The following chapter contains mature subject matter, violence, and other unpleasant content. Reader discretion is strongly advised.

You don't believe in love and war

You found the truth you can't ignore

And all the hopes for your conforming

Have all crumbled down

You take a life

You've been forewarned

You've been cast out and felt the scorn

The day will come

When we have no more lives to squander

Twilight, Fluttershy, Pumpkin Cake, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Ascentia stood outside the gates of Canterlot. A large, shining barrier surrounded the city, cutting it off from the rest of the planet.

Princess Luna looked toward Ascentia and nodded, “Call them, Outlander.”

Ascentia stepped forward, and looked toward the gate.

“GENERAL XEBRE,” she shouted, her voice echoing across the countryside, “THE BLOOD OF THIS RACE AND OF YOUR PEOPLE DEMAND JUSTICE! COME OUT COWARD, AND ANSWER FOR YOUR CRIMES!”

There was nothing but silence. They had expected that. Nobody could have expected Xebre to come out of hiding just because they told him to. Ascentia walked up to the barrier and pressed a hand against it. It was strong, and pushed back against her hand with powerful resistance.

“It can't be...” Twilight said, approaching the barrier and looking over it, “Shining Armour?”

“What do you mean?” Ascentia asked.

“This is Shining Armour's spell,” Twilight replied, “It's a very powerful shield that can repel anything. It's his special talent... why would he cast it for them?”

Ascentia looked over the shield. It was made up of arcane cells. No spell or divine power could breach it.

She drew her sword, hauled back, and slammed the blade against it's surface. The shield shattered like glass.

Ascentia stepped through the gate with the ponies following behind her.

“You promised you wouldn't do that anymore,” Twilight remarked.

The small party moved through the quiet, still streets of Canterlot, check alleys and alcoves for any surprise attacks.

“It's quiet...” Pumpkin remarked.

“Too quiet,” Fluttershy shivered.

“This has been surprisingly easy,” Twilight added.

Ascentia paused for a moment, before her white eyes shot open, “Too easy!”

She reared her torso back and spread her cloak as wide as she could as several bolts of energy began to rocket down from a nearby tower. Her garment was wide enough to cover the ponies behind her, but that meant she was open to being struck by the foreign projectiles. Thankfully, her armour was strong enough to absorb most of the impact.

As one particularly strong blast struck her in the gut, Ascentia doubled over and fell to her knees as a dark, swirling orb rocketed toward her.

Twilight leaped past her and tried to catch the orb with her magic, but it moved too fast and struck her in the side, forcing her back against Ascentia's torso. As the pony and orb collided with the stunned Val'Kyr, they both vanished.

Celestia, Luna, Fluttershy and Pumpkin had a stunned look on their face. Everything had happened in the span of four seconds, and in another two a horde of Val'Kyr were upon them, holding their swords to their throats.

“...Parlay?” Pumpkin asked.

Twilight was swirling in a dark vortex for a single moment before she slammed muzzle-first into a snow covered glacier. The wind around her was frigid, far colder than anything she had experienced before. She steadily got to her hooves and looked around.

For miles, all she could see was ice. Ice mountains, plains of ice, and a dark, swirling sky. Snow covered the ground up to her knees and she found it difficult to walk. Stepping through the frigid landscape, she could vaguely make out a shape in the distance sprinting toward her.

Twilight panicked for a moment before dropping to the snow and covering her face with her hooves as the figure skidded to a halt in front of her. Then she heard a familiar voice.

“Twilight, are you alright?” Ascentia asked as she rested a hand on Twilight's back.

“Oh, Ascentia” Twilight breathed, “It's only you...”

Ascentia chuckled as the tiny unicorn got to her hooves.

“Where are we?”

“We are on Neptune,” Ascentia replied, “An icy world in the Sol System. We are several million light years from my home.”

Twilight looked around, and shivered, “Why is it so cold?”

“This planet is far from the star it orbits around,” Ascentia replied, “The heat of the Sun cannot travel this far.”

