//------------------------------// // Q&A BONUS: Alicorns Assemble! // Story: The Overworked Alicorn // by BreakDown //------------------------------// Faust sits in her office with a smile. She waves to the audience and then clears her throat. "Welcome back everybrony!" she states humorously. "A few weeks ago," she begins with an annoyed frown, "our esteemed Author promised another Q&A chapter," she explained. She then took on an annoyed expression. "Unfortunately the Author got distracted by a number of things, not the least of which was Five Nights at Freddy's," she explained. "Because of this this chapter is, as usual lately, fairly late in getting out to you," she admits with a sigh. She then rubs her hoof on her chest and regards it. "Now normally I'd put the author in a headlock or force him to clean the tower," she notes aloud. She then smirks darkly as she looks to the audience. "However I felt like being ironic and so decided that the punishment will have to fit the crime," she declared. With that her horn began to glow and a screen appeared next to her. "So since he was so busy getting ready for Freddy, I decided to have some fun of my own," she states and then turns to the screen. "Let's take a look," she states cheerfully. BreakDown groaned as he woke up strapped into a chair. He looked around and feels his eye twitch. He was in a small dirty looking office with a single light above him. There were several TV's in front of him, a small fan, and what looked like a purple cupcake with eyes. There were also children's pictures on the wall of familiar characters, and a poster that says 'Celebrate' with the same characters. To either side is a large open door with two buttons. He idly notices he can reach out to either side to press the buttons. BreakDown quickly lifts a screen in front of him. He finds he can change several views via-camera's. He soon spots three very familiar creatures and gulps. Bonnie the Bunny. Chica the Chicken, though was oft confused for a duck. Freddy Fazbear. He also noticed Pirates Cove, including a purple curtain, where Foxy the Pirate was likely waiting. The author looked around frantically for a moment and then tried to get out of his restraints. Suddenly the phone started ringing. BreakDown looked to the phone as it rings and is suddenly answered. "Hello... Hello?" Faust's voice comes from the phone. BreakDown tries to speak, only to reach a hoof up when he realizes he can't speak. "Yeah, I cast a spell so you wouldn't interrupt me," Faust admits cheekily. "Now anyways, welcome to Freddy Fazbears Pizzeria! You know how I always get annoyed with you for forgetting to update? Well, you really need to learn your lesson! Anyways, I just wanted to leave a message for you since that's part of the game. You seemed to be having so much fun with it I thought, 'Faust, lets really teach him a lesson this time'!" BreakDown glares at the phone as he hears an evil chuckle. "So anyways, with how much you've seen this game, you should know the rules already so have fun! Oh, and don't forget to be ready for Freddy," the ancient alicorn singsonged. A moment later the recording ended and BreakDown growled low in his throat. He then looked to the camera's and then pulled up the controls so he could look at the stage... Bonnie was out already! BreakDown scowled darkly. "Faust, I don't know where you are, but I am so getting you back for this!" Faust still smirks evilly as the magic screen vanishes. She clears her throat and regards the audience with a much less evil smile. "As you can see, the author's well deserved punishment is already underway," she states with a nod. "Now, this was originally going to be a 'Q&A' chapter, however we only got one question from multiple readers. As such the chapter is less Q&A and more Bonus. That means that for the most part it will be based on that single question you all asked me," the ancient alicorn explains. "The question everybrony asked was 'How Many Alicorns are there?' and 'What / who are all the other alicorns,' or something to that effect," the ivory alicorn explained. "As such we shall start this with the oldest Alicorn, me, and work our way up to the youngest of our number. Now please remember that while I do know quite a bit I am not aware of everything. As such it is very likely a few beings similar to an Alicorn exist that I simply don't know about," the ancient alicorn admitted. "That aside I will try to keep the explanations concise while also occasionally making sure The Author isn't horribly maimed by his friends in Freddy's Pizzeria," Faust continued. She then cleared her throat and stretched her wings. "Now, the oldest Alicorn is of course myself," she admits, "but that is not a go ahead to make cracks at my age," she states with a look. She then smirked darkly as she regarded her audience for a moment. "Course if you want to test me on that Freddy and the gang could probably use more company," she notes with a nod. "I am a former resident of Dream Valley, former student to Princess Majesty, creator of the Elements of Harmony, former Caretaker of Celestia and Luna, and guardian of the Grand Archives," she began. "Now then, as you should know by now my field of influence is over creativity and imagination, as such I am comparable to a muse," the ancient alicorn begins. "As a result of this my mere presence can cause inspiration in ponies of all types. An example of this was when I brought about inspiration in Rarity despite only being in her presence a relatively short time. Another unfortunate example is the Necronomicon as it learned and grew more creative. This was more because it'd been in the tower alongside me for so long. This also means that despite my best efforts I can be the cause of some of the worst ideas ponies have," Faust admits. "Not only am I the oldest, I am also the most powerful alicorn," Faust admits. She then grimaced and rubbed her temples with her hooves. "This is not me being arrogant however. As you have learned in the story Dream Valley was a magnet for ancient evils and monsters of great power. As such I grew up and had to defend myself. While magically I'm not the strongest I am far from weak. My greatest boon is, of course, my creativity and the fact I know how to actually fight unlike many of the others," Faust admits. The ancient alicorn suddenly closes her eyes and her horn begins to glow. With a sudden flash she appears in a monotone world with a large mansion. Upon her arrival the ivory mare walks into the mansion passed a butler. She casually greets the butler and makes her way to the study of the next Alicorn. "Next in line is Mort, AKA Mortis The Black," she explains. With that she enters into Mort's study to see the Grim Galloper himself. He rests behind a desk with a stack of paperwork in front of him. He sees the ancient alicorn enter and tilts his head to one side. "FAUST, TO WHAT DO I OWE THE VISIT?" Mort questions. Faust figited for a moment, she wasn't so enthusiastic about being around Mort. But she did have a job to do and questions to answer. "Q&A day," Faust states and then clears her throat. "Now Mort was originally an Outer Unicorn from the outer tribes. In his youth he was blind and bound to his father. I felt bad for him when I saw him this way and taught him the 'Soul Sight' spell," Faust begins. She then folds her ears back and shoots Mort a look. "Of course Mort then saw fit to use that spell as a base and created the art of Necromancy. Mort is, as such, the