//------------------------------// // Episode 20 - No F in Trouble // Story: My Little Rider: Friendship is Joker // by lilAngel //------------------------------// “I swear, this has got to get easier,” Pinkie Pie muttered through a mouthful of dough. “I thought, I’m great with foals. I play with them practically every other day, they love me! How hard can it be, looking after them for a day?” “Harder than you would expect,” Princess Luna grunted. She kept half her attention focused on the babies in front of her, and the assortment of sweets and toys she was juggling for their amusement. They had found – three times so far – that while Pinkie being suddenly coated in flour was enough amusement to restore cranky babies to joyful laughter, it wasn’t enough to keep them entertained. Somepony else needed to do that so that Pinkie could have a chance to clean herself off. “I think it is a lesson many are surprised to learn,” the Princess continued, “That babies are often delighted to play with everypony they meet, but that the one filling the role of the mother must provide discipline and order, ensuring that the children do not hurt themselves and properly learn the values of friendship. It can be a difficult task, and one you never fully understand the scale of until you have tried it. Though in this case, I suspect, a great deal of your stress is intensified by the number of infants you are caring for.” They both looked along the line of babies, who were for now happy to watch Luna’s juggling and occasionally snatch a sweet or favourite toy out of the complex patterns of movement. Pumpkin and Pound Cake, the twins, were the ones Pinkie had originally volunteered to babysit. Both had pale tan coats, slight variations on their father’s colouring. Pound Cake was a pegasus, and just beginning to get used to his wings, while his sister was a unicorn and the first flashes of uncontrolled magic started to sparkle from her horn. The other babies, neither Pinkie nor Luna had any idea about their names. There was a purple earth pony with a single shock of white for her mane, though a couple of wispy strands hinted that at some point she would have stripes of a colour similar to her coat. For now, they had been calling her Dazzle, and she seemed happy enough with that name. Beside her was an orange pegasus with wings even smaller than Pound Cake’s, who stared in obvious envy whenever Pound flew out of his playpen and around the ceiling. Somepony had started calling her Gazer, and the name seemed to have stuck. The last of their charges was sitting further back, never taking a treat from the moving display in the air, but tongue sticking out from the corner of his mouth as he sent flickers of red-orange magic to perturb the highest objects. He hadn’t yet managed to make Luna drop anything, but seemed to see this challenge as a kind of game he was determined to win. This one, Luna had decided to call Burn until they could find out what his parents called him. He shook his head at the name but didn’t seem able to tell them what he was actually called, so they kept on using it. There was a flash of pink-purple light from the next room. It wasn’t bright enough to catch anypony’s attention by the time it appeared around the corner, but the two baby unicorns both twitched their heads around in the direction of the magical burst. It seemed that Burn kept a little self control; sensing something he’d been oblivious to until his horn developed, his first instinct was to panic. Tears formed in his eyes, but he swallowed and didn’t return to bawling. It was one thing Luna could be grateful for. “Twilight has returned,” the Princess informed Pinkie, “And I believe she has another foal with her. There is a strong taste of dopant magic in the air, as well.” “We need everybody together now,” Twilight barked a command as she walked into the room, but quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping pegasus she was carrying beside her, “We have a problem.” Gazer hopped awkwardly across the floor, tiny wings beating the air like a hummingbird as she tried to join a race between Pound Cake and the newest foal to join the group. Nopony had given the newcomer a cutesy name yet, and they were less inclined to do so in this case, because they were all thinking the same thing. A baby pegasus, with sky blue coat and rainbow streaks in her mane and tail, looking so much like a tiny version of Rainbow Dash that it felt strange to see her playing with the others. “Dashie had a baby?” Pinkie Pie mused, “She didn’t tell us or anything.” “I suppose it is still possible that a Gaia Memory could create foals from nowhere, using another pony’s genetic material as a template,” Luna mused, “But in this case, the residual magic on the baby is incredibly strong, and I can sense a little more detail of its nature. I believe that the most likely outcome is that this foal genuinely is Rainbow Dash, especially given that our magical connection to her seems to have been interrupted.” “It makes sense in a way,” Twilight Sparkle reluctantly admitted, “If she was turned back into a baby, the Elements would not recognise her, because she doesn’t embody Loyalty in any meaningful way. But it can’t be. Changing a pony’s age is one of the fundamental impossibles of magical theory, it’s been proven impossible so many times. There simply isn’t enough power in the world.” “Hehe,” Pinkie was back to playing with the babies for a moment, while they waited for the other three Champions to appear, “I knew it was Dashie really, I just thought it might cheer you up a bit thinking about other things that might have happened. If we all had magic babies, it would be so much fun playing with them, and we could take turns being all responsible. But now I think about it, this is fun too! I bet Dash will be so embarrassed when she’s back to normal, and I can remind her I changed her diapers.” Twilight was looking through the few books she had with her, though there was sure there was nothing in any of her texts about age-changing magic, because it was impossible just like she’d said. She wished she had access to her whole library, but she couldn’t leave Luna and Pinkie to look after the foals, and she knew there would be nothing there to help in any case. “You have to remember that Gaia Energy doesn’t follow the same rules as unicorn magic,” Luna suggested, as they both tried to block out the sound of Pinkie playing with the little ones, “The rules can’t be broken, but the application of raw power means that in some circumstances they can be twisted. I never studied it as much as I could have done, I had enough talent in my own magic that I could compete with other unicorns without needing to learn the theory. But in this case, the Gaia Energy feels a little like the power I use for teleporting myself as smoke. So perhaps rather than changing the subject, this power transported her through time? I know that would be an incredible use of magic, but I don’t believe it to actually be impossible. And if the infant Rainbow Dash was brought from the past, then it could be possible that ‘our’ Rainbow Dash was sent somewhere into the past or future along her own timeline. I can imagine a dozen scenarios, and my understanding of time magic is not sufficient to determine which are feasible. But if any of those are true, then the very material of the universe could be unravelling from that point in the past where Rainbow Dash should exist but does not.” “Then we need to fix this before we find out,” Twilight was firm, “I’m all for the experimental method, but if it could destroy the world then we have to deal with this before we start feeling any effects. If she was simply swapped with her baby self, a portal through time, then the pressure of future causality might just have enough power to transform her into the foal that destiny demands. Or it is possible to imagine that this Rainbow Dash comes from an alternate sequence of events, a ‘what if?’ world that is doomed in any case. But there is no way to test for those outcomes other than waiting to see if history comes apart at the seams, so I think we shouldn’t rely on there being a positive outcome.” Finally, there was a knock at the door. It was Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack, all stern faced and ready to join in the planning. They could probably have been briefed on the way, but they always found that disembodied voices from their Elements seemed a little creepy, and made it harder to focus on what Twilight was