"Did you feel that, sister?" Luna asked Celestia as the princes of the moon stared out at the heavens, her eyes glued to the clouds that rumbled off in the distance. "Those feel like the thunderclouds that Thor summons. Do you think he is battling with another of the gods? Or is he venting after your...talk with him."

"Whatever the reason, we cannot pay it much mind," Celestia replied with a tired sigh. The princess of the sun was staring down at a map of Equestria that was spread across her royal dining table, making numerous x marks on the map. "According to reports from Twilight and her friends, they are narrowing down the location of Faust's alter. Thankfully Twilight discovered a spell that allowed her to locate where Faust's magic used to reside, so we've got some heading."

"I am glad as well, sister, but do you think it is wise to leave Thor to his own devices?" Luna asked in a worried tone to Celestia. "I mean, there are only two known gods left in this world and Thor has not had a good record with either of them. If he strikes down another god of Equis, it would cause panic in the streets and the other nations may sever their peaceful ties with us."

"I know that Luna, but Thor is right about finding the alter being our biggest concern right now," Celestia replied. "The shadow beasts have been quiet ever since we captured the one and now Discord says that he cannot find heads or tails of the magic that we felt in the book room, so now he's out looking harder than ever before. I've never seen Discord with this kind of work ethic."

"Do you think some of Thor's words finally got through to him?" Luna asked, only for Celestia to shake her head with a shrug. Luna then turned her gaze back towards the thunderclouds that had been off in the distance, only to find that they were gone. "Well, either he's finished turning his foe to paste or he's calmed down enough to be talked to again. Sister, what are we going to do?"

"About what?"

"Thor. The ponies are terrified of him, the other nations are down right traumatized by him and worst of all he's an unstoppable force that we cannot...reason with easily," Luna said to Celestia, her voice filled with enough concern to turn her attention away from the map. "Any pony that isn't afraid of speaking out has asked us to remove him from his status of god of our land, but I don't know if we have the power to do so."

"Do you believe he should be removed?" Celestia asked Luna, who looked slightly surprised by the sudden question.

"I...am not certain. He has done a great deal of good things for us. Striking down the titans, aiding us against the wrath of the other nations gods. But as princesses, we must put the needs of our nation before our own desires. Just as you said to Thor. And the ponies of our nation are terrified of him, aside from Summer and Autumn."

"Speaking of Autumn, how is she holding up?" Celestia asked, once again surprising Luna by the sudden change in topic.

"She is recovering. She finally opened her eyes again and earlier today she was walking around and talking to her mother. I am glad to see that whatever Toraxo did to her has finally worn off," Luna said with a sigh of relief, but noticed that Celestia didn't seem to be listening. "You are still focused on finding the alter, aren't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you've barely done anything else since Thor instructed you to do it. You only tear yourself away from the map and reports if there is something dangerous that needs your attention or if you are called away by Thor himself. You've been...obsessed with it, to be honest."

Celestia let out a small smirk at Luna's words before she walked away from the map and moved beside her sister, joining her in staring at the mountain's off in the far distance. "Perhaps you are right. I have...always looked up to Faust. She was our goddess, but she was also a teacher to me. So to be able to follow some of her hoofsteps and find out more about her...it calls to me. Not to mention that there is somepony else chasing after her legacy and I cannot allow that to happen."

"Well, I've always said once you get an idea in your head it is nearly impossible to talk you out of it," Luna said with a small shake of her head. Celestia let out a chuckle at Luna's words, before she lowered her head slightly.

"But you are right about Thor. As much as I like him and despite all of the good he has done, he is too wild. He is too...bloodthirsty? Refuses to stop fighting? Whatever the word, he is scaring our ponies. And as you said, we cannot allow that to continue. I will speak with him next chance I get-did you feel that?"

"Yes I did. But what in the world?" Luna asked her sister as the both of them felt a chill colder than ice slide down their backs. "That feeling...it's moving towards Ponyville! I believe that it is going after the Elements!"

"Then we need to get there and support them!" Celestia said as the both of them ran out onto the balcony, just in time to see an explosion in the shape of a rose detonate in the center of a small town near the base of Canterlot Mountain. "A rose...no, don't tell me that Rose is attacking us as well?!"

"But if she is attacking us, then that means that either Thor is too busy to fight her...or Thor is no longer around," Luna said with horror as she looked up at her sister, fear blazing in Luna's eyes.

"Then let us hope it is the former and that he will be there before we have to deal with her," Celestia said as she started channeling magic into her horn, channeling the power around her and her sister. The two alicorns vanished in a blinding flash of shining light, only to appear in the streets of Ponyville a few moments later. Yet as the light died down and the two alicorns looked around at what was going on, the fear that they would have to deal with the problem themselves began to sink in.

All around them were roses that had wrapped around ponies, leaving the ponies trapped within the petals and screaming for help. Fires that were colored likes roses burned all around the sisters, swiftly burning buildings down to petals of roses that were blown away. And the sky was colored in a pinkish hue, one that was far more menacing than it was comforting.

Celestia and Luna then turned their eyes towards the sky to see the one causing all of their problems, the one goddess that they had hoped that they wouldn't have to face. With only her black stripes being visible she was hard to see, but there was no doubt who was floating above them. Rose, the goddess of the zebra's. Floating beside her were six rose bubbles that held within them six ponies, six ponies that Celestia and Luna had chosen to protect their world.

"Rose! What in the name of Faust and Thor are you doing?!" Celestia roared up at Rose, figuring that the time for pleasantries had long since passed. The goddess of the zebras turned her head and looked down at the two princess, a smile crossing her face before she floated down towards the ground while leaving the rose bubbles up in the sky.

