The necromancer wanted to hurt something, but she had already beaten the crap out of Sunset and needed to keep her alive for the moment. Taking her rage out on her hunters would be equally unproductive. How could these ponies be this incredibly stupid? She didn't have time to deal with this, since that Pegasus was back in this world that became the priority again.

"Sunset, can you please explain to me what was going through your head when you let them come up with that insane plan of theirs. I am getting a read on it from you, but I must be missing something because you couldn't possibly be that bloody stupid," Mera said with a snarl.

Sunset gave off a groan and a cough, but didn't answer. Mera sighed and sent healing magic into the Alicorn to repair any internal injuries.

"Now again, please give me some sort of explanation about how you did something so stupid," Mera said as if lecturing a child.

"It seems the best chance of actually defeating you, it is worth the risk," Sunset groaned.

"Take a look around you right now. Look at the devastation, this is with me containing the damage! What would an army of such alicorns end up doing? We wouldn't have a planet left to stand on. It doesn't matter if you overcome me, there is nothing left to live on. If the planet was not completely annihilated it would be completely incapable of supporting life. I might be trying to wipe out all life, but I do intend to get it going again after. I have to have a place to start life over again though that can possibly support life! You would definitely get the Elder Gods to leave, because everything would be dead, and nothing would ever be able to come here again," Mera said, gesturing all around the impact crater from the meteor.

"You could always just give up and leave Ponykind alone so they don't attempt it," Sunset said snidely.

"Not an option, as I said, Grogar would make me do it if I just stopped. He would seize my bell and force me to carry out my contract if I tried to abandon it. If that wasn't an issue you would still find yourself at the mercy of some other acolyte in short order trying to wipe you out. It is better my way, where there is a chance of Ponykind being reborn. Again I need to have an intact planet to do that though. You wouldn't even manage to kill me with this, I am immortal as long as my contract is incomplete, nothing can break my bell," Mera snarled, then spit.

"You killed Pinkie Pie, I am sure some pony can figure out how to kill you," Sunset observed.

"Pinkie Pie had a contract to destroy the Tree of Harmony destroyed. When I tore it down her bell became vulnerable, she died because she completed her contract, it doesn't matter that I was the one who did it. It was done, and she was vulnerable. If there is any pony alive, other than me, on this world I am pretty much invincible. I intend to bring ponies back after the threat of the Elder Gods is past and can finish myself off as well. I need them to lose interest and every single other acolyte dead first though. But we need the world to actually be here. Even if you were to come up with some other fairy tale way of defeating the Elder Gods, me, and my fellow acolytes you still need a planet, you stupid idiot!" Mera raged.

"So why are you busy yelling at me instead of doing something about it?" Sunset said with a pained groan.

"Because I can't get near that damned mirror, nor anything I make. I need somepony who can get near it to either destroy it, or get them to give up that plan of action. You are what I have at the moment, as I doubt I can have Peridot get it done without screwing up. I do have love still for my sister, believe it or not, but she can't be counted on to accomplish anything important," Mera said with a sigh.

"I am not allying myself with you," Sunset said angrily.

"It isn't so much an alliance as it is more dealing with a mutual problem until it is resolved, a short term agreement at best. I have my agendas, and you have yours, and they don't line up on much at all. We both urgently need to deal with this problem and we are the only ones who are even aware of what is at stake. I am going to be spending my time puzzling over how to capture that filly you are so intent on protecting, and you are going to deal with this mirror problem because there isn't crap I can do other than hope you can bring them to some semblance of sense. You get to live a while longer, take your gift and make what you will of it," Mera said. She was disappointed that she wasn't going to be able to kill Sunset now, but facts were facts. The mirror needed to go, and she couldn't get near it.

"How do I know you are just bluffing to get rid of a potential threat to yourself? I have no reason to believe you about anything you have said," Sunset said.

"Fine, you want to have proof, I can give you the best I can give. I am dropping my mental defenses. Go ahead and read my mind, I haven't made any plans yet on how to deal with the Pegasus, so I am not putting any plans at risk. Everything I told you is true. Go ahead and read my mind to your heart's content. I don't even care if you dig around for all my deepest darkest secrets. I have already told you everything that matters about anything," Mera responded with a defeated sigh.

Mera dropped her guard on her mind and let Sunset in, she still had her hoof down on the Alicorn and that was all that was needed to make the contact. She really didn't feel any need to hide anything from Sunset, but even after all this time she did have some dread about what kinds of things Sunset would see. There was a lot Mera could feel guilty about, and with Sunset knowing who she was this felt like a confession of all that guilt to a pony who had once been a friend. Mera did regret that things had to come to this, but she knew what she had to do to make up for what she had done to Pearl, and ensure ponies could live their lives in the future without the Elder Gods or herself being around anymore.

