Night Mist crept along the shadows of the factory, her son Cotton Tail following close behind. She knew this factory had a long history of serious safety issues and there was a lot of discontent here. She knew of a pony that had been very vocal that was still working here as well, and he was her current target. As long as the pony didn't riot they were not taken away for subversion, no matter how much they complained. Unfortunately this one likely had the ill will of the factory bosses and would soon find himself going to the Bakery for poor performance. If there was a pony who would be quick to be on board with her revolution, and have contacts to other disaffected ponies, it would be this one.

She had discovered she had gained another ability, cameras seemed to fail when she walked by them. She could see the things actually shutting down when she passed by. There was some danger in the ability, it was a way to track her in itself, just follow the failing cameras. She wasn't sure if Moon Fury was trying to help her or cause her additional problems by granting her this power. Maybe, if she actually could control it instead of it passively happening it would be good. For the moment it wasn't a threat as she hadn't started doing anything yet, and they could just assume regular technical issues. When things start happening it would be a target trained on her that she could do without.

The pony she was trying to get in touch with should be ending their shift soon. He was a crystal pony by the name of Argot Cut, he had worked in this victory for eight years. He was actually in charge of the computer system maintenance here, which should have kept him free from harm. What had happened was that he had been working on a terminal near the foundry one day, and was down on his back when the foundry had spilled over. He had received severe burns on his face from the molten metal, but had been deemed still suitable for work. After that point he had been very vocal about the conditions on the factory floor.

They would recognize him as a pony in the mid-twenties, blue fur, yellow mane, and burn scars on the face. He had been a friend to many of the rioters that had been arrested in the most recent such one here. He was perfect for her plans. She had other similar ponies that she intended contact with in other factories, as well as some in the breeding centers, and one in the guard. She needed them all to be organized under her. With their aid and influence she would quickly gain the numbers to either force Peridot Glow from power, or force the Ponymother to the table to negotiate appeasement.

She spotted the pony she was looking for working on a nearby wall terminal. She wished she still had her suit so she could tell what time it was. The factory was dimly lit so she and Cotton could keep hidden if they were careful for a little while, but extended time here risked discovery. There would be a lot of uncomfortable questions if they were found.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting she saw Argot Cut check his leg for the time and reseal up the terminal. She quickly went out and grabbed him, muffling his cries with a wing. When she had him pulled out of sight she released him.

"Who are you? What do you want?" He demanded, looking warily at her naked, partially metal, body. Perhaps he thought the metal some strange suit.

"I am Night Mist, and this is my son Cotton Tail. You are Argot Cut, correct?" She said.

"Yeah, that's me. What do you want? What's your position?" Argot answered.

"We were formally acolytes of the alicorns, but that job no longer seems to exist since the alicorns are gone. We want to talk to you about Ocid's current management," Night Mist said.

"The alicorns are gone?" Argot said with shock. That was interesting; Peridot had not informed Ocid about their mistresses departure from the city. The Ponymother must be hoping that the belief that there were still alicorns in Ocid would help her.

"Yes, both Sunset Shimmer and Water Shadow have left the city and are unlikely to return any time soon, if at all. We watched the Ponymother drive them out," she confirmed. It wasn't a complete lie that Peridot had forced them out, and saying it that way might earn the Ponymother more ill will.

"How will we survive without the alicorns?" Argot said in a panic.

"The better question is how will Ocid survive with Peridot running everything with no temperance from the alicorns. With the alicorns gone we have to do something or the worst will happen to all of us. It was only them keeping things from spiraling out of control. The Ponymother is a drunk and a fool who cares nothing for us. She has also betrayed us by making deals with the necromancer," Night Mist said with a growl towards the end.

"That is a big accusation," Argot said with his voice lowered.

"Why do you think the alicorns left? The Mare of Shadows started making demands of us giving foals to her and the Alicorns would not stand for it, but Peridot gave in. She is willingly giving ponies over to the necromancer now. We cannot let some puppet of that demon continue in power," she said in an equally low voice.

"But what can we do?" the crystal pony asked.

"Once enough ponies know what she has done we will have an army of our own, not some simple riot. Many of the ponies in the guard will join themselves when they learn what she has done, they have spent too long fighting the necromancer's horde to allow Ocid to be ruled by some puppet of the necromancer."

"How will you be able to organize so many ponies before the Ponymother finds out and puts a stop to it?" Argot asked.

"See the camera," Night Mist pointed with a wing. "They shut down when I come by, the more I walk through Ocid the less of them work. I wear no suit so I am untraceable by the computer. As a former acolyte I know the inner workings of everything under the Dome. Further, I think Peridot is just an incompetent would can't figure out much on her own without my mistress and Water Shadow to walk her through it," Night Mist explained.

