S3 Episode 27: The Taste Of Platinum
Rage Mountain shook with a twisted cackle of laughter booming from Blood Diamond's mouth, "Oh, this is rich, truly incredible. A mountain shattering revelation and your enemy knew it first!! The princess and ruler of the unicorn race are none other than a half alicorn!!" words that didn't belong to him at all.
Princess Platinum was knocked back as blood flooded through the air. Her arms, completely severed from her body, bounced on the ground like twigs long before her body did the same. Her chest bounced around as her ribcage hanged open, gushing with blood like a fountain.
Dimitri, her loyal guard, watched in utter horror and shock at the scene. His attention drew back to Blood Diamond as his laughter echoed louder and so much colder. This wasn't the joys of victory nor the dreads of defeat, rather the ecstasy of laughter itself alone.
Things were far from over, for it was as if the alicorn were now transforming. His fur lightened to a very light, almost skin tone pink and his mane shed its teal colors for a silvery, luscious mane. His blood veins became visible through his armor, shining a deep blue, and his wings twisted almost backward. Finally, a third eye opened upon his forehead.
"Just like Twilight?!"
"No, no, no," the figure shushed the naga's assumptions. "I am not as weak as that lowly pale mare." His knife-like eyes moved over to Princess Platinum. "Blood Diamond, Blood Diamond, you complete lost soul of Insanity's womb!!" The voice openly mocked the mouth it spoke from, as if it wasn't his own. "You have been fighting with a half-breed this entire time. A freak of nature, just like yourself." He smiled at the life still within his enemy's breath. "Despite the wounds that I have just given her, she is still ready to fight, yes fight on to her very death!!"
"Half-breed..." Dimitri reached out to his princess.
"Yes, half alicorn, just like Blood Diamond, here." The voice presented the vestige that was once Blood Diamond. "Blood Diamond had his suspicion for some time, as her dark magic reserves were well hidden even during her fight with Twilight Sparkle. However, as soon as I saw the picture of her mother, the connections became so clear."
"The truth through his eyes." Dim questioned, "And what does that make you? Are you like the dark ascension Twilight used!"
"Did you not hear me! I am not the Pale Mare, nor am I akin to such a being. Where those forms are more of a darker reflection, I'm more of an extra host of Blood Diamond's power!"
"Extra host, fine then," an unfamiliar voice entered the area through Princess Platinum's own mouth as her eyes glowed a bright maroon red. "I shall defeat you too and bring glory to the unicorns." Mira stood up as if her blood wasn't flowing out like a fountain.
Blood Diamond's knife-like eyes narrowed at this. "I see you have another similar problem to Blood Diamond. I am assuming this is the voice that told her to orchestrate this war. Hello, Lady Mass Hysteria, your name suits you well."
Princess Platinum's eyes narrowed in return and the voice echoed from her mouth much like Blood Diamond's. "I am not her mother, just a lingering memory that helped her to do the right thing. And you are...?"
"I am no memory. I am an ally Blood Diamond can always trust, Hollow Prince." With that, he lifted his hands out and finished his transformation with his armor, switching out for a fine green suit and blue tie. "Yes, much better."
Her eyes widened at the green glow that had accompanied this last move. "What is his other half?"
"Nice try, but that's my little secret. I will tell you that, like your little Mira, he gets it from his mother." Hollow Prince straightened his suit. "Now seal up those wounds others so we can get onto the final round."
Doing as he asked, Lady Mass Hysteria closed up her eyes and sealed up her wounds with dark magic. The flesh fused close, but unlike Twilight, no scars remained. Channeling dark magic into her bloody wings, they changed shape into large gooey claws.
"Not as refined as I expected, but it will do for this finale!" Hollow Prince rushed forward with his bare fist.
As they clashed in blood and magic, Dimitri watched from just meters away with a combination of shock, fear, awe, and, most of all, shame. Here he could not stand beside his princess, blind to the living memory of her mother that had been manipulating her moves and this whole war from the very beginning. His mind raced back to where this whole thing started, with the death of Mira's father...
******
In the past, alongside an all too familiar funeral procession, alone filly walked. Her back continued to irritate her during these storms, but it was this day's crisis that brought her the most pain. Despite the others, besides her carrying the coffin to its resting place, she was completely alone in this pain and sorrow.
Little Mira, now Princess Platinum, a ruler of her citizens at the young age of five years old. It was agonizing. Her inner thoughts screamed at the body in the coffin as much as they screamed at the pain in her back.
Soon enough, they arrived at the spot. She sat quietly and ignored the sermon. The funeral passed so quickly and before she knew it she was looking upon the gravestone, the body now buried.
Her loyal guard stayed by her side the whole time, but where she was now, he might as well not exist at all. Her entire world was gone. Her mother had left her so long ago and now her father had joined in this abandonment. She was completely alone, so enraged that she couldn't even cry for her father, for her citizens, or even for herself.
Her back ached again from the rain. She slapped her legs and arms, anything to push the pain away from her back and to her face, wanting so desperately for this rage to be replaced with tears.
"Its hurts, hiding them for so long." A voice echoed out. "He died saving you from them, from your mother's curse?"
Mira's eyes wandered up to see a strange being standing before them. Her guard was already holding up a weapon to protect her, but she had been so lost in her pain she hadn't even noticed the protection nor the being's appearance until he made himself known.
"Who are you?" She questioned carefully while keeping her eyes on his form. The being looked so old, almost deformed. She pulled back in revilement as the smell finally reached her. It was as if he was rotting.
"I know beings like you." He lifted his wings out and used magic to unveil her own... alicorn wings from her armor. "Such beautiful wings, almost pure white, with tents of blue and red throughout. Unlike the wings of my current host, dying and decaying."
"Host? You are no alicorn, nor a half-breed!" She held up her rapier. "You do not know my pain, they are hideous!" She screamed back. "They are damned--" blood foamed in her mouth. She fell to a knee and her guard attempted to help her.
"Because you are unstable with them? Or because you are fearing what they are doing to your body?" The rotting corpse approached her.
"How do you know such things?"
"You are not the only halfbreed in existence. There are other half-breeds, some are mixed with alicorn blood and some are mixes of far lesser blood."
"Lesser blood?"
"Yes," the rotting corpse stopped as her guard's weapon stood in his way. "I know of another who suffered similar pain."
"Suffered, as in he is free now?"
"In some ways, yes. I believe you know of him. He helped your father." The rotting corpse held out an orb of ice.
Mira narrowed her eyes at the orb, as she knew it well. "Yes, him... he helped my father..." Her teeth gritted and memories screamed at her mind. "My father wanted to save me from my pain, save me from her curse. My father left on a journey that killed him!!"
