The ash pile exploded outwards, sending clouds of black smoke everywhere and obscuring the ponies' and dragons' vision. The darkest of the clouds hovered in the middle, standing out among its brethren. It started taking shape: wisps of smoke curled up on the floor, rising upwards and forming dark stems. On top of the four slim pillars settled a bulky cloud, which attached itself to them. Another stalk rose out of the front of the large cloud, being thicker than the other four. A roundish cloud stuck itself atop the new stem from which came a deep, laughing sound.
The smoke dissipated, and Twilight and the others got their first look at a manifestation. It was in the form of a pitch-black stallion, with glowing red eyes, inky feathered wings and pointy teeth. A smoky grey mane and tail floated in the air behind it. Four dark hooves were shod with crude, iron horseshoes.
The creature looked around at the ponies and the dragons. It laughed again. "I do like the smell of fear," it said in a surprisingly young teenage voice. "No matter where you go, there will always be fear in some form or another."
"Pfft, fathead" Fang muttered.
The manifestation turned to face the dragon with a frown. "You're not scared." It quickly looked around again. Rarity and Applejack were holding onto each other. Fluttershy had dived into a bush and was looking out through a hole. Pinkie Pie had a hoof over her mouth in an attempt to hold something back, but nopony knew what. Rainbow Dash was standing firm, but her face betrayed her nervousness. Spike had fallen over while backing up and was now staring at the smoky pony with a look of pure terror. Twilight didn't try to hide her fear, she was more curious then frightened. "Why aren't you scared?" the manifestation asked Fang. "They're all scared!"
"Give me one reason why I should be scared," he challenged, looking the stallion right in the eye.
"A reason?" the manifestation spluttered. It wasn't expecting that kind of reaction. "I'm a freaking embodiment of evil! The very essence of darkness! You should all be shaking like a buncha leaves. You've got—" It was cut off by a beam of blue energy, which caught it on the shoulder and spun the manifestation around like a top. It groaned and turned in the direction of the attack. "Who did that?"
"I think we both know the answer to that," Spirit Guide said firmly, his horn glowing brightly, "so quit playing dumb and confess."
"Confess? This is no court. And who are you?"
Spirit stared at the stallion with his deep-blue eyes. He raised his horn, pointing it at the clear sky above. A magic aura spread around his horn, slowly wrapping his lower body. A black cloak materialized around his neck and covered his back. A single magical spark leapt off the tip of his horn, closely followed by more sparks. The twinkling column swirled around like a mini-cyclone, spinning and twisting while rising into the air and rotating onto its side. The sparks flickered out, revealing a long wooden staff approximately four feet tall, held in Spirit's magic grasp. He turned to the side, displaying his cutie mark, which shone against his dark-blue coat.
The ponies were amazed. "Nice stick," exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
The manifestation gasped. "Six-Thirteen. It's you."
The unicorn smiled knowingly. "Surprise. I'm rather disappointed you took so long, but then again, you're not supposed to be here anyway."
"Ah, but you have yourself to blame for that," it reminded him.
"No!" Twilight cried. She trotted over to Spirit's side and glared at the manifestation angrily. "Spirit's intentions are good and pure. He's come all the way here, risking his own life in the process, just to befriend us."
"A shame the same can't be said about you," Spirit added.
Flapping his wings, the manifestation began to hover, sending empty plates and cups everywhere. "What do I care what you say? All I know is that we're going to put a stop to your universal gathering of friends. We won't stand for it any longer. You are an obstacle in the way of our goal, an obstacle that needs to be removed no matter what."
Rainbow Dash had had enough. She zipped over to the black pegasus and stared him down. "Cut the chatter, smokey," she ordered, "or I'm gonna give you a tornado special."
"You think that a little twister could get rid of me just because I'm physically comprised of gases?" it said tauntingly. "Don't waste your energy, it won't work." He floated towards Rarity and Applejack, who were watching the approaching pegasus with worry and anticipation.
Spirit and Twilight approached Rainbow Dash, who slowly landed on the ruffled checked blanket. "He's right, Rainbow," Spirit told her. "Manifestations are accumulations of wicked deeds, dark thought and negative feelings. They're filled with so much malevolence that they can hold their bodies together in any shape, no matter how hard you blow. Trust me, we've tried blowing them away."
"You two!" the manifestation cried out, pointing at Applejack and Rarity. "You are right to fear me. Is evil not something to be afraid of?"
Rarity looked up in horror at the dark beast hovering over her and spread herself lower on the grass, covering her eyes. Applejack was doing her best to stand firm, but the manifestation kept coming closer until she had to lean backwards on the ground to keep away. Evidently pleased, the manifestation turned towards Pinkie Pie, who was zooming back and forth between the windblown baking baskets, searching for leftovers. He flew over to her, landing on top of a basket Pinkie was looking into, crushing it. "And you. You're scared, aren't you?"
"Nopey-dopey!" Pinkie replied happily, otherwise completely ignoring him. She saw another plate with a few cookies left and dashed over.
Frowning, the manifestation soared after her. "What do you mean, 'nopey-dopey'?" he asked angrily, grabbing her head. "Are you saying I'm stupid."
Pinkie laughed. "Of course not, silly! It's just how I say no."
