• Published 4th Jun 2012
  • 4,141 Views, 489 Comments

Of Laurels & Lace - WritingSpirit



Rarity receives an invitation to a masquerade, but was immediately thrown into conspiracy, treachery and, above all, love.

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Voyager's Arc: The Rise Of Mirror Mare

Rain...

"He wouldn't do that..."

The silent patters of it fell upon the woodlands of Pendant Lakes, with the majority of it running down the slanted cliffs of Hoovingaar Mountain, engulfing its small crevices in a torrential flush of water.

"He would never..."

Each drop fell onto the surface like a silent echo to her, waking her up.

Harmony Peridot muttered a little, reaching around before glancing up into the black sky, towards the endless spears of droplets pouring around. The sound of shattered glass still rang in her head, though the shards of it lying around her only disproved her theories of it being a horrible nightmare.

"That means he... Pinkie..."

Lifting herself up, she suddenly yelped out in pain, before collapsing back onto the stone and mud.

Her hoof seared with an abhorrent burn, her face slamming once more with a splash of damp dirt. She gritted her teeth, trying in vain to push herself up.

She only trotted a few steps, before falling down again, this time tumbling down the slope. With a loud cry, she pummeled again, this time into a puddle of mud, drenching herself in the sloppy mess of dirt and rain.

"Didn't I tell you?"

Harmony gasped at the sound of that voice, watching as a white pony emerged from the woods like a phantom of death, his smile only mocking at her predicament.

The mare could only push herself backward as the stallion approached her. He chuckled coldly, brushing his black mane with a kick of dirt at the unicorn's face, only making her scowl in all her spite.

"Don't come any closer!"

"And what are you going to do? Arrest me to your coltfriend?"

His voice was slightly deep, with a cold sense of slickness somewhere in his heavily accented tone, the pink unicorn recognizing it as purebred English. With a flash of his smirk, he reached his hoof out towards the mare, who could only stare at it in bewilderment.

"Rise, Miss Peridot," he beckoned with a sparkle of his red pupils.

"You need not be afraid. I won't harm you."

With hesitation, Harmony hoisted herself up with his help, shaking her drenched mane free of mud.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked in cynicism.

"There will be benediction for the both of us," was his reply, guiding her under one of the pine trees.

"How did your crowd phrase it these days? Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours?"

Together, the two ponies settled under the protective, green veil of branches, shielding them from the endless assault of water from the skies above. The white stallion bemused a grin as he handed Harmony a towel, in which the mare eagerly accepted. The rain around them started to fade away, now becoming a mere drizzle.

She quickly wiped the remaining dirt off her face, proceeding to clean her hooves as well. Her hind one particularly stung with pain, making her quiver with a sniffle.

"Y-You were right..." she muttered, "back in Fenderville.... when you told me..."

"That stallion would never amend his faults, or faux pas, as I would effortlessly put it."

The white pony passed her a handkerchief, the mare receiving it to wipe her tears.

"It would seem, however, that what interests me the most is your research on the matters. Have you attained knowledge of the ritual for the remnant yet?"

"I-I think..."

"Then be swift, my little pony," he replied, pecking Harmony on the cheek, making her blush.

"It's best we keep this confrontation ambiguous and, of course, our actions in covert. I don't tolerate any exposure of my plans, otherwise you might expect a small visit from me some time or another, understood?"

Before she could recover from her surprise and give a proper reply, a rustle made the both of them turn, with a voice calling out:

"Miss Harmony? Are you there?"

"Hurry now," the stallion beckoned, the two standing up as the unmistakable rays of flashlights flooded from the dense undergrowth of the forest. He darted off first, though not before stating to the mare:

"We'll rendezvous again in the future."

Harmony hastily limped away from the incoming lights, hearing Stellar's voice echo right behind.

"Miss Harmony?"

She slid down one of the less steep slopes, crunching her jaw with pain as she landed on her injured hoof. Her mind whirred tirelessly as her journey progresses, painfully reminding her of the day she first met Winter.

"How did it come to this..." she asked herself.

"How did it...?"

"The Palgiots never change."

"But W-Winter's different," she scolded at her inner voice, though with doubt.

"Isn't.... isn't he?"

"Then he shouldn't have chose Pinkie over you."

Harmony couldn't help but agree.

"But... Pinkie.... she knew I was with him.... she knew I was..."

"She took you for a fool, and she chose you to play the part."

"But the demons weren't worth it. It's too much for such a frail mare like her..."

"Remember why you did it, Harmony Peridot," the inner voice scowled.

"They had never accepted who you were ever since you joined the group. They had never approved of your relationship with Winter, yet it seems one of them stole the stallion from you."

