//------------------------------// // A Twisted Epic (Derpy and Carrot Top's Epic) // Story: The League of Sweetie Belles // by GMBlackjack //------------------------------// The source material for this chapter is included within the chapter in the embeds: both art and music. Enjoy this experimental format. Derpy’s eyes had played many tricks on her throughout life. Over the years she’d learned how to force her brain to resolve the conflicting images her inconsistent eyes gave her, but this only worked with things she was familiar with. She was not familiar with two teenage fillies jumping out of a portal that… led to a world made entirely of cubes? “Derpy?” Carrot Top asked, turning around. “Why did you st—” She let out a squeal of panic as she took the two fillies into account. “Where did you come from!?” “Uh… you didn’t see the portal, didya?” the yellow one asked, smiling awkwardly. “Portal a—wait!” Carrot gawked, rubbing the side of her head. “You’re Apple Bloom! What are you doing all the way out here!? Your Granny will be worried sick!” “Pretty sure Apple Bloom doesn’t have a cutie mark,” Derpy whispered to Carrot. “Apple Bloom” appeared to consider what to say next before shaking her head and smiling brightly at the two mares. “Ah’m Adder. This is Cinder.” “Not…” Carrot scrunched up her nose in the way she usually did whenever she was trying to figure out how exactly to make sense of a situation. “...Never mind. Still! What are you two doing all the way out here!?” “What are you two doin’ in ancient ruins in the middle of a forest?” Cinder asked, raising an incredulous eyebrow and gesturing at their locale. It was a beautiful forest, to be sure, filled with the greens of spring and moss covering the ground like a blanket. Old, decrepit statues and pillars littered the area, most of which were worn to near-unrecognizability by the elements. Only one figure remained unharmed: that of a pony rearing up, wearing a helmet. “We… uh…” Carrot blushed, unwilling to answer the fiery filly’s question. “We’re lost!” Derpy said, plucking an old helmet off the ground and putting it on herself. “You?” “Exploring,” Adder said. “Exploring!?” Carrot rushed to her. “Does that mean you know the way back to Ponyville!?” “Uh…” Adder blanked. “No. Ah could probably figure it out if we took a look around, though.” “It might be different than what we know,” Cinder said. Carrot blinked. “How would it be different? If you explore, you know where you’re going!” “We are just fillies,” Adder pointed out. “I think she’s smart enough to know we’re not idiots,” Cinder countered. “Oh.” Adder thought about this for a while. “Don’t worry about them, Carrot!” Derpy said, making sure to put on her most disarming smile. “They’re just from another universe made out of cubes, of course they’d have no idea about ours!” “What,” Carrot deadpanned. “Yeah, I know, cubes, right? So weird. But also cool!” Carrot gave Derpy the “I really, really want to be mad at you” look. It melted away in seconds, as it always did. “Fine, fine…” “Ah’m sure we can help you get back to Ponyville,” Adder said, holding out a hoof. “...Hold on, Derpy, right?” “Yep!” Derpy said, saluting with her wing proudly. “I’m Derpy Hooves, and this is my best friend ever, Carrot Top!” “We met last week,” Carrot Top deadpanned. “And I already know you like the back of my hoof.” “Which is still slightly disturbing, I have to admit.” Adder coughed. “Derpy, you can fly, right?” Derpy fluttered into the air, smirking. “Jealous?” “Not really. Just wonderin’ why you didn’t fly overhead to get a better view of the landscape.” Derpy blinked. “Huh. I didn’t think of that.” Carrot let out a sound somewhere between gagging and crying. “We should have done that hours ago, augh! Stupid, stupid, she has wings of course we could have used them augh.” Derpy blushed. “Eheh… I’ll just go fly up now and have a look ar—” “Nopony move,” Cinder said, horn suddenly aflame. Were she not looking at the forest around them untrustingly, Derpy would have thought the filly was threatening her. “What is it?” Adder asked. “I don’t know…” Cinder hissed back. “I was sure I heard something.” “I’ve been hearing things all day,” Carrot added, squishing closer to the two fillies. “Derpy says I’m crazy.” “You are. All of you.” Derpy folded her front hooves and floated a little higher into the air. “There’s nothing here except moss, ruins, and old pony skeletons.” She gestured at a helmeted skeleton leaning against a pillar of stone. “SWEET CELESTIA!” Carrot shrieked. “A skeleton!? I…” She took a few shaky steps back, unable to handle the sight of dead pony in front of her. “...That wasn’t there before, was it?” Adder asked. “Nope,” Cinder said, unleashing a fireball into the skeleton, igniting the bones. With the grinding sound of death itself, the skeleton rose and gnashed its teeth, losing one in the process. The fire was doing nothing to harm the beast; if anything it only made the undead equine more menacing. Derpy’s fear response finally kicked in and she started screaming. It was hard to hear her screams over Carrot’s shrill panic. Their shouts were evidently a signal of some sort. The moment their voices rang out into the forest, dozens of skeletons burst out of their hiding spots all around them, gnashing their teeth and moving forward with slow, confident steps. Derpy moved without thinking. She picked Carrot off the ground with her hooves and flew over the undead army, smacking one of them in the head with Carrot’s lower hoof. The poor farmer let out a disgusted squeal, letting Derpy know she still had enough awareness to feel squeamish. Out of the corner of her left eye, she caught Cinder and Adder rushing to keep up with them. Before she could turn to help them, Adder had pulled some kind of blade out of her bow that sparked with yellow light, cutting right through the skeleton Carrot’s hoof had decapitated earlier. The two fillies burst through the bones with a rush of energy, easily keeping up with Derpy’s weighted flight. “There!” Cinder shouted, pointing to a cave. “Get in there, I can seal us in!” “SEAL US IN!?” Carrot shouted. “Trust me, It’ll work!” Derpy decided she trusted Cinder. With a deep breath, she rushed into the cave. Cinder blasted the roof of the cavern with a burst of fire magic, breaking the worn rock and triggering a minor cave-in. Derpy and Carrot were already past the point where this was a danger to them, but Adder had to do a quick leap to avoid a falling rock. One of the skeletons was crushed, tossing its skull into the cavern. “Be a bit more care—” Whatever Adder’s complaint might have been, it was drowned out by Derpy’s scream. They had successfully gotten away from a mob of skeletons only to be confronted by a massive spider four times the size of a pony. It wore a tattered cape with a black cross on the back, likely pilfered from somewhere deep within the ruinous cavern. A handful of baby spiders—still larger than Derpy’s head—clung to the larger one’s legs, trembling. The spider did what any mother protecting her young would do: hiss in rage and spread her fangs. Cinder jumped in front of Derpy, brandishing a fiery hoof. “Back! Back!” The spider backed away, but spat back. “You back.” “Rock slide, not happening!” Cinder pushed forward, lighting some of the webbing on the ground aflame. “Spiders can talk!?” Derpy gawked. “T-Twilight m-mentioned some s-spider people before…” Carrot stammered. Cinder tossed fire onto the ground, igniting more webbing and pushing the spiders back further. “Get out of my nest!” The spider hissed. “We don’t have anywh—” The spider flung her abdomen to launch her children further into the cave. While they were flying, she jumped through the fire and pinned Cinder to the ground, fangs bared. Adder’s glowing blade came down. With surprising agility, the spider rolled out of the way and swatted Adder to the side. “Run!” Cinder shouted to Derpy. She didn’t need to be told twice. Flapping frantically, she scooped Carrot up and blasted into the air, narrowly avoiding smacking her head on the ceiling of the cavern. Unable to return the way they came, she had to rush through the small fire Cinder had started. Carrot screamed—not in fear, but in pain. With panic, Derpy realized that one of her friend’s hooves had caught fire. Panicking, she lost control of her flight, crashing into a nearby wall. The two of them rolled down the wall, dazed, but no part of them was on fire anymore. They were, however, stuck in a bunch of spiderwebs that would soon be aflame. “Why does this happen to us!?” Carrot cried, breathless. “I just wanted to sell my carrots… That’s all I wanted!” “I’m sorry…” Derpy said, looking down. “I got us lost…” Carrot clenched her teeth. “Y-yeah, but I should have known better, and…” She didn’t finish the thought. “Adder!” Cinder shouted as she pushed the spider back with more fire. “Get them out of there!” Adder’s blade cut through the webbing with ease, dropping the two ponies to the ground. “This way!” She shouted, running deeper into the cave. Derpy checked to make sure there was no fire around before picking up Carrot again and rushing after the speedy filly. Glancing behind, Derpy saw Cinder lighting all the webbing she could on fire, all the while dodging the spider’s attacks. Eventually, Cinder lit the ground itself aflame