Magic of the Heart

by Pegasus Rescue Brigade

Chapter 12

"Sparkler? Is it... is it really you? But how?"

Ditzy watched silently from her hiding spot as Sparkler struggled to maintain eye contact with her flabbergasted former classmate. "Well I was, uh, in town, and... it's a crazy coincidence really... I heard somepony mention your name, so I inquired, and it turned out you lived just up the road," she said, stumbling over her story a bit. "Small world, huh? I thought, since I hadn't seen you since our academy days, I'd... see if you were around?"

It seemed to Ditzy that Sparkler was struggling to maintain a neutral expression. It was clear that she wanted to frown, or turn away, or maybe turn tail and flee, but she continued to stand rooted to the front step, making unnervingly focused eye contact with the stallion in front of her.

"I... I'm here," Presto managed. "I mean... yes, you found me! You're visiting! Hello!"

He coughed awkwardly. "I'm sorry, that came out really weird," he apologized. "You just really caught me off guard. To be honest... I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

Sparkler nodded slowly. "Neither did I, for a while," she confessed, dropping her gaze to her hooves. "I see just showing up like this has got you kind of flustered. If this isn't gonna work, I can just go and—"

"No no no, come in, come in, please," Presto urged, stepping aside and gesturing into the foyer with a forehoof. "I know that got a bit odd for a second there, but I don't want to miss a chance to see an old friend."

Sparkler cast a brief glance at the bushes where she knew Ditzy was hidden, and then took Presto's invitation and slowly stepped inside.

Old friend? That's a good sign, Ditzy thought as she shifted her position to peer into the window. Sparkler's not exactly off to a great start, but it seems like Presto's pretty forgiving when it comes to that sort of thing.

Crouching lower in the shrubs, she watched through the window as Presto entered the sitting room, with Sparkler trotting warily along behind.

"Something to drink?" Presto asked. "If you've been traveling, I'm sure you could use something."

Sparkler opened her mouth to reply, but Presto cut her off. "Wait! I remember. Tea, right? You always seemed to have a mug of tea with you when you were studying."

"Um... tea would be great, actually," Sparkler replied, blinking in surprise.

"Great, I'll go put the water on," Presto said quickly, disappearing into the next room. "Make yourself comfortable!"

Sparkler waited a moment, and then discreetly sidled over to the window. "He seems a little antsy," she mumbled.

"I know, but there's so many good things going on here already," Ditzy whispered back. He definitely wants to be a good host. He remembers little details about you from school, like your favorite drink. You're definitely not gone from his mind, just show him he never left yours, either!"

Sparkler bit her lip. "But how?"

The sound of hoofsteps approached, and Ditzy had no choice but to duck back into the bushes. Hurriedly, Sparkler sat down on the couch.

"I put the water on," Presto announced as he returned. "It'll be just a few minutes, okay?"

Sparkler simply nodded. After a moment, she opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again and looked away.

Presto sat down in a chair across from her, and when it was clear Sparkler was going to let the growing silence continue if it was up to her, he spoke.

"So Sparkler, it's been... huh, I guess almost four years now," he observed. "What've you been up to?"

Ditzy tensed. Uh-oh. What has Sparkler been up to?

Sparkler glanced around, as if expecting the answer to Presto's question was written somewhere nearby. "Well, after graduation, I went back to Ponyville... and, um..."

She paused, fishing for the words. Presto gave her a concerned look.

"Are you nervous?" he asked finally. "It's just me, Sparkler. We saw each other every day for years. You know you can talk to me, right?"

"Y-yeah, I know," Sparkler stuttered. "Sorry Presto, I guess it's just been a long time and I'm worn out from travel and maybe I'm not thinking as clearly as I thought I was..."

Presto chuckled softly. "That's understandable," he admitted, nodding. "And of course, I don't mean to pressure you or anything. I was just curious; after all, you were just so brilliant during our school years, I can only imagine what you've discovered since then."

"Oh. Well yes, there have been a few things like that," Sparkler replied, looking slightly relieved. "I've continued to study magic, of course. I always was a fan of enchantments. Speaking of which, have you read the recent thesis by Dr. C. Zirconia on extending the duration of enchantments on non-crystalline solids via structural alteration by means of transformation spells?"

Presto's eyes widened. "Dr. Zirconia has a new publication?" he asked excitedly.

"It's got a few big breakthroughs in it," Sparkler added, starting to sound marginally more comfortable. "Professor Luster peer reviewed it, of course."

"I wonder if there's a copy yet in the library at the University of Trottowa?" Presto pondered. "Speaking of which, I teach there now. It's just Magic Theory, nothing too exciting compared to Celestia's Academy, but it's nice to see a class where earth ponies and pegasi can get involved too."

"You're teaching?" Sparkler gasped. "You know, the younger foals always did love you as an Overseer. Now that I think about it, it's not too surprising to find you working at a university."

"I'm not sure I'll ever quite get used to being called 'Professor Presto' though," the stallion laughed. "Where are you working now? If you're still in Ponyville, I'm sure Canterlot's not an unmanageable commute."

Ditzy watched Sparkler's whole body tense up again. "Oh, well I'm... sort of—"

A high pitched whistle from the kitchen interrupted them. "That would be the tea!" Presto called over the noise. "Hold that thought Sparkler."

He got to his hooves again. The moment his shiny black tail disappeared through the door, Sparkler rushed to the window.

"What do I say?" she hissed. "All I've worked since graduation was dead end jobs, and right now I don't have one at all. What will Presto think if he finds out I'm unemployed? I'm the valedictorian of our year, for Luna's sake!"

"It'll be okay," Ditzy said. "You've been... struggling, after all. Your family situation and everything else have taken a toll. I'm sure he'll understand."

Sparkler scowled. "Mrs. Doo, this hasn't exactly been going well so far. If he realizes I'm like... well, like I am... I'm not gonna have a chance."

Ditzy wanted to encourage her, but the sound of Presto's hooves meant they were out of time. Sparkler barely returned to her spot on the couch before Presto walked in, carrying two mugs of tea and a few other kitchen items in his aura.

"Here you are," he said, offering her a steaming mug in his aura. "It's a bit bitter, but I've got honey and cinnamon here so you can sweeten it as much as you want."

Sparkler's magic took hold of one of the mugs, but she ignored the other ingredients. "I drink it as is," she said flatly, as she softly blew away some of the steam.

Presto raised an eyebrow. "Well, if that's what you prefer..." he conceded as he added a generous spoonful of honey to his own mug and stirred it slowly with a cinnamon stick. "Anyway, sorry, where were we? Oh right, what else have you been up to since we left the Academy?"

Sparkler took a moment's respite from the conversation by taking a long sip of her tea. "I've met with some, err, challenges in that time," she confessed, staring into her mug rather than at the stallion across from her. "I'm not employed at this particular moment. I will be soon, I expect, but I have some... some things I need to take care of first."

Now it was Presto's turn to formulate a response while sipping his tea. "That's a shame," he said finally. "A bright mare like you could do just about anything you put your mind to. I'm sure you'll find something soon."

Sparkler nodded. Yet again, the conversation fizzled out. For a minute or so, both ponies sat quietly, sipping their tea.

Come on! Ditzy thought urgently. You have to do something, Sparkler! Anything!

But Sparkler, it seemed, was paralyzed. Too nervous to try to make any sort of attempt to get Presto's attention, she seemed to sink deeper into the couch, now too overcome by her own misgivings to even look at the pony across from her.

"Sparkler."

He hadn't said it loudly, but the break in the crushing silence made Sparkler jump. She looked at Presto, who was watching her with a tiny frown.

"Yes?"

Presto sighed. "Sparkler, I mean it when I say it's nice to see an old friend, but... well, why are you here? I'm sorry if that's rude of me to ask but... well, it's not hard to see that you aren't enjoying your visit. Why go out of your way to see me if you... didn't really want to?"

"But I... I did want to," Sparkler stammered, curling her tail around herself protectively.

"Did you though?" Presto asked, though to Ditzy, the question didn't really seem accusatory so much as simply sad. "As our time at Celestia's Academy went on, it seemed like you just... slipped further and further away. I tried to reach out, I really did, but by our final term, it seemed like I couldn't even talk to you about anything that didn't have to do with our Overseer duties. The last time we talked before today was at the formal Graduates' Ball a week or two before the end of the term, and you just... didn't seem interested in making anything change. Now you're here in my sitting room, but... well, it's still no different, is it?"

Taken aback, Sparkler stared at her sorrowful old friend. "Presto, I..."

She paused. Presto managed a small, sad smile, and gestured for her to continue.

"Maybe... maybe you're right," she said, hanging her head. "Maybe this was pointless."

Outside the window, Ditzy shook her head madly, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. No, no, no! This can't be happening! We were so close! Why can't Sparkler just open up!?

Sparkler suddenly got to her hooves. "Sorry for wasting your time, Presto," she mumbled, setting the nearly empty mug of tea down on an end table and slowly making her way to the door.

Presto watched her go with a complex expression on his face, but he made no move to stop her. In that moment, it seemed like Sparkler's visit, and for that matter, Ditzy's months-long endeavor, were over.

But then Sparkler stopped.

Another long, awkward moment passed. Presto tilted his head slightly.

"No."

Presto blinked. "Pardon me?"

"I said no," Sparkler repeated. "There's absolutely no reason for me to just leave now. I literally have nothing to lose."

"What are you talking about?" Presto asked.

Sparkler turned to face him. Her eyes were wet, but the look on her face was as determined as Ditzy had ever seen it.

"Let me start over," she said suddenly. "First of all, I'm not out traveling Equestria. I got on a train and rode it for two long days, specifically to wind up right here in this sitting room."

Presto blinked. "Wha—"

"Secondly, I didn't come alone. I've been planning this for a while," Sparkler declared. "A mare who has shown me more kindness than I deserve has been helping me figure out how to approach you. She's waiting outside for me right now, and I'll talk to her after we're done here. She's not at fault for my behavior; if I'd done as she said, this visit would've gone a lot better from the start."

"Wait, you traveled hundreds of miles, and had a pony coaching you, specifically to see me?" Presto asked, incredulous. "But why, Sparkler?"

