//------------------------------// // Optional Chapter 2-8: Wysteria's chapter // Story: Minty Image // by mintgreenconspiracy //------------------------------// Luna darted to the side, gracefully dodging a bolt of magic from the enraged nightmare alicorn -- stifling a laugh, as the nightmare apparently had atrocious aim when agitated. The bad news, though, was that the nightmare was now fighting (despite losing the sun that fed her plants) at around Nightmare Rarity's level, if not a little more powerful -- with no sign of slowing down, just yet. The good news? Being away from her element (the earth) made the alicorn as dangerous as a kitten, and her blind fury prevented her from either interfering with Braeburn, or being a threat to the princess of the night -- just as she had planned it. Now all she needed Braeburn to do was to convince Wysteria to fight the nightmare, and reestablish control over her own body (a task that might be easier said then done.) In the meantime though, she had another dodge to do, as the monster began to fire off her magic more rapidly (beginning to create worries that the monster might use up all of Wysteria's magic, leaving her with none to work with, and adding yet another thing for the princess of the night to worry about.) And to further complicate matters, now the monster was willing to take the air, and that meant that Luna couldn't get away from the nightmare's attacks as easily (naturally, she would permit the nightmare's flight for now as it's inexperience with the motion seemed to force the monster to monopolize their concentration on it, rather than Luna, or Braeburn.) And another silver lining in the situation was that due to the monster dividing its attention that the nightmare's aim wasn't very ... A bolt of magic struck the princess squarely on the wing, causing her to crash into the ground (well maybe not crash, she landed hoof first, causing a nasty crater.) "Foalish princess of the night!" Luna said to herself, with a frown. "Why didst thou get cocky?" She said, staggering to her feet, the nightmare slowly descending from above. "Now foolish pretender!" Queen Nightshade snarled. "Thou shalt pay for thine treason!" She said, powering up her horn. "Thou shalt pay for thine hate of these beautiful flowers!" She scoffed, summoning a wave of vines that entombed the princess of the night -- the aura arround her horn growing stronger and stronger, and more and more morbid. "Now that that has been resolved." The nightmare sneered. "It's time to deal with that interloper!" She said, her eyes starting to roll back in her head. Now an outsider (or the uninformed) would think that it was over and that Luna had... well... I can't say. But she was, after all, the Princess of the Night, one of the deity princesses of Equestria. She wasn't going to be stopped by some stupid vines, no matter how viciously they pressed against her. And, for that matter, she had to! She had a duty to er little ponies, who were in deep trouble, not to mention Wysteria and Braeburn! And she wasn't going to let her little ponies down! Not even the strange looking ones! But why would Braeburn be in any danger? Well, dreamwalking could be dangerous if you didn't know what you were doing because harm occurring while dreamwalking -- if somepony wasn't prepared to handle it... well... can you say serious psychological damage? Or worse? And Luna wouldn't have any of that! Besides, with Luna gone, precious little would stop the nightmare's rampage, especially with the elements gone. Maybe the elements could use their rainbow power? Though, she suspected, that they would be as hesitant as she was lest they hurt (or worse yet, vaporize) an innocent pony -- and nopony wanted to do that. And then there was the time that it would take them to arrive. And then, ultimately... There was her pride! She wasn't about to be the princess that went to the glue factory because of some stupid vines! She just wasn't going to do that! Not going to happen!!! The vines began to warp and bulge as Luna's magic pushed against them, causing them to warp and bulge, eventually exploding out in all directions. The princess of the night's eyes glowed a red, and the wind bellowed around her as she spoke. "DOST THOU THINKEST THAT THOU CANS'T DESPATCH US THIS WAY NIGHTMARE?" She shouted, the rage building to the same level as that unfortunately nightmare night... that she wished not to think of again... "THOU DAREST MOCK AND DEMEAN THINE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT? WE SHALT ... " She stopped herself, this was not the right attitude, this was the kind of attitude that gave birth to her own nightmare. And she wouldn't have a second! (After all, nightmare's were like children... but worse!!! So a alicorn had, at most, one if it all possible!) And then, to make further dampen her enthusiasm, there was the matter that the nightmare stopped moving... Luna gasped. She must have retreated into her own mind... This was very bad news for Braeburn, and quite possibly herself as well... ********** "Hello there!" Braeburn's new green friend said, with smile. "So you find the bathroom all right?" She asked, walking over, and taking a good wiff. "Ahh..." She sighed, with an honest frown. "You couldn't find it!" She said sadly (but not for long, as she bucked up quite quickly afterwards.) "But not to worry! You can use the bathroom at my house, its -- " "Nah..." Braeburn said, politely -- looking further