JTHW: Journey To Hearth's Warming

by Lighttone GryphonStar

S6 Chapter 53: Dark Versus Frost

As the massive beast fell apart into pieces of black mass, Commander Hurricane found herself falling through the floor. Before there was a ground below her, then thousands of chains and darkness, now there was no floor at all. This whole thing was so damn confusing and all this dark magic was rebounding against her blood as a descendant of light much like her brother. All of these combined to give her the hardest trail so far today.

Despite all these problems, she couldn't falter now. With everything behind her and so much more in front of her, she needed to stand tall. Kicking against all this darkness, she flew toward the head of the giant beast as it floated by toward the source of the chains and darkness. It was only seconds before she found her target. Narrowing her eyes through the moving mass showed the body of her brother still being held hostage by that monster. The source of his power, and Commander Hurricane firmly believed if she smite that, all of this would be over. Even if it meant killing her brother, this was her chance to end this all. Pushing on all the power she had left, she held out her hand. Still, in a full daze of determination, her hand couldn't feel a weapon that was no longer there.

Yet the next thing she found when she closed was another figure landing between them. This new pegasus warrior arrived with a loud bang against the skull of massing flesh. The sheer amount of power and wind kicked about her arrival, tossed the Commander to the floor of the giant head.

Commander Hurricane's defense went up, even though it was a pegasus standing in her way. One of her soldiers couldn't be the one to end this. Deep down, she knew the dark deed had to fall to her. However, her daze of determination faded upon seeing more of the sickening truth.

Standing between her and her brother was a pegasus she knew all too well. Though her form had been distorted by an unknown level of magic she had never seen before. Ignoring the cakes of blood covering her armor and another griffin commander being crushed under her foot upon impact. No, all Commander Hurricane could see was her oldest friend and closest confidant, Private Pansy.

"Private Pansy... What are you doing here?" Hurricane's voice hitched at the sight of her.

"I'm here to help." Pansy turned around to face the mare she served so loyally.

Hurricane's eyes jointed back as her defense kicked into higher gear. Everything in her body told her to jump back and fly away as fast as possible. But why, this was her best friend. Somepony who couldn't even hurt a fly. Yet, there was blood and bone chips all over her new form. The eyes of the kindest soldier she ever knew were replaced by a cold and vicious weapon.

"What did you do to yourself?" Commander Hurricane's throat hit her stomach like a knife.

"This?!" Pansy showed off her new body. "I made myself strong enough to kill nearly all the griffin's high command... for you!"

"Better?" Hurricane found herself now backstepping even faster. Why now? Her brother was right there. All she need to do was get past this monster. No, this was her best friend, or rather what her friend became. "Why? What makes this better than what you were before?!"

"I've seen soldiers die for you, Commander Hurricane!" Pansy explained with an empty, black heart. "I saw what this world does to those who protect you. The ones that were too weak to stand in your presence!!" She held out her massive hand out to her. "This isn't the life you wanted!"

"You're the one who followed me this far, Private!" Commander Hurricane shot back. "All these years, all these battles."

"We had each other's back, but soon enough things changed." Pansy flexed her new body and power, showing more might than the commander could ever dream of. "I'm not some weak pegasus anymore. Not sompony you can ignore or treat like a maid!" Pansy replied back. "I am now strong enough to stand by your side..." Turning around to face the final opponent. "No, even better. I can be your new sword. Striking the enemies down for you. Killing every single thing that stand in your way!!"

"That's not what you want. It's not what I want." Commander Hurricane argued back as she continued to retreat away from her.

"Of course it is." Pansy argued back with a smirk. "You're the soldier. The greatest hero of our species. You inspired all of us to fight to our last and bloodiest breath!!" Pansy explained. "I want to be just like you. Just like all the other soldiers that died for your cause." She walked forward with the ghosts of the long dead soldiers that had inspired Commander Hurricane beforehand. "They died for you... so I can now serve you better. Like all the other great heroes who served under you."

"Patrica Pansy..." Commander Hurricane stopped moving backward and spoke the mare's name, free of all titles and rank. All she could do was stand still and stare at her as the horror became clear. Her armor shook loose and her grip faded completely. Her determination shattered like glass against the road.

"Yes... Gale," The private's body moved into an attack position, ready to complete her mission, even though her words spoke the same desire that the other pegasus mare had. They didn't use each other's ranks. In fact, when alone they never did once, but ever since this battle began, no, ever since Private Pansy started killing off these griffins she only saw the great Commander Hurricane, not Gale. Her friend and leader, not the mare she loved and adored.

It wasn't until both were standing on the same thought did the sickening reality kicked in. Gale wanted to stop, but she couldn't let Pansy be the one to commit the deed, not because of duty. This task would go against everything that Pansy was. This wouldn't just mean the death of her brother, but also the mare she loved.

