ACE is confronted by the mysterious white unicorn who issues him one final test to prove his worth.
The truth behind the mysterious white unicorn with the broken horn is finally revealed. Amethyst the changeling is challenged to pass a long and difficult trial; should he succeed he will gain a power unlike anything he has ever known, and his destiny will finally come to fruition. The trial quickly proves difficult as Amethyst faces off against those who have come before him.
Monochrome stared at the core of Tartarus. Two magical energies, one black and one white swirled and danced around one another, radiating brilliant pulses of light. The efforts of Monochrome, Twilight Sparkle, and their friends had not destroyed the core of Tartarus, but instead had ‘reset’ it. An unstable magical force wiped all the evil creatures from the forsaken wasteland, leaving only Monochrome and Cerberus behind, while Twilight and her friends just barely escaped with their lives. All of Equestria now believed that Monochrome was dead, but in reality, the core had adopted him to take on his new role. He was the keeper, the protector of Tartarus, and all of its secrets. Monochrome had no issues with this; the core represented everything he had ever wanted in his life. It was a brilliant yet complex source of magical energy that Monochrome could spend his entire life studying and still never figure it out completely.
He understood the minimal details of the core. It was a fountain of magic, able to bring one’s very thoughts into existence, if only for a brief moment. Tartarus was created to keep the core sealed as well as the thoughts of its watcher. The colt concentrated, and a magical glow began to form from his broken horn. A flickering illusion of Twilight Sparkle appeared before him. The image smiled and the colt smiled back, soon after the image faded away.
The colt continued his experiments. He shot spells at the core seeing how it would react; sometimes mysterious creatures would appear, and sometimes the spells were shot back. It wasn’t until Monochrome began using dark magic on the core that he stumbled upon something he almost wished he hadn’t.
A vision flashed before Monochrome. He saw Endermen, the previous keeper of Tartarus and…something…Monochrome couldn’t make it out. The vision was clouded and the creature appeared to be little more than a collective mass of black misty essence. Whatever it was, it was of Endermen’s creation, and the wicked ex keeper of Tartarus was speaking to it.
“I release you now. Live, and grow hidden to all who live on this world, and when you have grown in strength, emerge, and destroy the harmony that binds this world together.”
Whatever this creature was, it was going to take more than the Elements of Harmony to defeat it. Twilight and her friends would need the aid of the Elements of Order, but they stopped working shortly after Monochrome’s apparent “death.” He had to find replacements, so he departed Tartarus that day, to seek six new ponies. For the sake of time, he decided to start with the most powerful of all; the element of Balance.
~~~
ACE, Lilly, Chroma Sketch, and Ravewind finally arrived to the outskirts of Baltimare. It had been a long and tiring journey for all of them, and they were all looking forward to some much needed sleep. Lilly, the blue earth pony with a golden blond mane, turned to her traveling companion and boyfriend ACE, a brown-maned white unicorn.
“Alright ACE, the usual drill if you don’t mind.” Lilly’s tone had long since returned to the usual soft and sweet; implying that ACE was finally completely forgiven.
“Absolutely Lilly” ACE replied. There was a combination of happiness and excitement in the colt’s tone.
“What are you guys doing?” Chroma asked curiously.
Lilly turned to face the white Pegasus with black and red mane.
“Before we begin a concert ACE always goes out ahead and sneaks around the city. He puts up flyers and leaves requests on doorsteps of ponies telling them what we’re going to need.” As Lilly was talking, ACE began working his magic. Several playing cards spun around the colt glowing with a light warm green light. Some became miniature posters while others began to turn grey and radiate a dark aura. This was one of ACE’s favorite spells.
“Not gonna’ lie Lilly, that sounds pretty creepy.” As Ravewind joined the group he let out a huge yawn after his comment, and looked at his friends with only one eye open. Ravewind wasn’t particularly fond of camping, and he probably got the least amount of sleep out of all of them. On top of that, everyone else was pretty sure he had been drinking cider all night.
“Yeah well that’s just how we’ve done it. The discretion helps keep our audience to a minimum. At first it was just a curious few, but it’s been slowly building to an overwhelming following.”
ACE pocketed the spells in his pouch aside from his cards. “Alright Lilly, I’m off.”
“Don’t go picking up any mares while you’re in town.” Lilly shouted to ACE with a wink.
“There are a million mares in Baltimare, but there’s only one of you.” ACE winked back and took off for town.
“So we just wait for ACE to get back?” Asked Ravewind who was starting to yawn again.
Chroma sketch reached into her vest pockets and pulled out 3 pairs of scissors, and 3 sheets of paper. “I know what we can do to pass the time.” As ACE entered the town Chroma Sketch explained the game.
ACE pulled out one of the dark grey cards and threw it on the ground, after a short burst of smoke he was completely invisible. ACE ran quickly through the streets of the city, tossing the mini card posters along the walls. On contact with the walls the card expanded to full sized posters advertising the arrival of Lilly as well as the location of the concert. ACE continued to toss out the posters, stopping only briefly to occasionally toss down a new invisibility card. When he was finally out of cards he retreated to a nearby ally where he stopped to take a breath.
“Up to your old tricks again I see.”
ACE turned to see who was addressing him. It was him, the white colt with the broken horn and shades that had been following them since their adventures began.
What do you want?” ACE demanded to know.
“I’m out of time ACE. I was hoping to follow you a little bit more, but I simply cannot do so anymore.” The colt responded.
“You’re not making any sense.” ACE replied.
“Your trials will start soon; you need to be ready to accept what I am going to give you.”
“Again,” responded ACE this time with a much more annoyed tone. “You are not making any sense at all!”
The colt didn’t respond, he simply faded away like he always did, once again not explaining anything about who he was or what he wanted.
ACE looked at the ground and began to talk to himself. “Soon? How soon is soon? Is he planning to do something during the concert?” ACE shook his head. “I need to get back to the others; I’ll just be on a higher guard than I normally am at these events. Hopefully he’ll wait till after to confront me.”
ACE returned to the others and found them playing a game among themselves.
“One, two, three, shoot!” They all shouted in unison before Ravewind tossed out a rock between them, and Lilly and Chroma both tossed out sheets of paper.
“Ha I win!” Ravewind shouted to the others.
Chroma slapped her forehead and groaned. “For the last time Ravewind PAPER IS BEATEN BY ROCK!”
“I still say that doesn’t make any sense!” Ravewind pouted.
“You all seem to be having fun.” ACE interrupted as he trotted back to the group.
