Shattered Skies

by Arctikfox

Chapter 51 -Push and Pull-

Nothingness existed now, emptiness in every sense of the word. With strained flexing of eyelids, no light was seen. No heat or cold, nor sense of any kind was felt.

'This again.' Skies thought, curled into a ball as he felt a falling feeling. He winced to keep his eyes open after an eternity to see stars, colossal and bright, rush past him as a singular hole in space tore open with a prismatic light raging through.

Infinite space became blue sky as the hole swallowed the nothingness effortlessly. End over end he tumbled, his wings outstretched did little to steady his decent before slamming into the forgiving ocean like a drop of water. The taste of the warm sea assaulted him before he was able to break the surface for a breath of air, his wings outstretched beside him in an attempt to keep his large body level.

An island filled with large trees and three identical mountains lay before him once more. The island was known to few Spirits as only select Spirits were ever invited to the Maker's sanctum.

In a short time, Skies made his way to the shore and pulled his body from the water. The water moved from him and stayed in the ocean, drying him within moments as he made his way to the perched Raven. It sat, watching the path to the Maker and briefly chatted its beak at Skies' approach.

"Miss me?" Skies cooed to the bird as he instinctively began the path in haste, noticing that the once lush trees were decayed and bent in ill positions. His hoof beats sounded hollow as the stone path crumbled beneath him into dust.

The island coiled around with paths that went to different portals to link the whole of Equus, with this knowledge, what once took hours to locate took mere minutes. The lakes and island wildlife were all neglected. Worry growing within his heart, Skies began to gallop harder, only proving to struggle against the sand-like path.

Finally, light broke through the darkening forest. In the clearing, a structure stood tall and untouched by the forest amidst a once vibrant lagoon. Large white pillars and open air design once contrasted with the beach and plant life, but it was now decayed like everything else. Its regal design gave the impression of a temple, now a ruin of its former self.

Skies trotted past the barrier he once did as a human, without hesitation. He looked around frantically and at last saw a large mare sitting by the ocean water, gently dipping her hoof in. With a slow pause, she turned and looked up with tired eyes and smiled at the descending stag before being brought into a hug.

"I see you finally found your way back?"

"I got your message." Skies said.

"A little macabre, I know." The Maker said. "But it was too specific, I knew you would understand the instant you saw it. I also hoped you wouldn't hold it against me."

Skies held the Maker at arm's length and looked her over. The life-giving light that rolled off of her was dimmed into sad illumination as every part of her was figuratively grayed over; Dull mane, dingy coat, and pale features.

"What happened to you?"

The Maker smiled and dipped her head slightly, struggling to look up. "The world. I once foresaw a day where my hold over Equus would wane and something darker would start influencing life. I regret to say that the day for this has come and gone. Leaving me to sit and contemplate what seems to be the twilight of my life."

"Sounds like you've given up?"

"There's no fighting this one, Sky." The Maker waved her hoof over the space next to her as a cup of tea struggled to appear, flickering in and out like a bad lightbulb. "This path was set long ago by forces even out of my control."

"So you'll sit and just decay like this realm?" Skies asked.

"Of course."

Skies felt his heart grow heavy as he looked to the quiet smile sat on the Maker's lips. Arguing was never above him when it came to the Maker, she enjoyed the back and forth banter, often citing it as her more cherished pass time, but with Equus being as it is he couldn't say a word.

"Well? Aren't you going to fight me?" The Maker asked, glancing over to the stag as he sat down beside her. "Give me one of those infamous hypocritical tongue lashings and call my life into question?"

"Nope." Skies said. "Right now, even I don't know where to go. The world is so messed up that I'm starting to think it's better off that Spirits don't return." With a brief pause, Skies sighed. "Or that Spirits were ever a good idea to begin with."

The Maker set her cup down and closed her eyes. "This is not your fault, Sky."

With an incredulous look, Skies looked out to the calm ocean. He remembered pieces from forty thousand years worth of memories. Burned forests, vast ecological blunders, and now another war with more desecration of the dead. After another quiet moment, Skies looked to the Maker, but met a hoof instead.

"I insist on you dropping your retort. You're conniving and maniacal, but you're a good person." The Maker opened her kind eyes and moved her hoof to his cheek. "I chose you, do you think I mistook you for another? I chose each of you for what was inside and not just your accomplishments in life. Taking care of five siblings and being strong enough not to forgive speaks more for you than words ever will."

"Lot of good that did me." Skies pushed into the Maker's hoof. "Cat's kind of left the bag on this one."

"So you know about your father?" The Maker asked, only receiving a gentle nod in return. "Then I also surmise that you know of your siblings as well?"

"Psalm found me along with Crystal." Skies said. "The others weren't as happy to see me."

"So much has happened since my sight of Equus left me." The Maker said to herself, looking toward the murky time-pool. "The last I was able to help with was guiding Psalm out of the hell-scape your father placed her mind and body in."

"Are all of their minds trapped?" Skies asked hopefully, wanting to believe their hatred was a device used against them by their father.

The Maker shook her head. "No, the only one that needed such a method was Psalm. Having never truly known your father, he was never able to use her memories against her. In the end, her love for you was too different an emotion for him to control, allowing me to rest her from his grip."

"And Crystal?"

"She was found by Psalm a little over two years ago in the badlands." The Maker said. "Psalm helped out many Spirits over the past thousand years. She has achieved a great many things, you should be very proud."

"I always have been." Skies said. "The others though, have been around for much longer than I believed."

"Yes. From what I can tell, they appeared just before the Great Spirit War." The Maker waved her hoof to cause a slight breeze to pass over the lagoon, moving the dead air from them. "Or should I say that's when their realms connected with the all of yours."

"Then why did I not see them until recently?"

"I recognized that all of your siblings appeared and sealed off their realms once I sensed the stink of your father on them. He has infected them and they grew to hate, if he forced control on them then I could help, but they have grown with a taint that I have no sway over." She looked to Skies who was listening solemnly. "Unfortunately once you killed yourself, their lives took dark turns and I regret to inform you that each of them died before their times, even Psalm."

