//------------------------------// // The Third Day // Story: The Final Choices // by GMBlackjack //------------------------------// With the new dawn came a new friend. Twilight spread her wings and focused her magic in front of her, drawing yet another from the mysterious dream-world of the Roots. It did not take long to coalesce all the atoms together into a small purple reptile within the School’s meeting hall. Spike’s first action in his newly reformed body was to burp loudly. Twilight laughed, pulling Spike into a hug. “Welcome back, Spike.” “It’s good to be back!” he said, blushing self-consciously from his involuntary outburst. He stretched his arms, legs, and wings out before lifting himself into the air. Satisfied, he turned to a screen on a nearby wall - currently showing Zecora. “Well, sorry Zecora, looks like it’s up to you to handle things in there now!” “Do not worry about me, I shall work without ere - for free!” Twilight nodded. “Thank you Zecora, you’re a life saver.” “It is the least I can do to repay you.” With a nod, she walked away, presumably to deal with something else in the dreamscape. Sunset took out a remote and shut off the screen. “Glad to have you back, Spike.” “You have no idea how much Twilight’s needed you,” Fluttershy said with a soft smile. “She’ had no number one assistant to keep her grounded.” “No surprise there,” Spike smirked. Twilight pretended to look aghast - but there were happy tears in her eyes. “I was fine!” She pulled Spike into another hug. “...Think you’re up for a meeting?” “The worst danger is dying of boredom, so… sure!” Twilight nodded. “So… today we’re going to have to get ready for our visitors. Sooner rather than later.” Everyone at the table nodded in agreement. “Rainbow, do you know how far out they are?” Rainbow shook her head. “They were a few hours away by hoof, but I have no idea if they’ve even woken up yet or not. I can’t see them like I can see you guys.” “So we’ll assume sooner rather than later.” “We’ll need to get this place looking presentable…” Rarity said, putting a hoof to her chin. “And we most certainly need to make some sort of rig that can be used to climb the rock face.” Applejack nodded. “Agreed.” “I think most of us should work on preparing for our visitors,” Celestia said. “However, we shouldn’t completely devote our resources to such a singular goal. What else needs to be done?” “Get some crops growin’,” Applejack said. “Exploration,” Twilight added. “Something more in-depth and comprehensive than what we already have. RD found some amazing things, and Fluttershy’s animals have given us some hints, but we still have very little idea what the world is actually like.” “Can’t we learn that from our visitors?” Rarity asked. “Maybe…” Twilight said, frowning. “But we can’t just trust everything they say for sure.” Pinkie nodded sadly “Yeah… but let’s try to give them the benefit of the doubt anyway!” “Naturally,” Celestia said. “I will handle exploration.” Twilight blinked. “But, Princess! The visitors…” “Can be handled perfectly well by the rest of you. If they have never seen a pegasus before, what if they have never seen an alicorn either? Or a being of my size? Even you, Twilight, might be intimidating.” “...Good point,” Twilight admitted. “But are you really fit for exploration? You’re a Princess!” “As are you,” Celestia reminded her with a smirk. “And unlike you and Discord, my magic does not dissipate when I leave New Equestria. I will have full control over the situation should anything go dire - not to mention our little blue alarm system.” “Ha-ha,” Rainbow Dash grunted. Twilight nodded slowly. “Right. Yeah, you’re right, you should do exploration.” Celestia smiled. “In that case, I’ll be off and let you return to your planning. Sunset, would you, by chance, want to accompany me?” “I still have a lot of work to do on the machines, sorry Princess,” Sunset answered. “Maybe another time?” The disappointment in Celestia’s face was almost imperceptible. Only Twilight noticed it. “That is important work, of course you should return to it. Twilight, I leave our new friends in your hooves.” “You can count on us!” Twilight said, beaming. With a flash of solar light, Celestia was gone. Applejack and Sunset returned to their duties, while everyone else crowded around Rarity and Pinkie. “Okay!” Rarity said, clapping her hooves together. “We don’t want to overwhelm them and we want to make a good impression. So, Pinkie, I need you to go all out but also keep a visual restraint. Don’t over-excite them.” “A challenge…” Pinkie said, scratching her chin. “...I think I can do it.” “Good. Spike, darling, take a note - we’re going to need to turn this place into a reception fit for royalty…” ~~~ It turned out that, no matter how much tragedy was hanging over the heads of the ponies of Ponyville, they still knew how to throw a welcome party. Rarity and Pinkie worked wonders turning the ramshackle constructions into welcoming pillars - all with a select few colorful banners courtesy of Twilight’s magic. Fluttershy had the animals clear up all the trash and Rainbow Dash set the weather to clear. Discord even chipped in, snapping his fingers and creating an escalator at the edge of New Equestria to make it a simple matter of standing and waiting to arrive at the proper altitude. The escalator itself led right to the front area of the school. Pinkie rummaged through Discord’s mountain of food and began creating the feast. Naturally she had dozens of sugary sweet desserts, but she was smart enough to include some healthier salads, sandwiches, and even some giant fruit. It was all set up on a large table out in the open air. There were far too many food items on the table for even a few dozen ponies to eat, much less the number they were expecting to arrive. Twilight stared at one plate in particular. “Pinkie, is that bacon?” “Huh? Oh, yeah, it is!” Pinkie nodded vigorously. “You never know, they may eat meat.” “Or they may be horrified that we even consider the consumption of