Twilight ran forward, doing her absolute best to not pay attention to the noises coming from all around her. Outside, she heard a sound that could only be the very ground itself moving to somepony’s will. Behind her the sounds of fighting continued to echo down the hallway.

She did her absolute best to ignore it; her best was simply not good enough.

“Twilight, we’ve gotta keep going forward,” Rainbow said as she landed near her wife. Twilight was moving too slowly, they would not make it anytime soon at that speed.

Twilight stopped, “We should go back, they need our help,” despite everything, how close she was to her missing son, she could not ignore the plight of her family and friends.

“I want to go back too,” Rainbow said as she wrapped a wing around her wife, “However; we’ve been through enough to know that back is not an option. We win by going forward, not backwards.”

“Our daughter is out there,” Twilight said as she looked out a nearby window, “She’s fighting the Demigod of Time.”

“I’ll put my bits on the Demigoddess of Magic any day of the week!” Rainbow said with pride in her eyes as she flew up and hit a hoof to her chest.

“You’re really not worried, not even a little?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow flew down and landed beside Twilight. She raised Twilight's muzzle with a hoof so she could look her in the eye when she said the next part, “Of course I am. But I know our daughter. I know that she won’t let that thing beat her.”

Twilight smiled back, slightly blushing, “Thanks, Rainbow,” she said, “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Become so enraged that you try to take over the world?”

Twilight hit her on the shoulder with a hoof for that; the action earned her an ‘uph,’ from the mare. Rainbow playfully rubbed her shoulder, pretending it hurt a lot more than it did. Twilight did not buy Rainbow’s pain for a second.

“Quit your whining you big baby, let’s finish this,” Twilight’s expression changed. This was the part of the lavender alicorn Rainbow loved the most. Twilight’s drive, her tenacity, and her determination; for lack of a better term, it was sexy as hell.

At least to Rainbow.

They continued down the hallway. Twilight running on the ground while Rainbow flew overhead. In the cramped space of the corridor there was simply not enough room for both of them to fly. Rounding the next bend Rainbow suddenly stopped, her eyes glued to the door on the right.

Twilight noticed it almost instantly, “Rainbow, we need to go to the left.”

Rainbow did not answer; she simply stared at the door, “What is it, Rainbow?” Twilight asked.

“I’ve… we’ve been here before,” Rainbow said. A creeping sensation crawled down her spine.

“This is Tartarus’s castle.”

“No, that room,” Rainbow pointed a hoof at the door. It was then it clicked for Twilight. Rainbow was right, they had been here before. She would recognize those double doors anywhere. In more than one way, they still haunted her nightmares.

“That’s where…” Rainbow started.

“…Tartarus kept the first piece of his Occulous,” Twilight finished.

Rainbow fell to the floor when Twilight finished her sentence. She knew it to be true; she just did not want it to be true. It being true meant she had to face the reality of the whole situation. They were in a God’s domain, fighting against the children of the Gods.

This was not some random pony with an evil streak, this was for keeps. Ponies could die, easily. Loved ones could… die. That realization hit Rainbow, hard.

Twilight saw this almost immediately. She hated this side of Rainbow. It was so easy to assume Rainbow was always strong, always in control of herself. The mare was always so sure, so confident in her own abilities. When things went bad, when she lost that self-confidence, it was painful to those that loved her.

A kiss on her cheek caused Rainbow to turn and look. Her forehead brushed against her wife’s, her eyes locked onto those lavender eyes she had grew to love over the years. They reflected her own gaze right back at her.

She saw herself in the exact way Twilight did. She saw her downcast expression, the look of doubt and uncertainty that covered her face.

Dash hated her expression, she hated how Twilight saw her because she knew she could be better, she wanted to be better, she had to be better. For her family, for herself, and for the most important pony in her life: Her wife, Twilight Sparkle.

She reached in and pressed her muzzle against her wife’s neck. Twilight wrapped a wing around her and brought her in for a hug. Neither of them said a word, but they did not have to. So much is said without being said, so much is felt without the need for words. Words just cheapen things. Even the greatest poets, philosophers, and wordsmiths pale in comparison to what is never said, what can only be felt.

