The enhanced Stallion

by Shenzy

Bridge of Light

While Rainbow Dash had the luxury of flight on her side, most of her friends did not, so it was up to the royal guard to transport the group to their destination (at a more moderate pace).

“AIN'T THERE ANY OTHER WAY!?” Applejack screamed above the noise of the wind rushing past her snout, clinging frantically to Twilight's hind-leg as her life depended on it.

“I offered to teleport us and you said no!” the element of magic said pouty, unable to hide the fact she was still sore “~and your train would have taken far too long! The town to is too remote... so better hold on tight...” mumbling the last part since her earth-friend wasn't listening anyway “AH DON'T WANT TO BE AN ELEMENT NO MORE!”

Fluttershy and Rarity for their part shared a nice cup of tea, sitting in the flying chariot next to them with the unicorn shooting glances at those snappy pegasus-guards rears, two of which pulling their chariot “Hrm~ the view is outstanding, wouldn't you agree Fluttershy!?” it smirked at the yellow pegasus, which was oblivious to the unicorns desires, directing attention towards the lush forest beneath “It sure is wonderful! I wonder how many critters are living there!”

Pinkie Pie had a chariot of her own, providing all the space necessary to bounce around in circles if only small ones “Wuueeeeeehhh!”

Princess Luna and Celestia for their part simply flew ahead of things, gliding majestic across the land with the white unicorn smiling non-stop ever since her sisters return, with Luna being the mare with eyes on the price: the hidden village Hollow Shades.

The blue alicorn pulled wings close to the body to get into a steep dive, leading the way past most of the sleepy town to the eastern edge, followed by the group descending in a long spiral to burn off speed.

“... sow this is the accompliwcs!?” the cream-colored reporter asked with a pen stuck in his snout to take notes. THIS was the biggest story the earth-pony got its hooves on and he couldn't wait to get the facts straight and printed! This story would take FootNote to the top! No more small scale reports and boring anecdotes, but a breakthrough, hopefully the kind with a thick paycheck attached to it “Loowks like a shifty fwigure for swure!”

The police mare, a paper-white unicorn wearing a tidy uniform, couldn't help to pose a little with a sly grin “Without a doubt! I myself caught her red hoofed! My partner is securing evidence this moment!” she said proudly while pinning the cuffed pegasus punk to the ground!

“OH C'MON! ~I am A HERO you know!? That's...-GAH! I- grrn- freaking...-why does nobody know who I am!?” tightly cuffed hooves ran across Rainbows face to underline the frown “-saving the world is a team effort -got it!? MEEEee~frrieends~with... T-wilight!” as much the rainbow-maned pegasus hated to bring up her 'famous' friend to get out of trouble, being caught by some nopony-rookie was even worse! One could only hope she would get out of the cuffs before...POMF!“... annnnd there goes my dignity...” she sighed heavily, when a blue alicorn plummet to the ground, leaving hoof prints in the landing zone “~GREETINGS; CITIZENS! YOUR PRINCESS HAS ARRIVED!” -an entrance bombastic enough for the earth-pony to swallow it's pencil howl “GARK~!” and regurgitate it with a lot of drool and some of it's dignity landing in the grass besides it.

Barely thirty seconds later the rest of the convoy landed.

“Gahh~de~the~” the writer stuttered while a hoof searched the grass for the chewed-up pencil. The police mare tried to show her deepest respect, bowing several times in quick succession “~i greetest~ your majesty... majesties!” trying to find the right words.

“That's not necessary~” Twilight assured upon approaching them, but Luna liked to disagree “Why not? We shall have shown respect!” only for the big sister to tip the scale one last time “~enough of the formalities” to then give a friendly reminder “Luna?”

Luna snapped to attention and ran past and right into the house. A building reminisced of an old factory of sorts, consisting of several big loveless chunks of concrete stuck into one another with two tall chimneys on the back, one of which spewing a fading puff of smoke.

