//------------------------------// // The Sixth Day // Story: The Final Choices // by GMBlackjack //------------------------------// “Ready?” Twilight asked. Rarity nodded. “Ready.” Twilight took a breath and focused on bringing another person back to the world. This time, it was somepony small and white. When the magical aura dissipated, one young mare with an innocent smile greeted the world. “Hi!” Sweetie Belle greeted. Rarity tried to restrain herself, tried to act professional, tried to keep herself from breaking down - but she couldn’t. She let out a bawl and pulled her little sister close to her chest, unable to say anything. For once, Sweetie didn’t recoil in the slightest. She smiled happily, tears in her own eyes. “I missed you too.” Twilight wiped a speck out of her eye and beamed - it was just so precious. Eventually, the sisterly embrace ended, and the fourth person in the room made herself known with a cough. “Glad to have you on board,” Ocellus said, extending a hoof to Sweetie. Sweetie clapped her hooves. “Glad to be on board! We are gonna make the best introductory friendship studies session ever! Have the notes!” “Yep!” “...Notes?” Twilight said, cocking her head. Ocellus rubbed the back of her head. “I may have talked and coordinated with Sweetie for half the night… I did get sleep though!” “We already know what we’re going to do!” Sweetie declared. “One pony from each of the three races in the first session.” “That’d be Frostfire…” Twilight said. “And Ichor for the wraith, definitely. But we have a lot of shapers here now, with all the dignitaries…” They still hadn’t left. And rarely did any of them come to Twilight to actually talk about anything. It all felt so… pointless. “Eagle,” Ocellus said. “She’s responded most favorably.” “Really? I would have said Beaver…” “Beaver’s a good pony,” Ocellus admitted. “But he’s got an... unwavering attitude. We’re honestly just lucky he happens to agree with us on many major points. He wouldn’t take to being taught very well. At least not at first - kinda like Gallus, really.” “I see,” Rarity admitted. “It sounds like you have it well in hoof! Now, Sweetie, I’m sorry, even if you get done with work I’m probably going to be too busy to…” “Rarity,” Sweetie said. “It’s okay. I can survive one more day without my sister fussing over me. Don’t worry, we got this.” “...Oh no,” Rarity paled. “Did somepony say the forbidden phrase!?” Pinkie said, appearing out of nowhere. Sweetie facehooved. “Shush, you, that doesn’t mean anything.” “You never know, we live right in the middle of a lot of harmony magic…” Twilight rubbed her chin. “Who knows the levels of fate in play here?” “You’re the Tree now, you tell me,” Sweetie said. Twilight blinked. “Huh… I… Huh.” She shook her head. “I guess in theory I would have the ability to see and alter fate, now… that’s mildly concerning.” Discord appeared next to her in a flash of light. “Fate! Yes, finally, the last tether keeping me to order!” “You can’t cast magic outside of New Equestria.” “Fine, the second to last tether.” He pointed at Twilight. “I humbly request that you place me outside fate! Imagine the power of true chaos…!” “Even if I knew how, I don’t think I would. Fate is our friend, Discord. Got you reformed, after all. Partly, anyway. ...You know what I mean.” “I do, but who cares about that? You’re stumbling over your words my dear Twi-twi, how quaint.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Sweetie, run before he traps you in jello or something.” “Yes, my Queen!” She and Ocellus skittered away. Twilight frowned. “You’ll get used to it one day,” Rarity said. “Meh.” ~~~ Sunset had a goal: find Rainbow Dash. Since the pegasus mare took exception to ponies looking at the sky and shouting “RAINBOW DASH” for anything less than an emergency, she was walking about New Equestria. In broad daylight. Naturally, this drew more than a few dropping jaws from the lingering shaper dignitaries. Sunset casually wondered if she should have asked Twilight about this before heading out. Nah, if I needed to stay hidden, she would have told me to sit tight. “Hey!” she waved at an orange shaper, a grin on her face. “Seen Rainbow, by chance?” “I… Uh…” A green shaper interrupted. “What my Tree-induced friend meant to say wa-” “If you so much as finish that sentence Grass-root I wil-” “Drive my face into the earth? Please, you wouldn’t da-” “My darings are none of y-” “Stop this incess-” Sunset took a few steps back. “Wowkay…” “Let em be,” a rugged brown shaper said, walking up to her. “They cannot