Water Shadow sat considering the green unicorn mare wondering how to deal with the troubling knowledge she had just gained. The one great positive was that Sweet Pea had been open and honest with her, and that might help circumvent any corruption that had already been at work. There was no telling how many others had been touched as Sweet Pea had, and that was car more troubling.

"Are you sure that there are no other details that you're leaving out? Please, tell me if there are, a small detail missed could cause a lot of problems further out to sea," Water Shadow questioned her friend.

"I told you everything I can remember. It was very vivid and I'm sure that I'm not leaving anything out," Sweet Pea insisted.

Water Shadow sighed with relief. Grogar's touch was not yet much in this one. It had likely been his first attempts at influencing Sweet Pea, and the fact that it was being caught early boded well for them.

"Thank you for being so honest with me. Now let me be honest with you as well. That dream was sent by Grogar or one of his close minions for the purpose of trying to gain influence on you. You'll notice that nothing that was said was a lie from what we can tell. That's what makes it so insidious and gives them the power to try to keep influencing you. They're telling you the truth, but only parts of it. They do this to lead you into doing what they want, to the point of embracing completely what they say even of who is trying to influence you is later revealed. You perceive them as not having led you astray for so long that you become willing to trust them completely even when it is clear you're dealing with dark powers. It is not an overnight process, but over time they would hope to make you one of their agents, loyal only to them," Water Shadow explained.

"I'd never do such a thing!" Sweet Pea protested, stomping one of her forehooves.

"You say that now, and as you stand now you wouldn't. However, with repeated such dreams, and time, any unsuspecting pony could be turned to agent of the Elder Gods. It's folly to try to believe you are beyond such things, but recognizing you're susceptible makes you better on guard. The good thing is that you're aware now of what they intend to try with you, and that makes you able to resist it. I am very glad you chose to come to me while this was at its infancy so it can be put a halt to before it really did start having an effect on you," Water Shadow said with an encouraging smile.

"So, I should ignore what the dream said?" Sweet Pea asked.

"Don't ignore it, as I won't either. We do need to fill in the information that was withheld from you initially so you would focus on the wrong things when things started playing out. This gives further confirmation that Mera was in fact telling the truth to Peridot. We can guess then that Grogar is going to be making efforts to see that Dove dies soon, and he'll be attempting from multiple fronts. You're almost certainly not the only pony he is going to try to beguile into thinking it better she just die," Water Shadow answered thoughtfully. She then turned to the other ponies present to see if they had any input.

Peridot and Midnight glanced at one another uncertainty before turning back to Water Shadow. Peridot rubbed a hoof against the back of her head before she spoke.

"Biblo seemed to think Grogar would make an attempt on me. She also let drop that she has started believing that Dove herself has no actual value beyond being the game piece Grogar is playing around. I'm not sure if I believe that line of thought, but it would fit what we know of him. I spent a great deal of time reading up on him and the only thing that I can pin down about his personality is he's a bit of nihilist. Choosing to center all his plans around some pony that matters no more than any other pony definitely would be a plan that came from a nihilist." Peridot divided glances between both Water Shadow and Midnight.

"Are you saying that there's no good reason that my filly should be in danger other than he pointed and picked a pony at random?" Midnight demanded in a near shout.

"I'm saying that's what Biblo believes. I said I'm not so sure. If she's right then it still likely wasn't completely at random. Your daughter had the misfortune of being born a pegasus which makes us want to believe she is important. She isn't the only foal ever to be born with a cutie mark. It's exceedingly rare, but it does happen. I personally think that two exceptionally rare events happening in conjunction indicates something of significance, but I could be wrong. The bottom line is that whether she would have been of great significance on her own or just some random accident of birth is meaningless now. Grogar has chosen to play his game around her and that makes her survival until she can die under the appropriate circumstances our top priority," Peridot said as she looked Midnight in the eyes with a steady gaze.

"We are not considering sacrificing my daughter to that monster," Midnight growled.

"We need to do what is best for all ponies. Give your daughter another day or two in that mirror with the knowledge of what happens if she doesn't die the right way and see what she thinks. I wouldn't ask a foal to go sacrifice itself, but in one more day within the mirror she won't be a foal anymore now will she? I'm sure with time to consider she as a full grown mare might have a different opinion than her protective mother," Peridot said, still not breaking her gaze from the glaring grey alicorn.

