-EQUUS, THE UNDERGROUND CORRUPTION BIOME-

Having been reborn as a utopian, Tempest Shadow was still absolutely shocked by these turns of events. She remembered floating in a sort of void, in a completely transparent state, a soul.

“That was completely unexpected…” Tempest comments.

“Tempest!” Grubber exclaims nearby as it was revealed that the hedgehog fell to his knees and cried endlessly as he witnessed Tempest’s death. The hedgehog runs into her, hugging her new frame. Specifically her right foreleg. “I’m so glad to see you’re ok! I thought I lost my partner…”

Tempest chuckles, “And leave you in this world to fend for yourself? I can’t die just yet.” She rubs his head with her left forehoof.

Harmony could be observed in the background as she, five of the utopians, and all of her fairies present seemed to be preparing something.

……….

The small Eater of Souls that accompanied Grubber was recently reunited with the newly formed entity that was formerly the allied parasite who fought alongside Tempest and Tzana, now a different entity entirely. However, it still remembered the little one as it brought the small parasite into its right arm. Clicking from both sides ensues, and despite Harmony’s offer, the entity created by Tzana’s actions hops off with the small parasite as the duo takes their leave. One mystery still remained: Where was the missing child that’s evident by the cracked eggshell? When the group first met the creatures. Undoubtedly, this was the true purpose for the duo moving on. To continue their search.

……….

After properly reuniting with Tempest, Tzana also needed to do the same thing with a certain individual. A utopian, the sixth member of Harmony’s guards, who was currently standing before Tzana and away from the other five. Her father: Inigo. This utopian, much like most others, was built for combat as his body demanded respect and radiated prowess. In the eyes of mares, Tzana’s father would undoubtedly turn heads and incite envy among stallion ponies. His fur is dark gray with vibrant silver eyes. The utopian’s tail and mane take on a silver coloration in tandem with his eyes while his horn also matches the color of his body.

“So… you’re my old man, huh?” Tzana questions as the two stoically look at each other.

“That I am, Journey Joy,” Inigo responds with a deep but silky smooth voice, “You take after your mother.”

Tzana stares at the stallion for a moment, then sighs, “Look, this is obviously awkward for both of us. So what say we just-” Her words are cut off as the stallion closes the distance and rests his head over Tzana, her head pressed against his neck region.

With a saddened expression, he says:

“I’m sorry. You were alone up there after your mother… died.”

Tzana was still shocked by his actions.

“When I learned of her passing, it killed me. Like a knife was driven into my heart,” He says before pulling away from the embrace gently and taking a few steps back, “I worried about you every day, my child. And in case you’re wondering, yes, I know all about the things you’ve done after your mother’s death. From your time in Zebrica all the way to that mercenary guild. Not to mention your recent role as the Lunar Princess’s agent.”

Tzana recovers from her shocked state, and sighs, “I get it, pops. I guess this is where you beat my flank disapprovingly? I wasn’t exactly mom’s perfect image of a daughter,” Tzana takes on a saddened expression, “But I made sure she knew that I loved her…”

Tzana’s father remained silent for a moment. He then chuckles to himself, “It would be hypocritical for me to do that. Besides, I can see just by looking that you’ve tried to make up for it. I wasn’t exactly an innocent being either,” He closes his eyes, “I made a lot of mistakes, Tzana. In a sense, I can’t help but feel as if the consequences of my actions have passed onto you, influenced you somehow,” He opens his eyes, “And for that, I am truly sorry.”

Tzana shrugs, “Even if that were true, I made my own decisions as well. Didn’t really feel like anyone was forcing me to make them when I did.”

“Fair enough,” Her father responds, then chuckles, “It’s funny, this makes me think about one of the many beauties of your mother. Damaged as we are, she still loved us and saw the better in us. It’s a trait that made me fall for her in the first place.”

The two share a chuckle in unison before Tzana says:

“No arguments there. She was a damn good mother, way too good for someone like me. I miss her…”

“As do I, daughter.”

The two continue to stare at one another, while those in the background prepares the Hallow Pylon as they brought it out of the cave, before the utopian comments:

“We both suck at this…”

“Yeah… we do. The sensitive stuff was always mom’s forte’.”

They both laugh in tandem as Tzana’s father recovers soon after and comments:

“Then let us honor your mother properly through our actions, rather than our words,” He extends a forehoof, “I’d be honored if you’d join me in doing so.”

Tzana extends her own forehoof and connects with Inigo’s, “I can do that. But I’m not going to lie… I’ll probably still fuck up here and there…”

“Something I’m sure we both will need to work on.”

The two family members nod to each other as they begin to make their way towards the rest of the group. No more words were needed, but the two came to an understanding in their own way. Incidentally, their hooves connecting was far more than just a gesture for them as, in a sense, they made peace with one another. Welcoming the other’s company for possible future events.

……….

“As I’ve said earlier, this will teleport the denizens of The Empire to safety,” Harmony says as she was currently explaining the use of the Pylon, “They’ll be sent to the Underground Hallow Biome. My personal domain.”

Grubber raises his hand as he is sitting on Tempest’s back, “Excuse me, Harmony?”

Harmony giggles, “I appreciate the gesture, dear Grubber. What’s on your mind?”

“Sorry if this sounds offensive or anything, but how exactly was this Underground Hallow corrupted? I mean, you seem pretty powerful. I’d even say you could beat this corruption in one second flat,” Grubber looks around, then returns his gaze towards Harmony, “Shouldn’t this infection have no power of it?”

Admittedly, Harmony was both surprised and impressed by the hedgehog’s question. He was able to perceive a certain truth as The Empress responds:

“The Hallow isn’t at its full power. In fact, it’s not even at half strength.”

Grubber and Tempest’s eyes widen in shock.

“I can reveal this to you all. Especially with recent events taken into consideration,” Her face saddens, “In my home reality, Terraria, a powerful being named Yharim attacked me and my fellow Ancients, almost two thousand years ago.”

Grubber’s mouth drops as Tempest listens in absolute shock. Incidentally, Tzana and her father finally join them.

“At his disposal was an old… friend of mine,” Her lower lip quivers, “He corrupted my friend and turned her against us all. It was a horrible event and we had to take desperate actions,” She sighs, “Among these acts of desperation was me splitting The Hallow in two. Effectively cutting my power in half as I left one half in Terraria, and the other, I used to create this world.”

“But, surely even at half strength, you could still beat The Corruption... Right?” Grubber questions.

“That’s just it… I’m only at an estimated twenty-five percent of my power at the moment. I cut my power in half once again when I created this world. I fashioned it with some inspiration of Terraria, various biomes here and there such as the frozen north, or the desert to the south, and every creature here on Equus was all born from The Hallow,” She conjures forth a series of lights that takes on the shape of every living species on Equus, “Minotaurs, Changelings, Timberwolves, Ponies, Utopians, every race you can think of were fashioned by me,” She ponders on something with a forehoof to her chin, “Although changelings, in particular, are a rather unique case-”

Suddenly, Harmony’s words were cut off and everyone looked around in shock as the Underground Corruption started to gather into a sort of mist before shooting up into the cavern’s ceiling. However, it was the words that followed which truly surprised them:

“All shall become one with us! We are all... Ocram!”

---

Present:

The mist continues to gather and rise into the underground ceiling as traces of The Corruption begin to fade, but not entirely.

Harmony could sense Ocram’s power as she comments:

“Oh no… he’s gaining strength by every passing moment!” She starts to get impatient, “Darn you, where in the world are you?!”

“Who are you looking for?” Tempest questions as everyone else continue to watch the phenomenon taking place nearby.

“Disidian, he’s supposed to meet me he-”

[POOF]

“I’m so sorry for being late, Harmony. Had a certain piece of Cthulhu to deal with. Not to mention I got some juicy payback on Tir-”

“Now is not the time, Disidian,” Harmony interjects, “I need you to create a portal to The Crystal Stadium and bring anyone who’s unable to escape here with it.”

“Am I just a pack mule to you?” Discord questions with slight offense.

“Don’t you dare start with me now and do as I say! The Empire is in trouble!” Harmony exclaims.

“Fine, fine!” Discord shouts with an emphasizing gesture, “You’re so demanding sometimes…” He mumbles before gathering his powers to perform the task.

---

-EQUUS, THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE-

Throughout the entirety of The Empire, both in and outside of the crystalline city itself, everyone bore witness to Ocram’s growing strength as the entity had also brought down the large airship that was brought with the reinforcements from Ponyville.

……….

“Ho..ly.. Shiiiiit…” Says Ambient, watching from the castle ruins as the gigantic airship begins to crash into the ground, with Ocram’s diseased tentacles around it. Incidentally, the small Eater of Souls she had plucked from the ground in front of the pegasus Captain not too long ago was nearby, watching her curiously.

