Twilight couldn’t breathe; she could hardly see. Her chest was tight, mouth agape, and eyes wider than they had ever been before. Her pupils dilated to the point of being pin needles, she focused on only one thing in the grand crystal hall.

She couldn’t see the shimmering walls, nor the diamond floor. She couldn’t see the stained glass of the windows, or the clear skies beyond them. All she could see, the only thing her mind allowed her to perceive, was the hubristic pose of Cadance.

Twilight felt herself lean against Dash, too shocked by what was around her. Her legs were jelly and her mind nothing but gravel. Had Dash not been there, the unicorn would have likely found herself unceremoniously fallen into a heap on the ground. It already felt as if her stomach was there. With a trembling jaw and unshed tears, Twilight spoke.

“W-Why?” The question was hovering in the air long before the unicorn spoke. Cadance smiled and answered nonetheless.

“He was in the way. He had a tendency to do that.” It was a comment that Cadance would have normally made, with an expression much like the one she was giving now; lips turned up in a coy grin, eyes sparkling with a guilty-like delight. But this was no joke, not to Twilight. Cadance didn’t appear to think the same.

“You… you killed Shining because…” Twilight leaned in closer to her brother’s still form, fighting herself to wrap her hooves around him. “… What?”

“In the way, Twilight,” Cadance repeated with no tremor or fear in her voice. She was as collected as if this were any other day with any normal circumstance. “Trying to stop what needed to begin, not taking ‘no’ for an answer. You and I both know how stubborn he can be at times.” She giggled.

Giggled.

Twilight felt bile rising in her stomach. It was either the extreme cold or cold terror that kept her muscles from allowing it to come up. Instead, she merely knelt closer to her brother, trying her best to wish the horror around her away.

Rainbow had a very different reaction.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” The pegasus shouted at the top of her lungs, flaring her wings as she took to the air. She hovered just above Twilight, between the unicorn and the now clearly-twisted alicorn. “There is no way you did this! I don’t even have to question it! Nu uh, not you. I’ve got a better chance of Fluttershy beating me in a race than you doing something like this!”

“That was before Macha came.” The words were spoken with that same sing-song voice.

It made Dash’s mind freeze for a moment, but only a moment. It was hard for anything to keep the mare still. This didn’t make her stop, it made her mad.

“Macha’s here? Macha did this?!” Rainbow pointed an accusing hoof towards the heap that was one Shining Armor, face furrowed in rage as she glared daggers at the pink alicorn. Cadance either didn’t mind the heat of the gaze, or enjoyed it. Neither made the pegasus any less angry.

“Yes and half-yes, Dash.” Cadance admitted as she began to walk down the stairs. Her hooves clopped loudly against the crystal floor, resounding through the otherwise silent hall. Every small beat of hoof on crystal made Twilight shift closer and closer to her brother, her tear-stained gaze hoping something would change soon, preferably for the better. “She is here, but she only came to talk. Shining was the one who wouldn’t stop getting in the way.” Cadance let her muzzle turn into a thoughtful pose, lips puckered and upturned. It was a poor joke.

“I suppose that is what makes it my fault. I couldn’t seem to tell him to stop.” The words did nothing but turn Twilight’s cold gut into a pit of misery.

“Then where’s Macha now?” Rainbow was holding back her shout, choosing to growl at the princess instead. She’d save shouting for later, when Cadance and/or Macha was beneath her hooves.

“Gone,” Cadance offered swiftly and easily. “Doing what only a goddess like her can do. She said to wait for her, and so I’m waiting. I’m sure she’ll be back soon enough.”

“Well get her back then!” Rainbow shouted back without a moment’s hesitation. “‘Cause Twilight and I are gonna beat the snot, hay, and whatever else is in her, out of her! If she doesn’t show her face soon, she’s nothing but a coward!”

Rainbow heard a rustle behind her.

“As my subject wishes.”

BEGIN

The suddenness of the voice made Twilight gasp, whirling around to face the speaker. Dash did much the same, jumping up as she beat her wings instinctively. What they saw, however, neither could easily explain.

It appeared similar to Aisling, but that was to say Sweetie Belle appeared similar to Princess Celestia. This creature, coated in a red gown with bare skin and a mane darker than night, towered above them, to a height that even the princesses would be forced to raise her gaze up to meet. Its red gown, hanging from the nape of its neck to the bends of its knees, flowed under a wind neither mare could feel. Its hair billowed likewise.