animals a valid source of food!” “Do we?” “I don’t know!” Twilight admitted. “I know Sunset does.” “I do…” Spike said, licking his lips, wondering if he should ask for a piece of the bacon. “I do too,” Rainbow called from the sky. “Gilda gave me some of her jerky one day. Lemme tell you, Griffin-made jerky is amazing.” “Have you even had any other jerky?” Twilight asked. “Eh, dragon, I guess…” Rainbow’s expression turned from thoughtful to dour. “Man, Gallus is the only griffon here… no Gilda… no Gabby…” Rarity sighed. “...Unless we find some griffons here…” “Fluttershy’s animals are only aware of ponies,” Twilight said with a frown. “No matter how many she asks, the ponies are the only race of ours they’ll identify. She’s been trying to figure out if the ‘things around the structures’ are another race or just a strange kind of animal, but it’s hard since we don’t know how to communicate concepts we don’t know ourselves.” “Could you, like, do some magic mumbo-jumbo stuff?” Rainbow asked. Twilight shook her head. “I can’t create life from nothing, and even if I transformed someone else into a griffon or something, transformation spells don’t actually alter your DNA.” “There’s gotta be something…” Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry everyone, but there’s no breeding pairs for griffons. Or seaponies. Or yaks. Or zebras… Just us, dragons, and I think the changelings.” “Dragons?” Spike asked. “It’s just me and Smolder tho-” Spike stopped talking. Rarity laughed nervously. “Let’s not worry about any of that right now, we have visitors coming. Rainbow, why don’t you go and check to see how they’re coming along?” “On it!” Rainbow zoomed away. She was back in less than a second - keeping Spike from starting the conversation up again. “Uh, they’re here.” “Oh, goodness! The food’s still warm, perfect timing!” Rarity clapped her hooves. “One problem.” “What’s that?” “They’re scared of the escalator. They’re cowering at the base, looking at it like it’s some kind of monster.” Twilight sighed. “Go find Fluttershy and tell her she needs to hide Discord somewhere. Rarity, Pinkie, with me. Spike, can you manage the kitchen?” “Huh? Oh, sure! Can-do Twilight!” With a smile on his face he ran off to tend to all the dishes Pinkie was leaving unattended. It took all of two minutes for one of the souffle surprises to explode in his face. Meanwhile, Twilight, Pinkie, and Rarity walked to the top of the escalator. The design wasn’t chaotic in any way - sleek, smooth, and almost silent, it looked like something from the Manehattan mall. Currently, the stairs were slowly moving in the upward direction in hopes of carrying the visitors up to their level. Instead, the brown, yellow, and red forms of Chestnut Beaver, Yellow Eagle, and Red Fox were still at the base of the stairs. From this distance it appeared that Red Fox was… hissing at the mobile stairs? “Hey!” Twilight called down, waving with a hoof. “It’s okay, it’s safe! You can stand on it and it’ll take you up to us!” “What!?” Chestnut Beaver shouted back at her. “It’s called an escalator! It’s like moving stairs! You get on at the bottom and it takes you up here!” “That’s crazy!” Red Fox shouted before saying something to her husband Twilight couldn’t hear. “I’ll show you!” Twilight called. She pulled a lever at the top end of the escalator, stopping it. Then she put it in the other direction, sending the escalator down. She stepped on it and slowly slid down to meet them, Rarity and Pinkie following close behind. When they reached the bottom, Twilight pulled the lower lever and brought the escalator to a stop. “See?” It was impossible to read Chestnut Beaver’s expression, but Yellow Eagle and Red Fox were staring at them in disbelief. For a moment, Twilight thought she saw something shift around Red Fox’s face, but upon closer scrutiny her face appeared as normal as any other pony’s. Twilight decided to bow. “Greetings, I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of New Equestria. I welcome you with open hooves.” “And a feast!” Pinkie said, barely able to contain herself - finally having a reason to be happy. “We made it just for you!” “...Beaver, when was the last time we actually had a feast?” Red Fox asked. “I do not remember the day,” Chestnut Beaver replied. “Sparkle, we would love some food. It has been a long journey.” “I’ll eat anything…” Yellow Eagle said, slackjawed. “Come on up the escalator and we can get to that,” Twilight said, pushing the lever into the ‘up’ direction. Carefully, Red Fox stepped onto the moving stairs. She looked ready to bolt at a moments notice, but after a few seconds of nothing happening she allowed herself to relax. “The escalator is… fine.” Yellow Eagle jumped on without missing a beat while Chestnut Beaver took his sweet time, ending up in the back of the line. “See? Nothing to worry about,” Twilight said with a smile. “These are my friends - Pinkie Pie and Rarity.” Yellow Eagle cocked her head at Pinkie. “What kind of creature is a Pie?” “It’s not a creature!” Pinkie giggled. “It’s a pastry!” “...What.” “Not all ponies follow the same naming conventions, Eagle,” Red Fox reminded her daughter. “Sparkle doesn’t really fit, and Rarity definitely doesn't.” “Why not?” Rarity asked. “You only have one name,” Chestnut Beaver explained simply. Rarity nodded. “Oh. I do suppose you’re right, that is somewhat unusual, even back home.” “I’ve noticed something else too,” Twilight said. “You all refer to each other by last name. But ponies here go by their first. I’m Twilight first and foremost, Pinkie Pie is Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash is Rainbow.” “...Not the strangest thing I’ve heard,” Fox admitted, tossing her mane back. “There was that blairne’s,” Eagle commented. “He was, uh, Blifflesimmif or something.” “That definitely wasn’t it.” “It was weird though!” Twilight was chuckling when they arrived at the top of the escalator where Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were waiting for them. “Hey, looks like