Sparkler squeezed her eyes shut. "Because you're the only damn pony in Equestria who ever gave a flying feather about me, and I was too stupid to appreciate it!" she yelled.

Presto's eyes went wide. The mug fell from his aura, hitting the carpet with a dull thud and spilling tea everywhere. Neither pony seemed to care.

"It seems we have a bit more talking to do," he said when he finally found his voice. "You're, um, welcome to sit back down."

Ditzy watched in disbelief as Sparkler returned to the couch. The cat was out of the bag now; all that was left to do was to see what would happen between the two unicorns as a result.

"Now that you asked me a difficult question, I'm afraid I have to do the same," Sparkler admitted.

"I think I owe you that much after the response you gave me," Presto agreed, casually using some magic Ditzy couldn't conceive of to clean up the tea, leaving the rug spotless. "What's on your mind?"

Sparkler swallowed hard, but it was clear that she was far past the point of chickening out. In a shivering voice, she spoke.

"W-why, exactly, did you used to like me?"

A bit of color showed through the white fur of Presto's cheeks. "Sparkler, when we were foals, I can hardly think of anypony that was a better friend than you," he admitted. "I know we were just barely teens at the time, but those first months at the Academy were some of the happiest times I can remember. You remember too, right?"

"We spent almost every day together," Sparkler reminisced, nodding solemnly. "I remember warm spring days we spent on the grounds, playing and practicing the new spells we were learning."

"It was more than that!" Presto insisted. "Sparkler, you were always a little shy, and there's nothing wrong with that, but when you and I started to grow close, it was... well, more magical than that school itself, and that's saying something. You seemed to be everything I could ever want it a friend: smart and inquisitive, even among the student's of Celestia's Academy, and unusually mature for your age too, but still fun and joyful and passionate. Spending those months with you at one of the most amazing places in Equestria... it was one of the happiest times of my life."

Sparkler drew a halting breath. "And then?"

"And then... things changed," Presto muttered. "With each new term, the rules you imposed on yourself were more strict. We hung out increasingly less often, and certainly not for my lack of trying. It was like you just decided to drop everything I know you loved from your life, with the exception of magic, all at once. And I tried and tried, but that pony I knew in our first term shone through less and less."

"Most ponies would've given up," Sparkler pointed out. "But even in our fifth term, you were still trying to keep some sliver of that friendship alive."

"I did," Presto confirmed. "And that's because, Sparkler, I didn't... no, I don't believe that the pony I knew as a foal is gone. Sure, your interests are different. You're older, and more mature. But I simply can't imagine that a pony with that much heart just... faded away. I wanted so badly to find her again, bring her out of you, but then, well... our fifth term ended, and we went our separate ways. I felt like I had failed."

The young stallion lit his horn and conjured a handkerchief to dab his eyes. Sparkler didn't look much better.

"Maybe now it's far too late, but can I at least try to explain myself?" she asked.

Presto nodded in assent. "Please do."

"Those decisions weren't entirely mine," Sparkler said bitterly. "You might recall I was raised by only my mother. You never met her, but she... she was bad for me. I think somewhere, I always knew that, but I didn't realize exactly how bad until years later."

"Were... were you abused?" Presto asked softly.

"Physically? No," Sparkler replied. "Emotionally? Absolutely. My mother insisted that there was no such thing as true, lasting love or friendship; that those feelings were fleeting, and in the long run, forming bonds with other ponies would only hurt me."

The sympathy in her friend's face was obvious. "Oh, Sparkler that—"

"For a long time, too long, I believed her," Sparkler continued, determined to finish her story before she broke down completely. "I convinced myself... really, truly believed... that I'd be better off if I isolated myself from everypony. And I would've remained that way forever if not for Dinky Doo."

Presto raised his eyebrows. "She was... the filly who got mixed up in dark magic somehow during our final term, right?" he inquired. "What in Equestria does she have to do with this?"

"She may have battled darkness that year, but that filly had light in her heart that far outweighed the dark," Sparkler declared. "She was the pony who finally made me realize all I was doing was making myself miserable, and that bonds with other ponies weren't something to be avoided and feared. I even... tried to reach out to you, to maybe try one more time to rekindle an old friendship, at our graduation ceremony... only, you didn't attend. A family emergency, if I recall. I never saw you again, until today. The only reason that even happened is because of the pony who helped me find you, who, ironically, is Dinky Doo's mother. It's only because the two of them were able to see through the layers of bitterness and indifference I'd buried myself in that any of this even happened."

Presto stared at Sparkler for a long moment. "Now, forgive me if I'm way off base here..." he said carefully. "But if this is all true, that means the reason you distanced yourself further and further from me as we grew up was because..."

He trailed off. Sparkler worked her tongue for a moment as she tried to force herself to finish the thought he'd started.

"Because honestly, deep down... I liked you too," she said hoarsely. "And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stamp those feelings out, so I felt I had no choice but to bury them deeper, and distance myself more, and treat you worse, and—"

Her voice broke, and she collapsed on her stomach on the couch, sobbing. "I'm so sorry!" she wailed. "I didn't know what I was doing! I thought, in the long run, I'd be better off, but—"

She couldn't muster up any more words, and dissolved into incoherent weeping, her face buried in the couch cushion.

Outside, Ditzy sat in the underbrush, stunned. This was not at all how she'd expected any of this to go, but it made sense, in a way. Sparkler had been hanging onto this emotional baggage for so long.

But will Presto help her with that burden?

After a few more moments of staring at the distraught pony across from him, Presto got to his hooves and moved to the couch, hesitantly seating himself on the one cushion Sparkler wasn't occupying. Carefully, he lifted one forehoof, and slowly placed it on the back of Sparkler's head, stroking her mane. For a moment, Ditzy expected Sparkler to throw him off; after all, she hadn't responded well to most of Ditzy's attempts to offer any sort of physical comfort.

Instead, Sparkler simply lifted her head a few inches, peering up at Presto through bleary eyes.

"I knew you were hurting, but I never quite understood why," the stallion said, continuing to gently rub Sparkler's mane. "I tried, but I couldn't find a way to reach you. I should be apologizing too, for failing at that."

"Presto, no..." Sparkler whimpered. "Even in our fifth term, when I would hardly speak to you, you still tried to be a good friend. You never gave up on me. This happened because I gave up on myself."

Presto gripped Sparkler's forehoof and gently helped her back into a sitting position. "But you're here now," he reminded her. "You didn't truly give up. If you did, you wouldn't be here right now."

"Only because of Mrs. Doo..." Sparkler admitted. "I was ready to give up, but she wouldn't let me. Part of me is still afraid that those things my mother made me believe are true, and heck, part of me was just... scared to see you again."

"Why is that?" Presto asked.

Sparkler gave him a pained look. "Because after Dinky helped me see where I'd gone astray, the more I thought about things, the more I realized how selfish I was," she groaned. "All those years at school, all you were trying to do was be a good friend, and I was so scared of friendship that I never even stopped to think that I was treating you like you were worthless to me. I was a terrible, wretched pony, and I guess I have to accept that I may have lost a friend because of it. At least now I got to apologize."

Shoulders slumped and ears drooping, Sparkler sat ashamed, waiting for a reply. A bit of surprise crossed her features when she felt Presto place his foreleg around her shoulders.

"Sparkler, maybe I couldn't help you, but somepony else did," Presto said quietly. "Like I said before, I never stopped trying to recapture your interest because I never stopped believing that my best friend was still in there somewhere. And looking at you now, I see a little crack in that wall you build around yourself, and the Sparkler I knew years ago shining through from inside."

Sparkler sniffed. "And... do you still want to be close to that original Sparkler?" she whispered.

Presto smiled. "You think I'd miss a chance to win back a friend like that?" he asked. "Right here, right now, I'm talking to the real Sparkler, who I haven't spoken to since our first term at Celestia's Academy almost a decade ago. That Sparkler was my best friend, and I missed her dearly. Now that I've finally found the part of you I thought I lost, maybe this time... it doesn't have to end?"

For a long, silent moment, Sparkler stared at Presto, her eyes wide with wonder. "I... I'd like that," she squeaked, "but... I have a long way to go. I'm taking my first steps into living a kind of life that I'm not used to. Asking for help, making my feelings known, connecting with other ponies... I'm new to all of it. I'd love to have my best friend back to help me get started, but... I know I won't be perfect right away. Will you be patient with me?"

Presto grinned. "Don't worry, I'll help you get up to speed," he promised. "What are friends for, right?"

And then, Ditzy watched as something new happened; something she'd never seen before. Something so foreign that until that moment, she hadn't even realized it was possible, but seeing it filled her with a joy she couldn't even describe.

Sparkler smiled.

Sure, it wasn't a dramatic, beaming grin. She didn't even show her teeth; the corners of her mouth rose just a little. But the effect had a hundred times the magnitude of the action itself. For the first time, a flicker of the hope and happiness Ditzy had seen in the eyes of young Sparkler while viewing her memories shone through.

"Now would you look at that," Presto commented. "You always did have the nicest smile, Sparkler. Glad to see that hasn't changed."

Sparkler looked down self-consciously, but her smile didn't fade. "I missed you so much," she admitted. "I didn't know if you'd even want to see me again. That you still care about me after so long... it doesn't even feel real."

Presto chuckled. "Well hey, that's the power of true friendship, Sparkler," he explained. "Maybe it's not as easily broken as you thought, huh?"

Sparkler closed her eyes for a moment as tears of what had to be relief rolled down her cheeks. She shifted, inching a bit closer to the stallion beside her, and he took the opportunity to extend his forelegs and pull her into a gentle hug.

Nothing happened for a short while after that. Sparkler's head rested against her friend's shoulder, her breathing finally becoming slow and relaxed as she lay in his embrace. For the while, the two of them stayed like that, enjoying each other's company in a way they hadn't in many years.

"Presto? Is it too early to ask a favor from an old friend?" Sparkler asked.

"Of course not," Presto laughed as he finally broke the hug and sat up. "I'll help if I can."