"What exactly are you now," Argot said hesitantly as he looked her over. She should expect that her appearance made ponies uncomfortable. That wasn't entirely a bad thing. It was something that could make them believe they were following some pony greater than themselves, it was something they could believe had power to do things.

"I am a pony that made it through the worst of what Peridot could dish out, as well as the Bakery, and came out ready to fight. We can make Ocid into what it should be if we work together. I survived Ocid, and I will see to it that the rest of the ponies survive it too. Ocid won't just survive, Ocid will actually live," Night Mist declared proudly.

"Tell me what you want me to do," Argot said.

Night Mist smiled. It would all come together quickly. Peridot wouldn't be sitting in her office by the end of the week and would never see the revolution coming. She was going to make everything right in Ocid.

Sunset watched as Midnight's rather weak little shield failed once again under Sweet Pea's assault, and sighed.

Sweet Pea was actually holding back a lot, the unicorn could have seriously injured the young alicorn if she was actually trying. Midnight just wasn't able to form a very effective shield. It wasn't really much of a surprise that Midnight was losing so easily to Sweet Pea. Midnight barely knew how to use her horn for basic levitation, with only having it for less than a year, and was now trying to push to do shields and blasts. Sweet Pea on the other hoof had been given constant training the last ten years with them. Midnight likely had more raw power as an alicorn, but Sweet Pea was an adept magic user of the highest skill level. There was nothing fair about this fight, as pure skill would win out over brawn most of the time, except in the most extreme cases. Sweet Pea was strong enough, and Midnight young enough, that Midnight didn't have enough power to completely overwhelm the unicorn without knowing what she was doing.

There just wasn't enough time to be met Midnight where she stood any sort of fighting chance versus the abomination that had attacked them. None of them stood a real chance against the Mare of Shadows herself, but Sunset and Water Shadow were both matches for the abomination now, with Sweet Pea able to at least defend herself for a time. The hope was that the necromancer had left and only had her abomination guarding the mirror, that would give them time to escape somewhere else.

But in the end this would all come down to just running from place to place until they were finally caught. It wasn't a real plan. They had spent nearly eleven years worth of time here and that was still the best they had to work with. In another year's time they would have to leave and they were doomed in the end no matter what. Perhaps they could find a way to escape back into the mirror after twelve hours had passed again, that would give them more time, but they would be in the same situation again more or less even if the other three ascended as well during the second visit.

Sunset sat brooding as she continued to watch Sweet Pea and Midnight Glow train. Water Shadow was out exploring, something they took turns doing from day one. There was always some small hope they might find another mirror or something out in this world somewhere that could aid them, but their exploration had turned up nothing these eleven years.

The two foals sat watching their mothers train. Dove was shouting encouragement to her mother, and Quiet Word was just sitting quietly with his snake. The little colt had developed an interesting hunting technique that seemed to work for him. He would have his snake go out and use its venom to paralyze the prey, and then Quiet Word would sooth the victim to sleep before finishing it off peacefully. Sunset supposed it was a kinder way of killing if one had to kill to survive.

She still, infuriatingly, didn't know what Dove's abilities were. She figured it had something to do with the recently deceased based on what little they could find out, and it had to be very recently deceased, but she hadn't demonstrated any ability to do anything involving them. Sunset half feared that it was some form of necromancy, and that the reason why she hadn't shown any use of her abilities were they were dark magic in nature, but that explanation didn't seem to fit right either. It was a mystery that they might be forced to leave here without having solved.

"Pause for a break you two. I don't think we will make much more progress on Midnight's shields right this second," Sunset called out to the two dueling ponies.

"I'm sorry, I really am trying my best," Midnight said with lowered ears.

"I know you are. It takes years worth of time to master this kind of thing for a pony that was already well versed in the basic use of their horn. You are trying to even still get used to having a horn at all. You might be of use versus some undead, so your efforts aren't completely wasted," Sunset told the younger alicorn.

"I have been trying my best to push myself further so I might ascend too, but not having much luck," Sweet Pea said with her own lowered head.

"I think to do that you need to tap more into your cutie mark so you are pulling from the core of your being, but I see few opportunities for that right now. Perhaps if we manage to escape back into the mirror we can figure something out to better trigger that. For now I am confident that if we can deal with the abomination and the necromancer is not right at hoof you can keep the foals safe. That is all that we can ask for now," Sunset told the unicorn.

"Dove," Sunset continued, now looking at the pegasus filly. "How is your target practice going with that gun?"

