Two weeks had passed. In that time, Inkwell had managed to finish the spell that allowed the six ponies to regain their normal bodies, colorations, and cutie marks. They retained the ability to call on the transformation, because, as Inkwell put it, "That kind of power... once its given, you can't just take it away. You can't put it down after you pick it up. It becomes a part of you. It stays with you... forever."
Not that the others truly had a concept of what forever meant, though they can be forgiven for that. They were teenagers and young adults. Despite the maturity forced on them by their individual circumstances, they had trouble planning more than a few days in advance. They couldn't really be blamed for that, it's just the way that young ponies are made.
But that's not really the point. The point is that only one of the ponies who we last saw in that clearing truly knew what forever might mean, and he dared not utter it for the dual fear of being right or wrong. Inkwell truly hoped that he was wrong. But I digress.
The sands of time were falling through the hourglass, slowly signalling the coming of a new age for Equestria. Fate was busy, working hard on making a new loom after the last one had broken. Destiny was gathering energy to forge herself a new deck of cards. Whispers were passed among the stars and legends. The forgotten fables began to stir. They were all getting ready for a change.
And none of that mattered one iota to a bat pony who had recently rebuilt his feathered wings and the pegasus colt he was having a shouting match with over their parents dinner table.
"Featherdancer, for the last time, NO! Yes, we fought them, but that was because we had to. We were lucky last time. We made it out alive and unscarred. Barely. You were here though, you know what our family went through during those two weeks before the spell spit us out. And even after that, when they knew we were alive but they couldn't see us. You saw them all."
"Exactly!" The pegasus returned to his brother, "Mom an Dad should have never had to go through that! Your twin about had a nervous breakdown when she found out that you had gone and died on her! But that kind of thing is happening every day, all over Equestria. Look at Sunbeam, her father was just taken for no real reason. Yes, she was lucky to find you and Moonchaser, but what about the ponies who aren't lucky? What happens to them? You know full well! After all, it was what you stopped in that maketplace."
"You're right. You're dead right. Sunbeam and Cloudwing are the exception to the rule. Life isn't fair, and the things that happen out there are wrong. It could be so much worse though. You have no idea how truly terrible things could get."
"This isn't about Sunbeam and Cloudwing. Or even about that other world on the other side of the mirror. It's about doing the right thing. What happened to the pony who taught me that there's no such thing as a no-win situation? Who showed me that you could challenge the entire world and win, if you put enough into it and had even one pony to stand with you?"
"He failed." Inkwell's quiet voice was in its own way more disconcerting than the shouting match had been. "He tried to be a hero, and he found out that he wasn't as good as he thought he was. Yes, somepony needs to take a stand, but it needs to be somepony who can win. This fight isn't about challenging the world, its about challenging reality. When somepony shows up who can win that fight, then I'll be right there on the front lines. But we can't win this one. Fighting when you won't win is fine, but don't ever pick a fight you won't walk away from. That doesn't make you a hero, just a martyr. There are already plenty of those."
"But we could win. All you would have to do is transform and-"
"NO!" Featherdancer was nearly bowled over by the force of his brother's shout. "We cannot use the transformations. We cannot use the aliases. We have to leave all of that behind us. The six ponies that Discord banished need to be forgotten and stay that way. Even if we could bring that kind of power to bear, we would have no way to control it. And the price for wielding that kind of power is far too steep."
"Alright then, what about that other thing? Those magic spirit jewel things? From the Heartsong."
"The Elements of Harmony? Featherdancer, we don't even know if that's what that was let alone how or why we manifested it. We have no way to do it again, and all the legends point to it being a one-time thing. Even if its not, sure, it could take out a Draconequus. One. And then we just have to deal with all the rest of them, and their guards, poneekinns, monsters, and allies. The Elements are a miracle given solid form. We can't count on a miracle to save the day."
"Why not? You always told me that we make our own miracles. Maybe we don't need a miracle, maybe we just need a hero."
"That's exactly the point Featherdancer. We need a hero. We need somepony to stand behind who can actually win this fight, and we don't have that yet."
The pegasus gave the bat pony a mournful look and then turned and began walking out of the room. He stopped at the door. "You were a hero once." He spoke softly but his words struck home harder than any of the shouting had. "Do you even remember what that was like?" And then he was gone.
"He's right you know" The voice from behind Inkwell startled him. He turned to see Moonchaser standing there. He hadn't even heard her come in. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear from the other room. But he's right. We can't afford to wait for a hero, maybe we have to make our own."
The stallion shook his head at her. "Come on Moonchaser, you're the one who's been groomed for politics. You know what will happen if we start this fight before we can win. It's not losing that's the problem, its the fact that nopony will walk away. You know how it ends if we take them on and fail."
"Yes," She intoned, "The exact same thing that's happening now, only faster. Equestria is going to die either way, isn't it better to give it a chance to win? Or at least to go out of this world fighting to our last breaths." She shook her head. "The fact is that this war has already started. It began long before we were born, back when Mayhem and the other Draconequi first took over. We just haven't been fighting back."
