//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15 
// Story: Magic of the Heart 
// by Pegasus Rescue Brigade 
//------------------------------//

"Portabella, if we fail to procure our midday sustenance presently, we will expend the last of the remaining interval preceding our next instructive seminar, and remain famished throughout its duration.  Thus, I recommend we make haste to the Academy's dining locality."

"Ooooh!" Portabella crooned, shimmying in place and wagging her fluffy tail like a dog.  "Whatever you just said, Top, it sounded so mysterious it gave me the shivers!"

Top Percentile smacked a hoof to his forehead and dragged it slowly down his face in frustration.  Unable to easily reword the sentence in a way Portabella might understand, he simply gestured toward the dining hall.

"You.  Me.  Food."

Portabella's stomach growled.  "Oh yeah, good idea!" she chirped, scooping Top's entire body up with a single foreleg as usual and holding him tightly against her as she walked with the other three legs.  "Oh, and you're doing really good learning those Ponish words.  Next we gotta work on forming sentences!"

Inkwell rolled her eyes as she followed her friends.  She supposed it was a good thing that Bella and Top were doing their very best to proceed with business as usual after the events that had unfolded two days before.  She, however, couldn't keep the storm of questions and worries out of her mind for very long.

It all seemed so surreal; one moment, everything was normal, and the next, most of the school raised their horns against the disguised wraith hidden among them, who, now exposed, ran for her life.  During the two intervening days, Dean Script and all the professors had insisted, time and time again, that Dinky was not to be feared; Inkwell had heard it mentioned during almost every class period.  But for many students, the reassurance seemed to have no effect.  It didn't take much effort to hear the whispers of the students, huddled together in the halls.

"Dinky Doo was some kind of monster all along!"

"Something just doesn't add up.  The professors have always taught us to avoid dark magic at all costs, so why are they defending a wraith?"

"D'you think Dinky has anything to do with the princesses disappearing?  If anypony could overpower them, it'd be a creature like that."

Inkwell frowned and flattened her ears against their head.  Why are they so suspicious? she thought.  Dinky's never tried to hurt anypony all year.  And if the professors and overseers trust her, why won't the students?

Still trailing along behind her friends, Inkwell turned a corner and ran straight into the chest of a much larger pony.  Immediately shaken from her troubling thoughts, she stumbled backwards and fell on her butt.

"Oh, my apologies, Inkwell my dear!  Are you alright?"

Inkwell looked up into the face of the blue and brown stallion in front of her.  "Oh, sorry Overseer Tango," she squeaked, quickly standing back up.  "I wasn't paying attention.  I guess I'm kind of distracted."

Tango Trot nodded understandingly.  "I suppose we're all a little distracted these days," he admitted with a sad smile.

"Cognitive preoccupation is taxing to circumvent in the wake of our contemporary circumstances," Top pointed out.

"And we're all still a little wrapped up in what happened two days ago, too," Portabella added, failing to notice Top shaking his head hopelessly.

"I know, I'm terribly worried about our friends," Tango replied, frowning.  "My thoughts have been so agitated, in fact, that my precognition has been triggering far more often than normal lately.  Usually about entirely useless things like what's going to be served for breakfast tomorrow morning.  It's actually becoming quite annoying."

"Did it tell you anything about whether or not Clarity's ok?" Inkwell asked.  "She was determined to find Dinky before anypony else did.  I hope she succeeded..."

Tango Trot shook his head sadly.  "Unfortunately, my young friend, I'm as much in the dark about the fate of my fellow Overseer as you are," he admitted.  "Just going on intuition, though, I imagine she and her friends are holding their own.  Clarity's got the smarts, Scuffle's got the strength, and Honeydew's good enough at thinking rationally to keep those other two from doing something too reckless.  And Dinky, well... Celestia only knows what she's capable of.  I certainly don't know anything about the limits of a wraith's dark magic abilities."

Inkwell managed a hopeful smile.  "Y-yeah," she agreed.  "The four of them combined have an incredible variety of magic.  They should be alright until Dean Script and Princess Twilight can find them."

"Exactly," Tango Trot said, giving the younger pony a nod and a bright smile.  "The best thing we can do for now is allow the dean and other associates of the Academy around Equestria do their job.  They'll locate our friends in no time, and sort this whole mess out.  Things will be back to normal faster than you can say... can say..."

He trailed off, his gaze fixed on a nondescript point in space.  White light surged around his horn instead of his usual icy blue.  Inkwell, used to the sight like many of the Academy's students, waited for the result of Tango's latest precognitive episode, expecting some silly prediction about the weather later than week or something similarly trivial.

The phrase Tango spoke was something quite different.

"The fall of Canterlot is inevitable."

There was a second of silence.  The light faded from around Tango Trot's horn, and after a moment, he came to his senses.

"I... w-well, that's certainly a bit more ominous than usual," he stuttered.  "Though, you know how these predictions are; they find ways to use strange wording to sound more meaningful than they actually are.  I'm sure it's nothing to fear; perhaps it's referring to the season of fall, since this late in October, the trees should be dropping their leaves any day now."

"You sure about that?" Portabella asked, fidgeting nervously.  "'Cause with the princesses missing and all this other drama, that's really not the kind of thing that most ponies are gonna be able to, y'know, brush off."

"The severity of the prospect of socioeconomic collapse or perhaps even structural annihilation of this domain's capital cosmopolis should not be downplayed," Top added.

"Quite right," Tango said, nodding.  "I'm not saying we shouldn't prepare, just that we shouldn't panic.  Other than the obvious problem of our missing princesses, nothing is seriously amiss in Canterlot at the moment; there are extra guards on patrol, and daily life is proceeding as usual.  I'll inform the dean of that prediction, and she can contact Princess Twilight, or any relevant Canterlot authorities, as she sees fit.  For now, I urge you not to put too much stock in vague and often misleading premonitions.  Now hurry along and get some lunch, and try not to worry too much about our friends.  I'm certain they're just fine, wherever they are."

He briskly trotted off, bound directly for the dean's office.  Portabella shrugged and continued  to carry Top toward the dining hall.  Trying to somehow force all her worries to the back of her mind, Inkwell sighed and followed after her friends.





Several days passed.  One dreary afternoon in late October, Ditzy Doo made her way to a familiar building, but for an unfamiliar reason.

The facade of Equestria Speedy Shipping Services looked just how it always did, with one exception: the large sign on the door reading "Closed until further notice".  In the pit of her stomach, the pegasus knew that was a lie; in a short time, she and her coworkers would be replacing it with a similar sign reading "Out of business".

But this is far from the time to worry about that, she thought as she pushed open the front door.  Equestria Speedy Shipping Services doesn't matter until Dinky is safe.

She hurried through the dim hallway, past the office that had been lacking any occupant for weeks now, and up the stairs to the employee lounge.  Breeze, Watt, and Cloudcover, who were studying a huge map of Equestria laid out on the table, all looked up as she entered.

"Got the newspapers?" Breeze asked.

Ditzy nodded as she dumped the contents of her saddlebags onto the table.  Newspapers of various sizes with a wide range of different headlines spread out over a portion of the map.  "Raindrops hooked me up," she explained.  "There are papers here from all over Equestria; we need to look into everything that has to do with potential wraith sightings and figure out which ones are credible leads on Dinky's location, and which are just fear mongering tabloids, or ponies jumping to conclusions over nothing."

"You think that'll work?" Watt asked nervously.  "The news that a wraith's on the loose is all over Equestria now, and a whole lot of ponies are kinda slow to accept Princess Twilight's promises that they have nothing to fear.  There's probably dozens of rumors and false leads in there."

"We've got to try," Ditzy said matter-of-factly.  "We haven't had any other good leads so far.  Which reminds me, how are you guys doing with your end of the plan?"

"I'm still in contact with a number of ponies from my days in the service of the crown," Cloudcover reported.  "Several old friends are doing all they can to investigate any information about wraiths or dark magic that may crop up in their hometowns."

"And Ponyville's about as secure as it's gonna get," Watt added.  "Pinkie Pie's friends with everypony here, so she's been going around trying to convince ponies to listen to the princess and don't fear Dinky if they spot her.  Not everypony's on board, but maybe two-thirds of 'em are.  If Dinky turns up here, she's got at least a relatively good chance of running into a friend instead of a foe."

"I just got back from an aerial scan of the area," Breeze chimed in.  "There are no signs of strange magical happenings, or unusual gatherings of ponies.  Obviously I can't patrol all of Equestria by myself, but hopefully Cloudcover's contacts are helping with that."

"Thank you, all of you," Ditzy said, smiling slightly.  "There hasn't been any confirmed report of a wraith being captured or attacked, just the stories and sightings in the tabloids, so if we keep this up, we still have a chance.  Let's start going through these newspapers and marking anything that seems credible on the map."

The mare opened to the first page of one of the papers, but before she could even begin to read, there was the faint sound of a bell.  After a moment, she realized it was the service bell down by the front desk.

"Now who could that be?" Cloudcover asked, his ears standing on end.  "Walk-in clients were rare as it was, and now we've got a sign stating that we aren't open..."

"I'll go check!" Watt declared, leaping to his hooves.  "Maybe we've got a delivery or something."

"If it's a client, tell them we can't help them right now," Breeze called as the chipper earth pony bolted out the door.

Ditzy sighed and turned back to her newspaper.  "I hate the idea of turning clients away," she admitted, "but, right now... we just have to."

"It's the right thing to do," Breeze affirmed.  "Candyfloss would have agreed that saving Dinky is much more important than saving the business."

"And sadly, Equestria Speedy Shipping Services is likely beyond saving anyway," Cloudcover added gruffly.

There was the sound of hooves on the stairs, and Watt poked his head in the door.  "Uh... guys?" he asked, wearing a rather uncertain expression.  "That wasn't a client.  Or a delivery.  We have... guests."

"Guests?" Ditzy parroted, her eyes drifting into focus for a second to look at the door.  "Who would come looking for us here?"

Watt stepped fully into the room, and silently beckoned to somepony on the stairs behind him.  And then, to the great surprise of the other matchmakers, two unicorns stepped into the room: a young mare with pink and purple fur and three gemstones on her flank, and behind her, a stallion with a white coat that contrasted sharply with his black mane.

"Hello again, Mrs. Doo," Sparkler greeted with a faint smile.

"Sparkler!  Presto!" Ditzy gasped, launching out of her chair and fluttering across the room toward her visitors.  "What are you doing all the way down here in Ponyville?"

Sparkler raised an eyebrow.  "What are we doing here?  Are you serious?"

"There's a rather prevalent story in the news concerning one of our former classmates," Presto explained, considerably more politely.  "You and Dinky have been so important to the course of Sparkler's life that we felt the least we could do was come and find out the truth from the source."

"Because the current story can't be true!" Sparkler insisted.  "The news says that an incident at the Academy revealed Dinky to be a wraith!"

"Y-yes, that's right..." Ditzy stuttered, a bit taken aback by Sparkler's sudden energy.

Sparkler shook her head.  "Mrs. Doo, in the time we spent together, it was clear you aren't especially versed in magic, and that's fine," she explained, "but to clarify, knowing dark magic is not the same as being a wraith.  All unicorns are capable of dark magic, but wraiths are former unicorns that were consumed by it.  I saw Dinky last spring; she's no wraith."

"She uh... she is though, actually," Ditzy said feebly.  "She disguises herself as a pony, but she did get consumed by dark magic.  I was there, I saw it.  She's just not, um, evil, and as far as anypony knows, she's the first friendly wraith in history.  Ask Princess Twilight, or anypony that works at the Academy.  They've all known for years."

Sparkler and Presto exchanged a stunned glance.  "You... you're serious?" Presto asked.  "When did this happen?"

"Four years ago," Ditzy answered.  "I'm sure you both heard about the incident with Scorpio's resurrection and then re-sealing.  That story's common knowledge at the Academy.  What wasn't widely known until just a few days ago was that Scorpio personally turned Dinky into a wraith during her brief visit to Equestria."