in such a way that the spider didn’t think it was safe to jump across. “Bye!” Cinder said, waving mockingly. “Get back here!” The spider hissed. “This is not your place!” “How do you know that?” Cinder asked, running after the others. “There!” Derpy pointed. Ahead, in a part of the cavern that opened up considerably, there was a building carved out of the stone. A warm glow came from the doorway. “There might be more spiders in there!” Carrot called. “There’s more spiders everywhere else too!” Adder shouted, pointing at all the webs lining the caves everywhere except around the carved structure. “It’s our best bet!” “Got it!” Derpy pushed her wings, increasing her speed. Just before she arrived at the doorway, she flared her wings to slow her progress so she wouldn’t ram herself into the floor again. She could hear a lot of spiders moving around outside. Following them. A flash of light told her Cinder had lit more webs on fire. Continuing to fly forward, Derpy glanced back to see dozens of massive spiders crawling toward them en-masse. She hoped what waited for her on the other side of the doorway was friendlier than the arachnids. Carrot prayed that whatever lay on the other side of the doorway wasn’t as terrifying as the spider-infested cave. She got her wish. As Derpy wildly carried her through the arch, the brilliant interior made Carrot forget her panic for a moment. The hall within was glorious, and in remarkably good condition for how old it was. Banners of a deep crimson red lined the walls, many of which were covered in brilliant paintings featuring Celestia, Luna, skeletons, and spiders. There were an unusually large amount of chains hanging around the hall, giving its beauty an ominous undertone. Carrot’s curious mind fixed on one particular resident of the hall—a tall, golden earth pony with a rippling mane of blue and a multi-tipped black crown. Her cutie mark was that of a segmented gray heart, while her eyes were calm and understanding. They locked with Carrot’s, and suddenly the farmpony knew she would be safe. This mare would protect them. “Come with me,” the mare said, gesturing away. “O-okay,” Carrot stammered. Derpy crashed into a wall since she wasn’t looking where she was going. “Augh! Derpy!” Carrot shouted. “You’re going to break one of my legs!” “Sorry!” Derpy said, jumping to her hooves. “But there are spiders and I don’t know how much we can run an—” “She’ll stop them,” Carrot said, pointing to the unicorn. “Who the…?” Adder rolled into the hall. “Cinder come on!” Cinder let out a burst of fire. “How is getting in there going to help us? I’m pretty sure they’re rabid spiders or something!” “Narrow doors are easier to defend!” Cinder released a burst of fire beneath her hooves, jumping through the door. She turned to face the spiders. As it turned out, she didn’t have to. The golden mare’s crown lit up like a horn and created a wall of solid ice, freezing the spiders out. The sounds of their scratching came from the other side of the ice, but everything else was muffled. “Huh,” Cinder said, turning to greet their benefactor. “Nice trick.” “It is the least I can do,” the mare offered. “Thank you!” Carrot trotted up to her and grinned. “You have no idea how much we’ve been through, I can’t even begin to express how grateful we are!” “Yeah,” Derpy said, uncertain. “Thanks.” “Who are you?” Adder asked, cocking her head. “I am Shiva,” the mare responded, tracing her hoof along the ground, leaving a decorative ice trail behind. “And this is no place for ponies to tarry… the spiders will break through that barrier eventually.” “What do we do?” Carrot asked her, pleading. “There are other ways out of this place. I’m here, after all.” Shiva smiled warmly. “Come, before they decide to grab an ice pick.” Cinder nodded. “Right. Which way?” Shiva pointed a hoof, trails of sparkling ice following her motions. She gestured at one of the large paintings on the wall. On the left was Celestia, mane pink as it was in ancient times, glaring down at a skeletal pony coming out of the ground. On the right flew Luna, affixed to the cross mark of a giant spider. In the middle was a physical doorway brimming with Shiva’s ice. Shiva stepped through the door, Carrot close by her side. They came out into a cold cavern that had an underground river running through it. A single dinghy with a bright lantern waited for them, creaking slightly with the ripples of the water. “This might be a tight fit…” Shiva mused. “But I’m sure we can make do.” “I’ll drive!” Derpy said, jumping to the front. “Let’s get out of here!” “Best idea Ah’ve heard all day,” Adder said. Shiva was the last one in the boat, pushing them off with her telekinesis. Her flowing tail touched the water as they moved, marking it with ice. “You’re leaking ice magic,” Cinder observed. “Isn’t it cool?” Carrot asked, only realizing a second later how silly that sounded. “Uh, I mean…” “It is.” Shiva smirked coyly. “I spent so much time studying my craft it became part of me. I am quite sorry if I chill any of you with an accidental touch.” “I’m used to it,” Cinder said. “I know this filly, goes by the name of Cryo, freezes a lot of things all the time.” Shiva corked an eyebrow. “A master ice mage? Your counterpart, I presume?” “...Sort of?” Cinder tilted her hoof back and forth. “So… beautiful,” Carrot said, watching the ice form from Shiva’s tail in the waters behind them. As the boat drifted onward, the ice path behind them expanded to cover the entire river. No boats would be following after them, a fact which Carrot was thankful for. The thought of spiders getting in dinghys and pursuing… She didn’t even want to imagine it. She’d had enough thinking for the day, frankly, it seemed to end in her screaming a lot. “Why are you down here, anyway?” Cinder asked. “My magic is closer to the lands of this river,” Shiva explained. “I can practice my craft here with relative ease.” “Don’t you get lonely?” Carrot asked. “...Sometimes,” Shiva admitted. “But I will be leaving soon, returning to my previous explorations.” “Wow, it’s lucky we got here before you left!” Shiva fixed Carrot with a knowing smile. “It truly is fortunate, is it not?” “Is there anyone else down here?” Cinder asked. “Not anymore,” Shiva answered, gesturing with a hoof to the river bank. There, crumbled and broken, were the remnants of a city. There were homes, bridges, statues, and pillars that might once have been brilliant. Every last one—abandoned. Decrepit. Dead. And yet, Carrot didn’t find it terrifying like she’d found so much else on this journey. With the serene, calm river and the presence of Shiva’s ice it seemed almost… beautiful. Cinder frowned. “What happened to them?” “There was a battle in ancient times. This city was swallowed up by the earth in the aftermath.” “How terrible…” Carrot bemoaned. “Yes…” Shiva sighed. “Kinda like the Crystal Empire?” Cinder asked. “...The what?” Shiva asked, cocking her head. “Oh! You must not have gotten out much recently!” Carrot squealed. “An ancient city in the Frozen North popped out of some kind of magic seal a year ago!” Shiva smirked in Cinder’s direction. “That certainly explains why I know nothing of it. Please, tell me more of this Crystal Empire.” Carrot did as asked, telling what little she knew of the Crystal Empire’s story, having only heard about it secondhoof. The stories in her mind were enough to keep them occupied for most of the journey through the lost city, however. “...And then Sombra was eliminated by the Crystal Heart,” Carrot finished some time later. “The power of love!” “A formidable force, as always,” Shiva admitted. “There’s something watching us,” Cinder said, suddenly alert. “There. The bridge.” Shiva frowned. “There are beasts in these caverns, but they know not to approach me.” “They look like… I don’t know. Dogs?” “Frost Timberwolves,” Shiva explained. “Trapped down here with everything else, and not gifted the pity of death. They will be no trouble as long as I am with you.” “Hmm…” Cinder scratched her chin. “...How much longer?” “Not much at all. You will be able to see the tower around the next bend of the river. It has an exit not crawling with vicious spiders.” “Thank Celestia,” Carrot breathed. “We’re going to get out of here…” “You’re still lost,” Adder reminded them. “I know the way back to civilization,” Shiva explained. “I can put you on the right path, do not worry.” She lifted Carrot’s head up with her hoof. It was cold to the touch, but not callous. “The terror is all behind you, now.” The tower’s wall had broken in, revealing the winding staircase to the chilled elements. Many mysterious runes lined the stone walls, and the stairs themselves seemed to glow with a faint warmth. They couldn’t see the top, for it disappeared into the cavernous ceiling. “There is our way out,” Shiva said, bringing the boat to a stop. “Watch your step, it might be slippery.” Shiva, Carrot, and Cinder took point. Adder stayed behind to tie up the boat. Derpy just sat on the ground, looking up at the staircase. “Uh, you okay?” Not really, Derpy thought. “I’m fine. Just a lot of stuff happening, you know? Heheh…” Adder raised an eyebrow. “Now Ah mighta just met you less than an hour ago, but Ah’m pretty sure it’s more than that.” Derpy looked up the stairs that their three companions were ascending. Even with