As the party boarded the airship, the guardians guided Fluttershy through the vessel to reach the bridge. Walking inside, they spotted Cheese breathing heavily into a paper bag, curled in the fetal position away from the helm. He was the only one in a deep panic while Pinkie's family was slowly recovering from brushing past death as Sin could have easily crushed them. Cid turned to face them as he heard the doors open, their picked up passengers making their presence known.

Pinkie immediately ran up to Cheese, seeing him in the state he was in. While she comforted him, Cid and the pink mare's siblings spotted Fluttershy with them. The summoner stepped toward the Al Bhed stallion, meeting her uncle for the first time. He had a serious look on his face, almost like he was mad at her for choosing to be a summoner. Even though she was taken to the Al Bhed Home, she didn't get the chance to see him when they were under attack by the Guado.

"Uncle Cid. It's nice to...finally meet you..." Fluttershy bowed her head, hoping her uncle was nicer than her looked.

"Don't bow to me," the stallion said, his voice quivering. She looked up, expecting him to stay mad, only to see Cid's expression far from what she expected. The stallion was in tears, looking at his niece with sad, yet relieved eyes. He held out his forelegs to her and smiled. "Come give your long-lost uncle a hug." Fluttershy did need to be told twice, running into her uncle as the two hugged each other tightly. "I haven't seen you since you were in diapers...You're just like your mother, if she was a pegasus."

The others left Fluttershy alone to reunite with her long-lost relatives, wandering about the airship to begin thinking of a plan to stop Sin without the Final Summoning. Needless to say, this was going to be a tough strategy to formulate when the only way to defeat Sin was now no longer around. Rainbow Dash headed up to the upper deck on top of the airship as the vessel cruised along the skies away from Zanarkand. Being out in the open air, feeling the wind rush against her face as she flew was a better way for her to get her ideas flowing.

Unfortunately, after several hours of thinking, she was at a complete loss. She couldn't think of anything that could stop Sin, not even for a moment. Growing frustrated, Rainbow Dash headed back inside, finding Rarity looking out of the windows as the airship flew over the ocean.

"Any ideas?" the unicorn asked.

"No." Rainbow groaned, rubbing her sore head. "This is a lot harder than I though it would be. You could think of something too."

"Well, let's go over what we do know. Jet Stream is Sin, and you have a link to Sin. It might be the key we need." The pegasus's eye twitched as Rarity, once again, confused her with the lack of information.

"That's it!? Come on, Rarity!" Rainbow complained.

"That's all I know, darling." Rarity began to head back down to the bridge. "Besides, wasn't this your idea to find a different solution?"

"You started it ten years ago!" the pegasus argued.

"But you were the first to have the courage to voice it out to the rest of the group and follow through." Rainbow growled, forgetting trying to get any help from the cryptic mare.

"You're still no help after you showed me your worst memories." She followed after her back to the bridge of the airship, seeing the others inside as they struggled to think of another way to stop Sin. As soon as Rainbow walked in, Cid somehow appeared in front of her without any sound, causing her to bump into him. "Jeeze! Scared the hay out of me!...I see where Pinkie gets her randomness. From the schizophrenic father who can change his attitude at the drop of a hat."

"I'm gonna ignore that remark and accept the compliment for Pinkamena's behavior since she's as wild as her pops. Fluttershy told us that you all killed that Celestia summoner and got rid of the Final Aeon." Cid scratched his bald head. "I don't know whether to be grateful for you keeping your word in saving my niece from getting herself killed, or strangle you for dooming us all."

"What!? Only me!?" Rainbow exclaimed. "Rarity was the one that actually killed her!"

"I know when to not mess with a mare that can kick my plot into last year, and that unicorn screams 'Touch me, and you'll die just from my gaze alone.' Besides, everypony's saying it was your idea to find another way, so the fault's on your head." Rainbow's jaw dropped at the accusation, looking over at Fluttershy, who seemed guilty for telling her uncle.

