Harmony Theory

by Sharaloth

Chapter 16: Likely Stories

Twinkle Shine did not sleep. Sleep was restful, full of dreams and regenerative quiet. Instead she drowned in the Nightmare, awareness strangled by endless black rage. There was no time in that sea of ashes, and no surcease from the howling storm of Umbra’s thoughts. Yet Twinkle Shine endured, and eventually she fought her way once more to the waking world.

Her first thought upon regaining consciousness was that her bed usually wasn't this soft. The realization that it meant she wasn't in her bed hit immediately afterwards, kick starting her into full wakefulness. Memories of the disastrous report from Gamma and the Nightmare's intense reaction to news of Applejack's appearance flashed through her mind. She forced herself to relax and keep her breathing slow and even to prevent anyone watching from realizing she was awake.

This was going to cause problems for her. She needed to formulate an explanation that allowed her to bypass the natural questions that would arise. It wasn't possible to just bull her way through it, not with the Royals as personal witnesses. She quietly cursed the Nightmare's overpowering emotions, but she couldn't quite fault Umbra for her anger. There had been entirely too many impossible surprises recently, all surrounding Rainbow Dash and her miraculous return from the dead.

Having decided on a story that would suffice, she put it into motion. She jerked up, her eyes flying open as she gasped and flailed about for a second before looking around and catching her bearings. She was in a beautiful, plush bed that stretched out at least a pony length to either side. The sheets of the bed were smooth silk dyed in the red and gold colors of the Court. Under less pressing circumstances she would be tempted to luxuriate in the bed, but time was against her and she recognized whose bed it was.

The rest of the room was a high-domed, open space that boasted large, balconied windows at three of the cardinal directions, each overlooking the gardens surrounding the Court of the Sun. The ceiling was a colorful mosaic showing ponies frolicking through sunlit fields, all three races represented in the tiles. A trio of winged unicorns, mare, stallion and foal, stood careful watch over the herd from the top of a hill. It was hard to see, but the tiled sun at the center of the dome also contained the image of a unicorn mare's head in white. The perfect image of the ideal Kingdom.

Sitting in front of a shrine to Celestia on the east wall, next to the window that would let in the rays of the rising sun at dawn, was Aqua Regia, Queen of the Solar Kingdom. The Queen sat with her head bowed in prayer. Her dark blue mane fell to either side of her long horn and screened her face from the Professor's sight. She was not considered one of the great beauties of the Royal family, yet she carried herself with dignity and had made the plight of common ponies her concern. Both qualities had earned her more love from the populace than if she had just been another pretty face.

"Welcome back, Twinkle," the Queen said without looking up. A quick glance around confirmed that they were alone in the room. "I have been praying for you. It appears I have been answered. How are you feeling?"

"Confused, but otherwise whole." Twinkle Shine brought a hoof up to her head, blinking in the late day's light. "Your majesty? What... what happened? How did I get here?"

"Do you remember the communication from Gamma?" the Queen asked, still not looking up from her prayerful posture.

"I... yes," Twinkle Shine frowned. "She was telling us about... about Applejack? No, that can't be right."

"It is," the Queen assured her. "You fell into seizure."

The Professor's eyes went wide. "Oh," she said. It was a small sound, barely more than a whisper of understanding. "How long have I been unconscious?"

"A few hours," the Queen said, sighing. "The physicians did not know when you would wake, though they assured me you were in no danger of becoming worse. They also said the seizure was due to mass of powerful magic infecting your system, spreading through you like a cancer. They treated it, but that does not prevent a reoccurrence. What have you been doing, Twinkle? What dark powers have you been tapping into?"

Twinkle Shine shuddered. "Your majesty–" she was cut off before she could get any further.

"Professor!" the Queen snapped, her wings flaring wide as she rose to her hooves. "Whatever evasion you are about to employ, discard it! I am your Queen!" She turned and Twinkle Shine saw her tear-streaked face. "More than that, I am your friend. And I am owed an explanation."

Twinkle Shine deflated, sinking back into the plush bed. "Of course, Aqua. I'm sorry, it's just..."

"Speak to me, Twinkle," the Queen urged, stepping up next to the bed. "My lord husband is beside himself. He has half convinced himself that the Destroyer has cast a curse upon you in order to rob him of your counsel. Set me at ease and I will work to calm him."

"The experiments I told you about," Twinkle Shine said, levering herself up to a sitting position. "This Rainbow Dash, she has magic in her unlike anything that has been seen since the Schism. She's too powerful, much too powerful to exist in the world as it is. I tried to figure out where she was getting that power, that magic. She couldn't be getting it from the environment, there just isn't enough. So I... I used what I'd learned about her in my examination to try to tap into the same power source."

"Did you succeed?"

"No. I couldn't find whatever it was that gives her that strength. But I found something else. I touched something, something vast and dark. No, not dark, not really. I'm sorry, Aqua, I can't describe it to you. It wasn't magic, though. It was... deeper, somehow."

