Rex's all powerful spell charged up above them. Both Gale and Patrica could sense the battle would reach it's end once the attack was unleashed. In previous fights, Patrica would have taken cover from a massive attack and Gale would slay all the enemies. The ranks of commander and private were clear back then, but now they were both strong enough to stand in this fight. However, they were also now on opposite sides of the ordeal. To save Dartz, or to kill him.

As the two warriors charged towards each other, their fists clashed in a thunderous sound. Their paths in this fight were in complete opposition to their previous bouts. Patrica lunged forward and Gale took a defensive position. She raised her arm in anticipation, blocking and falling back in swift dodge under her before unleashing her own assault on the ribs. The force of their blows was enough to send small shockwaves throughout the clouds, and it was clear that this was going to be a fight that both of them would firmly remember.

Patrica's foot came in with a quick stomp and Gale dodged to the other side, but was struck by a wing that launched her back into the foot. Gale spun into a tornado to block the kick with her knees and grab the wing with her hand. Her own wings were too damage from her fight with Grover. Her former private's new strength was overwhelming her.

Gale used her pinned knees to jump into the wing, flipping around in the air to avoid Patrica's punch. Landing behind her, she yanked back hard, breaking the wing and following with a roundhouse kick to the other wing. The impact was enough to send her back, but not enough to break it too. The pain was immense and her own wings twitched in agony.

Gale didn't give her friend time to recover and charged again. She blasted punch after punch into Patrica's back, in an attempt to get her on her knees. Patrica's body was being forced down, and as she fell she kicked back, landing a firm jap in Gale's guts, making her cough of blood. The pain was just overwhelming, and higher rank soldier flew back to catch her breath, faking a faint so she could grab the leg and pull her up, before landing a heavy kick into her pelvic. The hit was unbearable and the shock made Patrica scream.

The sound of her voice was enough to bring back the memory, and Gale froze. Images of their friendship, turning into more, they used to be so very close. She remembered most private moments. Their first kiss, pushed on by Patrica in her bravest moment ever back then. Which, the commander turned down because they were soldiers, and a warzone is no place for love. Private Pansy understood and backed off. But the feelings still lingered... for both of them.

The memory was jolted away by Gale as her blush turned to intense rage. Dropping her leg and not giving Patrica a chance to recover, the mare rushed forward and tackled her to the fleshy ooze underneath them. As she struggled, the lower rank soldier reached up and grabbed her face and headbutted her back. Gale growled back and slapped her fist into Patrica, turning them into a harsher and bolder fury of punches the longer it went on.

Blood splattered on their bodies, and soon Patrica's face was nothing but a beaten pulp. Gale wanted to stop so much, every second felt like the coldest of actions. She wanted her Private to concede the fight, but the mare kept struggling back against the commander's actions, reaching out to Dartz's body. Gale was a mess of pain and emotions, the tears falling as she screamed and punched. Her heart was being torn apart.

"Give up, already! Please!" Gale retracted her fists away from the face, ready to beat into the chest should she not cave. The mare's face was covered in blood. Her eyes were shut, and her super powered body was still struggling. Gale could not hold back her tears. "Please stop fighting me... I don't want to do this..."

Patrica's eyes widened through the bruises and her strength increased ten fold. She struggled even harder under her grip, and soon Gale could not handle the pressure anymore. Her own heart was screaming, her body was aching, and the horror was so immense. This soldier used to be the weakest of her entire force, only ever kept around for morale. Yet, here Private Pansy was overpowering Commander Hurricane, the strongest pegasus of the entire army.

She flipped Gale over with ease and pinned her hands on the commander's neck. Her eyes were a raging red, and her face was a bloodied mess. But tears were still falling down as she pressed on, feeling the air flee from Gale's throat.

Dartz watched the battle reaching it's cruelest end from within the mind of the oozing centaur. his eyes were frozen, his cheeks shivered and his jaw hung. His hands swung about and his voice screamed out to them, hoping they could hear him and stop their assault. But nothing could escape his prison. His voice stopped in it's attempt, as he could not interfere with the battle. Tears cascaded down his eyes and he started to give up when he heard her voice.

"P-p... Patrica... please..." Gale whispered between her gasps, feeling her face grow blue as the grip was tightening. "Don't do this..." Her lungs were burning, her limbs were going numb, her mind was slowly fading and her body was growing weaker. "I can't... I can't let you..."

"Why?!" Patrica roared through blood and spit. "His pride took everything from you. He killed your brother, His abandonment of duty forced you to fight on harder. All of it made you push me away harder and harder with each passing day!"

Gale's eyes widened at the mention of their relationship. Her hands raised up, not in defense at all. She caressed the tips of her fingers over Patrica's face. "No... I was the prideful one..." Her voice hitched as her breathing faded. "I blamed him... for our brother's death... instead of our abusive parents... I fought... after he left so as to... not shame myself..."

"What are you saying?" Patrica asked, her voice trembling as Gale's hands grasped over her cheeks with a tendered embrace.

"I pushed you... away because of my fears..." Her eyes fell back as the blue turned purple. "That I was already... falling in love with you..." Gale's arms fell, and her vision was going black.

"Gale...?" Patrica's eyes shrank. However, before anything else could be said, Rex's attack was finally unleashed upon the giant centaur. The fleshy ground was ripped apart out from under them. The blast was so great, that the Giant Blue Hourglass was shattered to pieces and the entire world shook. The entire battlefield was torn asunder and the three were sent into different directions.

As Rex's final attacked charged to full power, down below, Twilight and Clover slowly awoke from their mind bond. There was nothing near them. They had made their way back to the ground somehow despite being thousands of miles in the air before. Clover could only guess how they got down until she saw the mass of souls that was once the giant centaur that held them hostage. Twilight slowly came to as well, just as shocked by the concentration above them.

"We're back..." Twilight looked around in a daze. Her eyes only lit up at the sight of Cold Blue slowly drifting toward them. "We are back!" She raced over to him, almost ignorant about was happening above. More shook up by the wounds over his body. Clover followed her and stood just a few feet away, keeping her eyes of on the power flowing around the sky.

"I'm okay..." Cold Blue fell into Twilight's arms. "That damn wendigo..."