Though Twilight and Rainbow could not feel the wind, they felt the cold. It was enough for both of them to prefer the blizzard’s cutting winds.

“Lady Macha.” Twilight looked to see the twisted voice of Cadance speaking, sounding as if she were pleased to be in the presence of this... thing. “You have returned. Does that mean I can go now?”

“Everything is prepared.” The creature, Macha, turned to the pink mare. Its smile made Twilight shiver and Rainbow snarl, somehow, even more viciously. “You may go.”

“Of course! Thank you my lady!” Twilight was only too mortified by the joy to which Cadance spoke. Rainbow, thankfully, was more focused on what they had said.

“Whoa! Hold on!” The pegasus challenged, flying and landing in front of the pink alicorn before she could take a single step forwards. “You’re not going anywhere! And you!” Dash shouted as she twisted and pointed her hoof at the red gowned creature. “You’re going to explain just what the hay is goi-”

Something heavy and blunt hit her over the back of the head.

It took the rainbow-maned mare a moment to realize that she was just hit by Cadance, likely bucked by the way it felt. It took another moment for her to register she was flying... without her wings. By the next one that passed, she was a sack of wheat across the hall’s floor, ragdolling to a painful stop.

“Rainbow!” Twilight cried her friend’s name in fright, galloping the few strides necessary to reach her injured friend. “Rainow! Are you okay?!” The pegasus groaned from her position on the floor.

“Get the number of that cloud,” she dizzily droned as she rolled her head, lifting a hoof to her tender skull.

Twilight let out a sigh of quick relief. Rainbow was one of only two ponies she knew would crack a joke at her own injury. The situation around her, however, quickly took precedence as it came back into focus. The unicorn’s head whipped to see Cadance trotting, nearly skipping out of the room, her gaze beaming up towards Macha. It was a look Twilight remembered giving to Celestia often.

She was sickened.

“W-Wait! Wait!” Twilight called out, but Cadance had already left, out of the crystal hall and to a place she did not know. That left only the frightened unicorn, the dizzy pegasus, fallen stallion, and the creature of cold darkness, all but one gazing upon each other with varying expressions.

The creature stared at them for a time, Twilight too lost to make a quick decision, still reeling from all that had happened so far. Dash was only able to offer the occasional groan of pain upon the floor, trying to pick herself up as fast as she could. Macha was as still as a statue, only her red gown and dark mane billowing in the nonexistent wind.

“You’re… You’re Macha?” Twilight finally found her voice, choosing to speak questions rather than accusations. No matter how little, questions always led to more information than harsh threats. The creature then took in a slow breath of air before responding.

“I am,” The voice of the creature made the unicorn swallow on a ball in her throat. “Who are you to speak with me and charge my loyal subject?”

Twilight again found herself swallowing on nothing, entire being feeling suppressed by the creature that towered over her. Twilight, the unicorn that had braved Discord’s twisted spells, dared to challenge Nightmare Moon, and discovered the threat of the Changling invasion felt nothing but cold dread in the presence of Macha.

THe goddess did not speak her question again. Instead, she continued her walk forwards, each step of her bare feet tapping on the crystal floor. Her red gown continued to sway to her side, following her movements as if commanded to. Twilight didn’t think it was entirely impossible.

She followed the creature’s path, watching with a bent form as Macha walked around her, sharp eyes upon the pair of them. Twilight could only describe the gaze as a pair of daggers, sharper than any other blade and just as likely to cut.

It was only when Macha circled the pair that Twilight realized she had left her brother alone. Cold panic unrelated to the cold air seeped into her very being. This witch was much closer to her brother’s body than Twilight was. Macha, either through a keen eye or more of her unfamiliar magic, sensed the distress of the mare.

“You worry for him, do you not?” Even the words she used to ask the question were unwelcoming, tone and voice aside. Everything about the beast felt so… cold.

Twilight’s ears perked as she heard speaking behind her. “We’re a little… little past worried.” Twilight turned her head toward the voice, just enough to see Rainbow shifting herself off of the ground. She was pushing herself up, hooves trembling to stay straight. The throbbing that was doubtlessly coursing through the mare’s battered mind didn’t stop her from giving the tall figure a cold glare of her own. “When you see something… something like that.” A blue hoof flashed quickly over to Shining’s still form, returning quickly to keep herself upright. “You don’t feel worry, you feel angry.”