A glimmer of recognition shone in the Queen's blue eyes and she sighed. "You overreached yourself, Twinkle. Your lack of sleep after such an experience likely made things much worse."

"Star Fall was in trouble," Twinkle Shine defended herself.

"I understand," the Queen said, smiling gently. "But I do not condone. You are dear, both to our nation and ourself. You must take better care of yourself."

"I will," Twinkle Shine promised her, smiling back for a moment before becoming serious again. "But the news Gamma brought, it's disturbing. First Rainbow Dash, and now Applejack? And the Shadowed Alicorn returned? What could this possibly mean?"

"My lord husband is of the opinion that it is a sign," the Queen said as she stepped back from the bed and turned to the west window. She stared out at the city beyond the gardens as the sun slowly sank behind the buildings. "A warning to prepare for a coming conflict. The Everstorm is not the barrier it once was. For the first time since the Schism the Kingdom and the Republics have the means to strike at each other directly, and with great force. War. War unlike any that has been seen in eight hundred years."

"It won't come to that," the Professor assured her. "If the King truly heeds my counsel, he will not begin that war."

"I fear that he is no longer listening to any counsel," the Queen sighed. "Heroes from the past alive again, the return of the Shadowed Alicorn, your daughter's marvelous Talent. And now these Elements of Harmony. He sees portents in all of them."

"What portents, though? Towards war, or against it?"

"I cannot say," the Queen admitted. "He has stopped sharing his innermost thoughts with me of late. It is often now that I only hear of decisions after they are made. Such as the choice of Regal Stature to wed your daughter." She turned to look at the Professor again. "All of our efforts, gone in an instant that neither of us were privy to."

"What made him choose, though?" Twinkle Shine asked, pulling herself over to the edge of the bed. "I wasn't aware that Prince Regal was even in the running until the King said he was the one."

"My son has... awakened to a certain part of his nature," the Queen said, choosing her words carefully. "Something that is unique to the Royal family."

Twinkle Shine frowned. "I've heard about this. When I read the journals of the past advisors they said that the blood of the Goddesses causes visions, gives insight beyond mortal wisdom. The King has spoken of it before, a 'deeper power' than magic. I've never heard you mention it, though."

"We do not easily share this with those outside our family," the Queen said. "Not even with those as close to us as you are. That my lord husband has said as much to you already is a sign of how deeply he trusts and respects you. Suffice it to say that in my son this 'deeper power' is particularly strong. My lord husband decided that this means Regal is the one most fit to sire a Goddess." The Queen stamped a hoof in frustration. "Such idiocy! I can tell you for certain that the portents he sees all point to that being a good idea, despite, or perhaps because of its utter absurdity."

Twinkle Shine shook her head. "If he's decided, there's nothing we can do to stop it. We can only make the situation as easy as we can on the Prince and my student."

"As usual, you are the soul of reason," the Queen said, holding her head high as the last rays of the day fell through the window and framed her in golden light. "Celestia grant that we are not leading our children into a disaster."

"Celestia grant that the King feels the same way," Twinkle Shine said, standing up from the bed. Her legs wobbled slightly, but felt stronger than she expected. In fact, she felt more rested than a few hours of unconsciousness and a seizure should have allowed. She filed the thought away until later, knowing there was no way to test her worries until she was out of the Queen's sight.

"Professor, I require your counsel," the Queen said. "What position should I take in regards to these returned heroes? Should I embrace them, as my lord husband insists, or should I remain aloof and suspicious, as is my own instinct?"

Twinkle Shine took a deep breath, considering her answer before giving it. "They are an unknown quantity, and should be treated with caution. I do not believe they are truly the heroes returned, but they are powerful. I know this of Rainbow Dash directly, and I trust my student's estimation of Applejack. Such power cannot be dismissed or ignored. Treat them as you would a foreign dignitary. Polite, friendly, but distant and guarded. Until they prove themselves, one way or the other. Then your course should be clear."

The Queen nodded. "And what of this Max Cash? Is he the threat Gamma says he is?"

"Yes," the Professor said without hesitation. "Before this I was inclined to dismiss him as a simple criminal, but the coincidences have stacked up to high to be ignored. He must be caught."

"Very well. And the Destroyer? What is your opinion of her appearance?"

Twinkle Shine's mouth set itself in a grim line. "I must agree with the King on that. She is a harbinger of war. It is her element as much as the sun is Celestia's. Her power. If we are to combat her, then peace without conflict is our only option."

"A prospect that seems more distant with every day that passes," the Queen said. "I will encourage stronger diplomacy, though I doubt it will be to great effect. Now, to my lord husband. What can be done about him? Is he falling to madness, or can you discern logic in his workings?"

"I'm sorry, Aqua, but we're already doing all we can," the Professor said, stepping up next to the Queen. "He's not mad, just blinded by fear and hope and determined to make the wrong decisions because of it."

