//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10 
// Story: Magic of the Heart 
// by Pegasus Rescue Brigade 
//------------------------------//

"I'm getting tired of all her stalling," Bright Spark grumbled.  "For Luna's sake, it's already the middle of August!  Wishing Star's been working alongside Ditzy and Dinky for five months now, and still has nothing to show for it!"

"I understand the concept of playing the long game to make sure you're successful," Glow replied.  "I just didn't think she meant this long."

"Dinky will be graduating from Celestia's Academy in under three months," Bright Spark pointed out.  "If Wishing Star doesn't do something soon, she's going to lose her chance, and I'll be right back where I started."

Glow frowned.  "Yeah, I'm out of patience too," she growled.  "I need to break Breeze and Ditzy up before they go through with the wedding.  If Wishing Star doesn't have some solid updates for us this time, it might be time to start thinking of our own plan."

As usual, it was the middle of the night when the two mares arrived at the abandoned house.  Glow wrenched the door open with her magic and led the way inside.  A pink light flickered through the foyer as Wishing Star appeared from an adjacent room, horn aglow.

"Ah, ladies, how good to see you," she crooned.  "Come in!  Take a seat and let's discuss the next phase."

"Enough with the pleasantries, Wishing Star," Bright Spark said, sneering.  "We're running out of time, and we're tired of the months of plans and promises without real action.  Are we going to get revenge or not?"

Wishing Star rolled her eyes.  "Quite the broken record, aren't you Bright Spark?" she asked.  "You want results?  Fine.  Let's talk results."

The two mares sat.  Wishing Star paced back and forth in front of them like a sergeant addressing her troops.  "Cosmic Glow, I'll begin with you," she announced.  "You'll be pleased to know your revenge is finally at hand.  Right now, I can focus all my attention on Ditzy; since Dinky and her little friends are on Midsummer Holiday, I'm not needed at the school.  I'll be sending Ditzy and Breeze on an extra special assignment at the end of this week.  Countless hours of planning have gone into fabricating it; the 'client' has already been promised a large sum in exchange for following my instructions, and the circumstances have been painstakingly pre-arranged.  Those two ponies are about to have that perfect little relationship of theirs blown wide open!"

Glow grinned with satisfaction at the thought.  "So by the next time we meet, the deed will be done?" she asked.  "Ditzy Doo will finally be paid back for destroying my life?"

"Absolutely," Wishing Star promised.  "Next time we meet, we will do so in victory, and oh-so-trusting Ditzy won't even realize that you and I were behind it all!"

"Yes, yes, breaking up an engagement is one thing," Bright Spark interrupted, adjusting her glasses.  "But what about exposing our wraith for the monster she really is?  I assume that's still the more challenging task?"

"It's coming along nicely, as a matter of fact," Wishing Star countered.  "You really shouldn't be so quick to doubt me, Bright Spark; your request may not be quite as far along as Glow's, but I've got a new lead, and this one should bring us within a hair's breadth of our goal."

"I'm listening..." the older mare replied.

"Dinky dropped by the counselor's office just a few days before leaving for the holiday, looking for advice," Wishing Star explained.  "She was struggling with the fear that one day her darker, more monstrous instincts might overpower her rational decisions.  During that visit, she was more than happy to tell me all sorts of useful things about her magic, her emotions, and even the events that resulted in her transformation some years ago."

"Useful how?" Bright Spark asked, narrowing her eyes.  "No matter how much you know about Dinky's dark powers, it's useless if the Academy's staff will defend her in denying all of it."

Wishing Star rolled her eyes.  "You're so naive sometimes," she grumbled.  "Dinky has just revealed to me the very thing that can make her the most stressed and upset.  The more she dwells on negative feelings, the more erratic her dark magic will be.  That's just the nature of dark magic after all.  What I'm going to do next is fool her into believing she really is slipping deeper into darkness, which will exacerbate those emotions we need to amplify."

"That's it?" Bright Spark asked.  "You're going to make her an anxious wreck and hope that makes her slip up?  That doesn't sound like a guaranteed success to me."

"It's not," Wishing Star replied simply.  "But once I've got her good and worked up, there's one other catalyst that will deal the final blow.  To get a hold of it, however, I'm going to need your help."

"It's about time you involve me in this scheme of yours," the old mare said.  "I'm tired of just waiting around.  What's this 'catalyst', and where do I get it?"

Wishing Star grinned.  "Dinky told me the tale of her encounter with Scorpio in great detail," she said, smirking triumphantly.  "If her account is entirely accurate, I have reason to believe that an object containing an incredible amount of dark magical energy is still just lying in a cave somewhere: the severed tip of ancient Scorpio's tail."

Bright Spark raised an eyebrow.  "I understand Scorpio had incredible strength with dark magic, but do you really think that much of it is stored in what is essentially no more than a clump of hair?"

"If it were any other pony, no," Wishing Star admitted.  "But recall... Scorpio was not a unicorn, but an earth pony.  All the ancient Zodiac were capable of using magic, though not all had horns to do so.  Scorpio in particular was able to channel her magic through her tail."

Bright Spark finally seemed to get the picture, as her consistently skeptical look was finally replaced with one of delight.

"Well then, where is the end of Scorpio's tail?"

"That's the only problem," Wishing Star confessed.  "Dinky only said it was 'in a cave near Hollow Shades'.  We can't exactly ask her to lead us there without arousing suspicion, and I can't leave the school for a long period to search for it.  So if we're going to make this work, you're going to need to go on an expedition to find it."

"So be it," Bright Spark said, rising to her hooves.  "Finish your work with Cosmic Glow, and in the meantime, I'll comb every inch of the forest around Hollow Shades until I find Scorpio's tail.  But this better work once I retrieve it, understand?"

"Oh, it will," Wishing Star giggled.  "Once we get our hooves on that little bit of dark magic, your revenge on Dinky Doo is assured."

"Excellent.  I'll depart for Hollow Shades first thing tomorrow," Bright Spark declared.  "Try to finish up Glow's half of the plan while I'm gone, will you?"

Wishing Star turned back to Glow and grinned darkly.  "I think we can manage that," she snickered.  "Get ready, Cosmic Glow; Ditzy and Breeze are in for a rough day."





"So, how'd it go?"

Ditzy knew she didn't need to ask.  The look on Breeze's face answered her question before she asked it.  The red pegasus sighed and shook his head in frustration.

"Another failure," he grumbled.  "That's three in one week.  I don't get it.  Why is it suddenly getting so hard to ship ponies successfully?"

"Perhaps we've simply encountered a string of relationships that weren't meant to be," Cloudcover suggested.  "Remember what good Doctor Candyfloss used to say about the matter; as long as we act with true sincerity and put forth all our effort, Equestria's innate love magic will do the rest.  I know all of us here commit ourselves fully to doing our job well, so if assignments are failing, I'm afraid it means that a lot of ponies have pursued relationships that simply weren't meant to be.  In the long run, they'll benefit from the outcome."

"Ahh, the good old principle of sincere shipping," said Watt nostalgically.

"I'm not questioning the doc's beliefs," Breeze pointed out.  "But even though failed assignments are ultimately good for the client... they also don't bring in any bits.  If this heightened failure rate doesn't drop soon, eventually we'll start struggling to keep up with the expenses of keeping the company open."

"So more assignments have been falling through than usual lately," Ditzy acknowledged.  "I know profits are down, but it can't be that bad, right?"

"Well, um, actually it kind of is..."

All four heads turned to Wishing Star, who had appeared in the doorway.  The mare shifted her weight nervously and tried to smile.

"Wishing Star," Watt teased, "are you picking up the doc's old habit of mysteriously showing up at opportune moments in the conversation?"

"N-not on purpose..." Wishing Star stuttered, blushing slightly and quickly rearranging the paperwork in her aura.  "But while you're all here, we do need to have a quick discussion..."

"Discuss away," Cloudcover responded.  "I assume you have an update on the business end of things?"

Wishing Star nodded and seated herself at the lounge's table.  "Well see, I've been running some numbers, and incoming funds are down by a kind of alarming margin in the last three months," she pointed out.  "On top of that, the percentage of failed assignments is still increasing, meaning the trend is gonna continue if nothing changes."

"I still don't understand how a change this significant could've happened in the first place," Ditzy admitted, shaking her head.  "Could Dr. Candyfloss being gone really mean we're all getting sent to the wrong sort of assignments or something?"

"It sounds like Dr. Candyfloss was great at his job, but I don't think his absence is to blame for this," Wishing Star countered.  "The serious decline in successful assignments doesn't match up with the time of Candyfloss's death; it matches up with the period where Celestia and Cadance disappeared.  I'm afraid such troubling times have left most Equestrian citizens... well, on edge.  Blossoming relationships simply aren't the first thing on ponies' minds right now."

"Then there's not much we can do," Breeze sighed, his wings drooping.  "We have to trust that Luna and Twilight, and whatever search and rescue efforts they've established, manage to bring Celestia and Cadance back safely.  Until then..."

"Until then, we keep trying!" Ditzy insisted.  "Ponies need us.  Dr. Candyfloss wouldn't have wanted us to just give up because times are tough."

Her coworkers all smiled.  "You're right, it's way too early to call it quits," Breeze agreed.  "We can bounce back from this.  Low income periods happen to most companies at some point; we can pull through this one for a little longer, and any day now, Celestia and Cadance will be found and everything will go back to normal."

"Speaking of shipping, how much longer 'till you can take Sparkler to Trottowa, Ditzy?" Watt asked.

"Oh, that's this weekend!" Ditzy replied, flapping her wings excitedly.  "I'm gonna be gone into the beginning of next week, but Wishing Star was able to work the long trip into my work schedule."

"Barely..." Wishing Star mumbled, paging through all her paperwork for the sixth or seventh time.  "It's gonna be a little rough here in the meantime, but we'll manage.  I know how important this is to you and Breeze."

"I just wish I could've helped in some way," Breeze sighed.  "Sparkler just wouldn't agree to see me."

"But if you must leave your daughter's fate in the hooves of somepony else, surely there's no better pony than Ditzy?" Cloudcover pointed out.

"I've already done most of what I can do for her," Ditzy reminded them.  "Right now, the pony she really needs isn't even me.  It's Presto.  I'm just going along to... you know, help her along, the same as I would on any assignment.  I'm hoping that if she can manage to bring Presto back into her life, the only pony whose attention she's craving right now, some of those walls will start to come down.  Maybe even the ones she's put between herself and you, Breeze."

"That's a lot of pressure, though," Wishing Star fretted, putting her forehooves over her mouth.  "What if that assignment fails too?"

"I'm hoping it won't," Ditzy replied.  "When they were in school together, Presto openly liked Sparkler.  She just couldn't bring herself to return his feelings until now.  It's possible that he's moved on or found somepony else, of course, but if he is still single... well, we have to hope those feelings for her haven't completely faded.  Because hers sure haven't."

"What matters is that we give it our best shot," Breeze said.  "We promised to do whatever we could to help Sparkler recover from what Glow led her to become.  And, well... this is what we can do.  I just hope it's enough."

The group fell silent for a few seconds.  As usual, Watt was the one to break it.

"So, Wishing Star!" the earth pony began, unceremoniously hopping up onto the table to stare directly at the mare's paperwork.  "Did you come up here for something in particular?  Got an assignment for somepony, maybe?"

"Oh!  Yes!"  Wishing Star realized, lighting her horn and gently sliding Watt back to his end of the table.  "We did just get an assignment in a few moments before I joined you all here.  The client has asked for two shippers, so... Ditzy, Breeze, I know you each already took an assignment today, but since both were failures and we could really use some extra income..."

