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The Mare With the Golden Horn

by Tyrael

Chapters

Prologue

A long, long time ago, Before Equestria...

The sounds of battle began to die down as the sun set over the war-torn continent of Mareidies. Constant conflict had been raging for years on Mareidies, with no end in sight. The battles were fought between the settlers of a colony called Aesirlund against the Kingdom of Netheria, the magically-imbued natives of Mareidies that the Aesirlundians disparagingly named 'demons.' An incident involving a golden apple had sparked the bloodshed and there was no indication that peace would be reached anytime soon.

Working in secret, the two leaders of the warring factions of Mareidies had been plotting to find a way to bring peace to their people. It was not an easy process, as the Aesirlundian commander openly detested the Netherian Queen, for good reason, too. A brother and sister pair, the Aesirlundians were led by Tian, while his sister Li Li (forever known as Lilith, a portmanteau of Li Li and her epithet of 'the Betrayer') had seized the Netherian throne though subterfuge and murder in a foolhardy bid to win her brother's respect. Non-natives to Mareidies, the siblings were Qianlima - winged horses capable of running thousands of miles in a day -  and had once lived as merchants, wandering all across the lands in search of new friends to trade with, but that was years ago. Warfare was all that they traded in now.

The plan Tian and Lilith had concocted was a bold one. The only solution they could come up with that would permanently end the fighting was to eliminate the emotions that incited conflict. They felt if they could remove the hatred, fear, and other negative feelings that had kept the war raging for years that peace could be won. The means to accomplish such a task had eluded them. While Tian had mostly abandoned the idea, Lilith had spent the last few weeks researching every Netherian spellbook she could get her hooves on until she managed to discover a dark ritual that would do the trick.

Lilith's efforts had finally paid off, and earlier in the day she had sent a message to Tian saying she had found a way to implement their plan and a meeting had been arranged at sunset, deep in the Netherian woods. Tian wasn't sure what his sister had discovered, but he was anxious to learn. He had seen too many foals become orphans, laid too many friends and comrades in their barrows, witnessed more destruction than he could have ever imagined. As much as he hated the Netherians, and would continue to lead his people against them if this plan failed, Tian hoped that his sister had truly found a way to end the scourge of war that plagued Mareidies.

As the hour of sunset approached, Tian disrobed from his usual attire of silver armor and white robes and instead donned a dark green and brown camouflage cloak to aid his infiltration of Netherian territory as well as attempt to mask his appearance, which was no easy task. Apart from being the only Qianlima in Aesirlund, as the commander of the Aesirlundian forces Tian's crimson coat, fiery red mane, and cutie mark of a dark red, orange, and yellow sun were instantly recognizable amongst the armies of both sides.

Tian's run from his command post in Aesirlund's capital city, New Hope, to the great river which divided the two warring nations went by quickly. A sprint of that length would have left most races sweating or gasping for breath, but for a Qianlima it was about as taxing as walking to the curb to pick up a newspaper in the morning. After he forded the great river, Tian's pace slowed severely as he became fully alert, not wanting to become a trophy for a Netherian patrol.

Tian slowly made his way through the thick forests of Netheria, his eyes darted nervously around him as he made his way to meet with his sister. Every snapping twig sent bursts of paranoia running rampant in his mind. Tian had reason to be worried, he knew that Netherians - the demons - were highly attuned to emotions as part of their natural talents and they could sense his fear if they were close enough.

As Tian reached his destination, a secluded grove with water bubbling out of a spring, he sighed and scowled at his little sister's twisted form. Lilith was part demon, a fusion born of desperation. Years prior, Tian and Lilith had been on quest for vengeance after an evil dragon attacked a village the Qianlima siblings had been trading with. It turned out the dragon, known as The Ravager, had been rampaging across the land and the two Qianlima soon joined a growing horde of survivors turned dragon hunters.

When The Ravager attempted to escape by flying across the sea, the dragon hunters built ships to pursue. The Ravager was slain in a fierce battle not far from the shores of Mareidies, and as he fell dying into the ocean he sundered one of the ships. Lilith had been aboard the destroyed ship and would have died if not for a pact she made with a demon. The demon had offered Lilith a deal she could not refuse: the demon would give her body to Lilith, merging with her to form a half-demon, but in exchange Lilith had to select a host to bear the demon's spirit. Lilith begged the demon to choose one of the foals that had been aboard her doomed ship, and in a burst of infernal magic Lilith had been rescued from the dark depths and was teleported into a small village in the kingdom of Netheria.

The survivors of the doomed ship were brought aboard the remaining ship and the motley group of homeless, melancholy dragon slayers eventually landed at Mareidies and together created their new home, which they named Aesirlund. Tian had been elected leader of the colony and as Aesirlund grew they soon met their neighbors, the Netherians, who welcomed them with open arms. Life was good for the Aesirlundians in the beginning, but their closeness with the Netherians would prove to be their downfall years later when the golden apple incident destroyed the harmony they had enjoyed and set them at each others' throats.

It was over a year before Tian discovered that his sister was still alive. While on a tour through Netheria, Tian came to the village Lilith had been living in. When he saw Lilith's demonic form, Tian despised her for it. He had declared her "forsaken" and forbid her from entering Aesirlund. Lilith's demonic transformation had resulted in a rather peculiar appearance: she stood and walked on two goat-like legs, as many of the demons had, the hair had fallen off her tail and it now ended with a fork, her forelegs and wings had vanished and were replaced with a wiry pair of arms with taloned fingers, and a pair of gnarled horns sprouted from her forehead. Her coat was blood red and her hair was jet black. A cutie mark of a sheaf of barley adorned her flanks, a peculiar relic from her former life as a merchant.

Lilith had been devastated by her brother's reaction and took it upon herself to win back her brother's love. She left her village and worked her way into the court of the Netherian king and enthralled him with tales of the land across the sea. Using a cursed sword, Lilith had betrayed and murdered the Netherian king and claimed the throne for her own. Lilith had thought that if she ruled Netheria that Tian would respect her once more, she was wrong.

Tian always blamed himself for what had happened to his sister. He ran through the events over and over in his mind. It was his fault this happened to her, she was just following in her big brother's hoofsteps. He wanted to slay the dragon, to avenge their friends. If the dragon had killed him when they were first attacked, would Lilith have joined the dragon hunters? The guilt haunted him as much as her twisted, demonic form angered him.

As he wished for what felt like the millionth time for this to have all been just a dream, Tian smiled weakly as his sister turned to greet him.

"Hello, Lilith," Tian said, refusing to use her true name, much to her annoyance.

Lilith shot him a glare and laughed. "You will not have the right to call me that after tonight, brother. Once you see the fruits of my research it shall be 'Li Li' once more."

"Perhaps. If this scheme of yours works," Tian curtly replied.

"It will, Tian, it will," Lilith chided. "You could perhaps be a little more supportive, you know. You wish for this war to end as badly as I or else you would not be here."

Tian sighed. "I am sorry, Li Li. Let us not dwell on the past and instead focus on the future. What did you discover?"

Lilith motioned Tian forwards and showed him an altar surrounded by candles and a pentagram dug in the dirt. Upon the altar was a clay figure portraying a female demon, looking much like her creator. The figure had a different style of horns than Lilith's and the face of a wolf instead of that of an equine like Lilith.

Lilith grinned. "I have spent the last few weeks studying the magic of the Netherians and I finally discovered a form of magic that will help us perform the miracle we envisioned."

Lilith smiled and ran her hand along the clay demon's hair. "Demons have a certain affinity for emotions, they can consume them or amplify them. By mixing blood magic with the ritual to produce a golem, we can create our own demon, and give her the power to consume all negativity such as hatred and anguish, then we can end this war and rebuild the lives we lost."

"She will be able to take away the emotions that plague us like raking leaves from a yard," Lilith said, as she drug her taloned fingers through the dirt.

Tian raised his eyebrow. Lilith's idea had merit, he hated to admit, but he had fought against enough demons to know how deadly they could be, let alone how dangerous one would be if it had the power to stop wars or further incite them. "What if this demon we create decides to amplify those emotions? You know how they are."

"She would not do any such thing!" Lilith snapped. "Do not tell me you believe your own propaganda, Tian. Netherians lived peacefully alongside the colonists before the apple incident, they are not evil by nature. I will teach her how to behave, how to use her talents."

"And you are strong enough in the magical arts to perform these rituals, to bring life to clay?" Tian skeptically asked.

"Yes, the demon blood within me that you so abhor gives me the strength," Lilith haughtily replied.

Tian thought for a moment and then pointed towards the clay demon. "Should we really bestow this much power to one being?"

Lilith shrugged and began performing an incantation to magically reshape the clay. A few minutes passed and there were now three little demons made of clay; each one looked identical to the original except for their horns.

Tian raised his eyebrow as he inspected the new figures. "Why the dog's head, if I may ask?"

Lilith smiled. "I like wolves. It's cute."

Tian nodded. "Fair enough. Now what?"

Lilith stood and stroked her chin. "I must rename them before we can proceed."

Lilith dipped her hand in the spring and brushed it across the forehead of the middle figure. "I shall call you what I named the first clay demon, Baphomeena."

Lilith swiped the water across the right-most figure. "And you I shall name Azazandra."

Lilith moved to the last figure, "Lucifiona shall be your name. Together you shall be sisters, and together you will bring a new era to this land."

Tian stomped his hoof. "Sacrilege! Those are demon names!"

Lilith smirked. "Well, they are demons, Tian, and I thought those names were rather pretty."

Tian shrugged. "If you say so..."

Lilith shook her head. She silently prayed that her plan would succeed, if only so her brother wouldn't be so insufferable. "If you have managed to calm your misgivings, brother, I must perform the rituals. First, I will need a quill..."

Tian winced as Lilith plucked one of his feathers.

Lilith grit her teeth as she cut the palm of her hand with her talons, then dipped the quill into her blood. "Next, we must name the negative traits we wish these demons to embody so that they can be removed from the populace. I will draw their symbols with my blood, using a piece of your body. I must warn you, according to my research, seven is the magic number of traits - no more, no less - so think carefully."

Lilith glanced at her brother then knelt and began to draw a symbol on Azazandra of two stags clashing antlers, their lips curled back in a snarl. "The first one is easy. Hatred."

Lilith finished and turned, looking over her shoulder up at Tian. He looked at the wicked thing that used to be his sister and offered, "Sins."

Lilith drew symbols for sins on Baphomeena - a mirror for pride, a bulging sack of coins for greed, a figure slumped on a sofa for sloth, an enraged bull for wrath, a peasant sneering at a noblewoman for envy, an obese pig for gluttony, and a sultry silhouette for lust.

Lilith turned to Lucifiona and began to draw a symbol of battered-looking stallion on crutches. "Pain."

Tian said, "Lies," and Lilith turned to Baphomeena and drew the image of a small goat superimposed inside a giant battle maiden goat bristling with medals.

Lilith said, "Agony," and began to draw on Azazandra, producing the image of a crying mare clutching at her face as she wept.

Tian thought for a second, remembered all the ruined houses, schools, and libraries that he had helped rebuild in Aesirlund. "Destruction."

Lilith drew a burnt out building on Lucifiona.

There was one trait left to bestow. Tian and Lilith silently thought for a minute. What was one of the primary causes of conflict besides hatred or lies? Lilith grinned as it came to her: terror! Being afraid could cause all manner of rash decisions. Being afraid could cause one to hate, being afraid could cause one to lie, being afraid could cause one to destroy, being afraid could cause pain and anguish.

"If we can only add one more, it needs to be fear," Lilith said.

"I concur. Fear it shall be," Tian replied with a nod.

Lilith studied her three 'children' as she tried to decide which she should bestow with the power over fear. She decided on Baphomeena, the one that already possessed lies and sins. She masterfully drew a little filly hiding in her bedsheets as a ghastly creature lunged out at her from the shadows.

Once Lilith finished, she stood and took a step back to admire the figures. Satisfied, she plucked a small glass vial full of a bright white sand from the base of the altar and began to sprinkle it over the three sisters as she spoke the magical words that would bring them to life. The bloody images she had bestowed upon the figures began to glow brighter and brighter, then dissolved into the fresh flesh as the spell ended. Lilith giggled with glee as the little demons came to life, squirming around in wonder as they surveyed the world for the first time.

Where they had once been nigh-identical, the three demons had gained some defining traits as they were brought to life. Baphomeena had reddish fur and blood-red hair, with eyes of dark, glistening green. Azazandra had ivory white fur and jet black hair, with eyes of bright blue. Lucifiona had ebony fur, platinum-blonde hair, and red eyes that smoldered like embers.

Tian stared with dread at the demons. Doubt quickly flooded his mind. He trusted his sister, to an extent, but he could not help but wonder if he had just committed a tremendous mistake. Lilith now had in her possession three of the most powerful demons in existence. Three demons that he had personally helped create. If Lilith's desire for peace had been merely a trick, and these demons were what she was truly after, then he, and Aesirlund, were in very deep trouble.

Lilith scooped up the demons and hugged them to her chest. "It will be a while before they are ready, it will take some time to train them in the usage of their powers," Lilith excitedly said. "But there is hope now!"

"V-very well, sister," Tian shakily replied as he felt his stomach begin to knot. "I m-must make haste back to Aesirlund, lest me absence draw concern."

Lilith smiled at the demons. "Soon, brother, soon this shall all be ended and we can find a way to reverse my... condition, and live in peace! No more war, no more hatred, no more fear! Ahh, it is almost too difficult to imagine."

As Tian left, Baphomeena, the one with mastery over fear, tilted her head and stared at his retreating figure. She didn't know what she was feeling, but she could sense his fear, his fear of what she and her sisters were. It made her nauseous, but also sent a surge of power coursing through her body that made her squirm with delight. Upset and confused, she forced herself to look away and buried her face in Lilith's chest.

Lilith sat down on the altar and gently rocked her new children in her arms and began to sing a song from her homeland as she closed her eyes and dreamed of an idyllic future.

"Sun arising red and bright, Qianlima shall run from dawn 'til night... I must run from the steppes to the sea, for there my love is waiting for me..."

Chapter 1

Present day, Neighagra Falls, Equestria...

Princess Luna took a sip of cider and looked around the White Dragon Tavern. The wood-paneled walls were lined with antiques - toys, household items, fishing rods, and a large propeller from an unknown aircraft. A trio of Earth pony farmers discussed crop prices in a corner booth. The only other patrons were a pair of scraggly-bearded Earth ponies who were playing cards. The tavern keeper, a platinum blonde Earth pony mare with a mug of cider as her cutie mark, smiled at Luna, who began to giggle as she saw her own reflection in the mirror behind the bar.

Luna's sister, Princess Celestia, had asked Luna and the unicorn wizard Star Swirl the Bearded to help research the dark entity that had recently corrupted the Unliving Queen, an undead Twilight Sparkle imbued with unholy magic from an alternate timeline. The Queen and Star Swirl had traveled back in time to prevent a terrible cataclysm that Star Swirl had foreseen in the future. During this quest, Twilight had succumbed to a corruptive influence, ultimately resulting in her undeath, The corrupted Twilight had fled back into her own timeline, where she ruled as the Unliving Queen of Equestria. The Queen had been defeated days prior thanks to the power of the Elements of Harmony and the magic of friendship.

Star Swirl had suggested they travel incognito, and Luna decided to make it fun by having them choose the other's illusion. For Luna, Star Swirl had selected a svelte pegasus with an electric blue coat, an amber mane streaked with black, and a cutie mark of a storm cloud spewing lightning. It was in stark contrast to her normal, dark appearance, and she had to get used to not using magic to manipulate objects, but Luna was having fun with it.

Luna had been excited when Star Swirl had proposed their first stop to be Neighagra Falls. To Luna's disappointment, Star Swirl had selected the location not to enjoy the majestic beauty of the waterfalls, but to delve into the archives at Neighagra University. However, Luna was a princess, thus she could issue orders as well, and so she had commanded the old wizard to abandon the dusty tomes and meet her at the tavern to enjoy a meal.

A bell jingled as the door to the tavern opened and a unicorn stallion entered. He had a burgundy coat and a sepia mane which poked out from beneath a ten-gallon hat. A lariat was his cutie mark, and he also sported a well-groomed handlebar moustache. His horn began to glow as he pulled off a pair of dark sunglasses and slipped them into the pocket of his duster. He glanced around the tavern, then walked over to Luna's table, his spurs jangling.

Luna placed her hoof over her mouth to try and suppress her laughter. "Sorry, 'Big Hoss.' I still get a case of the giggles when I see thi-" Luna had almost slipped and used the archaic 'thine,' something which would have surely helped blow her disguise had anypony been paying attention to the pair, "your illusion."

Star Swirl grinned and glanced down at his garments. "At least you seem to be enjoying it..."

Star Swirl felt his stomach growling and rubbed his hooves together, "I didn't have a chance to get any lunch today I'm afraid. My humble thanks for inviting me to supper, my friend."

The tavern keeper arrived with a mug of cider for Star Swirl, then nodded at Luna. "I'll have your meals out shortly, sugar."

Luna smiled, "Thank you." As the tavern keeper headed back to the kitchen, Luna turned to Star Swirl. "I hope you don't mind, I took the liberty of ordering for us both."

"I have faith in your judgment," Star Swirl said as he magically lifted his mug. "Practically anything would be most excellent right about now."

"So, what is so important that you've decided to spend your vacation pouring over tomes instead of spending time with me?" Luna asked.

Star Swirl took a long swig of cider then wiped at his mouth. "I can not get Nightmare Moon from my thoughts."

Luna raised her eyebrow. "Should I be flattered?"

Over a thousand years ago, Princess Luna had become a wicked mare of darkness known as Nightmare Moon. The official story was that Luna, who was responsible for raising the moon and bringing forth the night, had been filled with resentment and envy towards her big sister because the ponies relished and played in Celestia's day, but shunned and slept through the night. Because of this, Luna had become Nightmare Moon and sought to bring about eternal darkness and used her dream walking abilities to plague the ponies with horrendous nightmares. Her own sister had to use the Elements of Harmony against her, imprisoning her on the moon for one thousand years. After her prophecized escape from the moon with the help of some stars, Nightmare Moon had briefly terrorized Equestria once more until Luna had been cleansed by the Elements of Harmony, used by Twilight Sparkle and her friends, who were the new destined bearers of the powerful Elements.

While Luna had been hurt by the unintentional actions of the ponies of yore, it had been long suspected that some unknown entity helped corrupt her and ushered in her transformation to Nightmare Moon. Princess Celestia had been unable to track down the responsible party, and so she kept that detail secret, lest the populace become frightened over the prospect of an unknown, evil entity able to corrupt even a powerful pony such as Luna.

"Perhaps a little of both, I'm afraid," Star Swirl said. "I've been thinking of her and the Unliving Queen. There was something about the Queen that seemed familiar, but I couldn't place my hoof on it. Since I've been thinking about it, I've come to the conclusion that Nightmare Moon and the Queen have something in common. I believe that whomever, or what ever, helped turn you into Nightmare Moon was responsible for the Queen as well."

Luna slowly nodded. "Since my return, Celestia has always told me that it wasn't my fault..."

"What can you remember of your time as Nightmare Moon?" Star Swirl asked.

"My memories of my descent into Nightmare Moon have always been hazy," Luna said. "My emotions I can still recall: Sorrow, anguish, fury. When I became her, though, it was the most peculiar feeling. It was as if I was in a dream, watching myself say and do things that I never could have - never would have - done on my own. It was empowering, I hate to admit."

The tavern keeper arrived bearing several platters. Luna had ordered grilled Portobello mushrooms stuffed with herbs, roasted potatoes and onions drizzled in olive oil and dashed with garlic, and fresh asparagus.

Star Swirl eagerly dug in to his meal before responding to Luna. "As if in a dream.. Yes, that would seem to make sense. I believe you and my wicked little Twilight Sparkle were victims of some kind of insidious force. While trying to prevent the apocalypse I had foreseen, I had spent a good amount of time with Nightmare Moon in various situations."

Luna narrowed her eyes, "Oh, really?"

Star Swirl nodded. "Indeed. I don't know what happened to our timeline, but it was a mess. Mi Amore Cadenza had used her marriage to Shining Armor to steal the throne from you and your sister, citing an ancient law about royal marriages. It was horrible, she turned the populace against her 'enemies' such as Twilight and her friends... I felt if I could prevent you from becoming Nightmare Moon in the past, perhaps that situation would not have come to be. During these efforts, I learned that regardless of any factors that may have influenced the Luna she was born from, Nightmare Moon was always the same. Identical personality, identical behaviorisms. Quite frankly, I believe Nightmare Moon is in part her own being. Why this being attacked you, or where it came from, I do not know. I believe it is most definitely intelligent, unfortunately, as it always evaded detection, no matter how thorough my observations were."

Luna frowned. "And this same thing, this being, did that to your Twilight Sparkle and helped twist her into the depraved Unliving Queen?"

Star Swirl nodded. "I am not positive, but it is likely. When you became Nightmare Moon, your personality and vernacular changed. You certainly didn't seem like yourself. So too was the Unliving Queen rather un-Twilight. She had even gone so far as to believe herself a completely different pony from Twilight Sparkle."

Star Swirl leaned close to Luna. "And it might be that she was in fact not Twilight Sparkle. At least, not entirely."

Luna gnawed at her portabello. "What do you mean?"

Star Swirl pulled a tome from his coat and set it in front of Luna. Luna could tell the tome was quite old and she frowned as she read the title: Demonology. "Demons? Those don't really exist, do they? Ponies used to shun my night in part because they believed demons lurked about. I never found any, despite my efforts."

"They were very real, I'm afraid. Our ancestors encountered them long before you, or even myself, were born," Star Swirl replied. "I've been reading all about the crusades our tribes launched against them. They ultimately forced all the demons they could find back through the portals to the Netherworld - the demons' magical homeland that parallels our world - and then sealed them up. Evidently they persisted as folklore, as you can account, and perhaps some persist yet, and are more than just stories used to frighten foals."

Star Swirl used his magic to flip open the tome to a certain page. "Take a look at this."

Luna began to read the text. "Demonic Possession. Demons are capable of controlling a pony by possessing their body. The victims often suffer erased or altered memories, altered personalities, access to hidden knowledge, the ability to predict the future, the ability to speak languages unknown to the victim, the sudden appearance of wounds and injuries upon their body, and drastic changes in their vocal intonation and behavior. The victim often gains supernatural strength or a boost to their own powers, however the demon usually just inflicts their host with a number of maladies, including diseases, blindness, and loss of speech. The victim has no control over their demonic guest and so it will persist until the demon chooses to or is forced to leave the victim."

Luna glanced up at Star Swirl. "That does sound similar to what I endured as Nightmare Moon, and poor Twilight Sparkle..."

Star Swirl nodded. "I wished to come to Neighagra as the University has quite the demonology collection, one of the few sources of demonic knowledge in all of Equestria. It was just a hunch, but a demon attack seems quite plausible, does it not?"

Luna sighed then finished her meal, pushing the plates to the side. "If there is a demon out there attacking ponies, then it is my duty to stop it. I can not say if your hunch is correct, but I also can not risk letting this thing run rampant and harm anypony else. We must return to Canterlot and inform my sister at once."

Star Swirl reached across the table and put his hoof on Luna's shoulder. "My apologizes, your highness. I know you wanted to see the waterfalls."

Luna gently patted his hoof, "It is okay, Star Swirl. While it can be nice to get away from it all for a time, I know I have responsibilities I must adhere to. Especially since my poor sister had to perform my tasks in addition to her own burdens for a thousand years. I am indebted to her, even if it was a demon that caused my fall from grace, and if I can relieve some of Celestia's stress, then I must do so, for she deserves that in spades, as they say. ...Do they say that?"

"Indeed," Star Swirl said. He leaned back and sipped at his remaining cider. "You and Twilight Sparkle were likely very enticing targets for this demon, and...." His face paled as he sat up. "By the stars...."

"What is it, Star Swirl?" Luna worriedly asked.

"If Nightmare Moon was possessed by a demon, that would mean that I, and more importantly, the Star Swirl from your timeline, may have succumbed to demonic influence due to our interactions with her. An influence that would perhaps lead him to poison your niece," Star Swirl said.

The apocalyptic future that Star Swirl had endeavored to prevent had begun when Luna and Celestia's niece, Mi Amore Cadenza, had used a loophole involving marriage to claim the throne of Equestria. The Star Swirl of the past had been trying to prevent the future disaster as well by attempting to get Luna married before she became Nightmare Moon, and had resorted to a love potion which turned out to be a love poison that Mi Amore Cadenza drank instead. Because Mi Amore Cadenza's special talent was love magic, the poison had an adverse effect, turning her into a raging mare of envy. Star Swirl and the future Twilight had traveled back in time to warn everypony, and Twilight Sparkle and her friends cleansed Cadenza with the Elements of Harmony.

It was this incident that ultimately led the future Twilight down the path that ended with her becoming the Unliving Queen, as well, for she and Star Swirl hailed from the future where Cadenza was not cleansed, resulting in much heartbreak for Twilight as the world she knew crumbled around her as she desperately tried to save it. In an attempt to prevent her past self from having to experience the same things, the future Twilight had set off on the path to become the Unliving Queen in an attempt to create a perfect future for herself.

The pair fell silent as they both mulled over the implications. The tavern keeper cleared their empty plates and brought them their dessert - fresh peaches in a cream-and-brandy sauce.

"If something did influence the other Star Swirl, and possibly you as well, it would seem you both fell right into its trap," Luna said solemnly.

"Part of me hopes we are wrong about all of this, as I don't much like being played for a foal," Star Swirl said as he idly ran his spoon around his dessert dish.

As Luna savored her dessert, she grinned slyly at Star Swirl. "We shall depart for Canterlot immediately, after finishing this scrumptious dessert, of course."

Star Swirl smiled back at her between bites. "Of course, your highness."

Chapter 2

A unicorn mare with a blue coat and lovely hair of pale blue mixed with white walked out of her cabin and immediately shielded her eyes with her foreleg. A quick conjuration spell later and the sweltering summer sun had been blocked by a summoned storm cloud. The unicorn glanced up and grinned. "The Great and Powerful Trixie prevails yet again."

It had taken her much longer than she would have liked, but Trixie had finally completed a new traveling wagon for her magic show. The last one had been destroyed during a disastrous visit to Ponyville. Trixie was a magician who performed a spectacular traveling magic show under the stage name The Great and Powerful Trixie. On that fateful day when she was performing in Ponyville, some of the local rubes had began heckling her immediately. After they interrupted her show (one was even asinine enough to get up on stage), Trixie challenged them all to show how skilled she was. She swiftly upstaged her hecklers thanks to her amazing magical talent, and all was well until later that night.

One of Trixie's acts was to conjure up a fireworks display to accompany her tale of a battle against an Ursa Major, a giant celestial bear creature. The story was just something that Trixie remembered her grandfather telling her about, but it was that story that led to the loss of her wagon and humiliation in Ponyville. After some goading by another one of Trixie's hecklers, some Ponyville colts ventured out into the Everfree Forest and found what they believed to be an Ursa Major, which they led back to Ponyvlle. It was in reality just a baby, an Ursa Minor, and it began trashing the town, and Trixie's wagon, in its confusion. Despite her talent, Trixie was unable to stop the Ursa Minor. Fortunately a resident of Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle, had been researching them thanks to having watched Trixie's act earlier in the day, and was able to soothe the beast and safely bring it back to its home.

Undaunted by her humiliation, Trixie had seen the bright side of that calamity and had worked to improve her own magical prowess as well as her wagon. She initially tried to conjure up a new wagon from a pile of wood, but she could never get the spell right, much to her chagrin. She eventually had to resort to building a new one mostly by hoof; every nail she had to pound in was a constant reminder of her magical failings. After all, if her grandpa could conjure up a magical mansion as part of his act, surely Trixie could have been able to create a mere wagon, and the fact that she could not was quite upsetting, but she persevered.

Once her wagon was complete, Trixie wanted to return to Ponyville for her first triumphant return to show business and show those rubes what she was really capable of. Especially after some little brat named Gabby Gums ran a piece in a local rag and exposed Trixie's secrets, but at least it meant ponies were still talking about her.

Trixie dipped a paintbrush in magically-imbued paint and put on the final touch to her wagon - her magic wand cutie mark, which glowed gently from the magical paint. She set down the brush and stepped back, using her magic to move the cloud she had conjured out of the way so she could see the wagon in the sunlight. She smiled and picked up a smoothie made with extra hay, just the way she liked it, and took a long sip as she admired the fruits of her labor.

Trixie jumped and nearly dumped the smoothie all over herself as a voice behind her whispered, "I sense a soul in search of answers."

Trixie looked over her shoulder but no one was there. She frowned. "Hello?"

A terrifying crunching noise drew her attention forwards and her jaw dropped as she watched her wagon get torn asunder by a stream of fiery lightning. Trixie's smoothie fell to the ground as she stared in disbelief. All of her work, ruined!

A pink unicorn in purple robes, horn glowing with a green magical aura, slowly floated down from Trixie's cloud and landed in front of her. The unicorn's coat was a pretty pink, her perfectly groomed, long and flowing mane and tail were dark red. Her eyes were an eerie green - there was something otherworldly about them, something not quite normal. Even still, she would have been considered beautiful by almost any stallion.

Trixie looked at the unicorn in shock. The unicorn merely smiled back. Trixie finally stuttered, "Wh-why the hay did you just do that? This has to be a joke!"

The unicorn nodded at the wagon. "Fix it."

Trixie shook her head in amazement. "That took me months to build!"

The unicorn smiled. "Fix it."

Trixie glared at the unicorn. "Didn't you hear me? I said it took months! Why did you do this? I don't even know who you are!"

The unicorn laughed. "I am Fizzle Hooves, Grandmaster of Sorcery, Archmage of Travincolt. However, if you prove yourself worthy, Trixie, you may simply call me, 'master.'"

Trixie frowned and tilted her head. "I don't understand. You want me to be your apprentice?"

Fizzle Hooves nodded, then pointed towards the wagon.

Trixie shook her head. "But..."

Fizzle Hooves gently touched her hoof to Trixie's horn. "Fix it. The greatest power is often the shortest lived. Let your magic flow through you, you haven't even tried yet. Focus on the wagon and bend reality to your will."

Trixie gave an exasperated sigh then closed her eyes and concentrated on her unicorn magic, imagining the pile of debris reassembling into her wagon as she angrily thought, Grr! This spell never works!

Trixie opened her eyes and grinned at the sound of wood and metal crashing together. The debris had formed into a crude facsimile of the wagon.

Fizzle Hooves shook her head. "Interesting, but not quite there. Do you even realize your potential? Again."

Trixie took a deep breath and focused once more. She was straining to get the pieces to reform but couldn't quite get them to cooperate. Fizzle Hooves touched her horn to Trixie's and Trixie felt a surge of intense power. The wagon immediately popped back into its original state with a loud sizzle of magical energy. Trixie laughed triumphantly and ran over to inspect the wagon.

Fizzle Hooves watched the young unicorn and licked her lips, her gaze lingering on the magic wand cutie mark on Trixie's flank. She whispered to herself, "Perfect..."

Fizzle Hooves sauntered over and patted Trixie on the flank. "Congratulations, Trixie. I am pleased."

"I get to be a real wizard?" Trixie eagerly asked.

"If you are prepared," Fizzle Hooves said with a grin.

"I am!" Trixie exclaimed.

Fizzle Hooves' horn began to glow and with a burst of energy, herself, Trixie, and the wagon had been teleported, appearing inside the grand hall of Fizzle Hooves' tower at Travincolt, one of the cities of the ancient unicorn mage clans.

Trixie gazed in wonder at her new surroundings. She could feel the magic resonating from the marble tower and her lips spread in a delighted smile. The grand hall was lit by glowing orbs of magical energy and beautiful tapestries lined the walls. Upon the tapestries Trixie beheld scenes of unicorn wizards battling a variety of monsters. In the distance, Trixie could see a great library. An enchanted broomstick merrily bobbed by, sweeping on its own, and Trixie watched it with wonder.

Trixie took a step forward and gasped as a magical stair appeared under her hoof. She glanced back at Fizzle Hooves, who smiled and nodded at her. Trixie moved slowly at first, then began bounding up the magical steps as they lead her up into a tower. Trixie soon arrived at the top of the tower and began to admire the scenery. The mage tower had been built alongside a cliff overlooking a large lake and she watched as waves crashed against the rocky shores below.

"This is like paradise," Trixie cooed in contentment.

In a shimmer of green magic, Fizzle Hooves appeared by her side. Fizzle Hooves' horn began to glow and a matching purple robe appeared on Trixie's body.

"Welcome to your new home, my young apprentice," Fizzle Hooves declared. "The Travincolt mage clan has a rich history, and it will be quite an adventure for you to learn all of our arcane secrets, that I can assure you."

For Trixie, this was a dream come true. She had received adequate training in magic from her parents, but they were just magicians like herself, not mages or wizards. It had been a lifelong dream for Trixie to be properly trained in magic. She knew she could do it, her talent was magic itself, or so she thought, but the opportunity had never come. Until now.

Trixie looked down at her new robes and smiled broadly. "This. Is. Awesome!"

Fizzle Hooves smirked and narrowed her eyes as she focused on casting a spell. An enormous boulder, shrouded with Fizzle Hooves' green magical aura, appeared over the pair and zoomed towards the lake.  Fizzle Hooves let the conjured boulder drop and nodded in satisfaction at the spout of water the boulder produced as it splashed into the lake. "Your training in the ways of magic shall begin on the morrow, Trixie."

Trixie smiled merrily, her dreams of revenge upon Ponyville quickly becoming but a distant memory as she thought about her new life as a master of magic. She thought to herself, Yes!

Chapter 3

Rarity was hard at work in her inspiration room, putting together ensembles for the big royal wedding between Shining Armor and Mi Amore Cadenza, which had been postponed thanks to the 'Cadenza Crisis' and resulting conflict with the Unliving Queen. Jingling bells informed her that somepony had entered her dress shop, Carousel Boutique. Rarity smiled and set down her sewing needles.

Rarity quickly jotted down her ideas, lest she forget, and called out in a sing-songy voice. "Be right with you!"

Rarity trotted to the front of her store and smiled at the familiar unicorn standing there, Donut Joe. Joe was wearing a tuxedo and sleek black saddle bags. Rarity's mouth watered a little bit as she glanced at the pink frosted donut cutie mark on his flank - Joe ran a donut shop in Canterlot and Rarity was quite fond of the tasty treats. A pegasus mare leaning against the entryway glared at Rarity. A tight-fitting bodysuit covered most of her, but the hood was pulled back exposing a silvery grey coat and jet black mane.

Rarity nodded at the pegasus. "Hello, Joe! What are you doing here? Buying some more super sprinkles? I see you took my advice regarding the tux."

Joe chuckled. "Afraid not, Miss Rarity. I've actually come to see you."

Rarity glanced towards the pegasus in the entryway. "Oh, and not a moment too soon. Your date for the royal wedding needs new clothes, yes? Her current outfit does look rather dreadful."

Joe looked back at the scowling pegasus and laughed. "No, that isn't why we're here, Miss Rarity. Official business, I'm afraid." He glanced around the shop. "Are we alone?"

Rarity raised her eyebrow. "Why, yes. Sweetie Belle was here, but she is out with her friends. What do you mean, official business?"

Rarity noticed the pegasus had left the entryway. "Where did she go?"

A voice behind her startled Rarity. "It's clear."

Rarity turned to see the pegasus emerge from the shadows in the rear of the store. Rarity took a closer look and noticed that the bodysuit she had disparaged as a lousy fashion choice let the pegasus blend almost perfectly into the shadow. It was in actuality a Mark VII Tactical Operations Suit, a specialized wetsuit produced by the Canterlot Intelligence Agency designed for stealth. It was made from interwoven enchanted fabrics allowing it to stop projectiles and attacks from pointed or slashing weapons. Around the mare's waist was a utility belt from which several gadgets were attached, but Rarity could only identify a pair of night vision goggles, a radio, and a knife hanging from the belt.

Rarity frowned and turned back to Joe, who was magically holding an ID card for Rarity to read. It was a government-issued ID from the Canterlot Intelligence Agency which proclaimed Joe to be an operative named Con Mane.

Joe winked. "As you can see, I am Con Mane, and my partner here is Special Agent Mayday, Canterlot Intelligence."

Rarity squealed with delight. Several weeks ago, Pinkie Pie and all of her friends had volunteered to escort the local bakers' - Mr. and Mrs. Cake - entry for a Canterlot dessert contest. When somepony took bites out of the dessert during the night, Pinkie had immediately suspected the rival bakers that were also aboard the train. Pinkie created elaborate scenarios for why each baker did it, and for Donut Joe (who was entering a dessert of a city made of donuts called Donutopia), Pinkie had claimed he was a secret agent named Con Mane who had received orders to destroy the Cake's entry for reasons unknown.

"Oh my gosh, I can't wait to see the look on Pinkie Pie's face!" Rarity exclaimed.

Con Mane, alias Donut Joe, shook his head. "Whoa there, Miss Rarity. This mission, and my identity, are classified Most Secret. Although I do know Pinkie Pie has a thing about promises, it is better to remain clandestine, you follow?"

Rarity giggled. "Oh yes, of course. How did she know about you, though?"

Con Mane laughed. "Honestly? Even we don't know. You should see our file on Pinkie Pie. It's a yard thick, I kid you not. The way she caused all of us to lose control of our selves and eat those desserts? I couldn't believe it."

"It was so good though," Rarity said, closing her eyes and licking her lips as she thought about the 'ladylike' bite she took of it.

Con Mane nodded. "Rumor has it that Celestia was pretty distraught that she missed out on having more of that dessert."

Rarity grinned and played with her mane. "So, Mister Mane, what do you want with little old me?"

Mayday moved back to the entryway and Con Mane pulled out a folder. "Remember, everything you are about to see and hear does not leave this room."

Rarity smiled. "Understood, Mister Mane."

"The Princesses have asked us to ensure that the royal wedding proceeds without incident," Con Mane said. "As a precautionary measure, our analysts have been pouring over the guest list, again. It's probably nothing, but one pony in particular caught our interest."

Con Mane pulled out an aerial photograph of a small island. "This is the island kingdom of Mareay. It boasts a small population of fisherponies and unicorns of the Order of the Eclipse. The Order is comprised of practitioners of solar and lunar magic, a fail safe measure that our tribe created many years ago in case the unicorn nobility could not perform their duty. The monks of the Eclipse are trained to take over raising the sun and moon, like our unicorn ancestors did centuries ago, should anything ever happen to both princesses."

Con Mane showed Rarity close-up shots of fishing villages and the monastery. The village buildings looked like they were from the last century, featuring large porches and pillars. The monastery was a magnificent structure made of limestone adorned with statues of Luna, Celestia, unicorn royalty of old, the sun, and the moon. "This little kingdom is ruled by the reclusive Princess In Hoc Signo Vinces, alias Winny. Translation: "In this sign thou shalt conquer." The name alone is a tad strange, but you know how pony royals can be with names."

Rarity nodded in agreement. "Oh, quite!"

Con Mane gave Rarity a photo of the princess, who was clad in ornate golden battle armor. The armor was engraved with symbols of the sun and moon. Dark glass sealed the eye slits of her helm, and even her tail was armor-plated. Rarity could see that the princess was a unicorn, or at least that she had a golden-armored horn, and guessed that she was in her teens based on what she could make of the princess' body type.

Con Mane continued, "Our agent that infiltrated Mareay questioned the locals in the villages. Nopony there even knows their own princess well enough to accurately describe what she looks like without that armor on. All she learned was that the princess had been raised by the monks at the Temple of the Eclipse, and that she mainly keeps to herself in the small royal castle and attends services at the monastery. Luckily for us, there is a local holiday coming up before the royal wedding, the Feast of the New Moon. The princess will be in attendance."

Con Mane grinned at Rarity. "Which brings me to you. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to accompany me to the isle of Mareay to gather intelligence on Princess In Hoc Signo Vinces and see if there's anything fishy going on at the island of fisherponies."

Rarity blinked. "This all very interesting, but I don't quite understand why you are involving me. I mean, I'm flattered, but..."

Con Mane looked at the ground and sighed. "We're kind of stretched thin at the Agency. With the royal wedding and the recent... unpleasantness, our resources are dwindling. The mission requires a pony with beauty, grace and class, easily able to fit in with high society types, and you were the first pony I could think of."

Rarity blushed. "Oh, when you put it that way... Alas, I really need to get these orders finished before the wedding, why can't your partner do this?"

"Mayday... doesn't do well in these kind of situations.  We'll only be gone for a few hours, you'll be back and sewing up a storm in no time. I promise," Con Mane said.

Rarity sighed, then looked at the photo of In Hoc Signo Vinces. There was something unnerving looking into the soulless darkness of the golden helm's eye slit, and Rarity suppressed a shudder.

"Well," Rarity said, "I certainly don't want anything to happen to Cadence and Shining Armor's wedding. Twilight would be devastated if something else happens to disrupt their wedding. Can't you just prevent her from entering Canterlot?"

Con Mane shook his head. "She has an invitation, unless a genuine threat was made, and not just a bunch of 'bad feelings' about her, there's not much we can do. Well, there is, but wetwork isn't on our agenda at the moment. Nice job taking out the Unliving Queen, by the way."

Rarity grinned. "Thank you!"

"Oh," Con Mane said, "you'll find this interesting, Mareay's primary export are these."

Con Mane pulled out three prismatic gems and gave them to Rarity. Rarity's eyes lit up. "Ooh, they are lovely!"

Con Mane nodded. "They call them Sun's Tears. You may have those, and as many as you can drag back with you once this op is over, my treat."

Rarity used her magic to store the Sun's Tears in her chest of gems, then grinned mischievously at Con Mane. "Very well. I shall accompany you on this mission. For Celestia, for Twilight, Shining Armor, and Cadence... and for all the Sun's Tears you are willing to buy me!"

Con Mane laughed. "Splendid. Our flight leaves shortly. I will be going in as my Donut Joe persona, providing catering services, and Mayday will be our 'eye-in-the-sky' and provide support." He pulled a package out of his saddlebag and unwrapped it, "The Feast of the New Moon is a costume party, we grabbed this for you."

Rarity picked up the garments with her magic and raised her eyebrow. "A Princess Platinum costume from Hearth's Warming Eve?"

"Sorry, as I said, we are really short staffed at the Agency right now," Con Mane explained. "I had the boys down in Q Branch - which is to say the Quartermasters that rig up our spy gear -  tinker with it a bit. There's a communicator in the collar, focus your unicorn magic on it and we'll be able to hear you. The cloak also has some nifty toys sewn into hidden pockets. I believe there should be some smoke grenades, a flash crystal, and a tranquilizer dart gun. Do not use the perfume as it's a flamethrower - point it at a bad guy and they'll be wishing you hadn't. If you get into trouble, use your magic to press in the gems on the crown and you'll become invisible for a minute, enough time to get the hay out of Dodge."

"I saw your performance last Hearth's Warming Eve, you looked smashing in it. Really suits you," Mayday said as Rarity inspected the costume.

Rarity smiled. "Why, yes, of course it does. Thank you!" She slipped on the crown and cloak and admired herself in a mirror. "Perhaps a few adjustments, some accessories..."

Con Mane glanced at his wrist wizard, a high tech spy watch that was laden with gadgets. "If you wish. We have a small amount of time before the flight leaves."

Rarity quickly made her way up to her room and began rummaging through her clothes, trying to find the perfect garment to go with the Princess Platinum outfit. Satisfied in her choice of gown, she hauled it to her inspiration room and began making some slight alterations, adding in some trimming with silver thread and attaching some amethysts. She returned to her room and selected a matching purse, then headed down to the anxious spooks.

Con Mane clapped his hooves appreciatively. "Wow, you'll be the talk of the Feast I'm sure. All set?"

"Well, I would have liked some more time to get ready, but this will have to do," Rarity said.

Con Mane laughed. "Don't worry about it, you look wonderful. Shall we?"

Rarity followed the spooks outside where they had a hot air balloon tethered. As they took off, Rarity got the nagging feeling that she was forgetting something. It finally dawned on her. "Oh, can we swing towards Sweet Apple Acres, please? I should really tell Sweetie where I am going."

Con Mane and Mayday glanced at each other. "Just tell her you'll be in Canterlot for a few hours, for a fashion emergency."

Mayday set a course for the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse. As they neared, Con Mane slunk low into the basket. He had been in Ponyville before and didn't want any awkward questions to arise if the fillies were able to recognize him.

Mayday hovered the balloon over the front of the clubhouse and Rarity used her magic to knock on the door. "Sweetie Belle, I need to talk to you for a moment!"

Rarity's sister emerged from the clubhouse. She was a young unicorn with a light grey coat and purple and pink hair. "What's up, Rarity? Who's that mare you're with?"

Rarity glanced at Mayday, then smiled at her sister. "Oh, just a friend from Canterlot. I just wanted to tell you I would be gone for a few hours so you wouldn't worry if you came by the Boutique. Fashion emergency, you know how it is."

Scootaloo, an orange-coated, fuschia-haired pegasus filly, poked her head out the door. "Come on Sweetie Belle, we need you!"

Rarity smiled and waved at her sister. "Have fun, Sweetie!"

Sweetie waved back at Rarity. "Bye, Rarity! My Crusaders need me!"

After a quick flight to Canterlot, Mayday departed and Con Mane and Rarity made their way to an airstrip where their ride to Mareay, a Titan-class airship, was ready for boarding. Originally designed as a long range, strategic bomber, in peacetime the Titans had been converted into luxury liners and boasted a lounge with a fully-stocked cider bar, ample seating space, an observation deck, and a cruising speed of 70 knots.

Aboard the airship Rarity found herself amongst many familiar faces - ponies she had met while becoming the 'pony everypony should know' of Canterlot. Rarity grinned as the ponies fawned over her outfit and she quickly slipped into her socialite persona, chatting up all the movers and shakers of Canterlot as they waited for the last passengers to arrive. Fifteen minutes later, the airship took off and Con Mane and Rarity were soon on their way to the Isle of Mareay.

Rarity sipped at a glass of sparkling cider and thought to herself, A possibly-evil-princess aside, this is just getting better and better!

Chapter 4

When Star Swirl the Bearded and Princess Luna arrived back in Canterlot they had immediately sought out Princess Celestia. They had found her in the Canterlot Archives, reading through a stack of tomes. The elder of the two Equestrian princesses, Celestia had a long, beautiful mane and tail of hues of blues, pink, and turquoise that flowed on their own. Her cutie mark was of the sun itself and looked splendid upon her coat of white. Celestia saw the illusions her sister and friend were disguised in and started to giggle. "My, my, just what were you two up to?"

Luna rolled her eyes and dispelled her illusion, revealing her true self. In contrast to her sister, Luna had a dark blue coat and a flowing mane and tail of lovely blue that twinkled with stars like the night sky. Her cutie mark was of the crescent moon upon a dark cloud-like shape. Star Swirl likewise dispelled his own illusion and the cowpony façade faded, revealing a unicorn with a charcoal coat. His white hair was unkempt and he had a long beard. His cutie mark was of several stars around a swirly design.

Star Swirl's horn began to glow and a robe and hat appeared on his person. Both garments were patterned in shades of blue, adorned with star and moon symbols, and were trimmed with bells. Star Swirl bowed. "Princess Celestia, we believe we may have discovered something about what really happened to your sister one-thousand years ago, and now more recently to my Twilight Sparkle."

Celestia nodded, knowingly. "I thought you might. Luna does not like to think about Nightmare Moon, and I do not press her on the matter. However, given what occurred, I figured you would not rest until you figured it out, and by putting you in close proximity to Luna your mind would inevitably dwell upon the similarities between what befell your Twilight Sparkle and Nightmare Moon."

Luna laughed. "Aha, I have fallen afoul of one of Celestia's famed machinations, yet again!"

Star Swirl conjured forth the Demonology tome and set it in front of Celestia, opening it to the page about demonic possession. "We believe the thing that attacked Luna and Twilight Sparkle may be a demon, your highness."

Celestia frowned as she read the text about demonic possession. "Hmm. I didn't think those actually existed beyond fairytales, but I suppose I should have known better. See, that is why I sent you two out there. I knew the two of you would come up with something. I've been scouring the Archives, but had no luck on my own."

Luna examined the tomes her sister was reading - a variety of ancient bestiaries. Celestia began to use her magic to place them back on the shelves. "I've read about all manner of beasts most foul, but nothing sounded like what we are dealing with."

Celestia used her magic to hold up a piece of parchment. "I've begun writing my own entry on this entity. Insidiosus Diabolicus, a corruptive force of unknown origin. It seems to target ponies that are emotionally weakened, where it then twists and corrupts them into an entity of its own design, yet the victim retains most of who they originally are."

Star Swirl stroked his beard. "I'm ashamed to admit the idea never crossed my mind before, despite my dealings with Nightmare Moon. What I find interesting is that you apparently knew, not entirely, but you knew something besides your sister's jealousy was to blame."

Celestia laughed. "I know my own sister. Nightmare Moon may have shared her body, but that wasn't Luna, not entirely. Unless you believe my sister would go from saying thou's and thee's to you's just because she went dark side on us."

Luna smiled, then began writing on a piece of parchment. "We know this thing may have possessed me one-thousand years ago, up until a few months ago when Twilight and the girls used the Elements against Nightmare Moon and cleansed me of my dark powers. In Star Swirl's timeline, the entity somehow wound up within Twilight Sparkle. Her journal suggests a more recent infection, but what if it wasn't? What if on the night of my return from my lunar prison, it moved immediately from me to a new host - Twilight Sparkle?"

Celestia frowned. "One of the telltale signs of possession is an altered personality, but our Twilight has been the same old pony I love as far as I know."

Star Swirl nodded. "The tome has some methods to check for victims of possession. We can check her body for any mysterious wounds. Try to smell sulfur around her. Question her on events in her life, see if her memories were changed."

"I don't want her to be worried, though," Celestia said. "She's had enough doom and gloom. We need a non-intrusive way of checking her."

Luna grinned. "Why, it's simple! The Elements! Remember, sister? The Elements denied me as their bearer once I started to become Nightmare Moon. We just need to bring the Element of Magic to Twilight and see if it returns to its dormant state."

Celestia gently rubbed her horn against her sister's. "Good thinking, Luna. I'll go get the Element of Magic, you two scry for Twilight."

As Celestia left to the Vault of the Elements, Luna and Star Swirl conjured up a map of Equestria and began channeling a scrying spell to track down Twilight Sparkle. They found Twilight at what appeared to be the home of her brother, Shining Armor. As soon as Celestia returned, the trio set off to Shining Armor's home, which was located in one of Canterlot's affluent neighborhoods.

