"So... are you really prepared to face your sister like this, Luna?" My tone betrayed my frantic mien. Blurring through the metallic, dampened walls of this grounded vessel, I shot a curious glance over Luna. "I understand," I stilled my tongue, drawing in air through my mouth thoroughly, "that you might rather avoid a confrontation with her--at least not in her current state."

She hesitated to speak seemingly; I could see her bite her lip, a circlet of sweat trickling into vines downwards from her forehead. She turned her head over my direction, her pace not decelerating by even the slightest as our steps resonated discordantly within the corridors.

"You're amicable, Summoner. I can admit that." She drooped her head, her gaze fixated upon the flooring as she ran. "But I doubt that, without my aid, we'd have our heads reft from our bodies."

I nodded at her, darting my head a bit towards me, inspecting the narrow hall we're traversing. "A fair enough statement. Alright then. I can't stop you."

In the peripheral sight of my vision, I could see a glimpse of Royce, who was gliding through the hall, his wings beating with vehemence, peered his head towards me, gesturing for my attention.

I promptly turned my head towards him, and kept my voice still, awaiting for whatever it is he had to say.

He opened his beak, a kindled, mournful flame alight within the glint of his eyes. "Mate, I highly advise you not to converse about Celestia round' Luna," he proceeded with a hushed whisper as he leaned over closer to my ear, "She already lost her for a thousand years... and they were only reunited recently. The concept of Celestia having to be disposed is a bit..." reluctant, his tongue fidgeted stubbornly, his eyes wandering listlessly as he pondered for a conclusion of his sentence, "-a bit morbidly depressing for her."

There was a grievous, crestfallen ambiance within his voice. As if resonant and echoing, his last words delved deep into my mind, evoking many emotions--passions, and thoughts.

I shrugged off the tinging sensation of sorrow from my head, grimacing lightly as I turned to Royce once more, shooting him a mien of acknowledgement--my eyes stoic and neutral, my lips souring somewhat, forming a very, very inconspicuous frown.

"I see," I nodded simply as I spoke in a whisper as well. Still, I am completely naive by what he referred to by having lost her sister already--perturbing at best. Seamlessly glancing towards my right, I caught Luna's resolve embroidered upon her steeled face.

With deft steps, we passed by the last couple of confining, secluded halls of the main interiors of the airship. The room now before us was vacuously spacious, being around the volume of an entire three-story manor. Cables, cogs, and miscellaneous machinery were all suspended by the ceiling--some scaffolding was apparent as well, presumably for the purpose of tending to those miscellany of machinations.

Frostbitten by the fervency of the cold of the environment, much of the floor now was glazed with a thin, translucent layer of frost; I could dimly see my reflection as I gazed upon downwards the sleet-scourged floor.

There, embedded within the middle corner of the wall ahead of us, was the entrance. Everything beyond its archway was white, an opaque, hazy miasma weaved and blotted through the air, binding everything in its addling embrace. Much of particles of hail, sleet, and ice weaved through the winds, spiraling and hurling round and round in a carousel of turbulent gusts of the blizzard.

There was a sobering feeling laced with a padded sensation of loneliness within the atmosphere; for as far as I could see through the mist of snow, I could see the silhouettes of buildings, the only light emitting from them were the infernal blankets swathing them, their immolated frames and foundations shimmering out dying wisps of orange, warming light through the whiteout. Everything other than that were distorted visually and consumed within the obscuring veils of the blizzard.

The ground trembled and shattered as flares of radiant glints of explosions rapidly accosted the town before us, the sound of deafening blasts pervasive through the listlessness. The crumbling of pavement, shattering canopies, the antagonized screams of horror-stricken civilians emanating from the abyss of white that laid before us--they all seemed to mutually contribute to some sort of hymn for destruction, melding into one graphic sound.

The winds, rampant and wayward, seemed to carry a scent of gunpowder and cinder. It was pungent and bordering the depth of choking. Coughing, I composed myself, rubbing along my throat with my free hand as the parched feeling instilled within my throat ached. This air was pallid and caliginous with the taste of ash evoked by the rapidity of the gunfire.

"Dammit!" Royce cursed aloud, landing beside Luna as the both of them skirted by the edge of the entrance, their eyes narrowed to funnel their vision through the horizon. Royce, seemingly not being able to make heads or tails out of the situation, roared out, "We can't see a damned thing, they're volleying us with cannon fire, and we're near-paralyzed by the cold."

