//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Camp Orion // Story: Harmony Arisen // by Panoramic Toast //------------------------------// Three weeks later General Field Marshal Siegfried marched forward, the winds forcing his lavender cape to flap against the violent breeze. His long, blonde, ruffled mane flowed carelessly behind him, complimenting his dark blue coat which was as dark as the night sky above him. His eyes turned to the right, passing over the nearby stream’s reflective waters. Beyond that stream, a small Ponnish town lie asleep, blissfully unaware of the inevitable bloodshed that would occur this night. Siegfried steadily trotted forwards, towards a large, white warehouse where a pony dressed in lavender armor stood. The pony saluted Siegfried. Siegfried’s face did not portray any hint of emotion as he spoke. “Report.” “Sir, we’ve apprehended most of the suspected Ponland rebels in this area. As our intel suggested, they were the ones attacking our sentries along the Ponland-East Lunarian border. We’ve cornered the remaining members find to this warehouse. What are your orders?” “You will stay here and keep watch,” he spoke, his voice deep and commanding. “Sir?” the pony asked, confused. “There is no need to risk harm to any more of our men. I will deal with them myself.” The pony stepped back before saluting Siegfried and moving out of his way. Siegfried made his way towards the door of the warehouse, where two German soldiers stood, guarding the entrance. They parted, allowing Siegfried access as he strode confidently past them, telekinetically opening the doors to reveal a pitch black room. General Siegfried’s horn flared a bright azure and coated the room in light. He quickly examined his surroundings, noting around twenty ponies hidden behind crates and boxes. They were all armed with varying degrees of weaponry. A handful of earth ponies pointed a hoof-mounted pistol at him while several of the unicorns telekinetically wielded a blade. The three pegasi that floated in the room clenched a sabre between their teeth. Siegfried swiftly lifted up his cloak to reveal a harness containing a sheathed blade. His sabre's glimmering steel caused many of the ponies in the warehouse to shield their eyes. “Rebels,” Seigfried’s voice boomed as he looked across the room, “we have this warehouse surrounded on all sides. There is no escape. Surrender now, and I guarantee that your lives will be spared; continue this futile resistance, and I can only guarantee your death.” There was a moment of silence before a young mare from around the corner walked out, pointing her pistol at Siegfried. “Surrender? You bombed our homes; you gathered our friends and family up like cattle and took them far away from their homes; you expect us to forgive that and simply comply with your orders?” Siegfried looked at her, unmoved. “Are you aware of who I am?” The mare gritted her teeth and spit on the ground. “General Field Marshall Alexander Siegfried, head of Germaneigh’s military forces and second only to Queen Trixie, herself. Yeah Siegfried, I know all about you and your conquests. I was there when you took Akane. I saw the way you slaughtered pony after pony without the slightest hesitation.” “I am Queen Trixie’s sabre. My duty is to defend Germaneigh from all threats foreign and domestic, and to follow the will of my queen; that is my resolve.” “Pitiful,” said the pony with rage in her eyes, “one of the most powerful and brilliant unicorns in the world, and you choose to be another one of Trixie’s pawns.” “You know what I am capable of. Will you surrender, and save the lives of your fellow comrades in the process, or will you continue with this foolish course of action? What is it that you hope to accomplish by continuing down this path?” Her eyes narrowed. “Stopping you, for one. Even if it means death, at least it’d be better than living in the world that you’re trying to create.” He paused. “What do you know of Trixie’s vision?” She smiled. “Any pony can see that this isn’t about Apples or justice. No, Trixie is aiming big. My guess is it has something to do with those red crystals you keep pouring money into. My guess is that this treaty with Lunaria won’t last too much longer; not while they still control the east. That’s your next destination isn’t it?” He didn’t blink. “Is that all?” “Yeah,” she said as her brows furrowed. “That’s all. Don’t think you can talk us down. We’re far past that point.” Siegfried looked around the room and could see the same determined look on each of the rebel’s faces as they pointed their weapons at him. “I see,” he said, telekinetically unsheathing his blade and placing it horizontally level at his chest. “Let it be known that each and every one of you had an opportunity to leave this room alive.” Not soon after he finished his words, Siegfried vanished in a bright blue flash of light and teleported beside the mare who had just spoken to. The mare turned around to face him, but was too late as she was impaled by Siegfried's blade, directly through her chest. The rebels were quick to react, and they began firing bullets upon him. Siegfried quickly retracted his blade, sending blood splashing onto his face. He quickly summoned a barrier and deflected their bullets. Above him, all three of the pegasi had began to charge towards him. Siegfried leaped high into the air, bursting through his own magical barrier, much to the surprise of the severely outclassed pegasi. With his blade directly in front of him, Siegfried did a vertical slice, severing the first pegasus in half. As Siegfried began to fall to the ground, he quickly enacted a barrier to his back and sides, as to block another barrage of gunfire. While he continued to fall, he used telekinesis to toss his sword directly through the second pegasus. Even with his friends dying before him, the final pegasus bravely flew towards him and took a swing at Siegfried with the sabre that he clenched in his teeth. As Siegfried’s hooves