you made it!” Rainbow said with a wave. “Welcome to New Equestria!” The family of three couldn’t respond - they were all staring at the new world around them. Eagle and Fox couldn’t take her eyes of the prepared food while Beaver found his inscrutable gaze focused on Twilight’s castle. “Yeah. We tend to have that effect on ponies,” Rainbow said with a cocky smirk. “Come on, eat!” Pinkie encouraged. “You can take your pick of anything here! We’ve got deserts, pastries - including pie - salads, sandwiches, spagh-” A change came over Fox. Suddenly, the pupils in her eyes reduced to vertical slits and her head shifted, sharpening the snout and elongating her fur. She opened her mouth wide - revealing predatory teeth that hadn’t been there a moment earlier. Before anyone knew what was happening, she’d already devoured the entire plate of bacon. Twilight and all her friends (save Pinkie) stared at Fox in shock. “...It’s like y’all have never seen a predatory shaper indulge themselves,” Beaver commented. “W-we haven’t…” Twilight said, shaking her head. “That’s… a normal thing for ponies to do here?” “For shapers, yeah,” Beaver said - shifting his tail into that of a beaver’s to demonstrate. “I guess we haven’t seen pegasi or whatever else y’alls are, and you haven’t seen shapers.” “Wait, Pinkie’s not a shaper?” Eagle gasped. “But… how!?” “I dunno, but her eyes don’t match her coat…” Pinkie giggled. “I’m an earth pony! I can’t do weird animal stuff. But I do have a connection to the earth and the plants around me!” “Never heard o’ earth ponies,” Beaver admitted. “It’s just shapers, blairne, and wraiths here.” “Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns,” Rarity said, tapping her horn. “Twilight here is a bit special, being a combination of all three of our races.” “Is that right…” Beaver said. His emotion was impossible to read - but it was clear that idea disgusted Eagle. Twilight frowned. “You don’t have anything like me here?” Beaver shook his head. “Not at all. I don’t think a ‘hybrid’ like yourself would be taken kindly to either, even if such a thing were possible.” “...In that case, I thank you for your understanding and patience with us.” She bowed again. “I can only hope you’ll be willing to tell us what the customs of your world are.” “Oh, sure, no problem,” Eagle said. “Soon as I eat. And soon as mom finishes gorging herself.” Fox seemed to sense she was the butt of an insult. The foxy-features vanished from her face and she realized she had messes of fruit, meat, and pastries all over her. “Ugh! Beaver, it happened again!” “I know dear.” Fox grunted as her daughter sat down next to her, neatly eating a salad. “Just you wait Eagle, one of these days that bird essence in you is gonna rise up and POW, to the crazy town!” “If that was going to happen it would have happened already.” “...So how exactly does this animal essence thing work?” Fluttershy asked. Beaver shrugged, sitting down at the table. “Not sure. All shapers are born with an animal essence within them, and it is the source of our second names. Some can practice to channel other animals, but most of us go through life with just one. You just… think, and it happens.” Beaver shifted his teeth to a shape worthy of devouring wood and proceeded to eat an entire salad - bowl included. “Amazing…” Fluttershy admitted. “All pegasi can do is fly.” “Bah, we can do more than that!” Rainbow announced with a grin. “The very clouds are ours! Watch this!” She swooped up and dragged a cloud down to the ground. She proceeded to stand on it like a giant pillow. “Bam!” Eagle saw what she was doing and grinned. “I didn’t know we could do that!” “You probably ca-” Too late - Eagle had already formed her wings and taken off into the sky. She promptly got her wings tied up and fell into Rainbow’s cloud - falling right through it. “...Ow…” There were chuckles all around. “I will fly one day!” Eagle assured them. “You need some flying lessons,” Rainbow said. “Your form is all wrong and you’re trying too hard.” “What would you know?” Rainbow lifted one of her wings and raised an eyebrow. “...Oh. Right.” Twilight turned to Beaver once more. “You mentioned blairne and wraiths before. What are they like?” Red laughed. “Stuck up arrogant pricks and no-good conniving thieves,” she took a sip from a punch glass. “...I meant physically.” Beaver furrowed his brow. “Well, I’ve never seen a wraith… but I can tell you the blairne are ponies with-” “-a bone to pick with interloping shapers attempting to drag our reputation through the dirt!” a haughty male voice declared. Everyone turned to look at the top of the escalator. Standing there was a tall, lanky, amber pony. HIs eyes were glowing with a mixture of blue and red swirling colors while a blade-like protrusion stuck out of his forehead, quite unlike any horn Twilight had ever seen. Eagle screamed, hiding behind Fox in fear. Fox, to her credit, took a defensive stance, but was clearly just as terrified as Eagle was. Beaver stood up, glaring directly at what Twilight could only assume was a blairne. Beaver furrowed his brow. “I see your eyes. Agent of the Impervious Leader?” “You wish,” the blairne scoffed. “Our glorious nation would have no need to waste so much potential.” “Ah, so you’re a deserter then.” The stallion stuttered. “I-I am no deserter! I…” “There ain’t no way you’re allowed out here, like that, without bein’ an agent or deserter, boy.” “What did you just call me?” “Your youth does not look good on you.” “I am a million times better than your nature-loving squabble could ever be!” “STOP IT!” Fluttershy shouted, inserting herself into the shouting match. “You two are guests here and if you insist on behaving like bickering children I will kick you out!” For once, Beaver’s expression was readable - shock. The blairne wore a similar, but heavily exaggerated, expression. Fluttershy folded up her wings, returning to her normal meek-looking self. “Now… I don’t know why you hate each other, but it can’t be so important that you have to keep