This was one of those times and they both knew it.

“Thanks,” Rainbow said as they broke apart.

“Always,” Twilight started

“And forever,” Rainbow finished, wiping a tear from her eye as she did so.

This time they both ran upon the ground, side by side. They had been right; they had been here before. Sixty plus years ago, Tartarus led them from his throne room down here to retrieve the first piece of his Occulous, which meant they had only to retrace those steps.

They both knew where this would end.

…

Rainbow bisected the door in sections before Twilight blasted the shards with her magic. The four shards flew across the room with the force of a cannon going off. They skidded to halt, right in front of a black throne with a red unicorn on it.

“It was unlocked you know,” the voice carried over the air, reaching further than it had any right to. Twilight saw the unicorn almost immediately, she saw him for the power he had, for the sheer presence he radiated.

It was almost comical to the mare, she had expected so much more. With a flash of purple magic, Twilight teleported them both right in front of the throne.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Rainbow Dash, it’s my honor to finally meet you,” spoke the unicorn.

“Should we know you?” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow.

He shook his head, “No, we’ve never met before. However, you, Princess Rainbow Dash are the one that freed the four of us from our prison. Something I thought was impossible. For that alone you have my thanks.”

“I don’t want it,” Rainbow scowled.

“The devil his due,” the red unicorn smiled.

“Who are you?” Twilight asked, aware that Rainbow’s line of questioning was not going to go anywhere productive.

“I am the son of the Gods, the first born of Tartarus. As far as my name goes… well, that’s why we’re here.”

“What?” Twilight asked.

“Twilight Sparkle, you know the power of words, yes?”

“Words merely convey meaning, they’re a form of communication to express ideas,” Twilight rambled of a condensed definition of the word.

“Yes, and no. Words do convey meaning, they shape what an idea is in our head. Now, imagine that to the extreme.”

“I don’t…. I don’t understand,” Twilight admitted.

“I was afraid of that, let me ask you another question, when did you receive your name?”

“My mom named me,” Twilight admitted.

“As I suspected. When she gave you your name, she assigned that name to you. You became Twilight Sparkle; one has to only mention the name Twilight Sparkle to reference you. In essence, you become your name and your name became you. Now, imagine if you were never told your name.”

“What?!” Rainbow shouted. Her head hurt; a lot. ‘Rule number one: Never try to get too deep into the talk of eggheads’.

“Imagine that world, where this thing existed that described you, that was you, yet you didn’t know it. Imagine a world where your parents kept it from you, they had it, yet you did not. Imagine that if you will.”

“I… What difference would it make?” Twilight glared at him, “So what? You can just go by whatever name you want.”

“For mortals, that may be true, but for the children of the Gods, it’s a piece of us, a piece I’m lacking. Without it, I can never become what I should have been born as, what was my birthright!”

“Birthright?! What were you the Demigod of?!” Rainbow yelled out her question.

“Who said I was a Demigod?” the unicorn questioned.

Rainbow and Twilight paused; they both looked at each other. “Your mother was another God.” Twilight said; it was not a question.

“I knew you were the smart one,” the unicorn said with a smile. “My mother was Eros, she saw my future, my destiny. Disgusted with what she had a hoof in creating, she left me with my father for him to raise me and name me as he saw fit. However, he never gave me my name; he never treated me like a son because he knew it was my destiny to surpass him, to overshadow him in every way imaginable!”

“Looks like your shit out of luck!” Rainbow said with a smile, “I ran the bastard through with Cronus’s Sickle. He’s gone, forever! You’ll no more get your name then I’ll crap rainbows.”

“Indeed you did, Princess Rainbow Dash. You’re the one that killed my father, you’re the one that stopped me from ever getting my name,” he laughed before looking down, “My father denied me my place, he denied me my name, and after the Titan incident, he locked me and his two ‘new’ sons in the moon. I’ve hated the rotten basted with every fiber of my being.”

“So you’ve never said what we’re doing here,” Twilight replied.

