Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nBDLFt0h0gBrrSBECYUi7nsWb04VGyXqVc_g8NspBT8/edit?usp=sharing

Compared to the exhausting journey through the jungle, the way back to the zebra tribe felt much faster and easier to Twilight. Mostly because she managed to get several spirits interested in her, making her path back more convenient. But what truly made time to seem flying by to her was that she couldn’t stop thinking about what she had learned. Actually meeting some of the spirits in the tribal lands was a mindblowing experience to her.

The world seemed so much more alive now. She focused on her magic sense, feeling invisible beings all around her. Who knows how many creatures were there, which she just couldn’t perceive due to her limited senses and bodily abilities. That thought also made her think of many other things that were often overlooked: Mushrooms, ants, fern, worms, grass, fish and so much more. Twilight’s world was rich with beauty and life. All of this would be destroyed should the demons win this war. The purple mare always knew that much was at stake, but only now did she truly begin to grasp what a world ruled by a corrupt king, demons and cult would be like. No matter what, their rebellion had to succeed. It just had to. There was no way she would let something like this happen. Silently, she told herself that she would fight until her last breath, come what may come.

---

With the purple mare absent, the gray figure Fluttershy kept on seeing dared to appear again. It was standing outside, staring at Rarity through the window. Nopony but the reaper mare was able to see it and due its position, they all would just assume that she was looking out the window, sunken in thought. But they didn’t really look at her anyway. Most of them were focused on the sick unicorn. Their eyes were filled with worry and especially Zecora seemed to be very sad. The days of intense medical care managed to stabilize Rarity. She was awake and doing fairly well, considering her condition.

Fluttershy, though, was not too sure where her black eyes should wander. Sometimes, she was looking at Rarity. Other times, she focused the gray figure. Being unable to feel anything aside, she didn’t really find any reason to care about the current situation. As so often, her thoughts were in the past. It had only been a few short years, but the time before she became a reaper already seemed to fade to gray and became increasingly more like a fairy tale: Too good to have been true.

Her left front hoof rose up to the heart pin, covering it. There is a difference between not being able to feel at all and feeling numb on the inside. At this point, Fluttershy just felt numb. Of course, she still cared for her friends and she would protect them all with her life. But as the time passed by over the years, she began to think more and more that everything was just all the same. It was becoming increasingly harder for her to find motivation. All which kept her going were duties, her friends and of course her memories. While her behavior had heavily changed due to her transformation, she was now at the point where she was feeling like she would lose her personality altogether. Just like Twilight, Fluttershy made a discovery on her own. This must have been what Obsidian had been going through, she figured. If only she could still feel anything. She would be even more sorry for her lost love now.

The gray figure vanished suddenly. About ten minutes later, Maarith and the purple mare returned. As her friends welcomed them with some short smiles and hugs, they could already tell that something was steering in her again.

“You seem so different now, Twilight,” Cadence started. “So calm and relaxed, but also very thoughtful and focused.”

“Looks like the way of the zebras rubbed off on you a bit, darling,” Rarity commented.

“You could say that,” the purple mare confirmed. “That was a very eye-opening experience. But let’s get to the important news. I got Roho Maua’s support. She will help us unite the zebra tribes and convince them to join the rebellion.”

“Great news!” Derpy exclaimed happily.

“Indeed. Is there anything new about Rarity’s disease?” Twilight asked, looking at Zecora

The zebra herbalist had not yet spoken a word and even continued to remain silent after being directly spoken to. She just looked at the group as if she was bordering to break out in tears. They all noticed this and eventually turned around to her.

“What’s wrong, Zecora?” Twilight asked again.

Zecora still couldn’t bring herself to reply. Her eyes wandered to Rarity, who now started to get very worried herself. If it was this difficult for her to say, it had to be something very, very bad. After a while, Zecora closed her eyes, took a deep breath and focused the group again.

“My friends… I’m sad to say… Miss Rarity will not be okay. I did everything I could and nothing worked as it should. Be it magic or natural, the effects were only minimal. After thinking, long and long, I finally figured out what is wrong,” she spoke.

“Well, what is it?” Fluttershy wanted to know.