father of Necromancy and it's only true master," the ancient mare noted with a nod. "ACTUALLY THERE IS AN ARCH-LICH IN THE GRIFFON KINGDOM WHO IS ALMOST ON PAR WITH ME IN THAT RESPECT," Mort admits. Faust stops and stares at the pale pony with a frown. "How powerful we talking?" she questions slowly. "POWERFUL ENOUGH TO LITERALLY BLACKEN THE SKIES OVER A SMALL COUNTRY," Mort admits. Faust stares at the pale pony for a moment and then brings her hoof to her face. "And you've never mentioned this before... why?" she questioned incredulously. "I NEVER GOT A CHANCE TO DEAL WITH HIM BEFORE HE BECAME A LICH. DEALING WITH HIM NOW MIGHT BE A BIT TOO DIFFICULT. ASIDE FROM THAT HE ONLY BECAME AN ARCH-LICH TO KILL THE KING OF THE GRIFFONS A FEW CENTURIES BACK. YOU RECALL BLOOD-CLAW THE FOURTH OR BLOOD-CLAW THE BLOATED, YES?" Mort questioned. Faust stopped and thought for a moment, only to scowl deeply as she recalled that particular king of the Griffons. "Oh yes, I recall how he let his subjects starve while he feasted every night until his death..." she remarked darkly. She then looked to Mort with an admittedly curious gaze. "So this Lich isn't a threat?" she questioned. Mort shrugged his wings in response. "NO MORE SO THAN ANY OTHER LICH," he admitted. Faust stared at Mort, the pale pony stared back. Faust brought a hoof to her face while he watched her. "..." All was quiet until Faust let out a breath through her nose. "That really doesn't fill me with confidence Mort," Faust replied flatly. Mort nodded his head in agreement, then looked to some paperwork he still had to deal with. "Now then where was I?" she wondered and tapped her chin. She then clopped her hoof on the floor and smiled brightly. "Oh right! Mort became an Alicorn when he mastered all forms of death both giving and taking, this means that he had to die in order to achieve his state as an alicorn," Faust explained. "FUNNY HOW YOU WERE THE ONE THAT KILLED ME," Mort suddenly noted. Faust turned and glared at the stallion. He merely sat there with his face hidden by the shadows of his hood. Not that he even had a face anymore, it was all bone and such now. "Mort, be a dear and shut up," Faust growled. "In any case, Mort is the incarnation of Death and Decay. This means that Mort has control of all aspects of death and even Un-Death, which honestly isn't surprising. He was a necromancer before he became an alicorn after all. Now not only does he have control of death but decay as well, this includes a passive ability to induce rot in things around him, as such he can actually rot things by mere touch if he isn't careful," Faust explained. Mort stilled at that with what amounted to a haunted look on his face. "THOSE POOR PONIES... I HAD NO IDEA A HOOF BUMP COULD GO SO WRONG," he murmured with a shake of his head. Faust choose to completely ignore that disturbing image. "Now as Mort is second oldest he is also the second most powerful of the Alicorns. Despite some debate by ponies now, Death and Creativity are not evenly matched. Creativity is constantly changing and evolving, it is something that can in some ways surpass itself if given time. Death... Death is stagnation, as such Death never changes it always just is. That means that while Mort should be more powerful by now, he isn't because he can't grow stronger, or on the inverse, weaker," Faust explained. "Moving on," Faust began and winked out of Mort's home. Mort stared at where Faust had been for a moment then sighed. He'd talk to her more later, for now he had to get back to his paperwork... Faust appeared in a large familiar forest. The trees were large and grey, their leaves black and night. While little light was to be seen came from pinpricks between the leaves and branches. These small pinpricks looked more like stars than a true source of light. The ancient alicorn soon noticed something move and narrowed her eyes. She turned as a familiar tall pony lowered himself behind her. It was the faceless one, the tall stallion, the slender mare, Tree-Mane. "Hello Tree-Mane," Faust stated with an incline of her head. She was formal with Tree-Mane. Mostly because she wasn't friends with it. "..." Of course Tree-Mane's answer was impossible for the mundane to hear. Regardless Faust stood beside of Tree-Mane and looked to the audience. "Tree-Mane, the faceless one, the tall stallion, the slender mare, and about a dozen other names. They all refer to this creature," Faust admitted with a nod to her side. "Unlike many other alicorns, Tree-Mane's origins are unknown, even to it," Faust admitted. Tree-Mane twisted its head to the side and then nodded. "Its true beginnings have been lost to time and circumstance, all that I know is that it first appeared in a small village in the Black Forest," Faust explained. She then closed her ears and pinned her ears back. "His first appearance was when it began to steal away fillies and colts in the night. If they wandered into the forest it would collect them, if they actually saw it well that was basically a death wish," Faust admitted. Tree-Mane didn't seem to react either way though it twisted its head to the other side. "Further, when the ponies tried to set the forest on fire, Tree-Mane reacted... badly," Faust admitted with a visible grimace. She then shivered as Tree-Mane raised itself up high, looming over all beneath it ominously. "If you wander into the forest you can actually still find traces of those poor ponies," Faust admitted, "but not all of them are just bones," she noted her ears pinned back once more. She then took a breath and shot a look at the tall pony. It regarded her for a moment then lowered itself down to its hooves. Its long branches twisted and then folded at its side in a twisted parody of an alicorns wings while Faust turned to look at the audience. "Tree-Mane is the 'Alicorn' of Shadows and Fear, his power is the fears within a ponies mind. It can use these fears against them, twisting their perception of reality into a nightmare from which there is no escape. Constant exposure to Tree-Mane's power causes paranoia and what has been dubbed 'Slender-Sickness'. Due to his abilities with shadows, Tree-Mane can move itself where ever shadows exist, as such there is literally nowhere safe from it," Faust admitted. Tree-Mane merely tilted its head in response. "Despite all in its favor, Tree-Mane is not the most dangerous alicorn alive. It is powerful, it is dangerous, but the rest of us can just as easily be considered dangerous. Because of its abilities with fear and paranoia it is often considered the most evil of us, these traits make it seem like it would also be the most dangerous. However to ponies like me, who have had to face our fears, Tree-Mane's powers are far less dangerous and it is less of a threat," Faust admitted. Tree-Mane didn't seem to react. "Further, despite his abilities with fear and shadows, it has no magical abilities to use if it needs to fight. Typically Tree-Mane prefers to use a more psychological approach, using paranoia and fear to do away with enemies rather than outright fight them. While this can be a great tactic, it can also be dangerous. As proven with 'The Creatures' who do not have any fear its physical abilities are sorely limited and it can be hurt very easily," Faust explained. Tree-mane merely tilted its head. "On occasion these injuries force open its 'white flesh' to reveal an oozing black mass," Faust admitted, "this ooze is in fact Tree-Mane's truest form. Tree-Mane is not a pony