"They betrayed you."

Those words made her growl, the rage suddenly flushing back into her. She dragged herself forward slowly into the forest, hissing and cursing at the agonizing pain she was suffering under.

"They betrayed me..." she muttered, grinding her teeth with spite.

"They think they're better than me.... they think they can outrun me and just... leave me in the dust... Well, buck Celestia and her ways... buck friendship and buck Equestria!"

As if on cue, a flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder boomed overhead. Her eyes then squinted with rage, her headache a blazing explosion as she finished with a mutter:

"And most of all.... buck Winter Palgiot and that bitch..."

"Pinkamena. Diane..... Die."

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"Have you spotted her yet?"

"Negative, my Patriarch," Caduceus's voice crackled through the radio.

"No sign of her over here."

Winter's worry only grew more frantic at the news, trudging through the forest with his eyes still scanning the woodlands in the obstructing darkness of the night.

"Stellar," he called his butler through the radio.

"Any sight of her over there?"

There was a loud crackle, before the butler gave the reply:

"She's not here."

He tried not to scowl, glancing around in the dark forest.his flashlight in his hoof while trudging through the uneven slopes of the mountain. A few guards followed behind, accompanying him in the search for the mare.

Pinkie was there as well, marching alongside the Patriarch. Her face was strewn with worry and, unbeknownst to the stallion beside her, regret. Her mouth had failed her a few times, wanting to strike up a conversation, though he never seemed to notice.

"W-Winter?" she finally spilled out, making the stallion turn.

Her breath was immediately stolen away at his frustrated expression, the mare eliciting nothing more than a mere squeak.

Winter Palgiot just furrowed his brows at that, before asking her:

"What is it?"

"Do... Do you..."

The desperate need to just flush the words out overwhelmed her, yet there was something else trapping them; something she couldn't put her hoof on.

There was a sigh, before the stallion whistled to the guards, who listened attentively as he ordered:

"Go on ahead. Report any signs of her as soon as possible."

"Roger."

Watching the guards quickly march off, Winter turned back to Pinkie, the pink mare still filled with doubt.

"Look," he said in a gentle tone, "they're gone now, alright? Now what is it you want to tell me?"

She tried to speak, though it only came out in a quiet mutter.

The Patriarch sighed once more, before leaning closer, brushing her straight mane aside.

"Come on, Pinkie," he tried again, watching her as she started to sniffle, her eyes watering with beads of tears forming quickly.

"You can trust me, remember?"

Pinkie gave a small whimper, before saying out:

"D-Do you... hate me...?"

Winter just stare at her in surprise, before laughing out loud heartily.

The pink mare tilted her head, looking at him in bewilderment, before feeling a hoof on her shoulder, the warmth of it making her tense with a slight discomfort.

"Oh, Diane...." he grinned, hugging her tightly.

"You know I'll never say that."

"B-But... I made her.... she saw us...."

"That doesn't mean I hate you, don't I?"

He placed his hooves on her shoulders, albeit tenderly, watching with concern as the mare looked away, feeling her uneasiness tingling from her breath.

"We'll talk with Harmony once we find her. I'm sure she can understand."

"But what if she didn't?" the mare asked frantically.

"What if she just.... don't want to be my friend anymore?"

"Then we'll have to stop her, no matter what," the stallion replied somberly.

Pinkie held her breath, before giving him a reluctant nod.

Winter smiled, before turning to his radio as it flared up with a crackle suddenly, with Stellar's voice coming through. It was filled with excitement and relief, which only raised his hopes.

"Guards spotted her heading towards your direction, my Patriarch!"

The stallion turned to Pinkie, who gave him a relieved smile.

"Where is she coming from?" he asked again.

"Should be west of your position."

The two immediately turned to their side, peering past the pine trunks of the towering stilts of trees all around, complicated even more by the foggy darkness of the night.

Winter shone his torch towards the woods, with only the damp forest floor and the few bushes, not to mention the bountiful pillars of wood all around.

"Let's go this way," he suggested to Pinkie.

"She may had veer off from our direction somehow."

The radio crackled suddenly only after a few steps forward, attracting the stallion's attention as he glanced down at his waist, perplexed at the device.

"Hold on a minute..." he said, giving the mare a sheepish grin.

"Stellar? Stellar, can you hear me?"

The crackle became louder as the pair advanced further into the forest, the land sloping down into a bowl of lush grass. Winter jiggled the radio in frustration, only hearing an endless wave of pointless hissing.

"Reception's bad here. Maybe I'll change the frequency a bit."

As he turned the knob, however, a loud, high-pitched screech blared from the speakers, burning into their ears.