“Perhaps you do, but she does not.” Macha turned her head from Rainbow to Twilight once more, noting aloud the differences she saw. “You scowl at me, showing only the depth of your ignorance. She offers the awe I deserve, though the horror she feels can be understood.”

“Cut the crap!” Rainbow clenched her teeth as she shouted, shaking her head in a vain hope to shake away the pain. “You just killed her brother! The horrifying thing is what I’m gonna do to you.”

Twilight was staring at Rainbow, part out of shock and more out of admiration. Where Twilight was frozen with indecision, Dash shouted, threatened the monster that froze Twilight to the core. Macha, however, offered only an upturned nose and sharpening of her eyes.

“You venture far from your place, mare.” Without a breath, Macha blew a chilling wind to the pegasus. The freezing breeze stilled any throbbing within her mind, but it also froze the rebellious notion in her soul. “Speak only of matters you know.”

Rainbow fed her lower lip in between her teeth, nibbling on the skin as she fought back another outcry. That feeling she had… she had felt it before. She had felt it when she fell from her first cloud. She experienced it when she had failed her first flight test. She felt it when Discord told her Cloudsdale would fall. It was simple.

Macha made Rainbow Dash afraid.

“You presume that I have wrought lethal harm upon this stallion.” Macha’s pale arm floated towards Shining Armor, red gown flowing beneath the appendage. “But I have done no such thing.”

Those words found Twilight her fire.

“Yes you did!” Twilight shouted with all the intensity Rainbow had before her, if not more. Her hooves slammed into the ground as she did so. “Cadance even said, you… killed him because he was trying to stop you!”

Twilight didn’t see it. She didn’t even feel it until it was gone.

Something slapped across her face.

Her face felt cold. Not the cold of pain that came from injury. Twilight had enough of those to know the sensation well. This… this was the cold that came from a splitting wind or winter chill. This was cold that froze water and changed seasons.

This cold had left small patches of ice across her muzzle.

“You both speak out of turn, and you speak too freely.” Macha’s apathetic words came once more, holding no less ice than the slap she had just given. “This punishment is enough, but now you will be wary of your words.”

There was a part of Twilight’s mind that was glad she was the one who was struck by… whatever Macha had used to hit her. If Dash were the one to be hit, she would have charged the creature without a second’s hesitation. At least Twilight had the forethought to think before making a hasty decision.

It was magic, doubtlessly magic, but it was a kind of magic she had never seen. It was not her magic, a unicorn’s magic created through manipulation of magical energy. It was not Discord’s magic, created through mass and space manipulation. It definitely was not Aisling’s magic even, as no words nor sound were made aside from the moment of impact.

Yet still she felt pain, and there was ice in her fur to prove it. Her hoof began to scrape it away, feeling small strands of her coat being pulled at the force.

“Why…” Twilight began, biting every instinct her mind to yell before she continued on. “Why did you… kill… my brother?”

“I did not kill him.” Macha easily, so easily, returned to Twilight. “Not in the methods and manner by which you think.”

That was it. Twilight felt her hooves digging into the ground, ready to jump at Macha, plans be damned! Rainbow had much the same thought process, her wings flared and itching to let her take off. But before either could, or did, act, Macha spoke on.

“I did kill him, but not his body.” The words did nothing but make the hatred in Twilight’s core grow deeper and colder. “He was much like the mare from mountain kingdom, strong and confident. I bent his legs, tried to bend his will, but he would not allow it.”

“You killed him because he wouldn’t listen to you!” Rainbow Dash shouted what Twilight wanted to scream. The unicorn, however, was still to frozen by the sight and words to do little more than tremble.

Macha gave a small frown, shaking her head with slow and deliberate waves. When she stopped, she took in a slow breath of air, closing her eye as if in thought. Then, she spoke on.

“He resisted the bending of his will, so I had to break it.” The pale creature walked closer to the fallen form of Shining, grinning the same cold grin that made the blizzard from earlier feel no different than a summer’s sun. “It is a painful experience, of this I know. It was enough for his body to surrender to nothingness. Now, I have corrected his mind. When he awakens, he will be well.”