"I feel like I'm losing him, Twinkle," the Queen confided. "And I would hold on to him tighter if there were not so much else demanding our attention."

"For the Kingdom to survive, duty must always outweigh love," Twinkle Shine said. The sun finally sank completely behind the buildings of the city, throwing them into twilight. The Professor felt a shudder go through her as the Nightmare stirred.

"You must go to him," the Queen said. "Perhaps in his relief that you are well he will be more receptive to reasonable advice."

"I will do my best, your majesty," Twinkle Shine said with a bow. She turned to go but was stopped by the Queen's wing fanning out in her path.

"Professor, your experiments. They must cease. You cannot know what it is you reach for."

"I understand your concern, your majesty, but I can't stop," Twinkle Shine said, ducking her head respectfully as she refused. "These revived heroes are too important not to discover everything I can about them, and the source of their power is at the heart of that."

The Queen sighed. "Some powers are beyond what a mortal can handle, Twinkle. You are a great mage, but you are not Twilight Sparkle. You have limits."

"I know, Aqua, and I will be careful," Twinkle Shine assured her. "I won't let it get that far again. I won't collapse again." Right? She added silently. A subdued growl was all the response she got. It was enough. "I promise."

The Queen folded her wing. "Be well, Professor."

"And you, your majesty," she said, then left the room. The guards in the corridor beyond nodded to her and she started the long walk back to the Steel Hall, where she was certain the King could still be found.

Cleverly Done, the Nightmare's voice whispered through the back of her mind. It was better than the indignant screams she'd been getting recently, but still surprising.

"Thank you," she whispered back. "But when I find a mirror I have a few things to discuss."

I Too Have Much To Say, the Nightmare replied, before falling silent once again. Twinkle Shine shivered. She could guess at what the Nightmare would demand, and she was running out of reasons to deny her. The appearance of this Applejack was only going to make her worse.

One thing was for sure. No matter what the Professor wanted, someone was going to die, and soon.

“So, let me see if I’ve got this right,” Applejack said, rubbing at her forehead. “Rainbow Dash, you’ve been in the future for, what two weeks? And you come from a past that’s further along than I do?” Dash nodded from her place across the mess table. After Star Fall had assured Gamma that Applejack was who she said she was, or at least close enough to count, they had allowed her onto the transport to get some food and be introduced to the future in a more friendly setting. What had followed were hours of attempted explanation that, between Star Fall’s imperfect grasp of Old Equestrian and Dash’s frequent interruptions, managed to take twice as long as it should have and convey half the information it was meant to. Still, Applejack was taking it all with an impressive calm. Dash was proud of her, and a little jealous.

“That looks right,” Star Fall said.

“Okay, bucked that tree, on to the next one,” Applejack said. “Star, y’all are some kind of secret agent, and you’ve got a Special Talent in Magic to boot. You found Rainbow Dash, who had gotten herself into a heap of trouble just by bein’ her, took care of her until she was healthy, then brought her to your side of this ‘Everstorm’. A storm that sits over the Everfree Forest and Ponyville, and got there because of some kinda evil Alicorn callin’ herself Nightmare Umbra. Am I right so far?”

“Yes, but Everstorm goes across all Equestria,” Star Fall said. “It just has its center at Ponyville.”

“Either way, my home’s about as gone as it gets,” Applejack sighed. “Movin’ on. Next y’all met with Gamma, and she pulled some dirty tricks to get Dash here to show off, which I don’t imagine was all that hard.” Dash smiled sheepishly. “Then she up and recruited you to bein’ a spy too.”

“Super-spy,” Dash corrected.

Applejack acknowledged that with just a slight roll of her eyes before continuing. “Then you took her to meet your mentor, who is also your adopted mother, without your actual parents bein’ gone, mind, and she’s lookin’ into how and why Rainbow Dash is here because she’s the most magical pony in the whole kingdom.”

“The Professor’s a cranky golden Twilight,” Dash supplied.

“She is not as smart or powerful as Twilight Sparkle,” Star Fall clarified. “Not by far. She is still smartest pony in the Kingdom. If an answer can be found, she will find it.”

“Appreciated,” Applejack acknowledged. “Now, there’s this bad pony named Max Cash, and he’s been causin’ trouble on both sides of the Everstorm, and you’re set on figurin’ him out and stoppin’ him. Dash showed up at one place he’d been diggin’, and y’all figured you’d go to another place he was diggin’ and see what was what. Along the way Nightmare Umbra shows up and gives you a lickin’, but you manage to get her to leave. Y’all keep goin’ anyway, because you figure she was tryin’ to stop you for a reason. You find the dig, find Cash, and things go real wrong for y’all. You find out Cash has the Element of Loyalty, and him and his personal bully hurt your friend Astrid real bad before they get away clean just as Gamma shows up with the cavalry. Then, this mornin’, I show up in the dig. That about sum it all up?”

“You got it, AJ,” Dash grinned.

“You have general truth, yes,” Star Fall said, also smiling. “I am glad you are not stubborn about it. Twilight Sparkle wrote that you were very hard to convince to change your mind once you decided something.”