gourd.” “...Gourd?” “Gourd.” “...Clearly, I’ve been hanging out in my lab too much.” “Gourd.” “I’m just…” she turned around, finding her path blocked by a pale white wraith. “...Hi.” “I am Ebony,” the mare said, the lack of focus in her eyes unnerving Sunset. “You?” “Sunset. Sunset Shimmer.” She awkwardly extended a hand. Ebony had to process this for a moment before shaking it herself. “Aside from the monstrosity that is Discord, you are the strangest creature I have seen.” “I’m going to take that as a compliment.” “It was not.” “...Oh.” Ebony cocked her head. “I wish to know what you are.” “I’m what happens when a pony spends a few years in another universe as a primate and is sucked into a mental construct for a while, coming out as a mixture of said pony and primate because her mind doesn’t have any idea which body is the right one.” “I understood none of that.” “Due to magic weirdness that was pretty much out of my control, I’m a mixture of a unicorn pony and what’s known as a human.” “Interesting. You are non-standard. How does one hybridize naturally?” “Hybridize naturally?” “Twilight.” “Oh, that’s magic too, though more intentional.” Ebony nodded slowly. “There are no natural hybrids, then?” “I mean, Celestia’s natural, but I don’t exactly know how she was born…” “Strange. I had taken you to be the smart one.” Sunset gawked. “I am! I run all the machines in the basement and monkey with all the gadgets! I invented a sound gun yesterday to deal with arthon mages!” “Insecure.” “What th-” Sunset fumed. “You’re just messing with me.” “I rarely get to talk with other beings without them attempting to kill me. It is an experience I am rather starved of. Your reactions and answers have been very interesting. Goodbye, Sunset Shimmer.” Ebony vanished. Sunset ground her teeth. “You know, I was going to yell at you for saying you were looking for me aloud, but that was so entertaining you get a pass.” Sunset put on a smile. “Ah, Rainbow! There you are!” “Just gonna pretend like you didn’t spend an entire conversation getting owned by a blind mare?” “Yep!” “Nice.” Rainbow dash ruffled her wings. “So, watcha want?” “How’s Celestia doing?” “Well, she made contact with the Kingdom of Grass… Grass Kingdom? I don’t even know. She made contact, went off without a hitch. She attempted to cross the blairne border and that did not go well. Now she’s following a rumor about a peaceful arthon mage, then she’ll be heading back.” “I meant how’s she doing, Rainbow.” “Oh. Fine. Maybe she’s a bit lonely? She starts talking to me every now and then, which would be odd if I couldn’t hear her.” Rainbow paused. “Was this what it was like to be her and get letters every week?” Sunset shrugged. “I wasn't really a part of the whole ‘letters to Celestia’ thing, I couldn’t say.” “Well, that’s how she’s doing. Anything else?” “Not particularly, no.” “Then I’ve got to go, I left Eagle on a cloud.” “...What? How? They can’t cloudwalk!” “Very carefully.” Rainbow took off into the sky. Sunset frowned. She decided she might as well return to her lab… “Gourds for gourd, if you want.” Sunset stuck her fingers in hear ears. “LALALALALALALA!” ~~~ Celestia found what she was looking for on top of a medium-sized roother. The moving forest was covered in tremendous fungus rather than the normal vegetation, and it was moving along at a brisk pace for its kind. Which was to say a human jogging could easily outrun the thing. Atop the largest mushroom on the center of the behemoth’s back sat an arthon mage. It looked almost exactly the same as the one Celestia had destroyed earlier - a black rope with eight limbs equally divided between arms and legs absolutely covered in gemstones. Notably, the color of the gems in this case was a soft blue rather than a yellow-green, and the beast itself hadn’t taken an aggressive posture. Instead, it had folded its legs and arms together, almost as if it were meditating. Celestia landed on the mushroom. The harvester birds reacted to her presence, at first staring at her with aggression but quickly lowering their metallic wings. They returned to tending their mushrooms, allowing Celestia to walk toward the arthon mage. “Greetings,” Celestia said. The arthon mage gave her no response. It sat, perfectly still, staring off in the direction the roother was leaving. The direction of the blairne border. Celestia had just come from there. It had been… well, she hadn’t even gotten to speak, she had gotten shot at, both as White Swan and as her full regal self. She would have needed to use force to