“There is no creature luckier than you, for Twilight Sparkle’s gaze has fallen true.”
Ocellus the changeling looked up from the notebook she was writing in. “...What, Zecora?”
Zecora smiled warmly. “Twilight has chosen you, changeling, because of the skills you may bring.”
Ocellus’ eyes widened. “I… I’ve been chosen? W-why me? Why not you? Or Gallus? Or Kevin? Kevin’s a changeling too!”
“It was not for me to decide, but I believe you’ll enjoy the ride.”
Ocellus pondered this, looking back at the dream-world theme-park that Smolder exploded every few hours. “...All right. I guess… I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
Zecora nodded - and at that very moment, Ocellus felt it. Her soul was torn sideways, and everything she had seen previously went black. For a single, horrible second, she had no sensations whatsoever. Her fears were alleviated when she felt a slight buzzing sensation that started as nothing more than a spark but quickly spread out to her default changeling body. The buzzing solidified, becoming her nerves, carapace, and muscles.
When the buzzing was gone, she opened her eyes, looking right into the amethyst glow of Twilight’s horn.
“Welcome back, Ocellus,” Twilight said with a smile. Spike was nearby scribbling on a scroll. “How’s it feel to have legs again?”
“About the same as in there, really,” Ocellus said. “...Except they’re sore right now.”
“When in the dream realm people forget about the fatigue they are supposed to be experiencing.” Twilight smiled warmly. “I have a reason for calling you here.”
“What is it?”
“Changelings are the most like the shapers, able to transform yourselves into anything. Their dignitaries are coming today, and I figured you could help show them we understand them. I’ll be introducing you to Fox, Beaver, and Eagle shortly. Walk with me.”
They strode out of Twilight Castle and walked along the path to the School.
“Anything else?” Ocellus asked.
“As a changeling, you have many unique abilities that will be very helpful,” Twilight admitted. “And you have a great heart. No offense to Kevin, but I’m not precisely sure where his morality lies.”
“I see.”
“You may be asked to do espionage in the future,” Twilight said, grimacing as she admitted it. “I don’t like it, and I’d avoid doing it if I could, but I expect I won’t.”
Ocellus was silent for a moment. “...I’m okay with that.”
“Thank you. It won’t be today, that’s for certain, today we need to make a good impression.” Twilight’s smile returned. “And you can do whatever you want otherwise. Even check out your old room, if you want. It’s still yours, although I do think we had to clear a lot of the stuff out.”
“Thanks, Twilight.”
“Don’t mention it. Now, Fox and Beaver should be somewhere in the Sch-”
Eagle crashed out of the sky in front of Ocellus, making the small changeling jump in surprise. “Ugh…” Eagle muttered, rubbing her beaked face and stretching her wings. Soon, her wings retreated into her body and the beak became a muzzle once more. “Dash! That didn’t work!”
“That’s because you’re too reckless,” Rainbow commented, landing at her side.
“You calling someone else reckless?” Twilight asked, raising an incredulous eyebrow.
“Shush, I’m in teacher mode Twi, gotta give Eagle the wings.”
“I already have wings!” Eagle objected, summoning her wings.
“You looked kinda like a griffon,” Ocellus pointed out.
“A what now?”
Ocellus transformed into her friend Gallus, but kept her voice. “This is a griffon.”
Eagle’s jaw dropped. “I thought you guys didn’t have shapers?”
Ocellus transformed back into her default form. “Oh, no, I’m not a shaper, I’m a changeling. I can transform into almost anything I can imagine.” She transformed into an eagle. “See?”
“Anything? Won’t you forget your true form?”
Ocellus shook her head, transforming back to her regular self. “We have to think at least a little bit to be anything other than our default forms. Anytime enough of our magic is drained, we return to our carapace-covered selves.”
“Wow… Do something else! Do… do a beaver!”
Ocellus transformed into a beaver. Twilight summoned a log with a smirk on her face, giving it to Ocellus. The changeling shrugged and devoured the log quickly.
“Do a… a… snake!”
Ocellus transformed into a snake and hissed, flaring her hood.
“Do something big!”
Ocellus transformed into a bugbear.
“AUGH!”
Ocellus returned to her default. “Oh, I’m sorry! Did I scare you?”
“N-no…” Eagle lied.
“Eagle what happened!?” Fox shouted, running out of the School, her motherly instincts kicking in.