Shivering violently, Twilight strode off with Ascentia in a direction pointing vaguely west. Her hooves sinking into the bitterly cold snow and ice as the tall woman in front of her seemed ignorant to the environment. As they walked, Twilight found herself growing more and more numb, before she tripped over her own hooves and fell face first into the snow, unable to move. Ascentia didn't seem to notice as she kept walking.

About twenty minutes later, Ascentia looked up to the sky to see a meteor streak over them.

“Strange... there isn't supposed to be a meteor for another hundred years...” she remarked, “Did you see that Twilight?”

There was no answer.

“Twilight? Did you hea-” Ascentia was cut off as she turned around to notice the small unicorn nowhere in sight, “Oh no...”

She streaked off at a rapid sprint in the direction of her footprints. After twenty seconds of sprinting, she could sense a faint heartbeat. She skidded to a halt next to Twilight, who was shivering and struggling to get up.

Ascentia stripped her cloak off and wrapped it around Twilight's small body, exposing her torso to the wind as she picked Twilight up and streaked off into the distance toward a tall glacier. Setting Twilight down into a snowbank still wrapped in her cloak, Ascentia's sword flashed into her hand and she began to carve out a cave in the side of the glacier. Twilight managed to lift her head for a moment to look up at Ascentia and her heart stopped. When Ascentia had her robes removed, Fluttershy had bandaged her up very quickly. But now Twilight could see her bare torso entirely.

Ascentia jumped and dropped her sword when she heard Twilight emit a chilling scream.

Celestia, Luna, Pumpkin, Pound and Fluttershy sat in a small dungeon cell with a single Val'Kyr standing outside the door. None of them were pleased.

“We do not understand their motives, sister,” Luna replied, “If they wanted to destroy our planet, why would they not simply kill us now and be done with it?”

“I don't know,” Celestia replied, “And I don't think she knew either.”

“Where do you suppose they are?” Fluttershy asked, starting to tear up.

“You, Pegasus! Cease the tears or I will cease them for you!” The Val'Kyr guard snapped.

“This is becoming very tiresome,” Luna replied, “I will not stand by while we are made the slaves of these things!”

“P-P-Princess Luna... what are you-”

“I said to stop crying!”

A loud shockwave knocked Fluttershy off her hooves and into the back wall. Her head struck the stone with a sickening crack and she fell face first to the floor.

She did not get up. And the others did not speak.

Twilight had fainted after what she saw, and came to several hours later to find herself wrapped in a small piece of cloth in front of a fire. She looked around to find herself in a small, icy room, with a small entrance to the eastern wall that pointed outside. She could vaguely see Ascentia standing outside, a small tear in her cloak.

It did not take long to discover where her blanket had come from.

She got up and gingerly stepped outside, feeling the chill of the wind against the warm ice cave. Ascentia briefly looked at her before looking back to the horizon.

“You should go back inside. You will freeze to death out here.”

“I'm sorry for screaming at you...”

“No need,” Ascentia replied, “Just go back inside and get some rest.”

Twilight looked at her for a moment, “Are you alright?”

“Of course,” Ascentia's voice was emotionless, “Get your rest.”

Twilight realized that she was fighting a losing battle and stepped back inside the cave. She laid down on the piece of Ascentia's cloak and sleep quickly overtook her.

Ascentia looked out beyond the horizon to see a struggling creature matted against the starlight. Not bothering to sprint, she trudged forward. Her sword kept at the ready, she advanced on the figure. After a few minutes of walking, she found a dark creature, around the same shape as Celestia and Luna, half buried in the snow. It was unconscious.

Ascentia quickly identified it as the changeling who had attacked her in the Everfree Forest. She knelt down and felt her body. It was ice cold and she was not breathing. Reacting out of instinct rather than insight, she hoisted the changeling over her shoulders and took off at a run toward the ice-cave.