actually saying. In this case, though, there was one distinct disadvantage to all meeting up face to face. The Cake house was already a little crowded with three adults and six foals, and with the new arrivals the lounge was packed, making it almost impossible to find a seat without stepping over a playing infant. And the sudden crowds, more unfamiliar faces, sent the babies back into a panic of screaming and crying that drowned out any attempt to explain. Evening Spirit checked his list of names again. He didn’t know what these ponies had done, why they would deserve to die. Because that was what the scratchy writing implied; that adding a name to the list would curse someone to not be seen again. He didn’t know why, but he had made himself the executor of the herd’s wishes, to prove his value to society. He was aware that this was crazy, but told himself that everypony was crazy in their own way. He was just aware of his, and using it to forge his own path through life. He didn’t kill them, anyway. He wasn’t the anonymous assassin that everypony suspected. He just made them young again, and then took every care to ensure his victims were safe. He left them at a house where he knew babies would be cared for, even if unexpected. Good families, who could afford another mouth to feed and already had everything they would need to look after foals. That was quite a narrow category, but he had found four houses so far to distribute his babies between. The notes the Memory seller had given him said that babies created by this technique might not live long, and advised that this could be a humane method of execution. But that was probably the case for any newborn without a family, and he hoped that by putting them where they would be cared for, his duty wouldn’t lead to any long term harm. He scratched out ‘Rainbow Dash’ on the list, amazed that he had managed to find her so easily. It must have just been luck. The next target wouldn’t be so easy to find so late in the evening, but that didn’t matter. Evening Spirit felt like he was on a roll now, he didn’t want to stop, and there was no rule that said he had to change ponies in the order they were written. He chose another from lower down the list, and went out to hunt again. “Please,” Pinkie Pie begged, leaping forward, “Just go to sleep!” But Pumpkin Cake did seem to be more than half asleep, eyes closed and walking forward without any obvious thought. In her desperation, Pinkie had flipped over a laundry hamper, attempting to hold the twins in one place long enough for them to fall asleep. But they just walked straight through the sides, the faint glow of magic surrounding both. They were headed for the toybox, of course. Mrs Cake’s list of instructions had stated that they were each allowed to take a single soft toy to bed with them, to hug as they slept. But two toys were explicitly forbidden at bedtime, and of course Pound Cake had managed to dig out both in his not-quite-asleep stupor. Pinkie Pie wished she could ask some help from the others, but she had volunteered to put all the babies to bed while Twilight explained the situation to everypony else downstairs. She was on her own this time, and she was determined that when it came to looking after young ones she wouldn’t fail. Pinkie pounced, and managed to land a hoof on one of the dolls in question. Which, it turned out, was banned at bedtime because it had bells and other noise-making apparatus hidden inside its body. There was a cacophony of rings, clangs and twangs, soon followed by a chorus of infant screams as all the other babies were woken by the din. Pinkie Pie froze and slumped to the ground, even her mane losing some of its usual bounce. She’d thought she could do this, she loved babies so much that she could almost consider their entertainment an extension of her special talent. Laughter is the one thing every foal should have, after all. But she had failed when it mattered, she had never come to realise just how hard it was to be responsible. As the noise around her only grew louder, Pinkie Pie started to cry. “So it looks like Rainbow Dash is a baby now,” Twilight finished her explanation, voice slightly raised above the noise from upstairs. She felt bad about not going up to help Pinkie, but there would be no shortage of helping hooves once the briefing was over, and with the fate of the universe at stake they couldn’t delay getting all their minds on the case. “Somepony want to go look after the foals?” Applejack answered, “‘Cause it seems to me it’s too dangerous to go out looking for trouble, and we need Pinkie to do one of those lookups.” But as she spoke, the sounds of chaos from upstairs faded into silence. They waited, unsure what to do, and mumbled a few ideas, but there wasn’t that much they could think of. Luna pointed out that even looking in the Gaia Library would probably be fruitless unless they knew the names of their other babies. Pinkie Pie padded softly down the stairs. The others watched as she carefully eased the door closed, not making any sound. “Another flour bag?” Princess Luna asked, somehow managing to be haughty even in a whisper. “Well…” Pinkie mumbled, “I think I understand this mothering thing now. It’s love that matters, that’s what I should have been learning, right? I played with those tots so many times in the last month, and I nearly always make them smile, so they like me and they want to make me smile too. Then they start playing up because they think I enjoy that kind of thing!” “Which you do,” Rarity felt it necessary to interject. “Well, who wouldn’t? But they’re still babies, they don’t know when it’s time to stop, and we were trying to put on smiles so they didn’t realise they were getting to us. But I love those twins, and I think they like me too, so once they realised I was upset they did their best to calm down. They’re good kids, you know? All it needed was being honest instead of all hyper and bouncy all the time.” “That’s awful mature of you.” “Oh, but I might just need some help giving the twins a bath in the morning,” Pinkie was glad that her colour made it hard to tell when she was blushing, for once, “Like, before Mr and Mrs Cake get back from their gala.” They tried a Lookup. Pinkie Pie quickly fell asleep, and met Luna in the library that was the setting for most of her dreams. The two of them could both touch the books that hung there, arranged in the air as if resting on shelves that weren’t actually present. Luna was suitably impressed with the speed at which the books rearranged themselves when Pinkie selected a word in the index. She’d seen it before, but not from quite so close. As entertaining as it was, the Lookup produced no useful results. They just didn’t know what words to put into the index. Late at night, the other Champions of Harmony went home. Applejack promised that she would recruit Apple Bloom and her friends to help Pinkie with the bathing of the babies, freeing up the other champions to do what they would have done a lot earlier, if they’d realised what was happening: they would check if there had been anypony reported missing the night before, not just foals. That would surely given them enough names for a Lookup. Pinkie Pie awoke with the sunrise. Or rather, she awoke to the sound of Dazzle, who had been woken by the sun shining around the curtains and was throwing toys around in an attempt to rouse somepony to play with. “Shhh!” Pinkie whispered, “Pound and Pumpkin need their beauty sleep. If you want to play, we’ve got to be like ninjas!” Dazzle hesitated in her excitement, and lowered a couple of wild toys to the ground. Pinkie turned and moved sideways across the room, darting from place to place and not making a sound. Maybe Dazzle wasn’t old enough to know what a ninja was, but Pinkie’s body language gave a very clear impression of the nature of the game. That morning was a lot easier than the night before. Pinkie had learned her lessons about communication, and about responsibility. She wished there was somepony she could make a report to, and get a little recognition to help her draw out the pride in her discoveries, but of course there was no such authority. The reward for learning to live your life would be the ability to do so, not some arbitrary gold star at the bottom of a letter. But in a way, this morning was her reward. She had to tidy the dining room a little so that there was space, and she would have to prepare breakfast for everypony, which would be a little more difficult than just feeding the twins. But