Growing Pains

by Peroth E

A Bite to Eat

A pony who spent their life on the road was typically a pony who didn’t get official news straight away. They weren’t there for town meetings, for speeches, to see the memos posted on the notice board, didn’t get the newspapers or the letters from the mail, only the ones who bothered to take radios with them got any sort of news.

Trixie was not prone to listening to the radio. She didn’t even own one of the infernal devices, mostly for practices’ sake. She did not practice well without total silence and isolation, and the only time she had to listen to the radio was during practice times, when she needed to be sleeping, or when she was being admired by other ponies, and in those cases, she did not need a radio.

That was why she was alone on the road, making her way to Canterlot. She certainly wasn’t the last pony to get the news, but she was close to it. It wasn’t her fault, not entirely, she was a traveling show pony, and this whole war thing started up while she was on the road, not in town. Oh well, she was on her way now, under direct orders of the Princess. She had performed in Canterlot before. Twice in fact, but neither time did the Princesses attend. Not that it mattered to her, she got to perform in Canterlot, to fully sold stadiums of scores of unicorns that came to watch her performance. This wasn’t just joining the big leagues, this was being something the big leagues looked up to! Having the Princesses there would have just been icing on the cake.

She entertained thoughts of performing once more in Canterlot, while a grand majority of Equestria was there, where she could be seen and admired by every pony directly in the kingdom’s province itself. Of course, she could have to get there first… She took another sip from her water canteen and gently lifted the wagon she used as her on-the-road home, rolling it after her along the long, empty road towards the great mountain a few miles away. She was used to the loneliness, but there was something terrifying about it this morning. A foreboding since that maybe…

It surely wasn’t some drill. It was being taken far too seriously to be a simple drill. She would know when she got there she supposed, but for now, the idea of war in Equestria was a distant thing. She had greater things to be worrying about now, such as getting her and her wagon to Canterlot. So, maybe she wasn’t the broadest thinker when it came to planning ahead, she preferred to go along with the fine details rather than take a look at the conclusion, but most especially when she didn’t have a plan in the first place. So far, all she knew was she needed to go to Canterlot, and there was the possibility of war. No big thing, really, she’d handle it when it came along.

She set the wagon down again, took another drink from her canteen, wiped the sweat off her brow, and waved her cloak to let the wind cool her sweaty back, then considered putting the extra clothing in the wagon to save herself some of the stress of heat. Normally she planned her routes so she could arrive in each town in a matter of hours, rather than spend sixteen hours going from the far-end of Equestria to Canterlot. Her magical limits were being tested, but each and every bit of strain was extra experience, was more strength. She knew this, so she kept going rather than give up and wait for her focus and energy to return.

It was due to being a bit scattered, to being hot, sweaty, and tired, that she managed to not notice the only other pony on the road. “Are you having trouble, friend?” The thick, female voice asked. Trixie, lost control for a moment, and the wagon halted in its movement. Grunting in annoyance, she turned to face the mare that interrupted her.

The pony wore a brown cloak that easily hid the upper half of her face, though the lower half showed she was no commoner. A dark gray muzzle, with lighter gray fur around it. Her eyes seemed to glow yellow, a frightening look, until Trixie realized it was a simple trick of the light. With her long, striped legs, she stepped forward, and took a look at the wagon Trixie had been pulling. “The Great and Magnificent Trixie needs no help!” Trixie answered, taking ahold of the wagon again to move it.

To her eternal annoyance, the cloaked figure, carrying two packs of her belongings, took the wagon’s tug rope and wrapped it around her torso to help pull the wagon along. “Ah yes, The Great and Magnificent Trixie, I’ve heard much about your exploits, so I know you’re no simple pixie.” She tugged, and the wagon rolled more easily. With a sniff of annoyance, Trixie released her grip on the wagon, and watched with further irritation as the strange pony continued on unheeded. “But we both have the same destination and goal, to refuse help in such a time would make you out to be a foal.”

Trixie watched the pony and the wagon pass by, and she took a few steps forward, keeping up with the brisk pace the odd pony was setting up. “Are you calling the Great and Powerful Trixie foalish?” She asked, almost as if challenging the unicorn to answer, right or wrong. The proper response, the one that would have saved the foreign pony any of Trixie’s ire, was silence and an apology.

Zecora had other ideas: “No, child, I meant you no such harm.” The zebra-mare tugged her hood off her head, revealing her striped Mohawk-mane, as well as her dark, mysterious blue eyes, “I merely meant it would be problematic to turn away any help in a time of such alarm.” The zebra slowed down as Trixie’s eyes roamed her, taking in the mare’s gold finery and color-pattern, then the striped pony spoke again, “My name is Zecora.”

Trixie was not prone to holding her tongue when something was on her mind, but something about this mare made her stop and think. It was the strange pattern she had, it was the odd jewelry, it was the wise, gentle way she spoke, but more than that it was the implication that this mare had experience beyond her years. Trixie harrumphed quietly, still, “If you are so insistent on intruding on my peace for your own safety, then the Great and Powerful Trixie supposes she can allow you to pull her wagon.” Secretly she boosted the wagon with her magic, lightening the load on the other mare. She wasn’t totally heartless, but if this Zecora woman dared to point it out…

She didn’t. They traveled along quietly, together, towards the mountain that dominated the skyline. The rate at which they walked was much more steady than Trixie’s, Zecora didn’t have to pause for a drink every minute or so, which, Trixie hated to admit it, was much more efficient. At least the other mare was quiet, probably thinking to herself.

… Thinking about what, exactly? No doubt about her, the Great and Magnificent Trixie… Unless she wasn’t, in which case she was thinking about what to do at Canterlot. She didn’t know what the striped-pony did for a living, but it didn’t really matter, it wasn’t like they were going to be spending much time toge- “I have heard from reliable sources that Celestia plans to bolster her military forces.” Again with the rhyming?

Oh well, small talk wasn’t her big thing, unless it was about herself, but that was an interesting rumor… “Oh? Well I did hear there was a war,” everypony must have heard about it by now, it was enormous news, “so of course she’d bolster the military. She’d be a foal not to.”

Zecora calmly turned her head to face the unicorn traveling nearby, noting the way she held herself as she spoke. She didn’t seem to understand at all the impact, or perhaps even the concept of war. It seemed to the zebra that this unicorn was removed from the world on her own terms. “True, a foal she would be, but an army needs recruits, from the greatest stallion to the simplest pony, including me.” She glanced back to Trixie, and noted how… Distant the unicorn seemed.

“Well I guess an army needs numbers as much as it needs powerful warriors.” Trixie shrugged a little, and Zecora gave a tiny sigh, trying to not roll her eyes.

“Do you not see the trouble brewing up ahead? There will be peace in Equestria no more, and the soil will soon be stained with red…” Zecora, being a traveler from a land far east, was not completely unused to war. Only as a foal had she ever witnessed it, though seeing the effects before her very eyes was what drove her towards her life as an herbalist.

Trixie kept up her steps, but did hold back and think a little harder on the subject. She had never ever considered war an actual thing, more like a story element, like the hero and the love interest, though she supposed it had to have it origins somewhere. “I’m sure everything will be perfectly fine. Princess Celestia is watching over Equestria after all.”

Zecora frowned as she thought about this. Of course Trixie had a point, but as long as she’d been around, she’d never ever heard of any amount of bloodshed turning out to be ‘perfectly fine’. “I will not ask about what sources from which you have heard about war, but I assure you that from what I have seen there is plenty more. Nothing good and nothing sacred ever comes from such an unholy thing, the only beauty coming from the graveyard bell’s ring. This will not be easy, even for the Princess, I suggest to you to give your opinion redress.”

“Now see here!” Trixie stared at the zebra-pony in great offense, completely dropping the wagon in anger. “Perhaps the Great and Powerful Trixie is not as ‘worldly’ as you make yourself out to be, but the Great and Powerful Trixie is not called ‘the Great and Powerful’ because she is ignorant. The Great and Powerful Trixie is merely stating that this so called ‘war’ will no doubt be handled with the utmost professionalism. Trixie will not be surprised if this war is called off before it even begins.”

Zecora slowed her steps until she stood still, and gave Trixie an honest look of uncertainty. The unicorn stared back, face hard, but she did feel some concern over the way Zecora’s eyes fell to the dirty floor. “I can only hope that it is the truth you speak, though if not, this time I will not be so weak.” Zecora started to move again, the wagon coming along behind her as Trixie also continued walking.

“You can’t be telling the Great and Powerful Trixie that you’ve seen a war before. Equestria hasn’t had a war in…” She thought back to her knowledge of history. She began to wrack her brain for the great conflicts of past; Nightmare Moon was settled twice without a need for an army, Discord was settled by the Princesses alone, but beyond that… Beyond that, things got hazy. Before Discord, there wasn’t a whole lot known. Equestria had never had a war before. “In never.” She realized to herself. War was just some sort of fabricated concept made by writers for tension and interest. It had never been a thing in Equestria… Right?

“That is,” Zecora’s own voice felt thick in her throat, “that is part of my concern, you see. Nothing in Equestria has ever gone so blown out of proportion, no matter who disagreed.”

“That didn’t exactly rhyme…”

Zecora waved her hoof as if it was no big deal, “I can only hope that the Princess has enough wisdom to handle a war, or she may see a bout of pain and horror like never before.” Again, Trixie felt somewhat unsure about this news. Okay, she knew war was bad, but this Zecora woman looked utterly depressed by the idea. She personally had never been affected by much tragedy, other than an utterly painful and humiliating confrontation with a large bear and a weak-willed little unicorn…

“Okay, well, you intend to enlist, correct? In that case, you’ll be doing what you can for Equestria. The Great and Powerful Trixie trusts that you will no doubt be a great asset for this war.” Trixie nodded to herself. There, she could talk the talk, walk the walk, and was also an amazing therapist now. Truly she was the greatest-

“Hah, I am old, child. I am a healer, and simply can’t go wild. I will see the greatest of wounds and pains, it will be others who are taking the reins. If I had an ounce of power such as you do, perhaps I could be more of use during the battles that will ensue.” She sighed deeply, despite her words, carrying the wagon very well despite not having Trixie’s help. The unicorn immediately got back to picking the wagon up, and helped the mare roll it along.

But her words did more than remind her that her newfound companion was tugging a fairly heavy wagon behind her. “You really think the Great and Powerful Trixie would be useful in this ‘war’?” She asked curiously. She was an entertainer, but she knew a variety of spells, not too many that could handle her in even the most basic of bar brawls without a lot of creativity, and sure she was creative, but not a lot beat levitating a table into somepony’s head when the situation really called for it.

“I have little doubt that a pony with as much presence as yourself would be quickly hailed as heroic.” Zecora answered with a nod of her head, not knowing what interesting little ideas and fantasies she’d planted in Trixie’s head. The blue unicorn looked skyward, and an almost naughty smile cross her face as she thought about it. She, the Great and Powerful Trixie, the greatest entertainer Equestria could ever hope to witness, the most magnificent unicorn to walk the planet, a hero in a time of great need.

“Well, if the Great and Powerful Trixie would be of such amazing use to the war,” she said almost idly as the decision was made in her head, Zecora glancing to her in surprise, “then perhaps the Great and Powerful Trixie will join you in enlisting in it.”

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The fourth ring of Coltriella, the famed Market of the Sands, open to and visited by any and all citizens, no matter their class, rank, or reason. To the merchant, it smelled like a profit. To the inquisitive, it smelled like adventure. To the hungry, it smelled like an open buffet… And of all the things a pony could be here, Twilight was the hungry one.

“Again, Twilight?” Rarity glanced to her friend, who stared up at the sky with a scowl, as if silently blaming it for her talkative stomach. By her side, Dash snickered, but quickly shut up and began to whistle when Twilight turned to glare at her. It wasn’t her fault she was hungry! Okay, so maybe it was, but it didn’t excuse her stomach being the only one to growl!

“Think we could use the world bein’ near endin’ as an excuse t’make these checks go faster…?” Applejack asked as the guards between the third and fourth gate slowly, meticulously went through the belongings of a merchant they’d been following from the first ring out, found he was clear of anything hostile, and let him through.

“Certainly not something I’d try and risk…” Twilight grumbled, drawing her eyes from the very unsuspicious whistling by her side. “I don’t think we should even tell ponies about what we’re doing.”

“Actually, yeah, keepin’ outta trouble sounds plenty good.” Applejack shrugged, then gave Twilight and Dash a curious look. “Though ya think word could pass forward that we ain’t got nothin’ on us other than some papers…” The six stepped forward, and Rarity presented the paper that would allow her through. Each mare presented the papers granting them residence of the first ring and access to the other six and the guards nodded them through, seeing they had nothing on them but small neck pouches for documents.

Stepping through each gate felt like they were walking into a whole new world. The first ring had been sparsely populated, with ponies keeping to the cool shadows and staying in their homes or businesses, but the second ring was different. While it wasn’t as ornate as the first, ponies walked the streets together and spoke. From what they picked up, lawyers, jewelers, the really good cosmetic-creation ponies, every upper class job and business was in the second ring, including some of the better restaurants. There was apparently a small living district in the second ring as well, construction on the way to expand the living distract for citizens who were more upper-class than third ring citizens… Yet not upper-class enough for first-ring.

Stepping through the third gate, and as far as they were concerned the last gate they needed to see, they found themselves facing another change in scenery: the walls were separated enough for market stalls to be comfortably placed in the exact middle of the road. Crowds of ponies wandered all over, mostly comprised of individuals who happened to be going the same way, but the noises and the sights of the crowds made the girls a little… Afraid. Or energized.

