On the battlefield, the heavy hitters dominated the clearing and into the trees. No matter how fierce the rain or strong the winds, their combined forces went unimpeded, folding in around the Timberwolves until they had circled entirely.

Luna had made her way around to the south end, reinforced by nearly half of her Lunar Guard, driving the late-emerging Kings to the center. Celestia pushed from the east with Cadance, keeping the masses from the gorge and Luna's forces. Twilight tore through the forest with Aspen and the other half the Lunar Guard, obliterating any that tried to escape.

The northern end held the brunt of the flow. Ember controlled her cliff's edge with flame and claws while Rutherford bordered Twilight's area with his yaks, the three smashing one Timberwolf after the next with the Twilight Guard sprinkled out between them. Each guard pulled triple duty, diverting hostiles to the left, right, or center, thinning them out in the process while also guarding the humans and their wards. Benny, now holding a crowbar with Pinkie, Cerb with Fluttershy, Chris with Starlight, and Lumberman borrowing Swifty, all supported and called out targets for one another.

Thankfully, the final members of support had arrived, announced by Cutter.

"Justin! Fall back!"

Even after running the whole distance from town, Cutter showed no sign of fatigue. Drawing out her sword, she quickly filled the gap left behind by Cerb, dispatching one foe after the next, along with Ovens, unleashing flames and spells alike.

Right behind Cutter, Rarity galloped in with Iron Forge, taking the ongoing battle in as if she expected to come upon such a scene.

"For fuck's sake, Justin! What did we miss?!"

There was no doubt that Cerb was happy to see Rarity back at his side, but the haul he saw Iron Forge carrying was even better.

"Scouts found the kid's trail, but now everything's fucked!" He shouted over the chaos and stormy weather. "We can't do anything until we clean up this mess!"

Iron Forge had his eyes locked on the fighting, appearing a little uneasy about the outlook, given the bad news he was about to break.

“Many apologies, Cerberus, but we ran low on steel. The items for Princess Luna and Big Macintosh couldn’t be made with the materials provided, and that was after scraping the plans for Princess Twilight’s items. They would have required a skilled mage and other materials I’ve never worked with.”

BOOM!

All three jumped from Chris's gun going off. The sight of a flaming Timberwolf King collapsing set the stage for what they were dealing with, and Cerb went back to talking as if it was nothing of concern, even if the missing items were a letdown.

"Timberwolves cut off Aspen! Really fucked up two of his bucks! We could really use the extra help! Forge! Take the gear for Rainbow Dash and Applejack to the castle. Leave the rest for the others!"

After giving those orders, Cerb couldn't help but smile a little at Rarity levitating up a pair of dual-sided curved blades.

Becky was trying to focus on her treatment of Blackthorne. Buckskin had been patched up with gauze, a novel concept, but that seemed to do the trick. Now she grew frustrated with the same findings she reported on her new patient to Redheart.

"Contusions on the forehead… No signs of bleeding.”

Blackthorn shuttered on the makeshift observation table. There was a fair amount of pain still throbbing through his injuries, but also an uncomfortable vibe he was getting from Becky’s touch. Even all of that was mixed with a strange invisible aura emanating from her. Still, he was civil and appreciative, given the gentle touch she had.

“Thank—” He drew a blank, losing what he was going to say for a moment. “Am I supposed to thank you if I’m not bleeding? Us bucks are very tough. I’ve never even heard of one of us-”

“No history of blood-related injuries,” Becky, half annoyed, finished for him. “I know. It’s still new to everyone else here.”

As it was, the inconsistencies of ponies that had any kind of bleeding injury or simply getting roughed up was digging at Becky. In fact, remembering a bit of hunting history from Chris, deer antlers were supposed to bleed if broken. Yet, that wasn’t the case here?

Perhaps that applied to only certain breeds of deer and these bucks were something different altogether like the ponies weren't actually horses?

Maybe she was overthinking it, if not simply working on another theory with not enough information. Again she was trying to apply logic from her world to a literal magic, cartoon, pony world.

The whole interdimensional issue was not something she should be taking out on an innocent buck.

“Sorry. I was worried there could have been more serious injuries. You're very lucky."

Sitting close by, Applejack seconded that statement with a sigh of relief.

"Darn toot’n, he's lucky. I don't ever wanna go under the knife again."

There was so much to unpack with that, but another arrival was going to divert her attention. That, of course, being Iron Forge bearing gifts.

"Applejack! Rainbow Dash! I have your new gear!"

He ran up to the mares, slung the bag off his back, and finally started to catch his breath.

"Hoy! That be more than enough running fur these old knees uh' mine… might ya need any help tying up yer new… Uh… not sure what ya be calling these."

Excited to see the new items, Becky reached in the bag before Rainbow had the chance.

Given the size of the fantasy items, she could only grab one at a time, but they were just as she imagined.

"Dashie, let's get these on ya. I'm sure you're going to need them if you run into that owlbear."

In her hands, three segments of long thin blades folded out on hinges that connected them with straps.

Thanks to Rarity's measurements, the first series of blades fit perfectly over the outer edge of her wings. Starting from the alula, leading down to the primary coverts and her long primary feathers, each section of the blades providing a deadly edge to her wings.

After a few straps were buckled down in place, Rainbow extended her wing, marveling at the ease of control and flexibility she still had.

"They're so light."

"And sharp," warned Iron Forge, eying the blades cautiously. "Be mindful of what ya be cutting against as well. The steel is thin. They're liable to break if struck too hard. Had I more time-"

"Hot damn!" Applejack rejoiced, now wearing a slick pair of boots on her front hooves. "Comfy and sturdy."

Now there was a project Iron Forge was proud of.

"Aye, yes. There be some quality protection fur yer frogs. Solid steel over the soles and studded treads for maximum traction and impact, but that's not all."

Iron Forge happily reached into the bag and pulled out a dull, scratched-up red apple with his teeth. With his toothy grin, he dropped the apple, which landed with a loud tink sound, chipping away a piece of stone floor with each bounce.

Having made his point, he grinned again, knowing Applejack could tell it wasn’t really an apple.

“Thiz be the last piece we had time tuh put tugetha. That Lumberman fella must know ya well. ”

Sure enough, after Applejack took a look at the metal apple. Where the stem should have been was a metal ring big enough for her lasso to fit through.

"Ohhh, I owe Woody something extra special for this."

With all the commotion, Sniff made his way over with Bon Bon following behind.

"Thank God you made it. I've been watching the fight out there, and I'm not saying they need your help, but they could certainly use it."

Bon Bon didn't know what to think, looking at the weapons and armor the two were getting decked out in.

"You're giving the Elements weapons?!"

Kelly, walking over to help Applejack lace up her boots, shot a sneer at the inquary.

"That's a stupid question to ask in front of the only two who were either nearly killed and saved because of a few blades."

She figured that got the point across, given how she shut up and looked away. At least now Kelly could focus on the boots.

"Come here, Apples. Let's get these tightened up, so Lumberman has to help you take them off after this."

Becky gave a disgruntled sigh, seeing Rainbow wilt a little, knowing she wouldn't have anyone help her undress with a happy ending after tonight.

"Head up straight, Dash. Let's get this chest piece on you, so your wing blades don't fall off… Just keep everyone safe out there, and I'll give you a nice rub down when this is all over with."

Shining, who had little to do the whole time, trotted up to help the two get suited up.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures. When you two head out, I’ll stay back. Somepony needs to watch over these three.”

With the consideration of conserving ammunition, Benny had returned with a crowbar. However, given how everyone else was controlling the battlespace, he stepped back as support.

With the likes of Cerb and the rest possessing suitable weapons, he filled his role well. Aiding the ponies to catch the strays and control the open zones, they had met up in a circle to finish off the last few remaining Timberwolves and two Kings remaining.

All looked to be back on track, but Aster ran up with the news through the strong winds.

"Mister Benny! We found the children! "

Astonishingly, no sooner had the words left her mouth, the storm waned low to only a gentle breeze and a trickle from the clouds. Sadly, it did nothing to stop the fighting. Timberwolves still bit and lunged at any who came too close. The warriors took advantage of the favorable conditions pressing further into the fight.

All but Benny, who fell back to get the good news, or at least hoped it was good news.

"You found them?! Where are they!"

Not too far off, Celestia's Royal Canterlot Voice called out. A bright light gathered around her as she rose high over the battlefield.

"THIS FIGHT ENDS NOW!"

The light beamed down, erupting in an explosion that engulfed the remaining foes. Timber and splinters rained down in flames from the blast, removing the last of the threats that had halted their search.

Late to the fight, Rainbow and Applejack finally arrived running up in disappointment. Rainbow looked out at the battlefield. The illumination spells from Helix and the burning remains of Timberwolves left nothing hidden of the battle she missed.

“Damn it! Now I missed all the action.”

Had it not been the new pressing matter of the children, Aster might have greeted this moment with a sigh of relief. However, time was of the essence, making the information all the more pressing for her to announce.

“The children are trapped in a cave under the castle! The owlbear is with them, we need to act now!

The late night’s air was still and quiet, letting Aster’s message travel to allow nearly all who had been near, who caught the announcement. Fluttershy, of course, had great concern for possible danger, including to the owlbear.

