The guardians rushed into the Chamber of the Fayth, finding Fluttershy kneeling over the statue of the fayth, staring at it in shock. There didn't seem to be any fiends inside, no sign of any danger at all. Not wanting to be careless, Rainbow Dash walked over to Fluttershy with her sword ready, looking down at the statue of the fayth. Though it showed a mare from its back, it was clearly the body of Celestia's sister, Luna, though the visage etched in stone looked like a darker version of her. It wore armor and, where Luna was a pegasus from the past memory they saw back in Guadosalam, it also had a horn like a unicorn.

"Fluttershy, what happened?" Rainbow asked, feeling a little creeped out at the scary being that seemed like what the Final Aeon would look like.

"The fayth...it's not here," the summoner said. "It's just an empty statue."

"That is because the statue had lost its power as a fayth long ago." Everyone looked up, seeing the same priest they met back at the entrance to the stadium, having arrived out of nowhere. "Lady Luna, the first fayth to become the Final Aeon, her soul no longer rests in this statue. It is gone."

"T-Then...that means there's no Final Aeon?" Fluttershy asked, feeling a little hopeful.

"Not to worry, Lady Summoner. Lade Celestia will assist you on the matter further." The priest waved his hoof, and appearing on the wall opposite of the entrance to the chamber was a door. "Lady Celestia awaits you all."

The unsent priest prayed to them and slowly disappeared. The rest of the party looked at Rarity, having known the Final Aeon's fayth was empty. She remained silent as all their questions will be answered in the next room. They entered, one by one, arriving in an extravagant hall, a lot brighter than how the rest of the city looked with the undead and decayed ruins.

"Ok, so where's our unsent host?" Rainbow asked, seeing no sign of the thousand year old unicorn mare.

Eventually, she did show up, walking out from what seemed to be her private chambers in the back. The group stared in awe, nothing like the mare they saw in Guadosalam. She was taller than the average mare, almost around Spike's height, if not a little taller. Her mane was no longer pink and hung low along her head. It was now in multicolored hues, seeming bright and vibrant, and her mane and tail seemed to flow in an invisible breeze. As soon as she left the corridor, she spread out a large pair of wings on her back, looking like a holier version of the terrifying image on her sister's fayth statue.

"Lady Celestia?" Excluding Rarity, they all stared at the first summoner to defeat Sin.

Celestia held a calm, gentle smile on her face as she gazed down upon the ponies and dragon from the top of the steps. "Welcome to Zanarkand, travelers. I must congratulate you, young summoner. Your pilgrimage is finally at its end. I shall bestow upon you the power of the Final Summoning, so you may defeat Sin." Rarity glowered at the unsent demi-goddess, the truth will finally be shed to light where she couldn't speak of it. Fluttershy stepped forward to receive the Final Aeon, the other guardians' hopes dashed as the end of her life will come. "Now, summoner...Choose."

"...I-I'm sorry?" Fluttershy questioned, the other guardians looking at Celestia in confusion.

"You must choose one of your guardians in order to change them into the fayth, to become the Final Summoning." The mares and dragon gasped in shock.

"What!? What's that supposed to mean!?" Rainbow exclaimed, voicing everyone's thoughts for them.

"It means what it means," Celestia calmly said, smiling in obliviousness at what shock she had caused. "In order for this to work, a summoner and the chosen fayth must have a very close bond with one another. That is what the Final Summoning embodies: Whether it is two lovers, a mother or father and their foal, or between close friends with an unbreakable bond. With this bond, it is powerful enough to vanquish Sin.

"A thousand years ago, I had chosen my little sister, Luna, the only family I had left, as the fayth. Our bond was inseparable, and she knew her sacrifice would not be in vain. And with our sisterly bond, I had obtained the Final Aeon." Everyone hearing the oldest summoner in the history of Spira felt sick to their stomachs. How somepony, who claims to have had a close bond with their family, could speak so highly of sacrificing her sister and not bat an eye was beyond them. She ends the life of Luna, her sister, and isn't choked up at the horrible act she had committed. "I see you need some more time to think. Understandable, seeing you have six guardians at your disposal.