Pinkie covered her ears, screaming in pain, the sound piercing like daggers into her very heart, her mind seared like a brand. She felt her head squirming with agony, the shrill sounding somewhat... organic...

With a loud cry, the Patriarch hoisted his revolver, with one hoof pulling the radio from his waist and tossing it onto the ground. He pulled the trigger twice, the radio sparking up at the bullets blasting into its surface.

The screeching noise died down abruptly, the radio fizzling a little, before whining down. Winter spat at it, kicking the metallic remains aside.

"What was that?!" Pinkie asked, horrified.

"I... I don't know..."

The two glanced at the broken device with uncertainty, the hellish sound still fresh in their minds.

"This never happened before," he said breathlessly, furrowing his brows.

"I don't think it's the radio that made this..."

The gentle breeze that blew suddenly stopped the moment he finished his sentence, the heartwarming noises of the nocturnal animals falling into an unsettling silence. Winter raised his revolver in response, before turning towards the mare, his hoof gesturing a demand of silence.

"Just in case," he whispered.

Without further ado, the pair continued their trek down the forest. Their gaze was fixed ahead, though the slight rustles of bushes from stray raccoons or rabbits made them turn a little.

Pinkie looked back, glancing up at Palgiot Palace, which stood tall on the cliff; a watchful eagle guarding over the town of Pendant Lakes from its stone nest. Each step deeper into the woodlands, the grand structure sinks lower into the horizon, its brilliant lights shimmering a faint glow from the distance.

The town was now under a blanket of quietude, the once-bustling streets all empty. There was nearly no lights from any of the windows, with the exception of a few houses and bars.

Swallowing a lump of courage, she clambered up one of the rockier, steeper cliffs, ascending further away from civilization.

With his gun at the ready, the Patriarch held his breath at the humid sweetness of water tingling his nose, nourishing both his hopes and his memory. He had been here a few times to the sanctuary during his father's reign, considering how hidden and how serene it is from the other places he had been.

His breath was taken once more at the majestic, pristine sight before him, free of any taint of modernization. The twin lakes shimmered from the faint glow of the moon, the amalgam of the pair only pleasing his yearn for solace.

Though there's no time for that now.

"Hoof tracks," Pinkie suddenly pointed out, craning her neck at the circle prints plastered in the mud.

"They're leading that way... to the South Gate."

Winter nodded, a part of him impressed by her memory, though his worry only grew at that.

There's nothing interesting in the South Gate, or more accurately, the family mausoleum, that Harmony would find, and he's sure she's not just going to pay a visit to the dead.

He held his breath at the entrance, the vine-strangled doors now wide open, revealing the musty darkness below. The gargoyles on the roof of the protruding structure stared at them, their disturbing smiles inviting them back in.

"Are you sure it's alright to go in?" Pinkie asked, glancing hesitantly into the spiraling black.

"Those... things... they might be down there..."

"Don't worry, Pinkie," Winter assured her, holding her hoof tightly.

He pondered for a moment, before saying:

"I'll go down alone, alright?"

"But, Winter-"

"It'll be better this way," he interrupted, giving the mare one more hug.

"Stay here and call the others over if you spot them."

"A-Alright..."

With a smile, the stallion took his first step onto the granite stairs, feeling the cold, dusty surface of the smooth stone with the thin threads of spiderwebs clinging around.

Pinkie looked on with increasing worry, before the Patriarch turned back, giving her a cheerful smile.

"Don't worry, Diane!" he exclaimed teasingly, the use of her middle name making her blush.

"It'll be over before you even know it!"

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"Blood spill on blood..."

Harmony held her shivering breath, avoiding the stone gaze of the towering statues around her, slowly trotting down the stone bridge which guided her way into the darkness, her guide being the flaming torch hovering beside her.

She stopped the moment the light unveiled a cascading set of stairs, no doubt leading up to the hoard of coffins resting above the mausoleum, with the gate down to the academy for the assassins still standing tall, though her interest immediately waded to the paths leading to the side, a smile starting to form the moment she spotted the entrance.

"Transgressions shalt be repressed... tribulations lost...

Blowing her torch out, she stepped into the circular corridor, her anticipation growing with time, her abhorrence at the grinning skulls around making her wrinkle her snout. She edged towards the sound of rushing water, her hoof skimming down the cold surface of the stone wall.

Holding her breath, she finally found it: the crack on the wall, as mentioned in the book. It was lucky she memorized its contents, knowing that Winter would dispose of it somehow.

"He'll rise anew, in the chassis of another..."

The stream of water receded as Harmony pulled the switch down, watching the wall of droplets parting before her. Stepping inside and ignoring the few drips onto her mane, she stepped into the underground gazebo, holding her breath at the glowing capsule lying silently on the granite bowl, waiting patiently for her approach.