"Oh, dear. Owlbears can be very aggressive if they feel threatened or are hungry."

The growing audience attracted the attention of the rest of the warriors who had banded together. Add in that all eyes had focused on Aster, they quickly amassed the rest on the field to receive the update.

"We have no time to waste! Down there in the gorge! Flooding has blocked the entrance to a cave where the children are trapped with the owlbear! There's already a fight taking place in there!"

Celestia knew of only one cave that had ever formed under her old castle, and only a brief glance down in the gorge showed her everything she needed to know.

"Gather the rest of the forces from the castle! Lunar Guard! Stand back and guard us in case any other Timberwolves arrive! Every creature else! Follow me!"

"Hold up!" Cerb shouted. "Twi, Luna! Iron Forge ran out of steel, but Pinkie, Flutters, Chris, and Starlight grab your goodies.”

If that was the arrangement, Swifty knew how best she could help.

“I’ll go to the castle and get the others.”

Cerb nodded, wanting to move on to wait for them in the gorge.

“Good. Now that the winds are gone, take some of the Lunar Guard with you to watch over the wounded.”

Pinkie stretched her neck to see what all had made its way over, and loved what she saw.

“That’s so cool! Me and Chris kinda match!”

Levitating in the circle of the captured children, Harmony felt an overwhelming surge of power filling her depleted reserves. Had she any lungs or living flesh in her crystal form, the rush she was experiencing would have been breathtaking.

Even still, she marveled at the strength she had gained.

"The Words... They never foretold of such potential. This is..."

Celebrating too soon, a set of strings failed to connect to Dinky, Button, and Cotton.

"What could this be?"

Harmony floated over to Dinky, feeling the strongest resistance from her. She would be the first to be investigated.

"There is something different about you, little one. What have I missed while you were out of my view?"

She took a closer look at Dinky, changing her view to see beyond that of regular sight. The flow of magic was vibrant, bolstered by emotions, tied to a source out of view. But no matter how much she changed her view, there was a dark spot.

On closer inspection, it wasn't dark. It was absent— a portion of space where her magic couldn't reach, denying her more than her influence. More than that, this new force was beyond her observation, beyond her assertion. It was almost as if it didn't exist.

Perplexingly, every strand of her magic that approached wilted or frayed as soon as it neared this anomaly. She went over to Button, then Cotton. Each had the same abnormality, blocking any string entering their conscious minds.

It was only when she changed to a lower position to examine Cotton from a different angle that she noticed the same absence of magic above her. Through the dirt, brick, stone, and mortar in the castle, the same force that had blocked her view was within reach. Then again, it wasn't the first time it had been there.

"Is this the same darkness that blinded me to The Pony of Shadows's destruction and disrupted the flow of the Everfree Forest? It appears to be the same as what has blinded me from finding the humans... I must understand this distraction before it interferes with any more of my plans."

Becky sat next to Buckskin lying on a cot. His constant leg pain had led her to reassess his limbs for fractures, or even worse, splinters. Her first look was going to be over his front left leg."

"I'm going to press up on your hoof. I want you to press down as hard as you can until it starts to hurt too much. Ready?"

The buck nodded and pressed down against her hand, easily pushing her hand away. Granted, Becky wasn't angry, far more concerned than anything else, but limited movement and physical exercise had left her with a frail frame as it was.

"Good,” She praised him. “Any breaks, and you wouldn't have been able to do that."

From the shadows of a pillar in front of them, a light slowly grew. From the light Twilight's voice calmly spoke.

"Actually, all of his legs have been shattered."

Becky looked up to see Twilight. Only this Twilight wore an unsettling smile over her crystal exterior. It didn't require Chris's superior knowledge of this world for Becky to see through the disguise.

Anger and disgust took over as Becky put her hands over Buckskin to shield him.

"You're not Twilight."

Without warning, Buckskin started shaking, screaming in pain.

“Gah! Let go! Ge-GAAHHH! GET OFF!”

Shocked, Becky jumped back, prompting Trixie to dive behind a desk while every other creature swarmed around Becky. None of it phased Harmony in the slightest, but at least Buckskin calmed down, or at least the pain subsided. One of the two.

Astonishingly, Harmony’s interest was focused on Buckskin.

“Interesting,” She calmly answered, clearly speaking to Becky, despite her line of sight. “And here I thought it was the darkness blinding me, but it was you. All of you. My chosen ten. Your powers are quite remarkable.”

For a moment, none said a word. Captivated, most held their ground, Sniff and Bon Bon slowly stepped into the wall of bodies as Harmony approached Buckskin to examine him.

“Calm and concerned, you strengthened my magic holding him together. But angered…”

Harmony’s horn glowed gently, raising an aura around Buckskin’s leg. She let it drift away like smoke in a soft breeze. Where the aura left, snaps and pops cracked out.

Buckskin screamed in agony as the bone’s invisible fractures showed themselves, popping out of place and jutting free from the skin splitting open.

So caught up in the new discovery, Harmony was paying no mind to her surroundings, leaving her open to Blackthorne launching himself, antlers first.

“GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

Blackthorne crashed against Harmony, shattering what remained of his horns.

Unimpressed, and even less threatened, Harmony stood unaffected, letting the buck crumple to the floor.

"It was merely a demonstration. Without my magic, those wounds can be unbearably painful."

Novo jumped into action, a gaint pearl in one set of talons next to Shining. Both attacked with bolts of magic. Loud buzzes from the light streams of magic yielded no negative reaction from Harmony.

It was like a game to her, and she smiled hauntingly at the ineffective attacks until they phased out, leaving no trace of damage.

"Oh, my. I can only surmise that Celestia has told you of our little dispute. It was foolish of me to trust her, as it seems Discord had told her of my involvement with her choices over the years. Now she has no trust in me. You must all understand that what I'm doing is for the best."

Becky rushed over to Buckskin, twirling as much gauze around his bloody leg as fast as she could. She couldn't hold back her anger, despite how much discomfort it added to Buckskin.

“You fucking psycho! What have you done?!”

Still standing confidently, Harmony tilted her head while looking over Becky. Now this close, she could see the strings of magic reacting differently around this human. The source of her blindness finally coming into view, confusing her to a disheartening degree.

“You… You are not from beyond the mirror? What are you? How do you know that word?”

A clattering of hooves and wings clopped and flapped into the throne room. Swifty had returned a platoon of Lunar Guards just in time to see the worst possible outcome.

“Peter! Get away from her!”

Emotions were running high, every creature pulling back and circling Harmony. None had any reason to think they stood a chance against this entity, but Sniff stepped forward.

She was like nothing Sniff had heard about his entire time here, and if they couldn’t fight her, then perhaps he could talk her down?

Swifty dove down in front of Sniff, wings splayed out tall and wide to hold him back. Her halberd ready to strike.

If this Harmony Twilight was anything like The Pony of Shadows, if not significantly more powerful, Sniff didn’t trust the current roster around him to take her down. At the very least, he thought he could buy them some time with his charm.

“Woah!” He called out, pushing his way past Swifty. “Hold on! This is probably just a big misunderstanding. Clearly, we’re not on the same page. And Harmony, we know about the mirror, but that’s not the world where we come from. Do you know who brought us here? It only looked like Trixie’s spell brought us here, but someone else was involved. Right, Trixie!”

Foolishly, Sniff stood too close to Harmony to separate her from the others. There, the inner workings of what held his existence together were now vividly displayed for the Harmony construct. The uniformity that threatened her existence wiped away her smile, replacing it with a look of utter terror.

“ORDER?!”

There was more than Order she could see. Other forms of magic had latched their strings to him, only more uniform, no longer free-roaming.

The mare standing behind him? The strings of her most inner workings were the same as the human, and his to her?

It was an unholy reformation that defied all logic and comprehension of magic and a living creature, even if the unthinkable could have happened. In fact, as Swifty moved to the side for a better view, the Order that had blinded her was coursing through this mare, allowing repressed functions to operate freely.

“What have you done with my ponies?!” Harmony’s voice rose, prejudice betraying her prior kindess. “Their magic! Their essence! Their bodies! You’ve corrupted them!”

Unfamiliar with the effects of this new danger, Harmony extended her crystal wings out to push Sniff away.

Swifty raised her weapon, already stepping in to block Harmony, but Sniff held out his hand, and huff of anger to hold her back.

“Wait!”

Unprotected, the thin crystal feathers were like daggers, piercing into his thighs and abdomen.

“Fuah!” Sniff yelped, stumbling back, collapsing into Swifty’s wings. “FUCK! SHE FUCKING STABBED ME! WHAT THE FUCK?! FUAH~!”

Kelly watched in horror. Harmony’s attack, her clear aggression from the many mares Sniff had seduced, his tumble, and the blood Swifty and Becky tried to stop from leaving his wounds.

This wasn’t like the farm, and Kelly wasn’t going to treat it as such.

Spike, seeing the blood, was frozen in place. His mentor struck down, bleeding and screaming. Visions and memories of Applejack came flooding back to him. It was happening all over again. Only this time, he was stuck in the middle of it.