She could feel Sunset feeling around, and just waited patiently, silently grateful that the Alicorn was even doing it. She had no other options than hope the Alicorn would do what needed to be done. She wasn't lying about that either. Time was of the essence and the any hope for the future depended on it. Sunset's death would have to be delayed further, possibly centuries after this escape if Sunset avoided her well, but it was a price worth paying. She was a patient mare after all.

"A lot of things I would rather not have seen in there, but you aren't lying," Sunset finally said with a resigned groan. "I am still going to work for a way to either stop you or reason with you, but you are right about the threat a large number of super powerful alicorns. I had some idea of it already myself, but had hoped that you could be overcome before it got to that point. I see I am mistaken."

"I am glad you see reason. I will heal you up and send you on your way. Deal with it however you think best. We can get another fight in the future, though it will end much the same way," Mera said, and began channeling the magic to repair Sunset's broken horn and wings.

When she finished she released Sunset from being pinned down. The alicorn stood up and looked at her with sad eyes.

"Is there no other path that we can take with you? I know from what I felt in you that you truly don't want to have to do this. The good pony you were is still in there. The Elder Gods can be opposed and you could help us," Sunset pleaded.

"Even if we could think of some other way I have a contract that I am slave to. Grogar can force me into completing that contract if he gets my bell. And while it exists there is nothing I can do to stop him. You could invalidate my contract, but that seems to be an impossibility. Feel free to think on it. If you think of something that can do that I will at least listen, not necessarily agree, but will listen. I know where to find you in the dream realm, and will be in touch. I even promise not to do anything other than talk to you in dreams. For now things aren't going to change, but I do want to keep Ocid alive as long as I can to put myself in the best position against the other acolytes. Perhaps a compromise can be reached that can keep me growing in strength and keep Ocid stable for the time being. We both want this world free of the Elder Gods, it is just I am the only one who has a method to do that," Mera said, lowering her ears.

"I am sorry about Pearl. I didn't think I was sending her to her doom against you," Sunset said sympathetically.

"I am just looking for a pony other than myself to blame. It is my sin and not yours. When the time comes to finish you I will give you a quick merciful death," she replied.

They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a long moment afterwards. Neither wanted to look at the other. There was no hatred between the two, just regret.

"Go, time isn't like what I saw you experience in that other world. Do what you need to do, and I shall as well," she finally told the alicorn.

Sunset gave her another sad look before lighting her newly restored horn for a teleport.

"Goodbye old friend, I hope I can find a way to make that term true again," Sunset said, and then teleported away.

Mera sat for another long moment and let herself shed the tears that she had been holding back. Then she rose to her hooves and recovered herself in shadow and flame. Damn her low levels of bliss. It was time to get back to work.

Peridot had been questioning her own sanity as of late. She had been making deals with the Mare of Shadows, having her dreams invaded, and ordering a foal given over to an unspeakable evil. These were not proud actions, but ones that she thought she had to make at the time. In the last few hours she had started questioning whether she could have done things differently. Unfortunately those thoughts had to be put on hold because the ponies who had fled Ocid were even crazier than her apparently.

"Please tell me again what you just told me. I am certain I must have heard that wrong," she said to her guard captain.

The crystal pony stallion fidgeted in place, afraid to look at her directly. He was clearly afraid of becoming a target for her anger. She was angry, but not at him. There was no need to kill the messenger.

"Water Shadow, an unknown alicorn, a unicorn, a half grown thestral colt with a snake, and what looks like a young pegasus mare are standing outside the main gate with a massive glowing mirror demanding entrance," the captain said shakily.

"That's what I thought you said, but I am still trying to fathom how and why," she said with a growl.

"I don't know, Ponymother," the captain said with a gulp.

Questions swirled in her head. Why had Water Shadow returned? Who were these other ponies? Where was Sunset Shimmer? And where had they found a pegasus mare? They had left just yesterday with a pegasus, but that was a filly. Fillies didn't turn into mares in less than a day's time. This had to be another pony. Was there another alcove of Pony life out there somewhere other than Ocid? There had to be if Water Shadow was showing up now with a Pegasus mare.

"Computer, put outside the front gate on main wall screen, and give me audio, but just audio in for now," Peridot commanded the computer.

"Bringing up designated camera feed, and activating audio receptors. Ocid Survives," the computer acknowledged.

