“Helianthus…” Octavia shook her head. “I don’t understand, how could this happen? What happened to her?” Clinging to Vinyl, she sat on the floor staring at the curious remains left in the doorway. “Everything down here is so horrible, I don’t think I can bear it. I need to be in the sunlight again.”

Maud took a few cautious steps towards Helianthus’ remains, then stopped, recoiling with a pained cry. With a great deal of effort, she dragged herself away from the door, her spine and head sagging. “It feels like death… my strength is gone… I feel so weak… stay away from the door.”

“The chamber is lined with nullwood. Petrified nullwood.” The words came from a flickering apparition that manifested in the chamber. “Do not be sad, Helianthus will be just fine. Death is only a temporary inconvenience for her.”

“Princess Celestia?” Tarnish focused upon the ghostly figure standing beside him, and he heard the sounds of Octavia weeping as she pulled Maud closer to her and Vinyl. “Princess Celestia, what are you doing here?”

“You owe them an explanation,” Maledico’s projection said to Celestia’s projection.

“Perhaps you are right,” Princess Celestia replied. “Helianthus is my creation… my way of studying animancy. I tore off a piece of my own soul and animated her body from common earth. Over time, I gave her life… and she developed personality. She became her own distinct entity. I use her as my eyes and ears out in the world and I send her to do dangerous tasks that I could not. Over time, the tiny fragment of soul I gave her grew and became a whole soul. Right now, she is in the astral realms, no doubt impatiently stomping around in my sunflowers.”

Tarnish, who had been in those sunflowers, nodded and then had an understanding. “Mellonella Moth? Dove?”

“Both are the results of me teaching the art of animancy to Luna and Cadance. I have taught them to shape and nurture souls. Mellonella is coming along nicely and with time, she will gain more permanence like Helianthus, but Dove is very fragile and requires Cadance to be in close proximity. She was there in pony that night at the Stiff Upper Lip Society, animating Dove.” Princess Celestia looked down at Helianthus’ remains, and then over at Tarnish.

“And what about Twilight?” Tarnish asked.

“Twilight can’t make the leap to the astral plane. She’s made it too complicated for herself. She’s written five books on theoretical astral mechanics as she’s tried to figure out the how and the why. She’s overcomplicated everything so much that she will never be able to make the leap. That is Twilight’s greatest failing, she cannot abide simplicity.” Celestia’s projected image now had a sad expression.

“It’s as easy as breathing.” Tarnish began to wonder if his uncomplicated mind was an asset. He didn’t think he was stupid, at least, not at this moment, but he understood that he lacked a certain mental complexity and this was a positive. Snorting, Tarnish realised that he was in vault with eldritch darkness and now was no time for hoof gazing.

Without even thinking about what he was doing, he made his way to the petrified nullwood doorway and then stopped before he got too close. He paused, listening to his companions gasp, then turned around to look at them. After a few seconds, he realised that he wasn’t affected by the anti-magic nature of the petrified nullwood.

“I feel fine,” he announced as his companions gave him wide-eyed and fearful stares. Even Maud had a reaction—Tarnish could see that she was blinking much faster than usual.

He backed away and then began pulling off his many magical items. His amulet, his saddlebags, his shield, it all came off and he set it down upon the floor in a pile as he made himself ready to pass through the door and face whatever was beyond.

“Tarnish, you are far more powerful than you realise.” Maledico, whose orb had flickered a bit as Tarnish had drawn near the doorway, pointed at Tarnish with his finger. “Of course… your magic and magic of the nullwood both come from the same place. Terra-thauma. The primal magics seem to know that you are working in their best interests. The nullwood will not null you. Nature will not work against itself, not in this instance.”

Naked, divested of his many items, Tarnish once more went towards the door…

“Hey, there is a nullwood pedestal back here,” Tarnish said to the others. “It’s all black and rotten looking. There is a crown on it. When I look at it, I feel like throwing up and my vision gets all blurry.”

“That would be it, Tarnish,” Maledico replied, “the bane of all creation. It must be destroyed.” The blue orb was now held by Vinyl and Maledico ignored her attempts to poke and prod his projection.”