“It is hard for me to say this out in a single breath… But… I am afraid… Miss Rarity received a Kiss of Death,” Zecora spoke with a lot of hesitation.

“I’m… not sure I’m familiar with that,” Celestia commented.

“A disease curse that, although extremely rare, is known to cause a lot of despair. With a kiss, it is sown. A cure for it was never known. It is torture, developing slow. Over years, the agony will grow. The name is not to be taken as a lie… I am sorry to say but… Miss Rarity is going to die…” the zebra mare announced.

Nearly everpony present felt like they were being hit by a train. Of course, Rarity was the most shocked of all. Everyone would have expected of her to start crying now. But the shock was so deep, she couldn’t.

“I… I’m… going to die…?” she asked back, not wanting to believe what Zecora just said.

As their zebra friend nodded, Rarity’s eyes began to fill with tears. It finally got through. Immediately, all of her friends gathered around and held her gently, most of them close to crying themselves.

The silence was gone and instead the sound of the sobbing white mare filled the hut. For minutes, they just held Rarity. It was another one of those moments where none of them knew what to say or even think. A few times, Fluttershy, Celestia, Derpy and Cadence opened their mouths, intending to give a soothing statement and cheering her up. Yet, they just didn’t know what to say. They tried to sort their thoughts, to come up with any words. But they failed.

Twilight was no different. She stood there next to Rarity, holding her hoof and feeling the tears run down her face. She just couldn’t believe it. Once again, she was going to lose a friend. She had already lost so many and there was nothing in her power to change this… As that thought crossed her mind, her expression suddenly turned from sadness into anger.

“No,” she spoke out audibly, getting the attention of all present. “Not again. I’m done with seeing friends die around me! Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Obsidian Shards, Moondancer, Crystal Blossom… Enough is enough! I won’t let this happen again! Especially not to you, Rarity!”

“But Zecora just said that her sickness is incurable…” Shining Armor resumed.

“So what? I don’t care! How many times did we have to fight against impossible odds and we did it? This is no different! I won’t let any more of you die! Not, one, more!” Twilight argued, returning her focus to her sick friend and holding her hoof with both front legs. “Rarity, I won’t let you die. I won’t! If I have to, I will travel the entire world to find a cure and if it doesn’t exist, I will invent it! I won’t give the demons one single more victory!”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. From here on, her path down is very steep. The most for her that I can heft is that she has merely a few months left,” Zecora commented.

“That will have to do then. As soon as we get back to the crystal empire, I will mobilize everything to find a cure. Don’t worry, Rarity. I will save you,” Twilight promised.

The white mare did not reply. She just closed her eyes, continuing to cry quietly.

---

Two hours later, the group got ready to depart from the Zebra Tribal Lands. While the others were busy packing, Rarity was not allowed to move much. To give her as much time as possible, Zecora advised that she should remain lying down for most of the time. So she just remained in her bed, curled up and crying every now and then. Long ago, Rarity used to get a bit over the top when it came to expressing her emotions. She used to act things out much worse than they actually were, thus causing difficulties with coming across as genuine and authentic. But this sight right there, her laying curled up, losing all her hope and crying without making any noise… Twilight would prefer Rarity’s theatric side over this genuine one. Seeing her like this was heartbreaking to the purple mare. After all they had been through, it seemed that she now as well had reached the end of her strength and was willing to just give up. The rebellion wasn’t even over yet and things already began to fall apart.

Twilight’s gaze wander around the hut. Nearly all of her friends had the same sad and hopeless expression on their faces. She hated this sight. She hated that they all had to go through this. If she could, she would shoulder all their burdens, just to see them smiling happily again. But there was no point in daydreaming and begging for illusions. These were very hard times with a lot at stake and now that Twilight was the new mistress of the reapers, she had become the center of everything. All the power rested on her shoulders, as well as all the burdens. If she failed, everything would fail. If she gave up, everyone would follow. This was all the more reason for her to force herself to keep going. She wouldn’t give up. If all the buildings crumble around her, she wouldn’t give up. If all those she cares about die around her, she wouldn’t give up. If she was the last mare standing, she still wouldn’t give up. She never would.