“Sweet Celestia…” Dash took a step forward, stepping aside as several ponies walked up the slightly raised ramp leading to the checkpoint behind them, and stared over all the heads she could see. Twilight joined her in a moment, staring at the great cultural clash happening before their very eyes.

Intermingled with the various ponies with dyed coats and manes, the wealthy showing off as they traveled between shadow to shadow, usually surrounded by others from the same ring or servants were ponies dressed from flank to neck in desert-resistant clothing. Big cloaks, multi-pocketed jackets and belts, wide-brimmed floppy hats, several even wearing eye-liner around their eyes. A majority of their ears had some sort of black material painted on, and they did not mind standing in the sun’s rays so much. The market stall ponies were generally in the nude or wearing something… Exciting, selling their wares enthusiastically while fans attached to hoof-pedaled devices kept them cool.

The energy of the city was here, they could tell. Thousands of ponies filled this one small chunk of the ring, and this was supposed to be the market ring, for just about everything you wanted to buy. They were looking at a mere fraction of the population in a fraction of the ring.

Then Twilight’s stomach growled again. Twilight glanced down to her hooves in embarrassment as Dash gently nudged her. “Alright, alright, I get the message.” Twilight squeaked as Dash’s nose leaned over and lightly nudged her stomach, “Ya hungry? Ya feelin’ hungry?” Dash asked in a teasing coo, making Twilight blush as Rarity and Fluttershy covered their mouths as they watched, “Yes you are! C’mon, let’s go getcha full.” Dash began to trot away, along the side of the inner wall.

“Could you be any more embarrassing?” Twilight murmured from behind, keeping her head low as Applejack began to giggle. Despite how… red she was beneath her coat, it had felt oddly comforting.

Dash turned her head, smirking almost cockily at Twilight, “Want me to try?” Dash asked, eliciting a whimper from the mare. Dash kept them moving with a confident smile, Twilight distracting herself with the shape of Dash’s flank as they walked alongside the inner wall of the fourth ring. While keeping herself behind Dash, every now and then Twilight would look up to where her horn was supposed to be, as if expecting it to return while she wasn’t looking, but found that wasn’t the case. She sighed heavily, glancing forward again to watch Dash, and found herself watching the stubs of the Pegasi’s once great wings. ‘Stop it.’ She ordered herself, affixing her gaze onto the back of Dash’s head. She didn’t want to make Dash feel self-conscious, or more so than she already was. If she was. She seemed pretty proud walking along, and Dash was the sort of mare who wore her heart on her sleeve… Though she had only recently found out her new best friend had a lot of deeper, more complicated emotions. Maybe it was one of those things she’d never be able to tell until she got the mare alone.

They walked until they were no longer in the central shopping area, and were greeted by the smells of food. Less ponies crowded the area now, allowing them to maneuver more towards the center of the road. The food market was actually quite long, and as far as their eyes could see there were stalls competing to sell a variety of foods, spices, and dinnerware. The merchants in the stalls typically were nice and round, probably from their own cooking, the cooks in the back usually dressed in heavy aprons as they tended to a newer batch of cooked delights.

Twilight didn’t know it, but she was drooling a little as the scents filled their nose. They walked down rows of stalls with cooked food ready to be bought and eaten, and she had to swallow the build-up just to breath. It all looked so wonderfully delicious, and her stomach growled louder than ever now…

She blushed when Dash turned back to look at her with a slightly raised eyebrow. “You really are hungry ain’tcha?” Twilight chose to glare at the sky again, even as her stomach growled hungrily. Dash glanced to the other four, and jerked her head, an indication for them to keep moving. “I’ll keep with Twilight and to find her something to eat, you guys go on and get stuff to stock the house.”

“You think that’s a good idea?” Twilight asked in surprise. Twilight would have figured Dash would be against splitting up at all right now, but Dash was nodding at her.

Applejack nosed forward, standing next to Twilight, “I ain’t sure we should be splittin’ up. We’re already in a mess a’ trouble, it seems like it’d be a li’l…” Applejack frowned, “Dangerous to go seperatin’.”

“I’m not saying it’s not.” Dash gave a tiny, half-hearted shrug. Applejack raised an eyebrow at Dash’s little ‘I’m about to give a pretty bad excuse so please roll with it’ tell. “But I’m just saying if we get split up we can get back to the house faster, and Twilight and I can go look in on these ponies who are gonna be training us, like that general mare.” Dash smiled as best as she could, while Applejack glanced from her to Twilight.

The farmer-pony rubbed her chin softly, and glanced around. There were plenty of guards standing around, keeping watch, and nopony she could see among the massive crowd seemed too shady. Then again, only a fourth of them wasn’t covered from head-to-toe, but even those ponies didn’t seem too dangerous. A little odd, sure, since the black eyeliner made it look like they were squinting a bunch but she doubted one of them was about to start busting out swords. “… Alright, ya’ll take Twilight for a snack, but don’t ya’ll leave this area. If ye’re done and lookin’ fer us, let’s meet… Uh…”

“If we’re going to let them go alone, we might as well just say ‘meet at the house’ if we don’t run into eachother.” Rarity interrupted, glancing between everypony with a somewhat suspicious look. “If anything happens though, you are to scream. Loud. If we won’t hear it, the guards certainly will.” Rarity ordered.

Pinkie Pie stepped forward, and nudged Rarity. “They’ll be fine! They have that awesome fire trick going on for them, right Dash?” Dash gave a somewhat nervous nod, as Pinkie gave them a reassuring smile. Twilight was happy to see her optimism back, and gave her an appreciative grin as they nodded to eachother. Fluttershy gently brushed against each mare, patting their backs comfortingly with her wings as they wandered off towards the market where they’d find stuff for the kitchen.

Twilight watched the other girls leave with slight trepidation, and turned to face Dash as soon as they’d left. Dash flinched at the look she was being given. “Is something up?” Twilight asked, while Dash gave a somewhat uncomfortable smile. She didn’t trust that smile at all.

“Well, you see, it’s just, uh…” Dash looked around slowly, avoiding Twilight’s eyes directly. Twilight turned and twisted, trying to catch her, but Dash finally settled for staring at her hooves. “Let’s go!” She insisted, suddenly walking into Twilight, pushing her. “I saw a stall selling honey-sauce celery! Sounds really good!” She talked before Twilight could complain, and Twilight struggled to keep upright as she was shoved.

“Dash!” Twilight growled, trying to turn to face the oddly acting mare, but was failing spectacularly as Dash kept juking around her, keeping her moving just by shoving. It was somewhat embarrassing as they were no doubt causing a scene with their constant grunting and pushing, especially with as brightly colored as they were. Many of the clothed Coltriellans simply stood out of the way to watch with interest as Twilight tried to struggle and get her footing, yet Dash kept nudging her forward.

Twilight finally found the chance to turn around and face Rainbow Dash when she was cleanly pushed into an alleyway between two buildings. She was very understandably peeved-looking as Dash carefully scanned the alley entrance behind her, then turned to face Twilight. “I need to ask you-”

“You pushed me!” Twilight accused, making Dash blink. The two stared, Dash in slight surprise, Twilight in accusation. Dash glanced behind her, then back to Twilight. The unicorn never blinked. Dash rubbed her hoof against her leg nervously. She still wasn’t blinking! It was like one-hundred even in the shade and she wasn’t blinking!

“How are you doing that?”

“A lot!” Twilight stuck her hoof in Dash’s face and finally blinked, making Dash let out a slow breath through her nose. “What is this all about!? First you separate the group, then you get all shovey on me for like no reason and you bring me into this dark little alleyway and now you’re acting all innocent! Dash, what the hay is going on!?” Twilight demanded.

Dash quietly, and awkwardly glanced behind herself again, then straight forward, head hung a little as she tried to smile, but it came out very nervous. “Look, it’s kind of weird but I have a question for you. I don’t want to freak out the others with it.” Dash calmly glanced around again, then took a few steps forward, head lowered before lifting it, nearly an inch from Twilight’s snout.

“What?” Twilight lost the angry edge in her stare, replaced now with discomfort as Dash came so close to tell her. She seemed nervous to speak up. “C’mon Dash, what’s bothering you?” Twilight asked, gently settling into a sitting position. Dash gave the entrance one final look, then lowered her head.

“How do you use your… Blessing?” Dash asked, pawing at the ground with her hooves, teeth grit at her admittance as Twilight’s eyes widened a little. “Like, you have your language-thing and control of the castle, how do you tap into that?” She looked up to Twilight with an earnest desire to know, and Twilight could only stare, uncomprehending.

“As in, ‘how do I control the castle’? Or how do I change languages?” Dash nodded rapidly, leaning her head forward to hear more clearly. Twilight frowned softly. “It’s hard to explain Dash, but I just do. For the language at least, it comes to me as naturally as breathing. To fly the castle, I just tapped into my magic and it moved how I wanted it too. That’s it, no real trick or-” Twilight paused, and began to rub her chin. “Celestia’s Fire…”

“I’ve been thinking about it ever since we were given that house. I remembered how I felt at the time, that I could take anything and do anything no matter what if it was for you guys. I never doubted myself once, I never felt scared until it was taken away, I just knew I’d win.” Dash gulped, and rubbed the back of her neck unconsciously as she recalled how she’d acted towards Princess Celestia when they’d last met. She would defend the Princess from anypony, yet she’d been so uneasy and untrusting… Of Princess Celestia of all ponies! “I could feel her right next to me, talking to me, telling me we could win, that we would win. I didn’t think about it until now, but, Princess Celestia was actually speaking to me. I’ve been trying to, I dunno, talk to her again, maybe get all flamed-on and everything, but I can’t get to it! It’s like, I search and search and try to find the fire, but all I find is mirrors.”

Twilight understood. It was a phenomenon associated with most artistic unicorns who had difficulties accessing their magic through sheer manipulation and force; you would visualize something associated with your magic in place of the pool of power you pulled from, and manipulated it in your mind, in your personal magical pool until you got the picture of what you wanted, and projected it in front of you, imposing the image of what you wanted rather than manipulating it directly. It was generally considered a beginner’s technique for new wizard-wannabes, as it allowed for limited transformations and didn’t draw on the complete power you held. By pulling out the deepest reserves of your strength and bending it to your will rather than let it freely coalesce around your target with the vaguest picture of what it was meant to make, a unicorn went from blinking a few flowers several different colors to changing an entire garden into a completely different crop. Not without consequences of course, as the environment around it would also need careful managing to keep the change relevant, or the change itself could harm its surroundings but it was a bookmarked step in every new wizard’s training when their sapphire became a ruby, not just a red sapphire.

“If I may…” Twilight began slowly, carefully rub her hoof along Dash’s neck to comfort her. “Could I look at your magic?” Twilight asked. She didn’t know what she’d be looking for, but she assumed an Alicorn’s blessing, especially from an Alicorn as flashy as Princess Celestia could be, would be discernable from standard magic. Well, the standard magic in a Pegasus. Given to a Pegasus.

“Only if it doesn’t turn into somethin’ weird…” Dash calmly turned to the side and stared at the wall. Twilight watched the alleyway’s entrance carefully, making sure nopony was watching, and lowered her head to dismiss the spell hiding her horn. It flashed once, and her eyes began to glow, allowing her to see Dash’s lines.

Dash’s magic lines were incredibly intricate compared to your average Unicorn’s. Looking close, she could see that Dash’s magical pool was not where her heart was, but it was an odd double-set of pools interconnected by a small stream just where her wings were. The small lines of power spread all over her body, but a vast majority of her ley lines went through her legs, then spread along the rest of her body. Though her lines weren’t the part that interested her, what did interest her was the fact that, with her magic-detecting sight activated, it looked like Dash was currently on fire.

“Ah-hah…” Twilight stated, keeping her head low enough that she could hide her horn behind Dash’s body from the entrance of the alleyway. “I see what it is. Princess Celestia’s blessing is separate from your magic powers.” She said, her eyes roaming along the golden flames that surrounded Rainbow Dash. She hadn’t seen it before though… Did it decide to appear when Dash used it, or was there some other explanation? Either way, staring at it reminded of her of her much loved mentor. “It’s like it’s… Around you, rather than inside you. That’s probably why you can’t access it.” Twilight turned her eyes off, and immediately hid her horn with the illusion spell.

“Why wouldn’t I be able to access Celestia’s gift?” Dash asked, turning to face Twilight with a curious stare, while Twilight thought about it. Why did Celestia even grant her such a violent ability? It didn’t seem like Celestia to have even a bit of violent potential in her.

“If I would have to guess, it’s so it isn’t abused.” Twilight murmured, thinking carefully about what Celestia would want, and what Celestia would do… Yes, making sure Dash wouldn’t abuse her abilities would be a high priority, but the problem was, how were they supposed to train said abilities? Twilight frowned, and shrugged. “I was kind going to ask about what had happened, but if you don’t know…”

“All I know is that the moment I knew I couldn’t let you guys down, everything began to get really warm…” Dash raised her shoulders idly, all while Twilight thought to herself. One of the most useful steps in learning new information was organizing it. Of course, she just had to get paper and quills for that… They were in the market district after all. She immediately narrowed her eyes and grunted in annoyance when she felt her stomach rumble. Dash just began to snicker softly.

“Let’s really go get you something to eat now.” Dash chuckled, inviting her along with a small wave of her hoof. Twilight followed behind her, trying to ignore her embarrassment and think clearly about what she knew about Celestia’s blessing. She needed to organize it in her mind, then on the paper. She went through a mental checklist all about it, staring up at the sky as she did, trying to puzzle out its mysteries… She had known about blessings before, but almost nopony knew anything about what they did, or how they affected the blessed. Very little study had gone into it due to how little was known. No books were written on it, almost nopony had the blessing (and those that did weren’t showy with it, the only ponies who got it were too humble to reveal it), and Celestia, having already blessed so few, remained mum on what exactly it did. As far as Twilight could tell, she had a way with animals, and Dash could set herself on fire.