"Oh. Okay." The manifestation let go of her and stood there dumbfounded, while Pinkie started munching the cookies she'd found. "Wait a minute!" he shouted as he finally realized. "You're saying you're not scared of me!"
"Nopey-dopey!" Pinkie said again.
"Grrrrrrrr, FINE!" He turned around and stormed away from her. "You're starting to bug me anyways."
Pinkie swung her head around and smiled. "Okey-dokey-lokey!"
"Grarh!" With a snarl, the smoky pegasus galloped away from the pink pony as if she were radioactive. He looked around, remembering that there was another pony somewhere, a yellow one. He scanned the park with his red eyes, finding only the ponies he'd already spoken to. Where did she go? he wondered. Suddenly, he noticed a small pink tuft sticking out of a bush. The leafy shrub was shivering as if it were cold. Ah ha. The manifestation crept towards the bush like a predator, snaking around it until he was behind where the tuft was. He noticed a crack in between the leaves and twigs and peeked inside. His vision was taken up by a pale yellow trembling thing. Whatever it was, it was scared. Perfect. He took one more look at the bush, parted the leaves at the top and—
"BRAAAAHAAAHAAAAA!"
"EEEEEEEEEE!"
The black pegasus almost got his smoky head blown off when the butter-yellow pegasus shot out of the bush, shrieking loudly. She flew around the picnic site until she crashed into Rainbow Dash's open hooves. The freaked embodiment of evil got over his moment of alarm and flew up towards the two pegasi. "You crazy horse!" he shouted at her. "Why I oughta—"
ZAAAAAAM! A blue bolt of energy knocked him out of the air and onto the ground below. From where he lay, the manifestation could see the scowl on Rainbow's face and the tears in the yellow pony's eyes. That made him feel better and he smiled with satisfaction. "That felt good."
"Then it will probably be the last thing you feel for a while," Spirit Guide said from above the manifestation. He had rushed over to the dark creature the minute it crashed and now held his staff over its head. The tip of the wooden shaft was glowing blue.
The manifestation smiled. "What're you gonna do?" it asked with a smirk. "You can't send me back to where I came from. The tunnel is closed. Looks like you're all stuck with me."
Spirit hesitated, and the manifestation took it as an opening. It rushed headlong into Spirit's legs, knocking the unicorn to the ground. The two black ponies tussled, rolling this way and that, kicking and shoving. Twilight watched them fight and was soon joined by her friends, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy know calmed down, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash still cool. Spike stood beside Fang. "What can we do to help Spirit?" he asked the bigger dragon.
Fang spread his wings. "Attack!" he cried, leaping into the fray. He wrapped his arms around the smoky pony's neck and pulled. Both of them snarled at each other as they fought. The manifestation kicked Spirit and sent the unicorn flying. He landed hard on the ground in front of the six mares.
"Are you okay, Spirit?" Twilight asked concernedly, bending down to check the hoofmarks on his side.
Spirit looked at the purple pony. "I'm fine Twilight." He climbed to his feet, but his legs buckled beneath him. He would've fallen if Twilight didn't catch him. "Guess not."
"You better rest up, Spirit," Applejack told him. "We'll go help Fang."
"You bet we will!" Rainbow Dash agreed, flying in front of the group.
"Just be careful," Spirit warned. "Manifestations don't give up easily, if at all. They can fight for long periods of time without exhausting, since they're not much more then destructive clouds."
"Okay! Let's do this thing!" And with that, Rainbow zoomed off to fight.
"Wait up, RD!" Applejack called, galloping to catch up. The two mares jumped into the combat with equal force, bouncing the black stallion up and down between earth and sky. The manifestation groaned as he was methodically knocked out of the air by Rainbow Dash, then bucked back up by Applejack. In between the two friends, Fang blasted the manifestation with gouts of flame, slowly degrading its strength.
Twilight, Spirit, Rarity, Spike, Pinkie and Fluttershy watched their friends brawl. "That looks like fun!" Pinkie squealed. "I wanna try it!"
"Pinkie, stop!" Rarity called, but there was no stopping the pink Earth pony. She bounced over to the battlers and, while the black pony was falling towards the ground, she jumped up and knocked him out of its original course. They rolled onto the grass and collided with the trunk of the mulberry tree, knocking several fruit loose.
"Wheee, that was fun!" Pinkie chuckled, slightly giddy.
Raising its pitch-black head, the dark pegasus shouted. "Get off me!" He shook his body, dislodging Pinkie Pie from her perch on his back. "All of you are going to feel my wrath!"
"What wrath?" Fang asked. "You're not dangerous enough for that. You're just a mere wisp."
The creature rose to its feet, eyeing the green dragon curiously. "Oh, it's you. Of course, how could the prophet manage without his right-hand servant."
"You're all talk and no truth," Fang muttered, he and Rainbow Dash landing several feet away from the tree which it stood beneath. "Spirit's my friend and we treat each other as equals. Don't," he added as the manifestation opened its mouth to speak, "even try manipulating me. It won't work."
Snarling, the manifestation looked around at its opponents. Fang and Rainbow Dash stood to its right, while Applejack and Pinkie had it cornered on the left. Its barely solid mane was smoking from Fang's dragon breath and its wings were hurt from all those beatings. Looking up, it noticed that nopony was covering the way up. Flaring his slightly-beaten wings, he took to the air... Only to be met by a ball of tightly-packed mushy mulberries held in a light azure aura.