“Oh yeah tons of it,” Lilly responded half sarcastically. “You sure took your time.”
ACE shrugged. “Yeah well Baltemare’s a big place. I underestimated how many posters I would need and I had to stop and make more.”
The group waited around for another hour to pass, to let ponies catch the posters and let word spread of the upcoming performance. After that they headed into the city to scope out a hotel to stay in. As they made their way to the hotel, ACE began to whisper to Lilly.
“There’s a colt that’s been following us for a while now, if you see him, try to avoid him as best as you can. He’s a white unicorn with a black mane, shades and a broken horn.”
Lilly was perplexed by ACE’s description of the unicorn. She was use to unicorns with magic that didn’t function. One of her best friends, Gem, was a unicorn that didn’t use her magic at all, but a unicorn with a horn that was broken? That was just strange, about as strange as…well her relationship with ACE now that she gave it some thought. None the less, Lilly nodded in agreement and they continued on their way.
Lilly was well known in Baltemare, and the hotel manager allowed her to stay at no cost in exchange for agreeing to sing at the owner’s son’s upcoming wedding. Unfortunately he had to charge Ravewind and Chroma Sketch for a separate room, but Ravewind paid with little contest. A well-known clothes designer in town agreed to make the costume in exchange for some publicity, and even the mayor provided Baltemare’s concert hall for use for the performance, as long as the group covered any damages. Ravewind once again, was willing to pay.
The concert hall was set up in no time, and soon enough it was time for the performance. ACE stood outside Lilly’s dressing room. He was equipped with his standard bodyguard attire, a black collared shirt with grey glasses. Ravewind and Chroma were dressed similarly, though they took the rout of white vests over a black shirt. They stood at either exit watching the concert from the back. Ravewind grumbled about how far away they were but Chroma Sketch simply replied at least you don’t have to pay. This almost appeared to be a relief to the Colt.
Lilly walked out on stage, garbed in a fabulous white dress with sky blue trim and a gem studded back. She smiled as she looked out to the crowd of ponies that were cheering for her. It was almost double the audience since the last time she was here. Word travels fast in Baltimare it seems. As the lights dimmed the background music began to play and Lilly began to sing. Her voice lived up to the legend. It was almost magical, so much that first time attendees found their jaws dropping to the floor, and even veterans to her concerts were still overwhelmed with her ability. Singing was definitely her talent.
At the conclusion of the first song the entire stadium was in an uproar with applause. Mares and Colts alike rose to their hind legs and applauded Lilly for an amazing performance, then sat back down again eagerly awaiting her next song. Just as she was about to start however, the lights suddenly began to dim. Soon they were flickering on and off causing fear and panic to run through the audience. Ravewind and Chroma stood at the ready, and ACE ran on stage and stood by Lilly’s side. The sound of magic radiated throughout the concert hall and suddenly all the lights went out. One by one the members of the audience began to fall asleep. Shortly after the audience had drifted off to sleep, Ravewind found himself passing out onto the floor. Followed by Chroma Sketch, and lastly ACE and Lilly who fell asleep on top of one another each one holding the others hoof.
When Lilly came to, the world around her had changed dramatically. The ground was dark grey and the sky was black and filled with stars. She looked around and saw nothing but a barren wasteland she turned around completely and her eyes widened. She was looking at Equestria, not a map, but the entire planet. She did a double take around her to confirm, and there was no doubt. She was on the moon.
“Wha…how…Whe…” Lilly began to panic as she frantically paced in circles hoping to find an answer. That answer came in the form of a voice coming from behind her.
“Do not worry, you are only dreaming.”
Lilly turned around to see a colt approaching her slowly. His body was ghost white and his mane was as black as the night sky above them. He wore a dark black shades and his horn…was broken. Lilly began to retreat away from the colt.
“It’s you! ACE warned me about you, get away from me!”
“I am not an enemy Lilly.” The colt reassured her.
Lilly stopped her backwards walk and stared at the colt. “How do you know my name?” She inquisited.
“Because of ACE” The colt responded. “He and I have been communicating regularly; I seek his aid in a grave matter that concerns all of Equestria.”
“If this is my dream how are you here in it?” Lilly continued to question.
The colt shrugged. “Magic is a powerful tool in the right hands, especially when you have access to what I have.”
“Can I ask you one last question?” Lilly continued on.
The colt shrugged then nodded.
“Who are you?” She asked.
“I am a ghost.” The colt replied.
The world around the two suddenly began to shake and shimmer; parts of it appeared to melt while others simply began to vanish without a trace.
“Cursed night” Exclaimed the colt. “Someone else is trying to invade the dream. I have to go now, but we will see each other again very soon!”
With that last note before Lilly could object the colt was gone in a puff of black smoke. Lilly became scared as her dream seemed to collapse around her, slowly dissolving into a plane of solid white. The more of her world that left her, the more scared she became, and soon not a single thing remained. Lilly could hear hoof steps approaching her but she was curled up and too scared to see who it was. Eventually the hoof steps stopped and she was greeted by a familiar voice.
“Arise Lilly, do not worry, I intended no harm to you.”
Lilly looked up to see Princess Luna looking down at her. She eagerly arouse then bowed before the princess of the night.
“Was it you that did this princess?” Lilly asked her.
Princess Luna nodded to the mare. “Recently, I have been getting disturbing news that ponies have seen a stranger within their dreams. At first it was hard to think anything of it, after all dreams are capable of being about anything and everything, but more and more ponies began to report this. Thus I have been tirelessly investigating. When word got to us that the entire populace of Baltimare had all fallen asleep all at once, I thought I could find the one responsible, but he has eluded me. He left your dream and has traveled to a place I cannot see nor reach.”
Lilly began to worry, or at least she thought she began to worry. She had come to terms with the fact she was dreaming. If the colt had gone to a place Princess Luna could not go. He must have entered the dream of someone who was not a pony; someone like ACE.
“Tell me Lilly” Princess Luna continued “Have you see a strange colt in your dreams tonight?”
Lilly nodded. “I was approached by a white unicorn with a black mane and shades.” Princess Luna became concerned with Lilly’s description.
“The horn of this unicorn, was it broken my dear?” Inquired the princess.
Lilly nodded and Princess Luna put her hoof to her mouth lost in thought.
“Is something the matter princess?” Lilly asked concerned.
“The description you gave me matches that of my old apprentice. A brilliant and studious unicorn named Monochrome.”
“Old apprentice?” Lilly repeated. Princess Luna nodded her head, and continued with her story.