They were interesting, for sure, but surely there must have been more… Otherwise a blessing wouldn’t need to be given so sparsely, especially if the Princess could regulate when and how the fire was activated… Unless she couldn’t. That would make a lot more sense concerning why she gave it out rarely… Though how was one supposed to activate it?

Plenty of possibilities went through her head as Dash lead her along. She really wanted to get some paper… actually no, she wanted to get some food, and maybe some paper later…

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“Make way!” Somepony shouted from the courtyard. Sul quietly lifted her eyes from the large book she’d been reading and bookmarked it, standing quietly as she walked to her tower’s window. She noted with some amusement that her body actually creaked as she moved. Even with her magic sustaining her she couldn’t suppress her age from showing now. Ah well, Ao had at one point insinuated that two-hundred years was too much for anypony, even her.

Still, she had quite a bit of time left to kick around, so she didn’t let the tiniest sign of her waning youth stop her from getting nosy. She looked down into the courtyard curiously, watching as a messenger pony cleared a path through some of the visitors down below, making sure there was wide space leading from the gate of the courtyard to the Sanctum of Horns. When the path was cleared, the messenger approached a wagon that had backed up to present the door to the yard, and began to open it.

Sul was curious now. Guests weren’t rare here. They usually approached to get help from one of the Belezians available, whether it be for advice on crop-growth or a cure for impotency, but not even the rich dared ride one of their carriages in here. Doing so showed remarkable disrespect to the royally charged ponies living inside. If a carriage was here, that could only mean other forms of royalty was visiting.

From the back door of the carriage, Sul watched with slowly widening eyes as a face she had not expected to see for many years appeared. With a circlet about her head, long, royal purple hair covering one side of her face, and a red cloak embroidered with gold, the Archmage of Golding stepped out into the sun, blinked rapidly, and walked after the messenger with no more than two Horn Breakers behind her.

Sul turned sharply at the sound of a knock on her door, and shook her head as she realized she’d gotten tense. She let out a soft breath, “Come in.” She called out, and the door opened a crack. She saw one of the service mares poke her head through and nervously speak up.

“Lady Sul, my apologies for interrupting you but the good Lady Balla wishes to see you.” She glanced around nervously as Sul approached without a word and pulled open the door. The service mare stepped away so Sul could walk through, and down the spiraling staircase they went.

“I’ve heard no word of Golding coming to our walls. What’s the event?” Sul asked, her tone neutral. If it was just Balla then it would be manageable, they could sneak her in and out without Ao noticing easily, she wasn’t the showy type. She was worried that the young Archmage might have brought her less subtle companions with her.

“We do not know.” The service mare said, no louder than a whisper as they stepped out into the hallway leading to the main room of the Sanctum. Sul briefly looked over the guard-railed balcony down below the see Balla entering just behind the messenger, briefly stopping to speak to a curious Belezian, before the unicorns parted ways. “She arrived at the front gates quite suddenly, saying her airship was parked over by one of the dunes, requesting to speak to you.”

“Has To’Ao’Coltriella been told?” They went to one of what was considered the most remarkable aspect about the Sanctum: the magically-powered elevators. As they descended, the girl shook her head.

“No, he is entertaining guests currently, and if I’m not mistaken you did not want him to hear about the arrival of any Golding ponies without first interviewing them yourself?” The girl looked to Sul as they stepped out of the elevator.

Sul bowed her head in a nod, and pointed to the door of the service ponies’ room. “That is correct, go ahead and take lunch.” Sul quietly slipped the surprised service mare a card from her pack, an indication Sul herself would be paying for the meal, and started towards the meeting chamber Balla would be taken to.

The unicorn in question had just barely gotten comfy on a cushion when Sul entered the small, circular chamber. The two Archmages’ eyes met briefly, an unknown message passing between the two of them, and Lady Balla turned to face her guards. “You may exit.” She spoke, though in Golding language. The guards hesitated for only a moment, but left the room.

The circular meeting chamber was low-lit, with candles highlighting the walls, and cushions placed all around the central rug. The whole chamber was meant to have a mystical feel. In reality, it was all show, talk and no fluff, but it had the desired effect on most non-unicorns concerning what was said about the Coltriellan Unicorns’ power. Balla didn’t seem impressed though, more curious with Sul as the elder unicorn settled on a large cushion, and faced Balla from across the carpeting.

“Lady Sul’o’Amnitanus (Soul of the Animated).” Balla managed a friendly smile that after a few moments, Sul matched. “My biggest sorries for the sudden of my visit. I think my disrespect is not interrupt.” She tried, looking a little nervous as Sul’s smile grew.

“Ah, Lady Balla, you’ve improved since we last met.” Sul gave a small, low chuckle as she willed several empty cups to fill with fresh, hot tea, ready from several full pots in the kitchen. She sipped from her cup, as Balla gently sniffed her own. She continued in perfect Golding, “Though I’m afraid we must cut the formalities short. As much as I’d love to trade stories, above all things I need to know the reason you’ve come to Coltriella.”

Balla gave the tiniest smile of amusement, though Sul could sense the strain behind it. She sipped her tea before speaking, “You don’t think I’m not just visiting? It’s been a little while after all, and it’s only me and my guards - and flight crew - coming.”

“True.” Sul nodded slowly, staring over Balla. “But there was no warning of the visit, and since becoming the Archmage of Golding you’ve told me you have little time for common comforts. Not to mention I was under the impression that Golding was occupied…” Sul looked into her tea cup contemplatively for a few moments, “Elsewhere.”

Glancing upwards to Balla, she briefly saw the glimpse of a young mare who had been caught red-hoofed, but it was replaced quickly with a blasé smile. “Well, you aren’t entirely incorrect. I…” She paused to sip her drink, “I suppose we haven’t been the most invested of neighbors since the treaty was finally signed,” which was putting it lightly. It was almost as if Golding had completely lost interested in Coltriella, “we have been very busy. And… Yes,” Balla hung her head a little to hide her eyes in embarrassment, “I do have a reason to be here other than simple visiting.” Sul calmly lowered her tea cup and gave Balla her full attention, fixing her with a calm, but intrigued stare. Balla pushed her tea to the side, and stared Sul straight in the eye, “There are enemies to Golding hiding in Coltriella, and I’ve been tasked to find them.”

‘Figures.’ Sul thought to herself. Internally, she’d always known that was the most likely reason she was here, but she could always pretend Golding had better intentions in mind. “If I may ask, how do you know they are in Coltriella, and why you? Why you specifically, Balla? I assumed Lord Galio kept you so close by because of how useful you are to him.” Balla straightened herself a little in pride, but kept her face neutral as she answered.

“We’ve been tailing them for several days, and one of our watchers saw them get dragged in by your guards. You personally relinquished them of their power,” Balla nodded her head in respect, “as for why I was sent, Rukafelth and Shallom are busy.”

Sul raised an eyebrow, “And Firago?”

Balla actually winced, setting Sul a little more on edge, “In-… Indisposed currently.”

“Still?” Sul raised both eyebrows this time in confusion, “I’d assumed eighty years would have shifted his disposition more favorably.” Balla shook her head sadly, slowly, “My apologies, please give him my best when you next see him.”

“I certainly will.” Balla bobbed her head rapidly, perhaps a little too rapidly, “Anyways, as for Golding’s enemies, we would very much appreciate it if you turned them over so we may return and have them face the consequences of their crimes-”

“Sorry, Balla,” Sul raised a hoof, and softly took a breath, “but if I may ask, would your enemies’ names happen to be Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack?” She asked. Balla paused, thought it over, then began to nod. She hadn’t hit her mark, as she feared, none of them were the ones that interested little Balla. “Ah, pardon me, but my age seems to be catching up to me.” Sul gently rubbed her forehead, and continued before Balla could point out how unlikely that was, “I nearly forgot, what about Twilight Sparkle?”

The change in Balla’s manner was almost immediate. Where she was calm and almost shy before, there was none of that in the aggressively standing mare before her, eyes narrowed in deep, angry dedication. “Th-that’s the one. Her. She is our greatest opponent at the moment, if you could turn her over, we would be most-”

She was paused again when Sul raised a hoof. “Balla, please understand I mean no ill-will to Golding, but it simply cannot be done.” Balla’s eyes widened, and her face fell gently in despair, “Twilight Sparkle has informed us of her reasons to be in Coltriella, and she has never once lied to us about it. To’Ao’Coltriella has seen to it personally, and has felt that their mission has the interests of Coltriella in included.” Balla’s face went from sorrow to horror, and Sul sighed again as she disappointed her young friend. She did not like this entire ordeal; she had the choice of harming relations with their neighbors and possibly inciting another fight, but she simply couldn’t bring herself to simply give over what amounted to six legends, especially ones who were being legitimately good ponies in a bad situation. “My apologies Balla, I do not know what you intend to do in Equestria, but they are being treated as honored guests here. I cannot, for the sake of Coltriella and for the mystical lands, turn them over to you.”

“But…” Balla hissed, clearly trying to get ahold of her emotions as she pleadingly looked to Sul, “Sul, this is important! She’s an enemy to Golding! We have to get her back.”

Sul stared her in the eye, then calmly sipped her tea again. She had a small idea. “I’ll make you a deal. Twilight Sparkle is obviously very important to you. I don’t like to pry, but Golding must have gone to great lengths to enter Equestria, which may I remind you is a land of Gods,” Balla gulped at the accusing tone Sul took on, “now from what I’ve gathered, it seems that whatever Twilight Sparkle could have possibly done to earn herself the ire of Golding would most likely be related to the defense of her home, which Golding is currently invading, so while politically I can see the reason you want her, morally I can’t find a reason to simply give her to you for defending her home.” Sul stared straight into Balla’s eye, and found the young mare looking back with an argument on her lips, but it wouldn’t come out. “If you can justify to me your invasion of the sacred lands, the targeting of a singular, scared mare, then perhaps I can reconsider.”

“W-we’re trying to restore Golding.” Balla said firmly, but even she felt a bit weak. Sul gave her a firm stare as she drained her tea and set the cup to the side. Balla hated to be in this position, but how could you argue with Sul?

“To restore Golding, you have to encroach on an Alicorn’s domain. Not just any Alicorn, but the daughters of Anemone.” Balla lowered her eyes a little as Sul lectured her.

“It’s dirty business but we must restore Golding. We’re taking steps to-”

“Coltriella has been in a similar plight since the second to last ruler, and we aren’t so bold as to stage any sort of hostility against Equestria.” Sul lowered her eyes to her hooves in thought.

“We’re simply taking steps to-”

“Our royalty has been plagued with greed, gluttony, and wrath for the past eight generations and we are accepting our punishment willingly, we wouldn’t dare try to think this was any other pony’s fault.”

“It’s not our fault, we’re-”

“Whatever reason your kingdom is failing may not be so deserved, but starting another war isn’t going to solve anypony’s problems. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, all those girls have done nothing to Golding, and whatever crimes you’re accusing them of can’t possibly be so terrible as to send the Archmage to capture them.” Sul spoke quickly, eyes narrowed the whole way as Balla shrank from intimidation.

“They have our Princess-”

“Furthermore, from the stories they’ve told me your occupation has been as gentle as you have ever been with foreign lands, and it appears that you still haven’t learned any manners in dealing with foreigners. Coltriella has been in a state of famine two and a half generations now, and we haven’t gone so far as to-”

“Maybe Coltriella wouldn’t be in the middle of a desert if its ruler wasn’t such a self-obsessed puss and actually got off his royal rump to do something that might tarnish his oh-so-blessed image in the eyes of the people!” Balla shouted, eyes squeezed shut. When she got no answer, she opened her eyes slowly, and looked to Sul’s face. Sul was far from amused. “S-Sul… I’m so-”

“For as long as I’ve known Lord Galio, he’s been wise and fair, yet ever since Firago fell ill, he’s been lashing out. Your faith in your lord is admirable, but you’ve gone beyond taking simple orders, you’re allowing yourself to follow his words blindly. I don’t know what he thinks he’s doing or if he knows it will accomplish nothing, but you Balla, you’re young, you have potential. I want you to think, I want you to put together the facts, and I want you to find the real truth on your own. Don’t let that witch cloud your mind.”

Balla was quiet. She looked down to the floor, ears drooped. “I…” She sucked in a deep breath, “I cannot disobey my lord…” She finally whispered. She looked up to meet Sul’s eyes again, for any hint that she was making the right choice, but Sul remained impassive. “I can never,” Balla sucked in another breath, “I can never disappoint him…”

“…” Sul let out a slow breath through her nostrils, and shook her head. “I am sorry, Balla. I truly am.”

She turned her head as a beam of light split the dimly-lit peace, and stared as a servant colt holding a scroll in his mouth entered. He stepped in at Sul’s nod, and set it before her. “Lady Sul, I am so sorry to interrupt, but there are reports of magic happening in the forth ring.” Balla looked up from her hooves to look to the servant as Sul scanned the scroll’s contents, “A fight has broken out, and several attacks have been made.”

----------

“This place look alright?” Dash took her eyes from the sign hanging overhead and glanced to Twilight, who had busied herself looking at a menu posted on the wall by the door. ‘Gailpine’s Bar and Grill’ was the place’s name. After wandering the stalls for a good while trying to find the right place to eat, a nearby pony had been helpful enough to point out that a pair of ‘classy mares’ like them should try one of the restaurants nearby. Of course, Twilight being hungry, was all for a full on meal, turning the tables on Dash almost easily to get her going.