back into the castle, anxiously. "Ah didn't find it, but ah'll just take care of it... when... Ah... git... home... Yeah! When ah get home." He lied, pathetically. "Well ok!" The mint green pony said, politely. "See you later Braeburn!" She said, waving to Braeburn, exuberantly. "See you later Wysteria!" She said, waving to the purple alicorn. A countdown could be heard somewhere in the background. "Wait... Wysteria?" She asked, angrily. "Braeburn? Why are you taking Wysteria out of the tower?" She said, breathing in to give an otherworldly shriek. "You know she's kind of a princess now and shouldn't be leaving the castle!!" "Well... Um... Ah... Well... Ah.... Was going to get some cakes from... um..." He stammered anxiously, sweating profusely. Ok... Think Braeburn think! What cake place do you know of? Did Wysteria mention any cake places? What about that place his cousin Applejack kept talking about? Ice Cube corner... or something... "Ta... Umm....." "Oh of course!" The mint pony said, striking her head with her hoof. "Sorry about that! I forgot about 'Double Cake Tuesday'! You must be trying to take the princess to the Cotton Candy Cafe for 'Double Cake Tuesday'!"She said, with exuberance. "Yah.. Um... Double Cake Tuesday..." Braeburn lied, uneasily. "So... The princess an' I'll just git goin' and..." "No wait..." Minty said, filling Braeburn with fear. "Today's Wednesday! Silly!" She said, with an honest smile. "But don't worry! I'll just run ahead, and tell Sweetberry that you forgot! You know -- I forget all the time and she always let's me have it anyways!" She said, rushing off -- leaving Braeburn standing there befuddled. "By the way Braeburn!" She shouted, growing ever more distant. "You really should take a bath! All that sweating can't be good for you!" Meanwhile... Back in the royal chambers... The nightmare began to grind back into action. Slowly at first, and then quickly. Muttering to herself angrily. "How dare this peon treat his queen this way!" She muttered to herself, as thorn bushes quickly began to spring from the earth. "How dare he attempt to flee from the righteous judgement of the queen of all that blossoms and grows!" She shouted, as an explosion of plants shot up from the floor, literally blowing the turret of the tower clean off. "Uh oh!" Braeburn said to himself, in horror, as the purple castle that once stood behind him, no longer did so -- having exploded in all directions -- an angry blood purple alicorn standing in the center of, what used to be, the ballroom. "We've gotta go," he said to his purple friend, with urgency. "Ah dont' think we wanna be this close ta the nightmare right now," he said, applying light pressure to his friend's wither. "What's going on?" She asked, in confusion, wondering why her friend was being so pushy. "That!" Braeburn responded, pointing to what used to be the castle. "Oh dear!" Wysteria said, holding her hoof to her mouth. "Who did that?" "I did!" Replied the nightmare, with sadistic glee, rising from the ruins of the dream celebration castle. "I did it out of righteous anger!" She shouted, eliciting no small amount of shaking from the other two ponies. "Because your friend, here, was trying to strip us from our rightful place as queen of Ponyville!" She said, motioning to Wysteria's mindless friends who approached mindlessly, blathering about 'the princess that was in Ponyville'. Wysteria happily galloped over to her baker friend, greeting her warmly. She would definitely recognize her! And Sweetberry was always so friendly! She was sure to finally stop treating her like a princess, and treat her like a friend instead! Sadly the pony didn't respond, opting instead to continue babbling about how great it was to meet the princess. "Please Sweetberry! It's me!" Wysteria shouted, in despair to her dark pink coated friend, staring directly into her blue eyes. "Don't you recognize me? It's me! Wysteria?" The purple and green maned earth pony with twin strawberries for a cutie mark shook her head mindlessly. "We should, most certainly, have a special celebration of our princess' presense. Sweet!" "Please Cotton Candy!" Wysteria said, turning to her pink coated friend with the blue, pink, and white tricolor mane. "Please tell Sweetberry that we're friends! And that I'm no more important then she is!" She begged, hoping that the talkative pink earth pony would talk some sense to her occasional partner in cuisine. Instead the pink pony, too, was unresponsive. "Yeah isn't this wonderful!" The earth pony with the cotton candy cutie mark, her blue and pink two color eyes staring off blankly. "we could totally do that instead of the spring promenade!" "Please!" Wysteria begged, hoping somepony would listen, but they all seemed clueless. Why'd she listen to Braeburn? Now she wouldn't even have the spring promenade now! She'd lose the thing she loved most: her flowers and -- " "Silence!" Braeburn snorted violently, snapping the earth pony out of her trance -- and causing both the nightmare, and Wysteria's dream friends to turn their heads towards him. "How dare ya do this to Wysteria!" He snorted, stamping at the ground, with his hoof. "How dare ya do this ta her friends! How dare ya turn her friends 'gainst her!