Gale was no longer standing against a dire mission to save species and kingdoms. Instead, her true mission was clear. She couldn't kill her brother. Never could let her beloved commit such heinous acts. Even if it meant failing her species and kingdom, a new creed was born at this moment. Not to kill or protect, but to save.

******

Down below, while thousands of griffins, pegasus, and black masses fell around him, King Grover trembled in his steps. He kept moving through the determination and into utter malice and hatred. His limbs were broken and bleeding. His armor didn't matter anymore as he would chase them through fire and hell itself if meant his revenge was achieved. All he could do was limp and crawl toward his goal. He wanted his prize. He needed to reach the other source of his power and then kill every last pony that did this to him.

He gave no care to all the dead falling around him. They didn't matter, only him and his goal. If none of his soldiers survived, so be it. The only ones that mattered to him were getting his power and his revenge. The rest were just dirt on the road. King Grover dragged his bloody body across the field, moving like a zombie through the falling rubble and bodies. He would not stop. He would not fail. No one else would take this victory from him.

He felt the heat of the burning clouds, the cold of the ice shards of the blizzards, and the darkness of the magic above. He could care less about any of that. There was a power inside of him that kept him alive. One he would not let go of. A hatred that went beyond common racism. The pegasi had taken everything from his kin. This was once their holiest of homes.

His father and grandfather before him were born in this place, and he was the king to be of this stolen land. No one would take it from him. He would have his revenge and kill the entire pegasus race. Even if his sons died and he lost his throne. Even if his own soldiers were slaughtered. He would have his revenge.

And with this crooked spear, he would stab the enemy and drain their blood. His eyes brightened upon finding it far from that accursed Commander Hurricane. It was there, impaled into the ground. Just a few feet from him. With everything he had left, he crawled to the cursed weapon.

"There you are," King Grover growled in his throat. "My spear. My weapon. My source of power." He reached his talon to grab the handle, hissing in pain.

"So close and so far from true freedom." Another voice echoed upon the weapon. The griffin was ripped out of his daze by an all too familiar voice. Floating above him was Lord Red. The very same mysterious pony that saved his life centuries ago.

"How have you not aged a day?"

Lord Red landed beside the Crooked Spear and barely gave the griffin's comment any note. "This Giant Blue Hourglass was forged with the combined power of the griffins and the umbrums. The greatest symbol that darkness and light could stand united together under one banner. Something that truly scared me more than anything in all of creation."

"Who are you, really?" King Grover asked, barely able to care anymore

"A very old fool." Lord Red admitted as he looked at the weapon.

"Then tell me..." Grover walked past him. "Why would you send me on this path if we scare you so much."

"I did?!" The unicorn raised an eyebrow. He raised his hand up and plucked invisible strings. "Wow, you aren't lying at all."

"Of course, not how could I forget the one who saved me from Saturn's scythe--" He was stopped as Lord Red vanished one second and was back the next.

"Now it makes sense..." The old pony held up his hands in defense. "You have to understand, time doesn't flow the same to me then it does for you." He smiled at the griffin. "For you, it has been centuries, but for me, it just happened right after our meeting here."

"Are you the same unicorn that helped me?"

"Before you told me I wasn't, but after--"

"Enough!!" King Grover yelled at him, with the crooked spear finally in reach.

"I didn't send you. You chose your path. I didn't force you down it." Lord Red argued back. "All I did was offer you a way to achieve your destiny."

"Yes... and now I take it with the greed of a dragon!!" King Grover pulled the spear from the ground. "With this power and right I will smoke that evil mare's entire family." He held it up with both talons. "I will slaughter the ponies and every last descendant of them."

"If you believe it's the right thing." Lord Red shrugged and let him pass.

"Of course it is. It's the only path forward." King Grover hissed, his beak turning to a wicked grin.

"The only path... the only choice... the only fate..." Lord Red spoke in a calm, almost soothing voice. "Such a thing we can never escape no matter how hard we try."

"Why escape it?! Why not revel in the blood-soaked devastation of that final end!!" King Grover stopped acknowledging him anymore and ran off to his destiny.

"Blood-soaked devastation... yes." Lord Red watched the griffin rush into the bloody inferno, leaving him all alone. He didn't stop smiling as he closed his eyes. "This is the only path for him. To follow his own choices. No matter the outcome... as long another omnipony is born my fate is certain." He lifted his head up and threw his arms.

******

The two ifrit witnesses locked their eyes on their master's appearance in the sky, above the battlefield as the giant corpse of the centaur floundered around in a dark mass filled with thousands of faces. It was a disturbing sight, but their master, the wendigo seemed to shine above it all like a great savior as he faced another opponent of great darkness. It was akin to the images of god against the devil, while hell screamed around them.