Dash didn’t really like formal restaurants. She preferred little pizza eateries or a buffet, not the sort of place you were expected to dress up for and wear the napkin over your lap, but Twilight had made a beeline for the first place they’d seen with a picture of food on it. “This place looks perfect!” She whispered. Dash rolled her eyes. Twilight probably never went a day without three solid meals, though there was the question of how much stamina using magic cost you… because Dash felt peckish, but not as hungry as Twilight seemed to be. “Let’s go get a table.” Twilight walked straight in, between the thin curtains serving as the door to the outside, and Dash followed just behind.

Even if she was only a little hungry, she had to admit the place smelled delicious. The grill in the back was working full time as the whole place was filled with customers. Dash noted most of them weren’t the classy aristocracy but a lot of the lower class having a good time eating and drinking. Mostly drinking though, there was usually only one plate per table. The interior of the building was mostly stone, but the floor had carpeting and the walls bore elaborate tapestries. The chairs were also made of a much lighter stone but were well-cushioned. The only wood there seemed to be were the kegs in the back at the bar.

“So…” Twilight started, looking around hastily, “I guess we just sit down wherever?” She asked, taking a few steps forward towards an empty table. Then a good part of the bar went quiet to stare at the two. The clothed, black-eyed ponies watched the two with great interest, and a steady racket of whispers began to fill the room as Twilight froze in mid-step, and Dash slowly looked around as she approached Twilight, and quietly placed herself between her friend and the rest of the ponies.

It was just a mite uncomfortable how much attention they were getting, which is why it felt like a godsend when somepony cleared their throat. Dash turned quickly with Twilight to stare at a mare wearing a white showgirl’s outfit, one eyebrow raised high as the mare glanced around slowly. “Well come on boys, not the way to go around greeting our guests.” She called.

Dash and Twilight stared as the men each looked to eachother at their tables, took their glasses and clashed them together, and cheerily announced “HAI’YAY!” and downed them quickly, turning back to eachother to keep laughing and talking. Dash’s eye twitched as the show mare quietly nodded.

“Gonna have to forgive this lot, haven’t ever had High-Ring Ponies come in for a visit.” She explained, beckoning them with a wave of her hoof. Twilight and Dash followed after a brief look to the other, and were taken to a very clean, empty table near a small stage where a few other show mares were strutting, singing, and dancing. “So what brings you two in?” She asked after seating them both.

“Looking for something to eat. Queenie’s stomach here wouldn’t stop whining.” Dash smirked at Twilight, but the Unicorn (horn hidden of course) was distracted. Twilight was very uncomfortable with the spotlight. Glancing around slowly she could see she and Dash had never really left it; ponies still stared at them and whispered among eachother, and it took Twilight a moment to think of why: these ponies were all wearing clothing, all had simple earth colors. A majority of whom were Earth ponies. Twilight and Dash were brightly colored, “naked”, and Dash had her wings. This was probably a hang-out for the non-wealthy population, and for all intents and purposes, Dash and her looked very well off standing next to the common pony in Coltriella.

“Well you’re in luck, we have some of fresh stuff set on the grill right now waiting to be ordered.” The mare grabbed a few menus and set them in front of the girls while Dash reached over and pulled Twilight’s attention back to them. “We have basic stuff: pick your favorites and set them on the grills, but we also grill our foods on onions, use honey-sauce, sprinkle some peppers on it, got a small selection of spices to pick from. We can even get you rice, and if you don’t mind spending big we have some egg and milk.” She paused and let the girls look over the menu, her ear twitching as Twilight’s stomach rumbled. “We also have a chef’s special, available for the weekend only. Got some pineapple-”

“All I need to hear.” Dash set her menu down and grinned brightly as Twilight snickered softly. “Pineapple in that honey-sauce.” She paused and thought, the mare waiting with her that odd little stick with the black and pink tips. “The honey-sauce is sweet, right? Good. And put it on top of celery.”

“Grilled together?”

“No.” Dash paused again, “No thank you.” She nodded, feeling satisfied with herself as Twilight cocked a tiny smile.

“Alrighty, and for you, miss?” The showgirl turned to Twilight, who was looking close at the menu.

“Onion-grilled artichoke in tomato gravy, with a side of that mint and carrot soup.” Dash looked somewhat surprised at the last choice. Twilight had to admit it sounded like an odd combination, but if it was a foreign delicacy, it was worth a try. The show mare turned to face the grill in the back.

“Hey, Banqoe, got another contender for your mint and carrot soup!” She called, writing the orders down.

“If she likes it, you owe me fifteen bits!” A gruff voice from the back called, and the show mare snorted.

“Alright, pineapple and honey-sauce on celery, onion-grilled artichoke with tomato gravy and a side of - snrrk - mint and carrot soup, for the brave mare.” The mare continued to snicker, while Twilight just glanced around in confusion, as if hoping somepony would help her understand the joke. “Can I get you two any alcohol? Beer, wine, or are you looking to peel paint off the walls?”

“Err,” Dash rubbed the back of her head, “we don’t really drink. There’s not a lot of alcohol back home.” The show mare looked genuinely surprised by this, but Dash continued quickly, “Not that we don’t! It’s just only real classy places sell it.” Twilight calmly waved for attention.

“My parents let me drink a few sips of their wine before I became-” she hastily remembered Sul’s warning against Unicorns, “- a student under the, uh, head scholar.” Dash opened her mouth to say something, but Twilight continued, “I remember actually liking it, had a little kick to it.”

“Little, hm?” The mare hummed to herself, setting her pad and pencil down. “Well if you aren’t used to alcohol, then let’s start you off low. How about nice white eighteen-proof wine in shot glasses?” She asked, pointing to the middle of the table where several tiny, inch and a half high glasses were in a rack designed to hold these glasses.

“Eighteen?” Twilight asked, rubbing her chin, “I remember the wine I tried was six-proof.” She nearly shrank away as the show mare stared at her somewhat wide-eyed. “Do you, err…” She chuckled nervously, “Do you have that?”

“Miss, uh, I’m not sure what to tell you, but we don’t really sell the pussy-stuff here. Eighteen’s the lowest we got. But hey, maybe it’d be funny to get you the one-ninety-proof stuff.” The show mare walked away chuckling as Dash simply stared after her, then glanced to Twilight.

“I didn’t know you drank!” Dash seemed genuinely surprised, while Twilight shrugged.

“Just little sips! I was only about nine when they first let me try it. They wouldn’t let me have more than a mouthful.” Twilight blushed. They’d gotten a bottle of wine from a family friend after her father had helped him with some of his research notes. She recalled her parents drinking from small glasses and enjoying it. She remembered asking to try some, and her father had filled up one tiny glass about half-way and let her drink it. The bitter kick it had was pleasant, waking her up some, and warming her all over. Over the course of a month, they’d polished it off, letting Twilight have one small half-glass each night they’d brought it out.

“Well if it was just little sips, I guess that lets you off the hook.” Dash smirked, and Twilight smiled back, nervously though. “I was worried you were secretly channeling Berry Punch behind our back and spending your nights in a bar.” Twilight twitched.

“Ugh…” Twilight groaned, rubbing her forehead as the show mare came back with a bottle of simple, milky-goldish liquid, uncorked it with a little drill-shaped device, and filled them both up one shot glass each.

“Alright, here’s your wine ladies, give it a sip and tell me what you think.” The mare ordered. Twilight took her glass, as did Dash, and they lifted it to their mouths, but Twilight paused, causing Dash to slow down too.

“Don’t we toast or something?” She asked the show mare curiously, glass still raised as the waitress thought about it, and shrugged.

“Usually you only toast for something special, but if you’d like, tap your glasses together - lightly please - and just announce ‘Hai’Yay’.” She informed them, and Twilight nodded rapidly as she turned, smiling at Dash, who grinned back. They leaned over to tap their glasses together.

“Hai’Yay!” The two girls announced, much more quietly than the rest of the noisy patrons, and then Twilight and Dash began to drink. On her first mouthful, Twilight began to shiver. The wine was cool, but it had that dark, bitter kick she remembered, just as strong as it was ten years ago due to age differences. The way it flowed down and settled in her stomach made her twitch, but after a few moments began to feel pleasant.

For Dash, the bitterness made her nostrils tighten and face crinkle, but she made no indication of discomfort as she slugged it back. It tasted odd, and she wasn’t sure she liked the way it felt going down, but like Twilight, she began to feel a little euphoric. When they set the glasses down, they both let out a hissing breath of comfort and relief, and smiled to their waiter friendly-like. “I liked it.” Twilight announced, glancing to Dash.

“It wasn’t bad.” The Pegasus shrugged, the warmth in her tummy spreading a little to her limbs. Maybe Berry Punch was on to something…

… Nah, that chick was a loon.

“Glad you do. Maybe after a few shots of these I can grab you some of the tougher stuff. Got a good red wine in a few nights ago, got a good bit more booze in it than what you just enjoyed.” She poured two more shots for them, and Twilight was quick to do the cheer with Dash to drink it down, while Dash took a little more time considering it.

“That sounds nice.” Twilight smiled, setting her empty glass down as Dash polished hers off. The warmth increased, and Dash couldn’t help but grin a little stupidly. It was nice and warm in here, surrounded by nice ponies, they had a little time off… Man, what was she so intense about earlier?

“Alright, I’ll go grab you the bottle as soon as I seat these gentlecolts.” The show mare nodded, and Twilight gave her a quick nod as she poured their third glass each and wandered off towards the door. Their eyes followed her as she greeted three ponies. Twilight drank her wine, not giving them a second thought, but Dash watched the three quietly.

Two of the colts wore armor, golden armor with head-pieces that looked oddly like a rising sun on the horizon, the rest being intricately carved to fit them all over, guarding the joints and soft spots. The one in the middle was the odd one though. He was light-manila colored, not a single hair in his mane or tail, and he had deep red eyes. They were conversing quietly with the show mare. “Hey Twilight. Get a load of the company.” Dash pointed out the three ponies, and Twilight set her glass down to look.

Twilight watched them calmly for a moment, but immediately set Dash on edge when her face froze in panic. That warmth, the devil-may-care feeling, was gone as Twilight turned from the three quickly, and glanced to Dash. “Don’t draw attention.” She whispered, nervously rolling her cup between her hooves as she glanced to them again and again, awkwardly trying to remain calm.

Dash stared a moment longer, but quickly turned to look Twilight in the eye. “What’s the matter?” She whispered, one hoof nervously touching the hilt of her sword, to assure her it was still there. Twilight lowered her head, and began to whisper.

“The two colts in the armor,” she whispered, as the show mare began to lead them to a table, “after Sul put up that field, I started to recognize what anti-magic looked like through magic. They’re cold as ice.” She tipped her empty cup to her lips as Dash’s eyes showed understanding. “That maneless one in the middle, he reminds me of Rukafelth. Dash, I get this bad feeling but-” she quieted down when the show mare walked by, the three colts right behind her.

“- a fine selection of Golding sherries for you colts. Just in luck too, we’re on our last case and it would be a pity to waste it on somepony that can’t appreciate authenticity.” She said merrily, one of the armored ponies speaking up.

“Oh we definitely appreciate the offer.” He said in perfect Coltriellan, but his partner by his side spoke in a more simple, direct language, to the first guard. “Ah, my friend would like to know if you have any of your city’s famed honeyed shot-glasses?”

“Of course we do!” The mare scoffed at the notion, “We wouldn’t be a bar in Coltriella without them! Pardon me ladies.” The mare slipped around their table to grab an extra chair to be taken to a table with only two. The girls looked to the show mare, then to the three guards.

The two armored ones smiled in a friendly manner, nodding their thanks, but the bare pony watched them with quiet intensity. He held out a hoof as the show mare passed by. “Wait.” He spoke, his voice low, but powerful. He turned his gaze slowly from the show mare to Twilight, and immediately every nerve in her body was screaming for her to run, to escape, to dive under the table and back out. She could see Dash, tense and nervous out the side of her vision, leaning her head slowly to her sword handle. “Would it be too much to ask for us to join you?” He asked Twilight, his face remaining impassive while the guards stared to him quizzically.

“Beau, let’s not be impolite.” The guard that spoke Coltriellan insisted, smiling in embarrassment to the Twilight and Dash. “Please forgive him, he’s sheltered. See, he comes from a sect of monks-”

“Obien.” The monk interrupted the guard gently, his red eyes widening as he looked up and down Twilight. Twilight was shaking as the colt quietly took the chair the show mare was taking, and set it at one side of the table. “If I am not mistaken, this mare,” Twilight slowly began to back away in her seat, “I believe Balla would like to meet her.”

The guard sighed, and stared at Twilight, “Beau, why would Lady Balla be interested in meeting with-” he trailed off as he glanced over Twilight. The second armored guard was already staring at Twilight, and the mare quickly pushed herself away from the table.

“Thank you for the wine.” Twilight bowed curtly to the show mare, who was watching in confusion, slowly backing away as she sensed the unease. “Rainbow Dash.” Twilight nodded to her friend, who quickly leapt out of her seat. The two started for the door, when one of the guards rounded on them quickly, blocking off their escape. “Let us through please.” Twilight ordered in a stern voice, doing her best to not quake, so tense she was actually starting to ache.

“… Twilight Sparkle.” The guard spoke, lowering his gaze to meet hers. By her side, Dash tensed up further, and glowed a tiny bit, getting ready to do something. “In Galio’s name, you are to come with-” he was suddenly bowled over to the side as a table slammed into him, and Dash, baring only her three bright colors, shoved Twilight forward, Dark Dash shouting as she kicked another table at the other two.

The show mares screamed, the other customers standing abruptly, watching, jaws dropped as the light-coated monk swiftly flipped over the table and charged towards the fleeing mares, the second guard ducking around the furniture as the first began barreling through the bar. Twilight turned, shouted an apology, and the front of her face flashed purple as tables, carrying occupants and everything, were suddenly tugged around the door as the girls fled, barring it off.