"You encountered him." The alicorn shouted at him. "All alone, that was so stupid!"

"No, I needed to give Rex as much time as possible." His hand drifted over her face. "That beastly centaur was contained within the Giant Blue Hourglass." His eyes drifted up to the direction of Rex. "Now, all he needs to do is finish it."

Twilight's eyes shifted to where the battle took place. She gasped in awe at the maroon red darkness that illuminated the land. "That power... is my father's."

"Yes. Such a spell I haven't seen him use in so many millennia." The siren grimaced. "It contains enough power to vaporize entire species..."

Twilight's eyes widened in horror as the truth hit her like a ton of bricks. Her face turned pale and realized it was aimed on the mass of souls above them. "No... Please don't..."

Her words were pointless as the spell activated, flipping the Sun's light into pure absolute darkness. The scythe condensed the power of this new ever growing blackness into a single point within the spinning blade. Rex screamed the name of the spell. "Dark Magic Number 101, Grogar's gaze!" He swung his weapon downward, aiming it toward the souls of the centaur.

It acted like that of a massive sky-carving laser of pure darkness. The beam shot downward with incredible force and speed. Aitym tried to fight it back by swarming the souls into a shield. However it sliced through the souls in an instant, carving through the ground, leaving a deep trench as it moved through across. Flowing through a mountain, millions of miles away, showing just how massive this spell was. This caused it to scatter and burst apart into a million pieces.

The beam continued on its journey back upward, clashing with the Sun itself trillions of miles away and bounced off it. This split the powerful spell into millions of tiny beams of similar power. Yet these acted very different from the original spell, descending back down to the planet. These beams of pure darkness moved with a channeled aggression. It didn't matter where or how many, all of the souls were the targets.

The beams hit each soul with enough force, destroying them down to the microscopic level. Everypony down below watched with a mix of horror and awe as every single umbrum soul was ripped apart, piece by piece until there was nothing left of them in this realm. The ashes were ripped apart too, so as to ensure they could no longer be bound to this plane of reality.

When it was done, all the umbrums were gone. Once again brought to extinction, but this time it was by Rex's own hand. Now that he was finished, all the dark magic he was given retreated from his body and back into the Dark Alicorn Amulet. Rex let go of the scythe and pulled back his chains. It flew back to the heavens far from his sight and left him to fall back to the ground.

Clover saw her beloved umbrum fall to the ground and rushed after him. She didn't even need to look back to Twilight or Cold Blue. It was an unspoken thing she needed to do. Rex landed softly into her arms. The maroon glow of the Dark alicorn amulet returned and assured him it was over.

"I know... I killed them... again." His eyes filled with tears. "This is the consequences of my immortality..."

"No!" Clover argued. "You saved them, all of them from that hellish fate." She held him tightly.

"I murdered them!" His teeth gritted into rage. "Every single of them died for a second time, by my hands!" He pulled himself out of Clover's grasp. "I didn't want to be a killer! I knew what needed to be done..." His eyes widened upon remembering earlier before all this started. "I sensed so much pain and agony in the this future... Death that I would deliver!"

"Rex... stop this!" The unicorn called out.

"You can't understand, Clover! None of you can understand, I'm a monster." He pushed her away. Turning toward Twilight and Cold Blue. "And here I am explaining myself to whom!" He pointed to Cold, "A loyal soldier who thrives in the bloodshed!" Flipping to Twilight, "An immortal who hasn't lived passed her second millennium!" His hand fell upon Clover. "A single life of a unicorn, pining over a soul far beyond her grasp!" He spun around completely until he was facing none of them. "None of you could understand this... eternity. My life... it's... a curse. It's something that I can't share." He held his head down, his fingers clawing at the Dark Alicorn Amulet.

"Rex..." Clover tried to reach out to him. However, she was stopped by a great shaking. She down and saw all the clouds parting away. Beneath them was a black shape rising. Rex turned to face it, knowing the source was from his power. His words were confirmed as a giant crystal hand far bigger than the ones that Twilight created rose as a final gravestone for the dead umbrums.

"Leave me... please." He begged, dropping to his knees. "Let me grieve..." He phased into his own shadow. Clover raced over to the shadows, but was too slow. She could only watch the darkness fade away.

Clover fell to her knees with a loss of words. She couldn't go after him. Even if she could, what could she say? There was nothing in her mind. Twilight and Cold Blue could only leave her be with their heads held low. There was nothing to say, they would let her mourn. The only safety she found was in the shadows of Luna's wings.

Nightmare Moon had faded too, and the alicorn had heard every word of the umbrum. She didn't say anything to Clover, knowing it would only deepen the wound. Luna just floated above her with a quiet somber. Both wanted to scream at the skies and tear the clouds from their place, but both were too drained. Luna knew the truth of Rex's anger, even if Clover was still only guessing for the right words to say. But the alicorn had lived far longer than this lonely unicorn and knew words couldn't save the undying umbrum.

Twilight and Cold Blue stayed by each other, both unsure of what to do too. They simply kept walking the other direction, a tingly fear that this might be their own future. If Twilight lived as long as Rex did, would she fall to the same despair? That was a thought neither could think about, as they held hands, walking among the wasteland that was once the Giant Blue Hourglass.

Gale crashed into the ground with a hard slide, tearing up her armor, and twisting her wings all kinds of different directions. Ignoring the multiple injuries she might have, her attention turned to the sound of another crashing beside her. The eyes of the commander darted over the scene for her brother as the smoke of the umbrum spirits cleared away.

Her heart skipped a beat in relief as the outline of Rainbow Dartz came into view, lying in a crumpled heap next to her. With all the energy she had left, Gale dragged herself across the rubble to his side. The reunion of Rainbow Dartz and Commander Hurricane was supposed to be a joyous occasion, a chance for two siblings to end this family trauma for the betterment of both of their sanities. Aitym was gone, removed, or just dead, she didn't care which, just that her brother was out of his reach.

Dartz's eyes were the first thing to catch her hopes up. Not blank or dazed, true as the first day she saw them. He was free, at least for the moment. Arriving at his side, her body finally crumpled to her wounds. She didn't care the shape of her body, she needed to know if he was okay. Wrapping her arms around his body and scratching away the ooze of the centaur that still lingered over him.

