. Krista and Pinkie Pie stood silent and still where they were. The tower only continued to tilt.

“Wanna’ live…” Ymir’s titan gurgled, “grab on…”

As Krista wordlessly grabbed on to one of the locks of Ymir’s titan’s hair, putting her full trust in it, Pinkie Pie followed suit and bit onto Ymir’s titan’s hair with her teeth. Conny was the next to go, grabbing on. As the top of the tower began to fall, Reiner and Bertolt ran forwards and grabbed a hold of hair as well.

Once all the soldiers were accounted for, Ymir’s titan ran to the opposite side of the tower as it fell down. Ymir’s titan held on to the ramparts as the tower fell towards the titans below on the other side, crushing them all beneath its weight.

As the top of the tower began to reach a vertical slant, Ymir’s titan swung around to the opposite wall of the tower, which was now tilting flat with the fall. As each of the soldiers held on for dear life as gravity lifted them off of Ymir’s titan’s back, Ymir’s titan prepared itself for the hard, incoming landing. Sure enough, once the bricks piled up, Ymir’s titan fell upon the pile, bouncing Conny and Reiner off of it.

As Conny fell face-first, Pinkie Pie let go of her lock of hair and dove for Conny. Wrapping her arms and legs around him, she turned herself so that her back would land upon the rubble of the castle. The force made her let go as both of them tumbled down several feet before stopping. While both received scrapes and cuts on the way down, neither of them were seriously injured.

“Conny!” shouted Krista as she ran down the hill of bricks to the two of them. “Pinkie!”

Ymir’s titan turned to look as Conny weakly got to his knees while Krista heaved him up by his waist, getting him to stand.

“Are you alright?” she asked him.

“I think so,” Conny coughed. “What about…”

As they looked down, a pang of unease shot into their guts to see that Pinkie Pie lay motionless.

“Oh no,” Conny gasped, horrified by the sight. “Pinkie?”

Conny knelt down to put his hands on the side of her chest to check for breathing. The moment his hand touched her coat, Pinkie Pie shot up into their air jovially.

“That was fun!” she proclaimed, hopping around on her back legs. “Let’s go again!”

“Pinkie!” Conny cried, happy for her survival.

Conny put his arms around Pinkie Pie’s body and twirled her around. Pinkie likewise hugged Conny, glad to have survived. As Krista smiled at the joyful sight, the clinking of tumbling stone was heard up on top of the rubble. She turned to see Bertolt walking Reiner down the hill, his one good arm slung around Bertolt’s neck. Conny set Pinkie Pie back down, looking as Ymir’s titan continued to squat atop the castle’s ruins.

“I don’t believe it,” Conny said. “She destroyed the tower and buried all the titans underneath it.”

“That was pretty awesome, wasn’t it?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Yeah. Yeah it was. I wish I thought of it.”

“Come on,” Bertolt spoke as he and Reiner began to pass the three of them. “Let’s get out of here.”

The humans and Pinkie Pie carefully walked down the rubble and towards the courtyard. Just then, the ground began to rumble underneath their feet, weakening the balance of everyone. Conny and Krista were scared to see as several titans were climbing out of the rubble, their heads turning towards the humans and pony.

“What?!” shouted Pinkie Pie. “Titan zombies?”

“No!” Conny answered. “The titans weren’t crushed!”

“No way!” Krista exclaimed. “Ymir!” she shouted back at Ymir’s titan. “You ugly hag, hurry up and kill them!”

Ymir’s titan leapt into action immediately, pouncing upon a fifteen-meter titan that managed to pull most of its body out of the debris. Its mouth sunk into the back of the titan’s neck, and it tore it out, slinging the piece of meat behind itself.

A hand suddenly burst from the pile, grabbing Ymir’s titan by the hair. The others then watched helplessly as the titan swung Ymir’s titan over its head.

Conny yelled, “Oh sh–”

*KKRLK*

Ymir’s titan’s head was whipped into the corner of a piece of the castle, driving it into its skull with a squish and squirt of blood. With Ymir’s weakened, several more titans crawled out of the rubble and crowded up around it. One by one, the titans grabbed hold of whatever body part they could: jaw, hair, ears, arms legs. Once they got at a part, the titans tore them from their body and began devouring them while Ymir’s titan let out a blood-curdling shriek.

“They’re eating her!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “And then they’re going to eat us!”

“It can’t be!” Krista cried, breaking into a run as she stepped upon the flattest and sturdiest rocks she could.

“Krista!” Conny cried out while reaching for her.

“You can’t die yet! I have to tell you my secret! I still have to tell you my name!”

As Ymir’s titan’s head became nothing but a bloody, mangled crater, a titan turned from the corpse of Ymir’s titan and looked to Krista, its gaze and fixed smile stopping her in her tracks. The other watched as the titan wrapped its hand around Krista’s waist.

Pinkie Pie screamed, “Oh my goooooooo–”

*SHWLSH*

A green blur with a rainbow-colored top whirred behind the titan’s neck and up into the air, leaving a bloody splatter in its wake. Krista, shocked, looked up to see Rainbow Dash flying above the ruins, her cloak and blades drenched with the evaporating blood. Pinkie Pie’s eyes widened upon seeing her friend.

“Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie Pie cried. “You’re here!”

“Stand back, guys!” Rainbow Dash proclaimed. “The cavalry has arrived!”

Just then, two wires flew from over the west side of the wall, each of them latching into the necks of two ten-meter titans. Being reeled in on the wires were Applejack and Mikasa. Conny, Pinkie Pie, Bertolt, and Reiner watched with excitement as the two of them both killed their targeted titans by slicing out the napes of their necks.

Entering from the gap into the north courtyard were Hanji, Eren, Jean, and Armin.