Ambient stares in horror as the ship makes contact with the ground, kicking up a large dust cloud followed by a massive explosion. The shockwave blows her back, thankfully just out of reach of another collapsing wall of the palace. She groans in pain as her broken bones scream out in agony.

“Owwwww…. Why am I so damn unlucky todayyyyy…”

A series of clicking ensues as the small parasite approaches her. Ambient takes notice of the entity and although she was cautious at first, she recognized this parasite as she says:

“Huh, you’re that same parasite I found burrowing underneath us, right? With that Pegasus Captain?”

The entity floats up and down in a nodding gesture.

“It was strange that you simply just flew off when I let you go,” She observes the parasite more tentatively, “Hmm, you’re a cute one. A bit on the smaller side.”

---

Those on the battlefield positioned on the outskirts of The Empire, where the battle with the Eater Of Worlds took place, were ordered to retreat as various airships lowered themselves in order to evacuate various individuals. The corpse of the two large worm entities laid nearby, in addition to those belonging to other creatures of The Corruption.

Rain Shine was currently calling repeatedly on the radio for any possible survivors of the downed airship but to no avail.

“Is anyone still alive in there, copy?!”

Static is all she can hear. However, when she does manage to receive a response, it was in the form of discomforting moans and monstrous growls.

“Oh sweet Celestia…” Rain shine comments with a sad expression.

Suddenly, a series of coughing escapes the radio, “This is Autumn Blaze,” She coughs again, “I lost Admiral Firestorm. We got separated but me and a few others managed to escape before the ship crashed. Over.”

“Autumn Blaze, I hear you loud and clear. Words can’t express how happy I am to hear that some of you are still alive. Over.” Rain Shine responds in a hopeful tone.

“Things are crazy on the ship, Rain Shine. The infection is taking over and it’s chaos in there! Over.”

[POOF]

“Did someone mention chaos?” Discord questions as he appears in a series of pink clouds, holding a radio. “Autumn Blaze, this is the great and handsome, Discord. Your orders are to head towards The Crystal Stadium and bring anyone in The Empire you can find with you. Over.”

……….

The radio goes silent for a moment as Autumn Blaze stares at it blankly on her end. She looks around to the other survivors with a questioning expression. They all shrug in response as she then replies:

“I, uh, copy that. We’ll head to the stadium. Over.”

……….

“And that takes care of anyone remaining in The Empire,” Discord comments as he turns towards Rain Shine, whose mouth was hung agape, “Oh, and tell Spike that he needs to take everyone to the cave. He knows the one,” Discord gets a sudden thought, “Oh! And tell him that he and Dragonlord Ember are spending quite a lot of time together, eh?” He wiggles his brows before vanishing in a cloud of chocolate milk mix.

Having abandoned ship successfully via the use of parachutes with her ship’s insigma, Captain Celaeno gathers her crew and heads towards an airship while saying:

“I might’ve lost my ship,” She looks back to her crew, “But I’m much happier for having all of my crew, safe and sound.”

Stygian currently lies unconscious as Star Swirl stood over him. During the battle with the Eater of Worlds, Stygian and Star swirl were locked in combat. However, one of The Corruption’s monsters nearly devoured the old pony. Seeing this, Stygian intervenes and takes the blow in Star Swirl’s stead. Seeing his friend perform this action, Star Swirl roared out in anger and blasted the creature with a powerful beam of energy.

“Oh, Stygian… what was your true motive?” Star Swirl questions with a sorrowful tone. Unbeknownst to the truth of Stygian’s role as an agent of Princess Luna.

“Star Swirl!” Rockhoof exclaims as he hurriedly approaches the old pony, “Good to see you’re ok,” The large pony looks down to Stygian, “I can’t believe that he-”

“No,” Star Swirl interjects, “I can’t explain it, but I think Stygian was truly on our side all along.”

Rockhoof’s eyes widened in shock, “T-truly?”

Star Swirl smiles, “Indeed. He saved my life during our conflict. He could’ve let that monster, a flying parasite, kill me,” The old pony fires up his horn and tends to Stygian’s wounds, “But he pushed me aside, and saved my life.”

Stygian’s wounds were starting to close and be remedied as the agent of Luna slowly started to come to, “Wh-what?” he says before raising his head and seeing two of The Pillars, “D-did you just heal me, Star Swirl?”

“Indeed I did, my friend.” The old pony responds.

Rockhoof takes a few steps closer and helps Stygian back onto his hooves, “Stygian, what in the name of Equus is going on with you? Why were you with the enemy, but now you’re helping us?”

Stygian looked away, “I was a double agent, dear friends. I could never willingly harm any of you but I needed to cover the others so they could sneak past the battlefield and enter The Empire. Judging by us now possessing Grogar’s Bell, the others made it.”

Incidentally, the aforementioned bell was being carried onto a ship by a storm beast, or yeti.

Both Rockhoof and Star Swirl looked at Stygian with shocked expressions. Rockhoof then wraps his left forehoof around the now revealed agent and pulls him into a hug while saying:

“Com’ here you little rascal!”

Stygian grunts in momentary surprise and pain from the tightness of his friend’s hug.

“I, um, appreciate t-this… Rockhoof… b-but I beg you to... R-release me…”

“Oh! Sorry, laddy.” Rockhoof responds sheepishly, and places Stygian back onto the ground as Star Swirl says:

“You’ll have all the time to explain yourself later, Stygian. And I’ll be sure to scold Lulu for this...” He then looks towards the nearby ship, “But we must evacuate immediately. The enemy’s power is growing. Come, let us join the other Pillars.”

……….

Various familiar faces were beginning to evacuate as The Wonderbolts, Derpy Hooves, Lightning Dust, Bulk Biceps, and various other flyers began to fly towards the direction of Ponyville. Those who were land-bound boarded the ships as Rain shine watched over the proceedings along with Chief Thunderhooves.

Big Mac could only pray for the safety of his sister and grandmare, “Apple Bloom… Granny Smith… Ah’ hope ya’ both are ok.”

“They no doubt did, Big Mac.” Sugar Belle comments as she nuzzles her now official special somepony, giving him a lick on his right cheek, “I just know that they made it.”

“Big Mac!” The exclaiming voice of Spike calls out, “Hey, I just got word that some of the citizens of The Empire made it safely to Ponyville. Granny Smith and Applebloom are among them!”

Absolutely shocked, the red stallion questions: “H-howd’ya find out?”

“Discord popped by before he went to speak with Rain Shine. Apparently, he’s been busy teleporting those who used The Empire’s secret escape routes to Ponyville. After that giant worm thing fell over.”

“That’s great!” Sugar Belle exclaims, “I knew they’d make it!”

Big Mac’s happiness was growing with every passing second as he says:

“Thank you mighty kindly fer’ tell’n me this, Spike. Yer’ a true friend.”

Spike bumps his chest, “Only doing my best!”

---

-THE CRYSTAL STADIUM-

Over at The Crystal Stadium, the various leaders of The Coalition, along with Capper, Trixie, Chrysalis, Zalan, Gilda, and Pharynx, were all witnessing the fallen airship with shocked expressions.

Taking her gaze away from the crashed aircraft, Luna says:

“We must take Shining Armor’s body with us, and take our leave of The Empire.”

“Indeed, but how can we escape without a proper route?” General Seaspray inquires.

“Domihaus will not leave his warriors behind!” The Minotaur King exclaims.

“You misunderstand her impression, leaving behind friends is not her intention.” Prince Zaku says as his bodyguard, Zalan, comments:

“We apologize for our poor performance, Blueblood teleported us away and left you all to become his prey.”

“Missing some friends? Maybe I can help with that?” The echoing voice of Discord says as he pops into being, “I know, I know, Discord is here to save the-”

“If thou art done gloating, we’d appreciate it if thee would open a portal to Ponyville,” Luna interjects.

“Atatata! Not Ponyville, Lulu.” Discord responds, emphasizing his words with a raised finger.

“What doth thou mean?” Luna questions.

“I’ll be sending you all underground to,” Discord raises his arms high into the air, “The Hallow Pylon!” He then snaps his lion’s paw as a portal opens up in mere seconds. Various individuals stepped out of the portal as Tempest, Grubber, and Tzana are the first few in the lead. Behind them were six utopians along with a varying number of fairies. Tzana extends a forehoof towards The Coalition‘s leaders, most of which are shocked to see them, and says:

“Come with us if you want to live,” She winks.

“Nice reference,” Discord says as he conjures a board and writes a number on it, “A solid ten for performance and execution.”

Tzana looked at him blankly while Tempest laughed to herself.

Positioned nearby, Chrysalis lets out an annoyed grunt, “Great, the clown himself is he-”

“Why hello there, Chrysi,” Discord comments, suddenly appearing in front of her with his lion’s paw pointing at her, “I see that you’re as edgy as ever.”

