//------------------------------//
// Dramatis Personæ: Risio, Part 1 
// Story: Committed! 
// by Canvas_Shade 
//------------------------------//

Golden Oaks Library, 5:20 a.m.; day two of Canvas Shade’s visit in Ponyville:

A sliver of light widened upon the floor and opposite wall as Twilight Sparkle’s quietly pushed open the guest room door. She silently stepped to Canvas Shade’s beside, her hoof nudging his shoulder with matronly gentleness. Not knowing that the colt was a very light sleeper, she nearly jumped through the roof when Canvas’ upper body sprang up as soon as she touched him. In a moment of drowsy amnesia, he skimmed over his surroundings through half-closed eyes until he exhaled and closed his eyes in relief.

“Oh… Twilight, it’s you! Good mor—wait…” Canvas suddenly turned away before pushing aside one side of the curtains to the window above his bed. To the colt’s chagrin, everything was still draped in darkness. Not even the light of heavenly bodies could pierce through the hazy clouds. “What is this?! It’s not even dawn yet!”

“Well, since you’re stay here is limited, the more time practicing, the better!” Twilight responded cheerfully.

Canvas “Oh, my dear Celestia…” he groaned, dashing himself back onto the pillow underneath before sliding from the bed and onto his hooves.

“I’ll be outside if you need me.” Oh, and try to be very quiet. Almost anything can wake him up nowadays. Kind of like a certain colt I know,” she giggled.


***

The more he walked around the Library, the more limber Canvas felt, and he could not help but grin with every step. The process may have hurt like nothing he ever experienced before, but in his mind Canvas agreed that the results of Twilight’s efforts were nothing short of stellar.

After a shower and a quick breakfast, Canvas departed into the foggy haze of early morning, taking in a lungful of the humid temperate air. The airborne moisture amplified the aroma of grass and trees, especially from the mighty oak that housed the Library. The colt smiled with anticipation as he looked around the front yard, but there was no sign of Twilight yet.

“Canvas? Are you out here?” her voice called out with a hint of impatience.

“Just a sec!” Canvas closely followed her voice as he galloped anxiously into the backyard. ’Aww, crap! I hope I didn’t make her wait too—‘ He skidded to a halt, barely avoiding a messy crash into the meticulous mare’s arrangement. “What’s all this?”

Surrounding Twilight were ten pony mannequins made of nearly flawless quartz, all retrofitted with hinges on their limbs that reminded the colt of equine robots from a science fiction movie. “Rarity gave me these when she got newer mannequins. Spike helped me install the hinges, and we made them into my very own training marionettes to help keep my skills sharp!” she exclaimed with an unsettling smirk. “But this is for you, so you can choose what we do first, under advisory, of course,” she continued, a somewhat saccharine tone in her voice.

Canvas’ eagerness belied his unease toward the mare’s gradually shifting demeanor. “Okay, then! How about, uh… physical combat? I’ve never been very good with that.”

“R-really? Not magic exercises or…?”

The pushy unicorn shook his head, “Eh, probably not. I’d rather just dive right in—”

Taken aback by Canvas’ disregard of her hints, the mare’s tone became cold and blunt, “Look, you think that facing the ponies who were able to steal a dragon’s egg will be EASY? If we don’t approach this in the right way, they’ll be wearing your coat for the winter!”

The undaunted colt boldly stepped up to his mentor, decisive in what he wanted. His brows were furrowed, and his muzzle had a distinct sneer. After all, there was no way that he would let the mare insult his capabilities, even if they were not much to speak of. “I appreciate your advice, but I know what I need. Don’t stop the exercise until I’m out cold, or those puppets of yours are in piles!”

Twilight grinned ear-to-ear in eager acceptance of the challenge and for the opportunity to beat the hubris out of him, if necessary. Wisps of pink magic circled around her horn as mauve mare ambled to the edge of the backyard. She settled comfortably under the leafy branches that hung lazily from the Library’s exterior. The mannequins were mechanical at first as the uneven aura encasing their forms fluctuated spastically. However, it took the gifted unicorn only a few seconds of tweaking her spell to make their movements appear more natural, and they soon flawlessly resembled warhorses awaiting an imminent campaign.

Meanwhile, the colt hunkered down, staring at his two ‘opponents’ with an unblinking gaze. He whispered to himself repeatedly that it was not really Twilight he was fighting, hoping to convince himself to go all-out, if necessary.

The puppeteer unicorn proudly shouted, “Meet your Opponent A and your Opponent B—they will be entry-level enemies,” as a final touch she branded them with cutie marks with the letters ‘A’ and ‘B,’ respectively. “You’ll start off with these two, and if you can prove to me that you can handle them, I’ll up the difficulty with your next opponents. Now that we are clear, are you ready? Last chance!”

“As much as I’ll ever be,” affirmed Canvas.

Opponent A immediately charged at Canvas before skidding to a stop directly in front of him. The colt jumped to the side quickly enough to evade the attack by mere centimeters. However, he would quickly find out that the maneuver was only to distract Canvas long enough for its counterpart to intercede and buck the unicorn’s left shoulder. Although the sharp quartz hoof left the tan unicorn staggering with a severe limp and bloodied shoulder, he refused to let the pain affect his focus, and was still fully attentive of his foes. While struggling to regain stability, he looked up to see Opponent A descend upon him once more. With only milliseconds to spare, Canvas reared up as well, his hooves loudly clashing against the mannequin’s. The two moved back and forth, both trying to throw each other to the ground. But the maneuver only proved to be folly as his opponent quickly gained the upper hoof and pugnaciously tossed Canvas onto his injured shoulder. Despite the sharp pain on his side and back, the battered unicorn defiantly stood up with a smirk directed at Twilight. The mare returned his sneer with her own while straightening her glasses.

‘Ah, since her eyes are on me, maybe I can get the jump on one of them!’ With this thought Canvas set his sights on Opponent B, which was inactive for most of the session thus far. However, his hoofsteps were stopped by intuition telling him that Twilight was sure to notice him and react accordingly. But before he could complete the thought, what felt like a wrecking ball smashed into his ribs and sent the unicorn tumbling through the air until landing upon his haunches. It took a moment for his mind to process the onslaught of pain in his pelvis and spine. No sound came from Canvas’ mouth as he sat still, his eyes wide and mouth ajar in silent shock. He was relieved that his ribcage had not been altogether broken, but could feel every hairline fracture as he struggled back onto his hooves. Meanwhile, Canvas wiped sweat from silently coercing himself. Can’t let it end like this! I’m… not weak. Not anymore! The colt snorted and stamped his forehoof once.