it wasn’t time for breakfast until they were all awake. Until then, she would have to keep the babies who had woken up occupied so that they didn’t disturb the others, letting them wake up happy and at their own pace. There was a perfect way to keep a child busy, so they didn’t get impatient waiting for it to be time to eat, and it was the one task Pinkie really loved about being a stand-in parent: playing. Dazzle laughed at every silly trick Pinkie pulled off, and didn’t cry once. When Burn woke up, Pinkie started to divide her attention between them, but managed to make a game out of who could pick up the most dolls, or the most blocks, or whatever other kind of mess the previous night’s playtime had left around the house. And both foals loved playing ninja; watching Burn try to laugh quietly was so adorable that it took every ounce of Pinkie’s self control not to squeal in delight. The silence was broken by an infant Rainbow Dash hurtling down the stairs, wings whirring like a hummingbird to compensate for her lack of adult flight feathers, straight towards a giant dollhouse. But the two apprentice ninja mastered a combination technique, leaping to intercept her with pillows from both sides. Three foals rolled around the room in a playful but silent tumble, and Pinkie only had to glance over once to see that Dashie had caught on to the game and was being just as silent. It wasn’t likely that any of them would be hurt. A knock at the door gave Pinkie a sigh of relief, though. She loved playing with the little ones, but she was sure she would have her hooves full trying to keep track of six of them. Especially when it came to six diaper changes, and feeding, and washing the last traces of flour out of certain babies’ manes. But the Cutie Mark Crusaders were exactly the assistants she would have hoped for, young enough to know how to play so the babies could stay happy all morning. Apple Bloom was standing outside the door when Pinkie opened it; there was no sign of the other two. “Hey,” she said, “AJ said you need some help? I was going to grab Scootaloo on the way here, but I’ve not seen hide nor hair of her. Hope I’m good enough. Looking after the Cake twins, right?” “And some others,” Pinkie pointed towards Burn, Dazzle, and Dashie, who seemed to be passing a couple of dolls between them now, “The twins are still asleep, they had a pretty late night.” “Right,” Apple Bloom nodded, trying not to imagine one of Pinkie Pie’s famously energetic parties with babies present, “So whose babies are these? Hey, is that Rainbow Dash’s little sister? Or she’s got a baby? I didn’t know she had family!” “We didn’t know either,” Pinkie gave a grin, but it looked a little forced this time, “Rainbow Dash kind of went missing. We think there might be a dopant out there with the power to turn ponies back into babies, so we’re just looking after them while the others look for a way to reverse the spell. We don’t know who the others are, so we called them Dazzle, Burn, and Gazer for now.” Apple Bloom proved quite competent at keeping an eye on the little ones while also helping with the chores. She was the youngest of their particular branch of the Apple family, but still had more than enough younger cousins, and had done her fair share in the babysitting roster when the adults were all busy at harvest time. She laughed with Pinkie as they imagined how much Scootaloo would have blushed, being asked to change Dashie’s diaper. Dash herself seemed pretty embarrassed at her own behaviour, whenever she paused in darting around at the highest speed she could imagine. There was no way to know what was going on in her mind; if the memories of her adult life were in there. She could just as easily be a baby like any other, or a pony with all her memories trapped in an infant body with babyish instincts too strong to control. “I thought Sweetie Belle would be here by now,” Apple Bloom commented, as Pinkie brought the Cake twins down to the lounge, “She went to check on Scootaloo, but she was only going to be a few minutes behind me, she said she’d help out too. Still, we did pretty good for two of us with so many babies. The lounge is clear, three of them changed, the table–” she stopped as she saw the serious expression on Pinkie Pie’s face. “Scootaloo’s missing?” Pinkie finally made the connection that had been nagging at the back of her mind for the last few minutes, “You said before you couldn’t find her, is that weird? Like, do your Crusaders usually meet up at the same time in the morning, or the same place? Did her family say she’s already out, or is she missing missing?” “Oh, it’s not a big deal. Most days if we’re awake too early for school we meet up in the clubhouse to pass the time, it’s on the way here. That’s where I talked to Sweetie Belle. Or some days we go to the schoolhouse whatever time we’re ready and play on the field with the others, to make sure we don’t finish up being late if we get carried away with something. Scootaloo wasn’t in the clubhouse this morning, so Sweetie Belle was going to check at school, even though we still got more than an hour. It’s no big surprise really, Scootaloo’s never been a light sleeper, like as often as not we don’t see her before school starts, running to be on time, and sometimes not even that if she overslept.” “Yeah, but I noticed we got one baby still sound asleep, an orange pegasus that might just be your friend. Do you want to help me wake her up? You know her better than I do, maybe you can say for sure.” Apple Bloom just nodded. It was cute seeing Dashie as a baby, but it was also terrifying in a strange way. And thinking that one of her closest friends might be in the same situation brought a whole wave of emotions that hit her like a hammer. When they got to the bedroom, she peered into the crib. It was a plain wooden cage, that Twilight had teleported in from somewhere to furnish the increasingly crowded room. The tiny figure inside was hunched up under a blanket, but the colour of her coat and mane were familiar enough to confirm the worst case in Apple Bloom’s mind. She froze, staring at the tiny form of her friend. She couldn’t even bring herself to speak. “I guess that’s a yes?” Pinkie was upset, but a little excited too. Having a clue who the babies were would be the first step towards doing a Lookup, after all. “Don’t worry, we can fix this. She just gets a couple of hours not having to worry about anything, and being able to play like a little one again. I bet there’s some ponies who’d love to be little again!” The Champions of Harmony all had their own methods of research. Luna and Twilight went to ask Mayor Mare for the help of the town’s bureaucrats. Rarity strolled around the shopping districts, while Applejack visited the farmer's market, both speaking to everypony they could. Fluttershy and Spike were holed up in the Golden Oak Library, searching for every book that might be even tangentially relevant, even though Twilight herself had been sure no such book existed. Rarity was the first to strike lucky, with a customer at her own boutique. She darted back from her errands when she saw a proud unicorn stallion striding towards the shop. He had the same dark coat and red highlights as the infant they had been calling Burn, though initially Rarity only thought about doing her job, and keeping up with her other obligations while questions so far had found nothing. “Can I help you?” she shifted effortly back into the elegant and professional tone she used for business. “I’m sure that whatever occasion you have in mind, I will be quite capable of matching your tastes to perfection if there is nothing on display that catches your eye. Are you shopping for yourself?” “Uhh…” the unicorn drawled, with a slightly unfamiliar accent, “Actually, I’m looking for a dress for my wife, Ella. For a matriculation ceremony, whatever that might be. Our eldest son has just been accepted to attend Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and I’m sure you can understand just how important that is.” “Ohh, yes,” Rarity smiled, envisioning the matriculation as almost an opposite of a graduation ball, for students arriving at a new school. It would be spectacular and glamorous, she was sure, though her own schooling had never included one. “You must be so proud. And of course, meeting the other parents you will want to look your best.” “Oh yes, Ella hasn’t stopped thinking about it all week, and she’s been cantering round the outside of town hoping to lose a little weight before