"Bound in both body and sense, set the world asunder."

She reached her hoof out, her eyes glittering with a spark of excitement. Her salvation... her liberation... just right within her grasp...

"Harmony."

The pink unicorn turned around instantly, first in surprise, before growling with irritation.

"What do you want, Winter?"

"We can talk about this, Harmony," the stallion said, almost pleadingly with his hooves raised.

"You don't want to touch that."

"And why is that?"

She strutted closer towards him, with Winter instinctively shuffling towards her in response. The mare tried not to sneer at that, placing her hoof onto the stone bowl.

"There's something powerful in this thing, is there?" she asked, though the answer was already clear to her.

"Why would you, the Patriarch of Pendant Lakes, hide something like this here?"

"It's only a problem-"

"It solves all our problems, Winter!" she interrupted.

"Or are you saying that you're this selfish? That you want to keep this sorts of things down under, when you know it can change the ways of Equestria as we know it?"

"Harmony, please!" Winter protested, clenching tightly on his gun.

"Releasing a demon wouldn't solve anything! It would only cause our downfall!"

"Because you have no idea how to utilize it!"

Harmon strutted around the fountain, twirling her hoof on the glassy surface of the polygonal object, watching it glow a brighter red at her touch.

"I learnt the extent of its powers, Winter. I can reshape Equestria into one which we can all enjoy in; one which we all can strive under its perfection. To have a grasp of the seams of time and using it to undo your mistakes and build from the bottom up..."

"There would be no such thing."

His reply only infuriated the mare, though he still continued:

"A world without flaws is a dead world. Nopony would have fun if we have perfection all around, especially when you twist the past. Equestria would never have its specialties and qualities that made it different from the other nations around, Harmony, because you can't have one thing without the other."

"And suffer through everything we've been through?"

She wanted to scream and smack him in the face. She wanted to just... to just rip his stubborn, sorry little head off! Yet she held back.

"I can correct the mistakes of your life as well! Your orders to assassinate your father-"

"That was a necessity."

"But a mistake all the same. They've wouldn't have to seal this creature if not for your father's death. Then there's also the mistake of cheating over me..."

Harmony laughed at that, toying the capsule within her hoof. The stallion furrowed his brows, his hooves tapping impatiently as she continued, her voice turning surprisingly tender:

"We can forget that our arguments ever happened, Winter.... Pinkie wouldn't break into our lives.... don't you want that?"

"To rid her is only what you desire."

Winter gave her smirk, watching her tick with annoyance.

"Yes, I loved you, Harmony, yet it seems you've yearned more of your aspirations than ours together. Pinkie... just wants us to be happy. She wants her friends to be happy. Something so simple to satisfy such a special mare like her... it's something you would want in every pony you love."

"Falling in love with Pinkie," he halted with a dreamy sigh. He couldn't believe he was going to say this.

"Falling in love with her... was the best mistake I had ever made in my life. If you intend to correct something such as that, then I'll have no choice but to disagree with your decision."

"R-Really?"

The two whirled around at the foreign voice, watching the pink mare in question approaching them.

There were tears in Pinkie's eyes; her only reply towards the Patriarch's words. Her heart tingled with a luxurious sensation of warmth, her mouth open in a silent gasp.

"Y-You... You really mean it?"

"I told you to stay up there, didn't I?" he spoke sternly, though before breaking out in a smile.

"And... to answer your question... yes. I mean it."

Harmony's loud scowl fractured into the moment, her eyes now warped into an enraged frenzy. Her hatred fueled with her disgust, the boiling blood of her veins nearly bursting out her head.

"You disappointed me, Winter..." she muttered bitterly, gritting her teeth.

"Falling... for a whore?!"

With a loud cry, she smashed the glowing object down, the glass surface shattering apart immediately. A crimson cloud started to brew from its cracks. It whisked into the air, rumbling like a ravishing thunderstorm, with streaks of red flashing down over their heads.

The contents of it started to pour out, the foaming, black liquid flowing into the stone bowl. It slopped and squelched as it contorted, twisting and warping into an onyx skeletal rib, with the darkness of equally horrendous skin now coating its sides.

Winter raised his gun at the monstrosity, watching its jaws form, its dark purple tongue hanging out grotesquely despite its still-mutating body. A pair of gargantuan claws erupted from its flesh, the room rumbling as the creature gave out a loud, menacing roar.

The lower half of it was still a black wisp, though the stallion knew it was due to its weak state, its full form being destroyed a long time ago. He watched with spite at the red, glowing marbles of its eyes glimmering back to life, its protruding fangs widening into a satisfied, devious grin.