Impressed with his resolve, Twilight nodded in approval. Her sadistic tone and countenance softened. “You don’t quit easily, I’ll give you that! Do you think you can go on like this?”

Canvas turned and spit blood onto the grass. “Heh, tell Spike to get the toolbox ready because these things’re gonna be piles of junk when I’m done!” Canvas bellowed in pain-fueled adrenaline and rage.

“Hm. We’ll see!”

For fifteen minutes straight, the colt and the Twilight-controlled mannequin engaged in heated skirmishes. For most bouts Canvas ended up on the defensive with more cuts and bruises than he started out with. However, he noticed in the meantime that Twilight was becoming quite exhausted due to her continuous use of magic. As time passed she found it increasingly difficult to maintain a steady flow of energy, and before too long it became a strain just to hold her head up. The stubborn colt fought on with a twinkle in his eye and was willing to ignore his injuries if it meant wearing down the puppeteer.

Per Twilight’s precision commands, Opponent A lowered its head while repeatedly dragging a forehoof upon the grass. Hoping to turn things around in his favor, Canvas focused what remained of his energy toward a controlled magical attack. His horn glowed bright yellow, and the small bolts of electricity emanating from it snapped and licked at nearby metal objects. However, his face contorted with pain and panic, as his efforts to bridle his magic were steadily becoming ineffective.

Twilight also grew worried, and the mare rose to her hooves to distance herself from the erratic pulses dispersed from Canvas’ horn. From it streaks of translucent golden energy swirled throughout the yard, causing large eddies that carried with it fallen leaves and dust. Soon all of the grass in the Library’s backyard shuddered under the strong winds, as if emulating Twilight’s increasing uneasiness. “Wh-what are you waiting for?! Release the energy, NOW!”

Even from across the yard, the mare could see the sweat pouring down the tan unicorn’s face and neck and merging with the blood trickling from the sides of his mouth. Twilight’s eyes grew wide as she realized that his trying to harness such power was slowly tearing the colt apart from the inside out. ‘He needs to release that magic before it kills him! But he needs to focus on something and direct it at that something…!  Improvising to the best of her ability, she commanded Opponent B to gallop toward Canvas from behind. The colt felt the faint, rhythmic gallop behind him. But the density of the magic he tried to control made just turning his head feel like trying to move an object of hundreds of pounds. When only a few feet between it and Canvas, the mannequin leapt with its forelegs outstretched. Canvas suddenly allowed his body to go limp and release the thunderous energy skyward. His stunned body was sent tumbling across the yard by the shockwave, and his horn quietly sizzled with a faint red glow. The numbness and buzzing throughout the colt’s head felt like it was stuck within a hive of furious hornets.

When the temporary paralysis wore away, Canvas lifted his head, and had to blink several times to make sure that his blurred vision was not misleading him. On the other end of the clearing, Twilight stood still with her lower jaw agape. Her eyes were fixed upon Opponent B, whose entire head was blown off. A column of wispy purple smoke rose from its broken stump of a neck, and the aura of Twilight’s magic sputtered and fizzled like a dying engine. After a few seconds the mannequin ceased to move altogether and fell onto its side with a loud clatter. As the last signs of life faded away, so did its cutie mark.

Twilight Sparkle shook her head, struggling to remember what she wanted to say before. “That was fantastic, Canvas! Scary and reckless, but fantastic!” the mare said heartily, despite her consolidated fear of the colt’s destructive potential. She watched Canvas dizzily stand up while she straightened her mane. “Are you sure you can continue…?” asked Twilight, her voice filled with hesitation and pity for the fellow unicorn.

“Yep, I’m still alive. But I don’t think I can take two more at a time,” admitted Canvas.

She sighed with relief that the colt finally accepted his limitations. “Fine, it’ll be just Opponent A, then.” The mare summoned as much pent-up aggression that could fuel (what she hoped would be) the last bout of strenuous magic for the day. “I feel weird, though—it’s best if we just continue later or tomorrow.” Twilight said tiredly while laying upon her front once again.

Canvas shook his head resolutely. “Let’s push it as far as we can… I can’t go back on what I said before!”

Twilight’s eye twitched. “Wh-you… do you WANT me to kill you? Is that it?!”

“No—I…”

The mare removed her glasses and tossed them to the side as her short period of relief gave way to steadily-increasing ire, “You know what? Fine! It’s clear to me now that I’ve enabled your self-destructive behavior for too long!” Twilight’s eyes glowed with a pink hue when her magic aggressively encircled Opponent A once more. Emulating Twilight’s fury, the quartz pony reared and galloped toward its target. Mentally Canvas was alert of his foe’s advance, but the colt’s injuries caught up to him. His right knee buckled when attempting to dodge the attack and only ended up stumbling onto the mannequin’s neck, just as the mare controlling it intended. A sharp, quiet yelp left the colt’s throat as Opponent A’s head lifted him several feet into the air, then bolted forward and tackled him mid-air. An audible snapping of bone could be heard from the colt’s body as his body made contact with the unforgiving ground. Opponent A stepped backward, leaving the colt gasping and writhing upon the grass. She stood over Canvas with a cold stare as her frustration toward his stubbornness flowed out through her magic.

Twilight stood up and sauntered toward Canvas with a disturbing sneer. She seemed unaware that her mind and actions were being overtaken by the immense flow of her own magic, which became increasingly out of control. Her voice suddenly changed, sounding like two voices coming from the same mouth, “You still want to continue, you runt?” Twilight taunted while walking beside Opponent A, her aura around the quartz pony fluctuating precariously.

Canvas began to panic as it sunk in that defending himself was out of the question. His legs no longer allowed him to even stand, only to inch away from the duo. “Get… away… from me!” he pleaded desperately. His energy began to surge against his will. Images of the decapitated mannequin suddenly flashed into his mind, stirring up even more emotion. “Get BACK, before it’s too late!!”

Fully engrossed by her powers, the mare only continued to advance. “I’LL show you when it’s too late!!”