“Monochrome was shunned and ostracized by most ponies due to his horn and his obsession with his studies of magic. He spent most of his life wandering, but traveled only by night. It was because of this that I became aware of him. I took the colt as my apprentice just as my elder sister took on Twilight Sparkle. With me as his guide Monochrome began to assimilate into normal society, and eventually he even made good friends.”
“So what happened to him?” Lilly interrupted.
Princess Luna looked down to the floor. “He passed away, or so we all thought. He gave his life to save Twilight and his friends. It would have taken a powerful magic force to save him, and now that he has returned, he seems to have gained very powerful abilities. Tell me, did he tell you as to why he was traveling through the dreams of other ponies?”
Lilly shook her head. “I’m sorry princess, all he said was that he was searching for someone to help him with ‘a grave matter that concerned all of Equestria.’”
Princess Luna continued to think to herself before turning to face Lilly.
“If it is a situation so dire that my old apprentice has been revived, then I will have to alert my sister immediately. I must leave now Lilly but fear not, you and your friends should be awoken again by this next days end.”
“Princess if I may,” Lilly interrupted. “Before you go may I ask you for a favor?”
“What is it my dear?” Questioned the princess.
“I’m concerned for my boyfriend. I fear that Monochrome may be trying to intrude on his dream as well. Is there a way you could help me reach him?”
The Princess pondered the idea. “Ordinarily this would be impossible; however there is a strong bond between you and young ACE, and your bodies are currently connected as well. I can transfer your consciousness to his but beware; should anything happen to you, I cannot guarantee that I can return you to your own body.”
Lilly agreed despite the warning. She didn’t mind putting herself at risk if she could be there to help ACE in any way. Princess Luna’s body began to shimmer and soon both she and Lilly were glowing with a bright white light, then suddenly the world went black.
~~~~
“Ow my head….ow my horn…” ACE ran his hoof along his horn which was ice cold and curved backwards.
“Huh?” Looking down at himself ACE noticed that he was no longer disguised; he had returned to his original form, Lord Amethyst the Changeling.
“A disguise is hardly necessary when you’re in a dream ACE.” Amethyst recognized the voice and turned behind him to face the white colt with a broken horn.
“If I’m not disguised there’s no reason to call me by that name now is there? Or do you not know my real name?” Amethyst taunted.
“You are correct Prince Amethyst, I apologize.” The colt put emphasis on the word ‘prince’ in an effort to return Amethyst’s taunt. The changeling hissed under his breath. Was there anything this guy didn’t know?
“It’s time you told me who you really are!” Amethyst demanded. “And don’t go throwing out the ‘I am a ghost’ line!”
The colt shrugged, like it or not it was about time he revealed the truth to the changeling.
“My name is Monochrome. I am the keeper of the secrets of Tartarus. I am also the ex-apprentice of Princess Luna, and the ex-wielder of one of the Elements of Order.”
Amethyst shook his head to process the information dump. “Wait wait slow down. Elements of what now? The only elements I know of are-”
Monochrome cut the changeling off. “The Elements of Harmony. These are similar, but like two sides of the same coin; the Yang to Harmony’s Yin if you will.”
Amethyst couldn’t tell if Monochrome was trying to make a pun or not. Monochrome’s cutie mark was a Yin-Yang, and though Amethyst didn’t know what it represented, it clearly had something to do with magic.
“Curious about my cutie mark are we?”
Amethyst shot Monochrome a confused look in response to what he had said.
“You can read minds now?” Amethyst asked halfheartedly.
“I don’t have too; I simply read your face.”
Amethyst was starting to get annoyed with Monochrome’s “all-powerful” attitude. Still, he supposed that anyone with that kind of track record would probably act like that. He just wished Monochrome was a bit more modest about his abilities.
“Anyway” continued the white unicorn. “My cutie mark is a yin-yang, as I’m sure you can tell. It represents my talent for both types of magic in the world. There is white magic, which is powered by concentration, discipline, and the strength of the bonds you share with those around you. Then there is black magic; a less common branch of magic that is fueled completely by one’s emotions. The more potent the emotions you give out, the stronger the magic becomes. Due to the experiences I have encountered during my extended life time, I am a master of both.”
Again with the high and mighty talk Amethyst thought to himself. “What does any of this have to do with me Monochrome?” Amethyst asked.
“I’m getting to that.” Monochrome replied bluntly. “Aside from my magical talent, I am also the original owner of The Element of Balance, the most powerful and elusive of the Elements of Order. Think of it as the counterpart to the Element of Magic. However, because I have become bound to the plane of Tartarus as its new keeper, I am no longer able to maintain my bond with the Element. Thus I have begun a search for somepony else to take my place. That search, has lead me to you Amethyst.”
Amethyst once again gave Monochrome a very confused stare. “You’re giving me the Element of Balance?”
Monochrome shook his head. “No not quite. You see Amethyst, the Elements of Order not as frivolous as the Elements of Harmony. They are an absolute force for good, and their powers have the potential to overwhelm their users if they lack the same mindset. This is why I have been following you for as long as I have, I needed to test you, make sure that at the end of the day you were a driving force for good in the world. This testing process would have taken much longer ordinarily, but I am out of time. I have to escalate your testing, thus I have pulled you into your subconscious, a place where anything and everything can happen at a very rapid pace.”
“Why exactly are you out of time? For that matter, what makes you think I am capable of wielding the Element of Balance?” Amethyst continued to throw question after question at the colt who eventually had to interrupt him.
“A powerful force will be upon Equestria soon, one that the Elements of Harmony will be powerless to stop. As for you, I know you are the one, because of what you are. You’re not quite a changeling, but you’re not a pony either. You are both and none, everything, but also nothing at all.”
Amethyst rubbed his head with his hole-covered hoof. This guy’s riddle was starting to give him a headache. “Anyway what is this test?” Amethyst inquired.
“I sought out other ponies before I came to you. They were potential candidates, but their lives were flawed and they each had many problems of their own. Each of these ponies will represent a trial. Improve the lives of those who came before you, and you will have proven yourself a worthy successor to the Element of Balance.”
Amethyst shrugged. “Seems simple enough. I accept this task.”
Monochrome’s broken horn began to glow a dark grey color and the world around them began to twist and distort. Monochrome faded away and the world was replaced. Amethyst looked over himself. His disguise had returned, he was ACE once again. He looked around at his surroundings. He was standing outside a school ground, much like Cheerilee’s. The school bell rang and the young fillies took to the school yard for recess. ACE watched them play, looking for anyone out of the ordinary; one particular pony caught his eye. A young yellow earth-pony mare with an almost mustard colored mane, she was sitting by herself under a tree and three colts were approaching her. ACE couldn’t hear what was going on from where he was but it was abundantly clear that the three colts were making the little yellow pony feel uncomfortable. Was the yellow pony the first candidate? There’s no way she could have been, if what Monochrome said was true the Element of Balance would have overwhelmed somepony that fragile. Suddenly ACE heard a shout from the entrance of the school.