It held off their pursuers for several seconds.

----------

“Hel-lo ladies!” Fluttershy squeaked, slipping behind Rarity immediately to hide herself from the loud, enthusiastic voice coming from the stall they just passed by. Rarity turned her head to stare at the colt in the stall with the frankly ridiculous hat, a short-brimmed, but tall, floppy stove-top hat made of some sort of felt. He wore a thin, light cloak that tossed about as he moved around, sweeping his forelegs back and forth as he invited them closer. “What a beautiful pair of young mares you are, certainly one of the sweetest things I have ever viewed in this desert.”

Rarity fluttered her eyes at him in a confused “excuse me?” manner, one dainty purple eyebrow raising as the grinning merchant leaned forward to meet her eyes. “Well I do suppose my friend and I are some of the most beautiful mares around.” She agreed in a manner suggesting she was only listening to the words she cared to hear for. It was usually only taken to drive off colts that were creeping her out, or to make them calm down enough to have a slightly more intelligent conversation.

“Aye, true, sweet as honey, but not the sweetest thing I’ve seen.” The merchant nodded his head slowly. Rarity paid a little more attention to him, an offended look on her face. Behind her, Fluttershy lifted her head to peek out, also looking a little insulted, but more in a “you hurt me” way rather than a “you’re a jerk” way.

“Pardon me?” Rarity glanced back to Fluttershy and then to the merchant again. “Not the sweetest? I’d dare say you haven’t traded more than a few words with my friend here.” Rarity wrapped her foreleg around Fluttershy’s neck, and the Pegasus blushed a little, and squeaked again as she hid behind her bangs.

The merchant went on though, “Ah, but I don’t need to trade words with anypony to know that, in my possession, I bare the sweetest thing in all the desert- nay, all the lands themselves!” He grinned enthusiastically, waving his hooves about wildly as Rarity’s eyes narrowed, and she glanced over the many jars that surrounded him. Even Fluttershy was staring curiously between the strands of her hair. The merchant whisked off the lid of a short, fat jar sitting in front of him, and using a small shovel dipped it in, and slowly lifted out what looked like sand, but caramel colored. “A rare, valuable, and utterly delectable spice from the great Valley of Fingers, past the all-consuming Sand Sea outside the very walls of Coltriella itself, and beyond the Canyon of Lions. Harvested from the mines the deadly scarabs dug centuries ago, inhabited by bandits of the lost wastes, this fantastic spice is surely worth the effort. They turn anything sprinkled with it into a delicious confection, and any delicious confection dipped into it becomes ambrosia.” He pushed the jar forward, and Rarity instinctively stepped back, but then hesitantly stepped forward. “Don’t be shy dear mares! Take a sniff.”

The two mares gave eachother an odd look before approaching the jar and taking a sniff. The scent coming off the spice tickled their noses gently, but not before giving them the most soothing feeling in the world. It was a gentle sweetness that teased their snouts, one that didn’t hammer in just how sugary it was, it was the sort of sweetness that you caught on a vague draft of air, and remembered your favorite pie or cake, the nostalgic scent that made the next few minutes pleasant and bearable thanks to that one little whiff of confectionary beauty.

Then the merchant was holding a long piece of bread. He dipped the tip into the pot, and presented it to Fluttershy. The normally shy mare, still on a little high from just how good that spice smelled, hesitantly took a nibble. She closed her eyes, worked it around her mouth, and let out a low, tiny moan of joy.

Rarity gently nudged her friend’s side. “Is it good, dearie?” She asked, watching the way Fluttershy began to beam as she opened her eyes to meet her beautiful friend’s.

“Oh Rarity it was wonderful! I can’t believe something so delicious could be as simple as a spice.” She whispered, the merchant grinning hugely as he began to line up jars of his product, from the small six ounce one to the large eighteen ounce one.

“We’ll take six ounces.” Rarity stated, presenting the merchant with the small card Ao had given her to put their purchases on, when Fluttershy took that small piece of bread, dipped it in the spice, and let Rarity have a nibble. The fashion-extraordinaire chewed on it slowly, eyes slowly closing as memories of lazing about Sweet Apple Acres, Granny Smith’s signature pie sitting on the windowsill cooling, it’s mouth-watering scent spreading across the fields, filled her mind, and she immediately shifted her position. “Make that sixteen ounces.”

Down the row of stalls, Applejack walked sourly alongside Pinkie Pie, staring at the ground murderously as Pinkie happily chewed on a red fruit. “T’ain’t apples.” Applejack grumbled darkly, kicking at a rock on the ground. “Lies is what those are.” Applejack glared at Pinkie Pie, who stopped and stared back. “Ye’re stuffin’ yer face with lies!”

Pinkie Pie chewed for a few seconds, swallowed, and grinned. “They taste pretty real to me! You just have to give them another try!” She held one of the small red fruits up, and Applejack snorted harshly.

“I don’t care what any dang old merchant says they are or why they’re called that, them’s ain’t apples!” Pinkie Pie quickly pulled the cactus apple away from Applejack as the latter tried to swipe it away, and began eating it again, smiling to herself as she did. “Lies and imposters and terrors…”

Carrying several bags on their backs, the two walked towards a small clearing where the stalls didn’t make the roads so thin, and Applejack hiked herself up onto a bench and glanced around, looking for Rarity and Fluttershy. She waved her hooves when she spotted the two in the crowd, and quickly the two beautiful mares joined their friends. “Girls!” Rarity started as they approached, smiling hugely as Applejack’s dark look softened on seeing her friend’s excitement. “You will not believe what we just bought! It is the greatest thing I have ever tasted!”

Pinkie Pie and Applejack both froze, fixing Rarity with a pair of wide-eyed looks, the softness and joy in their faces gone. “The…” Pinkie Pie sucked in a deep breath, and let it out slowly, her pupils getting huge as she stared Rarity in the eye, “The greatest thing you’ve ever tasted?” She repeated.

Rarity stood still, glancing back and forth between the two earth mares, then to Fluttershy for support, but the quiet Pegasus looked equally frozen up. Apparently she’d been thinking the exact same thing. “Err, well, I mean, unbaked of course, it’s one of the most marvelous spices I’ve ever tasted.”

Applejack stuck out her bottom lip and sniffed. “Better’n my crisped apple spice?” She asked, her eyes getting watery.

Rarity tried to smile big, and glanced left and right slowly for some sort of escape. “It’s… Uh… Well… Um… Weeee… Fluttershy and I will… Bake you both something and show you and you can judge yourselves!” Rarity said with a triumphant smile. The sad looks quickly turned to very dedicated glares, and Rarity began to sweat.

“We’ll see about this super-special-‘wecial’ spice of yours.” Pinkie huffed, sitting on the bench with a plop and an angry pout. “And if it’s better than my super deluxe special triple-double chocolate cake tarts, I will eat my hooves!”

“Um…” Fluttershy’s eyes widened with worry, and she quickly stared at the pot of Spice they’d bought, and then back to Pinkie, “Please don’t?”

“An’ if it beats out my spice,” Applejack spoke up, pointing to Pinkie Pie, and the two earth ponies nodded to eachother, “She can eat my hooves too!”

Rarity simple stared between the two as Fluttershy began to whimper vocally, and Rarity began to chuckle nervously at the absurdity of the situation, and smiled to Fluttershy, meaning she would need a lot of help to make this taste bad. The two shared a quick nod, and glanced back to Applejack. “Weeelll, alright then. We’ll just go ahead and… Yes…” Rarity began to chuckle again, sweating now.

The tenseness passed the moment Pinkie spoke up again, “So we’re all fine and dandy on food, right?” She asked, gently bouncing her pack of sweets and fruits, while Applejack nodded to her own pack.

“We’ve gotten what we were looking for.” Rarity nudged her own pack, as Fluttershy calmly checked hers and gave a brief nod. “Now we just need to find Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash.” Rarity turned her head to face down the rows of stalls again, and sighed. “At least they’ll be easy to pick out.”

“Y’all sure we should go huntin’ fer them right now?” Applejack asked as she hopped off the bench to join the three on the ground, and they started walking back towards where they came. “I mean,” she rolled her eyes idly, smirking to herself, “it’s pretty rude to go interruptin’ a date.”

Pinkie Pie began to snicker, whereas Rarity sighed heavily. Fluttershy kept quiet. “Honestly Applejack, I don’t know why you insist on teasing them so. If anything, you’re just pressuring them. Let them realize eachother on their own terms.”

“There’s no fun in that though!” Applejack and Pinkie said at the same time, and without pausing, Pinkie went on, “What’s the fun of watching a relationship blossom if you can’t be apart of it!?” Pinkie stared at Rarity as if she was the crazy one, and narrowed her eyes. The fashionista blinked rapidly as Pinkie Pie continued on alongside Applejack. “We get to watch all the stages of,” she took a deep sigh, and with the cheesiest, heart-meltingest grin, “LOVE.”

“Honestly Pinkie, I thought I was the romantic…”

“Y’all ain’t never seen Pinkie’s video collection.” Applejack snorted.

“No, I did see it, and honestly I still can’t wrap my mind around it. You still haven’t explained to me how one mare can make use of a full vegetable garden and four buckets of butter…”

“No, Rare.” Applejack rolled her eyes as Fluttershy turned and gave Pinkie a wide-eyed look. The party mare just smiled proudly. “And it’s a li’l somethin’ called ‘imagination’, that’s how. Anyhow, ‘neath her TV in that cabinet. We always called her the master of terror ‘cause of all the horror movies she owns, right?”

“That and last Nightmare Night…”

“Right. Well, turns out she owns a lot more romantic movies, enough to give y’all a run fer yer money.” Rarity looked honestly surprised by that, but Pinkie just looked pleased with herself. “An’ I like seein’ my friends happy whether they want me to or not, so we’ve been teaming up all these years to watch the love happen.” The two earth ponies high-hoofed, and Rarity just sighed heavily.

“Well…” Fluttershy spoke up, wavering a little as she walked along, forcing her eyes to the ground so they wouldn’t quiver, “At least it’ll be a more calm adventure than this…” She mumbled softly, drawing a few nods of agreement.

The four paused as they walked up to a crowd of ponies standing quietly, watching the sky it seemed like as their heads slowly turned to follow something. “What are those ponies doing?” One pony in the crowd whispered questioningly.

“Not sure.” Another whispered back, “Causing quite a stir though. I wonder whose guards those are though.”

Applejack blinked as the crowd gasped, and heard a clatter above her. By her side, Fluttershy gave a short, high-pitched shriek, and the farm mare immediately stared upwards with her friends. Above them, there were some wooden scaffolds. The building they were pressed against was being painted, half-finished, the painters probably on break. And on top of them, she saw Twilight and Dash running for dear life, just behind them two guards in full armor, as well as one manila-colored pony with no armor or mane whatsoever.

Her blood ran cold as she stared, and she felt her leg twitch, but she couldn’t move as terror flashed through her for the second time that day. Twilight and Dash reached a scaffold wall and were now charging up a ramp, the armorless pony leaping out of the side of the scaffold to grab onto a bar and tug himself up to the next level effortlessly, blocking off Twilight and Dash’s escape. Dash ran ahead of her friend and slid forward, trying to knock the acrobatic pony off his feet, but the chaser shifted his stance and let Dash get close enough that he could give her a sharp kick to the face. Rarity shouted something abnormally obscene and charged away, “Drop your things! Go help them!” The fashion-mare shouted, heading towards the back of the crowd.

Applejack glanced after the purple-haired beauty, her words registering only a moment later as she watched Twilight actually tackle the manila-coated pony and with a tiny twist get him to shift off of Dash while the Pegasus quickly gave his side a sharp kick, sending him off the scaffold. By this time, the two armored ponies were on the same level as them, and the two mares began to run away, Dash bleeding from her nose while the armorless pony caught himself on the side, pulled himself up, and leapt up to the next level: the building’s roof.

“C’mon, let’s go.” Applejack growled softly, eyes narrowing as she, Fluttershy - who’s eyes were slit in anger - and Pinkie Pie - eyes narrowed, teeth clenched - pushed through the crowd, trying to find a way up.

----------

“Hold yourselves.” Dash and Twilight stared across the gap between the building they were on and the next a good twenty feet away. Dash stared down hastily, but noticed Twilight turning her head. She moved to stand stiffly in front of her unicorn, ignoring the smell of her own blood in her nose as the guards and that monk closed in. “Abandon yourselves, or we will be forced to kill you.” The monk said in that cool, calm voice. The air above Twilight’s forehead sparked a little, and Dash swiftly unsheathed her sword.

“Forced huh?” Twilight snorted, taking a defiant step forward, feigning confidence to curb her own terror. She brushed against Dash for reassurance, for the both of them, and the monk focused his unblinking eyes on her.

“You have intentionally defied the laws of Golding and have been deemed an enemy of the state. You are to be taken, alive or dead as we see fit before the courts and tried for your theft.” The guard Twilight recognized as Obien stated in a powerful tone, and began to move forward, slowly drawing a blade.

Dash tensed up, snarling as she flashed, two more Dashes appearing, and an instant later, swords appearing in their mouths. “She didn’t do crap and you Golding ponies are liars!” She shouted around the thin hilt, while Obien gave her a dark glare, “I don’t care what you made up for her, touch Twilight and I’m going to split you in half with my bare hooves!” Dash roared.

“You have bravado.” The monk did an easy flip over the armored guard, and before Dash could bring her blade up, the monk slapped it out of the middle one’s mouth, making Twilight gasp at the crunch of bone that followed, and the clone disappeared. The Dashes both winced as they felt the echoes of the shattered jaw, but the right Dash was already lunging with the sweeping blade, only to fall short as the monk back-pedaled. The Red and orange haired Dash pushed him a bit further as the yellow and green-haired Dash turned to Twilight.