the time comes to be measured for her dress. You know, I think she might actually be as nervous as Blaze!” Rarity nodded politely, taking care to remember this family’s story. They were reasonably well-off and influential, and had the good taste to visit the Carousel Boutique, so there was a chance they would become friends or acquaintances as well as clients. But she devoted most of her attention to practical questions about colours, sizes, and preferences in between the relaxed social narrative. “That’s our son, you see,” the client, Crackling Ember, continued talking easily about his family after each interruption for practical questions, quite used to going right back to what he was saying once some matter of business was taken care of. “I’m sure he’ll follow right in my footsteps. He was nervous enough, though. Most of this week he’s been preparing a Nightmare Night costume, throwing himself into one task so he doesn’t have to think about the upcoming change in his life. I think he didn’t even sleep last night. Out celebrating with his friends, no doubt, came home after we got to bed and was already out by the time we got up this morning. I think it’s weighing on his mind, worrying that he might not be as good as everyone thinks.” “Does he look… like you?” Rarity hesitated, but had to ask. Because she finally realised why the proud father’s colouration looked familiar, and she had heard the silent plea for validation in his last statement. This stallion was hoping everypony would reassure him that it was normal for a colt to be under stress, and assuage a fear he couldn’t admit even to himself. “If he has your coat, but deep green eyes, then there is a chance he might not have come home last night. You see, in our work as Champions of Harmony, we have recently encountered a pony in those colours, a victim of a monster, who has been unable to tell us who he is. If we’ve found your son, then we would very much like to know in the hope that we can work out who the monster will target next.” “Oh, no, that can’t be!” Crackling Ember gasped, “I mean, we didn’t see him but I just assumed… is he safe? Why can’t he tell you?” “He’s safe. I don’t know how to explain it, but we’re sure that he will be fine as soon as the monster is defeated. Maybe you’d better come and see, you might be able to help us work out who has done this.” “Right,” Pinkie nodded. She’d stood perfectly still while she listened to the disembodied voice, leaving Apple Bloom to keep the babies from throwing food at each other on her own for a few moments. “Hey, Apple Bloom, do you know a colt called Blazing Ember?” “Yeah, he’s a bit older than us, but…” she trailed off. “You okay? Don’t worry, if we’ve got a clue that means it’s easier for us to find the dopant, right? It’s a good thing.” “I know all of them,” Apple Bloom whispered, “I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. Dashie’s the odd one out. Blaze has so much jewellery, beads in his mane and complex braids, that I didn’t recognise Burn without them. And Dazzle, I heard that she dyes her mane, but the white streak is her natural colour. That’s Diamond Tiara, right? They’re all our age, from the school.” “I’d better call Twilight.” Pinkie Pie opened closed her eyes, let herself sleep and the next time she looked around it was in a dream. They already saw one connection between the victims, so the Lookup  probably wouldn’t help too much, but they wanted to be sure they weren’t missing anything. The dreams of a billion books twirled around her, arranged as if this was a library but with every shelf intangible, even the floor didn’t exist. All this dream contained was Pinkie Pie, and the books of her memories. “Keyword: baby,” Twilight’s voice seemed to come from the empty air, though in reality she was speaking normally to the sleeping Pinkie. About a third of the books vanished, mostly those about abstract concepts, history, or agriculture. The books with a pony’s name on the front would all still be there as they twisted through the air and reshelved themselves, because everypony knew a baby or had been one at some time in their personal story. “Keyword: Diamond Tiara,” Twilight continued, not waiting for Pinkie Pie to reel off the number of matching books. More flew away this time, until the books around Pinkie only formed five or six concentric circles of invisible shelves. “Three thousand, two hundred and nineteen matches,” Pinkie could count them in an instant, and reported the exact number. “Keyword: Blazing Ember.” “Eight hundred and seven matches.” “Keyword: Scootaloo,” there was no need for conversation between the keywords. The Champions of Harmony all wanted to narrow down the possibilities as much as possible. “Three hundred and one matches.” “Probably everypony at the school,” Apple Bloom commented, “We all know each other,  even if it’s not so well.” “Keyword: Rainb–” “Wait,” Rarity’s voice interrupted, “We don’t know Dashie’s part of it. She could have stumbled on an attack when she was patrolling, and been transformed. We don’t know if she has any previous connection to the dopant, so we can’t include her in the Lookup.” “We don’t know she isn’t, either,” Twilight argued for a second, “But I guess you’re right. We’ll try it if we can’t think of anything else to add, though.” “I got one,” Apple Bloom seemed a little more cheerful now they were clearly making progress, “The dopant left them here, there must be some reason for that. Keyword: Cake family.” There was a pause, the sound of a couple of ponies holding their breath as they waited for an answer. “Keyword: Cake family,” Twilight repeated, and the books resumed their complex dance in the air. “Seventy-six matches!” “Well, that’s better, but still not finding a result. So we might as well. Keyword: Rainbow Dash.” “Sixty-nine matches,” Pinkie reported, as just a few books detatched from the imaginary shelves and floated off into the undefined distance. “I got nothing,” Twilight muttered, “I was sure there would be somepony in common. But maybe these lookups aren’t so effective, when the clues we have are all ponies with a relatively strong web of social links between them.” “It’s okay,” Pinkie grinned as she woke up, “We got enough clues to say something’s happening at the school. So we just go there and wait until something happens. Right?” There was a murmur of agreement from all the gathered Champions, shortly followed by the sound of the front door opening, and a scream of terrified surprise from the lounge, where Princess Luna had been looking after the babies. Mr and Mrs Cake had been nervous as they came home, unsure whether the house would be somewhat messy or in complete chaos. They certainly hadn’t expected it to be as tidy as it was, but that was more than overshadowed by finding an unknown baby in a basket outside the front door, and then entering their house to find a midnight-blue pegacorn, the tyrannical former ruler who had been banished to the moon for a thousand years, playing with not two but six babies in their lounge. After the first scream, they tried to calm down and rationally assess the situation. It would have been so much easier if the sudden noise hadn’t set all seven infants bawling in sympathy again. Applejack arrived at the school, with her sister following close behind. She figured that if there was a chance of Apple Bloom being tardy because she’d helped them that morning, then she could explain. If there was a monster prowling the school grounds, then one of the Champions of Harmony would need to be there to deal with it. Because they were the ones able to transform into double ponies, it was a choice of Applejack or Twilight Sparkle, and Twilight had the better social graces to explain the situation to the Cakes. There were still plenty of foals around the school grounds, so it was clear lessons hadn’t started yet. Applejack looked around, trying to work out where would be the best place to sit and wait for trouble. “Do you want to go and play with your friends? I’ll just find somewhere to …” Applejack trailed off as she realised her sister had already hurried off in search of Sweetie Belle and her other classmates. “Well, I’ll just wait here then.” There were a couple of fillies staring at her curiously, but that didn’t mean anything. She was an adult, turning up at a school and wandering around rather than making an appointment. For anyone else this would be incredibly suspicious, and it was probably only the collar around her throat, displaying that here was a bearer of the Elements of Harmony, that stopped anypony in a position of authority asking her to leave. Many foals were playing as usual, but today there were just as many engaged in craft activities in small groups, roughly sewing or painting costumes. Nightmare Night was only a few days away, after all, and it seemed to be fashionable for kids to make their own costumes for the event. One young colt was sewing what looked like a pirate costume, but was distracted by Applejack’s presence enough that he didn’t notice he’d stitched right across his collar. She was torn between pointing out the mistake and offering to help, or worrying how Princess Luna would feel about the festival she had inspired. Her musing was interrupted by a scream, and Applejack forced all other thoughts to the back of her mind.  