A pair of sentries were stationed outside Shining Armor's manor and they snapped to attention and saluted as the princesses arrived. Celestia nodded at them and then knocked on the door.

Twilight grinned as she opened the door for them.

"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! Star Swirl the Bearded! To what do we owe this pleasure?" Twilight joyfully exclaimed.

The three ponies joined Twilight in Shining Armor's foyer and Celestia produced the Element of Magic. The Elements of Harmony were the most powerful form of magic known to ponydom, and Twilight represented the most powerful of the Elements: Magic. When Twilight and her friends had become the new bearers of the Elements, the Element of Magic had assumed the form of a tiara. Celestia set the Element of Magic on Twilight's head and the three stared anxiously at it.

"What is going on?" Twilight asked.

"Cast a spell, please," Celestia requested.

"Um, okay..." Twilight said as she began casting a simple spell. The three peered intently at her magical field.

Luna shook her head. "I sense nothing unusual. Sister?"

Twilight tried to back away as Celestia mischievously licked her horn to check for corrupted magic, which had a tell-tale sulfur taste. "Thankfully, I can't detect any aberrations."

Twilight teleported herself across the room and began wiping her horn with a cloth. "Blah! Uh, no offense, but you are kind of creeping me out. What is going on?"

Celestia giggled. "Sorry, Twilight. We were afraid you might have been possessed by something evil. The same thing that created Nightmare Moon and, most likely, the Unliving Queen. We don't know what it is, but it is a force of corruption. It appears you are safe, thankfully."

Twilight frowned. "You say something did that to Princess Luna and the future Twilight? Why would something want to do that?"

Star Swirl shook his head. "We don't know, but we are going to find out. Rest assured, Twilight Sparkle, whatever this evil is, we shall have justice upon it. Our apologies for startling you, Twilight. We shall let you get back to your brother."

Twilight shook her head. "No, if something is out there, something evil, something that might be trying to corrupt me, or Cadence, or worse? I want to help find it."

Celestia smiled at Twilight and softly nuzzled her for a moment. "Very well, my faithful student. Let us return to the Archives and see what we can learn."

***

Back in the Canterlot Archives, Twilight eagerly began pouring over the Demonology tome as the princesses and Star Swirl discussed the Insidiousus Diabolicus.

"Okay," Luna said, flustered. "If it isn't within Twilight Sparkle, it could be anywhere!"

"Knowing where our enemy is not, is as vital as knowing where it is," Celestia said. "I know I feel a little more at ease knowing this thing didn't go after my little Twilight."

"We could use time traveling spells to try and figure out where it is, and what it is," Star Swirl offered. "I didn't have much luck before, but I'd be willing to try again."

Celestia shook her head. "It's too dangerous. For one, it may target us instead. Secondly, if we did somehow alter the timeline, think of what disastrous consequences there could be. If my sister didn't become Nightmare Moon and end up banished for one-thousand years, she wouldn't have become unsealed at just the right moment for Twilight and her friends to form their bonds. Who knows what we might encounter coming back to the future. We could be without bearers of the Elements, or worse."

Star Swirl sunk deep in thought. "Everything does seem to keep coming back to Twilight Sparkle, doesn't it?"

Celestia put her hoof on Twilight's shoulder as her student smiled up at her. "Well, she is a very special little unicorn."

"I have an idea," Star Swirl said. "You were looking in bestiaries, but that's not what we need. We need to look in history books, town records, newspaper archives, things of that nature. See if there have been any other ponies that suddenly became corrupted like our dear Luna here."

Over the next hour, the four poured through all the historical documentations they could get their hooves on. They began compiling a list of probable cases where the Insidiosus Diabolicus was involved. Unicorns, Earth ponies, and pegasi had all potentially been targeted. All of them had been experiencing turmoil in the minds according to witnesses that knew them, before suddenly becoming a shadow of their former selves and causing trouble. Most had to be zapped by the Elements of Harmony before they returned to normal as if nothing had happened. The incidents had been occurring infrequently for thousands of years.

Star Swirl sat back, rubbed at his weary eyes, and conjured up a glass of water. "I don't understand what this thing is. These attacks it may have made, there's really no rhyme nor reason for some of them. It wanted eternal darkness with Nightmare Moon, a world of unholy magic or some such with the Unliving Queen, yet here the possibly corrupted host was just trying to abolish apple cider. Or here, this crazed Earth pony traveled Equestria and forced ponies to plant eggplants."

Celestia looked at her sister. "Perhaps the entity itself has no goals, other than corrupting ponies. The desires of the corrupted victims may be the desires of the pony it attacks. For instance, Luna may have wanted eternal darkness so the ponies would be forced to appreciate her night. Or Twilight Sparkle may have sought undeath due to the orderly nature of death and the power it would bring so she could save her past self."

"Since she ended up controlling the undead and used them to enforce her rules upon everypony under her, I think it was the 'orderly' part she would have most wanted," Twilight offered. "I like everything being arranged how I like it to be, whether it's the books in the library back home at Ponyville or my beauty products in my room. I'm... kind of obsessive about things. Sometimes if somepony moves something of mine I just go nuts until I move it back."

Star Swirl nodded. "Well, regardless of its motives, it would appear to be escalating its attacks. Hopefully next time it strikes we will be able to retaliate."

Luna shuffled the papers in front of her into a stack. "We now know more about it. It can not hide from us. We will find it and find a way to destroy it! Now, if thou shalt please excuse me, I have an appearance I must prepare for tonight."

Chapter 5

The sun had begun to set when the Titan-class airship arrived at Mareay. As they debarked, Con Mane had relayed some instructions to Rarity, telling her to mingle with the crowd and keep an eye out for Princess In Hoc Signo Vinces. As soon as the sun had set, the Feast of the New Moon had begun. Great banquets were set forth and a firework show lit up the moonless night sky as the costumed ponies conversed and danced below.

Rarity was in her element. The Feast of the New Moon was going splendidly for her. She had been shaking hooves with rich and famous ponies from Manehattan to Las Pegasus and had acquired a number of orders for Princess Platinum cloaks just like hers. The presence of the Equestrian elite troubled her, however. There were heads of government, famous Applewood actors, heads of industry, academia, and banking. She had never heard of this event, and she thought she knew about every big to-do that the high society ponies held.

Since they had landed, Con Mane had left her alone as he went to set up his donut stand. Rarity began to whisper into her collar to ask him what the deal was with this event, when a familiar voice called out her name. She turned and saw Fancypants, her friend and one of the most important ponies in Canterlot. The white-coated and azure-haired unicorn was dressed as a sheikh. His usual well-trimmed moustache had been replaced with a scruffy beard. A parody of his usual cutie mark (three crowns with purple gems) was portrayed on his desert robe, replacing the crowns with a more Saddle Arabian design.

Rarity smiled happily.  "Fancypants! I am so delighted to see you!"

"I don't recall ever seeing you here before, Miss Rarity," Fancypants said. "Which is surprising."

"Oh, it's my first time. I'm a tad confused though as to why all you important ponies are here. I'd never even heard of this isle before," Rarity said, her voice low so the others wouldn't hear her confession.

Fancypants smiled. "Do you know the history of the Feast of the New Moon?"

Rarity shook her head.

Fancypants explained: "The story goes: long, long, ago, a ship of explorers were lost amidst a terrible storm during a new moon. It was dark, their ship had been damaged, and they were all terrified. Princess Luna herself appeared and helped guide them to this isle, Mareay. In thanks to Princess Luna, they held a festival. The story spread and soon every year, sailors would travel to Mareay and join the survivors in celebrating Princess Luna, for sailors rely on the moon for guidance."

Fancypants looked up into the night sky. "In appreciation of her fans, she bestowed upon them a gift of magic for one blessed night. Soon, thousands of ponies were coming and the festival became solely about receiving that gift. As you are well aware, in ancient times Luna believed she was not well-liked, and she became frustrated that they were greedily after her gift and cared not for her. Soon after, she became Nighmare Moon. The festival continued, without her gift, but was only celebrated by a dedicated few. During the next thousand years after the Nightmare Moon incident, Celestia eventually attended the Feast and, in honor of her sister, she began bestowing the magical gifts once more. This was also when the tradition of costumes arose, since the moon is 'gone' during a new moon phase, traditions of Nightmare Night bled over, wherein the ponies were scared of Nightmare Moon coming to eat them if she could recognize a pony. Luna and Celestia's presence here attracted the monks of the Order of the Eclipse, and they vowed to make sure the festival remained dedicated to the royal pony sisters, and not just their magic. The festival became a secret club of sorts, less than a hundred ponies attend now. mostly just sailors and the upper class, although anypony is welcome."

Rarity smiled. "Very interesting. Thank you, Fancypants. What can you tell me about our host, Princess In Hoc Signo Vinces?"

"She's about your age, I believe. Hard to tell with that armor she's always wearing. She's a sweet little lass, I've known her since she was but a filly," Fancypants said.

"What is her cutie mark?" Rarity asked.

Fancypants frowned. "Hmm. Now that you mention it, I believe it has always been covered by a garment. Dresses when she was a little filly, armor when she grew up. Very curious indeed."

Fancypants craned his neck to look behind Rarity and smirked. "Speak of the devil, here she comes now."

Princess In Hoc Signo Vinces, affectionately nicknamed Winny due to the pronunciation of 'Vinces,' walked into the festival area flanked by two robed monks of the Order of the Eclipse. She was clad in the same golden armor that she was wearing in Con Mane's photo. Rarity followed suit as all the ponies turned towards the princess and laid down. The three unicorns stood upon a platform behind an altar shaped like a crescent moon. The horns of the monks began to glow and behind them an ancient sailing ship made from driftwood was formed.

Winny began to speak and Rarity leaned forward to hear, startled to hear such a gentle voice coming from a pony wearing battle armor.

"We are here to celebrate our beloved Princess Luna," Winny said. "I thank you all for coming here tonight. We've heard rumors that things were not going well in Equestria, and we are very pleased to see you are all safe and sound. Without further ado, Brother Moonbathed?"

One of the monks stepped forward, he bowed to the crowd, then began to speak with a booming voice. "Tonight, like every year, we have gathered here to celebrate Luna and her star-strewn night. Hail, Luna!"

The other ponies all repeated "Hail, Luna!" and raised their heads to look up at the night sky. Rarity blushed with embarrassment and tried to mimic the others.

Winny spoke again, her voice much louder than before. "The moon's light smiles upon our sleeping forms while she polices our dreams, driving our nightmares into the darkness where they belong. We have gathered the nightmares here tonight so that they might be slain and trouble us no more!"

Rarity's heart skipped a beat as shadowy, monstrous figures began to emerge on the deck of the driftwood ship.

The three unicorns turned and shook their hooves at the shadows. Moonbathed spoke again. "Fire shall have its will of thee! We must have fire!"

The two monks conjured up torches and touched them against the base of the ship. Flames began to lick at the driftwood and the shadows began to merge into the form of one terrifying creature.

Rarity jumped as a loud, sinister voice boomed from the shadow. "Foals! When will ye learn that me ye cannot slay? Year after year ye burn me in this place, lifting your puny shouts of triumph to the stars. When again, ye turn your faces to the pillow and drift into dream, do ye not find me waiting, as of old? Foals! Foals to dream ye conquer me!"

Winny stared up at the shadow as the two monks covered their eyes with their hooves.

Winny stood defiant and pointed towards the shadow. "Thine malevolence which would pursue us here has lost its power under these friendly stars. So we burn thee once again, nightmare! The flames may not devour ye, but Luna shall set us free!"

The shadow's voice laughed. "Ye shall burn me once again? Not with these flames, ye foals. I spit upon your fire!"

The flames magically died out and the monks fell to the ground, quivering in fear. Winny looked up into the night sky. "Oh, Luna! Princess of the night. Beautiful Luna, we beseech thee! Save us from this nightmare!"

The moon-shaped altar began to glow, Rarity smiled as she heard the voice of Princess Luna emanate from it. "A simple torch will not do. One light alone must light this fire. The moon's light. A pure, eternal light."

A magic wand appeared, floating above the altar. It was silver and tipped with a sapphire star. Around the star orbited gently glowing illusions of the moon's various phases - full, half, crescent, and a dark void with a silver outline representing the new moon.

Winny grasped the wand and held it over her head. "Oh, darling Luna! We thank thee for thy gift!"

Winny pointed the wand at the shadow. "Be gone detested nightmare! Be gone! Once more, we banish thee! Be gone, foul nightmare! Lunar fire shall have its will of thee!"

A moonbeam shot from the wand and the ship was engulfed in pearly, luminescent flames. The driftwood, and the shadow, were quickly consumed and the ponies began to cheer as all that remained was a plume of smoke.

Winny got down on the ground next to the monks and everypony, sans Rarity, said in unison: "Hail, Luna! Once again, thou hath set us free!"

Princess Luna stepped forth from the smoke. "Let all on whom my light falls be welcome if they desire to be so. As the moon waxes and wanes, so too does all life. Turn to the moon, and I will be thine guide."

The ponies clapped their hooves and cheered. Winny rose. "Oh, great and wondrous Luna! Ye have smote the nightmare once more upon this night. However we know tomorrow is another day, and we beseech thee to grant us thine blessing on this most happy of nights. We humbly ask thee to accept this offer."

Winny pulled out a decanter of milk and poured it out onto the altar. Luna smiled. "Thine offer pleaseth me. Tomorrow, thine nightmares may return, but tonight, thou shalt have joy!"

Luna's horn began to glow and the altar was bathed in moonlight. The milk transformed into a glowing, soft-as-silk, opalescent custard. "Enjoy my gift, my friends! Know that I am always here if you require me." She winked, and vanished in a flash of moonlight.

The ancient performance ended, the ponies rose and formed a line as the monks dished out the custard. Con Mane and Rarity looked expectantly as Winny was served, but instead of removing the helmet as they hoped, she pulled out a straw to eat her custard.

Rarity raised her eyebrow and looked at Fancypants. "That was... interesting."

Fancypants chuckled. "Oh, indeed. It is silly, I know, but it is the same ritual that has been performed for centuries. They apparently used to reenact being lost at sea in the early days."

Rarity eyed the altar as they approached. "And what is this, dessert?"

Fancypants smiled. "It's your first time, correct? Oh, Miss Rarity, you are in for a surprise."

The moon's milk, as it was called, was one of the most delicious things Rarity had ever eaten. She smiled broadly and turned to Fancypants."I've nev-"

Her eyes went wide as she felt her hooves leave the ground. She frantically looked around. "What is going on?"

Fancypants laughed. "That is Luna's gift, lunar magic. The moon's milk can enchant you with magical powers for one night. It appears you have received flight."

Rarity had flown before - on yachts, hot air balloons, carried by pegasi, and on magical wings - but never like this. It was as if she was floating in zero gravity. She glided around in amazement. "Oh my gosh!"

Below her, she saw the other festival attendees enjoying their new powers. Earth ponies tossed around boulders as if they weighed nothing, ponies were running across the water as if they weighed nothing, others were flying through the night sky, and a small group of ponies were throwing each other into the air and laughing gleefully as they slowly fell to the ground as if they weighed no more than a feather.

Rarity touched down next to Con Mane. "Oh my gosh, this night has been absolutely spectacular! Thank you so much!"

Con Mane laughed, then his expression grew grim. He nodded towards the altar. "Sorry to cut your jubilation short, back to the mission."

Winny stood behind the altar and raised her hooves to the sky. "May Luna guide our steps in the night and bring them to the new dawn." She waved to the crowd then began walking into the night. Con Mane smirked as the princess' monks stayed behind to distribute the moon's milk. He thought, Good, no security detail.

Con Mane nodded at Rarity. "Now's our chance, let's follow her."

After they got away from the crowd, Con Mane pressed a button on his wrist wizard and a barrier enveloped them. "Sound dampening field," he explained.

They stealthily pursued Winny through a wooded area and soon arrived at her castle. It was a fairly small structure and was adorned with seashells and images of dolphins. So far, they seemed to have evaded detection from the princess, who had been walking at a slow pace, twirling the moon wand in the air.

The princess entered her castle, closing the doors behind her as Rarity and Con Mane hid near a dolphin-shaped fountain.

"What do we do now?" Rarity whispered.

Con Mane pointed towards an open window. As they climbed inside the castle, Con Mane's device shrouded their hoofsteps, even on the stone floors inside. They heard a clip-clop echoing down the hallway and ducked into the shadows as Winny walked past. They resumed following her, staying back a safe distance.

Con Mane peeked around a corner as Winny entered a room, closing the doors behind her. He glanced at his wrist wizard, which had a blueprint of the castle on its HUD. He sighed. "Well, this may be our chance to see what she's hiding under that armor. That's the royal baths. Are you ready?"

Rarity raised her eyebrow. "Oh, but we mustn't."

Con Mane put his hoof on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Rarity. There's no 'we' here, Equestria needs you for this task."

Rarity shook her head. "It's not polite! You're the spy, why can't you do it?"

Con Mane grinned. "You'd think so, but I've already calculated the risks in my head. A strange stallion barging in, that might get me zapped. You saw her, she brought that moon wand in there with her. I don't think I want to be lit ablaze like that ship. However, a  strange mare wandering in, saying she was trying to find the little filly's room? You should be relatively fine."

"Relatively?" Rarity asked, icily.

Con Mane used his magic to pull open Rarity's cloak. He opened one of the hidden pockets and withdrew a deck of cards. He pulled out an ace of hearts and slipped it into Rarity's collar. "This will absorb one spell. If she's hostile, yell something and start running, I'll bust in and cover your retreat. I saw that you've got a temporary power now, so fly towards the beach. Mayday is standing by and will come pick you up with a company airship. Let's hope it doesn't come to that, as she's a great flier, but not a great pilot."

Mayday's voice crackled from his wrist wizard. "Hey!"

Con Mane smiled. "Sorry, Mayday."

Mayday's voice crackled again, the tone despondent. "I busted up both my wings trying to help stop that undead army. They put me on airship duty. Me! A pegasus!"

Mayday started ranting about how unfair it was and how mechanical flight paled in comparison to natural flying. Con Mane turned down the wrist wizard's volume, shook his head, then turned to Rarity. "I told you the agency was in a jam. See what I have to put up with? Cranky pegasi pilots. Alright, for Equestria?"

Rarity sighed. "It goes against my lady-like demeanor, but, yes, I suppose. For Equestria."

Con Mane ran numbers in his mind over how long it would take a unicorn to remove a set of armor with or without magic, then, presuming that enough time had elapsed, prodded Rarity towards the door. He grimaced as he heard the princess' shriek simultaneously come down the hallway and blare in his ear from Rarity's communicator.

Winny was relaxing in a bubble bath as Rarity entered. Rarity was immediately embarrassed, and disappointed. Winny had a white coat, soft, blue eyes, and a short, blonde mane. A very normal appearance for a blue-blooded pony royal, and not the terrible visage Rarity was expecting. Her flank, and therefore her cutie mark, was underwater and protected by a layer of bubbles. Winny raised her eyebrow as Rarity stared at her.

"You wear the guise of a princess, yet your manners are that of a peasant. How rude. Were you raised in a barn?" Winny asked sarcastically.

Rarity blushed and glanced away. "I'm terribly sorry, your highness. I've never been to Mareay before, and I was trying to find the little filly's room. So sorry, please forgive my intrusion."

Winny smiled. "Go out into the hallway and it's six doors down on the left."

Rarity bowed her head. "Thank you, your highness. Sorry for intruding upon you like this. I am so sorry for the inconvenience."

As Rarity backed out of the room, Winny called out, "Don't forget to knock first!"

As the intruder left, Winny used her magic to lock the door. A robed monk, horn glowing, stepped out from a side room - he was Brother Dawnfire, the princess' protector. The monk had a dark red coat and hair of reds, yellows, and oranges that evoked the image of the rising sun. His cutie mark was of a fiery sun rising over a horizon.

Dawnfire listened at the doorway, then ceased to channel his spell, dispelling the illusion he had cast on the princess. "That was a close one, your highness. I didn't even hear anypony in the halls."

Winny looked down at her reflection in the water and pouted. Her natural appearance was slightly unnerving, with a pale, ashen coat, dark blue hair, and eyes that burned with blue flames. She didn't know why she looked as she did, but she knew it made her different, a fact she had been trying to hide ever since she became aware of it.

"What is known?" Winny asked.

"Naught but her name: Rarity. I observed her earlier at the festivities, living it up with the Equestrian elite," Dawnfire replied.

"Was it truly an accident, or do you think it was intentional?" Winny asked.

"She may have been dared to do it perhaps. It may have been as she said, I'm not sure. You must admit you do come off as rather alluring, and some of our guests have been coming here for years and never seen even your illusory appearance," Dawnfire said. "I'm sure quite a few are rather curious as to what you look like."

"You know I don't like ponies looking at me, and even if they saw the illusion, what if they ever saw the real me? They would hate me," Winny said as she angrily swished the moon wand around in her bath.

Dawnfire shook his head. "They wouldn't hate you, Winny. They may not understand you at first and would stare, which is awkward, but they wouldn't hate you just for being different. And besides, there could be other ponies out there that look as you do for all we know. Even if there are not, that just makes you all the more unique and beautiful!"

Winny sighed and let herself slip farther down into her bath. "So you've always said, old friend."

Chapter 6

Rarity was flitting about in the air, still marveling at the flight power Luna's magical custard had granted her, as she and Con Mane made their way to the rendezvous point on the shores of Mareay.

"So, she looked normal?" Con Mane asked.

"Yes, she did. I'm sure you heard our conversation, she seemed like a normal pony to me," Rarity said.

"Yes, she sounded a little nervous at first," Con Mane sighed. "Just like most ponies would when a stranger barged in on them. And you couldn't see her cutie mark?"

"Correct, her rear was underwater," Rarity replied. "Under bubbles I should say."

Con Mane held his wrist wizard up to his mouth. "Mayday, plan A is a bust. Plan B is green lit. Repeat, plan B is a go."

"Plan B?" Rarity asked.

Con Mane smiled. "Since subterfuge didn't reveal any dark secrets, my partner here is going to just straight up ask her what is going on."

Like a ghost, an all black airship silently descended out of the night sky onto the beach. It was a special CIA issue Spectre-class airship built for stealth. The propeller made almost no noise as it began to wind down as Mayday landed the craft.

It was the first time Rarity had seen Mayday without the stealth suit she had been wearing earlier. The pegasus mare's wings were both wrapped in bandages and her cutie mark was of a winged sword. She saw Rarity hovering above the ground and sneered. "The bloody unicorn gets to fly on her own? Not fair!"

Con Mane rolled his eyes. "Ever deal with a grounded pegasi, Rarity? They become insufferable."

Rarity sheepishly set down on the beach. "Oh, yes. My friend Rainbow Dash-"

Mayday interrupted her. "Rainbow Dash? Oh my gosh, I was trying to cover her on her run at the dark cloud. That mare is fast!"

Rarity beamed. "She sure is! Dash is one of my best friends."

The pegasus spy put her leg around Rarity's shoulders. "You have got to introduce me to her sometime, once all this craziness has calmed down."

Rarity laughed. "Oh, I'm sure that can be arranged. Dash always loves meeting her adoring fans. It would be my pleasure to get something set up for you."

Mayday smiled. "That would rock!"

"Ahem. Socialize later, ladies. Mayday, you have a job to do," Con Mane coldly said.

The pegasus saluted. "Right. On it."

Con Mane watched his partner go, then turned to Rarity. "That's the most cheerful she's been since the battle."

Rarity was pouting.

"What's wrong?" Con Mane asked.

"Oh, the usual. I was there too, yet Rainbow gets all the attention. My friend Twilight Sparkle and I played a crucial role - we cut off the Unliving Queen's reinforcements - but it's hard to beat blowing up a giant death cloud," Rarity moaned. When the Unliving Queen had attacked Canterlot, she had brought her forces on a giant cloud. Rarity and Twilight had assisted Princess Celestia in sealing the Queen's undead summoning portals, but Rainbow Dash had scored the 'kill shot' on the cloud, earning her much more attention than the heroic unicorns.

"And yet I chose you for this operation. Think upon that, Miss Rarity," Con Mane said.

Rarity smiled. "I suppose you did. Well, since it seems my role has ended, what about those gems you promised me?"

Con Mane chuckled. "We'll get them in a bit." He opened a hatch on the CIA airship. "Come on inside, we can observe Mayday from here."

* * *

Mayday knocked on the doors of In Hoc Signo Vinces' castle and was greeted by a robed monk. "I would like an audience with her highness, if it is not too late," Mayday said.

"I believe she is still awake, follow me," the monk said. Mayday followed him back into the castle and they stopped in a small chamber.

"Who shall I say is calling?" the monk asked.

"Special Agent Mayday, Canterlot Intelligence Agency," Mayday said.

The monk raised his eyebrow, then left into the adjoining room. He returned a short while later. "The princess will see you now, Agent Mayday."

The monk had brought her to a small reading room. Winny, wearing her armor once more, sat by a fireplace perusing a tome. She glanced at her visitor's bandaged wings and gasped. "Oh dear, did we run out of moon's milk?" She turned to the monk. "Brother, fetch us a glass of milk, please. Agent Mayday, was it? Please, join me."

The pegasus sat in a chair opposite the princess. "Sorry to interrupt your reading, your highness. We at the company have a few questions we would like to ask you about the wedding."

"My wedding? What interest is that of yours?" Winny asked, concerned.

"Your wedding? Um, sorry, uh, I meant the marriage of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor." Mayday explained. "Congratulations to you, though."

"Thank you. What do you want to ask me about their wedding? I don't really know them all that well," Winny said.

"Yes, that is what we wanted to talk to you about. Nopony really knows you, yet you have an invitation," Mayday said.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Winny asked. "The only outsider ponies I really know are those who attend the Feast of the New Moon. I rarely leave the isle. It was my uncle who invited me to the wedding, if you must know."

"I see. There have been some unfortunate events surrounding this wedding, so when we saw a relatively unknown pony, who turned out to be very mysterious, I might add, show up on the guest list, we had our concerns," Mayday explained.

Winny sighed. "If you don't want me there, I guess I won't go..."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings over the matter, it's a matter of national security. Out here, you might not know just how bad things have been back home. We just really didn't want any more trouble," Mayday said. "Who is your uncle?"

"Star Swirl the Bearded," Winny said.

"Really?" Mayday asked. "The Star Swirl?"

"Yes. Uncle knew I was engaged to be married and so he thought I should attend their wedding, to see how things went and if there were any elements that I might wish to replicate at my own," Winny explained.

"I see. Who is the lucky groom, if you don't mind my asking?" Mayday said.

"Prince Proudmane of Bridleberg Isle. It's only a click or so off Mareay's northern shore. I met him when I was but a filly. We used to watch the dolphins together," Winny said.

"Aww," Mayday cooed. "How sweet. When's your wedding?"

"Not for a few months, we're waiting for the dolphin pod to return," Winny said.

The monk returned with a glass of milk and set it on the table by the princess. She pulled out the moon wand and pointed it towards the milk. A moonbeam engulfed it and transformed it into the magical moon's milk. She used her magic to pass it to the pegasus. "Eat this, you'll feel better."

Mayday sniffed at the moon's milk, then upended the glass, smiled delightedly, and licked the glass clean. Her eyes went wide as she felt a strange sensation in her wings. She shouted "Yes!" as she stretched out her wings which had been healed by the miraculous moon's milk.

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, thank you so much, your highness!" Mayday said as she gleefully hovered in the air.

"You're welcome, Agent Mayday. Luna's gift is for everypony," Winny said.

The pegasus eyed the wand. "You can make this stuff whenever you want?"

Winny shook her head. "Only on this night. The wand belonged to one of the ancient unicorn kings. We've tried to use it on other nights, other new moons, but it has decided it only wants to work for the festival."

Mayday frowned. "Shame. It would be incredibly useful and help a lot of ponies if we could get a supply of this custard stuff. So, if you don't mind my asking, what's the deal with the armor?"

Winny sighed. "I prefer ponies not looking at me. The armor also serves a dual purpose in not only concealing my appearance, but allowing me to project a sense of mystery. If I did not wear it, there would be no mystery... and your wings would likely still be injured as you would not have been sent to investigate me. So I think you will agree it's a good thing I wear it."

"Very true. Very true. In that case, I am most grateful that you do wear it," Mayday said with a grin. "You've got my curiosity piqued though. Why would a filly wish to hide her appearance?"

Winny pulled off her helmet, revealing the same illusory appearance that Rarity had seen. "I am not a monster, I am just like any other pony as you can see. I just... don't like my looks, and I don't want ponies to see me."

Mayday frowned. "Aww, I'm sorry to hear that. You're a cutie. Well, I can see you are not the second coming of evil that my colleagues back in Canterlot thought you might have been. I should let you get back to your affairs. Thank you for indulging my curiosity, and especially for fixing up my wings."

The pegasus set down on the ground next to the princess and extended her hoof. "I hope we'll be seeing you at the wedding then, perhaps without any fancy armor?"

Winny smiled and shook hooves. "Perhaps. Good night, Agent Mayday."

Chapter 7

Mayday wished to fly back on her newly healed wings, so Con Mane piloted the Spectre airship back to the mainland as his partner flew alongside. Rarity had decided to travel back with Fancypants, and Con Mane had been true to his word, purchasing several bulging chests of Sun's Tears for the giddy unicorn.

After Con Mane docked the Spectre in its secret hangar, the agents debriefed at the CIA's headquarters before heading to Canterlot Castle to report their findings to Princess Celestia. They eventually tracked her down at the Canterlot Archives, where Celestia, Luna, and Star Swirl were all still scouring texts. Twilight Sparkle had fallen asleep and lay curled up next to a book.

"Your highness, we have completed that special assignment regarding Project Krustallos," Con Mane said, bowing to the princesses. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was the Crystal Princess, heir to the Crystal Empire, a magical land that had been cursed by an evil unicorn sorcerer and hadn't been seen for nearly a thousand years. Project Krustallos was the CIA's ongoing project to ensure that if the Empire ever returned, Cadence, or her future descendants, would be ready to help reclaim it.

"Was the target what you feared?" Celestia asked.

Con Mane shook his head. "No, your highness. She was perfectly normal as far as we could see. A little self-conscious about her appearance, apparently, though."

Luna giggled. "Didn't I see thee on Mareay, 'Joe?'"

Con Mane nodded. "Yes, we were there to investigate Mareay's princess, In Hoc Signo Vinces."

Star Swirl frowned. "What for?"

Con Mane glanced at Twilight Sparkle and Celestia nodded at him to proceed. "The company was assigned to make sure nothing goes wrong at the royal wedding. We were going through the guest list and she triggered some red flags, so we went out there tonight to investigate."

Mayday nudged her partner, "It wasn't a total waste. Donut Boy here spent several weeks pay buying Sun's Tears for Rarity."

Celestia's eyes lit up. "You bought Sun's Tears for Rarity?  Ooh, I can't wait to see what she does with them!"

Mayday grinned. "Rarity is a pretty cool mare. She getting me a lunch date set up with Rainbow Dash, too."

Mayday looked at Star Swirl. "The princess claimed that you are her uncle. Was that true?"

Both princesses stared curiously at the old wizard. Star Swirl sighed. "My apologies for keeping this from you two. I know I should have told you sooner, but I couldn't bring myself to confess."

"What did you do, Star Swirl?" Celestia asked, concerned.

"When I visited the future where the Unliving Queen had ruled," Star Swirl slowly said, "I found a foal in her castle. In Hoc Signo Vinces. Her mother was gone, we defeated her and she was never going to make it back to her daughter. I.. I just couldn't leave her there. When I cast a spell to return, my magic brought me back to this timeline, however it had brought me years into the past. As we know, unicorn magic happens for a reason. I entrusted her to the Order of the Eclipse on Mareay and instructed them to strike her down if she ever showed any signs of evil. I've been observing her as she has grown, there never appeared to be any danger from that one, and so I kept my silence."

"Who was the father?" Luna asked.

Star Swirl shrugged. "I do not know. She had nopony that I could see. I... do not want to think about how she was even made. Somepony was deranged enough to bed the Unliving Queen? Ugh. The very thought is sickening."

The other ponies in the room nodded in agreement.

"Well, Star Swirl," Celestia sternly said, "What am I to do with you. You brought the daughter of the Unliving Queen back here, and didn't tell us? That's the kind of thing that I would want to know about!"

"My apologies, Princess Celestia," Star Swirl said. "I do not believe there is any threat from her though. Why, she is even getting married. She is quite normal, I assure you."

"We'll see," Celestia said with a sigh. "But I have my doubts."

Celestia turned to address the two agents. "Equestria thanks you for your service on this matter, you are dismissed."

After Con Mane and Mayday had left, Celestia bopped Star Swirl on the horn. "You old wizard! Any more surprises I need to know about?"

"None that I am aware of, Princess Celestia, Winny is a sweetheart, believe me. We shall not see any trouble from her," Star Swirl said while rubbing his horn.

Celestia laughed. "I believe you, I just don't like my friends keeping secrets, especially one of this magnitude. The Unliving Queen's daughter.. You are one crazy wizard, Star Swirl. If it had been anypony else that was involved, I would have sent an army to attack her at once. Since your magic brought you to a specific time in the past, clearly something must be planned for her that requires her to be a certain age at a certain time..."

Star Swirl smiled. "Thank you for your vote of confidence, Celestia. Yes, I concur that she likely has a role she has yet to play. I have difficulty imagining just what that will be, but I find it highly interesting."

"This was only my second time attending the festival on Mareay since I came back from the moon," Luna said. "I never noticed anything strange. However, didst thou not attend in my place, Celestia?"

"Indeed I did. I never sensed anything amiss with Princess Winny. She always seemed like a normal pony to me. Nice blonde mane, crisp white coat, just like our nephew, Blueblood. Winny has an unfortunate fondness for wearing armor, though," Celestia replied.

"Even if she herself may not be a threat, the corruptive entity may seek her out," Luna warned. "As we all know from my own experiences with it, benign magic can quickly be twisted for evil, and Winny is a unicorn. The daughter of one of the most powerful, corrupted unicorns at that."

Star Swirl nodded thoughtfully.

"Luna, please stay here and watch Twilight Sparkle." Celestia ordered. "Star Swirl, let us go see this niece of yours."

Luna watched the slumbering Twilight and glanced towards a clock. "No, sister. I can use my magic to see who she truly is. If she has been corrupted, I should be able to see without a doubt. You and Star Swirl can continue searching the books."

Celestia knew what her sister intended and smiled. "Very well, Luna."

Luna conjured herself up a feather mattress and laid down upon it. She closed her eyes and began to channel a spell that would allow her to visit the dreams of anypony that was asleep. As the spell finished, Luna opened her eyes and found herself floating in the night sky, surrounded by scores of faintly glowing orbs of energy that twinkled like stars. Each orb contained the dream world of a slumbering pony. Luna whispered, "Twilight Sparkle."

The orb containing Twilight's dream appeared before her and Luna smiled at what she saw. Twilight was dreaming of herself and Princess Celestia walking through an enormous library. Luna moved Twilight's orb to the side and summoned forth Winny's. Luna placed her hooves on the orb and transported herself inside the dream.

Luna dispersed her body into an invisible mist and looked around her surroundings. Luna recognized the location as being the isle of Mareay. She hovered into the air as the princess, clad in golden armor, merrily skipped along a path down towards a docked ship, holding suitcases in her magical grasp. Luna moved towards the ship, it was a great galleon but only one pony was aboard. Star Swirl stood on the deck in an admiral's uniform. Winny headed up the gangplank, and as she neared the top, the ship suddenly pulled away and headed to sea.

The luggage fell to the ground and Winny stared at the departing ship. Her head hung low, she began to slowly walk back to her castle, a trail of tears falling from her helmet. Winny headed into the castle garden and laid down in front of a big beech tree. Winny used her magic to pluck blackberries from nearby bushes, then removed her helmet to eat the berries. Luna, being an expert on dreams, was saddened to see there was just nothing there. She thought to herself, Somepony has low self-esteem...

A winged serpent began winding down the trunk of the beech tree. The scales of the serpent shimmered in a rainbow pattern and it coiled onto the ground in front of WInny. The serpent began to speak in the tongue of the ancient ponies and Winny held her hoof up to the serpent's lips.

"I know. I know..." Winny replied. Winny shook her head slowly. "Death conquers all."

The serpent bit at WInny's flank and clanged off her armor. The serpent scolded her. "Behold! Death is nothing to us!"

Winny looked towards her rear and sighed. "I don't know about all that. I'm just a plain old unicorn."

The serpent shook its head and vanished. Winny continued to eat berries, and Luna deduced the dream had ended. Her mist form coalesced and she set down outside the walls of the garden. Luna knocked against a gate and smiled as Winny jumped in obvious fright.

Winny's tail twitched in terror and she hurriedly put her helmet back on and nervously asked, "Hello?"

"It is I, Princess Luna, may I come in?" Luna said.

"P-princess Luna? Yes, of course! To what do I owe this pleasure?" Winny asked.

"My duty as Equestria's nighttime guardian and my love for my subjects requires me to venture forth into the dream world, to make sure all is well there, too, and help them with problems, if I can," Luna explained. "I have seen many, many dreams and nightmares, and I do believe thou hath had this dream before, correct? I believe I had looked at your dreams before in passing, and I apologize for not arriving sooner."

Winny nodded. "Yes, I began having this dream earlier this year. Can you tell me what it means?"

Luna smiled. "I could, but I would rather hear thine explanation."

Winny looked towards the docks. "Well, it always starts with me preparing to go on a trip with my uncle Star Swirl. I've heard and read so many stories about him, I guess I just want to go on an adventure. I always get left behind though, and it breaks my heart."

Winny turned to the beech tree. "I start eating blackberries by this tree, then the serpent comes and talks to me. I don't fear it, but it talks about death. I don't know why, but it points towards my flank and says to look at it, that death means nothing to us. Really weird."

"What do you think it means?" Luna asked.

Winny laughed. "Honestly, I have no idea! What is your take on it, your highness?"

"I think you are lonely and you desperately want to find friends, and it would be wise for thee to take heed. There are few forces more powerful than that of friendship," Luna softly said.

"But what If they don't want me?" Winny asked.

"'If you're feeling lonely and you're still searching for your true friends, just look up in the sky. Who knows? Maybe you and your future best friends are all looking at the same rainbow.' My sister's protégé, Twilight Sparkle wrote that," Luna said.

Luna used her magic to conjure a rainbow in the sky as Winny looked up. Luna smiled at her. "I shall bid thee good night, In Hoc Signo Vinces. Remember, never give up on the glory of friendship. It is worth it, just ask Twilight Sparkle."

Winny hugged Luna. "Thank you, Princess Luna, and good night!"

Luna dismissed her dream magic and woke up in the Canterlot Archives. She yawned and stretched her wings as Celestia and Star Swirl hurried to her side.

"What did you learn?" Celestia asked.

"She is lonely, self-conscious. She doesn't really know who she is," Luna said. "There were many symbols in the dream suggesting such. In the dream, which she said she's had before, a winged serpent descends from a beech tree and talks to her in the ancient pony tongue. She and the serpent talk about death. It also points towards her cutie mark and says, 'Death is nothing to us.' What is her cutie mark, Star Swirl?"

"It's of a dragon. One of the Unliving Queen's knightly orders used the same symbol. The Order of the Undying Dragon, I believe it was called," Star Swirl replied.

"I see. Then her talent may be related to necromancy?" Luna asked.

Star Swirl nodded. "Remember that necromancy is not always used for evil. Winny received her cutie mark after an accident aboard a fishing vessel. A pony had been severely wounded and they raced back to Mareay. Winny, just a filly, galloped down to the pier to help. As she lay her hooves upon the fisherpony, she spontaneously cast some sort of healing spell, mending the poor pony's wounds. She saved his life and earned her cutie mark."

"Is she a threat?" Celestia asked.

Luna shook her head. "There was no darkness there. I can't see her following in her mother's evil hoofsteps, either. However, anything is possible. Even I fell prey to corruption."

Star Swirl frowned. "You're right, and I feel like a foal for bringing her here. What was I thinking! I shall watch over her, since I was the old foal that brought her here and she is therefore my burden. Speaking of which, back to the matter at hoof: Insidiosus Diabolicus...."

Chapter 8

Archmage Fizzle Hooves popped a chocolate chip cookie in her mouth and let it rest upon her tongue. The cookies were fresh out of the oven and the sensation of the gooey chocolate and warm, crumbly cookie on her tongue was driving her wild. She mashed the cookie against the roof of her mouth and swallowed it, then pulled another off the baking sheet. Her eyes drifted towards a clock and she smiled. Just a few more minutes. Trixie will be so excited!

Trixie's training in the art of magic had been proceeding extremely well. Trixie was quite talented and a quick learner. She had easily mastered the curriculum that Fizzle Hooves taught and had soon been casting some of the more advanced spells. Trixie was loving every minute of her training, and Fizzle Hooves had been immensely pleased with her choice of student. Trixie had once only been able to conjure up a medium-sized storm cloud, now she could darken the sky if she so desired.

As part of her training, every morning Fizzle Hooves destroyed Trixie's wagon and commanded her to fix it. Today had been no different. Trixie felt that her new master got a sick satisfaction out of the act, but it served as a means of gauging her progress. Where once she had struggled to put it back together, Trixie could now easily reconstruct the wagon. Every day it came quicker and easier.

At the beginning of the training, Fizzle Hooves had told Trixie there would be three trials she would have to undertake before she became a master of magic herself. Today was to be the first. In preparation for this first trial, Fizzle Hooves had ordered Trixie to wait for her on top of the archmage's tower. The young unicorn had been waiting since noon, and Fizzle Hooves had been pleased to see that Trixie possessed impressive discipline as well, dutifully awaiting her master despite the hours going by.

The clock began to chime for six o'clock, and Fizzle Hooves licked her lips. Her horn began to glow as she began to cast a spell, then suddenly ceased as her eyes drifted to the cookies. Well, maybe just one more... Fizzle Hooves gobbled down another cookie then resumed her spell. Fizzle Hooves closed her eyes as the world began to shimmer and blur before her. You are going to love this, Trixie!

Atop the tower, Trixie wiped at the sweat pouring down her brow and glared up at the blazing sun. Any other time she would have been annoyed by Fizzle Hooves' tardiness, but today, she had all the patience in the world. She heard a raven's call from above, and she tilted her head to watch the black bird soar past. As she looked up into the sky, she began to feel lightheaded. Her vision started to blur and she sat heavily on the floor.

Trixie felt as if a magical blanket had been drawn around her, the world began drifting away into a hazy shadow. She looked up and the sun, which had been blazing with such a hot intensity, was now a dull red, darkening into night. Suddenly her surroundings vanished and Trixie found herself in a dark void. Her stomach tightened and she suppressed the urge to cry out. Trixie quivered in fear and tried to calm herself.

Trixie frantically looked up for the sun, but now it was gone. As she stared into the void, streaks of brilliant azure light began to soar past her eyes then disappeared into darkness. She tried to reach out and catch the lights and to her amazement one veered towards her hoof. Trixie's eyes went wide as her right hoof began to burn with bright green flames that roared like an inferno, then sizzled out and became nothing.

Trixie felt a surge of magical power pass through her, it delighted her. She reveled in the power, allowing it to course through her soul. Time lost all meaning, all sense, and she was not sure if a second had past or eons.

"Now you know the true power of magic," Fizzle Hooves' voice whispered to her.

For the first time, Trixie was aware that there was a presence with her in this strange place. It was dark, foreboding, and yet for this instant she could sense almost a benign amusement, as if it was an old mare showing new wonders to a foal.

"The power you wield is but nothing to what I am," Fizzle Hooves whispered. There was a sinister air to these words, and Trixie shivered as a slight twinge of terror ran down her spine.

Trixie shielded her eyes as the sun reappeared, glowing brighter, and brighter. Amidst this blazing sun, Fizzle Hooves appeared as a foal. There was an expression of deep sorrow etched across her face, and she looked upon Trixie with tears in her eyes, which were no longer the eerie green Trixie had become accustomed to.

The foal sobbed, "I'm doing my best to train you, Trixie, to shield you from the cruel realities that are life. It is taking all of my strength, but like you, I must persevere... If you should ever pierce the veil that hangs between what is real and what is not, you must stay strong and resist that which you see upon the other side. This is real, no matter what anyone, or any thing tells you."

Trixie felt confused and the intensity of the light flared and faded. When she opened her eyes Trixie was amazed to find herself in the gardens of a fabulous palace. Banners hung from the walls with Trixie's image. Robed unicorns were wandering throughout the grounds, a brilliant crest was affixed to their sleeves. It looked exactly like Trixie's cutie mark. The unicorns bowed deeply as they passed and greeted Trixie.

"Good afternoon, Mistress Trixie," a unicorn said. "What a fine day we're having, isn't it, Mistress Trixie?"

Trixie muttered, "Yes, yes it is..." as she walked over to a bed of roses and smelled the fragrant flowers, sighing in contentment. She felt safe here, she felt a tranquility that she had never felt before. Songbirds chirped and flitted through the air. They circled Trixie and waggled their wings before zipping off. Fizzle Hooves, a mare once more, appeared besides her.

"What is this, master?" Trixie asked.

"This, Trixie, was your first trial. It is a portrait of what may happen, or what will happen should you endeavor to make it thus," Fizzle Hooves explained. "You feel the potential within, don't you? This place is your desire."

"It's wonderful," Trixie uttered as she marveled at the palace grounds.

"I needed to know that you had a future worthwhile. I now know that you do. As you might have deduced, this is your magic school," Fizzle Hooves said.

Trixie's eyes sparkled. "My magic school..."

"This may all be yours, Trixie, if you so desire," Fizzle Hooves said.

The archmage clapped her hooves and their surroundings melted away, revealing the pair to be standing on top of Fizzle Hooves' tower. "You have passed your first trial, Trixie. I am pleased."

Trixie squealed with glee and cast a pyrotechnics spell. As her fireworks exploded over head, Fizzle Hooves awkwardly tried to take a step back as Trixie embraced her.

"Thank you so much," Trixie said.

"You are welcome," Fizzle Hooves replied. "I have baked you some cookies to celebrate your victory. I had a feeling you would pass this trial. You will enjoy them."

Fizzle Hooves cast a teleportation spell and the two unicorns appeared in the tower's library. Fizzle Hooves cast a conjuration spell and summoned forth a cushy sofa for Trixie, then summoned a serving tray with the cookies and a fruit smoothie for Trixie. Fizzle Hooves watched Trixie as she enjoyed the sweets she had prepared, then summoned an ornate, gilded container.

Trixie's horn tingled and she knew the container was heavily enchanted. She leaned forward to get a closer look. The container was about three feet in width, one foot in length. Strange runes were etched on the sides of the container that glimmered with magic. Each corner of the container had a golden effigy of a unicorn. As Trixie looked at each one, an image appeared above the effigy, all of which were symbols of magic. There was a staff, an orb, a scroll, and a magic wand.

Trixie gasped as the effigies came to life and simultaneously looked towards the center. The image of an alicorn appeared, small at first, but steadily grew to life-size proportions. The alicorn's coat was a dark blue and upon her flank was a cutie mark consisting of a bookshelf filled with tomes. Her hair seemed to be an almost metallic silver that glinted in the light. A pair of gold-framed glasses rested on her muzzle. The alicorn turned to Trixie. "Hello, Trixie."

Trixie glanced nervously at Fizzle Hooves, who nodded at her. "Trixie, this is Marelinn the Librarian, the keeper of arcane secrets."

Trixie, unsure of what to do, bowed her head.

Fizzle Hooves' gaze drifted from Trixie to the plate of cookies and she snatched one with her magic. In between bites she said, "Tell Marelinn what you accomplished today, Trixie."

"I.. I saw the future. My future," Trixie said. She glanced at Fizzle Hooves, who gave her a reassuring smile. "I will have my own magic school, once I finish my training here."

"This magic school, this is something you desire?" Marelinn asked.

"Oh, yes! Ever since I was a little filly," Trixie merrily said. "I mean, I hadn't really thought about it recently, but, yes!"

Marelinn smiled and leaned down, gently rubbing her horn against Trixie's. After a few moments, Marelinn's image began to shrink until she was only a few inches tall, standing at the center of the container. Her horn began to glow as she cast a spell, and a brightly glowing image of Trixie's cutie mark appeared above her head. Marelinn's image vanished and they heard her disembodied voice say, "You may proceed, Fizzle Hooves. Hopefully I shall see you again, Trixie!"

Fizzle Hooves pointed towards the container. "Stick your little horn into the image of your cutie mark, Trixie."

Trixie did as she was told, and jumped backwards into her chair as she heard a clap of thunder. Fizzle Hooves laughed as she used her magic to pull the lid off the now-unlocked container. Trixie craned her neck to see inside. Three stone tablets lay within the container, one of which Fizzle Hooves removed. Fizzle Hooves moved the tablet over to Trixie then placed the lid back on the container, which vanished with another thunderclap.

To Trixie's disappointment, the same runes that marked the container were written upon the tablet as well. Trixie pouted. "I can't read it!"

Fizzle Hooves smiled and walked over to Trixie, placing her hoof on her shoulder. "This is the ancient language of the Phoenixians, a powerful clan of witches and warlocks. You will be able to decipher it soon enough, Trixie. You should be honored, as well. Few ponies alive today can comprehend the runes, let alone have received a Phoenixian spell."

"So, Princess Celestia's student, Twilight Sparkle, doesn't have one?" Trixie asked.

Fizzle Hooves laughed. "I should say not."

Trixie smirked and gently ran her hoof over the tablet. "Good."

Fizzle Hooves turned and began to leave the room, looking back over her shoulder at Trixie. "It is getting late. We shall begin the next level of your training tomorrow. Finish your treats and rest up, little one."

Trixie looked at the clock and frowned. It was nearly midnight. Had it really been almost twelve hours? Trixie shrugged and finished her smoothie and cookies, then eagerly galloped to her bedroom, the stone tablet bobbing along in her magical grasp.

* * *

The subsequent days were not near as exciting for Trixie, who, in addition to working on learning the Phoenixian language, was soon back to her usual regimen of fixing her wagon in the morning, bathing and eating breakfast, studying spellbooks until lunchtime, eating her midday meal, practicing the spells she had learned until suppertime, eating her dinner, and then practicing all of her spells until bedtime. For any other pony, it may have been boring, but for Trixie, it was an amazing experience to see the powers she could wield.

Trixie had been sleeping with the stone tablet on her nightstand. One night, she awoke in a cold sweat, her magic had activated on its own and was holding the tablet before her face. She looked at the runes and found she could understand them, accidentally casting the spell as she read. Chains of light appeared and bound the stunned unicorn to her bed. Trixie struggled against the magical bindings in vain, then finally passed out in exhaustion.