"Find your composure, Royce." Luna deeply sighed, her composure always seemingly stoic and unfeeling. "Ire will only wring out hesitation and doubt from our troops."

"Speaking of troops..." I stepped forward, making my way beside them. "What of the garrisons here? Will they be able to withhold the area? Or is our security jeopardized?"

"What's your perspective of things, magistrate?" Royce hissed out, his tone somewhat snark, but pungent with venom as it trickled profusely of sarcasm. He gestured towards the binding fog that encompassed the whole Crystal Kingdom. "They're all out there. Their valor; their devout will to fight for their ideologies..." Royce drearily hung his head low, facing the ground as he snarled out an unintelligible murmur. "All of it is wasted..." he finished, his words somewhat suppressed by a gnarling growl.

"They're not wasting it." Luna shook her head. "If what is entailed is their sacrifice for the convalescence of Equestria from the disease known as 'war', then so be it. They've not hurled themselves into death's melancholic vice for no ample reasoning. I, too, am more than willing to contribute my life for that endeavor."

"Don't be..." Royce lifted his head up a bit, his face brazening a faltering, waning smile. He chuckled lightly, his laugh bearing no emotion, save for the exception of grief. "Don't be so intent on becoming a martyr; I'd much be much more content with you being alive after this whole debacle is over."

I scoffed a bit. Seemed as if this two go way back.

Luna glanced at me, her eyes once more radiating determination, zealous and loyal to her rationales and words. "Summoner, if need be, you must use your ability."

"My ability?" My eyes went adrift, my mind going idle. Soon enough, I figured what she was referring to as I reached out for the inner pocket of my robe, withdrawing the Grimoire from its roost as I displayed it before her eyes. "You mean the Grimoire..." my words were drawled with a bit of a melancholy, soft and mournful.

"Yes." Luna nodded swiftly. "With my sister still retaining an army well-armed and indoctrinated with such meticulous training, she could still immolate the whole of Equestria in flames well thrice."

"I can't."

"What?" she uttered out instinctively as I said that, recoiling back the split-second those words escaped my mouth. "Why- what could possibly be impeding you from doing so?"

"A recent revelation has... disclosed that the reason why Equestria's 'harmony' is weathered by decadence and a figurative sort of rust," I gulped down a bit, a nervousness brimming in my throat, "is because of my actions. The Grimoire itself saps the very life from the ground, desolating everything in its place. Its functions only accelerates this."

Luna glanced at me warily; silent, but observant. She shrugged--she shrugged? Aye; she simply disregarded what I had to say. "Never mind that. If you don't use it, the outcome of this scenario will infinitely be much more worse."

I blinked, afflicted by her reasoning. "Well, I can't- no. I see. I shall use it then," I managed to fumble out as I refined my stance, standing upright. "But I can't use it here." I gestured around the massive crannies and corners of the airship. "I have to go outside... where the space is not confined."

"I see." Luna nodded as she gestured towards Royce. "We shall be leaving now; it shall take time for you to conjure an army, does it not?" She shot a glance at me.

I nodded simply in response. "It does."

"Very well." Luna began walking towards the entrance. "We shall be leaving you to your[practices then."

"Enough of the preambles." Royce sighed deeply as he followed her. "Let's get this over with."

Luna strode off into the distance, passing through the entrance, Royce soon enough following. As their figures submerged into evanescences as they were engulfed by the entrancing white, Luna spoke out, "We'll be going to where we are needed... to confront Celestia." A few more strides into the abysmal white, she added as she completely dissipated from my view in a shout, "Hasten yourself! There are the lives of innocents being ravaged and sundered here!"

Gnashing my teeth together, I clutched my chest, feeling the warmth of my heart as I felt the rapidity of its rhythm, quickening at the suspense of what soon shall be the crescendo of a battle. "Can't believe..." I smirked somewhat, "I had such a change of allies."

Suddenly, like a phantasmal apparition, a shadow eclipsed by the edge of the entrance, somewhat making itself discernible over the mantle of white it stood upon.

Reflex jerking at my own consciousness, I reared my Grimoire over towards the entrance, anxiety welling up within me as the shadow's owner grew closer.

There was a sickening, malign presence invoking itself into the air, fanning the anticipation for whoever this is within me. I scowled at such off-putting transition of the air, my Grimoire prepared and readied at the direction of the entrance.