The blood was still dripping from the frantic construct’s crumbling wings; she tried to shake free of the crimson, ignoring the Lunar Guards gathering around her. The others pulling Sniff and Buckskin away were of no concern. Right now, only the blood was.

“Heathens! Vile creatures! Corrupters! You’re not my chosen! You must be eradicated!”

Before she could shake free the blood eating away at her wings, she was tackled from behind, taken to the stone floor with a clank. She grunted on impact, never feeling… Was it pain? She hadn’t made her construct to feel pain? Was it possible? Something overriding the function of this vessel?

“GAH!”

Her mane was yanked back, exposing her neck, raising her eyes to see the other human female straddling her back.

Harmony’s mane in one hand, a butcher knife in the other, and every ounce of body weight holding Harmony’s wings and belly down to the ground, Kelly holding nothing back as she began stabbing and cursing the fake Twilight.

“HOW DO YOU LIKE IT, BITCH! YOU MOTHER FUCKER!”

The blade dug in like an ice pick, chipping away at her back and neck, gouging out her shoulder.

Harmony experienced something new, unpleasant, alarming, making her panic.

It was pain. The why and how she could feel it didn’t matter at the moment. Each stab delivered maddening, excruciating agony.

The last one diving deep under her right eye where the knife became stuck.

This human had to be removed, and with one violent buck of her rear legs, there was enough leverage moved for her to slip out, forcing Kelly to launch forward without the knife into a swarm of Lunar Guards to shield her.

Harmony made it to all fours and jumped back. The pain made her body react on its own. First, with her right wing trying to bat the knife away, only to have the blade sever every feather that crossed the metal edge.

It was a terrible move, making her fall while trying to correct herself. She was so far off balance that she landed face first, cracking her upper jaw open further with chunks of her face shattering off.

Standing up again, the knife finally fell free, relieving much of Harmony’s pain, though not nearly enough. A crack spidered down her right leg from the gouge missing in her shoulder, cracking and whining as it spread further. Much of her neck and chest was a mutilated mess of jagged pieces of violet crystal, much like the right side of her face, split open to expose more of the inner crystal.

Harmony maintained much of her composure despite the damages she had taken, still speaking clearly regardless of her condition. Then she noticed Trixie peaking out from behind her pillar.

"I see now. It was sabotage. From even before the beginning, an interloper has been trying to ruin my plans.”

While others played defense, Redheart did her best to hold pressure over Sniff's abdomen. These wounds were potentially life-threatening, but she needed Becky's help.

“I’m not as familiar with the abdominal tract. How bad is this?!

Swifty was frantically trying to follow Becky's instructions, but no matter how hard she pressed, Sniff continued to bleed, groaning like a howling like a wounded animal.

"Peter," her voice cracked in panic. "This is all my fault. I should have stopped her."

Becky was fumbling with her hands, losing control of her breathing. Not out of fear for herself, but from the blood loss she couldn't control in front of her. The fear was enough that she was feeling woozy again. All of that while trying not to let the others freak out around her.

"Spike! Look away! Swifty, we need to get him back to the hospital. I don’t know if I can stop the bleeding."

That was not an acceptable option for Harmony, now that she knew what these humans held within them and what it would mean if they remained.

"You're not going anywhere."

Crystal vines shot around every exit, blocking any attempt at escape. No sword or blast of magic could even crack the diamond-like structures from the likes of Shining or Novo, ensuring Harmony could secure what she needed from them.

Of all those present, King Abyssinia was the first to lunge at their captor, his claws extended and eyes glowing bright with a rarely seen flash of magic.

Robotically, Harmony raised her wing, halting the brave King in a telekinetic hold.

He wasn't the only one brave in the room, as three Lunar Guards kept hidden from the shadows, striking Harmony with sword and spear.

A single flack of crystal fell from her damaged wing, which wasn't where any of them had landed a blow.

"None of you will be leaving either."

In a callous downward flap of her wing, she threw the king to the floor with a hollow thud, and the guard ponies launched off into tables and pillars away from her.

Queen Abyssinia drew a dagger from her hip and hissed.

"You monster!"

Before she could move, Shining stepped in front of her, halting her attack.

"Don't! She's too dangerous to attack head-on."

Still on the floor, Sniff was down for the count, but he had seen enough to make a game-changing revelation. Something to help buy Becky and her failing hands on the pistol some time.

To his left, he could see Kelly huddled behind the guards. She held a bloody hand over her nose, likely an injury from having been thrown off of Harmony. It was a frightening reminder that these girls weren’t the fighting types. Not to the extent of the other guys off fighting the Timberwolves at least.

At the same time, he was no fighter, his underdeveloped instincts had led him to this bloody mess. Fear pushed him to keep others from fighting, now over taking him as his senses were leaving him before he could hope to explain everything.

In a failing voice, he softly spoke as he pulled the blade of Swifty’s halberd over his bloody shirt, quivering, visibly frightened. His hand held tight over the edges, and his voice shaking, he let the blade cut into his fingers.

"Becky… I need you to calm down, steady your hands. You're not gonna hit shit shaking like that. Swifty, this was my fault, but I need you to trust me and fight her."

The request seemed to come out of nowhere, leaving Swifty floored.

“What! Peter! I can’t fight that thing! We need to get—”

Swifty froze, staring into Sniff’s eyes. They were empty, gazing into nothing, instilling the fear of the worst possible outcome.

“Peter? Peter, look at me!” She begged.

Becky felt Sniff’s body go limp and checked his pulse.

“This is just like with Kelly. He’s just unconscious, but he’s going to bleed out!”

Terrified, Spike dropped to his knees, taking Peter’s hand into his claws. This was just as Sniff had warned him of days ago. Being helpless to stop the pain, wanting to say that everything was fine, despite the painful truth bleeding out in front of him.

“Peter,” his voice trembled. “You’re going to be okay. That’s why I’m going to stay with you. I’m not going to look away because you’re going to be fine.”

Standing in the center of it all, Harmony smiled, one side of her face cracking as she did so.

"This is why you're not my chosen. Beyond the mirror are humans that can be embraced by magic. They’re simpler, kind creatures. They can be made to understand how important the power of friendship is.”

Suddenly, Harmony cringed, clutching her chest with her crystal hoof.

In front of her, Swifty was boiling with rage, slowly picking up her halberd and turning back to Harmony.

“Simpler?” She growled. “You might be right about that. But kinder? Understanding the importance of how powerful friendship is?”

She aimed her blade and the struggling construct in front of her. The audacity of it to insult the qualities of her new friends, especially Sniff.

“These humans may be complicated. Frustratingly so at times, but they are the most kindest, sweetest, devoted friends I’ve ever met in my life. They give more than they take. They risk their lives for strangers. They even forgive those who hurt them. They share more of themselves than we could ever hope to repay them with! But you… YOU!"

Harmony turned her head with a curious empty smile, now shaking off the previous discomfort.

"Perhaps they are impressive in their own right, just like you. I've never seen a creature so unimportant to The Words stand up to me so bravely. Even if you were gifted with my light, you are of little significance, just like the other Deviations. I'd take away my other blessings that made you stronger, but it appears you have already lost them. Now you can die with your friends. Then I'll start over again and no pony will know who you were. Or maybe I'll let them only remember that you're gone. It's a very common fate for ponies to disappear and no pony remembers why or how they met their end. My magic is very good at removing pain so my ponies can focus on staying happy."

That was the last insult, drawing Swifty into her stance, ready to strike. Sniff’s blood dripping from the long blade of halberd held firmly in her wing, she was ready to end this monstrosity.

"Fuck your power! Peter makes me stronger! And the only thing anypony will forget is why we ever gave a shit about you!”

Pushed to the limit, Swifty lunged forward, holding nothing back.

Harmony, again, raised her wing, extending her power to capture the raging Twilight Guard in her enchanted hold. Her confidence was unbridled at the notion of a lowly pegasus attacking her.

“What power could-hulk!”

The magic holding on Swifty broke, slowing her advance but the halberd came down on Harmony’s wing.

The bloody blade sliced through Harmony’s wing with ease, crashing down and shattering the stone underneath. Her defenses had been overtaken with an ease no entity should have been able to, forcing in a morally weakening sensation of impending danger, compelling her to retreat from the enraged guard.

“RAH!” Swifty screamed her war cry, ripping her weapon free from the floor. “THIS POWER!”

Fueled by rage and adrenaline, Swifty continued her charge forward, thrusting the spike of her halberd in Harmony’s throat, piercing it through the back of her neck and driving the frantic crystal construct back.

Quickly joining the action, Octavia dove in, wrapping her forelimbs around Harmony’s legs.

“Vinyl! Help!”

Still struggling, Harmony tried to push off the wall, but a blue aura crashed against as Vinyl slid in from the other side, her horn glowing, holding what remained of Harmony’s wings to the wall.

“Stop moving, bitch!”

For one final measure of protection, a translucent blue shield slammed against Harmony’s chest.

Clang!

Shining marched up with his head held high and a vile scorn across his face.

“That’s enough, Harmony. You better start talking, and you better tell us no lies. My friends here are very good at getting to the truth.”

With Harmony firmly under control, Swifty pushed her halberd in a little deeper and raised the spike to cut further into her neck.