“Hey! I thought I told you guys to leave her alone!” A young light green Pegasus colt with bright silver hair marched out zealously and stood between the mare and the 3 bully ponies. To ACE’s surprise the colt looked almost like a small Lyra, and though very young he had already earned his cutie mark; a black kite shield with a pair of white angelic wings in the middle of it, ACE couldn’t help but be impressed.
“Back off Paragon” one of the bullies demanded.
“Yeah” Added another, “We was just havin’ a bit of fun is all.”
“Yeah, well she’s not having any fun now is she?! Now back off, or I’ll make you regret it!”
The school bell rang again, calling everyone back inside. ACE sighed in relief; the bell just ended what could have potentially been a very bad situation.
“So it wasn’t the yellow one. That Pegasus named ‘Paragon’ was the first candidate.” ACE smiled. Paragon reminded him a lot of himself, and he wondered if every pony he ran into would make him feel the same way.
ACE decided the best way to go about this situation was on the inside, luckily who better to get inside than a Changeling? ACE approached the room the two ponies were in under the disguise of one of the school’s councilors and knocked on the door, entering soon after. The teacher, to ACE’s surprise and relief, wasn’t Cheerilee.
“Councilor Black Board? What brings you here today?” The teacher asked.
ACE cleared his throat. Luckily he was one of the few changelings who knew how to convert his voice automatically and with little effort. He addressed the teacher with a flawless representation of the councilor’s voice.
“I couldn’t help but notice that a few of your students got into a little scrap during the recess period. I was hoping I could have a word with two of them.” ACE’s request seemed to almost shock the teacher.
“Oh my, well yes of course, which two did you need to talk too?” The teacher asked again.
ACE pointed to Paragon “The young Pegasus there and her as well.” ACE then pointed to the small yellow earth pony. The little mare began to panic a little and suddenly Paragon stood up out of his desk.
“Sir it’s my fault that this happened. You don’t need to talk to her!” The Pegasus colt had unflinching determination in his eyes. ACE could already tell what he had to do.
“I think it’s quite important that I speak with both of you, and separately if possible.” ACE objected. The teacher agreed with him thankfully.
“Both of you go with Mr. Black Board and do everything he says.” Paragon backed down at the teacher’s request. He helped the little yellow pony out of her seat and the two of them made their way out of the classroom and into the hall. The room across from them had no one in it so ACE decided that would be the best place.
“Paragon, I’d like to start with you if I could.” ACE opened the door and gestured for the young green colt to enter. Paragon immediately turned to face the other pony.
“Will you be okay by yourself for a second?” He asked her. The other pony nodded meekly. Paragon sighed and followed ACE into the room.
“Why are we doing this here? Why not back in your office sir?” Paragon asked ACE. ACE wracked his head for an answer and one came to him quickly.
“This won’t take very long so there’s no need to go all the way back there. I only have a couple questions for you and your friend, and just a bit of advice.”
Paragon nodded and sat down in the desk nearest to the front of the room where ACE was standing.
“Paragon let me just start by saying it was very noble of you to stand up for your friend. I’m very proud of you and honestly you remind me a lot of myself at your age.” Paragon looked up at ACE. He seemed rather pleased with the compliment.
“No one has ever been proud of me before, they’ve always said my actions were wrong.”
“It’s not your actions that are wrong it’s how you go about them. It was nice of you to defend your friend, but you shouldn’t jump straight into picking a fight immediately afterwards. Fighting never gets someone your age anywhere.”
Paragon frowned. “I just…don’t want to see her get hurt, that’s all.”
ACE nodded. “What does your cutie mark represent Paragon?” He asked the young flyer.
Paragon shrugged. “I got my cutie mark the first time I stood up for Filly. I guess it means it’s my destiny to always protect her.”
“Filly is her name?” ACE asked with a confused tone.
Paragon shook her head. “Her full name is Filly Steak. I know it sounds silly, but she comes from a family of professional chefs. She’s really good at cooking too, but everyone constantly makes fun of her for her name, and because of that she’s really shy and not very confident…”
ACE nodded. “You know Paragon; I don’t think your cutie mark means you’re only meant to defend her.”
“Really?” Paragon looked up at ACE a second time.
“Mhmm” ACE replied. “I think your cutie mark means you were meant to protect those who were weaker than yourself. One of these days little Filly will learn how to take care of herself, and when she does you’ll need to find someone else to help. Who knows, maybe your destiny will lead you to the Canterlot Royal Guard.”
The thought made Paragon’s eyes light up and his entire body twitched with excitement. “You think I could be a royal guardpony?!” He asked excitedly.
ACE nodded “I’m sure of it.”
Paragon’s face lit up and he smiled excitedly. “Thank you sir, I’m sure one day I’ll make it there!”
ACE nodded in agreement. “We’re done; head back to class and send in Miss Filly please.”
Paragon made his way to the exit but before he left he turned to ACE. “Go easy on her please.”
ACE agreed and Paragon left. Filly Steak entered, and slowly made her way to the front of the classroom.
“Your name’s Filly Steak right? Paragon tells me you’re a great cook.” ACE gave Filly a warm smile, but the mare sat down and looked away.
“What’s the matter?” ACE asked her.
“Nothing…” Filly said softly.
“If nothing was the matter you would be looking at me and not the window right?” ACE asked. To his surprise Filly turned and stared straight at him. She had a determined look in her eyes but she was also crying, after a bit she looked away in the opposite direction.
“I know it’s hard for you right now, but you have a really good friend who wants to keep you safe.”
Filly nodded her head meekly in response to ACE’s comment, but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference.
ACE knew this would be harder than the first one. He got up and walked over to Filly Steak, slowly placing his hoof on her shoulder.
“If something is bothering you, you can tell me. That’s why I’m here.” ACE assured her.
Filly sniffed a little still crying. “I…I don’t want to be dependent on Paragon…I want to be able to stand up for myself…”
“What’s preventing you?” ACE asked the filly.
“I’m scared.” Filly confessed. “I’m scared that if I do they’ll just be meaner to me.”
“You won’t know until you try Filly.” ACE pointed out to her. “And one of these days there will come a time when Paragon can’t protect you. What will you do then?”