"I know," the being answered with a saddened voice. "My ally, the halfbreed, was with him. He couldn't save him."
"Your ally, my father's friend..." Anger fueled her voice, "C. C. Frost... was his name..."
"Yes, the child of Indigo Frost."
"The wendigo king of legend..." Mira's voice was now filled with regret. "But, he's dead."
"Yes, just like your father is now. Both Frost could not save." The rotting corpse put away the orb. "My ally wishes to help you again. You and he are alike. Where you are half unicorn and alicorn, he is half wendigo and a half... something else."
"What possible help could he provide me now?!" Mira demanded back. He had been pinning her with questions and answers. She felt as if she needed the same in return.
"Closure and freedom, but most of all command!" His eyes traced over her wings. "All he desires in return is for you to be ready for the year of Hearth's Warming."
Mira's eyes widened, "Hearth's Warming... my mother spoke of those words at once: It's happening?"
"Not yet, but soon, soon." The rotting corpse turned away from them and held his hand outward. The flesh opened to reveal tentacles. They traced over the air and summoned a portal. "It is your choice now."
Mira's eyes tracked back to the coffin. Her eyes were now heavy with decisions and reasoning. She feared what this path might hold, but she also feared what the lack of action might hold. Clenching her hands tightly, she turned back to disagree, but then she saw her guard's face for the first time since the funeral started. There was anger, but deep within his eyes, there was hope. "Dimitri... you shall stand beside me in this fate!" Her voice was loud again.
"Yes, your majesty!" He stood ready to follow her.
"Good," she faced the rotting corpse. "What is your name?"
"My name is Thule, and I shall be your light in this darkness." He presented her along the way, and the two followed him into the portal.
******
The crashing sounds brought the naga back to the present as Hollow Prince pinned Lady Mass Hysteria down. The ground itself was ripping apart at this attack as Hollow Prince roared like a wild beast at her. This was in stark contrast, as before, while he had been laughing with a cold cackle. It was with the impression of satisfaction. It seemed the longer he stayed out, the more monstrous he became, just like Twilight's Pale Mare.
Dim's sight was now nothing but the eyes of a scared little child. The adult was practically in tears at such a defeat. His body refused to move, but his mind didn't care. Mental screaming echoed at his legs to move, charge forward and save the body of his princess. No, the mare he loved, even if she was being used as a host for another. He had to save her, and now.
"Pitiful, worthless, insult to alicorn kind," Hollow Prince mocked, "My father had the right idea long ago about handling such beings. I can't believe it was an alicorn that stopped him all those years ago." He lifted his hand and aimed a flat palm at her face. "I will not falter, not for Blood Diamond, not for Emerald Teal, not for Topaz Silk, and certainly not for you." He smiled, "Forbidden Spell, Left Hand of the Light"
The ground around her head shook erratically, as if it was in total fear of such a spell. All the air around her face and in her mouth shewed away like a demon escaping Tartarus. Lady Mass Hysteria could only feel two things, the absolute fear as time slowed around her and the growing pressure pushing off his hand.
Dim, the loyal naga couldn't hold back any longer as he jumped forward as time slowed even more. The ground around Mira's head gave a loud crackling sound as her name moved out of the way from the sheer pressure. Dim reached out to his princess, willing to do anything to stop this and save her. However, what he hadn't realized yet was the most agonizing question of all. Why hadn't the spell activated?
This was answered tragically with a single leer from Hollow Prince. With a flick of his hand, the spell was channeled out, not through Princess Platinum's head, but right through the naga's chest. A beam of pure light magic ripped him right open.
A loud boom echoed out and the thud of Dim's body hitting the ground followed as time flowed back to its original speed. The naga's body was unmoving, a gaping hole where his chest was. His blood stopped flowing and his mind was in pure blind shock as death took him away from his post.
Hearing his breath fade was all it took to bring Mira back to reality as she screamed his name in horror, "Dimitri!!" Her loyal, no, her beloved guard, was gone in a single move.
"Hmm, that was easier than I thought. You are back, which means I no longer need to stay..." Hollow Prince's hand twisted erratically from the force of the backfire. "Still not as good as him at such a move..." The limb twisted until it snapped completely. With such a surge of pain, the form of Hollow Prince faded and Blood Diamond's form returned. His knife-like eyes turned back to normal.
Blood Diamond fell to the ground, heaving in pain and agony. All he could do was stare back at his hand in horror. "You could have fucking warned us!!"
"I didn't have time," Hollow Prince's voice echoed in Blood Diamond's head. He looked forward to seeing the image of Hollow Prince bowing to him. "I apologize for such rudeness. Take back command." With that word, he faded from the alicorn's sight.
"Dim... Dim..." Mira whimpered to her beloved's lifeless body. As her gooey limbs faded from arms to wings and to just blood lying upon the ground, all she could do to reach him was kick with her legs toward him, pushing her body forward across the ground.
It was truly a pathetic-looking sight. "Such a shame that you suffer the same fate your father did upon this mountain." Blood Diamond looked upon Rage Mountain's entirety. "You know why this mountain is called rage mountain?" She didn't respond and continued her track. "We originally knew the tale of an alicorn dying here in front of her beloved, but after how your mother will reveal herself so easily... It became clear this was her resting place, her death, as your father helplessly reached out to her. Just like you reach out to him now."
Mira didn't care about his words, only seeing her beloved. Reaching him, holding him, never letting go of him at all, never ever giving him up. She gave tears, agony, sweat, and blood for him. He stood beside her all these years and now he was gone. No, he couldn't leave her now!
"You lost him, just as your father lost me..." The image of her mother appeared to her. Mira dragged her body past the image and continued her pointless track. "You can't lose now, you cannot give up!" The voice screamed at her. "You are my daughter, you are now the ruler of your unicorns! You have a duty!" Tears flowed over the image. "Now complete your duty!"
"No!!" she screamed at the voice. "I... I... I don't know what to do anymore?!?!" She reached the body of the naga. Dim still refused to move. All Mira could do now was wale in agony and sadness over his corpse. "Please, tell me, Dimitri, I need to know what to do? Answer me!!"
"Such is your name, Platinum. The taste of platinum is like that of the most beautiful poison.” Blood Diamond raised his other hand. Crystal shards fell around the two, getting closer with each drop. However, even as some tore through her body, she refused to let go of her beloved.
"Claim your victory!!" her mother pleaded with her.
"What is victory now without him?!?!" Mira clutched tighter. "Dimitri, answer me?!?!" The corpse was blank of all answers.