Seven hours later, Twilight awoke to see the Queen of the Changelings lying across the cave from her, Ascentia binding an open wound in her leg. She leapt up and ignited her horn, drawing the Val'Kyr's attention.

Ascentia whipped around and caught Twilight's spell in her hand, “Easy, Twilight. Calm yourself.”

“What is that thing doing here!?” Twilight snapped, eyeing the unconscious changeling angrily.

“I found her lying out in the ice,” Ascentia replied, keeping her voice steady, “I do not know how she got here. This planet is uninhabited.”

Twilight calmed down a little, but still eyed Chrysalis as she began to stir.

Ascentia knelt down in front of her as she sat up. As soon as Chrysalis saw her, she leapt back and snarled.

“The butcher...” she hissed.

“I did not kill your subjects,” Ascentia replied, “But I know who did. You can have revenge, or you can die out here. What say you?”

Both Twilight and Chrysalis gave Ascentia a shocked look.

“Ascentia, you're not really thinking about...”

“Yes,” Ascentia replied, “We need numbers, and she can provide.”

Chrysalis looked down at her hooves. There were still legions of her changelings alive, but they were small compared to the Val'Kyr.

“I will not ask you a second time,” Ascentia replied, “The tomb of my old Master is twenty miles from here. There is a rune there that can be used for long distance travel. I will leave with or without you.”

Ascentia stood up and left the cave, Twilight following her (but not before casting Chrysalis a cold glare). The two walked in silence for a few minutes, before the subtle sound of buzzing could be heard behind them.

“I will take back what's mine!” Chrysalis snarled.

Ascentia smirked, but kept it hidden from the two ponies.

Two days later, General Xebre had Celestia and Luna chained to Canterlot's courtyard. He paced back and forth between them, before dragging a dagger from his belt and driving it into Celestia's shoulder.

“SISTER!” Luna shouted, drowning out Celestia's pained yelp.

Upon puncturing the alicorn's skin, a bright light shone on the dagger. Xebre ripped the dagger out and drove it into Luna's shoulder next, coating it in a dark and glossy shine. Luna hissed as the blade sunk into, and was then pulled from, her flesh. Xebre pulled out a small jewel and drive the tip of the dagger into it's surface.

“What is the point of this, outlander?” Luna snapped.

Xebre laughed, “Your feeble mind could not begin to understand. You are naught but mortals, incapable of anything but procreation.”

Xebre turned and held the jewel in his palm, before raising his sword and advancing on the Princesses.

“ENOUGH!”

A massive shockwave blasted Xebre and his Val'Kyr off his feet and into a nearby wall.

“STEP AWAY FROM THEM!”

Xebre looked up to see Ascentia striding up the steps of the courtyard, her eyes bright white and glowing. Xebre had never seen the woman so angry.

“You are such an insolent little-”

“STEP AWAY!”

Another shockwave blasted them off their feet again.

“I thought you would die on Neptune.”

Ascentia glared at Xebre as he got to his feet again.

“You make Athena's mistake of underestimating mortals? The arrogance,” Ascentia said angrily, her voice amplified to echo across the city.

“You speak of ideals you have never seen for yourself, apprentice,” Xebre replied, “All you have heard are the words of your Masters.”

“Look into history, Xebre. The humans butchered themselves due to Athena's mere prescence. If you walk down her path, you walk one of ignorance and destruction.”

“I walk one of purity, and I will rid the world of everyone I deem unworthy.”

“Not while I draw breath, you won't!”

“You and what army?” he asked.

Ascentia smirked, “This army.”

As if waiting for a signal, tens of thousands of buzzing, fanged creatures flew up over the wall and dove down, latching themselves onto every Val'Kyr they could see. Xebre's followers instantly moved to defend themselves, but a few were already taken down and being cannibalized.

Two Val'Kyr drew their swords and charged at Ascentia, but she parried their strikes and cut their throats with one swing, before spinning on her heel and driving her sword into the stomach of a third behind her. Raising her sword to deflect a projectile from above and ripping the building beneath the culprit's feet to the ground with telekinesis.