"Run, Pinkie," he told the pink mare, who was utterly horrified at the grotesque scene, too terrified to even buckle her hooves up. She cringed at the spot, whimpering softly whilst hiding beneath her hooves.

"Pinkie! Snap out of it!"

"Your words can't save the mare now."

The stallion raised his gun, firing three times at the abhorrent figure, his disgust amplified at the bullets sinking in and absorbed into its skin. The demon screamed mockingly, the slurping sounds of the black goop diminishing, making way for the creature's deep, hissing voice:

"We meet again.... Winter Palgiot."

The Patriarch just gritted his teeth, tossing his gun aside. He glanced towards Harmony, who seemed to marvel at the horrendous figure, her eyes sparkling with delight.

"Never a fighter, are you?!" the demon howled in grand arrogance, its claws lunging forward.

"PINKIE, LOOK OUT!!"

The mare instantly jumped backwards, tumbling towards the floor with the sharp claws of the demon barely grazing her skin. She pushed herself away against the wall, closing her eyes as its other claw plunged towards her.

*CLANG*

Winter clashed his sword against the demon's hands, watching the sparks of the collision fizzle brightly in between. The two exchanged their glares, the screech of metal against metal blasting louder.

With a loud cry, the stallion felt himself tumbling backwards, his blade raised just in time to shield from the wide slash of its claws.

"Come on!" he taunted, pushing Pinkie behind him.

With a loud roar, the creature pounced upon them as they ran out of the chamber, galloping back into the empty expanse of stone, the statues watching menacingly from afar.

Dragging the pink mare's hoof, Winter glanced back at their pursuer, watching it dash towards them from the depths of the darkness, its pupils warped into deranged slits.

"Running like the coward you are. Just filthy."

"You go first, Pinkie!" he demanded, though the pink mare clenched her hooves at that, wrinkling her snout.

"Pinkie! Go!"

"I won't."

"It's not a question!!" he yelled, though she seemed to only frown at that, only displaying her annoyance.

"I'm not going to leave you here," she said, brushing his mane to reveal his weary face.

"I want to fight with you..."

The thousand screams of denial immediately crammed into his head, his expression only that of surprise as Winter stared into her face, watching it steel with fierce determination.

Immediately, he felt his hoof being clutched tightly, no doubt by the mare. Pinkie seemed to notice his discomfort and worry at that, though she started to smile instead.

"I won't leave you, alright?"

His mind stopped thrashing at her mellow words, before he grinned as well.

Their smiles immediately faded at the loud roar, watching the demon advance towards them. With his rapier at the ready, Winter marched upon it first, staring up at the hellish creature before him. His face glowered, striking a disgusted glare at it as he uttered out it's name:

"Morteoro."

The demon's mouth was stagnant, yet there was no doubt it has its own method of communication; its glowing eyes flared a brilliant scarlet, with its snake-like voice slithering an echo inside Winter's mind.

"The family never learn, do they?"

"We've learned enough to know you shouldn't be here," he scowled back.

A few clangs of metal later, he started to pant, feeling the energy in his limbs seeping out towards the demon, watching it writhe with its new-found energy. Fatigue soon overwhelmed his hooves, before he collapsed onto the floor, already worn out from the energy draining aura the demon possessed.

"Weak... You were never a challenge..."

Winter felt himself being lifted up, watching as Pinkie carried him by the shoulder, still staring with pure hatred at the beast. Morteoro, as he was known, only laughed at her mockingly, making her wrinkle her snout with spite.

Harmony's laugh soon filled the room, the pink unicorn watching gleefully at the demon, who turned around with slight bewilderment.

"I presume he sent you?"

There was a nod, accompanied only by her devious grin.

"Why now? You expect somepony else?"

"A shell like yours is slightly too vulnerable for my taste," the demon began, ignoring her slight frown.

"Yet you, my dear... you have that... that darkness...."

"I like it."

"That's pretty flattering, to say the least," she cooed with a crazed giggle, before turning towards the other ponies, who grimaced at their slight conversation.

She grinned, reaching back and unsheathing her weapons: a pair of serrated blades, carved with finesse, gold swirls worthy of envy from any mare with its sharp edges tinted a slight pink, its white center gleaming brightly.

"Although we have a few... witnesses to dispatch, hmm? Let start with the mare first..."

"Pinkie," Winter suddenly coughed out, his hooves wobbling from the intense fatigue as he tried to stand. His trembling grasp on his hoof only made the demon laugh at his predicament, though it only fueled his hatred.

"Get out of here. I mean it."

The pink mare did not budge, gritting her teeth as Harmony's lips started to move once more. From what she could make out, she seemed to be chanting some sort of mantra, with her double blades laid out before her.