"Celestia. Luna. I was wondering when the two of you would arrive," Rose asked the two goddess with a voice as sharp as a roses thorns. The two princesses crouched down into fighting stances, but slightly backed away from the suffocating power that radiated from the goddess. "I was hoping that it would be a little longer, so that I could set things up to look a little nicer before you arrived."

"What are you speaking of, you monster?" Luna snarled at Rose even though she was unable to hide the fear in her voice.

"Simple, Luna. You ponies are very ugly creatures. You are selfish and cruel, caring only about yourselves. The only time you care about others is when you are told to, like sheep. Tell me princesses, how does it feel to be unappreciated by the beings that you've fought so hard to protect?"

"Release our ponies, Rose," Celestia spat back, ignoring whatever mind games Rose was trying to pull. "And then leave our lands and return to your own. I cannot promise your safety or your life if you continue your attack on our home."

"My safety? Really, you are concerned about my safety despite the fact that you two are the ones going up against a goddess?" Rose asked with a laugh, before her aura became menacing. "Do the two of you think that you are any threat to me? No, you two are nothing to me. And you have never been, despite what the two of you think."

"We are not the ones that you need to be afraid of," Luna replied, but her words only got another laugh out of the goddess.

"Are you perhaps speaking of the god of thunder. Well let me promise you, he will never harm another again," Rose said with a laugh as she reached behind her and pulled out a mirror, one that she showed to Celestia and Luna. Both of the princesses let out a gasp when they saw Thor trapped within the glass, with half of his body having vanished into the reflection. "Yes, this was a weapon I discovered long before the written word ever came into being. A weapon that can trap any divine being and destroy them with their own power. These are what I've used to...thin out the gods that used to be far too numerous."

"There used to be more gods in this land...wait, you've thinned gods before? Does that mean...?" Celestia asked with terror filling up her throat, a terror that grew only stronger when she saw Rose smile and nod her head.

"That is right, princess of the sun, a mirror just like this is what I used to rid this land of Faust," Rose revealed to Celestia, who backed away in terror. "I will admit that I was afraid of Thor. His power is the likes of which I've never seen before, so there was a small fear that I would not be able to trap him. But as he was a divine, the mirror still worked. And within a few days time, Thor will de consumed by the mirror and destroyed."

"You monster!" Celestia roared as she fired a blast of magic towards Rose, who deflected the blast of magic with a rose petal that appeared before her. Rose gave Celestia a look before she fired a blast of godly magic towards Celestia, who barely managed to construct a barrier around herself before the magic struck her shield. The shield was destroyed instantly and Celestia was hurled backwards across the ground, barely able to breath as pain tore through her body.

"SISTER!" Luna roared as she raced over to Celestia's side, using her lunar magic to try to ease Celestia's wounds. A moment later Celestia sat up, still feeling the pain burning through her body as she glared at Rose.

"Do not bother trying, Celestia. You should know better than anypony that a mortal cannot match the might of a goddess," Rose said with a laugh before she looked around at all of the ponies with a look of rage on her face. "Equestria is bad about that, isn't it? Trying to match the might of gods or thinking themselves on par with us. Tell me, Celestia, back when you trained with Faust, did you ever manage to get a hit in on her?"

"No," Celestia admitted bitterly, getting Rose to chuckle once again.

"Because you never can be a god like her. You are not worthy to stand beside us. You are not fit to be a goddess. You are a mortal and if you could have simply accepted that fact, then perhaps I wouldn't destroy your land," Rose said before the pink aura overhead turned a crimson red and land began to shake under her power. "But I've watched the two of you. Trying to claim the moon and the sun. Trying to obtain our power when you are not worthy. It is an unpardonable offense. One that will be punished by death."

Rose then let out a bellow as she fired another blast of red magic towards Luna, tearing apart the ground as the blast hurled towards Celestia. Celestia's eyes went wide as the blast approached, before Luna shoved Celestia out of the way. Celestia's eyes went wide as she watched her sister move before the path of the blast, before she created a barrier around herself just before the blast struck.

"Luna!" Celestia cried as the divine magic shattered the lunar magic around Luna, getting the princess to scream as she was sent flying backwards. Celestia created a barrier of magic around her sister to stop her from hitting the ground, but as Celestia slowly lowered her sister to the ground she felt the full weight of what was about to happen.

"And now you are alone," Rose said with a smirk as she began to walk towards Celestia, who stood her ground and did everything in her power to keep from backing away. "No Ambassadors. No sister. And now you are down two gods. And yet you wished to be a divine. You wished to be just like the pony you idolized. How does it feel, Celestia, knowing that no matter how hard you try to be more than you are, you will always be a failure? You will never be a god and you will never be a true leader."

Celestia narrowed her eyes and tried to look stronger than she felt, but at that moment she was panicking inside. She knew that she couldn't battle Rose, but if she ran from the foe then her ponies and sister would fall at her expense. All Celestia could do was stand in place, trying to look braver than she actually felt. Rose smirked at the false bravery of Celestia, before she charged a ball of godly magic in front of her.

'Sompony...help,' Celestia prayed in desperation.

"Farewell, failed goddess."

Rose then fired the blast of magic towards Celestia, whose eyes went wide right before the sphere consumed her. The ponies let out a gasp of terror as they believed Celestia to be gone, but then over the roar of the explosion they heard the snapping of fingers and a moment later the explosion vanished, revealing both Celestia and a certain being of chaos who glared at Rose with anger in his eyes.

"Discord?" Celestia asked weakly.

"Yes my dear. Sorry I was not here sooner, but even a god can be late," Discord said to Celestia before he glared at a smirking Rose. "But don't worry, I've heard what's been going on. It's time for some divine intervention."