Hours later, Trixie awoke to find Fizzle Hooves hovering above her bed. The archmage winked at her, barely containing her laughter. "Hello, little one. In a bind, are we?"

Trixie grinned. "I don't know how, but I cast my Phoenixian spell! I woke up, and my magic had the tablet in front of me, and I was able to understand it finally!"

Fizzle Hooves moved closer, making sure not to touch the magical chains. "Congratulations, Trixie."

"Don't suppose you know how to free me?" Trixie sheepishly asked.

"You are the wielder of the magic, Trixie. Will it away," Fizzle Hooves said.

Trixie closed her eyes, concentrated on the magical chains and imagined them dispersing. She felt their grasp weaken and fade. When she opened her eyes, the chains were gone. She smiled up at Fizzle Hooves as she rubbed at her legs. "I wish I thought of that last night."

Fizzle Hooves snickered. "Indeed. It is time for your second trial. Meet me in the courtyard when you are ready."

The archmage teleported away and Trixie jumped out of bed. The wagon was broken, again, but she repaired it in record time. She was excited, after today she would be one step closer to her own magic school!

She galloped out to the courtyard and stood before Fizzle Hooves. A large fountain stood in the center of the courtyard, and Trixie could see arcane sigils had been drawn on the stonework all around the courtyard. The first trial had come as a great surprise, so she could only imagine what would be happening here. Still, she was confident in her skills, and merrily trotted up to Fizzle Hooves. "I am ready, master."

Fizzle Hooves smiled at her. "Very good, Trixie. Your trial begins now. Good luck."

The archmage shimmered out of existence and Trixie looked nervously around the area as she heard a rumbling from the ground below. All around her, golems of stone began to emerge. She grinned and began casting her spells, disintegrating the golems with ease. Her smile became a frown soon after, however, as more and more golems began to emerge and her spells became weaker and weaker, barely damaging the constructs.

The golems closed in and Trixie cast a mirror image spell and ran for cover as the golems converged on her illusions. Panicked, she looked around the courtyard and a gleam of metal caught her eye. The centerpiece of the fountain was a dragon's skull with a sword pierced through it. She grabbed the hilt with her magic and pulled. As the sword slid free, it began to crackle with power and bolts of electricity arced up and down the blade. She stared at the blade in amazement, then awkwardly slashed at the approaching golems.

As if she was cutting paper, the sword sliced through the golems with ease. As the last golem fell, Fizzle Hooves reappeared and was beaming with joy. "Trixie, do you know what you have done?"

"I beat my second trial?" Trixie asked.

"With flying colors, as they say, but no, Trixie, that sword you hold, do you know what it is?" Fizzle Hooves asked.

Trixie took a closer look at the weapon. The hilt was golden and studded with rubies and a large diamond was set into the pommel. Trixie shook her head. "It looks pretty old, and valuable. It's also really strong since it took out those golems like they were nothing. Beyond that, I don't know. Is it important?"

Fizzle Hooves laughed. "Why, that's the sword of Brightdawn the Lightbringer, a unicorn paladin of ancient times. Travincolt was once ruled by an evil dragon named Galduros. Brightdawn led a crusade of warriors against the dragon, but the dragon was too powerful. They fought and were slaughtered to the last pony. Brightdawn was the last one standing. With his last bit of strength, he plunged his sword into the dragon's head, slaying him, but he himself died in the process as the dragon's body collapsed forwards, crushing the poor paladin. The citizens of Travincolt created that monument in honor of  Brightdawn's heroism and sacrifice. It is said that only a pony with as noble a heart as Brightdawn could draw the blade."

Trixie looked at the sword. "What does this mean? I'm some kind of paladin?"

Fizzle Hooves laughed. "Well, you do have a mastery over the 'light' in your pyrotechnic spells. However, it means you are meant for something far greater than that, Trixie. You are a hero of destiny."

Fizzle Hooves' horn began to glow as she cast a teleportation spell. They appeared in a catacomb under Travincolt. Fizzle Hooves cast a simple light spell and unveiled a mural carved in the wall. It showed a unicorn drawing the blade from the skull, charging at the head of an army, then sitting upon a throne.

"This is you, Trixie. This is your destiny," Fizzle Hooves said.

"I don't understand," Trixie replied, curiously studying the image of the unicorn.

Fizzle Hooves smiled. "You will, Trixie. You are a hero, a champion of all that is righteous. Descendant of powerful ancestors. Enemy to all that is evil. But, you still have much more to learn, let us get back to your studies."

The two unicorns headed back inside to the library. Once more, Fizzle Hooves had made a plethora of treats for Trixie. Today, she had prepared cinnamon buns and hot chocolate. Trixie had a feeling of what would come next, and she clapped her hooves in delight as the ornate container was summoned once more.

The image of Marelinn emerged just like before and she smiled broadly at Trixie. "I knew I would see you again, Trixie. Congratulations."

Trixie beamed. "Thank you!"

"What is that you have there?" Marelinn asked, eyeing the sword. "The legendary sword of Travincolt's savior, perhaps?"

Trixie nodded. "It is! I was doing my second trial, fighting these golems. After a while, I just couldn't seem to stop them. Then I saw this piece of metal glinting in the sun, so I grabbed it. I guess it's kind of a big deal, huh?"

Marelinn chuckled as her image shrunk. "You might think that. Here is your next spell, Trixie. I am confident I will be seeing you again. Farewell!"

Marelinn vanished, replaced by the image of Trixie's cutie mark. She eagerly thrust her horn into the image and clutched at the tablet as Fizzle Hooves pulled it from the container. Trixie began reading over the spell and Fizzle Hooves shrieked, "Don't!"

An immense explosion rocked the tower as Trixie's spell went off. A tremendous cyclone of energy began to swirl in the center of the room, ripping books - and bookshelves - from the walls. Fizzle Hooves cried out as she was sucked into the cyclone, tendrils of energy lancing out at her. Trixie was staring wide-eyed at the devastation she had caused. She heard Fizzle Hooves' moans of pain and blinked her eyes and focused on quelling her spell.

The cyclone died down and Fizzle Hooves crashed to the floor in a crumpled heap. Trixie rushed to her side. "Fizzle Hooves!"

Fizzle Hooves took deep, labored breaths, each one wracking her body with pain. She struggled to sit up and leaned towards Trixie, gently rubbing her horn against her student's.

"I... I think th-that's enough excitement for t-today," Fizzle Hooves said in a weakened voice.

Trixie embraced Fizzle Hooves and nuzzled her neck. "I'm so sorry! I almost killed you! I... I didn't-"

Fizzle Hooves placed her hoof on Trixie's mouth. "Shh.... It is okay, little one. You did what you were meant to do. I would have expected nothing less. Now, go outside and play with your new spell. I will clean up here and call you in once I have dinner prepared."

"Are you sure? I can help you. It was my fault," Trixie offered.

Fizzle Hooves nodded. "I am positive. Go and have fun with your new trick."

Trixie apologized once more then headed towards the exit. Fizzle Hooves watched her go, then shook her head as Trixie was out of sight. The action caused Fizzle Hooves to wince in pain. She sighed and staggered to her feet, surveying the destruction. Fizzle Hooves whistled appreciatively then began cleaning up the library.

* * *

Over the next few days, Fizzle Hooves became much more involved in Trixie's training, teaching her how to magically wield the sword. To help her with this, Trixie was placed in the center of a room full of candles. She was instructed to slice the flames off the candles, cutting off the wicks only. The first few days were disastrous, with wax and candle-halves flying all about the room. But Trixie was a quick learner, and soon Trixie had mastered the art of swordplay. She was thrilled beyond belief. Not only would she be a master of magic, she had claimed a powerful artifact as her own and knew how to wield it. She was soon back to the old routine, but every night she dreamed of her magic school.

Fizzle Hooves was glad that her little training program for Trixie would soon end. Fizzle Hooves had never had a daughter of her own, and she had grown attached to the young unicorn. Her maternal instincts had become harder and harder to resist, and it was becoming a weakness. A weakness Fizzle Hooves could not allow. She found herself slinking into Trixie's room at night, hitting her with a sleep spell, just in case. Fizzle Hooves couldn't remember her mother, if she had one, but over the years she had watched how other ponies behaved. She would read stories to her unconscious student. Comb her mane. Brush her coat. Talk to her about things she had never told anyone before, such as her own tragic childhood. She had been putting off Trixie's final test for days, but she knew she could not allow herself to grow more attached.

One morning, Trixie awoke to find Fizzle Hooves leaning against the wall of her room. There was something not quite right about Fizzle Hooves' appearance. Her face looked weary and she looked far older than Trixie had remembered. Her eyes lacked their usual glint of mischievousness, and she was lacking her typical smirk.  Even the archmage's normally well-groomed mane was disheveled. Trixie couldn't put her hoof on it, but it almost looked as if Fizzle Hooves had been interrogated all night and had just confessed to some horrible secret, like the villains in the Applewood spy flicks Trixie enjoyed.

"What's wrong, master?" Trixie asked, concerned.

"It normally would have taken you months to reach this state, Trixie, but since you have acquired the sword of the Lightbringer, I believe you are ready for your final trial," Fizzle Hooves softly said.

Trixie sat up in bed, her eyes wide with excitement. "Really?"

"Yes, little one. You have proven yourself to be everything I could have dreamed for in an apprentice. This last trial is not like the others, however. You must prove your heroism in a fight to the death. There is a powerful warlock, Darkheart. An ancient evil that exists solely to warp the world into his perverse view. He can slay you with but a thought. Empires have been wiped off the face of the world with but a word from his lips."

Trixie frowned. "And I'm supposed to beat this guy?"

Fizzle Hooves nodded. "If we act fast enough, you can smite him before he has a chance to react. I will teleport us in, you to his rear, myself in front of him. I will be the bait, as it were, while you deliver a surprise attack."

"Won't that be dangerous? What if he kills you, master?" Trixie asked.

Fizzle Hooves smiled. "Well, hopefully you kill him, in which case, you will have passed your trial and you shall be the master. I would suggest you prepare yourself, I have readied a meal for you and drawn your bath."

The archmage smiled at her once more, then left the room. The seriousness of the situation dawned on Trixie as, for the first time since she had arrived, her wagon was left intact.  She enjoyed her bath, letting the warm waters erode her worries. She dried herself and brushed her mane and tail, then sought out her breakfast. She dined on a feast of fruits and grains, all prepared just the way she liked them.

She practiced her swordplay and some of her most powerful spells, then, confident in herself, she sought out Fizzle Hooves. She found the archmage out in the tower's gardens, laying on the grass. Fizzle Hooves motioned Trixie to join her. Trixie laid down and smiled. "I am ready, master."

Fizzle Hooves smiled and wrapped her leg around Trixie, holding her close. They lay there in silence for several minutes, just watching the clouds go by. Fizzle Hooves eventually sighed and sat up, staring deep into the young unicorn's eager eyes. "Come, Trixie, it is time for you to meet your destiny."

Chapter 9

Long ago, Nostrildamus had been granted the power to see the future and alter time so that the Powers That Be, the cosmic guardians of all that was and ever shall be, could ensure that regardless of any calamities, at least one timeline would always remain intact with the least amount of temporal alterations.  For millennia he had fulfilled this duty from within the Timeless Sanctuary - his home located in a realm where time did not transpire - endlessly writing out the visions of the future he saw on a never-ending scroll, as well as in sets of four verses called quatrains. The ancient Earth pony wore dark brown robes which concealed his cutie mark of a crystal ball and a quill. His blonde mane and violet coat were spattered with ink stains.

When Fizzle Hooves and Trixie arrived, Nostrildamus found himself suddenly unable to react as an intense fear overcame him. He was staring in horror at the grinning pink unicorn that suddenly appeared on his desk when an intense pain wracked his body. For the first time in thousands of years, he had somehow not seen something coming. It was both terrifying and a great relief. His mind was racing as he slumped forward onto the desk. He knew this unicorn, he could feel it, but from what, and why couldn't he remember? Had the Powers That Be forsaken him? As his life ebbed away, he could no longer concentrate and his vision began to dim. Still staring at the grinning unicorn, with his last breath he whispered, "How wonderful..."

As soon as she was confident that Nostrildamus lay dead at her hooves, Fizzle Hooves teleported herself and Trixie back to the foyer of her tower. "Well done, little one. You have passed this trial."

Trixie began to sob. A life was a life, even if it was an evil warlock's, and she had stolen his. Fizzle Hooves hugged her and gently stroked her mane. "There, there, Trixie. He was a very bad pony, Equestria, nay, the world, is a better place thanks to you."

"I feel awful inside.. I know you said he was an evil pony, but..." Trixie cried.

Fizzle Hooves' horn began to glow and a bottle of wine and a glass appeared in her magical grasp. She guided Trixie over to a fluffy chair and sat her down. "I know it is hard, Trixie, but believe me, you did the right thing. Here, this will help you deal with what you are feeling."

The wine was sweet, but there was something off about it. Trixie was no expert in wines however, and paid it no heed, greedily draining the bottle in hopes of alleviating the turmoil inside her mind. The room began to spin and she collapsed and stared vacantly at the grinning visage of Fizzle Hooves standing over her as her vision darkened.

Trixie awoke next to a roaring fire, lying against Fizzle Hooves on a comfy sofa. Fizzle Hooves had apparently moved her into the archmage's private study. Trixie had never seen the room before. A large oaken desk stood in one corner of the room, covered in piles of scrolls. Two large scroll cabinets flanked the desk, and a series of short bookshelves sectioned off that part of the room into it's own sort of cubicle. The other side of the room featured a large, antiquated map of the world hung on the wall. Below the map were a variety of scrying instruments including a crystal ball. A piece of parchment with a painting of Trixie's cutie mark was pinned to the center of the map. Trixie's gaze drifted to the large fireplace she had been sat in front of and narrowed her eyes at the strange statues on the mantle. There were three statues there, each of strange, goat-like beings with evil expressions on their wolfish faces. Trixie shuddered and snuggled closer to Fizzle Hooves.

Fizzle Hooves looked upon Trixie and smiled. "Feeling better?"

Trixie nodded. "Yes, thank you." She felt strange, could sense that something was not right, but the guilt was gone.

Trixie felt her stomach knot as the ornamented container was summoned once more. Marelinn appeared again. The alicorn knelt before Trixie. "Hail, Trixie! Conqueror of Darkheart! Hero of Travincolt!"

Trixie hung her head and looked at the floor. "I just did what I had to do to pass my final trial. There was nothing heroic about it."

Marelinn rose and stretched out her wings before Trixie. "We had been trying to defeat Darkheart for years, Trixie, to no avail. Your victory was indeed an act of heroism, even if you do not see it as such. You are so special, Trixie. I am glad to have met you. It is with great pride that I reward you with your final spell."

Marelinn shrunk down and summoned Trixie's cutie mark over the container. Trixie half-heartedly poked her horn into the image. When Fizzle Hooves presented the final tablet to her, Trixie just glanced at it and set it off to the side. Fizzle Hooves felt a pang of remorse, but forced herself to steel her resolve.

"There is one final test, Trixie. Do you trust me?" Fizzle Hooves asked.

Trixie frowned. "But I thought you said-"

Fizzle Hooves put her hoof over Trixie's mouth. "Shh... I truly do like you, you know. There is something about you, I can't quite place my hoof on it, but I enjoy it, something I haven't felt in a long, long, time... You are like the daughter I never had. It was no mere coincidence or stroke of luck that I sought you out, Trixie. I had a vision. In it, I was fleeing through a dark forest. I could not see my pursuers, but I could feel their breath on my flank. I tripped, and I sensed them closing in for the kill. My heart was racing and suddenly, the canopy above was torn asunder by a bright light that shined down upon me. I heard horrible screams as my stalkers were obliterated by this light. I looked up in wonder and I saw a giant image in the dark sky."

Fizzle Hooves nodded towards the painting on the map. "It was your cutie mark, Trixie. I knew I had to train you at once, but I could have never imagined the true purpose why I received that vision. Your destiny is far greater than that of matron of your magic school, Trixie. I am about to share something with you that I have never shared with anypony before. I had thought I would take this secret to my grave. As you have noticed, I am all that remains of the great Travincolt mages. I am the last of my breed, the sole survivor. We were once a proud mage clan, one of the best in Equestria. Hundreds of students walked these empty halls. But those were happier times, so long, long ago..."

Fizzle Hooves poured another glass of wine for Trixie. Her horn began to glow, and a life-like illusion formed in the fire. Canterlot was under attack by griffons. Trixie became transfixed by the illusion as Fizzle Hooves began to weave her tale. "Tell me, what is left to believe in when you are betrayed by your own? When all that you are, all that you have done, is buried beneath lies and deceit? Betrayed. Forgotten. Abandoned. The only thing that keeps me alive is my thirst for vengeance. They must be stopped, Trixie. Celestia. Luna. Star Swirl. All. Must. Die."

Trixie tilted her head in shock. "Wha..." She fell silent as Fizzle Hooves nuzzled her.

A tear fell down Fizzle Hooves' cheek as she stared at the illusions in the fire. Illusory dragons, phoenix, sailing ships, all beautifully animated, formed in the skies over Canterlot. "My father was a magician, just like yours, Trixie. During the griffon siege, his magic filled the air with magnificent illusions. To us ponies, they were symbols of hope. To the griffons, they were symbols of defiance. Even now, his illusions still haunt me..."

Fizzle Hooves wiped at her tears and looked away. "The griffons slit his throat while he slept."

Trixie shivered as the illusion showed a frozen wasteland. Robed unicorns marched across the field as pegasi battled griffons in the skies above.

Fizzle Hooves continued, "My fellow wizards from Travincolt and I had been recruited to help bring the fight back to the griffons. We had fought through the most bitter winters the griffons could throw at us, finally forcing them all the way back to their fortress at Mount Talon. We were no strangers to cold, but even now, the blood in my veins chills when I think back to the events of that day. On this day, we had been tasked with intercepting and destroying a shipment of the griffons' new super weapon: a toxin that annihilated the victim's very magic. It was... horrible, but the griffons were growing desperate."

The illusion showed a younger Fizzle Hooves hugging another unicorn as they prepared for battle. "We were the best and brightest unicorns of our generation, and we had been hoof-picked to lead the assault on the griffons' toxin transport. Windsong the Undaunted was one of the bravest ponies I have ever known. She roomed with me here at Travincolt, and was one of the most talented unicorns I have met. She could perform any trick, any spell, with mere moments of study. Oh, how we envied her... She had fought by my side from the siege of Canterlot to the fall of Griffonton. The wounds she sustained ensuring our victory should have earned her a hero's welcome in Canterlot, but Celestia had little need for heroes."

A bearded unicorn with a charcoal coat and white hair walked by the two embracing mares and scowled. "Celestia had ordered Star Swirl the Bearded to command our operation. As I looked into his eyes, I saw all the evils of our ancient tribe's bloody past still burning strong. At that moment, every fiber of my being yearned to put an end to his wretched life. Some ponies truly do not deserve to live, but I was a foal then and did nothing. Together, we all brought down the griffon's transport as it passed by our ambush. To see all of our spells lancing out in the wintry sky must have been beautiful, and horrifying."

The illusion showed a chaotic battle between the unicorns and the griffons on board the downed airship. The unicorns fought their way into the ship's holds and began celebrating. "We had found what we were looking for. The griffons' weapon of magic destruction now belonged to Equestria and would soon be destroyed. Or so we thought."

The illusion showed Princess Celestia and Princess Luna enter the hold, flanked by squads of their royal guards, looks of scorn on their faces. "Our victory was to be short lived. Celestia wanted to see the effects of the poison first-hoof. It was also an opportunity to remove a thorn in her side. It was a betrayal I should have foreseen."

The royal guards forced the Travincolt ponies into cargo holds. The griffons' poison gas then was pumped in as the terrified unicorns kicked and screamed against the doors. The young Fizzle Hooves watched in horror as the poison ravaged her friends' bodies in the neighboring hold. As unicorns, magic was a major part of their being, and the griffons' poison left them as burnt out husks. Fizzle Hooves' voice became a whisper, "Windsong the Undaunted was a hero. She deserved a hero's death. She died for nothing, like an animal."

As the guards began to administer the poison to Fizzle Hooves' hold, the airship began to shake and the illusionary ponies looked around nervously. "As I watched my closest friend die, it became clear we were not the only ones seeking the weapon. The griffons circled like vultures. Of course, Celestia, Luna, and Star Swirl scattered like rats, leaving us to contend with the griffons."

In the illusion, griffons swarmed into the hold and a fierce battle waged between the remaining royal guards and the griffons. In the confusion, Fizzle Hooves' cargo hold was broken open and she joined the fight, fighting with a seething fury. Griffons... ponies... all fell before her. She fought her way to the deck and leaped overboard. She focused her magic, focused her rage, and engulfed the transport in a massive, fiery explosion.

"I had destroyed the poison shipment and kept it from the talons of the griffons, but I was a foal to think it was over. It was only after I returned to Travincolt that I learned of Celestia's true intentions. She wishes to control all magic. To take from us what is rightfully ours. She will die before she gives up on obtaining the griffons' poison."

Fizzle Hooves leaned in close to Trixie and whispered in her ear, her voice dripping with venom, "Trixie, listen to me. We are running out of time, my friend. Celestia has located an alchemist that knows the formula for the poison. You must decide. Decide what you think is worth fighting for. If they succeed, your magic school will never become a reality. They would control all magic, deny us our birthright. Celestia... Luna... Star Swirl... These... ponies, must die."

Trixie's mind was reeling. She thought to herself This had to be a trick, right? Celestia and Luna, evil? Star Swirl the Bearded, too? As she thought of it, she became convinced Fizzle Hooves told the truth. It was hard to believe. She looked at her empty wine glass. How much had she drank? She didn't know. The flames dazzled her and she looked away, looked at the face of her master. The caring smile of her master was replaced with a smirk as Trixie slipped into unconsciousness.

Trixie awoke in her bed. The archmage still lay next to her, that smug smirk on her face. Trixie didn't feel concerned or frightened, she just... was. She could sense that some time had passed since that night by the fire, but she couldn't remember. She saw fragments, brief glimpses of events, but they faded away as rapidly as they came. She heard whispers in her mind. She couldn't understand what they were saying, but she could make out three distinct voices. When she focused on them, she found her thoughts roaming to the statues on Fizzle Hooves' mantle, and then to Celestia, Luna, and Star Swirl.

Fizzle Hooves caressed her mane. "It is time, Trixie. Tonight is your last challenge, the final test. When you succeed, you will become a legend. Ponies for generations to come will whisper your name in hushed tones. Shelves will be filled with tomes about your deeds. You will be a hero to our tribe. Should you fail, your name will still go down in history, but remember that history is written by the victors. I have confidence in you, my friend. You are the Lightbringer reborn, and it is your light that will save our tribe - save all magic! - from the darkness that Celestia wishes to enshroud us with."

Her will no longer her own, Trixie autonomously said, "They all must die."

Fizzle Hooves leaned in and nuzzled Trixie's neck. "We are like sisters, Trixie. We are the same."

Chapter 10

The days had passed, and Celestia, Luna, and Star Swirl had come no closer to discovering the secrets behind the Insidiosus Diabolicus. It was of no surprise, since this entity had remained concealed for millenia. The only noteworthy lead had been the death of Nostrildamus. Celestia had awoken one night in a cold sweat. The ancient Earth pony's ghost stood at the foot of her bed. It had mouthed something to her, smiled, bowed, and vanished. She had been so frightened that she hadn't made out the first word, it had been: something-hooves.

Star Swirl and Luna had been tasked with investigating the murder and the clue the ghost had given Celestia. They did not make much progress though, and the day had finally come for Mi Amore Cadenza's and Shining Armor's wedding. Tensions ran high, but the ceremony was proceeding without any sign of interference from evils, and/or Twilight Sparkles.

Princess Celestia performed the ceremony. "Mares and gentlecolts, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. The strength of their commitment is clear. The power of their love, undeniable. May we have the rings please?"

Spike, Twilight Sparkle's baby dragon servant, held up the rings Celestia used her magic to slip the rings onto Shining Armor and Cadenza's horns. "I now pronounce you mare and colt."

The wedding hall erupted into thunderous cheers and stomping of hooves as Shining Armor and Cadenza kissed. Celestia breathed a sigh of relief and winked at Star Swirl, who was watching the ceremony alongside his adopted niece, In Hoc Signo Vinces. With Dawnfire unable to accompany her, and knowing her own horn glowing would be a little obvious if she tried to cast the illusion herself, she had been forced to wear her armor to hide her ghastly appearance.

Thousands of ponies had traveled from all over Equestria to witness the wedding. The Canterlot Castle grounds were filled with the joyous ponies, and the noise was almost deafening as Shining Armor and Cadenza walked out onto a battlement before the masses and kissed. Rainbow Dash took off into the sky, accelerating to that magical speed and provided a sonic rainboom as the grand finale to this wondrous event.

Twilight Sparkle was so happy for her brother that she cried tears of joy. She watched him kiss his new wife and whispered, "Yes!"

Celestia looked at the look of joy on Twilight's face and smiled.

Fluttershy nervously touched Celestia's wing. "Um, excuse me, Princess. May I please talk to you?"

Celestia smiled at her. "Of course, Fluttershy."

The two walked away from the others. "What do you wish to speak with me about, Fluttershy?" Celestia asked.

"Um.. Twilight told us that you told her there was something very bad that attacked Princess Luna and that other Twilight," Fluttershy said.

Celestia nodded. "Yes, we don't know for sure, but evidence seems to indicate it is true."

Fluttershy looked nervously around her. "I've been thinking, Cadence was poisoned, and Star Swirl claimed it was all his fault. But he also said he had lots of involvement with Nightmare Moon. He's... gone now so we can't check, but what if he was corrupted, too? Or just tricked into poisoning Cadence. So if it attacked Cadence, and that other Twilight, it was trying to stop the wedding, wasn't it?"

Celestia winked. "Just between you and me, I thought all that Nightmare Moon talk was just a crush Star Swirl has on my sister." Her expression became serious.  "Unfortunately, if that is true and he was corrupted, that would mean whatever this thing is, whatever it's planning, has been in the works for over a thousand years."

Fluttershy's eyes went wide. "Oh, my..."

Celestia stared wistfully at the happy newlyweds. "Thank you for your insight, Fluttershy. If this thing is trying to stop the wedding, it would seem it has failed, but the day is not yet over. Enjoy the festivities, Fluttershy, but stay alert. I will fetch your Elements of Harmony, just in case."

Celestia turned to leave, hesitated. "Fluttershy, don't tell anypony what you just told me."

Fluttershy frowned. "Um, okay, but not even my friends?"

Celestia shook her head. "No, look how happy Twilight is, let her enjoy this. If something happens, we will deal with it, but if nothing happens, I don't want her getting all freaked out about it. You know how she gets."

Fluttershy giggled. "Yes, very well then, your highness."

Celestia gave Fluttershy a quick hug with her wing. "Thank you, Fluttershy."

* * *

As the hour of the wedding reception approached, Celestia had doubled her security details, reinforced Shining Armor's forcefield, and instructed Luna to keep watch. The party had begun with the traditional cutting of the wedding cake (Celestia had insisted on it coming first), and so far nothing had gone wrong.

Pinkie Pie yelled, "Let's get this party started!" and the DJ, Vinyl Scratch, threw on music Twilight had selected. Twilight took a deep breath and grabbed a microphone with her magic, then dropped it to the ground in shock.

A swirling green portal had opened in the middle of the party. On the other side, Fizzle Hooves channeled her magic and grinned at Trixie. Trixie smirked and looked eagerly into the portal. "Master, glory!"

Fizzle Hooves laughed. "For you, Trixie. Not for me."

Trixie emerged from the portal and her horn began to glow. Celestia fell to her knees, clutching at her head. Her vision blurred, her mind felt like it was on fire, the pain was staggering. All around her, the other ponies suffered the same affliction.

"Princess Celestia, this is the end. Your evil has claimed the lives of many good ponies. No longer," Trixie declared. One of the voices in Trixie's head cooed, Look at my sweet little glutton, mmm...

Celestia grit her teeth. "Wh-what have you done?"

"A bit of treachery, a simple bit of disguise as a scullery maid, and a spell component goes into the wedding cake mix. Undetectable, and nothing more than a seasoning until I cast my spell to activate it. But don't worry, you won't have to think about any of this or that. Your life ends today," Trixie said calmly.

"You p-poisoned the wedding cake? Wh-who are you?" Celestia asked, struggling to remain conscious. She had ate quite a bit of the cake.

Trixie smirked. "My name is Archmage Fizzle Hooves, and I shall have my revenge!"

The three voices erupted into a cacophony of laughter.

Trixie's horn glowed brighter and all around the party everypony fell unconscious. Everypony but one. In Hoc Signo Vinces had not had any of the wedding cake, for she couldn't eat it without removing her helmet and was too ashamed to do so. Winny stared in horror as the robed unicorn sauntered over to the body of Celestia.

Winny shook Star Swirl. "Uncle!"

Trixie slowly drew a sword from her waist and prepared to strike a killing blow. Winny regained her composure and cast one of the spells she had learned from the monks back home - a wall of moonlight. The shimmering tapestry of pearly-white force appeared between Celestia and the attacker. The voices snarled in confusion.

Winny yelled, "No, don't do this!"

Trixie staggered back from the wall of moonlight, then whirled about and smirked at her armored interloper. "Silence, foal. You have no purpose but to die by my hoof."

Winny's horn began to glow once more and a sword-like construct made of moonlight shimmered into existence and struck at Trixie. Trixie parried the moon blade, causing a shower of sparks to bathe her smirking face with a hellish glow.

Slowly, the two unicorns circled until, with a snarl, Trixie brought her sword down in a cleaving arc, then when Winny moved to parry the attack, Trixie feinted and cut low, the blade of her sword cutting a clean line across Winny's foreleg armor. The two slowly circled again.

Trixie was impressed, she did not expect anypony to be putting up a fight tonight. It was a pity she would have to die like the others. Trixie attacked again, much more aggressively. She advanced in a series of lunges, each one met with a loud crack of Winny's moon blade as she desperately parried. Winny was pushed back with every slash, hoping her uncle, or anypony, would soon recover to aid her.

Winny stumbled over a stricken pony. She staggered backwards even farther, Trixie pursued her relentlessly, slashing out at the armored pony with a ferocity that stunned both unicorns. Winny was driven to her knees. She raised her moon blade to block yet another onslaught, only to see her weapon fizzle out of existence as Trixie's horn glowed brighter as she cast dispel magic.

"Enough. I haven't the time for this," Trixie said. Her horn glowed, and Winny's armor began to smoke. Winny screamed and hurriedly discarded the scorching armor.

Trembling, Trixie stood over the exposed Winny, the blade of her magical sword at Winny's throat. She looked into Winny's strange, fiery eyes that pleaded up at her, and recoiled in disgust. For reasons unknown to her, instead of killing this strange unicorn as the voices urged her, Trixie instead growled and bashed Winny with the pommel of her sword then turned and walked back towards Celestia.

The sole audience of this dire duel had been Princess Luna, who flew as fast as she could from the observation tower towards the reception. She paused momentarily, amazed at all the unconscious ponies. She wasn't sure what was going on - there was a strange, yet all too familiar, pony crying on the ground near a heap of melted, golden armor, and a robed pony walking towards her sister with a sword held in her magical grasp.

Winny sobbed, "Luna! Help!"

Luna knew that voice. "Winny?" She stared inquisitively at the daughter of the Unliving Queen. Her mane and tail were a dark blue, just like her mother's had been, but without the streak of color matching the aura of their magic that the Queen, and Twilight Sparkle, possessed. Her pale white coat had an ashen, corpse-like appearance. Her eyes burned with the same unholy fire as her mother's, but these flames lacked the intensity of the Queen's. They were softer, gentler. On her flank, her cutie mark smoldered like a brand with the same unholy fire as her eyes. It was of a dragon eating its own tail, an ancient symbol that represents the cycle of life, death, and rebirth, leading to immortality.

Luna focused back on the robed unicorn - Winny could wait. She channeled her powers and directed a flurry of shooting stars at Trixie. They appeared as streaking moonbeams until they closed in on Trixie, where they became glowing missiles with fiery tails. Trixie dodged and rolled through the barrage of shooting stars, deflected them with her sword, but she was overwhelmed and roared in pain as they exploded around her.

Trixie looked up and snarled. The three voices in her head began to chant, Kill Luna. Kill Luna. Luna must die. Trixie bellowed, "Luna! You must die like the others!"

Luna smirked at the attacker's audacity, then conjured up a massive storm cloud. Lightning bolts coruscated down from the cloud and coursed through Trixie's body, looking for ground. Trixie was at once both confounded and in agony. She had never known Luna held so much power, let alone experienced it herself. The voices urged her to defend herself.

Trixie's horn began to glow and she stood on her back legs, thrusting her front hooves towards the sky. A barrier of force enveloped her and deflected the bolts. Initially, she was successful - the lightning rebounded from her shield, harmlessly striking the grass. Soon, though, the lightning came with such speed and power it coursed over her shield and into her body and she could only shrink from it, convulsed with pain, her knees buckling, her powers at an ebb. The voices chaotically shouted a thousand different spells for Trixie to cast to escape the situation, but she was in no position to perform any more magic.

Luna descended and hovered before Trixie as lightning continued to strike. Winny crawled over to their savior and wrapped herself around Luna's hind leg. Trixie was nearly unconscious beneath the continuing assault of Luna's lightning. Tormented beyond reason, betaken of a weakness that drained her very essence, Trixie hoped for nothing more than to submit to the nothingness toward which she was drifting.

Luna smiled down at the enfeebled unicorn as Winny struggled to her feet besides her hero. Luna nodded at Winny then said to Trixie, "Foal. Thine puerile skills are no match for my power. Thou darest to attack us here? Thou hath paid the price for thine lack of vision. Now, thou shalt pay that price in full."

Trixie looked up at Luna, fear in her eyes. "W-Why d-didn't you eat your c-cake..."

Luna laughed and the outpouring of lightning from the cloud increased in intensity. Their thunder boomed across Canterlot, the brightness of their flashes was blinding. Trixie's body slowed, wilted, finally crumpled under the barrage. She looked lifeless, but her chest still moved as she took in labored breaths. Luna hissed maliciously and the lightning ceased, the storm cloud vanishing.

Luna looked down at Trixie and grinned. "Insidiosus Diabolicus, I presume?"

Winny hugged Luna, tears in her eyes. "Oh my gosh, I thought everypony was going to die."

Luna smiled broadly. "Not on my watch."

Chapter 11

Royal guards swarmed the castle grounds as doctors and nurses were summoned to make sure everypony was okay in the aftermatg of Trixie's assault. The ponies whispered amongst themselves in small groups as they began to recover from the magically poisoned cake. A large crowd of anxious ponies were gathered around Princess Celestia and Pinkie Pie, notorious gluttons for cake, who were the last to rise.

As Celestia and Pinkie recovered, Twilight smiled and embraced them. "I was getting worried!"

Celestia smiled, then grimaced and rubbed at her horn. "Ugh. Is everypony alright?"

Twilight nodded. "Everypony except Trixie."

"Trixie?" Celestia asked.

"That was who attacked us. I remember her from months back, but I would have never imagined she would do this, that's insane," Twilight said.

Celestia staggered to her feet. "She said she was somepony called 'Archmage Fizzle Hooves.'"

Twilight shrugged. "Maybe Trixie has a twin sister? It sure looked like her to me."

"Well, I'll get to the bottom of this. Where is she now?" Celestia asked.

"Star Swirl and Luna brought her inside the castle to question her," Twilight said.

"Thank you, Twilight," Celestia said, then spread her wings and soared towards her castle. She heard voices emanating from the ballroom. Royal guards were stationed at every entrance of the elegant ballroom and saluted as she passed. She landed next to her sister, who was looking at Trixie, now disrobed and bound to a chair.

Luna smiled and hugged her sister. "That was a close one!"

Celestia smiled, then frowned at the bound unicorn. "Twilight said this pony is called Trixie. She does look like the brash little filly my Twilight encountered months back, but I can't believe that she would do this..."

Star Swirl sighed. "Yes, she is Trixie. When Twilight and I were in the future, she aided us in our battle against the corrupted Order of the True Heart. She actually stood face to face with the evil warlock Shamoke and, I know it's hard to believe, was putting on a magic show for him as a distraction. Sadly, it would appear our nemesis has gotten its evil little hooves on her."

"She told me she was somepony called 'Archmage Fizzle Hooves.' I've never heard of any such pony, have either of you?" Celestia asked.

Luna shook her head, Star Swirl ran his hoof through his beard. "No, and that is troubling for if there truly was an archmage named Fizzle Hooves, she would be registered with the Wizard's Council. I can't recall ever seeing a unicorn named that at any of the meetings, and I've been going to them for thousands of years."

Celestia nodded. "So, it is most likely that this Fizzle Hooves-" She paused, her face paled. She suddenly remembered. "Oh my gosh, Nostrildamus. That is the name he told me when his spirit visited!"

"It would certainly seem that this Fizzle Hooves is in reality Insidiosus Diabolicus," Star Swirl said. "Unfortunately it appears to have reared its ugly head in dear little Trixie here."

Star Swirl used his magic to splash a glass of water on Trixie's face. "Wake up. Wake up!"

Trixie shook the water off and struggled against the bindings. She couldn't remember anything - who she was, where she was, when it was. Her entire body ached, the pain was excruciating, and only became worse as she tried to think. The voices still whispered in her mind, endlessly repeating something but she couldn't understand it. The only thing she knew was she wanted to go back to somepony named Fizzle Hooves.

"Where am I? Where's Fizzle Hooves?" Trixie angrily demanded.

"You will answer our questions. Do you understand?" Star Swirl asked.

"Who the hay are you?" Trixie asked.

"That's not important. What's important is who you are. What is your name?" Star Swirl asked.

One of the voices became clearer and rasped, You're nobody! Nopony loves you. You would be better off dead, you know it and I know it. They know it too, that's why they're going to kill you if you answer their question.

Trixie sobbed. "I... I don't remember."

"Your name is Trixie. You were born in Van Hoover. You traveled Equestria under the stage name 'The Great and Powerful Trixie.' Is that correct?" Star Swirl asked.

One of the voices laughed, He's lying.

Trixie began to cry, she honestly could not remember. "I don't know!"

Star Swirl gently repeated the question. "Is that correct?"

Trixie felt a tremendous pain in her head as she remembered. "Argh! Yes!"

The voices growled in anger and intensified their whisperings.

"Where is the evil entity? Insidiosus Diabolicus?" Luna asked.

Trixie looked confused. "I don't know what you're talking about. Wait, I remember, I kept hearing voices. I couldn't... can't get them out of my head!"

"The voices, Trixie. What are they saying? Whose voices are they?" Star Swirl asked.

"I don't know," Trixie angrily replied.. As if in response, the voices' whisperings became a little bit clearer but she still could not make out their words. "There's three! What are they saying?!"

"What about Fizzle Hooves? Do you remember her?" Celestia asked.

Trixie winced, then let out a drawn out sigh. "I think she was my master. Yes. She.. she was teaching me magic... She took me...someplace, and I felt something gnawing at me."

One of the voices cooed, I did more than gnaw at you, little one...

"What do you mean, Trixie?" Luna asked.

"I don't know. It felt like I was in a dream," Trixie said. "I wish it was a dream. It was a nightmare."

"Let's start at the beginning. The Time-Lost Sanctuary. We know you were there," Star Swirl said.

One of the voices scoffed. He's lying again...

Trixie shook her head. "No."

"Don't lie to me. We know you were there, Trixie," Star Swirl said. He used his magic to conjure up an illusion of Nostrildamus' body, surrounded by blood-stained scrolls.

Trixie's eyes went wide and she yelled, "Darkheart was there! We had to kill Darkheart!"

"We? Archmage Fizzle Hooves?" Luna asked.

"Why did Fizzle Hooves bring you there, Trixie?" Celestia asked.

"Grr! How many times do I have to tell you? Darkheart was there! We had to kill Darkheart..." Trixie sobbed.

"Why did you have to kill this 'Darkheart?'" Celestia asked.

"Because Fizzle Hooves told me I had to, to become a master of magic! Why don't you flippin' understand? Darkheart would have killed us all!" Trixie screamed.

A voice comforted Trixie, Of course they don't understand, Trixie, they are just as evil as Darkheart was. They might have even been working for him. You can not trust them, Trixie.

"Who was Darkheart?" Star Swirl asked.

"A warlock! He could bend the universe to his will! He had to die before he killed us! I... I had to kill him!" Trixie said through tears.

"That was Nostrildamus. The guardian of all time, as appointed by the powers that be. He was no warlock. He was an Earth pony for sun's sake!" Star Swirl said.

Trixie shook her head. "Fizzle Hooves said he was evil..."

A voice laughed. He was, Trixie. Listen to how these ponies try to trick you You know where the truth lies.

"Listen to me, Trixie," Celestia said. "Fizzle Hooves can't be trusted. No matter what she said to you, no matter what she told you, you-"

Trixie interrupted, "No! She's my friend! She loves me! She's my sister!"

"Fizzle Hooves is not what you think she is," Star Swirl said.

"Where is Fizzle Hooves? Where did she take you?" Celestia asked.

"I.. I don't remember," Trixie said.

"It's all in her head somewhere. She does know where it is," Star Swirl sighed. "Please, Trixie, you must remember."

"Trixie, sweetie, Fizzle Hooves sent you here tonight to kill ponies. We need to know where she is. Please, we can help you, you just need to remember," Celestia gently said.

Trixie shook her head in disbelief. Had she really been trying to kill more ponies? She began to remember, began to comprehend the voices as they whispered: Celestia, Luna, Star Swirl... All must die.

Trixie growled in frustration. "That bastard."

"Fizzle Hooves?" Celestia asked.

"Yeah. She was behind everything," Trixie said. "She ordered me to sneak into the kitchen and dump that reagent into the cake, she taught me the spell to activate it. It seems so surreal, it couldn't have been real, but I guess it was, huh."

"Where did she take you, Trixie?" Celestia asked. "Where is Fizzle Hooves now?"

"She was.. she was... she was everywhere! Can't get her out of my head. Just like the others," Trixie said, as the voices cackled in her mind.

"Others?" Celestia asked.

"That damn alicorn, Marelinn," Trixie explained. "And another one, I don't know who she is but her voice sounds like a creature from one of those old vampire movies. All raspy and full of hatred, makes your hairs stand up on end."

Star Swirl glared at Luna, "Marelinn, an alicorn? You pumped so much lightning into her she doesn't even know what she is saying."

Luna blushed and looked away.

"Marelinn was never an alicorn, Trixie. She was only a unicorn. I should know, she taught me in the ways of magic, long, long ago," Star Swirl said.  "What is she saying to you?"

"Voices. Whispers. Always in my head," Trixie muttered. "They want me to kill the alicorn princesses, and a unicorn named Star Swirl. They sent me here tonight to do just that."

Celestia raised her eyebrow, leaned in and began whispering in Luna's ear. "Do you th-"

Trixie interrupted, "Hey! Who are you ponies? What do you want from me?"

"We want the pony that did this to you, Trixie. That's all we've ever wanted," Star Swirl said.

"Take us back, Trixie. After you killed Nostrildamus, what did you do next?" Celestia asked.

"I continued studying magic, that's all!" Trixie shouted.

The voices cackled, They're lying to you, Trixie, dear...

"How can you be sure you know what really happened?" Star Swirl asked. "Where did Fizzle Hooves take you?"

"Why do you keep asking? You already know everything!" Trixie yelled.

"No! We don't, Trixie. We don't know where Fizzle Hooves is. We don't know why the voices are telling you to do evil deeds," Star Swirl said.

Trixie began to sob. "I'm trying to help you! I don't know! We were sisters..."

A voice, which Trixie could now identify as Fizzle Hooves', said, We are like sisters, Trixie, we are the same.

After that, Trixie became unresponsive, she just hung her head and cried, ignoring her three interrogators. Celestia sighed. "We pushed her too hard. We better call it quits for now."

Star Swirl shook his head. "Not yet, I have one more card to play. Celestia, Luna, go get me Pinkie Pie."

Luna was confused. "Pinkie Pie?"

"I believe she will know how to help Trixie," Star Swirl explained. "Pinkie has her methods. As illogical and insane as they may be, they work."

The two alicorns departed in search of Pinkie Pie. Alone, Star Swirl stood and kicked over his chair. "Damn it! Why can't you remember?! You're the only lead we've got, and clearly we need to stop this thing before it does this to somepony else!"

Star Swirl put his hooves on Trixie and shook her until she looked up at him. "Fizzle Hooves doesn't exist, Trixie! You hear me? She doesn't exist! This thing - this demon or whatever the hay it really is - has completely messed up your mind. I know you, Trixie, you're not a murderer. You were a hero in my time! You stood hoof-to-hoof with Twilight Sparkle, stood up to one of the most evil things imaginable!" He began to remove Trixie's bindings.

Trixie looked down at her freed leg and grinned as Fizzle Hooves' voice urged her to strike. Trixie socked Star Swirl on the jaw with a powerful kick, sending the old wizard crashing against a table. She hurriedly freed her other leg, then began staggering through the halls of Canterlot Castle. The voices in her mind were screaming at her, she couldn't understand them at all, and she began to see flashes of her time spent with Fizzle Hooves.

"The voices! What.. are they saying!?" Trixie stumbled against a suit of armor and it went clattering to the ground. "Fizzle Hooves! Where are you! Grrrr. Fizzle Hooves!"

The only response Trixie got was the babble of the three voices whispering in her mind.

"I keep.. hearing.. the damn voices!" She staggered past a doorway: a bedroom. She looked inside and her eyes went wide with fear. Her head felt like it had been run over by a cart as the memories flooded back. "I remember!" She doubled over in anguish. "Argh! Travincolt!"

Trixie shut her eyes and in her mind she could see the memories. Memories of her time after that night by the fire. Horrible memories of her time spent in Fizzle Hooves' bed, reading spellbooks together and eating cookies. No, it was not a bed. It was a stone altar. And there was certainly no reading nor cookies - Fizzle Hooves was torturing her, terrorizing her, breaking her willpower to make her submit. As she remembered this, she saw a mixture of memories from farther back. She had been starved and tortured for days. Was the magical training all in her mind, perhaps a defense mechanism against the horrors she endured daily? And horrors they were, for Fizzle Hooves spent hours tormenting Trixie by bringing her worst fears to life.

There were other memories of her training, however, and Fizzle Hooves seemed different in these. In these, there were indeed cookies and spellbooks. She remembered learning and casting all the different spells, and to prove that she wasn't just going mad, Trixie cast one of the new spells she had learned from Fizzle Hooves, a spell that conjured up a wreath of fire. Trixie used her magic to move the wreath around the hallway, scorching the stone flooring and illuminating the bedroom with its flickering flames. The fiery wreath spell was obviously real, and was a spell Trixie had no prior knowledge of, so her magical training must have been real as well.

Since both sets of memories seemed real and Trixie's ravaged mind could not tell which could have been what really happened to her, she ultimately decided that both must have somehow occurred simultaneously.

Trixie began to remember what had occurred before she attacked the wedding reception. Trixie was lying on the altar and Fizzle Hooves was there, with that damned smirk. She saw two other shadowy figures by the altar and her blood chilled as she saw them. They almost looked like silhouettes of foals. She clenched her eyes shut and wished it all would just go away.

"My little unicorn pet has been indoctrinated to my desires," Fizzle Hooves triumphantly said to the two shadow foals.

"So, what is the problem?" one of the shadow foals asked, with a raspy, feminine voice.

"I've brought her to the brink of death with her own terror, yet some part of her can still resist. It is extraordinary,"  Fizzle Hooves explained. "Her responses have been sporadic. Unpredictable. She shows a remarkable resilience."

"Why?" the second shadow foal demanded.

"She is unusual. Atypical. I suppose we should have suspected as much given her lineage. Few ponies possess such will," Fizzle Hooves said, gently stroking Trixie's thigh. Trixie suppressed the urge to scream. "She resists. She clings to her old life as if it actually matters. She will learn."

"If she will not follow your commands then she is of no use to us. Let her rot in Travincolt," the raspy voice hissed, "Lest she interfere with our other plans."

Fizzle Hooves laughed, "Do not worry, sisters. She will be ours."

One of the shadow foals grabbed Trixie's horn with a clawed hand. Its touch chilled her and she began to shiver. "We trust in your judgement sister," the raspy voice said. "But are you sure you have broken her? We can not afford to take any risks with this one, she can ruin everything."

Trixie felt the frigid breath of the shadow foal on her face, it smelled like sulfur. She began to cough.

"My little unicorn has awoken. Leave us," Fizzle Hooves ordered. The shadow foals shimmered and vanished.

Fizzle Hooves licked her lips and leaned closer to Trixie. "Hello, little one. You and I have a great deal to do today. There is not much time, but you are oh so close to being ready."

Trixie rolled off of the altar and cowered in the corner. "You're not going to torture me any longer!"

Fizzle Hooves tilted her head. "Torture? Silly mare, you just don't understand, do you? I am only trying to do what is best for you."

"I don't care what you're doing, let me go!" Trixie cried.

Fizzle Hooves slowly made her way around the altar and lifted Trixie's head with her hoof then stared into her eyes, Trixie trembled in fear at the look of rage on Fizzle Hooves' face. Her master's expression softened and Fizzle Hooves gently stroked Trixie's mane. "You work as a magician, taking no advantage from your heritage, from your talents within. You entertain peasants, non-unicorn rubes. You walk amongst them, these beasts that are less than you are. Accept what I am trying to give you, the gift of terror, and you shall become so much more. Everypony in Equestria shall know your name, I guarantee it."

Fizzle Hooves turned and sat down on the edge of the altar, beckoning Trixie.

Trixie was paralyzed by fear. "Please... I can't take any more. I'm so afraid..."

Fizzle Hooves smiled. "Patience, Trixie. Soon it will all end. You are nearly ready, Trixie. I will be pleased."

As Trixie slowly moved towards the altar in the memory, she opened her eyes and shivered. Awful things had happened to her in Fizzle Hooves' bedroom. As she continued down the hallway, the voices intensified, angry with her for remembering. Trixie moaned. "Argh! The pain! Oh my gosh!"

Trixie felt a hoof grab her shoulder and spin her around. Trixie started to cast a spell in self-defense but Pinkie Pie struck her in the head with a powerful right hoof. Trixie went out like a light. She opened her eyes and Trixie found herself lying in a bed in Travincolt again, an actual bed this time. Fizzle Hooves stood over her.

"Do you know what fear is?" Fizzle Hooves asked. "The fear of who you are? The fear of what others would do to you if they found out the truth?"