"Just know, Summoner Fluttershy, that your father, Kindred Heart, had chosen the same path. Soon, you and your chosen fayth will no longer feel pain and anxiety of the fears of loss. Death is the ultimate and final liberation of all living things, and the Final Aeon will end your life as soon as you summon it. When you are ready, I shall wait in my chambers for your decision." Celestia turned away and walked back down the hallway she came out from, folding her wings back to her sides as she left the stunned and flabbergasted group alone.

No one could say a word. What could they say? Fluttershy had to make a choice, to kill one of her guardians so they could become the fayth for the Final Aeon, and have that pony or dragon kill her once she beats Sin. Even if they defeat it, Sin will come back after some time, meaning not one life will be lost, but two. This had been going on for over one thousand years, and Celestia brushed it off like the lives of the living were non-existence, just little flies that are swatted away and flicked aside.

While they stood in their shock, another memory began to play out before them, Kindred Heart, Jet Stream, and younger Rarity in the same predicament as the others present. "...She isn't serious, right? I mean, as hot as she is for a dead mare, she's gotta be joking, right?"

"It seems not," Kindred said, ignoring the comment Jet made on the older summoner. "I can't turn back though. I wouldn't want this to fall upon another unfortunate summoner and their guardians."

"No!" Rarity ran in front of Kindred, keeping him away from the stairs where they saw Celestia leave. "You can't do this! There has to be some other way, Kindred! None of this is worth it! Let's just go back home...I'd rather suffer when Sin attacks than have two of us die."

"Rarity..." Kindred looked down, greatly conflicted at the unfortunate news given to them all.

"I'll be the fayth." The unicorn and pegasus summoner looked back at Jet Stream, his expression serious, something Rainbow Dash had never seen him in this way. "If it means keeping everypony safe, I'll give my life and be the Final Aeon."

"Jet..." While Kindred commended his friend's bravery in this grueling situation, Rarity ran up to Jet Stream and slapped him hard in the face.

"Nopony is going to kill themselves over this!" she shouted, tears welling up in her eyes while the dark cyan pegasus stallion was unfazed by her hoof. "You and Kindred both have daughters! You have a family you should be going back to! What will they think if they know you two died!?"

"...I don't think Dashie would mind if I did die," Jet sadly said, surprising Rainbow as her father called her 'Dashie'. He never once called her that in her life, not even when she was a toddler. "I'll never see her or my wife again, anyway."

"Yes you will!" Rarity turned to look at Kindred. "I'll be the fayth! I don't have anypony to go to! Choose me!"

"Rarity, stop it!" Jet Stream turned the unicorn around, leering at her as he kept her gaze focused on him. "...Don't you dare say that. You have every right to keep living. I am not going to let you throw your life away to help me rekindle my relationship with my daughter."

"B-But-" The stallion quickly shoved a hoof in Rarity's mouth, silencing anymore protests she had.

"No...You listen to me, Rarity; I've told you and Kindred I don't know anything about Spira. I was clueless to how things work, and as soon as I learned one new thing after the next, my outlook on living changed. Even if you don't believe me, I'm just going to keep saying I've been sent a thousand years in the future, and I will never see them again." A moment of silence passed as Jet lowered his hoof, Rarity's complaints on his decision gone silent. "I've been thinking about this ever since I woke up near Bevelle and was thrown in jail, and I've made my choice.

"You have a life to live. You're still young, you're a strong mare who can lift a heavy sword that not even I can lift, and you have looks that would make any stallion fall head over hooves for you." As the present party watched the memory, Rarity began to shed tears as her younger self began shedding tears as well. "I know I've been acting like a mule to you, but you could rival my wife in good looks. And there's a good reason why I act like an idiot and hit on mares and annoy everypony who knows I have an over-inflated ego; I'm actually terrified on the inside and do stupid things to hide my fears.

"For so long back in my Zanarkand, I was a hotshot blitzball star, wealthy and famous, and I married the greatest mare to ever come into my life. Then, when my daughter came around...I was afraid of being a father." Rainbow Dash remained silent, unable to voice her opinion on him as she heard him out, Jet having no clue she was watching this moment in time. "I was scared I wouldn't be a good father, being this huge celebrity everypony adored and having the paparazzi hound over me and my family. I didn't know what to do, but I wasn't going to give her up and be the worst father in the history of fathers to just abandon the foal you helped give life to...Instead, I made things worse with her, ignoring her...insulting her...putting her down as she tried to follow in my hoofsteps and become a blitzball player.