her lopsided eyes, she could still focus intently on Shiva, saying something that made Carrot laugh a bit too much. “Don’t trust her, huh?” “N-no, it’s not that!” Derpy stammered. Adder raised an eyebrow. “Okay, fine,” Derpy threw her wings up in surrender. “I don’t really trust her. She just happened to be down here? Just when we needed her? And Carrot just likes her suddenly for no good reason?” Adder’s eyebrow didn’t come down. “...I’m not jealous.” Derpy huffed. “Pretty sure y’are.” Derpy sagged. “Yeah… I’m just a jealous little bird-brain, huh?” “Ah didn’t say that,” Adder said, starting to ascend the stairs. “Ah just said you’re jealous. Don’t mean you’re stupid.” “But…” Derpy flew ahead of her, frowning. “I’m just upset for no good reason. Just…” She looked up at the three ponies above them, hearing more laughter. “She made friends with them so easily. When Carrot and I met, it wasn’t like that…” “For the record, Ah don’t think Cinder trusts her either.” Derpy blinked. “What? She’s up there, paying attention to everything she says like some kind of… of… sheep.” Derpy blinked. “Wait, no, that was bad, I’m sorry…” Adder smirked. “It’s fine. She really is watchin’ everythin’ Shiva says. But Ah’m pretty sure she’s trynna figure her out. See what she’s hidin’ from us.” “...You don’t trust her either?” “Cinder has a sense for this sort of thing,” Adder explained. “And she gave me one of those looks of hers when Shiva wasn’t lookin’. Somethin’s up with our icy friend.” “Are we in danger?” “Maybe. Could just be that she has a secret she doesn’t want to say. Could be she’s not alone down here and wants us gone to protect whoever else lives down here. Hard to say, just be careful. Carrot’s clearly trustin’ her… but Cinder’ll watch over her, don’t you worry.” Derpy nodded. “I’m going to catch up.” “Ah. Right. Wings. Ah’ll keep up the rear, look for ambushes or somethin’.” She brandished her blade and smirked. “What is that thing, anyway?” Derpy asked. Adder shrugged. “It’s called a lightsaber. Supposedly used by fancy space-wizards or somethin’. Ah just found it on a train one day.” “Weird.” “You have no idea.” With a shrug, Derpy flew up the staircase, catching up to Shiva and the others easily. This close to the icy mare, the stairs were all but completely frozen. Carrot walked with Shiva’s tail carefully guiding her forward, while Cinder’s steaming hooves melted the ice as she walked. “Look at all these carvings…” Cinder said, placing a hoof on a solid chunk of wall they were passing that portrayed skeletons, spiders, and windigos trapped in deadly, chaotic combat. “What do they show?” “The town had a windigo problem, best I can tell,” Shiva said. “Likely related to whatever sealed them down here.” “Windigos, spiders, and skeletons…” Cinder scratched her chin. “Just seems odd, to me. Windigos are usually emotional creatures that go only where the violence and anger feeds them. Skeletons need something to resurrect them. And spiders… well I guess the spiders are just normal people in all this, strangely.” “You are very knowledgeable for one so young,” Shiva observed. “Have you been adventuring long?” “Less than a year, actually!” Cinder chuckled. “But you’d be surprised what can happen in that time.” “Wow, you two are so amazing,” Carrot said, making Derpy wince. “We are,” Cinder said, grinning. “Say, we’ve run into the skeletons and spiders, I wonder if we’ll run into any windigos?” “Perhaps they turned into the frost timberwolves,” Shiva suggested. “They are the only other creature down here I am aware of. Their immaterial forms would not be able to sustain themselves naturally in such an abandoned, lifeless place.” “Huh. Still haven’t figured it all out yet?” “Despite what it may seem, I am no archeologist,” Shiva chuckled. “What are you then?” “A simple sorcerer. Ah—here we are!” They came to the top of the staircase at last, approaching a massive golden door with statues of Celestia and Luna on either side. Carved into the gold was a relief depicting four horse heads, one of which was set with a glowing magic crystal. “This is the exit?” Carrot asked. Shiva nodded. “Would you like to do the honors?” “Yes!” Carrot bounded to the door. Derpy immediately got a sinking feeling. “Carrot!” Carrot touched her hoof to the door… ...Cinder dropped all pretense and drove a paper blade into Shiva’s leg. Shiva glanced at Cinder with an amused smile. “It appears fire is not your only trick, filly.” She gestured to the door with a hoof. “Here… have one of mine.” The doors opened all the way, revealing nothing but solid white energy. Derpy screamed for Carrot again, flying as fast as she could toward her. There was a vortex in the sky. Sky? Derpy’s lopsided eyes forced themselves into focus. There was a sky, all right. A swirling sky of ominous red clouds that coalesced on a single red vortex. Beyond the swirl, everything was dark, almost formless, aside from the free standing doorframe that led back to the staircase. She could feel the grit of sand beneath her hooves. It felt wrong, like it was partially alive, yet far too cold to be any normal creature. Derpy’s confusion was replaced with horror when she saw Carrot hanging in the air by an icy telekinetic aura clearly coming from Shiva. The poor earth pony’s mouth was open in a silent scream as the icy magic twisted around her. Cinder was on the ground, papery sword in one hoof and fire swirling around her. “Don’t you have any other tricks?” Shiva asked mockingly. “Probably!” Cinder responded, using one of the few general magic spells at her disposal: accelerate. She zipped behind the unicorn, lashing at her back leg. No blood came out—only rigid, callous ice that kept Cinder from retrieving her blade. “I do as well…” Shiva tapped her hoof on the ground. The world shook, listening to her simple call. Three massive dragons of ice erupted from the ground behind Shiva, raising their rubble-encrusted wings to the vortex in the sky as if in reverence. Cinder’s confident smile vanished. “You know, I kinda suspected I was going to lose, but I did want a bit more of a fight.” “No fear…” Shiva frowned. “You and I are going to have a lot of very long conversations, little filly.” Cinder shrugged. “Eh, maybe, maybe not. I may not be able to take down a dragon but I’ll still tr—” The dragons interrupted her by breathing bursts of snow. Cinder surrounded herself in a flaming sphere, flinging the snow away. She let out a childish laugh and increased the heat of the fire—missing the ice crawling up her legs until it was too late. Shiva’s horn sparked with a white power, flash-freezing Cinder from beneath. What had once been a raging filly was replaced with a frozen mare, trapped in ice as though floating. Her eyes and mouth were still able to move, a fact she found… ridiculous, for some reason. “This doesn’t make any sense!” Cinder grunted. “How would I talk to you if you were really frozen solid?” Shiva chuckled. “Now… watch and learn about true power…” She pointed a hoof at Carrot, encasing her in a frigid glow. Carrot rocked with pain, but still, no sound came from her. “I have been trapped here for longer than you know, filly. Chained by impossible magics to the very earth in this world. I am, naturally, a spirit of the air… I could not face my imprisonments. Until you brought her to me. I’ll just drain her… and be FREE!” From behind her, spirits of dark blue windigos appeared, rising into the air. “Hey! Found them!” Cinder laughed. Shiva twitched. “Your stupid bravery is annoying.” “Eh, I do what I can.” “Maybe I’ll kill this mare in front of you to punish you for your insolence.” Shiva dragged Carrot Top to the ground, pressing down with a powerful aura. “You need her,” Cinder said, unconvinced. Derpy was not able to see the logic of this. “No!” She shouted, rushing forward in a blind attempt to pull Carrot out of danger. “Ah, the idiot.” Shiva turned her attention to Derpy for the first time. “You just couldn't bring yourself to say anything. Couldn’t help. And can’t save her!” A massive wall of ice shot forward. Derpy was barely able to swerve out of its grasp. Instead, she hit a rock, breaking it in half—revealing Adder, who had been poised to unleash a surprise attack with her lightsaber. “D-derpy!” Adder shouted. “Sorry!” Derpy shivered. “I just don’t know what…” “The last hope, revealed by a klutz,” Shiva cackled. “You really are quite a batch of interesting fools. Freeze with your friends.” A wave of ice cascaded toward both of them. Dozens of skeletons erupted from the doorway, throwing themselves between the flow of ice and the two ponies. Shiva, for all her power, could not force the ice through the wall of pony bones. Derpy blinked. “Wh…” “They’re helpin’ us, Ah ain’t complaining!” Adder shouted. “We can still do somethin’!” Shiva glowered. “No, you can’t.” She pointed a hoof, and the dragons listened. Snow flew toward them at high velocity. A unicorn skeleton wearing a brilliant red cloak removed himself from the pile and lit its horn, encasing itself, the two living ponies, and a number of skeletons in a magic aura. “DON’T YOU DARE!” Shiva shouted. The skeleton didn’t listen, teleporting them away before the dragon’s snow could hit. Shiva roared in rage, shattering her ice with the shrill tone. Derpy, Adder, and several skeletons appeared within a