touched the ground, he shot a strong telekinetic blast directly at the pegasus, sending him flying towards the wall. With the final pegasus temporarily out of the way, Siegfried surrounded himself in a magical barrier and examined the various ponies directing gunfire at him. Hoof-pistol were slow to fire, giving Siegfried enough time to examine the many weaknesses in his enemy’s line of fire. There were still several unicorns in the room, prepared for him. He would need to take out the pistol-equipped ponies before he could deal with the unicorns. After running various scenarios in his head and calculating the time that would be required for him to accurately attack and avoid the bullets, he vertically position his blade in front of him. General Siegfried dismantled his barrier and sprinted forward, zigzagging to avoid the incoming bursts of gunfire and magic. His movements were fluid and swift as he sprinted towards a set of ponies in front of the storage crates. Siegfried used his blade to block their shots and sliced through them one by one, without pause. As he made his way to the last pony, he could hear a set of wings flapping behind him. Siegfried turned around to see the pegasus from earlier wildly swinging his sword at him. Siegfried rolled and avoided the first attack. He came out of the roll and shot forth a burst of fire towards the unlucky pegasus. The pegasus screamed and thrashed about as he was consumed by the flames. Siegfried wasted no time as he continued to run around the crates and leaped in the center of another set of earth ponies. In one fluid motion, Siegfried cast fire onto blade and began rapidly spinning it about, fanning the flames into the direction of his enemies. In large clusters, they all began to succomb to the fires, leaving only one more set of earth ponies. Knowing that their numbers were growing thin, the unicorns increased the frequency and power of their attacks, leaving Siegfried little room for error. He continued to leap, roll, and dodge every shot fired upon him as he reached the final set of earth ponies. Without a break in motion, he began slicing through the final set. He extended his blade and killed the first one with a vertical slice, rolling to dodge a punch from another earth pony. He recovered and used a quick sweep with his hind legs to cause the pony to lose his balance and fall to the ground. He thrusted his sword downward to deliver the finishing blow and shot another blast of fire to finish off the remaining earth ponies while he recovered his sword from the enemy’s corpse. There were now five unicorns that remained. Siegfried, his mane now soaked in blood, leapt forward and met one of the unicorn’s blades, the clanging of metals creating a high pitched resonance. The opposing unicorn was fast and countered Siegfried’s next set of strikes. While Siegfried tried to find a blind spot in his opponent’s technique, he continued to evade the blasts of magic from the other unicorns. He would have to think fast if he wanted to survive. Noticing an opening, Siegfried used to opportunity to strike his opponent with his bare hoof while their blades clashed in front of them. The unicorn reeled back in pain, giving Siegfried enough time to slice his jugular. Siegfried turned around and leveled his sword as two unicorns approached him simultaneously. The first unicorn wasted no time as he made his first swing, aiming for Siegfried’s neck. Siegfried leaped into air to avoid his attack and landed beside him. The unicorn turned around to strike while the other aimed for Siegfried’s legs. Siegfried vertically positioned his blade, blocking both attacks and used a blast of telekinesis to catch them off guard. Both unicorns caught their balance as they skidded backwards. Siegfried took the initiative and ran forward, taking into the air as he leveled his blade above him. As he fell downward, he sent the blade flying through the left-most unicorn’s skull and quickly retrieved it, all before he hit the ground. Three unicorns left. He currently faced one while two others sent attacks from the distance. Siegfried’s horn flared as the air around him began to produce a high pitched shrill, causing the unicorn in front to wince in pain. In front of Siegfried, the air began to whirl rapidly, and produced three airlike disks. The disks shot forth, cleaving the unicorn into three. Two unicorns left. Both of the remaining unicorns worked together as they produced a wall of bright flames, and they sent it hurtling towards Siegfried. Siegfried stood against the oncoming flames and closed his eyes, focusing on the magic that resided within him. In front of Siegfried, the ground began to crack as a rectangular wall of stone erected before him. Siegfried stood back and watched as the wall effortlessly absorbed their attack. After the wall of flames had faded, Siegfried focused on the stone wall, and willed it to collapse into one hundred symmetrical stones. Siegfried heated up the stones and used his telekinesis to hurl them at great speeds, towards his opponents. The unicorns tried to copy his technique and summon forth a barrier, but by the time that they had done so, Siegfried had already teleported behind them, giving him enough time decapitate both of them. Siegfried took a moment to scan the area for any more enemies, but his eyes met none. Siegfried did a quick shake to clean off any loose blood on the blade and then placed it back in its sheath, now covered in blood as with the rest of him. Siegfried made his way towards the doors and used his magic to gently push them open, where he was saluted by the same two ponies that had been guarding it. Siegfried acknowledged them and made his way to the officer that he had previously spoken with. The officer saluted him, and Siegfried said in a somber tone, “The rebels have been dealt with, please see to it that the warehouse is cleaned up.” “Yes sir!” the officer piped as he ran off towards the others. Siegfried took a moment to let out a sigh as