Canvas Shade closed his eyes tight, using every fiber of his being to keep control. However, the pulsing surges of power pushed past his willpower, filling his eyes with a bright yellow light, and the colt also bellowed with a voice that was not quite his own, “SHUT… UP!!!”

An overwhelmingly intense light filled the entire area, forcing Twilight to shield her eyes. The sudden magical outburst, as well as the deafening sound of her backyard being obliterated snapped her out of the trance. However, the foreleg she used to cover her eyes faltered, the inundation of Canvas’ magic overwhelming all of her senses at once. Before she could comprehend what was happening, Twilight instantly blacked out.


***

The barely-conscious mare groaned while carefully attempting to get solid footing on the now jagged, upturned ground. Her eyes watered severely as she wandered through the cloud of dust, and her lungs struggled to expel the debris with several wheezing coughs. She looked at the earth around her hooves and gasped in shock that what used to be well-cut grass was now upturned soil and remnants of green scattered amongst smoldering quartz rubble. To her right was the contoured force field that she established around the Library earlier that morning. Under normal circumstances it remained invisible. But not only was it revealed, the section nearest to Canvas was riddled with web-like cracks. Thankfully, the Library itself was saved, except for a few minor branches.

“Holy Celestia! Everything’s decimated!” Twilight whispered when walking amongst the piles of rubble that her training mannequins used to be. As the mare shuffled through the debris, she became increasingly worried about Canvas’ well being. From history books and lore, she heard of unbridled magic utterly destroying its wielder, whether it was fatal internal damage or thorough vaporization into some plane of existence in between dimensions. The mare was hesitant to call out his name for fear that she would not get an answer. However, the uncertainty of it all was much worse. “Canv—?” She let out a faint gasp, startled by a sudden crumbling noise and groans of pain.

Canvas lay upon his side, copious amount of blood having spilled from his mouth. Twilight cringed when the smoke cleared enough to fully reveal the terrible condition he was in. Streams of blood trickled from the various surface wounds all over his damaged body. Canvas’ broken right leg hung limp while he tried in vain stand using the other three. However, his good legs only faltered in the loose dirt. “I’m… not… weak! I’ll… show you!”

Twilight was astounded at the words that reached her ears. “Absolutely not! You’re insane!!” She turned her head to the sound of the front door slamming shut and Spike sprinting toward them on all fours. The dragon skidded to a halt beside her, panting heavily while checking Twilight for serious injuries. He saw Canvas in the corner of his vision and double took, wincing sympathetically at the bloodied and broken pony. “Son of a parasprite! What did you DO to him?! Ugh, I’ll never get that image out of my head!” Spike was sure to keep his back to the equine wreck behind him.

She could not readily answer, but only gesture and stutter with a shell-shocked look in her eye. “He sort of… did this to himself, but—he’s still trying to fight! He’s so injured, yet… I mean, it’s like he doesn’t even realize how injured he is!” Twilight inched toward Canvas, who was still trying to drag himself closer to them. The colt only kept his gaze upon one last training mannequin that did not receive the brunt of the magical surge. Twilight realized what he was staring at and austerely stamped her hoof once. “No! I WON’T go any further! Even I almost lost control!”

“Please… let me do this…” Canvas pleaded in a weak tone muffled by the blood filling his mouth.

Spike turned toward Canvas, pointing at him admonishingly, “You’re gonna kill yourself, you dumb stallion! Just continue tomorrow, sheesh!”

The colt sobbed quietly and lifted his head, looking to them with tear-filled, desperate eyes, “I didn’t know what I was doing when I agreed to help. All I wanted was to do something really significant, for once in my life.”

Twilight and Spike looked at each other worriedly, neither of them wanting to deal with anypony dying in their backyard. The young dragon could tell that she was still considering granting Canvas’ ridiculous wish, and he frantically shook his head ‘no’ without another word. Pieces of broken stone and clumps of dirt crunched loudly underneath her hooves as she stepped away from the last surviving mannequin.

For no reason that was clear to the unicorns, Spike suddenly backed away from Twilight, crouched on all fours and hissing in Twilight’s direction.

“Spike, wh… why’re you doing that?” she asked meekly, part of her not wanting to know what had Spike’s defensive synapses firing all at once. Then the answer became clear when a soft gust of wind tussled a few hairs of Twilight’s mane. The chills that ran throughout her body were strong enough to where her nearly all of her muscles locked up.

A dragon-shaped distortion faded into view ever so slowly as the invisibility spell wore off. Canvas and Spike looked with dread upon the translucent gray-scaled body standing behind the mare with an expression of undiluted rage. The colt tried desperately to call out to her, but the words would not sound from his dry throat. Twilight could tell by Canvas’ frantic efforts to speak out that something terrible was behind her, and that it was furious. The mare’s paralysis prevented her from simply turning her head. Faster than she realized, Twilight was violently pinned to the ground, the swiftness of the dragoness’ attack leaving her head spinning. When she came to, she lifted her head to see a cold, scaly paw forcefully pressing upon her torso, dangerously poking against her skin and close to drawing blood with the slightest movement. Twilight lifted her gaze further, beholding the brooding creature and its blue eyes amidst the backdrop of the dawn sun. 

“I will NOT have you hurt him any longer!” Nyvena snarled with a threatening quietness.

A thousand thoughts ran through the unicorn’s mind, but her fear hindered her ability to form a proper response.

“NOW who is the ru—?” Nyvena paused and turned sharply to face Spike, who managed to sneak past the dragoness and leap at her with surprising ferocity. The dragoness raised her left foreleg away from Twilight just in time to prevent Spike’s teeth from reaching her neck. He clamped down as hard as he could, his teeth crunching upon her scales. With a loud grunt of effort and pain, she swung her foreleg a full 180 degrees to send him tumbling to the other side of the yard. Disregarding the serious bite wound, Nyvena returned her focus onto Twilight.

“NYVENA, STOP!” Canvas authoritatively shouted after spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Her head snapped toward the colt, taken aback that he called her given name for the first time. “I saw her attack you! A-and she was killing you—I tried holding back, but she just kept going!”

Canvas found the strength to limp his way between Twilight and Nyvena. “I wanted her to! Besides, it was only part of an exercise!”

Nyvena’s drawn-back paw trembled with unreleased adrenaline, so she instead slammed her claws into the ground, inches away from Twilight’s head. The mare gasped sharply, and when her mind comprehended how close she was to dying, her eyes rolled back into her head.