"That same night!?" Sparkler cried.  "So when I saw Dinky the next afternoon... or earlier this year at your wedding..."

"She was disguising her true wraith form, yes," Ditzy said, slightly amused by Sparkler's increasingly incredulous expression.  "I know that's a little hard to swallow, but we don't have time to worry about it right now.  The guys and I need to get back to searching for her."

For the first time since arriving, Sparkler seemed to take notice of the other ponies standing silently across the room.  Her gaze quickly rested on Breeze, and the two of them stared at each other for several seconds.

"Um... hey there Sparkler," Breeze said awkwardly.  "I see things seem to be going well for you and your friend.  I'm glad Ditzy was able to help you."

Presto, who clearly had been filled in on some of Sparkler's backstory in the weeks since reuniting with her, seemed to make the mental connection.  "He knows you?" he asked.  "Then is this your..."

"My father," Sparkler finished, her voice tinged with bitterness.

Nopony quite knew what to do next.  Sparkler glanced at Presto, who gestured slightly with a forehoof, coaxing her forward.  Apprehensively, she took a step or two toward the red pegasus.

Breeze made an attempt to break the silence.  "So, um—"

"A truce," Sparkler said suddenly.

Breeze cocked his head.  "Huh?"

"You and I are far from on good terms right now, Autumn Breeze," Sparkler said coldly.  "But I am on good terms with Mrs. Doo.  So much so that Presto and I came all the way here just to offer our help."

"Wait, what?" Ditzy asked, astonished.

Sparkler glanced over her shoulder at the mare.  "Even though you didn't have to... even though I actually resisted it... you helped me find a pony that was very important to me," she said.  "So when I heard the pony most important to you... or, well, wraith, apparently... is in danger, I felt it was important to come here to try to return the favor."

Ditzy's eyes widened.  "You and Presto came all the way here to... to help us save Dinky?"

"Yes," said Sparkler, with her typical incredible bluntness, before turning back to Breeze.  "Hence the truce.  Breeze, there will be time to discuss... well, this whole entire mess later.  Right now, regardless of the tension between us, we need to act as allies until Dinky Doo is safe."

Breeze nodded.  "Agreed.  Once the danger has passed, then we can worry about family drama."

"Now not to be rude, but we really shouldn't waste any more time," Cloudcover interjected, speaking up for the first time in a while.  "Ditzy, why don't you introduce us all so we can get down to business."

"Right, sorry!" Ditzy squeaked.  "You two, these are my other coworkers, Watt and Cloudcover.  They've known Dinky for even longer than you have, and Breeze and I can always count on their help."

"Pleased to meet ya!" Watt chirped, grabbing Presto's forehoof and shaking it rapidly enough to send a wave of vibrations through the surprised young stallion.  "Any friends of Ditzy's are friends of ours!"

After sufficiently rattling Presto, he reached out to offer Sparkler a similar greeting.  With a bit of a frown, the mare conjured a glowing purple forehoof for him to shake instead.  Undeterred, the earth pony eagerly greeted the little magic construct with an equally enthusiastic greeting.

"And guys, I know you already know this, but this is Sparkler and her friend Presto," Ditzy continued.  "Both of them are Dinky's former Overseers, so if magic is gonna help us find her, we hit the jackpot when they showed up."

"I can't say for sure if magic will change anything," Sparkler admitted, "but we're willing to help with whatever you need."

"Well, it may not be the most glamorous task, but we could use a few extra sets of hooves to look through all the newspapers Ditzy provided," Cloudcover pointed out.  "Could we trouble you two to help us scan these for news of potential wraith sightings?"

Before Sparkler and Presto could reply, a scroll materialized in midair in a burst of dragon fire.  Ditzy managed to catch it before it hit the floor and quickly glanced it over.



Mrs. Doo,

Please come see me right away.  You'll be relieved to hear I just received a letter from Dinky and her friends.  With luck, we should be able to retrieve her before anypony else finds her.  Further details when you get here.

~Princess Twilight



"Scratch that!" she announced.  "Follow me everypony!  Princess Twilight knows where Dinky is!"





Something's not right...

It was the first thought to cross Dinky's mind upon waking up that morning.  Judging by the angle of the sunlight coming in through Honeydew's window, it was still early— perhaps seven in the morning— but the fact that she'd been allowed to wake up naturally at all was suspect.  For the last three days, Berry Basket would've been pounding on the door at the crack of dawn, badgering the trio of fillies to get out of bed and get ready for another day in the fields.

By this time of day, Honeydew's parents would normally have been awake for nearly two hours.  Yet the farmhouse was silent.

Dinky sat up and looked around.  Clarity remained in the other sleeping bag, splayed out in an unkempt and unflattering pose as usual, snoring softly.  Up in her bed, Honeydew, amazingly, appeared to be asleep as well; that she hadn't awakened alongside her parents at the crack of dawn was truly a testament to the poor filly's exhaustion.

"Girls," she whispered.

Ever the light sleeper, Honeydew's ears perked up immediately.  She sat up and glanced around in confusion.

"Wait... what time is it?" she whispered back.

Clarity, always the opposite of Honeydew when it came to sleeping habits, twitched in her sleep and rolled over.  More than used to such behavior after five years of sharing a dorm, Dinky trotted over and leaned into her friend's face.

"Oi, Clarity!  Wake up."

Clarity grunted and slowly opened one eye.  "What?" she croaked.

"Something's off," Dinky said quietly, looking around.  "It's morning, and Honeydew's parents haven't come to get us yet."

"It's definitely odd..." Honeydew agreed, hopping out of her bed and immediately tying her mane back into its buns.  "Come on, let's see if something's up."

The pink filly put on her saddlebags and pulled the door open, and Dinky followed her and Clarity down the stairs.  The previous mornings, they'd always found Berry Basket bustling about the kitchen and Melon Rind checking over the harvest schedule and drinking his morning coffee, but today, the room was empty and still.

"Mother?  Father?" Honeydew called, peeking through the doorway into the next room.

"Seems like nopony's here," Clarity said.  "Do you think they started without us?"

Honeydew rolled her eyes.  "Start working by themselves when there's three 'lazy unicorns' asleep upstairs that could provide free labor?  That's not really how my parents are."

"Let's see if we can find them outside, then," Dinky suggested, pushing open the front door and stepping outside.

"There she is!"

Dinky froze and turned her head to the source of the voice.  For a moment she struggled to make sense of what she was seeing.

Melon Rind and Berry Basket stood a few dozen pony lengths up the path.  Berry's eyes were narrowed warily, and Melon wore an expression of equal parts horror and rage.  Behind them were at least a dozen other earth ponies that Dinky could only assume were other residents of the tiny farming town.  A number of them, especially the stallions, carried various farming tools with them, clutched at their sides like weapons they were itching to brandish.  All of them looked similarly outraged.

Clarity and Honeydew stepped outside, and the latter stared at her parents uncomprehendingly.  "Mother, father, what are you doing?" she squeaked, eyeing up the assemblage of ponies uncertainly.

"I knew you were in with the wrong crowd, Honeydew," Melon Rind replied, scowling at her.  "I knew bringing unicorns back here would be nothing but trouble, but this?  Do you even know what you've done?"

Honeydew blinked.  "I..."

"We haven't done anything!" Clarity defended.  "We've all been avoiding magic, just like you asked us to."

"Quiet, you!" Berry Basket snapped.  "I wouldn't expect a pony so devoid of decency as you to have any morals anyway, but regardless, this isn't about you.  It's about Honeydew and..." she made an accusatory gesture at Dinky "...and Solar Gleam here, though it appears that's not even her real name."

Dinky's breath caught in her throat.  Uh-oh.  What do they know?

"I went into town at sunrise this morning to get a few more tools," Melon Rind explained angrily.  "While I was there, I heard a stallion passing through town talking to Dry Vine at the general store about some article in the newspapers.  Apparently there's some kind of evil magical monster on the loose.  She's hiding from the Equestrian authorities, disguising herself as a purple and yellow unicorn with stars on her flank."

Dinky glanced at her cutie mark instinctively, and immediately wished she hadn't.  The gesture was, if anything, just more confirmation of her guilt.

"Get away from that loathsome beast, Honeydew," Berry Basket commanded.  "This is what I always said would happen if you got too involved with magic; one thing leads to another, and next thing you know our daughter is trying to give violent magical fugitives asylum in our home!"

"You've got it all wrong!" Honeydew pleaded, not leaving her friend's side.  "Dinky's not violent, she's just—"

"Dinky!  That was the name in the newspaper, right?" Melon Rind asked one of the other stallions next to him, who nodded gravely.  "Then there's no doubt.  That unicorn's some kind of abomination that belongs in Tartarus.  One way or another, I'm getting that wretched thing off my farm."

He began to approach, raising the pitchfork he'd been carrying at his side and pointing the prongs toward Dinky's chest.  Dinky backed off, ready to defend herself with magic if it came to that.

"Father, stop!" Honeydew begged, galloping forward and meeting him before he could get close to Dinky.  "She's my friend, and she's not dangerous!  For Celestia's sake, why won't you ever believe me?"

Melon Rind lowered the pitchfork and glared down at his daughter.  "Because I know everything coming out of your mouth is a result of that school mentally reconditioning you," he barked.  "You ignored our wishes and went off to spend years studying that... that affront to nature that you unicorns use so casually.  You made your choice; you gained the magic you so desperately wanted to learn, but you lost our respect."

Honeydew's ears and tail drooped.  "I... o-okay, fine," she whimpered.  "But it doesn't matter what you think of me, father.  I'm not letting you hurt my friend."

Growing angrier, the stallion raised a foreleg to try to force Honeydew aside.  But before he could give her a shove, a shining blue wall of light appeared between them.

"Using your magic against me now, are you?" Melon Rind roared.  "You disrespectful—"

"That's not me!" Honeydew interrupted.  "That magic's blue, so it must be—"

Dinky turned her head toward the barn, and sure enough, Scuffle was sprinting as fast as his legs could carry him toward the gathering of ponies, his horn brightly aglow.  "I don't know what's going on over there," he yelled as he approached, "but if you lay a hoof on those three I'm gonna show you exactly the kind of magic you're afraid of!" 

At the sight of the spell, the group of earth ponies became much more agitated.  Many of them raised rakes and shovels defensively as Scuffle skidded to a halt next to his friends.  "What the heck is this?  What'd I miss?" he asked as he took his place beside them.

"News about Dinky made it to the town," Clarity sighed.  "Our cover is blown."

With a furious cry, Melon Rind rammed his pitchfork against Scuffle's shield.  It actually put a sizable chink in it; Dinky had to remind herself just how strong earth ponies could be when they were really trying.

"I don't care what sort of magic you try to use!" the stallion growled.  "I'm either running that monster you're defending out of town, or personally sending it back to the pits of Tartarus where it belongs!"

He glanced over his shoulder.  "Come!  Join me!  Let's get these troublemakers out of our peaceful little town!"

Emboldened by his call to action, the angry mob of townsfolk charged forward, raising their weapons.  Scuffle hurriedly extended his shield into a dome that encased all four unicorns, but in just seconds, it was under assault from all sides by dozens of powerful blows.

"N-no!  Stop!" Honeydew yelped, though her voice was all but drowned out by the chaos.

"They're like animals!" Scuffle cried, concentrating as hard as he could on repairing any damages dealt to the shield.  "There's no reasoning with 'em!  And they say we're the barbarians!"

"Clarity, get us out of here!" Dinky pleaded.  "You're the best at teleporting all of us at once."

"Teleport?  Where?" Clarity asked, wincing as an angry stallion rammed the shield right beside her with his whole body weight.

"Anywhere!  Just go!"

Clarity lit her horn, and Dinky felt her hooves leave the ground for a fraction of a second as the world changed around her.  The angry cries and clanging of farming tools vanished all at once, replaced by the sound of a stream and the trilling of a few frogs as an unfamiliar forest came into view.  The instant the teleport was complete, Honeydew collapsed in the grass at the base of a tree, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Honeydew!" Dinky gasped, rushing over to her.  "Are you okay?  Did they hurt you?"

