The pony who stole Honesty was surprisingly cooperative, so there was no need to fight anypony in the building. He just flat-out turned himself in!

"Next element and location, Smartypants." Lance asked as he put the Shadow Blaster on his back and sat on the chair.

"Changeling Hives in the Badlands, next element is Laughter." Katie answered.

"Damn, that's quite a ways south, right?" Asked Anna, who was polishing her Crimson Dragon bow.

"Yeah." Natalie replied as she brandished her Crystal Staff.

"We're prepared." Matt said in glee as he forged improvements on Heaven's Gate and Anarchy.

Blake had been glancing between his Bronze and Silver Gauntlets, and frankly, he had a difficult time choosing which set to wear.

Fenrir remained quiet. He'd heard about the Lunar Shadow Overdrive and knew one wrong word would grant him a beat-down.

Again, the Valkyrie whirred to life and took off south.

Time skip yet again.

Changelings were attacking the party en masse most of the time, and when they weren't there were traps in need of being deactivated. Katie effortlessly deactivated all the traps by herself (sometimes it took a while for her to figure it out, her brain's kinda slow).

"I commend you for your efforts, human beings...and fox-angel." Said a voice that sounded like three at once as a tall, black pony with a contorted horn and insectoid features presented itself to the party. She had the Element of Laughter right on her neck!

"Queen Chrysalis...why?" Asked Twilight Sparkle, whose jaw dropped.

The queen raised a holey hoof to her chin as she observed the rest of the party. "How is the cat holding a sword and a shield?" She asked.

NoLegs meowed with a shrug.

"I suppose it can't be helped." Katie translated.

"How do you know cat?!" Asked Matt in confusion.

"I have a cat named Chewy." Katie answered.

"To answer the unicorn's question, let me just say I was offered...redemption." Chrysalis said as with a glow of her horn and a swift flick of her head she activated another trap and teleported out of the room.

The walls started to close in on the party and in the corridor beyond. Katie looked for a switch, but there was none to be had. All she saw was a door on the end of the closing hallway. She ran back to the party as the walls broke on their own accord, and in a pattern one would close right after the other. The rest of the party braced themselves for the inevitable...

..only to find Katie literally holding the walls by herself with both of her hands.

"JUST GO AND GET THE ELEMENT! GO WITHOUT ME!" Katie commanded as the walls started parting further until the door was enter-able.

"B-But!" Natalie started with tears streaming down her eyes.

"Listen, if one of us has to die here, it's me...I've sins to atone for, and I will atone them here!" Katie said, "Besides, even I could never beat a god seeing as I fell from grace!!"

"Will we get out?! The way we came will be blocked off!" Lance retorted as he picked NoLegs up.

Katie grinned, her eye once again a beacon. "Changeling hives have multiple tunnels, so there's always a way out."

"Really!?" Anna heaved as tears trickled down her cheeks.

Katie nodded. "Go. Don't leave my sacrifice in vain..."

The rest of the party, with tearful eyes (and a salute from Lance), entered the door on the end of the hallway.

The door closed once everyone else was safely on the other side.

Katie kept holding the closing walls, going over what little memories and times she had with the party.

Her first meeting them...then planning an attack on the Gryphon Kingdom....shedding so much blood....her arguing with Natalie....

Tears streamed down her cheeks as her right eye ceased its golden glow. Thankfully, no Changeling drones came to make the inevitable happen quicker.

She felt her arms give way, but she wasn't going to give up now. More force went into her arms to hold the walls of death off for a little longer as she relished what good memories she had...

Chewy....

Celestia....

Fenrir....

....and then the awful memories...her sins, her bloodshed.....her in torment....

Things she didn't want to remember....things she wanted to stay buried....

Katie felt her bones break upon being overexerted. Her nine tails took the place of her arms.

More tears, this time some consisting of blood, dropped from her face and onto the cold stone floor.

The fox never wanted to be left alone...unless it was absolutely necessary.

Here, that necessity was of greater importance. It had to be her..for the sake of everything.

The Elements, her friends....

The whole world.

The clock was ticking, it couldn't be stopped.

Time was inevitable, and eternal.

One tail gave way, but the other eight held off the walls even as bones began breaking.

Standing tall and with her head raised to the ceiling, she went over her blessings once more as tears silently fell to the floor.

It had to be done.

Four more tails gave way, leaving two on each side of the walls, which were gaining ground.

"I'm sorry, everyone....God, forgive me...for I have atoned my sins and would like to be in your holy arms once more....please, let me rest in peace as I reflect upon myself for the first time in....forever..." Katie said aloud, her blue eyes lost in her tears. "I know I failed thee, but let me redeem myself in thy afterlife. I wish to be in thy heaven once more, not in the hell of reincarnation....it is all I ask..."

Two more tails gave way. Her wings assisted the remaining two like freak arms.

"Let me see thy holy face again. Only then shall this poor soul rest forever more...." Katie continued, more tears streaming down her face. The last two tails gave way, and her wings felt as if they were on breaking point.

No answer whatsoever came.

"Forgive me.....!" Katie screamed as her wings gave way at last, the walls closing in with such haste the others soon followed. A series of squishes and crushes were heard in unison as the inevitable had occurred.

Natalie heard the squishes and crushes from the other side in the safe room. "She.....she....."

The mage broke down into tears while Matt and Blake exchanged saddened glances.

Anna was crying into Lance's chest as he stroked her hair and looked toward the door through which they walked in. His tears released themselves from his eyes and his face fell under the shadows created by his hat.

NoLegs started yowling, his eyes clouded by falling tears.

Gilda lowered her head in defeat.

"Why....." Twilight asked as she wiped away tears of her own. "Why....?"

Fenrir tried holding back his own tears and looked at the other room where Chrysalis was bound to be waiting.

"You will pay, Chrysalis. You will pay." Fenrir snarled in anger.