The hug was returned, but a bit more hesitantly. His body was a bit dull from the trauma, but otherwise, he seemed fine. Somehow, most of his injuries had faded as if while inside that beast, that ghoulish spirit had been healing his flesh. She was even surprised to see his old wounds from their childhood were also gone. This was for the best as it would make the mental scars easier to mend. The two stayed there for a moment, holding one another as the sounds of battle died down around them.

However, this painful bliss was hindered by the wrathful screams of King Grover. He was rushing right at them, fighting his way through the ooze and vanishing spirits. His will, to kill them both where their lay. To end the family line that had ruined his with the very crooked spear they had stolen from his father.

Dartz was too dulled out to process it all. Gale was barely feeling the full force of her wounds to put up any defense. All the two could do was lay there and watch as he charged forward. His rage filled screams getting louder and louder until his words were not intelligible anymore. Drool and sweat traced his footsteps as the only keeping him moving was a single minded need to kill.

Then, as quickly as his rampage had started, it was halted. Private Pansy's hands rose up from the ooze under them and impaled into his wings. The muscle bound soldier ripped back and tore off the limbs and brought him down, crashing right into her shoulder. yet he wouldn't stop, tearing his talons into her armor, which she replied with taking his arms off too. The cold minded warrior went to cleave him in half only to be stopped by Gale screams.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" The commander's voice spat with full authority in the private's ear. She was shaking, not with fear, but with a need to stop it. To protect her brother from any further trauma. But to also stop all of this fighting. There had been enough, far more than needed.

Patrica's grip loosened, and she stepped away, leaving the mangled groveling form of King Grover on the ground. She backed away slowly as he growled and hissed at her. It was as if this griffin wouldn't stop at all until he was just a pulp of twisted flesh. Her eyes widened and she realized his actions were no different then her own.

He was fighting for the will of his species. To avenge everything he had lost. And here she was, wielding a body that might as well been given by the devil to fight her for species as well. Both were willing to commit the most horrid actions, things they would never even consider outside of this hellish path, just to win.

Patrica's voice shook. "What have I done?" She dropped to her knees and tears finally flowed. "What monster have I become?!" She shouted as the last bits of her will to fight faded. Orange smoke poured off of her as her muscles twisted back to proper shape. Her height returned to normal and her mind became just as fragile and shy as it was before.

"No!" King Grover hissed. He pulled himself to her and grabbed at her neck. "We must... kill me!" He hissed. "Or I will kill all of you!"

Gale watched the smoke swarm around the griffin king. He slowly faded from sight, in the same move, thousands of other griffin soldiers that had survived all of them, all across the Giant Blue Hourglass, also faded in the same orange smoke. It plumed upward, high into the sky and flew off to the east at high speed.

In place of the griffin king, Lord Red stood proudly. While Patrica could see and hear him, all the others could see was an orange shadow, swarming with what looked like thousands of centipedes. He presented a hand to the private and spoke to her alone. "This is what you wanted? Right?"

"No, not anymore," Private Pansy turned away. "Not ever again. I will never..."

"So be it," Lord Red's voice echoed. Without any warning, orange crystal shards formed around her from seemingly nowhere. The strange shards stretched upward around her moving like that of a centipede. Gale and Dartz could both see this much, but both were too injured to stop it as they watched in horror. She tried to fight it, turning to Gale and screaming at her for help. However, it meant nothing at all as she was fully imprisoned.

The orange shadow turned to them and let his voice be heard, know that they wouldn't be able to recognize it after the fact no matter how many times they could memorize it during the process. "Do not be alarm. She will be returned to the flow of time very soon. For now, stay where you are. When the alicorn known as Twilight arrives, you will agree to her terms, no matter what she said. And which, you will tell her nothing that happened here. And in a few days your private will be returned back to her true normal self. For now I wish to understand something about her and the rest of you six." Before they could question more he presented an image Twilight Sparkle to them. "She doesn't know my plans, nor does that double crossing Thule. She will be following the same flow of time. As such, following her will is the only way to bring back your friend."

"You're the one behind all of this!" Gale growled.

"No, there are actually four players involved in this twisted game of time." He gestured to himself as one of them. "Myself, Thule, Aitym, who that will vanish on this night... and an alicorn so close to Twilight's own timeline that she doesn't see it in plain sight."

"The wendigo?" Dartz questioned.

"He's working one of them and deceiving another. Though, even an omnipotent god like me can't see this full game..." With that final word he vanished. Both were left with a mix of confusion and horror. The only thing stopping their thoughts were the approach of Silver Pear and Starlight in the distance. Yet upon seeing them, everything Lord Red said to them and everything he did vanished from their mind completely, as if he was never there at all. They knew Pansy had vanish, but not whereto. Their desire to search for her was replaced by his words to wait there until Twilight's arrival and her words for the path of time.

The group reunited near the center of the Giant Hourglass, just on the edge of the powerful winds surrounding the center. Starlight rushed over and gave Twilight a tight hug, missing her teacher after so long and glad that she was awake. Twilight had to assure her student several times that she was okay and could keep up, although that wasn't entirely true. She felt a lot better than before, but she wasn't ready to tell her student why yet.

Seeing Clover join them, the two parted and Twilight walked over to Cold Blue and explained why she originally left with him before their arrival at the Giant Hourglass. "I wanted to learn of ways to tame my inner darkness." She inadvertently grabbed his hand. "He stood by my side the entire time we were trapped by Aitym's spell."

"Really?" Starlight raised an eyebrow at this. She wanted to know more, but there was still another matter to be handled. Turning their attention to Commander Hurricane and Rainbow Dartz. The pegasus was still trying to adjust to all that happened to him, but seemed to be getting along well with his sister. Gale's wing had been wrapped up and she was in far worst shapen then him, but a touch warrior in the end. None of them questioned where Private Pansy was, or could even recall why.

The scythe crashed back down, resuming it spot at the center of pegasus and batpony civilization. The boundary between light and darkness, the last standing anchor of the umbrum race after Rex vanquished all of them in a single spell. All his gifted dark magic returned to the weapon. Though, he was still nowhere in sight.