"Oh, no you don't!" cried Rarity, coming out from behind the tree. "You are not getting away that easily!"
Shaking its head, the manifestation growled at the white unicorn. He glanced back at the others who were flanking him, searching for a hole in their blockade. Finding itself completely surrounded, the dark pony began to reverse slowly, trying to get past the side of the tree Rarity wasn't standing by, all the while keeping an eye on his oncoming foes. He took another step backwards and tripped over something, his head slamming into the ground hard, knocking him unconscious.
"I'm sorry!" Fluttershy cried, one hoof sticking out among the tree roots, her other hoof covering her eyes. A moment of silence followed as the other mares hurried over to the prone stallion, carefully watching for any signs of movement. Fang gently removed Fluttershy's hoof from her face. She flashed a glance at the pony she tripped, then poked him tentatively. "Did I do this?"
"Yes, you did. Well done Fluttershy," Fang replied.
Twilight gave Spirit a nudge, pushing him to his hooves. The two unicorns, with Spike at their side, walked slowly over to the out-cold manifestation. Spirit rolled his levitating staff through the air. "This is what we're up against. Accumulations of dark matter, their sub-minds bent on plunging the world into a state of confusion, torment and unrest. Dozens, maybe even hundreds of these things roam the multiverse, searching for potential targets."
"Which, by the way, is everything," Fang added.
Spirit nodded. "They are ruthless, ready to give up their own short, pointless existence for a group cause. We were lucky enough to get a still-developing manifestation, one that still hasn't learned the full extent of its powers. Those can lob orbs of darkness and fire tendrils of entropy, no matter what form they take. But he's right. Since the tunnel is closed, we won't be able to send him back to the Republic to be properly banished."
"So, what do we do?" Applejack asked.
The wooden staff flared, momentarily taking on the hue and texture of sapphire. 'We can lock it away. Back in the Republic, we cross our endowments and technologies, creating new energies and devices. Among them is the Seal, a part magic part-nature item that can be used to trap manifestations. The Seals take the form of familiar objects, though clearly discernible from normal everyday objects so that you don't confuse a Seal with a magic lamp."
"Could you make a Seal right now?" Twilight asked.
"I'll try. Stand back." Spirit spread his legs out slightly and raised his staff towards the heavens. A bright-blue pulse exploded from the top, followed by a pulsing orb of multicolored energy. The sphere floated off the staff and spiraled down it, ending its descent in front of Spirit's face. It started to spin, slowly at first, then faster and faster, glowing brighter with each revolution until it was blinding. Spirit wrapped a thread of magic around the orb, feeding it more energy. On the ground, the manifestation stirred but was knocked back unconscious thanks to a swift buck from Applejack, allowing Spirit to finish his spell. Cutting off his magic, he levitated the complete object over their heads. It was a small ball-shaped capsule, with a red top, a white bottom and a black ring circling it. In the middile of the ball, where the three colors met, was a small round button.
"Sweet Arceus," Fang muttered. "A Poké Seal."
"A what?" Rainbow asked quizzically.
Spirit caught the ball in his hooves. "This seal is modeled after the Pokéball, an item commonly used in one of the other worlds of the Fictional Republic. There, the Pokéball is used to capture wild creatures so that they can be raised as partners, companions and friends. They hold huge competitions to test each others partner's strengths and powers. But this Pokéball has a different target." Spirit raised the capsule over the manifestation. He was about to toss it when the dark pony's eyes shot open and his wings blasted outwards, throwing everypony and dragon backwards.
"You're not gonna lock me up!" the manifestation shouted, flaring his wings and taking to the air.
"Stop him!" Spirit yelled as the manifestation flew away. "Rainbow, Fluttershy, Fang! You guys are the only ones that can follow it. Tail it, catch it and bring it down. We'll try to keep up on the ground."
"On it!" Rainbow replied. "Come on, Fluttershy!"
"Um, please no," she whispered quietly.
"You go on ahead, Rainbow," Fang told the cyan pegasus. "We'll catch up."
"Alrighty." Rainbow Dash flew up after the manifestation, which had flown off towards Ponyville. Leaving the park behind, the two pegasi dashed in, out and around the streets, surprising passerby ponies and shocking colts and fillies. Rainbow tried her best to catch up, reaching out to grab the smoky stallion's tail, only to come up with empty hooves.
The manifestation laughed evilly. He looked over his shoulder and called "You did not seriously try to grab my tail, did you?"
Gritting her teeth, Dash remembered what Spirit had said earlier when she threatened to blow the pegasus to shreds. I can't really touch his tail, it's just smoke. Even though I'm a pegasus and can control weather, this guy's made out of bad stuff, not like normal clouds. Putting on an extra burst of speed, Rainbow lashed out and and struck the manifestation in the flank.
"Oof!" it groaned as Rainbow's blow sent it careening. Struggling to remain airborne, it drifted towards the Ponyville marketplace closely followed by Rainbow Dash. The marketplace was full of bustling ponies, noisy foals, shopkeepers and customers arguing over overpricing. A typical marketplace.