Twilight couldn't help to shake her head. It all was just too typical, especially... “Wanna tell me what happened?” magic removed the cuffs to free her pegasus friend “It seems we are running in a theme here”
“What!? I TOLD THEM who I am! I told you I know you~ do you think any of them have any idea!? Of course not!” Rainbow pouted. Of course, the police mare had noticed all of this and felt rather embarrassed with flushing red cheeks “My apologies~ I wasn't aware that~ she's with you and~ perhaps this is a bad time but... may I ask for a... a...” now Twilight couldn't help to blush a little. She knew what's going on here~ picking the pen and paper from the reporter's hooves to quickly give an autograph “OH~MY~GEE!~THANK YOU SO MUCH!”

“For Celestia's s-” Rainbow began, but cut herself short quickly since Equestria's-Grace just walked past them “Never mind” following the group into the freaky house.

“You guys have to see the basement!” Rainbow shouted from the back. Pony's already followed the voices coming from below, passing through a small study with a crammed bookshelf's covering the walls with a hidden passage behind one of them.

True to Rainbow's word one had to see the basement in order to believe it. It was far bigger than the house's size would make belief and cramped to the brink with all kinds of machinery running together at a broken tube. A broken tube which until recently held a mare - the one momentary looked after by a far older police pony “Ah... Rookie. I see you brought support...” a glance was given over the shoulder, followed by a simple nod towards the princesses “As far as I can tell she's stable, but I hope you brought a medic with you?”

Twilight had read a book or two about first aid, not just because she happened to have them, but it was valuable knowledge considering the constant danger they got themselves into “Hmm~” a heard was held to the snout and chest... and hooves as well magic probed the mare on the floor “~i can't see any injuries, but we should get her checked out to be sure.”

Luna then spotted the three-legged 'puppet' laying next to a table, raising a curious brow at it “Huh... it looked bigger from the inside...” she muttered thoughtful, before stopping in front of the mare alongside her friends.

“W-who is she?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

“Oh my~ she looks... ahem~ frazzled” the fashionista's keen eye couldn't help to notice more than sticky goo, but a sloppily cut on the yellow mane and a bunch of scars scattered all over the mares white body.

Cyan magic engulfed the unconscious mare, brushed aside shards and put her back into the remains of the tube “We cannot move her just yet. Not before the curse has been lifted...” Luna said, before shooting Twilight a glance which nodded in response, summoning a scroll and paper “Of course!” to scribble down a short message 'We are in position. Ready when you are... -greetings, Twilight' and sent it magically away with a 'poof' …

… to be spat out moments later by Spike the dragon “Burp~!”

“What does it say?” the pink alicorn asked, peeking over Spikes shoulder.

“~um apparently they are ready for us to start” a green brow was risen “Why does she sign it every time? We know it's coming from her...” the back of the hand slapped the scroll.

“Because that's my Twili~!” Cadance chirped happily, before magically picking up the baby-dragon to load him onto her back “~let's meet up with Shiny!”

Spike immediately reached for the candy-colored mane to hold on tight, since the Princess of Love made for a worse flier than Princess Luna and Twilight put together, but before Cadance could move a single feather, Spike uttered another concern he had on his mind “- you think we got enough?”

Looking over the shoulder and all around... at mostly empty streets, she couldn't tell “We can only hope” Cadance replied with a faltering smile, which didn't feel right to say... -they had to be positive and believe for ponies to do their best for it to work, giving a more confident “~but we will try regardless!” before shooting up into the air to race for the palace!

“This may takes a minute” Twilight pondered, letting her eyes wander in long circles all around the room, searching for … something.

“Is anything a miss, dear?” Rarity asked, raising a curious brow~ like the rest of the group “-what are we even looking for!?” “I spy with my little eye...!” “Don't you start it!” “Is it, uhm, gray?”

“I... just don't understand how this was supposed to work?” steam pipes... boxes with leavers and needles flicking back and forth... thick cables... all of which connected to one another. It looked like a crazy laboratory from Spikes comics, all that's missing was a trapdoor with crocodiles, not that she ruled that one out just yet.

“Makeshift alchemy...” Celestia put a thousand years of wisdom on display like common ponies would recall a cake recipe.

