The very next morning, the teams had all awakened, and Copione had told them everyone he had told Raven, which warranted much concern of the others, but naturally they all had to hold their heads high.

“Maybe the book is just wrong?” suggested Mento “After all, destiny isn’t always carved in stone.”

“This is what I had told Raven as well…” said Copione “But there is still no way to know for certain until we confront Count Logan himself.”

The others all stood together then.

“So I guess it’s time then.” said Twilight, and Robin agreed and added, “Let’s go.” All the others and Copione agreed.

Soon they were all aboard Copione’s starship as it was ready to go. All the heroes sat on the lower level, strapped into special couch-seats, while Copione was on the upper level in the driver’s seat, readying the systems.

Once completed, he went downstairs to check that everyone was strapped down good. “Are you ready?”

Robin gave a thumb-up, as did all the other heroes, and the ponies, lacking thumbs, winked at him, though Fluttershy felt very nervous riding in a ship like this.

“This is it…” Copione declared “We, the heroes of legend, vs The Dark Prognostiucs.”

“For Tamaran!” Starfire said bravely.

“For Equestria!” added Twilight.

“And for all worlds and all life everywhere!” said Robin. The others all nodded bravely in agreement. Copione admired this, just the same he cautioned everyone, “Keep your hearts and your wits about you at all times. We are about to confront an evil that is beyond ALL imagination!”

Fluttershy shivered softly. Everyone felt a soft chill run down their spines. Nevertheless, Copione returned to the top floor and revved up the ship’s engines.

“Whoo-Hoo! Here we go!” Rainbow cheered.

The others all chuckled at how enthusiastic she seemed for the launch. “Standby…!” Copione called down from above. “Five seconds…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One…

…Go!”

The ship slowly began to rise up off its launching pad and headed up, up, into the sky.

All the Psyconians looked up from below as the ship went higher and higher!

Copione looked out the view port as the land vanished as the ship climbed. “Farewell, my people.” he said to himself “May your hopes and prayers be with us on our mission to save all things.”

The ship finally made it into space, and a magically barrier surrounded it. This would protect everyone inside from suffering from vertigo or being crushed by extreme G-forces when the ship would accelerate.

“Barrier engaged, prepare for hyper-drive!” Copione called.

Then, suddenly...! WHOOSH!! The ship burst through the cosmos, while everyone inside felt hardly anything because of the barrier, all the riders inside feal like they were hardly moving at all.

“Ah, nuts!” groaned Rainbow “Now I’ll never know what it’s like to travel like light speed.”

“Never mind that, kid.” said Robot-Man “We got some serious thinking to do right now.”

Everyone agreed, and they all did as much warming up and planning as they could as they continued on their long journey toward the void.

“We’re coming for you, Count Logan!” Copione said to himself “Mark my words; your time is up! I will not rest until I have avenged my parents, and you go down for all those you have hurt and killed!”

Meanwhile, back in the dungeons, no one had come to check on the prisoners in a while. They did not require food, as Logan kept them energized with special spells, but even Dr. Nekard had not come to check on the sisters in days.

Perhaps the villains had obtained all the energy they needed? If so, why were the sisters not executed as they were told they would be?

Still, it seemed safe to actually speak now, as Terra looked at them through the bars of her cell. “Are you two okay?” she asked. When neither sister responded and just gawked wearily at her, “Sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“It’s all right.” said Celestia, “We are still very weary, but we can speak.”

“It feels good to be able to speak now.” added Luna. Then she noted the redness in Terra’s eyes, “Have you been upset again?”

Terra didn’t wish to deny it, “I can’t help it. I’m so scared; I’m ashamed, upset, I’ve never thought it was possible to feel so lost before.”

The sisters felt sympathy for her. “We also have had our share of loss and darkness, Terra.” said Celestia. She then looked at her sister, and Luna nodded at her agreeing to share their tale…

The sisters, each took their turns explaining their sides.

“One-thousand years ago,” Celestia began, “We ruled Equestria side-by-side. I was in charge of the day, and my sister in charge of the night.”

Luna nodded, “As all ponies played all day and slept all night, I was very lonely in my position. I grew jealous and bitter of my sister, and soon I let the darkness overpower me. I became Nightmare Moon!”

Terra’s eyes widened.

“My wish was bring forth eternal darkness, a never-ending night, but naturally, my sister would not hear of it.”

Celestia took a moment, remembering the painful times, “I tried to reason with her, but she wouldn’t budge. She had been consumed by bitterness and determination to carry out her will. I had no choice but to use The Elements of Harmony to seal my own sister away in the moon, ending her threat.”

Terra gasped and held her hand to her mouth!

Luna remembered it all too well herself, but it seemed to hurt Celestia more. “Not a day or night went by that I did not shed a tear missing my sister, and praying that somehow we could be together again and resolve our differences.