Meanwhile, as Spike rose to a sitting position, he carefully pulled shards of quartz from between his scales. The young dragon dashed to Twilight’s side and helped the mare back to her hooves, hissing scornfully at his fellow dragon in passing. She crouched, retorting with a louder hiss. Canvas limped to Nyvena’s and slumped across her tail, looking into her eyes and shaking his head to persuade her to remain calm. Nyvena sighed reluctantly and sat down once again and took several deep breaths to alleviate her aggression. However, when she opened them and looked around, the dragoness swore under her breath.

A dozen curious ponies cautiously stepped out from behind trees and buildings to see about the warzone behind the Golden Oaks. Many of them paced back and forth, surveying the scene with jaws agape. Others were frozen with pure terror, unblinkingly watching every movement Nyvena made. Amongst the growing crowd was Mayor Mare, but the look in her steely blue eyes was more of outrage than fright or awe.

The wheat-hued earth mare stepped forward with apparent disregard that a flying reptile of legend was in their midst. Even though she had to rush there in her morning robe, the Mayor’s words were not taken any less seriously than when she spoke from the podium. “All of you, to the hospital! From there, we will sort out all of this! That includes YOU, Dragon!”

Canvas’ heart filled with dread. The colt knew well how repulsive that the mere idea of associating with ponies was to the dragoness. There was no telling how Nyvena might react to being spoken to in such a manner by the Mayor. From where he lay Canvas felt the anger building up within her as she clenched her fists and ground her teeth. But to his surprise, Nyvena only responded with an petulant snort, turning her head away with a snort as she stood up and carried Canvas within the coils of her tail.

‘Think of your children, think of your children…’ Nyvena muttered to herself while following the Mayor. Her head was held low as if being led through a shameful procession, and she could practically hear her dragon compatriots loudly jeering from all directions.


***

Outside of the Ponyville Hospital, Nurse Redheart dabbed sweat from Dr. Stable’s forehead after a full hour of treating Nyvena’s bite wound. Spike’s teeth had taken with them some of her scales and skin from when she threw him off of her, leaving a grisly, gaping wound on her left foreleg. Surrounding it were broken scales that were mendable, but the precision and patience it required was like assembling a mosaic. Within hoof’s reach was a cart holding several bottles of rubbing alcohol and many rolls of the best-grade gauze bandage. On the top surface the doctor and nurses improvised by gathering any medical tool that could be useful for mending a wounded dragon. Fortunately, the Doctor’s unwavering focus on the task at hoof allowed him to count irrelevant the innate fear of working on such a creature. Nevertheless, it helped that Nyvena vowed her full cooperation in exchange for being able to make sure that Twilight healed her travel companion with extreme prudence. However, sitting next to Twilight was Spike, glaring at Nyvena in an intense standoff. His muscles were tense and primed, ready for intervention if Nyvena were to step out of line.

Hoping to ease the distracting tension, Stable asked in a half-mutter without stopping his work, “So, Nyvena, is it? Why don’t you have this fixed by Miss Sparkle over there? I’m sure her magic is much faster and much less painful. I can see you tensing and gouging your claws into the ground every time I touch your foreleg.”

“I refuse to let her touch me with that magic!” she growled in response. Dr. Stable let out a stressed exhalation and slowly shook his head at the dragoness’ spiteful hubris. The distrustful dragoness lay upon her front, still as a garden statue while watching Twilight’s every move. The potent 90% pure alcohol he dabbed onto her open wound would normally have sent her into a rage—or at least cause her to snarl at the Doctor—but ensuring that Twilight properly reversed the damage she caused was far more important.

With the help of another nurse Twilight cleaned Canvas’ coat and sterilized his wounds after mending her own. Various muscles on the colt’s sedated body twitched when she began to mend the broken bone in his foreleg and one of his cracked ribs. But the process was easy for Twilight overall, compared to the first time she tried to heal him. Only once did she look up by accident and catch a glimpse of Nyvena’s intimidating gaze. It sent such a strong shiver down the mare’s spine that she promised herself to not dare make such a mistake again.

The quiet murmuring of the crowd that gathered around the hospital broke the very awkward silence to a small degree. Merchants deserted their storefronts and foals skipped school in order to witness the most historic arrival in Ponyville in years. It did not last long, as Mayor Mare exited the hospital to urge them to disperse and go about their day. The curious denizens groaned in protest and lingered around at first, but they ultimately did as told.

“What’s the progress here?” the Mayor asked succinctly while observing Doctor Stable, Redheart, and Nyvena. Although she was able to keep her outward composure, frustration was apparent in her voice while she paced back and forth.

Stable spoke rapidly as if thinking out loud without removing his squinting eyes from his handiwork, “We’re almost done here. I don’t know very much about dragons, but I definitely know wounds. The scales that could be salvaged were put back into the place, so all we need to do is clean the wound and get it wrapped up.”

“Very good, Doctor.” Mayor Mare gave a nod of approval and trotted over to the other side of the yard. “And you, Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight nervously readjusted her glasses and nodded rapidly. Her edginess increased with having the Mayor’s attention upon her as well. “A-almost done here, too, Mayor.”

“Good. Once everypony is properly fixed up, we’re to have a nice little discussion on what has taken place today. I’ll be waiting in City Hall. I want Miss Sparkle, Mr. Shade, and the dragon to report there immediately,” the commanding earth pony declared before departing.

Spike and Twilight looked at each other uneasily, and the dragon aimlessly scratched the side of his neck. “Uh, what about me?”

“Just wait for us at the library, Spike. We’ll be back before you know it.” Twilight calmly answered. Eager to escape the added tension caused by Mayor Mare’s visit, he exhaled with relief as he stood up. The young dragon subtly backed away before breaking into a sprint towards home on all fours.


***

Later that day, on the Ponyville City Hall upper balcony:

For a few moments before speaking, Mayor Mare stared coldly at her audience. The two unicorns silently sat beside each other with Nyvena seated behind them. Unable to meet the Mayor’s eyes, Twilight kept her head lowered apologetically with her ears flat against her head.

Canvas was bandaged almost from snout to tail, especially on his horn, torso, and right foreleg. Nyvena had to carry him upon her back, but he insisted upon limping the rest of the way when they reached City Hall. While in front of the Mayor, he was rather distracted while ogling building’s charming architecture in detail. Behind the bandaged colt was Nyvena, staring forward with a sullen frown and not looking at anything else even once.

