Solaris and Discord stared down Lucifer, the former's stance faltering as he shook in fear. He was holding the alicorn's aunts and friend hostage, making their situation worse as they couldn't fight back, even if they tried.

"I knew you couldn't hide away forever, child. You made a mistake leaving where the dragon took you." Lucifer looked at Discord, surprised to see the draconequus was here of all places. "Discord...Are you working for the alicorn?"

"Well, I have been reformed. I think it's obvious," Discord growled. He looked over to the mares being held hostage, leering at the tyrant as he heard Fluttershy whimper in fear. "Let them go."

"What can you possibly do if I don't comply?" Lucifer asked, smirking as he could easily see the fear in both their eyes. "We all know who would win, Discord. Your chaotic magic won't be a match against my own."

"Why don't you learn to fight for yourself instead of hiding behind your soldiers?" Discord argued. "You're too much of a coward to do your own dirty work."

"And what of you? An all powerful 'god' of chaos, hiding himself away like that brat while you watch me rule Equestria? Don't make me laugh," Lucifer said. "Besides, I don't have the patience to stay here for long."

He waved his hoof forward, commanding his troops to shove the mares into the large room. Solaris quickly ran up to them, trying his hardest to be brave and protect his aunts and Trill from Lucifer and his Shadow Knights. The tyrant didn't even pay attention to his gauntlets and newly acquired pendent.

"W-What are you going to do to us?" Solaris asked, worried about what Lucifer had planned.

"I'm not going to do anything," he said. "It's quite amazing how ancient civilizations can be so paranoid when it comes to their priceless relics and buildings made to worship a higher power unknown to others. They set up so many traps to stop looters from stealing their treasures, they were even so desperate to create a trap that would bury everything with a useless trinket of no value, sitting in plain sight."

"B-But I thought all the traps were set off..." Solaris began to worry, not knowing where this one trap was in the ruins.

"These ruins will be your grave. I suggest you all spend as much time together as possible before your demise." Before Lucifer shut the wall that lead into this secret area, he shot a beam of magic directly at Discord, sending the draconequus flying across the room. Fluttershy flew toward him, greatly concerned, while Lucifer laughed in triumph. "Farewell, you fools!" The wall closed down shut, Lucifer pulling out the pressure plate allowing the mechanism to function. "Zero."

"Yes, Your Highness?" the mercenary said as he stood at attention.

"You know the location of the one 'priceless' treasure hidden within these ruins. Since you are the only unicorn soldier who actually knows teleportation out of the useless, bumbling idiots who call themselves soldiers, you can leave safely," Lucifer said, the other Shadow Knights trembling in fear. He looked at them, relishing in their fear. "You are all lucky that the mares who distracted your hormone driven minds were the rest of the living bearers of the Elements of Harmony. You'll be spared, but if you so much as leave your post for a possible lay, you will suffer far worse than any of my previous victims."

Without a word, they clearly understood their ruler's threat, quickly filing out of the ruins while scared out of their minds. Lucifer followed after them while Zero headed down further into the temple's maze of endless corridors. He found the one room where the collapsing trap was set, a reverse pressure plate sitting on a podium, and resting on it was a strangely crafted ceramic figurine of a Saddle Arabian deity, badly painted to look like it was made of gold. If any thieves were to pick this fake artifact up, then they have no sense of quality for riches if they fall for this obvious trap.

"Here it is..." Zero approached the pedestal, eyeing the "treasure" through his visor. He didn't move it yet, looking back down the only entrance to the trap room. "Hope they find the way out." Looking back at the figurine, the mercenary smashed the worthless piece of art, setting off the trap as the ruins began to rumble. "I really hope they do."

Solaris tried to lift the wall leading into the expansive room they were trapped in, unfortunately, it was far too heavy. Even if Applejack were to help him, it wouldn't budge.

"Urgh! Come on!" After pushing for at least five minutes, the alicorn gave up, banging his head against the wall. "I can't believe I froze. I should have done something!"

"He was holding us hostage," Trill said. "It's not your fault. Either way, he would have killed us."

"I know..." Solaris looked over to where Fluttershy was helping Discord back up. Thankfully, he was spared, but they all had no idea what Lucifer struck him with. "I hope we can find some way out of here. Ancient civilizations always had shortcuts within their temples, even with one way rooms. The only problem is to try and find it."