"WE FOUND THE KIDS UNDER THE CASTLE! YOU TOOK THEM DIDN'T YOU?! DID YOU SEND THE OWLBEAR, TOO?! WHY?!" She beared down with her stare, ready to end the entity that wounded her man. “And if Peter doesn’t make it out of this-”

With a clink of the spike being driven up into the wall, Harmony found herself unable to free herself, but not unable to talk, despite the constraints.

So, talk she did, and frighteningly calmly at that.

"The children were to be new carriers for the Elements of Harmony. But the human's arrival altered their path. I had to summon them sooner than The Words instructed. I couldn't control the owlbear after sending the beast after the children. He was only supposed to scare them. The four others foals were another anomaly. However, having a connection to the new bearers, they have been useful in the end."

Thinking Harmony was under control, Becky laid Sniff down in Novo's care, unable, or willing to try and remove Spike again. Not when she couldn’t afford to have the young drake remove his claws over the punctures in Sniff’s abdomen.

“Keep the pressure on his wounds.” She turned her head to the guards. “Someone get those fucking doors open!”

There were a lot of questions Becky needed answered, face to face, with this once symbol of good, and she stormed her way up to get them.

"Why would you do this? Why take the kids and not ask us for help, or have you always been evil? And what did you mean by other Deviations?”

Harmony tilted her head slightly, taking another look at the human standing in front of her. Something was off, made more apparent by re-examining Kelly on the approach with her knife in hand again.

“The Words foretold of how the world needs to be to ensure all would not be lost. Uniting all creatures under Twilight Sparkle’s reign would ensure the flow of Harmony would allow me to protect our realm from destruction. However, it was unclear which worlds would survive away from the original source, if it were possible to tell the difference.”

Harmony tried to move, gathering magic into her horn, but Swifty pushed her blade in deeper, digging the blade into her further cracking neck. Below her waist, Octavia wrenched her grip around her legs, causing pressure fractures around the crystal joints. Even Vinyl’s unexpectedly strong magic born down tighter, turning much of her wings into tiny specks and flakes.

Pain and the fluctuation of her magic canceling out any form of resistance left her trapped for the time being, but Swifty wasn’t satisfied.

“Let me kill her! I don’t care what the consequences are!”

Tempting, but Becky laid a hand on Swifty’s shoulder, unsure if they could ever have a better source of information.

“Not yet. Let her talk.”

So, if even only to buy her more time, she would divulge a little more information.

After all, she was learning about her new obstacles every moment she examined them.

“If nothing had altered the course I had set by The Words, peace, and prosperity would last this world to face all future challenges. However, a message was sent to me from beyond the mirrors. A vision from another reality, a reflection of yet another reflection. It warned that a world of darkness was coming sooner than The Words could protect this world from. Humans were the key, and I was to deliver the chosen ten to ward off the Darkness that would swallow this world into the void.”

If only it were that simple.

“Ten humans who lost their passions, had their hearts narrowed but were still devoted to each other. They would solve the problem and rid us of the darkness. Once completed, I would send them back, erase their influence, and return this world to how it was before they arrived to continue what The Words instructed.”

For a moment, Harmony thought she felt a pull from her core. It wasn’t from pain, but more of an instinct to breathe. Something that wasn’t possible, frustrating her further.

“The Deviations, however, are a problem that exists as a consequence from implementing The Words. They only foretell specific moments in time. Events that must occur to reach our perfect end, but it is upon me to interpret them to cause their passing, and not all paths are perfect. Such as Swift Sails’ unique ability to alter air pressures. There are others like her with abilities that would set her apart like Twilight and the rest of the Elements. So long as they adhere to my influence and remain insignificant, they will not alter the path and are allowed to live… Not unlike yourself. Your time is limited, it would seem.”

For that uncouth comment, Kelly took hold of Harmony’s right foreleg, pulled and twisted it back until it cracked before putting the knife under the construct’s jaw. To add further insult, she spat her bloody spit in Harmony’s face.

“The fuck do you know?! Becky’s gonna be just fine!”

Kelly’s hand was delivering unfathomable pain to Harmony, just like the blood eating away at her face and the blade burning away all that it cut into. Along with the pain, fear crept its way over her.

All of it was too much to bear, and she began to say whatever it took to grant her release.

“Every creature creates an aura-Err… Every sensation, emotion, and bodily function alters what the aura generates. Just as I said before. The ability to strengthen through positive emotions or break down magic if angered. It’s all influenced by your auras, even if you are tainted by Order. Now let go!”

Becky extended her left hand against Kelly, silently convincing her to step back so she could ask another question.

Instead, Shining forced himself into the mix, mad as hell over the claim of Becky’s condition.

“What are you not telling us! How do you know she’s dying?!”

Harmony had her fill for now, but she felt oddly compelled to gloat, and grinned with her response.

“Every motion. Every thought. Every effort a body puts forth to sustain itself generates a powerful pulse of aura… But yours is fractured, sending a mixed and incomplete pulse. Binding with other strings of magic even when yours should be strong, because the paths needed for energy to produce the aura from your body are shutting down. That only happens here when a body can no longer support itself. When I allow it to stop.”

After all the pain and insolence Harmony had suffered, a sense of sick joy rose up inside. It was unlike soft expressions she learned over the millennials of observation of others. This was genuine, and for once, even if half of her face was missing, her smile was complete.

“I never fully understood pain until this encounter, so I must thank all of you for this lesson."

A flash of light erupted from Harmony’s horn, bursting throughout the throne room and out the walls.

The blast of light made everyone recoil, all of them blinded in the process. It was over in an instant, inspiring Becky to draw her pistol and hold it to Harmony’s head.

"What was that?!"

Harmony held her smile, still gloating, proud of herself.

"This form is useless to me. It feels pain, just like every creature will now as well because of you."

Horrendous screams erupted behind them. First from Buckskin, then Blackthorne, followed by the Lunar Guards who attacked Harmony.

Becky turned to see the same aura rising off of Buckskin’s leg moments ago, now escaping from every creature in the throne room, save Swifty, Octavia, and Vinyl, mysteriously enough. All of them were scrambling to fight off whatever was attacking them, pulling the aura away from them through the floor. Even those who hadn’t been injured were reacting in a panic.

Then it was clear what was happening when Blackthrone stumbled, clutching his bleeding head and horns, eye, and nose. Even King Abyssinia clutched his maw, blood spilling out from his mouth.

Harmony removed her protection from all of them. What’s more, she was pleased with the results.

“Now do you see? It is only through my influence that the creatures of this world are protected from pain, suffering and anguish? All things you have brought back to this world and will continue if you remain. Your very presence is a blight upon this once peaceful and joyous world I have spent eons working to maintain.”

Harmony’s voice grew louder, managing to drown out the screams of her subjects.

“I know now that you will risk your lives for strangers and forgive those who hurt you. Will you give up your lives to save your friends? I won’t ask you to forgive me, only understand that I’m doing what is needed to save this world.”

The screams were the sounds of nightmares. Friends and allies were suffering, bleeding, facing death at the whims of a psychopath trying to bargain against their lives.

Becky’s answer was simple, one she provided while staring Harmony straight in the eyes.

BANG!

At the drop of the hammer, what remained of Harmony’s head shattered. Her neck split open around the spike impaling her to the wall, letting her body drop to the floor where Octavia scampered away.

Just to be clear, Becky reasserted her position.

“Fuck your deal and fuck you, too.”

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Becky put three more bullets in the lifeless crystal form, rendering its remains to fragments of its former self. Motionless, lifeless, broken pieces of what used to be the mother of this world’s strongest weapon.

Everyone’s ears were ringing, but time was never more precious than it was now for Becky and the others.

“Swifty! Break down those Crystals! We need to get Peter and the other wounded out of here now! With or without the kids!”

Already at the throne room door, Rainbow was flying back and forth trying to find a way in.

“What the fuck! What’s going on in there?! We heard gunshots! Where did the vines come from?!”

Fluttering back for a moment, Rainbow spun in midair, letting her wing blades cut through a straight line of the vines blocking her path.

From the other side, Swifty swung her halberd down in an arc, clearing enough to open the path.

“It’s Harmony! She attacked Peter! Help us!”

The last of the new gifts from Iron Forge was dispensed. Mostly it was added armor. Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Starlight all were given Lunar Guard helmets, chest plates, and boots coated with the provided steel. The only differences were Fluttershy had hooks for grappling, Pinkie's had spikes for traction, and Starlight’s had blades fitted to the hooved sections in case any creature got too close.

Given the shortage of steel, Twilight, Luna, and Big mac had to go without any upgrades, but showed no signs of disappointment, given their prior track records. That and everyone was too focused on finding a way inside, proven difficult by Midnight’s new discovery.

“The wall is too thick to break through and will cause more flooding before we could even get in. We were making progress, but there’s something we can’t cut through with the logs. It’s also gone quiet inside. We might be too late.”

Twilight fluttered above the flooded entrance. If something was in the way, she was going to expose it.

“Everyone stand back!”

Using her extensive knowledge of magic, she created a whirlpool. It started to swirl violently in a small funnel, then expanded, leaving the entrance and stairs leading down fully exposed. Holding the spell would have been a nuisance to maintain, so as the wall of water grew tall and out of the way, she turned and reverted to a once trivial party trick.