Breeze nodded.  "Don't worry, Wishing Star, we're on it.  Right Ditzy?"

"Of course," Ditzy chirped.  "I mean, come on, me and Breeze working together?  This one's sure to be a success."

Wishing Star chuckled.  "Oh, I don't doubt it, Ditzy," she replied, beaming.  "We've had some setbacks, but I bet this one will go exactly how I'm hoping."

She hopped up from her chair.  "Now shoo!" she added playfully.  "The work day will be over soon, so report in on Monday morning with how it goes.  Don't keep the client waiting any longer!"





Ditzy squinted to focus her poor vision on the address she'd received.  "Hey, this one's right here in Ponyville," she realized.

"Perfect," Breeze commented.  "That'll save us some time.  Maybe we can bring in at least one successful assignment today."

The two pegasi alighted on the street a few blocks down from the market.  For the most part, it was similar to most average Ponyville homes, but one thing made it stand out a bit: a small flag hanging from the porch bearing the royal seal of Canterlot.  Ditzy had passed the place dozens of times over the years, but she felt sure the purple and gold banner was a fairly recent addition.

"This is the place, huh?" Breeze asked.  "Come on, let's see who we're working with today."

He knocked several times.  A few seconds passed, and the door opened to reveal a fairly young unicorn stallion with a coat colored just like Ditzy's and a fairly short, dark purple mane.

Ditzy couldn't say she knew the pony by name, but she had seen him around before.  Though the colors of his fur were nothing unusual, the open scroll cutie mark he bore was easy to recognize, and his brilliant green eyes really made him stand out.

"Oh, hey!" the stallion greeted.  "Are you guys the uh... shipping service thing?" he asked.

"That's us!" Ditzy confirmed.  "I'm Ditzy Doo and this is my partner, Autumn Breeze.

"I'm Written Script," their client replied.  "You both look pretty familiar.  Both Ponyville residents, huh?  I've only been living here for a few years, but this town's small enough that you see almost everypony eventually."

"I take it you moved here from Canterlot?" Breeze asked, pointing to the flag nearby.

"That's right," the stallion replied, nodding proudly.  "The Script family's lived in Canterlot for a couple hundred years.  My dad Silver Script owns a business in there, and his sister, Auntie Spiral Script, is the dean of Celestia's Academy."

"Oh, I've heard all about Dean Script!" Ditzy gushed.  "I can't say I've met her, but my daughter attends the academy, and she's told me all about her."

Written Script chuckled.  "Well, some ponies have trouble keeping all the Script family ponies straight, especially back home where there's dozens of 'em," he explained.  "So why don't you two just go ahead and call me Writ."

"Works for us," Breeze chuckled.  "So, is there a pony you've got your eye on, Writ?"

"Sure is!" the unicorn replied.  "It's kind of a funny story.  I used to have a little bit of a crush on one of my old classmates at the academy, but... she never really noticed me.  Imagine my surprise when I moved to Ponyville and found out she was living here!  My interest in her never amounted to anything when we were schoolmates, but now we're both a little older, and things are different, and most ponies are, y'know, looking for anything or anypony to distract them from the situation with the princesses.  So maybe... it's time to give it another shot?"

"Aww, that's sweet," Ditzy cooed.  "Don't worry Writ, I think Breeze and I can find a way to get her to take notice."

"As soon as we know who we're dealing with, of course," Breeze added.  "Where can we find this lucky mare?"

"Oh, well... I'm not sure where she lives," Writ admitted, looking at the floor for a moment.  "She doesn't seem to be out and about very often, and it's not like I've gotten to talk to her."

"Breeze and I know almost everypony in town, and if we don't know her, I'm sure we can ask around," Ditzy encouraged.  "Which mare are we looking for?"

"Yeah, I'm sure we can track her down," Writ agreed, looking more upbeat.  "Heck, maybe you guys even know her already!  She's a pink and purple unicorn named Sparkler."

The name seemed to echo in Ditzy's head as Writ spoke it aloud.  She cast a stunned look at Breeze, who was wearing the same expression she was.

Writ faltered.  "Is, uh... something wrong?"

"N-no," Breeze stammered.  "We just need to... discuss this for a second.  Please excuse us."

He immediately leapt into the air and perched on the roof of the home.  Ditzy gave the client a brief, apologetic glance before doing the same.

"Well... that's not what I expected," Breeze admitted, once he was sure Written Script was out of earshot.

"That's putting it mildly," Ditzy replied, shaking her head and rubbing a temple with her forehoof.  "Wishing Star will be disappointed, and I guess the client will too, but obviously we have to decline this one."

Breeze blinked.  "What?  Why?" he asked, his wings flared in surprise.

Ditzy's eyes drifted into focus for a few seconds.  "W-what do you mean why?" she stuttered.  "Sparkler needs help to reunite with Presto, not this guy.  I thought we'd already confirmed that was the plan."

"Well, yeah, I was on board with that because it seemed like the only decent option to help Sparkler," Breeze admitted.  "But when circumstances change, and it's not the only option anymore... shouldn't we opt for the best one?"

Ditzy scrunched up her muzzle.  "What are you saying?" she asked.  "Sparkler specifically asked for help with finding and bonding with Presto.  Why in Equestria would you think some other stallion— one we barely know— is a better choice?"

"Just hear me out," Breeze pleaded.  "You're looking at this from the perspective of... well, a shipper.  And it most cases, that's fine!  But let's step back and think about Sparkler for a second, and how we can assure she gets what she needs."

"And what Sparkler needs is a chance to see Presto again!" Ditzy argued.

Breeze shook his head.  "What Sparkler needs," he corrected, "is a pony who actually craves her presence.  Everything you've told me about her illustrates it; she's convinced she's 'damaged' and no longer worthy of the affections of others.  Presto certainly did care about her during their school years... but they've been apart for years now.  There's no guarantee that he'd be interested in seeing her again.  In fact, it seems somewhat unlikely; I know if a mare rejected me constantly for a few years and then vanished from my life for a few more, I'd certainly have a few qualms about her if she showed up at my door."

"But he might not!" Ditzy insisted.  "Neither of us have ever met Presto.  We can't know how he'd react unless we try."

"I know, which is why I supported the plan to take her to him," Breeze explained.  "But all of a sudden, we have a second option.  There's a pony right there on that porch that has already confirmed he wants Sparkler in his life.  If we just carry out his assignment, we can eliminate the uncertainty we'd face if we continued with the Presto plan instead, satisfy a client, and you can avoid a long trip to Trottowa as well."

"You realize that all this does it turn the situation around," Ditzy pointed out.  "Now we've got a stallion who's on board with the plan, but Sparkler's the one who won't be."

"Not at first," Breeze agreed.  "But like I said, Sparkler has latched onto Presto because she perceives him as the only pony who will give her a chance.  Once she finds out somepony else will... well, Written Script will probably be able to convince her to give a different pony a chance if we do our jobs right and help him.  It just seems like a safer, more surefire way of arriving at the same goal."

There was some logic in what he was saying, but it just didn't sit right with Ditzy.  "B-but—"

"Please, Ditzy," Breeze continued.  "We're not on opposite sides of this issue.  We both want to give Sparkler what she needs to undo the damage Glow did.  But Sparkler may be too lost and hurt to know what that is.  I really think a pony who has real interest and maybe even affection for her will help her realize that."

Ditzy stared at the thatching of the roof beneath her hooves, fighting a mental and emotional battle within her head.  Finally, she sighed and nodded.

"Okay, Breeze.  Maybe you're right."

She felt the other pegasus wrap her tightly in a hug, cradling her with both wings and forelegs.  "Thanks Ditzy," he said softly.  "This'll work out, you'll see.  C'mon, we don't wanna keep the client waiting any longer."

He hopped off the roof and spread his wings, gliding down to where Written Script was waiting.  Ditzy followed suit.

"So... are you accepting the assignment or what?" the unicorn asked.

"Yep!" Breeze declared.  "Ditzy already knows most of the places in Ponyville that Sparkler might show herself, so I'm sure it won't take us long to track her down.  After that, we just have to work a little shipping magic, and the two of you will be together in no time."

"Great!" Writ replied, grinning.  "Let's get started.  Lead the way, Ditzy!"

Ditzy folded her wings tightly against her sides.  "Um, sure," she mumbled uncertainly.  "Follow me."

She quickly turned away so the stallions couldn't see the uneasy frown.  Sighing, she began to trot toward the market, thoughts swirling in her head.

Is a stallion other than Presto really going to have a chance of helping Sparkler?





It was already nearly dinnertime, but the long summer days offered a few more hours of light to work with.  The timing ended up being for the best; it didn't take long for Ditzy to spot Sparkler slinking through the market, as she often did late in the day to restock the tiny apartment that was her secret refuge.  Moving quickly and making little eye contact, the young mare stopped by half a dozen stalls, exchanging bits and filling up her shopping basket with barely more than a word of greeting to anypony.  Across the square, Ditzy, Breeze, and Writ peered at her from behind a stack of fruit crates.

"She really hasn't changed much, has she?" Writ asked as he watched his former classmate skulking around.  "She's so formal and straightforward.  It just makes me curious what's really going on inside her head."

"We've got some idea," Breeze chuckled.  "How do you think we should start this off, Ditzy?"

Ditzy kept her gaze firmly on Sparkler, trying to mask the fact that she did not share her fiance's enthusiasm.  "Well, Sparkler has a tendency to deflect unnecessary conversation," she pointed out.  "If you want to carry on talking to her, there's really only two ways: persistence, which isn't going to win you any points in a shipping situation... or making her decide to talk to you."

"How do I do that?" Writ asked, furrowing his brow.  "I'm afraid I don't really know what topics might make Sparkler wanna talk."

Breeze grinned.  "Don't sweat it, Writ.  Ditzy and I have plenty of experience with setting up situations like that," Breeze said proudly.  "Just start wandering in Sparkler's general direction, but don't make it look like you're planning to talk to her.  Pretend you're here to visit the market.  Ditzy and I will handle the next step."

"We will?" Ditzy asked, shaking out of her thoughts.  "I mean... yeah.  We will."

Written Script peeked out of the alleyway again, watching Sparkler silently pass two bits across the counter of another stall.  He nodded.

"Well, here goes nothing!"

The young stallion tried to look nonchalant as he trotted out into the plaza.  The two matchmakers launched themselves onto the nearest roof, watching from behind a chimney.

"Alright, obviously the easiest move here is to wait for Writ to pass near her and then pull the old 'break the shopping basket' trick," Breeze whispered.  "Pretty boring, as strategies go, but it should be effective here.  The tricky part will be getting close enough to sabotage it without being seen.  Normally, it's easy to pose as an innocent bystander, but Sparkler knows both of us, so we're gonna need to be stealthy."

Ditzy sighed and shook her head.  "I don't know about this, Breeze..." she mumbled.

"You're right, maybe that'll be a little too tricky to pull off in this situation," Breeze admitted, tapping a hoof to his chin thoughtfully.  "What would you suggest, then?  I'm sure you've run into this sort of thing loads of times on your assignments too."

Ditzy grimaced.  "No, I mean I'm not sure about this assignment!" she confessed.  "I just... why are we going through with this?  This isn't what Sparkler wants."

"But it's what Sparkler needs!" Breeze countered.  "I'm not taking the risk of hurting her further by finding out her long lost friend no longer cares when there's a stallion who does care right here!  Just because it's not the solution she's expecting doesn't mean it's wrong."

"Breeze, you haven't talked to her, you don't understand..."

"I understand fine," Breeze insisted, frowning.  "I've been matchmaking for the better part of a decade, and this time I have the advantage of having info about both the client and the target.  We give a lonely pony a partner who admires her, and everything works out.  Writ will be happy, Wishing Star will be happy, and after a little while, Sparkler will be happy too."