“Nothing mom!” Eagle called. “ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!”
“Hi!” Ocellus waved. “Fox, right?”
“...Yes?” Fox said, eying the strange creature before her warily.
“This is Ocellus,” Twilight explained, a hoof on Ocellus’ shoulder. “She’s a changeling and will be helping us with the shaper dignitaries today.”
“...Ah…” Fox said, pensive.
Beaver walked past his wife and shook Ocellus’ hoof. “Pleasure to meet you, Ocellus. ‘Scuse us for out odd looks, you just ain’t like anythin’ we’ve ever seen.”
“I’ve never seen a pony become half-eagle before either,” Ocellus admitted. “So I bet we have a lot to learn from each other!”
“Good attitude for life,” Beaver admitted. “You may want to choose a single other form as your ‘primary’ one, if you wanna make a good impression.”
“Hmm…” Ocellus transformed into a breezie. “How’s this?”
“...Cute,” Fox observed. “And different. Might work.”
“I could squish you by sneezing,” Eagle said.
“Please don’t,” Ocellus cautioned.
“I’ll leave you to that,” Twilight said, turning. “I’ll have Rainbow get you when they arrive.”
“Yes, Twilight.” Ocellus paused. “...Should I be saying ‘your majesty’?”
“Only when in the presence of the dignitaries, just call me Twilight otherwise. Okay?”
“Got it!”
~~~
Silicate had been offered a deal - the collar wouldn’t be put on him, so long as he allowed a tracker spell to be implanted on him. It would let Twilight know immediately if he ever left New Equestria. He had agreed to the terms and hadn’t tried to escape during the night, so the ponies trusted him at least somewhat.
Ichor had been offered the same deal - and she had agreed wholeheartedly. Got the tracker installed and everything. She was slightly more confident than she had been before, but she didn’t try to run or anything.
She did try to avoid Silicate, however.
This didn’t work so well.
“I’m telling you, their coming is a sign of the end times!”
Ichor groaned as she phased through the ground, coming out in one of the Roots’ caverns. This did not deter him from following. “You’re just being paranoid, as always.”
“I’m serious! They’re invaders!”
“There’s not enough of them to be invaders.”
“You’ve seen what that Discord guy can do! They don’t need an army!”
“He can’t leave the Roots,” Ichor retorted, walking right through a root.
“Celestia took out an arthon mage on her own! Those things are even more deadly than the other tribes!”
“Yeah, but she’s one of the nicest mares out there. If a bit… imposing.” Ichor shivered.
“See? You’re scared! You should listen to that, fear is nature’s way of telling us when something’s wrong.”
“I’ve been so scared they would try to eat me or kill me or something…” Ichor floated into the air, half-phased through the ceiling. “But they didn’t. They didn’t even want to. They cared for me, Ichor, and I only felt right when I stopped being afraid.”
“You’ve only been here a few days and already they’ve brainwashed you with their crazy magic!”
“They probably could have if they wanted… But they didn’t. I did this myself.”
“What would the others think!?”
“They’d probably disagree with both of us. Given your track record with crazy ‘conspiracy theories’...”
“What of the sacred way of the wraith?”
Ichor froze for a moment.
“We may have to defend it.”
“Silicate, get your head out of the cave wall before you do something stupid.” Ichor spread her smoky wings and took off through the ceiling. Silicate was no doubt still following her, but she wanted the conversation to be over, so she found Fluttershy and let herself appear visible next to her. “Hi!”
Fluttershy was not used to her just appearing, so she jumped up considerably when Ichor appeared. “Ichor! I… You scared me!”
Ichor smiled. “That’s kind of what I do. That and steal stuff. So if I don’t do one, I still have to do the other…” She smiled meekly, as if asking permission. “...Right?”
Fluttershy smiled. “Harmless pranks are all in good fun, Ichor. It’s fine. Just don’t overdo it - you can talk to Rainbow about what overdoing it looks like.”
“Oh, thanks!” Ichor had no intention of following the advice, Rainbow freaked her out. Though, of course, Rainbow knew she was supposed to ask now… darnit.
“How’s Silicate adjusting?” Fluttershy asked.
Ichor let out a groan. “He… is.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, not well,” Ichor sighed. “I’m not sure he can understand. He sees danger in everything. Everypony tolerates him back home. I’m going to bet you haven’t seen him since Twilight tagged him?”
