The heroes and the ponies were starting to get the hang of their newfound powers as they continued to train, eventually taking time off for brief rest periods, and really took time to know each other.

“So, you help others with their friendship problems?” Robin asked Twilight. “That’s right.” replied Twilight “My reputation is The Princess of Friendship, and it was all thanks to the help of my friends, my family and…” she paused and felt a little down, “Princess Celestia too.”

All the ponies looked down, thinking of her and Princess Luna locked up in Count Logan’s lair, and their powers being abused to destroy more worlds.

“We’ll get them out, I know we will.” said Elasti-Girl.

Rainbow looked at her with a strange expression, “Okay, I mean no disrespect… I want to believe that, but, how can you be so sure? I mean, even we’ve never faced an evil like Logan before.”

All the ponies agreed, and for that, even the heroes shared the feeling. Never had the faced anything like Count Logan before and it made them all suddenly concerned about his motives behind his actions.

“Why would anyone want to go to such incredible lengths to obliterate the universe?” Cyborg wondered.

“Well, Logan said it’s what he was created for.” said Negative-Man.

“Yeah, I really don’t think that cuts it.” Raven cut in “No one does anything without a legitimate reason.”

The others agreed, but whatever those reasons were, not one of them had any clues.

“Well, whatever happens, at least we can face them together.” Pinkie said with enthusiasm.

“Eeyup! All for all, and one for one, now.” agreed Applejack.

With everyone in full understanding, training continued. Copione was very pleased to see how well everyone was getting along so well. “Friendship is a wonderful gift, but will it be enough to aid us in our quest?” he wondered.

He looked up into the pretty dark skies, but he could see a small menacing speck in the distance. The void was getting closer. Time was running short!

Suddenly, the Light Prognosticus began to glow as a new passage was revealing itself to be read. Copione read it carefully and gawked in shock. “What?” he muttered softly as he reread the passage again and again, and compared it to others. “This cannot be!” and he looked down at all the others training in the palace courtyard, “What we have will not be enough, after everything that has happened?”

He was very concerned, but he did not wish to explain to the others just yet, not wishing to disrupt the training and letting the fear of what he had learned slow them down.

Also, another passage in the book became clear. “What is this?” Copione wondered “What are you saying Light Prognosticus? Speak to me! Tell me the answer!”

No matter how hard he studied the new passage, he couldn’t seem to understand what it really meant, but he knew that he would have to inform his friends.

As training came to a close for another day, it would be sunset on Earth and in Equestria too; a great time to head indoors for the night, but Twilight couldn’t help the sickening feelings inside her.

She fluttered up to the top of the tallest tower, stood up on it and shouted out into space, “CELESTIAAAAAAAAAAAAAA….!!!”

Deep within Count Logan’s lair, Celestia looked very weary, as did her sister. So much had their powers been painful sapped from their bodies to wreak more havoc by their enemies

Across from the device, Terra was still locked in her cell. Unlike the sisters, she was looking fine, at least physically. She had fallen in a deep, dark sleep, and was tossing and turning! She kept on having haunting recurring visions of Count Logan, and seeing his face when his mask fell off.

She could still hear his voice mocking her for any common-sense or hope she would have…

“Your words mean nothing.

I can never go back to what I once was.

The Prophecy cannot be stopped.

The Dark Prognosticus shall prevail.

Once the worlds are gone… You are next!”

His evil laugh, his gropes of suffering, all mixed with the sounds of the screams from dying people as worlds crumbled all swirled and flash before her eyes.

…And then she woke up in a small gasp and began to pant softly.

So many times she would wake up and pray that everything was just one really bad dream that would end soon, but no such luck.

Tears spread down Terra’s face, “Oh, (Bleep)!” she sobbed softly, and she buried her face in her gloves and had a soft cry, one of many she had before. “How is this happening?” she kept asking herself “Why can’t it stop? Why can’t things just go back to the way they were?”

A line she knew all too well from someone who asked that to her once before, and she treated it as poorly as ever.

“Why can’t things just go back to the way they were? You were so happy then!”

“Things were never the way you remember. Now just leave me alone!”

She clutched her stomach that felt really sick as more guilt spread through her. Her conscience was not done torturing her yet for the big mistake she had made, and realizing it too late and everything coming to how it was made it worse.

“Help… me.” she muttered, but she honestly didn’t know who she was saying that too or why. Was there any hope for anything now?

Starfire was standing on a terrace of the royal palace. She stared into space, or rather what was left it, and was feeling a mix of worry and sadness.

Robin saw her and came out. “Hey, you alright…?”

His girlfriend turned to face him and said, “I am worried of Terra. I cannot begin to bear the thought of the things Count Logan is doing to her.”