Water Shadow cleared her throat to get the two immortals' attention before Midnight could launch into another series of objections.

"This doesn't matter at the moment. I personally have to admit that Dove being turned over to Mera seems the only final solution, but I prefer that be done on Dove's terms once she's mature enough to actually make such a decision. If need be I'll keep Dove alive in a vegetative state once she has reached an age she would naturally die so she can be taken to Mera and officially die in the required way even if she was as good as dead for some time before that.

"We have a choice between extinction and doing what is needed for Mera. I'm not happy about either option, and if I could think of any third option I would fly its colors. Mera has given Dove a opportunity at a long full life which is the most we can hope for Dove, and the least abominable thing that can happen. I've my concerns about what may come next after she completes that contract, as nothing is ever as it seems with such things, but I'm confident that the terms of such contracts must be upheld by their makers. That much about the Elder Gods I do understand and Mera seems to believe the same thing. She wouldn't jeopardize her chance at resurrecting Pearl on a contract she thought wouldn't be upheld," Water Shadow concluded.

"Ascension for Dove is a third option," Midnight insisted.

"No, it's not. That is another delaying tactic at best. We have everything out to kill her, and even as an alicorn she would eventually be killed. If she ascends we are still faced with the fact that if Hydia, Lavan, or some random lucky minion of Grogar kills her all of Ponykind is dead. Even if we did the impossible and made her unkillable that again dooms every pony as that could be seen as failure of Mera's contract and Grogar would seize her bell and kill every other pony. That she's going to die eventually is pretty much an inevitability, we can only do our best to direct how," Water Shadow said as patiently as she could.

"I think you have might have other things you need to be concerned about as well, little alicorn," Peridot said cryptically.

"And those are?" Midnight responded. Water Shadow raised her own eyebrows in curiosity. What was Peridot going on about?

"If Grogar's goal is to make sure Mera fails then it would definitely make sense that the ponies he would try to tempt over to serving him would be you and Dove. It isn't Sweet Pea that we need to worry about selling her soul, it's you," Peridot said with a hard glare at the young alicorn.

Midnight let out a low growl before striking Peridot hard across the muzzle with a wing in an uncharacteristic show of violence for her against another pony. The blow was impressive, as it sent the mighty crystal pony staggering back, before Peridot finally fell to the floor. She wasn't unconscious, but she was definitely dazed by the force of the blow. Any lesser pony may very well have been killed by the force of the blow. Midnight likely didn't realize how hard she was striking the crystal pony. Alicorns were much stronger than normal ponies.

"Midnight! I realize that Peridot could use a lesson in tact, but that's completely unacceptable. If you had hit any other pony than her with that blow you would have separated their head from their body. You can not lose your temper in such a manner. Do I make myself clear?" Water Shadow scolded.

Midnight scowled at her. The young alicorn becoming increasingly combative was a serious issue. She understood the stresses the mother was under, but this definitely could escalate to where Peridot's claims they should fear Midnight were well founded. Midnight might be just an angry mother, but Mera had been just an angry wife. Midnight's obsession was something to be empathized with, but it was dangerous.

"Urgh, I don't think I've been hit that hard since Biblo used to beat the shit out of me in training duels. I'm impressed, we should duel sometime, you might make an impressive fighter," Peridot said with a laugh as she shook her head to clear it. Of course the oaf would get a thrill out of getting knocked silly. What should Water Shadow really expect out of a brawler like Peridot. She should just be happy the Ponymother wasn't jumping in to return the blow. At least Peridot was taking it in stride rather than escalating things. It was a something to be thankful for that she really had been on her best behavior today. Perhaps it was the combination of having the heavy burden of rule lifted from her and her finding out her sister not only lived, but was trying to make herself a better pony; questionable as that last part may be.

"Midnight," she sighed as she looked at the younger alicorn. "I'm not accusing you of anything, but I'm forced once again to say Peridot may have a point. Grogar will no doubt try to play on your protective nature. You might not think I need to say this, but I am anyway; do not listen to what he says or take any deals from him. He will make you into a monster, and do you want to have to face your daughter as a monster she might fear and detest? All it'll earn you is her hatred and resentment."

