The six mares and dragon entered the caves, and as they expected, the fiends in here were large and quite dangerous. The rocky caverns weren't as confusing and twisted like the caves containing the stolen fayth, Yojimbo, though this place seemed to be testing those that want to reach Zanarkand in order to obtain the Final Aeon. Their path leading out had a large gap the others couldn't leap across, the only passage they could go down was a path going left, leading to a flooded section of the cave.

Since Pinkie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash had a better chance of surviving underwater, the trio of swimmers went on ahead to see what they could find to help progress through the cave. There were some aquatic fiends in the water, but they were easily avoided or killed. The three mares reached the other side, stepping up onto land as they saw a glowing white orb hovering over a chasm, a couple barriers slowly spinning around it with a few gaps in between them.

"I wonder what that thing is supposed to be," Rainbow pondered.

"Maybe it has somethin' to do with blockin' us off?" Applejack pulled out her blitzball, being the only member of the group to use something long range that wasn't a machina rifle. "Ah think Ah can hit it."

Taking careful aim, Applejack waited for the right moment to throw her ball into the orb. She threw it hard, sending it sailing between the gaps of the barriers and smacked the orb, the light dimming as the cavern began to quake a little.

"Wowie! The mountain is alive!" Pinkie said. "I wonder if Mt. Gagazet is actually a giant dragon living in a permanent sleep, and we poked its punching bag hanging in its mouth!"

"Pinkie, if we were in a giant dragon, Ah'm sure Spike would have told us if there was one," Applejack said as Pinkie kept spouting nonsense. As the orange earth pony looked over at Rainbow, she didn't seem to be annoyed by the Al Bhed mare's randomness, looking a little depressed. "Ya'll alright, sugarcube?"

"Huh? Oh! Uhh, yeah. I'm just a little...you know...after I passed out earlier..." Rainbow Dash couldn't come up with anything excusable from her sudden depression, though it seemed to have worked.

"Ok...If ya need more time to recover, ya'll can just stay with the others," she offered.

"I'm fine. I just had a little...episode, I guess." Rainbow hated lying, even if it meant this time she HAD to keep this a secret from everyone. Lying about Sin's toxin was one thing, lying about her home was another, even denying her feelings for Fluttershy was obvious. It was hard enough trying to keep everyone from freaking out about her being some dream created by the fayth. "Let's just get through here before we get killed by whatever fiends are in here."

The pegasus dove back into the water, avoiding discussing her change in attitude. Pinkie and Applejack followed, not wanting to bother Rainbow Dash on the subject, even though they were concerned. They regrouped back with the rest of the party and headed back. The gap was now no longer present as the quake had moved part of the cavern up, creating a small flight of stairs.

Their way out was up on a higher ledge the non-pegasi could leap up to, so they had to find another small puzzle to help get them up there. Another flooded cavern lead down to another room as the swimming trio made their way through to see what they could solve. This time, there were three different colored circles glowing in the wall under the water: one green, one blue, and one red. With a little trial and error, they managed to solve it: Pinkie swimming into the green circle, Rainbow Dash in blue, and Applejack in red. The mountain quaked again, where it would create a pathway up to the higher ledge.

Swimming back, they regrouped and spotted a rocky stairwell created by the quake. It was a bit of a surprise for the non-swimming members to see the mushroom rock-like steps appearing out from the wall during the quake. They continued on their way, but Rainbow began to worry more as they were getting closer, and with no clue how to defeat Sin without the Final Aeon.

"Hold on a moment," Rarity said, stopping everyone before they reached the exit. "We're going to be expecting some...unfortunate company as soon as we leave the cave."

"More secrets," Pinkie said, not surprised by all of the lies and hidden truths everyone's been told the past couple days. "What else are you hiding from us, Rarity!? Is your mane a wig!? Are you involved with the mafia!?" She gasped loudly as she pressed her face against the white unicorn's. "Are you actually a stallion pretending to be a mare!? What's under that robe of yours!?"

Pinkie tried to undress Rarity out of her clothing, only to receive a slap upside the head, stopping her before angering her further. "Pinkie, please refrain from making assumptions while trying to be comical. I'm actually warning all of you about what we'll come across since now is a good time to tell you all."