shouting. We - the ponies of New Equestria - know nothing about your respective peoples. Maybe you can tell us a bit more?” Beaver nodded. “Telling a story would be preferable.” The blairne growled. “...Fine.” “Good. Now, mister blairne… what’s your name?” The blairne’s grimace was quickly replaced with a cocky grin. With a flash of his eyes, a shard of ice appeared in the air alongside a fireball roughly the size of his eye. “You may call me… Frostfire.” ~~~ What happened next should, by all laws of probability and statistics, not have happened. Applejack opened the door to the shed and caught the thief. There were an absurd number of things that had to go just right (or just wrong, depending on your point of view) for this to occur. First of all, the thief had to be in the shed, which was a slim-to-none chance in the first place. Second, the thief needed to be oblivious to Applejack approaching the shed. Given how excellent their hearing was, it was amazing they didn’t pick out the hoofsteps of the obscenely strong earth pony. Third, the thief needed to currently be standing in front of the door with their head at a forty-seven degree angle, exposing the backside of their skull. Fourth, the thief needed to be tangible at the moment. The fact that they weren't was a huge oversight on their part they would be kicking themselves over for weeks. Fifth, Applejack had to open the door with enough force to knock the thief out. Granted, this last one wasn’t too difficult given her Element’s nature, but the other four points were more than enough to make the odds of all this happening astronomical. Not that Applejack knew this. She saw the thief laying on the ground, out cold, and smirked. “Got’im.” The thief was a pony - mare, if Applejack had to guess, though it was a bit hard to tell. She was rather small, though if her toned muscles were anything to go by she certainly wasn’t a filly. She had a pair of wings on her back, but they weren’t feathered - rahter leathery, although upon closer inspection they were revealed to have the consistency of smoke, allowing Applejack’s hoof right through. Usually, ponies were brightly colored, but this mare was nothing but dark grays and muted blues - even her tail, which looked more like that of a scorpion than any pony Applejack had ever seen. “Huh.” Applejack said. And then promptly got some rope and tied her up. She set the dark mare up on a little stool at the edge of the field, checked to make sure she was secured, and then got back to work planting things. As she worked, Applejack was sure to keep a constant eye on the mare. The moment she got any indication her guest was about to wake up, she jumped to the stool and stared the strange mare in the eyes. When the mare opened her eyes, they weren’t what Applejack was expecting. She’d figured they’d be batpony - thestral? - eyes. But they were normal, albeit dark in coloration. “Howdy,” Applejack said, tipping her hat. “And who might you be?” “...Ichor,” she said with a voice far too high pitched for a creature of darkness. She glared at the sky as if it were at fault for being so bright. “Well, nice t’ meetcha, Ichor. Mind tellin’ me what you were doin’ stealin’ my stuff?” “I was hungry. It’s how I eat.” “There are other ways to get food y’know.” Ichor chuckled. “Yeah, like farming. That’s lame, definitely not the way of wraiths.” “Call yourself a wraith do you?” “Yes. And I’ve been hanging here long enough to know how clueless you are.” Applejack tensed. “How so?” “Rule one about dealing with wraiths - if you don’t kill us we’re just going to escape.” “Ichor, Ah’d never kill anypony. Ah’ve seen too much death.” “Then I’ll be sure to let the entire family know this place is ripe for the pillaging!” And then she walked out of her constraints as if they weren’t there. The ropes phased right through her and fell to the ground. “...Huh,” Applejack said, biting her lip. “We have other tricks y’know.” “Oh yes, I’ve seen your fancy magic. Which you don’t have. You’re just strong.” She spread her smoky wings and took to the sky. “Smell you later - when we sack this entire pla-” Rainbow Dash came flying out of nowhere and hit Ichor dead on. “WHAT!?” Ichor shouted, twisting out of Rainbow’s grasp. “You can’t touch me!” “You’re just a dark, slightly fuzzy cloud,” Rainbow said with a smirk. “Now get back here before I make you.” Ichor’s confident smile was gone. With a high-pitched skree noise she took off into the sky. “Bad move,” Rainbow said, shaking her head. “...Aren’t you gonna go get her?” Applejack asked. “I could. But I think she needs to learn a little bit more than that.” “Don’t tell me Discord…” “What? Oh, no, Twilight.” Twilight teleported right in front of Ichor. “Don’t make me hurt you.” “Idiot,” Ichor growled, slicing her tail right at Twilight. Twilight caught the tail with her magic, corking an eyebrow to show just how effortless the action was. “Wh… Gh…” ichor couldn’t phase out of the alicorn’s grasp. “RAAAAAAA! SKREEEE!” She began to fail wilder and wilder, until she started crying from the strain she was putting herself under. “Shhhh…” Twilight said, slowly taking the two of them back to the ground. “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you…” “IDIOT!” Ichor screamed through her tears - still trying to run away. “You really are being an idiot,” Frostfire said, walking up to them. “Wraiths are terrible creatures that know nothing but theft. They cannot be contained. They must be killed.” “That is not how we do things here,” Fluttershy hissed, looking like she wanted to slap the blairne. “How do you survive?” Eagle asked, jaw hanging open. “By showing kindness and gaining their trust,” Fluttershy asserted, slamming her hoof down. “If you’ve got a problem with that, well, you’re just going to have to deal with it.” “How improper…” Frostfire said, disgusted. “I had hoped you would show some merit, but your ideas are below that of even shapers!” “You wanna say that to my face!?” Fox spat. “I just did.” “WHY ARE YOU ARGUING