She soon kicked her hooves back, galloping towards her former friend, though the demon seemed to have noticed her sudden movement.

*SCHLINK*

"PINKIE!"

Winter watched in horror as Pinkie was slammed into the wall, her chest now aligned with three red gashes slashed across her skin. She fell to the floor, clutching at her wound with pain, which only fueled his anger.

With a loud cry, the stallion charged towards the demon, swinging his sword about, the sounds of striking metal echoing throughout the subterranean plateau.

A loud clang to the side and another from above, before he was pummeled into the base of one of the towering statues, feeling the deep pain searing in his hooves. He winced at that, trying to lift himself up as Morteoro neared him.

"You could've just gave in... just like your father did..."

"M-My father was a scumbag," he gasped out weakly, his back tormented from its powerful slam against the hard surface of stone. He raised his blade, his hooves trying his best to stay firm.

"To take him as a shell was unwise, Morteoro. It only weakened you further, didn't it? What would you expect from a mare such as her?"

Both demon and stallion glanced back at Harmony, who was in some sort of trance, her words inaudibly muttering out a few words, though there was no doubt what she was saying.

"Blood spill on blood, sands spill on sand," he recited one of the first few lines with growing spite from his memory, with Morteoro laughing at that, flicking his tongue about gleefully.

"Transgressions shalt be repressed, tribulations lost at the end..." the pink unicorn muttered, her voice nearly a whisper with her hoof clutching tightly at her blade.

Pinkie groaned, lifting herself up with a small whimper of pain, ignoring the small trickles of blood running down her chest. Her gaze quickly veered towards Harmony, who seemed unaware that she woke.

Without a second thought, she galloped towards the unicorn, gritting her teeth in exasperation.

"NO!!" the demon roared, shifting towards her in his half ethereal figure, his claws outstretched, yet it was too late as the mare stopped her chanting, making him diminish back into the broken capsule right beside the pink unicorn.

Harmony felt herself being tackled down, her surprise quickly replaced by her rage. With a loud snarl, she kicked the pink mare off her, watching with vehemence as the mare sprawled to her side, clutching her bleeding chest in pain.

"BUCK IT, PINKIE!!" she shouted, gripping her blade forcefully as she marched towards her.

Without any second to spare, Winter slid between her and Pinkie, kicking the unicorn away with a staggering force. He readied his blade as the mare shifted herself, spitting at the floor in dense hatred.

"Seems somepony volunteered to be the first target," she sneered.

"Doesn't really matter now, does it?"

Their blades swung at full force, deflecting each other's attacks as the pair clashed their weapons together. They seemed to pull the seemingly routine dodges off spectacularly; with every swipe at their hooves, they jumped and with every stab towards their heads, they ducked away just in time.

With one last swirl of blade, Harmony suddenly struck his blade harshly, tossing Winter's rapier aside with a loud clatter of metal onto stone, its refined surface grinding against the stone surface. He held his hooves up as the pink unicorn raised her blade, lifting his chin and, with that, his deep frown.

"Pity, isn't it?" she cooed, glancing at both Pinkie and the Patriarch.

"You both should've listened in the first place, yet it seems I have no other choice but to kill you now, don't I?"

Winter growled, grunting as he felt the tip of his blade twisting harmlessly at the surface of his throat, swallowing down a nervous lump of uncertainty.

His gaze settled towards Pinkie, who was trying her best to stand. Harmony just giggled at that, trying her best not to grin at her futile struggles to lift herself up.

"Flimsy little bitch, isn't she?"

"SCHLIKK!!"

*gasp*

Harmony's mouth hung open, her eyes widened in shock at the sudden numbness that overwhelmed her body. She gazed backwards, only to see the golden handle of the Patriarch's rapier protruding from her back.

Blood spilled from it, entrenching her in horror and trepidation. Her grip on her furnished blade loosened, hearing it clatter towards the floor.

"You're so blind in your ambitions," Winter began, whispering callously into her ear.

"That you can't even bother in your own safety. Is it worth the risk now, Harmony? Is it?"

The plateau beneath their hooves started to crumble with a slight rumbling noise, before it snapped, completely breaking away from the rest of the mausoleum, the antechamber crumbling down with it as well. Winter instinctively leaped towards Pinkie, narrowly missing a gap as the pink unicorn fell onto the collapsing floor, which fell into the deep darkness of the abyss below.

He quickly scurried towards the bleeding mare, who gave him a weak smile, before gritting her teeth in pain.

"Don't worry," he muttered, trying to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

"I'll get you out of here."

Pinkie gave him a weak nod as the stallion lifted her by the shoulder, the two limping towards the exit.