"I-I'm s-s-so sorry!" Honeydew sputtered between gasping sobs.  "It's my f-fault, I'm so s-stupid..."

"What do you mean?" Clarity asked, equally alarmed.  "You didn't do anything.  In fact, you tried to stop them!"

"We n-never should have gone there in the f-first place!" the pink filly wailed, weakly pounding a hoof on the tree beside her in anguish.  "I grew up there!  I kn-know how paranoid and ignorant my parents can be!  And n-news about Dinky was bound to get there eventually, but I—"

She paused, struggling to catch her breath as her body shook with sobs.  "—b-b-but I thought we'd be safe for longer.  And I believed... I believed that if something d-did happen,  I could convince them... not to make them accept the benefits of magic or anything, but maybe make them s-see reason... to not treat you like monsters!  I should know better by now!  I almost got you three hurt... or worse!  Stupid!  So S-stupid!"

She pressed her face into the grass and dissolved into incoherent bawling, leaving Dinky and Clarity too shocked to say anything.

A second later, Dinky felt a gentle tap on her side.  She turned her head to see Scuffle vaguely gesturing for her to step aside.  She did so, and the colt moved forward, carefully tucking his legs under him to lay down in the grass beside his distraught friend.

"Dewey."

Honeydew either didn't hear him or simply didn't respond.  Her body quivered as she continued to cry.

"Dewey, look at me," Scuffle commanded, his voice firm but not intimidating as he carefully extended a foreleg and used it to coax her to lift her head.

Shaking, Honeydew slowly looked up; the fur on her face was matted from tears and her pale green eyes glistened in the morning sunlight.  "W-what?" she asked, sounding disoriented.

"First of all, you didn't do a damn thing wrong and you know it," Scuffle said.  "The whole country is after Dinky right now; nowhere is totally safe.  The only options we had were to stay clear of all civilization, or try to lay low somewhere where news spreads more slowly.  You tried to help us by taking us to a place where we could get food and shelter without raising suspicion for a few days."

Honeydew grimaced.  "B-but... but... I should've thought more about the consequences," she argued.  "M-my father... he brought an army.  He would've tried to kill Dinky if we gave him the chance..."

"And in what universe would we have given him a chance?" Scuffle asked, raising an eyebrow.  "His 'army' was a bunch of earth ponies with shovels and pitchforks.  We're four above-average unicorns with extensive magic training.  I only used a shield back there instead of fighting back because I knew we didn't wanna hurt anypony, but if we had to defend ourselves, we could've, easily.  And let's be honest, while most of Equestria won't respond like that to unicorns, there's a whole lot of totally normal folks who will respond like that to a wraith.  We coulda' waltzed into a 'highly civilized' place like Canterlot and still been faced with an angry mob just as vicious as that one, and it probably would've been a heck of a lot more dangerous than a band of farmers, too."

"S-still..." Honeydew managed.  "Even if Dinky wasn't a wraith, I don't know why I thought th-they would tolerate you three.  They won't listen.  They won't give any unicorn a chance.  They w-won't even give me a chance..."

She sniffled loudly, holding back fresh sobs.  "Scuffle, after all these years, why did I want to believe things might be different this time?" she squeaked.  "I know better than that..."

Scuffle didn't immediately respond, but even from her angle, Dinky caught a glimpse of the deepest compassion in his eyes.
"Well... because just about everypony has some good in 'em somewhere,"  he said softly.  "A lot of times the bad ones are more grossly misguided than actually bad.  Some ponies have beliefs that they'll just never waver from.  To you and me, it seems silly.  If you present somepony with logic that disproves what they think, they should change their view, right?  But it just, y'know... it doesn't always work like that."

Honeydew looked down.  "So there's no hope," she said flatly.

"Well, now hold on," Scuffle continued.  "Different ponies respond to different things.  Maybe your parents will never accept that unicorns and earth ponies aren't really so different.  Or maybe it'll just take something to convince them that ponies like you haven't already tried.  Either way, that's not the point."

Honeydew's ear twitched.  "Oh?"

"The point is that you aren't responsible for how they act, and it's not your job to act how they want you to," Scuffle explained.  "If those two can't find it in their hearts to see unicorns as anything but monsters, that's their loss.  But I don't wanna hear you acting like you deserve any of that crap they give you because you were born a unicorn.  You have more talent and charm than you know what to do with, and now that you're grown up, you need to surround yourself with ponies who appreciate it.  Dedicated professors, like-minded citizens... and, y'know, good friends, like us."

He reached out, placing a hoof on her shoulder reassuringly.  "You can do it, okay?  I've known you for a long time.  I know you can."

Honeydew squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and wiped her face with a hoof.  After a moment, she crawled forward a bit and planted her face in the fluffy patch of fur on Scuffle's chest, still crying, but much more softly now.  The colt blinked in surprise, and blushing slightly, he gave her mane a few slow strokes.  After a few moments, Honeydew seemed to calm down a bit more; turning her face away slightly, she rested her cheek against him, eyes closed, looking physically and emotionally exhausted.

"W-what do we do now?" she whispered.

Scuffle glanced expectantly at the others.  "Dinks?  Clarity?  Got any clue where we are?"

"Not really," Clarity admitted, once she got over Scuffle's monologue enough to find her voice.  "I was more focused on teleporting us as far as I could manage.  I know we've gone south, but I couldn't tell you how far, or if we're near anything recognizable."

"There's a stream here, at least," Dinky pointed out.  "We've got a water source, and if we follow it, we'll probably find a town or something.  "We'll just have to be really careful about being seen.  But until then..."

"We have to rough it in the wilderness, eh?" Scuffle asked.  "Good thing we've got a pony with us who can interact with the environment to help us find food and shelter out here."

Honeydew's eyes flew open.  "I almost forgot," she said sheepishly.  "I haven't cast a spell in days..."

The meek filly finally sat up, wiping the last of the tears off her face, and lit her horn.  The bright green Lifesense grid spread across everything in the immediate vicinity, and Dinky was able to almost see the vitality flow back into Honeydew's previously listless features in seconds.  What Scuffle had said back on the farm was true, it seemed; Honeydew just didn't seem complete without her life magic.  A hint of a smile crossed her lips.

"Alright, here's the plan:" Clarity began, "We'll follow the stream until we find civilization.  Honeydew can help us find anything edible, and when we get to a town, Dinky can hang back in hiding while the rest of us try to find a way to send another letter to update the ponies looking for us about our new location.  If we just stay away from everypony this time, we should be able to hold out until our allies arrive.  Does that sound okay to everypony?"

"Got it," Dinky affirmed, nodding.  "Honeydew, are you feeling up to it?"

Honeydew nodded slowly.  "I... I'll manage," she confirmed, standing up and leaning against Scuffle for support.  "Let's go."





Inkwell could tell in the pit of her stomach that something was wrong.  The whole atmosphere of the Academy felt... off.  The staff looked too somber, and the students too on-edge.  If anything, the tension had only grown in the week since the truth about Dinky had come to light.  And the fact that there was still no news on where she was, or where Overseer Clarity and her friends were for that matter, continued to gnaw at her.  She'd heard nothing further on Tango's unnerving prediction either, but despite his consolation, the troubling premonition, vague though it was, still bothered her.

So when Dean Script called for an unscheduled meeting of all students, at a time of day that caused an interruption of classes, she feared the worst.

Inkwell and her friends shuffled into the main hall, trying to avoid ending up underhoof as older students filed in around them.  The trio took their seats and waited.

"D'you think they've finally got news about what happened to Dinky and the others?" Portabella whispered.

"I hope so, but... I just can't shake the feeling that we're about to receive more bad news," Inkwell admitted, tugging nervously on one of her braids.

"I concur," Top agreed.  "The very atmosphere here is permeated with unease.  Perhaps recent occurrences can be construed as ill omens, prognosticating calamities yet to come."

"Top, this is serious," Portabella scolded, frowning at him.  "As much as I love your sexy foreign talk, it's not the time or place."

Top stared blankly at her for a moment.  Inkwell assumed, if she could've seen past his impossibly thick glasses, he probably narrowed his eyes at the oblivious filly beside him.  Before she could comment, Dean Script appeared onstage in a flash of light.  Though still well-groomed and adorned with her usual ceremonial cloak, the mare looked much more tired and worn than usual.

What Inkwell hadn't been expecting was for Princess Twilight to teleport in as well. The chatter in the room quieted within seconds of her appearance.

"Good afternoon, and thank you for coming on such short notice," Spiral Script began.  "I apologize for interrupting your classes; I know we've been gathering the student body together for these meetings more often than usual, but this one really is of significant importance.  I'd prefer to get right to the point, so I'm going to pass the conversation to Princess Twilight."

"Thank you, Dean Script," Twilight replied, nodding respectfully.  "Students, I know you're all aware that this term has been burdened with, um... more than its share of tension.  That tension extends much further than this school; all of Equestria is dealing with troubling events right now.  So I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the situation has gotten worse once again."

Inkwell swallowed hard and glanced nervously at her friends.  Has something bad happened to Clarity and the others?

"We didn't want to raise the alarm immediately, until we were sure, but now there can be no doubt," Twilight continued somberly.  "Princess Luna's sudden absence is no coincidence; all attempts to locate or contact her have failed.  We have no choice but to assume that she has disappeared along with the others."

"Additionally, there is still substantial unrest in many of Equestria's population centers, owing to information spread about your classmate, Dinky Doo," Spiral Script added.  "And don't think the whispers about her here haven't reached my ears, either; I can assure you once again that despite her connection with dark magic, Dinky is not malicious and has no intent to harm anypony.  But unfortunately, as Twilight is now our only acting princess, spreading the message that she is not to be feared to the rest of Equestria is proving to be very slow work."

"This, combined with other recent concerns that have arisen, have forced us to make a difficult decision," Twilight explained, sighing as she looked out at the congregated unicorns sadly.  "After today, there are only two weeks left in the term: one of normal classes, scheduled to end with the Nightmare Night dance for most of you, and the Graduates' Ball for our fifth-term students, and then a week of final exams.  But given the situation that has developed, Dean Script and I have decided it's in the best interests of the safety and well-being of our students that the remainder of the term be suspended until the situation can be resolved.

"Suspended?" Inkwell mouthed.  "But that means..."

"Please return to the towers and pack your things," Spiral Script ordered.  "Overseer Tango will orchestrate the exit process and get you all safely on the train home.  After today, Celestia's Academy for Gifted Unicorns is closed until further notice."





Squish.

Dinky scrunched up her nose as she lifted her hoof off the soggy ground.  A generous helping of mud came up with it.

"Ground's gettin' really wet here," Scuffle grumbled, shaking mud off his hooves as well.

"Thank you, captain obvious," Dinky grumbled.

"I didn't think we'd be following the river for three days," Clarity admitted, sighing.  "We must be in a really remote part of Equestria to have not encountered some town by now."

Honeydew stepped up on a small mound and looked around.  In frustration, Dinky noticed her friend's hooves were inexplicably clean and dry, before it occurred to her that Honeydew was probably using Lifesense information provided by the underbrush to find the absolute driest route across the waterlogged ground.

"I hate to tell you this..." the pink filly said softly, "but I think we're about to run out of river to follow.  We've been going downhill for a while now, and the groundwater is getting more and more widespread."

"Which means what?" Scuffle asked, using the remains of a rotted stump to scrape some of the scum off the underside of his hoof.

Honeydew parted the bushes just ahead so the others could see beyond them.  Twisted, moss-covered trees loomed over muddy ground and pools of mostly stagnant water.

"It's a swamp," Honeydew deadpanned.

"Oh, perfect," Dinky groaned.  "I don't suppose you can detect any easy way through?"

Honeydew stepped forward and extended the Lifesense grid as far as she could manage across the landscape beyond.  After a few seconds, she let the spell fade out and shook her head.  "All the plant life I can detect is saturated, and their nutrient levels are consistent with swampy landscapes," she admitted, biting her lip.  "We're going to have to just slog through..."