"Fine, if you won't make the choice, I will," her mother answered. With that proclamation, a gooey hand-formed from Mira's back. It didn't reach out to Blood Diamond or the loyal guard's body. Instead, it reached into Princess Platinum's pocket and pulled out an icy orb. "Indigo Frost, you left us this orb, now we will use it."
"No, mother! Don't do it!!" Mira screamed as the orb was crushed. A soft whistle echoed out from it that didn't end.
"What was that supposed to do?" Blood Diamond ignored the sound but didn't ignore the roar that soon followed. "A wendigo..." Before he could process the possibilities, the scream of Mira brought him back to reality as the princess vanished in a puff of red snowflakes.
The swarm of red snowflakes flew into the air and around the prince before leaving him utterly confused and flying away from the mountain entirely. His eyes widened as they expanded in size and their speed increased as they charged right toward the capital!
******
Twilight fell back in fear and shock as she had been told the full story about Princess Platinum's past and her mother's true form. Despite all the words that had been said, two words echoed over and over in her mind. The impossible had become reality. "Hearth's Warming... Those words, that event..."
"Twilight?" Cold Blue questioned.
"Are you certain this being that Mira spoke to said those words... Hearth's Warming?" Twilight pulled herself back. "Tell me!!" she demanded.
"Yes." He smiled back at her. "You asked for the truth. The answers that connect the alicorns, unicorns, and the naga. Princess Platinum hid her form from you by removing her wings stayed in place, waiting to return at the right moment."
Cold Blue grimaced at his words. "So they gave her a spell to access their power without the need of having them--" he stopped as his ears flicked at something.
"That's not the point now. Hearth's Warming... those words shouldn't exist--" She was stopped at the light alicorn laughed within inside the siren filly's body.
"You are from the future. Tell me, what does the future say about these words?"
"I... I... " Twilight stopped herself. She knew if she spoke further, it would only bring more danger to the timeline. "I can't say..."
"You refuse to say so. That only means three things. One, those words, their origins are very important and their origins for you either lie in the past or the future." The light alicorn turned away and held out his hand. The ground shook without warning and an airship appeared.
"What?" Twilight took up a stance. "Where did that come from?"
"That doesn't matter. What does matter is you find the truth, right?"
"Yes..." Twilight curious what he meant by that.
"If you knew the origins of Hearth's Warming, wouldn't make things easier for you?"
"I..." Twilight stopped again. She knew the origins of it in her timeline, right? This was the past, this was supposed to be the origins of Hearth's Warming right here, right now, right?
"A better question is why is it called Hearth's Warming?" The light alicorn presented her with a question she had never been considering in the slightest.
"Yes... the origins. That would give me the answers I seek." Her eyes lit up as her mind raced. "If I were to find the answers, I would have the greatest advantage."
"Then take that advantage!" The light alicorn snapped the fingers of his siren filly host and the airship opened. "Let's see where it all began, young time traveler."
"Yes, yes, yes!!" she cheered, "Cold Blue--" Her joy was stopped at the face he made. The siren male was looking in the other direction as if he was hearing something. "Is something wrong?"
"No..." He spoke calmer, "Go, you need your answers, I will follow soon."
"Okay," she boarded the ship.
The light alicorn hiding in the flesh of a siren filly didn't follow at first and instead stared deeply at the other siren. "Hmm, are you as sure as she is?"
"Yes, but I need to deal with something first.” Cold Blue's ears twitched again with annoyance as a sound buzzed by that only species of his kind could hear.
"This body hears it too, a soft whistling..." The filly turned away. "We need to leave now!"
******
Back in Lord Red's airship, Starlight was awakened by shaking. She lazily turned away from the sight of Starswirl the Bearded. She felt truly betrayed by the events of before, and that battle only brought more confusion.
Starswirl didn't even attempt to mend things with some chocolate milk or cotton candy. He simply sat by and spoke softly, "We have finally arrived back in the capital."
"Why?"
"What?" he leaned back in.
"Why would you bring me if you were still going to allow this?"
"I never brought you here to ensure Twilight's safety. Her safety is her choice." Starswirl cleared his voice as he noticed his choice of words was only making things worse.
"Then why?"
Starswirl leaned forward and composed himself for a better answer. "You wield such things like dark magic and light magic, yes. And you do it with none of the repercussions like transformations or distortions of the body. Do you know why?"
Starlight faced him with utter confusion. "I was told once that I have a unique family line."
"Yes, but that's not just it. You wield both and could even blend them with enough training. This is completely impossible, even for the greatest of wizards and magus."
"Why?"
"Because the beings that have been using dark magic and light magic have been at war for millions of years. Grogar and Realta brought these magics into reality but never once had lines carrying these magics crossed until you appeared." Starswirl's voice filled with joy as each word was spoken.
"What does that have to do with me meeting Lord Red?"
"Everything!!" Starswirl shouted.
"What do you mean?"
"You might have not noticed it yet, but Lord Red is one of only a few users of corruption magic. It is a form far more dangerous than either light or darkness. In fact, he is a master in its usage."
"And!" Starlight was now sitting up, annoyed that none of these words were giving her the answers she sought.
"Such users have only one enemy, an omnious pony." Starswirl calmed his joy and made his next words more clear. "You are an omnious pony, a wield of both light and darkness, therefore Lord Red's greatest enemy."
"And yet you stopped me from confronting him? Why?"
"Because if you face him now, you will die. Despite what the prophecy said, you are nowhere near his level, let alone a level to challenge him and defeat him."
Starlight looked down at her hands. Magic pulsed in black and white. "I am an omnious pony, but this doesn't answer why you brought me here still."
"It does completely, but not for you. Lord Red gave me exactly what I needed to see."
"What do you mean?" Starlight raised an eyebrow at his words. "What did you do?"
"I did nothing. It was him that made the surprising move." Starswirl smiled. "After the battle with the Night brothers, he healed you, without a second thought."
"What? But why? He wishes to kill my teacher!"
"Indeed, why did I do that?" a fresh voice entered the room. Starlight was shocked to see Lord Red watching the whole thing. "I have many reasons I saved you and we shall talk about them after you help in my mission."
Starlight’s eyes were wide at his words. “Help you? Why would I help you kill my teacher?”
“Incorrect. I wish for you to help me bring her to justice?” Lord Red stopped at the bed and helped her up despite her refusals.
“No, did you not hear me? I refused to help?!” Starlight fought back and picked herself out of the bed.
“I know you have reservations against my mission,” Lord Red explained. “But you are still not listening?”
“I am not listening?! You are not listening?!” She pushed him away. She charged her horn with magic.