get any of them to listen to her, and that was politically unadvisable. Whatever the arthon mage was looking at - if anything - Celestia would not be able to see it herself. Not without taking risks simple curiosity didn’t mandate taking. “Why are you here?” She asked. The arthon mage gave no indication it even knew she was there. Hello, she thought forcefully. Harmless. Came the response. Me? Harmless. The roother? Functional. That was interesting. The harvester birds? Functional. Functional. Functional. Functional… It thought the word once for every harvester bird on the roother, which was a significant number. Celestia lost count after a hundred. What you’re looking at? Too dangerous to purge. Celestia really didn’t like the sounds of that. What are you looking at? Primary target. Too dangerous to purge. Primary target? Too dangerous to purge. Celestia furrowed her brow. This thing didn’t think like she did, or like animals did. It had a purpose - a list of sorts where it categorized things. She could read how it was processing that list, but there wasn’t going to be a conversation here. That didn’t mean she couldn’t get information from it. The sun? Functional. The Sphere? Partially functional. Outside operational scope. So something was off with the Sphere, but the arthon mage didn’t think it needed to do anything about it. New Equestria? Unknown. Arthon mages? Effective. She had no idea what that meant. Blairne? Vague. ...The Impervious Leader? Too dangerous to purge. “...Oh,” Celestia said. She followed the arthon mage’s gaze to the horizon, grimacing. No doubt the Impervious Ruler’s palace lay in that direction… The primary target of a peaceful arthon mage that found her harmless. She hoped the beast’s mind was broken. Otherwise… That didn’t bear thinking about. ~~~ “I’m glad you all decided to join us today,” Sweetie said, sitting at the front of one of the School of Friendship’s many classrooms. “I am Sweetie Belle, Cutie Mark Crusader, and I am a certified friendship tutor!” “This sounds… really, really dumb,” Frostfire grunted from his seat. “Yeah!” Eagle laughed. “Who needs to learn about friendship, I mean really?” Ichor glared at them. “...Me.” “Obviously,” Frostfire said dismissively. “Given your heritage…” Ichor hissed. “Don’t insult my heritage!” “Or what? We both know you and your people are living on the kindness of Twilight. The moment you step out of line…” “Ahem,” Sweetie called. “Eagle, have they answered your question for you?” Eagle nodded slowly. “...Doesn’t tell me why I need to l-” “Because your mother said so,” Ocellus called from the back of the room, making a note in a large book she had open on her lap. “Ugh,” Eagle groaned, slumping forward in the chair. “You guys were cool, and now we’re learning.” Sweetie smirked. “Do you want to go back to Rainbow Dash’s sky palace?” “NO!” Eagle shouted, standing bolt upright. “NOPE! I’M GOOD! ANYTHING without… clouds…” “Good.” Sweetie pointed a baton at the projector screen while Ocellus loaded a slide displaying the Elements of Harmony. “There are many aspects of friendship and every relationship is unique, but for the sake of the course we divide studies up into six sections based upon the Elements of Harmony: Kindness, Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter, and what we generally call Magic, and I’ll get to the nuance in that term in a minute.” “Terminology is… always a pain,” Frostfire commented. Sweetie pointed at an Element. “Honesty is often the bedrock of friendship, focused around telling the truth. It goes beyond a simple refusal to lie when used properly, going all the way to saying things your friends might not want to hear if it would be better for them. For example, say one of your friends is very very happy with somepony else in their lives, but you know for a fact that the other pony is just using them. Honesty would go through the heartbreak and tell your friend what they needed to know, even if they would respond negatively at first. Honesty is also associated with strength, integrity, and resolve.” She lowered her baton. “How have you used Honesty in your friendships?” Ichor looked down at the floor, ashamed. Eagle looked bored. Frostfire held a contemptuous smile on his face. “Frostfire?” “Naturally, I am the only one who would have an example… I had few friends due to my necessary isolated lifestyle, but I did have family. I made absolutely sure they always knew how I felt.” “How so?” “Oh, say they were in danger of forgetting my birthday, I’d let them know exactly when it