“You should know this by now. While I doubt that your wife could connect all the dots, I’m willing to bet that you can,” his smile sent shudders down Twilight’s spine.

“Are you calling me dumb?” Rainbow hissed the question.

“Yes,” the red unicorn turned his gaze to her.

Rainbow went to fly right towards him, hatred in her eyes. Twilight expected this and placed a shield in her way. She knew Rainbow could break it without issue, but it would make her pause. Rainbow’s muzzle hit the shield with a loud ‘oww’, “Twilight, what the buck?!”

“Rainbow, don’t you see that he’s just trying to get to you? He wants us to act before thinking and you were about to play right into his hooves by launching a frontal attack!”

The cyan mare rubbed her muzzle and glared at her wife but said and did nothing more at that time. She knew that Twilight was right. She knew that Twilight was always right and would always be right. In simple words; she trusted her and thus waited.

“We’re here for the key, the Key of Ages, it’s the only thing that can unlock the Sands of Time,” Twilight worked through the problem out loud, “But… but it won’t do you any good, even with the sands you can’t change time. The timeline is static, anything that’s already happened takes into account changes from the future,” she knew that much from her own personal experience.

“You don’t know anything about my plans, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” the unicorn’s smile broke a bit, his energy waving out.

“Enough of this egghead stuff!” Rainbow yelled, “Where’s my son!”

The unicorn laughed, “He’s joined me, don’t worry, he’s safe.”

“Joined you?” Twilight asked.

“You should be proud of him. I told him if he helps me I will ensure that none of you are killed, he joined my side to save you all.”

“In other words, you’ve just used him,” Rainbow spit the words out, “And I bet you still intend to kill us.”

“When I get what I want, you will all be ants to me. Sure, I can step on you, but why bother? And yes, I am using him. I have to use him.”

“Your plan is missing an important piece,” Twilight laughed.

“My plan is perfect.” the red unicorn hissed.

“You forget who I am and that Taz is my son. No matter how powerful you are or will be, you will fail. Taz can nullify everything; he was even able to nullify my magic while still in my womb. Even if you did succeed, he’d just make you mortal,” Twilight’s laugh turned into small giggles.

The unicorn laughed, he laughed so loudly it echoed down the large chamber and back at the three, “I know; that’s the linchpin of my plan. You see, Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Gods protected the key with their magic; they hid it inside of my father and locked it away behind a barrier so that no mortal, Titan, or God could ever reach it. That’s why Taz is so important, that’s why, as soon as I learned from my daughter Nighttide that Taz could focus his ability, I sprang this plan. Taz will unlock the barrier and free the key for me. He’ll do it for the most noble of reasons, to save his family.” he paused and grinned at her. “But it won’t be the only reason. He will do it for love too, if needed.”

“What?!” Twilight and Rainbow shouted in stereo, surprised by that additional information.

“Your little son loves my daughter dearly. When he found out that she betrayed him? Well, it weakened his willpower to fight against me. You see, I ordered my daughter to make him fall in love with her. After he heard that, most of his willpower left him and it was amusingly easy to push him into my plans,” he chuckled at the end.

“You… how could you, he’s just a young stallion?!” Rainbow gasped.

“And my daughter is a several hundred year old being. So? Maybe you’re interested in more information. My plan nearly backfired because my daughter fell in love with Taz. However, improvisation is the key to any victory. I adapted, and, well, things just got a whole lot better. I can use them both now,” he closed his eyes for a second as he sensed something. He opened them and grinned. “Well, we don’t have to worry about my daughter anytime soon, but I would start to worry about the health of your daughter, it seems Timespire is tired of playing games.”

Purple energy slammed against the sides of the room, power, pure power radiated up and over everything, coating the grey and black room in shades of purple. Rainbow and the unicorn were forced to look away from the alicorn princess as Twilight felt an emotion she had not felt in quite some time, an emotion she thought long gone: Hate. She hated this creature; she hated this Godly being for what he just said, for his casual dismissal of not only her own son, but his daughter, and their feelings.