Fluttershy shook her head.
“He’s staying invisible almost all the time. Even though that doesn’t stop Pinkie…”
“Did someone mention stopping me?” Pinkie asked, appearing from seemingly nowhere in a shower of confetti. “Hi!”
Ichor looked at her, eyes wide in terror at her sudden appearance.
“It’s all in good fun!” Pinkie said, patting Ichor on the back. “I’m going to get better at scaring ponies than you Ichor, that’s a challenge!”
Ichor’s fear was overcome instantly by her pride. “There’s no way. You’re too cute and innocent looking.”
“I can change that in an instant with the right tools.”
“And by then I’ll have scared more than half of New Equestria.”
“You’re on!”
“Ahem!” Twilight called before either of them could go running. “While I do encourage fun and games, I would appreciate it if you made sure to regulate your game to when the dignitaries aren't here, okay? Rainbow has spotted them already, they’ll be here in a few hours.”
“Then we’ve got a timer…” Pinkie said, rubbing her hooves together.
“And I’d like to talk to Ichor before you go play, if you don’t mind,” Twilight said.
Pinkie nodded. “I’ll be over by that tree when you’re ready!”
As she trotted away, Ichor turned to Twilight and gulped. “What is it, your highness?”
“I’m forming relations with the blairne and shapers of this world. I would like to at least meet with a group of wraith so we can let them know it’s possible to live in peace with us - no constant ransacking.”
“That’ll be hard,” Ichor said. “It-”
“I understand the way is sacred. But… you’ve come to change, and rather quickly I might add.”
Ichor nodded slowly.
“May I ask what you think of the sacred way of the wraith now?”
“That you fall outside it. Haven’t really worked out the rest.”
Twilight nodded. “When you do… come talk to me. If possible, I’d like to send you out to spread work about our acceptance of wraiths to your various groups.”
“R-really?”
Twilight nodded. “Really. It probably won’t be for a while yet, but Fluttershy and Pinkie have already vouched for your progress. So you might want to think about what you’re going to tell your extended family.”
Ichor gulped. “Y-yeah I probably should…”
“Good. No rush, of course. Go have fun with Pinkie.”
“Yes, your highness.”
“That wasn’t an order.”
“No, your highness.”
Twilight twitched. “I swear Celestia gave me this title just to drive me crazy…”
“Yes, your highness.”
Twilight teleported away, leaving Ichor to snicker to herself. She spread her smoky wings and flew to Pinkie. “Let’s do this.”
~~~
“Okay Discord, let ‘er rip!” Sunset called, hands pressed on a pair of noise-blocking headphones decorated to look like hamburger buns.
“The GONK is ready! FIRING!” Discord pulled back the trigger on the black gun rimmed with neon blue highlights, unleashing a ripple of sound at a remnant of the arthon mage’s crystal. The crystal responded to the sound instantly, rising up from the table and shaking violently.
Otherwise, nothing happened. The ‘GONK’ ran out of energy, dropped the sound wave, and the crystal fell to the ground.
“We’ll need to find the exact resonance frequency,” Sunset mused, chewing one of her pens. “That might take some time. And might be different for every arthon mage…”
“Perhaps add some sort of adjustable knob?” Frostfire asked from his position in the audience - an audience that consisted of just himself and Celestia. “Allow you to hone in on the frequency manually.”
“That might work,” Sunset admitted. “But how would you know you hit the right one? The fracturing won’t happen immediately.”
Frostfire shrugged. “You’re the gadget monkey. You tell me.”
“They’ll probably react to the pain differently,” Celestia theorized. “Though it already seems scarily effective as a sonic weapon.”
Discord hefted the GONK into the air and smirked. “Scared I’ll use it on you?”
“Scared somepony will use it on somepony who isn’t a mindless monster. This world is filled with division. All three races would love weapons that give them an edge over the others.”
Frostfire nodded. “The Impervious Ruler would pay handsomely for that gun as it is now. Or anything else in this room, for that matter.”
“There’s a reason we keep all the tech in the basement,” Sunset said. “Don’t want any incidents over it… Though we’ll have to take this out once it’s effective enough.”
“Speaking of out…” Celestia stood up. “I’m afraid today is the day I go out and actually interact with some locals. I don’t expect to return early, even if I am assaulted by another Arthon mage. I shall tell you how sound spells work on them if I do encounter one. Take care, my student.”