Ditzy glanced helplessly to the street below, where Writ's ambling gait had brought him within just a few pony-lengths of Sparkler, and then back to Breeze.

"It's time to act," the stallion pointed out.  "Are you with me or not?"

He's not going to change his mind... Ditzy realized, feeling the knot in her stomach tightening.  Oh Celestia, there's no right answer!  Do I help Breeze, at what I truly think will be at Sparkler's expense, or...

For the first time, Ditzy considered her other option.  It made her sick to think about it, and yet it was the only other course of action available.

...Or do I make sure Sparkler gets what she asked for... by whatever means I must...

In the poor mare's mind, the debate seemed to take hours, but in reality it was less than a second.  She knew in that moment what she had to do.

Oh, by the sun and moon, I can't believe I'm about to do this...

"A-alright Breeze.  Make the distraction.  I'll sabotage the shopping basket."

Breeze nodded quickly, but there was no time for anything further; Writ stood only two market stalls away from Sparkler now.  Ditzy slunk along the rooftops until she was almost directly above them.  And then she waited.

A few seconds later, Writ was standing right beside Sparkler.  The young mare turned away from the pony from whom she'd made her latest purchase, and for a moment, she met his gaze for the first time.  But before either of them could speak, a chorus of cries erupted from the other end of the market.

Breeze blasted through the plaza as fast as his wings would carry him, clipping Leafy Green's cabbage cart on the way by and sending at least a dozen cabbages rolling across the square.  By the time anypony realized what was happening, he was already at the end of the street, turning a corner and out of sight.  Ditzy felt confident anypony who wasn't already waiting for something to happen like she was probably saw nothing more than a red blur.

The resulting commotion, however, was hard to ignore.  The scattered produce, and Leafy Green's despondent wailing about the fate of his poor cabbages, turned most of the heads in the marketplace, including those of Writ and Sparkler.  For a few seconds, Ditzy had the perfect opportunity to sabotage the shopping basket, giving Writ an opportunity to speak to Sparkler while he helped her out, and nopony would be any the wiser.

But she didn't.

Her expression grim, Ditzy remained crouched on the rooftop.  A few moments passed, and after the commotion around the cabbage cart died down, Sparkler returned her gaze to the stallion beside her.

"Uh... hi, Sparkler," Writ said, smiling nervously.  "Fancy meeting you here."

The mare's unenthusiastic stare didn't change.  "Hello," she replied.

"It's... it's me, Written Script," Writ continued.  "From school, remember?"

Sparkler was already turning to go.  "Yup," she replied as she began to trot to the next stall.  Not giving up, Writ followed her.

"So how have you been?" he prompted.

"Busy," Sparkler deadpanned.  "Nice seeing you."

With that very clear conversation bookend, she started her transaction with the next market pony.  Writ backed off slowly, his ears drooping a bit.  A moment later, he slunk off to a nearby alley, where Ditzy intercepted him.  A moment later, Breeze reappeared from the other direction, back from his diversion maneuver.

The red pegasus looked at Writ, then at Sparkler still shopping, and finally at Ditzy.  "What happened?" he asked, scratching his hear with a wingtip.  "It seemed like the diversion worked perfectly.  Why isn't Writ helping Sparkler pick up fallen groceries right now?"

"The uh... the basket.  I couldn't break it," Ditzy lied.  "If I used more force, maybe it would have, but I didn't want to risk Sparkler seeing me, since she knows me so well.  Unfortunately, that meant the vegetables never spilled, and Writ ended up having a very... unsuccessful conversation with Sparkler."

"Oh, is that what was supposed to happen?" Writ asked.  "Nothing unusual happened after Breeze ran into the cabbage cart, so I figured that was the signal..."

Breeze groaned, ruffling his wings in agitation.  "Alright, alright, no harm done," he sighed.  "I'm sure we can still make this work.  We just need to create a situation that's a little more foolproof.  Come on, we have to tail Sparkler until the next opportunity appears."

Breeze hurried down the alley and out of sight, with Written Script trotting close behind.  Ditzy swallowed hard, the guilt sitting like a rock in her stomach.

I hate this! she mentally screamed.  Lying to Breeze?  Betraying a client?  What am I doing?

She paused, closing her eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath, refocusing on her goal.

I'm helping a pony who needs me, she reminded herself.  A pony who is much worse off than Breeze or Writ.  In the long run, I know this is the right thing to do, but... oh, I hope they don't catch on...

Realizing she was falling behind, Ditzy galloped after the others.





"Alright, that last attempt made it obvious that Sparkler isn't going to just strike up a conversation for no reason," Breeze observed as he watched the young mare make her way back toward her apartment.

"I can't really say I'm surprised," Ditzy commented.  "She's scared that she makes for bad company, but she's conditioned not to show weakness, so she just pushes everypony away.  It has kind of become a self-fulfilling prophecy."

"All the more reason we need to make her a captive audience long enough for Writ to get a few words in," Breeze declared.  "So here's the plan: there's a big puddle of standing water from yesterday's rainstorm about a block from Sparkler's place.  I'll push one of the flowerpots off of the nearby window ledge and splash her, and while she removes her saddlebags for a minute to dry herself off, Ditzy can sneak in and swipe her key from inside them.  Then when she arrives at her apartment and can't get in, Writ can approach her and offer to help her find it; we can slip it to him to return to her once we've got them talking."

"Sounds easy enough," Writ commented.  "I'll wait at the end of the street.  It's up to you two to do the rest."

Breeze nodded.  "Are you ready, Ditzy?" he asked, giving her a serious look.

"Ready," Ditzy said dully.  "I'll hide on the rooftop across the street.  Let's get started."

The trio split up.  Writ cantered to the end of the block, out of sight, and the two matchmakers took their lofty positions on either side of the road.  It only took about a minute for Sparkler, still unaware of the shipping operation surrounding her, to round the corner.  She didn't suspect a thing, it seemed; her eyes were locked on her apartment at the end of the street.  She didn't even glance at the large puddle just a short distance to her left, let alone notice Breeze as he reached down with a wing and flicked a clay pot full of daisies off the second-story windowsill.

Splash!

A spattering of water peppered Sparkler's bright coat before she could react.  For a moment, she simply stood there blinking, trying to process what just happened.  With a couple of muttered expletives, she grabbed the pot now floating in the puddle in her aura and returned it to its perch.  Then, carefully setting her vegetable-laden saddlebags aside, she closed her eyes and lit her horn.  A warm, gentle wind was suddenly conjured around her, circling like the first moments of a growing cyclone and blowing her mane and tail haphazardly about.

Huh, a drying spell, Ditzy realized, smiling slightly.  Sparkler really knows how to do just about anything with magic, doesn't she?

She caught sight of Breeze's urgent glance from the opposite rooftop.  Oh right, the key.

The next move couldn't have been easier.  Sparkler's eyes remained closed, and the sound of the swirling winds was more than enough to drown out the fluttering of Ditzy's wings.  She flipped open Sparkler's saddlebag, grabbed the key, and was gone again well before the drying spell concluded.

Ditzy bolted from the scene, and alighted on the roof of Sparkler's apartment building, quickly preparing herself for her next move.  Breeze's part of the plan had gone without a hitch, but she had one more move to make: one that she had to make sure Breeze and Writ couldn't see.

Sparkler arrived, unaware of the pegasus peeking over the edge of the roof above her.  She flipped open her saddlebag and—

"Hey!  Sparkler!"

Right on cue, Written Script approached again.  Sparkler glanced up, staring at him blankly.

"Heh, I guess we're both heading the same way," he continued.  "We barely got a chance to talk back there at the market."

High above, Ditzy glanced frantically around.  There was no sign of Breeze; it seemed whatever hiding spot he'd chosen to view the scene wasn't visible from Ditzy's vantage point, which meant It was time to capitalize on the opportunity.  Carefully, she dangled Sparkler's key over the edge of the roof, closing one eye and sticking out her tongue in concentration as she tried to line it up perfectly.

"I'm afraid I don't have any time to chat," Sparkler grumbled.  "And I still don't.  Now, if you'll excuse me..."

It was now or never.  Ditzy let go, and the key tumbled through the air, glinting in the evening light.  It landed neatly and quietly in Sparkler's open saddlebag.  Not a second later, the mare turned her head, lit her horn, and picked it up, never even aware that it had gone missing.  She unlocked her apartment and disappeared to the interior, leaving a flummoxed Writ standing on her doorstep.

Her ruse complete, Ditzy fluttered down to stand by Writ's side.  The unicorn looked at her with confusion.

"What happened?" he babbled.  "I saw you take Sparkler's key..."

"I'm sorry, I guess she must have had a spare..." Ditzy lied.

"No, she didn't."

Breeze's hooves slammed down from somewhere up above, kicking up a bit of dust as he landed.  His green eyes flashed angrily.

"Pardon me?" Writ asked, eyeing the other stallion up nervously.

"Sparkler didn't have a spare key," Breeze growled.  "Something else tampered with the plan.  Or rather, somepony else."

Writ blinked.  "I—"

"Could you excuse us for a minute?" Breeze asked, before their client could respond.  "I need to have a word with my coworker.  Privately."

"Oh, actually, uh, you can take all the time you need," Writ admitted, shuffling a forehoof in the dirt.  "I think... I think it's probably best if I just call this whole thing off."

"What?  No!"  Breeze gasped.  "Sure, Sparkler got away today, but tomorrow we can—"

"No, really, I'm good," Writ interjected.  "Sparkler really doesn't seem interested, and our attempts to change that haven't amounted to anything.  There's plenty of fish in the sea, and I think I'm better off chasing one that's a little easier to catch."

"But—"

Written Script's horn flared, and he vanished in a flash of teleportation before Breeze could argue further.  Now, the two pegasi stood alone on the empty street.

Ditzy swallowed hard.  "So, uh—"

"You know, I didn't want to be suspicious," Breeze said quietly, not looking at her.  "I wanted to believe the failure to break Sparkler's shopping basket was actually beyond your control.  But I needed to be sure.  So this time, instead of spying on Writ and Sparkler, I hid in a spot where I could watch you.  Specifically, to watch you return Sparkler's key when you thought nopony could see."

Ditzy whimpered.  Breeze finally turned to face her, with an expression on his face more pained than she had ever seen him.

"Well, you got what you wanted," he said, shaking his head slowly.  "You kept Sparkler and Written Script apart.  And all you had to do was double-cross your partner and sabotage a shipping assignment.  No big deal, right?  Who was the last pony who betrayed her coworkers and undermined a client's wishes?  Oh, that's right, it was Cosmic Glow."

The name seemed to pierce Ditzy's heart as it left his lips.  She quivered, looking at him pleadingly.

"Breeze, you don't understand, I—"

"No Ditzy, you don't understand," the red pegasus interrupted, the sadness in his features mixing with outrage.  "I deserve to have some kind of say in this, don't I?  Sparkler may only be interested in talking to you, but that pony is my daughter. I know I didn't know her as she grew up, but that only makes me more desperate to set things right now!  How would you feel if I decided I knew better than you did about what was right for Dinky?"

That blow was perhaps even more painful for Ditzy than being compared to Glow.  "I-it's not the same!" she insisted, tears beginning to roll down her face.  "Neither of us knew Sparkler until a few months ago, but she's shared her innermost feelings with me.  She's let me feel those feelings, with a memory spell!  I know beyond any doubt, deep in my heart, that Sparkler doesn't just need 'somepony' to be there for her.  She needs a chance to make up with Presto!"