She yelped in pain once as they neared the exit, the stairs before them getting closer.

"We're almost there," he whispered with excitement.

"Just a little more-"

*SPLURCH*

Both of them fell instantaneously, their chests now bursting out with sprays of blood, a white, sharp tip piercing out from the middle. Their eyes widened in shock and horror, unable to express their pain.

Winter slowly turned back, gritting his teeth at Harmony, who gripped tightly onto the side of the plateau, her deranged grin widened at her success. Her hoof held onto the hilts of her pair of weapons, connected to the bladed counterparts by a long, silver chain, with slight drops of blood splattered across it as a result of her stabbing.

Slowly, she pulled them like puppets, reeling them in towards her despite the gallons of her own blood gushing out from beneath her back, laughing maniacally as the two of them were dragged towards her, to join her into the abyss below.

Winter gazed at Pinkie, who retched mercilessly with her fluids now gushing out of her mouth, yet she was desperately trying her best to smile at him, which only made the Patriarch thrash weakly with despair.

"I-I'm.... I'm s-s-sorry...."

Harmony's grip on the cliff loosened, the three now falling down into the depths of oblivion.

She wanted to laugh even louder, to smile at her efforts, yet time slowed painfully around her, their free-fall suspended in languid motion, which only made her realize what had she done...

"Take this kiss upon the brow. And, in parting from you now, thus much let me avow..."

What had she done? Why did she do this?

A small tear escaped from the edges of her eye, only burning her in the deep trench of agony and despair.

You are not wrong, who deem; that my days have been a dream...

"B-Blood spilled on blood, sand spilled on sand," her crazed voice muttered, her mind trying to stop it.

Why can't she control herself? Why can't her mouth just listen to her?

Unless...

Yet if hope has flown away, in a night, or in a day...

She glanced back at the ponies; the ones she had brought along in their rapid descent towards death. The blood flowed from each of their wounds, though she could see from their eyes that they were half-alive.

"T-Transgressions shalt be repressed, tribulations lost at the end..." her voice continued, as if some otherworldly being was controlling it. Her eyes closed with her shivering breath, letting out a pained whimper.

"I didn't want this..."

In a vision, or in none, is it therefore the less gone?

"He'll rise anew, in the chassis of another..."

Winter floated towards her, the stallion somewhat peacefully sleeping in the cradles of death, though she could still see chest still beating with every rupture of blood, which only brought tears to her eyes.

She gave him one last kiss on the cheek, before glancing towards Pinkie.

The pink mare herself was smiling; not angry, not sad, but smiling! She could only stare at her in disbelief, before smiling all the same.

She glanced up at the ceiling, which rose far from her in her endless fall to oblivion. Her heart thrashed with remorse, the blood pumping from it gurgling out of her mouth.

All that we see or seem...

Her friends' faces all echo around her: Charter, Primrose, Dresden, Pinkie, Gypsum, even Winter and Princess Celestia herself, all enjoying among each other in a quietude of the summer. She could still hear all their cheers of laughter, the desire of wanting to laugh with them growing within her as well.

"Bound in both body and sense, set the world asunder," her possessed mouth finally finished, her chest starting to glow a flare of red, as well as her horn. Her tears shimmered as they floated away from her, before closing her eyes.

With a sigh, she slipped out a few more sane words out of her mouth; surely not her first, but no doubt will be the last, before she let herself fall into sleep, consumed into the neverending darkness below.

... Is but a dream within a dream.

"I'm sorry...... everypony..."

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"Almost there, Stellar!!"

The crack of dawn had hastened their attempts towards the crypt after Sidus had notified the butler of the possibilities of Harmony's destination. The butler himself sped past the woodlands, before finally stumbling into the sanctuary before them.

The twin lakes shimmered in the early sunrise, with the grandeur furnishings of nature's greatest wonders spawning from its banks, though there was no time to admire its beauty now; they have bigger problems at hand.

Stellar panted profusely, wiping the sweat off his hoof as Sidus stumbled out of the bushes behind, along with Charter, his wings weary with fatigue from his hasty flapping.

"Where's...." the pegasus managed to gasp out breathlessly.

"Where's the doctor?"

From the other side came Caduceus and Persimmon, all gasping for their breath, with Primrose shifting from the forest, sliding down the slope. She seemed to be the least tired of them all, judging from her fierce determination.

"Come on!" she shouted frantically, ignoring the fatigue growing in her hooves.

"We don't have a minute to spare!"

*BOOM*

The loud explosion made all of them turn, the birds all escaping through the rustling trees. Their surprise immediately contorted to that of horror, the butler being the first to gallop off.

"Quickly now!!" he shouted back to the others, readying his revolver.