Commander Hurricane took this moment to not admire the weapon that had show great power. Turning away from the blade that had ripped out her little brother's heart and to the older brother that was alive. Rainbow Dartz followed his sister actions, hoping to put the guilt of that day behind them.

The rest of the group cheer softly as they didn't want to ruin the moment. Twilight had only seen echoes of their past trauma through the mindscape but knew that while many had suffered in this battle, they pain at least was finally over. The commander and her brother had taken the first step towards healing.

Sipping out from behind them the remaining bit of ooze. Aitym's thousands of faces slowly rose up and hissed at their victory. Without a body, his form could only last for so long. The group saw him and jumped to the aid of the siblings, separating them from him. Clover bounced with her bow staff in front and demanded the ghost of an alicorn leave this place. "I respect your kind even when my Rex continued to hate you. Do the honorable thing alicorn and die."

"He has every right to despise us after what Emerald did to his kin." Aitym laughed and growled like a wild animal. "What I did here was simply the last ounce of mercy to those tortured souls."

Twilight stood with her mother. "This was never about mercy, only your survival." She accused.

"No..." His millions of eyes dropped over the thousands of faces that made his form. "The alicorns long ago stole my body, just as their's was taken away. I was giving them one final chance at revenge!"

"By having them kill more souls?!" Commander Hurricane stood ready with them too. "You destroy hundreds of my soldiers and plenty of my griffins foes."

"And you really think I brought those griffins here?" He raised his attention to her, only for Starlight and Silver Pear to block his path again. "The blood of your four might poison me, but those bodies will be more than enough to restore me."

Cold Blue sliced through the ooze, leaving the alicorn spirit in intense pain. "Your role is this game is over." He brought his ocarina-blade to his mouth and played a few notes that pushed back the ooze back.

"How dare you?!" He winced and screamed at the siren siding with them too.

"You are too weak now, just wisp screaming at the reaper." Starlight taunted him, taking front and center, knowing he wouldn't be able to harm an omnipony like her. "Just drop upon Saturn's rake already, and leave this timeline be."

The ooze began form another face. But even this true face was covered in holes much like the changelings of modern day. This left Starlight and Twilight most curious to his true identity. But that didn't matter right now as they had to keep a strong defense until his power faded completely.

"No, not yet! I must take back what is rightfully mine. I am one of the first ever alicorns in existence..." He narrowed his eyes on Twilight. "A faker like you, and your friends will not stop me." The edges of his face stretched outward beyond them.

Silver Pear swung his sword at the ooze. It easily reformed and struck him across the face. His sword flew into his shoulders, pinning him in place. Starlight moved faster, slicing it and freeing her friend's swing. The ooze flipped over to Twilight but was still halted by the sound of the siren's song.

Cold Blue played louder, causing Aitym to screech out in pain. Twilight summoned magic from her horn and poured a barrier around them. "He's trying to go for another body in his collection."

"Well, we won't let him." The rest confirmed, moving in closer. "We end this now, there is no more bodies for him here."

Rainbow Dartz's jaw dropped, remembering the truth. "Princess Platinum's body..."

"What?!" The others yelled, not knowing the truth of what had happened to the princess yet.

"Yes, that half breed alicorn hiding in the form of a unicorn!" AItym laughed out loud. "While her blood would burn me even worst then your fake form, it should last just long enough-" Out of his own shadow, Princess Platinum's rapier was thrown, stabbing through his face.

"No more!" The real princess rolled into the barrier and behind Twilight. "I am sick and tired of this game. No more jumping bodies left and right!" She grabbed the hilt and slammed it down, breaking the tip and surging a massive amount of magic through the ooze, causing it to expand.

Aitym roared out in agony as the ooze exploded from the pressure. His final attempts were thwarted again, by the unexpected arrival of the princess. His power over all of them was fading away as his limit reached. His sight traced over the scene of all of them. "Princess Platinum, and Commander Hurricane Clover the Clever... And Private Pansy was here previously... All of you are working together... two more left... Could that be it?"

"What do you mean?" Starlight glared at his comment. She wanted to know more, but Silver Pear spoke over her.

"This is where it ends!"

"Yes... but he's still not fading into Saturn's grasp..." Twilight dropped her hands as questions raced through her mind. They couldn't just spend hours constantly striking him down. There would always be another body for him to take soon enough. Rainbow Dartz's life force was so low it wouldn't take much to put him back under the alicorn's will. She couldn't allow this.

"He has a plan for you all..." Aitym's voice dropped in horror upon realizing something they had yet to catch onto. "Wait... that what she said to me... Hearth's Warming..."

Suddenly, Twilight's hand felt the touch of the azoth dagger on her belt. She remembered that in the flashbacks another such azoth dagger was used in this place once before. Her eyes scanned over the scene and saw within the deadly winds was a rusted old dagger. She realized this was what AItym destroyed to summon the centaur. A weapon that could seal a being powerful enough to fight off an army of alicorns. Maybe her own azoth dagger would be enough to finally end this.

She had no time to run hypotheses in her mind as his visage was fading from sight. If he fled, it would be impossible to know when he might return, worst with a far stronger body than before. They needed to end him, this time for good. She took her azoth dagger in her right hand, holding it with a firm grip.

Cold Blue nodded at her, as if knowing exactly what she had planned. His frills glowed and water swarmed around them from the clouds. It twisted around the spirit of the alicorn like a tornado and glowed a maroon red. The dark magic infusion would hold him in place. Meanwhile he reached over and placed his bare hand upon the edge. "Blood of the sealers is needed."

"Agreed," Twilight drained her own blood alongside Cold Blue's. This stained the blade maroon red and glowed it with the power of both their bloodlines. AItym fought back as long as he could but the tornado just closed in tighter. Cold Blue opened a path just long enough for Twilight to rush in and stab the spirit.

The dagger sunk deep and the strangest thing happened. It felt as if reality itself quaked from the shock of the attack. No, this was the sheer mount of power that was being sealed in this moment. Twilight kept her stand, hoping this weapon would be enough to contain him. "This ends now! Return to the nothingness you belong, Knuckelavee."