was going to be. Or when they weren’t paying attention… saying stupid things…” “While that’s honest, that’s also pretty selfish and petty.” Frostfire stared at her. “Ex-CUSE me?” Sweetie smirked. “I just demonstrated Honesty. Said something you needed to hear, but would definitely respond unfavorably to. It illustrates a point: that you can’t rely on just Honesty, and all Elements will, if left unchecked, turn a relationship sour.” “Oooooh you just got served, spike boy!” Eagle laughed. “That wasn’t very kind, Eagle,” Sweetie said, frowning. “...So?” “Kindness is an Element of Harmony.” Eagle blinked. “Uh…” “Tell me, would you be friends with anypony who wasn't nice to you?” “...No?” “Then why would you expect Frostfire to be your friend if you treat him like that?” “Because… because that’s how he treats the rest of us!” Sweetie smiled softly. “The truest expressions of kindness are to those who will never return it. A truly selfless act that expects nothing in return. You’ve all met Fluttershy, you know what true selfless Kindness is like.” Ichor smiled warmly. “Yeah…” Eagle flushed. “S-sorry Belle.” “Just Sweeite is fine, Eagle. And it’s not me you should apologize too.” Eagle muttered something in Frostfire’s direction and Sweetie decided not to push it. “Next, we have Generosity, the Element of my sister, Rarity.” Sweetie smiled. “Naturally, it’s a favorite of mine, all about giving to others, often at your own expense. And it doesn’t have to be physical things - you can give somepony your ear, your patience, or your time.” “...We’re all living off Generosity,” Ichor said. “I… I like this one.” Sweetie smiled. “Ichor is right, the situation of her people is a pure act of Generosity. They are being given a chance to be something other than what they’ve been their entire lives, even if the safest thing to do would be to run them out. Friendship is more important than your own personal safety.” “Is it though?” Frostfire asked. “Being this devoted, you’ll end up giving yourself away!” “In certain cases, probably,” Sweetie admitted. “But if you’re truly Honest, Kind, and Generous, you’ll have a hard time coming away without Loyalty, the next element. Loyalty… is all about being there for each other no matter what. Even if your friend is doing something you object to, you stand by them, even if it’s hard. Naturally, you tell them if you have any problems, but you don’t check out just because it’s getting difficult. And Loyalty, when used properly, ensures that when you are Generous and Kind, those you form bonds with will be Kind and Generous in return. Proper Friendship is a cycle, a two-way street if you will.” “So it’s not like the loyalty to the Impervious King?” Sweetie shook her head. “It’s… much closer to the way of the wraith, actually. You are loyal to the King because he is in charge, not because of any sort of bond between you. But wraiths are loyal to each other because they all view each other as one large family and they’ve been through thick and thin together.” Sweetie smiled in Ichor’s direction. “Don’t ever think your way is pointless, Ichor.” “T-thanks.” “Right, right, I think we get it,” Eagle commented. “Basically it’s all about being nice so everypony’s nice to each other and nobody gets angry. Right?” Sweetie smirked. “That sounds very practical and businesslike.” “Duh. That’s how it works. It’s more beneficial to be this way.” “Without Laughter, maybe.” Sweetie tapped the fifth Element. “Laughter has no direct purpose. It’s there to be fun, to bring smiles. Alone, Laughter doesn’t care how it gets its laughs and smiles, even at the expenses of others, which is a terrible thing. But with the other Elements, it only seeks to strengthen relationships through something truly frivolous and amazing: fun. Sure, all the others are great and effective at bringing ponies closer together, but where’s the joy in it? The life? That’s where Laughter comes in.” “That’s definitely Pinkie,” Eagle said. “This… this makes sense,” Ichor said. “All of these aspects work together to forge a relationship!” “But what of Magic?” Frostifre asked. “You don’t realize it, but we’ve been talking about Magic all this time,” Sweetie said. “Does anypony want to guess what Magic is all about?” There was silence in the classroom. Sweetie, mildly disappointed, opened her mouth to explain. “It’s… the connection, isn’t it?” Sweeite turned to Eagle, stunned. She’d half expected Frostfire to figure it out from his intellect alone, and she’d wanted Ichor to empathically key into it. But Eagle figuring it