The shaking that had covered the entire Giant Blue Hourglass was stopped in an instant as two massive dark magic masters clashed into the shoulders of the massive centaur, knocking it to one side. A lone earth pony watched it all happen with on top of his unicycle, perched perfectly on the tip of a permafrost pillar. It was an incredible sight to him, seeing Nightmare Moon and Rex's full power bashing against the evils of Aitym's newest host. His eyes leered over the two watching in the distance, glad everything was going according to his master's plan.
"Look upon the grace of his knowledge." Carnival Carnage held out his arms. "Aitym thought he could deceive us, but no... Lord Frost's will be absolute."
"I can see that, Carnival Carnage," Nestor grumbled while flying beside him. "Shouldn't you take cover?"
"Fear overtaking truth?" The earth pony laughed at his guard's cowardice. "No, just as the ifrits watch, I shall praise. This is my master's purpose."
Nestor huffed in response, keeping his eyes locked on the fight. The two of them were far enough above the action, Not close enough to hear the words between the two dark magic users swinging around the colossal beast. They were both too strong to even notice their presence. It was almost like they were watching a clash of gods against devils and they were merely ants, unable to do anything to influence the outcome.
"Soon my Lord Frost, your will shall be complete." Carnival Carnage leered over to the blizzard around the country. "Phase 3 shall be completed on this night. I know it. I can feel it." He held his hands out in praise. "I can feel his glory coursing through the skies."
Nestor rolled his eyes and kept his hand on his weapons. "Fine, since you won't answer my questions, do what you wish. I am simply here to serve the rest of my griffin kin--" He was stopped by the sounds of screams behind him. Turning around revealed blood and sparks tearing through his forces.
"Oh, it seems the pegasi are far from broken!" Carnival could smell the carnage that he so adored from the beginning and never said anything until his guard could hear it. He spun around on his unicycle at the bloodshed. "Yes, more pain and agony for all."
"Hey!" Nestor complained. "Those are my soldiers falling!!" He aimed his arrows at the center of the attack.
Carnival snarled and rolled downward. "Time to preach..."
"What are you doing?" Nestor shouted down at the crazy pony. "I'm supposed to keep you safe! You're our only connection to that wendigo! We can't let anything happen to you!!"
"Oh, do you really believe that, Nestor?" Carnival laughed with a deep smile on his face. "Don't be silly. You griffins are purely my entertainment." He jumped off the pillar and fell down into the chaos below. "It's time for me to have some fun. Now, now, my children, it's time for me to spread the word of Lord Frost."
"No!!" The griffin stopped his defense and followed after the earth pony. Nestor flew through his forces. One of his griffins landed on his back, bringing him down. He shook free only to back away at the sight of their chest ripped open. Flipping upward, he aimed several arrows toward the source of the throw.
However, another griffin's body was rushed out of the bloodbath, being used as a shield by the attacker. Nestor lowered his weapon at the sight of the corpse and dodged to the side as the pegasus using it landed between him and Carnival Carnage.
The pegasus coughed blood, but smiled at the sight of Nestor. "Finally another commander to kill!" Her bloodstained glare popped out at him, making his guard break.
"What... You..." He pointed out to her, his spear shivering at the sight of an all too familiar face through the gore and muscles. "Private Pansy--" He was stopped as she rushed forward with several punches.
She didn't fly but pushed him across the ground, upward along the permafrost pillar. "You going to call me weak as well!!" Her voice was more of a growl as she leaped onto him and held down her blade against his throat.
"Enough of these endless confusions!" He gritted his teeth, kicking her off, and attempted to take back command. The griffin rushed forward with the blunt end of his bow, hitting her face and shoulder, before pushing the middle into her throat.
Another loud boom above them broke the griffin's concentration. His eyes flicker upward to see the giant centaur being sent falling toward them by the clashing powers of the two dark magic users. Seeing her chance, Pansy stopped the bow with her new muscles, pushing him back. Taking each end of the bow, she snapped it in two and bashed both ends into his shoulders.
Nestor was taken aback by her newfound power. He could barely block any of her attacks and she continued with using the ends to rip open his armor. He stopped her hands from tearing into his chest. "How are you so strong?!"
