"The fuck?" That's all I could say after hearing that A: a monster spirit was Ra's daughter, and B: said spirit having the same name as and being fused with Celestia.

Ra chuckled. "Yes, I thought you three may react like that," he said. "Shall I start from the beginning?"

"Please," Twilight said.

"Then I will start with  what fusion means between a spirit and their partner," Ra said. "It is much like spirit fusion, but both individuals retain their mind, the body being controlled by both. As such, both need to be in harmony with one another, and must know each other quite well. The new form is a mix of both abilities. In the case of my daughter, she gained earth pony strength, as that is what Celestia was before, while Celestia gained wings and magic. For Ruin and Luna, Luna gained magic and earth pony strength, as Ruin is stronger than she looks, and Ruin gained wings. In the first battle between my brothers and Hamon and his brothers, Ruin and her husband fought at our side."

"So why is she still fused with Luna," Chrysalis asked. "You'd think that if they disagreed on a single thing like who to side with in a war, they'd split."

"You would be correct, Chrysalis," Ra replied, "but what they used to control Luna, well, they somehow knew of Ruin and Celestia, and the spell they used was able to affect their minds as well. Still, that means the Order has only two fused with them, as both you, Twilight, and your friend, Cadence, were ascended with a small amount of my daughter's power. You are not fused with her, a small portion of her power was just transferred into you."

"I have a question," Twiligh tsaid. "And this is out of simple curiosity, but can a spirit fuse with their partner if they're opposite genders?"

"Truthfully, I do not know," Ra said. "Some theorists say yes, but they need to be romantically involved, while others say the standard criteria apples, nothing more, while others just say no, and here is no historical precedence for it, either. And before you ask, most spirits with the Order are with them against their will, or we'd have much more fusions to deal with, which brings me to another part of that. I have never gone through it myself, but of what I know, fusion occurs only when the two involved do something akin to what would make one an alicorn, some kind of feat that places them in legends. For Ruin and Luna, it was defending Equestria from a Griffon Army themselves. For Celestia, both  of them, it was bringing peace to Equestria."

"So, basically, they need to do something akin to a legend?"

"Indeed," Ra said. "In total, there have only been ten in recorded history: the two I have mentioned, Star-Swirl the Bearded with DM and DMG's father, Dark Sage, and seven others who I have forgotten."

"That does explain why Star-Swirl was near alicorn levels of power," Twilight said, hand on chin.

"Believe me, those two were holding back on what they could do," Ra said. "Any other questions?"

"A few," I said. "Are there any allies for you left, Ra?"

"Very few that are not sealed in cards," he replied. "Most are like my brothers, sealed in cards and waiting to be found."

"Right," I said. "My last one would be how you got us here when your card was face down on my disk."

"That is actually thanks to my sister, whom you will eventually meet, who remained here to look after everything," Ra replied. "She, though not a mage, is skilled in dimensional magic." In fact, I heard him say in my head, so I assume some kind of link we share, she is what you'd call a displacer, Josh. Though she has not displaced many. And yes, I had her make a mental link for the two of us so we could more easily communicate. "But I also have something to ask the three of you."

"What," Twilight asked.

"We, meaning myself and the other spirits in your cards, were able to find a prison camp here in the spirit world where our allies are bung held in card form by a few loyal spirits to the Order, or those tortured beyond sanity. I was going to ask if, as soon as the three of you were recovered, you would free them."

"We would need decks," I said, knowing the answer of the others.

"For Twilight and Chrysalis, if you two decide, those in your decks will join you when you depart. For you, Josh," Ra said, "you'll need to choose a single deck already used."

"If that's the case," I said, "Get Chrono, I'm in a mood for machines."

"I'll send for him," Ra said. "And Twilight, Chrysalis, what about you two?"

"If Josh is helping, so are we," Chrysalis said.

"And even so, we are going to need help," Twilight said.

Ra nodded. "Then I will inform you partners. Oh, and Josh?"

"Yeah," I asked, crossing my arms.

"I had a few Engineers work on your disk, so it'll have some new features, some of which have been put into ones for Twilight and Chrysalis. I think you'll like a few of them, as well as the looks for each."

"If we don't like the look, can we give it back and tell them what we want it to look like," I asked, getting looks from the others. "What? They're our duel disks, they should look the way we want."

"There won't be a need for that," Ra said. "If you don't like how they look, they're coated in a special metal that will change to your thoughts, and take on the shape you want it to, as well as colors."

"That, I can work with," I replied. "Literally, in a manner of speaking."

"So, where would we be going," Twilight asked.

"A dark place where only those of darkness of heart or fiend in profession can survive for long outside their card forms. Josh knows that area by it's field spell name.

"Yami."