AGAIN!?” Fluttershy shouted, shutting the two of them right up. Beaver sighed, walking up to Fluttershy and Twilight. “As regrettable as it is, they are right.” Fluttershy and Twilight looked at Beaver in shock. “Wh…” Twilight breathed. “There probably are good wraiths here and there,” Beaver said. “And I’d even be willing to admit this particular one is just a scared child that could use some guidance. But she knows other wraiths. Her kind can’t be contained, and if you show mercy… they will take everything you have. I’ve seen entire villages decimated by their thievery.” “So you’re saying… if she is released, her people will think we’re soft and target us?” Rainbow asked. “That’s stupid.” “And tragic,” Beaver admitted. “But it is how things are.” “Then we just never let her go back to her people,” Twilight affirmed. Beaver raised an eyebrow, curious to see what she would do next. Twilight’s eyes went white - scaring Eagle considerably, but drawing the rapt attention of Frostfire. Rings of magic appeared around Ichor’s neck and hooves, coalescing into thin crystal bands with glowing purple runes. Twilight released Ichor from her telekinesis. The mare was still a crying wreck. She tried to phase away - but she tripped on a rock. “Wh… what?” “You won’t be phasing again until I take those off,” Twilight said, sadness in her eyes. “You’re staying here with us. I… I didn’t want to do this, but I have to protect my ponies, at least until we know more about this world.” “Y… wh… gh…” Ichor clearly couldn’t handle this. She put her hooves on her head and curled up into a ball. “Fluttershy… keep watch over her,” Twilight said with a sigh. Fluttershy nodded, sitting down next to the trembling wraith. She might stay there for hours, as far as anyone knew. Twilight took in a deep breath and returned her gaze to Frostfire and the other visitors. “I’d like some explanations about the dynamics between your races.” “Here’s the short version,” Eagle said, clearing her throat. “It’s screwed up!” ~~~ Celestia landed on top of the moving forest, alighting in a tree larger than Canterlot Castle had been. The metallic birds stared at her as she landed, sizing her up, but apparently decided she wasn’t a threat. She had determined very quickly that while magic was common in the Sphere, use of magic was rare. Virtually every animal she’d come across had been completely mundane - without enchantment of any sort. The exceptions were few and far between. So far she had found three distinct species capable of using magic. The walking forest she was sitting on now, the metallic birds, and a strange floating blimp creature with three eyes. There was one running theme between the creatures - their magics were all focused through a crystal. In the case of the living forest, it was in its feet. The birds’ crystals weren’t obvious - but she could occasionally catch a glint of red in their chest while they were in flight. And the blimps, well… The one she was looking at right now was about the size of her, and there was an immense topaz-colored crystal right in the middle of its three eyes. It seemed confused at her existence. She found it likely that it was searching for a crystal within her and finding nothing. Celestia lit her horn, attempting to communicate with it, but only got garbled static in return. It wasn’t like an animal’s mind - too simple to carry a conversation - it was just too messy in there. Clearly the magical beings of this world were of a different sort than the rest of the wildlife. Celestia found herself considering the wisdom of obtaining a sample of one of these magical creatures. She was hesitant to do anything to the forested monstrosity since it was probably key to the ecosystem, and she suspected if she tried to take one bird all of them would go after her. And… Well, if she was being honest with herself, the blimp thing was filling her with unease. “Don’t you have anything better to do?” she asked, knowing full well that it had no idea what she was saying. With a sigh, she spread her wings and took off into the sky. Enough looking at wildlife - they had done that plenty already. It was time for her to find a town, disguise herself as a local, and gather some information about the culture of this world. It was a strategy she had used often in her youth to keep from being noticed. She actually remembered using it two months ago to attend a play she’d wanted to see, knowing the performers would lose their minds if they knew she was in the audience… Unfortunately for Celestia, she was not going to get to wander among the ponies of this world quite yet. Because the most terrifying kind of monster to walk the surface of the Sphere had locked on to her. Before she knew what was happening, a yellow-green telekinetic aura surrounded her and smashed her into the ground faster than terminal velocity. She was more than able to take the hit - even without raising a magical shield - but she was still beyond surprised. Anything with that much force… She immediately activated her defensive spells, creating a coat-fitting magical sheen and raising the temperature around her significantly. She didn’t actively light anything on fire, but she did evaporate all the water for several meters, creating a dry blemish on the Sphere’s greenery. It was not effected. It was a creature twice as tall as she was, though it seemed stuck in a permanent hunched posture, allowing its head to be eye level with her own. Its body was a thick black rope riddled with knobs like the trunk of a tree. Four pointed legs moved it toward her, puncturing the ground with every step, while an equal number of arms ended in three-tipped pincers. Almost every inch of this monster’s body was covered with yellow-green gemstones. A thought occurred to Celestia. I wonder if it can use all of those at once. When the being cast a thousand elemental bullet spells at the same exact moment, Celestia had her answer. She reared back, activating one of Luna’s signature spells - the two-tier shield. The first shield