Pansy growled, bashing her head into his face, twisting his hands until his arms broke, squeezing down and snapping each finger. She laughed and growled louder into a full scream of joy. Leaning back, she kicked her legs into his chest and beat her wings so hard that they created a booming sound.
"What?!" The griffin's eyes widened as he was pushed toward the edge of the pillar. "Stop!!" He shrieked out in agony as her incredible wing strength ripped his arms off with ease and threw him into the crashing leg of the giant beast.
Carnival cheered and laughed at the agony of his own ally. "Such a beautiful sight...Yes, give in to the true sanity of the end. This is the will of darkness, my children." He was standing at the very edge of the pillar, spinning his unicycle around in a circle as the blood splattered over him. "The end is where we belong. Far from time's cruel grip of the light, we shall be free soon enough. All of us, this is what Lord Frost promised us!!" His applauses were cut short at the sight of another figure approaching through the shadows beside him. His eyes widened as a large buffalo fist tore through the forces around him, aiming at his face. He threw out his arms to block the attack and rolled back until he was knocked off his unicycle.
A strong arm stopped him from falling off the permafrost pillar. A large buffalo revealed himself, pressing his hand into the earth pony's throat and holding him up. "Your time has come to an end!!" Red Steel spoke out loud. Hermes was so shocked upon hearing it that he stopped in place too.
"It's been decades hasn't it, you old buffalo." Carnival choked, laughing at his attacker. "Tell me, where have you been all this time? Your wife and children are dead... Only your brother remains." He licked his lips. "So sad that he chose another over your honor, didn't he."
"Shut up you freak of nature!" Red Steel tightened his grip. His anger was so intense, yet it shattered at Hermes's hands around his arm.
"Wait..." the griffin barely spoke a word.
Above, on the leg of the giant centaur, Pansy crashed her feet through the chest of the griffin, crushing his heart on the oozy flesh of the massive beast. "Yes..." Her body finally shivered back as if reacting only now to the carnage she unleashed. "Just a few more... to kill..." She flicked her wings out and screamed out. "And then I'll rip off that griffin's king's head!!"
"Private Pansy?" A voice behind her stopped her cold in her tracks. Turning around revealing her leader, Commander Hurricane, who had just witnessed the scene's gruesome ending.
******
Back inside the mindscape, the memory bubble shattered and two mares were sent flying outward from the massive power and might. Twilight used her mind to summon another memory bubble for her and Clover to land in, only for chains to swarm out of the previous one and shatter the new ones the second they formed. The chain wrapped around the two mares' legs and yanked them out of the sky, crashing down to the ground. Clover winced and called out a memory of her own, landing them in a vast valley of cloud candy clouds. Twilight was caught off guard and couldn't grab an edge to catch onto.
"Mom!!" the alicorn screamed out to the unicorn.
Clover barely grabbed her by the fingers. "I got you."
"Thanks..." Twilight looked around to the pink clouds. "The Discordian realm?"
"What?" Clover pulled her up. "This is the Student's Playground." She gave a soft chuckle at the stuff sticking to Twilight's feathers.
"Oh..." Twilight gave a sheepish smile and cleaned herself off. "Dis--Starswirl gives it a different name in my time." The alicorn held up her hands up to her horn to condense the magic and attempted to contact Hollow Prince again. "We need to get out of here before that memory of Selena Moondie finds us." Nothing but sparks, just like before. As if he couldn't hear them at all. "He must be weakened beyond reach by Aitym's power on his mindscape."
"Selena Moondie." Clover tried to sound out the strange last name.
"It's more a title." Twilight stopped her. "I never knew her true name."
"That makes no sense?!" Clover argued. "What kind of name is that?"
"And so says Clover the Clever." Twilight mocked while attempting to summon another memory bubble for them to escape in just in case. "It's prophecy, spoken in both the present and the past that one day she lay waste to the Moon itself, ripping it from the sky and casting it to the ground."
"And what about Princess Luna?" Clover's eyes widened.
"Don't worry," Twilight placed her hand on her shoulder. "I've encountered her in many timelines. Never once has she succeeded even when it was a sole goal." Her eyes winced as chains ripped through the clouds. "However, two things are always clear, her hatred for Luna and the lust for my blood."