As the cart was finally packed and they were ready to leave, the purple mare used her magic to gently lift Rarity on top of it. She immediately found herself surrounded by countless potions and herbs, which Zecora had generously gifted to them. Although they would not cure Rarity and it would not stop her condition from getting worse, it would at least buy her valuable time.

“Thank you for everything, Zecora,” Twilight spoke, giving her friend one last hug. “Take care… and stay safe.”

This was not a happy separation. Zecora still had a frown on her face and rubbed her eyes shortly to get the tears out of them before she started waving them goodbye. The group waved back, then turned around and started walking.

No, Twilight would never give up. There was a lot that needed to be done now. A lot of research, a lot of organization and management. She would need scouts and send them all over the place. She would need to talk to all the species that had joined the rebellion for any information that could help. It wasn’t over yet, especially for Rarity.

---

A few things had changed in the nearly three months the group was away. While the diamond dogs were scouting the underground of Equestria, they came across an old friend: Cerberus, the three-headed hellhound. He was badly injured and very weak, but they managed to bring him back to the Crystal Empire in time. Apparently, he tried to keep the demons from leaving Tartarus, but eventually became overwhelmed. He was recovering well and soon turned out to become another valuable asset for their rebellion. He definitely would make a significant difference during ‘The Red Day’, as the rebels began to call the dreaded upcoming assault of the demons.

A lot of internal difficulties were being settled during the time of the group’s journey as well. While the equestrian ponies, the arabian ponies, the crystal ponies and the mules were getting along with the cattle very well, they were still terrified of all those carnivorous allies. The diamond dogs seemed to be very little interested in cows and bulls, but that was a whole different story with the griffons. They had been known to hunt cattle in the past and the fact that the supply of food for creatures that don’t mainly feed on hay, oats and vegetables was barely organized, causing stocks to become scarce, didn’t help either. The griffons could make-do with bread and pastry, but many of them were starting to crave meat, causing them to stare at the cows with a look on their faces that would terrify any herbivore. Luckily, the griffons present in the Crystal Empire were highly trained soldiers and knew how to keep themselves together. It was unlikely that any murders would happen within the rebellion, especially because the amount of vegetarian allies clearly predominated, putting pressure on the griffons to behave. But the biggest guardians of the Cattle were definitely the minotaurs. Being nearly twice as big and strong as a griffon caused them to become the main protectors of their cousins.

Aside of that, there were further bad news. The Rarity clones in the empire had started to die now. Nearly every day, another one collapsed on the ground and had to be reaped. This gave a constant reminder to the original and all the remaining clones of the grim outlook their near future would provide.

But while there were problems on one side, there also were many positive things to say on the other. Being already related to each other, several cows and bulls started relationships with minotaurs. Nearly at the same time, other interspecies couples popped up. Donkeys could be seen dating diamond dogs, griffons were with arabian ponies and more. These couples were rare for now, but the general desire of understanding and getting along with each other created an atmosphere of tolerance, openly welcoming this change. A sight many in the group, Twilight in particular, needed. There was still hope. Arch-enemies were banding to fight a common enemy, creating new friendships and lovers along the way. Life and love alike still find a way, despite the dire circumstances.

But the most important questions remained unanswered. There was still no progress in trying to link the Elements of Harmony with the Crystal Heart. Despite the best efforts of donkey scientists and arabian scholars, they so far just couldn’t find a way to create a connection, stating that the differences between those artifacts were just too immense. They still seemed optimistic, though. They hadn’t tried everything yet and were starting to understand both the elements and the heart slowly. They were sure that there would be some traces of similarities between the two. After all, they were both based on gems. The scientists and magicians simply asked for more time and resumed their work.

Twilight Sparkle took an example of this and turned her plans to action. With her order to find anything even remotely related to Rarity’s disease, she set a lot in motion. Hundreds of scouts lead by the Wonderbolts were spreading all around, turning every stone and scanning every plant. Thousands of samples returned to the purple mare on a daily basis, which she directly brought to the library. She had claimed a section of the massive building for herself, setting up a medical laboratory right in the corner between the science, medicine and magic book shelves. While her eyes were focused on the samples, she kept on picking up one book after another, using her magic to instantly learn its content. Everything that could be even remotely useful became absorbed by her, even if it was on the other end of the library. Nopony could keep track of the amount of knowledge she consumed per day and even she did not pay attention to anything else but her search for a cure.

