After the meeting around the map, Cadence had returned to Canterlot to oversee the sudden influx of griffons and their deployment to the various regions where they were needed. Twilight, however, had stayed behind in the Castle of Friendship. Instead of going back to Canterlot, or perhaps making a speech to the demon-occupied Ponyville below, she went to her basement.

In her laboratory, beside a now inactive interdimensional portal of her own design, she had spent several hours carefully mixing rare alchemical reagents and preparing the most complex and difficult potion she had prepared in her life.

“Twahlight?” said Applejack, poking her head through the door on the far side of the room. Twilight already knew that the rest of them were behind her. “What are yah doing down here?”

“I don’t like it when stories don’t have endings,” muttered Twilight, adding half of a blue Pegasus feather to her brew and measuring out exactly one tenth of an ounce of starch of a carnivorous potato.

“Neither do I,” said Pinkie Pie, audibly bouncing into the room, stopping only to peer into the empty portal. The others followed her in.

“Twilight, the ponies out there need you,” said Fluttershy. “They’re scared.”

“Yeah,” said Rainbow Dash, “there’s demons everywhere out there! There’s a whole…um…flock? Of them?”

“There are demons,” corrected Rarity. “And a group of them is called a horde.”

“I thought that was zombies,” said Pinkie Pie.

“There aren’t zombies now, are there?” squeaked Fluttershy.

“No, of course not,” said Rarity. “That would just be silly.”

“Well,” said Twilight absentmindedly as she tried to calculate which direction her calcinator should face considering that it was night and autumn. “In her own time, Blackest Night was a necromancer. She had several hundred undead or semi-undead servants at her disposal. So, conceivably, she could raise an army of what could be colloquially known as ‘zombies’.”

“Not if Sixfoot and Coverin have anything to say about it,” chuckled Pinkie Pie.

“I don’t want zombies,” said Fluttershy.

Twilight looked at the exceedingly long scroll filled with Zebronic reprecentations of ingrediants and procedures and traced the one she was on. “Blood of a virg- - oh, road apples.”

“What is it, Twi?” said Applejack.

“Never mind,” she said, pulling out one of her own feathers with the roots still attached. It was exceedingly painful, but still less so than asking her friends which of them would be suitable. Twilight carefully squeezed the blood out of the feather into her potion.

“Um, what exactly are you making?” asked Rainbow Dash from overhead.

“And why does it smell like my grandma?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“That is good,” said Twilight, checking the scroll. “It is supposed to smell like a grandma at this stage…a smell of fresh cut grass would mean…oh.”

“What?”

“Phosgene.”

“What is that?” asked Rarity.

“Nothing,” said Twilight, smiling, very glad that the potion smelled like old ponies.

“But whah ahre you makin’ it?” demanded Applejack.

“Because the memories were incomplete,” muttered Twilight.

“What mehmories?”

Twilight pointed at the cube sitting in the corner. “Those,” she said. “Word of advice, don’t look, unless you really want to hate Celestia.”

“You hate Celestia?” said Fluttershy, surprised.

“I don’t know,” said Twilight. “But that’s not the point. The point is that that box contains D27’s memories of the past, back when this happened the last time.”

“This happened bahfore?”

“Yes, it did,” said Twilight, swirling the potion gently as it started to spark. The color turned dark, and Twilight checked a color wheel against it. White unicorn blood would have been preferable, but it was still within tolerance if she decreased the temperature two degrees and added more Rose of Gallica. “A Lord of Order was born into this world, but D27 defeated it.”

“How?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“He absorbed all the magic from Equestria and fired it in a single shot.” That, in itself, was profoundly impressive. The machine necessary to do that was almost beyond even Twilight’s comprehension.

Pinkie Pie picked up the cube. It shifted in her hooves, revealing the hole meant for a unicorn horn. Before Twilight could warn her, she stuck her tongue into it. Her eyes widened and she shook slightly.

“Pinkie!” cried Twilight.