"It just had to be Market Day," Rainbow groaned. She watched the manifestation duck behind the roof of the joke shop, grinning madly. She landed on the next door stall, waiting for the black pegasus to make its move. She didn't have to wait long.
"What have we here?" the manifestation mused. Directly below it, two Earth ponies were just leaving the joke shop, each carrying a basket of horseplay items, mostly fireworks. Giggling, the manifestation raised one hoof above the other, moving it in circular motions. As Rainbow continued to watch, a ball of dark crackling energy appeared between the stallion's hooves, growing larger every second.
"Oh great. That must be the developing-powers thing Spirit was talking about."
The manifestation raised the pulsing dark orb, carefully aiming it at the Earth ponies below. Rainbow Dash was just about to dive in and push the two ponies out of the way when two blurs, one green and one yellow, shot out of the air and crashed into the manifestation, knocking it to the ground. Rainbow hurried to the other side of the joke shop, where the black pegasus was tangling with Fang and Fluttershy, Fang doing most of the work while Fluttershy hung back trying to avoid getting hurt.
"I just got my new powers and you have to butt in!" the manifestation growled, beating the green dragon with its wings.
Ignoring the assault, Fang drew back a clenched claw and rammed it against the pony's forehead, knocking him out-cold for the second time that day. "Just reached puberty. Sad way to go."
Fluttershy looked up from her crouched position and carefully approached the manifestation. "Sorry for not helping," she said quietly. "I'm not really good at fighting."
"That's okay Fluttershy," Fang replied reassuringly. He looked up at the roof. "Hey Rainbow! You comin' down?"
Rainbow Dash dropped from the roof, landing silently beside Fang. "Nice job. I was just about to jump in and tackle him, but you beat me to it."
"Yeah, sorry. I saw him readying his dark sphere and hurried to stop him. Kill steal."
"What?" Before Rainbow could inquire further, Twilight, Spike and the others appeared from within the shopping crowd. Spirit, still holding the Poké Seal with his magic, was wearing a blank unsurprised look, as if he knew the manifestation would go to the marketplace. Fang shuffled over beside Fluttershy as the black unicorn stepped forwards.
"Well done, you two," he said, bending low over the dark pegasus.
Rainbow looked away. "Uh, I didn't really do anything so..."
Spirit raised an eyebrow at her. "What d'you mean? You followed the manifestation as soon as it fled, not losing sight of it for a second. If you hadn't done that, Fang and Fluttershy wouldn't have been able to find it."
She perked up at this. "Really?"
"Really."
Fang kicked the manifestation's head. "Could we please get this guy under lock and ball? He's more trouble than I thought. He'd just gained his matter-flinger powers."
"Right. On it." Spirit stood over the manifestation. "The rest of you, take a step back but stay close. He might get up again." Releasing the Seal from his magic grip, he caught it in his left hoof and pressed the button with his right. The Seal made a weird humming sound and grew bigger. "Okay. Here we go." Spirit dropped the Seal right on top of the manifestation. The ball opened and a bolt of red lightning came out, wrapping itself around the prone pegasus, making it glow red. The manifestation's features faded into red energy, which then got sucked up into the open Poké Seal.
When the last of the energy disappeared inside the ball closed, falling on the ground where the manifestation lay. The Seal rocked back and forth, glowing slightly and whirring all the while. Fang stared at it helplessly, gritting his teeth and wringing his claws. Applejack noticed this, leaned in and whispered to Spirit "What's up with Fang?"
"The Poké Seal works the same as its original counterpart," he explained. "When you throw a Pokéball, it transforms the target into red energy that could fit inside the capsule. However, if the target isn't weakened sufficiently, it can fight to try to escape. Fang's into the habit of, well, doing what he's doing now, in hopes of the target not escaping. Not that it does anything, really," he added with a smirk, "it's more of a comfort thing."
Applejack nodded in understanding, then turned her attention back to the Seal. It continued to roll around on the ground, humming until it finally came to a stop at Spike's feet. There, it shuddered, dimmed and stopped moving. It finished with a sound ding. Everypony sighed in relief, but Fang threw his fist into the air and cheered. "Woohoo!" he shouted happily. "Manifestation was caught!"
"Very clever," Spirit said. He trotted over to the Seal and picked it up in his magic aura. "But you're right. We've successfully captured one of the manifestations we've accidentally let into Equestria."
"It's only one, but it's a start," Twilight reminded.
"Where're you gonna put that one?" Rainbow asked, pointing at the capsule.
"I'll be keeping them in my saddlebags until we can figure out a better way to store them." Spirit looked around the marketplace. Ponies were going about their business as if nothing had happened. "It would appear," he whispered to the others, "that our little encounter went unnoticed."
"Market Day isn't really a time when ponies keep an eye out for abnormalities," Rarity said. "They just come for what they need."
"Well, we came for what we needed," Pinkie said, "so 'let's go back to the park and finish our picnic!" Without even waiting for confirmation she ran off, leaving her friends standing in the road dumbstruck.
"No point in being left behind, right?" Fang asked the others before taking to the air.
"Hey, wait up Fang!" Rainbow Dash called, following him.