"Is Zanarkand that close?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yes...but we're going to be tested even further. Far worse than the temples' trials." Rarity looked down at the ground, her eyes covered by her glasses as she glowered in disdain. "She's sent fiends our way to test our strength, to see if we're worthy to meet her."

"'She'? Who are you talking about?" Twilight asked.

"...Celestia." The rest of the group gasped in surprise as Rarity mentioned the first summoner to ever defeat Sin.

"L-Lady Celestia herself!?" Twilight questioned. "...B-But how is she still alive!?"

"Take a wild guess," Rarity said, suppressing a growl. After some thought, they figured that Celestia was an unsent, just like Star Swirl and Blueblood. "Exactly...This is the last stretch. She won't stop at anything to let us in freely. All of you be prepared for what we'll face." With the rest of the party steeling their resolves, they nodded and began to head out of the caves. Before Rainbow Dash passed her, Rarity pulled on her tail with her magic while the others walked ahead. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" the pegasus asked.

"Your attitude had shifted after you passed out back near all the fayth on the mountainside." Rainbow avoided her gaze, keeping silent. "Tell me what happened."

"...I can't tell you," she replied. "As much as you want to know, it's better for you to find out what I'm hiding on your own. Isn't that what you said?"

"I'm withholding everything about Zanarkand because every summoner and their guardians will know the truth at some point. I'm doing this so Fluttershy doesn't have second thoughts on the matter, but your story is a lot different than hers." The two mares glared at each other, remaining silent for a while. "...Tell me."

"No. I just can't, Rarity." Rainbow Dash walked on ahead to catch up with the others, wanting to avoid the subject as far as possible so she wouldn't break down and let her true secret be revealed. "Learn to mind your own business..."

The others waited for the two mares to catch up and stood near the exit of the caves. The sun looked like it was about to set as evening took in, though Zanarkand wasn't in view just yet. Having no clue what to expect, they were wary of what would come their way next. Rarity stepped forward, her ears slowly twisting around, trying to hear out where their first fiend Celestia will sick on them.

"...Here it comes!" Rarity warned as a large fiend dropped down from the top of the summit, blocking their way toward the trail that led them safely down the other side of the mountain. It was massive, even as it stood on four legs, its wings protruding from its back more like dozens of antannae, a long tail that could easily sweep them off the mountain if it flicked in their direction, and dangerous pincer-like teeth on the sides of its face. "Sanctuary Keeper. Celestia's first of her pets to test us."

With their weapons ready, they split up so the Sanctuary Keeper wouldn't get them all at once and stayed far away from the cliff's edge. Before any of them could try to attack it, its "wings" flared out up to the sky, energy beams shooting out from the tips that began raining down on the party. Everyone quickly got out of the way as they exploded around them, Rainbow Dash being unfortunate enough to get hit by one of them while the others got away unharmed.

As soon as she got up, her eyes began to go cross-eyed as her vision wavered violently, her body slowly blinking in a new status ailment that made her feel weaker than usual. "Ahh! What the hay!? I can't see!" Squinting her eyes, she tried to find where the Sanctuary Keeper was, her head spinning as she couldn't tell which was which. Grabbing her sword, she swung it, only to smack herself with it, which thankfully got rid of her confusion. "Ow!...Ugh, I think I'm getting a headache."

"I knew we should have gotten Holy Water! Now Dashie's all cursed!" Pinkie shouted, quickly ducking as the fiend's tail flew over her head.

"The hay does curse do? Make me smack myself in the face!?" the cursed pegasus asked.

"No, that was confusion," Twilight explained as she cast a few spells toward the Sanctuary Keeper. "Being cursed means your strength is hindered, and, as Pinkie Pie explained our unleashed potential, diminished your use of your Overdrive."

"Well, can't Fluttershy heal me!? I don't like the fact I'm blinking like this!" Rainbow ducked and flew up as the fiend's tail aimed for her.

"Esuna can't cure Curse. Sorry." Fluttershy yelped and ducked low to the ground as the tail headed her way.