cave. The red vortex swirled outside, but it was distant—possibly miles away. “Carrot…” Derpy said, tears rolling down her face. “I…” “We’ll get her back,” Adder said, standing strong. “Or Cinder’ll bust her out herself, but… you know. We won’t let Shiva get away with this.” “What are we going to do?” Derpy wailed. “She’s got ice dragons and magic and… you’ve got that fancy sword, and I’m just a klutz…” “It’s not just us, we have some skeleton allies, apparently!” Adder turned to the robed skeleton. “What’s your name?” He clacked his jaw, pointing out that he had no tongue. “Ah…” Adder frowned. “Can you write somethin’ down so we can talk?” “I can speak for him,” a familiar voice called. The spider that had worn the cape skittered down from the ceiling, landing on the floor. “For all of them, really.” Derpy backed away, whimpering. “I do not wish to harm you,” the spider said, sighing. “I only wanted to scare you away from this place so she would not get you.” “...Are you some kind of guardians?” Adder asked. The spider nodded. “The Lost Guard and my people live within this realm, ensuring Shiva is never able to return to the world.” “And we messed that up…” Derpy sagged. “We should have run the other direction... “ “You really should have,” the spider huffed. “Now we’ve got a big problem. She’s going to slowly release herself and bring her frozen army to life. She’ll break out of this realm and lay waste to Equestria.” The unicorn skeleton nudged her, lighting his horn on fire. The spider paused. “...You can’t be serious.” The unicorn nodded. “Looks like you’re lucky. General Inferno thinks you’re the ‘hero of legend’.” Adder blinked. “Uh, really?” With a sigh, the spider shook her head. “I wish he was talking about you.” Derpy paused. “Wait… what?” General Inferno pointed at Derpy and nodded. “M-me?! I’m just a—” General Inferno shook his head. He stamped his hoof on the ground and nodded. The spider put a foot to her face. “Oh for the… he wants to give you the burning blade. Right. Just give an inexperienced pegasus a legendary weapon, what could go wrong?” Adder twirled her lightsaber around. “Ah dunno, magic swords do seem to work pretty well even if you’re inexperienced!” Adder grinned at Derpy. “Whaddoya say, wanna grab a magic sword and go get Carrot and Cinder back?” “And stop Shiva from freezing Equestria,” the spider added. ‘Don’t forget that.” Derpy took in a deep breath, wiped her eyes, and set her jaw. “Let’s do this.” Her left eye drifted lazily to the side. “She’s not going to be able to hit anything…” the spider groaned. General Inferno smacked her. ~~~ “Earth ponies, so many consider you the meekest of the races…” Shiva told Carrot through her frozen prison. Carrot wanted to run, to flee, but everything but her face was frozen in place—all she could do was whimper and cry. “And yet, you hold a connection to the most fundamental forces, the earth itself. The earth that keeps me bound.” She traced her hoof that burned with icy flames along Carrot’s prison. “With every minute more of my power is unleashed, thanks to you, little farmer.” “N-no…” Carrot trembled, trying not to look at the frozen skeletons to her side. They still moved from time to time, reminding her that they were just as tormented as she was. “And the only hero that could save you… is right over here!” Shiva turned to Cinder. Cinder yawned. “Are you done being hammy, yet?” Shiva scowled. “You were the strongest warrior they had, and I bested you with ease. There is no help coming for you, they fled!” “Yeah, I don’t think Adder or Derpy would just leave us like this.” “Ah, yes, the fool’s return. A common tactic, one I have enjoyed devastating time and time again…” She chuckled. “Let them come and let them die. Now…” She laid one of her swirling hooves on Cinder’s icy prison. “You’re going to tell me what I need to know…” “Can I comment about how stupid this ice spell is again? I can still talk! Th—” “It’s specially designed so I can question my victims!” Shiva snapped. “You are one of them. You are going to tell me the secrets of your power and where you come from.” “Hmm… nah. You aren’t going to kill me, and you need Carrot alive, so…” “I will hunt down your friends and disembowel them.” “You’ll do that no matter what I tell you, so… nah.” Shiva twitched. “I’m not sure what’s more infuriating. Your lack of fear or your apparent experience with this sort of interaction.” Cinder smirked. “I’ve been around the block a few times, apparently! Want to hear about that time I defeated a goddess of fire?” “Yes.” “Too bad, not telling you.” Shiva smacked Cinder’s prison, knocking her upside-down. “Insolent filly!” General Inferno took Derpy and Adder outside the cavern. The vortex still swirled in the distance, an ominous reminder of the evil of Shiva that was yet to be unleashed. But now that there were no longer rock walls blocking everything, Derpy could see a civilization. Mostly composed of spiders, but there were a fair amount of pony skeletons trotting around the dark buildings. “Wow…” Adder blinked. “All of you, hidin’ in another universe.” The spider—whose name was Richit—looked at her in surprise. “You are aware of other planes?” Adder nodded. “Ah’m from one, same as Cinder. It’s where Ah got this.” She swirled her lightsaber around. “Isn’t that right, Derpy?” “Yep,” Derpy agreed, trying to look cheerful. “There was a portal with cubes on the other side!” Richit examined Adder’s weapon. “Powerful, and very dangerous. What can it slice through?” “Basically anythin’ that ain’t magic shieldin’,” Adder answered. “It can also reflect some things too!” “...And our legendary weapon just lights on fire.” “You’re giving me a flaming sword!?” Derpy gawked, more than a little terrified of letting herself use the power of fire. “See?” Richit twitched. “Inferno, even she has reservations!” General Inferno shook his head. “Why are you so stubborn?” “Ah think he just knows what to do,” Adder said. “One of those mystic-types.” “The prophecy of the hero is a legitimate one, but…” “The chosen one is always unexpected,” Adder said. “Or, uh, Ah think that’s what Cinder would say. She’s better at this sort of thing than Ah am.” “Is your companion a prophet?” “Not… exactly?” Adder rubbed the back of her head. “Ah don’t really get it myself.” “...Not important anyway. She is captured by Shiva. She cannot help us.” Adder shrugged. Eventually, they came to a town square of sorts. Spiders and skeletons gathered to watch as General Inferno walked up to a podium, red cape flapping in the breeze. With a crack of his bones, he placed his hooves on the ground and warmed it. As though the cobbled street were made of liquid, a sword’s hilt rose. He grabbed it in his teeth and tossed it to Derpy. In a shocking display of dexterity, she caught it directly in her mouth. Sparking from contact with her, the blade erupted into a bright flame that somehow knew to spark away from her face so as not to burn it. Derpy stared at the fire with one of her eyes, frozen. “Feel it for a bit,” Richit said. “Ever swung a sword before?” “Nuh-uh,” Derpy grunted through the blade. “Right…” Richit sighed. “Then we will pray the enchantments on the blade let you strike true.” General Inferno tapped his sword on the ground, pointing at Adder. “You wanna duel?” Adder frowned. “Ah don’t wanna cut your sword in half, or your bones…” Richit snorted. “He’s not going to back down from a challenge he set out. You can’t kill him, skeletons are resolute that way.” “Oh, good, that means Ah didn’t kill any of you outside…” Adder let out a sigh of relief. “Ah was startin’ to wonder.” Inferno jumped, head bursting into flames. Adder swung her lightsaber and cut his blade in half, rendering it harmless. Without missing a beat, Inferno generated a sword made entirely of magical flame. Adder’s lightsaber went straight through the flames, since there was no substance to them. Adder froze as the General’s fire approached her neck. “A-alright, you win this one.” Inferno dissipated his fire spell. Then he trotted up to Adder and started positioning her hooves. Given how she held her blade in her front hooves rather than her mouth, Inferno focused on how she planted her back hooves. After a bit of wobbling, she found herself standing upright without too much difficulty, bracing her lightsaber’s hilt in both hooves. “Like this?” General Inferno nodded. Then he came at her again with a flaming blade from the get-go. Adder jumped into the air and twisted toward his neck. She was unable to stop herself and cut right through the spine. “AUGH!” Adder sputtered. “Ah didn—” Inferno’s skull levitated itself off the ground and placed itself back on his body. Cracking his neck a few times, he returned his focus to Adder. Now that he was actually fighting, she didn’t stand a chance. Derpy watched in fascination as Adder struggled to get a way in edgewise, easily getting knocked to the ground by the superior swordspony. “Wow…” “Not really impressive,” Richit commented. “Adder may have an exceptionally lethal and effective weapon, but I can see her clear inexperience. Inferno isn’t even trying that hard. She needs a proper teacher, and we don’t have time for this…” Derpy looked to the vortex, narrowing her yes. “Yeah…” Inferno nodded to Adder after knocking her to the ground once more. He held out a hoof and