"I always kept taking her attention away from her mother, my wife too infatuated with my looks. I wanted to push her to being a good player, but I ended up shoving her hard into the ground, making her resent me more and more with each day. Every time she looked at me, I know she hates me for being such a jerk, but she's also afraid to tell me face to face because she'll think I'll hurt her physically." Jet Stream's voice wavered a little as he felt awful putting Rainbow Dash in the situation she was in as a filly. This was the first time she had ever seen her father be this sincere about her, and he knew he could never go home. "If anything, I deserve to die. For all I know, my wife and daughter are already long gone...I'm never seeing them again, and I regret everything I did to hurt her."

"...But what would be the point?" Rarity said, her voice cracking as she struggled not to break down. "Sin will just come back after the Calm...There has to be another way..."

"I'll find a way to break the cycle, Rarity." Jet Stream surprised Rarity by pulling her into a hug, never showing any friendly affection since Kindred's pilgrimage began. "Sorry for being a pain in the flank. Take care of Kindred until he confronts Sin, ok?" The unicorn whimpered as her tears flowed more freely down her cheeks. After a while, the stallion let go of the distraught mare and approached Kindred, a few tears running down his face as he heard his friend's heartfelt words. "Don't you go bawling on me, Kindred. Rarity's already got it covered for all of us."

The summoner let out a sad laugh, wiping away his tears. "Is that your fear making that joke?"

"Yeah. It is," Jet said. "Maybe the cycle will finally be broken if this works." He slammed his hooves together, ready to become the fayth. "A tie game with only a few seconds to go, and I'm not backing out from that goal."

"...Right...Let's do this." The two stallions headed up the stairs to have Celestia turn Jet into a fayth, leaving Rarity behind as she collapsed and cried.

The unicorn's sobs echoed in the room as the memory kept going, the others now knowing why she couldn't tell them everything. How Sin was defeated was heart-wrenchingly painful, having to choose someone they care about die to become a fayth the worst decision anyone could make. There didn't seem to be a choice at all when it came to Spira's future. Even if Sin is defeated and the summoner that defeated it brought the Calm, it always comes back, and in this moment, Sin did come back. They viewed Rarity as a wise veteran, everypony seeing her as a strong-willed fighter who holds true to her beliefs, but she was still a mare, and seeing her broken down like this made them feel pity for her.

They looked up as they heard Rarity's diamond katana drag across the stone floor, watching her slowly walk toward her younger self. "Rarity?" Fluttershy tried to get her attention, but her words fell on deaf ears.

Slowly, the unicorn took off her sunglasses, revealing her tear-stricken face as she glared at her past self. She stood there in silence, gritting her teeth as her ears twitched with each sob the memory of her let out. She finally cracked, screeching as she threw her glasses at herself, making them shatter as they hit the wall. Grabbing the hilt of her katana in her hoof, she began to swing wildly, trying to kill her past self to no avail, each slam of the blade smacking the ground causing the spot to crack as she screamed in anger and sorrow.

The memory began to fade away, Rarity slamming her weapon down one last time where she laid collapsed in despair ten years ago, her breathing labored as she stared at the spot she stood. She broke down, just like before, and cried, dropping her katana to the cracked ground beneath it. These memories stayed with her after a decade, her biggest regret to let her friends go and getting them killed weighing heavily over her heart in guilt, wishing it was her who died instead of them.

"...And...the cycle...continued...It didn't matter if they sacrificed themselves..." Rarity sobbed. "...Now you know why...Why I hid all this from you...Two lives are given up...for nothing...Every. Single. Time..."

While the mares were frozen still where they stood, unable to believe their pilgrimage is more depressing than they imagined, Spike approached the depressed unicorn mare. He kneeled down next to her, gently resting a claw on her back. Rarity immediately sought comfort in his arms, burying her face in his scaly chest as she let out her sorrow. Like Kindred Heart, Jet Stream, and Rarity ten years ago, they were going to have to make the toughest decision they will ever face since their already long and painful journey across Spira; Who will be willing to give up their life to save Spira and die with Fluttershy in order to defeat Sin? Next Chapter: Chapter 43: No More False Hope! Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 44 Minutes