"Then go ahead.  Help her with that," Breeze snarled, glaring at her.  "Obviously, it's up to you to help her anyway.  I'm just her 'scumbag father who doesn't care' anyway, remember?  I'm sure you agree, since obviously you don't trust my judgement either."

"Breeze!"

"I hope you're certain in your priorities," Breeze said as he turned away, "because you made your choice, Ditzy.  You've made sure Sparkler's fate remained exclusively in your hooves.  Now you can walk the path you chose, alone.  For your sake, and for Sparkler's, I hope that path leads where you thought it would."

With that, he spread his wings and took off, shooting through the evening sky much too quickly for Ditzy to give chase.





Written Script trotted to the rendezvous point, a dead-end alley behind Sugarcube Corner.  Sure enough, that strange orange mare with the sparkly headband was waiting for him.

"Hey, so, that went pretty much how you said it would," he announced as he approached her.  "I asked them to help me get together with Sparkler, and uh, it went really bad.  Pretty sure Ditzy didn't even want to succeed."

"Excellent," the other unicorn replied, grinning.  "Now remember, the only thing that matters now is that nopony knows that somepony put you up to this."

"If you're really giving me as many bits as you promised, I'll carry that secret till the day I die," Writ chuckled.  "Are you gonna pay me now, or what?"

A sack that must have contained at least a thousand bits was thrown at his hooves.  He gawked at the tremendous sum for a moment before quickly stuffing it into his saddlebag.

"I still don't understand why you wanted me to do this," the stallion admitted as he closed the flap on his now bulging bag.  

"I'm paying you enough to not worry about it too much, I hope," the pony across from him replied, smirking.

"Got that right," Writ agreed.  "I sure am glad you were right about the assignment though."

He paused, shuddering.  "Ugh, imagine if they actually did get Sparkler interested in me," he grumbled.  "Dating that reclusive grump?  No thanks."

"Don't worry, you won't have to interact with that mare anymore," his benefactor replied.  "Your role is done.  Thank you for your help, and enjoy the spoils of your hard work!"

Written Script laughed.  "Oh, I will miss... uh... sorry, I don't think I got your name."

The mare chuckled, the bobbing of her head causing light to reflect off the gems on her accessory.  Rather than satisfy Writ's curiosity, she lit her horn, and was gone in a flash of pink light.





The silence in the cottage was stupefying.

Not that it was any quieter than normal.  With Dinky away at school, evenings in the Doo household were always very peaceful, and normally, that was a good thing.

Tonight, the silence weighed on Ditzy like a suffocating shroud.

Liar.  Traitor.  Saboteur.  No better than Cosmic Glow...

The meager dinner Ditzy had prepared sat untouched.  She held her head in her forehooves, tormented by her thoughts.

If I was right, then my actions today will allow me to give Sparkler the chance she asked for.  But why... why did I have to turn on the pony closest to me to secure that chance?

She paused, and shuddered.  And if I'm the one in the wrong, and Breeze's plan could've worked... then I've let both Sparkler and Breeze down today...

The fears and doubts in her head intensified, mocking her with their accusations.

Maybe you're wrong.  Maybe you've gone and damaged the bond with your fiance.  Maybe it's irreparable.

Noble, or selfish?  Acting for the greater good... or no better than Cosmic Glow?

A knock at the front door startled her out of the whirlwind of negative thoughts.  Doing her best to put on a more neutral expression, she hurried to the front door and was surprised to find a familiar orange unicorn on the other side.

"Wishing Star?" she asked.  "It's nighttime.  What are you doing here?"

"Hey Ditzy..." Wishing Star greeted, smiling sadly.  "There's been a little bit of a change to the schedule next week, but the work day was over before the final decision was made, so I dropped by to tell you in person."

She sounded uneasy.  Ditzy simply nodded and waited for the news.

"Look, I already heard from Breeze that today's assignment was a bust," she continued.  "There's been a lot of failed assignments lately, and there will probably be a lot more until the princess situation gets resolved.  The money coming in to Equestria Speedy Shipping Services now is barely enough to cover the costs to keep the place running.  So, since so few assignments are coming in these days... I think, from a business standpoint, we've got to make a change, at least temporarily."

"What do you have in mind?" Ditzy asked.

"Alternating shifts," Wishing Star answered simply.  "One day, just you and Cloudcover will come to work, and the next day, Breeze and Watt will.  It means your personal income from assignments is going to take another hit, but... I mean, I don't see what else we can do.  Equestria Speedy Shipping Services will shut down within months if we continue as is."

"Makes sense," Ditzy agreed.  "Did... did Breeze say anything else about today?"

"No... should he have?" Wishing Star questioned.  "He seemed pretty upset about how it went, so I didn't press for details.  He did give me this, though.  He told me to drop it off when I stopped by to talk to you."

She produced a small, sealed envelope and passed it to Ditzy.  "I've gotta get going, but I'll see you next week," she said, smiling a bit.  "Chin up, Ditzy.  We'll pull through this somehow."

"Y-yeah..." Ditzy stammered.  "Goodnight, Wishing Star."

The door shut, and that oppressive silence took over again.  In truth, she wasn't too concerned about the temporary schedule change; years of successful assignments left her with enough savings to handle the challenge.  What worried her much more was the envelope now held in her hoof.  Shaking slightly, she broke the seal and slid the hastily written note from within.



Ditzy,

We need to spend some time apart.  I need some time to think about today, and about... well, us.  I need some time to decide if we're still on the right path.  Maybe you do, too.  For now, Wishing Star's new schedule is for the best.

~Breeze



Ditzy hung her head, her mane covering her eyes.

Just this morning, everything was fine... she thought.  Breeze and I were as close as ever, and the plan with Sparkler was another shared goal.  And in just one day, it's driven us apart...

She stared at the short note for a few more moments, and then took it to her room, placing it carefully in the bedside table drawer.  Her expression, while pained, was resolute.

One thing is certain: Breeze is right.  For better or for worse, I made my choice.  Now, I have to fulfill my duty to Sparkler.  If I fail, not only will I have let down a pony who deserves a second chance, but I'll lose my last chance to ever get back the trust of the pony I love.





The train gave a final echoing whistle as it came to a halt in the underground station.  Dinky and her friends stepped off and began to make their way up the ramp.

"Welp, that's it ladies," Scuffle declared.  "Our last Midsummer Holiday is over."

"What a trip, though!" Clarity exclaimed.  "I'd never been to Neighagra Falls before.  It's gorgeous there."

"Thank Honeydew," Dinky reminded her.  "We let her pick the destination this year, remember?"

Honeydew blushed.  "I'm glad you all liked it as much as I did," she chirped.

"But now that we're recharged, it's time to really get to work," Clarity reminded them.  "This is our last term, and there's only nine or ten weeks left.  You can bet our professors are gonna go all-out."

Honeydew nodded.  "That also means I need to come to a conclusion on my research soon, even if it's not the one I'm hoping for..." she mumbled, fiddling with the ends of her long mane anxiously.  "I came up with half a dozen new ideas while we were on vacation.  I'll need to track down Tango and run them by him."

As the four ponies approached the residence towers, Scuffle stopped.  "Dinks, hang back for a sec," he said suddenly.  "I wanna talk to you."

Dinky stopped as the other fillies continued into the tower.  "What's up?"

"You know what's coming up this week, right?" Scuffle asked.

Dinky smirked.  "Of course.  We're finally gonna duel."

The colt nodded.  "So yeah, about that," he said uncertainly.  "Look Dinks, you're a pal.  A real good one.  If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have spent the last several years hanging out with you three.  But when it comes to this duel, there's a lot at stake here."

Dinky rolled her eyes.  "This is about Honeydew and Tango Trot, isn't it?" she sighed.

"Dinks, I gotta show pretty boy who's boss," Scuffle insisted.  "Honeydew spent half that vacation talking about him.  If he makes a move, she's gonna fall for him hook, line, and sinker.  If I don't beat him down in this tournament and bring him down a peg... you know, remind him not to mess with me, he's gonna win her heart for sure.  And to get to Tango, I gotta go through you."

Dinky raised an eyebrow.  "You're not asking me to throw the match, are you?"

Scuffle shook his head ferociously.  "Celestia, no," he said quickly.  "What I'm saying is that I'm going all-out.  Like, really, totally all-out.  Moreso than I have in my other duels.  And I'm just hoping that even though you're a friend, you realize I'm prepared to knock you out if it comes to that."

Dinky snickered.  "I dunno, Scuffle, I don't think it's gonna be as easy to get that far as you think it is," she reminded him.

"Hey, if you can manage a win fair and square, then good on you," Scuffle  said.  "All I'm saying is to get ready.  This isn't some little battle magic exhibition.  This is a serious duel, and I'm playing to win."

"Understood," Dinky replied, giving him a determined grin.  "I still don't think using the tournament to get Tango to back off is gonna help you, but I can get giving it your all in a duel.  I'll be ready to take you on.  I hope you're ready for me."

Scuffle grinned back.  "That's the feisty Dinks I wanted to see," he chuckled.  "I like your determination.  In a couple days, we'll find out if you have the skills to back it up."





"Dinky!  Scuffle!" Professor Surge called.  "Please take a moment to prepare, and then take your starting positions in the arena."

Dinky quickly huddled up with Clarity, as well as Inkwell and her friends, who had dropped by to watch the duel once again.

"Got your enchantment ready?" Clarity whispered.  "Scuffle has such a wide range of attacks, you're really gonna be sunk if you can't get past at least some of them with that."

"It's right here," Dinky replied proudly, removing the pendant she shared with Pipsqueak and passing it to Clarity before donning an amulet containing a bright blue sapphire.  "Don't forget, I'm starting to get better at self-enchantment, too.  It only lasts a few seconds at a time, but it should allow me to get away with a few tricks Scuffle won't be expecting."

"Woo!  You're gonna knock it out of the park, Dinky!" Portabella declared, pumping a triumphant forehoof in the air.

"My projections on spell use prophesy Scuffle's magical potentiality to be rather prodigious in this discipline," Top Percentile pointed out.  "Your belligerent spells, as well as your safeguards, are markedly inferior, so I recommend you place reliance on a more unanticipated stratagem than mere magical impetus."

"Noted," Dinky chuckled as Inkwell and Portabella gave the colt identical bewildered looks.  "Don't worry, I've got a plan all worked out."

Clarity leaned forward and gave her a hug.  "You can do this," she encouraged.  "Beat Scuffle, and you'll be going to the finals."

"Good luck!" Inkwell chirped.

Dinky gave them all a nod of assent and hopped down to the arena.  Briefly, she caught a glimpse of Scuffle whispering with Honeydew before he joined her on the battlefield.

From out on the open floor, Dinky got a sense of just how big the audience was this time.  Colts and fillies from every year, and even some of the professors, had gathered to watch the event.  It was warranted, she supposed; only the top four duelists in her year made it this far.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts, are you ready?" Professor Surge cried, addressing the audience.  "In just a moment, we'll begin our first semifinal duel of this year's tournament, between two of our strongest and most resourceful students, Dinky Doo and Scuffle!"

"I hope you've got the right enchantment, Scuffle!" Dinky playfully jeered.  "You're gonna need something phenomenal to get around my strategy."

Scuffle raised an eyebrow.  "Enchantment?" he asked.

That threw Dinky for a loop.  "Y-yeah," she stammered, indicating her amulet.  "Did you... forget?  You can bring one enchanted item to each duel..."

Scuffle grinned darkly.  "Actually, it's one enchanted item or potion!" he corrected, bringing a small, purple glass vial into view.

"A potion?" Dinky asked, as a murmur of interest moved through the audience.  "You don't know the first thing about potion making."