a small skeleton gave him another physical sword. Turning to Derpy, he challenged her. “Uh… I don’t know how to fight…” Inferno charged. Derpy moved to block, and the sword listened to her command. It intercepted Inferno’s metal with almost no effort from her part. Inferno broke off, coming at her from several angles, only for her to think block and deflect every blow to come at her. Inferno began using complex maneuvers, feints, and jumps in an attempt to get an opening, but Derpy’s flaming sword wouldn’t let him get anything in edgewise with just the solid blade. He had to resort to summoning a second blade to keep Derpy’s occupied to point the other one at her neck. Derpy stared at the metal point millimeters away from cutting her skin and swallowed hard. “Fine,” Richit muttered. “The sword accepts her as the chosen one. Fine. Maybe it’ll be useful.” General Inferno nodded. Motioning to his skeletons, they started outfitting Derpy in armor. “Woah… cool!” Richit cleared her throat. “Before you can go face Shiva and save your friend, you do need to learn more. We may not have time, but that sword of yours can do more than just block. Prepare yourself for an hour of training Tartarus.” “...What?” “Let’s start by learning how to dodge.” “How will I—” “DODGE!” Carrot no longer dared to look outside her prison. She kept her eyes shut. One look at the windigos erupting from the ground behind Shiva was enough to convince the poor mare she didn’t need to see anymore. Dragons, ice monsters, and Celestia knew what else had started coalescing around the icy mare. Carrot could only wish the ice would let her fold her ears back. But it didn’t. She could hear the snarling, the howling, and the occasional bout of ominous laughter. But even that wasn’t the worst of it. No, the worst part was the drain she could feel. A claw of cold ice clutched around her heart, sapping it of energy. She was no magician, and she had never paid much attention in thaumic studies, but Carrot could tell Shiva was using her earth pony magic to bring the icy creatures from the earth and restore power to herself. Shiva definitely wasn’t a pony. But she wasn't a windigo either. Carrot didn’t know what she was. Whatever it was, it was evil. “What’s the ice army for?” Cinder asked, making Carrot wince. Why do you have to ask all these questions? I don’t need to know there’s an ice army outside! “Where do your paper artifacts come from?” Shiva responded in kind. “Oooh! We get to trade questions?” “...Sure,” Shiva relented. “It should be… amusing.” “Good! I’ll go first. I replaced a mare called Woona who had the ability to fold paper into inconceivably ridiculous objects, and when I left I found I still had the ability. Your turn.” “The army is for those infernal Celestial skeletons and Lunar spiders,” Shiva commented. “They followed me into this realm and built their societies to watch me. Always watched by the forces that trapped me within this ground…” There was a sharp chuckle. “Your turn again, little pony. What is your real name?” “Cinder ‘Sweetie’ Belle. I was born Sweetie, but the name change is official.” “Hmm…” Carrot didn’t like Shiva’s tone. “I’m going to assume your name is actually Shiva. How long until you’re fully free?” “A few hours at most.” Carrot could hear Shiva’s hoof drag across the ice. “What is your plan to defeat me?” “Wait for rescue, pretty much. You really do have me stuck here.” “Your confidence is baffling.” “Maybe you could ask why I have it next!” Cinder chuckled. “But first, my question… how did you and all these monsters get trapped down here?” “Monsters…?” Shiva cackled, quickly devolving into manic, deranged laughter. “Do these look like monsters to you?” Carrot felt herself move sharply upward. Out of instinct, she opened her eyes to behold the world below. Gone was the black sand of the earth, in its place were sweeping spires of ice spreading out like a thorny flower. Beasts of all sorts lined in formation: windigos both wispy and solid, frost giants, dragons of snow, and several other beasts all attuned to Shiva’s ice. With a shriek, Carrot shut her eyes again. “Yeah, pretty sure that shriek means they’re monsters.” “Am I a monster then?” Cinder snorted. “Not all monsters are ugly. Some are rotten on the inside.” “Oh, what compliments…” “By the way, you still haven’t answered my question. How?” “How? Why... I suppose there is no harm in showing you my true might…” Derpy sat in front of a fireplace, taking a rest from all the intense training. She still couldn’t believe how she’d taken to the magic sword. She’d defended, attacked, flew, swiped, jumped, and (eventually) dodged. Adder had even commented that she probably couldn’t beat Derpy anymore unless she got a lucky hit off and cut the flaming blade in half. “I still don’t understand,” Richit admitted, sitting down next to Derpy. “The sword is said to choose its hero. Why you?” Derpy shrugged. “So… I can get Carrot back?” “Maybe it’s making you fix your mistakes,” Richit mused. “We… did cause all of this, didn’t we?” “Hey!” Adder shouted. “Give Derpy a break, she didn’t do anythin’ wrong. All she’s done since we got here was try to save everypony, one way or another. Doesn’t always work, but she was tryin’. ...Ah’m not sure we coulda done anythin’, either. Cinder tried to jump Shiva at the door, but…” “We were trying to herd you away from the ruins,” Richit hissed. “Derpy’s unpredictable motions kept us from fulfilling our duty. ...And Cinder’s fire, but the fire should never have gotten you past the skeletons outside.” Derpy looked at the ground. “I guess I’m just a mess-up, huh?” Richit clacked her mandibles together. “You have a heart of determination, at the very least.” “Yeah…” she stood up to her full height. “Yeah! I do! And I’m going to save Carrot!” “You better.” “Ah’ll be at your back,” Adder said, saluting. “Gonna put some of those new tricks Inferno showed me to the test!” A young spider ran into the room, falling flat on his face. “We… we’re running out of time!” “What!?” Richit blurted. “She shouldn’t be close to out for hours!” “She’s taking her army out first! They’re mobilizing!” “For the love of Luna’s abdomen,” Richit growled. “Tell General Inferno to mobilize our forces for a full charge! We won’t let them reach the city!” “A-already done.” “Break time’s over?” Derpy asked. “More than you know,” Richit said. “Good.” She slung her sword over her back. “Carrot’s probably getting cold.” “Both of you,” Shiva said. “Pay attention…” Carrot kept her eyes closed. “I said pay attention!” Carrot’s eyes were forced open, but she didn’t see the icy army, Cinder, or Shiva. All she saw was the landscape of a war. On one side was a horde of undead ponykind. On the other was a mass of giant spiders. They surged toward each other across the empty taiga, closing the distance between them with the thunder of a thousand steps. The skeletons moved with only the sound of their bones clacking against each other, while the spiders let out a collective shriek of anger and rage. Carrot didn’t want to see the war, she couldn’t stand the thought of seeing a bloody conflict even between the most savage of monsters. But her eyes were forced to see. Behind the army of skeletons, the sun rose, heralding the coming of Princess Celestia. She was nothing like what Carrot knew. Gone was the regal serenity and the pastel mane, in its place was a gaunt alicorn with a cold blue-green mane, her features so angular that she almost looked like a skeleton herself. Her golden armor reflected the sun behind her, sending rays to the world below. The spiders had their own champion, coming with the rising moon. A smaller alicorn of darkness and nightmares, flashing in and out of existence with the power of the stars. Luna’s form was full, giving her a more commanding presence than her counterpart. Mare of sun and mare of stars charged at each other from across the divide, respective armies following behind. The Nightmare Moon rebellion? Carrot wondered through her terror. No… Luna’s armor doesn’t look right. Twilight described what she looked like. “Ancient times were brutal ones,” Shiva’s voice came from all directions, drawing a whimper out of Carrot. “Armies roamed the lands serving their gods. Celestia was young, then, only able to muster followers from those she could return from the dead. And Luna, hah, she found those so hideous only a mare of nightmares could love them. But still, they managed to gather their forces, and their foolish idealism spread across the land of the gods, creating a disruption…” Finally, Carrot saw it. In the middle of the two armies, there was a single mare. Tall, brimming with the power of ice, it was clearly Shiva—though somehow more. This Shiva’s eyes were an empty white, and every part of her shimmered as though it were made of ice. With a cackle, this Shiva tapped the ground and drew an entire storm of windigos from the earth below, erupting like a frozen volcano. Celestia and Luna weren’t fighting each other. They were flanking Shiva. Skeletons of fire and spiders of the night clashed with the frozen beasts of ice. Shiva made sure Carrot watched as a spider’s legs were systematically removed by a frost timberwolf, the inner juices spilling out all over the ground. “They could not face my soldiers directly,” Shiva’s voice came again. “Their