“UH~i do love cake!” Pinkie Pie said to nopony in particular.

The blue alicorn placed the missing gem into the nearby control panel, a steel cylinder reminiscent of a summoning circle at the top, adding to the collection of: red, yellow, green, blue, pink and purple. At last...

“Yes, I can see that, but that's not what I meant...” the purple alicorn stopped turning in order to face the white alicorn “-but where is the power source? The magic has to come from somewhere, but...” a wing gestured to the side onto even more 'useless' machinery “-am I missing something?”

“Friendship can be given” Luna replied rueful.

This, Twilight understood almost immediately. So did her friends eventually.

It wasn't necessary to elaborate on it. Looking at one another was all it took.

This group of friends, sitting quietly in a lonesome basement, they understood it better than anypony else. The princess of friendship and her friends. This wasn't just about saving the world but protecting the pony's they love the most, which was all the same to them.

“This is all my fault” Luna quietly continued “I was wrong- and I thought I could make it right. I told myself that 'I know what has to be done, there is no other way' -i believed in it, more than I believed in the pony's telling me that I'm wrong” the sister's eyes met momentarily “-i went too far. I didn't hold back and kept pushing, regardless of the sacrifices... to the point there was no going back. I lost track of what I was fighting for. What I tried to achieve. All I wanted was to win at any cost -and tell myself it was worth it'... but now I can see that this would never happened because I had become what I tried to destroy -and along the way, I caused just as much pain and suffering for those around me. That's why I hope, with the help of all of you, we can do what's truly right. Together!

Fluttershy was delighted to hear this! Rainbow Dash? Not so much. Rainbow would rather fight a monster than being sappy... but she would stand by her friends regardless of sap!

The group stepped up, following Luna's instruction, they formed a half-circle around the containment unit. Horns lit up. Pony's straightened out and widened their stance since this would take a lot out of them, but they were ready and had a lot to give!

A glow slowly but surely began to illuminate the room. At first, it were just the horns of unicorns and alicorn's casting the spell... but soon enough the pony's around them also began to glow brightly! Radiating in the colors of their fur, sharing their earth strength and pegasus bravery with the others. They all had friendship to share and they gave it to a pony they never have met!

Magic began to spiral, lights faded into another, creating new colors in between. A spiraling rainbow built up all around the group, slowly but surely reaching out for the mare and machinery all around them. Light-bulbs shortened out, while those rare gems began to glow and vibrate, bundling and redirecting the group's magic through pipes and cords running through the basement... around the chamber... and up through the ceiling where it lightened up a spiraled antenna which POW! Blew a big hole into the roof! Freeing magic from it's restraints of those walls around them to reach FAR -FAARRRRRR up into the sky!

A beam of pure magic -a pulsating pillar of blinding white light- reached for the stars! Higher than any mountain! Higher than any cloud! And higher any pegasus could fly! Magic reached out for eternity -to be watched in awe across the land!

Yet, pony's gaze was quickly drawn away from it, when a second pillar rose towards the sky! This one shun even brighter than the first! Powered by thousands of ponies (and an alicorn and a baby dragon) bowing their heads in the Empire to share their light for what was right! They were determined to share the light within to fight the darkness in this world~ quench another shadow which had lingered in this world for too long!

… but those weren't just pillars of light... this became apparent when they began to lean towards another like they had a will of their own. The tips touched somewhere far far above- and what had been straight pillars, now formed a long bow, spanning across the land of Equestria. This spell was the spell. The spell which had started it all.

A bridge of light.

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

Somewhere and nowhere.

Trapped between time and eternity.

Neither on this nor on the other side.

It was like a dream and a nightmare. A state of being from which she couldn't wake up. Shuffling through an endless landscape of white... fog whirling around hooves. No memories or thoughts crossed the pony's mind... it was simply blank.

She was nothing. Nopony, going nowhere, arriving never.

Walking was all she knew to do. All she ever did. Each step more tiresome than the last.

She felt so tired, but she had to keep going, even if she couldn't recall why.