She dropped her saddlebags on the grass, whipping out the Driver and locking it into place around her breast even as she galloped towards the school building. As she ran she pulled out the Element of Honesty from her collar and slammed it into the Driver’s left tube, making a melodious voice ring out to catch the attention of anypony who hadn’t yet realised something was going on. She’d have a big audience this time. “HONESTY!” She hit the doors head first, not pausing to open them first, and heard the unmistakable sound of a monster transforming within. For just a moment she worried that the others might not have got her message fast enough, and that she would end up like Dashie before the transformation finished. But before the echoes of the discordant Gaia Memory’s growl had died away, a shimmering in the air deposited a blue crystal into the Driver’s right slot, and Applejack gratefully slammed them both home. “FOAL!” “LAUGHTERᏔHONESTY!” Raw power surged into Pinkie Apple Pie’s body as they rushed into the classroom. Pink flowed across the right half of her body, filling her up like a vibrant coloured mist inside her coat, and the muscular bulk of  their shared body was beyond what either of them were used to. By the time the transformation was complete, they were an earth pony with stature equally comparable to the Princesses of Equestria, or even to some dopants. Golden-orange coated at the left extremities of their body, shading to bright pink at the right, and clad in a magical armour made of blue and orange marble plates. Inside the room, a cerise earth pony – Miss Cheerilee, the teacher – was backed into a corner and babbling in fear. In front of her was a dopant quite different from most of the others they had seen. It looked almost like a child’s doll, with bulbous, simplified legs and features. But it was as large as Apple Pie, and the lack of detail in its face was strangely terrifying. From its outstretched hooves, a milky puddle dripped to the ground and oozed and crept towards its prey. “Stop it!” Pinkie was the first to speak, “What are you doing to everypony? Why?” “I give my  fans what they want,” the dopant spoke proudly. Its voice was distorted, but clear enough to tell that it was a colt under that disguise, not a full-grown stallion. “They want somepony to disappear, I can do that. They probably want me to kill my victims, but I am more moral  than the vast majority. I have never taken a life,I never hurt them. I even made sure they have good homes, and placed them with parents who will  keep them safe for their second childhood. You say I’m doing wrong? Blame the trash who think that every problem can be solved by disposing of their rivals!” “Nopony wants this!” Pinkie and Applejack spoke in perfect harmony as they strode closer. Miss Cheerilee took advantage of the distraction to dart away, now the dopant was no longer staring straight at her. “Do you know how the power works? Are you sure it won’t hurt them? Where did you even get a Gaia Memory?” “Oh, if anypony knows where this came from it should be you two. He was just ranting about how it’s disgusting, don’t want to harm foals. The Memory seller is too uptight, can’t bring himself to sell this one. And this little thing comes flying right out of the window, where he’s thrown it away. I missed out on watching the most perfect filly in Ponyville, she gave me the slip while I was distracted. But I found something even better: the power to make a difference.” “That’s disgusting!” Pinkie snarled, “You should be ashamed of yourself. But anyway, our friend Twilight Sparkle is real smart, and she says this kind of magic could break the whole world you’re not super careful!” “And how would that happen?” the dopant just grinned, not even making an attempt to attack. He was content to gloat, still thinking he could beat them. “They’re babies. Easy to care for, right? And maybe this time around they’ll be less annoying, so somepony won’t put their names on a hit list.” “Your magic is transportation magic,” Pinkie growled, “You’re swapping around the bodies and souls of ponies along their own timelines, not just making them young again. Your magic could change something back in the victim’s childhood, and then reality starts coming apart.They could vanish or die, or the world could change so they never even existed. Do you want that on your conscience?” “Yeah, it’s a horrible thing to do to anypony,” Applejack agreed, not really understanding the explanation but feeling that she needed to add something. “At least I wouldn’t be forgotten,” he spoke more softly, and turned to walk towards the door, “That’s all anypony could hope for. And if the whole world can be changed, then who better than me to change it? I have the talent–” “Where d’you think you’re going?” Pinkie growled as she stepped closer, “You think you can do something like this and avoid all blame because you think it’s what somepony else wants? It’s probably not you right now, the Gaia Memory brings out your darkest feelings, but I gotta say that’s how a sociopath thinks.” “Yeah, you’re just a meanie,” Applejack added. (“You know AJ,” Pinkie muttered in the privacy of their own mind, “I don’t think you quite got the hang of humour. When you’re trying to drive home the evilness of a dopant’s actions, you need to keep the tone pretty dark, and I think…” Only then did she realise that she could barely feel Applejack’s presence in her mind, fading in and out.) (“Ah think I’m gonna…” Applejack muttered, then furrowed their brow in confusion. “Ah forgot what I’m gonna say?” Her voice was hesitant and uncertain, almost childlike.) Pinkie looked down at their hooves, where the dopant’s milky secretions covered the ground under their forehooves. Their left hoof was almost completely covered by the stuff, crawling up their orange coat like an ant swarm and burrowing into the tender flesh beneath.  But on the right, it bounced off pink skin, a shower of droplets boiling away like smoke every time it tried to climb into her body. The Driver was protecting them, but it didn’t seem to be doing as well as it usually did. Pinkie almost cursed, but then she felt a wave of total peace flood over her mind, and she was staring at the ceiling in the Cakes’ lounge. “Did you beat it?” Twilight was asking, “That was quick. We barely had time to tell Mr and Mrs Cake why you passed out, but then when you woke up you kind of fell over. That hasn’t happened before, so I’m worried.” “I…” Pinkie was lacking in her normal irrational exuberance, “Somepony needs to go to the school, now! The dopant’s got like this poison, or something, you only have to touch it to turn into a baby. I think AJ stepped in it just before the transformation completed or something. I could feel her mind slipping away, getting simpler every second. It’s awful!” “I’ll check AJ’s okay,” Twilight didn’t hesitate, “Just don’t touch this poison?” “Right. It’s like white slime on the ground, like milk or oil or something until it starts moving towards you.” “I can tell why you didn’t like it,” Twilight focused her magic and vanished. A few moments longer, and she teleported back holding a crying orange foal. “No sign of the dopant, but I think we’re going to need more diapers.” Mr and Mrs Cake seemed somewhat bemused, but had no objection to their home being used to look after all these unexpected babies. As the dopant had thought, they couldn’t let any little one go without proper care. But there were eight babies now, and it would take the full efforts of several ponies to keep them entertained, clean, and safe. “We need to find the dopant before he strikes again,” Twilight felt she was stating the obvious, but it had to be said, “If Cheerilee was the target