Sunset nodded. “See ya soon!”
Celestia smiled. “And do keep Frostfire out of trouble.”
Frostfire huffed. “I basically live down here now. The less ponies who know I exist, the better.”
“Perhaps… but that may change one day,” Celestia said with a wink. “Farewell.” She spread her wings and teleported away.
“You basically live down here?” Sunset said, raising an eyebrow.
“This is the most interesting place in all of New Equestria that’s safe. Why wouldn’t I be here?”
“I don’t know. Because I’m…” Sunset hunched over and scratched her side. “The gadget monkey?”
“...What are you doing?”
“...Doing a monkey impression?”
“Oh. A joke.” Frostfire paused. “Is it?”
Discord started laughing while Sunset’s cheeky grin turned into a frown. “Sunset, Sunset, your joke was just thrown into the river and spontaneously lit on fire! Like this!” He created the word joke out of paper and threw it into a bucket of water. It lit on fire. “BEAUTIFUL!”
Sunset facepalmed. “Oh for the…” she tapped her foot. “New topic, we’re talking about science.”
“Charging up the GONK…” Discord declared.
“I think I want a break from the… I guess we really are calling it the GONK.”
“Can you hear it?”
“What?”
“The caps lock.”
“...What?”
Discord chuckled. “I guess I’ll just need to find Pinkie later…”
“Actually, go do that now, I’m going to show Frostfire some SCIENCE!”
Discord nodded and vanished in a puff of light.
“Wait, what?” Frostfire blinked. “You are?”
“You’re here and you’re interested, might as well,” Sunset said, pulling up one of the many computer duplicates they had. “I’m going to break this thing open and tell you exactly how it works. This will take a while. And you’ll have to take a lot of what I say without second-guessing me because I’m a talking monkey. Got it?”
Frostfire looked from her, to the computer, to her. In the end his distaste for non-ponies was beaten into the dust by his absolute fascination with technology. “Tell me more…”
“Good, so first, this is a screen…”
“BOO!” Ichor shouted.
“AUUUUUGH!”
“Ha! I win! Wait until I tell Pinkie!” She vanished into nothing, leaving a terrified gadget monkey and blairne clinging to each other like starfish.
~~~
The shaper dignitaries actually bothered to smile when Twilight welcomed them at the top of the escalator, so that was a point in their favor. The first to arrive was the Kingdom of Grass - though before they had even sat down, the Tree Kingdom had shown up and… well, that about described how the day went. Conversations would begin, half-start, there might be some shouting and/or laughing, but then another set of dignitaries would arrive from a different kingdom and interrupt the flow of everything.
Once the fifth kingdom arrived, Twilight came to an annoying conclusion: she and New Equestria had suddenly become secondary to the dignitaries. Their first concern?
Each other.
“Ambassador Crane, may I remind you of the Flower Kingdom’s latest assault on our territory?”
“Our treaty does not make us babysitters.”
“The Algae Kingdom is beyond such frivolous? Do tell.”
“Y’all are tootin’ up a storm without sayin’ nuttin.”
“You have no right to speak, Gourdian.”
Five kingdoms. Six, if they were to count the Shroom Kingdom, but they stayed in their underground caves and never bothered anypony. Grass, Trees, Flowers, Algae, and… Gourds. Twilight really didn’t like judging, but the Gourds seemed kinda stupid. There had been a few moments of shocking clarity, but for the most part nothing but non-sequiturs and talk of farming.
“Ah don’t get them either,” Applejack had admitted five minutes into a conversation with one. “Ah’m actually thinkin’ they might be putting on an act, but Ah can’t say for sure.”
Twilight was having a very hard time keeping track of them all, even with Rarity’s help. Each kingdom had five or so dignitaries, each of which had their own political parties. It was very difficult to piece together a political picture of the shaper kingdoms. She was pretty sure the other four hated the Gourds with disdain, but she never caught wind of a single historic war between the Gourds and any other kingdom besides the Blairne Empire.
Conversely, all four of the others - Grass, Trees, Flowers, and Algae - had fought each other numerous times in recent memory. They had a habit of mentioning past alliances and wars as if they were still happening, so Twilight had no idea if Grass and Trees were currently raiding each other or had formed a strong defensive perimeter against the Flowers.