Twilight turned herself into a data processing machine, barely eating or sleeping. She spent every waking hour doing research and even brought her work to the dining table and briefing room. Rarity may have become silent, introverted and thoughtful, but Twilight’s behavior wasn’t any more healthy either.

But eventually, as the time passed, she needed to put her personal goals aside more and more, returning her focus to the rebellion. They still weren’t ready for The Red Day and since Twilight put all efforts in gathering allies and improving defences on hiatus in favor of finding a cure for Rarity’s Kiss of Death, her allies as well as friends started to get increasingly more nervous. Finally, it was Applejack who broke her concentration.

“Snap out of it, Twilight! It is mighty nice of ya to put so much effort into helpin’ Rarity, but ya can’t leave the big thing hangin’ for a smaller thing!” she shouted with a grim expression

Twilight twitched heavily, letting the magnifying glass she held aloft in front of her face by magic drop on the table, as well as the plant sample she had just received from Spitfire. Her ears dropped, her lips tensed and she gained an awkward expression while rubbing her tired eyed.

“Sorry…” was all the purple mare said in return.

“Look. Ah don’t really blame ya for trying to help. None of us are. But Rarity’s life isn’t the only one hangin’ on a loose branch. We’ve got thousands and thousands of friends walkin’ around the empire now. They all entrusted us their lives! We can’t let them down! We need to focus on the things ahead!” Applejack explained.

“I have to agree with Applejack. As important as Rarity may be to us, we also have to focus on the others,” Fluttershy commented.

The others remained silent. Rarity as well just kept sitting on her pillow with her head lowered, staring at the table. Twilight couldn’t help herself but to look at her in worry for a moment before she could catch herself again.

“You’re right… So? Any news of the other regions of the world? Any more governments, kingdoms or empires looking to join us?” Twilight wanted to know.

“No. Nothing,” Shining Armor started. “Blueblood may not have given an official order yet, but the demons are starting to block our efforts to spread the word of our rebellion on their own now. We get random reports of scouts being attacked and messengers disappearing. We are currently working on finding safer routes.”

“We are pretty close to reaching our limits. The demons memorize our paths and tactics. It gets increasingly harder to find a secure way out of Equestria,” Luna added.

“Then… If going over the land is getting this difficult, how about going across the ocean?” Derpy suggested.

“The eastern sea does not provide many places to look for allies.There is only one major landmass, which the griffons inhabit. Other than that, there are just a few unpopulated islands,” Celestia responded.

“Hm…” Twilight mumbled, turning around to the map of Equestria and analyzing it. “Let’s see… We have been this way… We’ve been walking that way… Oh, this is tricky. I just wished it wouldn’t be so difficult to get any decent maps of our world. Those that already had been in the library were very outdated. Maybe I should-”

Suddenly, they could hear knocking at the door to the meeting room. As it slowly opened, the group could see Truesight poking her head through.

“That will not be necessary, my mistress,” she started speaking. “May I enter? I have what you need.”

“Oh! Of course! Come in!” Twilight spoke happily.

With a lot of caution, the red mare with rainbow mane entered, as usual closely accompanied by her foster child Amber. The reaper clairvoyant’s behavior had changed dramatically since Celestia had stepped down and gave her title to Twilight. She became very humble towards the former keepers of harmony, almost coming across as timid. A change that certainly made Twilight happy. It really seemed like Truesight finally accepted and respected the whole group again.

As she arrived in front of Twilight, she kneeled down and opened her cloak. Amber was still hiding underneath her, but she seemed to have improved. Without much hesitation, she actually stepped out of her cover to hand Twilight a large scroll, who immediately unrolled it. Once again, Truesight had proven her skill in predicting the future. It was a map of the griffon empire and the surrounding oceans.

“That’s great! Thanks a lot!” Twilight replied happily.

Truesight and Amber remained silent. While the filly started hiding again, Truesight kept her head low. Moments later, she got back up and just left again.

“Glad we got at least that fixed,” Applejack commented.