Starswirl attempted to stop her, but she blasted away. The magical blast reflected off of Lord Red easily without him needing to lift a single hand. Starlight blasted it again, and it still did nothing. She jumped back and summoned her gentlemare sword. She swung, and he blocked. She swung right, and he blocked again. She's thrust forward with her blade, launching herself. However, he jumped clear over her with ease.
Once behind her, he wrapped his hand around her mouth and lifted her into the air. "Such a young mortal need to listen more often. I wish for you to complete this mission with me, but this mission is not for me to kill Twilight Sparkle myself. Simply bring her to justice.”
“What?!” Starlight spoke as she was dropped to the ground. “But you said--”
“I said I would bring her to justice and that would lead to her death. I did not say that I would be the one committing the deed.”
Starlight's eyes narrowed at his words. “No, I will not help you.” She lifted her blade and struck forward again, only for him to catch the tip in his own hand. Seeing the failure, she fueled the sword with magic and pushed back harder. No matter how much magic she fused into her blade, he did not budge an inch. Reaching the last resorts, she held out her hand into a palm shape and spoke the words, ignoring the warnings, “Left Hand of--”
Lord Red's eyes widened at those words. He stopped her instantly with a punch to the gut. “You dare use one of my own spells against me.”
“Your spells?!” Starlight could barely breathe after that attack.
Lord Red lowered himself to her height and whispered to himself, “The hand spells are all mine, every single one.” He turned away and commanded, “You will follow…”
“I will not--” She stopped as her body lifted on its own. Her legs moved forward and followed him out of the room. “Enough… Let me go... How are you doing this?” She fought him every minute down the hallway. With every step she took, it felt like she was being pulled by a string. “Is this magic?? your horn doesn't glow?”
“In all the many millennia I have known him, it never has once glowed, at least not in how most horns glow?” Starswirl commented as he followed them. “Sure, it might glow when he's casting the simplest spells. But when he's casting far stronger ones, there is not a single glow at all, not even a spark. It is as if he is drawing on a power vastly different from any pony.”
They stopped at a door in the hallway. With no movement, the door open as if being pulled by the same unknown feats that were pulling Starlight. Starlight was stopped in front of the door and she was presented to the opening to the sky. As strange as it seemed, the pressure from outside didn't affect them at all, as if Lord Red was holding it back with ease. Starlight's face was forced to turn towards Lord Red and look upon his hand.
Lord Red held his hand out in the same form that she did and spoke the words she could not finish, “Forbidden Spell, Left Hand of the Light.” A perfect beam of pure light magic shot out. He held out his right hand and spoke again, “Forbidden spell, Right Hand of Darkness.” Another perfect beam shot out, this one of pure dark magic. As both spells stop, Starlight could no longer feel the tug of the strings upon her as it did not stop her from falling to the ground in defeat.
Lord Red turned to face her before taking a moment to let her absorb all that it just happened. After that moment passed, he spoke softer, no rage in his eyes or his voice, “I know this Twilight Sparkle didn't teach you these spells. You speak them with such refinement and lack of knowledge. Such things can lead to recoil of limbs, breaking or even complete reverse of such attacks.”
"What are you saying?"
"You didn't learn them from her, right?"
“No,” she didn't argue with him. “I've somehow always known about them with faint memories.”
“Memories of what?”
“My actual parents, they were masters of the spells. Or at least that's what I was told by my adopted father, Firelight.” Starlight sat down and twisted her fingers upon the ground, not wanting to look at these memories. “I was never told why they left me with him, only that these memories and these hand gestures would one day be useful to me. Truthfully, I never attempted to feel magic into them until I saw someone else use the spell during our travels through time. That someone nearly killed me.” Starlight held her hand to her face and then her eyes. “The user said he could see something different about me purely through looking at my face and eyes. He spoke about how I had an immunity to the Glare.”
“Hmm, the future holds plenty of strange things.” Lord Red pondered aloud. “The Glare is a spell I haven't yet perfected, but it is good to know it works, eventually. It is no surprise you were immune to it. The Glare spell and the Hand spells are worthless against the omnious pony.”
“If the omnious pony is immune, why forge such things?”
“Simply put, an extra alarm system. Such spells are devastating, even lethal to normal beings, but not to an ominous pony. If the spells work, I get rid of a pointless opponent, but if it doesn't work, I know who I'm truly dealing with.” Lord Red looked back at the old wizard. He could see Starswirl’s thoughts so easily. “You truly are a tricky one, you old wizard. You knew I'd get along with her just fine.”
“What? No? Me?” Starswirl laughed.
Lord Red turned his attention back to Starlight. “I will still bring Twilight Sparkle to justice, but if you can convince me differently before the execution day, I might save her from her death.” He held out his hand to Starlight.
The unicorn’s eyes lit up brightly at his words, and she took a hand in agreement. “Thank you, thank you, I will convince you.”
“I'll need plenty of convincing.” With that, he closed the door to the airship and left to prepare for their arrival. As they left sight of the door and windows, a gust of wind blasted by with a single red snowflake.
******
Down in the capital, things were moving slower. Clovis and Silver Pear had been walking along a path filled with many unicorns, searching for Twilight and Cold Blue on their own. Or rather, Clovis wanted to search alone. "She must really mean a lot to you, earth pony."
"Not really?" Silver Pear brushed it off. "Lovely cares a lot more about her than I do, she's her teacher after all."
"Oh, so you have feelings for the other unicorn," Clovis commented.
"So what? You want to make something about it?!"
"No, no, no. I just assumed you were the funny best friend." Clovis smiled at Silver Pear's reaction.
Silver Pear fired back, "Are you going to really pull shit on me?! I won't be fooled easy!"
"I do not know what you're talking about?" Clovis replied. "I just want to search on my own. I don't need an earth pony lackey."
"Well, deal with this lackey." Silver Pear laughed back.
Clovis rolled his eyes, "I don't mean to be insulting to your kind--"
Silver Pear jabbed him in the chest, "Insultive to my kind, you haven't even attempted to be racist yet," he laughed openly.
Clovis ignored his comment and pushed him away. "I am here to find Twilight Sparkle." Clovis narrowed his eyes.
"Even if it means leads to working with me," Silver Pear laughed harder. "You cannot kill her. She's far more powerful than any unicorn. And far beyond where you could ever measure to and the same goes for my lovely. They could easily outmatch you and your master."
"You're almost right," Clovis commented. "They are from the future, after all. So it would make sense they could outmatch a unicorn like me but outmatching my master is far beyond possible”
Silver Pear turned away from that answer, "Unlikely, I don't care how powerful this Lord Red is. He holds no candle to the power of our family.
"Your family! All I see is an earth pony with little to his name and little to no reason being here." Clovis stopped upon seeing Silver Pear's reaction to that. The earth pony's eyes were lowered as if in shame. The unicorn stopped at the turn and took a breath. He knew his master would be here soon. Even if his master was annoyed at not finding her, he would find her instantaneously.