Sparkler glanced at her large pack of belongings sitting in the corner. "I really don't want to go back to Ponyville," she admitted. "I've been doing a good job of avoiding my misguided mother, but I'm tired of hiding. I had actually packed all my belongings and was setting off to just wander Equestria when Mrs. Doo tracked me down. Do you happen to know if there's any apartments available here in Trottowa? Preferably cheap ones, until I can get a job again?"

"Not off the top of my head..." Presto confessed. "Temporary housing around here fills up fast since the university is just up the road."

Sparkler's ears drooped. "Well, I guess I can check some of the adjacent cities and—"

"Now hold on," Presto interrupted, raising a hoof to stop her. "There's another option. I bought this home because I needed a residence near work, but it's a bit more space... and a bit more cost... than I was actually looking for. I admit I have been considering getting a roommate to rent out the spare bedroom..."

"H-here!?" Sparkler gasped, putting a hoof to her chest. "B-but you need a roommate to help cover the costs! I don't think I have enough savings right now to be much help with that."

Presto grinned. "Until you get a job," he finished for her. "And my friend Snowdrift over at the university happens to be looking for some more helping hooves in the college administrative office. I could put in a good word, if you're interested."

"Okay, hold on. I need a second to process this," Sparkler said, holding her head with her hooves for a moment. "That all sounds phenomenal, but looking at this logically, aren't you worried we're rushing into too many things here? Even if we're going to be friends again, we're adults now, and we don't know if we'll connect over things the way we did as foals.
It's a bad idea to suddenly spend all our time together after not seeing each other for years..."

"We won't be," Presto pointed out. "We're sharing a house, not a room. You'll have your own space, and I'll have mine. And at the university, I'll be teaching, and you'll be working in the office. We'll be on different schedules, doing different work in different buildings. How much time we actually spend doing stuff together is something we can work out as we go. I figure at first, y'know, we'll just grab lunch or go to the park on weekends, or maybe relax together on a weekday night with a movie or something. And if we really hit it off again, we can make changes from there."

"You... you're really serious, aren't you?" Sparkler realized. "You're really offering a place to stay, a job opportunity, and... you know, another chance?"

Presto smiled. "Well, only if you're interested," he said with a wink. "After this conversation, I feel like maybe we really can pick up where we left off. What d'you say?"

Sparkler blinked, and quickly raised a hoof to wipe her eyes. "I-I'd love to," she admitted, as a genuine smile decorated her face for the second time. "Thank you, Presto. Thank you so much."

"I'll show you to the spare room in just a minute," Presto offered. "But first, I believe there's a pony waiting for you outside somewhere, right? You should go let her know what your plans are."

Ditzy took that as her cue to scurry from the bushes and out to the sidewalk in front of Presto's home. Thirty seconds later, the front door opened, and Sparkler stepped out onto the porch. She slowly made her way over to Ditzy, wearing a dazed, disbelieving expression the whole time.

"M-Mrs. Doo..." she said once she was in earshot.

"Sparkler, you did it!" Ditzy cried, galloping up to her. "Not quite how I was expecting, but you really did it!"

"I guess I did," Sparkler breathed, still shell-shocked. "I've got to be missing something, right? Nothing ever works out for me like this."

Ditzy laughed. "No, you just—"

"What am I forgetting?" Sparkler continued, ignoring the other mare. "I regained my old friend, I escaped mom in Ponyville, I've got a job and a place to live lined up... there must be something that's gonna throw a wrench in the works, right?"

"Sparkler, you—"

"Is this a dream?" Sparkler interrupted again. "I've had dreams like this. They've never been this lifelike before though..."

"Sparkler!" Ditzy cried, taking the unicorn by the shoulders. "Hon, listen, it's clear you're used to things going wrong, but this is real, okay? Presto's giving you another chance. Now, in the coming months, it's up to you to show him that you really have changed. You've broken free of the chains that were holding you down, but you can't step out of the cell until you accept that you're not trapped anymore."

Sparkler took a deep breath. "Let's say, hypothetically, that maybe once we spend some time together, Presto isn't as interested in me as he once was," she ventured.

"I would think Presto is a good enough pony that he'd still treat you kindly, even if you two don't become especially close," Ditzy answered. "But there's no reason to think about that right now, Sparkler. Friendships, and serious relationships for that matter, work out when both ponies truly want to make the other happy. Focus on being a good friend, and you'll be treated like one. That's really all there is to it."

Sparkler nodded slowly. "I understand, but I admit, I'm a little nervous," she mumbled. "I guess it's time to see if everything you and Dinky have taught me about bonds with other ponies is true."

"If you're willing to nurture those bonds, it will be," Ditzy promised. "The pony I worked for, before he passed away, once said that there is no magic greater than the Magic of the Heart. If two ponies really, truly care about each other, be it in casual friendship or deep, lifelong love, then the bonds between your hearts will hold strong. And Sparkler, I've worked with a lot of ponies in the last few years, and so I know genuine feelings when I see them. I know you have what it takes to be a good friend to Presto, and if things go well, maybe more than a friend, someday. Let Presto see what I can see, and the two of you will be inseparable in no time."

Sparkler looked down, but Ditzy could tell that she was smiling a bit. "Oh, um, and about your pay for the shipping assignment..." she said suddenly, rooting through her bag. "I still have some savings. I can cover the travel expenses and compensate you for the time and effort."

"Oh no you don't," Ditzy commanded, firmly putting a forehoof down on the flap to hold the bag shut. "You don't owe me a single bit. I did this for you, not for profit. Besides, the way you won Presto over wasn't even something I helped you plan out."

"But Mrs. Doo, your company!" Sparkler insisted. "You said it was struggling. I'm sure you need all the bits you can get to keep it afloat."

"And the bits that should be going to the company from this assignment will be coming from my savings, not yours," Ditzy announced. "Now close that bag, and keep those bits for yourself."

Sparkler did as she was told, but raised an eyebrow at the pegasus. "I really don't get you, Mrs. Doo," she commented. "You've been so generous. We're not even related or anything."

"Fine, we'll make a transaction out of this if that'll make you more comfortable," Ditzy giggled. "Consider all my time and services rendered as a meager attempt at repaying you for saving Dinky's life multiple times. There's no way we're even yet, but at least helping you find Presto again was a good start."

Sparkler made an amused face, and Ditzy swore the could hear the barest hint of a chuckle in the unicorn's throat. "Alright, fair enough," she relented. "I guess... this is goodbye for now, huh? I'll do my best to follow your advice."

"You can write to me any time if you're worried about anything," Ditzy reminded her. "Heck, write Dinky sometime too, I'm sure she'd love to hear from you."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sparkler said. "And speaking of reuniting with ponies... um, good luck with smoothing out the issue between you and my father. I hope once he learns the truth, he'll be as reasonable as you say he is."

Ditzy smiled sadly and gave a small nod. "He'll come around. For now, focus on yourself and Presto, okay?"

"I will," Sparkler assured her. "And just... one last thing..."

Ditzy cocked her head. "Hm?"

Sparkler hesitated, and then gingerly stepped forward. With awkward, robotic motions, she pulled Ditzy into a gentle hug.

"Thank you, Mrs. Doo. Thank you for not giving up on me, even when I had already given up on myself," she whispered. "Nopony's ever done something like this for me before. So just... just thank you."

Ditzy beamed. "You're welcome, Sparkler," she replied. "Now go on, get going! Your best friend is waiting for you!"

"Best friend," Sparkler repeated, smiling more broadly than she had before. "I... I could get used to that."

With a final wave goodbye, she turned and cantered back to the house. Once her bright purple tail disappeared inside, Ditzy took to the sky, still grinning ear to ear.

Even among all these failed assignments, we can never give up hope, she thought as she soared above the clouds. No matter what happens, friendship and love live on in the hearts of ponies, and today, Sparkler and Presto proved it once again. Now it's time to get back to Ponyville, and see if it will prove true again for me.

A hundred miles off the Equestrian coastline, it was a damp, foggy afternoon. Unfortunately, the routine bellow of the foghorn only provided Pipsqueak with a momentary respite from Scoville's endless chatter.

"I'm tellin' you, dude, she ditched you!" the batpony insisted, hanging in the air above Pip's head. "You know how the story goes; a bright, handsome stallion joins the navy, there's a teary, romantic goodbye on the beach where his gal says she'll await his return every day, and the next thing you know, she's found a new fella and you're yesterday's news. Them's the breaks, buddy."

"You got all that just because my pendant's gone dark?" Pipsqueak asked. "Bit of a logical leap there, innit Scoville?"

"Hey man, I'm just sayin' it's suspicious!" Scoville proclaimed. "Let's be fair: if that filly finds a stallion with a butt even half as nice as hers is, how's she gonna resist the temptation?"

Pipsqueak's lip curled into a snarl. "Would you just shut your bloody mouth already?" he growled.

"Hey! That's racist!" Scoville snapped. "Don't assume I've got a bloody mouth just 'cause I'm a bat!"

Pipsqueak rolled his eyes. "It's a Trottingham expression," he grumbled.

"Good, cause the only thing you're gonna find me draining with these fangs is fruit," Scoville declared, running his tongue over said fangs. "Speaking of which, there's not enough damn fruit in the rations on this rust bucket! We're gonna get scurvy at this rate! Sure, there's the occasional apple, but would it kill 'em to give us an orange or a pineapple once in a while, or maybe a mango? By Celestia's great big luminescent butt, I could go for a mango right about now..."

"The point is, Pip cut in, loudly cutting his bunkmate off, "Dinky is not the kind of pony who would just ditch me for another stallion without even talking to me! Something's wrong with my pendant, or maybe with hers, nothing more."

Scoville's hooves touched down on the deck, and he folded his clawed wings at his sides. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, buddy," he snickered.

"In a few months, our first mission will be over and Dinky and I will both be back in Ponyville for a while," Pipsqueak pointed out. "If there's a problem with the enchantment, I'm sure she can fix it."

"Uh-huh," Scoville said flatly. "And if it's a problem with separation straining the relationship, are y'sure you can fix it?"

Without waiting for an answer, the wiry batpony turned and trotted ahead. Pipsqueak took the diamond pendant in his forehoof, clasping it gently. It remained cold and dark.

Come on Dinky... he thought as he followed Scoville below deck, why won't you respond?