One thing she was able to figure out, the kingdoms took names after plants common in their area. Trees had a lot of forests, Grass had grasslands, Flowers had more grasslands but didn’t want to be a copy of Grass, Algae had a lot of shoreline territory, and Gourds…
...She still hadn’t figured that one out. And it was bothering her. Not that asking a Gourd to explain it went well.
“Hey, Copper Mole? Why does your nation call itself the Kingdom of Gourds?”
“‘Cuz Gourds.”
“But why Gourds?”
“Gourds.”
“I like these guys,” Discord said, chuckling. “Have all the gourds you want, Gourd!”
“Gourds are gourd.”
If there was one good thing to come of this, the dignitaries didn’t seem to care about the mixed pony population of New Equestria after the initial shock. Their own politics were much more important.
“I admit, I didn’t think they’d go an’ focus on each other…” Beaver admitted to Twilight.
“It’s a little ridiculous,” Twilight admitted. “I feel like I’m watching a fiasco…”
“They could stand to learn some friendship,” Ocellus pointed out.
“No, really?” Rarity deadpanned. “It’s not like they’re arguing endlessly or anything.”
“At least they aren't arrogant,” Twilight said.
Rarity fixed her with an incredulous eyebrow.
“As arrogant as the blairne.”
“That’s not hard,” Ichor commented.
Ichor’s presence had been met with initial shock and screams, but after they’d explained what was going on the shapers seemed to think that New Equestria was practical in their decision, even if a bit unorthodox. There were even a few shapers who had thanked Twilight for being so open and started conversations about wraith-trapping magic.
Not that those conversations ever finished.
“Okay, Rarity, help me here…” Twilight said, pacing. “What is the difference between Grass and Flowers?”
“Grass is closer, dear.”
“Anything else?”
“I’m sure their kings are different, but I haven’t caught any of their names.”
“And yet they hate each other?”
“Currently? I have no idea. I’ve heard at least three different accusations of war and two mentions of alliance.”
“Uuuuuuuugh…”
So, in the end, all the problems they had been anticipating because of the power of their magic, their acceptance of everypony, and the existence of Discord… had been overshadowed by the shapers’ own self-fixation. One-track minds…
Twilight eventually realized it was getting a little late. The sun was still decently full, but she suspected the dignitaries would be talking late into the night if they had their way.
“Excuse me!” Twilight called, getting no response. She tried again. “EXCUSE ME!”
All eyes turned to her.
“Thank you. You are all, of course, welcome to use my hall for whatever you wish, and if you need a neutral ground by which to discuss your treaties, I will be more than happy to provide the location. That said… it is getting late, and I’d like to know where New Equestria stands with each of the shaper nations before we end discourse for the day. You may not cease the politics, but some of us enjoy sleep and managing other aspects of the kingdom.”
“Yes, yes, of course,” a Tree shaper spoke up - Green Squirrel, if Twilight remembered correctly. He pulled a scroll out of his saddlebags. “I wrote this up in between the rants of my compatriots.”
“I came with mine pre-prepared!” a Flower shaper shouted, pulling out a scroll.
“How could you have possibly known what you response would have been?” a Grass shaper demanded.
“It just was.”
“Well, mine was altered last minute! Ha!”
Twilight blinked. “Did you all have those ready?”
“Yep,” a Gourd responded. “And the real kicker? They all say just about the same thing.”
Twilight grabbed all five scrolls and held them side by side. To her immense fury, the Gourd was right - they all basically amounted to New Equestrians are allowed within our borders so long as we are allowed within New Equestria to establish an embassy. Don’t trust the other Kingdoms, but we’re not going to declare war over talking to the others. Trade is encouraged and we have many things to give you should you desire.
“...This is… acceptable…” Twilight said, trying not to burn the pages up in her magic. “Do you wish for accomodations for the night?”
“That would be great!” an Algae shaper shouted, letting out an excited ribbit.
“Rarity, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course not,” Rarity said. “Right this way, we have plenty of open space in the School…”
~~~
Celestia had chosen to call herself White Swan. Reasonable shaper name that allowed her to have large, graceful wings. It was a little odd to have no cutie mark to speak of, but she wasn’t vain enough to let that bother her. Red Fox had pointed her in the direction of the closest settlement she knew of, in the Kingdom of Grass. It would be too far to fly to quickly… but Celestia had access to teleportation. She could have been there in under an hour if she wanted.