Clarity snorted and marched to the front of the group, pushing aside the bushes and forging ahead.  "No sense putting it off then," she declared.  "Let's get started."

Dinky clambered down the embankment along with the others and winced as her hooves sank into several inches of black mud.  Carefully, she began to trudge forward, holding her tail high enough that it wouldn't drag through the muck.  

"I don't think I want to know exactly what's crawling around in there..." Honeydew admitted, extinguishing her Lifesense as she stepped gingerly into the goop as well.

For a few minutes, the four friends spoke little, concentrating on keeping their balance as they struggled across the landscape.  

"Y'know," Scuffle said finally, wrenching his hoof free from some tangled roots submerged in the gunk beneath him, "I think I saw a movie once that involved a horse in a swamp.  It didn't end well."

"Oh, hush," Clarity chided.  "There are four of us, and we have magic.  There's nothing to worry about; this swamp seems more inconvenient than dangerous."

"Though maybe we can take a quick rest?" Honeydew asked meekly.  "There's a small rise up ahead that looks dry."

Dinky peered ahead.  There was indeed a small hill, ringed with big trees, that seemed to be a bit above the level of all the putrid mud.  "I'm with Honeydew," she agreed.  "Let's take a second to catch our breath."

The four unicorns crawled up onto the hill and collapsed, panting from the effort of trudging through the mire.  Dinky flopped onto her back, watching the light of the setting sun turn colors as it glinted off the leaves above them.

"Okay," Scuffle said drearily.  "This has been enough adventure for the year.  Are we done yet?"

"At least we're safe, and haven't been struggling to find food out here," Honeydew pointed out, levitating a cloth from her bag and cleaning the muck off her legs.  "I just hope all our friends back at the Academy are okay.  I miss Tango; I hope he's not having too much trouble handling the Overseer job by himself..."

"I'm sure Tango's fine," Clarity soothed.  "The Overseer job was always pretty easy for him.  He's got such charisma that most of the students were more than happy to listen to his guidance."

Honeydew grinned.  "Well, I guess you're right," she agreed.

"You know who is probably struggling though?  Inkwell," Clarity continued, frowning.  "You saw how badly she wanted to come with us when we left the Academy.  Nopony's seen us in a week; she's probably terrified something happened to us."

"Inkwell's nothing compared to how my mom must be right now," Dinky cut in.  "You know how she is.  By now, she got our letter, went to Honeydew's farm to find us, and of course, we were long gone by then."

"Y'think Honeydew's folks gave Mrs. Doo any trouble?" Scuffle asked.

Honeydew shook her head.  "Mrs. Doo isn't a unicorn.  I'm sure they were at least civil, if maybe a little unpleasant."

"Well, don't worry," Clarity recommended.  "As soon as we can get somewhere safe, we can wait for Princess Twilight and Princess Luna to reassure the nation about Dinky, and then this whole thing will blow over.  We just have to tough it out a little bit longer."

"But as for tonight, should we camp here?" Scuffle asked.  "It's nice and remote, and at least this spot's dry."

"And surprisingly pretty," Dinky commented, still watching the light show created by the sunlight in the leaves above.  The vibrant light shone with yellows and reds and blues above her.

"...Wait, blues?"

More and more spots of color began to appear, and after a moment, Dinky realized whatever she was looking at wasn't an effect of the sunlight at all.  Tiny colored lights in every shade of the rainbow seemed to emerge from behind leaves or within the grooves on the bark of trees.

Dinky's friends quickly took notice of the phenomenon as well.  "Uh, girls, what are we lookin' at here?" Scuffle asked.  "Does this place have multicolored fireflies, or...?"

Honeydew stood up, peering at the dozens of tiny lights swirling around the group.  Curiously, she cast Lifesense on her surroundings.  Panic washed over her features in an instant.

"Everypony!  Ears flat against your heads, quick!" she instructed, doing the same with her own as she said so.  "Scuffle, shield, now!"

Within a second, Scuffle encased the four travelers in a glimmering bluish dome.  A few of the colored lights flitted against the outside, like flies tapping against a pane of glass.

"Honeydew, what's going on?" Dinky asked, hoping she was loud enough that her friends could hear her with their ears pressed down.

"Make sure there are none inside the dome!" Honeydew called back, carefully examining every inch of their enclosure.  Dinky did the same, examining everything from the grass to her own fur for any sign of the mysterious lights.

"Looks like Scuffle got the shield up before they got too close," Clarity said.

"Scuffle, is the shield stable?" Honeydew asked.  "Is there any chance it would break or deactivate unexpectedly?"

Scuffle smirked.  "Don't you worry, Dewey," he said proudly.  "Nothing's gettin' in or out of here unless I say so."

Honeydew sighed with relief and let her ears return to their normal position.  Cautiously, the other three ponies did the same.

"Ok, you mind cluing us in now?" Clarity asked, tossing her mane nervously.  "Why are we taking all these precautions because of some little colored lights?"

Honeydew watched the sparkling spots continue to flit like insects outside the dome.  "They're not lights.  They're wood nymphs," she said gravely.  "A rare species that lives deep in forests and swamps like this one.  They don't cause bodily harm or anything, but they're still really dangerous because they—"

A single, orange light flitted out of its hiding spot in the voluminous waves of Honeydew's mane.  Dinky spotted it first and tried to react.

"Honeyd—"

Before the word was even out of her mouth, the little orange glimmer changed course and darted into Honeydew's ear.  The pink filly gasped and shook her head violently, but the invader didn't re-emerge.  After a few fruitless seconds of trying, she stood still, her pupils tiny and horrified.

"O-o-okay, listen c-closely," she stammered.  "There's n-no time to explain, b-but I'm going to be fine, I promise.  Just p-please, whatever happens, d-don't let me—"

Honeydew choked on the next word.  Her face flushed with effort as she struggled to get the remainder of her sentence out, but she couldn't utter a single sound.  She swayed where she stood, and her eyes rolled up as she toppled sideways and collapsed softly in the grass.

"Dewey!" Scuffle cried, at the filly's side in an instant.  "Crap!  We missed one!  How did we miss one!?  What did it do to her!?"

"Okay, let's try to calm down," Dinky managed, though she could feel herself shaking as well.  "Honeydew's the one who knows about these wood nymph things, and she promised it's gonna be okay."

"Check her heart and breathing," Clarity added.  "If her vitals are okay, she probably just fell unconscious."

Scuffle gingerly moved one of Honeydew's forelegs out of the way and pressed his ear against her chest.  "I'm no expert, but sounds normal, I think..." he said finally, standing back up.  "D'you think she just had a massive panic attack and passed out, like that time Dinks set the residence tower on fire?"

"Hah.  Not quite."

It was Honeydew that spoke, startling all three friends.  The prone filly's eyes popped open, and she looked around curiously.  Dinky immediately noticed one very obvious thing that was amiss; Honeydew's normally cool green eyes were now a vibrant, fluorescent orange.  Those eyes passed briefly over Dinky and Clarity before her gaze came to rest on Scuffle.  A big, almost manic grin, quite unlike any expression Dinky had ever seen Honeydew make, spread across her face.

"Well hey there, big guy!" she greeted, leaping up and immediately pressing the side of her body right up against his, speaking almost directly into his ear.  "What brings a handsome fella like you all the way out here?"

Scuffle scrambled backward like he'd seen a ghost.  "Dewey, what the heck are you doing!?" he sputtered.

Honeydew pouted playfully.  "Now now, no need to be scared," she cooed.  "I don't bite.  Well, maybe nibble a little, at most."

Dinky had never seen Scuffle so utterly unable to respond to anything.  She quickly stepped between her friend and the shell shocked colt.

"Honeydew, what is this?  I'm guessing that thing in your ear is causing this?"

Honeydew giggled gleefully.  "Oh, sorry!" she replied.  "Honeydew's not here.  Can I take a message?"

"Wha—"

"Dinky, don't you see?" Clarity asked urgently.  "I think the nymph thing is controlling her.  We're not talking to Honeydew at all; we're talking to the wood nymph!"

"You got it!" Honeydew— or the nymph, apparently— replied in a singsong voice.  "But no need to look so horrified!  Honeydew's fine; she's just taking a little nap way deep down in her subconscious, while I take the wheel for a while."

Scuffle's lip curled into a snarl.  "And you think that's funny or something?" she growled.  "Get out of her head this instant, nymph!"

The nymph continued to appear thoroughly amused by the ponies around her.  "Nymph?  I have a name you know," she said, using Honeydew's features to show off another convincing, but entirely fake, pout.  "It's SpindleFlicker WhistleWhinny ThistleWhisper.  But apparently you ponies get tongue-tied easily, so just Flicker will do.  And let me just page through her memories here... ah, you three are Dinky, Clarity, and Scuffle, I see.  This mare's got plenty of info on the three of you."

Scuffle yanked his two remaining friends into a huddle and turned to Dinky desperately.  "Dinks, we gotta get that thing out of her head, now," he hissed, as the nymph looked at them curiously with Honeydew's eyes.

"Well, it's not like we can use force.  It's in Honeydew's body," Dinky pointed out.

"If it can speak, maybe it can be reasoned with," Clarity added.  "Let's find why it's doing this."

The three friends broke their huddle.  "Fine then, Flicker," Dinky said as she stepped forward.  "What do you want with Honeydew?"

"You don't know?" Flicker gasped, before breaking into another fit of giggles.  "Lucky for you, I'm noticing this pony has some kind of crazy encyclopedic knowledge of Equestrian life, so maybe you'll get it if I just repeat what she knows."

She cleared her— or rather, Honeydew's— throat, and began to speak as if reading from a book.

"See, there are two modern species of equine insectoids that are both evolved from a common ancestor, but have developed very different characteristics as a result of divergent evolution..." 

Here she paused, scrunching up her face and sticking out her tongue.  "Boy, fancy words in here," she commented.  "Where was I?  Oh yeah.  Both species feed off emotional energy, but their tastes and methods of getting it differ considerably.  The first species, the changelings, impersonate their target's loved one, and feed off love directed at the pony they're impersonating.  Changelings have grown much bigger over millennia, almost to full pony size, so they don't have to do as much work with transformation magic to accomplish that."

"Wait, so changelings used to be tiny in the distant past?" Clarity asked.

Flicker rolled Honeydew's eyes.  "What do I look like, a library?" she asked.  "You're lucky I took the time to dig this explanation out of Honeydew's brain in the first place."

Clarity sighed.  "Fine.  Continue."

"Now, wood nymphs on the other hoof," Flicker explained, smiling broadly, "well, our method is a little less subtle.  Rather than impersonate ponies, we just zip right on into their heads and 'borrow' them for a while.  There's some kind of incompatibility if a female nymph tries to possess a male, or vice versa, but since I'm a girl, any mare is fair game."

"But why?" Dinky asked.  "I mean, if changelings and nymphs were the same species once, what led to such different strategies?"

Flicker gave an unladylike, snorting laugh that sounded extremely out of place when produced by Honeydew's otherwise melodious voice.  "That comes down to differing tastes in feeding on emotions," she chuckled.  "Changelings assume a pony's entire life, because it's important that they don't make their target suspicious, so they can feed off deep, meaningful love.  Nymphs use an easier strategy and "borrow" ponies for a while because, well... we're looking for emotions that are a teensy bit more shallow, if you know what I mean.  Affection, attraction, desire... you get the picture.  Some of those feelings can easily come from total strangers."

"W-wait," Scuffle stammered, "so you took over Honeydew because—"

"Because she's hot!" Flicker blurted, erupting into more playful giggles.  "Hotter than these other two, for sure."

Although that statement was most likely true, Dinky couldn't help but feel a bit offended anyway.

Flicker glanced over her shoulder, admiring Honeydew's figure.  "And man, I really hit the jackpot this time!" she chirped.  "Just imagine how many stallions' heads will turn when I parade this cute set of flanks around the nearest town!"

