//------------------------------// // Chapter 91 - So Long! I Must Be Going! // Story: Off The Mark // by Goldfur //------------------------------// Twilight tilted her wings upwards then slammed them down to take flight. I prepared to pull a rock spire out of the ground to protect myself. As long as she wasn’t too close, I might be able to raise it in time to stop her first horn blast. To my surprise, the alicorn did a tight loop, driving all four hooves into Sombra’s back and forcing him to the ground. “ARRGH!” The dark unicorn turned his head to look up at Twilight. She slammed a forehoof into the side of his skull once, twice, three times. I started galloping forward just as the self-styled King’s crown rolled away. Twilight placed her rear hooves on the ground then lifted the stallion’s head by his horn. His eyes were glazed over and he offered no resistance. I knew what would come next from training sessions with Crimson. Twilight’s other forehoof moved in a blur to strike the base of Sombra’s horn. With a sickening snap, it came free. His shriek died out as his form dissolved, armor and all. Black globules flowed up to his horn where they shrank and disappeared. In just a few seconds, his essence had gone back to its secure repository. Twilight had told everypony how the dark unicorn returned from such a state years ago when he was presumed dead. Twilight levitated the horn in front of her face as the eye slits in her helmet turned from green to white. The horn shook, smoldered, then caught fire. The blaze intensified, black wisps of magic writhing around it. In my skull, I heard a drawn-out, anguished scream. When I came up to my co-ruler’s side, the eye slits stopped glowing and went black. Her horn glow extinguished, letting a hoofful of ash flow away in the wind. I used my hooves to lift the helmet off her head. It was hot enough that I tossed it aside immediately. I heard the other mares clattering up all around us. Twilight stood motionless, her eyes closed and a frown etched on her face. Her nostrils flared and she breathed in deeply. Fluttershy broke the silence. “Twilight, umm… how do you feel?” Through the unnatural silence, I was very worried about my friend. Twilight had never taken a life before. I could only imagine the conflict going on inside her head. Rarity said, “Twilight, darling, speak to us.” The lavender mare swept the mane away from the top of her head with a hoof. A network of white strands slowly appeared. With a snarl, she opened her eyes and said, “Will somepony please take these bucking wires out of my skull now?” Yep. Twilight was cursing. She was definitely not alright. “On approach!” I looked up to see a squad of evolved changeling soldiers touch down a short distance away, Thorax in the lead. He galloped up to his wife and pulled Twilight into his embrace, her head against his chest. She didn’t resist, just continuing to frown and stare off into space. He murmured soft words into her ear, but I suspected his emotivore senses were doing the real work—draining out the stress and shock from Twilight. Slowly, his wife relaxed. Her breathing became regular and her wings drooped. A changeling came up to me. “Your Highness! Respectfully request you all return to Canterlot Castle.” I looked back at the portal that brought us here. Only a broken pole remained. Of course. They were designed to shut down immediately if an explosion happened near either side. That’s when I noticed a form slumped at the far side of the ravine. One of the other changeling soldiers knelt next to the body. I said, “We came here with a half dozen guardsponies.” The changeling tilted his head and his face went blank. I knew this meant he was receiving information over the hive mind connection. A couple of seconds later, he looked back at me. “Only the Element Bearers, yourself, and Lieutenant Penumbra survived, sir.” My jaw clenched. I knew Dusty Dreams’ family. More lives to hold Grogar and now the Storm King responsible for. But that had to wait. Right now, we needed to get someplace safer. I addressed the changeling. “Twilight will need time to recover. Do you have a portal to her castle?” “Yes, sir!” In no time, he had placed a disk onto a new wooden pole and a portal opened to the entry room of Friendship Castle. I heard Applejack say, “So what do ya want done with this evil thing?” I turned to see her pointing at Sombra’s crown on the ground. “I’ll take care of it.” Twilight walked up with her husband pressed up to her side. My co-ruler ripped something off of her neck. She tossed a flat, smooth rectangle into the center of the ring made by the crown. I recognized it as one of Sombra’s control blocks. As I watched, it shattered and burned while the crown melted down to a ring of slag. Twilight’s horn winked out. “OK, I’m ready now.” I waved everybody towards the