Deep in a dark cave, a small flame danced. Alone pegasus kneeled in front of it and whispered a small prayer. Her heart was on many things today, from the recent closing battle, to more battles to come from across the sea, but most of all the wounds that Commander Hurricane had suffered. She wanted to help, but she was just a lone private with little strength and even less power of pull. All she could do was pray in this darkness for guidance in the light.
Yet despite how much she prayed, the only answer she received was silence. A painful silence that almost seemed to laugh at her like a bully. It made her mind fall back into memories she wished were long gone.
“Ha, ha, look poor fat Pansy, she is far too weak to join the army!” Echoes of the past flowed into her head.
A loud punch bounced through the memories and the sight of the bully laying on the ground and a strong mare standing above him.
The commander always believed no one creature was too weak to fight, learning this from her own past and even family. She followed her for this very reason, but now the guilt waved over her more than ever. The guilt of her failure to stand with the commander she served during the final part of the battle. To stand with the mare that had shown her such kindness, strength, and honesty.
The private couldn’t hold it back any longer. Finally, giving in her face and her hands fell. Tears flowed forth. "Why?" She finally questioned. "Why am I so weak?"
"You don't have to be weak if you don't want to be. Private Pansy..."
A new voice from behind her cut through the sound of her tears. This new voice was completely unfamiliar to her. On pure instinct, she raced back around.
Standing at the entrance to the cave was a unicorn cladded in strange armor. His red mane dragged all the way down to the ground like some sort of lost soul on the streets of the Pegasus Isles, yet he stood with a proud grace, as if belonging to a high rank of military or class. He stood far taller than her and was almost pure bony in form, as if he was starving, yet his posture gave no sign of death at all. He stood still and spoke softer, "Did you hear me?" he questioned.
"I... I..." She backed away slowly, "... Yes." She didn't know why, but her simply being off guard couldn't explain the fear she was sensing in herself.
"Well, do you wish to not be weak?" The unicorn's voice was so kind.
"Yes... I do."
"Do you wish to be strong?" The unicorn's voice seemed so honest.
"Yes."
"To stand with her?" The unicorn's voice seemed so generous.
“I…” Pansy stopped at that part as doubt filled her heart. “I want to, so badly. But how can I when I’m so weak?”
“No, don’t. You are not weak. You can be strong if you want to be.” His words were bold but not offensive. Aim directly to her but not at her like a dominating demand.
Pansy looked at him and wondered. This unknown unicorn just came from seemingly nowhere and told her she could be strong. But could his words be right? No, she told herself. How could this stallion even know any truth, especially about strength given his form? Yet the more she stared, the more his goodness seemed to shine over her.
“You love her, don’t you?” The Sun’s light perfectly lowered with his words and cloaked over her and him both.
Pansy felt the warmth from his words. Though her tears still wouldn’t yield, her doubt did fade enough for her to finally nodded a yes.
“Then let me help you.” He held out his hand.
The sight of his offering brought so much hope and joy to her heart. She wanted to believe every word he said, but she couldn’t shake this uneasy feeling, as if something was very wrong.
Unbeknownst to her, the Sun’s light showed the true danger… the true evil... the shadow of a centipede rising up over her body and gripping her throat.
Every ounce of her whole body was trembling, but she didn't know why. “Who are you?” She slowly reached out.
“I am Lord Red. And I would like to offer you a deal…”
******
Down below it all, within the shattered remains of the church, Clover was filled with similar doubts of her own strength among other horrors as Twilight bled out in front of her. The unicorn mare did as much as she could, but all her magic couldn't contain the maroon blood flowing out of the alicorn.
Soaking through the floor and streaming through the ground like rivers, the maroon blood seemed unending. The rims of these rivers were filling with maroon crystals, slowly getting bigger as more flowed out. It was far too much for one body to contain. However, Clover feared an end would be reached and Twilight's life with it.
Rex and Cold Blue were still unconscious from the fight. The lone unicorn had to do this on her own. The hardest duty anypony could do to save... her future daughter's life.
She wrapped Sonata Dusk in the remains of her cloak and placed her beside Rex. Taking one chunk of her bow staff into her mouth, she prepared for the hard part. She pushed down on the exposed bone of her leg with all her might, bringing the most painful growl as it snapped back into place.