“I’ve got my faults,” Applejack sighed. “But when the bull’s comin’ at you with the horns, it don’t do a lick of good to just stand your ground and say he won’t hit you. Can’t say I’m happy about any of this, but I can’t say it ain’t happenin’ either. This is no dream. This might be some weird spell or Discord messin’ with us, but I don’t think so. This feels real to me.”

“She is much better at this than you are,” Star Fall said to Dash.

“Come on, Star!” Dash protested, her wings twitching half open in agitation. “I was all alone in the future! AJ knows it’s gonna be okay because I’m here, I just had you, and I didn’t even know you then.”

“Whoa there, nelly,” Applejack said, putting a hoof between them. “Rainbow Dash, you’re right. I’d likely be in a much worse state if you weren’t here. But I ain’t sure everything’s gonna be alright, yet. I’m still takin’ it all in, and just ‘cause I got the general sense of it down, don’t mean I’ve got it all settled. Understand?”

Dash backed down, chagrined. “I’m sorry, I did not mean to insult you, Dash,” Star Fall offered. “It was a bad choice of words.”

“Forget it, Star,” Dash said. “I know you didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Alright.” Applejack settled back on the seat. “Now, I appreciate all the help you’ve been giving me, Star. Since I’ve been brought up to speed, I gotta ask: what now?”

“Gamma is taking us to the base near town of Harrenhorn,” Star Fall said. “Astrid will get medicine there. Taken care of by good doctors. Dash, Gamma and I will try to think of where Cash will go next, what he will do. Then we stop him. Gamma wants you to help, but you need to understand what is happening, and speak Solar, first.”

“I’d be happy to help any way I can.” Applejack said, and then sighed. "Though I'm not too keen on tryin' to learn a whole new language. I guess if I'm stuck here there's no help for it. No time like the present. Where do we begin?"

“With Dash I began like this: I. Am. Star Fall," Star Fall said, going through the motions to make sure she was understood. "You. Are. Applejack."

Dash knew that she wouldn’t be able to sit still through language lessons she’d already learned, so she made her excuses and bugged out of the mess area as fast as her limping legs could take her. She thought about finding Gamma and trying to talk to her, but after a moment of clear thought shuddered and tossed the idea. Instead she went to the infirmary, where Astrid still slept.

“Is it alright if I talk to her?” Dash asked the doctor.

“Yes, that’s fine,” he replied. “If she wakes up make sure she drinks some of this before she passes out again.” He indicated a little bottle of some red liquid with a bendy straw coming out of it.

“You got it,” Dash promised. The doctor then left her alone as she sat beside the injured Griffin. “Hey,” she began, not entirely sure what she wanted to say. “You’re kinda missing all the exciting stuff. It’s okay, I guess. Talking to ponies you can’t understand isn’t your thing. I get that. I bet you got all your kicks last night, huh? I heard they found a dozen bodies from the ponies you, uh, you killed.”

Dash faltered, but forged onward. “I still don’t like that, you know. There had to have been something else you could have done. Something that would have taken them out without killing them. I mean, it doesn’t mean the same thing to you that it does to me, I know that. You should have seen me the first time I saw Gilda kill a rabbit and wolf it right down! Ha! I ran all the way back to the camp screaming at the top of my lungs. It was a big part of why I kept her and Fluttershy apart, you know? Well, I guess you don’t, but trust me it was seriously important that I did. I got over it then, nothing else to do if you want to be friends with a carnivore, but …”

She trailed off, hanging her head. “It’s not the same. Ponies aren’t animals, we aren’t… It isn’t right. I don’t know how Gamma can talk about it so easily. I don’t get why she thinks it’s so important that you be able to kill someone. There’s got to be another way, a better way. There always is, if you look for it. I know that. I know there has to be. I’m not like you; I can’t just take a life like that. I can’t even think… I can’t…”

She leaned against Astrid’s feathered neck. She knew what she wanted to say, what she had to say. It was so selfish, so stupid, but it needed to be said out loud to be made real. Saying it to an unconscious Griffin was a cheat, and she knew it, but there was no way she could tell this to Applejack, and Star Fall wouldn’t understand the gravity of it. Astrid would understand. Even if she never heard the confession itself, she would understand.

“I’ll kill him,” she whispered. “It doesn’t even have to be life or death. If it’s a choice between killing him or letting him put that necklace on me, I’ll do it. That’s my answer. Those are my reasons.”

“Now you know,” Astrid whispered back. Dash scrambled back, falling off the chair she’d been using and to the floor. Her heart pounded in her chest as she realized that Astrid really had heard all of that. The Griffin watched her, golden eyes still and clear. “I’m happy you could admit it.”

“Astrid! You’re awake,” Dash said, getting to her hooves. “I’m, uh, I...”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Astrid sighed. “I won’t tell anyone you get all sappy when you think no one’s listening, and you don’t tell them I didn’t ruffle your feathers over it, okay?”