“Well?” Twilight questioned, her lips turned in abject horror. “Wha… what do you mean well!? You hurt him! You’ve broken him!” Despite the ferocity of the mare’s words, Macha did little more than sharpen her smile.

“You must be broken in order to heal.” Whether by her pride or confidence, Macha turned away from the fallen stallion and the mares, looking out a nearby window to the now clear and empty sky. She placed one of her dulled claws upon the crystal sill, letting her red gown and black mane flow in the entering wind.

“It is a rule of nature, a law that the first of my kind taught without words.” If Twilight were in a sounder mind, she would have noted clearly the words she heard. As of now, however, she could only dumbly listen as the menacing figure spoke on. “Trees must fall for forests to grow. Hills must flatten for plains to rise. Even death must come before life can enter.”

Macha took another slow breath. Rainbow narrowed her eyes as she flared her wings further. She was waiting for the perfect moment, the right moment to pounce on the creature. All she needed was a clear line between her, Macha, and the window to outside. Dash didn’t know a lot about this “god”, but she knew it didn’t have wings.

“What are you?” The pegasus twisted her head to see Twilight repeating the question. The horror no less present than the first time. “What… what kind of thing breaks some pony like that?! What kind of monster are you?!” For all Twilight’s screaming, Macha seemed not even slightly perturbed.

“In order to set things right, they must be broken. Would you prefer I had killed him?” The very suggestion made Twilight’s stomach sink, and it was clear to the others in the room. “I thought not. And in truth, the one called Cadance did not either.”

“What in the hay is that supposed to mean?” Rainbow asked, gritting her teeth to the point that they were in danger of cracking. “No, scratch that, what did you do to Cadance? I’ve known her just long enough to know she’d never be okay with this, and I mean never.” Twilight had known Cadance far longer than Dash, but her friend was right. It was another question she had, one of many important life-risking questions that had to be asked.

“I awakened her.” Neither mare liked the sound of those words. The cold, sharp smile adorned on Macha’s face did not help.

“Awakened?” Dash repeated the word as a question, one the pale creature easily picked up on.

“Yes, as one would call any epiphany.” Macha looked away from the pair long enough for her dark eyes to fall on the alabaster stallion behind her. Twilight felt her hooves dig into the ground in panic. Her instinct was to charge, but her mind told her to wait. She always listened to her logical side.

“She was terrified of me, whimpering as a babe, gazing upon a new world.” Macha paused briefly, why she did so was beyond the two ponies. “Her husband was the one to charge me, caring not for my words and preferring only a show of his force. It did not bode well for him. “

“You tortured him.” Twilight hissed the word venomously. Macha simply cared not.

“I broke what I could without robbing his life. He is a loyal stallion, and loyalty deserves no punishment, only a shift in direction.” Dash growled, the goddess’s previous words hitting home. Macha’s head then turned away from the two. It was not enough to see the cold expression of her face, the dark eyes and sharp smile, but it was enough to see where she was looking. It required only a glance for Twilight and Rainbow to see the creature staring at the Crystal Throne.

“The display did much to fracture the pink one’s mind.” Twilight held in the urge to vomit. “It was enough for me to set it right. And when I was done, she was thankful.” The creature’s dull claw roamed through its dark mane, pulling at the ever-billowing strands. It appeared to be more out of habit than necessity. “She blamed the pain of her spouse upon herself. A noble thought, but incorrect.”

“That’s why she said it,” Rainbow whispered the words, a cold revelation working through her mind. “She blames herself for what happened to Shining, because he was protecting her from you!”

Now Macha turned towards the pegasus, her red dress twisting about her. It would have been a regal image if the sight of the tall creature alone did not make the mares’ shiver. But Macha did not approach them. Instead, she merely gazed down at the sleeping form of Shining Armor.

“As I said, it was needless. His loyalty was not punished, only the direction in which it lay. That has been corrected, and when he awakens, I will reward him.” There were no less than a million thoughts racing through Twilight’s mind.

Her brother was okay, in the very loosest use of the word. Shining was injured to the point of bleeding, he was unconscious from pain, his mind had been played with, and his wife was being used as some sort of sick marionette. But he was alive, and that was a significant difference than what Twilight had previously feared. She’d take any tidbits of hope while she was drowning in despair.