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, charging headfirst at the nightmare -- plowing straight through thistle and thorn, vines, and even trees. "Bring back her friends, an' apologize fur what ya've done ta her castle!" He snorted, galloping forward -- resolving that nothing the alicorn could throw would stop him. "You dare challenge your queen? -- " The queen shouted, unphased by the earth pony's foolishness. " -- You dare make claims about Wysteria's 'friends'?" she exclaimed, causing the earth to bellow and shake. "A princess has no friends or equals! And the sooner she realizes this -- the better!" "But I don't want to be a princess!" Wysteria cried, falling to her knees (yeah, her legs suddenly bent like a bi-peds.) "Please!" She cried, her eyes begging for mercy. "STOP IT!!!" Braeburn shouted, angrilly, turning to Wysteria. "Ya don't have to be a princess! It don't matter what this monster says, or even that little blue dragon!" He shouted, kicking aside the vines that the nightmare sent to snare him. "HECK!" He said, with furocity. "It don't matter even if Celestia, herself, says ya haf to! It's time ya stood up and said that this ain't what ya want ta do!" "Really?" Wysteria asked, bucking up. "Is this the truth!" "It is!" Braeburn said, to chuckling from the monster behind him. "What platitudinous nonsense!" The nightmare shouted -- surprised that a mere earth pony had such success against her plants. "Is it not your training? Nay! Is it not your very nature to call her as such!? Your nature betrays you fool! It demands that an alicorn like Wysteria to be your princess! Nay! even more!" The nightmare chuckled, with glee. "The very dreams of you lesser ponies betray your nonsense boy! We have seen it every night since our birth, as we have wondered the dreamscape!" She shouted, sending the vines forth to wrap around the orange earth pony. "And now it's time that I put your nonsense to an end!" She said, as the vines slowly covered his head. "Braeburn!" Wysteria shouted, holding her hooves against her mouth -- shaking slightly. "What are you doing to him?" She asked, with horror -- as the plants wrapped tighter around her orange friend. "I'm making him shut up, so that he is no longer capable of filling your mind with nonsense!" The dark Wysteria said, sternly. "And once he's gone you will have no choice but to -- " "Please Wysteria! Ignore her.. ya... ya need ta help them! yer friends are -- " Braeburn struggled to speak, somehow being able to choke out words. "Quiet mortal! It's time that she acted like the deity queen she -- " The queen nightmare shouted, zealously being interrupted only by her purple counterpart -- all the time wondering how this orange pony was still speaking. "QUIET!!!" Wysteria shrieked, causing the vines to release, and retract. "IT'S YOU WHO ARE SAD!!!" Wysteria's voice howled -- as the vines slowly started to wither. "WHERE ARE YOUR FRIENDS? DO YOU WANT TO LIVE LIKE THIS FOREVER?" She shouted, her voice booming like a megaphone. "IS THIS WHAT YOU THINK IS JUST? IS THIS WHAT YOU THINK OUR FRIENDS ARE FOR?" She asked, pointing to her friends slowly disappearing. "WELL I DON'T WANT ANY OF THIS!!!" "HOW DARE YOU!!!" The nightmare shouted. "I'M THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO'S SPEAKING THE TRUTH! HOW DARE YOU SPEAK THIS WAY!!!" She shouted, sending her vines to attack... well... herself... ********** Luna frowned, panting slightly, how much more energy did this monster have? And how could it continue to fight while performing a dreamwalk? And, for that matter, how much longer would it take Braeburn to convince the purple alicorn within to fight against the nightmare? Was it possible that he had failed? Would she need to do the very thing that she had been fighting so hard to avoid? Would she need to banish the alicorn, in hopes a method to free her could be found in the future? But where do you even banish an alicorn, whose element is the earth and who shares a connection with a whole kingdom of living things? She pondered to herself, missing the obvious happening right below her. Vines creeped up the alicorn's legs, locking her in place. Causing the princess to curse violently -- how did she keep missing the obvious? She asked, struggling futilely against the vines, that continued to creep up her frame, and responded to magic levied against them. That was it! innocent or not! Luna could no longer play easy on the alicorn! She had to finish this fight before the beast could become any more powerful! She had to end this, no matter the cost! She had to... unwrap her hooves... somehow... Assuming she could somehow free herself from these vines, at all. "IT'S OVER IMPOSTER!" The nightmare shouted, with glee -- temporarily switching back from the dreamworld. "YOU'RE FINISHED!!!" She shouted, as the vines began to wrap the princess of the moon, who continued to be unable to free herself, like a mummy. Now sadly, I can't quote the sea of words that came out of the princess' mouth -- but I can assure you that they aren't fit for young ears (or anyone under Methuselah's age, for that matter.) The nightmare laughed maniacally... as the vines began to wither. "YOU'RE FINISH NOW YOU WILL NO LONGER!!!" She shouted, suddenly noticing her 'friends' starting to wither. "NO!" She shouted -- staring angrily off into space -- as she started to argue with herself -- her eyes switching from blue red to yellow and green in a rapid pattern. "IT'S YOU WHO ARE SAD!!!" Boomed Wysteria's normal voice from between her lips -- who was apparently battling the monster, from within (at least in word.) The nightmare shook her head belligerently -- shaking her hoof. "I'M THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO'S SPEAKING THE TRUTH! HOW DARE YOU SPEAK THIS WAY!!!" Shouted the nightmare back, responding to her kinder half. She was apparently not going to give in easily... This might require the dreamwalk that Luna had originally planned. Luna gave a smile -- resisting the urge to have a laugh at the nightmare's misfortunes. This, however, was excellent news! "Wysteria!" Luna shouted, trying to reach into the purple pony's mind. "Thou must fight the nightmare!" She said, powering up her horn, for a dreamwalk. "Tis a fight that only thou canst win!" she said, with a smile as the nightmare remained motionless, meaning that the monster was now on the defensive (even inside her own mind) -- just where the princess of the night wanted it. Luna gladly brushed the last of brown, withered, the vines off. "Braeburn has done it! I guess our trust in our little pony was warranted, after all!" She exclaimed, to herself, activating her magic, making final preparations for her dreamwalk. "Now it's time, oh princess of the night, to assist young Wysteria, and young Braeburn in banishing the monster!" She said, contemplating how best to banish a creature that exists in an alicorn's psyche. Maybe she could banish the monster to the moon within the dream world? Or, perhaps, she could lock it under the earth? In any case, it was time to move -- and move she would! She lit her horn, concentrating on the magics of the night - feeling for the purple alicorn's presence on the astral plane (a sad fact: dreamwalking was always easier at night! But oh well! She was more than just a mere princess, and she would not allow the sun to impede her mission!) Hoping that the purple alicorn's mind would open up to her. Within a flash, she could sense the opening -- Braeburn had, indeed, succeeded in opening the way. This meant that the road was open into the alicorn's dream (for the first time... well... ever!) ********** "PLEASE GO AWAY!" Wysteria shouted, in full Royal Ponyville voice, beckoning her dark self to leave, "I DON'T WANT OR NEED YOU ANYMORE!" She snarled, actually showing her teeth. "YOU'VE CAUSED ENOUGH HARM!!!" She shouted, belligerently, on the verge of using physical force (something that never believed was even in her.) The nightmare simply chuckled, summoning a sea of thorns at her normal half. "YOU SPEAK NONSENSE!!!" She shouted, calling the winds and the rain. "THOU ART DESTINED TO BE A PRINCESS!!! THOU SHALT ACT AS ONE!!!" She shouted, motioning to her kind side -- sending a sea of plants flying towards her. As Wysteria cringed, hopelessly, the plants dutifully obeyed their kind master, and parted from around her -- leaving her unscaved. This caused an angry snarl and a stamping of hooves from her counterpart, who turned to her plants, ferociously chastising them. "How dare you disobey a direct order from your queen!" She shouted to her green minions -- pointing all the harder (probably hoping her energy would kowtow the reluctant plant matter.) "Now finish her, and her meddling friend!!!" She shouted, causing the plants to advance forward. Finally seeing her plants obey caused the 'queen of all that blossoms and grows' much glee! She chuckled, manically, as they moved forward... That was, until they stopped -- having moved only precious inches... "Why do you disobey?" She cried, like a small child, at her plants disobedience -- stamping like a two year old having a temper tantrum over the toy their parent's wouldn't buy them. "Don't you like me any more?" She shouted, ranting and rambling -- giving over a childish shriek and an ear blowing wail. "Why! Why! Why!" Wysteria sniffed slightly. "Now you know how I feel," she said, sticking her hoof out to the nightmare (like they would always do when a pony comes to their senses. She would talk to the pony and they could be friends!) "Let's be friends and -- " "Silence!!!" The nightmare hissed -- hitting the princess' hoof with hers. "Thou art a princess! Now actest as one!!!" She shouted, her voice booming like thunder. "Why don't you finish your foes?" She frowned, more certain than ever that her counterpart was no longer capable of being a competent queen. "Now you!" She shouted, turning to her plants. "Why dost thou disobey a direct order from thy queen?" She shouted, destroying some of her own precious plants with her magic. "Hard to say?" A soft voice said, materializing out of what used to be a vase (kind of a tight fit, but Luna was used to this kind of thing.) "Perhaps the problem, oh nightmare, is that thou pittest these plants against their true ruler?" She hinted softly, trotting right over the brambles towards the kind alicorn (the brambles evaporating into thin air upon her mere touch.) "And that you try to pit their true master against her true kind nature?" She said, turning to the nightmare. "Knowest not, the plants, this fact as well?" "Shut up you pretender!" The nightmare shouted to the blue night princess. "You should know better than to speak to your superior this way!" She shouted, summoning a few long vines, which she attempted to use as a whip -- not that she got very far as the plants disappeared into thin air. The nightmare stomped up and down, going ever more ferryl. "Why didn't that work?" She asked, angrily. "WHY! WHY! WHY!!!" She screamed, angrily, stamping ferociously, and hopping up and down -- and wailing like a two year old who wanted something they weren't allowed to have. "We are more