out…? “Care to explain, Eagle?” “Like… all the Elements, alone, don’t seem to work. Just Honesty is kinda lame, Kindness drains ponies, and Laughter doesn’t care. They all work off each other in some kind of system… thingy. That’s what Magic is, isn’t it? I mean, it is in the center, and all.” Sweetie laughed. “That’s… that’s exactly right! Magic is the connection, the spark, the lattice between the Elements that draws them together into a brilliant united whole. Without the connection between the Elements, each one would go off on its own and be… well, corrupted. Magic is the eternal balance, the leader. Good job Eagle!” Eagle sat up, proud. “Why call it Magic?” Frostfire asked. “Connection or Balance would be better.” Sweetie raised her eyebrow. “Because whenever friendship is properly balanced magic spells get stronger? That may not be the case in this world, but it was in ours, so we called it Magic.” Frostfire blinked. “...Huh.” Sweetie nodded. “And that was our crash-course in the Elements of Harmony. Any questions before we move onto Ocellus’ Friendship Test? Don’t worry, it won’t have a score, it’s just to figure out what Elements you’re best at.” Ichor raised a hoof. “Yes, Ichor?” ~~~ “Heeeeeeeeeey Ebony!” Pinkie called, appearing in front of the wraith. “Hello, Pinkie. What is your purpose here?” “Just coming by to say hi!” Pinkie said, gesturing at the wraith caverns - which were now outfitted with a few artificial lights and stacks of food. Discord’s ‘cracker stack’ was currently infested with wraith fighting each other over the delectable snacks. “Hmm…” Ebony said, looking Pinkie up and down. “No thoughts of revenge?” “What? Revenge? Psh, I’m the mare who broke into your cave! You got me fair and square!” “True. But fairness means little in the dance of revenge.” “I don’t exactly… do revenge, Ebony, kay?” “If you insist.” “I am curious how you wraiths are doing! Good, I assume?” “Depends on your definition,” Ebony said. “Good, we are alive. Not good, half of us don’t trust you enough to go check out the beds you offered. Half will probably sleep on the ground instead of the dorms. It is creating a divide within us.” “I thought they all went home…” “There are some who leave even now. I am not one of them, but others might be. I am surprised Silicate is still around.” Pinkie shrugged. “Maybe he likes us more than he’s willing to admit.” “He does not.” “...Riiiiight…” Pinkie said, scratching the back of her head. “Soooo… anything else new?” “Ichor came back from that ‘study session’ of yours and won’t shut up.” “That’s great news! It means it worked!” “She’s being annoying.” “Oh come on, it can’t be that bad.” “She’s not as bad as you, true.” Pinkie frowned. “Hey. That wasn’t nice.” Ebony shrugged, trotting away without another word. “Geez… tough crowd.” Pinkie rubbed the back of her head. “How am I gonna befriend her…? A challenge, to be sure.” “Oooh! Oooh!” Ichor ran up to her. “We could try making her laugh!” “Yeah! What a great idea! Did you test high in laughter?” “...Eeeeeh…” Ichor tilted her hoof back and forth. “The only Element I was really high in was Loyalty. At least I had a high Element, Frostfire was pretty abysmal in all of them. Eagle got high Magic though! Can you believe it?” “Can I?” “Can you?” “I think so!” The two of them devolved into giggles. “So, you know Ebony, what sort of things does she like?” “Uh…” Ichor furrowed her brow. “She likes thinking. But I never see her smile about it, she just… does it. Makes strange word puzzles and stuff.” “Oh… think she’d like a tongue twister?” “Too silly.” Ichor frowned. “...I’m not sure we can make her smile even with something she likes…” “Some ponies don’t smile very often,” Pinkie said, smiling sadly. “I had a sister, Maud. She went around with a straight, bleeeeh look on her face all the time. But I know that, deep down, she was smiling all the time. She was even a pretty good comedian, believe it or not! Never laughed. Kept her face straight the entire time. She’d say the craziest things and pretend like it was completely serious…” Pinkie wiped a tear from her eye, though she was giggling. “She was… she was the best.” “Maybe we could turn Ebony into a comedian?” Pinkie burst into crazed laughter. “Let’s… let’s try something simpler first. And less absurd.” Ichor rolled her eyes. “Fine. Simpler. What do you have in mind?” “Twilight’s library is filled with brain teasers and ancient riddles. Let’s find one and give it to her!” “Generosity?” “All the Elements work together, Ichor!” “Oh, right!” It was not hard