Skies' throat tightened as he brought his clover hoof to his face, hating the imagery that played out in his mind. Because of him, his family never recovered from the circumstances they were born into.

"I tried to look in on the families each of you left behind, but yours didn't thrive." The Maker spoke honestly. "If it's any consolation, Psalm passed peacefully in her sleep surrounded by the family she built, holding the hand of her son named after her big brother."

"And the others?"

"That is for you to discover my old friend." The Maker cooed and she ran a hoof down his back, patting him. "You will need to discover what happened to them on your own. This matter is for you and you alone. Hatred can blind and they need someone to help them."

"-Only allows them to act through their own desires easier upon that which they hate." Skies said, firmly against what evil he knew an angry Spirit was capable of. "Even as a means to an end, I've heard a little of what they did. It's not something easily forgiven."

"Then the choice may be yours to make. But I should remind you your soul isn't so untouched by dark deeds. You do remember the Alicorns." The Maker said unhappily, knowing what Skies was thinking. "Life or death; judgement or forgiveness. We should all be so lucky to have such black and white decisions before us."

Reflection moved through Skies as he scanned the once vivid sky. In times passed, one was able to look into the Maker's sky like the sky of Equus and see the reflection of each realm, represented by enormous ethereal orbs that moved across the horizon like leaves upon a lake, only now the sky was gray and cracked.

"Cadance is going to be upset with me." Skies said, his thoughts turning outward to his child and the only bastion he had for comfort.

The Maker chuckled, opting to follow his change of subject. "I heard that daughter of yours grew up to be a real beauty. I knew she would be, but the path I saw for her ended up being very different."

"Yeah, I can't help but see her mother in her. Crystal says she's more like me, but I hope that isn't true." Skies said quietly. "I thought I had died when Cadance came to me, calling me her father. I assumed I was caught or that I had finally snapped before actually hearing her out."

"I heard she had a little help finding that journal of Celestia's."

Skies squinted slightly to the Maker's mischievous grin. "You helped her?"

"I watched over her when she reappeared, but I was too weak to help, that was someone else."

Knowing the Maker to be a somewhat direct mare in casual conversation, Skies noticed the distinct avoidance of name dropping and let the issue rest, opting only to give the Maker a delicate hug.

The Maker gave a warm smirk to Skies and patted his shoulder. "You've been through much, and yet there is still much you must weather before the future I saw long ago comes to pass."

"So you were able to see past this point?" Skies asked with a smirk of his own.

"Yes, but you know the rules. I can never divulge time altering events with you, not even to save myself." The Maker said. "But I will acknowledge some points of the past. For instance, the boundaries of the living and beyond have been disturbed a great many times. Many of those that have returned are from historical texts."

Closing his eyes, Skies cursed. Fighting the dead was troublesome enough and he had figured out that Lonely Grave had acquired some reputable pawns, but if what the Maker was suggesting was right, the whole of Equestria's historical heroes were now pieces on the board for Grave to use.

"We've done a good job breaking everything, huh?" Skies asked.

"You have." The Maker said. "But, I know you'll fix it." She moved closer to Skies and rested her head against him. "Did you know, when I gave Spirits their power, I didn't have a direct control of what you would all look like?"

"No?"

"No. I gave your souls the power that best suited you and your bodies changed with that power. Very rarely did I ever try and change the outcome. Only when I thought the final result was something too damaging or if parts conflicted. You, however, came out like a vision from a nightmare." The Maker said. "The Spirit of the Forest was always meant to guide and protect those in need."

"Yes, as I've done?" Skies defended, feeling slightly insulted.

"Yes, throughout your life you've done your duty. What I refer to is when the mortal races arrived, you spent more time in a disguised form, you jump in to correct their issues and help them then complain to yourself silently about it all. Yet, when the Spirit war broke out, you stood firmly on the side that meant living beside the mortals." The Maker moved her head away and turned to the antlered Spirit. "I never asked, but why? With your intellect and influence, the war would have been solidified with Spirit rule. Something I believed you would have supported over a race that constantly tries to cut down what you make."

"History always smiles on the side of giving beings more rights, not taking them away." Skies said. "I know you chose to not involve yourself in the war since it was the natural course of the world and as such it required you to remain silent, but even you must see that having the world ruled by Spirits under a chaotic regime would have turned the planet into a smoldering slag."

"You didn't answer the question."

"I..." Skies paused and took a deep breath. "...know what it's like to live under the complete power of another with the threat of violence to keep you in line. You've seen my life, I am against those that would let the world return to such a dark state. At the risk of sounding pretentious, I will fight that to keep the right to live free."

"No compromise?"

"Never." Skies chuckled, knowing the Maker was playing with him now. "Not even in the face of really good herbal tea."

"You'll never find a mare with an attitude like that." The Maker said, acting like a mother.

"I already have my hooves full with love." Skies said and held his hooves before him. "Cadance, Honey, Sif, Luna, River, Inko, and you."

The Maker lifted her brow. "And what about Fluttershy?"

A pit grew in his stomach as he ran his hoof over his face.

"You two were a couple of rabbits."

"We were barely past a kiss or two."

The Maker grabbed a journal from the large table, struggling to teleport it to her, flipping the pages as she succeeded. "Let me go through almost every relationship you've ever had. Hmm, a date or two then a long kiss followed by sudden, aggressive-"

"I get it." Skies closed the book, making her laugh. "It's really creepy you have that life journal. Knowing a Spirit's sex life by the flip of a page is scary."

"I'm just teasing, Sky." The Maker opened her book once again. "Though, that Sunset Shimmer is very kind in her own way. She reminds me very much of Crystal."

Relationships between Spirits and mortals never ended well. He shook his head to move the thought of Sunset from his mind and looked to the Maker. Her eyes, still holding the embers of the inferno that used to rage within peered to him behind a delicate smile.