But a cold, sick thought loomed over all else.

“Are... you going to do that to us now?” Twilight asked the words as if she already knew the answer. What else could an immortal being such as this Macha desire with them? “Are you going to make us… worship you…?”

“Whoa, what!?” Rainbow was, to no surprise of Twilight, much more animated with the implications before them. “She’s gonna do that to us?! Nuh uh, no way! Nope! That’s already happened to me two times more than I need in my life! I’m not gonna let you make it a hat trick!”

“Calm yourself, little mare.” The chilling words of Macha echoed through the halls, vibrating through crystals like a war horn. “As of now, you are protected from me.”

“…What?” Twilight had to think before she asked, to make sure Macha had spoke correctly through her ancient dialect. She was not claiming to protect them, they were being protected from her. “What is it?”

“I know little of the how or why, but you are the same as the white one from before.” Rainbow and Twilight said nothing in return, though they watched the tall creature shut her eyes for a moment longer than a blink. “You have been touched, perhaps blessed, even, by the Stone of Fal, and it is enough for you to be... guarded from me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rainbow Dash began, snarling as she spoke. “But you’re out of your mind if you think a little magic is gonna make me do anything other than kick your flank!” The look Macha gave the pegasus was hardly different than before, with the same cold eyes and the same blank stare. Except now, her lips were tucked in a disapproving frown. It reminded the pegasus of the look her mother used to give her.

“You hold no more means to harm me than a bird does a storm.” The voice echoed across the crystal hall, sending shivers down Rainbow’s back. She tried not to show it. Her wings instinctively tucked themselves in, but her eyes remained ablaze. “You only stand because I do not want any of my subjects harmed.” That got Twilight’s attention.

“Subjects?” The mare questioned singularly again. “You… you’re talking like we’re just… just going to bow down to you.” Twilight started to shake her head, starting slow by picking pace. It didn’t take long until her mane was starting to whip wildly around her. It stopped when she lifted and slammed one of her forehooves down.

“No!” Twilight shouted. “You’re not a god, you’re not even fit to be a ruler! You’re treating us like pawns, like… like we’re all just means to your end!” Rainbow was taken aback, and she’d never felt prouder of Twilight than right now.

“That is what you are.” Macha admitted with such apathy it made the air feel colder. “Your very existence is thanks to my will and blessing. Your lives till now and ancestors past have all existed because I once, long ago, rid this land of the ones who no longer worshiped us.”

Macha stood away from the window, walking towards the pair with a cold air about her, mane and gown still billowing in a wind the two still couldn’t feel. Despite the bareness of her skin, the goddess appeared only too comfortable.

“I have not returned to bring harm or folly. I have returned to finish what was started long ago, to begin what comes after the end.” It wasn’t long before the dark-haired creature towered over the two, cold eyes gazing down upon them. She leaned in close, bending over until her eyes were but horn’s length away from Twilight. The mare did all that she could to not whimper.

“I am to be the guide for your people as I was meant to be, long before that man’s last stand and seal.” Something small changed in Macha as she spoke. It was hardly noticeable, and it nearly escaped Twilight’s normally critical eye, but she saw at least a glimmer of it.

There was a light in her eyes. It looked so odd, to see something so bright in a creature so dark.

“You fear me.” Macha spoke without question. “And justly so. But you do not have to. I will rule again. I will lead these lands again. But you do not have to fear.”

“Why… not…” Rainbow Dash growled out, holding back her own instinct to slam into the pale creature.

Macha turned to her, smile and eyes no different than before, cold aura no warmer than moments ago. If anything, she seemed now ever colder than before.

Her next words turned the mares’ chill into solid ice.

“I will not be alone.”

STOP

If Celestia were honest with herself, then she would have admitted that she had grown rather out of shape the past few decades. Once upon a time, she could have soared through the skies with the grace of an eagle, letting the wind sbe her guide. She could have galloped across the endless plains, matching the strength of the strongest of dragons.

Now though, as her hooves beat against the floor, tearing through the crystal palace, she found herself weak, her breaths heavy, and her mind clouded with fear. The latter was due less to her body and more to the situation at hoof.