“I am very relieved to see this change of mind in her myself,” Celestia agreed with a smile. “Well, Twilight? What do you think?”

“One moment. I’m still looking,” the purple mare replied as she studied the map while rubbing her chin.

Celestia was right. The eastern sea truly did not provide much in terms of finding more allies. Dozens of tiny islands, hardly big enough to even carry a bigger population. She remembered the names of several of these islands, because the Wonderbolts had focused mostly on gathering hard to reach samples during their scouting for a cure. Of course, Twilight wanted this map and Truesight knew this would happen. So she provided. But Twilight was sure that, if this map wouldn’t bring up what she was looking for, she would have asked for another. Why did Truesight only bring this one?

A certain name caught her attention: The Flaming Islands. A cluster of medium-size islands with a lot of volcanic activity that was widely known to be the home of dragons. Twilight kept staring at this name for a while, sunken in thought.

“What’s the matter? Did you find something?” Cadence wondered, immediately noticing the change in her expression and behavior.

“Yes, I got an idea. It’s daring, but I think it may be worth a shot,” the purple mare replied, putting the map on the center of the table and pointing at the place she had been analyzing so much.

As it was to expect, many eyes went wide and mouths slightly opened in disbelief. Glances kept jumping between the map and Twilight, who seemed to be way too calm for what she was suggesting to do.

“Ya can’t be serious, Sugarcube,” Applejack commented.

“I am not making jokes, AJ,” the purple mare replied.

“Dragons? Are you sure about this, Twily?” Shining Armor wanted to know.

“I know, I know. This is dangerous. But think about it! Dragons are among the most powerful beings in the world! If we could maybe just get a few of them to join our cause, we would have good chances to not only survive four demon strongholds attacking at once, but also to defeat them and critically hit Blueblood’s army!” Twilight assured.

“In all the time I have been ruling Equestria, I never could manage to establish any kind of agreement with them,” Celestia started. “From my own experience, I can say that dragons are very arrogant. They are mighty and they know that. Most creatures can’t do anything about them and their decisions. They are also incredibly territorial. If they get something in their mind, it is not possible to convince them otherwise. Throughout the centuries, dragons kept coming to Equestria, claiming areas and driving away all other creatures. But where I failed, I am sure you will succeed, Twilight.”

“Thanks. I will give it my all to convince them. And on a side note, there might also be a chance that we find Rarity’s cure there!” the purple mare stated.

“What makes you think that?” Fluttershy wanted to know.

“Simple: Next to no intelligent creature was ever brave enough to go to the homelands of the dragons. The Wonderbolts as well avoided the Flaming Islands so far. Maybe the only reason why nopony ever found a cure for the Kiss of Death was because they didn’t dare to look for it there!” Twilight figured.

“You do realize that this is a massive journey, right?” Luna wondered. “We will have to arrange a ship and sea-faring consumed a lot of time. We will need months just to arrive.”

“I think it would be worth it even for the remote chance to get the support of the dragons and finding a cure for Rarity,” Twilight argued, then turned her focus to the white mare. “Of course, that would mean we would need to bring you along. If we actually find a cure there, we can’t waste any time. You would have to get it immediately.”

“Okay…” Rarity replied meekly.

“Don’t worry. I will make sure nothing happens to you,” the purple mare reassured. “The question is, though: Who else will join in?”

Immediately, Applejack let out a sigh. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to do much in her condition and at this point, she had become essential for keeping the rebellion running while Twilight was absent.

“Ah shucks. I guess I’ll have to stay again. Can’t really run fast enough if things go down,” she spoke while tilting her hat forward a bit.

“Well, with such a high-risk journey, it would be better to bring at least one reaper, I guess,” Derpy figured. “I’ll join you.”

“Thanks, Ditzy,” Twilight replied with a smile immediately.

The purple mare focused the former princesses and her brother. Without words, they were just looking at each other for a few moments and then began to smile.

“I think I speak for all four of us if I say that Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor and I would gladly join in. It is just safer that way,” Celestia stated. followed by nodding of the others.

Twilight smiled in response. It was clear to her that they would be coming. But now, her focus turned to Fluttershy. She kept her head low, focusing the heart pin and gently caressing it.