"Um, I'm hitting the target most of the time now, but not the center like you want. Only sometimes the center," the little pegasus replied. They had recently started the filly to learning how to use one of the guns that they had brought with them. The filly was a bit large for her age, looking more like she was a young adult rather than eleven if you caught just a glance at her, and chances were she would be a titan of a mare just like Peridot if she ever reached adulthood. She had just gotten to a size that she could comfortably strap the gun on and use it. It seemed a horrible thing to be forcing a foal to learn how to do, but it was imperative that she be able to do something to try to defend herself if need be.

Sunset had no special instructions for Quiet. The little colt was hunting for himself now, and was still too small to use a weapon. His snake was his primary self defense, and would likely would be no use against anything in the Dead Lands, but might aid him if they ever returned to Ocid.

"When you and Midnight have rested up for a few minutes, Sweet Pea, I want you to try working with her again on teleportation. Teleporting can keep ponies alive and doesn't need the same skill as shielding does to be effective enough to use," Sunset ordered. "What is your own personal best teleportation range currently?"

"I have a spot about seventy furlongs out that I have marked that I can teleport to with no problem, but blindly I only feel safe doing maybe four or five furlongs at a time. I am confident I can do them with the foals in tow with no problem, and while maintaining a shield," Sweet Pea answered. Her blind teleports were enough to get her out of range of sight at least, provided they weren't in an open plain. They might get a little better in the next year, but this was about what they were going to get. Midnight had yet to manage a controlled teleport. Sunset and Water Shadow could likely do close to a thousand furlongs blindly now, but were likely going to have to be spending their time acting as distractions so the others could flee.

There had to be some other angle to approach the problems they faced that she had not yet considered. It felt like they were admitting defeat even if they managed to run enough to get back here the next day after leaving. At the end of the day it all came back to nullifying the Mare of Shadows, and if she knew how to do that she would have already done it centuries before now.

She couldn't provoke the necromancer into revealing her secrets. If Sunset was close enough to do that then the demon was close enough to kill her. Sunset had no fantasies that even with her revitalized power that she would stand any real chance in direct combat with The Mare of Shadows, too many of her fellow Alicorns had already fallen, many that had attacked as a group.

Sunset looked at the newest Alicorn and wondered how short her life would be. Sunset had lived over seven thousand years, Midnight wasn't likely to reach forty, and if she did by luck reach the mirror again then not quite fifty, still very much a foal by Alicorn standards.

Water Shadow returned and landed beside her. The blue Alicorn looked out at their companions. The mothers were playing and talking with their foals. Perhaps that wasn't physical rest, but it was something that rested their spirits. The first few years had been a time of peace for them away from their worries, but now that the time to depart was growing near these types of moments were things to be treasured. They may all be dead soon, they were all be forged into weapons now, even the foals. The time of innocence was over, and the innocent moments that remained needed to be treasured.

"You worried so much that these ponies would become monsters," Water Shadow said beside her.

"No pony starts off a monster. We are born innocent; grief, heavy burdens, rage, and time can make any pony a monster though," Sunset replied as she continued to watch.

"The Mare of Shadows must have an interesting story for what made her the way she is then. I wonder what drove her from such innocence," Water Shadow mused.

"It would be a story I very much want to hear. It would at least give us some insight," Sunset grumbled. As she finished speaking her eyes went wide as a thought occurred to her. Perhaps there was something she had been ignoring that they could do. She wasn't sure if it was, but if it was..

"Shadow, would you consider Midnight's abilities a form of divination?" Sunset asked in a hushed voice.

"Most definitely, she is pulling knowledge that she should not normally have from the aether. I have already tried to see if she can pull anything else but stories of the past up, but it is useless. The most recent stories she has managed were still over five hundred years ago. She can't divine anything from the present or the future, and with our age there is little from the past she could say that we did not already know about. Her abilities are exceptional, but not at all helpful to our current circumstances," Water Shadow answered.

"There is one story she can tell us that we know nothing about, and it is far enough back that it falls within the realm of what she can do," Sunset said with determination.

"Do you think it possible? Even if it is it might not do us any good," Water Shadow said in a hushed breath, apparently realizing what Sunset was thinking.

"It is insight, and that is valuable. We lose nothing if she can't manage it. If the insight doesn't do us any good at least we will have solved at least one mystery that has haunted us the last seven hundred years," Sunset said.

"You are right. We need to have her try," Water Shadow agreed.

Sunset stood to her hooves and amplified the clearing of her throat to get every Pony's attention. When all if their companions paused in their actions she looked directly at Midnight.