skeletons were easy to discard, their spiders were fragile, and I could always make more. My ice was limitless, unending, perfect. For every creature they destroyed, I made more. More to feed off their rage.” She cackled. “They did not yet understand the true power of windigos. The more you fight… the stronger we become!” But you’re not a windigo… “But they knew they could not defeat me…” Shiva hissed. “They only made it look like they were coming in full force. In reality, they had a trick…” The past Shiva stood between Celestia and Luna, deflecting their attacks with walls of ice that exploded into thousands of shards the moment something hit them. Celestia and Luna took no injuries, instead circling closer and closer to Shiva—leaving magic trails behind. “I realized too late.” The magic trails coalesced, and a magic ring was created around Shiva. The light of the sun and moon shot at her from both heavenly bodies, driving her into the ground. The earth itself crackled and tore as Shiva—and every one of her creatures—were fused to the very ground itself. “I tried to escape. To run, to force a tear in reality itself…” Shiva said, making the image settle on her screaming form that was slowly losing energy. “I only partially succeeded.” There was a sound like paper ripping mixed with chalkboard scratches, and a doorway suddenly appeared, leading to a plane of black sand. Past-Shiva threw herself through, only to realize that the spell of the two sisters was still in effect. Most of her and her army were bound to the sand on the other side, rather than the Equestrian plane. Her screams died out as she became one with the earth. “And like this I remained. Once Celestia and Luna took care of the other gods with their spineless ways of peace, their armies returned to my doorway to guard it. Building a city… a city that would have been my release.” Past-Shiva, in pony form at this point, was wandering the city, speaking to skeletons and spiders in a hush-hush tone. Plotting something. And then… a dark unicorn walked into town one day. “He called himself Sombra and said he needed to test something…” Shiva growled. “He had a hatred of Celestia, so in my lesser form I assisted him. In payment, he sealed the entire city beneath the ground where none could reach it, and I was exposed!” Carrot watched in shock as the entire settlement—tower, houses, river and all—were swallowed up by the earth itself. The taiga was no more, having been replaced with a green, verdant land that a forest might grow over one day. “And here I have waited, learning everything I can about my prison… waiting for a way out.” Carrot was suddenly back in the real world, looking Shiva in the eyes. “And you were the secret all along! A simple, ordinary, basic earth pony.” The commander of the army was not General Inferno, but a large spider that held a bat-winged scepter. Her name was Mother, and her helmet shone silver like the moon itself. “The sisters, long, long ago, gave us the sacred mission to watch over Shiva, the Windigo Witch. Through trouble, toil, and strive we have kept to this goal. Even when she walked among us, we remained vigilant. Even when Sombra sought our demise, we remained vigilant. We have protected her seal for over a millennium, and just because it is threatened now does not mean we have failed! Even as the Ice Queen rises, she is not yet free!” She pointed her scepter toward the swirling vortex. “Today, we will charge into the heart of her territory and destroy her foolish attempts to escape! The world we call home and Equestria will be safe by our hooves and feet!” “YEAH!” the army shouted. Derpy stood atop a tower, staring at the army in disbelief. She had never seen so many ponies mobilize so quickly—even if they were skeletons, they still were restricted by their hooves. How they had all organized was beyond her, not to mention the spiders. Arachnids of all sizes, ages, and types filled the ranks in armor of their own. Beyond this, there were a few creatures Derpy had not seen before. Massive dragons of bone that burned with eternal flames deep within their rib cages. Scorpions that appeared to be made of the night itself ran through the ranks, flickering in and out of existence like stars. It was a beautiful force, though Derpy wasn’t exactly familiar with the aesthetics of armies. Even though she hadn’t seen much of Shiva’s forces, she felt confident they could win. “Ah’m not sure we’ll be all that helpful in a raging army like that,” Adder commented. “A-and Ah’m not sure Ah can… be in the middle of all that. Ah’m not…” She frowned. “Ah’m not exactly a soldier.” Richit nodded. “That is why the four of us will be taking a different route.” She produced white, shimmering cloaks for herself, General Inferno, Derpy, and Adder. “Shrouds. As the armies charge into each other, the four of us will go to Shiva and attempt to save Carrot from her grasp.” “Oh, stealth mission!” Adder seemed suddenly relieved. “Ah can work with that. Yep.” Derpy frowned. “Adder, you okay?” “Ah’m… not as used to this as Ah might seem like it,” Adder frowned. “Cinder’s the one who knows what she’s doing, the one who’s figured out how to pay the ‘price’, whatever that is. Ah haven’t. Ah’m just along for the ride, and Ah haven’t been part of any war yet.” “...Nopony has,” Derpy said, confused. “We ain’t from around your parts,” Adder said. “...Ah don’t think there’s time to explain.” “Yes,” Richit agreed. “No time. The moment Mother issues the charge, we set out under the shrouds and infiltrate. The armies will be occupied with each other.” A loud horn blasted through the area and they could hear the stomping of hooves and feet creating an earthquake. “We’re going,” Richit said. “Everyone, now.” The shrouds were not only perfectly white, but they had a minor “disinteresting” enchantment upon them. As Derpy, Adder, Inferno, and Richit approached the lands under the vortex, the frost giants saw nothing of them. Even though the four of them were barely hidden behind a frost-blasted spire of ice, not a single member of the icy army paid them any mind. “Too easy,” Adder hissed. “This will not work against Shiva herself,” Richit commented. “She is too skilled at her craft.” Derpy nodded. “Then we’ll just have to fight her. Right?” “Right,” Adder agreed. “Keep the ancient evil from gettin’ all the way out.” She gestured a hoof at the advancing army of ice. “If this is just part of her power…” “There is a reason we’re watching her seal,” Richit reminded her. “She has the potential to unleash an apocalypse.” Derpy ground her teeth. “Let’s keep moving.” They moved onward, ducking between icy pillar and icy pillar, the snow blasting against their faces as they moved. Overhead, windigos floated, some made of spirit while others had solid flesh to their forms. Massive birds of frigid air flapped their wings, covering the world below in the diamond dust of their bodies. All of this, and more, was born out of Shiva’s power under the vortex. All of it wanted nothing more than to destroy her age-old enemies. One of the ice dragons landed dangerously close to where Derpy’s group was, taking a moment to sniff the air and look around. Derpy huddled under her shroud, preparing for the worst. The dragon lowered its head to the ground, suspicious of something. However, it saw nothing but white, shimmering ice that made it more than a little difficult to look directly at the ground. With a grunt, it lifted its head back up and returned on its flight to the settlement. “...Ah was about ready to poke that thing’s eye out,” Adder commented. “I’m not sure how wise that would have been,” Richit said. “It could have eaten you.” “Then Ah…” Adder shivered in disgust. “Ah woulda cut out. Egh…” Richit blinked all of her multifaceted eyes. “That would actually work, with your blade.” “Ah don’t really wanna think about it…” Adder shook her head. “You’d do great,” Derpy encouraged. “And you will, no matter what!” She winked. “Right. Thanks.” Adder looked back as the army of ice made its way to the spiders and skeletons. “Ah hope this goes well…” “They’re depending on us,” Richit said. “Enough talk, more moving.” In silence, the four of them moved onward, passing under the oblivious feet of frost giant after frost giant. Atop a mountain of ice and snow, Shiva held her two prisoners aloft so they could see the surging of her powerful army. It wouldn’t be long before they clashed with the distant, tiny-looking army of the skeletons and spiders. Carrot hated that she had to watch. Even if she wasn’t screaming at every violent act or monster anymore, it still made her feel rotten to the core. She just wanted to go back to her nice carrot farm and grow the simple produce she loved to eat. Was that too much to ask? To go back? “I’ve answered your question about me,” Shiva said, not looking away from her army. “It is your turn, Cinder.” “What exactly do you want to know?” Cinder asked. “Why are you not afraid?” Shiva leveled Cinder with a careful gaze. “Even the most courageous of heroes had the fear within them. You have none.” “I know you’re going to lose,” Cinder answered. “It’s just how it works.” “Why do you think that?” “Ah-ah-ah!” Cinder chuckled. “Already answered a question! Now it’s time for you to answer one of mine. What is the most embarrassing secret you have?” Shiva