Pinkie Pie pulled the cube off of her tongue. “Eew…I can tasth all the fluth,” she said, her tongue now quite numb.

“Pinkie Pie,” said Rarity, taking away the cube. “A lady never sticks her tongue in random holes like that.” She immediately pivoted and pointed at Rainbow Dash, who was already preparing for a loud snort. “And a lady does not keep her mind in the gutter at all times.”

“But if he defeated it,” said Applejack, “then why are yah botherin’ with all this?”

“Because the story is incomplete,” replied Twilight. “D27 stopped the Lord of Order, but not the war. There were three Choggoths, and one was left. Nopony knows how the war ended- -not even Crimsonflame.”

“Crimsonflahme?”

“The Gwand Maggus thath livth in the mounthans,” said Pinkie Pie. “Come on, Applethatth, keeth up!”

“There,” said Twilight, adding the final ingredient: sugar, to make it not taste quite so bad. She held up a large flask filled with milky white fluid.

“Is that what I think it is?” said Rainbow Dash.

“I sure hope not,” sighed Rarity.

“It’s a memory potion,” explained Twilight. “I think, anyway. Assuming I got it right.”

“Why?”

“Remember when all those vines started attacking the Tree of Harmony?”

“Hard to forget,” said Applejack.

“I used this to find where the Tree of Harmony was. It took my mind back in time, and I could see Celestia and Luna when they used the Elements of Harmony.”

“So how exactly will that help us?” demanded Rainbow Dash. She seemed impatient to see the griffons in Canterlot.

“From the way they were talking, I think the Tree of Harmony is much older than Celestia. It stands to reason that if we could access its memories, we might be able to see how the war ended.”

“Why would we need to do that?”

“Did you even look at those spells?” said Twilight, referring to the blue images that had been projected on the map. “If D27 can’t get through and stop the Finality Core, his plan is to consume all of Equestria and try to take on the Lord of Order directly. We need a back-up plan. If we knew how the ancient ponies defeated Choggoth Void, maybe we could adapt their strategy.”

“So you’re going to go back?” asked Fluttershy.

“Yes…but…”

“Ah hate when yah say ‘but’…”

“I can only go back so far on my own. But I think if we go together…”

“You mean you want us to drink…that?” said Rarity, grimacing.

“It’s not that bad,” said Twilight. “It tastes like vanilla.” That was actually a lie.

“Ooh,” said Pinkie Pie, her tongue now mostly recovered. “It can’t taste worse than General Cotton Swab. She immediately took a swig. “Eew…I was wrong. That’s not vanilla.”

“Let me have some,” said Rainbow Dash, taking the flask and drinking some. She smacked her lips, appreciating the taste, and then shuddered wildly. “Oh, wow, gross! It tastes like I licked a goat covered in curry!” She then promptly tossed it to Applejack, who caught it handily in her mouth.

Applejack took a sip. “Eh, ahv had worse.” She slid the now mostly empty container to Rarity.

“Oh, dear,” said Rarity, holding the glass container as far away from her nose as possible.

“Drink! Drink! Drink!” chanted Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, both of whom seemed to be starting to feel the effects of the potion.

Rarity took a dainty sip. “Oh my,” she said, momentarily struggling to keep it down. “Well…certainly not vanilla but…unique…”

She gave it to Fluttershy, who without hesitation swallowed most of the remaining amount.

“I have licked a goat covered in curry,” she said. “This is nothing to me.”

Twilight took the now almost completely empty Erlenmeyer back using her magic and drank the last sip. To her surprise, it did not taste nearly as bad as Zecora’s version. Which could potentially turn out quite unpleasant for them all.

Then the world faded, flashing backward through time. Twilight felt the familiar but still unpleasant sensation of falling through time. Before them all appeared the Castle of the Two Sisters, once again whole, as they watched Luna be consumed by the hatred-contaminated version of Blackest Night that inhabited her.

They did not dwell long. The image shifted once more, and the world became a chaotic mess in which stood a battered Celestia and Luna before Discord.