he tapped his hoof on the side of his neck, and activated a small black radio positioned by his neck. There was a wire that attached to a small clump of metal located directly by his ear. “Trixie, this is Siegfried.” “Siegfried, have the rebels been dealt with?” “Yes, unfortunately, they were not open to reason.” “I understand. Is that the last of them?” "For the moment. We've dispatched the remnants that lie in this area. Most likely, their base of operation lies elsewhere. They're still a threat as long as they continue to smuggle Apples across the sea. Do not worry, I'll dispose of them in due time." "Very well. Return to headquarters, for now. We must begin preparations for the next phase of our operations." “Understood,” Siegfried said as he tapped the radio and ended the transmission. He stood there in silence as he heard thunder overhead. He raised his head and could feel rain pouring down his cheeks. He continued to stand there, unflinching in the midst of the rain, for several moments before he teleported away in a blue flash. Twilight Sparkle stood, carefully in line with the other hundred recruits. It was the afternoon, and she had been treated to her first meal in the mess hall. She had yet to speak with any of the other ponies around her, preferring to eat in solitude and enjoy the company of a good book. Every one of the recruits came from different part of Solaria, south to north, religious to nonreligious, they all gathered in this one room. In front of the fresh batch of recruits, stood a handful of ponies, all wearing bright yellow vests, the color of the Solarian military. They all stood, silently scanning the crowd and making their judgments. One of them, a female unicorn with an indigo mane and a coat of turquoise, broke the silence. “Hello, my name is Sergeant Thimble; although, you will all address me as ‘ma’am’. Welcome to Camp Orion, one of the finest training camps in all of Solaria. It is here that you will train to be accomplished soldiers, and it is here that you will grow and learn how to fight,” she said, staring down every pony with a scrutinizing look, “or at least that’s what they tell me. Personally, I think it’s a load of garbage. You all look weak, feeble, and stupid. Do not tell yourself delusions. Do not tell yourself that this will be easy work. Most of all, do not tell yourself that you are special. You’re all the same here: walking bags of rancid meat.” Everypony in the room began to tremble slightly at the authority and terror in her voice. Even Twilight Sparkle gave a nervous gulp as she tried to avoid direct eye contact. “But do not worry,” she said, taking a less angry approach, “because here, we all tear you down. Here, you will sweat, and you will work more than you have ever worked in your entire life. It is here, that we will destroy and rebuild you. Have a good night’s sleep, you’re going to need it. Welcome to Camp Orion, ladies and gentlecolts.” Sergeant Thimble gave a nod and turned around, marching back to the others while she left an imprint of simultaneous terror and hope in the new recruits. One of the other ponies in front, stepped forward. “If you will all follow me, I will take you to the medical tents, and the nurses will get you taken care of.” And so, the recruits nervously followed him out of the metal structure that had dined them and into the strange layout of tents and tin buildings. Twilight took the initiative, staying near the front. Twilight felt someone bump against her shoulder. Her head snapped up, facing a tall mare with a dark grey coat a short, purple mane. On her flank was a rolled up piece of parchment with a red ribbon tying it together. She looked at Twilight with curious eyes. “Sorry about that...um...,” she said in a tomboyish voice. “Twilight Sparkle,” she said plainly. “Twilight Sparkle. I’ll remember that. I’m Star Dust, by the way. Hopefully, we’ll meet again soon!” Before Twilight could utter a response, the mysterious mare was off, running past the tents. She’s...a strange one, Twilight Sparkle thought. Her mind snapped back to the present as she headed towards the tent. Keep focused, Twilight. You’re not here to make friends. You’re here to… Her mind blanked. Why had she decided to go through with all of this? To make a difference, she had told herself. To find my purpose, she told herself at other times. However, that idea was dissipating in her mind. What on earth was she supposed to do? She was one measly librarian from the city. How could she compete with highly trained unicorns who had years of professional and military training? With a sigh, she trudged forward. It doesn't really matter anyway. I'm just as expendable as any of these ponies. I'll just follow orders and before I know it, I'll be home. With a fake smile, she moved ahead of the line, guided by her superiors like some sort of sheep as she was given her equipment, her identification, and a full medical exam by a nurse that looked too old and tired to be able to be working there. After that, she was given her the location of her sleeping quarters and sent on her way.   As she moved past the tents and tin buildings, she could see the stone watchtower in the distance, towering above the camp. Even though chances were low, they couldn’t risk the possibility of an enemy attack, especially after the disaster at Baltimare. The thought made her shudder. After several minutes, she found a small tin building labeled, 44-E. Twilight opened her satchel and pulled out a card. That’s the one. Carefully, she placed it back inside and gently opened the door. As the metal door creaked, light poured into the room, illuminating the small barracks. To say that it was barren and plain would be an understatement. Eight sets of bunkbeds against plain gray walls and plain gray floor tiles. Two plain windows were placed on both sides of the room, providing a small amount of light to enter. From the plain ceiling, hung a small lightbulb with a linked set of metal chains attached to it. She