His defeat wasn't met with a final bellow of agony, but a boastful cheer of laughter that caught them all off guard. "C. C. Frost, you cold-hearted traitor." All their eyes widened upon hearing some of the truth of the wendigo's identity. This proved enough that he was never the true Indigo Frost, but still directly connected to this old icy king in some way, just as Rex suspected. Yet, more was to be revealed with Aitym's final words. He know realized a greater truth that none of them considered. "Yes, I know the truth of your plan, what she told you on that day. I know now, why you chose that flesh, the same species you heralded from. You are not your father, your true name is Cri-" Before he could finished, the last bit of him was swallowed into the dagger.

They watched the dagger pulse brightly in their hands as the alicorn spirit was sealed within it. Then the red light dimmed until the weapon had turned back to it's normal state, but was left with a new permanent scar of maroon red form. Aitym had been finally removed from the world,

All of them took a sigh of relief as the battle had been won. Twilight thought she had succeeded when an intense cold seared into her palm. She yelped in pain and tried to let go, but the handle was stuck to her flesh. The others rushed over to her side. Cold Blue pulled out his falcata and demanded they forced her hand open.

Much to the shock of the other two, the icy power of the dagger was so intense that it was melting her flesh onto the handle. Silver Pear and Starlight worked quickly to open her palm and pry the weapon out. But nothing was working, leading Cold Blue to the obvious option, ripping off the flesh. Twilight screamed out in agony as this was their only choice.

Commander Hurricane and Rainbow Blitz braced her down, while Clover put her bow staff inside Twilight's mouth as a gaurd. Starlight and Silver Pear held the palm open while Cold Blue yanked back on the surface of the blade, less he risk it fusing to his flesh too. Yank back hard pain trace back and forth between the two, each tear on Twilight's hand was matched by the blade cutting into Cold Blue's own hands.

Finally, he gave one more pull, and the weapon flew from Twilight's hand. Blood splattered on the floor, the dagger scrapped across the ground. Each of them tried to grab it, but were too slow. The force of the movement was too great and the weapon slide over to the edge. None of them could get to it in time as it fell off and down to the Batpony Canyon below. The group gasped in shock at the dagger's sudden disappearance. However, with Aitym trapped inside, he was no threat to them anyway.

Within the vast interspace, between all realms of reality, the wounded Thule floated onward, fleeing at the memories of the two Trees of Harmony. Their destructive power upon his flesh was still fresh in his mind despite it happening thousands of millennia ago. The mere sight of them again had sent him into a full panic, leaving Starswirl's group alone and allowing their survival. All he could do now was wonder the endless interspace, hoping it would give him enough time to recover.

"Strange to see a being as powerful as you flee in terror." An icy voice stopped the vast of tentacles in their tracks. Turning to reveal the silhouette of C. C. Frost, the son of the true Indigo Frost who had died long ago and as such dubbed his horns and skull. His icy powers entrenched into the endless interspace and stopped the tentacles in their tracks.

"Do not think I am weakened to the point of death!" Thule roared at the visage. "I have lived since the dawn of existence! The only ones who dare touch my true form are Corruption and Balance..."

"And those beings are long gone... well most of their forms." Frost leered away at other sounds echoing behind him. "Either way, I didn't come here to insult you. No, I came to ask about your little adventure with Starswirl."

"He appeared within the borders of your birthplace."

"Impossible!" Frost's eyes widened at that statement. "He's still there, even now..." He stopped, knowing that Thule had no reason to lie to him. "Why would he be there of all places? That isn't part of the plan!"

"Plans change at a moment's notice." Thule's body continued to shift about until he could reach one of his many corpses to inhabit. "Our secret ally knows this better than anything?" He slipped his massive size into the small body with ease. "Did everything go perfect in the Giant Blue Hourglass?"

"To the most accurate angle. Aitym played his failure flawlessly." Frost smiled at the memories. "The pegasus and griffins fought each to a bloody finish. The centaur rose without any problems. And I even reveled in Rex's full power being unleashed upon it."

"Excellent!" Thule cheered with his new form. "All of these things are perfect... which means?"

"Stealing another alathar was easy taking." Frost opened his hand to reveal a drop shaped orange gem. "The Tear of the Sun, stolen from the griffin thousands of years ago by the pegasi and left unguarded during their double genocide at the hands of that centaur." His smile flickered for but a second at another thought and hid his other hand behind his back. "However, Sound of The Moon was taken from my hands by that siren."

"A minor setback."

"Indeed." Frost relaxed his icy form. "And with Aitym gone, we can have full access to his magical technology and spells, unheeded by his small ambitions of revenge." Putting the items back up, he turned away and faded his visage from Thule's sight. "For now, send the rest of our mindless to the Forgotten Forest. Make way for Sage and Vanity's arrival in the Earth Pony Conglomerate."

"As you wish, the next phase of Hearth's Warming begins."

Healing took a full month and many were buried. With the Giant Blue Hourglass destruction, most if not all the cloud lands started to splinter off from each other. The single mass that was once Pegasus Isles was now becoming several floating landmasses, the two largest of which were moving in opposite directions, west and north. Below, the Batpony Canyons would become known as the Badlands with many of the batponies either choosing to forge new cities elsewhere or join the pegasi on their clouds.

Commander Hurricane and Rainbow Dartz left above the northern giant cloud, under the advisory of Twilight, seeing as she suspected that chunk would one day become Cloudsdale. Clover and Princess Platinum left by foot, toward a mountaintop in the similar direction, according to Twilight, Rex might go there. She didn't tell them this is where Canterlot would one day be founded.

Starlight, Twilight, Cold Blue and Silver Pear and rest of the group chose to stay upon the large western piece, suspecting it would crash just outside of the furthest edge of the Earth Pony Conglomerate and in the future become Las Pegasus.

Despite all the evils, pain and losses that happened in the whole event, Twilight deduced that time was finally on track. Giving her final word to the Commander that once Cloudsdale stops moving, she was to meet with the unicorns, and earth pony delegates somewhere near the same spiraling mountain where she sent Princess Platinum and Clover the Clever.