Seeing Silver Pear stop as well gave the unicorn a chance to pester, "So why are you even with the group?"
Silver Pear was surprised that the conversation had turned on him. "I'm not sure." he never thought of his reasons that much until now.
"What do you mean by that? I'll repeat myself: why are you working with Rex and Clover. I understand why you're working with Starlight Inn Twilight. But the other two are vastly different."
"How so?" Silver Pear questioned.
"Rex is a former criminal who has done many evil things in his past. Now he serves royalty as penance for those sins." Clovis pulled out an old wanted poster as proof. "Clover, my sister, is not even that favorable to her own family, and don't even get me started on that old wizard." Clovis left enough room for Silver Pear to catch up.
Instead, the earth pony barked back. "You will not mock them! "They're helping me!"
"Helping you," Clovis went wide eye to his answer as he could see Silver Pear wasn't lying. "You are in the way. I see no reason they should help you at all. What could you possibly need from them?"
Silver Pear lean back against a tree and answered more carefully, "To defeat Indigo Frost!"
"Really? The wendigo! You want to defeat it? That's preposterous!" Clovis couldn't hide back his laughter. "For what reason? Why would you fight him?"
"Because he took my mother..." Silver Pear's words cut right through the conversation in an instant.
The unicorn went silent. Such an answer was shattering. Finally, after a long pause, he spoke back, "What do you mean?"
"I mean that my mother is missing," Silver Pear answered. "One of that wendigo's allies took her when they attacked my village." He stopped at the sight of Clovis' eyes. They were shaking. This made no sense.
"Silver Pear, I never thought someone like you would feel similar pain... to me," Clovis spoke softer. "At least your mother is alive." His words were so cold. They sounded so broken as if he had accepted them long ago.
Silver Pear was taken back. "Clover mentioned nothing like that?"
Clovis smiled, "Of course she would not. It wasn't her mother that died." Clovis's words put things into perspective.
Silver Pear was taken for a loop of thoughts and reasons on why he would say that then it became clear. "Just how many... how many siblings do you have?" he asked
Clovis answered more harshly, "Two hundred half-brothers and three hundred half-sisters. Each one has their own mother and even families. What we get for having a father who is far more ancient and older than Rex by several more millennia. Clover will still stand beside those creatures even as she grows older, and they do not. Silver Pear, you are a mortal and yet you live upon a ship with gods who will outlast even your ashes. You wondered why I laugh at such efforts."
"Clovis, you don't mean that, even about your own sister?"
"And my sister's idiocy? She has the excuse of loving one of them. Do you have an excuse?!"
"Do you feel better now?" Silver Pear smiled at the unicorn's answer. "It feels good to speak the truth of your heart. Honesty is a good code to live by." Silver Pear held his hand out.
Clovis took it and smiled back. "Yes, I guess it is good to talk about this. Even if it's with somepony as lowly as you."
Silver Pear laughed at that answer. "Again you continue to mock me."
"No, I understand now, you are just trying to help, the only way you can," Clovis corrected. "I will help you find Twilight Sparkle and Cold Blue. Whatever my master does next is on him. I am simply following orders."
"I too understand such things." Silver Pear answered. "Just know that I will stop him."
Clovis laughed as hard as possible at such an answer. "You, stop him, " He laughed harder, "That is truly an incredible joke!"
"Hey!!" Silver Pear bark back in laughter. "I could try. I'm one of the best fighters in my village. I trained alongside my brother!!"
"Yes, but training even with another earth pony will not help you against Lord Red. However, I would love to see you try." Clovis gave his last comment before resuming their search. Now the two were laughing up a storm and were practically friends.
Silver Pear always had this way of anypony. Even if it was for someone hunting down one of his other friends, he would still willingly be a friend if given the chance. They stopped as they noticed everyone else around them going silent.
"What is it?” Clovis asked.
"I don't know.” Silver Pear shivered. "This feeling is so familiar." The earth pony was stopped as a loud roar echoed out.
"What is that sound?" Clovis stopped as Silver Pear backed away in fear. "Silver Pear, what is this?"
"It is happening again. Why here?" The earth pony's eyes went wide. He pointed out above them.
"What is happening--" Clovis was stopped at the sight of red snowflakes swarming down around them, no, around everything. He turned away only to see Silver Pear run off toward the center of the capital. Clovis narrowed his eyes at the sight of an airship landing in the same direction.
******
In the center of the capital, Lord Red's airship finally came to a stop and landed. The ship opened up. Starswirl, Starlight, and Lord Red exited. Lord Red was surprised to already see a duo ready to meet them. With little scan needed he spotted an umbrum, and unicorn at the front.
"Hello, I am Lord Red." He stepped off the platform and presented himself, curious why they were here and Twilight Sparkle was not. "I am here to bring Twilight Sparkle to her execution."
"I know.” Rex's horn glowed brightly and the dark alicorn amulet shined just as bright, fueling him with dark magic. "Unfortunately, I can't allow you to take her." His shadow expanded outward from his body and overtook the entire area. This made any background ponies scatter in fear.
Lord Red's eyes narrowed in shame at that answer. "So be it..."
Rex fueled his shadowmancy, preparing to do the unthinkable as tentacles reached out and grabbed Lord Red by the legs. Clover stood beside Rex, knowing after what he's learned he would accept nothing less right now. She pulled out her bow staff and charged forward. With the help of Rex's shadows, she slipped beyond Lord Red and pushed Starlight and Starswirl far away from him and into another shadow.
Starlight and the old wizard landed out of the shadows on the far side of the area. The unicorn attempted to reach out to Rex and Clover for answers, only for Starswirl to stop her. "No, they need to handle this on their own."
"And what if they bring more danger to my teacher in the process?!"
"It's too late for concerns like that. We will have to wait and see what Lord Red does next."
Lord Red was surprised at the speed of the shadowmancy. While still not on the level of Stygian, it was still fast enough to catch him off guard. Now he was trapped in place with an enemy at the front and an enemy at the back.
He knew he had to play this carefully to ensure a peaceful resolution. "Why do you wish to stop me?" Lord Red questioned.
"I do not wish to stop you," Rex cleared his words. "Rather, I wish to save her!"
"What does Twilight Sparkle mean to you?" Lord Red poked for answers.
"I don't know what she means to me yet. However, I will protect her!" Rex replied with a shadow swarm of tentacles. "Dark Alter, Shadow Spell Thirty-Two, Tentacles of the Kraken!!"