was normal and would block any standard projectiles, while the secondary was weaker but specifically designed to intercept teleporting, phasing, or other exotic projectiles. It worked like a charm, managing to block all of the beast’s various spells. The beast was not deterred by this, for it just kept casting. It reasoned that Celestia’s shield would fail eventually. Naturally, it would be right, but Celestia had a lot more magic at her disposal. She was able to cast another spell, setting off an explosion of fire in the center of the monstrosity’s body. It shattered in two, falling to the ground in pieces. Celestia was not one to celebrate early, and the creature didn’t give her more than a couple seconds to think she had won. Several of the crystals near the explosion flashed brightly, regrowing the black tissue holding them together with rapid ease. It tried something new - teleporting around Celestia so fast it looked like there were several of it. Celestia was having none of this. She sent out a ring of intense fire, intending to melt the thing into slag. It took the hit. Much of its flesh burned away, but the crystals grew it back. She noticed for the first time since the battle began that the blimp-thing was watching the two of them, glancing back and forth as if it wasn’t sure which side it was supposed to take. Good. At least I’ll have an audience. Celestia teleported a few meters away from the gemstone creature, only for it to teleport right next to her. She tried to grab it in her telekinesis, but similar to her own defensive spells, the beast had a coat that shrugged it off. She considered running, but there was no guarantee this thing couldn’t follower her back to New Equestria. In that case… time for something a little drastic… She summoned her lens spell. It created a clear, nearly invisible construct in the air between the sun and the creature. The might of the sun hit the lens construct and focused onto a single point - lighting the monster’s flesh on fire. Its crystals were more than enough to regenerate the flesh, but now it was slowed. So Celestia increased the size of the lens. Soon, the entire body of the beast was under constant solar bombardment, eternally burning. And yet the crystals were powerful enough to keep its body held together and moving despite endless destruction and rebirth of every cell within the thing’s body. Celestia, face impassioned, exaggerated the curvature on the lens. The temperature of the attack increased - and increased… and increased… the very ground beneath the monster began to burn. But still the creature would not relent. Why are you so determined? She asked it mentally. She wasn’t expecting a response. She got one. Intruder. Intruder. Intruder. Intruder. Those were not the thoughts of a person or an animal. Those were the thoughts of one of Sunset’s toys - except unimaginably more complex. It wasn’t coming from the monster’s flesh, it was coming from the crystals. We don’t have to do this. Intruder. Intruder. Intruder. She could hear the same static she’d heard in the blimp now. She didn’t know what it meant, but she figured this thing wasn’t going to listen to reason. So she lifted the lens directly above the creature and let it burn. She added her own spell to the mix - a dark magic she wished she didn’t know. For a moment, her eyes flashed dark, and the burning monstrosity was cursed with a disease that shredded its organic molecules on the atomic level. And this, at long last, did the creature in. With an immense psychic howl, the creature fell apart. It was no longer able to regenerate. All that remained were crystal shards. Breathing heavily, Celestia dispelled the lens and walked up to the crystals. They were dormant now - shattered in multiple places, and one of them looked like it was melting. She pocketed a few of the shards. Looks like I have a sample, at least… she looked at the devastation around her. Where there had one been a lake, there was now an empty crater. The corpses of trees had turned to ash seconds after the fight had begun. Some areas of the ground had been heated into glasses. If it took this much of my power… how do the ponies of this world survive? Going to check out the villages would have to wait. She needed to get the crystals back to Twilight. ~~~ Twilight had managed to get everyone sitting down at the table, though there were significantly less smiles now that the whole ordeal with Ichor had blown everything up. Aside from Eagle and Pinkie - though unlike Pinkie’s legitimate smile, Eagle’s was of a more perverse sort. She clearly enjoyed watching everyone else awkwardly dance around each other. Ichor had chosen to sit right between Twilight and Fluttershy - as far away from the other natives of the Sphere as possible. She hadn’t said anything since her intangibility had been sealed, but she didn’t need to. It wasn’t hard to see she was deathly terrified of the other ponies. “Boo,” Eagle said, making Ichor jump - spilling the tea she had been sipping all over the table. “Eagle…” Beaver chided. “She has the right idea,” Frostfire grunted. “...Egh,” Eagle shivered, hating even the idea of being complimented by somepony like him. Frostfire glowered. “Princess, I tire of these frivolities. You have business to discuss. We know things you want to know.” “I don’t want this to be an interrogation!” Twilight blurted. “It won’t be,” Fox said. “I know you’re not out to get us, or even to hurt us. You’re just a little misguided and, well, lost. I’ll tell you anything you want. Don’t even need anything in return.” “Liars,” Frostfire muttered under his breath. Fox swiveled her ears at him. “You’re one to talk…” “I make no false claims.” “You…” “Stop…” Fluttershy cautioned, eye twitching. She was quickly losing patience with all of them. Fox made a clear effort to calm herself down. Frostfire simply sneered. “We are not lyin’,” Beaver told Twilight. “But we haven’t been entirely honest either.” Fox winced. “Dear…” “They have been so open to us despite our