powerful than you! And we demonstrate as such!" She shouted, summoning all her magic to summon a sea of bamboo... Which all quickly fizzled into nothingness... The morbid purple nightmare alicorn snarled, powering up her horn. "I don't care if you've turned Wysteria against me!" She shouted to both Braeburn, and The Princess of the Night. "I don't care if you've turned my plants against me!!!" She shouted, discharging a terrifying beam of magic from her horn. "I'm still more powerful! You only have the tiny, distant, lifeless moon!" She shouted, a self satisfied expression growing on her face. "But I control the vast energies of the planet itself!" She snarled, as the beam hit Luna dead on (who didn't dodge, for some reason.) "Do you think we have not learned much about ourselves during our slumber inside that foolish child, Wysteria?" She said, calming down to the comforting sight of Luna disinvaporated. Well... Not quite... A laughing could be heard echoing from the room, as the smoke drawn up by the magic assault began to clear. "This maybe true." Said Luna, nonchalantly, unscaved, unhurt, and without even the hint of smoke. "And yet nightmare, thou drawest no power here in the world of dreams!" The Princess of the Night shouted, with bemusement. "Dost thou still wish to push forward?" "No!" The nightmare shouted angrily. "Thou liest!!!" She shouted, taking flight -- only to find herself grounded by the princess' horn, which ripped her out of the sky, and slammed her against the earth. "Let us go!!!" She shouted, with an unworldly voice. "We are more powerful! We are more regal!! We are more princessy!!" She shouted, flailing uselessly -- desperately trying to break herself free of the grip of Luna's magic. "It's over nightmare." Luna said, relenting one final time. "Do you surrender?" She asked, stooping down to get down at the nightmare's level. "We shall give thou, but one more chance!" "Never!" The nightmare spit. "And soon Wysteria will realize the truth! That she has neither friends nor equals! Only subjects! And that she has no choice but to rule over them as a proper iron fisted ruler!" She demanded, firing off her horn one final time. A shot which luna effortlessly blocked with her pastern. She turned to Wysteria. "It's time young princess of all that buds and grows." She said, softly to the kind alicorn. "We must seal away this abomination so that she can no longer threaten our little ponies." She said, holding out her hoof. "Dost thou wish to help us?" "Must we?" Wysteria asked, with a frown. "She looks all sad --" She said, regretfully. " -- and all she wanted was to make me a real princess, just like Spike." Luna shook her head. "And she almost choked five outlaw bulls, dragged one changeling assassin into the black abyss, and tried to take possession of your body." She said, quietly, making sure to use her best modern equestrian accent. "And let's not even think of what she would have done to our little ponies." She said, a regretful tone in her voice. "Besides, Wysteria, she doesn't really exist... Well... she does and she doesn't... But mostly she exists only because of you -- and only as a part of you. It's best, for everypony, if we seal her away where she can cause you, nor our ponies no more harm." Wysteria frowned. "Are you sure we have to?" Luna frowned, nodding her head. "We are sorry, our little pony, but this is for the best!" Wysteria nodded, belatedly. "Ok..." She said, with a guilty expression. "Can you show me how?" "Of course!" Luna said, walking over to the purple earth pony turned alicorn. "We shall help thou..." She said, powering up her horn. "Consider this the beginning of the training pr... I will give you to help you control all your new powers." ********** "Lord Solanaceae!" Shouted a drone, galloping up to the lead assassin as quickly as they could. "What is it?" The senior assassin asked, impatiently. "I have urgent business with prince Vladímir!" The drone nodded, mindlessly. "I understand, my lord." The drone said, bowing to his superior. "But this news is extremely important to the hive." "And that is?" Replied the assassin, rolling his eyes. What possible news, of any import, could come from a drone? "Another nascent alicorn has appeared, -- " The drone said, causing the color to disappear from the head assassin's head. Hadn't Phytolacca gone searching for a princess? " -- and the hive collective has lost all contact with one of its drones, as well as the assassin Phytolacca." The drone stated, cautiously -- not noticing the assassin's eyes darting around desperately. "We can't even sense his location, and that can mean only one thing." It said, pointing it's hoof upwards. "Horse apples!" The assassin cussed -- wondering if he could prevent this knowledge from getting out, by eliminating the drone now. "This is very bad news." He said, remembering that he had already lost his right hand mare, the assassin Mandragora, to a nascent alicorn filly. "Vladímir will not be pleased," he thought, to himself. shaking his head -- especially considering that he still had to tell the prince that they still had no idea who the sixth bearor might be (Belladonna swore up and down that she knew who numbers four and five were, and he was sure she wasn't lying -- but it was infuriating that she still refused to give any hints as to who she thought they were.) Maybe if he mixed the bad news with good news then the changeling prince might take it better? He shook his