Trixie silently watched as Fizzle Hooves disrobed, exposing a strange cutie mark-like insignia that glowed with magic on her flanks. It was comprised of several symbols: a gemstone, storm clouds and a rainbow, and tree branches and a wildflower. Trixie stared curiously at this strange symbol. She knew it was no normal cutie mark, she could sense that it was magical in nature, and it appeared to have something to do with the three pony tribes.

"We are like sisters, Trixie. We are the same."  Tears began to flow down Fizzle Hooves' cheeks. "I'm sorry, Trixie. I... I tried to help you, but she's too strong..."

Trixie shook her head. "I know what you are, Fizzle Hooves. I remembered! You tricked me, tortured me! Tried to make me hurt ponies! I shall listen to your lies no longer."

Fizzle Hooves sighed. "It wasn't all a deception, Trixie, and that was not me, it was her. I don't have much strength, not after all these years of being subjected to her will, but I did use what power I could to try and save you from her madness. I could only keep her at bay for so long..."

"Who is this 'her?' And why should I believe you?" Trixie snapped.

"She is... Ugh!" Fizzle Hooves clutched her hooves to her head in pain. She fell to her knees and looked up at Trixie, her face twisting in anguish. "You have to stop her, Trixie... Keep resisting! The training, the spells, it was all real!"

Fizzle Hooves seemed to shimmer for a moment and the beautiful pink unicorn was replaced with a being of pure shadow, just like the two Trixie had remembered seeing by the altar. The shadow smirked and crept towards Trixie, laughing with glee as Trixie shrinked away from her in terror. The shadow whispered in Trixie's ear, "Do you know what fear is?"

Trixie screamed and her eyes shot open as tears ran down her face. Trixie began to sob uncontrollably, stopping when she felt somepony stroking her mane. Trixie wiped at her eyes and saw that she was laid out on a couch, safe in Canterlot Castle. Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle and her friends surrounded her. The voices were mercifully silent and the pain and anguish were gone.

"I trusted her..." Trixie sobbed.

"That's why it worked," Celestia said. She picked up Trixie and held her tight to her chest. "You're safe now. She can't hurt you anymore. What did she do to you, Trixie?"

Trixie felt safe in the warm embrace of Celestia. She looked up into the princess' eyes. "What didn't she do..." Tears fell down Trixie's face, she wiped at them. "Travincolt. She took me to Travincolt."

"What did Fizzle Hooves do at Travincolt?" Celestia asked.

"There are two of them I guess... Two Fizzle Hooves. One trained me in magic," Trixie said as she tried to explain. "I remember how much she cared for me, always making me my favorite sweets, but it was all a deception to hide what the other one was doing. She tortured me with my own fears. She told me what kind of ponies you, your sister, and Star Swirl the Bearded were. She told me what you did during the Griffon War, that you put innocent ponies to death. That you all deserved to die. But that was all lies. You don't want to control all of our magic..."

Celestia shook her head. "I'm sorry this happened to you, Trixie."

Trixie hugged the princess tighter. "She told me I was going to be a hero..."

Celestia smiled. "You still can be, Trixie. We shall head to Travincolt and confront this Fizzle Hooves." She turned to Twilight Sparkle. "Ready, girls?"

Twilight and her friends were wearing their Elements of Harmony. Twilight nodded. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and hovered in the air. "Let's go get this sicko!"

The ponies hurried back to the ballroom where Star Swirl and Luna were waiting. Celestia smiled. "Travincolt. It's at Travincolt."

Star Swirl nodded. "Hold hooves, everypony. Here we go."

As they emerged from Star Swirl's teleportation spell, they found themselves in an ancient ruin. Sitting in the middle of the ruin was Trixie's wagon. Three stone tablets were leaning against the wagon's door. Trixie looked around in disbelief. "It was here. It was all here..."

Applejack put her hoof around Trixie's shoulder. "We believe you, Trixie."

Star Swirl investigated the wagon, found nothing of import besides the tablets, and stroked his beard. He mused to himself, "It may work."

"What may work?" Twilight asked.

"An entrapment spell. We know her name, or at least, one she associated with herself. We know she was here. Trixie's wagon proves that," Star Swirl said. "We should be able to summon it here and trap it."

Celestia nodded. "Do it."

Star Swirl reached into his robes and pulled out a stick of charcoal. He drew a circle on the ground then wrote a string of arcane runes around the circle. Satisfied, he stepped back and his horn began to glow. "Fizzle Hooves, I summon thee!"

The robed archmage appeared within the circle, sarcastically clapping her hooves. "Clever. Of course you know I am only here because I choose to be. Fizzle Hooves is not my true name, but I am sure you have that figured out by now."

"What should we call you? Fizzle Hooves? Insidiosus Diabolicus? Or would you prefer us to use your real name," Celestia said.

"No, knowing my name might give you power, and I will not allow that. You may call me Fizzle Hooves, although I do rather like that little moniker you coined," she turned to Trixie and smiled, "Or, you may simply call me, master."

Trixie glared at Fizzle Hooves, shaking with rage.

Fizzle Hooves pouted, "Aww. You know, Trixie. Not everything I told you was a lie. I really did enjoy spending time with you. It was.. refreshing. Pity you failed at your task."

Twilight looked at her friends and nodded, the gems of their Elements of Harmony began to glow and a rainbow arced onto Fizzle Hooves. Their blood chilled when they saw it. It only lasted a split second, but as the energy of the Elements washed over Fizzle Hooves her true form was revealed. A foal-shaped being of pure darkness that seemed to drain their souls just by looking at it.

The Elements' attack stopped and Fizzle Hooves strode right out of the summoning circle, bypassing the runes of holding. She smirked at the horrified ponies, "Do you know what fear is?"

"What is this all about, Fizzle Hooves?" Star Swirl asked, a tremble of terror in his voice.

Fizzle Hooves laughed and her horn began to glow as she cast a spell. Star Swirl gasped and fell to the ground as Fizzle Hooves' spell washed over him. "You warrant no villain's exposition from me, Star Swirl the Bearded. In any case, I believe I have distracted you long enough. Farewell."

Fizzle Hooves shimmered and disappeared.

Twilight looked as if she had seen a ghost. Rarity noticed and frowned with concern. "What's wrong, Twilight?"

"That.. thing! I've seen it before. Do you remember when I didn't have a friendship report for the princess and was kind of acting crazy?" Twilight asked, her voice a whisper.

Her friends rolled their eyes and nodded their heads. "I saw her, I mean, I didn't know it was her of course, but that.. thing. I saw it. I thought it was just a hallucination because I was going a little crazy," Twilight whispered.

Trixie approached. "There were three of them, weren't there?"

Twilight nodded. Trixie sat on the ground and idly ran her hoof through the dirt. "I too thought I had been imagining them until just now. It seemed so strange I thought my mind was just playing tricks. I couldn't remember, I just heard voices, their voices, in my head. But when I saw her, saw what she really was... Oh my gosh."

Celestia hugged Trixie. "What do you remember about them, Trixie?"

"Fizzle Hooves called them her sisters. She also used to tell me I was her sister. I don't know why. One of them touched me, in her true form, it chilled me to my very soul. Her breath was frigid and smelled of sulfur. They wanted me, for... I don't know... One was worried I would ruin some plan of theirs," Trixie said. "Fizzle Hooves wanted me to 'fulfill my destiny.'"

Star Swirl glanced at the others. "I have a very bad feeling. Quickly, hold hooves, we must get back to Canterlot!"

Chapter 12

In Hoc Signo Vinces had fled the wedding reception when the ponies had started to recover from Trixie's magic. She had seen the way Trixie and even Luna had looked at her true appearance. It had hurt. The streets of Canterlot were graciously mostly deserted, although she didn't really know where she was going. As she wandered amongst the streets, her horn began to glow and began magically guiding her towards the Canterlot Cemetery.

Winny's eyes went wide as she was led before a great tomb, the tomb where Celestia and Luna had placed the comatose body of the Unliving Queen after her defeat. The magically reinforced stone door of the tomb lay sundered in half on the ground, the jagged edges still glowed with green magic. Two royal guards lay slumped in front of the gaping doorway. As if in a trance, she slowly walked inside the tomb and her horn's magic ceased as she reached the chamber of the Unliving Queen's sarcophagus. Its heavy stone slab lay shattered on the floor. Seated atop the sarcophagus was a beautiful pink unicorn with dark red hair that wore purple robes.

Fizzle Hooves was munching on a pomegranate, the juices dribbling down her chin. She winked at Winny. "Hello, little one."

Winny warily eyed Fizzle Hooves, then cautiously walked over and looked into the sarcophagus. The Queen looked just as she did when the Nether Crystal was inserted a week ago, a look of contentment on her smiling face. Winny didn't know how she knew, but she knew this was her mother. Her voice quavered. "Mum?"

Fizzle Hooves smirked. "Ah, how very perceptive of you, little one. Yes, this is indeed your mother. It is fortunate you arrived when you did."

Winny looked at Fizzle Hooves and felt a twinge of fear. "I suppose it is fortunate, my horn's magic led me here."

Fizzle Hooves laughed. "Oh, you misunderstand. It is fortunate for me that you arrived when you did. I have need of you and your mother, you see."

Winny staggered back. The twinge was now a full blown feeling of impending dread. "W-what are you talking about?"

Fizzle Hooves grinned evilly as her horn began to glow. "You will soon see."

Winny screamed as a wave of magic enveloped her and she fell unconscious. When she opened her eyes, she found Fizzle Hooves standing over her, her mother's body lying on the ground next to her. Fizzle Hooves smiled. "It is just as I planned. It all has been. I fear I had an advantage over you. For years I have been manipulating events, solely so we could have our little meeting here tonight."

Winny couldn't move, couldn't speak, could only watch in horror as Fizzle Hooves straddled her mother's body. Fizzle Hooves put one hoof over the Queen's heart, one hoof on the Nether Crystal, then touched her horn to the Queen's and began casting a spell to transfer the Queen's magic into the crystal.

The Queen's eyes shot open, and as she stared into the strange unicorn's smirking face the unholy fire in her eyes began to fade away.  The Queen felt herself growing weaker and weaker, she groaned and Fizzle Hooves grinned in delight. As Fizzle Hooves' spell continued, the Nether Crystal began to glow with unholy energy. As the spell ended, the Queen's cutie mark faded away into nothing.

Fizzle Hooves stood and plucked the empowered Nether Crystal from the Queen's forehead. The Queen tried to speak, struggled to find the strength. "Wh-what d-d-did y-you..."

Fizzle Hooves laughed and placed her hoof on the Queen's chest. She leaned down and stared into the eyes of her prey. The Queen shuddered as she looked back into the eerie green eyes of Fizzle Hooves. The Queen closed her eyes, tried to cast a spell - any spell - but the magic did not heed her summons. Her magical gift was gone, and as she realized this a fresh wave of terror washed over the Queen. Fizzle Hooves smiled in contentment.

"I have drained you of your magic," Fizzle Hooves explained. "Stolen from you the very thing that made you special. It is the worst of curses, and I should know. I have taken your very talent, your destiny, taken everything that you are. The curse that was wrought against my sisters and I will soon cease, and yours has begun. Enjoy."

Fizzle Hooves sauntered over to the Queen's daughter and used her magic to move the body into position. She straddled Winny and whispered in her ear, "Now, little one, it is your turn."

A scorching beam of sunlight lanced out from the entrance to the chamber and blasted Fizzle Hooves, who tumbled forwards, the Nether Crystal spiraling out of her grasp. If the situation hadn't been so dire, it would have been humorous, as Trixie, Twilight, Rarity, Star Swirl, Celestia, and Luna fought Fizzle Hooves in a 'tug-of-war' over the Nether Crystal, grasping and pulling on the Nether Crystal with their magic.

For reasons Rarity could not fathom, a tiny amount of her horn's magic went from the Nether Crystal to the purple robes Fizzle Hooves was wearing, Puzzled, Rarity closed her eyes and let the magic flow through her. For but a moment, she saw what it wished for her to do - pluck a thread from Fizzle Hooves' clothing. Using her expert knowledge gained from years as a seamstress, Rarity easily removed the thread without detection. Why the mystical force that was unicorn magic desired the thread, Rarity did not know, but she knew it had to have been important.

Fizzle Hooves sneered. "I admire your persistence, but I think it is time you accepted the fact that it is not within your power to stop me."

"Give up, Fizzle Hooves," Celestia ordered. "This is your last chance."

Fizzle Hooves smiled. "Thousands of years of planning shall not be undone by the likes of you."

"Drop the act, Fizzle Hooves, I'm tired of all these charades. Just tell us what this is all about so we can get back to our wedding," Celestia said, annoyed.

Fizzle Hooves laughed. "I'm sorry, but war and charades are the only two games I know how to play. If they are not to your liking, I'm afraid you'll be ill-equipped to play the game that is about to begin."

"I bet she's just jilted that Shining Armor loves Cadence and is going to marry him instead of her," Pinkie Pie said, in an attempt to fluster Fizzle Hooves.

"Perhaps," Fizzle Hooves laughed. She leered at Twilight, "But it is Cadence that my desires were focused on, if you must know."

"Thou shalt pay for the evils thou hath wrought," Luna said. "I shall reduce thee to ashes for what thou hath done to me, my kingdom, my ponies."

Fizzle Hooves cackled with glee. "It is a welcome change to hear such... succinct threats from an enemy. Unfortunately for you, they are most assuredly idle threats, as if you had the power to defeat me, surely you would do so instead of all this posturing."

Fizzle Hooves pulled back her head and laughed as the Crystal moved towards her. "Your pathetic magics are useless. Let this end."

Applejack blinked and looked at the other, non-magic wielding ponies. "Why the hay have we just been standin' here? Come on, girls!"

The pegasi and Earth ponies charged towards Fizzle Hooves, and stopped as an Earth pony and pegasus mare shimmered into existence in their path. They wore the same styled robes as Fizzle Hooves. The Earth had wild, unkempt hair as dark as night and a coat to match. Her face was twisted into a grimace and her eyes gleamed with a cold, evil light. The pegasus had a sky blue coat and purple hair that was elaborately braided. The pegasus' eyes were red and smoldered like embers.

The pegasus thrust out her hoof and the ground began to quake. The Earth pony stomped and fissures to the Netherworld opened up with an eerie green glow, then horrible demonic creatures began to pour out of the openings. The creatures looked like bipedal goats wearing dark armor and wielding a variety of wicked looking weapons. Their eyes were red with slit pupils and they sent waves of fear into the hearts of the observing ponies as they met their gaze.

The ponies trembled in fear and lost their concentration. The Nether Crystal flew into Fizzle Hooves' grasp and she slipped it into her pocket. The Earth pony turned to her and asked in a raspy voice, "What about the girl?"

Trixie shivered. She recognized that voice. It belonged to one of the shadows she heard at Travincolt.

Fizzle Hooves shook her head. "We shouldn't need her, she was more of a bonus, if you will. Irksome, but we will be fine without her. Come, sisters, we have wasted enough of our time, we are through here."

Trixie found herself yelling, "Fizzle Hooves, wait!"

Fizzle Hooves chuckled. Her sisters looked at her expectantly. Fizzle Hooves nodded at them. "Leave us, I will only be a moment." The two robed ponies vanished,  the fissures and demons disappeared with them. She glared at Celestia and cast a spell, surrounding Twilight with a swirling wreath of green flames. "If anypony makes a move, I will kill Twilight Sparkle." She turned to Trixie and smirked. "Yearning for master's touch are we?"

Trixie shuddered. "No. I think you owe me an explanation. Why did you do this to me?"

"We are like sisters, Trixie. We are the same," Fizzle Hooves replied.

Trixie shook her head. "Sisters don't do the kinds of things you did."

Fizzle Hooves pouted. "I'm sorry, Trixie. That is my... nature. I'm afraid I can't explain anymore than that, for now at least. Soon, all will be revealed, and I shall return to claim you and perhaps we can finish your training. Goodbye, Trixie."

"Wait," Twilight said, gulping nervously. "You are what we call a demon, yes? You possessed and corrupted Nightmare Moon, and, uh, me, right? And many others throughout history?"

Fizzle Hooves smiled. "Perhaps."

"Then why didn't you do the same thing to Trixie?" Twilight asked.

Fizzle Hooves paused. "Corruption has the strength of deceit, but innocence holds the power of purity."

She turned back to Trixie. "I told you before that not everything was a lie, Trixie. You are destined to be a hero. It was.. Hmm. I really don't want to show my hand here. Not yet."

She looked into Trixie's eyes, which were glistening with tears. Fizzle Hooves felt something stir within herself, something unfamiliar. It was guilt. She was actually sorry for what she had done to the poor mare. She shook her head to try and clear the sensation. "I actually feel bad about this. Strange. I know you surely enjoyed the magic school just as much as I dis. I am... sorry, that you remembered the other... activities we engaged in. I also wasn't lying when I said there was something special about you, Trixie. However, I shall leave that to you and your associates to discover."

Fizzle Hooves winked. "But I am sure it will be too late. Farewell, foals. We shall not meet again."

Fizzle Hooves shimmered and vanished, and so too, did the ring of fire around Twilight dissolve and the paralyzation magic afflicting Winny, who rushed to the Queen's side.

Celestia looked around the room, then frowned at the Unliving Queen and her daughter. "Is everypony alright?"

"Who were those mares?" Rarity asked.

"A very good question, Rarity. Three sisters, as they called themselves. A unicorn, a pegasus, and an Earth pony, with infernal powers," Celestia said. "You read the Demonology book, Twilight. Anything come to mind?

Twilight shook her head. "I don't remember anything about three sisters. Those goat-thingies they summoned from the ground were definitely demons, though."

"Star Swirl? Any ideas?" Celestia asked.

Star Swirl shook his head. "I can't recall any thing such as this." He looked down at the Unliving Queen's rear and raised his eyebrow. "Celestia, look at her flanks."

Celestia frowned. "Where is her cutie mark?"

Winny cried, "They.. they stole it. That Fizzle Hooves. She said she stole everything that she is. Took all of her magic...."

Winny felt all the ponies staring at her, wished she had kept silent. She heard Applejack whisper, "There's another undead unicorn? I thought we got rid of 'em all."

Winny glanced at the gawking ponies, looked at Twilight, looked at her mother, then back to Twilight. She turned to Star Swirl. "Uncle...?"

Celestia stepped in front of the Queen and her daughter. "Let us leave this dank place and retire to the Castle. We have much to discuss."

Celestia hugged Trixie. "You were very brave, confronting that thing as you did. Hopefully she let slip some clues as to what she really is and what this is all about."

Celestia ushered the ponies out, Star Swirl stayed behind. Winny gazed down at her mother's face. It was the sad, benign face of a weary mare. Memories could be seen flashing across it. Memories of happy times, and horrors, and love, too. Tears fell down Winny's cheeks, fell on her mother's lips. The Queen smiled weakly.

Her daughter ran her hoof through her mane. "You're Twilight Sparkle, aren't you?"

The Queen whispered, "Once..."

Star Swirl sat down next to the pair. "Your mother was a victim of this Fizzle Hooves, or whatever her real name is. She and I hailed from an alternate future, which we came back to prevent. The tale is long, but suffice it to say, your mother was lost to you at an early age. I found you and brought you to the monastery to be raised. My magic brought me years into the past, and tonight I think I know why."

He conjured up a brush and ran it through Winny's matted mane. "You've always tried to hide who you really are, haven't you? Dresses, masks, armor, whatever it took to hide your unique looks."

Winny nodded.

"You didn't eat the cake, did you?" Star Swirl asked, although he already knew the answer.

Winny shook her head and smiled as she realized what the old unicorn was implying. Her dislike over her appearance had ensured she would not eat the poisoned cake on this night. "No, I didn't."

Winny looked down at her body, glanced back at her flank. For a fleeting moment, she was happy she looked the way she did, then she remembered the looks of disgust on the ponies' faces moments ago. She scowled. "Fate is cruel, huh. So all of this, years of despising myself, was just so I could stall Trixie long enough so Luna could come and save the day? That was my destiny? The reason magic itself made sure I would be there?"

Star Swirl hugged her. "Don't you think fate has something more in mind for you? Saving Princess Celestia's life, and everypony else at the reception, including myself I might add, is a noble enough destiny, but I feel there is more in store for you. Tell me, how did you end up here tonight?"

"My horn's magic guided me here," Winny said.

Star Swirl shivered as the cold night's air seeped into the tomb. "You see? Unicorn magic happens for a reason. If your destiny ended at the reception, you wouldn't be here. Also, I don't think we would have arrived in the nick of time to get that awful Fizzle Hooves character away from you. Now, let us get someplace a bit more pleasant, and warmer."

Star Swirl placed his hooves on the two mares and cast a teleportation spell, arriving in a vacant bedroom in Canterlot Castle. He gently placed the Unliving Queen on the bed and tucked her under the covers. It didn't seem possible, but the undead unicorn looked even more dead, what little light of life there had been was now gone. Star Swirl frowned at the gaping hole in her skull where the Nether Crystal had been removed.

"I should get back to the others," Star Swirl said. "Are you going to be okay?"

Winny nodded. Star Swirl smiled at her. "If you need to talk, just say the word."

Winny sighed as Star Swirl left the room. She had long dreamed of meeting her parents, but not like this. "Mum?"

"Yes, my daughter?" the Queen whispered. She smiled weakly as Winny moved closer.

"What are you?" Winny asked.

The Queen laughed, a horrible wheeze. "Just an old foal that got into magic she wasn't meant to..."

"You're dead, or rather, undead? I mean, I kinda look like a corpse, but you kind of have a big ol' hole in your skull," Winny said.

"I don't know how long it has been in your time, but from my perspective I died decades ago, dark magics granted me undeath. But you, you're fully alive, aren't you? Let me look at you," the Queen whispered.

Her daughter stood and slowly turned. "You're just as beautiful as I would have hoped," the Queen said. The Queen smiled at her daughter's flank. "Your cutie mark, let me see it." Her daughter moved her rear closer. The Queen grinned. "Yes... That was to be your destiny, you know. You were made to lead my Order of the Undying Dragon." A tear ran down the Queen's cheek. "But that fate is gone now. You're meant for better, nobler, things."

"That's why you named me this, isn't it? I was meant to lead this army of yours?" Winny asked.

"Yes. In Hoc SIgno Vinces. 'In this sign, thou shalt conquer.' Star Swirl let you keep the name I gave you?" the Queen asked.

"He did, but I usually go by Winny," Winny replied. "What did you mean just now, that I was 'made' to lead?"

"I could never have a child of my own, thanks to being undead. However, one day a necromancer came to my castle and offered me the chance of a lifetime. She said she knew a ritual that could make, uh, you, using some of my flesh and bone and her blood."

"So that is why I look the way I do," Winny whispered. "You said you had a castle, who are you? I mean, what did you do before you were laid to rest? Or, unrest, rather?"

The Queen smiled. "Once, I was a mere student of magic, trained by Princess Celestia herself. I had awesome friends, a good life, I was so happy! Then, the bad things happened to me and I began a transformation that led me to be the Unliving Queen of Equestria. Far, far, into a future that no longer exists. I ruled all and crushed all those who opposed my laws. But, just like your own, that fate just wasn't meant to be. I came back from the future and my friends saved me from the evil I had become by using the Elements of Harmony."

The Queen reached out and ran her hoof through her daughter's dark blue mane. "I heard Star Swirl say you hide what you truly are. You should be proud of who you are."

"I saw the way the ponies looked at me tonight," Winny softly said. "They weren't looking at me in admiration."

"Please forgive them, daughter. I led an army of undeath against Canterlot and threatened their lives. Unfortunately, you truly did get my looks. But those ponies were my friends, they're good ponies and they will learn to love you as I do. Go to them now, join their discussion, show them you are no different from them. This Fizzle Hooves must be stopped. I love you," the Queen whispered.

Winny cried and embraced her long lost mother. "I love you, too, mum."

Chapter 13

The ponies had gathered in a large dining hall within Canterlot Castle to try and unravel whatever it was that the infernal sisters were planning. Anxious royal guards were stationed at the doors and windows, unsure of what their meager weapons could even do if the Three Sisters attacked. A set of tables and chairs had been pulled into a semi-circle with Princess Celestia and Star Swirl in the middle, setting up mystical instruments as they prepared to cast a spell.

The thread that Rarity plucked from Fizzle Hooves' robes was believed to be the key they needed to get the advantage over the Three Sisters. The spell they were preparing was one of Star Swirl's that he created to aid in his collecting of artifacts and relics. It would allow them to view the object's, in this case the thread's, history as if they were there with it. Fizzle Hooves' had claimed to have been conspiring for quite some time to achieve her goals, so Rarity may have delivered a crucial piece of intelligence if the robe was something Fizzle Hooves commonly wore and not just part of her magic school plot against Trixie.

Celestia and Star Swirl finished preparing for the spell. A crystal ball sat in the center off the floor inside a triangle drawn in chalk. At each point of the triangle they had placed an object: an antique mirror, a rock bearing the fossil of a seashell, and a petrified cross section of a tree that had been hundreds of years old.

Before he cast the spell, Star Swirl cast a simple growth spell on the crystal ball, enlarging it from the size of a bowling ball to that of a wagon wheel so that everypony could view it in comfort.

Star Swirl's horn began to glow as he placed the thread into the triangle. "This object is a mystery, so please reveal its history. Let this spell reveal its past, so its role might be known at last."

The ponies shivered in reflex as a wintry scene unfolded somewhere in the Frozen North, just a few months prior according to Star Swirl's magic.

* * *

The fierce winds of the Frozen North chilled Lucifiona to the bone, tore her garments to shreds, slashed at her flesh with shards of ice, but she did not care. In fact, she loved the pain it caused, it made her stronger. The faint voice of her host body, a purple-haired, sky blue pegasus named Storm Watcher, begged her to stop, but it was barely a whisper, drowned out by the howling winds.

Lucifiona's sisters - Baphomeena and Azazandra - shimmered next to her and Lucifiona smiled as she fed off their pain as the winds tore at them as well. Baphomeena, in the body of a red-haired, pink-coated unicorn named Fizzle Hooves, stomped her hooves and a ring of green flames surrounded the sisters and protected them from the harsh weather.

Azazandra, possessing Ravenmane, an Earth pony with pitch black hair and coat, reached back into some saddlebags and hurriedly withdrew several balls of purple string as well as a small pouch of fire opals. She held up the ingredients for Baphomeena, who began to use her unicorn host's magic to transform the string into robes.

"Really, Luci?" Baphomeena sighed. "I thought I told you to take care of yourself out here, not get yourself frozen solid. Would you have been ready if it returned on your watch?"

"I was preparing myself, sister," Lucifiona snapped. "You know the pain empowers me."

"Of course I do, Luci, but that does not mean you have permission to act like a foal," Baphomeena scolded.

Baphomeena finished the robes then used the fire opals to enchant them, empowering the garments with a protection from cold spell. She used her magic to teleport the robes onto her sisters and herself.

Baphomeena pushed back her mane and posed. "Don't we look pretty?"

Azazandra muttered, "We'd look prettier in our own bodies, not these equine forms..."

"Aww, cheer up, sister," Baphomeena cooed. "We shall reclaim what is ours soon enough. I bring good news in that regard, in fact, very good news for us indeed. It appears our little Mi Amore Cadenza, the alicorn princess of our desires, is in love. Her engagement was announced, a foalhood sweetheart named Shining Armor, who I discoverd is also the brother of Celestia's prized student. The wedding will be in the summer."

Azazandra spit, her saliva sizzled on the infernal flames. "Bah. Love..."

Baphomeena smirked. "This wedding is just what we were waiting for, sisters, the perfect opportunity to strike!"

Lucifiona's ember-like eyes lit up. "We get to crash a wedding?"

"Hah! We shall do more than crash it, sister, if I have read the bones correctly, our... influence upon certain ponies prior to and during this wedding fiasco shall lead to something delightfully wicked," Baphomeena said. "What if I was to tell you that with but a few of our whisperings, we could have our way with Mi Amore Cadenza, Star Swirl the Bearded, Princess Celestia, and her chosen student, Twilight Sparkle?"

"How?" Azazandra demanded.

"It is quite simple, sisters," Baphomeena declared. "If I induce a sense of fear for the future in Star Swirl, he will be spurred into action. From that point, he will be but putty in our hooves, believing whatever it is I encourage him to do. We shall use him to get to the others. Cadenza is the focal point here, and she shall be next. Ooh, we can use her to get Star Swirl in a frenzy, yes, I like that. Once we have our way with her, we can then move upon Twilight Sparkle, who was quite fond of Cadenza in her youth. At that point Celestia is wide open, having seen one of her trusted friends, her precious niece, and her beloved student succumb to our corruption, in addition to whatever other evil we sow."

Lucifiona waved her wing around them. "That clears the path for this, but what of our bodies, what about the accursed one who can thwart those plans? We have been pestering you for years now to make a move, but still you wait."

"Not to worry, Luci," Baphomeena replied. "I will personally ensure that that one shall not be troubling us any longer."

"Care to tell us how, Baphomeena? You know we can not harm her," Azazandra growled.

"It shall not be us that ends the awful lineage of those that cursed us," Baphomeena explained. "At least, not entirely. As I saw the visions of how we could corrupt Cadenza and the other ponies of import, I saw that it provided an opening to get to our malefactor as well. I have watched her for all these years, watched her grow and mature, I know what her wants, her desires."

Baphomeena held up her hooves and her horn began to glow as she conjured up a rainbow and began tossing it back and forth like a slinky. "Magical knowledge is what that one desires above all, and magic I shall provide, but not yet. First we need to work on Star Swirl and the others. In the aftermath I shall move on Trixie and work my magic."

Baphomeena draped the rainbow around her neck like a scarf. "Once she is safely under my influence, we send her against the other ponies that may meddle in our plans. They will be forced to destroy her, or perish themselves."

Lucifiona grinned evilly. "And once she is gone, none shall stop us! Hahah!"

"There are still the old ones from back home that we will have to deal with, as it was foretold so long ago," Azazandra said.

Baphomeena nodded. "Yes, well, after we get through with Equestria, we shall spread enough fear that I will be more than capable of dealing with our old friends of yore. I have something special in mind for them as well."

"And if they attack us before you are prepared?" Lucifiona asked.

"They won't, I would even say they can't. They are as much bound to the prophecies as we are," Baphomeena replied. "Our encounter is fated, it can be no other way. Speaking of which, we have much to prepare sisters, let us retire from this dismal place and get to work!"

The Three Sisters shimmered and vanished, the ring of flames extinguished as they departed and quickly began to freeze back over. A patrol of armed ponies wearing heavy winter clothing, field agents for the Canterlot Intelligence Agency's Project Krustallos who had been assigned to monitor this region of the Frozen North, slowly converged on the vacant circle as the weather began to erase all traces of the sisters' presence. A pegasus agent did her best to quell the winds around the area by building a buffer out of clouds.

"I swear our equipment was picking up voices on the wind," an Earth pony field agent said as he looked around the empty tundra.

A unicorn agent, her horn glowing with magic, investigated the clearing, paying special attention to the ring of ice. "I'm definitely getting traces of magic here. Strong magic, too. Whatever it was looks to have departed."

"I don't like it, whatever it was. Let's get back to the outpost, folks, and stay vigilant," the commanding agent said. "If it is after the same thing we are, it'll eventually be back, and we must be ready."

* * *

The ponies watched in stunned silence as they saw the Three Sisters going about their plans to corrupt Cadence and the others. Trixie had to look away when the image of herself appeared on the crystal ball. She had lived through those memories twice now, she did not need to see them again. The spell ended as it replayed the events that had unfolded in the Unliving Queen's Tomb.

"Thank you, lovely Rarity, for having the impulse to procure that thread. We now know their true names and have an idea of what their goals are," Star Swirl said.

Rarity blushed. "You're welcome, but I can't really take credit for that, it was my magic."

"Indeed, there's been a lot of that going around. Something big is definitely coming," Star Swirl said. "Hopefully we will be prepared to face it."

"At least not everything is going according to the sisters' plans," Twilight Sparkle said, as she gave Trixie a hug.

"The fact they conspired to kill Trixie is quite disturbing," Rarity said. "Even worse that they used her to try and kill other ponies. Thank the stars nopony was hurt in that dreadful affair."

Trixie shook her head and shivered. "'Celestia, Luna, Star Swirl, all must die.' That's what she and her sisters kept telling me in my mind. I almost did, too, if it hadn't been for, uh, WInny is it?"

Winny nodded.

Trixie began to sob. "I did kill Nostrildamus, though..."

"It is likely that whatever their plan is once they obtain their bodies once more, that it may have disastrous consequences for the world, hence them not wanting Nostrildamus and his powers over time to remain," Star Swirl said. "I imagine they forced you to perform that deed to break whatever will you had left."

Pinkie Pie sat up. "They used Trixie because they couldn't kill Nostrildamus themselves!"

Celestia raised her eyebrow. "Oh? What makes you think that, Pinkie?"

"Remember what she said in the tomb, 'innocence has the power of purity'? That's why they didn't just do to Trixie what they've done to their other victims. They needed to manipulate her, control her, so that some magic mumbo jumbo still considered her innocent," Pinkie Pie explained. "The same magic that gave Nostrildamus his powers likely protected him from the forces of evil."

Trixie sadly shook her head. "I lost whatever innocence I had after she got her hooves on me, but I agree. Um, Princess, I remember her telling me a lot of weird things about who I really was. Things like that I was 'Brightdawn the Lightbringer reborn' and I was a 'hero of destiny.' She also said I was like her sister, and we were the same. Something about not utilizing my heritage, too, and having a lineage that made me hard for her to break. Those are things I can remember her telling me about myself."

Celestia, as matron of her magic school, was quite familiar with the various unicorn family lines that were strong in magic, but she couldn't recall Trixie's being that powerful. "Hmm. This would seem to imply you are the descendant of a powerful bloodline. Do you know of any famous unicorns in your family tree?"

Trixie shook her head. "I don't think so, but I've always known I was great and powerful." She smirked at Applejack, who rolled her eyes in response. "But whatever it is, Fizzle Hooves, I mean, Baphomeena, sure knows about it."

"This gives us a simple enough lead to follow at least," Twilight said.

"There must be something to it, remember how she talked in the tomb? She did say Trixie was special," Rainbow Dash said. "Said some weird stuff to the future Twilight, too."

Winny spoke up, "Baphomeena told my mum she and her sisters were cursed, and that she had cursed my mum with the worst kind of curse by stealing all that she was, and Baphomeena knew why that was so bad because it had been done to her and her sisters."

Luna mused to herself, "Who would have cursed the sisters, and why?"

Applejack pushed back her hat and scratched behind her ears. "This don't make a lick of sense. If they wanted the three of y'all dead as part of one their lil' plans, why didn't they just blast you in the tomb? Or right now, 'cause they can shimmer in and out wherever they please, I reckon."

"It's because we threw a monkey wrench into their schemes," Pinkie said. "They thought they had everything planned out, but Trixie didn't perform the dark deeds they had tasked her with, and we didn't kill her like they wanted. They probably just don't know what to do."

As the others discussed why the Three Sisters had let them live, Trixie stared at Twilight. She hated to admit it, but she was a tad envious. Twilight had a loving family, great friends, an amazing magic teacher, her brother had just married a princess, and Twilight wielded the Element of Magic to boot. Meanwhile, Trixie had spent the last week as a demon's plaything. Life was unfair.

Eventually, it was thought that whatever the Three Sisters had planned, the schemes involving the ponies had failed and it was unlikely the sisters would return, at least not for some time. Which meant they now had to focus on the sisters' future plot to reclaim their own bodies, although the ponies were not sure how to proceed on that one. Celestia and Luna determined that the best course of action would be to pursue one of the few leads they had been provided: Trixie's family history. If the sisters were truly worried over some power they believed Trixie wielded, Celestia and Luna were determined to discover what it was.

Celestia, Luna, Star Swirl, Twilight Sparkle, and Winny left with Trixie to research her family line. Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack headed out into Canterlot for smoothies. Alone, Rainbow Dash headed for the bedroom of the Unliving Queen.

She took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. A weak voice said, "Come in..."

Rainbow entered and dragged a chair over to the bed. The Queen smiled at her. "I figured you would want to see me."

Rainbow looked at the Queen's weak, damaged body then glanced away. "Well, yeah, Twilight. I mean, you tell me something like that as you're about to... 'die,' I guess."

"I was prepared to destroy all of you that day... I was crazy... until I saw your face, Rainbow Dash," the Queen said. She sighed and tears formed in her eyes. "Long ago, before I came back to the past and became," she looked down at her body and scowled, "this, my Rainbow Dash and I shared a beautiful moment in Star Swirl's tower. It really kept me going, kept the goodness in me alive. For years, I clung to that memory. Then the memory of that memory. Then it was gone, the darkness took that from me as well..."

The Queen reached for Rainbow's wing, then let her hoof drop. "She told me that she loved me. Despite being furious with me for abandoning her and my friends, despite everything she endured while fleeing from the corrupted Cadence's minions, she still loved me. When Pinkie was about to put that crystal in me, I had this nagging feeling. I had to know, and so, I called for you. You said the exact same thing I had told her: 'I know.' That... that really made me happy."

Rainbow smiled. "Twilight, I..."

"I was really hoping you would come see me, Dash. When I saw my daughter today, I saw that the time I spent as the Unliving Queen would have a lasting effect on at least one life. The things I've done, Dash, they would chill your soul, break your heart in two... I've got one hoof in the grave, the other in hell," the Queen sadly said.

Rainbow frowned. "Twilight, what are you trying to say?"

The Queen sighed. "I'm going to kill myself. Do what is right. It's the only way out of this."

Rainbow turned and shook her head in disbelief. "Twilight, no..."

The Queen smiled weakly. "Spike... Good old Spike.. I did something to him, something horrible. You remember that phoenix pet of his, Pee-Wee? He used him to find a way out of the undeath I had cursed him with. When Pee-Wee's renewal cycle came, Spike ingested the ashes. As the phoenix was reborn, Spike was destroyed. Philomena's cycle is coming soon. I am going to end this."

A tear fell down Rainbow's cheek. "Twilight..."

"Dash, I would like you to keep an eye on my daughter, In Hoc SIgno Vinces - Winny. Keep her out of trouble, make sure she lives through whatever this Fizzle Hooves has planned," the Queen said.

Rainbow shook her head. "Twilight... If she's your daughter, you need to be here for her."

The Queen sighed. "My powers are gone. Fizzle Hooves was right. This is the worst kind of curse. Trapped in an empty husk of a body... I want to be there for my daughter, for you, my friends, Equestria... but I can't be. I am nothing now. Nothing but memories of evil deeds. A grim reminder of darkness. I... can't live like this."

Rainbow saw a glow out of the corner of her eye and turned towards the door. Shining Armor and Mi Amore Cadenza were standing in the doorway, her horn was glowing. Using her love magic, she collected the tears of the two friends and they formed into a crystalline heart. Rainbow Dash fled out of the room.

Shining Armor glanced at Cadenza as he moved to try and catch Rainbow.

"Let her go," Cadenza said.

Shining Armor walked over and sat on the bed, the Queen looked up at him and grinned. He looked down in sorrow at the thing that used to be his baby sister. "We're not going to let you kill yourself," he finally said.

The Queen noticed the wedding band on his horn, "You got married?" Shining Armor nodded. The Queen cried, "I never even got to see it..."

Shining Armor touched her hoof. He shivered, it felt cold as ice. "Twily-"

The Queen interrupted, "Do not call me that! I lost all rights to that name long ago!"

Shining Armor sighed. "Then what am I supposed to call you? The Unliving Queen? You're my sister, Twily, and you always will be."

He wiped at her tears. "I hear I'm an uncle now, I guess."

The Queen smiled. "Have you seen her? She's beautiful. She has dad's mane color and mom's eyes. I think, it's hard to tell with the.. traits she inherited from me..."

"She sounds lovely, Twily. You need to be here for her." Shining Armor said as he held her hoof.

The Queen shook her head slowly. "I am nothing now."

Cadenza sat next to Shining Armor. "No, you're not." She used her magic to place the crystalline heart in the gaping hole on the Queen. The magic of love and friendship energized the Queen, she gasped. The darkness that had infested her mind seemed to part and she felt a strange warmth budding within. It reminded her of seeing a rainbow on a warm, spring afternoon. A peaceful sensation, one that brought forth memories of her youth. Memories of dancing in the rain on a cool summer's day, of chasing after the rainbows with her foalsitter Cadence in a futile attempt to claim the pots of gold.

Cadenza smiled. "You've always had power, Twilight. Not just in magic. You've had the power of friendship. Rainbow Dash truly loves you, you saw that here tonight when, even though you are but a shadow of the true Twilight Sparkle, she came for you. She cares for Twilight, she cares for you. That is the one thing that Fizzle Hooves couldn't take away from you. Love."

As the Queen listened to the words of Cadenza, she felt a change within her. The dark thoughts of death faded and were replaced by a deep, burning desire. She felt a sense of purpose that she hadn't felt in years. She knew she couldn't just give up. She had to fight, to stand by her friends, her family, her loved ones. The Queen sat up and embraced her brother and sister-in-law. "BBBFF, Cadence, thank you. Let us go find my daughter, I want very much for you to meet her."

Cadenza smiled happily. "Welcome back, Twilight Sparkle."

As they walked in search of In Hoc Signo Vinces, they witnessed four shooting stars streaming down from the heavens, far, far to the north. They seemed vaguely familiar to the Queen. She had seen them before, she was sure of it, but she could not place them. The thoughts faded as they found her daughter and the others in the Canterlot Archives.

The Queen put her leg around her brother and proudly brought him before her daughter. "Shining Armor, meet your niece, In Hoc Signo Vinces. Daughter, meet Shining Armor, your uncle and my BBBFF."

"BBBFF...?" Winny asked.

The Queen smiled, leaned up against her brother, basked in the warmth of his body. She sighed in contentment. "Big brother, best friend forever..."

Chapter 14

The demons Baphomeena (alias Fizzle Hooves the unicorn), Azazandra (alias Ravenmane the Earth pony), and  Lucifiona (alias Storm Watcher the pegasus) stood holding hooves in the center of an ancient ruin in the Frozen North. Long ago, it had been the site of a great tower, the home of a mage clan that had been tasked with guarding a deep secret. When the ancient ponies were beset by the Windigos, the mage clan suffered greatly, those that did not flee were frozen to death. The tower and its occupants both faded into history, leaving the secret they guarded unprotected.

On the ground, the Three Sisters had arranged candles into a triangle, each sister standing at one of the points. They began to sing in a tongue long forgotten amongst mortal ponies. It was a beautiful, sorrowful song. A lamentation for days gone past, of ancient conflict, innocence lost. Silky strands of magic began to swirl around the sisters, revealing their hosts' true forms - the shadow foals. Long ago, the sisters had been cursed by their mortal enemies, their spirits torn from their bodies and bound to the pony foals they currently possessed. Tonight they hoped to reclaim their bodies they had lost, as it had been foreseen by Baphomeena.

As they sang, arcane images began to form within their triangle. A gemstone, representing the unicorns. Storm clouds and a rainbow, representing the pegasi. Tree branches and a wildflower, representing the Earth ponies. Underneath their robes, this same symbol glowed on each of their flanks - the symbol of an ancient order, the Horsadrim, long forgotten and lost to the sands of time.

As the hour struck midnight, their song ended and the ground began to quake. They had shattered the first of the seals the Horsadrim had used to bind their demonic bodies. Baphomeena had been planning their triumphant return for thousands of years. She had manipulated countless ponies in preparation for this night, but there was still one last hurdle to bypass - their ancient foes, pegasi known as the Valkyr. Baphomeena had been preparing to deal with the Valkyr for a long time now, and she smiled at her sisters to reassure them. The Nether Crystal dangled on a chain around her neck and cast her face in an eerie glow.

Lucifiona glanced to the sky. "They are coming, sisters."

Baphomeena looked up and smirked at the four approaching streaks of light. "Go, my sisters, start on the second seal. I will deal with our... friends."

As Azazandra and Lucifiona shimmered away, Baphomeena casually brushed her mane and idly rubbed the Nether Crystal. The four lights reached the ground, and out of them manifested four pegasi with wings of light. They were the Valkyr, a group of transcendent pegasi that had been battling the demons for millennia. Their cutie marks, symbols of their aspect, were displayed proudly upon their flanks: a harp for Hope, a scale for Justice, a sword for Valor, and a scroll for Fate.

Baphomeena laughed as they approached. She leered at them and licked her lips, then slightly bowed her head to their leader, "Zephyrinia."

Zephyrinia, Valkyr of Valor, scowled at Baphomeena. Zephyrinia was clad in golden armor and her wings were a brilliant red, reminiscent of a setting sun. Her hair was a medley of red, orange, yellow, and gold, and her coat was a dark yellow. "Are you prepared to face us alone, Baphomeena? Where have your wretched sisters fled?"

"My sisters, what about yours? Where is Wisdom? It took all five of you to fight us before," Baphomeena said with a malicious laugh.

Seraphiel, Valkyr of Hope, frowned and looked up into the starry sky. She wore robes of a soft blue that matched her hair, which was a blend of blue, turquoise, teal, and violet. Her coat was sky blue and her wings were a brilliant white. "Our sister left us. Shariel is forever seeking answers to the unknowable mysteries of life and death."

Baphomeena pointed her hoof at the four pegasi. She could sense their fear, and she loved it. It was like ambrosia for her. She smiled. "You are afraid of little old me? I am but one, you are four."

Baphomeena pointed the hoof at Urdiel, Valkyr of Fate. Urdiel wore chainmail over grey robes. Her coat was black and her hair was white with streaks of grey. Her expression remained neutral as she stared back at Baphomeena, but her emotions could be seen upon her brilliant white wings, which quivered in frustration. As Baphomeena fed on the Valkyr's fear, she saw what they were truly afraid of - Urdiel's aspect of Fate had revealed that they would all perish on this night. Urdiel's Scroll of Fate foretold everything that would happen to the Valkyr, and it had said that they would all die on this night, at this place. Baphomeena could not fathom why they had come.

"I see," Baphomeena said. "Do your sisters know what is on your scroll, Urdiel? I really must ask, if you know the battle is already lost, why do you fight? Why even show up here tonight?"

Taraiel, Valkyr of Justice, stomped her hoof. Her wings, a light blue, writhed behind her, displaying her anger. Taraiel's hair was dark grey, her coat a light grey. She wore a white tabard over a suit of golden armor. "We are the light, you are darkness. It is our duty to oppose you."

Baphomeena laughed. "I can sense the fear within you, Taraiel."

Urdiel glared at Baphomeena. "We are not afraid."

Fizzle Hooves smirked. "No, you are terrified."

Zephyrinia stuck out her hoof and a brilliant spear appeared in a flash of light. "I fear nothing!"

Taraiel reached out her wing towards Zephyrinia. "Wait, sister!"

Zephyrinia paid no head and charged at Baphomeena. She flew into the sky as a ring of fire radiated from the possessed unicorn. It had been millennia since she had last fought Baphomeena, but she could sense there was something different about her attack as the fireballs passed below. It raised the hair on the back of her neck. As she flew nearer, she could see the glow of the Nether Crystal around the unicorn's neck. Baphomeena pointed her hoof at Seraphiel and a cage of bone sprung up from the ground and enveloped her. Urdiel and Taraiel turned to help their sister.

Zephyrinia stabbed at Baphomeena, who sidestepped the spear and grabbed onto the shaft. Baphomeena kicked at the Valkyr and then hit her with a ball of fire, sending her staggering back. Zephyrinia could definitely tell something was not right, she had never felt so much pain from a simple fireball. She looked at the Nether Crystal once more and Baphomeena laughed.

"Like my new jewelry?" Baphomeena asked. "I went to a lot of trouble to get it ready for you and your sisters."

Baphomeena conjured a pillar of fire under Zephyrinia and followed up with a stream of lightning, but the Valkyr took to the skies and appeared behind Baphomeena, slicing her face with her spear.

Baphomeena felt the blood running down her face and roared. Her hooves became talons and she charged at Zephyrinia, pushing the Valkyr back with a flurry of blows. Baphomeena ripped Zephyrinia's spear from her grasp and cast it aside. The Valkyr jumped back, dodging a vicious swipe at her legs. She thrust out her hoof and her spear came flying back into her grasp. She stabbed at Baphomeena, slicing into her shoulder. Black ichor oozed from the wound.

Baphomeena teleported to the other three and let loose a wave of flames which washed over them. The empowered unholy fire sent the three Valkyr to the ground in agony. Baphomeena turned back and smiled as Zephyrinia flew threw the air towards her, just as she expected. Baphomeena laughed and teleported to the side as the Valkyr attempted to run her through. She counter attacked and impaled her talons through the Valkyr's chest. She held her foe up to her face and kissed her. "Not even death can save you from me."

Baphomeena threw the wounded Valkyr to the ground and turned on the other three. Zephyrinia's glowing blood dripped from Baphomeena' talons as she motioned for them to attack her. Taraiel and Urdiel glanced at each and then charged towards Baphomeena while Seraphiel rushed to Zephyrinia's aid. The two Valkyr conjured gleaming runeblades, powerful swords enchanted with magical runewords, as they attacked.

Taraiel and Urdiel flew around Baphomeena in a vicious whirlwind, their swords lashing out at the evil entity. The black blood of Baphomeena stained the ground as they scored hit after hit. Suddenly, Baphomeena stomped, sending waves of flames in all directions. As the fire dissipated, she was gone.

Urdiel looked around nervously. "Did she flee?"

Taraiel glanced at Urdiel, then at Zephyrinia. "Doubtful, stay alert, sisters."

Shadows closed in around them and even the light from their wings seemed to dim. Shadowy figures began to charge towards the Valkyr, who formed a protective circle around the wounded Zephyrinia. A great feeling of despair spread over the Valkyr. They heard the voice of Baphomeena, "Welcome to my realm of terror."

The shadows attacked in massive swarms. The Valkyr held their ground but were quickly being overrun by the endless horde. Zephyrinia staggered to her feet, clutching her wound and using her spear for support. She looked into the shadows, trying to find Baphomeena. "Stay strong, sisters!"

They heard Baphomeena's laughter. "Your greatest fear is losing another sister."

A shadowy maw appeared and dove onto Zephyrinia, consuming her. The others stared in horror as the shadow beast disappeared into the void. Their sister's spear clattered to the ground, its light fading.

Seraphiel fell to her knees, slowly shaking her head. "No.. no..."

Urdiel sat down, dropped her sword, then ran her hoof through her mane. As the Valkyr of Fate, she had long foreseen their demise. She knew there was no point in resisting, she just gave up.