“C’mon, I have a stupid idea.” She whispered, and the unicorn followed her to the edge of the building as the other two guards charged, trying to skewer the two mares as Dash leapt, and Twilight followed. Below, the crowd gasped aloud as Dash plunged into a cart of hay, shattering the wheels as she landed, but she hopped out of it easily, allowing Twilight to land. Dash sheathed her sword as all the colors in her hair returned, and she grabbed Twilight’s hoof and tugged her out. The two turned, ignoring the shocked mare standing nearby as the monk leapt down, landing almost soundlessly as the two guards climbed their way down, blocking off the alleyway with their bodies.

“… No offense Dash, but yeah, that was a stupid idea.” Twilight grumbled, trying to ignore the ache in her neck the fall had given her, while staring down the ponies blocking them off. A million ideas ran through her head but none of them would seemingly work. The monk was too difficult to hit with anything, able to react almost instantly to everything she’d thrown at him, and the two guards had found their center points and weren’t easy to bowl over anymore, even worse was that simple magic didn’t work on them.

“Well…” Dash mumbled, glancing left and right. “Any ideas from you?” Dash asked, and Twilight slowly stared around as they were backed into the wall of the alleyway. She couldn’t see any good ways out. She could try a levitation spell but the monk would probably be faster… Though she did still have that lightning spell…

Around her, an orange aura began to permeate from her body, sparks of electricity leaping off her coat as an electric current began to run down her mane and tail, and the three Golding ponies tensed instinctively. Then the monk took a step forward, and from the orange aura a lash of electricity flicked from her body, completely missing the guards and snapping harmlessly against one of the stone walls of the alley. Dash looked to her with a terrified, almost disbelieving look, and the three ponies moved in.

Until the wall crumbled.

Dash’s look of shock quickly turned to one of rapid glee, and Twilight felt it through a sharp nudge to the side. The two mares quickly ran to move over the debris in the middle of the alleyway, but as the dust settled it was apparent they weren’t alone.

The monk’s gentle composure was lost, and now he was glaring daggers at Twilight. With an irritated whinny, the colt charged forward as Twilight and Dash froze up in the middle of the alleyway, only for his body to get blocked by a thick brown cloak that was swiftly wrapped around him. He struggled for a moment to pull it off, long enough for Dash to pull her sword out, but before either one could charge, the Coltriellan mare they’d rudely fell in on leapt off the pile of debris, and smashed a rock against the monk’s head. The colt fell like the rock that had been crushed against his skull, and the mare regarded the two girls she rescued for a moment.

There was a moment of silence before Twilight spoke up, “Thanks.” She finally said, and the mare gave them a tiny smile. Then there was a small group of moans, and the alleyway debris exploded upwards as the two armored ponies, seething with anger stood, teeth grit as they laboriously made their way forward, the monk struggling to his hooves as the three fixed the mares with intense displeasure.

“… Follow me.” The Coltriellan girl shot between Dash and Twilight, towards the alleyway wall. With little other choice, the two mares stuck to her flank as the three colts charged after them, down the alley that Twilight just noticed sloped as a downwards ramp. The mare suddenly ducked and slid into what appeared to be a storm-drain at the bottom of the wall. Dash lunged, sliding on her stomach as she followed the mare through the hole, and Twilight finally threw herself to the ground, sliding towards Dash’s wiggling hooves, grabbing hold of one as the other gripped her leg, and pulled. Twilight sucked in a deep breath, and let it out, flattening herself as much as possible as she was yanked through without a problem.

Until she hit the ground that is. With a tiny shout, she landed in cool, running water. She stood slowly, shakily, having to ground herself with what little traction she could find beneath the running stream. She glanced to Dash, who was shaking the water out of her hair, and then to the other mare.

It was hard to tell in the dim light, with what little poured through the storm drain’s opening, but the mare had a look of pure, bright-eyed, friendly curiosity on her face, but their meeting was interrupted when a voice came through the drain: “Run all you like Twilight Sparkle, the time will come for you to stand before Golding!” One of the guards shouted. The alleyway mare looked to Twilight, eyes shining with worry, and Twilight gave her a deep ‘I’m not guilty’ look.

“Move aside.” The monk said outside, his voice remaining impressively calm, despite the strained anger in it. The Coltriellan girl gained a panicked look as the lower half of the colt began to slip through, and nudged Twilight and Dash.

“Move! C’mon!” She whispered, and following the stream of cool water, they began to run and slide their way down the incline. There was a splash behind them, and hooves began to approach rapidly. The monk was getting closer, and Twilight twisted her head to look, seeing him bowling down on them. Just behind him, the two guards had slipped their way into the water system and were following at as brisk a pace as they could manage without losing their footing.

“Where are we going?” Dash asked in a low whisper as Twilight’s currently disappeared horn glowed, and the water began to bow as wave of force shot from her towards the monk. The monk easily glided around it, and one of the guards intercepted it without even twitching.

“Just trust me hun.” The mare whispered between panting as they ran down the dark tunnel. Even if they had little choice, Dash was feeling twitchy. The stone walls, the darkness closing in on them until a storm drain let a beam of light through, the water at their feet, being chased by angry, foreign ponies…

Dash nearly swallowed her swollen tongue as she quelled her rising phobias and shuddered.

“Few more.” The mare announced. Twilight was now rapid-firing the blasts of air, but the monk was easily slipping around them, but every movement to the left or right slowed him just enough. The two armored ponies simply plowed through the spells but their armor was forcing them to keep their distance.

Dash glanced to the mare by their side, passing one, then two, then three more storm-drain openings, and the mare suddenly dived to the right. “In here!” She announced, slipping onto a stone platform that was above the streaming water, diving into a hallway Dash wouldn’t have noticed before, and the Pegasus swiftly grabbed Twilight’s tail and pulled her in. The dampness never left the floor but at least she had better traction here, and she followed the mare up a stone staircase lit by torches. The patter of hooves behind them told her that the Golding colts had found their way into the hallway as well, and were gaining speed.

The Coltriellan jumped the final step to shove open a door, allowing Dash and Twilight in before leaping in after and kicking the door shut as hard as she could. As soon as she was through, a glowing, floating desk pressed itself against the wooden door and held it fast as the door twitched from a hard kick.

The door continued to shake as Twilight caught her bearings, staring around at the small office they’d entered, with a single window and door serving as portals to another alleyway outside. The mare rested against the desk, adding her weight to it as the door quivered harder. She let out a slow breath, as did the other two girls. Then the mare glanced up, and stared straight at Twilight. “… So what’s your story?” She asked with a curious stare, and Twilight winced, and smiled nervously.

“… Would you believe it’s a show?” She asked, and Dash sighed and rubbed her forehead. The mare didn’t look convinced, but they didn’t have time to argue.

“In here!” Somepony shouted outside the door. “I felt the magic inside here!” The three girls quickly looked to each other fearfully, and the door turned to splinters as an enormous, dark armored Golding pony plowed through it. Twilight stared wide-eyed, seeing his body was cold like the others, and the big soldier growled. “In here!” He roared again, “I’ve spotted the false one!” The window shattered, and Dash, splitting into six, stood around the mare and Twilight, shaking as they all took their swords to the ready as two more of those maneless, tailless ponies leapt through the window.

“We can be sure of this?” One of the monks asked, and the guard nodded his head rapidly.

“She has just the right magic. Get her.” He growled, and while one monk charged forward, dancing her way around the blades the Pegasi were wielding, knocking them aside with sharp jabs of her hooves, the other sailed overhead as he kicked off a wall, landing by Twilight and the girl. A swift punch sent the mare sprawling, and another knocked Twilight to the floor with a shriek.

“Twilight!” One of the Dashes turned their heads to stare as the monk wrapped its foreleg around Twilight’s head, and Twilight began to squeal in pain as the monk started to twist. In a rush, she felt it again. The power. The strength. The courage. Her unicorn was being hurt. The monk barely had time to look up as he was knocked off Twilight by a very hard kick wreathed in flames, an uncanny growl of rage filling the air as Rainbow Dash’s blazing magic unfurled about her, her coats turning white, her manes becoming brightly colored, licking flames, and now baring the strength of the sun. Twilight blinked through the tears to see that the six Dash clones were now pushing back against the monks as the heat in the room filled. Twilight turned her head swiftly as the monk who had had her leapt off the wall, aiming a kick square for yellow Dash’s back, but a blast of force instead sent him flying through the window again.

The second monk found herself surrounded by blades, and she held stock still as she glanced around at the blazing Pegasi holding their swords to her body. The mare who had lead them here slowly stood, blinking rapidly, and glanced towards the door. She gave a shout, and the other mares turned as the armored soldier kicked the desk away, and the door flew open as the next two soldiers and the monk entered, joining the fray without hesitation.

“Dash!” Twilight shouted as the magic-immune colts started tackling her rainbow-maned friend, the fire only increasing in intensity as the situation began to get more dangerous, and as they fought the female monk and the monk from before slipped over to Twilight, grabbing her around the neck and middle, and they began to squeeze. A bolt of lightning hit the ceiling as Twilight gasped for air, and the monks ignored the painful sparks leaping off her as they constricted her. The Coltriellan leapt onto the back of the monk holding her neck and bit his hide deep, but other than a shout of pain he kept a hold of Twilight.

Three of the Dashes managed to dog pile one of the armored soldier, and several good hits to the head kept him from getting up anytime soon. The two remaining ones threw their full weight into throwing the Pegasi away , one knocking away the female monk by accident, and making her screech as scorching flames surrounded her before the Dashes stood up, giving her a good knock on the head to ensure she stayed down.

Blades flashed, and two of the Dashes disappeared as the soldiers began to draw their weapons, and they charged through several blasts of flame, impeded only as they tried to swing when the force of the oncoming fire knocked the blades from their teeth. The remaining monk immediately cracked one of the Dashes’ necks, causing her to disappear in a flash of light while a kick sent one Dash into the other, knocking them down as the remaining Dash backed up to her friends, sword in her teeth, eyes narrowed, but glinting with fear and confusion as danger bore down on them. Her flames lashed futilely at the guards, but the monk stayed out of reach as the two Golding soldiers approached with angered stares.

The Coltriellan mare began to quake while pressing against the wall as Twilight stood in front of her defensively, body glowing with magic as she tried to consider something that would stop the Golding colts without hurting her friends in the process.

A huge vase flew through the window, and one of the guards fell as it shattered against his head, knocking him to the ground. The other guard stared to the window incredulously as Applejack charged through the splintered door entrance, throwing her full, heavily muscled weight into the second armored soldier, knocking him into the wall harshly. “Applejack!” Dash shouted, excitement and relief pouring through her body as Twilight untensed, watching the farm-pony give the guard a very hard hoof to the face. The monk leapt after Applejack, but through the window flew a yellow Pegasus, who landed on the monks back, grasped him by the jaw, and with a mighty twist and a terrifying crack, sent him to the ground. “… Fluttershy?”

The four other mares in the room turned to stare at the blushing Pegasus as she gently let go of the limp head in her arms and backed away. Then the monk gently lifted his head and blinked rapidly at Fluttershy, “… You’re a very good masseuse.” He spoke, right as Pinkie Pie dropped a second heavy vase on him from the ceiling. The pink mare dropped down easily, and Twilight let out a long, low sigh of relief as her friends gathered in front of her.

Her heart was still pounding, sure, but she managed to turn and nod to the Coltriellan, a little gesture to tell her everything was okay, and the mare smiled shyly, leaving the safety of the wall to join the girls. “Alright.” Applejack spoke up, walking forward. Twilight stepped to the side and the mare froze up as the well-muscled pony that had rather easily conked out a soldier began to inspect her. “So y’all three want ta start explainin’ what happened?”

Twilight began to quietly explain what had happened as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie both walked forward to take a look at their wounds. Dash put her flames out and became one, Twilight held still as she was looked over. Twilight had a few bumps and bruises, but Fluttershy was especially worried about Dash. Having thrown herself rough and tumble into their attackers had given her a good number of scrapes, cuts, and bruises, a little blood mixing into her sky-blue fur. “Dash, we need to get you looked at.”

“Hm?” Dash looked curious, seeming to ignore her own injury. “Is it that bad? My face stings a little but-”

Twilight gently touched Dash’s chin, and made her turn her head so she herself could look. The unicorn calmly scanned her features, and nodded, the air in front of her glowing as she gently tapped her forehead with her invisible horn. Dash winced, and the bruises shrank a little, and the cuts simply sealed themselves. “There. A little clean-up and some disinfecting and you should be alright.”

Fluttershy nodded her thanks. “We can do that when we get back to the house. I’ll warn you,” Fluttershy smiled a little bit, “I’m going to be using a cold-pack.”

“Aww!” Dash groaned, closing her eyes. “Really? I mean, after what Twilight did?” Dash glanced to Twilight, who just nodded in agreement, “Oh fine. If you insist…” She hung her head with a pout.

The girls quickly turned their heads as Rarity ran in with a loud pant, staring at the six of them back and forth as, from behind her, several guards jogged inside, took one look to all the unconscious soldiers and monks on the floor, and looked surprised. “Well…” Rarity began as the guards slowly picked around, inspecting the lying ponies as Twilight and the rest gathered around her. Rarity took a few steps forward, “If I’d known you were going to handle this yourself I wouldn’t have made such a ruckus.”

“I didn’t think we were going to do so well at first, but then we actually turned around the fight…” Twilight smiled a little as Rarity began to smooth out her electricity-frizzled mane.