to find the puzzle section of Twilight’s library - Spike led them to it in less than a minute. “So, what’re you girls looking for specifically?” “Something that’d burn your brain, but not like in a mathy sorta way. Also, needs to have one of those ‘blind can read’ enchantments,” Pinkie said. “Mind games, puzzles… clever little sayings, I don’t know.” Ichor shrugged. “Got it, brainteasers.” Spike pulled a book out of the shelf - Cerebral Entrapments - and handed it to them. “What’s this for?” “Ebony,” Pinkie said. “That mare needs to smile on the inside.” “Good luck. You’ll need it…” They returned to Ebony, giving her the book. “...What?” “Just open it and try it out!” Ichor encouraged. Ebony flipped it open and selected something random with her hoof - very surprised that the words seemed to jump to her hoof as hse traced over them. “...You’re standing in a hallway with three light switches on the wall, each of which turns on a different lamp inside a closed room. You can’t see inside the room, and you can’t open the door except to enter the room. You can enter the room only once, and when you do, all the lamps must be turned off. How can you tell which switch turns on which lamp?” “See, it’s just like the puzzles you make!” Ichor said. “So it is…” Ebony said, narrowing her eyes. “The answers are in the back of the book!” Pinkie said. Ebony went to the back of the book and tore out the entire answers section, handing it back to Pinkie. “I shall not be tempted.” She held the book close and vanished. “...That’s a good sign, right?” Pinkie asked. “Oh yeah,” Ichor chuckled. ~~~ “AHA!” Twilight looked sharply to her left, more than a little surprised to see Ebony flicking a school lightswitch on and off. “Ebony…?” Ebony looked at Twilight with a perfectly straight expression. “The answer lies in the difference in temperature over time.” She vanished. Twilight blinked. “Okaaaaay…” “...I know you said you had wraiths here that didn’t want to eat you, but that was weirder than I was expecting.” Twilight turned to the shaper she had invited to New Equestria less than half an hour ago - Cyan Shark, head of a caravan of Shaper Nomads. They would be staying in New Equestria at least for a little while. “What were you expecting?” Twilight asked. “A bunch of creepy ponies hissing at everypony who passed by?” “You might get that if you go to their caves…” Twilight admitted. “But they’re acclimating pretty well. They like food that comes without the danger of being attacked.” “I’d imagine so… You’re lucky you have an endless supply.” Twilight nodded. “We are blessed with magic… but cursed with a small number of people. Even all of those still trapped within the roots… less than a hundred.” “Well, you have the Nomads, for now at least.” “You’re willing to put up with the dignitaries?” Shark laughed. “They at least have the dignity not to attack those without a Kingdom…” Twilight frowned. “Why… why is being without a kingdom so bad?” Shark shrugged. “I’m not sure. It just… is. Like the blairne are just ‘superior’ and wraiths are just ‘thieves’. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were here to change all that.” “For all I know, we are…” Twilight said. They walked outside the school and looked up at the slowly vanishing sun. “Or maybe we’re just here to learn to appreciate the beauty hidden in this world.” “I dunno. I’m just Shark. Heh.” “And ten years ago I was a bookish shut in unicorn who didn’t see the point in other ponies.” “You win.” Twilight smirked playfully. “It’s hard to beat me at this game. Don’t feel bad.” “Hey, winning the game might not be a good thing.” “Maybe…” Celestia appeared before them in a flash of white magic. “I have returned!” “Princess!” Twilight had to force herself not to bow out of instinct. “Glad to see you back!” “I’m glad to be back,” Celestia said, bowing. “Shark, I see you’ve been properly taken care of?” Shark stared at her in shock. “...W-white Swan!?” “Well, sometimes, not today. Today I’m Celestia.” She leaned down so she was eye level with the shaper. “I hope you do not find my appearance alarming?” “...Just unexpected.” “It would have terrified you had I walked into your caravan like this.” “...Nah, we’re not that skittish.” Celestia smirked knowingly. “...Get out of my head.” “I’m not in your head.” “There’s that blue bird flying around that’s in everypony’s head! You can’t tell me you can’t get in my head!” “Oh, she can,” Rainbow said, flying by. “She just doesn’t because it’s rude.” “Then why are you everywhere!?” Shark demanded. “I don’t