portal. “Everyone through!” I ordered. We were all in a very somber mood as we returned to Ponyville. One of our enemies had been permanently erased but at the cost of Equestria’s prime weapons in defense of the realm. In hindsight, Grogar had played us masterfully. The easy resolution to the attack on Las Pegasus had obviously been a ruse. The very worst aspect was that Grogar must have found a way to overcome our block on his eavesdropping and tracked us to the Tree of Harmony’s cave. A unicorn guardspony always went through a portal first to put up Twilight’s anti-spying field. Yet, Grogar knew exactly where and when to drop the three bombs. Not a single one of our strategies could now be counted on in the future. It was hard to imagine how things could get worse. Back in the Map Room, the changeling researcher Flagellum left with the remains of eight wire matrixes levitated behind her. Sombra’s death meant there no longer existed a reason to keep our brains wired up to resist his magic. From all indications, it hadn’t worked as desired anyway. I set up a communication plate with the Canterlot Castle Great Hall so my wife and the members of our alliance could listen in. I gave everybeing a quick rundown of the loss of the Tree and its Elements. Trixie quit trying to call order to the meeting after that. She set up a one-way privacy bubble so Twilight would not be distracted. Celestia and Luna walked in, the latter sporting a chitin patch, obviously to protect her wounded area. Luna’s giggling and her sister’s repeated efforts to steer her in the right direction caught my attention. I walked up to the solar alicorn. “What’s up with her?” Celestia spared one last glance at her sister before facing me. “Luna’s fractures are healed; the bandage is precautionary. I refused to let her endure the painful bone-knitting spell until she had taken sufficient medication. And… well… I told Doctor Nipper to use the same amount I would require.” Luna’s delighted laughter rang through the chamber. She had wandered away during the ten seconds she was unsupervised and now faced the wall. “Look, Tia! When I strike my muzzle against yon crystal wall, I feel it not!” She rocked forward, impacting the wall with her nose. “Boop!” Back for another round. “Boop!” She followed that with more foalish laughter. I couldn’t help but grin. “Is there a chance you’ve developed a bit of a tolerance for this medicine over the centuries? And you take a much larger dose now than you did, say, a thousand years ago?” The white alicorn slumped. “As my sister would say, ‘Mayhap.’ ” She came up to Luna’s side. “Come, dear sister. Let us get you some rest.” The lunar alicorn raised a hoof and her voice took an air of authority. “Enough. Thou knowest that strategy hath always been my strength. I shall remain.” Alright then. She should be able to focus when needed. That made me feel better. “Boop! Tee hee!” But not much. Thorax sat on Twilight’s throne with his wife on his lap. His forelegs wrapped around her barrel and his eyes never left her face. Twilight leaned back into her husband, eyes closed. The rest of the… well… former Element Bearers stood or sat around the room. They occasionally attempted to converse with their friend but the lavender mare remained unresponsive. Penny and a few changelings stood guard next to the closed doors. Pinkie Pie came up to the side of Twilight’s throne. “Doctor Pinkie orders you to take two big swallows. Chop, chop!” The purple mare sat up a bit straighter and blinked. “What is it?” Pinkie vibrated a goblet in front of her friend. Drops of green liquid spilled out. “CHOP, CHOP!” Twilight slumped in defeat. “Fine.” Her magic field took the proffered chalice and she dutifully gulped some of it down. “BLEAH!” The lavender mare’s wings shot out, one eye dilated more than the other, and her tongue hung out the side of her mouth. “Pinkie! What are you trying to do to me! That’s the vilest, most unsavory, nauseating concoction I’ve ever imbibed!” Pinkie smiled and pronked to her throne. “Completely incomprehensible. Mission accomplished. Our Twilight is back!” I had to agree. Twilight’s ears pointed forward as she glared after her friend. Her scowl and annoyed huff confirmed that the pink party mare had it right. Fluttershy reached over to place a hoof on Twilight’s foreleg. “Umm… if you don’t mind... would you tell us what happened? Please?” My co-ruler looked around the room. I think she was noticing us for the first time. She took a deep breath and tapped her husband’s hooves twice. Thorax let her go with one hoof but kept the other firmly in place. Twilight gave him a mock glare, then they shared a nuzzle while the rest of us waited. Twilight sighed. “I teleported away from the bombs and set up a shield just slightly bigger than my body to better ride out the explosions.” That hadn’t