pulled it with her magic, illuminating the room in light. She walked to the closest bunk, examining it thoroughly. The floor was dusty against Twilight’s hoof. She sat her satchel against the green bedsheets and opened it up. From it, she pulled out a single purple scale. Twilight looked at it and smiled. Spike had given it her upon her departure; he said that it was an “ancient dragon tradition” that brought good luck, regardless of the fact that he had never been in contact with any other dragons. In fact, Spike was probably the one of the only dragons in the civilized world; most of them resided deep within the frozen southern continent, devoid of pony life. Carefully, she placed it back in her satchel and plopped down against the bed. More ponies had began to enter, setting their things against their chosen beds as they made small talk with their bunkmates. A few minutes later, somepony had made their way to the bed above hers; a green coated unicorn. Twilight closed her eyes and pulled the up the covers, waiting until the restless chatter had died down and night had fallen over the camp. She waited. And she waited until the lights had long been dimmed. She tried to sleep, but her heart continued to race and she began sweating under her bed sheets. She removed them and reached in her satchel. Intermediate Guide to Magic and Spell Casting. She took the tome and levitated it through the air as she gently opened the door and gazed upon the night sky. It was an infinite, dotted, sea of endless black. When she was young, she would look up at the stars and name the constellations with her father. It filled her with a strange warmth, even if it only lasted for a second as she remembered those times. She trotted past the barracks and turned left, facing a grassy hill. She traversed through it, eventually reaching the top. From it, she could see the entirety of the camp. Linings of tents and buildings stood, scattered across the grassy plains. She was about to move when something caught her eyes. In the darkness, she saw a unicorn walking past the watchtower, through the opposite fields, lit only by the orange glow of her horn. To her side was a small bag. The unicorn continued to walk, pausing only to reach into her bag and retrieve a ball of some kind. The ball glowed in her aura and began floating around her. From her bag, more small orbs flew out. All of them revolved around her as if she had her own gravitational pull. She levitated a book in front of her and began to read as she levitated the small orbs. Twilight smiled. Another hopeless dreamer, I guess. She opened her book and flipped the page. Teleportation. The act of teleportation is comprised of a multitude of tasks. You must hone three skills: focus, spacial awareness, and balance. Focus. You must close the world off and view only yourself and your intended destination. This is imperative. In order to properly teleport, you must picture the destination in your mind. Although it is possible to teleport blindly, without knowing the destination, it can create problems such as teleporting into a wall or a thousand miles away. This leads to our next topic: spacial awareness. Shape is everything. Know how you relate to your surroundings. Be aware of everything. The final step is balance. Everything all of magic relies on this concept. From creation comes destruction. From destruction comes creation. An endless cycle. Twilight nodded at the text and closed her eyes as she tried to focus, letting her horn glow. She began to clear her mind. There was no wind. No skies. No grassy hill. There was only magic. She began to form a picture in her mind. The bottom of the hill. That would work fine for now. For a moment, her mind flashed back to the fires of Baltimare. If she had been stronger, she could have escaped. If she was stronger, maybe she could have saved the others. She could have saved the screaming children, the old mares and stallions, the young ponies still in the prime of their life. No! She pushed the thoughts back as she let the magic rinse over her. She felt the aura scatter her one molecule at a time as she disappeared. It lasted only a second as she reformed, landing against muddy soil. She rolled to her hooves and shook the mud from her coat. She smiled for a moment, before the disappointment kicked in as she looked below, towards the bottom of the hill. She had only teleported halfway down. Not good enough, she scolded herself. She angrily trotted back to the top of the hill. Once again, she closed her eyes and focused, jumping immediately after she had formed a mental image. Once again, she crashed against the wet, muddy soil. The bottom of the hill was still far below. Still, she climbed to the top and repeated her steps. Attempt after attempt, she teleported, fell, and climbed. She lost count of how many times she had teleported into the muddy soil. It was getting late. In only a few hours, the sun would be making its ascent over the mountains of Camp Orion. Just as she was about to head back to the barracks, she looked back and noticed the unicorn from earlier. She was still there, hovering on top of a floating piece of wood levitating those strange balls from before. What is she doing? What am I doing? It’s pointless. For some reason that she couldn’t comprehend, she closed her eyes once more and teleported. She lost track of what happened next. Teleport after teleport, it just blended together. She couldn’t recall when she had fallen asleep from exhaustion, only that the bells of the watchtower were ringing in her ear and forcing her eyes to open to the burning sunlight.  