“I don’t know…” She answered weakly.
“You’ll have to stand up on your own.”
Suddenly there was a loud crashing noise. ACE and Filly ran back to the classroom to find an entire wall was missing. The sky had grown dark and covered in black clouds, and In front of the hole stood three Timberwolves. ACE noticed something different; these weren’t the average Timberwolves that stalked around in the Everfree Forrest. Their bark was a dark, almost midnight black, and they radiated a wicked misty essence. The class of children was backed up against the corner of the room with the teacher in front of them, and in front of the teacher was Paragon.
“Get back!” Paragon demanded. “I’m a future Canterlot Guard and I won’t let you hurt them!”
The black Timberwolves marched forward slowly. Paragon backed up a bit but spread his small wings out, determined to shield his classmates. One of the wolves lunged forward at paragon who jumped into the air and dived down kicking the wolf with his hindlegs.
Filly Steak looked around frantically. “Mr. Black Board you have to help him!” ACE was nowhere to be found. Filly looked forward in complete terror and watched as the irritated Timberwolf furiously swiped at Paragon with his claws just missing him every time as he dashed and dodged through the air. Suddenly one of the other wolves jumped up and hit Paragon with his paw causing him to crash to the ground with a loud THUD.
“Paragon!” Filly Steak screamed. The wolves were slowly closing in on the now unconscious Pegasus. Filly looked away in terror, but something suddenly hit her. Something that Councilor Black Board had told her just a few minutes ago.
“One of these days there will come a time when Paragon can’t protect you. What will you do then?”
“Stand up on my own!” She answered herself. Filly wiped the tears from her eyes and jumped forward blocking the wolves from Paragon.
“Do not touch him!” She demanded.
The large wolves began to snarl at the young pony, and tears began to form in her eyes again.
“No!” She told herself. “I’m not scared. This is for Paragon, so I’m not scared!”
Seemingly out of nowhere, three black cards fell before Filly Steak. She wasn’t sure what they were but something inside of her, a voice in her head, told her to use them. Picking up the cards, she threw them one at a time one at each wolf. As the cards connected with the wolves they let out loud howls before fading away into a black mist and vanishing. As the wolves faded away the sky cleared up, and Paragon began to regain consciousness. Filly Steak hugged Paragon, relieved to see him alive as the entire class began to cheer for them. As ACE left the school, he could hear the three bully colts apologizing to Filly Steak. Filly Steak forgave them, and the group agreed that from then on they would be the best of friends.
ACE awoke to find himself in a completely different location. Monochrome must have started the second trial. After that last one, he was quite curious how the next one would go. He looked around; he seemed to be in some kind of alleyway. The only thing down it besides a dumpster was a doorway further up and to the right. ACE looked behind him. The exit to the alley was barricaded by a wall of thick black mist. Clearly Monochrome didn’t want him going that way. ACE sighed and walked up to the door. It was unlocked.
As ACE walked through the door he could hear two ponies talking to each other. One was pleading while the other was demanding.
“I thought you said that all information has a price!” Said one of the ponies in a very aggressive tone.
“That information is personally sensitive.” The other responded. “If I let you walk out with that, it could be traced back to me, or put a member of my family in danger. I really can’t sell it to you.”
“I don’t need to remind you that this information is vital to us gaining an edge over our rival company! Or are you no longer interested in helping us?”
ACE could see into the room now. Inside were a unicorn and a pegasus, both of them were colts by the looks of things. The unicorn had short purple hair and glasses. His body was light grey and his cutie mark appeared to be a white piece of paper with black scribbles on it. On the other hoof was the Pegasus who had a tannish body with hair covered by a short black hat and a cutie mark covered by a black suit. ACE didn’t like the look of him.
“Fine” spat out the defeated unicorn. “But I’ll only sell it for 400 bits.”
The Pegasus glared at him. “300 bits” he demanded.
“350” added the unicorn unwaveringly. I’ll need the extra fifty bits for a train ticket when you lot muck this up!”
The Pegasus groaned but shrugged, he threw the money on the unicorns table causing it to spill out everywhere, and then stormed out of the room furiously. ACE had barely enough time to use one of his cloaking spells to stay out of sight.
ACE entered the room as the unicorn began to pick up his newly acquired fortune. He stood waiting for a bit to see if the unicorn would notice him, but he was clearly distracted.
“Excuse me?” ACE talked softly trying to get the unicorns attention.
“Eh?”
THUMP
“Ow!”
The colt was under the table collecting the stray bits when ACE got his attention. Without thinking he quickly rose up causing his ears and horn to slam into the bottom of the table. He looked up and saw ACE looking him over perplexed.
“Eh, who are you then?” The unicorn inquired.
“My name is ACE.” He answered
“ACE eh? Well nice to meet you ACE, my name is Digital Link; information collector extraordinaire, and in my ‘off time,’ information broker.” Digital Link bowed.
ACE looked over Digital Link with curiosity. From his appearance he was definitely book smart, but still. He had to wonder why Monochrome considered him a candidate for the Element of Balance.
“What was going on a few minutes ago?” ACE asked Digit. Digit’s mood changed and he stared down at his newly acquired pile of bits.
“Business as usual here in Santa Foal, I take it you’re new to this area eh?”
ACE nodded in response to Digital Link’s question.
“Eh…well let me explain. Santa Foal is a very capital-driven and industrial city. There’s a lot of really big companies here always trying to get the edge over other companies. I took a part time job gathering information for this one company to help support my family. We’re kinda in the poor house right now if you can imagine.”
ACE looked around, now that Digital mentioned it, his place was really run down.
“My mother passed on recently, and my older sister got a job to help keep us afloat, but as dumb luck would have it. She’s working for one of my company’s biggest rivals. I began running information for both of them, but now I’m caught in a web. The information I just sold had info about my sister. Her work schedule, her routines, when they find out who she is they’ll trace her back to me. They might even find out I’ve been working for both companies.”
ACE had another question, but it was less about Digital’s job and more about his other hobby. “You said you were an information collector?” Digital Link nodded.
“Yeah, hey you wanna see something really cool?” Digital asked.
ACE shrugged in response.
“Follow me then.” ACE followed Digital Link to his back room to a door covered by a curtain. Digital pushed the curtain aside and went in, ACE following suit. The room they entered was unlike anything ACE had seen before. There were shelves everywhere and they were all covered by bright blue spiky looking crystals. The entire room was self-lit with a cool blue shade of light that reflected off the crystals. Using his magic Digital Link lifted one of the crystals slowly and brought them forward to ACE.