"I see you've opted to smothering your feelings, again. Your secrets are slowly poisoning you." The Maker said, not veering her gaze. The press of her hoof to his chest barely registered to him as the pressure was almost too weak to feel. Magic radiated into his soul and conjured a memory of Alicorns he once knew, bringing him pain. "Let them go."

"Stop that." Skies said. "You know that's not an option."

"I know." Light faded as the skies above of the island darkened with rain clouds appearing from the horizon to block the soft sunlight that beamed down. "But you hold onto a wound that is slowly choking you."

"Holding onto old wounds is common for Spirits. Our bodies are made of tougher stuff than our minds." Skies smiled, trying to diffuse the stare he was receiving.

The Maker rose to her hooves shakily and began to move to a path that lead deeper into the island.

"Follow me."

With no words, Skies followed the Maker through the one time heart of Equus. As time continued on from his first time on the island, it grew in size and scope, adding valleys and rivers. Time lurched as they strode through the forest, under passes and over small ravines until they reached the cave. Like everything else on the island, the cave was cold as it lead into a dimly lit center with a raging whirlpool, much like the time-pool the Maker would stare into.

"I am too weak to let you pass through the time-pool, I fear even if I wasn't, it is too murky to get you where you need to be." The Maker waved her hoof, both igniting the whirlpool with light and releasing a loud pop in her arm. She bit her lip to quell the pain to no avail. She sat and met Skies' hooves.

"You're dying."

Statements like these were never uttered as questions, but as realizations. Skies tried to meet her gaze, but she only smiled toward the pool.

"Ardennes, you must realize as I have that some things really are destined to happen." She said, using her pet name for Skies to lighten the mood. "You were destined to be who you are as I am destined to stop Typhon from leaving his own realm at the expense of my life."

"So, his new name is Typhon?"

"Yes, and as long as I am here, he is sealed." The Maker leaned her body back and sighed in relief from her aching muscles. "Once he showed his intentions, I was able to link his influence to mine. Even as I die, my seal remains strong."

"Then leave this realm. Staying here will kill you."

"Should I leave, the seal will weaken until it dissolves." The Maker said. "But in my death, Typhon may never know life."

"Why keep it a secret?"

"I... don't know?" She smiled wider and touched her chest. "I guess my own heart wanted to spare you. Hearts are such fickle things. Even mine."

She peered up to him with a vacant look. "You must let what happened to the Alicorns go, if you do not then he has won and you will die. You need to be at your full power to face him, only heart can defeat him, not strategy, not cunning, and not that Effigy you defied nature to create. I saw this once, long ago before even the first Spirit was made."

Weakly, she turned to look at him on the same level, bringing his head down with her authority. "I saw a Spirit with antlers surrounded by light, standing on a pyre of cups. The world was behind this being and through this being love flowed, amplified by what should have not been. Only through this may the unending cycle of destruction be wrought."

"And you believe the Spirit to be me?" Skies asked, an incredulous look on his face.

"Yes, something drew me to you that day. Through the ages you've come out on top. The vision had you a few pounds lighter, but there was no mistaking those antlers." She motioned to Skies' chest. "Light left you when you saw the Alicorn capital. Trying to bring them back through manipulation of life and not talking about it doesn't heal the hole within you. It's time to let them go."

"I won't, it's not my way." Skies' voice was cold. "It wouldn't be right."

"Neither is morning those long passed. I never wanted such an event to happen to any of you, but the heart of those from the time before are so easily swayed to such evil. A consequence I did not foresee." She shook her head, knowing that any line of questioning or reason would not sway him from this one topic. "If you won't change for yourself, then change for those around you; love, past and future. You will not find real love again as you are."

"I'm not looking for love."

"Your heart is, I sense it through you. Someone recently has brought you to your knees, I don't know who he or she is but there is an ember in there."

"You're starting to sound like my daughter whenever Twilight and her friends come over to harass me." Skies mumbled. He shied away from the Maker's swatting hoof, causing him to giggle.

"You tease too many a mare, you need to get married and have more kids. Like twelve or twenty, around there."

Skies openly laughed. "Why is that?"

"You have too much energy, kids will exhaust you. You need it, it'll curb some of that sass you have going on."

"Your two little Princesses exhaust me enough for all lifetimes. One is fine, but the other is being a real psycho."

Faint smiling fell from the Maker, much in the way one does when they remember something bad. She took a slow breath and pumped more magic into the pool, now fully laying against Skies.

"It is time." With a hoof to his lips, she stopped him from talking. "When you go through the portal, you must not face the forces that attack that village as Shattered Skies. They count on you doing that because that will rally nations against Farhaven. You must risk your life and fight as Skyfall. In whatever way you can."

"-and what-"

"Your soul can't take the strain from the Sunset Effigy. I fear you've become to damaged by using it already." Her hoof fell to her side, the last of her strength now gone. "You have no more time to waste, Sky. You must go and leave me now, I fear you will no longer see me before the end. For what it's worth, I'll miss... what are you doing?"

The Maker felt her body lift into the air.

"Are you so weak that you can't even give me a hug?" Skies asked, seemingly in a cheerful mood.

The Maker drapped her head on his shoulder and smiled in defeat. "I fear so."

"Good." Skies walked awkwardly to the portal.

"Sk-Skies, what in the name of me do you think you are doing?" The Maker looked back to see herself dangling over the abyss. The unchecked whirling forces cause the air to cool and lick at her lifeless legs. "Do you have any idea what you're about to set into motion?"

"Yep."

The bluntness of the answer shocked the Maker, forcing her to look forward at the calmest look she believed could be mustered in the light of the matter.

"You will die alone if you stay here and I can't let that pass. There is always another way, you just need to look."

"There's no changing your mind on this?"

"Well, 'fraid not." Skies smiled and leaned forward before arcs of electricity lapped around them beating the walls like drums.

The Maker dropped her head onto Skies' shoulder knowing what was about to happen would happen regardless of her protests. Her wings wrapped around Skies as the portal exploded around them and swallowed them both whole.

"Jerk."