"And what makes you think we'll let you do that with Honeydew?" Clarity asked, indignant.

Flicker shrugged.  "It's not like you really have a choice," she said casually.  "I'm not leaving till I've had my fill.  Stop me from doing what I want and it just means your friend can look forward to a longer vacation in the depths of her subconscious."

Dinky and Clarity exchanged a helpless glance.  Flicker pushed them aside and sauntered up to Scuffle.

"Of course, it's not all bad," she cooed, swaying Honeydew's hips slightly and swishing her tail as she approached the colt.  "Now you can have all the Honeydew you want, courtesy of your good friend Flicker."

She fluttered Honeydew's eyelashes at him.  Scuffle simultaneously blushed and made a sound like a frightened puppy, and Flicker laughed as he scampered behind Dinky and Clarity.  "This is so messed up..." he whined.  "Honeydew would never act like that..."

"As much as you might wish she would," Flicker cut in, winking at him.

"There's got to be some way to get her out of there, right?" he asked, looking pleadingly at Dinky.  "We have to get rid of her before she... y'know... does something unsavory with Honeydew."

"We're not letting her do anything to Honeydew," Dinky said firmly.  "We'll just keep her under close watch until we can get ourselves out of danger.  I'm sure we can work out a way to get rid of her after that, and if we can't, Princess Twilight or somepony from the Academy can probably help."

Flicker shrugged again.  "You're wasting your time, but whatever!" she announced.  "I'm in no hurry."

"Oh, and Scuffle? How long can you maintain that shield?" Clarity asked, pausing for the first time in a while to look at the swarm of other nymphs still circling outside the dome.

"Oh, uh... I forgot I was even casting that," Scuffle admitted.  "It's not a strong one, since all we're keeping out is a bunch of bugs.  It's good for several hours."

"No sleep for us tonight then," Dinky said bitterly, trotting down the side of the hill and wading back into the swamp.  "At least until we're out of the territory of these little pests.  Let's keep moving."





Hopeless and defeated, Ditzy Doo slumped into a chair in the employee lounge and placed her head face down on the table.

"Now, now, Ditzy," Cloudcover consoled, taking hold of her shoulder with a hoof.  "Obviously that was quite a setback, but it just means we have to regroup and try again."

The setback to which Cloudcover was referring was the team's latest attempt to locate and rescue Dinky and her friends.  The letter Ditzy had received from Princess Twilight was penned by one of Dinky's friends, and claimed that the four unicorns had taken up refuge in a small farming town that was apparently Honeydew's childhood home.  The four matchmakers, along with Sparkler and Presto, rushed to the location as soon as the news arrived.

It hadn't gone as planned.

Ditzy pictured the scene as it had been a day or two earlier; the citizens of the quiet village barely paid her and the other matchmakers a glance, but each and every one seemed to stare down Sparkler and Presto with distrust and revulsion.  Ditzy recalled the stories Dinky had told her about Honeydew's family and their hatred of unicorns.  Fortunately, Sparkler had lots of practice in acting unfazed by her surroundings.  She and Presto had stuck close together and walked in silence toward their destination.

The farmhouse they'd arrived at had seemed peaceful enough, though the stallion that greeted them when they knocked on the door was decidedly less so.  Ditzy pressed her head harder against the lounge table and covered it with her forehooves as the exchange played in her mind yet again.

"What do you want?"

"Hello sir.  I received a letter that said my daughter and her friends are here?

You... you mean those unicorns and that monster thing!?  They're long gone, we ran them out of town this morning."

"Y-you what?"

"And our traitor of a daughter went with 'em.  Good riddance, I say.  If she has the gall to bring that beast back here, next time it'll be meeting the business end of a pitchfork, so all its horrible hexes are gone from the world for good!"

Ditzy remembered attempting to respond, but right around then was when the farm's owner realized there were two unicorns among her traveling companions.

"You brought more of them here!?  Get those blasted unicorns off my property this instant!"

"B-but sir, if you could just tell us where Dinky went—"

"I don't know or care where those unicorns went, but while they were here, they sure did a good job of proving their kind can't be trusted.  Now, if you don't get the unicorns traveling with you off of my farm immediately, I'll get rid of 'em by force!"

"But—"

"Now!"

There was nothing for it.  Although Ditzy no longer remembered the exact series of events that followed, she knew Breeze, Cloudcover, and Watt had all stepped in, trying to gain any additional information, and Sparkler and Presto left the property in the hopes of appeasing the stallion.  The only detail anypony was able to get from the farmer was that Dinky and her friends had fled via teleportation magic, before refusing to answer any more questions and slamming the door in their faces.

For the whole rest of the day, the team of ponies searched in every direction within several miles of the farm, with the pegasi scanning from the air, the unicorns using sensory spells, and Watt darting into any nook and the others may have overlooked.  But it was to no avail; Dinky and her friends clearly had too much of a head start, and without any way of knowing which direction they'd gone when they teleported, there was no way to track them.  Defeated, all six ponies had no choice but to return to Ponyville and regroup.

But sitting here in the lounge of the now-defunct shipping business, Ditzy couldn't seem to see a way forward.  Dinky had slipped away, and nopony knew where she could be or if she was even safe.

"Come on, Ditzy," Breeze urged.  "We have to try something.  There must be another way to find her."

"I know we have to try," Ditzy whimpered, "but what else can we do?  We just... we can't search all of Equestria.  By the time we find her, it might be too late.  It just seems so hopeless..."

Sparkler's ears perked up.  She marched forward, scowling, and pushed Breeze out of the way before grabbing Ditzy by the fluff of her chest and bringing the startled mare's face just inches from hers.

"Hopeless?  That's infuriatingly hypocritical of you, Mrs. Doo," she snapped.

"Sparkler!" Presto chimed in, hurrying to her side.  "I know we're all frustrated, but don't take it out on Mrs. Doo."

Sparkler turned to her friend, her expression softening slightly.  "I know what I'm doing, Presto," she said, a bit more levelly.  "I'm not gonna hurt her or anything.  Please, let me talk."

Presto hesitated for a moment and then took a step back, watching curiously.

Sparkler turned back to the pegasus clutched in her forehoof.  "Listen," she said, "not very long ago, I was ready to give up on... well, everything.  I thought I'd never escape the walls I built around myself; that I had sealed myself in and had to live with the situation I created.  I know a thing or two about being hopeless.  But no matter how I acted, you just bluntly refused to stop trying.  I treated you badly, I tried to escape, I even assaulted you with magic, and you just kept right on trying until..."

She paused, finally releasing her grip.  "...Until you actually managed to reunite me with my old friend, and everything got so much better," she continued, turning to smile weakly at Presto, who beamed back at her.  "I thought, after all that, a pony like you wouldn't know the meaning of the word hopeless.  You wanna help Dinky, and you ran into a setback, just like all those setbacks you ran into with me.  Now shake it off, get up, and try again, like before!"

Ditzy blinked.  "You're... you're right!" she gasped, leaping up.  "What am I doing?  This is Dinky we're talking about!  There's no time to mope around!"

"Exactly!" Sparkler affirmed, rearing up and slamming her forehooves down for emphasis.  "Now, let's get to brainstorming.  A solution's not going to just burst in the front door."

There was a loud bang from somewhere downstairs, as if somepony had just burst in the front door.  All the ponies gathered in the lounge exchanged a surprised glance.

"Should I... go check on that?" Watt asked hesitantly.

"No need," Breeze replied, as the sound of the visitor's quick hoofsteps made their way down the hall and up the stairs.

Ditzy tensed, unsure of who or what she was about to encounter.  She certainly wasn't expecting the pony who stepped into the room a second later to be an especially familiar large Pinto stallion, with a small Equestrian Navy cap still perched atop his head.

"Where's Dinky?" he asked, not waiting for any sort of greeting.

"Pipsqueak?" Ditzy asked incredulously.  "When did you get back from⁠—"

"Mrs. Doo, I don't mean to be rude, but where is Dinky?" Pip repeated.  "Is she here?  Is she safe?"

Ditzy winced.  "Well... no, to both.  That's why we're here, actually."

Pip's ears drooped and he looked down.  "I knew something was wrong.  I tried to get here as fast as I could, but we were still days from port when the danger started..."

"Hang on my boy, you found out about Dinky while still out at sea?" Cloudcover asked.  "I assumed you wouldn't have heard the news about her until returning to the mainland."

"Well, you're half-right, Uncle Cloudcover," Pip admitted.  "I didn't learn what happened until we got to port, but I'm pretty sure I was aware something was happening the moment it began.  One of Dinky's old classmates enchanted my pendant to alert me when she's in serious danger, but I hadn't felt that spell activate in years."

"The pendant!" Sparkler realized, quickly stepping forward and gazing at the half-moon-shaped diamond around the young stallion's neck.  "May I see that for a second?"

"Sure...?" Pipsqueak said, hesitantly removing the accessory.  "Err, I'm sorry, have we met?  You look familiar but I can't put my hoof on⁠—"

"I'm sure you saw me at Mrs. Doo's wedding early this year," she replied, grabbing the pendant in her aura and examining it closely.  "But more importantly, I cast the enchantment you just described."

Pip's eyes widened.  "Oh, you're Sparkler!" he realized.  "How could I forget?  I'm in your debt, miss; I don't know what would've become of Dinky on the night of Scorpio's rebirth without you."

"This pendant," Sparkler continued, waving away Pip's gratitude, "you said the enchantment is still intact, right?"

"Well, yours is," Pip replied morosely.  "Dinky and I are supposed to be able to feel each other's caring emotions through it, but I haven't felt the touch of her magic in months now."

"All we need is my spell for our purposes," Sparkler said quickly.  "When's the last time it activated?"

"Well, I first felt it about a week ago, while still out at sea," Pip said after a moment of thought, "and it activated one further time three or four days ago."

"That second one coincides with the morning they were forced to flee Honeydew's farm," Sparkler realized.  "We know they escaped there safely, we just don't know what happened after that.  If the pendant hasn't activated since, there's a very good chance Dinky is still unharmed."

"Oh thank Celestia," Ditzy breathed, letting the tension in her body fall away slightly.  "We still can't find her, but at least she's probably okay."

"Actually..." Presto cut in, smiling, "there may be more good news.  Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Sparkler?"

Sparkler smirked at him.  "Presto, enchantments was my best subject.  And I was the valedictorian.  Of course I'm thinking what you're thinking."

"Mind letting the rest of us know what thoughts you think you're thinking?" Watt asked, tapping a front hoof impatiently.

"This pendant and Dinky's share two halves of the same spell," Sparkler explained, looking proud of herself.  "That spell is already set up to direct Pip toward Dinky's position when she's in serious danger.  All I need to do is tweak it a bit by broadening the definition of 'danger' to include Dinky's current situation, and the effect should kick in and lead us directly to her location."

"Perfect!" Ditzy cheered.  "How long will it take to⁠—"

Sparkler's horn had already both lit up and then extinguished again.  "Done," she said simply.

Pip slipped the pendant back on, and his expression instantly changed to one of surprise and comprehension.  "Southeast!" he declared.  "She's a long ways southeast of here.  Let's get moving!"





Dinky slowly opened one eye.

The forest around her was quiet, save for Clarity's soft snoring somewhere nearby.  She tilted her head slightly, looking up through the leaves, and noticed that, although it was mid-afternoon, there wasn't much sunlight. The sky was grey and overcast.

Turning her head, Dinky spotted Clarity curled up on a mound of leaves nearby.  Scuffle wasn't far away, sprawled out in the grass.  And Honeydew...

Dinky paused.  She looked to her left, then her right, and then behind her, but the pink filly was nowhere to be found.

Where is—

At that moment, her brain seemed to shake off the veil of sleep, and she remembered everything.  Exhausted after a long night of trekking through the wilderness, she, Clarity, and Scuffle had stopped for an afternoon nap, and agreed to take turns staying awake so somepony was always keeping an eye on Flicker.

And I must have dozed off on my watch!