She took a deep breath, channeling her magic into an icy wind she blew to create walls of ice to hold the water back. After another illumination spell from Helix, what lay exposed turned out to be crystal vines that had intertwined in the logs blocking their path.

“Harmony,” Celestia hushed with resentment under her breath.

Midnight flew back to where he had attempted to dig his way in earlier and stabbed his spear at one of the vines with all he had.

Tink!

The blade of his spear snapped in half, flickering off, lost in the debris under him.

“No good, Princess. What should we do?”

Not all the information was clear on what they were dealing with, but Cerb wasn’t about to put the theory of his steel to bed.

“Let me try.”

Cerb walked up to the pile of logs, somehow almost as tall as him, drew back his ax, and swung down on the first vine in reach.

Shink!

His ax broke through the vine with ease, having more trouble with the logs and sticks resisting his blade underneath. At the very least, they would have a way in.

“Lumberman! Everypony else with Earth Steel, focus on the vines! Everyone else, move the remaining logs!”

Lumberman pulled the cord on the chainsaw and went to work with little to no resistance cutting his way in.

Everyone else went to work pulling back logs and vines as they fell loose. All was going well until a bright light flashed out from the castle.

Worried they were under attack, Lumberman jumped back from the woodpile, holding the chainsaw up and ready for something to jump out at them.

“What the fuck was that?!”

All around them, bat ponies, Ember, Aspen, Gilda, Guff, and all three yaks recoiled and swatted at an unseen force drawing away an aura from their bodies. Then the screaming began.

“AHH! My wing!”

“Gah! What’s wrong with my hoof!”

“Buh-buh-BLOOD! I’m BLEEDING!”

The Lunar Guard were dropping like flies, falling to the mud with injuries that appeared out of nowhere. Their cries of urgency filled the air, throwing the rest in disarray, searching for their invisible enemy.

Luna dashed over to the nearest guard, hunkering down to address his wounds.

“What happened? Where does it hurt?”

The bat pony pulled his hoof away from his face, trickles of blood dripping freely from four missing stripes of fur on his jaw.

“I’m not sure. I was with Twilight in the forest. One of the Timberwolves clawed me, but I was fine until now... Wuh… What’s happening? Am I dying?”

BANG!

A gunshot from inside the castle rang out, alerting everyone that the fight had moved on without them, and Twilight feared the worse.

“Peter!”

In a flash of light, Twilight flashed out of view, only to flash back, falling flat on her ass.

“Gah! There’s a barrier blocking my teleportation!”

BANG! BANG! BANG!

If teleportation was out, the next best thing was speed, and Rainbow was ready.

“Get the kids! I’ll check out the castle!”

In an instant, Rainbow was gone, but there were new wounded to deal with. Not only that, their battle formation was in shambles, and now there were two fronts they would have to divide the remaining forces up against. One to push forward, and one to head back into the castle.

… or would they?

“Princess Celestia,” Harmony’s voice warmly greeted her guests, emanating from the crystal wall. “How kind of you to return so quickly. We have much to discuss.”

The remaining vines in the debris retracted, pulling the blockage away from any brave or foolish enough to enter.

While still new to the villains of this world, Cerb knew what it was like to walk into an ambush.

“You know this is a trap, right?”

Celestia marched up along Cerb’s right side, eyeing the entrance with trepidation as well as much as she detested what awaits them inside.

“No doubt, but what choice do we have?”

Aspen stumbled up to Cerb’s left, now showing signs of the wear from his fight earlier.

“What sort of sorcery is this? My body feels as if I’ve been rolled through a landslide.”

A flash of light in front of them made the three jump back, but the sight of Shining having teleported in, eased their worries, at least until the urgency in his voice was heard.

“Justin! We need the vehicles! It’s an emergency!”

As everyone gathered around, a mass of fluttering wings alerted them to a mass of bat ponies swarming down, surrounding Novo and her generals.

Rainbow called out, grief and worry rich in her voice, landing in front of Twilight and thrusting her forehooves over her friend’s shoulders, darting her eyes back and forth between Twilight and Ovens. However, her eyes betrayed her for what she was about to say.

“Twilight. Ovens. I need you both to stay calm. Everything is going to be fine. Becky has everything under control.”

“Fine?” Twilight asked, as if in denial, as if she already knew what was wrong. “What’s fine? What happened?”

Ovens shoved her way between the two, demanding answers.

“What happened up there?! Where’s Peter!”

The next one to make it to the ground was Swifty, accompanied by her platoon of Lunar Guard that helped carry Kelly down, who was freaking out. As one could imagine, the blood covering Kelly’s hands, face, and shirt did nothing to ease their concerns.

“Justin! She got Peter! That crazy fucking crystal bitch stabbed him! We need to go!”

Becky landed next, not giving a moment to let the others digest what Kelly was trying to explain. However, she at least managed to keep somewhat calm as she addressed the rest, her hands and clothes covered in blood as well.

“We need to get out of here. Keep whoever you need back to find the kids, but we might not have a lot of time.”

Lastly, Novo landed with Sniff laying limply in her shaking limbs.

“Twilight… Peter tried to negotiate with Harmony-”

“PETER!” Twilight and Ovens shouted together, rushing over and knocking every guard out of their way.

Everyone quickly huddled around the scene. A cold chill washed over the group, along with the sense of doom and death walking over their skin. It was from the burning rage emanating from the other humans taking in the sight, the pain of remorse, and depths of hopelessness.

Among the mixed emotions, gasps and quiet utterings of observations drifted in from all directions, but it was Kelly who wasted no time to answer the burning question through her soft sobs.

“Harmony appeared out of nowhere, going off about how she couldn’t see us until now and the Order stuff. Then she started torturing Buckskin and Peter tried to reason with her, that we needed to talk things out.”

Remembering the scene, she realized what Sniff’s foolish move to keep Swifty away had actually done. It didn’t make the situation better, actually making his condition all the more tragic.

“She freaked out when he got too close and realized we weren’t the ones she wanted brought here. Swifty tried to protect him… But if he didn’t push her away… Harmony’s wings were like daggers… He fucking saved her life… but he’s… It’s just like what happened to me.”

“Becky!” One of the bat ponies called out behind the crowd. “It’s Buckskin! Something’s happened?!”

Despite the pain, Aspen pushed his way through the crowd to the sound of the alarm. What he saw left his heart dropping into his stomach.

Buckskin, strapped into the cot he was flown down in, lay in bloody bandages that had covered nearly his entire body and mangled legs bound to stents. Even Blackthorn’s face had been hastily bandaged, but it was Becky frantically working to examine the fallen buck that had his attention.

“He’s not responding. God damnit! He just went into shock. We can’t move him now."

Perfectly bad timing for Iron Forge, Bon Bon, Trixie, Octavia, Vinyl, and Redheart managed to make their way down with King and Queen Abyssinia. It didn’t matter who heard what at this point, and Becky wasted no time issuing her new orders pointing at the bat pony carriers.

"All of you, keep his legs elevated and cover him up as best you can to keep him warm. Red, monitor his vitals. If his heart starts to drop or he stops breathing, we'll have no choice but to move him again… Goddamnit. We should have kept them both up there."

Aspen was enraged, a new surge of magic pooling up into his antlers towards this new creature he believed injured his buck.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!"

Becky snapped her head back at the prince, with just as fierce of a glare and venom on her tongue.

"It was Harmony! She had some spell on him to keep his legs from breaking apart and then took all of it away. She did it to everyone up there! Then Swifty pinned her to the fucking wall and I put a bullet in her head. She took the kids! She tried to kill us! She! Did this!"

It was at this time the same bat pony from earlier with Luna stepped in. The gashes on his jawline still bleeding, his eyes showing as much restraint to resist the obvious pain he was in. The sight alone let Becky know how far the dispel had traveled.

"Oh no… She did it to everyone."

From the crystal barrier, Harmony called out to mock the fallen and lure the rest in.

"Do you finally understand now? All this suffering, all this pain. They are all such fragile creatures without me. They don't need you here. They need me. Bring them closer and I will set everything right."

Kelly stumbled back, latching onto Big Mac and pulling Luna close to her, terrified to hear that voice again. Even while wrapped in Luna’s wing, she couldn’t help but feel shaken.

"How the fuck? We killed you!"

Twilight was overtaken by grief, rage, lost to why things had ended up like this. Holding Sniff against her, feeling only the heat from his wounds leaking over her, not the warmth he once brought her. Then, a gentle hoof on her shoulder, followed by a comforting embrace of two familiar forelegs and wings of a mare sobbing with her.

“It should have been me, Twilight… I’m so sorry. Peter was so angry that I tried to stop him. I wasn’t strong enough… It’s all my fault. We couldn’t even stop Harmony… Peter trusted me to stop her but I couldn’t.”

Twilight wanted to lash out at Swifty. Sniff’s protection had been entrusted to this guard. Even the sight of the bloody halberd pushed her to blame Sniff’s condition on her. However, after hearing Kelly’s story, Swifty’s confession, and knowing how human emotions worked, her vengeance was refocused.

“No… Peter would have never allowed you to get hurt if he could have stopped it. This isn’t your fault.”