head. Who was he kidding? The next question his lord would certainly ask was if he had the hive's revenge already planned. And the answer to that was currently no... Not with one of Equestria's deity queens hovering about (especially since Vladímir had explicitly stated that the princesses weren't to be disturbed until he gave the word of his impending final victory over the tyrant princesses of Equestria.) ********** Luna frowned, having gathered the three ponies -- who were all now awake -- back to a room she had rented in town for the night (well technically she only rented it in case she needed it, but right now it looked like she did.) "Guards." The Princess of the Night said, to the royal escort that she brought with her, all the way from Canterlot. "Would you ensure that the pr... Wysteria, Braeburn, and I are not disturbed." She said, feeling obliged to keep Wysteria's secret secret, at least a while longer (and plenty of forbidden mind magic on the town's folk also helped, though she suspected her sister was going to banish her to her room for a few weeks for doing that.) "Very well, princess." the guards said, dutifully, taking a vigilant stance -- fanning their batlike wings across the doorway (while two more kept guard over the window of the rather small room to ensure no looky-loos bugged the princess via the back way.) "But wouldn't you want a bigger space, your majesty?" Luna shook her head, impatiently. "The space shalt do fine guards." Luna said, finally breaking back into her native accent. "It beest, indeed, small, but a small room shall suffice, for our needs." She said, hoping to convince her guards to leave her already. "Very well, princess." The guards repeated -- eliciting a relieved sigh from Luna. A sigh that didn't last long. "Do you need us to prepare your chariot for your return to Canterlot, your majesty?" The princess shook her head, stamping one hoof (on the verge of shouting at her guards.) "Not yet. We needest discuss business with the pr... young Wysteria." "Very well." The guards nodded. "We shall disturb you no longer." They said, finally returning to attention -- not hearing the sigh of relief that came from the moonlight princess. Wysteria sighed, remembering the breezies were forced to act while they were her 'ladies in waiting'. How she almost broke up the three of them forever -- and barely prevented the destruction of that year's Spring Promenade Princess Promenade in the process. Luna returned a reassuring smile. "We can guess what thou thinkest, " she said, putting a reassuring hoof on the purple alicorn's wither. "But worry not! They are free to come and go as they please, and, for their service, they handsomely rewarded." She said, softly -- putting a hoof to the other alicorn's ear. "Plus they consider it not just their joy and duty, but also a great honor -- and a matter of pride -- to serve in this capacity." "I hope so." Wysteria replied, with a faint smile -- still not fully convinced, but completely willing to believe the princess. "So tell us, gentle Wysteria." Luna said, in her very softest voice. "What plannest thou now?" "I didn't really think about that." Wysteria said, dropping to a strange sitting position, with her lower legs jutting straight out, and her back perpendicular to her legs. Her hoof sitting firmly on the chin of her oversized muzzle. "I'd like to find my friends, and return to Ponyville." She said, thoughtfully -- contemplating different options. Luna shook slightly -- trying very hard not to be seen. Shortly before she got to town, she had received a letter from Flash Sentry, stating that Wysteria's Ponyville was long gone -- and a total wreck. "Hast thou considered training in thine new magic?" Wysteria shook her head. "Not really. Should I?" She asked with confusion. "I certainly dont' need it when I return to Ponyville, right?" She asked, staring into Luna's eyes. "I mean I won't get attacked by any more bugs right?" She asked, herself suddenly feeling a small amount of terror. Luna frowned, this conversation was not going her way. "Worry not of 'the bugs'." She said, waving her hoof, reassuringly. "They will trouble you not... However, unfortunately, upon thine ascension, thy magic has been amplified greatly, and connected to the very planet itself -- as well as its fauna. T'would not be wise to continue without learning how to control thine magic -- especially after almost cercumming to thine nightmare." She said, reminding Wysteria of the condition that she just barely escaped from. Wysteria looked back, with a puzzled expression. "But isn't it gone for good?" She asked how much more she would have to suffer because of these stupid wings, and this ridiculous horn. Luna sighed. "No... Tis only sleeping, bound within thine psychi." She said, considering that they used a binding spell to bind the monster within Wysteria's dreamscape. "And twill return if thou learnest not to control thine magic." "Ok..." Wysteria said, with a frown. "But can I return to Ponyville, and learn there, with my flowers?" Luna shook her head, sadly -- unwilling to go into great detail, lest the pony's condition resurface at an inconvenient time. "Tis not possible," she said, looking away. "Why not?" Wysteria asked, sadly. "Why can't I go back to Ponyville?" Luna frowned -- keeping her eyes and face out of sight of the other alicorn in the room, sadly. "We'd rather not discuss the matter right now, please trust us pr... our little pony." She