She looked at the screen. That was clearly Water Shadow, and she was pretty sure that was the fugitive Unicorn that had left the city with her, though something seemed a little off. The Thestral colt had a snake of all things with him, she didn't think there were any snakes left in Ocid or in the Dead Lands. The Pegasus had white fur that reminded her of the foal's fur, but her mane was primarily yellow, and she seemed to have some yellow tips to her primary feathers as well. Something else seemed off about her though.

"Computer give me displays of each of the ponies' flanks on the secondary screen, magnified by eighty percent. I want to see their cutie marks. Do image correction as needed to give me a clear picture. Shut down your personal audio responses unless there is a priority alert, for the time being," she commanded. Even she got sick of hearing Ocid survives constantly.

The second screen came on and she had to sit down from the shock of what she saw. That was clearly Dove's cutie mark on that mare's flank. That didn't confirm that this pony was Dove, as ponies could have the same cutie mark, but it seemed unlikely another pony would have that particular mark. Of course it could just be a common mark for Pegasus ponies in general if there were more of them. She needed more information.

"Computer, display full body image of the pegasus," she ordered.

The image of the cutie mark was replaced with the image of the full pony. Looking at the Pegasus now she realized for the first time that this wasn't in fact a mare. This was just a really big filly, not far off from puberty. Peridot had been like this in her youth. She couldn't remember it all that well, but she had her family photos uploaded in the computer and had seem plenty of images of herself when she was a filly to recognize the makings of another titan among ponies.

Peridot was doing her best to try to think things through, which wasn't her typical response, but recent events had made her think she needed to do more considering before taking action. She felt like she was over thinking this, but that could be just the fact she wasn't used to taking this long to make a decision. There was still other things to be examined before she did anything. She would force herself to look at all the information, even if all her natural instincts said to just take action. She was going to do this right, Ocid needed her to do better.

She didn't think there was much to be learned from the thestral colt, the snake was interesting, as snakes were not to be found in this part of the world anymore, but just a snake. The unicorn, Sweet Pea she believed her name was, seemed the next one worth taking another closer look at. If this was an aged up Dove then the Unicorn should likely look older too. If the Unicorn looked to have not aged at all that might give more credence that this was another pegasus entirely. But there was one element that she had been informed of that she didn't have a good view of at all, the presumed mirror. She needed information on that, then she would look closer at Sweet Pea.

"Computer can you get a better view of this mirror that they are suppose to have with them?" Peridot asked.

"Negative, outside camera range," the computer intoned. Well, that was unfortunate. She made a note to herself that she needed to have some pony install additional cameras by the front gate. There was plenty inside Ocid, but the front gate had been overlooked it seemed.

"Computer, bring up full body picture of the unicorn," she commanded instead.

The image came up and she took a closer look at the refugee unicorn. It was definitely Sweet Pea, she had looked over the unicorn's pictures several times after her escape. She looked a bit older than she should have, as this mare looked to be a matured mare, while she was clearly a younger mare yesterday. So, that confirmed that the pegasus was indeed Dove. How had they aged so much in one day? That seemed impossible, but the evidence was sitting right on screen. Sweet Pea had been pregnant yesterday, according to reports. It had been too early to show anything, but nothing showed still. Maybe the thestral colt was the foal, but that seemed to be a problematic answer. Thinking about this made her head hurt. There was one last unknown element, and probably the most interesting, to look at.

"Computer, give me full body image of the unknown alicorn," she gave the command.

She should have been more shocked at the image on the screen, but after the others her reaction was more muted. That alicorn wasn't an unknown, that was Midnight Glow. She had traded in her leathery wings for feathered ones, as well as gained a horn, but it was definitely Sunset's youngest acolyte. Peridot was familiar enough with the pony to know her on sight. Midnight looked a little older as well, reconfirming what Peridot had already seen, but that was a small detail compared to the fact she was obviously ascended. How had they managed that?

The better question might be; could they do it again? That had possibilities, If Midnight Glow could ascend then so could others.

"Computer give me audio out to them," Peridot commanded, and then turned her attention back to the main screen.

"Hello, Water Shadow, I was not expecting to see you ever again. I am surprised you are all alive, where is Sunset?" Peridot asked.

"Sunset sacrificed herself so that we might escape. Let us in Peridot, we have a lot to discuss," Water Shadow said while glaring at the camera.

The news that Sunset was dead hit Peridot harder than she thought it would. She had expected it, but it was still hard to hear. Though their relationship had been strained in recent years Sunset was still something of a mother figure to her. However, she couldn't afford to show weakness over the news.