Her eyes opened up and stared directly at him. Purple energy radiated off every cell in her body, “Before we began, explain one more thing to me,” Twilight stated, “What are you planning to do even if you get the sands, as I said before, you can’t change the past. Tartarus will still be dead by Rainbow’s hooves.”

The unicorn looked up, he did his best to maintain his cool in the face of such power, “You’re right, the past is the past, it cannot be changed. However we can change the present. With the Demigod of Time I plan on rewinding the clock, and with my power I will clone my father at the time of his death. Tartarus will live once more, and then the old fool will have to tell me my name so that I can take my place among the Gods!”

The power Twilight was giving off increased tenfold. Inside, the unicorn gulped. His insults and teasing went too far. It was never his plans that the purple alicorn would activate all her powers, not right away. He felt something weird, familiar, something he had not felt in a millennia but shook it away. This was just a small stone in his path. He could crush them all with his power and he would do exactly that if needed. That was when he felt it; he felt something gripping him, something that wanted to end him. Something that he could not simply shake away.

“Gaia…” he whispered, eyes widening in shock. The memories came back, the last time he had felt the full strength of the God of Life and Magic was when the Titans were put down. There was no doubt in his mind, this was that all over again.

Before he could do anything, the power strengthened its grip on his hind leg and threw him across the whole hall.

“Touchdown for Twilight!” Rainbow snickered, enjoying the sight of her wife sending the stuck-up unicorn flying. “And that’s why you never buck with my wife!” she yelled.

The walls of Tartarus's palace were nothing more than an extension of his will, his magic made flesh made form. They were stronger than steel and they never stood a chance. The unicorn’s form collided with such force that he knocked over the wall in the back of the room, as well as the next three. His form impelled itself on a spike that came out of the fourth wall.

“You want to resurrect the GOD OF DEATH,” Twilight’s voice echoed across the chamber and down the hallway. It was unthinkable, absurd. The God of Death was a monster in every definition of the world. To willingly bring him back, to force the world to endure his wrath? It could not be allowed to pass. “And you would… you would use your own daughter and MY SON to that goal? I don’t bucking think so.”

“I think you got him, Twi,” Rainbow said, her eyes were glued to the spot he landed upon.

“Don’t drop your guard, Rainbow. He’s not that weak,” Twilight warned her.

“Indeed, I’m not,” the voice echoed around the room. Rainbow gasped in surprise when she saw that his body had disappeared. “Oh, I never did tell you what you could call me; your son affectionately gave me the nickname of Red.”

“When you see it, attack,” Twilight whispered the words to her wife. Rainbow did not know what she was talking about, but she nodded anyway. Looking inward, Twilight focused on a bubble in her mind, it was small, but would only break upon contact with a living form. She released the bubble in an ever expanding arch of power.

Rainbow saw it, it was moving fast, well, fast by anypony else's standards. The bubble left the outline of a form directly to her left, a form that could only be one thing. She flew towards it at best speed, lashing out with her left wing extended in a cutting angle.

She never hit it. The form surrounded her wing and angled her power back, making her crash into the opposite wall.

“Rainbow!” Twilight shouted. She tried to focus on the form that just put down her wife.

The form came to a stop in front of her. “I think your wife has too big of an ego,” it said and pushed towards the downed mare, right into a blinding wall of purple energy.

“YOU. DO. NOT. HURT. MY. FAMILY. AND. ESPECIALLY. NOT. MY. WIFE.” Twilight scowled, but it wasn’t exactly Twilight’s voice anymore, instead it was way deeper and louder than ever.

Purple energy wrapped around the form, squeezing it until it popped like a bubble. Red looked out in shock as his shadow form was taken from him in the most painful way possible. Slowly, ever so slowly, tendrils began working their way across his hooves; he could feel his legs being pulled apart as the alicorn simply glared at him. Anger was radiating off her in waves, purple magic flowed from the corner of her eyes.

“You truly do have Gaia’s power,” Red said as his legs were being pulled out of their sockets.

“A percentage of it,” Twilight said back, her voice several octaves deeper in volume.

Red laughed. That action alone was strange to the alicorn; it caused her to stop pulling. “What… what’s so funny?”