despite appearing as one, it is quantified as an alicorn more by way of power, longevity, and of course the fact we can't really call it anything else," Faust admitted. Tree-Mane tilted its head to the other side and then looked to the distance where an old ruined village was visible. "Now I," Faust started only to notice Tree-Mane had vanished. She halted for a moment and then breathed a sigh of relief. Only to still at a far away scream... "I am so out of here," she stated and vanished in a flash. Faust reappeared in the kingdom of the Sea-Ponies. Around her neck the breath-choker given to her by them. She grinned as she saw a mildly surprised Aquaria. "Morning Riptide," she stated with a wave. The other alicorn arched a brow then smiled. "Morning Auntie, is this visit business or pleasure this time?" the sea-pony queen questioned. "Bit of both, some ponies asked how many alicorns were around," Faust admitted. Aquaria nodded only to ponder that herself. "I must admit I'm a bit curious about that myself," the sea alicorn admitted. Faust smiled slightly to her surrogate niece. "I'll send you a letter detailing all of us later," Faust assured. She then took a breath and grinned to the audience. "Now we have Aqauria, she is the Sea-Pony queen. But originally she was an everyday Sea-Pony by the name of Riptide. Her special talent was current manipulation, this allowed her to achieve speeds otherwise unheard of down here. She was also a rebel, constantly seeking danger and trouble, not to mention she invented several maneuvers Sea-Ponies use to this very day," Faust explained. Aquaria looked to her surrogate aunt with a smirk. "Some pony has been using the notes I sent with her I see," the ocean mare noted aloud. Faust merely gave her 'niece' a look then turned back to the audience. "Now then Aquaria is the Alicorn of Sea and Healing, meaning she has power over the oceans and an ability to heal. As an inversion of Mort, Riptide has a passive ability that literally causes ponies to have healthier longer lives than strictly necessary. This can be seen by the fact the oldest Sea-Pony is around two hundred and still very spry for her age," Faust explained. Aquaria smiled as she thought of her friend, well one of them since she had a great many friends. Most of whom tended to live very extended lives. "Needless to say, some other Alicorns are annoyed by the fact she alone has this ability," Faust stated flatly. Aquaria merely shrugged, it wasn't like she could control what was essentially a passive ability. Nor was it her fault none of them had a similar ability to her. "Anyways, she is the fourth oldest of our number, as far as I know, and potentially one of the most powerful beings in the entire ocean without Squirk around that is," Faust explained. However she then noticed Aquaria hum and let out an internal sigh. "Technically speaking auntie, the Dazzlings used to be a bit of a problem," she admitted. "Didn't you banish them to another universe," Faust questioned. "Well yes, but my point still stands," Aquaria admitted. Faust merely shot her a look then rolled her eyes. "Now while Aquaria is an exceptionally talented sea-mare, this doesn't mean she's powerful. She is, in fact, one of the least outright powerful Alicorns when you look at her combat ability. She even needs a suit of armor to take on an old ghost!" Faust explained. Aquaria winced and shot her 'aunt' a look. "You still haven't forgiven me for that?" she questioned with a blush. "Nope," Faust replied with a smirk. "Anyways, she is primarily a healer, not a fighter, despite her rough and tumble nature. I personally think that its karma getting back at her," Faust admitted. Aquaria merely rolled her eyes. You send a few dozen sharks to parts unknown with currents and suddenly Karma is against you... "Among many other things, Sea-Pony biology has been affected since Riptide began her rule. They have gained forelimbs as a result of continuous breeding with sailors who were lost at sea," Faust explained. Aquaria tilted her head and looked to her 'aunt' she then grinned. "We treated them very well," she assured. Faust sent her 'niece' a look in response. "Did you let any of 'em leave?" the ancient alicorn questioned. Aquaria looked thoughtful for a moment then grinned. "They kind of didn't want too," the ocean alicorn admitted. Faust stared at her bluntly for a moment then brought a hoof to her face and groaned. "Sailors," she muttered. Aquaria idly nodded her head, a smile across her face. However the smile soon died and she leaned back in her throne. "Admittedly though, I personally never had much if any fun with them," the sea alicorn admitted. "There isn't much point too having fun with sailor ponies considering I'm immortal and can't have foals myself," she stated with a sigh. Faust merely cleared her throat and didn't think about that. It was the most common thing alicorns shared between one another. They were immortal and incapable of having foals of their own... "Now then, Riptide is the ruler of the Hippocampi, who are a subset of the Sea-Ponies. Another Subset are the 'Mer-Mares' who have been seen on occasion and resemble the more traditional Sea-Ponies, only are much bigger. The last subset are Sirens, larger Sea-Ponies who use their musical abilities for more... nefarious purposes," Faust explained. Aquaria nodded with narrowed eyes as she recalled the Dazzlings. She also made a note to have them executed if they tried to get back... "Now moving on," Faust stated and vanished in a flash. Aquaria arched a brow for a moment then sat back with a pout. As ruler of the Hippocampi she had quite a bit of work to do. Unlike normal ponies Sea-Ponies tended to be very... active. Unfortunately this didn't mean they did their jobs, no, they preferred goofing off to doing work. As such she'd likely have to get them all back on track a few thousand times a day. 'Sometimes it's not easy being queen,' she inwardly admitted. BreakDown really didn't like this. He twitched as he closed the door on his right again. Chica was being a jerk and standing outside that door almost constantly. 'Keep the chicken, now where is Bonnie?' he wondered to himself. He quickly checked all of his cameras to look for the purple bunnie. He groaned when he found it sitting in the broom closet. 'Why?' he wondered to himself only to sigh. He then checked for Chica outside of his door. Thankfully the chicken had decided to mess with the kitchen instead. He then checked on Foxy in Pirates Cove and grimaced. He was looking out from the curtain and staring at the camera. Suppressing a shiver he then checked on Freddy. Thankfully the bear hadn't moved since last he checked on him. BreakDown immediately put the tablet down and checked the doors. Bonnie's face appeared in the darkness and he quickly hit the button to shut the door. Letting out a breath BreakDown looked to the other door. Thankfully Chica hadn't decided to come back to bug him. Instead BreakDown checked the camera's again only to halt. He could see several posters in one of the cameras and widened his eyes. On it was a familiar vision of a child crying. Triplicated and lining the hall. The brown pegasus shivered and then went back to work on not dying. He checked outside the right door and opened it when he saw Bonnie's shadow wasn't present. He then checked the right and didn't see Chica so moved on. He checked on Foxy only to close the door to his left when he saw he wasn't there anymore. Though the sign that