My prayers were answered; a millennium later, Nightmare had returned to finish what she had started, but thanks to the courage and teamwork of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, and with the power of The Elements of Harmony, the evil was vanquished and my sister had returned.”

“I shan’t forget that moment.” Luna cried, “We decided to make amends for our differences, and be more than what we were.”

Terra thought that a beautiful ending.

“You see, my dear, even the darkest of times you must always hope and believe in the light.” said Celestia.

As much as Terra meant no disrespect, “I wish I could believe that, but I don’t think I can. Look at us! We’re still trapped in here, and even if we were to get out, where would we possibly escape to?”

“I hate to admit this, sister,” said Luna “But she does have a point.”

Even Celestia couldn’t deny this, and even she had to reflect on how ruthless Count Logan and his minions were. “Is there truly no escape from this well of darkness?” she wondered to herself.

As for Terra, she still felt extremely nervous about something, regarding when she Count Logan’s face, but she still didn’t have the courage to tell the sisters any of it.

What would they think of her if they heard the full story?

Meanwhile, Dr. Nekard was working privately in another part of the castle, something that the other minions or even The Count himself were unaware of. “Excellent!” he thought privately, “Count Logan still has no clue that I’ve been secretly syphoning the power of the two sisters to use for my own little plot. All I need now is the heroes.”

“Nekard!” Kamica snapped, startling the little cyborg, “Oh, my! Kamica… Uh… er… what… what are you doing here?”

Kamica looked suspicious of his sudden stammering. “The Count has summoned us all.”

“Oh, well then, shall we going? Come along then.”

Nerkard was acting far too coy now, much to Kamica’s already growing suspicions, “What have you been up to in here?”

“Who me…? Oh, nothing really. Just a few surprises for The Count, for when the heroes arrive, but you’re not to tell… right?”

While Kamica still suspected, she didn’t wish to keep The Count waiting, and she and Nekard teleported off.

The ship was approaching the void, which was vastly enormous and frightening to look at, and it was still expanding every second, and wiping out more and more.

By this point, about eighty percent of the entire universe had been wiped out. If they heroes didn’t hurry and stop that menacing vortex, soon there would be nothing left to revive, and all their efforts would truly be in vain.

“This is it!” Copione called from his seat, and he called down to the others, “Is everyone strapped down, there?”

“Good and tight!” Robin called up, and he looked around at all the others to see they were strapped in their seats good, as the ride was about to get really rough!

The power of the Light Prognosticus would protect them and allow them to penetrate through the gateway into another dimension. Without protection of either of the two tomes, the great darkness would smash them to bits like an ordinary black hole!

“Once we pass through that spanning darkness, we’ll have reached our destination.” Copione said. “Everyone ready…?”

“Do it!” Mento called up.

“Right… NOW!!” shouted Copione, and the ship began to quiver and rock softly as it began to enter the swirling darkness. Lightning bolts began to ship, rocking it more, but not damaging it as it went deeper and deeper.

The team held onto their seats tightly groaning and growling to keep steady! “I think I’m going to blow it!” groaned Pinkie.

“We’re almost through this!” shouted Elasti-Girl.

“HANG ON…!!” Copione shouted “HERE WE GO…!!!”

At that split second, the ship began to penetrate through the gateway, which rocked it and made it tumble round, and around…!! Everyone screamed as they held on for dear life. “NOW I AM GOING TO BLOW IT!!” Pinkie screamed.

Suddenly, the ship steadied out and everything was calm, and while everyone felt extremely woozy from all the stress, all were perfectly fine.

“Is everyone fine down there?” Copione called.

“Y… Yes!” Robin called up, and he held his stomach and groaned softly, “At least some of us are.”

Rarity looked terrible, like she was going to blow chunks any second, “I shan’t ever be the same again!” she groaned.

“Have we made it?” asked Starfire.

“Yes.” replied Copione “Prepare for touchdown.”

Soon the ship had landed, and it was time to disembark. “Hoo, Nellie!” groaned Applejack “And I thought chargin’ bulls gave a wild ride.”

Soon they all disembarked and found themselves in a frightening dark realm. The sky was nearly pitch-black with mixes of dark purple and blue streaks and flashes. The ground was black and solid with no vegetation, no rocks, nothing but a smooth and solid ground with a soft mist that ran up to everyone’s ankles.

“Okay, much as I like the dark and stillness and all, even I think this is too much.” said Raven.

“Are we actually inside the void?” asked Mento.

Cyborg tried to type the calculations into his wrist-com, “It’s hard to say, but man… this place would make even a ghost flip out.”

Strangely enough, despite the darkness, they were still able to see quite clearly. They walked up along the dark grounds a bit, and then they stopped and stared off at what they saw up ahead. “There it is…” said Copione “The castle of Count Logan!”