strife, Fox. We need to give them the same courtesy.” Beaver swallowed. “We are outcasts. Exiles.” Rarity put a hoof to her mouth. “Exiles? As in, banished, run out?” Beaver nodded slowly. “That doesn’t change anything,” Twilight said dismissively. “A pony is more than their mistakes. If you don’t have anywhere to go you can just stay here.” She turned to Frostfire. “The same goes to you.” Frostfire sputtered. “I have no need for protection, I am simply here out of idle curiosity.” “I don’t even need Applejack here to know that’s a load of hogwash,” Rarity commented. “Are you calling me a liar!?” “Yes,” Rarity deadpanned. “Please stop digging yourself deeper in that hole. It’s unbecoming for someone of your stature.” Frostfire stared at her in disbelief. “How in…” “I know what high society is like, darling. You were clearly raised among those who perceive that they have class, placed in a position above all others.” She gingerly sipped her tea. “You would not be out here alone unless you had no choice. I had thought, for a moment, you might be one of those grand adventuring types, but you just don’t have the spirit for it.” Frostfire narrowed his eyes at her. “I can see you come from nobility as well.” Rarity laughed. “The only pony in this room who was born in nobility is Twilight! And she was a low noble.” She smiled contemptuously. “I chose to act like this because I respected the high society. I have since lost most of those disillusions but why would I ever stop?” “Rarity I think you might be going a bit hard on him,” Fluttershy said. Rarity frowned, nodding slowly. “Yes… yes, I suppose you are right. My apologies, Frostfire, I got caught up in the moment.” Twilight caught a look of… respect? Maybe. Or maybe he was just recognizing Rarity as a threat. Frostfire cleared his throat. “It is true. But I was not banished, I fled for my life. You see, any blairne that manifests multiple elements is sent to the Impervious Leader for personal training. I am not, and never have been fit to be part of an army, but the law of the land is not an optional one. My family hid me for many years, but the Agents eventually caught word. Knowing I would die in training as so many do, I fled here.” “Thank you for being upfront,” Rarity said, smiling slightly. “Naturally, you can stay here regardless.” “I will say you might not be safe, though,” Twilight admitted. “If your government comes looking for you, I may not have any choice but to hand you over.” “An understandable caveat,” Frostfire admitted. “I shall make myself scarce when the dignitaries arrive.” “...When?” Rarity asked. “Oh yes. The Impervious Leader would not ignore a rock falling from the sky. A team will be sent. I was just lucky to already be nearby.” “Oh dear…” Fox said, a hoof on her chin. “Relax. They aren’t after you,” Frostfire said, picking up one of the leftover pastries and nibbling on it. “They aren’t even after me, they’ll be after whatever secrets this… rock that fell from the sky has.” Twilight nodded. “Clearly we’ll have to be careful. Fox, Beaver, what of your people?” Beaver shrugged. “I s’ppose the shaper kingdoms will send some ponies. Dunno what to tell you, we ain’t exactly in the know-how about the politics of the kingdoms. They won’t be as angry as the blairne, I can tell you that.” “We are not angry,” Frostfire counterd. “If you say so.” For once, a shouting match didn’t break out between the two races. “...And what of the wraiths?” Twilight asked. “Are there any leaders I could contact?” “...I have no idea,” Fox admitted. Frostfire furrowed his brow, racking his memory for the correct information. “They don’t engage in… politics or negotiation except on extremely small scales. They have to have some sort of organization though, since they all identify as family…” “...No…” Ichor said, quietly. The shapers and blairne stared at her in shock. Fluttershy held up a wing, blocking their steely gazes. “Don’t worry about them - just tell us what you want to.” Twilight levitated a fresh teacup to Ichor, which she took gladly. After a few sips, she spoke again, almost with a whisper. “We have no leaders,” she said, simply. “We have no fathers or mothers. We are are sisters. We are all brothers. We have no home, so our home is each other. We have no things, so the things of others become ours. We…” she fell silent. “The way of the wraith is sacred and cannot be broken.” “...Why?” Fluttershy asked. “...It just is…” Ichor breathed. Fluttershy stroked Ichor’s mane. The wraith didn’t flinch away, instead making a noise vaguely like purring. Twilight looked up from Ichor and took a breath. “And now… since you’ve all been so helpful, it’s time for us to tell our story.” “Ooh!” Eagle perked up. “This is going to be good, isn’t it?” Twilight sighed. “It is a tragedy…” So she told them everything. From the moment she walked in to see Starlight and Sunset panicking, to the destruction of their world, to the choice the six of them made, to the rebuilding they had started. In the process, she learned some things - the moving forests were called roothers and their birds harvesters - but for the most part she told the story was told uninterrupted. When she finished she folded her hooves, a tear dripping down her face. “And… here we are.” Ichor and Fox were crying. Beaver looked as though he was on the verge of doing the same. Frostfire wasn’t sure what to think, and Eagle looked scared. “And, uh, yeah, Discord I guess you can come out now.” Discord poked his head out from behind Twilight. “Finally, I was getting so bored I thought I was going to suffocate from a lack of chaotic air!” Pinkie giggled. Eagle shrunk into her chair while her mother gripped her tightly. “A spirit of chaos…” Beaver said, nodding slowly to himself. “We don’t have anything like you on this world.” “The Impervious Ruler,” Frostfire said, looking at Discord in awe. “You… you are like him. I am sure of it.” “I’m going to go out on a limb and say you’ve never seen this Imperivous Ruler, hmm?” “...I have not,” Frostfire