“What in Equestria are these Digit’?” ACE looked over at Digital who had grown a big smile on his face.
“They don’t call me Digital Link for nothing. I can turn gems into ‘Archives’; magical crystals that store information in a digital form. Each archive can hold up to 10 books on their own, and some day I’m gonna’ have Archives that do even more than that.”
“Like what?” ACE asked completely blown away at what he was seeing.
“Pictures, dates, reminders, imagine how quick and easy mail would be if instead of carrying around large bulks of letters the mail pony only needed a single Archive with all the letters stored on it. When my Archives go global it could unite all of Equestria in ways no one has ever thought of before.”
“Uniting all of Equestria. No wonder he considered you.” ACE mumbled to himself.
“Eh? You say something ACE?” Digital asked as he put away the crystal, the same way he got it out.
ACE shook his head. “Nothing, just talking to myself that’s all.”
“Eh, alright then” Digital Link responded.
Suddenly there was a knock on Digital Link’s door. Digital sighed and put his hoof up to his face covering one eye.
“For pony’s sake that can’t be them already, I didn’t think they’d get through that information so quickly.” Digital turned to ACE. “You should probably hide.”
“No way” ACE responded. “If it is them, you’ll need all the help you can get to get out of this in one piece, and I can also help you make sure your sister is alright.”
“Eh, your funeral.” Digital responded. “These guys are tough, just lettin’ you know right now.”
Digital Link opened the door, sudden terror flooding his eyes. ACE looked outside the door and realized what had spooked him. Three pegasi were outside his door all dressed in the same black outfit as the one he had seen Digit talking to. Between all of them was a unicorn mare whose mouth had been covered with duct tape.
“Does this belong to you?” One of the pegasi asked aggressively.
“Gage?!” The trapped unicorn mare nodded. “How did-”
“So you do know her!” One of the other pegasi interrupted Digital.
“She’s my sister what are you-”
Digital was interrupted once again by the third Pegasus. “Did you think we wouldn’t find out that your older sister was working for our biggest competitor?”
“I told your boss that the information was sensitive, but he refused to leave without-” Digital tried to explain but he kept getting cut off by the pegasi
“And now boss wants a refund!” The first one demanded.
“Fine! Fine! Whatever you want just let my sister go!” Digital pleaded as he handed the pegasi a bag full of bits.
The second and third pegasi shook their heads.
“Sorry” the second one continued. “But boss wants a refund, with INTEREST.”
“You can’t be serious! Let her go!” Digitals tone was a mix of both pleading and demanding.
The pegasi ignored the colt and simply began to run off. ACE stepped out in front of Digital Link.
“Come on Digit, let’s move! We need to save your sister!”
Digital Link nodded and the two of them took off after the pegasi.
~~~
Digital Link and ACE chased the pegasi to the top of a nearby building. Cornered like rats the 3 well-dressed ponies began to become desperate.
“Stay back Digital!” The first one demanded.
“Yeah don’t think we won’t hurt her!” Added the second.
Digital Link turned to ACE and whispered to him. “Got any ideas?”
ACE thought to himself then smiled almost wickedly. “Stall them for two minutes, I’ve got a plan.”
Digital link smiled and began to approach the pegasi slowly.
“Gentlecoalts, I’m a business pony, you three are business ponies. Surely we can resolve this impasse with a bit of…business.” Digital Link held out an archive.
“What’s that?” One of the pegasi asked.
“This my friend” Digital responded. “Is an ‘archive,’ a digital data storage device capable of holding information of any kind. This particular one just happens to have every tiny little bit of information I have on my older sister’s company. ”
Gage looked at her younger brother like he had gone crazy. Then again, if he was offering up an archive, maybe he was.
“You give me my sister, and you return me my money, and I will give you the archive, which reiterating, has enough data about your rival company to put them under for a very, VERY long time. Sound like a deal?”
The first pegasai began to smile wickedly. “Boys, what do we think about his ‘proposition?’”
At that, all three pegasi began to radiate a wicked black aura. Their bodies changed color to match the black of their outfits and a dark colored mist began to fly off them similar to the black colored timberwolves from before. They slowly began to move forward all three with devilish smiles on their faces. Digit found himself backing up slowly in response.
“ACE, any time now.” Digit requested.
“You got it.” On that note, ACE flung several cards into the sky the cards exploded in a brilliant display of light that blinded everyone on the roof Digital and Gage included. When everyone’s eyesight had returned Digital Link and Gage were staring at what was probably the most unusual sight they had ever seen. The three black pegasi were sounded on all sides by hundreds upon hundreds of changelings. Each had a vicious looking curved horn and a malicious smile on their face, their wings buzzing in a perfect harmonic unison.
“What?”
“What is this?”
“Where did all of them come from?!”
One by one the three pegasi realized how inevitable this had just become. They weren’t sure where the swarm of hole-covered insectoid flyers had come from, but they were everywhere. The pegasi were outpony'd and outmatched, and it was time to leave. One by one they cursed and flew away, the black misty aura fading from them as they fled.
As the pegasi fled, the illusions began to shatter one after the other, cracking and fading away as ACE walked out to stand near Digital Link and Gage. Digital had released Gage and the two were sharing a long hug with one another. This also reminded ACE of Lilly and himself, but he shook that thought away almost immediately when he realized it was rather disturbing.
“Here Gage, this is for you.” Digital Link handed his older sister the archive that he had offered the pegasi.
“Thanks little bro, I’ll be sure our secrets are kept tucked away safely.”
Digital Link shook his head. “This isn’t your company’s secrets Gage.” Both ACE and Gage looked at Digital Link
“Then what is it Digit?” ACE asked his new friend.
“It’s MY company’s secrets. Every skeleton, every error, and every exploitable flaw we’ve ever had. I began to document them in case I needed a failsafe.”
“Digi…what are you saying?” Gage looked at her younger brother. He was smiling at her with tears in his eyes.
“I’m done working for the wrong people Gage. I want you to take the information on this archive, and drive us into the ground, point of no return.”
Gage also began to cry a little. “Digi, I can’t do that. Where will you work?”
Digital Link shrugged. “I’ll find something, and besides” Digital turned to look at ACE. “The free time will give me a chance to get back to my hobbies.” Digital winked and ACE smiled at him.
As Gage and Digital Link exchanged the archive and another hug, ACE turned around and began to walk off. As he did the world around him faded, slowly turning to black.