Taraiel stared at her sisters, bewildered. "What are you doing?! Rise and fight!"

A pair of shadows converged towards Taraiel. She stabbed out to the right, retracted her runeblade immediately from the creature's flesh, then brought it sweeping above her head, slashing down at the shadow to her left. A third shadow lunged from behind and knocked the Valkyr to her knees.

Baphomeena cackled with glee. The fear she felt emanating from the Valkyr was intoxicating. "It would appear your sister has... left the party, but unfortunately my minions have not grown weaker. Don't worry. You will see her soon enough."

Taraiel tried to protect her sisters, but it was a hopeless battle. The shadow creatures swarmed over the Valkyr, slashed at their bodies with chilling talons, ripped at their wings with hungering mouths. Taraiel stood her ground, each slash of her sword sent waves of light into the horde, slaying dozens at a time, but there were too many for one pony. She watched in horror as her sisters were murdered while she stood, powerless, unable to save them.

Baphomeena smiled and walked towards Taraiel. "And then there was one. Don't worry, Taraiel. You won't die just yet. I have something special in mind for you."

Terror finally overcame the last Valkyr and her sword clattered uselessly to the ground as the demon approached. The Nether Crystal's unholy light guided Baphomeena through the piles of bodies. She lifted it with her magic and moved it menacingly towards Taraiel's body. The Valkyr's flesh began to sizzle as Baphomeena pressed the unholy artifact against Taraiel. Baphomeena's eyes went wide with excitement as she stared into Taraiel's face, which began to contort with pain and fear.

Baphomeena moved closer, leaned in and nuzzled Taraiel as she pressed the Nether Crystal with more force. As the Crystal penetrated Taraiel, Baphomeena smiled in contentment. She whispered in the Valkyr's ear, "I've been waiting for this for so long, Taraiel. I think it will be justice for what you orchestrated against my sisters and I. You have no idea how much this pleases me..."

Taraiel screamed.

Chapter 15

As with the Unliving Queen, Celestia and Luna had likewise witnessed the falling stars. They remembered them, however. When Luna had been imprisoned in the moon as Nightmare Moon, her return had been foreseen and the prophecy stated that the 'stars would aid in her escape.' It was these four stars that had freed Nightmare Moon. They didn't know the true nature of these stars, that they were forms of the Valkyr, but given the connection to Nightmare Moon, they felt it could not have been a good sign.

Trixie's genealogy lead had led to a dead end. They were only able to trace her lineage back a few hundred years, and nothing stood out. Dejected, the ponies had returned to the lounge. As the night wore on, most had drifted to sleep, except Celestia and Luna, who were incessantly trying to figure out what was happening to their beloved Equestria.

The skies had turned a fiery orange as the Three Sisters broke the third seal. While Celestia and Luna struggled to make sense of this bizarre phenomenon, Celestia's magic had activated on its own. The supernatural force wrote 'HELP' repeatedly on a blackboard. After the magic died down, Celestia stared at her sister in fear. "I think we may be running out of time."

Luna frowned and re-read the board. She sighed and rubbed at her forehead. "What are we missing?"

Movement caught their eyes and they saw the Unliving Queen looking towards them. She spoke with a voice that was not her own. "Seek out the falling star. In her light you will find guidance."

The Queen started to fall back asleep. Celestia flew over to her and held her up. "Wait, who are you? What is happening? We don't know what we are supposed to be doing!"

The Queen's body smiled. "I am Shariel, Valkyr of Death. If wisdom you wish to find, seek out the falling star."

The Queen shut her eyes and Celestia gently laid her down. Celestia and Luna stared at her body for a few moments. Luna put her wing around her sister and hugged her. "What's a 'Valkyr?'"

Celestia shrugged. She had never heard the term before. "And why, whatever one is, would it be of death?"

Luna looked back at the board and frowned, then took a protective step in between her sister and the Queen. "Shariel may be a demon, it looked like she possessed the Unliving Queen. Is this another Fizzle Hooves trick?"

Celestia shook her head. "I don't think so. Look at the skies, sister. Whatever the sisters are doing, they are succeeding. I don't know what the 'Valkyr of Death' wants with us, but whatever it was that was writing 'help' through me bore us no ill-will."

"I know that prophecy said 'the stars' would help me escape the moon, and they did, but I don't remember them being more than just stars. It would certainly appear that this 'falling star' we are meant to find was one that we saw earlier," Luna said.

Celestia nodded. "Yes. It looked like they fell someplace in the Frozen North."

Luna sighed and looked out the window. "Well, things are likely to only get worse from here. Shall we awaken the others?"

Celestia shook her head. "No, let them rest. We will seek out this falling star on our own."

The two sisters fetched some winter clothing and headed to the North. They soon realized the clothing was unnecessary, as the skies didn't just look fiery, there were flames all across Equestria, pouring from great fissures to the Netherworld that had opened in the night. For miles around these fissures the trees were reduced to ash and the ground was naught but scorched earth. These fires from the Netherworld had even warmed the chilling climate of the Frozen North.

As they looked below them at all the destruction, they found that the fissures seemed to have originated from one location. With great trepidation, they headed for the smoldering crater that had housed the first seal. As they neared, they began to hear screams of agony, and were unsure whether to flee or quicken their pace.

The alicorn sisters pressed onward and at the bottom of the crater they found Taraiel. Baphomeena had inserted the Nether Crystal into the Valkyr's body and just left her there, torturing her nemesis with the unholy magic she had stored in the Crystal. The light of Taraiel's wings had grown dim, barely visible. She writhed in agony as torrents of unholy energy coursed through her.

Luna glanced at her sister, who shrugged in response. They had never seen a pegasi with wings of light before. "So, the stars were ponies? Strange, we saw four of them, but I only see one. What should we do, Celestia?"

"We have to help her," Celestia said. Celestia shut her eyes and turned her head as she used her magic to pull the crystal out of the Valkyr's body. She strained with all her might. It wouldn't budge.

Celestia panted, "Help me, Luna..."

Luna grabbed the crystal with her magic and the two sisters pulled and worked up a sweat before the crystal finally came free. Celestia curiously looked at the crystal. Her face paled as she recognized it. "The Nether Crystal?"

Taraiel smiled weakly up at them. "I thank you, alicorns, for my freedom."

"You are welcome, stranger. I am Princess Celestia, and this is my sister, Princess Luna," Celestia said. "We are the leaders of Equestria."

"I am Taraiel, Valkyr of Justice. My sisters and I came here to prevent the three great evils from breaking their ancient seals," Taraiel said as she stared up into the sky, a tear falling down her cheek. "But we have failed..."

"What are Valkyrs?" Luna asked.

"For thousands of years, my four sisters and I, the Valkyr, have waged war against the forces of darkness and corruption," Taraiel explained. "We were normal pegasi, once. Our blood was pure and so were our hearts. In reward, upon our deaths we became champions of the light, the Valkyr. We each were granted an aspect: Hope, Wisdom, Valor, Fate, and Justice."

Taraiel looked at the crater and cried. "Now we have lost Fate, Wisdom, Valor, and Hope. I am alone. Justice is all that remains, but without hope, what chance do we have for justice?"

Celestia gently clasped Taraiel's hoof. "No, you are not alone. Shariel still lives."

Tariel's eyes went wide in surprise and she furrowed her brow. "How do you know this?"

Celestia smiled. "She helped us find you. She told us she was the Valkyr of Death, and that you would hold the answers we need to defeat Baphomeena."

Taraiel pondered Celestia's words, then sighed. "I am still alone then. She was my eldest sister and as Wisdom, she was the voice of reason and our leader. She deemed all of this beneath her, and she will be of no help. Shariel was once an intelligent and noble mare who cherished all life. She left us long ago, but before her departure she had become melancholy, evasive, and at times, frightening. It is of great sorrow to hear that she has cast aside Wisdom to claim Death."

"What about these three sisters, the great evils? Can we stop them?" Celestia asked.

Taraiel looked into Celestia's eyes. Perhaps her sister wasn't gone, for she saw hope in this stranger's eyes. "I do not know. They have grown exponentially more powerful since we last fought. Just one of them single-hoofedly slew my sisters... She would have taken me as well, but she wished to inflict eternal suffering upon me with that unholy artifact you carry. For you see, it was I that helped curse them to their current state."

"What are the evils?" Luna asked.

"Demons, powerful ones at that. We had fought them for eons. Finally, we and the forces of light managed to exile them by exorcising their spirits from their bodies. They wandered the world, bodiless, possessing ponies, for decades. Eventually they escaped from our realm of conflict back into the mortal world, your world. I enlisted mortal ponies to track down and bind the three great evils. They were called the Horsadrim. I recruited a paragon from each of our tribes. Starred Rain, the unicorn. Hail Crasha', the pegasus. And Tincan Fool, the Earth pony. They tried all manner of magical methods to bind the evils - crystals, runes, spells... None of them worked. Eventually, they came upon the idea that they required vessels of purity to contain the evils."

Celestia thought upon Taraiel's words, she remembered what Fizzle Hooves' true form had looked like. A shadow foal. She gasped as realization dawned on her. "Oh my gosh. They used their own foals?"

Taraiel sadly nodded. "Fizzle Hooves, daughter of Starred Rain. Ravenmane, daughter of Tincan Fool. And Storm Watcher, daughter of Hail Crasha'. These innocent foals were sacrificed for the greater good. Sadly, the evils they contained were so pervasive that even after they had been bound and defeated, their demonic essence oozed into their poor hosts and corrupted them."

Luna quivered with rage.  "To do something that awful to innocent foals..."

"The three evils seek to break the seals of the Horsadrim and reclaim their demonic bodies," Taraiel said. As she spoke, her eyes began to glow and images formed of the demons' true forms.

The image showed an ebony-furred, hooved humanoid with goat legs, a prehensile tail, and a horned, wolf-like head. Her eyes were red and smoldered like embers. She had a slim, feminine build and long, platinum-blonde hair hung down to her waist.

Taraiel explained, "Lucifiona, Dark Lady of Destruction and Pain. She revels in destruction and leaves a trail of annihilation in her wake.  She truly enjoys inflicting pain, and does not care if she receives it. If she touches you, she can have you re-experience the worst pains you have ever felt in your life, including any injuries you suffered the first time. No matter how impregnable our fortifications were, Lucifiona always found a way to destroy them."

Lucifiona's image vanished and another demon formed. Like her sister, she was also goat-legged, tailed, and hooved. She was tall and gaunt, with long, unkempt hair and a feral face twisted into a grimace of supernatural hatred. Two long, curved horns protruded from her forehead. She had scaly, ivory-white, wrinkled skin covered with knobby lesions and black, cracked lips. She wore a billowing black cloak, and her eyes gleamed with a cold, evil light and were so sunken that her face looked like a skull. Her bony arms were covered with withered sinews and wasted flesh and they ended in long, curved talons.

Celestia shuddered. Taraiel gently brushed Celestia's mane with her wing. "Azazandra, Dark Maiden of Hatred and Anguish. She is aggressive and domineering. She has a cold and calculatingly cruel nature and is almost unreachable emotionally. She is violent, cruel, and hateful at all times. Unlike her sister Lucifiona, she is interested not in physical pain but in emotional agony. Her touch chills you to the very soul."

Tears ran down Taraiel's cheeks as she conjured the last image. "And the worst of them all, Baphomeena, Dark Mistress of Terror, Lies, and Sin."

Celestia and Luna glanced at each other. "That sounds about right. This is the one we've had the most interaction with."

The image formed of a goat-legged, tailed, hooved humanoid of unearthly beauty covered in a reddish fur. Long, flowing, blood-red hair swept around her and at times had the appearance of flames. Her eyes were dark, glistening orbs of green that seemed to drain your life force just by looking into them. Unlike her sisters, she looked almost pleasing to the eye, possessing a supernatural allure.

Taraiel slowly nodded. "That makes sense. Baphomeena is passionate and plotting, both to very dangerous degrees. She is by far the most charismatic and seductive of all the evils, a master of deceit that delights in coercing and corrupting ponies. She is the most powerful, and most dangerous, of the three evils. She has plagued your world on several occasions, and tormented mortals time and again, more often than any of her foul sisters. Often the pony who Baphomeena possessed went mad watching the Dark Mistress ruin the lives of those around them and all they held dear."

"Is there even a chance for us to defeat them?" Luna asked nervously.

Taraiel looked into Luna's eyes, saw that same flicker of hope. She smiled. "Perhaps. The events that are unfolding have been in the making for millennia. My sisters and I have been working to stop them." She grinned at Luna. "We helped free you from the moon, amongst other things."

Taraiel held out her hoof and three glowing orbs appeared. "These are the spirit stones. Over the years, we have collected all the drops of blood, all the tears, all the pain and sorrow of the evils' victims and used our powers to forge them into these prisons. If we can vanquish them, we can trap them in these, forcing them to suffer for all the grief they have caused."

Celestia and Luna picked up Taraiel and held her between them. "Let's get back to Canterlot. Now that we know more about them, we will find a way to stop the evils."

Chapter 16

By the time Celestia and Luna returned, slowed by the wounded Valkyr, the Three Sisters had broken another seal. Things were not looking good for Equestria. Demons poured out of the ever-widening fissures and winged demons roamed the skies. The royal pony sisters immediately executed Royal Decree Number 583189-A: Cloudsdale would be mobilized and used as a refuge for everypony they could rescue. Thankfully, due to the royal wedding a good deal of ponies were already in Canterlot, where Shining Armor's forcefield was keeping them safe.

A great sense of despair hung over Canterlot, but it brightened a little at the return of the princesses. The ponies had all been enraptured by the Valkyr, but none more so than Rarity, who fawned endlessly over the pegasus' beautiful wings. After Taraiel and the ponies got each other up to speed on recent and past events, Taraiel concentrated on the blackboard the ponies had been using earlier. She turned to Celestia. "May I?"

Celestia nodded. Taraiel used her wings and drew a triangle with a gemstone, storm clouds and rainbow, tree branches and a wild flower and wrote 'Horsadrim.' She frowned at all the 'HELP's written across the board.

Celestia noticed, winked at the Valkyr. "You know, you could have wrote something a little more... helpful."

Taraiel raised her eyebrow. "I did not write this."

Celestia frowned. "Something used my magic and repeatedly wrote that before your sister Shariel contacted us. I presumed it was you."

Taraiel looked concerned. "It was not by my powers. I was filled with so much agony I could barely think, let alone perform a feat such as this. Regardless, which pony is this 'Trixie?'"

Celestia pointed. Trixie sat alone, chewing on a sandwich with a vacant expression. Taraiel appeared before her in all of her majesty, the tendrils of her wings of light splayed out behind her. She commanded Trixie, "Stand."

Eyes wide, Trixie staggered to her feet. Taraiel placed her hooves on the sides of Trixie's head. Her hooves began to glow and the light of her wings dimmed. After a moment, she crashed down onto the table. Concerned ponies circled around her, and Taraiel smiled up at Trixie.

Trixie felt renewed. The dark haze that had hung around her head since her attack on the reception was gone. She smiled happily at the Valkyr. "What did you do to me?"

Taraiel winked. "I have cleansed you of the evils' influence. Do you know why they sought you out?"

Trixie shook her head. "We tried to research why, but couldn't find anything."

Taraiel rolled over and stood, wrapping her wings around Trixie. "Trixie, you are the last of the Horsadrim. The sole descendent of the three bloodlines. Your ancestor was Starred Rain. The evils sought to corrupt you, for with your power you could have easily broken the Horsadric seals to ensure their plan's success. When that failed, they instead tried to destroy you, for you alone hold the power to re-seal the ancient Horsadric runes that bind the bodies of the evils. Luckily for us, the magic of your Horsadric ancestors protected you from them so they could not slay you themselves."

Trixie thought about Fizzle Hooves, and for once the thoughts also weren't accompanied by dark thoughts of hurting herself. "She kept telling me we were like sisters. We were the same."

Taraiel smiled, then glanced at the board. "Yes. Fizzle Hooves could be like your sister. You are both descended from Starred Rain. You are both Horsadrim. It is strange Baphomeena would have told you that, though."

Trixie thought about her time with Fizzle Hooves. She remembered the stone tablets and their ornate box. The box had the same writing that the tablets did, but she couldn't remember what it had said. She got the sneaking suspicion that the box was very important. She looked around the crowd of ponies and saw the bearded face she was looking for. "Star Swirl, I need your help."

Star Swirl bowed his head. "Of course, Trixie. How may I serve you?"

"Can you teach me the spell that lets you project images of memories?" Trixie asked.

"As you wish," Star Swirl said.

Star Swirl conjured up a spell book and sat down with Trixie to help her learn the spell. A short while later Trixie had mastered the spell. She thought of the period after she completed her first trial, for she had closely inspected the box then, and cast the memory spell. A magical screen appeared in the air next to Trixie, displaying the requested memory.

Star Swirl began to chuckle as he saw Marelinn. "It appears you were correct that Marelinn was an alicorn."

Trixie was peering at the symbols on the chest. She began to read them out loud, "When evil makes you want to flee, call upon these powers three."

"What is this I am seeing?" Taraiel asked.

"It's... complicated," Trixie said. "Fizzle Hooves gave me those spells as part of my magical training. After I started to break free from the demons' grasp, she appeared to me again and told me that all the spells, including these tablets, were real."

"These stone tablets, you could read them?" Taraiel asked.

"Yes, I was taught how to read that language when I was with Baphomeena. The tablets contained spells. One that binds a target with chains. One that summons a vortex of energy. And one that blinds," Trixie said.

Taraiel clapped her hooves with glee. "Those spells she gave you, those were used by the Horsadrim ancients to combat supernatural foes. They can certainly help us fight the Three Sisters. How they were delivered to you while you were under the oppression of a demon is beyond me, but I gladly confess that I will never understand the mind of a demon, much less one as demented as Baphomeena."

Celestia looked at the Valkyr curiously. She thought back to the Demonology tome and something clicked in her mind. "It was Fizzle Hooves that wrote on the board!"

"I concur," Taraiel said with a smile.

"The Marelinn image being an alicorn, that was also Fizzle Hooves trying to help Trixie. To show her that she was being deceived, wasn't it?" Celestia asked.

"It would seem so," Luna replied. "Fizzle Hooves tried to show Trixie something that she hoped would be seen as false, so that Trixie would realize she was in trouble."

Twilight tilted her head and looked between the board, Celestia, and Taraiel. "I don't understand...?"

Pinkie Pie giggled and produced a Dr. Trotson hat, placing it on Twilight's head. Pinkie had also deduced what Trixie, Celestia, and the Valkyr had, that the foal Baphomeena possessed had found a way to fight back against her demonic guest. Pinkie smiled merrily. "What a perfectly silly thing to say."

Twilight sighed. Star Swirl patted her on the head. "There, there, Twilight. I'm afraid I don't quite understand either."

The other ponies in the room were also perplexed. Celestia used her magic to bring the bouncy Pinkie Pie over to her and hugged her. She looked into Pinkie's smiling face and a tear ran down her cheek. "Of course Laughter would understand, wouldn't you, Pinkie?"

Pinkie giggled and hugged the princess. "I can't believe we didn't think of it before."

The Unliving Queen stood, realization had dawned on her as well. "Twilight Sparkle, tell us: what is the most powerful magic known to ponydom?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "The Elements of Harmony."

The Queen smiled. "I myself once wielded the Elements, and also have been the victim of them. It seemed like they were useless against me, no? But they weren't. They did work, just not in a dramatic, over-the-top, banish-to-the-moon fashion."

The Queen bowed her head, showing the glittering heart-shaped crystal around the room. "Fizzle Hooves, or Baphomeena, whatever, stole all that I was. She took my magic," the Queen showed her flank around the room, "took my very talent. She told me it was the worst kind of curse, and she was right. I was going to kill myself, for that, and... other reasons. But I learned the one thing she couldn't take was friendship and love."

The Queen walked over to Rainbow Dash and smiled broadly at her friend. "I would not be speaking to you right now if it wasn't for my friends."

Twilight shook her head. "I still don't understand."

There was a twinkle in Star Swirl's eyes, he laughed and grinned at Twilight. "Look at the Unliving Queen, Twilight. For decades she had been a ruthless tyrant, ruling her own twisted version of Equestria with an iron hoof. Now, she's almost just like yourself, like she was before all of this happened."

Twilight looked at what was essentially her own corpse and shuddered. "I give up, will somepony please just tell me already?"

Celestia pulled Twilight over with her magic and wrapped her under her wing. "Twilight, why would Fizzle Hooves write 'Help' over and over? Why would she tell Trixie that they were sisters, they were the same? That Trixie has some special purpose?"

Twillight's ears flopped down as she sunk deep in thought. She studied the board, looked at the Unliving Queen, and thought of what she had read about demons. She thought to herself, We beat the Unliving Queen because she still had goodness in her heart. Baphomeena is a demon, and from what Taraiel told us she is not good at all. But why would she tell Trixie those things and give her those spells? Unless she didn't....

Twilight looked up at Celestia and smiled broadly. "Because underneath all of that evil, all of that corruption, is an innocent little foal desperately wanting to be saved! And that gives us a major weakness to exploit!"

Celestia grinned and held Twilight tight against her.

Star Swirl chuckled. "Yes, it would appear she was trying to help us all along. The line about innocence being stronger than corruption, Trixie's destiny and bloodline... Baphomeena may be in control, but Fizzle Hooves is still in there somewhere, yearning to be free. Kind of humorous, in a way. The mistress of manipulation is being used herself, by one of her own victims at that."

Celestia nodded. "Taraiel told us that Baphomeena had corrupted more ponies than either of her sisters and had attacked more often. Meaning she would have likely been exposed to the Elements of Harmony more often. The Elements may not have had much of an affect on Baphomeena, but they could very well have been empowering the innocent host within her."

The Unliving Queen giggled. "And you saw how quickly I was changed after only a few blasts from the Elements. How many times must Fizzle Hooves have been bathed in the rainbow of Harmony? There is a brave young unicorn fighting to be free of Baphomeena's darkness, we must help her."

"Yes, uh, Twilight, we must help Fizzle Hooves in any way we can," Rarity said. "I can't help but think about my dear Sweetie Belle and imagining something happening to her like what poor Fizzle Hooves has endured, just makes me so angry!"

Taraiel nodded. "Quite. This may be our best, and perhaps only, way to stop the sisters. If the sisters break the final seal, they will reclaim their own bodies and this avenue of attack will be lost to us."

Applejack said what most of the ponies were thinking. "I don't mean to be a mule at a barn dance or nothin', but this could all just be a trick. Y'all did say she's the master of lies and deceit and all that."

Celestia smiled. "Perhaps, Applejack. Bu if it means we can save an innocent foal, who was sacrificed through no fault of her own, and condemn the demon sisters to eternal suffering, we must give it a chance."

Taraiel appeared in a flash of light besides Applejack and placed her hoof on her shoulder. "Yes, this may be our only chance at justice. I... am not sure if we could defeat them using conventional methods. Not without my sisters... I can sense that you are all brave ponies, but if any of you have your doubts, feel free to stay behind."

Pinkie Pie stomped her hoof. "Stay behind? Nuh-uh! We're going to stop these evils and save those foals! Where is this final seal, Taraiel?"

"The Canyon of the Magi. There, the Horsadrim buried their mummified dead. The final seal is within the tomb for the original Horsadrim: Hail Crasha', Starred Rain, and Tincan Fool," Taraiel explained.

There was a gleam in Celestia's eye. "Mummified dead you say?"

Taraiel nodded. Celestia pulled out the Nether Crystal, stared at it for a moment, then tossed it to the Unliving Queen. Celestia beamed. "I believe we have a task for you, dear Twilight."

The Queen caught the crystal with her magic and stared at it in horror, then ran from the room in tears.

Applejack scratched her head. "Uh, didn't she just say she was gonna kill herself over not having her powers? Why the hay is she a'runnin' from gettin' 'em back?"

Star Swirl sighed. "I'll go talk to her."

Rainbow Dash was already airborne. "I'll do it!"

Rainbow found the Queen back in her quarters, curled up on her bed next to her Smarty Pants doll - which had been transmuted into her crown and was now disenchanted to its original form. The Queen was staring into the Nether Crystal. Her friends, her country, her mentor, were expecting, perhaps even ordering, her to reclaim those dark powers, but the Queen was afraid of what might happen if she got them back.

Rainbow sat on the bed, gently stroked the Queen's mane with her wing. "What's wrong, Twilight? Don't you want your powers back?"

"Why didn't the princess destroy this damn thing when she had the chance," the Queen moaned.

"Maybe because it's yours, and the only reason you lost it was because Baphomeena stole it," Rainbow replied.

"You don't understand, Dash. I was free. That crazy crystal Cadence made? It made me feel so good inside. I didn't have my magic or my dark powers, but for the first time in decades I felt good. Now, if I want to help the ponies I love, I need to take up my powers and all the darkness that comes with it," the Queen said.

The Queen clasped her Smarty Pants doll tighter. "I didn't even get to see my own brother's wedding because of that damn Nether Crystal."

"Look, Twilight," Rainbow gently said. "I'm a pegasus. If you want to know the wing power of any of the Wonderbolts, I'm your mare. If you want specific weather conditions at a specific time and place, I'm your mare. If you want something done the firstest with the fastest mostest, I'm your mare. If you want some clouds busted in a Manehattan minute, I'm your mare. But I don't really know anything about magic, that's all you. Can you even get those powers back? I mean, didn't we use this thing to bind your powers before?"

The Queen frowned. "Well, yeah, the first time it knocked me out like a sleeping pill. I think that is what it was designed to do since it's how the princesses subdued the Unliving King. The problem is Baphomeena managed to put all my magic inside it, too, and who knows what else she did to it."

"Princess Celestia seemed sure it was going to give you your powers back though, right?" Rainbow said. "She just gave it to you, like she knew it would work."

The Queen ran her hoof along the crystal. "Maybe it's not so much the powers I'm worried about, you know? I figured it has to go back in the same hole and our crystal is there now..."

"Okay, even if it has to be put back in your head like it was before, maybe there's room for our crystal too," Rainbow said. "Just try it, Twilight. Stick it in there, and if you go all sleeping beauty or psycho on me I'll just yank it back out."

The Queen smiled, then shook her head. "It's more than just that. I did so many terrible, terrible things when I had those powers. I don't even know how much of my evil thoughts were my own or just planted by the Three Sisters... I'm... I'm afraid I might relapse or, given recent events, some demon will come along and... and I'll end up..." the Queen began to sob, "hurting you and everypony I love!"

"I promise you, Twilight, that won't happen," Rainbow said with confidence.

The Queen wiped at her tears and looked at her loyal friend. "But how can you be sure?"

"Because, Twilight, if I ever see you heading that way.. BAM! Sonic rainboom right between your eyes," Rainbow clapped her hooves together over the Queen's face.

The Queen laughed. "You really mean it?"

Rainbow nodded and flashed a roguish grin. "Yep. I want you, Twilight. Not the Unliving Queen."

Rainbow held the Queen's hoof, "Go ahead, try to put in the crystal, for me. For us."

The Queen took a deep breath, took a long look at her friend's face, then jammed the crystal into the gaping hole it had left in her body. She looked up. "Well, I'm still conscious, and I don't hear the voices of the damned like before."

Rainbow bounced on the bed excitedly. "Okay, time to check and make sure it's all right. Cast a spell!"

The Queen paused for a moment, thinking of what she wanted to cast. In her brief time without magic, she had realized how important it was to her, especially for its utility uses such as opening doors. "Ooh! I know the perfect one."

The Queen's horn began to glow as she cast a necromantic mending spell, repairing her damaged head and the sword wound from where Star Swirl had stabbed her during their final battle in the Westmarech castle. "How do I look, Dash?"

Rainbow smiled. "Just like new, well, sort of."

Rainbow craned her neck to look at the Queen's flank and frowned. "Your cutie mark is still gone."

The Queen looked back and sighed. "That's annoying. I still remember that day I, or I should say 'we,' all earned our cutie marks. I was so happy that Princess Celestia had chosen me. I was even happier when we realized that all of us were connected, that destiny had hoof-picked us to earn our cutie marks that day."

Rainbow smiled and nodded in agreement as she checked out her own cutie mark. "My first sonic rainboom, that was so awesome! Well, maybe you can re-earn your cutie mark? It won't be as special but I can muster up a sonic rainboom if need be."

The Queen hugged Rainbow. "Thank you for being my friend, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow grabbed the Queen and took off, embracing her in an aerial hug. She giggled as the Queen gasped in fright. "You're welcome, Twilight Sparkle. Hey, how about a race back to the lounge?"

The Queen smirked. "You're on! But I must tell you Rainbow, you've already lost!"

The Queen's horn began to glow as she cast a teleportation spell and vanished out of Rainbow's grip. The pegasus laughed and made her way out the door, then grunted as she fell to the ground. Rainbow rubbed at her rear and looked up and saw Rarity standing over her. "What the hay, Rarity!"

Rarity looked down upon her with curiosity. "Rainbow Dash, what in Equestria is going on between you and unholy Twilight?"

Rainbow stood and dusted off her flank. "Nothing."

Rarity shook her head. "Don't lie to me, Rainbow Dash. I've seen the way she looks at you. She doesn't look at any of us like that. And you seem to be the only pony besides her daughter, brother, and maybe sister-in-law that care about her. I certainly didn't see Fluttershy bolting away to go console her just now."

Rainbow sighed. "That's probably because Fluttershy is scared of her.... It's not something you would understand, Rarity."

"Do I need to get Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash? I just want to know what is going on with you," Rarity said. "I'm worried!"

"Please don't get Pinkie, and please don't tell anypony else what I am about to tell you, okay? Especially Twilight," Rainbow said.

Rarity's eyes lit up. She loved secrets. "Ooh! You can trust me, Rainbow. I have a Top Secret security clearance with the Canterlot Intelligence Agency!"

Rainbow titled her head. Did Rarity just say she was a spy? She shrugged it off. "Uh, okay, thanks, Rarity. This might sound dumb, and I really don't want you telling anypony this, but the evil Twilight is just so much cooler than our Twilight. She throws fireballs, chokes ponies with her magic, her voice is all creepy and cool, her eyes look so fiery and awesome, she summons crazy things like ghouls and bats. She's just so... awesome..."

Rarity shook her head. "I suppose she is kind of cool, in a super scary and evil kind of way. But I know there's more to it than that." Rarity smirked at Rainbow mischievously. "Tell me what she told you back in Westmarech. Or I'm telling Twilight you think she's not cool enough without being evil."

Rainbow sighed. "Well, the thing is, when Pinkie was about to put that crystal in her after we beat her, she didn't really tell me that Fluttershy has tail extensions."

Rarity nodded. "Mm-hmm. I suspected that much."

Rainbow smiled. "Well, yeah. Anyway, what she really said was that she loved me, and I found out earlier that the reason she had said that, and the reason we are even still alive, was because the other me, the Rainbow Dash of her world or whatever, had said it to her. It was apparently a really emotional moment for her, and she said she tried to keep remembering that memory, that it was the one thing that helped keep the goodness in her alive, but she ended up losing it. Then when she looked at me as we fought her in Westmarech it all came back to her."

Rarity put her leg around Rainbow's shoulders. "Oh, Dash.."

"I mean, Twilight's never told me that. I've never got a Hearts and Hooves Day card from her," Rainbow said.

Rarity laughed. "Sweetie, none of us get Hearts and Hooves Day cards from her. That mare's always got her head buried in a book."

Rainbow smiled. She remembered last Hearts and Hooves Day, where Twilight had spent the majority of the holiday wandering around reading about it instead of participating. "Well, I guess, but the Unliving Queen used to be just like our Twilight. Which means Twilight really does love me, right?"

Rarity hugged her friend. "Of course she does, Rainbow! Why would you think otherwise?"

Rainbow looked sheepishly at the ceiling. "Well, she's never told me."

Rarity giggled. "That's because she's, well, Twilight. I know she loves you, Rainbow Dash, she loves all of her friends, and we love you too. We might not say it, but that doesn't mean it isn't true. Would I be here checking up on you if I didn't care for you? I've seen the way Twilight obsessively makes your favorite sandwich when you two are reading your Daring Do adventures together. That look on her face for just a moment after you've accidentally crashed into the library or wherever she is when she is elated to see you. You two are just like myself and Fluttershy, really good friends that share a special bond. We prefer the spa, you two prefer Daring Do."

Rainbow grinned. "We do love the Do!"

Rarity paused.

"You really are a good friend, Rainbow Dash. You see the Unliving Queen solely as Twilight, and not the undead horror that she is, don't you?" Rarity asked.

"Well, yeah, I mean, she is Twilight. It takes some getting used to how she looks, but you should really talk with her, she's pretty much just like Twilight now," Rainbow said.

Rarity laughed, then put her hooves on Rainbow's shoulders, her expression becoming grim. "I just don't want to see you get hurt, Rainbow Dash. Once this is over, Princess Celestia might throw her in the dungeon, or worse. She did some very, very evil things, including attacking Canterlot itself."

Rainbow sighed and looked back at the Queen's Smarty Pants doll on the bed. "I know... I guess we'll see what happens soon enough, huh? Guess we better get back there."

The two returned to the dining hall and took their seats. Taraiel nodded at them. "We are all here. Alright, my little ponies, this is it. We have but one shot at this. If we fail, this world is doomed. The key to our victory is Fizzle Hooves, the corrupted host of Baphomeena. If we can isolate her and show her the magic of friendship, the innocent foal may be able to overpower the demon. We will then exorcise her and trap her within the spirit stone."

The Valkyr pointed at Trixie. "We shall use the last of the Horsadrim to try and lure out the other two demons. She must be protected at all costs, or else we shall not be able to reseal the Horsadric runes. Star Swirl the Bearded, In Hoc Signo Vinces, the Unliving Queen, you and I shall be her protectors."

The three unicorns nodded.

"I would like to make one amendment to that, however," Star Swirl said. He began to cast a spell and his chronal magic transformed Spike into his adult self - a buff, bipedal humanoid dragon.

"Spike helped my Twilight and I before, I would like his sword arm now," Star Swirl explained.

Taraiel smiled as the ponies excitedly gathered around Spike. "To reinforce the threat that the Horsadrim poses, the Unliving Queen will use her dark powers to raise the Horsadric dead. That should guarantee involvement from the demons, disrupting or slowing their ritual."

The Valkyr pointed at Luna. "Princess Luna, you shall command the armies of Equestria against the demons to ensure that there is still something for us to come back to should we prevail."

"Princess Celestia, you will accompany the Elements of Harmony and protect them while they confront Baphomeena. Know that she can invoke your greatest fears and use them to destroy you," Taraiel said.

The ponies looked at Fluttershy, who was well known for her fears. Fluttershy blushed. "Don't worry about me, girls. I'm afraid of everything equally."

Taraiel patted Fluttershy on the head. "Baphomeena's greatest weapon against you is terror. Do not give in to your fears. She may also attempt to deceive you or seduce you with offers of power or fortune. Resist her, and we can put an end to her for good. Be careful, my friends, and may the light watch over you."

Celestia looked out the window. "How much time do we have, Taraiel?"

"The final seal is the strongest. There is time, but we must not dally," Taraiel said.

Celestia looked at Twilight and her friends. She had an idea in mind. "Girls, I want you to fetch something that may help you save Fizzle Hooves. Think of the aspect of friendship that you represent, and how that may help against Baphomeena."

Celestia smiled as the six bearers of the Elements ran off excitedly. She turned to Taraiel. "So tell me, Taraiel, how did your sisters let all of this happen? If you had the tools to defeat the demon sisters, how are they allowed to roam free?"

A tear fell down the Valkyr's cheek. "My sister, Urdiel, the Valkyr of Fate, she possessed a magical scroll, the Scroll of Fate as it were. Upon this scroll was written everything that had happened and would happen to us, the Valkyr. Her scroll said that we would all meet for one last battle against the sisters on the site of the first seal, and that we would be defeated. So it was written, and so it has passed. We could not act in any manner besides what was preordained by the scroll."

Taraiel looked out at the fiery skies. "I was supposed to die by their sides, yet here I am. I guess our actions were not set in stone after all."

Celestia hugged the Valkyr. "I am so sorry, Taraiel. I lost my sister for a thousand years because of these demons, I can not even fathom how you must be feeling right now. There's one more thing I wish to ask, you said you and your sisters have been fighting against the sisters for quite some time, where have these battles been waged?"

Taraiel smiled. "The majority of our conflict has been fought in the land of Pandemaneium, a battle-scarred land dominated by light and shadow. Some battles spill out into the Netherworld, the magical parallel realm that mirrors your world, and others even made their way here. The great crusades of old closed most of the portals to the Netherworld and cut off the conflict from spilling out to this peaceful place, but as you have unfortunately born witness to, the demons appear to have re-opened many of them."

"Is this Pandemaneium located on our world?" Celestia asked.

Taraiel shrugged. "If it was, it is no longer. My sisters and I must use our powers to travel between this world and Pandemaneium."

As Celestia and Taraiel continued to chat about demons and Pandemaneium, the six ponies returned, each bearing saddlebags. Twilight galloped up to Celestia and grinned. "We're ready!"

Celestia nodded at the six Element bearers. "Though this be our darkest hour, it may yet be your greatest moment. Is everypony ready?"

Trixie hugged Twilight. "I wish I could be there when you girls take down Baphomeena."

Twilight smiled as she hugged Trixie back. "Don't worry, I'll tell you all about it. You might even need to show me that memory spell so you can have a front row seat."

"How are we going to get there?" Star Swirl asked. "I'm afraid even I have not heard of this Canyon of the Magi."

"This one is on me, old one," Taraiel said as she thrust out her hoof and opened a portal.

As the ponies entered the portal they found themselves within a sandy, wind-swept canyon. They could see numerous entrances of tombs carved into the canyon walls. The Unliving Queen's horn glowed brightly as she began raising the Horsadric dead that populated the tombs. She smiled broadly, she could sense the power held by these corpses, and powerful they were indeed.

Celestia looked at her comrades and smiled. "This is it my little ponies, win or lose, know that I am proud of everypony here, and I love you all."

Taraiel stuck out her hoof and summoned her runeblade. She held it up before her and shouted in a voice as loud as thunder. "When the injustice is great enough, justice will lend us the strength needed to correct it! There is nothing that can stay the hoof of justice when it is brought against you, Baphomeena! Know that for all who betray justice, I am their fate, and fate carries an executioner's blade!"

Chapter 17

One by one, Taraiel placed her hooves upon the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony. She whispered a prayer in an ancient tongue as she blessed each one, warding them against the forces of evil. She came upon Celestia and smiled. Taraiel plucked a hair from her mane and wrapped it around the princess' horn.

"When you have subdued Baphomeena, say my name and I shall arrive to aid you," Taraiel said.

"Are you sure you can handle two of the sisters by yourselves?" Celestia asked.

The Unliving Queen turned towards Celestia. "I can feel great strength in these Horsadrim. We should be fine."  

Taraiel looked at the four unicorns and the dragon and nodded. "Do not worry about us. Now, go towards the tomb. It will not be long before they investigate the disturbance caused by the undead."

"I have something to help with that," Star Swirl said. His horn began to glow as he cast a haste spell upon the seven ponies, causing their forms to blur as they moved at great speed. "Good luck."

As the seven waved and went with rapid speed towards the tomb of the first Horsadrim, the Horsadric dead began to arrive. The Unliving Queen organized them in orderly rows, then said to Taraiel, "They are all here."

Trixie yelped as the Valkyr pulled a hair from her tail, then plucked one of her own feathers. She wrapped the hair around the feather and blew it towards the Horsadric dead. The hair and feather disintegrated into dust and as the dust touched the mummies they gained sentience. They yanked the linens from their faces then fell to their knees at the site of Taraiel. A pegasus mare mummy scanned the gathered Horsadrim, noticed the skies above, and frowned.

"The divine founder of the Horsadrim has returned, and the situation is dire if we have been awoken from our eternal slumber. I am Stormherald, fifth grandmaster of the Horsadrim. What are your orders, Valkyr?" the pegasus mummy, Stormherald, asked.

"Stand," Taraiel commanded.

The Horsadrim rose to their hooves.

"The three evils you brave ponies vanquished long ago are now on the verge of reclaiming their bodies. We have a plan in motion to prevent this. Lucifiona or Azazandra should arrive shortly. With any luck, both will come," Taraiel quickly explained.

Taraiel pointed towards Trixie, "We have with us the last of the Horsadrim. Protect her at all costs, we do not know if the evils breaking of the seals may have also dispelled the Horsadric magic that shields her from them."

Stormherald nodded and turned to address the Horsadrim. "We have our mission, brethren. Unicorns, ready your spells and prepare the pits. Earths, prepare your plants. Pegasi, conjure the clouds. Go!"

Star Swirl cast another haste spell on the Horsadrim as they began preparing the battlefield. The unicorns stared in amazement at the power wielded by the ancient unicorns. Horsadric unicorns used their magic to dig massive pits which the Horsadric pegasi filled with water. The Horsadric Earth ponies already had a waist-high sea of grass grown along with bushes and trees, forming a perimeter around Trixie.

Taraiel noticed the looks of awe on the modern day unicorns and laughed. "Behold, the Horsadrim!"

* * *

Deep inside the tomb of the original Horsadrim, the possessed Fizzle Hooves, Storm Watcher, and Ravenmane stood with their hooves on an altar, whispering in an ancient tongue. Lucifiona paused. She felt a disturbance. "The Horsadric dead have risen, sisters."

Azazandra scowled. "Did we trigger a rune of protection?"

Baphomeena shrugged. "Lucifiona, go deal with our guests."

"With pleasure!" Lucifiona cackled.  She shimmered away and her sisters continued whispering the ancient spell.

Azazandra tilted her head closed her eyes. She could feel hatred emanating from the canyon. "I can sense great hatred out there, Baphomeena. It is more than just the pesky Horsadrim. I can almost... yes. The Valkyr is there. The one you said you had taken care of."

Baphomeena sighed. "And if she is there, we can presume she has brought all the little meddlesome mortals we've been toying with. Go help Lucifiona."

As Azazandra shimmered away, Baphomeena muttered, "These ponies are really starting to annoy me..."

* * *

Lucifiona soared through the skies over the canyon and dove through the clouds towards the circle of trees. She licked her lips in anticipation of the pain she was about to deal. A Horsadric pegasi spotted her and yelled, "It's Lucifiona!"

Stormherald smirked. The demon had flown right into their trap, just like the old days. "Earths, do your thing! Unicorns, hold steady!"

The Horsadric Earth ponies were already moving to meet their foe. They placed their hooves on the ground and the sky filled with flying spears transformed from the blades of grass they had grown. The plant lances swarmed around Lucfiona, thrusting and jabbing at the possessed pegasus, but as they neared her they became chilled by her infernal aura of cold. Lucifiona slapped the brittle lances out of the sky and continued her descent.

Undeterred, the Horsadric Earth ponies moved towards the bushes they had planted. They placed one hoof on the bushes and pointed the other towards Lucifiona. A deadly barrage of thorns sprayed up into the skies. Lucfiona didn't even try to evade this attack, instead relishing the sensation of the thorns tearing into her body to give herself more power.

Without hesitation, the Horsadric Earth ponies maximized the opportunity the distracted Lucifiona presented and vines lanced up from the ground, tangling around Lucifiona's wings and legs. The Horsadrim directed their vines towards one of the water-filled pits the unicorns and pegasi had created. As Lucifiona was dragged over the pit, Horsadric pegasi dove into the water, swimming rapidly.

The water began to rise in a swirling, cylindrical column, towering eighty feet into the air. Lucifiona and the vines were sucked into the destructive vortex of water and the Horsadrim cheered. The Horsadric pegasi immediately followed up by ceasing their waterspout and creating a maelstrom instead. Helplessly whirling around in the water, Lucifiona was dragged down into a sucking, drowning cone, pulled farther and farther underwater, fighting for breath as the vortex pulled her towards the bottom.

Azazandra watched her sister fall into the trap and swore under her breath. She charged towards the Horsadrim, casting chain lightning and skull missiles into their ranks. Azazandra shimmered towards the pool of water and stomped, freezing both the water and the nearby Horsadric pegasi with a nova of frost magic. Soaking wet and her robes in tatters, Lucifiona smashed up through the ice, her eyes seething with fury.

Lucifiona snarled and clapped her hooves together, sending a nova of flames in all directions. As the flames approached Trixie, Horsadric Earth ponies leaped in front of her, thrusting out their hooves which were surrounded with a pulsating shield of darkness, 'flame shields' that absorbed fire spells. Lucifiona's flames were harmlessly absorbed by the shield spells, infuriating her even further. The Horsadric Earth ponies followed up their gain with a counter attack by planting staves in the ground and speaking a mystical word. Their staves transformed into treant-like plant creatures, which charged towards the two evils.

Azazandra countered the treants with a stomp that produced a nova of poison, which began to wither away the treants. The Horsadric Earth ponies stomped as well, sending deep furrows through the ground at Azazandra. Azazandra staggered and fell into the hole the Earths had just created as the dying treants piled in on top of her. Lucifiona laughed at her sister's predicament, then pointed her hoof towards the pile of treants, shattering them with a wave of hoarfrost.

As Azazandra climbed from the trench, Horsadric pegasi flew down from the clouds towards her. Swirling, sword-shaped formations of jagged ice shards extended from the Horsadrims' hooves. Azazandra pointed her hoof at the winged attackers, sending them plummeting to the ground as bolts of lightning coursed through their bodies. Lucifiona touched her wings to the ground and tentacles emerged from the sand which grabbed and tore at the stricken Horsadric pegasi.

Stormherald scowled and took to the air and pointed her hooves towards the two evils. Gale-force winds began to tear through the canyon, whirling around the evils and forming a great tornado. The surviving Horsadric pegasi flew towards the clouds, sending a deadly barrage of hail and lightning into the tornado. The berries from the Horsadric Earth ponies' bushes were sucked in, exploding in brilliant flashes of flame as they impacted on the evils. The Horsadric Earth ponies faced the tornado and stomped, causing spikes of rocks to emerge from the ground. These jagged stones were also sucked up into the tornado, ripping at the evil's bodies as they whirled around.

The Horsadric pegasi held out their hooves and shimmering, multi-layered bows of rainbow hues conjured into existence. Each pegasi fired seven arrows into the tornado, one for each color of the rainbow.

Spike touched Taraiel's wing. "Why aren't the unicorns doing anything?"

Taraiel smiled. "Magic is powerful, but the nature powers that the pegasi and Earth ponies wield is not quite as... restricted. The Horsadrim use the other tribes to weaken the evils before striking with their magi." She laughed and pointed towards a group of Horsadrim, "You do not want to miss this, little one."

A group of Horsadric Earth ponies and pegasi were circled around large boulders. They held hooves and began to chant a spell. As the spell ended, the boulders transformed into flaming hot magma and went sailing through the air into the tornado. As the molten boulders crunched against the evils, Stormherald set down on the ground and the tornado began to die down. Azazandra and Lucifiona plummeted towards the earth and impacted with a bone-rattling crash.

The Horsadric unicorns immediately began attacking, sending a fearsome volley of spells towards the fallen demons. Star Swirl and the Unliving Queen eagerly stepped forwards, wanting a piece of the action. Taraiel nodded at them. "Go ahead."

Above the two stricken evils, the sky burned with sheets of roaring flame that cascaded down upon them as two-foot diameter meteors streaked from the sky and burst into them. Star Swirl pointed his hoof and cast a spell, summoning a telekinetic sphere. He captured Lucifiona in the sphere and mercilessly directed her into the paths of the meteors. Azazandra staggered to her feet, and Star Swirl stood on his hind legs and pointed his other hoof towards her, pinning her to the ground under a huge, magical, disembodied hoof.

As the fire storms and meteor swarms died down, a steady stream of lightning, frozen orbs, and fireballs were directed against the evils.

The Unliving Queen teleported forwards, thrusting her hoof out and channeling a spell. Seven shimmering, multicolored rays of light flashed from her hoof in a triangular spray towards the evils. Star Swirl's crushing hoof spell dissipated and Azazandra began to rise, sneering at the undead unicorn. Azazandra pointed her hoof towards her and laughed as she channeled a torrent of lightning at her. The Queen shrieked as Azazandra's lightning arced through her body for just a moment before her contingency spell (a preemptive spell that triggers upon certain conditions being met, such as being hurt with magic) activated, protecting her with an anti-magic shell.

Trixie smirked as she hurled orbs of pure energy at the evils as the Queen fled back towards the others. Despite all the attacks, Azazandra slowly helped Lucifiona to her feet. Azazandra knew that her sister would gain in power as more pain and destruction was dispensed, no matter who was being hurt or what was being destroyed, so all she had to do was make sure Lucifiona was not incapacitated and the battle should be theirs.

Spike's eyes went wide. "How are they still alive?"

Taraiel wrapped her wing around him. "Stand strong, my friend. We have inflicted much injury upon them, but they are powerful."

Spike watched the two evils as they struck back at the Horsadrim, resulting in many of the mummies collapsing into dust. He glanced nervously towards Star Swirl, "I sure hope Rarity and the others are doing okay."

Spike looked back towards the battle and saw that a vile effigy of Lucifiona had been created, and the two of them were silencing the unicorns with a magic draining attack.

Spike gulped. "I really hope they are doing okay..."

Azazandra and Lucifiona gained momentum and cut a swatch through the Horsadrim as they charged towards Trixie and her stalwart defenders. As Azazandra quickly assessed the gathered threats before her, her eyes went wide with surprise as, for but a moment, she beheld two pairs of radiant wings amongst the ponies before her. She snarled and thought to herself, Has Shariel returned?

As she contemplated the situation, time began to slow and ultimately came to a stop. Azazandra felt a twinge of dread tingle over her spine as a shadowy figure materialized before her. The shadow's features began to define themselves as it ran a 'hand' across Azazandra's muzzle, revealing hooved goat legs, a long, forked tail, gnarled horns, and a horse-like face. The shadow's touch was strangely comforting to Azazandra, and she tried to push her paralyzed body forwards to stay in contact as the shadow withdrew.

"Azazandra... My beautiful Azazandra," the shadow cooed in a feminine voice.

"Who are you?" Azazandra demanded.

"All shall be revealed to you, but not right now," the shadow said. "Your life, and the lives of every demon that walks amongst the shadowed lands, are in peril."

The shadow appeared to fade, then moved forwards, gently clasping both of its 'hands' around Azazandra's face. "You must run, Azazandra. You can not fall here."

The shadow's voice and touch brought forth some long forgotten memories to Azazandra's mind. She closed her eyes and began to witness a vision from the past. She was very, very young and lying in a hammock made from vines. A figure appeared by her side and began to gently rock the hammock while reciting a verse. "Wrapped in the guise of a foal shall She walk amongst the innocent..."