As matter was swallowed by the portal from the Human Realm, a gaping, violent spew tore through the Badlands. Tethers of the barrier that separated both realms lashed across the sky in hues of blue light. First rock, then water fell and crashed on the infertile ground before screaming was heard by bystander animals.

Disguised Spirits and their charges appeared far above and fell, missing the debris with the help of magic wards, vaporizing the stone, wood, steel, and water as it passed through the ward.

As the enormous rocks collided with the grounds, craters formed and allowed the water to pool, giving the falling beings an area to land on.

One last body was thrown from the portal. As Sunset tumbled end over end, a large orange oriental dragon snaked up and scooped her from her fall.

"I got her!"

"Good job, Fan!" A Cattleman called up.

"We have to go back!" Sunset flailed in Fan's grasp, nearing bucking her face. "Skyfall's in danger."

"Sunset." Twilight was the only one trying to make sense of what she saw while the other girls were still having a surreal moment at seeing themselves in pony form. "Was he really trying to... y'know."

"Yes, I think he's taking Unfaithful's ultimatum. He was about to hang himself!" Sunset looked at the portal spitting out material at an incredible rate, she knew she would be torn apart it she tried. She started to walk towards the gyser, but found a tall clothed Cattleman in her way. "Move aside, Revolver."

"I have strict orders to keep yall safe. So that means we go to Farhaven. Or camp in the forest, whichever is safer." Revolver said. He tapped his revolvers and cycled the chamber to see if any needed loading.

"But Skyfall-"

"Is a big stallion, knows what he's doing." Revolver held up a hoof when Sunset's horn glowed, ready to try and throw him aside. He gripped a revolver handle and narrowed his eyes. "Listen, little lady, what did he tell you?"

After a brief, tense moment, Sunset growled. "He said he would talk to me when he sees me."

"Then there you go." Revolved stepped out of Sunset's way and fanned himself with his hat, diffusing the situation. "From the look of things, we must be in hangman's valley. Not far, but not close."

"Farhaven is south west of here." Twilight said. "Ponyville is directly west." She paused and looked to Revolver. "And this is Rumbling Rock Ridge. If I remember correctly, the Diamond Dogs used to occupy a large section on the southern edge."

"Rumbling Rock Ridge?" Revolver chuckled. He looked to his compatriots who shook their heads. "Well, it used to be called hangman's alley for more macabre reasons."

"Apparently many things have changed." Twilight said to herself as she saw smoke rising in the distance from Shattered Skies' forest.

"Twilight! Look! Hooves!" Pinkie Pie said, giggling to herself from the floor as the others awkwardly walked toward her.

Rarity tried to stand, but fell like a new foal trying to learn. The others stood, wobbled legs and strained expressions as they did their best to remain upright. Except Fluttershy who was comfortably sitting.

With a genuine laugh, Twilight smiled at her friends, thinking of the awkward greeting they would all have. She thought that there would need to be some sort of difference in name to make her friends as being different, having two Raritys both being called Rarity would get stressful, fast.

"Revolver, what do we do?" Phobia asked, emerging from the small mountain of trees and earth the portal spat out. Her black greased hair clinging to her ghostly white coat. "If smoke is coming from the forest, then that means Farhaven is having a siege and Ponyville is the staging area. Neither will be safe."

"Then we go to Farhaven from the side." Revolver started walking, he looked up to Fan who hung in the air with her arms and legs crossed comfortably. "Fan, grab the girls and let's go."

"What do we do then?" Twilight asked, her mind drifting back to darker thoughts of processing the image of Skyfall approaching the noose.

"We move to Farhaven and speak with one of the Guardians." Revolver grumbled, hopping down from the craggy hill he climbed on to root through an overturned truck that had been sucked through the portal. He moved a revolver from it's holster with special mechanical claws and checked the chamber again as if worried about damage. "We report to them, then we can see about getting you all settled in somewhere."

"N-No, about Skyfall." Twilight said, monotonously. "We have to do something."

"We can't." Revolver paused and looked at his body in the water's reflection, he stood upright, but hands were replaced with flexible hooves and the basic three fingered, metal tools he had affixed to the palms. Tight clothing to fit his form was adjusted to fit his new body. "This'll take some getting re-used to."

Excited cheers erupted from the Spirits as they changed to their Spirit forms. Twilight and Sunset sat in awe at each figure, a rainbow of features showed themselves from an elephant to a serpent floating in the air.

"W-What?" Twilight stammered. "I thought the forms you just had were your Spirit forms?"

"Ha, 'fraid not, miss." Revolver threw a satchel around his neck before whistling to the Spirits to simmer down. "It seems you've been honored with seeing some of our Spirit forms and the disguises we wear. Many live and die never knowing this, count yourselves as trusted."

Sunset breathed deep and walked to Revolver, reprompting the conversation. "We have to go back."

"I know what you think you saw, Sunset." Revolver said. "But we all have our orders as well as me having extra tasks to accomplish. And both orders require us going to Farhaven."

"But Skyfall?"

"He is a very big boy, he can handle a little Spirit." Revolver said, worry not present in his mood whatsoever.

"But that Spirit had all of you on the run!" Sunset pointed to the air where a sliver of space was still disturbed, linking the realms. "He's there by himself! And he... he was going to-"

"-buy us time." A large bull named Theseus, said. "Skyfall has been through worse. If you are true friends to him, never trust what you see from him at first, ever."

"You can say that again." Twilight grumbled and magicked the moisture from her fur as well and helping each of her friends get used to their new bodies by explaining how to move. She looked to Revolver who was pointing and calling out instructions. "Mr. Revolver, how do we get to Farhaven?"

"Follow the wolves." Revolver pointed to the forest as a white wolf stood and walked into the brush disappearing from sight.

"Shattered Skies must know we're here." Sunset mused.

"I thought the wolves belong to that large wolf?" Twilight asked. "Sif?"

Revolver began to walk and passed the would-be Princess. "They're all hers, but Sif has given her life to Shattered Skies. Each of these wolves grew up thinking of Skies as something between a father and a master, and as a result hang on his every word and praise."