“Hi Discord!” cried Pinkie Pie as she floated by.

“Oh, hello Pinkie,” said Discord, waving, and then going back to taunting the memory version of Celestia and Luna.

The memory jumped again. This time, they went much farther- -and Twilight felt as though she was suffocating in the depths of the maelstrom of time.

Another memory flashed into view, but only vaguely. A blind, badly burned unicorn standing in the shadow of a steaming crystal of enchanted ice containing a stiff gray shape as he stored the inactive versions of the elements into a container, sealing them away with his magic.

“My queen,” he said. “I promise to return…”

The dim vision of the alchemist faded, and the colors faded and reformed themselves to what Twilight instinctively knew to the be oldest of all the memories of the activation of the Elements of Harmony.

Around her, the world resolved. She was standing in the strange glow of a red sun and white moon, each one residing on either side of the yellow sky. In the distance was the top of an impossible tower, one what Twilight Remembered from D27’s memories.

She looked around her, and saw that each of her friends was standing beside another pony, one pulled from the memory.

“Of course,” said Twilight, suddenly realizing what should have been obvious. She recalled Crimsonflame’s photograph of Single Horn and her friends- -and remembered that there were six.

Twilight looked up at the unicorn standing beside her. Single Horn stood at the front of the group, her body taller than a normal pony but falling into the default standard of a first-generation trihorn slave. She was gray, with gray eyes and a gray mane, her flank permanently devoid of a cutie mark- -but she seemed to glow with a powerful inner light. Twilight realized that Single Horn’s magic was more than that; Single Horn had long-since exceeded her natural lifespan. Her body was only being kept functional by the force of her magic and her will. The exposition of such magic took Twilight’s breath away, and she swelled with pride at having been born a unicorn.

“Are you all prepared?” asked Single Horn.

“Fear is pointless anachronism!” squeaked the tiny green and white earth pony that stood beside Rainbow Dash. “If I die I die in with my comrades, with no regret!”

“Wait,” said Rainbow Dash, looking at the tiny creature. “This is the Element of Loyalty? Why is mine so small?”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as her mind suddenly linked to her predecessor. Tales of her exploits and bravery immediately filled their collective memory- -tales that were attributed to the name Great Oak

“Oh, I take that back,” said Rainbow Dash, smiling broadly. “This little filly once fought an adult Vorthax to protect her tribe! I don’t even know what a Vorthax is, but that’s pretty epic!”

“I’m actually rather terrified,” said the cerorian standing beside Applejack- -a much larger, adult version of the one who had presented Crimsonflame with her silver armor aboard the Rnon. Twilight had never fully understood how large and imposing cerorians really were, and she felt a bit of a tingle in her wings, even knowing that Linear Grayrock was a mare.

Memories poured through Applejack.

“Ahll of them were ahfraid,” said Applejack. “More ahfraid than anythin’. Only thirty two left. But only she would say it ouht loud…”

“I thought you tanks weren’t afraid of anything,” said the badly scarred, half blind dark-coated mare beside Pinkie Pie. “Except for, you know, mice, spiders, snakes, fire, disembowelment, potatoes…”

“Shut it,” said Grayrock.

The memories of that mare were next, and Twilight and her friends shuddered at the pain that came though Pinkie Pie. Memories of the life of a trihorn slave flowed into them- -they recalled every scar she had been given and what had been done to her, and how her horn and sanity had both been taken from her. Despite all that had been done to her, though, she had never once lost her sense of humor.

“That’s not funny at all,” said Pinkie Pie, stepping back.

“It isn’t supposed to be,” snapped Gallows Humor, turning directly toward Pinkie Pie. “It’s meant to be ironic and edgy.”

“Who are you talking to?” asked Single Horn.

“No pony,” said Gallows Humor. “Just another voice in my head. Hey, I’ve got a request. If I die here, can you guys all tan me? That way, you can wear my coat…as a coat!” She giggled manically.

“Don’t be morbid,” said a salmon colored stallion standing next to Fluttershy with a cutie mark of a simple red cross.