"But if we fight it will only get worse." He turned his gaze downward. "Enough ponies have already been hurt by me. I can't cause any more pain. Innocents will just get caught in the crossfire as I fail over and over again."
"Haven't you been paying attention? Innocents are already getting caught in the crossfire! And you have no idea how bad it really is out there. Did you know that Discord actually protects ponies from the other Draconequi? Outside of Equestria the rule of chaos gets so much worse. What you're afraid of is already happening, while you just sit here."
"We didn't even get to fight a Draconequus before getting our plots handed to us. How can you still dream of freedom Moonchaser?"
She looked at him for a moment. Then she slapped him across the cheek. Then she leaned forward and gave him a sisterly hug. "Because I once lost that ability. And then in my darkest moment, when there was nothing I could do to save myself, I met a stallion. And he gave me hope. And because of that I'll fight for my dreams. Because of that, they're my most precious possessions."
She ended the hug. "I have to go now. Please... don't lose yourself to your fears. Don't let despair eclipse hope." She turned and left the room, saying her goodbyes to his parents and thanking them for the meal before taking off and vanishing into the night.
Inkwell sat there for a long time, just staring into the flickering flames of a candle. After an hour, he blew it out and left. His parents had already gone to bed, so he let himself out. He flew off into the night, slipping past the guards posted on the walls. His retained ability to match his color scheme to the night perfectly helped some.
He arrived at the tree he called home and quietly entered, taking care not to wake Starswirl as he made his way to his room. He flopped down on his bed with a "whumpf".
It was funny, a month and a half ago, he had wanted nothing more than to be a real mage. He had thought that he would be willing to pay any price. He felt like he had aged years since then. He had been so much younger, more naive, foolish, rash daring... heroic. He almost heard another voice whisper that last word on a nonexistent breeze.
Maybe the others were right, maybe he had been a better pony back then. He walked over to the mirror that hung on his wall. A reflection stared back at him. Not his reflection, but another one. The one that he didn't want. There was another irony. He was a stallion in the first place because he had come through a mirror, and now he couldn't stand the stallion he saw in the mirror.
Wait... he didn't usually have this hallucination. When he looked in the mirror, all he saw was Inkwell, so where had that thought come from? Could it be... maybe he had become a stallion that he couldn't stand to look at, but at least the ponies he cared about were safe.
For now. He continued to stare into the eyes of that other stallion in the mirror. The mirror... that could be a solution, take them all through the mirror, run back to his world to escape... what exactly? There was nothing that existed in this world that wasn't even more terrible back in his own. And what about all the other ponies that that would mean leaving behind, what would happen to them?
No, he could not run. Not from this. But if flight was not an option, then all that was left was...
Fight.
He saw it. He finally saw it. What the others had been trying to tell him all along. He hadn't had a good choice, so he had tried to avoid making a choice. And he had made a terrible choice by doing so. It wasn't that fighting was a good option, it was that it was the best option. The least of all evils. Their only chance.
But he still couldn't do it. Not as he was now. He had to be the stallion... the man... the pony he was before. He had to remember how to throw caution to the wind, trust in luck, believe that a miracle could save him. He had to remember how to be the pony that could start a fight that there was no chance of his walking away from.
And he had to remember how to win anyway.
He reached over and opened up his nightstand, removing his journal. He opened to the first page and began to read. Time passed. The dawn was breaking as he closed the book on the last page of writing.
He walked up to the wall and reached for his wings. Then he stopped. Instead he turned and walked to his closet, extracting a hooded black cloak that would cover him completely. Perfect.
No more running. No more hiding. No more pretending. It was time to challenge the world.
He arrived in the city to see a crowd being gathered. He followed them to the grand palace, where Discord seemed to be wrapping up a speech. It was strange though, Inkwell could hear him talking about executing the eleven ponies standing before him on a set of small platforms, but those spell circles were used for... banishment.
His trained and now enhanced eye could read the mystic patterns from here. The crystal formations were tuned. These ponies were going to find themselves in that one northern settlement, what was it called in his world... Crystalia, or something like that. It was funny though, back in the world he was from, they were major trade partners, but here he hadn't heard a single mention of the place. He had assumed that it just didn't exist here.
But beyond that, why would Discord make everypony think he was executing these ponies if he was just sending them to a forgotten city... very... far... away... Inkwell saw Mayhem and another Draconequus wearing a sash that he recognized. He was Bedlam, the Draconequus Mayhem had put in charge of the bat ponies. He ruled out of Transylmania, the central colony.
He was widely hailed as the most cruel of the Draconequi, but what was he... wait, third pony from the left. He hadn't seen it before because her wings were furled. That wasn't a pegasus, it was a bat pony. Suddenly something Discord said caught his attention.
"But I am not a ruler without mercy" Inkwell almost snorted at his tone of voice until he caught the looks that Discord was receiving from the other Draconequi.
Oh.
So Discord wasn't doing this for the benefit of the crowd, no they were just a part of the show. Then the real audience was...