"Sorry, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy apologized, though it didn't help make the cyan pegasus feel better.

"So, while you're thinking of a way to kill Sin, might as well explore different parts of Spira to see if you can find any answers." Cid walked over to the sphere showing the entire map of the world, resting his hoof on the top of the device. "We can go anywhere in the world as long as you give the right coordinates. Just point it out, and Maud will take us there."

"What about that other stallion?" Rainbow asked, looking over at Cheese.

"Cheese Sandwich? He's been demoted from pilot to weapons mechanic after he drove us near Sin and almost got us killed!" Cid leered at the poofy haired stallion.

"Tuh'd pmysa sa! Oui fana zicd yc clynat yc E fyc!" Cheese shouted, pointing a hoof at the stallion.

"Crid ed!" Cid ignored the pouting Al Bhed stallion, looking back at Rainbow Dash. "Go ahead and look around."

Taking control of the navigation, Rainbow touched the sphere and was given a bigger view of the map of Spira. This was the first time seeing the world map, and it was pretty big, mainly a massive stretch of land with a few small islands scattered about. She clearly recognized Besaid and Kilika far down in the south, surprising to see just how far they had traveled on foot up to the far north in Zanarkand.

Seeing some other islands out in the distance away from the mainlands, she zoomed in on some of the islands far to the west, close to where Bikanel was located. She spotted a small mass of land out in the ocean a little south-east of the cluster of islands south-west of the desert island. Zooming in more, she managed to get a visual feed on the location she pointed out, finding the structure very familiar.

"Hey...I've seen this place." Everyone was looking at the same ruined temple Rainbow Dash wound up in when Sin transported her from Zanarkand. This was also the same place Pinkie and her group of Al Bhed search team found her, bringing back those harsh memories when the mare knocked her unconscious. "Yeah! This is where I washed up before!"

"Hey, I remember this place too!" Pinkie said. "Remember when we blew the door open and we fought a fiend in there!? And after I showed off my epic grenade killing moves, the others held you at gunpoint thinking you were a fiend and I punched you hard in the stomach to knock you out!?" The Al Bhed sighed, reminiscing on their first meeting. "Good times."

"...Yeah. Sure. That's when you guys also kept hitting me and forced me to do all your dirty work to find this airship." Rainbow turned to Cid. "All the credit belongs to me for finding it while Pinkie just helped lift the thing. You're welcome."

"Pinkie, you have a knack for finding things. Good girl!" Rainbow growled as Cid completely ignored her, though Fluttershy giggled at her marefriend's misfortune.

"A temple out in the middle of the ocean?" Twilight stepped closer as she looked at the map. "There's been no geographical updates to the usual maps of Spira in the libraries I've been to. How was there a structure like this made when nopony's ever been out in this section of the ocean?"

"Maybe Sin destroyed it?" Rainbow figured.

"No...By the looks of the building and the ruins...they look far more preserved than ruins left for hundreds of years." Twilight began to think, along with Mog as the Moogle scratched its chin. "I want to see these ruins up close and investigate."

"No problem! Take it away, Maud!" Cid shouted, his non-expressive daughter saluting as she received the coordinates, flying the airship toward the abandoned temple.

After the airship landed nearby, the party filed out onto the crumbled stairway. This place didn't seem to change much since Rainbow Dash wound up here, storm clouds still shooting lightning out in the distance. Twilight began inspecting the stone walkways and pillars where she didn't have to swim out to, examining every feature the temple had.

"This is so strange," she murmured. "The architecture is more present than hundreds of years old. I'd range its date of completion only by decades. Because of the elements in this location, this might be one reason why this temple is so decrepit."

Applejack looked out at the stone walkway that was a bridge toward the temple, noticing a gap in the pathway. "Doesn't look like we'll be gettin' in this way."

"Yeah, that was my bad," Rainbow said. "I walked along this way and the thing gave out on me." Pinkie began to open her mouth, but the pegasus shoved a hoof in there before she could say a word. "And don't make a fat joke! I'm an athlete! I'm not fat!"