said 'Its Me' made things just a bit more unnerving. He heard a bang against the door and let out a breath. He noticed his power was dwindling and lowered his tablet. He checked outside of the doors, nothing was present. He opened them and then let out a breath as he tried to think of a way out of this situation. Barring that he was trying to think of the most painful way he could get revenge on Faust. He allowed these thoughts to continue before checking around and quickly shutting both doors. Bonnie and Chica were really active tonight. He also used the tablet to check on Freddy and widened his eyes... He was gone... Faust arrived in Canterlot, she looked around to make sure she hadn't hit any bumps on the way. She then nodded and winked to the castle. Once there she walked inside, nodded to the guards and went to the throne room. There she found Celestia and Luna, the younger sister looked rather bored while the older listened to a stallion drone on and on about something. Faust arched a brow and cast a quick freezing charm, not the typical freezing charm, one that literally froze him in a moment. As such he would have no memory of ever being frozen and simply continue with his droning after she was finished. "Mother!" Luna declared happily and galloped to the older alicorn. Faust nuzzled the lunar mare for a moment then trotted to Celestia, the solar diarch arched a brow. "I take it there is a reason for this unexpected visit?" she questioned. "I was asked about how many alicorns there are," Faust replied with a shrug. "Truly, we have oft wondered that," Luna admitted. Celestia had as well, she had a fair idea how many of them there were of course but she could use a little confirmation. Although she admitted the likelihood of Faust giving her a straight answer was slim at best. "So I take it we're next?" the solar mare questioned. Faust simply nodded and then cleared her throat. "Celestia and Luna, AKA Celestial Majesty and Lunar Glory, they are the alicorns of Light and Balance," Faust began. Luna blinked and looked to Celestia. "I thought we were the Sun and Moon," she admitted. Celestia smiled slightly in response. A lot of ponies tended to make that mistake. "We are, but our element is illumination in general Luna," the solar alicorn replied. "Hey!" Faust stated and the sisters were silent. "Anyways, these two got their cutie-marks for moving the sun and moon. They were also alicorns before they got their cutie-marks," Faust admitted with a frown. Luna tilted her head and looked at her mother curiously. "Mother, how is it we became Alicorns before finding our talents?" she questioned. Faust frowned and shrugged her shoulders in response. "I have like a dozen theories but the most likely is that being close to me and Tree-Mane for some many years had a something to do with it," she admitted. Celestia shuddered as she remembered Tree-Mane. It was that horrible thing's fault that she was so terrified of spiders after all! "Now then, Luna and Celestia represent the sun and moon, but back when they were fillies this wasn't always so obvious. Celestia was bookish and Luna had a love of adventure and pranks a mile wide," the ancient alicorn noted. "We have come to enjoy pranks once more," Luna admitted. "With help from Pinkie Pie," Celestia added with a smirk. "Aye," Luna admitted and looked away from her sister. "Yeah... anyways, when they originally left my tower to stop Discord they were of course surprised that he had left on his own," Faust continued. Celestia frowned deeply and sighed. "Apparently he was bored of ruling the ponies and went to find something more amusing to do," she noted. Luna nodded her head with a frown. "In any case," Faust stated with a glare on Celestia. She was kind of getting sick of every pony interrupting her. "When they came to the pony lands they met Starswirl the Bearded in his youth. Now they were also still young at the time but since I had taught them they in turn taught him what they knew of magic. At which point Starswirl quickly found a proficiency for creating spells and went on to become the arch mage of the unicorn kingdom," Faust continued. However as had been the case Luna added her own two bits. "Aye, Starswirl was a grand student, we wish only that he had been slightly less gruff," Luna admitted. "True, and then we became Alicorns and looked even younger than we had before," Celestia added. "I found that kind of fun, especially when Starswirl took us as 'students' to help us find our talents, not that it helped with our parents of course," she admitted. She also wished their birth parents had at least taken a token interest in them. Outside of them being the rulers of Equestria later on that is... "Twas not fun for us Sister, twas strange and annoying," Luna noted flatly. "Yes, well after Celestia and Luna attained their forms as Alicorns they were eventually made rulers of Equestria. At which point they started to build a castle in the everfree and learned that Luna has the ability to communicate with most species, including Manticores," Faust explained. Luna smiled as she recalled her Manticore friend, she then frowned and wondered if he was still around, or if he had had descendants in the Everfree... "Eventually they discovered their talent for raising the sun and moon, the tree of harmony, yadda yadda," Faust noted with a roll of her hoof. Celestia looked at Faust with an arched brow. She wondered why she seemed so impatient today. "Now as you should know, Celestia and Luna are essentially linked to the sun and moon. This link grants them increased magical ability and even alters their physical forms slightly, Luna is actually adorable and Celestia is an off shade of pink," Faust explained. Celestia grumbled under her breath while Luna snickered to herself. "That shade of pink is a result of her trying a spell to gain her cutie-mark early going awry, instead it turned her bright pink," Faust continued to explain. She had an amused smirk on her face while Celestia glared at her. Luna however burst out laughing and fell onto her side. She too received a glare from Celestia for her trouble. Luna soon took a breath and sat up with a wide grin. "Come now sister, certainly the mare who invented 'Chuckle-Lot' can appreciate a little self-depreciating humor due to your foalishness as a filly," the lunar mare stated. Celestia muttered under her breath and Faust went back to her explanation. "Now while Celestia and Luna are both powerful, neither are especially dangerous unless angered. Celestia is the more defensive and Luna the more offensive. While Celestia can fight, and well I might add, she prefers a tactical approach and defending her allies rather than outright fighting. Luna makes up for this with a brash harsh and quick style of combat when motivated, while the need for her to fight has been minimal in this era, in their early days she was needed to make use of her abilities quite often," Faust explained. Faust then frowned deeply and glared at the two. They glanced at one another and looked at the older mare questioningly. "And before anyone mentions the Changelings, these two purposely allowed the elements, Shining Armor, and Cadence to deal with that," the elder mare stated. Celestia grimaced and looked away while Luna shot a look at her sister. "We told thee it was a bad idea," she muttered quietly. "It worked didn't it," Celestia responded. Faust rolled her eyes and went back to her explanation. "Aside from that Celestia has also had