said, putting a reassuring hoof on the purple alicorn's wither -- and choking out a smile. "We shall tell thee, when the time is right, and we promise thou that thou will yet see thine home again!" She said, begging the purple alicorn to trust her. Wysteria sighed, sadly. She suspected something was up, but decided to trust the blue alicorn's judgement. But what did she mean by 'we shall tell thee when the time is right'? Did something happen to Ponyville? In the end, though, she shook her head -- Ponyville was probably fine. "But can I stay here with Braeburn while I learn?" She asked, looking for the second option (if she couldn't go back to Ponyville, maybe she could stay with Braeburn? She had, after all, become kind of sweet on the orange apple.) Luna frowned, as the normal answer would be no -- however, she suspected that the earth pony wouldn't do well being transplanted to stuffy Canterlot, especially if some noodle brained paparazzi got wind that there was suddenly a fifth princess (and a second purple one to boot), while looking into Luna's new student. Plus maybe this was for the best, there was less chance of her being prematurely discovered this far from the royal seat of Canterlot. "Very well." Luna said with a smile -- opting to skip the 'we need a formal ascension, because ponies will treat you as royalty now regardless' seach, for obvious reasons (why the speach? Well the two princesses had tried many things early on to not take the title, in the beginning, but were forced, in the end, to live within the prison of endless bureaucracy -- mainly because their little ponies wouldn't leave them alone unless Luna and Celestia became their princesses.) "However, our guards will see to it that his place is made appropriate for a pr... for you!" She said, with a smile, motioning in one of her guards, and whispered something in his ear. "Could you make sure there is enough rooms in Braeburn's abode for two ponies to sleep comfortably, in different rooms?" Wysteria gave a smile. "Oh thank you Luna!" She said, eagerly. "You won't live to regret this." She said, shaking Luna's hoof, unnaturally, with hers. Luna frowned, she already did. "However, young pr... Wysteria. Thou must visit us at Canterlot, until our sister returns from Unicornia." She said, sternly. "Only then canst thou return here." Wysteria frowned, beginning to fret. How long was she going to have to stay in this Canterlock? Would she be all alone again? The princess, sensed her dismay. "Worry not." The Princess of the Night continued, pointing out the window towards the town. "Thou canst bring Braeburn along, and t'will only be for a short while!" (Luna hoped it would be only a couple of days, not a few weeks.) "Ok." The purple alicorn replied belatedly. "Now!" The Princess of the Night responded, having dispatched the nitty gritty of the situation. "Please rest here for the night, while we guard your dreams," she said, to the two tired ponies. "We shall depart in the early morn," she said, preparing to lower the sun, and raise the moon. ********** It took about another week for the most senior of all of Equestria's princesses to return -- but return she did, bringing along three very tired unicorns (and an agreement for trade concessions to Unicornia, and an agreement never to meddle in Unicornia's affairs again -- an agreement, that, Celestia planned to disobey as soon as she was able.) And so the matter came up of what to do with Equestria's newest princess (as well as the young filly alicorn that was still causing mischief in Ponyville.) "Could you wait for us outside, Wysteria?" Celestia asked, gently, motioning for her guards to escort the three unicorns, and the purple alicorn out of the room. "Please enjoy the feast we have prepared for you, and your friends, Lilly Lightly, Brights Brightly, and Whistle Wishes, in the dining room, " she said, with a smile (food was, along with sweets, a great comfort to Celestia when she was feeling down.) "We shall be joining you shortly," she said, with a smile, motioning the four ponies away so she and her sister could discuss mattersm, in secret. Wysteria nodded, as she was escorted out of the room, and to the, rather large, dining room, in the other room. "So..." Celestia said, turning to her sister. "She doesn't remember anything?" Luna shook her head. "She rememberest nothing in that timeline post Christmas, except for the friends that she met," she said, with a certain amount of concern. "And even then, she remembers the unicorns only vaguely." "Perhaps for the best." Celestia said, with a smile. "She has it hard enough already," she said, trotting over to a window. "So tell me, Luna. Is it true that our little Wysteria was stricken with a nightmare?" Luna nodded."Yes sister, and that is why we thought that it was best that we trainest her in the use of her magic," she exclaimed, waiting for the inevitable blow-up from her sister. "Now! We knowest that thou hast disapproved of us taking students but ... " Celestia shot her sister a reassuring smile. "Oh No! I fully understand!" She said, drinking up the fact, that her sister's mouth practically dropped to her hooves. "After all, only you and the element of Generosity, Rarity, would have any experience in this matter -- and she would probably be a poor teacher of alicorn magic." Luna shot her sister a puzzled look. "Didst thou say what I thought thou hast said?" She said, checking her ears. "That we canst be her