Clover knew she couldn't wait for Rex or Cold Blue. Twilight's life was the highest priority. After tightening her leg together with the stick and some cloth, she made her way to Twilight. Trenching through the rivers of maroon blood until she found the source, Twilight's exposed, beating heart.
She called on all the spells she knew, but Twilight's body continued to drain at a fast rate. The hole refused to close, even as she forced it down with all her might. The alicorn had a darkness blessing from the Pale Mare, but even that was fading at the massive gaping hole in the chest.
What was more confusing was the lack of help from the Pale Mare. Before she had seen the beast heal far worse wounds, like Twilight's head being split in half. Did Twilight simply use too much dark magic in the fight? Or was the Pale Mare simply giving up?
"No!!" Clover screamed. She shook the alicorn, demanding, "You won't die! Pale Mare! Save Twilight! Please, save her!" Without warning, she slapped the corpse, screaming for a response. The unicorn mare lifted the body in her arms and even begged. "Please, I've... I've seen him lose so much..." Her eyes wandered to Rex. "His friends, his family... I can't leave him... and I refuse to let you do the same!!"
Nothing again. In fact, the body became colder, and the flow slowed as if it was reaching its end. Twilight was fading away, right in front of her.
"No, no, no, no, Twi--" Clover stopped upon hearing movement around her. She turned to Rex and Cold Blue, only to see them still out cold. There was more. It sounded like crackling, getting closer and closer.
It was at this moment she finally noticed them. Falling all around her was the most frightening of sights. Something she knew all too well and wished to never see, especially now. But there was no denying it. Red snowflakes were falling over them, which meant only one thing...
Finding the source of the noise, her eyes widened to see an all too familiar wendigo floating several meters in front of her and Twilight. Even seeing him face to face for the first time since the village incident, the memories of their battles with him were fresh in her mind.
Just as always, his appearance followed that of red snowflakes. Such a simple description didn't really give the full gravitas of the confusion and horror of his presence. Not only did he stand nearly twice the height of Clover, but his shadow over them cast quite the mass. Combined with the red snowflakes of mysterious origin that he would either take the form of or use as weapons. Themselves being the greatest anomaly, as while most and even herself would consider them as red, not often did the term seem right as they weren't an exact color of red but rather a variant of red completely unknown to any who saw them.
She clutched tightly to the alicorn as the wendigo stepped closer. "Why are you here?!" He didn't listen and continued his advance, making fear grow in her eyes. "Don't you dare touch her, I mean it, Indigo Frost!"
"Why?" He answered her. "Don't you wish to save her?"
"I... I..." Clover was left completely dumbfounded by his answer.
"I can save her... if you want it." He tried to touch Twilight, only for Clover to pull away.
"No! I can't trust you!"
"And I can't trust you!" He growled. Glowing his eyes pushed red snowflakes around her.
"No, no!!" she screamed as the red snowflakes wrenched Twilight from her hands. "Give her back to me!!" She fought forward even as the red snowflakes cut her flesh.
"What is she to you?"
"What is she to you?!" Clover barked back as she took a battle stance. Well, it wasn't much of a battle stance since she was drained of magic and her legs could barely keep still.
"Like that matters to you." He raised his hand to the outside. "Continue to defy me and I'll lead the undead outside right to you."
"I refuse..."
"What?" He increased the speed of his red snowflakes, cutting Clover up more.
"I said, I refuse!!" Clover screamed out the last of her magic to scatter the red snowflakes, making them drop Twilight.
"Fine..." He narrowed his eyes but smiled at her determination. "She is the greatest piece in my plan," his answer was just as shocking to her. Yet it was clear as day, no deception was in his voice at all. He presented his hand as if waiting for her answer.
"She's from the future... Rex's future."
"I... I see." He narrowed his eyes on Rex. "He has been alive for thousands of years. Cursed in this very place..." The wendigo gestured to the altar.
"I know... I saw it all in that trap!"
"Then you also know..." He grinned at her horror. "You are far from his first mistress... I doubt you will be his last--"
"I know that!!" she screamed. "But here is what you don't know..." She pointed to herself. "I am the daughter of Lord Stygian and Lady Cathrine, a student of Starswirl the Bearded and a former soldier of Princess Luna. I know very well the price of immortality!"