problems like Cockatrice and other such creatures, she had Spike help her in that fight despite not needing it and the elements requiring help against invading Changelings, before then shes had ponies help her defend Canterlot despite yet again being perfectly capable of fighting. Celestia says she does so because she believes it will help them learn. Because she doesn't want her ponies to depend on her because she is more a teacher than anything, and prefers that to all other tittles," Faust continued to explain. Luna looked at her sister with a flat expression. "Sister, we believe we may need to have a talk about thy heavy hoofed teaching methods," Luna stated flatly. "Oh, and did I forget to mention she had the elements face a dragon once?" Faust suddenly questioned. "She did what!?" Luna demanded. "Anyways I have other places to be, later Celly, Lulu," the mare started and winked out of existence. Celestia grimaced internally. Luna was now glaring at her eyes demanding an explanation. Worse was that the stallion from before was now back to droning on and on in a dull monotone. Not for the first time, she wondered why Faust took so much amusement out of picking on her. Faust reappeared in a world of sand. Among the sand were bits of and pieces of strange things. Metal limbs and what resembled broken pepper pods. Around the sand was a vast void, a schism of sorts. It was a place where time had no meaning. Soon however she spotted the mass of twisting turning gears at the center. There sat Clockwork Gears, and she approached him from behind calmly. He glanced back to see her and grinned. "Ello Faust," he stated simply. "Not going to ask why I'm here?" Faust questioned. The time stallion's eyes twinkled as he merely grinned in response. "Right, I almost forgot who I'm talking too," Faust noted with a shake of her head. She then cleared her throat and looked to the audience with a smile. "Clockwork Gears, Temporal Machina, The Lonely God, The Time Lord, he has many names and even more tittles. He is the lord of Trottingham and a vastly powerful Alicorn for he controls Time and Machines," Faust explained. Clockwork raised a hoof and waved. "He is also a little crazy as a result of his trip through the time vortex," Faust admitted. Clockwork merely shrugged his shoulders. That wasn't exactly incorrect after all. "Clockwork was originally named Temporal Machina, and his special talent was telling time. He used this talent to create clocks and other measures of time. Eventually he also created a time-machine, however it backfired and trapped him in the Time-Vortex," Faust explained. Clockwork then interrupted her with his own two bits. "While trapped in the Time-Vortex all time lost meaning, I could've been there for a million years or a million seconds and it wouldn't have mattered. I lost my sanity while I was there, got bored of being insane and got back to normal, and then finally tried to find a way out," he explained. He then rapped his hoof four times and let out a sigh. "Though not before the drums in the time-vortex got a bit stuck in my head," he admitted. Faust looked a little uncomfortable with that as she cleared her throat and continued. "Yeah, anyways Clockwork's original body was elderly so it was unable to sustain itself in the Time-Vortex. As a result he ascended, because he mastered time. In doing so Clockwork became an alicorn, of sorts. His truest form is immaterial more like a golden mist or flame than a pony," Faust noted. Clockwork nodded his head. "However he is the master of machines and so he used that and the pieces of machines to build himself new bodies in order to walk among ponies," Faust explained. "Right! It was a bit confusing of course since I wasn't always able to control the end product, specially that one time I ended up as a mare," he noted mostly to himself. Faust looked at Clockwork strangely and then shook her head with a sigh. "In any case Clockwork can be considered one of the significantly powerful Alicorns. This is because he can manipulate time, for most foes all he needs to do is speed up time and or dump them in a different time period. He finds both ways useful for dealing with the forces that have come out to face him," Faust explained. Clockwork idly looked around and whistled as he listed a few other ways he had gotten rid of them in his head. "Among other things Clockwork's presence can make time fluid. This allows him to move through time at a whim and to bring other ponies with him if he needs too. Often times Clockwork has had companions, allies, and other such ponies or other beings who have followed him on his journeys. Sometimes he has friends he likes to visit in certain time periods and keep an eye on beings who will be important to history. Plainly put, Clockwork likes to jump around history," Faust explained. Clockwork made not attempt to deny this and instead grinned widely. "I also hop around the planet," the time-stallion stated and then tapped his chin, "you know Griffany is beautiful in the spring." Faust rolled her eyes and then considered things for a moment. A grimace crossed her lips as a result as she remembered what else Clockwork did for Equestria. "Yes well, Clockwork is also an early warning for when certain otherworldly horrors start showing up," she admitted. Clockwork's smile faded and a shudder traveled the length of his spine. Otherworldly horrors didn't necessarily mean aliens, it meant far worse things that had visited their tiny world. Things he was not at liberty to discuss or even think about without having a way to make himself forget on hoof... "Can we please skip that bit," Clockwork pleaded. Faust silently nodded her head, only to frown. "Have you managed to find The Necronomicon yet?" she questioned. Clockwork grimaced and let out a tired sigh. "West Wind has it again," he replied. Faust shivered and rubbed her forelimbs as if suddenly stricken by cold. "Great, the pony who likes reviving the dead and replacing her own body parts has that stupid book," she muttered to herself. "Have you gotten Mort to look for her?" she questioned. "Herr West likes to hide in places we really can't go," Clockwork replied. "So Griffany then?" she questioned. Clockwork silently nodded his head. The ivory alicorn let out a grunt and brought her hoof to her face. "Great, I'll have War-Helm talk to the Griffon king, that book is too dangerous in any thing's hooves or hands or claws or whatever!" she stated. Clockwork nodded his head in full agreement with the ancient alicorn. "Anyways I best be off Clockwork," she stated and vanished in a flash. Clockwork however looked to his turning gears with a serious expression. The future was never completely certain and that really worried him... Faust reappeared in the Crystal Empire. She looked around for only a moment before she winked to the castle. Inside she found Cadence resting on her throne. She looked a little sleepy, though more from boredom than anything else. Faust approached and the pink princess' was instantly more alert. "Hello Miss Faust, how are you today?" she questioned. Faust smiled and approached the other mare. "Fine, some ponies asked me about all the alicorns and I figured I'd get a list of 'em," she explained. Cadence seemed interested, though that was not surprising. A lot of the alicorns were curious about one another. "Okay, so you're here for me now?" Cadence questioned. Faust merely nodded her head and then cleared her throat. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza," Faust began and got a look from Cadence. "Otherwise known as Princess Cadence," she added and Cadence sat back with a nod. "She is the princess of Love, simple as that, she is also the second alicorn to have healing type magic alongside Queen Aquaria," Faust explained. That caught Cadence by surprise and she looked at Faust with a pout. "You know it's a bit unfair I still haven't gotten to meet this queen pony," Cadence noted flatly. Faust smirked despite herself. "She's meeting Celestia in Canterlot for talks soon, maybe you could show up there and meet her yourself," the ancient alicorn suggested. Cadence frowned in thought and considered that potential idea. "Anyways, Cadence is the ruler of the Crystal Empire, wife to Shining Armor, and most importantly one of the nicest mares you could ever meet. She started off as a Pegasus in Cloudsdale, however she mastered love and ascended to become an alicorn," Faust explained. Cadence blinked at that and looked to the older mare. "Technically one cannot truly master love until they find love for them self," she stated sagely. Faust smiled and nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, but you certainly mastered Love more fully than my old friend Heart Throb, she was... well, she had very strange views on what love should be like. She was also a hopeless romantic and well," Faust left hanging and Cadence grimaced. "Ah, I've met her type before," she admitted. She had in fact met a great many ponies like that, unfortunately they always seemed to think she could solve their relationship woes. Most of the problems with their relationships were how they wanted them to be perfect or something. She sighed to herself and rubbed her face with a hoof just thinking of how those relationships would fail even when she had tried to help them... "Yeah, she did get better but she always had this idea of how romance should be," Faust admitted with a grimace. It was that one reason that Heart Throb hadn't ascended herself. Her own foolish idea of how love was rather than realizing what it was like Cadence had. "In any case, Cadence isn't the best fighter as most ponies can probably imagine," Faust noted aloud. Cadence nodded her head, though she could fight she was worse at it than Twilight. "I'm a lover, not a fighter, its pretty apt in this situation though I can make a descent shield," Cadence admitted. Faust nodded though looked at Cadence sheepishly. "Although Shining Armor is better at defensive magic," she noted. Cadence sighed and nodded her head. "Although, when Cadence gets angry this might not be the case. While Love and Hate seem different they are similar enough that when Cadence hates some pony, she really hates some pony with all her heart and soul," Faust explained. Cadence could literally count on her hooves how many ponies she truly hated. She didn't like that she hated them, but they had all done something or other to earn her ire... "A rather well known rumor is that Cadence can force ponies to fall in love. However this is the farthest thing from the truth, she requires that the ponies in question feel something for one another. If they hate one another her powers typically have no effect on them. If they are indifferent then this is assured. Now if they are friends she can sometimes mistakenly cause them to deepen the relationship by accident," Faust admitted. Cadence blushed and brought a hoof to her face. "It only happened once! Once! It wasn't like I knew they were only friends at the time!" she exclaimed with a blush. She then sighed and slumped in her seat. "It's also kind of funny since they're still together," she admitted. Faust blinked at that tidbit, not too surprised by it if she were completely honest. Instead she cleared her throat and looked to the audience once more. "Now then, there's another very misguided rumor that close proximity to Cadence, like with me and inspiration, causes ponies to more easily fall in love. Rather, close proximity to Cadence actually causes ponies to locate a pony they truly love more easily. This has been tested and rather strangely most ponies who end up together after spending a time with Cadence nearby have admitted to having always wanting to get together but being too scared to try. We've even seen situations with best friends getting together despite fears for their friendships," Faust admitted. Cadence grinned sheepishly in response. "Yeah, I also have a lot of guards who are married as a result," she admitted. Faust rolled her eyes and took a breath. "Anyways, now I need to head out, bye Cadence," Faust stated and vanished in a flash. Cadence rolled her eyes with a smile and then sat back with a bored look on her face. Sometimes she wished she had something to keep her occupied... Faust appeared in a cold snow covered land. She looked around for a moment and then winked to a nearby castle. It was less ornate than Canterlot Castle or the Crystal Palace. Instead it seemed sturdy and of course strong. She trotted through it's many halls avoiding several sets of armor until she came to the main throne room. Therein sat War-Helm 2.0. The 'stallion' of sorts sat there and arched a non-existent brow as she approached him. "Making a list of alicorns," she stated crisply. War-Helm merely nodded his head. He was curious about such a list himself, he might ask Faust or one of the others for it so he could meet them all later. "Now then, War-Helm is the Alicorn of Destruction and Violence," Faust began. War-Helm made no move to change, alter, or correct the mare for she was correct. He had to make a very prominent effort to hold himself back however as his power had a tendency to increase his anger. "The original War-Helm was also known as the 'Black Pony Knight' and became an Alicorn when Celestia and Luna battled him and caused his body to disintegrate. However prior to that fight War-Helm had bound himself to the sun and in doing so absorbed some of Celestia's magic which allowed him to continue to exist. Unfortunately his new state of being exasperated his already insane mind to the point became a rampaging beast," Faust explained. War-Helm nodded his head. That idiot had been a disgrace to true predators... "I was eventually forced to lock War-Helm in my tower and split him into pieces. However when my tower was invaded by undead he was also destroyed in a battle against a reborn Light-Bringer. War-Helm was then resurrected, or rather a new War-Helm was born, by the use of the 'Mad Crown' created by an ancient Griffon king. The new War-Helm is significantly more calm and far more powerful than his predecessor. He is considered a master tactician with thousands of years worth of experience in war," Faust explained. "You flatter me," War-Helm spoke for the first time. Faust smiled nervously and then cleared her throat. "Of course despite this War-Helm has admitted that he will sometimes feel the same urge to destroy and burn anything in his path that his predecessor did," Faust admitted. War-Helm twitched slightly but made no other reaction. Faust was correct after all. The voices were more quiet in his head but they were still there. He would occasionally lose his temper when sufficiently provoked though that was hardly anything new for him. "Like several other Alicorns, War-Helm has a natural passive ability. This ability is that his mere presence inspires increased violence around him. This can be used to devastating effect of course, as it can cause ponies