When ACE regained his sight, he was nowhere. No buildings, no streets, not even a sky. Everything around him was dark, and there was a thick dark colored mist that obstructed his view. Was this a trial also? It was so different from the other two. Maybe the last pony Monochrome had saved was just flat up strange, which concerned him. He didn’t think he was going to meet a pony that was stranger than Digital Link. ACE chuckled to himself at the notion.
ACE began to hear hoof steeps slowly approaching him from behind. He was really getting sick of Monochromes creepy come in from behind style. He turned to face who was approaching him, but it wasn’t Monochrome. It was a dark blue pony with short yellow hair. The tips of the yellow hair were dyed red. The dye looked loose and wet almost as if blood was dripping from his hair. The pony was a unicorn that was obvious, but there was definitely something off. Getting a good look at the pony’s face ACE noticed that his eyes were almost completely greyed out. They were empty and lifeless, and his entire body radiated the wicked looking black misty aura that the other villains of his challenges had given off.
“Who are you?” ACE demanded, “Were you a candidate??
“A what?” The unicorn’s voice was cold and as lifeless as his eyes.
“What is your name?” ACE inquired. “Why do you have that aura around you?”
Suddenly the stranger began to laugh. The laugh was dry and wicked matching his accent and tone of voice.
“I have had many names throughout my lifetime. ‘The Pony Grim,’ ‘Slendercolt,’ ‘the Illusive One,’ ah the list goes on and on. If you must know my name is Endermen.”
“Endermen then…Why are you here?”
“So many questions” Endermen spat out coldly. “I am here to stop you. You have the potential to harness the one power in the world that can stop my plans, and I’m going to make sure that does not happen.”
“You and what army Endermen?” ACE spat back. The colt thought for a moment that he might have just found the one person in the world more irritating to him than Monochrome.
Endermen let out another cold laugh. “Who needs an army, when you have what I have.”
“And what is it you have?” ACE inquired now fully annoyed with Endermen.
“A position of power” as Endermen said this, his horn began to glow a black shade almost the same as Monochromes. Another pony stepped out from the mist behind Endermen, ACE’s eyes shot wide open. It was Lilly.
Lilly’s eyes were closed, her body and her mane were a darker shade than normal and her entire body radiated the same aura as the timberwolves and the pegasi. The same aura that was present at every one of ACE’s trials, and which practically gushed out of Endermen, who was clearly its original source.
“Do you understand now my friend? I’ve been sabotaging your trials since you started them, of course I seem to have underestimated your abilities and your courage, but every pony has something that they fear, and it would seem I found yours.”
ACE’s entire body flashed green; he returned to his true form of Amethyst and hissed loudly at Endermen. Endermen didn’t budge; in fact he was almost amused.
“All bark and no bite. Were you expecting to take me by surprise? I saw that little stunt you pulled during your second trial. It was impressive, but you’ll need to do a lot more to intimidate me.”
“That’s because there’s only one thing you fear Endermen.” Amethyst sighed. He recognized the voice, and the trademark ‘coming up from behind you’ style of Monochrome.
“You fear me, the one pony in this world with more knowledge and power than your own.”
Endermen took a few steps back as Monochrome approached the changeling.
“This is my final trial Monochrome?” Amethyst hissed to the white unicorn. “Is this some kind of a joke?!”
“This was not meant to be a trial Amethyst, it wasn’t even meant to happen. Both Endermen and Lilly slipped into your subconscious without my even knowing.”
“Well what do we do now?” Amethyst demanded to know. “I refuse to fight or hurt Lilly.”
“This is why you will leave Lilly to me, and take on Endermen yourself.” For such a suicidal plan Monochrome sure had a calm atmosphere about him.
“Are you crazy?!” ACE responded. “You just said you’re the only pony able to overpower him.”
“I know what I said” Monochrome replied. “It’s true I’m the only pony that can beat him. Then again, you’re not exactly a pony are you, or a changeling for that matter. He will underestimate you, and that will be his downfall.”
Amethyst groaned. Monochrome was starting to tick him off again. “Fine.” he spat out.
Amethyst ran his front hoof backwards along the “ground” where he was standing. He took a deep breath and yelled across the area at Endermen.
“Alright buddy, ready or not here I come!” Amethyst sprinted towards Endermen at full throttle, determined to end the fight as quickly as he could.
“Oh please,” Endermen laughed to himself, amused by Amethyst’s plan, or apparent lack thereof. “Why fight you myself when I can make you tear your beloved Lilly apart.”
Suddenly Lilly’s hooves were engulfed in an unbreakable black magic, pinning her where she was. Endermen glared at Monochrome who was maintaining the spell.
“Because I’m not going to give you a choice in the matter.” Monochrome responded with an agitated blunt tone.
Endermen snorted, eyes narrowing with fury. He turned to face Amethyst and his horn began to glow. “Fine, I’ll make quick work of the changeling, then deal with you when I’m done!”
Amethyst began to shoot bolt after bolt of green energy at his opponent, but Endermen was shrugging them off like kindergarten spells.
“Is that all you’ve got?” Taunted Endermen, who fired a single massive bolt of black energy back at Amethyst, but before the blast could connect Amethyst suddenly vanished. Soon after two Amethysts appeared, both shooting energy at Endermen. The unicorn continued to block the spells. When he went to fire again, he found himself darting his eyes between the two changelings in front of him, not knowing whom to shoot.
“What’s the matter Endermen?” Both Amethysts taunted in perfect unison. “Are you starting to see double?” After that both of the Amethysts duplicated, resulting in 4 Amethysts all shooting bolts of green energy at Endermen.
Endermen wrapped himself in a bubble of black magic as the Amethyst clones continued their assault. Four clones became eight, and eight became sixteen. Endermen had gotten fed up with the changeling’s parlor tricks.
“Enough of this!” Endermen slammed his front hooves into the ground causing his shield to explode into a violent shockwave of magic. The army of Amethysts went flying, scattered in all directions as each illusion shattered and faded into the mist. The true Amethyst landed on his side and slowly began to struggle to his feet.
“So that is the extent of your power young prince?” Endermen spat out the word ‘prince’ causing Amethyst to hiss to himself, irritated at the unicorns taunt, “You’re a controller. A manipulator. You bend a fight to your will, just like that poor Earth-Pony who so desperately believes you are in love with her. But you don’t love her, do you? Her love is food, it’s power, and it’s a means to an end!”
“Don’t listen Amethyst!” As the changeling scrambled to his feet, he could hear Monochrome shouting to him. “Endermen thrives on fear and shame! Do not doubt yourself or you’ll only empower him!”