But she took it slower - teleporting only occasionally, otherwise relying on her swan wings to cover distance. It gave her a general view of the land: grassy. Which was to be expected from the Kingdom of Grass.
When she was still a fair way from the settlement, she spotted something she had not expected - a large caravan of ponies moving through the grasslands in the direction of New Equestria. She decided to pay a visit, swooping down from the air and landing just to the side of the caravan. There were six separate carriages filled with changer mares, stallions, and foals running around.
When she approached, the adults visibly tensed. She held up a calming hoof. “Don’t worry!”
“...You are a Nomad?” a blue mare asked.
“Nomad…?”
“From which Kingdom do you hail?”
“None, I come from that direction,” Celestia said, pointing toward New Equestria.
“Ah.” The blue mare relaxed considerably. “A Nomad who does not know of Nomads. Welcome, distant sister. What is your name?”
“White Swan.”
It was apparently believable, since nopony reacted to it. “I am Cyan Shark. I was once part of the Kingdom of Algae. This is my caravan of Nomads. We head for distant lands so we can be free of those who settle.”
“You will find welcoming ponies that direction,” Celestia said with a smile.
“The lands are already settled?” Shark said, looking disappointed.
“Only a small area, atop an impressive climb. You have nothing to fear from them.”
Shark furrowed her brow. “They aren't… shaper, are they?”
“Neither are they blairne or wraith,” Celestia said with a coy smile. “They are… otherly.”
The fishy shaper turned away, trying to figure out how to process the information. “I…”
“Trust me.”
“I just met you!”
“True,” Celestia admitted. “And there are numerous other reasons you really shouldn’t trust me, but I’m asking you to anyway.” She gestured with one of her wings and smiled. “You won’t regret it. When you see the mare with the rainbow mane, you know you’re close. She’s a friend.” Got that, Rainbow Dash?
Celestia knew Rainbow couldn’t read her mind, but she did know Rainbow was letting out an annoyed grunt back at New Equestria. Because she knew her little ponies.
“Will you come with us?”
Celestia shook her head. “Not now. I expect to return there before you arrive, but I cannot guarantee I will fly over your path on my return journey.”
“You head to the Kingdom of Grass?”
Celestia nodded. “I have… business, there.”
Shark nodded. “Be careful. There’s an arthon mage there. Hasn’t attacked anypony yet, but you never know what’ll set one of them off.”
“Thanks for the advice, Shark.” Celestia spread her wings. “I’ll see you soon enough.” She took to the air, leaving the caravan of Nomads behind…
~~~
The Pinkie Sense was stronger.
Much stronger.
The Element of Laughter seemed to feed right into it, allowing her to see more, feel more, be more. It was a little creepy at first, but Pinkie had concerned herself with that for all of ten minutes. The Pinkie Sense had been a little creepy before but she hadn’t let it bother her, why would increasing its power concern her now?
Plus, it could be very useful. She was pretty sure the accentuations the Element of Laughter gave her were the most versatile of all the Elemental Bonuses, aside from Magic itself. She could catch glimpses of other places, like a weaker Loyalty, while getting inklings of things nopony saw… Her strength could be as inconsistent as she wanted… She couldn’t heal, but she had all the smiles available… and Rarity’s power, well that wa-
...was a secret!
Pinkie giggled, jumping off the edge of New Equestria. She landed on the ground with a splat, popping back up completely unharmed. With a coy smirk on her face, she transformed her mane into a drill and pointed it at the ground.
Not here…
Not here…
HERE!
She plowed into the ground, pushing vast quantities of dirt and roots out into the air. It did not take long for her to reach her destination - a natural cavern system of the Sphere. She went splat again, though this time she took a little longer to peel her face off the ground.
There were several dozen wraiths in the cave, looking right at her in alarm. Naturally, they were all invisible since they had heard her coming, and it would be better if they had no idea she could sense them.
“Well. This totally wasn't part of the plan…” she lied, scratching her chin. “I wonder where I am! Hellooooooooo!” She waved at an area of the wall that didn’t have a wraith on it. “Anypony down here!?”
The wraiths looked unsure of what to do. Some of them were terrified, while others had faces twisted in rage.
Pinkie walked right through one, careful to keep her eyes focused in the distance so she wouldn’t lock eyes with them. The wraith shivered. Pinkie found this amusing - usually it was the pony the ghost walked through that got the chills!