"Clarity!  Scuffle!  Get up!" she yelled, jolting her two companions from sleep.

"Wha?" Clarity asked dazedly, her mane dangling in front of her eyes.  "What is it?"

"Honeydew!  Or Flicker!  Or whatever we're calling her!" said Dinky urgently.  "I... I must've fallen asleep for a minute.  She's gone!"

"What!?" Scuffle gasped, on his hooves in an instant.  "Dinks, what the heck is wrong with you?  You know what that nymph's gonna do with Honeydew if we aren't chaperoning her!"

"It's not like I did it on purpose!" Dinky said defensively.  "Honeydew's my friend too!  You know I wouldn't intentionally let anything bad happen to her!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't have let Flicker run off to do Celestia-knows-what with her body," Scuffle growled, getting up in her face.

Dinky felt her inner darkness swell.  She kept it in check, but snarled back at the colt.

"Stop it, both of you!"

Dinky felt a touch of magic take hold of her hindquarters and drag her backwards, separating her from Scuffle by several pony-lengths.  Clarity stepped between them, looking upset.

"I know this is a bad situation, and I know you two both tend to get fighty when you're upset with something, but biting each other's heads off isn't gonna help," she insisted.  "Nymph or not, my barrette can still track Honeydew.  She's only about half a mile away; at a full gallop, we should be able to catch her in just a couple minutes."

Dinky sighed, and focused on calming her emotions so the dark cloud within her would settle.  "You're right.  There's no time to bicker," she agreed.  "Lead us to Honeydew."

Clarity took off through the trees, and Dinky and Scuffle galloped along behind her.  Scuffle glanced in Dinky's direction for a moment.

"That was a bit much, I guess," he mumbled as they ran.  "It's just, y'know, Honeydew—"

"—Means a lot to all of us," Dinky finished.  "Let's forget about what just happened and focus on keeping Flicker in check."

A minute or two later, something came into view beyond the trees.  It took Dinky only a moment to realize it was buildings.

"A town!  Finally!" Clarity gasped.  "I bet Flicker knew this was here all along."

Dinky skidded to a halt before breaking the treeline.  "I can't let ponies see me..." she pointed out.  "We don't want a repeat of what happened at the farm."

Clarity's horn flared to life.  "This'll have to do," she said, conjuring a plain, hooded cloak and draping it over Dinky.  "Keep your head down and hopefully nopony will recognize you, even if the townsfolk are on the lookout for you."

The three ponies dashed into town and soon wound up in a small plaza with a marketplace.  It only took a moment to spot the pony they were looking for.

Flicker was slowly approaching one of the market stalls, putting entirely too much sway in Honeydew's hips as she did so.   And the dark grey stallion manning the shop, judging by his face, had definitely taken notice.

She arrived at the cart and pretended to browse the produce on offer for a moment.  "These are some mighty fine vegetables you've got," she commented.  "I've been traveling for a long time, and it's been a while since I've seen ones like this."

"Well, of course, miss," replied the stallion proudly.  "I only put the very best goods on offer for my customers."

"Really?" Flicker asked, flashing him a coy smile as she playfully ran a hoof through Honeydew's wavy mane.  "These are great of course, but are they your best?  Maybe you could take me somewhere private so I could see the special goods you save for cute mares like me."

"Aaaaaand that's enough of that," said Clarity loudly, dragging Flicker away from the stall with magic.

"Oi!  You interrupted my shopping!" the nymph barked, struggling fruitlessly against Clarity's aura.

"Didn't look like shopping to me..." Dinky muttered from under her hood.

"Was too!" Flicker argued.  "I'll have you know I'm currently browsing the finest quality stallions!"

"Just get over here and shut up," Scuffle grumbled, yanking Flicker further from the surprised ponies in the market.

Upon hearing the colt's voice, Flicker's attitude reversed immediately.  "Oh hi, big guy!" she giggled, bounding over to Scuffle  and nuzzling him under the chin.  "I knew you'd be back.  I just had to make you jealous with some other stallions.  Oldest trick in the book."

"Just... just c'mon," Scuffle mumbled, trying to look away as Flicker bit gently on Honeydew's lower lip and fluttered her eyelashes alluringly.

"Alright, so we finally found a town," Dinky said, keeping her head bowed so nopony could see beneath her cloak.  "First, we need supplies, and then a means to try to contact ponies who can help us.  Clarity, Scuffle, you two go pick up some food and gear.  I can't help since I need to stay out of sight, so I'll go a short distance back into the forest and wait.  Keep Flicker with you; it's better if we keep multiple sets of eyes on her.

"You three are no fun at all," Flicker grumbled.





Dinky sat with her back against a tree, gazing through the low hanging branches at the outskirts of the small town, just barely in sight from her vantage point.  After scanning the area to make sure no townsfolk were nearby, she slowly lowered her hood and rubbed her temples, breathing a long sigh.

"What a week..." she mumbled under her breath.  She stretched and let out a groan, her muscles still stiff from days of farm labor, followed by days more of travel through the wilderness.  She had to hand it to her friends for managing to endure as well; after all, their bodies generally couldn't take as much physical strain as her wraith body could.

Upon reflecting on that, Dinky realized it was also probably the reason she felt more irritation at her situation than fear.  It was normal for wraiths to be hot-headed, and now that she thought about it, many of the challenges she'd faced in recent years had left her feeling more annoyed or frustrated than truly afraid.  That wasn't to say she was without worry; her friends' safety was important to her, and while they hadn't been complaining about the journey, she wished they didn't have to struggle through the situation for her sake.

Who knows what's going to happen after all this... she mused.  I'm going to be a wraith for the rest of my life, and I have a feeling that means things will never stay peaceful for long.  But for now... man, am I ready for this adventure to be over...

Lost in her thoughts, Dinky didn't even hear the hoofsteps approaching behind her.  She gasped as an unknown hoof gripped her shoulder.  And from the feel of it, it was a rather big hoof.  As usual, her first instinct was to fight back, rather than flee.

"You're messin' with the wrong pony, pal..." Dinky growled, golden light encircling her horn immediately.

"Oh, trust me," came a surprisingly familiar voice with a marked Trottingham accent, "after all these years, I know better than to mess with you."

Absolutely flabbergasted, Dinky spun around and stared up into the deep brown eyes of a muscular pinto earth pony she hadn't seen in the better part of a year.

"Wotcha Dinky," Pip greeted, grinning.  "Miss me?"

"Pipsqueak!" Dinky practically screamed, throwing herself at him with enough force to knock most ponies over, though in this case it only caused her coltfriend to stagger backwards a step or two.  "W-when did you get here?  How did you find me!?" she asked as she lifted her upper body off the ground a bit to put her forelegs around his shoulders.

Pip indicated the half-moon diamond hanging around his neck.  "Tracked you with this little bauble and a bit of Sparkler's magic," he said matter-of-factly.  "I haven't felt your magic lately, but at least hers is working fine."

"So yours stopped working too?" Dinky asked, relieved.  "I was a little worried about that."

"What, that I'd stopped wearing it?"  Pip asked.

"No, that maybe my heart was..." Dinky began, before trailing off. 

"Was what?"

Rather than answer, Dinky hugged Pip as tightly as she could, nuzzling him softly for a few moments.  "...Well...it doesn't matter now," she said finally.  "I never even considered that Sparkler's spell might have still been intact.  I'll have to thank her someday; this makes three times she's saved my life."

"You'll be able to tell her in just a bit, I imagine," Pip replied.  "She's knocking about town here somewhere."

"Sparkler's here?" Dinky asked, now even more surprised.

"She is," Pip confirmed, "as is your mum, Uncle Cloudcover, the rest of their coworkers, and another colt who... might be Sparkler's coltfriend?  I haven't really had time to ask.  Once the pendant led us to this town, we all split up to search for you."

Dinky shook her head in disbelief.  "Wha... all of them?  But... how did... I have so many questions."

"There'll be time for those in a bit," Pip replied.  "Uncle Cloudcover's booking a room large enough for all of us at the inn.  We're supposed to meet there once we've located you and your friends.  Come on, let's not keep your mum waiting any longer."

He turned to go, but Dinky scampered in front of him, blocking the way.  He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Uh... something wrong, love?"

"It sure is," Dinky declared.  "I haven't been able to get in touch with you magically for a couple months now, and since you're still wearing your pendant, I can see it wasn't for lack of trying.  So let's fix that."

The slid her pendant out from beneath her cloak and gestured to it.  Pip smiled and lifted a hoof, pressing it against the gem, right over Dinky's heart.  She raised a much smaller hoof and placed it against her coltfriend's chest as well.  Her horn began to glow, and yellow light filled both of the pendants for a few moments.  In seconds, the enchantment took effect, and Dinky felt the warmth of Pip's heart against her own.  She smiled.

"Now we can go."

Pip grinned and placed a kiss on Dinky's forehead before pulling her hood up over her head.  "Right this way, then," he said, pointing toward the west end of town.  "There's quite a few ponies who are eager to see you."





Dinky slunk into the inn, following Pip and keeping her head down.  Nopony seemed to pay her any mind as she followed him down one of the halls to a door at the end.  The colt pushed it open, and Dinky was surprised to see a very roomy suite on the other side.  While sparsely decorated, it contained a large main room, with a small kitchen area off to one side and several bedrooms at the back.  She caught sight of a white pegasus stallion standing in one of the adjacent rooms.

"Hey Uncle Cloudcover," Pip called as he shut the door behind them.  "Look who I found!"

Cloudcover looked over curiously as Dinky removed her cloak.  His expression was overcome with relief immediately.

"Dinky, my girl!  And not a scratch on you, as far as I can see," he said, giving a satisfied nod.  "Your mother will be back any moment; she'll be over the moon to see you."

"I can imagine," Dinky chuckled.  "So, Pip tells me Sparkler helped you guys find me?"

Cloudcover chuckled.  "A lot has happened this year while you were away at school," he confessed.  "Some of it's good, and some quite a bit less so, but Sparkler's story seems to be a happy one.  Your mother managed to reunite her with her old classmate Presto, and the two of them are now roommates.  Sparkler seems to have wanted to return the favor, so she came to help your mom with her search."

"Speaking of the search..." Pip cut in, "where are your friends, Dinky?"

"Picking up some supplies," Dinky explained.  "We weren't expecting to be rescued until we sent another letter, so we were getting ready to camp out for a few more days.  Clarity can track me with her hair clip though, so they'll turn up soon."

The sound of several voices echoed in the hall outside the room.  The door opened, revealing Ditzy, Breeze, and Watt.

"No sign of any of them yet," Ditzy griped.  "Pip said they're definitely in this town though, right?"

"They could be somewhere in the surrounding forest," Breeze reminded her.  "It's not a big area; if we just keep doing rounds, we're bound to run into Dinky eventually."

"Or maybe we won't have to bother!" Watt piped up, being the first of the three to look across the room and make eye contact with Dinky.

Ditzy turned her head.  Her eyes slowly slid into a rare moment of focus, as she often forced them to when she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Dinky grinned.  "Hey mom."

"Dinky!" Ditzy cried, taking to the air and yanking Dinky into a flying hug.  "Oh Celestia, you're safe!  I was terrified!"

Dinky fidgeted in her mother's vice grip and briefly considered teleporting to free herself, but decided to let the mare have her moment.  "Happy to see you too, mom," she replied, snuggling into Ditzy's feathers.  "It's been a heck of a week.  Are Princess Luna and Princess Twilight having any success in convincing ponies not to fear a wraith fugitive?"

Ditzy flinched, and gently lowered Dinky to the floor.  "Well, Princess Twilight is trying..." she admitted.  "I'm sure Luna would be too, but... well, now she's vanished like the others.  The situation has led Celestia's Academy to temporarily close as well."

Dinky groaned.  "I really don't like the way this situation is shaping up..." she admitted.

"I don't think anypony does," Cloudcover sighed.  "But we must press on.  Twilight knows where we are, so the worst of this is over; you just need to stay hidden until it's safe for you to be seen in public again."