"Do you?" He tilted his head. "There is a difference between seeing those horrors and living them..."
"You've never suffered like him..."
"Have I?!" He roared. "Fine, some truth, since we are being so open." He leered at Rex and Cold Blue's unconscious bodies before grumbling and slowly confessing, "I am not Indigo Frost... I never was." He pointed to Cold Blue. "I am the son of the former queen... of the sirens."
Clover's eyes widened. "You... why hide from him and--"
"I am still a wendigo..." He closed his eyes. "My father suffered just as much as Rex... Watching his people be butchered in front of him. Finding his love, my mother as a frozen corpse... Only to die by her killer's hand!"
"The real Indigo Frost is dead?"
"Yes..." the wendigo dropped to one knee, bowing to Clover. "I too have suffered many pains in my twisted immortality... I am... a monster... I've known that all my life." He looked to Twilight with hope. "And she, too, is a monster!"
"No, no, she is my--" Clover was stopped as the wendigo raced forward, punching her in the gut and destroying her defenses completely.
"Neither of us has any right to make such a declaration!" The wendigo roared. Taking Twilight in his arm, and stared deeply into her wound.
"No, let her go!" Clover tried to stand, but her leg gave out. She tried again, repeating herself. She didn't know how, but she had to stop him.
"I have wasted enough time with you!" The wendigo frowned at her attempt and turned his full attention to Twilight. His eyes traced over the remains of the Pale Mare fading from her body and into her frostbitten eye. Seeing it made him remember his arm severed the same day he carved this wound. Now she had a new wound on her chest.
"You wish to save her?" the wendigo asked Clover. She nodded in response. "Will you do anything to save her?" Clover was slower to answer him this time, but answered yes, eventually. The wendigo smiled at her answer and turned back to the problem at hand.
The massive hole had stopped pumping out blood. His eyes narrowed on her heart, slowing to an end. He reached inside and grasped hold of something beyond Clover's sight. Eventually, he removed his hand, closed his eyes, and lowered Twilight's chest under his own. "You are lucky that she is not ready yet."
Much to Clover's shock, the wendigo tore open his own chest. The maroon blood poured down into Twilight's chest. Her body jolted from the connection, and the healing process started. Just like with Cold Blue before, the fresh dark magic blood was able to heal Twilight's chest.
Clover was in a mix of horror, confusion, and slight relief. Their enemy was helping to save Twilight, but why? "Why? Why are you helping us? We fought you! Defied you at every turn."
"And yet, I never considered you an enemy," his answer shocked Clover even more. "None of you are my enemy at all. You, Rex, Twilight, and even Cold Blue are simply lost." He lowered Twilight to the ground as the spell finished. "And I wish to guide you throughout the darkness and light." With that final word, he faded back into red snowflakes.
"... Thank you..." Clover hated her confession, but it was true. He helped her, saved Twilight, and now what did he desire?
"Do not consider this as free..." The wendigo smiled at her. "I expect you to keep my secret from Rex." His eyes lowered back to Twilight. "This is the deal... and I'll be expecting more services rendered in return..." With that, the red snowflakes flew away and out of sight.
******
Back up top, with the peaceful movement of the Pegasus Isles, Starlight and Clovis finished multiple cups of coffee before realizing how much time had passed. Hours after the fact and Lord Red had still yet to return. The two had finished talking about Clover and even Rex. Boredom had begun to settle in on both of them.
Starlight looked over at the pegasi. Many of them were still just as happy as before. Not a single bit of rage, or even the slightest annoyance, traced their faces. She was certain now, this seemed way too off. But she didn't know how to bring this point to Clovis.
He dodged her last few questions out of boredom. So, it seemed unlikely this point would pique his interest at all. She needed to go at a different angle and then push into the strange eeriness around them.
Starlight tapped her empty cup loudly to get his attention and then started by aiming at his ego. "So what you like, Clovis?"
"You're asking me... about me?" He raised an eyebrow at her words. "Odd subject choice..."
"Not really!" she complained. "I'm actually curious."