But enough fun. She was here to get information. She did allow herself to look at objects that weren’t invisible, such as a carefully enclosed fire pit upon which meat had recently been cooking. “Huh. Almost looks tasty.”
She prodded it with her hoof, but found nothing interesting about the wraith snacks. She moved along the caverns until she came to an area with a chair-like impression carved into the wall. There was a wraith sitting in it, so it was really hard not to look at him while looking at the chair, but she managed.
With a giggle, she jumped up and sat in the chair, phasing right into the wraith sitting there. “Ah…”
“The heathen sits in the-”
“SHH!”
Pinkie allowed her ears to perk up at the shushing noise. “Hello? Anypony down here?”
The wraith she was sitting on carefully extracted himself from the chair and drifted to the other side of the cavern.
Pinkie jumped out of the chair and looked around. “I wonder which way is out…”
One of the wraith mares pointed. She looked in the direction indicated, thankful.
And then Pinkie realized what she’d just fallen for.
“...Ponyfeathers.”
“SHE CAN SEE US!” The mare shouted, flaring her wings and angling her tail.
“No I can’t!” Pinkie declared, laughing nervously. “Okay, that’s a lie, I totally can. Buuuuut we don’t have t- YIPES!” She narrowly ducked out of the way of a wraith attacking with his scorpion-esque tail. The others tried the same, finding Pinkie decidedly difficult to hit. “Little help!?” Pinkie called.
Nopony came. Pinkie groaned, pulling out her party cannon and launching it at the wraiths.
Good news: it surprised them.
Bad news: half of them phased right through it.
“Well. Days I wish I was a pegasus…” She pushed herself into the party cannon and launched into the ‘escape’ cavern that had been indicated previous, but the clever mare who had fooled Pinkie was waiting for her. Pinkie had to grab hold of her tail to twist around, and this motion was interrupted when the mare went intangible. “Ow…”
The biggest wraith stallion in the room jumped on her and pinned her to the ground, driving his tail right into her leg. He found her limb to be the consistency of rubber, resisting his sharp blade considerably.
“Ha! You can’t hu-”
He pushed harder still, overcoming the power of Laughter with pure, raw strength. Pinkie’s skin was punctured, drawing blood.
Pinkie laughed weakly. “W-well then, guess I was wrong…”
And then a brilliant crystalline Root appeared in the cavern. The instant it was visible, both Twilight and Discord appeared next to it. Twilight raised a barrier that trapped all wraiths in the cave while Discord systematically restricted their phasing ability by summoning silly hats on their heads.
“Pinkie! Are you okay!?” Twilight called.
“I… Will be. Just get me to Fluttershy.” Pinkie shivered. “Oooooooooh that’s a nasty poison… Get Ichor in here.”
“She’s no-”
“She’s the only chance we’ve got,” Pinkie insisted, fixing Twilight with a deadly serious glare. Her body started seizing immediately after.
Twilight teleported Pinkie to Fluttershy. “Rainbow, would you mind placing Ichor where the Map used to be? Thanks.”
A minute later, Twilight had one confident wraith with her and a few dozen terrified wraiths.
“I-ichor?” a dull red wraith said, confused.
“Yes, Rime, it’s me, Ichor.” She smiled. “Bet you’re surprised to see me, huh?”
“We thought you had be-”
“Both Silicate and I are alive. Though we did get captured by these ponies. Strange, everypony always said getting captured was nothing but a minor inconvenience, but with all this fancy magic I haven’t been able to escape. Strange…”
Discord made all the wraiths’ hats sing a little ditty centered around the word “strange.” Some of the wraiths started crying.
“Discord, stop it, we don’t want to scar them.”
“Too late,” Ichor pointed out.
Twilight sighed. “...Fine. Discord, I can keep them here, remove the hats.”
Discord groaned. “No fun…” He snapped his fingers, removing all the hats, giving all wraith freedom of motion. “There you go, free.”
The mare who had tricked Pinkie walked to the front of the wraith prisoners. She was a dull white, with dead eyes. Blind. “I am Ebony. Why have you not killed us?”
“Because killing is not something New Equestria does,” Ichor explained. “They would have let me and Silicate go if they thought they could trust us.”
“If they trusted you they were fools.”
“I can’t say I trust Ichor,” Twilight admitted. “But I do respect her. She’s told us much about your people. No, she did not betray you, merely told us of your customs. I have no idea how Pinkie found you.”