“Funny you should mention. There’s something else ‘edgy’ about me, too.” Chrysalis responds with an annoyed tone, but a mischievous expression.

“Oh? And what is-”

“My teeth!” Chrysalis interjects as she bites Discord’s lion paw.

As Discord cries out: ‘Get her off me! My lion paw is my favorite!’, Thorax tries to help him. Pharynx is laughing along with Trixie and Capper.

……….

“Domihaus will not trust your words, traitors!” The minotaur King roars out, slamming his right fist into the ground.

“Yak say we smash them! Traitors join Blueblood and-”

“Nay, my friends,” Luna interjects, which shocks all of The Coalition members present. “Thy ponies art under our employ. We apologize for deceiving you all but measures needed to be taken.”

Gilda tilts her head in confusion, “Wait, so they’re not traitors?”

Luna was about to respond, however, she could sense something was amiss as she picked up the faint presence of both Rajah Rabbit and Ocram.

“Tis doesn’t bode well,” Luna comments, which confuses Gilda and the other leaders. The Lunar Princess then turns towards Chrysalis, who was still biting Discord’s lion paw, and shouts:

“Chrysalis, we respectively ask for thee to fill in our allies on our plot!” Without saying anything more, she spreads her wings and takes flight.

Chrysalis lets go of Discord’s lion paw, who in turn starts to blow on the bite mark, as the former ruler of the changelings says:

“I suggest you all gather around,” She looks towards her fellow and former agents of Luna: Capper and Trixie, “You two will help me with this.”

---

-NEAR THE CASTLE RUINS-

Having unlatched himself from the airship moments before it collided with the earth below, Ocram takes a moment to admire his work as the entity comments:

“Like that airship, all hope in this wretched Empire will come crashing down as the resulting despair spreads far and wide!”

“I think not, foul villain!” The heroic words of Rajah Rabbit call out as he rapidly approaches Ocram.

“Ah, we were hoping you’d show up, ‘hero’,” Ocram smirks, “Now play the true part of a hero… and die!” The abomination roars out and unleashes a powerful beam of energy from its maw. Rajah Rabbit crosses his arms and attempts to block it, but Ocram also appears behind the giant rabbit while saying:

“We will ensure that our attack will reach you, hero.” The entity rams into Rajah Rabbit and sends the defender of the innocent hurling into the oncoming energy beam.

“Graugh! N-no!” Rajah exclaims as he makes contact with the energy blast. A huge explosion is let loose that even puts that of the crashing airship to shame. The resulting shockwave sends ripples throughout The Empire which also knocks over various structures and even a good number of individuals.

A large cloud of smoke hovers in the air as Rajah’s form soon falls down, plummeting into the earth below. This results in a crater as the large rabbit is rendered unconscious.

“And so, like any good story, the hero loses…” Ocram comments as the entity starts to descend, “You seem to be performing poorly, rabbit. You’re not as strong as you were before. Did it have anything to do with the power you gave to that filly?”

No response comes from the downed hero.

“We see... So silence is all you have left,” Ocram descends further, “Now then, we believe that you punched us repeatedly into a crater, yes?” The abomination charges up another energy blast, “Instead of a crater, let us put you in a grave.”

“Nay! Thou shall not harm him!” Luna exclaims as she unleashes her own energy blast against the entity but to no avail. The attack doesn’t harm Ocram, but the entity suddenly turns her way while saying:

“Very well, you’ll die first!” Ocram unleashes the attack, but the sheer speed of it was too much for the Lunar Princess who grits her teeth in anticipation. That is until she disappears via a golden aura surrounding her body.

Luna reappears nearby and she opens her eyes to see a white alicorn with a flowing multicolored mane.

“I’m so glad I didn’t arrive too late, my dear sister.” Celestia comments.

“C-Celly?” Luna questions in disbelief, “Thou art alive… just like she said…”

The Sun Princess tilts her head, “Who’s she-”

“We’re so glad to have thou back, dearest sister!” Luna exclaims as she lunges forth and brings Celestia into a hug, “Please, never leave us again…”

“I won’t, de- LOOK OUT!” Celestia shouts as she grabs Luna, fires up her horn, and teleports away once more while another beam of energy passes where they once stood. The beam heads off into the distant mountains which results in a large explosion as a mushroom cloud reaches for the skies.

……….

Celestia reappears in The Crystal Stadium, with Luna still in her grasp, as the portal made by Discord was positioned on the field’s center. Those who were being evacuated entered the portal to The Hallow Pylon as the leaders of The Coalition guided them through. Utopians and fairies stood on guard as Tempest and Tzana had entered the portal once more to guide the survivors into the Hallow Pylon.

Incidentally, these survivors were gathered and led by Autumn Blaze and her own group. All of whom were survivors of the crashed ship. As ordered by Discord, Autumn had gathered any remaining denizens of The Coalition, throughout The Empire, as she and the other members of the fallen ship made their way to the stadium.

……….

Chrysalis spots both Luna and Celestia with a shocked expression and comments:

“So it’s true… you really have returned to life. We didn’t believe Sunset Shimmer and Cadence when they told us.”

Celestia nods, “Indeed, Chrysalis, and I must say that I’m happy to hear about your efforts in helping not only my dear ponies but all of Equestria.”

“Don’t get all sappy with me,” Chrysalis responds while rolling her eyes, “And if you try to hug me like your niece tried to do, or even Discord, I’ll bite your face.” Celestia winces, Luna rolls her eyes but chuckles soon after.

Celestia turns to Luna, “Where is Cadence? I was with her moments ago. I told her and Sunset to come here before I came to your aid.”

Luna looks away with a saddened expression, “When our dear niece arrived… she learned of Shining Armor’s passing and entered the portal to be with him.”

“Sh-Shining Armor is… dead?” Celestia questions in absolute shock.

“Yes, Princess Celestia,” Sunset Shimmer comments as she approaches them, “We didn’t have enough time to fill you in, but Blueblood is responsible for a lot of this.”

“B-Blueblood?! How could he do this?!” Celestia shouts in shock as betrayal and heartache take over, “What would drive him to perform such actions?! I… I raised him like he was my own child…”

Sunset’s ears fold against her head as she places her right forehoof onto Celestia’s chest region, “We can explain everything later, but we must continue to evacuate-”

Suddenly, various survivors start to scream and let out horrified exclamations. The six utopians stood at the ready as the fairies stood alongside them. The leaders of The Coalition also prepare for battle along with Gilda, Trixie, Capper, Chrysalis, Pharynx, Zalan, and Sunset Shimmer

“So where is everyone going?” The haunting voice of Ocram questions which sends a cold chill down everyone’s spines, “Oh, we have an idea… perhaps we should join you?”

“You will not hurt these innocent souls, monster!” Celestia exclaims in defiance, wings spread out completely.

Ocram chuckles, “Careful dearie, wouldn’t want your recent revival to be pointless.”

“You think I’m afraid to die again for my subjects?! For everyone here?! I faced Razeem when he threatened innocent lives, and I’ll stand against you too!”

“Then you will be slaughtered agai-” Suddenly, an eagle’s talon taps Ocram, cutting off the entity’s words.

“Why hello there, Ocram. Lovely day, isn’t it?” Discord questions, leaning against Ocram’s form.

“If it isn’t the trickster himself. What are you going to do, clown?” Ocram questions mockingly, glancing sideways towards the draconequus.

“As a matter of fact,” Discord snaps his lion’s paw as fertilizer falls onto Ocram’s face, “What do you think? Cow manure is the perfect fertilizer, am I right?”

Ocram shakes their form, sending flickers of the fertilizer flying off in multiple directions, and rushes forth in an effort to devour the draconequus who shouts:

“Ok, I regret everything about this!” The Lord of Chaos flies higher into the air, with Ocram giving chase, as Discord shouts behind him and towards the evacuating stadium: “Get a move on you fools! I can’t distract him forever!”

Ocram tries to bite Discord’s tail, but the draconequus pulls it away while saying:

“Hey! No tail biting!”

“Then we shall feast on you instead!”

“Maybe we can work something out?! Would you be interested in eating Tirek?”

Ocram roars out once more as he continues to chase the draconequus. The two going further away from the stadium.

---

Over at the crater made by Rajah Rabbit’s plummeting form, the large bunny lies unconscious and badly wounded. A series of dirt rolls down the crater as Ambient slides down to him.

“H-hey, Big R…? Oh shit, um… Uh… Shit. If you’re down, I’m next for sure… Uh…” stutters Ambient, clearly terrified and unsure of herself.

The large rabbit coughs as her words seem to reach him, “I was not… expecting him to b-become so powerful,” Rajah coughs again, “He absorbed… so much power…” He turns his head to the filly, “I failed you all once again, little one. You m-must escape-”

The sudden clopping of hooves reaches their ears as both Rajah and Ambient turn to Harmony’s transparent figure.