“Deal,” Dash said, sitting back down. “Hey, I’m supposed to get you to drink this.” She held up the bottle.

Astrid took a sip through the straw, then made a disgusted face. “Yugh! Fucking field medics. They think if you pour enough sugar in it no one’ll notice that it tastes like fermented ass.”

Dash chuckled at that. “How are you feeling?”

“High as a damned kite,” Astrid replied. “And like Charisma stuck a fucking knife in my side. How do you think I’m feeling?”

“Grumpy?”

Astrid let out a pained laugh. “Yeah, that too. You doing good?”

“Eh, could be better,” Dash replied, indicating her bandaged wing. “But things are looking up. One of my friends from the past has shown up.”

“Bet Fall’s all over that.”

“Like white on a cloud,” Dash said.

“Cash got away?”

“Yeah.”

“Figures,” Astrid sighed. “I keep waking up, but they’ve got me full of this shit that makes me fall asleep before I can get anyone to tell me what happened. What’s the next step?”

Dash shrugged. “We’re going to some base or other, and you’re getting put in a hospital until you’re better. Then we’re going after Cash.”

Astrid growled at that. “Celestia’s shining mane, I hate getting injured.”

“Me too,” Dash said in commiseration. “They said you’d be down for a month, at least.”

“Screw that,” Astrid said, her speech slurring a little as her eyes blinked slowly. “I’m not getting left out just because the asskicker got the better of me. If you can bounce back from a supersonic faceplant in a week, then I can shake this just as fast.”

“I thought that was because I was special or something?”

Astrid favored her with a raptor’s grin, even as her eyes drooped closed. “Just watch me.”

“You got it,” Dash promised her, then set the bottle down and left her friend to rest.

“Precious Corners,” Blaze read off the sign in front of them. “Huh. Well, I got nothing, what about you, buddy?”

Calumn, still in Strongheart’s form, dragged himself out of his thoughts to pay attention to what his companion was talking about. They were standing in the evening twilight before a sign reading ‘Welcome to Precious Corners, population 1200’. There was a picture of a happy looking pair of earth ponies in farming clothes smiling at a genteel unicorn stallion who seemed delighted and surprised to be receiving a bouquet of flowers from an overly-cute pegasus filly. He shrugged. “At least it’s not named after some unicorn and his horn.”

“That does seem to be the Solar naming convention,” Blaze mused, then yawned. “Wow, you’d think that a day and night of straight walking, a few beatings and a car ride wouldn’t tire a guy out like this, but here we are. Why don’t we find a hotel?”

“There’s no rail line through this town. You think they’ll have an inn?” Calumn asked.

“Buddy, there’s always a hotel,” Blaze assured him, trotting past the sign and into the town. “Always.” Calumn shrugged and followed his friend.

Precious Corners was not the most aptly-named community, but at least the wealthy-poor disparity wasn’t as visible as it was in other places in the Kingdom. One could still tell the houses the unicorns lived in at a glance, but the earth ponies and pegasi seemed to be comfortable enough. There were no large buildings around, the tallest being the spire of the temple of the sun near the center of the town. Everything had that ‘thirty years behind the times’ feel that some of the more remote villages always seemed to have, from main streets done up to look cobbled to the open air farmer’s market they passed.

As Blaze had predicted there was, indeed, a hotel. The proprietor was a hard-eyed, middle-aged pegasus mare who gave them one look and decided her best manners weren’t needed here. “How long are you planning on staying?” she asked with bored disdain.

“Tonight at least,” Calumn said, taking the lead as Blaze got distracted by a plaque on the wall and wandered away. “Maybe a few days.”

“If you’re looking for work, they’ll be hiring at the market at first light,” the mare said, pulling out her register. “But you’ll have to find someone to stay with. Can’t have day laborers carousing all over my rooms.”

“We’re…” Calumn paused and rethought what he’d been about to say. They had enough money for a few nights in the hotel, and maybe a train ticket. But there was no train through here, and until he knew how close another town with a station was he had to be frugal. “Thank you,” he said instead. “You know anyone who might be willing to take on a couple stallions?”

She shrugged. “Might. Might not.”

Calumn sighed. He didn’t want to do this, it was going to cause trouble for him later, but they didn’t have enough bits to haggle over bribes and he was too tired to do it the proper way. His eyes tinged to green as he reached out with his magic and touched her mind. Not much, just enough to flip a few switches and change a couple reactions. He gave her a warm smile. “Please, ma’am? It would be a kindness to a couple of strangers.”

Her pupils dilated wide open and her breath started coming in short, rapid bursts. “Oh, well.” She shook herself, flustered. Her wings stretched out at her sides, and she returned his smile. “I suppose you could ask for Bigwig. He’s strict, but he pays better than the others. And… and I guess staying here for a few days won’t be too hard on the rooms.”

“We wouldn’t want to impose,” Calumn said.