Starlight didn't like of this though, speaking to her teacher plenty of times that this was messing with the timelines too much. The alicorn ignored her comments, especially when Cold Blue standing beside her. More insulted as he took Twilight's hand, the same hand he was forced to wound greatly before, now wrapped in a blue glove. It put her off, that Twilight would show such trust in this siren. Things were just moving too fast for her liking.

Leaving her on the edge of the western piece, watching the canyons fade in the distance. "We could at least attempt to make contact with Starswirl again before making such bold decisions."

"He will find his way soon enough." Lord Red appeared beside the unicorn. "Do you wish to train some more, dear omnipony."

"No!" Starlight turned away from his blade. "We still don't know how to find Starswirl, do we?" She slumped down. "Dumb old goat thing-" She stopped herself from saying too much, leaving the taller unicorn a bit confused. "In the timeline we came from Starswirl was one of her biggest idols. He was the one that made the spell we used to travel back in time... or at least he will."

"I see..." Lord Red raised an eyebrow, looking off in the same direction as she was. He vanished his blade and posed a question he had been curious about for a while. "Could a future version of him been responsible for your displacement?"

"I never considered it, though he is quite the prankster in the future." Starlight pushed away the thought when she remembered something else, suspecting this wasn't the real reason Lord Red came to find her, nor was it to train. Changing the subject, she decided to just ask her own questions. "Is there any news on Clovis?"

"Nothing yet, my sources are still scouring the canyons for his body." He held up his hand as if he was gripping something beyond her eyes, even though there was nothing blocking her sight. "Its clear that he is dead. However, physical proof is still missing."

"What do you mean?" Starlight stood up and asked for a clearer answer.

"His horn. We found it, but not a body." Lord Red answered. "it wasn't ripped out, nor is there any blood." He picked up flakes of clouds and held them in front of her face for example. "Directly below where you said he fell, but it's as if his body vanished the second it hit ground."

Starlight's eyes went wide, knowing this was not a good sign. "Just more mysteries at every corner!" Her voice trembled. "That wendigo might have taken him away for some crazy part of his plan later down the line."

"This... C. C. Frost?" Lord Red clarified. "Do you have any suspicions as to his real name?"

"Why would it matter?" Starlight's eyes lower. "It's not like he's secretly somepony we already know." She took a step back, her eyes still locked with the ground. "I mean, even if he was, what good would come from knowing his true name?"

"Everything." Lord Red's tone shifted to one of certainty. "And nothing. It simply comes to the reveal!" He smiled and bowed in a fashionable motion. "If he designs plans this massive then he must be quite the showpony. Wouldn't you say?"

Starlight gave him an unamused look. "He's not a performer. He's a monster!" She pointed back in the direction of where the canyons were, now faded from sight. "He unleashed that centaur, destroyed all those ponies' lives."

"No, that was Aitym's work." Cold Blue arrived too, leaving Starlight more despondent then ever at the sight of the siren. Her annoyance was on full display, despite his words continuing to butt into their conversation. "The alicorn spirit pit the pegasi and the griffins against each other, destroyed everything and resurrected that beast." He pointed directly at her. "Your teacher was the one that stopped it."

"I know!" She yelled back. "But that doesn't change the fact that Aitym was working with that wendigo! Aitym imprisoned you and Twilight in the mindscape under his orders!" She stepped forward, getting right in his face. "In doing so Rex and Clover were forced to enter that place and save you two. From there Aitym got ahold of the spell. Thus everything falls back onto that wendigo for organizing everything."

"No," Cold Blue smiled at her. "He didn't force us into the mindscape, nor did Aitym." He chuckled at her backtracking. "Twilight chose to enter the mindscape willingly."

"What?!" Starlight's eyes widened. "Liar!"

"I don't need to lie." He gave the same deadpan expression Twilight would often give her. "It's fact."

"Stop it!" Starlight growled back.

"It's true!" Twilight's magic rushed between them. "I went willingly into the mindscape with Cold Blue." The alicorn moved the two apart and clarified. "It wasn't until afterward that AItym revealed his true intentions to keep us there against our will and the will of Hollow Prince, lord of that realm."

"Teach..." Starlight's eyes darted back and forward between Twilight and Cold Blue as the alicorn came to the siren's defence. "Twilight, why would you willingly go with this siren."

Twilight's sight drifted to Cold Blue before simply stating, "I already explained my reasons long ago. To hopeful master my inner darkness."

"But..."

"I understand, it was a bit reckless. But it was a necessity." Twilight sighed and turned away from her student. "So if anypony is to blame for all of this... It's me."

"What, no!" Starlight protested by stomping her foot into the cloud ground. "I won't accept that truth. The wendigo, AItym, anypony else could take the blame. But not you! We came to rescue you!" The unicorn tried to reach out to the alicorn, but she pulled away.

"You have no idea how much guilt I am feeling right now, Starlight." Twilight closed her eyes and held her head lower to Cold Blue. "Everything that happened because of me. The Giant Blue Hourglass has been destroy, Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus will soon form, thanks to actions started by me. Thus both of us are now interconnected to the events of the future!"

"How could you know that?" Starlight protested.

Twilight trained her eyes forward to the matter of truth. "This is reality now, the timeline we live in is forged by my actions." She sighed, knowing the consequences she will have to face, and the ones that will fall upon Cold Blue's shoulders too for agreeing with her.

Starlight found no more words to say. The truth couldn't be denied anymore. There was nothing more she could do. This was a journey they had been marching to from the very beginning. Now the path was clearer than ever. There was no mist block the path to the future, yet fate was all the most unknown now. Just how many more events would they be involved in? Not just Twilight but Starlight too. The unicorn's hands trembled, and her back shivered with the coldest of chills, wondering if she was ready to walk this path.

"Twilight..."

"Wow, so much tension, and only some of it is about me." Starswirl's voice stopped them all in their tracks. Their eyes raced around only to find him nowhere in sight, but his voice was as clear as day.

"Where are you Starswirl?" Starlight asked.

"Unsure... The Titan Airship somehow found its way to an island in the middle of the Celestial Ocean." Starswirl explained. "This is the furthest the ship has ever gone and we can't find a way back with the airship still broken." His voice was filled with random pitches of static. "I've sent the coordinates to Rex already and he's even delivered the final siren child to us. But we lack a way back due to his shadows not being big enough to summon all of us and the airship too."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Twilight confirmed. "He used a lot of his magic in defeating that monster."