"If she lives maybe I would accept that," Midnight said in a low voice. That was any number of red flags and alarms.

Thankfully, Peridot still had no tact.

"And maybe she will kill herself just to spite you. You get to be twice the monster then. A pony that betrayed us all, and a pony that drove her own daughter to take her own life," Peridot sneered.

It looked for a moment as if Midnight was going to do far more than simply strike Peridot. The grey alicorn glared daggers at the green crystal pony. Her muscles were tense, like she was about to pounce, and her mouth was open in a way that would have put her fangs on display if she were still a thestral. It last a tense moment before Midnight's posture slumped, and Water Shadow let out a sigh of relief.

"I won't do anything that will lead my daughter to take such an action against me. I want her safe, and I won't become yet another monster she has to worry about. I just don't know what to do," Midnight said in a woeful tone. "She means everything to me, yet I have to sit here and plot out how she's going to die? Do you have any idea how horrible that is? I want nothing else to do with this discussion, or any further discussion on the subject. Give me orders, don't give me details, and promise me that you'll give her every moment of life you can give her. Beyond that I just don't want to know what is planned. I can't take knowing."

Peridot sat for a long moment staring at the alicorn, and Water Shadow wondered if the Ponymother was going to say something tactless yet again. Instead the behemoth crystal pony walked over to her descendant and pulled her into a hug. Midnight looked shocked, but after a moment returned the hug; laying her head against her grandmare and wept.

"There there." Peridot brushed Midnight's mane with one hoof, a strangely motherly gesture by the Ponymother. "I understand how you feel better than just about any pony living. Without getting into how many of my own foals and grandfoals I have had to commit to death, I've been forced with impossible choices like this one. When my sister tore down the Tree of Harmony Sunset sent Pearlwort to go deal with her. Pearl had that same impossible thing asked of her, to decide the means of death for the one pony that mattered most to her.

"That is the well enough known part of the tale, but what is left out by many is the fact I was the back up plan. If Pearl failed Sunset expected me to walk in there and kill my own sister. You have to understand, I had just lost my parents just a few years before that, and I adored my sister. For a long time before that I thought Pearl was dead too, so Biblo was all of my family at the time; and Sunset expected me to kill her for the good of all."

"I never knew about that part," Midnight said quietly as Peridot still held her.

"Do you know I'm actually jealous of you and Dove because of that? When we were again in a position that all life depended on killing one pony what did Sunset do? She ran off and protected that filly and her mother. Here I was having learned from her directly that I had to make such sacrifices and she ups and just abandons them all for that little filly. Do you know how much resentment I felt for that? Your little filly was worth sacrificing all of our lives over, but my sister wasn't worth giving a chance when the stakes with her weren't as high? It was beyond unfair, it still feels unfair, despite how it worked out. I don't know how I'm going to face Sunset when she returns without wanting to try knocking her head off like you tried with me." Peridot kept petting Midnight like her own foal, and to some extent that was true.

"So, in short, I get you, my granddaughter. It isn't fair, and it isn't right, but it isn't something we should ever be put in a position to have to be discussing when it comes to the ones we love most. I respect your choice not to be involved with any discussion of it." Peridot bent her head down and kissed Midnight on the forehead.

This wasn't the way Water Shadow expected these two to make some peace between them, but she would take it.

Dove was both relieved and horrified by what was about to come.

On the one hoof, she was about to get what she wanted; to just go home. She hated this Ocid place, and longed for the blue skies and green grass of her home. A place that wasn't full of ponies staring at her, judging her, and making her feel uncomfortable. Going back home couldn't come soon enough.

But going home was bittersweet. It was going to be just her and Quiet by themselves floor most of the time now. Her mom and aunt promised they would make time to come see them on and off, but it was going to be only for short visits. She didn't mind Quiet's company, but he was.. well, quiet. It was going to be really boring with just him around. Home wasn't home without her mother, aunt, Sunset, and Shadow. For the first time she questioned if she really wanted to go home if it meant she wasn't going to have them with her.

"Hold still, I'm going to covert that saddle bag I just gave you into a life pack," Water Shadow commanded.