The vision ended and Azazandra looked at the shadow in disbelief. M-mother? She wasn't certain, but in her heart she knew it to be true. "What do I need to do?"

"You must return to Netheria at once, Azazandra. My power is quickly waning in this wretched place, but I will provide the means for your escape," the shadow said.

The shadow placed one of its 'hands' on Azazandra and the other on Lucifiona. The shadow used Lucifiona's simulacrum powers to create a copy of Azazandra's host, Ravenmane, then sighed. "Do not worry about your sisters, Azazandra. These Valkyr can only trap them, not slay them. Soon the prophecy shall be fulfilled, and we will be reunited at last. Now, flee, my darling, flee before you are destroyed and all hope is lost!"

Azazandra shimmered herself away from the canyon floor and hunkered down behind a rocky outcropping and gazed towards the time-frozen battle in the canyon below. She felt the shadow's presence behind her and turned to see the shadow form into a swirling vortex - a portal to Pandemaneium.

"Come, Azazandra. It is time for you to claim your destiny," the shadow whispered.

Azazandra's instincts told her to be wary of the strange shadow, it possessed incredibly powerful demonic abilities after all, but her heart told her it had spoken the truth. Time began to return to its normal speed as Azazandra took one last look at the combatants in the canyon, then stepped through the portal, leaving her sisters and the simulacrum to face the Valkyr's so-called justice.

Chapter 18

The seven ponies had strode valiantly into the tomb of the original Horsadrim. Even Fluttershy managed to keep her composure together. They could hear a strange language being chanted, the echoes of which sent chills down the spines. Whatever tongue it was in it did not sound natural.  As they navigated through the darkness, guided by Celestia's radiant magic, they had suddenly found themselves transported into Baphomeena's realm of terror.

Baphomeena did not know why she had spared these ponies at the tomb of the Unliving Queen and again at Travincolt, nor why she was continuing to do so now. Her instincts told her to ravage them, but something else within her negated those urges. Her thoughts had begun to wander to Trixie and all the new, infernal magic spells she would teach her, now that her true nature had been exposed. She could sense Trixie out there, taste her fear. It made her feel happy that Trixie was nearby. She hoped Trixie would be impressed by her true form and the magic she could teach her.

Baphomeena shook her head to clear her thoughts. She focused on the seven ponies she had trapped in her realm of terror. She shivered in delight as she let their fear wash over her. There was something else there, however. Daring. She thought, These ponies have a plan, and they seem sure of it. I wonder what they discovered...

Baphomeena looked closer and noticed that six of them were wearing saddlebags. What would they have brought? she wondered.

Against her better judgment, Baphomeena decided to pause her ritual and investigate just what it was they had in their bags. It was meaningless really, but it interested her and she just had to know. Were they gifts? Offerings? Their last wills and testaments?

Within the realm of terror, Celestia found herself drowning in pitch-black waters. She tried to use her magic, but her horn was gone. She tried to fly, her wings were clipped. She fought against the urge to breath, trying to find a way out, swimming towards what she thought may be the surface. The urge to survive took over and she clenched her eyes shut as her body tried to breathe and gulped in mouthfuls of water. She felt a heat on her body and as she opened her eyes to look, she found herself lying next to a fireplace. She began to cough and spit up water as she was magically lifted into the air.

Baphomeena lay on a davenport and she smiled as she placed Celestia next to her. Baphomeena grabbed Celestia's mane and wrung water out of it, then gently brushed her hoof along the princess' coat. "Drowning, eh? Pretty justifiable fear, I would imagine. Certainly seems to be a horrible way to die, but don't worry, Celestia. You won't be dying... yet," Baphomeena laughed.

Celestia coughed up the remaining water and took in a few deep breaths. She glanced around at her surroundings and frowned - Baphomeena had brought her to a replica of her own quarters at Canterlot Castle. "Wh-where are the girls?"

"Right now they are all within my realm of terror, awaiting my arrival," Baphomeena said. "I'm not sure what you foals intended, but I am pleased to say that you are too late. The ritual is nearly completed, my sisters are eliminating whatever you concocted in the canyon, and soon I may just kill all of you, lest you continue to try and stop us."

Celestia shook her head. "We weren't trying to stop you, Fizzle Hooves. We came to give you something."

Baphomeena laughed. So, the items in the bags were intended for her. "How wonderfully mad of you. And just what did you bring me?"

Celestia leaned in and whispered in her ear. "It's a surprise, but I can tell you this, it's something you've always desired."

Baphomeena grinned. "My, my. I am definitely intrigued to see what you have brought. And I am to believe this is not a trick of some kind? I can sense if you are lying, you know."

Celestia wrapped her wing around Baphomeena and pulled her closer. She batted her eyelashes at her and pursed her lips. "You're the mistress of deceit, why would we try to trick you?"

Baphomeena grabbed Celestia and looked deep into her eyes. She was intrigued by the flirtatious display. "Why would you try to trick me? You annoyingly rescued the Valkyr. I know she told you what we truly are and what our goal is here. The seal is almost broken. Soon, my sisters will destroy the Horsadrim you have foalishly raised as well as all the other ponies that are out there with Trixie. Yes, I know she's here. I can feel her fear. Once we finish here I will reclaim that unholy crystal and impale the Valkyr with it again. Everything you've done has been... inconsequential."

Celestia stared back defiantly. "There is no trick. All I ask is that you receive the gifts each of the girls brought for you. Then, should you graciously permit it, we shall leave and you can have the throne of Equestria or whatever it is you desire."

Baphomeena laughed. "I care nothing for ruling your miserable land, Celestia! The scope of my desire is far beyond your comprehension, I'm afraid. You see, for me, this world is nothing but a fertile field, a vast crop of temptable souls. My sisters and I have been long been waiting for a certain curse to end, one that shall provide us with an endless battery of power. An endless supply of fear, hatred, pain, lies, destruction, agony, and sins to feed upon."

Celestia tried to pull away but Baphomeena held her fast.  "Then what is it you desire if you don't care about Equestria?" Celestia asked.

Baphomeena nuzzled Celestia. "You will see soon enough. Now, I shall go see these so-called 'gifts' you claim I am getting."

* * *

Twilight Sparkle found herself within a treasure vault. Mountains of gems and golden coins reached to the ceiling. Shelves overflowed with magical items along the walls. One item in particular, an ornate scroll case, caught her attention and she made her way towards it. She pulled the gem-encrusted scroll case off the shelf and eagerly unrolled it.

Twilight gasped as she saw pictographs of herself from a foal to a mare. Every major moment in her life was documented. The Summer Sun Celebration where she first got her zeal for magic. Her near-disastrous interview at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Her meetings with the other Elements of Harmony in Ponyville. As she read through the scroll and approached future events, a golden magic aura surrounded it and it disintegrated into dust.

Princess Celestia hastily walked over and scowled down at her. "Twilight Sparkle, you dare break into my treasure vault and steal the sacred scroll? You have failed me for the last time."

Twilight shook her head in disbelief. "Please, Princess! I don't understand! Why was my life chronicled on some sacred scroll?"

Celestia stomped, sending a shower of gold and gems into the air. "Enough. You are hereby banished from Equestria. Get out of my sight."

Tears began to run down Twilight's cheeks. This could not be happening! "B-but, Princess Celestia! That scroll..."

Celestia grabbed Twilight's tail with her magic and threw her against a shelf. A cascade of ruined trinkets fell like hailstones on poor Twilight's bruised body. "It is worthless now. Just like yourself. Begone."

Twilight whimpered, Celestia threw the contents of another shelf at her. "Now!"

Twilight limped to the door, she hung her head as her tears formed broken-hearts as they splashed to the ground. "I'm sorry..."

Twilight gasped as a magical force pulled her by the tail. She found herself sitting on Baphomeena's lap. Baphomeena smiled at her. "Hello, little one. Afraid of upsetting Princess Celestia are we? I wouldn't worry about that, she's really not like that. You should see her in my hooves, like a little filly she is. All cuddly and nice."

Baphomeena gently stroked Twilight's mane. "Now, little one, I was told you brought a gift for me."

Twilight stood and smoothed out her coat. "Yes, I did. I was told to get you something related to my element of friendship - magic. So, I immediately ran towards the Canterlot Archives to research the most powerful spells I could find."

Baphomeena smirked. She knew Twilight Sparkle was potentially a powerful mage, but Twilight paled in comparison to herself. "Ooh. So your gift is a magical duel with me then? This might be good for a laugh."

Twilight smiled. "Nope. After I got to the Archives, I realized that that wasn't the kind of magic I was supposed to get."

Baphomeena leaned in, interested. "Oh?"

Twilight opened her saddlebags and pulled out photo albums. "You see, when I first met my friends, I learned that the Element of Magic was something more than just magic." She opened the photo albums and set them on Baphomeena's lap. "My gift to you is to share some of that magic that I've had with my friends."

Baphomeena studied the pictures. She felt something - something strange - within her. She wasn't sure what it was, but she liked it. She started laughing at a picture involving Pinkie Pie and a twenty-pound cupcake. She glanced up at Twilight. "I see what you mean, there is certainly a magical quality to these experiences. How in the world did this pink one devour such a cupcake?"

Twilight grinned. "That's my Pinkie Pie for you!"

* * *

Applejack was fleeing through the groves of Sweet Apple Acres as they burst into flames all around her. She cried out as the searing innards of an exploding apple stung at her face. She reached the farmhouse and tried in vain to peer through the smoke. "Apple Bloom!? Big Mac!? Granny Smith!?"

The house collapsed and standing in the rubble were the three shadow foals. They pointed at her and started to laugh. Azazandra taunted her, "It's a good thing you can't see Ponyville now. It would probably break you to see how easy it is to crush houses and cause buildings to explode. There's nothing left of Ponyville but ghosts and ashes. Everything you've done is pointless."

Applejack reared back and ran towards the barn, continuing to call out for her family. There was a horrible squealing sound as the pigs rampaged around their burning pen. Applejack raced inside and opened the gate for them, then followed them out as the building imploded. The shadow foals walked through the carnage towards her.

Applejack continued running, her heart racing. "Somepony?! Anypony!?"

She came upon the Cutie Mark Crusaders' club house and saw Apple Bloom waving desperately from the window. "Applejack! Help! They're in here!"

Applejack cried, "No!"

She galloped towards the clubhouse, she could see the shadow foals moving inside.

"Apple Bloom! You have to jump! I'll catch you!" Applejack yelled.

Apple Bloom shook her head, shaking with fear. "I can't! It's too high!"

Applejack could see the shadow foals closing in on her baby sister. "You can do it, trust me!"

Apple Bloom began to climb out the window and yelped as the shadow foals pushed her. Applejack dove and caught her just before she struck the ground. She sighed and when she opened her eyes she saw Fizzle Hooves resting in her hooves. Baphomeena winked. "Greetings."

Applejack stood and dropped her to the ground. The images of an apocalyptic Sweet Apple Acres faded and she found herself in an empty field. "'Greetings' my hoof, that wasn't very nice," Applejack said.

Baphomeena stood and dusted herself off. "Well, neither was dropping me, to be honest with you. So, what has the Element of Honesty got for me?"

Applejack motioned around the area with her hoof. "Can you give us some chairs or somethin'?"

Baphomeena shrugged and two rocking chairs appeared. Applejack sat down and motioned Baphomeena to join her. "Thanky. Now, what I got for you is somethin' I reckon you ain't ever had in your entire gol-darn life."

Baphomeena tilted her head. "Interesting. And you, of all ponies, can provide this?"

Applejack nodded and pulled a tub out of her saddlebag along with two spoons. "Yup. I'm gonna give you an honest, heart-felt, conversation. You ever had one of 'em?"

Baphomeena shrugged. "I enjoy manipulation and deception far more than honesty." She pointed towards the tub. "And what is this?"

Applejack smiled and pulled the lid off then handed Baphomeena a spoon. "This is how some gal pals talk about stuff that matters. This here is some cinnamon apple ice cream, lovingly made at Sweet Apple Acres. Go ahead, dig in."

Baphomeena took a small scoop of the ice cream and gingerly tasted it, she smiled and grabbed more. "So, what is it you wish to talk to me about? Hoping to find some last minute detail that will let you ruin my plans?"

Applejack shook her head. "Nope. I just wanna know more about you. Like for instance, why the hay you were tryin' to ruin Twilight's brother's weddin'?"

Fizzle Hooves laughed. "What can I say? I'm a demon."

"Nah, that ain't gonna fly, missy. I know you musta had a reason," Applejack said.

"My sister, Azazandra, abhors love," Baphomeena said. "Hatred is what gives her her strength, so love is a blight upon her. That would be reason enough for me; to try and bring a small amount of happiness to my little sister. I did enjoy seeing the bride-to-be duke it out with Twilight Sparkle, that was even more rewarding than we had hoped. When Twilight Sparkle started trying to kill her, and then was torturing her in front of her own aunts... oh, goodness. That really made everything worth while."

Applejack let the ice cream melt on her tongue, absorbing the flavor and the words of Baphomeena. "I have a little sister myself and I reckon I'd do just 'bout anythin' to try and make her happy. It doesn't sound like that was the reason you did it though." She paused for a moment, thinking upon what Baphomeena said about Twilight. "Boy, howdy. It was all about gettin' that other Twilight to go evil, wasn't it? That way you could steal her powers later on and torture Taraiel. You're a real somethin' alright."

Baphomeena smirked. "What the Valkyr did to us, it was horrible. Imagine everything that you are just being ripped away from you, like you were nothing. At first, I wished they had just destroyed us, it was an awful sensation, feeling utterly helpless. We found we could still use our powers, even disembodied, and thus we knew we would one day be able to reclaim what was rightfully ours. Then, Taraiel sent those mortals, these Horsadrim, after us. It was perfect. A few suggestions, some whispers in the wind, and my sisters and I acquired their precious little foals for our own usage."

"You say you have sisters, so that must mean you have parents, right?" Applejack asked.

Baphomeena paused, then slowly ate another scoop of ice cream. "If we had parents, I can't remember them. When we were very little, we all lived alone in the most beautiful little dell. There was plentiful food for us to hunt, and this spring with the most fantastic water I have ever tasted in my life. It was wonderful."

Baphomeena sighed and looked towards the sky. "And then they came. They were clad in this beautiful gleaming armor and cloth of pure white. My younger sister, Azazandra, had the most beautiful smile back then. She was always curious, too. So when these strangers called us 'grotesque abominations' and began channeling magic, my little sister watched their casting in amazement..."

Baphomeena ate three big spoonfuls of ice cream before continuing her story. "She was only a child. I will never forget that look on her face, that look of betrayal as their magic struck her. My sister never smiled again. Her form was distorted into a mockery, a visage of the hatred our attackers bore for us. As I watched in shock as my little sister was forever altered before my eyes, one of these so called 'crusaders of the light' tackled me to the ground and began strangling me. As I was trying to understand why this was happening, I heard terrible screams and looked to the side and saw my baby sister, Lucifiona, surrounded by bodies writhing in pain on the ground, a rope around her neck! They had tried to hang her, but her powers saved her. When I looked at our attackers, I could sense their deepest fears. I shut my eyes and pictured those fears in my mind. I felt the pressure on my throat cease and as I opened my eyes, I saw the so-called heroes of the light fleeing in terror.

"They came back, in force. We had no choice but to flee from our own home. They pursued us relentlessly, but eventually we found others who took us in. Others who were like us. It turned out there was a war on, and we had been drafted. We rose through the ranks and learned to better control our powers. When I felt I was ready, I hunted down those bastards that took our home from us, took our sister from us. One by one, I destroyed them... but the joy their deaths provided was fleeting. There was only one left, the coward that had led the attack against us at the dell. I taunted him for months, eroding his sanity. I would sneak in at night and rip out the throats of his personal guards, leaving them for him to find. Even in sleep he had no respite, I haunted his nightmares. His terror was delicious."

Baphomeena leaned back in the chair and smiled. "Finally, I had had my fill of fun from this vermin. I gathered my sisters and had them wait outside the rat's castle. I began our assassination by shimmering atop one of his winged guards that was patrolling the skies. I slew it, and rode the corpse down through a skylight into the throne room in a shower of stained glass. The coward's bodyguard was a silver dragon. As it moved to attack me, I shimmered on top of it and gouged out its eye. As it roared in pain, I impaled my talons into its chest, ripping through its scales and shredding its heart. It involuntarily breathed a stream of flames as it died and I rode them across the throne room. The guards that were stupid enough to stay were destroyed, then I signaled my sisters."

"The coward actually fought us! It was useless, yet he tried anyway. My sisters and I slashed his body in hundreds of places. We then forced him to dance while begging Azazandra for forgiveness. He died of exsanguination," Baphomeena looked at the look of disgust on Applejack's face and smirked. She leaned forward and grabbed more ice cream. "It was a hollow victory. It didn't bring my smiling sister back, didn't bring our lives back... We've been fighting in this damn eternal conflict ever since."

Applejack concentrated on Baphomeena's face. She could see the grief in her eyes, and Applejack believed Baphomeena had told her the truth. She almost felt bad for the sisters. As Applejack was thinking to herself about how things might be different had someponies befriended the sisters early on in their lives, she had a realization. She turned to Baphomeena. "You don't want to go back, do you?"

Baphomeena replied without hesitation. "No." A look of shock appeared on her features for an instant, and was quickly replaced with an expression of indifference. Wasn't this what she wanted? What she had been planning for centuries to achieve? It used to be all she would think of. She relentlessly planned her elaborate revenge schemes. For years she had dreamed of this day, and yet, on the precipice of reclaiming their bodies, their old lives, she found herself dreading what would come next. Did she really want to go back to it all, back into the endless war?

"Then why are you doing all this?" Applejack asked.

"My powers - fear, sins, lies - these can all be used without conflict. I can sustain my strength with ease by merely appearing as a living shadow in a filly's room, or luring the corruptible to temptations. My sisters are not so fortunate," Baphomeena said. "I used to want nothing more than to return to our old way of life. Now... I do not know if I truly want that. It has been called an 'eternal' conflict, and that is just what it is. If you had escaped such a thing, would you go back to it?"

Applejack shook her head.

Baphomeena smiled, then sighed. "I can't say I would, either. However, I am the elder sister, and my sisters need me. So, I do this for them. For their happiness and well-being."

Baphomeena shoved another scoop into her mouth. "I don't know why I am talking about this. I never talk about this."

Applejack put her hoof on Baphomeena's knee. "Everypony needs to talk things over sometimes."

Baphomeena raised her hoof to her eye and looked in shock at the tears she had wiped away. "I believe you are right."

* * *

Fluttershy found herself in a swirling vortex of scenes. All of her greatest fears flashed by in rapid succession. She jumped as Baphomeena put her hoof on her back and chuckled. "My, you've got some issues, don't you? I think you actually broke my realm of terror. It should have produced a scenario for you representing something you're afraid of. I guess it just couldn't decide, but it would seem you are terrified nonetheless so it all worked out."

Fluttershy shut her eyes and laid down. "P-please make it stop."

Baphomeena ran her hoof through the pegasus' mane. "Aww. Open your eyes, little one."

Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes and stood as she found herself in a sunny meadow. Fluttershy looked at Baphomeena and frowned. "Oh, my. What happened to your face?"

Baphomeena looked down and scowled, her wounds from the fight with the Valkyr had re-opened. Fluttershy reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a first aid kit. "Here, let me help you."

Baphomeena laughed, saw Fluttershy was serious, and sat down in the grass. "You would help me, even knowing what I am and what I have done?"

Fluttershy cleaned the wound and spread a compound of herbs onto it. "Of course."

Baphomeena raised her eyebrow, then smiled. "Oh, right. You're Kindness. So, what is this gift you brought for me, little one?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "Not yet, take off your robe, please."

Baphomeena disrobed, revealing wounds all over her body from the Valkyrs' earlier assault.

Fluttershy's eyes went wide. "Oh, dear..."

Baphomeena watched the pegasus tend to her wounds. "How did you know I was injured?"

Fluttershy shrugged. "I could just.. tell. Something in your voice, just like how I know when my animals need me."

Baphomeena watched in silence as Fluttershy finished dressing her wounds. Baphomeena stroked her chin, "I was wrong about you, little one. You are perhaps the bravest soul I know. I'm actually not quite sure what to say, besides 'thank you.'"

Fluttershy smiled and put away the medical supplies. "You're welcome, Fizzle Hooves. I have something else for you, too. You've never experienced the wonders of an animal that loves you, have you?"

Baphomeena laughed. "Can't say that I have."

Fluttershy pulled a crate from her saddlebags and opened the latch. A puppy with jet-black fur, glowing red eyes, and

large fangs walked out. Fluttershy gently picked him up and placed him in Baphomeena's lap.

The dog licked at the unicorn's face and she gently stroked his fur. Fluttershy smiled happily. "He's a Barghest. Someponies think they're evil, but they're just misunderstood."

Baphomeena grinned as she clutched the Barghest to her chest. "What's his name?"

Fluttershy giggled. "I got him just for you, you get to name him."

Baphomeena looked at the puppy and smiled. "I will have to think about it. Thank you, again.."

* * *

Rarity found herself in the middle of a giant walk-in closet. All around her were the most exquisite clothes she had ever seen. She eagerly used her magic to pull garments from their hangars and carried the collection towards a large mirror. As she began holding the various dresses and gowns in front of herself, the floor gave way and she found herself falling into an inky blackness.

After what felt like hours, she finally began to see a light below her. She screamed even more as she saw a sea of mud and filth awaiting her. Rarity flailed futilely while lamenting her predicament. As she was about to hit the liquid, it vanished and she found herself lying on a blanket next to Baphomeena. Baphomeena raised her eyebrow as she sipped at a glass of a ruby liquid. "Interesting fear you have there."

Rarity flipped herself over and sat up. "Well, thank you for sparing me the indignity that awaited me at the bottom."

Baphomeena nodded. "I wouldn't want to see such a beautiful mane get tarnished."

Rarity smiled at the compliment. "Why, thank you. You know, Fizzle Hooves, I've been quite stricken with your appearance since I first saw you."

Baphomeena laughed. "Really?"

Rarity nodded. "Oh, yes. You are quite beautiful, but you wear such awful clothing. And that mane style? It works, but... eh. You really must try something different, dear."

A large mirror materialized before them and Baphomeena looked at her unicorn's body and mane and shrugged. "Soon, this will not matter. They have served me well over the years, though. I am almost sad to know they will be gone."

Rarity pouted and opened her saddlebags. "Well, you can enjoy what time you left in that body, then. When I saw you, I just knew the perfect thing."

Rarity pulled out a dress she had made with the Sun's Tears gems and held it in front of Baphomeena.

Baphomeena admired herself in the mirror. "This is for me? It's lovely."

Rarity smiled and thought, Another satisfied customer! "Try it on."

Baphomeena discarded the robe and eagerly slipped on the dress. She nodded appreciatively. "Once we get our bodies back, I might have to commission something from you, little one."

Rarity grinned and pulled out mane styling tools. "Now, let me do a little something with that mane of yours."

Baphomeena waited anxiously as Rarity worked on her mane. Rarity stepped back. "There we go. Why, you look simply marvelous, dear. You'd be simply smashing at the Canterlot social events."

Baphomeena giggled and twirled about, admiring the glint of the gems in the light. "You really know fashion, Rarity. Thanks for the makeover."

Rarity laughed. "Well, us beautiful ponies have to stick together, you know."

* * *

The crowd stomped and shouted with glee as Rainbow Dash prepared for her grand finale - the sonic rainboom. Rainbow rolled into an Immelmann and began accelerating, relishing the adulation of the crowd below. Her lips drew back into a smile as she approached that magic speed that made her aerobatics routine the best in Equestria. The rainboom exploded behind her and she giggled. The sensation the rainboom provided was like nothing else she had ever experienced. The sheer power, the joy, the excitement, and most importantly, the speed.

Soaring high in the clear blue skies, Rainbow finished her act by writing her name in the sky with the rainbow trail that followed her. She admired her work and paused to catch her breath, then frowned. The crowd was silent. Rainbow descended, irritated that her work had gone unappreciated. The grand stands were completely empty.

Rainbow hovered over the empty seats. "Where did everypony go?"

Concerned, Rainbow flew into the streets of Canterlot. It was a ghost town. Rainbow put her hooves on her hips. "This isn't funny! If this is some kind of lame-o prank, Pinkie Pie, well looks like the joke was on me and you can come out now!"

The faint whisperings of the wind were the only response.

Ponyville, Las Pegasus, Baltimare, Fillydelphia, Manehattan, Dodge Junction... every city in Equestria was deserted. Rainbow sat down in the empty streets of Appleloosa and began to cry. She slammed her hooves on the ground. "I'm all alone..."

A tumbleweed rolled down the street and as it approached it morphed into Baphomeena. She sat next to Rainbow Dash and smirked. "Don't worry, little one. I am here with you."

Rainbow scowled and stood. "I hate being alone."

Baphomeena laughed. "A fitting fear for Loyalty, it would appear. So, Miss Loyalty, what gift have you brought me?"

Rainbow reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a grey pony doll and handed it to Baphomeena.

Baphomeena looked the doll over and turned to Rainbow. "What is this?"

"That's Smarty Pants," Rainbow explained. "She belongs to Twilight Sparkle and is one of her most cherished possessions. This one belonged to the Twilight that became the Unliving Queen. Even after everything that you did to her, she still kept that doll close to her. You could never break her."

Baphomeena slowly spun the doll around with her magic, watching Smarty Pants' mane and tail flop around. She glanced at Rainbow. "Rainbow Dash, don't let your loyalty to your friend overcome you. You think my sisters and I are evil? This Smarty Pants was transformed into the Unliving Queen's crown. Everything she did since she obtained the Nether Crystal, it has seen. Would you like to see? I can show you."

Rainbow shook her head. "No, that wasn't her. That wasn't Twilight that did those things."

Baphomeena sighed. She should have expected as much from the Element of Loyalty. "It was her. She may look like your little friend, have some of the same memories, but the moment she became the Unliving Queen, she ceased to be Twilight Sparkle. That aspect of her died and her inner dark side came to life."

Baphomeena's horn began to glow as she cast a spell on the doll and the scenery changed to an auditorium in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Princess Celestia stood on stage as unicorns began to take their seats. Baphomeena touched Rainbow's shoulder and pointed towards Celestia. "Look upon your friend and see her for what she truly is."

Rainbow shut her eyes and turned her head as the Unliving Queen's slaughter of the Gifted Unicorn School began. Baphomeena used her magic to force Rainbow to look. "Watch."

The massacre finished and Rainbow glared at Baphomeena. "That was the Unliving Queen, not Twilight, that did this. If she even did. You know, seeing how you're the master of lies and love manipulating ponies and all."

Baphomeena looked at the Smarty Pants doll then tucked it into Rainbow's saddlebag.

"Your loyalty to your friend is admirable, Rainbow Dash," Baphomeena said. "Even though you see her handiwork before us, you refuse to believe that this is who she really is?"

Rainbow looked at the slain unicorns and shook her head. "I know my friend, and she would never do this."

Baphomeena nodded thoughtfully. The stubborn little pegasus may be misguided, but she had great trust in her friend. "I pray you are correct, Rainbow Dash. For your sake."

* * *

Pinkie Pie strained against the magic that was binding her to the ground. She snarled and watched helplessly as her friends were herded aboard an airship. Fluttershy took one last look out a porthole and pressed her hoof against the window as the airship took off, leaving Pinkie Pie all by herself in a clearing in Everfree Forest.

As the sun began to set, Pinkie continued to struggle against her magical bonds before giving up. She sighed and looked up as the moon began to rise. "What was that song Granny Pie used to sing? Um.."

Pinkie shivered as a cold wind swept through the glade. She began to sing, "At Ponyville Hall a full dress ball took place one night last week. The mules had dressed their very best, their style was hard to beat. To see those airs those mules put on was certainly a treat! One big swell mule in the anteroom, his face was all a smile, to his friends he'd tell, 'Those folks are swell, made up in London style.' 'Those mules,' said he, 'will envy me, when I walk across that floor!' I thought that mule would have a fit as soon as he looked through that door, 'cause in that room there was a hundred mules, and every mule had a raglan on!"

Pinkie laughed, looked down at her hooves and sighed. From all around her she heard terrible growling as the denizens of the forest began to close in on her. She hung her head and sadly began to mumble, "I'm gonna get right up and put on my clothes.. Gonna go right out and take in all the shows... Gonna drive around in an open carriage... If I meet my groom there's gonna be a marriage... Gonna borrow from everypony on my staff... Gonna eat and drink and drive and laugh... Looks like my days are done, but if I'm a goin' to die I'm gonna have some fun..."

An onyx panther lunged at her throat and Pinkie screamed and held her eyes shut, struggling one last time against her bonds. She cautiously opened her eyes as she heard the slow clapping of hooves. Baphomeena stood in front of her with a smirk. Baphomeena held Pinkie's chin up. "Can't laugh and sing your way out of my realm of terror, little one."

Pinkie laughed defiantly. "I wasn't afraid."

Baphomeena chuckled. "Oh, really. Then what was that scream about?"

Pinkie rolled her eyes. "I didn't want to die before I got a chance to give you your gifts!"

"Gifts?" Baphomeena asked, intrigued by the pluralization.

Pinkie smiled. "Of course! Although I didn't know how old you are. You don't look that old, but you sound ancient from what Taraiel said about you."

Baphomeena winked. "This body is perhaps a few thousand years old. I can shape it into a form that pleases me, however. As for how old I am myself, I do not know. Time lost all meaning for me long ago."

Pinkie's eyes lit up. "I guessed six-thousand and thirty-three!"

Baphomeena gasped as a cannon materialized in Pinkie's grasp. The cannon went off and the glade in the Everfree Forest was replaced with a festively decorated ball room.

Baphomeena looked around in wonder and furrowed her brow. "How did you do that, only I have the power to rearrange this realm..."

Pinkie darted about the room, setting the needle on a phonograph and pushing a cart with a gigantic cake over to Baphomeena. Six-thousand and thirty-three candles burned on the cake. Pinkie winked. "Make your wish and blow them out quick before you get wax all over your birthdays cake!"

Baphomeena struggled to put out the candles as Pinkie vanished, reappearing with an enormous mountain of wrapped presents. Baphomeena put her hoof over her mouth and squealed with glee. "These are all for me?"

Pinkie nodded. "I figured you've probably never even had a birthday party. Then I was thinking you've probably missed all the holidays like Hearts and Hooves Day, so I had to get you something for those too."

Baphomeena giggled and began unwrapping presents. Pinkie watched her for a moment then turned to the cake. She bit off an enormous chunk and swallowed it whole then frowned. Pinkie spit out a bunch of candles and shrugged. "It's a little waxy, but it's still good!"

* * *

Celestia smiled as Baphomeena's realm of terror began to fade away and she found Twilight and her friends standing behind her. Celestia turned to them, "Good work, girls. Now, finish her, Twilight."

Baphomeena looked at Celestia and the Element bearers in shock. She could feel something within. Something foreign. She felt her heart racing. She thought, Is this what fear feels like? No, impossible!

"What did you knaves do to me?" Baphomeena demanded.

Twilight's horn began to glow fiercely as she began to cast a powerful spell.

Celestia grinned triumphantly. "Loyalty. Generosity. Kindness. Honesty. Laughter. Magic." As she spoke each name, a beam of energy lanced out from the respective Element of Harmony and struck at Baphomeena. "These six aspects are the Elements of Harmony, the most powerful force known to ponydom. Even you were not beyond their power, Baphomeena."

Twilight looked at her friends and smiled as she completed her spell. A great flaming heart appeared in the air above them. Baphomeena looked up at it and her jaw dropped.  She gasped, "What is this..."

Twilight smirked. "I told you I had gone to the Canterlot Archives before going to my parents' house to grab my photo albums. Well, I did research one spell while I was there. Clover the Clever's Friendship spell. This spell not only saved the lives of Clover and what would soon be five of her closest friends, it led to the foundation of our home, Equestria."

Baphomeena clutched at her chest and staggered back from Clover's spell. Baphomeena felt her consciousness being pulled away - Fizzle Hooves was reclaiming her body. The two fought a brief battle of wills for control, but Clover's spell combined with the Elements of Harmony attack had severely weakened Baphomeena and she found herself screaming as she was pushed back into the recesses of Fizzle Hooves' mind. Fizzle Hooves' eyes rolled back in her head and she fell to the ground. Celestia and the others gathered around her as Fizzle Hooves blinked and looked up at the heart, then said to Celestia, "I knew you could save me..."

Celestia glanced up at her horn. "Taraiel?"

The Valkyr of Justice appeared in a flash of light and immediately placed her hoof on Fizzle Hooves' forehead. Taraiel held a spirit stone in her other hoof and began to speak the ritual to exorcize the demon. "Exorcizo te, omnis spiritus immunde, in nomine lux et in virtute justitia, ut descedas ab hoc plasmate lux, Fizzle Hooves, quod lux noster ad templum sanctum suum vocare dignatus est, ut fiat templum lux vivi, et spiritus lux habitet in eo! Per eumdem lux nostrum, qui venturus est judicare vivos et mortuous, et saeculum per ignem!"

Taraiel licked her hoof then touched Fizzle Hooves' right ear then the left while saying, "Ephpheta, quod est, Adaperire!"

Taraiel brushed her hoof against Fizzle Hooves' nostrils. "In odorem suavitatis. Tu autem effugare, diabole! Appropinquabit enim judicium lux!"

A brilliant white light enveloped Fizzle Hooves and the spirit stone. The ponies except Taraiel shielded their eyes until it faded. As they looked back, they saw the Valkyr standing triumphantly over a little pink unicorn foal. The mark of the Horsadrim was no more - her flank was blank. All eyes focused on the spirit stone, where a dark red energy could be seen swirling around inside.

Pinkie Pie grabbed Fluttershy and spun her around the room. "We did it!"

Taraiel picked up Fizzle Hooves and held her to her chest. The Valkyr looked up at the fiery heart and smiled as a tear fell down her cheek. She gently ran her wing through Fizzle Hooves' mane. "In the end, it was an innocent heart that saved our world from ruin, and helped cast down the sister of terror, imprisoning her spirit forever."

Celestia hugged Twilight then turned to the Valkyr, "How goes the battle outside?"

Taraiel flapped her wings and hovered in the air. "Justice has been met upon this day. Come."

The ponies followed the Valkyr out of the tomb and into the canyon. Trixie sat upon a rock, surrounded by a few Horsadric mummies. She stared into the two spirit stones that rested on her hooves. Spike and Star Swirl the Bearded were playing with the two foals - Ravenmane and Storm Watcher - as the Unliving Queen and Winny collected the Horsadric remains for proper burial.

The demonic doppelganger of Azazandra, now having switched its form to match the foal Ravenmane's, had been successful in fooling the Valkyr. It had even managed to escape detection during the exorcism, and it was confident it would remain undetected, buying precious time for Azazandra to make her next move, whatever it may be.

Rainbow Dash looked at the ravaged landscape and whistled appreciatively. "Looks like we missed one wicked battle."

Spike ran over and hugged Twilight. "Boy, did you! Things were looking bad out here for us. Those Horsadrim were putting up a good fight, but they were crumbling like crackers! Taraiel flew out to fight them as they got close to us, but she went down hard. Then, I saw it. Her sword was within my reach. I dashed forwards and picked it up and went claw-to-hoof with those baddies!"

Rarity gasped. "My little Spikey-wikey! You stood up against two of these great evils?"

Star Swirl walked over, the two foals on his back. "I told you I wanted Spike's sword arm with us."

Spike flexed his muscles. "Oh, yeah! No sweat! So Star Swirl blasts one and traps her in this cage of energy, but she breaks loose and charges at me for some reason. I jump back and, uh... fall in one of those pits those Horsadrim had dug earlier. Things weren't lookin' good for ol' Spike. But then Trixie appears behind them and casts these crazy spells. Magical chains tangled them up and this insanely intense light blinded them. Then this huge cyclone of magic bursts up out of the ground and engulfs them, and they both just dropped like rocks."

Taraiel pointed to the skies. The fiery orange was fading and was replaced by a beautiful, cloudless dawn sky. Some of them had seen this sight thousands of times, but today, it was the most beautiful they had ever seen.

Taraiel smiled. "A new day breaks, for ponydom's greatest champions rose up to confront the darkness that had long plagued our lands. Forevermore, we shall stand together in the light of this glorious new dawn. May the eternal light shine upon you and your descendants for what you've done this day."

Fluttershy looked at her friends and smiled happily. "The day is won. The sisters are vanquished, and all evil with them."

Taraiel chuckled at her naiveté, then sighed.  "As long as a single demon exists, there will still be evil, my friend."

Celestia basked in the light of the sun and smiled contentedly. "Time will tell."

Rarity eyed the Valkyr's wings, a glint in her eye. "So, what's going to happen with these Valkyr now? What will you do, Taraiel?"

Taraiel winked. "You wish to join me, my young friend? I'm afraid whatever granted us these powers is as much a mystery to me as it is you. As for myself... for my sisters, my family, all those who have perished at the hands of demons... I will fight to my last breath. Power is always shifting, order against chaos and chaos against order. I have pledged my life to this battle. I will continue to fight it with a heart that is both empty and full, with sadness for what has been lost and joy for what is to come."

Winny nervously walked over to Trixie, carrying a heavy tome in her magic. She sat down on the rock and set the tome on her lap. "Uh, Trixie, my mum says the spirits want me to give this to you."

Trixie picked up the book with her magic and examined it. The cover bore the marking of the Horsadrim. She flipped it open and began to read. "Take heed and bear witness to the truths that lie herein, for they are the last legacy of the Horsadrim. Nearly five-thousand years ago, it came to be known that the three great evils had mysteriously come to our world, banished in spirit form. The Three Sisters ravaged the lands for decades, while ponydom was left trembling in their wake. Many demons traveled to our realm in search of the Three Sisters. These demons were followed to our world by the Valkyr - a band of pegasi maidens with wings of light - who hunted the demons throughout the vast cities and wilderness. The Valkyr allied themselves with a secretive order of mortal ponies named the Horsadrim, who quickly became adept at hunting demons. They also made many dark enemies in the underworlds. Our order - the Horsadrim - was founded to hunt down and capture the three Evils once and for all. The original Horsadrim were forced to capture the Three within the bodies of their own foals, which they entombed under the..."

Trixie looked up and saw Taraiel hovering before her. The Valkyr handed Trixie the third spirit stone. "Trixie, you are no longer the last of the Horsadrim. You are the first of a new era. This is your destiny, Trixie, what you've always dreamed of. You will be grandmaster of an order of heroes, tasked to guard the three spirit stones so that justice may be served."

Trixie smiled. "Awesome! But wait a second, if founding a new Horsadrim was just that easy, why didn't you do it earlier? Why wait until I was the only one left? How does that work, anyhow, I still have lots of relatives alive and kickin'."

Taraiel pouted and rubbed her hoof in the dirt. "If there is one thing I have learned as of late, my sisters and I did not in fact know everything. We made mistakes like everypony else. The powers of the Horsadrim always passed down to the firstborn foal. Why, I do not know. Perhaps it was a curse considering the original Horsadrim sacrificed their own foals to try and imprison the demons. Perhaps it was a power that was destined to lie only with you in this time of troubles."

Taraiel glanced at Winny and had a thought: Victory on this day had been secured in part by the Horsadric dead. Winny's mother, the Unliving Queen, had been crucial in that regard. The princess had told Taraiel that her sister Shariel had claimed to be the Valkyr of Death. If that was the case, than Shariel's hooves may have been stirring the pot of recent events. Taraiel wondered if the Queen had been damned to undeath by her sister's actions in order to provide the necromancy required for this battle; as Wisdom, Shariel could have easily foreseen what was to come.

Winny put her hoof on Trixie's shoulder. "I want to join. The monks back home will, too. We can protect one in the labyrinth underneath our monastery."

Star Swirl teleported in front of them, Fizzle Hooves in his arms. "As you can see, the archmage is in no position to finish your training, Trixie. So, I shall have to teach you myself."

Trixie looked down at the spirit stones, then stood. "Star Swirl, Winny, thank you. Taraiel, we will not fail you. I know firsthoof what these evils are capable of. The things they did to me," she nodded at Fizzle Hooves, "what they did to her; we can not let it happen again."

Taraiel smiled and flew back towards Celestia, keeping her insights about her long-lost sister to herself. Star Swirl looked at the tome Trixie had been reading and stroked his beard while watching Fizzle Hooves. "I believe we owe our little friend here a heap of gratitude. If she had not been able to intervene, I fear what would have come of us."

Trixie patted Fizzle Hooves on the head. "She certainly helped save my hide from Baphomeena. Saved all of us, really."

"Unicorns have access to truly astounding levels of magic for a period after they are born," Star Swirl said as he gingerly tickled Fizzle Hooves under the chin. "I am very intrigued to see what becomes of this one."

The remaining Horsadric mummies waved and headed back to their tombs. A Horsadric unicorn cast a spell, summoning the symbol of the Horsadrim over the three new members of the order. He looked back over his shoulder as he left. "Farewell, Grandmaster Trixie. May the light shine over you all, always."

"What do we do now, Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked.

Celestia winked at Pinkie Pie. "Why, Twilight, we celebrate, of course! Think you can throw something together, Pinkie?"

Pinkie laughed and leaned on her party cannon. "Just say the word, Princess!"

Chapter 19

All across Equestria, celebrations raged. With the demise of the Three Sisters, the invading demons had fled back into the Netherworld from which they had spawned. Just as the Valkyr had said, it truly did feel like a new day had come, as if a great burden had been lifted from every ponies' back.

Inside Canterlot Castle, a small crowd had been gathered for the traditional stained glass window ceremony. Each window represented a momentous event in Equestria's history. Princess Celestia revealed the new windows: a beautiful piece commemorating the marriage of Shining Armor and Mi Amore Cadenza, and an exciting piece representing the battle against the Three Sisters. A burning Equestria was extinguished by Clover the Clever's friendship heart, underneath which were representations of every pony that aided in the battle from Twilight Sparkle and her friends to the royal guards that held the line against the demons back in Equestria. The background was designed to invoke the image of the morning sky, and at the bottom were effigies of the Three Sisters, surrounded by the insignia of the Horsadrim.

Celestia waited for the joyous clapping and stomping to die down then addressed her audience. "The forces of darkness and evil were vanquished today thanks to the special bond we all share: the spirits of friendship and harmony. Our love for one another, our love for Equestria. I am so proud of everypony. Now, my niece and Shining Armor would really like to get their new life together started, so we have set up their wedding reception in the ballroom."

Celestia winked at Trixie. "Hopefully there won't be anymore... inconveniences. The victory celebrations will likely be continuing into the night, so I hope you are all ready to party!"

Pinkie Pie put her leg around Twilight's shoulder."Are you ready to sing, Twilight?"

"You better believe it! Excuse us, Princesses, we have a wedding reception to go to," Twilight said. "Come on girls!"

The Unliving Queen watched them leave, a deep sadness in her eyes. She really wanted to go, of course, but wasn't sure how well she would be received. It was one thing for her brother or Celestia to accept her for what she was, they were close to Twilight Sparkle after all, but the general populace's opinion was a different matter entirely. She remembered how her own citizens had felt about her, and, not that she had hurt anypony, or at least hadn't been trying to, she had just led an assault on Canterlot.

Luna saw the turmoil on the Queen's face and nudged her in the rear with her wing, pushing her towards the door. "Go ahead, Twilight. He's thine brother, too," Luna said.

Celestia nodded. "Your daughter is already there, on 'overwatch,' I'm afraid. We tried to convince her that it wasn't necessary, but she insisted. I'm sure your presence would help alleviate her fears of another attack on her dear aunt and uncle."

The Queen needed no further encouragement and galloped after the others. The remaining ponies dispersed to join the festivities. Trixie began to leave but Star Swirl put a hoof on her flank. He glanced at the two princesses and grinned. "Not so fast, Trixie. We need you here."

"What do you mean?" Trixie asked.

"He means," Celestia said, " as leader of the Horsadrim, you get to join us for our traditional 'kingdom has been saved' debriefing."

Celestia led the others to a relatively quiet bastion overlooking the Canterlot Castle Gardens. Below, the three Horsadric foals played with the animals. Luna smiled contentedly as she watched the three play as Star Swirl conjured up four glasses and a bottle of wine then poured their drinks - the same vintage they had enjoyed after defeating the Unliving Queen.

Celestia sipped at her drink and stared at the bottle. She turned to Star Swirl. "Now, Star Swirl, I know you well enough to know damn well that you weren't just using your time travel magic to get us this wine. As soon as you saw that Valkyr you were probably making incantations."

Star Swirl laughed. He took a long draught of wine and refilled his glass. "I did not wish to admit it, but since the death of Nostrildamus, I have been too reticent to attempt much time travel. I saved these bottles in my tower. No time travel from me I'm afraid."

"I see, I was wondering how you went from seeming to know it all to being just as scared and worried as the rest of us," Celestia said.

Trixie grimly nodded. "Baphomeena was always four steps ahead of everypony else it seems. I guess that could be part of why she made me do what I did. Take away Nostrildamus, make you afraid to use time travel spells."

Celestia looked down at the foals. "Baphomeena let me observe her as she received the gifts the girls brought her. Fizzle Hooves may have wanted to be saved, but I think a part of Baphomeena wanted to be as well. She could have just struck us down, but she didn't. She told Applejack that she and her sisters were just little girls when they were attacked and dragged into a never-ending war. I think she purposefully may have let herself and her sisters get vanquished in order to give Fizzle Hooves and the others the same foalhood that they themselves were denied, as well as avoid more years full of bloodshed."

Star Swirl nodded and stroked his beard. "Trixie, you, sadly, had the most contact with Baphomeena, any insights?"

"Well, Star Swirl, you and I saw the old Horsadrim in action," Trixie said. "They are certainly powerful, so I do not doubt that Fizzle Hooves was able to coerce the demon inside her. Uh, this is going to sound really weird, but Baphomeena was actually sort of nice. I don't think Fizzle Hooves was in charge at all times, it seems unlikely. She was really swell when we were just working on my training. She always had my favorite foods, helped me if I was struggling with a spell, got me anything I desired. I don't really know which personality was doing all of that though."

Trixie drained her glass and motioned for more. She licked her lips. "Mmm, this is really good. I think I shall have the cellars of my tremendous palace stocked with it. I am the grandmaster of the Horsadrim, you know."

Star Swirl laughed. "I'm afraid that may be the last bottle of that anypony is able to imbibe in for quite some time. Time travel is a necessity in its acquisition."

Trixie frowned and slowly swirled the wine in her glass. "Anyway, even when she was doing those things to me, what Baphomeena was doing, she would use some kind of memory blocking magic on me, so every night I would at least have a sound sleep. Even though she probably didn't need to, she kept training me, too, and let me keep those memories. A lot of it could have been Fizzle Hooves, but I definitely think some of it had to have been Baphomeena."

Star Swirl topped off Celestia's glass. "Speaking of Fizzle Hooves, have you decided what is to be done with those three?"

Celestia started to speak, Luna interrupted. "I'm going to raise them."

Celestia raised her eyebrow. "Oh?"

Luna smiled. "Yes, sister. When I saw their sweet little faces, I knew I had to take care of them. They need somepony, and.. and I think I need them."

Celestia shook her head. "You can't take them to the moon, Luna. I don't think that would be good for them."

"I wasn't going to, Celestia. At least, not all the time. We will stay here with you. It is not a great inconvenience to travel from Canterlot to the moon," Luna said.

Celestia held her sister's hoof. "I can see this means a lot to you, and I am glad that it does. To answer your question, Star Swirl, it would appear we shall be raising them ourselves."

Star Swirl smiled at the princesses. "Ah, splendid. You both missed out on seeing the Horsadrim in action, you may be in for quite a few surprises. Speaking of the Horsadrim, have you been putting any thoughts into what you plan to do with your order, Trixie?"

Trixie grinned. "My order... Yes, I have. Right now, we just have unicorns, which is good, because I plan on setting up a magic school once you finish training me. But the Horsadrim was made of all the tribes. I figure we should probably try to keep those spirit stones a secret, but we also need members. So, I'm going to set the Horsadrim up as a secret society. We'll implement a bunch of rituals, secret hoofshakes, signet rings, things like that to give it an air of mystery and attract ponies. We'll do charity and community work and provide a social club for the ponies, then we can choose specific ponies to initiate to the inner circle that knows the truth of what we are really about."

Celestia smiled. "Ooh! That sounds fun."

Star Swirl pat Trixie on the back. "Clever lass. Princesses, any thoughts on what to do with the Unliving Queen? In Hoc Signo Vinces would appear to be fine, but I do not know if we can trust the mother. She is powerful. Perhaps too powerful, and she has already tasted the fruits of evil."

"I must admit I do have my doubts, but Cadence assures me that her magic will work," Celestia said. "She still is Twilight Sparkle, even more-so now, but... I said that Baphomeena let me observe her receiving the gifts? Considering she was the mistress of lies, I do not know if it actually happened, but she made Rainbow Dash watch the Unliving Queen massacre my magic school. It broke my heart."

Luna wrapped her wing around her sister. "We'll give her Westmarech. The place is in ruin anyway, nopony lives there. We will be able to monitor her, and, if need be, move against her."

The four took a drink then watched the three foals scamper about the garden in silence. A short while later, the glasses and the bottle were all empty. Celestia stood. "We'd better go see our niece off, Luna. I hope there's some cake left. If we're not too late, we might even get to see Twilight Sparkle dancing."

Luna assumed a look of mock horror. Twilight Sparkle was known for being adept at many a thing, but dancing was definitely not one of them. Celestia snorted with laughter as Luna groaned, "Oh gosh, anything but that!"

* * *

There had been no fireworks nor celebrations when Azazandra exited the portal and returned to the shadowed lands of Netheria, the home of the Three Sisters. Azazandra scowled up at the pitch black sky - even after all these years, the supernatural darkness still held her homeland in its grasp. It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust to the gloom, and when she was able to see clearly, Azazandra found herself at the edge of a forest of dead trees.

Azazandra could make out the large shape of a structure in the distance, and began to make her way towards it. There was something familiar about this location, and as she neared the structure she realized the shadow had brought her to Castle Fiendblood, the seat of power of Netheria's ancient monarchs. The Netherian throne had been vacant since the mysterious departure of Netheria's last ruler, Queen Lilith the Betrayer, with a council of three elected officials ruling in the place of a true monarch since her disappearance centuries ago. The Netherian knighthood - the Order of the Black Thorn - lived in Castle Fiendblood and kept it in pristine condition, awaiting the return of Lilith or someone worthy enough to claim her throne.

