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Chapter Thirty Six: Skyhold

Rarity had to admit that staying in Skyhold was a lot harder than she first thought. Since everyone was pitching in to help with the rebuilding including her. She finally gave up on keeping her hair and instead opted to keep it in a braid. She wasn't going to cut it like Cassandra suggested to her. The purple maned unicorn also hung around one of the least likely people in the Inquisition. The elf known as Lethoras, he was doing his best to take care of the smaller problems in the keep. He had fixed a hole in the wall, kept the library stocked, bothered Vivienne and Sera when their antics had a tendency to bother others. Despite being utterly insane and childish he was quite sharp when it came to the needs of others. Though she did chat more often with Dorian, Josephine, and Vivienne when they'd weren't busy.

She was heading over to the blacksmith, Dagna the Dwarf, who lived close to her little shop. She had spoken to her a few times after coming back from a long days work around the Keep though not a lot. The dwarf had expressed joy when finding out that Rarity was a mage with unique abilities and wanted to see them in person. In exchange for this the fashionista was interested in learning about Dagna's own studies into magic. She knew it would help her fit into this world a little more. Like with Lethoras the two started spending a little more time together before they offered to learn each other's trades as well. Something that the white unicorn was a little apprehensive about. Yet she soon found that she didn't care due to the fact that she was already getting dirty from all the work she had been doing.

"Oh, you made it!" Dagna said with a smile spotting the unicorn. "Got any new spells that I haven't seen yet?"

"I do believe we are here for something completely different my dear." the mare replied before giving the dwarf a sly grin before casting one of Twilight's favorite spells. She vanished from one side of the room to another. Dagna cheered and clapped her large hands together before waving the mage over.

"Today I'm going to show a few simple weapons and armor designs and how to make them." the dwarf said leading Rarity over to the forge to start it. The mare watched carefully as Dagna waved her over to get in close.

Discord pulled out the items that he was going to forge only to find that the items were switched. For Fluttershy, the hat was gone and instead there was a shield with a griffon on it. Pinkie Pie instead had the hat that Fluttershy once hand. He wasn't even taken aback. Instead he took the two items and began to reforge the weapons saying. "I am not going to reforge you again. I have other weapons to work on you know."

The two items glowed as they were thrust into the green flame as two more flames appeared. One red and the other blue, he looked at them before shaking his head saying. "The spirits to be forged have all switched who they want to remain with. Rarity must have done something in their world."

Aqua Star looked around the cell she was in, Sombra had not come to see her after his initial visit. Instead she was left alone with her thoughts and child's laughter. Taking a deep breath she began to focus on her core. She knew if she removed the barrier she would be destroyed after a short bit. Yet she knew it was her duty to protect Equestria and she was willing to sacrifice everything to make sure it and the Crystal Heart remained safe.

"Aqua Star." a familiar voice spoke to her, she turned around to see a visible yet opaque figure standing there. "What are you planning?"

"Midnight Sun." she whispered before shaking her head. "You must be an illusion, cast by Sombra."

"No my dear friend, I have always been here." Midnight Sun replied placing a hoof over her heart. "You removed my conscious all those years ago and took it into yourself before the curse was cast. I have been slumbering inside of you all this time."

"What has awoken you?" she questioned her guard still up.

"Sombra, he still has my core, we are still connected." the black maned stallion explained standing next to her. "There is a chance for me to reform. Sombra will remove the magic from you. He will absorb the magic which will make him stronger but it will leave him open to the spell that you used to save me. It will remove the core from him if you focus on it."

Aqua Star thought about his plan and noticed it seemed sensible, she knew that it would require immense power to remove a core.

"I understand, I will need to make preparations. Last time I did it without fully thinking it through." she told him, she watched him turn into a light and enter her chest. "I am sorry Midnight Sun, but the power I need will keep us apart again. Yet I can leave you and my friends a gift."

Her horn glowed as she lifted up a crystal from the wall and began to pour her own power into it. She felt tears fall from her face landing on the crystal. She wished, one last time, she could see the ones who welcomed her with open arms. The crystal glowed brightly as it turned pale silver.

"I'm sorry." she whispered before setting the crystal into her bag. Sombra hadn't removed her personal affects because there was nothing much in there. She stood up tall before focusing on the barrier of her core.