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.