been an option for me. As a consequence of my location, I was closer and protecting several others. “When the blasts had cleared, I waited until Mark got the Storm King to take off his helmet. Just as I dropped my shield and readied my most powerful stun spell, I heard something above me. Before I could look up or raise another shield, I felt the control block attach to my neck. At the same time, Sombra focused his mind control magic on me. The Overseer’s wire matrix let me think clearly but I couldn’t move. After Sombra lowered the mask onto my head and activated it, I felt like a prisoner trapped in my own body.” Twilight went to take a sip from the goblet, caught herself, and set it down. She levitated the glass out of my grasp. One gulp later, her whole body shook. At her look of betrayal, I said, “Eyrish whiskey – straight.” “Hmm…” My co-ruler took a cautious sip before continuing. “Sombra’s first order was to stop the nullstone tracking bands. I had to obey, but I theorized I might have some freedom choosing exactly how. I retrieved my pan-dimensional saddlebags and tried to separate myself from Sombra by teleporting more times than I needed to. Unfortunately, he stayed with me.” “Next, he ordered me to destroy the Elements. That could mean either the jewels or all my friends. I fervently interpreted his order as meaning the jewels.” Rainbow asked, “But… how in Equus did you have a clue how to destroy them?” I answered. “Because one of the many, many scenarios we prepared for involved the Elements of Harmony being corrupted or some antithesis being discovered.” The blue pegasus tilted her head and furrowed her brow. “Anti-what? Oh, I get it. So like… the Elements of Disharmony?” I nodded. “With all the crazy worlds Twilight and I encountered in our chase to stop Starlight, I’m almost surprised we didn’t run across them. Anyway, the strategy chosen by that brainstorming session was to set up a resonance between dark magic and unicorn magic inside the gems. They would then tear themselves apart.” Twilight took a deep breath. “Then Sombra said ‘Kill these fools’.” Silence fell over the room. Our friend shrugged her shoulders and one corner of her lip twitched. “Well, I only saw one fool in attendance. And he had given me a direct order.” I sat down on my rump, shaking. Penumbra gave me a meaningful look and a frown. I had admitted to Penny and my wife that I played the fool at times to get my two co-rulers to see eye-to-eye. I was very, very grateful that I had never admitted the same to Twilight. The Element of Magic noticed my discomfort and tilted her head. “You OK there, Mark?” I levitated the glass away from Twilight and slammed down the rest of the contents. My body took a while to stop shivering – not all of it due to the alcohol. I said, “I’ll tell you later.” As my heart quit racing, something stuck out as odd. It took a bit for me to put a hoof on it. “Didn’t you tell me eyes couldn’t be regenerated?” The purple mare shook her head. “No longer. If the optic nerve is intact, there is a fifty percent chance at full optical restoration and up to 90 percent for partial. Our trials are continuing. Grogar may have a superior method or just decided to take the risk.” Thorax said, “Excuse me, Celestia? You fought Grogar for months – does this attack sound familiar? Was this consistent with Grogar’s tactics?” Luna cut off her sister just as the solar alicorn was about to speak. “Nay. Simultaneous attacks we have endured. Long days of tarry betwixt incursions and counter-tactics applied with great precision, aye. But layered attacks with stringent timing and contingency plans? This we have not encountered heretofore.” The pieces fell into place. I said, “Cozy Glow.” Every eye turned toward me. “Her cutie mark is in strategy. Now she has a whole new arsenal of weapons and capabilities to work with. Grogar let her call the shots for this engagement. This was her trial-by-fire exam which she passed. Even with the loss of the pawn, Sombra, her plan knocked out our most powerful piece.” Just as I began to feel the whiskey mellow me out a bit, I heard noise come from the communication plate – a constant babble of multiple agitated voices speaking at once. Where had Trixie gone? Did she get called away? There was a commotion outside and, looking around, I saw a Royal Messenger talking urgently with the changeling guards. After confirming her identity, they let the mare pass. Once inside, her eyes locked on me. “Prince Mark!” The messenger’s gaze switched briefly to Twilight, acknowledging her. “Your Highnesses! Princess Trixie requests that you return to Canterlot as soon as possible. Queen Chrysalis has escaped.” The palace was in an uproar. In the throne room, Trixie was busy directing Royal Guards and EUP soldiers. Captain Spitfire of the Wonderbolts stood by her side, briefing