Aisling was running besides her, far more comfortable in the magically treated air of the palace than the biting cold outside. Despite the daunting difference in height between the two, the small Fae was keeping pace with the alicorn breathlessly. The book was tucked neatly beneath one of her arms, held securely as if it were a child.

Where the times any different, Celestia would have wanted to show Aisling the grand palace, show the nymph of the woods the splendor of magic beyond the trees. She would have wanted to show her the grand halls fastened to house hundreds, the gardens made to relax the mind, and even the Crystal Heart, a beacon of hope and love in the coldest part of Equestria.

But they were not racing to find the heart; they were running to stop it.

“Near,” Celestia breathed out in between strained panting. Her body was begging to stop, but her mind refused. “We are near now.”

“Yes,” Aisling agreed besides her, speaking completely normally. “I can feel it. Another one. Another center.”  Celestia knew well what the small Fae meant.

Just like the newly opened Ley Line center in the Everfree Forest, one was present here in the Crystal Kingdom. It was knowledge she was aware of far before she had taken her rule, let alone met Aisling. Why else go to the trouble of building a grand castle so far to the north?

“Is it still sealed?” The diarch extended her wings as they turned another corner, a long path now ahead of them. She tucked her wings as she began to spring again. Aisling leapt and bounded next to her without difficulty.

“Yes,” the nymph offered. “Like my forest, like Brendan left it.” A moment of silence was kept between the two, broken only by their great gallops and strong strides. “But it will not be for long. Not with her here.” There was no question what the Fae meant.

Just ahead of the pair, a great set of grand crystal doors blocked their path. They stood as tall as the oak doors in the Canterlot castle, but weighted with shimmering stone, not stained wood. No bolts nor locks were set between the two, only hinges to keep them from falling to the ground. Celestia summoned her magic with ease, surrounding the objects with the intent to swing them open. She would never have needed to stop. But before she could, Aisling acted.

The nymph bounded ahead of her with two great leaps, the Book of Kells swinging in her arm as she jumped forwards. On her third jump, she launched herself forwards. With a grace Celestia had not seen outside of her own ponies, Aisling twirled in mid air, her long mane wrapping around her as she did so.

When she was only hoof lengths from the door, she straightened herself, letting her thin legs slam into the closed doors. They blew open as if struck by Cerberus.

With as much grace as her jump, Aisling twirled backwards to the ground, landing with ease on her feet. Then, with only a deft flick of her long mane, she began to run forwards again. Celestia, despite running as fast as her long legs would allow, never once caught up with the nymph.

Behind the pair of grand doors was another addition to the castle, though not one Celestia was eager to approach. Immaculately carved and shaped stairs were before them, twirling up and out of sight. Celestia’s pace slowed, if only to remind herself that she could not stop, not with a beast like Macha here in the Crystal Empire.

The diarch unfolded her wings as her hooves touched down on the first step, lightly beating them with each stride she took. It was not enough to raise her into the air, but it was enough to make the otherwise steep climb manageable. Celestia already scorned Sombra for his crimes against the Crystal Ponies, but she was starting to understand why Twilight was displeased with the castle itself.

“It is like Kells.” Aisling spoke besides her, still bounding up the stairs with no difficulty in her gait. She was leaning forwards now as she ran, keeping the golden tome tucked against her chest, safe. Her free hand beat against the steps ahead of her legs, however, making her appear almost as if she were a wolf, long white mane trailing fluidly behind her. “It is like Brendan’s Tower, made of steps for those who cannot climb. Few of them could climb.”

Where the timing any different, Celestia might have inquired further about this Kells, and the tower it had. But for now, she was running to stop a long-dead god, nearly out of breath as she ascended a nearly innumerable amount of stairs.

“Almost… Almost there.” The diarch breathed out some time later between her strides and wing-beats, spurring herself on further. Then as if answering her command, another pair of doors appeared around the circular staircase, hiding behind it the chamber both the Fae and alicorn sought.

Celestia was faster with her magic now, quickly waving her head back, then forth as she summoned her ethereal spell. In an instant, the doors were surrounded by her golden aura, swinging under her command. If Aisling was impressed, didn’t show it. Her gait did not slow either. It took only a few more strides before the pair reached the top of the staircase, looking now at the destination they both desired.

They stood out above the Crystal Kingdom, high in the tower that overlooked the now clear landscape below. From the mountains that decorated the horizon to the white plains far behind, all was clear for them to see.