“This battle is not yet lost, my dear friends. My Pylon has been activated and I surmise that those who are still trapped within The Empire are being evacuated as we speak. However, we need more time,” Harmony looks off into the distance, “Disidian can only keep Ocram at bay for so long but we are not done just yet. There is another player in the game,” Harmony turns to Ambient, “You.”

Ambient stares at Harmony in disbelief.

“Please explain in very clear terms how the FUCK you expect me to beat THAT?”

“You possess powers similar to The Primordials. Your power might not be as vast, but with Discord’s-” Harmony cuts herself off, “Hmm, Discord’s powers are starting to wane.”

“What? But how can that be?” Rajah Rabbit questions, “Isn’t he absorbing the chaotic energies all over The Empire? There’s enough all around us.”

“That’s just it, Rajah, he can’t absorb it effectively while being relentlessly assaulted by Ocram. Also, his powers aren’t nearly as potent as they can be on Terraria.”

“Hey, uh, back to the point, yeah? Filly over here that you’ll apparently send on a suicide mission? Still waiting for an explanation,” says Ambient, waving a hoof between the two.

Harmony chuckles, “You remind me of four-year-old Mena. As for your question, you embody both the forces of nature and light.”

“Uh… What? Wanna tell me how?” She responds.

“As you probably know, you were already a force of nature as is the very concept of The Primordials. As for the light, Rajah Rabbit and I are responsible for that when we revived you.”

Rajah Rabbit lifts himself up, but still unable to stand, “What exactly are you getting at, Harmony?”

“It’s a bit of a gamble, but I think that a new power could be born if we add, and I know this might sound crazy, darkness to Ambient’s form,” Harmony closes her eyes in thought, “When Terra and Xeroc created my home universe, light, dark, and nature were the key elements to creating it. This would be similar to that but on a smaller scale.”

“So you want to experiment on a filly. Gotcha.”

Harmony winces, “I know this sounds horrible, even dangerous-”

“It sounds stupid, that’s what it sounds like. Are you out of your goddamn mind? I could melt, or explode, or just disintegrate into nothingness!”

Harmony was taken aback by this, but then she repeats the words that her lover once told her:

“Sometimes, the craziest plans are the ones that often succeed.”

“The ones that kill the filly. Whatever, let’s get this mad scientist shit over with,” says Ambient, with a growl, albeit adorable.

Harmony claps her forehooves together, “Huzzah! Thank you, little one!”

“I can already tell I’m gonna regret this.” Ambient comments.

Rajah Rabbit stares at Harmony with a deadpan expression, “Yuup… you’re Oblivion’s wife alright. Your ‘ideas’ are often as crazy as his are.”

Harmony giggles, “And proud of it, Rajah,” She then fires up her horn and conjures into being a certain Princess Of The Night.

With a shocked expression, Luna says:

“Wh-what just happened? Where art we?”

“Hello, my little Luna!” Harmony exclaims gleefully.

“G-grandmare?!” Luna exclaims in shock, “Hath thou summoned us with thy magic?! How did thee even perform that?!”

“Oh, well, I can show you the spell later but you possess a healthy amount of darkness, for obvious reasons. And no, I’m not talking about the whole Nightmare Moon shtick.” Harmony responds.

“What exactly art thou asking of us, Grandmare?” Luna questions

“I want you to stick it inside of this filly.” Harmony comments, oblivious to her terrible choice of words.

“Harmony! What in the name of Terra are you saying?!” Rajah Rabbit exclaims in shock, “As the defender of the innocent, I won’t allow you to do that, you pervert!”

“So, basically, you want Miss Bat Princess over there to grow a dick and fuck me, then,” The filly says flatly.

Harmony’s face goes red, all while Luna looks at her grandmare with disappointment.

“No, no no no no!” Harmony shouts while waving her forehooves frantically, “This isn’t what it sounds like!”

“Thou specifically asked us to perform such a deed!” Luna exclaims in anger.

“It sounds a HELLUVA lot like it. Besides, she’s a bit old for me.” Ambient comments.

Luna’s eyes shoot wide open, “Did thou just call us old?!”

“Yeah, you’ve been around for how many millennia?” Ambient questions.

Luna raises a hoof, but drops it soon after, “Thou make a good argument.”

“Thank you. Anyways. Keep trying to write that one off, Harmony, embarrassment looks good on you. Can we move on now? Luna’s gotta grow a dick and impregnate me with darkness or something.”

Everyone else present clears their throats as Harmony takes charge, “You’re rather forward. But no, dearie. Luna, could you come here a second?”

“Yes, grandmare,” Luna responds as she approaches Harmony. The Empress extends a forehoof towards the Lunar Princess and places it onto her chest, “Now then, Lulu, you’re going to feel strange for a moment but I need to access your darkness.”

“Nightmare Moon, Nightcrawler, or ours?” Luna questions.

“Why not go for the triple? I’d love to taste your darkness.” Says Ambient, with an evil grin.

Harmony hesitates, “Nightcrawler and Luna are one thing, but the spawn of Abbadon won’t be willing to help us.”

“Abbadon?” Luna questions.

“The Ancient of Darkness, practically the opposite of Harmony herself.” Rajah Rabbit answers.

“I wouldn’t mind it. I’m fucked up enough as it is,” Says Ambient.

“Nay, it’s too risky.” Luna comments with worry, “What if something goes wrong? What if Nightmare Moon’s influence tries something?” She scoffs, “That foul demon’s darkness can not be trusted.”

“Uh-huh. And sending me into battle against someone more powerful than Discord, you, Celestia, and Rajah combined isn’t? I’m gonna need all the help I can get,” Ambient says, entirely seriously. “Besides… A demon can’t possess another demon. I should know.”

Harmony nods, “Ambient’s right, Lulu. Nightmare Moon’s influence can not affect her and the darkness of Abaddon is needed to create a new power,” The Empress flaps her wings, “We won’t exactly be removing the nightmare from your being. That’s sadly impossible thanks to Abaddon’s actions. We will only be taking some of that darkness and giving it to Ambient.”

Luna ponders on those words for a moment. In truth, she was still hesitant about performing this action which was understandable given the risks.

“Art thou sure this is the right course to partake, grandmare?” Luna questions worriedly.

“It is the best option we have left, my sweet Lulu,” Harmony responds with a small sense of desperation, “Rajah’s strength has been cut severely due to sharing it with Ambient and my own prowess continues to waver,” The Empress grunts suddenly in effort, “Haven’t you noticed that The Empire isn’t exactly covered entirely by snow? Especially since The Crystal Heart is no longer with us.”

Luna’s eyes shoot wide open, “T-thou art staving off the weather?”

Harmony nods, “Yes. But enough of that for now, we must act quickly. We will draw out the darkness within Luna that was instilled by Nightmare Moon, and by extension, Abaddon himself,” Multicolored fae wings spread to their absolute lengths, “Are you ready?”

“As we’ll ever be, grandmare. Though we must admit, being rid of some of the nightmare’s darkness... Tis appealing to us.”

“Glad I could help relieve your torture. I’ll make sure to take good care of it,” Says the filly drily.

“Thou asked for it, so thou shalt receive.” Luna responds with a side glance.

Harmony starts to perform the task as she places her right forehoof onto Luna and gestures for Ambient to come closer.

“Yes, milady~” Ambient singsongs, performing a curtsy in a VERY sarcastic manner before approaching.

Harmony places her left forehoof onto the filly as the process begins. Luna suddenly grunts in displeasure as a black flow of energy is extracted by The Empress.

“Well. That looks appetizing.” Says Ambient sarcastically.

……….

As Harmony performs the task, a voice from within her mind comments:

-Oh yeah, I can’t wait to see how you fuck this up. By Terra, please let this end horribly.-

Harmony’s features narrows in response, all while everyone else present remains oblivious to this conversation, as The Empress responds internally:

-After all this time you finally decide to speak? Well, I won’t hear that from you. Now be silent.-

-My, aren’t we touchy. You’re not still angry about what happened all those years--

-I will not allow myself to become YOU again. Never again.- Harmony interjects.

-You sad wretch. You forget that I am you, and you are I. You might’ve changed our form into a pony, but we will always be one and the same, Harmony.-

As this goes on, the transferring process is nearly complete as the darkness from Luna was now floating before Harmony’s features. The Empress then guides it towards Ambient.

-You can never escape me, Harmony. You are a fool if you think you’ll never turn into what you were meant to be. What WE were meant to--

-Enough!- Harmony interjects, -This will not fail! After all, you saw how Tzana succeeded in the underground. This will work just as that did.-

The inner voice remains silent for a moment before it chuckles devilishly and responds:

-You keep telling yourself that, my dear. You will be driven to me one day out of your own depression and guilt. You’re an open book, Harmony, and I can read you from cover to cover.-

The inner voice starts to laugh, seemingly triumphant, as it slowly fades away into nothingness.