"Why? I understood your reasoning for Clover and Rex, but why me?" He gestured to nothing as if Twilight was right there. "Your teacher, this Twilight Sparkle, has far more in common with those two than me."
"Yes, and thank you for confirming it," Starlight tried to not huff. "It's just I wouldn't mind learning some from you, too. After all..." She appeared right behind him. "You and I are masters of teleportation."
"Yes... I've seen your power before." He gave no face of impressment.
"Well, you haven't seen this!" She vanished. Seconds later, she reappeared on the table holding a strange piece of machinery. "See, straight from the Titan Airship."
"Do you know what it is?"
"Actually... no?" She raised an eyebrow. "I didn't see Fredricson or Lady Cat nearby. In fact, the whole Titan Airship was silent... Outside of some music, I couldn't recognize the style or source. I didn't stay long enough to find out. They must have landed somewhere."
"You teleported there without knowing their location and left without saying a word." He seemed more disappointed.
"I followed the titan airship's magic signature," Starlight boasted.
"How do I know this is even from the Titan Airship?"
"Just look at the technology?" She pointed out the colors and design.
"Hmm, unlikely evidence."
"Fine, what if I steal some chocolate milk from Starswirl?!"
"Better?" He laughed. "Take the alathar off of him."
"Wait, why?"
"Nine only in existence. The rarity and unlikeliness of finding it anywhere will prove your power."
"Fine!" she huffed in a flash of light. Moments later she crashed face first into the table behind them, with no alathar in hand.
"I see you didn't find it..."
"Find it?" Starlight got up and dusted herself off. "Try finding him. The second I spotted his power, I bounced back... Hard!" She seared at the pain. "That's never happened before."
"Really?" Clovis stood up and leered her over. "This could mean one of three things?"
"And?"
"One; Starswirl sent you back. Two; somepony else blocked you. Or three; you are lying."
"Teleport over and see for yourself," she pointed back. "He's in the center of the hourglass, the Batpony Canyon side."
"... No." He turned away.
"Wow!" Starlight laughed. "Clovis the Coward indeed."
"What?" His voice raised.
"Really, I'm not surprised. I'm more curious about what you are more scared of." Starlight narrowed her eyes at him.
"Enough!" He walked away.
"No, not enough!" Starlight numbered it out just like him. "One; you are afraid of Starswirl. Two; afraid somepony might be stronger than Starswirl. Or three; you are just too much of a coward to prove me wrong."
Clovis gritted his teeth and threw his arms around. "Fine!!" He vanished.
Starlight turned to another table and prepared to clap. Moving the table out of the way with her magic, she smiled as he reappeared in the same crashing motion. "Ha, see--" she was stopped from applauding at the fear on his face. "Clovis--"
The coward jumped away from her. "Stop, you filthy beasts!"
Her own shocked vanished as he hit her hand. "There's no need for insults, just because you were wrong!"
"I wasn't wrong!" he screamed back, throwing a popcorn seed to the ground.
"What?" Starlight was confused by this gesture until it popped open and revealed the image of Starswirl.
"Will you two please stop jumping in?" the old wizard shouted through the image while dodging other figures in the scene. "You are ruining the fun."
"Starswirl, what's going on?"
"The dead are rising to meet you!" He shouted at them.
"What?!" Starlight shouted back. "Dis... Starswirl, this is no time for pranks!"
"I'm not!" He shouted his loudest, crushing one of the figure's skulls right next to the image. Starlight's ears twitched at the sounds of the bones breaking and the brain squishing. Starswirl was filled with shame at his actions. He didn't want them to hear every detail of that but knew no other way to make them listen. "Starlight, Clovis... is Lord Red with you."
"No..." Clovis shivered away.
"Damn, we'll have to do this the hard way!" The image and the popcorn split into multiple pieces. "Present the images to any nearby authorities. I've placed them on a loop in case I can't fight them forever!"
"Disc..." Starlight stopped herself and quickly corrected. "Starswirl! You can't talk like you are going to die--" She was stopped as the loop played by instead. "No, no, no!" She shook the image for a response. "Starswirl! Starswirl! You, old wizard!! Answer me..." Her eyes filled with tears. "Disco..."
******