The low hanging snout bobbed as she kept dragging herself forward... when eyes moved to the right hoof... -something had changed but she couldn't say what it is. It also... was on the other side? It... was like... dark and long and transparent? And when she moved, it moved along... -what did cause this? The snout rose instinctively to expand the search... was she causing those dark... spots? … but then there was a... -white... a white that wasn't fog... a sliver of color flickered across it's surface as the bright light cut into nothingness...

It was almost blinding, but she couldn't draw her gaze away... left hoof... right hoof... left.... right... left-right. Leftright! Why was she walking so fast? Where was she going!? She was running! Running for it! It was like this is- this was her goal! She had to reach it before it was too late! It all came back to her! She was a pony! A pony that wasn't meant to be here! This~ she had to make it! No matter what it was or where it would bring her, the urge to leave this place overtook her body and drew her in like a desperate attempt to reach the surface! With hooves scrambling to get up to speed, tripping over herself, only to bite teeth together and close the distance! Only 10 more meters! 7... 4... 1... then it all came back to her in an instant!? -but before she could sort a single thought, an irresistible force grabbed the mare and dragged her along, like the current of a whitewater. She floated and fell~ rose and spun around in every direction without any sense of up or down! -yet the one thing consistent were voices calling out for her- many many many voices- each no longer than the blink of an eye, but so very clear at the same time! Ruddering, shifting around she tried to follow the voice- find her way back~ reach the surface... -the light, she felt it fading!? It scared her! She didn't want to go back! She didn't want to forget it again! She sped up, hoping it somehow would help to speed up her return- or rather escape...

And then...

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

“...did it... work?”

“We... don't know”

“Ah don't know about ya'all, but ah think a need a break if we do this again...”

“-i thought it was fun!”

“-this is serious! C'Mon we try it one more time!”

“I- I think they... uhm...”

“Let me have a... hrm yes, those are ruined!”

“...then we can only hope our...”

The voices. Colorful spots moved around. Suddenly they stopped – silence... please, keep talking! She... she hated for it to be silent... but not a word came out. She would have said it... if she could recall how!

The group almost simultaneously noticed the mare sitting up. They watched the mare lean from side to side... struggling to stay wake, swaying further~ and- … purple magic took over, preventing the fainted pony from falling to the ground.

“Woh, good catch!” Rainbow commented as Twilight picked the pony up, only for Celestia to take over. The white princess placed the unconscious mare onto her sturdy back, using those fluffy wings to keep the resting pony from slipping off it “Our mission here is done. We will leave for the closest hospital...”

Celestia leads the way with Luna half a step behind, closely watching the pony... she was pondering if- and what the mare was dreaming about? … but... she wouldn't be so rude to interrupt her rest like that. There would be time to talk. For now, she needed medical support and a lot of rest.

Leaving the place the police and guard locked up the area, while press and nearly all of the town had gathered around it. A doctor was there too and so they brought their patient quickly into the local doctor's office. It wasn't a big hospital, which had been overkill for a town of a few hundred, but it had a few empty beds and quiet.

A saline solution was connected to the mare's veins... and a first checkup followed... -testing eye reaction. Tickling a hoof. Carefully tapping joints and ribs in order to check for possible fractures. The howl list up and down. Twilight double-checked it and Luna sternly observed it all from the corner of the room, making the black unicorn rather nervous... after which the princess of the night was asked to wait outside.

“Puh! -be it so!” pamf!

Eventually, after three hours, Twilight and the doctor emerged, ready to share the results. Usually, this would be a matter of confidence between medic and patient, but since three of them were rulers of Equestria... and the rest saviors of the world (now including this mare) … with no other family member around, they were permitted to know – if only this once!

“-i have concluded my diagnosis” Dr. Tonic announced, flipping back and forth through a long list, struggling where to start “... now... first; i'd like to say my patient is not in mortal danger. My patient, JaneDoe-” “Muse...” the blue alicorn interrupted sternly “-are you s-” “We've roamed the dying memories of a fading dream to recover this information...” Luna elaborated, making it sound perfectly normal.