Azazandra whinnied as the shadow demon from the canyon suddenly began to whisper in her ear. "Your destiny awaits you within those walls, Azazandra. You can feel it within, can't you?"

Azazandra felt a tingle in her flanks that spurred her forwards. A strange, masculine voice began reciting lines of a prophecy in her mind as she ran towards the castle. "And the evil that was once vanquished shall rise anew. Wrapped in the guise of a foal shall She walk amongst the innocent; and Anguish shall consume thee who dwell upon Equestria. Behold! The war shall not be contained; and the children of Equestria shall be engulfed in the flood of conflict, and all hope shall be lost unto them. And She shall make war upon the righteous, and the righteous shall gird themselves as for battle. The righteous shall fall upon the wicked and lay siege to the very gates of Netheria. And She shall take peace from ponykind and loose great destruction upon the land. The Queen of Hatred shall ascend her throne; and Chaos shall devour all."

The strange feeling in her flanks intensified as she galloped through the castle gates and into the courtyard. The brand of the Horsadrim had begun to disintegrate from her flanks as she ran and had vanished entirely as she neared the castle's chapel. The tingling and the prophetic recitation sent her into a frenzy and she smashed through the stained-glass decorated, oaken doors of the chapel, then tumbled to the ground in a shower of splinters and glass.

At the far side of the chapel, slumped against the altar, was the body of King Umbre XII, the last of the Netherian centicore royals. The centicores - a goat-like beast around the size of a horse with two long, flexible horns, the jaws of a boar, and chest of a lion - ruled Netheria until King Umbre XII made the mistake of befriending Lilith, a charismatic outsider whom he had become enamored with. One night while the King was praying, Lilith stabbed him in the back with a legendary cursed sword called Kingslayer. The sword's magic had preserved Lilith's act of betrayal, and though centuries had passed, the King's body and the sword remained just as they had been upon the night of his death.

In the tumultuous times after Lilith's disappearance, it was decreed by the Netherian council that any who could pull the blade from the corpse would be made ruler of Netheria. Many had tried to remove the sword from the body with brawn or magic, but all attempts failed. It had become a Netherian tradition to bring ones' foals to have a few tugs at the sword; Netherian children learn of life's cruelties all too quickly.

With sweat pouring from her, Azazandra staggered to her feet and slowly approached the sword. It looked so plain for such a powerful artifact. The hilt was wrapped with leather, there were no runes upon the flawless blade, and the only indicator that it wasn't 'just another sword' were the cluster of rubies and emeralds in the pommel. Azazandra and her sisters had tried to pull the sword many times before their exile to Equestria, but she knew this attempt would be different - she could feel it. She licked her lips as she slowly, confidently, walked towards the altar. A broad smile stretched across her face as she looked at her reflection in the blade. It felt good to smile once more.

Without hesitation, Azazandra thrust her hoof towards the sword's hilt, twisting her equine limb into a taloned hand and firmly clenched the hilt of Kingslayer, the Monarch's Bane. The air crackled with magical energy as Azazandra twisted the blade in the King's back and pressed her hoof down on his torso as she pulled back on the blade. As the cursed sword left his body, the King uttered his last breath, "Damn you, Lilith..." before he rapidly disintegrated into dust.

Azazandra ran her hoof along the blade and smiled. "I have walked Equestria, always searching for that which will make me whole. I never suspected it was in Netheria all this time. I finally have it within my grasp!"

Azazandra swept the sword through the air and giggled in delight at the audible *swish* of the magical blade. She could hear the sound of hoof steps outside in the courtyard and smirked as the knights of the Black Thorn began to kneel before her. There were knights of many races: a myriad of demons, half-demons, horses, ponies, goats, and many more magical beasts. Each knight wore a purple surcoat bearing a black circle of thorns - the symbol of the Order and of the Netherian royalty - over a suit of black plate mail armor. She held the sword up before her and shouted, "Behold! I have claimed the sword of Lilith and now I, Azazandra, am Queen of Netheria!"

The knight commander, a black-haired catoblepas (a scaled, bull-like creature with a shaggy mane whose gaze was lethal, like a basilisk), addressed their new queen. "Your majesty, I am Lord Anaxius. My knights and I are honored to be at your command at last."

A pair of knights bearing a large chest galloped towards Azazandra and opened it before her. One of the knights gestured towards a deep purple, fur-trimmed cloak and an obsidian crown. "Your royal accoutrements, your majesty."

Azazandra expertly twirled the Kingslayer blade and sliced through the remains of the purple robes Baphomeena had created for her, then shimmered a step forwards as the destroyed garment fell to the ground behind her. She caught sight of her rear in the reflection of the sword and smiled - the Horsadric symbol was gone and its in place was a black circle of thorns. Her new cutie mark. Her destiny!

Azazandra held her forelegs out to the side and nodded at Lord Anaxius and then pointed the sword towards the chest. "Sir knight, if you would be so kind."

Lord Anaxius stood and swiftly clasped the royal cloak over Azazandra's shoulders, then grinned as he placed the obsidian crown upon her head. He stepped back and saluted. "Hail, Azazandra, Queen of Netheria!"

The knights continued to chant as they followed Azazandra to the throne room. The room fell silent as she lingered before the throne, then plopped down into the plush seat with a satisfied sigh. She looked down at the knights, her knights, and smiled. It was like a dream come true, like something out of a story book. Her long-lost mother seemingly had returned, she had finally made it back to Netheria, and had not only claimed the Netherian throne but her destiny as well.

Azazandra brought the sword up to her face and gazed into the blade. She brought it to her lips and kissed it. She whispered to it, "I know not why you rejected me so long ago, but you, and the throne, are mine now. My sisters will NOT have fallen in vain!"

Azazandra jumped as the sword emitted the shadow's voice, "You shall see your sisters soon, Azazandra. You now possess the necessary tools to save your sisters, save Netheria, save everypony!"

Azazandra raised her eyebrow as she looked past the sword to see that time had slowed to a halt once more. "Thanks to you... I must know, who are you? Something stirs within me when I feel your touch, memories that have been lost for a long, long time... Are you my mother's spirit?"

The shadow's voice was twinged with sadness, "Hmm, what am I? I am a demon, of course - no more, no less. To some, that has meant one thing; to others, another."

Azazandra frowned. "You said before that it would all be revealed in time... When will you give me a real answer?"

"When the sun sets in the east and the shore swallows the tide. When the moon smiles upon the day and the blind mare sees once again," the shadow replied with a laugh. The shadow paused and drew in a deep breath. "You will know soon enough, Azazandra, but I know you already know the answer in your heart."

"My heart believes that you are my mother," Azazandra said.

"And your heart is right. I am sorry to say that I must leave you, Azazandra, just for a while," the shadow gently said.

Azazandra scowled at the sword. The words would not come, but the look of anger on her face spoke for her.

"I'm so sorry," the shadow said, "but this is how it must be. I will return to you, to Baphomeena, to Lucifiona, once you pass your upcoming trial. That is how it must be, as it was decreed in prophecy."

The prophecy, Azazandra had nearly forgotten about it.She heard it repeat in her mind. "How do I pass this trial?" Azazandra asked.

"The fate of us all rests upon your shoulders, Azazandra. All you need to do is trust in your heart once more, and let your new sword strike true," the shadow said as a shadowy limb extended from the sword and pressed against Azazandra's chest.

Time began to flow once more as the shadow whispered, "I shall see you once the deed is done, Azazandra. Believe in your heart! I love you!"

Azazandra grit her teeth, "Wait!"

One of the knights curtseyed before Azazandra, thinking she had addressed her, "You desire something of me, your majesty?"

Azazandra looked confusedly at the knight and sighed. "No, no, continue what you were doing."

"Of course, your majesty," the knight said with a salute.

Azazandra sighed and sat back in her throne. She had so many questions for her mother, yet she abandoned her once more. As she began to think upon the chain of events that had just transpired, the mysterious masculine voice returned and recited the prophecy it had spoken before, except this time Azazandra gave it her full attention. The recitation ended with additional lines, and a question that sent twinges of fear through Azazandra, though she did not know why: "And She shall mete out her vengeance upon all flesh. And the blood of innocents shall run as great torrents. Who then shall be saved?"

From the cryptic hints from her mother, Azazandra knew the prophecy was about her, that she would lead Netheria against their enemy, Aesirlund. She did not like the implications that Aesirlund would push back their assault, nor the burning question the voice had asked that echoed in her mind. She idly sipped at a goblet of mead that had been offered to her and frowned at the Kingslayer. "Who then shall be saved...?"

Chapter 20

The tendrils of the Valkyr of Justice's wings drooped lifelessly over the sides of the cloud she lay upon as she drifted across the Equestrian skies. They had scored a great victory over the forces of darkness, but for Taraiel, that victory had been Pyrrhic.

With the exception of the Valkyr of Wisdom, Shariel, the Valkyr had long ago accepted their destiny that had been foreseen upon Urdiel's Scroll of Fate. Taraiel knew she should have fallen with her sisters, and she now knew why Baphomeena had spared her life. Baphomeena's act of spite had ultimately assured her own downfall, but it appeared she was having the last laugh. The guilt of surviving, compounded with the sorrow of losing her sisters was almost too much for Taraiel to bear.  

Taraiel stared vacantly into the sky as the sun began to set. As she watched the stars begin to sparkle in the twilight sky, she growled and slapped her hooves against the cloud. She tilted her head towards the setting sun and asked, "How is this justice?"

Taraiel sighed, and as she turned her head back towards the heavens her heart skipped a beat. She sprung to her feet and stared at the twinkling of a star. She blinked and rubbed at her eyes in disbelief, but the light was still there. Could it be? Yes! Her sister had returned!

The Valkyr bolted into the air, furiously flapping her wings. She soared faster and faster into the heavens, the stars merging into streaks of light around her, until finally they became a sheet of light. Taraiel gasped as she stepped through the light and saw what had become of the Valkyr's ancient home, Sancti Sepulchri. As part of Queen Azazandra's plans, a legion of demons had been sent to sack the heavenly city of the Valkyr. Smoke billowed in the distance, and the once pristine ivory buildings were now charred and defiled.

Taraiel stood before the great golden gates to Sancti Sepulchri, which lay bent and twisted on the ground. Her lips drew back and her hooves trembled with rage. She snarled, "Sacrilege!"

Taraiel thrust out her hoof, summoning her runeblade to her grasp. She was torn between punishing those responsible, or finding her sister. She could detect the foul stench of demons amidst the smoke as she flew into Sancti Sepulchri. Her decision was made. Shariel had been gone so long, what was a few minutes more? These demons had to suffer for what they had done.

Taraiel could hear laughter as she approached the central spire that she and her sisters had used as their headquarters. The sound infuriated her and she spurred herself forwards. A trio of goat-like demons stood, guffawing as another demon read out-loud from Seraphiel's diary. Taraiel flew forwards like an arrow and snatched the book from his grasp with her wing tendril, then silenced them all with a flurry of slashes.

Taraiel gently placed the book on a windowsill, then continued onwards towards the council chamber. Demons fell where they stood as she hacked her way through their ranks. Her temple throbbed and a red mist began to gather in her sight as she lost herself to the ecstasy of unbridled wrath.

Three demons stood before the great doors to the council chamber. Taraiel grinned at the look of fear that came across their faces as she approached, her coat matted with sweat and the blood of their comrades. The demon in the center, which Taraiel identified as some kind of officer due to her elaborate armor, nervously glanced at her brethren, then lifted her sword towards the Valkyr.

Taraiel surged into action, severing the demon's sword arm in a flash of light. The officer's underlings fell in two swift, brutal, swipes of the enraged Valkyr's sword. The remaining demon clutched at her arm and fell backwards, her eyes going wide as she surveyed the remains of her comrades. One had been cut in two, the other lay doubled over, sliced from chin to groin.

Taraiel stepped forward, thrusting the tip of her sword under the demon's chin. She stood, her chest heaving, and silently stared into the terrified demon's eyes. Finally, Taraiel snarled, "Why have you done this?"

The demon responded, "We thought you were dead..."

With a snort, the Valkyr drew back her sword and struck out at the demon, decapitating her. Taraiel kicked the body aside and sighed. "Not hardly."

Taraiel was not prepared for what awaited her in the council chamber and she blinked in disbelief as she opened the doors and beheld piles of corpses within. An entire phalanx of demons lay dead all across the chamber. In the center knelt Shariel, the former Valkyr of Wisdom, now the Valkyr of Death. Her hooves were clasped in front of her and her eyes were shut. Shariel had a purple coat and sandy-blonde hair. Her wings glowed with purple light and the tendrils were sleek and ended in sharp points. A silver chalice was her cutie mark. Shariel was repeatedly whispering, "Non nobis, Lux, non nobis sed nomine tuo da gloriam." (Not to us, O Light, not to us but to your name bring glory.)

Taraiel gazed upon her elder sister in shock. It had been so long since she had last seen Shariel, and the years had not been well to her. Shariel looked frail and malnourished, but the light of her wings still blazed strong. The rage that had driven her moments before began to ebb and the runeblade clattered to the ground as tears began to fill Taraiel's eyes. She galloped forwards and grabbed at her sister, clutching Shariel to her breast as the tears began to flow down her cheeks.

Taraiel tried to speak, but the words would not come. Shariel placed her hoof to her sister's lips, "Shhh."

The two continued their silent embrace for several minutes until Taraiel regained her composure. She still held her sister tight, did not want to let her go. Taraiel looked upon her sister's face and frowned. Shariel looked weary. Her long, sandy-blonde mane hung limp over her shoulders, and her dark blue eyes held deep sorrow.

"Why did you forsake us? How could you abandon us?" Taraiel demanded to know.

There was an icy fury in Taraiel's words, they stung Shariel. Shariel gently wiped at her sister's tears. "Oh, Taraiel! I know you believe what you say to be true, but I never abandoned you and our sisters. You are living, and I am quite pleased to be able to say that, mind you, living proof!"

Taraiel frowned. At least she knew it was truly her sister, as Shariel was prone to talk in riddles. "I do not quite understand, Shariel. If you did not forsake us, why were you not at the final battle? Why are you here now, when all of us should be dead?"

Shariel laughed. "Oh, Taraiel, it pleases me that you have not changed over the years. You see, sister, when Urdiel read from her scroll and told us that we would all die, I knew that could not be true. When I looked upon the waters of my Chalice of Wisdom, it showed me that there was a way, a way to beat fate itself. It showed me a future where all of us lived in peace. No more battles. No more demons! All these years I have been gone, I have been working to make that vision a reality, to save you and our sisters. As I said before, you are living proof that my efforts were not in vain!"

Taraiel sighed. Shariel had left her sisters to try and circumvent fate, yet she was the only one that survived? "Why me? Why did you not save the others?"

Shariel winked. "We will save them, Taraiel. Them and so many others."

Taraiel asked, "Others?"

A smile spread across Shariel's face. "Indeed, my sister. Everypony that has fallen in the crusade against the forces of darkness! We shall resurrect them."

Taraiel raised her eyebrow. "Have you gone barmy? That's impossible... Is it not?"

Shariel shook her head. "Do you recall what I told you all when I left?"

Taraiel nodded. "You were going to try and figure out the unknowable mysteries of life and death."

"Oh, there was knowledge to learn, my sister, but it was not unknowable," Shariel gleefully said.

Taraiel's eyes lit up. "Aha! So that is why you became Death instead of Wisdom! I must admit I was greatly troubled when the Princess Celestia told me you had cast aside Wisdom for Death."

"It was in Wisdom's guidance that I became Death. It was the only way to save you, to save everypony," Shariel solemnly said.

"Then you really can resurrect the dead? And not as living corpses?" Taraiel asked.

"Yes, but I can not do it alone, sister. I need you by my side, but not as you are now. There is a time for Justice, but it is not now, Taraiel," Shariel said.

Taraiel glanced down at the golden scales on her flank. "You wish for me to abandon my own aspect as well? I... I do not know if I can, Shariel, I am justice itself!"

"Trust me, sister," Shariel said. "You can do it, you must do it. I will help you. I want you to close your eyes and remember our sisters. Remember all the injustice you have helped to correct over the millennia."

Taraiel shut her eyes and a scowl formed on her face as she remembered the deaths of their sisters. Shariel placed her hooves on her sister's chest. "Yes," Shariel said, "I can sense your rage. It blazes like an inferno in your heart. I need you to let go, Taraiel. You need to cast aside your petty restraints. We need you to embrace this burning fury within, it is the only way to save our sisters."

Memories stampeded through Taraiel's mind: memories of her sisters, memories of evil and those who commit evil deeds. She remembered it all, remembered how she had thirsted for justice for countless victims, but now, all she wanted was revenge. An eye for an eye, a hoof for a hoof, a life for a life. The tendrils of her wings began to writhe spastically. Taraiel's temple throbbed, her blood boiled, and she jumped to her feet, shoving her sister to the ground. She snorted. "You! You turned your back on all of us! Left us to die!"

Shariel just smirked in response. Taraiel ignored her, looked around the room at the fallen demons. Demons! In the Valkyr's sacred hall! The red mist began to cloud her vision once more. She screamed, "Sacrilege!"

Thrusting forth her hoof, Taraiel summoned the runeblade into her grasp once more. She stared into the magnificent blade, transfixed by her reflection. Her eyes went wide as she saw the blade begin to transform. The edges became serrated and the runes swirled and changed, their color fading from blue to a dark red. She shut her eyes and began to breathe deeply to calm herself. When she opened them, Shariel stood before her, smiling.

"You are ready, Taraiel," Shariel said.

Taraiel nodded slowly. "Yes... The light forgive me... I have forsaken Justice to become Wrath."

Chapter 21

For over two decades, Daring Do had been scouring the world for components of an ancient artifact: the Eye of Horsiris. The pegasus adventurer had a dark yellow coat and hair in a greyscale rainbow. Her cutie mark was of a compass rose. Daring had authored over a dozen books, recovered hundreds of relics thought lost to time, discovered the lost city of Lut Mulein, and her exploits had served as inspiration for hundreds of thousands of ponies around the world. However, the restoration of the Eye of Horsiris may prove to be her greatest triumph, for there was more on the line than a headline in the Canterlot Herald.

Daring believed the final component of the Eye to be in the ancient ovine city of Tristram. She had been en route to Tristram when the demon sisters' invasion had begun. Daring was a veteran adventurer and she was no stranger to the supernatural, so she had held her own against the few demons foolish enough to attack her.

When the demons had been defeated and the skies returned to normal, Daring had witnessed something that both inspired and worried her. A falling star had streaked down from the heavens, seemingly directly upon her destination. Daring had an inquisitive nature, so the demon invasion coupled with the falling star had caused her to be overwhelmed with excitement and she had doubled her pace towards Tristram.

As she neared the city, Daring had felt her stomach turn as she spotted a scene of carnage on the roadway ahead. A wagon lay shattered, and all around it Daring could see what appeared to be blood and guts - some of which had been spread out into the shape of a strange rune. She came to a halt, tilting her head to listen, but all that could be heard was the buzzing of a multitude of flies that swarmed ahead.

Daring glanced down at her forelegs to make sure her armaments were secure. In gratitude for her efforts in thwarting the evil Ahuizotl, a jungle tribe had gifted Daring with a pair of dart launchers. The ornate silver devices locked on around her shins and had proven to be valuable tools over the years.

Confident her weapons were ready, Daring slowly made her way towards the slaughter. As she got closer, she could see that the 'blood and guts' was anything but. She chuckled and tipped back her pith helmet then wiped her brow. "Thank the stars, it's only tomatoes."

As she continued to investigate the scene, Daring leaned down to study the strange rune. Inspecting the ground, Daring could see what appeared to be demonic tracks, as well as a set of hoofprints leading off into the woods.

"Somepony survived!" Daring exclaimed as she jumped to her feet.

As she turned to follow the tracks, her tail brushed the rune and it promptly burst into flames. Daring rolled forwards and glanced at her tail, breathing a sigh of relief as her honed reflexes had prevented any harm. The runic flames quickly died out and Daring hurried after the tracks to hunt down the hopefully-still alive pony.

The sun had begun to set by the time Daring caught up with the pony. Deep within the woods, a pony sat by a campfire and Daring began to walk over to her. Daring checked her out as she approached, noting the tomato cutie mark on her flank. As Daring neared, the farmer gasped, "D-don't come any closer!"

Daring stood across from the farmer, who breathed heavily, trembling in fear. Daring stepped back, knelt down and began fiddling with her dart launchers. She could tell something was not right, it felt like she was being watched, and not by the farmer.

Daring looked up at the farmer. "You probably ran until you couldn't take another step."

Daring tilted her head. Yes, she could hear... something. She looked down at her hoof and frowned. "I remember that feeling."

Whatever was out there was coming closer. The farmer began to panic. "I... had no choice..."

Daring could hear movement in the trees behind her. She heard growling and branches snapping. She told the farmer, "You always have a choice."

Creatures emerged from the woods - demons. The farmer's eyes darted back and forth as she watched them, her heart racing in fear. Daring stood and walked in front of the frightened mare. The farmer looked up at her, trembling. "We're going to die here, aren't we?"

Daring rose up on her hind legs and gave a reassuring smile. "No. As long as I am here, they are the prey. And I," She spun around, pointing her forelegs towards the charging demons, "am the hunter."

Darts whistled through the air followed by unholy cries of pain as they tore into the demons. A brutish demon wielding a mace charged at Daring, swinging as he approached. Daring dodged to the right, jumped into the air and somersaulted behind him, peppering his back with darts.

As the brute fell, Daring turned and quickly dispatched two more demons. She heard the farmer scream and Daring whirled about, scowling as she saw the brute rising to his feet. Daring reached back and grabbed her trusty whip and prepared to strike. The whip cracked and ensnared the demon, Daring yanked backwards and sent him to the ground once more.

Daring bolted forwards, untangling her whip from the demon and giving him a powerful kick from her hind legs, rendering him unconscious. Daring had run dry on darts and more demons were closing in on their position. It would take a moment to reload the dart launchers, a moment they did not have. Daring's years of wisdom gained from a life of adventure kicked in and her mind quickly thought up a plan.

Daring lashed out with her whip, dragging burning logs from the fire, which she then sent rolling towards the demons, buying them some time, and most importantly, keeping them a safe distance away. Daring let her whip fall to the ground and turned back towards her pack, pulling out several apples. Daring swiftly turned and tossed the apples into the air, kicking them with her well-toned hind legs.

The explosions of the apples kept the demons at bay long enough for Daring to reload her darts. Her ears perked up as she snapped in the dart clips and scanned the surroundings. It had gotten quiet, save for the crackling of the fire and the low groans of the wounded demons.

With a tremendous roar, the three remaining demons charged towards Daring from three different directions. Daring aimed and felled the demon on her right flank, dropped the one on the left with a shot to the knee, then shot the final demon with both dart launchers, while declaring, "I stand defiant! As long as you keep coming, I will never stop fighting!"

The threat ended, Daring stood before the farmer, who was looking up at her in reverence. Daring smiled down at her. "You have a choice. Hunted..." Daring pulled off one of her dart launchers and flipped it around, offering it to the farmer. "Or hunter."

The farmer grinned and thrust her leg into the device. Daring winked at her and glanced around the battlefield. "These guys won't be down for long, we need to leave."

Daring helped the farmer to her feet, grabbed her whip, and the two mares hastily hobbled away from the defeated demons.

The pair of ponies continued on into the night in silence. When Daring Do's adrenaline rush faded the pair sat to catch their breath. Daring unbuttoned her olive drab jacket and pulled a flask from an inner pocket. She took a drink and offered it to the farmer who warily sniffed at the liquid.

Daring laughed. "It's just apple cider. Go ahead."

The farmer greedily gulped down the cider, then blushed and sheepishly handed back the near-empty flask. "Sorry, I guess I was really thirsty. My name is Sun-Dried, by the way. Thank you for saving me back there."

Daring drank the rest of the cider and tucked the flask back in her jacket. She glanced up at the night sky."You're welcome, but we aren't out of it yet. There's still several hours of darkness before sunrise. We should get moving, if you're feeling well enough."

Sun-Dried stretched out her legs. She grimaced. "Still sore, but that cider really hit the spot. I feel like I can walk on my own, at least."

Daring winked at her. "Good."

Daring reached over and lifted the leg Sun-Dried had the dart launcher on and leaned down to manipulate it. The clip of darts ejected with a metallic *ping* and Daring handed them to Sun-Dried. Daring proceeded to instruct Sun-Dried on the mechanics of the dart launcher. The lesson complete, Daring stood and checked her equipment. "Alright, lets get moving. Keep it unloaded and try to practice firing it as we walk."

Sun-Dried smiled happily and the two mares resumed their travel. As they continued on, Sun-Dried gasped and came to a sudden halt. "What is it?" Daring whispered as she scanned the area.

Sun-Dried blushed. "Oh! Oh, I'm sorry, I just realized I never asked who you were and I couldn't believe how bad my manners were."

Daring laughed. "I see. You had me worried for a second, thought you saw something I did not. I just figured you didn't ask because you knew already."

Sun-Dried shook her head. "Should I know you? Ooh, are you a famous Applewood actress? I don't get to watch many moving pictures."

Daring grinned. "No, ma'am. I'm Daring Do - adventurer, explorer, archaeologist, author, and apparently for the time being, rogue demon hunter."

Sun-Dried tilted her head. "What's a rogue demon?"

Daring laughed. "You, I like. Those things that attacked us back there are demons. Nasty buggers. Not sure where they came from, as I've been out in the field and the only thing I know about what's been happening was from gossip in a cider hole two towns back."

Sun-Dried held out her hoof. "Well Daring Do, I am very pleased to have met you. If you ever have a hankering for tomatos, I'm your mare. Me and my folks would be right honored to fix you up the best damn meal you've ever ate, as thanks for my life, you know. My mama makes an amazing tomato sauce!"

Daring shook the proffered hoof and chuckled. "I'm sure she does. I'll take you up on that offer once I find what I am searching for in Tristram."

"What are you trying to find, if you don't mind my asking?" Sun Dried asked.

"The last piece, I hope, to an ancient relic, the Eye of Horsiris," Daring replied.

"I hope you find it," Sun-Dried said.

Daring smiled. "Thank you."

As the sun began to rise, the ponies could make out the walls of Tristram rising in the distance. The ponies breathed a sigh of relief - they had made it with no signs of the demons. Daring's display of ferocity had scared them off. The great Tristram Cathedral could be seen in the distance. Daring deduced that the falling star must have struck the Cathedral, as she could make out a gaping hole in the side of the structure.

Daring quickly grew concerned as they entered the village and not a soul was to be found. "Where is everypony? Wait. What day is it?" Daring asked.

"Sunday," Sun-Dried replied.

"Oh, I'm sure they're all just in the Cathedral then," Daring said as she headed up the slope to the Cathedral.

A ram, clad in blood-spattered chainmail armor, lay slumped against the entryway to the Cathedral. His hooves were pressed against his chest and the ponies could see they were covered in blood.

The ram watched them approach and reached towards them. Daring rushed to his side. She could tell the ram was on his last legs.

"Please, listen to me," the ram uttered. "The Archbishop Gharbaaad, he lead us down into the labyrinth to find the heaven stone. The bastard led us into a trap! A minotaur known as the Butcher ambushed us... Big cleaver killing all my friends. Couldn't stop him, had to run away, couldn't save them. Trapped in a room with so many bodies...so many friends..."

The ram closed his eyes and was still.

Sun-Dried looked away in tears. Daring gently brushed her hoof over the ram's cheek. "Rest well, your death will be avenged."

Daring put her hooves on Sun-Dried's shoulders and gave her a reassuring smile. "I need to go deal with this 'Butcher.' There's probably still some people hiding here in the village you can stay with," Daring said.

Sun-Dried shook her head. "No, I'm coming with you."

"It's too dangerous," Daring said. "This minotaur ravaged an armed and armored band. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Please let me come with you. We didn't see anypony in the village, and... and I don't want to be alone up here," Sun-Dried said.

"Alright, Sun-Dried. I should warn you, if we're going up against a minotaur there will be traps, and if this minotaur is attacking people, we're going to have to fight him. Can you handle that?" Daring asked.

"Yes. I would have died earlier if you hadn't saved me. I'll never be able to repay that debt, helping you with this Butcher is the least I can do," Sun-Dried said.

"Thanks, kid. Remember what I showed you about that dart launcher. Be wary of traps, stay five feet behind me, and try to follow my exact movements and you'll be fine," Daring said.

Sun-Dried nodded and the two mares ventured into the labyrinth, deep underneath the Cathedral. The clip-clop of their hooves echoed off the walls as they descended the stone stairs. Sun-Dried gasped in alarm as they rounded a corner and came face to face with armed cows wielding halberds.

"Halt," ordered one of the cows. "Who are you ponies?"

"I'm Daring Do, and my companion here is known as Sun-Dried. We're here to help," Daring explained.

"You are adventurers? Come, follow me, I shall take you to our liege," the cow said as he lowered his halberd.

The two ponies followed the cow deeper into the labyrinth, passing many a wounded cow, sheep, and pony along the way. In a torch lit room they saw a cow armored in golden plate mail and wearing a crown, surrounded by advisors.

Their guide knelt before the cow king. "Sire, we found these ponies entering the labyrinth. They say they are here to help."

Daring bowed and Sun-Dried clumsily followed suit. "Your majesty," Daring began, "I am-"

The cow king held up his hoof."We know who you are, Miss Do. My daughter is a fan of your book series. I am King Steelhorn, ruler of Tristram. It is a great honor to have you here, Miss Do. We are udderly pleased you wish to aid us, as well."

Daring grinned. "I only wish it was under happier circumstances. We encountered a wounded ram outside, before he perished he spoke of a minotaur named the Butcher."

The cow king nodded. "My advisor, the Archbishop Gharbad, led us down here to find the meteor or whatever it was that struck our Cathedral. The minotaurs that dwell here have long been our friends. We do not know why this one has attacked." The cow king shut his eyes and sighed, "It was a bloodbath."

"H-how many of you survived?" Sun-Dried asked.

"Those you saw on the way in, those of us here in this chamber, and a hoofful of my surviving royal guards that are battling the Butcher," the cow king sadly said.

"I will deal with this Butcher, your majesty. I'm afraid I must request a favor from you in return," Daring said.

"Whatever you wish, Miss Do. My kingdom, what remains of it, is at your service," the cow king said.

"I came here to find a piece of the Eye of Horsiris. My research says it was last seen here in Tristram. It should be a piece of gemstone shaped as a sheep," Daring said.

The cow king sunk deep in though for a few moments. "Yes, I remember seeing such a gem. I believe it is in the mausoleum, on the floor where my ancestors slumber."

"Oh," Sun-Dried said. "You mean it's on the cow level?"

The cow king stomped his hooves. "There is no cow level!"

Sun-Dried glanced around nervously as the cow king winked at her. The king turned to a cow clad in gleaming silver plate mail. "Now, Lord Wellington?"

The cow bowed. "Yes, sire?"

"Find anyone who is able to fight. You shall accompany Miss Do. With her help I am sure we can defeat the Butcher," the cow king said.

Lord Wellington saluted. "Of course, sire. Follow me, girls."

Lord Wellington led the two ponies and the cow guardsman out into the corridor. "Attention," Lord Wellington said. "Anyone that feels they can fight, come with us. The great adventurer Daring Do has joined our cause, and the Butcher will soon be vanquished!"

The wounded and weary survivors cheered and clapped their hooves. The able bodied survivors rose to fight once more, eager to claim vengeance on the Butcher. As the group prepared to travel deeper into the labyrinth, the cow king leaned out of the chamber's doorway. "Once you deal with the Butcher, see if you can find Gharbad. I believe he found the sky rock. When the minotaur attacked, the Archbishop fled deeper into the maze. Good luck!"

As they progressed, they could smell death in the air. Blood spattered the walls and bodies lay wounded and gashed in a chamber ahead. Lord Wellington held up his hoof. "Be ready, this is his lair."

The posse began to enter the chamber when they saw movement in the gloom. The minotaur was caked with blood and wielded an enormous cleaver. The Butcher greeted them. "Ah, fresh meat."

Daring leapt forwards and signaled for the others to hang back. "I am Daring Do, I'd advise you to surrender."

The Butcher laughed and began to advance on Daring, swinging his cleaver in an elaborate kata. His eyes glinted with hunger as he moved closer, spinning the cleaver faster and faster. Daring gave him a lopsided grin and took aim. The dart hit its mark, impaling the Butcher's eye.

Lord Wellington bellowed, "Charge!"

As the minotaur howled in pain, the villagers swarmed forwards and stabbed, hacked, bludgeoned, and trampled the Butcher to death.

Sun-Dried looked at Daring in awe. She asked, "How did you know that would work?"

Daring laughed. "Well, kid, most things don't appreciate getting shot in the eye. Come on, let's go find Gharbad."

Not too far from the Butcher's lair they found the Archbishop, an ebony furred ram, lying in a crumpled heap at the bottom of a pit trap. He had miraculously survived a plethora of traps on the way, but his luck had run out as the hole opened below him.

Lord Wellington asked, "Are you alive?"

Gharbad stirred, answered weakly, "Yes."

Daring drew her whip and lowered it into the pit. "Grab on and we'll pull you out."

Gharbad shook his head. "What's the use? We're all doomed."

Lord Wellington frowned. "Come on, Archbishop. Our people require your services after what happened here."

Gharbad groaned and reached for the whip, in his other hoof he held an object tight to his chest. He wrapped the whip around his leg. "If I must, but it's all pointless anyway."

They hauled the Archbishop up and made him a makeshift litter. As the villagers carried the injured Archbishop, Daring studied the object he carried. "Excuse me, your grace, is that the remains of the falling star?"

Gharbad clutched it tighter. "No! Don't look at it! It is cursed!"

Daring was even more intrigued. "Oh, how so?"

Gharbad stared down at the object. "That minotaur, the Butcher, he found the stone. I know now what caused him to go mad. This stone, it grants you vision beyond that which a normal being could possess. I looked upon it and saw something horrid."

Now Daring was really interested. "What was it you saw?"

The Archbishop cackled. "Nothing."

Daring frowned. "Come again?"

Gharbad laughed and held the object towards Daring. "Oh, what's the use, you might as well see for yourself since we're all doomed."

Daring turned the object over in her hooves. It wasn't stone, it wasn't metal, nor crystal or gem. It was made of something Daring had never encountered before. As she looked at the surface of the object, images began to rapidly appear.

The images depicted a pegasi foal at first. The pegasi began to age and as she did the images showed multiple versions of the same event, each with different outcomes. Suddenly, the images ceased and there was nothing but darkness.

Daring staggered back and slumped down against the wall, her eyes wide and mouth gaping. She held the object to her chest and whispered, "Whoa..."

After a few minutes, Daring slipped the object into her helmet and made her way back to the Archbishop. He nodded at her. "You have seen it now."

Daring frowned. "Yes. Very peculiar."

Gharbad cackled again. "Peculiar? The world is ending, and you think it is 'peculiar.' Oh, it doesn't matter anyway, I suppose."

The villagers paused and stared back at them. Lord Wellington raised his eyebrow. "The world is ending? Explain yourselves."

"I will, but let's get to the cow king and out of this labyrinth first," Daring said.

Back on the surface, they all assembled in the cow king's throne room. Daring stood in front of the murmuring crowd and motioned for silence.

"The object that fell upon your Cathedral was no mere meteorite. Whatever it is, it is magical in nature. As best as I can figure, the object is some kind of scrying device. If you gaze into it you will be shown the life of a sweet little pegasi filly, a life that abruptly ends sometime in the near future," Daring said.

Daring held her hooves up to silence the crowd. "I've been adventuring for longer than I care to admit, and in all of my travels I've never seen anything like this. It is magical, however, so it could just be a trick, but the detail in it is enough for me to believe it may be real."

An ewe raised her hoof. "What can be done?"

"First, we shouldn't panic," Daring said. "We don't know what it really is. Next, we can inform Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. We could also try to track down the pegasi that is shown on the object, see if the images it shows are true or not."

The cow king rose. "Miss Do is correct. Please, do not panic. It has been a horrible period for our poor village, and I think we could all use a good meal. The palace chef's are hard at work fixing up meals for everyone, please head for the dining hall if you wish."

As the villagers began to disperse, their whispered conversations rebounding off the walls of the throne room, the cow king motioned for Daring to follow him.

In a side chamber, Daring found the object of her decades long search. Her eyes lit up as she dashed forwards and gazed in wonder at the final piece of the Eye of Horsiris. Daring grinned at the cow king. "Thank you so much!"

The cow king responded but Daring wasn't paying attention. She tore open her pack and pulled out the Eye of Horsiris, gently laying it upon the ground. Several minutes later, Daring had successfully inserted the final component.

The cow princess and Sun-Dried had been watching her work and eagerly leaned forwards to see what the device would do. Nothing happened.

"What's this thing supposed to do?" Sun-Dried asked.

"The inscription said it was to provide a warning, for those who could interpret it, of things to come," Daring said. "It is an 'eye.' Hmm..."

Daring gingerly lifted the relic and headed towards a window. Daring sat on the window ledge and held the Eye up to her face. She smiled in wonder. "Amazing."

"What is it?" the princess asked.

"It's words, in a variety of languages," Daring said. "All jumbled together." She reached up and twisted a ring on the Eye. "Ah, much better. Somepony get a pen and pad of paper, please."

The princess ran and returned with the writing instruments. Daring began to record the symbols she saw in the Eye, each twist of the ring produced a different set in a different language. Daring motioned the princess and Sun-Dried to her side. "Here, take a look, but don't drop it, please."

As the two played with the Eye, Daring began to translate the symbols that she was able to comprehend. "At the end of all things, the first sign shall appear in the heavens. And a foal will cradle Hatred in her breast as the heart of Harmony falls under the shadow. Loyalty shall be divided, as Honesty is overcome with mirth. Wrath shall no longer be judged as the light purges the darkest shadow."

Daring dropped the pen to the floor. She glanced up at her helmet. She couldn't help but imagine that the 'first sign' of the 'end of all things' that came from the heavens had to be the object. The more she thought about it, the more she believed it had to be true. She had been around the block enough times to know that it could not be coincidence that the object had fell on Tristram, the very city that held the final piece to the Eye. She didn't know what it meant, but she knew it was not good.

"Is everything alright?" the princess asked.

Daring tucked the notepad into her pack. "I doubt it. If my translations are correct, the end time may already be underway. The world must be told of the coming apocalypse. We need to get to Canterlot at once!"

Chapter 22

When the two Valkyr had returned to Equestria, they had arrived in Canterlot to much fanfare. Large amounts of the populace had already been in Canterlot, due to the royal wedding and the following demon invasion, and they were all amazed to see the strange ponies from the heavens with their radiant wings. Upon their arrival, the Valkyr had announced that they had an important message to tell in the wake of the victory over the Three Sisters.

Princess Celestia arranged for the Valkyr to give their speech at Canterlot Castle, and Twilight Sparkle and many students of the School for Gifted Unicorns volunteered to magically project images of the Valkyr, so that all might hear their wisdom. As the hour approached, illusionary images of the two Valkyr sprung up all across the world, inciting a brief panic. The two Valkyr wore elaborate robes of white trimmed with golden ornaments.

As she prepared to address the world, Shariel had a twinkle in her eyes and a sly smile. She knew that her next scheme was as crazy as it was brilliant, especially considering the ponies she needed to sell it to. In secret, she had gone to Star Swirl's tower and stole a certain relic he had secured ages ago. It was an evil artifact, the silver-coated, preserved tongue of a wicked unicorn named Silver Tongue, who had used his charismatic talents of both magic and words to beguile and rob. The tongue imbided the bearer with the same powers of persuasion that its original owner possessed. Anything you said, anypony would fully believe, no matter how outlandish.

Taraiel's face, on the other hoof, was grim. Her emerald-green eyes reflected the turmoil she still felt from her betrayal of Justice. Her eyes were like those of a wild boar who had fallen into the hunter's trap; a cruel mix of anger and deep sorrow. She did not know of her sister's pending betrayal, which was good for Shariel as Taraiel would have surely struck her down in her rage-filled state.

Princess Celestia, Star Swirl the Bearded, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Winny, and the Unliving Queen all sat together on a private balcony to observe the Valkyr. Applejack asked Celestia, "What's this all about?"

"I'm afraid I know as much as you do, dear," Celestia said.

"More demon attacks?" Rarity suggested.

"I don't think so," Star Swirl said. "If the matter was urgent, surely they would have come to us immediately instead of arranging all of this."

Pinkie started to drool. "I hope they came to share some ancient recipes that only they know! Can you imagine? There could be cupcakes, waffles, biscuits, casseroles, tarts, cakes, puddings... Mmmm...."

Taraiel began to speak. Her voice was loud and thunderous, and her expression remained dour. "Citizens of Equestria, behold! I am Taraiel, and this is my sister, Shariel. We are the Valkyr, transcendent pegasi that were blessed with mystical powers."

Taraiel demonstrated her powers by spreading her wings of light and holding up a hoof to summon her runeblade. Ponies whispered in amazement as they saw the strange display.

Taraiel continued, "I know you are all well aware of the evil that was wrought upon your world recently. Even the beautiful skies themselves were tarnished by the demonic pollution. Through the actions of my sisters and a band of heroic ponies, the demon sisters that spread their filth and corruption to your world were vanquished; a tremendous victory for the forces of light. This victory came at a high cost - three of my sisters perished in order to secure the demons' defeat. Sadly, those three sisters were not the only demons, more exist in the realm we call Pandemaneium as well as the magical realm known as the Netherworld. It shames me to say, but these demons remain unchallenged, blights upon all that is good and righteous. On whom therefore is the labor of avenging these wrongs, of vanquishing these demons, if not upon us ponies?"

Taraiel bowed her head and nodded at her sister.

Shariel spread her beautiful wings of light and stood on her hind legs. Shariel began to address the audience, one leg was tucked inside her robe, her hoof caressing the evil relic. "Long ago, I embarked on a quest for unknowable knowledge. I sought the mysteries of life and death, and I found them. It is with this knowledge that we have come to you all, for I have learned the secrets that shall forever change our way of life. Death is an unfortunate reality of our world. It claims our loved ones, smites our foes, but it is neither malevolent nor benevolent. It is merely a sad fact of life. Until now!"

Shariel raised her hoof above her head and a scythe, emblazoned with runes, appeared in her grasp. "Behold! I am the Valkyr of Death. The wisdom I found has presented us all with an opportunity, an opportunity I do not believe anypony would deny. What if I told you that I can bring back to life anypony that has ever perished? I am not talking about a return to unholy undeath, either. Living, breathing, loving, life."

One of the audience members yelled, "I thought when we passed on from this life we all went to the great meadows of paradise of the Underworld?"

"Yeah!" a mare shouted. "Death... sucks for all those affected, but knowing that an eternity of happiness and joy awaits is what makes it all not seem so bad. Why would anypony want to leave such a wondrous place?"

"Fear not, friends," Shariel replied. "The paradise that awaits is very real, I have seen it with my own eyes. As Valkyr of Death, I was able to transcend the barrier between the realm of the living and the dead. I saw the beautiful, blissful meadows. I feasted on the endless fruits and vegetables that grow in the shady, tranquil groves the souls call home. I drank from the crystal-clear streams and springs. I danced with the merry souls..."

Shariel sighed and looked down, slowly shaking her head. She clenched the relic. "It was then that I had a terrible revelation. The souls that were there, there were demon souls amongst them! All of our friends and family, our neighbors, our teachers, our loved ones, everypony that passes is forced to spend their eternity with the most vile, disgusting, evil filth known as demons."

Shariel smiled smugly and nodded as the audience murmured in concern. "That is why I am here today before you. I have the power, I have the knowledge, to restore our loved ones back to life in this world. Allow me to demonstrate."

The Unliving Queen found herself transported in front of the Valkyr as Shariel pointed her scythe towards her. The Queen's unholy image joined theirs in the magical projections. Shariel smiled at her. "Look at this abomination you see before you! This thing that is a mockery of life! This foul unicorn that brazenly assaulted the capitol of Equestria itself with an unholy army, that committed such horrid deeds that I shan't dare to repeat them!"

Rainbow Dash angrily flapped her wings and hovered in the air. "Hey, leave Twilight alone!"

Shariel dismissed the scythe and placed her front hooves on the sides of the Queen's head. A radiant, purple light began to emanate from the hooves, and soon the Queen's entire body began to glow as Shariel channeled the energies of life into her.

Winny looked nervously at Celestia, "What's she doing to her?"

Celestia frowned. She didn't know, but she hoped Shariel wasn't trying to destroy the Queen. The light began to grow brighter and brighter, and the Queen began to moan.

Rainbow had had enough and darted towards the Valkyr. "Don't hurt her!"

Taraiel appeared in Rainbow's path and put her legs around her, pinning Rainbow's wings to her body. Rainbow thrashed, trying to break the Valkyr's hold. "Let me go! She's killing my friend!"

"No, child. Shariel is saving her," Taraiel replied.

Rainbow craned her neck to look over the Valkyr's shoulders and saw Shariel step back from the Queen. The light began to fade and Rainbow gasped at what she saw. The Queen was alive! Her undead body had been frozen at the age she had died, but Shariel's laying on of hooves had returned her body to life at its proper age, several decades older. Her coat and mane had returned to its normal coloring, but her hair now featured streaks of white. The Queen looked down at herself in wonderment.

Shariel stood on all fours, breathing heavily. Restoring the Queen to life had taken far more energy than she had expected. She held out her hoof and helped the Queen to her feet. "Behold! I have returned from undeath this lovely mare!"

Cheers erupted around the world at this display. Some felt doubt, tempted to dismiss the feat as a trick, but they could feel In their hearts that it was true. Plus, the evil magic of the silver tongue convinced even the most skeptical of ponies, no matter how severe their doubts. The sounds of clapping and stomping hooves resounded all across the world.

Taraiel released Rainbow and she flew to the Queen and embraced her, relishing the Queen's newly restored body heat. She couldn't believe it. "Wow! It's real! You're back, Twilight!"

The Queen looked up at Shariel with tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. "Thank you!"

Shariel nodded at the Queen. "You are most welcome, my sweet plum."

The Queen looked back at Shariel as if she'd seen an apparition. Something about those words, 'my sweet plum,' troubled the Queen. She had heard them before. Somepony used to call her that, she was sure of it, but who? She couldn't remember, and that made her uneasy.

Twilight teleported herself onto the stage and smiled at her aged self. "I can't wait until Shining Armor gets his eyes on you! You look just like Grandma Sparky!"

Rainbow moved from the Queen and into Twilight's outstretched legs. "This is so awesome!"

The rest of the ponies from Celestia's balcony rushed down to see their restored friend. Applejack couldn't believe what she saw, and she poked and prodded at the Queen, trying to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her. She finally determined that what she saw was real, and she felt her eyes begin to well up. The Apple family was large, with branches spanning all across Equestria. Applejack had lost so many relatives, even in her brief life-time, and now there was a way to get them back. She was overwhelmed with joy.

Shariel nodded at the unicorns broadcasting the event, and they expanded their projections to include the group of happy ponies. She tucked her hoof back into her robe and touched the object once more. "Now you can see what joys I seek to bring to you all. You may be asking yourselves, 'If she can do this, why is my auntie Featherbottom not here? Where is papa?' I am afraid even my powers are not absolute. I could resurrect this one because her soul and body were still in one place. This is not true for your loved ones, but fear not! There is a way to get them back, but we will need your help.

"There is an old principle: an eye for an eye, a hoof for a hoof, and most importantly, a life for a life. I have spent hundreds of years researching how I could accomplish my desires, and it was that phrase that is the key. I have a ritual that will restore those we have lost, but it needs a catalyst - other souls. Demons' souls! For every demon we kill, we can bring back one of our loved ones! I will need your help to accomplish this task, we can achieve something wondrous if you will join us on this quest. Aid me in bringing death to all demons, and we can build our own paradise here in this world!"

The silver tongue's magic continued to bend the audience to Shariel's will, but nopony was aware. All across the world, those watching the magical transmission began to feel a compulsion to help Shariel. Even Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness herself, found herself cheering and stomping at the thought of helping the Valkyr of Death commit genocide.

Taraiel stepped up. "Everypony that wishes to participate in this grand crusade, prepare yourselves. Tomorrow at dawn, we strike back against the demonic filth! We shall purge our world of their corruption. we shall live in fear no longer, and we shall undo all the evil they have inflicted upon righteous ponies! Congregate in the major cities of your nations, my sister and I shall visit you all and get you ready to embark on what shall be the most blessed of days as we cleanse our world of evil, forever! For the light!"

The broadcast ended as the Valkyr disappeared in flashes of light. All across the world, ponies began to chant 'For the light!' as they excitedly discussed what they had just witnessed.

The Queen struggled to hear her friends over the din from the gathered ponies in Canterlot. She was still troubled by Shariel's words. My sweet plum. She knew it was important, and she felt a great sense of unease. She scanned the group of ponies around her in search of Winny. She wasn't there. The Queen's face paled and she gasped. As she thought of her daughter, it was as if a haze had been lifted from her mind. She remembered.

The Queen began to sob and she used her magic to pull Celestia's face to hers. "P-princess," the Queen cried, "please! I... I think something is horribly wr-wrong. Sh-shariel... She's... she's Winny's father!"

Chapter 23

As the Unliving Queen broke down in tears, Twilight Sparkle cast a spell to teleport her friends, Princess Celestia, Star Swirl the Bearded, and the Unliving Queen inside the castle, away from the prying eyes and excited murmuring of the gathered ponies.

Celestia thought about the Queen's claim that Shariel was the father of In Hoc Signo VInces, and began to giggle. "I'm sorry, Twilight. I know for a fact you didn't miss that class since you had a perfect attendance record. You realize Shariel is a mare, correct?"

The Queen took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. It felt weird to be alive again. To feel her heart beating. Even the sensation of her salty tears dripping down to her lips and onto her tongue was an amazing experience. She regained her composure. "I know, Princess, but those words she said to me, 'my sweet plum?' That's what the necromancer that helped me make Winny used to call me."

"Still, you must admit it is a rather outlandish accusation, Twilight. I mean, would she really have turned herself into a stallion just to romance you of all ponies?" Rarity asked.

The Queen shook her head. "Not made like that, Rarity, geez. I mean made as in she took a chunk of my flesh and bone and mixed it with her blood and used a ritual to bring it to life, as Winny."

Celestia looked to Star Swirl. "Star Swirl, isn't creating life in such a manner impossible?"

"I suppose it is possible, as improbable as it may be," Star Swirl said after some deliberation. "There are all sorts of spells to animate the inanimate. Golems, necromancy to create the undead, familiars, elementals..."