“So long as you promise to keep yourselves friendly… uh, I mean civil. As long as you’re civil I don’t see how it could be a problem,” she said, leaning over the counter towards him and batting her eyelashes.

“I promise, ma’am. There won’t be anything uncivil from either of us,” Calumn looked over to Blaze, who was somehow balancing two potted plants and a vase while standing on one hoof. The look on his face shone innocence like a beacon. Calumn sighed, replaced the plants and vase before Blaze could drop them, and dragged his friend over to the counter. “We won’t make trouble, right?”

“None at all, buddy,” Blaze said with a grin.

They got one room with two beds, and made their way up the narrow stairs. Calumn could feel weariness dragging at his hooves with every step of the long walk to the room. It was a fatigue that was only compounded by using his magic while already tired. He wasn’t in any danger, but if he wanted to keep going as he had been he’d have to recharge soon. Still, he insisted that they each take a shower before they went to sleep. The mare at the desk was disposed towards them now, but even a little bit of annoyance at them could flip those switches right back and she would start questioning things.

“I am going to have weird dreams,” Blaze declared from the shower while Calumn waited his turn. “Like, lots of little candy people attacking my gumball fort, and then I start pouring boiling butterscotch on them, but I don’t really want to do that, because my favourite candy is on the bridge, and he’s all like: ‘Blaze, why are you pouring hot butterscotch on me? You know I taste best with chocolate sauce!’ So I go down to talk to him about it, but it’s a trap, so I get tied up in licorice strips and dragged to the candy cave where they mine for those fake gold coins, you know the chocolate wrapped in foil, but sometimes you don’t really notice they’re fake and when you try to spend them you get charged with theft and have to run for five miles with a fat security guard chasing you on this totally awesome scooter that has flashing lights and a siren and everything until you steal it and crash it into your neighbor’s garage and do they ever let you forget it? I don’t think so! So I’ll be in there and there’ll be that security guy looking at me like he’s going to call my parents, but then Charisma will be there, and then it’ll get strange.”

“What did she do to you?” Calumn asked, discarding most of the rambling discourse that was usual of Blaze and cutting to the important stuff.

“Flirted, mostly,” Blaze said, shutting off the water. “A few punches here, a slap there, a black eye for luck. You know, the usual.”

“That’s flirting?”

“That’s… her, buddy,” Blaze said, coming out of the bathroom with a towel draped over his head. His coat was still wet, but he’d done enough that it wouldn’t take long to get it completely dry. “She was hurting pretty bad. Don’t know what to make of it, really.”

“She was hurting?”

“We’ve got a complex relationship,” Blaze said, smiling as if that explained anything. “But I guess she still likes me even after I dumped her.”

“And if she didn’t like you?” Blaze shrugged, but didn’t say anything to that. Calumn understood. He hung his head. “I’m sorry I got you into that, Blaze.”

“Aw, not your fault,” Blaze said, laying a hoof on Calumn’s shoulder. “Besides, I got a new friend out of the deal, and you got a lead for your mission! Net positives all around!”

“Yeah,” Calumn said, forcing a smile. “Net positives.”

He showered quickly and did a fast transformation to his natural form and back again to dry off. Then they both crawled into their beds and turned out the lights. Blaze was asleep in moments, and soon muttering something about the ‘king of all cashews’. Calumn found that as hard as he tried he couldn’t get his mind to stop, and it denied him rest. What he’d done to the innkeeper didn’t sit well with him. He’d used his magic to manipulate her because it had been convenient. That wasn’t something a good person did, and dwelling on it sent his thoughts back into the dark places that had been unearthed in him.

He thought of Cash, and what the unicorn had done to him. It still shook him, forcing him to re-evaluate everything. He thought he was through the worst of it. The hours of doubt and self-loathing had passed and left him scarred, but still alive. But it wasn’t over yet. He hadn’t put himself back together after Cash had shattered him, and he knew he was missing pieces of who he had been. Whatever whole being walked away from this, it wouldn’t be the Calumn that had first crossed into the sunlands.

He thought back to Rainbow Dash. She had told him to find an inner idea. The ‘best, most awesome you that you can be’ she had called it. Blaze had asked him who he wanted to be. He’d said that he wanted to be Strongheart, and that still held. In the darkness and the stillness of his exhaustion, however, he had to admit that he had never been Strongheart. He had always just been Calumn, wearing a mask and playing a part.

Stongheart had been a kind, shy, loving pony who was as attached to his mother as she was to him. He’d lived his life for another, and cared deeply for everyone who knew him. Then his loyalty to his country demanded his service and he did something brave and selfless, joined the army, and died for it.

Calumn was a manipulative Changeling, able to play the thoughts and emotions of others like a drum, making them dance to whatever beat he wanted. He was a selfish being, taking from everyone and giving only a cursory allegiance to the cause of those who allowed his existence. He deluded himself into thinking that he was a good person, to the point that he’d stepped into Strongheart’s life and started to forget his own.