"What--" Clover was kicked back as the spearhead ends of the chains smashed down between the two mares.
"And that long after Rex's own life fades from this world, I will stand as the last true umbrum!!" Selena rushed forward with swings and slashes. "Come on, dear Twilily. Let's soak the world in endless alicorn blood!"
"It's Twilight to you!" Twilight sliced away the chains coming for her, Clover dodged the other chains. The alicorn attempted to take the offensive, filling her kopises with dark magic, and swung out a classic move. "Twin Cresent Moon!!"
Selena jumped back, twirling her chains around her. "No, you are the enemy!!" She hopped from one cloud to another, punching her claws into the edges of Twilight's weapons.
Twilight gritted her teeth. "No, I'm not! We're just on opposite sides!" She filled more magic into the kopises. "Quad Full Moon!!" Summoning a moon-shaped blast to bounce Selena back. Aiming her weapons forward, she demanded, "How can this be? You're not in the past. Nor mine or Rex?!" Twilight's eyes widened. "What summoned you here?!"
"Your friend brought me back." Selena leaped back from the blast and swung her chains down upon Twilight, grabbing her by the gut and throat. Smashing her feet into Twilight's chest, the umbrum turned her eyes to Clover.
"What?" Twilight coughed up blood. She looked at her mother. "She has no connection to you at all."
Selena cackled and pulled the chains harder. "You know nothing of... the future!! And truly nothing about me!!" She was stopped as Clover hit her in the face with her bow staff.
"Stay away from her?!" Clover called magic from her horn and wrote a symbol above Twilight. The grip of the chains broke away and retreated to the umbrum.
"Well, that confirms she uses magic similar to Rex." Twilight proper herself up with Clover's help.
"It is quite incredible..." Clover examined her spell. "Usually a basic spell is needed to break copycats." Sweat dripped down Clover's face as she held up her bow staff to fight alongside her daughter. "Rex taught me a few ways to break his chains in case they were ever turned against me, but that took the strongest form to stop her chains."
"So she's just a strong as Rex," Twilight agreed. "Which means we can't afford to hold back."
"An umbrum on the same level as Rex and wield the same weapons as him," Clover demanded. "Just who are you?!"
Selena tilted her head at them. "What? Shouldn't you be asking the reverse about her?" The umbrum pointed hatefully at Twilight. "Twilily, you lie to her at every turn. I thought you'd be smarter than that. What's the point of hiding the truth if it will only come back to haunt you?"
"Enough with the Twilily nickname!" Twilight yelled, flying up to attack her. "I've told her everything I know about you!!"
Clover watched Twilight's magic clash with Selena's magic and felt a strange familiarity. It was not just the way the two mares fought, but their magical presences were so similar. They didn't match on the level of fate much like her with Cold Blue or bound like familial akin to her and Rex. No, there was something more and the unicorn couldn't put together, connected but also shattered at the same time.
"Liar!! You must stop lying to yourself and to her!!" Selena's power roared louder. "Don't you dare turn her against me too!!"
"What?" Twilight raised an eyebrow, looking at Clover. "I turned her against you." The alicorn looked at Clover and then back to the umbrum. "You call me, Twilily now. You even called me that when we first met. You knew who I was long before I did." Twilight turned her full attention back to the memory bubble she was attempting to summon early. "Cursed time traveling, who are you to me and my mother?!"
Selena's eyes widened and backed away in confusion. "Wait, no, no!!" Her face flinched multiple times before turning into utter rage and malice. "You... dare call her... mother!!" Magic flowed out of her even faster and thousands of more chains were summoned around her.
Twilight spotted a cord to press within the umbrum. "What do you know of Clover?!" She trained her eyes at her while choosing a specific memory to go to.
"She is..." Selena stopped as a wicked smile cleaved over her vicious embrace. "No, it's not going that easy for Twilily." She raced forward, wanting to stop them from escaping.
"Clover is what to you?" Twilight gritted her teeth as her questions didn't break the monstrous mare's resolve. "Tell me?!"