"Actually, how DID you break the bridge?" Twilight wondered. "You could have flown over."

"My wing was still busted when I was here. I didn't get any medical help until I got to Besaid." Rainbow leered at Pinkie, giving her an apologetic look. As the pegasus looked down in the water, she didn't see any sign of the giant fish fiend that nearly ate her whole. "Please tell me that thing died of starvation..."

"What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked.

"I nearly got eaten by this giant fish fiend when I fell down in there." Rainbow shuddered, recalling how close she was to getting chomped on. "It was even creepier than those other fish things that were in Luca."

"Creepier than Sahagin? What did it look like?" Twilight asked.

"Well...It had a creepy mouth, glowing lights on its face, it was five times bigger than me, and I could see its rib cage." As Rainbow Dash had explained the dangerous creature, everyone else was horrified. "...What? If it that bad?"

"Geosgaeno swims around here!?" Pinkie exclaimed, rapidly shaking Rainbow Dash. "Why didn't you say anything about that thing!? That fiend could have killed us when we were in the submerged ruins not too far away from here!"

The pegasus smacked Pinkie's hooves away from her before she shook out her brain. "Is that thing really dangerous?"

"It's been known as one of the most dangerous aquatic fiends in the ocean, aside from Sin. It's like a Sinspawn, only it's not necessary to kill, just avoided," Twilight explained. "I know you're fast in the water from the blitzball match in Luca, but Geosgaeno could easily catch you! How did you manage to escape from it!?"

"I guess I was lucky..." Rainbow looked back down at the water, having a bad feeling Geosgaeno was still down there.

"Well, the only ones out of all of us who can fight underwater are you, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie," Rarity said. "Hopefully, one of you knows how to cast Thunder spells."

"Ah don't think we do," Applejack said. "How are we supposed to fight somethin' as dangerous as Geosgaeno with just us three? We'll get killed down there."

"I think I have an idea," Pinkie said. "All we need is some bait."

"What bait are you talking about, Pinkie?" Rainbow asked.

Rainbow Dash glared at the Al Bhed as she was tied up tightly, hanging over the water by a large fishing rod Pinkie had somehow crafted out of nowhere. "Pinkie, this is not what I had in mind!"

"Come on, Dashie! Just look at the sky! I bet Geosgaeno just wants to taste the rainbow!" Pinkie laughed at the terrible joke while the others were unsure with what the mare had in store.

"Get me out of here!" If Rainbow was able to break free of her bindings, she couldn't cut herself loose since Pinkie had managed to swipe her sword away. "Fluttershy, talk some sense into your crazy cousin before I throw her off the airship when we're flying!"

"Dashie, trust me! This is gonna work! I have a secret weapon!" A low growling sound echoed from underneath the water. "And here comes Big Bertha!"

Rainbow looked down, spotting Geosgaeno exiting his underwater home, feeling its eyes looking up at her. Pinkie began to lower the pegasus down to the water, beginning to panic as she struggled to squirm out of her bindings.

"Pinkie, pull me up! I'm serious!" she shouted, her bouncing around only enticing the fiend to move closer.

"Not yet..." Geosgaeno got closer, and just as it breached the water, she reeled Rainbow Dash up before its mouth could snatch the pegasus. "Come on, you big, ugly fishie. Wider..." Pinkie continued to tease the fiend, keeping its free snack out of its reach while Rainbow screamed in terror as it kept leaping after her. "Wider..." With one last leap, Geosgaeno had enough and leapt as high as it could, its maw opening as wide as it was able to go. "Gotcha!"

Grabbing a couple of objects she held in her mane, she quickly mixed them together and threw a large sphere into its mouth, mere inches before it could nick Rainbow's hooves. The fiend gulped down the orb and splashed into the water, the sphere exploding like a bomb inside of its rib cage as powerful volts of electricity coursed through its body. With it submerged in the water, it conducted with the electrical discharge, making it more powerful than the small sphere seemed.