"No Dinky, stir counterclockwise, please."

Dinky quickly changed the direction of the spoon in the big vat of brightly colored potion beneath her. "My bad, Honeydew," she apologized. "I didn't know it made a difference."

"Certain potions are sensitive enough that it does," Honeydew explained, holding a pipette in her aura and adding precisely two drops of mushroom extract for each rotation of the spoon in the pot. "I actually made this one outside of class once before, but I underestimated how much ground manticore fang I needed, and the effect turned out really weak. This one's looking like it's going to be fine though."

Professor Chestnut wandered by, making her rounds to make sure all the students were on track. She peered into the pot and smiled.

"Honestly, I should just give you your 'A' for this class right now," the stout mare chuckled. "As usual, you already know basically everything that's going to be on the final."

Honeydew blushed slightly. "This class has been a little... easy for me, I suppose," she admitted, pausing to sprinkle some rosemary into the potion as its color began to darken. "I just wish my independent research was going as well as class was."

"Honeydew, even if you haven't actually made the Lifesense concept a reality, you still found a way to connect with other living things in a way that doesn't involve merging your entire consciousness with theirs," Dinky reminded her. "Sure, maybe you can only do it with one other being at a time, but unicorns are going to find loads of uses for that quick sensory scan."

"I've already incorporated the spell into my curriculum for the first term students, starting next year," Professor Chestnut added. "The progress you made is still impressive; fitting of one of the most brilliant magical biologists I've taught!"

"I know," Honeydew mumbled, smiling sadly. "I just feel like I'm so close, but I can't find the way to continue to expand the spell into what I wanted it to be. It's like the puzzle's missing just one piece, but no matter where I look, I can't find it."

"It's only just become autumn," the professor pointed out. "You still have a month and a half left until the term ends in early November. Who knows, maybe you'll still stumble across something that can help."

Cornelius poked his head up from behind the brim of the mare's sun hat. "You're like, measurably less useless than all the other ponies in here!" he chimed in cheerfully. "Look at it this way; you're more likely to figure it out than any of these simpletons."

Chestnut rolled her eyes. "Cornelius."

The professor trotted to the next group, taking her loudmouthed companion with her. Honeydew looked at Dinky uncertainly.

"What do you think, Dinky?"

"I think it's silly to give up while you're still at school," Dinky admitted. "You're at the greatest establishment for magical education in the world. For all you know, the answer could still be here, right under your nose."

Honeydew smiled slightly as she ladled some of the finished potion into a flask. "Maybe so..." she conceded. "I guess we'll see."

"So what do you wanna try next?" Scuffle asked, as he, Honeydew, Clarity, and Dinky sat in the hideout later that afternoon. "Should we go check the Canterlot archives for more resources?"

"I've already read pretty much their entire magical biology section," Honeydew admitted, glancing through the whirlwind of notes and diagrams swirling slowly around her.

"Maybe we could ask Princess Twilight to escort you to the Starswirl the Bearded wing?" Clarity suggested, stretching out on her stomach and resting her chin on her forelegs. "Obviously you haven't checked the books there yet."

Honeydew grimaced and stuck out her tongue. "Those books were put there for a reason," she pointed out. "Most of what's in there is dangerous, or at least ethically questionable. It was great for researching Dinky's dark magic, but not so much for what I'm doing."

"So you never found a way to get any meaningful information from the life you connect with as soon as you tap into more than one being at once?" Dinky asked.

"Right," Honeydew sighed. "I can use my modified spell to quickly gather information about a being. It works with emotions, but for the moment, let's just focus on physiological data, since that's all that plants have to offer. If I tap into the life energy of a flower, for example, it can give me information about it's level of hydration, nutritional status, and... well, everything else about it. But if I tap into two at once, I receive two sets of information at the same time, and they— oh, how do I word this— they blend together, I guess. I can't receive both sets of information at once because my mind can't pick it apart; so I get a useless mixture of the two."

"Y'know, it's a shame," Scuffle said casually as he plucked one of Honeydew's floating notepages out of her aura and glanced over it. "If we were talking about battle magic, I would know exactly how to fix that. But I don't know the first thing about biological sensory spells."

All three fillies' attention turned immediately to Scuffle. The colt raised an eyebrow.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

"What do you mean by 'fix it'?" Honeydew asked.

"What, the battle magic thing?" Scuffle asked. "It's nothing special. There's this spell that dueling ponies can use if they're under attack by multiple opponents at once, or just facing one opponent using a large number of projectile spells. It's this sort of... timing spell, I guess? It's some kind of mental filter that let's you figure out the speed and distance of everything coming at you at once, so you can shield or dodge the barrage by defending against all it's individual parts in the right order instead of getting overwhelmed."

Honeydew's horn went out. Her notes dropped out of the air, scattering randomly across the earthen floor. "Show me," she said quickly.

"Dewey, it's just a battle magic thing," Scuffle replied, shaking his head. "There's sort of a similarity, but you don't have anything actually coming at you in real time. Unless those flowers are bombarding you with projectile information, it's not gonna be any use."

"Scuffle, please?" Honeydew insisted, hopping off her beanbag and trotting up to him. "It can't hurt, right?"

Dinky watched with amusement as all of Scuffle's resolve melted away immediately under the gaze of Honeydew's pleading green eyes. "Uh, alright, c'mon," he said, turning and heading up the tunnel. "And Dinks, Clarity, I need you girls for this too."

Intrigued, Dinky followed her friends up the passage and into the forest above. Scuffle led the way, bringing the four ponies to a familiar clearing.

"This is where we dueled Scorch and Frosty years ago," Honeydew realized.

"Yup," Scuffle confirmed. "Looks like everything's finally grown back. There's almost no evidence that we basically blew this place up at one point. It'll make a perfect spot to demonstrate this spell. Stand off to the side please and watch this."

The colt galloped out into the middle of the clearing. "Okay, Dinks and Clarity!" he called. "Hit me with as many attacks as you can. Make 'em weak and fast; low-power lightning spells would probably be best."

Dinky charged up her horn, and watched as Clarity did the same. "Okay, ready?" Clarity called back.

Scuffle cast a spell Dinky had never seen before. Two bluish lenses flashed in front of his eyes for a moment, but disappeared as quickly as they had come. "Okay, the timing spell's in place!" he announced. "Fire away!"

Dinky and Clarity exchanged a momentary grin before both girls lowered their heads in unison and opened fire on Scuffle. Dinky made sure that there was no rhyme or reason to the speed or angle at which she launched the attacks, so that her spells wouldn't follow any sort of pattern relative to Clarity's.

Scuffle stood calmly as dozens of red and yellow bolts raced toward him. An instant before the first bolt reached him, a compact, slate blue shield, no bigger than his head, materialized directly in its path. It existed just long enough to block the spell— only a tiny fraction of a second— before disappearing again.

Naturally, the next bolt was barely a blink of an eye behind the first, but in almost the same instant the first of Scuffle's small, round shields disappeared, a new one took its place, placed perfectly to intercept the second bolt.

For the next thirty seconds, the area around Scuffle became a fantastic, flashing light show, as dozens and dozens of Dinky's golden bolts and Clarity's cinnamon red ones were stopped by Scuffle's small, round shields. The colt didn't move a muscle, not even flinching as bolt after bolt came within inches of him. The position of his protective spells changed as many as four or five times a second, and yet not even one bolt got past them. That kind of precision, Dinky realized, was simply not possible at such a speed without the aid of magic.

Finally the barrage stopped. Scuffle let his aura fade and trotted over to the three fillies, looking smug.

"I could see on your faces that you two really wanted to find a way to beat that," he chuckled, smirking at Dinky and Clarity. "But anyway, showing off wasn't the point here. It's kinda fun, and useful in a duel, but that's all the spell is; I don't think it's gonna help for your purposes, Dewey."

Honeydew didn't reply, as she was already scribbling on a loose page she'd brought with her. Her brow furrowed deeply, and her tongue poked slightly out the side of her mouth, as if she was expending great mental energy.

Scuffle took a step closer. "Dewey? You good?"

Honeydew glanced over what she had written several times. Her eyes widened and her quill dropped to the grass.

"I need my notes!"

She immediately vanished in a flash of green, leaving Scuffle dumbfounded. He glanced at Dinky and Clarity to confirm they were similarly surprised. "Dewey never teleports when she can just walk!" he said as he turned to jog back to the hideout. "What's the big rush?"

Clarity giggled as she broke into a run to keep up with him. "Scuffle, that spell you just used may primarily have battle magic uses, but that doesn't change the fact that you just demonstrated a spell that can refine your perception of multiple signals."

"It changes the way you take in the things around you," Dinky added, rushing along beside her two friends. "It doesn't matter what discipline of magic that spell is from; there's a very real chance that Honeydew can find a way to make use of it."

"No way," Scuffle argued, shaking his head. "I don't know the first thing about the spells involved in Honeydew's research; there's no chance all she was missing was some perception spell duelists use, is there?"

The three of them skidded down the tunnel into the hideout to find Honeydew frantically paging through her notes. "I can't maintain two spells at once," she said to nopony in particular, "so maybe if I adjust the way it's cast, I can incorporate the effects of the perception spell into the effects of the life connection one..."

She lifted a page covered in equations, scribbled about half of it out, and rewrote several of them in the remaining space with some new numbers incorporated. "That... might trigger the effect, I guess," she said, scratching her head. "It remains to be seen if it will actually be able to separate the information from each individual..."

She glanced up, and finally noticed Dinky, Clarity, and Scuffle standing there. "I need to test something!" she declared. "Let's go back outside."

She cantered out of the cavern, once again causing the others to give chase.

"This is the first time I can remember struggling to keep up with Honeydew," Dinky commented, giggling.

"She's got longer legs," Clarity pointed out. "It's not our fault puberty decided to grant Honeydew a supermodel's figure. She can really run when she actually wants to."

The trio stepped out of the hollow beneath the tree to find Honeydew standing stone-still, staring at the trees surrounding them. The pink filly took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing..." she muttered.

Dinky held her breath as Honeydew's horn flared to life. At first, it was the standard spell that Dinky had seen her use dozens of times. Her aura surrounded one of the nearby trees, and then three more in quick succession.