“It was awesome.” Everypony’s eyes turned to the excited Coltriellan mare, who was bobbing her head carefully to not let her hat fall, “I don’t know about half the stuff you did but if you guys are uni-” Applejack silenced the mare with a hoof on her snout, and looked to the busy guards. From the entrance, the red-caped captain in silver armor strode inside, took one look to Twilight, and sighed heavily.

“I had high hopes you wouldn’t be a trouble-maker, ma’am.” He approached slowly, and Dash shook her hair out the moment Rarity had straightened it to go stand in front of Twilight, getting between her and the guard captain. “I promise I don’t mean harm. Archmage Sul has tasked me with bringing you to her.” He paused as he saw her concerned look, and tried to shrug beneath his armor, “She didn’t seem particularly angry, if that’s any help.”

Twilight frowned slightly, but felt a hoof on her back. Applejack began to walk past her. “Y’all didn’t do nothin’ wrong sugarcube, y’all got attacked and y’all fought back. We’ll just explain it to her like we did with the king.” Twilight began to smile, the paused as the Captain turned to lead them on.

She followed hesitantly, recalling their the situation back at the bar. They did get attacked, of course… After they’d struck the first blow with that table. Twilight’s steps slowed, but a nudge from Pinkie Pie kept her moving. They were evading capture of a foreign country, but Coltriella was going to help right?

Or, morally that’s what would happen. No, morally, since they’d struck the first blow while the guards were being diplomatic they’d be in the wrong… Except the guards were trying to capture them for a crime she hadn’t pulled, but they might not have known that… Still, Twilight couldn’t just be captured, she did have an incredibly important mission to attend to.. Which they couldn’t right now since the Princess was sick, apparently.

Lawfully they were in no better shape, they still struck first, but they couldn’t just wait, they had had to leave. If the fight got started in the bar, other ponies may have gotten hurt. Well, there was a more likely chance than if they’d taken it outside like they had done, since it was more cramped.

Still, lawfully and morally, they’d attacked first, there was no getting around that, and Sul seemed like the type to obey law to the strictest of letter. After all, how else could you keep order in such a large city if you didn’t? Leniency was probably even a problem around here, alongside the huge population and the potential for much crime. There was no way she could explain this to Sul without coming off as the troublemaker in this case.

But… She did what she had to do at least, right? She couldn’t just let herself, and especially not let Dash get dragged off, it just wouldn’t be right!… Would it? What would Sul think? She didn’t seem to like Golding but she was only helping them because she had to, right? Would she even care? They’ve been here for maybe an hour and already they nearly started a riot, she would certainly view them as troublesome and try to remove them as quickly as possible.

“My lady, the foreigners are here.” The captain called quietly through a door as the seven girls stood just behind him, Twilight in the back staring at the wall like it was about to collapse down on her. She quickly turned her head as the door opened fully, and the captain ushered them inside.

They were in some sort of meeting room it seemed, with a big, long table and plenty of chairs. At the very head, Sul sat, glancing to a mirror on the wall… Or… That wasn’t a mirror was it? That was a viewing window, they were in some sort of interrogation room! Sul thought it was their fault, she was going to believe they were the trouble-causers, throw them into jail, have them executed, have them tortured, and call them mean things all the while! She knew it!

Sul’s eyes quietly scanned across the seven girls. Six of whom she’d just been talking about with the unicorn tasked with capturing them. They looked confident, though Twilight seemed a tad mesmerized with the table. It was the lack of guilt that told her it all she needed to know: they believed themselves not guilty, and looking over the report from the bar and grill, she found that a reasonable assumption. They were lucky they had so much room to move in Coltriella, trying to flee from a pair of tanks and one of the monks was brave enough, but succeeding was something very few unicorns could admit to. Though this one had the odd Pegasus with her, didn’t she? In the span of a few hours this Pegasus managed to hold off well-trained soldiers from two nations solely by herself, with the help of the unicorn. Yes, she could tell Vega would be interested in meeting her.

“So,” Sul set her papers down and immediately fixed her eyes on Twilight.

“I’M SORRY!” Twilight squealed, her friends nearly falling over in shock as Dash’s tail stuck straight up, on fire as she stared to the mare. Sul blinked her eyes rapidly in surprise.

“I’m… Huh?” She glanced to Twilight as she trembled.

“Are you okay?” Dash stared at Twilight, mystified.

“We hadn’t meant to do anything bad!” The unicorn insisted, while Dash calmly touched her hoof to her forehead and sighed loudly. “We just didn’t want to be captured and-” her snout began to glow blue as it clamped shut, and Sul shook her head slowly.

“Right then. I do happen to know what happened, your waitress was most helpful in pointing out the colts antagonizing you.” Sul calmly flipped between her papers, “And several eye-witnesses have pointed out that you managed to make the first surprise attack.” Twilight’s eyes widened, here it came. “An impressive feat, I must admit. Using your, ahem, ‘twin’ as they called it to knock them over with a table, an interesting use of your skills.” Twilight’s ears lowered as she glanced to the smugly smiling Rainbow Dash.

“Stop sweating Twi, we’re fine.” Dash insisted, staring back at the Archmage. “Yeah, well, Twilight said those armored guys couldn’t be touched be magic, but tables-”

“Yes yes, it was impressive.” Sul cut her off with a wave of her hoof. “Now, I’ve read the reports, I’ve met with the leader of the Golding squad in Coltriella, and I’ve come to several decisions: you six are obviously more important than I’d originally suspected. Yes I know you told me that Golding was after you, but I didn’t think so quickly, so I now understand the urgency, as well as the lengths they’re willing to go to in order to capture you. Since we have no reason to not believe you, we’re going to be keeping you secure in Coltriella by removing unregistered Golding ponies currently within the city walls.”

A soft clearing of a throat drew her attention away from Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Dash looked enthused by the idea: no Golding? No problems! They’d be clear here in Coltriella, that meant while they spent the next few days waiting for the Princess to recover, they’d wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. While Twilight agreed that it was a safe decision, she did kind of wonder what sort of presence Golding had here. They must not have been too buddy buddy, at least, if the decision was so easy to come to… “Just out of curiosity, don’t mean to pry,” the Coltriellan mare spoke up, looking down at the other girls curiously, “but what exactly have you come to the city for? I may be able to help out.”

“…” Sul quietly considered her. The other six glanced down to the mare who’s name they’d never caught, and then looked between each other. The same question was being asked in all their glances: ‘Should we let her know?’ Sul interrupted them though. “While I understand you had a part in this Sabine, this is a matter of royal intrigue, a common pony such as yourself would not presently be allowed to this sort of information. I may have to ask you to leave, we may get into more sensitive topics soon.”

“More sensitive than they already are?” Sabine raised an eyebrow, and Sul bobbed her head slowly. “Well, still, they’re my friends, and-”

“Friends or no, this is still a royal matter, and it’s staying between only the highest ponies of Coltriella. As the Archmage, I am not allowed to distribute classified information.” Sabine didn’t answer, just glance down the row of six girls, and then to Sul again. “It’s doubtful you’ll be able to pry such information from any other pony as high up as I am either.” Silence swallowed the room as the six mares digested this odd conversation, and as soon as Sul had her papers sorted again, she glanced back up, “You may wait outside though, as long as you don’t try to eavesdrop.”

The Coltriellan mare, Sabine, quietly looked to the others for help, but only got a shrug from Applejack. “Sorry sugarcube. Just wait for us outside fer now, hopefully we ain’t gonna be too long.” Applejack gave her a hopeful wink, and Sabine nodded, quietly walking out of the room and shutting the door.

As soon as the door was shut, and when they’d made sure it wouldn’t open again, Dash spoke up, “You know her?” She asked Sul curiously.

“Of course I know Sabine.” Sul said with an almost amused tone, “Who in the sands doesn’t? Continuing on, with Golding out of the way, your safety in Coltriella from abduction is almost assured. But that leads me to my second point: you may have Coltriella’s protection for now, but there will be a time in the future where we won’t be there to watch you.” Though the air was suddenly tinged with a bit of cold truth, Sul seemed unphased, “That is why I’ve taken the liberty of scheduling your combat practice as soon as I could.”

“Pardon.” Sul looked to Applejack, “I don’ mean t’be rude or nothin’, but we’ll only be in yer mane fer a few more days ‘til the Princess feels up ta helpin’ us.”

“Which is why we’ll be teaching you basic self-improvement techniques and grant you scrolls on what more you can learn. It will be difficult without a teacher, but time and dedication always shows results. We’re going to begin tomorrow; we’ll send you messengers, one for the magic I’ll be teaching, and one for Ha’Jin’Vega, who will show you genuine swordsmanship.”

Twilight smiled a bit, thrilled she’d finally get a chance to ask about anti-magic. There was a chance now, something she could finally look into to try and reverse her friend’s affliction. On top of that, there was a chance to learn more magic. About non-Equestrian magic even!

“Now, you’ll learn more about your lessons tomorrow. For now, I something else to bring up to you.” Her tone dropped from mildly casual to instantly serious in but a few words. Twilight straightened up, and did not dare look away. “Your mission. You intend to fill the leylines again. With life? With magic?” The elder unicorn asked.

“Well of course!” Rarity chirped almost immediately, prompting several nods.

“It’s something that needs to be done.” Twilight agreed.

“And it’d be really really mean if we didn’t! We gotta do what any pony should do!” Pinkie Pie confirmed with a shake of her fluffy pink mane.

Sul regarded them for a while quietly. She was thinking intently, or perhaps remembering something deep. She pushed her papers forward as she stared the ponies in their eyes, one by one, looking for truth, lies, guilt, innocence, anything she could to understand. “Anemone had asked you to do so?” Dash confirmed that yes, once again, Anemone was the one who gave them the mission. “Did he ever once tell you that doing this for him would turn the invaders back?”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but her words caught on the skin of her teeth as she recalled the conversation. She closed it quickly, and stared to Dash for an answer. Dash seemed equally confused, and the other girls, who were watching them, came to realize the answer. Sul rested her chin in her hooves as she closed her eyes in thought. “… I see.” She went silent again, letting the girls stew on this.

Rarity leaned over and whispered to Rainbow Dash, “You didn’t know if it would send Golding away?” She asked in confusion. She hadn’t been there, didn’t know all the details, implications, or subtle cues Tanat or Anemone displayed, but they did not depart the details with cold indifference. They were optimistic and encouraging.

“I…” Twilight answered from the other side of Dash, as the latter pony contemplated her hooves. “I guess… Well, I just assumed it would fix everything…”

“Speaking of fixing,” they turned their heads sharply to face Sul. She flipped her royal purple mane over her neck, and let her gaze bore into Twilight’s, “Do you have any idea why Golding is in Equestria?”

“We have theories.” Twilight answered uneasily, looking over to Dash, who nodded back. Sul didn’t answer, she just gave a quiet nod for them to continue, “When we’d first noticed the leylines draining, we came to the conclusion that possibly they’re trying to refill the leylines themselves, somehow. We think Golding might be dying out…”

“A well-made deduction.” She went quiet again, while Twilight nervously scraped her hoof along the ground. “And you would most likely be correct from what I have dug up. When you restore the leylines, you realize you will be revitalizing Golding as well as Coltriella, as well as Steedest, as well as Equestria, as well as every other nation on the planet?”

Twilight had… Briefly considered the possibility before, but hearing it laid out in front of her… “But we’d control the leylines, right?” Dash offered up, “I mean, we could just cut them out.”

“We can’t just do that!” Fluttershy gasped. Twilight stayed quiet, staring at the floor. That was true, they would be refilling the life of the ponies attacking the, and they could also control the flow…

“Of course we could, we could control it and teach those hot-headed foals a lesson!” Dash huffed, eyes narrowed as the mere thought of Golding angered her.

“You realize what that would mean, of course?” Sul asked from the head of the table.

“Well obviously as a nation they can’t just be an army.” Rarity pointed out, “There must be some citizen class, they probably have farmers, tailors, and lawyers and so on themselves. They aren’t attacking us.”

“But they’d be supporting the ponies who are.” Twilight said in a low, quiet voice, her tone level, but unsupportive.

“Twilight!” Pinkie stared at the unicorn in surprise.

“And nopony seems to like them anyways! Nopony in Coltriella, or Equestria, everypony seems to think they’re a bunch of violent jerks!”

“Kind of…” Twilight half-heartedly agreed while Sul stared on.

“That don’t mean an innocent pony simply supportin’ their king needs ta be targeted, hay, the only reason they’re even in Equestria is because they’re be dyin’ out. All we’d be doin’ by cutting’ ‘em off is just make ‘em more desperate! I ain’t sayin’ I think they’re great ponies but we can’t just let ‘em suffer!” Applejack argued.

Dash snarled softly, “You don’t think they deserve it after what they did to us? What they’re doing to Equestria? Twilight and I survived because they went easy on us, they aren’t gonna be so easy on the rest of Equestria after that, especially now that they know we’re gone! Who’s to say they haven’t captured any other innocent Equestrian and is putting them through the same thing!? They could be clipping wings left and right while we’re bumming around here in the desert! Just a wild and obviously crazy thought, but what if you were the one they captured?” Her eyes narrowed tightly, “What if they have your sister right now?” The air turned absolutely frigid, and Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy could only stare at Dash in dumbstruck horror.

“Don’t.” Applejack hissed as her eyelids tightened sharply, “Don’t y’all even suggest somethin’ like that!”

“Then tell me why you think they deserve us to go easy on them after invading us, torturing us, and possibly doing worse now! Who knows who they’ve hurt since we’ve been gone!”

“Dash.” Twilight quietly spoke up to her side. The Pegasus turned to face her friend while Twilight stared at the ceiling, “… Let’s burn that bridge when we cross it. We don’t know anything about them.” She looked Dash in the eye. There was no clear indication of how she felt, but Twilight felt… Conflicted. She didn’t know what the right thing to do was. She knew what the moral thing to do was, she just didn’t know if that was the right thing… “I think we should learn more about Golding before we do anything.”