-I will never fall to you again… curse of Abbadon.- Harmony says internally with an annoyed, but determined tone.

……….

At the very moment her conversation with the inner voice was finished, Harmony completes the process as the darkness she extracted from Luna flows into the filly.

“Huh… Doesn’t seem that bad. You were worried about this shit, Luna? I don’t see the-” the filly begins, getting cut off as a strange sight appears… Three souls, one of light, one of dark, and one bearing the colors of nature. All three twist around one another in a graceful dance. Ambient stares at them, looking over at the Empress. “That supposed to happen?”

The Empress stares at this phenomenon with a hopeful expression.

“... Might wanna brace yourself. I don’t really like where this is going.” Says the filly, gritting her teeth as the three energies draw closer as if being sucked into a black hole.

“Everything will be fine, I know it will,” Harmony determinedly responds before saying internally:

-It WILL work… I will not give that curse any sense of satisfaction.-

Observing this scenario and with a nervous chuckle, Rajah Rabbit says:

“This is a very bad idea,” He then grabs Luna and hops away, “Fear not, Luna, we’re getting out of here!”

“What about our grandmare?! We can not just-”

“Harmony can not be harmed. Not truly,” Rajah then glances back towards Harmony and Ambient.

-Harmony… I have a bad feeling about this plan of yours.-

The three energies draw closer, before swirling into one mass. Time feels as if it stops for a few moments as the souls glow.

“Everything is going well, Ambient. I believe-” Suddenly, Harmony’s eyes widen in horror, “No! No, please, no!”

-Ahahahaha! I told you, Harmony!- The inner voice of The Empress says with satisfaction, -Your confidence has betrayed you! Now enjoy your mistake! Ahahahahaha…- The inner voice continues to laugh as it slowly fades away.

“OH SHI-”

An explosion rivaling the other two combined occurs, cutting off Ambient’s words and throwing even the Empress a long distance away as a sickly mist rolls into the area. This is followed by several smaller explosions as what sounds like screams of utter agony ring through the air, followed by glowing lights, spreading through the entire Empire, and even beyond. A dark and ominous atmosphere settles over the land, skies darkening until the sun could no longer be seen.

As the clone of Harmony starts to dissipate, she looks back to where the filly once stood and says regretfully:

”Ambient... I’m so sorry...”

……….

Various individuals throughout The Empire watch on in shock as the new phenomenon settles down before them all. Some questioned if things would now get better or worse while others doubled their efforts to leave the frozen north entirely.

On the outskirts of The Empire, various ships were starting to escort members of the large army away from the new phenomenon. Upon closer inspection, one could tell that this was a new biome altogether.

The evacuation efforts within The Crystal Stadium were now desperately doubled as this new phenomenon threatened the lives of everyone present. In the precious moments, before this new infection consumed the stadium, Rajah Rabbit appeared before the portal as he threw Luna into the anomaly along with everyone else present. The large rabbit could feel a sting of regret as there were still undoubtedly other survivors throughout the city. Sadly, the hero needed to save those who were present as he hops into the portal which closes mere moments after.

……….

Ocram and Discord halt their conflict as the abomination looks towards the direction of this newly formed biome.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Ocram exclaims in shock before turning to Discord, “What did you do?!”

“Don’t look at me!” Discord responds with both his lion’s paw and eagle’s talon pointing to himself, “My biome is cotton candy clouds and chocolate raindrops!”

Ocram seemingly ignores this as the entity roars out and heads towards The Empire to investigate, leaving behind Discord who says:

“Yeah! You’d better run!”

---

Ocram hurriedly makes his way towards the apparent epicenter of this phenomenon as he soon spots ground zero of this event. A large crater was now present where the Crystal Castle ruins once stood.

The entity lowers itself into the crater as it tries to locate the cause of this new event. He soon spots a tuft of fur and instantly recognizes it to be Ambient’s.

“Did that wretch die? Or is she-”

“Still as alive as ever, bud,” Says the filly’s voice, seeming to emanate all around Ocram. “Same can’t be said for anyone in the vicinity of that explosion, though.”

“Your sins made that much obvious to us.”

“...Still all about that sin, huh… Heheh… Comes with a nasty aftertaste, don’t it?”

“What madness are you-” Suddenly, Ocram starts to spit out ichor, “What is this?! Hallow?! Why is it a part of you?!”

“Heh… Remember when you killed me, bud? Let’s just say a certain fairy helped me out. And when said fairy tried to make me strong enough to fight you… Well, you saw the results for yourself,” the filly says with a mirthful tone. “Looks like this experiment went horribly, horribly wrong… Heheheheh.”

“We do not fear you, worm!” The Corruption’s master roars out in defiance, “You were born a worm, and will always be one!”

“Man, you really need to lay off insulting the worms, dude. Someone might get mad.”

“Silence!” Ocram roars out as the entity then starts to unleash a series of vile spits, “We will show the might of The Corruption!”

“Save your strength. This place is already corrupted… And hallowed at the same time. Worst of both worlds… For you.” Says the filly, as the vile spit appears to sizzle and dissipates on contact with the ground.

Ocram’s eyes widened upon seeing this as the entity states:

“This can not be! This biome shouldn’t even exist! It’s impossible!”

“Heheh… There goes the bravado. Gone like dust, once you really realize where you are. Next up goes your sanity. That’ll dissipate in short order, just ask the poor schmuck stuck in that ship. And lastly… Well, the longer you stay here, let’s just say the more agony you’ll be in. You’re right, this place shouldn’t exist.”

The filly appears in front of Ocram, leaning on a solid surface of wind.

“Too bad it does.”

“I am Nyarlathotep’s will, you wretch! I am The Corruption incarnate!”

“Shut the hell up, buddy.” Says the filly, as crystallized, yet corrupted Elementals rise from the ground. “It’s my turn with the talking stick.”

Ocram unleashes a lavender beam of energy and aims it directly at the filly. With a mirage-like movement, the filly appears in a different section of the biome, elementals rising to attack Ocram with a variety of moves. Several bolts of Vile Acid shoot at the Corruption Master, burning at his flesh as if he had wandered into the Hallow. Others shoot sickly water that bursts into crystal shards, which drip vile spit.

“You better watch where you’re aiming. You don’t want to make me mad. Celestia knows what I’d do if I really lost control.”

A sense of dread overtakes Ocram as the entity spits out ichor and says:

“You think that your power is absolute?!”

“Never said that. Just said it was enough to take your sorry ass down.”

Ocram chuckles, “Yes, take pride in defeating a weakened version of ourselves.”

“Heheheh… Same to you. Killing a weakened filly, a weakened Hallow… It’s about time you got some payback… How’s that last Shadow Orb of yours doing, by the way?” Smirks the filly, glowing with phantasmal energy.

“How did you know about that?! It’s impossible!”

“Remember, pal… The Divide is just a combination of Hallow and Corruption… this hivemind I got lets me know about stuff like that. Don’t worry, though… I don’t know WHERE it is. I just know it exists.”

“And you never will… go on, kill us, we’ll just revive ourselves. We are as eternal as sin itself!”

“Heheh… That’s disappointing. Let me make it clear: I don’t plan on letting you go… uncorrupted that is,” says the filly with an evil light in her eyes.

Ocram’s eyes widen with, for the first time in its life, a sense of horror as the entity says:

“N-no…”

“What’s wrong? Scared? Afraid that the crystals that are burrowing into your flesh right now will take you over? Good. Because that’s exactly what they’re gonna do. So are you sure you want to fight me right now? Or do you wanna run to give yourself a chance at life?” Ambient leans forward, as half-purified fireballs shoot from behind her at the entity. “I’M FINE WITH EITHER OPTION.”

The abomination’s eyes widen in response as Ocram rapidly turns away and attempts to fly out of the crater’s depths.

-This is an absolute outrage! We were created to be the strongest infection! And yet, somehow, that filly is different. This biome is an abomination!- Ocram says internally.

Several elementals pursue the monstrosity through the biome, launching crystal shards with wiggling tendrils attached to them. Bone-chilling screams echo from the entities as they give chase.

Ocram barely manages to dodge these projectiles as the entity maneuvers around chaotically. One tendril nearly manages to collide with Ocram but the entity spots a nearby parasite and orders it to intercept the coming attack. The parasite dies after intercepting the attack.

“Hey, pal… Over here.” says the filly, waving a hoof surrounded by purple and pink energies. “I wanna show you something… Just to make sure you know what happens if you die… Or if you stick around too long.”

The filly lashes out with the energy, wrapping the Eater of Souls up. A flash of purple appears as it seems to crystalize. A piercing screech emits from it as it charges Ocram, as if desperate. It froths at the mouth with a mixture of vile spit and some form of viscous bluish liquid, half-crystallized mandibles clicking rapidly.