Dove did as instructed. Water Shadow cast a spell and she felt a quick tingling sensation.

"Alright, one life pack made. Now to do Quiet's," the blue alicorn said before turning and walking over to Quiet. Dove still had no idea what a life pack was, but some pony would likely explain it to her. She didn't really care at the moment anyway.

"Dove, this's a computerized teaching tablet," her mother said as she brought some strange flat object over to her. "I realized that we might have not done a great job educating you about a lot of things. The power drain on this thing is extremely efficient and it would take nearly fifteen years under normal circumstances for it to need to be recharged. That's good enough for a full day over on the other side of the mirror. I'm going to program some reminders into that watch that Peridot gave you so know when you're supposed to be learning from this thing. It even teaches you how to use it itself. You can use it when it isn't scheduled as well if you get bored. I actually recommend you do just that."

The watch that her mother described was a weird thing Peridot strapped on her foreleg. It had strange little lights in odd patterns that she had explained to her were timers. The thing could even talk if she asked it a question about what the timers said, or if a timer was getting close to the time for something. It supposedly didn't come off but would adjust itself as she got bigger. Her mother had been initially annoyed with Peridot about them wearing them, but had decided it was a good idea. Maybe this thing would finally help her understand time.

All of the adults were fussing over making preparations for them. Giving them things and instructions. Saying they were going to program instructions into the watch for this and that. There was a frantic pace to it all and she could barely keep up with what was being said and done. They said it was alright if she didn't remember it all right now, the watch would remember for her. It sounded like the watch was going to be her foalsitter.

"Are you okay, my little giggle butt?" her mother asked her with a look off concern. Dove's mother didn't often ask her stupid questions, but that qualified as one. Of course she wasn't okay right now. She was trying not to cry, and she and Quiet were getting abandoned by themselves. What part of that was she supposed to be okay about?

"I'll be alright," she said in a low voice. She couldn't get her ears to perk up, so she wasn't really doing a good job at lying. She knew she wasn't supposed to lie, but she couldn't find the words to express what she was feeling, not without yelling at some pony again anyway.

Her mother looked at her like she wanted to say something, but wasn't sure what. Instead, her mother wrapped a wing around Dove and pulled her close into a tight hug. Dove wrapped her own wings around her mother and gripped tightly, eager to feel her mother's warmth. She wouldn't get this very often going forward. Her mother just wasn't going to be there.

"It isn't going to seem like you're gone for me as long as it seems to you, but it's going to still feel like an eternity. I'm sorry I'm going to miss so much. I love you more than anything; I want you to always remember that. I know you don't fully understand everything that's going on now, and I'll try to find time to visit you and explain it better. I'm going to agonize over how much I've missed between each visit. If it's a long time between visits just know I'm doing my best to try to keep you safe," her mother said. Dove could tell her mother was crying.

"The mirror is about to go light," Water Shadow announced loudly. The announcement made Dove's mother grip her tighter and let out a sob. Dove heard her aunt give out a similar sob over by Quiet.

"Sweet Pea and I'll be coming through with you two, just to make sure you're settled in right, but we can't stay too long. A few days there at most; Long enough for your estrus to pass and make sure the camp is back in order. We got Water Shadow to concede that much to us. So, we have a little more time together still, before you have to fend for yourself," her mother said as she pulled back from the hug. She gave a sad smile to Dove as she said it.

"Twenty seconds!" Water Shadow announced.

"Come on, let's get in place. We don't want to waste time once the mirror lights back up," her mother instructed, as she started walking towards they silvery rippling thing. Dove trotted up beside her mother. Happy she would get at least a little more time with her.

They stood before the massive object that was still beyond Dove's understanding and waited as Water Shadow counted down.

"Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one..damn, it seems my timing is off. It should be.." Whatever Water Shadow was going to say was cut off as the mirror flared to brightly lit once again, startling the four ponies standing right before it.

"We walk through together, now," Midnight commanded, and the four of them stepped through as one.

Lavan let out a sigh of contentment as he stepped out of the ocean upon land again. It was wet sand, and it was cold, but it was better than being submerged in water. He hated being wet, he was a creature of fire, and the ocean was one of his least favorite things. When he eventually triumphed over his fellow acolytes he would be sure to make sure every last drop of the accursed ocean was boiled away to steam.