Twilight looked around at her remaining friends. Rarity was watching the others leave with a slightly irritated look. Fluttershy was staring happily at a passing butterfly. Applejack saw her brother Big Macintosh running an apple stall and went to talk to him. Spike was glancing this way and that, wondering if there were more manifestations hiding. Spirit was examining the Poké Seal, but he seemed the most available so Twilight went to him. "What are you thinking about Spirit?" she asked, careful so as not to surprise him.
The stallion raised his eyes from the capsule before him. "It just dawned on me just how great the threat of the manifestations really is. They could be anywhere in Equestria, looking like anything and anypony, and it's not just me and Fang they're after. They're most likely to start sabotaging facilities and businesses, maybe even attack random ponies. We have to move fast to contain them quickly and efficiently."
"Tell you what," Twilight said soothingly. "Let's go to the park, finish the picnic, and when we get back to the library I'll pen a letter to the Princess along with yesterday's friendship report. I'm sure she'll look into it."
Spirit thought about this for a moment, cradling the Seal in his magic. "Alright. Let's round up the others and wrap up lunch." He galloped over to the Apple stand, where Applejack and Big Mac were selling a bushel to a pegasus shopper.
Twilight sighed contently. "Perfect. Just like the checklist said." Smiling, she went to snap Spike out of his lookout duty.
*
"Ooh, I'm stuffed!" Rainbow groaned, patting her swollen belly.
"Ah know what ya mean," Applejack mumbled. "Ah packed one too many fritters there."
"I told you not to go stuffing your faces," Rarity scolded, "but did you listen? No."
Pinkie Pie, although having eaten just as much as the others, was bouncing around the mulberry tree, laughing merrily. "Don't be so hard on them, Rarity!" she sang out. "It's not a crime to enjoy good food!"
Spirit and Fang were sitting back-to-back, reciting Grace after meals "... may G-d give strength to our people, may G-d bless our people with peace." Spirit rose up and began levitating the empty plates back into the wagon. "Twilight, please get your head out of the book and help clean up before those two start eating the cutlery."
Twilight looked up from her book. She glanced over at Rainbow Dash and Applejack, who were both lying against each other moaning over their stuffed stomachs. "Can I just finish the chapter?" she begged. One look at Spirit's face gave her the answer. "Oh alright," she muttered, bookmarking the page she was on with a mulberry leaf. She clambered to her hooves and picked up the pitchers, her smile slowly returning to her face. The others started chipping in, first Rarity, then Fluttershy, Spike, Fang, Pinkie, then finally Rainbow and Applejack. Soon enough, the grassy area under the tree was free of picnic items. Even the blanket had been folded and laid on top of the wagon, which sat beside the bakery baskets and the Sweet Apple Acres cart, also loaded with plates and dishes.
Spirit looked around once more, making sure they hadn't missed anything. When he was content with their clean-up job, he turned to the others and said "Okay everypony. Our first meal together has come to an end and I have to ask you all something."
"Yes?" they all said in unison.
The stallion shot a glance at Fang, who was holding his face in his claws. The dragon nodded. "Me and Fang are gonna need a place to stay while we're not hunting manifestations. Think you could tolerate us hanging around?"
Pinkie squeed loudly. "You mean you'll be staying here in Ponyville with us?"
Fang nodded. "Only if it's alright with you guys."
"Are you kidding?" Rainbow walked over to Fang and gave him a playful noogie. "You guys are amazing! With you around, every day is gonna be so awesome!"
"I quite agree," Rarity announced. "I have a feeling you could easily inspire me to start a new line of fashion."
"You could be a big help down on tha' farm if anythin' goes wrong," Applejack put in. "It'd be nice to have somepony you could turn to in times of need."
"I'd be happy to spend some time together," Fluttershy said, then added quietly "If you want to, that is..."
Spike looked at Fang admiringly. "Will you really be staying in Ponyville?" he asked with a hint of hope in his voice.
The bigger dragon smiled. "Of course. That is, if it's all right with Twilight that we take up residence in the library for an indefinite amount of time."
"You and Spirit are more than welcome to stay with us for as long as you need," Twilight confirmed.
"Okay then, it's settled: Fang and I will take up residence here in Ponyville while we learn about Equestria and track down the manifestations."
Twilight and the others cheered, overjoyed that their new friends would be staying with them. A beaming Spike threw his arms around a slightly surprised Fang. Pinkie had somehow produced balloons and streamers from absolutely nowhere and was throwing them all over the place. Rainbow Dash flew around the mulberry tree over and over again, causing leaves and ripe berries to rain down on her friends below. Fluttershy was beside herself with joy, zooming this way and that with more speed and agility than she'd displayed earlier. Rarity was doing her best to maintain her composure but was swept up in the excitement, joining Applejack in a jubilant eight-legged dance.
But Twilight showed the most emotion, embracing Spirit and crying at the same time. This left Spirit thoroughly confused as he was trying to figure out why Twilight was so thrilled by the news that tears were forming in her eyes while simultaneously attempting to avoid looking into her mind to learn the truth. He felt that such an invasion of privacy would be abusive and unpleasant if she found out so he merely returned the hug, trying to enjoy the moment.