who would otherwise be peaceful to lash out at any pony around them viciously," Faust explained. War-Helm merely rolled his eyes, wasn't like he did it on purpose after all. "As a result War-Helm has located his 'home' in the land of griffons who are less affected by his presence than a pony," the mare continued. She then stopped and looked at the flaming warhorse curiously. "Say, why aren't they affected like ponies?" she asked curiously. "When I was still the 'Mad-Crown' it was my instincts as a predator that caused the insanity in ponies. I believe this is similar but instead of having to wear me it is simply being too close to me that causes it. Predators aren't affected by my instincts because they are also predators," he replied. It was honestly the only explanation he currently had for that particular phenomena. Not that he cared enough to look too deeply into it of course. Faust accepted that explanation and cleared her throat once more. "Now then of course War-Helm is a high-tier Alicorn in terms of raw power, he is also extremely dangerous, due in no small part to the fact he controls fire, yet I am still considered the most dangerous for a number of reasons," Faust began and was interrupted by the alicorn in question. "Not the least of which is your proficiency with charms, wards, and enchantments. Any of which you can utilize to absolutely deadly effect on a number of different situations. Such as when you drew in-numerous runes in mid-battle to decimate your opponents," the flaming war-stallion noted aloud. Faust blushed slightly and chuckled nervously. "It wasn't that impressive," she insisted. He arched his non-existent brow yet again and stared at her. "You then slammed a magical construct in the shape of a hammer down on it repeatedly until it stopped twitching," he stated flatly. Faust grimaced as she remembered how that had panned out. "Yeah... my temper can get the better of me too," she admitted. War-Helm snorted and wondered what she considered overreacting if that was simply her temper getting the best of her. "Anyways, War-Helm I was wondering if you could keep an eye out for Herr West Wing, she apparently managed to get her hooves on the Necronomicon again," Faust requested. War-Helm's eyes narrowed and the flames that made up his mane and tail surged. "I will do so, however despite my intentions the Griffons still distrust me, I will need you to be patient," War-Helm stated. Faust nodded her head. She knew that despite being a predator himself, War-Helm wasn't exactly well liked by other predators. "If you are truly worried then perhaps you should speak with her about this instead. The Griffons seem rather fond of her after all," he offered. Faust idly inclined her head then vanished in a flash of light. When she was gone War-Helm let out a gout of flame from his nostrils, or rather the slits in the front of his helmet, and closed his eyes... Faust reappeared in Ponyville. A few ponies walking down the street waved and she waved back with a smile. She then trotted to the familiar tree-shaped castle in the center of town. 'Kind of an eyesore,' she admitted to herself. Not that it was necessarily a bad castle it was just that it didn't seem to fit in with the rest of Ponyville. However that wasn't really a problem she had to deal with on most occasions. As such she simply made her way into the castle and cantered into the throne room. Only one pony was present and she was sitting in a throne staring at a picture. "Morning," Faust offered. The pony in questioned blinked and looked up. Red eyes stared at Faust for a moment before she arched a brow. "Hello Faust," Nocturne, formerly Twilight Sparkle, stated with a nod. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" she questioned. Faust grinned and trotted over to the significantly smaller alicorn. "I'm making a list of all known Alicorns," she replied. Nocturne arched a brow and then hummed. "That would be a worthwhile endeavor, but I must ask why you specify 'known'?" the other alicorn questioned. "Because the Discordian Period was crazy and I have no idea if any alicorns ascended around that point," Faust admitted with a tired sigh. Nocturne nodded her head in understanding. The Discordian Period was the stuff of nightmares for many a historian. Whatever texts were still legible were basically gibberish after Discord was done with them. A sudden thought prickled at the back of her mind and she looked at Faust unsurely. "Is Discord among that list?" Nocturne questioned. Faust shook her head in response. Nocturne nodded and was thankful for that much. No offense to Discord but they had enough crazy among their ranks without him being added to it. "Now then, Twilight 'Nocturne' Sparkle is perhaps the youngest current Alicorn and former student of Celestia. She is the alicorn of Magic and Friendship as you well know," Faust began. Nocturne idly wondered who she was talking too but decided it wasn't that important. Pinkie Pie did this kind of thing a bit too often for her not to get used to it. "Now this means that she is able to, of course, use most spells and has more magical potential than a great many ponies, including most Alicorns, and is also proficient at making friends or helping friends with their problems," Faust further explained. Nocturne merely remained silent. "Now like some other Alicorns Twilight's presence can be considered to cause friendships to be much stronger. Unlike Cadence however, she is unable to directly channel this ability. Despite seeming otherwise this power is truly non-invasive, instead of forcing ponies to like one another it merely causes a sense of calm around Twilight that relaxes ponies and other creatures and allows them to more easily speak to one another without bias. Since becoming an alicorn Twilight has used this ability to negotiate peace treaties with many other species," Faust explained. She then hummed thoughtfully and looked to the lavender mare. "Oh, speaking of other species, Twilight I need you to talk to the griffons at some point. Some of them seem to be helping West Wind and she has The Necronomicon again," the ivory alicorn asked of the younger alicorn. The little lavender alicorn frowned to herself. She recalled West Wind from the last report from Mort. She was insane, to say the very least, as she liked to rip ponies apart then put them back together. Although when she did put them back together it wasn't necessarily the way she found them. It didn't hurt that her history with the Necronomicon was well-known to her... "I'll be sure to alert them to the dangers of her presence. At least a few of my friends in the Griffon Kingdom will undoubtedly keep their eyes out for her," Nocturne assured. Faust smiled and nodded her head. She then turned back to the audience. "Now, Twilight is like me in that she has had to actively fight a great many times in her life, in no small part thanks to Celestia. As a result Twilight is often sited as the second most dangerous alicorn just behind me," Faust explained. "I'm second because of that one time you decided you'd had enough of playing around and crushed the Griffon King without any mercy," Nocturne stated in a monotone. Faust grimaced but in her defense the stupid grif had slapped her flank. She was nice a majority of the time but she took offense to that kind of thing! "I didn't kill him," she reminded. It was a weak defense since she knew what happened to the poor griff. "He was in traction for a year, and then he couldn't