“Princess Twilight Sparkle, what’s a percentage of infinite?”

“Probably your death or at least I hope so,” came a muffled voice from the back of the hall. Rainbow was already trying to dig out of the rubble of the wall that had collapsed upon her.

Twilight paused as she took in the full truth of his words. She had never encountered a depth to her power, never encountered something she was unable to do; physically, maybe, but not magic wise. The realization caused her power to slack on Red’s form, not fully, but just enough.

He pulled apart the bonds that held him in a surge of raw physical strength and magic. “You were the first mortal made God, Princess Twilight. You were the only Incarnation that has ever existed!” he walked towards her with each breath, “Do you really think such power can be surrendered, can be given up? Are you that naive? The only thing stopping you from taking your place among the Gods is your mortal form. You have a God’s power, but a mortal’s endurance. It’s such a shame to see such wasted potential.”

“Now, when I have that sort of power…” Red whispered to himself.

Twilight was still lost in her mind, still trying to take in the new information, so she was not fully aware of his movements. She finally looked up after what seemed like minutes, Red was standing directly in front of her. “It’s also a shame that you won’t use any of that power after this day. But don’t worry; I can live with your death. Although, it might be hard to explain to your son,” without warning he pulled forwards and shot a magical beam into Twilight.

She had less than a second to respond, time that was just not enough for her reflexes. While she already had a mirror spell in her mind, she did not have time to cast it. Red hit her and the force of it rushed through her, sending her flying, but not for long. Red shot after her, a small blade forming in front of him, pointing at her stomach.

The blade never hit. Golden wings shielded Twilight as a cyan hoof caught her mid-flight and wrapped her in a protective embrace. The wings blocked the blade, causing it to shatter into various pieces. Rainbow slowed their flight with her will. Slowly, Twilight opened her eyes from the sudden shock and saw the golden light from her wife’s wings light up her face, a face filled with fear. “Twilight, are you okay?” Rainbow was panicking.

“Yeah,” Twilight gasped, it had been years since she last came that close to death, not even the Ataxia incident came that close. Even if what Red said was true and she did have a God’s full power, she was still mortal, with a mortal’s reactions and weaknesses.

However, she had one advantage Red did not, she was not fighting alone. She had family and friends. But the most precious thing she had held her now in her eternal, golden wings. It was her wife, Rainbow Dash, and right at that moment she was more than glad for it. She showed that appreciation and leaned in for a kiss. It did not matter that it was a horrible time for it; some things were worth taking the time out for.

Six shadow blades shot out for the pair, they shattered upon Rainbow’s wings that seemed to grow around her and Twilight, without her even looking up. Her natural instincts would always protect Twilight.

“You two are getting on my last nerve,” Red growled his frustration as he tried over and over to break through the shield of Rainbow’s wings.

Twilight looked lovingly into her wife’s eyes. She knew, on a conceptual level, that Red had been right. She had the power of Gaia at her command. However, what he did not seem to know was that it was not just her with the power. She shared that power with her love, her wife, Rainbow Dash.

Red could try for an eternity to break through those wings, it would never happen. Sure, the two of them had limits, Twilight was already starting to feel exhausted as her body channeled so much energy, Rainbow can and has been beaten before, given, it took an out of control, nigh immortal dragacorn fueled by fate itself, but she had been beaten.

Twilight smiled once more at her wife before turning back to Red. Her eyes lit up with magical energy and turned white as she channeled more and more power. “You seem to forget something, Red.”

“Yeah? What’s that,” he growled.

“I may have a mortal’s endurance, but I don’t fight alone, I have family and friends to protect. That puts me on a completely different level than you,” as soon as she said the words, Rainbow removed her wings and they both attacked as one.

……………………………………..

With Starlight lying on the ground, moaning from the pain she felt, Blaze trying desperately to help his brother, and Ana out cold, Vela did the one thing she absolutely did not want to do. She removed her brother from her back and placed him gingerly on the ground. “Dayspring,” Vela cried as she said what might be the last words she would ever say to him, “I need you to stay put, okay? I need you to stay here until that wall falls, and then you fly. You hear me? You fly as fast as your little wings can take you. You fly to the Crystal Empire and you get help.”