The door opened once again, and five more ponies packed into the large room.  This time it was Sparkler and Presto, with Clarity, Scuffle, and Flicker following behind.

"Ah, good, you already found her," Sparkler said with a businesslike tone, briefly nodding in Dinky's direction.  "Presto and I happened across these three making their way back from the market, so I believe that's everypony, right?"

"That's right!" Clarity confirmed, smiling at the assemblage of Dinky's friends and family.  "Now we can all—"

Flicker roughly shoved Clarity aside and stepped forward, looking around with an expression like that of a little filly in a candy store.  "Look at all these stallions!" she giggled, her orange eyes flitting between all the males in the room.  "Where do I even start?"

"Start what?" asked Ditzy obliviously.

Flicker turned in a little circle before apparently settling on Presto.  Before anypony could stop her, she darted over to him.  "Well hey old friend, how's it going?" she asked sweetly.

Presto, who was only just barely acquainted with Honeydew, blinked in surprise.  "Err... I'm doing well, Honeydew," he stammered.  "Are you okay?  I'm sure it's been a difficult week for you."

"I guess a little, but it's nothing somepony like you can't fix," Flicker chuckled, peering at the image of a top hat and magic wand on the young stallion's flank.  "Magic, huh?  I bet a good looking colt like you can do some great tricks with that magic wand of yours.  I bet I could even show you a few tricks with it you haven't seen before..."

"Excuse me, what?" Sparkler asked rather acidly, as Presto found himself too stunned to reply.

Scuffle stepped forward and bit down on Honeydew's tail, dragging her backwards.  "Don't mind her," he said through clenched teeth.  "That's not really Honeydew.  She got possessed by a wood nymph while we were lost in the forest."

"I uh... I can tell," Presto managed.

Flicker turned around and grinned at Scuffle as he dragged her along by her tail.  "Ooh, you like to play rough, huh Scuffle?" she simpered.  "Why didn't you just say so?  I can totally get into that."

Dinky looked at Sparkler and Presto helplessly.  "I don't suppose you know any way to remove a nymph from somepony?" she asked.

Sparkler frowned and shook her head.  "I remember reading about them, but there's no easy way to get rid of one against its will that I know of," she admitted.  "You might have to wait until the princess or the Academy staff have a chance to intervene.  There's a few silver linings though: nymphs can't utilize their host's magic, so at least you don't have to worry about her teleporting away or trying to duel you.  And they inject compounds into their host's bloodstream to prevent any, um... unwanted outcomes for the mare as a result of their debauchery."

"Other than Honeydew, are you all okay?" Watt asked.  "Nopony's sick?  Hurt?  Dehydrated?  Similarly influenced by licentious swamp creatures?"

"We're fine," Clarity assured them.  "For the moment, I think we're all finally safe.  We just need to know where to go from here.  What's our next move?"

"For now?  Lay low with Dinky," Ditzy answered.  "This is a private place with access to food and shelter; we can hide here until we can be certain that the citizens of Equestria can encounter her without fearing for their lives.  Only a few of us need to stay, of course; it's late, but most of you can head home tomorrow morning.  For tonight, there's plenty of space in the suite for everypony."

"We can add an extra layer of security for the night, as well," Presto offered.  "Sparkler and I can seal the room magically so nopony happens to wander in and discover Dinky.  And so our, um, guest doesn't decide to take Honeydew out for a late night stroll.

Flicker stuck out Honeydew's tongue and said nothing.

As the two unicorns began to create their network of spells, Dinky sat down beside her mother and her friends and felt the tension leave her for the first time in days.  At long last, she was safe.

I just hope it lasts this time...





The sun began to set.  Exhausted from all their travel, the eleven gathered ponies soon split up into a few small groups and moved to the suite's several bedrooms.  Dinky was more than ready for a good night's sleep, but she had one small thing to take care of first.  While her friends got ready for bed, she trotted across the hall to the small bedroom occupied by Sparkler and Presto.  Her two ex-classmates looked up when she knocked on the door frame.

"Ah, evening Dinky," Sparkler greeted with a bit of a smirk as she set down the brush she'd been running through her mane.    "I see your tendency to attract danger hasn't faded over the years."

"Sparkler," Presto scolded.  "Come on, I'm sure this wasn't Dinky's fault."

"Nah, Sparkler's right," Dinky chuckled.  "I try my best, but every now and then I need a little help.  That's actually why I'm here; I wanted to thank you.  Looks like you saved me again, with that spell you put on the pendants Pip and I wear."

Sparkler shrugged.  "The stakes weren't as high this time," she said passively.  "You seem to have been doing pretty well on your own out there; I just sped things up."

Dinky half-smiled.  She was still typical, dismissive Sparkler, only now she didn't seem as aloof as Dinky remembered.  Although the mare had kept her conversations rather direct and concise all evening, Dinky noticed an (admittedly dry) sort of humor and charm behind her mannerisms that hadn't been there before.

"Regardless, I owe you one," Dinky continued with a smile.  "Both of you, really.  It seems like you and Presto still make a great team."

Presto smiled broadly.  Sparkler managed a smile too, but there was something... off about it.  "Glad I could... help..." she mumbled, looking away a bit.

A short silence followed.  It wasn't hard to tell that something was troubling the young mare, but Dinky wasn't sure what.  "Something wrong?" she asked gently.

Sparkler re-established eye contact.  "Can I... ask you a kind of prying question?" she asked finally.

"Sure, I'm not hiding anything."

Sparkler hesitated a moment longer, examining Dinky carefully.  "Is it true?" she asked finally.  "Are you really a wraith?  Your friends and family all say so, but it's... y'know, just hard to believe."

Dinky snickered.  "Just about everypony who learns the truth asks me that eventually," she confessed.

"I'm curious too," Presto admitted.  "The last time I saw you, you were a little filly with less than a year of magical education under her belt.  It's a bit of a shock to hear you're a dark magical creature now."

"Well, let me erase any doubt," Dinky said, lighting her horn.  "Don't worry, I'm not dangerous when I'm not trying to be."

Dinky's gold magic deepened to black, and her form melted away into smoke.  A moment later, her wraith form calmly stepped out of the ethereal blackness.

"See?  Definitely not a pony," she pointed out, keeping her magic at bay so no errant black sparks would float in the other unicorns' direction.

Presto raised his eyebrows, looking more fascinated than fearful.  Sparkler's expression remained completely blank for several seconds as she stared at the creature in front of her.

Dinky tilted her head.  "Sparkler?  It's still me, you know.  Regular old Dinky."

Sparkler finally reacted, but it wasn't like any reaction Dinky had encountered before.  Most ponies were filled with fear, or wonder, or occasionally aggression, when they encountered a wraith, but Sparkler turned away quickly, her body shaking slightly.  Alarmed, Dinky realized the mare was trying to hold back tears.  She cast a surprised glance at Presto, hoping for answers, but the stallion looked just as confused as she felt.

"What's wrong?" she gasped, almost instantly shifting forms again and approaching Sparkler in her unicorn disguise.  "Everything's fine, really!  I have total control of my magic, and it's not uncomfortable to change forms like that or anything."

"Everything is not f-fine," Sparkler rasped.  "I really wanted to believe that your family just didn't know enough about magic, and mistook a unicorn with dark magic for a wraith.  But you really are one."

Dinky blinked.  "So?"

"You and your mother keep treating me like some kind of hero!" Sparkler snapped.  "Stop thanking me for saving your life if I couldn't even save it!"

"Huh?"

"That night four years ago, Dinky!" Sparkler yelled, unable to hold back her tears any longer.  "Scorpio's Apex!  You and your little friends snuck out and I tried to stop you!"

"Yeah, and you were about to do so until I blasted you with dark magic," Dinky said sheepishly.  "What's that got to do with this?"

"It means this is my fault," Sparkler replied bitterly.  "An Overseer should've been more than capable of overpowering four first-term foals.  But I wasn't careful enough.  I slipped up.  I didn't consider that you might've been corrupted enough at that point to produce an attack like that.  And if I hadn't let you four get away, nothing that happened that night would've happened.  I always thought that everything turned out okay in the end, so my mistake didn't really matter in the long run.  But now I see that Dinky Doo, the unicorn... I couldn't save her.  Now you've got to live your life as that creature, and yet you and Ditzy still have the audacity to thank me for what I did."

"Sparkler..." Dinky breathed, trotting closer and sitting down next to the distraught pony.  "It... it's okay, I was the one who made the stupid decision in the first place and—"

"I don't want to hear it," Sparkler muttered.  "Please don't make this into something okay, Dinky.  I don't want to be told it was okay.  I don't want to live that lie.  I want to be told I messed up."

Dinky pondered for a moment, as Sparkler sat next to her, trying not to continue crying.  She reached up and put a hoof around the pinkish mare's shoulders.

"Okay, so you made a mistake then.  Just like everypony does at some time or another," she said softly.  "But I know you didn't do it on purpose.  If you believe it's partly your fault, fine, but if that's the case... then I forgive you for it.  And mom forgives you.  And my friends forgive you.  I'm a wraith now because of my choices, and we all know you tried to intervene.  Nopony resents you for the outcome."

Sparkler wiped her eyes.  "...You... are an unreasonably good pony sometimes, Dinky," she mumbled.  "But... thanks.  I didn't realize how much I needed to hear that."

"I'm not the only unreasonably good pony here," Dinky pointed out.  "You and Presto could easily have just stayed in Trottowa and let this play out.  You're not my Overseer anymore; what's going on in my life isn't your problem.  Yet here you are, halfway across the country, to help rescue a filly you didn't even really get along with during our school days.  It takes a pretty good pony to do something like that."

"She's right you know," Presto said, stepping forward and sitting down on the other side of Sparkler.  "This trip was your idea.  And I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see the caring friend I remember from our foalhood shining through as brightly as ever."

Sparkler tried not to react, but her blush was more than enough proof that she appreciated the praise.  "Listen, Dinky," she eventually said, "thank you for your forgiveness, but just remember that if this dark magic stuff lands you in any more trouble in the future, send a letter my way.  I'll help if I can; I feel that it's the least I can do."

"I'll keep that in mind," Dinky replied with an appreciative smile.

Some muffled yelling from the next room caused Dinky to glance over her shoulder.  "Sounds like Flicker's harassing Scuffle again..." she griped.  "I better go help.  See you two in the morning."

Sparkler nodded.  Dinky trotted to the doorway, and looked back one last time, watching for a moment as Sparkler and Presto began to unpack their things, chatting and collaborating like the best of friends.  Happy to see the young mare's dismal mood had lifted, she turned away and silently closed the door.





Night fell.  By this late hour, tiny towns like the one where Ditzy and Dinky were hiding out were already settled in for the night, and usually fast asleep.  But in big, bright, bustling cities like Canterlot, the crowds thinned only slightly.

So even though it was nearly midnight, nopony paid a second thought to three young unicorns wandering down one of the city's thoroughfares.

"So why are we still here again, Inkwell?" Portabella asked.  "Celestia's Academy closed yesterday.  There was a train a couple hours ago we could've caught to make our way home, y'know."

"And there's another one in another hour, and another a few hours after that," Inkwell pointed out.  "I just want to find a newsstand or stop by a Royal Guard outpost and see if there's any information yet about Clarity, Dinky, and the others."

"Inkwell, I cannot help but perceive your fixation on the status of our elder fellow pupils with some measure of scrutiny," Top Percentile chimed in.  "Their welfare is doubtless a cardinal issue, but given the disquietude of our academicians about the burgeoning turmoil in Equestria, perhaps we should place ancillary emphasis on our own well-being at this juncture."

Inkwell sighed.  "Maybe you're right..." she conceded.  "And maybe Clarity's right, for that matter.  The three of us can't really do anything to help the situation."

Portabella leaned over and nuzzled her dejected friend on the cheek.  "Clarity would want us to be safe," she reminded her.  "And c'mon, you've seen Dinky in her true form.  Nopony's gonna have the guts to try to hurt a creature like that."