Twilight charged through the gate, launching the ancient spell she had learned at as many Val'Kyr as she could see, and watching them twist and writhe in agony.

Ascentia turned to see a single Val'Kyr dispatching several of the changelings, yet keeping his guard down from anything not airborne. A single shockwave knocked him into a wall where he was subsequently devoured by the vicious creatures. With a flick of her wrist, a wall was ripped out of a building and it's bricks slammed into three more, the sound of their skulls crushing echoing across the din of the battle.

Raising her sword, Ascentia sliced through the chains that bound Celestia and Luna.

“Where are Pumpkin Cake and Fluttershy?” she asked.

“Pumpkin is in the dungeon beneath the castle,” Luna replied.

“And Fluttershy?”

Celestia and Luna both looked down in silence. Ascentia nodded in understanding before turning away.

Twilight used her telekinesis to rip a chunk of the ground up and slam two Val'Kyr into a nearby building with it before vaporizing them with her spell. She was stopped, however, when a hand clasped around her throat.

“Children should not play with such dangerous toys,” General Xebre hissed in her ear, about to cut her throat.

Before the blade could make contact with her neck, however, Xebre was blasted off his feet by a shockwave so powerful it gave Twilight headaches. She looked up to get a brief flash of green as Ascentia and Xebre became locked in a duel, the clang of their sword's colliding causing bursts of sparks into the air.

Twilight groggily got to her feet as three more Val'Kyr were torn apart by changelings next to her. Shaking her head, she galloped toward the Princesses who were heading into the castle.

“Princess Celestia! Princess Luna, are you two alright?”

“We will be well, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna replied as she stepped further into the castle, “We are simply drained.”

“Should we warn Ascentia of Xebre's jewel?” Celestia asked.

“Anything we do not understand should be made clear to Ascentia right away,” Luna agreed, “Xebre is one of her kind.”

They looked outside the window to see Ascentia advancing on a now unarmed Xebre.

Xebre was backing into a wall, looking at Ascentia with minor fear.

“You cannot kill me, I am unarmed,” Xebre replied.

Ascentia ignored him as she advanced further and slammed the blade of her sword into Xebre's gut, before grabbing his neck and snapping it.

“Show me the law that says I cannot,” she spat, throwing him aside as Chrysalis' changelings settled down to feed on the fresh meat they had just killed.

Ascentia stepped inside the castle to be greeted right away by Celesita, Luna and Twilight.

“We did it...” Twilight replied in shock, “I can't believe we actually did it...”

Panting, Ascentia looked out at the changelings cleaning up the streets of the bodies, “What will you do with them?”

Celestia looked down for a moment, “I must admit, I never expected to owe my life to the changelings.”

At that word, Queen Chrysalis strided into the castle, “The butchers are dead. It was a battle well fought.”

“I must say, Your Highness, your capacity for violence was very much appreciated,” Ascentia replied, bowing low to her.

“You show me proper respect, creature. I like that,” Chrysalis replied as she stepped back outside to gather her changelings.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Twilight replied, “Ascentia, Princess Celestia said something about Xebre having this weird jewel.”

Ascentia froze in horror and turned back to them, “What colour was it?”

“White, with an orange glow,” Luna replied, “He pierced it with a dagger after stabbing us both with it.”

Ascentia's face showed a horrified expression before...

“Run...”

“What?”

“You heard me, Twilight! Run. Find your friends, and and get as far away from this city as possible!”

“Why?” All three of them asked.

At that question, there was a bright light in the center courtyard over Xebre's body as an ethereal woman clad in white took form. Her glowing body stepped onto the ground, and her eyes opened slowly as they surveyed the area. With a flick of her palm, a minute meteor shot out of the sky and demolished four houses, killing the ponies cowering inside.

Athena, the Universal Deity, had risen again.

“That is why,” Ascentia replied.

Next Chapter: The Promise Estimated time remaining: 41 Minutes