Starlight ignored Starswirl's warning and charged her horn with magic. She attempted to stop Rex only for Lord Red to lift his hand and stop the tentacles before they could reach him in an instant. "Wow," Starlight pulled back. To her eyes, it was as if every tentacle was being held in place. There was truly surprising since she couldn't sense any magic being used by Lord Red at all.
"Do you dare to defy me?" Lord Red twisted his hand, and it appeared as if the tentacles were being squeezed by an unknown force.
Rex sneered at the sight and readied more tentacles, fueling them with more dark magic. "No, I will defy you. I will defeat you!!" He flew the tentacles forward and dropped into his shadow. Clover rushed back in from behind.
Lord Red broke into the shadows, holding him down with ease and jump above Clover. He yanked his hand back and pulled Rex's tentacles around Clover. He leered his eyes around for Rex but couldn't find him.
Rex smiled at this as he fell out of the shadow of a building nearby and wrapped his chains around Lord Red. Landing on top of him, he kicked the enemy in the face several times until they landed.
Lord Red was again surprised to see himself pinned to the grass. However, he still knew this would do little to deter him. Finally, magic could be seen pulsing from his eyes, but it was too fast to see the color as it vanished with a spell's activation. "Gravitational Retribution!" He needed no number nor a spell type as it pushed away Rex completely, throwing the umbrum back into the building.
Rex didn't have time to react to such a spell as the glass of the building tore through his back. Feeling the pain did little to stop his efforts, and he rushed back. This time, he dropped his chains into his shadows and flew forward with his razor string. He knew he couldn't hide such a thing, so he didn't. He fueled it with as much dark magic as he could muster. "Dark Magic Spell Number Fifty, Condensing Exposure!!"
The group was surprised by such a move as the ground shook erratically. Starswirl turned away in shame. It was far too dangerous to clash two gravity-based spells in such a populated area, but Rex was just as determined as Lord Red at this point. Neither would fall easily right now.
Clover knew this too, but stood beside Rex in this battle. She pushed her strength to her limit, breaking free from the controlled tentacles. She fueled her body with magic and bounced with her bow staff to throw her at Lord Red like a missile.
Lord Red admired their efforts, but he was getting annoyed. He closed his eyes and magic rose around him. Starlight found it strange as none of it came from his horn or eyes. It was as if the power was coming from the very world around him. The magic was strange orange-like power with pieces of black and red.
Starswirl saw Starlight's attention. It was almost like admiration, even if it was for someone who was best considered an enemy to her and their allies. "Corruption magic is what we call it," he answered her questions so quickly. "We only call it that because we fear its incredible powers of distortion and absolution. Despite its name, much like Harmony and Chaos, it is still one of the building blocks of the universe itself."
As his enemies got closer, it was as if time and space were slowing around Lord Red. "I am one of the oldest beings in creation itself. I am here not to judge for myself nor for my ends alone, but for others above all else." He opened his eyes as the full force of the spell was unleashed. "Corruption Spell Number Ten, Binding Order!"
A mighty force threw both Rex and Clover to the ground. This form might have seemed simple on the surface, but the force of the movement completely ignored all laws of physics. Starlight was in complete shock. It was as if the universe simply stopped working for either of them.
"I am here to bring Twilight Sparkle to justice." Lord Red turned toward Rex as his shadows faded.
Rex was just as surprised as Starlight. He suffered no wounds, but his body refused to stand. It was as if his will was no longer his own. "I still refuse," his voice spoke proudly.
Lord Red smiled at that answer. "And why do you continue to refuse?" He raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. "What have you learned about this Twilight Sparkle that is unknown to me, Starswirl or Starlight?"
Rex gritted his teeth. He didn't mean to make it that obvious, but with this information, he couldn't easily stand by and do nothing, not again. Lord Red could see through it easily. Fighting him only made it even easier, so Rex stopped hiding it and gladly smile, speaking proudly. "I am here to save my daughter!!"
Clover was just as surprised as anypony at Rex's actions overall. She had never seen him filled with such joy and pride. She wondered if it was her father's words before that had brought this to the surface. The knowledge of who Twilight was unsettling, but something both needed to accept. Clover could only smile brighter than Rex, even if it was against Lord Red.
Before any others could process Rex's answer, Silver Pear and Clovis arrive on cue as several snowflakes swarmed out from behind them. "We've got a problem!!"
The group was stopped in their fight as thousands of red snowflakes swarmed around them all. Lord Red, now incredibly annoyed, wasted no time turning his corruption magic away from Rex and Clover to the red snowflakes. With little effort, he could ascertain the full scope of things, but not the source. "It's quickly covering the city... And Twilight Sparkle is nowhere in sight." He was certainly with the entire city now in his scope.
"What?" Starlight questioned. "Where is Indigo frost? Did he take her?!"
"No, it seems she left on her own with... Cold Blue. As for Indigo Frost..." Lord Red changed his spell from scanning into a different form when he realized the true purpose of this formation. The same colored magic now flowed out of his horn for the first time and swarmed around the entire area. "Time is too short to save them all."
"Save all?" Starlight questioned.
"Yes, all..." With that, Lord Red pushed out all the red snowflakes from the area they were in. This created a dome of safety that no other could enter or exit until the opposition's spell was complete. The red snowflake swarm got bigger and thicker by the second, until the entire outside was nothing but a pure red color.
******
While that chaos was being unleashed there, another form of chaos, twisted dark magic, was about to be released from another place far from their sight. Far away from the capital, in fact, far away from the Unicorn Providence altogether was an all too familiar Dark City. Deep within the fields beyond the newly formed Dark City, Sage and Vanity did as they were told.
They brought the ashes to Vanity’s brother, but they were still unsure why they needed to do such a thing. They had stood there for nearly two days without an answer from Thule or Indigo Frost. In their impatience, anger had grown in both of them. However, as the sun reached its highest point, Thule finally returned. He appeared in front of the pedestal that they were told to wait at.
“About time!” Vanity screamed.
“Indeed, I've indulged this idiocy long enough. Why are we here?” Sage questioned.
“Idiocy? Since when does time have a semblance of smart or stupid?” Thule threw his rotting hands out to show the decay with each movement. “Time does not care for your impatience, nor does it care for your indolence. I should know this better than most. I've been around for a very long time.”
On that cue, his head split open and tentacles poured out. They wrapped around the pedestal, feeling every crack and crevice. They reached over the writing and slithered through every single letter.
“The alathar is not here!” Sage answered. “We searched for nearly two days and never found it anywhere near this pedestal.”
“Of course not. This alathar is known as the Heart of Darkness. It is no mere gem and is near impossible to find unless you descend from the right race.”
“Then what race do we need to herald from?” Vanity questioned.