have a choice. I - PINKIE SHUT UP! - sorry about that, she was singing ‘bottles of cider’. I think. I only heard the first few opening notes, I didn’t want to chance it.” “...You’re all weird,” Shark muttered. “Methinks you’ve jumped into a frying pan, lass,” a Gourd said, walking by. “Nevermind, Gourds are weird. You don’t quite make it all the way to their level.” “Do you know what their deal is?” Twilight asked Shark. Shark blinked. “Deal?” “Yeah. Why are they the… way they are?” “Every pony who’s tried to answer that question has become a Gourd. I’d give up and run while you still can.” Twilight stared blankly at her. “...Okay…” Shark yawned. “Anyway, I’m going to turn in. Have fun with your Gourdish philosophy.” “Goldfish,” the Gourd said. “You don’t get to talk to me like you’re making sense,” Shark snapped. Soon, Celestia and Twilight were alone. “...Perhaps we should go somewhere more private?” Celestia suggested. Twilight nodded, teleporting them room that had held the Map. “Find anything?” Celestia frowned. “Not much, admittedly. An arthon mage that’s normally peaceful wants to kill the Impervious Leader, but thinks it’s too dangerous to do so.” Twilight nodded. “Well, they affix on things more or less randomly… and it’d have to be hard to get to him with all his sound blairne around.” Celestia nodded. “True enough… at least in some senses. I worry that it might be more, but there’s nothing we can do about it now.” Twilight nodded. “...Things are finally looking up, Celestia.” “Finally?” “Well, they’ve been looking up for a while… but the wraiths are no longer an immense, direct issue. I - oh! You don’t know about that, do you? We made peace with a nest of wraiths in a cave near here thanks to Pinkie.” “I did see a few walking around without inhibition. I figured as much.” “Yeah, and the shaper dignitaries - while freaking annoying - are at least open to discussion, and thanks to you we have a group of Nomads here! We’re making friends left and right and showing them there’s a better way! I… well, I feel like I’m not in danger of having something fall out from under me anymore. I…” She smiled. “It feels like everything’s going to be fine. Like… it really, truly is.” Celestia smiled. “I’m glad. Faith in the future is something hard to come by in days like this.” “We’re going to do what we’ve always done,” Twilight asserted. “Change the world.” She touched the walls of her castle, closing her eyes. “I… I can feel them, you know.” “Hmm?” “Everybody here… everyone from Equestria is connected to the Roots, except Discord… But then there’s all the ponies of this world. They aren’t connected, but I still feel them. They’re there. Living their lives… and… I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s like their life is part of me, even though it isn’t. If that makes sense.” “It does, though even if it didn’t I’d still be happy for you.” Celestia pulled her into a hug. “You’ve built a world here, Twilight. You should be proud.” “Heh… heh…” Twilight’s smile slowly faded. “...But it’s not the same.” “Hmm?” “It’s… it’s great. It’s amazing. But it…” She took in a deep breath. “It… it doesn’t have…” “Twilight…” Twilight was already crying. She knew she wasn’t going to be able to stop it. She had let herself feel safe… that she could afford to relax. And now, nothing was going to keep it back. “They’re gone! All gone! I… I don’t even remember what the last conversation I had with my mother was Celestia! I don’t even remember! I saw her last month! What did we talk about? Did we enjoy each other’s company? Did I seem dismissive?” Celestia said nothing, only pulling Twilight in for a deeper embrace. “I… everypony in Ponyville… Shining Armor… Ca-” She buried her head in Celestia’s coat. “What was the reason?” “It was a mistake. And it wasn’t a mistake you made.” “H-how could one mistake do… do so much?” Twilight wailed. “So the Tree miscalculated! Why… why should that destroy everything? Why!?” “The Tree was the source of our fate, Twilight. There… may have been no reason.” “No reason? NO REASON!?” Twilight’s anger shot out of her like a deflated balloon. “No reason…” “Tragedies happen, my little pony. Sometimes there’s nothing to learn from them - except how to be stronger.” “I don’t want to be strong right now…” Twilight blubbered. “I just… I wanna go to bed, wake up, and this will have all been a dream. I’d go downstairs and Spike would be arguing with STarlight about somet…” Twilight swallowed. “Starlight…” “She did wha-” “If she were here… she’d never be able to forgive