The six of them clambered up the rocky slope, quickly meeting the door leading down into the darkest confines of the subterranean cemetery. Stellar darted in first, trotting furiously down the stairs with the rest following behind.

He stopped short as they finally reached the grand plateau, his eyes widening at the crumbled statues around, the mausoleum fractured as if a stampede had ran through here. Holding his breath, his gun at the ready, the butler quickly trotted forwards, before finally halting in his tracks again.

"Lord Palgiot!!"

Stellar quickly scurried forwards at the unconscious stallion, who was covered in a thick layer of dust. His chest still rose and fell, which only made him sigh with relief.

Caduceus hastily placed a hoof on Winter's chest, feeling his blood pumping through his veins.

"He's stable," the doctor concluded with a grin.

"Over there!!" Persimmon suddenly shouted.

"Pinkie!! She's over there!!"

Charter instantly flapped his wings, speeding towards the pink mare, her body sprawled across the plateau.

He frantically flipped his friend around, before sighing with relief after checking for her pulse. Her pink chest was covered in a fine layer of debris, otherwise nothing else.

"Harmony's there as well," the pegasus indicated, beckoning his neck towards the side.

"Strange..."

"What is it?"

"There was an explosion, right?" Charter asked, with everypony else giving a nod.

"Then why aren't any of them hurt?"

"Come to think of it, it is quite strange..."

Primrose glanced at the unconscious Pinkie, her head compelling her to ask her friend despite her state:

"What happened to you...?"

"CHARTER FREEWINGS!!"

The booming, feminine voice nearly shook the whole cavern, with a giant flash of light nearly blinding their eyes.

Charter tensed at the figure that stood before them, her wings opened with excellent grace, her horn gleaming towards the tip. Her mane flourished in a luster of colors, making them all of them bow the instant they spotted her dark frown.

"Princess Celestia..."

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Present Day





Winter Palgiot hastily stomped down the shifting corridors, watching the doors slide around the hallways like conveyor belts, controlled only by his gleaming horn.

He quickly swerved to the side, before raising his gun warily, aiming at the two ponies that pounced towards him. Without the least bit of hesitation, he pulled the trigger.

*BANG*

*BANG*

He scowled under his breath at the small scratch on his hooves, watching with spite at the two masked assassins that slumped onto the floor, their heads bleeding with a single bullet hole.

Kicking the bodies away, he trotted around the corner of the corridor, bracing his gun as he slotted a few bullets in. He bent downwards, picking up one of the numerous daggers on the floor, no doubt dropped by one of the dead ponies he had shot.

"Lord Palgiot."

Stellar's voice stopped him in his tracks, the Patriarch turning around instantly.

His butler approached him, his face more somber than usual. There seemed to be a subtle smile of relief, but any trace of it was swept away as Winter asked his question:

"Everything prepared on your half?"

"We're ready," was his reply, making the stallion let out a relieved sigh.

"I presumed that Harmony found an exit?"

"A dramatic one as well," he said with a chuckle, recalling the events in the ballroom during their dance.

"Told you it wouldn't work that well as expected."

"I'm surprised she hasn't murdered you yet," the butler questioned.

"She would've known where the source of the door enchantments should be from. Killing you would only ease her search for Miss Pie, wouldn't it?"

"I don't think she was sent here for that reason, Stellar."

Winter's assumption made him blink in surprise, unable to believe what he was saying.

"To be honest, I believe that she wants to murder Pinkie to hide something else."

"Something else... as in she has another mission?"

"Mission or not, she's still our most dangerous assassin out there."

The two stopped in silence for awhile, before beginning their stroll down the corridor, their guns at the ready. There was a sigh, before the Patriarch asked:

"How are things with Doctor Brineheart?"

"He, Cleptius and Griffonhooves got everything ready," Stellar answered, though hesitantly.

"I myself still believe there is another way of doing this."

"We just need to render Harmony unconscious and everything will be fine."

The stallion held his breath at that. He knew it was easier said than done, yet there wasn't anything else they could think of doing.

Stellar could only grumble, at most mutter at the plan with despondency. The Patriarch tried not to chuckle at the frustration of his butler, instead asking:

"Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?"

"You know," Winter replied, giving the old colt a nudge.

"To fight Morteoro one last time?"

The butler could only roll his eyes, making his Patriarch laugh out loud as he tuck his hooves in, trying not to scowl right into his face. His gun gleamed in the dim bask of moonlight, though he himself admired the quiet serenity of it.

"Nopony will ever be ready for a fight such as that," he answered, gazing at the night sky.

"Especially when it involves everypony you know and everypony you had worked with. I've lost two of my friends to that darn rascal already..."

"What's the chance that I could lose one more?"

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