batpony and griffon soldiers while pointing at a map. Twilight hurried over to Trixie with Celestia and me following closely. Luna… not so much. My co-ruler asked, “What’s happening?” My wife gave us a grim look. “Trixie has been organizing search parties since she learned of Chrysalis’ escape.” Celestia frowned. “How was this possible? Her security was extra tight.” “Unknown as yet. The guards were all found unconscious with terrible injuries. I have left instructions with the doctors to notify me when any of them regain consciousness.” No pony had anything else to say. Eventually, the Solar Alicorn frowned and sighed. “The loss of the Elements is incalculable and Equestria’s position more perilous for it.” My wife grimaced. “Trixie thinks we have been too reliant on them. They became too big of a target and we were easily manipulated into bringing them.” From the expressions of several ponies in the room, you would have thought Trixie had blasphemed but I was beginning to agree with her. Returning the gems had almost cost the Element Bearers and me our lives. Before anyone could comment, a commotion at the throne room doors drew our attention. A gurney was being wheeled in with a pegasus mare on it. Despite the lack of armor, I recognized the Royal Guard as one I had personally chosen to watch over our changeling prisoner. My spouse said, “What is this? Trixie asked you to notify her, not bring them here.” The attendant bowed. “My apologies, Princess, but she was most insistent on giving her report before allowing us to continue treating her.” I said, “It’s okay – I’m more surprised that she didn’t march here while dragging you along.” I moved over to the gurney. “East Wind, can you tell us what happened? You were stationed directly outside of Chrysalis’ cell, weren’t you?” The pegasus mare was obviously in pain and she took a couple of deep breaths to steady herself. “Yes, Your Highness. None of the remote alarm gems had lit, so we had no forewarning …” “… And then he stepped on the ball!” “Ha, ha, ha, ha!” A deep thrum reverberated down the corridor, followed by a blast of wind. A high-pitched scream rang out as the hallway and room lighting failed. The only illumination now came from the yellow glow of our armor’s enchantments and blue shine from the artifact behind us. Grinding Stone, Pocket Watch, and Bright Beam shared a look with me, then we fell into our ready positions: Grinding bracing the nullstone infused permaglass shield, Bright holding a spell with his horn just below the shield’s notch, and me pointing a crossbow loaded with a bundle of ten electrodarts. A second crossbow with a vial of chaos gas was on my hip. Ten feet behind us, Pocket Watch had her hoof on the trigger switch next to the time displacement artifact. I faced forward again, drawn by the sound of hooves striking the stone. Quadruped. In no hurry. When I judged the intruder to be in the middle of the long hallway, I reared and fired. There was no cover for it to use and no time for it to dodge forward or backward. I ducked down behind the shield just before the darts returned in our direction. A few clanged off the shield and I heard Pocket hiss in pain. I didn’t spare her a glance because our armor dissipates the electricity. Besides, I saw my target now. A yellow gem glowed down the corridor. A dark rune appeared to be inscribed on it. More importantly, I could see the dim outline of the intruder’s head. “Gotcha,” I whispered as I rose and fired the second crossbow in one motion. The gem pulsed again while I smiled, pressing closer to my guardsponies to watch the show. We only had a few predestination crossbow bolts in our inventory because of how hideously expensive they are. Not even dimensional rifts can prevent them from reaching their target, assuming the aim was true. Mine was. I heard glass breaking followed by a deep roar of pain. Bright aligned her horn with the slot and sent a pulsating blast of white magic down the hallway, striking and illuminating the intruder. It was an elderly male goat, but much larger than any I had seen. He had a blue coat with dark blue horns. The ram wore a red collar low on his chest embedded with yellow stones. Just when I thought we were overwhelming him, the intruder glared at us. “Enough!” The floor erupted, throwing all of us into the ceiling then back to the floor, back and forth until my head spun. I crashed into the ground, my front legs bent at unnatural angles and the agony in my right wing telling me that it had suffered the same fate. Past an unconscious Bright Beam, Grinding charged forward, still holding the shield. The same yellow jewel glowed and the earth pony went sailing through the air. He got the shield in front of him just before impacting the fields at the cell entrance. Sparks of magic flew everywhere as he tumbled through, only