Mayor Mare cleared her throat before beginning her speech, “As you know, this is a small town where not many exciting events happen nowadays. But when they do occur, there is no doubt that it is of very profound significance. We in Ponyville bore witness to the return of the once-fabled Nightmare Moon and Discord, both of which were promptly dealt with by our very own Twilight Sparkle and her friends. But it is evident that things have changed in the past three years,” she paused with a stern glance at the mauve unicorn. “It seems that she would now rather harbor and aid a mysterious, troublesome colt and his pet dragon in the destruction of this fair town, wouldn’t you?” Nyvena’s attention snapped to the Mayor with rage-filled eyes.

“‘His… PET… DRAGON?!’” she screamed within her thoughts. From where he sat Canvas could feel the rage already building inside of her.

“If I may speak on Canvas’ behalf, he’s not a threat to anypony here. He’s simply a traveler with rather… well, unique circumstances,” Twilight gestured to Nyvena, “You see, he bravely offered to help this dragon find her stolen eggs.”

Mayor Mare raised an eyebrow, “Stolen eggs? No offense, but I’m sure that somepony who could manage that is much more than any one pony can handle.”

Canvas silently admitted to himself that for the time being it was true, but the colt frowned upon the assumption that he could not handle himself in a tough situation. Twilight looked to him, hoping that he would better explain the situation. 

“Well, Mr. Shade? Do you have anything to add to Miss Sparkle’s explanation?”

Anxious about speaking to a mayor for the first time and unable to figure out where to begin, Canvas stumbled upon his words, “Well, y-you see, um—what she said is right, but that’s not all there is to it. She was helping me prepare… for when I have to face a… uh… I’m sorry, I don’t really know how to say this without sounding like some conspiracy theorist…” he chuckled, conceding that he simply could not gather his thoughts.

“It’s an underground earth pony group called ‘The Triumvirate,’” Twilight bookishly intervened. “They’ve been causing all sorts of trouble around Equestria, but we can hardly find any history on them.”

The colt nodded rapidly in agreement and continued with a bit more confidence, “Needless to say, things got more… destructive than expected. For that I’m deeply sorry because I wanted her to keep going so I could prove something to myself and to her. Apparently I have some sort of… massive magical energy built up inside me, and I have to learn how to control it so I can use it to defend myself without… you know, decimating everything around me. Twilight is the only pony I know who could really help me.”

“That is quite true. I saw what had become of the ICU wing in the Hospital,” the Mayor sighed with chagrin.

“I realize that behind the library might not have been the best place to train, but if we relocate to a place with as little potential collateral damage as possible, could you please give us another chance?”

Mayor Mare tapped her chin in thought, “The training situation can be easily fixed…” her expression became stern once again, “But there’s still the matter of your dragon!”

Nyvena started to stand up in protest, “I am not HIS dra—” However, Canvas acted quickly to hold her back. He was the only one who happened to notice the secretive guard detail of unicorns hidden around the structure, ready to intervene.

“Please, Miss K. We can sort out the semantics later!” Canvas whispered urgently. Nyvena’s haunches landed heavily upon the balcony, her sullen gaze then locked onto Mayor Mare, who appeared very unconcerned about the dragoness’ objections. Canvas turned, once again facing the Mayor contritely on behalf of Nyvena. “I know you’re worried for your citizens, but I promise you that we’re here for a specific purpose, and we will be out of your mane as soon as we can.”

“Fair enough, if things don’t get out of hoof. How do I know for sure that her… instincts will not get the best of her?”

Canvas and Nyvena exchanged glances for a second while the unicorn thought of a reassuring answer. His ears suddenly perked up when stumbling upon a proposition, “Hmm… if Miss Kenanshar could roam freely here and in the Everfree Forest, her basic needs can be met, and I’ll personally make sure she has as little contact with anypony here as possible. However, I will need her around for… well, moral support. In the meantime, Twilight and I can continue training in a more remote location.” As Canvas made his proposal, Nyvena was impressed that he could think of such a good plan under pressure, and she nodded in agreement.

Mayor Mare stared at the ground with a hoof over her chin, pondering Canvas’ plan. After a moment of deep thought, she could not come up with anything unreasonable about his requests. “I… don’t see why that cannot work. As long as everypony keeps up their end of the deal, your visit should cause minimal problems under the circumstances you provided, Mr. Shade. I shall designate where you can hold your sessions, under advisory of Miss Sparkle.”

The mare perked up, beaming at the opportunity to advise the town leader. “It will be my pleasure, Mayor!”

“Then it’s settled. Please join me in the map room. In the meantime, the rest of you report to the Library, and she shall meet you there.”

“Understood. Thank you for the opportunity!” Canvas could not help but grin, since the outcome was much better than he thought it would be, considering the circumstances.

Nyvena rolled her eyes, unfurling her wings and pivoting toward the outer edge of the balcony. The dragoness lowered her tail to let Canvas climb onto her back before taking to the air. Seeing the crowd of ponies gathered around City Hall caught the pair off-guard, as none of them even realized that anypony was trying to eavesdrop in the first place. More loud gasps and murmurs came from the small crowd as Nyvena’s shadow passed over the circular plaza.

Canvas sighed and smiled  “I tell you, Miss K., I’ll never get used to that kind of attention.”

“It is better than the treatment I received in your home city. Being in a place where wondrous things have happened was a brilliant stroke of fortune. And it is surprising that their leader was so… decisive! No other pony has been that way with me around. Except for you, of course.”

“Thank you! I think that’s the first nice thing you’ve said about me!”

“Saying ’do not push it’ does not quite suffice,” Nyvena grumbled while swerving around a low-hanging cloud. As the top branches of the Library came into sight, a rainbow streak zoomed past the two with a slipstream so powerful that it almost threw the dragoness off of her flight pattern. Having to compensate quickly, she was forced to make a rough landing about a few dozen feet away from the intended landing point.

“What WAS that?!” Nyvena exclaimed in between startled breaths.

“Ugh, trouble in Pegasus form,” replied the colt in a disgusted tone. The dragoness’ lay upon the soft grass and Canvas was able to dismount easily. After circling above them several times, Rainbow Dash landed and galloped to Canvas, although she knew that he would be less than enthusiastic to see her.