After a minute, they had all calmed down, although Pinkie's grin was still easily the brightest thing in the area. "Well, this has been a mighty fine picnic," Applejack said, "but ah really have to get back to work. Me an' Big Mac still have to get through the south fields before the day is out. Be seeing you, everypony!" She started to hook herself up to her cart
Rarity cleared her throat. "I too shall take my leave. I must return to my shop. Somepony else may come with an outfit in need of repair and I wouldn't want them to wait. Have a fabulous day!" With that, she and Applejack made there way out of the park.
Rainbow Dash stretched and yawned. "Guess I'll be going too. I've got storm duty in a few minutes. You comin', Fluttershy?"
"Oh, okay." Fluttershy turned to the unicorn stallion. "Bye Spirit. I hope you and Fang enjoy your time in Ponyville." Waving goodbye, she following Rainbow into the air.
Pinkie gathered up the baskets onto her back. "Well, I'm off. Mr. Cake is probably gonna want his baskets back and I've got a whole lot more things to bake. See ya later!" She dashed away, startling several ponies who were wandering around.
Twilight looked around. With just her, Spike, Spirit and Fang, the small area under the mulberry tree seemed a little empty. She sat down on the grass and sighed. This didn't go unnoticed by Spirit who, tired of listening to Fang and Spike bickering over who had to drag the wagon home, took the opportunity to leave the argument and go find out what was bothering the purple unicorn. "What's wrong now, Twilight?" he asked her.
"I dunno, Spirit," she confessed. "Everything just seems so... Mixed up."
Spirit blinked. "Explain please."
"Oh boy, where to start..." Twilight scratched her head and thought until sparks began to fly from her horn. "You and Fang coming here from another world, evil monsters running around Equestria, the existence of other magic users besides unicorns. It's just so much to take in for me and so confusing. I feel like I want the whole thing to just be a dream, yet at the same time I want it to stay like this and learn more about the worlds beyond what I know."
"Hmm." Spirit sat down beside her. "I understand. You're used to your day being organized, everything being set ahead of time. You want to know what will happen so nothing will go wrong. The only question I have is why."
"Why what?"
"Why do you wish things to be predictable and obvious? What is preventing you from wanting change?"
Twilight lay down on her back. She sighed again. "Ever since I was a filly, all I liked to do was read and study magic. That's it. All I ever wanted to do was learn. I never made time for making friends and never bothered to try. But when Princess Celestia sent me to Ponyville, I ended up learning the value of friendship. I discovered how wonderful having friends really is and how much we could accomplish together."
Spirit glanced over at Spike and Fang. The argument had turned into a playful brawl where the two dragon had started to jump on each other, pulling each others spines and tail. Deciding that they'd be okay, Spirit lay down on the grass next to Twilight. "When I was younger, I always wished the world could be different. That fiction would be reality and dreams would come true." Spirit lit his horn and his staff appeared in a flash of light. He slowly began to spin it over their heads. "Now my life is different. I have new and amazing friends, new worlds are within my reach and new discoveries abound. Every day is filled with fun and adventure, never is it boring. But when I look back on it, I realize it wasn't just me. Everyone I know brings something special into my life, changing what I know and preparing me for what's out there." He dropped his staff on the grass between them. "Don't you sometimes feel like any change you've undergone in your life makes it better?
"I guess you're right," Twilight said. "Ever since I've moved here to Ponyville, my anti-social life has pretty much disappeared. I spend more time with my friends than I used to, considering I had no friends before other than Spike."
"Change is good," Spirit stated, "but you have to monitor it, otherwise it could get out of hoof."
"Speaking of which, what's that noise?"
Spirit and Twilight sat up and looked back towards the wagon. The play-fight had evolved into a full-out dragon battle. Spike was uprooting rocks from the ground and throwing them at Fang, who shielded himself with his wings or blasted them with his fire breath consecutively.
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" Spirit shouted.
Spike dropped his latest projectile. "Oh, uh, hey Spirit, hey Twilight. What's up?" he stammered.
Twilight frowned. She glanced over at Fang, who was smiling crazily for some obscure reason. "Hiya!" he called cheerfully. "We were trying to decide who drags the wagon home."
"Forget it," Spirit replied. "I'll take it." He lobbed the Seal into the wagon and grabbed the handle with his magic.
"Yes, let's go," agreed Twilight. She and the two previously battling dragons joined him and together, with the heavily-laden wagon, they left the park and returned to the library. The minute they stepped through the door, Spirit's saddlebags started to glow.
"What's going on?" Twilight asked worriedly.
Fang's eyes glinted. "I think my deck just got updated." He ran over to the saddlebag and opened it up, reaching in and pulling out his power cards. The entire deck was shining brilliantly.
"Updates!" Fang shouted excitedly. Hurrying over to the table, Spirit, Twilight and Spike watched as the green dragon gently placed the glowing deck on the tabletop, then flicked the top five cards off. His final act was to flip the cards face-up.
"No way!" Spike cried.
Fang put his elbows on the table, resting his head on his fists. "Yeah way. Seems that picnic connected us in more ways than one."
Twilight picked up one of the cards. The picture was a familiar yellow pegasus. "Fluttershy. This quiet but kind pegasus enjoys tending to animals. While she's timid, Fluttershy is a great friend and always tries to do her best. Wow, these cards just keep getting more amazing every time! They can summarize a pony in just a few sentences."