to be yanked back and into the wall across from the entrance. Grinding slumped to the ground, finally releasing the shield. I twisted my head to look back at Pocket Watch. The pegasus was slumped down next to her station, her hind legs obviously broken. She had thrown the switch but I hadn’t felt the brief feeling of displacement and nausea that Ebon Blade had described. What had gone wrong? I looked back to see the elderly ram approaching at the same unhurried pace, calm and confident. I could now make out that his mane and tail were white or possibly silver. “Most interesting”, he said. The goat stepped past me to the temporal artifact. When he flipped the switch up, the yellow jewel closest to me stopped glowing. A smile crept across his lips as he caught my eye. “You all have taught me a few novel things today. For that, I will let you live.” His smile fell. “But I didn’t come here for you.” From the cell next to me, I heard, “Oh, it’s this again.” The goat stood tall. “Come out, Chrysalis, Queen of Changelings! Your long-awaited time of vengeance is at hoof!” I heard snickering come from the cell. “Not very observant are you? Or has old age robbed you of your sight?” He blinked. “What?” Chrysalis’ voice dripped with sarcasm. “Chains?” “Oh, right. My apologies.” A jewel glowed again and I heard a tinkling sound. This time, I had the chance to count. There were four rune-inscribed jewels on his collar with a gold buckle in the middle from which hung an empty ring. The changeling queen strode into the hallway and looked at the intruder with a jaundiced eye. “Let’s get this over with. Who are you and what do you want?” “I am Grogar the Magnificent. Ponies have ruled this realm for too long. Together, we will make a force that they cannot stand against!” She sighed. “Look, Grover—” The ram narrowed his eyes. “It’s … Grogar.” “Yes, that. I’ve heard this sales pitch before. The one who made it was more formidable than little ancient you. He ended up scattered into wisps of smoke. Completely obliterated from existence.” “I know. I’ve been studying this dimension for years. I am aware of all our enemy’s tactics and how to counter them.” “That’s just great, Grover.” “Grogar.” “Ah, is it? Anyway, you don’t impress me. May I go now?” He stammered. “But… this is your chance at revenge! I am gathering all the finest villains in the land to my side. I will teach you how to fight as a team, multiplying your strengths and covering your weaknesses.” Chrysalis smacked her lips and let out an unimpressed, “Hmmm.” She turned and walked toward her doorway. Grogar continued. “I have already been to Tartarus and freed Tirek, Cozy Glow, and the Storm King.” The changeling queen stopped in her tracks. “Your skills and intellect must join us. You give me—” She turned with a beaming smile. “Say no more… Grogar… you’ve convinced me.” “I have?” “Indeed. There is no better reason to undertake a task than revenge, is there?” She stopped smiling. “But I will need sufficient love reserves to be useful. I’m at hardly a tenth of my power.” Grogar waved a hoof at me. “Will these suffice? I promised I would not kill them but said nothing about what you would do.” The changeling queen snorted and didn’t bother to look down. “If you had been watching Equestria as you claimed, you would know that I drained Shining Armor for three weeks to reach my full potential. No. A love vat from a changeling hive will do.” Grogar said, “Very well. Let us walk up to the next level—” She tilted her head and smiled condescendingly. “What? You can’t teleport through their wards?” He huffed. “Yes, it can be done from inside, but it’s so bothersome!” Chrysalis kept up her smile and blinked sweetly. “Impress me.” He grumbled. “Very well.” Grogar touched the gems on his collar in what looked like a random order. After a minute, he then grabbed Chrysalis’ barrel and they disappeared. I sat back on my haunches. I heard whistling before realizing it was me. Trixie said, “Thank you, Sergeant. The Triarchy will spare no expense to ensure you and your teammates are returned to full health. Trixie is also granting you two weeks’ leave.” The pegasus inclined her head. “Thank you, Your Highness, but I believe I speak for all of us when I say we’d like to get back to duty as soon as possible.” Twilight smiled. “Your dedication is a credit to all in the Royal Guard. If that is your wish, then it will be so.” “Thank you, Your Highnesses.” After the pegasus had been carried back out, the doors to the throne room closed with a boom. The loud noise made Luna squawk, followed by peals of laughter from the alicorn. Twilight sighed, her eyes downcast. “I don’t understand it. Chrysalis was making real progress, I am certain of it. Also, she once refused to join the Pony of Shadows despite him offering to free her from the dungeon. Why would she agree