A whistle pierced her eardrums as she jumped to her hooves. Quickly, she ran down the hill. It seemed different than it had been during the night. Light gleaming down on the entire camp. I wonder what happened to that unicorn, she briefly pondered before turning her attention to her barracks. She slid down the grass and mud as ponies walked from the doors in droves. Carefully, she disguised herself in the crowd. She tried to catch a glimpse of the pony in front, but was alerted by the yelling. Sergeant Thimble. “Where are we going?” one of the recruits asked. “Wherever the hell I feel like,” Thimble responded. Together they marched past the tents and buildings and over the muddy hills, past where Twilight had fallen asleep. Walking turned into jogging as they ran into the muddy fields facing south of the camp. They were soon met by the rest of the unicorns in their platoon as they joined the line heading towards the backside of the camp. It was there that the entire platoon spent almost an hour running along the filthy marshes. By the time they were done, Twilight, who had lagged behind in the very back, had begun to trip over her own muddy, chipped hooves. After they were done, Twilight stopped alongside the rest of the line, in attention with her chest forward and her legs straight, trying to regain her breath. In the front of the line, Twilight could see a grey mare resiliently standing tall. It only took her a moment to register the image. It was the mare from earlier; the one calling herself Star Dust. Twilight thought it odd, never imagining that she was an athletic pony. Then again, compared to Twilight, everypony was practically an athlete. Hopefully, by the end of this ordeal, she would be able to run at the front alongside that strange gray mare. After the long and arduous morning jog, Twilight and the others were instructed to eat and take a shower. Twilight did so, trotting along to the mess hall where she indulged in a well-earned meal. By now, the other platoons had begun to gather under the large tent known as the mess hall. Twilight sat in one of the back rows, trying to avoid the others so she could focus on eating and finishing some of her personal studies. Knowing the type of work that she would be doing, Twilight had turned away from most regular books and tried to focus diligently on learning more about magic and spell casting. While she was most certainly proficient in her knowledge of magic and spell casting, she had decided that it would be a good idea to branch out and learn a more practical array of spells than the ones that she had practiced back home: fire spells, ice spells, environmental spells, ocular spells, and so many more. She stared at one of the books in her satchel. Intermediate Guide to Shields and Barriers. Maybe if he had understood them, I wouldn’t have been bedridden for nearly two weeks. As she began to dive into a book about enchantments, she was approached by Star Dust. “Anyone sitting there?” she asked, pointing a hoof at the seat next to her while levitating her tray of food in the air. Twilight lifted her head and responded with a forced smile, “No…it’s fine.” Star Dust sat beside her and laid down her tray against the table. “This food looks great!” she enthusiastically said as she began to dive into her food, devoid of all table manners. Twilight cringed slightly at the way the mare ate her food. Why couldn’t she just leave Twilight alone? Couldn’t she see that she just wanted to be alone with her books and tomes? Star Dust’s eyes veered over to Twilight’s book. “You seem like the studious type,” she commented. “Yes,” she responded simply. Unlike you, I’m guessing. There were several moments of silence before Star Dust had finally finished her sandwich and stood abruptly. “There’s more to life than just what’s in those books. Remember that.” Twilight perked her ear. “What...why are…” “Anyway, see ya later!” she said before Twilight could respond. Definitely a strange one. Twilight watched her swerve through the dwindling crowd of ponies and turned her thoughts back to her studies. However, a thought crossed her mind while she read. She thought of the attack on Baltimare; everyone in her home town knew about how she had nearly died there, but what no one knew about was the strange vision she had and the strange music that she heard. What could it mean, she briefly pondered. Those nights following the attacks, she looked up all kinds of possible explanations, most of which suggested it was a simple hallucination. Then why was it that the song that guided her to safety? What was exactly was the song? Who was that angelic mare at that guided her? These questions continued to fester in her mind until she looked up to see everypony leaving the mess hall. Twilight shook her head and began packing her satchel, heading to the showers. Not too long after she had bathed and eaten, Twilight gathered with the rest of the unicorns, where the commanding officers and Sergeant Thimble shouted orders, testing their knowledge of form and unity. Twilight did well to blend in, making her movements match the others.   After several hours of scrutinizing drill, they were allowed lunch. Soon after, they were tasked with various training regimens specifically designed to test unicorn concentration. At first, they started with simple telekinesis exercises. As the day went on, their exercises increased dramatically in difficulty, eventually doing multiple tasks at once, straining their concentration and magic supply. By the end, only a handful of ponies remained unfazed by their challenges. Twilight Sparkle was one of such ponies. No matter what challenge threw at her, she refused to stop. And as the day progressed, the sun lowered behind the hills and Twilight rose from the confines of her barracks, restless as ever. She climbed above the hills, sleeping dust still in her eyes from the previous night’s training and the work from that day. She gazed at the world below. I’m still not strong enough. I can’t stop until then. She closed her eyes and focused on the bottom of the hill. I can do it this time. With a flash of her horn, she disappeared. When she opened her eyes, she was only a few yards in front of where she had been. She gritted her teeth and angrily walked back to her starting position as she took another look at the camp below. That strange unicorn with the