“Oh my,” said Fluttershy. “He was a medic in the war,” she said. “He served…oh my, no,” she covered her eyes at the vision of blood and sickness that poured through each of their minds. Not once in all that horror, however, had Stands Beside ever turned away from a patient, whether they be pony, dragon, or even the trihorns that had treated his friends and family so poorly.

Twilight was also distantly aware that in three years form this final battle, when the magic finally left Single Horn’s body, Stands Beside would be left to care for their young son, who had yet to be born or even conceived.

“It’s kind of my job,” said Gallows Humor. She shook her rump, revealing a noose as a cutie mark. “It’s even in my name. Oh, wow, my rump looks nice. That’s not a guess, either- -several trihorns will back me up on that. Or would, if they hadn’t gotten what they deserve.”

The pony beside Rarity only released a gurgling electronic sound in response, her one visible eye narrowing at Gallows Humor.

“Oh no,” said Rarity. “This…this thing can’t be- -” She suddenly cried out as they all realized that what Twilight had initially took to be armor was actually not.

“No, no,” said Rarity, and moved to take Tenth-Sister in a hug, only to phase through her body. “I didn’t mean it. You’re not ugly.”

“Rarity?” said Twilight.

Rarity was starting to cry. “She gave up…oh Celestia…she was once beautiful, but she gave up everything to keep her sisters alive! She saved them, but this…it’s all that’s left of her…”

“I can’t understand a thing she says,” said Grayrock.

“She says that it is not those who deserved destruction that we fight for,” said Single Horn, “but in remembrance of those who did not deserve that horrible fate.”

“I never got an answer on that coat thing…”

“If Great Oak survives, Great Oak promises to make coat from ugly scar horn pony.”

“Excellent. I feel better. Just make sure I’m dead first. Don’t want a repeat of that.”

Twilight turned to Single Horn, and the last set of memories joined her and her friends. Endless centuries of constant warfare in a losing battle. As her own power and prowess grew, she had lost so much. So many friends had fallen- -even her beloved Crimsonflame, who was now imbedded in machines that kept her only marginally alive. Now, once again, she stood beside friends- -new friends and the children of old ones. This was the final battle, and she would stand beside them. If they died, so would she, and if she had to die to save them, she would do so gladly.

She looked out at the shield wall separated them from the beyond, the massive wall of writing green-pink Choggoth on the other side. Twilight looked out, and understood. The wall corroding and breaking away, its magical energy depleting. The monohorns simply could not maintain it without the help of trihorns, who had been gone for nearly a decade.

As they watched, the Choggoth began to tear through the holes, and the magic of the wall shattered. Then in an instant that caused Fluttershy and Stands Beside to both jump in surprise, it tore through. A soup of shifting flesh poured into past the border, mindless in its actions, intent on approaching the last bastion of organic life in all of Equestria.

“Prepare yourselves,” she ordered as they all took defensive stances. “May the spirit of Oblivion stand beside us!”

Each of them glowed, their bodies being covered in familiar light. The light resolved into golden armor, each with a jewel in the shape of their cutie mark, or what their cutie mark would have been had they possessed one. Single Horn’s was a small gray stone that looked curiously like a gray six-pointed star.

Single Horn’s armor took slightly longer to form, developing a complex battle helmet in addition to her armor. Before them, the Choggoth seemed to recognize that they were suddenly a threat, and it reared up, its body condensing into a goliath and asymmetrical form standing hundreds of feet high, a hulking mass of teeth and claws and tentacles. It took a step forward and burst open, spawning a claw-hand to crush them with.

As it brought down the massive appendage, the six ancient ponies rose into the air, and the magic of Harmony surrounded them, flowing between them. Just before the Choggoth could touch them, a brilliant rainbow shot from them.

The Choggoth screamed in blind rage and tried to shield itself from the light, but every organ or appendage it produced to block the arc of the rainbow was destroyed instantly, vaporized by the light.