Adagio, Aria, and Sonata slowed as the group began to move faster toward the forest. They looked to one another with concern.

"Do we go?" Sonata asked, shuttering as her magic refilled from the laylines. "I, like, want to help, but I don't want to go back to not having music."

Aria scoffed. "I say we split and head for Las Pegasis"

"No." Adagio said and started walking. "Shattered Skies allowed us to come along, without him, we would be fleeing to another deadend sanctuary with the others. Our time as vagabonds is over."

Sonata smiled at Aria's grimace and both of them trotted to catch up to their group that was deep in conversation moving toward the forest in a deliberate pace.

Smoke blacked the sky as they reached the edge of the forest, Twilight looked to the Spirits as a tree began to twist and bend. It spun and lifted its roots from the ground and stood high. It spoke in long drawn out words from a mask made of weathered bones. "Who comes seeking entry?"

"Grover?"

"Redemption." Grover greeted.

"We're here seeking passage to Farhaven."

"If it is passage you seek, then it is a path you're given." Grover began to meld back into being a tree before offering up guidance. "Tread carefully, betrayal is afoot."

Looks of apprehension passed over the ground before they stepped foot into the forest, immediately meeting familiar yellow eyes staring at them from the dark shadows of the trees.

Twilight smiled, surprised to feel happy seeing the wolf. "Sif!"

"Hello, Twilight." Sif stood, pained from a dark spot beneath her fur. "I see you have company."

"Are you okay, Lady Sif?" Revolver called, kneeling at her side.

Her large paw wrapped around Revolver's bent form. Sif smiled and wrinkled her nose at his stench. "It's good to see you, but you still smell like a manure farm." She saw his glare into her side and cut to the chase. "The fight wasn't a clean one if that's what you're wondering. We aren't ready to face off against a military just yet and they took advantage of that."

"Is Ponyville alright?" Twilight asked. For a brief moment she contemplated asking about Farhaven, but if Sif was here waiting patiently then it wasn't in immediate danger.

"No." Sif turned and made a wet smack of her jaw, calling hidden wolves forward. "It was their platform for attack, the town was taken before the battle even begun. I haven't been able to get near it to collect any intelligence at all and we still have people there."

"What about Farhaven?" Revolver asked.

"Can't get to it." Sif said. "Skies' forest is fighting them, but they have chosen to try and bombard the barrier from ships stationed above the forest between Farhaven and Ponyville. Close enough to pick away at the shield's endurance and far enough to be out of range of our own, feeble artillery. They strike at anything coming near the wall so our option for counterattacking is non-existent. I left Farhaven seeking a few of our citizens, but I was blindsided."

"Someone from the inside fed them information?" Revolver asked.

"Yes." Sif growled. "When the attacks first started, the obvious truth screamed at us when they nearly breach the gate. Someone deactivated Storm Front's thick barrier of storm, but Lord Skies' shield activated along with the others and locked the whole city down, it almost faltered, but Princess Luna seems to have reinforced it without anyone knowing. So here we are, trying to discover a weakness to exploit. We attacked a few of their stockpiles and supply caravans, but this past week has been rough."

"How did you get out?" Twilight asked.

"Underground cisterns. River was working on them in secret to get the water to flow easier and to give my kin an easier path instead of barreling through the city streets." Sif silently told her kin to stand beside Twilight and her friends. "That was five days ago, that option isn't available to us until we disperse the patrols, camps, and ships flying overhead. One of my wolves could make it through, maybe. But all of us? No."

"So where to now?" Twilight asked.

"We're going to take you to Pinkie's sister. She has kept our presence a secret and Fury's commandos can't navigate the deep tunnels like we can. The Princess of Farhaven is with us as well, adding another level of risk for us, she is out looking for her own way around while we've been sent here to intercept you." Sif smiled as the mares yelped from cold noses passing through their legs. They balanced dumbly on the wolves backs. "Sorry about this, but we need to move fast."

Quietly, Sif noticed the lack of her master. She knew he was okay from the Spirit's lax demeanor, but him being absent pained her heart as every second was another soldier the enemy added to their entrenchment.

"You really are a jerk." The Maker mumbled from atop Skies limp form.

"Yeah, but even you have to admit I have my moments from time to time."

"From time to time, yes." A soft kiss landed on Skies' cheek as the Maker struggled to stand. "The land has changed so much, where have we landed? A cave?"

Shattered Skies looked around and saw the darkness of the cave offset by crystalline torches and all flooded with the sound of a waterfall.

"This is the cave behind my house." He groaned, having forgot how heavy the maker actually was.

"This is where you thought to go when we jumped in?" The Maker asked.

"Yes, I enjoy it here." Skies pointed to the boxes and tea set just behind the Maker as she limped onto a pillow. "Although, the cave is supposed to have an earthy scent, not this smokey flavor."

Tentatively, Skies stood and made his way toward the falls and transformed as the water rushed past his shoulders. The sight he beheld sank his heart.

The sky looked like a storm had rolled in with a tint of sick yellow, the oblivious would assume this, but these were not rain clouds, they were the signs of a major fire with no sign of slowing. The forest called to him, screaming in silence as it burned. Skyfall pressed his hoof into a root and felt thousands of creatures, some living, some not, all around Ponyville.

Visually, Skyfall saw two large, hulking, metal structures. Ships, one high above Ponyville and the other anchored in the lake the dam kept in check; each ship resembling something close to a battleship or what amounted to one on Equus. The guard base he could see from his house was overrun with fourth division guard banners and a camp laid in the center held what seemed to be some of the Ponyville residents.

Skyfall followed the plums of smoke and they lead directly to the markets and houses of Ponyville. The raid was long done; houses sacked, some burned while books and belongings were burned in long smoldering piles. Now they've moved into the framing process by which Fury will justify the attacking of Ponyville. Keeping the residents alive as living shields to ward off any counterattack, only to toss them to their death as they leave to punctuate his point. The fate that awaited them being much worse as they would be used in every dark sense of the word before the end.