It was clear what had to be done. Even if all the facts were scrambled together so the truth couldn’t be understood, there was enough Twilight believed that she could move forward with, leaving Spike and Swifty to guard Sniff in her absence.

As she turned to address those around her, arctic chills spread over the group, the air crackling with ice crystals forming around them as Twilight spoke.

“Harmony has betrayed us! Manipulated Celestia. Who knows what else she’s done?! But no creature is safe if we let her get away with any of this!”

Celestia, unable to hold back her emotions any longer, began to glow drawing power from her crown. Matching the chills from Twilight with her radiating heat hotter as she approached the entrance, she was not going to let any of this go unpunished.

“All of my mistakes… Luna… The wars… My insecurities… Dreams ruined. Countless innocence hurt. Lost. Kelly… Now Peter.”

Giving no warning, she unleashed a beam from her horn, blasting away as much of the entrance to walk in unfettered, then raised her head high to give her command.

“IF YOU ARE NOT HERE ON MY ORDERS OR WITH THE TWILIGHT GUARD! FALL BACK AND TEND TO THE WOUNDED! EVERY CREATURE ELSE WHO PASSES THIS THRESHOLD! LETHAL FORCE IS AUTHORIZED FOR ANY CREATURE THAT AIDS HARMONY OR ANY FORCE IN HER ALLEGIANCE! UNDERSTOOD!”

Becky stood up to join the others, but Redheart reached out, taking Becky’s wrist in her fetlock to stop her.

“Wait! What about-”

Undeterred, Becky turned her attention back to Redheart with no qualms about her choice.

“Peter is stable. She missed his vitals, but that bitch can appear out of nowhere. If we don’t stop her now, there’s no telling what she’ll throw at us trying to get out of here.”

Again, Redheart tried to plead for a reason.

“We can’t keep them here. They need to be in a hospita-

“I know!” Becky snapped, holding back just enough to not rip her hand away. “We can’t move Buckskin as he is now, and we can’t teleport Peter without you watching over both of them. And if any more of us get injured in there, what then? More Timberwolves? Another Owlbear sent after us like she did for the kids in there?”

Chris stepped in, tears welling up, unable to hurt of seeing his friend like this or the anger he was trying to hold back.

“Let her go. Either Harmony surrenders in there, or we kill her and go home together. Whoever gets separated will be easy targets to pick off.”

It was too much for Cerb to take another look at, choosing to head towards the source of their problem instead.

“They’re right, Red. The bumpy road back might rip him open even worse. And if Harmony can appear out of nowhere and control the animals out there, then every inch of that fucking forest is an ambush waiting to happen.”

Overruled, and out-rationaled, Redheart let go and watched the mix of allies, new and old, march towards the cave together.

Carefully trotting into the center, Twilight spotted Trixie joining them, which seemed out of character for her.

“Trixie, this isn’t your fight anymore. Stay back with the others.”

After everything Trixie had seen, whether in her dreams or even only moments ago, she stayed the path.

“No. I’m partially to blame for this. And after what I saw up there, what happened to Peter is also my fault.”

Twilight snapped her gaze to Trixie, not taking the excuse lightly.

“What? No. I’m not blaming anypony but Harmony. What could you have possibly done.”

There was a lot implied by that comment, none of it stopping Trixie who tried again to apologize.

“Discord told me that humans made ponies weaker, not stronger. But every time it’s different. That Swifty pony proved that much. I can help. Please, Twilight. Trust me.”

It seemed pointless to try and stop Trixie, so Twilight rolled her eyes and continued on.

“You haven’t been with the humans like we have, Trixie. Just try not to get in our way. Harmony is ours.”

Marching alongside her, Ovens stifled a sob, having to swallow it, letting out what was left as a steady flow of flames from her nose.

“If that bitch thinks she can take Peter away from us, she’s in for a fiery world of hurt before she dies.”

Swooping in next to Ovens, Cutter took her place next to her grieving daughter, more than ready to take on their fight, side by side.

“Don’t think for a second that I’m standing down from this fight, girls. This is a family matter, now.”

Not far behind Twilight, on the way, Rutherford nudged Vogt towards the wounded, though he was clearly struggling to hold back his emotions like Chris had.

“You stay. Wounded need strong yak to stay behind. No more blood on friends.”

Vogt nodded with a strong huff and took his position to stand guard in front of Sniff, the bucks, and the growing number of bat ponies no longer fit for combat.

At the same time, Gruff, coming up just behind Gilda, took her tail in his talons and pulled her back.

“Not you, missy. Stay with the wounded.”

Gilda nearly choked at the gall this old bird had to order her at a time like this.

“Excuse me?!” She barked, noticing the limp Gruff was attempting to walk off with. “After the train wreck they just flew down to us, you expect me to let you hobble off into that cave?”

Gruff came to a stop and turned himself around to square up with Gilda, just as crotchety as ever.

“Every single one of them marching in there knows its life or death. I get that. I’ve been there, you haven’t. But when Gallus comes out of that cave, if not all of us are there with him, he’s gonna need some griffon to take care of him. You still wanna trade places and have me flying around trying to cover all these creatures who can’t even move and risk you not coming out?”

Gilda was shocked, unable to reply or even react to Gruff reaching into her satchel to pull out half a dozen bolts, forcing them in her claws, then tapping them against her chest.

“Don’t keep all yer bolts in one place. Because if you lose your satchel in a real fight, you better swing that crossbow hard enough to stop whoever’s coming after ya.”

Ralph stepped in next to Gruff, and with a gentle reach, took the six bolts in the dewclaw of his wing.

“Too many of my brethren need our help more out here than any of them will need us in there. So if you cover the sky, I’ll hold off the ground. If you run low, I’ll be close by.”

Gilda blinked, absent of any argument, she had nothing to stop Gruff from walking off. Now stuck on guard duty, she gave a heavy huff that ruffled her feathers while she readied her next bolt.

“Stupid old bird. Sure picked a lousy time to stop being a jerk.”

Nearing the threshold, Midnight, now with a new spear, joined Becky’s side, opposite of Rainbow, and drew the mare’s attention.

“Midnight? What are you doing here?”

Marching on as dutifully as ever, Midnight didn’t even bat an eye.

“Same as you. Same as Kühn. Lady Landon is not to be harmed and Harmony is to pay for her crimes.”

Becky looked over her shoulder to see Kühn trailing close behind. It was comforting, but turning her eyes forward to Shining marching in front of her, realizing she was protected from all sides, she knew she was biting off more she could chew by walking into this fight.

"I’m pretty sure this bitch wants a final showdown, so keep me safe in there and we’ll kill this tree-dwelling bitch again, then we go home. Got it?"

Her four guardians all affirmed with a node in unison.

"Right."

The front line was a mix of all the royals and remaining humans. From the front, King Abyssinia gave a warning.

"Harmony is strong, but some of the ponies are immune to her magic like the humans are."

To that little piece of information, Twilight had a theory that was all but proven, which she shared with ire.

"A gift from Peter and the others, no doubt."

Celestia took that response as truth, even without knowing the details.

"Harmony has controlled me, forcing my hoof to do as she saw fit. It would make sense that she wouldn’t want our new friends to remove that control.”

Now in sight of the interior, Chris nearly stumbled at what was displayed in front of them. Not from the owlbear with a trident buried in its back or the suspended sphere of water either.

All ten youths, suspended in the air, smiling peacefully in glowing spheres connected by a stream of magic to an object that finally broke the continuity of this world.

“What the fuck is that?”

More focused on the creature, Fluttershy couldn't handle any beast being harmed.

"Oh, no. The poor owlbear. Who could do such a thing?"

Only a few steps behind them, Becky noticed the eyesore too.

“Chris… Tell me there’s more than one tree.”

Confused, Rainbow hunkered down, ready to launch off at the first threat.

“No. This is it. Or are you telling me there’s more of these things?!”

Chris shook his head in disbelief at what he was seeing.

“No… The show only has one, but it was nothing like this.”

Harmony’s voice echoed throughout the cave, still a perfect match for Twilight, though her fake warmth was just as unsettling as ever.

“So you know of the other trees? How interesting. Not that they can help you. They remain dormant and will be so for years to come. Now… Celestia. If you would be so kind as to deliver the humans to me. The last three can be eliminated once you tell me where they are.”

Benny slid his crowbar to Octavia behind him so he could ready his shotgun.

“I swear to God, if you had anything to do with their deaths, I’m gonna make your death last for days.”

Still, only as a voice, Harmony grew curious.

“There are only seven of you now?”

From the center, Trixie rushed out beyond the front line, ready to confront the construct that had started the haunting of her dreams.

“That’s right! Only seven! The other three never came here! But it’s me you should be worried about! The Echoes told me all about you! All the lives you’ve ruined! The worlds that have been lost because you won’t let humans and ponies live together how they want! You think you’re helping?! Well! You’re wrong! You’re the reason The Darkness wins!”

Light emanated from the tree, gathering together, collecting into a new crystal construct. It was still Twilight, but taller, leaner. Looking more like the build and body size of Celestia, it was still Harmony, only angry.

“What do you mean you—”

Harmony stopped her tyrannical march abruptly, taken back by her own arrival.