“Sis, no!” he yelled, “I’m not leaving without you!”

She held his head in her claw, “I need you to promise me you will do this, I need you to say it.”

He shook his head no, the tears in her eyes said this was a lie, that she was about to do something bad.

“I’ll let you help me preen my wings again,” Vela promised.

“But mom said not to…” Dayspring looked up at her.

“She said never to ask others if they wanted help, she never said anything about asking others for help,” Vela said back with a smile.

“Promise?” Dayspring asked her.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Vela went through the motion.

Dayspring giggled at that.

“Do you promise, Dayspring?” Vela asked, she wanted to hear him own the words.

“I promise,” the little hippogriff said as he looked back at his sister, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Vela smiled at him with a sad look in her eyes, she had a gut feeling it would be the last time she ever saw her brother. It mattered not; she would either save him or die in the attempt. That became all that mattered to her. Turning around, Vela made for the two revenants.

“I’ll help,” Blaze said as he held his brother’s hoof. There was nothing he could do for the pain Flash was in, the stalagmite held him in place.

“You’ll help best by being there for your brother. As I’ll be there for mine,” Vela added the last part under her breath.

It is said that older siblings are born first so they can protect their younger brothers and sisters. Those words never rang more true than right now. Vela was not a magic user nor was she that smart. What she was the daughter of Emperor Icarus and Empress Princess Aurora Flash. She carried the genetic lines of both families, her mother’s protective nature, and her father’s legendary temper. She knew she could not win, but that was not her goal, her goal was to protect, to save her brother. That was a task she would sell her life to complete.

Fire and Ice were walking around them, gazing at them like wolves would do with a herd of sheep. It was a creepy feeling and Vela could do nothing against it. While one of them was in front of her, the other could catch her without warning from her unprotected flank.

For them it was overkill, this little hippogriff was not a threat to beings of their power, even if they gave her all the time in the world to attack them she did not have a shred of hope in defeating them. They did it for the thrill of the hunt, for the fear they could smell off her.

Vela saw her saving grace out of the corner of her eye; her friend was finally coming around. “Ana.” Vela started, whispering low enough so their enemies could not hear them. “Do you know a spell that can blind someone?” she asked and Ana nodded, confused. “I’ll make them attack me, and then you blind them by powering up that spell right in front of me. Get everyone at the other end of the cave while they’re distracted.”

Ice paused, he could see them whisper, but he was too far away to hear anything but loose mumbles. “Hey you two, you can talk later, or did you forget us?” he laughed a laugh that froze on Vela’s response.

“How could I ever forget such ugly faces like the two you have? Oh my, even the stinky barracks of Warclaw smell better than you two accidents,” she screamed, breaking out in laughter. “Did your mother drop you at birth? I think you must have landed on your faces!” Vela flexed her claw in front of her, “Come on, I’ll take you both.”

Fire howled and wanted to sprint forwards but Ice held him back. “Don’t do that, brother. When we attack, we’ll do it together,” Fire scowled in response, but held his temper in check. Something that broke loose at the next words she said.

“What happened? Gobbled down your tongue, you dumb ugly bastards?” Vela asked, and that was enough, with a scowl, both of them bolted at her. “Ana, now!” she screamed, quickly covering her eyes.

Fire and Ice were too slow to understand the action. Approaching the hippogriff; they were blinded by pure light burning into their eyes. They screamed and fell, falling to the ground, they rubbed at their eyes trying to get the burning sensation out.

Vela turned to face Ana with a fearful expression on her face, “NOW! It won’t hold them for long! Move now or it will all be for nothing!”

Ana did not need to be told twice, she powered up her horn and used the most powerful teleport she knew, it was too risky to try and teleport through the other side of the ice wall, not with so many ponies in tow, so she teleported them all to the other side of the cave, just like Vela wanted.

“Hey Fire, you’re nothing but a big pussy!” Vela shouted as she ducked low. She had already deduced that Fire was the more temperamental of the two, being that a huge wall of ice blocked their escape; she could use that to her advantage.