Rarity leapt over the tail and lunged at the Sanctuary Keeper, cleaving her diamond katana against the fiend's mandibles. "Hello. Remember me?" she taunted, the gigantic monster's jaws snapping toward her as she kept her distance, slashing at its face. "You do. No wonder Celestia finds you as her favorite pet to scare off summoners. You just keep coming back." It opened up its mouth, a small orb of light building in its jaws. "Uh oh. DUCK!"

The unicorn quickly fell flat to the ground as its attack finished charging, shooting out a powerful beam where Rarity stood and out beyond the horizon. Thankfully, no one else was in its trajectory as it flew over the unicorn's mane.

Spike and Pinkie Pie leapt on top of the Sanctuary Keeper, the former thrusting his new diamond halberd into its back while the latter annoyed it by scratching at its eyes with her claws. Its antennae began to rise up into the sky again, shooting out more explosive beams of energy to rain down on the annoying dragon and Al Bhed. They both quickly got out of the way as it hit itself with its own attack, making it roar in pain.

Not willing to let anyone else get hit by the fiend's dangerous attacks, Fluttershy summoned Bahamut, the dragon aeon slamming down onto the Sanctuary Keeper's back, crushing its appendages. Everyone backed away as the aeon leapt back, getting down on all fours as the halo on his back began to spin rapidly. After charging up its powerful attack, Bahamut unleashed its Mega Flare, engulfing the fiend as it roared in agony from the large beam of non-elemental energy exploding around it. The explosion sent Sanctuary Keeper flying over the edge of the cliff, spirits flying out of it as it tumbled down the mountain, having been beaten and proven to Celestia that they were worthy to continue forward.

With the legendary summoner's guard dog defeated, everyone took a momentary break, Rainbow's curse wearing off as the Sanctuary Keeper was slain. "Thank goodness I've stopped blinking. As if I didn't stand out enough with my hair."

Rarity began to walk along the path, the others wondering why she was still moving. "Rarity! We need a break!"

"We're almost at the summit. We'll rest later," she replied, not turning back.

Pinkie popped up in front of her, having somehow dug a hole from where she stood next to the others and barring the unicorn's path. "Well, yeah...we're getting closer...And I don't want to get closer."

"Pinkie Pie, delaying the inevitable will only bring about anxiety and second thoughts. You either do something, or not." She stepped over the mare and continued onward, disappearing around the bend.

Pinkie's mane deflated, though it was really close to being completely straight. "But...I can't think of anything we can do to save Fluttershy..."

The rest of the group caught up with Rarity as she stopped, waiting for them to follow. She looked out over the horizon as they caught up, and as soon as they saw what she was looking at, they all stared in shock and awe at what laid before them. Rainbow Dash's ears drooped as she stared at the ruins of Zanarkand, her home, completely destroyed. There was barely anything of the grand city from a thousand years ago that was left standing. At least seeing this ruined city of her home was easier to stomach than what Bahamut showed her if they had stopped dreaming before Sin was completely destroyed.

"...Zanarkand," Fluttershy murmured. "We're here..."

"...Yeah..." Rainbow couldn't believe it, but it was true.

Her home was gone. Everything in the past couple weeks since arriving in Spira crashed down on her. A thousand years thrust into the future, seeing so many ponies suffering through this spiral of death that never ends, the truth of a summoner's pilgrimage ending in their deaths, her father being Sin through unknown means, and now finding out her life was nothing but a dream manifested into a real pony by the fayth. All of it only made her more depressed than losing her mother, more than having her father insulting her, whether it was in her presence or not, and even worse when all of her enthusiasm to Fluttershy was dashed when she realized she will die once she beats Sin.

She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't. She wanted to smack her hooves and sword into the wall of the mountain, but her body didn't want to listen. The end was already coming closer, and nothing could be done to save Fluttershy and the world without sacrificing the other. Rainbow Dash wanted to lie down, fall asleep, and wake up back in Zanarkand. But this was reality. No dreams can keep a dream like herself from hiding from the inevitable end. Fluttershy nuzzled her, seeing her sorrow and confusion written all over her face, but the pegasus's body was numb, lost in her thoughts as her eyes were glued to the ruins of Zanarkand. Next Chapter: Chapter 40: The End is Near Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 22 Minutes