Robin understood how she felt. He, too, was as worried about Terra. They knew Logan had only captured her, not killed her, but that didn’t make things any better. “Look, Terra’s a survivor. She’s been through a lot.”

“I know, but what if we are the too late? What if she has been…” she stopped, unable to bring herself out to say it. “Then we’ll just have to fight for her too.” replied Robin. “Remember what Copione told us; we beat these guys, and everyone and everything they’ve destroyed for their prophecy will be revived.”

Starfire smiled, feeling her hopes returning to her, “And… we shall… have Beast Boy back?”

Robin nodded in belief. “That Count Logan and his bitches will be story they came into existence, and tried to wipe out our own.”

They gazed deeply into each other’s eyes, and came together for a soft kiss.

All the teams each shared one of three bedrooms with plenty of space for all.

Twilight was sleeping peacefully in her bed for once, not having that same recurring nightmare, but she had still been concerned of it ever since. If anything, she was dreaming of herself trying to figure her dream out; and whether or not the great evil that taunted her was truly Logan or not due to the voices being different.

“Can’t anything give me a straight answer!” she shouted in her dream.

That’s when she woke up-- merely just opening her eyes. She sighed softly as she sat up in bed. She looked all around as her friends sleep peacefully. Some of them were snoring softly.

Feeling a bit restless, Twilight got out of bed and walked over to the open window. She looked up into sky, which looked exactly the same as before. It was almost hard to tell when it would be day or night anyway on a planet that had no daylight. At least, in a way, it meant everyone could go to bed and get up whenever they felt like it.

Twilight looked up at the stars, remembering how Celestia taught her to look to them for guidance if she ever felt lost. She shut her eyes tightly trying to find that feeling…!

While at the same time, Celestia wearily lifted her head and groaned, “Twilight…!”

Twilight gasped softly as if she actually could hear her voice through vast distances. She then dashed to Cadance’s bed.

“Cadance…! Cadance, wake up!”

Her sister-in-law shook awake, “Wh… What?! Twilight, what is it?”

The other ponies began to awake as well, “Oh, Twilight…!” groaned Rainbow.

“You are ruining my beauty-sleep!” added Rarity.

“I heard her!” cried Twilight “I heard Princess Celestia! She’s alright!”

The others didn’t seem to react the way she had thought they would. They just stared at her like she was being crazy, “Are you sure you weren’t dreaming again?” asked Fluttershy.

“I wasn’t dreaming.” protested Twilight “I woke up, I went to the window, looked at the stars and I could actually hear her voice.”

Cadance began to feel this was accurate, “It must be a sign. It happened to me once, too. When was imprisoned by the Changelings before my wedding, I could hear voices of my loved ones call to me when I concentrated hard enough.”

Now the others believed as well, “So, Celestia’s still alive?” asked Rarity “What of Princess Luna?”

Twilight shook her head, “I don’t know, but it’s hopeful she’s okay too.”

No pony said another thing, all of them now feeling hopeful of rescuing their friends from the darkness.

Meanwhile, Copione was meditating quietly on upmost terrace of the palace to keep his mind and spirit calm. He had been trying to solve the mystery of the new passages revealed in the Light Prognosticus, but still couldn’t figure it out, and he hadn’t told the others yet.

For now he was just relaxing.

Raven, whom was out of bed finding it hard to sleep, levitated herself up to the very terrace and saw him. Feeling he did not wish to be disturbed she thought of looking someplace else.

“I can sense you are there, Raven.” he said to her “Come join me, we can meditate together.”

“Uh… okay…” Raven said, and soon they were side-by-side, silent and still. They had a soothing meditation, and both sighed in calming relaxation when they finished. “Wow, that felt greater than most times I meditate.” said Raven, then she looked down and realized her hand and Copione’s hand were softly touching. He noticed this too, and they both quickly wrenched away, blushing in embarrassment.

The both giggled nervously. Then Copione got serious, “Raven, I must tell you something of the upmost importance.”

“Huh?” Raven said, she at first suspected maybe he was going to confess if he had feelings for her, which really made her nervous, but it came out, “I have uncovered more passages in The Light Prognosticus.” he read to her the first passage…

Now Raven’s insides were churning. “What? You mean after all this training and everything we’ve planned… it’s not going to work?”

“I am uncertain.” replied Copione, “I have tried to go over many of the other passages, and they fail to tell me what I wish to know… but there is this other passage.”

Now Raven felt confused, “You mean like a chosen one?”

Copione still was uncertain as he gazed down at the book, “The Light Prognosticus was created specifically to fight The Dark One. However, it does not explicitly state which of the two will triumph over the other. That can only be left in the hands of fate. Destiny is never always carved in stone.”

Raven agreed with that part about destiny, but she was still highly concerned. “So, I guess there no other way to know except to just go…?”

Copione nodded.

Next Chapter: Into The Darkness Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 34 Minutes