Thule smiled at her words as his tentacles dropped to the ground. They dug into the blackened dirt that surrounded the pedestal. "You don't realize what this is, do you? If you had, you would have realized what I needed you to do so much sooner.”
“This blackened sand is everywhere, not just near the pedestal!” Sage argued.
“Please, Thule, clarify why we are here? If the alathar was never here, then what is its purpose?” Vanity held tightly to her sibling’s ashes.
“Poor Vanity, you hold the truth in your very arms.” Thule pointed to the jar as his tentacles pulled out several white shards from the blackened dirt.
“It's been shattered,” Sage made a drastic assumption.
“No, those aren’t the pieces of the alathar.” Vanity's eyes widened in horror. She looked down at the jar in her arms. “They are organic shards.”
“Organic shards?”
“It's a term doctors use when they are dealing with cremation,” Thule’s words brought the same shock to Sage’s eyes. "It refers to shards of bones, horns, and organic matter that survived burning to ash."
“Impossible! That only means one thing,” Sage’s eyes traced over the field seeing the black and sand everywhere, and the more he realized, the more his jaw fell agape.
As if on cue, a faint glow surrounded as thousand of unicorns appeared. "Looks like your backup has finally arrived."
"What is this? Why are these things happening in the Dark City?"
“Yes, Dark City, you see. Here is the thing. I was never the one to call this the Dark City, nor did Indigo Frost. This city was called that by its citizens. In order to find the alathar, we must find out what happened to this city. And it all connects to these ashes, the same as the ashes you hold." On those words, he pulled out a final shard that changed everything in an instant. The shard was of a horn, knife-like in form; a horn only wore by a single race, “Welcome to the Dark City, or as it was known by others as the lost capital of the umbrum race!” He laughed evilly.
A sound echoed from his pocket. The rotting corpse pulled out a device that seemed strange to the two others. In fact, one might say it looked far too futuristic for this time. "Is everything going according to plan?" He spoke into the device.
"Yes," a voice answered. "Exactly as planned."
******
Back in the capital, the red color settled enough for them to see past the barrier. Rex was the first one to come to grips with what he was seeing. His eyes widened but the sheer emptiness of everything. Just mere feet away from this area, there were many unicorns, but now there were none.
Starswirl dropped his eyes in shame. He knew all too well what that spell was. Starlight beside him dropped to her knees in sheer fear and loss of words. Being a unicorn, she could sense the sheer emptiness of unicorn magic in the whole capital and it was terrifying.
Clover noticed the sheer emptiness of the joy, sadness, grace, and fear of her species. There was nothing but the echoes of them. She gripped ahold of Rex for answers, but he had none.
Silver Pear was the first to finally speak, but his words only brought more fear and shame. "Where? Where is everypony?"
"I don't know," Lord Red answered. "I sensed a source of large magic and summoned a shield. I did not expect the opposing spell to be this big." With a wave of his horn, Lord Red scanned as far as he could reach. His reaction only answered what they were all fearing.
"Every single unicorn in the entire capital is gone. The city is empty of all life." Rex answered.
Clover pushed away from him at that answer. Such an answer made no sense to her at all. She looked to her brother for confirmation, only for him to nod in agreement. "No, no, this can't be!"
Clovis couldn't believe it himself, but Rex's words were correct. He was left in utter confusion at such a bold spell. He had teleported many sizes in his past but never on this scale, never this many at once.
Starlight was in a wreck of denial. Even in the future, no spell existed that could make an understanding of what was going on. Despite her denials on the spell, there was one thing she couldn't deny. One thing that all of them came to accept soon enough.
While they were so busy fighting a war, fighting enemies, and even fighting each other, they had found themselves on the wrong side of the board. With a single move, they had lost, utterly and completely, with no chance for reprisal.
"Rex, what are we going to do?" Clover question.
"I don't know," Rex gritted his teeth. Just mere minutes ago, he had all the answers. He was ready to fight one of the most dangerous beings he thought he would ever encounter, but let his guard down to the most obvious opponent. It was truly a cruel twist of fate. And they fell for it so easily. They lost and Indigo Frost had won.
*******
A red glow could be seen over the capital. It faded slowly to the eyes of Cold Blue as he watched it. He knew exactly what it was... He turned away to Twilight. The alicorn was still so distracted by her thoughts. So distracted that she didn't even notice blasting magic around the capital. She faced the direction of their course. They were both leaving the capital on a ship piloted by the siren filly.
Cold Blue considered telling the truth, but he could tell Twilight was too deep in thought to listen. He wished not to bring fear to her. She had made a bold choice and needed all her thought on the mission. He knew Rex could handle himself and Blood Diamond was not even in the capital. Both were tough warriors in the end.
Cold Blue faced the filly, the light alicorn hiding within the flesh of a child, and asked. "If we are to trust you, then what is your name?" He pointed, "You, not the filly you hold hostage."
"My name is Aitym the Abandoned." The light alicorn faced them. His eyes narrowed at Cold Blue's words about his current vessel. Seeing the lack of trust in his eyes, the light alicorn turned his filly eyes to Twilight. "Such thoughts shouldn't plague you, purple alicorn," Aitym questioned Twilight, keeping her attention on the front. "Stand bold!"
"I can't, there is still so much more to do..." Twilight spoke quieter. "I need to finish this."
"Unfinished work is something completely impossible for any normal alicorn. Of course, you are far from normal."
"What do you mean?"
"I can see it in your eyes. You are not akin to the alicorn race either."
"What do you mean?" She channeled powerful magic. "I was given large amounts of power in this form, just like them?"
"Yes, but you are far from the strongest of unicorns, right?" Aitym laughed. "You might look like us and use the same magic as us; you might even have access to darker and more powerful spells than many other beings." The siren filly's hand reached into her magic ora. "But your magic wasn't always of the alicorn." Twilight was surprised at how easily he dispersed her magic. "You don't contain the wisdom of the alicorn."
"Blood Diamond said the same thing once."
"I would say you haven't even reached past the age of mortals yet, unlike me and Cold Blue--" He was stopped as Cold Blue stepped between the two.
"I am nothing like you and your kind," Cold Blue spoke boldly for the first time. Twilight was surprised by this move.
"I can see that, but you two have a lot in common as dark magic users."
"Therefore, I had to leave with you, no leave with both of you." Twilight clarified. "I need to master this dark magic if I am going to stand a chance to unite the lands and fix the future."
"You need to find where this 'Hearth's Warming' originated from?" Cold Blue questioned.
"Yes, that will be the finale of my answers, but I need power first." Twilight pointed to Aitym. "You are a user of light magic, from what I've seen."