While Solaris figured out where a possible escape route could be, Discord shook his head, seemingly unharmed by the magical beam. "Ooogh. That's gonna hurt in the morning."

"Are you ok, Discord?" Fluttershy asked in concern.

"I'm fine. But whatever spell he used, it didn't seem to work. I'll get us all out of here before they bring these ruins down into the desert." Discord snapped his talons, but nothing happened. He tried again, growing frustrated with each attempted use of his chaotic powers. His eyes widened in shock, now knowing what the spell Lucifer used on him was. "Oh no..."

"'Oh no?' Please tell me 'Oh no' means something good!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"Does 'Oh no' sound like a good thing!? This is bad! Really, really bad!" Discord shouted, panicking. "I can't use my magic!"

"Say what!?" Pinkie shouted. "What are you talking about!? Poof us out of here!"

"I can't!" Discord argued, unable to overreact with his chaotic powers. "Lucifer's magic that struck me must have disabled my chaotic magic! He intended to kill all of us in here, and he knew my magic could take us anywhere! If only he didn't act like a sissy and fight like a real stallion instead of holding hostages, this wouldn't have happened!"

Suddenly, the entire temple began to shake, the trap having been set and began to destroy itself. Everyone began to panic as they were about to be buried along with the Saddle Arabian civilization from thousands of years ago.

"We're gonna die!" Pinkie screamed, only to freeze in place, her tail twitching erratically. "TWITCHY TAIL! TAKE COVER!"

"Twitchy what!?" Trill questioned.

The ceiling above them began to crack, large pieces of the ruins beginning to fall down underneath it. Solaris quickly tackled Trill out of the way, saving her from being crushed by a massive block of the ceiling.

"Keep moving! Twitchy tail means watch out for something falling!" Solaris said, punching through more of the debris threatening to crush them. While defending everyone, he quickly searched around the room, desperate to find some indication of a secret passage out of this room. Along the walls, he noticed that on one area, the pattern circling around the walls had stopped, the waved lines all beginning in this one specific spot. "Wait a minute..."

Grabbing Trill, the changeling yelping in surprise, he sped past the falling rubble and made it safely. He let the mare go, who was still shocked at the sudden lift to 'possible' safety, watching him examine the wall.

"Solly, this is no time to be admiring patterns when we're going to be crushed!" Trill shouted.

Solaris felt around the wall, his hoof pressing a small plate that was able to be pushed in. He pressed it, opening a secret passage leading the opposite way of the previous entrance.

"Everypony, out this way! Hurry!" Hearing the alicorn discovering an exit, they all quickly made their way over while dodging heavy bits of the temple raining down on them.

Rainbow Dash flew down the long corridor, being the fastest of the group and scouting what lies ahead. She saw a bright light come from the end of the passage, which lead out to a hidden entrance half a mile away from the center of the ruins.

"Guys! I can see the exit! Just keep running!" Rainbow shouted.

The ruins were moments away from completely collapsing, more and more pieces of the temple falling rapidly. The crumbling ruins began flowing down the passage after them like a tsunami, threatening to bury them and crush them underneath the rubble. Solaris was behind the others, running as fast as he could, catching up with Applejack as she ran through before him. They could see the light up ahead, Fluttershy, Discord, and Trill making it out safely.

Applejack took a glance behind her, watching the wave of the collapsing ruins catching up to them. "Consarn it," she said, slowing down until she was directly behind Solaris.

She quickly slid across the ground, turned around, and bucked the alicorn hard in the flanks, sending Solaris flying out of the secret entrance as he yelled in surprise. Turning back around, Applejack sprinted to the exit as her life depended on it, the ruins finally collapsing as the secret entrance spewed out dust and sand.

While the others tried to squint their eyes, temporarily blinded by the sand that shot at them, Solaris dug his head out of the sand, landing headfirst after Applejack bucked him out of there. He shook out the sand that got in his ears, his rump surely going to have marks from the farm mare's strong hind legs.

"Augh...Aunt Applejack, you could have warned me you were gonna do that!" Solaris said, rubbing his bruised behind. He was hoping to get a scolding from his aunt after saving him from getting crushed, but there was no sound aside from the others hacking up dust and sand. "...Aunt Applejack?"