"So I guess the question is: what will your next step be?" The Maker asked.

"If we were a few thousand years younger, I would say fire and brimstone, maybe a little plague." Skyfall mused. "But this will take some planning."

"Planning with time you do not have. What will you do if you take Ponyville?" The Maker asked. "Once you do, you prove that you personally care about mortals. Thus, putting them in danger. Like a duckling from its mother, the rest of their race may reject them."

"So, what are you really asking?"

"Will you sacrifice the mortals you've known for a few months to keep Farhaven safe? Or, are you going to save them and put the beings of Equestria at risk." The Maker looked to Skyfall when he looked to her. "Will you sacrifice the few to save the many?"

"I asked Pinkie the same thing." Skyfall said. "I told her the answer was to go with saving more life."

"And?"

"Without context, I would let them be with fate." Sky sat, mouth slightly open, looking at the carnage. "But fate can be very cruel and I've also said that those that have the power to act have the responsibility to act."

The Maker chuckled, knowing his answer. "Then I will remain here, Lord Skyfall. I feel my magic returning, in an hour I should be of use to protect some ponies. So don't be afraid to call upon me."

"After all this, should we make it through, I would like you to meet my little girl." Skyfall said as the Maker turned to walk back to the cave.

"Nothing would please me more."

A soft wind blew, carrying a fresh whiff of smoke on it. Brief melancholy entered Skyfall's mind before being pushed out by the want to do right by the denizens of Ponyville. Sky turned and hit his hoof against a tree, taking a chunk of bark off of a branch. He waited until it bled sap before biting into it, reaching out with his power to feel Farhaven in a state of panic. Voices echoed as he spread his consciousness to find Sif. Each of the Spirits that had arrived over the past few months was in full regalia and standing by in the town square in case the barrier that protected Farhaven should fall.

The trees of Farhaven heaved violently, forcing all speech and movement in Farhaven to lull, allowing Skyfall to pinpoint River's location.

"Shattered, have you returned?"

"I have." Skyfall's Spirit voice echoed through the council's chambers. "Get word to Sif and her kin on the eastern watch by the badlands to try and find some of our lost friends if she has not already. Get them post haste by any means necessary."

"Sif left a week ago. I think she's hitting the enemy's weak points, but we're cut off here." River stood, waving off Skies' council to walk into another room with no one inside. "What do you want us to do, Lord Skies? It's bad here, we have supplies and can wait the enemy out for a month at most, but Ponyville is either destroyed or nearly so."

"I want you all to hunker down." Skies let his voice permeate the whole of Farhaven. "Our enemy is counting on us to rush to Ponyville's aid, a brash and dangerous move."

"Many of the militia here have mobilized and want to help." River said. "They say that Storm Front told them to should the time come. They have firearms..."

With what little control Sky had in his disguised form, he shifted his mind and felt the group of militia ready for war. An odd feeling presented itself, Storm Front never told him that he had trained units in the city. Granted, some Spirits just don't mention things they believe are small, but the timing struck a cord with him.

"Do not allow them to leave the city. As long as you are behind the barrier, you are safe." Skyfall focused his attention onto River and the room she stood in. "Apprehend the militia immediately and place them in the crystalline chambers along with Grave's pawns. Wind Rider spoke to me of this before leaving, he has acted in my stead to raise a security force. You are in command. Please hurry."

"Right away." River affirmed, turning to enter the council chambers once more to grab some of her equipment. "My Lord, there is something I must inform you of. Lady Crystal and Lady Anara left the gate before the city was sealed, Feather of Truth was not able to reach them."

"I understand." Skies heart ached, knowing they were likely in their estate. "Remain within the city, Be ready when I call to you. The rest is for me."

He could tell River didn't like it and would likely ignore his command to just remain uninvolved, but other matters demanded his attention. With haste, Sky let go of the tree and trotted into his house and up the stairs to see Inko in Spirit form, waiting in the doorway of his study, hunkered down with a bolt of magic, waiting to see who approached. Upon seeing Skyfall, she stepped aside and at last he saw Honey and Cadance going through his desk, each covered in dirtied armor.

"Dad, I can explain!" Cadance placated until she was brought into a hug with her mother by her father.

"Both of you shouldn't be here." Skyfall said calmly, holding them both at arm's length, making sure to meet his eyes to his wife and daughter.

"It's my fault, Sky." Honey placed a hoof on Skyfall's back. "I showed my true self to Cadance and we had a small fight. Then we were locked out of Farhaven."

Sky leaned back to look both mare in the eye before turning his question to Cadance. "And?"

"It's not something to be concerned with now." Cadance said, clearly conflicted.

"Then that's the best answer that could have arrived, any other decision would have been bullheaded." Skyfall kissed Cadance's head. "And if I'm right, you went to see Raven after I left."

Cadance nodded her head. "It was nice to hear a little more, but she told me that there are many things only you can tell me, so I'm back to square one." She said before mumbling. "Mostly."

Having caught the "mostly" part of the sentence and the quiet way in which with was uttered. Skyfall's heart fluttered, causing him to take a deep breath. "I take it there is something you discovered that you didn't like?"

"Y-Yeah."

"She knows the second and third taboo." Honey said calmly, eliciting a reaction from Cadance.

"Is that what they're called? The second and third taboo?" Cadance asked before being startled at her father's glare that he shot at Honey.

"I didn't tell her." Honey glared back. "This is something you should have told her. Our daughter is a Guardian Spirit, she's nearly an Elemental's strength. She needs guidance, not protection."

A new side of Honey emerged before Cadance as she watched her father step back and sit on the couch across from them, hooves rubbing his face in frustration. He signaled Inko to shut the door before opening his mouth.

"No." Honey shoved a book into his mouth with her magic. "No silver tongue from the silver stallion."

Cadance giggled before thinking on the words her mother just spoke. "Wait."

"Yes, Cupcake?" Honey asked.

"What's an Elemental, again?" Cadance asked.