"Okay, I've got a connection with all three trees, but can't get anything useful from them as a group," she said, "so now I just need to—" she paused, checking the notes clutched in her hoof, "—to refocus the spell to account for the perception adjustment..."

She closed her eyes and strained for a moment. The green light around her horn grew brighter, and then began to slowly spin, like an inverted green cyclone encircling her horn. Cautiously, her eyes opened again, but the spell appeared to maintain it's form on her horn. She glanced at each of the trees highlighted by her magic, her mouth hanging open slightly.

"Well?" Clarity asked. "Anything?"

"The... the eastmost tree has the h-highest relative volume of water by t-total mass," Honeydew stuttered, "getting p-progressively lower as you move toward the w-western tree, which is the driest of the four. Which means the—" she paused, her whole body quivering, "—w-w-which means, judging by the g-gradient of hydration levels, the nearest g-groundwater source is east of here and oh stars above, it's actually working isn't it?"

Honeydew swayed on her hooves, and Dinky and Clarity rushed to either side of her to prevent her from toppling over. "H-hang on, let's try something else," she managed, surrounding a patch of early-autumn flowers that hadn't yet bloomed with her magic. "I can receive information from multiple sources, now let's see if I can send it."

Her horn glowed brighter, and Dinky and the others watched with wonder as not one, but an entire bouquet of flowers burst open at once, turning their petals to the sky. A giggle of delight and disbelief escaped Honeydew's throat as she examined her own handiwork.

"Is... is this it?" Clarity asked, eyes wide. "Is this the Lifesense spell?"

"No, not really!" Honeydew announced, not seeming the least bit upset about the negative answer. "This spell still requires me to select and intentionally link with each individual I want to examine. The difference is that now I can do that with groups of living things, instead of just one at a time. Lifesense, in concept, should allow me to cast the spell on a whole area and detect and link with every organism in its radius, including ones I can't actually see or am not aware of, essentially reading the properties and trends of whole ecosystems in a single spell."

"Oh," Dinky said, her ears drooping a bit. "For a second there, we thought you succeeded."

"Who cares about that?" Honeydew asked, another frantic giggle escaping her. "Dinky, this isn't the lofty spell I had planned; it yields less data for more work than true Lifesense would be. But at least in its current state, it's working, and the world of Magical Biology has never had something like that before!"

Honeydew's excitement was contagious, and both of the other fillies shared her smile. "Professor Chestnut's gonna be so thrilled!" Clarity cried. "We knew you'd figure out how to improve the spell eventually, Honeydew."

"I've looked into enchantments and other fields of magic to assist the spell, but I never even gave a second thought to the possibility that what the spell needed was a type of battle magic," Honeydew admitted. "I might never have gotten it if it wasn't for... for..."

She paused, and slowly turned around. Scuffle, rendered speechless since Honeydew's spell was cast, stood by the entrance of the hideout, with a look of amazement still plastered on his face.

"Scuffle!"

Before anypony could react, Honeydew bounded across the grass and leapt up on her hind hooves, throwing her forelegs around the stunned colt with such enthusiasm that both of them nearly lost their balance.

"Scuffle, you're a genius!" she exclaimed, resting her chin against his withers as she hugged him tightly. "Your outside perspective was the missing element to the spell. How can I possibly thank you?"

Scuffle's face had quickly turned beet red, but fortunately, Honeydew's head was over his shoulder, so she couldn't see his reaction. "I-it was nothing, Dewey," he stammered once he found his voice. "Honestly I, uh, didn't think it was gonna help. Just adding a perception timer really makes that much of a difference?"

Honeydew laughed joyfully. "Here, see for yourself!" she chirped, breaking the hug and stepping a few paces away. Her friends watched as the spell charged up in her horn again, rotating around it as she confidently raised her head and imbued each of the surrounding trees with her magic at once.

"Autumn is here!" she sang. "Time to get ready to drop those leaves."

All at once, every leaf on every last tree in the grove began to change. The deep, summery green drained away toward the branches, leaving behind festive autumn reds, yellows, and browns. In a matter of seconds, the whole grove was bedecked in an extraordinary, colorful display of fall foliage.

"No way!" Scuffle gasped, watching the spectacle occurring in the branches above him. "Dewey, that's ridiculous! I've never seen anypony do something like that."

"That's because I don't think anypony has!" Honeydew giggled, quickly returning to Scuffle's side and nuzzling him affectionately. "Don't underestimate how smart you are, Scuffle. I couldn't have done this without you. You're the best, you really are."

Scuffle carefully put a foreleg over Honeydew's back, and Dinky watched with a smile as the filly snuggled up to him a bit more, casting her spell again and again to interact with various forest plant life. Dinky caught Scuffle's gaze for a second and silently mouthed a message to him.

"Tell her! Now's the perfect time!"

Scuffle blushed a bit and returned his attention to Honeydew. "Hey, uh, Dewey?" he started. "You're the best too, y'know? You've been such a great friend for almost our whole time at the Academy, and even though we have different tastes in magic, I always love watching your skills grow."

Honeydew beamed. "Same!" she giggled. "Watching duels makes me a little nervous, but it's fun seeing you do something you're so good at. You're one of my closest friends too."

Scuffle smiled. "Y'know, I was... uh, thinking about that," he said hesitantly. "See, I sorta feel like maybe we—"

Strummmm~

Clack-a-clack!

Dinky's heart sank as the usual sound of an acoustic guitar and a clatter of castanets heralded the arrival of Tango Trot. Scuffle groaned as the royal blue colt strode into the grove and flashed the four ponies his usual beaming smile.

"Ah, here you four are," Tango said, tossing his head a bit so that his smooth, glossy mane gleamed in the afternoon sun. "And how are my four dear friends today?"

"Tango Trot!" Honeydew squealed, bolting out from under Scuffle's foreleg and galloping over to the other colt. "You'll never believe it! We just made a huge step towards getting the Lifesense spell working!"

Tango's pearly smile grew, and he promptly beckoned Honeydew to his side, tucking her beneath an outstretched foreleg in exactly the same way Scuffle had a moment before. "Why Honeydew, how spectacular!" he congratulated. "For a pony of your skill, it was clearly only a matter of time."

Honeydew giggled. "Actually, one of Scuffle's spells is what gave me the inspiration!" she said excitedly.

Tango turned to Scuffle. "Is that so?" he asked, his broad smile never faltering. "Bravo, Scuffle my friend. Truly, inspiration can come from anypony."

Scuffle, unsure if the comment was intended as a compliment or an insult, just nodded warily.

"Now Honeydew," Tango continued. "You simply must show me the newest iteration of your spell. I recommend the two of us, being the most versed in magical biology of course, take some time to test its uses and document everything it's capable of. After all, the more we know about what you can do, the better we'll know what still must be done to achieve true Lifesense."

"Good idea!" Honeydew agreed, scooping up her saddlebags and all her notes in her aura. "Scuffle, Dinky, Clarity, I'll give you all the important details later on, okay?"

"Sure thing, Honeydew," Dinky said, forcing a smile. "See you later."

"Have fun," Clarity added.

Scuffle looked at the ground. "Later, Dewey."

Honeydew turned and skipped away alongside Tango Trot, already beginning to discuss the latest breakthrough in her research. The three remaining unicorns stood in silence until their friend's voice faded into the distance.

"...Wow," Dinky said finally. "That timing though. I'm starting to wonder if that guy really is spying on you or something."

Furiously, Scuffle reared up, angry orange and yellow fire bursting to life around his horn. Dinky and Clarity instinctively backpedaled as the flames grew brighter.

"That son of a—"

He probably finished that sentence, but it was drowned out by the roar of the fireball, almost bright and intense enough to compete with those conjured by his older brother Scorch. He hurled the spell at the nearest tree, and the upper part of the poor old oak basically exploded, scattering charred branches across the grove. Scuffle stood, panting, as smoldering bits of leaf rained down around him and fizzled out.

Dinky slowly approached, making sure the last of the flames had died as she put a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "It'll be okay," she soothed. "I'm sure your breakthrough with Honeydew's spell just won you some major points with her."

"It's not okay, Dinks," Scuffle mumbled, turning away. "I was... I was really gonna do it that time, y'know? I was gonna tell her the truth. The opportunity was perfect. But pretty boy's just gonna keep one-upping me every chance he gets, so there's nothing for it. I just have to keep practicing for that duel and hope that if I can just win that, he'll back off."

Clarity trotted up beside the others. "You and Honeydew have always been cute together," she admitted. "I still really don't have anything against Tango, but I hope you succeed."

She paused, scribbling something on a small slip of paper. "Oh, and uh... this is for you," she said, passing it to him.

Scuffle smirked. "Finally taking my side in this feud, eh Clarity?" he asked, grabbing the note from her aura. "What's this, some dirty secrets about Tango you've come across in your Overseer meetings?"

"Um, no," Clarity said awkwardly, shuffling a forehoof. "It's a detention. You did kind of just vandalize a tree on school property in front of an Overseer."

Scuffle glanced at the blackened, faintly smoking remains of the tree above them. "...Fair," he said finally, tossing the detention slip in his saddlebag. "I've got training to do. Later."

He skulked off in a huff, leaving Dinky sadly shaking her head, wondering if the feud for Honeydew's heart would ever end.

"Do you think I'm being unfair to Scuffle?" Clarity asked suddenly as she and Dinky made their way to Runic Syllabary the following Monday.

Dinky shrugged. "I wish I had a clear answer to that question," she muttered. "Given what's happened, I can completely understand why Scuffle hates Tango so much. But from an outside perspective... I've been grappling with myself all term, trying to decide if what he's doing should actually be considered antagonizing Scuffle or not. Just because Scuffle's been Honeydew's friend for so much longer doesn't really give him the right to assume he gets to be the first to try to date her."

Clarity sighed. "If he'd just told her the truth before this term started, like when we were all together at Heart's Warming, this probably wouldn't have happened," she pointed out.

"I think he knows that, and that's why this is getting to him so much," Dinky replied. "He recognizes that he might have missed his chance, but you know how he is. He's always coped with things the same way; if he refuses to admit to anypony else this is because of his own hesitation to confess his feelings, then he doesn't have to admit it to himself either."