"There is nothing in the rules saying you have to create the enchanted item or potion yourself," Scuffle pointed out smugly.  "Only that you can bring only one to each duel."

Dinky blinked.  "Then that means..."

She glanced at the audience, locking eyes with Honeydew.  The pink filly blushed and looked a bit guilty.

"H-he asked!" she said defensively, slouching a bit as if to hide behind the ponies in front of her.  "I would've made one for you too if you wanted, but you're so good with enchantments, I figured you had it covered."

Dinky laughed as she turned back to Scuffle.  "Alright, so you gotta take that potion before the fight begins, then?"

"That's right," Scuffle answered.  "The effect should last more than long enough for me to pulverize you, Dinks!"

With a magical flourish, Scuffle uncorked the vial and downed all the liquid inside.  Dinky, Surge, and the rest of the audience held their breath, waiting for something to happen.  After a few seconds of silence, Scuffle turned nervously to look at Honeydew.

"Uh, Dewey, are you sure it's gonna—"

He stopped mid-sentence, gasped, and then threw his head back as blinding magical light burst from every inch of his body.  It took several seconds for the brilliant flash to dim, but Dinky was stunned at what she saw when it faded.

It was still evident that the pony in front of her was Scuffle, but the colt's brown coat glimmered from head to hoof.  Dinky tilted her head slightly, and the pattern seemed to change; it was as if Scuffle's body was made up of dozens of glasslike facets, reflecting the light in different ways.

"So Dinks," Scuffle said casually, holding out his shimmering foreleg to examine it, "did you know the citizens of the Crystal Empire, when exposed to the magic of the Crystal Heart, transform temporarily into living crystal?"

Dinky opened her mouth to reply, but Scuffle cut her off.  "Of course you did," he chuckled.  "What I bet you didn't know is that visiting ponies from elsewhere in Equestria can also experience the Crystal Heart's effect.  And what I'm positive you didn't know is that unicorn scholars have found a way to replicate the effect with a transformative potion."

"Um, okay..." Dinky said slowly.  "So why become a crystal pony for our duel?"

Scuffle rolled his eyes.  "C'mon, Dinky Dunce, think for a second," he laughed.  "I figured that ever since you learned to self-enchant, you've got so many new tricks that even all my magical versatility couldn't counter all of it.  If I'd brought just one enchantment, you'd have found a way around it in no time.  I had to find a way to level the playing field... or maybe even tip it in my favor."

Dinky suddenly realized what Scuffle was getting at.  "Wait, you mean—"

"That's right!" Scuffle proclaimed gleefully.  "For the next half hour or so, I'm made of crystal, the most readily enchantable substance in Equestria.  There's no limit on the number of enchantments I can use in the duel if I'm my own enchanted object!"

Dinky glanced at Professor Surge.  "Is that a legal strategy?" she asked.

"Entirely legal, and absolutely brilliant," Surge replied, beaming.  "Bravo, Scuffle!  This should be quite the match indeed.  Now if the two of you could face each other and prepare yourselves, we can begin.

Dinky turned back to Scuffle.  The colt smirked at her.

This is really bad.  Not only does Scuffle have great offense and incredible defense, but with a body made of crystal, he'll be able to self-enchant better than I can!

Her thoughts were interrupted by the professor's shout.

"And... duel!"

Unlike Dinky's duel with Clarity, Scuffle didn't immediately cast a spell.  He began to walk slowly, almost casually along the edge of the battlefield, circling Dinky like a predator.

"Go ahead, Dinks," he invited.  "Make a move."

That's about what I expected, Dinky thought.  Scuffle's defenses and counters are his best techniques.  Of course he'd want me to move first.  I'd better make sure it's the right one.

Dinky lit her horn, conjuring up an energy bolt.  Scuffle smiled calmly as his aura sprung to life as well.

Dinky lowered her head to attack, but it was a feint.  As fast as she could, she switched from the attack spell to a teleport, almost instantly transporting behind Scuffle before throwing her attack spell.

By the time she arrived at the other end of her teleport, it was already clear that her plan had failed.  Scuffle's shimmering, slate blue shield was in place to easily block her spell before she could even cast it.

"So fast!" she cried out as her spell fizzled out against Scuffle's impressive protective wall.  "I can't believe you can conjure a shield that strong in the fraction of a second it takes me to teleport."

Scuffle shrugged.  "Dinks, you know my older brothers have been magically ambushing me for years," he chuckled.  "I guess I should thank 'em.  I only have these reflexes because I got tired of getting unexpectedly seared or frostbitten every other day."

"I'm a little brighter than Scorch and Frosty," Dinky reminded him.  "You're gonna need more than just fast reflexes to beat me."

"The average tree stump is brighter than Scorch and Frosty," Scuffle laughed.  "I'll be fine.  You, however..."

The colt's horn flashed, and his shield suddenly rushed forward.  Dinky was caught totally off guard as it plowed into her, sending her sprawling across the stone floor.  The sound of gasps and cheers from the audience echoed around her.  With a groan, she got to her hooves as quickly as she could.  She barely had time to refocus on Scuffle before another solid wall of light came rushing toward her, though this time, she managed to jump out of the way.

"See, I had a brainstorm, Dinks," Scuffle explained.  "My defensive spells have always been better than my offensive ones, so I thought, what if I used defensive spells in an offensive way?  Ponies don't know what to do when I fling a shield spell at them instead of just sheltering myself with it."

"Well, you won't catch me off guard again," Dinky growled.

"I won't need to!" Scuffle replied delightedly.  "What I've lost in the surprise factor can be compensated for with enough speed and force!"

Scuffle conjured a ring of shield walls around himself and sent them all flying outwards at once, a great expanding circle of light.  Dinky knew there was no way she could break through them before they reached her so, she did the next best thing.

Scuffle watched excitedly as his attack rocketed forward, but the grin was wiped off his face in an instant when Dinky gracefully leapt several pony-lengths in the air, bounding over the shields with ease.  She landed on the arena floor with perfect poise, her hooves sparkling with the gold hue of an enchantment.

"Imagine that, 'springy hooves' has battle applications!" she giggled, watching her opponent fume.

"Oh, we're gonna break out the self-enchantments already?" Scuffle asked.  "I guess things are about to get interesting."

Scuffle lit his horn, and Dinky could see the magic practically sucked out as it was easily channeled into his crystalline hooves.  He bounded into the air, but the jump wasn't at all similar to Dinky's.  With the enchantment strengthened by being bound to crystal instead of flesh, he soared at least a dozen pony lengths straight up, nearly halfway to the distant, arched ceiling, before landing with no more difficulty than one would after a tiny hop.

"I don't care how good you are at enchantments, Dinks," he declared.  "You're not gonna out-enchant a crystal pony!"

Dinky jumped as high as she could again, noting with dismay that it was already lower than last time, and fired a blast of lightning at Scuffle.  The colt jumped effortlessly out of the way, sailing across half the battlefield in one bound.  He retaliated with more charging shields, conjured and launched so quickly that Dinky's hooves barely had time to touch the ground before she had to jump again to evade the next one.

Okay, I'm gonna have to get more creative, she thought as she frantically refreshed the enchantment on herself to continue to avoid the attacks.  Scuffle's defense is too well thought out for this to work...

"What's the matter, Dinks?" Scuffle taunted.  "You've hardly even thrown an attack yet!  Don't tell me I have you on the ropes already."

"Not yet!" Dinky retorted.  "Your shields pass through the air easily enough, but they can't pass through solid ground!"

Scuffle raised an eyebrow as Dinky dispelled her self-enchantment in favor of a new one.  Golden magic once again surrounded her hooves, but this time it stayed on the exterior, flowing around her forehooves like a cyclone.  It spun faster and faster, until it was nothing but a blur of yellow energy, emitting a high-pitched, electric whine.

Scuffle sensed something was about to happen.  Desperately, he conjured a large fireball and sent it blazing in Dinky's direction.  Before it could arrive, Dinky slammed her front hooves to the floor, and the swirling magic behaved like a powerful drill, ripping apart the stone beneath her.  In just a second or two, she disappeared underground.

Tearing through the bedrock with ease, and knowing full well any damage she caused to the battlefield would be magically repaired once the duel ended, Dinky prepared to burst from the ground and attack from a new angle.  Shifting in the narrow tunnel she had created, she rolled onto her back and prepared to drill upward.

Before she could move, however, the ground began to shake.  Loud rumbling filled her ears.

"W-what's happening?" she asked aloud, though her voice was drowned out by the cacophony around her.

Crack!

Sudden, bright light caused Dinky to squint as the ground above her was torn suddenly and violently open.  She looked up into the eyes of Scuffle, who was peering down into the crevice with mild interest.

"Cool trick, Dinks," he admitted.  "You might've got me with that one if earth magic wasn't my favorite elemental spell."

The rock beneath Dinky shifted, and then rose suddenly and violently upward.  The column of magically manipulated rock burst up from the crevice Scuffle had created with Dinky still lying on top of it, flinging her head over hooves into the air.  Tumbling, and unsure which way was up, she mustered up the clarity of thought to teleport before experiencing a painful impact with the stone floor.  Upon exiting the teleport, back in a normal standing position, she found Scuffle laughing so hard he was struggling to stand.

"Oh, the look on your face when I threw you in the air!" he guffawed.  "You really didn't come prepared to deal with me at all, did you?"

"Don't let him get in your head, Dinky!" Clarity called from the stands.  "Time for one of those backup plans you were telling me about!"

"Yeah, good luck with that," Scuffle snorted.  "I'm done messing around.  It's time to rock this battlefield so hard you won't have a chance to pull any more tricks.  All I have to do is combine self-enchantment with a little of that earth magic, and..."

Scuffle enchanted his legs, and then stamped the floor with a forehoof.  A fissure ripped through the floor where it touched down, filling the room again with the echo of splitting rock as it snaked toward Dinky.

"You're gonna turn the whole battlefield into rubble if you keep that up!" Dinky cried, quickly enchanting her hooves again to leap away from the crumbling ground beneath her.  "Guess I'm gonna have to put a stop to that!"

Scuffle slammed his hoof down, sending another crack through the floor, but this time, he didn't lift it to strike again.  Looking briefly befuddled, he attempted to raise his foreleg, but found the hoof firmly affixed to the ground.

"Wait, why can't I—"

He was cut off as one of Dinky's energy bolts struck him square in the chest.  He flinched, but still didn't move his legs.  Hastily, he covered himself in a domed shield, which Dinky immediately began to chip away at.

"Oh, Dinks, the cement hooves spell?  Like from when we dueled as foals?" he asked, grinning.  "Boy, that's a blast from the past.  What did I do about that last time?  Oh, that's right..."

Dinky knew exactly what was coming, but that didn't prevent her from succumbing to it.  Her body suddenly felt like it was filled with sand.  She struggled to stay standing for a second or two before giving in and sinking to the floor.

Gravity.  The manipulation of gravity was generally considered one of the hardest types of battle magic to master, but Scuffle was an absolute prodigy with it, even when he was a foal.  The iron cage cutie mark he bore was a clear sign of his talents with spells he could use to defend himself by trapping or restricting an opponent, and among those, gravity seemed to be his favorite.

"Now, isn't this familiar!" Scuffle observed, as Dinky lay with her underside pressed against the floor in front of him.  "Last time we fought, as enemies rather than rivals, our duel ended in this very stalemate.  Neither of us can move, and neither of us can cast our next attack spell without releasing the other from their bindings."

"I thought that might happen," Dinky managed to sputter, despite the pressure of Scuffle's spell weighing on her like a ton of bricks.  "In fact, I was so sure we'd end up in this situation that I took the liberty of planning ahead."