herself.” Twilight broke off the hug, a haunted look on her face. “Don’t go there. Trust me, down that path… only lies confusion and questions with answers you don’t want.” “She… she had so much potential…” Twilight sniffed. “She could have been like us. She… she could have changed the world. Should have changed the world. She was going to lead them, Celestia. She wasn’t ready yet… but she would have been.” “I’ve lost students before,” Celestia said. “You got Sunset back.” Celestia tried not to look hurt. “There have been many students, Twilight.” “I… I know. I’m sorry I ju-” “You’re in mourning. It’s okay. It’s all okay.” “It’s not okay.” “No, it’s not. But it is.” Celestia wiped a tear from her eye. “It’s the paradox of surviving. It’s okay. But it isn’t.” Twilight blinked, saying nothing. “She… I… you…” she couldn’t take it anymore. She let out a deep, horrendous sob and buried herself in Celestia’s wing once again. She let it all out. Crying until she was so exhausted she passed out. Gently, Celestia laid Twilight on her bed and tucked her in. Then Celestia, Princess of the Sun, teleported to the castle balcony and looked up to the sky of night within the Sphere. Twilight was right. Things were finally coming together. The sword that had been hanging over them… was being lifted. But there was nopony to hold Celestia, now that Twilight was out cold. She had to mourn her sister alone, crying out into the night a call of pained, desperate anguish… The irony was not lost on her, for this was how Luna had wept many a time when they were young. ~~~ “They’re destroying our ways,” Silicate said, plainly. “And they must be stopped.” And, exactly as he had expected, there was only one objecting voice. “Silicate!” Ichor shouted. “You can’t say that!” Just her. Silicate said, smiling inwardly. JUST her. All the others are in the beds… or Ebony. At first, he’d been unsure he’d be able to distract Ebony long enough to pull this off, but that book that lit up her hooves had made it a million times easier. Just give her the hardest puzzle and challenge her to complete it before morning. Spike was such a useful source of that sort of information. “Why not?” Silicate asked. “The way of the wraith is sacred. And those of us who are sleeping above in beds of fluff rather than the rock of our ancestors are dishonoring our ways! It will not be long before we are not wraith, but some poor shadow that lives among ponies.” “M-maybe there are other sacred ways?” Ichor suggested. Wrong crowd… The other wraith let out displeased shouts and grunts. Ichor cowered in fear, backing away from Silicate. “I say we can’t wait for our brothers and sisters to be so far from us they cannot return!” Silicate said, raising a hoof. “Who’s with me?” “Nopony will listen to you, fool,” a large wraith said, walking up to Silicate. Ridge. “You have garnered no respect from us with your fickle ways and your endless fear.” Silicate blinked. “But I-” “Just because you are right does not mean you are worthy,” Ridge said. “You are a disgrace, and you have left out many wraiths from this conversation.” “They are under their spell!” “You did not make that known upfront to us.” Ridge grabbed Silicate by the shoulder and threw him to the ground. “You claim to know the place of wraiths, but you do not know your own.” Ridge turned back to the gathered wraiths, ignoring the sputtering Silicate. “He speaks the truth. Our brothers and sisters are being taken from us. Are we going to do something about it?” There were several nods. “No! They’ll kill us!” Ichor wailed. “They are low in number,” Ridge retorted. “Take out a few key ponies… and the entire thing will collapse and the bounty of New Equestria will be ours. We will take it. We will use it. And we will leave nothing.” “This is the only chance we’re going to get to do it another way! If you do anything… even if you win, we’ll lose this opportunity. We’re talking to shapers, blairne, and the other ponies! They aren’t trying to kill us!” “And we are losing what makes us wraith.” Ridge stamped his hoof. “Are there any objections besides Ichor?” Ichor let out a wince when there were none. “Taking into account that Ebony would no doubt object as well, there is still a clear majority,” Ridge declared. “So we will act.” He turned to Ichor. “W-what do you want?” “You have been going on and on and on about Loyalty today.” He pointed one of his cloudy wings accusingly at her. “It is time to prove your Loyalty to your brothers and sisters.” “P-please… no…” Ichor breathed, tears running down her cheeks.