"Even so, he's got a good heart," Clarity said. "Have you been watching him this term? He gripes about Tango to you and I all the time, but has his treatment of Honeydew ever become any less sincere, even for an instant? Certainly not that I've seen."

"Me either," Dinky admitted. "Honestly, it seems like the thing that makes Scuffle happiest is... well, Honeydew being happy too. He's a blowhard and kind of a goofball, but he knows how to rein it in for her comfort. I think he'd make a great coltfriend for her... but obviously, nopony knows how she'd feel about that."

Clarity nodded, the ends of her bright blue mane swaying as she did so. "The problem is... Tango might make a great coltfriend too..." she mumbled. "Dinky, I know from your perspective, you've mostly just seen him compete with Scuffle for Honeydew's attention, but I've spent a lot more time with him this year behind the scenes at Overseer functions. Have you seen the level of knowledge and care he uses when helping the younger students? Have you seen him quickly and calmly organize a large group of rowdy ponies? He's a very social colt, there's no doubt about that. And I can see in his actions that he is taking his position as Student Overseer very seriously, and yet managing to remain casual with all the other students. Most of the colts see him as a friend and role model moreso than a leader; they follow his instructions because they respect him, not the position he holds."

Dinky frowned. "But when Scuffle's around—"

"He doesn't do anything bad!" Clarity finished. "Dinky, sometimes, two stallions like the same mare. It's a thing that happens, and I wish there was always a clear way to resolve it, but there's not. In this case, they both have an interest in Honeydew, and right now, she's single. Now if one of them was just trying to take advantage of her trust, then we should intervene, or at least tell Honeydew what we know, but both of these ponies seem to be treating Honeydew just fine, and she certainly seems glad for both of their company. I'm not saying I want Tango to be the one to win her over... I just think, in order to remain good friends with everypony involved, you and I need to stay out of it and just let it play out. Honeydew is the object of their affection, so only she can decide if either of them are right for her."

"If either of them ever actually ask her out," Dinky chuckled. "Yeah, I get where you're coming from, Clarity. I guess there's nothing to do but wait."

"And with our final term winding down, I don't think we'll be waiting too much longer..." Clarity replied, as the fillies approached the classroom door. "Now hush; Tango's in our Runic Syllabary class too, so we should be running into him any second now."

The words were barely out of her mouth when a familiar fanfare of instruments filled the air, and Tango Trot strutted around the corner from an adjacent corridor. "Good morning, ladies," he greeted. "Might I say, the both of you are looking especially vibrant today."

Clarity laughed, and Dinky playfully rolled her eyes. "You're just saying that because it's Monday morning and for once I don't look like I just rolled out of bed," Clarity countered.

Tango Trot chuckled as he led the way into the classroom. Dinky and Clarity took their seats as well, and a minute or two later, Dean Spiral Script arrived.

"Good morning," she greeted, nodding slightly in her usual formal, but not unfriendly, fashion. "I'm afraid I have to start today's class with a bit of slightly disappointing news. For the last few years, this particular lesson has usually been taught with the aid of her highness Princess Luna. Unfortunately, as Princess Celestia has been absent for six months now, and Cadance for four, Luna's schedule tending to the needs of Equestria has left her unable to attend all but the most absolutely essential of academy functions. She won't be joining us this morning."

Tango Trot politely raised a hoof. "Might I ask what rune-related topic would fall under Princess Luna's expertise?" he questioned. "She's the Academy's Astronomy professor, a subject that doesn't generally coincide with this one."

"Ah, but there's one topic in which runes and astronomy come together quite nicely," the dean pointed out. "In fact, we mentioned it very briefly on the first day of class this term. Today, we're going to be talking about the ancient Zodiac, the creators of modern magic, and the importance they have to the subject of Runic Syllabary."

Dinky's ears perked up automatically as the word 'Zodiac'. She was, after all, a bit more knowledgeable on the ponies of the Zodiac than most others, particularly because she's met the most malevolent among them in person.

"As you know, each of the twelve members of the Zodiac created a discipline of modern magic," Spiral Script continued. "Not just unicorns, but all of ponykind, owe our unique abilities to the discoveries in channeling Equestria's natural energies that were made by those ancient ponies."

"I thought only Gemini created runes, though," Clarity piped up. "How do the other eleven fit in?"

"That's correct. As we said at the beginning of the term, the Gemini twins were the ones who first realized magic can be enhanced with runes," Spiral Script said, nodding. "However, as I'm sure anypony who pays attention to astrology is aware, each member of the Zodiac is represented by a sign. These 'signs' aren't just symbols for quickly referencing the ponies of the Zodiac; they are, in fact, functional runes."

The dean lit her horn, and twelve runes appeared in the air, slowly orbiting her head so the students could take a moment to examine each one. Dinky didn't know them all by heart, but her gaze quickly fell upon the one she could never forget. It was shaped a bit like the letter M, but rounded at the top as it was when written in more sophisticated styles. Snaking off the right side of the rune was a little curved line with a pointed tip that looked a bit like a barbed tail. She'd seen the symbol many times, especially on the night she had become a wraith. Scorpio's rune was unmistakable.

"These runes are much less specialized than many others you have learned," Spiral Script explained. "However, they are very powerful, and should only be employed when you need to significantly boost the strength of a spell, as they occasionally have downsides. For example, Cancer is the original creator of light spells, and the illusion spells that can be cast by manipulating light. Inscribing Cancer's rune on an object that produces magical light will vastly increase the light's intensity, but in most cases it makes that light level difficult to control, and hard to extinguish entirely. Have you ever noticed that our main hall here at the Academy is lit by a disproportionately small amount of illumination orbs? That's because those orbs bear Cancer's rune, allowing just a few of them to light the vast hall even late at night."

"How do we know if a Zodiac rune is appropriate then?" another student asked. "What if it provides so much power that it ruins the original intent of the spell?"

"That's the challenge associated with using them, I'm afraid," Spiral Script admitted. "Especially when working with them for the first time, it's highly recommended that Zodiac runes are simply drawn on the surface of whatever will be interacting with the magic. If the effect is too much, the rune can simply be erased. Once any rune is engraved in an item, it's permanent, so engrave Zodiac runes with extreme caution. Take a look in your textbooks, and there's a bit of information about each."

The class was given a few minutes to study the Zodiac runes. Each one gave several examples of situations where they would be useful. Curious, Dinky paged to the back of the section, and couldn't help but snicker.

Rune: Scorpio

Effect: Heightened strength of/capacity for dark magic.

Applications: Dark magic is highly dangerous and illegal in Equestria. Scorpio's rune is printed here for educational purposes only. Do not employ this rune in practice.

"Hey, it's better than that old Astronomy textbook you had," Clarity said, leaning over to peer at the entry Dinky was reading. "That one refused to even acknowledge that Scorpio created anything, remember?"

Dinky nodded as she read the entry again. Short though it was, this time, something caught her eye.

What does it mean by 'capacity for' dark magic?

This wasn't the time or place to discuss it with Clarity; such conversations had to be held far from the ears of curious classmates. But it got her thinking about things that happened during her first term; in particular, the tricks and traps pulled off by the wraith Antares while masquerading as a harmless colt. It occurred to her that whenever she had encountered any of the traps he had used to further her corruption, Scorpio's rune was involved.

A question formed in her head. It was one she knew she shouldn't focus on, especially after what had happened last time she attempted it, but morbid curiosity gnawed at her nonetheless.

Could the key to enchanting an object with dark magic without destroying it be as simple as applying Scorpio's rune?

That evening, Dinky lay on a couch in the student lounge between the residence towers, silently fighting with herself. She couldn't deny that the wraith aspect of her was just itching to try to enchant something with dark magic again, but the pony aspect opposed that train of thought, reminding her over and over that she'd come within inches of seriously injuring Clarity the last time she'd attempted such an experiment. And her pendant remaining cold and dark week after week wasn't helping her concerns about her inner darkness either.

Fortunately, a distraction appeared that helped bring her out of her thoughts and back to reality. Or more accurately, three distractions: Inkwell, Portabella, and Top Percentile. The three foals were clustered around Clarity as usual.

"Slow down a little, you three," the Overseer laughed as the trio of foals peppered her with questions. "Why don't we turn things around a bit and have you guys tell me what you learned this week, instead of asking about the upperclassmen courses all the time."

"But your classes are so much more exciting!" Inkwell whined. "We hardly get to do anything fun in ours."

"Balderdash, Inkwell," Top Percentile argued. "Nary half a moon ago, our instructor elucidated to us the enigma of utilizing our innate energies to transmit matter at speeds in excess of three-hundred-million pony-lengths per second, effectively thwarting all known principles of conventional physics."

"And don't forget, Professor Morningstar is teaching us to teleport!" Portabella added. "We haven't made it work yet, but you gotta admit, that's cool too!"

Top Percentile raised an eyebrow. "Portabella, you demonstrate a predisposition for unwittingly paraphrasing and subsequently regurgitating many of my articulations," he commented.

"Huh?" Portabella giggled. "Sorry Top, we've known each other a while, but I'm still not really picking up your native language!"

Top Percentile heaved a long sigh, and spent several seconds choosing his next words. "...You keep repeating everything I say," he mumbled after great consideration.

Portabella's eyes lit up. "Look at you making progress though!" she squealed, pulling the skinny colt into a crushing hug. "You'll be speaking common Ponish in no time!"

"Teleportation, huh?" Clarity asked. "It's tricky to get used to, but keep practicing; most ponies here get pretty good at it after enough work."

"You managed to teleport the same day the professor taught us about it," Dinky called. "Don't hype them up too much; it took all of us a lot longer than it took you."

"You were already teleporting when you were our age?" Inkwell asked, surprised. "It seems like you're good at everything, Clarity."

Clarity shrugged modestly. "I've got plenty of weaknesses," she admitted. "I don't know anything about Magical Biology beyond what Honeydew has told me, and my battle magic's mediocre at best; without my illusions, I don't stand a chance against a decent duelist like Dinky. But focusing on weaknesses isn't the way to succeed at Celestia's Academy; you need to focus on strengths!"