Fire responded just as she expected him to, the blind pegasus lashed out with his magic, directly at the spot where she had called out from, not caring if he killed her. Vela avoided it, but not without a few burns of her own. However, when she looked back, she took some solace in the fact that her plan had succeeded. There was now a huge gaping hole in the wall of ice.

“Dayspring, now!” Vela screamed. Ana was too weak to try another teleport, not with everypony else. Besides, she was needed to try and stem the flow of blood from the gaping wound in Flash’s leg. A wound Ana had opened up when she teleported them all away from the blast zone. With Starlight out for the count, Blaze looking after his brother, and Ana looking after Starlight, that only left Dayspring to try and get help.

“You idiot!” Ice yelled as he finally understood what the young hippogriff did. She gave her brother an escape route. He tried to open his eyes, the after image of the blinding magic spell still burned in his retina. Squinting, he could barely make out shapes. He willed another ice wall down where he thought it should go.

For Dayspring, the very last thing he wanted to do was go. He wanted to stay, he wanted to make sure everypony and his sister would be okay. However, he knew he had to keep his promise. He promised his sister that he would fly away, that he would get help.

Every inch of his will was bent to that one promise; he flapped his wings harder and faster than ever before. Pushing himself onward. The ice wall began shutting down over the gap his sister managed to create. He cried out as the muscles burned in his wings.

“I love you, brother.” The words were nothing more than a whisper in the wind, yet he heard them all the same.

Those words gave him all the strength he needed. In the blink of an eye, Dayspring flew outside right before the wall shut. Vela let go of a breath she was not even aware she held as her brother made it to safety. Releasing it, she sighed, “He’s safe.”

“You won’t be.” Fire said as he and his brother got to their hooves. His expression spoke of a murderous rage.

“I don’t care. Seriously, you should’ve already checked that. And you know what enemy is the most dangerous one, don’t you?”

“Are you trying to play for time now?” Ice asked before turning to his brother. “Okay buck the orders, let’s just kill her quickly.”

Vela unfolded her wings and let out a scream, a scream she had often heard from griffins in Warclaw before a fight. It meant death or glory in combat. “The most dangerous enemy is the one that has nothing left to lose, the one that thinks he will die no matter what happens!” she screamed and rushed forwards at the two confused beings.

It was a heroic charge, one worthy of myth and legend. It was the lone fighter that sold their life to save their family. Mythos were built around such warriors overcoming the odds and winning. Of those that sold their lives to battle back the evil just one more time.

There is a problem with such myths, that’s all they were. As soon as she got in range, Ice back-hoofed the hippogriff with enough force to break something, “Impressively foolish. Fire, kill her.”

“With pleasure,” Fire smiled before focusing his power into a blast, one meant to finish her life once and for all.

The attack never came. Five spears flew down from the ceiling, impelling the pegasus on the floor of the cave. Ice and Vela looked at him, confused.

Five night-black griffins were pinning the pegasus to the floor with their spears as they glared at the other one. The lead Shadow Knight simply glared at Ice with a look that all but said, ‘No one threatens the life of the empress’.

While Vela had wanted the hole so her brother could escape, it had the unintended side effect of letting others in. ‘I’ll see Dayspring again’, there were tears in her eyes when she recognized her saviors. They were the elite of the elite, the best of the best, and while she knew not what they were doing here, she was grateful for their presence all the same.

Ice underestimated the Shadow Knights. With a scowl, he leapt towards the young empress, intent on killing their charge while their spears were still buried in his brother. With preternatural speed, the Shadow Knights left their spears in Fire and jumped in front of Vela with shields raised. The impact shook the whole cave as the new fight begun.

He doesn’t have the slightest idea of how good they are or about their equipment’, Vela thought with an evil smile. They were meant to be trained in secret, her father’s own personal task force, but Icarus could not keep secrets from his daughter. She knew everything that happened in Warclaw.

Fire and Ice thought the battle was over but it had only just begun.

Author's Notes:

Often sacrificing for others is the only way to save ourselves.