"Really? He never mentioned being involved in a fight." The old wizard's voice laughed back. "That umbrum is so stubborn. Must have been quite the bout to drain his power."

"Yes, it was." Cold Blue answered. "Do you know where Rex is?"

"He didn't say, which is why I'm contacting you separately from him." Starswirl's voice drifted as he sipped some hot chocolate, revealing that him and the rest were somewhere extremely cold. "I didn't sense Clover nearby him, but she was heading in the same direction as him. The rest of you weren't with him at all so I assumed you had to be elsewhere."

"How are you even contacting us?" Starlight questioned. "Can't you use the same spell for teleportation as well."

There was a long moment of silence before Starswirl answered. "You are so far away from me that I am being forced to use several of levels chaos magic just to get these words out."

"Making teleportation all the more complicated, especially without Clovis here to stabilize the connection." Lord Red answered and held up his hand to stop their questions. He gave his final words on that matter and cut the connection, knowing it was placing great strain on Starswirl. "I will increase my search for Clovis's body. Meanwhile you need to stop wasting time with explanations. Fix the airship, and the rest of your group will be meeting you in the Earth Pony Conglomerate. They will be fine."

"Okay, okay." Starswirl conceded, was a little annoyed, but understood what he meant. He had assured them that he was okay and that things were on track. Best to cut the connection now and save his magic for elsewhere. Starlight tried to get more answers but soon the static faded away.

"We better get moving." Twilight stated and started heading back. "We will be arriving in a few more days." She examined the rise of the sun. "Its nearly May, which means Spring is almost over. We will need as much time as possible to convince them before winter arrives again."

"Good, I will keep the alicorns up-to-date." Lord Red dropped his hand and opened his exit.

"Right..." Starlight followed, her eyes lingering on the clouds below. Everything that led up to this was still stinging deep into her heart. Especially as Lord Red left to his own path, vanishing within a crack of reality. Everything was moving so fast. Spring had finally arrived, but now soon a full season could pass in the blink of an eye and it would feel like nothing. She didn't want that, she wanted more time. More time to enjoy this old world, this old timeline and the friends she had made.

Her thoughts lingered, remembering a time when she was still just a simple filly, living in a quiet orphanage. Those times were far away now. She had become a different pony, a hero, or something close to one. She was once a rogue, a ruler and even a villain, but seeing all these events play so tightly around her was forcing a perspective she never considered. Before she just wanted to defeat Twilight, then she just wanted to get home, and then she wanted to just run away and live in this life.

But now, life was moving on without her. It was going far faster than she wanted. Her body felt heavy with each step she took, her eyes barely focused on the path. As those days to wait for their arrival in Earth Pony Conglomerate passed faster than she could blink. It was hard to believe, but there it was, coming into sight.

The giant cloud landed at its new home, Twilight's group departed. The alicorn first, followed by the siren, then her friends, Hermes and Red Steel and finally, Silver Pear, dragging Starlight along. None of them realizing just how much faster things were about to accelerate. Their next destination would be their hardest as the Earth Pony Conglomerate was the biggest country of them all.

Miles away from the landing sight, deep within the forests to the north, sat a small log cabin surrounded by apple trees. A trail of weakening smoke rose up through a hole in the roof. Outside a large red earth pony stallion walked toward the door with a massive pile of freshly chopped wood. His eyes were on the dying flame inside and his nose was up, smelling the delightfulness of a cooking pot of soup inside.

The red stallion stopped at the entrance and put the wood down next to the door. Something caught his attention, forcing him to look back into the woods as the wind blew his mane. The pleasing smell behind him from the house was slowly being over powered by the smell of machinery and fire. He could also feel his body getting colder, but that didn't concern him. "They get closer everyday."

Flipping back around he grabbed the doorknob and opened it. Without warning a sharp and intenseness hit his body causing him to growl in pain. His voice got deeper and foam formed around the rim of his lower jaw. His mane, tail, and coat faded from its rich color into a dark brown. The red stallion's teeth grew sharper and longer, his eyes grew red, his legs started to buckle, and his fingers turned into claws.

As his body changed, he kept the red stallion's mind. With the pain slowly subsiding the only thing he felt now was the burning rage and bloodlust of his body. He planted his feet in place, making sure not to move from his spot at all, less he hurt somepony. "Not now, please!" He begged his body. "I'm too close! They will hear me and they will kill her."

His voice stopped at the strangest sight ahead of him. Ever so small, but plainly to see in this weather. In the middle of spring there would be no other way to explain it, even if it was a different color. Shining over him was a single red snowflake. The snowflake fell toward him, the red stallion could only watch as it landed on the tip of his nose.

A voice echoed in his ears the moment it made contact with him. "Big Bad Wolf... It has been sometime since we saw each other."

"Frost." The red stallion snarled his name while fighting off the urge to howl like his namesake.

"Still fighting off the inner beast." The red snowflake stayed in place despite the amount of movement the stallion-turning-wolf gave. "You need not worry anymore. Aitym is gone." Those words stopped him in place. "This doesn't mean your curse will fade instantly. As proof, he's actually been gone for several weeks now."

"How can... I be... free!" A ravage roar tore through his voice, scattering the birds nearby.

"Your clan has always been cursed with the wolf form for being the first of the earth ponies to side with Heavonus against the Pie Clan." The cold of the snowflake intensified to the point of growing ice over his nostrils. "I have come to warn you that even with him gone, you will not be free." The snowflake moved closer to his forehead. "Your body will still grow in size, and the moon will still effect you."

The red stallion's twisted back and forth between pony shape and wolf shape, trying to fight the will of the beast within him. "Mercy..."

"I am here to give mercy." Frost's voice was filled with his icy laughter. "His notes have revealed a way to free you without his power."

"How?!" The red stallions voice distorted into a full wolf.

"The blood... of a family member..." A gust of wind came over and blasted the red snowflake off his snort. This ended the echoes and let the snarling beast all alone. With the coldness fading and his mind slowly slipping into his beast state.