"How do I know you won't try to incite rebellion against me? And if you aren't there is still the matter of that pegasus that the necromancer wants so badly that she would send the killing blow down on us to get her. I am intrigued by the fact you somehow managed a fresh ascensions, but I have to be sure letting you in is for the good of Ocid," Peridot said, hoping to dig out some answers. Her first impulse was to just let them in and capture them right away, but she needed to do better and be more careful.

"I have one personal piece of news that you will want to discuss with me in private without any prying ears, other than how we had Midnight ascend and how we plan to save Ocid," Water Shadow offered.

"What might that be?" Peridot scoffed.

"Your sister is alive, Peridot. Mera lives," Water Shadow said just loud enough for the audio to pick up.

Peridot just sat staring at the screen silently. It had to be some sort of trick. Water Shadow knew how to push her buttons after all. Biblo was over a thousand years dead. If Biblo had lived she would have made herself known at some point long before. She wouldn't have hidden herself away from Pearl, maybe every pony else, but not Pearl. Pearl had confirmed that Biblo was dead though, and her book had even given some small redemption to Biblo's actions in saying that she had killed the alicorn responsible. They were still heinous, but at least they was some silver lining to them. If Biblo were alive still..

"Open the gate," she said without thinking. She cursed immediately in her head after letting the words out. She did intend on bringing them in anyway, but should have gotten more information first to know what she was dealing with. She sighed, it was going to take time to correct her habits.

"Stay near the entrance once you enter. I will go down to meet you myself, it will take just a few minutes. We will sit and talk in the garrison there. I will be bringing extra guards, but will not assault you. At least I won't until I hear what you have to say. I can't say what I will do after that, because I don't know yet myself. That is the best offer I can give you at the moment. If you are unwilling to accept those terms you can look for shelter elsewhere," Peridot said quickly before any of the ponies outside could enter.

"Not the most friendly offer, but one we will accept. On the condition that you promise the safety of all of us, not just me, while we talk, and you give us all the option of leaving freely if no compromise can be reached after our talk," Water Shadow answered.

Peridot considered the request. The necromancer had relented on attacking Ocid after the filly had left, that meant simply having the pegasus banished from the walls should likely be good enough again. A few minutes of sanctuary wouldn't likely cause any harm. Part of her wanted justice for their seeming betrayal, but she was doing her best to try to put things into perspective. What did she need to do to do better than she had been?

"I can promise if you give me no new incentive to attack your party I will let you leave of your own accord if no agreement between us can be reached. I have to do what I feel is right by Ocid, and if I feel Ocid is threatened by me just letting you go free then I can't do that. If I see no threat in just letting you free then I will do so, but only if I see no threat in it. As things stand right now I see no reason not to just let you walk away from Ocid, but I haven't heard what you have to say yet. That is the most honest answer I can give you," Peridot concluded, hoping it was the right one. She was sick of making mistakes.

"I can agree with that. We will await your arrival just inside the gate. If you try to double cross us, or decide to try to attack us, we will defend ourselves, but hopefully we can all come to an agreement. I think what we have to offer will excite you," Water Shadow said. Peridot could see the Alicorn smiling even through the blurry camera image.

Peridot hated being told that there was an offer. It felt too much like the things she had been dealing with from the Mare of Shadows. She had been stuck with too many bad deals lately because she had been pressured. Water Shadow would not simply pressure her into another one. This time would be different, this time she wouldn't just bow under the pressure.

[

Ruins of Harmony, Dead Lands

Sunset lay among the ruins of what had once been the greatest city the world had ever known. She hadn't had the power to teleport herself all the way back to Ocid in one teleport, not after her battle with Mera. The alicorn was exhausted, and after a few brief stops to recharge her magic, she had brought herself here. Harmony, despite all that had died here, was relatively free from undead.

She looked at the ruins all around her, and let out a soft sob. It may have happened over a thousand years before, but the hurt was still fresh. Whatever scarring had gone over that hurt had been sliced into anew today as she had faced off against the pony who had done this, a pony until not long ago she had believed dead and buried among these ruins. It was an impossible hurt to recover from. How could any pony recover from so much death and destruction happening all at once.

Near her were the remains of former residences. Most of them had been crushed by the falling Tree. The broken parts of those colossal branches littered the area, and made crystal tombs for the ponies whose bodies likely still remained in their homes.

Off in the distance she could see the uprooted trunk of the Tree towering over the ruins. When the Tree had fallen the roots from below had been ripped upwards, destroying whole sections of the city that might have escaped being crushed by the falling Tree. No area of the city had been spared the devastation. Yes, here and there might have been some building that miraculously escaped being destroyed, but those buildings were lone sentinels among a field of dead. If a pony listened closely you could still hear the ghostly weeping throughout the city.