Inkwell smiled weakly.  "True," she chuckled.  "Alright, if we head to the train station now, we can catch the next train to—"

"Err, my compatriots, I hate to defer your little conference, but a recognizable entity is drawing near," Top interrupted, pointing down the street.

Inkwell looked.  At first, she struggled to spot anypony familiar among the crowd of Canterlot citizens, but soon spotted a familiar orange unicorn with a headband adorned with jewels trotting briskly down the cobbled road.

"Oh hey, it's Counselor Wishing Star," Portabella pointed out.  "You could always ask her if she's heard anything about Dinky and the others.  Academy staff would be more likely to know than most ponies."

Inkwell nodded and quickly trotted up the street toward the mare.

"Hey!  Counselor Wishing Star?"

Wishing Star glanced down at Inkwell.  "Beat it, kid.  I'm busy," she grumbled.

Inkwell stopped, unsure what to say, and Wishing Star paid her no further mind, continuing down the street.

"But—"

"Inkwell, look!" Portabella gasped, grabbing her friend and turning her whole body to face the other direction.

Two more mares were approaching, following along some distance behind Wishing Star.  Inkwell didn't recognize one of them, a blue pony with a teal mane and a comet on her flank, but the other one was unmistakable: Bright Spark, the pony who had revealed the truth about Dinky a week before.  She and the other mare appeared to be deep in a rather nasty argument.

"Bright Spark!" Top Percentile gasped.  "Inkwell, we must apprise the counselor of that malefactor's presence forthwith!"

The three foals dashed ahead.  "Miss Counselor!" Portabella called. "Bright Spark's right behind you!  Quick, call the guards!"

Wishing Star turned and glared at the trio.  "I told you three I'm busy," she growled.  "Tonight's very important.  I don't have time for distractions."

"B-but it's Bright Spark..." Inkwell said weakly.  "She's wanted, isn't she?  The Academy's been thrown into this mess because of her."

Wishing Star lit her horn, and before anypony could react, Inkwell and her friends found themselves teleported several streets away.

"What the heck just happened?" Portabella asked, stamping a hoof.  "It's like she didn't even care that there was a criminal right there.  The one who messed with one of her students, at that!"

"Something's fishy," Inkwell muttered, frowning.  "C'mon, all these streets converge right outside the castle courtyard.  If we head that way, we can probably find her again."

"I surmise that there's no longer any plausibility of our utter avoidance of intermeddling in the counselor's surreptitious affairs?" Top asked with a grimace.

"Top, woo me with your honeyed words later," Portabella said dismissively.  "We have to go find out why Wishing Star's acting so strange."

Top sighed.  "As was my consternation..." he murmured.

The three foals took off at full gallop, hurtling down the brightly lit streets of Canterlot.  They arrived just in time to see Wishing Star reach the gates to the wide courtyard overlooking the castle.  Bright Spark and the other mare were now almost right behind her.

"Halt!" one of the two identical guards stationed at the gates commanded.  "State your business, ma'am."

Without even breaking stride, Wishing Star lit her horn, and both guards were flung aside, landing hard on the cobblestones several pony lengths away.  Calmly, she stepped past the gates, with the other two mares following right behind her.  With a flicker of hot pink magic, the great golden gates slammed shut.  The guards were quickly on their hooves, but they could do little beyond peer through the bars at the pony who had just casually assaulted them.

"What is she doing!?" Inkwell sputtered, unable to believe what she had just seen.  "Wishing Star never acted like that!  She was kind to everypony at school."

A crowd was beginning to gather outside the gates; plenty of ponies had seen what just happened and looked on curiously as the guards continued to try, and fail, to reopen the entryway.  Inkwell and her friends squeezed their way into the crowd and peeked through the bars as well.

Wishing Star stopped at the center of the courtyard.  The two mares behind her stopped as well, and finally ceased their arguing, standing still as if waiting for something.  Wishing Star raised her head to gaze up at the silent castle, looming above.  She took a deep breath.

"Twilight Sparkle!"

The shout was like nothing Inkwell had ever heard.  The deafening sound hit her like a physical force, rattling the gates and causing dust to rain from the brickwork around them.

"W-was that the Royal Canterlot voice?" Portabella asked softly, rubbing her ears in what was presumably an attempt to stop them from ringing.

"I conjectured that articulatory faculty was solely possessed by our tetrarchs," Top whispered.

A few seconds passed in wary silence.  A small, purple shape appeared on a high balcony of the castle.  Squinting, Inkwell could just make out the outline of Princess Twilight Sparkle.

"The hour has arrived," Wishing Star continued, still in a booming voice, though not quite as deafening this time.  "Surrender immediately!"

Twilight spread her wings and floated down from the balcony, hovering over the courtyard.  "Wishing Star?" she asked, clearly very confused.  "Surrender what?  What are you talking about?"

She paused, suddenly taking notice of the other two mares.  "And why are you with those two terrible ponies!?"

Wishing Star laughed.  "Those two ponies, lowlifes though they may be, were just the foothold I needed to begin my rise back to full power," she hissed.  "But now, I'm drawing power from all across the nation!"

Twilight still looked confused.  She hovered in the air, unsure what to say.

Wishing Star rolled her eyes.  "Your strength is no longer a match for mine," she declared.  "Surrender yourself now, or I'll beat you by force.  One way or another, it's your turn to wind up like the others."

Three portals opened in the ground behind her, and three great pink crystals slowly rose into view from whatever dungeon was on the other side.  The crowd beyond the gates gave a collective gasp as Celestia, Luna, and Cadance all came into view.

Twilight's face contorted with outrage.  "You!" she cried, now responding with her own Royal Canterlot voice.  "You are the pony responsible for the disappearance of the princesses?"

"I am, but I'm missing one last piece of the collection," Wishing Star sneered.  "I saved you for last because I know, together with the power of the other Elements of Harmony, you're nearly unstoppable.  But now that you've been forced to run the country yourself, your friends are in Ponyville, and you're here, about to face me alone.  And you will not win."

Inkwell stood transfixed, watching the scene in front of her.  It suddenly felt hard to breathe.  This can't... this can't really be happening, can it?  This must be some terrible nightmare!

Twilight acted immediately.  A magical laser bigger than her whole body burst from her horn, producing a tremendous sound and an almost blinding light as it screamed toward Wishing Star.  For an instant, it looked like the orange mare was about to be quickly and completely obliterated.

That is, until a bright pink beam of at least equal size and strength exploded from her own horn.

The two beams met in midair, producing a sound like a thunderclap.  Numerous ponies quickly backed further away from the gate that was the only thing separating them from the battle.  A few turned tail and ran off, disappearing into the city.  Inkwell and her friends stood rooted to the spot though, watching the action in horror.

Neither attack could push back the other, and a stalemate arose as both mares gritted their teeth and tried to further increase the power of their respective spells.  Loose bolts of light broke free from the main beam, shattering cobblestones to bits wherever they struck.

"Give up, Twilight Sparkle," Wishing Star warned.  "You can't hold me off forever."

"H-how can you be this powerful?" Twilight gasped, squinting from the light of her own magic as she continued her assault.  "It's just physiological fact that a unicorn shouldn't be able to outfight an alicorn.  Where are you drawing this power from?"

Wishing Star laughed sharply.  "Where am I not drawing it from?" she countered.  "It started with these two mares you see behind me.  Two near-bottomless pools of the deepest, purest hatred and contempt I've ever found buried in pony hearts.  But you've been so busy worrying about the other princesses' disappearance that you haven't even realized what their absence is doing to this realm!  More and more, your subjects bicker and fight with one another.  Affection fades, trust erodes, and hostility and paranoia creep closer and closer to the forefront of everypony's minds.  And when I draw on that power... not even you can stop me!"

Swirling pink energy flickered around Wishing Star.  With a devilish sneer, her attack suddenly began to grow even stronger, quickly pushing Twilight's comparatively smaller beam of energy back.  The princess panicked, straining to increase her spell as well, but to no avail.  Her strength gave out, and Wishing Star's immense spell barreled into her, sending her flying across the courtyard until she smashed into the wall of the castle, sending a series of cracks through the white stone and leaving a Twilight-shaped indentation.  She groaned and slumped to the ground, barely conscious.

From beyond the gates, the crowd watched in silent horror as Wishing Star slowly approached the fallen princess.  As her horn began to glow again, a complex runic circle appeared around Twilight, and a spell began to build beneath her.

"F-fine, so you've beaten me," Twilight grunted, lying inside the circle, the magic preventing her from even attempting to get up.  "It doesn't matter.  Even without the princesses, no villain can stand against the magic of friendship.  Go ahead and try to take over Equestria; the ponies, and all the other wonderful creatures of Equestria, will find a way to stop you.  They always do."

"You think I want to rule this pathetic place?" Wishing Star balked.  "What a joke.  I see the greenhorn princess is even more clueless than the other three."

"You... you're not here to take over the kingdom?" Twilight asked.  "But that's what villains always want!  If you don't want to rule, what are you after?"

Wishing Star shook her head, smiling to herself.  "You just don't get it, do you?" she asked, as she poured magic into the runic circle surrounding Twilight.  "I have only one goal; to stamp out every last glimmer of hope in this nation.  To create a world that knows only fear, distrust, and hatred.  To extinguish not just friendship, but all the magic in the hearts of every pony from coast to coast!"

Twilight's jaw dropped.  "But... but why?  What do you stand to gain from reducing Equestria to such a state?"

Wishing Star completed her spell, and Twilight hung her head in defeat as a pink crystal, identical to the ones encasing the other princesses, materialized around her.  "Whoops, no more time for questions," she chuckled.  "With you four out of the way, I've got a nation to corrupt.  Let's move on to the next part, shall we?"

Four long, narrow tendrils of light burst from Wishing Star's horn.  Connecting her to all four of the crystal prisons at once.  Although no sound could escape from within them, it was immediately visually clear that the four princesses were suddenly in pain.  Unfathomable amounts of energy flowed out of the crystals and directly into Wishing Star's horn.

"Canterlot shall be the epicenter of the plague of hate that will consume Equestria!" she announced, laughing maniacally.  "So let's put it somewhere for all to see, as a constant reminder of their doomed world!"

An an instant, an earthquake rocked the entire city.  Screams of terror filled the air as the ground pitched sideways, knocking over much of the crowd gathered outside the gates.  Inkwell cast a horrified look at her friends, and then cried out the only plan she had.

"Run!"

There was chaos.  The whole city was a whirlwind of fleeing ponies, as cracks began to appear in the shaking ground.  In a blind panic, Inkwell galloped as fast as she could, not knowing or caring where she was going.  Portabella followed close behind, but their remaining companion seemed to be losing ground.

"Your rapidity transcends mine!" Top called, his weak frame quickly failing him.  "Prithee, proceed without me, lest we all expire!"

Portabella lit her horn and yanked the scrawny colt into the air with a levitation spell, draping him across her back like a pair of saddlebags, which fortunately didn't slow her down in the slightest.

Before the trio even came close to exiting the city, though, there was the terrible grinding sound of rock on rock.  The shaking intensified, and all at once, Inkwell realized what was happening.

"Wishing Star is... ripping Canterlot off the mountainside!"

There was one final lurch, and then the shaking stopped.  Through some colossal, untold power, the entire city of Canterlot was torn out of the ground, leaving a jagged, gaping gash in the mountain it was built into the side of.

A sphere of pinkish magic encased the whole capital, and it slowly began to rise into the air.  It floated higher with each passing minute, until it hovered miles off the ground, its spires bathed in the sinister pinkish glow of its conqueror's magic, casting strange shadows on the land below that stretched for many leagues in all directions.

Wishing Star smiled as she turned and slowly strode into the castle, the four captive princesses floating along behind her, and her two hate-addled lackeys bringing up the rear.  "And so we've reached the final stage," she gloated, as she slammed the great castle door behind her.  "The princesses are imprisoned, and the ponies of this land are cut off from their latent magic.  Canterlot has fallen... and all of Equestria will be next."