"Top's getting really good at Transformation spells," Portabella chimed in, her mane bouncing as she nodded excitedly. "As for me, Professor Morningstar says my levitation and object manipulation skills are way above average."

"And I have my runes," Inkwell added shyly.

"Exactly!" Clarity affirmed. "Inkwell, have you come up with any new spells to enhance with runes yet?"

"I'm working on something," the filly admitted, pulling a magnifying glass out of her saddlebag with a flicker of magic. "Could I borrow that fancy chisel you have for a minute? It still needs adjustments."

"Sure," Clarity said, passing the runecrafter's chisel to her. "What's this new project?"

"A magnifying glass that sees through illusions," Inkwell replied proudly, finishing her carving in the rim of the instrument. "Turn invisible, Clarity! I wanna see if I can spot you."

Clarity vanished in an instant, and silently crept to a different part of the lounge. Inkwell peered through the lens, and then raised an accusatory hoof at a seemingly vacant corner of the room.

"Found you!" she declared. "It's not working quite right yet; I can't see you clearly, but I can see enough distortion to tell something is there.

Clarity faded back into view as Inkwell grabbed the chisel again and began to inscribe another symbol into the magnifying glass, while her friends watched curiously over her shoulders. "Need any help?" the Overseer asked.

"Nope! I wanna try to fix it myself," Inkwell stated, pausing to reference a notebook of runes before continuing to engrave. "Give me just a second and... there. Let's try it now."

"Just give me a second to move once I disappear," Clarity instructed. "That way you can prove you can actually see me with it."

She melted into her surroundings once again, and a moment later, Dinky suppressed a smile as she felt her invisible friend huddle up beside her. Inkwell lifted her lens and began to peer around the room with it. A few seconds later, she turned her gaze to Dinky and Clarity.

"Aha!" she exclaimed. "Now it works! I can see you perfectly, right there next to—"

The filly froze, still as a statue. Her complexion paled. The lens fell from her aura, thumping gently against the plush carpet.

Clarity let her illusion disperse, and she and Dinky exchanged a confused glance. "Inkwell? Are you okay?" she asked.

Inkwell began to back away, her eyes wide and locked on the two older fillies. She grabbed Portabella and Top Percentile's tails in her aura, slowly dragging them back with them.

"Inkwell...?" Clarity asked again, quickly trotting toward her. "Is... something wrong with the lens?"

The filly still didn't reply. Dinky noticed that her gaze hadn't moved with Clarity; it remained fixed only on her.

Clarity picked up the unassuming magnifying glass and took a look through it. Nothing seemed to be amiss until she turned it toward Dinky. She paused there, for just a second. Then she whirled around, and with a flash of her horn, teleported Inkwell out of the room.

Dinky leapt up. "Clarity, what are you—"

Clarity ignored her, turning to the two remaining foals instead. "'Bella. Top. Back to your dorms. Now."

"Wait, what?" Portabella cried. "Hang on, where did you send Inkwell?"

"I said back to your dorms," Clarity insisted, surprising both the foals and Dinky by raising her voice. "I'll explain later. Go."

The two foals obeyed, bolting in opposite directions toward their respective towers. Clarity snatched up the lens, and before Dinky could ask another question, she found herself swept up in another of Clarity's teleport spells. An instant later, she found herself standing next to Clarity in her own dorm. Two other ponies were already present: a terrified looking Inkwell, and a very confused Honeydew.

"Y-you brought her here?" Inkwell wailed, scrambling up the ladder to Clarity's bunk and diving beneath the blankets. "Why would you do that!?"

"Clarity, what in Tartarus is going on?" Dinky asked, staring at the shivering mass hiding in the upper bunk. "What's with teleporting us around like that?"

Clarity looked grave as she picked up Inkwell's lens. "Dinky, I don't know what combination of runes Inkwell used, but this little trinket doesn't just see through illusions. She's managed to create something here that looks past any type of magical disguise. That includes illusions, transformation spells, and... some other things..."

Dinky paled. "You mean... looking though that lens, I look like a..."

Clarity levitated the magnifying glass, and Dinky peered through it at her own reflection in the mirror. A frightening, smoky-black wraith stared back at her, glowing eyes, gleaming fangs and all.

"...Well, that's not good."

"Now what?" Honeydew asked, pawing nervously at the carpet. "Nopony else is supposed to know..."

"Now we tell Inkwell the truth, and hope for the best," Clarity decided. "Dinky, I think it's best if you stay on the other side of the room until I calm her down."

Realizing Clarity was the only one with a chance of defusing the situation now, Dinky trotted away from the bunks and sat on the far side of the room. Honeydew planted herself beside her, anxiously rubbing at the notch in her horn.

Carefully, Clarity ascended to her bunk. With the care that one might handle a newborn foal, she slowly pulled back the covers. Inkwell was cowering below, her horn alight as she desperately tried, and failed, to escape the room with a teleportation spell. Upon realizing she was now in Dinky's line of sight again, she shrieked and did her best to seek sanctuary in Clarity's voluminous tail instead.

"Clarity, g-g-get us out of here!" she stuttered. "Didn't you see what I saw through the lens? Th-that... thing over there isn't Dinky, it's some kind of horrible monster pretending to be her!"

"Inkwell..." Clarity said, reaching back to slowly rub the shaking filly's coat. "I need you to listen. You're not in danger."

Inkwell peered out from behind the older filly, glaring at Dinky with teary eyes. "But she's—"

"Yes, I know," Clarity said flatly. "And she's been like that for years, Inkwell. It was a secret, though. The professors all know what she really is, but none of the students besides me, Honeydew, and Scuffle were ever supposed to find out."

"W-what?" Inkwell asked, still quivering and gripping the fur of Clarity's tail nervously. "Wait, like... this isn't something posing as Dinky? When I met you two on the train at the beginning of the term... Dinky was already that thing?"

Dinky's ear twitched at repeatedly being called a "thing," but she held her tongue. Stressing Inkwell out further wouldn't help matters.

"Dinky's been like that since she was about your age," Clarity explained. "But the point is, the Dinky you've known all year, the one who's always by my side and has helped you and your friends with your magic plenty of times, is the same one that's sitting in front of you right now. It's scary, but she really is friendly. I promise."

Inkwell hesitantly crept out from behind the Overseer. "I... but... but what are you then?" she asked. "Why do you look like that when there isn't any magic disguising you?"

Dinky took a breath, choosing her answer carefully. "Inkwell, you've heard of dark magic, right? It's very dangerous; there's really no reason for most unicorns to ever use it."

"Yes..." said Inkwell hesitantly, her braids swaying as she nodded.

"Well, I didn't know about it," Dinky explained. "I never knew it existed, and the Academy wasn't as good about teaching students to avoid it back then. And a very evil pony took advantage of my ignorance and taught me to use it. By the time I realized what I was doing, it had corrupted me. Now I'm a ponylike monster called a wraith."

Inkwell shivered. "But you're not... evil, like those dark magic using ponies are?" she asked shakily.

"She's really not," Honeydew said gently, leaning against Dinky to demonstrate her harmlessness. "She's not a unicorn like we are, at least not anymore, but she still cares about all of us. She won't hurt you, we promise."

Inkwell took another cautious step forward. "Can... can I see?" she asked. "What you really look like, I mean? I only got a glimpse through the lens..."

"Do you promise to stay quiet and calm?" Clarity asked, placing a hoof on the filly's shoulder.

Inkwell nodded. "I'll stay still, as long as she doesn't try to hurt me," she said.

Dinky closed the suite's curtains with a bit of magic, ensuring their privacy, gave Inkwell a small smile, and then evaporated into smoke. Inkwell stiffened as the true wraith form emerged from the black cloud.

"See?" she asked, noticing Inkwell flinch slightly at her modified voice. "Frightening, but not malicious. You're safe."

The filly's eyes darted to each part of Dinky one after the other, taking in the creature in front of her. "O-okay," she stammered. "Then, um, I'm sorry for panicking, miss wraith."

"Just Dinky is fine, even when I look like this," Dinky chuckled. "Now that we've established this though, we need to talk about what happens now."

"The princesses want us to keep Dinky's true form secret," Clarity explained. "If everypony knew what Dinky was, well... they'd probably react a lot like you did. Some would flee, and others might even try to fight. Even though she's friendly, it would be hard to convince all of Equestria to trust a wraith. So we need you to keep this absolutely secret, okay? You can't tell anypony."

Inkwell stared at the carpet. "Not even 'Bella and Top?"

"Especially not 'Bella and Top," Clarity insisted. "I'm going to be telling them that you made a mistake with your lens that caused you to see things that weren't there, but everything is fine now. I'm going to let the dean know that you're in on the secret now too."

"And it pains me to say it, because I know you're very proud of it, but we're going to have to destroy the lens," Dinky added. "It's brilliant... but it's kind of a big security risk."

Inkwell sighed and passed the magnifying glass to Dinky. She, in turn, passed it to Honeydew. "Hold this in your aura so I can focus a spell on it," she instructed.

Green light surrounded the enchanted implement, and it rose into the air. Inkwell sighed dejectedly as Dinky's horn began to crackle with dark magic, reducing the clever little lens to a hovering pool of molten glass and twisted, warped metal in seconds. The material blackened and burned, disintegrating until just a small, swirling plume of black smoke remained.

"Inkwell," Clarity said softly as Dinky took a moment to restore her unicorn disguise. "In the world of magic, you'll face surprises almost every day. Many of them are wonderful, but some of them will be strange or even frightening. So I want you to always remember that friendship is a type of magic too. The magic in your heart, the bonds you share with the ponies you love and care about, isn't just stronger than Dinky's dark magic; it's stronger than the fear and doubt and everything else that darkness represents. Just remember that your friends, your family, and even your mentors like the three of us, will always be there for you when you need it, okay?"

For the first time since arriving in the dorm, Inkwell smiled. "Okay," she agreed, rearing up to hug Clarity. "Don't worry; Dinky's secret is safe with me."

Clarity opened the door to the rest of the fillies' tower. "That's good to hear," she said. "Go on, it's late. Get some rest."

Inkwell trotted out. Clarity shut the door and promptly slumped against it, heaving a sigh. "That could've ended badly," she groaned.