"I've said too much. After all, a piece of her future, a future she would gladly deny if she knew the truth." Selena placed her hand upon the same memory bubble. She knew that as a memory she couldn't affect the destination, but she could mess with the one choosing the place. "The ultimate horror that will consume her soul soon enough..." Leaning forward, she whispered in Twilight's ear. "The same insanity that becomes clear in the future, on the day I ripped her guts!!"
******
Back on the frozen island, the rotting corpse of tentacles twisted and distorted back. He could sense the massive amount of chaos magic escaping with each passing second within the cloak of the old wizard. This affected his power over the rotting corpse and hold in reality, much to his annoyance. However, that was far from the craziest part.
Fredriscon and Lady Cat were dropped down to witness the insane transformation and glimpse of Starswirl's true power. Both of them could barely comprehend what they were looking at. They could feel the immense power and pressure from the spell being cast above them. The only thing that snapped them back to reality was the sudden sound of insane laughter.
Starswirl's left arm shrunk and twisted into a talon like that of griffin. His right arm morphed into the shape of a manticore's paw. His spine stretched back like the body of a serpent covered in patches of fur. Two horns grew from his head, that of a deer and goat. A lizard's tail extended from his behind. Lastly, his face mutated from its original shape too. Stopping only halfway as the old wizard slammed his talon down.
Starswirl fought his hardest to contain the chaotic transformation. Using all his magic to morph back his hands back and forth between that of a unicorn and a monster they had never seen before. The beast was unlike any other pony or animal they had come across. Its fur was a mixture of silver, red, and gold.
Turning his attention to Thule, the wizard could barely understand what was going on. However, he knew this massive amount of chaos magic could be useful in this bout. With all the power he could muster, he fired the beam of chaos magic at the rotting corpse. He hoped to drain all this power before the transformation was complete beyond his control.
Thule was hit head-on by the blast and tried to shield himself from it. Yet, it was useless, the combined forces of harmony and chaos flowing around him were too much. It shook him to his core with utter uncontrollable fear. The folds of rotting flesh tore apart, exposing a mere glimpse of his true form underneath to the full blast. A silhouette of tentacles and a beak, roaring with endless distortion of reality. He was forced to flee into his own dimension at the sight of it all. "Damn you, Starswirl...You dare use Chaos's true form against me!! Hateful beast, opposite of all peace... Dis--" His last words echoed the fact that he never noticed the spider once.
The massive orb of magic was released, causing Starswirl's transformation to reverse back to a normal old unicorn wizard. He was left panting in exhaustion as he returned to his old body. He had never before used that much chaos magic at once. "What was that form...?" His questioning left his allies just as confused as they saw more details of the horrible change than what he saw.
With everything going according to plan, the spider closed to two portals. He slowly breathed a sigh of relief as Starswirl stabilized. "I was unsure if that would work, or that I might unleash the beast too early in the timeline." Backing away, he allowed the two pilots to approach their friend.
Fredriscon helped Starswirl up, looking over his friend to ensure he wasn't hurt. "What was all that?"
"I have no idea..." Starswirl's body felt too heavy to stand. "Where did Thule go?"
"He's gone, the creature escaped into his own realm by the look of it." Lady Cat responded, not even looking at where the portal was. Her attention was completely on Starswirl, worried he might faint at any moment.
"He was merciful to us..." Starswirl was lying on the cold ground. "Or afraid of something else, I'm not sure which." He coughed, trying to catch his breath. "What might have scared him I don't know, but we shouldn't be so lucky next time."
"You can worry why later," Fredricson assured him. "For now, rest up. We still have work to do."
The old wizard laughed and slowly closed his eyes. "I'm not sure how much help I can be after this, but I will try."
"Don't be foolish," Lady Cat spoke softly. "If you can't do all the work alone. We're right here by your side, helping you every step of the way."
Fredricson nodded in agreement, giving his classic pirate-like grin. "Aye, matey. Let's just get him back into the airship for now."
"Yeah..." Lady Cat was also at a loss for words. "We'll fix the outside later." With that final comment, the two made their way back. The spider made sure to follow them carefully. Such a stunt had tired him more than he thought it might and he needed the rest of his cage.
******