"A being with immense power. There are only four and since you came into your own, your power hasn't stopped pooling, I believe that since you're father and I are individually powerful, you took hybrid traits." Honey said matter of factly. "Eventually, I would like Earth to speak with you about it and tell me whether or not you would be considered one since only one of like power would be able to notice." She finished as Cadance watched another book float up and beam her father in the head, causing him to curse.

"Watch it!" Sky growled, reaching up for the book that was thrown up and away from his grasp. "That book is a classic."

"Screw your classics. Why have you not explained these things to her yet?" Honey challenged. "She needs to learn how to use her power before she sneezes and we have ocean front property one hundred miles inland!"

Skyfall sighed, feeling the judgement of his child and his wife. "Cadance is still young and I wanted to spare her the heartaches and headaches that come with being a Spirit, at least for a little while longer." He squinted at Honey and huffed. "And a similar reason as to why you didn't tell her your real identity when you first met."

"I was waiting until a good moment to-"

"No you weren't." Skyfall interjected. "You figured it all out the instant you saw our daughter in the kitchen when you got here. You waited until you could show her the real you before showing her the you she has come to know."

"Dad, that's mean." Cadance scowled before Honey patted her leg gently.

"No, he's absolutely right. I wanted you to know my personality and who I am inside before showing you the villain." She smiled. "I was waiting until your father came back to show you."

"Yeah, cause he totally doesn't keep secrets too." Cadance said beneath her breath.

"Hey, I'm right here." Skyfall chuckled.

"What? You do." Cadance said. "I want to know you and mom. So far mom has shown me who she is at the risk of our relationship. You won't even tell me about your past, even how you died."

Skyfall closed his eyes and lowered his head in shame.

"Cadance, that isn't a good topic to bring up." Honey put both hooves up toward Cadance trying to calm her while casting a worried expression toward Sky. "Maybe we should change the subject."

"No! I want to know. I hate secrets and I have accepted them so far but please, I want to know you both and be your child." Cadance's voice became hoarse.

"You are and will always be our child, Anara." Skyfall opened his eyes, but kept them turned toward the floor. "Your mother isn't one to keep many secrets, which is why she showed you her true form, but I keep secrets to protect myself and others." He held up a hoof to stem the oncoming onslaught of demands for explanation. "I am who I am. One day, you will know all of my secrets because I will teach you everything I know, the good, the evil, and even my memory magic."

"No. Skyfall, she can't-"

"She can. And she will." Skyfall gave Honey a forlorn look. "She must if she is going to keep safe."

"Memory magic?" Cadance asked.

"The blood bite thing I do." Skyfall said, still not being able to look his daughter in the eye. "Through blood, I can see a being's memories. For you, it will be random images at first, but with time you will be able to see all of a being's life or only mere fractions, all within seconds. As you are my daughter, you may be able to further master it."

"It's dangerous." Honey said in defiance. "That's why the council outlawed it."

"The Spirit council?" Cadance asked.

"Yes, we all decided it was too dangerous." Honey looked at Skyfall and sighed. "But your father is the only one that can teach you to use it safely."

"Why was it outlawed?"

"Because mortals attempted it and became lifeless husks, unable to withstand the strain of experiencing another's life. They would attempt it and every emotion rushed through them at once like a bolt of lightning. Pain and pleasure in every variation, stuck at maximum until they withered." Honey shook her head. "A Spirit whose name is now lost attempted it and was driven mad, forcing us to make the determination to outlaw it. As a consequence, your father was bound by oath to never teach another, but I believe he ignored that and taught others anyway."

"I did." Skyfall said. "But only one."

"The night princess?" Honey asked to which Skyfall nodded.

"She can stand the strain and to my knowledge, she has stuck to the secrecy I swore her to."

Honey chuckled and placed a hoof on Cadance's leg. "Your father and Luna used to get into all kinds of shenanigans. They would just up and disappear. They were always getting into trouble."

"Were not."

"Were too."

"Were not."

"were too!" Honey proclaimed. "Remember the Kraken?"

"That wasn't our fault."

"You stole its eggs."

"We were hungry?" Skyfall defended to Cadance's light laughter. "How was I supposed to know they belonged to a fully grown Kraken."

"So you really were Luna's teacher?" Cadance asked.

"I was. Her and Celestia both had a great many teachers as we believe that it takes a village, not an individual, to truly raise a child." Skyfall glanced out the window at the columns of pluming smoke. "But I was the Spirit Luna chose to become her master. She became my apprentice and for hundreds of years she learned, finally passing every test I gave her to be who she wanted to be."

"Does she know the taboos?" Cadance asked.

"No. The first few taboos are extremely private, including the fact of what we are and our names."

"And your deaths?" Cadance asked.

"Yes." Skyfall nodded. "With information on someone's death, one could potentially cripple a Spirit. Or at least that's the belief. At the very least, our deaths were all very different, some of us were more painful than others."

"Oh." Cadance cooed, at last understanding that her father didn't have a peaceful passing. "I'm sorry I pushed so hard."

"Don't be." Skyfall was at last able to meet his daughter's gaze. "You have a right to know everything about your parents. In the light of recent events, maybe it's more important some things are told to you now, by us, instead of having the enemy blurt it out to interrupt you in a fight."

"Sweetheart, maybe this is a conversation best saved for after everything has calmed down?" Honey offered, to which Skyfall shook his head firmly.

"I suspect my death is something that will come to light for our child sooner rather than later. You know who we're up against, I want her to hear it from me, not my deranged family." Skyfall adjusted himself in his seat, uncomfortable at the shocked expression Cadance wore at hearing about more family.

"Where to start?" Skyfall sighed. "Cadance, as you know, our souls are not ones from this realm, we were taken at death from elsewhere and brought here to start life and maintain it. Death being the catalyst allowing our souls to change."

"Because of humanity?" Cadance asked.

"Yes, push and pull. A dichotomy that acted as the starting point for most of this." Skyfall motioned his hooves together and then apart to illustrate his point. "This requires those that were chosen to be of a sound soul. This means that they died naturally. When a plant bears its seeds, it's done naturally as a premature seedling won't take root."