“I know of a nice new volcano we could go and drop it into,” Tarnish suggested.

Waving his hands around, Maledico responded, “What sort of ignorant moron drops an all powerful reality warping artifact into a volcano? Where do you think all that magic goes? The volcano would erupt and the world would be doomed! Nothing and no one should ever be that stupid!”

“Okay, okay, I get it, I had a dumb idea!” Tarnish backed out the room and faced his companions once more. “So no dropping dangerous artifacts into active volcanos. Bad idea. Got it. Noted. Understood.”

“Could Flamingo cut it?” Maud asked. “I suspect that she can cut through anything. She left nicks in the centaur steel walls when the fight happened.”

Rubbing his chin, Maledico replied, “Maybe, but then we’re faced with the energy release. Most of life as we know it would cease to exist. It would be a worldwide cataclysm, I think. And that is a cautiously optimistic guess from me.” The spectral centaur continued to rub his chin.

“I cannot help you, Tarnish. If I touch it with my magic or try to manipulate it, it will mean my end.” Celestia’s projection gave Tarnish a sad and frustrated stare. “If I go, most of life as we know it will go with me.”

“Forgive me for bringing this up, but I am still intrigued by Helianthus.” Maud lifted her head and looked at Celestia. “Alicorn magic is wondrous. I know this is the wrong time, but I really want to know how stone and earth come to life.”

“Maud, my little pony, that is not alicorn magic, but earth pony magic that gives Helianthus a body,” Princess Celestia replied. “As for the astral connection required for the animancy part, any living being could conceivably make the leap, if they so desired. That would be the tricky part. In the astral realms, shaping a soul is really no different than shaping clay.”

Hanging his head, Maledico’s projection let out a sigh. “I know what needs to be done.”

“You do?” Tarnish asked.

“I do.” Maledico sighed again. “I must fulfill my purpose. I came forwards through time to deal with this problem, and I realise, I’ve created the means to do so. My orb and your magic can nullify the crown. It will be chaotic and destructive, but the Crown of Corruption and the essence of poison joke magic will cancel each other out, leaving behind only raw chaotic forces of creation.”

“Explain.” Tarnish tilted his head to one side and then sniffled through blood caked nostrils.

“I think the crown can be cut through, severed, and doing so will release its magic. That will be bad.” Maledico’s voice dropped down a bit into a muted whisper. “But if you also cut through my orb, the resulting explosion of concentrated poison joke essence will counteract Grogar’s foul magic. It will forever change the area around the explosion. It would make for a suitable druid’s grove, at least, I think.”

“I suppose having an area of intense wild magic is far preferable to having most of all life on our continent vanish or become corrupted.” Princess Celestia’s projection held her head high. “Tarnish, as our current Heliophant and the sole druid of Equestria, I will give this place of wild magic to you so that you might rebuild the ancient order.”

Stunned, Tarnish did not know how to respond. And then it dawned upon him that destroying Maledico’s orb would also mean destroying Maledico. A terrible heaviness settled over Tarnish’s heart when he realised that the way forward meant killing his teacher and his source of knowledge. Eyes watering, the pain in his muzzle throbbing and made worse by the pressure of his own tears, he understood that this was the way of life. Some had to die so that others might live.

“You have named him Heliophant,” Maledico said to Celestia, “the Keeper of the Dawn. I am surprised that you know of the old orders. But if there is a Heliophant, then we must also have a Herald of Selene. The ancient order must be kept in balance. The Heliophant cannot exist without a counterbalance.”

“We need a powerful wizard,” Princess Celestia’s projection said in a low voice.

“Yes, we do,” Maledico agreed as his projection turned to face Vinyl. “Someone who loves the night and is willing to sing its praises. Someone who will act as a counterbalance to the Heliophant. For every Heliophant, there has always been a wizard that is their equal.”

“Vinyl…” Octavia pulled her mate closer and gave her a squeeze.

“An order of wizards not loyal to king or country, but servants of the earth and nature.” Maledico looked at Celestia and waited to see her reaction. “An order of wizards only loyal to the druidic order. Can you tolerate such a thing, Sun Goddess?”