“Can I help you?” the unicorn asked dryly, seating himself in front of her with half-closed eyes. He restrained himself from unleashing the tirade of anger he felt toward the Pegasus, keeping in mind the discussion he had with Twilight the day before.

Rainbow Dash stopped in front of him and cantered in place awkwardly. It was obvious that she out of her comfort zone. However, the sky blue mare swallowed her pride so that she could struggle through her apology, “I… I know you’re not very happy to see me at all, but… I wanted to properly apologize to you face-to-face.”

Not expecting an apology from the coarse Pegasus, Canvas was suddenly attentive and his tone more sincere, “Well, uhm, that won’t be n—”

“Please,” Dash politely interrupted, “I wanted to let you know that I feel really, really bad for what I did to you. Even if you don’t forgive me, I need you to know that I’m sorry. Nothing I say can make up for the pain you went through because of me. If there’s anything at all I can do to make up for it, I’ll do it, no problem! I just really hope that we can still possibly be friends…?” She held her hoof out with an amicable, hopeful smile.

Canvas could see the sincerity in her eyes and the vow he made to Twilight was still fresh in his mind. The hoof he raised to meet hers was his nearly-healed one, and it trembled with hesitation. But he eventually accepted Dash’s, forcing himself to smile as well. The colt was never somepony to speak much about his feelings, and his words were drawn out, but Canvas knew that he needed to say them nonetheless. “It’s alright, as long as you don’t let anything like that happen again. You see, I never really had good experiences with Pegasi. But unlike the others I’ve come across, I have a feeling that something great can come of this friendship despite the… well, what’s happened between us at first. And I’m very sorry for losing control of my magic back in the hospital.”

Dash’s jaw dropped in astonishment, not expecting such a response, whatsoever.

The socially awkward colt looked to the side as he continued to struggle through voicing his thoughts. “I’ve never been able to hold a grudge for very long, as long as there’s an apology. It’s been a pretty crappy day so far, but hearing this from you… I must admit you’ve brightened my day quite a bit!” Canvas chuckled affably, releasing her hoof. “Ah! How could I forget? This is Ke…” the colt turned around and saw that Nyvena no longer behind him. His heart immediately went into panic mode, and he instantly broke into a cold sweat.

“Uh, who?” Dash tilted her head, just as puzzled as Canvas.

He burst into short, frantic sprints in all directions, feverishly shouting to himself, “Nyvena! Where’d she go?!”

“Nyvena? That’s a weird name for a pony. Oh, is it that dragon everypony’s talking about?”

“Yeah, she was with me a minute ago! Didn’t you see her leave?!”

“I didn’t notice—I was really focused on apologizing, and—” Rainbow Dash shuddered with dread at the thought of a dragon roaming around Ponyville. “I’ll help you find—”

Out of nowhere Nyvena landed directly in front of Dash just as the Pegasus was about to take off, and the massive thud shook both ponies to their core. Her wings were fully outstretched, casting an intimidating shadow upon the shrieking mare. Nyvena shook her head, a cunning grin across the dragoness’ muzzle as she leaned onto her haunches.

“You never fail to surprise, do you?!” the winged mare’s chest heaved rapidly as she spoke.

Canvas turned away from the Pegasus when bursting out with raucous laughter and shrugged in response after his amusement died down. “I couldn’t think of a better way to get back at you if I tried! Thanks, Miss K.!” Anyway, this is Kenanshar Nyvena. We met in my home town Baltimare.”

A long way from acclimating to having a casual conversation with a dragon, Dash chose her words carefully, “That’s an… interesting name—hard to remember, but interesting. Usually we ponies have names that mean something unique for each of us. Does yours have some special meaning in… dragon language, or whatever?”

“My name means Adjutant of the Diamond Cloud, if that is easier for you to remember,” Nyvena sardonically replied.

Dash blinked a few times, trying to recite the meaning in her head, but giving up after the first failed try. “Uh, is ‘Ken’ okay?”

“No. But we shall figure it out later. For now you shall call me… ‘Mistress.’”

The mare scoffed and turned to Canvas, silently mouthing, ‘are you kidding me?!’

"Just go with it," he silently replied with a casual shrug.

Rainbow Dash groaned, sticking her tongue out in disgust at having to use such a word. “Fine… Mistress,”

Nyvena let out a quiet giggle, then dismissively flicked her wrist, “Very good. Run along now; Canvas and I have important matters to attend to.”

With a faint blush of humiliation Rainbow Dash turned and walked away crossly. She spread her wings and crouched low before taking to the air with her signature streak of rainbow trailing behind.


***

Tiny slivers of sunlight filtered through drawn curtains as Spike lay awake in his bed, feeling somewhat nauseated with worry for Twilight, as well as disdain toward Canvas’ arriving in the first place. The Mayor was never known to be lenient towards destruction of public property. A sudden loud knock made the dragon nearly leap out of bed. “I’m coming, I’m coming, jeez!” he groaned out loud while trudging down the stairs. Spike figured that it could not have been Twilight, or she would have simply crossed through the force field or taken it down entirely (weeks ago she modified the spell to enable Spike to temporarily take down part of the barrier or repair it, as needed). He was not enthusiastic whatsoever to see for whom he opened the door, as long as Twilight was not with them. “Ah, let off the hook early, I see,” said Spike with a cynical dryness.

Canvas and Nyvena looked at each other with raised brows. “Uh, right now Twilight’s with Mayor Mare, helping with choosing places for us to practice, so there’s no need to worry.”

“Fine. I just don’t like this whole thing whatsoever. Things’ve gone crazy since you arrived, Canvas.” Spike waved his clawed hand to let the two guests in past the barrier. As she followed Canvas inside, Nyvena was pleasantly surprised that she could slip through the doorway intended for ponies. “I have this nagging feeling that you’re gonna be one of those ponies who completely turn our lives upside-down.”

Nyvena shook her head and scoffed while taking a seat in the middle of the main room, taking in the drollness of the Library’s décor. “Oh, stop whining, Young One. That is simply what happens in life sometimes.”

“My name is Spike, by the way!” he snapped boldly.

The dragoness curtly turned her head away from Spike. “I knew a ‘Spike’ once. That is one dragon I do NOT want to be reminded about. However, that was from decades ago.”

“Regardless, that’s what I like being called because that’s my name. It’s not like I can help it…!”