orange glow was down there once again. What is she doing? Who is that? She shook her tired head and faced the ground once more. Eyes closed. Horn flared. She awoke in a puddle of mudd. Great. I’m back where I was yesterday. She couldn’t let it stay this way. She refused. Clumsily, she climbed back up and attempted again and again, continuously failing time after time. After what seemed like nearly an eternity, she collapsed under the weight of her back. “No,” she mumbled. “I...I can’t give up.” She tried to stand, but barely made it an inch of the ground before she had fallen once again. She had reached her limit, she knew. Her magical stamina had surely been strained from the day’s work and this practice sure wasn’t helping. Maybe, I can call it quits for today, she briefly thought. The thought was swept away by an a flood of images that ran through her mind. A child burning under the weight of the wooden staircase. An old stallion, probably a father, covered in shattered glass. Images of the attack on Baltimare washed over her, blotted out by a single phrase in a single instance. Daddy. Twilight raised her head as she began to cry. Dad...no. Maybe, if I had been stronger. No, if I had been stronger, I know I could have saved him. She started to shake as purple spikes of electricity oozed from her horn. Mom. Spike. No. I won't lose them...I can't!  It all came rupturing from her horn at once, a bright spiral of lavender soaring upward. Her eyes were a pure white. She had lost control completely. She couldn't control the power flowing from her horn, nor the beam towering above the camp, nor the blades of grass as they transformed to ash under the might of her magic. Her conscious became nothing more than a pebble caught in a stream, thoughtlessly carried from one point from another, chafing one piece at a time until it was nothing but a small fragment. She had no form; no conscious. Everything seemed to fade into nothing. The last thing she could see was a ray of orange washing over her as a hoof gently caressed where her shoulder should be. Eyes. Bright Green eyes gazed upon her. Formless, Twilight continued to drown in the empty sea of white as her consciousness faded. “And then I said ‘Oatmeal, are you crazy?’” Pinkie Pie shouted across the table. The Apple family met her story with roaring laughter. They had all been like this for several weeks now; all of them traveling from town to town, living in one Pinkie’s numerous safehouses. Along the way, they had met a plethora of helpful ponies that helped transport them from point A to point B. They were now in the center of Germaneigh, in the city of Auxenhorse; their goal was the country's northern shores. It would be a long journey, but for now, they were content. In between laughs, they indulged themselves in Pinkie’s assortment of baked goods. Applebloom and Applejack viciously chomped down on Apple fritter while Granny Smith took delicate bites. Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, proceeded to eat an entire chocolate cake in one bite. The others would have stopped and looked in horror if they weren’t already used to Pinkie’s odd behavior. Applejack turned to Pinkie Pie, and she called out from across the table, “Pinkie!” Pinkie looked over, her mouth full of cake, and swallowed the cake whole. “Yeah?” Applejack began, “Once again, I've gotta thank you for everything you’ve done for us. At first, I didn’t think it was possible, but you’ve brought us through the remains of Ponland and all across Germaneigh. We’re closer than ever to finally seeing my big brother again, and it’s all thanks to you.” Pinkie Pie laughed and said, “Oh, come on, it was no problem! I’m just happy that you guys are happy!” Applejack smiled. “Anyway, how much longer have we got till we get to Britannia?” Pinkie Pie stopped herself as she began to reach for a hoof full of candy placed on the table, and she raised a hoof to her chin. “Well, we’ve got another three or so safehouses to go. After that, we’re going to stay with my parents, who live by the docks, and transport you across. After that, you'll safe and sound in Britannia! Since it will take time to set up our meetings and arrangements, it will be about a week between each safehouse. So we have four safe houses, and we have one week between each transportation, and it'll be two weeks before we can move from the final safehouse to the docks. That’ll take....uumm....” “Six weeks,” Applebloom stated bluntly. “Yep, which gives us plenty of time for me to throw another party....or seven.” Applejack chuckled. “Actually, it’s getting pretty late, and since we’re leaving in the morning, I want to get a good night’s rest.” Pinkie Pie gave a disappointed sigh and then perked up, shouting, “Sure thing! That means we have more time to party after we get to the next safehouse! Come on everypony, we need to go to bed so we have plenty of energy for partying!” With that, Pinkie Pie ran off to bed, leaving the others at the table. Soon after, the others began to depart, leaving only Applejack. After she was done, she stared at the piles of plates and delectables on the table. She let out a sigh as she began taking the plates and silverware off, one at a time, and she placed them by the sink. After she was finished clearing off the table, she began to make her way to her bedroom and plopped down against the bed. She began smiling as she looked at the ceiling, reflecting on the past few weeks. It had been rough at first, trying to adjust to the constant change in surroundings, but they managed, thanks to Pinkie Pie. Even in the hardest of times, Pinkie would always find a way to bring a smile to everyone's face. As she thought of that strange pink mare, her thoughts reflected back to the first few weeks of travel. First, Pinkie would smuggle them on board a truck, one owned by her family’s company, and transport them, disguised as part of a typical red crystal shipment. They would then, be sent to one of the various safehouses, where