“Don’t call me that.” Celestia’ leveled a stern glare upon Maledico. “I will tolerate much if it means allowing life to continue and weakening Grogar’s influence. I am not so proud that I would turn away help and powerful allies.”

“Vinyl, you should do this.” Octavia rubbed Vinyl’s ribs with her hoof. “Just think of all the mischief that you and Tarnish could get into.”

After blinking a few times, Vinyl nodded in agreement and accepted her role.

“What now?” Tarnish asked.

Maledico’s projection rubbed his chin once more. “Now comes the hard part. You have to carry the crown up to the surface. We can’t cut it up down here, the explosion in a confined space, it will kill us all and we don’t want to be buried alive. Tarnish, you are the only one that can touch the crown and nopony else will be able to touch you while you hold it in your magic.”

“Okay.” Tarnish nodded.

“Once we are on the surface, we’ll need to send the others away to safety. We’ll also need a suitable spot to perform the deed. You’ll take Flamingo and with a single stroke, you will deal a painful blow to Grogar—”

“And put an end to you,” Tarnish finished.

“Sadly, yes.” Maledico nodded. “Which brings us to the next phase of the plan.”

“Next phase?” Tarnish asked.

“This is an act of immense destruction.” Maledico’s voice wavered a bit as he responded. “You will be creating a new druidic grove, a place of life… a place for living things.”

“Yeah?” Tarnish waited and hoped for a better explanation.

“You will need to pull in as much of the raw, chaotic magic into your self as you can, using your magical talent, and when you are full to bursting…” Maledico’s words trailed off and he stared at Tarnish.

“What?” Tarnish, impatient, demanded, “Just spit it out.”

“We shall need one more sacrifice.” Maledico’s eyes fell down to the floor.

“Somepony else needs to die?” Tarnish asked.

“No.” Maledico lifted up his gaze and sucked in a deep breath. “Actually, it is vital that somepony lives. No, we need a willing vessel for you to impart your seed and all of the chaos that you absorbed. It must be given life.”

“Wait, what are you saying?” Tarnish had trouble understanding what was being said and he felt his throat go dry. “What are you trying to tell me exactly?”

“Tarnish, what he is saying,” Maud began, “is that once you’ve drawn as much of the magic as you can inside of you, you are going to need to redirect it into a willing womb.” One eyebrow arched and Maud had a peculiar expression upon her face. “We all have to make sacrifices. I’m willing to do my part.”

“What?” Tarnish stood there, blinking. “What?”

“Tarnish, it is really very simple. The more of the chaotic magic you absorb and purify, the fewer monsters and mutants there will be once this is done and over with. The druid grove will be a wild, chaotic place that will act like a forge for new life, but the dangerous elements can be reduced by redirecting the energy into another form.” The corners of Celestia’s mouth were tugged downwards and with a very stern face she added, “Much of the druid’s magic was sexual in nature, or so I read.”

“Um, just wondering, but what sort of foal will Maud have? Will it be… unnatural?” Octavia asked.

“Oh, I suspect that it will be very much like Maud,” Maledico replied. “A rampaging, destructive force of nature held back by a thin shell of calm and compassion. Only… much more magical in nature. It is almost certain that the foal will be a unicorn, probably one like Tarnish, with a connection to terra-thauma. An oddity. An anomaly. Anything with that much magic will need some sort of spout to let it out… otherwise, well, otherwise, that would just be an adorable little natural disaster waiting to happen. One shudders to think...”

“Oh… goody…” Maud’s dry sarcasm could not be contained. “Fine, we need to end this. Tarnish, we’ll go to that island in the middle of the lake. You’ll take Flamingo and cut the crown and the orb in half, releasing their energies so they can cancel each other out. You and I will weather the chaos vortex that forms, and you will draw in as much of it as possible. And then…”

“Then what?” Tarnish, his throat dry and filled with the taste of blood, swallowed.

“Well,” Maud replied in deadpan, “that much should be obvious. You fronk me silly and then we wait and see what happens.”

Whimpering, Tarnish shook his head. “I don’t know if this is a good plan…”

Author's Notes:

Next chapter: the long march begins.