admitted. “Oh, how I wish I could go meet him and give him some delightful torment,” Discord said wistfully. “Alas, I am restricted to this sliver of space until Twilight starts growing into his territory.” “I’m not going to invade his territory!” Twilight said, aghast. “Are you crazy!?” “Isn’t it obvious?” Twilight facehooved. “Discord, our guests. Guests, Discord. All that’s left is Princess Celestia… Whenever she gets back.” “She’s heading back!” Rainbow Dash called from outside. “Guess you’ll get to meet her soon.” “Princess Twilight…” Frostfire said, looking away from Discord for a moment. “Hmm?” “A word of warning.” He leaned in, his red-blue glowing eyes shifting nebulously. “Before I thought you would be of no consequence to the Impervious Ruler; just a curiosity and, if you played your cards right, you could have been considered the ally you so desperately want to be. But you have too much power here.” “Meaning?” “Meaning it’s very likely he will see you as a threat.” “...Joy,” Twilight muttered. This universe just wasn’t going to give her a break. ~~~ “...so yeah, that’s what’s been happening out here,” Pinkie told the dream-world from the screen. “...Wow,” Zephyr Breeze said. “You, uh, let the Princess know that I’m A-ok stayin’ in here, aight?” Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Yes, Zephyr, you can stay.” “You would definitely not be the Princess’ first pick,” Spitfire pointed out. “Hey, a stallion can dream.” “Mhm,” Marble ‘said.’ “Eeyep,” Big Mac added. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. “I’d like to get out a soon as possible. I know Twilight probably doesn’t have any use for me, but I want to explore.” “Yeah!” Scootaloo added. “Cutie Mark Crusaders interdimensional explorers yay!” “We already have our cutie marks, scoots,” Apple Bloom muttered - her voice carrying a hollow, almost disinterested tone. “Eh, we can still crusade.” Pinkie gave everyone in the dream-world a wink. “I’ll pass it along. Has anything weird happened in there?” “I think the amusement park has achieved self-awareness and is trying to eat everyone,” Zephyr said, shivering. Spitfire facehooved. “Uuuuuugh…” “What? It is!” “That’s just Smolder and you know it. Plus, it’s not like getting eaten actually does anything to you here!” Zephyr’s lower lip quivered. “Psychological damage!” “Oh grow up,” Apple Bloom grunted. “Ah was eaten, Ah was fine.” “...Even I think this is a weird conversation,” Pinkie observed. “...That’s terrifying,” Sweetie admitted. Pinkie giggled. “And amazing! You all have fun in there. Marble, I love you, bye!” And the dreams were left alone again. The ferris wheel exploded, cutting off Zephyr’s head. “OH COME ON! AGAIN!?” he shouted. ~~~ Celestia returned. The reactions of the native ponies was… mixed, as with most things. Frostfire bowed in reference, Fox and Eagle couldn’t stop staring, Beaver was once again impossible to read, and Ichor latched herself to Twilight’s leg as if it were her only safe haven from the white monster that would surely expunge her from existence. Celestia smiled warmly at Ichor. “Hello, my little pony. Welcome to New Equestria. I hope it’s to your liking.” Ichor shivered in fear, refusing to respond. “The situation with Ichor is… complicated,” Twilight said. “But first, what did you find?” “Magical creatures in this world all use magic through crystals. Everything else is mundane.” She took the gems of the monstrosity out of her magic pocket and laid them on the ground. “I managed to get a sample.” “HOW IN THE NAME OF THE LEADER!?” Frostfire gasped. “I take it you know what creature this is from?” Celestia asked. “An arthon mage! Only the most terrifying and… and… and…” He put a hoof to his head. “I… well clearly, you beat it, so you don’t need my help…” mumbling to himself and chuckling nervously, he walked away. “...He seems stable,” Celestia observed. Twilight rolled her eyes. “Right.” “Regardless, I’m sure Sunset will make good use of these gems,” Celestia said. “Perhaps we can understand how magic in this world works. With luck we could get you and Discord untethered.” Discord clapped his hands. “And then I can show that Impervious Leader what’s really up!” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “I take it you learned a lot?” Twilight nodded. “Yeah.” She absent mindedly pet Ichor with her wing. Celestia smiled. “Oh, Twilight. I just noticed something.” “Hmm?” “I was reporting to you.” Twilight blinked. And then her jaw dropped. “Wh…” “Whatever apology you were about to unleash, don’t,” Celestia said, holding up a hoof. “Twilight, I am perfectly content passing the baton off to you.” “But I… I…” She wanted to say she wasn't ready, but she looked around. She saw what she and her friends had already done, and how she’d been handling everything with the native ponies. All she’d been through in this short time, and she was still standing... With a shake of her head and a shallow laugh, she looked Celestia in the eyes. “All right. I guess I am ready.” “You have been for some time,” Celestia said. “So does this mean Twilight gets a cool new title?” Rainbow asked as she landed between them. “Oh! Oh! Do you get to be a Queen?” “...I don’t know, it feels… off,” Twilight admitted. “You totally should!” Eagle called over. “Princesses don’t rule countries!” “Ah,” Twilight said, blinking. “I guess that means it’s simply a practical thing to do then…” “Then I hereby declare you to be Queen Twilight Sparkle of New Equestria,” Celestia said. Then, with a cocky smile on her face, she bowed. “...Celestia, get up.” “...You know what, I’ve been so used to other ponies bowing to me, I kind of forgot what this motion felt like. Hmm, good for the back, I think I’ll stay like this for a while…” “CELESTIA!” Twilight shouted, startling Ichor. Celestia stood up and laughed, pulling Twilight into a hug - careful not to disturb Ichor’s latch on her. “Lead us well, Twilight.” “I’m sure going to try. But you better not be going anywhere.” “I have no intentions of leaving my little ponies.”