The silhouette began to form and visualize much more clearly. As far as the limit of my perception through the cascade of snow, the figure had an equine figure--its physique slender and tall, but not as quite the height of Luna's nor Celestia's. Other than those features, I couldn't make much of this being.

I tensed up, the walls of my throat stiffening as I shuffled around a bit, composing myself a bit more finely. A dull, faint pang of an ache surged itself from my arm. My arm getting tired at holding the position of the Grimoire upright and extended waned a bit, swaying idly from left to right, beginning to quiver due to the fatigue.

I groaned a bit, retracting back my arm, cycling it around my shoulder, the dull pain being dispelled by this movement. My eyes unfaltering and purely fixated upon the ominous shadow forming just a few feet beyond me, I steadied the aim of my Grimoire once more, reverting it back my arm's position once more.

I blinked, the lucidity of both the anticipation and my current predicament being a bit too... overwhelming, I shuddered, the miasma of the blizzard veiling around me like serpents, coiling and constricting me, leaving my bones under their pressure as they exude a pronounced cold.

It stepped closer gradually with each passing second. Time unfurling continually, the figure began to be more perceptible--I could spot a... jagged horn? A jagged horn--aye, that struck me with familiarity. I pondered a bit, indulging myself with my recollection as I turned my eyes skywards, blankly glancing at nothing in particular.

"Where have I seen-" Just as I spoke, the mystery figure uncloaked itself from the submergence of the snow-blighted winds, revealing itself before me as it stood just mere steps away from me as it shrugged off the mounds of white, glistening snow off her back.

She seemed to have taken notice of me, considering that whatever iota of mobility in her seemingly dissipated as she stood still, her green eyes piercing deep into me.

I blinked in astonishment and dubiety--as did the equine before me did. I glanced at her mane--dark, greenish cerulean. My eyes darted to her coat; it was plated with chitin--a prominent shade of black was consisting of the majority of her aesthetic.

I unhinged my jaw, staggering back a bit in uncertainty.

"Chrysalis?" I stood back a bit, dumbfounded at her presence. "How on- how could-" Mildly, I shook my head, trying to discard my dazed stupor, "just how did you even manage to find me?" My legs trembled, not much really in fear, but out of relief, a smile straying to my face as my eyes kindled alight with effervescence.

Chrysalis, too, shook her head, seemingly disconcerted as well. Partially, a vivace smile flashed upon her face, returning the amicability of my current mien. But--just like the disposition she displayed prior to our separation, volatile and unfeeling, she disregarded me as she sneered and waved me off with a dismissive hoof.

I felt a fragment of my soul dwindling and withering... though, I could still see her face flustering and cracking a smile for the span of a glint. Peculiar; must've been the emotion she's feeding off me.

"Summoner..." With deft, soft strides, she made her way beside me. Still, her apathetic sneer was present on her face, though, it was much less condescending than minutes before.

Her chest went shallow as she let an intake of breath through her mouth, gesturing her hoof at me.

Perceiving the gesture, I knelt down to her head's height, tilting my head a bit as I keened my ears, curious on what she had to say.

Suddenly, she exclaimed without much regard of the distance between her and I, "If you hadn't such a daft mind, you'd know that I wasn't looking for you!"

"Ow." I recoiled back, wincing under my breath as I stood back up, taking several hasty retreating steps back from Chrysalis. "Alright; alright. You don't give much of a damn about me--thanks for reminding me that," I uttered back as I stilled myself, staring at her with a deadpan expression.

"Oh-ho-ho!" I heard a haughty sort of laugh from behind Chrysalis. Glancing over her, I spotted Red, who was still dusting herself off as she stepped into the vessel, just having exited out of the snow's debilitation. "She gives more 'damns' for you than you think!"

"Oh... You." Chrysalis sighed, not much emotion within her void of a voice. "I thought you'd die from that avalanche back there."

"This one is not so keen on dying." Red mockingly bowed, her eyes, save for one, open as she snidely glanced at Chrysalis.

Rolling her eyes, Chrysalis turned back to me. "You..." she drearily sighed as she glanced at the floor. Taking her head back up, she stared at me with fair confusion in her appearance, "could you please fill us in on what's happening here? The cannonades? How in Tartarus you got here? The, more or less, battleground outside?" she extended her hoof, pointing it towards the dissonant chorus of agonized screams and several gunfire outside of the ship.

"Ah," I jerked a bit in discomfort, scratching the back of my head, "Well, that's quite, quite a long story. A very... long one."

Author's Notes:

Not sure if I should ship harder or not.