Solaris looked around, finding his aunts, Trill, and Discord, finally brushing away the sand that got in their eyes, but there was no sign of Applejack. They ended up behind a large dune that was far from the ruins, the secret entrance hidden underneath the sand from a higher view. The dust began to settle around the passage, completely blocked by the large amounts of rubble that fell from the ruin's collapse.

The alicorn's heart sank when he saw the familiar stetson hat laying in front of the entrance, and from the debris was an orange hoof belonging to the farm pony. "Aunt Applejack!" Solaris flew toward the entrance, frantically digging through the heavy stone pieces, hoping that Applejack was still alive. The others noticed his panic and tried to help, but they couldn't close as he tossed aside pieces of the ruin aside, nearly hitting them. After minutes of pulling out and tossing slabs of stone away, he finally uncovered the mare's upper body. "...Aunt Applejack...?"

She didn't respond. She didn't even move. Blood dripped out of her nose and mouth, her body covered with gashes from some sharp edges of the debris that fell on top of her. Solaris tried to move her, only to feel most of her bones were crushed, unable to feel a pulse from one of her hooves. Applejack was already gone, crushed to death and died almost instantly, her lungs possibly crushed by the weight, causing her to suffocate in mere seconds.

"N-No..." Solaris muttered, tears welling up in his eyes as he tried to pry his aunt out of the rubble. "No...Aunt Applejack. No! Please!" His tears fell, burying his face against her mane as he wept. Hearing the teen sobbing brought the unfortunate news for the others, Pinkie and Fluttershy holding each other as they cried for another friend's death, Discord looking away, blaming himself for being useless to save them without his magic, and Rainbow silently wept for her best friend, feeling helpless for letting another one of her friends die. Trill could only watch, feeling sorry for Solaris as she felt their sadness in the air. "P-Please...Please don't l-leave me....Y-You promised..."

As they mourned for the loss of the apple farmer, standing at the top of the dunes was Zero, watching them. He bowed his head in respect for the deceased mare, his wish only slightly answered as one of them had died in the collapse. From below, one of them had seen him watching them grieve, receiving an icy glare from Rainbow Dash. He teleported away before the pegasus could chase him down, not wanting a confrontation after just losing a member of their group. Rainbow seethed with rage, wanting nothing more than to kill the mercenary after encountering him again after he nonchalantly dropped Rarity's body off to them days ago.

Hours had passed, day turning to night as Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Discord, and Solaris mourned for Applejack. The draconequus had regained the use of his magic, the spell he was struck with only temporarily disabling his power for only a few hours. Unfortunately, his chaos magic couldn't revive the dead to Solaris's dismay. Necromancy was technically arcane and forbidden magic that not even Lucifer would dare to tamper with if scrolls of the dark art were ever found.

They sat around the campfire they had set up for the evening, using Solaris's dragon fire to light it when he was able to comply. The green flames lit up the darkness, everypony sitting around in silence. The alicorn was by himself, greatly upset and needing some alone time to cope with losing another member of his family. Rainbow Dash pulled Applejack's body out from the rubble of the now destroyed ruins, the mare trying her hardest not to look at the corpse hidden under a white tarp thanks to Discord's magic. Three of the Elements of Harmony were gone, and only three remained.

Trill looked at everyone, still feeling the depression among the ponies and draconequus, the worst of it coming from Solaris. Applejack was more of a mother figure to him than the other mares, with Pinkie being the fun aunt, Fluttershy the coddling aunt, Rarity the sophisticated aunt, and Rainbow the brash aunt. Growing tired of the silence, the sound of the fire cracking the wood in the campfire, she got up and walked over to where Solaris wandered off.

Trill ignored the chilled air as she climbed up the nearby dune, finding the alicorn looking down at what used to be the ruins of Saddle Arabia's ancient civilization. She sat next to him, figuring out what to say to avoid upsetting him further. When she turned to face him, she saw him clutching Applejack's stetson in his hooves, slightly damaged from the collapsing temple. His cheeks were matted with tears, his eyes expressing sorrow and anger.

"...Solaris?" Trill asked, hoping to get his attention. He still looked down at the crumbled ruins, but his ears twitched, hearing the changeling loud and clear. "...Are you gonna be ok?"