“Uhm... naturally. Noted” the stand-in-name was crossed out and replaced “Now, Muse, is recovering right now. I expect a near-complete recovery... yet...”

“Here it comes!” Rainbow rolled eyes, knowing to well when a doctor was about to 'but', since she too had crashed more than once after trying a new 'awesome stunt'... that failed.

“...i've found for four ribs to been broken and badly healed. Scars across legs, neck, chest, back, and forehead. Signs of operations around joints and stomach. Her muscle tissue is underdeveloped. Fur shows signs of burns” the doctor kept rattling down fact after fact while jaws began to drop, going from most to least serious, until he finally ended with “-we added vitamins to her saline bag and... she will need a few weeks rest and- possibly another operation once she recovered”.

He pushed glasses back, while waiting for questions... and Applejack beat Rainbow to it “What in tarnation!?”

The doctor double-checked the list, had he misread or left out anything? Oh, he should elaborate... “-as I've said, she is not in mortal danger. The majority of the damage is fairly old from what I can tell and some has been treated...- I'd like to know more about their origin, but I fear we will have to wait until she's awake. I will inform you as soon this is the case.”

“... uhm, when will this be?” Fluttershy asked worrisome towards the door.

“Hm. A few days... -possibly weeks? It's hard to say. Also, there is another problem” yellow eyes went for Twilight, leaving it to the princess of friendship to explain “-not just has Muse been in a coma for a long time, but also in the Empire before that, which means that any family members or friends lived a thousand years ago... she's not even a citizen of Equestria or the Empire... -we can't even say if she will be able to communicate with us. All I can say is that she will feel alone and frightened. We need to hold guard and make sure to welcome her to this new world as careful as possible... -her mental state will be very fragile and the shock certainly hard to digest. We can't even be sure the spell worked...” Twilight sighed and for a moment she wondered if it wouldn't be for the best if she wouldn't remember all of this... but~ “This doesn't mean we can't try to do our best!”

“Yeah! Never stopped us!” “Certainly not!” “Hmnhn!” “OKIEE DOKIEE!” “Yehaa!”

“Shhh!” the doctor hushed the group, making for some embarrassment.

“Anyhow. I will have to get something. Luna, would you do me the honor of taking the first shift?”

“We will!” Luna nodded sharply and marched back inside like a soldier, sitting down next to the mare to watch her without blinking (much)... -throughout the afternoon... and into the night... and.... Zzzzzzzzz........ “gahh!? S-ister is that you!?” it was morning already!?

Twilight stood next to Luna, holding a thick book with old-ponish writing across its cover, relieving her of this duty (to sleep at a more appropriate place).

… and so they shared bedtime guard, coming whenever they had time, with the royal sisters mostly remaining at Canterlot since the land needed their rulers too. A few volunteers joined the guard: such as the CMC trying to earn their mark as nurses! Shining Armor mumbling questions, Spike reading comics, Cheerilee reading a novel to the mare, but also Doctor Horse which took great interest in the case, as well a few more friends. Pinkie Pie was even able to convince her big sister Maud! Which told all about Boulders exciting live, which took about two days to scratch the surface...

It was during Rarity's shift when Muse, which by now had received modern medical treatment, began to shift in her bed “-a trench-coat with flower stitching? How original~” the fashionista watched up from this rather questionable article of 'Cosmare Magazine' “-Hm?”

About a minute later an alarmed doctor Tonic ran down the hallway “Nurse!” the doctor called out for the orange pony “~call the Princess immediately!” making his way into the room just in time!

Two minutes later Twilight arrived with a flashy POOF! of magic, lifting the purple baby dragon of her back “You better wait here until I call for you!” making sure the dragon wouldn't spook the mare.

“What I am supposed to do!?” rolling eyes Twilight summoned two bits for the snack-machine “Alright!”

Entering slowly... Twilight found an overwhelmed fashionista next to an empty bed, trying to talk to somepony in the corner, while Tonic prepared a syringe of what the alicorn could only assume was a tranquilizer! Understandably; a pony in panic could harm itself just as much as it could harm others and this a trained medic couldn't allow to happen!