“Why am I? Am I angry?”

No matter how serious this situation was, Lumberman couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“This bitch is out of her fffffffucking mind… I might feel bad about killing someone mentally disabled, murderous bitch or not.”

Astonishingly, the acoustics in the cave were amazing, and Harmony heard every word, to which she grew taunt and snapped back at Lumberman.

“Silence! This is new to me! I’m not crazy!”

She was crazy alright, and Cerb motioned to Chris to back away.

“She’s too close. We’ll keep her talking. Wait for my signal.”

Trixie's grandstand was insightful, but it was time for the big mares to take center stage, starting with Celestia walking in front of Trixie.

"Accountability will be another new discomfort for you to learn. Now release the children and we will consider providing you with a quick execution."

Harmony regained her posture, standing tall and trying to hold back a laugh… that was until the joy of experiencing such joy took hold in the form of a giggle. Then a stifled laugh. Then full on maniacal laughter.

"Execute me?! Oh dear. I… have overseen so many things that I understood what it was to be considered funny, but never have I laughed… It feels so… wonderful. This is so truly astonishing. You mortals… Is every emotion so wonderful to experience as this? Had I known killing a human would open up such new experiences for me, I would have killed them myself all those centuries ago."

Luna's eyes went wide, appalled by the claim.

“These are not the first!”

Luna’s questions intrigued Harmony. It didn’t matter that she knew Sniff wasn’t dead yet, but the act would complete itself in time. An accomplishment that left her giddy enough to gloat.

“Oh, yes. Long before I could create my own form, I heard The Words. They foretold the rise of many kingdoms. Many creatures who would go on to do such incredible things. Harness my magic and come together to create more Harmony for me to grow stronger.”

She did a twirl, experiencing gravity and inertia for the first time, quickly embracing the feeling of a body with physical sensations.

“So many adventures. So many turmoils.”

She stopped mid-twirl, her expression turning sour. Her thoughts manifesting into visions projecting from the tree.

“But my creatures were simple. Brutes… Animals without thought, or culture. They used my magic to hunt and forage. Their Harmony was in small herds and flocks. They were nothing like the humans beyond the mirrors. Even if their magic was weak, those humans had everything I needed… So I invited them. Infused them with my magic. Broke them apart-”

This was a horror story gone wrong, and Becky could now see where it was going from the vision of humans bound in crystals. Their bodies melting and turning into vapor, forced into creatures of all kinds, similarly bound.

“You gave them human brains?”

“YES!” Harmony shouted with glee and pride. “But so much more than that! It gave me a window into their minds! Only, the human component limited my control, but I still controlled the body. It was easy to manipulate with so much magic coursing through their veins, but the mind… I could only whisper. But the whispers… They could only do so much. Every race became tribal. Malicious. They warred with each other for eons. Slaughtered each other before I could perfect their bodies. And the breeding… They wouldn’t stop. New life only brought more death as they quarreled over land and resources, seeking vengeance for their lost ones.”

Harmony turned to look at her own memories. Unicorns firing beams of magic at pegasi, blasting their bodies open before falling from the sky. Earth ponies stomping unicorns to death. Pegasi summoning winds that blew Earth ponies off the sides of cliffs and thunderstorms to strike down those who held tight. Griffons, dragons, Abyssinias, minotaurs, even the deer kin, all of them raging war against each other, before cutting to visions of them in the act of coitus or burying their dead.

“The time for The Words' earliest mention was soon nearing, but all the creatures were living in Chaos! My influence was not enough to ensure your destiny, but then I realized the simple solution.”

She turned to face the group, the vision changing to another battle. A heard of unicorns battling dragons with volleys of magic blast and fiery breath exchanged between both sides… yet none were marred, burned, or killed.

“End the killings. Remove death… Or at least as much as possible.”

The vision behind her changed again, this time of an owlbear mauling a bat pony. The attack was violent, yet with little visible damage being done until the creature’s beak sunk into the flesh, and the dying bat pony’s blood spilled out.

She didn’t let the scene end, allowing all to watch as the creature hungrily feast upon the still living bat pony.

The vision panned out, showing more bat ponies crying out in the trees above, weeping for the lost one.

“Every creature has its limits, so I had to control the unenlightened. Those still with an animal’s mind to only feed and procreate had to believe they were still free to do as their instincts told them. And in doing so, I discovered I could do the same for the enlightened. And with that, their memories of death, of fornicating, all under my control, shaping their cultures to their path was clear and pure.”

The vision shifted to a dragon adorned with gold and crude armor doing battle with a yak wearing the same helmet Yona was wearing.

“Throughout my failures, I learned what pairings would produce the best offspring. And with my whispers, I crafted a script for all to follow. Then when the time was right-”

The vision slowed as the dragon and yak went to clash. Beneath both of them, a small spark of magic appeared, pulling the same aura away they had witnessed earlier.

With the aura gone, the yak drove his horns into the chest of the dragon. The dragon wailed in agony, before digging its claws through the yak’s sides and unleashing its final breath of fire that burned his attacker from the inside.

Both quickly died, expelling their last breaths before more the vision moved to show two familiar faces that Ember and Rutherford recognized.

“Dragon Lord Scintilla?”

“Prince Ulysses?”

In the vision, both historical figures rushed to their fallen brethren. Then, as a glint of magic glazed over their eyes, Harmony allowed her audience to see the strings she had sent enter their minds, and Prince Ulysses lost all his anger and grief.

“Dragons and yaks fight over land, but land lost in battle. What we fight for if both not have land?”

The new dragon lord turned away from his fallen brethren, as if blind to it. Instead, his focus went to the yak prince in front of him.

“We dragons need land, but this no longer work for us. We have only just become united, but now we have no land to call our own.”

Prince Ulysses looked to turn away, but Harmony allowed the viewers to not only see the string enter the princes’ mind, but to hear the message as well.

“I should help him find new home for dragons. Make peace. No more war with dragons best for yaks.”

No sooner were the words heard, Prince Ulysses recreated them.

“Me help dragons find new home for dragons. Make peace with dragons. That best for yaks and dragons.”

The nostalgia was over, and Harmony let the vision fade away. Her attention again focused on those who stood before her.

“So many of you can’t look back at more than a thousand years of history to understand how this world works. How life works. That’s merely how long The Words have foretold of what was to be! The rest was me! Just as all to come from this point forward will be! Me!”

Her prior composure slowly giving way to more manic energy. “You know nothing of how cruel and hopeless this world is without me, yet you judge me for my actions? It has only been through my unending work and efforts that you’ve known relative peace for countless centuries. Only darkness and death awaits you without me!”

Now that Harmony was back on full crazy mode, Cerb placed his hand on Cadance’s shoulder and pushed her away. Cadance didn’t understand the purpose of the non-verbal instruction but followed just as Fluttershy and Rarity did with him pushing them further to his left.

Since everyone trusted Cerb, all parted away from the center of the group, creating a gap between both sides.

Once large enough, Cerb cupped one hand to the side of his mouth and shouted.

“Take the shot!”

Harmony, not done with her rant, froze up, insulted by the interruption.

“Aren’t you listening to me?! I’m explaining why-”

BOOM!

With the sound of the gunshot, the back of Harmony’s head exploded, raining out shards of her crystal interior from behind the bullet hole in her eye.

“-you… need… me,” Harmony drunkenly sloshed her words out.

The execution wasn’t complete. A task Twilight was more than happy to rectify.

“All I need from you is to shut the fuck up and die.”

Zeroed in on her target, Twilight released a beam of magic from her horn. Narrow and precise, it struck Harmony square in the chest, erupting with enough force to shatter the rest of her body.

More crystal shards rained down like sharp confetti, but before the last shard fell, Chris was already racing up to the front.

“The bitch is dead! Get the kids!”

The bold statement was heard by all, but Becky knew better.

"No she's not."

True enough, Harmony’s voice echoed through the cave.

"You are as right as you are a hindrance to my plans. And as arrogant and foolish as I’d originally thought.”

Not caring about the dangers, Gruff flew up and latched onto the sphere holding Gallus. His initial attempts to claw up the barrier with his talons, natural or steel, proved fruitless, raising his desperation.

“Gallus! Gallus! Can you hear me?! Wake up!”

It was as if the words never reached the young griffon, still slumbering in his trance, prompting Gruff to call out again. This time louder, now seeing the weapons still attached to the young griffons forelimbs.

“Gallus! You wake up this instant! Where did you get those?! Can you hear me?! Wake up!”

Gruff raised his metal talon to attempt to pry free his ward, only to be caught by crystal vines erupting from the walls.

“What the-”

The vines wrapped around his limbs, pulling him, restrained from any resistance.

“Caw! Let me go ya overgrown weed! And where did Gallus get those iron talons from?!”

Another fight was about to break out, everyone readying their weapons to fight. There was no way of telling how the fight would go as another construct of Harmony began to form.

Flash!

A faint light popped over Harmony, revealing bright prismatic colors through the void of empty space, delivering Discord folded up around himself, hurling down at breakneck speed, crashing down upon the construct, shattering her incomplete form.

“Gah! Get off me!” Discord yelped. “That hurts!”