“Ugh, both of you shut up! Quit arguing about petty stuff! You’re both dragons, for goodness’ sake! That’s one thing you have in common that you don’t have with anypony else here—that should count for something!” Canvas shouted, pausing with heavy breaths and a visibly distressed look. When watching Spike and Nyvena exchange worried looks, the colt exhaled deeply to calm himself before continuing. “Look, we’re got so much more to focus on. We can’t move forward until we put our best efforts together. I spent nearly all my life listening to pointless arguing in my family. I just… can’t function under those circumstances! Not again.” He finished the admonishing tirade with a near-whisper, seating himself in an obscure corner near the staircase.

Spike sighed and sulked guiltily; Nyvena sighed as well, slowly shaking her head with more pity than sympathy.

“You’re gonna be with us for only a short while, anyway,” conceded Spike. “I’m… sorry for how unwelcoming I’ve been acting. It’s just that it’s a lot to handle all at once. And I never—well—I never liked the idea of stallions in the Library… you know, around Twilight in general. But if Twilight ends up hurt, it’ll be more than your leg that’ll be hurt!” he exclaimed with a protective snarl. The dragoness clenched her fists, but managed to mind her tongue, despite being threatened by the audacious green-crested whelp.

Canvas quickly interceded for the sake of avoiding more conflict, “You have our word that none of you will come to any harm as the result of our training.”

“Pinkie Promise?” asked the apprehensive dragon, looking to both Canvas and Nyvena with a demonstrative handpaw over his right eye. Although she did not know what a Pinkie Promise was, Nyvena was wholeheartedly against such a ridiculous gesture. Still, she knew that Spike needed their reassurance in exchange for his support.

“I shall not… Pinkie Promise, as you put it. However, I do swear to you by my family name of Kenanshar. Amongst us dragons, a vow of such importance is made once every century. It is yours, for the sake of cooperation, to both you and to Twilight Sparkle.” The dragoness bowed to Spike, which thoroughly shocked Canvas as he witnessed her rare moment of humility. His jaw dropped, never having imagined that he would see her bow to anypony, not even to another dragon. A smile grew across his muzzle as he looked on with a new level of admiration for the her. To Canvas it was clear the lengths she could go for the sake of somepony she cared about seemed all but limitless.

Spike leaned forward with slight fascination, “You would really do that?”

Nyvena raised her body, but kept her head bowed. Several audible plits upon the floor rang throughout the otherwise silent room, followed by a loud sniffle. “I would give anything to have my children back. Why else would I travel with a pony?” the dragoness gestured to Canvas in an attempt at humor. All three of them could not help but laugh heartily. However, Spike’s laughter was the first to die down as a troubling thought came to him.

“I… I would definitely have been nicer if I knew all this was for your kids. I’m really sorry for how I acted and what I did, and stuff…” he scratched at the back of his neck while struggling through the apology.

Contemplating the dragon’s words, Nyvena looked at her bandaged foreleg and gently stroked the gauze tightly wrapped around the wound. “You have my forgiveness. You were brave enough to challenge me for the sake of your Twilight, and I find that admirable. Although it was quite foolish as well.”

“I’ve always been sort of… overprotective. I can’t help myself sometimes.” Spike replied with a apologetic yet lighthearted chortle.

All of them jolted when Twilight suddenly burst through the doorway, panting excitedly, “We did it! We came up with a solution that can solve all our problems!” The elated mare did not seem to notice the adult dragon curled up in the middle of her Library, and that Nyvena and Spike were not trying to tear each other apart.

“Should I put in an order for some new hinges, Twi? And a new door, maybe?” Spike asked half-sarcastically.

“Ha, ha,” the elated mare replied dryly and instantly continued her good news. “Mayor Mare and I worked everything out, and there’s an old quarry a few miles to the north. Plus it’s located close to the Everfree Forest, so it’s a perfect place for Miss Kenanshar to roam around as she pleases while Canvas and I train as we please! It’s a solid yet simple plan! So, what do you think?” Twilight leaned toward the colt with a hopeful smile.

A pony who enjoyed his personal space, Canvas leaned his head away from Twilight’s as she gradually leaned closer, “What’s not to like? It’s based on my proposal, and it works out of everypony! We can get good rest and heal some more, then get started again! Only thing is… what do we do in the meantime? It’s only late afternoon.”

Twilight looked at the ceiling while tapping a hoof upon her chin. “This sounds like it would be a Pinkie Pie kind of situation—”

Canvas stood and reared up, unable to contain his sudden burst of excitement. “Pinkie Pie! I’d love to see her and the other Elements of Harmony! Ohh, I hope they’re not too busy… I’m thinking I would have… seen… them,” the pace of his talking slowed to a crawl, and his enthusiasm died away when seeing Twilight’s slow, regretful shake of her head.

“You see, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy all moved away about a year ago. The only ones left here are Dash and I. I’m sorry, Canvas.”

“N-no… they aren’t… here?” the shocked and disappointed colt found it difficult to form words, as his jaw went numb and a lump formed in his throat. Nyvena lowered her head, muttering obscenities in an ancient tongue.

“Believe me, I was just as sad as each of them told me they were leaving. They’re my best friends, and… well, they just moved on. I imagine it was just as hard for them, if not more.” Twilight explained with gentleness and heartache and well.

Canvas inhaled and exhaled slowly to even out his mood, allowing him to take on a more somber disposition. “Alright… this is definitely a setback, yes. Aside from the fact that I’ve wanted to meet all of you for years, Miss K. and I really need all of your help with these Triumvirate types. Where would I find the other four?”

“Really, Miss Sparkle, we need to know this,” Nyvena stepped closer, speaking with attempted gentleness, although her increasing proximity was rather intimidating. “If there is anything you can tell us…”

Twilight craned her neck to magically pull out a folded parchment that was used as a bookmark for a giant volume of a rather extensive collection of books. She unfolded it meticulously as if it was a treasure map that could fall apart with the slightest wrong move, laying it out neatly between the four of them (now three, since Spike unashamedly yawned and curled up to sleep). She pressed her hoof close to the center of the faded parchment. “Pinkie Pie would be the closest. She lives in Canterlot now—believe it or not—and is the co-owner of Donut Joe’s shop there.”

A small measure of gusto returned to Canvas upon hearing the name, “Hey, Donut Joe! That’s my cousin! At least I’ll know somepony there, thank goodness.” 