“Ah,” the mares turned their heads sharply to face Sul, who looked a little warmer, “Just what I was waiting to hear. In Coltriella, you are going to hear a lot of bias against Golding. We have spent many years at odds with them, and the peace treaty we’d signed with them has done little to levy the attitude. In my time, I have seen Golding at their best and their worst, and I can assure you there is a deeper story here.” She stood slowly, once again feeling the creak in her back left knee, and tried not to smirk. Figures her body would start to feel the strain when things got interesting. “There are a few ponies in Coltriella that know Golding as well as any Golding historian does. If you find one, you may come to understand Golding a little better.” Though her tone was vaguely neutral, Sul did not offer her own knowledge. She approached the six mares, who stood stiffly. “I trust that you will make the right choices when the time comes, Anemone would not choose anypony too cruel to seek his brothers, but too light to squander and die. You are dismissed for now.” Sul walked to the door and pushed it open, and stepped out of the room.

The six friends glanced to each other awkwardly. Dash still looked a bit peeved, but had lost steam. She didn’t feel like arguing it anymore, she’d just do as Twilight said: burn the bridge when they crossed it. They’d have plenty of time to figure this out later.

They turned to leave the room wordlessly. Fluttershy was glad Sul had dismissed them so quickly. She was afraid of what sort of conclusion it would have come to otherwise. Dash wasn’t easy to back down, and had a tendency to… Escalate, and Applejack wasn‘t much better. They stepped out of the room, and into the hallway.

Twilight, now paying attention, found they were in a hallway of a local guard station. She could see several armored ponies going in and out of doorways, or milling about the lobby. Even more interesting was the mare they’d been with for the past few minutes was approaching then from the wall. “So, hey, how’d your ‘secret meeting’ go?” She asked curiously.

“It was…” Rarity began, glancing to Twilight and Dash as they gave the ground a guilty look. “Informative.” She rubbed her neck slowly, avoiding messing up her purple mane any further as she looked back to the mare. Then she gave a tiny gasp, and put on a small smile as she extended a hoof, “I’m sorry, hello. My name is Rarity, thank you very much for your help earlier.” She said, clearly pleased to distract herself.

“Sabine. Err, my name that is, Sabine.” The mare smiled, and felt a leg wrap around her neck.

“Pleasant ta meetcha. I’m Applejack.” The behatted pony smiled to the other behatted pony, and the two shook hooves as soon as Sabine let go of Rarity’s. “Gotta tell ya, real happy ta meetcha after helpin’ out Twi and Dash.”

“Well,” Sabine smirked a little, “If I hadn’t, I’d have been in trouble too. What with lightning and swords being tossed all over the place.” She turned to face Twilight, and stuck a hoof in the surprised girl’s face, “You still have to explain to me how all that happened. The both of you!” Dash just gave a tiny snort, but it didn’t sound annoyed. She even smiled some.

“Is there even a point to hiding it anymore?” Dash nudged Twilight gently, trying to break her out of her staring contest with the bricks in the ground.

“I… Guess not…” Twilight murmured, looking up. Sabine smiled at her. She couldn’t help but smile a little back. She was thankful they’d ran into her. “Hi, I’m Twilight Sparkle…” She glanced around slowly, saw no other pony, and then looked back to Sabine, “I’m a unicorn.”

“Called it!” She called triumphantly, reaching out to touch Twilight’s bare forehead. “Though, aren’t you supposed to have a horn?”

“It’s a little spell…” Twilight explained with a small shrug, and the mare accepted it easily.

Quietly, Fluttershy approached and raised a hoof, letting Sabine take it and lead in the shaking. “Thank you. That was very nice of you to help.” Sabine nodded back.

“No kidding!” Pinkie Pie happily joined in the avid hoof-shaking, her smile bright and energetic, “I’m Pinkie Pie!”

The seven began to move along, Sabine standing next to Rarity as the two quietly talked. Getting a better look at her, her coat was a light brown, but it was smudged with some dirt and sand. She had sharp chocolate brown eyes, with a matching mane that was conservatively cut and kept short. She wore a simple, pocketed vest and a very wide-brimmed hat that sat just above her eyes. From what little Rarity knew about Coltriella, she could tell she definitely wasn’t one of the aristocratic sort.

They stepped out of the building without being troubled, out into the sandy streets of Coltriella. The steady flow of its citizens hadn’t stopped once, despite the trouble that had happened not so long ago, and business continued on as usual. It wasn’t that surprising, it was a big, powerful city, one little incident wouldn’t cause much ruckus in the other parts of it. Twilight stepped out to the side with Dash by her side as Sabine spoke with the rest of the group enthusiastically. She tugged out the map Sul had given her, and found the indicator of where they were with her hoof. “Not too far away.” Dash grunted, sitting down as they traced a route back to the house.

A minute later, they felt a gentle nudge on their backs. They turned to watch as Applejack leaned over the map, pretending to read it. “That Sabine gal is nice, but to how far should we trust her?” She asked. That made Twilight look up in thought, as she hadn’t considered what they could or should tell her beyond that she was a unicorn.

“She already knows we can do magic, we just have to make sure she stays shut up about it so nopony else knows beyond her.” Dash stated as she glanced back. Sabine was defending her hat from Pinkie Pie at the moment, while Fluttershy and Rarity watched and chuckled.

“But what about the mission? I’m thinkin’ we don’t go sayin’ a word on it. We’re here ta talk to their Princess is all.” Applejack watched the other two nod their heads in agreement.

“Sounds about right. Sul sounded pretty serious about keeping it a secret from, uh, common ponies.” Twilight glanced around slowly, but very few ponies gave them more than a few seconds worth of curious stares, then went about their business. At least they weren’t that nosey around here.

“Right. I’ll go tell the other gals. ‘Member, not a word about it.” Applejack nodded slowly. She turned around and walked towards the other girls and spoke briefly to Sabine.

“… Is it weird that the Element of Honesty is leading the whole secret keeping thing?” Twilight asked Dash, who shrugged and gave a tiny ‘meh’.

“She’s the Element of Honesty, not the Element of Blabber-Mouthing, and she can keep her secrets.” Dash looked back down to the map as Sabine approached, looking chipper.

“Hey, so I was thinking…” The mare spoke up, causing Dash to look up from the paper. “You guys are new to Coltriella - just a guess,” she waited for Twilight to finish nodding, “Well, I’ve been all over Coltriella and I know a lot of ponies here. Our city can be pretty disorienting for first timers what with all the hustle, so maybe I can show you guys around, show you the best places to eat, introduce you to the right ponies, maybe get you up to date on some of the customs ‘round here. What do you say?”

Twilight glanced down to Dash, who glanced up to Twilight, and the two smiled to Sabine, “Sounds good to me. We actually do have a few questions to ask you about the city, and a few ponies we need to meet.” Twilight nodded slowly to Sabine while the other girls came over to join them.

“Why don’t we talk over a bite to eat then?” Sabine offered. She internally knew she’d hit the right button there, Twilight was bobbing her head like mad.

---

---

The parade of OC's continue! Marching in just after the king and archmage of Coltriella is Sabine, look low-down and dirty in her hat and jacket! It appears Balla's been escorted out of the parade, along with her regiment of marchers. Who knows what she'll attempt to wedge her way back in?

Also, alcohol: I know next to shit about it. I don't drink it, never have, but my entire family likes all sorts so it's been easy getting information on it. And just in case you ask: yes there's going to be more booze. Why wouldn't there be more booze? The heroes of the planet need to get their booze on!

Comments

[Gem]

Holy Crap! This chapter's huge! PREPARE TO DIVE *siren*

*reads*

Good chapter! Nice balance of Comedy, Action and Story, looking forward to Applejack & Pinkie Pie versus The Spice

Figures Trixie would enlist to further boost her ego

Keep up the great work!

[NoTimeCavy]

Read 25 on FF.

Won't spoil anything, but a message for you, Peroth E.

ENDING
GAVE
ME
SO
MANY
FEELS.

Excellent job, once again.

[Peroth E]

440963 Good feels? They're good feels, right? I'd hate to make you feels bad feels.

Heeeeeeeeee. Feels!

[asr3]

BOOZE!

[DjentDelaCroix]

440963 And all the [REDACTED] screamed out! WITH ALL THE FEELINGS.

[NoTimeCavy]

441007

Good feels.

If it makes you feel even better about yourself, I was a very closed minded Dash fanboy for a long time, and as far as her sexuality goes, still am. Not that I'm anti-gay or anything, I've just always thought of her as being straight.

None the less, this is the first story where I can appreciate and enjoy a ship between the mane six. You've done a spectacular job in depicting what would be accurate emotions and actions, and have done so with grace and beauty. Bravo, I say. Bravo.

As for the last scene in Chapter 25.... My heart exploded a couple of times, but I'm currently recovering.

Now, to be a jerk again, any thoughts on when the next one will be up? Or have you not even written any of it yet?

Sorry, and thanks,

-Cavy

[Peroth E]

441202 Six pages of it.

Also: my writing influenced your opinions and got you to accept a shipping?

Eeeeeeeeeeeee-

[NoTimeCavy]

441211

Quite.

Honestly, I think the main reason I didn't enjoy them is because I haven't really read a story where they successfully pull off something like that.

Anyway, I forgot to mention... When they wake up the next morning, it's going to be pretty awkward, huh?

>Inb4 Twilight doesn't remember

[Peroth E]

441227

Look.

I don't know MUCH about alcohol, but I know this:
It's impossibly fun the night before. Usually in new and interesting ways.
It's impossibly painful the morning after. Usually in new and interesting ways.

I'll try not to disappoint you.

[NoTimeCavy]

441243

Ah, I probably don't know any more than you do, but answer this for me:

How can YOU disappoint ME?

Write a chapter about Big Mac bucking apples and cuddling Miss Smarty Pants, and it'll still be a good read.

[Blik]

Boy, this update is humongous. And any worries I had about "Tales of Ba Sing Se" were quickly alleviated. This was just as engaging as any other of your chapters, even if they didn't travel at all.

Golding is, in a word, desperate. Desperate enough to cause an international incident in order to get their hands on the "Pretender". To deport all ponies from Golding as a concession to the Mane Six, even if the directive came from Anemone Himself, is a serious matter.

There will be more philosophizing and research on the topic of worldwide ley lines, I can tell. I'm eager for it. But what was Ms. Sul saying about Coltrellia not always being there to help them? Is it just that they will surely leave, as they journey to find the third alicorn brother? Or will their contact with Terraria somehow jeopardize the city and/or their presence there?

[Gwenio]

“I’ll keep with Twilight and to find her something to eat, you guys go on and get stuff to stock the house.”

Keep the 'and' or the 'to', but not both.

------------------------

While I may not comment on them specifically much, but the OCs are quite nicely done.

And Dash and Twilight work together quite nicely. One thing that stood out as being fun was pushy Dash and Twilight staring at her afterwards.

Considering how funny the story can be, I often wonder why it does not have a comedy tag.

[DarkeonWarlord]

Thank you, Peroth, for finally giving us chapter 25. In all honesty I enjoyed it without the edits. I've said it once and I'll say it again: Growing Pains is the best fic I have ever read. Any new content is welcome, even if it has mistakes. Good job!

[Mossflower]

i've been waiting for twilight to do something with her magic other than half heartedly try to slow enemies down; i mean, her magic power can be compared to that of an alicorns and she's an absolute genius at magic, just feels like she should be able to do a bit more than small force pushes together with levitating/throwing stuff (in this chapter she did do something new but it still wasent much, it was a little lightning and then the old stuff but it was something at least). i mean, i get somewhat why she doesnt do much from time to time but still...and on a side note, i hope that twilights blessing includes something other than being liked by animals and that comprehension thing, they are pretty neat but coming from the alicorn of water and death; well, i hope you get my point (like celestia being the alicorn of the sun and her blessing giving dash the ability to harness the power of the sun in a way makes a tad more sense)
other than my thoughts on twilight; awesome chapter! i so love this story

[Gwenio]

445682

Other than lightning, she does not know anything. And it seems like anti-magic just prevents magic from functioning, so there is no simply over powering it. You have to know how to deal with it.

As to the blessing, she seems to have a certain awareness of others passing into the afterlife (Tanat). Really the one Twilight got seem to be a passive one the is always on rather than a flashy active power. Comprehension is a separate thing all together.

[Fourpony]

“You have intentionally defied the laws of Golding and have been deemed an enemy of the state. You are to be taken, alive or dead as we see fit before the courts and tried for your theft.”

Cause, you know, any law in another country can be applied to you while you are in your home country. That bad logic there just, ugh, pisses me off. The arrogance of Golding in general pisses me off. Peroth, you are doing a good job of making me dislike an imaginary state. Just, argh! (I be ah pirate now.)

[SomeponyTheVectorer]

God damn it P. This is fucking captivating.

[ObligedShelf7]

Why is this story so good? I've stayed up until two for the past three days reading this story.

[TheBlackPony]

About the only big thing that struck me was 'These girls are out to get lunch during their big mission to save the world, I can understand this, gotta eat, and they start drinking...' I can't understand 'that', I mean, does alcohol magically not get you 'dumbass drunk' in the pony-verse? XD especially with a light-weight involved! Who in their right mind doesn't think 'This might make us do something stupid!'... the only thing that got them out of that cliche, aside from script maybe, was Golding ponies walking in XD that's a whole other cliche there

on another note, I think I may seriously need to start righting a story with the inspiration permeating my poor brain after reading all of this!

[jszellmer]

She’s the Element of Honesty, not the Element of Blabber-Mouthing

That... is a very valid point.