“Dragons…” she spoke quietly, apparently noticing that she was being watched.

“Are you still afraid of them?” Twilight wanted to know.

“I’m… not sure… I don’t really feel anything, but I know I used to be really afraid of them. I guess I’m just… cautious,” the yellow mare replied.

“We really could use you for this journey. We need the extra protection,” Twilight stated.

“Then I will join you,” Fluttershy replied shortly.

“Good! Again… Sorry, Applejack. Sorry we are keeping you out of these things,” the purple mare apologized to her friend.

“Honestly? Ah think Ah had a fair share of adventurin’ already. Won’t be able to follow mah dream of startin’ a family while I’m away riskin’ my life anyway, would Ah? Ya’ll got your chores, Ah got mine. Ain’t nothin’ more to it than that,” Applejack stated.

“Alright… Well I will see what kind of ship we can arrange and whom we can bring as guards. You should all get to bed early tonight. We have a lot of preparations to make in the next days,” Twilight finished.

With that, the meeting was over. Twilight, Shining Armor, Derpy, Cadence, Fluttershy, Luna and Celestia got up and started walking towards the door. Applejack went over to Rarity, aiming to help her up. The orange mare immediately noticed an unusually serious expression on her friend’s face. She had tear trails, but looked down to the floor very grimly. As Applejack placed her front hoof on Rarity’s shoulder, she just pushed it away and forced herself up on her own.

“Twilight, wait a moment,” she requested.

Not only Twilight, but all members of the circle stopped and turned around in surprise. They can’t recall ever having seen such a serious and determined expression on the fashion diva’s face before. This was way beyond the expression she had during arguments and competitions. She slowly walked over to the purple mare, her eyes focused on the ground and rapidly jumping around, as if she was rethinking something. The conclusion seemed to remain the same, though, as she not much later stood before Twilight, wiping the tears out of her face and placing her left front leg on her shoulder.

“Darling… I really do appreciate all the efforts in trying to help me. But all your determination aside, you as well will have to agree that we should take steps in case you… can’t heal me,” she started.

“Rarity… I am not going to talk about preparations for your funeral,” Twilight denied with a sad expression.

“Neither am I, darling. That is exactly why I wanted to talk to you specifically. You are the mistress of the reapers now, so you are the one who can make what I am going to ask you for possible,” the white mare continued.

“You… you don’t mean…” Twilight spoke, very unsure.

“Actually, that is exactly what I mean. Please… should you not be able to find a cure in time… tell your reapers to not reap me,” Rarity requested.

“W… why? Why would you want that? You should know what happens if they don’t. I can’t let you go through so much pain. I wouldn’t be able to take seeing you suffer like that,” Twilight stated.

“I am fully aware of the consequences. But it’s not something that can’t be undone at any point later. In the past, I may have made a few mistakes and put my generosity into question. But the time where we could allow ourselves to be selfish are over. This war isn’t anywhere near to being done and I won’t let my own death stop me from supporting this rebellion. Even if it means I have to wake up again as an undead, I will do my best to keep helping,” the white mare argued.

“Are you sure about this?” Celestia wanted to know.

Rarity nodded in response. All members of the circle started looking at each other. Eventually, Twilight started focusing Celestia and her two reaper friends.

“Is that possible without risking her falling into insanity due to the agony?” she wanted to know.

“Well… there are ways to slow down her path to Maledictum Insania,” Derpy responded. “As long as she has anyone caring for her and talking to her frequently, she will be able to walk around as a dead pony for quite a while before she loses her mind and gives birth to a demon.”

“I see…” Twilight spoke, returning her focus to Rarity. “I’m… really unsure about this. But I do admire your courage and generosity. I will give the order to all reapers… and I guess we need to arrange a few things so you don’t have to be alone for any longer period of time once you are… well… undead. But this is still just a last resort, okay? I will still do everything I can to prevent this from happening.”

Finally, Rarity let out a sigh and relaxed her expression. This seemed to have been very important to her. A smile even returned to her face.

“That is okay. Thank you, Twilight,” she replied.

Even when facing imminent death, none of them were willing to give up. It wasn’t over yet, especially for Rarity.