teacher?" "Yes." Celestia nodded. "You should be her teacher." Luna did a double take. "Art thou sure? Normally, when thou diggest in thine hooves... " Celestia smirked. "You didn't just spend two weeks in Unicornia doing 'hard negotiations'," she said, thinking of all the waiting she did, only to end up doing more waiting, followed by being berated, and then all the fierce arguing. The good news, though, was that she brought Lilly Lightly, Brights Brightly, and Whistle Wishes back to Canterlot. "Besides... Twilight already has her hooves full, with two new students..." Celestia paced around the room, before returning to her initial position, and faced her sister. "So do we know why Wysteria ascended?" Luna shook her head. "T'was something to do with young Heathspike's flower," she said, plainly. "We figurest that it reacted against her magic, or t'was an alicorn lily." Celestia frowned, resisting the urge to pace. "First Rarity, now Wysteria..." She said, lowering her head into a thinking position. "You don't suppose..." Luna looked back at her sister, she normally never got a chance to see her sister stumped like this. "Discord's last legacy?" Celestia nodded. "It's possible." "Perhaps." Luna replied, contemplating the beginnings of her vast memory. "But.. does that mean that?" Celestia nodded. "Lilly has a lot of magic to begin with, but no control. As I recall she used to think that her horn glowed due a genetic mutation, and that it was responding to her emotions." She said, asking her guard for a stronger drink. "But, I believe that, all that excess magic is what causes her horn to glow like that." Luna frowned. But wasn't that horn what made her special? Why do you think it was excess magic? Was her head aching? Luna frowned, turning away again, sternly. "I shall have one of my best teachers tutor her in the basics of unicorn magic, and then we shall stage a 'test for my school' to see if our theories are, indeed, justified," she said, fully justifying her reputation as a chess player (with ponies' lives.) "If she is what we suspect then it'll happen due to the stress of the test, or her magic will act up in power." Luna frowned. "And, I suppose, t'would be advisable to locate young Sky Wishes, post haste." Celestia nodded. "That's the plan..." She said, crafting a letter for the captain of her guards. "Guards! Get me the dragon fire! This letter needs to be sent to Princess Cadence immediately!" ********** Solanaceae stood before his master's door, cowering slightly -- wondering if he dared enter, or if he would turn around and go hide. Of course, those that work for prince Vladímir don't get the luxury of hiding when summoned -- as the door opened slowly. The prince's throne was even more ostentatious than before, and his presentation louder. "Come forth Solanaceae of the south, your prince has requested your presence!" The prince's crier shouted loudly. "Come forth to meet with your lord," he cried, loudly -- doing what the princess had requested of him, drawing all eyes to the prince's throne. The assassin sighed... Oh how He hated this part! "I bear news regarding your search for the elements Lord!" "Is it good news?" Asked the young prince, giving the assassin a disapproving look (maybe even a threatening one.) "Of course!" The assassin said, hesitantly. "As your majesty is aware, three bearers have already been located, and my left hand assassin, Belladonna, has informed me that she has located two more." The assassin said, confidently -- hoping his lord wouldn't ask more questions. "I will spare no resources in the locating of those two bearers, as well as the third." "Excelent." His lord replied enthusiastically. "Meanwhile, I, too, bring great news. I have heard word that one of the largest, and most influential, of all unicorn houses might be interested in joining our cause -- assuming that we are willing to do away with that deadbeat 'prince' of Equestria." "That is good news sire." The changeling said, hoping to quietly excuse himself. "Of course." The changeling prince said, with pride. "As I had planned! And as I had negotiated! It's only a matter of time now!" The prince pouted. "They have agreed to join our cause once that joke Blueblood is gone. And that means that, once we have done so, we will have enough power to finally deal with the pretender to the throne!" "Well then your majesty, I shall be going to personally supervise the search for ... " Solanaceae said, starting to leave. "Of course." The prince said, a twinkle coming to his eye. "But let me ask a question first?" "What is it sire?" The changeling asked, snapping to attention. "What is it that you need?" The prince shrugged, nonchalantly. "Where's Phytolacca?" The prince asked, suspiciously. "Shouldn't he be here to celebrate his capture of Sunset Shimmer?" The assassin gulped. "Well... you see sire..." "He's gone isn't he?" The changeling prince asked, boisterously. "He was dispatched by another nascent alicorn?" "Yes sire." The assassin said, solemnly -- bowing his head. "But how did you know?" "Never forget Solanaceae!" The prince replied, angrily. "There is nothing in the hive that escapes my sight! Now you had better find the last three bearers fast, or you are finished!!!" The prince said, ordering his guards to carry the assassin out of his sight, having him literally tossed out of of the room. "I hope that assassin hurries... for his sake! My allies in Equestria don't accept failure! And neither do I!!!"