to go with Grogar this time? What could he offer that the other villain couldn’t?” My wife turned to me. “Dowser?” I looked at my co-rulers. “Twilight, I don’t know if you’re aware, but Chrysalis pleaded with me until I gave her a moment-by-moment run-down of my fight with the Storm King.” Trixie said, “And she gave training sessions to the Royal Guard on how to best fight, disable, and kill changeling princesses and queens, much to the displeasure of Carpacia and Apicula. In return, she learned every strategy taught to my husband and all Equestrian troops on how to fight yetis.” Twilight blanched. “I… oh.” I nodded. “I think this will be a very short honeymoon.” Spitfire frowned. “Wouldn’t that get her killed too?” I replied, “She’s too smart for that. She has a ton of patience and she’ll wait until the right moment to make her move.” Spitfire said, “That means we have another enemy to deal with who will play along with Grogar’s wishes until then.” As much as I wanted to disagree with the Wonderbolt, I had to concur with her. Chrysalis was the most pragmatic being that I knew. I said, “Chrysalis has always lived by her own code. If she feels it is in her and her new hive’s best interest to enslave all the ponies of Equestria, she’ll do everything in her power to make that a reality.” An earth pony palace messenger came up to us. “Your Highnesses! Queen Polistae wishes to speak with you urgently!” All of us shared a look, except for Luna who looked straight up while humming a tune. A drinking song if I wasn’t mistaken. I said, “Please ask Queen Polistae what the Triarchy can do to restore her love reserves.” Luna piped up. “If perchance her hive be sorely pressed, inform Polistae to collect from her fellow hive queens. By decree of the treaties all queens put to pen, they shalt be fain to assist.” The night alicorn started flapping her wings in time to her humming. All of us looked at Celestia who blinked then shrugged her shoulders. “So, what do we do now?” Trixie asked. “First – we have to secure our discussions once more,” Twilight replied. “Correct,” Celestia said. “And then we have to answer the burning question.” “Which is…?” Trixie prompted. “Simple,” I said. “With power players like Tirek, Cozy Glow, and the Storm King on his side, why does Grogar need Chrysalis too?” Spitfire replied, “Because she can accomplish something that none of the others can.” The Wonderbolt Captain was no dummy. “Exactly,” I replied. “Now we have to figure out what.” Unfortunately, the answer to that was not obvious. While the Elements had been an overt target, Equestria was not short on other means of defense and secrets. Even the act of ordering an increase in security could betray their existence or deployment. Nevertheless, we couldn’t just sit on our plots and not do anything. Every possible resource that we thought could be of value was called in. The Pillars of Equestria had been among the earliest to respond with the sole exception of Star Swirl. The mage had last been known to be engaged in his search for the Royal Sisters and, presumably, was unaware that they had returned a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, the stubborn old stallion had refused help and was very bad at keeping in touch, so we had no idea where he was. One plus was regaining the services of Celestia’s agents. Over the many years of her reign, the alicorn had built a secret network throughout Equestria and many other nations. These consisted of beings of many races who were beholden to her in various ways and were utterly loyal. Unfortunately, that loyalty had not extended to Equestria’s new rulers when the Royal Sisters disappeared, but as the news of their return spread, so did the agents reestablish contact. Celestia kept us abreast of these developments but we left her in charge of them. There was no way of transferring their allegiance to the Triarchy and the Solar Alicorn knew how best to handle them anyway. Hopefully, they would be a useful tool in our conflict with Grogar. Three days after the Elements were destroyed, Star Swirl finally turned up. The event was hard to miss as the curmudgeon was berating the Royal Guards who were stationed at the door to the council chamber where we were meeting. While the room had been fortified further against every imaginable form of spying or intrusion, it was unable to stop the wizard’s bellowing voice from penetrating. At my signal, Penny opened the door to show Star Swirl glaring at the Guards who had been adamantly denying him entrance. I trotted over to the door. “Where have you been, Star Swirl?” He ignored my question. “Prince Mark! Tell these fools to let me pass. I have no time for their silly passwords!” I sighed. Of course, he didn’t know about the passwords because he had been absent when they had been made mandatory. “Star Swirl, we’re in