"I have decided there is something else we need to have you try to do Midnight. Something you are the only one of us who can possibly do. I am not even sure if you will be able to do this, but it is important," Sunset told her.

"What can I do that any pony here but the foals cannot do?" Midnight asked curiously, and with a hint of eagerness. She must still be feeling desperate to feel useful.

"I need you to tell a story, a very specific story, one that you will have to reach deep into your magic like you did with your song to tell us," Sunset said.

"Um, okay, I suppose I could do that. What story do you want me to tell every pony?" Midnight asked in confusion.

"Tell us the story of how the Mare of Shadows came to be. It happened long enough ago that it falls within your abilities. I don't need to know anything about what she is doing or planning now, I need to know who she was before and what shaped her into the demon we now fight. Every pony has a story, and her story is one that no pony has been able to learn," Sunset explained.

Midnight looked back at her with wide eyes and mouth agape. Sweet Pea matched her expression. The foals were both looking up at Midnight, and perfect confidence in her mother could be seen in Dove's face.

"I..I don't know if I can do that or not. Even if I got anything my stories aren't very detailed," Midnight managed to say.

"I know, but you need to try. It might give us some chance of keeping your daughter safe and alive. I am just saying to try as hard as you can," Sunset said with lowered eyes.

"Um, if she can do this should the foals be listening to this? This isn't likely to be a nice story," Sweet Pea said with concern, gripping Quiet Word in her embrace. Dove was still looking expectantly at her mother.

Sunset considered it for a moment.

"Yes, they should hear it like the rest of us if Midnight is able to tell the story. This impacts them as much as the rest of us. They have the same right as the rest of us to know their enemy," Sunset decided.

"Mama can tell the story, Mama can tell any story," Dove said confidently.

Midnight looked down at her daughter's confident gaze and met it. Sunset couldn't tell what was going on in the younger alicorn's head and was mildly tempted to go reach out to her so she could get a better read on what Midnight was thinking. Peridot wasn't the only pony who could do such things.

"Dove, go sit with Quiet and Sweet Pea. I don't know what will happen when I try to do this. If it is like when I ascended I don't want to risk hurting you by accident with my magic. I don't know how safe it is yet," Midnight instructed her daughter.

"Okay Mama," Dove said obediently then flew over to the unicorn and thestral.

Midnight adjusted her position so she was facing all of the assembled ponies, but had some space between all of them and her. After another quick glance at each of them she sighed and closed her eyes, and every pony waited expectantly.

"There is something.." Midnight said after a moment. Her mark was glowing again, and Sunset could feel again the magic coming off her.

"About eight centuries ago their was a village named Tadpole," Midnight began. "In those days there were many competing lands across all the continent after the fall of the Twilight Realm, but Tadpole was a small unimportant place outside any of those lands."

Sunset sighed a little to herself that there were so much being said that she didn't need to hear. She knew about the political climate following the fall of the Twilight Realm. Unfortunately Midnight told stories, and stories had to give a setting.

"To this little village came an alicorn," Midnight continued. "Her name was Paleo. Paleo had been searching for many years for her reflection, who had been lost in the fall of The Great Tree. She had searched for signs of her reflection throughout many lands, and had dug tirelessly through the ruins of Harmony to find her, but her searches always came up empty. Now she came to this village to ask for help from an immortal pony that lived there, by the name of Pearlwort.

"Paleo went into the village and came to a tavern named Old Reed's. There she found the tavern keeper, the immortal thestral Pearlwort.

"Greetings, Pearlwort, I am glad to have found you, Paleo said to the thestral. Greetings to you as well, what brings you to this patch of nowhere? The thestral greeted in return."

Another element of Midnight's stories were they tended to oversimplify dialogue. Sunset expected that the conversation actually went a very different.

"I have read your book and wish to ask you a few questions about it, Paleo said.

"What kind of questions do you have? The thestral asked.

"In your book you said that you buried the body of Mera in the ruins of Harmony, Paleo said.

"This is true, the thestral replied.

"I have dug throughout Harmony looking for Patina, and have found many ponies' bodies, but never Patina's. I also never found the body of Mera. I don't think it is there. Why is it not? The alicorn asked.

"Perhaps you have not looked hard enough, the thestral suggested.

"There is not a single barleycorn of the ruins I have not checked in these last two hundred years. There is no body for Mera in Harmony, Paleo said.

"You should leave the dead be and not go looking for their bodies, the thestral snarled back at Paleo.

"It is not my intention to anger you, but you seem to not be telling the full truth, Paleo said calmly.

"The thestral grew quiet as she looked at Paleo. Come with me and I will show you the answer to your questions within the basement, but I warn you that you might not want those answers. I am giving you the chance to leave now, the thestral said to Paleo.