Today was a big step towards taking his rightful position though. Soon he would be the one to kill that little pony that Grogar wanted dead and in the process remove the Mate of Shadows as competition for the final reward. He was going to savor the moment when that snide overpowered watersack realized he had defeated her. The Mare always behaved like she was so much better than him, not recognizing his innate superiority, treating him with contempt. The arrogant watersack deserved what was coming to her.

He marched up the shore, and looked out into the distance in front of him. The Dome of Ocid could just barely be made out on the horizon. When Grogar had contacted him and told him that he would be required to take a brief hiatus from his siege of the dragons to attack ponies instead he had been offended. Why should he waste his time fighting such weak little creatures. Yes, they had been a major force once upon a time when Harmony stood, but now they were a dying race hanging onto a small fraction of the territory they once governed. Then Grogar said this was all in order to make the Mare of Shadows fall into disgrace, and Lavan's opinion of the entire campaign changed instantly.

The land was largely clear around of any obstructions, which meant the march for his army to the Dome of Ocid would be done quickly. It also meant there was no hiding the fact they were coming, not that it mattered much. The only things other than flat plains he saw between the coast and the dome were the husks of old buildings abandoned long ago. It was wonderful to behold so much land with no organic life to be seen. Soon he would crush the puny pony Dome and the ponies within. Grogar only wanted him to focus on killing a single pony, but why stop there? If he killed all the ponies he would definitely kill the one. Plus he suspected Grogar was intending to raise up a replacement for the Mare of Shadows from among the ponies, it was best to just make sure that wasn't a possibility.

Behind him his army started to emerge from the sea; great stone golems, magma elementals, crystalline rippers, an army completely driven by his will with no thought of their own. It was truly perfected life without weakness, without feeling, and most of all subservient to him. Someday all the world would be nothing but such creatures, all under his control.

He marched forward towards Ocid.

Nighttide sat at the computer terminal reading through the first reports coming back from Night's Heart about the camera malfunctions. It was mixed news so far. The technicians all seemed completely stumped about why the cameras had failed. That made it impossible to actually do anything to prevent it from happening again. The positive news was doing a manual reboot of the camera seemed to get it working again fine, it would be a time consuming task to do one camera at a time, but it could have been much worse. They were installing additional surge protectors on the cameras in hopes that would help, but it didn't seem to be a power problem so that most likely was a wasted effort.

The monster attack was not doing much better on news. They had managed to find some witnesses, but the witnesses were foals and their accounts weren't very useful. They said it was a pony in armor, but every single one of them seemed to describe it so differently that it was impossible to get a good sketch of what they were dealing with. What they had narrowed down was it was strong, it definitely had some armor on, it had wings, and the thing was focused on the victim that they were still cleaning off the sides of the elevator. She had eventually been identified as one of the workers from the Bakery. An order had already gone out to foal services for her replacement; some young mare or stallion was going to be having a very bad day today.

She was about ready to get her report together now as there wasn't likely to be any new news in the next few hours. She guessed she was supposed to report to Water Shadow now since the Ponymother had stepped down. It wasn't completely clear, but that seemed to be how things were supposed to go. It had been a long day eventful day but she was glad that some progress on problems at last, even if everything wasn't resolved yet. Hopefully Water Shadow would more attentive to Nighttide's reports than Peridot had been.

As she put in a few last notes on her report a warning went up on the monitor. A dark angry red sign that was the worst kind of warning. She brought up the details quickly and her jaw dropped. She immediately after that pulled up the camera feeds from the drones and she just about pissed herself at what she saw. Whatever was going on in Night's Heart was of no further consequence at the moment, there was now something much more urgent to deal with. She took off out of the room at a full gallop with her tablet with report completely forgotten.

Ocid was about to be under siege, and not just from the undead horde. The undead horde advanced from the west and the north, an army of elementals marched from the west, and an army of Klugians marched from the south. Ocid was about to be assaulted on all sides, the undead horde as it stood would have been too much, but this was beyond comprehension. Even if Sunset Shimmer returned today Ocid stood no chance. It would take a miracle to save them now.