Cash had shattered that delusion. Strongheart had been loyal and good, but Calumn was deceitful and self-serving and his loyalty had just been a deception he’d played on himself. That was the truth he had to face, the reality of his existence. He’d accepted that, but he was still broken.

It was an opportunity. He was seeing that more clearly now. An opportunity to become something better. To become someone better. Calumn didn’t want to be the person he had been, underneath the mask. He didn’t just want another mask to hide behind, either. He wanted to be better, without deception and self-delusion. Rainbow Dash had shown him the way, and when he looked inside, to the best, most awesome person he could be, he saw the heart-shaped shield that was Strongheart’s Glyph.

He wasn’t Strongheart. He would never be Strongheart. He was a Changeling, and he couldn’t forget that. Yet he didn’t have to discard Strongheart entirely. He could take lessons from the dead stallion he’d imitated for years, and use them to be the better person he wanted to be. He could care, he could be loving, he could be kind.

He took that thought in, settling it in his heart and using it to rebuild the shattered parts of his psyche. He could be kind, and the first person he should be kind to was himself.

“I’m sorry,” he said to the night. “I’ve been treating you poorly. You’re not a pony, you’re a Changeling, and I shouldn’t have expected you to be everything they are.” He waited, letting the words fade in his ears before continuing. “It’s okay to be a Changeling. You aren’t a bad person because you feed on love, or because you can change your shape. You aren’t a bad person because your magic alters people’s minds. It’s what you do with that power that counts. It’s what I do with that power that counts.”

He lay in silence for a long moment, shaking. “I’m not a bad person,” he said finally, his voice gaining strength. “And I won’t make myself a bad person, not for Straff, not for the Republics, and not for Max Cash. I will be good. I will find a way, no matter what. I swear in Luna’s name that I will be strong, I will be kind, I will be good, and I will deserve to be loved.”

He sank back into the bed, panting slightly as his exhaustion suddenly hit him. He felt better. Not as if a weight had been lifted from him, but as if one had been draped over him. Not an oppressive weight, though, more like a thick blanket on a cold night. His vision blurred and consciousness faded away. The last sight before sleep took him was Blaze’s yellow eyes staring at him from the other bed, the stallion grinning from ear to ear. “Well said, buddy,” Blaze whispered as Calumn drifted away. “Well said.”

The carrier lifted off just as the sun was setting, the magical crystals blazing to life as they heaved the great craft off the ground and sent it rushing up into the sky. For the takeoff the crew and passengers had to buckle themselves down, but as soon as the flight leveled out they were free to roam about the ship. Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to lead Applejack out one of the exterior doors and onto a small deck at the fore of the ship. The deck was designed to allow a pegasus patrol to land and enter the ship, but it had a railing to allow a unicorn or earth pony to stand on it without fear of falling over the edge.

Stretching her wings as much as the sore muscles would allow, Dash luxuriated in the feel of wind through her feathers. It wasn't as good as flying herself, but it was a decent substitute for now. Applejack just leaned up against the railing and watched the leagues pass far below them.

"How are you holding up?" Dash asked her friend. The wind was surprisingly quiet for being this high and going this fast, but Dash didn't question it. This was a giant magical airship, quiet wind was probably designed right in.

"Honestly? My head is spinnin' more than a greased up cider wheel when Big Mac sets to with a will," Applejack replied, shaking her head in exasperation. "Almost like I've been drinkin' everything that would come out of it, too. Y'all got so much goin' on! I'm tryin' to take it in, but I just can't keep it all straight."

"Yeah, I said it was gonna get complicated," Dash sighed. "The future's a mess."

"Magic goin' away. The Princesses puttin' themselves in the sky," Applejack snorted. "Likely story. The Princesses wouldn't abandon us like that, and they wouldn't take magic away if it was gonna cause so much trouble."

"AJ," Dash said, her tone going withdrawn as she remembered her own thoughts on the matter, and why they changed. "They had to. Nightmare Umbra was gonna wreck the world."

Applejack's ire fell away as she saw the serious expression on her friend's face. "She really did a number on you, didn't she?"

Dash nodded. She was proud of how she'd stood up to the demonic Alicorn, but here with her one of her best friends she could show how scared it had made her as well. "She almost killed me, AJ. She wanted to. She didn't think I was the real Rainbow Dash, said some of my ashes were part of her. What does that even mean?"

"I don't know, sugarcube, but I'm pretty darn sure I'm the real Applejack, so I'd bet good money that you’re the real Rainbow Dash too."

Dash chuckled at the reassurance, but shook her head as her thoughts continued on their dark path. "You know what the worst part is? She's not even what I'm most scared of."

"Max Cash," Applejack said, nodding. "With the Elements of Harmony."

"Loyalty for sure, and I think he's got Honesty too," Dash said. "I think that's how we got here. He's doing something to them, messing them up. I don't know how or why, but that's gotta be why we showed up in the future."

"You think he's gonna keep doin' it. Gettin' more of the Elements, and when he does..."