"What do you need?"
"Time displacement."
"I see. This won't return you to your time."
"I know," Twilight replied. "It's been used on me before, during another timeline. Do you know of the Sky Sanctuary?"
"Yes, you could say I know of it intimately.” The filly's face smiled brightly and boldly at such an answer.
"Well, one of my former masters said its time displacement abilities were forged by a powerful alicorn of light. I wish for you to recreate those conditions, here on this airship--"
Aitym laughed even more boldly. "Are you mocking me? To recreate such a powerful spell!!"
"Are you saying you can't match him?"
"Match?! Again you mock me?" His laughter dripped with annoyance.
"Enough, just tell me--"
The siren filly held her hand to Twilight as the male's laughter calmed. "It will be effortless. However, know that I am not fully attached to this siren filly. Rather, only the brain is under my command and the body moves like a puppet on string."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that pushing his light magic will affect her brain, much like dark magic affects your body," Cold Blue answered.
"Exactly, she will become, shall I say, less adaptable."
"Fine." Twilight tightened her fist. "In my time, she was never the brightest of the three, anyway. Do it! Make each day on this airship until we arrive at last..."
"One hundred years, that is the limit this brain can handle."
"Agreed--" Twilight was stopped by Cold Blue.
"Are you sure, Twilight? I understand you need to learn dark magic, but the batpony canyons are two weeks away. Once you do this, there will be no turning back."
"I... I..." She stopped, such a gap of time finally hit her. "I don't know what I'm doing. I took this path to learn the truth. Now, I know somepony is altering time and what's worse they have knowledge of the future, my future, my timeline." Twilight cleared her throat and attempted to explain while keeping details as vague as possible. "Me and Starlight have been traveling through multiple timelines for a long time, while we never reached this type of displacement... I... I..." She stopped "I... need to take more chances... now more than ever--" She stopped as Cold Blue stepped in front of her and placed his head onto her head.
Aitym backed away at the sight of magic-filled water, moved back and forth from Cold Blue to Twilight. In an instant, their minds twisted together and memories flowed back and forth. Cold Blue could see her fears and doubts.
"You two were trapped by a spell forged by the old wizard. At first, you thought Starlight was the one arranging your travels, but as your travels continued, she tempered herself. Eventually, she didn't trap you. You both had been tricked."
Twilight dropped to one knee at his answer. "We have lost so much time. What would be more time if it brought us back home, back to our friends and family."
"Family..." Cold Blue broke the connection of the mind-meld. "Losing such a thing must be painful." His words were filled with pain too, but it felt more like the pain of longing.
"Cold Blue...?" Twilight was stopped as he took her hand.
"Tell me more..." He nodded to Aitym to begin.
The light alicorn in the body of a siren filly held out the filly's hands. The muscles twisted from the fingertips, up the hands and arms, to the shoulders, and finally to the face. A deep blue glow traced back from the brain down the shoulders, arms, and hands. Reaching the fingertips, the very ends of the nails tore open as blue goo flowed around the two.
Twilight looked at such a thing with fear. "Wait, you are going too--"
"You wish for answers, so take them." Cold Blue brought both her hands together with his. The male siren sat her, and he followed. Channeling magic through his body onto her body to ensure the magic would affect them both.
"Once inside, neither you will age, but fourteen hundred years will pass for you, while only days will pass for me," Aitym clarified. "Once there, you two will move freely."
"No, you wish to be trapped with me?" Twilight interrupted, looking with shame at Cold Blue. "Aitym, please remove him?!"
"No! You will need as much knowledge of dark magic as you can get." Cold Blue refused her decision.
"But, I can't do this to you?" Twilight answered.
"You are doing this for family, right? Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike..."
"The mind-meld--"
"Showed me your feelings, your pains, and your sorrows," He smiled back. "He said you do not have the wisdom of an immortal, but you have the loss of one... Just like me." He caressed her hands more gently. "Now please, tell me, what do you believe and tell me about them?"
"I... I..." Twilight finally gave in. She wasn't sure how, but she knew she could trust Cold Blue with this and everything. "Starlight only wanted one place to travel to. The other places were arranged by somepony else. My assumption is that somepony had altered the spell before Starlight ever got a hold of it. Their purpose is still unknown to me." Twilight stopped as her shame and regret were now replaced with sad memories of her friends flooding her mind.
As her mind raced, Cold Blue's eyes traced over the blue glow quickly surrounding them. Soon they would be encased. He knew what he needed to do and leaned his head forward, placing it against her. This time he didn't mind-meld and instead listened as she continued. "You've lost things, but they won't be gone for long. Your friends, your family, tell me."
"Pinkie Pie is always so cheerful with laughter. Applejack is grading with her honesty but a stable ally in any endeavor... Rarity's generosity knows no bounds... Fluttershy's unending kindness could shake even the gods... Rainbow Dash's stubborn loyalty could hold me up forever..." Her sadness was slowly being replaced with happiness as she traced each thought. "I know them so well that I even made magic mimicking their elements. I created spells akin to their magics." As Twilight spoke softer, a grin grew on her face. "With laughter magic, generosity magic, honesty magic, loyalty magic, kindness magic. I forged them with the fear of their loss, but also hoping to see them again. Such great power and magic so they would always be beside me..."
Soon, the blue glow encased them up to their heads. Aitym spoke, "It's time. Light Magic Spell Number Ninety-nine, Time Displacement."
Twilight closed her eyes as the glow engulfed them. "I'm sorry Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy." She gripped Cold Blue's hands tighter, as if she was begging. "I must find my answers and then I will find my way back home. I promise to all of you. I miss you all. And I'm sorry Starlight, that I have to miss you too..."
"Together, we will find the truth of Hearth's Warming!" These were the last words spoke by the two as the blue glow encased them in an egg-like form.
Once they were inside, Aitym smiled again and turned away, keeping the spell going while facing the wall. He carefully tapped the wall three times and a futuristic terminal unfolded out. He typed a few things before an image appeared.
"Is everything going according to plan?" a voice echoed back.
"Yes," Aitym answered. "Exactly as planned. The bait has been taken. We will arrive in the Dark City soon. All three of us."
"Good, may the light shine over your darkness," Thule answered.
"Of course, it will, because I am the light!!" Aitym laughed evilly.
******
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Wow, this season three finale felt like Lord of The Rings' final movie, way to many endings.
10835951
Sorry, I just felt that I needed to pack in the best of the best... especially since this season felt so lack luster to me overall.
10835958
Lackluster? No, no, no. This was a great season, it just felt like you could have even out the passing just a little bit.
10835964
True. I'll try better next season, I've got a lot planned. The next Intermission will be dropping in June.