"Do you think Inkwell will keep it to herself?" Honeydew asked worriedly.

"We were her age when I first became a wraith, and we had the sense to keep it from our classmates," Dinky pointed out. "Just because she's younger than us doesn't mean we can't trust her. Besides, she adores Clarity; she won't go against anything she asked her to do."

"But this isn't all resolved yet," Clarity said. "I need to go let the dean know there's a new pony aware of Dinky's dark secret. Feel free to go to bed; I'll be quiet when I get back."

She made her exit, leaving her roommates alone. Dinky waited as the last lingering wisps of darkness faded from around her horn.

"I wish I was as confident as Clarity is that the Magic of the Heart will always be stronger than the darkness," she said softly.

Honeydew leaned over and delicately nuzzled her cheek. "You still seem like the friend I've known for years," she whispered. "We'll be graduating in November, and then you can spend as much time as you need investigating with Princess Luna or Princess Twilight to make sure nothing is changing. Everything will be fine, you'll see."

Dinky managed a weak smile. "I feel like, a few years back, you would've been the one worrying about everything that could go wrong," she admitted.

"Well yeah, but that just proves Clarity's point!" Honeydew giggled. "I have amazing friends like you and Clarity and Scuffle and Tango. You've all been there for me whenever I was anxious, and now, well... the world just seems less scary when you guys are around. The least I can do is be there for you, too."

Dinky matched her friend's nuzzle with one of her own. "Thanks, Honeydew. And speaking of Clarity having a point, she's right; we should really get some sleep."

Dinky crawled into her bunk, and Honeydew settled into her own bed as she drew the light from the illumination orb. In the darkness, Dinky gently wrapped her hoof around her pendant, but once again, it remained cold and dark. Sighing, she slipped it off her neck and buried her face in the pillow, and let herself slowly drift into slumber.

It was dark and quiet in the abandoned little house, as usual. Beneath the hidden trapdoor, Wishing Star strutted proudly in front of the two tremendous crystal prisons that housed Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance.

"Little by little, everything is going exactly according to plan," she announced, grinning as the two captives glared at her from behind the pink-tinted walls of their prisons. "It's been fun watching the citizens of Equestria remain oblivious as the influence of the two of you slowly drains out of their lives."

She trotted closer to Cadance, tapping on the glass like a foal at a fish tank. "Your absence in particular certainly helped me with the little project I'm working on on the side," she continued. "You have a power to shape the events of Equestria, just like Celestia does. All your latent power is being swallowed up by my crystals, and without you, it's harder for love to bloom anew in Equestria. It's very subtle in most cases, because ponies already deeply enamored with one another will not be affected. But it's been just delightful watching those ponies at Equestria Speedy Shipping Services remain simply baffled that so many of their assignments have been failing lately, not realizing that budding love, so often already full of uncertainty and anxiety, is now even more fragile without the influence your very existence has on it. These days, the only assignments that have been succeeding are between ponies who are already certain, deep in their heart, that the relationship they're seeking is truly their path to happiness. With Celestia's natural ability to promote peace and harmony and yours to strengthen love both missing, Equestria has sunken into a state of unease that it hasn't seen for many hundreds of years. And the best part is, almost nopony even realizes that anything is changing, save for the disappearance of two of their beloved princesses."

Cadance said something. No sound made it past the crystal walls to Wishing Star's ears, but as usual, she got the gist. "You're angry that I'm torturing those poor shipping ponies, aren't you?" she cooed. "After all, they're just a casualty. Ditzy Doo needed to suffer because my unwitting assistant, Cosmic Glow, wanted her to suffer. And for my plan to work, Glow needed to get what she wanted."

The mare produced a pink crystal from a small brown sack sitting on one of the old crates in the corner of the room. "Crystals of hate. Marvelous things, really," she said pensively. "These unassuming little stones are my ticket to regaining my full power. They serve as a catalyst for malice, causing it to grow unchecked, until hatred overtakes all other aspects of an afflicted pony's personality. There is a catch, of course; I can't bind one to a pony until they exhibit a hatred as deep and pure as the crystals themselves produce. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find ponies who harbor such emotions in a land of sunshine and rainbows like this one?"

Celestia and Cadance exchanged a glance and a bit of a smile. Wishing Star scowled.

"Sure, be proud of yourselves and your little utopia," she snapped. "It doesn't matter. I found two ponies brimming with just the kind of hatred I was looking for. What I needed to do then was cultivate it, and to do that, I had to make their desire for revenge into a reality! In the case of the first of those two ponies, Cosmic Glow, I've already succeeded. The moment she rejoiced at the knowledge that Ditzy Doo's relationship had fallen apart, and the company she works for teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, I knew she had the pure, untainted malice in her that I needed. And so I imbued her with one of my crystals."

She lit her horn, and in a flash of teleportation, Glow appeared beside her. The mare looked no different than usual, with one exception; her usually deep purple eyes now shined with the same hot pink as Wishing Star's. She took a look at the princesses and glared, her lip curling up into a snarl.

"Now that Glow here is under the influence of a crystal of hate, a burning hostility towards... well, everything... is all she can feel. She was always a nasty pony, but if there was any element of concern for other ponies somewhere deep in her psyche, it's been forcibly suppressed now. And guilt? Shame? Morals? All gone. They've been replaced with a single-minded desire to make other ponies suffer."

She turned to Glow, smiling pleasantly as the blue mare snorted and scraped the ground with a hoof, like a bull preparing to charge. "Still have any qualms about me murdering old Dr. Candyfloss, Glow?" she asked.

"That idealistic pig deserved what he got!" Glow shot back.

Wishing Star giggled. "And your daughter, Sparkler?"

"That pathetic creature never amounted to anything!" Glow cried. "All the time I put into shaping her to be a success, wasted. So fine, she can wallow in her misery until she rots in the ground for all I care!"

She noticed the captive princesses looking at her in horror, and turned to them instead. "And you two!" she continued. "How do you live with yourselves, running a nation that allows what I've suffered through! You're lucky you're in there, or I'd—"

She vanished rather suddenly with another flash from Wishing Star's horn. "As you can see, the crystal has taken full effect," she chuckled. "Cosmic Glow is now consumed by hate. And as I'm sure you both know, the more contempt she produces, the more powerful I grow. I'm gaining strength, while the strength of bonds between the citizens of Equestria is slowly wearing away. What a horrifying combination, huh?"

She cackled while her two prisoners looked on, powerless to do anything. Eventually, the malicious mare got a hold of herself, and did her best to put on a serious face.

"Now, while this is a great start, there's still so much more to do," she admitted. "I'm sure you've noticed, Celestia, that you haven't received any additional guests down here since Cadance's arrival four months ago. I've found that unlike you two sweet, trusting ponies, Princess Luna is far more shrewd and cautious; I've encountered her frequently while working at the Academy, but there's never been an opportunity to capture her. She almost never lets her guard down. So I'm going to have to get just a bit more creative."

Celestia smiled proudly at the news of Luna's success in evading the villain's machinations, but Wishing Star didn't seem too concerned. "There's also the matter of my other assistant, the former dean Bright Spark," she continued. "I need to grow even stronger before I can initiate the final phase of my plan, so I'll need a second pony to end up like poor Cosmic Glow has. And to do that, I need to make Bright Spark's dreams of vengeance into reality as well, and that's been proving just a bit tricky. I could move forward with that part of the plan if she'd ever get back from—"

In the distance, there was the distinct sound of the knocking of a hoof on wood. Wishing Star froze and glanced up at the trapdoor. "As good of conversationalists as you two are, it seems we'll have to continue this later," she chuckled. "It seems I have a guest."

She extinguished her horn, leaving the princesses in total darkness as she hurried up the stairs. Once back in the house, she quickly hid the trapdoor beneath the rug and couch so everything was exactly as before. Quickly tidying her mane and adjusting her glittering headband, she trotted to the front door.

"Good evening! How can— oh my."

On the other side of the door was an incredibly disheveled Bright Spark. The already old mare looked like she'd aged another few years. There were sticks and leaves caught in her silver mane and tail. Her glasses were cracked and askew, and her hooves and undercarriage were covered in mud. And despite it all, a triumphant smile was on her face.

"I shuffled through those woods for six weeks," she declared. "I must've climbed into and out of every cave within a ten mile radius of Hollow Shades. I'm tired, dirty, and bruised... but I've got it."

She withdrew a tiny wooden chest from her ragged saddlebag, opened the lid to reveal a cushioned interior, bearing what appeared to be no more than a frayed, dirty lock of purple hair.

A huge, devious grin spread across Wishing Star's face. "You're certain that's it, then?" she asked.

"I performed a magic detection spell when I happened across it," Bright Spark said with a self-satisfied nod. "This little tuft is pulsing with enough dark magic to kill a city. There's no doubt about it; this is the lost fragment of Scorpio's tail."

Wishing Star chuckled darkly. "My end of the plan's gone well too," she announced. "Like I said before you left, I convinced Dinky that there was no reason to believe her inner darkness was growing as long as nothing changed. Not long after that, she made the mistake of letting me hold that cute little pendant she wears during one of her dark magic research sessions. You know, the one that lets her connect with her coltfriend? I discreetly removed the enchantment she placed on it, and now the poor thing thinks it's gone dark because her heart is fading! She's good about hiding it, but she's a nervous wreck, and those negative feelings mean her dark magic is more active than usual."

Bright Spark returned the evil grin. "So if, theoretically, she were to happen to experience a sudden influx of dark magic from an outside source while already in such a state..."

"...Then dear Dinky would likely lose control of the stirred-up darkness she's holding back right now," Wishing Star finished, giggling. "Imagine what a misfortune it would be for her if something like that happened in front of, say, a large group of her classmates?"

"We need to time it right," Bright Spark said resolutely. "We're so close to victory, but we can't slip up on this last step."

"Oh, don't worry," Wishing Star encouraged, closing the little chest and taking it in her aura. "I'll need your help for the final phase, but I know exactly how this is going to work. After all, Ditzy may be onto me, but Dinky still trusts her lovable counselor completely. You'll even get to witness the moment in person! I just need you to follow my instructions one last time..."