"But River died of-"

"Naturally, meaning not of their own hand." Skyfall interrupted. "A car accident isn't covered under the taboo."

"Taboo?"

Skyfall gave a reassuring look to Honey who only looked away, folding her ears onto her head. "Pony society rarely sees it, but where we came from it was something that persisted and eventually tore families apart, like it did to mine when I left."

Cadance swallowed to moisten her drying throat. "What happened?"

"I killed myself."

"W-What?" Cadance's body felt struck with a numb chill. "I don't understand."

Skyfall knew that she was in genuine shock at the news. He stood up and sat next to Cadance, just opposite of Honey and brought her into a hug, knowing he made the right move. "I know it's a lot to take in, but hearing this from me is the way I want it."

"Why?" Cadance's eye grew teary. "Why would you do that?"

"Why does anyone do anything?" Skyfall shook his head. "I told myself for centuries that reasons I had once were justified, but upon reflection I knew my siblings no longer needed me. Out of selfishness, I had no room for closure and one bad day tipped my hand. After coming here, I've lived well for longer than I could imagine, evolving with the times. A part of me hoped to forget the past, but the saying "you can never run from your past" seems to have prevailed."

Cadance turned and placed her hooves on her father's face and looked at him with tear filled eyes. "You loved your siblings, didn't you?"

"Still do." Skyfall said, thinking of the horrible crimes they've committed. "Always will."

All of the sudden, Cadance brought him into a strong hug, startling both him and Honey. Without much pause, Honey nodded at Skyfall with tears of her own and hugged Skyfall and Cadance.

As Skyfall embraced his wife and child, a warmth he barely recognized came back and he smiled.

The door creaked open and a cough came from Inko, an unspoken signal that she had something to say. Slowly, the trio looked up from the couch toward the tall white avian creature.

"I apologize Lord Sky, but there are guards walking toward the estate. They're not your guards. We must retreat to the forest once more."

"So it begins." Skyfall chewed his lip. "Honey?"

"Yes?"

"I need you to take Cadance and flee."

"No." Honey said. "They'll be expecting that. If this is Fury, then he's already watching the estate to see our escape route. We should go out guns blazing and take Ponyville now while they're unaware."

"Not bad, but they want this to look like Farhaven." Skyfall said. "This cannot be an all out fight, we won't win. We need to trick Fury into making mistakes." He paused and smiled slowly. "Say, babe, you can change at will, right?"

"More or less."

"Agh, I'm such a jerk." Skyfall started to laugh.

"What's the plan?" Honey asked.

"Inko." Skyfall called. "Take Cadance down to the cellar and unlock the back door on the way, make sure it's open and resting on the frame, but not completely ajar. Cadance, I need you to cast the house in illusion spells and barrier incantations. The second we're escorted off the premises, Inko will know the ones to cast."

"Are you sure?" Inko asked.

"Yes, please do it now, I need to discuss the next step with Honey. Alone." Skyfall stood and walked to his desk after kissing Cadance on the head.

As the door closed, Honey stood and walked toward the desk. "What do you have in mind f-agh." She flailed as black cloth landed on her face, blinding her with the dark fabric for a moment. "Socks?"

"Put them on."

"Why do you have leg socks!?"

"Don't question why I have them!?"

"You want to do that, now!"

"No!" Skyfall paused and shrugged after a moment. "Yes."

Honey gave Skyfall a skeptical look, not understanding his angle. She enjoyed her and Sky's intimacies, but the situation was near chaotic. "What's the plan?"

"I need you to change into Fury's wife, Breezy. You know who I'm talking about?" Skyfall asked. "She's the one with the chestnut mane that laid in a braid over her turquoise coat. Obsession with baking."

"Talked a lot about her garden? Unhappy marriage? Looking for love?"

"Yes."

With a flick of her mane, Honey transformed into Breezy and slipped on the socks, drawing them tight and high against her coat."Sexy enough for you?"

"You could drop the disguise then I might pounce on you." Skyfall teased, making Honey grow impatient and bring him into a kiss. "So forceful. I might swoon."

"Those guards will be here in six minutes, better make it look like you've been rutting your boss's wife for hours." Honey hopped up onto the desk and threw everything on the ground. "Well Mr.Skyfall?" She smiled deviously, enjoying the part she was playing a little too much. "My husband is so busy with work he has no time to pay attention to little ol' me. My drain has been clogged for years now."

Chuckling to himself, trying to become serious for the ruse, Skyfall played along. "Well, we can't have that, Mrs. Fury. I know my way around some plumbing." He leaned in and Honey hooked a hoof around his neck to crane him over her, drawing his body onto hers. "I better flush the pipes and snake the drain."

Honey's breath grew heavy from anticipation. "Well, they are jammed and you are... my plumber. Oh Maker, Skyfall."

Sky backed up slightly and let Honey rest on his desk with an expecting look on her face. He smirked and backpedaled to heft his armor up onto his shoulder along with a cloak.

"No." Honey snapped up and slammed her hooves onto the desk between her legs. "Don't start my engine and rev me once!"

"I'm sorry, babe. You have to look sexually frustrated." He opened the door trying to avoid Honey's death glare. "I'll make it up to you."

"You better." She chided as he disappeared with haste into the hall. A quiet moment of contemplation passed before she fell backward and slide down from the desk and into his large chair. "The things I do for that man."

"Uh, Sergeant?"

"What, Wheel Well?" A gruff stallion groaned back as the guards stopped at the front door.

"What's that banging sound?" The private asked.

"I hear groaning." Another pony said.

"Maybe someone is hurt from trying to hang something?" A mare said as she tried the door. "It's locked."

"Try the doors." The Sergeant said. "I hear the groaning too, it sounds like somepony is in some serious pain."

As the ponies started trying doors and windows, one of the older guards chuckled to himself and sat against the fountain. He took a can of tobacco and put in a lip after hitting it against his knee. "Ohhh yeah, that mare sounds like she's in some pain alright."