"So much we didn't know before," Spirit murmured, shaking his head and looking at another card. "Some thing are better kept secret, but the deck tries to avoid revealing really personal information." He read the card out loud. "Applejack. Diligent and honest, this pony and her family keep Sweet Apple Acres up and running. Whether its bucking apples or hanging out, Applejack is ready to roll. Rather to-the-point as expected, but accurate."
"Hmm." Spike picked up a card and frowned. "Rarity. Runs her own boutique in her home, Rarity likes things to be clean, pretty and proper. While she can be fussy at times, this unicorn is happy to help with a friend's problems." A dreamy look appeared on Spike's face. "Sooo true."
"They all seemed more 'filled-in' than ours," Fang noted, ignoring the other dragon's odd behavior. "Rainbow Dash. One of the fastest pegasi in Equestria, Rainbow likes to fly, fast, faster, fastest. That pretty much covers it, although she's competitive, loves winning and on occasion impulsive. Rainbow Dash puts the 'awe' in AWESOME. Hmph, card thinks its funny."
"Guess I'll read Pinkies card," Spirit said, leaning over to read it. "Pinkie Pie, full name Pinkamena Diane Pie. She is very excitable and has a love for fun and parties unmatched by anyone in the Republic. Even though she can be overly silly, Pinkie is very open and welcoming, ready to make a new friend at the drop of a horseshoe." Spirit sat down. His eyes had a faraway look to them. "So, we've advanced further."
"What do you mean, Spirit?" Twilight asked him while Fang gathered up the cards.
Spirit levitated the Poké Seal and placed it in the center of the table. "The deck has already singled out the ponies who we can relate to."
"That or it's reaching into our memories and plucking out the ponies we've interacted with the most," Fang said with a grin.
"Very clever." Spirit signaled for Twilight and Spike to sit down. "Somehow, for unknown reasons, there are always a select number of individuals in every world we go to who we seem to spend the most time with. They help us in our mission and introduce us to the workings of their world. Earth-shaking events are often centered around them too."
"You mean things like Nightmare Moon's return?" Spike asked.
"Exactly. It's these beings who stick with us through thick and thin. And it would seem that here in Equestria, those individuals are you and your friends."
Twilight's eyes sparkled. "Do you really think so?"
"I'm positive," Spirit confirmed. "The manifestations, while they enjoy causing trouble to just about anypony, seem to have a preference for those who are closest to me and Fang. The picnic was the beginning of our friendship and the manifestation we caught took it as a sign to intervene. For some reason though, it decided to talk first and fight second."
"Just like the manifestation in your vision!" Twilight remembered.
"It's not like these guys to get all chatty," Fang reminded. "Something must have happened to them to change their tactics, even ever so slightly."
"Maybe we could get the Princess's help on this," Spike suggested.
"The Princess!" Spirit and Twilight shouted together, shocking the two dragons into falling flat on their backs.
"We need to write to Princess Celestia about everything that's happened!" Twilight yelled, grabbing the stallion by the shoulders. "She must know about the threat of the manifestations. And I still haven't sent her my friendship report from yesterday!"
Spirit gently grasped Twilight's hooves. "I completely agree with you, Twilight, but you need to calm down." The purple unicorn slowly settled back onto the floor. She leaned back against the table. "Actually, I've been meaning to ask you if I could send a letter along with your report, a message to the Princess from me."
Twilight thought for a moment. "Well, I guess we could send both scrolls together. What are you going to tell the Princess?"
"Everything. The manifestations, me and Fang, the Republic, all she'll need to know to help us out." He picked up the Seal and passed it between his hooves. "I don't think we should try sending the Seal along. It might open on the way."
"I'm not even sure that would even work," Twilight said.
"Why not?" Fang asked, confused. "How do you send your letters?"
Spike stepped forward proudly. "Princess Celestia enchanted my fire breath so that whenever Twilight needs to send her a friendship report, I burn the scroll with my dragon fire, then the ashes rematerialize wherever Princess Celestia is. Also, if the Princess has a message for Twilight, she can send it over with her magic."
"And where does it appear then?" Fang asked, more interested in that part for some reason.
"Oh..." Spike suddenly lost his confidence. "I, uh... belch it out."
Fang stared astounded in to space. He turned his gaze on Spirit and Twilight, the former eyeing him disinterestedly and the later staring unimpressed. "That is," he said, trying to hold back his mirth, "rather unique. And unusual. And hilarious."
"Well, I'm glad you had the decency not to crack up about it like you would usually do," Spirit said. "Now Twilight, how about those letters."
"Oh, right. Come on over here, Spirit." The two unicorns went over to the writing desk beside the window where two pieces of parchment were already laid out. "Spike, did you prepare everything ahead of time again?" Twilight questioned.
The purple dragon shrugged. "Thought you'd need it eventually, so I took care of it beforehand."
Twilight smiled. "Aww, thanks Spike." She levitated two quills and laid one by her parchment and one by Spirit's. "The inkwell's right there, so let's get started."
"This isn't a race," Spirit reminded her, "so no need to hurry. Take your time to fine-tune your message."
"You're right, but these letters to Celestia have to be written tonight."
Spirit levitated his quill. "Then let's get started."