this time, that means it isn’t just foals. But the only connection we still have is the school. I’d be tempted to think of an opportunist, but …” “But he said he was only dealing with ponies who had been chosen by their friends, he was following somepony else’s orders. But who would give orders like that? I think they’re the real villain.” “In any case, we’d best go to the Library for some planning. The Cakes and Luna are happy to look after the babies, and it’s getting pretty crowded here.” The others nodded their agreement, and Pinkie went to say her goodbyes to her infant charges, and to thank Mr and Mrs Cake yet again for their understanding. This time it didn’t need any flour to get eight babies grinning cheerfully and waving goodbye. “I got it!” Apple Bloom burst through the door just as they were about to leave, “I figured out what’s going on!” “Shouldn’t you be in school?” “Class cancelled. Miss Cheerilee looked so shook up, and there’s five of us missing now, so she said we should go home where it’s safe. But as I was going I remembered the tree, I want to find AJ, but I couldn’t see her, so I guessed you came back here already. Is–” she stopped suddenly, recognising her sister without effort as soon as she realised there were only four Champions of Harmony standing around the door. “Don’t worry,” Twilight did her best to sound mature and confident; things she wasn’t quite feeling any more. She was well aware that Joker was the only Body-element they had left, so they only had one more chance to defeat this dopant. “As soon as we beat the dopant, we think they should all be cured.” “It’ll be like a little holiday for them,” Pinkie beamed, finding a bright side to even the darkest situation, “Not having to think about grownup stuff  for a couple of days, just playing until we solve the case.” “Yes. So, you worked out who’s picking the targets?” Apple Bloom told them as quickly as she could, but a few times ended up having to go back to explain some detail. She told them about a tree, vandalised by some group of students years before. There was a ghost story among the foals that a long-ago couple of kids had professed their love for each other under the tree on the day they left school, and asked the spirit of the tree to watch over them. And then they had never been seen again. It was like a mish mash of elements from different ghost stories, the oral tradition of kids in the playground mangling the story beyond recognition as every generation wanted to add their own twist to the tale. But it had become a little clearer, again, when some foal a year or two before had decided to put on a little show for Nightmare Night, and had scratched a portentous message into the trunk of the tree, claiming that it was cursed and anypony whose name was carved there would vanish from the school. Right above a heart with two sets of initials in it; the first possibly-mythical victims of the story. “I kind of felt left out,” Apple Bloom looked down at her hooves, “Because Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were on there, but nobody thought I was important enough to hate. And Diamond Tiara, I think somebody put ‘bully’ next to her name, and Blaze because he’s got into a school for gifted unicorns, and it’s like he can’t play with most of his friends any more because he thinks he’s better than everypony. Rainbow Dash was on the list too, somepony was upset because she made it rain too many times when we grew the new flowers by the school gates.” “I think we have our answer,” Twilight nodded, “That fits with what the culprit told Pinkie and AJ, he thinks he’s carrying out the will of the herd, doing what everypony wants, or something. And I think I’ve got a plan how to fight this. I’ll go back to the Library and set a trap. Can somepony go and put my name on this list, and then find somewhere to stay out of the way? I don’t want him going after your bodies while we’re transformed, and I’m the only one who needs to face the enemy this time.” “Right,” Rarity said, “The rest of you girls, you may as well wait here. I’ll go to the tree, this is personal and I want to have some part in defeating the monster. Lead on, Apple Bloom.” When she got back to the Golden Oak Library, Twilight immediately pulled down a book of Ethereal and Aereomantic Sorcery. She knew exactly where to find the spell she wanted, but she needed to check on the details to make sure it would function as she expected. By Pinkie’s description, the dopant had some kind of infancy toxin. It could presumably spray jets of the poison, but her magic would be enough to deflect such a direct attack, especially as GenerousJoker. The danger was not noticing a tiny patch of poison on the ground, stepping on it by chance. But this spell would be just what she needed. According to the lengthy preamble in the book, it was commonly known as ‘Art’s Big Miss’. The creator, legendary mage Artifact Fire, had been trying to create a spell that would allow unicorns to fly like their (at the time) pegasus enemies. But all he had managed was a spell that would allow the caster to walk an inch above the ground without ever touching it, the one big miss in the famous spellwright’s legacy. It was just what Twilight needed. She cast the spell, applied the ointment to her hooves to guarantee it wouldn’t wear off for a whole day unless she teleported, and then sat back to wait. This tactic wouldn’t have worked, unless she had a way to bring the dopant to her. So she really had to thank Apple Bloom. “Is that straight, Spike dear?” Rarity looked critically at the tree. Just as Apple Bloom had said, it was scratched with a dozen ponies’ names. The babies in the Cakes’ care were crossed out, heavy scores in the wood across their names. There could be no doubt that this was what the monster was using to measure the will of the crowds. Rarity was ready to scratch in one more name, but her perfectionist tendencies had stepped in, and so she was lining up two parallel measuring tapes on the tree to ensure that her writing was perfectly neat and level. “Yeah, looks good to me,” Spike was sitting high on another tree nearby, giving him a better viewpoint to judge the angle of the writing. He blushed, proud to be helping Rarity with such an important task, and impressed with her dedication to making every little thing perfect. “Oh!” Apple Bloom gasped. “What’s wrong? Is it crooked?” “No, I just realised, Evening Spirit’s name isn’t on this list, but he was missing from class along with all the others. Do you think he might be the monster?” “It’s possible. Do we know anything about him that might help us persuade him to stop?” “No. He’s weird, keeps to himself. Sometimes I think he’s following me with his eyes, like… I don’t know. I try to avoid him.” “Why would you want to do that?” a unicorn colt with a dull moss-green coat and grease-streaked mane stepped out of the shadow of a tree, “You’re here to mess with my plan?” Even as he spoke, he was levitating the Gaia Memory behind him, and Rarity had only just noticed and grabbed for her Element when the Memory’s voice shouted out, grating menacingly. “FOAL!” Rarity quickly tapped the Memory into her collar and lifted it out ready to transform, waiting for the Driver to appear on her breast. The colt’s horn was almost hidden under the bulbous coating of his dopant form, but she could still see the glow of sickly purple magic, the colour of his eyes, and readied her own magic to protect her from a strike. But Evening Spirit aimed for the tree above her, breaking off a branch and sending it spearing downwards to knock the Element from her hoof. Then the Foal Dopant spat a stream of its strange, milky venom. It would have hit Rarity for sure, if it hadn’t been for Spike dropping onto its head from the tree above. The little dragon caught most of the stream with his body, then grabbed the dopant’s stubby horn and kicked and clawed at its eyes. “You won’t hurt Rarity!” Rarity scrabbled for the Element of Generosity, but it was in a tangle of roots and fallen branches, and every one she tugged at just seemed to make it slip deeper into the pile. She was panicking, even when Apple Bloom rushed forward to help. She had never been so grateful for Spike’s help, and just hoped he could distract the monster long enough for the two of them to recover the Element. Then she glanced up and saw Spike hovering in the air, held in place by magic. A stream of dopant toxin covered him almost completely, and the little dragon seemed to be getting even