His body trembled, clutching the hat tightly to his chest. "...I'm such a bucking coward..." Solaris grit his teeth as his tears spilled down his cheeks. "I should have hit that bastard...I should have done something!"

"Solaris..." Trill said, trying to help comfort him, but the stallion stood up and paced, the stetson dropped to the sand where he sat.

"If only I didn't freeze when he was standing there! If wasn't so afraid, I could have killed him!" Solaris shouted, panting heavily as steam flared out from his nostrils. "If I found a way out of that stupid temple fast enough, Aunt Applejack would still be alive! I can't save anypony from Lucifer! I'M BUCKING PATHETIC!"

Solaris slammed his hooves down hard, his strength tossing at least twenty pounds of sand away from him in a thirty meter radius. Trill quickly covered her eyes and mouth, avoiding being blinded and tasting the millions of the tiny, shifting minerals of the desert on her tongue. He created a small dent in the dune they were on, though it still stood. Trill slowly approached the seething alicorn, gently wrapping her hooves around him, calming him down slightly.

"You're not pathetic," she said. "You weren't ready to face him yet. He even had us held hostage to keep you and Discord from doing anything." Trill felt Solaris relax a little, feeling him tremble as he silently wept. "Applejack saved you before the ruins fell on both of you. There's nothing more you could have done..."

Solaris buried his face against Trill's neck, the mare comforting him as he let out his sorrow. She felt depressed from not only his negative emotions permeating off the alicorn, but also in pity, knowing how much pain he was going through. After he had calmed down a bit more, they headed back to the campsite, Solaris carrying Applejack's hat in his mouth. As it got late, everyone headed into their tents for the evening, but it was a sleepless night for all of them.

As morning greeted the desert kingdom, Discord transported all of them back to Saddle Arabia after packing up their belongings. Thankfully, there were no signs of the Shadow Knights or Lucifer, the king and his soldiers already headed back to Canterlot after "killing" Solaris and his company. Using some of the money Trill had "acquired" from the vizier, they paid for another private car for the long trip to the frozen north, to the Crystal Empire. As they got on the next train heading for the northern tundra, Discord stayed behind, offering to bring Applejack's body back to Ponyville, and unfortunately, give her family the sad news of her fate.

The draconequus saw them off as the train set off to their next destination, sighing as he looked down at the covered body he held. On the train, Solaris immediately headed to one of the bunks, plopping down on the mattress. Out of all of them, he didn't get any sleep last night, his guilt growing more heavy as two lives were lost because of him.

Out in Sweet Apple Acres, back in Ponyville, the Apple family was busy at work with the thousands upon thousands of apple trees in their orchard. Big Macintosh could handle half of the vast amount of trees on his own, assuming he wasn't too stubborn to work himself to the ground, while Apple Bloom had to do Applejack's portion along with her own, along with repairing anything on the farm that needs fixing.

As the ex-member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders took a small break after bucking dozens of trees into the wooden buckets, Apple Bloom noticed her nephew Apple Seed trying to pull a full load of apples to the barn, slowly inching the bucket backward as he struggled.

"Apple Seed," Apple Bloom said. "How many times do we have to tell ya that you're too young to be haulin' apples back to the barn?"

"Ah can do it, Aunty Apple Bloom!" Apple Seed groaned as he continued pulling, making very little progress. "I-I think I'm almost there!"

He was far from close to the barn. Apple Seed still had a few dozen yards left before he got close to the house, let alone the barn. Sighing, Apple Bloom easily lifted the bucket up onto her back as the young colt pouted.

"How about ya wait until ya get a little bit stronger?" Apple Bloom suggested, remembering how eager she used to be as a filly when it came to helping. "Until then, why don't ya go to the clubhouse and have some fun with your friends?"

"Ah can't," Apple Seed said. "Gemstone hasn't been the same since a few days ago. Ah wonder why she got upset?"

Apple Bloom knew what had happened. When she was in town selling apples the other day, she caught sight of Sweetie Belle's coltfriend, Button Mash, getting groceries for the pop singer. He informed her of the unfortunate news that happened to Rarity, and Scootaloo found out from Apple Bloom when she visited after she was on break from her training at the Wonderbolts Academy. Gemstone must have been told, understandably upset, never able to see her mother again.