"What is in the basement? Is it the body of your dead wife? I don't understand the need for secrecy, Paleo said.

"You will see what and why if you follow me into the basement. Again I am giving you the opportunity to leave now rather than find out the truth, the thestral said.

"Lead on Pearlwort, I want to know why you are being so cryptic, Paleo said indicating the innkeeper should lead the way.

"You have been warned multiple times that you have the opportunity to just leave. You are responsible for the price of learning the truth, the white furred thestral said sadly and led Paleo into the basement.

"When they entered into the basement the thestral raised up a wing and it glowed, something that it should not have been able to do. A section of the wall opened up revealing a door. The thestral walked over to the door and opened it, gesturing for Paleo to enter ahead.

"When Paleo entered she wished to turn and run back out in shock at what she saw, but the thestral had entered in behind her and locked the door.

"On the far end of the secret room sat the body of Pearlwort. The thestral that she had been talking to was not Pearlwort, Paleo realized.

"You should not have gone digging where you did and should not have asked the questions that you did, the thestral imposter said.

"Who are you that has slain the unslayable and stolen her face? Paleo demanded.

"You have made another grave mistake now in reminding me of my sin, the impostor said with another snarl. I made a mistake, but I will find a way to make everything right again.

"How will you make it right? Paleo asked.

"The Elder Gods have made me an offer and long have I delayed in taking it. They shall give to me as final reword my precious Pearlwort back. I have only to serve and do one thing to show my commitment before I sign their contract, the other pony said.

"What abominable thing do they ask you do to before you sign? Paleo asked in fear.

"To slay another alicorn, but this time in cold blood. I am sorry Paleo, but you ask too many questions and I must have my precious Pearlwort back, the impostor said in a sad tone.

"I know your name monster. You are Chimera Wort. You should be dead. Pearlwort slayed you, Paleo cried in fear.

"It was I who slayed her in my madness. It is my sin and I must make it right. I am sorry that it must come to this, but there is no cost too high to get her back, Chimera Wort said.

"This is still madness, Paleo said.

"It is what must be done. Goodbye Paleo, I send you to meet your reflection, Chimera Wort said before her magic enveloped the alicorn, ripping the alicorn into bloody pieces.

"After Paleo was dead Chimera Wort summoned up a parchment with writing on it in blood. She read over the parchment then bit into her own hoof to make it bleed, and used her hoof to then sign the infernal contract. A great collar appeared around her neck after she finished signing with a silver bell hanging from it.

"I shall make this right. I will fix my mistake, the Mare of Shadows said to the body of Pearlwort."

Midnight then ceased speaking. The story was done. The young alicorn opened her eyes and started crying, likely having experienced much more than what she had recited. Dove rushed over to her and embraced her.

Sunset felt shock at knowing the truth. After all this time she finally knew who Ponykind's great enemy was, and what she wanted. She also realized that Pearlwort's book was not written by Pearlwort, but by her mad lover. There was another thing that made her feel horror in the pit of her stomach. Sunset had been the one to have Pearlwort confront Mera, and that meant this entire thing, all the death and terror and blood, was on Sunset's hooves.

Shadow also looked shocked to learn the truth. This was a pony they had once both called friend.

"Who is Chimera Wort?" Midnight asked with a shake voice.

Sunset looked at Shadow and lowered her ears. Shadow matched her expression.

"She was a crystal pony that started out innocent and happy. She loved Pearlwort more than anything else in the world, and was fanatical in her devotion to her lover. She had powers that were beyond what she could control. When she thought Pearlwort had died she went completely mad, and used those powers to steal all the magic from The Great Tree, destroying it. Then with all those powers she killed the pony that she thought killed Pearlwort, Pinkie Pie. No alicorn could overpower her, and we sent Pearlwort to try to stop her. We had thought that Pearlwort had killed her, but it seems that the opposite happened," Sunset explained sadly.

"And it seems that she sat for centuries after in secret, having assumed her dead lover's form, and even writing out her dead lover's account of events," Shadow said grimly.

"She is also Peridot's sister, which makes anything she might have done to Peridot that much more monstrous," Sunset observed darkly. "She has other names as well; Mera was what she preferred to be called after her marriage to Pearlwort, Chimera Wort is her married name. Her original name was Bibolous Bottom, but the world knows her by her original nickname. The name you would know for the Mare of Shadows is Biblo, and she was more dangerous than you could imagine before she signed her contract. She was once my friend, and Shadow's too, but madness took her."

Sunset sat quietly after finishing her explanation.

Oh Mera, why did you have to come back to haunt me?