sputtered. “What relevance does that have!?” “Nothing.” Cinder grinned evilly. “I’m just not going to answer any more of your questions until you answer mine.” Shiva growled. “The time for questions is at an end, it seems.” “And so are you!” Cinder giggled. Shiva traced a hoof over the edge of Cinder’s prison. “I am the goddess of ice, cold, snow, and hate. I am not at an end, it is not possible.” “And I’m just a filly, what do I know about anything?” “You know what?” Shiva rammed her hoof so hard into Cinder’s prison it cracked. “I don’t really need you in fully operational condition. I just need your mind. I can crack a few legs, snap that horn of yours…” “Try it.” Carrot winced, wishing Cinder would stop antagonizing the terrifying mare. Shiva cackled. “Oh, you think you can escape by goading me?” “It was worth a shot.” “Your ‘shot’ was pathetic.” “Well, at least I kept us all entertained until the cavalry arrived!” “The wh—” Derpy swung a flaming sword down on Shiva, only for it to be blocked by her living hair. “Derpy!” Carrot called. She had never been so happy to see her friend. Shiva grabbed Derpy and threw her to the ground with a painful “oof.” “Derpy!” Carrot wailed, suddenly a lot less happy and a lot more worried. “Look at you!” Shiva addressed Derpy, laughing. She rose into the air on a cliff of ice, her mane and tail swirling in the air like tentacles, or perhaps scorpion tails poised to strike. “A little pegasus with a fancy sword! I’m so delighted you dropped by!” “Uh… thanks?” Derpy cocked her head in confusion. “I don’t need you,” Shiva’s open grin turned into a predatory slit. “I can just kill you.” Block. Shiva’s hair came at Derpy from several angles, only for her blade to intercept every last one with ease. “A legendary blade…” Shiva frowned. “Don’t tell me, their stupid prophecy?” “Of course it is!” Cinder called from her ice. “Did you really expect to not have to deal with a chosen hero?” “No matter,” Shiva dismissed. “Magic sword or not, it can’t face one of my dragons.” Raising a hoof, she called upon one of the frosty reptiles. It was the only one not with the army, having remained to keep a vigil over its mistress. Taking a deep breath, it readied a snowstorm for Derpy. General Inferno launched from his position, smacking the dragon in the face with his flaming body, skewering the beast’s eye with his horn. Shrieking in agony, the beast fell back, only for General Inferno to push further… harder… making the dragon no longer part of the encounter. Shiva growled. “Just can’t get good help these d—” she stopped in the middle of her sentence, grabbing Adder before she could drive the lightsaber into Shiva’s midsection, tossing her into Carrot’s crystal. After following the motion, Derpy met Carrot’s eyes. She could only see horror in the poor, trapped mare’s gaze. She thinks I’m going to die here. Derpy stood up, hefting the sword in her jaw. She’s wrong. Adder took her bipedal stance next to Derpy, holding her blade high. “Idiots,” Shiva grunted. With a stamp of her hoof, both of them were encased in ice. However, the flaming sword and the lightsaber were too powerful for her frost. Their imprisonments were very temporary, soon nothing more than steam clouds in the wind. “How unfortunate, you might have lived that way,” Shiva droned. “It seems as though death is your only recourse!” She sent her frozen tendrils of mane at Derpy, who thought block and intercepted every one. Adder, unfortunately, did not have the training nor the magic sword. While under Inferno’s tutelage she had improved, it had only been a few hours. A new stance would not defeat an ice witch. She fell backward, lightsaber giong out. Derpy stood over her, keeping Shiva from skewering the poor filly’s heart. Shiva laughed. “You pin yourself with your pity!” Derpy knew she was right—she couldn’t move, for Adder’s sake. But standing still like this would just give Shiva an opportunity to figure out how to work around the magic blade. “Look upon what you have wrought… and despair!” The armies clashed. Details were hard to make out from Carrot’s vantage point, but she could see what Shiva wanted everyone to see. A bloody massacre of fire and ice being waged over the sands of black. Skeletons rammed into windigos, frost giants crushed spiders, and fiery birds met dragons in the air. Somehow, General Inferno had managed to teleport himself and the dragon all the way back to the fight, where they tussled in the midst of all the bodies. It was, plain and simple, a war. Distant as they were, it was still dark and terrible. Steam rose from the point of impact, shrouding the battle in a heated fog, keeping further mass death from Carrot’s eyes. “That is my might,” Shiva said, grinning from ear to ear. “I am the Witch of the North, the Queen of all Windigos, the Creator of Hunger! You all have forgotten what it meant to have me in your world, forgot the power of the ice! I will make you remember…” She lifted a hoof, sending a beam of ice at Derpy. Her sword was able to dissipate the beam, but it did nothing to stop the loose tendril of Shiva’s hair from hitting Derpy’s side. Derpy managed to keep hold of Adder through this, so both of them went rolling from the hit. Why didn’t you just run? Carrot wondered. You can’t help me… you should have saved yourself. Warned everypony. Not come back for me. Derpy stood tall and rushed Shiva. Shiva, wisening up to the ways of the sword’s defense, made sure to attack from two angles. To Carrot’s shock, Derpy didn’t defend this time, she attacked, swirling in an arc that severed both hair tendrils at once. What? She’s not a fighter. It’s… that sword. It’s the sword. Carrot heard a tapping sound on the back of her crystal. Had she not been frozen by force, she would have locked up in fear at that moment. A spidery whisper made it to her ear. “Stay calm. I’m getting you out of here. Her power will be locked if I succeed.” Carrot decided to trust the spider. No matter how disgusting or monstrous the arachnid might be, it wasn’t Shiva. The spider hadn’t betrayed her trust. It took some effort, but Carrot forced herself to watch the fight as the spider chipped away at her prison. She couldn’t see Adder anymore, but Shiva didn’t seem to care about this—she was fixated only on Derpy. Always Derpy. Never anything else. Derpy just couldn’t get a hit off. Shiva’s hair was taking all the hits, her body completely safe. Derpy, on the other hoof, had taken some blows to her armor that were clearly slowing her down. She was, simply put, losing. But if the spider could work fast… maybe Derpy wouldn’t need to win. Another crack, and Carrot could feel cold air brush against her back. Never before had she been so excited to feel a frigid breeze through her coat. She could move, but only a little. In an effort to help the spider, she began to squirm. “No, stay still, she might noti—” A beam of ice hit the spider, freezing her solid and covering up Carrot’s hole. “What a fanficul, yet useless ploy,” Shiva commented. “Is that really the best you have?” “Nope!” Adder called sticking her lightsaber into Cinder’s prison. “There was more than one of those plans going on!” The first thing Cinder did once she was freed was light her entire body on fire. “Not going in there again.” Shiva scowled at the three ponies who stood before her: a battered pegasus with a legendary weapon, an exhausted earth pony with a blade from a galaxy far away, and a flaming unicorn with unusual spunk. “I think my army’s power has been released enough,” Shiva declared. “It’s my turn.” Uh-oh, Derpy thought. Carrot let out a squeal of pain as Shiva took power directly into herself. Flowing blue energy erupted from the ground, coursing through Shiva’s hooves all the way to her blackened crown. With the newfound release of power, the crown expanded in size, moving to dominate her facial features as a pillar of ice and rock swirling into a spiked pattern. Her hairy tendrils solidified, becoming living ice that sucked the frozen ground below to become part of her, using the bones of the defeated skeletons as part of her arsenal. She rose, her ice-flesh coating half her body. The part of her that was pony-shaped was insignificant compared to the rest of her, now; akin to a spider of frozen hopes and dreams. Ice shards flew in every direction, forcing the ponies onto the defensive. Cinder accelerated herself around each attack with relative ease while Derpy’s sword handled the rest. Adder took a hit to the leg, going down. This time she wouldn’t be getting back up as easily. Cinder twitched. “You’re going to pay for that.” “Didn’t think I could hurt her?” Shiva asked, sneering through the mask her crown had become. “When will you learn to fear me!?” Derpy took to the skies while Cinder resorted to torching the bottom of Shiva’s ice-legs with her flame. The bones incorporated into the limb limited this strategy’s effectiveness considerably; Shiva was more than ice, she was a being of death incarnate. Cinder switched strategies, producing a piece of paper with her magic and somehow folding it into a ball and chain. Shiva blinked. “That… didn’t make physical sense.” “Your face.” “What?” “Something I learned from Burgerbelle.” “WHAT!?” In her confused stupor, she wasn’t able to block the paper ball to the face. With a screech of anger, she