Without another word, the two unicorns bent over their parchments and began to write. The only sound in the library was the scritching and scratching of the quills and the soft humming of the ponies as they wrote, each one engrossed in their own letter. Spike whispered to Fang so as not to disturb their friends. "This is gonna take forever, isn't it."
"Rubbish. They're just trying to make sure they mention everything and anything important. And that could take some time." The dragons waited patiently for Spirit and Twilight to finish penning their messages.
"Done!" the two unicorns cried out several minutes later, pulling away from the writing desk each with a piece of parchment. Twilight picked up her friendship report from the previous day and wrapped it inside her new letter.
"Feels good to be writing with quills again," Spirit said, carefully reviewing his letter. "It's been a while since I last did."
"What kind of things did you write?" Spike asked
"Big, heavy scrolls that needed to be wrapped around two separate wooden rods because each one is about one-hundred forty feet long."
"Not to mention they often get carried around a lot and 140 feet of parchment plus two wooden poles are, as Spirit said, very heavy," Fang added.
Twilight was amazed. "How many of these scrolls exist?"
"Hundreds. Communities worldwide use them, sometimes having more than one." Spirit looked out the window at Ponyville. "Maybe I'll start writing one here in Equestria. It'll be a good pastime."
"I'd sure like to see how you work," Twilight said, "but we should probably get our letter to the Princess."
Spirit gave Twilight his message. "Okay Spike," Twilight called as she sealed the two finished scrolls, one extra inside her own. "It's time to show Spirit and Fang what you can do." She hoofed over the scrolls to Spike.
"Let's do this thing." Spike held the scrolls in front of him and blew a jet of green flame. The parchment instantly caught fire and disintegrated, the ashes flying out the window Twilight just opened. Spirit and Fang hurried over to the window and watched as the trail of smoke and paper bits flew off towards a city on the side of a mountain.
Fang gazed at the far-off mountain in awe. "What is that?"
"That's Canterlot," Twilight replied, slowly closing the window as the three of them returned to the table. "That's where Princess Celestia lives. It's also where I used to live and study magic until she asked I continue here in Ponyville."
"Do you regret agreeing to her decision?" Spirit asked with a hint of concern. "Living far from your family and friends?"
Twilight stared back, slightly shocked at his unexpected question. "Like I said, I never really had any friends back in Canterlot or in school, and I definitely never thought of disagreeing with the Princess. Anyways, I know she wouldn't make me do something that would make me feel uncomfortable. Besides, me, my parents and my brother are still in contact, even if it is mostly via letters."
"Of course," agreed Spirit, though there was still a thoughtful look in his eye.
"Okay, moving on!" Fang shouted. "What are we gonna do about the manifestations? They could be anywhere by now!"
"We can't do anything until they come out into the open. We need a lead so let's wait." Spirit went over to the bookshelf and got down 'The Magic Instructor'. "Also, I'd like to get a move on in my own studies."
Twilight immediately became excited. "Yay, back to learning!"
"Can unicorns teleport?" Spirit asked her as she joined him by the book, which he lay on the table and opened it to the spot they had stopped at. "Teleportation is something I understand and I was wondering—"
"Yes, to answer your question, unicorns can teleport." Twilight flipped several pages. "We can always go back to those later. Ah, here it is." With the right page open, Twilight and Spirit began a conversation discussing the transfer of matter from one place to another instantaneously, each one with their own sources.
Spike stumbled clumsily over to the two ponies, faceplanting on the table. "I don't know about you guys," Spike mumbled through the wood, "but I'm exhausted."
Spirit pulled the dragon's face of the table and held Spike out in front of him. "Fang," Spirit called over to him, "could you go put Spike to sleep? Try the BNSG Sleep Wave."
Fang rubbed his claws together. "Been a while since I tried, but it should work fine." He threw the prostrate but still-conscious dragon over his shoulder and marched upstairs.
"What's he going to do to Spike?" Twilight asked Spirit.
"Just a little sleeping trick we learned when we were younger. Come on, let's go watch."
Shrugging, Twilight followed Spirit up to the bedroom, where Fang was setting Spike up in front of his basket bed. The purple dragon's eyes were droopy, but still very much open. "Alright, we're all set," Fang told the ponies. "Let's see if I still remember how to do this." He raised his claw and pushed it in front of Spike's face, waving it back and forth as he counted. "One. Two. Three." On three, Spike's eyes shut and he fell backwards, landing softly on his bed where he began to snore.
Twilight and Spirit stomped their hooves as quietly as they could. "That was amazing, Fang!" Twilight whispered so as not to wake Spike. "How did you do it?"
Fang just smiled. "Science." Then he gave Spirit a fist-hoof bump.
"We should get back to our studies, Twilight," Spirit reminded her.
"You guys think I can join you?" Fang pleaded. "I haven't had a good magic discussion since we got here and that's far too long to be going without it."
"I agree," Twilight said. "Come on. We've got some modes of instantaneous transportation to talk about!"
"Yay!"
"Let's do this!"
The three friends proceeded down the library steps to continue where Spirit and Twilight left off, Spike sleeping soundly above them. With the memories of recent events and thoughts of possible outcomes, they spent the rest of the day conversing about the many different types of magic available to unicorns in Equestria. Only one thing kept nagging at the back of their heads.
I wonder what the Princess will think of all this.