they would be dropped off under the guise of being part of the shipment. No one questioned it. After all, who would? She was undoubtedly, part of one of the most influential families in the country. Thanks to Pinkie Pie, Applejack was beginning to finally see hope. Her family would be safe, and they would soon be reunited with Big Macintosh. As she began to close her eyes, she could hear a faint noise in the distance. Applejack jolted up and searched her surroundings. She looked out the window, but could see nothing. The noise grew louder, now sounding like the screeching of claws against a chalkboard. Applejack tried to cover her ears, but the sound persisted, crawling in her brain. As she writhed against the ground, trying to ward off the painful sound, it suddenly stopped. Applejack released her hooves from around her ears and stood up, walking towards the window. As she looked outside, she could hear singing. “What the-” Applejack said as she was cut off by the melody that flowed throughout her brain. It was the same as the night before they left; the same old ponies singing their somber tune. Applejack shook her head, desperate to clear her head. The singing only grew louder, and she could now feel a painful thumping against her head. With each thump, her vision briefly blanked, and she was shown strange images: a wired fence, water lit by moonlight, an army shrouded in silver armor,  and six glowing silhouettes. These images repeated in her head, and she threw her body against the wall violently. “Stop it,” she whispered. The thumping inside her head continued, growing more painful by the second. “Stop it,” she said in a slightly louder tone. The images persisted, and the song reached painful levels of volume. Applejack screamed at the top of her lungs, “Stop it!” The song cut off, as did the thumping. She laid against the ground, her forelegs pressed against her ears, curled up against the wooden floor. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knocking at the door. It was Pinkie’s voice. “Applejack, are you okay?” “We heard you screaming,” interjected Applebloom. Applejack stood up and tried to regain her composure. “Yeah, sorry about that. Must’ve just been a bad dream. Ya’ll can go back to bed.” “Okie dokie lokie,” Pinkie Pie said in a concerned tone. The others walked away, and Applejack waited to hear hoof steps against the ceiling before she stood up and reached the bed, her heart still racing. Her thoughts remained fixated on the song as she tried to fall asleep. It’s melody became ingrained in her memory. As she began to doze off, her final thoughts transitioned to Big Macintosh. We're coming. Just wait a little longer. Was she alive? She blinked. Daylight was beginning to breach the distant mountaintops. Where was she? She tried to stand, but felt a thumping pain against her head. She fell back down, rubbing her forehead with her hoof. “A headache seems pretty appropriate after that little show you pulled.” Twilight Sparkle’s head snapped to the side. There was a mare standing beside her, grey coat and purple mane. “Star Dust?” she said, confused. Star Dust smiled and laid beside her. Twilight’s mouth was agape. “W-W-What happened? Where are we?” Star Dust turned her head back to the distance, pointing a hoof south, towards a grassy hilltop. “You had a little bit of a breakdown back there.” “Breakdown?” she repeated. “Yeah, I remember now. I was trying to..." It all can rushing back to her: the explosion and the endless sea of white. Star Dust laughed. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about. You were simply pumping out more magic than you could control." Twilight's face became flushed. "I'm not weak, if that's what you're implying. I was training!" You were performing higher level spells that you could properly control. That doesn't mean that you're weak, just inexperienced. That blast that you did was evidence of that. You have plenty of magic stored in that horn of yours. The problem is that you need balance and control. All of your magic is coming out at once. It needs to steady and even, like a stream." A stream. The events became more clear to her. She backed up. “You...you’re the one who’s been practicing at night. You’re the one who saved me!” “Quite a head on your shoulders,” she sarcastically remarked. Twilight stumbled on her words. “I don’t get it. No offense, but...when I met you, you came across as...not exactly the picture of a gifted mage." She laughed so hard that she was beginning to lose her breath. "I guess that's true enough. I don’t exactly look like Star Swirl the Bearded, now do I?" She stood up and pointed a hoof at her scroll cutie mark. "I'm a magic historian. I study spells. Where they came from, how they work, why they work, and all that." Star Dust looked down at her. "Now that I’ve told you about myself. Tell me, Twilight. Why were you training so late at night?" She bit her lip. "I...I wanted to get stronger." "Why?" She bit her lip. Why was she opening up to this weird stranger? Even if she did possibly save her life, she had no obligation to reveal her innermost secrets or desires to her. Still, Twilight spoke. "I've seen the effects of war. It's indiscriminate. Children, the elderly, mother, and fathers, it makes no difference. There are people back home that I love." Spike. Mom. "I-I don't want to lose them. That's why I need to be stronger. So I can protect them. So they don't have fight. So I don’t have to lose them." She smiled. It wasn't a mocking smile or a smug one. "Then let me help you."   