Inkwell smiled. If that was Discord's game, then he might as well give him a hand... no. The stallion paused as he stood watching from the shadows. If he was going to do this, then there was no going back. No human had the right to interfere in this world. He had to leave that behind him now.
He gave an almost feral grin before turning and making his way up to the top of the palace gates. He was no longer the boy who fell through the mirror. He was a pony. A pony with ponies to protect. And now he was going to go give Discord a hoof with his deception. And send a message to the rest of Equestria.
"My lenience seems to have made ponies think that I will not punish them for their crimes against me. Therefore, I must be harsh and swift in my judgment. But I am not without a sense of fair play. Those ponies who came quietly when we arrested them are even now sitting in my dungeons, where they will remain. These ponies alone attacked my guards, these ponies alone shall be punished for it."
"Let the execution commence." He waved a paw to signal the time for the rite of last words had come.
"I'm sorry," A voice rang clear through the crowd, "I can't let you do that." All eyes turned to the top of the palace gates, where a stallion stood in a black cloak, none of his features visible with the sun behind him. A shadow standing alone in the middle of the day.
"And who exactly are you?" Discord was one of the only beings present not shocked by the stallion's gumption.
"What, you've forgotten me already? Discord, I'm hurt, am I really that forgettable?"
The Draconequus narrowed his eyes. He had no idea where things were going to go now and he didn't like it. He preferred to control his own chaos, thank you very much. "What do you want?"
"My, you really don't pay very much attention, do you? I thought we were very clear in our musical number. We want you, gone. All the Draconequi. We are going to take you down. Now step aside Discord, killing isn't really your style."
"Discord!" A roar ripped from Mayhem's throat. "Kill those ponies, now."
Inkwell saw the hesitation in Discord's eyes. He also saw where those eyes flicked to for a brief moment before his gaze hardened. So there was something in that tower the made Discord obey Mayhem, interesting...
Discord swept his claw in front on him and the eleven ponies vanished in a flash of light. Of course, nopony could know that Inkwell had redirected the spell ever so slightly, just enough to separate the one wearing the mystic brand of Bedlam - Not the bat pony mare, strangely enough - from the others, sending him to a different location entirely.
A bell was heard ringing in the distance. "Do you hear that Mayhem? That bell tolls for you. Twice it has rung, and the third strike shall mark your doom."
"You never answered my question," Discord shouted over the crowd, "Who are you?"
The bat pony looked at the Draconequus. Then, for the first time since he had been in Discord's dungeon, he smirked. He locked eyes with the chaos being from hundreds of yards away. Discord could feel the smirk, and then he felt it change to a grin. A genuine soft smile. "Hope."
That was all the stallion said before leaping backwards off of the top of the gates as guards rushed him from either side. He vanished into the shadows, leaving as much trace as the shadow he appeared to be.
A few minutes later, Inkwell was looking at a message board. The names had been posted of all those arrested at what had apparently been a peaceful protest until some guard turned it into a brawl. Inkwell rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure he knew which one that had been.
Then his breath caught and his heart froze. So they hadn't gotten away. He had been worried when he found the charm that he had given Moonchaser to hide the extras he couldn't take away from her normal body. It was slightly bent and had a dent in it. He had found it in a gutter at the street corner where the protest had taken place. Unless he missed his guess, They had actually started that protest.
He had to shake his head. It would have been one thing if he had to just get them out, but the guards had been indiscriminate. Everypony within a block of the protest had been arrested. He sighed, now he was going to have to get almost four dozen ponies out of Discord's dungeon.
He almost laughed out loud. He wasn't even bothering to question if he could do it, he was wondering how, assuming that he not only could but would, and already complaining about how many ponies he was going to have to make sure chaos couldn't hurt.
He was standing there, on a street corner, all alone and in the shadows of the sunset. He was challenging the odds, laughing at Fate, Destiny, and Certainty. He was staring down the impossible and wondering how much time it was really going to take away from his studies. He knew something that he could never do, and he was going to go ahead and do it anyway.
For the first time in weeks, he felt like himself again.
He paused to look at the mark on his flank, an inkwell with a quill in it sitting in front of a page with writing and a magic circle. He concentrated for a moment and the mark shifted, becoming a pale blue starburst and a silver fleur-de-lis. He smiled, maybe they weren't really so very different after all. But Inkwell wasn't what Equestria needed right now.
The scholar would have to rest for a time. The rebel would take things from here. But he had to be sure.
He tapped two of the names on the list with a forehoof. Aliases, likely Featherdancer's and Moonchaser's. But he had to be sure.
"I'm coming." He softly said to the coming night. "Just hold on." But he had to be sure.
A pony in a black cloak took to the air and flew towards a place he had recently become somewhat acquainted with. As the sun finished setting and night took hold, a bat pony flew over the city of Everfree. He flew to a house, a mansion really, on Palatial Lane. He checked his garment to make sure it could be mistaken for either court robes or a traveler's cloak, ensuring that the door would at least be opened.
Then he raised his right hoof and knocked on the door to the home of the mare with a title longer than his leg who he knew only as Moonchaser.