the midst of a crisis and your sense of entitlement is not helping. The security is there for a good reason. Tell me, why have you come here now?” He glowered at me for a long moment, reminding me how little he respected my authority despite having his muzzle rubbed in it a couple of times. Eventually, he replied, “I have been spending every waking moment searching dimensional realms for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, as you well know. Recently, my tracking spells have pointed back to Canterlot, so I came here as soon as possible. Now they’re telling me that my former students are in that room.” He tried to peer around me and apparently caught sight of them. Looking behind me, I saw that both had come over to the doorway to greet their former teacher. Turning back to the old mage, his expression had turned smug. “There, you see, youngling? I told you that I would find them.” I rolled my eyes. “Your powers continue to astound me, Star Swirl.” It was no use – sarcasm was wasted on him. By this time, the Royal Sisters had joyfully embraced the mage. While I took pleasure in the way his face was turning red, I realized that his presence was going to be disruptive for a while and there was no point in continuing the meeting. We had been bashing our heads against a brick wall anyway. Mostly, it was a waiting game to see what happened first – one of our agents discovering our enemies’ whereabouts or them launching another attack. We said our goodbyes to the Hive Queens who had been attending again via communication plates. Trixie invited everyone else to join us for afternoon tea and we all moved in the general direction of the drawing room to relax and enjoy it while Celestia and Luna reminisced with Star Swirl. The other Element Bearers had left for Ponyville the day before and would return in a few days. Their everyday lives continued despite the national emergency. The Triarchs determined the threat to their persons had been reduced dramatically with the loss of the jewels. Now each only required a team of six guard ponies at any given time. The new members of the Security Council chose to stay with us for the time being. Princess Skystar jabbered incessantly to Princess Gilda. The griffoness looked amused, though I didn’t know whether her enjoyment stemmed from the hippogriff’s bubbly personality or what her fellow regent was saying. Councilor Anticline of the Diamond Dog Primal Clan preferred observation over participation. I hadn’t heard him say a single word since he arrived yesterday. Instead, the elderly diamond dog preferred to communicate with grunts and meaningful stares. Overall, he had the demeanor of someone who was required to be somewhere rather than choosing through his free will. It did not take long for the topic of Grogar to come up when Star Swirl inquired about all the security. The old stallion looked startled. “Grogar? As in the owner of the Bewitching Bell?” “You know about the bell?” Celestia asked. “How it was stolen by Gusty the Great and a host of other powerful unicorns well before your time? How it is activated by rotating a four-dimensional construct in your head? How it is indestructible by anything in this dimension? That is just the beginning of my knowledge of the artifact.” I said, “Then perhaps you can show us how to turn it against its former owner.” He tapped the floor with a hoof. His frown and glare showed me his impatience. “Go fetch it and I will instruct Twilight in its use.” “I’m not your errand colt,” I replied with a frown. Meanwhile, Twilight did a little dance in place. “Oh! That would be wonderful!” I sighed and turned to Penny. “Go find you-know-who and ask them to retrieve Grogar’s bell.” Penny nodded, understanding the discretion I needed, and she hastened away. In the meantime, we settled in for our refreshments and conversation in a small conference room. Star Swirl casually asked if Luna and Celestia had been keeping up with their assigned amounts of magic practice. The sisters’ demeanor changed to look like chastened schoolfillies. They folded back ears, fluttered their wings, and couldn’t meet their former teacher’s eye. I don’t know where Starlight concealed the Bewitching Bell, but it did not take too long for her to return in Penny’s company. She set it down on the coffee table and gave me a worried look. “Are you sure about this, Mark? I don’t like the idea of it being exposed while Grogar is always trying to spy on us and the Triarchy in particular.” “Nothing is a sure thing, Starlight, but Star Swirl seems to think that we can use it against the old goat and we need every advantage we can get right now.” “Ooooooo!” The artifact captured the interest of Skystar. Sorry, Princess. This is one bauble that would not be going into your collection. For her part, Gilda gave the bell a brief look then