Twilight perked her head in confusion. "What do you mean?" She began walking away. "Every night after the watchtower rings for the night, I go in the western field, right around here. Meet me here and I'll help you get stronger. I'll show you some things that you won't find in those books." "But..I-" "First," she interrupted, “you need to get some rest. We still have a good hour or two before we have to be to work. Rest and let your body heal. That's the only way you’ll regain your magic stamina.” Before Twilight could utter a response, she had disappeared in an orange flash of light. With that, Twilight Sparkle laid her head against the grass, her eyes fluttering shut. When the sun had risen and the bells of the watchtower rung out across the camp, Twilight Sparkle rose with an odd feeling in her gut. It stayed with her as she did her morning jog, lagging behind as she desperately tried to keep up.   The day went by quickly. Lunch. Magic endurance training. Reflex training. Physical endurance training. Dinner. It all went by in what seemed like a blink of an eye. She could only carry the same thoughts as the day progressed. Will training with her really make me stronger? When the sun had finally receded underneath the earth and the moon had risen in its place, Twilight had made her way across the camp, her satchel slung over her shoulder. When she had finally made it past the tents and barracks and towards the empty fields of mud and earth, she paused for a moment before continuing. Star Dust was there, as she had promised she would be. She turned to Twilight with a welcoming smile. “You came! I’m glad.” Twilight Sparkle laughed sheepishly as she levitated her satchel and sat it on the ground.  Twilight stood awkwardly as Star Dust walked away, her eyes scanning the ground. She stopped upon reaching a green bag. Moments later, she turned around, levitating a shining, metallic cube of some sort. “Here,” Star Dust said as she tossed the cube to Twilight. Quickly, she grabbed hold of it with her magic. Her eyes gazed over the cube, its metallic exterior gleaming under the moonlight. Twilight nearly jumped in surprise as a thin, orange ray shot from Star Dust’s horn, hitting the cube.  The cube spun in her magical grasp. Its sides opened up, revealing a glowing green orb inside the core of the cube. In an instant, it felt as it the cube weighed a thousand tons. Desperately, Twilight strained her magic as she tried to keep it afloat. “What...what in Tartarus is this?” Twilight asked in between exasperated breaths as she struggled to keep the cube in her grasp.   Star Dust laughed. That stupid laughter of hers is starting to get on my nerves. “Weighted Zelian Cube. They’re very useful in training one’s magical endurance and stamina. Created by Zelia the Bold during his travels to the Eastern Continent.” “I...I,” Twilight said as she continued to struggle, “I was trying to master teleportation and practical spells, not mess around with this thing.” “If you can’t lift this without straining yourself, how are you going to cast advanced spells like teleportation and barriers? Are you saying that you’re too weak to handle this?” “No!” Twilight shouted. “I jus-” “Good!” Star Dust interrupted as she ran back to the where she had retrieved the cube, now carrying two sets of golden armor. She took the first set and carefully strapped it onto her chest, knees, and hooves. She began hopping up and down as she circled around Twilight. “What...is…wrong with you?” Twilight asked while Star Dust strapped the glimmering, golden armor on Twilight, still jumping from hoof to hoof as if the ground was hot lava. “Ten seconds. Move,” Star Dust said as she began to jog away. Twilight angrily gritted her teeth as she focused on the cube. The armor was heavier than Twilight had anticipated. Her back slumped under its weight as she stood, determined to keep the cube afloat. It took every ounce of her concentration to hold on, yet she kept her eyes on the cube as it slowly rose higher, nearly a high as her head. Just a little higher and it would be above her. Her thoughts were disrupted as she felt a great force strike against her back, almost as if she had just been kicked. She struggled to maintain her balance. The cube lowered, touching the edge of a blade of grass before Twilight managed to catch it. The armor continued to increase in weight, forcing her legs lower. “What...What’s going…” “Move,” Star Dust calmly said. Desperately, Twilight edged her left foreleg forward. In an instant, some of the armor’s weight seemed to lessen, allowing her legs to straighten.   “That armor is enchanted with a spell that adds and decreases in weight depending on physical movement. In other words, the more you move, the lighter it gets. If want your back to stay in one piece, I’d recommend that you start running. Angrily, Twilight gritted her teeth and began moving one hoof in front of the other. Within moments, the armor began to feel lighter and lighter. Soon, she was jogging in place, the armor now light as a feather. Soon, she was able to keep the cube steadily placed in front of her. “Excellent!” Star Dust exclaimed. “This should be good for tonight’s practice. I imagine an hour or three of this should be appropriate for your first session.” “Three hours?” Twilight said with extreme displeasure as sweat began to drip from her coat. “Don’t worry! Tomorrow, I’ll add another cube, so that you can have double the increase in concentration! In addition, I’ll increase the weight of your enchantment by ten pounds every two nights. I’ll make up the rest as we go. You’ll get stronger in no time!” Twilight’s eyes widened in dread. “You’re...insane,” Twilight said, barely audible under her heavy panting. Star Dust smiled with that smug grin of hers. “Too much for you?” “No….never,” Twilight lied. “Alright then!” Star Dust said enthusiastically as she ran in place. She reached behind her and grabbed five cubes identical to Twilight’s, flinging them in the air and blasting them with her horn. She began circling them around her as if they were nothing but toys. “Come on, why the long face? I bet a race would make you feel better.” “What is wrong with you?” Twilight said with a hint of annoyance. “Plenty,” she replied. “What do you say?” With a heavy sigh of regret, Twilight began running, running alongside this insane mare. She might be crazy, but she was the best hope that Twilight had of getting any stronger.