“Yeah, we’d go there every time we go to Canterlot. No matter what happened, spending time together in the donut shop always made us feel better.” After briefly reliving the nostalgia of yesteryears, she lowered her voice with a focused stare on the map. Her eyes darted about the parchment while audibly thinking of different scenarios, “Canterlot would be a great starting point, but I don’t know if the Princess will take kindly to us bringing a dragon there, so we’ll have to be ultra-careful. We barely scraped by a huge amount of trouble over here. She definitely won’t want panic in the streets of her Capitol, whether I’m involved or not.”

Nyvena leaned in for a better look. Her head was now only a few feet away from Twilight’s, their closeness evoking the mare to subtly put a little more space between them. Canvas huddled close to the dragoness as comfortably as if she was another pony. To Twilight’s surprise, neither of them seemed to mind, or even notice how close they were to each other. However, she could not help but smile at the droll sight. “Miss Kenanshar, your thoughts?” both unicorns stared at Nyvena with hope that the dragoness would approve of the proposed plan.

“Hmm, magic training for Canvas, then searching for the Elements of Harmony all over Equestria? It does seem like the long way of doing things, and I was never one for patience. However, we cannot afford to approach this in a sloppy manner. Would you… perhaps accompany us so that you can request the help of your friends on our behalf?”

“I’d l—” Twilight began, but she stopped herself to look at Spike, who unceremoniously slumbered upon his back. There was nothing that filled the mare with more excitement than the idea of traversing the land with a fascinating fellow unicorn and a fully-grown dragon as travel partners. However, the same notion that excited the mare also frightened her. Although she had to traverse into the unknown several times in her life did not mean that she enjoyed doing such. It did help justify her hesitation, knowing that she still had responsibilities that tied her to Ponyville, especially the slumbering young dragon to her left. “I would love to, but… I have to be here for Spike. This is a crucial part of his life, and it wouldn’t be fair for me to leave so suddenly…”

The claws on Nyvena’s left forepaw dug grooves into the floor as her voice was filled with desperation. “Miss Sparkle, I beg of you to reconsider! So far you are the only pony who can help us reach out to these other Elements of Harmony. Everything that we have accomplished so far will have fallen apart without your help! Every minute without my future children feels like years off my life. All I have done since they were stolen has been to get them back!”

“She’s right,” Canvas chimed, also hoping to appeal to his fellow unicorn’s sense of valor, “even if we have to bring Spike along, I’m sure we can make it work to everypony’s benefit!”

Both Canvas and Nyvena stared at her with an expectant glint in their eyes. Her intuition told Twilight that the duo had been through pain and hardship just to get to Ponyville, and she could only imagine how crushing it must have been to hear that who they needed were scattered all over Equestria. A small part of her still tried to devise a counterargument, but seeing a dragoness—prideful as they can be—nearly groveling at her hooves made it very difficult. “Okay, okay, I’ll go with you. Besides… it would be great to see my best friends again!” she said to reassure herself. “These weeks of training will give me enough time to get things in order here.”

The tension seemed to melt away from the colt and dragoness all at once. Nyvena’s gratitude was more reserved, but she had to hold Canvas back from literally trying to kiss Twilight’s hooves. She almost wanted to hold the overly grateful unicorn’s muzzle shut just to quiet his fervent string of ‘thank yous.’ Twilight chuckled while sauntering over to Canvas, “I think I can see how much it means to you.” The mare lightly kissed his forehead with a subtle grin. “For you, my noble stallion.” Nyvena covered her maw to stifle a burst of laughter she did not expect.

Canvas knew that Twilight was only joking, but he could not help but blush deeply. Nopony outside of family has ever kissed him on the cheek. “Wow, well, thanks! That was pleasantly unexpected…!” beyond that, all he could manage was indistinct stuttering and quiet chuckling to himself.

“Do not push your luck, Miss Sparkle, he is mine!” the dragoness replied in her own attempt at humor, hugging Canvas against her chest with inadvertent roughness. The colt struggled within her strong forelegs. Twilight helplessly burst into laughter, pounding a hoof upon the ground.

“Miss K.! What’re you doing? You’re choking me!”

“Hmph! You would not mind this treatment if it were from a mare.”

“Yeah, because she probably couldn’t accidentally snap my neck,” he croaked, forcing an indignant façade in order to hide his infatuated awkwardness.

“Not important, Unicorn,” replied Nyvena in a patronizing tone. Part of Canvas wished that she were sincere, especially since her humor was quite painful.


***

Shaking her head and laughing lightly, Twilight Sparkle left Canvas and Nyvena to their shenanigans in the living room. She sat in front of her desk, looking over the mess of papers that she had dropped when spotting Canvas two days before. On the middle of the surface was a collapsible folder filled with copies of every friendship letter that she wrote to the Princess for the past three years, the papers somewhat spilling out of the opened flap. Twilight remembered the sudden onslaught of nostalgia that evoked her to focus on such relics while undergoing her rigorous sessions of spring-cleaning. Her heart filled with regret when seeing that each letter became shorter, until the final one dated 16 February, 1003 that was only a single incomplete paragraph. She removed her glasses as tears welled up in her eyes, recalling when Fluttershy left for Cloudhampton. There was nopony else she could talk with who could truly understand how painful it was for four of her best friends to leave, and Rainbow Dash was not exactly a shoulder to cry on. However, Twilight sniffled and wiped her cheeks, looking to her closed door while listening to the colt and dragoness affably jibing at each other. The mare’s gaze was fixed upon the door, her magic encompassing a quill and blank parchment. The feather rapidly flitted in the air as she expertly wrote in an elegant cursive:

‘Dear… Princess… Celestia…

Certain events have transpired that have rekindled an excitement for life that I have not felt, to be honest, in quite a long time. I’m sorry that you haven’t heard from me in over a year. I haven’t been in the best emotional state of my life lately, and I thought it would be better to end my correspondence than to vent my rage, anger, and sadness. But enough of that. There is a certain somepony who has given me hope that maybe my life isn’t a complete standstill. If things go well, I might be able to see you soon.
I haven’t been on an adventure in forever, and I really would like to see my friends again. Those two… there’s something about those two, especially Canvas. There’s a lot of interesting things in that seemingly uninteresting light brown package that’s just waiting to be let out! Maybe… this is exactly what I’ve needed all this time—’