“As if I needed you of all people to remind me why I’m fighting!” As Amethyst yelled back to Monochrome, the white unicorn simply smiled. He really doesn’t. Monochrome thought to himself.
Amethyst glared at Endermen with newfound determination, who simply smirked, amused.
“You still think you can take me insect?!” Endermen taunted.
Amethyst didn’t respond to him. He simply began to charge at Endermen a second time. As he did his own voice rang out in his head, reassuring him with every step he took.
I am Amethyst, a Prince to the Changelings I may not be a blood relative to the queen like my older brother But I am still her heir I’m the only one left to succeed her And I have not… Come this far… To die now…
Amethyst’s body split and blurred repeatedly. One of him became two, then four, then eight, and he wasn’t close to done. Endermen covered himself in his bubble of black magic again, lying in wait to disperse them all again.
“You can do this as many times as you like insect, but it’s not going to work!” Endermen raised his front hooves into the ground but just before he could slam them down, every single Amethyst in the area, he, his clones, every one of them, all simultaneously vanished.
Endermen lowered his shield and desperately looked around, but all he could see was Lilly, and Monochrome who was continuing to keep Lilly locked down. Suddenly the sound of buzzing slowly began to fill the area. It started off soft but quickly escalated to a very loud, very potent noise. Endermen looked up, and what he saw shocked him. No, this wasn’t shock…He was afraid.
Amethyst had duplicated himself two thousand times. He had never made this many clones before in his entire lifetime, and he would probably never be able to make this many ever again .
Two thousand and one changelings buzzed overhead above Endermen who could do nothing but stare in bewilderment at the sight. Suddenly each and every changeling’s horn began to glow the trademark bright green aura that all the changelings had. The real Amethyst smiled proudly and began to laugh.
“This is a trick I picked up at the Canterlot Wedding.” He said with a smirk
Amethyst pointed at Endermen and released a loud hiss. Every single clone lit up bright green and dove headfirst at the unicorn, exploding upon contact with the ground below. Two thousand explosions later Endermen was left lying on his back, charred, overwhelmed and defeated.
As the world began to fade to a blank white slate Monochrome released Lilly, who toppled over on her side completely unconscious. Amethyst rushed to her side as she slowly began to wake up, her body and mane slowly returning to their natural color.
“ACE?” Lilly looked up at Amethyst her eyes half open.
“Yes Lilly?” Amethyst replied.
“Can I wake up now? I’m not sleepy anymore…” Lilly’s eyes slowly shut as she lost consciousness. Amethyst smiled at her as she went back to sleep, and he stood up to face Monochrome.
“I don’t think there’s any trial you can throw at me that will be harder than what I just had to go through, so can we call it a day?”
For the first time since they met, Amethyst saw Monochrome smile. Not a smug smirk or anything sarcastic, but a full, warm, happy looking smile…it was weird looking.
When Amethyst finally awoke he was back in Baltemare, and he was ACE once again. Everyone was starting to wake up, including Lilly who at some point in time had rolled over completely on top of ACE. She rolled off of him and the two of them exchanged looks. Lilly’s face was bright red, no doubt from the embarrassment of being asleep on top of her boyfriend in the middle of the concert stage.
“Ah man, Sweet Celestia my head hurts…”
“Shut up Ravewind, you’re making mine hurt too…”
ACE and Lilly turned to see Ravewind and Chroma Sketch, who both appeared as though they were recovering from a hangover. ACE and Lilly looked at each other and began to laugh as the rest of the audience slowly woke up one after the other.
“By the way ACE, what’s that around your neck?” Lilly asked as she pointed to him.
“Huh?” ACE ran his hoof along his neck and felt something metallic. He reached behind him and unhooked it, taking it off so he and Lilly could both examine it. It was a golden necklace with a yin-yang on the front of it. The gold was glistening in the now afternoon sun and the yin-yang despite being black and white was very glossy and reflected some light of its own.
“It looks like an Element of Harmony.” Lilly pointed out.
“Yeah it does…doesn’t it?” ACE folded up the necklace and tucked it away under his shirt. ACE was about to say something to Lilly but he was cut off. Lilly had just remembered she was in the middle of a concert, and as the audience members were beginning to get back to their seats and come to their senses. Lilly was trying desperately to consolidate them and apologize for any inconveniences or strange abnormalities that had occurred. Once the concert had begun once again, ACE snuck back stage and took another look at the necklace.
“It’s yours now; it has chosen you to be its wielder.” ACE didn’t even have to turn around to know that Monochrome was behind him.
“So what do I do now?” ACE asked Monochrome. “I have the Element of Balance, but what about the other 5 Elements of Order?”
Monochrome shrugged. “Balance, Understanding, Positivity, Dedication, Respect, and Perseverance; the Elements of Order have been lost ever since my disappearance, and they must be found again. The Element of Balance will lead you to each one but each can only be claimed by one among your group.”
“But there are only four of us.” ACE pointed out, “And there are 6 Elements.”
Monochrome approached ACE and put his hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. “Do not worry, in time the other two ponies will find you. Take heart, one of the Elements of Order is closer than you think.”
“What do you mean by that?” ACE wondered aloud to his mysterious friend.
Monochrome turned around and began to walk to the stage’s left exit. “It’s been far too long since Ravewind and I had a drink together.”
ACE immediately turned around after hearing that, but Monochrome was nowhere to be found. ACE looked down and examined the Element of Balance once again.
“I guess he really was just a ghost.”
~~~
A few days after the concert, ACE, Lilly and their friends made their way to Canterlot. It was the day of the wedding for the hotel owner’s son, and Lilly had a promise that she wanted to keep. When they arrived at Canterlot Station ACE and Lilly were escorted to the castle by guards while Ravewind and Chroma Sketch went to find a hotel for them to stay in. Upon arriving Lilly and ACE were introduced to the Bride and Groom. ACE couldn’t put his hoof on it, but something about them seemed eerily familiar. Lilly decided she would go off separately with the bride to discuss which songs Lilly was to sing, leaving the groom and ACE by themselves to have some “guy talk” as Lilly put it.
“Forgive me for saying sir,” ACE started. “But you look really familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?”
The groom shook his head. “I can’t say that you do.” Before ACE could say anything else another guardsman approached the two of them.
“Captain Paragon sir! Everything is secure and we’re ready to get underway!”
“Very good, thank you.” Paragon looked back to find ACE staring at him. “Is everything alright?” He asked ACE.
ACE nodded. “Sorry, I mistook you for an old friend of mine, but I can see now you are a completely different pony.”