The fear that was present within Ocram’s form was now multiplied as he bore witness to this event. Seeing one of the creatures of The Corruption become, well, corrupted, sent a shivering sensation throughout his body.

-And there goes the sanity… Heheh…. You know what’s next, don’t you?- Says the filly, although she is nowhere to be seen. Her voice seems to be emanating from his own mind.

“How are you in our mind?!”

-That’s just it, Ocram… It’s OUR mind- She says, with a tone of malevolence. -You said it yourself, didn’t you? All the servants of the Corruption are connected to us? Heheheh… I’m sure I don’t need to make it any clearer.-

“Begone from our mind! We do not want you in our hive-”

-Ah, ah, ah… Not your hivemind. My hivemind. Hey, at least you can retire now… FOREVER.-

Ocram practically gives in as the entity’s mind collapses into the point of insanity. The monstrosity flees The Empire altogether as it retreats back to Canterlot. Letting loose various crazed exclamations

“Oops. I broke it.” Ambient comments as she observes the fleeing entity.

……….

As Ocram continued to flee, the entity couldn’t believe this recent turn of events. A new biome composed of Hallow, Corruption and even forces of nature was now present on a large portion of the land. A land the entity had planned to infect purely with Corruption, once Nyarlathotep had joined the worlds together as one. This was driving Ocram mad as the monstrosity says:

“The Divide… it’s an abomination! We should’ve killed that filly when we had the chance!”

Ocram was now positioned above the ruins of Canterlot Castle as the entity meteors itself into the castle’s depths. The entity crashes through a wall, its frantic state still present, as Ocram was now in the very same chamber that was once used to house various artifacts and large sources of power. Fortunately, Princess Luna and Princess Cadence had the foresight to remove the hidden treasures of this chamber before The Corruption took hold. However, the chamber now possessed a new type of treasure, one that the entity now hovered before: A mirror.

“It is fortunate that we moved this mirror to Canterlot before we took hold of Celestia’s form,” Ocram says, preparing to enter the mirror before them, “We must regain our power and use our back up plan. Our Orb lies safely on the other side and should’ve spread our influence by now,” The abominations growled angrily, “We will have our vengeance against you, someday... Ambient.” Ocram enters the mirror and sets off onto another reality.

This reality, this new world… one that was all too precious to Sunset Shimmer: Earth.

..........

Over by The Empire, Ambient smirks and blows a strand of hair out of her eyes before saying:

“Well... Glad that one worked...” Her gaze was suddenly drawn to a nearby scenario as the entity created by Tzana, and the small Eater of Souls that dug the hole alongside Grubber was reunited with the very same parasite she herself had spoken to before. Incidentally, it was also the missing young parasite.

---

-THE UNDERGROUND HALLOW BIOME-

Sometime after the events of The Crystal Empire, those who were evacuated successfully were now positioned underground, in Harmony’s realm. Just beneath The Everfree Forest and the cave of The Tree Of Harmony.

The airships that were used to evacuate those from the outskirts of The Empire are now parked over The Everfree Forest, up on the surface.

Spike stayed true to his word and brought everyone from Ponyville down into the underground biome. However, this was truly a blessing in disguise as the new biome, The Divide, was slowly but surely progressing towards Ponyville.

After everyone who was transported here via the Hallow Pylon was accounted for, said Pylon disappeared from the former Underground Corruption as it fizzles and fades out of existence.

……….

Throughout the beautiful underground, various survivors of every species throughout The Coalition started to set up their homes as Harmony allowed them to make use of the ever-growing town that was positioned before her castle. Utopians and fairies aided the survivors turned refugees as the process of recovery were now needed.

Various familiar faces were reunited with their loved ones such as The Apple Family members, The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Derpy Hooves, and her daughter, Dinky, along with The Cakes and even the members of Pinkie Pie’s adoptive family from The Rock Farm.

One group of young individuals shared a heartfelt reunion as Gallus, Smolder, Ocellus, Silverstream, Yona, and Sandbar were brought together into a group hug. Gallus in particular was acting hesitant but truly enjoyed the embrace.

Every member of The Pillars was currently listening to Stygian’s tale as Star Swirl had wanted to know the truth about Stygian’s role in Luna’s plan. With the blessings of The Lunar Princess, Stygian complied and revealed everything to The Pillars.

Capper was currently aiding Captain Celaeno with unloading supplies for refugees along with Trixie and the storm creatures, or yetis.

Two individuals, in particular, are hurriedly making their way towards Harmony’s castle: Twilight Velvet and Night Light. Celestia herself was also accompanying them as she was the one who delivered the news of Shining Armor’s death. Velvet’s tears were still flowing, even as they made their way towards the castle, as Night Light pleaded for this to simply not be real. The Sun Princess offered to teleport them all to Shining Armor, but the saddened state of the mother and father of the white unicorn urged them to run to his side.

---

-HARMONY’S CASTLE: THRONE ROOM-

Within the throne room of Harmony’s crystalline castle were all of the leaders of The Coalition. King Domihaus, Prince Zaku, General Seaspray, Prince Rutherford, King Thorax, Dragonlord Ember, Chief Thunderhooves, Grandpa Gruff, and Rain Shine are all gathered around a flower bed with Shining Armor’s body positioned on top.

Other individuals were also present in the form of Tzana, Grubber, Tempest, Spike, Gilda, Chrysalis, Pharynx, Zalan, Discord, Rajah Rabbit, Sunset Shimmer, Sunburst, and Flurry Heart.

……….

Cadence was weeping uncontrollably at the fallen form of Shining Armor as Luna draped a wing over the pink alicorn. Sunburst tried his best to turn Flurry Heart away from her father but failed as the young alicorn teleported into Cadence’s grasp.

“Momma, why is daddy sleeping?” The innocent alicorn questions, oblivious to the true state of her father. However, the young alicorn could indeed feel the saddened state of her mother, not to mention the others all around them.

Holding her daughter with her left forehoof, Cadence closes her eyes shut with tears flowing, pulls Flurry closer into a loving embrace, and says:

“D-daddy… he, h-he’s going to sleep for… a t-time…”

Everyone else present was paying their respects and various conversations echoed throughout the throne room. However, the large double doors to the room open wide, and after a mere moment, a loud exclamation instantly silences all present:

“No! My baby boy!” Twilight Velvet exclaims painfully, tears strolling down her features.

Clopping hooves echoes throughout the room as the mother unicorn runs towards Shining Armor’s corpse. Both Night Light and Celestia slowly walk into the room with saddened expressions and make their way towards the flowerbed. Night Light in particular tried to keep his composure, but the tears flowing down his face were the evidence of his inner turmoil.

Having reached her own son’s body, and with her tears still flowing, Twilight Velvet says in a sorrowful tone:

“Wh-what happened to my baby? This can not be happening! He shouldn’t be lying dead here!”

Cadence was still weeping, caressing Flurry Heart’s mane in a mournful manner as Spike walked closer to her and placed a claw onto the weeping alicorn. Luna in particular was the first to respond to the mother’s demand as she comments:

“Shining Armor fought valiantly and defeated the traitorous Blueblood,” Her features saddened, “However, Blueblood struck down thy brave stallion with a fatal attack before the tyrant was destroyed by your son’s own hooves.”

As this goes on, Night Light and Celestia finally reach them as the father of Shining Armor goes to his wife’s aid.

Observing this from afar, Rajah Rabbit and Discord could also sense that a certain Empress was currently within her bedchamber. But most disturbingly, they could feel absolute regret and sorrow consuming Harmony’s form as Discord comments:

“We should really go up there and calm her down,” The draconequus looks around before he continues: “I don’t think anyone else can sense her current state but sad and depressed is an understatement.”

Rajah Sighs sadly, “She’s beating herself up about what transpired with Ambient. She… she was so confident that the plan would work,” Rajah looks up to the ceiling, “She’s a real mess up in her chambers, Discord.”

“And we’ll all be a mess if she turns into,” Discord leans closer and whispers, “You know what.”

“Harmony will not transform into her former self,” Rajah responds with narrowed features.

“How can you be sure? This is exactly the kind of thing that would drive Sun Butt and Moon Booty into madness,” Discord says as he emphasizes his point by secretly showing doll forms of Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon.

Before the duo could go on any further, two alicorn Princesses drew near as Luna and Celestia cleared their throats in unison.

“We couldn’t help but overhear you talk about our grandmare’s current state,” Luna says with a lifted forehoof, “Celly and I… we can sense it too. A great sadness and despair is emanating from above us all.”

“I… I still can’t believe that Harmony herself is our… grandmare. I have so many questions,” Celestia states, but a sudden thought comes to her as she then turns to Luna, “There’s another thing, Luna.”

Luna raises an eyebrow, “What is it, dear sister?”