Without breaking the spell holding her opponent in place, Dinky let a bit of magic flow into the enchanted amulet around her neck.  The sapphire glimmered with light, and Dinky felt the massive weight lift from her in an instant, leaving her feeling exceptionally light for a few seconds. 

Scuffle, it seemed, didn't initially realize how she was resisting his spell.  He was caught so off guard that he didn't even react fast enough to block the flurry of energy strikes she loosed a second later.  Crying out in surprise and pain, he immediately dropped the now-useless gravity spell and replaced it with a shield.

"It's your amulet, isn't it," he growled as Dinky's powerful offenses began to send cracks through the wall of magic between them.  "And since that one's bound to an object and not your body, it's not gonna wear off."

"That's right!" Dinky giggled, as her horn surged and hurled another blast of light at Scuffle's barrier.  "The effect is enhanced by an engraved rune, too.  Now that I've activated it, any attempt to increase gravity's effect on me will be completely useless."

"Wait, wait, wait," Scuffle said, surprisingly calm about the rapidly splintering shield protecting him.  "It stops me from increasing gravity?"

"What part of that wasn't clear?" Dinky mocked.

Scuffle smirked.  "Just making sure.  'Cause it sounds like it won't help you much if I decided to decrease gravity..."

Dinky blinked, processing his comment.  "If you decrease—"

She didn't get to finish her sentence, primarily because her hooves suddenly lost contact with the floor, and her stomach turned as she plummeted upward toward the arched ceiling.  Fortunately, she had the presence of mind to cast a strong air spell and managed to cradle herself in its whirling winds before they deposited her gently on the underside of the ceiling.  She craned her neck, staring what from her perspective was straight up, and saw the audience far above her, on the floor.

With a flash and a pop, Scuffle appeared on the ceiling as well.  "Boy, what an oversight," he laughed.  "Thought I had you for a second there, but you managed to avoid a bad impact.  Still, fighting on the ceiling should make things interesting."

Dinky cocked her head.  "If we're both under the effects of your inverted gravity, how's it any different than fighting on the floor?"

Scuffle gestured broadly to their surroundings.  "Dinks, this ceiling is vaulted.  Since we're upside down, that means we're basically fighting in a giant bowl instead of on level ground.  And I know just how to take advantage of that."

The colt's horn lit up again, filling his crystal physique with a new self-enchantment.  Then he leapt forward skidding up (or perhaps down?  The implications of reversed gravity made Dinky's head hurt) the side of the bowl as if he was skating on ice.

A frictionless charm now? Dinky realized.  Scuffle's been practicing enchantments a lot more than I realized!

Looking quite smug, Scuffle sailed around her, using the sloping sides of the bowl-shaped battlefield to build up speed or make unexpected turns.  All the while, he fired blazing jets of flame from his horn.  His constant erratic movement made it extremely difficult to predict the position of each attack, and Dinky struggled to react quickly enough to shield or dodge each one.  Any attempts to retaliate were easily avoided; the enchantment made Scuffle just too agile.

I'm outmatched! Dinky realized.  If he's outfighting me, I have to outsmart him instead.  How would Clarity handle this?

An illusion, of course, would be Clarity's first choice, and it occurred to Dinky that in this case, that was exactly what she needed.

Scuffle laughed as he saw Dinky's horn light up.  "Dinks, c'mon, you can't hit me and you know it.  Just throw a spell at that forfeit signal and let's be done with— whoa!"

The illusion, while simple, worked wonders; Dinky made the bowl in which they were fighting appear wider than it was.  Scuffle reached the edge before he was expecting to, and didn't shift his weight enough to stay upright.  He lost his balance and skidded along the surface of the ceiling head-over-hooves, rendering him a sitting duck for a well placed, powerful bolt from Dinky.  The attack hit him just under the chin like an uppercut and sent him tumbling backwards.

"Maybe you should hit the forfeit signal if you don't wanna get knocked out!" she teased.

Scuffle worked his aching jaw for a moment and glared at her.  "Oh, you wanna play with illusions, huh Dinks?" he asked.  "I'm not really an illusions guy myself, but I've got something just as good."

Without warning, Dinky's gravity righted itself.  With a gasp, she hurtled back toward the floor, but this time deployed her wind spell with plenty of time to spare.  The moment she found her footing, however, one of Scuffle's shield sprung up right beside her.  An instant later, two more appeared.  Then another three, and then five more.  In a matter of seconds, Dinky was surrounded by dozens of walls of bluish light.

"See, I don't have to actually manipulate light at all to make a good illusion," Scuffle said proudly, floating back down from the ceiling as lightly as a feather.  "All I need to do is make enough reflective surfaces, and let light's natural properties do the work for me!"

Before Dinky could question what he meant, his aura began to glow much brighter.  The maze of shields, usually translucent, grew stronger, which also increased their opacity.  Soon, Dinky couldn't see through them at all; instead, her reflection stared back at her from each one.

"A hall of mirrors!?" she cried, incredulous.  "Scuffle, how do you have enough energy to keep that many shields at that strength?"

"I've been casting shields since before the first little yellow spark ever left your horn, Dinks," Scuffle replied.

The colt suddenly appeared in all the reflections, right behind Dinky.  She whirled around and attacked, but struck only a shield.  Scuffle, wherever he was, took advantage of her mistake and struck back, singeing her coat with a fireball.  She tried again, using the fire's trajectory as a guide, but only struck another reflected image.  Scuffle seemed to know the layout of his shields well enough to keep track of her position, but she couldn't seem to pinpoint his.  He battered her with spells, and unlike Clarity's little stinging bolts, Scuffle's painful attacks wore her stamina down after just a few hits.

Wait!  I know how to hit him!

Desperately, Dinky cast one more self-enchantment.  Scuffle's next spell hit its mark... and was promptly reflected right back at him.  Not only did this earn Dinky a free hit, but it finally allowed her to figure out which of the dozens of images of Scuffle around her was the real one.

"A reflective spell?" Scuffle panted, shaking off the attack.  "Jeez, this whole duel turned into an exchange of self-enchantments.  I've got one more of my own, and this one oughta finish the job."

He cast another spell on himself, though the effect wasn't immediately apparent.  Dinky didn't wait around to find out, of course; she unleashed a barrage of lasers at Scuffle, renewing her own self-enchantment as often as she could to keep reflecting his counterattacks.  It was clear the colt was getting worn down; he ducked behind the walls in the maze of shields as often as he could, but the majority of her attacks connected.

"Give it up Scuffle!" she yelled, charging up the strongest spell she could muster.  "You're tired, you're out of tricks, and whatever that last enchantment was, it's not helping."

Scuffle turned to face her.  "Fine, Dinks," he barked.  "Then knock me out.  Hit me with your best shot."

In hindsight, it seemed like a trap, but in the moment, Dinky was tired, beaten, and adrenaline-addled.  She let loose a laser so wide that the golden energy engulfed Scuffle completely.  As she heard the gasps and cheers from the crowd, she felt certain she'd dealt the finishing blow.

But when the light faded, Scuffle was still standing.  He looked weathered, for sure.  His legs were shaking and he was panting hard, but despite the incredible damage dealt to him, he smirked.

"Hey Dinks.  Guess what."

Dinky paused.  "...What?"

The smirk widened.  "That last self-enchantment I cast?  It's letting me store your spells.  Every one of those lasers you hit me with?  They've been combined in my body into one concentrated burst."

Dinky's pupils shrank to pinpricks.  "Oh n—"

A spherical burst of Dinky's own magic blasted out of Scuffle all at once, extending in every direction.  It mowed down the maze of shields like they were nothing and surged right toward Dinky.  There was nowhere to run, no way to defend, and no distance she could teleport that would have cleared the blast.

"Aaauugghh!"

Dinky was hurled across the room as the wave of energy hit her like an oncoming train.  She smashed into the stone floor several pony-lengths away, and heard a small, metallic 'crunch' beneath her.  Dazedly, she rolled onto her back and realized her amulet, which had been protecting her from Scuffle's gravity spells, had shattered on impact.

Clearly, Scuffle noticed too, since she felt the force of gravity pin her to the floor a moment later.  Scuffle strode up and placed a forhoof gently on her chest.  She stared up at him, her vision blurry.  Even through bleary eyes, she saw a cloud of debris form in the air above them.  Scuffle, it seemed, was lifting the rocks and rubble created by his fissure attacks earlier, which swirled slowly above him like storm clouds.

"Dinky, I'm gonna give you one last chance," he said quietly, watching her struggle weakly beneath the force of his spell.  "Forfeit now, and you can get up and walk away."

Slowly, Dinky turned her head to the scoreboard.  The forfeit signal waited to receive her magic.  She lit her horn.

But she did not cast the spell.  Instead, she teleported from beneath Scuffle's hoof, reappearing in the air behind him to try to deliver a surprise strike from above.

The moment she rematerialized, she knew the last-ditch plan had failed.  Scuffle hadn't moved, but he was already looking at her out of the corner of his eye.  He'd predicted her plan perfectly.

Time seemed to move in slow motion.  The two unicorns' eyes met, only for an instant, but Scuffle's gaze was enough to say 'well, I warned you.'

The gravity spell kicked in again, slamming Dinky to the floor, and the cloud of rocks and dust followed suit.  Dinky only had one moment to comprehend what was happening before the shroud of earthen debris came down on top of her, and everything went black.





"Dinky?  Dinky dear?  Can you hear me?"

Dinky blinked slowly.  For a few moments, she struggled to comprehend where she was.  She felt like she'd just woken up, but this certainly wasn't her bunk.  After a few seconds, her vision cleared and she saw the academy nurse standing over her.

"Feeling alright, hon?" the mare asked.  "I've already taken care of the healing spells.  Nothing too serious; you had a lot of bruises and a fractured foreleg, probably from that blast that threw you a fair distance, but it's all healed up now.  I figured I'd let you rest for a few minutes, though.  That fight looked like it took a lot out of both of you."

"Oh, the duel," Dinky realized, stiffly sitting up as the memory came back to her.  "I guess I lost, huh?"

"Afraid so, Dinks."

Dinky turned her head.  Scuffle was sitting nearby, and he was back to his normal self.  Honeydew's potion had worn off, and Scuffle's crystal coat had once again been replaced with normal, caramel brown fur.  He gave her a lopsided grin.

"You're not mad I knocked you out, are you?" he asked.  "'Cause let's be fair; any sane pony would've forfeited after that stored magic blast."

Dinky giggled.  "Of course I'm not mad," she promised.  "I mean, come on, that wasn't even the first time I was knocked out by being slammed against a stone surface and buried in a landslide.  And last time it happened, it was a lot more life threatening than your little stunt there."

Scuffle was generally more able to appreciate dark humor than Clarity or Honeydew and the two friends laughed.  The nurse gave Dinky a rather concerned look, but didn't comment.

A few minutes later, Dinky and Scuffle rejoined the rest of their friends.  Professor Surge trotted up to the group as well.

"Fantastic work out there, Dinky," he praised.  "You won't be participating in the finals, but don't let that deter your enthusiasm.  You're easily one of the best duelists I've seen in the past few years.  And as for you, Scuffle, I'm just itching to see what techniques you have in store for the grand finale."

"I would be humbled to have the chance to face such a skilled opponent," Tango Trot said, flashing a gleaming grin in Scuffle's direction.  "I suppose we'll see next week if I can overcome our wonderful classmate Seeker and earn my place in that matchup."

"I'm sure you'll do great," Honeydew encouraged, nuzzling Tango's cheek briefly.  "You and Scuffle are both so talented, I can't imagine it will be anypony but you two in the finals now that Dinky's out."