Despite millions dying in mere moments, and others dying in the days that followed trapped beneath the rubble, there had been survivors. Those ponies lived their lives afterwards with perpetual haunted looks. They had been as broken as the Tree.

Sunset had not witnessed the fall herself, and was only given accounts of it. She had been there trying to search for survivors after Mera had been supposedly taken down. It made her want to vomit to think that she had embraced the mare, not knowing it was her, soon after. It felt like a slap in the faces of all the dead.

Now she had faced Mera again, without Mera wearing any form of disguise. Now she was off to do Mera's bidding, and that made her sick too. It made her more unsettled that she actually agreed with her once friend; the threat that an army of Alicorns at full power trying to kill an unlikable for was very real and very frightening.

What Sunset did not agree on was Mera's outlook for the future. There had to be a way to overcome the Elder Gods without costing everything their life. They didn't need to reboot their world, they needed to save it. Even Mera's plans to reboot looked doubtful from what Mera had described. Mera had to not only complete her contract, but she had to overcome all her fellow acolytes, beings that were doubtlessly just as dangerous as she was, most of them far older and more experienced. Mera's plan, even if it was the only way, was a fool's hope. It was a plan created by madness and desperation.

Sunset reflected on what she had learned feeling around in Mera's corrupted mind. Mera's original powers were still in full effect, she was a sponge for the magic of others, and she had absorbed more than Sunset could fathom. Meta also had absorbed the Elder Gods' magic and nature into herself, and she fed off of and grew stronger with others suffering as well. This was the heart of her full corruption, and Mera understood that.

Mera was a pony that at the same time recognized herself as vile and defiled, but one that hoped to do some final action to atone for herself. She was also a pony that had lost hope, and hated herself. Sadly, the worst punishment she could endure would be to have to face her murdered mate and explain herself.

Looking for some way of punishing Mera and getting retribution for the dead solved nothing though. Sunset was a pony that believed in redemption, even for ponies as vile as Mera. Sunset had once become a demonic being herself, a slave to magic she didn't understand and her own ambition, but she had found redemption in the end. If Ponykind was to survive the answer was in the redemption of Mera. Mera could not be slain, but perhaps she could be turned into an ally instead an enemy.

How to do that though was the question. Mera was very much insane, and an addict for suffering just like some addicted to a drug. Plus, from what Sunset could tell, Mera had not been lying about Grogar being able to force Mera to do what he wanted. Those were very real problems that had to be solved if there was any hope for redemption. Sunset had dealt with the mentally ill before, and she had cured addicts of their addictions, the issue with Grogar was the difficult one to solve.

As long as Mera's contract existed Grogar could come to take her bell and hold her to her contract. So the obvious solution was to make it so the contract was broken. That was not an easy thing to do, demonic contracts were not merely pieces of paper you could burn or tear up. They had to either be completed or made so one side could not fulfill their part of the contract. That was a puzzle to figure out.

It would help if she actually knew exactly what Mera's contract said word for word. Perhaps if Mera had been honest in saying she would keep in touch via dreams Sunset could ask. Mera had been forthcoming with information so far after all, and Sunset wanted to believe that that was because Mera secretly wanted a solution found.

That would have to wait for now though. At the moment Sunset had a sister to stop before it started. She also had to figure out how to keep Dove safe from Mera still. Perhaps she could find a way to not destroy the mirror but still stop the threat that an army of Alicorns could present to the world.

A sudden thought occurred to her then. Mera might actually have an answer to that. Mera absorbed information from each of her kills, she had killed all the Greater Alicorns aside from Flurry Heart. Perhaps she knew the methods used to block ascension. If Sunset could lock the ability to ascend out of the other world as it had been done in this world there was no threat of Alicorns destroying the world, but they would still have access to the resources of the world beyond the mirror. She hoped Mera would contact her soon so she could find out, and that Mera would actually go for this compromise.

Sunset sighed. The world had been turned upside down today. She was now placing the hopes and well being of ponies in the hooves of the necromancer, and actively trying to think of ways to get the pony that she had until recently only known as The Mare of Shadows to ally with them. Maybe Sunset was going crazy in her old age, but she desperately longed for a way to make things right. So many different ponies had different views of how to do that though, and they were seemingly all in conflict.

What was the saying back on Earth? The road to Tarturus is paved with the best of intentions? Something like that, it felt very true though.