Celestia swallowed a lump and sighs, “Our father, Solaris… he spoke to Cadence, Flurry Heart, and myself.”

Luna’s eyes widen in shock, “W-what?”

Discord looks to Rajah Rabbit, who in turn nods, as the draconequus rubs the back of his neck before saying:

“You two should go up there and speak to her. You have a lot to talk about, but cheering her up should be the first thing you do.”

Celestia’s ears perk up, “Discord… do you know something about this?”

“We know more than you could ever imagine, Celestia,” Rajah Rabbit responds as he pats The Sun Princess’s head, “Your grandmother, or grandmare in pony terms, has many things to reveal to you both.”

Luna and Celestia listen attentively. Rajah continues:

“But first, you and your sister must mend her heart. Discord and I can only go so far, but you two… I have a good feeling that you will reach her.”

Luna and Celestia look at each other and nod in unison before turning back to Discord and Rajah.

“We will happily do this,” Celestia says determinedly.

“We know from personal experience that not speaking to family or friends, and bottling up thy emotions will only result in thy own destruction,” Luna said.

Discord nods in response and gestures for the two alicorns to follow him out of the throne room. Rajah Rabbit stays behind as the large rabbit joins Tzana, Tempest, Grubber, and Inigo.

……….

Now outside of the throne room, Discord uses his eagle’s talon to rip a portal into existence. Beyond the portal, the two alicorn sisters could see a door to a very particular bedchamber.

“She’s beyond that door,” Discord says as he bows to the two alicorns and beckons them to go through, “I wish you good luck, miladies.”

The two alicorn’s nod in response before entering the anomaly with determined expressions. However, Luna, in particular, had one thought on her mind:

-Mayhaps would also ask her about the truth of that strange tablet.-

---

-HARMONY’S BEDCHAMBERS-

Both Luna and Celestia exit the portal created by Discord as they turn around to see the draconequus wave to them both before closing the anomaly behind them. The duo turns back to the beautiful entrance of the bedchamber as multicolored crystals adorned the frame of the entrance. The doorknob was shaped similarly to Harmony’s crest as the insignia of her fairy wings were etched onto the door’s face.

Celestia turns to Luna, “Here we go, dear sister.”

Luna nods, “Indeed. Let us save our grandmare from thy sorrows.”

Celestia fires up her horn and opens the door to the chamber. What the alicorn sisters see absolutely shocks them as Harmony laid on the floor, sobbing into her forehooves, in a frazzled condition. The Empress’s mane was an absolute mess while her wings seemed to be torn and shredded. But most disturbingly, it was easy to see that this was self inflicted. Apparently, the version of her that was present with Ambient was a clone of herself. Said clone dissipating as it was thrown away from the birth of the new infection, The Divide.

“Grandmare…” Celestia comments with a sorrowful tone.

“Harmony, can thou hear us?” Luna questions as she and Celestia slowly walk into the bedchamber. They gasp in shock as they didn’t truly take in the condition of the room itself. Now though, they could see that the room was torn apart and the only things that were unharmed were the various pictures of Harmony herself along with what seemed to be a wolf with a head that resembled a wolf skull, but not in an unappealing fashion.

What shocked the two alicorns, even more, was when they saw two pink ponies, two foals, who were being cradled by Harmony herself.

Luna’s eyes were widened in shock, as was Celestia, as the Lunar Princess says:

“Is that… Pinkie Pie?”

Celestia nods, “It would seem so, dear sister. And it would appear that the other pink foal is a possible sibling.”

“B-but, art not the Rock Farm Family thy true parents?” Luna questions in disbelief.

Celestia could only remain silent as she had hundreds of questions on her mind. She took a breath and walked closer to the crying form of Harmony.

“Grandmare? Please, let me see your face.” Celestia says in a loving yet sorrowful tone.

Harmony remains silent but does heed Celestia’s request as she raises her head to meet The Sun Princess’s gaze. What Luna and Celestia see fills their hearts with sympathy as Harmony’s eyes were bloodshot and the fur on her cheeks was dampened by her tears. Gone was the beautifully composed Empress who was replaced by an emotional wreck. It was just as Discord and Rajah Rabbit had said. Depression, sadness, and regret emanated from Harmony’s form and evident by her facial features.

“Oh… h-hello there… my grandchildren…” Harmony says in a nearly monotonous tone.

Luna’s heart nearly dropped from hearing this. The loving tone of harmony that she recalls from their first meeting was nowhere to be found. Celestia’s own heart followed suit as The Sun Princess lowered her form, eyes meeting with Harmony’s.

“Even in this state, I can certainly see where I and Luna get our beauty from,” Celestia says with a vibrant smile, “I have so many questions for you, grandmare. So many things that I’d love for you to show and tell me,” Celestia nuzzles The Empress, “But right here, right now, I see myself in you. I understand the pain that you’re going through, Harmony.”

Luna watches on with a small smile as she decides to let Celestia do her wonders. If there was one thing that The Sun Princess excelled at, it was connecting to the hearts of those who desperately needed it.

“I love you, grandchild… but you couldn’t possibly know my pain.” Harmony responds before lowering her gaze.

Celestia playfully puts a forehoof to her chin, “Hmmm, wasn’t there a story about two sisters?” The Sun Princess feigns ignorance as Harmony raises her head once more, but with a slight deadpan expression.

Luna internally cheers on her sister as the dark alicorn sits on her flank.

“Celly… what happened between you and Luna, while tragic, is nothing compared to-”

“I respectfully disagree once more, grandmare,” Celestia interjects, “While I’m sure that you’ve experienced a lot more pain than neither myself nor Luna could ever fathom, quality overtakes quantity in this situation.”

Harmony tilts her head, “What do you mean by that?”

Celestia giggles, “The fact that you have to ask me that kind of proves my point. But first, let me help you up,” The Sun Princess places her head beneath Harmony’s lower jaw and gently prompts her to rise up. The Empress in turn sighs once more before heeding Celestia’s gesture.

Harmony was now sitting on her flank, torn wings folded against her form. Her head was still slumped down as the bagginess of her eyes was on full display, bloodshot still somewhat present in her eyes. Impressively, even while sitting on her flank, Harmony still dwarfed the two alicorn sisters who also sat on their flanks as well. Luna and Celestia were now sat side by side before their grandmare, like two children waiting to hear a story.

Celestia clears her throat, “Now as I was saying. I understand your regret and sorrow because it was exactly how I felt when I banished Luna to the moon,” Celestia’s features saddened as Luna drapes a wing over her sister.

“And we hath forgiven you, dear sister,” Luna comments, “We art equally to blame for those events.”

Celestia nods to her sister with a smile and turns to Harmony, “I was an absolute wreck in the aftermath of that event. I even looked almost exactly like you do right now, minus the torn wings though,” Celestia winces as she looks at the appendages.

“They’ll regrow… or I can simply just heal them…” Harmony responds, her monotonous tone still present. “How did you recover from it?”

Celestia was momentarily silenced by this question before she finally takes a breath and responds:

“I never truly did, grandmare. The pain of it still haunts me to this day and I can not say that it will ever disappear.”

Harmony’s tone lost its monotony, slightly, as she responds with a small semblance of her natural voice:

“Then what exactly are you trying to tell me? I already know this-”

“But would he be happy? Seeing you like this?” Celestia interjects.

“W-what?” Harmony questions.

Celestia points a forehoof towards the nearby picture on the wall which depicts Harmony and Oblivion in a loving embrace, “Would he want to see you like this? He’s clearly very precious to you and judging by the other pictures in this room,” The Sun Princess glances towards the picture of Pinkie Pie and Mena, “He’s apparently the father of those two foals. I recognize one of them to be Pinkie Pie.”

“We would need to talk about that too, in the future,” Luna says as she stares dumbfoundedly towards the picture.

Harmony smiles, “Yes. His name is Oblivion, my husband, and father to my daughters Pinkie and Mena.”

Celestia smiles, “He seems nice. Hmm, does that make Pinkie Pie a relative of ours?” The white alicorn ponders.

Harmony manages to let loose a chuckle, “It’s a little more complicated than that, Celly. But why do you bring that up?”

Celestia closes her eyes as if searching for the right words to say in response. Luna seemed to recognize this action as a smile adorns the alicorn’s features. Then, Celestia opens her eyes and says:

“We will undoubtedly make more mistakes in the coming days, and we’ll have to endure them,” Celestia fires up her horn and conjures forth a picture of herself and Luna, making funny faces together, “But the most important thing is to allow our loved ones to be there to help us. To mend our hearts when we ourselves are unable to.”

Harmony’s ears perk up in response, before saying:

“Celly, I’ve made so many mistakes that I can’t imagine anyone but Oblivion would be able to help me through them.”

“And that’s your first mistake, grandmare,” Celestia responds, “You assume that only your lover will be able to aid you. That’s not true. You have two grandchildren who want to be there for you.”