"The rest of us will pop up right after," Dash finished. "I thought it was Umbra at first. It made sense, you know? If I wasn't there to use the Elements to stop her, then this whole crazy future kinda falls into place. But now... now it doesn't stack up at all. Not with you coming here when you did. Where you did."

"I wish we knew more," Applejack sighed. "If Twilight were here, she'd be lookin' for the nearest library. Probably find the answer right quick."

"Yeah, she would," Dash agreed, smiling a little.

"We're gonna stop him, though, right?" Applejack asked, looking back out over the dark landscape. "This Max Cash pony."

"Yeah," Dash said, the smile falling away. "We're gonna stop him."

"Well then, I don't see how workin' for Gamma's gonna be too bad. I'm not big on the spy stuff, mind, but if she needs four strong legs and a level head, then this rodeo pony's all for it."

Dash laughed at that, and together they looked out towards the twinkling night, and the future that the dawn would bring.

Charisma was exhausted, hungry, and more than a little annoyed. The place Cash had dragged her to appeared to be the exact geographical center of nowhere considering the number of settlements she’d spotted, which was precisely none. The closest she’d come to civilization all afternoon was an abandoned farm in the middle of a bunch of overgrown fields. That’d been a fun ten minutes of half-hearted searching for processed food before the house had tried to collapse on her.

What made things worse was that Cash wouldn’t just sit still, so she couldn’t use him as a touchstone to do a proper mapping sweep of the territory. He’d laid some sort of homing spell on her so that she always knew where he was, but he kept wandering around, which forced her to shift her own searches to stay within flight distance of him. Every time she came in sight of him her Talent demanded she drop on him like a rock and end him right there. In her current state she almost contemplated it.

So it was that when the sun fell below the horizon and the stars spread across the sky that she was about ready to give up for the night, go back to Cash and demand he actually be of help the next day. She was about to do just that when a glow on the horizon caught her interest. Half an hour of flying later she landed in the outskirts of the first town she’d seen in all her searching. It wasn’t ideal, there was no rail line or highway in sight, but it wasn’t a total backwater either. They would have beds, and maps, and maybe communication crystals. Best of all, they would have food. Real, cooked, processed, fatty food. She could feel her mouth watering at the thought.

“Excuse me, miss, are you lost?” a voice called from behind her.

She was moving before she even consciously registered the question, twisting and leaping. Her wings propelled her through the air at the source of the voice, a brown Pegasus mare who shrank back from Charisma far too slowly to avoid her. Strike the eyes with edge of hoof, use one wing to entangle theirs, foreleg chop to throat. Her Talent prodded lazily, this girl was obviously no threat, killing her was too easy to put much effort into.

Charisma halted her charge with a vicious backstroke of her wings, bringing her down to earth hard enough to make her stumble. She took a deep breath, and brought her best smile to her lips. “You startled me,” she said.

The other mare relaxed from her frightened posture. “Oh, for a moment I thought you were going to…”

“To what?”

“It’s nothing,” the mare dismissed with a shake of her head. “I haven’t seen you around, did you just arrive?”

“Yes,” Charisma said, stepping closer. “My friend and I got a little lost out in the wild, and I’ve been scouting for towns all afternoon. Do you happen to have any food on you? I’m starving.”

“I’ve got half an apple,” the mare offered.

Charisma snorted in annoyance but nodded. “It’ll do,” the mare frowned at her tone, but pulled out half a fresh apple and gave it to Charisma, who gobbled it down in a few bites.

“Where’s your friend? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“He’s still out there,” Charisma waved a hoof to the darkness.

“It’s dangerous out there, I hope he’s not far.”

Charisma laughed. “He can handle himself. He’s a Magic Talent unicorn.”

“Oh,” she said, then her eyes widened and she looked at Charisma again. “Ooh. I see. You’re his retainer.”

“Something like that,” Charisma said. Dislocate her wing, break left rear knee with kick, strike her head repeatedly against ground when she’s immobilized. Charisma ignored her Talent. Leaving bodies around small towns was never a good idea when you were the stranger. It was acting unusually insistent, probably as a result of her loss to Lady Fallen Star. “We’re going to need a place to stay once he gets here. You know anywhere decent?”

“Well, there is a hotel, but, um, it’s not really fit for a noble,” she said, thinking. “Any of the landowners should be willing to give him board. All he’d have to do is ask.”

Charisma barked out a laugh. “Sure. You happen to know where I can find one of those?”

“Well, um, I work for lord High Fashion,” she said. “I can show you his estate.”

“Sounds great. You lead me there, I go and get my, er, ‘lord’, and maybe I get to sleep before the sun’s up.”

“Okay, follow me,” the mare turned and started walking. Charisma obliged her. “By the way, my name’s Melody Drop.”

“Charisma,” she replied.

“Pleased to meet you, Charisma,” Melody Drop said with a friendly smile that the pink mare did not return. “Welcome to Precious Corners.”