The rainbow glowed brighter, and Twilight was forced to cover her eyes. When she opened them, she saw the six ponies descending slowly toward the ground. The Choggoth, it seemed, had been completely destroyed, its flesh disintegrating into ash and sparkling rainbow fragments as far as they eye could see.

Then it moved. From the nearest part, a globular component rose. All twelve of the ponies stared at it, terrified or at least unsure of it. It did not appear as it had, though. It was much smaller, barely the size of a pony, and it was pure green, the red of its body having been torn away. It looked like a pony-sized blob of translucent green gelatin.

Then, slowly, a wavy line crossed the blob’s face, like a smile.

Single Horn lowered her horn, intent on destroying the remainder of the Choggoth Void- -but Stands Beside stopped her. “Wait,” he said.

Tenth-Sister gurgled.

“I’m pretty sure that means ‘kill it with fire’,” said Gallows Humor

“Death to enemies!” said Great Oak, jumping up and down excitedly.

“Now hold on,” said Grayrock. “Let him try.”

Stands Beside gulped, and then stepped forward toward the mucoid blob. He moved slowly and carefully, and Twilight held her breath.

When he came within reach, he extended one of his forlegs and poked it. It jiggled comically, and then surged forward.

Stands Beside’s friends cried out and Single Horn charged her horn with enough magic to make Twilight recoil.

“Wait!” cried Stands Beside. “It’s not hurting me!” He extended his own forlegs into the smiling goo. “Aw, he’s got the hugs!”

“Did we…win?” asked Grayrock.

“If we did,” said Gallows Humor, “this is the weirdest victory ever. And rather anticlimactic, actually, considering we just fought, like a thousand year war against an unstoppable enemy.”

“Did we really win? Asked Single Horn. “Is it finally over?”

“Oop, hey, that tickles!” laughed Stands Beside.

“Can it finally be…” Single Horn suddenly reached for her horn in pain. Twilight did the same, feeling it as well.

“Single Horn!”

The colors faded and shifted, and then fizzled to blackness. The pain faded, but Twilight was still disoriented. She looked up and saw that she was not alone. Also standing in the sea of endless emptiness was Single Horn.

They looked at each other, and their eyes met.

“Where am I?” said Single Horn. “Have I at last been permitted my freedom from this world?”

“No,” said Twilight. “Miss Horn…your highness…”

Single Horn looked down at the purple alicorn before her. “Twilight Sparkle,” she said, “Princess of Friendship, my counterpart from one million years in the future.”

“How- -how could you- -”

Single Horn tapped the crystal that represented her Element. “We are bound, child. We are the wielders of the Element of Magic, that which unites them all.”

“The Finality Core- -it’s back, in my time,” said Twilight, feeling the effects of her potion already starting to wear off. She needed to act quickly.

“I know not of the Finality Core,” said Single Horn. “Only Oblivion did, and he has fallen.”

“No. He survived.”

“He did?” Single Horn smiled slightly. “That is good.”

“Can you help us?”

Single Horn looked at Twilight, and then spoke carefully. “The Elements changed everything. A new paradigm, a new Order, one that none of her kind had ever considered. Given enough power, there is no feat that Harmony cannot accomplish- -but one alone may never prevail.”

Twilight started to fade, feeling Single Horn being pulled back into her own world for the short remainder of her life- -and Twilight being pulled back to her own.

Twilight gasped as she found herself in her basement once again. She looked down at her friends, who were also starting to stir. They looked so peaceful, with Rarity curled into an elegant pony-loaf, Pinkie Pie using Fluttershy as a pillow, and Rainbow Dash spooning Applejack. Twilight wished she had a camera.

“Ohh,” said Applejack, holding her head. “Ah feel lahk I just built a barn with mah head fo’ a hammer.”

“I feel like a barn hammered my head,” said Pinkie Pie, fluffing Fluttershy like a pillow and rolling over.

“It worked, though,” said Twilight, extremely glad that she had not poisoned her friends. “I think I now know what needs to be done.”