eat solid foods ever again," she reminded flatly. "Okay so I might've overreacted just a bit," Faust admitted. Nocturne arched a brow and Faust muttered to herself. "Need I remind you of what you did to Spike," she stated. Faust frowned and looked at Nocturne with an arched brow. "Elder or kid?" she questioned. "The elder," Nocturne replied. "So? I've done that to him a million times!" Faust defended. "He's bigger, meaner, tougher, and outright more dangerous than all the other dragons and you flipped him on his back and forced him to say uncle with only your magic," she stated flatly. Faust grimaced once more and rubbed the back of her neck. In her defense Spike tended to get a bit full of himself and she was used to knocking him down a few pegs. She'd never really thought about how it looked to other ponies, or dragons, or griffons that she was taking on the biggest beast on the planet and winning with minimal effort... "Well when you put it that way," she muttered quietly. Nocturne merely rolled her eyes. Sometimes she felt like Faust didn't take her own power at all seriously. She was dangerous, yes, but there was a very good reason she was considered so dangerous. The faster she realized that was the faster she could make an honest attempt to hold herself back. Then again this was the mare whose temper was literally the stuff of legends. "In any case Twilight, have fun and say Hi to Pinkie and Fluttershy for me when you see 'em next," Faust asked. Twilight silently nodded her head and then frowned. "Where are you going next?" she questioned. The ancient alicorn sighed and glanced at a nearby clock with a frown. "I actually need to collect some pony I was teaching a lesson about getting things done," she replied. Nocturne arched a brow for a moment then watched as Faust vanished in a flash. Nocturne let out a sigh and closed her eyes, she then lifted the picture she had been looking at before and slipped it into her armor. She tended to wear her combat Regalia more often than was strictly necessary. Sometimes she would wear her other clothes, but most of it was a bit uncomfortable... She really needed to find out what Mort made her combat regalia from, it was insanely durable not to mention comfortable. Faust appeared in Freddy Fazbear's Pizzaria and looked around curiously. The animatronics were all in their proper places, she also noticed it was a few minutes before twelve. 'So second night,' she mused to herself. She trotted through the place and went down one of the halls to the security office. However she halted and widened her eyes at what she found. The sight being that the straps that had been used to hold BreakDown into his seat looked to have been ripped apart. "Um... well, I'm sure he's okay," she assured herself. She knew of only one place he could hide. She checked the broom closet however it was empty. She shifted uncomfortably as she slowly made her way to the back of the building. Inside she found a Freddy Fazbear costume... but it's head had been ripped off. 'Wait, what?' she wondered to herself. She turned to see Freddy was still on stage, then turned back to the one in the back. She circled the disabled bear and noticed a familiar hand-print on its face. 'So it's the normal Freddy,' she noted to herself. Though she wondered why it's head had been ripped off. Unless it had done it to itself in which case that one poster that sometimes popped up was even creepier than normal. Instead she hummed and trotted out of the back room and continued to look fro BreakDown. She then noticed when the clock turned over to midnight. She was about to wink out of the place when she heard a phone ringing. Admittedly curious the mare trotted into the security office and hit a glowing red button on the phone therein. "Uh, hello? Hello?" BreakDown's voice came out. Faust frowned slightly and wondered what the author was up too this time. "Now if you're Faust, well I'm sure you had fun with this little idea of yours, but things are about to get really interesting for you," he stated. Faust rolled her eyes, less than afraid of whatever the author had in store for her. Possessed animatronics or not. "You see, I didn't get loose last night as you're probably thinking by now, no, but boy did I have a good run. Despite that I figured out a way to get back at you regardless," Breakdown admitted. "Wait, what?" she questioned. She then noticed a familiar distant laugh echo through the building. "Yeah, you see the animatronics in this place are possessed by angry spirits. You undoubtedly know that already, but then I suddenly had this idea. Even if I don't make it out of this place, well, lets face it Faust I'm going to get you back. So don't bother trying to wink out of there, I've made sure that won't work," BreakDown assured. Faust shifted uncomfortably as a plethora of disturbing sounds started to echo in the building. "What's more, if the rumors about the phone guy are correct then the animatronics were willing to leave the building just to get to him," the author mused. "What does that have to do with anything?" the ancient alicorn mumbled under her breath. "Now I'm sure you're a little curious about why I'd mention something like that. Well, the thing is that means these guys really wanted to get their revenge. Given it's kind of your fault I ended up in whatever position I'm in right now, well, I'm really going to want to get back at you," the author stated simply. "As such I'll give you some advice that should be obvious, get ready for Freddy," the author stated ominously. She then stopped as she heard the sounds of Freddy screaming in the background. Then everything went deathly quiet until she heard something being dragged off... 'Oh that's not at all bad,' the ivory mare thought sarcastically. She then lifted the tablet in front of the security station and flipped through a few cameras. She confirmed that Freddy was on the move as he wasn't where he was supposed to be now. However the other animatronics weren't moving at all. Instead they were just staring at the cameras. Chica was down the left hall. Bonnie was in the back room. Foxy was looking out from his curtain. So where was Freddy? She stilled and widened her eyes as a laugh echoed once more. However it was far too close for comfort. She turned to either side to slam the doors shut however they made a familiar sound. 'What? Why won't they close?' she inwardly demanded. However she then stilled and turned around. Standing directly behind her was Freddy Fazbear. Two white pinpricks loomed in the dark before he leaned down and she found herself staring into a pair of familiar green eyes. "Oh buck me," the ancient alicorn muttered. 'Freddy' tilted his head to one side and his eyes narrowed on her dangerously. A moment later he grabbed Faust's withers and lunged forward, jaws wide open... SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! ... Faust arched a brow while 'Freddy' looked at her unsurely. She smirked at him and shook her head. "BreakDown I'm a nigh immortal being, why would I be afraid of a giant simulacrum screaming in my face?" she questioned with a humorous tone. 'Freddy' frowned, or tried too given he was an animatronic, and glared at her. "Now let me go so we can get out of here," she ordered. 'Freddy' released her and crossed his arms. "Oh don't pout, you're not really real so I can easily get you put back to normal for next time," she assured. 'Freddy' started to make grumbling noises as his response... TBC...