The castle: It was very tall, very dark and creepy looking with many tall spiked towers and battlements.

“Whoa!” exclaimed Twilight “That thing’s as tall as the Crystal Palace!”

“I’d say more the same size.” said Cadance.

Robin stepped up and took in a huge breath. “Let’s go guys; nice and easy.” And everyone cautiously marched closer and closer towards the spooky fortress.

Fluttershy gave a nervous squeak.

“Easy Fluttershy.” said Negative-Man “We’re all right here.”

Fluttershy still didn’t feel any better as the team got closer and closer.

Suddenly, the castles defense lasers came on, suspecting intruders nearby. “Look out!” shouted Rainbow, and everyone scattered about as the beams went by.

“Great! What now?” asked Cyborg,

Suddenly, another beam fired and hit Raven hard, and she screamed!!

“RAVEN!!” shouted Copione.

Raven got to the ground as the bright light turned red, “Help… me!” Raven shouted “I’M BURNING…!! IT HURTS!!”

More and more beams began to focus on her and shocked her hard. The others tried to get close to help her, but other beams shot at them forcing them to leap out of harm’s way, but Copione managed to make it to her side, and he held up the Light Prognosticus, held it right into the light and reflected the beam’s charges right back up to it. The lasers began to overheat atop the towers, and suddenly… KABLAM!! Everyone covered their eyes as all the chargers on the towers blew out in massive explosions.

Raven gasped and panted stressfully trying to re-catch her breath. Copione helped her up, “Are you alright?”

She looked deeply into his eyes, “You… you saved me.”

Copione nodded, “Yes. Would you have not done the same for me too?”

“Y…yes… of course.”

They couldn’t stop gazing at one another, but Applejack cut in, “Okay you two lovebirds break it up now. We got a job to do.”

The two realized this, but it was clear they no longer wished to deny feelings for one another anymore.

Inside the castle, the villains had all felt the tremors of the explosion, “What’s happened?” Logan asked.

“The beams!” cried Sir. Elik “They’ve destroyed the beams!”

“Never mind that…” hissed Logan. This was it, what he had been waiting for. The heroes had arrived. Now the stage was nearly set!

He then spoke to his minions, “Now, as you were instructed, there will be no mistakes this time. I shall deal with these pests myself.” He never looked or sounded so serious. He looked ready as if he could take on a million armies single-handed.

“Count, are you sure you wish to face them alone?” asked Pyrus “What if something happens to you?”

Logan felt very touched from what she had said, “I appreciate your concern, but this is my battle now.” he paused “I wish all of you to be safe. Please, go now, and don’t worry about me.”

The minions all looked and felt touched. “As you wish, sir.” said Pyrus.

“Our lives are but forever loyal to you, My Lord.” added Elik.

“Good luck, Count, and please… be careful.” said Kamica.

Then they were gone, vanished away, but Nekard was still behind. “I told you to leave.” Logan sneered at him.

“Forgive me, sir,” said Nekard “But… you seem to be rather… different today. You’re not your usual wicked self. You destroyed many star-systems the past few days and hardly even chuckled.”

Logan felt his emotions paining him within, but not wishing to explain it at all, he hissed deeply at his minion, “Leave me in peace! I will not say it again!”

“As you wish, sir.” replied Nekard, but then he thought silently “If I don’t accidently execute you first! Fool! You have no idea how powerful I’m about to become!”

Then he was gone too, leaving Logan visibly hurt by his guilt, shame, and bitter emotions. He pulled his hat down hard over his mask contemplating his minions loyalties to him. “I am ever so sorry, but you must understand why I must do all this!

It pains me to deceive you all so.”

His woes then faded off and he held The Dark Prognosticus. “It’s just you and me now! Let them come, and let them answer for their ways!”

Outside, Raven was feeling much better after catching her breath and resting a moment. Now everyone stood before the massive, monstrous castle. Terra was somewhere inside, so were Celestia and Luna, but first they all had to get inside.

“Can we try teleporting in?” asked Fluttershy, but Twilight shook her head “These walls are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I can’t penetrate through them.”

“And the windows are all too high and too small, even for Me.” said Elasti-Girl. This meant that the only option left was to enter through the main gate-- a thirty foot tall solid dark door!

“Everyone, stand back.” said Copione, and he stepped up to the door and held The Light Prognosticus open. “What are you doing?” asked Starfire. He didn’t answer, instead he recited a spell from the book, mutter it in an odd language.

“That sounds like Ancient Equestrian.” whispered Twilight.

Suddenly, there was a soft rumbling as everything shook at the huge doors opened wide leading deep into the dark fortress.

“He did it!” cried Fluttershy “I was afraid of that.”

Everyone gazed into the deep darkness that lay ahead of them, “Here we go.” said Robin, and slowly, everyone walked inside.

Next Chapter: Truth Revealed Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 22 Minutes