After dropping the bucket of fresh apples into the barn's storage cellar, Apple Bloom noticed a familiar sight that she hadn't seen in a long time. Discord was walking up to the farm, which was odd since he loved to appear out of nowhere in random locations back then, and he was really depressed.

"Apple Seed, go inside the house," she said.

"Why?" Not given an answer, Apple Bloom gave him a nudge. "What's goin' on?"

"Just do what Ah say." Apple Seed headed to the house, but as Apple Bloom turned around, he quickly hid behind a nearby apple tree, snooping in on what his aunt wanted to do with the strange creature approaching their farm. As Discord got closer, Apple Bloom could tell there wasn't any sign of good news. "Discord. Haven't seen ya in over fifteen years. Ya better not have been causin' any trouble."

"Believe me, you would want me to be wrecking chaos right now." Discord hesitated, looking around for anyone else around. "Are there...any other adults around? I have some good and bad news."

"Mah brother's in the east orchard right now, and mah brother-in-law is helpin' some of our relatives down in Appaloosa," Apple Bloom said, still cautious over what the draconequus might have up his sleeves. "Should Ah get him?"

"I'll do it to save time," Discord said, snapping his fingers, making Big Macintosh appear, greatly confusing him. "I really don't want to be the bearer of bad news."

"Then why don't ya give us the good news first?" Apple Bloom questioned, Big Mac nodding his head in agreement, though he had no clue what was going on.

Discord sighed, at least getting the good news out of the way. "Solaris has passed his second test, given by me, and they're now on their way to the Crystal Empire for the third."

"Seriously? This is great!" Apple Bloom said in excitement. "Solaris is sure to beat up Lucifer sooner than we expected!"

"Eeyup," agreed Big Mac.

"Yes, well...this is where the bad news comes in," Discord said. "By random chance, Lucifer discovered where Solaris was, trapping us all inside the temple as one of his minions set off the trap to turn the ruins into a pile of stone. We managed to get out...but there was a casualty..."

Discord snapped his fingers, Applejack's body hidden underneath the tarp appearing in front of them. He gently laid the mare's body to the ground in front of the two siblings. He then reached behind his back, pulling out her hat, sadly lowering it on top of Applejack's body.

Apple Bloom gasped as she realized what Discord was trying to say. "...No...Oh please no..."

"...I'm sorry..." Discord turned away, steeling himself for a possible bucking if Apple Bloom or Big Mac thought he was messing with them.

Both Apple Bloom and Big Mac were greatly distraught, unable to believe that their sister was lying underneath that tarp. The older brother decided to check, the three of them unaware of Apple Seed creeping forward to find out what the adults were talking about. As soon as Applejack's face was uncovered, the two siblings gasped in horror, rendered speechless.

"Ma?" Apple Bloom and Big Mac were snapped out of their shock, they and Discord quickly turning to face Apple Seed. "Why is ma back?"

"Apple Seed, Ah told ya to go inside!" Apple Bloom scolded, trying not to break down in tears while trying to keep her nephew away from Applejack's body.

"But why is ma here? She's supposed to be with Solaris!" Apple Seed slipped past Apple Bloom, the young mare unable to stop him due to her overwhelming emotions. He ran past Big Mac and up to his deceased mother, trying to shake her awake. "Ma, get up! Ya gotta help Solaris beat Lucifer!"

Discord quickly levitated the colt away, moving the tarp back down as he distracted him. "Hey, lookie here! Applejack has a kid!? How time flies when you're a wall carving for one and a half decades!? Why don't I play with the little toddler while his mother 'sleeps'!? She is so tired!"

"Ah'm not a baby, Ah'm eight!" Apple Seed corrected, greatly annoyed as he hovered upside down by his tail.

"Same thing! Let's cause some mischief with your friends...if you have any!" Discord didn't give the colt a chance to respond as they disappeared to another part of Ponyville, far away from Sweet Apple Acres.

With the crisis averted, it didn't help Apple Bloom and Big Mac ignore their sister had been killed. Apple Bloom sobbed, her emotional walls crumbling as she wept for her big sister. Big Mac held her close as he shed tears as well, the siblings mourning for Applejack more saddening than Granny Smith's passing. They both feared how they would tell their nephew the truth when Apple Seed had a really close bond with his mother, scared how he would react to her death.