Snow still powdered the crystal flooring, one of the few remnants of the blizzard now past, but despite the absence of the snow storm, the air was no warmer at this elevation. Yet, despite the biting cold, Aisling made no move to warm herself against Celestia as she had before. And the same, Celestia did not find herself folding her wings back into her side. Rather, both had their gazes fixed on something else.

At the center of the platform, floating in the air without a pony’s or Fae’s command, the Crystal Heart of the Empire hovered. It spun slowly and lightly, giving any onlooker more than enough time to see and appreciate every intricate detail of the wondrous sculpture. But one did not need to be magically attuned to recognize there was more to the heart then met the eye.

Even with the cold around them, a gentle warmth was given off by the Crystal Heart, a soothing heat that felt like a friend’s comforting hug, a lover’s soft kiss. It was a sight and feeling Celestia had felt many times before, just as many times as she had gazed upon the heart and helped the Kingdom in its early days. Aisling as well felt similar things, but from an object not far different from this heart.

“It’s a seal.” The words, as simple as they were, were enough to grab Celestia’s attention with the swiftness of the wind.

“What?” She half repeated, both understanding but disbelieving the Fae. Aisling, pulling the Book of Kells closer to her chest once more, spoke in more detail.

“It’s a seal for the Ley Lines, a lock without a key. Made by Brendan’s people, casted by Brendan’s people, and holding back another…” Celestia heard the nymph growl like a threatened hound. It was the most oddly disturbing sound given the small size of the Fae.

“Another what, Aisling?” The diarch questioned, turning to face the smaller immortal. “Another what?”

“Another goddess.” Celestia recognized that voice.

Her head whirled towards its speaker, lighting her horn with a powerful spell ready to be cast. Her every intention was to the blast the creature from the high platform, letting her fall to the tower’s lowest floor. But when her pink eyes met the owner of the voice, she did not she whom she suspected.

It was not the dark goddess Macha, standing tall with dark mane and red gown, walking towards her with the aura of a forever frozen ice. Instead she saw a mare, a pony, a member of her very small family. With a trembling lip, Celestia spoke to her.

“Cadance.” The name came as a whisper, heard only because of the dead silence that surrounded them. The mare in question smiled cutely, as she had pulled a prank upon the elder alicorn.

“She’s tainted.” Aisling hissed before growled, snarling at the pink mare as she held the Book of Kells closer to her chest. “Tainted by the dark one, no longer in the light.”

“I don’t know you, but it is very rude to speak so harshly of somepony you’ve never met.” The Crystal Princess cajoled the Fae as if she were a child. “Besides, ‘no longer in the light’? I’d have to say that’s the complete opposite of what I am. Thanks to Macha, I’m no longer in the dark.”

“Macha,” Celestia repeated, feeling her brow furrow and anger rise at the name. “She got to you then, did something to you.” The diarch began to trot towards her niece, speaking as she did so. “Cadance, please listen to me. I do not know what Macha has done, but we can help you. Twilight and her friends are bringing the Elements of Harmony, Aisling knows magic I have never once imagined. We can cure you of Macha’s vile magic.”

“Vile magic?” Cadance repeated with a slight grin to her features. “Auntie, if any magic here is vile, it is the poor masque of magic you attempt to cast each day.” Celestia was stunned. Cadance took the opportunity to speak on.

“You spin the sun and cast a few rays of light, calling yourself a ruler to the ponies, a title you were never rightfully given.” There was always a line to be crossed, and Celestia found her niece passed it long ago.

“My title was not given, it was earned. As was my sister’s and as was yours.” There was no question to what Celestia accused Cadance of. The pink alicorn, however, only continued to smile.

“They are titles we do not deserve though.” The princess shook her head. “Not when there are others who truly deserve to be called goddesses above us.”

“…essess,” Celestia lightly whispered, fearing the implication. “Aisling, you said the heart was a seal. What is it sealing?”

The Fae, just outside of Celestia’s sight, adjusted the Book of Kells in her grasp, leaning her head over the golden tome as if to hide it. Cascades of her silver-white locks fell around her face, blanketing her feared expression. When she spoke, she spoke in a cold whisper.

“The Goddess of War’s Hatred. Anann.”

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