Everyone watched as the fiend began to disappear, completely devastated by the dangerous combination as several spirits flew out of its body and rose out of the water. With the dangerous fiend killed, the electrical sphere ran out of power and crumbled to pieces as it sunk to the bottom. The group looked at Pinkie, now wearing fishing gear as she held out a small fish that almost looked like Geosgaeno and a smaller line, like some kind of trophy.

"...W-What exactly did you do?" Twilight asked.

"My Overdrive. I just mixed a couple thunder orbs together and made a bigger one! Didn't think it would take care of Geosgaeno in one go." Pinkie ripped off her outfit and tossed her "trophy" aside. "Oh well! Adult swim time!"

She dove into the water and began swimming around to find another entrance into the temple, leaving Rainbow Dash to remain hanging. "Hey! Pinkie! Untie me!"

"Hold still, Rainbow Dash." Twilight shot out a small Fire spell that held the pegasus, freeing her from her bindings as she fell into the water. "Well...it worked. Let's see what's inside this temple."

The rest of the party leapt in and followed Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. The cyan pegasus remembered the old passage she took when she fled from the fiend weeks ago, completely demolished by debris when Geosgaeno crashed into the wall. The only other way inside was an entranceway that looked like it was meant to be one of the many temples that housed the fayth for summoners to obtain the aeons. They swam through and breached the surface, climbing out of the water via the sunken stairway and on dry land.

Like in the other sections of the temple Rainbow Dash escaped into, it was just as worn away by the constant streams of rain water from the storms above. They entered a door nearby, though they were cautious in case anymore fiends still roamed about the large building. Inside the next room, they heard someone singing the Hymn of the Fayth like in the other temples, but the sound of the feminine voice sounded sad. On the other side of the room was a door just like in the chambers of the fayth, though it was blocked by a barrier.

"The hymn is playing," Fluttershy said. "There's a fayth here?"

"Strange. I didn't know there was one here," Rarity said, walking over to the barrier. She reached a hoof out and touched it, pulling it back as she felt it shock her. "And guarded by a powerful barrier."

As they figured out what to do about the magical barrier blocking their way, Twilight noticed there were six statues in the room, each one holding a different colored orb on their grasp. "Hmmm..." The unicorn reached a hoof out to touch one of them, the sphere lighting up a light azure color, revealing the temple symbol for Besaid. "That's Besaid's symbol..."

Curious, Pinkie bounced over to one of them, touching it as the sphere lit up in an orange flame, Kilika's symbol appearing over the statue. "Oooh."

"Kilika's symbol?" Twilight looked over the other four statues, slowly putting the pieces together. "Six statues...Besaid and Kilika's symbols and spheres are here...Which means..."

"Each of these statues has some familiarity with the temples and aeons?" Fluttershy asked.

"I think so...And that means the other statues must also have Djose's, Macalania's, Bevelle's, and Zanarkand's symbols too." Twilight looked over the spheres, wondering how they could have gotten out of their places in the other temples. "If these are all active...maybe the barrier should disappear."

Deciding to test this theory, they touched the other spheres and activated them. They did indeed have the other temples' symbols on them, along with their respective spheres. With all of them glowing, the barrier blocking their access to the fayth shattered. They walked inside, not bothering if they were summoners or not and entered the chamber.

There was a fayth inside, though the statue in the glass dome was something everyone knew what the aeon was the moment they saw it; Anima. It depicted a unicorn mare trapped inside of a large venus fly trap, the bottom of the mouth covered in chains. Fluttershy sat before the fayth and prayed to it, the fayth showing herself to the party, and the fayth was Blueblood's mother.

"No way..." Rainbow uttered.

"Hello, young summoner," the mare greeted.

"You are Blueblood's mother," Fluttershy said, the mother bowing her head in shame.