"You flatter me, Honeydew," Tango Trot replied.  "But that's enough battle magic for now.  Shall we head to the student lounge and review your latest progress with the Lifesense project?"

"Yes please," Honeydew chirped.  "I've got a new theory on the transfer of physical sensory information I wanted to get your opinion on."

The pair of ponies exited the hall, already deep in discussion about biology.  Scuffle watched them go.

"And I'm gonna go train," he said, with a rather harsh note in his voice.  "I got a big match coming up, and I'm not going to lose."

With the rest of the crowd leaving as well, just Dinky, Clarity, and Professor Surge remained.  The instructor turned to Dinky curiously.

"Speaking of research, are we still on for our next session tonight?" he asked.

"You bet," Dinky replied, smiling.  "You're the one coming with me this week, right Clarity?"

The grey filly nodded.  "Just let me know when it's almost time to go so I can do my rounds at the tower and make sure nopony needs an Overseer.  After that, I'm all yours."

"Excellent," Surge said.  "I believe we're getting close to a breakthrough with those counterspells.  I'll see you both tonight."





Dinky waited as Dean Spiral Script performed all the usual spells to tightly lock the battle magic arena.  As usual, only Professor Surge and Counselor Wishing Star, and this time, Clarity, were present.  When the entryway was securely sealed, Dean Script turned, nodded silently to Dinky, and proceeded to her seat in the stands.

Clarity stepped closer and smiled at Dinky.  "I know this is the eighth or ninth one of these sessions you've done now, but as always, please be careful," she recommended.  "Keep your magic under control.  That's the most important thing here."

"Don't worry," Dinky said soothingly.  "The Professor and I have gotten the hang of this now.  Everything will be fine."

Clarity nodded and hopped into the stands.  Dinky began to make her way out into the arena, when she felt a hoof on her back.  She turned, glancing at Wishing Star curiously.

"Don't forget this!" the counselor reminded her, levitating Dinky's diamond pendant off of her neck.  "Last thing you want is to damage something special to you, right?"

"Oh, thanks for reminding me!" Dinky gasped.  "Can you hold onto it for me until the session is over?"

Wishing Star smiled broadly, with a twinkle in her bright pink eyes.  "I'll guard it with my life," she giggled, holding the accessory close to her chest.  "You'll get it back safe and sound when you're done here, I promise."

She climbed into the stands as well, and Dinky stepped onto the battlefield, casually letting the cheery yellow and lilac shades melt off her, revealing the angry violet and smoky black beneath.  Though Professor Surge had gotten over the shock of her appearance after the first few times, he still watched her smooth transformation with marked interest.

"Alright, where did we leave off last session?" she asked, letting the darkness begin to build in her crescent-shaped horn.

"Well, we've now tried every type of standard defense, and the results are... concerning," the professor replied.  "Shields are useless here; when you put your full strength into your attacks, my shields can't even attempt to stop them.  Reflection-on-contact spells aren't much better; dark spells can be reflected, but have so much force behind them that I imagine they'd still injure the pony reflecting them.  That's what the magic thermodynamic equations imply, anyway, but that's as good as we're going to get without aiming a spell directly at me, which we both know isn't a good idea."

"So, since direct defense is almost useless, we need to focus on diverting, weakening, or cancelling dark spells before they hit their target?"  Dinky asked.

"Exactly," Professor Surge declared, nodding excitedly.  "It's a solid theory.  The existing academic texts on countering dark magic are extremely limited, but the small hoofful of spells that are provided there all involve bringing the unpredictability and ferocity of dark magic down to a manageable level so it can be snuffed out.

"Dinky and I have actually witnessed one used outside of these training sessions," Clarity called.  "When Dinky accidentally started a dark fire that almost burned town the fillies' residence tower back in our first year, our Overseer at the time, Sparkler, was the one who cast the spell that brought it under control."

"Ah, yes, I heard about that!" the professor realized.  "That spell involves several components, including dozens if not hundreds of energy spheres that can slowly beat an out-of-control blaze back, as well as a powerful compound rune that functions as a ward for containing it.  It's a fascinating— and effective— combination, and exactly the sort of thing I'm hoping to develop more of with Dinky's help."

"Well, here's something I figured out how to do on my own, so I imagine most wraiths wouldn't have a problem doing the same," Dinky said.  "Stand way back, please.  This is kinda violent."

Professor Surge backpedaled until he was standing near the bleachers with the other ponies.  Dinky let her aura grow stronger, listening to the magic's sinister crackle without fear.  She fired the malevolent spell into the furthest corner of the arena, and once free from her horn, it began to expand.  Soon, it was a great churning cloud of blackness, periodically flashing with black lightning that blew apart chunks of the stone floor wherever it struck.

"If I wasn't restricting it with my power, that storm would continue to grow in size and intensity," Dinky explained.  "I have no idea if there's a limit to it or not.  If a wraith were to let a spell like this to grow unchecked, who knows what would happen.  Maybe it could reduce a whole city to rubble."

Dean Script cleared her throat nervously.  "And you're certain you can keep it under control?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah, that's easy," Dinky answered casually.  "The fire I set years ago got out of control because I was still a unicorn when that happened; once I started it, I was as powerless as everypony else to hold it back.  But now that I'm a wraith, I'd be able to reign in that spell too."

"That makes it sound like the best candidate to defeat a wraith is... well, another wraith," Clarity observed.

"Probably," Professor Surge admitted.  "But that's not a viable option, since there's precisely one good wraith in Equestria right now.  What we need is more strategies for unicorns to extinguish dark fires or storms."

"Well, you've got a captive storm to experiment on," Dinky pointed out, gesturing to the cloud as it shattered a small bit of the wall with another savage lightning strike.  "Start with the same kind of magic used in that spell to beat back the fire, maybe, and go from there."

For the next half hour, Professor Surge tried a number of spells to weaken the black cloud.  Almost everything he tried either passed harmlessly through it, or was dispelled when it came in contact with the lightning.

"Too bad there's no such thing as pegasus wraiths," Clarity joked.  "They'd probably be able to wrangle dark magic storm clouds."

"Actually, Clarity, that gives me an idea," Professor Surge gasped, his eyes lighting up with inspiration.  "Rather than negating the magic with a direct spell, maybe I can control it by magically manipulating natural elements!"

The stallion's horn blazed with light, and the thunderous sound of whipping wind filled the room.  Dinky had always considered herself a decent wind conjurer, but this gust had to be ten times the strength of what she could produce.

The professor expertly directed the wind toward Dinky's dark storm.  Once his spell reached hers, it began to spin, becoming a powerful cyclone in seconds.  The darkness lashed out at it with lightning, but there was nothing to hit; even dark lightning couldn't destroy wind.

The cyclone spun faster as it grew more narrow, and gradually, Dinky's malicious cloud was compressed by the force of the rushing air around it.  Quickly, the professor used a laser-like spell to burn an intricate, circular rune into the floor directly below it.  Once the cloud was compressed to such a small space that it was entirely within the circle, the professor charged the rune with energy.

All at once, the lightning stopped, the crackling quieted, and the cloud itself stopped churning.  It gradually dissipated, floating away like smoke until it was no longer visible.

"That's it!" Dinky cried, watching the last wisps of black fade away.

"Write that down, Wishing Star!" Professor Surge called, trotting excitedly in place.  "Ethereal dark spells like storm clouds can be compressed into a small space and then rendered harmless with a darkness suppressing rune circle!"

"Got it!" the counselor replied, scribbling frantically in her notepad.

"Oh Dinky, this is brilliant!" the professor continued as he turned back to his wraith companion.  "It's taken us months of work to flesh out the abilities and limitations of dark magic, but we finally have a fully functional counterspell!  And I'm sure there are many more on the way."

"One thing to remember, though," Dinky pointed out.  "Wraiths are most likely only going to use spells like that when they want to cause wide-scale destruction.  Why go through all the trouble of starting an uncontrollable fire or an ever-growing storm in a one-on-one encounter when you can just murder a pony with one well-placed dark bolt?"

"True, but it's a start," Professor Surge said thoughtfully.  "One extremely skilled unicorn may be able to hold their own against a wraith in combat, if they know what to expect and are adept at dodging rather than blocking, but crowds of civilians won't have the same chances of survival.  One trained unicorn could save many ponies if they can defuse a wide-reaching dark attack."

"Well, let's try another one," Dinky said, excitedly, letting dark magic rush into her horn again.  "I'm sure I can cook up something else for you to counter."

"Um, excuse me, can I ask a question?"

All heads in the room turned to Wishing Star.  It was a bit unusual for her to speak up; her knowledge of magic, after all, paled in comparison to everypony else in the room, including the students.

"This is off topic, but I'm just kind of curious about how you control all that magic," the mare admitted, glancing at the other ponies for approval.  "You can produce all these lethal, frightening attacks with such ease, the darkness just beneath the surface of your body must be immense.  Do you ever struggle to hold it back?"

"I used to, when I was a unicorn," Dinky explained.  "During my first term, dreams, emotions, and even the position of the stars would draw dark magic out of my horn against my will.  I've never struggled with it since becoming a wraith, though."

"So, like anypony, I'm sure you get upset sometimes," Wishing Star continued.  "Your magic doesn't react when that happens anymore?"

"Oh, it reacts," Dinky replied.  "When I'm upset or angry or stressed, the darkness churns inside me and fights to break free.  The difference is that when that happens to a unicorn, the magic usually succeeds in getting out.  Wraiths don't seem to have that issue.  I mean, has your horn ever lit up with unicorn magic against your will?  Because dark magic is as natural for me as normal magic is for you."

Wishing Star sighed and wiped her brow.  "That's a relief," she breathed.  "With every one of these sessions, I understand more why the staff here considers it such a big deal that you're a wraith.  I'm glad we don't have to worry about the wraith in you breaking free from your control."

"We're all grateful for that, Dinky most of all," Spiral Script said.  "She carries an enormous responsibility, but she bears her burden with grace.  Let's all hope that's how it remains for many years to come."

Dinky smiled.  Encouraged by the dean's words, she continued to work with the professor for the rest of the session.  In no time at all, it was time to call it quits for the day.

"I'm proud of you, Dinky," Clarity declared as she galloped to her friend's side.  "I had my doubts when you started this months ago, but you and Professor Surge are really making progress!  This stuff's gonna be saving ponies' lives someday, I'm sure."

"She's really doing a great job isn't she?" Wishing Star asked as she passed Dinky's diamond pendant back to her.  "Here's hoping you guys come up with a few more spells next session."

Dinky smiled as she returned her prized accessory to her neck, and then she and Clarity followed the professor and the dean out of the room.

"Yes, you're doing a great job managing your powers, Dinky," Wishing Star muttered under her breath as she trailed along as the back of the group.  "But not for much longer..."





The first few days of September were of a dreary, cloudy sort.  It was fitting, Ditzy thought.   She hadn't seen Breeze in a few days now; her only news of him was that which Watt and Cloudcover could provide.  The future of her relationship was cloudy at best. 

But Sparkler's future wasn't going to be like that.  Not if Ditzy had anything to say about it anyway.  She strode confidently through the damp, late summer air, determined to help the pony who needed her most right now.  There would be time to worry about her own future later.

Sparkler's future would be bright.  Brighter than it had been since she was a filly.  Ditzy assured herself of it over and over as she approached Sparkler's apartment and gently knocked.

For a few moments, there was silence.  Eventually the door opened a crack, and Sparkler peered out, giving Ditzy her usual phlegmatic stare.

"Ah.  Mrs. Doo.  Come on in."

Ditzy was ushered into the dim apartment, and Sparkler quickly shut the door behind her.

"So, if you're here, it's time to seek out Presto?" she asked.