“Rajah Rabbit seemeth to be another who cares for you, and wishes to help thee.” Luna comments.

Celestia nods, “Even Discord wanted us to aid you in your current state.”

Harmony’s eyes widened in response, “D-Disidian did that? And, Rajah?”

Celestia and Luna nod, “That they did,” Celestia said, “Discord and Rajah asked us to help you, and we ourselves don’t want to see you in pain like this,” The white alicorn chuckles, “Luna and I want to be there for you, grandmare. You just have to let us in.”

“Thy isolation hath made thee seem to hath forgotten about this fact,” Luna says, “Regardless of whatever reason thou may hath, nay, thou must never forget that there art those who love you. And wish to aid thee.”

The two alicorn sisters rise to their hooves as Celestia comments:

“Another thing that personally helps me to get past the pain is to ensure that others do not also go through it as well.”

“Verily,” Luna said. “We can only hope that our words hath reached thee, grandmare, and Celly hath a point. Thou must also ensure that others don’t feel the same pain as thee art currently festering,” Luna lowers her gaze in sorrow, “Like Cadence, Flurry Heart, and many others down in the throne room art currently feeling.”

Harmony lowers her gaze once more in sorrow, but also absorbing their words in tandem.

“I can certainly say that you are an amazing being, Harmony,” Celestia comments, smiling brightly, “Please, help me and Luna heal their pain. I don’t want Twilight to return to us one day and become broken by the news of her brother’s passing,” The two alicorns fire up their horns as Celestia says:

“Our pain can never truly be healed completely, but we can ensure that others never have to go through it as well.”

“Tis our duty to ensure that our friends and loved ones, even our subjects, never hath to know this pain,” Luna says as she smiles towards Harmony, “However, in turn, thou must never forget to let others in and aid thee.”

The two sisters disappear in a series of golden and dark blue lights as they teleport themselves to the throne room, leaving behind The Empress who thinks deeply on their words.

---

-HARMONY’S CASTLE: THRONE ROOM-

Some time passes by as both Celestia and Luna had reappeared in the throne room not too long ago. Everyone continued to pay respects to the fallen unicorn Prince as Cadence and Twilight Velvet in particular were hugging each other tightly, never leaving Shining Armor’s side. Night Light and Spike watched on with saddened expressions as Flurry Heart was being carried by Sunburst, both of whom also wore the same features.

……….

Tzana and Inigo were currently finishing up their conversation as the half utopian says:

“So Utopians are the guardians of The Hallow? And they’re different from ponies as they are more reliant on The Hallow, whereas ponies can pretty much go anywhere they want?” Tzana questions.

“That is the gist of it, daughter. You being half-pony enabled you to survive on the surface. Unlike me, you are not solely reliant on The Hallow.” Inigo responds as nearby mares stare at the utopian, longingly, “The drawback is that when you grow in power after consuming crystals from The Hallow, the pony side of you is where that pain you told me of comes into effect.”

“Well, that certainly explains why it hurt like Tartarus. However, didn’t you say that all of Equestria is technically one giant Hallow biome?” Tzana takes notice of the staring mares, “Also, are they seriously trying to find a quick rut? This is practically a funeral, and that’s what’s on their minds?”

“We utopians can only survive on the more powerful version of The Hallow, where we currently are. In addition, we could only live outside of it for a short amount of time before complications arise,” Inigo glances towards the mares behind him, all of whom were wearing half-lidded eyes. He turns back to Tzana, “Also, ignore them. I will only ever belong to your mother.”

Tzana shoots the mares an expression that sends a chilling wave of fear throughout their bodies. This change in Tzana’s features could be described in just a few words:

“I’ll kill you.”

The mares start to back away in a cold sweat as Inigo sighs annoyingly and comments:

“Thank you for that.”

“Eh, sometimes it works having a daughter to scare off the mares for ya,” Tzana suddenly gets a thought, “Wait, does that mean that Tempest is bound to The Hallow?”

“Your friend is a different case. Despite her being reborn physically as a utopian, a pony is who she is in her soul,” Inigo turns his gaze towards Tempest, who in turn was nearby, “I suspect she will have certain perks.”

……….

Discord and Rajah Rabbit were currently positioned by the far corner of the throne room, near the exit/entrance. The large rabbit sighs sadly before saying:

“It would seem… Luna and Celestia were unsuccessful.”

Discord wipes his eagle’s talon across his face, “She seriously gets too moody sometimes...”

“You can’t really blame her, Discord. She takes these things personally when she feels like she’s wronged someone else.”

“Yeah, well, It’s clear to see where Sun Butt gets it fro-”

Suddenly, Discord’s words were cut off by a multicolored beam of light conjuring itself into being as the form of Harmony follows soon after. She had managed to recover her form and even healed her wings as they were no longer torn. In addition, the beauty she once gracefully wielded was once more on display as she instantly awed those in attendance who were unfamiliar with the entity.

Luna and Celestia shared a knowing smile as their words seemed to have worked wonders on their grandmare, judging by her recovered appearance. The Lunar Princess in particular brings out the tablet given to her by The Primordials. Celestia sees this and asks:

“Luna, what is that strange object you’re wielding?” The Sun Princess suddenly feels a strange sense of recognition, “And why do I feel... Connected, to it?”

“Tis what I wanted to ask our grandmare, Celly,” Luna responds, taking her gaze away from the tablet, “Now art not the proper time, but we shall ask her of its true connection to us.”

Cadence and Twilight Velvet observe the new equine figure as Harmony herself was trotting towards them. Her pink mane fluttered to and fro as the ever-present vibrant pink aura surrounding her body gave off a warming atmosphere.

Harmony was now mere feet away from Twilight Velvet as The Empress lowers her form and nuzzles the weeping mother. She then rises to her full stature and spreads her wings to their maximum lengths. This of course results in a shocked Velvet as she herself has yet to meet the divine being before her.

“Twilight Velvet,” Harmony’s echoing voice seems to comfort the heartbroken mother before her, “I, Harmony, the Empress of Light, refuse to allow you to feel the pain of a mother’s loss,” The Empress glances towards Celestia and Luna, and smiles, “A pain that I shall never allow anyone else to experience.” A series of multicolored lights emanate from Harmony’s wings as these lights send a warm feeling to everyone in the room.

Harmony begins to lift herself off of the ground and hovers just in front of Shining Armor’s body. She closes her eyes and spreads her forehooves apart and exclaims:

“Shining Armor, you have shown great valor in your life!”

Many utopians start to walk forth as even Inigo, Tempest, and Tzana joined them.

“A stallion who loves his family and friends dearly, treasures his subjects, and as he has proven, would even put down his life to defend them!”

The multicolored lights of Harmony start to fly forth and surround Shining Armor’s body, all while the utopians start to stomp their hooves in a ceremonial fashion. Cadence and Twilight Velvet watch on in absolute awe as Night Light, Flurry Heart, Sunburst, Spike, Celestia, and Luna do the same from behind them. The other leaders of The Coalition are equally amazed. Discord’s jaw was literally dropped to the floor as Rajah Rabbit watched on proudly.

Tempest Shadow watched with a sense of recognition, Grubber sitting on her back, as she comments:

“This is the exact same thing she must’ve done for me.”

“Sure is,” Tzana responds, “Looks like the Prince is the second pony to become a utopian today.”

Harmony’s eyes suddenly shot wide open as an all-encompassing light practically blinds everyone present.

“Be reborn, Shining Armor! Rise and claim your station as a Utopian!”

---

-THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE, CRASHED AIRSHIP-

In a small room, a broken, tossed-aside radio crackles to life for the first time in several hours.

“H-Hello?” says a feminine voice, amidst strange screams and cries in the background. It sounds as if she is in an enclosed space “I-Is anyone there?”

The radio goes silent before continuing.

“This is… This is Mira Firestorm, former Admiral of the N.H.R… I’m trapped in the ship.”

---

-????, TERRARIA-

The gentle tapping of rain can be heard on the ceiling above a chessboard. The metal creature stares at the chessboard, pieces moving from place to place. Beside it stands Cozy Glow, blankly staring at the wall on the opposite side of the room.

“Hm… This is quite interesting, yet… I cannot shake the feeling that this will severely interrupt my plans… Unreality annoys me so, wouldn’t you agree, Cozy?” it says mechanically.

“Yes, Lord Zalgo.”

“Indeed… I will have to make some adjustments to these events… Perhaps the Astral may be interested in meeting this… ‘Divide’.”

Zalgo’s clawed hand reaches out to a piece on the sidelines, placing it next to the figure representing Ambient.

“This next experiment will be very, very interesting… What do you viewers think?”

-A star has fallen from the heavens!-

Next Chapter: Chapter 16 - Anubis's Training Pt:1 Estimated time remaining: 17 Hours, 33 Minutes