"...You know who I am...You all must hate my son, don't you?" Anima asked, receiving silence from the group. Though they didn't say anything, she knew Blueblood had caused so much trouble for them. "...I don't blame any of you. It was all my fault...I should have done right by him when he was a colt, but instead, I only made things worse.

"I wanted Blueblood to be accepted by both sides like Orion and I. I wanted my son to be strong, and to have everypony accept him, I became a fayth for him, and became his own, special aeon." Tears began to roll down Anima's cheeks. "...But...he began to want more and more power. He was obsessed with power, despising me the moment you had bested me with Shiva...It was all my fault...He was so alone. No friends. The Guado looking down at him like a freak...I regret ever turning my baby into a monster..."

The room turned blue as Anima showed them what had happened to her and Blueblood in the past as she silently wept.

In Guadosalam, a young Blueblood sat all alone near his family's manor, watching the other Guado foals playing with a blitzball. None of them wanted to play with him, receiving dirty looks from them and the other Guado that see him. He didn't fit in, being the only unicorn Guado in history, and he was being treated more harshly than his mother. Anima watched him from the window, feeling bad for her foal being mistreated like this. Even though her marriage with Orion Guado, the leader of Guadosalam, helped accept her as a member of the city, they didn't want to accept Blueblood with his mixed blood.

"Anima?" Orion walked out of their bedroom, standing next to his unicorn wife as they watched their son sitting by himself. "Blueblood hasn't been accepted by the other Guado still..."

"He's just like the rest of the Guado, only with a horn and more powerful magic." They continued watching as the ball rolled up to Blueblood. He was going to give it back to them, but they just sneered at him and walked away, ignoring their blitzball and leaving the colt alone. "If only everypony understood..."

"I know. But I can't just change their minds so simply. It took so much convincing to allow you to stay with me." Orion wrapped a hoof around his beloved's shoulders, pulling her closer as they nuzzled each other. "There must be something we can do..."

There was something that they could do, but what Anima had in mind could mean the death of their child. She didn't voice out her opinion and kept it a secret from Orion. The memory skipped forward as the unicorn mare carried Blueblood all the way through the land to Zanarkand, where she would help her son gain some confidence by sacrificing herself as a fayth. Her husband was unaware of her true intentions, only telling him they would go to their little vacation home far from Guadosalam.

With her son crying, begging his mother not to do this as they arrived in Zanarkand, Anima was already greatly exhausted trying to keep him safe from the fiends on their travel. They reached the waiting hall where Celestia greeted them, even though neither of them were a summoner and have gone through the trials in the other temples.

"Lady Celestia, I ask for a request from you," Anima pleaded.

"Neither of you are summoners, yet you have come all the way to Zanarkand to ask me something." Celestia grew curious as she looked down at the mare and the sniveling colt. "...Very well. What is it?"

"I want you to make me a fayth for my son. I want him to be strong so every Guado back home will see him as a future ruler and not ridicule him for his blood." Anima watched as Celestia began to mull over the idea.

"...I cannot make you as the Final Summoning from your lack of completing the trials...However...a new, lesser aeon, I believe I can do just that." Blueblood cried harder, clutching his mother's leg, begging her not to do this. "Name the location where your fayth statue will be placed, and I shall grant you your wish."

"Thank you, Lady Celestia. Please, make me a fayth, and have my statue placed in my family estate far to the southwest of Spira; Baaj Temple," Anima said, grateful for the summoner granting her request.

Celestia began to cast her spell, her eyes glowing white as she began to turn the mare into a fayth. Blueblood was pushed back as he watched in terror as his mother began to slowly die before his eyes. Her body began to turn to stone as her statue was created, becoming the statue she is now. Grinning in satisfaction, Celestia transported both Anima and Blueblood to Baaj Temple, their private home away from home.

As Anima's statue rested in place in a small room, Blueblood could only stare at what her mother became, unable to stop her from sacrificing herself. Her spirit hovered over the statue and flew into him, giving him her aeon. The colt felt overwhelming power flowing in him, his mother's love resting inside of him. What she thought would be a good thing only made her son's life worse, but instead of being miserable, she felt malice beginning to grow in his heart.