To stop all of this, the stallion turned to his arm and bit down to the point of drawing blood. Maroon red liquid pour from the wounds and seeped into the ground, causing shards of maroon red crystals to form. He continued this until the pain of his arm overpowered the pain of the transformation. After a minute or so the stallion regained control and forced his body back into its original shape.

Retracting his jaws revealed no wound at all. In fact, the only sign that he had bled was all over the ground. His eyes widened and he grabbed the maroon red shards, ripping them out, throwing them into the bushes to ensure she didn't see them. He quickly cleaned up the area before taking a moment to catch his breath. Moving the wood had not tired him at all, yet mere seconds of fighting that transformation had left him so exhausted that he could barely stand.

After a minute, he stood up and entered the cabin. His eyes leered around to make sure she didn't see his little scene. Arriving at the pan of soup, he took a drink, wincing at the heat of the liquid. It was as good as she always made it. Oh how he missed her cooking so much.

"After all these years, you still have no patience." An old mare's voice echoed at the doorway. His eyes flicked over to see Granny Apple, the mother of Silver Pear and one of the ones taken by the wendigoes forces. She was entrapped here in this cabin by the wolf/stallion's will. For what reason?

"Serious, ever since you and Silver Pear with small enough to fit in my arms, you two had none!" Granny Apple walked through the door, carrying a dead animal over her shoulder.

"Sorry." His voice was filled with joy, as the sight of the dead animal caused his mouth to water. Though it was clear by this point that she knew who the Big Bad Wolf really was, the stallion still hid his face in a hood around her. "It's just so good, and I'm hungry."

"Well I can't blame you." Granny Apple smiled and placed the dead animal down on the table. "But you'll have to wait until I cut it up. bring in the wood before the fire dies down completely." She pointed at the pile next to the door.

"Yes, maam." He did as she told, and headed back out the door.

As he stepped out the door, the sight of the red snowflake caught his eyes again. He could see it flying away to places unknown. The memories of the wendigo's words echoed from in his head. "The blood of a family member."

Further away at the entrance to the massive country known as the Earth Pony Conglomerate, the group of Twilight Sparkle, Cold Blue, Silver Pear and Starlight arrived. It was agreed upon rather abruptly that Hermes and Red Steel would be arriving from the south as Red Steel was a buffalo. The earth ponies were at an unsteady standstill with his species so if Twilight's group wanted an audience with the delegates of this land and more over Chancellor Pudding Head, they would need to arrive at the front, opened and unproblematic.

From the future, Twilight knew this distance between the two races wouldn't fade with just words as remnants of it still existed in her timeline. Best to connect first before poking holes into the history books. Rather, she was surprised that it was Hermes that suggested the idea before her, maybe sensing Red Steel's discomfort on the matter. Though his reasoning for coming to this place, or even to help them made little sense to begin with. Maybe it was their connection to Rainbow Dartz, or just that he valued their friendship that much.

It didn't matter to Twilight. She could use as many eyes as possible on this case. While the Unicorn Providence was the more advanced and the Giant Hourglass was the tallest, the Earth Pony Conglomerate was the largest and thus would prove to be the toughest of the three. This was due to its sheer size dwarfing both others in comparison. Split into several districts, it could take three or four months just to explore the entire thing.

A daunting task no matter how she looked at it, but Twilight was glad enough to have friends by her side. Her student and Silver Pear to the left, looking over the gateway into the new land. To her right, Cold Blue, taking her hand and walking her inside, to a new section of history. Everything behind them was gone, but there was so much more ahead of them.

Just as they melted into the crowds of earth ponies, making sure not to draw attention, a loud booming sound echoed from within a clocktower. It was a full mile away from them, too far for all but the strongest ears to hear. Cold Blue gave no note to the matter, guiding Twilight along on their journey, a small smile growing on his face. His mind on the mission at hand and nothing else to care about the source.

However, inside the clocktower, an unexpected guest arrived out of a portal through time. A white batpony with long red and blue hair tied back in a ponytail. Her wings were tightly hidden against a magenta blazer and long silver gloves. Pointy ears aimed at her surroundings to make sure she wasn't seen. The vortex shimmered violently behind her, but she was unbothered by it.

Lifting her wrist to her mouth, she spoke with a slight arrogance. "Are you sure he landed here of all timelines?"

"Positive." A voice came out her wristwatch "We have three other operatives checking the three timelines, but scans show he most likely landed in this one."

"Before Equestria founding?!" She huffed at the notion, "Why not as far back as the Calavoss Wars, or at least further ahead as the Pale Mare's bout with Kray or Elisus's War with Hollow Prince. Why this place?!"

"The first is too far back in time for his version of the spell to reach. While we don't know his whereabouts in the second one, it's clear that version of him is not who we are looking for." The voice sighed at her questions. "Everything tells us the correct version we are looking for landed either here, in Fallen Canterlot or Nightmare Tragedy. Your siblings are already in those timelines, leaving this one to you."

"Fine, fine!" The mare flicked off the speaker and cursed several times in multiple languages. Kicking over some boxes and screaming a powerful wave of magic, cracking the wall in front of her. "Why did grandfather agree to send me here? I'm needed back home!" Remember nothing could be done now, she turned back to the vortex and took a deep breath. "Great Uncle Sentry could have at least convinced him this was a bad idea, the target didn't even vanish from my timeline, but another."

Holding up her hand, the vortex closed and transformed into a teal scroll. She pulled a large ring out and slid the scroll through it to seal. Once in place, the scroll vanished and the ring glowed, changing into a size small enough to fit on her ear. The glow faded and she put the ring on, it conformed to fit her perfectly.

"Alright, where did he go?" She held her hands up and focused her ears. After a few moments, she flipped around and rushed over to the nearest window. Scanning over a crowd of earth ponies her eyes narrowed. Despite them being a full mile away, she was able to see Twilight and her group. Her ears pointed directly at them, more importantly, Starlight Glimmer. "Oh, I didn't expect to run into you in this timeline." She gave a wink, knowing that Starlight could never see it from this far away. "Ever so young now, aren't you omnipony. Will you lead me to Sunburst?"