went back to talking quietly with Trixie. “The metal is not from Equus.” Everyone turned to stare at Councilor Anticline. He studied the talisman with narrowed eyes. “The pattern on the surface came from varying the size and orientation of the metal grains during the forging process. Most interesting.” So he could speak Equish. The old mage approached the bell. “Have a little confidence, Prince Wells! With this, you can be certain that the odds will turn in our favor.” Despite his words, my anxiety spiked when his horn glowed and his white magic field grabbed the artifact. I was about to say something when he passed the bell to my co-regent. “First, I shall have Miss Twilight give you a demonstration of its use. Then, I will run through the procedure slowly in the hope that you can comprehend—” I cut him off. “A number of us have already seen how it works – in battle. Nopony will be draining anyone's magic, period.” He gave me that condescending smile. “Ah, but do you know how to determine how much and what types of magic are currently stored in the bell?” I ground my teeth. “No.” “I see.” The old wizard turned his back to me. “Twilight. Hold the bell straight up and down in your magic… Yes, just like that… Now, I presume you are familiar with four-dimensional shapes. Picture a three-dimensional shadow of a tesseract in your head. Now rotate it so that the inner cube rotates out of the top of the construct, flowing down the outsides.” “Got it,” said Twilight, closing her eyes. All of us waited while nothing happened. Star Swirl stroked his beard. “This is most odd. Try the other five rotational modes.” Several seconds later, Twilight reached the obvious conclusion. “Nothing.” “Hmm…” At Star Swirl’s wave of a hoof, Twilight levitated the bell in front of the old stallion, allowing his magic to take over. Suddenly, I had a nagging feeling that something was wrong but I couldn’t lay my hoof on it. I said, “Keep the bell on the coffee table, please. We don’t want any accidents.” Star Swirl didn’t acknowledge my words but did set the artifact back on the table. He grandly said, “Obviously, Twilight didn’t… something did not function correctly.” From my co-ruler’s glare, the less-than-graceful save didn’t work. "Now I shall demonstrate. Observe." His horn glowed for a few seconds then cut out. The bell vibrated and fell over, inert. ‘Incompetent old fart,” I thought, distracted from whatever was bugging me. The bell started glowing and a beam lashed out to strike Celestia. She staggered and her mane lost its ethereal look and turned pink. “Everypony stay calm!” ordered Star Swirl with a frown. “I will fix this immediately!” His horn lit up again but just then, a commotion erupted outside the room. “I’ve no patience for your blasted security protocols!” came a very familiar voice. A second beam shot from the artifact and struck Luna. By the time the night alicorn’s magic had been sucked into the Bewitching Bell, I was on my hooves and Penny was charging from the doorway. Penumbra’s body bounced off a shield that surrounded Star Swirl and my beam spell scattered across the surface. The barrier glowed orange then yellow where we had struck. My nagging doubt exploded into realization – Star Swirl’s magic holding the bell wasn’t white any longer, it was green! The wizard smirked and stepped back from us. “Perhaps another time.” He turned and jumped. A tear seemed to open in midair, widening out into a portal that the fake Star Swirl passed through. I had a clear view through the gateway and saw a well-lit cavern beyond it. To my horror, I could also see a large blue goat grinning at us. To the right, the armored gauntlet of the Storm King reached down, apparently to bump the hoof of their returning infiltrator. To the left, Cozy Glow hovered a yard into the cavern, her forelegs outstretched. In my mind, I imagined she was gesturing for the Royal Sisters’ stolen magic. She said, “Poor Mark. You—” I concentrated my magic into a single shot, pouring through a third of my magic reserves in just a second. Cozy’s smile turned to shock as my tight beam tore through the barrier, forcing it through the colors of the rainbow in a second. The wildly diving pegasus mare barely avoided my blast which lanced through the space her head just vacated. The gateway disappeared and I stopped my beam, leaving me looking at a melted hole in the marble wall. The doors slammed open as the guardsponies in the hallway scanned the chamber for the source of the commotion on the inside. A moment later, the real Star Swirl teleported past the Royal Guards that had so inconvenienced him. The irritated look on his face rapidly turned to pleasure upon spotting Celestia and Luna. “My former students!! There you are! Do you see, Mark Wells? I told you I would find them!” I face-hoofed. We were so bucked. # # # # # # # # #