“Oh goodness, you are here! Whatever took you so long!?” Rarity exclaimed utterly relieved!

“-glad you could come, but I've asked you to stay back!” so he wouldn't peek the wrong pony by accident.

“You won't need this- ” Twilight assured and took the needle away, putting it aside.

Slowly but confidently, Twilight leaned around the bed to move into sight of the shivering white mare. Her breath was jagged and hasty, the forehead covered in sweat and blue eyes widened- constantly checking to the side like she expected some sort of ambush! The lamp from the knocked-over nightstand was held between hooves, pointing the sharp end of a broken light bulb right at the alicorn! … at least it wasn't plugged in...

“Ahem~we wir-” Twilight said slowly “-are freunde...” now it was hardly perfect but the best she could do in a few weeks.

Breathing remained on the level of a sprinter which had forgotten to reach in important papers, but at least she got most of the mare's attention, a sign she might understood?

“F-freunde!? -w-was is-t mit- mit dem da!?” it waved the lamp shortly for the bed, where Tonics gray mane could be seen, before pointing it back at Twilight “Er soll verschwinden o-oder!” she waved it one more time!

Twilight turned and looked at the doctor and... oh... ~ she could see the problem “Could you please leave the room for a moment? It's... black unicorns... those make her rather nervous...” a forced smile is given, but the doctor understood the implications, not wanting to traumatize his patient any further he left without protest. Pok! -closing the door.

One more try... “Alright, du-bist...sicha...sischer?” Twilight said in broken old-ponish, if only she had more time to practice with the librarian, but it would have to do (since he never spoken it aloud either) “-my name is 'Twilight'... und this- ist mei Freundin, 'Rarity'” it waved at the white pony which waved from behind the alicorn for a “Hello? Or is it...-what was it again?” “Hallo?” “Halo?” “Not quite...” “I- i'm not sure I can say it...-it isn't quite prench” “Rarity... focus” “Of course!”

Now... “Your...name is-t... Muse, right?”

She gave a quick check for the door, as if she expected guards to burst in... but nothing happened... before mustering the only ponies sitting with her in the room “Ja... d-as ist... das bin ich? Glaube ich...” she replied insecure, as if she couldn't tell, with eyes drifting to the ground and the hooves holding the lamp, which only now lowered a few inches...

It was a start and Twilight kept signaling with purple hooves to keep lowering the lamp step by step, keeping the translation book on standby for a slow but important conversation “Wir- muessen reden... It's. Uhm...” how to say?

Pages were flipped frantically to find the right words, quickly.

It was Twilight's duty to explain what happened to her... to her family... and friends... none of which would come easy. So she had to pick wisely while making sure to not hurt her feelings any further than that, which would have been impossible in any language.

“Es tut mir leid, but...”

Author's Note:

It certainly took some time to get here... -which had more to do with my private life than anything, always saying 'hm i think i could take some time tomorrow' and yet never getting to it (feeling tired after work or simply being distracted by friends)...
yet as of late, I figured that it might help some people to distract themselves for a minute from other issues going on and I simply took the time to work on it. A good decision I think. I also read a LOT of other stories, some unfinished, and know the feeling to craving a tiny bit more story than it is available... and it wouldn't be fair of me to do this to others :)

oh and~ i have to bring it up... but this isn't why there won't be any more >flashbacks< ... if that wasn't clear, but it's because the dream is over. The orb is gone... and Tenet finally woke up. ~and on the risk of sounding stupid, this kinda reminds me of 'Vincent' (CowboyBebop the movie) which too... never could quite wake up. A struggle with 'what's real and what isn't' when you have the feeling that nothing matters. This can be quite hard at times and letting yourself go is rather easy... but~ that's not what living is all about. It's the hard decisions we will use to measure ourselves. I ... guess most can relate to that right now...

Anyway, ~I hope that mean Robot horse didn't give you too much freight, and~ I also hope I can deliver more before Christmas!!

Keep safe and take care (of one another!) ♥