Sage's fingers wrapped tighter around Vanity's hand. Neither of them had left each other side. They were told to stand as witnesses to the truth and as such, it was being revealed right now. Despite being thousands of miles away they could hear their master's words as if they were standing right behind him. And yet they dare not utter a word to each other or any other nearby less they learn the truth too early.

Vanity was a doctor at heart and always had been. She couldn't believe in the fate of this all powerful will that their master had over them at first. But years of working under him had dulled these doubts. The greatest thing that has been driving her recently was the death of her sibling while serving their master. It was a tragic time, but she found herself standing stronger now, more connected than ever before to the stallion beside her, who was but a stranger not but a few months ago.

Sage had greater doubt. Could it because he joined so late into the plan or maybe due to his intense distrusting nature? Being born into the world of politics, his way of life had been forged through deception and manipulation. It was how his race survived during the ancient times of the past. It best separated them from the other races that relied so heavily on magic. He couldn't help but question everything at every turn even after the first examples of their master's plan.

But now there they both were, firm believers in all of it. And the truth was only just beginning to reveal itself. The wind suddenly picked up around them, pushing all attention toward the same thing they were seeing. Both the wounded and near dead felt their gazes being pulled toward the words of the wendigo and his perspective of the umbrum in front of him.

The lone warrior of darkness and death floated above it all. He stood against the wendigo's will but his determination was fading away at the words of his enemy. He didn't want it to be true, but there was no point to lie now where the reality was far more cold. The umbrum didn't want to accept it, but was real and absolute. "No, please..." He found himself pleading with the wendigo.

"I wouldn't dare lie to you, Rex." The wendigo smirked, "But you can see with your own eyes, can't you?" He presented the thousands upon millions of souls twisting around in the mass of the giant monster. "I think it's about time we give the last glimpse of your race a proper burial, don't you?"

"No..." He raised his scythe to the wendigo. "You did this!"

"Now, you are lying to yourself." The wendigo gestured away to the icy winds and down to the craters below. "I was too busy fighting that siren. You know this..." He floated closer and presented his bloody hands. "He fought bravely, and kept me from being involve until now. Ergo, this is all his plan." Flipping back to the center of the mass of souls. "I told you this already. This is all Aitym's work."

"No, no, no!" Rex's dark power flared outward in defiance.

"Stop denying it!" The wendigo roared. "I could repeat it over and over. You could fight me, even kill me!" He stopped floating as the scythe's tip pressed against his chest, never phasing through. "None of that would stop him. Nothing you do to me would save any of them!!" Using his snowflakes he showed Rex everything happening down below.

Images of Starlight barely escaping a cave with Silver Pear. Twilight and Clover slowly awaking on the ground, above all the harm closing in on them. Luna returned to Celestia's side and making sure she was safe. Hermes and Red Steel rescuing soldiers. Even the bout that was going to break out between Gale and Pansy. Finally back to the ifrits witnessing it all. All these events haunted and urged Rex onward.

The umbrum found his hand moving the scythe away from the wendigo. His eyes widened to the full scope of everything. All the souls that he knew from thousands of years ago. His old friends, old family, old life. Everypony he once knew now lay at the mercy of a single creature. Himself, just like the day he left this land... alone.

“End this now Rex!” Lord Red’s voice echoed through the walls of reality as he slipped into existence. The distorted creature in the form of a unicorn pointed in the same direction as the wendigo. "Destroy that giant monster!"

“I… “ Rex shivered in horror as a cold acceptance shook his hands into position. The destruction was everywhere and so many were dead. His eyes soon fell on Clover and Twilight.

“Do it!" Lord Red demanded.

Rex closed his eyes and turned to face the ashes of his brethren. They were all gone, and he was the last one standing. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he remembered every smile, every laugh, and every word. There was nothing to bring them back. Even his power as an umbrum could not help him here.

The wendigo smiled, “It’s as you said to be once long ago, the way of a knight is to follow… not lead.”

Rex gritted his teeth at those icy words. He channeled all the remaining dark magic inside his body into the scythe. Lifting it upward, it grew to gigantic size. Floating out of his hands, but still connected to him by his chains and power. Flowing far away it all to the very edge of the atmosphere, over the Sun as it rose up.

“Tell me...” Rex whispered to the wendigo. “What are your true motives? You speak like we are friends. You speak of her…” He closed his eyes and activated the spell. “How do you know her?”

“I don't speak of her like I knew her. No, another knew her greater than I." The wendigo turned back into a swarm of red snowflakes. "As for anything else, I will answer only one more question for now.”

“What then?”

“My motives are simple. You wish to protect them. I wish to save them.” He vanished in the fading light of Rex's power.

******