“Backup group,” Hanji ordered to a group of soldiers which included Fluttershy, Twilight, and Spike, “split up and check the surrounding area for more titans! Everyone else, kill those titans inside the castle grounds.”

Eren leapt up from his horse and shot a hook out at a fifteen meter titan that had managed to get out. Hanji gasped as Eren flew ahead into the gathering.”

“Eren, wait!” Hanji yelled. “You’re ordered to not fight!”

Eren couldn’t hear Hanji any longer. His focus was completely set on the titan it was approaching from behind.

“DIE!” Eren shouted.

Eren spun around and whizzed by the titans’ neck, slicing its neck off.

“I did it!” Eren happily declared. “My first kill in the Scouting Legion!”

Eren landed on his feet hard, being noticed by Auruo.

“Idiot!” he shouted. “We told you to stay back, Eren!”

“Yes, sir!” Eren replied with sincerest apologies, limping away from the fight. “Ow, ow, ow…”

“Hey!” Conny’s voice called. “Eren!”

Eren turned to see Conny, Bertolt, Reiner, and Pinkie Pie running at him.

“Guys!” Eren cried happily.

Eren hopped over as fast as he could to meet his friends. While Pinkie Pie jumped onto Eren for a tight hug, Conny, Reiner, and Bertolt patted Eren on the back. Eren was not only glad to have returned home alive after his hellish ordeal, but glad to see that none of his friends were hurt either.

With the final slashes of their blades, Mikasa, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash finished off the last three titans that had appeared out of the ground. Hanji, Jean, Armin, Sasha, Rarity, Annie, Kirill, Petra, Levi, and Erwin gathered inside the courtroom, waiting for the calamity to be over.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash gracefully leapt down the rubble as Mikasa and Auruo slid down on their feet. As they approached the group, Kirill stepped over.

“What?” he asked them. “You didn’t save any for me?”

As Pinkie Pie broke away from her hug with Eren, her ears twitched at the familiar sound of Kirill’s voice. Turning towards the courtyard, she watched Kirill converse with Applejack. Upon seeing her old friend, as well as Hanji, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, her mouth began to waver and her eyes watered. Pinkie Pie broke into a full gallop towards Applejack and Kirill as she sobbed.

“KIRILL!” screeched Pinkie Pie. “APPLEJACK!”

In a long, fast dive, Pinkie Pie tackled Kirill and Applejack to the ground, smothering their faces with kisses and nestles.

“Pinkie!” giggled Applejack. “Yer’ okay!”

“Yes, yes!” Kirill roared in laughter. “It’s great to see you too, Pinkie!”

“Pinkie Pie!” Rarity cried as she flopped on top of Pinkie Pie and hugged her tight. “Thank goodness you’re alright!”

“Twilight!” called Spike from the sky upon Twilight. “Fluttershy! Look! It’s Pinkie Pie!”

Twilight and Fluttershy dove down towards the reunion, landed upon the ground, and galloped to them. Kirill opened himself out to allow room for the two ponies and dragon, allowing them the three of them to hug Pinkie Pie in joy.

“Don’t leave me out!” cried Rainbow Dash.

Stretching her arms as far out as she could, Rainbow Dash hugged the group, tears streaming from her eyes. The seven of them were finally reunited and safe. Armin and Hanji both smiled at the sight. As Petra looked upon them, she looked up upon hearing grunting and falling stone. Krista was digging up the rubble brick by brick as she tried leaving room for Ymir to leave the neck of her decimated titan form.

“Hey!” Petra called, using her one arm to grab her operational device and swing up towards her.

The commotion caused by Petra stopped the reunion as they all watched Petra go in to save Krista from certain doom. Eren ran to her as well.

“Get away from it!” Eren shouted, grabbing her by the shoulder. “It’ll kill you!”

“No she won’t!” Krista sobbed. “She saved us.”

While Pinkie Pie knew the scenario, the others raised their heads in confusion, wondering if they heard right.

“She?” Petra asked. “Who’s she?”

“Ymir!” answered Krista. “She can turn into a titan and used her powers to help us escape!”

Hanji, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Annie, and Sasha gasped at the revelation of the titan’s identity. Hanji broke into a run at Krista, Petra, and Eren, quickly climbing atop the pile towards them.

“Help me get her out!” asked Krista desperately as, she singlehandedly tried to hoist Ymir’s titan over.

“Right!” Hanji answered, getting next to her and pushing up as well. While they managed to get it up some, the body was still too heavy for the two of them.

“Eren!” called Hanji. “Petra! Help us out!”

“Yes, ma’am!” the two of them replied.

With Eren’s tenacity and Petra’s added help, the four of them managed to flip Ymir’s titan over to its stomach, revealing the neck. With its titan body dead, the back of the neck was already decaying, revealing the back of Ymir’s body inside. Its entire left side was visible from the area already eroding away.

“I’ll cut her out!” Hanji said, climbing on the titan’s body.

Placing new blades into her handles, she cut a long ellipsis into Ymir’s titan’s neck, each end connected to an eroded spot. Hanji pulled Ymir’s body from the nape as the body began to evaporate even faster, hopping down with her in her arms as Krista, Eren, and Petra gathered to see.

Mikasa and Armin ran up to meet with Eren, also confused over what was happening. Ymir, her right arm and leg cut up and her face on her eyes and cheeks scarred, was laid on her back while Krista knelt down to her, hoping for her to wake up.

“Ymir,” whispered Krista.

Ymir’s barely opened into slits, but Krista could tell that she was awake for her to tell Ymir her secret.

“My name,” Krista stated quietly, “is Historia.”

Ymir, glad to see Krista live up to her side of the promise, smiled contently before her eyes shut, relaxed, calm, and peaceful as she rested in Historia’s arms.