From her fayth statue, she heard Blueblood giggle with glee, slowly becoming more sinister as his pain wanted revenge on those who hurt him. He looked down at her, his eyes filled with evil intentions, granting him what she wished for him; to become stronger. The colt wandered around the temple home, surprising some of the pony servants hired to keep the building clean. Wanting to test his new summoning powers, Blueblood summoned his mother's aeon, dragging the disturbingly terrifying aeon up from the ground, Anima unable to stop herself as she saw everything from her new body's point of view.

She tried to tell him to stop, only letting out a screech of sorrow, her words unable to reach out to her foal. Forced to obey his command, her eye glowed and shot out her devastating bolt of energy at one of them, killing the servant instantly. Her attacks didn't cease as she began decimating the beautiful temple and killing everypony inside, hearing Blueblood laugh maniacally like an insane, power hungry sadist as he watched everything around him break or get blown up.

After several hours, the temple was still standing, but was now in the shambled state it was in now. He sat before Anima's fayth statue, feeling absolute bliss from his high of killing and destroying. The mare had made a grave mistake, only making her foal's life worse as he was now a killer. He then hugged the statue, caressing the stone as if his mother was still a living being.

"Thank you, mother," he said, his voice no longer sounding like the Blueblood she loved. "I do feel stronger now...But I want more power..." The colt chuckled demonically. "I'll have to bide my time until everything falls into place...And don't worry. I'll tell father you died protecting me while we were attacked by a dangerous fiend as soon as we were getting close to the continent." He nuzzled his cheek against the statue, but she felt no love from it. "I love you, mother...I won't let anypony ever have you."

The colt left the chamber and began to head out, casting a barrier against the door to keep anyone from trying to make their way through. As he left the temple, storm clouds began to form around the destroyed family home, signifying Anima's sorrow as she ruined her foal's life and was responsible for turning him into the madpony he became several years later.

Even though what the group had seen that Anima showed them was supposed to be sad, none of them felt any pity for Blueblood. They didn't blame the mother for trying to help him feel accepted by his peers and races, but she chose the wrong mare to put her trust in to make him gain some confidence in himself. And with his lust for power, it was no wonder why he wanted to become Sin. An unstoppable fiend that can never be killed, only able to be defeated by the Final Aeon, which doesn't exist anymore thanks to them.

"I have seen the pain he has brought from the eyes of the aeon I became. His deceit against Spira, and using the Guado to fulfill his dark wishes...Even killing Orion in cold blood, and nopony even batted an eye in the high council..." Anima looked at Fluttershy with pleading eyes. "Summoner, I have felt the Final Aeon has been destroyed, and I am grateful for that. Blueblood will stop at nothing to try to become Sin. Please, use my power to aid you, and stop Sin. End his obsession with power, send him to the Farplane if you must...The only regret I have was trying to be a good mother, to make my son happy and feel welcomed in his home."

Fluttershy nodded her head and was given Anima's power. "I promise, Anima...When I see Blueblood again, I will end his suffering and ease yours."

"I hope we don't see him again," Rainbow grumbled. "Now we know what happened to her and how she became a fayth...No thanks to Celestia, twisting her words around and making Blueblood go crazy."

"Though Anima was tricked by Celestia back then, she feels guilty for being a mother just trying to do what she could to help her child," Rarity said, looking down at the depressing fayth statue. "The parents do what they can to guide their foals on the right path, but in the end, what the foal decides is where their story will flow."

The party soon left the chamber and began heading back to the airship. Though they may not have gotten any ideas on how to stop Sin, they have a wish they want to fulfill for a mother who desperately wanted to help her son when he was lonely. Blueblood may still be unsent, and he will continue lingering in Spira until he finally succeeds in becoming Sin, but the next time they meet, he won't stay among the living for long. Next Chapter: Chapter 46: Exploring Spira: Chaos Ruins Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 47 Minutes