tore the ball in half and shredded the remaining paper. She lunged at Cinder, only for the unicorn to accelerate away. Derpy noticed that Shiva had given in to a weakness of hers—she’d gotten fixated. Just like when she attacked Derpy, forgetting about Adder. Or letting Richit get close enough to almost release Carrot. Right now, Shiva had all her attention focused on a speedy white unicorn that kept throwing paper airplanes that stung like wasps. Maybe I can… Cinder tripped, flopping onto her back. Shiva didn’t waste the opportunity: she grabbed Cinder with her bony ice tendril. Her attempts to crush the filly weren’t rewarded since her fire was enough to squirm safely through the bones, but she was caught. Derpy dove, brandishing the sword. Shiva wrapped another tendril around Cinder, truly immobilizing her. “You were so arrogant…” Derpy didn’t bother trying to strike cleverly or even safely. She just told the sword to attack. Shiva created a spire of ice, holding it to Cinder’s chest. “See where that got you?” Cinder smirked, “How about you look in a mirror?” Derpy’s blade crashed into Shiva’s crown, cutting it in half. Shiva screamed as the focus of her power was severed from her body. All the icy tendrils around her lost their forms, forcing her to fall to the ground, dropping Cinder. The grunt from the Windigo Queen was pained and agonized. Weak. Derpy hadn’t been moving in a very controlled arc, so she smashed into the ground at high velocity. Unlike every time before, this time she broke some bones. Both a leg and a wing, if her nerves were to be believed. At least I got her… “Oh no,” Cinder said. Derpy heard fear in her voice. Shiva rose, picking her shattered crown off the ground with a hoof and placing it back on her head. It repaired itself with little issue, and the moment of weakness was over in an instant. Derpy couldn’t move. There didn’t need to be ice to trap her, her injuries were sufficient. Wordlessly, Shiva gathered her ice into a sharp blade at the edge of her hoof, murder in her eyes. Gone was the amused smile, the deranged laugher—in their place was only death. It was so funny Derpy wanted to laugh. They’d just been Shiva’s playthings, toys for her amusement, dolls to provide a minor challenge. That had all changed the moment Derpy actually harmed her. Shiva wasn’t messing around anymore. Derpy noted that she was lying next to Carrot’s prison. She locked one of her eyes with Carrot’s. Neither said a word. Shiva brought the knife down. There was a burst of fire as Cinder attempted to do something, anything, but Shiva shrugged it off. The knife sailed true—not to Derpy, but to Carrot, completely piercing the crystal. “CARROT!” Derpy shrieked. There was no blood, there was only the shattering of ice as Carrot was lifted into the air, free—but shivering in pain. “No more risks,” Shiva whispered. She became nothing more than wisps of ice in the wind, allowing Cinder’s attacks to pass straight through her. “No!” Cinder shouted, desperate. “No, this wasn't supposed to…” “Fear…” Shiva laughed, her spirit grabbing hold of Carrot from all sides. “I wonder, what changed, little pony? Why fear now?” “The story… it’s…” Cinder racked her mind. “I…” “Did you assume prophecy was reliable?!” Shiva cackled, fully absorbing into Carrot’s form, replacing the kind mare with an image of scowling malevolence. “You really were quite overconfident…” Cinder set her jaw. “If… If this is a tragedy now…” She readied a paper sword. “W-wearing that body won’t stop me.” “It might…” Shiva hissed, walking forward within Carrot’s body. “Can you really bring yourself to kill an innocent earth pony who has done nothing but scream in terror? Can you really do that, Cinder? Can you reach into this flesh with your sword and remove her heart, severing the magical connection?” Shiva growled. “You were so close. If you had destroyed the crown, I would have lost it all. But now, this mare is my conduit. So long as she lives…” Cinder held out her sword with a trembling hoof. “I… I have to…” “You’re just a pathetic filly!” Shiva screeched. “Just a good for nothing nobody who thinks she knows all the answers!” “I get it!” Cinder shouted—Derpy was sure she wasn’t addressing Shiva. “I get it! That’s the moral, I can’t trust my intuition completely! That’s it, right? Right? I’ve got it!” Cinder laughed nervously. “Totally understand, better pony now because of it. Can we… can we have that happy ending now? I don’t… N-not again…” Shiva held out Carrot’s neck. “Do it.” Derpy wanted to scream out, but couldn’t. She didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t sure if she could do anything. Even if she’d still been able to move and use her sword… what then? Attack Carrot? Cinder? Cinder ground her teeth and dropped her sword. “No. No, I can’t. N-not anymore. Not now.” “I didn’t think so.” She slapped Cinder across the face with Carrot’s hoof. Cinder didn’t resist—she just let it happen. No bones broke, the force was never strong enough for that. Shiva wanted it that way. Wanted Cinder to stay awake, to feel the sting, the bruises, the blood running down her nose. When she was satisfied, she returned to Derpy, fixing the pegasus with her friend’s gaze. That’s not Carrot, Derpy told herself. She’s not doing this. “You’re the ‘hero’ of legend.” Shiva said, lifting up the sword of fire in an icy grip and snapping it in half. “Disappointing.” She lifted a rock larger than Derpy’s head into the air, ready to crack her like a melon. “Your punishment is to be killed by your best friend.” Derpy refused to look away. Part of her wanted to face her end with dignity, and the other part hoped her walleyes would distract Shiva so… something could happen. Shiva brought the rock down. Onto her own head. The angle was sideways so her skull didn’t crack like a melon, but she was still thrown to the side. “What? WHAT?” “Get out of my head!” Carrot snarled, breaking through Shiva’s control. “You… you dare resist!?” In the distance, Derpy could hear the armies of ice start to fragment. Were they fighting themselves, now? “I. Am a carrot farmer. I understand how to fight the harsh winter!” Carrot lifted several rocks into the air with Shiva’s icy power. “This… is nothing… compared to actual starvation.” “I AM THE QUEEN OF HUNGER!” “I’M NOT FEELING VERY HUNGRY!” Carrot shoved all the rocks down. “Then die,” Shiva growled, leaving Carrot’s body and reforming into her old one, crown and all. “Die by your own hooves.” Carrot took a single step to the side, avoiding the rock that had been flying for her face. She smiled sheepishly. “Heh… heh…” Shiva cast a quick spell to imprison her once more. “No matter. All my enemies are defeated. I do not need your body anym—” One of the rocks Carrot had lifted into the air much earlier finished falling. It smashed right into Shiva’s head, shattering the crown into dozens of pieces. There would be no repairing it from that. A burst of icy energy erupted from Shiva’s current position. She survived. All her spells and enchantments did not, melting with minimal fanfare. The armies of ice, already confused by Carrot’s presence in their Queen, devolved into even more infighting as the earth called to seal them below the sands once more. Shiva took one look at everything crumbling around her… and passed out, looking like little more than a tall earth pony. It was over. Derpy laughed. “Carrot! You saved me!” Carrot pulled Depry into a hug. “No… No, you saved me.” “OW OW BROKEN BONES!” “Augh!” Carrot dropped Derpy. “Sorry!” “It’s… fine…” Derpy wheezed. “I crashed you into things… it’s only fair…” She rolled onto her back, trying to breathe without thinking about how much pain she was in. “I never should have doubted you,” Carrot said, laying a hoof on Derpy. “I’m… sorry.” “I’m sorry too.” Carefully this time, Carrot lifted Derpy up and gave her a hug—soft, so as not to aggravate the pain. Cinder got up, a conflicted expression on her face, and trotted over to Adder, who was trying to nurse the wound in her hoof. Cinder sighed. “Sorry, I…” “It’s fine, you got to be the damsel in distress today,” Adder chuckled. “Ah don’t think you saved anybody this time!” “I… huh. I guess not.” Cinder rubbed the back of her head. “We’ll get your hoof good as new back home, all right?” “Ah’m the one who makes the healin’ potions, Ah’ll be healin’ myself thank you very much.” “Right.” Cinder turned to the downed form of Shiva. “What do we do with her?” “She’s sealed again,” Richit said, skittering over. “Her connection to Carrot is gone with the strike of Derpy’s legendary sword. So long as we remove her access to earth ponies, she and her armies will be able to do nothing on this scale ever again.” She bowed to Derpy. “We are in your debt… but we do have to ask you to leave.” Carrot laughed. “No offense, but I don’t want to stay! Get us out of here!” “I will gather a team to lead you back to your world and take one of the passages to the surface.” “And we’ll go home,” Cinder said, pulling out her dimensional device and puncturing a hole in reality right to the world of cubes. “I knew it!” Derpy giggled. Carrot stared in disbelief. “What in the four winds…?” Cinder saluted. “Maybe we’ll see you around!” She carefully led Adder through the portal. Like that, they were gone. The epic adventure was over. It was time to go home.