Twilight shook her head and put her hoof on the Queen's shoulder. "No, it isn't improbable nor impossible. She's right. I don't know how, I don't want to know how, but I'm sure Shariel is Winny's dad, so to speak."

"What makes you think that, Twilight?" Rarity asked.

"Think about what started the chain of events that led her to become the Unliving Queen - and remember that Shariel is the Valkyr of Death. We've already seen her demonstrate incredible mastery over the dead," Twilight said.

The Queen snarled. "Of course! The horse shades, the revenants, likely those undead mares in the tower - it was all part of her plan, to use me!"

Celestia nodded her approval. "She talked to Luna and I through the Queen's body, too. Whatever powers she has, the dead certainly fall under her domain. Considering how much the undead plagued the future Twilight's journey through the Frozen North, I would say Shariel may have been responsible."

Rainbow Dash thought back to when they had gone through the Queen's journal. Her descent to darkness had begun after encounters with the undead in the Frozen North, and culminated after an incident with the Death Knights of Westmarech, cursed necromantic mares that had been trapped in Star Swirl's tower, the destination of the Queen's journey. She frowned and rubbed the Queen's back with her wing to comfort her. "Okay, if Shariel did target Twilight, why would she do it?"

"It's Winny," the Queen said. "She needs Winny."

Star Swirl stroked at his beard. "Of course, her cutie mark - the ouroboros, which is to say, the dragon eating its own tail. It is a symbol of life, death, and rebirth. Sounds like something Shariel might require for this plan of hers, does it not? Thinking of her cutie mark, she also acquired it when she laid her hooves upon a wounded pony and healed his wounds. Much like the powers we have seen Taraiel and Shariel use when they healed Trixie's mind and brought Twilight back to life."

Celestia mulled over the recent events in her mind, trying to piece things together. Shariel's involvement did seem to make sense, especially considering the Valkyr's revelations that Celestia had witnessed moments prior. Celestia wished she could spend some time with Shariel, to try and judge her character, but that was unlikely to happen since the Valkyr's attack was planned for the next day. Perhaps Luna can find their dreams tonight, Celestia thought.

Applejack stomped her hoof. "I don't get what y'all are so concerned 'bout. Shariel ain't tryin' to do nothin' evil, she's tryin' to help ponies. I know for a fact that all y'all have somepony special you'd love to have back in your lives."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "It's not about that, AJ! We're a little concerned because maybe, just maybe, the only reason the future Twilight here went evil was because of Shariel."

Pinkie nodded in agreement. "You gotta admit, Applejack, it's kinda nutsed up If she did that to the other Twilight."

"Shariel's intentions are more than likely good, but I think we can all agree her methods may have been flawed. The Valkyr have a magic of their own, and I would wager that Shariel's mastery over life and death just might have clouded her vision and led her to turn my Twilight evil," Star Swirl said with a shudder. "I believe she speaks the truth, regardless of what she may have done, it is unlikely she intends any harm to anypony, except demons apparently."

"We should probably go find Winny," Twilight said. "If the other me is right, then Shariel should be nearby. We can try to get some answers."

"Indeed," Celestia said. She wrapped her wing around the Queen and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry. We'll get everything straightened out."

The ponies began to search Canterlot Castle, but no traces of Winny nor the Valkyrs could be found...

* * *

Winny had been flabbergasted when she had arrived in the realm of Pandemaneium. It had been one thing to hear the idea of there being another world, actually seeing it with her own eyes was another matter. Below, the land was divided by a great river - one shoreline, Aesirlund, shone with a brilliant light, the other, Netheria, was shrouded in darkness. Shariel and Taraiel carried her through the skies towards a great tower in the distance that was on an island in the middle of the river. As they neared the tower, Winny could feel a tingling in her horn - she could sense that something exciting was about to occur.

The three ponies landed on a balcony that wrapped around the top floor of the tower. Taraiel summoned her runeblade then kicked open the door leading into the tower. Inside, diplomats from each side of the never-ending war had been fruitlessly discussing yet another peace treaty. A humongous stone table took up the majority of the room, and it was covered in heaps of papers - several centuries worth of failed treaties.

Representing the side of the light and Aesirlund were a pegasus pony, a deer, and a griffon. To Winny's disappointment, the three looked fairly normal, with coats and feathers of bright colors, rainbow-hued horns on the deer, and a wispy mane on the pegasus that rippled as if a gentle breeze was constantly being blown upon it.

The ambassadors for the Netherian side were a little more interesting, but not by much. There was an antelope, an ewe, and a bull. Like the demons they had seen before, their eyes were red with slit pupils. They had coats and hair in dark shades. Winny did not expect them to look so... normal. Why, she figured she could pass them on the street and likely pay them no heed.

In a flash of light, Taraiel flew towards the three shadowy diplomats and held them at sword point. The pegasus ambassador scowled at the Valkyr. "Taraiel! Explain yourself!"

Shariel stepped forward and swept her wing over the table, sending a flurry of papers into the air. "The three of you will need to rally our forces for the final battle. The war will soon end, but not by any treaty."

The deer tilted her head. "Shariel? I thought you were dead."

"Not hardly," Shariel replied.

The griffon shook his head. "Have the two of you gone mad? Your reckless actions on this day have undone decades of our work to secure the peace!"

"Do not worry. It will soon be over," Shariel smugly said. Shariel glanced back at Winny, then winked at the Aesirlundian diplomats. "She is our dernier cri, the key to victory."

"I would appreciate it if you would tell us what you have planned, Shariel," the pegasus ambassador said. "I am sure the diplomats your sister is threatening will be seeking full punishment upon the both of you. You know this is sacred ground, the sole sanctuary from the conflict."

"Exactly," Shariel said. "And we shall do better than to tell you, we shall show you."

Shariel used her wings to draw a glowing pentagram on the table, then etched runewords of Death alongside the pentagram. As she finished writing her runewords, the pentagram and runes began to shine with a blue light. Next, Shariel motioned Winny forwards and instructed her to stand on the table in the center of the pentagram. Shariel produced a scroll and handed it to Winny. Winny unrolled the scroll and saw that it was written in an ancient tongue. Shariel whispered in her ear, "Close your eyes, dear, and do not open them until you hear me say 'behold.' Then, sing the words of the spell on your scroll."

Shariel turned her head towards Taraiel and nodded. Taraiel lashed out with her sword, felling all three of the diplomats. The ambassadors of light jumped to their feet and began to protest but were silenced as Shariel held her hoof up to them. "Behold!"

Shariel's wings began to shine brightly as she channeled her mastery over death to gather the life force of the slain ambassadors. Winny's horn began to glow as she started reading. "Bhaagyadam! Prasanna vadhanaam! Saubhaagyadam abhayapradham maniganeer naanavidhir bhuritaam! Sadaa! Sadaa Shakti! Shakti! Shakti!"

The three souls began to whirl around the room and the pentagram's light intensified as Winny cast the spell. The image of Winny's cutie mark, the ouroboros, sparkled in the air above her. As the spell concluded, three pegasi with wings of light appeared in the pentagram - Urdiel, Zephryinia, and Seraphiel. Shariel's gambit had worked, and the three had been brought back from the land of the dead. The three reborn Valkyr glanced nervously around the room as their sisters rushed to embrace them.

The griffon ambassador rubbed at his eyes. "By the light..."

Shariel nuzzled Urdiel, who looked back at her with fear in her eyes. Urdiel whispered, "Sacrilege... Shariel, do you know what you have done?"

"I have resurrected you, my sister," Shariel replied. "Why are you not happy?"

"You have defied fate itself. No good can come from this. You can not circumvent destiny, and ours was fulfilled," Urdiel angrily replied.

Shariel was indignant. She pointed her hoof towards the three bodies. "What was I to do, let them take my sisters from me?! No! I needed to save you!"

Urdiel sadly shook her head. "No. You needed to die with us. It was your fate."

Taraiel shoved Urdiel to the ground. "How dare you! Such ingratitude!"

Tears began to stream down Seraphiel's cheeks as she watched their miraculous reunion be consumed by gloom. She felt a stab of pain in her heart as she was stricken with a sense of hopelessness.

Rage in her eyes, Taraiel raised her hoof to strike at Urdiel but was stopped by Zephyrinia. "Both of you, cease this at once. We have been given a third chance, and we are not going to waste it fighting amongst ourselves."

Zephyrinia lifted one of the fallen ambassadors and hurled the body off the tower. She watched it plummet then turned back to her sisters. "I am not driven by hatred. I am not driven by fear. I am not driven by desire, duty, or any rationale. I can no longer feel any of these. All that remains is Retribution - cold and hard and final."

Urdiel glared at Taraiel as she stood. "You have compromised Fate on this day, Shariel, but I will stand by your side. Doom is all that I can foresee, however."

Seraphiel slowly walked out to the balcony and stared down at the broken body on the rocks below. "I can no longer feel Hope, only Despair."

Shariel ran her hoof through Seraphiel's mane. "Everything will be alright once we finish this." She turned to the ambassadors of the light. "Behold, go forth to our forces and ready them for the final battle."

The pegasus ambassador peered intently at Winny's flank. "For every one of them that we slay, one of ours can be returned?"

Shariel smiled. "Correct."

The deer frowned. She had been trying for so long to secure peace, to save lives on both sides. That the Valkyr's proposed peace was only to come from outright genocide was upsetting, to say the least. Her fellow diplomats were far more accepting of the idea, especially the griffon, who had once been a powerful warrior before being elected to the peace council.

The griffon flexed his talons. "Excellent. I was growing weary of these namby-pamby peace talks."

As the Valkyr and the ambassadors rapidly discussed the upcoming battle, Winny concentrated on her cutie mark. It looked as if it had moved, as if the dragon had taken another bite from its tail. Yes, she was sure it had moved. As she gazed upon her cutie mark, she knew in her heart that she had taken the first steps towards fulfilling her destiny!

* * *

Azazandra had been contemplating staging a false flag attack - a horrendous deed committed by Netherian forces against themselves to blame Aesirlund - in order to muster support, but the murder of the Netherian ambassadors had made that unnecessary. The mysterious prophecies her mother believed in had foreseen Azazandra waging war against Aesirlund and Equestria, and so she did. Thanks to the actions of the Valkyr, it had been easy for the fledgling Netherian queen to rally her people to her cause.

Azazandra's plan was relatively simple. A sizable strike force would be dispatched to continue the harassment of Equestria, while the regulars of the Netherian Army would push across the river into Aesirlund. Since the prophecy still hung on her mind, their reserve forces would fortify Castle Fiendblood, which was to be the fallback point if, or when, their assault was pushed back.

Azazandra was confident in her forces - they were all bloodthirsty and eager to avenge their fallen ambassadors. Their deaths proved that the Aesirlundians had no desire for peace. The Netherian forces would be led by High General Terrormane, a charismatic leader that was also a brilliant tactician, while the reserve forces were tasked to Lord Anaxius, who's familiarity with Castle Fiendblood would come in handy.

Terrormane and Azazandra had been working over the details for the attack plans for the past couple of hours. The plan they had developed was so cunning, Azazandra was not sure how it could fail, but the prophecies, her mother's prophecies, said they would, and so Azazandra had warily planned for that scenario as well. She kept thinking about her mother's promise to return to her once it was over, and thus had been growing ever more antsy as the tactical discussion continued on.

Azazandra wanted their attack to be preceded by something dramatic to attract the attention of the enemy, and she grinned evilly as she pointed to a small town on the Aesirlundian side of the map. "A fire attack here should prove to be a simple enough distraction. A small squad of wraith demons could infiltrate and set it ablaze, yes?"

Terrormane stroked his chin with a flaming hoof as he analyzed Azazandra's suggestion. The general was a Nightmare, a breed of demonic horse that fed off the terror produced by bad dreams. A Nightmare's hooves, mane, and tail were perpetually engulfed with flames - harmless, unless the Nightmare willed otherwise - and their flesh had a charred appearance. Terrormane nodded thoughtfully. "I concur, your majesty."

Azazandra smiled. It was such a strange feeling, that - smiling - but she had begun to feel like a different mare since her mother's return. "Excellent. How long before we can march upon Aesirlund?"

"It shall take a few hours to get everyone assembled and outfitted, your majesty," Terrormane replied.

"That's fine," Azazandra said as she stood up from the table and stretched her limbs. "Thank you, General, you are dismissed."

Terrormane bowed his head and rolled up his maps. "I shall send a messenger to you once our forces are in position, your majesty."

Azazandra watched the Nightmare fly out the window, leaving trails of flame through the inky shadow, then headed out into the castle to inspect Lord Anaxius' work. The knights had been reinforcing the doors, windows, and walls, as well as creating deadly traps in the courtyards and the grounds around the castle.

Azazandra made her way to the top of a tower and she absurdly found herself reminiscing about her time in Equestria. Her host body, Ravenmane, was but an Earth pony, and although she was granted enhanced vision from possessing her, she had forgotten how thick the Netherian gloom truly was. I really do miss being able to actually see the world around me...

As Azazandra thought upon brighter times, a fanged, horned, bat-winged pony mare with a dark purple coat, black hair, and blood red, slit-pupil eyes emerged from the darkness and landed next to her. Azazandra narrowed her eyes and warily took a step back from the intruder. She recognized what it was, a night fiend, a vampiric, demonic race skilled in witchcraft and a penchant for rhymes and riddles.

"Hello, fiendling," Azazandra said as she greeted the night fiend. "What do you wish of me?"

The night fiend bowed her head. "Your suspicions are for naught, 'tis but a gift for you that I have brought."

The night fiend's words did little to belay Azazandra's distrust. "A gift?"

The night fiend's eyes glowed with flames and an ornately carved marble chest appeared before her. She placed her hooves on the lid and there was an audible hiss as sparks of magic flashed briefly in the air as the night fiend disarmed the magical booby trap on the chest. The night fiend grabbed the lid with her mouth and pulled it open, revealing a set of dark plate mail armor within.

"This magical armor you must take, for the future is at stake! If in the final conflict you would fall, Chaos would hold us all in thrall! Don this Godly Plate of the Whale, and in battle you shall not fail!" the night fiend explained.

Azazandra lifted up the armor and looked it over. It was made from some strange alloy that almost seemed to ooze as if it was a viscous liquid, yet it was as hard as iron in her hooves. Dark purple runes shimmered across the surface of the armor. "It looks powerful. Thank you."

The night fiend bowed her head once more and turned to leave. "You are welcome, Azazandra. And when you see Lilith, tell her the debt Morrigan Nighthag owed was paid in full."

Azazandra blinked in confusion as the night fiend departed. "Lilith?"

Azazandra shrugged and decided to try on the armor. Magical armor usually possessed the ability to adapt to the wearer's form, but this armor fit her perfectly, as if it had been forged specifically for her. She and her sisters had been but foals when Lilith reigned, but Azazandra figured if Lilith's sword had been waiting for her, a specially crafted suit of armor wasn't that farfetched either.

Azazandra descended the tower and headed towards the throne room. She would ask one of the castle historians to edify her about Lilith while she waited for her forces to be assembled. With both the Netherian and Aesirlundian armies preparing to launch all-out attacks, the stage was set for the final battle between light and shadow... and the prophecized End of All Things.

Chapter 24

The now-living Queen Twilight Sparkle had been obsessing over Shariel since she discovered the Valkyr of Death had very likely manipulated events to damn the Queen to her undeath, as well as helping create her daughter, In Hoc Signo Vinces. When the Valkyr sisters had returned from Pandemaneium, the Queen's daughter, Winny, had seemed to have undergone a radical shift in her personality, proudly standing before strangers without any armor or coverings to mask her appearance.

Winny had merely been exuberant about discovering her destiny, but to the Queen it was the last straw. Seeing her bashful daughter parading herself before the masses confirmed to the Queen that her instincts were right - something was very wrong, and it had to be stopped! If Shariel was willing to do what she did to the Queen, she had to be stopped before she did something horrid to Winny as well, the Queen decided.

As the rest of the ponies prepared for the coming journey to Pandemaneium, the Queen sought out the one pony that would have the power to sway the public opinion against Shariel and stop whatever it was she had planned - Princess Celestia.

Celestia stood in front of a full length mirror as she used her magic to strap on a suit of ornate golden armor. It had been many, many years since last she had worn her battle armor, and the magically enchanted metal altered it's form to accommodate the couple extra pounds Celestia had put on since. She saw a burst of purple magic materialize behind her in the reflection and she narrowed her eyes. "Twilight Sparkle, you know better!"

The elder Twilight Sparkle, the former Unliving Queen, crossed her forelegs in front of her and leaned against Celestia's bed. "I can't let you go through with this, Princess. There is something very, very wrong, I know it."

Celestia sighed and walked over to a cushion on the floor. She set her golden helm on the ground and conjured up a rag to polish it. "What do you think is wrong? They brought back Winny, safe and sound. Winny told us how she brought back the Valkyr sisters from the dead, just as Shariel promised us she could do. Isn't that just marvelous?"

The Queen furiously shook her head. "No! Did you see my daughter? When last I saw her she was still hanging her head, ashamed of what she was! She leaves with Shariel, who created Winny to fulfill her own agenda, mind you, and she's smiling and laughing like Rarity at the Canterlot Garden Party?!"

Celestia started to snicker and caught herself. She had remembered something Twilight had done at the last Canterlot Garden Party - 'dancing' and disturbing everypony that caught sight of her. "Can't you just be happy for her? I honestly can not see what ulterior motives Shariel would have, she has her sisters back already. She just wants to make ponies happy. What's your problem now, Twilight?"

The Queen began to pace the room, her tail twitching. "Everything! I don't understand why you and everypony else doesn't see what I see! Shariel is evil! She tells you to go and kill living beings, what they slander as 'demons,' and you all just go along with it?!"

Celestia used her magic to grab onto the Queen's tail and stop her pacing. She had dealt with enough 'Twilight Tantrums' over the years to know she had to be a little direct with her or she'd be at it for hours. "Twilight, how old are you now? In your fifties?"

The Queen nodded.

"I am over a thousand years old, Twilight. Do you have any idea how many friends I've lost? How many ponies I've loved, only to see them wither away? How there are days when I think of the evil ponies in Tartarus and how unjust it is that they still breathe while so many good ponies have perished, and I can barely contain my sorrow? Even though I do believe paradise awaits us in the afterlife, those thoughts merely lessen the sorrow, not remove it."

The Queen's ears lowered in shame. "I... I never thought of that. I'm sorry, but that still doesn't mean-"

Celestia yanked on the Queen's tail and sent her sprawling to the ground, then stood, towering before the Queen in all her alicorn glory. "This may be our one and only chance to reclaim our lost loved ones, Twilight. I am not going to let you meddle when the happiness of millions lies at stake. If you don't want to help, so be it, but I will not let you lecture me on morals. I know what you did to my school. Baphomeena made me watch. Maybe it was all the demon sisters' fault that you were even in that situation, but it was by your hooves that those innocent students and teachers were murdered."

The Queen stood and stared defiantly at Celestia. "I know you don't really believe that... Shariel is likely responsible for that as well!"

Celestia picked up her helm and pulled it on. "Enough. I have a battle to prepare my citizens for. I know you feel betrayed, Twilight, but I will not let your rage spoil this opportunity for us all. Until this is over, I am placing you under guard."

Celestia cast a conjuring spell and an ebon ring appeared, which she slipped onto the Queen's horn. "This will dampen your magic. I'm sorry, Twilight, but it's for your own good."

The Queen said nothing, merely simmered with fury as Celestia led her through the castle towards the throne room. She suppressed the urge to smirk as Celestia pulled Star Swirl aside and explained the situation. At least the Queen would have a familiar, and friendly, face as her gendarme. The old wizard watched Celestia leave then gave a sympathetic smile to the Queen.

The Queen ignored Star Swirl and moved to a window and watched the action unfold in the courtyard. Unicorns had spent the last hours conjuring up magical arms and armor and the dawn's sun glinted off the sea of metal covering everypony in sight. Thousands of ponies were lining up in ranks as they waited to be transported to Pandemanium; the same scene could be beheld in cities all across the world.

The Queen's heart fluttered as she heard familiar voices approaching. She tried to cast her teleportation spell, failed, and glared up at the ebon ring. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash were walking through the adjoining hallway towards the courtyard. Each pony was clad in ornate suits of gold and silver armor. As the Queen galloped up to her friends and Twilight, Applejack waved her hoof dismissively. "Princess Celestia already told us you're up to no good, Queenie."

"I know you come from a big family, which means lots of dearly departed relatives, Applejack, but surely you have your doubts about all this," the Queen said. The Queen began to list off her reasons why she thought Shariel and her plan were evil.

Pinkie Pie laughed in response. "See, girls? The Princess was right, she is going cuckoo!"

Twilight put her hoof over Pinkie's mouth to stifle her laughter, then addressed the Queen. "I may not know you, but I do know me. I know if I was going to do something like this, like we did to Cadence when we thought she was evil, then it is something I truly believe in. I'm sorry that none of us feel the same way as you, but none of us have lived through what you did."

Star Swirl put his leg around the Queen's shoulders. "She's right, you know. You may be years older than her, but your younger self does speak wisdom. For the most part it would seem that you alone have been 'victim' of Shariel's plan. To everypony else, this is merely a miraculous opportunity, which is why none of us feel as you do."

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Exactly! I mean, Twilight, we know you're upset, but come on! You know how much this is gonna mean to Applejack, me, and, well, everypony in the world!"

"Upset? I didn't get to attend the wedding of my BBBFF and one of my oldest friends. I didn't get to raise my own daughter. I was turned into an unholy monster, and hurt ponies I love. All of which may have only happened to further Shariel's personal agenda. I am more than upset, I am livid," the Queen angrily said.

Rarity began to retort when the sound of trumpets cut her off. "That's our cue! We need to go, sorry!"

"Please don't go! Shariel is evil!" the Queen cried. She watched as her friends left, her gaze lingering on their retreating forms. Rainbow looked back at her and waved her wing, but she departed as well.

The Queen sat down heavily and looked at Star Swirl. "I really thought they would listen to me. Star Swirl, you can see the future, right? I know something does not feel right, and I'm scared. Am I... am I just being crazy here?"

Star Swirl let out a deep breath and sat next to the Queen. "I am scared too, Twilight. It is likely due to the death of Nostrildamus, but when I try to see the future, I see nothing."

"Doesn't that prove my point?"

"It could," Star Swirl said. He used his magic to pull off his hat, then ran his hooves through his mane. "Whatever is to happen here is something extraordinary. Something that has been destined. I can feel it in my bones. I wish I could comfort you, Twilight. Tell you to trust your feelings and help you on some grand adventure as I did before, but I can not."

A bright light began to shine from the courtyard, drawing Star Swirl and the Queen to the windows. They watched as the ponies trotted into a glowing portal. Star Swirl watched them go and stroked at his beard. "It would appear there is no stopping this now, Twilight. I sure do hope there is nothing to worry about."

The two sat in silence as they watched the last of the ponies enter the portal, which blinked shut behind them. Nearly alone in Canterlot, they could hear hoofbeats echoing through the almost vacant city as Daring Do and the ponies of Tristram arrived. The Queen raised her eyebrow. "Someponies got here too late?"

The hoofbeats began to sound closer as Daring and her compatriots made their way into Canterlot Castle. The Queen's eyes lit up as she saw Daring, the star and author of the popular book series Twilight and Rainbow Dash were fans of.  An entourage of cows, sheep, and ponies followed in the adventurer's wake and poured into the throne room.

The cow king breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally, some ponies! We were getting even more worried upon finding the capitol of Equestria was a ghost town!"

Daring furrowed her brow as she glanced between the Queen and Star Swirl. "Where the hay is Princess Celestia or Princess Luna? Or everypony for that matter?"

"They left with the Valkyr to go to Pandemanium," Star Swirl replied, matter-of-factly.

Since they had been traveling, Daring and the Tristram citizens had not seen the Valkyr's speeches and thus had no idea what Star Swirl meant.

"The who-kyr? Look, never mind. The world is in jeopardy here," Daring said. "Something big - and bad - is going down soon, and I can only hope we have the power to stop it or it'll be the end of the world as we know it."

The Queen grabbed Star Swirl hugged him. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! I KNEW IT! Something is wrong, and Daring Do is the harbinger, so we know it's true! Hah!"

Star Swirl pushed the over-enthusiastic Queen back. "My morbidly joyful friend here is Twilight Sparkle, I am Star Swirl the Bearded. What is happening and how can we be of assistance?"

Daring swept off her helmet and pulled out the heaven stone, then tossed it to the Queen. Star Swirl and the Queen both stared wide-eyed as the series of images flashed across it. "This thing fell from the sky on the city of Tristram. It appears to show the life of a pegasus, and as you can see, it abruptly stops and there is just nothing."

Wrinkles of concern drew across Star Swirl's face. "Yes... I have been known to dabble in foreseeing the future. My divinations of late likewise show the same nothingness after a certain point."

Daring presented the Eye of Horsiris and gave a quick explanation of what it was and how she came upon it, then held it out for Star Swirl to gaze into. As he did, the blood drained from his face as he began to translate the ancient languages. "At the end of all things, the first sign shall appear in the heavens..."

Star Swirl glanced towards the heaven stone and Daring gave him a wink. "Yep, I'm pretty sure that right there is our 'first sign.' Just so happened to fall upon the city where the last piece of the Eye was."

"Do you have the full translation?" Star Swirl asked. "I can only understand a hoofful of these languages."

Daring shook her head. "No, but from what I was able to translate before making a beeline to Canterlot, I knew it wasn't good."

Star Swirl stepped back and held out his front hooves. "Verily. We need to get to my library. We'll be able to decipher the rest of it with the tomes I have there. Everypony hold hooves, please!"

As Star Swirl prepared to teleport them all to his tower's library, the Queen felt an immense sense of satisfaction, which quickly faded to grief as she realized that she had held the opportunity to stop this in her very hoof, if only somepony had believed her. You'd better hope the world ends before I get my hooves on you, Shariel!

Chapter 25

As soon as the group materialized inside the library of Star Swirl's tower, the old wizard began pulling tomes from the shelves. Star Swirl and Daring Do began working to translate the prophetic verses from the Eye of Horsiris as the crowd looked on with trepidation. A particularly anxious ewe was quivering with such intensity that the pair could not concentrate. Star Swirl glanced around the room and settled his gaze on the Queen, who was eagerly examining the tomes Star Swirl had collected.

Star Swirl used his magic to gently tug on the Queen's tail to get her attention. As she turned, he cast a disenchantment spell on the ebon ring Celestia had placed on her horn. The Queen smiled appreciatively as he slipped it off her horn and set it on the table. "Twilight, you are the only other pony that knows the layout of my tower. Would you care to give these folks a tour?"

"Sure, I could do that," the Queen replied.

"Thank you. And feel free to stop by the dining hall and get everypony something to drink and eat. I am sure they are famished after their journey from Tristram," Star Swirl said.

"Ooh, I'd be grateful if you'd bring something back for me, too," Daring said. "What kind of vittles have you got, old timer?"

"Anything you desire, Miss Do," Star Swirl replied.

Daring grabbed a piece of paper and began writing down her order. She handed the list to the Queen and gave her a sly wink. "At least I'll die happy if we can't get this thing figured out and the world really does end."

The Queen's eyes went wide as she read over the list. "Goodness! You might be able to give Pinkie Pie a run for her money. Alright everypony, follow me, please. There are many magical artifacts around the tower, please keep your hooves to yourself, we don't want any accidents!"

The Queen was swiftly lost in thought as she led the group through the tower. It felt like eons since the Queen had last been to the tower. The destination of her life-changing journey, it was here that she had fought against an evil witch, and came very close to losing her own life in the battle. It was also here that she had encountered the three unholy mares, the Death Knights of Westmarech, whose incomplete ritual had eventually bestowed undeath upon the Queen, forever altering her destiny.

The Queen smiled as she thought, If it hadn't been for Silver Shock... She winced. Silver Shock. The brave young unicorn that had aided her on her journey to the tower. The brave young unicorn she had betrayed and murdered to secure the Nether Crystal, sealing her fate as the Unliving Queen.

The Queen felt the tears beginning to well up in her eyes as she thought of Silver Shock. She tried to suppress them, then let them fall - her friend deserved to be mourned.

The cow king felt his stomachs rumbling. "Miss... Twilight, is it? I am sure we can find the dining area on our own if you would like to be alone."

The Queen wiped at her eyes. "Oh, don't mind me. I'm just reminiscing about an old friend. Let's go find you ponies some food."

The Queen lead the group to the dining hall then headed for the kitchen area. The Queen picked up a gem-encrusted cauldron with her magic and moved it around the room after instructing the ponies to reach inside of it after stating what they wished to eat. Once upon a time, the cauldron would have been worth a king's ransom, a relic of days of yore when the three pony tribes were at odds with one another. Many battles had been fought over the cauldron, mostly between the pegasi and unicorn kingdoms, but the Earths tried to claim it as well, solely to deprive the others of it.

The Queen wondered how it came to be in Star Swirl's possession. He probably swiped it just to stop the bloodshed...

As the last of the guests pulled out their meal, the Queen conjured up an immense platter to hold Daring Do's requests. She got a blackberry smoothie for herself, and a few sandwiches for Star Swirl, then prepared to head back to the library. "I'm going to leave the cauldron here if anypony wants more. Enjoy!"

As the Queen navigated back through the corridors towards the library, she came to an abrupt halt as she began to pass an open doorway. She placed the platter of vittles on the floor and her eyes became misty as she walked into the bedroom. During her first visit to the tower, Star Swirl had sent her and Rainbow Dash to the room to work out their issues. Twilight had left on her journey without a word to her friends, primarily due to the fact she was, unbeknownst to her, compelled by a geas spell, which forces the victim to obey the caster's commands, or eventually die. Rainbow, who was terrified of being alone, was upset with Twilight for abandoning them.

It was here in this room that the Queen had obtained that loving memory of her and Dash that was unfortunately lost over the years. As she sat on the bed, the Queen thought of Rainbow Dash and her friends and family and wondered how they were faring in Pandemaneium. She became aware of a presence in the room with her and glanced over. An Earth pony colt had managed to sneak up on her. The colt's midnight blue coat and black hair, speckled with dots of gold, made the Queen think of happier times when she would stay up all night just gazing into the night sky.

The Queen smiled at him. "What can I do for you, young sir?"

"Can you show me a magic trick? It would make me so happy!" the colt joyfully replied.

The Queen chuckled and picked up the colt, setting him on the bed. She conjured up a door in front of herself and used her magic to dim the lights. She stepped to the side of the door and used her magic to knock upon it. She winked at the colt, "Who could it be?"

A chorus of animal calls answered her. The colt giggled with glee. The Queen smiled and opened the door, letting the illusionary menagerie she had summoned parade through. There were creatures mundane and mythical. Mammoths, dinosaurs, dragons, beavers, otters, big cats, rhinoceros, kangaroos, bears, peacocks, elephants, crocodiles, and more. There were even aquatic creatures such as sting rays, dolphins, and sharks, which glided through the air. The colt clapped his hooves in delight.

The performance continued for several minutes, until the room was filled with illusionary animals. For the grand finale, the Queen stomped her hoof and the illusions simultaneously burst into a pyrotechnic display.

The colt beamed up at the Queen. "Thank you."

The Queen bowed and began to say 'you're welcome,' only to find that the colt had vanished from sight as she raised her head.

The Queen frowned and checked underneath the bed, then moved to the doorway, scanning both directions and straining to hear the scampering of little hooves on the tiled floor. After a few moments, the Queen shrugged and resumed walking back to the library. The mysterious colt would have to wait.

As the Queen stepped through the library doors, she cried out as a magical force swept her off her feet and pulled her over towards Star Swirl and Daring. Daring licked her lips as she eyed the food on the Queen's platter, eagerly grabbing her order.

The Queen snorted and glared at Star Swirl, who shrugged sheepishly in reply.

"Thanks, hon," Daring uttered between mouthfuls.

"Making much progress?" the Queen asked as she distributed the rest of the food.

Daring nodded and pushed a piece of paper towards the Queen.

The Queen began to read:

"At the end of all things, the first sign shall appear in the heavens,

And a foal will cradle Hatred in her breast as the heart of Harmony falls under the shadow.

Loyalty shall be divided, as Honesty is overcome with mirth.

Blood-bathed Kindness shall weep no more, as Laughter becomes silent.

Magic shall reign supreme, as Generosity is beset by greed.

Wrath shall no longer be judged, as the light purges the darkest shadow.

Death, at long last, shall spread her wings over all -"

The Queen frowned and flipped the paper over, carefully scanning the parchment. "That's it?"

Star Swirl sighed. "I'm afraid so. There is one last line we haven't been able to translate."

The Queen re-read the lines of prophecy. "Kind of creepy that it seems to be talking about my friends and I. I mean, blood-bathed Fluttershy? That's just wrong."

"Don't worry, there has to be a way to stop this. The inscription of the Eye of Horsiris states that it is a warning of what will come to pass, which must mean we can avert it," Daring said.

The Queen glanced over the prophecy again. "So the first two lines have already happened. The first sign almost has to be the object that felt on Tristram, and the foal cradling Hatred must mean Ravenmane, which Azazandra, the demon of Hatred and Agony, had possessed."

"The heart of Harmony might be the Elements of Harmony, my friends, as this next one is about Rainbow Dash and Applejack," the Queen continued. "Dash is 'divided' as Applejack is overcome with mirth. I think it must be talking about how there are two Twilight Sparkles, and Dash cares for both of us. AJ being mirthful.... Well if Shariel is going to bring back Applejack's departed family members, that would probably make her pretty happy."

The Queen scowled as she thought of Shariel. "Continuing off that, we have a 'blood-bathed' Fluttershy and a silent Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy cries a lot, and Pinkie is almost never quiet..."

"War changes ponies," Daring offered.

"And Shariel just suckered them all into a never-ending conflict. Great. That could be what happens to them. Let's see, this next one is me, or her, whatever. Not sure why I, or she, would be 'reigning supreme,' but poor Rarity is attacked by greed..."

As she said those words, she was reminded of the time Spike had succumbed to greed and had become a rampaging, full-sized dragon, eventually ponynapping Rarity. She hoped the prophecy wasn't hinting at that scenario happening again.

The Queen turned to Star Swirl. "Keep an eye on Spike."

Star Swirl raised his eyebrow. "You think he is 'greed?'"

"It's a possibility. He sure tries his hardest to stay on the right path, but..."

Star Swirl nodded. "Understood. The last of the translated lines would seem to be about the Valkyr."

"The good news is the 'good' guys seem to win, right? The light purges the darkness," Daring said as she licked at her lips and rubbed her now-full belly.

"If it's included in a doomsday prophecy, I don't think it's a good thing," Star Swirl chuckled.

The Queen smiled. "No, probably not. So the Valkyrs win the war, then what? Death... I'm not Death, am I? I was dead, well, undead, and know a plethora of necromantic magic, but I don't have wings. Hmm... Death has to be Shariel, and she's 'spreading her wings over all?'"

"She kills us all," Star Swirl offered. "The magic she is using to resurrect the dead, perhaps it backfires and annihilates all life."

Daring and the Queen nodded. "That does seem plausible," Daring said. "We need to get that last line translated though, I know I would never have another restful night if we acted without having the full rundown from the Eye."

Star Swirl laughed. "Indeed. Back to the books, ladies."

The trio continued pouring over the tomes Star Swirl had gathered, but none of the languages matched that of the final line of the prophecy. Star Swirl leaned back in his chair and stretched his legs, wincing at the pain he felt in his old and tired limbs. "Goodness. Princess Celestia ordered me to take a vacation," he leaned towards the Queen, "with an ulterior motive, of course," the Queen smirked as Star Swirl continued, "After all this excitement, I sure do wish I had been able to properly enjoy my time off."

The Queen put her hoof on his knee. "Once we save the world, again, you, Winny, and me, we'll all go someplace together. No ghouls. No doomsday prophecies. Just some relaxation and fun. What do you think?"

Star Swirl smiled and clutched the Queen's hoof. As he touched her, he felt a peculiar, magical sensation surge across his body. It felt strangely familiar, but he could not place it. Perplexed, he looked down at their hooves and said, "I'd like that..."

"Good, because I want to sp-" The loud thud of a book falling off a shelf interrupted the Queen. She exchanged curious glances with Star Swirl, and they both glanced up at their horns.

"I didn't do that," the Queen said.

"Neither did I. Daring?" Star Swirl asked.

Daring shook her head. "Pretty sure we're alone in here, too. None of the others have returned so far. I'll go check it out."

Daring jumped to her feet and quickly searched the library, returning with the fallen book. "Nopony in sight. This place isn't haunted is it?"

Star Swirl winked and shrugged. "Could be. I do have quite the collection of artifacts stored around here, not all of them with savory pasts."

The Queen closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side as she channeled her necromantic magic to sense the dead. She shrugged. "Whatever it was, it wasn't a ghost."

Daring began scanning through the book, and let out a triumphant shout."Yes!"

Star Swirl and the Queen leaned over Daring's shoulders to examine the book as Daring grabbed the Eye of Horsiris and began to study the final piece of the prophecy. It was apparently written in some ancient thieves' cant, a secret language developed by thieves and other ne'er-do-wells to try and hide their nefarious activities. The dictionary for the cant had been included in an appendix to the fallen book, which was a playbook for The Crimson Rogue, a play about a pegasus highwaymare.

Star Swirl looked around the library and frowned. Clearly something, or somepony, had intentionally knocked the book off the shelf, but why was it remaining hidden? His attention was drawn back to the table as he heard the furious scratching of Daring's quill as she translated the cant.

Daring double-checked the dictionary and the words in the Eye, and glanced at the two unicorns. "The final line is: 'As harmony is shattered forever.' These Valkyr, by winning their war they damn the world."

Star Swirl grimly nodded. "The world dies if we can't avert this prophecy."

The Queen absentmindedly pushed the straw around her smoothie's half-empty glass. "What do we do to stop it? Kill the Valkyr?"

Star Swirl stroked at his beard, repeatedly going over the prophecy in his head. "No. The answer lies in Harmony. As Daring Do has pointed out, the prophecy is a warning, and it is telling us that if these events unfold as foreseen, Harmony is destroyed and Chaos rules."

The Queen tilted her head as she sunk into thought, then smiled broadly. "Of course! Why else would it mention the elements of the Elements of Harmony? It says something will happen to them. Once they're changed, all hope is lost, so we need to keep them safe."

"This never-ending war that the Valkyrs have been fighting, that is obviously part of the prophecy as well. Warfare is most definitely an anti-harmonic state. If we can do something about that, while keeping everypony safe, this crisis should be thwarted," Star Swirl said.

Daring nodded and gave them a wide grin. "So, all we have to do is keep your friends safe while ending a war that's been raging for thousands of years."

"End the war, end the Armageddon," Star Swirl said.

"And we just let Shariel take the majority of the world's populace with her to fight on their side... Why, we'd likely need an army of our own," the Queen mused. She closed her eyes and focused her mind, telepathically calling out to the undead she had lain to rest before she let her friends defeat her after her assault on Canterlot. "I've summoned the remnants of my army of the dead. There weren't may survivors from my siege on Canterlot, but they can help."

"I know where we might be able to get an army of terracotta soldiers," Daring remarked. "Ancient tomb of an emperor. I was doing some archaeological research out there, there were hundreds of them. Just zap 'em to life with a spell."

Star Swirl and the Queen exchanged glances. They had had a dangerous run-in with a yak warlock, Shamoke, who had his own army of clay soldiers. "A good suggestion, Miss Do," Star Swirl said. "We've seen something like that in action before."

A sudden chorus of jingling bells shocked the three ponies as armed and armored reindeer began to materialize around the library. The reindeer were a reclusive race, residents of the Frozen North that rarely left their well-defended territory - the Kingdom of Frostfell. The reindeer leader, Queen Rimeantler, strode purposefully before the ponies. She wore a golden crown, a long, flowing, crimson cloak adorned with bells, and a suit of golden chainmail over a pure white dress. Her coat was as white as snow and icicles hung from from her antlers. In her hoof she carried an ornate staff made of ice.

Rimeantler curtseyed before the wary ponies. "Greetings. I am Queen Rimeantler. You need not seek an army, for I have already procured one for you."

The Queen's eyes lit up. Queen Rimeantler?!

This was not the first time the Queen had encountered the reindeer. On her journey to the tower, the Queen had wandered into their lands. The reindeer had provided the Queen with a hot meal, a magical circlet, and shaved hours off her journey, but most importantly, a reindeer mystic named Windwalk had sacrificed her life to ensure that the Queen was able to complete her quest.

The Queen dabbed at the tears that formed in her eyes as she thought of Windwalk, and gasped as Rimeantler hugged her from behind. "We shall never forget the lesson of Windwalk, Twilight Sparkle. It pleases me to see you still remember and care about her, even after all you have seen and done."

The Queen frowned. "H-how can you know about that? That happened in a different timeline," she turned to Star Swirl, "didn't it?"

Rimeantler gently caressed the Queen's cheek with her hoof. "She may not be the same WIndwalk that willingly gave her life for yours, but our Windwalk still gets visions."

The Queen looked anxiously around the room at the other reindeer, but did not see Windwalk. "Aww, she's not here? I wanted to thank her."

Rimeantler shook her head. "She is not here yet, Windwalk and some others are using their talents to transport our forces to this place. We may not wield magic as you unicorns do, but we still have a wide range of tricks we can achieve. Just as you ponies have, we each have a special talent," she winked at the Queen, "I'm sure you remember my magical icy breath. Some talents can be combined, for instance if myself and Windwalk combined ours, they might combine into a wind walking form that would freeze whatever it passed through."

Star Swirl eyed Rimeantler's staff and accouterments. "Hmm.... If you would allow it, I would like to study this magic of yours more in-depth at some point once all of this is done. It sounds quite interesting, and powerful."

Rimeantler giggled and gave him a wink. "Oh, indeed. How did you think we reindeer deliver presents to all the good little children in only one night?"

Star Swirl laughed. "I suppose I figured yours was a... how shall I put it, race that bred like rabbits?"

Rimeantler blushed. "No, no. We are small in number, but big in magic."

"The reindeer still do that? I always thought it was just our parents," the Queen said.

"I could never turn my back on innocent foals," Rimeantler explained.

"All the magic in the world might not be enough to stop what we're going up against," Daring said. "You admit that your people are few, but you told us you brought an army?"

The bells of Rimeantler's cloak jingled as she flew towards a window and beckoned the ponies towards her. Their jaws dropped as they looked down and saw a massive horde of frost wolves, equipped with their trademark arms and armor made of magical ice which they crafted at a secret location called the Frostforge. The frost wolves - bipedal, sentient wolves - were denizens of the Frozen North, and for decades had been waging bloody civil wars between their various clans. For the moment they appeared to be united under one banner, which featured an icy forge surrounded by swirling balls of ice, upon which were the symbols of each of the frost wolf clans.

Star Swirl swept his hat off and shook his head in disbelief. "You united the frost wolf clans? How in Equestria did you do that?"

Rimeantler grinned mischievously and rubbed her hooves along her staff. "Oh, nothing too complicated. We saw the Valkyrs' message back home and felt we needed to contribute as much as we could. I knew the frost wolf clans would bolster the ranks for the crusade, so I just used some magic to hide something that they all adore. They help us, they get back their precious Frostforge. Thankfull Windwalk had her vision that send us here for it appears there is a far greater crusade for our furry friends to embark upon."

Star Swirl whistled appreciatively.

"Alright, we've got an army. What's our plan?" Daring asked, as the survivors of Tristram began to filter back into the library, looking wide-eyed at the reindeer.

After introducing the Tristram ponies to the reindeer, Star Swirl clapped his hooves together. "I believe I have come up with a plan. King Steelhorn, I want you to defend the Elements of Harmony - the ponies Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. We keep them out of trouble, that should negate their lines of the prophecy."

The cow king addressed his citizens. "Anypony that is unwilling or unable to help with this task, take two steps back." He smiled as not a single one moved. "Thank you."

"Good," Star Swirl said. "Queen Rimeantler, you will use your forces to distract the Valkyrs' army. We don't necessarily need to kill them, but don't let them get you."

"The frost wolves are adept at guerilla tactics, thanks to their constant warring against one another. They should be more than able to fulfill this role," Rimeantler said.

"Excellent," Star Swirl said. "Two of the Valkyr are named in this prophecy: Taraiel, who is Wrath, and Shariel, who is Death. Twilight and myself have interacted with these two before and I think we may be able to help them return to who they once were. Twilight, you will work on Shariel. She brought you back to life so she must care for you in some fashion. I shall deal with Taraiel."

"Being back in this place has brought back a lot of memories for me, including one that may help with Shariel," the Queen said. "Given her mastery over death, and my necromantic powers, I'm afraid to try and fight her. However, I think I know how to use that mastery against her if need be."

Star Swirl smiled and turned to Daring Do. "Miss Do, bring the Eye of Horsiris and all your research on the prophecy. It will be up to you to convince Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, as well as the Pandemaneium forces, to assist our cause."

Daring began to gather up her notes. "Got it."

"Is everypony happy? Good. Now, if you would all be so kind as to follow me, I shall outfit you with some artifacts to assist with your duties," Star Swirl said.

As Star Swirl led the others through his tower, the Queen raced off on her own. The sound of her hooves striking the stone floors echoed as she galloped through the hallways, slowing as she reached her destination. She smiled in triumph as she peered through a portcullis and saw three ghastly unicorn mares chained to the wall - the Death Knights of Westmarech. They were shrouded in black robes, their flesh was pale with bluish tints, the hair of their manes and tails hung limp, and they stared at the Queen with eyes that burned with unholy blue fire. In life, they had been princesses of the unicorn kingdom of Westmarech - Sapphire Gambit, Ruby Horizon, and Emerald Dreams.

Long ago, a magical plague had struck the kingdom of Westmarech and claimed the lives of many, including those of King Feldspar and Queen Fiery Opal. Their daughters sought out the dark arts of necromancy to try and get their parents back, and lost themselves in the process. King Feldspar, risen into undeath, murdered his own daughters in his madness. The sisters' necromantic magics raised them back as the Death Knights of Westmarech.

Many moons later, the Queen had been tricked into releasing them when she had first journeyed to the tower. In gratitude, the unholy princesses had begun a ritual to transform the Queen into their undead servant. The Queen's traveling companion, a unicorn named SIlver Shock, had interrupted the ritual, but eventually it did succeed in killing the Queen and raising her into undeath.

The Queen closed her eyes and focused on the Nether Crystal. Somewhere within was the spirit of the Death Knights' father,  now known as the Unliving King, which had been dormant since Baphomeena had awoken her. She found his energy and cast a quick summoning ritual. The king's ghost appeared and immediately rushed towards his daughters. The Unliving King looked much as he did in life, apart from his spectral appearance. His coat was royal purple, his mane and tail were a medley of light grey and gold, and his eyes burned with a sinister blue flame. He was garbed much as he was in life, with a royal cloak, a surcoat bearing the coat of arms of Westmarech (a rearing unicorn surrounded by a ring of glowing crystals), and a golden splint mail hauberk. His cutie mark was similar to the Westmarech coat of arms, except there was a crown and scepter inside the ring of crystals in lieu of the unicorn.

The Queen let the Unliving King have a moment with his long-lost daughters, then asked him, "Have you been able to observe my actions through the Crystal?"

"Yes. I never would have thought you of all ponies would be working to save the world," the Unliving King said. "Destroy it, yes, but I suppose that was never really the kind of pony you were. Pity, I liked the old you."

The Queen smirked. "Then you know why I require your daughters."

"Indeed. Quite devious, if I do say so," the Unliving King replied.

The Unliving King began to describe the Queen's intentions to his daughters. If they were willing, the Queen would try to convince Shariel to restore them as she did herself. The sisters were allegedly soulless, having lost theirs while delving into necromancy, so Shariel would just be tiring herself out should she try to resurrect them, making her easy to subdue if needed. Even if it did not work, Shariel would still be severely winded, as restoring the Queen alone had take large amounts of her power.

The sisters eagerly agreed and they headed off to find Star Swirl, who was already transporting their forces back to Canterlot. He had initially been concerned at seeing the undead sisters, which he had helped subdue and imprison so long ago, but conceded that the Queen's plan had merit.

Another familiar face was waiting for the Queen - Windwalk, the reindeer mystic. The emerald-eyed doe looked just as she did when the Queen first met her. She wore dark green robes with a white sash from which an assortment of potions and pouches hung, and a visual representation of a gust of wind was on her flank. She had been idly shuffling her deck of cards and smiled as she saw the Queen.

The Queen grinned and teleported to Windwalk's side. "Windwalk!"

"I can not speak for my other self, but I think she would admit she made the right choice, Twilight Sparkle, as you appear to be an integral component to saving our world," Windwalk said as she hugged the Queen.

"The same could be said about her. I wouldn't have become what I am today if she hadn't sacrificed herself for me. For one, I would have died back then, and it was that guilt, knowing she had died for me, that sent me on my path," the Queen replied. "Not all has been good, as I am sure you know, but I am grateful for the sacrifice she made."

Windwalk nodded thoughtfully. "Indeed, but the world is not yet saved, my friend. Winning a war that we know so little about may not be so easy. If the Valkyr are any indication of the beliefs the combatants hold, there is much hatred in that land - hatred that may never be quenched."

The Queen smiled. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not going to let the sacrifice and suffering that WIndwalk and so many other ponies went through be in vain. We'll find a way, we have to. What do your cards tell you?"

"Let me see," Windwalk said as she shuffled her deck, then drew the first card. The card's illustration was of an armored pony blowing a conch shell. Windwalk smiled broadly. "Victory."

Twenty minutes later, the Army For Harmony was assembled and transported to the reindeer's kingdom of Frostfell. A flickering, purple portal stood in the courtyard of the reindeer's castle - it was a portal to Pandemaneium. The army that began to make their way through the portal was not quite what Shariel had hoped for when she opened it hours prior, for the Army For Harmony existed solely to preserve the sanctity of the world, not to embark on wholesale slaughter like Shariel's other recruits.

As the Queen walked up to the portal she stepped to the side and paused for a moment. The reindeer kingdom had been one of her first stops on her journey to Star Swirl's tower, and here she was again, about to embark on yet another adventure. She turned her gaze from the portal to the snow-covered forest that surrounded the clearing and froze. Sitting against the tree was the strange colt she had entertained in the tower. The colt pointed towards her, then to his own forehead, then back to the Queen.

The Queen glanced upwards, saw nothing, then looked back towards the colt, only to see he had vanished as suddenly as her previous encounter. She began to wonder if the colt was a spirit of some sort, but brushed those thoughts aside. The world was in peril, she needed to focus.

As the Queen headed into the portal she silently prayed that she would find her friends safe and sound on the other side.

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