smaller. Evening Spirit grinned; he didn’t know if his power would work on a dragon or not, but he knew he had guessed correctly when the shrinking form was momentarily enclosed in the translucent image of an egg. Back in the Golden Oak Library, Twilight Sparkle panicked when her collar flashed. She put on the Driver immediately and slotted in her Element, but worrying about her plan no  longer working meant she hesitated just a second. “JOKER!” Twilight wondered if Rarity would be able to start the transformation. Should she teleport to where the distress signal had come from, or wait to transform first? If she teleported then the enchantment on her hooves would go away, but if she didn’t then she wouldn’t be there in time. She reached a decision in a second, flinging the door open and running as fast as her hooves could carry her. With this enchantment, she seemed to skitter above the cobbles almost like ice-skating, and she was even more grateful to Pinkie Pie for the lessons at the start of the year. “Fluttershy!” she called out, using the collar’s enchantment to carry her voice, “Can we use Fluttertwi? Magic and wings, right? Then I can teleport to Rarity.” But before Fluttershy could answer there was a flash of unfamiliar magic from the Driver, something Twilight had never sensed before. Her eyes closed instantly, and Twilight skidded down the street in a heap, much to the consternation of passers by. “Aha!” Spike grinned, flexed his tiny muscles, and felt the dopant’s curse surge away. It was something he’d heard Twilight say, but never expected he would feel it himself: “A dragon egg repels all magic and hostile effects, perfectly protecting the embryo until it is ready to hatch.” He could feel the dopant’s power trying to turn him into a baby, but he could shake it off his shell as easily as shaking water off his scales. And as much as he wanted to deny it, his body’s magical signature was half Gaia Memory. He could gather the power he’d repelled and absorb it, using it to power up his own magic and become more and more powerful. Spike returned to his regular height, but muscular and bulky, with scales that looked like solid armour rather than just decoration. His flame breath shot back at the dopant like a tongue of blue-white fire, effortlessly slicing through interposing branches and the stream of poison. The dopant shrieked in pain, but he was already trying something new, trying to modulate his magic to get around Spike’s defences. The two fought for a moment, more and more complex invocations of unicorn, dragon, and Gaia magical energies surging back and forth in an intangible chess game too fast for anyone else to follow. But Evening Spirit was very clever, and he had been working with magic all his life. After two seconds, it was all Spike could do to hold him off. “Rarity!” he called, “I can’t keep this up! Have you found it?” Rarity glanced down as the Driver appeared, the Joker memory already in place. She heard Twilight’s suggestion, knew that the Champion could be there any moment, but it just wasn’t fast enough. She grabbed with her magic, sacrificing finesse in the name of speed as she pulled Spike towards her. “I’m sorry, I think this is the only way.” “JOKERᏔDRAGON!” Twilight panicked for a moment, until she felt the body she had been thrust into. She hadn’t felt this before, though she had seen it, and didn’t look forward to finding out how hard it was to control this form. A coruscating web of magic spread from the Driver over Rarity’s body, and her muscles bulged and rippled, making her grow more with every second. They couldn’t help giving a roar of triumph, their minds flooded with the desire to protect and the intoxicating currents of power. The draconeequus reached down with one giant claw to pick up the Foal Dopant. Compared to a monster 50 feet high, he seemed as small as any baby. Twilight was distracted by the magic she could  feel. Now she could actually sense the Gaia Energy around them, as if it was just another field of magic. She had the immense power of GenerousJoker at her disposal, but it was mixed and boosted further by Spike’s draconic and Gaia magics. She could tap into it, she knew, and literally do anything. But if she did, it would be a force of chaos, almost impossible to control. She could change the colour of the clouds across Equestria, or change the roads to ice so that everypony could enjoy skating like she just had. But she wouldn’t let herself do that, because she knew that the power of chaos was too great to be tamed. One step on that slippery slope would be one too many, regardless of the circumstances. “You… you can’t do this!” Twilight struggled to speak, and the voice that came out of their mouth was a barely intelligible roar. She could feel Spike’s desire to protect Rarity twisting and turning within their mind, evolving into the urge to kill anypony that might be a threat. She could imagine this was how a dopant must feel, being taken over by the darkest side of its power becoming terrible, but she could fight it. She could talk to the Memory user like she always did, and convince him to abandon the path of destruction. “Why did you do this?” the draconequus roared. “You can’t understand how destructive a Gaia Memory can be. What would you gain by taking these ponies away from their lives, by making their families worry about them? Don’t you have anypony you care about?” “It’s what everypony wants!” the Foal Dopant squeaked, clearly terrified by the change in circumstances, “You’ve seen the list, you can’t  blame me. I was just doing what they want, and…” “That’s not what they want,” Apple Bloom interrupted, anger finally overcoming her fear. “It’s a joke, putting somepony’s name on there. Knowing their friends think they’ve gone too far is all it takes to make them think again. And you think if you scratched somepony’s name on there, when they hurt you, it might make you feel a tiny bit better? Like you’ve told a friend, even if you can’t, and then you could move on. How would you feel if you found out you’d lost your friend forever, over some silly argument? That’s terrible!” “I did what you wanted, all of you! I was just following instructions, I thought you’d be happy!” Even through the strange echo the Memory added to his voice, Evening Spirit sounded both disappointed and afraid. Twilight and Rarity wanted to ask more questions, to better understand what could drive an ordinary colt so far, but it was taking every ounce of self control not to crush his fragile body into dust. “Did…” he continued, “Did you put a name on the list? Somepony you’ve forgiven?” “I did. But forgiveness, that’s not so easy. Somepony upset me, and hasn’t even apologised. But if that’s as far as it goes, maybe they will. This… turning somepony into a baby, it means there’s no second chances for friendship. I’ll never get a chance to forgive that pony if you carry on to the bottom of the tree.” Evening Spirit looked down at the list. His hit list. He had wanted to prove that he was useful, that he mattered. But he had never even considered if the ponies who chose the names might have changed their minds. This wasn’t what he had hoped for, but he knew that if he gave up now he would be just another kid, and he couldn’t touch the big picture at all. He would be everything his parents said he was, if he gave up on something he believed in just because he found some new detail. He needed to  have the strength to ignore any facts that would discourage him from his path. He scowled, and looked back at the dragon pony. She was still holding him, but loosely in one claw. He could probably escape if he had to, and the distant look in the dragon’s eyes meant she might not notice right away. He could still win, and show Apple Bloom that he had the determination to be an adult and do what needed to be done. He looked back at the list again, and saw only six names remained. The highest was Miss Cheerilee, the one time he had failed. The last name on the list… ‘Evening Spirit’ No explanation, just a name. He hadn’t read down that far, always looking at the next target and thinking of a way to find them on their own. His own name was on the list, and he couldn’t think why. But then, he’d done things as bad as some of those he’d already punished, maybe. If it was just a careless word, or not understanding some signal, then he could see somepony coming to hate him. He couldn’t complete the list, that much was obvious. He had a task to do, and once he’d done it he might even be recognised