“She saw things, it is to be expected.” Ebony paused. “So if you are not going to kill us, what are you going to do to us?”
Ichor blinked. “Huh. What are you going to do. Imprison them all?”
Twilight shook her head. “I’m going to give your people two options. The first is to leave the lands around New Equestria and never come back - and if you do come back, we will use our power to punish you as the other races do. I… would rather not, but if you won’t respect an agreement, we can’t afford to imprison and watch thirty-odd ponies.”
“The other option?” Ebony asked.
“Stay here as friends. I won’t hold you for what you did to Pinkie - she invaded your home, and Fluttershy will be able to heal her as new without a problem. But I can’t have you stealing stuff from us, as is your lifestyle.”
“We can’t survive withou-”
“We can give you food,” Twilight pointed out. “We have plenty. Discord here can just make it.”
Discord snapped his fingers, producing several gourds. It took all of Twilight’s willpower not to smash one.
“We can give you resources. All we ask in return if you’re living here is that you help us rebuild. It won’t be hard work, since we have a lot of magic to do most of the heavy lifting, but we do need to have better patrols and lookouts. Since you can be invisible, the ponies who visit wouldn’t have to see you. And you wouldn’t have to hide in this cavern all the time.”
Ebony looked at Twilight carefully. “Ichor?”
“I… I’m surprised, but I think she means it.”
Ebony nodded. “Brothers, sisters… we must each decide. Who leaves and who goes?” Upon saying this, Ebony walked over to Ichor, standing next to her.
Most of the other wraiths followed Ebony, but around a dozen of them hung back, refusing to follow.
“Then leave and never return,” Ebony said, simply. “Tell the rest of the family of this place. Does the invitation extend to them?”
“It does,” Twilight said with a nod. “Either come to live in peace… or stay away.” She released her hold on the magic bubble. “Go.”
The wraiths that had opted to leave phased through a wall, gone.
Ebony turned to Twilight. “You insult the sacred way of the wraith with your suggestions.”
“I am aware. I don’t have much respect for a system based on exploiting others.”
“They treat us like the dung of the earth.”
“Well, we won’t,” Twilight said, smiling. “You’re just like any of the other ponies here. You are free to go where you wish in New Equestria… or even leave. But return to your old ways and we will have a problem.”
“The terms are simple and easy to understand.” Ebony turned to the other wraith. “Do as you will.”
“I would suggest avoiding the shaper dignitaries while they’re visiting,” Twilight added. “They accepted Ichor as a prisoner. Now that I have developed an understanding, there is no further need for prisoners. Just potential friends.”
Ebony didn’t respond to that. “Food?”
Discord snapped his fingers, creating a cake larger than any of the wraiths. “There you go.”
They dug in ravenously.
~~~
Pinkie was easy healed. The wraiths had been offered places to sleep, but they were creatures that loved the night and so few of them felt the need to sleep, and those that did wanted to stay in the caverns.
Twilight looked at her bed, a frown on her face.
Can I really sleep tonight? I just took a gamble with the wraiths. They may try to slit our throats in our sleep…
She shook her head, banishing the thought. I need to keep the olive branch extended. If this is to work, I can’t take it back all of a sudden.
She was just going to have to… sleep.
Which would be easier if someone weren’t knocking on her door.
“Come in.”
Ocellus walked in.
“Ah, Ocellus, what i-”
“I want to reopen the School of Friendship,” the changeling stated without waiting for Twilight.
Twilight blinked. “It’s a little early for that…”
“The ponies of this world need to understand friendship. The wraith are untrusting and brutal, the shapers are creepily attached to their arguments, and I hear the blairne were even worse. They need to know friendship.”
“I agree,” Twilight said. “But we are short hooved…”
“I’ll do it,” Ocellus offered. “I… I may not be able to operate a full curriculum on my own, but I can do something. Like a study session. The sooner I get started, the better. This world needs our School.”
Twilight paused, considering this. Reaching a conclusion, she smiled. “You are welcome to try, Ocellus, though don’t work yourself too hard.”
“Thank you, Headma- Princ- Quee- Twilight.”
Twilight chuckled. “I would tell you to get sleep, but I get the distinct impression you won’t listen to me.”
“Good guess.”
“Try to at least get enough so you’ll be able to speak coherently tomorrow.”
Ocellus nodded. “I’ll try.” She turned and left the office without another word.