"That's right," Ditzy replied, nodding resolutely.  "Do you need help getting ready to go?"

A small duffel bag hovered into the room in a field of purple magic, and dropped to the floor with a dull thud.  "I've been ready," Sparkler said flatly.  "I packed the essentials the day after we last spoke.  It's been ready to go for weeks."

"Yeah, sorry about the delay..." Ditzy apologized, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.  "Work has been getting... rough.  I never meant for it to take two months before I could allot the time to make the trip."

"It doesn't matter," Sparkler said dismissively.  "The next northbound train leaves in about an hour.  Are we taking that one?"

Ditzy nodded.  "Yep.  We even have enough time to take the back roads, so we don't risk running into your mother somewhere on the way."

"Good.  Let's go."

Curt and concise as usual, Sparkler exited the home, with Ditzy close behind.  For a few minutes, they walked in silence.  Ditzy was used to Sparkler's mannerisms by now, though, and there would be plenty of time to coach her on how to act during the long train ride.

So it came as a surprise when Sparkler spoke up.

"So Mrs. Doo... how, uh... how does my... father feel about what you're doing for me?"

Ditzy stopped mid-stride.  "Well," she said slowly.  "Breeze is... well, he wants you to be happy.  That's been his goal since you two met."

Maybe it was something about the vague way she worded it, or perhaps the twinge of unease in her voice.  Whatever the reason, Sparkler didn't seem satisfied with the answer.

"Even if he does, there's more to it than that, isn't there?" she asked, glancing at Ditzy suspiciously.  "He does know you're taking me to see Presto, right?"

"Oh, he knows," Ditzy said quickly.  "He just... well, he thought, err..."

Sparkler's eyes narrowed.  "He doesn't support the idea, does he?"

"I-I mean, yes and no... and... h-how did you know something was up?" Ditzy stammered.

"You're an easy pony to read, Mrs. Doo," Sparkler muttered.  "Your tone says more than your words sometimes."

Ditzy grimaced, and said nothing.

"I guess I'm not surprised," Sparkler continued.  "That stallion didn't care enough about my mother to realize he had a daughter for over twenty years.  Why would he suddenly care now?"

"It's not like that!" Ditzy insisted, looking at the dour unicorn desperately.  "I'm not lying to you!  Breeze thinks you deserve happiness, and he just wants to find a way to give you a chance to find it!"

"Then why doesn't he want me to see Presto again!?" Sparkler shot back.

"He does!  I mean... kind of," Ditzy whimpered.  "He and I had the same goal: to help you!  We just had different ideas on how best to do that, and he doesn't know you like I do, and we disagreed, and I didn't think he'd just leave like this just because—"

She gasped and clapped a hoof over her mouth, but she'd said far too much.  The damage was done.

Sparkler stood still as a statue for several seconds, staring straight ahead.  In the distance a low rumble of thunder signaled an oncoming summer storm.

"Spar—"

"Even you, huh?"

Ditzy blinked.  "Pardon me?"

"A few years ago," Sparkler said softly, "your daughter made me believe that I was wrong.  That bonds with other ponies didn't have to end in pain.  That shutting everypony out of my life wasn't the route to happiness."

She wheeled around suddenly, staring directly into Ditzy's eyes.  Her expression was wild and desperate, almost animalistic, and her whole body quivered; Ditzy fought the urge to back off.

"Eventually I met you, Mrs. Doo," Sparkler continued, her voice growing louder and more frantic.  "You, an experienced pony matchmaker.  You, a pony with a relationship that seemed happy, and meaningful, and fulfilling.  Surely if there were ponies like that, it meant maybe relationships could work after all!"

"And they can!" Ditzy assured her.  "Just let me—"

"But then," Sparkler interrupted, with an expression that almost resembled a twisted, ironic smile, "there was one disagreement.  One thing came between you and your partner."

"We just need a chance to work things out!" Ditzy said back to her, trying to sound more sure then she felt.  "Breeze and I will—"

"Autumn Breeze left you!" Sparkler roared, her declaration further accentuated by another, much louder peal of thunder.  "And do you know what that means, Mrs. Doo?  Or should I remind you?"

Before Ditzy could move, Sparkler lit her horn and touched it to Ditzy's head, plunging her into the memoryscape again.  For a few seconds, a scene she had seen before was displayed before her.  There, in the memory, was a young, sobbing Sparkler, and an angry, bitter Cosmic Glow.  The blue unicorn repeated those awful, awful words.

"When you let somepony into your life, when you let them affect your emotions, fuel your interests, and influence your decisions, you're placing your weak point in their hooves! And the moment they decide you're not the best thing in their life, they'll yank that part of you away. Then they'll turn up their nose, without a care for the damaged, hollow shell of a pony they've left in their wake."

The memory vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, and the vision was replaced with Sparkler's desperate face.

"Sparkler... no...  It's not true..."

"It is true, Mrs. Doo!" Sparkler cried.  "No matter how close a friendship grows, no matter how perfect a relationship is, it only takes a moment to destroy it, and leave behind an empty pony who gave their heart away!"

"But Sparkler!"

"Shut up!"

Sparkler's horn flared.  A powerful magic wave radiated out from her, shattering every window on the block and throwing poor Ditzy against a wall.  She groaned and slumped to the dirt road beneath.  Dizzily, she stared at the unicorn still standing in the middle of the street; judging by her expression, she clearly hadn't meant to put so much power behind her spell.

"It... it doesn't have to be like this, you know," Ditzy mumbled as she lay there, in spite of the aches plaguing her.

Sparkler's eyes were full of more despair than Ditzy had believed possible.  The young mare hung her head, but that didn't hide the tear stains on her cheeks.

"Yes it does, Mrs. Doo.  The terrible, ghastly truth of the matter is clear now.  My mother, selfish and cruel as she was... was right all along."

She lifted her bag in her aura and turned away.  "Go home, Mrs. Doo," she said hoarsely.  "I'm sorry I hurt you.  But it's time for you to worry about your own problems.  Because you can't fix mine.  Nopony can."

In a flash of teleportation, she was gone.  Ditzy struggled to her hooves and limped to the spot where she'd been standing a moment before, as if expecting to find some trace of her still there.

The heavens opened.  Rain poured down by the bucketload, utterly soaking Ditzy's fur in seconds.  All the same, she supposed; the water masked the tears now streaming down her face.  She slowly sank to her haunches, sitting in the muddy road with her head bowed.

It's over.  I made the wrong choice.  I thought I was doing what was right, but I betrayed Breeze's trust, and now I've extinguished the only flicker of hope left in Sparkler.  All I wanted was to help a pony in need, and now... I've failed all my loved ones...

A deafening clap of thunder boomed overhead as Ditzy, with an aching body and an anguished heart, fell into the mud and sobbed.





It was night.  Cosmic Glow approached the abandoned home outside of town.  As she got close, she spotted Wishing Star standing in the doorway, gazing at her with a smug smile.  She quickened her pace, rushing over to her host.

"Is it done?" she asked as she skidded to a halt in front of the orange mare.

"Oh, it's done, and in such a poetic way, too," Wishing Star crooned, the soft flicker of her horn lengthening Glow's shadow.  "The assignment I arranged forced Ditzy and Breeze to take sides on the matter of Sparkler's future, even though Sparkler wasn't aware that she'd become the subject of a shipping mission.  Ditzy was so set in her convictions that she sabotaged the assignment!  You can imagine how Breeze took the news; after all, he was lied to and betrayed, just as he was when a certain somepony sabotaged an assignment years ago."

"Then they... they've separated?" Glow asked, hardly daring to believe it.

"This week, they've only worked on alternating days," Wishing Star giggled.  "Ditzy's a mopey mess, and Breeze refuses to even speak about her.  Neither has seen the other since the incident at all.  It seems, Cosmic Glow, that you finally got your revenge."

A delighted laugh escaped Glow, and she fought the urge to jump around like an excited schoolfilly.  "At last!" she cried, trotting in a little circle gleefully.  "Equestria Speedy Shipping Services is falling apart, and Ditzy's relationship has been torn to shreds.  Finally, that rat of a pegasus will know what it's like to suffer!"

Wishing Star bowed low, like a performer at a curtain call.  "It was nothing," she giggled.  "Those ponies are so naive, they never had the faintest suspicion that I was involved with any of this.  Their fate was already sealed the moment I eliminated Candyfloss."

Glow nearly tripped over her own hooves.  She stopped dead, staring at the mare in front of her, who continued to stare back with a satisfied smile.

"Did... did you say when you eliminated Candyfloss?"

Wishing Star rolled her eyes.  "Oh come now, you don't really think the mysterious passing of the only truly perceptive pony at that place was a coincidence, did you?" she asked, tossing her multicolored mane playfully.  "Though, to be fair, I did cover my tracks quite well.  The first dose of poison was never meant to kill, only to cause a health scare.  That way, everypony would believe the old goat was getting frail in his advanced age.  Nopony ever thought twice about me sneaking into Ponyville Urgent Care in hospital garb to deliver the fatal dose in his lunch.  Since he died already in the care of the doctors, nopony even suspected foul play.  And when you brought me his journal, you removed the last opportunity he had to pass on any of those perceptions of his to his employees."

"Y-you're a psychopath!" Glow gasped, backpedaling frantically.  "Look, I was in this because I wanted Ditzy to be as miserable as I was, but I'd never physically harm somepony, let alone kill them!"

Wishing Star's smile faded.  "What are you upset about?" she growled.  "You got what you wanted, and I did the dirty work."

"I'm upset because you murdered somepony!" Glow bellowed, horrified.

Wishing Star yawned to emphasize how little this seemed to bother her.  She removed her bejeweled headband, glancing at the glistening crystals on it.  "Yes, I suppose I did," she said, shrugging.  "What are you planning to do about it?"

"Inform the authorities in Canterlot, of course!" Glow cried.  "I'm not just going to let a violent criminal walk free in—"

Wishing Star lit her horn, and a small, pink gem was plucked off her headband with a small snap.  Then it was whipped through the air at incredible speed.  It struck Glow's chest and, mysteriously, passed right through, leaving no sign of a wound.

"Aghhk!"

Glow clutched at the spot where the crystal had entered and sank to the ground, panting hard and wincing in pain.  "W-what?  What did you..."

"Glow, dear, did you ever ask yourself what my reason for helping with this plan was?" Wishing Star asked, stepping closer and peering down at her.  "You didn't, did you?  You were content with my vague reassurance that we had the same goal, because you're as naive as all those other ponies."

Glow felt another wave of searing pain radiate through her from the point where the strange crystal had struck.  Unable to speak, she just stared at the other unicorn, eyes bulging.

"You see, Glow, these crystals of hate are funny little things," Wishing Star continued, gesturing specifically to the pink gems that made up part of the rainbow of her headband.  "They only work if the pony they're used on has been fully consumed by the hatred of another.  I don't care about whether Ditzy suffers or not; I never did.  She just happened to be the subject of some of the purest, most virulent hate I've ever encountered: yours.  And now, at last, your obsessive, vindictive needs have allowed one of my crystals of hate to take hold within you."

"But... w-what are you doing to me?" Glow gasped, clutching desperately at her chest and writhing in pain.

"You'll see soon enough," Wishing Star said casually.  "The point is, Ditzy was just another casualty; it's you, Cosmic Glow, that I need to fulfill my plans.  And now that hate has consumed you fully, you're mine."

Glow tried to gurgle out a reply, but another pain shot through her, ten times as agonizing as the one before.  She curled up on the ground, unable to bear it any longer, and blacked out.  The last thing she heard was Wishing Star's faint, malicious giggle, fading on the quiet night breeze.