for how far he had gone to help the oppressed, those for whom the myth of the cursed tree was the only way they could seek revenge on the bullies. But if he was exempt because he had a great purpose, then how could he say that the other targets didn’t have their own purpose as well? It was all going wrong, and if he couldn’t find a solution he would be the one weird kid that nopony even remembered. “You like babysitting, don’t you?” Apple Bloom shouted up to him again, “I remember you talking about it in class, and you sounded really excited. You like playing with babies, right? Is that why you wanted to make ponies young again, does that have anything to do with it? You wanted more kids to play with, who won’t judge you?” He didn’t respond. He was having a crisis of conscience, and he just wanted to be alone so he could work out how to resolve all these issues. “Just play with them?” another voice cut in. One of the adults, Pinkie Pie, walking carefully between the trees, “I learned today that sometimes just playing with kids isn’t the best way to look after them. You need to be serious too. You need to be responsible, and not do wild things just because you can.” “Yeah,” Evening shouted down, “I was expecting the Cakes to look after the new babies, but you didn’t do too bad. You should have learned that years ago though, you can’t let them keep playing forever. What a kid wants isn’t always what they need.” “I learned it though,” Pinkie beamed proudly, “Did you?” “Babies are always emotional,” the draconequus spoke again, and this time it was Rarity’s voice coming out, “They only think about what they want right now, so you have to be mature and sensible. But the same comes for helping anypony who’s upset. What they want now isn’t always what they need in the long run. You should think about that when you read your list.” “And sometimes,” Apple Bloom added before he could think of a valid response, “When you really want to hurt somepony, when you hate them enough to put their name on a cursed tree, when you’re that angry because a friend said the wrong thing, or didn’t realise something would upset you… What you want is something to hurt them, or maybe to never see them again. But maybe what you need is just a blank slate, so you can start over and maybe try to like them again.” “How?” the word was like the last gasp of air from a deflating balloon, Evening Spirit’s tone was his  admission of defeat. He knew he had done wrong, but he still felt like he had to do something. He couldn’t just step back from the mission he’d set himself without feeling like a failure. (“He wants to surrender,” Rarity whispered inside their shared mind, “He just needs an excuse. We can’t hold him here forever, but I’m worried we might hurt him too much if we try a memory break like this.”) (“I have an idea,” Twilight responded nervously, looking down at the names carved on that one tree, “Do you think you can keep control, Spike?”) (“I don’t know. I just want to protect Rarity from this dopant, I could crush him so easily, but I know I shouldn’t.”) (“What you want and what you need,” Rarity sighed, “Everypony has that problem, but you don’t want to hurt Pinkie Pie and Apple Bloom either, do you? Can you try to let Twilight take control of the body for a moment, so we can do this the right way? Can you do that for me?”) (“I can try!” Spike found the urge to destroy subsiding just a little. Twilight was used to controlling recalcitrant magic, and he would never turn down a request from Rarity. It might just be enough to let the draconequus use their powers without giving in to chaos. Maybe.) Evening Spirit didn’t  hear the discussion inside their shared mind. He just saw a tongue of flame lance out, brilliant white and so bright it hurt his eyes just to look at it. It vanished as quickly as it had gone, and as his eyes adjusted to the comparatively dim light of noon again he could see the ashes where a cursed tree had once stood. “I’ll have to find a new way to prove myself!” Evening Spirit gasped, but he didn’t seem to be entirely upset about the prospect. There was no way he could complete his quest now, so there was no reason to worry about whether it was right to continue. “I’ll have to find a new purpose in life, or I’ll be nobody!” “You could be anything,” Apple  Bloom actually  smiled at him this time, “Just like the rest of us. Maybe you’d  be better making friends, so you can find your talents together.  That way, you’ve got somepony who cares enough to tell you before you start on such a dark path.” “Friends?” the word was underscored with a melodious chime as he yanked the Gaia Memory out of his flank and returned to being just another lanky unicorn colt who could have gone unnoticed in the crowd. He threw it into the air as hard as he could, and a second lance of brilliant white fire split the air. With the threat gone, it took only a mighty effort of will for the draconequus to return to being a normal unicorn and a dragon-shaped Gaia Memory. Ponyville was safe again, the unexpected babies returned to their adult or foal sizes over the course of half an hour, with no problem more serious than a little embarrassment and some overcrowding in the Cakes’ front room. A few days later. Everything was back to normal, or as normal as Ponyville ever got. Princess Luna had left town again, but promised she would be back in a week to discover what Nightmare Night was all about. All the babified ponies were trying to act like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. “I see you’re talking to Evening Spirit,” Applejack asked her sister over the breakfast table, “You really forgive him for what he did to your friends?” “Not really. And some of the things he says are still kind of creepy. But I think he’s trying,” Apple Bloom looked around, checking that the two of them had the kitchen to themselves right now before continuing, “I don’t know how long he was under the control of the Memory, so maybe the worst things he did before were because of that. I know what it’s like to lose control, and I think if he has friends to help him he could grow into a good kid. If we learned anything, it’s don’t hold one mistake against somepony.” “I think maybe you learned that one better than we did,” Applejack laughed, “But I got to ask you something a bit more serious. He’s talking to you now, and I think he likes you enough to give an honest answer. So do you think you could ask him where he got the Gaia Memory? We don’t want to dredge up bad memories, but…” “I asked him. The Memory Dealer threw it out, because he wouldn’t touch anything that would harm a foal. Evening was in the right place at the right time that day, and caught it.” “Can you find out who this Memory Dealer is, sugarcube? We could really use –” “No,” Apple Bloom interrupted, “I’m sorry, but you don’t need to know.” “What?” Applejack sputtered and stammered, not even sure what to make of that comment. She couldn’t believe that Apple Bloom, who the Champions had trusted to help them a few times already, would keep such vital information from them if she’d found out. “I talked to him,” Apple Bloom continued, “The Dealer. After I found the Bird Memory, I had to know what he was doing with something so dangerous. And he said it’s more complex than you think. There’s a load of Gaia Memories left in the world from a thousand years ago, they turned into crystals so dull you wouldn’t notice them in the ground, but then they revived. So there’s ponies who’ve found them, and can’t control them now. There’s ponies gathering them together to sell, as well. They’re the ones you should be stopping. But there’s a group, they call themselves the Foundation, refining and improving the Gaia Memories. They’re trying to make something that will improve your natural talents, that will allow you to be the best pony you can be without driving you mad. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing? The Memory Dealer is hunting the out-of-control dopants as well, and only selling the new Memories when he thinks there’s a pony he can trust to control it. He takes responsibility for them. And he made me promise not to tell you, because he says there’s one of your friends that he can’t trust.” Applejack stared, mouth open. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. But she knew the value of a promise as well as anypony. She’d have to talk to the others about this, but she couldn’t force Apple Bloom to break a promise. For now, it seemed a problem that wouldn’t be so easy to solve.