He unbound himself, rolling over to through what appeared to be another Trixie, wearing armor the color of the midnight sky. With his load discarded, he snapped his lion paw-like fingers, and the dimension rip was removed from sight in another flash of light.

This new Trixie sounded just as put off by the landing, groaning and cursing as she rose to her hooves.

“Godamnit! I said move, you big oof! Why can’t you ever listen no matter what world you come-”

The rant was cut short, opening her eyes to see the wide cast of characters assembled in front of her. World leaders, guards, and humans all with weapons pointed in her direction.

“-from?”

Adding more confusion to the onlookers, the armor around this new Trixie had been modeled after Luna, complete with jewels over Trixies eyes that flashed as Luna’s voice reverberated from the armor itself.

“Rose! It’s them! The humans! Trixie’s sev… Six?”

Discord teleported himself next to this new Trixie, looking not at all put off by his situation. More as if he was bothered with simply having to put up with his new company.

“Well, this should buy us a little more time.” He stood up tall with his paws on his hips, looking over the wide cast in front of him. “Since you’re all here, allow me to introduce you to Trixie Rose and Luna Ring. Echoes of previously fallen Equestiras, blah, blah, blah, we’re all in danger. Yata, yata, yata. Equestrian Multiverse, alternate time lines, Great Scott and such and such. Also, our Harmony problems won’t be solved by—”

He twinged like he suddenly had an itch.

“By remo… Remov-Gah! Did I land on something?”

Again, he twinged, looking annoyed, and turned to the side, granting all a sight of the many fragments of Harmony jutting out of his back. Such pieces included an incomplete face with one working eye and a working mouth.

“Discord. I told you I would see you sooner than you think.”

Discord growled, flexing his fist.

“Grr! Get off my back, woman!”

As only Discord could do, he reached over his shoulders, tearing off his own back like he was peeling off velcro. He took his peeled back, tied it together like a bedsheet full of garbage, then proceeded to beat the pieces over the floor.

"Turn me to stone! Rah!”

Crunch!

“Over a few pranks! Rah!”

Crunch!

“When you're worse than Cosmos! Rah!

Crunch!

“WHO I TOOK THE BLAME FOR!"

Swing after swing, the crystal pieces broke against each other in the body bag, for lack of a better term. Each smash rendered the shards smaller and smaller until she was pummeled to powder.

No longer satisfied beating the dead horse… body, he kicked the bag, sending it reeling towards the owlbear. It landed in a crumpled heap, setting off sparks that lit up a neon sign that read, "Loser's Corner."

After coming into this cave, emotionally charged and ready to kill, Cerb couldn't help feeling like Discord was really taking the piss out of how significant this conflict was. Then again, after taking half a magazine of .45 caliber hollow points and 30-06 core-lokt round to the dome before Twilight rocked her world, this wasn’t looking like a real fight anymore. More like an exercise in futility.

"Do we have a way of killing her, or is she just going to keep coming back? Kinda thought we had a shot with a bigger bullet."

Discord turned back towards the tree, a look of concern he shared with Trixie Rose.

“Yes, but that should be a last resort—” He finally noticed the children hanging in the air. “Who are those and why are they here?”

Trixie Rose noticed them as well, and her panic rose exponentially.

“The New Six?! Why are they here!”

Harmony’s voice echoed throughout the cave. Her distaste for the new arrivals flowed freely in her ramblings.

“Interlopers. It is about time you chose to show yourselves. Have you come to save the humans you sent in place of my chosen ten.”

Trixie Rose rolled her eyes, which landed on this world's Trixie, and she couldn’t shrug off the feeling of failure that came with admitting the truth.

“Guh… Save them? I guess. But these aren’t any of the humans I tried to send here. That was another Harmony.”

Another layer of mystery had introduced itself, and Chris brought his hands to his head, ready to literally rip his hair out.

“FOR FUCK’S SAKE! DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW THE HELL WE GOT HERE!”

From the tree, Harmony’s light grew, building another construct for her to better vent her frustrations.

“Cease your cursing! The Words have no place for-”

Alongside Harmony, lightning struck down from the ceiling. There was no noise or thunder. It was silent, dancing along the floor of the cave, growing bigger, brighter.

“More Harmony magic, but how?”

With this new interruption, Discord lost his composure, stepping back with a look of uncertainty. His only other motion was to snap his fingers, producing a large pair of garden sheers that severed the vines holding Gruff. One last-ditch attempt to bolster their odds against what he knew was coming.

“Justin? I hope you have a plan for the unexpected. Because we are about to have some very unwanted company.”

The entire front line drew back, melding with the central forces of the Twilight Guard, Vinyl, Octavia, and Novo’s two hippogriffs.

Every second the silent lightning remained connected to the floor, it slowed its dance. As the lightning slowed, it quickly grew rigid enough to snap upright and expand into a pillar of light.

From the pillar, dozens of Echoes of Twilight, Celestia, and Luna beamed out in their construct forms, taking their positions on either side of Harmony.

However, Harmony equally welcomed the new company as she had expected it, which she didn't.

"More interlopers!?"

The last Echo phased into view. Sword made his entrance, instantly recognizing what kind of resistance Harmony was facing.

"No. We are here for the interlopers. However, we would be more than willing to assist in removing the rubbish you're dealing with."

Trixie Rose was relieved to find herself welcomed into the large group of allies. The very least she could do would be to let them know what they were getting into.

"Those Echoes are only as strong as their base form, here. So they'll have an alicorn's powers, but they have a limited supply of it. They're also not connected to this world's Harmony, so don't expect them to regenerate."

Now things were getting interesting for Harmony. While there wasn't room for another of her kind in her realm, she would allow for these newcomers to ease her workload.

"I assume you know who's important," Harmony said with a grin. "And the risks."

Sword lowered his eyes, channeling his magic to form a crystal claymore. Large enough to be wielded by a minotaur, dense enough for the crystal to resemble Mythril, it would have looked comical if not for the ease he controlled it.

"I know all too well the risks," he growled, looking past the front lines with a particular target in mind. "Never again."

Sensing an altered flow in the stream of magic next to him, he turned an eye to Harmony, taking notice of a change she had yet to notice deep within her. It was enough to leave him disgusted, dropping his collected, placid expression.

"You better be the last."

Harmony caught the change of tone, as well as the words how he expressed them mean-spirited. It was completely unlike how she would expect another of her kind to emulate. Yet... now so could she?

The delivery was too strong, and Sword broke from the ranks, strangely marching as if he held a grudge. If not, then it was to avoid any questions.

“I know you can feel it inside you now, Tree… Sever the bond before somepony else severs it for you… It won't hurt as much when you make the choice."

The rest of the Echos followed his lead, approaching the battle ready crew.

Complete in her matured form again, Harmony quickly realized what his mentioning implied.

"Oh?... Strange that it would work that way, but I can't afford any more distractions."

Harmony empowered her construct-vessel to fly up over the marching Echoes, stopping to levitate in the center of the ten children. Extending her wings and forelegs, she held a pose that could have been mistaken for one of divinity.

"My precious creatures. Trusting and obedient. Together, you have overcome so much. Our shared dream is upon us, so grant me what is needed so I may secure us a future embracing Harmony."

The spheres holding the children began to glow brighter, moving the children up, exposing their chest to share the strength they had gained from coming together. Together, their magic breached the critical limit, redirecting the strands of light from the tree to Harmony herself, creating a flux of power that sent a concussive wave out the cave.

"Yes!" Harmony trumpeted in rapture. "Can you feel it?!"

Inside the spheres, the children's postures grew limp. Their essence draining out rapidly weakened them until they no longer levitate in their prison, collapsing like living ragdolls. However, still under the spell, a weak smile still graced their lips, causing alarm to all who could see.

Inside one such sphere Benny had originally dismissed, he could now see a dark liquid pooling together inside. Changeling or not, he couldn't tolerate such cruelty.

"What the fuck?! She's killing them!"

Within the confines of the enchanted armor, Luna Ring alerted her new companions.

"She's draining them of their magic! But she's taking too much! Their bodies can't take much more!"

The injuries on the other chosen New Six were revealing themselves. Blood from Gallus and Smolder's wings, Silverstream's back legs, and Yona's mouth, adding further urgency that ended Benny's patience.

"Take her out!"

"BOOM!"

"Gah!"

Harmony yelped in pain, clutching her horn, a surprise to nearly everyone else who covered their ears.

Close enough to see the details of riffles on the slug still, Benny's round remained stuck in a fractured protective field. The slug had been stopped, but so had the power drain, prompting a callus reply from Harmony.

"Don't you worry. The children will be fine after some mending. However, much like the owlbear who refused to listen, I now know your limit."

Such a euphoric feeling took over Harmony. Realizing the power and control she held over her domain. The thrill to overcome adversity through her own talent against obstacles that countered her own.

She wanted to experience more of it.

"Now… To finish what I started."

Sorry again for the delay, and I hope this chapter wasn't too jarring. However, Harmony has shown her true colors. Said colors must have been a lot of red because of the target it put on her back.

As for Sniff... that dude is gonna be down and out for a while, that is, if he makes it through.

However, this is it. Everyone is finally together for the final conflict. How it will end? Find out in: