From far above with her horn glowing, watching the whole sordid affair play out down below, Anna stayed with bow in barky hoof and quiver upon her backside as she stood atop the mastership's railing. Clad in the dress Rarity made for her, crystals wedged in her forelegs and gaskins to stop the wood from spreading beyond those points, her eyes were narrowed as her mane billowed in a faint wind. At her side stood Shining Armor and the elderly stallion he managed to coax from the now-burning Greenwood, though they kept themselves behind the railing, eyeing her carefully.

"This whole time," Shining said, garnering a slow nod from Anna. "Is that why you joined? To stop… what happened to the others?"

"To retain control," Anna muttered, her echo warbling as she was frowning at the question. "It was that, or lose myself like the countless others before me." She glanced at the crystals keeping the wood at bay. "Part of why I learned to master this particular bow." She sighed. "Though, there are days it catches me off-guard… and I panic." Her gaze turned to the elder, briefly. "And I hear you know not the full extent of it?"

The elder nodded, likewise frowning. Anna continued when she saw he wasn't speaking, "It wasn't just you they've misdirected. I cannot set hoof there. Not until it's completely scorched off the map." She looked at her own barky protrusions and shook her head. Turning to where the timberdrake was still commencing its rampage, even as Twilight and Matt tried their best to slay it, her body trembled. "Maybe that old bastard in Frostbite was right about the travesties coming upon us. I guess… we Fantasians deserve them after all."

Shining's brow furrowed. "What do you mean by that?"

Anna turned to him, eyes red yet sullen. "In the last few years, disaster after disaster's been hitting Fantasia without letting up, all thanks to either us acting unfathomably stupid or something we failed to stop in time." She held up her free claw, and curled the digits one by one as she proceeded to rattle off, "The Royale Catastrophe, allegedly ten-ish years ago by my estimates. I've not heard a lot about it. Lance trying to take over the world through brute force. Akron being reawakened after gods know how long. Godcat being freed and going damn near ballistic before we got her to see reason."

Shining gaped, and alarm bells began ringing in his head as the second item of that list gained admission and proceeded to slap him. "Lance tried to what?" he squawked.

Anna nodded, very well sensing his surprise. "With just gryphons. I don't know how he took over and mobilized their asses, but he did it." An amused twinkle glimmered in her eyes. "Of course… Matt and Natz were having none of that shit, so they somehow gathered the changelings to retaliate. A yearlong back-and-forth erupted, both struggling to seize territories and such. One side had the magitek, the other side had espionage." Again, her head shook, and that glimmer waned. "Ended up as a brutal war before long, with Lance barely losing. Casualties were skyhigh. Damages, through every roof imaginable. And for what gain in the end?"

Shining's face hardened. This demanded some explanation… okay, maybe a lot of explanation, though he at least knew now who to ask later about it. "How much about this do you know?" he hissed.

"Enough from Rhinoc to keep me awake at night," Anna snarked in reply. Her amused glimmer fully faded, as her ears fell back. "During that war, Greenwood was almost sacked once. The gryphons came down, guns ready… before the changelings sprang on them from the trees. Personally, me and my family hid in safety, so we never got to see the end of that spat. Sarah didn't come out at all; couldn't blame her." A wistful smile crossed her lips as she loaded a stray arrow onto the drawstring. "As thanks, Mom sold some of her wares to Matt and Natalie. That was the first time I'd ever met them."

That smile fell as she tightened her grip on the bow. "And that… was the first time I saw outsiders, in the flesh. And they… treated me with nothing short of kindness."

Shining grimaced, ears turning back for a second. All sorts of horrors started to run through his mind. "What happened after?" he pressed.

Anna hesitated to answer, eyes reverting to their natural green for a moment. "... that was when Greenwood went to hell. It started shortly after the changelings left," she muttered darkly, her tone venomous and pained in equal measure. Eyes narrowing and flashing red once more, she steadied herself, muzzle scrunching slightly as she struggled to speak. Whatever was on her mind, Shining could only wager it was something horrific enough that would make a mare like her falter. "... before then, there were only good memories," Anna said, her own ears rotating as far back as they could go. "Now… it's dead to me."

With that, she turned to the raging battle the timberdrake was engaged in, seeing several shadows dancing within that area. Farther off, she spotted glimpses of sickly green dancing in the air, and flashes of steel retaliating as best they could.

"I hope Sarah wakes up soon… I don't want to lose her to that damned curse…" Anna muttered bitterly, head hanging low as she saw the madness continuing to rage below.

Then, as Shining peered closer, the village's fire erupted into an inferno that rose well into the sky, blurring all but the largest of trees in reds and oranges and thick smoke. "The barrier will never come again. The town is finished," Anna said, turning away from the burning village and to Shining. "Maybe…" Eyes reverting green again, flashes of anguish flickering within their voids, they dulled as she mused, "Maybe my own curse is well-earned…"

Shining turned to Anna, rage boiling in his blood. His emotions warred, and he struggled to not glare daggers at her; even then, a scowl set itself upon his face. He wanted to slap some sense into her, but doing that in the most literal manner possible would spark all sorts of other disasters he dared not think long about. Then he noticed the flute of her mark had vanished, only thanks to the wind that was still playing with her mane.

He glanced back at Greenwood, now burning brightly into the night. "How many of those disasters were averted?" he asked.

Anna sighed through her nostrils, closing her eyes. "Every one, so far," she answered. "Though it's a process that can take weeks at least to resolve." Her voice softened as she spoke her next words, "There's… a reason Sarah told you guys not to come. You did anyway. I'm still not sure why… after all this, you'd stay..."

"That's because disasters reveal problems that weren't acknowledged before and won't work themselves out," Shining responded bluntly. His expression softened, and he made to look Anna directly in her eyes, though the effort she gave in trying not to look back was commendable for all the wrong reasons. "The barrier between worlds probably gave out because whoever was maintaining the thing—"

"Assuming it's had maintenance to start with," Anna cut in.

"Assuming that, but whoever kept it running must have sensed that the problems were becoming too much for you guys to handle," Shining finished. "You said Godcat was freed?" That garnered a nod.

"Weeks after I got my mark," she clarified.

Shining sighed. That could only mean one thing; a reality that he would have to discuss with his sister and friends sooner or later. "But the disasters of the past have been averted, however high the cost may be. What I'm saying… is there's still hope," he said firmly, garnering an incredulous look from Anna. "However bad it's going to get… me and my companions will stand by your side the whole way through." He put a hoof next to her hind claws, the closest he could get without sending her over the ship's starboard on accident. "We'll help you fix it. Even if ponies die… we have to move on."

Anna nodded, seeing the reasoning behind that logic. Still, she did not look up, nor turn to Greenwood as it burned. "You're telling this to me, when I've torched my hometown after my sister was dragged out of it and after the villagers hauled ass. I'm a teen soldier. What's that say about me?" she scoffed.

Shining's ears twitched. Getting through to her would be harder than he thought, though she did have a point in her rebuttal. Then, he heard Matt uttering faintly as though still asleep, deep in the back of his mind, "I didn't sin."

An absurd notion, hopefully one that would work, popped into his head at that moment. "You can start atoning," he proposed.

Anna barked out a laugh, though there was no mirth in it, much less a smile on her face as she rose her head. "But how? All I've known is sin," she retorted. "You guys… you have it made. You're onto disasters lickety-split, and… and in record time, they just go away…" With a twinge of envy buried within her bitterness, she added, "You almost seem so… so… so carefree. No worries in the world, and records of the past to look back upon to avoid those mistakes made so long ago. We Fantasians… barely have a fraction of that." She gestured at Greenwood. "And untold suffering in turn."

"What have you seen here, but death and decay? Rot and ruin? Misery begets company…" Anna finished, looking away again. "And happiness… is always out of reach." Her lip quivered, and a tear trailed down the bridge of her snout to leap over the edge. "I may well have condemned my own sister to death; not through burning Greenwood, but by exacerbating the madness. What hope is there, if we're reduced to this?"

Shining frowned, brooding on the question. Given all he had seen on Fantasia so far, it was fairly legitimate… and no answers were forthcoming. He wanted to soothe Anna, but could tell her wounds ran deep. She almost sounded as though despair was just moments from claiming her in its clutches, as it had so many before her. Her most recent actions did little to abate those widening scars, even now.

Something had to be done, or else she'd leap over that precipice and never return. The silence was heavy, but it did not smother the tiny whimper that left Anna's mouth, nor the crackle of bark as it started to flake off of her legs in small increments. It did not smother the distant roar of the fire, nor the timberdrake's cries as it failed to catch its quarry. Anna made her weapons vanish, head shaking as she thought on what she had done.

Shining turned to the elder. "Can you teleport?" he asked. The elder nodded. "Get someone with a radio." The elder nodded again and vanished in a burst of light, leaving the pair alone as wood continued to break off and drift down below.

"Maybe… it's deserved…" Anna muttered, turning to look at the sky with misty eyes and a vacant expression. The crystals fell out of her legs along with the wood, leaving holes in her flesh that oozed with blood. "Maybe Greenwood was right… I shouldn't have been born…" Her eyes closed, and more tears trickled down her face. "I'm just not strong enough…" Her front claws fell away, revealing scarred patches of skin beneath, and it wouldn't be long before the hinds gave out.

"I've condemned my sister through inaction… I cannot bear that burden…" Anna went on, before forcing herself to assume a peaceful expression with a force that made her quiver once more. "But maybe if I descend there and help…"

Shining looked up at the sky as lightning began to dance within the Void, a brilliant white that briefly split the sable in two. He could've sworn he saw a figure up there for the barest of instants, but whether that was lightning or something else he could not determine. He lit up his horn and magically yanked Anna off the railing to safety, before she could start to tip. "That may be true, and a hard burden to bear… I wouldn't forgive myself if I were forced to kill Twilight or couldn't act to save her in time," he hissed, refusing to budge as she turned up at him, bewildered. "But we have to move on. Putting the past behind us… living life now, that's the first step of atonement. But you shouldn't jump into battle that brazenly."

He paused, seeing the pain and confusion flickering in her now-widened eyes. "I know… it's difficult. Especially for those of us who know no different until they even hear of it." He lifted a hoof and gently put it on her shoulder, before grasping the other one and lightly shaking her. "And if you torched your hometown, I'm guessing there was a good reason behind it," he said when he finished shaking her. "That, I won't hold against you; I've seen its ponies, and I don't know enough about it to know who in Tartarus I should hold in esteem."

He smiled a soft, serene smile. "I'm pretty sure your sister has been through her own share of disasters, and made it through every one thick and thin. If she leaves the area in one piece, don't leave her hanging like that." His next command was as soft as he could make it, with the weight his words carried, "You understand?"

Anna brooded on that for a moment. Shining continued when he saw she was still processing the ramifications of the possibility he presented, "And if she were to die… she wouldn't want you to die as well. Somepony has to live to tell the tale, and if it has to be you, so be it! That way, the past, no matter how many pieces it's been smashed into, will remain in some form for the ponies of tomorrow." He paused, sighed through his nostrils, and lifted a hoof to poke her on the snout with it. "Alright?"

Anna could only weakly nod to all of that, and on the deck she sat there still mulling it all over. Shining pulled away, watching her carefully in case she got the bright idea to leap over the railing instead of tipping off of it. "Now it's one thing if you want to go down and help. It's another thing to blindly leap to end the pain." He tensed a little, preparing for an outburst. "At the very least, for one of your position? If all else fails, go out swinging—but now isn't the time for that. You're hurt. A fall like that could break your legs."

"And besides," Shining finished, gently patting her on the shoulder, "you still have Maria to worry about. What would she think if you had leapt over?"

Anna could only wince at that one. She looked down, eyes dulling in shame. "From what I've seen… you've been struck with something pretty bad. I think suicide would hurt more than help," Shining added, sighing as another crackling of bark met his ears. He lifted a hoof, upturned the frog, and cupped her chin to tilt her head just enough for them to look into each other's eyes. "You've tried it before, haven't you?" That garnered a weakened nod, and Shining dropped his hoof slowly to avoid making her jump.

Shining's gut twisted. He didn't like that nonverbal answer at all. Whoever or whatever would drive her to that edge of despair was going to meet the business end of his magic if Lance didn't find and take care of it first. That was also assuming the cause thereof hadn't yet died or become a wraith of some sort. He mentally registered the red flags when Rhinoc's words echoed in his head, "They know the extent of her nuttiness."

And if Lance knew, truly knew about this… then what in Greenwood did he stumble upon that would make even his own soldiers stay well away from it? Then again, such odds against a tiny forest village would be overkill… except for the fact that cursed trees even existed to begin with. That obscene strength of their fortitude against the icy hooves of death itself could not go unnoticed for long; even wraiths couldn't hope to hold a candle to that, he wagered.

Shining felt chills going down his spine as all this was being sorted through his mental filters. He thought of the cursed tree who'd tried to warn him and the others to stay away, and turned to the blackened skies wondering if that tree had done that very thing to countless others before them. He wondered if, perhaps, the warnings had fallen upon deaf ears before—if they were all in vain. Somewhere, he realized that deep within that broken trunk was a fragment of pony—with just enough heart to steer others away where they had faltered.

He hoped that tree would make it out alright, decrepit as its condition was. That tree was owed at least one apology, though that would matter little if it too had passed the point of caring about such things.

Silence hung heavily again, still broken up only by distant noises as two different battles raged on in close proximity of one another. Shining turned once again to the scarred landscape, in time to see something skewer the timberdrake through the roof of its toothy mouth. All he could make of it was a bright blue glow amidst the greens and browns making up its body. Anna sat in place, ruminating on what she'd been told as Shining studied the ongoing madness that had yet to be stopped.

Shining frowned. They were, indeed, onto the mess lickety-split… but it was putting up quite the fight. Perhaps this was one that would need a bit more… persuasion to comply than the standard fare. He saw gryphons and changelings starting to unload from the decks of the other airships, flying down south of Greenwood with guns and spears and other assorted weapons in claw and holey hoof. Even though the villagers were jerks a few days ago, perhaps they too had their reasons… or so he hoped, at any rate.

He also hoped they wouldn't explode at the sight of changelings and gryphons acting in tandem, if Anna's earlier words had any truth to them. The community had enough on its collective plate to contend with, snappish as they were. Shining closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, ignoring the faint stench of blood and rot wafting from below. Had he bothered, he could have detected burning and ash as well, though those were as faint as the light within the Void.

He felt a presence resting on his withers, though it had no discernable shape so much as it had an emotion he couldn't place. His eyes opened and he looked again to the sky. Lightning danced across once again, and that same figure from before flickered in and out of existence as it did. He could've sworn it had eyes of a crystal blue, nodding in his direction just once with a solemn expression.

A voice echoed into his head, soft, feminine and unfamiliar, yet carrying with it untold amounts of restrained power. "You know what to do," it said simply before the lightning faded and the creature vanished. Shining, befuddled and curious, could only nod back in its direction. He turned to his withers, only to find fading corporeal darkness staring at him in a disintegrating mass with red eyes trained on him.

Anna turned to the figure as well, and it looked to her with a nod. "They cannot cause pain again," it spoke in a growling echo so deep it descended past contralto, though its tone carried with it some measure of reassurance. "They are safe," it said before fading from existence with a swirl of burning ash and a lingering echo of thunder.

Shining's brow furrowed a little, and he turned to Anna. "What… was that…" he asked. All he garnered was a mute stare turning his way. "Do you know who or what that was?" he tried, getting a shaky nod that time. "Who or what was it?" he pressed.

Anna's mouth quivered, and her gums flapped uselessly for a moment before she could muster the strength to answer. "I… I think… this isn't the time," she muttered.

Shining opened his mouth to ask once more, only for the elder to reappear in a burst of light, this time accompanied by both Rhinoc and Flash Sentry. "Sir? What's the problem?" Flash asked, garnering a soft whicker as Shining turned to him with a front hoof trembling.

"Been resolved for now, I'll tell you later," Shining answered, resisting the urge to stomp at it all. He turned back to the mess raging down below, noting with some amusement that the timberdrake still seemed to have a thorn stuck in its side as it snapped its jaws everywhere they could go. He also noticed it was depositing its acidic spittle a lot less than it was doing earlier.

Rhinoc chittered, gut twisting as his horn lit up and his magic registered lingering despair and a power that still lingered in the area yet began fading. "My intuition tells me otherwise," he grumbled.

Shining heard the complaint and nodded. "That's something I'll have to bring up with Lance first chance I can," he muttered. Anna winced, bark returning on her legs to fill in the gaping holes left in her flesh. "Also, are the medics occupied?"

"One's still babysitting Cassida, and…" Rhinoc turned to Anna, frowning as he saw the regenerating wood. "Oh, okay... " he hissed, frowning. "Yeah… uh… and the other is on coffee break."

Shining groaned, and hoof met face in short order. "And Alexander?" he tried.

"Dealing with the children," Rhinoc answered, wings rattling. "Hey, someone has to watch the kids to make sure they'll pull through and keep the little ones from mischief."

Shining nodded, having conceded that days ago. "Yeah, we'll need to deal with possible injuries in the immediate future," he muttered. "Just… just make sure one medic is on standby once we leave. Okay?"

"Yes sir," Rhinoc replied, nodding only when Shining parted hoof from face and turned to him.

"Good." Shining turned to Flash. "Are you able to carry me down to Greenwood?" he asked.

Flash stiffened at the bizarre question. "Y-yeah, bu—" Then military training kicked in, and he amended his statement, "Uh, I mean, yes sir, but not without complications."

Shining nodded, seeing that being a doozy on the way down. The elder teleported again, and returned in short order with Fluttershy and Owlowiscious in tow. "Um… what's going on?" Fluttershy asked.

Shining sighed. He gave her the rundown, "I'll need to be airlifted down, and you and Flash are the only ponies who can help me get down there. Are you able to manage?"

Fluttershy nodded, trotting to the railing to see what new brand of madness was unfolding. She grimaced as the timberdrake landed face-first in the dirt, thanks to some well-timed shadows that surged forth from the far-off Matt. It scrambled back onto its claws and went right back to snapping and spitting with vitriolic fervor. "I certainly wouldn't go near that, though…" she said, before turning to the village and noticing the fires currently reducing it to cinders. "Or that," she added. Owlowiscious hooted with a nod of agreement and a clicking of his beak.

Anna forced herself to stand, wiping her face on a bit of foreleg that wasn't yet overtaken by wood. Her flesh stung with her tears, but she bit the pain back. "I could help, if you guys want," she said, voice firm. Flash, Fluttershy, and Shining all turned to her in unison.

"You sure, ma'am?" Rhinoc piped up, cringing at the wood continuing to surge forth from his superior's legs. His wings rattled when she conjured four arrows to stab into her legs, letting crystals grow forth at elbow and gaskin once again.

"I'm sure," Anna replied, expression dark and pained, but determined. "Even if I cannot set hoof there… I'm still helping."

The hatch opened, and the sound of hooves hitting metal echoed from within its confines. "Pinkie, is it really a good idea to carry that many balloons?" Applejack asked as she emerged from the hatch and hauled out, hat askew and a bemused look on her face as she turned to the tunnel.

Pinkie emerged seconds later, a bundle of deflated balloons spilling out of saddlebags strapped to her back alongside a wheeled cannon fitted between them, painted blue and yellow. "Yepperoni! Am I glad I convinced one of the guards to hold all my party supplies until I needed them!" she answered, wearing a smile that was just the faintest bit stiff. She clambered out and hopped over to the group, pausing to study what was happening to Anna's legs. "You should get that checked out by a doctor," she commented.

Applejack came over to see this for herself, eyes wide as perplexion took hold. "Hold the hay up," she began, scrutinizing the bark that had finished reforming its claws, "you got the blasted whatchamacallit that turns ponies into trees?"

Anna wilted at the remarks, ears turning back once again as she sourly nodded. "There's not exactly a cure for this…" she grumbled.

Pinkie tilted her head, lifted a hoof and put it to her chin before rubbing thoughtfully. Her smile fell and one brow arced as she hrrrrrmed in contemplation. "Maybe Zecora could help with that; she knows the ins and outs of poison joke, she could probably whip something up in a jiffy," she said, before then bouncing around her to stand at Fluttershy's side. Peering over the railing to take in the madness down below, her frown deepened as she studied everything that was currently going wrong.

Applejack didn't join her friends in scrutinizing that three-ring circus, instead focusing on Anna. "So that's why you didn't use much magic at the farm? Because ya could've messed up the orchard?" she asked.

Another weak nod answered her. "I… know some gardening myself. Orchard and ivy does not go together," Anna replied, wilting a little more. Her legs started to shake, threatening to buckle as vines began creeping out of the bark to anchor it to her flesh better.

Applejack nodded slowly, absorbing that bit of common sense. "Well, ya could've said something sooner," she argued.

Anna shook her head. "About that… your brother would have probably kicked my flank had he heard of it," she rebuffed. "And… I'd wager half of Equestria…"

Applejack frowned at that. Turning into a tree would be grounds for being called a monster or something, and in Equestria it would be no different. She sighed heavily. Gears span in her head for a moment, before she asked, "Didja spread the curse to that Chocolate fellow?"

Anna jerked up, head wildly shaking. "Nothing of the sort! I-it's not a sexual disease!" she yelped in a higher pitch than normal, wide-eyed and paling at the mere thought of it.

Applejack slowly nodded, and rather thoughtfully. Gears still span in her head, but some new cogs fell into place to turn that train of thought in a different direction. "So… it's something else, then, that did that whole crystal-thing to him?" she tried, garnering a hasty nod. "And he probably brought that on his own flank?" Another nod met her. Applejack suspected that it was all the answer Anna could give her; still, she took it for what it was.

She trotted to the railing, thinking on what she had seen so far. Then, she turned to Shining. "We're probably gonna be needing the Elements now," she muttered.

Shining nodded and lit up his horn, conjuring forth the box the Elements were safely stored in. He opened them and levitated Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie's respective Elements to them. They went on necks smoothly, and glowed a little upon contact. Anna piped up, "But don't you guys need to be together for them to work?"

Applejack nodded, and everyone turned to Pinkie as she started taking balloons out and puffing air into them with her mouth, before then pulling string from her saddlebags and tying them to keep the air inside. "Uh, Pinks? What're you doing?" Applejack asked.

Pinkie then pulled out a pencil and paper and started scribbling on the sheet. "Sending word in advance," she replied nonchalantly.

"But won't the balloon fall down instead of up since you breathed into it?" Flash asked.

"That's kinda the point," Pinkie replied, crinkling the paper into a ball once she was done writing on it. She tied the string to the ball and dropped it over the deck's railing, watching it descend rather rapidly for its size. "It's like tying a cupcake to it, except lighter and less tasty." She then turned to Rhinoc and asked, "You guys have any helium tanks? I have a way of getting down myself, but it requires a loooooot of helium and lots of balloons, and I sorta-kinda-maybe forgot my helium tanks back at home."

Rhinoc's brow furrowed. "Where'd the balloons come from?" he asked.

Pinkie reached into her mane with a hoof, dug around a bit, and pulled out a deflated balloon that wasn't there before. "Around," she replied.

"How did you do that?" Anna asked, exasperation leaking into her voice. Pinkie shrugged.

"I'll tell you, if you tell me how you've got ivy growing in your legs," Pinkie replied simply.

Anna winced. She sat back down again, mind whirring as it processed Pinkie's rebuttal. "... point… taken…" she grumbled.

Shining nodded. "Yeah, maybe that poison joke could help with that," he agreed with a sigh, hoofing the box over to Pinkie. She took it and put it in her saddlebags and turned to him as he added, "Keep it safe until you girls are ready to do your thing."

Pinkie saluted, legs going ramrod straight as she answered in a no-nonsense tone, "Yes sir!"

Rhinoc facehoofed, grumbled, and lit up his horn. "I'll… just fetch the helium tanks…" he muttered in resignation, before purple light swallowed him up in a burst that made him vanish.

The elder piped up, horn also alight, "I'll… er… keep watch over the little ones." With that, he too vanished off the deck in a burst of light.